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fishing-lesbian-catgirl · 2 months

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I have no idea what Arkknights is

And at this point im afraid to ask

Girls be called shit like Asbestos, Gravel, Mud and Debris

They eat rocks???

Gatorpeople???

Working in difficult terrain? I dunno

But i know the lesbians go crazy over it

I can clarify this (well, clarify again, I get this question occasionally).

Arknights people aren’t actually named asbestos, gravel, mudrock, cement, rockrock or any of that other stuff. Those are operator code names. A lot of the characters we don’t know their actual names, and since they go by their code names in the game anyway that’s just how people refer to them. All of them choose their code names (except arguably Pudding) so they frequently choose things significant or symbolic of who they are. Asbestos is a fireproof salamander who is a toxic jerk and has cancer so it was a very fitting name. Cement is a construction worker. Rockrock’s name is Rochelle Rockwell. There’s a lot of different reasons but ultimately those aren’t their actual names, but they are effectively their names.

They don’t actually eat rocks. As a gameplay mechanic, characters require resources in order to be promoted and become more powerful in game. However the resources they require for upgrades are kind of strange things like weird metals, cubes of rock, devices, a non alcoholic chemical that apparently gets you effectively drunk if you ingest it, and a bunch of other stuff. Tomimi, the alligator girl who is known for having an extremely fat tail despite her being a fairly short and small person, requires concentrated orirocks that require well over 100 orirock cubes to craft in order for her promotion. So I make dumb jokes that she was eating the cubes and that’s why her tail is fat

Gatorpeople? Yep! Almost all the characters in Arknights are like the type of catgirls that are human but have cat ears and a tail, but for a bunch of different types of animals. There are a few that are anthropomorphic animals and then there’s the people who are demons, vampires, elves (very rare. There’s only one), and characters based on mythical creatures like manticores, nues, all kinds of dragons, etc. there’s also some robots, not robot girls, just robots, they’re mostly rectangular and on wheels. And then there’s weird crossover characters like a stack of the cats from monster hunter, but those aren’t really canon anyway.

I don’t actually know what you’re specifically referencing by the difficult terrain thing but the world of Arknights is full of large scale catastrophes that require most cities to be on enormous moving platforms so they can avoid catastrophes. The world is also full of many hazards. I don’t know what else you might mean so I can’t help more with that

Yes the lesbians go crazy for it. ~80% of the characters are women who are often written to be competent and powerful and actually the focus of the stories. A lot of them are at implied ranging from slight hints to extremely blunt and obvious by their behavior to be lesbians. The story and setting are interesting, the characters have cool designs and interesting personalities and narratives, and a lot of them are gay women, and especially with the kenomimi-style animal girls, it’s not particularly surprising that other people like me get so obsessed with them.

Funnily enough, I think there’s still only 2 “canonical” lesbian operators if you take the extremely blunt stance of ignoring everything that doesn’t outright explicitly involve them professing their love or being in an explicit relationship with a woman. But you’d have to be intentionally obtuse to actually think those are the only ones given how a lot of the women act

#this was longer than I intended it to be #It is true to my core that for better or worse I am unnecessarily verbose #usually because I’m afraid people will misinterpret my meaning and usually in uncharitable ways if I don’t use the extra words to clarify #arknights

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lenasai · 8 months

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Hey! I've tried getting into blaseball before but could not understand it. Could you explain? 🥺

ID: The "Sickos" comic meme. End ID.

i will never pass up an opportunity to talk about blaseball!

i typed a lot, so the rest is under the cut for the sake of people who have me on their dash

unfortunately, i have bad news about getting into it as an active participant - the developers decided to end blaseball as an ongoing project in june for a number of reasons, one being that running it at the level they wanted to (and really, at any point in the game's history) has been unsustainable for the team.

however, i encourage you to look further into the fan creations because there is so much more than just the game!

to summarize what blaseball was: blaseball was a fantasy horror baseball simulator with an ongoing plot and a very creative fanbase. i would describe the relationship between the fans and the devs as a large-scale version of a tabletop roleplaying game, with the devs (and the simulation running the game) as the game masters. a lot of iconic moments in the discipline era in particular were a mix of the devs taking a "yes, and" approach to fan input and the number of ways in which the site broke.

the experience of watching games was very minimal and mostly text-based, so it wasn't too unlike watching real baseball updates online, except weird things happened sometimes. different weather conditions introduced a small chance of something happening to teams and players, or even tweaked the rules of play for that game. my favorite weather was sun .1, which added 0.1 points to each run scored per inning. it was also just an adorable tiny sun, which is the reason it's my favorite.

the players were all just names and stats, which enabled the fans to fill in the blanks and craft their own narratives around them.

aside from the teams and players, there were also a number of entities that performed different functions within the league. some had extended reach beyond the main site - for example, if you wanted to keep up on twitter, you could follow the commissioner and receive updates about events and other things that happened during the season.

optionally, a lot of fans also discussed games as they were happening on the official discord. most of the teams still have active discord servers, so if you find yourself attached to one, i'm sure you could find someone who could give you a link

i don't blame you for having a hard time getting into it because for a period of time, things were getting more and more complicated by design! the expansion era (season 12-24) was all about telling a story about the harm of endless growth. the big bad was literally the god of capitalism. this was quite the effective storytelling mechanism, but it also meant getting into blaseball was very difficult for new fans. i had a friend who tried getting into it around the time shit really hit the fan and they gave up 😭

thanks to the efforts of a very dedicated group of fans - the society for internet blaseball research in particular - it is possible to experience blaseball in some form, albeit not as an active, ongoing thing. before is a wonderful archive of the blaseball.com website that is mostly functional. you can type in which season/day you want to see or view a list of major events here. for less complicated games, i recommend the discipline era. for more chaos, late expansion era is where that's at.

for both official history/season explanations and team/player lore, check out the blaseball wiki! there's lots of cool stuff to check out there if you want to learn more about something.

i also recommend the blaseball roundup - an official recap of everything through season 22, starring quinns from people make games as the anchor! (for plot reasons, seasons 23 and 24 are not covered. unfortunately, given the state of the game, i don't think this will happen.)

quinns made his own video for people make games back in 2020, which is also a nice watch.

for a comprehensive list of all of the official videos, analysis from the blaseball news network, and more, this is an excellent fan project that puts everything in one place with links out to the internet archive.

finally, there is a metric fuckton of fan art and fanfic to check out! there isn't really one central location for most of the art, but you can find a lot of writing in the blaseball tag on ao3 and itch (which is being really slow for me at the time of writing, but you can search "blaseball" on itch and get some results 👍)

blaseball might be "over," but its fanbase is not going anywhere, and i can guarantee you there is no bad time to get into it. we are all love blaseball here ❤️⚾️🩸

#blaseball

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mcytblr-archive · 20 days

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Early MCYTblr Interviews: mcyt-quotes

today's interviewee is mcyt-quotes, one of the first MCYT quotes blogs, member of MCYTblr since SMPLive, and winner of the first MCYTblr elections! below is a transcript of their questions and answers.

Q: To begin with, what was your overall MCYTblr experience like? Does anything particularly stick out to you?

A: it was fun, by and large. a good outlet for me to talk with likeminded people, and a good distraction to get me through my senior years of high school. i’ve been a public figure in a few online fandom spaces, now, and i think what stood out the most in the mcytblr space is the fact that some of the larger blogs were almost treated like mini-content creators themselves ? i got fanart a few times, especially through the whole election fiasco, and i remember there being incorrect quote blogs etc that i would pop up on now and then. i’ve never seen it happen on that scale before - it was odd, but fun in its own way. defiantly gave early-mid MCYTblr its own personality

Q: Speaking of the elections, do you remember what it was like to run in them? I remember that you won, but I'm interested to hear what it was like from your point of view.

A: ahahaha that was an experience. i fully signed up as a joke - i wasn’t very active on discord or very close with many of the other blogs, and i didn’t realise that my follower count was on the higher end of the spectrum, so i didn’t think i had a chance. just wanted to muck around and procrastinate studying for my final exams. things sorta spiralled though - i got hooked up with two bloody fantastic vice candidates (@the-royal-bat-snake and @sosigshoney) who did literally everything, and i also underestimated MCYTblr’s tendency to do it for the bit. i remember my campaign being something to the effect of promising a militia of arsonists, kitten genocide, cannibalism generally, and a total removal of free speech and thought ? and then i was elected and i was like ah fuck, i don’t have time for this. and then suddenly i was in the middle of some vast RP conspiracy that i was mostly asleep through, being Aussie, and very lost

Q: You mentioned that in the MCYT fandom, blogs were treated like smaller content creators-- how was that different from your other fandom experiences, out of curiosity?

A: so that sort of environment has popped up in other fandom spaces that i’ve been in - most obvious would be (and i want no judgement) the instagram DC and Marvel comics community, where i spent a few years running a large page. there were definitely elements of it - pages would get memes dedicated to them, etc. but lore ? i’ve never seen that before. i think it might be something about the nature of MCYT - aspects of the fandom, especially post Dream SMP (when this behaviour became most common) was built on mythologising people. not in the sense of worshipping them, but more so in the sense of fitting them into fictional narratives, just like the Dream SMP. and the blog owners themselves were primed to happily accept RP scenarios (something which has historically been seen as ‘cringe’), particularly those which blend absurdism and emotion. so the prison blogs, the election and subsequent RP, the penis SMP, the incorrect quotes blogs dedicated to fandom blogs (literally fandom-ception) came pretty naturally

idk, with more and time and reflection there’s probably something interesting there - Dream SMP was pretty unique in it’s time, and tumblr (especially post 2012) is a unique platform, so it makes sense they combined like that

Q: That makes me wonder, too-- it hasn't come up much before this, but I think it's an important aspect to examine: Do you think that large numbers of people (especially younger ones) being quarantined contributed to the intense/fast-paced fandom?

A: oh absolutely. it was pretty crazy to watch as a (semi) outsider. i joined the fandom in 2019, when it was Very small on tumblr - there maybe three other blogs i could follow who were MCYT related ? and then Covid hit and it bloody exploded. as i’ve mentioned, i was in my final year of high school, plus my town was only quarantined for a small period of time, so i didn’t really get that classic quarantine experience of having nothing to do. but christ, you could tell that so many people were spending practically their whole lives living through MCYT. and i don’t think that was a bad thing - it was clearly a great experience for a lot of people. but that’s why you had things popping up like the high school au blog dedicated to other MCYTblr blogs (where i think i was actually used as some evil class president or something ?? idk), which you would Not have seen in any other environment, i reckon

and i cannot stress your fast paced comment enough - every time i woke up it felt like heaps of astronomical events had happened in the few hours of USA timezone that had passed

it was fun - i felt like a long suffering older cousin at some points, but i don’t mind. that’s part of why i leaned into the election RP - if i could be as evil as possible, i gave them something to have fun with

Q: Now that you mention it, it's really interesting how that played out almost exactly as it did in the DSMP itself! A less-invested party coming in with a cartoonishly evil plan and winning the election to be played off of in roleplay, it's amazing how it worked out like that.

A: ahaha and it wasn’t lost on people at the time !! i was known for quite a while afterwards as a Schlatt-kinnie, which i was happy to lean into. a lot of the plot after that was lost on me - it was my two vice’s that i mentioned before and the rest of the cabinet which really carried things, and i would just pop in whenever i happened to be awake to endorse kitten genocide or something like that then go back to studying. but i’m pretty sure it did continue to trace the DSMP for a while afterwards - i banned the cult party [silverfish2020], so they were pretty quick to form a rebellion group, while i just continued to make worse and worse decisions. to be honest, though, it eventually spiralled out of control - i was taking it so laissez-faire that i forgot some people were genuinely invested, and while i forget details i definitely genuinely pissed a few people off at some point. i remember pretty vividly at one point someone made a post where they said they were worried i was going to doxx them or something like that (?) and i was like damn, this shits more serious than i thought it was. so i arranged to have my character assassinated and noped out - i couldn’t tell you what happened after that (or, frankly, before it). honestly, if you’re interested in niche fandom history though there’s probably something interesting in what went down - worth looking into if you’re bored

Q: Do you remember any other 'Big MCYTblr events'? It's alright if you don't remember what happened during them-- if you can't recall, I'll use them to ask around for people who participated!

A: i don’t rlly remember any other events…i know they happened, but i really had no interest in getting involved beyond answering whatever asks i would get about them. the election from memory was the first Big one (unless prom was first ? idk they were close together) and after that i was very happy to let Quotes as a character die, and i mostly ignored them

plus, it was about that time i started leaving the fandom - maybe a month or so later. by that point the community was Big, and moving fast, and a lot of drama had begun to leak in. you’ve covered some of the controversial blogs etc, and while i didn’t care about them personally they were indicative that the fandom space was different. combine that with me moving out of home and starting university, and i pretty much shut the blog down

Q: What led you to create the mcyt-quotes blog in the first place?

A: ummm i reckon just to have somewhere to talk about minecraft monday. there wasn’t a very dedicated fan base, and fuck knows i wasn’t gonna be talking about minecraft irl in a public aussie high school (i don’t have a death wish) so it just gave me somewhere to collect my thoughts. nothing interesting 🤷‍♀️

Q: Now that you mention it-- what are some of your most memorable moments from Minecraft Monday, whether from creators or the fandom?

A: ahhhhh there were some good ones. the fandom was deeply toxic during minecraft monday, but in a fun way - it felt sorta like following a sport more than anything. a niche reference here, but it felt the same as being a fan of australia’s soccer leagues - everyone hates each other, the organisers are greedy pricks who have no idea what’s going on, and there’s a new, entirely avoidable catastrophe happening every week. i think top moments include: the /top incident, where the fandom was divided after a scandal where Techno used an exploit to beat Vikkstar in an arena game; the a6d beef, where a6d was banned for not having enough viewers and then snuck back in and got into twitter drama with Keemstar; the week were Carson tried to sabotage Techno, leading to some of the most awkward moments possible and resulting in a lot of hate for the guy when he was otherwise still popular; week 7, where literally everything that could be broken was broken; James Charles getting adopted by the Minecraft community after his first cancelling but before everything that went down afterwards; and week 14, where a hacker griefed the arena, destroyed the event, and then accidentally doxxed himself while streaming it all. a fitting end

the main outlet for MCYT back then was actually reddit - there was a very active MCM subreddit which had a ton of statistics etc. the fandom was very into statistics back then, and actually analysing who would be a threat. that increased even more when serious esports players were added to the mix, like XQC and T1yler. they brought the toxic sweaty gamer energy to the competition, and the MC youtubers generally found them hilarious

it’s actually funny how much the vibe of the fandom changes depending on what’s most popular - MCM felt like sports fans, SMPEarth felt like historians, and DSMP was a giant role play arena

Q: Were you a part of the subreddit? (And, if so-- was it any different from MCYT Tumblr?)

A: yeah, i was crazy active on that subreddit !! i was always rooting for either Techno, Schlatt, or James Charles - Techno because he permanently dominated, Schlatt cause i was a casual SMPLive fan, and JC for the meme - and because at the time he was pretty widely accepted, since people loved that he genuinely seemed to get into the competition. funnily, the only time i’ve seen this competitive energy recreated was in the Techno vs Dream duel (which i also got way too competitive about). MCM was the first serious introduction of old school MC youtubers to the new generation - it was fun seeing all the classics slowly come around to Techno when they realised he wasn’t a sweat he was just good, or seeing them try to navigate conversations with the SMPLive gang when the old guard was still trying to be family friendly. the best week was actually Week 14, when a collection of old MCYTbers and new MCYTbers (and James Charles) decided fuck it and went to play on Hypixel for a few hours. it was great. i was also, later, very active on the SMPEarth wiki (the main hub for the fandom in those days) - that place is a gem to this day, and i’m not just saying that because i wrote far too much of it

Q: As time went on, did you see the culture of the fandom shift? What was it like to watch?

A: it shifted a Lot between different phases. even the demographic changed, at different points. you would be hard pressed to imagine that the fans of SMPLive were the same as DSMP, even though there was overlap in creators. even something more recent, like SMPEarth to DSMP - totally different vibe. you can see aspects that influenced each other, though - for example, the SMPE fandom’s obsession with making flags for different factions and putting factions at war with each other absolutely led into the establishment of L’Manburg. then Eret had his betrayal moment, and it turned from SMPE style war roleplay (which you would have on SMPLive, even, for example with the Stal conflict) to actual personal role play, where there were characters separate from the content creators. that division had never been identified before. that was when u started to see a lot of the mainstay parts of today’s fandom pop up - e.g. the c! vs cc! shorthand, or the constant division of content creators onto duos or other groups, and (of course) the shipping debates started up. they had always been there, especially in the Dream side of the fandom (which evolved spiritually from the Skeppy side, imo, which had similar debates) but they Really blew up with DSMP

that’s sort of when i stepped out - nothing against that style of fandom, it’s just not for me

Q: I've heard a lot of people who were in 2019-2020 MCYTblr say that the fandom was a lot more close-knit during that time-- was that your experience of it, too?

A: very much so. it was inevitable, we were a small bunch. i wouldn’t go so far as to say that everyone knew everyone, but everyone definitely had a mutual friend. i mean, hell, even connections to the creators were common - a lot of people on stuff like love or host were fans themselves. of course, looking back at the way that power was abused by certain creators paints it in a different light, but at the time it was fun

Q: Are there any fandom in-jokes, copypastas, running bits, or anything similar that you can remember from your time in the fandom?

A: too many to name. most of them id get in my inbox and just be confused, tbh, like the Kroger anon or some of the kinnies. i’ll try to go through some pre-DSMP era ones from the top of my head. the Hey Wilbur copypasta was cursed, as was SMPRompa (which i actually read the first couple chapters of, out of morbid curiosity. it was an experience). Stal, of course, was iconic in its time, as was the cuck shed. there was Keemstar being referred to as a gnome, his beef with the Skeppy gang, the ‘I could kiss you’ incident, ‘Hey Technoblade’. Jschlatt’s love or host bit where he was a closeted, deeply christian man made the rounds. Technoplane, of course. the Carson crying meme, and Gumball killing James Charles. Petezahutt dropping MCM to spite Keemstar, and Keemstar lying about it. ‘Preston is rusty’ was a classic MCM era meme, after the two fucking dominated. the sheer amount of times MCM got hacked was a bit of an in-joke, as was who actually won week 7 (to this day we didn’t know)

Q: Alright, and last one! Is there anything else you can remember/want archived, or any comments about MCYTblr as a whole?

A: ummmm i don’t think so ! i’ve said pretty much everything that immediately comes to mind. definitely an interesting fandom - one of the most unique i’ve seen. i appreciate your account a lot ! it’s funny to see old posts pop up again

#Early MCYTblr Interviews #Volume 18 #mcyt-quotes

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pctaldrunk · 10 months

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on the depiction of dao in c.yjm and b.ingchang's dao

I'll get to what all this has to do w/ B.ingchang in a few paragraphs, but I want to talk about dao in context of c.yjm, which I think is arguably underdeveloped...in both source materials that currently exist. Firstly, to establish the loosest sense of the word - dao is a path. It's merely a road of cultivation, a philosophical principle of the universe which an individual has chosen to follow as a guide through and interpretation of the state of being of the world. To understand and find dao and therefore achieve some height of cultivation is only to understand and embody the chosen principle and thereby let go of some worldly obsession. The twice that a specific dao is mentioned is in relation to the main characters. L.i Su Su practices 无情道 (the path of no feeling), and the demon god is intrinsically linked to 同悲道 (quite literally, the path of 'same suffering'/'suffering with'). Effectively - two canonically powerful cultivation paths that destructively symbolize universal good and universal evil.

And yet like a lot of dao - they are linked together in a circle - 同悲 is achieved through suffering, to cause others suffering, to realize that all living beings suffer and to be the sufferer and to be the person causing suffering is at the end one and the same against the backdrop of the cycle of cosmic suffering. 无情 is to be without personal emotion, to see all living things, from a blade of grass to an ordinary person to a villain as only parts of the universe without influence from within, to feel love only for the entire universe and therefore only act in the favor of the universe as an entity and not any of the millions of individuals within it.

Controversially, maybe - I think their effect is the same. Both are paths that completely obliterate circumstance and self and the individual. Both are elevated to godhood rather than the human experience - perpetrators of divine will, a will that exists outside of and involves all living things no matter what dao they choose to practice. 同悲 and 无情 both seek to change the world and the paths of others - assimilation, if you will, into the universal dao - to carry out a divine will - whether that will is for universal good or universal suffering.

And this is why I think...Bingchang sits at a unique middle between daos, and why I find it ironic that she's frequently referred to as a 'B.odhisattva on earth' specifically within the narrative. Her path remains incomplete - unfortunately she dies before she's really able to feel it out comfortably in the novel, but - I believe, overall it finds some of its roots in the concept of 无为 - noninterference. That all paths that exist for her and others are a path of the universe, that all things as they are and in the way that they are and choose to be - have their time and place in the world. That her own path in the world can only be borne out of herself and to do with herself, not about changing the paths of others. A "small" dao, rather than a "grand" one, but a dao of assessment and acceptance rather obliteration.

At the start of her narrative she's trying out universal compassion, and at the end of her narrative she dips a little into malice. The ends of her scale are a very wide range. I believe that eventually when kindness no longer becomes something she can give in abundance and without regard to herself, she realizes that 1) she has always been practicing kindness to her ability, rather than extended to the universe as an entity 2) she needs to reassess her dao and what is "worth it" to her, individually, in terms of that ability. Which is to say - discovering her dao is largely about discovering her limitations and her own obstinacies and obsessions and finding a compromise. She has a uniquely human dao, which is the dao of a great many regular beings who are neither gods nor devils - mercy where mercy can be afforded, unkindness where one cannot prevent it - all according to one's own ability and without interfering with or trying to influence the path of others, bending like water as necessary.

She's very aware that she cannot love and forgive everything in the world the same way and therefore cannot offer mercy to all - consequently she cannot condemn or judge everything in the world in the same way either, and cannot offer suffering to all. But she will make good with all that she can. Maybe one day, a long time later when she is finally at a point where she can accept all things and lay down all the things she cannot let go of - she will finally become a real god - but I'm inclined to believe that when she's referred to as a B.odhisattva "on earth" in the story, it's an indicator - she will always be flawed and individual in her humanity, contradictory as every complex person is, kind and cruel at once - only ever just doing her best.

So I think with regards to cultivation and who she'll become post canon in the grand scheme of this xianxia landscape - a middleman, a conveyer of small kindnesses and small understandings and small anger. Not a great goddess or a great evil but simply a still-learning, still-cultivating individual that wanders the mortal realm for answers that she still seeks to answer for herself.

#headcanons : when my time is up have i done enough. will they tell your story #𝐘𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆 : 恶毒女配 #((so))#((s o))#((i hav so many hnnnns about this actually))#((disclaimer i'm not a religious expert and also idk if my chinesee brain did this in english quitee right))#((am just here w/ my lil bit of IM SO EXCITED ABT THIS STUFF))#((: ' D))#((this is 900+ words))#((SAVE ME))#((tw long post but i thru it under a rewad more for u))

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mister13eyond · 4 months

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It's okay that you called me Anon, don't worry. Is one of your assholes also trying to reset every single alternative universe you've created? My yes or rather is trying to cancel a certain event, completely ignoring the butterfly effect it could have. For him, chaos theory is nonsense created by humans.

OH THAT SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL AND TERRIBLE i *love* a metanarrative aware/multiverse-destroying character [chef kiss] NOT TO COMPARE TO UNDERTALE AUS but i always loved the whole back and forth happening with certain undertale aus where some iterations wanted to DESTROY the concept of alternate universes/timeline offshoots and others wanted to INSPIRE artists and lead to the creation of MORE offshoots? it's super fun, that level of self-interaction between yourself as a creator and your character as a narrative element but also a RESPONSE to your creation is SO fun!

NONE OF MINE ARE ON THAT LEVEL but I think the closest would be Zinnia- rambling/oc lore under the cut bc it got long!

SO SOME FRAMEWORK IS NECESSARY in my comic universe, angels are beings connected to the mana that makes up the universe, which they can cast as "miracles", while demons are beings made of mana who cannot draw it from the universe around them and must draw it from individuals to sustain themselves instead

As a result of this, FALLEN angels (which Zinnia is) are angels who have not only been cast out of heaven but also CUT OFF from the flow of universal mana

However, because of this, fallen angels can be something like black holes that can wipe out entire city blocks by draining all the mana and life force from beings around them. They're incredibly dangerous. As a result, not only are fallen angels RARE, but heaven also takes precautions when exiling them by shackling them. These shackles act as sort of power limiters, making it so they can only draw mana on a very small scale (and not from humans- it has to be obtained from mana-based beings like demons.) These shackles cannot be removed by the fallen angel themself, and must be removed by someone else.

Since it's pretty dangerous to create a fallen angel, and even WITH the shackles can still be risky, it is NOT done often. It's much more common for cases like Asphodel to happen- where someone is not-so-subtly encouraged to leave and not come back, but no *official* exile is made. They're still connected to the universal mana flow, but are Heavily Discouraged from using it. Like a kid who hasn't been fully disowned by their parents, but HAS stopped getting financial support in any way.

As a result, an angel has to REALLY fuck up to be exiled. In Zinnia's case, he was doing some Extremely Shady business dealings in the renaissance era- he was caught selling indulgences and making promises to certain religious figures that they'd have a guaranteed spot in heaven if they'd just help him with this particular political move he wanted to see happen, you know.... (I'm not saying he dealt with the Borgias, but i'm not NOT saying he dealt with the Borgias, you know?)

It's been A Long Time since then and Zinnia has mostly been kept from any large-scale scheming by a combination of being shackled and also generally everyone in his circle wising up to his nonsense, but he IS still pretty desperate to get his shackles off, and isn't above lying or deceiving others to do so. He's also relentlessly petty and does things like "sic a demon hunter on a demon because he pissed you off one time."

He's probably the biggest ACTUAL threat in the cast, but because he's got a poor reputation and is shackled so he can't use his power for destructive means, he's kind of undergone This form of characterization:

If he ever manages to actually fool anyone into unshackling him, he could be an Actual Genuine Threat, but since he hasn't had any success, he's just like a mean cat that lives in Damian's house and causes small-scale problems.

#the second place asshole is nik but nik is largely just #the type who likes drama and therefore gossips and/or watches chaos unfold gleefully #but he genuinely does have a soft heart under that so he never causes problems that are TOO bad #he just wants to commit Mischief #see: him convincing asphodel there was an author named Ligma Balzac #oc lore #my ocs #zinnia

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legionofpotatoes · 2 years

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Ngl, that reblog about vampires turning their noses up at traditional vampire things feels like the MCU in a nutshell

Here's all these intergalactic super beings with wacky powers and absurd caricature-like personalities, then Hollywood got in there and was like "alright, what if they all have, like, one of their trademark Things™, but other than that they're just generic cookie-cutter-ass hero/villain humans with plot masquerading as real emotions?"

Not sure why this came to mind, but I guess this culture of big, creative studios always watering down these classic, beloved concepts for the sake of make them more broadly appealing (ie: safer) and people themselves still having a stuck-up attitude about what others enjoy (despite now partaking in all this "nerd" stuff themselves) is just getting a bit tiring, tbh

Bring back the wacky shit, let's have fun in this dying hellscape for a change

The... cultural maladies introduced by the MCU both in creative and business terms upon the macro storytelling optics of the mainstream as well as the industry at large are a fascinating topic to dive into, but a difficult thing to attack from this particular angle. I will say that sure, I think its tendency to chase after "charming" (it's the best single word adjective I have for their Max Appeal Setting) character traits does have this weird side-effect of shutting out shlocky narratives, truly flawed human stories (spiders toby vs spiders tom), and scoffing at its pulpy roots without actually interrogating meaning; but like, what is meaning in today's storytelling landscape anymore. Is it simply wacky shit for its own sake? Or maybe just a more malleable tonal tapestry allowing for less rigid themes? A good balance of both for fun and catharsis? I truly do not know anymore, and that's without being flippant. The altar of story is no longer the arbiter of plot and characterization, no longer the crux of all drama, and in some cases we can find it culturally beneficial (heightened representation of marginalized voices as characters become all meaning), while in others not so much (spoiling a tentpole film is sacrilege as plot becomes all meaning). That is simply the lay of the land now and we have to take that into account when talking about the MCU and what it is essentially begetting and "working with".

Like. Okay without letting this get away from me we all know they're a corporate revenue vulture with a stranglehold on theater chains and global production pipelines etc. making them, in essence, a type of at-scale monopoly/trendsetter. So their missteps, of which there are plenty, become MASSIVE issues for cinematic storytelling. And even when they pick up a few small wins by truly leaning into directorial choices and letting them run amok, as, say, when mohamed diab took a great, real look at trauma in moon knight, they still tend to end by letting the mask slip and disengaging from their overarching philosophical conflict (we get that punishing future crimes is bad; but interrogate the WHY anyway??) and throwing a giant kaiju battle and post-credits stinger at us because emotional catharses are not the goal, they're a stepping stone to the Next Thing, ergo plot, ergo viewer retention and ROI, ergo the perpetual drive for meaning-unmaking in story terms.

And I'm aware I'm at risk of extrapolating it all a bit too far off-base here, but all I'm getting at is that monetizing the meaning of plot is a much more sustainable business model than risking implosion by giving way to artistic voices that are ultimately at odds with your very own establishment. And within this tense framework, you find that weaving meaningful themes in a perpetual tapestry of what is essentially the cinematic equivalent of serialized TV ends up being an exercise at finding lowest common denominators and just. arriving at simple cyclical parables of the monomyth or whatever the "MCU formula" stands for nowadays. And that in itself is an approach so agnostic to rapid tonal/aesthetic shifts that the text ends up mocking itself in small details to establish rules going forward. Which isn't. Like, bad; old tropes are often steeped in bigotry and harmful patterns yada-yada. But it is not a good default setting for contained storytelling.

Which is how I think we arrive at what you're saying; where sometimes threats to the status quo of linear character progression through the grand MCU roadmap become subjects of ridicule, often in-text, and the charm of their narratives keeps the boat from rocking, quietly calcifying and waving these tonal aberrations off forever. A good example off the top of my head is when they truly, genuinely thought that making thanos a malthusian agent of culling was somehow more interesting than keeping his original motives of trying to impress death as a glorified turbo incel. And anyone now will agree! because THAT is the building block the rest of the roadmap stands on, even if a shlocky romp about aliens and power and love and death that would interrogate male entitlement would be an infinitely more interesting story than whatever half-baked, unresolved philosophical nonsense they tried to pull with infinity/endgame. Everyone still talks about megamind, for fuck's sake. Marvel movies can be fun to sit through, truly, but they have zero staying power with me.

A smaller example that is maybe less emblematic but rubs me wrong, personally, is how they keep incorporating old comic book costumes as easter eggs that end up being secretly mean-spirited, panicked parodies. Of course Vision can't have his strongman outfit, it is so stupid he will wear it for halloween! This is a nonsense me-thing, I know, but like. Eesh.

This utterly got away from me. short version: I agree and what we do in the shadows should be what cinema strives for

#anon #asks #long post #sorry gang I have REAL trouble condensing thoughts #still working on it

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jujujulia · 20 days

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Storyboarding

Establishing a narrative

Next I had the challenge of creating an effective narrative with limited pages as I am going to make a short but large scale booklet. I drew out the backgrounds and brain stormed what colours I could use and how they would flow into each other, so the narrative could travel through the colour scheme as well as the imagery.

I thought about my different interests through childhood other than ocean/sea and drew small thumbnail sketches, e.g. fantasty/mythology, plants/flowers and cute things. The last page will be different as it represents a “current” version of the character present. I’ll go into more depth of the narrative aspects in future blog posts, I was mainly focusing on composition/colours in these thumbnails.

More thumbnails

Screen print replicas

Here I used the high quality images and imported them into procreate then I added a colour gradient to change the colours of the image. Then I added a multiply layer of the drawing I did of a girl running on the beach to try and emulate a screen print. I really like how this turned out but I think an actual screen print would look very different.

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mdjalhokbabu · 3 months

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Live broadcast marketing

Now live broadcasting (self-broadcasting and upstreaming) has become a standard for brand global growth. HE Tuber Live broadcasts in the past were simple and crude, selling goods directly. Later, Dongfang Selection talked about some content other than the product when selling goods.

In fact, live broadcasting that relies on content to bring goods is a strategic direction to avoid the current lowest price of live broadcasting. Just because the content is difficult and requires strategic concentration and deep cultivation, many brands have not yet realized it, let alone experienced the benefits.

At present, the dividends of paid live broadcast marketing are still there, and in the future it will be the same as opening a store in a shopping mall.

The core of live broadcast marketing is to upgrade the static display of pictures and texts into interactive video display, and even small group event marketing.

4. Unbounded marketing

In the past, we relied on professional division of labor to improve the overall efficiency and scale of the economy. Things are different now. We need to rely on cross-sector collaboration to improve total economic benefits and quality.

For example: cross-industry marketing. This was unthinkable before. In the TV era, many brands showed a variety show culture; now in the interest e-commerce era, many brands show a fast-moving consumer culture.

For example: FENDI and Heytea. One is a luxury product and the other is freshly made tea. How could two companies with completely different customer groups and brand tones come together to engage in cross-industry marketing?

The core of unbounded marketing is that wherever the customers are, the brand's content and emotions will follow them. High-end customers will also drink tea. Even though the brand tone and value presentation may not necessarily match, they must still overcome it and significantly increase the presence in non-target customers and the content penetration rate of target customers.

5. Narrative Marketing

Narrative marketing refers to the construction of brand stories and content, forming a new marketing strategy and creative style.

In the past, it was one-way output, atmosphere creation, and image presentation. Now it is two-way interaction, emotional stimulation, and consumer branding.

For example: Many dairy companies emphasize a "direct from pasture to fork" approach. In this way, not only the products are homogeneous, but the content is also homogeneous, and even the brand image is also similar.

Adopting a cow changes the narrative strategy and style. The quality of dairy products has been changed to the quality of dairy cows. Replacing the brand with consumer sovereignty is like customers actually observing the life of a cow. The brand side first promoted the concept of "buying milk rather than adopting a cow", and then promoted the adoption model, combined with extensive grass planting and private sector undertaking, effectively avoiding the vicious competition of homogeneity.

6. Experiential marketing

Let me tell you something that worries many CEOs: products are just carriers, and customer-perceived value is the delivery target.

The core of experiential marketing is to make the intangible value smaller and the perceptible value bigger. Convert difficult-to-perceive value into easily-perceivable value as much as possible, extract product selling points from easy-to-perceive value, correspond to customer buying points, and then sublimate it into small categories and large single products, and find memory points, communication points, and decision-making points from social communication.

For example: the driving performance of Volvo heavy trucks is a product value that is very difficult to perceive. If we simply list driving performance as four major indicators from the perspective of product selling points, and then use exquisite advertisements for large-scale advertising, it is conceivable that the effect will be extremely poor.

So Volvo Heavy Trucks invited Hollywood star Jean-Claude Van Damme to stand between the two heavy trucks. As the two trucks backed up, he gradually became a straight horse. This is to transform excellent driving performance into an event that customers can pay attention to, perceive, remember and have social talk. This event can also be re-created. Because most people think this video is computer-processed, the brand released a behind-the-scenes reveal to prove that the video was actually shot.

Obviously, this kind of experiential marketing has strong social mobilization power. It can turn an ordinary product selling point into a social event that explodes public opinion in a short period of time.

7. Emotional marketing

Emotional marketing has become a major starting point after product homogeneity, content homogeneity, and brand convergence.

We often say: What sells good hamburgers is not the hamburgers, but the parent-child relationship. This refers to emotional marketing.

Also, Uber does not do its job properly and often engages in some inexplicable event marketing. In fact, it is all about stoking the emotions of target customers and fans.

Even Victoria's Secret, known for its sexy line, has begun to lower its figure and emphasize feminism. why? In recent years, the underwear industry has been driven by feminism and inward self-pleasure. It is no longer a simple emotional value.

Nowadays, the distribution of Douyin and Kuaishou by experts is often based on the emotional value of the lowest price and high commission. This just shows that many brands are still at a low level in mining emotional value, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.

8. Delivery Marketing

Many people say that product is the most important, so product is one. According to this thinking, the most important thing we deliver to our customers is the product.

Let’s change our thinking: products meet customer needs, and brands connect customers’ emotions. In this way, it seems that what we deliver is not just a product, but also more.

For example: a three-star Michelin restaurant is not doing its job properly and has launched a content-based and quality-life restaurant selection. What is this delivery?

For example: Dianping has become China’s largest online catering traffic portal and customer reputation database. What is this delivery?

For example: In the early years, Zhen Kungfu said that foreign fast food was "fried" and "steamed". It was to provide a healthier breakfast for the next generation of Chinese children, which aroused public opinion. What is this delivery?

Gradually, we discovered that the results delivered by an enterprise may have many dimensions such as product value, customer value, business value, capital market value, and social value. The higher and deeper the dimension, the easier it is to establish the competitive advantage of the business model and the easier it is to escape product price competition.

9. Technology Marketing

Technology has advanced so fast in the past few years, and everyone is eager to get close to technology and enjoy the dividends it brings.

Therefore, technology marketing is no longer the previous promotion and explanation of product functions and technologies. Technology marketing is a commitment and threshold for a better quality of life in the future.

It’s not just Tesla that relies on hard technology to make automotive consumer goods unparalleled, now even fast-moving consumer goods such as food and beverages must rely on a sense of technology to stand out. On the contrary, small household appliances and other products that originally focused on technology are now starting to influence the FMCG network in the opposite direction.

There are many technological products with technical thresholds, but the marketing effect is not good. The main reason is that they are too product-focused and are not very good at converting product selling points into customer buying points.

Still the same sentence: Customers don’t need your product, what they need is to solve their problems.

Therefore, when marketing technology-based products, we must pay attention: Marketing is not about selling goods, but about solving customer problems, especially solving customer pain points in a certain scenario. Scenario is the medium between products and needs. This is something that many technology companies are seriously missing.

10. Big health marketing

There are more and more middle-aged and elderly people among us. We have money and leisure, and our awareness of health and exercise is far higher than that of middle-aged and elderly people before.

Including young people, cosmetics and health products have begun to focus on anti-aging.

The core of big health marketing is the ingredient party, the formula party, the scene party, and the function party. The entire society conspires to deepen and deepen business concepts such as probiotics, hyaluronic acid, polytitanium, dietary fiber, low sugar, low fat and low calories, forming an explosive economy of scale.

In the next ten years, we will face many uncertainties, and health marketing is one of the few foreseeable certainties.

Big health is not just about nourishment and nutrition, it covers a wide range of areas, including home furnishing, clothing, psychology, lifestyle, etc. It covers almost all aspects of consumption.

At this time, many interesting topics were raised for us: for example, many supplements have categories but no brands; many nutritional products have raw materials but no sense of finished product value; many high-end raw materials do not have excessive premiums at the terminal; many healthy lifestyles , the customer has no willingness to pay, etc.

What also needs special reminder is: for big health marketing, you must pay attention to the purchasing power and traffic dividends of middle-aged and elderly people in video accounts.

#video #sharing #watch #upload

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sienabloem · 6 months

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Gregory Crewdsons’ Untitled from the 2008 series Beneath the Roses consists of surreal photographs of scouted locations that feature images of houses, people and nature from small suburban towns (Barilo v. Reisberg Eugene, 2012). In the photo Untitled, the viewer is shown a figure centred and in focus while holding a carriage with belongings. In the foreground, there appears to be a dirt road with track marks. In the background, there is rubble and even further, is a single house with a hole in its structure. The narrative being told is very open ended, hence the “untitled” name of the work (Crewdson Gregory, 2017). Gregory uses lines and balance to frame his subject. The street begins on the bottom right corner of the image, crossing through its subject and ending in the middle of the frame horizontally, following the rule of thirds. He also uses movement to guide his viewers towards the subject. In this instance, the tractor tracks seem to point towards the subject. Gregory also uses colour to set the mood, while the usual sunset is bright to represent happiness and hope, this sunset is represented as dull, calm, and almost ending.

His large-scale images are metaphorical and often have deeper meanings. His photographs often depict certain struggles he faced in his life and admits to purposefully selecting objects and subjects that are familiar to him in order of building a connection in between him and his work (Crewdson Gregory, 2017). He likes to depict solitude, regret, and struggle and ultimately builds a narrative for his viewers to decode (Crewdson Gregory, 2017). While looking at the picture, we can imagine many different courses of events that could have happened prior.

The key signs and most obvious is the rubble. This can lead the viewer to a few conclusions. The most common and most literal being, construction. The dirt road with tractor tracks hints to a house being rebuilt or simply torn down. The rubble in the background suggests that multiple houses are in need of remodelling. But there’s one question that leaves the viewers wondering “what event took place to leave a man deserted?” Perhaps this man is homeless or lost his house. This could symbolize the homeless crisis in North America where thousands are left without homes, hence the absence of a home in the foreground. The image explores the issue of social class, the struggle of climbing the social ladder and the unfair advantages inherited wealth can give. This can be signified through the houses, with some still standing strong, some with holes and rubble, and some with nothing left at all. The tractor tracks guide the man onto a flat path with no opportunities and with no way of going up symbolizing the corrupt system we have in place to help them.

Gregory is communicating his message effectively by leaving his work for interpretation, and for his viewers to piece together a narrative themselves using their own imagination. His work is known for being ambiguous, ultimately making his viewers curious. It offers his audience to think of answers, to discuss and argue elements within his work. He allows room for freedom of expression and for his viewers to personally connect with his work as he does.

Bibliography:

Barilo v. Reisberg, Eugene. “Arts Diary 365.” //artsdiary365.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/day-318-untitled-from-beneath-the-roses-by-gregory-crewdson/ . Nov 2, 2023.

Crewdson, Gregory. “Beneath the Roses documentary.” //youtu.be/XNPwVLU38pc?si=CP2fi6UhuPEnZCYf . Nov 2, 2023.

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hectormcfilm · 6 months

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The Language of Lenses

These are my notes on this chapter from Cinematography: theory and practice: image-making for cinematographers and directors.

The Language of lenses is a lot more important in the world of cinema then most general audiences would realise, the lens controls how the audience sees the cinematic world, how it renders the image creates its own visual story.

The key aspects of lens are: Perspective, compression and expansion, contrast, soft/hard.

When framing something you must consider whether it will be in the foreground, midground or background. Hitchcock believed the importance of an object should be reflected by its size and focus in a frame.

Wide lenses: with a wider lens depth perception is exaggerated, objects can appear wider and farther apart then in reality. Wider lenses are best for close up shots as they help fill the frame. However you can easily create distortion with this technique as eyes and noses can end up seeming further apart then in reality. Wide lenses also help things seem further away in the background, messing with depth of field. Deep focus is the next step of this tool, helping backgrounds seem larger scale complimenting what’s in the foreground. For example, close ups of Kane in Citizen Kane help him seem large, reflecting his power and status and the deep focus allows us to see him as a child in the background playing.

Long focal length: this technique has the opposite effects of wide lenses compressing space instead of expanding it, this can help with creating a claustrophobic feel and making an object seem closer then it is. This is a very useful techniques for fight scenes as it makes everything seem closer and more dangerous, a speeding bus can narrowly miss a child on film when in reality they were a safe distance apart, it is all a part of perspective and depth of field. Long lenses are not helpful for slow motion shots as the two almost counter act each other and make the subject look like they aren’t moving at all.

Many 16mm film and HD cameras have a depth of 35mm making it more difficult to use techniques like selective focus or shallow depth of field. Rack focus can be used on these camera still- rack focus is when during one scene the focus will switch radically from something in the foreground to something in the background or in front of the original object. Some rules with these types of focus: Focus goes to the person speaking to the person facing the camera, to the person experiencing the most dramatic or emotional moment narratively. For camera workers they know actors by the number they are assigned on the call sheet and the safest bet is to focus on the person with the lowest number, e.g. 1 is the lead role.

Before the 80s the idea of only focusing on certain objects or purposefully leaving something out of focus was strange for photographers and wasn’t a known technique. It is a very post modern style of filmmaking.

Many modern cameras are sharp so filmmakers use filtration to make faces seem softer and prettier.

Varying shot heights can tell a lot about the story, variation from the conventional eye level shots need a solid reason or an overuse could feel nauseating or strange, one good example is the low angle shots used to frame Radio Raheem’s heigh in Do The Right Thing. Opposingly, high angle shots can be used to present the subject as small and weak, the camera looming over them in a dominant position.

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zov911 · 7 months

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Title: Beyond Hard Hats: Unleashing the Power of Branding in the Construction Sector For those operating in the bustling construction sector, the storyline often orbits around heavy machinery, rolled blueprints, never-quenching cement mixers and omnipresent hard hats. While these elements painstakingly shape our towering structures, we need to also capitalize and emphasize on another dimension of the construction industry, often under-explored: Branding. More than a buzzword, branding is an invaluable asset, a trust-building mechanism, and an unspoken contract between your business and its potential customers. It is a layered narrative reflecting your company’s ethos, service quality, and business aspirations. The construction sector is no exception to this pivotal business element. At first glance, construction may not appear to be a sector where branding holds much water. Often, the logistical nature of the industry casts a shade on the importance of a strong brand. Yet, it's precisely because of this operational focus that there's immense untapped potential for brands to differentiate themselves and potentially dominate. Branding in construction weaves itself into all aspects of your firm- from the way your front office staff interact with clients, to the professionals managing your construction sites. A strong brand can pull you ahead in the competitive race, helping you command a higher premium and establish meaningful partnerships. Successfully branded construction companies are not defined by their size; instead, they are marked by their recognition. Consider the impact of a Bechtel, Balfour Beatty, or Vinci. The very mention of these names brings certain qualities to mind - reliability, technical excellence, and ethical practice, all hallmarks of a strong brand. Good branding goes beyond just well-designed logos and catchy taglines. It permeates each part of a company, from corporate culture to customer communication. The right brand positioning can paint your construction company as reliable and predictable, a trait highly revered in an industry often beset with project delays and cost overruns. Companies in the construction sector can enhance their reputation by consistently delivering on promise, and aligning their service with what their brand's image represents. An effective brand also aids in winning contracts. Whether for small residential remodeling or large-scale infrastructure projects, clients appreciate and trust a company with clear, consistent branding. Decision makers often cite firm’s reputation, which stems from its branding, as the primary factor in awarding contracts. Branding also drives employee satisfaction and fosters a sense of pride. Employees are more likely to stay with a company that resonates with them beyond their paychecks. Current market conditions are reshaping the business landscape at an incredible pace. More and more clients are placing value not just on the quality of work, but also on the quality of interaction and values that the contractor intends to bring to the table. Putting forth a strong, consistent brand ensures your construction company isn't just viewed as a provider of a commodity service, but is seen as a valuable partner in your client's endeavors. As construction entrepreneurs, we must look beyond our hard hats and machinery, and realize that our company name carries substantial weight. From your business cards to your project boards, every little detail coalesces to form an image of what you stand for. In a reality where perception often is reality, investing in branding can be your concrete step towards solidifying your stature in the construction sector. Unearth the potential of your brand’s hammer and chisel- let them sculpt a story, an experience, and a promise that echo louder than the vibrant hum of your construction sites. Finally, remember that branding in the construction sector is not a sprint; it's a painstakingly constructed infrastructure akin to our monumental projects.

It requires both the precision of an architect and the patience of a mason. So strap on your hard hat, pick up your branding tools, and start building. You are nearer to breaking ground on your firm’s reputation than you think. The construction industry has for a long time focused heavily on the practical aspect of the business: building robust, durable structures. Immersed in a world of blueprints, hard hats, and heavy equipment, many construction firms have not always fully embraced the power of marketing, more specifically, branding. "Beyond Hard Hats: Unleashing the Power of Branding in the Construction Sector," examines how much more than just the physical aspects of construction a company’s brand can encompass. Think about this. Brands like Caterpillar and Komatsu don’t just sell construction machinery; they sell a promise of reliability, durability, and top-notch performance. That is the power of branding; it transcends the tangible to create an emotional connection with the customer. Let's delve into how construction companies can harness this power. _Be Consistent in Messaging_ Consistency is the key to establishing a strong brand. Consider Turner Construction Company, one of the leading construction firms in the US. Their consistent message of being committed to “Building the Future” underscores everything they do and is deeply ingrained in their brand. It infuses their promotional items, external communications, and even how they handle their daily operations on-site. When you consistently reinforce your message, you not only become more memorable but also build customer trust and loyalty. _Embrace Digital and Inbound Marketing_ The rise of the digital era meant traditional ways of marketing were no longer enough. Thankfully, the construction industry is starting to keep pace. For example, UK-based construction company Balfour Beatty used twitter to solicit feedback, suggestions, and ideas from the public before embarking on a high-profile construction project. By leveraging digital marketing, Balfour Beatty not only improved its brand visibility but also established itself as a community-centric brand. Additionally, construction companies can employ inbound marketing techniques such as SEO optimized blogs containing valuable information for potential clients, email newsletters, and informative videos. These strategies draw clients towards your brand rather than you chasing after them. _Build a Robust Online Presence_ Today, more than ever, an impactful online presence is crucial. This includes having an engaging, easy-to-navigate, and informative website. Hensel Phelps, a renowned construction firm, adopted virtual reality in their operations, giving clients a unique, realistic view of prospective projects. Their website is interactive and inviting, providing clients everything they need at their fingertips. Such robust online presence not only bolsters your credibility but also makes it easier for potential clients to find you. _Humanize Your Brand_ Behind every construction project is a team of dedicated professionals. Showcasing these individuals and their stories helps humanize your brand. DPR construction does an excellent job of this. On their website, you will find a section dedicated to profiling their employees and the unique skills they bring on board. In conclusion, the construction sector has traditionally been viewed as a tough, no-nonsense industry. However, powerful brands like Caterpillar, Balfour Beatty, and Turner Construction Company have shown that integrating effective marketing strategies into their operations can yield significant returns. By consistently delivering your brand message, harnessing the power of digital marketing, building a robust online presence, and humanizing your brand, you, too, can make a disruptive impact on this sector. So, let’s ditch the hard hats, at least in marketing terms, and unleash the full potential of branding in the construction industry.

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aloomicdigital · 1 year

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Website Designs of Different Types and Their Main Purposes

Improved customer outreach, sales, and revenue are just a few of the many aspects of a business that can be improved with a visually striking website. Knowing which types of designs are best suited for your company or business can be useful if you’re trying to develop an interactive and functional website.

Web design Adelaide

The process of creating a website specifically for the internet is known as web design. The design process frequently concentrates on the user interface and experience, even though building a website necessitates additional abilities and resources, such as software coding and development. The website’s appearance, functionality, layout, and content can all affect the user experience. To make information on a website engaging and useful for users, web designers strive to display it in the most effective way possible. Depending on the purpose and use of the site, web designers regularly implement multiple web designs and layouts to achieve this.

Types of Web design

Single page- Websites with single page designs present all of their information on a single page. Users can scroll down to see all the information if the single page is as long as the designer desires. Many businesses and organizations use a linear journey or narrative when developing the design to create a flow for the information being communicated to visitors.

Because it has so many different applications, this type of design can be very flexible. It can be used to promote products by telling the company’s history as the page loads, or it can be used by artists to share their background information and body of work.

Static website- A static website is one that receives little to no user interaction and typically has a uniform design across all platforms. Most websites have a predetermined number of web pages and are created using simple code, like HTML or CSS, which can help keep the cost of the site’s creation low. Static websites typically serve as informational tools rather than platforms for the sale of goods and services due to their straightforward design and limited capacity for visitor interaction.

Dynamic website- Dynamic websites, in contrast to static websites, enable user interaction with the content on the webpage, resulting in a more vibrant and engaging website design. These kinds of websites frequently require a little bit more versatile code, like JavaScript, PHP, or ASP. Dynamic websites can be a little more expensive and occasionally take more time to load than static websites due to their more complicated model and design. A persuasive display, however, can also be used to communicate more effectively facts and the advantages of a good or service.

Responsive design- Depending on the browser size, a responsive website design adapts its layout and information display. The website can adjust itself to fit any size screen with the most important information by wrapping text and scaling images, whether it is being viewed on a computer browser or a mobile device. Many websites and organizations benefit from this type of design because it makes it easier for users to browse through information and products on various devices.

Liquid design- A responsive website design functions similarly to a liquid website design, with the exception that the layout of the page is not altered based on the size of the screen. For websites that don’t want to sacrifice information based on the size of the browser, the design itself shrinks or stretches the entire webpage to fit the size of the selected window. When viewed on too-small or too-large screens, this can also result in the design’s text being very small or twisted.

Fixed design- A website can be made with a fixed design that stays the same regardless of the window or screen size. Whether a user is viewing the site on a computer monitor or a mobile device, the site uses strict resolution and will be open to those precise measurements. Designers can create a specific website layout with the assurance that it will remain consistent across all browsing devices with the help of strict resolution. On smaller screens, however, this might make it more difficult for users to find what they’re looking for because they would have to exert more effort to scroll around the page.

#webdesign #webdesigner #webdesigners #webdesigning #webdesigns #webdesignagency #webdesigncompany

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molly-timmins · 1 year

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Demo residency week 1

January 2023

The first week using DEMO as a studio space has involved planning and preparation of new artworks that reflect on my end of year feedback.

Some key points I'm considering are:

Pushing the 'wilderness' element when trying to create tension between the domestic and wild elements of a garden - both in the subject matter but also treatment of paint

Selecting materials and artwork sizes that best serve my ideas. I'm still in the experimental zone of this, and beginning to see what upscaling does to the oils and watercolours. I'm interested in discovering what the extra space can reveal in the gardens (or find out if it doesn't add anything)

Developing my studio research, specifically by creating lots of sketches, drafts, 'quick' artworks without thinking of them as exhibiting artworks. This has been a challenge for me as I am used to working on one painting at a time, with intentions of it to be detailed and 'complete'. Already I find the research artworks a helpful tool (e.g. for mapping out larger artworks or making composition decisions) and it also can have moments of looseness in the paint which successfully capture the moment or aliveness I am looking for.

Thinking about what the subject matter is saying - and what each plant/object brings to the painting. Giovanni Aloi's writing about Lucian Freud's plant paintings has been very helpful in reconsidering what symbolism can be communicated through the plants, and to think about the objective entity of them outside of cultural narrative. This is something I need to be careful with and will continue looking at in my contextual research.

I purchased a variety of large watercolour paper. This is because my A3 watercolours had some successes that could be stronger on a large scale.

I am interested in how upscaling will effect the watercolour's classic softness, and allow room to push the material's mark making while still speaking to the histories within watercolour garden painting.

I've also used these watercolours to 'plan' or sketch out other works, with one in particular currently being used to map a large oil painting.

The birds eye view perspective of gardens is something I want to keep developing. The use of layering in this is crucial, as well as the key decisions about which areas should depict a real reference and which should let the paint lead.

A technical challenge I am sorting through at the moment is lighting/perspective. With the exception of things like rocks and small plants which are accessible, the aerial perspective requires a lot of imagined shading, lighting, and foreshortening. It's a classic moment in painting where it's easy to tell that it's wrong/unnatural looking, but difficult to pinpoint exaclty how to get there yet. This is something I'm sure I will improve on throughout the residency and rest of the year.

For example, I wanted this work to have clusters of Harakeke against a manmade garden pond. It is a challenge to paint depth and height to the Harakeke with the foreshortened aerial view, and naturally reflect it in the water

Colour palette is also something I want to consider more going forward, specifically in what it can say about the day/atmosphere of the garden. A sunny, blue sky can be reflected in a pond of water, or grey clouds can overcast shadows. In this work, I want a blue toned overcast atmosphere that almost seems a bit cold/windy.

#text #artwork #year 2 #y2s1 #y2text

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romanceyourdemons · 2 years

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a hard day (2014) is an excellent thriller and a generally very fun film. the film by and large handles police corruption, both on a small scale (taking bribes from local businesses), a medium scale (using one’s authority to cover up crimes one accidentally committed), and large (redistributing confiscated cocaine, working with organized crime, assaulting, blackmailing, murdering). what is interesting is that, no matter the severity of the abuse, the police force is always willing to cover it up. no matter how glaring the fault and no matter how determined they initially seemed to be to bring justice, they always defaulted in the end to protecting their own. this decision is always narratively punished. from park’s bad end to choi’s worse end, this self-serving path leads to terrible and useless deaths within the narrative. and, indeed, in a story that seemed to do nothing but hit ko with a shovel over and over again, he is finally narratively rewarded for leaving the police (and for showing filial piety for once in his life, and for being willing to stick his hand up a man’s ass). although ko is obviously the film’s central character, the cinematography does not limit the audience to his perspective, providing pov shots for other characters, which expands the scope of the story beyond ko’s own struggle and bad luck. a hard day (2014) was slick, effective, and memorably acted, and i would recommend it

#ryddles

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daydreamerdrew · 2 years

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Comics read this past week:

Eternity Girl (2018) #1-6

The concept of Eternity Girl is that Caroline Sharp is a fictional character from the Silver Age of Comics, who has since gone through a variety of editorially-mandated alterations and reboots with the changing comic eras, that this book simply stars what is the latest incarnation of a concept, and she wants out. The framing of the book is that being a piece of intellectual property that is repeatedly changed in order to continue telling relevant sellable stories is a horrifying way of existence. The primary focus is how Caroline feels that her life in pointless in the small-scale conceptualization that she's lost her job and that her limited control of her powers results in her living an isolated life, and that that then blends into the large-scale idea that as a fictional character that's been repeatedly rebooted when she does eventually die she will simply come back to live some other life in a new story, which she assumes will be filled with similar suffering.

The book follows two concurring narratives, one of Caroline's struggles in the regular world, and the other as the reportedly deceased villain Madame Atom takes Caroline "backstage" to destroy the Shining Tower, which is the pillar of creation, as destroying it will destroy every version of Caroline, finally truly ending her life. Artist Sonny Liev and colorist Chis Chuckry depicted these two halves of the story in the same way, with the notable difference that the Madame Atom sections had that old-fashioned comics dot effect, which I found to be a really effective way of subtly differentiating the two. I also really liked how Magdalene Visaggio approached writing this book, it was a take on what it would be like to be a fictional character specific to the comic book genre that I appreciated as someone that enjoys following the development of comic book characters across comic book eras.

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (2021) #1-5

This book was so well-executed that I'm now motivated to check out a variety of the other comics that Ram V has written. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr begins with Death being fired from her job when a baby is born who is foretold to one day invent immortality. Death is then sent down to earth to live as a mortal, and now inhabiting the body of the previously recently deceased Laila Starr, she's determined the kill the baby who put her out of a job. But she quickly finds that what had once been so simple to her, as she had been Death for an eternity, has become immediately complicated as becoming a mortal has changed her in ways she hadn't expected. What follows is the entwined lives of Laila Starr and Darius Shah, as Laila Starr repeatedly dies, is reborn again, and tracks down Darius, only to die again and be reborn again and so on. I became really invested in the story of how their brief interactions shape each others lives.

The part of the story that actually made the biggest impact on me was the passage of time between Laila Starr's deaths. I as a reader was repeatedly confronted with aging and how we weren't going to get to see Darius as a sweet kid again, but as a complicated adult, and then ever older, up to the end of his life. It just hit me very hard at the end of each issue. I do think that I'm too young and too inexperienced with death to get the full impact of what this comic is doing and intend to revisit it in the future.

There's a scene partway through the book at really intrigued me where Laila is confronted about what she is and she says "And now a god lives in my body. I mean... I live in Laila's body, I suppose." I was really enchanted by the idea of this complex identity situation happening in the background the book, concurring with the main character's transition from immortal to mortal and how she changes along that line. I really loved the journey that Laila went on, she was so different from introduction to conclusion, but it was a convincing natural development. I was also really charmed by how consistently kind Laila is the Darius when she doesn't realize that it's him. I was initially surprised by how human Laila felt, but I think it makes a lot of sense considering the blurred lines between who Laila was prior to being inhabited by Death and who she is afterwards.

The art here by Filipe Andrade was so fluid and dynamic and the coloring by Ines Amaro was so stunning, I was really impressed with how they depicted Mumbai. They really captured a consistent fantastical feeling even when there was nothing explicitly magical happening. And lettering does not normally stand out to me, but what was done here by AndWorld Design came across as somehow very personal and was really well-suited to this book.

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #161-169 and The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #119-120 and The Defenders (1972) #5-10 and Marvel Feature (1972) #11 and The Avengers (1963) #116-118

This batch took me from November 1972 to July 1973. I believe Steve Englehart wrote all of The Incredible Hulk issues, as well as The Defenders issues.

The Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot sub-plot had some development here. General Ross and Glenn Talbot had known for some time that Bruce was alive and they both kept that knowledge from Betty to preserve her marriage with Talbot, but in this batch Betty learns that Bruce is alive but not that they knew before her, which was disappointing. It's also not even given much space to itself, as she learns that her father had been captured by the Russians at the same time. Then Talbot goes to Russia to save Ross, and Ross does get rescued, but Talbot gets shot in the process and is assumed dead. So when Betty reunites with her father she blames him for her husband's death and has a mental breakdown. She also blames Bruce and attacks him when he visits her at the "sanitarium" she was sent to. Where it really gets interesting is when Betty gets brainwashed by M.O.D.O.K and turned into the gamma-mutate Harpy to kill Bruce for him, though I will say that her being brainwashed doesn't seem necessary when she had already attacked Bruce and makes their following conflict inherently less interesting.

I've said before that I'd never heard of Jim Wilson before reading these comics, and that I assume that his lack of prominence in discussion of the Hulk is because he gets killed off, which makes me sad because my favorite relationship that the Hulk has is with Jim, but I'm really not expecting him to last past the 70s. What I found so appealing about Jim in this batch is that, while still coming across as a real person, he's understanding of the Hulk in a way that no other character has been written as before and just takes everything in stride with him. It's refreshing to see a character that gets the Hulk when so much of his stories are based around misunderstandings.

The Spider-Man crossover issues were surprisingly well tied into the main Hulk storyline, whereas the Defenders issues don’t often make any reference to them. The Hulk and Spider-Man fights were particularly fun with how Peter’s quips play off of the Hulk’s personality and distaste for words. A few of the issues of the Defenders and the Avengers crossover didn’t include the Hulk, but I read them anyway to get the full story. The storyline started out with the two teams being manipulated to fight each other, and ended with them working together to beat the big bad. Truthfully there wasn’t much in the Hulk vs Thor fight or the final big team-up that interested me, it’s really just the other Defenders that he has interesting interactions with. The Marvel Feature issue was a Hulk and the Thing fight and the entire time I was just thinking that the writer did not get the Hulk's voice At All. The vocabulary, the phrasing, everything. He literally used the word quarrel instead of fight at one point.

the Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics (1940) #31-33 and Captain Marvel Adventures (1941) #11-13

In this batch I've gone from May 1942 to August 1942. Of note is Captain Marvel Adventures #13 which has the story where Captain Marvel joins the U.S. army. The awkward conclusion of the Wizard Shazam appearing and saying that there are many soldiers but only one Captain Marvel and that he needs Cap to leave the army for some vague, unstated purpose demonstrates how they weren't entirely sure how to go about portraying Captain Marvel during WWII. They really just said Cap can't be in the army cause... reasons. Unfortunately, Billy’s assistant Whitey Murphy also joins the army in this issue and I’m not sure when he'll next appear again. It also contains the story which is the first appearance of Cissie Summerly, Sterling Morris’ niece and Billy Batson’s Pre-Crisis love interest.

the Mary Marvel stories in Wow Comics (1940) #45-46 and Mary Marvel (1945) #2-4

This was just a quick little batch of issues, covering June 1946 to August 1946. The highlight was Mary Marvel #4, which contained a fun story in which Mary lost her powers for a day, and so sewed herself a Mary Marvel dress and persisting in fighting crime by faking her powers, rather than taking a day off.

Superman: The Secret Years (1985) #1-4

This miniseries was focused around Clark Kent’s college years and his transition from Superboy to Superman, most of which I truthfully didn’t end up caring for. I think that part of the novelty of the book, exploring Clark's previously unexplored years, as the title indicates, is lost on me now reading it in 2022. The parts of it that I actually enjoyed were the limited scenes about his conflict with Lex Luthor. I found Superboy having to do detective work to track Lex after he escaped from his reform school and then how he catches him in his various crimes fun to read. The two of them came across as very evenly matched to me, which was a surprise as I feel like most of what I've read featuring their conflict frames it as like a tipping scale where sometimes one is far ahead of the other and then at others the positions are reversed. This was one of my first Pre-Crisis Superman books.

Superman: For All Seasons (1998) #1-4

After reading this I gave it to my grandpa, which isn’t something I normally do, because I know that Superman is his favorite and I thought that this was a story about him that he would appreciate, which I suppose speaks highly to this book.

I really liked how this miniseries was written. Structuring the stories around the four seasons was interesting on a broader narrative level, dividing the story in this way gave all the issues an inherent internal cohesion as well as an inherent sense of movement and growth across the whole series. And it also had its thematic purpose with the focus on forces of nature with the hurricane and the flood in the Smallville sections and the idea of the give and take of the earth, which yields both good and bad crops, and having the season-based structure for the entire story extended its implications over to the sections based in Metropolis.

There was also the idea that the changing seasons force awareness of the passage of time and so create appreciation for the future which I thought was interesting to bring up in the parts of the story that don't take place in the 'City of Tomorrow.' On that thread, I liked details like how you can't see the horizon in Metropolis unless you're flying over it (like Clark often is) right after a scene of Clark and his father appreciating the view of the horizon on the Kent farm, and having Clark say that everything is air-conditioned in Metropolis so it's like people aren't even noticing the Summer season, which wasn't the case in Smallville, which I thought were unique ways of highlighting how Clark is a small town farm-raised person now living in the big city. I think that Jeph Loeb did a really good job with this book.

Regarding the art, way back I saw a page from this online of Clark and his mother and Clark being drawn so big didn't work for me then, but now, reading the full book and seeing it within its proper context, it gives the effect of Clark being this inhumanly powerful person that looks outwardly human and lives within a human world and doesn't come across as awkward. Seeing him be drawn that way consistently throughout the book makes it come across as more natural. I was also impressed with how Tim Sale depicted both Smallville and Metropolis. I think that given the thematic importance of nature that it would have been possible to err into portraying Metropolis as horribly too modern, but I think that the work is stronger by portraying both respectfully.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2021) #1-8

This miniseries was focused on the travels of Kara Zor-El and Ruthye Marye Knoll as they hunt down the man who killed Ruthye's father, Kara under the pretension that she needs him in order to cure a poisoned Krypto, whereas Ruthye is set on killing her father's murderer. The story is narrated by Ruthye, which lends itself to an outsider's interpretation of Kara's character rather than her own words on herself, as well as a focus on Ruthye that could possibly come across to some as inordinate. But the story, even when it's focused on Ruthye and how their experiences are effecting her, truly functions to explore Kara's character. And the presentation of Kara through another character's eyes makes sense considering the characterization that Kara would prefer to keep her troubles to herself and so would not be as direct about them as Ruthye is. At times, Ruthye reminded me of Gotham Girl from Tom King’s Batman (2016) run in how focus given to this new character actually functioned to explore the established character. Also part of the twist at the end, taking something that had been accepted at face value because of genre conventions and revealing it to be a lie, reminded me of the twist in Strange Adventures (2020).

Ruthye is a girl who had an isolated upbringing but believed she understood the outside world well because of all the stories she had been told. Hers is a coming of age journey as she, in her relentless pursuit of her father's murderer, is repeatedly confronted with the true state of the world, both good and bad, and how small she is within it, and has to determine what it is she truly believes about it. Kara is a woman who had seen too much at a young age and now as an adult got wrapped into this whole mess because she just wanted a day off where she didn't have to think about her history. Hers is a journey of wrestling with her own established beliefs, including the true state of the world, the good and the bad, how big it all is and how small she is, and has to determine if she can continue to believe what she began the story believing. I think that Tom King executed these journeys really well in a compelling narrative that made me invested in these two characters that I hadn't previously cared about. I even once cried real tears over a single scene character.

And Bilquis Evely's pencils and inks, coupled with Mat Lopes' coloring, were so beautiful that it added this wonderful air to the whole story, where even the most saddening parts were stunning, so that it was impossible for the book to ever become too negative about the world, even when the characters were struggling.

#comics read this past week #my posts

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