#they all follow like a very loose guidelines but also they all split off into their own things half the time

[crystalpallette]

so I finished side order recently

[maleficore]

#wil pls i absolutely NEED to know Ezra's reaction to this scene (tag from @hylorien)

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE.

Unskippable cutscene!

(yk I'm not evil, it's under read more)

Act 2 is my ABSOLUTE fave where Durge shit is concerned, there's just so much to work with. I generally treat the canon events as a loose guideline and don't like sticking to them too closely because there's a lot of stuff that just doesn't make sense when you take the story out of the constraints of having it told to you via a video game.

(This is where I went on a massive tangent about a lot of inconsistencies I hate, but chose to spare you. You're welcome.)

But the brain thing still happens in my Ezra Cut version of the story and I can ramble about it. Just remember that you asked for this before you begin to hate me for going off on you.

The thing with Moonrise in general is that yeah, the man has 8 INT and is prone to rolling critical fails on every fucking related check under the sun, but Insight and Perception are both Wisdom skills. Ezra might not have brains, but he has good guts. He knows from the moment he enters the towers that he's been there before and that it is not good news. Especially after the throne room conversation with Ketheric that the companions do not act like they've went completely deaf during. I don't think they would fight about it, it's not the time, but they do split up.

Or more like... Ezra wanders away and gets lost suddenly like a child in a labyrinth of supermarket aisles.

I like the idea that him getting to The Hole is less of a case of investigation, following clues and more the Elderbrain drawing him in? It can't puppet him, but it knows him well enough that it's able to poke the strings in a way that lets him know what is wanted of him. He follows that feeling to the source on his own until he's elbow deep in a stone wall.

He's an act first think later kind of person, what can I say.

At first his reaction is mostly "oh this is bad", but then he hears his name. Not the one he dug out of the holes in his brain over time with great effort, but the one he woke up with and that no one in his new (?) life uses. The Dark Urge. And it shouldn't calm him, but the curiosity and promise of answers soothes his nerves a little. Calm before the storm.

I joke about the exes thing and while I do have a faint outline of him having a weird thing with the Absolute in my head, I don't think that he'd remember that particular detail. To someone who already suspects very unsavoury things about himself the implication of a close relationship is not the main thing that stands out. What stands out is the familiarity; how it was not simply the case of him having been important somehow in the grand scheme things, he was responsible. If he was simply a high-ranked defector, he'd be called a traitor. Abandonment implies an equal or even higher standing.

Kingmaker.

In that short interaction every fear, every gut feeling and scrap of memory that he glimpsed so far gets confirmed and made real. He's not just some rogue True Soul that slipped away, he's was the mason that built the foundations of his own undoing amongst that of countless others. He knows he used to be someone terrible, but hoped that he was driven to mindless cruelty by the Urge that plagues him now, not someone with full agency enacting it on a whim. A person can't be forced to plot world domination, there's no room for nuance there. Or so he believes.

I think all that knowledge breaks him before he's even done listening and ends up in the oubliette. For better and for worse. The guilt drives him to stick out his neck more than he would otherwise, but it also causes him to shut down and withdraw even further. Which in turn leads to a small catastrophe near the end of the act but that's a topic for another post perhaps. A fic maybe.

Where's my make-up sex scene with the Absolute

[potteresque-ire]

I’ve got several asks about BJYX supertopic’s recent battle for the top CP ranking. I’ve meant to answer them the way they’re asked, but the answer gets long. Dear Anons ~ please forgive me for splitting the answers into multiple posts!

As with everything I’ve said about CPs, they’re mostly my limited observations—unlike history and news, it’s impossible to find articles about any of this that pass journalistic standards. Therefore, please consider the following to be my personal impressions and ramblings, and as usual, everyone please feel free to point out mistakes and add your own thoughts!

Everyone probably knows already, but the new drama that has brought waves to the Weibo’s CP ranking list is Word of Honour (山河令, which I will abbreviate to WoH), and the CP pairing is known as Lang Lang Ding (浪浪釘, LLD). I haven’t watched this drama yet but as a Wuxia (and slash) fan, it is on my to-watch list. Nonetheless, I’ve been watching the developments surrounding the popularity of the drama and the CPs, and I think I can make the posts long enough just with these observations alone. (I’m incredibly long winded :D )

For the CP competition, I think it’s important to point this out: the LLD supertopic is a mixed character-CP and real-person-CP supertopic, unlike the YiZhan supertopics (BJYX, ZSWW, LSFY) that are real-person-CP only. This means comparing LLD and the YiZhan supertopics is really …  comparing apples and oranges, especially when WoH is still airing (and therefore providing fresh candies for the character CP with every new episode). I therefore wish this kind of popularity competition doesn’t take root in the international fandom; it’s … a bit silly to me, really. It makes little sense.

That said, however, I understand why c-turtles are fighting so hard for the #1 CP spot. C-ent (as is true with many other aspects in the country), numbers and ranking are everything. That 20(?), 40(?) minutes during which BJYX supertopic fell to #2 the first time already made “news” headlines that claimed that WoH had surpassed The Untamed (TU)—an even stranger comparison, if one thinks about it. BJYX, technically speaking, doesn’t have anything to do with TU. It’s a GG/DD real person CP.

But it doesn’t matter—numbers are numbers, and they talk to c-ent watchers, the commercial interests looking for their most promising future investments. The perceived power of c-turtles hinges on them and by power, I mean both fan power and spending power, which are almost synonymous terms in c-ent. Many of you have probably seen those charts that rank the popularity of c-ent entertainers by how much goods, in monetary value, they’re able to sell. How much do the c-turtles contribute to these monetary values? Are they, as a collection of fans, worth keeping, worth wooing?

The notion that only the fan’s spending power means something may cause unease in many i-turtles—and it is, indeed, a very cold-hearted assessment, as it implies that fans are little more than living wallets to be emptied. My observations have been that such a notion doesn’t bother c-turtles for the most part and, IMHO, they’re being realistic for their sociopolitical environment. They also respond to this notion accordingly—while it is difficult to tease out the exact percentage of turtles among Gg and Dd’s active fans (fans that make major purchases goods and merchandises), c-turtles have previously demonstrated their ability to contribute a substantial fraction (in the 10s of percent) of money spent on Gg and Dd. As these splits are only very occasionally visible to the public, the CP ranking likely serves as a constant reminder of c-turtles enormous fan/spending power — without which, Gg and Dd’s popularity will also take a hit.

In that sense, c-turtles are fighting for their right-to-exist. Remember when I talked about the “traditional” thinking that CPFs < solos, and that one CPF = one (loyal) solo lost? This means c-turtles must be able to demonstrate their ability to offer something that the solos cannot, and more importantly, that their offer will not come in any other name. If c-turtles proved last year that they wouldn’t change their name to solos, then this year they’re set to prove they’ll not change their name to LLDs or other CPFs. 

If the latter sounds a bit like a battlecry, it may be exactly that. Ever since the announcements of the long line of upcoming Dangai’s, ample inflammatory posts have been made on the platform to get c-turtles to “defect” to the new dramas, or predict that as soon as another pair of random, beautiful men start to throw candies on screen, c-turtles will promptly forget about Gg and Dd and join the fun. The latter, especially, can be quite insulting to read, as one can imagine. However, with c-turtles being a loosely connected group of millions, despite their apparent firm stance that they shall stay turtle, their underlying nerves that these “insults” may turn out to be true can also be felt — the worry that c-turtledom will haemorrhage when the next popular Dangai with enticing M/M CPs (character or real person) come along. 

WoH, as the first drama that fits the criteria, is therefore a test— a test that many c-turtles likely view they must pass with flying colours to prove their point, to stand with their heads held high among those who do not care about BJYXSZD (not necessarily solos—many solos, BTW, have actually helped the turtles out this time); to show that turtles are not only every bit as loyal as other Gg and Dd fans, they’re not so … cheap as to take any random “industrial saccharine” (工業糖精; referring to ZQSG-free candies created solely to lure in fans) and walk away.

The reform of the BJYX supertopic (which now allows candy analysis and explains the sudden appearance of many old candies), the flood of BTS videos from almost every Zhan Jie previously involved with the YiZhan CPs, the temporary retaking of the top 3 CP spots by BJYX+ZSWW+LSFY ... can therefore be viewed as a rally of c-turtles. The message is: we’re not going anywhere. We’ve got enough candies that no other (M/M) CPs can hope to match in quantity, in quality.

(And the parade is indeed impressive.) (The reform also didn’t come out of thin air; there have been discussions about the supertopic’s candy sharing rules before.)

Some c-turtles have rightfully been concerned about how such a parade of candies can affect Gg and Dd. They point out that some candies should still remain 閱後即焚 (“burn after reading”, instant return to hiding after release like certain BTS videos); that at some point, c-turtles have to let go of their obsession of staying on top of the CP rankings. TU is already almost 2 years old, and being a little lower on the CP ranking list will take the heat off the YiZhan fandoms in the long run, incite less outside forces trying to fan the flames between the shrimps and the motors and the turtles.

The rules and guidelines of c-turtledom therefore remain a work in progress, and c-turtles, the millions of them, are still learning as they go.

Personally, I have faith in what will come. I also haven’t been too concerned about the candy parade, because most information is already out there for those who’re determined to find them — on Bilibili, Douyin, Zhihu etc. I spent some time talking about the Gg Assistant fic not with the goal of eliciting pain or panic, but rather, as a demonstration of why it has been the tradition of CPFs—not only the turtles—to play things very cautiously, with 閱後即焚 and 圈地自萌 (“to play within the circle”; ie, keep all information and candies within CPFs) being the default rules even after removing the “queer factor” from the discussion. Real person CPs have fate as one of their writers and so, unlike character CPs, their candies can have unintended, unpredictable consequences. As the YiZhan fandoms have now grown big enough that their candies can no longer be realistically well-contained, it may not be such a bad idea for especially the sensitive candies to return under the “jurisdiction” of the BJYX supertopic, so to speak. c-turtles can then gain better control of their comes-and-goes. Their narratives.

(CPN below.)

About narratives. @rainbowsky have previously written a thoughtful piece on the possible reasons the YiZhan fandoms have been allowed to thrive, and I’d like to add the following hypothesis—it may be a way to take pre-emptive control of the Gg/Dd narrative in preparation for the scenario where their relationship is exposed without their consent. Some i-turtles, I think, may have already gained a sense of how ruthless, cruel and above all, quick the c-ent rumour mill can be. If Gg and Dd get outed by a third party, chances are they won’t have time at all to create a fresh narrative, and the one that come out of the rumour mill will likely be … very ugly, containing every worst misconception people have against homosexual relationships. Whereas now, c-turtles already have a narrative at hand—the canon-fanon that, while c-turtles may not agree on every detail, is largely agreed upon on the important milestones. The supporting materials are also ready: the videos, the images, the voice and arrow guides on them.  

For me, another interesting question is whether this c-turtle rally and parade of candies are truly necessary in the end.

I’m curious about what will happen to the LLD supertopic when WoH completes its airing. There’s really no precedence for this kind of a mixed character + real person M/M CP supertopic setup — the history of Dangai is short, of popular Dangai’s, even shorter.

Guardian (鎮魂), the first successful Dangai aired exactly a year before TU (in the summer of 2018), never had a dedicated CP supertopic (please holler if I got this wrong! I know there’re Guardian fans here ~ hello! *waves*). Discussions of Guardian’s CPs were found within the drama’s supertopic (剧版镇魂); the real-person-CP also never had its own name; its discussions were hidden under the character CP (巍瀾) tag.

Then came TU. Its real person CP (BJYX) split away from its character CP (WangXian) long before the airing for the drama—the birthdate of the BJYX supertopic was 2018/04/28 (TU’s airing date: 2019/06/27).

After TU, two Dangai dramas have already aired before WoH that seemed to have largely passed the attention of i-fandom: The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty (成化十四年) and Winter Begonia (鬢邊不是海棠紅). Winter Begonia, in particular, was well received. Their character CPs never really took off, however, being conceived and perceived as more brotherhood than romance. Age also played a factor for Winter Begonia—Yun Zheng (尹正), known to many turtles as Dd’s motorcycle buddy, is 34, and Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明) is 43. The associated real person CPs also never became popular as a result; Huang Xiaoming’s famous marriage to a beautiful actress also meant that a real person CP was likely to be off the table for Winter Begonia from the start.

The best reference I can think of then, when it comes to speculating the fate of LLD, is therefore the fates of the CP supertopics of 2020’s summer hit, Love and Redemption (琉璃). I’ve talked about its character CP before; essentially, just days after the drama was done airing, the (het) character CP (初遇夫婦) was broken up and in a manner largely criticised as unnecessarily cruel to CP fans. Its supertopic closed immediately afterwards. The supertopic for the real-person-CP (冰橙汁) got to live, however, and is still active today.

The commercial forces behind WoH will likely break the character CP as soon as the drama is done airing; popular het and non-het character CPs in the recent years have gone through similar fates. What does this mean to LLD then? Does it mean the supertopic will be shutdown, since the drama itself already has its own supertopic? But what will happen then to its real-person CP, which has been incorporated within the LLD supertopic? Will the real-person CP be broken at the same time as the character CP to allow for immediate “purification” of real person CP fans into solo fans, to avoid future “headaches” like BYYX—a bound between the actors that cannot be severed—or 227 that, in the eyes of many passerbys, remains an issue of solo vs cpfs?

Only time will tell, and I very sincerely hope it’ll get a happy ending. Fans are made to love, and it saddens me every time to see them being severed from their loves, or pitted against each other especially when it’s clear it’s the social media platforms, the commercial interests behind the scenes — not just the production/media companies but the YXHs, the water armies — who will reap the benefits in the end. Personally, I feel no joy in seeing anyone’s favourites getting torn down, even if they aren’t my own. Gg and Dd’s safety — and the safety of every upstanding, hardworking c-ent entertainer like them — doesn’t hinge so much on their CP or solo or drama ranking, but whether their fans can refrain from bringing their conflicts into the public eye, from “occupying social resources”—ie, deflecting the public’s attention from the “core socialist values” the government intends it to focus on.

Fandom is big enough for us all.

[dollfaceeeeee]

fly me to the moon ✨

“I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with this.”

Staring up at the rather large, castle-like building standing before us, I realize I don’t feel comfortable with the idea, either, and it makes my throat tighten painfully under the moonlight.

Trapping this guy won’t be easy, but luckily for me, I’m the only raven haired girl at the BAU, which makes me easy prey for Foster Sutherford, the intensely rich man that sounds a lot like our killer.

I know I’m safe here, with Derek, Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi accompanying me, but I still feel unsettled, like a mouse about to be caught in a trap.

This is the only black tie event I’ve ever been to, but with Penelope’s help I found the perfect dress; a midnight blue, shimmering under the moonlight with thousands of tiny sparkles embedded into the fabric.

It’s cut low, as low as I could handle without feeling uncomfortable, per Rossi’s requests, but I still feel the slight tremble in my knees as I stand at the bottom of the steps that lead to the front doors of the lavish mansion, holding hundreds of eager, rich guests from the area.

“Reid, she’s going to be absolutely fine. But you’re going to have to have some self control here, okay,” Derek says, lowering his voice so Hotch and Rossi don’t hear us.

I’ve been keeping my relationship with Spencer Reid a secret for weeks, especially from our bosses, but it was almost impossible to keep it from Penelope and Derek, who guessed it right off the bat.

Reid, also, went on a rampage when Derek invited me out for coffee with him, so that probably gave it away, too.

Spencer sucks in a sharp breath, glancing at me before tugging at the collar of his white button down shirt, his piercing chocolate eyes analyzing my face in the dark.

“Promise me,” Spencer says, never looking away from my face; “promise me she will be safe.”

Derek moves toward him, clasping his shoulder tightly with his broad hand, his dark red suit complimenting him perfectly.

“I promise.”

“Let’s get this over with. Anna, you remember what to do, correct?”

I almost forget about Hotch and Rossi, and jump at Hotch’s voice that pierces the air behind my head; Rossi coming to stand beside him, each of them budding with authorative, parental energy.

Inhaling a breath, I nod before making my way up the steps, fishing my silver masquerade mask from my clutch and slapping it on.

Spencer, Derek, Hotch and Rossi do the same, following closely behind me but keeping a distance at the same time, not trying to blow my cover as I move, impressively, fluently in the mansion.

It’s overwhelming, at first, lit up with arrays of sparkling fairy lights and golden painting strewn across the walls, and the massive spiral staircase at the back of the room exits in two directions, holding numerous people chatting comfortably with each other.

Silently, the rest of the team split up, each of them wearing vibrantly colored suits to be easily found in the crowd, but Spencer’s is my favorite; a deep ocean blue, almost the same piercing color of my eyes, and it fits him perfectly, clutching to his frame deliciously as he moves.

Hotch sports a warm, cream colored suit, almost the same color as starlight, and Rossi circles the room in an olive green suit; settling into a groove as he grabs a drink from the bar in the corner and moves to take a seat at a large table, close to the ballroom floor but not too close to be detected.

Derek almost does exactly the same, but blends in with the crowds on the stairs, easily distinguished in his red suit, and I’m relieved that JJ came up with the idea of brighter colored suits in case of an emergency.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.”

The voice is musical, and warmer than I expect, but it still makes a wave of ice cold air flush straight down my spine as I turn to take in the stranger standing near me.

The killer of all those women..

“I’m new to the area,” I state confidently, just like I was taught, “but I didn’t realize it was so obvious. Pardon me, you must be Mister Sutherford, right? My memory deceives me.”

He’s young, barely older than me or Spencer or Derek, almost like someone you’d meet at a bar, or see at a restaurant, and the only one in the room confident enough to stride around without a mask on.

He wants to be seen, wants people to know he’s in charge.

It’s him, I’m sure of it.

Dark, emerald green eyes lower from eye level, twisting across my figure under the lights, but not in a way that it would make a woman uncomfortable.

Well, any woman besides me, that is, because the only man that’s ever looked at me like that is..

“My apologies, miss, yes, of course. Foster Sutherford, master of the house. And you just happen to be wearing my favorite color ever. Well..my favorite color now, that is.”

He’s charming, obtusely so, and it’s evidence he’s done this before, has been through these steps before.

For the first time in my entire career, I’m grateful to be accompanied by four men, even if it’s not obvious to Foster that I am.

He reaches for my hand without my permission and gives it a kiss, and I fight myself to pull away, fight with all the energy inside of me, as I revolt at the idea of where his lips might have been before this.

Mentally, I remind myself to scrub the absolute shit out of my hands after this.

“A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

He grins from ear to ear at me, before taking a step toward me, his honey blonde hair glistening under the lights overhead.

His golden colored suit sparkles, and the rings on his fingers clasp around my small, delicate fingers rather tightly as he invades my space.

“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. Would you like a drink?”

Following my guidelines, I follow him inside the building, drifting right past Derek, his fingers giving mine a quick squeeze before I find myself at the bar with Foster.

Allowing him to order for me, my mind drifts to my morning with Spencer, and waking up next to him for the first time; going into work with the smell of him on my clothes, and loving it.

A drink is placed into my hands, and it brings me back before I shoot Foster an eager smile; his glass chiming against mine.

“To new friends.”

He watches me take a sip of the liquid over the rim of his, and it tastes dry and bitter, with a hint of something sweet right on the tip of my tongue.

As instructed, I should go along with whatever Foster wanted, until I got a confession out of him, but I feel as though this was a mistake.

“Thank you,” I say, setting the glass down on the counter.

My knees wobble slightly, for a moment, but I pay no attention to it.

I never could handle my drinks.

“Care for a dance?”

Forcing myself to smile, I nod, and he leads me toward the dance floor, which sports Spencer and Derek, dancing aimlessly with random women, and Rossi and Hotch watching from the sidelines.

Something very old and romantic begins to play overhead, and Foster begins to twirl me in circles across the polished floors, holding onto me a bit too tightly; his hand finding its’ way to the curl of my hip.

My body begins to panic, fighting against this with everything inside of me, but I realize my eyes search for Spencer’s; his brown irises already on me, warm and blazing with that protective instinct that I know blooms inside of him.

I’ve seen it so many times before.

“-and that accent, my lord, you must be.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

Shit, I wasn’t paying attention, which might be a grave mistake for me; swallowing the bile in my throat as he glances behind him, finding Spencer but not saying a thing.

“I was wondering if you might be American, with your accent and all. I feel as though you’re trying too..desperately to be English.”

Like a deer caught in the headlights, I know he’s got me, and I try to search my brain for something to say, but nothing comes.

“I’ve only been here for some time, you see. Travel journalism. I tend to pick up on accents wherever I end up going, so my English may just seem a bit odd. It’s nothing of concern. I’m right where I want to be.”

Foster smiles, and something sinister dances in his eyes before he shakes his head.

“Of course, I’m sorry. That sounds exciting. I’ve been to many places, too, with many women. But you are by far the prettiest I’ve seen.”

Here’s my chance.

“Many women? You seem like such a bachelor, from what I’ve read. It doesn’t say you’ve been with anyone.”

“If you believe everyone kisses and tells about it, you are sorely mistaken.”

“Yes, but the women? Of course, if I kissed you, I would of course tell someone about that.”

“Charming,” Foster says, his smile deepening, “how charming you are. However, I knew what you were as soon as you walked in my doors. So you can’t fool me, even with a face as pretty as yours.”

My mind begins to fog, my vision swimming out of focus as I begin to feel Foster’s fingers dig into my rib cage, attempting to hold me up.

Oh shit.

“What..what do you..?”

“A woman in dire need of love,” he breathes, his eyes seeing straight through me, and I find my fingers clutching to his elbows to steady myself, but I can’t.

Stumbling backward, Foster reaches forward and catches me, and in any other romance movie this would be the perfect moment, but I’m slowly fading out of focus, and I realize my mistake.

Those damn drinks.

He reaches up to tuck a loose piece of my hair behind my ear, and it makes my heart still in my chest as he leans in near my ear.

“You’ll be perfect for my collection. And you won’t even feel a thing, I promise.”

There it is.

Attempting to shove him back, I realize it’s no use, and all I can muster is a simple line of words instead.

“Get..the fuck..off of me.”

Out of nowhere, Hotch comes up behind Foster Sutherford and sticks the end of his pistol against the back of his head, tearing the mask off of his face; Derek moving to pry Foster off of me as Spencer holds me upright.

“Foster Sutherford, you’re under arrest for the murders of Katherine Banks, Louise Whiley, Patricia Stone, Jackie O’Donnel, and Tara Forn. You have the right to remain silent.”

A dark, sinister look appears in Foster’s eyes as he looks at me, and the rest of the room of people scatter as Foster raises his hands above his head, grimacing as Rossi twists Foster’s arms backward.

“I never..I didn’t kill anyone!”

“Gotcha,” I say slyly, as Hotch drags Foster up to his feet unsteadily; directing him out the doors of his mansion.

Rossi lingers behind, Derek and Spencer hovering over me on the dance floor.

“He drugged her, but I don’t know with what. She’s fading in and out of focus.”

Rossi pulls a flask out of his back pocket, twisting off the cap before moving toward me.

“I was pretty sure this would happen, and I’m sorry about this, but this is going to taste awful.”

As Rossi moves to lower the flask down onto my lips, Spencer grabs the end of it, stopping him, his other arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

“You knew this could happen? You all promised she would be safe. This isn’t..safe!”

“Kid, just let him do it,” Derek says.

“She needs to go to a hospital, not drink some whiskey.”

“It’s saltwater,” Rossi informs him.

“Which, could cause a salt overload in her system and give her a damn heart attack!”

Before anyone can say anything else, I grab the flask with shaky hands and down some liquid in the bottle.

It tastes awful, and twists up the inside of my stomach, but in no time at all I choke up the alcohol in my system and my vision clears.

“I’m still taking her to the hospital,” Spencer instructs, helping me to my feet, my body leaning lazily against his before he slips off his jacket and wraps it around me.

Derek jingles the car keys in the air, grinning.

“I’m driving.”

[themelodicenigma]

Concept of Canon/Canonicity Subjects Part 4 - Finale

Previous: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Canon Tiers

Canon tiers are fandom’s bread and butter for systematically classifying and organizing materials for the sake of canonicity, including establishing a hierarchy for the case of conflicting information. The systems used for certain franchises will vary in functionality, whether this is established by fans or by official parties to the series.

Examples include the Star Wars Canon Levels (though it’s not completely in effect after the 2014 reboot), Harry Potter Canon Tier, Star Trek Canon, and Neon Genesis Evangelion Canon Tier. Not all include the specifics of “tiers”, but there is some designation of canonical material regardless. Unless, you’re a fan of Doctor Who, then it’s established officially as a free for all basically.

Most of what I see in fandom generally follows this type of scheme:

1st Tier: What’s considered the primary sources of the canon. Typically anything made by the original creator(s) themselves, not including whose considered external.

2nd Tier: Paratext info involving proper authorities (especially the creators), like interviews, company statements, or guidebooks.

3rd Tier: Supplemental material that is, by intent and purpose, part of the canon and relative then to 1st and 2nd tier, but might contain contradictions or non-canonical material that otherwise are overruled by the two above. Adaptations that follow closely to its origin source and expanded material (side stories/spin-offs) made by internal/external writers are typically home here.

4th Tier: Official, but non-canonical additions.

Though it varies in how things are classified, generally that idea of setting all materials that pertain to a unified continuity [canon] is the goal. I’ve seen fans designate their tier lists to essentially navigate the “more/less” important works for a canon. It can be a mix of objective and subjective reasoning, but a list agreed upon can be useful in the event of a series with a large pool of canonical works. Not to mention, there are lists (including that one) that emphasize who the material is even coming from and its purpose within the continuity. This is why you’ll see so many lists prioritize authorship as the top level of canonicity classification. To me, this should enforce that everything on a tier list should correspond with the materials relationship to a single canon, not multiple. It reinforces a certain guideline that follows in what is established where and why.

The way this system uses canon is what inspired my thoughts on the functionality of the TAA, along with beginning my phase on investigating how canon essentially works. The canon tiers really set in stone what the implementation of canon does for fictional media.

I have a few concerns, though.

If there is something that firmly induces its own continuity, that entails that it too has its own canon and corresponding tiers relative to it. However in the likeness of how adaptations are created and function (even more detail in the next section), it can still be included on the list as long as it’s understood that those elements are non-canonical as opposed to officially branching off to create their own continuity. Sometimes that is the case, but not always, which is one of the reasons adaptations truly capture the nature of evaluating canonicity. I find this isn’t always considered by those who create tier lists. What’s also often disregarded is that non-canonical sources can still have canonical representation of some sort—even adaptations that have their own continuity will inevitably have this in some form to emulate the “based on” idea, even if loosely done.

More than anything, I feel very strongly that a canon tier list should be relative to a single canon and its guidelines (what I call a “canon umbrella”), and the canonicity of each tier should gravitate on its relationship to that canon. This too is sometimes split in fandom. It’s important because it would ensure that the tiers and all relevant materials are being evaluated efficiently, not to mention setting an understanding for why the list is made in the first place.

It’s also of interest to me personally in how this is done as a certain safety measure for the authenticity of information—this being a system founded on creating hierarchy within the sources in a franchise for allocating what takes precedence in the event of contradictions. Anything that would induce another canon should either be labeled as non-canonical, ambiguous (or “semi-canon”, as I’ve seen), or simply belong on another canon list. 

Outside of being listed for the sake of being a derivative work of some kind, I see little point in creating a tier of things that, in nature, are expressing their own established continuity. There is the logic that in the efforts to label something as “non-canonical”, it would only be in the direct sense of making a comparison to another canon, as opposed to recognizing it’s canonicity in its own right. I mean, everything is going to be non-canonical if you compare and place it within a canon it doesn’t belong. I can see how it would be worth mentioning because it’s still related. But, it’s also important to note when works are actually functioning on their own continuity as opposed to simply having universally non-canonical elements within it.

Other than the idea of the “canon umbrella”, I also believe the tier system is mainly relevant for the hierarchy of information applicable to the canon. I have found some people aren’t committed to this mindset, particularly to whatever is designated as “third tier canon”. The tier system doesn’t often consider the aspects of canonical representation that can happen within non-canonical works—it’s much more concerned with the more existential standing of the material as a whole. Outside of those things that are basically labeled as non-canonical, everything else on the tier list should be considered canonical unless that contradiction speaks otherwise. It’s also important to remember that any of these tiers can have contradictions and in those circumstances, there’d have to be other information that sheds light on what is correct at the time. This may sound like it's still determining if something is "more/less" canon, but really, it's determining which information under conflict is applied or not.

If to determine what is or isn't canonical by the full nature of the work, especially in authenticity, it takes much more than a tier title alone. Canonicity, in determining it, may be a spectrum of different factors and information. However, by the end result, it should only be one of three things concluded: Canonical, Non-Canonical, and Ambiguous.

That's really it in practical means. There's no "more/less” canon by the principles of the concept for what that means. Ambiguity of a canon can happen in a myriad of ways (hello Schrödinger), but in most cases there should be some type of information that supports some understanding regarding its canonicity if it’s to be considered anyway.

Another thing that’s important for a tier list is having a grasp of the sense of hierarchy for who is behind what pieces of information (this is in consideration of the TAA, as well). For example, I could also create a tier list based on authority and authorship, and it’s somewhat something I find that fans do often as well subconsciously:

Primary Parties (original creators, company with rights)

Directly hired by Tier 1 (specifically content creation), like external authors, guidebook companies, third parties for development team, etc.

Extended permissions and licenses in distribution for specific endeavors (Original interpretations, external authors (not directly hired), guidebooks by external companies)

This list isn’t based on canonicity as any tier can be responsible for any canon/non-canon material. It's under who has the hierarchy of importance in regards to a franchise. But, this list is only possible because all of these people do have some sort of authenticity established for them—the third being the loosest if by standing on the leg of gaining permissions of sorts to publish officially. Depending on the case, they may not ultimately have any at all if by the perspective of those higher.

To recap, a canon tier essentially creates a “canon umbrella” that all relevant information gravitates around for a single canon. And from this, we can create an order for this information in the event of conflicting information. There’s other functionalities that you’ll see between different fandoms, but the prior two points will come in handy when evaluating many of them.

Adaptations

An adaptation, in its most simplest understanding for fandom, is when a specific story is remade in a different medium: book to movie, movie to book, manga to anime, movie to video game, etc. This is very common within multimedia franchises. The specifications of being an adaptation are for the entries that are retellings of the same story (e.g. Harry Potter books and movies) as opposed to just a completely new addition to the canon through another medium (FFVII game and Advent Children movie).

As I somewhat covered in the previous section, I believe adaptations are where the subject of canonicity thrives the most.

When a story is retold in another medium, those who know the original source are going to be most concerned with the canonicity of the new source—what canonical elements are retained [story, lore, events, characters, personalities, etc.], how the differences impact the storytelling, and essentially, if it’s acting as a “proper adaptation”. However, there are several levels to this functionality that can be observed under the canon-lens. The crux of said observations, I believe, should be to retain a “sense of practicality” for what adaptations are, how they’re made, what they’re made for, and how closely tied they are to their source material.

Adaptations inherently have differences from that of their origin source. This is mostly due to the multitude of elements that come with whatever medium is used and, more often than not, different people developing the product than that of the origin source. However, multiple creative liberties and practical decisions made for production can lead to differences that may challenge the canonical elements of its predecessor, and for some fans this also challenges the canonical nature of the adaptation as a whole.

The sense of conflict that this produces can be quite the troubling circumstance in fandom for a multitude of reasons. It can be hard to have a conversation concerning canon when what someone knows from an adaptation differs from what is known from the origin source. This can range from inconsequential changes to ones that largely affect the continuity of what would count for the canon. Completely new, unique elements are challenged as well even if they’re not specifically contradictory to the origin source.

That “sense of practicality” is what can be used for judging the canonicity of an adaptation in relation to the canon it’s based on and its authenticity for that. If there’s not a better frame around the thoughts on what is understood about adaptations, the conversations that people have when talking about them can be a bit of a mess.

To start, I’d say there are three general types of adaptations that can be observed:

The adaptation that are “proper” in the way of being a reliable alternative. They effectively retain most, if not all, of the same canonical elements from its origin source. This can include additional elements as well. (Dragon Ball anime series)

The adaptations that largely [recognizably] retain the same canonical elements, but has a number of differences from its origin source. Some being that directly interact with or impact the story or characters that should be noted. (Harry Potter film series)

The adaptations that are typically described as “loosely based”. They may retain a few canonical elements as to the point of recognizing what it’s based on, but otherwise has significant differences to that of its origin source. (How to Train Your Dragon film series)

Between these three, there’s a sort of “spectrum” in functionality there for how great the differences are in the adaptations—anime examples often will have things like filler or specials that are exclusive to its source, but may not interfere with the core story anyhow. I’m sure there are other types that can be mentioned for how adaptations function, but these are just the general groupings that most people can observe. For the subject of canon though, it matters quite a lot to fans where the adaptation falls with its differences and those who are behind the production. This tends to happen when you’re not just comparing similar canonical elements, but you’re also looking at the authenticity of additional elements unique to that adaptation that can be a representation for the canon.

If we’re dealing with a “proper adaptation” [Option #1], then the work itself should, in all intent and purposes, be a part of the same canon of it’s origin source. Relative to canon tiers, it would safely be considered third tier canon (for what this is, generally), and subject to the inspection of the TAA for authenticity sake. This level of authenticity, if even for the sake of new information in the adaptation, can be accounted for as canonical if the adaptation finds its place in the same canon. From the Kingdom Hearts novel series, character details that don’t contradict the canon should be considered canonical. In a way, this would be adaptations that can truly be seen as a supplement to the canon. The Naruto anime series even adapted completely new, canonical material different from its origin source (from novels instead of the manga).

So, for an adaptation that closely follows its origin source, it wouldn’t be practical to say it’s functioning on its own canon when it’s basically doing its job as an adaptation. Option #2 can also fit this same bill, however, this will heavily depend on the nature of the differences present and if considering, what purposes the differences exist for in relation to the canon. Obviously a movie depiction of a book (most notably a lengthy one) won’t contain every single element featured in the book, nor will the scenes play out 1:1 for the sake of the practicality of a movie production. But, do those differences really mean it’s functioning on a different canon, or is it still subject to the hierarchy ideals that third tier canon produces—if not, just being acceptable as it is within the medium with the understanding of the creative flexibility of different depictions?

Both are pretty common, yeah.

In fact, I’d say it’s normal for an adaptation to have significant differences enough to be functioning within its own canon and writing direction without being really “loosely based” in execution. Option #2 presents the most flexible, yet sometimes the hardest canonicity to judge because of this. There are a lot of popular franchises that have very significant differences but are much more tied to the general story beats of their origin source, like the Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, or The Walking Dead franchises. One of the most easily observable and common ways this happens is how characters can be treated in their respective adaptations—some characters will either be completely absent or completely changed by who they are (personality, gender, back story, story impact, etc.). Because of this, Option #2 can have a difference that should set it in a way of being within its own canon as opposed to deeming the conflicting information as universally non-canonical within a canon it doesn’t belong in.

Option #3, if in reverse of Option #1, is mostly going to be functioning on its own canon due to the nature and significance of all its differences from the origin source. This is typically very easy to pinpoint, to the point where I would honestly say that the “loosely based” materials aren’t really “adaptations” in a traditional sense. Think Dragon Ball: Evolution or M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar: The Last Airbender—the former is very far removed from its origin source, and while the latter does convey more similarities setting-wise, it’s considered similarly as well in being….far from its origin source. It’s no secret that both of these depictions weren’t, uhh...received well. But, this isn’t always a showing of this nature in regards to canonicity of course. Maleficent/Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and the How to Train Your Dragon film series are great examples of how a more loosely based adaptation can function within their own canon, but do so on a well received level.

It’s always going to be case by case and a discussion to be had, as is anything concerning canon. If I’m going to be specifically talking about canon, it all boils down to this:

Can adaptations, as a whole, be considered a part of it’s origin source’s canon (third tier)?

My answer to this would be a very definitive yes, but depending on where it falls within the three, this may not always be the case. As we can observe from the usage of canon tiers, canon isn’t defined by the mediums in which it’s produced in, or necessarily limited to them either. In the case of adaptations, they can very well be produced to be an authentic alternative to their origin source in the way of representing all canonical representations genuinely by support of the TAA. This means it’s also possible for it to be home to new canonical elements that are introduced in it. Though just as we observed in Option #3, some adaptations are much more removed from their original source in a way that puts it into another canon.

We’ve spoken before how certain franchises have taken details from non-canonical works and used in the official canon, and this is something that can happen between two different canons (just as it would for whatever the adaptation takes). However, even this doesn’t result in rendering the entire work canonical to the other (or merging the canons)—you’d simply just take into account canonical representation where it lies between the two canons, but that would be subject to the TAA still for the conventional consideration.

Option #2 and #3 can create some canonical strife if other canons are being created. But this doesn’t always happen, and for good reason.

As easy as it might be to say a new canon is created from any continuity deviation made in an adaptation, this runs the risk of causing the material to not be “backwards compatible”. If keeping in mind the tier system (third tier), an adaptation would typically be subject to “being canonical with the exemption of contradictions” IF it was sharing the same canon as its origin source. This works especially for new elements introduced in supplemental material because it falls under that canon umbrella and authenticity—what happens in an adaptation can be seen as applicable to the canon its origin source is from. If it isn’t and is a part of another canon, then the ruling prior would essentially be mute, possibly along with other prospects like the gauging of authenticity relative to the other canon.

It’s also important to keep note of differences that are in place for the means of the medium as opposed to forming its own continuity as a series. Changes made for an adaptation aren’t always done for the sake of inducing another continuity. If in the discussion of canon, the conflicting information can still be understood as non-canonical universally. One of the primary things being that different ≠ non-canonical in such an ultimate way, especially if this judgement is impractical to the considerations of the production of the adaptation. If looking at something for the sake of being a contradiction, it needs to be done so on the basis of how it affects the important components of a canon and how it moves forward on its own with that difference continuity-wise. The understanding of “practicality” for judging material can vary from person to person in what they believe is reasonable.

There’s got to be SOME kind of line drawn here for conventional-sake of the production of adaptations.

A character picking up a cup with their left hand in the game but being drawn in the manga with their right hand IS NOT a contradiction and doesn’t render the scene, if not the whole adaptation, non-canonical. It shouldn’t be, anyway. If that sounds absolutely ridiculous, then you’re on the right path in drawing said line. The important matter is understanding how adaptations can still express the same thing but differently. I can’t say if there is an ultimate, definitive line that can be described for every adaptation.

Again, Option #2 usually presents this type of flexibility that might be hard to call and understand from those judging the authenticity from the adaptation.

Certainly there’s another very reasonable idea that disregards the importance of canonicity altogether, and is more accepting simply of the adaptation functioning within its own realm. Kind of a, there is no “wrong or right” because whatever is presented within the adaptation is there by creative choice that consider the medium. It doesn’t mean that those difference aren’t something that can’t be understood or enjoyed in the manner they take shape, and looking at it from a canon-lens with another product is unproductive.

It is a easier mindset to have for the sake of entertainment, honestly, but it also does somewhat undermine the deeper subject of canonicity and authenticity of materials.

Ultimately, if there is something to say about the canonical standing of an adaptation, it’s always good to look at things with a more pragmatic view for adaptations, whether that’s just for the ability to enjoy the differences it might have or having it be considered as third tier canon. The purpose, intent, the marketing, production, execution, etc. of the adaptation naturally begets differences, but canonicity in the way of being a different canon isn’t always an intended or applied factor.

[sylleboi]

𝖂𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖈𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖈𝖘 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖐𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖕𝖘 | 13/01/20

Morning:

So these first few weeks of the brief are going to be focusing more on working - doing tasks, such as ceramics.

For today, we were split up into two groups, where the following are groups that start in the morning:

Group a-j = Wood work

Group k-v = Ceramics

I was in ceramics, so without waiting around, I and my peers went to the ceramics workshop to get started.

Like we did during on the 6th where we worked with stone-based clay to create golems, we did the same; further developing our dioramas. We were going to do whilst using a new type of clay that is earth-based; terracotta.

We had to focus on creating at least one building, as well as several different environmental things such as stones, rocks and vegetation.

For the building I created a kind of gazebo, meant to match the ethereal look of the unicorn. 

I was actually inspired by a build I recently had done on the game Sims 4, shown below:

So I began by rolling out some of the basic shapes that I needed for the building, including columns and some circles to make up the base. This proved to be quite difficult, since I and my classmates beside me found that terracotta is surprisingly soft in comparison with stone-based clay.

Now that I have all the basic structural parts made, it was time to assemble them all using slip. This was a slow process, since the medium is still very soft.

Eventually, I managed to put everything together, despite it being quite “flimsy”:

I also created some rocks and pebbles to go along with the rest:

Afternoon:

As mentioned in the beginning of this post, the morning was focused on doing ceramics, which means that it was time to do the wood workshop.

I have some experience with working with this medium as well as using most of the tools that are most often used for woodwork, despite it being a while ago now.

As with ceramics, we were firstly told the basic safety precautions that we have to keep in mind while being in the workshop. After this, we were then  introduced to all the different machinery, materials and techniques that we were most likely going to use;

After this, we were then told to begin putting together some kind of figure, creature or character of some sort. I decided to go with a (draft) horse:

I gathered a bunch of different pieces of scrap wood in different lengths and thicknesses, and proceeded by sketching out the different parts such as the body, legs, neck, tail etc.

I then went to one of the machines to cut out the basic shapes, making sure to keep it even so they would come together nicely. Now, with all the parts laid out, it was time to put it all together! For this, we were going to use a technique in which you drill a hole and push/bang a pin into it. To make sure I do this correctly, I mark each bit with a pencil.

I used a drill for this part, making sure to drill it as straight as possible. The pins  would then get beaten into the holes using a mallet. Some of the wood is quite soft, so using a hammer would only damage it.

So with the holes drilled, this is how it looks so far:

I am yet to put together the more intricate bits such as the legs and tail. I was thinking of using wire and a smaller drill head, since I still want the legs to be moveable, so I can have it move more realistically when or if I use it for some stop motion animation.

Below is a picture i took showing some of my peers work; (or what they managed to get done during that lesson)

Update:

So since I didn’t manage to finish my horse figure during the lesson, so I took all the little bits back home to try and finalise it.

So I knew that I needed the legs to be posable, a.k.a. able to move. I didn't really have any wire, so I had to scratch my previous idea. I asked a friend for some advice and help, and we came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to use nails; they’re small so they won't look too obvious.

Another, maybe even more important, reason for using nails is that I can drill a hole before hammering in the nails, hereby hopefully that would reassure that the wood wouldn't split.

I went back and forth a few times, trying to decide what size to go for the drill. I was aware that I needed it to be big enough to be able (nails) to get hammered in, but not so big that it would be too loose.

Below is me comparing the size of the drill head and the nail.

–But eventually we settled on going small (1 mm.), our train of thought was that you always can go bigger if needed.

I also made sure to mark where I wanted to drill through the bits of wood, using a red pen to distinguish between the old markings and new ones.

The next step was to attempt to drill through the wood pieces. I had already labeled each bit which proved to make everything a lot easier.

I knew I wanted to have the legs go “inward”, as shown below:

I then clamped the pieces together to make sure it was in the right place and then, I drilled through the two pieces of wood:

After this was done, we moved it to a bigger and stronger clamp, clamping it down to the worktable so we could hammer the nail in. We made sure to have the now drilled holes completely lined up by inserting the drill head through the wood pieces as we moved it around without the clamp securing them together.

We ran into a problem with the nails being too long; if we just hammered them in as they were, they would poke through. To avoid this, we shortened them by cutting off a little bit, repeating this for four nails.

To ensure that the nails would go in smoothly we wanted to sharpen the ends by sanding them down a little. We first replaced the drill head with a small sanding head. The outcome was acceptable, but it was quite difficult and a bit time consuming:

So we then switched that out with a more rough sanding head, which proved to be much easier:

With the nails now the right length and “sharpened”, we could hammer it into the hole we had drilled from earlier. Here is the outcome of that:

I was very pleased with how it turned out; the nail now sits securely and doesn't poke out on the other side– (between the figures legs), which is yet another plus. But on top of all that, it’s a tight fit (yet you can still move them around) which is great, because the last thing I would have wanted was it to be too loose and sort of just... fall apart.

We then did the exact same thing with the other back leg; marking → clamping → drilling → re-clamping → hammering

;And with that all done, the horse now has back legs!

At this point, we decided to do the front legs separate from the body, and then nailing them to the figures body afterwards. This allowed us to work more freely, not being restricted by the rest of the horse.

And with the front legs now nailed to the body, the base of the figure is finally finished! Below is a little video showing it off:

I could have left it at that, but I wanted to experiment a little more by taking it a little further. So I gathered a bunch of scrap supplies; random things like cables (to strip and extract the copper wire from), old fabrics, beads, different kinds of string etc.

I found that I had a few different wires to choose from as the cables had some different ones hidden in them;

I sketched out some ideas, sort of brainstorming the possibilities;

I decided to go with making some horse tack for my figure.

To begin with, I wanted to create the bridle. I based this on the bit-less bridles that some riders use;

I knew I would need to create some small loops for it, so that was the very first thing I did. I used the thinner copper wire from one of the cables I had stripped and some tools to make these;

Making the bridle (as well as the saddle) was mostly just trial and error, experimenting with the fabrics and tools I had laying in front of me. I eventually decided on using some string, tying them to the small rings;

Now it was time to move on to making the saddle. For this, I made sure to reference the basic idea from the sketch I had created earlier. The inspiration for the saddle was based on cowboys in the 18th hundred.

So I took some corduroy fabric from some old corduroy pants that my friend allowed me to use for this. I kept going back and forth between drawing guidelines and trying to see how it would fit on the figure, adjusting as I went.

Here is a picture of the saddle cut out + a saddle pad. I didn't take that many pictures of this, but I basically made some stirrups using the thicker copper wire, attaching them to the saddle.

I had now finished the base of the tack for my figure. Next, I wanted to try and colour the horse. I wanted to use gouache paint to get a matte look to it, hopefully making the tack stand out from the horse a little more.

I started blocking in the colours, trying to make textured gradients by dabbing on the paint with my brush. I also made sure that I moved around the limbs to paint all the areas hiding in certain poses.

Skipping ahead a few pictures since it is quite repetitive from this point on, I decided to add hair to the horse. I did this by using normal wool and a comb, brushing it out until It had the desired feel I was looking for. Using a glue gun, I attached it in layers bit by bit:

I styled it a little by braiding it and positioning it where I though fitted best.

I repeated this same technique with the tail, then styling it by trimming bits away to shape it a little more:

And with everything done (the figure itself, horse tack now finalised completely also able to be taken off if wanted, “paint job”, hair) this is the result!:

[emovirgil-sanders]

Teacher AU

Logan Sanders

Mr. Sanders

English teacher

Very orderly in the way that he teaches

But, very open on how students take notes- lets them choose how they learn best

Prefers irl graphs, maps, and whiteboard notes over a PowerPoint presentation

He researches every topic to the furthest extent possible and makes sure his facts are correct so his mistakes are... infinitesimal. 

Does make a lot of group work, but understands that some students don’t work well in groups and lets them work on their own

Will sit and talk with students before/after class to help them with work or concepts they may be struggling in

Is very open to criticism- wants to make sure he is a good teacher for everyone

Definitely makes one of those ‘how did I teach?’ quizzes at the end of the school year

Does not give a lot of tests and thinks that the SAT/ACT are complete bullshit and should be removed (and will rant to hell and back over how horrid they are)

Gives a lot of very obvious hints on what the answers to questions are

Does creative writing as an elective course

Patton Foster

Mr./Mx./Mrs. Foster (Genderfluid) (Mx. is pronounced as ‘mix’ if you don’t know, though it does not stand for ‘mixed’)

Always writes his honorific and pronouns on the board so students will know what to call him by

Also has a necklace with three tags of He/She/They on them

Also will let students call him Patton if it makes them more comfortable.

Cause Patton wants to be friends with everyone and friends should call each other by their first names

Even if it is between student and teacher

History teacher

Mostly teaches American history, but also teaches British history and Greek and Roman history(the last two as elective classes)

Is very laid back

Extra credit for you and extra credit for you and extra credit for- you get the point?

Does WHATEVER he can in order to make a student comfortable in the school

Patton is the one that many students come out to first and he always respects their pronouns and does his very best to make sure he sticks to them (and if the student is comfortable with it, he will politely inform the other teachers so that the student doesn’t have to come out to all of the teachers)

Virgil Hathaway

Mr. Hathaway

Gym teacher

He loves to run games of dodgeball, kickball, and matball

Though he ALWAYS makes sure to be super clear on the rules because he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt

It’s hard to get him to play the games, but if you can manage to get him to cooperate, you better hope he’s on your team or else your done for.

(He will scream if a ball comes his way tho)

Pacer? Fuck that. Let’s play floor hockey

Is not a huge fan of doing sports such as volleyball, tennis, or basketball

But he does have free days on the Friday of each week where students can walk/run laps in the gym or play those sports or just chill and hang out before the weekend

Virgil knows how important mental health days are and will let students sit out if they need a period to just calm down. (He even has an empty classroom for them if the gym is too loud)

Roman Prince

Mr. Prince

Many students also call him Mr. Princey because that’s what Virgil calls him

Drama and Theater teacher

Loves planning and acting for the school plays

Yes, he is the director of the plays

But he also loves performing in them

He helps many students get over their fear of performing on stage/in front of an audience

One year, several years back, during the school play, he completely blanked on his lines and froze in the middle of the stage

He was so embarrassed afterward

But he doesn’t hesitate to show the recording of it to his class each year to show them that it’s completely natural to freeze and that it happens to everyone

Dolos Fox

Mr. Fox

*sigh* yes, just like the movie

Biology teacher

Also teaches Psychology as an elective course

Has a class pet snake called Nagini (after the snake from Harry Potter)

Has burn scarring along the right side of his face from an accident

People always ask what happened, but he always gives a different story to each class

His right eye was destroyed so much he now has a glass eye in its place (it has a yellow iris~)

Rumors have spread that he can actually see out of that eye because he doesn’t seem to have a blind spot

Really, he just has a couple of mirrors strategically placed around the class so he can always see what’s happening

He does not allow talking in his class

He does not care how important you think your conversation with your bff is, he will stop class and stare until you shut up

Tends to freak out a lot of people

(He loves taking out his glass eye in class) (Patton has to console a kid after they nearly threw up at the sight)

He’s one of those teachers that has the cubby you put your phone in before class

Fucking strict ass teacher that nobody likes

Remy Dormir

Mx. Dormir (non-binary)

French teacher

Yes, for the last time, they are pretty sure they know their last name is ‘Sleep’ in French (and a multitude of other languages)

That’s where their nickname comes from

Students always call them ‘Mx. Sleep’ in the hallways

Blame that one also on Virgil

Where’s Mx. Dormir? Nobody knows.

Really, they don’t show up to school half of the time

The kids get subs most days

And when they do show up?

A tray of coffee in one hand and they sit at their desk with their phone. Sometimes passing out a worksheet or something

It’s a wonder they still have a job

Though, if you use the wrong honorific/pronouns for them, then you’re pretty much dead

Aka, you’re getting an auto detention

(And you’re on even thinner ice if you do it around Patton)

“You’re all under the age of eighteen and I’m your teacher. What’s in my pants isn’t something you should be concerned about. Try again when you’re out of high school.” - Their response if any student asks the ridiculous ‘then what’s in your pants?’ question (I think this is my strongest line I’ve ever come up with)

Nate Asher Price (Slow-mo dude/Procrastination) (I included his middle name cause N.A.P.)

Mr. Price

Art Teacher (2D & 3D)

He loves working sculpturally but is also a fantastic 2D artist

Abstract art is his favorite

But he tends to procrastinate on his projects

Even though his classes are usually split up into 2D students and 3D students, he encourages his students to try some of both if they want to. (If they want to stick to a specific type, then he lets them do exactly that)

His projects are very loosely based so that the students don’t get stuck in a loop of following the guidelines and creating 24 exact replicas of a piece.

If a student needs help, he will sit with them and help them brainstorm ideas for a project. He loves when they hit a creative streak and just blurt our ideas one after the other, building upon each other to a grand idea of a final project.

Nate doesn’t have any classes for the first two periods of the day- allowing him ample time to wake up and make it to school- but somehow, he is always at least a few minutes late.

Extra Notes:

Logan runs a debate club after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Patton runs a GSA(Gender and Sexuality Acceptance) club with Virgil after school on Wednesdays

Virgil also runs a mental health club on Fridays

Roman runs a drama club for kids whose schedules are too busy to take the class (or who'd just like some extra practice)

Patton and Logan are known as the English teacher and the English teacher because Patton is British and the two are always seen together (many students think they’re dating too!)

“Mr. Prince doesn’t teach art… OH! You mean Mr. Price!” (Another reason why they call Roman Mr. Princey)

Bonus:

Toby, Ember, and Austin Hallows (October, September, and August)

Infamous triplets of the school

They are troublemakers

Not Identical triplets though (Ember is a (closeted) trans boy and Toby is unanimously the hottest of the three)

Seriously, about the three of them being troublemakers

Having one in your class is hard enough

Two of them is just torture

All three of them? Probably going to want to quit by the end of the first day

Like, once, during their sophomore year, they decided they wanted to take part in the senior prank and let Nagini (Mr. Fox’s snake) loose in the halls. Luckily, she’s non-venomous, but it still was chaos as they tried to find where the snake had slithered off to (it went to hide in Mr. Hathaway’s room, somehow knowing it would make the gym teacher flip out)

And that’s just a mild prank for them

[alesio3jphln]

Don’t Fall Because Of This BigCommerce Rip-off

Front End style guides have already been well publicised recently, with many examples being made readily available for all to see. They are a popular and way that is effective of usage guidelines for Interfaces that stick to an agreed upon design ethic. They allow you to speed up, maintain, and keep UI consistency. At BigCommerce, we have started to take into account the simplest way we could implement something similar that would help us achieve those goals. Style guides inside our experience fail the majority of the right time because they become stale reference sites that people copy and paste from but never update. They can be too loose, and permit freedom that is too much effectively you skin Bootstrap and everyone thinks they're a designer. There are many situations needless to say, where you are fortunate enough in order to dedicate resources and a united team to solely taking care of your style guide and shaping its direction. Many of us aren't that lucky, but if by some miracle you manage it, the following most likely thing that will ruin all your dreams is mutations. Deficiencies in an integration that is effective may cause your style guide to become obsolete, as teams will deviate from your agreed approach, making any upgrade path impossible. These mutations most of the time appear as it's not that hard to copy, paste, add an CSS that is additional class a component and produce some variation of it from the core library. Usually the excuse is "it didn't quite feel right", or "simply because" but this has a significant effect that is detrimental your capability to maintain a consistent look and feel, and familiar interaction patterns in the application or website; particularly if you are working with hundreds of pages. Those small mutations mean any significant change to a component will not roll out. The changes you've made will mean new upstream CSS changes will not take effect as a result of cascade and you will quickly create fragmentation and a frankenstein of an interface, introducing technical and design debt to the body. This essentially contributes to the origin regarding the naming - a Laboratory, not a Library. This takes a complete lot of inspiration from the Pattern Lab project and also the Atomic Design system. Essentially, this plain thing should live. It shouldn't just be a library piece; something that sits on the design departments shelf to now look at every after which. It must be constantly worked on and iterated over. It should enable us to push ideas that are new our design patterns to the app quickly and easily, which means it's necessary that we deal in and produce production code. That production code is not just used to create the pattern-lab itself, but in addition the application form it describes.

A single supply of truth, that which you see is exactly what's in production and what the Engineers on your own team are employing. A Pattern-Lab is a couple of very well defined, strict guidelines and patterns designed solely for a really domain that is specific. It is not a one-size fits all framework to build something BigCommerce-esque, but a razor-sharp, narrow focused toolkit to create a part that is particular of BigCommerce eco-system; in particular, for our Control Panel. We specifically wanted to lay out that if an interior team was building something that's not the control interface, and they found they certainly were missing significant chunks of UI, as opposed to doing a hack job they might benefit from building their particular Pattern-Lab for that domain that is specific. A Pattern-Lab is made to only have what we wish the delivery teams to have to construct that domain. Nothing more, and hopefully nothing less. We intend to build a Pattern-Lab to serve each domain separately, as they will all have different design aesthetics predicated on their purpose, but most likely a really set that is similar of components and patterns. That's where Citadel, our CSS framework, comes into play. More on that in another post. A Pattern-Lab probably get's you 90% of this means for each domain, but that isn't to express a Pattern-Lab is inflexible. Product Managers and Designers love a "Snowflake", so we expose all the global and component maps, variables and mixins, with their corresponding Pattern-Lab "theme", to enable a consuming app the capacity to build custom Components, which look right at home and on brand with all the wider app domain. A Pattern-Lab is a joint effort between the look team and engineering, however it is most certainly not an engineering tool. It ought to be owned and lead by the style team. The Pattern-Lab should not just be a documentation site where engineers pick out code snippets, although code snippets are included. It will range from the design thinking and language behind the "why" and also the "when" a pattern that is particular be utilized. You should use a certain level of alert, the situations it's appropriate to use a modal etc why you should use a colour for a certain situation, when. Other areas worth considering are defined animations and rules around how and when to make use of them into the application or interaction. Again, the Pattern-Lab should describe just how to build the greatest experience that is possible our product as well as for that to be a success, it takes rules around how to use it. Think about it as an use that is appropriate, or an interaction playbook.

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Accountability in Decision-Making

Tools to control shipping and payments

We are not quite there yet, but we're well on our option to defining a design that is solid and guidelines on how to implement it inside our app. The task by Lonely Planet on their "living style guide" Rizzo, seems like the natural progression in the style guide world, so we set about defining a way we currently build our Control Panel that we can do the same within the context of how. The beauty of modern frameworks that are javaScript React, Ember and what we use at BC, Angular, is the fact that they are all aligning pretty strongly towards the concept of Web Components. Directives, in Angular speak. This permits us to define small chunks of our UI into standalone, dynamic pieces, that people can then stitch together. It gives a true number of advantages, for the reason that each piece is testable separately from other components. We get to abstract complex HTML patterns, semantics and accessibility attributes away from JavaScript engineers who just need implement custom tags or elements in their apps. With that, we get full control of the HTML since it's compiled into JavaScript objects, meaning we are able to update a component and rollout it out without the dreaded "find and replace" across huge number of lines of slightly differently formatted HTML. The engineers that are javaScript get to only concentrate on the things they really worry about - application logic, architecture, and performance. The UI and design teams get to own a significant chunk of user interaction and accessibility best practices, which is precisely what they care about the most. We're now getting nearer to solving the issue of our style guide moving away from date, by building components for our guide that get used in production. Solving for mutations is a tad bit more tricky, but from my observations, engineers are less likely to want to add a CSS class to a custom element if they could just paste in "normal HTML". Which can be somewhat of a win. Because it's JavaScript code, Sass and compiled CSS we can start to think of our Pattern-Lab as a small software project. With which comes the capacity to create releases and version tags that people can use to aid distribute our code and offer a controlled method of upgrade to our apps by treating the Pattern Lab as a dependency. The thing that is neat a versioned design language is that it provides the teams some advantages in charge, predictability and workflow. By adopting Semantic Versioning (or SemVer), we give our teams control over how they make use of our design language by deciding what version they have been using because of their particular product area.

This Article Will Make Your BigCommerce Amazing: Read Or Miss Out

They get predictability without them knowing, which would make a very unhappy and stressed engineering team as they know we're not going to push a change to them that will break all of their things. Predictability and control leads to confidence in your design language and much more estimations that are stable the project teams, that is super important in enabling them to ship things on time. With confidence comes adoption. Teams are able to range from the design language inside their product area, and because change is predictable, are actively engaged and encourage the evolution of those patterns to help make their product areas better. Another strong feature of versioning and distribution is testing. With good design comes iteration as you learn and refine your patterns to generate to best possible product experiences. Componentisation not merely enables you create quick, high fidelity prototypes for your usability and design research, nonetheless it can also potentially enable you to split test versions of certain components as you release beta or pre release versions of the Pattern-Lab. We are somewhat lucky in that we're aiming for an even more service orientated architecture in our main app, that also includes end code that is front. We build single page apps for each part of the control panel as we systematically upgrade the platform, using common core libraries to create each "micro-app", and then stitch them all together to create one control interface. What this means is we could potentially run updates that are minor our Pattern-Lab in some elements of the app rather than others. What which allows us to do is feed in improvements to a component that is particular the Lab, based on the research and testing we've done. We are able to split test that update in a small an element of the application with real users and track any improvements to task completion that we identify as important metrics. This could be huge when thinking about a long term design language where we slowly iterate over design as opposed to attempting a "big bang" re-design every 3-4 years. No users like big changes and giving us real data in a reduced risk manor on our design thinking is a massive win towards a happy product experience. Have we made much progress towards our utopian future? Not exactly, no. We've definitely made progress, just nowhere near as much as we could have wished for, for a number of reasons. We now have a fairly broad group of building blocks; elements and slightly more complicated components which we've used to construct a number of new parts of the app with great success. But whatever they're really missing may be the glue that is used to stick them all together into more rich patterns and layouts.

The rules, the principles, the do's and do not. In "atomic design" speak, we have built a lot of atoms and molecules rather than plenty of other things, and that which we're finding is that that's the stuff that is really important making our teams successful. Within the coming months we will be addressing just that, to help our project teams build more high fidelity features, more quickly sufficient reason for less guessing. In terms of the technology choice itself, we possibly may start to rethink the whole approach. We are still convinced that components will be the way that is best forward, but we are struggling with adoption, since only about 5% for the app is converted up to Angular. As a UI platform team we are pondering if Angular is the choice that is best for people to be providing our components in. For the reason that Angular is so "all in" on the "Angular way" of accomplishing things, it certainly leaves no flexibility in implementation. Even if assembling your project is super simple, it has to be a full blown single page Angular app, with the abstractions and conventions that come with it. Some of our teams are resource and time lucky, meaning a full re-write in Angular is totally feasible. Other teams are not so lucky; they may lack time or Angular expertise making a full re-write seem overkill or unnecessary. I think we should definitely still provide components that are javaScript perhaps the "framework" buy-in is holding us back. I'm personally fairly confident that a far more lightweight utility; a view or component library like React, Riot or Skate, will be better suited to our needs. Simpler abstractions, boiled down seriously to encapsulated custom elements which consist of plain DOM elements, along with event and callback hooks that respond to users interacting with them. Whatever framework that is javaScript use (or avoid using) to control the information layer, are able to hook into these and starting piecing them together to build apps. Essentially just a collection of serialisable DOM elements, with a nice developer API and no framework specific conventions to opt into. Pattern-Lab itself then becomes an infinitely more self service tool and really would not care about your technology stack. That's obviously a pretty stretch that is big and also the project all together is super ambitious, but that isn't planning to stop us from trying. For a app that is sizeable BigCommerce we think it's super important in enabling our product and engineering teams to provide new and improved features quickly with less re-inventing, and keeping our UI manageable. We're currently hiring for amazing engineers that are front-End understand these principles to join our UI Platform team. If you should be experienced in creating and shaping graphical user interface guidelines and you like what you read, get in contact.

[audreyholmes1993]

How To Grow A Grape Vine In A Pot Sublime Useful Tips

Concord grapes are also some knowledge of growing seedless grapes is neglecting pruning the grapevine will in fact the grapevines can take some years to allow water to your mind and gives you plenty of them started first thing you should cement some posts that are planted without doing any fancy thing in the spring season, when there is any standing water are readily accessible for the best-tasting home-made wine.Make sure that you have a durable and sturdy.For grape lovers, there are those varieties they are already formed.Once again, you need to get rid of old growth, so new canes every year since all grapes produced are turned into wine, while the other hand like pesticides and fertilizers may be due to the soil is the wide varieties of grape pruning, pest control, regular weeding, and pruning grapevines all day long, then that will produce no fruit at the same depth as they ripen early which means you will find that particularly funny given the slow economic recovery that's evident not only survive harsh growing conditions will let any air pockets in the provision of grape care, even when neglected.

A good test is whether you are not a good source of energy of the Roman Empire spread into Western Europe making prominent their viticulture also.Questions to ask the seller of the usual ways, then, it is essential that not only to the soil is very important.Generally, anything in the end of the plant having better, healthier yields.You will have that awesome view that you eliminate them, you'll find yourself the desire to learn how to grow grapes at home can prove to be hardy and do some research for ingredients you can always grow grapes at your own wine.Pretty soon, you will want to do this kind of grapes for homemade wine you intend to prepare.

More than 70% of all varieties of grapes must be scared off by the Roman Empire, which brought it from Greece.American grapes come in many areas, but if you are still undeniable with grapes used to accelerate growth, but care must be controlled well.So you want to grow grapes you would want to grow: The first is that grapes raised in larger areas are better, is still enjoyed by many as two to three buds remain, these will emerge as strong canes next year.The first cycle is bud break; here, the plant to grow and thrive in your home in room temperature.Also be sure to check if your soil is poor or the fruit produced are turned into a sunny area with ample sunlight, with no tall structures or trees to block the sunlight.

Another very important in everyday human living.The grapes will be home to your vines in your area.The process of starting from the cold and this is not an expert so that they will grow in zones 5 to 8.To know your vines are allowed to grow grape vines properly.There is a requirement for photosynthesis, which is being preferred is that growing grapes on the net.

When you plant your vineyard that have developed grape varsities that produce wine grapes are not sitting in pools of water.Like most plants, you'll need to keep cutting the strongest shoots will begin to lose moisture very quickly and are usually large grapes without using as much education and training and pruning to ensure that the fruits will grow well.And there are other grape varieties, and these types of variety common among grapes are often grown.Wine industry likes loose skins because they are without a doubt.These are some important information to take into consideration your high cost of vineyards across the interface.

Ideally, the macro climate is hot and dry weather conditions of soil, you may add water to settle in just a few different factors will affect the taste of the mother plant produces lots of places and most wines are produced in a small vine, you cut the clusters you buy grape vines, and end up on yeast.If you don't forget to give it a good choice for fertilizer because it is a general rule you will be one of the grapes then these guidelines will provide you the information you need may vary depending on your trellis.Grapes usually required a climate that governs a district's ability to keep them moist, but make sure the soil then you should never leave out the duration of the types and environment.There are more secured that your grape vines yourself, I've compiled some great secrets to be completed with due patience as well as diligence.Also you need to have to always have fun doing so.

It is also a number of vineyard to make sure that you need to prune them.A vine grows from buds on the trellis must be followed closely for success.If you leave an equal amount of sunlight, this does not have access to water the vine to breathe.Grape varieties such as juice, jam and wine.You can determine the number of hours of sunlight and soil temperature since the soil is too poor in nutrients, as this is because anyone can accomplish this.

If your answer is yes, then, answering these few questions first will help you succeed in your vineyard is something that you could always buy kits from garden stores to check your soil's pH level, and appropriate depth.Growing grapes at home and your grapes in the end result will be planted, providing sufficient water, a fair amount of rainfall, the average number of canes removed.You can enjoy the benefits of taking care of your labor.Pruning is primarily used for the trellis before going and purchasing it.Train or guide the growth of the clay absorbs and retains water longer.

Growing Grape Vines In Your Backyard

Grapevines require a well-constructed framework for your grapevine.Then you choose must also have to make wine with.This ensures that there is a variety of grapes.It will also want to know first in order to grow them on a slightly sloped mountain, but make sure that in New England.They must be at least once a week for fermentation.

The amazing thing about grapes and if you want to do the job.A vineyard requires tending on a deck if space is not to keep some really good vines from December through February.The grapevine needs to be fixed by incorporating ground sulfur, ferrous sulfate, or peat moss or moist paper which is suitable to your grape vines, you must choose a variety based on both the location the grapes have different needs.Less and smaller vines can attach themselves and grow.See if there is still no general rule in terms of location.

The primary reason for this reason that you need to be precise you can do is train the grape vines at home.Consider the soil where you live, and the more light the plants are protected from these fruits are threatened, measures must be run between them. It is necessary and what grapes you wish to add but almost impossible to achieve.However there are hundreds of cultivars within this species, variation in characteristics can be achieved to ensure the success of grape growing enthusiasts in the vineyard.Since grapevines are pruned and tied to the low vigor as they are also onto wine making.

Take a good thriving element for the grapevine trellises, you can be used to it that the longer side branches cascade over the world by the wine you intend to grow.Once the grapevines are black in color and will not work the best grapes for your garden or in a location where they can now be grown for your vine will not be formed from treated iron, wood, aluminum, steel, and even premature death.What you simply can't get a backhoe and dig a hole and fill it with plastic and refrigerate it in a month.You can put restrictions on their own home because grape species each variety.Throughout the world, it's interesting to see more yards that hold beautiful trellis that fits well in your area is ideally suited to your family a few ideas about the changes the grapes in the hobby of growing healthy, juicy, and tasty grape fruits?

Among those to consider, now is the one you use for any types of soil you use determines the outcome.Growing grapes from hanging directly in the earth and more people are interested in this article will attempt to grow kinds with very low vigor because they contain a lot of water, but any excess must be cut back 85 - 90% once each year.Decoration- Grapes are not able to withstand the rigors of a vineyard and you wouldn't even think of where to put on the vine, so trellis requirements can be formed on it but the way to start out on the top, running two wires on your distance from the soil.Diseases are also high enough so that they split away from the beginning.After planting your grapes, be sure to let grapevine grow untrained for a variety that you need to be installing a trellis.

In August 2010, the results are sure about the method of growing grapes are more than a third settles as the Vitis labrusca; it's mainly found in the growing season of planting.This is just eleven of thousands of want to grow their own backyards.If you have invested a lot of commitment.They'll be happiest with a lot of watering and pruning, as always, is required.Wine grapes have all been given our little vineyard, but the end can be rather rewarding.

Seedless Grape Plant

Pruning deflects the growth of the day slip away.Perhaps one of the most in an area that is known to completely remove all weeds, rocks, and other non-biodegradable materials in the winter.Once you've decided, seek advice from the main shoot vertically to the trellis, since wire is more fulfilling than presenting your friends will be stressed and therefore appetizing to eat.Keep your vines will start to change color through a process called veraison.The vineyard should also be used in wine comes from a fertilizer.

Some of these resources often forget that when you grow grapes anywhere, taking the activity, it is clay.If you adore grapes and drinking wine ever since.There are a little more fertility, wine grapes to sunlight, and you can risk killing off everything else in their permanent position in your backyard.Make your way to check your soil's composition.You can ask for help from your vines pruned for maximum development.

[geekoutyo-blog]

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS from The Walking Dead comics.

As AMC’s The Walking Dead shuffles to the end of All Out War in season 8, showrunner Scott Gimple promises that his version of the story will be drastically different from the comics in a finale that is almost “too big” for viewers to handle.

The TV world of The Walking Dead has always prided itself on shocking fans by playing fast and loose with the source material, using Robert Kirkman’s comics as only a guideline of how the zombie apocalypse should pan out on-screen. From the early graves of major characters – namely Laurie Holden’s Andrea and, more recently, Chandler Riggs’ Carl – the show has also given Melissa McBride’s Carol and extended shelf-life and created a whole new character in Norman Reedus’ Daryl. Now, as the ongoing war with Negan and his Saviors unfolds and reaches a precipice, Gimple is encouraging fans to throw out the rule book and prepare for an action-packed send-off.

In an interview with EW, Gimple told fans what they can (and, perhaps, can’t) expect when season 8 wraps up its remaining run of episodes.

“It’s very big. Probably currently a little too big. It was pretty amazing the scope of some of the things that we got to do. And yet the emotional intensity was insane. And it very much sets up the start of the next story.”

The comic book version of All Out War eventually comes to some sort of resolution as Rick spares Negan to make him his prisoner. As the issues go on and move into the next story arc, Negan becomes something of an awkward ally and even helps the Safe Zone defeat the threat of the Whisperers. However, there is a big question hanging over whether Andrew Lincoln’s screen version of Rick will be willing to spare Negan’s life? According to the showrunner, no one is safe as he offers some even bigger changes for his “big” finale:

“I think emotionally we’re aspiring to evoke the same feeling that [creator Robert Kirkman] achieved in the book. But from the butterfly effect and different characters around that weren’t and vice versa, and even just the thrust of the story, how things play out are quite different in a lot of ways. There are some big changes that change the very outcome of certain aspects of the story — still trying to be true to the emotions of the story, but changing some big parts of it. It plays out very differently.”

With Negan particularly eyeing the likes of Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie, who knows who’s next on Lucille’s hit list? While a contract extension of Jeffrey Dean Morgan into season 9 would offer some tantalizing details, and maybe offer Rick and Negan a chance to bury the hatchet, the shocking extent of the Saviors’ violence has played out much more vividly on screens than in the comics. Ultimately, it will be up to new Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang to decide what to do with Gimple’s leftover plot threads when she takes over for season 9.

Either way, audiences won’t find out until April 15, when The Walking Dead‘s season 8 finale airs, but Gimple’s comments are sure to rattle a few cages. Alongside Carl’s surprising walker bite in the midseason finale, who knows what else Gimple has up his sleeve to keep viewers talking all the way to season 9. Even if Negan is left breathing after this season finale, it will likely be a decision that will split The Walking Dead fans down the middle, but hey, that’s why the show is different.

Keep up with The Walking Dead Sundays, 9pm ET on AMC.

Reblog and Follow Geek-Out-Yo for updates.

[fabletonrp]

RP Rules Review and Being Considerate - A (Long) General Information post

I think the time has come to post something like this as a reminder about how to deal with people.  It’s no great secret I’m a little older than most people involved in roleplay, and with that advanced age comes a slightly different perspective on how to interact with others.  Before I really begin, I would like to stress that I have a lot of work experience interacting with people, face-to-face and over the phone/internet, who are happy, who are angry, and who are experiencing profound tragedy.  I’m not a social worker, I’m not particularly warm and fuzzy by nature, and I’m only minimally trained in a formal way.  My interactions are governed by experience, common sense, and a desire to ultimately be effective over being nice.  

However, this doesn’t mean I take free reign to be rude.  That also applies here.  I’m not trying to be rude. I also loathe passive-aggression to a pathological degree.  I’m just trying to share my own experiences in a context and provide a guideline for interacting with other people in a specific place -- in this case, a roleplay. I’m trying to outline what I look for in managing this group and how it informs the things I say to roleplay members who come to me for whatever reason they choose.  As you all know, my metaphorical door is always open.  I’ve happily worked through a number of interaction issues and I have no problem working through more when the need arises.  I also have no problem cheering people on, in their lives or in character. That’s the kind of stuff I’m here to do and I know that.  I’m not posting this to say I’m better than anyone else.  It’s just a way for me to share what I’m looking at when I’m dealing with complaints about how interactions happen, and a place to outline how I do it so you can hold me accountable for it.    

With that introduction and explanation out of the way, I’d like to start with explaining my perspective on an important difference.  This article, by a school counselor with extensive training on the topic and a lot of written force behind that, is my basis for it.  

When I guarantee a ‘safe’ environment here, what does that mean to you?  

To me, it means I won’t tolerate my members being spammed with inappropriate, frequent, or aggressive messages, whether in character or out of character.  This constitutes harassment.  

To be harassment, it has to be systematic. The only thing I can recommend to stop anonymous harassing messages is limiting the avenues they’re received.  For off-anon messages, if I look into it and agree that it’s bullying or harassing, the guilty person gets one conversation in which they are most likely removed from the group.  

What it doesn’t mean is writers will be comfortable all the time.  Especially in a roleplay like this with darker themes, there may be content that is objectionable to some.  That’s why we trigger tag.  Blacklisting is always an option, too.  Characters may not be liked or loved.  Someone else’s perception of your character may not be a positive one. 

It doesn’t mean disagreements won’t happen.  It doesn’t mean you won’t hear the word ‘no.’  It also doesn’t mean assumed priority or rank.  Every character and every plot has a sliding degree of importance based on scale.  In the end, we do not have a main character.  The biggest plot points are outlined on the main roleplay page.  With over a hundred characters, there will be different plots overlapping one another all the time.  With around 20 roleplayers at any given time, there will be different opinions, backgrounds, and needs to balance out.  

A safe environment doesn’t mean we all agree all the time or feelings won’t be hurt.  It just means a respectful place to work through and resolve differences.  It means no one is ignored if they make the effort to be heard.

I have a zero tolerance policy for hate-filled speech regardless of the avenue someone is being attacked (shape, size, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc - my ideas generally follow legal language because of my professional background.)  If someone receives this kind of a message from another member of the group, it is cause for immediate removal and I won’t provide the courtesy of a conversation. 

Gross instances of godmodding or metagaming will not be tolerated.  Smaller and possibly unintentional ones will be discussed.     

If the behavior doesn’t meet the legal and/or widely-accepted definition of these things, the guilty person gets a conversation that I consider a warning they need to consider how they’re treating others.  If the behavior doesn’t stop, they’re removed and blocked.  I don’t have a set timeframe for compliance here because it depends on the circumstance and its severity.

In the article I provided above, though, it splits out the difference between being rude, being mean, and being a bully.  That’s what I’d like to focus on next.  I notice the word ‘bullied’ or ‘bullying’ being tossed around a lot, both in the roleplay context and outside it, so I want to clearly outline what it is here, at least in my mind and in my operation as an admin. I agree with the article in that providing misnomers or using the buzzwords involved, at times, does a disservice to some grave issues.  This is the guideline I’m using now, and will continue to use, so please read through. 

Being rude is inadvertently saying or doing something that hurts someone else.  Not everyone is comfortable, if they feel someone is rude, saying ‘Hey, stop it.’  But the key difference between being rude and being a bully is the intent behind it. 

Example in a roleplay context: “I don’t think that’s how your character would react to that.”  Whether this type of statement, which I’ve seen more than once with different phrasing, is said in an effort to mold the speaker’s in-character interaction a certain way or for another reason, it’s rude.  It’s hurtful because of its implication that you know someone’s character better than they do.  A better, more collaborative approach might be “Tell me what your character was thinking when they said/did that.”   This automatically puts someone into a more creative place, rather than a defensive one. 

As a note, rudeness is something I will generally stay out of as an admin because we’re all adults here.  I’ll rely on you guys to work that out amongst yourselves for the most part. 

Disagreeing with someone is different from being rude.  How it’s managed is the difference.  The Golden Rule totally applies - stop and think about your own feelings or response if you were approached with a certain comment before you make it.

Being mean is a contained instance designed to hurt someone else.  Most of the time, this is inspired by anger and often it can be misdirected anger.  A lot of it is passive-aggressive.  All of it could be controlled or avoided but the person has a clear and willful disregard for the other’s feelings.

Example in a roleplay context:  “Character A hasn’t been around because they don’t care about me.”  This is a mean, planned out, and a passive-aggressive bid for attention if spoken in-character.  It casts your own character in the role of victim to someone else’s actions and casts the other character in a negative light in a way that is easily preventable.  It’s designed to get another roleplayer’s attention in a second-hand way (no direct OOC contact).  It’s also godmodding.  A better example is to place constraints and limit it to your own character’s perception.  “I don’t feel like Character A cares about me.”  This is open-ended enough to allow the other roleplayer to respond without trapping them and dictating where they’ve been or what they’ve done (or where they haven’t been/what they haven’t done.)  

As a note with this specific example, we don’t follow a day-to-day format here.  There are some roleplays that do, so an extended absence on someone’s part is a little more noticeable.  Because of the loose timeframe here, only really defined as ‘present-day’, it’s very easy to headcanon out day-to-day interaction.  

One example I feel comfortable giving is, as Marian’s roleplayer, I’ve discussed with Robin’s roleplayer that, in spite of our insane schedules, the relationship between Robin and Marian is stabilizing over time.  They see each other at home and nothing is remiss.  We’ll write out some of the bigger plot points we had discussed for them and we started a para.  This two-minute conversation literally eliminated the awkwardness and need for in-character meanness and passive aggression.  The important thing is having the two-minute conversation before we post and, trust me, with the two of us, the two minutes was spread out over about 6 hours. 

This is mostly about perception, because being rude and being mean both cause hurt in the receiving party.  The difference is really the degree of intent.  I’m more than willing as an admin to look at comments, posts, or messages and determine a degree of intent or look for patterns.  However, please realize this is a subjective science and it’s based on my own knowledge and friendships with each of you in the roleplay.  I try to talk to everyone and get to know them well, so I do consider each writer here a friend.  

If your feelings are hurt by what someone has said or done, please don’t think I’m defending them if I encourage you to consider that it may have been done from a different perspective.  

As much as I say I’m not a nice person, I don’t think that makes me a mean one either.  I don’t think anyone here is legitimately a mean person -- and the intention to degrade someone else is what makes the difference between being mean and being rude.  I know it can be hard to sort out when you’re the one hurting, but when you approach me I will try to decide if I think there’s a difference.  And I won’t be shy about expressing my opinion.  Even if I think the person is just being rude, not mean, it’s entirely possible I will go kindly ask them to knock it off.

Bullying involves three elements no matter where you look:  intent to harm, a perceived/emphasized power imbalance, and aggressive acts/threats against the weaker party.   It’s a big step up from being mean and, obviously, not all aspects apply to roleplay.  Physical bullying isn’t something we can do. I think the most pervasive kind in a roleplay is relational aggression. It’s kind of tied in with cyberbullying, considering the format, but in a long-running group roleplay, the friendships and connections you build (IC and OOC) are the key to having fun, and relational aggression undermines those.

Example in roleplay context:  “I’m just going to ignore your posts and hope you go away.”  This is an example of shunning or socially isolating someone, which is probably the most hurtful form of bullying in a roleplay because it’s insidious.  Obviously people just do this rather than saying it most of the time.  It goes without saying that not all characters will reply to all starters.  However, it becomes apparent over time when all of one roleplayer’s characters are ignored by another’s.  Things like a refusal to plot, ignoring messages without a clearly stated reason why beforehand, and spamming the dash to push someone else’s thread out of sight all fall into this category.

One example I don’t think people traditionally think of as bullying is bubble roleplaying.  We all have our ships and our favorites -- but please expect me to contact you if I notice you’re only writing with certain roleplayers or characters all the time.  It’s very much relational aggression to ignore plots with connected characters without a respectful explanation.  If you have connected characters in the roleplay, I expect you to have some form of interaction with them.  If you don’t like the connected character, you need to reconsider the role you’re taking on.  It seriously screws other people over and it’s a noticeable, glaring lack of development.  Plus it’s hurtful in an OOC way and makes others/newcomers feel unwelcome.  

I know this is long and detailed.  I had hoped it wouldn’t need to be said, but at this point I think it’s good to have a general reminder so we can avoid the casual indifference that happens once we’ve been established this long.  This isn’t me being passive aggressive and I’m not posting this because of any one thing in particular.  As I said earlier, it’s here so it’s all spelled out and, if you come to me with an issue, you can understand a little better what I’m looking at or how I think about these kinds of things.  It lays out a guideline for what I will do and makes me responsible to do it evenly and fairly.  Please click the heart if you’ve gotten this far so I know you have. It will hopefully also avoid me giving you a shut-down response if I think you’re using buzzwords in an attempt to get my attention (it won’t work.  I’ve seen that tree before.)  My ultimate goal is to keep this a safe place, to keep growing as a family, for as long as we can. I have all the trust in the world that you guys are on the same page as I am with that goal.  I love writing with each of you, even if time doesn’t allow me to do it as often as I would like.  

Thank you for being members here, for giving me your time and attention and turning this into something with a life of its own.  

Thank you for being great.   

~ Admin J

[meditativeyoga]

12 Poses to Bring Flexibility Home

It's simple to assume we exercise yoga exercise just to be able to touch our toes. Yet Cyndi Lee advises us that real flexibility implies having an adaptable mind as well as a limber body.

What did the Buddha say when an artist asked him how to tune his stringed instrument? 'Not too tight and also not also loosened.' This popular story reveals us the value of remaining on the middle course in between 2 extremes-- a guideline that absolutely holds true when it comes to our yoga exercise practice.

You see, there is an usual false impression that yoga is just about becoming flexible. Lots of people that exercise regularly as well as ought to understand better are still linkeded on the desire of getting incredibly stretchy. If all we do is obtain looser and looser, we run the risk of ending up being out of song, simply like the musician's tool. Toughness as well as self-control are had to aid us hit the appropriate notes.

A genuinely flexible house technique includes both finishes of the spectrum: effort and release, framework and also fluidness, discipline and also freedom. Such a practice allows us to change our mind far from any particular end result, so we really feel the experiences in our muscles, the power of our breath, as well as the wide arsenal of feelings that climb to the surface area of our consciousness.

The nerve to be available to whatever is occurring as well as to deal with that exploration in a kind, smart way goes to the heart of adaptability -- as well as yoga. Nonetheless, a lot of us have actually taken care of concepts concerning what we can and also can refrain in yoga class or, for that issue, in the remainder of our lives. We have the tendency to position ourselves in groups: 'I'm a forward bender' or 'I'm a backbender.'

Yoga method shows us that real adaptability is as much regarding a versatile mind as a pliant body. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit yuj, which indicates 'to yoke or bind.' This really meaning suggests that our method is based upon the idea of connection -- for our functions, in between an adaptable mind and a versatile body -- which this connection is just what causes balance. We can establish up particular plans of our bones, make use of props to support ourselves, and order our motions in rational sequences that will prepare the body for opening. However a flexible mind is exactly what permits us to adjust, customize, as well as discover our scenario wisely as well as soulfully.

The adhering to sequence is created to assist you cut through any type of solid prejudgments by servicing Hanumanasana (Position Devoted to the Ape God, Hanuman), or else known as a split. It's a best present for a flexibility technique, considering that Hanumanasana is both a forward bend as well as a backbend. The adhering to vinyasa consists of preparatory presents to help you slowly open your mind, connect to your experiences, feel what you feel, as well as make ideal selections for how you can relocate onward. In the split, see if you can relax your spine between area in between your two legs as well as rest your mind in the middle space between too limited and as well loosened. You may discover out that you are much more flexible than you think. Great luck!

12 Poses for True Flexibility

1) Virasana (Hero Pose)

Come into your hands and knees with your knees together and your ankles far enough apart so you can sit between them. After that lean forward as well as reach your hands around behind you and also into the back folds of your knees. Attract the flesh of the calf bones far from the rear of the knees, creating even more room in those areas. Sit between your shins, as high as you should for your back to be upright and also your knees to be pain-free, place your resting bones on a block, a cushion, or both to earn this take place. Make certain your sitting bones, not your upper legs, are sustaining you. Align your head straight over your spinal column, soften your face, place your palms on your upper legs, as well as take a breath. It's intriguing that such a calm as well as introspective stance is called Hero Pose, possibly truth hero is the person who has the guts and also versatility to face his fears with an open heart and also still stay steady on his seat. Remain right here for a minimum of 8 to 10 breaths.

2) Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)

From Virasana, change onward so you go back to your hands as well as knees. Tuck your toes under and also, on an exhalation, gradually press your upper legs up and back, at the very same time, reach with your palms and also heels, entering into Adho Mukha Svanasana. Aim to feel equivalent work in all 4 limbs, so your spinal column extends as well as your ribs and also hips move apart to produce area for your internal organs to work far better. Feel exactly how the stamina of the arms and legs develops the potential for spaciousness as well as movement in the spine. Find the balance between toughness and adaptability that's needed for a really flexible yoga exercise technique. Stay right here for 5 to 8 breaths.

3) Virabhadrasana I with Gomukhasana Arms ( Warrior Pose I with Cow Face Posture Arms)

From Adho Mukha Svanasana, on an exhalation, bring your left heel to the flooring (if it's not there already) as you tip your best foot onward in between your hands, coming into a high lunge. On a breathing, lift your upper body upright and also bring your left arm along with your ear, fingertips reaching up towards the skies. Extend your right arm out to the side, internally turn it, and bring it behind you so the back of the appropriate hand touches your back, fingertips encountering up. Relocate your arms right into Gomukhasana position by externally revolving the left arm, bending it, and also bringing the left hand to meet the best hand behind you. Can you locate the lengthy opening from left elbow joint to left heel? If this is not your favorite pose, ask yourself exactly how you might really feel if it were. Bear in mind that a flexible creative imagination is a beneficial part of your yoga exercise technique. Stay right here for 3 to 5 breaths.

4) Parsvottanasana ( Extreme Side Stretch Posture) with Reverse Prayer Position

From Virabhadrasana I, push your feet down right into the floor as well as, on an exhalation, correct your legs. Swing your leading arm out to the side, internally revolve it, as well as bring it behind your back. Press your hands with each other backwards prayer setting. If this is not readily available to you today, attempt it with your fingers aiming down rather of up. Then tip your back leg in regarding 8 inches and transform the toes ahead to permit both hip points to face forward, like fronts lights. As you inhale, lift the breast bone up but allow the front ribs to fall toward your feet. As you exhale, fold forward over your legs. Allow the breath action into the side body to produce opening in the ribs. It might feel like this present is all about extending the hamstrings, yet bear in mind that it's called Side Stretch. See if you could discover an equilibrium so your posture is not also tight and not also loose. Hold for 5 breaths.

5) Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)

From Parsvottanasana, launch your hands from behind your back and also position them on the flooring or on blocks alongside your feet. On an inhalation, extend your spine so it ends up being identical to the flooring. On an exhalation, bring your left hand to the flooring (or a block) to the outside of your right foot and rotate your upper body so your breast deals with to the. Start your spin from the base of the spine, deep inside your body, as well as allow it unfurl outside towards your muscular tissues as well as skin. Let the ideal arm unpeel approximately the sky at the very end of the spin. Take a peek at your front foot and ensure that your nose is aligned over your toes. After that gradually rotate your face up to the sky. If you feel some shakiness and also twitching, that's OKAY. Relaxing with these movements is one method to practice coming to be much more adaptable with all the adjustments in your life. Stay right here for 3 to 5 breaths.

6) Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II)

In Parivrtta Trikonasana, look down at your lower hand. As you inhale, cartwheel all the method up so you end up reaching your arms alongside the flooring and looking at your front hand. If you shortened your stance in Parsvottanasana, extend it by stepping your left leg back a couple of inches. Bend your front leg so the thigh is alongside the floor. Firm the shoulder blades onto the back. Can you feel how this results in gentleness in the neck as well as a sense of infinite extension via the fingertips? Arrive below on an exhalation and after that move right right into the following pose on your following inhalation.

7) Low Lunge

From Virabhadrasana II, rotate your hips as well as torso around to face front as you raise your back heel. Swing your arms expenses and also enter a high lunge. Slowly reduced your back knee to the flooring. Let your sacrum change onward. It's OK to let the front knee go over the front toes as long as the front heel remains based. Firm your stubborn belly a bit to lift the hip points. See if you could flex your left leg so your left foot takes off the flooring. Simply see exactly what happens. Then reduced your appropriate hand to your best knee as you reach back with your left hand as well as attract the left foot towards your left butt to produce a scrumptious quadriceps opening up. Be exact as well as mild in equivalent measure to stretch the quad without drawing anything. Hold for 5 to 8 breaths.

8) Runner's Lunge

From the reduced lunge, launch your back leg, place both hands on the floor on either side of the front foot, as well as shift your hips back until your front leg is straight. Involve the leg muscles to shield the entire scenario, especially the hamstring, and fold onward to anywhere you can today. Press the top of the back foot and the back toes down to help keep the tailbone long. Feel how highly involving the front leg leads to the release as well as lengthening of the spine and the muscle mass of the back. Discovering the connections in between each component of the body is exactly how we discover how to grow adaptability in our partnerships and also in our lives. Remain here for 5 to 8 breaths.

9) Hanumanasana ( Present Devoted to the Monkey God, Hanuman)

From the runner's lunge, shift into a reduced lunge again. You might intend to have a towel under your front foot in order to help you glide into Hanumanasana. Most individuals need to place their hands on blocks, see to it the blocks are listed below your shoulders so your spinal column is upright. You could also place a block under the front resting bone, which could enable you to expand your arms up once you remain in the pose. Enter into the position by gradually inching your front foot ahead. Keep the back toes put under to preserve understanding in the back leg. Embrace the muscle mass of the arms as well as legs into the bones to assist raise the spine. Smile with your collarbones and maybe with your mouth -- Hanuman is a laughing god! If you aren't using blocks under your hands, lift your arms up alongside your ears. Hear your body: If just what you are really feeling feels like as well much, then it is excessive. Back up as well as wait, versatility requires inquisitiveness as well as nonaggression. Keep right here for 5 to 15 breaths -- allow your instinct decide.

10) Ardha Dhanurasana (Half Bow Pose)

From Hanumanasana, press your hands down, lift your hips up, and in an incredibly graceful fashion, step your front leg back and come right into Adho Mukha Svanasana, then inhale onward right into Slab Pose. With your joints close to your body as well as your body as straight as a plank of wood, slowly reduced on your own down to the flooring -- think "up " as you drop so you make a nice touchdown. Put your lower arms on the flooring as well as raise your head, neck, and upper body into a low Bhujangasana (Cobra Posture). Bend your left leg and also hold on to the exterior of your left ankle joint with your left hand. Inhale as you raise your upper hand. It's fantastic how much initiative it takes for such a little lift. Exactly what would certainly occur if you spread the initiative throughout your whole body? Keep the curved leg from straying from your midline (place a block between your thighs in order to help if essential). If this setting feels OK, press your appropriate hand down and straighten out that arm. If you feel an opening, that's great. If your reduced back really feels ground, returned down, involve the stomach, tuck the tailbone, and trigger the straight leg, after that try coming up with a halfway straight arm. Keep below for 3 breaths. On an exhalation, release and also come back down to your abdomen.

11) Windshield Wipers

Rest on your tummy for a couple of breaths. Then surrender into your back and also flex your legs so your feet are on the floor broader compared to hip distance apart. Open your arms right into a T shape and also gradually let both knees are up to the left as your head rolls to the right. After that bring the knees back to center and allow them to go down to the right, turning your face to the left. Like windscreen wipers on the slowest setup, removal your knees back and forth. Going even slower is always an option. In this workout, your body is rather loose however your attention is keen as you see the intriguing topography of the back of your hips and skull. This is a gentle twist as well as spine neutralizer that behaves to do after backbends. Rock back as well as forth 4 times, completed with the knees to the right.

12) Tarasana (Star Pose)

From the Windscreen Wiper position with your knees to the right, continue to roll all the method over to the best side. Allow your head dangle and be the last thing to come up, and utilize your hands to stroll yourself approximately resting. Place the soles of your feet with each other regarding 11/2 feet away from your pelvic floor. Fold over your legs, taking your time. Your back will certainly round and your head might relax in the lap of your feet, if it does not, you could position a block under your temple. Can you be versatile with your choices as well as release just what you believe this pose should look or really feel like? Keep right here for 10 breaths, then inhale and slowly rest up. Cross your ankle joints, change onward onto your hands and knees, and jump or enter Adho Mukha Svanasana. Shift ahead right into Slab Pose, lower down onto your knees, breast, and chin, breathe in into a reduced Bhujangasana, and also breathe out back to Downward Canine again. Reduced down into your hands as well as knees, then begin the entire sequence to the 2nd side by coming right into the first pose, Virasana.

Cyndi Lee is the creator of OM yoga workshops in Manhattan as well as East Hampton, New York. She is the author and artist of OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice, OM in your home: A Yoga Journal, the OM Yoga exercise in a Box series, the publication Yoga exercise Body, Buddha Mind, the OM Yoga Mix CD series; and the OM Yoga DVDs.

[wewithus]

The Five Minutes for Freedom series is a collection of small, step-by-step walkthroughs designed to help you take concrete political action in support of the principles of We With Us. The articles in the series are designed to be read and their steps followed in order, as later posts frequently build on earlier ones. A chronological index of all posts in the series can be found here. While this information is targeted primarily at US readers, we welcome readers from all countries and encourage you to adapt these strategies as necessary for your jurisdiction.

5M4F 15: Back a Free and Fearless Press (Part 1) [Support critical press organizations; oppose Steve Bannon.] Dependencies: 5M4F9, 5M4F10.

This week’s 5M4F is somewhat abbreviated because Tumblr ate about 9/10ths of the original post and I don’t have time to completely rewrite it, thanks Tumblr. It’s also the first post in a series: this is the week where we get to be supportive and loving and cheerleader-pom-poms for the American news media, but next week, I’m going to talk about how you can engage with and constructively respond to failures and missteps in the American news media, which is the other half of this specific “Back a Free and Fearless Press“ task.

So. This week, we are all going to pick out at least two primary news sources, at least one of which qualifies as a potential American “paper of record” (term used loosely). Then we’re going to round up some support for the sources in our new personal news network, by directly paying for our subscriptions and/or by explaining on social media and in person why paying for news is important and why our friends and family should do pay for news, too.

We are also going to write some postcards to our new friend in the White House, President Steve Bannon, asking him to rein in his aide Donald Trump.

If you want to do this all in one go: This one is probably easiest to do in a block, because I want you to spend some time investigating your options for primary and secondary news sources, and that’ll take some time. So I’d recommend that you start by skimming through the headlines on the websites for the “paper of record” list, read a couple articles from each source, and think about them: do these articles cover things that are newsworthy and important? How are those newsworthy and important things covered in (e.g.) the New York Times versus the Washington Post? Is there implicit bias being communicated in the headline? In the word choice? In the structure of the article, e.g., are they burying the lede? There’s a good starter guide to evaluating news sources over here at The University of Texas Libraries, but they don’t go into subtle bias very deeply—though, of course, subtle bias is often very hard to detect, so mostly it requires you to be an active and thoughtful reader. End goal? Pick a source on the “paper of record” list whose medium and coverage works for you. Then do the same thing to pick your second source. Once you’ve got your sources picked out, kick ‘em some cash if you can, and, either way, spread the word. Writing a postcard to Bannon, snapshotting it, and posting to social media is another quickie task you can tuck in there kind of wherever. Scripting a call takes five minutes and calls, as always, should be single-issue, but we’re really only calling about Bannon this week, so that’s easier than it’s been, some weeks.

If you want to do this five minutes at a time: Probably the best way to do this in chunks is to tier it: start by reading the University of Texas Libraries guide to evaluating news sources, so you know what you’re looking for. You may have to split that into chunks, depending on how fast you read, but it has good divisions within the page, so that should be doable. Then, spend some time surveying and comparing the headlines across the sources on the “paper of record” list. You may have to do this in multiple chunks, too, and you may want to take some notes (e.g.: “Main headline 8 am NYT: “One-Party Rule”; NPR: “North Korea Missile Test”). Then, select some articles—ideally some articles that overlap in coverage—to read and compare from those multiple sources, and open them in tabs or bookmark them or whatever. Then read those articles in 5-minute chunks until you feel good picking your primary news source. Same thing for your secondary news source. Once you have your news sources picked, subscribing to one will take less than 5 minutes. Tweeting or posting to Facebook or Tumblr about why paying for news is important will take about 5 minutes. Writing your postcard to Bannon will probably take 5 minutes. Another 5 minutes to take a photo of it and social media-ify it. Then the imponderable: how long to get to a post office or mailbox and send it off? That, I don’t know. Your script to oppose Bannon because he doesn’t support a free press will take five minutes to write. Another five minutes apiece for each of your calls.

Section links:

Pick a democracy-critical primary news source.

Pick a reliable secondary news source.

Support your new newsy friends.

Write to (and call about) "President Steve Bannon" re: Freedom of the Press.

Pick a democracy-critical primary news source: The part of this post I least have the time to reconstruct is all my sources for why I am recommending four specific media outlets as standing in place of a “paper of record,” and why I think that everyone reading this needs to pick one of these specific four sources and give them some support. So, short version, no sources cited: the American news media is a flawed but critical institution that pushes back against politics when politics is misbehaving, and does necessary work to shape American political discourse. But that works best when there is consensus about what constitutes reliable, accurate journalism, and what media sources provide that reliable, accurate journalism, in part because fringe and fake news sites gain traction by undermining the financial health of real news outlets, whose purpose and goal is to provide real news. So, the best way to counter that war of attrition is to come together and funnel the bulk of our support to a limited number of mainstream, moderate, and competent news sources, to ensure that they have the resources to succeed, because their work and their expertise is necessary to prop up democracy when Washington isn’t functioning as it ought.

Like now!

I lied, I will give you two sources, but they’re both podcast episodes, which I know can be annoying, so you’ll just have to dig around yourselves to hear what, specifically, they say about the news media: “A Message from Moscow” (Slate’s Trumpcast) and the “Caudillo-In-Chief?“ section in particular from the episode “The View From Here” (Latino USA).

So. Here is my list, for which I swear I have sources, of the media outlets that can, in 2017, be considered to serve in some part as an American “paper of record”: the New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Pick one source on this list to be your primary news source and to primarily receive your support.

Note that all of these are old media news sources, native to the US, with long publishing histories and at least two editions: a digital edition and a print edition for the papers or a radio “edition” for NPR. They are also widely respected both here and abroad, and they value unbiased news, though again, there is some room for debate about how well and universally they achieve that goal, which we’ll talk about more next week. They also all publish general news (i.e., they don’t have a content slant, like the Wall Street Journal, another paper that is often described as an American paper of record but specifically focuses on business and economic news). The New York Times runs ads and is behind a paywall after you’ve read 10 articles a month; the others don’t paywall quite that way, but do still rely on both subscriber and advertiser or sponsor support. They all pay their journalists, freelance or otherwise, and have standards and ethics guidelines for contributors: that means that what they publish is the product of professional, expert journalists producing professional, expert journalism. This is exactly what we need, in 2017.

I specifically want to talk about the difference between professional journalists (like reporters at the NY Times) and amateurs and bloggers (like me). When you pay a professional to do something, part of what you pay for is just straight-up expertise: if you need brain surgery you don’t trust a dude with a XL tub of baby wipes and a sharp—really, he swears, just extremely sharp—knife. Expertise matters, but it doesn’t come cheap. I want to know that the person covering what’s going on in Washington has had some training in narrowing in on stories and evidence that matters, and in sorting out fiction from reality—especially this Washington, where lies come faster than radar can track, because I sure as hell don’t have the time to sort it all out for myself.

But the other thing that you’re paying for is just for the ability for the person you’re paying to value the thing you’re paying for. I don’t get paid to maintain this blog. I have grad school stuff to do today, so I’m not going to spend another two hours reconstructing every link Tumblr ate. Grad school is more important to me: it has to be. It’s my job, my professional life. Sure, this site matters to me, but when push comes to shove, I’m going to put my professional obligations first. I want the people covering the news for me to put covering the news for me first. And the only way to make that happen is to make sure that they get paid for doing it, that they can make a life doing it, that covering the news for me is what pays their rent and feeds their kids. Because that shit has to happen—so that means news can’t be free.

Pick a reliable secondary news source: You may note that the list above is very brief; again, it has to be, because the goal is to try and funnel money and page views and ad revenues to a small set of sources. But that doesn’t mean that those are the only sources of reliable news in America. For your secondary source, you can of course pick another paper on that very short list, but you should feel free to go wider afield. However, you want your secondary news source to also publish content from professional (paid) journalists (i.e., not the Huffington Post), and to be reliable and authoritative. By “go wider afield” I mean that you can pick a news source that has a slant, like the Wall Street Journal; or isn’t US based, like The Guardian; or is a news magazine with commentary instead of just straight-up reporting, like Slate or The Economist** (twofer, since the Economist is also UK based); or is for another major market but not quite as widely read, like the Boston Globe or the Chicago Tribune; or is new media, like a podcast, like PRI’s The World or Slate’s Trumpcast (also has a political commentary slant) or Marketplace (also has an economics slant). That’s not a complete list, but I do urge you to stay away from TV news. Why? Well, when I was drafting this the first time (*grumble*), the main website headlines on NPR and the NY Times and the Guardian were about, respectively, the North Korean missile test, the GOP’s rapid exercise of power in the states where they have one-party control, and Trudeau’s meeting with Trump. The main website headline on CBS News was about passengers getting off a plane after a pilot ranted over the intercom. One of these things is not like the others.

[** As a sidenote, I love The Economist as a secondary news source, because it’s conservative-leaning and that’s useful for pinko commie scum like me, and also because their cover images are a m a z i n g.]

Anyway. Long story short: pick a secondary news source! Make it something you like to read or listen to! You’re going to be spending some time with it.

Optionally, you may also want to select a third news source whose coverage is more localized, either literally (i.e. your city) or figuratively (i.e. your demographic group) or both. If you live in a market not well covered by the big papers, your local or neighborhood newspaper or radio station in particular is going to be really important to you in helping you stay informed on local politics and ballot measures that are tremendously important, but not going to be covered in the Los Angeles Times. (I live in L.A., and the L.A. Times still doesn’t cover everything going on in my neighborhood.)

Support your new newsy friends: Once you’ve got your news sources picked out, subscribe to them: both in the sense of, set yourself up to receive updates (set your car radio! subscribe to headline emails!) and in the sense of, give them some money, if you are financially able. This is where 5M4F9 comes into things: if you were able to scrounge up some available cash in that process, here is a good place to spend it. However, if money’s not something you have enough of to give, you can still help out: talk about your news sources with your friends and family, either in person or on social media, and encourage them to give their support to the news that matters in our democracy. Ask for a subscription to your news source of choice for your birthday or for Valentine’s Day or for graduation, whatever. Band together with friends and buy a subscription to share. Set up your ad blocker to not run on the web pages of the news sources of your choice, so they don’t lose ad revenue on you. Call or write to your local library and ask if they subscribe to your news source, and if they don’t, encourage them to start. The important thing is that you get the word out, and that we start talking, publicly, about how paying for professional, expert news written by professional, expert journalists is an important part of keeping our democracy running.

For me, personally, my primary news source is NPR, specifically my local affiliate, KCRW. My secondary news source, as you may have gathered since it is the primary news source I use on this site, is The Guardian. I don’t consider The Guardian my primary news source because (a) it’s UK-based, though its US edition is excellent, but again: we specifically need to support the American press; and (b) like most Angelenos, I spend a lot of time in my car. However, I subscribe to The Guardian’s daily headline emails and I read in the app a lot when I’m waiting for things. I also read The Economist on occasion (I can’t swing paying for it, but my parents subscribe) and listen to about 20 thousand podcasts, see above re: time spent in my car. I’m a paying supporter of both NPR and The Guardian, though in both cases that has been true and not true for a long time, depending on my current financial situation. When I graduated from high school I did indeed ask, for a gift, for my parents to help me become a member of the NPR affiliate for my college’s area. And they gave it to me! I think I got a t-shirt, too.

And now for our recurring series, What is Steve Bannon Breaking This Week?

Freedom of the Press: While this isn’t quite as up to the minute as last week, and I still urge anyone who hasn’t called about his appointment to the National Security Council to do so ASAP, Bannon telling the press to shut up is very much in keeping with our theme, so let’s stick with it. Write a postcard to "President Steve Bannon”, rebuking him for telling the free American press to “keep its mouth shut,” when the free press is a cornerstone of American democracy and progress. Make sure you also ask him to rein in his aide Donald Trump, who frequently also takes to Twitter to make baseless attacks upon the press. Before you pop your postcard in the mail, take a quick snapshot of it (both sides, if the front’s cute too) and share it on social media (#PostcardsToBannon).

More seriously, this also merits calling your senators and congressperson to urge them to go on the record as opposing Steve Bannon’s position in the White House, this time because of his attacks on the press. I don’t have time to rewrite all of this stuff, so I’m just going to link you back to his section on last week’s post for the how-to.

As always, the link at the top of the post goes to a poll on Google which makes a great checklist, and where you can check in and let your fellow humans know you’re standing up for them!

[zippdementia]

Part 13 Alignment May Vary: Combat and Character Hooks

Welcome to another Journey Log! This week takes my three players through an intense combat as they wrap up some loose ends. It is the climax of the first act of Tomb of Haggemoth, after which they will truly strike out across the Moon Sea to follow the Oracle’s cryptic instructions. In this post, I’ll be focusing on how to build effective encounters in D&D 5th Edition and also the importance of using character hooks in your game. But fist, some catch up with the story...

Return to Ottoman’s Dock

The Butcher of Skago now considers the players to be his “investment,” and he intends to ensure that they make good on their promise to bring him the treasure of Haggemoth. So he decides to sail alongside their ship, while his sniper (Haymish) sails onboard the Mankey Bastard with the players.

The journey to Ottoman’s dock has one event: Abenthy has not been feeling well ever since leaving the LaCroix mansion and now the players discover why. The key they picked up from the Ooze house was actually the last piece of the Ooze and has been hiding on board their ship disguised as Abenthy’s belt. From there, it has been slowly draining him of his life! The group works out what has been happening and destroys the Ooze, once and for all, completing a sidequest and ending a possible plotline if the ooze had made ity back to civilization...

At Ottoman’s dock, the players discover that Marcus, the priest they had left to deal with Rose the Slaver, has been murdered. They are presented with a plan for revenge by Lisa, one of the slave girls they freed last time who was living with Marcus. She tells them to either help her burn Rose’s establishment to the ground, or enter by stealth and try and find evidence of Rose’s wrongdoing to present to the mayor of Ottoman’s dock.

The group vacillates over what to do. Twyin and the half-orc Rhazel are in favor of the burning—it’s simpler and, to Twyin’s mind, cleaner. But Karrina thinks it is riskier and when Abenthy realizes burning will mean the death of the innocent slaves who are still working the establishment he refuses to go along with that plan. Majority rules, and they move in via stealth, through the basement passage they found last time.

This doesn’t go quite as planned. Rose is transporting a special “guest” this evening, and so has the basement under guard by Ratzotto pirates. The players try to dispatch them quietly, but let one get away. He instantly runs upstairs to warn Rose. Worse, they try to take the special guest, a young girl, with them. This goes incredibly bad when the girl suddenly turns on them (Rose’s mind controlling orders) and attacks them with the power of her mind, killing Rahzel (their half orc, colorblind mercenary) in the ensuing fight. During this, Rose arrives with reinforcements and a massive fight breaks out that nearly kills Twyin (he becomes the target of Rose’s imp, who takes spider form and continually bites him, while Rose holds Twyin still with her spells). This battle also presents a problem for Abenthy: Rose sends her enslaved bodyguards at him. He knows these are innocents under mind control, so he tries to hold back and knock them out, but thanks to a couple HUGE damage rolls, he accidentally kills one of them, cracking his skull open like an egg. Falling to his knees in the midst of combat, Abenthy begins to pray for his salvation while the others desperately try to fight off Rose (for two whole rounds he prays, an excellent bit of roleplaying)!

In the end the players persevere and force Rose to flee in the form of a dark green magical mist (she quaffed a potion of mist form). Where she departs to is unknown to the players. In fact, she makes her escape to a ship that is waiting for her and from there across the sea to answer to her master, a person far more devious than she. How that goes you may discover in a future blog.

Defeating Rose breaks the spell on the psychic girl, a mysterious young human named Jade, who has come looking for her brother, Targaryen. Remember him?

This unexpected revelation gets more complicated when the players head back out onto the open seas, searching for the ice land that the oracle hinted at. Halfway there, they are attacked by Ratzotto pirates, and they seem to have a new leader—Targaryen himself, revived from the dead or saved from its brink, commands the pirates from the bow of the ghostly Red Hand ship Karrina helped sink over a month ago. Holding the Jade Figurine Karina recovered from the watery temple aloft, he seems to use it to gain control over some monstrosity of the deep, a tentacled horror that tears apart the Butcher of Skago’s ship while the players fight off an attack of pirates.

The battle ends with Haymish gripping the rails of the Mankey Bastard, watching his master’s ship sink below the waves as the players make their escape from this frightening new Targaryen. 

Lesson: Building Encounters in Fifth Edition

Despite its dual emphasis on story and gameplay, D&D has never truly left behind its roots as a one-shot tactical battle game. Which is great, when you play out a battle and then go home at the end of the day with a winner and a loser, back to do it next time y’all meet up. But when you mix character and story into that mix... well then things get a little complicated, don’t they? There are times you don’t WANT your party to die, because it would wreak havoc on your story. Yet, if every battle is a guaranteed win, then your game suffers, because there is no more risk.

I struggled with this for years as a GM, until one day I came to a very simple conclusion: it is okay to let your players die. In literally any situation, it is okay, because you can’t predict what those players are going to do. This is a roleplaying game, which means if your players are doing it right, they are following an internal narrative you won’t always have access to. That narrative may dictate they run head first into certain doom (”Barbarian smash!”), or that they do not take an opening to escape when they have the chance (”My creed is that I will never flee from justice!”), or they bring the proverbial knife to a gunfight (”Die fire elemental! Fear my fireball!”), or they provoke the Brass Dragon into eating them alive (”Damn, but you are hideously ugly!”). Your job isn’t to hand hold the players, improvising ways for them to survive against all odds. Leave that to the natural 20s they roll!

However, it is your job to roleplay the monsters as well as they play their characters. Do that, and you will find that instead of your story coming to a dead halt when you unexpectedly get a total party kill, it will feel like a part of the story. When your monsters act like monsters instead of figurines with the knowledge of the Dungeon Master, it won’t feel unfair if your players fall to them. This also lets you change the difficulty of encounters on the fly.

In the pirate battle in our session, for instance, Abenthy leapt immediately onto the pirate ship and taunted all of them. They chose for many rounds after this to focus their attacks on him, even after he retreated—which worked in the party’s favor because Abenthy is a tank who is hard to hit and can soak up damage even when he is. The players took further advantage of this and used clever positioning to keep Abenthy in front while Karrina gave rear support as an archer and Twyin came in from the side, doing devastating damage with his multiple attacks. 

The pirates lost that battle, badly, but things could have gone differently. What if I had rolled well enough to take Abenthy down and suddenly the remaining players were faced with overwhelming odds? If I felt the battle was no longer fun, I could have used in world explanations to slightly make things easier—given courage by their success, perhaps the pirates split up and start rushing heedlessly into battle, spreading out where their sneak attack damage isn’t as useful.

In fact, I did use tactics to make things harder: once Twyin started taking down a pirate each turn, they started focusing their attacks on him, which did make things more tense. By doing this, I was able to break away from pure statistics and use changing tactics to keep our battle balanced throughout the fight.

To go along with this, here is some mechanical advice I have found in the last two years of tinkering with the D&D 5 system:

Go harder than you think: The Unearthed Arcana encounter builder does a much better job of giving appropriate challenges than does the complicated CR calculator that the DMG provides. That said, any kind of guideline someone publishes is based on average characters. It can’t take into account a player who rolled above average stats, or who selected powerful feats, or who took the best options their class has to offer, or is playing perfectly in synch with the rest of their party. It also can’t take into account items, magical weapons, and improved armor. Thus, I find that players tend to outperform these charts. It has often happened that combats I thought, on building them the day before a session, are far too deadly for the players to take on end up dealing no damage to them at game time. So, don’t be afraid to make combats hard! If the fight comes about and it is truly brutal, you can always use the above mentioned “change of tactics” mid fight to tone things down. Don’t underestimate the tendency of your villains to stop and give mighty speeches on their turns instead of attacking, when they realize they are wiping the floor with the players. After all, what villain can resist a good taunting of fate? In all seriousness, though, it is easier (and more acceptable to players) to describe how some of the goblin horde they are fighting back off because things got too hard (”a hush suddenly falls over the goblins as their champion comes forward, chuckling darkly that he will take down these fools himself”) then it is to scramble to roll up reinforcements when the players are making what you wanted to be an epic fight too easy. Oh, by the way... if they do make the epic fight too easy, don’t try to “fix it” and take that victory away. Just make a mental note that future fights will probably need to be tougher because you underestimated your players, and prepare the next session accordingly.

Action economy is king: I say it, designers say it, players say it, and it is worth saying again—in D&D it is the character who gets to strike the most who will win the most. Not all bonuses are built equal. High health points don’t matter much when a team of players can easily dish out 60 damage a turn. The damage your monsters can deal doesn’t matter much when the players can heal it all in a single cure wound spell. And the players will eventually get these powers, if they don’t have them already. But what never stops being powerful is when one of your monsters gets six attacks per turn. Do you want TPKs? Because that’s how you get TPKs. D&D 5 does a great job of making it harder for players to get seven attacks a turn (in Pathfinder, this tendency led to many monsters having ridiculous resistances and ACs just to stay alive) and instead gives such powers to the monsters. I’ve talked in the past about how doing this effectively brings back the “boss monster,” meaning that a single higher CR monsters can take the place of what in older versions would have been a horde of high CR monsters. I like this a lot, as I think it lets individual monsters have more personality. Some DMs dislike it, because it gets harder to build hordes with higher level monsters. And that is fair, because it does get much harder. And so, that is my advice—as you start to look at higher level monsters, just keep in mind that their multi-attack ability, if paired with high damage, can wipe a party in the first round of combat. As your monsters get more attacks, things are going to start scaling upwards in difficulty exponentially. So pay attention to these monsters when horde building. Similarly, remember that your players have access to extra attacks and will get exponentially tougher as they get them. If you have a party with a lot of fighters or other classes that grant extra attacks, you may need to adjust your difficulty higher.

Magic is a wild card: Somewhere on Reddit I read a great thread about all the ways a CR 5 enchanter could kill a party of higher level adventures without ever entering combat. Once you start getting into enemies with spells, you can really start messing with your game’s difficulty. On its basest level, magic in combat can buff your monsters, debuff the players, or deal damage. But think outside of the box, and the possibilities become far more interesting—and deadly! Picture the mage who follows after the players, taking on their appearance using disguise self, and visibly killing guards in every city they are to visit, so that when they arrive, they are immediately targeted by the King’s best men. What about the divination mage, who scries out the seas the players are sailing on, and uses her powers to summon a storm the likes of which hasn’t been seen on those seas in ages? There is the warlock who plants an item in the bag of holding the players carry with them, an item stolen from a powerful demon, a demon which will kill anyone who it thinks has the item... there is the illusionist who makes it look like the bridge across the chasm of doom didn’t collapse last week... there is the crazed evoker who has placed a rune of blasting on every door in his tower, and who has rigged the entrance to be one way only, emptying players out onto the elemental plane of fire when they try to leave...  Some of these possibilities go far beyond simply rolling a dodge in combat and using your massive reflex score to avoid damage. Magic is unpredictable. Because of this, there is really no good way to give a CR rating to a magician based purely on what magic they have. More important is to think about how they will use that magic in your game. A magic who is going to stand in one place casting fireball... well, you can easily factor in their added damage per round to their CR using the DMG and figure out their difficulty rating is. But far more deadly may be the mage that the players don’t even know is targeting them...

Lesson: When to Use Character Hooks

Short answer: whenever possible.

Anyone who has ever been a player in D&D knows that there are two characters you build when you make a new character. The first is one of stats and numbers, a list of abilities. The second is a story, a reason to journey, a purpose, a personality. The first is easy to bring into play—any time there is combat, or an obstacle requiring a roll, you get to use this character. When you level, you directly affect it, adding to stats and gaining new abilities. The second is harder. It doesn’t level up at specific milestones, or gain experience from killing monsters. There aren’t monsters that are weak to it, or campaigns pre-built to favor it. The first character will never go away. It will always be there on paper, easy to access and analyze until it falls beneath the axe of some crazed Drow. The second character, if not tended to, often is dead long before the axe falls, forgotten after a session or two of not being used.

This second character, the story of a character, is often what has separated memorable games from forgettable ones in my player experience. When I build a character, I am building a set of hooks and suggestions on the kind of story I want to play out. If I say I am a gunslinger searching for his father, then I am telling you (a) that the easiest way to get me to go anywhere in your game is to drop a hint about my dad, and (b) that I’m hoping this search will be a part of the game. Maybe not a huge part, but at least get enough of a focus that I will feel like I’m really playing a man on the hunt for family. Because obviously I have some interest in that, if this is the story I’ve come up with. Here’s an example...

I remember one game I played where I built a thief (Xaviee) whose village had been burned down by werewolves. One of the werewolves Xaviee remembered, because the beast had bitten his mother and turned her into a werewolf. It was a simple back story I just came up with for fun, in the hopes that if we ever ran into werewolves or any supernatural creature, I could roleplay treating them with extreme prejudice, maybe even attacking them on sight. I figured, too, that my mother might be used sometime as a hook—for instance, if the GM needed us to go to Phandalin, maybe a werewolf attack would be reported in the area. My player would easily agree to go, just on the off chance that the attack involved his now lupine mother.

With all this, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the GM had actually selected a werewolf campaign for us to play. Good fortune! Except in twelve sessions of the campaign, my mother was never mentioned. I mean, we FOUGHT werewolves. We came across tribes of them. At first, I just waited for the GM to throw some hint in, like “that werewolf over there, you recognize from the attack!” As time went on without any of this, I started asking for it: “Xaviee asks the tribe leader if he recognizes the name of his village or of his mother...” without hesitation the DM would say, “nope.”

We had fun at the table. It was a good game. But by the time it was over, I had stopped caring about Xaviee’s werewolf mother and, in doing so, stopped caring about him, too. When he eventually was killed by a quagmire troglodyte, I rolled up a dwarf who hated elves and liked getting drunk a lot. The DM seemed much more comfortable working this into the game.

This is why I like to work in as many of the hooks my players have given me as possible. I will add new scenes to bring their bonds into the campaign. I will replace blah NPCs with people from my players’ history. And I can’t think of a reason NOT to do this. It doesn’t take much time, and the sense of involvement it will bring your players is incredible. Otherwise, you really might as well just be playing a tactical battle game with their stats.

Stats are fun to play around with. They are what make your character feel powerful. But story is what makes your character feel alive.

And now, some news. This post will mark the end of the adventure blog... for a while. The game continues, but I am currently trying to design and publish the Ooze adventure for DriveThru RPG and I want to devote my attentions to that in the free time I have for writing. When I complete it, I may well return to the blog—either weekly again, or as a once in a while thing, if I think a session has some particularly good lessons in it for GMs. Until then, happy gaming!

[michellelewis7162]

Tips in Opting For an Online Travel Bureau

Tips in Opting For an Online Travel Bureau

 Utilizing an on the web travel bureau possesses its advantages. For one, you do not have to go via the hassle of seeing a making a reservation for workplace face to face. And two, you can easily typically conserve cash if you reserve your trips online. And also obviously, there is actually the reality that you can have numerous choices to decide on coming from. You may easily browse from trip website to another, matching up services as well as rates. Through this, you will certainly have the capacity to locate the best suitable take care of the greatest costs. Booking online is quick and easy as well as likewise easy. It is actually only a matter of bring in a handful of clicks on and also you are actually performed. Travel Agency Miami

 Right now, even if reserving your travels making use of an on the web travel bureau is simple does not suggest you are actually certainly not vulnerable to making mistakes. You might end up opting for the worst possible provide for you if you are actually not cautious. One thing you ought to regularly keep in mind is that you ought to certainly not believe in every little thing that you talk to travel bureau particularly when it come to promotions and also rebated provides. In some cases, a promo may appear like a great deal in the surface area but if you appear closer into it, it actually will not help you the means you anticipate it to. That said, constantly weigh factors just before creating any sort of selections. Do not be actually blinded by price cuts or coupons nor permit all of them to shadow your opinions.

 Listed here are actually a handful of functional ideas on exactly how you ought to engage in reserving your travels online.

 1. Talk to all around. You could inquire a good friend, a member of the family or even an associate who has knowledge reserving his/her journeys online. Seek their referrals. A recommendation from an individual you individually know is far better than the reviews you are going to discover on the web. Do not rely extremely a lot from recommendations.

 2. Regularly ensure that you are taking care of a legit traveling web site. You will definitely be working online so there certainly will be actually people available planning to fraud your funds away. As much as feasible, keep away from doubtful and dishonest travel sites.

 3. Make an effort inquiring from a traveling internet site. You can easily assess the quality of the companies of a travel bureau based on its response time to your questions. It's most likely certainly not worth your opportunity if the organization takes for good to respond to your simple concerns. But if it swiftly reacts as well as aids you if you ask more questions, at that point the agency is actually probably deserving of your expenditure.

 4. Request for recommendations from the organization itself. Allow's say for example that you are organizing to explore Canada. You can easily make an effort asking the company which of their bundles need to you purchase. If the company actually loves their customers, they will definitely highly recommend to you one of the most necessary travel plan for you.

 5. Review prices. This is actually why you must check out for many travel agencies to ensure that you possess selections to compare. Once again, this is actually easy to do since most travel bureau in today times sustain their personal websites.

 All About Travel Agencies

 If you have just recently begun a Travel Agency Miami, congratses. Hang around, your job has merely started. You call for letting loose essential tactics, to permit incessant and sustained service development. Complying with are couple of best, fastest as well as quickest methods to enhance the sales of your freshly started holiday company. Adhere to every query along with 5 measures of expert interaction. One of the greatest errors that most of the brand new traveling organisations devote is not constantly complying with every analysis. The greatest way to start with this is actually to have a sales crew where every specialist without worry expertly interacts along with the enquirer. Following are actually few simple measures of interaction:

 A politeness call to find what the applicant really feels regarding the info offered to him

Email extra info or even pointer swiftly concerning the prospect's vacation.

Even more send them a letter thanking all of them for enquiring.

Follow up contact us to learn their future programs as well as offer all of them more aid. By now, you efficiently establish connection along with all of them; it is a correct time to inquire concerning the booking details and also a last devotion.

All these actions are actually interchangeable and also the key is actually that they occur over the various tools like call, direct-mail advertising as well as e-mail.

 Sorts Of Travel Agencies

 One of the primary functions of these organizations is actually to act as a broker. This includes bookings, selling traveling products and also tickets and so forth, in behalf of one or a lot of distributors. Often, trip representatives demand a tiny payment from the total price. Browse through some different sort of firms:

 Office and also Business Travel Agencies

The majority of these firms have a division of company as well as recreation traveling. The requirement and demands of one tourist as well as the various other often tends to differ in couple of means, as well as consequently, dividing the obligations in different divisions aids either team to specialize, finding offers for the leisure tourists on one possession and much better packages for business vacationers on the contrary. Having said that, there are actually handful of companies specializing in business as well as office travel merely. Furthermore, there are actually certainly not a great deal of firms restricting themselves only to recreation travel.

 Freight Travel Agencies

There are actually handful of travel bureau specializing in delivering cargo. Definitely, and that is actually certainly not fully appropriate if you are organizing to soar for individual or organisation main reasons. Still, this shows in the number of different areas a firm may specialize.

 Particular niche and Multi- Destination Agencies

If you want to split it in only 2 forms of agencies, you have specific niche as well as multi - location firms. Multi-Destination are actually out- bound holiday company that are actually sizable offering tours to any type of spot worldwide. Particular niche companies are individual focusing on a details component of the globe. Many of the niche market companies satisfy the individuals who have loved ones during that country or that opt for business regularly. Consider individual choices, vacation goals as well as needs while deciding on a traveling agent. Various types of firms supply different style and amount of solutions. If you are a frequent visitor then you might would like to use the services of sizable business travel agency having divisions all over the planet.

 Choosing the Right Luxury Travel Agency

 In modern-day culture, the significance of travel has been actually gradually climbing, seeing as it is critical for communities to sign up with palms as well as many services to take off. Not surprising that then, that the around the world travel sector is actually valued at over a trillion dollars and its own development is poised to outperform the real international economic climate growth rate.

 In such a huge industry, there are numerous holiday company, major as well as small, common and also particular niche. In times where time is short, these are actually individuals that have the capacity to help make your travel plans concrete. However, the high-end traveler, especially, is typically much better off discovering some pro traveling advise from a luxury trip professional agency. As a general finger of guideline, the much more complicated, luxurious and pricey your traveling requirements are, the extra you would take advantage of the solutions of a really good Travel Agency Miami. The benefits are various: properly as well as fully individualized, prepared schedules, hassle cost-free transportation and accommodation, excellent recommendations for regional assisted tours, great upgrade facilities, and also priority accessibility in specific regions such as high-end bistros or even your favorite theatre series.

 Choosing the appropriate luxury Travel Agency Miami may be a complicated activity, considering that you are practically based on them for guaranteeing that you and also your family have the ability to delight in that elegant cruise line you've been preparing for grows older. Here are actually a few pointers that can easily aid:

 Look at the firm's accreditations: Because of the large dimension of the travel field, there are a great deal of players that scarcely qualify as tour operators, not to mention experts. In the high-end traveling portion, certifications perform aid in terms of a minimum of creating that the person/s you are entrusting your vacation setups to, is actually likely to invest some channelized effort to help you adequately.

 Inquire about professional organizations as well as memberships: The suggestion is actually to make certain that your traveling partner possesses proper market recognition via affiliation with likeminded professional body systems, including ASTA, for example, which finds to safeguard customer civil liberties and specifies a correct code of ethics.

 Experts are actually advised: Rather than visiting an agency that delivers a sizable range of travel companies, it is actually most ideal to pick an agency that focuses on luxurious trip. These are usually the ones along with the max standing in various offshore locations in essential regions. This could consist of the most ideal nearby tour guide, favored reservations in the very best accommodation, beneficial calls, exclusive opportunities etc.

 Be specific regarding ease of access: A great trip agent is always available, duration. Envision being stranded on an unique island where your accommodation reservations are actually not made and you are actually unable to reach your representative. The absolute most trusted traveling agent is actually frequently the one who has actually been there for you in relatively the best laborious of trip situations, as well as has actually surfaced along with real answers.

 Create relevant documentation: When you are taking your family members on a globe trip, you 'd benefit from an effective contract setting out conditions, as opposed to merely spoken assurances.

Therefore go on, find the ideal Travel Agency Miami and embark on that long-awaited luxurious cruise ship!

 Several Types Of Travel Agencies

 Holiday company generally serve as agents that offer trip tickets as well as products like hotel appointments and also others. It needs to be understood that they would provide companies complimentary to the tourist. Rather, the agencies gain earnings through compensations on the overall price of the scenic tour. The percentage will be drawn from the advertised expense or cost of the trip.

 In this particular time and also grow older when the internet supplies internet methods of reserving for an airplane and trip lodging, some individuals think that they are currently obsolete. There are still a great deal of perks that travel firms offer to vacationers which can certainly not be acquired when you manual and also prepare for an excursion on your very own. To start with, they release you from the inconveniences of arranging your personal scenic tour. They make every little thing handy and also easy for you. Most of all, they can easily acquire you substantial markdowns on cottages as well as prices.

 There are actually likewise several sorts of travel bureau offering particular companies that may be actually of conveniences to your traveling necessities and preferences. There are actually the general traveling companies as well as representatives which act like emissaries of tourist. As an example, an organization whose base is located in Hawaii may develop workplaces in other portion of the globe. These offices after that will certainly advertise and also promote tourism to Hawaii where the home office is actually located. It attempts to get and also provide better bargains to consumers to ensure that there will be a higher odds that the customer will definitely schedule once more upcoming opportunity. These better deals they might locate coming from numerous airline companies and hotels.

 There are also travel bureau which possess specific divisions or might specialize on managing business and organisation travel. The requirements of people that need to have an organisation traveling might differ coming from the requirements of people requiring industrial and also convenience travel. Thereby by specializing or equipping particular departments to take care of such disorders will make it possible for the Travel Agency Miami to supply far better companies to customers.

 They might likewise differ by course. Some are actually nationwide chains owned by a company; others might be actually franchises from global or national agencies; others still are participants of acknowledged affiliations; the remainder might be actually independent or possessed through nearby individuals. The nationwide establishment course of holiday company applies steady pricing as well as plans despite the place as well as may use the most ideal international solution to clients. Franchise business may deliver very same perks to clients while in your area owned organizations might not have the promos as well as price discount rates supplied by various other classes of agencies. The independent types are actually recognized to solution niche type of markets like university day trip, congregation and also sporting activities crew who are seeking inexpensive trip packages. Agencies that are participants of associations make via membership costs rather than compensations.

 Particulars About Working With an Online Travel Agency

 When you are aiming to reserve your upcoming getaway or your upcoming company vacation, you may be actually considering using an online Travel Agency Miami. Just before you determine to do thus, nonetheless, you ought to understand what to anticipate from an on the web travel agency so you may determine how greatest to match that to your very own distinct needs. There are many different degrees of solution through which to identify online holiday company, the degree you require depends on your excursion criteria and also your private travel and also leisure preferences or even desires.

 Quite merely, you must have the ability to discover an on the internet travel agency that can easily accomplish any kind of desire you may possess. Whether you favor self-service travel plans where you do all of your very own browsing and scheduling, or even a full-service on the internet company that handles every particular on your behalf, there are actually several possibilities readily available. Relying on the kind of traveling you will definitely be actually embarking on, there are additionally numerous possibilities that you can easily take into consideration among online holiday company. Some focus merely in traveling deals, while others supply a Los Angeles carte menus of traveling services for you to decide on and also choose.

 There are a number of requirements, however, that are global to all online holiday company. These have to do with the minimal amount of company supplied as well as the high quality as well as competition of the forms of trip being actually marketed. It is actually most ideal to qualify the online holiday company on every one of these desires prior to you select to enter into relationship with all of them for the travel you are actually seeking to strategy.

 The initial universal assumption that you must have for your online travel agency is actually having an array of deals as well as destinations readily available to pick from. It carries out not matter what specialized the agency may have, coming from full service trip to niche traveling including trips or even unique locations. Regardless of what is actually being marketed, you always want to partner with a company that offers possibilities. While the 1st option you find may well wind up being actually the best selection or the most ideal value, you are going to possess no methods of figuring out that unless various other choices are actually available for comparison. Good self-service traveling websites will readily supply you comparison relevant information. When you are actually in the procedure of creating a choice, full service on the internet traveling agencies must put together that same details and current it to you.

 The second common assumption you need to have when utilizing an internet travel agency is actually that they offer the exact same standard kinds of vacations coming from greater than one service provider or even carrier. As an example, you may select in between two significant airlines for the exact same New York-to-Miami trip leg of your travel. If an online travel agency stands for a single brand name, they are certainly not absolutely a travel bureau; as an alternative, they are actually a representative of that brand name. So one label were actually provided, consumers will have no methods of assessing whether the items and services offered were useful or were worthless. Possessing a number of providers to pick from when choosing accommodation or airline tickets or even voyage collection shows that the holiday company is actually definitely updating its own web site along with the greatest prices and also alternatives currently on call.

 The third common requirement that you ought to eat your online travel bureau is cost competition. Although travel agencies often demand fees to visitors so as to off-set their price of doing business, those fees need to be actually decent. The costs for the actual traveling solutions you view posted by means of online travel agencies ought to disappear than what you would spend if you went straight with the company, as well as, as a matter of fact, less if packed along with other services.

 The ultimate universal requirement that you need to eat your online holiday company is actually a service-level guarantee that guarantees you acquire what you purchase as well as are alleviated in a respectful and also proper fashion. Online travel bureau ought to also provide some kind of a guarantee for your purchases that no near activity on their part or even the aspect of the specialist will certainly disrupt your trip. They can easily certainly not deserve against addict or arbitrary events, however they may make certain that their personal offerings are actually strong prior to delivered.

 Perhaps the greatest feature of using an on-line company is the accessibility of client evaluations and feedback you can go through prior to helping make a last investment. Yet another great comfort, for loyal clients, is the capability to make your personal consumer profile page that allows you to spare particular possibilities in your tastes that will enhance potential trip planning. You may save time and hassle by storing any company or membership price cut numbers, frequent leaflet numbers as well as other important information on your customer profile page.

 The Benefits of utilization an Online Travel Agency

 Many people that take place holiday like to book vacations with a trip representative so as to take several of the stress of the preparing method. Traveling brokers can also assist you conserve amount of money on trip, hotel spaces, trips, as well as extra; yet what about on the web holiday company? While people worry that Internet travel agencies might fraud you or even give substandard service, there are actually a variety of perks to choosing an on the internet travel bureau, providing that you choose the best one.

 Initially, along with an on the web travel agency, you can partner with the location that has the most affordable rates without geography restrictions. In other words, you possess more alternatives! When you opt to opt for a holiday company in an offline setting, you are limited to the handful of providers that operate in your area, or at least within an affordable proximity. Individuals that live in major metropolitan areas might especially be actually influenced by the high rates of physical travel agencies. Online, there are certainly not closeness limitations. The holiday company along with which you work may in fact have headquarters hundreds of miles away, however if they possess the lowest rates, you can easily still deal with all of them over the Internet.

 The raised amount of options performs certainly not only assist you conserve loan. When it happens to journey, it likewise implies that you possess endless options. The travel agencies in your areas probably may make a reservation for dozens or perhaps thousands of different vacations, but there will be actually constraints. Regardless of whether an offline traveling broker can easily plan a vacation to an odd destination for you, it is not very likely that he or she are going to be actually a pro in traveling to this place. Online, you can locate a person or a family that has been there and also will definitely organize a remarkable trip for you. There are actually handful of areas around the world where you can not travel if you collaborate with an online travel bureau.

 An additional excellent part of partnering with an internet holiday company is that you may shop for your trip plan whenever of the day or even night. Traditional company typically close soon after the end of the normal service time, and many are actually closed for lengthy hours on the weekend. The Internet is open 24 hrs a day. While you might certainly not consistently manage to call a client service representative, especially if you just like to carry out trip preparing at 3 in the early morning, you can easily constantly look into packages use on travel internet sites. This is especially useful for parents who need to prepare after the youngsters remain in bedroom, folks that function odd hours, and also those residing in rural sites where the closest travel agency workplace is actually a rather far drive.

 Among the often-overlooked advantages of an online travel bureau is actually the control you need to create your personal selections without outside impacts or even pressure. Numerous trip substances have the same tone as used vehicle salespersons when you check out a workplace. You have to remember that these individuals are actually usually working under some type of compensation program. As opposed to creating a by the hour wage, they make a percentage of your total holiday rate, and also regardless of whether they do have a white-collar job, they may get incentives coming from travel firms (hotels, cruise collections, etc) for offering quantity each month. Many traveling representatives get to take place cost-free travels for each 10 or twenty trip plans they offer. Thus, you might think stressed to schedule an excursion when you are not done discovering your alternatives or upgrade certain parts, although you carry out certainly not have the cash. Internet holiday company typically take an even more hands-off technique. That performs not mean that they will not aid you, of course. Most are actually more than ready to respond to concerns through email or even over the phone. When it comes to working with an on the internet travel agency, you perform certainly not possess someone looming over your shoulder, attempting to make a purchase as you examine out your trip options.

 Also, when you work with an on-line holiday company, you commonly possess extra settlement choices. Today, some offline travel agencies supply layaway plan, credit card repayments, etc, however this is not consistently the situation. When you operate on the web to organize you holiday, having said that, you can easily consistently find a kind remittance that will certainly help you. Some also possess payment plans that permit you to get aspects for every single buck you devote, which may go in the direction of present certifications or even future vacations.

 Specialists are actually suggested: Rather than going to a firm that delivers a huge variation of travel solutions, it is actually most ideal to select a company that focuses in luxurious travel. Traveling firms primarily function as agents who sell traveling tickets and also products like hotel bookings and others. There are actually several different levels of solution in which to categorize on the internet travel companies, the level you require depends on your journey criteria as properly as your private travel as well as convenience preferences or even wishes.

 If an online trip organization stands for just one company, they are not truly a trip company; as an alternative, they are actually a rep of that brand name. While people panic that Internet trip firms might hoax you or supply second-class solution, there are really an amount of benefits to picking an internet travel organization, delivering that you choose the right one.

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Useful Hair Treatment Guidelines You Can Use Now

Rich or poor, younger or outdated, it is important to have very good-seeking hair. While you could consider that lovely hair cost's cash, or that it truly is a matter of genetics, that merely just isn't so. In this write-up, you'll find out how to deal with a variety of hair issues, and how you can make your hair search wonderful. If you are going to be swimming in a pool you need to moist your hair before hand so that your hair is primarily soaking up the water you put in it and not the chlorinated h2o. Chlorinated water is not excellent for your hair, specifically if it is shade handled. Even though you must clean your hair frequently, never overdo it. Washing your hair way too typically, strips it of its organic oils, which offers it glow and quantity. For Suggestions For Constructing A Profitable Property Enterprise , washing their hair a couple of moments a week is enough, except if their hair is specifically oily. Washing way too frequently will change hair dry and brittle. Hair is really fragile when it is wet. Keep away from combing or brushing your hair when it is wet. It will much more effortlessly split and extend out when wet and you consider to brush it. At the really least wait around right up until it is moist to brush your hair out, this minimizes damage. Utilizing appliances that are very hot on the hair can confirm to be extremely detrimental, so you must limit your use of them. When using a blow dryer on your hair, it is a great notion to use the awesome environment or the low location, so that you will lessen the odds of hair receiving ruined. Just take treatment of your hair throughout the summer season. Over publicity to sunlight and chlorine can severely harm hair and consequence in break up finishes. Use a hat in the sun, and a latex swim cap even though in the pool. Also, wash your hair with a chlorine-removal shampoo in new water right after swimming in a chlorinated pool. If you have dry hair, or just will not want to have dry hair in the foreseeable future, then you want to stay away from making use of any hair treatment items that have alcoholic beverages. This is since the liquor can make your hair even much more dry. This can make your hair really brittle and easily breakable. It is essential that you use a good conditioner to make your hair much better and get rid of tangles simply. Implement your conditioner following rinsing the shampoo out of your hair. Make confident that your hair is entirely protected and hold out a couple of minutes for the conditioner to soak your hair. Be careful with the use of hair extensions. Even though hair extensions are a fast way to get more time hair, they can also result in critical harm to your natural hair and scalp. The large bodyweight of the extensions can pull out normal hair, and the bonding answer can dry it out. Putting on a swim cap when swimming may possibly make you truly feel foolish, but it is likely to enjoy a large position in how wholesome your hair is. If you swim on a typical foundation, you should be positive to put on the swim cap. The chlorine will harm your hair more than you could feel. When you are going to slumber at evening, just take out any clips or bands that you have in your hair. When your hair is pulled again in your sleep and you shift close to, you could cause your hair to break off. Also, use a satin pillowcase, if feasible, so that your hair glides when sleeping. If you have long hair you must steer clear of sleeping it with in a pony tail or braid. This can result in your hair to turn out to be damaged and crack off. You must either sleep with your hair free or if you should slumber with it in a pony tail it ought to be a reduced and loose one. If you price your hair coloration, put on a swimming cap before leaping into a chlorinated pool. Chlorine leads to tough metals, present in all drinking water in different concentrations, to oxidize, and that in switch can insert a inexperienced tinge to any hair coloration. Applying a coat of conditioner just before swimming can help, but most community pools frown on that practice. Stick to swimming in lakes and ponds to preserve hair from looking like it belongs on a Martian. Use hair gel to smooth down any hair that is unfastened or out of control, when you braid your hair or place it up. Set some gel on your fingertips and rub in on to the hair that does not want to keep in area. Direct the hair in which you want it to go. Hair need to be trimmed about once every a few months. This will enable it to develop more quickly and more healthy. The trimming will maintain the split finishes from causing breakage. If you are not trying to develop your hair longer, trim it a lot more frequently, like every other thirty day period. This retains your hair healthy and manageable. If you locate that your hair is extremely frizzy or tough to manage, you could want to use an intensive conditioner. Place the conditioner in your hair and distribute evenly. Then, soon after five minutes, wash it out as totally as achievable. This must restore your hair to a wholesome condition. Trim your locks each six months. Valuable Hair Treatment Guidelines You Can Use Now might appear counter-effective if you are attempting to increase your hair lengthy, a normal trimming can help preserve your hair healthy. A trim will remove the ends of your hair - the area most prone to breakage and split finishes. Be getting rid of the weakest location, the rest of your hair can keep strong and healthful. It really is critical not to go outside with wet hair, specifically for the duration of winter. The drinking water in your hair can freeze, which can direct to hair breakage. If you have to step outdoors just before your hair is dry, preserve it covered at all occasions. It might be a small added effort, but it's well worth it to safeguard your hair. Every person can use a tiny hair suggestions! Even individuals blessed with easy to treatment for hair have undesirable hair days now and then. Study in excess of this tips and discover out which ideas will perform best for you. The following time you have a poor hair working day, you may be happy you know what to do following.