#he knows how to understand someone & their issues and then navigate interactions within a frame very individual to the person

[baya-ni]

The Queer Appeal of Sk8

Recently @mulberrymelancholy reblogged a post of mine with a truly galaxy brain take about how Sk8 “is a show made for queer fans” and generally how sports anime often depicts love and relationships in a way that’s more accessible and relatable to ace/arospec people than other mainstream media does.

Just, *chef’s kiss* fucking brilliant. I urge you to read their post here (note I’m referring to the reblog not the actual post).

And basically, it got me thinking about this concept of Sk8 as a Queer Show, and the kinds of stories and dynamics that tend to attract queer audiences in droves, regardless of whether its queerness is made explicit or hell, whether that queerness was intended.

And that’s what I’ve been pondering: What are the cues, markers, or coding, in Sk8 that set off the community’s collective gaydar?

I obviously can’t speak for the community. So here’s what aspects of the show intrigued me and what, for me, marks Sk8 as a Queer Show beyond the subtextual queer romances: a punk/alternative aesthetic, Found Family, Shadow as a drag persona, and The Hands.

1.) The Punk Aesthetic

All three of the above screenshots are taken from Ep 1, and every single one of them depicts background characters. They’re nameless and ultimately unimportant characters, yet each of them designed so distinctly and so unique from one another, one could mistake each of them for the main character(s) of another story.

Of what little I know about Punk subculture, I do know this: that the ethos of Punk is heavily built around a celebration of individuality and non-conformity. Sk8 seems to have incorporated this ethos into the very fabric its worldbuilding, and the aesthetics and culture upon which it takes inspiration appeals specifically to a queer audience.

I don’t really need to explain why Punk has such deep ties with the queer community. For decades, queer people have found community and acceptance within punk spaces, and punk ideology is something that I think is just ingrained in the queer consciousness as both lived experience and a survival tactic.

Therefore, a show that adopts punk aesthetics is, by association, already paying homage to Queer culture, intentional or not.

Queer fans notice this- like recognizes like.

2.) Found Family

This also needs little explanation.

Too often, queer individuals cannot rely on their “born into” families for support and acceptance. Too often, we are abused, neglected, and abandoned by those who we were taught would “always be there for us.”

And so, a universal experience for queer people has been redefining the meaning of Family, having to build our families from scratch, finding brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers in people with whom we have no blood relation, and forming communities tied together by shared lived experience rather than shared genetics.

And this idea of Found Family is also built into Sk8′s narrative.

Like, for example, the way that Reki promises MIYA that he and Langa will “never disappear from [his] sight,” filling the void that MIYA felt after his friends abandoned him.

And in the way that JOE becomes a paternal figure for Reki, teaching him ways to improve in skateboarding, and ensuring that Reki doesn’t self isolate when he’s feeling insecure.

And in the whole Ep 6 business with Hiromi acting as babysitter to the Gang.

Hell, even ADAM (derogatory) is associated with this trope. Abused as a child, he finds solace in an underground skateboarding community and culture he helped create- his own found family (or some powertrippy version of it anyway).

Again, queer fans see themselves depicted in the show, but this time in the way that the show gives importance to Found Family relationships between its characters.

3.) Shadow and Drag

This is one that’s more of an association that I personally made. But I was intrigued by the way that Hiromi adopts his SHADOW persona. He wears SHADOW like a mask, and adopts a personality seemingly so opposite to his day-to-day behavior.

Further, the theatricality and general “gender fuckery” of his SHADOW persona, to me, just seemed so similar to a the characteristics of a drag persona (I don’t know a whole lot about drag but enough that I’m drawing superficial similarities).

There’s also this aspect of a “double life” that he, and actually all the other adult characters of the show, have to adopt, which is a way of living that I’m sure a lot of queer viewers see themselves reflected in.

4.) The Hands

Ohhhh the Hands.

One of the things I noticed very early on is the way the show constantly draws our attention to Reki’s hands, which I thought was a little strange for an anime about skating. After all, skating doesn’t really involve the hands, or at least the show doesn’t really draw attention to hands within the context of skating.

I count 3 times so far between Eps 1-9 in which hands are the focus of the frame.

First, when Reki teaches Langa how to fist pump after Langa lands his first ollie, second, when Reki and Langa make their Promise, and finally, when Langa saves Reki from falling off his board.

And you know what they say, twice is a coincidence but thrice is a motif (no one else actually says this I think I’m the only one who says this lol).

I’m not really certain why hands seem to be such a shared fixation among queer people (at least among those I interact with). All I know is that gay people are just fucking obsessed with them.

I have a Theory as to why, and at this point I’d love for other people to chime in and “compare notes” if you will, but I think it basically has to do with repression. And in the same way that queer people have had to redefine the meaning of family, we’ve also had to redefine intimacy.

Being overtly physically affectionate with someone of the same sex, even if they’re your significant other, or often specifically BECAUSE they’re your significant other, can still be dangerous, even now despite the “progression” of society. Queer people know this, this vigilant surveillance of our environment and ourselves, always asking ourselves, “Am I safe enough to be myself?”

Already, Western culture is pretty touch-averse. That is, it’s considered taboo to touch someone unless they’re a family member or a romantic partner. And to touch a person of the same sex in any way that could be misconstrued as romantic (which is most things tbh) is a big no no.

There’s just A Lot to unpack there.

But basically I think that queer people, by necessity, have had to learn to romanticize mundane or unconventional ways of being physically intimate so that we can continue to be romantic with one another without “being caught” so to speak.

Kissing and hugging is too obvious. But a handshake that lingers for just a second too long is much more likely to go unnoticed, braiding someone’s hair can easily be explained away as just lending a helping hand, touching palms to “compare hand sizes” is just good fun.

But for queer people, these brief and seemingly insignificant touches hold greater meaning, because it’s all we are allowed, and all we allow ourselves, to exchange with others.

God, I’ve gone off and rambled again. What’s my point? Basically that the way the show draws attention to Reki’s hands, and specifically how they’re so often framed with Langa’s hands, is one of the major reasons why I clocked Sk8 as a Queer. It’s just something that resonated with me and my own experience of queerness, and I know that I’m not the only one who noticed either.

~

So in conclusion, uhhhh yeah Sk8 the Infinity is just a super gay show, and it’s not even because of the homo-romantic subtext (that at this point is really just Text).

Because what’s important to understand is that Queerness isn’t just about same-sex romance.

Queer Love isn’t just shared between wives/girlfriends, husbands/boyfriends, and all their in-betweens. Queer Love can be two best friends who come out together, queer siblings who rely and support one another, a gay teacher who helps guide one of their questioning students, a queer community pitching in to help a struggling member.

And that all ties with another important thing to consider, that what we refer to as the “queer experience” or “queer culture” isn’t universal. In fact, it wrongly lumps together the unique experiences and struggles of queer BIPOC all under one umbrella that’s primary White and middle class.

So I think what drives a lot of my frustration about labeling a show like Sk8 as Queerbait is this very issue of considering queerness and queer representation within such narrow standards, and mandating that a show must pass a certain threshold of explicit queerness to be considered good representation.

I get that someone might only feel represented by an indisputable canonization of a same-sex couple. That’s fine. But labeling Sk8 as Queerbait for that reason alone ignores the vast array of other queer experiences.

The aspects of Sk8 that resonate most deeply with my own experiences of queerness is in the way that Reki and Langa share intimacy through skating (intricate rituals heyo). For me, them officially getting together ultimately doesn’t matter- I’ll consider Sk8 a Queer show regardless.

Similarly, @mulberrymelancholy​ finds ace/arospec representation in that very absence of an on-screen kiss. A bisexual man might find representation in Reki, not because he enters a canon relationship, but in the depiction of Reki’s coming of age, growing up and navigating adolescent relationships. A non-binary person might feel represented through CHERRY’s androgyny.

That’s the thing, I don’t know how this show will resonate with other members of the queer community, and it’d be wrong to make a judgement on Sk8′s queer representation based on my experiences alone.

That being said, Straight people definitely don’t get to judge Sk8 as Queerbait. Y’all can watch and enjoy the show, we WANT you to enjoy these kinds of shows, and we want you to share these shows and contribute to the normalization and celebration of these kinds of narratives.

But understand that you don’t have a right to tell us whether or not Sk8 has good or bad queer representation.

And even members of the queer community are on thin ice. Your experience of queerness is not universal. Listen to the other members of your community, and respect that what you might find lacking in this show may be the exact representation that someone else needs.

#and scene #i was up till 4am writing this instead of doing my hw #bc i hav Opinions dammit #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #sk8 meta #sk8 theory #queerbait

[angryhausfrau-writes]

Something Old and Something New - Chapter 3: Blood and Water and All That Rot

Charles cannot believe what Marjory has done. It's ruinous. Calamitous.

It's really very kind and thoughtful of her.

Because – and here, Charles pauses for a world weary sigh – he really was not looking forward to participating in the sort of political showpiece his wedding was rapidly becoming.

Charles understands familial duty - of course he does. He's a Winchester, of the Back Bay Winchesters. His blood is bluer than the depths of the Atlantic. He has been raised, been bred, with a perfect understanding of what his name and his position in society means. And an understanding of just how tenuous maintaining that position, and that reproachless name, actually is.

He is the third of his family to bear the name Charles Emerson Winchester, a symbol of the enduring alliance between the Emerson and Winchester families. A solemn promise to carry that alliance into the future, to safeguard and to improve upon his family's circumstances.

And as Honoria has made it quite plain that she never intends to make a suitable match – lucky scamp - it falls to Charles to build new such alliances. To shore up the family against those enemies – both without and within (ahem Cousin Alfred ahem) – who would see him brought to ruin that they may rise in his place. So Charles understands his duty, understands that his wedding must be a show of strength and opulence and the superiority of the Emerson-Winchesters over the rest of Boston high society.

But he's been to other such events. Never so grand, of course – the joining of the Emerson-Winchester and the Oakes families is a singularly prosperous alliance – but Charles has decades of being dragged to such balls and weddings and parties. First by his parents and then, as he grew older, by social obligation. And they are all interminably boring.

No one, other than perhaps the maiden aunts, who live on sweet sherry and malicious gossip, actually wants to be there. It's a duty, an obligation. Something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

But Charles actually loves Marjory, as strange an idea as that might sound given how rarely these matches are made for reasons other than the political. His own parents had dutifully produced an heir and a daughter and then retreated to separate bedroom suites – and, Charles is sure, separate lovers – as soon as their duty to the family was done. But Charles loves Marjory and he wants his wedding to be a genuine celebration of his feelings. An event to be enjoyed, a memory to be treasured into his dotage, something he and Marjory can someday look at the photographs and mementos from and reminisce about what a wonderful day it was, embarrassing the captive audience of children and grandchildren - and perhaps great grandchildren, if Charles is truly fortunate – with their pure, disgusting sentimentality. Charles wants his wedding to be something he does not merely have to suffer through in the name of familial duty.

And Marjory – Goddess among women that she is – has clearly realized Charles's sentiments on the matter, and perhaps even reciprocates – the two of them as in-tune with one another in this as they have been throughout the rest of their courtship – because she has done something rather unthinkable. Marjory has invited people Charles actually likes to the wedding.

Namely the lower-class hoodlums Charles had associated with so begrudgingly in Korea. And with whom, Charles is now realizing, he formed a closer bond with than most of his “friends” in the social circles he's meant to navigate as a scion of one of Boston's foremost families. Indeed, as the wedding planning progresses and he is forced to interact with increasing numbers of grasping family members attempting to curry favor – and solicit a wedding invitation – Charles finds himself preferring the company of his friends even above that of his blood family.

Individuals he had always looked up to as paragons of refinement and models of decorum are rather proving themselves wanting in his eyes.

Individuals such as Grandmama – who is, of course, incensed by the inclusion of “vagabonds and wastrels” (as well as some epithets which do not bear repeating) on the guest list. In fact, she is nearly incoherent with rage - her face a blotchy red as she storms through the halls, the guest list clutched in her shaking fist. Finally, her stampede – followed by a cowed but curious parade of Winchesters – terminates in the blue parlor, punctuated by a particularly vicious jab of her gnarled and accusatory finger at Charles.

“You!” Grandmama screeches as she hurls the list towards him. “Explain this!”

It is through these events that Charles discovers his fiance's actions. He makes a note to go and thank her – once the yelling has subsided, of course.

--

“My dear,” Charles says, when he finally encounters Marjory in the study – hiding from the commotion, presumably. “I've been looking for you all over.”

He sits next to her on the divan, hands brushing – propriety be damned, Charles needs to express his gratitude towards her.

He takes her hand and her face turns towards his. “I wanted to thank you for what you did.”

She looks rather forlorn for someone who has just saved Charles from certain boredom. “And here I was, hoping to find you to apologize.”

“Whatever do you want to apologize for?”

Marjory laughs a sarcastic little laugh. “What do you think, Charles? I've caused such a disturbance – your grandmother must be absolutely livid. I could hear her shouting from all the way up here. I wouldn't be surprised if the wedding got called off on account of my deplorable behavior.”

“Marjory! You must know I would never allow that to happen.”

“But you cannot deny that she was angry enough to at least consider it.”

“She was incensed of course. But since the invitations have already been issued, there is no way to rescind them without appearing gauche.”

Though Grandmama had still ordered Charles to do just that – saying that of course the lower classes would have no frame of reference for decorum and therefor wouldn't feel the snub.

“And,” Charles adds reassuringly, “I was able to impress upon her the necessity of my inviting each and every undesirable name on that list.”

Marjory laughs – a much brighter and happier laugh this time. “You silver-tongued rogue! How exactly did you manage that?”

“Well, Hawkeye and Letta are members of the board of trustees for one of my largest charitable contributions.” And therefore, tax write-offs. “It makes sense to... maintain a healthy business relationship with them.”

“Oh certainly,” Marjory says primly. “It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that those two idiots who lost you all that money will be at the wedding and you want to see them sweat.”

Charles laughs. “That may have been mentioned as well. Grandmama appreciates the importance of vengeance.”

Marjory is well aware of this fact – the Emerson-Winchesters didn't rise to such prominence in Boston society by being nice. She's just grateful that Charles appears to have cooled his grandmother's ire and removed the blame for this... incident from her and Honoria's shoulders – because Honoria had been the one to initially suggest the idea and should therefore take some of the blame, even if Charles has no idea of her involvement.

“The rest of the medical personnel,” Charles continues, “are perfectly obvious connections to foster. Among their number are several ivy-league surgeons, one of whom is my co-worker at Boston Mercy – and who is being groomed to take over running Emergency Medicine when the current head finally retires a decade from now – or dies at his post, whichever comes first. And that places the two of us on nearly equal social footing. It would be seen as a snub not to invite him. Another doctor on the guest list holds a research and teaching position at Stanford, a connection well worth strengthening. And the final individual – who trained at Johns Hopkins, need I remind you – is currently under the wing of Hawkeye's father. The same Hawkeye who's invitation has already been well established as necessary.”

“Compelling arguments, indeed,” Marjory says. There's a spark of laughter in her eyes, encouraging Charles to continue.

“Sidney Freedman is, of course, a forerunner in his field and widely published in several psychiatric journals, including those of the American Psychiatric Association. It would be foolish not to maintain that connection. Particularly if I wish to be included in his upcoming paper on Battle Fatigue and cardiac stress.”

“A feather in the Winchester cap, indeed.” Marjory knows that even though Charles has secured the position of head thoracic surgeon at Boston Mercy, hospital politics would see him dethroned should he ever prove less than exceptional. And little accolades like publication in reputable medical journals go a long way in securing his position.

“As for Margaret – from the sounds of it, she's practically running Fort Dix single-handedly. And she's the one responsible for implementing the nurse triage initiative in field hospitals. An initiative that is currently finding great success in Vietnam and other such outposts of benevolent democratic intervention.” Here, Charles rolls his eyes theatrically – all of Hawkeye's anti-war lectures having rather worn off on him over the years. “At any rate, it would be foolishness itself not to invite her to the small medical conference that is sure to break out once the wedding festivities are over. Indeed, I'd be surprised if several papers don't find their beginnings in our wedding reception – certainly a legacy worthy of the Winchester name.”

“And what of the non-medical individuals on the guest list? Surely they were not so easily explained away.” Not least because Charles is rather less charitable towards them than those he is more outwardly of a kind with.

“Hah! I placed the blame for Mr. O'Reily's invitation squarely on Mother and Father. After all, they were the ones who had such a splendid time with Mrs. O'Reily and “Uncle Ed” that they invited young Radar to summer with us on the Cape. As far as Grandmama knows, I am simply keeping that bargain without subjecting us all to an entire week or more of his quaint little Iowa-isms. She looked upon his invitation quite favorably after that.”

“Well played indeed, dear.”

“Max, of course has a myriad of influential political and “business” connections throughout the Middle West. And, while my interests remain largely medical, I am expected to have a larger hand in stewarding the Winchester fortune after we are wed. It makes sense to get the lay of the land – as it were - from one with their ear to the ground.”

Charles pauses.

“The fact that Max saved my life may have also entered into the conversation.”

Marjory squeezes his hand in comfort.

“Not much one can really say in the face of that,” Charles says – obviously trying for equanimity. Trying, but not quite succeeding.

“Not without appearing entirely too heartless, at any rate,” Marjory adds lightly.

And Charles snorts disparagingly but at least he's lost that rather desperate look he gets sometimes when he thinks about the wrong parts of the Korean war.

“Grandmama has never been overly concerned with appearing to have a heart. But she was eventually persuaded to allow Max a place on the guest list when it looked as if everyone else in the room would protest most vehemently if she did not. Indeed, cousin Alfred's wife appeared near tears at the story – tears that could have easily turned to rage given how high-strung she is.”

“Well, she's not one of the upper crust, is she?” Marjory asks rhetorically. “She's not used to callous indifference towards one's relations.”

“It is the cornerstone of gentility,” Charles says snidely. Then he sighs. “At least Honoria turned out a decent human being – one of two isn't bad odds.”

“You're rather decent yourself, dear. When you feel you can let yourself be.” Marjory pats his arm consolingly. “That's – well, that's rather the reason I invited your friends from Korea. You deserve to have people you can behave half-decently towards at your own damn wedding, instead of spending the entire night in political posturing and snide jabs.”

Charles takes her hand and kisses the back of it.

“And I thank you for that. As I thank God everyday that you have agreed to marry me – truly I would be lost without you.”

“Charles, you big sap.” Marjory pushes him gently away, but she's smiling. “You can't just say things like that – people will begin to think we love one another and the wedding will be called off.”

“Then I'd run off and elope with you. Marjory. I cannot fathom living my life without you by my side. Whatever I must do to secure such a thing – know that I will do it.”

Marjory laughs. “That's why I invited a priest. Just in case we needed to hold a ceremony on the lamb.”

 Charles laughs too, and then turns serious. “You know, Father Mulcahy presided over weddings for several of the MASH personnel. Margaret certainly. And Max was married by him twice over. Had Grandmama not raised my ire so, I would have protested his inclusion – we were never close, and he can be rather... cutting in his way. But it  is   rather fitting he be present at our wedding, even if it's not in his official capacity.” Charles looks at her with deep affection. “Once again, you prove yourself several steps ahead of me, my dear.”

Marjory smiles rather smugly. Though in fairness, it was Honoria who had made the suggestion. Apparently she'd been subjected to more than one diatribe on the subject of the Irish Catholic priest who had no time nor appreciation for Charles's wealth or pedigree and felt that he would make a rather welcome addition to the guest list.

Honoria always did appreciate Marjory's disinclination to take Charles too seriously – a trait the Father apparently shares.

Speaking of the devil, Honoria bursts through the door of the study in a flurry of gauzy scarves.

“Th-there you t-t-two are! I was so w-worried when I heard w-what happened. Grandmama had no right t-to speak to you like th-that!”

“It's quite all right, Honoria. She said nothing to me that I take any stock in. And I've managed to persuade Grandmama to accept my rather... unusual wedding guests. At present, I am simply expressing my appreciation to Marjory for her inviting them in the first place.”

“Th-that and canoodling,” Honoria says with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.

Marjory blushes at the realization that she and Charles are sitting in a rather compromising position. Thank goodness it was only Honoria who walked in on them. Marjory shifts on the settee so that they are no longer pressed together.

Oblivious to Honoria's shrewd gaze upon Marjory's movements, Charles puffs up in affront.

“I certainly don't canoodle.”

“Hah!” Marjory exclaims in disbelief - she very well knows that Charles has significant experience. And despite the fact that she's wearing white to the wedding, she's no blushing virgin either.

“W-well, canoodling or not, you can't st-stay up here just the t-t-two of you. Grandmama really w-would have a fit.”

“What do you suggest, oh most generous and helpful chaperon?” Marjory inquires, perhaps a little meanly. But Honoria missed out on all the theatrics earlier so the least she can do is spend a bit of time with her and Charles now that she's finally deigned to grace them with her presence.

--

“Charles!” Hawkeye exclaims. “What are you doing here?”

Apparently, Hawkeye's at their little neighborhood haunt tonight. And where one is, the other cannot be far behind.

“Yeah, Charles.” Trapper claps a companionable hand on his shoulder.

And he should bristle at the familiarity – but he's secretly rather glad to find them here.

“Not that I'm not glad to see you,” Trapper continues. “But I'm pretty sure today's Friday – and Friday of the week we don't play poker. Though after the shift I just had, I'm lucky I remember my own name, much less the days of the week.”

“I, for one, am always shocked to see that you have managed to successfully dress yourself – let alone express a mastery over names, dates, or places,” Charles answers deadpan.

But Hawkeye's drawled “Ouch, Trap – he's got you there.” betrays the fact that they both know he's joking.

 As does Trapper's muttered, “Boy, a guy sees you in your trunks  once   and he never lets it go.”

This kind of friendly repartee is so far removed from the icy jabs delivered by Grandmama earlier today – and that are indeed commonplace from the rest of his family as well - that Charles finds himself compelled to tell them the truth of his situation.

“In all seriousness, gentlemen, I myself find the idea of spending tonight at home rather oppressive. There was a bit of a row earlier and I find myself in search of pleasanter company. Not to cut your evening short-”

Trapper waves his halfhearted objections away with a “You ain't cutting nothing short.” He must not be having much luck finding a date, then. Ah, well. His loss is Charles's gain.

And Hawkeye, too, professes that he is more than happy to have the extra company. So they all collect drinks at the bar and Hawkeye even manages to get them a table in a quieter corner of the pub. It probably helps that he and McIntyre appear to know the gentlemen sitting there quite well judging by all the manly back-slapping and promises to join them next time at whatever bar they're heading to now. Some place far less reputable by the sound of things – they won't even mention the name of the establishment.

Which is just as well. Marjory is already looking a bit uncomfortable around all the working-class individuals packing the bar to the rafters. And even Honoria – who had suggested coming here, as she'd heard so much about the place but had never been – looks less than her usual unruffled self. Charles himself has grown used to the... ambiance of the place. But it is quite different from the stark propriety of the better regarded clubs.

 A difference that Charles is positively reveling in at present. He's had rather too much  gentility   today.

But Charles acknowledges that it takes some getting used to. He places a comforting arm around Marjory's shoulders, allowing her to lean into his arm rather than sit stiff-backed and tense.

And Hawkeye is quickly working to break the ice, as it were, by engaging Honoria, and Marjory in a conversation about all the latest debacles in wedding planning.

Charles rather thinks he's not supposed to be privy to the ins and outs of his own wedding – the planning and execution thereof is traditionally left to the bride's family, after all – with the exception of a check for a rehearsal dinner or two. But – and this is a secret he will take to his grave – Charles enjoys salacious gossip nearly as much as Hawkeye does. And there certainly is plenty of that surrounding the wedding, what with the clashes of personality between Grandmama and Marjory's mother, or the bevy of bridesmaids all fighting amongst one another for Marjory's favor. The political machinations of the French court before its fall has nothing on the Winchester-Oakes wedding.

Despite the rather complaint-filled conversation, Charles finds himself filled with a warm contentment as he sits there, surrounded by laughter and camaraderie. In an atmosphere so starkly different from the tense, silent halls of the Winchester home. Charles feels himself relax into his seat – and even dares to remove his arm from about Marjory's shoulder so that he may place his hand over hers. A gesture familiar enough that it that would elicit the ire of his relatives only garners a cheeky grin from Hawkeye and a soft smile from Marjory herself.

There's something rather freeing in the anonymity of their chosen watering hole. Here, no one knows him as him. Here, he does not need to be Charles Emerson Winchester III – he can simply be a man enjoying an evening with friends.

For that is what they've become over the years, Hawkeye and Trapper – who are currently gently ribbing Honoria about something to do with flower arrangements. They are even, dare he say it, something akin to family at this point. And rather better company than Charles's blood relations – who are more given to cruel mockery than friendly teasing.

Yes, this is certainly a far preferable way to spend an evening than remaining at home would have been. And Charles will certainly have to explain his whereabouts tomorrow, along with Marjory. The family has rather given up on making Honoria explain anything about her behavior at this point, but she will likely be required to make a full report on the propriety of Charles and Marjory's behavior.

And they are behaving rather indecorously, it has to be said. What with displaying affection in a public place and all. But Charles cannot bring himself to mind. Anyone who cares about that sort of thing is far, far away from this particular establishment.

Charles never wants to leave.

But then it's last call and they're being gently chivied out by the tired looking barmaid. And Charles still doesn't want to go home.

Trapper and Hawkeye, bless them, do that sort of silent communication that appears to consist largely of direct eye contact and subtle facial expressions and come to the consensus that Charles, Honoria, and Marjory may stay over at their home for the night. And Trapper even goes so far as to reassure Charles that he will not wake up with a makeover as he'd done the last time he'd slept on their sofa. At this point in the evening, Charles is soused enough he really wouldn't have complained if they had decided on a redux of that little incident.

He sobers up a little in the sharp night air but everything is still feels swimming and unreal. And it's nice to walk along the snowy streets of Boston with Trapper's arm around his shoulders – and to hear Honoria's giggling laugh as Marjory nearly topples Hawkeye into a snowbank. Charles may regret this evening tomorrow morning – he's already anticipating a rather egregious hangover - but right now he can't bring himself to regret anything. It's just too nice.

He really ought to tell them how much he appreciates their friendship.

Charles lets his head fall onto Trapper's shoulder, trying to look him in the eye, but it's not working very well for some reason.

“I'm.. I'm really very glad you two will be at the wedding – you will be at the wedding, won't you? You simply must.. must come. It would be so. So unbearably stuffy otherwise.”

“Yes, Charles, we'll be at the wedding,” Hawkeye says from behind them. And then yelps as Honoria makes another attempt on his life. “A decision I'm regretting more and more as the night goes on.”

But he's just teasing, like friends do to other friends.

And Trapper wraps his arm more firmly around Charles and says, “Yeah, Charles. Maybe we ain't RSVP'ed officially yet-”

“We're brushing up on our calligraphy.”

“-but we'll be there.”

And Trapper sounds very certain. But Charles can't help wondering if they really mean it. He knows he's not the easiest person to get along with, sometimes. He finds it difficult to shed that stuffy persona he's worn for so long. He's been that person so long, it's difficult to be someone else - someone his friends enjoy spending time with. So he's worried, still.

“You promise?”

Trapper turns so that he's facing Charles, looking him in the eye.

“Yes, Charles. We promise.”

Then Trapper tugs Charles's arm higher onto his shoulder and they set off for home.

#mash #piercintyre #something old and something new #chapter 3

[cyblance]

How to Build an Online Auction Website

What is an auction site?

At an auction website, the price of the products and services are determined by the winning bid. Bidders have a choice at placing the bid within a certain timeframe. The person who sets the highest bid within a time frame is the winner.

Why create auction website from scratch

A range of advantages come in with creating a custom auction website from the scratch. Such online auction sites are personalized in the finest of ways to meet client requirements.

Instead, if one chooses to work upon a readymade, open-source website, extending the functionality is going to be difficult. Since numerous coders have worked over such a website, knowing the source code is going to be difficult. One may have to write the source code from the scratch to extend the functionality unless it is well explained. Similarly, the efficiency and scalability of the prevailing source codes may be an issue. Customization may become time-consuming.

Identifying the users:

Buyers: Buyers will buy a consignment or items at the auction by bidding.

Sellers: Sellers will sell a lot or items at auctions

Admin (Owner): Owner of the website who offers the platform for auction mechanism, and gets a commission from Seller and fees from Buyers.

Designing an auction website

Logo design

Color combinations

Designing the logo is an important part to consider when you build an online auction website. Logos of auction websites are relatively simpler as compared to other websites. The focus is frequently upon the name of the website, rather than the icon. This makes the website more memorable for the users. The text is presented in memorable fonts, typographies, and color palettes. This is frequently defined by the domain of operation for a website.

Designers frequently try and ensure that the logos are not created using loud color combinations. Innovative and lively color palettes that are soothing on the eyes deliver the best outcomes in this regard and attract more customers to your website. This makes a website come by as reliable.

Competitor analysis defines logo design

Ideally, logos for an auction website should be designed after conducting a close competitor analysis, and considering other online auction sites, because logos are often meant to attract a default customer profile. Such innovative logos are best placed to deliver the best outcomes for your requirements when you build an auction website.

Website front design

Easy to navigate

When one considers how to set up an auction website, the website front end design is one of the key factors to look at. The front page design should be intuitive and easy to understand and use for someone using the website for the first time. CTA should be placed at locations where they are easy to find for any user. Similarly, a viewer should be able to comfortably navigate through the website and get to the auction page.

User friendly

If one has any queries regarding the website, he should be able to easily access the resolutions over the website. The relevant labels should be easy to locate and click on. Such small pieces of information make a site more attractive for the end-user. With great auction portal development, the site comes by as reliable.

It is then a nice idea to place self-explanatory images, designs, and videos over the websites with relevant content, and windows that appear by hovering over the buttons. This should be done while keeping the overall design simple, neat, and attractive.

Mobile compatible and responsive

With a vast majority of customer interactions taking place over mobile devices, it is important to pay heed to the responsiveness of your website during auction website development. All elements of website design should meet the best practices for a responsive design. This will let the websites deliver a prime performance irrespective of the screen size or device used to access them. Your consumers can access and use the websites on the go, over their mobile devices.

Main functions for auction website development

The home page of an auction website should feature easy links that let a user navigate to any section of the website. It is a fine idea to display a demonstration of the navigation path towards the top of the page. This allows one to resume where he earlier was over the website. It is preferable if the website is fast loading, and a visitor can return to the home page by clicking on the logo.

Let us take a look at the best practices to be kept in mind when you create your own auction website. The home page and all content pages should be aesthetically made. The text should be high on legibility and there should be sufficient blank spaces.

The essential information should be meticulously distributed over the home page and other pages for an easier understanding. One should give an introduction to a service over the home page. The details of the information should be presented over the dedicated page.

Over the home page, the information should be presented in short paragraphs. A read more button should take the user to other content pages. The information should be enriched with SEO keywords. It should be precise, to the point, engaging, and well defined in paragraphs that capture the viewer’s attention, and entice him to read through the paragraphs.

A visitor should have easy access to all relevant information, such as services, privacy, bidding guidelines, and locations.

Auction listings

Auction listings should be easy to navigate and should be consumer-centric. Searching the listings and returning to the home page should be easy for an end-user.

Lot listing

Lot listings should be clearly defined in categories and subcategories. When considering how to make a bidding website, a developer can create drop-down menus for sub listings if there are many sub listings.

Upon clicking on a sub listing, a viewer should see all items in the subcategory. The listing should be separated by pages.

A seller should be able to comfortably make listings based on categories and subcategories.

Lot filters

A viewer should be able to view all the relevant listings by applying one or more filters. When a viewer finds his desired products comfortably, he is more likely to make a purchase.

Lots details

By clicking over an item on a catalogue, a viewer should get to lot details. This may be in the format of professionally written product descriptions or additional photographs.

Countdown clock for auction ends

This lets a bidder be sure about the timeframe within which he can place his bids. Digital clocks mentioning hours, minutes, and seconds while the bidding is live deliver the best outcomes in this regard.

Bidding mechanism

A bidding website should have a proper bidding mechanism in place, by which a buyer can bid and see other users’ bids.

Payment Options

Payment integration

Payment integration is one of the most important factors a developer has to think of when he considers how to create a bidding website. With payment integration, a consumer can make a payment in ways that best meet his requirements, such as debit cards, credit cards, net banking, PayPal, Aurthorize.net, Stripe, etc.

Purchase of a lot

The shopping cart for a bidding website should be so defined that a buyer can check out in three simple steps after making payments. He should be able to download and print a receipt for maintenance and future reference purposes.

Bidding stream for online auction

The bidding stream for an online auction should be in the format of video streaming, which lets an online user see the real-time auction.

Buyer Section

A buyer should be able to access in-depth information regarding his browsing history. He may choose to bid for similar products again. This makes the bidding website attractive from his viewpoint.

Upcoming auctions

Similarly, a buyer should also be able to view the upcoming auctions. The focus should lie over the auctions that are most likely to capture a buyer’s interest.

Payment history

When a buyer sees his payment history, the website comes by as reliable. The options should hence be enabled with a single click.

Purchased lot shipping status and tracking

Purchased lot shipping status and tracking information let a buyer be sure about his orders. In the event of a delay, he would be sure about where his order is currently located, and that the processes for shipping have started. This section should mention a stipulated date of delivery.

Seller section

A seller should be able to easily submit the lot he wants to sell to a website. Similarly, the information pertaining to payment history and the status of the lot – how many items are sold and how many remain unsold should be visible at a single click.

Admin section

Defining the admin section well is one of the most important tenets of how to make a bidding website. An admin should be able to manage or edit the entire content of the website, create new sections or delete sections based upon his requirements.

Similarly, an admin should be able to manage auctions, lot details, and also the buyer and seller sections through a dedicated CMS section. Another section that an admin should be able to manage is the invoices and payment sections. He can then rework any discrepancies that may occur.

An admin should be easily able to check a buyer’s bidding history and a seller’s selling history. He can deliver relevant offers and personalized services for both categories. He should be able to alter the entire settings of a website.

The auction website CMS should also generate relevant reports for an admin, which are in a highly understandable and a well-illustrated format. This helps with planning out strategies, overcoming loopholes, and making business-critical decisions.

Conclusion:

When you consider how to build auction website, having an in-house team do it for you is one of the options at your disposal. Cyblance is a professional software development firm, with specialization over how to create an auction website.

Important financial information stored at your website stays secured when we create an auction website from the scratch for you. We come up with high performing, fast-loading, SEO friendly, aesthetic, responsive, and reliable websites for you, customized in the finest of ways to meet your requirements.

The cost to build an auction website is no longer a matter of concern with our services. We make our best in the class services available across domains at the best prices in the industry.

#Auction Websites #auction website development #create auction website #auction portal development #online auction sites #create your own auction website #build an auction website #how to make an auction website #custom auction site

[shcreative]

Exhibition show plan

Sophie Harvey

Degree Show Plan

 A Professional Documentation - as a virtual project that presents my ideas for an exhibition, curatorial consideration, plans for exhibition and selected work

Objectives of Exhibition: Intermix and Dematerialise

 The main purpose of the exhibition would be to communicate and create a safe place for audiences to have freedom of speech and thought. I would like to strive as an artist to appeal to all audience in mind that would like to interact with my artworks through tangibility using text, imagery and scale of artwork. REAL PURPOSE my art is a way of expressing emotion using traditional art forms. A message, similarity, or strike a chord, this is my objective. Describing artwork through words, the need to ex-HIBIT is extremely important to me and for the artwork and its viability. My work is OF raw emotion; it contains visual descriptors and messages. BEING SEEN / BEING NOTICED can be incredibly hard as artist; I believe my exhibition would be one that would adapt with all audience characteristics. Having large pieces and smaller pieces to entice the audience in and to observe with fine detail.

They’re more than meets the eye. My first impression of the show—before looking at the imagery—was one of a controlled, formal richness. An artist in love with the hot and messy splash of inspiration, of course, but also one who’s knotty, thoughtful, and considered. Rauschenberg mostly worked with what Rosenthal calls a “syncopated grid,” a formal structure within which he weighted and composed lights, colors, and shapes. In an image like Canyon, for example, he calculated how the weight of the hanging bag sets off the strength of the eagle’s wings as it pulls upward into the image-laden sky. Reproductions don’t convey the tactile feeling of Rauschenberg’s color. His surfaces are rich, steeped, time-marinated. http://www.kenneymencher.com/2018/10/why-is-robert-rauschenbergs-art.html

                                                         https://www.thefineartsociety.com/exhibitions/ - relaying on a physical space for exhibition BUT there are some good examples of how you can have an online show too https://www.vexed2020.co.uk/ an exhibition that I have put together for my Fine Art students (please see example

https://www.curatorspace.com/    

https://www.thelightbox.org.uk/Blog/what-is-it-like-to-curate-an-exhibition

   INTERMIX - DEMATERIALISE

  EXHIBTION SPACE – RUS 103 – SEE DIRECTIONE – INSTALLATION -

 One of my favourite parts of putting together the INTERMIX show will be selecting the work. I have an entire portfolio of works in progress, completed pieces to collective outcomes at my disposal. I will be exhibiting in room RUS 103 this is where I based myself in year one, I found the room rather grounding personally as an artist BUT it seemed to have the best floor space and interior structure. This would be a great space for me to exhibit due the nature of my work and the varieties of pieces. A natural light flows to the top of the room. I will use this to enhance certain pieces that are linear and sensitive. Selection of work will be:

1 x 1000 intermixes small A6 sized collages

2 x large paintings along

3 x large pieces of work concealed in plastic bags

         I need to work to represent the strengths of the mark and subject content that have been chosen in the outcomes thus also showing the diversity of the subject. One of the largest challenges of the show will be physically getting all the work together and transported to the room – I need to make sure that as the curator it is COVID and socially distanced safely

(Please see my risk assessment)

Subject of assessment (May be an activity, hazard or relate to an individual)

MA Show Exhibition

25th September – 2nd October

Ruskin Gallery - Room 103 (small studio)

RA conducted by - Sophie Harvey    

20/09/2020     RA ref. no.

 List the risk/s involved or describe the hazard

 Installation contained in one large area – with viewing point to the three walls.

 •    Risk of knocking into artwork

•    Low Risk in case of fire

•    Low Risk of tripping hazards

•    COVID MEASURES IN PLACE –LOW RISK audience controlled one at a time in room 103 with one viewing point (nothing will be touched)

Solution and measures put in place

•    Electrical cables taped to eradicate trip hazards

•    A white border at base of the wall with notices with warnings

·         SAFTEY INSTRUCTION will be sigh posted for entry and exit

•    COVID MEASURES IN PLACE – masks warn at all times, hand sanitiser outside the room and monitoring with a one in and one in system in place for viewers

“For Beijing-based independent curator Kwanyi Pan, who has curated exhibitions around the world, recommends researching the country's artists and audience. It will help you understand the environment you are working in and what subsequent issues may arise. She says working as a curator in Asia is different from working in the west in that the social context” https://www.thebalancecareers.com/curating-an-art-show-1295610

There are many benefits to using a floor plan:

FACTORS to consider

1. I need to Estimating the amount of art work to space ratio / I know the room is rather narrow so I will need to work out the best way to install the canvas in the middle of the floor (I will have them back to back). You will be able to see around the space whilst someone is viewing the artwork (one viewer at a time due to safe distancing and no touching of the artwork). I would like to have a gallery floor plan handy for the audience to navigate around the building, with names of artwork and CLEAR direction for the one-way system put in place. I have planned my work accordingly by using the RUS floor plan (please see examples above)I am preparing for the show by using measurements and safe distances so my floor plan has been a crucial element, this is part of the preparation for my art exhibition INTERMIX

2. Estimating the scale of the work is a important aspect – I naturally have produced rather large installation and canvas pieces. I need to make sure that the work is transportable as well as fitting into the door of the room, nothing bigger than 2m x 2m can be displayed in the art gallery space RUS 103.

Having safe plans for my installation of work is vital; it needs to safe for audiences to view the work at the best angle by facing the light and the windows. The door way will have to be completely free and left open, this is take away some of the wall space.

3. Estimating the space between art pieces is also critical – each pieces represents something very different so I need to make the viewer feel like they are viewing separate collections – for example the 1000 collages on the wall space.  

PROMOTING AND ADVERTISNG

  https://www.carleton.edu/arts-director/exhibitions/exhibition-planning/texts/ Useful link on how to orchestrate an exhibition

SYNOPSIS

Like a growth it manifests and gets lost within the subversive world, we live in, to be that marker pen highlighting the growth this is where my artwork matters. Feeding that growth and being transparent is imperative.

A clear direction and path as an artist unveiling itself is an area of contextualisation and conceptualism I have explored. The imperfections within society wrapped up in all its tranquillity. A mixture of collaged expressions from the artist Sophie Harvey highlighting the Western world and a working professional female, mother and artist. You will see an elective mix of traditional art form to digitalised double exposed imagery capturing the raw emotion and state of her expressive world.

CAPTIVATING AUIDENCE EXAMPLES

Cornelia Parker

and her work invites you to witness the transformation of ordinary objects into something compelling and extraordinary.

https://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/pastexhibitions/corneliaparker/

Robert Rauschenberg

Included in the exhibition is Untitled, a combine of a pocket watch, chain, and tin can created circa 1959, whose components are retranslated in other works throughout the show. Solvent transfers and collages on cloth and paper from the 1970s, including work from the Hoarfrost Series, offer a wider glimpse into the artist’s personal relationship to his materials and his interest in the temporality of combined images

https://www.castelligallery.com/exhibitions/robert-rauschenberg?view=slider#4

 STRIKE A CHORD  Being able to see the work from a different perspective, smaller, larger, in frames, hung, placed on the floor from the ceiling would create and spark conversation or curiosity to want to see more (perhaps in a publication TO takeaway) as to the notion and context behind the work. My pieces of artwork, especially the 1000 small collages would feel like a time line to someone’s life and it would have a real aesthetic exposing me (the artist) memory and reference to the western world. The importance of the viewer is imperative, the viewer is the one who carries the work forward and takes away the consideration of a personal interactive with someone(me……the intermix)  

[teachanarchy]

Editor’s note: Teaching Tolerance generally uses people-first language. The individuals interviewed for this story, however, prefer the term autistic people rather than people with autism. Out of respect for their preference, we have adjusted our usage.

School was never easy and rarely pleasant for Elly Wong. Their* smarts were not a question. They had learned to read by age 3, and grade school teachers suggested they skip a grade. But social interactions were difficult and classroom settings often battered their senses. “I’m sensitive to noise and get easily overstimulated,” Wong says. “My strongest impressions of elementary school are constant crying in response to being overwhelmed.” As the meltdowns continued into high school, a counselor recommended a psychological evaluation.

By that time, Wong had been doing independent research “through the magic of the Internet” and piecing together clues for a self-diagnosis. The psychiatrist agreed: anxiety, depression and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Wong proceeded to negotiate their own 504 plan; their parents knew little about autism and “the professionals at my school were pretty unhelpful.” The accommodations were relatively minor: Extra time on tests, use of noise-canceling headphones and subtitled videos were among them. Even so, Wong says, “I got constantly challenged over my accommodations.”

Last fall, they enrolled as a first-year student at Syracuse University in New York.

Working with and educating students like Wong who are on the autism spectrum has been the subject of much discussion and controversy in the last generation. The narrative has often been that children with these diagnoses are sources of tragedy for families and a drain on schools. Educators unfamiliar with autism and its range of expressions have often been perplexed and intimidated by students in their classrooms. Even as autism awareness has grown, many districts still lack the resources to help their teachers and schools update their practices and become more inclusive of affected students and families. Often, special education teachers must rely on their own research and resourcefulness.

In recent years, however, the neurodiversity movement, characterized by the advocacy of autistic individuals speaking for themselves, has entered the conversation. Advocates and their allies are eager to challenge pessimistic attitudes toward ASD and share insights for helping their fellow autistic people learn, cope and thrive in settings—particularly educational settings—that have often been indifferent, if not unwelcoming, to their needs.

“No one knows more about autism, about what it’s like to be autistic or what autistic people need, than autistic people ourselves,” says Julia Bascom, deputy executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). “We have a unique first-person perspective, and that perspective absolutely has to be centered in any sort of advocacy work focused on our community.”

Old-School Autism Education Though our understanding has grown significantly in recent years, the first diagnosis of autism as a distinct neurological disorder only occurred in the 1940s. Decades later, British psychiatrist Lorna Wing successfully made the case that autistic behaviors take different forms in different people, from nonspeaking individuals capable of little social engagement to those adept at navigating—or excelling—in society. Building on 1930s research by Austrian Hans Asperger, Wing described an “autism spectrum” and championed its 1980 inclusion in the bible of psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM.

Today, ASD is viewed as a neurological disorder in a person’s ability to  send social cues or process incoming ones. “By definition, autistic people have a language impairment,” says Sharon Rosenbloom, a speech pathologist, founder of Turning Pointe Autism Foundation and mother of Joey, an adult autistic son. “They’re neurologically disorganized.” Along with those issues, many autistics deal with high levels of anxiety and hypersensitivity to sensory stimulation.

Traditional autism therapy has emphasized teaching autistic kids to act as “normal” as possible. “We often see schools focusing on social skills training and behavior modification to make children appear less visibly autistic,” says ASAN’s Bascom. Unfortunately, these therapies have frequently come at the expense of engagement and learning.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA therapy) has been the cornerstone of traditional therapy. ABA therapy recommends 40 hours a week of repetitive drills and positive-reinforcement techniques to attempt to replace unwanted behaviors with more socially acceptable ones. For example, the teacher or therapist may work with an autistic child one-on-one to gradually build up his or her ability to maintain eye contact, perhaps rewarded with something like a sip of juice. Reducing self-stimulation—the flapping of hands, rhythmic rocking, fidgeting with a favorite object or other repetitive motions associated with autism—is also stressed. ABA works on verbal skills as well, promoting speech fluency in speaking students and having nonspeaking students pick out flash cards to develop the association between words and objects.

Critics of ABA therapies express frustration with their concentration on students’ deficits at the expense of celebrating their interests or strengths. Ido Kedar, a nonspeaking autistic teen, expresses his contempt for ABA in his book, Ido in Autismland. His deficits are not cognitive, but a self-described neurological disconnect between mind and body. “In school I sat through ABC tapes over and over and added 1 + 2 = 3 over and over,” he recalls. “I was bored out of my wits. It made me die inside. I was like a zombie inside because I had no hope.”

“Too often we teach autistic students using a deficit model—spending our time trying to fix what they can’t do instead of building out from what they can,” says Leah Kelley, a veteran special education teacher near Vancouver, British Columbia, and mother of an autistic son. “It’s a pathologized and medicalized model.”

It is past time to update and upgrade those models, says Kelley and other autism advocates and allies. More and more, the theories of medical experts and proponents of “cope till you cure” are being overwritten by the lived experiences of autistic kids and adults themselves. They want to share their narratives, and—thanks to new thinking in communication therapies as well as new assistive technologies—more are having the chance to tell them. An emerging theme? Autistics want help but are wary of people trying to “fix” them.

Multiple Methods In his book, Kedar describes his early life as feeling trapped in an insubordinate body; not even those closest to him knew how to reach him. As a nonspeaking autistic, he had no words to call for help, and dyspraxia blocked him from being able to accurately signal his needs. His movements and actions often appeared impulsive and chaotic. Kedar indicates the big breakthrough in his ability to express himself came at age 7. While trapped with his own thoughts, he had been learning to read. Now he also began to write, forming words with a letter board and—eventually—by typing. The process was painstaking, but it soon became clear that he was an aware and articulate kid with a strong desire to express himself. With the means to communicate, Ido progressed rapidly, and within two years was being mainstreamed in several of his middle school classes. Now in high school, he is reported to be on a college-bound track.

For many advocates and allies, matching autistic students with the means to communicate to the best of their ability is priority number one. But there is no one-size-fits-most fix, says Rosenbloom. She likens the process to being fitted for eyeglasses. “When I get the right prescription, I can see well,” she says. In the same way, any prescription to aid communication for those on the autism spectrum requires customization.

“Some of us will be able to speak fluently, but our speech may not match what we want to say, while others might not be able to use oral speech as well,” explains Bascom. “Autistic students should have multiple methods of communication made available to use, whether that looks like a dedicated speech-generating device, a text-to-speech app on an iPad, sign language, or a pencil and paper. But it’s not enough to just give someone access to an alternative; autistic students with communication impairments need qualified staff working with us who can systematically teach the hows and whys of communication as well.”

Presume Intellect Bascom and Rosenbloom agree on another point when it comes to working with autistic students: Presume intellect. That means not talking about autistic students in the third person when they are present. That means speaking to them in tones and complete sentences appropriate for their age, not baby talk. Rosenbloom says she has witnessed autistic kids respond to a new teacher speaking to them normally with a look that says, “Whoa!”

“I have a mantra: Develop a relationship,” she says. “Presume there’s a mind in there, ready to teach you something you don’t know.”

Relating and communicating are practices that too often have been absent from autism education. Many autistic people are very aware when non-autistic educators are underestimating or patronizing them. Rosenbloom contends that respectful and meaningful interaction has the potential to reduce aggressive and self-injurious behaviors as autistic students learn to trust they can get their needs met without melting down.

Honoring that trust is another part of helping autistic individuals connect with the world. After years of acquiescing to the wills of others, many have developed understandable stores of resentment toward ableist attitudes. They need to be able to say "no" to what is being asked and trust it will be respected, says Kelley, who argues that better treatment for autistic people is a matter of social justice. “We dehumanize people when we don’t let them say 'no.' So much of their therapy has been compliance based, which is a real denial of dissent. Unless you allow dissent, whatever 'yes' you get is absolutely meaningless.”

This position echoes the motto of ASAN: “Nothing About Us Without Us.” More and more autistic young people and adults—like Elly Wong, Julie Bascom and Ido Kedar—are ready and determined to inform improvements in educational policies and practices that affect them and other neurodiverse students. Their contributions to more inclusive schools can only benefit us all, wherever we live on the neurodiversity spectrum.

*Wong’s preferred pronoun is they.

Two recent books, NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman and In a Different Key by John Donvan and Caren Zucker, offer compelling narrative histories of the scientific and social explorations of autism’s complexities and perplexities.

Glossary of Autism-related Terms Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapies targeted to increase or decrease specific behaviors Asperger syndrome A disorder on the autism spectrum, distinguished by relatively intact language and cognitive skills; as of 2013, Asperger syndrome was eliminated as a distinct diagnosis and folded into the autism spectrum Assistive and adaptive technology Devices or equipment used to facilitate functional capabilities of people with disabilities; for autistics, these may include computer tablets and software to aid communication Dyspraxia Difficulty with coordination and motor planning High-functioning/low-functioning autism Terms traditionally used to describe the severity of autism in individuals; autism advocates now reject this usage Neurodiversity The concept that neurological differences in people represent normal, natural variations; many autism advocates embrace this term as a way to challenge pathologized models of autism Prompt A cue or hint to assist communication or behavior by autistic students “Stimming” Self-stimulating behavior; repetitive movements or vocalizations common in autistic individuals as a means for calming or entertaining themselves Tactile defensiveness Extreme sensitivity to specific textural stimuli

#autism #nuerodiversity #ability

[jamiekturner]

Amazing Adobe After Effects Tutorials You Need To Watch

What is Adobe After Effects? You already know that. But you want to know more.

In this article, you will find a comprehensive selection of After Effects tutorials that will help you learn to design motion graphics and create animations.

Ranging from After Effects tutorials for beginners to a little bit more advanced ones, these should be a good starting point if you want to delve in the world of motion graphics.

I know there are thousands of tutorials out there that will teach you how to use Adobe After Effects.

Beginner’s Guide to After Effects

In these After Effects tutorials, we will take an introductory look into After Effects and compositing in general so you can learn essential terms and definitions and build a solid foundation in computer graphics.

We will start the tutorial off by covering what motion graphics and compositing are and the various terms we encounter in After Effects such as project, composition, and layers. We will then take a look at importing images into After Effects so you can learn how to begin work on your own projects. After that, you will learn to do common tasks such as creating effects, masking, transforming and animating. And to wrap up this tutorial, we will go over how to render your projects out of After Effects to deliver to your client or show the world what you have accomplished.

This series of step-by-step videos were developed with artists new to After Effects in mind so we will be moving at a steady, easy-to-follow pace making sure you understand terms and basic techniques.

Intro to After Effects

In this video you will see the After Effects basics of animating and pre-comping in After Effects. This is an intro on how to use After Effects and we hope you will like it.

Introduction to After Effects for Motion Designers

If you want to become a motion graphics artist, or you already know a little bit about After Effects but you’re just getting started this is the training for you.

You will learn all the things that you need to know to get you off the ground and creating your own motion graphics work. We learn the tools and effects that After Effects has to offer, while going through the real creation process of a motion graphics piece. We run into some of the real problems that can be really difficult to solve on your own, and we answer those questions that can save you a lot of time.

There are so many tips that you will pick up as you watch this tutorial even if you are an After Effects user that just needs a refresher. There will be things in this course that will revolutionize your workflow and make you more efficient as an artist. You really can’t afford to miss this course if you are serious about motion design.

This training does not go over every single tool that After Effects has to offer but it will get you started and get you exposed to the aspects you need to know to make your own projects and discoveries as you grow into a confident designer. By the end of this tutorial you will have a firm foundation in After Effects’ tools, workflows, and terminology. You’ll also gain insight into the aspects you need to understand about pacing, timing, and animation in order to make your own projects their very best.

After Effects CS6 Tutorial – CS6 in 6 Minutes

Introduction to After Effects for Compositors

In this series of tutorials, we will learn how to create a shot composite from start to finish. This course will take you through all of the things that you need to know to get started creating beautiful and realistic composites in After Effects.

We begin with simply learning how to move around in After Effects and what the most important parts of the interface are. We then move onto bringing assets into our project panel and moving through the layer based compositing workflow. We do everything in this shot from crashing a helicopter, to setting it on fire, to giving the shot a cinematic feel like you see in a movie. You’ll also learn how to track, rotoscope, and create a difference matte among other countless valuable skills.

Whether you are a total beginner, or you know a little bit about After Effects but want to brush up on your skills, this is the course for you. By the end of this course, you will have an amazing new skill and you will have learned some valuable things if you are going to become a serious and professional compositor.

Adobe After Effects Tutorial – Advanced Masking

Want to learn all the cool stuff you can do with masks in Adobe After Effects? In this tutorial you will learn about some of the ‘advanced’ masking techniques.

Creating & Using Masks in After Effects

This tutorial was made as a direct request from a former user of Final Cut Pro who wanted to know how to mask in an efficient way in After Effects. Andrew demonstrates the tools to quickly create masks in After Effects along with the keyboard short cuts needed to make the process quick and efficient.

Then, Andrew shows how to take the masks that have been created and use them on other layers so that only the masked areas are selected by using the exact same information as produced with the original mask.

Note, this technique also respects any animation that may have been applied to the original mask while leaving the ability to change the mask’s size, opacity and feathering as needed.

Put Together a Realistic District 9 Composite

Adding outside elements into a scene can be a tedious endeavor. In this tutorial, you’ll see a few different compositing tips as we superimpose the space ship from District 9 into our shot.

Camera Solving for Moving Objects

Product Manager Martin Brennand takes you through how to use the camera solver to get the 3D data of a moving planar object. Also covers unlink tracking, 3D export to After Effects and attaching 3D particles from Trapcode Particular.

With a camera solve you are normally solving from static areas in the scene (Walls, floors, rocks, etc), but when you want to capture anything moving, a little extra work is needed.

Try adding special effects to a video

Get to know the basics of motion graphics and video compositing techniques using Adobe After Effects.

After Effects Tutorial – Pixel Perfect Camera Move Transition

A tutorial to learn how to fly a camera around in After Effects and land on full frame video. To make these moves land on pixel-perfect, full-frame video can be tricky. This technique should help keep your camera moves and transitions accurate and ready for a perfect edit.

Character Rigging and Animation Intro

The Naked Truth About 3D Rotations

In this video you will see the issues with rotations in 3D space and ways to deal with them. Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Rotation and Orientation? We set two keyframes for rotations and the layer rotates strangely.

Has it ever happened to you? Those problems are NOT After Effects specific. This video explains the way rotations in 3D space work. Once you understand the concept – it will be easier for you to tame rotations not only in After Effects, but also in other applications.

Virtual 3D Sets with After Effects

Rob Mize demonstrates techniques for creating a virtual set in 3D space. He shows how you can build sophisticated, detailed environments, where your actors appear to interact with their 3 dimensional surroundings. Build the set of your dreams using nothing more than After Effects, a few textures and your creativity.

Creating 3D Cloud Motion From a Still Image

In this tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to take a 2D image of clouds and use it to create realistic 3D cloud motion, in just a few simple clicks. No cutting up of the image needed! This Tip was sent to us by Noel Powell after he watched our weather replacement tutorials.

All Things Text in After Effects

In this series of tutorials, we’ll learn about creating, controlling, and using text in After Effects. We start out by learning about the two different type tools and follow that up by navigating the Character and Paragraph panels. There are a few controls within these panels that even the most seasoned After Effects user may have never used before.

After we’ve covered the basics, we move down to the properties on the text layers. There are a few options that are totally unique to text layers as well as a few additions in the context menus that will speed up your workflow. For instance, we learn how to edit a Photoshop text layer right inside of After Effects, complete with translated layer styles. We also go over a few techniques for overcoming readability issues and some tips for creative ways to fix common problems. We learn how to preview After Effects animation presets, and finish by learning per-character animation with both Classic 3D and Ray-traced 3D.

This tutorial is full of all the possibilities for your text in After Effects. It’s perfect for a beginner just starting out learning the type tools or for someone more seasoned looking to increase their knowledge about all things text in After Effects.

Storytelling with Type in After Effects

In this series of After Effects tutorials, you’ll learn a step-by-step approach to creating a type-based project – in this case, a Public Service Style Announcement on Food Safety.

We take some time at the beginning of the tutorial to talk about many of the techniques used to create the assets for the project in Illustrator. We don’t look at the process for creating every piece, but the techniques you will learn are exactly what you would need to create every asset for this project on your own.

We then go on to learn a very important step of the process, for getting highly-detailed assets out of Illustrator and imported to After Effects. From there, we learn every step for bringing the Illustrator created assets to life inside of After Effects. We discuss the thinking behind leading the viewer’s eye, in the order you want something to be read.

This training is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about creating motion graphics that convey a message only using words on the screen. This powerful medium is fun to learn and lends itself to endless creative possibilities.

By the end of this tutorial, you will have your own animated typography piece as well as the knowledge to create your own message and convey that message with the tools and workflows that Illustrator and After Effect provide.

After Effects Video Tutorial: Fancy Write On Effect

In this video tutorial we’ll show you how to create a modern write on effect for title and text in After Effects.

After Effects Hand Drawn Pen Tutorial

Learn how to create a hand drawn animation in this Adobe After Effects quick tutorial! This stop motion ball point pen look can be faked entirely in After Effects without the need to shoot anything.

Flying Blobs to Liquid Letters – Adobe After Effects tutorial

Reveal letters with liquid blobs. BONUS a trick to use onion skinning in after effects. It’s dirt simple and sadly there is no trick to to making this clean look, but this will save you time. The usual method for this thing is to go into Photoshop and draw there, but this is all in After Effects. Jazz up your workflow with this rad tip and get making these awesome animations.

Swinging Text (motion typography technique)

The swinging Text Tutorial for a motion typography technique in adobe after effects.

In this after effects tutorial you’ll learn about how to make text (typography) swing into place in a scene using 3d layers and manual key frames and parenting. The idea behind the technique is to give the text weight and substance as it enters the scene using overshooting.

Generic Movie Title Trailer Text

This after effects tutorial is what you need to get started creating your next movie trailer, or titles for you new blockbuster. Create generic movie titles, and then tweak them to suite your needs.

Unfolding Animation in Adobe After Effects

Learn how to create a visually impressive folding/unfolding animation in Adobe After Effects!

12 Principles of Animation in After Effects

In the days of hand-drawn animation, a group of top Disney animators came together and defined twelve rules of animation that, when applied properly, would create amazing animation and an engaging experience for the audience. In 1981 Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston released a book titled ‘The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation’, which detailed all 12 principles.

Since then, animators around the world have studied and applied these techniques. Although they were originally created for hand-drawn animation, these 12 principles apply directly to our modern computer generated animation. Whenever you set a keyframe in any application, you should be thinking of the 12 principles of animation.

Creating and Animating a Matte Painting in Photoshop and After Effects

In this training we will go over the process of creating and animating our very own matte painting.

In the first section of this tutorial you will go through the process of creating a realistic matte painting for film and high end animation. Then, we will take our creation into After Effects to add camera movements and animation.

These step-by-step lessons will start by covering the basics of how to prepare your matte painting in Photoshop, whilst covering subjects such as digital painting, lighting, scale, values, and perspective along the way.

Intro to Animation Curves in After Effects

If your goal is to become a working motion graphics artist, this might be the most important tutorial you can watch. Fancy techniques and tricks are great, but knowing how to use animation curves is such an important skill that it should be mandatory.

In this tutorial, the author attempts to demystify the curved editor in After Effects, and to give you an understanding of how powerful animation curves are. If you’re not using them, you should be.

Keying Greenscreens in After Effects

In this After Effects tutorial we’ll learn how to key green or bluescreen footage in After Effects. Using greenscreens is a common practice in today’s VFX workflow, so understanding how to get a good alpha from greenscreen footage is very important. We’ll begin this tutorial by learning what a chroma key is and what we need to look out for while we shoot the greenscreen footage.

From there, we begin keying a sample shot using the Keylight keyer. We’ll then learn how to refine our matte and edge using the various built-in modifiers.

Finally, we will composite our keyed footage over a background and learn about spill suppression and some compositing tricks to integrate our pieces of footage. We’ll end the tutorial by learning a method of treating compressed or chroma subsampled footage to pull better keys.

Anime-style Explosion in After Effects

Split Screen Reveal

In this video tutorial you’ll learn how to set up a split screen reveal montage in Adobe After Effects.

Create Animated Flourishes in After Effects

Creating Animated Flourishes can be a long process. This after effects tutorial will show you the process, and hopefully give you some killer tips to make it easier. And of course once your done, you don’t have to animated it again, just save the video with an alpha channel and you can use it again and again.

Making a 2D Image 3D in After Effects

Creating Realistic Snow

Finally – a video tutorial for creating REALISTIC snow in After Effects. We’ll show you how using Trapcode Particular in After Effects.

Cell Phone & Tablet Screen Replacement

In this After Effects video tutorial you’ll learn how to track a screen replacement for phone (iPhone) or tablets. This technique is great for creating a demo of a mobile app or game.

Super Slowmotion Effect Tutorial

In this tutorial VideoFort Don shows you how to create perfect super slow motion using After Effects. In this tutorial, we get our original 60 fps footage down to just 1% of its original seed which effectively makes it 6000 fps. We show you how to do this with as few warping and distortion artifacts as possible.

After Effects Tutorial: halftone effect

Create a cool (and unique) halftone effect on your footage in After Effects. this technique is a unique way of creating the look, with some cool side effects.

True Detective titles HBO After Effects Tutorial

The new title credits from HBO True Detective are pretty awesome, and its what inspired me to do this after effects tutorial for a double exposure look.

Cross Process Colour (color) Grading

Let’s cross the streams with Cross Processing, a lovely colour grading rick to make people think they are looking at film. but they sure are not. We’ll look at a couple easy colour grading tricks to get you started with that lo fi look in no time. Your mediocure trip to the beach just got a while lot more indie!

20 Useful & cool After Effects tricks You May Not Know About

How To Remove Black Background From Stock Footage in After Effects

Want to know how to remove the black background for your stock footage elements? I show you a number of different ways – all easy – for how you can achieve that in Adobe After Effects.

You can either set the blend mode to ‘Screen’ or ‘Add’, but this will only work for fire or explosions. For smoke, blood or darker elements that technique will simply not work as it will make the element look very transparent.

Another technique is to use the Linear Color Key effect in After Effects to remove the black background. You can use the Matching Tolerance and Matching Softness properties to control how much of the background colour is removed.

Finally, if the stock footage element has been shot against a green or blue screen you can use the Keylight effect in Adobe After Effects to remove it cleanly.

Using The Clone Stamp Tool To Replace Parts of Scenes

Iron Man HUD After Effects Tutorial

How to Color Correct/Grade in After Effects

How to get the “Film Look” inside After Effects

Stabilizing shaky video in Adobe After Effects CC

How to Make Subject/Object Fly Using Wire Removal Effect

Do you ever wonder how Hollywood movies makes their Actors fly, or jump high, or jumped back when got hit by an explosion? Well the Wire Removal effects is the answer! And it’s so simple and easy to do.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/motion-graphics/adobe-after-effects-tutorials-you-need-to-watch/