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enderon · 11 months ago

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OH MY GOD OKAY SO I WORK WITH A KID WHO HAS ASD AND IS O B S E S S E D WITH TROLLS

All day every day all he wants to do is tell me about trolls and draw brozone and I got really into trolls by osmosis ESPECIALLY since I went to see trolls three just for him so anyway PLEASE tell me about trolls because I have never wanted to hug branch harder than I did in trolls three. He built the hideout

I feel like you maybe got cut off a bit, but that's okay, cause I think I know what you were gonna say, and yeah, breaks my heart too.

Gonna put this under a read more, cause it's gonna be a lot.

First things first, one of my absolute favorite things about this series is how the world looks. And I don't just mean in terms of it being a fantasy world, I mean how things literally look like felt and stuff. Someone described it as looking like an 'arts & craft' project and I agree. Heck, I am in love with the orbeez water from this last movie. What a fun touch.

On a similar note, love the character designs. Very wild and versatile, willing to do fun and funky things and break the mold. Especially with the trolls! While World Tour gave us different races of trolls, with different looks and anesthetics, Bqnd Together showed us that even trolls of the same race can look really versatile, and I love that. My favorite species design, though, has to be the vacationers. I love the holiday muppets.

Also, in terms of versatile designs. I have to mention how refreshing it is that I was able to predict that Bruce was gonna be fat as an adult, after all of the emphasis placed on his abs originally, but that his gaining weight is never brought up, not even as an insult. None of his brothers ever give him crud about it, and Poppy even still sees him as the heartthrob, even with his chunky dad bod. That's some positivity right there.

Poppy and Branch!! I can not say enough about how much I love their relationship!! They are genuinely really cute and also really healthy. I was so happy that they didn't pull the same crud so many other studios do and shoe horn in some random and unnecessary relationship drama in this film, especially after Branch's subplot in the last movie was about their relationship. They're solid in this film. The only time they have conflict is about Branch not being super open (and even then it's not a huge issue and Poppy is clearly understanding that he's not fully ready yet and is even willing to make a joke about it when he is) and Poppy's lack of understanding of the complexities of sibling relationships. Other than those two minor conflicts, they are solid. She can tell right away at the beginning that something is wrong and bothering him, he is able to manage and bring her back when she starts getting too excited and worked up, and over all they just work to better each other. Heck, even uber positive, everyone needs to be friends with everyone, Poppy stands by his side when he chooses to abandon John, Bruce, and Clay, not trying to convince him to go back and forgive and give them a second chance. She's gonna stand by him. We love a solid relationship. And I personally love that they didn't get married or even actually propose in this one, despite the teases. It's really good for kids to see representation of a healthy relationship where they don't jump into marriage and instead take their time.

Poppy's relationship with both Viva and Bridgette. The fact that even after discovering she has a literal sister in Viva, she stills considers and calls Bridgette a sister. We love girl friendship. Especially when Bridgette finds out Viva is Poppy's sister, deciding that automatically makes them besties too. We love it.

I love that, other than the very mild road block of trying to keep them at Putt Putt, Viva isn't a villain. She's deeply traumatized, but not evil. She and Poppy really do genuinely get along and love each other, and I love that so much.

And while I mention a good Sibling relationship, I must also mention the more complicated by expressing my appreciation that, despite them being shown being closwer, Branch doesn't automatically jump to help when he finds out Floyd is in trouble. While he admits to Poppy, after some pushing, that of all the brothers, Floyd would be the one he would help, this is still hesitant, and I think appropriate. Floyd still left him and never came back. The only one who ever mentions coming back is John Dory (having come back too late, after the trolls had escaped the tree). So it makes sense that, despite them being closer, Branch would still hold that resentment towards Floyd and be hesitant to help even him.

Also, I have to mention something: the way that John and Branch are weird parallels. They're the most similar, in being isolated survivalist. John is the oldest who's treatment drove everyone away. Branch is the youngest who thought his performance drove everyone away. It's so sad and poetic, I love it.

Last thing I will note for now is how much I love the trolls series for its female villains. Barb wasn't really a villain in the end and had a redeemable reason for doing what she did, but Chef and Velvet both were unapologetically selfish and awful for completely their own gain. I love that for them.

#trolls #trolls world tour #trolls band together #ask me more

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edh-a-to-z · 7 years ago

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10 - Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!

I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. Oh yea.

After Akuta, we need a good commander to wash out the ashy taste. And Alesha, boy does she deliver.

Our Alesha will be a budget reanimator deck. As always, budget is a relative term, but most of our cards will be draft fodder and bulk rares. Mixed in are some reanimation that costs a couple of bucks. I’ll list the cards for each section (purpose, price, and other factors).

Budget includes bulk rares (usually under $0.75). Modest priced cards are $0.75 to $2.50. Pricey is from $2.50 to $7.50, and above that is expensive. (Again, looking at you Sword of Body and Mind). You’ll only need the budget and modest cards to make the core of the deck, but more expensive options should be considered for upgrades later on, or to include if you already have them.

ALSO!

This looks like my longest post yet, so I’m hoping I did okay. Hope it’s a decent primer for getting to know Alesha.

LORE:

(special thanks to @alesha-who-smiles-at-memes for helping me with this)

Alesha was the last Khan of Mardu, before Sarkhan the A*hole ruined a perfectly nice plane with a bunch of damn flying lizards. That’s about it. Kolaghan was chill at the time, and said “Yo Alesha, lets work together.” And they did.

Later Kolaghan would turn out to be a huge jerk and go crazy over her brood. They lost their Mardu name, became cannibals, etc. And worst of all, Dragonlord Kolaghan is awful in EDH.

But back to Alesha.

The Mardu Horde was heavily based off the Mongol Hordes, with effective raiding strategies and usage of horse archers (and lightning magic. Slight advantage over the Mongols). When a Mardu warrior made their first kill in battle, they chose a new name emblematic of what they do (see Zurgo Helmsmasher) Raid and Dash rewarded aggressive plays.

Alesha is the only khan to not submit/die to the dragons (as mentioned above). Notably, she’s a human transgender woman, who chose her name after her grandmother. The Mardu care less for traditional gender roles/identities, and are more of the mind “we judge you based on what you do.”

THE CARD:

The lady, the legend. On her own, a 3/2 first striker for 2R is solid.

Then you look at her ability. Phew. Now that is some text.

We get Mardu color identity and Power =< 2 resurrection and quasi haste for 2*(W/B). Now that’s power.

She’s also human and warrior. Not sure what tribal stuff would justify being put in, but there’s gotta be someone out there.

BUILDS:

Alesha enables a lot of builds, but usually revolves around the graveyard. Death and taxes, good old aristocrats, and self-mill and recur. Alesha is just so versatile, with such fun colors, you gotta get a copy.

This build is neapolitan. It doesn’t really run any combos, but has multiple ways to fill the ‘yard - sac outlets, discards, self-milling - some aristocrat stuff to take advantage. Basically an Alesha value build that can be taken to more combo-oriented wins, or combat-oriented.

Heck, there’s Alesha Voltron builds. Skies the limit. Here we go.

BATTLE PLAN:

Resurrection, resurrection for days.

Every Alesha deck wants to play with recursion, so I’ll just go with that, leaving spicier builds to those most familiar with her (I myself use her solely as a budget commander).

We need things that are generally CMC >= 3 (to make Alesha’s ability a discount) and Power <= 2 (to work with the ability).

To help, we want discard engines, sac effects, Entomb - style effects, and recursion independent of Alesha (like Reanimate).

(1) Reanimation Targets

I’m going to do an itemized list here. Gonna be long. Here we go.

White

Angel of Invention - Modest price; comes in as a anthem at 4/3 spread over one or three bodies.

Karmic Guide - Modest price; recursion, and it kills itself to be used again.

Knight-Captain of Eos - Modest; and gives you a Fog on command, and some bodies for sac’ing. Also a sac outlet for soldiers.

Sensor Splicer - Budget; brings a token to the field with it.

Blade Splicer - Modest; token generator, Sensor’s big sister

Urbis Protector - budget; token generator

Azorius Justicar - budget, pacifies potential defenders that’ll block your team

Custodi Soulbinders - budget; The first of our 0/0 creatures that enters with a swarm of +1/+1 tokens. This guy also makes extra spirits as a mana dump.

Aven Cloudchaser - budget; toolbox for enchantment destruction (replaceable with any creature that ETB destroys enchantment, like Soltari Visionary)

Palace Jailer, Fiend Hunter, Fairgrounds Warden, Banisher Priest - all budget; all act as Oblivion Ring for creatures. You can do sacrifice shenanigans with the Fiend Hunter to permanently exile things.

Defender en-Vec - Budget; an old oddball that can play with it’s fading counters to do up to 8 damage prevention, and kill itself doing so (and thus be available for recursion)

Lowland Tracker - Budget; another old oddball. This guy lets you kill the Noble Hierarch that’s been chilling on the other side of the field, or pull an important defender away. Or diplomatically, to let a opponents big creature be available to block.

Mentor of the Meek - Modest, allows you to draw off of most of the creatures in your deck and Alesha’s ability

Palisade Giant and Protector of the Crown - both budget; good meat shields for you

Radiant’s Dragoons - budget; decent lifegain, echo lets it die and be used again

Recruiter of the Guard - Expensive; our first expensive card, and for a good reason - she can tutor most of our deck, and works with Alesha

Stonehorn Dignitary - Budget; use it like it’s in a Brago deck, abuse and shut people down.

(Anything that worked in Brago and is 2<= power is a good choice)

Black

Archetype of Finality - Budget; Deathtouch for the team and take it away from your opponents? Fun toy.

Big Game Hunter - Modest; does a repeatable Smite the Monstrous impression, and has Madness (we do like discarding!)

Bone Shredder - Budget; It kills stuff, and dies easy for using it again next turn

Disciple of Bolas - Modest; sac something, then draw and LG. You’ll probably want to recurr whatever you sac’d, so win-win

Entomber Exarch - Budget; retrieve a creature in the ‘yard, or better Duress an opponent

Gonti - edge of Budget; steal your opponents toys over and over

Marionette Master - Budget; niche artifact usage, token maker

Nekrataal - Budget; backup Bone Shredder

Noosegraf Mob - Budget; solid beater and token creator. 0/0 creatures are a great reason to play Alesha.

Pontiff of Blight - Budget; Bottom heavy mass Extort. Lets you pretend to be an Orzhov deck and play with some life.

Priest of the Blood Rite - Budget; Get it in the yard, pull it out, sac, repeat. 5/5 demon flyers are nothing to scoff at.

Thief of Blood - Budget; Kills ‘Walkers, and weakens or kills +1/+1 reliant creatures. Pulls -1/-1 counters off your team (take that Hapatra!), and while we don’t play with other counters (loyalty, ki, etc), we mess with others who do

Thorn of the Black Rose - Budget; Card draw, deathtouch

Wei Night Raiders - Expensive; Portal 3 card, so super pricey, but it’s basically an unblockable Hypnotic Specter

Hypnotic Specter - Budget; as above, but cheaper and blockable

Raving Dead - Modest; Basically half a kill if it gets through, and Alesha’s ressurection lets you pick the target.

RED

Anarchist - Budget; lets your reuse sorceries like Sieze the Day, or Buried Alive. Alesha’s recursion means not paying the 5 CMC.

Beetleback Chief - Budget; 4/4 over 3 bodies for 2 mana is attractive for sac outlets

Goblin Settler - Obscene; Proxy it, and revel in repeated land destruction

Ignition Team - Budget; Another Conspiracy 0/0, it can come in for cheap and be pretty big midgame. It also makes solid beaters out of lands

Imperial Recruiter - Obscene; Proxy it, and tutor any card you want

Manic Vandal - Budget; toolkit for artifact destruction

Mindclaw Shaman - Budget; steal your opponents spells

Savage Firecat - Budget; enters as a 7/7 trample beater, and you can kill it and bring it back as needed.

Siege-Gang Commander - Modest; better Beetleback Chief with a sac outlet

Yuan-Shao, the Indecisive - Obscene; Proxy it, and have an unblockable creature, and force your creatures to be blocked one on one.

Artifacts

Arcbound X - Budget - Obscene; Pick any of the bigger ones (skip Arcbound Ravager), and you get a good deal. Underpriced (with Alesha’s ability) and nice abilities on death.

Burnished Hart - Budget; good ramp is good, recurrable good ramp is better

Clockwork Dragon - Budget; the biggest clockwork creatures comes in as a 6/6 flyer for 2.

Filigree Familiar - Budget; smaller Solemn Simulacrum that’ll probably be a budget EDH staple.

Solemn Simulacrum - Modest; repeatable value is always good.

Silent Arbiter - Modest; Good defensive option, forces your opponents to block your incoming team with one declared defender. Sac at the end of the turn before yours and repeat.

Triskelion - Budget; Because Walking Ballista doesn’t work in this deck

Workhorse - Budget; Weird ramp? Recur it turn 4 and you have X+2 mana, where X is the amount of normal land drops and getting Alesha T3.

Multicolor

Ankle Shanker - Budget; A brutal combat trick, even played from the hand. Also, the alt art is equally cheap, so check it out.

Ponyback Brigade - Budget; You probably have this lying at the bottom of a box somewhere. 4 bodies with 5/5 power. Makes great fodder for sac effects and Ashnod’s Altar

Sin Collector - Budget; tech against spellslinger decks

Duergar Hedge-Mage - Budget; tech removal against artifacts and enchantments

Flame-Kin Zealot and Resolute Blademaster- Budget; selected combat tricks, to support Ankle Shanker. Compare to the Archetype of X creatures from Theros block for fun combat.

Fulminator Mage - Expensive; Modern staple, and really useful - sac before combat damage for land removal

Master of Cruelties - Pricey; Almost a game win if it gets through.

Lim-Dul’s Paladin - Budget; Does it all - kills itself, can draw a card, is a trampling 6/6 or a 4 life drainer.

(2) Filling the ‘Yard

We want a couple options for filling the yard - discard, self milling, sac’ing enchantments, artifacts, and creatures (and some things that benefit from all the dying.

(A) Entomb & Co.

Corpse Connoisseur does it twice (but doesn’t combo with Alesha), Buried Alive and Entomb are classics. Morality Shift says “screw it, I’ll make my deck my ‘yard.” There are some others, but these are my favorites.

(B) Sac Engines

(Lots of sac engines here)

We like things that sac for free. We want Goblin Bombardment, not Barrage of Expendables.

Free sac effects let us sac things in response to things dying worthlessly in combat, or before a board wipe, or because we want Alesha to recur them. It’s better for something getting Path’d to be in the ‘yard than exiled.

Spawning Pit makes tokens, Viscera Seer scrys, Dimir House-Guard transmutes, recurs, and is a sac outlet, Phyrexian Altar and Ashnod’s Altar are mana makers, Sadistic Hypnotist is just plain mean discard, Martyr’s Cause is a fun for protection and diplomacy,

Attrition is a sac outlet I’m willing to pay B for to use, and is double good with a Grave Pact package, and Shivan Harvest for land removal.

(3) Discard and Milling

Sometimes we wanna self mill, or rummage(Red’s in our colors). Cathartic Reunion is okay, because we get 2 things in the yard. Body Snatcher likes helping entomb and recur stuff. Escalating Collective Brutality, especially early game, fills the ‘yard. Cryptbreaker makes bodies, draws cards, and can come back with Alesha (but will probably die). Wheel of Fortune and co. discard your hand (and everyone elses) and gets you refilled. Cards with Retrace are great, like World at War.

There’s plenty of Discard stuff out there (self milling in Mardu isn’t my forte), use them well

(3) Reanimation Effects

(extra stuff here)

Reveillark loves Alesha’s creatures, and makes the best target for reanimating and sac’ing. Resurrection, False Defeat, and Breath of Life��are very similar white sorceries, and Miraculous Recovery is an instant version. Death or Glory does the whole yard, but takes away the toolbox functionality of your ‘yard. And Marshal’s Anthem is a anthem plus kickable recursion.

Unburial Rites is fiscally cheap, and goes twice. Reanimate, Animate Dead, Beacon of Unrest, Diabolic Servitude - there’s so many black options

Cauldron Dance is an odd trick, getting 2 more creatures on the field, plus whatever Alesha pulls. Crypt Champion always dies when pulled by Alesha, but has a decent effect, and always dying is fine in Grave Pact decks.

THE REST:

For a 3 color manabase I always suggest the Professor. We value mana rocks and dual/tri lands more than a dual or mono deck, so business as usual. We plan on ramping from artifacts, and if needed, white has some “Balance” style Plains ramping, and Black has some Swamp ramping. Feel free to dip into one color more than normal based on the makeup of your deck - more black creatures, add more black mana.

Grave Pack, Butcher of Malakir, Blood Artist & co, make a nice package. If your running sac outlets, you can focus more on token effects to sac your way to victory.

Combat help is nice too - extra combat phases plus things that protect Alesha are good - extra phases like Aurelia and her like, and Iroas, God of Victory, Reconnaissance (also good for saving things Alesha recurs), Boots and Greaves, indestructibility effects like Nahiri’s��Mechanizations and Gift of Immortality.

WEAKNESSES:

GY hate. This deck is Meren-level of GY hate weakness. We can always restock the ‘yard, but it hurts a lot.

Stax/Pillowfort decks hurt a lot - things Voltron decks do well (like hitting for Commander Damage) won’t work for us.

Alesha is also small for a commander that wades into combat. 2 toughness gets killed by Shock, or any effect worse than -0/-2. Some protection is seriously needed - protection equipment package works fine since Alesha has access to White, as well as Reconnaissance is good for triggering Alesha’s ability and retreating out of bad blocking situations.

RATINGS:

Control: 5/10 - Alesha doesn’t favor a control set up, nor does she have abilities that help, but her colors are great for answering anything, as well as board wipes.

Diplomacy: 6/10 - not really equipped for it past “stop attacking me with your resurrected Raving Dead”

Aggro: 9/10 - she not only likes attacking, she recurs things attacking too.

Overall Power: 10/10 - She’s a Tier 1.5 commander, and one of the easiest to learn and abuse.

Versatility: 10/10 - While she does one thing, she has a lot of options stemming from it.

Affordability: 10/10 - She can go super budget, or uber expensive, scaling for your wallet and group power level. She also got reprinted in C16, while already being cheap, so she goes for like a quarter.

Overall Score: 50/60 best commander thus far. She does a lot in a 3 CMC body.

One of the 99: Decent. In most decks not built around her, she’s mostly for recurring utility creatures or things for sac outlets, as well as a lot of Aggro decks.

FINAL VERDICT: Get this card. Even if you can’t build with her right now, or the next 3 years, just get her and put her in your box of bulk rares.

You can build a deck out of an LGS’s draft rejects and go toe to toe with an average pre-con group. She is one well endowed lady.

#MtG #edh #edhatoz #commander #alesha who smiles at death #atoz commander

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evnoweb · 5 years ago

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5 Ways Edtech Enhances Social Studies Lessons

Before I get into how edtech enhances social studies lessons, let’s ask a foundational question: What the heck is Social Studies? If you don’t teach in the United States, this might be a term you aren’t familiar with. According to Wikipedia:

“In the United States education system, social studies is the integrated study of multiple fields of social science and the humanities, including history, geography, and political science.”

Merriam Webster offers this definition:

“…the study of social relationships and the functioning of society, usually made up of courses in history, government, economics, civics, sociology, geography, and anthropology”

At primary levels, this includes history, science, and language arts. In MS and HS, it expands to cover science, mathematics, civics, economics, and maybe geography. According to Brookings, roughly nine percent of educators consider themselves social studies teachers. None arrived with a major in social studies though some did have a “Social Studies Teacher Education” degree. About 40 percent majored in history, political science, economics, or sociology with the rest in varied other degrees.

The goal of social studies is to promote civic competence — the knowledge required to be active and engaged participants in public life and the community. In the past decade, technology has become the disruptive tool of choice among teachers to make what traditionally is a droll collection of subjects energizing and inspiring.

Here are five ways edtech can kick up your social studies program:

Simulations and games

There are lots of social studies-oriented games and simulations. Many I’ve talked about in the past (click for my review of Mission US and Breakout EDU). One of the best to teach government is iCivics. Designed by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connell, it is a series of education-oriented games and simulations that teach otherwise complicated topics about the US Congress, the courts, debate, and more. It is described by many as the nation’s most comprehensive, standards-aligned civics curriculum. The materials are available for free on the Internet and as part of BrainPop subscriptions. It is suitable for middle- and high-school students.

For history, the ever-popular Oregon Trail takes students across the Old West on the rough-and-tumble Oregon Trail. It presents authentic problems settlers would face and simulates the repercussions of their responses.

Click here for more history-oriented games and simulations.

Empatico

Empatico reinforces the concept that empathy for our neighbors begets understanding of their needs and the will to collaborate in finding creative solutions to global problems. Intended for students ages 6-11 and developed by teachers, it provides a free online learning tool designed to help students broaden their worldview through meaningful interactions with peers across the globe. Teachers are provided everything necessary — lesson plans, materials lists, a video conferencing platform, and more — to make this happen.

Google Earth

The amazing Google Earth provides a view of our planet that is both detailed and general in nature. It can be zoomed in or out — even underwater and into space. With a click of the Street View tool, users can drop onto local streets and biking paths for a close-up view of life in that area. Because of its versatility, teachers use Google Earth for too many classroom activities to mention, from history to geography to science, to language arts. It is intuitive enough to be a favorite of my kindergartners and sophisticated enough for my eighth graders. Available online, as a desktop download, and/or as an app, it inspires students to explore the world and think critically about what defines culture and geography. If you haven’t tried this stunningly robust tool, do yourself a favor and click on the link. Right now!

To broaden its scope, Google Earth syncs with a variety of geography and history games like Geoguessr This free game takes students somewhere in the world via Street View and students must identify where they are.

Another excellent Google Earth-inspired game is Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? In this update of an old favorite, players are challenged to find the elusive Carmen Sandiego and solve the associated mystery. Along the way, players learn geography, geopolitics, facts about the location, and gain an understanding of how big this blue-and-green planet of ours is.

Google Cardboard Camera App

For those looking to blend social studies with the excitement of virtual reality, the simple and affordable Google Cardboard is an excellent choice. Once you’ve folded the cardboard device and synced it with your smartphone, you can enjoy an immersive 360-degree 3D experience of a chosen location. Dozens of apps are available to use with Google Cardboard such as virtual field trips through Expeditions and adventures on Discovery Channel.

Financial Literacy

A solid foundation in financial literacy means kids can manage their personal finances, bank accounts, investments, and borrowing in ways that ensure they are able to live within their means, save for future wants and needs, and achieve their personal life goals in a responsible and predictable way. Where this used to be a topic kids learned in the school of hard knocks, now about half of the nation’s high schools require some sort of financial literacy course, often in conjunction with social studies courses. There are several suggestions here but one that’s always a good start is the popular Banzai. Banzai is a personal finance curriculum that teaches high school and middle school students how to prioritize spending decisions through real-life scenarios and by roll playing what-happens-if adventures. Students start the course with a pre-test to determine a baseline for their financial literacy. They then engage in thirty-two life-based interactive scenarios covering everything from balancing a budget to adjusting for unexpected bills like car trouble or health problems. Once they’ve completed these exercises, they are dropped into a situation where they just graduated from high school, have a job, and must save $2,000 to start college.

***

Any of these edtech tools will turn traditional social studies programs into the most popular class in the school, engaging students enthusiastically with knowledge they will use the rest of their lives. Do you have a tech tool you use successfully in your social studies classes? I’d love to hear about it.

–published first on TeachHUB