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coraniaid · 1 year ago

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I know that Halloween isn’t really one of the very best Buffy episodes. (I mean, it’s not even the best Halloween-themed Buffy episode.) I know that its discussion of gender roles is, at best, kind of questionable; I know that Buffy’s idea of what a noblewoman would actually do all day is laughably shallow; I know that this is pretty clearly one of the early episodes when the show was mostly being written by men. I even know that the special effects aren’t that good. And I definitely know that Angel’s “you’re not like other girls (who by the way I find beneath contempt, so don’t necessarily take that as a compliment)” speech to Buffy at the end is almost certainly meant to be romantic and not the huge red flag it actually is.

But. Unfortunately I also know that I love this episode. As a certain recurring vampire would say, it’s just … neat.

A couple of interesting things have been happening over the past few episodes of this rewatch.

One is that the world of the show has been getting bigger, or rather more solid. We’re starting to see characters outside the Core Four who actually seem to have lives of their own and don’t just vanish back into the void once their episode is over. Spike and Dru are the big ones, of course (the Master is a fun enough villain but he isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a person you can imagine having a rich inner life), but in Inca Mummy Girl we also met Devon and Oz and Jonathan, all of whom will appear multiple times this season, and this episode introduces Ethan and Larry.

(Purely coincidentally, Larry and Ethan have more in common than just first appearing in this episode. They are both gay men – or at least a heavily queer-coded man, in Ethan’s case – who will recur only a few times before being written out of the show in ways that I’m actually still kind of mad about. But I’ll save that rant for later in the rewatch, assuming I get far enough.)

One of my biggest criticisms of the first season is how many times the show will introduce a new student (or group of students), insist that they’ve always been there, then completely forget about them forty-five minutes later. The only genuinely recurring minor character that season was Harmony, and she was only in two episodes and not even mentioned in any of the others. Amy will return later but so far she’s just another example of the show introducing a character, establishing that Willow’s known them for years, then insisting that they don’t exist the next episode. But that’s starting to change now, even if we’re not quite there yet – the next episode’s Lie To Me will arguably pull a variant of the exact same trick with Billy Fordham – and even if it isn’t something the show ever really grows out of completely.

Speaking of Willow, that’s the other big change that’s been happening, and the one I want to talk about most: Willow’s been slowly becoming more central to the show. This is another slow process which won’t really finish this season, but the signs are there already.

In the first season of Buffy, I’d argue that there’s a very clear hierarchy in terms of how much attention the show gives the Core Four: Buffy is, of course, the central character, but after that the writers clearly think Giles is more important than Xander who is more important than Willow.

This shows up in a few ways. Speaking time is the one that’s easiest to quantify (roughly speaking, over the whole of the first season for every four minutes Willow speaks Xander will speak for five minutes, Giles will speak for seven minutes and Buffy will speak for eleven minutes), but I think this claim is also true if we consider things like how often they get to directly impact the plot or how much attention the show gives to both their relationship to Buffy and their lives outside of Buffy. (Outside of I Robot, You Jane S1!Willow mostly exists to pine over Xander, to be rescued from danger by Buffy and to provide the sort of high school level exposition that Giles can’t deliver.)

That’s still true to a large extent in early Season 2 – Willow definitely is still pining over Xander, Buffy did go to rescue her in When She Was Bad and Willow still does get to deliver a lot of exposition – but it will stop being true by the time the season is over. From Season 3 onward, I think it’s very clear that Willow is the most important member of the Scooby Gang after Buffy herself. (In fact, in Season 6 I think you could argue that they’re almost co-protagonists. That season is Willow’s story almost as much as it is Buffy’s.)

This post-Season 2 change is reflected in all sorts of ways: Willow’s average speaking time suddenly overtakes both Xander and Giles; she starts having proper arcs of her own (learning magic, dating, coming out as a lesbian); and, of course, she starts to play increasingly active roles in the plot. And there are signs of all of this happening already, even if we’re not quite there yet.

Taking speaking time, for example. In Season 1 Willow had the fourth most speaking time of any of the Core Four in eight episodes, the third most speaking time in three episodes, and the second most speaking time in just one episode (The Pack). She only had more than 12.5% of total speaking time in two episodes (The Pack again and also I Robot, You Jane), something that Xander managed in three episodes and Giles managed in eleven. (Buffy has more than 20% speaking time in every episode of the season, as is only proper and correct.)

But although she had fourth most speaking time again in When She Was Bad, Willow did get 13.16% speaking time. And in Reptile Boy and Halloween she is second in speaking time for two episodes running for the very first time (with 14.29% and 19.61% of all speaking time respectively).

She manages that by becoming much more assertive (that is, because the writers decide to make her more assertive). She has, by now, mostly accepted that her romantic interest in Xander is doomed. In Reptile Boy, she gets to dress down both Giles and Angel for their poor treatment of Buffy before leading them to go and help her. And Halloween, more than any episode prior, really does belong to Willow.

Willow, as much as anybody else, is responsible for saving the day here. Not Xander, for all his costume-inspired military training. Not Buffy, who hides behind Willow when she sees a car and asks her fearfully “what does it want?”. And not even Giles, who does confront Ethan and break the spell but who was so busy sitting in the library pretending to enjoy cross-referencing that without Willow he wouldn’t even have known there was anything strange going on that night.

And, of course, Willow seems to be the only one of the people changed by their costumes to retain their memories of their real lives. Partly this has to be for plot reasons – somebody has to remember who they are if we’re going to figure things out before the final ad break – but I suspect there’s a little more to it than that.

For the most part, Ethan’s spell shows us who the Scooby Gang aren’t. Buffy isn’t really a helpless delicate princess who’d rather die than fight and who faints at the first sign of danger. Xander isn’t really a heroic man of action who beats up pirates and rescues damsels in distress. Giles, we’re told, isn't really the “sniveling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer” he’s been pretending to be.

But the increasingly self-confident and self-assured Willow we see at the very end of this episode, as Oz drives by in his van? The Willow who’s not just smart and knowledgeable but also willing to take charge in a crisis? The Willow who learns to embrace the idea of wearing different outfits and taking charge of how the world perceives her? The Willow who had more speaking time this episode than Buffy herself managed last episode?

That isn’t who Willow Rosenberg is yet. But it’s who she’s going to become.

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023 #willow rosenberg

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generalluxun · 7 months ago

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So, I now we've discussed the Marinette Butterfly user Villain AU a bit and I wanted to share some musings I thought you'd find interesting.

I mentioned in talking I sort of had two distinct themes/ideas in mind that don't really fit together but that both are interesting to me.

So the basic set up is the same in both versions, something bad happens to Marinette's family over the school break. So she's got enough isolation from that when she's gifted a pendant as a comfort present, no one is present enough to notice her shenanigans.

She & her family are good people and they didn't deserve this (True) he resolves to access the power "Greater than Death" to right this wrong, & starts by sending out butterflies to locate the Miraculous.

With the broad empathy of the pendant & the more direct line via the butterflies, her perception of people becomes deeply bitter. People are becoming as miserable and angry as she is over the most minor of things! Leading to an increasing alienation from other people that makes her fall to villainy after a disastrous (Through butterfly) conversation with a transformed Fu.

This leads to "Dark Wings Rise."

Anyway the two variants I envisioned are as follows:

1: A deconstructive theme on the nature of "Good social skills VS bad social skills.

By which I mean, Marinette canonically is quite deft socially when not flabbergasted by her crush or super stressed. She offers genuine aid to those around her and gifts gives freely. This leads her to being very well liked.

In contrast, Chloe has terrible social skills in most casual scenarios she's exposed too and is actively disliked. & Lila, while well liked is only that way through using "Bad" skills, such as lying, rather than genuine one's.

The contrast would be in them, despite falling into the traditionally 'bad' category being her opposition. While Marinette uses her influence in the class to target them cos good skills can still be used for bad things.

In this context I imagine her Catalyst would be Sabrina. Whom she whisked away from Chloe and whose drive to be useful to others made her very easy to convert into an Akuma that existed to empower Marinette.

Lila's response to the class would basically be, "Is this a cult? Am I being educated in a cult class?" While Chloe's is more just "Everyone hated me anyway, & I don't trust anyone any-how bring it!"

The biggest hurdles would be Marinette's social skills not taking a dive with her head space. That she'd need to be transformed to use Nooroo's empathy power. & the fact she's not naturally that kind of schemer anyway.

2: A Good Victim Becomes a Bad Victim, VS a Bad Victim

Messily put, but fairly straightforward. A big issue many have with the show, and that can be analyzed inside it, even in the earlier seasons. Is how "Bad victims" who act out of hurt, ignorance or malice brought out in them don't usually get the same kind of empathy as the "Good victims". IE, the people whose trauma doesn't manifest in ways that are inconvenient or unpleasant or messy.

Let alone the perception of needing to earn people's assistance by improving before you get support, even when one is a child with no support networks, minimal guidance and struggle even identifying the problem. Yeah sure that may make it easier for people to help them but that's like asking someone with PTSD to stop having panic attacks before they get therapist for their panic attacks.

In this case, Marinette's not a character who canonically can easily grasp the "Bad victim" experience, or more subtle coercions. As a result, even when in a position like Ladybug she sometimes fumbles some major points or misses red flags Chloe & Gabriel/Audrey respectively.

So thematically she's unaware of it but her decline into villainy also involves her becoming a "Bad victim". One who chases away people trying to comfort her, if perhaps less overtly than Chloe, as her pity well taps out because "being embarrassed over a crush isn't as bad as what I went through but you feel as bad, how dare you!"

Meanwhile Chloe, largely due to circumstances is put in a somewhat better situation, be it a team, or via access to the Kwami or even just the admittedly clumsy efforts of Fu to stop her from getting killed by Akuma every few days.

The point is she's getting the help first and improving her standing in class and her mental health because of it. A fact which boggles Marinette who can't see how, or why, this is happening and perceives it as another injustice.

Her Catalyst would be Lila who sees the skilled seamstress has become socially isolated by her own hand. Her casual use of Akuma & efforts to see if Marinette can be a useful 'friend' lead her to becoming an accomplice. One who likely realizes too late just how out of hand this all is.

I think he big struggle with this idea would be how things got 'that bad' and 'that isolating' for Marinette. At least without making either her social network look shitty, or her own inclinations being naturally towards villainy regardless.

Conclusion:

I think over all the second version feels more coherent. Good social skills can be used for bad is more like an episode theme than a series theme. Plus as said it requires more explanations for how things go the way they do than the other.

Especially if Lila's less "Machiavellian villain" and more, "Oh she makes good outfits & has no friends, I can fix that & get free clothes! Oh she has magic powers, I want magic powers, I-... I think I am in over my head here... Double down double down!"

Notes:

Though it could also easily be linked with some other ideas I had recently. Like that more expanded villain cast from the regular AU.

IE, Sorcerers seeking the Miraculous, temple monk survivor after Fu, the Tsurugi's being anti villains/antagonists but not villains. Lila actually being Volpina, ETC.

Let alone the recent "Butterfly can do everything Peacock does with creative thinking" idea. Tough in that case explaining where Adrien came from may be hard without more of an overt AU...

Unless, the story starts into the school year, and Adrien, having befriended Marinette early on gives her his mothers pendant perhaps? Could still have Gabriel causing his own kind of trouble too... Hmm...

I muse, even as I know I likely lack the time to write this ><

Anyway I hope it was interesting!

I like the analysis. Second scenario definitely feels more viable. Drop senti-Adrien and the blending of the Butterfly/peacock doesn't matter. I would *not* bring sorcery/other stuff in. You already have a *lot* going on. You are past the point of adding complexity.

#ask #ml au

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cerealkiddie · 1 year ago

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caregiver!reader x regressor!toman!mikey/manjiro sano

hhh I have 3 episodes left in the tenjiku arc... so now more than ever I think mikey regressed :3 tw for abandonment

I think this is one he's kinda secretive about. the only people who knows is draken and you! also emma but not fully!

whether you've been friends with him from the beginning or came around later like takemichi. he senses a deep trust with you and having seen time and time again how you care for him he decided to open up a bit

+back on draken knowing. I think he might've put 2 and 2 together but didn't know how to call it! mikey is pretty childish by default; napping 24/7, throwing a tantrum if his meal doesn't have a flag on it, wanting to be carried. others over look it but draken looked a bit deeper. being so close to tomans leader. before you came along draken did care for him occasionally

now for emma, she notices when he's more childish than usual. sometimes his words slur when he's really tired, he can be a bit more irritable as well. sometimes he gets over excited about the simplest things.

she also has a slight influence over how his regression looks. I think mikey has a small bias for cutesy things, a pink stuffed animal here, a skirt there, pink paci or gacha character figurine. (most of his regression items r black monotone but u see pink here n there)

now for his regression hc's + reader lawl

his range is anywhere from 4-10

when he's older it's more discreet and just played off as his usual childish self, he's a bit needier, clingier, loves babbling and going on errands (they gotta be short, he will tire quickly)

whenever he's sleepy he loves hearing you info dump, or hum ur favorite tune, he likes your voice. plus it lowers his thoughts of you possibly leaving. he knows ur there, it soothes him and his racing heartbeat.

when he's younger he's less verbal, short sentences that can even be replaced by nouns, pronouns and titles

"mama/baba/dada, hug?"

little things he carries around as a comfort is a little plush taiyaki coin pouch and plush. def a kiddo that picks up shineys off the ground. has to empty his pockets at the end of the day ☹️

has an extra hair tie on his wrist and a small kandi bracelet that emma made him. he sometimes shakes it around to hear the click, clacks of the beads.

(aside from draken having like 3 hairties and baji having like 2. they always carry an extra for mikey)

probably has a stuffed animal from when he was younger aside from his old blankie/towel

big on contact. when he's regressed he has small tells but him latching on to you and touching you at every opportunity he gets. also the type to cling to you when he falls asleep.

not the type to walk off but he will stop and stare. of ur out shopping and he seems something he likes he will make a full dead stop and stare

ddlg/abdl/nsfw/variants dni! add any of ur own headcanons in the comments or reblogs ! post belongs to me ☆

#.drowsy writes #agere tokyo rev #tokyo rev agere #agere tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers agere #mikey agere #manjiro sano agere #agere mikey #agere manjiro sano #agere fandom #agere fanfic #agere reader #agere tkrv #tkrv agere #fandom agere

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behindthewox · 11 months ago

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World of 波特 [pinyin: bōtè]

In case you missed it, WoP is expanding with a server in Chinese! That makes sense since it's a HUGE market that you'd definitely want to get into, but what doesn't make sense is the way it's being handled at the moment.

Unlike all the other WoP servers in other languages the ordinary rules don't seem to apply. Usually the site leaders must be natives/native speakers and it's up to them to hire staff and teachers that know and use the language for their content. Everything must be written in the server's language and it has to be original material. You can't just copy from other sources, that's plagiarism and we have rules against that.

The Chinese server is set to launch January 29th, and a message has been sent out to fill the teacher positions. It outright says (I'm paraphrasing slightly) "you don't need to know Chinese, just use google translate and chat GPT to cover the minimal text requirements" (i.e. PT/BS and answering owls, maybe say hi in the chat). The message also makes clear that it's only temporary until they find actual native Chinese speakers that will fill the positions, and the newly implemented job limits don't apply here.

I can understand that it's hard to find native Chinese speakers within our current WoX community, and Chinese isn't just one language: it exists in many variants, Standard Chinese being the most common in China followed by Standard Mandarin and Cantonese in Asia (source: quick wikipedia research, I'm not an expert, don't quote me on this). In a way it makes sense to create something temporary to start with and then build from, but this doesn't feel right. This feels shoddy and disrespectful, using google translate for an entire website. Chinese is one of the most ancient languages in the world still spoken today, and like all other languages it's complex and nuanced beyond google translate.

It makes you wonder if the people who decided to launch a Chinese WoP server really thought things through. Troubleshooting and consequence analysis is important, and we've got plenty of people in the WoX community who could volunteer to do just that. We have so many experienced people who know exactly what to look out for and what to expect, what they'd personally consider red flags in a website and what they'd want to see as a user.

We don't have the full insight in what goes on in the creation of this new server, but looking at it from the outside a lot of us agree that it doesn't look good and we have concerns: Are the lessons copied from existing sites and just translated, and if so: do they have permission to use the content? Are the lessons just AI-generated? Who is going to translate all the Harry Potter-specific words and terminology (google translate doesn't do fictional concepts like polyjuice potion). Is this a serious attempt to expand the WoP family or is it a desperate attempt to get new users that will generate more income for the company?

If anyone knows, please share! Asks is open, and so is post submissions.

[note: yes, I googled "Chinese for Harry Potter" for the post title and that makes me a hypocrite, but in my opinion singular words and phrases is fine to translate by manually looking it up on the internet. What's not okay is running an entire text-based RP website through google translate and expect it to maintain a good quality. Spoiler: it does not.] [additional note: I could write a lot more but I won't, at least not in this post. There is more to be said though.]

#wox #wox site #chinese #worldofpotter

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 2 years ago

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Everybody complaining about phase 4 having no direction cause 'the MCU is always building up to something bigger' i personally don't think the problem is that it doesn't do well to build up for the future phases but it's that it is actively built on retconning the old ones and this is not a production like star wars that was over in 2005 (the movies specifically) so you can just 'let the past die' no you literally just had your grand event in endgame for that entire story that you had a lot of people following over the course of 10 years and then some month later you just smack us with that multiverse shit that basically makes everything that happened meaningless and in the absolute worse way possible and in the hands of a very incompetent writer like waldron I don't care if some people like his style or not he still remains highly inexperienced as a write to just depend on and just the fact that he borrowed an old script for the show should have been a red flag that he is not up for it.

I was honestly so excited for the concept of varients and so far the only good representation for varients was in spiderman , we know so little about the Wanda varients and i personally refuse waldron's idea about Stephan's varients it always seems to boil down to 'what if i gave stephen the same motivation i gave wanda to go crazy✨A BOOK✨' the loki varients were ok and way more interesting than whatever timeline loki the series was supposedly about (the blonde one can choke on marble tho)

It's such a lost opportunity, really. Their ideas aren't that bad, they're just executing them very, very poorly.

It's like instead of using the variants to explore different traits of the OG character to make them more complex, they only use them to reduce those characters to their most basic trait: Stephen is arrogant, Loki wants to rule. All the nuance, the complexity, their context and background are completely disregarded.

It's the same with the multiverse: in MoM we have a 40-second sequence and in the Loki series we have 3 minutes in Pompeii, a Walmart and Lamentis.

I just can't understand for the life of me this death of creativity, this absolute lack of interest in world-building, it seems the further they go into the multiverse the most basic, ordinary and bland it all becomes. Even in What If, a lot of the stories there are so simplistic.

I don't get it. Oh, and that excuse that it's "building up to something bigger"... sure, it is. But they have to make sure we care about what happens next, and in order to do that they have to work on the movies and the characters right now. They have to make the audience care about them now so we will follow the story so we'll be hooked for future movies and series. That's all we ask! But they're refusing to put in the effort now and telling us to forget about the lack of quality and focus on Kang and what's coming in 2025? I don't think so. Work for it if you want our attention.

#mcu critical #mcu salt

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wwouldvecouldveshouldve · 8 months ago

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Hai!! Im not sure if youre still doing your 1k special match up! But if you are id rlly enjoy being matched up with some!! (Also congrats on 1k!! I dont interact w you alot cause i was told about you thru my friend @luvfy0dor btw love them^^ but CONGRATS!!)

-Im alright with being matched with said BSD character(s) in a romantic way!

-My MBTI is ISTP-T

- Im not a big hobby person im usually just sitting around but i really enjoy making silly crafts (such as Kandi bracelets and animals) i also enjoy mystery, romance, and light horror novels/poems! I play all types of video games varying from roblox, genshin, HSR and variants of horror games.

- I talk about just topics that come to mind; most being BSD theories like especially in the newest chpt. I also enjoy talking about my music taste with others which is also an array of sorts which include; Mitski, Mom Jeans, Lana Del Rey, The Smiths, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, ICP, Korn, Flyleaf, blink-182, The Weekend, Taylor Swift, Slipknot, CA$, Laufey, PTV, Rammstein, Radiohead p, System of a Down and more! I also talk a lot about the games i play (i specifically talk about them with friends.)

- I really like REALLY hate self absorbed people that constantly think that everything is about them and nobody else matters at all in their life, only themself. Betrayal is another big one, it doesn’t matter who it is even if me and said person are very close or distant, being betrayed is quite literally a stab in the back. POPULAR? OPINION, I HATE RANPO AND FITZGERALD🙏 something about them being real self centered gives me a big shiver down my spine. Like I appreciate Fitzgerald and his dedication for his wife and dead kid but he kinda fits in with the “self absorbed” category cause why are you gonna try destroying Yokohama for a page, like i get you wanted your daughter back and all but damn. Obsessive people (in a bad obsessive) for example; being obsessed with a real person to the point if they break apart/dont want to be associated with said person anymore they make and say disgusting/sexual and/or inappropriate things about said person that doesnt want to be associated with other person. People with horrible attitude/personality or people that make racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/incest/stepcest jokes, anyone that fits into that category of gross things is an immediate nightmare and a big red waving flag, you wont catch me anywhere near someone like that.

- My personality is pretty complicated, im really introverted but once you get to know me well id say i change to a real chatter box. At times i can be outgoing but its rare, i can be kind but also ‘aggressive’ at times. Im also pretty scattered brain especially when trying to get my point across to someone. Also again, im very passionate when its coming to certain things.

- This was a bit harder to answer cause most things i do are pretty normal but if it’s specified by the people around me im definitely more unique out of friends/family and people from my town. Specifically just my passion for the things i like, id go above and beyond to defend the things i enjoy. Also i have pretty bad health problems for my age but they are def getting better! So i guess that makes me unique too.

- Im perfectly okay with being matched with a character who commits crimes its not really a big deal to me! Id enjoy all the honest opinions 💗

- Something i value in a person is their personality. I feel like most people say personality but its a real big thing i value. I also value someone’s passion for the things they are interested in. I enjoy when people are passionate with doing/talking about the things they do/want to do. I find it charming when people are confident about that sort of thing. When it comes to personality, i dont want someone who has a bad attitude in general where it’s obvious they have bad intentions. Someone that is caring, kind, charming etc is ideal but i wouldnt mind if they had a slight attitude.

- Something i cant stand in others is when they are over confident or (going back to things i dislike) when they are self absorbed. When i say over confident, thats not me saying i hate people being confident cause i dont, i love when people are confident about themselves/things they like etc. but when it gets to the point of someone saying “im better at (insert activity) than you” or talking down on someone about their looks it crosses so many lines. Nobody should feel like they are better than anymore cause everyone is different in many ways than one. Nobody should be insecure cause of something an over confident person said. With self absorbed people, they kinda just irritate me when they are so self centered that they cant even understand basic human decency.

SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG! PLS TAKE UR TIME WHEN MAKING THIS!! AGAIN, HAPPY 1K HAVE AN AMAZING DAY/EVENING/NIGHT!!! 💗💗

((OMG RAY TOLD YOU ABOUT ME??? I AM PASSING AWAY FROM JOY))

the 1k matchup will be around for a LONG time, don't worry. thank you so much for requesting, I tried to finish this as soon as possible but I go through every single bsd character and see how compatible you are with them so it takes a while.

if I'm being for real, I'm your best matchup. I agreed with EVERY SINGLE THING YOU SAID except I can tolerate self-absorbed people more but it really depends. also, everybody thinks I'm introverted except for my close friends who know how much I will YAP about anything I'm interested in. I am SO passionate about certain things and I LOVE when other people talk about something that they're passionate about even if I've never felt that way about it. also, we look for the same things in people. I can skip over almost everything except for their personality but I don't tend to become close with people who don't have at least a few things that they'd defend til death because they love it so much.

however, for a bsd character, I match you with Akutagawa!!! The brother.

Have you seen how he is with Dazai? He practically worships that man. But you, his lover, are the one thing that is above even Dazai. You are the deity that he devotes his heart and soul to. He doesn't care what the topic is, he will give you his full attention and agree with every opinion. He will even try and research the topics that you love just so he can have deeper conversations with you about it. He would definitely watch all the shows you like. He will learn all the songs to all your favourite musicians and spend his rare time off analyzing them. Learning and loving you is a religion and he is the literal Pope of it. If you're in an argument with someone, even if you're wrong, he will listen to your voice instead of literally everybody else in the room. He is your number one fan, and will support you for everything that you do. He loves that you encourage him getting more into his most random interests. It makes his life happier and it's because of you. You're the reason he gets his lungs checked out often and why he's searching to heal them. He must spend as much time on Earth as possible with you. He would not bat an eye even if you asked him to get on his knees and beg for your love. He would fight wars for you, no questions asked. He's mentally ill, and he's so glad you love him despite the blood on his hands and the wretchedness of his mind and morals. He would love taking you to places, and if anyone begins to ruin your experience there, he will not hesitate to silence them unless you tell him not to. He is your guard dog and constantly worries about you when he's not around. You tell him what you're doing and where you're going before you go there so he does not get worried. Often, he apologizes to you for being so overprotective. He doesn't really like horror games that much, but he will play them if it's for you. He might even get a little scared, so expected him to be a little bit jumpy for a while. He hopes you can understand.

AHAHHAHAHAHAHHA I finally finished one of my requests! Thank you so much for putting something in my askbox dear <33

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #keysasks #akutagawa

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lexicog · 2 years ago

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Fuck it im posting wip. i wanna make this into pride stickers with alt colors for different flags.. but i also wanted to make a version for people who want something stealth so i was thinking maybe a sprig/bundle of lavender in the hand or behind the body (with a color palette to compliment the purple and green) but i'd love suggestions for other ways i could nod to it. unfortunately i don't think i can sell it this year or at least not within the month... but maybe by next year i can have some more designs to go with it

oh also i want advice 👉 when people make pride merch of monsters/characters/abstract designs, do you prefer when each flag gets a unique design, or when there are flag variants of each design. i figure the latter is better so people can get the design they like most with their flag but the unique characters ascribed to identities is pretty fun in concept. but also i'm not target audience cause i've never been able to buy pride stuff so answir below 👇 if you want

#creature design #pride #lgbtq #art #wip #my art #the multiple flags per design option lets me make the most of less work teehee plus i do get sad when i don't like the options for my flags #so that's where my vote lies but i genuinely want to know what other people want from it #fingers crossed it gets some responses #ooh oh ALSO if i could get the stickers manufactured myself i could make it a sticker sheet with like. the main creature sticker and then #little extras all around it like the flag and maybe like. maybe a fruit to go with it or. something #well i'll need to brainstorm that a bit more but i think it's a fun idea

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masterroofersmktg · 9 months ago

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Selecting a High-Quality Skylight Contractor (Podcast)

We talk with Ryan Sturgis, Senior Sales Representative at Velux, about selecting a high-quality skylight contractor. We also discuss the essential qualities to look for in a skylight product, certifications and warranties homeowners should prioritize when selecting a skylight brand, and common misconceptions about skylights.https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1761442182&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true

Master Roofers · Selecting a High Quality Skylight Contractor (with VELUX Skylights)

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I'm here today with Brett Rogenski, General Manager of Master Roofers, the most trusted roofing company in New Hampshire for over 80 years. Welcome, Brett.

Brett Rogenski: Thanks, John. Thank you for having me.

John: Sure. And our special guest today is Ryan Sturgis, Senior Sales representative at VELUX, a residential and commercial skylight and roof window manufacturer. Welcome, Ryan.

Ryan Sturgis: John, glad to be here. Thanks.

Essential Qualities to Look For in Skylights

John: Sure. Today we're talking about some important factors in selecting a high-quality skylight contractor, but Ryan, let's talk a little bit about skylights in general. What are some of the essential qualities to look for in a skylight product in terms of durability, energy efficiency, and safety?

Ryan: Well, John, skylights are all over the world. They need to withstand summer heat in Florida, Arizona, Texas. They need to withstand the cold of Canada, of Northern Scandinavia. So, everything about the skylight is chosen with that rigor in mind, if you want to think of it that way. The gaskets, the sealant, the glass, thermal characteristics. There's a lot that goes into it and it's always being iterated on, if you will.

But really, probably one of the most important things is regarding safety. Skylights come standard now with laminated glass. I don't think a lot of people are aware of that. It is the most safe because that inner pane of your skylight, it's glass on a slope above you, sometimes above your bed, and so it behaves like your car windshield, which is also a skylight when you think about it, and so if that glass were to ever break for any reason, it would just hang there stuck to that acrylic interlay of laminate. Skylights are very durable and definitely code compliant in the safety department for sure.

John: Do all skylights have that safety measure or is this something particular to VELUX?

Ryan: No. A lot of manufacturers, that would probably be a choice and an upcharge, something that you would have to be educated, have a certain knowledge to specify and you would have to pay extra.

For us, it is just a standard. When we feel like we carry the flag for the skylight category, we have to take leadership and we want to make sure that everything that we put out into the world, if you will, is code compliant almost no matter how it's used, basically. And that's what that laminated glass assures us.

Skylight Energy Efficiency

John: What about in terms of energy efficiency? Are modern skylights more energy efficient than older types of skylights?

Ryan: Very much so. You would find if you were driving by older skylights from the '80s, in the winter, that the snow would be melted off of it, but also melted sometimes even all around it, which is indicating how much heat's being lost. Glass has come a long way, not just for skylights, but for regular vertical windows as well and with the glazing variant that is standard, it's so efficient that when you add a shade to it, a solar-powered shade, which we provide frequently for customers, the tested U-value that the government uses for Energy Star drops all the way to 0.25. And that may not mean too much to a lot of people -- what it amounts to, though, is if you can see behind me, the snow doesn't immediately melt off that skylight. The snow can last a couple of weeks. And some people don't like that. I do like it. I feel that the snow is adding another layer of insulation and it's just indicating that it's not just a hole in the roof. It's quite well insulated. The snow finally melted off that skylight behind me when it warmed up outside, Brett, because it's been unseasonably warm for the last week or two.

Skylights can be quite energy efficient, and that's something that a lot of people aren't aware of if they're just used to skylights from the '80s.

Brett: Yeah, I think that that's something that we... That's feedback that we get very commonly from customers and prospects, people who are looking at maybe replacing older skylights, is they're really shocked at how much more efficient modern skylights are, how much more well insulated they are.

Going back to the other discussion on the safety, that's something a lot of people don't think about and, living here in New England, a lot of folks have skylights because they have beautiful trees around their home and that sort of thing. I lived in the lakes region for a long time. Well, occasionally that beautiful pine tree loses a large limb and it lands on your roof, which is a problem. But you and the owner and the insurance company and a roofer will help figure that out. But what you don't want to have is a family member get injured with glass raining in, and you're right, with VELUX, you don't have to worry about that. With some other manufacturers who do not use laminated glass, that's a distinct possibility.

The whole key to a situation like that is we don't want anyone to get hurt, and we certainly don't want them to get hurt from that, so that added protection is fabulous.

Skylight Certifications and Warranties

John: Absolutely. Ryan, what sorts of certifications and warranties should homeowners prioritize when they're selecting a skylight brand?

Ryan: I would say unless you have an unusual local code like Miami-Dade certification or something like that, then skylights have a wide range of certifications that are most relevant to, probably more so, architects, they certainly fulfill every requirement where we're at, which is New England right now.

The most important thing that I would want a homeowner to know is about the warranty, specifically, there are different warranties for different aspects of the skylight. The hardware, any electronics, the glass. The glass is warrantied for 20 years, as a matter of fact.

But the most unexpected one may be that we have a no leak warranty. If that skylight leaks, under any circumstances, then we cover damages, product, and labor for 10 years. And it certainly isn't that we expect there to even be an issue in 10 years, it's just that the idea is, within a decade, that skylight has been put through its paces. You have had that storm come up the coast, you have had that ice storm, you've had a lot of snow and then had it rain and freeze. You've had all these conditions occur and the skylight has come through on the other end and performed.

So, you have cut a hole in your roof and we just need to be worthy of that trust. It's a big deal to us and part of that is taking explicit ownership of that hole in the roof with that no leak warranty.

Common Misconceptions About Skylights

John: Are there any common misconceptions that people still have about skylights and roof windows that they should be aware of?

Ryan: Yeah, I would say there are probably two primary ones. One would be that skylights leak, that all skylights leak. An enormous amount has been done with that. Starting in 2010, we redesigned our skylight, again to take ownership of that hole, and that's when that no leak warranty started. Everyone likes what skylights do, John. Everyone likes natural daylight, everyone likes fresh air, but there are some for whom the risks of a skylight outweigh that. And so we had to take ownership at that time and we redesigned everything, putting it through real world practical tests, not computer modeling, to make sure that it performed to our expectations. So, we've hit that on the head and folks that are inclined to get a little extra day lighting into the core of their space, they can do so with confidence. That would be the first one.

The second one is just that the skylight is an energy drain. There is that thought out there, and what we've done there…I mentioned earlier about U-Value, and that's probably a little bit obscure for listeners, I guess, but all reputable companies submit a product to a third party lab for testing, and that is used by the NFRC and Energy Star. And what that effectively does is, our skylight has a 0.42 U-Value without a shade, but with a shade people would be, I think, shocked to realize that it improves the energy efficiency about 40% by adding a shade to the skylight. Creating that dead air space between the fabric and the inner pane of glass makes an enormous difference in energy efficiency and provides a very, very generous federal tax credit at the same time, in the amount of 30% on the entire project.

I mentioned earlier about the snow on my own skylight. That's demonstrating that in a very clear, real world way to me as well. So, I feel like both of those common misconceptions, we've hit right on the head. Confidence and energy efficiency.

John: Right, with that snow on the roof, like you said, if your snow is immediately melting off of your skylight window, that just means that all that heat from your house is just going right through that window and melting that snow, and so the fact that all that snow is just able to stay right on the window and not melt means you're not losing that heat from inside the house.

Ryan: Yeah. A roof certainly has a certain insulating value, R-Value, and the skylight is not quite at the level where the roof is, but neither are regular windows compared to the walls that contain them either. But you get twice as much light per square foot from a skylight on a slope as you do from a vertical window, like a double hung or a casement.

So, usually when I'm talking to architects or design professionals, I'm explaining how skylights punch out of their weight class, if you want to think of that expression in that regard. Surprisingly energy efficient, even, because they're in a roof, they're a very small part of the roof in terms of square footage and they bring in twice the light per square foot of other windows as well. It's very possible, Brett, when you're replacing a skylight on any given house in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or what have you, that window will be the most energy efficient window in that house.

Brett: I would tell you, Ryan, that I 100% agree with you. I guess every case is a little bit unique, but I would tell you certainly in 9 out of 10 cases where we're retrofitting, replacing, someone's older skylight or maybe even installing a brand new skylight, it's going to be newer than most of the windows in that home, if not all of them. And I would agree with you, it's probably going to be the most efficient opening in that space.

And to your point, Ryan as well, I was just thinking as you were expressing it, skylights today, this is not your grandpa's skylight. There's a lot of misconceptions that may have been true, or truer, once upon a time that are no longer the case because of, like you said, a couple of misconceptions that they're inefficient and that they all leak. Well, once upon time, I don't know if that was true, but it was more prevalent and you're absolutely right. VELUX skylights now, they're standing behind that with that no leak warranty and it stands up over time. And the efficiency, of course, that can just be measured by third parties as you said, and we can prove to people that, "Hey, this is very efficient."

So yeah, it's not your grandpa's skylight. They're really quite a joy to live with.

Factors in Ensuring a Successful Skylight Installation

John: Brett, while we're talking about installations, beyond the quality of the product from VELUX, what are some of the crucial factors in ensuring that a skylight is successfully installed in a roof, especially when you're working with the existing roof structure?

Brett: Sure. In general, I tend to think of skylights in two classifications. There's a new installation, so someone who does not have a skylight currently and chooses that they would like one, and that comes with some structural change. This isn't just re-roofing where someone's taking your old shingles off. They're actually cutting into the structure of your home's framing and doing this, so this bridges between just roofing and construction because you have to box that, you have to do finish work inside, all that stuff.

And then the other part is replacing an existing skylight, which is probably the more common situation. Most homes either get built with or don't get built with skylights. What are some of the most important things to be looking for there? Experience. The more skylights you and your crew, your company, have experience with, the more competent you're going to be in either of those categories, either replacing a skylight or installing a new skylight.

Not every company is actually built to support skylights, either. Any roofing company can go to their distributor and purchase a skylight. They all can do it. My question would be how often are you guys doing this? How often are you replacing skylights? Do you have a crew of team members who are certified by the manufacturer to replace skylights?

In our case, for instance, at Master Roofers, we're a five-star certified contractor by VELUX, so we've had to, in essence, prove to VELUX that we are experts in skylight replacement and in skylight installation.

So, the biggest things are coming down to experience with skylights and do you have team members with those right skill sets, which again crosses really into construction, in some cases, not simply, "Do you have a guy that's a roofer?", who -- not to demean that at all, that's a skill set in its own, it's just different than installing skylights. Any thoughts on that, Ryan? You work with a lot of folks in this space.

Ryan: Yeah, you would definitely want to partner with a company that has seen it all, I guess, for lack of a better term. There are certainly skylights that are VELUX now and they're 25 years old and you're replacing with the exact same size, and those are a little bit more pedestrian, whatever you want to call it. But there are less optimum applications. Sometimes you're close to a valley or close to a ridge.

Sometimes you're replacing a competitor from the eighties that is not around anymore, of which there are many. Now we have to navigate and flow like water to an efficient solution, and you need to have all of the solutions that VELUX offers at your fingertips. A different installation method, different sizes than you're accustomed to, different flashing kits sometimes. You have different roofing, particularly in New England, you can have metal roofing. That is another not-insurmountable challenge, but it's just a different installation that experience pays off with.

It's definitely always an advantage to, as I say, partner with an installer, an applicator that has seen it all before, for sure. Absolutely.

The Skylight Installer Certification Process

John: Can you give us a little insight into what that certification process is in terms of certifying a company like Master Roofers to install VELUX skylights?

Ryan: To be a specialist, which is what Master Roofers is, you need to go through a physical roof section, installation training on a variety of products, ganging our products together, which is a bit of a different and more detailed installation. Installing roof windows, installing sun tunnels, installing shades. I think even at that time it was re-glazing skylights probably as well, so it's a quite wide-ranging installation training.

These days, you have to know about how to register electronic components, remote controls to windows, so that you can operate your shades. Comfort level with our active system so that you can run our products off of your phone with our app or our other touchscreen remotes, so it's even more wide-ranging and stringent than it even would've been in the past, and a significant part of that is also understanding, as I mentioned, all of those solutions.

You never know what you're going to encounter based on the roofing material, based on the application and the functionality that the homeowner wants from their skylight now as opposed to what the homeowner wanted 30 years ago. So, how to best explain the correct installation method and the correct method of control for the skylight for each homeowner. A lot of the training is sales related in that regard so that you can understand your solutions, provide that for a homeowner.

Brett: Ryan brings up a good point with the sales related, and when we talk about differentiators, at least our approach at Master Roofers, our salespeople are very well-trained and they're going in... It all starts with a good design. Yeah, you need experience to go execute it and do it right and we literally have "master roofers" on staff. We have folks who work on metal, slate, copper, asphalt shingle, everything in between.

I'm thinking of one particular gentleman, Pat Shea. Pat's been doing this for 40 plus years. He went to a roofing trade school and Pat literally is a man who can do anything. But what Pat needs, the real beginning point, is from visiting with the homeowner and aligning on what's possible and what their goals are, starting off with a great design. Otherwise, we're putting Pat in a position where he has to maybe pull out a miracle that he may not have. And our relationship with VELUX goes back, gosh, what Ryan? Is it two decades or more?

Ryan: Well, almost certainly the skylights have been used for many, many, many decades, but as a certified installer... Geez, I would say probably 12 years maybe? I would guess.

Brett: Yeah, I was going to say…long time. A long time.

Ryan: That is a lot of skylights. Yes.

Brett: That is a lot of skylights. And one interesting thing is that most roofers avoid wanting to cut holes or mess with holes and roofs. Their goal is, if it's not leaking, don't touch it and don't cut a hole.

We're a little unique. We like it, and that's just because we're so comfortable in our skillset and with the product that we use, that cutting in a new skylight sounds great to us, doesn't scare us. Want to replace the skylight? Super. We love doing that. We love helping people like that.

Whereas I think that you'll find with some other roofers, there's some apprehension. They're pretty happy sometimes to say, "Oh, what? We're re-roofing your home. We're taking a 30-year-old roof off and you've got a 30-year-old skylight? Oh, it's not leaking. Go ahead and leave it."

Think about it. Now you have a 30-year-old window in your house with your brand new roof. What's the likelihood that's going to work out well? And it's because they're not comfortable with their skillset, whereas we embrace that. We enjoy that.

Choosing a Skylight Contractor

John: Brett, what else is involved in choosing a good contractor for installing skylights? You mentioned experience, which you obviously have, and what about licensing and insurance, things like that?

Brett: Sure, absolutely. Yeah, you should absolutely be seeking someone who's a certified home improvement contractor, and can prove that on paper. They should provide you with copies of all. So that's essentially your licensing in that space. You should also be getting copies of their certificates of liability, etc. Any reputable contractor is going to be able to provide those to you in real time and make you a named insured of their insurance and of showing that they're a certified home improvement contractor, which of course, the state regulates that.

Another great resource, as well, is the Better Business Bureau and things like Google. That's one of the neat things of the modern era is that if someone's out there doing a bad job, it's going to catch up with them. You can't control what people say about your business on Google. They can just do it. And we all know that occasionally there's some folks who give poor reviews, because they're whatever, they're just having a bad day, but if you see a company with a lot of reviews and they're overwhelmingly good, that's a good sign from the field as well.

But the three biggest things I would look for, absolutely insurance, absolutely that they're a certified home improvement contractor, and then the next thing I would actually look at is their longevity.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of folks in the roofing space who are around for a few years and then they disappear. There's a lot of folks in the roofing space who decide to, "Hey, I'm a roofer. I worked for someone else. I'm going to go out on my own." And they don't do things like get proper insurance or they, "Oh, I'm supposed to pull a permit in your municipality for this? We won't pull a permit. I'll save you some money." They're probably not trying to save you money. They probably don't have proper licensing to be doing that.

So yeah, absolutely seek people who have that longevity, can provide you with proof of insurance, can provide you with proof of licensing. And you're also going to find that they're aligned with quality companies, that they're going to be aligned with companies like VELUX where we have their certifications. In roofing, where we're a master elite roofer with GAF. That comes with very similar needs to being certified with VELUX, and that'll put you on the right track to finding someone that you can trust to be your homes partner.

Skylight Project Timeline

John: Right. And then Brett, what else is involved in the project timeline? You mentioned it starts with the sales and the design of the project. What happens after that?

Brett: Sure. Great question. The initial sales call is going to align with our skylight expert about what you're trying to achieve. So, we do that. We actually do full measure calls. We actually get up on the roof, so whether it's a replacement or it's a new installation, we're getting up on the roof doing a physical inspection in most cases, too, depending on the design of the home, if there's an attic that needs to be addressed, some sort of space that needs to be addressed for getting in there. We're doing that on what we call our measure call. The key components of that are aligning with the customer's expectations and then the second of all, accurate measurements, because again, remember this is a construction project in some cases, so where do roof rafters lay? To Ryan's point earlier, where are valleys, etc.?

Once we've designed it, presented the solution to the customer, they choose to accept it, the next part is ordering skylights, so ordering the windows to go in the roof. There are some standard sizes that we can adapt with. There are custom sizes that Velux can actually make for us. So, depending on the need, the lead time -- in most standard cases, roughly a two-week lead time on us getting the material in and getting it into our schedule.

Once that material is successfully available to us, so it's been distributed to us through our distributor by VELUX, then we're going to align with you on what time works for that. Obviously we're going to be putting holes in your roof or we're going to be taking what's not a hole and opening it up and making it a hole. We have to work around weather.

So, I guess what I would tell you is, from the time that you sign that agreement after the measure call to the time that you're actually executing, replacing, or installing your skylights is going to be in the two-week to four-week time range for most cases, depending on weather, depending on if you're getting a custom skylight, those can make it longer of course.

Common Questions and Concerns About Skylights

John: Okay. And this can be a question for either one or both of you. What are some of the most frequent questions or concerns that you encounter from homeowners regarding skylights?

Ryan: Sure. Well, I would say from my part, there are probably three different common questions.

Identifying Skylights

The first would be people want help identifying. They have an old VELUX skylight or an old skylight of another manufacturer, and they need to identify what is the current comparable VELUX to be able to go into that opening gracefully, either on its own as a separate project or as a part of the roof. Or just recommendations, if it's a new skylight, for size, they want to daylight an area.

I'll give you an example with COVID, a lot more people were in their offices and all of a sudden they realized that their home office wasn't especially pleasant. It didn't have as much natural daylight. So, we would get a lot of calls from people with basically a Teams meeting showing us their space and asking us how many skylights it would take to be able to have a pleasant amount of natural daylight in their area. And there's a lot that goes into that with framing, and even the color of the walls can help make it more reflective or less.

Tax Credits

But probably the most common question that I get these days is related to tax credits. Solar-powered motorized skylights run off a remote. They close if it rains so that you can use them spring, summer, and fall at will with confidence. But probably the most important thing about them is they're eligible for 30% uncapped federal tax credit on the entire project, installing those skylights. Everything that you pay because you decided to put this skylight in, you can take a 30% federal income tax if it is a home in the United States and if you do pay federal income tax, if you have a federal tax liability. So, if you have a number of skylights, you can see where that would add up to a significant amount of money.

The federal government is helping you to replace old skylights when you do your roof, if you want to think of it that way. It makes all the difference in the world in the calculus of what you do when you're replacing a skylight. And we did that for a few years and we realized that if we, the manufacturer, pre-install a solar-powered shade into any type of skylight, even a fixed skylight or a manually operated skylight, it imbues that skylight as well as a solar electric property and you can take a 30% federal tax credit on the entire project related to the installation of it.

So, really almost all of our skylights that we sell now, unless they're custom sized, you have it within your power to take a 30% tax credit on the work that Brett and his team are doing, and that is a powerful tool to help people with their project.

John: Yeah, that's an important consideration. Absolutely.

Brett: I think for us, a lot of the questions we receive, especially during the sales process, go back to something we chatted about earlier that, hey, this isn't your grandpa's skylight anymore.

A lot of folks maybe have an existing skylight and for whatever reason, it's time to move on, replace it. A lot of what Ryan just spoke about, about solar-powered shades, about being able to vent it without having a giant pole that you're cranking up and that sort of thing, about the fact that it will close automatically when it senses rain and seal up your house. Most people aren't aware of that, so we like to take time and educate in the process because people love the light of skylights. They love, in many cases, the ability to vent and get fresh air. Most of them don't realize how much more convenient it is, maybe more now than it ever was before, certainly.

And even doing things like home automations. Ryan mentioned the app and then there's some other stuff that's associated with it. You can set it up so shades are opening and closing automatically on preset times and same thing with venting your home, having these open and close. And for us, I guess, maybe a lot of the most gratifying part is educating people to... In addition to the light that skylights provide, how easy they are to live with now with these modernizations that have occurred to them over time, and the fact that you're not going to have to worry about this thing leaking. The product is going to be leak proof. And then when you work with a quality contractor, they're going to do a great job and you're not going to have issues there. So, it's not going to leak at your roof either.

John: Right. Speaking of quality contractors, do you have any cautionary tales, Brett, things that you've seen where maybe a homeowner got a skylight installed by a different contractor and now they're having problems? What have you seen?

Brett: Sure. Unfortunately, we meet a lot of people in that situation. "Hey, I'm getting leaks around my skylight," that sort of thing. "I had some guy do it. He doesn't call me back anymore," And that sort of thing. So we do get that. We don't like meeting people in those circumstances, but what we do like is the fact that we can help them.

So, again, it goes back to working with someone who works with and who installs skylights all the time and is really competent and confident in their skills.

A lot of times what we do is we get up there,and the skylight itself may not be leaking, but it's leaking around the skylight. We do what's called a water test, which is exactly what it sounds like. We're up there with a hose figuring out exactly where the permeation is and we're helping then. We usually have to remove shingles and redo flashing and then make it so that this is truly watertight around that opening.

Occasionally, we may find the skylights themselves, not if they're working with a VELUX skylight, as long as it was properly installed, the skylight itself is not going to leak. We're pretty confident of that. It's usually all the other work around the skylight that is where the risk is, if you will.

So yeah. A lot of folks go, "Wow, I was able to save. I worked with Joe in a truck and I was able to save 10% over that certified company." Well, some days you get what you pay for, and I'm not trying to dump on any other contractors, whatsoever, but I guess my cautionary tale would always be, work with that certified contractor, work with someone that the manufacturer recommends, because they have standards in place that help ensure that you're going to get a quality installation by a competent company that will stand behind that work as well once they leave.

Collaboration Between Skylight Manufacturers and Roofing Companies

John: And then finally, guys, what collaborative efforts between manufacturers and roofing companies and roofing installers can be taken to ensure a seamless and positive experience for homeowners who are choosing skylights?

Ryan: Well, we do ask for regular training to keep folks up to date so that you have the right…At any given application, you have the right solution at your fingertips if you're a salesperson for a certified company. So you know what's available, you know what the best way to approach it is, if they want it venting, if they want it fixed, know the best way to approach that. You're conversant with the tax credit information that I mentioned earlier.

One thing that's unique about this area is that the majority of skylights are venting. Most skylights are venting around here in this part of New England and so people are usually trying to evaluate the best way to do that. What's the best experience? And if you don't understand the tax credit in its totality and believe that you're going to be able to achieve that when you do your taxes, then you might wind up with a suboptimal result, I think. Definitely ongoing education and touch points.

Also, to me, a good roofer knows when to bring me in as the rep, which I go out and look at stuff, or maybe it's someone from another part of the country. They should have access to their VELUX rep. We want these things going smoothly. We want people putting in the correct skylights, enjoying them, and when they are working for them and they're using them on a day in and day out basis, then someday when they build another home, they will put more skylights in presumably. And that's the best result for VELUX for sure.

Brett: Yeah, absolutely. And ourselves, being the roofer integrator, if you want to think of it, that's a lot of our job is to work with manufacturers, both shingle manufacturers, work with construction consultants, work with folks like Ryan at VELUX, and make sure that we're staying fully trained and that, number two, we're using the best and optimal products and methods for all those things that come together. Because there's a skylight there that's being built into construction that now has shingles around it. So, at the end of the day, they all converge, and that's our job is to stay current and fluent with each of those facets of the game to give the customer the best experience.

John: All right, well that's all really great information, Brett. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Brett: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate you having me.

John: And Ryan Sturgis from VELUX Skylights. Thanks for joining us as well.

Ryan: You bet. Glad to be here.

John: And for more information about Master Roofers, you can visit the website masterroofers.com or call 603-825-4856.

#roof installation #residential roofing #metal roof #skylight #skylight installation #roof maintenance #roof repair #roofing company #roof replacement #roofing #roof #roofers

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thatstormygeek · 9 months ago

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It probably shouldn’t surprise us, incidentally, to find many people in an anti-fascist coalition aligned at least partially with supremacist beliefs. Supremacy and its unsustainable foundational lies of individualism and earned worthiness and redeeming violence are inherent to my nation, which is the United States—present at its very founding, threaded through all its self-aggrandizing myths. Maybe you live in a similar nation, or maybe you don’t—but we marinated in those supremacist myths since birth, did most of us United-Staters; little wonder our grey matter took on at least some of that supremacist flavor. Additionally, fascists act in fathomless bad faith, so we should expect to find fascists secreted within an anti-fascist coalition, posing as something other than they are, to better effect fissures and splits between different factions of that coalition, to try to fool people into taking on eliminationist supremacist beliefs from an anti-fascist position, or to peel off the support of people who are still fooling themselves, clinging still to old supremacist beliefs, often without realizing that’s what they’re doing. An anti-fascist coalition is bad for fascists, after all. We should expect to see fascists getting simultaneously sly and brutal, to try to bust it up.

Binaries and illusions of binaries are amongst the most useful weapons for fascists who are trying to sow divisions within for example an anti-fascist coalition.

[...]

Any candidate that wants to win an election has a couple options: either they can try to categorically differentiate themselves from other candidates, by aligning themselves with under-served constituencies in as sharp or as clear a way as possible, and trusting that they’ll bring along enough of the rest to prevail. Or they can draft closely to their opponent’s position, and offer a differentiated variant of the same brand of whatever product the opponent is offering, if they think they can offer the same thing but better, in order to siphon their competition’s support away.

A fascist politician has a pretty easy way to differentiate themselves. All they have to do is offer more eliminationist violence and a more bigoted rationale than anybody else is offering. If anybody else agrees to give fascist voters the amount of eliminationist violence the fascist politician is offering, then they can immediately offer even more violence against even more people, and offer to make it even more brutal. Voters who want eliminationist violence and bigoted rationales will always support the candidate offering more violence and a more bigoted rationale, no matter how much the candidate offering these things also betrays every other value those voters claim to revere—as I think Republican voters have clearly proved beyond doubt’s shadow by now.

[...]

To my mind, the better way to go, (and healthier, especially against fascists), is to create a categorical differentiation—in other words, to go where the fascist candidates can’t go, because if the fascist candidate went there, they would lose too much support from their core constituency and thus lose the election and thus lose power and influence and money for items of flair like flag lapel pins and federal judges. A categorical differentiator is when you offer fresh-squeezed orange juice instead of sugar water that might give you cancer, in other words. I’d say if you want to siphon off voters from your opponent by taking on similar positions, you’d better be very precise and sure that you can offer the same thing but better, because otherwise what will happen is you won’t be offering anything to anybody willing to buy from you. (And if you’re up against fascists, you shouldn’t be offering fascism at all … but come back next week and we'll really get into it.)

#us politics #ar moxon #the reframe #republicans are unfit for office #ostrich dems

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addgg-taylor · 11 months ago

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I Was Wrong About AI

It's a morning like most others. I wake up and lay in bed for about half an hour, scrolling through my phone to check my emails, Discord, Telegram, FurAffinity, and Tumblr. I don't have the Tumblr app though, and FurAffinity doesn't have an app, so I open up Chrome. There, you get a feed of news tailored to you by Google based on your interests. That's when I see it; AI has invaded the creative space in a game I was interested in playing, The Finals. The creators received approval to use an AI announcer in their game. While AI might be usable to lend more authentic (procedurally generated) responses than scripted audio bites from a real actor, that's a job lost. It's just one, yes, but that's what I needed to finally start noticing what was really happening.

Since I clicked an article on AI, more AI controversy started rolling in (of course). This issue wasn't limited to one game; it was far more widespread than I thought, and I was about to be hit with a right hook from tech news hell. Soon, if you're a Windows user, you won't be able to avoid AI in your daily life. There will be a dedicated key on your keyboard for it, and eventually, dedicated hardware in new computers for it. Not only is this bloatware a lot of folks (like myself) aren't interested in, but it's not the kind that can just be turned off (or potentially removed by some Windows variant); it'll be an integral part of your computer, and even if you remove the AI entirely, you'll have still paid for the tech to be put into your device.

It's at this point that the stuff hit the fan for me, and I start digging deeper. The creators of ChatGPT being legally challenged for allowing free access to paid content. Bing forcing you to engage with Copilot when you scroll up too far. Google injecting AI into its YouTube app. Hollywood folks considering AI movie scripts as a serious solution to the writer's strike. Several major AI art controversies in recent months. Creators I used royalty free music from using AI in their music. It made me look back and realize that I was wrong.

I originally stood as a devil's advocate for AI. "If it accidentally scraped up content it wasn't supposed to, could it really be blamed when it was told not to?" "Is it really stealing art from people who don't want their art used?" "If I use it for personal projects and have no intention of calling the generated work mine, is it a big deal?" These are actual questions I raised, and in retrospect, I was just ignoring red flags. Now, two years after I started supporting AI, I'm against it.

Why Are You Posting This Here Instead Of Your Main?

Normally I'd keep controversy to my main, taytay-the-gaybertooth, but this is actually related to the TCG scene. It's actually been rocked by a few AI controversies over the past couple of years, and my MTG Fan projects have used AI in the past. These fan works will no longer use AI.

We can't do much as average citizens to push back against AI besides just not using it, and even then there's only so much we can do. We can't just stop using our phones, computers, and for some, even their internet and tvs to oppose companies using AI. Small companies can't afford to replace all their Windows machines with Macs, and even if they could, there's parity problems they'll inevitably encounter. Shareholders will keep pushing for AI because it's a buzzword, it's sensational, and technology will always be cheaper in the long run than humans. However, we can do something, and even if it's something tiny, a lot of tiny things can add up to be overwhelming. Even if the message falls on deaf ears and ignorant minds, we can still send a message.

#serious post #ai #artificial intelligence #chatgpt #copilot #technology #magic the gathering #mtg #trading card games #tcg

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made-nondescript · 2 years ago

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Yes okay!!!!!! Continued under the cut :]

^ Roughly labeled map to just give you an idea of what Currently Exists and where it is! Anything off to the sides that isn't marked isn't part of the park or will be added to the park later :]

The Most Important Thing is that Scarland, like Disneyland, takes the Theme part of "Theme park" very seriously! That's the main way it differs from something like Six Flags. That means that everything in the park should, theoretically, service the "storytelling" of the park as much as being functional.

Also while I'll be saying "is" or "are" a lot what I'll be meaning most of the time is there will be or it can be inferred there is.

Main Street

The main Vibe here is vaguely historical fantasy. Every building looks like it's from a different era and they each serve a variety of in-congruent purposes. On the street itself you can find a variety of street vendors selling out of those rolley carts stuff like snacks and balloons. There are two varients of Jellie themed ice cream, one a bar and the other a popcicle, and there's also popcorn and the slushies !!

^ Popcorn store

This is also the main shopping area of the park! Gift shops and eateries will be sprinkled through out but there's a concentration of them here. This includes a clock/jewelry shop, a pizza shop, a candy shop, a magic shop, and so on. There is also a theatre which I have no choice but to assume shows the HotGuy films and a Hotel!

^ Bookshop combination coffee shop!

^ Hotel - lots of marble, perhaps very clean feeling? just a really nice hotel

^ Souvenir Jellie ears (headband variant) and the interior of a clothing store.

All of the buildings are "facades," meaning one continuous shell. Only some of the buildings are open while others only appear to be full. There will be stuff in the windows, but no interior because the space might be used for storage or something else! In the actual Minecraft park, these spaces are mostly dedicated to Scar's storage system with only a few actually open, including a hotel and two merch/confectionery stores.

There is a warden in the park - not placed there by Scar. (I want to say it was Tango? But I can't remember for sure!) It's in one of the towers (the one with the teal roof). And yes! it Can hurt you through the wall! His name is Alan. :]

Nothing like this exists in the park currently (except for the hotel?) but Disneyland does have/had an in-park apartment where Walt would stay occasionally. It never had a bed but what I'm saying here is it's not insane for Scar to theoretically live in his own theme park.

Back Stage

This is where the ugly stuff is! The back of buildings ARE accessible and are very grey/industrial compared to the "stage" of the park. Entrances to this area are hidden behind foliage or painted to match the colors of the walls. Just anything to keep them out of site of guests!

Back here includes: extra vendor carts, potted trees and flowers, vehicles, extra ride components (incl. an elephant from Jungle Cruise and trains!!!), garage access to the inside of the building, and the garbage disposal! The walls are covered in pipes.

Scar hasn't said anything about including this specifically BUT it would make a really good plot device potentially so I'll mention it: Disney has a network of tunnels running under the park which cast members (aka, anyone working at the park, regardless of job) can use to get places without running into guests. Included in the tunnels are storage room and dressing rooms.

Planter Circle Area

This is where the spoof of the Partners statue is!!! Scar holding Jellie's hand :]] The trees are outfitted with tiny electric lights to give the impression of fireflies <- important for Vibes

Surrounded by benches and more planters full of Lots of flowers.

Castle

It sounds like the castle will be more of a hallway than a formal building as far as he's said? It will have a drawbridge for entry and I'm guessing will give you passage to the rest of the fantasy area.

The moat/lagoon underneath IS deadly and not at all spawn proof. He described the drowns spawning there as “very advanced audio animatronics” which are there to provide a “sense of foreboding.” So. Do with That what you will.

^ deadly lagoon that looks sooo not OSHA compliant

Stuff That's Not There Yet

There will for SURE be a space themed area - this is Scar we're talking about. He's even mentioned it already in passing. It will probably be more Galaxy's Edge adjacent (which is the Star Wars themed area of Disneyland) rather than like Tomorrowland, which is more retro-futurism at this point. Sausage already built him a ship/plane to put there!!

The only other land I can recall him mentioning is "adventure land" which I think he was talking about Frontierland? Or California Adventure? Either way I think we can expect something very Indiana Jones inspired like his main Minecraft skin.

^ here's a completely speculative map based on if this is laid out like Disneyland is, which it might not be! There might also be Micro Lands akin to Disney's New Orleans's Square or Toon Town but he hasn't mentioned anything like that.

That's everything I could think to mention while skimming the relevant episodes!!! So Much still to come... Basically anything that would be sick as hell would feel at home in the setting.

And! there's enough here that you could make it Evil and sinster as well. As mentioned, the warden and lagoon are very deadly and there are a few more mobs scattered throughout. I think there's still a named endermite running around? For some reason? Just to bite at Scar's ankles and remind him he's alive I guess. But !! there's range here

HI i heard you are interested in knowing more about scarland for Non-Threatening purposes. i am very intrigued by these "purposes" and would like to help!! what would be most useful for you to know? whats the biggest mystery to you? :O --made-nondescript

Hello there mutual. I need to.......understand.......Scarland. You feel? I know. Nothing. of Disney/theme parks in general I have Only ever been to Six Flags. And I want to use Scarland as the basis for settings in some fics and like. Listen. I want to watch Scar's s9 but i am actively watching grian's s8 for the first time rn and rewatching the life series and im restarting etho's singleplayer so. One day, but today is not that day, and I wanna get jiggy w it like NOW. ya feel. ya dig. What's the vibe, whats the plan, ya know? how would one describe it - just like. As much detail as to Canon Scarland as I can get my grubby little mitts on.

#HI I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!#but dont feel bad if you dont end up using it bc i had the time of my life rewatching clips of him talking about this thing #i love scarland so so so much man #if there's anything else you ever need just lkmk and i will see what i can do :]]]]#much love!!!!!!! <3 #rb #nondescript post #<- bc there are just so many words here

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