#in fiction and in reality we are simply family building tools Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[monsterfuckermilligan]

this is so very personal but the first time i watched jack hug kelly in heaven i absolutely bawled my eyes out and had no idea why. years later i realized it’s because i also lost my mother when i was born.

[muthaz-rapapa]

HealPre Final Review: Not terrible but not entirely laudable either...

*sigh* Where do I start?

Well, one thing I’m pretty sure of is that COVID definitely affected production somehow. By that, I don’t just mean the show needing to go on hiatus, resulting in a shorter run compared to previous seasons. I’m also talking about any possible changes that might’ve been made to the original narrative, if there was one.

Much like how Suite’s story had to be altered in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, I believe Heal underwent a similar treatment in response to the pandemic becoming more widespread as 2020 went on.

Especially since it dealt with health and nature, HealPre is probably the season that has come the closest in relevancy to real life events.

Frankly, that can be quite scary because this virus was and is still a fucking nightmare on a massive global scale. From that view, I can understand why the writers/producers would be concerned of the anime hitting too near home. At least for their main demographic’s (children) sake, maybe they were compelled to shift to something lighter and less edgier so that the kids could find some comfort and enjoyment in the midst of the world’s current crisis.

So I can’t fault Toei for that, if that’s really the case. Going through a pandemic is terrifying, infuriating and exhausting and UGH. We could use something that can help ease our worries or momentarily distract us even a little bit. 

Though would it have killed them to dedicate one episode to the importance of wearing a mask or washing hands? (-_- ;;)

HOWEVER! Seeing as I am not a fragile child, I’ve still got several (oho~) criticisms to air out before I put this season behind me. This review isn’t particularly scathing but...there is a lot of discontent so you’ve been forewarned.

But first, let’s tediously review what structure means in Precure.

We all know that there are certain things that will forever (?) remain fixed in the series formula.

The plot is always going to be “magical girls fight evil doers threatening to ruin the world”.

There are plot points to indicate story progression but in reality, are put there to correspond with toy releases which are usually marked by these five: introductions, first power up, midseason Cure, second power up, and build-up to the climax + finale.

There is usually a specific message (a theme) to be told with every season and motifs (narrative tools) to aid in getting that across. For HealPre, the theme is “living is fighting” and its motifs are “health” and “nature”.

I left out “animals” b/c 1) it didn’t hold as much significance as the other two did, 2) animals are part of nature anyway and 3) let’s be real, it’s just a synonym for “mascots” which we already get every year. :P

Right. I’m probably forgetting something but for the most part, these are immovable pillars of Precure.

Story, on the other hand, has more variables you can work with.

Story is how you tell the plot, how you convey the message.

Precure, as a tv series, is unarguably carried by its main stars, the Cures. So it only makes sense that a huge percentage of a season’s success owes itself to how much of an impact its characters had on the audience as well as how effective their individual story arcs were as sub-plots tying back to the bigger picture (the message/theme).

Ideally, these arcs would shine the brightest in the filler episodes, where the plot  (“good guys vs. bad guys”) is less of a focus so there is more space for personal development and growth.

Also, not all character arcs have to be directly related to the plot but they ought to be written well in order to support the overarching message (the theme).

Now, has HealPre done that? Has each girl’s story demonstrated a good example of what “living is fighting” means?

...nnnnnnyyeeee... look, even I can’t give a straightforward answer on that because while technically they did, by virtue of Nodoka’s observance in ep 44 recounting it as such, there’s also actually not enough to make it feel substantial from a viewer’s standpoint.

At least, that’s what I thought while watching HealPre.

With the exception of Nodoka’s, there was a lot of saying but not much doing to convincingly back the other girls’ arcs up. The fillers themselves were very weak, loosely composed in relation to the motifs and, if I may be so blunt, downright boring that if Nodoka didn’t phrase those episodes as things that counted towards the theme, I probably would put up more of a fight on disagreeing. so shoot me, I’m soft for her :P

And I know that sounds confusing right now but I will elaborate as I continue.

Before that though, to be utterly fair, some seasons keep their respective themes shrouded in vagueness until they’re given a more concrete form in words around the finale. So it’s not like we can do much except make educated guesses on what they really are. Most of the time, we’re just measuring everything against our perception of a standard in the fog. Or maybe that’s just me?

Nevertheless, you can just tell, y’know? By simply watching and observing the whole show, you can tell if the characterization, the development, and the outcome (essentially the content given) really live up to what the season claims is endgame.

So let’s go through that first then. The characters, starting with our lead Cure...

Nodoka being the only Cure in her team to have an arc deserving of the praise “exceptional” should come as a surprise to no one.

She was the most solid in terms of direction on how her story was going to proceed. Out of all the girls, her journey had the greatest connection to the subject “health”, repeatedly delved into it every time the spotlight was on her and fulfilled everything it seemed to promise from her debut in episode 1.

Her struggles on the road to recovery from a long-term illness and the strength she’s drawn from that traumatizing experience as well as her time as Precure did more than establish her as the strongest character in HealPre.

She has also rose to become one of the most memorable Pink Cures in the entire franchise (personally, I rank her in the top 5).

And it’s not hard to see why she’s earned such high regard in a lot of fans’ hearts.

The writers clearly worked a lot on her character composition to the point where she can pretty much embody the theme of “living is fighting” all on her own.

She came into HealPre fresh out of the hospital and full of earnest desire to make the most of her newfound freedom but she also wasn’t without knowledge on what hardship is. From there, she only got stronger, even when she was stumbling and trying to figure things out along the way. She grew more fortified in her beliefs on what it means to be truly live a healthy life.

She bravely defied the ones who attempted to take advantage of her and twist her cause against her. And she learned that taking care of herself is equally as important as wanting others to be safe from harm.

It was never about winning or coming out on top. It was about protecting a fundamental yet precious truth. That one thing any decent human being should never have to concede: the right to live well.

Honestly, Nodoka is absolutely inspiring all around, as a fictional character, a heroine and a normal everyday person.

Everything about her arc went satisfyingly right like it was meant to and the best thing is, we don’t need to question it because we saw how it all happened with our very own eyes.

I sincerely wished I could say the same for the others but sadly, they were just too flawed.

And Pegitan can throw flippers with me all day if he wants but as undeniable as the above statements are about Chiyu, her arc failed to leap over the increasingly mounting disappointment I had with every episode that’s been assigned solely to her.

Two of which weren’t even about Chiyu. One centered on Pegitan’s admiration for his partner and the other focused on her brother, Touji. Which, while nice to give to supporting/secondary characters, is a fat waste of valuable screentime and not what I’m here for.

It also didn’t help that the conflict of her arc (the indecision over choosing between two dreams) started really late in the game and was resolved so quickly within two episodes. There was no time for me to get invested into it, there was no powerful sense of conviction like how Go!Pri or Hugtto handled theirs and really, it just felt like Chiyu was only following what the script dictated for her rather than genuinely awakening to her own competitive passion towards track and field.

It was almost like it didn’t matter. Almost as if the writers procrastinated in thinking up something worthwhile to further her development...but then settled on grabbing an old idea off the shelf without refining it to suit Chiyu when they ran out of time.

This happened similarly with Minami in Go!Pri and Elena in StarPre, both of whom left me angry at how their arcs were executed. Yet theirs don’t compare to how pissed off I am about Chiyu’s. Because while Minami’s took a while to arrive, it wasn’t done poorly and linked back to Go!Pri’s theme well enough. And while Elena’s was over crammed last minute, at least it was unique to her character and had lots of potential ways to play out if they actually started it earlier on in StarPre.

Chiyu’s arc is like a discount version of the former with hardly any of the intriguing qualities of the latter. Sure, she had two early episodes that laid out the two most important aspects of her life (her family inn and her dedication to her sport) but after that, they weren’t brought up again until we were only weeks away from the ending. Y’know, just to fill up episode slots and meet the minimal requirement of saying they did give Chiyu some issue to resolve. 

It was not engaging at all.

Furthermore, the fact that her arc had very little to no relation with either “health” or “nature” hurt my appreciation of her character somewhat. I just...don’t think her kind of story really matches with the central topics of HealPre?

...but maybe I’m being bitter about this all wrong and that’s screwing up my rational thinking on this matter.

Because Chiyu’s arc is valid under the logic of the overall theme, I would never say it isn’t. And again, character arcs don’t have to be close to the plot nor is it necessary to employ the “suffering builds character” method to make them interesting.

Chiyu always does her best every day. That’s sufficient argument on why her story does fit within the frame of HealPre’s premise.

Guess I’ll just have to wrangle my resistance into acceptance somehow.

...still, her arc could’ve been done so much better than what we were given. Chiyu at least deserved that much.

Next, Hinata.

Since the beginning, I knew she was gonna be runner-up to Nodoka for having the (for lack of better term atm) “best” arc because it was heavily implied that she has ADHD and therefore, immediately checked off the “health” trait. She was even more obvious about it than Nozomi was.

Difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness. Hinata didn’t just display all those signs, she also showed how hard it was for her to deal with the downsides to them on a regular basis.

She kept apologizing and put herself down excessively for inconveniencing her friends even though they never blamed her for her condition. Got them annoyed a few times, yes, but didn’t stop them from staying friends with her and definitely didn’t make them hate her either.

Everybody was understanding of Hinata...except Hinata because she always took her failures to heart and considered quitting several times to avoid the crushing dejection of making mistakes over and over again.

She got better, though, and no one could have summed it up more heartwarmingly than Nyatoran with the encouraging words he gave her at the conclusion of her arc. 

But it still feels like there’s a huge chunk of development missing between the start and finish. Or rather, it seemed like all of it occurred offscreen and we were only informed later that it did in fact, happen.

To recap, iirc, Hinata had around 5 episodes that focused on her (ep 9, 13, 23, 35 and 40). Ep 18 doesn’t count because that was a Nyatoran-centric filler more than anything.

Ep 9 and 13 did their jobs of introducing and highlighting the details of Hinata’s troubles while also suggesting she will eventually learn to overcome her insecurities. The ones after, though? They pushed those issues to the backseat.

In Ep 23, she had to share the (uneven) spotlight with Asumi. Hinata’s improvements were briefly mentioned but the majority of the ep went to teaching Asumi what “cute” meant and how to get along with puppies. I mean, I get that Asumi recently joined the group and bonding with her was mandatory by tradition. But since each Cure only gets a limited number of eps to herself, it would’ve been more beneficial for Hinata if she didn’t have to split screentime with someone else’s growth schedule.

Ep 35 is slightly better but not by a whole lot. Sure, Natasha was able to reconcile with Elizabeth which was very sweet and heck, it was the goal for that episode. But again, nothing was really done or addressed about Hinata’s main conflict. She tossed it back with the rest of her homework to deal with later. ahaha, a TroPre hint

Then ep 40 came to formally close the curtains on her story and apparently, Hinata screwed up lots of times since...whenever but she picked herself up every time after and kept on trying. Awesome. So WHY didn’t we get to see that? 

I’m not asking for the impossible here. I’m not asking for Hinata to be cured or anything miraculous like that. There is treatment available for ADHD but it is not curable.

Also, forcing Hinata to find a way to get better at studying, the thing she struggles with the most, is not the solution either because that would only make her more stressed and anxious over her own disorder.

What I want is to see how she moved from wailing “I can’t do it! I don’t wanna! I’m so scared of failing so why bother?!” to determinedly declaring “So what if I failed 1 or 100 times? So what if I fail another 1000 times? What matters is that I don’t let that stop me!”

That confidence is not something that can be built up overnight. It’s gradual and it takes numerous tries to reach from where Hinata was to where Hinata is now.

Telling me she grew emotionally stronger can only allow me to believe so much. I need to actually witness the changes as well.

If it weren’t for that, Hinata’s arc would have been a lot more impressive. Shame.

Finally............... Asumi.

Asumi, Asumi, Asumi, Asumi, Asumi, Asumi, Asumi... *sighs & drums fingers*

...she has no arc, ok? Seriously, what story is there to speak of, much less write a hefty analysis on?

A spirit born for the sake of Latte who just went along with the Precure ride because Latte didn’t want to abandon her duty. She made friends with those who aren’t Latte, extended her knowledge and understanding and gained valuable human experience during her stay on Earth. But ultimately, she will always define her entire existence around a puppy. 

Nothing is more important than this puppy.

...... to be honest, Asumi not having a storyline isn’t what bothers me. It’s her lack of depth that does.

Hell, even the giant burger she ate had more depth than she did!

Oh, Asumi does have a personality alright. She’s consistently and unfailingly polite, utterly devoted to her raison d’être and in crucial moments, gives pearls of wisdom when the girls are in a pinch. She’s good.

But if that’s all she is, then she’s also painfully dull.

She has nothing to contribute to the discussion of health or nature, despite being created through an element of the Earth so you’d think she’d have an opinion of her own. At least worry about the planet that gave life to her as much as she frets over Latte all the time. But nope.

She shares the exact same face as Teatine’s past Precure partner so you’d think we’d explore that connection to see if it would influence or affect her in any way. But nope.

90% of the time, her role was just being Latte’s constant, fawning satellite.

Not only did that irritate the hell out of me but it just reinforced my stance that this type of character is one of the worst you can ever insert into any narrative.

Because if someone keeps reiterating how much they’re obsessed with this one thing and seldom talks about anything else without bringing their obsession into it... then what’s so special about them on their own?

You’ve practically surrendered the different qualities you could have had for worship of something else. That’s not a fair trade-in.

Asumi’s character is so packed with Latte-related stuff that there’s not much space left for anything that can be considered uniquely Asumi.

I mean, maybe it’s because I can never see myself or any normal person comfortable with living like that.

Living for the sake of being together with the one you love? Okay. But living with your whole universe revolving around that one thing? Making most if not all decisions based on this one thing?

No. That’s absolutely crazy, alright? Nobody with a healthy amount of awareness and self-worth would live like that.

And you can counter that Asumi’s just born like that. That she can’t help her origins because Teatine’s wish to protect her daughter is essentially what brought Asumi into existence so of course, her biggest concern would be Latte. At least, she wasn’t forced into it, right? As long as Asumi chose of her own will to follow Latte, it should be fine, right?

You can even use the fact that Asumi isn’t human. That she’s a spirit and we shouldn’t apply our human standards too strictly to her.

Yea, but those are feeble defenses in the face of her being a good main character, a good main heroine. 

There are many ways to make a decent MC. The way Asumi was written proves she certainly does not possess traits that can classify her as true protagonist material. A protagonist has to be more than one amplified feature, which Asumi is not.

For the record, I don’t hate Asumi (she’s not interesting enough to generate a feeling that intense). I'm just severely let down because even if I don’t end up loving the midseason Cure for whatever reason, I can usually count on them to bring something intriguing to the table to dissect and analyze. At least I should find something to care about them.

Didn’t happen with her. :(

Oh god, I’ve been working on this post for days now and I’ve got a headache and with the baton pass happening in less than a few hours as I type this, I just really need to get it done and over with so please forgive me for speeding up through the rest, I’ll try to keep it as coherent as possible. NYARGH! (@_@ ;;)

Mascots.

Would you be surprised to hear that I’m not surprised that they were actually written very well?

Like I said early on, I suspected the return of fairy partnerships were going to improve the mascots’ significance in the story and, well, I was right. 

This time, they didn’t just fill in the usual expectations of relaying exposition, serving as the Cures’ transformation devices and looking cute for the merchandise. The Healing Animals had to make progress on their own training to become doctors as well.

And they did through their relationships with their human partners.

It was a refreshing take on the mascot aspect of the series because the friendships felt really symbiotic. When the trainees arrived on Earth, they relied on the girls to help them perform their jobs as well as provide them with shelter, food, the occasional peptalk about their trainee status, etc.

Then as the story continued and they got to know each other better, the mascots were able to return the favor by giving support when the Cures needed it. Rabirin when Nodoka was frightened and confused about how to deal with Daruizen, Pegitan when Chiyu was having trouble choosing between two dreams and Nyatoran who made sure to always lift Hinata’s spirits up when she got upset at herself.

In short, they achieved their objectives of learning what it means to be good doctors by being there for their friends! How wonderful! :D

My memory for Latte is hazy, unfortunately, since she’s coddled by everyone all the time (can’t blame them, she’s friggin’ adorable! <3) but I’ll never forget how she stood firm on the battlefield to see things through, to fight for the Earth like she promised her mother. She started out so babie but showed us all there was enormous bravery behind her cute face and ugh, we should all be very proud of her! <3

The only major issues I had about the mascots were these:

1) Too many irrelevant fillers went to them. They only needed a maximum of two for their entire mascot group.

2) Latte kept getting sick even after she acquired a Precure partner of her own. I was hoping it wouldn’t hurt her as much as it did before Asumi arrived or that she would build up a stronger immunity but noooo, they insisted on torturing the poor pupper! T_T

Villains + Finale Battle

Not a lot needs to be said for the first part. We’ve had mediocre antagonists before. HealPre’s just happened to be extra annoying as they were despicable. 

Which is worse because jerks you can just leave in the trash but assholes won’t stop harassing you unless you pummel them into their graves, set fire to their corpses and leave no trace of them behind! >:(

Y’all know who I’m talking about. Opinions on him continue to vary depending on who you talk to and if they’re avid fans of his face or not but whatever. The son of a bitch served his purpose and is dead now. That’s all that matters to me.

Anyway, the King was flat like his two lesser generals. He was neither intimidating nor distinguished enough in the brand of evil to really make us think of him as a serious threat and because of that, it ended up making the boss fight look like any run of the mill boss fight.

I know, they tried so hard with all that shiny animation but it just didn’t have that glorious sense of vindication that previous seasons (or ep 42) gave and I blame it all on this Rumiko Takahashi reject.

Also, this strategy was pretty useless?

They built it up like Earth was gonna sacrifice herself and die or something (she wouldn’t and even if she came close, deus ex machina would’ve kicked in to prevent that and COVID-induced caution too I guess). 

But there were no signs of pain (well, that’s a relief) after absorbing Shindoi-ne and they really pissed King Byogen off more than they did any damage with the absorbed byo-gen power.

...so yea, this tactic was just to kill some time and budget, nothing more. Meh.

By the way, did Asumi eject Shindoi-ne’s pathogen out of her body yet or did they just leave it in there to bounce around until it eventually dissolves on its own?

Because that’s eww. I mean, it’s obviously not gonna hurt Asumi they can both relate on hyperfocusing their affection for someone so maybe the compatibility helps :P but still, ewwwww.

Fillers + Underused Motifs

In hindsight, perhaps HealPre didn’t exactly promise the content we I wanted about “health” and “nature” if their objective was to teach that any manner of “fighting” can count towards “living”.

......but fuck you Toei, you’re still cowards! >:/

Fillers will be fillers but it’s always better to try and make some of them as meaningful as possible. And they wasted the opportunity to inform an impressionable audience (during a very crucial period of our time, I must add) on a lot of things related to the HealPre’s motifs. Especially about the environment which for some ridiculous reason, they chose not to touch on for the main stretch of the overall story.

Proper hygiene, good diet plan and sleeping habits, regular exercise (already done by the girls a few times but could use another example), meditation, counseling/therapy (especially for mental health!), etc.

Real life pollution, climate change/global warming (IMPORTANT!!), deforestation, preservation vs conservation, endangered species, recycling, volunteering to clean up your community, etc.

These just came off the top of my head but yes, there’s more and no, I’m not saying that the writers need to cover all of them in extreme detail or replace the slice-of-life episodes.

But they should be able to mesh both serious and light-hearted together in harmony somehow. Like those fillers where the mascots saw people cleaning up littering at the park or that interaction with that arborist who taught them about wild animals and trees when the group went to visit a lake.

For health, maybe let the girls visit patients with chronic illness in the hospital or have them converse with a medical professional on some matter. Particularly if it’s got something to do with mental illness because stigma in Japan on those who are afflicted with such conditions is still prevalent and has caused a number of sad and shocking tragedies that could have otherwise been avoided if people didn’t have such outdated, judgmental mindsets.

That last part might be too dark for a children’s anime but there’s a lot more out there that is doable.

Do that without reducing it into a footnote, Toei. It is so necessary for your target audience to be aware of these issues at the age they are now. You have an almost 20-year old franchise to serve as a very effective platform. Make better use of it if you truly care about the message you’re conveying through your show!

Also, what the fuck.

The last episode was a mess. Why are you only mentioning this now when the season is already over?

This should’ve been brought up months ago!

All the things we could’ve seen the Cures done to protect the Earth without magic.

The excuse of “I didn’t know humans were so horrible!” is a shit one because everybody knows humans are deplorable trash when it comes to abusing the Earth. All the more reason why you have to persistently drill it into people’s heads that they should not be like those who don’t care or choose not to care.

One crack episode isn’t going to cut that.

God, I so want to unsee this ep just so I don’t have to end HealPre on a more sour note than it already was. *big aggrieved sigh*

Lastly (and this really is the end of my long ranting, I promise), the missing undisclosed lore.

There are few Precure seasons without a past lore of its own in the recent years. Is it a wonder, though?

Lore is mysterious and fascinating. If it involves a past Precure, even more so.

Sometimes fans might just hang onto a show because they’re curious about what happened before the main story. We’d never get the full tale of those adventures but at least, it’s fun to imagine the “prequel”.

Also, past Precure are just badass. Fact.

Strangely enough, we didn’t get that for Heal. All we know is that she was called “Fuu” and was very close to Teatine. 

Hmm. Probably one of those changes caused by COVID interference cuz I can’t imagine the writers choosing not to tell her past in the original draft.

With all that finally off my chest, I’m ready to part ways with you girls until the next All Stars (Nodoka, I’m gonna miss you so much! T_T)

HealPre wasn’t the worst and it was nowhere near the best that it had the potential to be. But it’s passable. At least for those who loved it even with its flaws, I’m genuinely glad it was good for you.

For those who are thinking about picking it up (although why you would read this spoilery post before watching, I have no idea), if you’re looking for a standard magical girl anime to enjoy casually, then this is a safe pick. If you really want to invest your attention and heart into it, though? Then perhaps it would be in your interest to ask someone who saw it already to help you filter out the episodes that are worth watching. You don’t need to worry about the rest, they’re inconsequential. :P

Ok then! Thanks for reading as always, brave souls who have reached this point. 

Stay healthy and safe out there and I’ll see you at the beach next week! Tropic underwater paradise here we coooooommmmmeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! xDDD

[bushybeardedbear]

Lance Birthday Week!! - 3/7

@mcclainetwork‘s Birthday Week for our favourite Blue Paladin, more than just a boy from Cuba to us all, continues! So does my contribution spanning the full seven days. A series of Fan Fictions covering each of the daily prompts. This one seems to have gone a little off the rails in a good way. Never thought I’d be writing from a Lion’s Pov. A part was also inspired by this post from the lovely @anchoredtether. Be sure to check on the previous parts because, like Voltron, it’s all connected.

DAY 3 - Red Those Whom I Have Homed

Running his hand over the almost impossibly smooth metal, Sam Holt smiled, his lips and grey beard curling to an awed smile. Somewhere between reverence and fear, the elder Holt looked cautiously into the gently glowing eyes of the Red Lion, finding only unexpected kindness therein. Amid the vast hangar, retrofitted hurriedly into the Pit-Stop of Lions, Sam sat. Machinery of coalition worlds without number were scattered, stacked and partially unpacked around his seat beside the Red Lion. Today alone had shown Sam such miraculous little wonders as the Olkari Echo Cube, Reiphodian gravitation webbing and the subtle nuance of pre-imperial Galra poetry as translated by an Altean linguistic scanner. He was sat amongst the kind of technology that most humans had only dreamed of, himself included. Cataloguing them as if they were mere odds and ends to be later used simply as tools, no more incredible than a pencil. Proof positive of alien life and of whole new branches of scientific enquiry were already gathering dust. Any one item would have been enough to make a career out of in any other context. Now though, the cerebral had to give way to practical. Still, when he had a spare moment, such as this, he took the chance to examine the most incredible of all the technology here. The Lions. Today, if only for not previously having tried, he had chosen to sit alongside Red.

“I still find it remarkable...” Sam's tone was peaceful, “The nature of this metal. The warmth of it, the sensation. It feels almost as though I'm holding my newborn children again. Like a heartbeat from the universe...” “That's great and all, Sam!” Hunk called back, “But I'm about to...” His voice was drowned out by a loud clattering of boxes, their heaving mass bashing into the floor. Mercifully, none burst open. Though one was resting quite painfully upon Hunk's toes. The protection of his usual civilian garb offering not much in the way of defence. “Ok, just a tick too late there... Little help...?” Hunk asked with a heaving squeak of repressed pain.

Sam stood himself slowly, shaking his head, “Let the work set aside for a while, Hunk.” He smiled, even as Hunk busied himself tidying the boxes aside. “I know you've been trying to balance getting things ready here and organizing that party for your friend. Really, you should take a break for a little while.” Sam sat himself again beside Hunk on an overturned container.  

Hunk sighed, setting himself heavy on nearby a box, “Well, you're not wrong. Between Coran and Pidge, I feel like I've been put through a marathon. Throw in building Earth's defences and I just want to sleep...” He made a grab for a small plastic tub, cracking open the pliable blue lid and offering it to Sam, “Free sample. Not my best work. New recipe I'm trying out with ingredients from across the coalition. I think the Nemdari Cinnamon is touch a touch too fizzy...”

Biting into the iced roll, Sam's response was a pleased hum, “It adds a little character.” He laughed softly, “Honestly these are superb. No need to be such a perfectionist, is there? Take the risk, bake something great!” He parodied his own favourite saying with a self congratulating laugh. “Alright, if you say so...” Hunk smirked, glancing to a large array of hanging cables and cobbled together boxy looking devices. The entire odd assembly hung over the Red Lion's head, set upon a large set of mechanised rails. “Is that ready Commander Holt...? Still looks a little on the hodge-podge side...” “Sam is fine, Hunk. You know that.” Commander Holt chastised just a touch, “And yes, Cadet Garret...” He teased, “I've just now put the last few touches on the scanning array. Had a little trouble getting the Galra and the Olkari systems talking first to each other and then to the Taujeerian systems.” He sighed, “But, in the end and now owing a favour, I got it working after all. Which reminds me, you know Harris from Tech? He needs a batch of muffins. I'll owe you instead.” Hunk grumbled to himself, “Fine. I guess I'll be opening a Yellow Lion bakery when all this is over... If it's ever over...” Sam nodded sadly, “If indeed.” He agreed. “Now, all that aside. I think it's time we set this scanner here in motion, don't you? See if we can't just possibly find something fascinating eh? Bound to be a little something within a part magic part science sentient being with a body made of a comet from outside the universe, right?”

Hunk agreed, following Sam to a nearby workstation with nothing but a laptop. “You sure this is going to cut it...?” “One nano-millimetre of Red's structure. Just a proof of concept really. It may not do it superbly quickly, but it will certainly give us something to work with.” Sam looked to the scanner and nodded, “Alright!” He smiled, striking a key. “Here goes nothing.” 

Strange energies awaken ancient memory. “They are remarkable, my husband.” Her soft tone lost to the millennia, in my mind she speaks again. Beside her, unknowing what shall pass and hopeful for the future, My Paladin. “Even standing near them, it is as though... Reality bends to them...” “It's not far from the truth.” My Paladin agrees. My Paladin knows. “Maybe it bends to them and recoils from them all at once.” His young eyes regard my young chassis. Much is yet to pass. Much is yet to be known. My Paladin, in my mind, lives once more. His absence is never far from me. His was a will that binds and guides. His was the power of hope and unity. His was the heart of the Five of Us. My Paladin. My Creator. My Lost Friend. He places a gentle palm to his queen and beloved. So often have I known My Paladin's mind, I feel their bond of quintessence as if we three were one. They have created another. “The Lions of Voltron will serve as the hope of the Universe. I want to give our son...” “...or our daughter.” She corrects My Paladin.

“Our child.” My Paladin agrees. “The best possible future.” My Paladin shall never forge this future. I am saddened that it is so. My mind moves. As it moves again it stays in motion. Yes! The thrill of battle fills me! I am among the stars. Cold metal shears beneath my might! A blade in the darkness cuts deep into the fray! I am pounced upon and spin, I fire forth such fury!! Another reduced to nothing and still, he calls out within. My Paladin. That he has rage I know well, that he focuses that anger I know well. That when I am wielded by him and he by me, there is nothing in this reality to stand before us. And the memory is good. The satisfaction at each fresh enemy reduced to atoms. The hunger for the battle, it always burns within him and so too in me. My Paladin is uncomplicated. Yet, he is guarded. My Paladin seeks simplicity. In truth, much is hidden. In battle, he understands. In battle, there is nothing but his instincts to rely upon. Something perhaps of his other side that no other yet knows. Yet they shall in time. When he is my guide and I his champion, it is a deadly dance we weave and cleave upon the stars. My Paladin, he has so far to grow and yet so much skill already. Again my mind moves. We are as One. Our Paladins and Our Selves. One. Here in the moment, I feel him. Once my own, now Paladin to Black. A sword. Fresh forged. That was My Paladin. He is tempered now. Wisdom and time have quenched him. Raw power now a strong weapon. My Paladin. I trust you unto Black now. I know that you are ready. We are as One. And we charge. My mind moves on again. He stands. So meek before me and unsure. My Paladin? This? It seems a joke at first. Then, I truly see. Even in my thousands of years, I trust too easily the surface. The mind of this boy is doubt and fear. But the spirit? Yes. The spirit, the quintessence. He is My Paladin. When we fly it is not always smooth. He always apologises for every bump. When we fight, it is not always elegant. But his heart is always in the right place. His motivation. His mind. His quintessence, pure. He has such love within him. Love enough to sacrifice his very self. I feel him pass again. My Creator's Last gift to the universe. She keeps giving still. She returns My Paladin to me. I feel him rise again. Deep within him, unknown even to himself, he guides and inspires. There is greatness. Bound greatness, shackled only by self doubt. And then, there are such dreams. Across the gulf of space, as we journey to his home, his dreams fill me. Strange and wonderful. Family and Friends. Hope for a future free of war. The many faces and smiles he has loved and longed for and lost. My Paladin, Lance. He reminds me so much of My Paladin, Alfor. Neither of them acted in rage nor anger. They act in defiance of darkness. They act at the behest of the universe. They are not men of war, but guardians of peace. Such nobility and courage in them both. I am honoured to be and have been their Lion. My mind moves and we are as One again. We call upon the sword. She is nature's wrath and wielder of the shield. I am fire, creation and destruction alike, who bears the weight of the sword. Each of us have our place. We draw together. Closer. I feel her quintessence as if it were my own. Or it is perhaps my focus is only upon her. If feel her Paladin as though she were my own as she feels mine. My quintessence seeps into hers and hers to mine. We are One, yet we are distinct. We touch. For a moment, we are truly One. Or so it seems to me. As we draw apart, the blade ignites. I feel the ties of our quintessence grow taut and strained, yet always present. And for a moment, weaker, growing, reaching, threads tying ever closer, Our Paladins. I have no time to think on this. The Battle must be won once more. We are One and again we charge. My mind moves to the now. Yellow's Paladin is concerned. The creator of dear Green's Paladin stands expectantly. Another war approaches. Another front to ever more defend against the darkness. Somewhere else upon this world, I feel his quintessence. What he calls, his soul. His soul reaches out to mine and to one other strongest of all. Yet, it spreads further, like a web of threads combined. Such love to give and to share. So many to protect. And also, I feel it. The power to do so. Perhaps, My Paladins and I will yet forge the future they dreamed for...?

The sound of the clicked key had barely faded. “Well.” Sam waved his arm furiously, trying to waft away the smoke from the sparking laptop. Not long after the scan had begun, the poor quantum processors he had assumed fit to the task were now, to use the newest technical term, QUBAR. Quiznaked Utterly; Beyond Any Repair. “I was not expecting that. More than it could handle I suppose” Hunk pulled a nearby extinguisher free, smothering the laptop in flame proof foam. “There wasn't even enough time to upload the data...” He ruminated, “I don't suppose Iverson would let us jack into something with a little more oomph, would he?”  “Most likely not.” Sam considered the base computer reduced to wreckage, “Most likely not...”  It was then that the older man's expression subtly changed in a way Hunk was not familiar with. As the two of them cleared away the remnants of the laptop, Hunk awaited something. Though he had no idea what. “So Hunk, could you perhaps tell me a little about this friend of yours, Lance?” Sam asked in a very fatherly way. The kind of tone that suggested he was very concerned really, but wanted to appear unconcerned, “Didn't really get a lot of chance to talk with him back on the castle, you see. But ever since my little girl came home, well, his name seems to keep cropping up a lot. Excited about a party for Lance, wanting to meet Lance's family. Deciding who gets to keep her and Lance's adopted child she said... Thankfully she was just talking about Kaltenecker. Gave me a little fright, honestly... There was talk about who keeps the games console and on what alternating days they'd trade, who'd host game nights. Talking with Colleen about picking out the right dress for the evening. Things like that. Gets the old noggin joggin' as they used to say.” Hunk could feel his stomach squirm as he nodded, offering only a nervous, “Mmmhmmm...” In response.  “They must be very good friends, is what I would assume.” Sam nodded, “Though, I wonder... As a concerned parent might, you know? I'm probably being over analytical aren't I? But is he a good man? Good head on his shoulders? I'm sure he must be, right?” Hunk fell into silence as he carefully considered his next words. He could already see himself setting hours aside for baking, this was going to be an even worse interrogation than Iverson's debriefing. “Could my favour be not having this conversation...?” Sam smiled kindly. Then shook his head. Red, sat silent and ever patient, returned to his thoughts once again.

[alexandraktang]

Project 2: LGBTQ+ Representation in Video Games

Note: This essay contains spoilers for Gone Home, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, the Life is Strange series, and The Last of Us: Left Behind.

LGBTQ+ representation in video games has historically been few and far between. Characters belonging to the community have often fallen into cliché, one-dimensional, and offensive but mostly damaging tropes. One such trope is the gay antagonist, whose lack of gender conformity is often the punch line of the joke or the reason they are the villain of the story, and another frequently seen trope is the “Bury Your Gays” trope in which LGBTQ+ characters suffer tragic fates and are often dead by the end of the game. As society has grown more accepting and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, video games too have begun to welcome the community by adding authentic characters and narratives and granting players the freedom to choose their romantic partners in recent games. Both The Moose Test and GLAAD’s Outstanding Video Game Award are two important steps forward toward accurate portrayals and positive representation in video games. With the turbulence and division in today’s society, positive and authentic representation in video games is a key tool in building bridges to a path of understanding and communication.

LGBTQ+ characters were frequently casted as antagonists with their gender-nonconformity as a reason worthy of evil. This is exemplified by two games belonging to the Resident Evil series, one being Code Veronica and the other being Dead Aim. In the first, the main antagonist, Alfred Ashford, is revealed to cross-dress as his sister to “channel her spirit” and is hinted to have had an incestual relationship with her (Flanagan). In the latter, the main antagonist, Morpheus Duvall, transforms into a female version of himself after taking a virus strain (Flanagan). Both of these depictions show a negative view of trans-ness and differing from cisheterosexuality in general, as Alfred’s cross-dressing is tied to an incestual relationship and sociopathology, and Morpheus’s sex change is shown as the result of a virus strain. Characters that showcase the ridicule of LGBTQ+ characters are Poison from Capcom’s Final Fight and Ash from Sega’s Streets of Rage 3. Final Fight is a melee fighting game, and Capcom was concerned that players would feel guilty fighting a woman and thus made Poison transgender, displaying the disparaging mentality that transgender women are not women and that transgender people are more acceptable people to attack. Ash from Sega’s Streets of Rage 3, another melee fighting game, fits an extremely flamboyant stereotype of a gay man. He wears a purple leather outfit, fights with a team of go-go boys, and stands in a ridiculous pose that is not traditionally masculine (or even a proper fighting stance) and thus differs largely from other male characters. If this portrayal weren’t offensive enough, Sega decided to pull Ash from the North American release to “protect the innocence of American audiences” (Flanagan).

The “Bury Your Gays” trope is a trope pervasive in all sorts of narratives, ranging from books to shows to movies and games. Two important mainstream titles that fall into this category are Dontnod’s Life is Strange along with its prequel Deck Nine’s Life is Strange: Before the Storm and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, its downloadable content The Last of Us: Left Behind in particular. In Life is Strange, players play as Max, a high school girl who is reunited with her former best friend Chloe, and uncover the dark secrets of Arcadia Bay. In this game, there are many allusions and hints that the two friends harbor romantic feelings for one another but it is never explicitly confirmed. Moreover, Chloe is shown to have intense feelings for her other best friend, Rachel Amber, but this too is never confirmed. This is a form of queerbaiting, which uses the promise of LGBTQ+ representation to pull in players only to fall short and betray their trust (Chan). In the prequel, players play as Chloe and are able to explore the intimate relationship between Chloe and Rachel but again, nothing is made canon. Players are able to choose to kiss Chloe or Rachel, depending on the game, but no relationship is ever made official. This, however, is just one problem with the game. In the first installment of the series, players choose the ending of the story by having Max save either the entire town or only Chloe. This puts players in a difficult position as Max loses something significant either way, and the only way for Max to be happy with Chloe is to sacrifice their neighbors, friends, and family. Regarding Chloe and Rachel’s relationship, we discover that Rachel is dead in the first game, which leaves zero chance for a happy ending for the two. Thus, in the prequel, no matter what players do, no matter how romantic their choices are, players cannot change the fact that Rachel dies and that Chloe is left to mourn her loss. There is no true happy ending for these characters. Similarly, in the DLC of The Last of Us, we learn that prior to the main game, Ellie, one of the main characters, was in love with her best female friend Riley, who she lost to the zombie apocalypse. The girls share a kiss, only to be attacked by a zombie soon after. As Ellie alone survives to be a character in the main story, we know that Riley has passed and there is no happy ending for this couple either.

As we see more LGBTQ+ narratives in games, it is important to remain critical of the narratives depicted. By having LGBTQ+ people getting involved in producing video games, tests and awards evaluating LGBTQ+ representation are being created. In 2017, Michael ‘Moose, Musatow, an experience designer at RedPeg Marketing and a gay man, developed a test to evaluate the representation of an LGBTQ+ character in a video game. Similar to the Bechdel test, which evaluates the representation of women in a work of fiction, the Moose test holds a list of criteria necessary for positive and authentic portrayal in video games (Musatow). This is important as simply adding LGBTQ+ characters to a work does not count as proper representation and can easily be detrimental to the community that plays it. Developers must be mindful about the characters they are creating and how powerful the narratives they depict can be to a person whose gender or sexuality differs from the accepted norm. Along this line, GLAAD, an organization that monitors LGBTQ+ representation in media, has introduced an award to its annual media awards show to recognize video games that excel in LGBTQ+ inclusivity (Lanier). This new category will begin in 2019 and highlight games “empower LGBTQ+ with the agency to explore and express themselves safely within a virtual environment” (Lanier).

Despite the increased visibility of LGBTQ+ representation in video games, representation is still not perfect. Issues, such as antagonizing LGBTQ+ characters, queerbaiting, “Bury Your Gays” tropes, after-the-fact identifying, and playersexual characters, still exist but it is improving. It is important to be critical of the portrayals that exist while enjoying a work to continue moving toward a path of understanding and acceptance, both in the LGBTQ+ community and in society as a whole. LGBTQ+ people are people with stories that also need to be told to help them find characters with whom they resonate and to whom can admire, to help them accept their own identities, to acquaint people not belonging to the community with the realities of the LGBTQ+ experience, and to normalize being LGBTQ+. People are being killed all around the world for not fitting into the cisheteronormative mold society has built and continues to uphold. Even a country that claims to preserve its citizens’ freedom is beginning to backtrack in the rights given to people who do not fit this mold. Now, more than ever, diversity and inclusion in video game narratives are important tools in building bridges between the separated factions of our societies.

Works Cited

Chan, Khee Hoon. “Why I’m Afraid Video Games Will Continue to ‘Bury its Gays’.” Polygon, 4 Aug. 2017, polygon.com/2017/8/4/16090980/life-is-strange-death-lgbtq-characters. Accessed 28 October 2018.

Greer, Sam. “Queer Representation in Games isn’t Good Enough, but it is Getting Better.” GamesRadar+, 15 May. 2018, gamesradar.com/queer-representation-in-games-isnt-good-enough-but-it-is-getting-better/. Accessed 22 October 2018.

Flanagan, Jack. “The Complete History of LGBT Video Game Characters.” The Daily Dot, 16 May. 2014, dailydot.com/parsec/gay-characters-video-games-history. Accessed 22 October 2018.

Lanier, Liz. “GLAAD to Recognize Excellence in Video Game LGBTQ Representation.” Variety, 26 Sep. 2018, variety.com/2018/gaming/news/glaad-video-game-lgbt-representation-1202958447. Accessed 22 October 2018.

Musatow, Michael. “The Moose Test for LGBT Representation in Video Games.” Medium, 2 Dec. 2017, medium.com/@SimplyMoose/the-moose-test-for-lgbt-representation-in-video-games-905d7edd872b. Accessed 22 October 2018.

[morethanmylife93]

I was tagged by this little sunshine @rafaelsolanoes ... I am going to answer as clearly as possible ( and with only one answer :P )

1) Who is one fictional character (from any media) who you relate to on a deep personal and visceral level?

- Well the first one is always the hardest so here we go: I f I may make a combination of three characters cause I have traits from all of them... First I think I have some of Rebekah Mikaelson bc I too believe in love ( any kind of love ) and that no matter how many times you get disappointed you always have to try and find it no matter the form of it ( family, romantic, friendly ). Then it’s Amy Santiago cause she is such a big nerd and a dork like me which I looooove so much. And last one is Monica Geller simply bc we share so many OCDs such as cleaning and organizing our space with such detail ( lol ) but no srsl she is one of the very first tv characters I ever loved so yeah.

2)  What does friendship mean to you?

 Friendship is probably one of the most valued things in my life... I once read a very beautiful quote about friendship ‘’Friends are the siblings ( family if you want to say ) that we get to choose’’. This bond is one of the few ones that we probably cannot live without. The people we choose to make friends are the ones that we usually want to share important things of our life so it surely is very important.

3) Do you have siblings? If yes, are you close? If not, do you wish that you do?

- Yep, I have an older brother who constantly teases me :p whenever he angers me to the point where i want to bang his head with a bat he always does a funny face or says something ridiculous and I end up laughing my heart out... Yeah he is a pain but whatever I laugh at him.

4) What is one thing that you’d love to study and have a career if money were a non-issue? 

- One of them would definitely be cultural development throughout the centuries ( how the human kind went from just hunting in order to survive to creating major cities and archeological buildings without this generation’s tools ) and the other one is probably the history of art ( meaning ancient greeks/egyptians to modern day paintings ).

 5)  What was the last book you read that resonated with you on a deeply personal level?

- It is probably the one that I am about to start reading called ‘’Askitiki’’ by the amazing Kazantzakis in which he raises questions about life/death/love/kindness and stuff like that... The best thing is that he puts these questions in such a simple and approachable way that any of us can sit and read it ( i know it bc I have already read a few chapters of it ).

6) Speaking of books, favorite genre? 

- YA with mystery and supernatural in it such as Cassandra Clare’s books <3.

7)  Who is your favorite painter?

- I will have to say Boticelli bc his paintings are heavenly masterpieces and Vincent Van Gogh bc even though his condition he managed to find an escape in painting thus giving us an insight to his mind and world.

8)  What would *you* spend ten million dollars on?

- Easy one: First I’d buy a nice home for me and another one for my parents. Then I’d use a major part of it for traveling around the world and doing fun activities ( free fall, scuba diving etc ), another part in studying whatever the hell I wanted, buying things that I find interesting or beautiful without having to think about it twice, probably invest too...

9) Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, what does that look like for you?

- This may sound funny to some but hell yeah  I believe in an afterlife simply bc we cannot possibly do all the things that we want in one.  There will always be obstacles whether they are financial/social or personal so we all need another chance in making them real. Personally,  I think that in my afterlife I will probably be spending my life either locked up in a university’s library studying my a$$ off or in a constant roadtrip exploring the world.

10) What is an unforgivable flaw to you? What would a person do that would make you completely erase them from your life?

- Treating me or other people in a crappy way. When someone doesn’t appreciate you and the traits that you have then that’s it for me. Don’t take anything or anyone for granted show them how much you care for them...be kind.

11)  Is there an objective reality outside of our subjectivity?

- I think so yeah... reality is like a mirror: the further away you go from it the more you can see.

My questions:

1) If you could re-live a moment of your life which would it be and why?

2) What is the craziest thing that you want to do but you can’t bc of the money?

3) What do you like about your country?

4) If you could live in a different era which would it be?

5) Best quote you’ve heard/read/seen in a movie?

6) A movie that you didn’t like and thought it was a waste of time watching it?

7) What is the tv show you’d like to live in?

8) Has a friend/family member made you watch something and then became a big fan of it?

9) Perfect idea of summer vacation?

10) If you had an hour to talk with a famous person which one would be?

I am tagging: @queenkatofhell @robbmadden @meliorn @there-are-wolves-in-my-head @outofcoffee @icebluecyanide @ksjmygjhsknjpjmkthjjk

[antojai]

Healing yourself from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Alternative Medicine

Healing yourself from PTSD with Alternative Medicine!

My personal journey

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Is one of the toughest conditions I have personally had to deal with. For years it haunted me, taking away my peace. It was during those years that I decided to put my expertise of medical Shamanism to good use. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to test the full range of healing that could come from Shamanic Medicine.  I told myself that I had helped so many people with different conditions because I had healed myself first. Which eventually gave me knowledge to help other people dealing with those blockages I had conquered.  I saw a PTSD as nothing different. As a shaman, it is a custom to heal yourself from your past demons, current emotional blockages, and any subconscious hindrance that is stopping you from living to your truest potential. The following advice comes from three years of my personal battle with PTSD. This is what helped me get my life back, so I could go back to being who I really was.

For those of you unfamiliar with post-traumatic stress disorder, it’s a condition that comes after experiencing a traumatic event.  Some events have greater weight than others, and it’s those events that can leave a haunting impression on us.  PTSD is most commonly seen in soldiers, but is not limited to war. Child abuse can lead to PTSD, and other social scars can do the same thing.  The results are uncontrollable flashbacks. These flashbacks can be extremely vivid, throwing the person back to the moment that caused their trauma. For some it completely immobilizes them, and for others it makes living extremely difficult. You may feel an uncontrollable urge to sleep for several days, all while having nightmares and confusing thoughts. Those are only some of the blockages that at person with PTSD can be facing.

For me personally, I would sleep for days… with no energy to eat, shower, or other.  My friends would have to wake me, and help me with the most basic of things. If not, I would sleep like a fairytale character cursed by some witch.  My dreams became so frequent, and vivid, that I would wake up at times questioning what was fact from fiction.  There’re times where I would begin reliving a memory, but then the effects of dreaming would tamper with the memory.  There were days where I would spend the entire day trying to sort out what wasn’t part of a dream.  My fear, was letting the dream take control over my psyche, my reality. I was most certain that insanity would be the result if I slipped.  If I didn’t experience lapses in my memory, I would have dreams of an epic battle that I was in the middle of. For those of you familiar with Dragon ball Z (anime show), I was always in the final showdown with Broly… the legendary super Saiyan. If he one, I would sleep for another few days; if I won, I would have a few days to a week of regular living.  It became a priority to never lose this battle. It was after I won, that I would dedicate myself to cherishing every actual living moment I had.

Even when I wasn’t sleeping, I was far from free. The PTSD kept me terrified in anxiety of leaving my home alone, or in general.  As a result, the network of people that I had spent years building dissipated.  Surely depression followed.  When I did step outside of my house, usually with a friend, I would have moments where I would be shopping for groceries and suddenly find myself reliving a flashback. To the rest of the world, it looked like I checked out. This made it impossible for me to drive, and only made it more difficult to leave the house because I found myself checking out during walks. It had to stop!

That’s when I decided to put all of my training, and knowledge to finding the escape route. I had been accustomed to different states of mind during meditation, and interdimensional travel…. but nothing like this.  I had to engineer a plan to escape my own subconscious. My mind would just remember all my masters, and this felt like a final exam I hadn’t studied for.

So here we GO!

1.     Resolve, & Knowing

You have to be dedicated to healing yourself. You need to be real with yourself. Know that this will not go away in a day, month, or year even. Healing takes time, and that time is dependent on you. I hope that these tools speed up your recovery, and if you find anything else that helps…share them with us! Remember to motivate yourself. The illusion of failure here is simply that, an illusion. YOU CAN DO THIS!

& Don’t you ever forget it.

Other articles might tell you to have faith, I won’t. Faith, is in a way, to force yourself to believe it will work. I’m telling you to KNOW it will work. The law of attraction and manifestation highlight that your mind has incredible power. If you’re mentally sure that you will get better, the universe has no other option but to respond. We can’t manifest cures at will, but we can manifest our well-being. This is your strongest tool. Positive thoughts, and energy behind everything you do. Most of us visit a Western doctor, and just trust that they know what they’re doing. Some of us even know that a western doctor will do something for us to make us better. It’s the exact same in the situation.

 2.     Support

I would say that this is a requirement …. But, everyone’s situation is different. You need to get your support system involved. If your support system knows about your goals to better yourself, they can keep you motivated. Tell them what approach you would like to take (holistic or other), and develop a plan for success!

 3.     Feng Shui & Color Therapy

Feng shui is the art of arranging belongings in your home in ways that produce, and maintain the flow of positive energy. It’s a lot easier than many make it out to be. I’ll even give you a map to use. I personally love to use crystals over a ton of furniture rearrangement. The one thing I tell everyone about furniture is to make sure that you can’t see yourself in the mirror from your bed. If you can see yourself in the mirror while lying in bed, this will produce negative energy. The main thing about this form of therapy is having clean, open spaces.

By having less objects that interrupt the flow of energy, you can welcome in more positive energy. I essentially want you to find each area of the map within your house. The rooms may not be all on the same floor, so use common sense when mapping what rooms go where. The following list of stones placed in the correct areas of Feng Shui, will leave you baffled. Also, pay attention to the colors on the map that correspond to each room. This is where the color therapy comes in. The list below are some of the stones I use in my house.

Prosperity: Citrine, Pyrite, Jade

Fame: Sardonyx, Carnelian, Bronzite

Love: Rose Quartz, Moonstone, Coral

Family: Selenite, Malachite, Rose Quartz

Physical: Quartz, Celestite, Amethyst  

Children: Amethyst, Citrine, Sepentine 

Knowledge: Lapis, Septarian, Lodalite 

Career: Labradorite, Lodilite, Jade, 

Helpful: Citrine, Malacite, Sunstone

What is color therapy and how does it work? Color has a significant impact on the human mind, body, and soul. That’s why hospitals have certain colors to help with healing, or staying calm. This is a form of healing that is grossly overlooked due to its ease of access, and application. You can play sees colors in each room by painting walls, putting objects of that color in the room, or even something as simple as making your bedroom sheets that particular color. After some time, you will begin to notice a difference in yourself, your environment, and even those who live with you. My family absolutely loves it. So, I’ll even give you a nice breakdown of what each color can do for you.

 Red brings in vitality, sensuality, vigor, and confidence. It helps make you feel safe.

Orange stimulate sexuality, allows the ability to have more emotional control over yourself, and can stimulate creativity. It helps fight off feelings of guilt.

Yellow is great for mental focus, clarity, creativity, and transcendence of thought. It helps fight off feelings of shame.

Green helps calm the environment, mind, and body. It’s great for stress relief, healing of all kinds, and promoting healthy life choices. This color helps reinforce your feelings of love and progression from the past.

Blue helps calm the mind, is good for inducing sleep, and promotes the creation of sound. What I mean by this is that it encourages people to talk. Blue helps disarm the soul. It will open up the flow of knowledge available to you.

Purple is great for your intuition. It will heighten your senses, promotes creative problem solving, and allow you to see the bigger picture. Purple is great for stress relief, sleep, relaxation, aids in the creative arts that deal with writing.

White is a high healing color. Yeah - a lot of people have white in their house, but do you notice how much brighter a room is with the white on the walls? Since white is a combination of color, by wearing white you’re constantly exposing yourself to all the colors. Remember you don’t have to just wear it either.

·The last color I recommend, and is my favorite, gold. Though many healers will tell you that white is the master healing color, Gold is a high concentration of light and positive energy. Gold Will motivate you to succeed, and let go of any pesters that don’t really matter. Gold can make you feel great about yourself again, and about living. It will help you heal faster.

 4.     Plants! Green, Green, Green

I had always had the black hand of death with plants, (I know a shaman plant killer is WEIRD). I had read so much about Japanese forest medicine that my friends figured they would bring the concept to me. They helped me set up a few pots with plants I found beautiful. This in time grew on me. My plants were my pets, I could not ignore feeding them! So, I would start trying to force myself out of bed in the morning, JUST to water the plants. If I went back to sleep…it was a process. As time passed, waking up didn’t seem so heavy, my plant collection grew, and I began to see a shift in myself. If I couldn’t do it for myself, at least I could do it for my garden. The green would great me every morning, helping me change my mental progression each day. It’s safe to say that I am no longer the grim reaper of plants. Push yourself a little more each time, keep hope, and soon you will reap benefits too.

 5.     Service Dog

Like I said, getting out of the house was difficult beyond comprehension.  After some time with the plants, I felt like I could take on a small dog. I was home alone a lot, and since the plants managed to get me up in the mornings, I thought a dog my push me through my day. In time, Artemis became my service dog, and now we go everywhere together. He’s helped me with going out alone, without fear because I have him. If I’m ever anxious… he’s there with all his fluffiness to calm me down. With the help of Artemis, and Pokémon Go, I’m driving again! I only mention Pokémon because it really did motivate me to play. I was forced to go on walks with Art if I wanted to get more levels! So, if you hold a spot for Pokémon…try the combo and see where it goes.

Now, you are probably thinking that getting a service dog is ridiculously hard! Wrong. If you are someone who is blind, or needs a dog for those purposes…you need a professionally trained therapeutic dog. You want to get a service dog because they can go anywhere people are allowed, and cannot be turned down. Emotional support dogs can be turned down at public transportations, and are not considered a requirement for your health.

 What you need:

-Get a letter from a mental health professional stating that they recommend a service animal.

-Then get your gear! I went here to get my certificate, vest, and handler ID.

-Carry the prescription and ID with you at all times. No one has the right to ask you why you need the dog, but they can ask you what services the dog provides.

-Know your rights!

 RULES:

Your dog must abide by human customs. That means:

-No barking

-No eating off of floors

-No jumping on people

-The Animal has to be under the table by you at all times when sitting unless you have a medical condition that requires the dog on your lap

Your dog should be a hypoallergenic dog that sheds only once or twice a year, if at all.

If you can’t properly train your dog to follow basic commands, I suggest hiring a trainer.

I’ve always had dogs, so I knew what was needed to train Art. I did plenty of research when training so that no one could give me crap later about my service dog.

*FYI- not any dog is considered a service breed…like Pitbulls etc.

If you can’t properly handle a service animal, skip this step entirely because you make it harder for people who actually benefit from this form of healing.

     6.     Reiki & Antojai

Energy healing is on the rise in western society as of late, but it has been around for centuries. The bible even describes it when Jesus heals by touch. This goes for so many other dogmas, and philosophies. Scientifically, it has only been around since 1922, when Reiki was developed. Almost a century later, 94 years to be exact, Antojai was also developed. Each energy style is great on its own, but it’s when they are put in combination that the definition of energy healing evolves.

Reiki stands for universal life energy. When a Reiki healer works on you, they are filling you with the energy that flows within all life across the universe. If you choose to try this non-invasive method, I would say trying a session first… and if you like it, LEARN IT! If you learn Reiki you will have it readily available at all times. Plus, you will save costs in the long term if you already have financial restraints.

Reiki will prepare your mind, body, and soul for a deeper stage of healing. If you are not used to energy healing, Reiki is the key to understanding energy medicine. This should be a consistent standard to your healing. I give myself Reiki every day. Think of it as a mega anti-depressant, and beyond. If you have body pain, reiki! If you are low on energy, reiki! If you are feeling negative in any way, reiki. You get the point.

Click here, or full detailed medical information about reiki by the University of Minnesota. Reiki gave me the energy I needed to pursue my healing process, and it made it much easier to walk that path.

Some reiki instructions can be expensive, $700+. I teach it in person, or by distance anywhere around the world at a fraction of that. Other courses take a weekend. My course is 2.5hrs, 3 TOPS! That’s how fast you can learn it. Reiki can be achieved by anyone who truly wishes to learn it. Everyone should have access to a form of healing, and it’s because of that reason that I teach it starting at $280/usd. Click here to set up your instruction now!

Now, not everyone can learn Antojai, but you should take advantage of it if you have access to a Antojai Master. I recommend it if you are already a frequent Reiki user, or if you need a deep healing to allow you to enjoy the benefits of reiki.

Antojai essentially targets the causes of your PTSD, and helps you with releasing ties to triggers. My condition was so bad I ended up trying western medications for a while before my research. As I began to apply Antojai to myself daily, I began to see changes in the ways I was thinking, the things I was inspired to do, and so much more. It was because of Antojai and Reiki that this healing suggestion is present today. Antojai opened full access to the components of my subconscious so I could address, heal, release, or erase the glitches within my subconscious. I was on 5 different medications, and today I’m down to 1. With Antojai and Reiki I was able to free myself from the depths of my own mind.

I began applying different signatures of Antojai to myself, and I would switch the signature in use every month. Month one was Kundalini, 2 Emotional Sacral, and so on. For seven months, I applied it to myself- and I’m a totally different person. I feel like I have my life again, and I can pursue being the person I have always aimed to be.

 7.     Subconscious Diving

Subconscious diving is the act of going within yourself to analyze the root causes of certain thoughts.  Some people need a hypnotherapist, or energy healer to help them through this kind of healing. It is possible for you to do it on your own though.

This technique doesn’t work for everyone, but if it does work for you… Take full advantage of it. I constantly dive within my own subconscious to understand myself better by analyzing my experiences. The experience doesn’t really matter where it took place, or when. The importance of this exercise is to understand why a particular effect was in play at that time. For instance:

In mid-college, I had moments where the world just seemed lost, and internally I didn’t know where I was either.  This memory use to pop up all the time at random. It wasn’t until I went into my subconscious, and addressed my past self, that I was able to release myself. I sat down with my past self and explain to him what the future holds. I told him that everything would be okay even though right now it doesn’t seem like it. After the first time doing this, I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, but it wasn’t fully gone. It took me another subconscious dive to that same memory, along with journaling to completely erase my ties to this moment that exacerbated my PTSD.

Not all of these modalities, and techniques will work for everyone, so go with what feels right.

 8.     Soul Retrieval

 So, retrieval is the act of going to a point in time where a vital portion of yourself was lost. This can be in a memory of a past life, your childhood, or something current that you didn’t even notice had taken a portion of you.

Most people need an energy healer, or a past life regression is to help them with this kind of healing. Some Reiki Masters can perform this kind of procedure.  If you are accustomed to meditation, you can do it yourself as well. Just go online and find the most popular book on Amazon that talks about the process of soul retrieval. This kind of healing can be very beneficial as it is a form of you putting yourself back together spiritually. This then transfers over to mental faculties, and finally physical.

This kind of healing should only be done when you feel ready for it. Your soul will let you know that you’re prepared to receive this kind of information. You may start hearing, seeing, or thinking about soul retrieval. This is an indication that you perhaps should try this method of healing. The results are completely different for everyone, since we each have our own personalized demons. Try it out!

 9.     Journal Transfer

The technique of journal transferring your emotions is something many people have done for centuries, and hidden from those of us who actually could benefit from it. It may take you little bit to get accustom to doing this style of healing, but once you start… it’ll be a lifesaver.  One major technique I use with journaling is analyzing my life. If I have an altercation with someone, but I just can’t shake it off, I write about it. I deconstruct the meanings behind the interactions, and I find my own rationale.

Other times, I may be faced with a flashback that randomly attacked to me. This is why I carry my journal with me everywhere. It has a pen attached to it that I absolutely love writing with, and my notebook itself is beautiful to look at. It’s the little details that draw me to it. You want to same affect with your journal. Connect with it, as it essentially is an extension of your soul. When I get hit by this flashback, I may be forced to lay down for a while, but I write everything that I can down. Even if it’s not in straight lines, or they’re half ideas… every bit you can get out helps. When you’re Flashback passes, you can look at these notes and deconstruct so many things from it. I’ll give you my example:

Many years ago, I knew this woman who was extremely dense in her ability to connect with other people through empathy. For some reason, I always felt like I had to do something for this woman, but every attempt was met with negativity. I couldn’t avoid her, so I saw no other options at the time. For some reason, it always bothered me not accepting the fact that this person was not worth my energy. That it wasn’t my responsibility to drag her from the depths of her own misery. This tiny detail has haunted me for years without me fully understanding why. When I finally wrote it down, it was as though I transferred the entire experience onto the paper. I was later able to deconstruct it with tree maps, and other methodologies that help you analyze a topic to find peace with this matter.

A moment trapped in history, that haunted my soul for some reason, that would put me down for a 2hour sleep… no longer surfaces. This kind of technique is similar to erasing a file on your computer, or rewriting it all together. This is a similar technique found in soul retrieval, and subconscious diving. I do not limit you to just one particular mode of detoxification. I do know there’re some people who cannot accept the metaphysical easily, and for you this journal technique is perfect. I’ve been doing this technique for over six months now, I love how it has released my mind from the monsters that haunted me.

Not every recollection will fall into a journaling category, interacting with your deepest portions. Feel no stigma, feel no shame because no one needs to know what you’re writing about. Remember, there are people who write every day. I only say this because when I began the journaling technique, I would feel as though I were being judged for being strange. No one judges a person reading a book. Apply that same concept to your writing.

I will be adding an instructional podcast for further assistance on this technique.

 10.  Forceful Courage

The world may make you feel out of place during your healing. REMEMBER, you are healing. It’s better than being a victim to the consequences of your condition. I'm not entirely healed, but I am determined to continue to fight. I wish you the very best on your journey, and feel free to reach out with any questions.

I leave you with this wonderful TED Talk by Eleanor Longden.

[bisoroblog]

Leveraging the Lore of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ to Motivate Students to Read and Write  

Some parents and teachers despair as they witness the erosion of sustained reading, particularly fiction, with today’s screen-obsessed youth. Whether this genuinely heralds an intellectual Armageddon, or merely marks a benign transition into a new phase of the life of the mind, remains to be seen. Whatever the future holds, those who wage a pitched battle under the standard of literacy may find a valuable ally in an old nemesis.

“Dungeons & Dragons is a gateway drug to reading,” said York University professor Ian Slater, who runs Dungeons & Dragons campaigns for schools and events. “Children who do not read regularly or read for pleasure will start reading the gaming books almost as soon as they sit down, and they carry that outside of the game.”

Worldbuilding is no small task, and there are literally thousands of physical and online pages dedicated to the nuances and minutia of bringing the encyclopedic Dungeons & Dragons universe to life. Once kids are bitten by the bug, they spend hours pouring over the reference guides, web pages and forums, and some even turn to fantasy novels. They often don’t realize that an unintended consequence of their game play is that they become better readers and writers. This, however, has not been lost on many parents and educators.

Game pieces (Courtesy of Sarah Roman)

The Magic of Motivation

“The most impactful thing about using D&D as a literacy tool is that the information has to be synthesized, meaning they have to glean out of the reading what is necessary to make a character act in the imaginary world,” said Texas teacher Kade Wells, who uses Dungeons & Dragons with his students. “Kids read the information intrinsically because the success (and power) of their character is directly linked to what they can find in a book. No child wants an ineffective character.”

Students who play are intrinsically motivated to exercise a host of complex and interwoven literacy skills, which they may be more reluctant to practice without the incentive of the game. Alexandra Carter, who incorporated a modified version of Dungeons & Dragons with a primary class, reported her students were similarly incentivized.

“Students willingly used and further developed their reading and writing skills while creating stories, narratives and presentations for the project,” wrote Carter in a paper describing her use of D&D in a Grade 3 classroom. “The students struggling in these areas academically enthusiastically poured through books and took careful notes. They felt invested in what they were doing and were excited about the goal-oriented work they were producing. One student reflected on his progress in reading and said that he ‘felt like he was actually reading for something,’ rather than ‘having to read.’ ”

In these cases, kids are inspired to read to better participate and perform in the game, but New Jersey educator Sarah Roman used the game as a lure to immerse her students in the classics.

Sarah Roman teaching students how to play. (New Jersey Education Association)

A high school English teacher, Roman adapted D&D for her senior Honors and AP literature classes to actively engage her students with the course readings. She designed a yearlong campaign that featured characters, setting and events from classics like Beowulf and Macbeth.

“I saw a big jump in the willingness to read,” said Roman. “They knew that I had crafted my campaigns around the details in the texts, so if they were to be successful, they would have to actively know that material and be able to synthesize it.”

In an ingenious ploy characteristic of an experienced D&D player, Roman set up her class so that the game and the books on the reading list mutually informed each other. Students were motivated to read The Canterbury Tales because it improved their performance in the game, and success in the game reinforced a greater understanding of Chaucer’s work.

Her unorthodox approach led to a marked improvement in more traditional modes of assessment. “I fundamentally saw a positive change in how the students are learning the works through their analytical essays and more practical assignments,” wrote Roman in her blog. Roman’s integration of D&D in her class is not only creative and engaging for her students, but it meets mandated curricular standards, which illustrates that a resourceful educator can break with traditional methods of delivering course material to teach in a more engaging manner and still fulfill the curricular mandates.

Building a world (Courtesy of Sarah Roman)

An Apprentice in Worldbuilding

Best-selling authors like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Cory Doctorow, comedian Stephen Colbert and Game of Thrones mastermind George R. R. Martin all played Dungeons & Dragons. It’s not surprising that burgeoning writers would be drawn to a storytelling game, and it presumably contributed to the development of their craft.

Sci-fi writer and professor Trent Hergenrader also credits his youthful fascination with tabletop role-playing games as a wellspring for his creative output. Today, Hergenrader also teaches English and creative writing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he uses role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons as the primary tool to instruct his students on how to write fiction.

“I began using tabletop RPGs to steer students away from writing stories that had some cliched deep meaning and instead get them thinking about getting into a character’s head. The idea was that spending time on character creation exercises would help them develop well-rounded characters, and that plot would emerge from the decisions their characters make during their RPG sessions,” said Hergenrader. ”The Player’s Handbook walks players through developing their characters’ family histories, personality traits, and even phobias and personal shortcomings.”

Players are essentially co-authors who regulate each other for plausibility, and their ongoing interactions contribute to deep and nuanced character development. As the narrative ringleader, the Dungeon Master is responsible for spinning a rich and engaging story that, when done well, has all the twists and turns of a page-turning novel. The game fuses literacy and orality in a unique interactive storytelling exercise, which may better develop creative writing skills than simply reading or writing in isolation.

Roman’s students learning how to play. (New Jersey Education Assocation)

“Playing D&D is a completely different experience of story than reading and analyzing a novel, short story or play,” said Brian Foglia, who infuses Dungeons & Dragons in the curriculum at the South Jersey Sudbury School, which he founded. “It gives the students a better sense of character agency, as well as a felt sense for plot. It also opens a whole world of imagination for them, one that doesn’t ask them to be passive recipients of words on a page or pictures on a screen.”

Fiction is a transportation to another time and place, and Hergenrader uses the worldbuilding aspect of RPGs by having his students work together to flesh out the details of their setting, whether historical, contemporary or fantastical.

“The act of creating a world with others really highlighted the way writers attempt to represent people, places and things in their fiction, which in turn reveals these writers’ assumptions about how our shared reality works,” said Hergenrader. “The act of worldbuilding then becomes a stage for debating the role of government, economic systems, issues of equality along the lines of race, class, gender, and more. The RPG rule system we use helps give the world structure and consistency, but the writers have near-complete freedom when it comes to developing the world further.”

Kade Wells also used RPG conventions to structure a collaborative creative writing assignment with his Grade 9 English students. Wells acted as DM and led his students in the creation of “Radioactive,” an elaborate story set in a nuclear holocaust.

“We had to generate all kinds of things in the world: politics, survivor groups, locations, sicknesses, even monsters,” said Wells. “This creation forced a great deal of cross-curricular research for them, which they did gladly and naturally, looking things up to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.”

Like Hergenrader with his college students, Wells used RPG character creation techniques to encourage his students to develop rich and nuanced personas to populate the fallen world.

“Even the lowest writers wrote vigorously on their character stories in the “Radioactive” world. I watched as struggling writers fought through their lack of mechanical know-how, to get to the expression of their ideas in writing. In short, they were proud of their ideas, therefore willing to write them down, no matter how hard,” said Wells.

By leveraging the playful and dynamic features of an RPG, educators empower reluctant readers and writers to participate in the art of storytelling. This not only imbues them with the skills for analysis and invention, but also equips them with the technical and imaginative resources to write and rewrite the stories of their own lives.

Leveraging the Lore of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ to Motivate Students to Read and Write   published first on https://dlbusinessnow.tumblr.com/

[f1fteenreason5why-blog]

Module 8: Nightmares!

• Genre Fantasy

• Book Summary Charlie Laird experience the loss of his mother and is unable to cope with a reality without her. Charlie takes out his anger and frustration on his little brother Jack, his father, and his new stepmother; which he thinks is evil. As Charlie’s father, brother, and stepmother try to move on and be happy in a new house, he is stuck in the past. Every night, Charlie has nightmares about a witch trying to eat him, being chased in the woods, and evil monsters. When Charlie’s dreams start slipping into reality, he teams up with his friends to prove his stepmother is a witch and the cause for all the bad in his life. Once he discovers the portal between the Waking world and the Netherworld in his stepmother’s office, Charlie’s mind and body are stuck in the Netherworld and whatever happens to him there will happen in real life. When he realizes his stepmother was his mothers best friend, not a witch, and a genuinely good person, Charlie’s eyes are open to the real culprit; the principal. After putting his friends and classmate’s in a series of test that depict their worst nightmares, the kids persevere and save the town from the corrupt principal. Charlie finally learns that facing your fears is the only way to stop the nightmares, so he finally comes face to face with his nightmare, his mom! Once Charlie accepts that his mother is physically gone, yet her spirit will always be with him; he can join his family and friends on the path to happiness.

• APA Reference of Book Segel, J., & Miller, K. (2014). Nightmares!. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

• Impressions This book was filled with a creative mix of humor, horror, and humility. I couldn’t imagine my mom dying, at all, especially at such an early age, but as someone who has experienced ‘loss,’ I could relate to Charlie and his daily struggles of dealing with the mundane and his deep-rooted pain. Although he lashed out at his family and friends, he soon realized the severity of pain he causes others by looking at their dreams. This story, like many others, is a wonderful way to present loss and empathy, in a modest way, so that kids can take a step back and look at the whole picture of events happening, like Charlie did. The death of his mother took a great toll on him, but when his father remarries, Charlie is convinced she is evil. I think Charlie used his new stepmother as an excuse to be mad at life. Although it is in his head, Charlie believes everyone has forgotten his mother and that his stepmother is trying to replace her. We must remember the simply complicated minds of children and how they perceive the world through their adolescent minds. When Charlie finally accepts his mother’s death, he is freed from his fears of living life without her and can help his friends and town defeat the true evil.

• Professional Review When Charlie Laird's mom died, he was, of course, devastated, and he's devastated all over again when his dad marries Charlotte, the kooky herbalist with unruly red hair. After they all move to Charlotte's family home a spooky, purple mansion Charlie begins having terrible nightmares starring a cauldron-stirring, red-haired witch, and he starts believing that his stepmom is not who she seems. While investigating her workroom in the tower of the house, he stumbles through a portal into the Netherworld, a creepy, fractured version of his own town that's populated with elements from kids' nightmares, including bunnies with toothy jaws for faces and a fedora-wearing gorgon. There he discovers who's really behind his bad dreams as well as some secrets about not only Charlotte but also his own mother. Segel (of The Muppets movie) and Miller build an entertaining, cartoony world full of scary (but not too scary) monsters, silly jokes, plucky kid heroes, and a cinematic plot that trundles onward to a satisfying conclusion, with a promise of adventures to come. Final illustrations not seen.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist

• APA Reference of Professional Review Hunter, S. (2014, September 15). Booklist Online. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.booklistonline.com/Nightmares-Jason-Segel/pid=6870499

• Library Uses This book can be used as a great tool for kids who have experienced loss or are resistant to the inevitable changes around them. This book can also be a great guide for kids overcoming their fears.

• Read-a-likes 1) Legendtopia by Lee Bacon- Both titles share the genre of fantasy fiction and include the use of parallel universes. 2) The girl drank the moon by Kelly Regan Bamhill (2016)- These books share the theme of fantasy and the subject of witches. 3) Gossamer by Lois Lowry (2006)- Both titles focus on nightmares and fantasy fiction.

[mentorup]

2017 MentorUp | Session #1

Session Outline | 60 minutes 

Introduction | 2 minutes

Mentee’s Perspective | 4 minutes

News | 8 minutes

Work | 8 minutes

Technology | 8 minutes

Trend or Topic | 10 minutes

Dialogue | 10 minutes

Flex-Time | 10 minutes

Introduction | 2 minutes

Brilliant colleagues, welcome to MentorUp 2017!

If you haven’t already, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for committing to invest time in 1) staying up to date on the latest industry happenings 2) building stronger relationships agency wide and 3) challenging yourself to apply the innovation learned and inspired here directly to our work.

Remember why you said “IN!” and for the next hour or so, put that pesky To-Do list aside, grab something warm to drink and make sure you have a way to take notes… let’s do this thing people! 

Mentees’ Perspective | 4 minutes

Before we officially begin talking about this month’s items, lets take the time to look at this session through the lens of the mentees’ business they work on and/or are responsible for.  It’s important to gain that perspective (for the mentors) and to be reminded of it (for the mentees) before we begin our session.

 Here are few questions to help get that discussion flowing… (these are merely suggestions, please use your creativity!) 

1) What are some of your client’s focuses this year in regard to innovation and improving?

2) What are some of your focuses this year in regard to improving the quality and innovative nature of your work/ideas?

3) What areas of growth are there for the business you work on?

4) How could you being more knowledgeable about the latest industry news and trends affect your team and work?

5) Is there anything you’re really interesting in learning about or focusing on this month?

Now having gained valuable insight and perspective, let’s proceed strategically!

News | 8 minutes 

1. Snap Inc.’s IPO

How could this be an official news section if we didn’t at least mention the Snapchat IPO. ;)   

There are a TON of articles currently out there on this… here’s what you need to know… Snap Inc. (because remember how they rebranded last year?) is going public this month.

Currently valued at 22 billion, Snap Inc. is hoping to be the largest IPO since Allibaba back in 2014. For a company that’s known for being discreet and secretive, in their application, for the first time many details had to clarified.

 A few details in their IPO are listed below... 

The question of “why now?” could be answered in a variety of ways, but with their recent launch of Spectacles (now widely available online!) and them clearly stating their a “camera company” with endless possibilities makes this an interesting time to have the IPO. They’re no longer an app, but a large tech company focused on the camera and the content it can create. 

Luring Wall Street with numbers and the possibility of what they could create next could work for Snap Inc. or it could not… what are your thoughts? What do think is their biggest strength? What about weakness?  

Now Snapchat isn’t the only platform putting it’s best foot forward for an upcoming IPO…

2. Pinterest’s Lens Tool

We’d all like our entryway, our pantry, and our closets to look a bit more like something off Pinterest… right? How to turn that perfect pin into an actual item in your home? Enter Pinterest’s Lens.

Pinterest announced and some exciting new tools on their platform that will be rolling out in a few weeks, with Lens being the star of the show. Have you ever played with Shazam? The app that can listen to a clip of music and tell you exactly what it is? Well, Lens is exactly that, but for products!

That perfect chair you’ve been eyeing… by using the Lens feature, Pinterest will find buyable pins that match the item you love. If the exact item isn’t available, no worries, Lens will show you other options that are similar.

Pinterest calms the ruckus of options by curating ideas and items and this new update is simply taking their service a step further to help consumers get exactly the look they pinned. Of course it also helps their platform be more profitable. “Brands like CB2, Macy's, Target, Neiman Marcus and Wayfair are already on board, the company said.” This update could be the push Pinterest needs to successfully prepare for their “inevitable IPO.” 

How could this update touch your client? What about your client’s consumers? How will this tool change expectations and attitudes towards shopping?

3. Google Home Is Now Shoppable

The AI device that made its entrance this past fall has been impressive thus far and done well in competing with Amazon’s already established Echo and Echo dot. However, there was a key difference their initial capabilities, Echo was shoppable via Amazon and Google was not a shopping device… yet.

Beginning this month, Google announced that Google Home owners will be able to shop “by voice via participating Google Express retailers including Costco, Whole Foods Market, Walgreens, PetSmart, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.”

By setting up payment information in the app, users will be ready to shop! Google has also mentioned that a variety of shopping updates will be rolling out in the coming months.

This latest move by Google “gives Home a capability that has helped Amazon gain a leading edge in the category, as placing orders via the Echo has proven a natural fit for the devices.”

Voice is an interesting topic right now… although this piece of news is merely one update to an already existing device, it has huge implications for consumers and our industry. So far we associate digital innovation most often with something visual, whereas many experts (need resource) are saying the future of digital is voice. This past month, a study revealed that 35% of searches are now voice.

How could your client use an AI device? How would voice shopping change and/or affect your client? What about other aspects of voice?

Work | 8 minutes

1. Amazon Studios #ZTakeover

Amazon has produced a new mini-series that looks almost as fabulous as the legend herself, Zelda Fitzgerald. In order to promote “Z: The Beginning of Everything” (that’s now available to stream on Amazon), Amazon brilliantly went the experiential route, creating memorable and pampering experiences for young women. Amazon Studios head of marketing said, “we wanted to find entertaining and engaging ways to bring audiences into the world of Zelda Fitzgerald. Our integrated strategy was to recreate themes from our show and craft personal experiences for our consumers, giving them the opportunity to connect with Zelda’s character and live through the same transformation that she experienced. We recreated the ’20s in a very modern way.”

The way Amazon accomplished this was two-fold. First, in select Dry-bar locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, women watched the first two episodes air while receiving free blow-outs, with 20’s styles available such as the “Zelda Cosmo.” Second, in classic 1920’s form, Amazon took over some of the best speakeasys in Los Angeles and New York City, featuring “bartenders in ’20s attire and actors dressed from the period who mingled in the crowd. Fan dancers and burlesque performances, aerialists and jazz music added to the ambiance. “Zelda” or “F. Scott” signage designated the men’s and women’s bathrooms, where “Z” branding also appeared on the mirrors. A photo booth experience for social sharing offered ’20s mug shots with the guest’s name and caption “Arrested for Violating Prohibition.” Guests received a printed copy and a “Z” black flask as they left the event.”

This item perfectly displays how bringing a fictional world into consumers’ reality never does go out of style. How could the brands you work with be more experiential focused? What dry-bar equivalent have your clients not tapped into yet? See if you can come up with an idea!

2. Trolli Beardsketball + Spectacles

Ever since Snap Inc. Spectacles were announced last fall, there has been anticipation around how influencers and brands were going to use the new product. Enter Trolli… who has been working with James Harden, a well-known NBA player, for about a year now mostly in TV spots. Being known for his thick beard, Harden and Trolli have partnered to create “Beardsketball, a Trolli-and Harden-branded basketball activation that let’s fans shoot hoops into a net that looks strikingly like that famous busy beard.” The game will debut the night of the Houston Rocket – Golden State Warrior game with on online presence for those not attending.

Now, what makes this interesting… coming back to Spectacles, is that each Beardsketball player will wear a pair of Spectacles while playing that will be connected to Trolli’s Snapchat account, “with content pushing out throughout the game.” Harden will also wear a pair for a the shootaround before the game, to give Trolli’s Snapchat followers some up close content.

How could your clients use Spectacles? Have you gotten to try them out yet? TMA Labs has a few pairs on the way! #getexcited

3. Cracker Barrel + The Grammys 

Yes, it’s true… biscuit lovers’ heaven actually had a part in the Grammys this year! How do you ask? The restaurant’s music and entertainment brand, historically focused on merely selling CDs in its general store (alongside taffy and Yankee Candles of course), began innovating in 2015 by creating original content for their CDs and social media channels. 

Cracker Barrel’s VP of marketing said, “Music has always been a part of the Cracker Barrel brand, but over the last year, we’ve become tighter in understanding the value proposition of music to our business.” The biggest way in which they’ve done that is by partnering with groups like Pentatonix to create orginal content. This past year the brand brought together Pentatonix and the legend, Dolly Parton to create a “funky” remix of the beloved classic, “Jolene.” The YouTube video has more than 22 million views and then of course… it won a Grammy. Nbd.

“Our future success is going to come from families just starting out as well as those who grew up with the brand with their parents,” he said. “They have to see Cracker Barrel as a brand that appreciates things they’re interested in. Music and entertainment allows us to fuel that interest.”

(Also, if you’re a NEEDTOBREATHE fan (#love), check out this other Cracker Barrel content.)

What music opportunities are there for your brand?

Technology

1. Digital Playground Installation

INITL collective, a creative platform for audio-visual research that created a digital playground installation. By using a “combination of motion-tracking and projection-mapping,” the installation allows players to interact with a displayed object on any surface.

Check out this video to see how it works.

How could technology like this be used for your client?

2. Mattel’s AI for Kids

  AI has been a big topic in the last year. As technology such as Google Home and Amazon’s Echo sweeping the market, what about an option for kids? With reasons ranging from tone of voice to ways an AI device can actually be helpful/entertaining to a child… it’s actually a bit different than what Google Home and Echo is designed to do… or that’s what toy maker, Mattel believes. 

Mattel has designed Aristotle, “a $300 Wi-Fi speaker-based voice assistant that functions like Google Home or Amazon Echo, but is built to live in a child’s room—and answer a child's questions—rather than rule the entire home. In this most intimate of spaces, Aristotle is designed to be something far more specific than the generic voice assistants of today: a nanny, friend, and tutor, intended to both soothe a newborn and help a tween with their foreign language homework. It’s an AI to help raise your child.” 

Being equipped with a camera that can stream to a parent’s phone, Aristotle can even be a baby monitor. Being designed to understand the voice of a toddler and older, Aristotle is built for education and play as well as to help parents. Check out more here about details but before we move on… what are your thoughts on this? How do you think a generation would be different if they had grown up with Aristotle? How does this make you think of the voice conversation?

This Month: Cultural Trend

To set the mood before we begin this session, please take a quick look at the below statements and then evaluate how you’re feeling… 

1. “Let’s meet for dinner this week!” – an old friend

2. “Coffee on Saturday afternoon?” – sibling who’s in town

3. “Why don’t we go out and try that new place with the outdoor bar?” – colleague

4. “You have 4 new Event invites” – your Facebook notifications

5. “[Insert friend’s name] is always going to such cool places” – your thoughts while scrolling Instagram

6. “Why am I paying $14 for an appetizer Kale salad?” – your thoughts while ordering at the new “cool” restaurant in your neighborhood.

Raise your hand if you’re feeling some quality at-home time right about now? Me too. While much of your reaction was most likely personality based, it seems that it could be culturally trend based as well.

We’re all familiar with the phrase FOMO (fear of missing out), but in a world of constant connection and endless opportunity for entertainment, could perhaps the age of FOMO be ending?  Stylus certainly thinks so in their new consumer lifestyle trend titled, “Here Come the Homebodies.”

They quickly sum up the title by saying, “more people are prioritizing housebound pursuits, delighting in the joy of missing out and enhancing their homes with DIY projects. The trend is manifesting globally, with cultural influences including Scandinavian philosophy hygge and Chinese subculture zhai.”

Let’s focus in a bit on ways this is playing out… here are 3 categories.

1) JOMO (joy of missing out) is the new FOMO (fear of missing out)

A growing number of millennials are completely losing interest in going out, particularly at night. In a study done in the UK in 2016, the average millennial spends 17.5 hours at home per day. Looking to the US, the environment doesn’t look too different with “almost 80% making excuses to avoid going out at times and 10% doing so regularly. Some 30% of US adults would rather do chores at home than leave the house.” Lastly, 72% of US millennials and teens would rather stay in on a weekend night than leave the house and go out.

What factors do you think are contributing to this so called JOMO? Yes you guessed it… Netflix and other streaming services are a big contributor. Stylus reports that “obsessive consumption of box sets have become a social phenomenon.”  27% of Brits are engaged in 3 or more series at any given time and 12% of 16-34 year olds in the UK would rather catch up on a show than have sex with their partner. 

Here’s a quick brand example utilizing this trend and specifically targeting couples who watch shows together.

Cornetto’s Commitment Rings

Lastly, influencers have a huge impact on the JOMO movement. In the report, it’s written that “celebrity homebodies are proudly admitting they prefer to stay in – further elevating JOMO’s appeal. These include actors Jennifer Lawrence and Mila Kunis, and singers Rihanna and Taylor Swift.” Check out these examples below. 

Now we can’t talk about JOMO without mentioning the Chinese subculture, zhai, who are characterized by being internet obsessed. Stylus writes, “Frenetic urban centers and a lack of offline entertainment options in many inland cities mean zhai boys and girls prefer staying home… some 277 million Chinese millennials are online and spend 27 hours on the internet each week (whereas US millennials spend 21.7 hours online each week).” The zhai lifestyle is becoming increasingly trendy being predicted to hit mainstream in the next 5-10 years (according to Stylus). With the rise of zhai, services like home delivery, online gaming, entertainment and music are on the rise. To give you an idea of how large, “the food delivery industry in China alone is worth over 2.4 billion, with millennials placing half the orders. “

2) Hygge

Ah yes, the secret to Scandinavian contentment. How do you say it extactly. This excerpt from a recent New Yorker article gives a short history on the word. #etymology

“The Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 “word of the year” shortlist was heavy on neologisms that one wishes didn’t have to exist: “alt-right,” “Brexiteer,” and this year’s winning term, “post-truth.” Among the finalists, though, there was one bit of solace: “hygge,” a Danish term defined as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Pronounced “hoo-guh,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “cozy” comes close. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.”

As the world becomes more and more connected and because of that individuals are more aware of the hardships, wars, and tragedies (to name a few) in the world, uncertainty and anxiety have been more-so present in past years due to various events. Stylus suggests this is why “people are embracing the Scandinavian lifestyle concept of hygge.” They go on to say that “there’s more to it than chunky cardigans and scented candles, however – note a new take on mindfulness and healthy indulgence.” With the word coming from “Old Norse hyjjaa, which meant to be or to think – so it’s a mindful philosophy” rather than lifestyle items (blankets, cakes, and candles) that can be bought… brands should be careful to not sell hygge but cultivate it.

“Brands should focus on the life-enhancing aspects of hygge with products that speak to a back to basics theme or celebrate family traditions. On of the ways to sell it or recognize it is experiential… rather than buying things, it’s about coming together over activities. For example, learning a new skill of doing the things our grandparents had to do out of necessity – knitting, making your own clothes, learning how to cook.”

Healthy hedonism is a hygge focus as well. Johansen, the author of “How to Hygge” told Stylus, “Nordic regions were poor for a long time and people had to make do with very little. They learned to really enjoy life, which is why I call them healthy hedonists. IT’s about respecting what life gives you and making the most of it. It’s not about punishing yourself, or feeling guild or shame.”

Examples of brands taking advantage of this are... 

Hygge Box

Zillow’s Home campaign

3) Hacking Homeliness 

Lastly, this section simply speaks to how homebodies “are willing to spend time and money on personalizing and upgrading this cherished space”… their home. 

A few ways this has changed in recent years DIY growth. Stylus writes, “in post-crisis America, many homeowners are opting to stay put and renovate, as low numbers of houses for sale push up property prices.” In renovating and re-decorating, more than 20% of people worldwide buy something new for their home every week with 37% making or modifying their living space.

In an IKEA 2016 Life at Home report, it’s stated “our homes are a work in progress. Whether it’s buying new cushions, putting up a photo of our loved ones or giving an old chair new life by painting it. We often try to improve the feeling of hominess.”

[Note: “not all home-improvement experiences go well. Around 2 million UK households had a DIY disaster in the March 2016 holiday weekend and spent 73 million to fix mistakes.”(Privelege, 2016)] 

A few final stats for you… “60% of US consumers will take on a DIY home project, rather than hiring professionals or buying pre-made” and only 39% of those 60% do it for budget reasons. Who are these DIYers? It’s a diverse group with “around 50% female and over half afre aged between 24-44.”

Lastly, brands are “democratizing expensive interior design services” as the wave of this DIY and project culture gains speed. Services like Modsy and Decorist are raising millions in funding and giving people quick yet beautiful designs.

Application:

How does all of this effect your work? Why does it matter? 

Ways for your clients to dive a bit deeper are

1) giving homebodies what they want

2) embrance JOMO  

3) tap into DIY

For the full report, download here: 

https://themarketingarm.box.com/s/sea3ep51tgyficj0r6smql6mv38luvgm

Content Highlight

App of the month

CALM 

At the end of 2016, we featured the iPhone Watch app Breathe, which focuses on mediation and… yep you guessed it, controlled breathing. ;)

I don’t know about y’all (excuse my Texas accent), but in 2017 keeping my stress level low and work-life balance in check is a top priority. Technology often times competes with those two things… but with the apps like Calm you’re bound to find some much needed Zen. 

Did you know that over 18 million Americans practice mediation? Jump on the chill bandwagon… life is good when you make the time to be mindful.

Conclusion

Session #1 complete! If you have any resulting questions, don’t hesitate to send a note my way! cdelahchapelle@themarketingarm.com

Thanks!