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fit-as-fxck · 6 years ago

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week 3 of being a strong motherfxcker

If you don't want to read my lengthy rundown, feel free to avoid this post. I have a lot to say. I’m headed into week 3 of the training program I wrote for myself and it’s week 2 for my gym partner. As much as I love being on my own, having a partner there makes me push myself more. The first 3 weeks are phase 1 where I'm spending time hammering down technique. Done and dusted. I’m still working on tempo but I really really want to start pushing the weight more. Last week felt good and I'm ready for more. Cardio is increasing slowly again and its continuing to lean me back out. Patience and one step at a time right? I do feel a little sorry for my partner, I kind of threw him into the mix and told him to sink or swim, but hey, he asked for it. And I told him it would be hard. I have some personal matters that may interrupt my routine this week but I don't plan on missing a beat. I’ll adjust if I have to, even if I have to combine days. Im totally ready for this and I really hope my partner continues to catch on fast so I can branch off and do my own thing. I don't want him to rely on needing me there for everything. I sent him the rundown of this week’s program and some notes explaining things. These workouts are hard for me, by the end of the week they leave me feeling completely run over. But its cool thats the point. I'm ready for a kickass week in and out of the gym. Here’s a look at some of my plan and notes: (I genuinely love doing this shit)

Monday: lower body strength

1.25 mile warmup & 500 meter row

Dynamic mobility warmup

Warmup walking lunges x1, side to side walking squat

Deadlift 1 warmup set then 5x5

Squat 1 warmup set then 5x5

RDL 3x10

Barbell hip thrust 4x8

Leg press 4x8

Back extension 3x10

Hanging leg raises 3x failure

Tuesday: upper body strength

1.25 mile warmup, 500 meter row

Rotational shoulder warmup, single lat pulldown warmup

Bench press 5x5

Pullups 4x8

Db rows 4x8

Upright barbell row 3x10

Skullcrushers 3x12

Inverted row till failure

Wednesday: conditioning

2 mile run

1000 meter row

Box jumps

Alternating arm kettlebell swing

Snatches

Sled pushes

Battle ropes

Turkish get-ups

Thursday: lower body endurance/volume

1.25 mi warmup run

Walking lunges with overhead plate x20 each leg

Sandbag clean and jerk 2 x12-15

One leg RDL 3x15

Seated hamstring curl 3x15-20

Pistol squat transitions 3 till failure

Reverse lunges 3x12-15

Friday: upper body endurance/volume

1 mile run

Mobility drills and warmups

Single arm rows 3x10-12

Inverted rows 3x10

Pullups 3x10

Bicep curls with barbell 3x12-15

Tricep dips to failure 3 sets

Db incline chest press 3x12

Db shoulder press 3x12

Boxing on the heavy bag

Welcome to Week Two! I’m so proud of you for successfully making it through Week One and learning all that you did. Seriously, give yourself a pat on the back. Celebrating your successes are just as important as anything else. They keep you moving forward. Put your successes in that cookie jar and pull from them every time you start to doubt yourself.

The next six to seven weeks will continue to be physically and mentally demanding. We wont take a deload week until week 8. A deload week is a period when you reduce your weight or intensity to give your body a break and prepare for even harder training. In a sense, you are setting yourself back for one week, in order to slingshot yourself even further ahead.

Cardio: This week we will increase our running distance by about 10%. Runners increase distance by no more than 10% every week in order to avoid injury (at least thats the by the book method and I’ve heard its unreliable in some cases). Because our training is aggressive we will increase by just over 10%. This is uncharted territory so I’m trying to be conservative while also daring greatly. Our warmups this week will be 1.25 miles. Then, we will do a longer run of 2 miles once this week. Our first goal is to get you to 3 solid miles of nonstop running. Our total distance to shoot for this week will be about 6 miles (1.25 miles x 3 to 4, then a 2 mile run). It sounds aggressive but, based on what you’ve shown so far, it is totally attainable (If you feel you need to lower this distance, we’ll drop down to a base goal of at least 5 miles ran this week. Get 5 miles by any. means. necessary.). Our training is aggressive for a reason. Pushing yourself is something you’ll have to get extremely used to. Results don’t come from comfort zones.

Strength: Just like last week, we’ll have four lifting days, splitting them into 2 strength and 2 endurance days. Our strength focus is on compound lifts. Assuming you feel okay with the form and technique, we will run you through: the barbell bench press, barbell back squat, conventional deadlift, rows, and pullups. Get familiar with always training for strength on those 5 lifts. If we can, we will push you with more weight than last week.

Endurance/Volume: We will take 2 days to train muscular endurance (how many times you can lift something before you get fatigued). We will have to use a lower weight than what we use on strength days and slightly different set of exercises. On Wednesday we will have our cardio and conditioning day where we also test your endurance and stamina with a “functional” crossfit style workout. If this sounds boring, don’t worry because soon it wont be. There are a million and one ways we can switch it up and endless things we can add i.e. boxing days, crossfit, agility work etc. What we are doing now is creating a foundation on which you will build everything else on.

Mobility and Injury Prevention: Always, always, always, practice your drills. Every. Single. Day. Warmups and mobility will be done before every single workout no matter what. Especially the shoulders and rotator cuff. If you skip those you will end up getting yourself hurt and no one has time for that. Besides warming up the shoulder we also need to strengthen the rotator cuff, but not aggressively. Tearing that rotator cuff leaves you with a lifelong injury. Open up the chest, shoulder, back and hamstrings. Practice hip warmups, body weight exercises and ankle mobility. If you can, try some yoga.

Recovery: is a vital part of training hard. It builds your body up so you can hit it hard again. Without recovery you will be spinning your wheels going nowhere fast. You are requiring your body constantly adapt under a state of stress and come back stronger each and every time. Your body is ruled by its nervous system. Your nervous system is broken into 2 parts: sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (relax and recover). You need to take care of both of these or your body will break down. When your fight or flight is activated for too long without a recovery it can malfunction, your adrenals can fatigue and other very horrible things. Training hard means putting your body under a massive state of stress and inflammation, so you need to allow yourself space to recover and you need to get good at it.

Train hard. Drink water. Eat food. Get sleep. One day at a time. That’s all you gotta worry about. If there is anything you would like to focus on, add, or try out please let me know and I’d be happy to adjust.

Remember, our goals are:

Main lifts

Strong shoulders

Strong back

Running

Cardio capacity

Being a strong motherfucker

For the weekend you will need to:

Continue with mobility drills every single day

Drink lots of water and eat lots of food

Take time to relax

Perform a cardio routine i.e. a light jog for a couple easy miles

Practice pushups, tricep dips, pull-ups and walking lunges

You are the master of your own fate. Don’t let others decide how you live, they don’t have the same goals as you. Do what others aren’t doing, so later, you can do what others cant.

#personal #spring shred #January 2019

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trve-grimdark · 7 years ago

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3 MAJOR THINGS PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT SISTERS OF BATTLE

Hey there sisters and heretics! I’ve seen quite a lot of banter on the net these past few months (years even) about this or that concerning Sisters of Battle. Now, I don’t give a shit about people’s politics. Its fucking cancer of the mind, and honestly when they try and inject it into make believe games, its even worse (I use a child like term “make believe” to hopefully help people realize how infantile it is to try and inject real world politics into a fictional universe).

But when it comes to people, whoever they may be, misrepresenting lore and game facts, I do feel the need to step in and correct whats being snarked about.

So here’s 3 things I hear people talk about concerning Sisters that are, well, WRONG.

#1: SISTERS ARE NUNS (WRONG). Sisters are not nuns. Ok, yeah we affectionately nick name them “Nuns with Guns” or such, but that’s all it is, a dumb nick name, like Ultra-smurfs, or Space Pups.. Sisters are, in fact, more based off of KNIGHTS. “But CD, Space Marines are knights!” No, not really. Space marines are more Warriors, Monks, maybe even priests to an extent, with some chapters having “Knightly” aesthetics thrown around (Templars, DA’s, etc.) Sisters are the knights of the Imperium.

They are arranged by “Orders” (Knightly Orders), are organized for the purpose of defense and militaristic spreading of the imperial faith (most knight orders where created by the church for religious reasons like this) they use knightly terms for their ranks: Superior, Hospitaller, etc.and they wear armor more akin to Knightly tailored plate armor rather than habits or massive bulky power suits.

Also, they commit acts of violence against those opposed to them (nuns don’t do that) they bear weapons (nuns don’t do that) and do not live in cloisters away from men or other people and interact with men on a regular basis outside of their orders. They also are not commanded to take vows of chastity (Inquisition War had an open romantic relationship between the inquisitor and the Sororitas of his retinue) most sisters simply choose to be chaste because, honestly if your purging the scum of the galaxy, do you need to be tied down by emotional attachment?

#2: THERE ARE MEN IN SISTERS ARMIES SO ITS NOT AN ALL FEMALE ARMY (WRONG, WRONG, WRONG). There are NO male Sororitas. Period. NOPE. No there isn’t. Nope, don’t even start saying “That priest model. Or that Inquisition character!” Nope. Not sisters. Do not belong to the Adeptus Sororitas. If that’s an argument your making then that means Space Marines have females, because they have female chapter serfs, or because you can attach sisters, or female guardsmen to SM armies. The priests and characters I hear people trying to bring up about this point are not Sisters. The Sororitas is a specified force, a force that can include NO MEN. Even back in the older books like Codex Witch Hunters this was a thing. You couldn’t even take the Orbital Bombardment Heavy Support cause that would mean the ecclesiarchy had ships under arms following sisters around. Newp. Cant have it.

The Sisters of Battle are a force under arms created by the Imperial church, as an official military force. characters and other individuals like Uriah Jacobus are not Sororitus, they belong to the Missionarus Galaxia or inquisition and are neither commanded to be armed, nor sanctioned as a military force by the church. Sisters CHOOSE to attach themselves to these individuals, like they CHOOSE to attach themselves to larger crusade forces or other imperial organizations, for the purpose of achieving a shared goal. They are not commanded by, or really in command of, these individuals (unless we are talking an Inquisitor with a hefty mandate), and these said persons are not a part of the Sister’s Order. END OF DEBATE.

#3: SISTERS ARE JUST CANNON FODDER, AND HERE TO MAKE SM’s LOOK GOOD (UGH, WRONG). Yes, Sisters have lost battles. You know...like every other fucking army in the game. No army in the game, whatsoever, has ever had a perfect record of kill to death ratio. Marines die by the company (hundreds) Guards die by the paragraph (Millions) and everyone else follows suite including Orks, Nids, Eldar, Tau, Civilians. And yes. Sisters.

Welcome to the galaxy where your life means jack shit, and jack left town. If I can read about 600 Iron Warriors dying in the span of a paragraph, I can damn well accept a couple hundred Sisters dying to a Necron tomb world awakening. GET OVER IT.

So there is your lore lesson for today.

#warhammer 40k #sisters of battle #lore

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heliumrelish1-blog · 6 years ago

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August 2018 Goals

August 2018 Goals – Goal Setting Using Lara Casey Powersheets – Setting and working towards goals for August and checking in on July’s goals.

Whew. July was amazing/stressful/wonderful/exhausting/busy/restful all at the same time.

I spent most of July in the states welcoming my newest nephew to the family. He’s the sweetest and I miss him already. He made his appearance a few weeks early and it changed my summer plans a bit. I was supposed to be gone most of this month, but this actually worked out better. August is going to be a doozy.

I know that I might be a *little* biased, but is he NOT THE CUTEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN?

Squishy babies are the BEST.

Also, these might be my two most favorite pictures I’ve ever taken. I love everyone in this picture and I absolutely loved watching them become a family of 3.

August and September are jammed packed with weddings and I’ll be spending a lot of time behind the computer.

My time in New Jersey was so nice. Normally when I make the trip, we are there as a family for a couple of days and we pack in as much as we can and while super fun, I leave needing a real vacation. This time, I did pack a ton of stuff in, but over the course of 3 weeks. I got to spend some real, quality time, with people and it was just what I needed. I missed Wes and the kids so much, but it was surprising how quickly three weeks went by.

I was able to see my grandmother almost every day when I was in NJ. That woman makes me laugh. She’s the absolute best. She has a birthday this month, so if you see her out and about, wish her a Happy Birthday.

I spent a week in Annapolis meeting my nephew and spending time with my brother and sister-in-law. I was also there for his bris. It was a beautiful service and I was so grateful to be home to be a part of it.

Then I made my way to DC. I stayed with a friend for one night and then treated myself to a very fancy hotel the second. I could (and will) do a whole post about hospitality. My friend is the absolute best hostess and staying at her house felt like being in a warm hug. It was such a treat. It was also strange to drive by our old exit and be in our old stomping grounds. P.S. DC traffic is still the WORST.

I also went to New York City to have the most amazing meal at my sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law’s new restaurant. I stayed at The Standard and I loved it. It is right near Chelsea Market, I love the West Village, and the views are BREATHTAKING. I have a soft spot for NYC. Even with all of the traveling we have done in the last year+ NYC still holds a special place in my heart.

I ended my trip by getting the worst sinus infection and basically drugging myself to get on the airplane. I’ve been home a week and just starting to feel human again between that and jet lag. Jet lag, man. It’s brutal. I think that it is much harder going west to east for some reason.

A few random things:

– I pretty much took a three-week sabbatical from social media and it was so refreshing. It wasn’t intentional, it just sort of happened. I would talk to my family early in the day because of the time change and pretty much put my phone down for the rest of the day. Turns out, I didn’t miss anything. The world did not stop turning. I spent more time reading and I got a lot of work done. I wasn’t anywhere near as distracted as I normally am.

– I also didn’t pick up my camera for two weeks. After I got back from my brother’s, I put my camera down and didn’t pick it up until I got back to Germany. I think that the weather had a lot to do with it, it was stormy and gray for the last week I was there. I really missed it and was starting to get a little grumpy. I think that when you are a creative, it is super important to keep creating, even when the work feels like it is garbage.

– Tonight we sat around the table and made our picks for our next duty station. It feels like we just got here and started to get settled, but we are already looking forward to what is next for us. Where to next? Your guess is as good as mine, but I will say that the list had a lot of promising things on it and I think that wherever we go next is going to be great.

– It is so hot. The temps have been in the mid-to-high 90’s since I got back. Air conditioning isn’t a thing here in Germany (Europe, really) and I need to do a photography job for a client and I am afraid to turn on the oven because I’m pretty sure I’m going to melt.

July 2018 Goals

Enjoy my time home with my family and friends. – I killed this one. I had a wonderful visit and got lots of family QT.

Read 4 books. – Also killed this one. You can see what I’ve been reading here.

Write travel series. – I outlined it, but it isn’t written. It’s coming.

Plan August weekend trip. – Instead of an August trip, we planned a November trip to Ireland. I’m also working on a possible kid-free trip to England with Wes.

Work on Pinterest strategy. Maybe take a class. Know any great ones? – Didn’t even think about this all month. This is getting moved to a winter goal.

August 2018 Goals

Clean out and deep clean the master bedroom and bathroom. These two spaces are disasters and I need to spend a solid two days sorting, purging, and organizing.

8 weeks of plant-based eating. Wes and I watched Forks Over Knives and are giving the plant-based lifestyle a whirl. The no dairy part is proving difficult, but the veggie part is great. It’s especially hard because I can’t read all of the German food labels.

Order prints for the kitchen photo wall

Take a new group kid photo. I realized that I don’t have any recent photos of my kids. I have lots of them traveling, and a million of them with their dad, but not of just the three of them.

To read my goals from other months //

Source: https://bakedbree.com/august-2018-goals

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treeyo · 5 years ago

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Harvesting yields is one of the obvious goals of Permaculture and the summer season is indeed bountiful. Rhythms change from spring, foods diversify, and the heat intensifies. Time is an interesting dynamic with day

Home: Treasure Lake

length long but shortening day after day after the summer solstice. With time, the buildup of a permaculture site is about both short term bursts and waiting long term. I wish I could say my plums are ripening but they are still too young to produce. However the forest remains abundant with wild foods and the lake continues with its never ending beauty. Summer, it is a season of enduring heat, managing systems, and yeah picking food. The extreme heat of this region is obvious again this year with the oddity of lack of rain after a spring inundation. Finally a reprieve yesterday through some good rain. Photosynthesis again rages as everything springs back to life. And I get the chance to develop the tinystead with others as evolution of living at the lake continues as well.

Education

Summer is also about travel, people coming together here and there, and having fun. Chances to teach come from this cultural trend. I got to do exactly this at Whippoorwill festival in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky. After learning from others like Bill’s body hacking (kneepainguru.com) and Tim Hnesley’s mushroom mastery in the field, I got my time to teach as well. Active forest enhancement, a movement I am pioneering that combines so many fields including permaculture, agroforestry, syntropic farming, and my degree in fish and wildlife management. It’s about seeing the forest as another important part of the ecosystem that needs intervention to obtain even more yields for ourselves and the other players of the ecosystem. I had a very engaged group in a sweltering day walking through the forest and learning tips and tricks from my 20 years of experience doing this. I look forward to further launching this movement. I also got a chance to teach about the interesting tips for a tree planting jar which has been able to plant over a 1000 dollars worth of trees in our local community and Treasure Lake where I live. In essence we need to drive home investment in tree planting. Even if you have no land, how can you give back to the earth for this vital resource and noble act? I encourage you to do so. Skip going shopping or the bar one night, unless your bar is like mine, where the tips for the night go directly to tree planting. In the end Whippoorwill was not just about teaching but gathering with community, old friends and new connections.

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Tip money from Treasure Lake collected for tree planting rather than income, a community fund

Tim Hensley of Berea, KY schooling us on mushroom ID

My next teaching opportunity is right around the corner with me and Abby coming together once again. Its almost paw paw season and I am stoked to continue to educate people about this plant as it exemplifies my work of active forest enhancement. My focus will be on the propagation side of it all this time. Lets see what we make with the harvest this year as well!

https://treeyopermaculture.com/permaculture-design-courses-pdc/herbal-walk-and-permaculture-planting-with-abby-and-doug/

Paw Paw fruit

Harvest and Foraging

I have planted countless gardens over the years and one of the staples in them is tomato plants. Everyone loves them, they are challenging but abundant, and aromatic. You have to trellis them, baby them, and voila, delicious veg. However I don’t eat tomatoes raw, so all these gardens I have barely enjoyed them. This year I planted amish paste tomatoes as my Italian blood asks for this kind of food everyonce in awhile. So I have been getting nice yields from my plants in the guilds of two newly planted Mt Ash trees out in front of the bar. Mixing perennials with annuals, I love doing it and don’t forget that part of food forest management. Plug some annuals in before the perennials fill out and obtain a yield. Soon I will share my recipe for pasta sauce! Also in the forest when we have had our little bit of rain the oysters growing on fallen hickory and chicken of the woods on well rotted oak have flushed. I need to go check again now that it finally rained again! Definitely after whippoorwill andTim’s session i am seeing even more. It’s also one of the reason I love working with Abby because she is always teaching me something new as I adjust back to this ecosystem. Another harvest we obtained based off of our handwork and ecosystem management was honey. Well its mainly the bees hardwork but we took a tiny bit, a fraction of a normal harvest as well still encourage bees at this site. It’s been a challenge with how we have managed this hive but as I get into it more, well more yield comes.

Chicken of the Woods Primordia

Chicken of the woods maturing

Amish Paste Tomatoes

Daniel, My neighbor down the road, holding a bit of his Egyptian Walking Onion Harvest dried at the lake

honey from our hive

oyster flush on pignut hickory

TinyStead Development

I still am moving into the tiny house and developing its surrounding area. I need to go slow with this, again tiny steps as i said in my last update blog. But me and my friend, carpentry master, Tom, hammered out a deck on the northside of the tiny house. Two years ago we took apart a deck and built picnic tables for the campgrounds at the lake with the bigger wood. The deck planking we still had and I got a chance to salvage more deck wood from a project my friend Bryan was working on. So then me and Tom combined this into an oddly shape deck maximizes all the reused materials. Ok me and Tom occasionally screamed and yelled at each other, but we are like that. In the end it was fun and I’ am grateful for Tom’s effort to build this with me. Community continues to be vital in this project and I am grateful for all who put in effort to evolve this place.

Tom being Tom

deck construction

Before deck

Deck after

Urban Permaculture

Occasionally side gigs pop up for me here and there like puffball mushrooms in a field. I have been heavily vested in the Cincinnati Permaculture Insittutes edible Nursery both in the city of Cincinnati and here at the lake. Its one way in which I practice urban permaculture as our nursery helps to fuel edible plantings. I enjoy it. Through that, I have gotten hooked up with a landscaping job of furthering bringing life and functionality to an urban garden that has had some issues with continuity. Its definitely a problem in designs that one must solve. Anyway i have been just cracking on when i can, clearing the jungle overgrowth and mulching the existing fruit trees that have been growing. The overgrowth has not been welcome by the community of Lincoln Heights where the garden is located. Its a African American community, set up in the 1800’s, that really could use a space like this to help with food insecurity and connection with nature. So i chop and drop vegetation and sheet mulch as i slowly bring the jungle under control for the purpose of making the space more usable. Its been a fun job, not easy at all, but indeed when i leave the site i look back and say, wow, that looks much better than it did before.

Beginnings of sheet mulch

freshly mowed with next layer of sheet mulch of grass clippings on top of previously mulched fruit trees

Thick mulching

Fruit trees and gardens

And with that phrase what if humanity could do that? What if our time on earth granted us the opportunity to co create with nature and others to beautify this planet. In the face of so much social turmoil, just as Rob Hopkins, predicted in his book Transition Towns, well it really comes down to what will be your legacy? You cant control humanity but you can control your actions and being an influencer of positive change.

Treasure Lake

Mussel shell eroding

Monarch, will the world still see this in 50 years

the lake

Bee Balm

Sunset boat rides

the campsite we call florida, a favorite spot on the land for me

lake

paw paw

Summer Yields Much: TreeYo Project Update Blog Harvesting yields is one of the obvious goals of Permaculture and the summer season is indeed bountiful.

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toomanysinks · 6 years ago

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Why unicorns can raise $1 billion but can’t figure out diversity and inclusion

Sarah McMillian Contributor

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Sarah McMillian leads sales at Temboo. She has been recognized as a leader in diversity and inclusion by MIT, her alma mater, Complex and The Root, and advises tech companies on how to become more diverse and inclusive.

In the early 2000s, Hasbro revived its “My Little Pony” toy franchise. Of all the colorful creatures in Ponyville, my favorite were the unicorn ponies.

Unicorn ponies were magical, whimsical and, most importantly, rare. I identified with the latter.

I was 13 years old and had just been selected for a competitive math, science and computer science program. Of the 100 students in the program, I was one of two black girls. But, I was lucky. Just like the Earth ponies embraced the unicorns, my white and Asian classmates made me feel welcome.

I wish that was always my experience in the tech industry.

The tech industry is no more diverse than it was when I was 13. But more tech companies than ever have committed to becoming more diverse and inclusive.

So why doesn’t commitment always translate to Ponyville?

Goodbye Ponyville, hello world

Six years in my intensive math, science and computer science program almost prepared me to study at MIT. Multivariable calculus? Check. Getting over the fact that you’re not the smartest person at school? Check. Having to worry about being discriminated against by your classmates? Not check.

Here’s an example. My senior year, I was working with a team of 21 other students to develop a new medical device. Peer valuations determined part of my grade, which concerned me. I worried that some of my classmates’ feedback would be clouded by biases against black women. I felt pressured to be perceived as intelligent-but-not-intimidating, confident-but-not-aggressive and approachable-but-not-dense.

Though I largely received positive evaluations, not one, but two, of my teammates told me to “be less aggressive.”

I felt singled out and discouraged until I heard from some of my other black classmates. They’d been excluded from team meetings, and assigned the most menial tasks.

Creating diverse and inclusive tech companies starts with individuals.

How could this happen at MIT, a place that prides itself on being a diverse and inclusive center of innovation?

People discriminate. Institutions tolerate discrimination. People learn to tolerate the discrimination against them. It’s a simple, vicious cycle that few institutions and companies design against.

During the three years after I graduated from MIT, I became fed up with being treated as “less than.” It was time to find a unicorn.

Unicorn (noun)

uni·corn | \ ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯrn

a mythical, usually white animal generally depicted with the body and head of a horse with long flowing mane and tail and a single often spiraled horn in the middle of the forehead

a diverse and inclusive tech company

Following the Rainbow Trail

Finding a unicorn was not easy. My Google search yielded plenty of startups with billion-plus valuations. Few startups were very diverse or inclusive.

That’s why Temboo, a NYC-based industrial IoT startup, intrigued me:

A tech company led by a woman of color.

An engineering team with an equal number of women and men.

A product focused on accessibility and the democratization of programming.

A diverse team of employees from different cultural backgrounds.

And, most surprisingly, when I arrived for my first interview, I was greeted with a giant hug. This is New York. Random hugs don’t just happen.

Every person I met had a background and interests different from the next. Of all the companies I interviewed with, only Temboo asked why I chose to lead the black employee resource group at my previous position. Even the company’s physical space was different than most tech companies — an independent office nestled in the heart of the TriBeCa neighborhood of NYC.

When I made the decision to join the team, I was hopeful. Maybe this would be a place where I would be respected and appreciated for just being myself.

My Little Pony: NYC tales

During my first few months, I held onto the past lessons that taught me I needed to formulate an acceptable version of myself for my colleagues. However, with time, I understood that at Temboo, Sarah is enough.

My kinky hair could be braided or in an afro, but my hairstyle had no bearing on my perceived intelligence. I could openly critique the lack of diversity at the industrial IoT conferences we attend, and hear resounding agreement.

There were, admittedly, a few times I felt judged. My deep love of obscure reality TV shows and pumpkin-flavored foods is questionable.

I found my unicorn and I’m happier for it. Now, I want everyone working in tech to find their unicorn, so I’ve started to think about ways that I can help pass the torch.

Stuck in Bro-nyville

Most tech companies are following the same recommendations to become more diverse and inclusive:

Diversify your talent pool.

Create community with employee resource groups.

Tie performance evaluations to diversity and inclusion goals.

Call out the lack of diversity.

Take the example of this medium-sized tech company that was preparing to revamp its employee resource groups. The company invited me to speak on a panel, and share what I’d learned from leading the black employee resource group at my previous company.

For example, my team organized Microaggression Awareness Week. The results were tangible: the next week during an executive leadership meeting, a senior manager stopped to ask his peers if something he said was a microaggression.

But we could not convince the recruiting team to tie their performance ratings to diversity and inclusion goals. They did not want the burden of responsibility, and asked my team to come up with new ideas to attract more diverse talent.

Diverse and inclusive tech companies have better retention and financial performance.

Another panelist shared her experience of coming out in the workplace at 50 years old. After 18 years as a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company, she moved to a small tech company. The atmosphere was totally different. Jokes about someone’s sexual orientation were faux pax, and the company even built a float for the NYC Pride Parade. After a 30-year career, she finally felt safe enough to be herself at work.

The panel ended on an encouraging note, but issues remained. One of the company’s employees shared with me that in order to avoid discrimination, he goes by his Anglo-sounding middle name. His job is to lead diversity and inclusion initiatives.

How to grow a horn

Unfair behaviors like stereotyping, harassment and microaggressions are the primary reasons employees quit tech companies. Women, underrepresented minorities and LGBTQ employees bear the brunt of discrimination (Kapor Center).

Diverse and inclusive tech companies have better retention and financial performance. McKinsey examined the relationship between the diversity of company leadership and financial performance in 2014 and 2017: companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15-21 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability compared to companies in the fourth quartile. For ethnic and cultural diversity, the likelihood of above-average performance increased to 33-35 percent.

Creating diverse and inclusive tech companies starts with individuals. From management to junior employees, everyone needs to continually rethink, unlearn and relearn.

Rethink personal biases.

Unlearn habits of discrimination.

Relearn how to respect others who are different.

Companies help end workplace discrimination by signaling their intolerance. Temboo’s culture and practices are a great model.

Unicorns are magical, but diverse and inclusive tech companies are not. They ask the people who work there to redefine what is ordinary.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/23/why-unicorns-can-raise-1-billion-but-cant-figure-out-diversity-and-inclusion/

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ecotone99 · 6 years ago

Text

[RF] Online

“I’d never think such a thing could move me, even after all these years, some people living their lives in one harmonious mass in the realms of the internet. I could never experience anything like that again, not for all the currency, credits, nor real life cash in the world, this isn’t story about saving the world, nor is it about being stuck in a video game with no way out. This is what I felt.”

“Imagine you are 30 feet behind twisted metal and crumbled concrete, your mohawked bastard of a friend is rocketing grenades while your dreadlocked companion unloaded 30 rounds of sulfuric plasma bullets through a husked swarm of tendrils and flesh tissues, and there you are, in the middle of raw and uncut chaos, aliens are dying, and the people are killing, for once in your life, some white kid in the middle of western suburbia had a shot, whoops, there goes the city block, some dumbass just unlocked the hydrogen bomb the size of a baseball, they call it the bench cleaner, you just shrug it off. For you have a chance of a chance to meet a new person in life, someone who will change your perspective on the realm of this universal construct of a simulation we call life, you pray, unloading the brass casings from some conglomerate of hardware parts and some dull knives, you haven’t been playing long, and it reflects that, your friends don't care, they just want someone new to play with, even if you did buy the game later."

"You wake up, slog through school and each passing algebra and calculus test, every science essay, every film critique, you just want to relax, you want to pull your hair out, sometimes numbers don't add up and things don't make sense grammatically, but in the end, what strives you is to get home, and play. You hear the final buzzer, and run, drive, or bus home, it doesn't matter, what matters is that you made it home, just in time for the event, you throw on that bundled headset and you open up your friends list, they are on, just like they said. They invite you to a party, and you are intimidated at all things linguistic. "Run a 45-78 code strat here, and set up shield detonators here." you sit in silence, you are in awe of these words, these strategies, but you push on and slowly get broken into the world and its offerings, you can barter with a space pirate, seduce a alien badass. The world was an intricate place, but as a drop in the ocean, you felt overwhelmed, things didn't make any sane lick of clear common sense, but thank god your buddies were there, they held your hand, help you get that XP, and get newer weapons, you take a screenshot, something quick, and something uneventful, maybe a wrong press on the controller, nevermind, it's there."

"Rinse and Repeat, school is a bore, and video games are done after chores, you quickly shove things around your room to play with your buddies, something hasn't clicked like this in years, like a warm and fuzzy feeling. You continue playing this game with them, taking hilarious screenshots, and playing custom created maps made with an insane level of detail. You make even more friends, and you see this tiny little world for what it is, you continue killing alien rebels on the surface of Titan, no this isn't some AAA title conceived in a time frame, this is art, a world you can be immersed in, people from all around the world, share one common goal, to help and to protect, people traded goods, and people just helped out, some had devil horns and flannel shirts, some had cyclist helmets and obscenely revealing suits, you were a drop in this ocean, but something keeps drawing you back, something that hasn't been felt in years."

"School is done, you have a piece of paper that legally allows you to pursue a career, you decide to play one more time, you sit down, check your friends list, no one is on, no Demonis246, no XxGerardionxX, no Drellax, nobody, you feel isolated, you feel alone, something warm is cooling down, something dreadful, you frantically check online, what was once a huge ocean, was now a lake, people dwindled, and the aliens got easier, almost like the game got, boring, whatever you persist, waiting for that beep but it never does. You shrug and accept that they aren't coming back, and so are you."

"Skip 10 years, you have a career, and things are shaping up to be the year, big investments, big payouts, something feels off, like you grew up too fast, like someone handed you a briefcase and said "Welcome to the big boys" when in reality, it feels like you had dull knives, and everyone elses were sharper. You get home, anyway how, you sludge past the lit TV, your significant other cheerily exclaiming there is mac and cheese on the stove, homemade with 4 cheeses, you weakly offer to eat a bowl, but deep down something is killing you, no it's not cancer, nor is it life threatening, something warm, and fuzzy, like something you used to cheerfully do. You slump and tear up a bit, how is life tormenting you like this? How can life taunt you with a feeling you have experienced but don't know the name to? You begins to cry a bit, and excuse yourself to the bedroom, and you see a relic of the past, a poster, labeled "Space Tormentors 3: Titan's revenge" and it hits you, the memories flood your cerebral areas responsible for emotions and you, just, stop. You shrug it off, and slouch near the computer, and next to it, a dusty unplugged console with college stickers and a photo of your wedding, you shrug and plug it in."

"The sounds of a ravaged space scape haunt you, you feel helpless, you feel overwhelmed, like a whole new piece of life was just formed together out of matter. You flood the streets, emptier than before, the once ravenous space world full of alien hotties and human feats of violence, are gone, from the echoes you hear someone."

"Welcome to Ember City!" you reel back, the NPC's are still here, in a world waiting for their customers to return, a world uninhabited since you could last remember, you check your pictures, and immediately begin to feel, warm. Snaps of you creating weapon strats with the words 100% legit and no fail as tags, pictures of friends long since gone, and for once in your life, you feel disconnected from reality, the memories of all a past life, now gone, funny pictures of unlikely poses, and cool alien deaths with REKT in the title, you finish with one last picture, a group picture, everyone you used to see everyday after school, after sloppily doing your chores, talking which milkshake is better or what state you all live in, of course you didn't want to say where you lived, but they were from all corners of life, Santa Monica, Denver, Salt Lake, New York, Tokyo, Wales, Sicily, Moscow, all around the world, all localized within a 480p by 720p pixelated picture, but out of all of them, you seemed the most out of place, like where did you come from, how did you meet them, how did they accept you, and of course, you never know, but the feeling is gone, and the warm and fuzzy feeling, is nothing, you cant cry, nor shout, you sit in a dazed stupor, at all the times you thought you wasted, all the times grenades were thrown, all the weapon strategies that never lived up to their expectations, and most of all, the times you experienced the best nights of your life. You finally decide on what emotion to convey, tears start flowing, and you cant stop it, this is after all only 20 years, how could so much have so little impact on you, well, you grew up, and so did they."

“I’d never think such a thing could move me, even after all these years, some people living their lives in one harmonious mass in the realms of games, I could never experience anything like that again, not for all the credits in the world, this is never going to change what you felt, you shrug it off and proceed to eat that cold mac and cheese, it's been 5 hours and no one has responded, but you feel one day showing their families, or maybe a friend, or doing the same thing like you, that they will see it, and forever be grateful for being in their lives."

last signed on: yesterday

submitted by /u/MetadonDrelle [link] [comments] via Blogger http://bit.ly/2Iu74D5

#Blogger #Story

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realtalk-tj · 6 years ago

Note

why is everyone at tj so competitive? like why can't they mind their own fricking business and stop making others feel bad about taking "Omg only 2 APs as a sophomore??" like even in summer chem people r so competitive for like top 5 and stuff why cant they just do something because they like it???

Response from Flitwick:

seems like a vent but ok

Why is everyone at TJ so competitive? Why do people [insert toxic behavior here]?

TJ is certainly a competitive place - a lot of people come in with the mentality of striving for the highest echelons of achievement, and I suppose that’s a not a bad thing. As for “why,” I think it’s mostly just the culture of parents and students putting pressure on students to “do great things” so they can look good. (I guess, in your case, that includes summer chem top 5. :/) This still isn’t really a bad thing - however, as you noted, putting others down in order to get ahead is really just a toxic thing to do and it’s really not ok. Unfortunately, it’s really really common. Bragging about how many AP classes you take or how little sleep you get is the norm nowadays.

Apparently, the end goal of all of this is to look better to good colleges and get admitted to them (maybe even an iVy lEaGuE :O). Personally, I’ve been disillusioned by the whole “ivy-league-top-college” thing, but a lot of people are shooting for it, and allegedly the way to make yourself feel ever slightly closer to it is to belittle the person next to you for being “farther,” where the metrics are the things I’ve mentioned before - sleep deprivation, hard classes, etc. I find it sad that this is what we value now, especially for newly minted freshmen who’ve already adopted the toxicity that TJ has.

(Validation intermission - 2 APs as a sophomore is pretty good. Of course, at base school, people can take APs with more freedom because TJ’s AP courses are really rough in comparison. You will have plenty of room to take more in the next two years yourself and don’t be discouraged by people who look down upon the potential for expansion that you have.)

Why don’t people do things because they like them?

There’s a surprisingly fine line between being passionate about something and doing something because they feel forced to do. This goes back to the “ivy-league-top-college” thing once again, unfortunately - the more extracurriculars and high achievements you get out of school, the more ‘well-rounded’ you are and the better you look to colleges. Often people tend to do clubs that have officer positions that are easy to get or claw their way to the top of one because an officer position shows leadership, which looks good on college apps.

However, I find this is not the case for some. I remember talking to my recently-graduated senior friend who ran two pretty large academic clubs - and he does what he does because he wants to give back to the community/ies of people that he was welcomed into as an underclassman, and not for some ulterior motive. I think people who are really passionate about things and like them will give back to the community - and even though it may be work, it’s enjoyable, and eventually, they become really good at what they do.

This response was way longer than I initially intended it to be - but yeah tl;dr people are motivated by getting into good colleges and stuff and so they do these things to feel like they’ll have a better chance at getting into one. My advice: you do you, they can do whatever they want. Pursue the things you like, and make room for yourself - after all, you’re the one you always have to live with after high school and college, and you gotta take care of yourself.

Response From Fleur:

People at TJ have some misguided beliefs. Like...

False Belief #1: I will not get into college with my grades. You sure will. In reality, you will get into a college even with some Cs and Ds. There are thousands of colleges out there. Everyone except maybe like 3 or so people each year at TJ get into and go to a college right out of high school. And then maybe those 3 or so people went into the military or joined the Peace Corps or took a gap year before applying. And trust me when I say my class did not all have mostly As by a long shot.

False Belief #2: I will only succeed in life if I get into an ivy league. Nope. Nope. Nope. This could not be further from the truth. There are some people who are unemployed after graduating from an ivy league because finding jobs is not always the easiest thing in the world. There are also people who are swimming in tens of thousands of dollars of college debt. Some people decline ivy league admission to avoid that because they know they’re better off without it. Also, school rewards people who conform and not people who take risks. The most successful people would fall into the latter category, many of them did not do well in school at all. And again, there are thousands of colleges out there. There’s no reason why you need to go to an ivy league. It’s a great opportunity if it comes your way and you can afford it, and that’s why so many people apply. But if it doesn’t, that’s perfectly fine it’s not necessary.

False Belief #3: I have to get into ___ college to be happy. Again, completely false. There are many different paths in life. You could take a few years off from school, go to NOVA, transfer, graduate from a four year college, get into graduate school, go get your PhD...etc and be perfectly content with your life. You could also go to college right out of high school and end up in the same place doing the same thing eventually. What matters more than anything is that you get that degree at all that you’re hoping for. Simply going to a specific college is not what’s going to make you happy. There are tons of people dealing with depression, sexual violence, childhood trauma and all sorts of other rough things at highly selective colleges just like everywhere else. The name of the college you go to is not going to make your personal or interpersonal issues go away. It’s the most important things in life that will lift you up and help you build resilience through the rough times ;)

False Belief #4: I’m not good enough because of my grades, GPA, extracurriculars...etc. Everyone who goes to TJ is not stupid. You can’t be stupid and get into TJ. Having a good head on your shoulders and a decent amount of potential is a prerequisite to admission.

False Belief #5: If I don’t get into _____ college, I’m a failure. Woah there. Your life is just beginning. Ya’ll just become adults when you leave high school. You’re not expected to be experts in a field like some middle-aged professional at age 16.

False Belief #6: If I'm going to succeed, somebody else must fail. When you lift other people up, you all do better. Not competing with others has been shown to help in the long run. It enriches your life, and you gain connections down the road too. And realistically, if you help out 1 classmate, or even 5, their higher test scores from your help are probably not going to change the curve enough for refusing to help them to do you any good. The classes I do best in college in are when I have a study buddy. We make sure that the other one does well. Screw the curve, if my study buddy is struggling with something, I’ll take time away from my life to review that part with them for an hour, knowing that they’ll probably repeat the favor with me later on. Again, screw the curve, I’ll go into it with the attitude that I’m going to make sure we do so well the curve won’t matter. And that helps a lot. It builds character and rock-solid friendship to help other people out and endure a weed out class with them.

False Belief #7: I'm a disappointment to my family because my GPA isn't up to their standards. Children cannot physically be disappointments or failures. Ya'll haven't lived long enough to have the opportunity. If this is the opinion your family holds, then it's a wrong one. You have too much worth for this to be true. You haven’t even started on a career path yet! In addition, failure is necessary on the path to success. You cannot succeed unless you fail. That’s a secret to doing well when you’re creating things. I’m someone who produces novels and songs. Sometimes I’ll spend months on a project only for people to hate it, agents to reject it, and leading me to feel like I suck at what I’m doing and have zero talent. Only about 1 in every 10 songs I write seem real good in pursuing. The rest collect space on a shelf. But you can’t quit when things don’t work out. You have to keep going. And going. And doing. And creating. And going. And creating. Until something that you do works. That’s what you do, just keep producing until something works out. So keep it up! :)

False Belief #8: My future depends on me taking more AP classes and getting better grades. It does not. There are many paths in life to get to the same place and none of them depend on the amount of AP classes you take, getting all As at TJ, or going to a specific college. Some high schools don’t even offer AP classes or tests. Because we’ve already established that you have intellect and potential and worth, you’re already set up to have the ability to go places in life.

False Belief #9: My friends won't like me if I don't get good grades. People are self-centered and most likely they will be too busy focusing on themselves to bother you about your grades. You’d be surprised at how little people care to judge each other.

False Belief #10: Other students are out to get me in this cutthroat environment. Even if you feel there is competition, you can still find other people to collaborate with! Collaboration is what you’re after, after all :) And even when it seems like there are people who are not on your side, remember that there are a lot of ridiculously nice people in this world who have love to give and will support you if you give them the opportunity to. For example, complete strangers do a lot for each other and a lot of the work I do capitalizes off how strangers can best help each other. I volunteer on two suicide hotlines. Volunteer means you don’t get paid. You also choose your hours. When you want to remember that there are people too good for this world, remember that every single day there are people who sign up to take a hotline shift from 2am-4am in the morning to talk to people who are suffering out of the goodness of their heart.

As for why people don’t do things because they like them, I honestly think it’s because they just don’t know how. I also think that many TJ students are told what to do in terms of “you should do this because it looks good to other people” and I’ve found that some families of TJ students emphasize looking good to other people or making a certain amount of money or having a certain amount of prestige surrounding them, and it’s understandable that parents want their kids to be successful in life and such, especially if they worked really hard to give their kids opportunities they didn’t have growing up. So I think that sometimes people do things because they think they should and don’t think enough about what makes them excited about being alive.

#personal life

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comicteaparty · 7 years ago

Text

March 8th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on March 8th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Motsuro Project by Avalon Mao.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Motsuro Project by Avalon Mao~! (http://motproj.webcomic.ws/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

i really like the story dakota's sister told. the art was incredible there.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. i think all around the art in this has some really fantastic detail you dont see all too often.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hello, made it! I rather liked when Rong's blue haired sister dropped the bombshell about being a reincarnation and the kingdoms. I really hadn't expected it and it sort of drew the storylines together for me.

Agree on the art. So easy to miss some of the background stuff. That'd take me ages to do.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

huh? thats interesting. i actually wasnt sure how i felt about the truth dropping. but that might just be because i feel it added more mystery to the whole humans conflict going on with rong

snuffysam

i also liked the chapter were they first test out the motsuro project, because that helped tie in the past to the present

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well, I figure something had to happen in the intervening 2000 years, and something like that would probably shake things up. Humans don't seem to be shunned in the "time skip" Polaris storyline. Granted, maybe they mostly live by themselves now, the fairy forest seemed off limits.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id assume they mostly live by themselves cause the impression im getting is a lot of magical stuff ppl cant see anymore

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, I was glad they tested out that project. That was sort of a head scratcher for me when it first came up, but it does seem to tie in too.

Can't see? Won't see?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im going hard on the cant cause i feel dakota is just special

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

That's possible. She does have the ice powers.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I actually started reading this comic this evening... So far, I think the scene where they all get taken to the Principal's office is maybe my favorite?

It's difficult to say because I'm only just now getting a hang on what's going on

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do like how the project was tied in with vivian. in the sense that we see her having reservations about the whole project. cause i too would be somewhat suspicious if a school said "here play this game or leave"

snuffysam

that was a great scene too. the principal is so sinister

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i enjoyed the humor of dakota being dragged there by creepy guys in suits and she's just like "man this school sure does take being late serious"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The room 210 scene was interesting. Just, these shady guys are going to escort you. If Dakota hadn't seen the note, that'd be even more confusing.

snuffysam

it's also creepy how she started forgetting the incident in the lobby afterward

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but yeah i second the principal is shady af. like absolutely no good vibes from him. granted i also partially assume hes a puppet cause iirc they mention the project is being paid for by the government

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I do really like the overall aesthetic of the comic, and I'm curious to see how that first part of the story with Rong ties in

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah! I feel like at some point they'll forget that it's only a game. (If you die in there, do you die in real life? )

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but is it only a game is the question XD which i assume its a big, fat "of course not."

i do want to see how the past ties in more to dakota's timeline

partly cause they feel so disjointed at the moment, which makes you feel like something big must happen

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

If it's not a game, are they teleporting?

Or taking over the bodies of some other people?

(Other cats? Like Mimi?)

snuffysam

maybe some weird time travel thing?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe. Not sure I buy jumping in time... unless they're their own ancestors or something?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

oh, hey, on page 79 it kind of mentions the whole past thing http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/79/

....Yes, I'm reading through the comic as CTP goes on. :'3

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(The school got a note from the ancestors saying to let these girls in to fulfil their past lives...)

All good, Kabocha.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

haha thats okay ppl are welcome to read during ctp if thats better for them. gets some fresh commentary.

snuffysam

ctp live reactions are fun

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Ahahahaha

I really like the switch to digital art

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's true, live reactions are so rare to actually see.

I'm so clueless on art, I didn't even realize. ^_^;;

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

heheh. Yeah. The coloring and paneling at least are digital later; it's a lot more crisp, which makes it tons more readable imo

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I like the cheek effects though! That's nice and unique and makes the characters seem more charming somehow.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

although I am kind of missing the sound effects in Chinese.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The adult characters... they seem to have longer noses? Did I read too much into that?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im fond of the colored pencil though agree it could use more clarity. i think the newest page is really great though cause i know (and you can tell) that the creator really worked hard on the clarity issue

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I noticed that with the noses -- I kind of took it as a pinnochio metaphor?

but who's to say? o_o;;;

I don't know characters like Melody well enough to really tell if they've lied to Dakota or anything

snuffysam

i took it as meaning something about being part-human

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah i think there were adults without the long noses. i just assumed it was melody and their mom and it was a genetics thing

what if melody and dakota's "mom" were never real. like they disappeared cause dakota just stopped being able to see them

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, maybe. I thought Jun's mom did too... or was that actually Dakota's mom?

Or they turned into cats.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well if im sticking this is rando theory, then perhaps when dakota stopped being able to see them so did everyone else for some weird magical reason

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/86/ "We came here to be in the presence of Motsuro, ruler of this land, to seek justice." That's not foreboding at all. Especially not given the story's title. Not one bit.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Dakota seems to be able to perceive things the others can't though. Like her trick with the ice, or the Mimi cat, possibly even the fairies (no one else was around then). So it makes sense that others wouldn't see strange things.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Or the game's title! Um. SO I'm going to guess that Dakota was or is Rong in some form. And Vivian is the blue-haired girl

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(does a massive facepalm) Would you believe I didn't connect the name of the deity to the game? Despite them having the same name? I'm dense.(edited)

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I'm going to put money on this game having to do with Princess Motsuro and such

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Is that an actual legend? (still dense)

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Mmm, I dunno. But huh

there's some interesting stuff going down

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah im sure the princess motsuro has something to do with it and the seeking justice bit. just not sure how thats supposed to tie into the game. unless the main questline in their journal says "seek justice" XD

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh hello there!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's actually "seek just ice". Hence the ice powers.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Thought I'd drop in while palying some games

Just wanna say this comic looks intresting and has a cool art style

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. As hinted by the comic’s title, one of the central components of the story is the mysterious Motsuro Project the girl’s must complete in order to stay in their elite school. However, many mysteries are left pertaining to it. Is the Motsuro Project just some virtual reality game or is it something else? If something happens to the girls in the “game,” like getting hurt, will it hurt them in real life? What exactly is the ultimate goal behind whoever created the Motsuro Project? Lastly, what does the project have to do with the Princess Motsuro we learn about in the far past (if anything)?

snuffysam

the question is, what is the purpose of the game? because clearly the school is getting something out of them playing it

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Ah, there's possibly cultural background I'm missing, but from what I can gather, there's five kingdoms -- for one of the elements You have Water, which is human Earth, Fire, Wood, and Metal. They go to the Earth Kingdom and visit and seek assistance. I'm guessing Earth Kingdom has inhuman creatures that are humanoid in form.

snuffysam

also hi sj

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi super waves

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I'm going to guess, with um, Page 90's revelation, that Motsuro Project is meant to overthrow humans.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe the school got lots of money from ancient ones. (Maybe the girls are a sacrifice? O.o )

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

and take back the kingdom that was stolen from them?

because it looked like Ying Shen did something

snuffysam

i think the sinister part is that they're possessing something or someone in the real world. maybe in the past? maybe to infiltrate the world of non-humans?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

hai~

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe to give information to the non-humans about humans?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

well, so, Ying Shen is the Water Goddess -- and humans are water creatures - meaning under her jurisdiction http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/90/

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ying shen seems to be on the human side though cause she calls them creatures of water

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

and it looks like she just took over the Earth Kingdom.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Water you doin' Ying Shen.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

So I'm going to guess Motsuro Project is Motsuro's revenge -- so she wants her kingdom back

snuffysam

and she's using humans to do it?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

That would be ironic wouldn't it?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, that's an interesting spin.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or maybe the goal of the project is to take over another kingdom.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Hm. Maybe.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

maybe

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

So that means Dakota's more than likely a pawn in the long game, rather than a reincarnation

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

But why have those four girls in particular, not the others enrolled in the school?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

unless Dakota is some aspect of Ying Shen

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ice is an aspect of Water.

snuffysam

i think it has something to do with their bloodlines. though didn't melody also go to the school?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

so, I haven't gotten to see if the other girls have powers, but if they do, I suspect there's a fifth one somewhere pulling strings

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes melody did seem to go to the same school

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

We see Vivian has power, dunno about the others. Maybe the fifth one is one of the regular students?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and yeah we havent seen the other girls do much, and i mean we really havent seen much of the two who arent vivian #A+fornameusage

maybe the fifth one is that chick who delivered the project

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

fornameusage...?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Vivian has the character for wood on her forehead

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause i dont remember the names of the other two XD

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

so is her power tied to wood?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Angel who delivered the project seems to be tied up in the defense arc though.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/103/ (This page)

OH YEAH

all right, that makes sense

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah youre right

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Kabocha: That's an amazing catch, I don't know from chinese characters. Keep reading, you'll see her do stuff.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is the symbol for wood

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yus

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah okay from wikipediaing water is also associated with winter

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Yeah

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Snow kidding?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Water has association with dark too iirc?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it can

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/FiveElementsCycleBalanceImbalance_02_plain.svg/720px-FiveElementsCycleBalanceImbalance_02_plain.svg.png

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

That's probably why Vivian and Dakota don't like one another too much at times

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i hope we get to see the other two girls cause i feel like they could further help cement whether dakota is water or not

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

mm dark water

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Huh. One arrow points out at "insults" and is matched by "destroys". I wouldn't think you'd want to insult the one who can destroy you.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/116/ <- also, lol the project Yu kids' suits have "Ball" written on them. Or maybe it's Gem? I actually know Japanese a little, and I know sometimes the Chinese characters have a slightly different meaning in Chinese. (edited)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OOOOHH

That is a NICE color scheme!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They're having a ball.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm a huge sucker for minimalist palettes

especially when the colors contrast nicely

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm thats a detail i missed

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/121/ OK WTF happened to melody

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the superhero thing is called "project yu"

is polaris basically the gov funded school for projects

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Melody was everywhere. And nowhere.

"We'll test all our stuff out on the kids."

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

melody was so awesome at superheroing they decided to turn her alone into a new project

the ceiling thing confused me a bit like is it just over the school or is it over the entirety of where they live?

like what if this is the one human city O_O

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Here's the thing. At one point Melody Wu is stated to be "Class of 5050". I wonder what calendar they're using? (Also, it means the stuff 2000 years earlier took place in 3050 or thenabouts.)

I figured the city. If it was over the school, you'd think they'd know about it.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

They also mentioned Melody changed

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i felt it was implied just the school but wasnt sure via the wording

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

So, Melody went to the school, participated in a project, and changed?

we haven't seen her in real time

I'm gonna guess Melody might not be entirely human

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hmmm. I guess I was also visualizing a sort of bubble rather than a ceiling, so that could make sense. There does seem to be magical science about.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Napples enjoys the magical science.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

even though this is chinese based, i have to admit the nose thing made me wonder if melody was supposed to be a tengu

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Melody is now the cat? (Sorry, I can't seem to get over the cat people.)

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

No no ahahaha

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats good cause cat people are awesome

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Mimi is just a cat I think

:'3

WAIT

MIMI IS THE LOST ONE

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that could be. makes me think maybe shes earth then if water took over earth

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OOOOHHHH

KABO FIGURED IT OUT

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/101/

Motsuro Project -- oolong tea

no, I mean

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and thats why dakota can see her

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Mimi's the kitten the night stalkers took

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh that lost one

maybe shes both O_O

vivian must not have accepted the quest properly

hit the x on the window instead of the accept quest button

/shot

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

hah

so, Motsuro Project sends the girls into the spirit realm, I guess

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

although if mimi is that kitten that has huge implications since mimi is now in the "real" world

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/104/ <- also

yes, I believe mimi is that kitten

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Unless the Project is the real world, and everyone else is virtual.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hmmm

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

................... And the text bubbles hint at the elements I think

Kristine is fire

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that would explain the mix in bubble colors

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I guess that makes Samantha the Metal girl

OK ANYWAY I AM CAUGHT UP ON THE COMIC NOW

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, that's clever, I hadn't caught on to that.

Heavy Metal?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so then it is earth who is missing

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

based on Samantha's build, I'd call her Tin Foil

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Foiled again.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

instead of assuming sinister, maybe thats the real goal of the project. to find earth because without earth the elements are unbalanced thus the world is unbalanced

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, that's a cool theory. Maybe the school tries this every year, and finally decided it's gotta be people other than their students.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

if were assuming the colored bubbles mean something

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/116/

gonna point out ppl in jun's storyline have them too

QUESTION 3. It is revealed in the story that Dakota had a rather famous sister named Melody who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. What do you think happened to Melody? Was she kidnapped? Did she disappear of her own volition? Did it have anything to do with the Motsuro Project or the mysteries of the school (like the ghost Dakota meets)? Also, what happened to Dakota’s mother and why would her mother not want Dakota to talk about the magical place Melody showed her?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I think Melody went into the spirit world. Or somehow is related to the princess who killed her entire village.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh yeah, the ghost.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

So, if Jun's team has them, I'm going to guess one side is the light and one side is the dark? Or something?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Melody was hired away by a publishing company to turn all of her stories into a popular book series.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And she can't get out of the spirit world

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

would she want to, though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmmm so theres 4 super heroes if you dont count the person orientating/instructing them. so maybe jun's project is super related. in the sense that it ties back to the elements

and the school super obsessed with the elements

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Also, it's very interesting that there's a repeated symbolism of humans as skeletons

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe? I gotta admit, the superhero project seemed to be almost more of a side story to me, to give the secondary characters a plot of their own. I could be way off base.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be. idk. im torn between it being just a side thing, but on the otherhand its a pretty big thing to add in my opinion. like you dont just say "btw some of these kids have super powers but ignore that"

humans are just walking skeletons with fleshy bits on top O_O(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Humans are mostly water. ^.^

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://motproj.webcomic.ws/comics/10/ UM wow now that I've gotten through that bit with Ying Shen, this page

Motsuro Project -- "different"

this page has some new meaning

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, I wouldn't say "ignore it" but I don't see the main connection yet. Other than a reminder that they have cool science that's like magic.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

ooh damn

this page

sounds very creppy

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im really curious why ying shen involved rong in this whole gotta get justice thing. like there must be a specific reason besides that rong is human

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Rong has a bunch of power behind her, so I imagine that's why

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Half human...

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Rong DID blow up basically everything around her mother

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so basically ying shen is like "sweet human bomb easier to sneak past security"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Don't make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lul

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Sometimes you just need someone to have your back?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

onto a different noted that pertains to the question, should we assume melody and dakota's mom had the same fate or did something different happen to them? cause the mom seems to be the outlier in this affair since she was like "eww magic" and insofar theres been no confirmation she ever attended the school

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

it may be that mom has a healthy distaste for the supernatural due to her own experiences

maybe that's where the long noses came from

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I feel like it'd be different? Otherwise why wouldn't Dakota be worried about the same thing happening.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

'cause mom doesn't wanna talk about it

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Somewhat related, I wonder where the nickname "Cody" came from.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause dakota is young and kids are still developing their ability to consider longterm consequences

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Probably just part of "Kota" shortened

Dakota -> Kota -> Koty -> Cody

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe the mom used to see stuff too and got bullied for it

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well, yes, but did Melody start calling her that? I think her mom used it too. Did Dakota go back to her long form name after they disappeared?

Rebel: Could be. Maybe she tried not to see any more.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

shrug I wonder -- was the comic originally in Chinese? It could be that it's just a nickname that was reserved for while dakota was a kid

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe. Just wondered if there was any connection to the departures.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to the best of my knowledge it was not originally in chinese

tho i couldnt say for sure

aha

so i went to the characters page

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm curious too

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause i finally found the link for it

" Mystery Girl Saves Rong nu in the Prologue by destroying the temple and all its inhabitants."

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

if there's a Chinese language too

Oooh

Nice find

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so it wasnt rong did it

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, I saw that on the character page... guess I didn't make the connection though. (I feel like it hasn't been updated in a bit, Julie has a last name now.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah it def hasnt been up[dated in a long time

but still i doubt that info changed since were talking about events that happened at the beginning of the comic

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

True, true.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe the project is designed to break a cycle of revenge. cause if rong is human perhaps her plight is what summoned ying shen and the only reason ying shen is demanding justice is to be a good deity or something.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hmmm

That would be intresting

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or it's because she's got an ulterior motive, like to found a school that will one day create beings who will rise up and deify her or something.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That too

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

also possible. it could go either way really. as to whether or not the project is sinister or corrective in nature

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe it's just meant to be a new educational tool. "Try the latest tech out, it'll teach kids better about history".

"Okay, but we won't use it on OUR kids until we get some others to write a report about it."

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

all this magical stuff, is really just a school trying to improve themselves.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

The school aims to better humanity

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

next youre going ot tell me melody isnt missing, she just went to college and dakota forgot XD

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

PFFT

She went to College like Mamoru went to America in Sailormoon

snuffysam

dakota has been having memory issues recently...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

must be like a japanese animu. she also forgot that her mother moved overseas for work and like in all japanese animu thats perfectly fine cause teens can tots live on their own

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Snuffy: Oh, that's an interesting point. Thought maybe it was because the game was influencing memory, but maybe it's an aspect outside of the game too that they simply installed. Hmm.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think dakota was already having trouble before the game to a small extent but id have to find a very minute piece of dialogue that made me think of and my brain not up for that

snuffysam

she had it before entering the game - it was when she left the principal's office that she started forgetting about the lobby incident

so does the principal have control over these things?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Dakota is really Melody. There was an accident and they merged.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

gasp

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

unlikely but not impossible

and maybe. the principal still seems more like a puppet tho to me

QUESTION 4. The comic has plenty of rocky relationships, as well as some minor mysteries that surround them. What do you think more specifically happened between Dakota and the rest of the girls that ripped their friendship apart? Will they be able to hold the friendship together, or will stress and life tear them apart? Will Dakota be able to find common ground with Jun, especially given the newly revealed information about their own childhood past together? Speaking of which, will Dakota be able to grow closer to her crush, Janet Yang, or will Janet Yang’s own mysteries make the two girls butt heads? What other theories do you have about the people introduced in the comic so far?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Interestingly, I feel like a bigger theme than relationships is not feeling like you fit in.

I was surprised about the Vivian antidepressants thing, but it makes sense.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I think the separation from them in schools probably was what did it. When Dakota got into a baaaaaaaaaaaad school...(edited)

my goodness, I can't type tonight.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

One full of goats.

snuffysam

I think Janet Yang is going to be a lot more important than she seems. like, "janet's behind it all" or "janet's the leader of the resistance movement" or something level of important

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

When Dakota first mentioned looking up to Janet Yang, I thought, ooooh Yuri. But nope. Janet doesn't seem to be into her. (And it's Jun who said he might go for guys.) I'm not sure if it'll go anywhere other than Dakota having to make a choice at some point between Janet and her friends.

So basically the opposite. ^.^

snuffysam

We don't really know enough about janet to know what she's into. she could just be too aloof to notice dakota

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im gonna admit im really torn and confused on what happened between the girls. cause on the one hand, okay yeah, it seems like a school split would cause a rift. given how pissy everyone is with dakota i feel something more drastic happened. which maybe if were going with dakota got the memory problems maybe dakota forgot what even happened.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

There was also the thing where Vivian pulled Dakota aside because she was worried that CatPerson might have triggered something.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

from the impression i get dakota hasnt really chatted with janet yang must (if at all), so of course janet is going to be a bit cold. i mean to her theres just some weird girl who's bugging her while she has mysterious responsibilities to worry about

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, not sure about Janet. She doesn't seem all that great, to be honest. Not sure what Dakota sees in her.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

their teens, its not like teens crush for the deepest of reasons all the time. sometimes its just a "wow this person is attractive"

instant otp

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

Rebel

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i assumed the triggered thing was just tied to melody disappearing or something.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe. Maybe the Melody disappearing thing links to why the group fractured?

snuffysam

given how much the story has tied mysteries together so far, I wouldn't be surprised if the falling out was related to melody's disappearance

jinx

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

you tryin to jinx the plot? X'D

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

clearly melody is mimi and she was living a double life the entire time

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Janet is actually the reincarnation of Melody.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

this deep lore

snuffysam

that would make dakota's feelings pretty wild

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

A triple life.

snuffysam

though it would explain why they aren't reciprocated

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but anyway more seriously yeah, i would imagine the disappearance would have to do with melody? although does that mean dakota has basically just been living by herself without guardians since middle school or what not?

snuffysam

...didn't she have a parent?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

*Man

That would be hell for me tbh

but if you can live through school years without a parent

just, my god

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They seem to be in residence now at least.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Do you think Dakota's mom and Melody are in the same place?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Vivian's mom is still around, I wonder if that's significant.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

oh, it might be. Vivian's mom was friends with Dakota's mom it seemed

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbh i want to assume the mom is dead XD just cause i feel her character is more relevant to the past stuff and i feel like the mom was trying to escape something she couldnt. melody on the otherhand who knows.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yay dead parent syndrome

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if its significant dakota's mom was working all the time tho

in the sense of what was she doing for work

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh right, I'd forgotten about that aspect. Maybe she was working on an invisibility potion.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Working all the time is code for "haven't found the body"

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yes

or they're on vacation

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

shhh no no we see her in that jun flashback im pretty sure.

im going back to my theory they were just never real in the first place and the long noses is cause their existence is a lie

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Could be a vacation. Are the swimsuits missing form the closet?

Except Melody was a graduate of that superhero program.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh maybe they arent human and the reason dakota's mom got mad about the fairies thing is she was like "dakota stfu the humans will find us out"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Dakota's mom is actually the unicorn that was spying on them in the forest.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

And what about the dad?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Vivian's dad was revealed to also be Dakota's dad. Fractured the whole thing.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe so

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or it's the principal.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i doubt theyd have left a child to live on her own even so. i just assume hes not part of the picture because if were being honest the mom probably works so much cause shes a single parent

i was just gonna say maybe its the principal the whole time O_O

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea that makes sense

snuffysam

that's what all the kids in the motsuro project have in common?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I still keep thinking Dakota's dad is not quite human, but we'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I wonder if the Project will end up anything like the Framework in "Agents of SHIELD". Maybe Dakota's family only exist inside it now, and have forgotten their pasts?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe although forgotten and fabricated memories are a bit diff

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Dakota's dad is Ying Shen. O.o

Before things wrap up, just want to give a shoutout to the mouse rollovers and the individual titles for each page. That's some extra work right there but helps it be memorable, IMHO.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah, I second that

Gives it more flavor.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Artist has come a long way too. Even the earlier stuff that they didn't like, I thought was pretty good. (Though I'm no art critic...)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also the messages at the bottom were helpful for interpreting, particularly in some of the earlier pages.

Good job!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think the paneling could use a lot of work tbh even now, but the comic has been steadily improving. like i said earlier i really like the cleanliness of the latest page

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

True

I'm sure it can only get better from here.(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Panel sizing maybe.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Avalon Mao, as well, for making Motsuro Project and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Avalon Mao’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Anarchy Dreamers by Emily Ree. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on March 15th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://anarchydreamers.com/

#comics #webcomics #indie comics #start faire #startfaire #comic tea party #ctp #comic chat #comic discussion #comic bookclub #webcomic bookclub #bookclub #ctparchive #motsuro project #avalon mao

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justbailey91 · 7 years ago

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Back from the bittersweet journey of self discovery, Natalie May endeavours to serve her own lemonade. Her sweet melodic sound and gentle-womanly attire champions a timeless Black British voice. This Burnt Oak crooner delved into the dark labyrinth of her mind to excavate the hidden coals she could harvest to fuel her art, to unfurl her kinks and quirks to produce crystal clear authenticity. Here’s what happened when I met with Ms Natalie May:

Tell me how it all started, tell me about your childhood and where you grew up…

I grew up in Burnt Oak, where I lived for 28 years up until last week, when I moved outa my mama’s basement. I have 3 older sisters who’re very intelligent, very book-smart and all I wanted to do was watch cartoons. My friends at school were all very pretty, got loads of guys and I bloomed very very late late late. So I wouldn’t call myself a misfit because my friends and my family all accepted me, but I wasn’t studious or the hot-ting like my friends. I always felt different. I always knew that I wanted to sing; I found my yearbook and all the messages were like “Hi Beyonce, I’m gonna miss you Beyonce”.

How was growing up in predominantly female household, has it influenced your music?

I think subconsciously it has; even though I saw my dad on weekends, i’m just so used to being around women. So when it comes to relating to men, its quite startling, here’s a man who wants to be in my space, how do I navigate this? My mum is super driven, very successful, so again its that narrative of being a independent, strong black woman. I grew up in a house full of successful female hustlers. I can definitely see that in myself; but sometimes it can create a kind of boundary when it comes to relationships and sharing a space.

Who were your musical influences growing and what was being played in your house?

Destiny’s Child! Destiny’s Child!! Destiny’s Child!!! My sister went through a goth faze and played rock bands like Lost Prophets. I ended up being a little bit alternative myself and was listening to Britney Spears. I lived for N’sync; Justin Timberlake!!! It was like I’ll wake up today because Justin Timberlake is alive. So very pop/r&b, with a little bit of rock because of my psycho sister. My Mum and Dad would play their Rare Groove and their Roots FM.

How would you describe your music and your style?

Its influenced by experience of being Black and British and having parents who’re of Caribbean descendants. My spiritual journey has brought me closer to my African roots as well. I had the chance to go to Kenya and experience the culture that is huge part of me, But i’m also British. So its about navigating my way through both cultures. Who defines your identity? Is it even a who? Is it family? Is it society? Identity is so interesting because its individual to everybody. I have a lot of peers who’re of the Conscious Community; who’re a group of young black people in Britain who’re interested in spirituality, african history, healthy eating and consciousness. Its a powerful movement. Most of them who’re born here want to move back to Africa; Where as I love the same things, but i’m British and its also apart of my story. My art just reflects all of that down to my personal style, I have an afro but I wear english heritage fashions.

Its almost a political statement; in some ways is that you being rebellious to British society?

Its all those things; but simply as an artist I need to express myself whether it be through fashion, music or art. If i cant express myself I feel stifled and depressed. My hair, my fashion, my class, my job, I have a stall down portobello and all these things have inspired my personal style. I’m a black woman with natural hair, in english gentleman attire. Which then poses questions and statements beyond what I intended.

What artists are inspiring you at the moment ?

I’m living for Solange. Her music is stunning obviously, but its also her message and her courage that I love. I watched her perform F.U.B.U (For Us By Us) at Love Box and the lyrical content…Even I was like, ooh girl you wanna get out of here alive. But the courage to be authentic in her truth is so inspiring. Love Minnie Riperton’s voice and her angelic style. Love my old school, art-deco jazz singers; The grace, the glamour, the poise, the elegance of those artists. Nat King Cole. Lena Horne.

You are well and better known for your first single ‘Sexy Sexy’ that you did with Rudimental, back in 2009; Tell me about about that period?

I’d just finished theatre school and I needed to sing, so I got a little side hustle-call centre job so that I could eat and also to pay for my studio sessions. Then Piers, from Rudimental, was recording in the same studio and he had left the beat of Sexy Sexy for me. I was like “what is this any soca, jump jump song?”, but thought hey i’ll give it a go. I booked the session but hadn’t written anything for it, so I ended up writing it on the tube and it worked. At this point Funky House was just kicking off, I was getting radio play, I played it to events management and It got out there.

That song boomed didn’t it?

Literally boomed, i did so many gigs, we did a video, it was in the film Anuvahood – in the sex scene.

So after the single dropped you went on tour and loads of success, what happened after that ?

I was very grateful for the opportunities and all the gigs that I was doing, but I wasn’t sure if the music really reflected who I was. I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in, but what was happening now didn’t fit. I needed a break. This was my passion and this was what I loved, but I wasn’t living it. I was becoming lost in it. I got a job in a vintage shop called ‘One of a Kind’ (Portobello Road) and ended up styling ‘Florence and the Machines’, assisted her stylist on her video and worked ‘Rihanna’s’ stylist, just doing amazing fashion things. I was still gigging and still writing also, but I loved the fashion and so ended up juggling the 2 of them. Now that i’ve got my own stall now, I want to focus on the singing again.

What are your aspirations with singing?

All I want to do is just create some authentic, credible, classic music; that tells a story, that inspires and moves people. Tony Robins and Dr Jo Dispenzer, who’re motivational speakers and neuroscientists, talk about state and emotion. A lot of these motivational speakers use music in there seminars because it moves you, it makes you feel something. so I want to create music that alters peoples state; whether it be to their shadow or dark emotions, where they can express their vulnerability or their pain or whether it up-lifting. All in the cause of opening them up, and myself also, to being a better version of themselves.

Tell Me about Alchemy? How can readers get a tangible example of what is and how you use it ?

Alchemy started in ancient Egypt tradition and the basic principle is turning lead into gold. Lead being a dense, black, dark substance that you transmute into something very valuable, Gold. What I love about alchemy is how we can relate that dark matter to us and our emotions, our difficult experiences, our challenges and use it as potential instead of rejecting it. Consciously using that energy for positive use, instead of letting it control you and have you self-sabotaging. Its dark and its difficult, but in doing that I can have more authentic relationships and conversations with people. I can be completely open with where I’m at, not in a victim kind of way, but in a real way. My relationships have so much depth; I’ve learnt so much about my needs and what I want from a relationship. Its just a better understanding of self and finding that gold.

Its like that meme with Beyonce, Solange and Jay Z coming out of the lift; saying that that lift journey created 3 iconic albums? Lemons into Lemonade.

Exactly. Lemonade, what was that born out of? Out of her pain her trauma that she went through with Jay Z. She alchemised that situation. Beyonce is known for being a private person and we all saw that footage. Where do you go from that? She turned to alchemy and she even references it in the visual. Solange, with A Seat At The Table, she took all of her pain of being a black woman in America and she turned it into art. One thing that alchemy has helped me come to terms with is death, imagine if we lived in a society where nothing died. But now in autumn the leaves are turning brown, they’re dying, why? To make room for the new. I’d recommend alchemy to anyone. It’s the process of death, rebirth and transformation.

What advice would you give yourself back in 2009, when you first started working with Rudimental?

Trust the fucking process. You don’t need to know everything. Personally I like to plan, but if it doesn’t go with my plan, there’s no room for anything else and that is a limiting perspective. So open your eyes and bask in what is now.

What was your experience like being in the industry?

I was very anxious. I was very young, I didn’t have a very good understanding of who I was and the industry. In terms of the industry itself everyone was very lovely and very welcoming, but because I was so diligent with what I wanted, I became anxious.

So what are the plans for the future?

I have a lot of shows happening, i’ve started a new self development and awareness workshop with my friend; on mental health, emotion intelligence skills, creating a safe space for people to be vulnerable and to express their authentic truth. All of that as well a singing, doing shows, photoshoots, recording, music!

To anyone who wants be in your position what advice would you give?

Goal set, but definitely allow space for life to surprise you.

Instagram: @neonataliemay

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/neonataliemay

COUCH SERIES: Natalie May Back from the bittersweet journey of self discovery, Natalie May endeavours to serve her own lemonade. Her sweet melodic sound and gentle-womanly attire champions a timeless Black British voice.

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popularchips-blog · 7 years ago

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Installations For The Gram

New Post has been published on https://popularchips.com/dailies/installations-for-the-gram/

Installations For The Gram

“Instagrammable” has become a word of the generation. Be it arranging the perfect brunch layout or snapping a striking outfit shot with stunning backdrops, every experience in life can be an “Instagrammable” moment. In some cases, people travel to specific locations just to capture shots for the gram.

No one knows for sure which came first but there has been a rise of museums for the gram, with iconic exhibits that people could not help but whip out their phone for a FEW Instagram worthy shots. While the exhibits may have bigger goals, there is no doubt that social media especially Instagram has been a major contributor to their success.

With a little help from Popular Chips platform, we will be sharing some of the top posts taken at these places through using hashtags and geotags!

MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM

Museum of Ice Cream Official Site

Rooms filled with hanging yellow and pink bananas, giant ice cream sandwich swings and sprinkle pool – sounds like a scene right out of a kid’s sweetest dream? This place really do exists with walls of millennial pink, life size exhibits and sprinkle pool that you can dive right into for the perfect shot!

First started in 2016, the Museum of Ice Cream has only been to two places so far: New York and San Francisco. In these places, tickets were sold out within five days of opening at New York and for San Francisco, entire six-month run worth of tickets were snatched in 90 minutes.

i scream, you scream, we all scream.. when i blow up the bathroom because i'm lactose intolerant

A post shared by Liza Koshy (@lizzzak) on Sep 2, 2017 at 6:39pm PDT

Museum of Ice Cream pics are on AspynOvard.com today! Have any of you guys been? What did you think? I loved it!!

A post shared by ASPYN OVARD (@aspynovard) on Sep 17, 2017 at 10:02am PDT

Just as I imagined it. It was bananas. 🍌 🍌

A post shared by Arielle Vandenberg (@arielle) on Sep 11, 2017 at 12:45pm PDT

I Learned Gummy Bears Got My Back… Had Phone Calls On A Pink 📞 With Bae… And Had A Sugar Party… all at The #MuseumOfIcecream

A post shared by Ciara (@ciara) on Aug 17, 2017 at 4:04pm PDT

@museumoficecream is now in SF! Hope all my friends get to experience the sprinkle pool ✨🌈

A post shared by Danielle Lombard (@daniellellombard) on Aug 23, 2017 at 1:22pm PDT

Via @insidertravel: The @museumoficecream is what dreams are made of – cotton candy and soft serve, that is. 🍦 #icecreamdreams #insiderart

A post shared by INSIDER art (@insiderart) on Sep 25, 2017 at 1:50pm PDT

Oh you know, just doing a lunge while pressing an 800 lb popsicle, no biggie. 💁🏻 We FINALLY got tickets to the @museumoficecream today. 🍦 It is literally a museum that was created for the purpose of taking cool Instagram photos. They said average time to go through it was 45 min. We took like an hour and a half. Definitely got our money's worth 👍 What's your fave flavor of ice cream? 📸 by @samlivits #blogilates

A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates) on Sep 6, 2017 at 5:29pm PDT

hi mtv welcome to my crib 🍭🍦🍭 @museumoficecream

A post shared by @marycake on Sep 18, 2017 at 1:58pm PDT

29ROOMS BY REFINERY29

29Rooms official site

Refinery29 is the leading digital-media company focused on women with over 500 million audience across all platforms providing its audience with the inspiration and tools to discover and pursue a more independent, stylish, and informed life.

29Rooms is Refinery29’s funhouse of style culture and technology. It invites visitors to create, play and explore the multi-sensory playground with 29 themed rooms that are packed with magic and brimming with inspiration. Tickets for the installation space has been sold out every single year!

@refinery29 's #29rooms is EVERYTHING! Shout out to @alexameadeart for her amazing installation. I am obsessed with her & her work. 🙌🏼🎨p.s. Check out my story for more bts of #29Rooms

A post shared by Victoria Justice (@victoriajustice) on Sep 10, 2017 at 11:27am PDT

⚡️ #nyfw #29rooms

A post shared by Chloe Bennet (@chloebennet) on Sep 7, 2017 at 7:53pm PDT

I feel like we are being watched. #29rooms @dbelicious #harmony @refinery29 @chloexhalle @benjaminshinestudio

A post shared by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Sep 8, 2017 at 6:11pm PDT

YAY! At 29 Rooms with @refinery29 — Currently in the @dysonhair room testing out their ultra fast hair dryer. Cant wait to take this home, it's a game changer! 💨 #sonicspin #29rooms #ad

A post shared by Tess Christine (@tesschristinexo) on Sep 7, 2017 at 8:32pm PDT

Guys how fun is this @ultabeauty carousel at #29Rooms! So excited to walk through the rest of the rooms to see the other art pieces. Follow me on snapchat to walk through with me😉👻 FoinikaKay #ad #ultabeautyR29 #exteriorglam

A post shared by Foinika Kay (@exteriorglam) on Sep 7, 2017 at 7:05pm PDT

Love Walk ❤️ tonight at @refinery29 #29Rooms w/ @aldo_shoes #aldocrew #ad

A post shared by BRITTANY XAVIER (@thriftsandthreads) on Sep 7, 2017 at 7:23pm PDT

💕💖✨ ice dancing 💃🏽 welcome to my snow beach, where pink is the new black it's always cool to twirl 😝 This pretty little pink snow globe at #29rooms was crafted to celebrate the launch of the dazzling new @juicycouture fragrance Viva la Juicy Glacé #vivaonice 💕 #ad #vivalajuicy

A post shared by Color Me Courtney 🎈 (@colormecourtney) on Sep 7, 2017 at 6:34pm PDT

COLOR FACTORY

Color Factory official site

With 15 interactive color experiences, the two story Color Factory is a place bursting with excitement for all visitors. Visitors can expect to walk through room filled with ribbons, experience tonnes of confetti falling on them and even jump into a bright yellow ball pit for a little fun and Insta-worthy Boomerang!

The creator behind Color Factory, Jordan Ferney, understood the importance of not just the fun experience when visitors are there but also the quality of photos taken. To ensure that each installation would look as good in photos as it did in real life, much thoughts were put into the crafting of the perfect scene.

This San Francisco pop-up museum is an interactive fun house! 🎨#thecolorfactory #insiderart @alyweisman @colorfactoryco

A post shared by INSIDER art (@insiderart) on Aug 17, 2017 at 1:13pm PDT

Color hallway at @colorfactoryco #colorfactoryco

A post shared by Oh Happy Day (@ohhappyday) on Aug 6, 2017 at 2:49pm PDT

Peek-a-blue 💙 more on stylecharade.com Read all the details of our visit to @colorfactoryco on the blog! Also, this lace dress is only $64! @liketoknow.it http://liketk.it/2sjT1 #liketkit

A post shared by Jenn Lake (@jenniferlake) on Aug 8, 2017 at 6:15am PDT

First strings first 🌈 details on the blog Loved spending the morning at @colorfactoryco! More on Insta Stories 📲 @liketoknow.it http://liketk.it/2sift #liketkit

A post shared by Jenn Lake (@jenniferlake) on Aug 5, 2017 at 3:10pm PDT

my afternoon was full of so much COLOR and happiness! 🌈 i had the chance to preview the new @colorfactoryco here in SF, which is an awesome pop-up experience. each room is designed by an incredibly talented artist and all the rooms are so FUN and interactive. see it all on my IG Stories! ❤️💛💚💙💗 Color Factory opens to the public next week, but you can purchase tickets right now! 🎟 anddddd i would highly suggest doing it now before they sell out. thanks to @callme_christine the queen of color for coming with me! #ColorFactoryCo // my dress is on sale, but since it's almost sold out i linked a bunch of fun 🍊dresses here: http://liketk.it/2scbO #liketkit @liketoknow.it #ltkunder50

A post shared by sarah tripp (@sassyredlipstick) on Jul 27, 2017 at 8:23pm PDT

There are over 200,000 yellow balls in our epic ball pit. 💛 (photo by @4theloveoftoys) #colorfactoryco

A post shared by Color Factory (@colorfactoryco) on Sep 7, 2017 at 2:38pm PDT

The confetti room at the @colorfactoryco 🎉😍🌈✨💕 I cannot wait to post my blog today! Check my ig stories !!!! #colorfactory #sf #thecolorgang #color #museum #colorfactoryco

A post shared by Amy Roiland (@afashionnerd) on Jul 27, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT

dreams do come true 💡🔌 giant #litebrite (like, literally, bigger than my bedroom)" #colorfactoryco

A post shared by mandana ansari 💫girl & the bay (@girlandthebay) on Aug 15, 2017 at 4:07pm PDT

Visiting a museum in this social media generation is beyond just the art, it is about capturing themselves within the spaces and recreating the perfect “Instagram” moment.

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runsonsweetpotato · 7 years ago

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intelligentsia cup day 10: fulton market crit n shit

wow. the final day. i cant believe it already here.

i wake up to a text from usac saying theyre already outside. it 5:15am ok guys cool.

usac will be filming a racer profile with me for the final day of intelligentsia cup. they cam to my house last night and got sound bites as well as some video of a faux commute so we wouldnt have to do it all before the race.

[photo: michelle moore]

today though, they are following me to the race to film some final shots from my commute. i sent them a map of 3 common routes i take and we did a hybrid of shots from the lakefront path, to halsted, plus a couple of bridges and alleys, etc. it was kinda fun, and kinda anxious feeling. i wanted to get there by 8a to warm up.

we get to the race and they want some shots with the helmet rig. i buckle the helmet and hop on the course to ride with lauren and may. this thing is heavy. i feel slow. my mouth tastes like being sick is coming. 3 laps and i take the thing off. i need to focus on warming up. we rode around for not nearly long enough and went to the cwec tent to prepare.

usac was there and filmed me pinning my jersey, zipping it up, stretching, talking, staring. it was really hard to focus with them around. i didnt feel like i was in my zone, nor that i had the space to do so. but, the goal of filming with usac, for me, was to let women of color know they can race if they want to and they are welcome always - so my discomfort is an incredibly small price to pay.

at one point we looked up and there were all the comrades - bailey, jesse, aaron, shelby, morgan, jason, dan, also dan. plus alex and chase showed up too. that felt awesome. they all looked so great in their kits and their cheers and smiles were major fuel.

[photo: i forget his name]

we lined and got ready for the final race. may, lolo, and i were gonna do it. the bell rings.

may had already decided she was gonna go off the front. and 2 laps in she did. she pulled for about 3 laps and couldnt get back in the pack. i counter attacked. for some reason, it slipped my mind that attacking is supposed to create a gap so someone has to work. i p much just rode up to the font and sat there. not a really good move. i swerved off and fell back into the pack.

may attacked again. this time pulling for 2 laps. i counterattacked then the lady from wellfit did the same.

and then, may attacked a third time. this time sara from psimet and i jumoed a bit with her. the pack was still there, but very strung out. may pulled off and sara was on the front with 2 to go. she was screaming for her teammates (erin had a flat and vincci was a bit behind me). she pulled for a lap then the pack grouped up with one to go.

[photo: need to look it up...]

the pace livened. turn one. turn two. people are shifting on the back stretch. through the chicane. i yell for lauren to give it all shes got. tussles for placement into turn three. turn 4 and im on the inside. the sprint begins. lauren bolts away from me. lots of ladies bolt away from me. i try to dig. my legs feel like noodles. my brain isnt telling my hands to shift often or fast enough. i throw my bike a little, and its over.

i drank 2 beers.

finish: 12/34

finish omnium: 4/51

0 notes

blushandhoneypaper · 8 years ago

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Hey Y'all! I don't love being in front of the camera, but the #jkinstachallenge asks us to tell you all a little bit about ourselves! P.S. This photo was taken by @jessicaleephotography a month or two ago and does not show the stress induced current zit under my nose. You are a PEACH, Jessica! Here are a few fun facts about moi!⠀ ⠀ 1. My husband and I are going to Santorini, Greece at the beginning of June. We are SO excited and would love any travel tips anyone has to offer! ⠀ ⠀ 2. Today was our last day of school! Along with painting and running my business, I have been teaching art for the past three years at the same awesome little community school in Knoxville. My side of the hallway has had pack up our entire classrooms into little boxes because we are getting new floors. YAY! I am realizing how much STUFF it takes to teach art... 112 boxes to be exact! Even though this has been a ton of work to pack up, I cant wait to be able to be able to create a very organized space once our floors are in.⠀ ⠀ 3. This last summer, I wrote and illustrated a children's book, "D is for Dog: Dogs A-Z." I am leaning towards making a goal to create another book this summer, but inspiration has not struck yet! Any ideas are welcome! ⠀ ⠀ What are you looking forward to most this summer?! http://ift.tt/2rRmbL4

#DogsofInstagram #Dogs #DogsofTumbler #Etsy #Blushandhoneypaper #Instagram

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thesnootyushers · 8 years ago

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Welcome back Rangers fans, after the disaster of Power Rangers: Turbo, I am happy to say that I love this series, it is probably one of the best, no actually it is the best series. He we go 5…4…3…2…1 In SPAAACE.

Without further ado lets take off (see what I did) and look at the series’ major plot.

On the Cimmerian Planet, the evil Dark Specter is celebrating his conquest of Eltar with his guests in the United Alliance of Evil: Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Master Vile, The Machine Empire, Divatox, General Havoc, and their many minions. They have captured Zordon and are draining his powers. As the villains enjoy a banquet, an unwelcome guest crashes the party — a Red Power Ranger. Dark Specter sends his chosen disciple Astronema to pursue and destroy him.

After losing to Divatox, T.J., Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos leave for space with Alpha 6 in search of Zordon and are taken to a strange spaceship. Unbeknownst to them it belongs to the mysterious Red Ranger. When finds them examining the ship, The Red Ranger (Andros) initially doesn’t trust his new guests, but when they help defend the ship (Astro Megaship) from Astronema, he gives them all-new Astro Morphers as an act of gratitude. This allows them to transform into Space Rangers. At this point T.J becomes The Blue Ranger and Carlos becomes The Black Ranger. The girls colours remain.

From the Astro Megaship (which can also transform into the Astro Megazord), The Space Rangers patrol the galaxy as they try to locate Zordon and rescue him from Dark Specter. Specter’s goal is to absorb Zordon’s power into himself. However, they are frequently forced to postpone the search in order to protect Angel Grove from Astronema, her loyal general (and adopted father) Ecliptor, and the seemingly-immortal bounty hunter Darkonda. Alongside new allies such as D.E.C.A., the Megaship’s onboard A.I.. New resources are also granted in the form of the Delta Megazord, the Mega Voyager, and the Mega Winger.

Towards the midpoint of the series we meet The Silver Space Ranger Zhane, Andros’s childhood friend from their homeworld of KO-35. This is a space colony where humans evolved separately from those on earth. Following a battle, Zhane sacrificed himself for Andros and was badly injured resulting him being placed in a cryogenic tube aboard the Megaship, after a crash landing he is awakened from deep freeze and fights with The Rangers. However, he would always De-morph unexpectedly. The reason he couldn’t stay morphed long is because while he was in the cryogenic tube, his Ranger energy was “leaking”, he needed to recharge his powers, which he did when he found an electric storm, getting his Digimorpher recharged back to full maximum power.

As the series progresses we find out that when Andros was a child, his sister, Karone, was kidnapped by Darkonda. Andros made it his goal to find her. Throughout the first half of the season Andros has flasbacks to the day his sister was abducted. Through a combination of his and Astonema’s backstory . It’s revealed that Karone had become the evil princess Astronema.

After she was abducted by Darkonda, she was left in the care of Ecliptor who became a fatherly figure to her and trained her to be an evil warrior. The memories of being Karone faded away and she was turned against The Power Rangers, believing then to have destroyed her parents and her brother. After years of training and competing against other evil warriors, Astronema was later trained in the dark arts. She was awarded the Wrath Staff, which she uses to manipulate others and battle her opponents. With Dark Specter’s help, she gained the space station, Dark Fortress, and an army of robotic soldiers called Quantrons. However, when she found out who she truly was, she sides with her brother and the Rangers and helped him find Zordon.

She was later captured by Dark Specter and brainwashed. Her emotions were removed and was inflicted with cybernetic implants that controlled her (many of us fans call this version of her “Circuit Astronema” or “Locutus Astronema”).

During this time, Circuit Astronema created the Psycho Rangers. The Psycho Rangers are five insane cyborgs programmed to imitate and terminate The Power Rangers. They are all powered by Dark Specter’s evil energies, weakening him as part of Astronema’s larger plan to kill her master and become the sole ruler of the galaxy.

Everything culminates in the two-part finale, “Countdown to Destruction”, where Zordon is nearly completely drained and Dark Specter orders the villains under his command to attack the entire universe. Across the universe, The Alien Rangers, The Phantom Ranger, Blue Senturion, The Gold Zeo Ranger and KO-35 rebels are defeated and captured. The Space Rangers struggle to defend Earth, but are overwhelmed and forced to retreat. Even Zhane and his Zord, The Mega Winger, are no match.

Darkonda and Dark Specter destroy each other, leaving Astronema in command as the “Queen of Evil.” While Andros boards the Dark Fortress to appeal to his sister, the remaining five Space Rangers engage in one last fight for Earth and are even joined by the citizens of Angel Grove.

On the Dark Fortress, Andros finds Zordon, who requests his energy tube be shattered. Doing so will release good energy that will destroy the forces of evil and save the universe, but also kill him. Astronema and her brother battle until he deflects an energy bolt back killing her. Following a battle with a now enraged Ecliptor, Andros has no choice but to grant Zordon’s request and smash Zordon’s tube killing him. His sacrifice was not in vain as the many monsters are subsequently turned to dust by the energy wave, while Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, and Divatox are changed into normal, non-evil humans.

Once the battle is over Andros carried Astronema’s body down the ramp of the Dark Fortress, he laid her on the ground and began crying. A few tears hit her cheek and she was restored to her true self.

With the universe now safe, T.J., Cassie, Carlos, Ashley and Alpha 6 intend to settle down on Earth. Though initially intending to remain on KO-35 with their people, Andros, Zhane and Karone decide to join their friends on Earth…..The End

So ends what will be known as the Zordon Era. If that had of been the end of the series as a whole, what an incredible ending it would have been. It was amazing. It was a space opera, fun, emotional and you actually cared about everyone. I was invested in every episode because every episode had something in it. It was brilliant. I’ll admit the effects and so on were abysmal, but come on, it’s Power Rangers. The story was so good and the characters accessible I didn’t care. It rounded off a series I had followed every week, without fail, for six years. This was a payoff like no other and it was real closure.

It wasn’t perfect there were also a few teeny weeny issues I had with it, but they are so small in comparison. I am not ready to talk about them just yet. This was the case for most people because the audience came back En Mass. I t had higher viewing figures than Power Rangers had ever seen in its entire run. Merchandise sales once more went through the roof.

With the tight, quality writing and the fact it didn’t use a lot of Sentai footage also meant that there were less fillers. Yet due to the quality of writing the fillers they did have were really good. Their purpose was to show The Rangers learning and growing, whether it was dealing with their own problems, becoming more tactical, learning to live with loss or the more varying shades of good and evil that exist. Regardless of its purpose, it moved they main plot along, which was something that had never really been done before on any level of this series.

Here are some of my favourite episodes from this great series.

A Wasp with a Heart – A wasp monster doesn’t have it in him to be evil, he helps and befriends Cassie, who sticks up for him when confronted by the other Power Rangers, who also have to deal with Sting King a really evil wasp monster. Waspicable is hurt by Astronema for being weak and Cassie is devastated. She goes ape shit. It’s a really nice moment. It also creates a sticking point later in the series when Andros wants to trust Astronema and he uses this as an argument winner. In the broader sense it addresses a theme entrenched throughout this series. What is the nature of evil? Are you born evil? Do you choose evil? Are you made evil? Its a very simple way of exploring a complex theme.

‘In Five of a Kind‘ T.J is developing new strategies to how to defeat the Psycho Rangers. It’s a good episode because we see him thinking about a plan as opposed to just going in and fighting. For several episodes this hasn’t worked so now he is trying something new. It shows how he is growing and developing as a Ranger and a soldier. I like this episode because it shows how human T.J is and all his bravery and willingness to fight means nothing against an enemy that can physically beat him.

‘Always a Chance‘ has Carlos make a mistake during a fight with a monster and injure Cassie. After this he is wracked with guilt, self doubt and fear. This was also brought up in the Turbo finale He feels he cant continue as the Black Ranger. Adam returns to offer some training, he works with Carlos helping him defeat a monster. Carlos starts to trust himself and continues on and grows as a Ranger. This again builds Carlos as very different than what you would expect. Unlike Andros who is a cold, focused warrior and T.J. who is brave and ready to go second in command. Carlos is quite and a reserved fighter. He also still makes mistakes and is unsure. It’s like I said about him in the Turbo finale, It paints him as a believable teenager in over his head.

One of the many things that make this series so great, is that The Rangers are up against it. They cannot defeat Ecliptor or the Psycho Rangers they get beaten every time they encounter each other. They are searching for Zordon with no clue as to where he is. They are fighting an army of villains. Technically every villain faced so far. They are on their own, finding their way, without a mentor and as in real life it’s hard. This was something I noticed when watched it back. I either missed it when I was younger or I didn’t realise its affect until I got older. It adds to the sense of urgency and danger faced by the Rangers. It makes their drama much more realistic and serious. It also also builds the villains as scary powerful adversaries in turn adding to the urgency and danger.

This series was supposed to be the last, after the disaster that was Turbo. The budget was almost non existent and the Sentai this was based on was not actually in space but in virtual reality. So the crew, since it was the last series adopted a ‘to hell with it’ attitude and really went for it. A great deal of the budget would be spent creating cheap green screen space footage for the Zords traveling in space as well as shooting new fight scenes with the Space Rangers which were tinted a different color for broadcast so as to create the appearance of the battles taking place on alien worlds. They used several sets so many times and even borrowed from other shows. They also recycled the villain costumes. Maligore from The Turbo Movie is actually The Dark Specter. The main villain Astronema, wore the costume that the character Jessica Preist wore in the 1997 Spawn film. Apparently someone knew a producer and they were allowed to borrow it.

With a low budget the crew was trimmed and some new cheaper writers were hired. These writers knowing money was tight instead focused on the character and story. These writers deserve more recognition than they get. The story in this season is phenomenal. There are the few stupid bits that still annoy me but on the whole the writing is way above par.

All The Rangers are given more development, even though it’s small and comes throughout the entire series as oppose to just one stand alone episode they all grow very nicely. What was planted at the end of Turbo blossoms into an awesome team. The biggest focus is on the new character Andros, his story is very typical as the loner who learns teamwork but his development is tied up in the other four Rangers. They help him as much as he helps them. I also like how they give reasons for his isolation and refusal of help in the form of the comatose Zhane.

This series would be the first to be completely serialised, in that it relied on a continuing plot that unfolds episode by episode. This series also featured plot devices and storylines never before seen in a Power Rangers series.

Something that that makes it so highly regarded was because it’s the first Power Rangers series to feature sympathetic and multi-dimensional villains in the form of Astronema and Ecliptor. Astronema was a truly impressive villain. From the start she is chosen to lead the attack and she does pretty well. Her Job is to destroy The Rangers and that is what she tries to do. When it goes wrong she doesn’t pout or scream or throw tantrums she learns and tries again. She is focused, sure she looks very cheap sci -fi, but it works and the changing of her hair colour episode to episode just adds to the uniqueness. Her acting is pretty good. She does chew a bit of scenery in places but it can be forgiven.

Circuit Astronema is even better she is white faced, with horrible bowl cut ginger hair, lifeless eyes and a hollow synthesized voice. She could be believed to be a completely different person. What I love most of all about Circuit Astronema, is when she is given the implant that kills all her emotions she then decided to usurp Dark Specter and takeover. That is believable and fitting with the plot. Dark Specter wishes her to have no love, loyalty or emotion. He succeeds but in doing so blindly creates his biggest enemy. It shows his ego and oversight.

The Psycho Rangers, were also awesome. They were scary and powerful. Circuit Astronema made them from Dark Spectre with the intention of quietly draining him of power . When the psychos fought it drained him even more.

Unlike other evil Rangers who just were putties in disguise or punks in morph suits. These were tough, they defeated The Rangers many times. The reason the Psychos never killed The Rangers is because Circuit Astronema kept pulling them back as she wanted Dark Specter as weak as he could be. Circuit Astronema was a genius, prior to the chip she would have killed our heroes because that was her main objective. Now however it’s Dark Specter.

Now we get on to probably my second favourite character next to Astronema and T.J…..ECLIPTOR. I love this guy. He was one of the most lethal fighters in the known universe and the veteran of countless battles. Although it’s not outright stated, there are hints that he is responsible for the catastrophe on KO-35 that caused the settlers to evacuate. Nobody seems to know where Ecliptor came from. He is referred to as legendary warrior. What’s more he can just cut through The Rangers like butter. He is nails. There has never been an encounter when he hasn’t come off better. Only through interference or retreat have The Rangers won the day or survived. If Andros had not broken Zordon’s tube in the finale Ecliptor would most likely have finished him.

Although his true motives are unclear one thing is certain, his love for Astronema (Karone). He has trained her and protected her since she was an infant, he was charged with raising the captured Karone into a life of evil so that she would become an acolyte of Dark Specter. This just adds to the beauty of these characters and again addresses the theme of evil. He looks at her as a queen and daughter and he truly loves her, standing by her regardless of her choices. his seems more in keeping with what you consider good qualities and choices. However it is also important to note that he was the one who turned Karone evil when she was a child so it really plays with your emotions.

As a child I really liked Ecliptor. I know he looks very silly and cheap, as is the case with most of this series. As the series progresses though and you get into the story, like with most things in this series, you forget about it and just marvel at this Space Warrior.

Now we come to a niggle. Astronema being brought back to life as Karone by Andros’ tears. As a kid I liked that she was alive, but even then I thought that the method was ridiculous. What’s more is, I remember how upset I was when I though she was dead. It made everything so final. This was truly a war and not everyone made it. Looking back I wish she had stayed dead it would of made a bigger and better impact. I get why they did it, it’s a kid show. I wish they had explained it away by saying it was the energy wave Zordon released when his tube was destroyed. The tears thing is a bit too far.

Now we have not so much a niggle, but more of a gaping wound. The only moment of Turbo stupidity (see what I did) with this series was the two part crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation series. I honestly think it was because Fox kids and Saban who produced both shows decided to try and keep the failing Turtles alive by plugging it on Power Rangers. The episode was a travesty. The turtles are brainwashed by Astronema and attack The Rangers. The Rangers break the mind control and they all fight together. It is the only Black spot on this series record.

In spite of that massive misstep, the series was renewed and all was good again. What the show decided to do following this series success was have every series as a contained narrative. Each one with a new set of Rangers and villains. This way you could focus and control the story and characters. It would allow freer use of the Sentai. It could be marketed easily at a new generation of children every year or so . For older fans, they could then be safe in the knowledge that if this series didn’t work for them, come back next series for a whole new story and cast. The show had finally learned and found a formula that would see it through another 19 years.

Come back next time when we explore the lost galaxy.

The Power Rangers Legacy Volume 6: In Space Welcome back Rangers fans, after the disaster of Power Rangers: Turbo, I am happy to say that I love this series, it is probably one of the best, no actually it is the best series.

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