Hi~

I saw your post about how lolita fashion (and ads for it) have changed in the last few years, especially for Angelic Pretty, and I agree completely!

I think the lack of creative ads these days might be b/c Gothic & Lolita Bible isn't around anymore? (cries) and Kera went purely digital ages ago, I don't know if it's even still around (I should have kept my old Kera magazines). But I remember how I always used to look forward to seeing the clothes and layouts that were featured in the new issues of each magazine.

My favorite when I first got into lolita was from the Wedding issue of the English edition of GLB; a model for Baby was wearing a lovely, tulip print skirt (or was it the jsk?) in blue, holding a parasol and sitting at a cafe table. Something about her looked so sweet and simple; I wanted to be a lolita just like that!

The models in the magazines always looked like they were happy or having fun, which I think is part of what made me want certain dresses or blouses. In AP's current ads, the model just looks... kinda sad and pouty and bored. I've noticed that for a lot of their dresses, they've been skimping on the lace, frills, and ribbons, and there's no more cute hair styles either! Meanwhile, wasn't it AP that brought lolita from old school to New School / OTT sweet when they had models wearing pastel pink / blue wigs for their Mermaid Symphony (iirc) photoshoot back in 2007?

On a different, but kinda related note, I've noticed that in the past 5 years or so AP has been making a lot of dresses with ridiculously high waists.... also so many sack dresses (I know they started doing this back in like 2012 or so with that polka-dot M&M print dress)

Sorry for the long rant, I just really miss the old days of lolita fashion

hello there!

i'm always glad to have some feedback when i post rambles and thoughts on things. i never expect it, so thank you for your input! it's also comforting to know others feel the same way.

i agree that without as many publications in general (especially physical) there's less of a reason to put as much effort into details, like the magazine spreads that were commonly done for example. most people get information on releases online these days, making physical catalogs a bit obsolete.. aside from collectors. i greatly miss all of the graphics and how inspirational everything felt back then, especially the little PNG pictures of items in catalogs.

you're completely right about pictures from GLB's and other magazines looking generally "happier" and more like daily life sort of pictures, like the one in the cafe you mention. that aspect of it appealed greatly to lifestyle lolitas! seeing a dress pictured in a "real life" situation rather than just a plain white background photoshoot picture makes a huge difference. it brings it to life, and makes it a lot easier to see yourself wearing it.

i think a big change in marketing is that AP doesn't cater as much to lifestylers.. and lolitas who are very much interested in the fashion beyond a surface level and see them as more than just clothes. all of the photos now actually feel like advertisements, when they used to also be appealing from a photography perspective. like they're only trying to sell you a product and not an experience, even if only visual. for me, that takes away from it a lot.. it almost feels as though that sense of community, and the acknowledgement that lolita is a subculture, is dwindling.

plus, it's definitely more than just presentation that's changed as you said. i feel as though the designs AP offers have been super uninspired compared to old releases. not as many details, not as much custom lace, and the general silhouettes becoming a bit lazy.. tons more, but i could go on for days. even the revamp and progression of the lyrical bunny mascot has felt a bit soulless. very sad to see, because i do agree that they were the brand to introduce OTT sweet in a revolutionary way.

as much as i gripe about old vs new AP changes, the positive side is that we can still look back fondly on the old era!

and no problem at all! it was nice to hear another perspective on this. ^^

I would also like to point out an inconsistency I feel is present in many of the responses to my Meiji post.

To recap: I claim that during the Meiji restoration, there were many examples of "arbitrary" Westernization in Japan—Westernization that was not necessary for successful industrialization. My paradebeispiele on this point are: the banning of sodomy (and related changes in attitude towards gender and sexuality in light of Western norms), and the slow phasing out of men's kimono in everyday life in favor of Western business attire (which progressed in part by official policy in various sectors and in part by decentralized trend). There were of course also many social and political shifts which happened during the Meiji period which were important for industrialization. My object level claim is merely that many, as exemplified by the above two, were not.

I hope this makes the substantive content (as distinguished from the rhetorical intent) of my writing on the topic more clear.

The inconsistency I see in the responses is as follows: almost everyone who has disagreed with my post has conceded the point that banning sodomy was not necessary for industrial success, and was more broadly not a good thing. However, there has been a great deal of argument on my other points. Despite this seeming consensus among those who disagree with me, no one has attempted to articulate why it is so obvious that banning sodomy was bad and unnecessary, while encouraging men to dress in suit and tie was good and useful.

I can think of one reason that is at least plausible: this is a website full of gay people, and if you say that banning sodomy in an attempt to Westernize was Good, Actually, you're gonna get backlash. Anyone who cares personally very much about the others things to which detriment was brought by Meiji-era Westernization efforts is far away. People who care about the gay stuff are right here.

Maybe this is not the reason for this line of disagreement. I don't know.

But I do feel like there is kind of a trend here—in certain types of, let's say, technocratic left/liberal spaces, people are willing to entertain really quite utopian ideas and really quite laborious norms when the purpose is to accommodate the expression of LGBT identity. But ideas less utopian and norms less laborious for the purpose of accommodating people's feelings of cultural identity are immediately dismissed as unworkable and pointless. Generally I think this springs from the view (sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit) that caring about one's cultural expression to the same degree one cares about e.g. one's gender expression is inherently regressive. There is an easy analogy to TERF arguments here, although I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to draw it.

What I will say is this: there are demonstrably many people who care about "arbitrary" aspects of cultural expression just as much as trans and GNC people care about "arbitrary" aspects of gender expression. Obviously if someone said that an essential part of their gender expression was... getting to kill people, or something, we would not accept that as valid. If someone says that a core aspect of the culture they want to engage in is doing something comparable harmful to others, we needn't accept that. But very many aspects of culture are not of this form. I find it basically hypocritical to be willing to go out of one's way to accommodate a variety of relationships to gender and sexuality but to be so resistant to accommodating a variety of relationships to culture, even when it seems comparably easy to do.

As a final remark to make the discourse easier on me: values-level disagreement with this latter set of points and fact-level disagreement with my claims about Meiji Japan are two related-but-distinct topics, so I will try in my response to any more debate on this front to keep them cleanly distinguished from one another.

How is RPGmaker compared to Unity? Would you recommend it?

I think its difficult to compare RPGMaker to a lot of other game engines. Unity is pretty open ended in what you can make but you gotta know programming, whereas RPGMaker is kinda hard coded to make a very specific type of game very easily and without programming knowledge — the game in question being extremely generic retro JRPGs. If you wanna make something that extends beyond that you are gonna have to mess around a lot with plugins which alter and augment the preexisting structure the engine has in place.

The crazy thing is, RPGMaker (at least MV) is lacking MANY features that it by all means should have. My game doesn’t have a lot of mechanics and was designed around scope in a lot of ways, yet I am legitimately using 70 or so plugins that other people made to make it feel good. Some of those plugins’ functions include -Adding name plates over the characters’ text boxes -Making it so sprites don’t flash in and out when switching -Allowing for ANY kind of complexity in character animations -Giving you any sort of camera control -Hiding combat related UI in the menus. All of this being shit the engine SHOULD support by all means but for whatever reason it just doesn’t

I think if you’re someone who knows a lot about programming, the engine is probably gonna feel kinda bad and itd probably just be easier and less frustrating to build a lot of functionality from the ground up in an engine like Unity, GameMaker, or Godot. If you lack some experience and feel pretty confident that your game can reasonably fit within what the engine is capable of then RPGMaker is probably a good choice. And personally despite the lack of features being frustrating at times, I find myself having a lot of fun with the goofy wraparound method of problem solving you have to use and have found myself making some really cool creative decisions by working within the engine’s limits

It definitely helps a lot to know programming fundamentals either way (I’m not great but I have some experience with Java and C# and I feel like it’s been very helpful with managing project structure) so that’s something I’d recommend looking into either way if you’re not too acquainted

And I’ve mentioned it but again. Since RPGMaker is so limited you definitely DEFINITELY want to plan your project very heavily around scope especially if you don’t have much confidence that you can really delve into JavaScript programming. For example I wouldn’t recommend planning for complex UI - you will fuckin hate yourself for that. And if you’re adding combat you’re gonna wanna be super realistic about it. What I did to plan around scope was play ~10 different RPGMaker games sorta like what I wanted like to be before I started getting too many concrete ideas about what my game would look like so I could get a pretty solid idea of what was doable and mold my plans around that

Also I wanna point out - most tedious, large scope thing about my game is by far the character animations. Once I figured out just how itd work it wasn’t too bad but is still a bit annoying - but know I worked in a very very wraparound way that is way way way more involved than most — or hell, ANY RPGMaker games I’ve seen. It’s doable, can be really worth it if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, and is something I’d be happy to explain if anyone was interested. BUT i feel the need to make it clear that complex animation is very much not at all a baseline functionality of the engine since it might be easy to assume otherwise with how much it’s used in my own game

Apologies if that was long but I love talking about this stuff, and if anyone is interested I am always happy to talk about and answer any questions about my process especially with RPGMaker in mind :D

hi! do you have any general advice for the toxel line?

The toxel line. A difficult pokemon to start with, but fairly worth the effort involved.

General notes: The toxel line is very high need, particularly at the start of its life. Though many disparage it as being "selfish" the toxel is. Well. A baby. It's small, vulnerable and relies on others to look after it. Of course it yelps for attention.

General care: Toxel have a reputation for throwing tantrums when frustrated, and the best practice is to remove them from the situation and take them somewhere else to calm down.

Toxel have poisonous skin, and like to be carried, especially when tired. You'll need gloves and an apron when handling this pokemon. They're also electric typing, and can administer small jolts when startled.

They're fairly easy to feed, and have strong immune systems, allowing them to filter out impurities from their food and water. You might try and feed them only good food, but they have a reputation for sneaking off and putting whatever they can find in their mouths. Just try and keep a balanced diet and lock up anything really poisonous behind a child lock. There's only so much you can do and they're determined little guys.

Toxel are as close as any pokemon can get to human toddlers. Good luck.

Toxtricity is when things get interesting. A fairly difficult combination of electricity and poison already makes them tough to care for, and then there's the matter of the two variants. It can be very hard to determine what your toxel is going to evolve into. Try and keep an eye on its personality, which seems to have an impact. If your toxel bold, loud and in your face? It's likely to be the amped version. Is it quiet, nervous and prone to clinging to your leg around strangers? It may be the low key version.

The amped version is a lot to handle. Like a mankey, it doesn't like eye contact much, and can get aggressive. It's also much louder. The organs on a toxtricitys chest generate sound when struck, and they're one of the rare pokemon that make music. The amped version is loud and striking, and has been compared to the electric guitar.

The low key version is less aggressive, but also prouder and prone to showing off and grandstanding. The sounds it makes are comparable to a bass guitar.

With their love of music, toxtricity are often used by underground punk bands as back up players. I've yet to meet one that didn't adore this, and it's an excellent form of enrichment and socializing.

Toxel aren't as unpleasant as people make them out to be, but you will have your hands full. Care rating: Red

Training: Taking it to something like Little Cup when it's a toxel is a very good idea, as the adult forms can be difficult to train. Starting it young makes your life so much easier, and can also help wear it out so you can get some sleep. If trained with care and patience, they can be pretty good battlers, but have a slight tendency to be somewhat self absorbed, so I don't recommend them for service pokemon.

Listening to music is something many of them love, so using their favourite band as a training reward is a pretty good idea. They're smart pokemon, and quickly make the connection between doing well on training sessions and getting to listen to their favourite punk band.

Even so, they're not the easiest pokemon to train. Training rating: Orange

Safety: Oof. Poison and electricity. Two tricky types in one.

The toxel is part poison type, and as suggested in the care section should be handled with gloves. The poison isn't strong, but it causes tingling and numbness on contact. If you come into contact, was it off quickly with warm water and a gentle soap. A single layer of clothing can prevent this, however.

When they evolve things become harder. Their shocks become much. much stronger. Rubber matting on the floor is essential to help ground shocks. With their poison skin and ability to generate up to 15 000 volts (the highest amount recorded in lab testing) this pokemon is for healthy, experienced trainers only. Safety rating: Red

Overall ranking. Though its reputation as selfish and attention seeking is a little overhyped, there's no denying this pokemon is a tough one to care for. With a strong personality and a dangerous type combination, you really need to know what you're doing.

But it's rather fun to hear them having a little jam session together.

Since I’m not asking to be hypnotized or something, I think this is at least mostly appropriate: are there any tips that you have for a beginner hypnotist? I have a beginner’s guide, and am making my first audio file.

This is a list of things I wish I knew early on in my hypnotist experience. I've separated them into sections with titles for easier reading. That said, this is a long post, so I've included a TL;DR at the bottom if you're in a rush.

1 - Confidence can be very helpful!

One of the biggest things I can say for someone just starting out is that you should have confidence in yourself! If you've ever done improv, you will know that rolling with mistakes is part of the fun. This applies to specifically live sessions, but if you're just making files, being confident helps too. A surprising amount of individuals will drop into trance if you're simply assertive.

There's one style of induction that I occasionally use that gaslights someone into dropping. It's really effective when it works, specifically because people trust what you say when you have authority in your voice, fake or not.

Naturally, confidence doesn't just drop everybody into trance and learning induction techniques is essential, so understand that when you learn a hypnotic method of some sort, it's a tool in your toolbox that you can apply to the right situation.

Because people are different and sometimes certain methods are more or less effective, it's good to have lots of knowledge and learn as much as you can so you can use the right tool for the job!

2 - Live and learn!

While this is just general life advice and can apply to multiple things, it's worth mentioning that if you make mistakes or don't know enough to hypnotize someone and they don't drop, it's not the end of the world. Think about how you can improve rather than getting down about the idea that you did something wrong. Being a hypnotist can be very demanding, so don't push yourself too hard just to gain subjects or something similar.

3 - Rapport is important!

Rapport, or a relationship in which you both trust each other enough to communicate your feelings clearly, is very important. If you want to hypnotize someone, gain their trust. Some people will throw themselves at you without wanting to know anything about you or share anything about themselves. Honestly, it's not worth the effort for people like this, and you should just let them listen to your files if they want hypnosis from you.

Why is this? Hypnosis is very BDSM adjacent in that it is something that can greatly deepen a relationship if both parties are consenting and eagerly doing so. Imagine hypnosis to be like a rope you're tying someone up with. If they don't trust you, or you don't trust them, tying the rope tightly will be difficult, and the experience will be lackluster for both people.

I know what you may be thinking. "How do I gain some random stranger's trust?" And the answer to that is simple! Just be a good person. I know it sounds weird, like, "Hey, I'm already doing that." But it's important to just... be polite. Put the effort in to create a pleasant interaction and they will (usually) do the same.

4 - Learn what you can!

There's lots of books out there that you can find and read. The internet is very helpful, but I've been told that "The Brainwashing Book" by sleepingirl is a helpful resource. Also, while it seems strange, books designed to teach you how to talk to people more effectively (usually directed at businesspeople or salespeople) can be very helpful as well. Clear communication is important, and there are some vaguely hypnotic things you can learn about language and communication in general.

Just by reading this you're already taking steps in the right direction! It's very bite sized compared to books you will read but I'm fairly certain that this information will be helpful.

5 - Don't forget about consent!

Contrary to popular belief, you can (kind of) make people do things they don't want to do. It's a very long process, and involves changing what they actually want so that when you hypnotize them to do it they "wanted it all along," but this is generally to be avoided unless you're doing some sort of cnc play with someone who trusts you a lot. That said, people can shorten the process by throwing themselves at you, and very eager or less informed hypnosis enthusiasts are easier to take advantage of. Sometimes. (People are different, with different brains and different thoughts!)

That said, it's very important to only do what you have permission to do. And don't ask for permission when they're already hypnotized! That'd be like asking someone for something while they are drunk or otherwise inebriated. Ensure that both people know what is going to happen in the "scene" (the hypnosis session, the trance, etc) so that both of you can enjoy it fully without issue!

Worst comes to worst, set up a safe word. While it can be difficult to safe word while entranced (for some people), it is possible and doable, so if you want to "surprise" someone make sure you give them a way to stop the trance if they need to.

6 - You are a person too!

While it's fun to take on the role of an all-powerful hypnotist and let people put you on a pedestal, sometimes you want to get down from the pedestal and just be a normal person. In the past, I personally have found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that I have needs too, but even if you don't struggle with that, it's an important reminder that, hey, you're not a trance dispenser!

If you set up a session properly, there will be time for trance and time for just... talking! Hypnosis is an excellent common interest to find similarly kinky friends, and friends are the best people to hypnotize.

7 - Closing word

At the end of the day, you're a person with your own ideas about what you want to do and how you want to do it. But I'm confident that you will take my advice to heart, because you were seeking it to begin with! Feel free to discard anything you disagree with or otherwise don't need, but I hope I was able to help in some way.

If anyone ever has any questions about hypnosis, I'm typically quite happy to answer them. Feel free to ask in my ask inbox or in my dms! It doesn't bother me if you stick to anon, but I'm always looking for more hypnosis friends.

Thanks for reading!

Or, if you didn't read, here's the TL;DR:

Be confident in everything you do- even if you doubt yourself, puff out your chest and smile. It helps!

You'll probably make mistakes, as everyone does, but as long as you learn from those mistakes, they were never really mistakes to begin with.

Hypnotizing friends and people you trust is far superior to hypnotizing random people on the internet. However, random people on the internet can quickly become a friend that you trust, with simple conversation!

Always keep an eye out for more hypnosis info, be it from books, posts like this one, or even learning from scripts/files.

Consent is hot and essential.

Don't let people put you on a pedestal for longer than you're comfortable being on said pedestal.

And of course-

Don't forget to have fun!

Cheers! <3

Rachel,

I have a few questions if you don’t mind:

1. How do you get comfortable writing the story of your heart? I’ve been pushing off big story ideas that I want to write so that I can get better at writing. But like what if that’s making me feel less motivated or am I just being annoying about it? Maybe I should just suck it up and practice something easier because I honestly don’t have the skills for a complex novel idea.

2. Do you ever look at other writers progress and process and feel bad about your own? Because I’ve been feeling like that a lot lately and trying to adapt to every writers process is impossible and not fun. But I’m stifled by the fear of doing things wrong even though there’s not really a “wrong” way to write.

3-4. I want to participate in nano but I’m a student so it’s going to be a challenge. Since you also were a student do you have any tips? I’ve heard from others that I should just give up writing while in school and every time it hurts, even though I know they don’t mean me any harm. I just want to know if it’s really impossible. So I guess this really is a 2 part question: Do you have any time management tips for writing as a student and do you have any tips for starting nano for the first time?

Hi hi hi!

1. Tbh, my best advice is just to write what you want. If that’s the hard thing, then go for the hard thing. I skirted around difficult projects thinking I didn’t have the skill set for them but that just led me to never writing them. The truth is you’re always going to be missing something before writing a project—writing is an evolutionary art form for that reason, so it’s intrinsic that we learn and fail as we go.

2. I don’t really feel bad when comparing myself to other writers but this probably is mostly because I generally don’t have negative self-talk anymore (IDK WHERE IT WENT LOL) but you’re absolutely not alone in this feeling (& I know I’ve felt this way in the past). You’ve got it right that there’s no one process, and tbh, the thing you might have to do is just constantly remind yourself of that when writing in order to push through. A lot of the time if writing is sticking for me for a more abstract reason like this I have to grit my teeth and keep reminding myself it’s okay to be imperfect, etc.

3. To be verrrryyy honest with you, I struggled to balance writing & school and while I don’t think you have to give up writing while being a student, something a lot of the times naturally has to give since being a student is so time consuming. Not to be discouraging at all but just as a precursor because I was never able to successfully do NaNo when I was in school (not even in high school) EXCEPT for in 2022, and that was for a couple reasons. Mostly, I just put school on the back burner haha. I’m not recommending this but at that point in my degree I was tired of how I was being treated & not being able to prioritize my own writing & I started to push the boundaries of my academics to see how much I could let go in order to write. This is not something I responsibly recommend, but it’s what I did. I wrote a lot in lectures (….. oops lol) & pulled back a bit on assignments (I still did as well as I typically do which is when I realized for me I could put in less effort into school & get the same results—just MY experience, again not a recommendation).

So I’m not saying it’s impossible but I don’t want to make it seem like I was able to juggle both. I wasn’t lol! I skipped classes, I BS’d assignments & that’s bc school wasn’t my priority anymore (this was 100% best for my mental health & I surprisingly academically performed the best I ever have & also graduated #1 in my faculty BUT I thrive off of chaotic timetables & doing things when I’m not supposed to lol, so again not a recommendation & just context as to how I did it).

Otherwise, a couple things I did: edited late at night when I was too tired to draft & added words through line level edits. Used scene ideas from old books & propagated them into the new book. Prepped a little in advance by drafting (or you could outline) so I knew where I was going. Got ahead by 1k as much as I could. It also helped that I was at the exact right place at the exact right time to do nano (literally got right to the climax at the very end), so a lot of my success I think was also luck.

My biggest tip for starting NaNo for the first time is to be open for your expectations to change & to listen to yourself as you go because a word count isn’t worth your mental health! If you can plan around busy days that can also help too. November was always the worst month for deadlines when I was in school, so if you’re falling behind it’s soooo okay! Have fun with it—NaNo isn’t supposed to be stressful, so if it is it’s okay to amend the goal to suit your lifestyle! :)

I saw your post about how the characters in Trigun were basically reduced to tropeified versions of themselves in Trigun Stampede, and it just made me think of something that’s been rattling around in my brain since it first started airing; it seems as though with reworking different elements for TriStamp, almost every effort was taken to conform it to generic anime tropes as possible to make it more digestible to a modern anime audience, using whatever’s popular among the mainstream anime scene right now. Which is especially feasible since in its first run Trigun flopped in Japan but became a cult hit in the west.

The reduction of the Christian symbolism and the spaghetti western aesthetic to go for a much more sci-fi angle, the “generification” if you will, of the characters and their dynamics like making Vash a stock sad softboi protagonist, Wolfwood a typical edgy tsundere, Meryl the token cutesy uwu waifu whose main job is to look cute and fawn over the protagonist like a schoolgirl (despite being, what, 23? barf), Knives being a yandere obsessed with his brother, Elendira being turned into one of the worst anime tropes in existence, turning Rem into the classic dead mom trope, etc etc…

It all feels like it deliberately panders to whatever Studio Orange must feel like modern anime audiences are looking for, especially when it comes to the shipping side, with Vash and Wolfwood’s dynamic being reduced to a teenage Yaoi shippers bad fanfic(honestly, that scene where Vash makes goo-goo eyes at Wolfwood is a textbook yaoi fanfic scene), and whatever is going on with Vash and Knives. It’s no coincidence that the amount incest fanart of Vash and Knives has skyrocketed since TriStamp premiered.

To me it also speaks to a larger issue e in anime; homogeny. Many mainstream anime in the modern anime scene are becoming increasingly bland and samey while unique, nuanced stories are either being swept under the rug or becoming sleeper hits and relegated to the “underrated” category because they aaren’t as hyped up as more mainstream fare.

It ultimately makes me sad because Trigun and everything that makes it unique among anime combined with Orange’s animation could have made for something truly unique among the anime scene, but every effort was made to homogenise it and water it down to the point where it feels like just another sci-fi anime.

Yeah, Trigun Stampede very much feels like "We're going to remake this so it's a POPULAR anime" and the fact that large groups of people are so defensive of it kind of speaks to how successful it was at that task. Part of me doesn't want to be TOO antagonistic towards it, cuz after years of watching anime dancing non-comittally around "should we REALLY care about fangirls as an audience," every piece of media that DOES go hard in for "yeah we're going to give them exactly what they want" feels like a long-in-coming feast. But at the same time, even though I do enjoy shipping characters in Trigun, making them into flattened, tropey versions of themselves to do it feels way less enjoyable. The biggest tell for me was how many instances of fanart I saw comparing Tristamp Wolfwood's threats towards Vash to the scene in Princess Mononoke where San threatens Ashitaka but all he can do is call her beautiful. That a more nuanced Vashwood ship of differing philosophies but steadfast friendship turning into a romance just gets turned into a standard tsundere/taming of the shrew type pairing feels like something was lost in the quest for an easier, more popular shipping dynamic.

I brought home the Skoda Octavia L&K in November of 2021. Since day one I am in love with this car, the car seems overpriced to a lot of people but the Octavia has to be the most beautiful car in Indian market. The 2.0 liter TSI petrol with snappy 7 speed DSG gearbox is so much fun, the almost imperceptible upshifts seamlessly stitch the power curve to deliver one linear and uninterrupted shove.

Design: You can’t get enough of this design, we are not looking at some crazy road presence or tall huge vehicles it’s just a simply good design which gives that premium feels for every buck you paid for it. It compliments a professional looks like a business car.

The more than enough ground clearance of Octavia surprisingly doesn’t disturb its sports sedan look. This elevated design also reflects in the electric tail gate it goes all the way up from the rear

screen, SUVs are doing this for years but it’s too cool when a sedan does it. It’s easier for boot access. This car is fierce inside out, the cabin is full of stitched soft touch materials and the interior lighting looks amazing with the ambient lighting which can be individually adjusted. This car makes a remark and stands out you will feel the work and effort invested for this design.

Drive: This car will make you smile whenever you have a straight open road. Around the corners the car is great many didn’t find it as good as its previous generation but I come from the XUVs and the Kodiaqs of this worlds, hence any sedan can impress me there. The ride quality is good as the suspension is softened up, which slightly decreases the handling confidence.

The shift by wire technology with this gear selector takes some to get used to. The virtual cockpit of this car is also great works very well. I just love the two-spoke design and the quality of the switchgear, especially the knurled roller controller. Also Octavia has park assist so it can park itself, shockingly too good at it. This car has some really bright and fancy light.

Comfort: The ride is great there is adequate space in the rear but the most comfortable seats are obviously driver and pillion passenger seat. They get memory functions and electric adjust it’s a good place to be. The space at rear is way less than its SUV competition, but hey you saw that coming right? It has the best air conditioner I have ever used the seats are very nice comfortable. The comfort aspect for me is not complete if there isn’t a great fragrance in the car, that’s why I use the involve origin aurum, It makes me feel comfortable and calm while driving and neatly complements the cars comfort level. You can get yours at involveyoursenses.com .

The ambient lighting calms you downand the canton music system has no comparison what so ever. This car gets sunshade for both windows at the rear and also a manual sunshade for the rear screen. 2 USB C at the rear and 2 at the front with a wireless charger, wireless android auto and apple carplay. The car itself doors are strong with thick windows outdoor noise cancellation works very well in this car. We know there can’t be a perfect car. Sunroof is major miss here, this car has an amazing roof I love it but sunroof is must at this point. Rear seat are bit too close to ground. ADAS features are also missing in this car which is a bit disappointing, it has auto braking before collision, the car sometimes brakes on its own at low speeds even when there’s nothing ahead. The infotainment system good but too many controls are in that screen temperature controls are also in that system.

It’s a bit different too operate at first. With a 600 liter boot space this car can fulfill all your business and personal needs of boot. This car is elegant it doesn’t want to be like anyone and stands out very well, reflects what the Czech car maker wanted to convey. Is it overpriced? Depends to which car you are comparing it to. That will be lot of argument and this car misses a lot of things that a car at such price point should come with. Yet it’s the best business family car, trust me this car actually feels like success and to make it smell like success don’t forget to check out involve your senses origin aurum at involveyoursenses.com

If your only argument against someone talking about the rampant elitism issue in gaming communities is "skill issue", you're part of the problem.

I'm by no means a low-skill player. I'm looking out for the people who are.

FPS and rhythm game communities are, by far, the worst about elitism that I've ever experienced. I myself am a rather skilled 4key player compared to the average population; I know a lot of people who are either just bad at rhythm games or are physically incapable of playing harder ones. Adding multiple difficulties - for disabled or low-skill players - is a staple to games, and saying the “only” way to play a game is to play it on hard difficulty is just stupid.

You wouldn’t force everyone to play Minecraft on solely hardcore survival. Not everyone should be forced to only play Pokemon in nuzlocke mode or competitive online battling. These arguments fall apart when it’s about anything but rhythm games - hard mode is not for everybody, and there’s a reason most rhythm games like osu! and Beat Saber come packed with multiple difficulties of the same chart/beatmap.

Lately I’ve been seeing a rampant overrunning of elitism in entry-level games, such as FNF. FNF is one of the easiest, most user-friendly rhythm games in existence at the moment, and can help new rhythm gamers get into harder games like notITG or osu!mania. People are arguing against adding easier difficulties for games in general, but especially in FNF mods, where the modern demographic is skilled players and not entry-level rhythm gamers who want to try something new. There’s very few and far between choices for entry-level players, and refusing to add alternate difficulties for them is lazy at best.

Not to mention, the obsession with “hard” being the default difficulty, propagated by the base game’s “hard” being the default. In most games, “normal” is the difficulty most players would play on- hence the name. FNF has not normalized it as “easy, normal, and challenge”, it’s “easier, easy, and normal”. There’s a stigma against playing on lower difficulties which drives away people with lower skill level or ability to even play in the first place.

The Camellia mod is an excellent example of doing the easy-normal-hard steps right. Easy is easier for lower-skilled players. Normal is the difficulty an average player would be able to play or FC. And the Hard difficulty is challenge mode, for more skilled players wanting a challenge. It was frequently bashed for being too difficult, because players aren’t used to seeing Normal being within their skill level and Hard being out of it.

Do easy and normal charts stink in most FNF mods? Yes. They do in the base game too. But that’s not fault of the genre, that’s fault of the charters who design them. They don’t actually make the charts easier, they just remove notes and make it unfun and clunky to play. In other rhythm games this is different, recharting the song entirely to make the patterns and notes less intense. Making lower difficulties is also an important skill to have, and is much more than just increasing or decreasing numbers in a game.

Accessibility is a crucial part of game development, so please put in the effort to implement it.

My source is THAT I MADE IT THE FUCK UP the fact that literally every gacha is designed this way. Just google "Gacha economy design" and you will get dozens of articles, reports, and "developer guides" detailing how the cornerstone of gacha is controlling player progression to the point they have no actual control over what they can do while still allowing enough that they feel like they can express themselves.

Also I recommend looking at James-Stephanie Sterling's work in general for how this kind of thing permeates big budget game design as a whole these days, with most taking direct inspiration from eastern markets such as gacha and Korean MMOs

oh thats what you mean! yeah i understand that. Like you said that's how it works, I wasn't doubting that part of it i AM a game developer lmao

It's kind of a grey area though. Yes certain things are done by design but to say that "x thing didn't happen because they're controlling us more" isn't necessarily true. however It's also not necessarily untrue.

FGO in recent years has been suffering from (more than reasonably) trying to push out as much new content and limited content, as possible. new content and limited content (moreso NEW limited content) are huge money-makers. reruns...not so much.

an event that was not a super smash-hit is not going to be worth the time and effort (read: money) to rerun. on top of the financial burden from workload, there's just not enough to suggest last year's players would sink their money into a rerun gacha--they'd pass it up to hold out for the new event and new servants instead. when comparing the two, a new event is gonna yield greater profit for less work. No game developer is going to go through with the less profitable option!

But beyond that, if FGO wanted to control player progression to the point that you're making it out to be, they wouldn't bother giving us updates packed with more resources for progression. On the contrary, their entire drive for the last year has been to make it easier for players to progress. that is not to say player progression isn't controlled, it is. but it's not some Keep Resolute Control Over The Playerbase kind of deep thing

uuhhh but basically, you're right. it is money driven. because that's how gachas work. obviously

but at the same time, it is not so black and white.

Different Types of Spell Casting/Weaving

We’ll start with Wizardos…

Pyromancer-instead of having a book type Grimoire, pyromancers will oft carry a Glyph Lantern, Candlestick, Torch, etc. This Lantern would have to be crafted by a Master Enchanter or Master of Arcane Smithing. That being said, most Dwarven Master Smiths are so immensely skilled, they can craft a far superior Glyph Lantern compared to any other mortal arcane smith and WITHOUT the need for arcane knowledge. This is because dwarves literally put their heart and soul(and by default, a bit of their magic) into everything they craft. The problem is just finding a dwarf who cares enough about ya to craft something for ya. ANYWAYS, the lantern is designed to constantly generate an amorphous and flame (fire that has not yet decided what type of fiery reaction it’s going to be). This makes it much, MUCH easier to cast any and all fire-based spells with far less effort and concentration required. Glyph Lanterns are sentient (like all Grimoires) and can manifest a fiery familiar to automatically defend their Wizard and assist with some spells. Pyromancy is extremely popular as it is both practical for combat, but also flashy and good for entertainment. Fire will always be a Wizard’s best friend 👍. Pyro Glyphs are also the the most essential element in most, if not all, healing spells. The generation of heat is required to reinvigorate cell growth and whatnot. Pyros will be able to turn their Aethflame into healing heat that’s absorbed by the cells, burns away sickness and boosts regeneration. As with all Aether-based healing, it heals your body at the expense of your total vitality. Essentially, you’re sacrificing time off you’re total lifespan to heal in the moment.

One would think ice wizardry would be a branch of Hydromancy WRONG!!! Aether cares not for YOUR logic, it functions on the logic of dreams made real. *clears throat* That being said, it kinda makes sense since the Pyro is simply turning the Aethflame inside out. An inverted blaze that absorbs all nearby heat, effectively freezing targets. Pyromancers are usually well studied in the fields of alchemy and witchcraft, as these skills allow them to craft an unlimited number of reactants for their Aethflame.

Electromancers- the favored class of Wizardry for duelists. They tend to stick to tradition, wielding Glyph staves or wands with a targeting glyph scopes attached. Lightning is by far the most practical battle arcana as it is relatively easy to cast, unbelievably fast, and exceedingly lethal upon a successful hit. Electro Glyphs are also the key components of enchantment wizardry, allowing the wizard to effect objects on a molecular level. They can change the objects form, give temporary life to inanimate objects, or leave reactive traps inside the target. The most common use obviously being to simply encrypt nonmagical objects with quasi-magical effects and activatable abilities.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

You’re easy to talk to. You’re kind. You’re considerate. You’re accepting. You’re gentle and you make me feel safe. You’re goofy. You’re genuine. You’re comfortable and you ensure my comfort. You are everything I have ever wanted. You’re worth waiting for. You’re my brand of perfect.

I am romanticising again. I know I am. There’s no way I’m not, but I can’t shake the feeling that I might just be overthinking myself into letting you go before you’re even mine to hold. Honestly, even when I touch you it feels different. Like more, but also...less. More intimate, more real, more safe. Less stressful, less intimidating, less heavy. Physical touch is intimate, even the minor ones. But I think that’s specific to you. Or heightened with you. I don’t feel the same intimacy when I accidentally touch anyone else. But I brush up against your arm and I immediately want to do it again. To feel the warmth of your skin against mine for just a moment longer. I find myself looking for excuses to touch your hands. Unlock my phone while you’re holding it, give you high fives, hand hugs, compare hand sizes. I crave the ability to hold you. Even just by the hand. You always end the night with more than one hug. One isn’t enough for either of us. I find comfort in knowing that. In assuming that, really. I can’t tell you how much I want to hold on to you and never have to let go. At least for the night.

 You are comfort. You are safety. You are security. You make me feel secure. You make me feel like I can breathe. You go out of your way to make me feel comfortable, both in our environment and in my own skin. You are just a genuinely good human being. You make me want to be a better human being just by existing. You don’t force me to be better, you inspire me to choose better. And that’s the difference. The difference between you and everyone else. You have shifted my mindset without even trying. Without being able to fully fathom the weight that you hold over me. Without wanting it. That might be the reason you feel safe. I could give you my whole soul and even if you didn’t want it, you would value it. You wouldn’t break it. Even if you had to hand it back to me, you would do so with the upmost care. I am coming to you after spending years of my life being reminded that I am an afterthought. I am without value because I come last. But not with you. You make sure I know that I am valued. And I know that is true of every relationship in your life, not just me, but that doesn’t change how it makes me feel to know that with you, I am safe. 

Knowing you’re worth my time and effort and energy doesn't make things easier. Not knowing where you stand makes things even harder. And the combination of knowing I need to set boundaries until I figure out what your intentions are with me, while simultaneously wanting every part of you, makes everything even harder still. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I am worthy of you. I have a tendency to settle. I settle in romantic relationships, my career, friendships, life in general. But you certainly wouldn’t be a settle. You would be an upgrade, even from myself. Even if we don’t work this out and I don’t ever date you...you are my new standard. I need someone who makes me feel this way. This amount of comfortable. This amount of safe. This amount of secure and serene and this deep rooted sense of acceptance. I never realised how much I wanted someone to take care of me. It hasn’t happened, so I can’t say for sure, but your energy feels like you would be the type of person who would hold things together and allow me to fall apart. In big ways and small ways. You would allow me to stand in my feminine energy and allow myself to be cared for. Not only financially, but emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Typically, I am the person providing this energy for my partners, but I have never felt this sense of security from anyone before. Certainly not a man. You are a kind of special that I can’t explain. A kind of special that you don’t even notice. I hope you allow me to be the person to show you how wonderful you are, because I genuinely don’t think you know.

-M

Plant care for dummies

Not everyone is born with a green thumb and not everyone is a natural gardener who will grow the most attractive and healthy urban garden. So, while being able to buy gardening plants online has become ever so easy, taking care of the same plants may be a whole new and different ballgame altogether. We feel your pain when a loving green doesn’t make it not due to lack of effort but due to lack of know-how which is why we thought it best to help you out with some easy, basic, and simple gardening tips and tricks to ensure that your plant babies don’t just survive, but actually thrive.

Research before you bring home a plant

Before you bring home your new plant, take a few minutes and do a quick Google search for your plant and its needs. Some trendy plants will look gorgeous but will have specific needs that might be too much work for newbies. Other plants may need huge amounts of humidity or long periods of bright light. If you live in a different climate, chances are your home’s air will be too dry and the only way tropical plants will survive is if you use a humidifier. Too much work if you ask us.

Don’t rush to repot

When you first bring home your new plant from the online nursey, keep it in it’s grow pot for a while. It’s been growing in perfect nursery conditions for some time, so bringing it home will be enough of a shock at first. Allow your new houseplant to get used to its new home and adjust. Plus, more indoor plants like being snug and rootbound than you would think.

Less Water is More

One of the biggest mistakes people make when caring for plants indoors is overwatering them! Most plants will generally do way better with too little water than with too much. Think of it this way – it’s always easier to give them more water than to take away too much water. Compared to outdoor plants, indoor plants are dealing with less direct sunlight and heat, and no wind – meaning they don’t dry out as fast. You can usually tell the difference between overwatering and underwatering pretty easily. If the plant foliage and stems are limp and wilted, this means it’s suffering from too much water. Conversely, if the leaves feel crispy, dry, or delicate, then this is a signal that your plant needs more water.

Clay Pots are the best

Using a clay pot is probably the easiest trick to growing indoor plants and keeping them healthy. They dry out the soil faster by pulling away excess moisture from the soil. Most beginner houseplant parents tend to over water their plants at first, so using a terracotta pot (instead of plastic or metal) is like an added step of protection. Plus, when you use a clay pot, it’s easy to tell when your plant needs water. The soil will start to pull away from the sides of the pot. You can buy plant pots online from Ultima Gardening in both clay and other materials.

Regular Maintenance

It’s normal for mature and bottom leaves to turn yellow and slowly die off. I recommend pruning these back to help direct more energy into helping your plant grow instead of trying to keep the dying leaf alive. You can do this year-round. Plants also like haircuts! Pruning them back can help shape your plant before it gets too out of hand. Ultima Gardening is an online gardening store that sells both plants and easy and affordable maintenance packages.

Just a not-so-normal day

I think my 28th birthday sucks. 

I’ve been trying it not to suck but it does. 

Not because shitty things had happened. 

It sucks because it makes me realize how celebrating it isn’t how it used to be.

It sucks because I’m not as young, as happy, as enthusiastic as I used to be... as I want to be.

It makes you realize how much things have changed. How much you’ve become distant from different people you used to be emotionally attached with.

It sucks because somehow I still don’t exactly know why it sucks.

I don’t feel anything special about it. 

But I want to. 

I expect it to be.

But it isn’t. 

I’m trying to be optimistic about the whole thing because my day just started and it’s just 11 AM, but something really feels different. 

I cannot pin point what exactly it is. 

It's like people around you are just greeting you for the sake of doing so. 

I wanna stop feeling that way towards it though. 

Because, of course, there’s also that huge possibility that they really love me and that they genuinely care about this supposed-to-be-special day. 

And that them not greeting me does not mean that they care less about me. Maybe it just means that they are just people who also have their own shit to worry about.

It’s tough though. Also very emotionally draining. Expecting people to show the same level of enthusiasm as when they did years back.. but also knowing that in the present time they are already going through so much to even worry about this day that isn’t theirs to celebrate so you end up trying to restrain everything. 

You worry so much trying not to be a bother to other people but you also want  them to make an effort celebrating it with you. This is weird.

I don’t mean to invalidate my loved ones’ efforts to make this day memorable for me. I’m just saying it’s not hard to compare it with the ones I’ve had before because those are a whole lot different.

Is this part of adulting that I’m supposed to accept and deal with or am I looking for a level of affection that is too much to ask at the present time? Probably... Probably. 

I am very thankful and happy that I get to spend another birthday with my family and people who are very dear to me. I am thankful for my life, but mostly for their lives. They make mine much much more meaningful and easier to live.

Maybe I just have to let go of this idea that I have in my head of how birthdays are supposed to be like. Of how birthdays are used to be. Maybe that’s when I’ll appreciate more what’s in front of me now.

It’s just sad to see how most people become less and less enthusiastic about celebrating birthdays in general. Maybe this is just a phase... secretly hoping this is just a phase.

Know the Factors That Influence Effective Ecommerce Web Development

Know the factors that influence effective Ecommerce Web Development

Everyone is moving toward e-commerce in the business world of today. E-commerce is just the practice of buying and selling products and services online. Creating an idea and an eCommerce web application development for your business is simple. People actually do it every day. However, because of the intense competition in business, only a few succeed. Running a successful business requires more than just having a good idea; you must put in a lot of effort.

It might be challenging to identify all the factors that can affect an e-commerce company’s performance. Different strategies have been employed by entrepreneurs to launch their companies, but few have been successful.An eCommerce website should, in general, be optimized for sales.

Less Loading Time

It’s disheartening to learn that if your website takes longer than three seconds to load, you may lose 40% of your visitors. As a result, you must ensure that your digital team is familiar with all the best practices for creating quick-loading websites. A slow website not only turns away potential customers but can also harm your position in Google search results. Use a program like GTmetrix to test load times before launching your eCommerce website.

Type of Website

Web development offers a wide range of options. The approaches we take when developing an e-commerce website or an application are different from those we take when, for instance, starting a personal blog. The most common content management system, WordPress, is likely what you need for a project including a blog, but for an e-commerce web development company, someone with expertise in PrestaShop or Magento will be better able to satisfy your needs. Finally, your organization might require the building of a custom website due to its own business plan. The developer will then have to start from scratch when writing code.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is making adjustments to your website to make it more visible to popular search engines like Google and Bing. A poorly optimized website is equivalent to having none at all. This is due to the fact that it won’t result in the traffic you need to turn into a transaction.

Product Quality

The quality of the goods is equally significant as the price. Even if this could occasionally be beyond your control, it’s nevertheless crucial to consider if you produce your own goods. Consider this if you’re wondering how much shoppers care about the perceived quality of a product. Up to 57% of consumers are less likely to buy products with the Made in China label. This is due to the fact that customers believe the manufacturer created their product quickly and cheaply, which makes them believe it is probably of poorer quality than other possible comparable products.

Adaptive to Mobile Web

Today, more consumers are making online purchases utilizing their mobile devices. There are already about 3 billion mobile users worldwide, according to research. Laptops and desktop computers are no longer used for internet communication and shopping.It’s essential to have a mobile-friendly e-commerce website. Remember to utilize a straightforward mobile version to make navigation easier. There should be enough room for a person’s finger to push on buttons on the page.

Clear calls-to-action

It is impossible to exaggerate how crucial clear calls-to-action (CTAs) are to an eCommerce website’s success. In order to do this, a call-to-action (CTA) should be present at least once on each page, whether it directs visitors to make a purchase or request additional information. Your CTAs should be direct and concise, motivate clients to take action, and make it clear where the link they will be clicking will take them. There should be primary CTAs for making purchases as well as secondary CTAs leading to additional details about the company, its goods, and services.

Conclusion

The first 10 websites that show up on any search engine receive 92 percent of views, with the first website receiving 33 percent more views than the second. Your business is essentially lost if your SEO is poor. If potential customers aren’t clicking on your website, they’re probably looking at the websites of your rivals.The finest possible customer service should be the goal of your website. This can be achieved by successfully creating your website with practical elements to create a convenient user experience. In terms of site design and development, you should always be in the lead to attract more clients. Contact IBR Infotech right away to receive heating advice from the pros.

How Can ECU Remapping Increase your Car?

When you acquire a car packed with the most up-to-date technological innovation, you might imagine it's in top condition, perfectly fine-tined and ready to deliver optimum functionality the minute an individual drive it away from dealership. Sadly, you would be mistaken. In simple fact, virtually every new motor vehicle purcahased by the general public has been purposely de-tuned to an amount of performance well beneath its true capacity. But you may recover your vehicle's lost potential by means of something called ECU remapping. The engine control unit, or ECU, is the minds behind your car's engine. It manages the engine procedure through a number of software programmes or "maps" that correspond to various aspects of the fuel system. Similar to computer programme, typically the map in the particular ECU can become altered. The standard ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT map is designed to downgrade engine power instead of maximising efficiency. Extra resources|Find more info might seem to be like an unusual point for an automobile manufacturer to perform, but there's some sort of logic behind it. Virtually any vehicle designed for basic sale around the globe should work adequately in as many countries as possible. This must be capable to operate on poor quality fuel, go through harsh environments, and keep running together with minimal servicing. Nevertheless , a highly calibrated and powerful motor could possibly be damaged if put through such therapy. That's one purpose why vehicle companies de-tune the powerplant in a mass-market car. It's some sort of compromise to make sure the vehicle performs reliably regarding the average client in less compared to optimal conditions.

But if you are now living in a country along with higher grade powers so you maintain your current car well, you can take whole advantage of the engine's capabilities by remapping the ECU. Typically the term "remapping" makes reference to overwriting the original engine maps with revised maps of which optimise the way the engine burns fuel. The new maps recalibrate fuel stress, turbo boost stress, fuel injector duration, fuel timing, and even other factors of which influence engine strength and emissions. Remapping the ECU is usually possibly the perfect way to enhance overall performance in newer vehicles. Done properly by simply a qualified specialist, a remap offers you substantially more strength and torque from the engine when reducing fuel usage. The amount regarding improvement will differ by model. This also varies by the type of remap -- you can make a decision whether you need the ECU remapped for maximum functionality or for optimum gas economy. The specialist who performs the effort can advise an individual on what to assume from your special vehicle. A turbo diesel engine advantages the most coming from a remap, using a 35% development in power very achievable. After some sort of remap, peak motor power and torque can be obtained earlier within the rev variety, eliminating the need for great revving, and greatly enhancing power plus flexibility in just about all gears. Turbo in addition to non-turbo petrol engines might find smaller advancements. Can you actually see a positive change in the way your car handles after an ECU remapping? Nearly all definitely! The powerplant immediately runs extra quietly and throttle response sharpens through all gears. You are going to find that items changes are softer, flat spots will be eliminated, and overpowering other vehicles is certainly faster and much easier. Many people say it's like driving some sort of different car completely. And the energy savings that are available from remapping the particular ECU are just icing around the dessert. Drivers who proceed to drive inside their normal manner frequently report gains of 3-5 MPG. It's not hard to see the advantages of ECU remapping. Now, the regular motorist is probably pretty happy with precisely how his car runs and doesn't offer a toss about boosting BHP in addition to torque. But possibly you're not the regular driver. Perhaps you take pride in your automobile and require more from it. For an individual as if you, an ECU remapping is a new great modification to improve your car plus make it additional drivable.