#and i wanted to practice some dynamic poses so that was my cue

[drrba]

leopika volleyball doodles that got out of hand. they somehow make it work with almost zero teamwork spirit

#hunter x hunter #hxh #leopika #leorio #leorio paladiknight #kurapika #kurapika kurta #i might've or might've not watched three seasons of haikyuu these past couple days #and i wanted to practice some dynamic poses so that was my cue #krpk is the libero and leorio is an ace btw #art

[patternedlantern]

Keep You Safe - A Marcus Moreno Statesman!AU

Pairing: Statesman Agent Marcus Moreno x Statesman Agent Reader x Agent Jack "Whiskey" Daniels

What’s this? Pat’s writing fanfic now? Well… no, not exactly. 😅 Consider this a loose concept for a fic that I’d want to write if I had a knack for writing, inspired solely by Pedro’s Emmy’s look. As soon as I saw it, it reminded me of Marcus Moreno and the costumes from the Kingsman movies. My brain’s been unable to think about anything else for the last couple days so I'm hoping that setting some of my headcanons free will help free up some brain space haha

Not really any warnings, it’s all pretty brief anyway. Highlights include: pining/unspoken feelings, fake dating, a love triangle dynamic that evolves into polyamory. The Boys keep their canon backstories for the most part. Reader is gender neutral.

The set up:

After sustaining an injury during his last mission, Heroic-turned-Statesman agent Marcus Moreno finds himself on temporary desk duty. He’s promised his daughter that he’ll stay out of harm’s way until he fully recovers. Desperately needing to feel useful while stuck behind the scenes, he's excited to receive his next assignment - as your new handler.

You have been a Statesman field agent for a few years now and have gone through your fair share of handlers - this isn’t your first rodeo. Nonetheless you appreciate Marcus’s unique experience and perspective as a former superhero. He’s kind, patient, and respectful, and the two of you become close rather quickly (while still keeping things professional).

While you’re away on missions, Marcus spends most of his time with Ginger, monitoring mission statuses and tech needs. His powers and weapons knowledge make him a good fit for the tech specialist team. Marcus and Ginger get along so well that their coworkers begin to joke that Ginger is his work wife. And yeah, they’re good friends, but she’s seen how he gets when you’re gone, steadfastly studying the wall of screens. He only has eyes for you. 

Eventually, you get assigned to an undercover mission where you’ll be posing as one half of a romantic couple. Your lucky partner? One Jack “Whiskey” Daniels. You’ve worked with Jack a couple times before and while you find him to be a bit much sometimes, he’s charming and thoughtful under all the bluster.

Marcus, on the other hand, is apprehensive. He hasn’t met Jack yet but he’s heard the gossip around HQ about our flirty, larger-than-life cowboy. Ginger’s not-exactly-glowing comments about him certainly don’t help either, but she assures Marcus it’ll be fine.

Cue the mission with all its potential for tension and pining:

from Marcus having to watch the person he secretly has feelings for “fall in love” with someone else. Seeing the mission unfold and realizing that Jack’s not quite what his reputation suggests

to you actually slowly falling for Jack throughout the course of the mission (because it’s a fake dating story after all) but also having Marcus’s voice low and steady in your ear, always reminding you of his presence and the task at hand

to Jack knowing this is a fake arrangement (and that you and Marcus kinda sorta have a “thing” going) but wanting it to be real anyway, feeling his heart stirring for the first time in a very long time. 

And obviously there’d be all the classic tropes. Couple practice. First kisses. One bed. A fancy gala. You know.

Maybe at one point, Jack becomes briefly incapacitated and Marcus has to step in and take his place for a moment to keep up ✨the ruse✨ Because they do look awfully similar from afar and who’s gonna notice really...

Something something the bond between two men, who’ve both experienced the loss of their previous partners, unexpectedly finding new love. The both of them witnessing the lengths the other is willing to go to to protect that love.

And then eventually the three of them work it all out and get together and fuck nasty. the end :)

#marcus moreno x reader #agent whiskey x reader #marcus moreno x reader x agent whiskey #Pat makes moodboards #and headcanons now I guess #headcanons? plot points? idk what to call them or what to do with them. I just need to get them OUT lol #no fic just vibes #possibly art or more moodboards at some point idk #keep you safe au #x reader

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

#ask #trying this new thing where i tag people in the body of the post instead

[kalinawtokilig]

A Silly S/O that shares one braincell with his best friend

Who doesn’t love a silly, goofy, S/O?

Pair(s) : Akaashi x Reader, Kenma x Reader, Suna x Reader, Kunimi x Reader

(((Ahhhhhahhh bruhhh I literally put the dying inside parted hair dark beauties here,,, ✨ blessing it ✨)))

{This is my first time doing headcanons,, i apologize as it is very early morning and i dont sleep so i may be passing out as soon as i post this ahahahhahahaahha))))) 

{Akaashi Keiji x Reader} 

(Ohh shi- Aight, we startin off with setters huh)

------

To be fair, Akaashi met you through Bokuto, you chaotic duo, whilst Bokuto being a particularly sunny, bubbly guy, its fair he’s friends with someone as goofy as him 

It’s like,,, one of those kinds of friendships you have with Akaashi, whenever you guys are seated next to each other for a group project or simply having a one-on-one convo, you seem to have enraptured him with how funny you are

for example, you being a silly person, you seem to have gotten into a argument with Bokuto, seeing as there was only one braincell, thus being you as the only braincell between the two of you, a juicebox and two of you being dumbasses,,, You proposed to Bokuto to poke a straw through the box so you both can drink from either ends of the straw,,,while bokuto,,, proposed of cutting,,,the juice box,, in half,,, to share,,, 

(No cap, i saw my brother and friend argue and do this,,, it was a waste of a caprisun and i had to drink wine to forget that this is what I put up wit,,,yet i recorded it

Akaashi may have facepalmed when you told him this, but the genuine look of truth and kindness made him soft for you when you continued about your small mishaps 

This mans smiles faintly, so when you talk about a joke or something stupidly funny, he can’t help but have a full on smile, cause you speak so passionately about your small and oblivious situations you keep getting yourself into and the endearing solutions you have

when you get together, it’s no boring life at all

Akaashi is always there to rope you in when things get too hectic, especially around Bokuto, but when its you, he can’t help but grin at how bright you can be when you think of funny ideas for today and the next day

Kozume Kenma x Reader

(OHH SHI- another pretty setter, lucky day :3c)

---------

Ohhh boi this is gonna be so many jokes

You and Kuroo share a braincell, that being annoying Kenma ((That’s what Kuroo thinks at least)) 

Kenma never can get a break,, you being the manager of Nekoma and being good friends with Kuroo, even Yaku is getting a headache

Kenma looks forward to you talking to him ((He finds you genuinely interesting when you pointed out a creative way - more like a newfounded loophole - to one of his video games,, he got kinda hooked on you when you kept telling him possible ways to beat the boss using a weak weapon,, he thought you were buggin,,, nah,, he won and trusted your somewhat foolish advice,,, beating up a miniboss with a stick that had been leveled up from being used worked,,, he doesn’t know what goes on your mind,,, but he wants to know more)))

You tell Kenma funny jokes about the newest character in the game he’s playing, not to mention your own headcanons about them

Kuroo joins in, much to Kenma’s dismay, but with a small smile he likes seeing you enjoy yourself as you talk odd with his best friend

You call him alot of nicknames due to his hair and attitude 

“Aye,, wassup puddinghead?” - “Lil’Calico, how’s it hangin?” - “Tiramisu cup, ya lookin sweet today!” 

Its,, really cute how you think of him, make up nicknames and have this real attitude when you see him

Kuroo kinda ruins them tho, adding an annoying comment about the nickname and Kenma S C O W L S 

OHHHH When you ask him on a date, you use the most creative one liner 

“Instead of me being support how bout I join your party and be your player 2? We’ll use Kuroo as a support, Rooster-Attack!” 

*cue adorable pose*

-Kuroo in the back : “ROOSTER, WHO YOU CALLING ROOSTER YOU-”

You start attacking him with chemistry insult and he dodges it with another chem attack

Kenma has never been so flustered nor entertained before

Overall, Kenma believes that you being a cute, silly, s/o is literally the best thing that has ever happened to him,, (Besides meeting Shoyo of course,, but then again,, that’s always the best thing that can happen to anyone, have you seen that boy’s harem?) 

Suna Rintaro x Reader

((ooooo,,,, man,,,, this mans,,,, he got me,,,, everywhere,,, lmao i pimp him and he isn’t the only one))) 

-------

Suna ,, I pimp you 

OH GAWD, the MIYA TWINS

It’s like,,, an extra Miya,,, but more like,, cousin instead of sibling Miya but still family Miya,, ya get me????

You transferred in during your second year and man,,, having Atsumu and Osamu pushing you to be their manager,,, its been trouble ever since,, even Aran cannot handle the amount of boondoggle that happens in practice

Okay, listen, you, YOU, are the type to be silly, yes, but in a way that makes Atsumu and Osamu start arguing over something silly you said and the twins start fighting because they started to drift somewhere else. 

Basically you drench the kerosene, light it, and leave it for the twins to fan the flames,, they are rolling and causing chaos

You and Suna always record it to blackmail them

Not to mention, you being the wacky person you are, you rope the twins into your shit,,, 

Since your last name is NOT Miya, but your other parent’s name, many of Atsumu’s fangirls don’t,, appreciate you 

You can’t help but dangle funny insults towards your ego-filled cousin, having the fangirls wreak havoc and chase you around

you would and can stop,, buts its too funny seeing them get mad over silly things like how you perceive Atsumu to be an ugly sleeper that farts and wakes up from it (( You lived it as kids when you and your family slept over the twins’ place, Osamu and you have many videos of it)) 

Suna is usually the one hiding you away from the rabid fans who seem to want to defend Atsumu’s perfect image honor. 

This man cannot fathom the amount of trouble you get into sometimes, esp. with the twins

When you two get together, you think of the most diabolical and hysterical plans, Suna there to record and by your side when things start to get out of hand

Suna doesn’t express many emotions, but when you finally get him to show a reaction cause of something you did, whether it be a joke or starting a Miya Twins brawl, he can’t help but have the small ghost of a smile when you’re not looking

Kunimi Akira x Reader

(((ooo another parted hair dark male,, Me likeyy))) 

-----------

You and Kindaichi are like,, a mesh of puns and anger 

Puns on your side and Anger on Kindaichi’s side

For Kunimi, he finds it entertaining, the dynamic you two have 

Though Kunimi doesn’t express emotions as much, ((like the other parted hair babes)) he likes to fan the flames to see his best friend angry 

Kindaichi doesn’t get ‘Mad’, he knows its for jokes,,, it’s just,,, your way of thinking can be so mind blowing that he doesn’t know how some of the things go your way it makes him want to know but he gets annoyed when you tease him about it 

Kunimi likes to see the way your accomplished smile shines, despite having silly pranks or stupid puns, you seem to get his type of humor 

you like to play jokes on Kindaichi, usually poking him when he’s not looking that he jumps out of his skin and he pokes you back and you poke him back, then it becomes a poking war and Kunimi steps to side to see you laugh and when you accidentally poke Kindachi too hard in the gut, he topples over and gives you the finger 

You say something among the lines, “Me? If anything, I won and you’re just salty, like that blond beanpole from Karasuno. Right, Kunimi?” 

Kunimi, I feel, isn’t the type to full out laugh, but snort or hide his laugh with a scoff behind his hand,, you know,,, like all these other men seem to do,, i get that vibe from them 

Dating, nothing changes but the teasing from your side is not overwhelming, yet its not underwhelming,, its actually a good wavelength to match with his own retorts 

Kunimi doesn’t hate that you rope him into your schemes, no matter how ridiculous, if it means he gets to see you smile and look at him with those crinkled eyes that seem to glow with joy,,, he doesn’t mind the effort (But he won’t tell you that) 

----------

((Ngl, this is kinda hard,, yet I tried lmao) 

#akaashi keji x reader #akaashi x reader #akaashi imagine #akaashi x you #kenma x you #kenma x reader #kenma imagine #suna x you #suna rintaro x reader #suna rintaro x y/n #kunimi imagines #kunimi x reader #kunimi akira x you #kunimi akira x reader

[ducktracy]

181. the case of the stuttering pig (1937)

disclaimer: this review contains antisemitic content, stereotypes, and imagery. i in no way endorse any of this, but it’s just as important to bring awareness to these depictions rather than shove them under the rug. please, PLEASE let me know if i make any mistakes or say something offensive, i want to take responsibility for my actions and use this as an opportunity to educate myself. any outside commentary is more than welcome. thank you for your patience and understanding.

release date: october 30th, 1937

series: looney tunes

director: frank tashlin

starring: mel blanc (porky, the guy in the third row), billy bletcher (lawyer goodwill), sara berner (petunia)

just in time for the halloween season, we explore one of tashlin’s best directorial efforts to date. the case of the stuttering pig (its title derived from the case of the stuttering bishop, a warner bros. film released only 4 months prior) is the first of many warner bros. cartoons to take a jab at the ever popular dr. jekyll and mr. hyde. here, porky and his family (4 brothers and petunia, who serves as his sister rather than a love interest) are terrorized by the nefarious lawyer goodwill, the family lawyer who turns himself into a mr. hyde facsimile, hoping to kill the family in order to snag some inheritance money.

frank tashlin’s cinematography is in peak form as the cartoon opens to a ghastly exposition--william tell’s “the storm” rages alongside a furious storm. intricate camera angles include an upshot on a giant old house, trees whipping in the wind against the flashing lightning, and a close up of the window shudders snapping against the exterior. the snaps of the window shudders soon melt into the droning tick of a clock inside, an upshot exposing dynamic, drawn out shadows against the walls. tashlin handles the contrast between values exceptionally well. backgrounds are crisp, clear, and pronounced.

cue a vertical pan of porky’s siblings (patrick, peter, percy, portus, and petunia) all lined up against the wall in a row of chairs. each appear apprehensive, obviously on edge. not porky, though. porky’s at the very end of the row, looking on with a hilariously blank smile plastered on his face. 

suddenly, a knock at the door interrupts the silence. cue the famous tashlin jump cut: we only see volney white’s animation of porky jumping out of his seat, but the next shot reveals all of the siblings hanging from a chandelier, with porky trepidatiously inquiring “who-who-who-who-who-who’s theh-the-the-the-the-there...?” you can still feel mel’s attempts to distinguish his own unique porky stutter from the authentic stutter provided by joe dougherty--this delivery is more dougherty-esque than some of his others. 

billy bletcher’s syrupy sweet vocals ring out from behind the door, the disembodied voice introducing himself as lawyer goodwill. the decision not to showcase who’s behind the door is a smart one. suspense is absolutely rife all throughout the cartoon, and the beginning is no exception. with a peppy “okey deh-eh-eh-deh-do... oh-oh-okey deh-deh... okay!”, porky is followed by his siblings as he happily allows this mysterious lawyer goodwill inside. the suddenly calm, almost wholesome atmosphere inside, reassured by the self-proclaimed friendly presence of lawyer goodwill is disrupted as soon as the door opens, wind howling and blowing the entire family down the hallway as goodwill fights his way inside, his face (and head, for that matter) completely concealed by his hat and collar. tashlin plays on this as goodwill removes his hat, a mere nub placed where his neck should be as a waterfall of rain pours out from the hat. nevertheless, goodwill reveals himself, a portly yet good-natured looking fellow as he tells the children it’s time to attend to “business”.

lawyer goodwill gathers the kids around to discuss the matter of their late uncle solomon (a pig caricature of oliver hardy, just one of a handful) and his will. the animation is slightly blurred and jittery from the double exposure effects of the shadows--animation historian mark kausler has this to say (transcribed from his excellent commentary that i’m partially parroting):

“they used to hand crank the cameras here. this was before electric drive animation cameras--that’s why the shadows are so flickery, because they had to back the film up and then re-expose it to get the transparency of the shadow.”

uncle solomon’s will states that his heirs will inherit his money. however, if something were to happen to them, then lawyer goodwill gets the cash instead. goodwill exits the house, reassuring that nothing will happen to the kids... “...i hope!”

there’s a gorgeous, moody upshot of the porch as goodwill lumbers down the steps. volney white is at the hand of this scene, easy to spot thanks to his telltale speed: goodwill practically glides across the screen as he heads towards offscreen, only to whip back and put a hand over his hear, nefariously straining to hear if he’s being followed. volney’s pose and expression are as strong as ever--i made a reel of his animation awhile ago if you’d like to check it out!

bob bentley takes over to animate goodwill’s transformation into the monster--his animation is very meticulous and well crafted. a good way to spot him is to see if characters have thicker eyebrows in some scenes than others. goodwill swaps clothes in favor of a hat and cape almost effortlessly, gliding across the screen like butter. the flow isn’t interrupted, not even by the overlay of tables decorated with test tubes, skulls, etc. 

all of goodwill’s potential queries on how to transform into a hideous beast are answered with a bottle of “jekyll and hide juice” (starting at only $9.99! call now and get another FREE at no cost to you! it’s a steal, folks!)  nestled conveniently on his shelf of various poisons. he pours the concoction into a cocktail, acting like a regular bartender as he shows off by pouring the mixture from glass to glass. tashlin’s timing, both behaviorally and comically, are succinct as goodwill finally downs the mixture. he grips the table, taking heaving breaths, staring at the audience, until... nothing. he heaves a dubious shrug. 

instead, goodwill opts to use a milkshake mixer (a relatively new invention whose novelty value would have scored much bigger laughs then than it does today, but still remains amusing at the very least) to mix his concoction, downing it once more.

bob bentley’s animation of the monster is nothing short of gorgeous. well defined, well crafted, and dimensional. however, it does encapsulate antisemitic stereotypes and caricatures, from the big nose to clawed hands and pointy ears, as well as the desire for money. as skillful as the animation is, and as solid as the cartoon is, these are problems that still need to be addressed. understand that when i’m praising the animation, i’m focusing on the techniques themselves and the technicalities behind it, not the content that’s being animated itself. (thank you anon for taking the time to educate me! it’s much appreciated.) 

billy bletcher snarls in his trademark deep voice, even quipping “you wouldn’t think i was lawyer goodwill now, would you?” he talks directly to the audience, getting right close in their face, jabbing his spindly finger and bulbous nose. he even goes as far as to berate his public by screeching “you bunch of softies! YEAH, YOU IN THE THIRD ROW! ya BIG SOFTIE!” the fourth wall breaking is nothing short of genius. just IMAGINE seeing this in a dark, packed movie theater! the effect would be phenomenal! (especially if you were the guy in the third row! i’m sure all of the third-row-sitting patrons felt quite satisfied at these showings.) the monster vows to dispose of the family, sneering at our inability to help save our heroes.

said heroes are contentedly socializing in the living room, peppy porky talking about how safe and sound they are in their own little house. so, of course, that serves as the cue for a gnarly hand to grab the light switch and kill the lights. i love the detail of the shadow creeping along the wall before you even see the hand itself--little decisions like that go such a long way.

the lights go out, and all we hear is the pluck of an electric slide guitar. the lights come on, and one of porky’s alliteratively named siblings is gone, with an x cleverly marked in his place. the ritual occurs four times, with porky remarking each of the names of his fallen siblings (”peh-peh-patrick!” “eh-peh-peh-peh-eh-peter!” “eh-peh-peh-eh-peh-percy!” “puh-portus!”). the lights go out once more, and x’s mark where porky and petunia were just sitting prior. definitely an artsy and interesting way to convey the kidnappings--even more so when we see porky and petunia trepidatiously popping their heads out from behind the armchair after the camera trucks in on their deserted spot.

volney white animates the close up of petunia clutching to porky, stuttering (from fear, that is) “g-g-gee, p-p-porky, i’m scared!” her voice here is provided by sara berner as opposed to berneice hansell, who voiced her in her last appearance in porky’s romance. ironically, hansell would take over for petunia again after bob clampett adopted (and subsequently redesigned) her character. you can hear the evolution of her voice here. 

porky reassures her that they’ll find the brothers as we cue a clever pan from inside to outside the house, spotlighting the basement. the backgrounds are so gorgeous and moody! we find the pigs tied up in stocks, with the monster sneering about how he’ll do away with all the pigs once he nabs porky and petunia. once more, our ever-aware villain resorts to heckling the poor sap in the third row: “and if that guy in the third row comes up, I’LL FIX HIM TOO! you big CREAMPUFF!” again--this is exceedingly entertaining to watch 83 years later on a laptop screen, but imagine what a riot this would be in theaters! frank tashlin understood that the audience was paying to watch his cartoons, and he knew how to make it worth their time. the cartoons catered to the audience rather than the studio executives always make for the best ones--tex avery was especially keen of this, as we’ll soon explore.

back to porky and petunia, both cautiously traipsing down the hallway as porky calls the names of his fallen brothers, both straining to hear any signs of life. while the poses aren’t nearly pushed to the same extremes as they would be in tashlin’s second directorial stint from 1943-1946, they’re still quite nice and accentuated just enough. certainly stronger than the poses present in the other directors’ cartoons. seeing as tashlin was a newspaper cartoonist, his illustrative, comic look translates well into his own cartoons. it’s almost as if his comic art has leapt right off the page, but also meshes well enough with the animation to have a good sense of motion to it. it’s the best of both worlds.

while porky is unaware, petunia is yanked off screen by a hand protruding from a trick wall panel. suddenly, the villain himself tinkers behind porky, mimicking his movements. porky even manages to grab a hold of his gangly hand, assuming it’s petunia, going so far as to look him straight in the eyes and shush him. the volney white animated villain looks strikingly different than that of bob bentley’s--volney’s is exceedingly more streamlined and design driven, especially around the eyes. he’s not nearly as hairy, grotesque, or dimensional. not that that’s a bad thing! in fact, i love when animators are able to make their styles so distinguishable from the other animators. not only is it fun, it makes identifying animation much easier.

when porky finally realizes that he’s being stalked by the monster, he does the signature volney white eye take and runs for the hills, er, stairs. tashlin’s speed dominates as porky scales flights of stairs at lightning speeds--it’s dizzying to even watch! eventually, porky jumps right into the arms of the monster, clinging to him (thinking it’s petunia) as he describes what he just saw: “i eh-seh-saw the most teh-teh-teh-eh--awful leh-leh-lookin’ man, all beh-beh-big and beh-beh-eh-bleh-black... beh-beh-BIG teeth...” all the while, porky is grabbing onto the villain’s nose and clinging to him like a baby. the animation is positively hilarious, especially when porky recognizes who he’s being cradled by, actually connecting nose to snout as he lets out a scream and barrels down the staircase once more, the same footage from before just in reverse. a wonderful scene with great dialogue and hilarious animation. bob clampett would borrow this in his own jeepers creepers just two years later, with a ghost in place of the monster.

porky locks himself in the basement, discovering his siblings tied up in stocks (”leh-leh-land sakes alive!”), his attempts to free them interrupted by the sound of the villain knocking the door down. interestingly enough, after we pan to the monster infiltrating the premises, the next shot is the entire family huddled in a corner, indicating that porky did manage to free them after all. the technique is reminiscent of the cartoon’s beginning, where we see only porky jump out of his seat before showing all of the siblings hiding in the chandelier. 

just as it looks like the pig family is bacon, a random chair from offscreen is lobbed at the monster, sending him tumbling right into the stocks. the family is just as perplexed as the viewer, asking in unison “who DID that?”

“ME!” mel blanc’s gruff, more natural voice rings out from behind the screen. the locked up monster ogles at the audience, pointing a gangly finger as he snarls “who are YOU?” mel’s tough guy new yoik accent snarls back “I’M DA GUY IN DA THOID ROW, YA BIG SOURPUSS!” iris out on a deflated, dejected villain--just IMAGINE witnessing this in real time in the theaters! 

this cartoon is one of the reasons why frank tashlin is one of my favorite directors of all time. it’s got all of the tashlin essentiasl. the effects animation by A.C. gamer at the beginning is lovely, doing a wonderful job of establishing such an eerie mood. the raging, wild storm juxtaposes perfectly with the unsettlingly still atmosphere inside the house. lawyer goodwill makes an excellent villain, topped off with billy bletcher’s vocals and bob bentley’s skilled animation. the constant fourth wall breaking with him... need i say more? it’s such a great way to involve the audience with the picture and really suck in their attention, especially that ending. the animation is excellent, the backgrounds are gorgeous, it’s absolutely rife with atmosphere. this is tashlin’s best effort thus far and one of his best efforts overall.

however, the antisemitic stereotypes and caricatures should be accounted for. while i do say you should watch this one to get an idea of frank tashlin’s mastery as a director, tread with caution and discretion. i absolutely don’t endorse these concepts. so, if you do want to watch it, you can go to HBOmax or click this link, just be advised.

#lt #looney tunes #the case of the stuttering pig #reviews #tashlin #long post #antisemitism tw

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[from the article]

But I didn’t have to interview Manos in the end. He showed me exactly how it worked. His pedagogy in that moment was all about contrast.

He pivoted from verbally assaulting me to commanding the class to “go within and find your centre point of stillness.”

The room went from the dead silence of discomfort and fear to the dead silence of self-surveillance. I felt everyone stiffen into perfect meditation posture. It was picture-worthy. It could have become the Abode’s Facebook cover photo.

I could feel the palpable relief that the attack was over and that it hadn’t fallen on anyone but me. This seemed to create a strangely serene and floating sensation in the room.

Manos then guided the class through a remarkably detailed, intimate, and subtle internal meditation, while we were lying in corpse pose.

So: after verbally attacking an invited guest, Manos put the whole class into a vulnerable position, guiding them into a hypnagogic state with a voice that had just been yelling, but was now meant to be internalized as a source of guidance and care.

I found it impossible to pay attention or feel much because my heart was pounding and I was flooded with cortisol, and physically afraid. I’m willing to bet that most of the room was also defensively aroused by the attack.

But because they weren’t specifically targeted, perhaps some could use their own cortisol for heightened attention and awareness. I imagine that this felt slightly confusing, but also invigorating for many of them.

In general terms, this pivot from chaos to care is at the heart of intimate, sustained abuse. The caregiver terrifies you, and then seems to love you. And because you depend on him, you’ll go through a lot for those moments of love and support.

In this particular context, the hyper-detailed instructions of Iyengar Yoga are freighted with the task of restoring order: not just to the body or mind as-they-are-generally, but also to the person who has just been disrupted by the attack. The countless cues for how to orient the bone, muscle, skin and even hair are like step-by-step instructions for how to restore yourself to social safety within the classroom.

The feeling for some might be: if I follow these steps perfectly, I won’t have to be afraid.

In researching my book I discovered that it’s not only that certain powerful men in the yoga world have figured out how to spiritualize a psychological abuse dynamic of arbitrary fear and care, and that this may resonate with students familiar with that oscillation in their personal histories. It’s that bodily care after bodily stress can feel incredibly sweet and addictive, on a biochemical level.

Among those who practice bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, I’ve learned that the most important part of any “scene” of consensual eroticized pain exchange, is the “aftercare”. A scene — the term evokes theatre: participants know their roles, and know it will end — may seem violent, but if it resolves with the dominant partner holding, cuddling, and soothing the submissive partner, the full impact of the encounter can be metabolized into care. It can even be felt as a healing reversal of past traumas. This is not only because it is consensual, but because the aftercare strengthens the trust of the relationship.

I now believe that part of what made the elite pedagogy of B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois so powerful and murky is that it is playing with intense mechanisms that BDSM culture make conscious: the oscillation between stress postures and care, played out in dominant-submissive dyads. This dynamic may also constitute a form of unrecognized post-traumatic play.

There’s no clarity, or dialogue, or notion of consent in these spaces of dominance. The activity is not understood as theatre, but as the vital transmission of the knowledge of salvation. The yoga itself — the breath, the relaxation poses, and the spiritual promises — stands in as a proxy for the conscious aftercare that BDSM practitioners recognize as the key to preventing re-traumatization.

As I packed up my things at the end of Manos’ class, some of the other students gave me apologetic looks. Others avoided eye contact. But several devotees approached me to say hello and wish me well, like unconscious recruiters.

One woman cornered me to tell me about Manos’ miraculous healing powers. I was listened patiently, feeling rage smoulder way down deep.

After I edged away, another woman touched me on the shoulder from behind. I turned around to find her beaming at me.

“I hope you had a great class,” she said, effusive.

“Well, after a welcome like that…” I started.

My voice trailed off as her face darkened. I went from feeling snide to guilty to sad.

“It’s just that… he is a hero to so many of us,” she said, choked up. “And we want you to love him as much as we do.”

#yoga #cult #abuse #articles #Matthew Remski

[silkylious]

Hi dear. I’m the anon who requested an istp reader earlier and i’m so sorry I completely missed the requests closed sign. Congrats on 400 followers!! Your event is so cute and I’m here to request a matchup! I’m a straight 5’7 girl whose personality type is istp. I have long brown hair and brown eyes. I’m a figure skater who loves to read, write and watch anime. I also like to bake whenever I have time. I’m rather analytical, with my strengths lying in math and science and history as my weakest. My writing style is more poetic, consisting of long sentences, metaphors and personophication. I’m blunt and my humor is dry and witty. However, even though I usually can keep a cool head, I get flustered easily (it’s one of the things I hate most lmao). I generally don’t take BS and my style is minimalist. I prefer to stay in by myself rather than go out with large groups of people. If I had an SO, I would much rather stay in and enjoy each other’s presence than go out on elaborate dates. I have a really low social battery too. My music taste is all over the place, but I love Chase Atlantic and Arctic Monkeys. I’m more of a cat person, though I do love dogs, and I like nature and spending time outside. Hopefully that’s enough information! Thank you so much! - 🧩 anon

Thank you so much for sending this in!! <3 I hope you like your matchup! :3

I ship you with...

general relationship dynamic: 

A match made in heaven or hell depending on who you ask

Similar enough to maintain stability, but different enough to keep things unpredictable and fun

Katsuki appreciates your rational nature, as he himself is extremely pragmatic. That common denominator relives the stress of having to deal with problems caused by emotional misunderstandings 

I can definitely see this dynamic as a slowly building friendship at first

Your tendency to not let anyone walk all over you and keep a calm aura about you immediately attracted him, but simultaneously frustrated him to no visible end

The blatant contrast between your personalities instantaneously made him want to break that collected demeanor of yours. 

All in the name of competition. At least it started out that way.

Battle after battle, bruise after bruise and trail after trail, the more hardships you faced together, the more teasing your remarks became.

What started out as him hurling every curse word known to man in hopes of shattering that nonchalant exterior of yours (and you ultimately ignoring him), slowly but surely turned into both of you exchanging well-crafted remarks.

Your sardonic humor was such a good match for him. Both knocked him off his high horse and left him in complete awe (and affection. Though he’d never admit it) of your quick, sarcastic wit all packaged in a light-hearted tone that didn’t wound his ego (too much).

More often than not, you’d fluster the hell out of him. Not that it was hard to get a reaction out of Bakugo Katsuki to begin with.

Your sharp responses just made him want to see you lose your cool even more. He never wallowed in his embarrassment too long, always too eager to grasp the next opportunity to turn the tables on you.

You bet your ass the first time he saw your composure slip, the bastard basked in it. Laughing to his heart’s content while you indignantly screeched at him to shut up.

He’d never forget that moment; and he made damn sure you wouldn’t either, not hesitating to bring it up whenever he wanted to put you in your place or just to get a rise out of you for the hell of it.

And from there it just doesn’t stop. He’s a quick learner and oddly observant, and he uses both those traits to his full advantage when picking on you. His relentless teasing never ceasing to give him the satisfaction of seeing your disheveled composure.

He also loved the gentle crease in your brows and that adorable pout on your lips whenever he verbally pushes you into a corner but that’s beside the point-

Not that it mattered anyway, you had plenty blackmail material of his less than dignified moments to spare.

Your friendship was easy going, trustworthy, reliable. But neither of you could admit your feelings to each other to save your lives. Much to the dismay of your friends, who had to watch the absolute clownery of you tip-toeing around your feelings in muted agony.

Cue perpetual pining.

Once you finally confess your feelings for each other, I honestly don’t see the relationship shifting much.

You act like really, really close friends who just happen to be affectionate and completely enamored by one another

I see Katsuki as a high energy person. Regardless of where he chooses to focus that energy, he needs external stimulus. More often than not, he directs his abundant energy into training and sparring. But generally, a lot of his excess energy is expelled through social interaction. Whether or not this social interaction is mirthful doesn’t really matter so long as he’s depleting his excessive energy.

Your low social battery might pose a small issue, dealing with Katsuki alone is like dealing with a dozen other less intense individuals. But you can easily work around it through your common interests and hobbies that can stimulate you both without depriving you into mental exhaustion

trivia:

Katsuki loves going on outdoor dates with you. A picnic in a secluded park, hiking, stargazing, camping- you name it

These dates are perfect for you two, combining your love for nature and privacy all the while giving him an activity to expel his stamina

Though he can’t say no a good at home date with you.

I absolutely adore the one headcanon about him being an amazing cook but a horrible baker

With a bit of coaxing on your part, you somehow manage to get him into baking. His skills are fucking abysmal.

He’s also distracting

Every time you try to bake together it almost always ends with both of you covered in flour with like three batches of burnt cookie dough, and childlike grins on your faces

Katsuki doesn’t really mind what the two of you do on dates, so long as he’s spending alone time with you, and you wouldn’t have it any other way

He’s a lost cause you figure. But he'll secretly practice at home, to his mother's dismay. But he doesn't care, it's all worth it in the end as he catches sight of pride and admiration in your eyes the one time he baked you a simple treat for your birthday

He made sure to learn your favorite baked goods, if only as a back up plan when he fucked up and needed to worm his way back into your arms

His curiosity was peaked when you’d told him that you’re a figure skater. So much so that one day he asks (read: demands) that you take him to an ice rink

As you show him one of your choreographies, he’s in a state of silent admiration

Katsuki is extremely kinesthetic, so he could easily pick up on the countless hours of hardwork you’d spent mastering your form, perfecting your footing, building up astounding flexibility to be able to preform and make it seem so effortless

The way your muscles pulled taut and relaxed again from stance to stance, the way small bruises lay proud on your skin as an indictive of all the effort you’d put into this sport all but made him fall in love with you again

When you strike a final pose, looking at him expectantly, noiselessly, he doesn’t say anything. But the star-eyed gaze and gentle smile he gave you spoke louder than any of his crude words ever could.

The cherry red in his eyes every so often melted so softly, it set your heart ablaze each and every time

He ended up reluctantly swallowing his pride and asking you to teach him a couple moves that day

You have study dates. All. The time.

He’s a jack of all trades so history is a no brainer for him. When you ask him to help you with it he begrudgingly complies.

Now whether or not his teaching actually helped is up to your imagination lmfao

I think one of Katsuki’s main love languages is quality time; you don’t even have to be actively helping each other while studying, just your presence around him sedates his mind exceptionally

Seconds tick by on his digital clock, each thirtieth tick he discreetly glances at you to make sure you’re still there, if he’s in the mood he’ll have to touch you in some way or another. Doesn’t even have to be affectionate, just your skin on his is enough to spur a content sigh out of him

when you’re simply reading a book or watching an anime together, he’ll lay his head on your lap without a word, or he’ll sit behind you with his arms wrapped tightly around your waist. Give it some time and his roughed-up hands will snake their way into your long hair, making a mess out of it, braiding and unbraiding it as he pleases. Tease him and he’ll instantly move

He loves reading your writing! To him, it’s like you’re inviting him into a corner of your mind. A corner very few get to explore, and he takes pride in that privilege

Can be a bit hesitant to give his full interpretations of your works at first, often just replying with one word “encouragements” but he quickly recognizes your discontent and tries to be a bit more open with his thoughts.

Slowly but surely he lets you into a corner of his mind as well, and you couldn’t be happier in those moments

[bus ride home]

The sun lovingly cast its last embers upon his face, framing and sculpting it with sharp shadows and soft reds into a breathtaking portrait as his matching crimson irises look far away, far beyond the sunset. He’s unfairly handsome. You huffed, forcing yourself to look away from what you could only describe as perfection, lest the last remnants of breath elude your lungs.

With your stare finally detached from him, all your senses started bleeding back into reality. The hum of soft rock buzzing through your plugged earbud caught your attention. Ah, this was one of your favorites. Your mind started painting his visage behind your closed lids, the music only added to the vividness of the dozen or so shades of oranges and yellows. You hummed along; the crescendo was steadily approaching.

“… But I crumble completely when you cry…”

The gentle tenor in your voice lulled Katsuki away from his muddled thoughts, instead focusing on your serenity. You’d always being good at keeping your cool, but this was different. With a tiny tug at your lips as they moved with each delicate syllable, you looked truly in your element. Angelic in a sense as the warm rays of dusk embraced you. He couldn’t look away from what he could only describe as perfection. His flushed ears barely picked up on the porcelain notes leaking from the unplugged earbud before his tongue started imitating your own.

“… In my imagination you’re waiting, lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs and a smile.”

One brown eye blinked open, surprised at the gruff bass joining your little jamming session. Katsuki snatched the unused earpiece and put in his own.

“Weren’t you the one that said my music taste is trash?” You raised an eyebrow.

“It is trash.” The glimmer in his gaze told you otherwise. You scoffed and looked away, attempting to hide the smile pulling on your lips.

The next song started playing.

<3

#matchmaker silky #🧩 anon #bnha matchup #mha matchup #505 is the best am song dont @ me

[yogaadvise]

5 Common Yoga Cues Decoded

There are particular things you may have pertained to expect from your yoga courses, like whether you'll break a sweat or the truth that you will certainly constantly end with Savasana. There are likewise some hints (or directions) you can generally anticipate to speak with your teachers, however aren't in fact clear on what they indicate. Below are 5 typical expressions listened to in yoga course, and what they truly are saying for you and your practice.

1. The Cue: “Breathe”

What it means: Obviously you do not need to be reminded to actually take a breath, so when you hear this cue, your instructor desires you to in fact pay attention to your breath. Sometimes, the message is simply to notice your breathing-- exactly how the air really feels coming in and out of your nose, the rhythm of the fluctuate of your stomach, or about how much of your lung capability you are engaging. Various other times, the sign is suggested for you to in fact transform your breath-- generally to just reduce it down and grow it.

Why your teacher said it: There are lots of benefits to conscious breathing. In the early moments of your yoga class however, connecting to the way you take a breath helps to peaceful the mind and transitions you from your day "out there" to the minute "in below.' The anxious system cools down when you reduce down the breath, taking you out of the difficult fight-or-flight mode.

Also, when you purposely breathe, you are able to much better connect to conscious movement, both on and also off the mat. Keep in mind, it is the link to breath as well as experience that makes a physical yoga method various than various other types of exercise.

2. The Hint: "Set an Objective for Your Technique"

What it means: Sometimes your teacher presents the class with a collective purpose, yet other times, he or she may simply encourage you to establish your own. If you've ever before been stymied on what to do when your educator claims to establish a purpose, allow it to be basic instead of stress yourself for it to be specifically unique or innovative. Easy purposes like, "May I be strong and also steady," "May I stay linked to my breath," or "May I launch my rage towards so-and-so" are typically the most effective and transformative.

Why your teacher said it: As writer and inspirational speaker Wayne Dyer said, "Our intent creates our reality." In yoga exercise, it is your purpose that makes the experience a mindful one. Without intent, your mind will likely roam, as well as you'll lose out on the spiritual and also energised advantages that belong to the structure of a yoga exercise practice. Just how you direct your ideas and move your resonance are really more crucial in the grand system of points than if you're able to merely depend on your head.

3. The Sign: "Pile Your Bones" or "Stack Your Joints"

What it means: This positioning hint describes the spatial partnership between your body components in order to maintain you secure. When in an arm equilibrium as an example (like Slab Pose), this hint describes stacking (or aligning) your shoulders directly over your wrists. In a present like Forward Fold, you'll wish to bring your hips vertical of your knees, not behind them. As well as in lunge poses, like Crescent Lunge or Warrior II, the hint will be describing the knee joint being above the ankle joint, not in front of it.

Why your teacher said it: This is an usual sign due to the fact that following it is among the ideal ways you can secure yourself from lasting injury. Bones and also muscular tissues are stronger than joints are, so when you are geometrically familiar with how your bones are aligned, gravity protects against the weight as well as pressure from mosting likely to the more fragile joints. You'll feel much more secure when your joints are piled up and down, and also this will help you really feel solid, effective, and risk-free in your poses.

4. The Cue: "Engage Your Core"

What it means: This hint asks you to tighten and stabilize your stomach muscles. In a great yoga course, you are using your core muscles to help you discover your center in every position, not just when you're doing problems or yogi bikes. "Engage your core" literally indicates that you need to bring awareness to your waistline, as well as tighten your stomach muscles. When given up the context of how you relocate from posture to present, it indicates that you need to initiate the activity from a strong facility, instead of letting momentum relocate your arm or legs.

Why your teacher said it: You will certainly be impressed at exactly how core security and also understanding can change your equilibrium and power ... not to mention your body. By involving your abdominal muscle mass, you are not only getting a stronger facility, however you are protecting and enhancing the spine and back muscle mass. Given that low neck and back pain is one of the most usual problems from yoga exercise trainees (and humans in basic), toning these muscle mass is definitely a rewarding venture for overall wellness.

5. The Sign: "Listen to Your Body"

What it means: This hint is a suggestion to remain linked to the physical and also energetic experiences in your body at any kind of provided minute. When you "listen to your body," you honor and respect when you have actually gone too much and also when you can more than you give on your own credit for.

While this one might seem simple, it really takes some method to learn to differentiate the different feelings you may be experiencing. Can you tell the difference between discomfort and also discomfort? Going also much right into your adaptability, versus just much enough? Or just how about healthy fatigue versus over-exhaustion? Finding out to pay attention to your body will help you thrive, heal, as well as live a long as well as dynamic life, both on and also off your mat.

Why your teacher said it: When your instructor informs you to listen to your body, she or he wants you to be in fee of your own practice, keep on your own secure, and encourage on your own to obtain what you require out of your yoga session. What your educator really is claiming is that it is extra vital to listen to your own instinct than to pay attention to what the instructor is telling you to do. Because all bodies are different, and we each have our very own set of staminas and limitations, it's crucial that you acknowledge that a yoga practice is an individual one. It is a time to listen to your very own inner knowledge, rather than conform to exterior expectations.

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#meditation #spiritual #yoga #yoga alliance #yoga and meditation #yoga practice

[firebirdsdaughter]

Hey…

… Hey, wireless?

F YOU.

Okay. Thank god for common sense. I accidentally lost my post bc my wireless conked out.

HOWEVER!

I was wise, and copied the contents. so we have lost nothing but the tags. Which weren’t that interesting any way.

So here we go!

In no order: (also, I apologise for any typos my fingers decided they wanted to type a mile a minute… DX)

Aw, Naohisa (still thinking I’m spelling his name wrong) is giving them science lessons…

That Melto loves and Asuna doesn’t get… XD It’s okay Asuna, I’m not sure I understand, either.

Melto’s so starry-eyed, gods love him. XD

ASUNA.

Aw, Tyramigo. It’s okay, Melto, he doesn’t mean it meanly. ^^

They’re really cute though. XD

I guess Kou got the idea to see the world in his head from watching tv…

But I feel like there are better places to get into the river than jumping over this railing…

THAT LITTLE BLINK BEFORE HE SAYS ‘209’ XD

He’s clearly got no idea why that’s shocking. ^^

UI DON’T JUST ACCEPT THIS! DX

I guess she decided that she couldn’t really tell a 209 year old what to do…

This episode officially made me conclude that Ui and Touwa are the smols. They’re the youngest of the siblings. Kou is next, then Melto and Asuna are like… Twins who are slightly older than him. No one can agree which one of them is older. Banba is obviously the eldest and stuck managing them. Maybe until Gold gets here. Unless he’ll have to manage Gold, too.

Touwa’s fast, but Banba outweighs him… A for effort, though, sweetie. <3

To continue reading foreshadowing in everything… I wonder if Touwa commenting he doesn’t think Banba can lose in one v one means we’re eventually going to see just that happen.

Or, potentially, maybe Banba did once lose to someone in one v one?

Or both?

Touwa, honey, I just want you to know I very much support the concept of you and the others just tackling your brother. Like Merry and Pippin w/ Boromir. Just jump him. He could use the hugs.

Banba gazes majestically off into the distance as he prepares to be angsty.

Banba: ‘People will always betray you.’

Me: ‘Who did this to you? SHOW ME SO I CAN STAB THEM W/ THIS FORK TEN MILLION TIMES???’

I so want whoever hurt him like this to be an absolute dickwad and I want to see them get their asses kicked, esp by some truly pissed off little sibs.

By Banba, too, absolutely. But I would kill for an ep where the kids find out what this person did and go on a roaring rampage of protectiveness for their big brother. TT^TT DX

Touwa definitely doesn’t know what happened… DX I think he knew Banba was distrusting towards others and very much a loner, but he looks so sad and confused that I don’t think he knew it went this deep…

I wanna hug my little green gremlin son, too! DX I WANNA HUG ALL OF THEM!

Eh. I’m sure she’s fine.

Mook suit actors, the unsung heroes of any and all Sentai. XD

Hey, Green final slash! And Black again. ^^

XD Touwa. Banba’s just like ‘irritated growl.’ ^^

I’m… Pretty sure Ui just insulted this guy…?

Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t see nobody glowing green and losing life force. So… Did they just decide not to put that effect in, or… Or did the Minusaur actually come from someone else?

Like… Tall Cheese?

Ahem. Sorry. I mean Fita.

Though she’s not glowing either… Augh. I dunno what I’m saying.

Why would they chain up Ui, but not Kou?

Well done, Kou. ^^ Boy’s clever is a fight. XD

… What the heck was that boise and dramatic shot of her face? Where they just trying to remind us she’s an idol? I think it happened when the brothers find her, too… Does it mean something? Hmm… I dunno.

Kou’s reaction is hilarious, though.

Ui’s neck is gonna hurt later… DX

Okay, but later the brothers wake her up just fine? I guess the effects were only temporary… That’s probably why they chained them up, so that they couldn’t escape even when they woke up.

And… Kou’s sense ends here. Why didn’t you call the others, you dork? XD

Hmm… I miss Tankjoh, but I kinda like the new guy’s music…

I think he’s meant to be a drastically different personality. Where Tankjoh was surly and serious, this guy is bombastic and childish.

These are the most badass children I have ever seen.

Actually, that’s not true, but, they’re up there.

I’m wonder if it’s an effect of the brainwashing.

I love that girl in the lavender sweatshirt who just goes for the spinning kick. XD

Touwa probably bothered Banba until he agreed to bring her here. XD Which may have been easier bc Banba probably didn’t want to have to deal w/ her…

Melto thinking ‘oh, crap, she’s pretentious, the only way we’re gonna get her to talk is… *sigh* okay, someone has to take this bullet, it might as well be me…’

Honestly, though, I think the only other person who would possibly be willing to do that is Touwa, and probably not. Asuna wasn’t taking well to getting ordered around, and Banba would never kneel to anyone (… Well… Actually, no comment). My interpretation is that Melto realises she’s rather high and mighty, and that she’ll respond to an act of 'reverence’ like that, and he knows no one else in the room is gonna be willing to do it w/out complaining. So he just steps in to save them all the trouble. Mom friend to the rescue.

Honestly, it’s very sensible of him. ^^

I need to write more w/ Melto… DX

Banba is the back modelling. Bc boy can’t be in a single scene where he isn’t posing in some way at every opportunity.

XD I WAS RIGHT. ^^

Sorry Short Cheese, Banba doesn’t care if you think he has manners (I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to ditch her in the forest earlier XD). Touwa looks slightly miffed, but I think he’s less effected by it coming from you. The only one you’re offending is Asuna. And, actually, I’d advise against that.

Hey, isn’t Asuna also technically a noble?

Asuna’s like ‘First off, how dare you? Second, how dare you? And third… How dare you?’

XD This is even funnier bc of one of my casual ships. ^^

Melto hates this so much, but he’s willing to do it to find out what’s happening. XD Poor baby.

Oh, okay. So the mind control is just his thing.

This is so vague I can’t trust it… I mean, I guess most of it could be on the level, but… Hm. I gotta wonder if they were allowed to escape… And what exactly he’s got on them to have them still be doing this? (Bc next ep pretty much reveals they’re trying to trick the team) Is Short Cheese mind controlled? Is Tall Cheese? They repeat her ‘I would risk my own life to save her’ twice this ep, so I’m guessing Tall Cheese/little sister’s life is still in danger somehow…? I dunno. I guess we’ll learn this weekend.

So… What, you can just teleport? Why didn’t you do that when you were running before? SUSPICIOUS?

Also, I’m not sure I trust these flashbacks either, bc they’re from Short Cheese’s point of view, and next ep indicates she wasn’t being on the level w/ the team. I mean, she’s holding that orange rock in a bottle… But… Did it come from her planet? Is it something they stole from the Druidons? Or is there a part of this story that was left out (actually, that much is obvious bc Short Cheese didn’t mention the rock at all), where the Druidon gave it to her? Too many variables, even if I didn’t know they were up to something.

I should note that it’s pretty obvious they’re not actually evil and are being forced into doing this. They’re only here as guest stars and they’re being promoted as being idols (exhibit A, the abrupt song sequence coming up), so I HIGHLY doubt they’re gonna pull out the rug and make them outright evil.

And, anyway, the next ep preview practically confirms that. XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is ready to kill something, I swear.

I also like the boy in the burgundy and white sweatshirt. XD He’s paying such good attention. ^^

Asuna’s offended, Melto’s somewhere else thinking about Wyzul, Banba doesn’t care and Touwa’s in. XD

Touwa clearly here thinking ‘dear god, I know I never want to go through that… O_o’

Honey, I am so sorry, but I make no promises. DX

That’s a very direct question, but no less then I’d expect from Banba. Though also… Kinda odd? What are you trying to establish here, sweetie? Why are you asking this?

This line is very important, clearly. They repeat it twice. Pretty sure it’s to make us understand that whatever is going on next ep, it’s bc the sisters are trying to protect each other. Like I said, I’m presuming that Tall Cheese is actually still in danger somehow.

WHAT WAS HE TRYING TO ESTABLISH W/ THAT QUESTION? And then he just accepts her answer? I’m confused…

I really can’t tell if he’s finding something odd w/ this, or if he’s accepting it bc he’s sympathising w/ her… DX Tatsuya is being unreadable too well! DX

And then she… Just starts singing? Like, I love this show, but… There could’ve been a better lead up to that.

Though I do love Naohisa reacting to the lights. XD

So… Was this just a random musical interlude, or… Was she doing something? I guess it was so that Kou could hear it and make the connection, but the execution could have gone a little better.

Banba takes that extra moment to pose. XD

Untransformed fight! ^^

I love how Banba just delays transforming to take off. :D

I needed to use a new emoticon.

Kou’s little ‘Ah!’ and pointing when the kids show up! XD

Girl in the lavender sweatshirt is going to cut something.

See, this is an effective use of the singing.

Uh… What. Melto, what does that… Whatever. Sentai logic.

Now he says ‘Okay, Tyra!’ instead of just ‘Tyra!’

SOMEONE TEACH HIM TOUWA AND BANBA’S NAMES!

Banba would be SO AWKWARD. XD

Oh, NOW you transform. XD Well, we wouldn’t have had that beautiful weapon toss if you had before. ^^

See? We bring up the line again, and there’s a weird sound cue? Does it mean anything?

Touwa sees the other smollest sib and must immediately go help her. XD

I do like the improve mobility of this mech. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adored the clusterfuck of orbs that was the Kyuranger mecha, but… It’s nice to seem something more dynamic once in a while?

Kudos the new suit actor, too. Whose name still escapes me… DX

Convenient train tracks. XD Sentai logic.

Actually, just Toku logic.

I love MirNeedle and his honk and his spinning attack. XD

Could you be more tsundere in one sentence???

Touwa’s just like ‘stages of realising your brother is a tsundere, stage 3: acceptance’

Kou doesn’t mind, though. XD

I do think Banba is starting to kind of like the trio, but boy is very damaged and the concept scares him, so he’s trying to fight it as much as possible, even though it’s just kind of a slight, vague fondness at this point.

Like, eventually, he’s going to end up adopting them, it’s going to happen, he’s going to have at least four younger sibs, actually five. But we’re not there quite yet.

I would love a ‘we’re not each other’s only family anymore’ sort of thing from the brothers. Or maybe one of the trio telling them that. XD

One day, a Mosasaurus will be in that empty spot, I bet.

Melto and Banba on the same wavelength. ^^

So… The Minusaur host is dead now?

This is cute, but I already know there’s more to this.

XD Oh, Banba. You’re starting to like them, I know you are. You’re not getting out of this. Though I do get why you really don’t want that to happen.

Though I do think his getting emotional next week is a partially due to it. ^^ Like, yes, there’s the fact that he’s mad at Kou for being too trusting, and that it might be dangerous for all of them/earth, but… I dunno. Probably overthinking.

But I’m gonna wax on about that shot in the preview later, don’t worry. XD

Or worry, if you don’t want to hear my rambling. In… Which case why would you even be reading this.

Melto on point again. XD I really need to write more w/ you… DX

Though on the other hand, I guess there’s a possibility that she could have read it in Naohisa’s papers at the house, or he said it to her. But she didn’t seem interested in the research, and they could just ask Naohisa if he mentioned it.

Hm… Maybe they’re waiting to update the ED until Gold gets here.

Why does Kou have the inflation Soul activated?

… That sounds like he knows way  more about economics than he actually does. XD

As far as the preview, I like the drama that seems to be happening. ^^ Maybe they’ll finally give us some slightly more concrete info on what happened to Banba. Or just… Anything about the brothers’ past? And what about that hooded person? The sisters are up to something, but they’re obviously being forced into it somehow, Wyzul is definitely the sneaky type. We’re also heading into May, which means DimeVolcano and possibly Gaisorg/Gaisoulg? Though he wasn’t in any of the scans so even if his figurine is releasing, we likely won’t be seeing him until the very end/month after.

Pleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGoldpleasedon’tbeGold.

There are so many better possibilities. DX I know who I want it to be (even though I don’t strictly know ‘who’ that is XD), but there are other possibilities too.

And while I would like to see next ep, I am also curious about the arc coming after it. I really wanna know if my crazed visual analysis madness was right about it only being the kids who are trapped in Wonderland and Banba is trying to get them out. I wanna know.

Hm… Does anyone know where the ‘newspaper summaries’ come from? Like, we got the ones from 5 to 7… Are we gonna get ones for 8 to 11 at some point?

I am an impatient baby. DX ^^;

That’s all folks! Virtual chocolate eclairs for anyone who read all that. But, actually, that’s not all! I still wanna ramble about something—namely, and silly personal theory/hc of mine.

Bc of this face:

Okay, so. During that conversation where Banba did the whole ‘Kindness can make one weak’ thing, I mentioned that I found Kou’s reaction interesting? Bc it might’ve been in his characterisation to get mad and insist that kindness does not make people weak—esp since he clearly still doesn’t think that. But instead, he just looked a little hurt, and looked sad? Like… It seemed to me he was more saddened that Banba thought that way at all than being offended by the statement. Not ‘how could you think that?!’ but more… Like ‘that’s so sad that you’ve been made to believe that?’ If that makes sense? That somehow, Kou caught on that Banba has this view bc he was hurt terribly in the past? And then there’s this face here. Boy looks like a sad puppy. It’s totally my skewed interpretation bc I had that thought before, but to me it looks like he’s looking at Banba like… Empathetically? Like he pities him? So now I’m falling even deeper into the idea that Kou doesn’t find Banba’s distrust of others insulting of offensive in anyway, but is just sad for the fact that someone could come to think that way. Realises that Banba is like this bc he got hurt and is scared, and is just heartbroken by that? That someone could get hurt so badly that they lose faith in nearly all goodness in the world? I might like it if there’s a moment where Kou proves he’s more thoughtful than he seems (like, he can be thoughtful, he has his moments—though he is still an impulsive, goofy doofus) by, like, outright asking Banba what happened to him. That’d def throw Banba for a loop, I think. This is, of course, just my overthinking and incoherent rambling. But I do like the idea. ^^ Last note: my god Tatsuya has pretty eyelashes! DX

#Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger #Ryusoulger Spoilers #my precious Dino Children #and that #kids #is why you copy the text of your posts #^^ #as for the tags… #it was mostly just a repeat of what I had written up there #and I rambled about how I wanted to hug them all #so could they please hug each other #I would really love if—when they all find out about what happened to Banba #they just hug him #XD #y'all need some comforting and affectionate physical contact #so HUG EACH OTHER #DX #I love five (5) beautiful colourful Dino Knights #Birthday Sentai #Dino Dragon Knights And Their Cat

[misanthropic-succulent]

Some klance atla fic idea

Okay I found myself thinking of atla and vltron crossover again, and it got me thinking a little. So everybody likes to crossover with these three tv shows (Voltron and ATLA and LOK), usually making keith a firebender and lance a waterbender. Which is understandable because of their lions. But as you know in season 3 they have to switch lions, (Keith to Black and  Lance to Red), so for some reason my brain went "Wouldn't be cool if they're bending abilites in the aus changed also" that was the part that got me thinking. So my addition to this aus is interesting (to me at least) For my rendition (for like a fic idea lol) Lance and Keith actually kind of switch places. Lance will learn fire bending and Keith growing up in the Air Nation (stick with me) As you know Keith and Shiro have a brotherly dynamic or at least Shiro was there for Keith when others weren't so you can't deny their close bond which is why I put Keith in the Air Nation.  Keith is raised in the Western Air Temple which only had women but they made an exception to Keith seeing as he needed to hide (we can't baby keef die now can we?) Since there's a war going on that's the reason why Keith's father  is there, to help the Western air nomads.  Keith's Mom is a Fire bender while his dad is a Air bender. But since the war was going on (the timing of this is completely made up , lol ) Keith's dad decided to leave Keith with his mother and go back to help defend his nation (He didn't abandon  them)   In this Keith's mom is the sister of Ozai (Which will be Zarkon) (Lotor will be Zuko or something) Zarkon now (like he ever wasn't) is trying to destroy everyone (like the air nation *nudge*) Since Keith hasn't shown any bending abilities. Zarkon wants to get rid of him (for some reason). Of course Keith's mom would never let that happen and fled to the Air nation to find her husband. She was able to make in time and explained the situation to Keith's dad. Even though the Air Nation wasn't the safest at the moment it was better than the fire nation. Knowing she would probably not be able to see her son again, she leaves him her necklace (the stone in Keith's knife in vld)  Keith is two when his mom gives him to his dad. Upon returning home Keith's mom was confronted by Zarkon, and upon learning she hid Keith, Zarkon sort of rage kills her (didn't see that coming did ya?~) Lotor happens to see this and is also filled with confusion seeing as he's only 8, and is just like wtf is happending to aunt...whatever her name is. As Lotor grows up he begins to realize the fire nation's true colors, and what really happened that night. Enraged from being tricked his whole life and full of vengeance for his little cousin and deceased aunt he vows to himself to find Keith and keep him safe. When Keith is 5 his dad and almost the whole air nation is annihilated. Keith vows to never to forgive the fire nation.  (This is still in the past) Back in the Air nation Keith is able to grow up to (let's make it 10) he's already made friends with the air benders (he doesn't know that he's fire nation yet~) He's best friends are Pidge (7), Shiro (15) and Matt (14) One day Pidge's dad, Shiro and Matt went MIA when they were scouting (?) the Fire Nation.(They were captured, the dad is dead) They find Sam's body, but that's it. Leaving Pidge and Keith to mourn more of their loses,  this only fuels Keith's hatred more. smol timeskip

Keith (still being in the air nation) gets upset easily since he just can't get air bending down, he along with some of the others think that he doesn't have any bending abilities. So Keith decides to train on something different, his combat skills. He figures out one day when the fire nation attack again (only leaving him and pidge left alive) that his necklace is dangerous (a fire bender almost chokes him with it) so he asks Pidge to help him put it (engrave?) inside of a knife (hence Keith's garla knife). Btw Rover is Appa, or more like Appa is now named Rover, (but Pidge isn't the avatar, lol). (They are 15 & 12 at this point) Keith and Pidge travel on Rover in hopes that they'll find Shiro and Matt one day. timeskip-o (Keith is 18 and Pidge is 15) One of the days they're travelling Rover gets tired and they decide to land on the closest land possible. Unfortunately for them it's all icy there. Rover is warm but you can only do so much against the wind, Keith is mostly fine but Pidge's teeth are clattering. He opts to holding pidge (very platonically). Pidge: "H-How are you s-so warm?" Keith *shrugs* "I don't know, the cold has never really bothered me."  (*belts let it go*)  Pidge looks at him for a moment before letting her thoughts roam. She knew Keith literally since she was born, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a possibility of him being...She didn't even want to finish that thought. Shaking any thoughts that could form in her head she snuggled closer to her heater of a friend and drifted off to sleep. NOW TIME FOR LANCEY LANCE!! Lance and Allura are really close freinds who act like siblings and Coran is their crazy "uncle". Lance's family much like Allura's got destroyed by the fire nation, making them hate the fire nation. When Lance was 9, Allura 12 the fire nation came to their village killing most of the men, sparing some of the women (if they were non-benders). The water tribe decided to fight back and go fight the fire nation (Much like Sokka's dad did in atla). Allura's dad (Alfor was the head of the water tribe) had died in  combat, along with Lance's father. They mourn and they grow stronger, becoming who they need to be for their tribe. Lance and Allura can waterbend, Allura a lot better than Lance (she picked it up faster) they are two of three left in their tribe who can bend. Coran is the third. Lance is determined to surpass Allura in waterbending and practices frequently, most people see him as laid back or carefree but he cares for the people he loves and will protect them with his life and he can't do that if he doesn't become stronger. His mom, his siblings, his father all gone, because he was to weak to help them fight. So he'll practice and practice to protect the ones that are still here to protect. (*sniff*)  -- (This is where Keith and Lance see each other and the main plot kicks in...sorta)-- Lance is complaining to himself because Allura made him go patrolling by himself, which is fine he can take care of himself but it's really boring. He almost took Coran with him which honestly wasn't really saying anything since Coran was the closest thing Lance had to a friend (besides Allura) not that he minded. Lance is too caught up in thinking when he bumps into to something really soft and huge. Once he recollects himself he practically screams, wait no scratch that Lance does scream. Which alerts Keith and Pidge and within a matter of seconds he finds himself pinned against the ice, air knocked out him. He looks up at his attacker, he's beautiful (insert description of Keith, lol) and then he sees a...knife. Face blanching he quickly knocks the person off of him, and gets into a fighting stance.  He more aware of his surroundings now and notices a girl that's with his attacker, his sister? they don't look alike. His girlfriend maybe? Keith speaks up and asks Lance why he's here, which leads them into bickering with each other.  Lance: "Why wouldn't I be here, this is my territory!?" Keith: "Says who?" Lance: "ME!" Keith: "What are you two?" Lance: "Three and a half actually." Pidge is so done by this point. She had already figured out where her and Keith were, or at least assumed. The boy they have yet to get the name of clothes just confirm that assumption. They were in Water nation territory.  Keith: "You woke us up screaming and scared Rover!"   Lance: "What in the world is a Rover!?"  Pidge: "Are you two done bickering or can we talk, now that we know we won't kill each other?"  Keith & Lance: "NO!" 

(I kind of got stuck, so the rest of this is bits of parts I've planned)

Pidge internally: “These two are idiots”

Pidge finally gets them to calm down (or at least stop bickering) long enough for her to ask Lance his name and what he’s doing out here. Lance is a little skeptical to answer her, like obviously those two pieces of information are too important to just throw around. So Lance asks her question right back at them. Pidge sighs and says they’re from Western Air Temple. Lance is of course still skeptical and asks Pidge to prove it, she does by bending.

Lance looks expectantly over to Keith but he’s avoiding his gaze. Pidge explains that Keith doesn’t have any bending abilities to their knowledge. Lance kind of pities the guy, which bristles Keith a bit, but he doesn’t comment on the look Lance gives him.  Lance eventually introduces himself and tells them that’s he’s from the Southern water tribe.  

Keith mockingly asks him to prove it, to which Lance responds with slapping some (a lot) of water in Keith’s face.

Pidge laughs, Keith looks pissed, Lance looks smug. Pidge and Keith eventually end up following Lance back to the tribe.

  When they get there Lance is immediately "attacked" by Coran, who was crocodile crying into Lance’s shoulder. Saying how he thought he got kidnapped but the Fire nation and would have to come and rescue him. *cue dramatic hero pose*

This made Lance roll his eyes (playfully) he’s about to speak but gets cut off by Allura. Lance is in trouble now. Allura looked scary, he could practically see the dark aura radiating off her body.

Allura: “Where were you?”

Lance: “I was out patrolling like you told me to” he gives her this face that just screams “duh”

Allura: “I know that but why were you gone for so long?”

Lance: “I met these two” he gestures to Pidge and Keith who are standing silently (and Keith awkwardly) behind him.

Immediately Coran tries to intimidate Keith, but it doesn’t work of course.

(This is somewhere after they meet Hunk (earth-bender), and find Shiro and Matt) --In Ba Sing Se--

 Lotor (24) sees a group of people, who look nothing like firebenders, except one. The boy had his black hair tied into a high ponytail, with his bangs down, framing his face. He looks just like...and just like that Lotor finds himself running, leaving his friends confused and shouting behind him.  He found him, he exactly found him. His cousin, Keith.

Lotor: “I found you!” he says as he grips onto Keith’s hand, making Keith and the other’s startle.

Lotor: “I found you Keith.”

Now the rest of them really are on high alert, because not only did this firebender catch them, he also knows who Keith is.

Keith shifting uncomfortably: “Um, who are you?” he’s trying to act like he’s normal (he's failing).

Lotor: “Oh right! I guess you wouldn’t remember me since the last time we meet you were like two” Lotor mumbles the last part, but they hear him just fine.

Shirp steps in putting a hand on keith's shoulder: “May I ask who you are?”

Lotor senses the hostility their sending his way, but that was to be expected, he was a stranger to them after all.

Lotor: “I am Prince Lotor, Keith’s cousin”

The group is in shock and look over to Keith who is also in shock.

Keith: “B-But I don’t have any cousins, my dad never had any siblings”

Lotor’s face softens: “But your mother did, I’m sorry Keith.”

Keith stepped back from Lotor, and let the information sink in. His mom was a firebender, from the fire nation, and the sister of the firelord no less. He was a prince (would Keith be a prince?).

A fire nation prince. Keith’s face blanched, it made sense now. Why he was always warm, why he couldn’t bend air like Pidge or his father, because he that was only half of who he was. He was a firebender. Keith’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish’s. He felt like he was going to throw up.

 Suddenly a group of firebendy-soldiers found them, Lotor cursed under his breath, and started to fight them.

Lotor: “You guys leave, I’ll hold them off!”

The gang was skeptical but didn’t need to be told twice and ran for it, unfortunately the it seemed like the fire nation had some earthbenders on their side, and the gang found themselves falling into a hole.

Hunk was able to part ways in the rocks and make a passage for them. Luckily it seems the earth and firebenders didn’t follow them in and if they did then they didn’t know where they are at least.   

 *Back to Lotor who isn’t able to fend them all off and the floor collapses beneath Keith and the gang*

 Lotor: “No!” he screams as he sees Keith’s face disappear from sight. He found him and now he lost him.

Lotor to himself: “I can’t even save the person I promised to protect”

The rest of his team catches up and sees Lotor’s face, they know now that something happened and they were too late.

Keith is gone from Lotor’s sight once again.

 *They’re stuck in a cave, Hunk fell asleep because of the panic and exhaustion*

 Allura: “You’re a firebender? Not to mention a prince?!” not really a question. Allura looks betrayed and pissed.

Keith: “I swear I didn’t know” his eyes are downcasted.

Allura: “How could you not know!?”

Shiro and Matt touch Allura’s shoulder, hoping to comfort her but she shrugs them off.

Keith is silent, after all what can he say? He knew his mother left him went he was a baby, and he knew his dad was keeping something from him when he was alive. Now he finally knew his secret.

Everyone stares expectantly at Keith when he still doesn’t answer.

Keith shrinks away from everyone’s eyes it feels like he’s in a lion’s den and he’s slowly being eaten alive by their looks alone.

Keith looked at Pidge who also had to look to her, like she’d knew all along but also pitied him, and it kind of pissed him off.

Shiro and Matt both looked confused, but not angry, so that was a bonus.

Allura was straight out glaring and Lance had yet to even make eye contact with him.

It hurt.

Allura: “Did you trick us this whole time?”

Silence.

Allura: “Hoping that you could gain our trust then kill us off?”

Keith: “What?”

Allura: “Or maybe you were planning to make us your personal slaves, was that it?”

Keith: “No! I would ne-”

It didn’t matter how much Keith tried to explain he didn’t know, Allura just came back with another ludicrous accusation, and maybe it would’ve hurt less if the rest of his friends weren’t letting her do it.

Lance finally looked at him, his face was hard and devoid of emotion, but his eyes looked like he was sad, they looked like he was in pain.

Lance’s eyes had always captivated Keith, ever since the first day he meet the tan boy, but right now the pained blue orbs felt like they were piercing into him, but he can’t help to look at them. It’s like he’s drowning, he can feel his body shaking, and his breath start to quicken as he tries holding onto his consciousness. The only thing he can see is Lance’s eyes, and for a moment he thought he saw worry flash across them.   

Lance taking a step forward: “Keith are y-”

And Keith blackouts. [There should be some sort of moment where Lance sticks up for Keith when's he's unconscious] Welp, this is all I got, feel free to add more, or write it if you're interested. Just credit and link it back to me if you do ^0^/

#vld prompt #atla crossover #klance prompt #klance #I want to write this #i'm literally drawing blanks #klance should be end-game #yoshiscreeches

[mikaelarobertscollective]

Week 7

Coming back from a much needed break, week 7 turned out to be very productive week and a good step in the right direction for all projects. From previous feedback in my Tumblr marks, research was the thing letting me down the most and by taking the time to look into different projects/practitioners and techniques this week, my projects were seen in a new and helpful light.

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0_1 | RICHARD GRANT METRIC MONTAGE | collaboration with Krystal

During the holidays Krystal gave me some demos (see below), which didn’t spark much motivation. I was rather rattled by the progress of this project, so when Darrin suggested looking Ryoji Ikeda I thought that might be an interesting take on the project.

Within Ikeda’s work, more specifically Test Pattern 100m Version at Ruhrtriennale, I loved the use of sine waves and noise to created textured and rhythmic sounds that match the lighting and visuals. I thought it would be something very interesting to potentially experiment with in my collaboration with Krystal and the Richard Grant archive.  

VernissageTV 2013, Ryoji Ikeda: Test Pattern 100m Version at Ruhrtriennale 2013, YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwjlYpJCBgk>.

iksmedienarchiv 2013, RYOJI IKEDA: test pattern [100 m version], YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcbSwbGbob8>.

Therefore I tasked Krystal with creating a visual inspired by his work.

However, when the footage came in I was rather stumped once again. This led me back to James Harris’ essay on spatialised sound, and trying to find new influence to iterate my ideas. This led me to trial a new sound demo to Krystal’s holiday demo and also her new Ikeda inspired work. For both pieces, I wanted to look at materialising the objects within the video and also playing with Mickey Mousing, and using tones that I felt represented the shape of the visual object. I also found influence in Hannah Chetwin’s work, a video artist from Melbourne. Within Hannah’s work, the experimentation between visual and sound design makes for interesting pieces. And I love how, even though here visuals can slower moving or more organic, the sound design just adds this stunning layer of interest and intrigue.

https://vimeo.com/317188053

Chetwin, H 2020, Salt trailer, Vimeo, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://vimeo.com/317188053>.

https://vimeo.com/230330005

Chetwin, H 2020, Detail - Extract, Vimeo, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://vimeo.com/230330005>.

https://vimeo.com/105201157

Chetwin, H 2020, Watercourse, Vimeo, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://vimeo.com/105201157>.

So after testing both pieces (see below), I concluded that Krystal’s holiday work would be the best to pursue. I liked how it followed a metric montage approach to 72bpm and that the slower visuals were a nice contrast to the work being down in our second project. I also thought the visuals and sound design were on a stronger level and left room for experimenting in a different way to our second project.  

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0_2 | RICHARD GRANT RHYTHMIC MONTAGE | Collaboration with Krystal

I feel like this project is coming along well. I feel like Krystal and I have both started creating something very interesting.

The week saw me complete a few versions of the piece (see below), experimenting with the introduction of percussion within the piece to develop engagement and variation. Now that I know that the piece has a duration of 2min, it meant that I was able to do a visual map to explore the overall flow/arch of how I want to build and deconstruct the sound design. I feel for this piece in order to maintain engagement that we really need to use the sound to create a moment of pause at 00:01:00:00, so we can “hit” the audience even harder in the second part.

During the holidays I wanted to look further at examples of rhythmic montage, and the scene from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, came up as an example. After a quick analyse of it I found I loved what it did on both a microstructure and macrostructural level to develop the scene and emotion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEeSXCR83Ns

briizzo 2015, Rhythmic Montage - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966), YouTube, viewed 9 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEeSXCR83Ns>

On a microstructural level, they use different instruments and musical/sound gestures to signal the edits. Macrostucturally the clip’s music and pauses help to shape the full arch of the piece. So it starts with the guitar and as it intensifies it builds the instruments, using layering and volume to heighten the emotion. While also using the pauses to create dynamic variation to keep it interesting.

Dancyger, K. (2019). The technique of film & video editing : history, theory, and practice (Sixth edition.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Lawton, A. (1978). Rhythmic Montage in the Films of Dziga Vertov: A Poetic Use of the Language of Cinema. Pacific Coast Philology, 13, 44–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/1316363

From looking at The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and reflecting back to Battle Potemkin and Whiplash, I feel 0_2 is working well by using synchresis to emphasise the edits and using materialisation to juxtapose the two visuals. Also using layering (and volume in the future) to enhance the overall arch of the video follows the traits of the example scenes. I do however want to look at Ryoji Ikeda more and use his work as influence in regards to dynamic changes through the us of tones and noise.

On a side note, some feed back I got from Krystal was in response to the drum hits. I’m still on the search for something that fits, and she suggested and liked the idea of using Chinese drums. I’m still on the hunt for the right sound library, to test this and will plan to do this week 8. My only concern is that the timbre from Chinese drums might not work with the static and drones in there a the moment.

Drum inspiration from Krystal:

SAMURAI MUSIC 2018, 【和風BGM】和太鼓の音が力強い壮大な曲『tsudumi-japan by SHW』（著作権フリー音楽）, YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14lU_5JDQk8>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14lU_5JDQk8

自得琴社 Zi De Guqin Studio 2019, 【古琴GuqinX各国乐器World music】《和鸣》Harmony「Guqin,HandPan,Didgeridoo,Chinese bamboo flute,Chinese drum」, YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o38x6pF4j1o>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o38x6pF4j1o

洗足学園音楽大学/SENZOKU GAKUEN college of Music 2015, 林英哲 ／ 海の豊饒（和太鼓アンサンブル） Eitetsu Hayashi // Fertility of the Sea (Taiko), YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZagsLrNzg3I>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZagsLrNzg3I

vnt77 2015, 中国鼓, YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZc1G7sdSE&t=5s>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZc1G7sdSE&t=5s

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“NOSTALGIA” | PRELINGER ARCHIVE COLLECTION | Collaboration with Putri

I feel like this project is coming along alright. It was so helpful getting feedback from Darrin on Wednesday and getting some direction on steps going forward.

Once pointed out in the feedback, the timbre/instrumentation of the music doesn’t quite line up with the visuals, so in attempt to fix that I attempted to play with different drum beats and instruments, and on Darrin’s recommendation add more reverb. At this current moment I still don’t think it quite fits but do feel like it’s getting better. The other advice was playing wth the structure. Coming from a song writing background it was great advise to hear that the music layers needed to line up more with the visuals and after reflecting, I couldn’t agree more. Instead of thinking of it as a song, I went back and used the visual gestures for layering and musical changes. I do think this is working really well now.

This week I also went back to ACMI to see what they were doing with remixes and really found that the feedback I received was very prevalent within ACMI’s remixes. The songs they use work really well with the visuals as they feel of the time, due to the instruments. And the structure of the songs really build or match well according to the visuals because they take cues from the material and edits. The one thing I also took from these was the us of dialogue to tell a story. Especially in White Night which talks about the youth and juvenile delinquent and I think it will be great to start experimenting with SFX in my and Putri’s video to start really selling the story of nostalgia and feeling good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV__2ngFzho

ACMI Collection 2017, Remix: Hats, YouTube, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV__2ngFzho>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp4mLxOXEuE

ACMI Collection 2017, Remix: Strike A Pose, YouTube, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp4mLxOXEuE>.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dybIa6Ptizc  

ACMI Collection 2017, Flash Back: ACMI Collections Remix White Night 2017, YouTube, viewed 11 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dybIa6Ptizc>.

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MTC THE TURN OF THE SCREW

As for my final project, I think the smartest decision going forward will be to put a pin in this project. I was very excited about trialing ambisonic sound and explore a retelling of literature. And to also look to Chion’s Requiem as influence for this piece, but after looking at my workload and knowing that this studio and my other classes are going to intensify, I think it will be best to pause it. I won’t give up the dream, as I would love to work on a collection in the future, but for now I do think the smartest thing will be to focus on my three projects and make those brilliant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XfD3yrYHI

SeitenWall 2012, Michel Chion - Requiem, YouTube, viewed 7 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XfD3yrYHI>.

[bewarecreepercomics]

Showcase #73: The Coming of the Creeper! (Image Heavy)

The cover just says it all, doesn’t it? Everybody wants this guy. And by ‘wants’ I of course, mean ‘hates’. It’s not a bad cover; it has eye catching colors, it has no glaringly empty spaces, and it has our hero, doing something dynamic. That something being falling through the air, ripping up papers, while gunmen in wildly differing positions all over the city try to shoot him at this one, single moment.

Yeah, okay that’s a little goofy, but it looks cool.

The first page gives us some creepy imagery involving what becomes something of a theme in Ditko’s main Creeper story: Masks, false and hidden faces.

Our comic opens with a (literal) bang-

-As scientist Professor Yatz is kidnapped for ransom, and his assistant shot.

Smashcut to Jack Ryder destroying his own career on live television.

Two thoughts on this dialogue:

1. No Jack. Those two things are not the same at all.

2. As for police violence, well, my present-day self can see where this guy is coming from, but this was written in 1968. Let’s see, can we think of anything that might have been going on around that time that might get people looking more closely at the topic of police brutality?

...No, I couldn’t think of anything either.

So the network is rife with cronyism and Jack gets himself fired-wait, unemployment? Isn’t Ditko an Objectivist? Doesn’t he inject that into every single project he’s involved with? Aren’t they super not on board with social programs like that? Then again, even Ayn Rand had to get onto Social Security eventually, because it turns out the “If You’ve got Yours, Fuck Everybody Else” method of social policy is less solid than one might initially believe. 

Well whatever. Jack does the No-Job Jig, while dumping what I assume is his contract and...throwing up the horns? Get used to this bizarre gesture because our pal Steve Ditko cannot get enough of it. It is used three times on the page this panel comes from alone.

However, luck is with Jack on this day!

Turns out the head of security for the network likes the cut of Jacks jib, as well as his constant hand signals for rockin’ out, and hires him for the security team right on the spot. I have no idea if that is legal or not, but opportunity knocks, when one door closes another opens, yaddadee, yaddadoo.

A quick side note- Even though every single other iteration of Ryder ever written has him as a talk show host/newscaster/journalist, that panel of him snarking at the pacifist is the only mention Ditko ever makes of him being in that position. For the rest of Steve Ditko’s body of work involving him, Jack has a job in security.

He gets offered a pretty important job right out the door. Especially for someone who hasn’t even read the employee’s handbook yet. Taking over for his unfortunate co-worker in an...investigation into ties between the underworld and foreign communists...involving the forced ‘repatriation’ of communist defectors...

...at the behest of the C.I.A.

Hold on a sec.

Why is the C.I.A. leaving this to a nobody security team of a nameless tv network, in an unspecified city?

Guess it doesn’t matter! There is never a second word said about this. Jack, with his thirty seconds of security experience, takes the job immediately. Tasked with scoping out a party thrown by one Angel Devlin (Really?) and Major Smej (Really???) he heads out, only to be deterred by one missing fact: It’s a costume party, and his costume of ‘White Man With Terrible Fashion Sense’ just isn’t going to cut it.

I’m a little confused as to how a special order, an order you make specially, can have odds and ends left over, but okay, let’s see what you can throw together, Jack!

This box of odds and ends seems to contain a yellow zentai suit, matching makeup, a green wig, a sheepskin rug with the longest and straightest wool I’ve ever seen, and stripperific gloves, underoos, and boots. Uh, what kind of “special adult order” was this? Not that I’m judging or anything. We all have needs!

Also, Ditko never shies away from ass shots of this character. Ever. 

Cue instant mugging! Jack, you aren’t even the Creeper yet. You just now put that costume on. Why are you doing that? 

Oh look, time for an intermission!

...Okay...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Behold, our bad guys; Angel Devlin, and Major Smej. Further proof that if yor name sounds like anything (or is a tortured string of mostly consonants) you are destined for villainy. 

Jack does attempt to snoop around, but he is wearing a huge sheepskin rug and man-panties, so he gets called out pretty quick.

Here’s a little bonus cameo of the pacifist and the ex-boss, seen here as a teletubby and Judge Claude Frollo. Hi guys, we really needed to see you again.

In his complete lack of subtlety, Jack as been found out by several of the costumed goons that are strewn about the party. He gets into a fight that no one notices, knocks one of them through a secret door that no one notices, and ends up stabbed by a second foe. Does anyone notice? No. It is so unnoticeable in fact, that we have to be told it has happened. Probably the good old CCA in action.

This secret tunnel is exactly what Jack has been looking for, so he goes exploring. With a knife wound in his side. He also has to fight a few thugs while he’s at it. With a knife wound in his side. Are we sure he was really stabbed, or was he maybe lying to us?

Nah we can absolutely take his word for it that he was totally stabbed. You see? By the time he locates the abducted Professor, his completely bloodless knife wound has left him slightly winded!

But the dastardly goon who stabbed him went and did the sensible thing: instead of chasing after his wounded prey, he went and told his boss! Unheard of! They, along with their henchmen, start trying to pry open the conveniently jammed secret door.

Totally unnoticed by anyone else, of course.

To be fair, we don’t get much of the layout of this house. They could just be far away from any of the other partygoers. It seems like, as far as most of them are concerned, this is just a legit party. Our villains are fairly secure in their assumptions that nobody suspects a thing.

Giving us this nicely creepy panel. Good job. Aside from a small color mishap around the eyes, this panel looks extra good.

But while our villains are posing like they are in a Looking Sinister contest, they are apparently giving Jack and the Professor about a years worth of time to do stuff. 

Turns out the Professor isn’t wanted by the Reds just because he dared to leave home. He is a very talented scientist who has learned how to play, if not god, then certainly a demiurge with molecular physics, as explained(?) here:

Fearing that neither of them are getting out of this alive, the Professor decides tho burn his notes, inject Jack with an experimental serum that enhances strength, agility, stamina, and healing speed(which his captors didn’t confiscate for some reason), and implant his molecular rearrangement device into Jacks open wound.

Sure Prof! Just shove that right up into my perforated kidney! I’m sure everything will be juuuust fine.

They have enough time to do all of this without interruption, by the way. Not a single acknowledgement of pain from Jack in this entire time. This guy flies by the seat of his pants so hard that he has to wear his underwear on the outside.

Unfortunately, one of the goons Jack clocked on the way through the secret tunnel wakes up right about now.

Most unfortunate. Poor Professor Yatz was as good at bullet catching as he was at molecular physics. If only he’d had a device of some sort, something that could, I dunno, rearrange molecules to disguise him as one of those goons, so that he might escape. If only.

Jack re-clocks the murderous mook, and our villains, after eighty-four years of not being noticed, finally lever the hidden door open, only to be confronted with smoke and surprise fists as our hero escapes!

Behold! The quickest thinking henchman ever!

Somebody give that clown a raise!

The ruse works perfectly, especially since Jack manages to stomp on the pacifists head on his way out the window. Jeez Steve, we get it, you were pro-war. No need to rub it in.

Escaping into the yard isn’t much help for our hero, as he is still severely outnumbered, and, y’know, wearing one of the most saturated color schemes the Silver Age could offer. He does start to pull himself together though, noticing that his wound is practically gone, and that his appearance, as well as a few belts of cackling laughter seems to unsettle his opponents.

However, he gets a little too into the, uh, ‘swing’ of things...

...And accidentally pops a cop. Now, this gives plenty of setup for the police to have problems with him in later issues of the story-instead of the cops being corrupt, or disliking him for being a vigilante, or making them look bad, he full on assaults an officer of the law mere minutes after properly becoming the Creeper. He makes a very big mistake, and it mars his relationship with the police for the rest of his story. 

Switching back to just plain Jack, he manages to throw the cops off his trail, but also overhears that they have been unable to locate our villains. This clearly will not stand. A man has died here! And that annoying pacifist is still pontificating about violence! Unacceptable! Something must be done!

So Jack goes right back into Creeper mode because let’s face it, Jack is boring. Thus we are given my favorite panel in the entire issue...

Heck yeah. I love high contrast shading you guys.

Creeper tracks the villains and their remaining gang into the garage, which also seems quite a lot bigger on the inside. and manages to ambush them while making the most noise that he possibly can.

Raucous laughter is sneaky!

What follows is roughly seven pages of pretty good fight sequence, before the police finally hear what’s going on and get their blue butts in gear.

There’s action!

Thrills!

Spills!

Ass shots!

And the witty banter the Silver Age is famous for!

Heh.

When the police finally arrive, they find the corpse of poor Yatz, the defeated villains, and a fleeing Creeper. Jack manages to escape once more by ducking out of the pursuing officers line of sight and switching back to himself.

He does this all the time. It becomes a kind of running gag.

In the end, the cops bust that gang for good, the Creeper is given his eternal moniker, and both the underworld and the overworld finally agree on one thing.

They gotta, gotta have that man.

And so the comic comes to a close, with Jack cheekily declaring that he won’t let anybody know about Yatz’s revolutionary device, so that only a responsible person can use the power it holds.

Himself, of course.

Stay tuned, for as the comic promises, more Creeper is coming soon.

#The Creeper #Jack Ryder #Showcase

[passionatewayhorsemanshipllc]

Knowing herd behavior

This morning I realized that I have allowed one experience scar me, in my honesty with horse owners. I don't explain to people that every horse is different and that degrees of challenge proposed by the horse, might NEED to be met with degrees of challenge, for the horse to change. See, I can tell you that I can fix a "problem horse" by sprinkling Fairy Dust on him. And well, that is kind of true, if you don't want your horse home in the time frame that my program claims. Unfortunately, I find that I am lying to myself, as much as to you. Every horse is different. Every horse has a different upbringing and daily handling. Every horse has had chances to challenge authority, within their relationships with humans, and not every horse was taught right from wrong, as it applied. So, now here I am, the "trainer" explicitly expressing that I have this magic power to wave my magic wand and abra cadabra, your horse is fixed.

I have a confession... No I don't!

I do, however, have the knowledge to help create a shift in your horse's misperception of his position within your relationship. I do recognize when a horse has developed an unbalanced scale of leadership, tipping the scales in his favor. I do watch a horse step, oh so passively, into your space and watch you, in turn, step away. BAM! Scales are upset! I do know what to do, to rebalance the scales, but I had one experience that sits, ever so scarringly, in the back of my mind, when choosing to apply my knowledge effectively or apply it cautiously.

Let me explain...

I was contacted about working with a woman and her horse. The conversation began with that she had seen me riding, my guy Ritz, out in my field bareback, and in a mere halter. She epressed to me, with great passion, just how much she had dreamed of ever doing that with her horse; it was a goal of her's. She asked to come to my farm and audit a lesson. Which she did. At the end of that lesson, she talked to me, excitedly, about how I had explained something to my student, that only in that moment did it "click" to her as well. She had heard the "open the door" with a leg, said for years, but never really knew what an instructor meant by it. That day, it just so happened that I had explained that very idea to my student, and THAT day it finally made sense to this individual.

I was hired! We set up an appointment for me to go to her barn just a few days later.

When I arrived, I met her 22 year old gelding, who was in amazing shape. I simply observed, during the grooming and tacking up process, on the crossties. I watched, as the horse nudged her, as she walked past. I watched as he bobbed his head up and down, as if he was nodding "yes", as she worked around him. I watched as he stepped, oh so subtlely, into her space, and how she simply stepped away.

I watched!

We then had a lesson. This lesson was in the saddle, as she wished to essentially have the same lesson she had audited at my farm. The lesson was a success. The woman was pleased and made a future appointment.

The next visit was to include the woman's boyfriend. Again, I arrived and observed the interaction between, now both people, and this horse. I watched a bit more outward assertive behavior, from the horse, toward the boyfriend. Several moments of, "don't let him do that!" came to my tongue. As a result of those observations, I decided that this lesson was one best serving them on the ground.

As I showed the gentleman cues, to ask the horse to move his feet, I watched the horse, continually, move the man's feet. I was there to help these folks have a better understanding of the horse's language and how to use it to better the relationship and bond with this horse. The problem that I was observing was a complete IMBALANCE of leadership. This horse passive aggressively owned the owner, because after 20 years, he knew how to make her do things without too much energy. The boyfriend, however, was new to the relationship, so the horse knew he needed to have a bigger presence and show of power, therefore, he was a bit more animated about how he made things happen. Neither level of leadership was challenged or recognized as out of balance, so this horse was happily the learder of his, now herd of three.

Now, my job, was to bring these people an opportunity to better achieve some goals. To create a better dialog with this horse and perhaps shift the power to the owner, not the horse. Since the horse was more assertive in his ways of "moving" the boyfriend, I decided that, at one point, when the horse was resisting and actually posing a bit of a threat to this man, I would take the horse and show him the exercise and "help" him understand what we were expecting of him. The front yield, to a more dominant horse, can be perceived, by the horse, as a challenge. To this horse it was, an resistance was being experienced. That was when I took him.

Upon my taking the horse, in hand, I turned up my energy to provide a more clear intent of my request. This was met with a more obvious resistance. Then, as the horse offered to stand his ground, I brought my energy up, yet again. That energy prompted this horse to take his assertiveness up a notch, and he reared. Across the arena I heard, "he's never done that before! In 20 years, my horse has never offered to rear up."

At the time, I honestly believed that I had explained about the steps of revamping an "out of balance" relationship, but as I later learned, this was misunderstood. See, I was never asked to return, solely based on this horse having reared up. It was assumed that I had "taught" this horse how to do something very undesirable, dangerous and scary, even. Unfortunately, I had learned that day, that I did not properly arm this women with enough horse herd behavior and how working with horses has to be done utilizing the very language that a lead horse, within a herd, uses. I did not go over the fact that her horse, of 20 years, was absolutely the leader of her herd of two and then with the newer member of the herd, her boyfriend, he was actively appointing the boyfriend his even lower position. Now when the newest memeber, me, would be introduced, he would "size" me up and apply what energy he believed he would need to maintain leadership over me, as well. What I didn't explain, was that I would be entering their paddock, so to speak, and plan to come out the NEW leader. What I also neglected to explain, was that her horse might actually not be too interested in this dynamic change, and might very well approach my authoritative attitude with a bit of an attitude of his own. This, in a real herd, is where you might watch two horses butt to butt, just double barreling one another, until ONE puts his hands up and submits to his official leader. Once that leadership is established, the second horse might offer a rechallenge to "ask" if the new leader was meant to be, but generally a sense of harmony will come over a herd quite quickly.

Unfortunately, unless an owner knows enough about herd behavior, they truly might not see what goes on. They might not get an opportunity to watch a herd of yearlings practice leadership skills with one another, chasing each other around until one calls "Uncle". This owner, just saw the reactive side of this horse's brain, not the thinking side, and panicked that I had scared the horse, and in turn, taught him to do something dangerous. That is not at all what had happened, but because the protective possessive side of the human brain, was more activated, the owner believed her horse needed saving from me.

This experience prompted my need to explain horse herd behavior and how somethings I might do would appear higher energy to them, but to the horse was merely my resume'. I was applying for the job of leader but until my resume' checked out, the "top" horse would not just retire from his position.

Losing that job was so disappointing to me, yet so eye opening about what needs to be explained BEFORE ever handling someone's horse. If assertive "energy" is perceived as aggression, by the owner, the relationship is destined to remain in the "imbalance" it has functioned in to that point. Change was not what was truly sought, magical fairy dust was saddly believd in.

[meditationklaus]

My Yoga Teacher Training in Bali – Final Week and Grateful Sendoff

Hi! I’m Alina and this is week 4 of my 4-week yoga teacher training in Bali with Routes of Yoga. Join me as I share with you all the things I learned from Daphne and Anton in my bittersweet final week with them in Bali. Think of this as the wrap party to my yoga teacher training diary series, and the exciting start to my journey as a yoga teacher!

A Holistic Kickoff to the Final Week

I say holistic because we start the final week with a Philosophy class (Bhagavad Gita discussion), Teaching Lab session, and pranayama and meditation—making sure we cover all the physical, mental, and spiritual bases of being a student and a teacher.

In Teaching Lab, we guide our little group through 16 poses and Anton teaches us vinyasa transitions, and how to open and end a class. He gave us tips on how to introduce yourself, give security affirmations, etc. and we all practiced our class intro and closing with the group. He said there’s no one right way to do this; what’s most important is you go with your authentic, personal style.

While watching the sunset behind the palm trees, we do Pranayama integrating Kumbaka (cessation of the breath) and meditation. (Realization: This nice and smooth practice should be part of my home routine!)

On Backbends and the Business of Yoga Teaching

Oh yes! Daphne’s hip opening and back bending class is exactly what I need! What a great class—very creative, everything building up after each “round”, and also, very exhausting… strengthening! ;-)

After that, Anton introduced us to the long-awaited Business lecture. After having had so many Teaching Labs, we are all very curious about how to go about building our own classes and making our teaching careers sustainable. The lecture forced us to ask hard, but very important, questions: what is your true motivation, your drive? What is it that gets you on the mat? What is your USP (Unique Selling Point)? What do you want to focus on or specialize in?

Last but not least, this important lesson: Create your own routine! Have a mantra/meditation/yoga diary and start your won collection of sequences because nothing beats learning from personal experience.

Prepping for the Exams

At this point, you can tell that everybody is getting slightly nervous about the written exam, which we’ll have before the practical one. But this morning, I ‘studied’ for the practical—timed the asanas, thought about correct cues, what to demo or mirror, and remembering the correct sequence of poses.

After Part II of the Business lecture, I taught my first 1-hour class in Teaching Lab and I really enjoyed it. We all had to teach a 1-hour class, which was great practice for the practical exam.

We are not allowed to use notes during both exams, so I used my morning self-practice the next day to polish my 30-minute sequence (I did this twice). Daphne’s talk about the Gita was great, but it’s getting harder to concentrate because we were all thinking of the written exam.

Then finally, it was exam time. Anton explains the “rules” and I instantly felt like I’m back in school—nervous and skipping through the sheets. I took a deep breath, worked through all the questions, and instantly felt relieved when I handed in my papers.

Day 23 – The Bittersweet Last Day of Training!

I am getting all sentimental, realizing that there’ll be no more classes led by Anton or Daphne in this breathtaking, stunningly beautiful Shala with the green rice fields and palm trees!

I repeat my little sequence to physically and mentally prepare for the practical exams happening after breakfast. The group is divided into two groups, teaching 4 to 5 people, as Anton and Daphne would sometimes join on the mat to see how the classes “feel”.

I am a little nervous as I’m one of the first to teach. I try to focus on each class and feel so proud of my co-trainees and the progress we’ve made! Our only male trainee was assigned with the final spot—alone (since we had an uneven number of participants)—so we spontaneously decided to join for one big class and he guided us through one beautiful, very deep, final practice (including Daphne and Anton).

After that, we run out of the Shala towards the pool, and we all jumped in together—washing away all the nervousness, stress, fatigue and just being ridiculously happy and proud! (Even though we don’t know yet if we passed, we know we have already learned SO much!)

After lunch, we met back at the Shala to have a personal feedback session with our teachers. They have organized bags full of flower petals to give us a chance to create our group’s own flower mandala on the floor. For the final ceremony, we were handed our certificates and we celebrated the yogi way—with healthy smoothies and vegan snacks.

When saying goodbye to those who have been through this with me, supported me, have given me constructive feedback, I am sad and can’t hold back a few tears.

It’s hard to put in words how thankful I am to my great teachers. You have guided us through an exciting, wonderful journey where we got to know ourselves better, met our boundaries, helped us to grow further, patiently answered all our questions, supported us in times when we doubted ourselves, and were always talking from a point of your own experience rather than from “knowing better”—all while always keeping a professional attitude.

I will be forever grateful for the chance to join ROY’s Teacher Training and am looking forward to teaching my first “real” class and integrating this experience into my daily life.

Q&A and Parting Wisdom from Routes of Yoga

Before I left, I wanted to have a quick talk with Daphne and Anton to thank them for making this whole experience so amazing and fulfilling, and to ask them a couple of questions to help me along my journey—and hopefully yours, too!

What do you think are important qualities to have to be a good yoga teacher?

Anton: The ability to break complex techniques and concepts down to short and simple instructions, as well as the flexibility and attention on the needs of an individual, rather than imposing one approach onto everyone.

Daphne: A good heart, a clear mind, and the skillful means to be a bridge of stable support for others. It’s not every day that we are up for the challenge, but right at its core is the ability to do an honest practice more and more frequently. One that is willing to face the discomfort of seeing our own shadows and then approaching it with love and kindness. The experience and empathy to help others accumulates through walking our own path first.

What do you like about the idea of a universal Yoga?

Daphne: The Sanskrit root word for ‘Yoga’ is yuj, meaning to unite or join. It necessitates dissolving the barriers that keep us separate from our true nature and from relating to each other as equals. Consider the sheer potential and consequence of this, and we come to appreciate the potential of the word Yoga itself.

Yoga transforms narrow mindedness into a vast broad perspective. There is no room for separation here—no you versus me, just unconditional and universal love.

How does your personal yoga practice look like?

Anton: It varies. I go with the flow with how my body and mind feels on a particular morning. it can range from a very dynamic asana practice with lots of vinyasas and inversions to a very calm slow practice and long meditation session.

Daphne: I’m fairly nomadic and enjoy relating to the peculiarities of place and how it informs a practice. From a room’s orientation and its relation to sunlight, the resultant shifts in sleeping patterns, etc. On the other hand, maintaining some routine and having consistency in my being grounds me regardless of where I am, so it’s a fluid interplay between the two. Practice is a response, it starts with observation.

Which yoga projects do you dream about and would like to realize some day?

Anton: It would be nice to establish a permanent yoga community where like-minded people can live, practice and support each other, share their knowledge, have fun and enjoy life…

Daphne: I’d wish for a market drive towards longer-format yoga intensives that focus on practice, repetition, and integration. More mid-points between studio classes and teacher trainings. We don’t need as much informational input as we think we do, but somehow that’s where the general focus is in our yoga community.

Has your teaching style changed over the years?

Anton: Definitely. My teaching is based on my daily practice, which is a constant evolution. This way, I am open to meeting change in my teaching. This precious mechanism of gaining knowledge and then passing it on is what allows us to have access to all this ancient wisdom today, but It needs to be relevant to you to be kept alive.

What advice would you give yoga practitioners to keep their own home practice going?

Daphne: Know what motivates you deeply. Take whatever time you need to figure this out; it is your inner fire. Practice without motivation is like running a marathon blindfolded—you get tired and frustrated from all the effort, but how many strides were in the right direction?

Use the monkey mind against itself. Play out the scenario of how it would feel if you did not achieve these deeply rooted callings. Recognize that there are steps needed to get there.

Are you doing your practice in line with your goals or are you taking on someone else’s? The person wanting to get fit needs a different practice from someone looking to cultivate the wisdom to help others. If you don’t match the two, you’ll get bored and won’t see the results you are looking for.

If you are struggling to get on the mat, more often than not, it’s the simple feel-good practices which provide an immediate sense of peace that lures you back.

What other projects are you currently working on?

Daphne: I have a vast scale of outputs, but the common thread through them is the intention to use the philosophy of yoga as an underlying approach and a continual ideal. Projects are the realm where high concepts like Union and Oneness have to ground and prove themselves in the manifest world, through a choice or action.

How does the word ‘holistic’ actually look like? Which decision is a step towards love? We Be Rising is an organization I set up to respond to this at a collective level. Its focus is on spreading holistic modalities and mindset into the broader and fringe communities, such as schools and rehabilitation centers. At some point, we have to come together to raise each other up. It’s the only way we can speak of Oneness.

If you’re interested in joining Routes of Yoga for yoga teacher training (which I highly recommend!), they have upcoming non-residential programs on July 1-24, 2017 and on August 4-27, 2017. If you want a residential program in Bali just like the one I took, you can join them for the next one in May 2018. They also have a yearly Nepal Yoga Retreat, of which 50% of the profit is donated back to the country.

The post My Yoga Teacher Training in Bali – Final Week and Grateful Sendoff appeared first on DOYOUYOGA.COM.

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[mikevrivera]

Have you made one of these four presenting mistakes when pitching your startup?

Often people with subject matter expertise have great difficulty in presenting to a group, even though with friends they may be upbeat and entertaining. The most common mistakes include:

Can’t manage anxiety;

Don’t relate to audience;

It’s all one-way; or

It’s boring!

Develop these nine skills so you avoid these mistakes.

1. Create a positive mindset

Prepare yourself psychologically and with a strong structure and interesting content. Be early to the location and ensure the room is set as you need it. Give yourself positive scripts:

I will give a good quality presentation

I can manage my nerves with breathing

I will be calm and enjoy this

I’ve got relevant anecdotes and examples to bring this to life

I’ve prepared a handout so I don’t need to overload with details.

I will smile … because I will do a good job and soon it will be over!

2. Learn about the audience

Find out what do they already know about the topic, what they are expecting from the presentation, and any particular concerns, problems or issues they want dealt with. Use some quick questions and answers, or a show of hands. For example, ask “How many of you here know …?” 

3. Give an overview of the presentation

Give the audience an idea of what you plan to cover, as well as the key areas or the goal you hope to achieve, as this gives them direction and keeps you on track.

4. Make it interesting and relevant

Aim to be someone who is a pleasure to listen to by:

Giving an example, such as a case, a diagram, a hypothetical, or an anecdote—people engage with these and often want to know more;

Using interesting visuals, such as a short, relevant video clip, some relevant slides, whiteboard notes, models and handouts. Make sure they are not too cluttered;

Surprising the group with the latest research, unusual applications, or best practice in another company or industry;

Referring to current world news and relating it to the topic; or

Showing the links between the topic and the people in the audience.

5. Involve the audience and stimulate discussion

Audience attention and retention drops off after a few minutes of straight talking or lecturing, with no involvement. Get people’s attention and energise them by:

Asking questions;

Inviting questions;

Doing activities—for example, brainstorming or using paired discussions and small groups;

Conducting a “write down” activity followed by sharing ideas; or

Trying a role play—in some situations you can ask for volunteers to try something out.

When any sort of behavioural or attitudinal change is required, brainstorming ideas and writing them up on a screen or board can personalise this process by pushing individuals in the audience to actually identify what they will do different for themselves.

6. Manage questions and answers professionally

Set ground rules at start. Explain when questions are to be asked (for example, at any time during your presentation, after each main section, or at the end of your presentation) and remember the following tips:

You can ask them questions throughout if you choose;

Show interest in their questions and their answers—make eye contact, face the person, nod your head, say ‘uh-huh’, use appropriate facial gestures like smiling, frowning, or looking surprised;

Ask a question and then use silence to wait for the answer. Don’t be afraid of a few second’s silence—don’t assume the question has ‘flopped’. Don’t rush to answer your own question or move onto another question;

Don’t react negatively (especially non-verbally) to any question. Show respect no matter how ‘stupid’ the question appears to you;

Before answering a question, you may need to restate the question to clarify and ensure everyone heard it—this can also give you time to develop your answer;

Sometimes it may be appropriate not to give the answer yourself, but instead ‘throw it back’ to the group for discussion. This is particularly useful in the case where there is no simple answer, or where the answer is something the audience would know. If, having thrown the question back to the audience, no answer emerges, make sure you supply the answer yourself;

If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess. Your credibility generally increases when you admit you do not have the answer to a question. Ask the group or offer to find out and get back to the person later; and

If you have invited questions, but no-one has any, you can:

Move onto the next point of the presentation or wind up;

Rephrase the question. For example,  “How many of you have experienced this problem?”; or

Pose a situation or scenario to the group and ask them how they would handle it.

7. Control the discussion

Managing group dynamics is often challenging. The degree of control you exercise will depend on the group, the topic, the amount of time available and the value of the discussion. “Any” discussion is not the goal, it should be relevant discussion that engages everyone, is relevant and moves the topic forward.

Take control and be professional:

If they talk over each other, or keep interrupting, politely ask one person to wait while another finishes his or her point;

Wind up a discussion between two and throw the point open to others;

Terminate one discussion topic, summarise and move on to another issue;

Don’t let one person dominate questioning. When asking, “Any questions?”, look away from the dominating person, showing non-verbally you want to hear from others in the group. If necessary, say to the dominator, “Suzi, before I take your question, does anyone else want to raise any issues?”; and

Control irrelevant or tangential comments and questions, especially if short of time. Respectfully offer to discuss the question with the person after the presentation is over. For example, say: “Marco, I’d rather not deal with this issue right now as we have fairly limited time. Maybe you and I could talk during the break. Is that okay?”

8. Read the group

Look at the group’s body language; never ignore it. If someone is yawning, looking glazed or distracted they may have switched off. A good presenter looks for visual cues from the audience to evaluate engagement. Is the group bored or confused? Are they restless or enthralled?

DiscoverEye contactAudienceFaceIf they are bored do not ignore it! Change gear! Throw in a question or divert to an activity. If they appear confused, clarify and ensure understanding.

If someone tells you the presentation is too theoretical, or too boring, or too complex or simple (or whatever), check with the full group and negotiate some changes. Don’t be stuck on your prepared railway tracks. Your audience will appreciate your flexibility.

9. Deliver an action ending

A powerful closer is very motivating. Ask the audience to commit to an action, make a decision, or change the way things are done. Ask, “How will you use this technique in your own work?”, or “How can we implement these changes?”

If actions have emerged during the presentation, summarise them and ensure a written version is circulated.

Always seek feedback and encourage honest criticism from attendees. That’s how you grow and improve your presentation skills.

Eve Ash is a psychologist, author, filmmaker, public speaker and entrepreneur. She runs Seven Dimensions, a company specialising in training resources for the workplace. See the rest of Eve’s blogs here.

This article was originally published on SmartCompany. 

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from StartupSmart http://www.startupsmart.com.au/advice/growth/young-entrepreneurs/have-you-made-one-of-these-four-presenting-mistakes-when-pitching-your-startup/

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