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#also I may or may not have a colored version that I'm not exactly proud of. lmk if someone wants to see that
shakingparadigm · 3 days
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idk if your still busy so obviously finish what your doing before doing anything else but do you know how hyuna's prosthetic latches together?? I think theres like a knee-latch on her prosthetic that's a bit father down than her other leg but theres so much going of its hard to tell whats going in that area
Honestly I'm not sure how the mechanics of it would work, especially since there's got to be some weird alien technology or structure at play there. It's pretty different from what a prosthetic leg is like in real life, so it's tricky to make assumptions based on that, too.
There's some stuff I noticed about Hyuna's leg across the various official arts, though. Mostly the fact that it's inconsistent, and I kind of see a reason for it. Please forgive me as I go on a bit of a ramble.
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In her original performance outfit the prosthetic is structured almost like it's just a normal leg molded out of metal. It's a lot more solid and is dark in color, almost black. It also seems as if it goes up to just her knee? Maybe it still goes up to her thigh and she just ripped her pants until the knee for better/unobstructed joint movement. It joins at the ball of her knee and seems to be composed of quite a few different parts, somewhat complicated.
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In All-In, Hyuna's prosthetic is still mostly of average leg shape. The most notable difference is that the leg includes hollow spaces, most likely thinner parts assembled together as opposed to one solid leg. It's also a different, lighter color. We can infer from this image that her leg is until her upper thigh.
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And then we have the latest one. Hyuna's leg in All-In seems to be until her upper thigh, but this image makes it seem as if it goes much higher than that (although it's most likely an artistic choice. maybe I shouldn't look into it too much. I've learned my lesson 😭). But it's interesting how this leg is the most unique, solid and without hollow spaces, but considerably thinner, more simple.
There's also the fact that you mentioned, the latch being farther down in comparison to her actual knee. It's different from her previous prosthetic legs which seem to join at the knee exactly and are much more similar to that of normal leg anatomy. For this prosthetic, her leg doesn't actually latch at the knee, it latches just a bit below it. The prosthetic knee may look a little lower, but it's just the way she's angled, left leg facing left and right leg facing forward.
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Maybe I'm overexplaining something that's already obvious/basic knowledge, my bad. Also I'm no scientist, so I could be wrong.
Anyway, the fact that Hyuna's leg changes quite a bit is interesting. It could be a design shift from the earlier production of ALNST to the finalized version, but I personally like to think that Hyuna's leg changes because she replaces it sometimes. Her lifestyle calls for a lot of action, and while her body can heal itself overtime, her prosthetic leg is prone to wearing and breaking apart.
This is how I see it (just a theory/maybe headcanon):
The leg she has in her performance outfit is one supplied to her by the aliens, which is why it looks much more sturdy, more like a true human leg. They're very advanced, so they'd know exactly how to make one that best suits her. Once Hyuna escapes to the rebellion, she doesn't have access to that kind of material anymore, nor does she know how replicate it. So instead she gets creative, taking scraps of metal and joining them together to make another leg, which is why it looks considerably lighter and less complicated. Whenever her leg breaks, she (or someone from the rebellion) creates a new leg from the material they can find, which is why her legs become progressively more simple and less conventionally "leg-like" . It's no problem to her though, and she's very proud of it.
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akiraal · 4 months
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it's time to klance-fy bro movies
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frangipani-wanderlust · 4 months
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How To Call 911
So most of my followers know now that I started working last May as a 911 dispatcher. Super proud of myself. And now that I am starting (very much still starting) to settle in a bit, I want to offer some tips on how to call 911. So, hold on to your hats.
(no-color version if the yellow text isn't rendering on your screen correctly)
When in doubt, call 911. Don't take this as me encouraging you to jump at shadows. Your neighbors' loud party is not an emergency, google the local non-emergency line and call that. Neither is the dry cleaning not giving you your clothes (I actually got this call on our 911 line). Nor is the fact that you saw a fox inside city limits (also something a real human called 911 about). But if you see a situation unfolding and you think "this seems dangerous, maybe this is 911-worthy" then it's 911-worthy. Don't hesitate. Call.
If you call 911 and you are freaking out, that's okay. If you're in a crisis, you may not remember a single tip I'm about to give you. We are trained for that, we can handle it, just do the best you can. It's not the end of the world to have a hysterical or frightened caller, and these are tips, not rules.
Location, location, location. We can't send you help if we have nowhere to send it to. Ideally, know the address. Failing that, know the name of a business or a church or an intersection. It is not cheating if you read this off a sign. There isn't a set of invisible rules that says you have to have your exact GPS coordinates memorized. Be prepared to describe the location somehow. That way, if our connection drops and that's all you can tell me, I can still send some police out to come find out what's going on and they can ask for medics or firefighters or whatever if needed. But we absolutely must know where to send assistance, it is the first thing we're going to ask.
Location again, but with a twist. The first thing our office says for emergencies is, "911, what is the address of the emergency?" If a building is on fire, tell us where the fire is. If your neighbors are being robbed at gunpoint across the street, give us their address. If you witnessed a car accident, tell us where the accident happened. The location of the emergency isn't necessarily the location where you are. Don't send police and fire to your office building if the wreck is on the freeway.
Answer the questions that you are asked. If the calltaker asks "Is the patient breathing?" don't start in about the seizure they just had (if they aren't breathing, the seizure they just had is not the biggest problem). If the calltaker asks, "Which way did the man you saw go when they ran?" don't tell them about how they broke down your door (if they are running away, knowing they broke your door down does not help the police know which direction to start looking). The particular question you are asked is being asked for a reason, and that reason is not frivolous but in an emergency, we aren't going to stop and explain everything.
Do not launch into a speech. If you're asked a yes/no question, yes or no is all the answer you should give. Your impulse will be to explain the yes or the no because more information is better than not enough, but overexplaining is its own problem. Now, we are hired for good typist skills, and are encouraged to get better and faster, but infodumping means things can get missed. The calltaker is going to have some information they're going to ask for by protocol and probably the option to drill down on some of it if clarification is needed. If you spend five paragraphs explaining your last answer, it delays getting other pertinent information.
Do not launch into a speech, part the second. You don't call 911 for things that happened last week, or even yesterday. Tell me the emergency that is happening right now. Ideally in one sentence. If someone is having a medical issue, and you call 911 about it, when the calltaker asks exactly what happened, do not tell them about how the patient had a surgery 5-and-a-half weeks ago. You called 911. What is the emergency that is happening right now. Don't be telling me about their surgery when the problem you called about is a broken leg. Yes, the surgery may have led to generalized loss of balance that has yet to return which caused the patient to fall which caused them to break their leg. Understood. But you didn't call because of all of that. You called because of the broken leg. Apply this principle to all emergencies.
Don't launch into a speech, part the third. When asked a specific and direct question, do not give an explanation instead of an answer. If the calltaker asks you "Is the weird person on the side of the road actually in the lanes of traffic?" do not explain to them how it's a very narrow roadway (see parenthesis for the story here). Aside from the fact that we're not asking these questions to be funny (see part the second), there's also the fact that now you are coming over as suspicious as hell. If I asked "how did that person on Facebook know what this supposedly missing kid is wearing and where he's going to be at 3:00 today?" and you say "well Facebook is a good way to spread information" I am now extremely suspicious of you.
(Also an actual call I have taken. The man was a totally ordinary guy out for a walk to the store, but this blue collar man walked through a Rich Person Neighborhood™ and according to Lady Catherine De Bourgh on the phone with me, that merited a call to the police. When I asked her if he was actually in the lanes of traffic [traffic hazard call type] versus not [suspicious person call type, on a technicality but technically...], she tried explaining three times that the road was narrow before she finally got the message that I was not going to stop asking until she told me the actual answer and answered "Well, I suppose so, yes." At this point, because she'd been so reluctant to answer me, I no longer believed the man actually was in the lanes of traffic and to this day believe that she lied to try and manipulate the police into a stronger-level response than was actually warranted. Because determining whether she was lying for sure is beyond the scope of my job, I put down what she said, but I didn't believe then and still don't believe now, that she told the truth. The totally ordinary and probably very nice guy was not arrested or hassled at all and was instead given a courtesy ride to the store.)
Be prepared to describe relevant people, maybe including yourself, and that includes race. If you have an asthma attack at a football game, the medics need to know how to find you in a crowd. If you are a black woman, that's gonna rule out everyone who isn't that. If you are a black woman wearing a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and a blue bandana over your hair, that excludes nearly everybody and when the medics arrive, they'll know exactly who to look for. Most of the time, someone's race isn't relevant information. When describing someone to emergency services, it absolutely is and it is not racist to accurately describe the relevant person or people.
There are more tips in the world, and I may come back to this post and add them as they occur to me. In the meantime, please enjoy this short treatise on how to call 911.
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lacunafiction · 1 year
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Finished Fernweh last night and its quickly become my favorite IF of all time. The writing is utterly supreme (that line about gray eyes being fogged over windows to the soul? I can't remember the exact line or how it triggered, a fact which may be driving me a little insane because I'd love to save the quote into my inspiration folder, but its 100% my favorite and very poetic!) Congrats on writing such a fun little romp through the woods that didn't traumatize me at all with its descriptions, nope not even a little
Hi Anon,
Thank you so much for sending this kind message in! 🥰
I know exactly which line you're talking about. I enjoyed writing the eye color variations that can trigger in Chapter 7 depending on if the MC has the same eye color as their grandfather. (You can be proud of this or bitter.) Dr. Brentwood will then make some unique comments.
I will put the scene for gray eyes below a 'read more' line; it's awesome that you want to add it to your inspo folder. I'm also glad that you enjoyed the story and its level of description. XD I admit some could be a little intense, if not disturbing. *thinks about the black licorice one* I was hoping to leave a lasting impression.
I hope you have fun on your future travels in Fernweh! 💚💐
"I know," Dr. Brentwood reveals. Checking for burst capillaries in the sclera of the eye is a common practice; however, he rarely forgets the eye color of a client, often associating things with it. "It's a unique eye color to have, and it reminds me of Pallas."
You aren't sure how to respond. "Oh?"
"Athena. I believe Minerva is the Roman version, but she is a goddess from antiquity meant to represent knowledge," Dr. Brentwood explains with a slight smile, spinning a little on the stool by using the tip of his foot to swivel. Your grandfather's eyes seemed to judge him even in death. "My Auntie always said to be mindful of clever gray-eyed people since it's harder to know what they are really thinking."
"Just because of the eye color…?" you clarify.
"If the eyes are the windows to the soul, yours are fogged over," Dr. Brentwood simply replies, broadening his smile into a boyish grin. "I would take it as a compliment."
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couldbebetterforsure · 9 months
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Winter Performance completed!!!!! And....WOW......Oh Rama Havenna might be my favorite play yet! For something that was supposed to be a throwaway play, it really turned out soooo beautiful!
Chicchi is such an interesting character and man when her secret came out and her life fell apart around her it broke my heart! Kisa did such a beautiful job with the emotions of that character, especially in the crying scenes. Rukiora was also incredibly endearing in how sympathetic I was to all she was going through, really Mitsuki's best work in a Jeanne role to date! Miguel was a perfect cool guy, I knew Fumi could pull off a Jack role well, I wanna see him do more!!! Fugio was such a fascinating character in how I swerved back and forth on finding him genuine or sketchy, Sou really and truly has grown as an actor. Neji was exactly as enjoyably detestable as I wanted in his evil role as Domina, like wow Domina is such a piece of shit I wanted to strangle her myself for what she's putting everyone, especially Chicchi and Rukiora, through. The priest may not have many lines but he certainly made an impression, I'm glad Kai didn't give up and made the role his own. And then...Suzu as Jire....Good grief Jire is such a pitiable man. It's so clear he loves Chicchi so much but it doesn't change the fact that he decided what was best for Chicchi FOR her and hurt her so badly. Chicchi is well within her rights not to forgive him, and I'm glad at Jire seems to accept that. But yeah, Suzu did a wonderful job with this role, I am so so SO proud of him for being able to get Jire to work at last. Also, while I didn't fully get the villain Suzu role I wanted, I got some version of that and a hot CG of Jire with a weapon, so I'll take what I can get!!! 😍😍😍 The play itself was so emotional and I was soooo wrapped up in Chicchi and Rukiora's relationship and so utterly happy when they became close again at the end. You know when Neji brought up a scene between the priest and Chicchi at the end I was like "??? what's with everyone's reactions? what kind of scene could it be???" Then I get to the end of Oh Rama Havenna and "....ohhhh...Chicchi and the priest are gonna do the do now...now I get the earlier reactions..."
For the music this time around, it was so damn hard for me to pick which one was my favorite! All three songs were simply spectacular! Oh Rama Havenna, Oh Beloved Havenna was so jazzy and had such a great tune to it, I couldn't help but shimmy while playing the rhythm game. Faded Color was an absolutely beautiful duet between Kisa and Mitsuki and truly wrapped up all the emotions and love of Chicchi and Rukiora's relationship in wonderful fashion. But Intense Confessions at the Confessional...was sheer perfection from start to finish for me...Seeing everyone's outfits was perfect, Kai and Neji's singing was perfect, the freaking choreography was perfect!!! The song just gets wrapped around your brain so tight and refuses to let go, it was so good and catchy and while it was hard to pick between the three at first, I am satisfied naming it my favorite from the Winter Performance!
I came out of the Winter Performance arc feeling so damn proud of Mitsuki. Because when he was suddenly assigned the Al Jeanne role, I understood what Neji was trying to do. Neji, Fumi, and Kai were all gonna graduate. Mitsuki is a second year, the only prominent one of Quartz in the story. So he would naturally become the next leader after the current third years are gone. So Neji basically threw Mitsuki into training for the position by putting him a lead role so suddenly. And of course Mitsuki couldn't take the pressure at first...But he broke through, and acted like such a damn good leader throughout the training. Helping Kisa with her struggle for her role and talking things out with her, helping Suzu realize why Jire is such a tough role for him and what he needs to do to perform, helping Sou get more comfortable with the parts in the play where Kisa and Sou's characters are more physically intimate. And not just the underclassmen, Mitsuki managed to be such a help to the upperclassmen too! Helping Neji realize he could take Domina more seriously as a character and helping Kai realize he still has so much more to give as a Jack Ace and not to give up. And the way he comforted Kisa during the play by telling her that it doesn't matter to him what her secret is, he accepts her and forgives her. And man, the sheer relief in Kisa's voice when that happens....She nearly drove me to tears! I loved Mitsuki's growth from someone who was just going through the motions to someone who is genuinely invested in the class performances! I'm sure he'll be a wonderful leader for Quartz next year!
Suzu's own development regarding acting was wonderful too. Seeing him having to face his frustration at falling behind Kisa and Sou as a result of his injury in the Fall Performance and also acknowledging his trouble with acting in roles so unlike who he is. For Suzu, he has trouble acting as those he can't connect with. And Suzu himself is someone who tends to be straightforward, so more complicated ones like Jire who feels such conflicting thoughts and Jean Jose who is manipulative and cunning are difficult for him. But I liked that Suzu didn't wallow in his frustration and sadness over not performing at the level he wanted. He accepted the fact that who he currently is cannot give such roles the true life they deserve, but he'll use the skills he DOES have to still make such roles shine until he is able to fully develop into the type of actor who can perform outside of the range he is stuck in. And I truly believe he's not so far off from such a dream anyways! I mean the king from The Sleepless King wasn't too much like Suzu as a person and yet my boy KILLED it! I think so long as Suzu can find that one part of the role that he connects with, he'll be able to do anything. He just needs to grow as a performer and reach that point, and sine he's still a first year he has plenty of time to make that growth happen!
So yeah, now I am officially done with the common route of Jack Jeanne! Christmas in the game is the start of the route splits. So I can finally have Kisa go after Suzu!!!! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 My sweet earnest puppy of a boy, I cannot WAIT to see what your route has in store! I hope I can at least start it today...If not I gotta wait for tomorrow...
....Also, semi aside, how on earth did the costuming department manage to make Neji's chest look like that for Domina? 😂😂😂
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samrot-the-wicked · 3 years
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Talking aloud about Redesigning my Sona
I'm working on my demon fox sona design, which I've had since I started on DeviantArt waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay long ago and I ... never really thought about how it was supposed to move, or function?
I'm gonna show the first and other early examples:
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There is a theme.
Glowy eyes and mouth, dark colored, and some hair(?) and big ears (cropped out to save space).
I did away with the dark colors for more blues, and the mouth isn't glowing if it's closed either. Most of the rest of the design stayed. Current version looks like this:
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It's jaw and teeth don't make sense in terms of opening up. The face would be mostly mouth at that point then. I don't mind the big, hollow white eyes, I like it, same for the obnoxiously large ears. But I want the mouth to be sharp, toothy, a wicked grin. I can't decide on big teeth or simple, pointy teeth.
Some ideas I played on the face previously are shown below:
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The middle is what I've favored and stuck to. The right was if I wanted something darker and the left for little mini versions. (I call them kits.) The idea of doing something different to the eyes and mouth, to show the teeth and eyes as they could be was an interesting thought. (I may have to come back to this).
However, the design looks like a rabbit to most people I've asked anyway, not a fox. I need to bring the snout out way more if I want that fox to play in.
The eyes and big ears are still staying though, which I think can work.
Still figuring out the body. It's super spindly, like it's made of wire, but I want to keep the weird, unnatural angles and sharpness of the body. It's supposed to move in exaggerated and unnatural ways.
The tail has always been super long and thin, I can't imagine making it super fluffy and big. I could puffy it up more but I can't shorten it without losing the vibe I'm getting.
The nose ... I don't know. It's always been a small nose, but I could modify it for something better.
The body it's is also not that furry. Some tufts here and there but otherwise pretty sleek. The inside of the body (if opened up) I can imagine as being super bright or super hallow. I can't decide.
Also I don't want paws for hands and feet, not unless I just turned it into a fox outright. I'm keeping it bipedal. The feet at one point were just 3 claws/toes, but I added more digits and made the "thumb" visible. I plan to keep it. Claws are a must. Paw pads???? I don't know. Also have gone back and forth on that.
I really want to get something done as something I want to be proud of and show people. Don't get me wrong, I love this design and all the pasts ones too, but I want it to fit better with how I am and what I want.
Also to maybe pass it off as a fursona but that's a maybe depending on where I end up.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hard to decide.
Also, I'm not exactly looking for critic, I just want to yell somewhere for a bit and get it out of my head.
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yeniayofnymeria · 4 years
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Arya Stark and Black Swan
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(I don't know who the picture belongs to, I found it a long time ago.)
Hello/Selam,
In fact, as you know, Arya is one of the biggest five of GRRM. She has a key role in the books. The problem is that it's hard to predict exactly what this role is. I've been trying to piece together her puzzle pieces for years. The result I have achieved so far; Arya is on the side of the ice in the Battle of Ice and Fire alongside FM / Great Other ... Most people see this story as a classic good-bad battle, but I don't. The reason I think so is GRRM's statements.
Men are still capable of great heroism. But I don’t necessarily think there are heroes. That’s something that’s very much in my books: I believe in great characters. We’re all capable of doing great things, and of doing bad things. We have the angels and the demons inside of us, and our lives are a succession of choices…[Woodrow Wilson] was a racist who tried to end war. Now, does one cancel out the other? Well, they don’t cancel out the other. You can’t make him a hero or a villain. He was both. And we’re all both. - GRRM
...
Much as I admire Tolkien, and I do admire Tolkien — he’s been a huge influence on me, and his Lord of the Rings is the mountain that leans over every other fantasy written since and shaped all of modern fantasy — there are things about it, the whole concept of the Dark Lord, and good guys battling bad guys, Good versus Evil, while brilliantly handled in Tolkien, in the hands of many Tolkien successors, it has become kind of a cartoon. We don’t need any more Dark Lords, we don’t need any more, “Here are the good guys, they’re in white, there are the bad guys, they’re in black. And also, they’re really ugly, the bad guys.” - GRRM
So I don't see the side of ice and fire pure good and pure bad. They're both. Just like the Stark and Lannister war. So I don't see any problem putting Arya on the ice. After all, she's a Stark, and the Stark family is portrayed as "ice."
Lets continue.
The post was created using multiple topics(I combined them.): u/DutchArya 's https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/146440-arya-the-singing-bird-stark/ post and u/Arya1100's https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/7vw332/spoilers_extended_black_swans_and_arya_stark_an/ post.
It's an old theory(of theirs), but it's been a year or so. I wanted to resurrect. I just added a few things. And I commented in my own words.
Black Swan Theory
The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight**.** The term is based on an ancient saying that presumed black swans did not exist – a saying that became reinterpreted to teach a different lesson after black swans were discovered in the wild.
The theory was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb to explain:
The disproportionate role of high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology.
The non-computability of the probability of the consequential rare events using scientific methods (owing to the very nature of small probabilities).
The psychological biases that blind people, both individually and collectively, to uncertainty and to a rare event's massive role in historical affairs.
Unlike the earlier and broader "black swan problem" in philosophy (i.e. the problem of induction), Taleb's "black swan theory" refers only to unexpected events of large magnitude and consequence and their dominant role in history. Such events, considered extreme outliers**, collectively play vastly larger roles than regular occurrences:**xxi More technically, in the scientific monograph 'Silent Risk', Taleb mathematically defines the black swan problem as "stemming from the use of degenerate metaprobability" - From wikizeroo.org
Black Swan in summary = A term used to refer to an unexpectedly large event, effect, event.
Arya Stark is thought to have a connection with the Black Swan... This is both a “theory i'm issue I mentioned above and a kind of ugly duckling that turns into a beautiful swan.
Black Swan
Arya felt as though the lake were calling her. She wanted to leap into those placid blue waters, to feel clean again, to swim and splash and bask in the sun. But she dare not take off her clothes where the others could see...
From up here, she could see a small wooded island off to the northeast. Thirty yards from shore, three black swans were gliding over the water, so serene . . . no one had told them that war had come, and they cared nothing for burning towns and butchered men. She stared at them with yearning. Part of her wanted to be a swan the other part wanted to eat one. - (Arya, A Clash of Kings)
The important thing in this quote is that he sees “3 BLACK SWAN as I mentioned above. In fact, the Europeans did not know Black Swan until the 1697s, and I think that this is the basis of the theory that I mentioned first. So, in essence, these animals are a very rare species. Considering that the ASOIAF universe is a kind of a different version of Europe... In other words, the author added a “black swan" instead of the common white swan.
In the next book (book 3) Arya meets some of the Brotherhood and Lady Ravella Smallwood. She treats Arya well, washes and dresses her.
It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, and cut and comb her hair besides; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-colored, and decorated with little baby pearls. The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it. So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs. "They were my son's things," she said. "He died when he was seven."
"I'm sorry, my lady." Arya suddenly felt bad for her, and ashamed. "I'm sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty."
"Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave."
This woman from House Swan. Their sigil is so interesting 
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Battling swans black and white and so is the House of Black and White and that is where Arya is being reborn at every dark moon.
In the books Black and White was often touted as the struggle for darkness and light; therefore, we may interpret the question of swans as the struggle between dark and light parts of Arya or some kind of foreshadowing, which expresses an "enemy" in the future. In another comment 3 black swans; 3 can not be predicted to affect the story, may also express the great effect.
Water Dance
Arya stands on her toes, on one leg. This is indeed reminiscent of ballet. Ballet dancers learn to stand upright, on the tip of their toes, often on one leg. It's explicitly linked to the water dancing. So, "water dancing" = "ballet" and Swan Lake is a ballet that also has narrative similarities to Arya's story.
Ned stopped and looked at her. "Arya, what are you doing?"
"Syrio says a water dancer can stand on one toe for hours." Her hands flailed at the air to steady herself.
Ned had to smile. "Which toe?" he teased.
"Any toe." - (Eddard V, aGoT)
Later on, Arya wishes she could dance on water. This is what the Swan ballet dancers do!
Skinny as they were, her legs were strong and springy and growing longer every day. She was glad of that. A water dancer needs good legs. Blind Beth was no water dancer, but she would not be Beth forever. - The Blind Girl, ADWD
...
She was not far from the Gate as the crows flies, but for girls with feet instead of wings, the way was longer. - Mercy, Winds
Ugly Duck and Beautiful Swan
You all know the story of the ugly duckling. The swan, which started life as an ugly duck, is considered by all to be ugly and excluded. But one day something happens that when the ugly duck grows up, it turns into a beautiful swan and amazes everyone.
Readers think that the swan motif is also one aspect of it, which I'm sure everyone who reads the books carefully noticed it.
Arya considered herself ugly from the very beginning, and Sansa and Jeyne mocked her long face and subjected them to “Horse-faced” insults. According to Arya, her mother told her; if she wore beautiful dresses like Sansa and combed her hair, she could have been as beautiful as her sister.
But Jon and Ned always said she was beautiful; his father stated that she resembled his sister Lyanna, who is said to be a very beautiful girl. On the other hand, as she grew up during her adventure (such as Lady Smallwood), some began to emphasize that she was “beautiful.. For example, we have recently seen The Gentle Man said to her face is beautiful.
There is also a reference link to the swan and beauty in the series.
Arianne touched the pin that clasped [Balon’s] cloak, with its quarreling swans. “I have always been fond of swans. No other bird is half so beautiful, this side of the Summer Isles.”
“Your peacocks might dispute that,” said Ser Balon.
“They might,” said Arianne, “but peacocks are vain, proud creatures, strutting about in all those gaudy colors. Give me a swan serene in white or beautiful in black.” - The Watcher, ADwD
Thank you for read.
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izzydrawsforfun · 5 years
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It's been quite a while, huh...
This girl tried a new coloring style and idk, maybe drawing style as well? Sock here looks kinda different of how I usually draw him. Also the coloring style is not exactly new! I used to draw like this a lot but I stopped for some reason... Anyway aksjaksj I'm very proud with how this turned out! And I encourage everyone to try and play with your art program's features, experiment. You may have a nice surprise
Also from now on I will draw best demon boy with freckles because YES!!!!!
And I also have this version here without the dramatic light. Mostly because I wanted to stare at my coloring for a good while aidjaks
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saoryemanoelle · 4 years
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Sorry. I saw your post about being valid for wanting to participate & stuff but like what if I'm a terrible artist? I had got inspired to draw something while looking at today's prompts but as I drew it I got frustrated with the fact that I'm no artist & that I'll have to color it for it to even look semi-nice but it'd still be bad. I got really discouraged and don't know what to do now because I had a different piece I was already doing for day 5 but now is there a point if it's all just bad?
Hello there, anon!
I know you sent me a new ask but I really want to reply to this one too. I’m sorry I took a while; had a busy day at work and couldn’t find the right words. I believe I found them now.
The things is, every artist at one point or another feels like their drawings/writings are bad or that it just isn’t worth it to spend time working on it. Now, what exactly makes a piece of art bad? Is it not so correct anatomy? Maybe the lack of color? Perhaps the style itself simply isn’t good?
Well, who’s saying that anyway? You see, we as artists and writers tend to seek perfection. Whenever we start something we have expectations and when we don’t meet said expectations we feel down and discouraged. 
Now, not meeting expectations is not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it makes us feel sad and even give up sometimes. I’ve thrown many drawings and fanfics in the trash and at some point I actually gave up drawing. But, you know, I realized something this year, something that helped me go back and draw again and that I hope will help you too:
We’re all terrible at some point. And that’s okay! Actually, that’s great! Being terrible at something means we started it! So now you got something you’re not exactly proud of but, hey, maybe it isn’t so bad after all. Think about why you made it in the first place. Thing about your original idea and vision, try to look at your drawing and find what you like about it. Maybe you drew a tree that looks really cool, maybe you’re proud of the eye of your character. Anything goes!What I’m trying to say is: Be proud of yourself and of your personal growth! If you don’t like the thing you came up with, that’s okay, it happens. But don’t give up on it because the first version didn’t turn out as good as you wanted it to. Remember, the only way to improve is through practice. Also, what is bad for you may not be bad for me! We all have our own style, our own ideas and out there there is someone who likes them and is thankful that we made it.
If you’re not comfortable with posting your work just yet, that’s okay too! The internet is a scary place and sometimes it feels like we’re all against each other. But we’re not! Even the greatest artists started out small and shaped their work through time. You can do that too and I assure you, you can find a lot of support here
Regarding your other ask: Please, don’t apologize for opening up! I understand how frustrating andlonelyit feels when nothing comes out the way we want to. It’s okay to feel emotional about it ;w; 
I just hope I was able to help you somehow! And I can’t wait to see what you’re making for VanVen Week! If you don’t make it in time, that’s alright. I’ll be happy to see your work whenever it’s ready ^-^ I really appreciate you taking part in this and I’m sure the boys do too :3
Remember to always have fun and not overwork yourself! Take care, hugs and remember: You’re valid!!
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daresplaining · 7 years
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What are your thoughts on Evil!Matt Murdock from the Spider-Gwen universe? He's obviously very different from the Matts of other universes, but what might he have in common with them? Do you think he'll end up with a redemption arc, or will he stay a villain? Sorry that most of this is so vague, but I'm just REALLY into alternate versions of characters.
    We’re loving evil Matt. He’s so gleefully malevolent! It’s great fun to see a version of this character who has the life he wants and is enjoying every minute of it.
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    (Gosh, look at him…)
    As you know (and in case anyone doesn’t), there are many, many Matt Murdock-inhabited alternate universes (both Marvel and DC are big on alternate universes), and someday we should do a comprehensive post about all of them, because there’s great variety. There is (to name a few) a Matt without superpowers, a Matt who is an agent of SHIELD, a Matt who is a demonic chef, several zombie Matts, Matts from a range of time periods and social backgrounds, a whole bunch of tragically deceased Matts, and even a Matt who is a mouse.
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Mouse Murdock: “Stay back, Fisk, or you’re going to have a long, bad day.”
[Howard the Human #1 by Scottie Young, Jim Mahfood, and Justin Stewart]
    Thanks to this range of interpretations, which play with and subvert almost every aspect of Matt’s character, there are actually very few consistent cross-universe qualities that tie them together. He’s usually blind, and tends to possess that strength/stubbornness of spirit that is such a staple of the DD narrative. But beyond that, they’re all over the place.
    The variant we think bears the closest resemblance to Spider-Gwen’s Matt is from the What If? Daredevil VS Elektra one-shot by Karl Bollers. In this universe it is young Matt, rather than Elektra’s father, who is killed during the hostage situation at Columbia University. The Hand, who are aware of Matt’s abilities and training, steal his body and resurrect him to fight for them. Taking on the moniker “The Advocate” (because of course he does), he performs the Hand’s dirty work for years until crossing paths once more with Elektra– now a SHIELD agent– who must put aside the knowledge of who he once was in order to take him down.
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Elektra: “I’m here to stop you.”
Matt: “From doing what? Bringing order to chaos? Imagine these widowmakers without my guidance. You’re still holding onto the ideals of youth. Your father raised you in a sheltered, protected bubble allowing you limited contact with the rest of the world. Clouded your thoughts with fairy tale notions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.”
[What If? Daredevil VS Elektra by Karl Bollers, Rafael Kayanan, and Lovern Kindzierski]
    It’s a straightforward (albeit quite nuanced) Elektra/Matt role reversal, and given the core concept of Earth-65– in which a tragically dead past love switches places with her superhero counterpart– we were originally expecting Spider-Gwen Matt’s situation to be similar. 
    We learn, via his character page at the end of Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #3, that Earth-65 Matt has the same basic origin story as his 616 counterpart, though he isn’t trained by Stick until after Jack’s death. An unspecified amount of time later, the Hand kill Stick and adopt Matt, finishing his training and inducting him into their ranks. By the time we first meet him in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 he has become the leader of the western branch of the Hand, and has used his power and influence to take over Wilson Fisk’s criminal dealings while he’s in prison. As in Daredevil VS Elektra, here we have a Hand-trained, Hand-allied Matt who operates as an assassin.
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[Spider-Gwen vol. 1 #5 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi]
    However, there’s clearly a power difference between these two universes. “Advocate” Matt, while technically the leader of the Hand, was brainwashed by his resurrection and operates as a tool to do the Hand’s bidding– while Earth-65 Matt is calling the shots, living a full life, and shows no signs of brainwashing whatsoever. There’s no crisis of conscience and, beyond his affiliation with Fisk, no hint of anyone pulling his strings behind the scenes. He acts solely for his own benefit, offering aid when it best suits him and daring others to compromise their morals by accepting it. He’s a proud ninja/assassin/mob boss/sleazy lawyer, and he doesn’t care who knows it.
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Matt: “’Kingpin’?! Moi?! Captain, I’m just a blind servant of justice. Why, I can’t even dress myself.”
[Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #5 by Jason Latour, Chris Visions, and Rico Renzi]
    The obvious question is, then, how did he end up this way? What is the X factor on Earth-65 that turned its Matt willingly villainous? To start, he’s one of those characters whose past has always contained the potential for a super villain origin. There’s even a famous Frank Miller quote about it. Were it not for his optimism and strength of spirit, and his devotion to law and justice, Matt very well could have pulled an Elektra and just given up on humanity. That’s a core part of Elektra’s character concept actually– a demonstration of how someone very like Matt could end up on a non-heroic path. (We wrote a whole post about this, for anyone who wants the rambly details.) In fact, 65 Matt’s situation is much more similar to 616 Elektra’s than that of the other evil Matt, discussed above. 
    One key difference between the 616 and 65 realities is Matt’s support system, or– more specifically– the destruction of it. Young Earth-65 Matt suffers the loss of not one, but both of his parents (616 Matt was raised thinking Maggie was dead, so was never faced with the actual trauma of losing her. To extend this tangent, while we’re here in the parentheses, it’s interesting to note that 65 Maggie is still alive. Did she ever come out of the coma? Is she going to reappear? Are we going to get awkward mother/evil son bonding? Jason Latour, are you reading this?) 
    Then he is taken in by Stick, who is apparently an all-out vigilante crimefighter in this universe. 65 Stick would have been much more of a parental figure to Matt than his 616 counterpart– who was parental to a certain degree, but wasn’t Matt’s sole source of emotional support due to Jack still being around. Note that at this point 65 Matt is still a moral person, operating in what must have been a sidekick role. But then Stick is killed, a third parental figure lost, leaving him alone. The timing on the character bio is a little shaky, but if we go ahead and assume that the timeline is 616-based, Matt would have been in college– and there’s no mention of any other contacts or friends he might have had at this point. No connection to Foggy, as far as we know, who we’re convinced was instrumental in keeping him focused and grounded in the main continuity.
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Foggy: “You’ve gotta snap out of it, Matt… like your dad would’ve wanted! We’ll be graduating soon… and I want you to join me, Matt… as my partner!”
[Daredevil vol. 1 #53 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek]
    Another possibility– since Foggy does exist in this universe– is that they did know each other, but had some kind of falling-out. Who knows? Either way, faced with this absolute isolation, it makes some sense that 65 Matt would have seen the Hand as the only place left to go.
    We’re short on details about his time training with the Hand, but his flippant reference to having been “raised by ninjas” (in Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #5) suggests that he does think of them as family. If brainwashing was involved, it was very subtle, but at that point it may not even have been necessary. The Hand would have offered him a purpose, a direction, and an opportunity to make something of himself– all offers that would have appealed to a seemingly directionless Matt. They would have offered him empowerment– both literal and metaphorical– which is something Matt has always strived for, regardless of the universe. Seeing a hero like Stick fail might have colored his perception of how effective good guy justice could be. And the loss of everyone he has previously cared for could have hardened young Matt enough to allow him, in conjunction with his Hand training, to suppress his respect for human life.
    It’s tough to say at this point whether or not he’ll get a redemption arc, but his current trajectory makes it seem unlikely. Unless this has all been an act to cover up for some bigger scheme yet to be revealed, he hasn’t shown any signs that he’s at all interested in redemption. The criminal thing seems to be working out very well for him, and as charming and entertaining as he his, he hasn’t yet displayed any in-universe redeeming qualities. He wouldn’t have any desire or motivation to become a good guy at this point because he just keeps winning.
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Gwen: “But… why?”
Matt: “I don’t know. Why not? Because I can? Or maybe it’s just that the season is the reason. The “why” doesn’t matter. All that matters is– now I’m your only hope for being Spider-Woman. And that’s fun, right? Like having your own personal Santa Claus.”
[Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #15 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi]
    But it’s also entirely possible that this could change. His seemingly positive upbringing, and the superhero training he received from Stick, suggests that he was once a moral person. There’s been a trend in this series of exploring villains’ motivations, often as a way of paralleling Gwen’s personal journey. Harry Osborn and Jesse Drew received this treatment, as– to a certain degree– did Frank Castle and Mysterio. Evil Cindy Moon’s motivations are clear, even if she’s still very much an antagonist. Heck, we even got a bit of Bodega Bandit’s life story. If Matt sticks around (which he clearly will) and as Gwen starts to spend more time with him, it’s likely his backstory will start to make its way into the narrative. At the very least, we might get a sense of exactly why he’s so interested in recruiting Spider-Woman, which could involve more than simply wanting a powerful pawn to play with. This would open the door for a more complex understanding of his motivations, if not a full redemption arc. That, we feel, would require his plans to start failing him, and for the cushy life he’s been leading as a villain to develop some cracks.
    Currently, he seems to have four points of potential weakness: S.I.L.K., George Stacy’s upcoming trial, Fisk, and Gwen herself. Despite Matt’s current *cough* truce with Cindy, S.I.L.K. is still his biggest rival for power in the criminal underworld– and they could very easily turn on him. We honestly doubt Matt will have any trouble with the trial, if it even ends up happening at all, but it’s fun to imagine D.A. Foggy Nelson kicking him around the courtroom a bit, isn’t it? We also don’t know how Fisk feels about Matt having taken over as Kingpin, or whose idea the transition of power even was. Once he gets out of prison, is Fisk going to want his job back? And of course, at some point Gwen is going to find the power and leverage to start fighting against Matt’s blackmail. She is the hero, after all, and it’s practically guaranteed that she will beat him in the end. And who knows where that might lead?  
    As one final tangent, we wanted to point out the “Skills/Talents” section of 65 Matt’s character bio:
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“Skills/Talents: Murdock’s superhuman abilities give him a unique synthesis between his motor reflexes and the outside world– particularly a refined motor control and sense of balance. Little is yet known about the extent of Murdock’s ninja training during his time abroad, though his command of both his powers and respect of the ninjas in his employ suggest that he not only completed his training, but thrived.”
   616 Matt received only basic ninja training– which was more than enough to turn him into a badass, of course, but which also left him locked out of a lot of the upper level, magic-based Chaste/Hand skills. But here we have a version of Matt who has reached his full potential. High level Hand ninjas can do all sorts of cool things, from bringing people back from the dead to taking over the minds of others… and we are really excited to see what kinds of tricks 65 Matt has up his sleeve.   
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popculturedruid · 7 years
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How would you recommend finding out more about an entity when the source material is very vague, limited, and not very popular? I'm trying to figure out a pantheon based on the Great Ones from Bloodborne, but information about pretty much all of them is few and far between. Also, I have trouble meditating due to literal ADHD, do you have any ideas for how to concentrate better? Thank you so much, your blog is lovely!!
Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot!
This is such a good question. I wanted to take some time here again to really answer this one to give you a proper answer. That’s why it took me a bit to get back to you.
I understand your frustration here. It is very frustrating to look for information about your desired entity and find little to nothing. I looked up Bloodborne just to see what we were getting at, then quickly realized I was going to give myself spoilers because I probably wanted to play this game. :)
From the bit that I let myself get a look at, the Great Ones pantheon immediately reminds me of the Daedra from the Elder Scrolls games. Not in such basic terms as good and evil, but simply from the scope of multiple forms, alternate planes, and just generally screwing with people. There is a fairly large group of Tamriel PCPs on Tumblr, it might be worth a look to check into see how they structure their relationships for ideas to maybe start your own. I’m going to refer you over to @popculturepagan who has a tag on Elder Scrolls PCP. Not saying you need to go that way at all, I’m just trying to show you another pantheon that’s a bit more established that might give you some ideas to help you get yours started!
It appears the direct reference for the Great Ones is H.P. Lovecraft and his “Great Old Ones.” You have undoubtedly heard of Cthulhu. Cthulhu is just a high priest to one of them. Many folks make Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones out to be chibi, but if you read the stories, they’re actually quite terrifying. If you haven’t read the stories, and you’re still itching for more Bloodborne, the best place to go would be for the inspiration for the Great Ones: Lovecraft’s stories. He wrote many, but you can get the stories that just contain the ones with Cthulhu. I think they would also mostly include the Great Old Ones in those as well. His stories are just great in general, however. From these stories of the GOO (I got tired writing that out :P), you could probably pick up a bit more on the general characteristics of your GOs.
I would also encourage you to search through fanfiction. I have called fanfiction our weird version of Shared Personal Gnosis. If the community in general kinda feels a certain way about a character, they generally might be on to something.
For instance, everyone is probably going to say that Luke Skywalker seems like a pretty swell guy. He’s not likely to go nuts anytime soon (I would though, all alone on that planet, let’s be real). If someone writes a version of Luke that runs around murdering all the things for the lolz, people are generally going to disagree.
(That’s not to say you can’t end up contacting a different version of that entity, but that’s getting into something different, and that’s where the theory of multiverses comes into play. And how @octomantra and I have two different Eds in our heads.)
You might point out again that this is a small community still, and a character being out of character this early on is not going to be as obvious as Luke running around killing all the younglings. But I hope you would start to see a trend in how others are viewing this world as well, even if they aren’t viewing it in the exact same way. It’s still getting built.
Here’s the link to the Archive of Our Own Bloodborne Tag: https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Bloodborne%20(Video%20Game)/works
Fanfiction.net:https://m.fanfiction.net/game/Bloodborne/
I also noticed there is a huge crossover community at FF.net. Not sure if that really would mean much to you, but here you are:https://m.fanfiction.net/crossovers/Bloodborne/12234/
As for your question about ADHD and meditating, I feel your pain here. I have this, and it takes a lot for me to focus. To get my brain even in the mindset I say the Jedi code about 3 times until my brain realizes we’re going to just STOP for a second. And this takes a sheer force of will to get it to stop and focus. For a moment. It’s fine if you can’t, I’m lucky if I can for about 30 seconds before my brain is on to whatever else I thought I needed to do next.
In answering your question, however, I realized that for me if I truly want to meditate and reach out to my entities I have to create a place in my head where I’m going. It can’t just be “breathe in, breathe out.” Then my brain starts going, “wait, am I doing the breathing right? Wait, is my mind wandering? Wait, I’m still the only person in this room, right?” Even though I know damn well I’m the only person in the room because I would have heard it, but my brain just thinks, “ooh, shiny!” And I’m gone.
If I want to actually talk to my people for more than 10 seconds I have to create a place in my head for me to actually be standing in. You would think it’d be more distracting, but apparently once I’m out of how distracting this world is I’m fine. The other place can’t be too detailed either though, otherwise I’m like, “hey, I got to get closer to that countertop because I don’t know what color it is EXACTLY, and if I don’t know right now, I may literally die.” Forget the fact I’m talking to someone, nope, I’m gone.
You will fail sometimes, and it will be fine. I do it frequently enough. I usually don’t go into meditation to talk to my entities, I just talk out loud. I suppose this could be a talking meditation if I’m focusing hard enough. This doesn’t always work. I have a particularly amusing memory of trying to pseudo meditate/talk to tell Colonel Mustang “happy birthday, Colonel” and “it is good to meet you” in Japanese on his birthday. I’d only been learning the language for 3 days. I had worked fairly hard to get to this point, so I was fairly proud of myself. Colonel Mustang had been grumpy all day, and I had a fairly good idea why. So I thought, “hey, let’s try to greet him in the language his original materials were printed in to see if it will cheer him up.” It did, for about 30 seconds, until my brain completely derailed because I knew one of the words wasn’t translating properly. I spent the next at least 20 minutes tracking the problem until I somewhat figured it out. By then though, the damage was done. He was back to being irritated, and I got the distinct impression he wouldn’t even look at me. At the time, I was disappointed. Now, it’s funny because I realize he was throwing a hissy fit. (The chaos in my head, right now.)
So, as silly as it sounds, make a happy place. A field in the middle of nowhere, a snowy plain, your favorite movie, a library, the actual area your characters are from, wherever. Create the starting place, but let the world build itself. That’s what I do. I don’t build it. I let it happen. It’s less stressful, and less distracting.
It sounds insanely difficult, but it’s not. We don’t let our imaginations run free anymore, but when we do, it’s beautiful.
Besides building your happy place, I also try to minimize distractions by going into a room where I won’t be disturbed by someone for at least a fair bit of time. I have to make sure the room is straightened first. It doesn’t have to be absolutely cleaned, but just tidied first or I can’t concentrate on anything other than, “did you just invite your friends over to a pig sty?” I turn off the lights. I get into comfortable clothing, which for me is just sweatpants and a hoodie. I get into a comfortable position, it doesn’t matter if it’s sitting or laying down, hell it can be standing if it’s what works for you. Just make sure you can stay in it without having to move. I like lighting a candle, because candles. I pull up my hoodie and just start zoning and talking. I focus on a place right behind my eyes, oddly enough. It actually slightly hurts, but I’m assuming it’s because I have strabismus, and I’m making my eyes go straight. I actually caution against falling asleep in this state. I have done it a couple times, and it’s like you bring things back from whatever gate you didn’t close. I have had the oddest dreams while falling asleep mid-meditation. That’s just me. Maybe you’ll find something else. :D
If and when you decide to get your practice started, whether with the Great Ones or whomever, and if you create a Tumblr, please let me know. Or even if you just create anything let me know so I can have a link for the next person who comes asking. This community only gets bigger when we reach out to each other! I am super happy to see new universes get people everyday. It’s super exciting!
Best of luck! I hope I helped a little, and please, please, please let me know if you have any more questions!
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frangipani-wanderlust · 3 months
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How To Call 911
So most of my followers know now that I started working last May as a 911 dispatcher. Super proud of myself. And now that I am starting (very much still starting) to settle in a bit, I want to offer some tips on how to call 911. So, hold on to your hats.
(original version with colored text here)
When in doubt, call 911. Don't take this as me encouraging you to jump at shadows. Your neighbors' loud party is not an emergency, google the local non-emergency line and call that. Neither is the dry cleaning not giving you your clothes (I actually got this call on our 911 line). Nor is the fact that you saw a fox inside city limits (also something a real human called 911 about). But if you see a situation unfolding and you think "this seems dangerous, maybe this is 911-worthy" then it's 911-worthy. Don't hesitate. Call.
If you call 911 and you are freaking out, that's okay. If you're in a crisis, you may not remember a single tip I'm about to give you. We are trained for that, we can handle it, just do the best you can. It's not the end of the world to have a hysterical or frightened caller, and these are tips, not rules.
Location, location, location. We can't send you help if we have nowhere to send it to. Ideally, know the address. Failing that, know the name of a business or a church or an intersection. It is not cheating if you read this off a sign. There isn't a set of invisible rules that says you have to have your exact GPS coordinates memorized. Be prepared to describe the location somehow. That way, if our connection drops and that's all you can tell me, I can still send some police out to come find out what's going on and they can ask for medics or firefighters or whatever if needed. But we absolutely must know where to send assistance, it is the first thing we're going to ask.
Location again, but with a twist. The first thing our office says for emergencies is, "911, what is the address of the emergency?" If a building is on fire, tell us where the fire is. If your neighbors are being robbed at gunpoint across the street, give us their address. If you witnessed a car accident, tell us where the accident happened. The location of the emergency isn't necessarily the location where you are. Don't send police and fire to your office building if the wreck is on the freeway.
Answer the questions that you are asked. If the calltaker asks "Is the patient breathing?" don't start in about the seizure they just had (if they aren't breathing, the seizure they just had is not the biggest problem). If the calltaker asks, "Which way did the man you saw go when they ran?" don't tell them about how they broke down your door (if they are running away, knowing they broke your door down does not help the police know which direction to start looking). The particular question you are asked is being asked for a reason, and that reason is not frivolous but in an emergency, we aren't going to stop and explain everything.
Do not launch into a speech. If you're asked a yes/no question, yes or no is all the answer you should give. Your impulse will be to explain the yes or the no because more information is better than not enough, but overexplaining is its own problem. Now, we are hired for good typist skills, and are encouraged to get better and faster, but infodumping means things can get missed. The calltaker is going to have some information they're going to ask for by protocol and probably the option to drill down on some of it if clarification is needed. If you spend five paragraphs explaining your last answer, it delays getting other pertinent information.
Do not launch into a speech, part the second. You don't call 911 for things that happened last week, or even yesterday. Tell me the emergency that is happening right now. Ideally in one sentence. If someone is having a medical issue, and you call 911 about it, when the calltaker asks exactly what happened, do not tell them about how the patient had a surgery 5-and-a-half weeks ago. You called 911. What is the emergency that is happening right now. Don't be telling me about their surgery when the problem you called about is a broken leg. Yes, the surgery may have led to generalized loss of balance that has yet to return which caused the patient to fall which caused them to break their leg. Understood. But you didn't call because of all of that. You called because of the broken leg. Apply this principle to all emergencies.
Don't launch into a speech, part the third. When asked a specific and direct question, do not give an explanation instead of an answer. If the calltaker asks you "Is the weird person on the side of the road actually in the lanes of traffic?" do not explain to them how it's a very narrow roadway (see parenthesis for the story here). Aside from the fact that we're not asking these questions to be funny (see part the second), there's also the fact that now you are coming over as suspicious as hell. If I asked "how did that person on Facebook know what this supposedly missing kid is wearing and where he's going to be at 3:00 today?" and you say "well Facebook is a good way to spread information" I am now extremely suspicious of you.
(Also an actual call I have taken. The man was a totally ordinary guy out for a walk to the store, but this blue collar man walked through a Rich Person Neighborhood™ and according to Lady Catherine De Bourgh on the phone with me, that merited a call to the police. When I asked her if he was actually in the lanes of traffic [traffic hazard call type] versus not [suspicious person call type, on a technicality but technically...], she tried explaining three times that the road was narrow before she finally got the message that I was not going to stop asking until she told me the actual answer and answered "Well, I suppose so, yes." At this point, because she'd been so reluctant to answer me, I no longer believed the man actually was in the lanes of traffic and to this day believe that she lied to try and manipulate the police into a stronger-level response than was actually warranted. Because determining whether she was lying for sure is beyond the scope of my job, I put down what she said, but I didn't believe then and still don't believe now, that she told the truth. The totally ordinary and probably very nice guy was not arrested or hassled at all and was instead given a courtesy ride to the store.)
Be prepared to describe relevant people, maybe including yourself, and that includes race. If you have an asthma attack at a football game, the medics need to know how to find you in a crowd. If you are a black woman, that's gonna rule out everyone who isn't that. If you are a black woman wearing a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and a blue bandana over your hair, that excludes nearly everybody and when the medics arrive, they'll know exactly who to look for. Most of the time, someone's race isn't relevant information. When describing someone to emergency services, it absolutely is and it is not racist to accurately describe the relevant person or people.
There are more tips in the world, and I may come back to this post and add them as they occur to me. In the meantime, please enjoy this short treatise on how to call 911.
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