#for every time they used me as a benchmark and every time they pressured me to focus even more on work and less on friends
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i hold a personal grudge every teacher who taught me to view myself as the "smart kid" and hold my "inherent smartness" as my own most valuable attribute
#for every time they used me as a benchmark and every time they pressured me to focus even more on work and less on friends#and every time they made fun of me when I got one fucking thing wrong and every time they encouraged the other kids#to celebrate when they were better than me and every time they only paid attention to me because I'd just passed#a harder test#i have another bit of anger .#nicola.txt#ok to rb
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hii. if u dont mind, could u please share that "change of attitude" towards journaling? i feel like i really need that.. since i myself changed my attitude towards drawing and have been much more productive and happy doing it this last year. however Writing About Myself its another beast completely.. hope u r having a nice day! 🍃
hope you're having a lovely day as well! anyways as i was typing this up, what starts as a small tidbit has gone off the rails so i suppose this is my blanket advice as a newbie in journaling:
the materials!
choosing the titular journal aka notebook:
soft vs hard cover - i didn't realize this is SUCH a deciding factor until much later. most people prefer soft covers since journals can get massive with use but it's very subjective. be tactile - if it just don't feel right in ur hands, it's not gonna be something u reach out for when u have free time.
size - the most common sizes are A5, A6 or regular aka travelers notebook. you have to think abt who you are as a writer. do u have a large handwriting that takes up pages and pages? do you like space or are you overwhelmed by a blank page? do you travel a lot and do u want something unobtrusive in your bag? choose something that will reasonable work as a part of your daily life.
paper texture - paper that is smooth to write in are a great source of pleasure. notebooks with 100gsm paper is a good benchmark.
price - pleaseeee do not break the bank to purchase a fancy notebook. an expensive notebook can become an unloved one. you'd be too stressed to ensure every entry is perfect and pretty enough and the notebook eventually becomes too intimidating for you to fill in. check out your local hypermarket or online stores for quality notebooks. moleskins are overrated--in my country, they are v v expensive so don't feel pressure to buy a certain stationary just bc you see them often on ig/tiktok like my journal cost me approximately RM10 (USD2.34) and my new one w 100gsm paper cost me RM17 (USD4) like affordable options are out there!
build a connection with your notebook - listen...this sounds strange but having an attachment with your journal and making it inviting as possible is a great source of motivation. personalize it: add stickers, doodle or paint the cover. get a fabric/pvc cover to keep it clean if you'd like (you can add lil papers/stickers on ur actual notebook cover before putting on the pvc cover! very cute and easy)
and your pens:
again: less is more! use any relatively cheap pens you like - be it for the ink or smoothness. if you want to journal a lot, expect to lose a few pens during traveling or just around the house lmao
for fans of darker inks like me, i use Uni-ball Signo Broad, M&G R3 retractable gel pen and my favorite: Faber Castell RX Gel Pen 0.38mm - which cost like RM1.49 (i dont wanna convert - it's change money in america)
final note: i don't use fountain pens so i'm afraid i'm not well-versed enough to advise in that department but i deeply respect (and a little in awe) of journallers who use them 🫡
the tenet!
purpose: what do u plan to use the notebook for? daily journal? art journal? planner? all three? it's your life! live deliciously! since i have a 9-5 job, i know i can't keep up with more than one journal so i've been using mines as a diary and i dump my daily activities/thoughts/reviews of all kinds of media i'm currently obsessed with and it fills up quick!
don't be too hard on yourself: if you missed a day or two of journalling, it's fine - take it back up. write down anything memorable you'd like in the past few days. if you come across a certain blank page your brain is blanking to fill, perhaps after a previous dark entry, skip the page. skip two pages if needed. don't be scared of blank pages. if it needs to be blank, let it be.
it doesn't have to only be words! add stickers, dried flowers, receipts, ticket stubs, other ephemera you collected in the day. be artful! go crazy on page decoration!!
if there's anything you take away from this post, it's this: if you truly want a journal that is used up quickly, do not have plans to share it on social media. personally, i find once you are in the mindset of sharing your journal for an audience's consumption, you get worried whether it's "aesthetic" enough or is it too boring or too ugly or too dark or that you don't upload regularly enough. social media can be inhibiting your creativity or motivation to journal like let your animal brain ruminate in private! stay free from the shackles of responsibility!
#answered#poseida#journals#journaling tips#also in return i need to know what u did to change your attitude with drawing! i need to get back on that horse!
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one day i'll have the brain power to put together a really simple 'casuals guide to end game' which gives players a far more reasonable understanding of what their chosen class with all the ideal gear [armour in particular with easier to obtain runes that scholar runes] and general trinkets that may or may not be perfect [because i'm always guilty of forgetting to change at least one trinket] can do in terms of no rotation DPS where you do literally just button smash in a frenzy, because i feel like it's a far more accurate representation of what actually happens during most raids and strikes when you're new and learning mechanics
and because of that, you really shouldn't be beating yourself up about not hitting those 'big boy numbers' which do not matter
mechanics and killing the boss matter, DPS should be third on your priorities, even lower if you're a support class who's giving boons or trying to keep your team alive!
i say this after watching a bunch of LFGers during a harvest temple run berate the group for low DPS, yet we saw them fail every mechanic during the fight which lowered our DPS to keep picking them up off the floor, as a whole, our 'low DPS' group is very capable of defeating that encounter and had a far lower percentage of people going down to mechanics as well
if you're putting out around 10K DPS [and trust me, if you have the gear, you are, even in a panicked strike/raid setting] you will be fine, please do not stress the numbers unless you're aiming for quick kills or general speedrunning
like i'm picking all of you up and OFFERING to open raid and strike instances for you to just run around and see mechanics and learn without the pressure of someone recording your stats without your consent [arc DPS sucks and it's accuracy is questionable; the one time i used that add on, it gave a totally different number read out despite identical settings to someone else running the same settings in the same squad]
anyway, tl;dr, my guild/server runs very chill no expectations except being open to learn and head not up own ass with strikes and raids
one day i'll make a beginner guide of what the bare minimum most classes with reasonable gearing can do, if i have that class geared [this isn't aimed towards 'lazy' people, this is aimed at people who may be handicapped, disabled, etc ultimately you should be wanting to give your team your best, but sometimes your best isn't what the benchmark tells you it should be and that is FINE]
arc DPS is shit and unless you yourself are using it as a learning tool, do not use it to berate other players who did not ask for you to record their stats without their consent
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BTS Tutorial: Stationhead & Renaissance
Stationhead is an app that connects to your Apple Music or Spotify account and allows you to stream music in a community so that every person’s streams count toward your artists’ chart. Supposedly this app can rival radio (it’s early days; we will see).
Apple Music and Spotify both work on Stationhead's web player.
If a host is playing their songs from Apple Music, and you only subscribe to Spotify, the matching track from Spotify will play through your streaming account. In the same way, a host using Spotify to play music will have songs matched for Apple Music listeners. So it's a great cross-platform tool.
It can be kind of fun to know you’re streaming with hundreds if not thousands of other ARMYs, especially when you are targeting milestones for certain songs and you don't want to think too deeply about how to build a playlist... but it’s not necessary if you want to just stream on your own accounts.
You need to listen to at least 30 seconds of a song on Stationhead for it to count toward charts.
Here’s a short tutorial about how to set up a Stationhead account, but in my case, I will search for BTS and Jimin on Station head instead of Stray Kids (sorry, Stray Kids—I think you’re cool but I’m a loyal hoe.)
After you download the app and set up your profile, I recommend you search for the following communities on Stationhead and join them:
JIMINCHARTSPH
JIMINGLOBAL
JIMINRECORD13
When a live streaming party is about to start, you’ll get a little notification on your phone and you can decide to join. Then you listen to streams. To maximize your time in the first 24 hours of a release, maybe have Apple Music play on one laptop, YouTube play on a tablet, and Stationhead or Renaissance app going on your phone (tethered to your Spotify). It’s free and it doesn’t spam you, it just takes a few moments to set up accounts on these apps.
If you’re still not convinced, here’s a review from a music professional that gets into the details:
youtube
Similar to Stationhead, Renaissance is an app that connects to your Spotify account. If you follow streaming accounts on twitter, they will sometimes throw streaming parties on Renaissance and it can be fun to join in and gather collective streams to achieve certain goals.
You download Renaissance from the app store, sign in (I use my gmail account and connect to my premium Spotify). Once logged in, you can search for Jimin, and there you’ll see various streaming parties going on. You click to join, it’ll open your Spotify account, and you can play that playlist along with hundreds and sometimes thousands of others.
It's simply a great way to find playlists and help meet benchmarks with the community, but don't feel pressure. It's just nice if you're engaging in streaming battles on Twitter; gets everyone psyched up.
Some people prefer Renaissance because you can be in control of your playlist (when to stop and start, the ability to count your streams), whereas Stationhead is more like radio, where the host is a DJ and they are in charge. Really it just all comes down to what you prefer and if you're part of communities that enjoy group streaming.
After our artists land on the charts, it's important to keep streaming so their songs have longevity and aren't just flash-in-the-pan, one-hit-wonders. Using streaming apps is a great way to let your accounts count for streams, without having to curate and manage playlists all day long. (But remember, 20 streams of a song, then login to a different Spotify account for it it count.)
Stream on, stream on, stream until your streams come true!
DISCLAIMER:
I am a Dope Old Person and have been ARMY since January 2022. So I still have a lot to learn.
I’m making mini-tutorials for people like me who are comfy with technology but totally new to voting, streaming, and buying Kpop stuff.
If you know of better, more up-to-date information, please comment or DM me so I can make sure I’m not spreading misinfo. Please be polite about it, though—we are on the same team!
Feel free to apply whatever you learn here to other BTS members and other artists; I’m Jimin-biased so I am focused on helping Jimin at this moment in time, but I’m OT7 so rest assured I’ll put my shoulder to the wheel for all our members!
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Tbh people are really overreacting to De Vries losing seat before summer break and underestimate the cruelty of sport like F1. The fact that every seat of F1 is investment, on talent, experience, ability, or funding, while DeVries, after 10 races, basically shows he has none of them which means at least he is not investment worthy for any team at cost of any F1 seat.
Yes the way RB putting pressure on him by shit talking in media, publicly regretting the decision of signing him, ignoring his existence in his lay-off are toxic and disrespectful and lack of support, and all just show the mental environment for drivers aren’t healthy especially in RB for most their drivers but don’t mix it with the decision to drop De Vries, he deserves to be abandoned just after his performances in this 10 races bc there are literally better options which are more investable and also the cost of changing De Vries to any other RB drivers is nearly 0 when De Vries isn’t even a RB junior driver or any third long- time investment , the rookie excuse only for those have high potentiality and basically not stayed in motorsport for long time which is like stocks, while De Vries honestly he is rookie for F1 driving but not rookie for F1 investment. The problem of dropping him is the way not the choice, the team should find the balance between performance and driver mental health, and I don’t think the decision was made too quickly or early bc in the visible future even with allowing improvement of a whole season he can’t match the expectations let’s be realistic, his teammate used two whole years with better performances to match with Gasly, and does have possibility of being in RB while De Vries whatever he does in this season, won’t make him be in a better team than Alpha Tauri which means there is no room for factual improvement and investment and marketing then what’s the meaning of giving him a whole season when it won’t make any difference from only giving him 10 races?
My only question with this decision is whether this seat should be given to Ricciardo who may still have his skill according to RB and also is pretty marketable and good for PR,but is it worthy to give him the seat usually preparing for RB junior development which I’m curious whether it will have bad influence on RB academy bc this decision give the implication that being a good performed RB junior driver doesn’t actually promise a F1 seat in Alpha Tauri, but also I think is a two-side, like with Ricciardo as benchmark the one perform better between Tsunoda and him may finally get into RB so replacing with Ricciardo instead of Lawson or Iwasa or someone is quite an interesting choice.
I think you’ve taken a really narrow view of the situation and that’s fine but it’s still a narrow view.
Just because F1 has a history of being cruel, doesn’t mean that is okay or it doesn’t mean people can’t be upset about it? Because at the end of the day, these drivers are human beings and being boiled down to investments is just kind of icky. It reminds me of the language used against safety technology back in the 50’s/60’s/onward. Like that sort of depersonalization of drivers is and always has been very dangerous and I am generally glad that most fans have moved past that so to read an essay worth from you of it, is very unnerving to me.
And that’s really all I have to say about that. Treating drivers like commodities is dangerous and honestly this topic is a bit triggering so I’m just setting it down and leaving it here.
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One of those days where I'm feeling chatty for no reason.
I don't have anything new to say about this, but on the other hand, I don't suppose this sort of thing can be talked about too often.
Recently a coworker started wearing foundation after not wearing it for a while, because people said her face "looked really red." Well, it did - because her natural complexion is ruddy, and we had never seen it before because she always wore foundation. But the truth is her natural complexion is adorable. If she chooses to wear foundation because she likes it, I'd support her choice. But the vibe is very much that she became anxious due to coworkers bringing attention to her red cheeks. Those coworkers honestly didn't mean anything by it - they were just noticing something had changed. But it's a shame that it led to her feeling like she needs to hide her face.
And there's so much pressure for people to look perfect these days. I suppose there always has been, but anyway, what I decided to rant about now in sum is just this: expecting perfect all the time is stupid and lazy and we should be constantly, constantly calling it out as such.
Make-up is art, but it isn't treated as if that's what is. The vast majority of the time it's an expectation, especially of women, but increasingly of men as well. Once the choice to do something disappears, the art of it disappears as well.
I don't wear make-up because I dislike how it feels on my skin, and it's expensive and time-consuming. Also I love flipping to the mental finger to employers who think people shouldn't expect to be treated well unless they look a certain way or at least participate in the performance of it.
I love variety in books, food, and travel. I love variety in faces as well. Read an interview once with some woman who's name I've forgotten who talked about when she stopped dyeing her hair. Showing her gray hair gave her freedom she never felt before, she said. Giving up the constant anxiety over her appearance let her do things as she wanted. Just imagine - going out whenever I want, not having to stop and think first "do I have time to do my hair and make up and shave and put together an outfit?" I really envy that. I don't wear make-up, but I still dye my hair and shave, and I have turned down things I really wanted to do because my body wasn't "ready."
(Shaving is my personal demon because my skin just doesn't like any lotion or razor I use on it. So if I want to go to the beach, I gotta really plan my shaving schedule. More than once I have thought to myself, "Adulthood is just being itchy all the time," lol)
I saw a picture today of a middle-aged woman with a long face and long hair. She looked fun and bohemian. In the next photo she had a short bob. The shorter cut suited the shape of her head a bit better, but either way, she still looked fun and bohemian.
Saw a picture of a high school friend who's since gone full-on dad bod. Guess what, comparing him to himself at 16 is fucking stupid. We're all programmed to compare ourselves and everyone else. Not doing it is something we have to put effort in to learn.
This is the truth: If you don't bother comparing people, voila, you stop caring. And start appreciating. I don't need to tell you what people say about women with long faces or men with dad bods etc etc and so forth - everyone already knows. It's all stupid. We should be making just as much noise about how stupid it is as some people make about other people not looking beautiful enough for them.
There's nothing wrong with make-up, there's nothing wrong with pretty, or hot, or whatever - but there is when you start creating benchmarks and keeping points and acting like people who look like people are in fact aliens. I wish every time someone makes a dumbass comment about someone else's looks, their friends would put on fake antennae and chant "TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER." Because only an alien would look at normal humans and be disgusted that we don't all look like instagram stars.
It's like how you go to the store and all the fruit look identical to each other, when in reality, so-called "misshapen" fruit is thrown out despite being perfectly edible and not at all misshapen - we've just decided a strawberry should look like this and a banana should look like that. Humanity needs to wake up to the fact that we can't control nature and all attempts to do so are only hurting us.
The only way to do that is for the people who are hurt by it to de-program. It's so hard right now with social media and perfect girls absolutely everywhere, with gobs and gobs of make-up and false eyelashes and fake nails and contoured cheeks - because, again, none of that is bad by itself. If people want to use their face and body as a canvas that should be completely up to them. But more often than not it results in punishment for everyone who can't or chooses not to look like that.
In this way make-up transforms from body art to performance art - a performance none of even knew we were auditioning for simply by being born. And art that creates discrimination and self-loathing is the opposite of what art should be.
Saying all people are beautiful isn't radical or a lie. It means you've successfully deprogrammed and wised up to how much of what we consider "pretty" - or even "sexy" - is taught to us and not innate at all. Even things that do seem to be - for example, the preference we have for symmetry in faces - are far from insurmountable. You might not like a song the first time you hear it, but after you hear it a few more times you suddenly realize you like it after all. Just because attraction isn't instantaneous doesn't mean it's inferior.
There are endless genres of music and painting styles and ways to tell a story. It should be the same with people. Deciding off the bat that because someone doesn't fit preconceived notions of "good-looking" they must therefore be "bad-looking" is sheer laziness and nothing more.
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UN Chronicle
FOUNDATION, NON-FOUNDATION AND EYEWASH
The education industry is getting business oriented these days and linked individuals are becoming business persons and not industrialists,talking on ROI figures only. And alas! the employer/management is either foreigner to education industry or the so called NRI's entering into the safe zone of minting money with lesser pressure and efforts.
One such trend in schools prepare us all to ponder over the gravity of the situation. Some of them in India have categorized students into sections like foundation, non-foundation etc only on the basis of performance in the form of scores, thereby cultivating the inferiority complex amongst them or preparing them only to be the products after processing of raw materials instead of making them productive, skilled and adaptive to challenges or ups and downs in life. They are just creating the content to fulfill their expectations and to remain in competition with their competitors to prove their own edges where they remain successful to certain extent but the score and position remains the only benchmark in the annals of school's success except when a few take the untrodden path of their own to carve their own niche.
For me as an educator this always remain a question along with the question to those institutions producing the grads and postgrads in bulk with no necessary knowledge and poor IQ or the know hows of current scenario in the country, the question to those who are village natives, got degrees but could not explore the real knowledge or wisdom or don't want to get updated every time. So are we justifying the names of brands like branded schools or hi tech institutions having AI, Robotics, coding all inclusive?
Ponder over!
(About Author: Leena Rai Kalra, Team Leader, The National UN Volunteers-India, Principal-cum-Trainer, Chairperson UN Global Compact India)
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Final Term 1st Blog: Beyond the Pitch
MIDTERM PITCH.
On Valentine's Day, while others celebrated with flowers and chocolates with their love ones, our section in 'The Entrepreneurial Mind' class was preparing for our midterm pitching session. Despite the romantic atmosphere around us, we were completely focused on the upcoming challenge as we were gearing up for our midterm pitching session.
This is us —preparing, rehearsing, and finalizing everything— hours before the pitching schedule. We were actually assigned to pitch first, which is why we're preparing not only our papers and tools for the session but, most importantly, our mental state.
Now, here comes the moment of truth—pitching time. Well, I wasn't actually the pitcher in our group, but that didn’t spare me the nerves. As we stood together at the front of the room, I could feel the tension amongst us. The room was packed with our group and the panelist together with our instructor, the stakes were high, and every pair of eyes seemed to scrutinize our every move and word.
Even though the environment was high-pressure, we all shared a sense of camaraderie and a strong desire to succeed. It was strange to spend Valentine’s Day battling for grades instead of indulging in its festivities, but in that moment, our priorities were clear—we needed to nail this pitch. The session ended with a round of applause, a mix of relief and pride washing over us. As we finish the pitching and defended our product, it was evident that regardless of the outcome, we had supported each other and delivered our best under pressure. It was certainly a Valentine’s Day to remember, not for romantic reasons, but for the unforgettable experience, uniting to support our shared goals.
INTERVIEW.
—Before the interview.
Our meeting at the Pateran in College Park centered around several important topics. Firstly, we set a Timeline of Activities; secondly, we planned on our collection procedures, thirdly, we crafted our interview questions; lastly, defining the scope of the Final Product. With our agenda mapped out, we headed off to conduct interviews.
—During the interview.
Our interview initiative progressed seamlessly as we divided and conquered, promptly identifying our interviewees, comprising first-year students and one individual outside the main gate. On my part, I have quickly build a good rapport with my interviewee so I did not have difficulties communicating and interviewing her even though she's somehow camera-shy. I must conform that this is actually our smoothest and fastest interview so far.
INTERVIEW RESULTS.
In our efforts to rebrand EverLeaf comprehensively, we engaged in interviews with 10 students, focusing on: 1) Marketability/Availability, 2) Pricing Considerations, and 3) Suggestions for Improvement.
Marketability/Availability
Regarding the query of whether they would purchase our product upon its market launch, responses from the 10 interviewees varied. Forty percent stated that their decision would depend on both the price and quality. They voiced reservations about the product's value proposition and our ability to deliver on quality benchmarks. Nevertheless, they indicated that they would be willing to buy if the price justified the perceived quality. Conversely, 30 percent responded positively, while 20 percent expressed potential interest, and another 20 percent cited the seasonal aspect of their purchasing decisions.
Pricing Consideration
As for the second question, "What are the justifiable prices for the following sizes of paper?"
The following are the results:
Improvements.
As for the question "What are the aspects that need to be leveled up by the innovators to be able to compete in the market?" The following are the results:
Uniqueness - 2
Product quality & price - 4
Sustainability & Durability - 1
Packaging & marketing strategies - 3
Special Question.
During our Midterm Pitching presentation, a critical question was raised by the panels: "Won't you deplete the leaves from trees if your scope increases, and do you have investors?" As a follow-up, we presented this question to our interviewees as a bonus query, receiving a unanimous "NO" in response. They highlighted the potential of our approach to bolster environmental conservation efforts, as it removes the need to harvest trees and endure prolonged regeneration periods to produce paper.
REFLECTION.
Encapsulating, it appears we're drawing close to the culmination of our entrepreneurial journey, heralding a new phase of learning. This subject has propelled me towards new heights of growth and insight, particularly within corporate and business contexts. With the invaluable support and mentorship of our instructor, I've bolstered my leadership, communication, and business proficiency, sparking a keen interest in pursuing entrepreneurship down the road.
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Day #2 - I'm not like other the girls
The other girls are better than me, but that's okay! I'll still take inspiration from them. There are a few amazing games that I'm taking inspiration from to create my own whodunit:
1) This one shouldn't really be part of my benchmark, but I can't help to include it. I was a kid when Riddle School games started to come out. These games came with short notes from the creator talking abt his process. As a child, this was when I realized that 1 person could actually put together and create a game by themselves. I sensed so much detail and passion were put behind these small funny games. At the time, I did not have the skills, but the idea of making a silly little game stuck with me. From Riddle School, I hope to capture the nonsensical humor and subtle Easter eggs.
2) Tangle Tower. This girl is definitely the one I have a crush on and want to be the most like. A whodunit with fun, vibrant colors, characters and a light-hearted approach to murder. I enjoy the balance of the point-and-click elements and the puzzles. Their UI is also my dream UI. I could never have such cool animations and character designs (my background is in programming), but this is definitely the vibe I want to go for in terms of aesthetics, storytelling and gameplay.
3) Every creative person needs at least 1 insane-sounding idea. Disco Elysium gave me mine. While the premise involves a detective solving a murder, this game is hardly a whodunit. Still, there are a couple of elements I adored and need to become a genre.
3.1) The character creation of Disco Elysium is similar to DnD's, but I love how it ties into the gameplay. How different personality traits serve as your 'inner dialogue' and pressure you to act in different ways. Will you take the empathetic approach? The aggressive route? The reasonable stance? They also serve as modifiers, like in other tabletop games, and can be influenced by the items you pick up (e.g. nerdy glasses = extra intelligence). I'm not going for such an intricate system, nor am I thinking abt replayability too much (after all, it will always be the same culprit). That said, I do want a character creation mechanic. I want players to pick an approach (logic, empathy or brute force) and pick a couple items to help them solve some puzzles in alternative ways!
3. 2) No thoughts, head empty! This is a tricky one for sure… The Thought Cabinet is a game mechanic that almost drove Disco Elysium's studio to bankruptcy. However, in an interview, one of the creators described it as "a crafting station for thoughts". This sentence made me think how cool it would be to have a crafting mechanic for murder theories/suspects. This would allow players to use testimonies and clues to craft theories at their own pace. Some theories could be wrong, and it would be up to the player to back them up with evidence until they had a sound explanation for all the events. I've drafted three approaches for this mechanic: The Minecraft Table, The Baba is You, and the one I will most likely go for.
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ADOPTING A HIGH PERFORMANCE MINDSET: DETAILS AND DISCIPLINES
I ran a studio as of late around how to adjust your business to an easing back market, without slicing costs. Maybe effective I thought given the blended financial standpoint and the resulting pressures on business.
The meeting was extremely quick, and began with me sharing various thoughts I have by and by utilized across my 30+ year vocation in a large number of business and exchanging jobs. The topics of these thoughts fall into 3 regions:
1. Acquirement best practice
2. Cooperation and sharing
3. Managing horrible showing
We should investigate every one.
Acquisition best practice. In the event that request is diminished or falling, might you at some point solidify your spend to less stockpile accomplices? It could likewise be savvy to benchmark bargains from like-for-like providers of labor and products. How about we attempt and press however much you can from your purchasing power.
Cooperation and sharing. How would you function with your stock accomplices? Might you at any point work all the more intently together and share assets in regions like deals improvement, advanced and information, or showcasing? You could find this signed up approach is a shared benefit!
Managing terrible showing. When was the last time you actually ran a reach survey on your most terrible performing item classes? What about a profound jump on the most un-beneficial items? And dead or sluggish stock or quality objections? Handling these regions lifts your general exhibition as well as it can set aside time and cash as well.
As we examined these regions in the studio, we addressed the expense of the other option, including freezing or lessening headcount, or postponing undertakings or ventures. This thus can cause inside pressure, making a "win/fail" mindset and a sensation of irregularity.
This conversation prompted one of the studio participants utilizing the expression "subtleties and disciplines" and the discussion around center. My perception was that frequently, when times are great, human instinct kicks in and we can settle in. We are hitting our spending plans, deals are great, and life gets somewhat more straightforward. We might underestimate this presentation, lose a digit of our interest, our power and our drive for nonstop improvement. All in all, our subtleties and disciplines drop off.
It's the point at which our backs are against the wall, when we are feeling the squeeze and need to find a superior way, that we flip once more into the elite presentation mode. At the point when we take a gander at those unfortunate entertainers, those regions causing our clients the most aggravation, as each penny presently counts.
Stay informed and up-to-date with the latest breaking news, in-depth reporting, and insightful analysis on Fox Daily Post. Visit us now and never miss a beat.
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Online marketing Pt 1
The World wide web is an excellent place to work, whether you're the retailer selling a specific line of goods or a provider making your living in the Internet. Right now there is, yet , one particular age-old issue with organization that never appears to go away: people won't get what they don't realize about.
This is where Internet marketing comes in.
Online marketing basically entails using various tools and services to be able to let your business get to a wider bottom of customers. Good Internet marketing provides in a significant quantity of clients, retain them interested and even then make more than happy to acquire more of your products.
A not-so-good Online marketing program, even so, will be a complete waste of time in addition to money. In the worst case situation, you could including finish up doing a lot more harm than very good to your business in the event that the online marketing strategy is inadequately thought out.
Strangely enough, most of the people actually fall short in their Internet advertising and marketing strategies not mainly because they lack the information or the complex capabilities to help to make good use of Web Marketing.
SEO, HTML CODE, opt-in lists, landing pages - all of this will not issue when the would-be marketing expert will not know precisely how to actually be successful with the resources at his or perhaps her disposal.
Allow me to be clear: this particular article is not just a technical manual on the finer points involving Website marketing. No courses, no tests, no benchmarks.
This content aims to product your technical ingenuity and give you a concept of what to do using your skill and knowledge. It will certainly allow you in order to channel your attempts and create far-reaching plans.
In small, this post will teach an individual how to succeed in your primary year in Net marketing.
The Mentality of a Successful Internet Marketer
The successful marketer needs a vision to succeed.
No, We are not talking concerning some grand, messianic vision or anything. What i'm saying is an eyesight that will define in which all of the Internet advertising and marketing efforts will go in order to.
This vision will certainly allow you to be able to focus your time and energy directly into something more successful, and will enable you to truly succeed inside Online marketing. But before you can define your vision, you must first assume the mentality of a prosperous marketer.
This way of thinking is in turn consisting of different frames of thought. Right here are some associated with the crucial kinds:
Honest and Truthful
The very primary thing I have to tell you is that no truly effective Online marketer is a sham and a fraud. The particular stereotype of the particular Internet marketer of which sidelines as the ruthless vulture and even snake-oil salesman will be an image that is, sadly, more commonly adopted than I want. But let me personally tell you of which being a prosperous Internet marketer means getting successful to the long run - so you cannot be productive in the end if you start your job since a fraudster. The rewards from fraudulent sales or misleading marketing strategies are immediate and appealing, but you cannot build a marketing contr?le with foundations put on lies plus deceptions. An Internet marketer together with a name built upon reliable business and customer fulfillment will yield even more rewards in typically the long run than an anonymous cat who may have to change names every now and then lest he/she face criminal charges.
Ready to Research
One of the marks of the successful Internet marketer is typically the willingness to attempt issues out. Many would-be marketers spend months (even years) studying how to work in Internet marketing. This really is all okay and good, but this will always be for nothing or else willing to put your skills away on the open up market where that will be truly tested under pressure. The truth in the matter is that will there is not absolute recipe to be successful as a great Internet marketer. You just have to grit your the teeth and dive directly into the whole mess. You learn more quickly, and you may be able to be able to find out exactly what works and precisely what would not in your particular distinctive line of work. Even your flaws cannot be regarded as failures if a person learn from them in addition to use that expertise to better yourself.
Reflects and pay attention to From Mistakes
Because an try things out of yours falls flat does not mean you have to just up and even forget it. The particular whole point regarding experimenting is to discover what works in addition to what does not. When something you only implemented does not job, such as a weak shoring page or defective search engine optimisation, then you certainly have to go back in addition to trace where typically the mistake been a result of. This specific is why that is completely essential that you reflect upon any problems you encounter in your Internet marketing campaign. What went wrong, how achieved it go mistaken, how can I actually repair it and how can I turn it? These four questions are staples when it will come to reflecting as well as learning from virtually any mistakes.
Seeks Quality in every That Needs to Be Completed
Good enough is a significantly cry for quite good, despite the fact that both are "good" in a way. Excellence is once you give your best to everything you carry out. This excellence is definitely not optional to be able to be a successful Affiliate marketer. You don't cut corners, you don't do some sort of sloppy job plus you don't claim "this excellent enough. " Excellence is basically about ensuring you do since good work seeing that you can. This kind of pursuit of excellence will always take you to find better and better ways of carrying out things, greatly increasing productivity and efficiency. Best of all, your customers will immediately acknowledge your this brilliance and will end up being more willing to be able to at least check out what you possess to offer.
Pieces Competitive Standards in order to meet
There is another reason you need to seek out excellence - typically the best and the majority of threatening of the competitors also perform the same. You have to always understand exactly what your competition are up in order to. You have to know what they offer, that they carry out things, how that they market themselves and even even how productive they are. In case excellence will force you further in your marketing efforts, then your competitors will define the minimum amount you want to work together with. This is particularly useful any time you are a new comer to Internet marketing. Your current competitors probably will include been around intended for quite a long time already in addition to will have invested a significant timeframe and money to obtain where they happen to be now. Now you can analyze how they do something and you can be able to benefit the most by your competitor's existing practices.
Understands the Needs of the Consumer
This is usually clich�, I realize, but it is anything so many fresh Web marketers overlook that will it is really worth pointing out once again. People have requires. If somebody will come along selling something which will satisfy me, then I will be more compared to happy to component with my hard-earned money. This simple fact underscores the importance of spending time, cash and effort reaching away and comprehending the needs of your target customer base. Numerous first-time Internet marketers also have this kind of frame of thought where they believe that exploiting their customers and wringing money from their website since quickly as possible is the only way to survive. This thinking are unable to be more flawed. Any kind involving business, Internet advertising included, is only going to make it through if trust is usually built between client and client.
Actually reaches Out and 'Touches' Customers
This is usually another clich�, of course, but it really is nonetheless crucial: your customers must think that you really give a hoot about their pleasure. I have come around so many marketing tactics that feel and look stale and too focused on offering a product or service. The online marketers here have built a fatal oversight: they got as well absorbed with applying the needs of the customer rather as compared to connecting to these types of needs. You need to often show how the items and services an individual offer are alternatives to a challenge, not just tools you make use of to squeeze funds out from buyers. It is also worth notice that you mustn't attempt too hard to be able to "sell" your item to a potential client. I include come across quite a few sales pages having a ton of reports, videos, promos, guarantees and smiling encounters all promising a very important factor or another. The marketers behind these kinds of pages were striving very hard to encourage me to buy their products which i simply got deterred and left the particular page before actually finding out exactly what they wanted to market to me.
Clear About Everything
People young and old will be a lot more willing to obtain a product if that they specifically what they will are getting. Many marketers love to employ fancy prose, large promises and specialized jargon to bedazzle customers. This basically such a poor thing in almost all cases, but all this grandstanding will probably be for nothing in case the potential client does not know what the heck they can be looking at. Always be as transparent as you can with what you sell and you will probably find customers considerably more willing to carry out business with you. This is especially important for item pricing and service fees. You would be surprised from how many product sales pages exist about the Internet that do not list the actual costs of purchasing the product or support. Lots of claims and lots associated with testimonies, yes, yet the lack regarding home elevators something as basic as prices is enough to switch most people away from the site.
Builds a Network of Lovers
Internet marketing is definitely not an one-man (or one-woman) task. You will will need the assistance of a great deal of people to make yourself genuinely successful in this particular industry of work. As soon as you get down to a lot more complicated features of Internet marketing, a person will inevitably discover youself to be working with the whole host involving people: content designers, writers, shippers, gurus, accountants, customer worry etc. Everyone an individual meet is really a probable partner, so often take the opportunity to create and increase your network if you can. Even guy Internet marketers may prove to be useful partners. An individual could swap buyers by selling products that complement the business of the some other market. For instance , internet marketer A sells hype ebooks via Amazon online marketplace while marketer B sells leather addresses for the Amazon Kindle. Extra resources|Find more info could work together to be able to promote each other peoples products; effectively posting their consumer bottom using each other.
Emotionally Balanced About typically the Business
Nobody will be a heartless device, but breaking lower into an psychological wreck all the particular time can't become great for business. A successful Online marketer requires to be totally objective when that comes to producing business decisions. The personal life need to not seep with your work, especially if your marketing initiatives get distorted throughout the process. Beliefs, opinions, biases as well as political affiliations should be kept separate from work, otherwise they can blind you coming from seeing things while they are actually.
This particular also goes with regard to the success in addition to failure of the Internet marketing undertakings. Internet marketing is definitely a fast-moving planet, which means items die off as quickly as they are delivered. Look long in addition to hard at your own marketing programs and even be impartial regarding which ones will be worth spending power on and which ones need to be fallen.
Uses Money Completely and Efficiently
A single of the more common problems with World wide web marketers is that will they have no idea exactly how to use their particular money wisely. A few say you have got earned an interesting thousand dollars within sales from the many successful marketing campaign. Expenses and taxes usually are paid, and you also even now have $500 remaining. What will you do on this funds? Will you order educational materials, obtain marketing tools and even hire people to be able to handle the labor intensive tasks, or will you screw it up all on a feel like tablet PC? Remember that the amount of money you earn is just not something you have to spend right apart. It is a resource that a person can use to make your advertising and marketing campaigns even even more successful in typically the future. You can even use that funds in order to save up intended for retirement or while a mortgage downpayment. Whatever you choose to do, merely make sure that will you always 'invest' your money in something that is going to be truly advantageous to you.
Prepared to Innovate and Produce
There are a lot of marketing programs around that can easily introduce you to be able to the basics, but carry out not ever forget to be creative. There may be often no have to have to reinvent the wheel, in addition to a lot of instances where one can learn from the experiences with the productive (and not-so-successful) online marketers out there. However you do have to remember that folks are constantly learning and evolving as well. What might have worked two, about three years ago is going to be done to death right now - specifically with the breakneck tempo of evolution more than the Internet. It is for this cause that a successful marketer is usually ready to try out and about new things. These kinds of new things may not regularly be effective or turn a profit ideal away, but these people will always impart beneficial knowledge to the particular marketer all in all. This specific is especially important if you think about the next frame of believed that is current within the mindset of successful Internet marketers.
'Hungry' for More in addition to More Knowledge
The past but most certainly not the least involving important mindsets associated with a successful Affiliate marketer is the ever-increasing need to learn more regarding his or your ex business. You need to never, ever cease thinking that you know enough to keep you on top of your business. The world of business is definitely ever-evolving, with fresh players (and competitors) coming in together with their innovative plus creative methods. The particular last thing a person want to conduct is to fall behind the competitive curve simply because you aren't on top regarding the latest info regarding your business. Its for this particular reason that an individual must regularly be famished to learn whatever you can about your own business.
Talk in order to your customers. Really know what makes them content and what frustrates them.
Find out how you can easily be operate better on a day-to-day basis.
Learn exactly how to make more with less.
These are generally but a small number of areas of which you can focus on.
Be famished for knowledge, and you will always be able to stay along with the online game at all periods.
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Test Help
This post is for my high school/college beloveds with upcoming finals (it's gonna get looong so i'm putting it under the cut <3).
Info incuded: managing test anxiety, test preparation advice, plus specific tips for multiple choice tests, standardized tests, essay tests, math tests, and reading tests.
Some background on me so you know I'm not just pulling this out of my butt: I have an education degree, as well as 5+ years tutoring/teaching experience (including 2 years tutoring college-level English/Writing and Study/Organizational Skills).
Managing Test Anxiety
One thing to keep in mind: Teachers generally want you to succeed! They are testing to find out not just what you know, but how well they taught specific content/skills.
Usually teachers will do their best to help you prepare, give you necessary materials, and answer questions beforehand.
Communicating with teachers can seem intimidating, but as a teacher myself, I can assure you that (most) teachers want to help and try to be approachable.
Understand that not all stress/anxiety is bad. Stress is the body's natural response to dangerous situations. Under stress, the body experiences heightened senses and increased motivation. Having a positive mindset about stress can improve your performance; while viewing stress as negative can hurt your performance. (Side note: I am talking here about manageable stress. If you have concerns about severe anxiety/stress, please seek professional help!!)
The better you prepare, the less anxious you will feel about the test. See preparation tips below!
Recreate testing conditions and do a practice run. Set a time limit, get rid of all distractions, and give yourself a practice test. Doing this will take a lot of the pressure off of the actual test.
On the day of the test, do something to distract yourself. Read a favorite book, do some brain puzzles (sudoku, or brain challenge apps are great for this!), or something active! If you suffer from physical symptoms of test anxiety, like sweating, difficulty breathing, nausea, etc., physical exercise can be very helpful. Releasing the tension in your body ahead of time can often lessen those physical symptoms.
Practice positive affirmations before and during the test. When you feel overwhelmed, "fake it 'til you make it" with confidence. Tell yourself "I know the answers, I have prepared well for this, I will succeed." And remind yourself: grades do not determine your worth as a person. One test, even if you fail miserably, will not ruin your entire life! Everything will be okay. A statement that I love to share with my students is: “[tests are] one examination of a small body of knowledge that you have learned over a set period of time.” (x)
Write down your concerns ahead of time. This is a great exercise if you have a lot of anxious thoughts leading up to a test. Take a few minutes right before the test to put it all down on paper. Expressing these concerns on paper can help you clear your mind from those negative thoughts.
Practice tunnel vision. Do your best to focus only on yourself. If other students get up and turn in their test early, that's okay! Some people test quicker than others, that doesn't mean you are slow or doing poorly. Continue taking your time and performing your best. Imagine yourself alone in the room and try to block out everyone else.
Pace yourself. Know how much time you will have, and create "benchmarks" to look for. Don't obsess over the clock, but keep track of 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 time benchmarks. Once you're 1/4 of the way through your test, make sure you are on track. If you aren't, adjust your speed accordingly.
Don't obsess over any one question. If you get stuck, skip it and move on, or just guess. Use the time you would've spent on that question to answer questions you know the answers to.
Physical things to try during the test:
Deliberately clench and unclench your fists and other muscles every so often. This can help you force your body to relax, and release nervous tension.
Practice breathing exercises. Find one or two that you like, and implement them during the test.
Test Preparation
Start studying a week before the test. This one is tough, but it really, really pays off. The earlier you start, the more prepared you will be. 5-7 days out: Find out what you need to know (use study guides, class notes, and/or communicate with your teacher to find out what the test will cover. Create a study plan, and make your own study guide (Quizlet is my favorite free resource for this, but use whatever tools work for you!). 3-5 days out: Follow your study plan, use your study guide to review the material, do one or two practice tests (Quizlet has this option! You can customize your practice test (choose between Multiple Choice, True/False, Fill in the Blank questions, or do a mix of different kinds of questions!) and only test yourself on specific information in your study guide.
Study in chunks! A rule of thumb for your attention span is this: you can only effectively take in information for your age in minutes. So if you're 20, study in 20 minute blocks. You can have an hour-long study session, but give yourself a few breaks! Stretch, do a few jumping jacks, walk around, text a friend, etc. Your brain will thank you, and it will help break up the monotony of intense studying.
Review everything one last time the day before the test, then get a good night's sleep and don't study the day of!!! Even if you studied well the week before, trying to cram last minute will stress you out more than necessary, and can confuse you! All the info should be in your long-term memory at this point, and cramming will cause your brain to hold it all in short-term storage, which will not be very effective during the test.
Show up to the test early and prepared. The last thing you want is to be running late or feeling rushed before the test. This applies to online testing as well. Set up your computer, have a drink or snack handy if it will be a long one, and eliminate distractions ahead of time.
Multiple Choice Tests
Read carefully. This may seem obvious, but take your time, and read each question carefully. If you skim through it, you might miss keywords that specify what the question is asking. Keywords to look for include: best, greatest, never, always, common, not, except, sometimes, more, generally, most, usually.
Before reading the options, try to answer the question in your head. Even if you come up with a vague answer, it will give you a starting point for what to look for in the possible answers.
Look for grammatical clues. For example, does the question require a plural answer? Is the fill-in-the-blank preceded by "a" or "an"? Clues like these can help you narrow down the options.
When you settle on an answer, read the question and answer together to make sure it makes sense. Does your selection actually answer the question?
Guessing Strategies:
Use process of elimination. If possible, mark on your test and cross out any answers you know are incorrect. This will improve your odds of guessing the right answer.
Guess the option that is generalizing, rather than an absolute statement. Answers with "usually, generally," etc. are more likely to be correct than answers with "always, never, all, must," etc.
Guess the option that is longest or has the most detail included. Look for answers with specific dates, names, or other details, rather than the shorter/simpler options.
If all else fails, go with your gut! I think we have all experienced this. You have no clue what the answer is, but you "feel" like you should guess a specific option, and it turns out to be right! While this isn't a foolproof method, there is some science to it. Our brains can sometimes remember how we feel about a person, without knowing their name. So even if you have no idea why you're leaning towards a certain answer, your brain might just "know" that it's right.
Standardized Tests*
*disclaimer: these are geared specifically toward the ACT and SAT, but most tips can still be applied to other standardized tests.
Find out what to expect ahead of time. Research the test, find out how many sections there are, the time allowed for each section, total time of the test, timing and placement of any breaks, and how many questions per section.
Buy practice books and use them! There are some free resources online, but if you are able to afford it, practice books will be very helpful. These give you an opportunity to take practice tests, and give you specific tips for each section. Check out thriftbooks.com for cheap, used options.
Pace yourself. Figure out roughly how much time you'll have for each question/section. Check in with the clock every 5-10 minutes, but try not to obsess. If you finish early, go over and check your work, or go back to specific questions that you weren't sure about.
Only guess if it will help you. Find out the scoring system. Sometimes you will be penalized for the wrong answer, while other times only the right answer is counted toward your score. If the former is true, don't guess unless you have at least a 50/50 shot; if you're completely unsure, leave it blank. If the latter scoring system is used, guessing can only help you no matter your odds, so answer every question.
Don't argue with the test. These tests are objective, and there is only one right answer. Your test will be graded by a machine, not a person. Don't try to argue a case in your head for every possible answer. Instead, look for the one correct option.
Additional resources:
Video: Common mistakes students make on the SAT (but also good tips in general)
Examples of SAT essay prompts, with sample essays and scores
Examples of ACT essay prompts, with sample essays and scores
Essay Tests
Ask your teacher for feedback. Work with your English/Writing teacher. Ask them for specific advice if you struggle with writing essays. What are your strengths that you can capitalize on? How could you improve your weaknesses?
Read the prompt carefully. Try putting it in your own words as a concise question. This will guide the focus of your essay. Does the prompt ask about specific details in a reading section? Mark up the text as you encounter those details. If it doesn't tell you what to look for, create your own list of evidence/details to mark.
Use about 5% of your time to create a plan. Follow this format: short intro, three body paragraphs (one main idea per paragraph), short conclusion.
Don't say the same thing over and over. Be as concise as you can while fully answering the prompt.
But--if you have met the minimum length requirement, and still have more good information to include, don't stop! Keep going and say everything you have to say.
Save time to proofread and edit at the end. This can save you a lot of points, and help you catch any weaknesses in your arguments.
Things to keep in mind as you proofread: Did you fully answer the question? What are possible weaknesses in your arguments? Are there different sides or interpretations? Include those, and use analysis and evaluation to show strengths and weaknesses. Explain why your argument is better/more correct.
Your introduction and conclusion should be interesting, but short. Keep them to the point, and avoid blatantly restating everything that's already in your body paragraphs. In your conclusion especially, try to add some new information, or give an interesting example that proves your argument. This will help your essay stand out and be less boring.
More resources:
In depth writing advice.
15 online tools to improve your writing skills.
Math Tests
Not a tip, but this is a video I like to show my students before I give them advice on taking math tests. I think it's great for a laugh. I relate to the "student" in the video, because I always felt lost in math class. Regardless of your level of skill, here are some tips to help you do your best on math tests!
Up to 50% of students experience test anxiety specifically during math tests! See the above tips for managing test anxiety if you are in that group of students.
Ask questions in class if you don't understand something. Because math is linear and concept-based, not understanding material in class has serious consequences. Speaking up about being confused can be intimidating, but remember that it's your teacher's job to explain the material in a way you can understand. They can't help you if they don't know you're confused! And reminder, most teachers want to help. If asking questions during class is a no-go for you, try working with your teacher or a tutor outside of class time to catch up.
Start with the easiest problems. This helps you build confidence as well as use your time effectively. If you hit a problem that you're completely lost on, skip it and try to come back later.
Pay attention to point values so that you can use your time wisely. Don't spend half your time agonizing over a question that's only worth a small percentage of your total score. Spend most of your energy on high-point problems.
Try to answer every question, and show all your work. Math teachers often give partial credit even if you don't complete a problem, or if you get the wrong answer.
Estimate answers when possible so you can know if you're in the right ballpark once you've finished the problem.
Common math errors and how to prevent them:
Conceptual errors. These happen when you just don't know how to solve the problem. Solve these by working with your teacher/tutor to identify concepts you haven't grasped, and make sure you are understanding current class material.
Careless errors. These happen when you know how to solve the problem, you just make a mistake! You use the wrong sign, do the wrong operation, or leave out units in your final answer. Solve these by checking your work and reading the questions carefully.
Study errors. These happen when you don't prepare for the test beforehand. You had all the resources you needed to do well, but you didn't utilize them! Solve this by creating and using a study guide, doing practice problems ahead of time, and making sure you know what material you need to study. Use your textbook or class notes to find "objectives." These tell you exactly what you should know after that lesson/reading that chapter. Make sure you've accomplished those objectives, and you'll be good to go.
Application errors. These are common in word problems. With this mistake, you use the wrong formula or equation and end up with a "right" answer, just not the answer the question was asking for. If you struggle with this, work with your teacher or a tutor especially on word problems. Find out how to identify the right formula to use, and solve for what the question is asking.
Reading Tests
If you struggle with reading comprehension, the best way to get better is practice. The more you read, the better you will get at it. Your speed will improve, as well as your ability to take in what you are reading. Try to find books that you know will be interesting to you to motivate yourself! Or try out a variety of genres to find one or two that you like. If you want a challenge, check out this look of (one person's) recommended 25 books to read before college.
There are several strategies to try out on reading tests. My favorite is to read the questions, mark up the passage (underline keywords, names, any other info you know to look for based on the questions), then read the passage carefully and answer the questions as you go. Another option is to skim the passage first, then read the questions, then read the passage more carefully and answer the questions. A third is to just read the passage carefully, and then answer all the questions at the end. Try these out (I would recommend using practice tests) and find which option works best for you.
Look for keywords in the questions, and keep an eye out for those words and their synonyms as you read the passage.
If you have trouble focusing while you read the long passages, blocking out all but one or two lines at a time with your hand (or blank paper), or use your finger to guide your reading.
Pacing is one of the biggest challenges on reading tests. Look over the test once your time starts, and find out how much time you will have per section. Don't let yourself get hung up on any one question. Guess (unless it hurts your score) and move on. (Interesting fact: moving your lips while you read slows you down! So try not to do that.)
Mark up the test as you read. Underline, box in, make stars whenever you come across important information/details. Numbering the paragraphs can also be helpful if this is not already done for you.
Don't try to memorize the passage. Just try to gather the main idea.
Ask yourself questions as you read. Examples: How does this relate to the main idea? How does this compare with what the author said earlier? What does ____ have to do with the passage's argument? Who is _____? And pretty much any "Why...?" questions.
Don't worry if the passage is on an unfamiliar topic. In general, the answers to the questions will be in the passage itself, so it's okay if you don't have much background knowledge on the topic.
Identify the genre. There will be different types of questions depending on the type of passage. Prose/Fiction passage questions will focus on: Why did the person in the story do or feel something? For these you will want to pay attention to tone/mood of the passage. For Factual/Historical passages, questions will focus more on: What happened, when did it happen, who was involved? Pay extra attention to events, dates, names, etc.
#y'all this took me forever so pls reblog if you find it helpful or think your followers might!!#test help#study help#study skills#study tips#college help#high school help#test tips#test anxiety#not marvel#resources#reference#if this totally flops i will simply reblog it myself every day for the rest of my life :)
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Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Naruto
Hm! Only Positivity huh? I still don’t know why this is defined as Reverse Unpopular; some of my least popular opinions are already Thing Good.
Okay I actually really liked how Naruto (the manga, which I followed week to week for most of high school lol, hurrah for scanlators and rip mangafox) carried off the Big Twist about Itachi. The followthrough could have been better, as is the case with basically every element of the story, but the basic sell of Itachi’s real motives just landed really successfully, in my eyes.
There are a few reasons for that--mostly that it was the endpoint of quite a lot of direct buildup, of weird choices by Itachi that seemed just like his weird personality at a glance but which added together made foreshadowing, plus actual foreshadowing, followed by his absolutely bananas behavior during the climactic fraternal battle and the panel comp for his last words. Which really got me in the heart before I even had context.
But also that it snapped into place with a lot of the story’s strongest existing themes and tied them together in what looked at the time like the potential for a strong wicker sort of framework.
About the harm their society did its people and especially its children by molding them for war, and how seductively meaningful that shape could feel, going back to Haku. About cut-throat intra-clan bullshit going back to Neji.
About the weird emphasis placed on the concept of genius and its enforced advancement, going back to either the early Chuunin exam arc with Lee or earlier with Sasuke’s basic characterization. And about the fuckery that isolation wreaks on the psyche and how easy it is for authority figures to take advantage of vulnerable children, going back to literally the first chapter.
A lot of the time these twist-reveals that some baddie was Actually A Victim All Along are really unsatisfying, because they tend to diminish the horror of their crimes and even argue they were Justified.
With Itachi, the true story of the Uchiha Massacre was worse. Konoha’s government or a subset thereof (it was never clarified who was complicit) actively coercing a thirteen-year-old child into helping to kill his entire family and taking all the blame so they (that is Danzou) could avoid the potential repercussions of a civil war in the worst way possible while eliminating the Uchiha as internal political rivals is so much more deeply horrifying than a genius just snapping. Systemic rot is so, so much worse than individual violence.
(That’s why we as a society are encouraged to view crime as an individual thing, after all, and the prototypical criminal mind as the serial killer driven by nothing but deranged psychosexual needs.)
The fact that everything Itachi put Sasuke through was out of love and a desperate need to keep him alive, because Sasuke was who he loved most and the only thing he loved that he was allowed to save, that is so much more awful than it being out of hate. That that very love was cynically used to corral this child into leaving the corner he’d been backed into at an angle useful to others.
It’s obscene, but it pulls so many elements of the setting and characterization together.
And even though Itachi’s scheme technically went off exactly as planned, the narrative does not embrace it as in any way a good plan that reflected good judgment or even sanity. Which was nice.
The new version of What Really Happened is worse and it adds dimension to the past events being retconned rather than flattening them, which is cool and honestly difficult to pull off.
Also I love the premise of Itachi being, by nature, a very gentle person. Because that hasn’t stopped him from being a mass murdering serial killer, when the correct pressures were applied. He hates violence. He hates people being hurt.
No one ever cared what he wanted. And his family pressured him into a particularly violent and traumatic version of their murder career extra young for the prestige. And that was why, when more pressure came from different angles, he was already someone who could shut down his personal volition and kill whoever he was supposed to kill, no matter how much it hurt him.
They made him into a knife and he was turned against them. I go wild for that. It wasn’t right or fair and so many people died who weren’t directly at fault, but it is a closed circle. Which I find narratively satisfying.
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Itachi also played interestingly against Gaara, the series’ previous benchmark for its recurring theme of Utterly Broken Boy, because he was walked a steady path down from Being At All Okay by the demands of the adults in his life, then took a really big hit, then just kept getting worse and worse without ever really snapping completely, but also without anybody ever even coming close to saving him.
While Gaara was betrayed by his family much harder and faster and in many ways more comprehensively, went completely insane when the big hit came, and then with Naruto’s help pulled himself together and ascended to a position of power, and began making things better and having positive sibling relationships.
Another thing that always struck me about the Real Itachi Backstory is that, because the breaking of him was conducted so much within the system--without kidnapping or sand demons talking in his head or social collapse or abandonment or even overt abuse or torture, unsanctioned wetworks divisions and insane cousins impersonating insane great-grandfathers notwithstanding--he makes it much easier to see the parallels between the way the ninja world eats its brightest stars alive very young, and the abusive expectations the real, contemporary school system tends to lay on high performers.
Fugaku’s abuse of Itachi is in some ways understated for fiction but also utterly deranged, in terms of the kind of gore and horror he pushed his genius child into confronting at such a young age. But it’s still sufficiently normalized within his society that it looks enough like a normal dad demanding outstanding academic achievement at all times to be really...the opposite of trippy. Strangely grounded for a relationship whose core element is ‘refused to let son choose not to be a child soldier.’
I’m torn about the level of intentionality there.
Of course, salt incoming lol I can’t hold it back, praising this kind of thing in Naruto just brings attention to how the resolution of the story was unsatisfying, because it ultimately disengaged from all its major themes other than self-sacrifice and friendship being A Big Deal in order to bring a big finish and a firm conclusion.
Which...man looks like an even stupider decision in hindsight considering it now has a sequel. Hah.
#ask meme#naruto#uchiha itachi#kishimoto pulled this kind of twist a lot of times#a lot a lot#and i think itachi was the most successful#although the followthrough and payoff after that point was#utter pants#because the narrative lacked the courage of its convictions#as is common in this genre lmao#reverse unpopular opinion#a nonny mouse#ask#hoc est meum
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BETWEEN US
NicoMaki, Love Live, 3.6K, 1/1
Summary: Nishikino Maki and Yazawa Nico have many challenges ahead, but they get through them together.
Between Us
Is this what love is? Not a fire that bites painfully but two people laying so close to feel every breath, hands nearly touching, eyes on the brilliant stars opening themselves up suddenly, sure enough to share truths they speak into the night, this solitary space, this private moment between them.
Nishikino Maki spoke first, always the more impatient, curious about Yazawa Nico’s state of mind. “What do you want to do, Nico-chan?”
“Nico wants to show everyone that little and cute can be strong, sexy smart, talented, funny, hard working, successful….I’m tired of how the world treats cute girls like Nico. Nico is a star.” Nico flung her arms out, to encompass the sky. “They should be in awe.”
I am, Maki said to herself, and then thought, why not say it out loud. This was all new, why not be bolder.
“I am.”
Nico squeezed Maki’s hand, a reward for honesty. “What do you want to do, Maki-chan?”
No one said Maki’s name like Nico. It had been Maki’s anchor through the continuing craziness of Muse, Eli’s taskmaster torture, qualifying, Honoka’s collapse, then starting over, right as they discovered these new feelings, a gift from all they’d been through.
“I want to use the Nishikino fortune for new things, good things, to stop propping up out dated ways and awful people. I want to find new ways to help…” Maki was a person of specifics and she had a list. “Girls, gays, empaths, people fighting bigotry, neurodivergents, water protectors,” Maki thought of Rin and giggled, “furries, us, our friends, the world.”
“Maki-chan will do great things.”
“Once I’m 30.”
Nico Yazawa considered. This was so new and 14 years from now, when Maki was a doctor and her trust vested, seemed as distant as the nearest star Nico could see. But Nico knew naming goals was the first step to achieving them, even if it seemed a wild fantasy.
“Nico will be there.” Not flashy, just quiet determination.
Nico heard Maki gulp. She was probably tearing up and couldn’t speak. Nico didn’t really expect her too. Sharing was such a new trust. But Maki’s hand carefully kept precise palm to palm contact with Nico’s. That said everything.
“Marry Nico.”
Maki sighed. “No one can know.”
“Okay.”
YAZAWA NICO FINISHES FIRST INTERNATIONAL TOUR WITH SPRING SPLASH IN HONOLULU
NISHIKINO MAKI BEGINS RONIN YEAR SOLO WORLD TOUR SURFING IN MAUI
Sunrise. Quiet beach. Her own choices. Is this what contentment felt like, Maki wondered. Finally, moments of quiet to listen for the important things. Leaning against her duffle and board, dressed in a striped rash guard, bright lavender board shorts, and a faded denim “You Are On Native Land” cap, Maki stretched, watching the horizon as a lone speck appeared in the distance, jogging toward her, not actually growing much as the distance closed, Maki thought with a private grin. Nico, running in an oversized hoodie and bikini bottom, gasped dramatically, reaching a hand for the water bottle Maki held out as a lure.
“Still running 5Ks every morning?”
“10K when I don’t have a concert or rehearsal. Nico is a boss.”
“Umi would be proud.”
Nico dropped and did ten fast pushups in the sand next to Maki, “Not if Nico told her it was only to make girls swoon.”
“Girls?” Maki arched an eyebrow, hand sweeping through her hair.
“Girl.”
“Fiancee.”
Nico laughed, rolling toward Maki, pulling her down into a playful, sandy kiss. “Ready to upgrade to trophy wife?”
“Yes.”
But there was no hurry that morning. Both had put their other lives on multiple 15 plus hour flights and fallen briefly off the grid to sit side by side on this hidden beach, the tide surging, a rare treasured morning to share.
“Went to the symphony last night. Monica Mancini sang, Henry Mancini’s daughter,” Nico hummed the Pink Panther theme, “Nice voice, more your thing than Nico’s though. She sang a lot of Johnny Mercer. And some new stuff. Nico was taking notes.”
“You’re great on stage Nico-chan, but I guess you can always learn from other performers.”
“Nico is learning songwriting.”
Maki pushed against Nico, “Going to try to get me to put Nico Nico Ni to music again.”
Nico’s mood turned serious, “I miss watching you play.”
“I miss playing.”
“When Nico gets her penthouse, there will be a baby grand.” Nico let her hand settle on Maki’s, “Working with a portable keyboard now. And Umi’s giving me advice, so many books...I’m so busy reading, there’s no time to party.”
“Good.”
“Hey, do you have any plans tomorrow night?”
Nico stared at Maki for a moment, but there was only earnestness in the amethyst staring back, “Not since you got here.”
“I’ve been talking with some of the elders, volunteering on Maui, learning about healing plants, and aloha ‘āina.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s really cool. I’m going to get Papa to invite some of the teachers and doctors I’ve met to give seminars for us. Aloha ‘āina means so many things, but it’s mostly being determined to take care of each other by taking care of the land. It’s very land based and tradition based, here in Hawai’i,” Maki picked up a handful of sand, “but it’s caring and not soft...exactly...when you meet Kai, he’ll explain it better. We’ve been invited for dinner, his uncle plays the ohe hano ihu.”
“What’s that?”
“ A nose flute, not for big concerts, more personal...Kai says his uncle has so many stories about it being used in courting rituals.”
“Is Maki-chan taking notes?”
“Maybe.” Ah, Maki’s sexy, best musician in the world grin. Nico missed that one a lot on the road. A killer cute band was no replacement for the brilliant, lovely pianist who’d so boldly wrapped Nico’s heart in music.
They were in the teasing phase now. “Do you have to keep courting a cute girl after marriage?”
Maki shoved into Nico again, “Well, duh…”
Joint laughter, rolling out to meet the tide.
“We’re getting married.” Maki said quietly.
“Just need to take our passports to pick up the license and go to the shrine. We filled out everything else online.” Nico glanced at her bare legs, “And Nico brought a kimono. Although Maki-chan looks sporty cute just like she is.”
Maki had a far off look, not paying much attention to Nico. Happy to wait ‘til Maki drifted back to the beach, Nico was going to enjoy memorizing her favorite scenery, Maki’s beautifully expressive face, now relaxed and open, thoughts waves and clouds in constant motion. Nico knew the solitude here allowed Maki to relax, there was no family pressure, their phones were off, nothing on either of their schedules for at least the rest of the week. A rare moment to sit with each other, sharing this beauty.
NISHIKINO REAL ESTATE GROUP BUYS LARGE LUXURY TOWER NEAR NISHIKINO MEDICAL CENTER
SUPERSTAR REFUSES TO GIVE UP PENTHOUSE APARTMENT TO NISHIKINO HEIR
Fast food. School girls lingering from Otonokizaka. Two people shoved into the booth furthest from the door and windows, sitting on the same bench, hip to hip, back to the rest of the room.
“So many memories in this place.” Nico unwrapped her burger.
“So many french fries.” Maki dipped a sample french fry in her chocolate milkshake.
“Another meal Nico paid for. You got rich not paying for food.”
“Hey! You were too proud to let me pay.”
“Nico is still too proud.” Nico tapped her fingers on the table. This late afternoon, for this clandestine meeting, they’d allowed themselves the indulgence of wearing their braided gold and platinum wedding band, Maki added the simple diamond Nico had bought her for their engagement.
“Is this going to work? Us actually living this close together without rumors starting?” Maki had been worrying. So many comments in the press and on social media.
“Everyone already has us at war. Nico’s a selfish poser, Maki’s a spoiled brat. Enemies to lovers.”
“Not funny, Nico-chan.”
“Nico will throw a huge party before I leave on my next tour. My new landlord will threaten very publically to throw me out of the building. Everything will flare up, but Maki-chan will continue to do boring future doctor things and by the time Nico gets back, all anyone will be talking about is Nico’s new album.”
“They’re not boring future doctor things.”
“No, they’re smart, saving the world future doctor things and Nico is so proud.” A quick kiss on Maki’s palm.
“Meanwhile…”
“Meanwhile, Umi and Eli install a secret hatch above the decorative staircase centerpiece of your expensively designed main room.”
“I’m going to miss you, Nico-chan.” Sadness.
Time to change the mood. Nico dipped a french fry in her strawberry shake and fed it to Maki. “How’s studying going?”
Maki leaned, chin in hand, frowny. “I could be more motivated.”
“So B?”
“A minus.”
“Nerd.”
“ ‘s dull." Maki said, chewing slowly. "But have to stay on track with the family benchmarks.”
“Yeah.” Nico decided to talk about happier things, “ooohh, did I tell you Eli’s setting up a foundation for Nico as her graduation project. We’ve already donated tickets to queer youth groups in every city on the tour and Nozomi’s setting up mentor programs.”
“Expect a large anonymous donation.”
“Expect a large not so anonymous thank you.”
“I’m just proud that you’re doing things to actually help people. I want to do more.”
“You’re studying to be a doctor, Maki-chan. That’s hard. Nico’s got it easy. All Nico has to do is” Nico went into her signature gesture, “Nico Nico Ni and everything gets brighter.” Nico suddenly remembered she shouldn’t have let her catch phrase out full voice during what was supposed to be a secret meeting, but this was a low traffic period so no one seemed to notice.
“I couldn’t get that out of my head, the first time I saw you do it. It was annoying.”
“But you loved Nico.” Nico snuggled closer, enjoying a chance to feel Maki next to her.
“But I loved Nico, all of Nico, the bold, brash, terrible liar, the kind, caring sister, the determined ally and friend, the hard working and talented performer.”
“Nico wasn’t a liar, Nico was an optimist.”
“Private chef,” Maki cough giggled.
Nico grabbed the french fries as Maki reached for another one, “Confiscated for cheekiness.”
“Give me those.” Maki grabbed, Nico dodged, french fries flew loose and they giggled their way through the next few minutes until Nico leaned forward to whisper in Maki’s ear.
“So are your parents still in New York City?”
Gulping, suddenly completely flustered, Maki nodded.
Nico bounced up, offering a gallant hand, “Nico will walk you home.”
“Fancy.”
“Only the best for Mrs. Yazawa.”
“That would be Mrs. Nishikino.”
“We’ll wrestle. Nico will win.”
“Optimist.”
Nico’s hand on Maki’s waist was a gentle guide into the autumn night, two hats pulled down, two collars pulled up, Nico in a mask to protect her voice. “Wait and see.”
Maki leaned into Nico. This night, unlike too many others recently, felt just right.
HEAD OF THE NISHIKINO MEDICAL GROUP COLLAPSES, HOSPITALIZED
NICO NI NEW YEAR’S CHARITY CONCERT SELLS OUT IN MINUTES
Nico had never been so sick. She’d lost count of the medicines she was taking to sleep at night, and then the additional ones added to get her through tonight’s concert. Then she could rest. Go to her Mama’s house and get babied for a bit. Maki had been so sad at Christmas, with too many family obligations to fly to Los Angeles. Nico had gotten through their Christmas Eve quick chat and then collapsed, barely moving until yesterday’s rehearsal, which wiped her out.
Pounding on her hotel room door. What the hell? Phone pinged, the Maki-tone.
“Open your door, Nico--chan.” Maki sounded angry. Was she pounding? Nico felt even fuzzier, slumping to the door, opening it to fall against a tall, angry Maki, beanie over her hair, sunglasses, and a mask.
“Nico-chan?” Now Maki’s voice sounded tearful.
“Hi, Mrs. Yazawa.” Nico croaked out, hoping to make Maki at least giggle.
Strong arms swept her up, Maki striding across the room, putting Nico gently down on the bed, Maki immediately examining every bottle by Nico’s bedside, “What kind of quack put you on all this?”
“Don’t know.”
“Don’t know? You don’t know.”
“Trainer found ‘em…recommended.”
“You should be in a hospital.” Maki’s voice broke.
“Concert, charity, millions. Nico Nico Ni.” Nico had no idea if what she was saying made sense.
“Cancel. Refund. I’ll make a bigger donation.”
“Nico is a trooper.”
“Nico is a zombie. What the hell kind of irresponsible moron gave you all this?” Maki crashed all the bottles to the floor. “Did they inject you with anything?”
“It’s LA, Maki-chan, the beautiful people never stop.” Nico coughed. It hurt like 50 Umi arrows to the chest, “Nico is a beautiful people.”
“Nico-chan…” Maki was kneeling next to the bed, desperation and weariness lining her face. She’d never travelled well, Nico realized.
Nico managed to flip so she was on her side, managing to smile at Maki, “Hey pretty girl.”
“I am going to sue that quack into despair and destitution.”
Nico blinked, suddenly aware that Maki should be in Tokyo. “Why are you here, Maki-chan?.”
“Hanayo heard a rumor…”
“Did anyone see you?”
“I don’t care.” Maki’s head dropped to the bed, “Papa collapsed...and you’re like this and hiding it from me…and letting some greedy idiot try to kill you...if anything happens to you, Nico-chan…” And the tears, Nico could feel them as she reached for Maki, hot, heavy, rolling off pale cheeks.
“Nico will be fine.”
Maki shook her head.
“Look at me, Maki-chan.”
Maki raised her head. Her eyes were bright. She was always so bright, so caring, her native prickliness a fortification against all the emotions Maki didn’t know how to process.
“I will be fine.”
Maki surged up, her arms drawing in Nico, whose heart was really not rested enough for tackled into bed by the redhead of her dreams. “Maki-chan, you’re going to hug Nico to death.”
“Don’t say that.” Maki’s arm twitched for a minute like she was going to shove Nico away, but then Nico found herself pressed as closely as she’d ever been against a clothed Maki, which would have been amazing if she could breathe. So Nico let a cough out and Maki loosened her hold.
“Let Nico sleep.”
“Okay. But I’m not going anywhere.”
Nico had closed her eyes, muttering, “...love you.”
“I love you too, Nico-chan.”
A-RISE STEPS IN AT LAST MINUTE FOR NICO NI
NISHIKINO MAKI CHECKING OUT STANFORD RESEARCH FACILITIES, POSSIBLE PARTNERSHIP
Nico is officially spoiled. Another morning waking up to Maki curled up by her side...She’d shipped everyone else back to Japan, tour over, a solid break until Nico’s doctor cleared her for rehearsal. Nico sat up, teasing tumbles of red hair, Maki had been very clear that Nico had to clear the steroids out of her system first. But at least Maki hadn’t banned other forms of exercise.
“I’m not asleep, Nico-chan.” Maki mumbled, sounding totally still asleep.
“Thanks for coming to rescue Nico.”
“Don’t make me do it again. I might have to go back to school.”
“I thought you were joining the Board Of Directors ahead of schedule?”
Maki opened her eyes, stretching, “Order pancakes. And bacon. And orange juice. And muffins.”
“Brunch in bed.”
“I’m not leaving until I have to.”
Nico reached down to kiss Maki’s forehead, “It’s been nice having you here.”
“Then come home.”
“Nico is working on it.”
Maki raised an eyebrow. Nico sounded excited. “Is there something I don’t know about?”
“It was supposed to be your Christmas surprise, but Nico’s agent was still negotiating.”
What could Nico’s agent be negotiating that would be a Christmas surprise for Maki?
“I’m going be the main character in a TV drama, based in Tokyo.”
“Really?”
“Really. I didn’t get to be there when your Dad ended up in the hospital and I’m so sorry…I knew you needed me, but...this is our life...” Maki nodded as Nico gestured at the hotel suite, continuing, “And I knew you were going to be super busy with family stuff so I pitched an idea and two production companies jumped on board. Nico is taking a paycut and ownership, but all you’ll have to do is come upstairs and Nico will be right there, at least for six months.”
“Nico-chan…” Maki sat up.
Nico put her arm and pulled Maki in, Maki dropping her head to Nico’s shoulder, “We get through the tough stuff together, Maki-chan. We always have. I love you.”
“Love you.” Maki was falling asleep again. Nico would add coffee to their brunch order. Maki had to be awake enough to sneak out and catch a plane.
YAZAWA NICO TO STAR IN DOCTOR SMILE
DOCTOR NISHIKINO MAKI TAKES OVER FAMILY MEDICAL PRACTICE
If she didn’t have Nico, Maki would probably just live with a grand piano, a huge bathtub, and a couch to eat take out on, Nico thought as she sank into lavender scented steaming water.
“It’s not funny, Rin. And I don’t need weekly updates about who Nico’s kissing on the show.” Maki sounded aggravated. Nico giggled. She’d come home early from a weekend meet the fans event and snuck into Maki’s luxury tub to recover. Candles were lit, Idol music popping.
“Wait a minute, Rin. I think…” Maki’s steps sounded hasty and she was suddenly in the door of the bathroom.
Nico winked. “Hi Maki!”
Maki made a grumbly noise and turned sideways, “No, I’m okay, Rin. There’s just a surprise in my bathtub…” Maki glanced at Nico, “Rin says hi. And you have to stop using my cases, Nico-chan.”
“Did Rin say that? And who says Nico does?”
Maki glared, “Where do you even get your information?”
Nico raised a finger to her lips and winked.
“And that red wig. It’s awful. People think you’re making fun of me.” Maki listened to her phone. “Shut up, Rin.” And the phone went in her coat pocket.
“What did Rin say?”
“Nvermind.” Maki muttered.
“Maki-chan…” Nico splashed at Maki.
“No one would ever call me Dr. Smile.”
Nico guffawed, slapping water everywhere. “I miss Rin.”
“If I had Umi’s bow, I wouldn’t.”
“You love her.” Nico leaned back, watching her wife, who had flopped on the nearby chaise. “So who thinks Nico is making fun of you?”
“Papa.”
“PFfffffff…who cares.”
Maki glared, ‘“We’re trying to keep his stress levels low.”
“Red headed doctors are the best.”
“But I like your hair; it looks like you.”
“But our daughter will look like Dr. Smile.”
That threw Maki’s train of thought completely askew. The closest she could get was imagining Cotaro when she first met him with bright red hair.
“I wonder if our children will look like you? All your siblings do.”
“And they’re cute. But our children will be NicoMaki cute. I’ve seen your baby pictures, you were adorable.” Nico leaned back, smiling up at Maki. “Nico can’t wait to have a family to come home to.”
“You have me.”
“And I love it.” Nico blew lavender scented bubbles at Maki, “But you, me, the cutest children ever in the universe, and Christmas morning.”
Maki couldn’t keep the huge grin back. “I can tell them all about Santa-san.”
“But we’re not spoiling them too much.”
Maki pouted at Nico.
Nico giggled, “That’s what our parents will do.”
Maki got up, taking off her coat, sliding out of her jacket, unbuttoning her shirt halfway and slipping out of her pants. Then she sat on the edge of the tub, feet in the water, toes teasing Nico’s legs. “You’re going to tour less, right.”
“Nico’s not touring now. You’re going to cut down your hours, right, Maki-chan.”
“Just started the search for an Executive Director. And put the LGBTQ+ Health Centers proposal on the fast track.”
Nico leaned over, her chin on Maki’s thigh, “We’ve worked really hard for this.”
“We have.”
“I think Mama knows.”
Maki laughed, “It was that morning she surprised us at breakfast, wasn’t it?”
For once, Nico was the one blushing. “Nico needs…” Nico’s arm slipped under Maki’s shirt, a casual touch on Maki’s back, “more elegant pajamas for entertaining company.”
“No you don’t.”
“You like it when Nico borrows your shirt.”
“No, I love it when Nico-chan borrows my shirt.”
“Nico loves your pajamas.” Nico’s fingers started tracing patterns.
“Ha!” Keeping her cool with Nico this close had always been impossible so Maki just lowered herself into the water, pausing for a messy, wet kiss, “Let’s skip dinner.”
NISHIKINO MAKI AND YAZAWA NICO: DETAILS OF THEIR WHIRLWIND COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
The interviewer leaned forward as Maki ran a hand through her hair. She was relaxed in a light gray Tadashi Shoji corded lace sheath dress, and confidently answered her question, “It was a long day, my eyes were so tired everything was blurry and I got in the wrong elevator. Nico had just gotten pics of the Ayase twins and we started talking about high school.”
“Talking?” Nico snorted, standing behind Maki, hands in the pockets of bright pink Victoria Beckham trousers, the matching blazer falling open, “It was all Nico’s sex appeal. Nico is irresistible.”
Maki leaned her head back, a private smile for Nico, “Nico is irresistible.”
“Is it irresponsible to take so much time off from your responsibilities to take a world tour honeymoon and then start a family?”
Nico chuckled, her hands on Maki’s shoulder, “We’ve planned carefully. And they’re our businesses. Nico never understood people working themselves to death, not taking time for family. We want to change corporate culture.”
“You’ve always been ambitious, Nico. What’s your next project?”
Nico winked, “That’s just between us.”
“No hints for our viewers, Maki?”
Nico leaned down, arms around Maki’s shoulders, whispering something in her ear. Maki’s full, flaring blush could have been a picture from high school. The interviewer laughed.
“Nice to see you two worked out the Penthouse Wars.”
“Nico is a reasonable person.”
Maki threw back her head, laughing, “Sure, that’s why.”
“Well, Nico is certainly a top…”
“Nico-chan!”
“I love you, Maki-chan.” Giggling, Nico kissed her wife’s cheek.
Nico might have been the only one to hear Maki’s muttered, “I love you, Nico-chan.” But it had always been true.
A/N: Another AU Yeah August request, it started out as Married Rivals, but I was reading a Dolly Parton songwriting book and in the songs about love chapter there were these lyrics from "Between Us":
In our love let's share a friendship between us
Always close enough to talk things out
Let's be honest with ourselves and each other
And our love will never know mistrust or doubt
So I just started writing conversations.
#NicoMaki#Nishikino Maki#Yazawa Nico#married#married life#fluff#minor illness and angst#au yeah august
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Lenovo IdeaPad 5i | Intel 11th Generation + NVIDIA MX450
Today we have a very special laptop Lenovo IdeaPad 5i with us. It is a 16-inch laptop, and it comes with Intel's latest 11th generation tiger lake processor. So, let's check the laptop out, and then let's review it together. It also has Intel IRIS XC graphics, and it comes with an NVIDIA MX450 graphics card, so that's amazing. What you get in the box are the laptop, some documents, and the charger.
Now let's jump to the review.
Today we are reviewing the latest and the greatest from the stables of Lenovo, the laptop Lenovo IdeaPad 5i. The exact model number is 14i tl05. Let me quickly sync up on its killer specs, so we have Intel's latest 11th generation core i5 processor with IRIS XC integrated graphics 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, 512 GB of M.2 SSD storage, and to top it all, it also has a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce MX450 graphics card with 2 GB of GDDR6 video RAM. You get all this and much more for less than a thousand bucks. This might be the best price to performance ratio I've ever seen. Let's talk about its display; the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i comes with a 14 inch full HD 1080p IPS panel. The display is not made for content creators, but it will serve its purpose for normal usage scenarios like watching movies, YouTube, and office work.
Why not for content creators? It's because the display only covers 65 percent of the RGB color gamut, not bad by any means, but if you're into serious photo and video editing business, then you may want to hook up an external monitor. The display gets sufficiently bright as well. I am happy with the display, considering it is the only weak point in an overall awesome package. However, the chassis is all plastic. It looks and feels super durable and premium. It is a very well-constructed laptop with a robust build quality. The finish is smooth and resistant to fingerprints. It is, after all, an ultra-book and weighs around 1.4 KGs. This makes it a fairly portable laptop that is easier to carry and will fit in nearly every backpack on the lid. IdeaPad 5i has an aluminum finish which looks nice. The hinge of the laptop is strong, and there is very minimal flex on the lid. The bottom of the laptop is clean with the air intake grilles and rubberized pads. The heat vents are located at the bottom chassis behind the keyboard, and they are quite large, which keeps this laptop cool. The unique feature of this laptop is the privacy shutter.
The camera button slide opens when you are ready to be on the camera and pushes it back into place when you are done. Thanks to its amazing internals, it is powered by intel core i5 11th generation tiger lake CPU, which is almost 30 faster than the previous-gen. With 11th gen Intel has finally caught up with the Ryzen 4000 series CPUs. One big addition to this year's release is the IRIS XC graphics through which you can easily do 1080p gaming at 30fps which is just brilliant from Intel. This model with NVIDIA's latest MX450 dedicated graphics card, which is a treat for gamers and someone who needs additional graphics power for the programs they run. On top of all that, 16 GB of RAM makes everything better in this laptop. It forms like a champ. Its performance is superb, even if your system is overloaded. It neither stutters nor gets heated up without any thermal throttling whatsoever. 4k video editing is possible on this laptop. It performs well. 512 GB of SSD also helps in fast speed. Thanks to Lenovo for bringing this amazing device to the masses.
Let's talk about gaming. Gaming is a cakewalk for IdeaPad 5i. It gives you between 50 to 60 fps on high settings. The benchmark scores are also amazing. Thanks to MX 450 dedicated graphics with 2 GB of GDDR6 video RAM. You can easily play on medium settings on this ultra-book. Battery life is amazing on low to moderate usage with brightness at eighty percent with a battery life of between six to eight hours. It charges quickly as well and will charge up to fifty percent in an hour.
Now let's talk about the keyboard. Lenovo makes great keyboards, and it continues to deliver the same stellar experience on IdeaPad 5i. The keyboard on offer is responsive with good key travel. you can type for hours on this top. The inbuilt fingerprint sensor below the keyboard is really good and one of the fastest out there. It's decent, not made of glass, so fingers do not light smoothly. It supports Windows 10 gestures. You need to apply a bit of pressure to register a click. You have 2 USB 3.1 gen1 ports and a full-size SD card reader. You have the charge port USB C port, which supports power delivery, an HDMI port, and an audio jack in terms of upgradability. Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade the RAM as it's soldered onto the motherboard, but you have the option to upgrade the SSD to a bigger and better one if you want speakers.
Lastly, the speakers on IdeaPad 5i are upward-firing, which produces great sound. It supports Dolby audio and can easily fill up the room alright time for final thoughts for under 1000 bucks you cannot ask for a better deal in 2020. what you're getting is Intel's latest tiger lake processor, 16 GB of RAM, and NVIDIA's dedicated MX 450 graphics card, all this and much more in a very slim package as well I love my time with this great machine if you're looking for a serious work plus fun laptop then this should be it. It's great for both professionals and students and with such serious power underneath you will never be left wanting for more. The laptop is my top recommendation; great job Lenovo for bringing this to the market at such an amazing price if you are in the market for a laptop. Please don't buy Intel 10 generation laptops.
">Go for the 11th generation, and take your pick.
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Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive”
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“From the producer of Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin” headlines the 2011 poster for Bridesmaids. It might as well have continued “comes a comedy starring… women!” While the producer in question, Judd Apatow, had nearly created his own subgenre of modern coming-of-age comedies featuring male friendships (regardless of the age his characters were ‘coming of’), a credible, genuinely funny, ensemble laugher starring all women was virtually unheard of. Or at least so it seemed at the time. Quotes on other posters included proclamations like, “Chick flicks don’t have to suck!” (Movieline) and “Better Than The Hangover!” (Cosmopolitan).
Ten years on, it seems both like yesterday when the film came out and also a whole era away: a time when women headlining a comedy movie was somehow strange, “chick flicks” were accepted to be a lesser form of cinema, and The Hangover was considered the pinnacle of hilarity. From a script written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig (who also stars), featuring a wedding where romance is in no way the focus of the movie, and starring a host of funny women, a smattering of gross-out humor, and some of the most honest and empathetic depictions of female friendship around, Bridesmaids was a beacon. And it shines just as strong today.
A week ahead of Bridesmaids’ 10th birthday (its original U.S. release was May 13, 2011), Den of Geek is chatting with director Paul Feig via Zoom. Feig is in Belfast and into week four of his fantasy adaptation The School for Good and Evil (based on the book). When we tell him we can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years he laughs, “You can’t? Imagine how I feel!”
While the movie itself remains fresh, funny, and sweet, that it was considered quite so daring just 10 years ago is a bit of a shock now. Certainly Feig never considered the movie to be subversive at the time.
“But everybody kept talking to us like it was!” he says. “It just made me mad because the whole subversive thing was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a movie starring women.’ And it was like, ‘Really?’ It was 2009 or 2010 at the time we were making it. It was like ‘Wow, if this is subversive, that’s kind of a sad indictment of the industry that we’re in.’ It was annoyingly subversive. It should not have been subversive. It should just have been a funny comedy starring funny people.”
He’s right of course. The fact is the movie was a benchmark. Feig explains that female writer friends who were pitching ideas for female casts at the time Bridesmaids was being made were all told across the board, “We have to wait and see how Bridesmaids does.” That is a whole lot of pressure for one movie—the idea that Feig’s comedy would influence the cinematic landscape for an entire gender. But the reality is, it did.
Feig is demure when we bring up how much the movie changed the film world, but he concedes that it did help to prove to studio execs that female-led films can make money.
“I’d been told in the years running up to that, when I would be pitching female-led projects, ‘Oh no, you can’t, because men won’t go see it. Internationally, it won’t work. Blah, blah, blah.’ All these rules, rules, rules, and you just start to go like, ‘Well, so we’re just going to accept those rules? So women can never have their own projects?’
“We were able to at least show them, ‘Look, if you do it, and it works, then audiences will show up. And not just female audiences. Men will show up.’ I think our movie benefited from the fact that women would bring their significant others to the film, whether they wanted to go or not, and then they could tell their friends, ‘Hey, you should see that. It’s really funny.’”
It worked. Bridesmaids was a massive success, both critically and commercially, grossing over $288 million worldwide (it’s the highest grossing Apatow movie to date) and bagging two Oscar nominations.
Bridesmaids isn’t the first female ensemble comedy, but it’s undeniable that it was a 21st century game-changer. Without it we may not have had movies like Pitch Perfect and its two sequels (if you think that film isn’t influenced by Bridesmaids, check out the poster), Bad Moms, Ocean’s Eight, Girls’ Trip, Feig’s own Ghostbusters reboot, Rough Night, as well as Melissa McCarthy vehicles Identity Thief, The Heat, Spy, Tammy, and The Boss.
Not every one of those projects is gold and nor should they have to be. The fact that they are allowed to exist and stand or fall on their own merits is crucial. It’s the equivalent of the idea that women in various forms of employment automatically have to be that much better than their male counterparts. Women should have the right to create and star in terrible comedies just as much as men…
Though she was relatively famous before Bridesmaids—perhaps most recognizable for her TV roles including as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls—it was Bridesmaids that truly pushed Melissa McCarthy into the mainstream. Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as sister of the groom Megan in Bridesmaids, since then McCarthy’s become one of the highest paid actresses in the world.
It’s quite astonishing, then, that Feig didn’t actually know who she was before he met her at a table read.
“I had never met her before in my life,” he laughs. “We brought her in for an audition because she was friends with Kristen and Annie, and we were having trouble casting that role. Then she just blew me away. And I can’t believe to this day that I did not know she existed until the moment I saw her because she’d been working a lot before that.”
Feig’s first encounter with the script and McCarthy was at a table read back in 2007. Feig says he was in the middle of post-production on an “unsuccessful Christmas movie” called Unaccompanied Minors, which featured Wiig, when Apatow called up.
“He said ‘I know you like to work with female characters, so you should come and see this.’” Feig recalls. “I remember just going like, ‘Oh my God, we can have an amazing vehicle for the funniest women we can find.”
It wasn’t until three years later though that the project finally came to fruition. Feig says all the basic structure of the script was there but with some differences to the detail. The airplane scene wasn’t originally in the movie, and the women made it to Vegas. The character of Officer Rhodes (played by Chris O’Dowd) was a little different. And the infamous dress shop scene, where the group gets explosively ill after Wiig’s Annie takes them for a meal at a cheap restaurant was, according to Feig, “a little more of a competition about Helen [Rose Byrne] wanting an expensive dress and Annie trying to steer towards a cheap dress.”
The dress shop scene in the finished film has become notorious with food poisoning landing in full force during a bridal fitting, McCarthy’s Megan straddling a sink, and Maya Rudolph’s bride-to-be Lillian forced to relieve herself in the middle of the road wearing a wedding dress. Yep, not only is Bridesmaids a film about women, it’s a film where women have violent diarrhea, a massive taboo, even still. Feig recalls it was a delicate balance to make sure it was character driven and not just gross.
“When we first came up with the idea and pitched it to Kristen, she was a little nervous, but rightly so. I mean, honestly, with Judd and I, two guys suddenly going, ‘Hey, let’s do this,’ it could have been terrible,” Feig says.
“We like to have these outrageous scenes that stick with you, but they can’t be outrageous just because, ‘Hey, let’s just have something, everybody shits and farts all over the place.’ That’s not funny to us. What’s funny to us is the idea of she’s competing with somebody who has more money. She has no money. She’s going to try to compete by taking them to a shitty restaurant and saying it’s a good restaurant. And it’s going to blow up in her face. How does it blow up in her face?
“The funny thing is she’s not going to admit in front of her nemesis that this blew up in her face. And so now the comedy is like, ‘We’re just going to throw so much evidence at you that you’ve screwed up.’ The comedy’s going to be like, ‘I’m fine. They’re fine. Nothing’s wrong. I’m not sweating. I’m not about to die.’ And that’s why it’s funny. Then that allows us to go like, ‘And now let’s just have the evidence be hilarious and go crazy with it.’”
So much of what works so brilliantly about the movie is the chemistry between all of the cast. Wiig and Rudolph were already best friends in real life, and the rest of the cast, who all came from the world of improv, had either worked together or at least seen each other’s work.
“The great thing about comedy people, in improv especially, is they’re not lone wolves,” Feig explains. “They live and die by the interaction they have with the people they’re working with. So you don’t get a situation where somebody is a diva or trying to be like, ‘Oh, they’re stealing my jokes.’ They want to make each other as funny as they can while they also make themselves as funny as they can. So it was just a wonderful, supportive set. I mean, we had so much fun. There were never any moments of anything other than just laughing and having a great time.”
Though most of the cast was recognizable, to a U.S. audience at least, from TV shows like SNL, since Bridesmaids their careers have boomed. As well as McCarthy’s enormous success, Wiig has most recently starred as a main character in Wonder Woman 1984 (with a chance she might return for another installment); Ellie Kemper is now best known as The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit; Wendi McLendon-Covey is the star of The Goldbergs; and Maya Rudolph seems to be in everything—we loved her as the Judge in The Good Place, among other things.
Pre-Bridesmaids Australian actress Rose Byrne was probably best known for serious roles in movies like Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later and Troy, and while her character, Helen, is something of the straight woman of the gang, she’s had plenty of opportunities to exercise her comedy chops since, with movies including Neighbors, Instant Family, and Like a Boss.
Though the antagonism between Annie and Helen and the effect it has on Annie’s friendship with Lillian is the central tension of the plot, it was always important to Wiig and Feig not to turn Helen into the villain of the piece.
“Helen doesn’t really do anything terrible,” Feig explains. “I always said, we have to face this from Helen’s point-of-view, which is: Helen meets Lillian. Lillian’s this awesome, smart person. And she then meets her friend who she’s heard all these weird stories about and the friend is kind of a mess. And so to her, she goes like, ‘That’s kind of a toxic friend. I’m going to, in a very lovely way, try to steer Lillian away from this bad influence in her life and towards better things, because I think she can go better places.’ So from Helen’s point-of-view, everything that Annie is doing is terrible because Annie’s trying so hard.”
It means that Bridesmaids very clearly avoids the trope that women aren’t able to get along, and Feig and Wiig pointedly wanted to avoid any sense of it being a catfight.
“We like to redeem people at the end,” Feig says. “It’s really sweet to redeem Helen and go, no, she’s just this needy person who has a husband who was never home. And she’s trying. She clearly has no self-confidence whatsoever, no self-esteem and so she’s just trying to buy it. So it just makes everybody redeemable and lovely at the end.”
Feig says he’s always been fascinated by female friendships and says he’s mostly friends with women. It’s another reason it was always important to him that despite being a “wedding movie” that Bridesmaids kept the relationships between the women at the heart.
Says Feig, “I don’t consider this a romantic comedy, even with the Chris O’Dowd love story. To me, that’s just a prize at the end that Annie gets when she works herself out with her friend. But that’s what drew me to it. If you look at my other movies, I’m just obsessed with the idea of female friendship and exploring it on screen, because I just find it to be one of the most interesting and fun and sweet relationships in my life that I’ve experienced.”
It’s this authenticity that helps Bridesmaids still ring so true a decade on. Though a comedy about women, written by two really funny women, which isn’t a romance and contains farts and shits shouldn’t be subversive, it was definitely a trailblazer. And Feig concedes that it’s helped with “getting over that stupid hurdle of ‘chick flick.’”
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“I despise that term because it’s just a way for guys to dismiss movies starring the opposite sex,” he says. “Hollywood is not an altruistic town. They’re not going to do stuff just to do the right thing. It has to make money. We were at least able to show: look, you can actually make money and do the right thing.”
Bridesmaids is now exclusively streaming on Peacock.
The post Bridesmaids Ten Years on: “It Should Not Have Been Subversive” appeared first on Den of Geek.
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