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wafaelsx · 1 year

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the reality of long-term solitude (III)

i’m not so great at structuring these things. imma just write as i go but basically something a friend told me a couple of years ago is starting to click. i find that oftentimes i accept what people tell me as true in the moment while i still have my doubts, because i don’t particularly enjoy discourse unless it’s just so pertinent to moving the conversation forward. i believe we were talking about what we’re looking for in a partner, and i said i want someone who completely understands me. i had the presumption that if i met someone that i was already very compatible with, that in due time she’d come to, solve me perhaps. it’s funny because that’s the last thing i want from anyone else, even friends of mine. i believed that whoever i end up with for a long term romantic relationship would domesticate me in a way. i had a mental image in my head of myself as a pet, and my partner as my owner, but not even in a ddlg kind of way as it probably sounds. i don’t particularly like being dominated or what have you, i’m pretty ‘vanilla’ on those fucking bsdm tests. part of me, i suppose, was and still am tired of living, in the traditional sense. i think if i found someone that i was extraordinarily compatible with personality wise, and was also moderately attractive, i’d be willing to marry this person. i keep going back and forth between referring to my potential partner as a woman and them, but i’m heterosexual.. believe it or not. hopefully i can find a fucking woman before they’re not even called that anymore. but in any case, the vision in my head is something like i’m left to my own devices for about 65% of the time, and the other 35% of the time would be spent with them. this time i would also surrender to doing actual activities, going out, whatever the fuck. i kind of see myself as a bit of a science experiment in a way in that regard. i envision myself being like shown off in a way, like ‘look at this guy, he sure is something! i also fuck him, for reasons that may not be apparent!’ because i do believe on the surface level, there isn’t much to desire in me as a person. i’m probably a lot funnier than most people, because i have an easier time finding humor in situations, or making connections others wouldnt, based on my knowledge of, i mean everything. i’m probably also a bit smarter than the average person. those two attributes alone make me unique in a sense, other than that i don’t know what you’d see in me as a person, both personality and physical attraction wise.

anyway, my friend’s response to my desire for my partner to understand me in an all encompassing way was quickly shot down, basically. he told me that no one will ever truly understand me, because humans aren’t capable of doing that, not even for themselves to an extent. this probably should’ve been obvious to me, i know. i’m not naive in many ways, but as it pertains to romantic relationships i certainly don’t have it all figured out. my attempts at such have all fallen pretty much flat, and i can’t say i’ve found that those experiences made it easier for me to find someone new, as many might allude to. they were swings and misses, wholly, and i get frustrated with myself thinking about my missteps in that regard. a lot of things u just have to experience to get it, and i will say this is probably one of them. advice about ‘‘women’‘ or ‘‘how to get pussy’‘ or whatever never sounds very good coming from anyone, especially cause whatever advice they give you probably won’t work because they aren’t you, and don’t understand you. the nuance involved in courting a partner is quite complicated in my own estimation. there isn’t really a guaranteed way to convince someone that you’re worth fucking, and to be honest, you’re probably better off misleading them in a way if thats your goal. lying isn’t necessarily what im getting at, but it seems in my experience that what women found attractive in me wasn’t actually who i was, so when we make it out the ‘‘talking phase’‘ and they see me a bit more transparently, many of them were quick to throw in the towel. i’m a bit of an obsessive person, so it’s been hard for me to let go of people from my past. all in all, i chalk it up as a learning experience and i’m pretty unfazed by my past dealings with women. it doesn’t keep me up at night, but i do sometimes wonder what, or if i had actually done wrong, or if it just wasn’t meant to be. i will also grant that sometimes u meet people at the wrong part of ur life and the maturity difference/difference in actual place in life proves too great to overcome. logic tells me pretty much every relationship ive seriously been involved with couldve been salvaged, or maybe a better way of saying it was i doubt that we were different enough to not eventually work it out, if we both tried. most ppl arent patient tho with relationships, and i get it. people often bring up just the staggering amount of humans on earth as an antidote to your dismay about unrequited love, or what have you. i think that’s a pretty stupid thing to tell people when theyre going thru it, partly because i dont think the logic actually holds any water. i think most people could be in a committed monogamous relationship if they were both mature enough, i think thats the biggest determining factor above everything else i’m still very young, so most women i encounter are not really enticed by the idea of lifelong commitment. i believe if we have enough in common and we like fucking each other more than average, what else is out there really? i think those two things together are probably extremely difficult to find in one person, especially for me.

i probably have more to say, but i can’t think of how i want to format it, even in an approximate sense. so i’ll try to sum it up with these closing thoughts. i guess i’m just saying i realized that i have to learn to live with myself. oftentimes i express my thoughts or beliefs, and i can see in real time how my words are just failing to land on people, even my own fucking parents. maybe this all just sounds like an emo wall of text, idk. people are more unique than i suppose i had considered, so to ask of someone to solve any other person would be quite the undertaking. i also realize that before i can be successful at anything, i’m going to have to change in a very profound, fundamental way. the answer isn’t clear to me, i’m unsure what lies ahead.

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jekde04 · 3 years

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There’s Something About Juvia

For Gruvia Week 2021: Day 1 - Beguile

Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Pairing: Gruvia (Gray Fullbuster & Juvia Lockser)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Genre: Romance/Humor/Friendship

Word Count: 1,562 words

Summary: His memories were still hazy at best, but Gray swore that damn potion did something weird to him. (Based on the aftermath of Episode 50, "Special Request: Watch Out for the Guy You Like!")

You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3! Check out my master list for other Gruvia fics.

Seriously, what did that woman do to him?

His memories of the incident were still hazy at best, only pieced together by bits and pieces he heard from his guildmates.

Apparently, Juvia unwittingly used a potion that made rivals out of each other. He ended up facing off with Happy of all people – err, cats. That probably explained why he kept seeing different versions of a terrified Happy in his mind.

But what he didn't understand was while everyone else stayed inside the guildhall (hence its dilapidated state), he ended up all the way to Galuna Island, where he finally came to his senses.

Just what the hell happened to him?

The door to Master Makarov's office closed with a thud, and Gray watched Juvia as she made her way to one of the guild's tables, eyes guilt-ridden and downcast. It didn't seem that bad, though, as he saw the Master wave her off with a grin on his face as if he were more amused than mortified of the whole situation. That was a big deal, considering that any form of guild renovation angers the tight-pursed old man.

And he wasn't the only one who seemed to be uncharacteristically taking things in stride. He watched Cana as she sat beside the water mage, draping an arm over her shoulders (the other wrapped around a keg, what else?) and whispering something that made the blunette turn bright pink. On Juvia's other side sat Erza, who pressed the timid girl close to her breastplate in what appeared to be a bone-crushing hug.

Gray scoffed at the unfairness of it all. If it were him or Natsu who destroyed the guild, Erza wouldn't be that merciful. He shivered as he imagined all the scary things she would've done to them.

But everything was back to normal now – all the damages repaired and the effects of that damn potion having worn off. At least, for most of them.

Gray couldn't say the same thing for himself because truth be told, there was a funny feeling at the pit of his stomach that would show up now and then. Though he didn't remember much about what happened, that feeling often surfaced with the memory of floating in the warm sea, the rays of the sun hitting his face...

... and a blushing Juvia cradling him in her arms, a soft, almost loving look shining in her dark blue eyes.

The thought of it made blood rush to his cheeks. If he didn't know any better...

Something clicked in his mind.

A love potion.

But no, she wouldn't dare.

... Would she?

Gray sighed audibly, raking his hands over his face. Ever so slightly, he snuck a peek at Juvia and saw her still uncomfortably sandwiched between Cana and Erza, both of whom looked to be teasing her about something.

Sure, she hung out with him a lot, but it was no big deal. She was still quite new to the guild, and he was one of the first ones she met, though the circumstances could have been better. Still, he was probably one of the few people she easily grew accustomed to, as he had gone with her on missions until she got used to being part of Fairy Tail.

In other words, they were friends. And friends did not give love potions to each other. Besides, why would he be the only one affected when almost the entire guild took that potion?

He dismissed the ridiculous thought.

Gray hadn't realized he had been staring at Juvia for quite a while until she looked up and locked eyes with him. He quickly looked away, but the sight of those big doe eyes brought back a rush of fragmented memories that made something in his chest flutter.

Juvia holding him in her arms. Juvia looking affectionately at him. Juvia's voice calling his name.

Really, what the hell was wrong with him?

"Gray-sama?"

He was so distracted that he hadn't noticed Juvia come up to him. She seemed to be a little on edge, her hands clasped tightly in front of her and her eyes looking everywhere but him.

But if there were anyone who could finally answer all those goddamn questions running through his mind, it would be her.

Gray cleared his throat. "Hey, Juvia. That was some wild potion stuff you did, huh," he said, followed by a tiny smirk.

It was meant to be a joke, but the way Juvia flinched as if burned made him immediately regret what he said. Honestly, he was just trying to make small talk! He really had a knack for making things awkward.

He was about to say sorry when Juvia beat him to it. "Juvia's sorry, Gray-sama! She didn't mean to cause so much trouble. She didn't know it would affect everyone that way!"

Her eyes started to water, and Gray felt panic rising in his throat. He could not deal with crying girls, let alone Juvia, who had the ability to flood the guild with her tears.

He quickly shook his head and said, "Hey now, don't worry about it! Worse things have happened here. And no one's blaming you for anything, see?" He gestured towards their guildmates, each one minding their own business as if the guild were not in total shambles just the day before.

Juvia looked around her, then returned her eyes to him. She didn't seem pacified at all. "But you're not mad at Juvia, are you?"

Gray's lips curved into a tiny smile. "Why would I be mad?" It amused him how Juvia looked more concerned about his opinion than the rest of their guildmates. It even filled him with a certain pride that she would have such high regard for his feelings.

Plus, she really looked cute with that bit of crease on her brow and that tiny tremble on her lips.

Wait, what?

Gray narrowed his eyes. "Unless... you did something different with me?" After all, he still didn't have the tiniest idea how he ended up on an island, for goodness' sake.

Juvia looked taken aback. A blush bloomed on her pale cheeks as she started to fiddle with the hem of her top. "Umm, well, Juvia... sort of made you drink the whole potion."

"What?!" Gray asked incredulously. Well, that definitely answered how he made it to Galuna Island. And why he kept on seeing the image of Juvia holding him in her arms. "But why did you do that?"

Juvia quickly turned as red as a tomato. "U-uh... Ju-Juvia... Uhm..."

Suddenly, it all made sense. Why Juvia was always so shy around him. Why she spent a lot of time with him. Why she always invited him on missions. And why she made him gulp a whole potion and not someone else.

A smirk crossed his face. "Oh, I know now."

"Y-you do?" He didn't know it was possible, but Juvia's face got even redder. He was definitely spot on.

"It's because..."

Juvia gulped.

"... you want me to be your rival! Right, Juvia?"

He grinned at her. Juvia might look sweet and innocent, but he would never forget the fact that behind that timid exterior lies a badass mage. Not only had he struggled to battle against her before, but he also fought beside her several times during missions, giving him a pretty good idea of how strong and awesome she really was. He felt a sense of pride swell within him that such a powerful and accomplished mage would choose him to be her rival.

"Err... does Gray-sama want Juvia to be her rival?" she asked him. He chuckled at how she looked so unsure of herself.

Gray was about to answer, "Of course!" but stopped himself. Yes, he was honored that Juvia wanted him to be her rival, but...

"Well, I was thinking more of partners, you know," Gray started. "Don't get me wrong, Juvia. I think you'd be a great rival, but our powers are so alike, so it might be a better idea if we team up instead of –"

Gray wasn't able to finish what he was saying as an ecstatic Juvia suddenly lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his torso. He froze at the sudden contact as he was not expecting such a reaction from her.

Juvia looked up at him and asked, "Gray-sama really wants Juvia to be his partner?" Her eyes were so bright, it looked like a ray of sunlight cracking open a piece of blue sky.

That funny feeling stirred in his stomach again.

"Why not?"

Juvia let out a squeal, hugging him tighter. He wondered how this sometimes shy, always excitable girl could be the same gloomy rain woman he first met months ago. Though he didn't have anything against the past Juvia, he decided that he liked this version better.

Even if she was squeezing the heck out of him.

"Uh, Juvia, could you –?" he asked as he tried to push her away. She relented, smoothed her dress over, and gave him a sweet, loving smile.

There goes that weird, fluttery feeling again.

At that moment, Gray concluded two things: One, that those odd stirrings were probably due to his potion overdose. And two, that they were going to fade over time.

He had never been so wrong in his life.

A/N: I entered the Gruvia fandom during the 100YQ, so it’s challenging to write Gray not yet having strong feelings for Juvia. But their wild ride from enemies to lovers is what endeared me to them the most, so hopefully I get more inspiration to write fics encapsulating their journey. I hope I somehow captured their early friendship here (and Juvia’s little crush on Gray, obvious to everyone except him, lol).

#gruvia week #gruvia #gruvia fanfic #gruvia fanfiction #Gray X Juvia #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #fairy tail

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neojeno · 4 years

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I really wouldn't mind you aiding me with some tutorials love

giffing tutorial/resources

hi anon! sorry it took me so long to answer. i figured this might be helpful for others out there who have asked me similar questions, so i’ve compiled a pretty comprehensive list of tutorials/resources. idk about others but when i was new to giffing, it took me a lot of painful effort to go around and look for resources, so i’m putting it all here to make it a little easier!

i download videos using 4k video downloader. it will download very good quality 1080p videos in .mp4 format. if you’re downloading a 4k video, make sure to change the setting option to .mkv so that you get 4k and not 1080p—for obvious reasons since you want the highest quality.

i rely on kpopexciting to get .ts files — which are basically raw, very high quality video files for live performances. they are much less grainy than .mp4 versions of live performances—which are the ones you’ll see uploaded to youtube. i’ve found that 4k videos (in .mkv) are just as good quality as .ts, but obviously you will rarely see live performances in 4k, so get .ts when you can!! you can also try to find .ts files on twitter, but you may have to do a lot of digging. i wish i could recommend you twitter accounts, but the ones i used to go to have been very inactive/taken down all their drives :( but this website is really nice and updated frequently so i would recommend it!

vapoursynth links + download. the reason you would use vapoursynth is to resize your gif, while maintaining the optimal quality of the gif. if you gif without vapoursynth (.ie only using photoshop), it will still be fine, but the image quality may be grainier. also, you will definitely need vapoursynth to gif .ts files —more will be explained in the tutorial i’ve linked below. i would recommend that you have a high processing/lots of ram/newer desktop or laptop to use vapoursynth so that 1, your computer isn’t fried and 2, your vapoursynth process will go a lot faster. i am using a 2017 macbook pro for all my work, and it runs pretty well, but my laptop still gets pretty hot so just make sure you’re not running a million things in the background while using adobe products and vapoursynth lol. i used a pretty old and beat up 2011 model macbook air back then, and i will say that yes vapoursynth worked and ran on it, but it took much longer, and basically fried the laptop’s battery (aka i had to get the battery changed twice and the laptop would die randomly) but issok it was a school borrowed laptop so i didn’t feel too bad lol. im just saying this as a precaution, to preserve the health of your electronic devices!! but don’t be afraid to use vapoursynth! you should still try it at least once.

thank you to @realstraykids for this super detailed, really nice tutorial! it includes how and where to download videos, how to gif using vapoursynth, using photoshop, comparisons, coloring, and pretty much all you need to know. 10/10 would recommend

thank you to @dreamcolouring for this lifesaver!!! the best and easiest way to blur out unwanted captions/objects in your gifs. i recommend doing this step after converting your frames to video timeline and before you do sharpening and coloring. another tip i’ll add is to feather the selection you’ve made right before you click on “add vector mask” —this will make sense once you’ve read through the tutorial. feathering it will make the blurred spot less noticeable and more subtle.

i use this generator to create gradient colored captions! copy and paste your text, then select the colors you want. generate the code, and copy it. change the settings of the text editor on your post to HTML. paste the code, preview, and voila! add elements <blockquote>,<b>,<i>, etc as needed. see more on colored captions in this tutorial by @kylos --i believe op mentioned a different and better color generator but for some reason it won’t work for me :( hopefully it works for u! basically same idea as the previous generator i mentioned.

my own mini tutorial/workflow process of making gifs. this includes working with a .ts file, vapoursynth, photoshop, coloring, watermarking, etc. and a few of my own tips below:

if you are working with an .mp4, you do not have to make any changes to the preprocessor/denoise filters/sharpening in the resizing part of vapoursynth—it doesn’t make that big of a difference if you do. but if you are working with a .ts file, definitely do make those changes,, that’s the whole reason you have vapoursynth. with an .mp4, i like to use vapoursynth to just resize, but i don’t add any additional settings. i use smart sharpen in photoshop to sharpen it, which is pretty good on it’s own (at least in photoshop 2020!).

my rule of thumb is to do add .02 seconds when i am setting frame delay. so if when you first import the frames, they are at 0.04 seconds, i usually change them to 0.06. of course, this is my personal taste—you can make all your gifs faster or slower depending on how you want em to look.

if you are on a mac, you can screen record by pressing Command+Shift+5 (it’s a shortcut to quicktime screen recording). I only screen record for things like the beyond live concert or other live streamed events. the image quality of the screen recording, in my experience, is actually pretty good. when you gif the screen recording however, you may notice that it adds extra frames that you don’t need. by that i mean duplicate frames. you could keep the duplicate frames but that just means the size of your gif is going to be much bigger (keep in mind the limit is 8mb). in order to remove those duplicates, my only solution has been to remove them manually (by holding Command while selecting), or when you are importing the video to frames, select the option to “limit to every 2 frames”—but this method will be less precise and still not as good as manually removing frames. if you remove the duplicate frames, this means you will need to set the frame delay even slower, to make up for lost frames. in my experience, fps(frames per second) and frame delay work in conjunction. so for example, if i delete every other frame because they are duplicates, but the starting frame delay is 0.02, i am now going to change it to something like 0.05 (so i added 0.03 seconds rather than my usual 0.02). if the duration length and the image dimensions of the gif are short/small, feel free to keep the duplicate frames in—i only delete duplicate frames in order to keep my gif under the 8mb limit. then, if you keep the duplicate frames in, continue with your standard frame delay preferences. now that i’m writing this im realizing this might not make a lot of sense lol.. but don’t worry about it for now and if you run into trouble w screen recorded gifs then you can come back to this for reference. again, this is only my experience recording on a mac—it may be a lot different if you use a screen recording program or are on a pc.

i don’t really use .psd templates because i like to give every gif/gifset it’s own unique coloring—so i remake the coloring every time, but if you get into a rhythm it’s pretty easy. there are a lot of nice coloring tutorials out there, too! my personal coloring adjustments in order: levels, exposure, color balance, selective color (if needed), vibrance, photo filter (if needed), color lookup (i use 2strip most often and i put it on ‘color’ blending mode). don’t forget to adjust the opacities and fills of the ‘color lookup’ adjustment layer in case it’s too strong. go back to correct each adjustment layer as needed. then, when you’re done and satisfied, group all those layers, copy the group (you can do an easy command+c), and paste it onto the next gif you’re working on for easy workflow.

if for some reason you can’t see the frames when you import your layers/video, it’s likely because your ‘timeline’ window isn’t showing up. just go to the window menu on photoshop, go to the bottom and you’ll see ‘timeline.’ make sure it has a check next to it.

i recommend watermarking your gifs because a lot of people like to repost tings these days 😠 - so make sure u got your brand on it! i keep my watermark saved to my ‘libraries’ in photoshop so it’s ready when i need it. i use the blending mode ‘overlay’ and adjust the opacity, but if you don’t want to do that you can also add a stroke/shadow to your watermark/do all sorts.

tag #nctinc for your nct creations and #jenonet for your jeno creations!!

here’s my own mini tutorial (well not much of a tutorial ig more like a work process vid?): took about ten minutes including the time to search and download the video (but i didn’t record that part i trust yall know how to do that), vapoursynth, and exporting. i hope this helps somewhat! feel free to ask more questions whenever :)

youtube

keep in mind that giffing takes a lot of patience, energy, and experience—so don’t worry if it takes you a bit to figure things out or if your gifs don’t turn out the way you want them to the first time around. we all start at the same place and all run into problems. i know giffing can sound intimidating and seem like a lot of work, but i promise, once you get into a routine, giffing is going to happen in minutes—and you’ll get beautiful gifs. have fun! 😊

#anon #answered #tut #tuts #giffing tutorial #should i make a tut/resources post on gfx? not rly sure if gfx can be taught.. it's like a lottt about personal style imo lol #hope this helps!#not just for anon but for anyone

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lgcalec · 3 years

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@lgcyura backtracked to june 8, 2021

oh my god was she in trouble. like, big, BIG trouble. was she overreacting? maybe. was it for a good reason (in her opinion)? yes. after all, it was alec’s birthday and while they’ve celebrated many of their birthdays together already, this time would be the first since they started dating–honestly, a part of her still couldn’t believe they were boyfriend and girlfriend now, and that it’s been almost half a year at that–and she wanted to do a good job. a present from your girlfriend seemed more important than one from just your friend but unfortunately, seo yura was bad at picking gifts.

what’s even worse is that alec’s gift to her on her birthday last year was amazing - and they weren’t even dating then. how could she top that? even if she likes him, yura refused to lose because her competitive streak wouldn’t let her but she would really need to work hard to figure out what to get him. yura knew alec would probably say he’d be happy with anything she’d give him but she didn’t want a response like that, she wanted to give him something good (or at least, meaningful, and not just something she picked randomly or without thought) since he deserved it.

but what was ‘good’? yura spent weeks pondering over this, searching up articles and lists of ‘best gifts to give your boyfriend’ for ideas, casually checking out men’s stores and gift shops if she happened to pass by one, even asking some friends for advice (of course, she tried to be vague about who she was buying a gift for) until she finally settled on something.

in a white box, wrapped in a red ribbon and bow on top, are two phone cases that made her think of alec (one of a cute dog–that was actually matching with the cat version she bought herself because she couldn’t help it okay?!–and one with three dogs that was more minimalist so he could alternate and because she didn’t want to make it obvious that they had couple cases – or in the case he didn’t like it), surrounded by some of his favourite snacks and candies. on top was a hat she hoped–prayed–he’d like along with a card that had a message written inside (that yes, she did agonize over for a while just to decide if she should end it with “love, yura” or not).

happy birthday, alec!! ◡̈ you said you’re not that good at presents but neither am i so i guess this is why we get along? i’m kidding! i did try to get you something you might like AND you could use so i hope i didn’t fail… if you don’t like it, tell me and i’ll get you something better, okay? i hope you have a good day, a better year, and i’m still saving my gift card to use at that restaurant with you so let’s go soon! - yura ♡

then, she put the gift box into a normal shopping bag, bribed one of their close friends to deliver it to alec to raise less suspicions, and also made them send proof of delivering it successfully so she could be sure. once she receives a photo of the bag in front of alec’s apartment door, yura sends him a text.

sent to ↝ sunshine ☀️ ↪ i hope ur home right now or ur going to be soon because there’s something waiting for u… ↪ i’ll leave it up to your imagination on what it is :) ↪ ps. i got a new phone case ↪ it’s cute, right? ↪ [image attached]

hopefully alec understood what the image meant after he opened his gift but if not, well… she wasn’t going to admit it plainly either. she already felt embarrassed enough as it is with the rest of the gift and writing the message in the card because yura? being cute and lovey-dovey? she wasn’t good at expressing herself but for alec, she would try her best to be more honest.

on the day of his birthday, he really doesn’t expect much. his younger sister texts him of course, and he calls his parents to chat with them a bit but not for long because of timezones. sometimes, when it comes to days like this, he wishes he was at home with them so his mom could make him something delicious and homemade and reminiscent of his childhood.

but he’s here living his dream right now so he doesn’t really have room to complain.

the surprise from the company is always nice too, the letters from the fans and the cake always being something that he looks forward to every year when his birthday approaches. and he gets greetings from his friends from high school and the other trainees and even his fellow actors.

he won’t deny it though … there’s only really one person that he’s waiting for a message from though.

thankfully, he’s busy enough with his schedule that he doesn’t have much time to wait and dwell on yura’s messages, mostly just immersing himself in everything that he has to do and letting the day pass him by.

he heads home at the end of the day, tired and unexpecting when he happens across a package in front of the door of his (shared) apartment. he blinks at it for a long moment before it clicks that this is probably a birthday gift for him.

picking it up and unlocking the door, he checks his phone to see if he had missed any messages and he won’t deny the smile that appears on his lips when he sees that the package seems to indeed be from his girlfriend.

he toes off his shoes and places his bag down before he goes to his room, plopping down onto his bed after changing into his pajamas and then opening the present carefully. he’s not usually that sentimental or anything, but he keeps the ribbon and slides it onto his desk for safekeeping. after that is when he tugs out the card, reading it with a smile on his lips. he had expected her to have used the gift card he had given her last year but he’s genuinely pleasantly surprised that she had kept it.

letting out a slight scoff at her implication that he might not like the gift, he sets the card onto his desk as well and turns to actually look at the presents she had gotten him. the phone cases are cute, he notes, looking at them and then at the one he was currently using which was pretty beat up and makes a note to change it after.

his eyes light up at the hat though, since he had been in the market for a new one and he guesses he can stop looking online for one since she had so nicely gifted him it. he takes a picture of everything, including all the snacks, popping a candy into his mouth after as he settles to text her back. at the last second before he does it, he puts the hat on and snaps a selca of himself to send as well.

( 5 ) new messages: 🖤🖤🖤

> sorry i was going to reply but got distracted by the presents :~) > thank you for everything!!!! > [image] > i was going to buy a new hat so you absolutely read my mind > ur the best, as always <3

seeing the picture she had sent of the phone case, he blinks at it for a long moment before it clicks. it’s a matching one to the one she had given him, and alec grins to himself as he pauses in his texting to swap his phone case to the one of the corgi.

( 2 ) new messages: 🖤🖤🖤

> i changed my case too!! > once again, ur the best <3

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margaretbeagle · 3 years

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How to get more search engine traffic from your existing content

Writing more blog posts is not \always* the best way to get more traffic.*

I recently wrote an article for the How the F*ck blog that covered the tweaks and updates I've used personally to get more traffic for my website.

I wrote about three main tactics—some of which might seem obvious to most of you, so hopefully won't:

1/ Updating the meta title and description to increase click-through rates

2/ Refocusing your top-performing content around even higher volume keywords

3/ Rewriting or extending articles to push them to the front page of Google

Point three made the most sense to republish on here because it didn't need any images to explain it, if you want the full article please head over to How the Fxck website (no ads or anything).

Tactic #3: When and why you need to refresh the substance of your blog posts

Rewriting your content, or adding new paragraphs and sources, can all improve decaying or underperforming content.

Why update old content?

You want to update your content for a couple of reasons:

1/ Google biases towards up-to-date content, especially on non-evergreen topics.

It’s understandable that you don’t update an article titled ‘definition of a cloud’ (yes, I looked up at the sky for inspiration) every year, but you would expect an article on the topic of ‘marketing industry trends’ to be renewed fairly often.

With that in mind, freshness is an important ranking factor to take into account for a large subset of your content.

2/ Your competitors may be continuously improving their content (making it longer or better in some way) so that it outranks yours. To stay competitive, you need to update yours as well.

Which content should you update?

All content falls roughly into three categories:

1/ Content that previously ranked in the top 5 SERPs but recently was overtaken by another article, i.e. content that’s decaying down the organic traffic list. An update can bump you back up to the top.

2/ Content that never made it to page 1, but is floating around page 2 for the desired keyword. A meaningful update or reassessment of the content can push it to front page ranking.

3/ Content that isn’t ranking anywhere for the high-volume keyword you planned for. You might have to go back to the drawing board on this kind of content—was it designed in a way that’s better than competitor articles? Did it meet search intent for the targeted keyword? Did you include the keyword in the title and subtitles?

The biggest wins in the short term are likely category 1 and 2 content. But in the long-term, it’s still easier to rewrite something that didn’t rank than to go back to the drawing board entirely.

How to update old content?

Three ways I would approach this for fast impact:

1/ Review articles that outrank yours, what do they do better? What content do they have that you don’t? Are they significantly longer than yours? Take that, rewrite it, and include it in yours as well.

2/ Review the data and statistics used in your content. Is there something better out there you can link to instead?

3/ Take a look at the FAQs Google looks at for the topic. Type your keyword into Google and see what ‘questions’ come up in the suggested answers section. Write them all down and create an FAQs section at the end of your existing article. This increases the length of your content AND helps you rank in Google for all those sub-questions.

-‍-

Doing these things regularly has worked consistently for me and are a great break from writing. Hope you enjoy.

submitted by /u/qwertyWhyop [link] [comments] How to get more search engine traffic from your existing content published first on https://improfitninja.weebly.com/

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messianfell · 7 years

Note

this might be a strange question, but do you know a good way of making gif headers on tumblr? I figured you'd be good to ask since you seem to know how to make edits well and I thought it be okay?

Depends what you’re looking for!!

If you want to make the gifs themselves, you can use free software (a la G.ifCam or smth like it, whatever fancy dohickeys u ppl dredge up from the web… I’ve used G.ifCam a lot before myself tho hence the rec, it’s v simple JHEBRGN.)

As for making headers themselves, I use photoshop to make them, so that’s where most of my knowledge is.

In general tho, regarding what size your header should be, check out this post and base it off what you’re most concerned with. I don’t use the default tumblr theme, for instance, and idc what the header looks like in my settings, so I tend to make my headers around the 640×360 size mark for the header box popup thingy, give or take some width/height depending on the quality. (It’s better to be a little over w/ gifs rather than under, bc gif quality gets murdered if it gets resized larger.)

AS FOR TIPS & TRICKS FOR ACTUALLY CREATING HEADERS Hmmm… I can give a quick tutorial on some basic things that’ll help on the path to actually designing them, but again, just depends on what exactly you’re wanting help with, so if you have a more specific query, feel free to hmu, I don’t mind 😂 Here’s some basics tho, knowing how to do this stuff is helpful in general lesse…

I’m going to be using this gif as an example for most of this.

* 101.

When you put a psd over a gif, it should always be on top of all the gif layers, like so. I bring it up bc I slapped a psd on the one I’m editing. Just in case jerbng.

Ofc, you can press play on the timeline to see what the finished gif will look like.

* SAVING A GIF.

To properly save a gif in photoshop, you’ll want to go to File > Export > Save for Web.

Make sure you have the options set to GIF and looping to FOREVER.

* TWEENING / Phasing Gifs (for smoother looping)

You can do this before or after editing your gif, I suggest before just so you don’t forget about it if you’re like me and lame. But if your gif is something that doesn’t loop perfectly, you can make it phase back to the first frame assuming you’re somebody who dislikes when gifs jarringly snap back to the first frame.

Look at your timeline in PS, scroll to the last frame of the gif & select it.

Then click on “tweens animation frames” on the timeline controls.

Make sure to select FIRST FRAME for “tween with.” Add as many frames as you think makes the gift phase smoothly: I usually go anywhere from 5-10 frames. The higher number of frames you can add with it looking okay, the smoother the transition is. Just play around w/ it.

After that, create a new layer and put it under the gif’s first layer. Make it a solid color or w/e you want the gif to fade to (usually black or white is best.)

Now, you have this:

* TWO GIFS, ONE FILE.

You can combine 2 gifs into one; and I suggest using 2 gifs that have the same amount of frames since it’s just… easier. Both of the gifs I used for this have 29 frames. The one I’m adding originally had like 13, so I duplicated the frames on the timeline until it had 29. Basically just do what u gotta do to get them to the same frame number. Then, go to the gif you want to ADD to the one you’re working on, select all the frames on the TIMELINE and go to the timeline options, the lines in the corner:

Select: COPY FRAMES.

Then move past to your original gif, select all frames in that timeline, go back to timeline options and

Select: PASTE FRAMES.

You’re going to want to have “paste OVER selection” ticked.

And there you go! If you look at your layers, both gifs will be there.

In my case, I went through the timeline and removed the background of the second gif I added. You can play around and do what you will. I just tweaked the psd, cleaned up the second gif & ended up with this:

* ADDING TEXT / TEXTURES.

Just add text how you normally would with anything else. Make sure it’s above all the gif layers, either right below your psd or above it if you don’t want the psd to affect it.

For textures, also put them above all the gif layers. I’m going to apply this, for example.

I put this above my gif layers, then played around with the blending modes to find out what worked best w/ my psd/gif selection. Blending modes are the box that typically starts out as “normal” in your layers box:

Scroll through everything offered and decide what works best. For me, it was darken: after I applied it and moved the texture around (& inversed it, in my case!), I got this:

You can do this & play around with any texture / text / font / etc combination you want to use. Different textures on different gifs / psds will require you playing around with them to get them to look nice jhebrgn.

* GIFS ON STILL IMAGES.

The last thing I’ll show you is adding a gif to a still image. IE / how people… add sparkles or flames or w/e to their headers and stuff like that. I’ll use this as a random example.

First, open the gif you want to use. I’m gonna use this one.

Resize the gif to whatever you want your banner size to be via CTRL+ALT+I.

Note: make sure the link isn’t checked so you can make the width/height whatever you want. I’m just going to make it 640x400 bc w/e.

Take whatever still image you’re going to use and drag it to the canvas. Make it the top layer.

Now go back to the BLENDING MODES OPTIONS and set it to whatever works best for you. For me, it was screen.

The goal is for the gif texture to be visible, like so:

Now I’m going to slap my PSD above the still image layer and add text / textures just like I would anything else, as explained above.

And there you go! A gif texture on a still image, which can be used for a header or w/e else.

* I’M DONE NOW JHEBRNGJEHBGN.

There you go, some basics for editing gifs that can help you style / create banners and whatnot! I went through them p quick bc gestures vaguely but like JHBERNJGBN. If anyone wants a serious, in-depth tutorial about these things you can just let me know.

I probably just rambled, I’m sorry. 😂 The question wasn’t specific so I just pulled stuffed outta my hat and it’s all centric to photoshop but JHBNERG. HOPEFULLY THIS AT LEAST HELPED…. A LITTLE…. OR FOR SOMEONE… I’m crying.

I’m awful at tutorials I tried™

#✞ ▏❝ ʷᵃᵗᶜʰ ᵐᵉ ʷʰᶦᵖ‚ ʷᵃᵗᶜʰ ᵐᵉ ⁿᵉᶦᵍʰ ⁿᵉᶦᵍʰ ❞ [;ooc.]#✞ ▏❝ ʷᶦᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ‚ ʷᵉ ᶜᵃⁿ ˢᵒˡᵛᵉ ᵉᵛᶦˡ ❞ [;anonymous.]#rip mobile users #reference

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a-panda-reads-act-omega · 7 years

Text

ACT OMEGA PART 23

THE 03/22/17 UPDATE

gASP! What’s this? Could it be? Consistent updates? Wow, I am on F I R E. Let’s see if this lasts more than two days. Anyhoo, last time on Act Omega, we were getting caught up with team PMMVKFSLAD (real fun to pronounce). The ragtag group of leftovers from the deadly laser pointer that is Lord English. United by the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, they shall overcome this challenge and persevere! If Vriska chills the fuck out, that is.

VRISKA.. Just chill out, let a semi good thing be a semi good thing. Even if the amount of good makes up like like... -16% of the thing.

I’m having another moment where I just suddenly snap out of typing mode, and look at what I’m writing, and question if I can even qualify as a competent human being.

*click* oh hey, nothings here. *refresh* ah, fckingn OTHING *refresh* GDI I gOTTA LIVEBLOG TO WRITE *REFRESH* WHERE IS THE PANEL MSPFA I WILL LITERALLY FIND THE PEOPLE RUNNING YOUR SERVERS AND STRANGLE THEM *Refresh* Ah. There it is.

This is good Vriska. This is acceptance. You may be running a team full of morons with no motivation whatsoever. But you’re also running a team full of morons with no motivation whatsoever with a powerful LEADER. And as that powerful leader, you will UNITE THE SEA AND LAND DWELLERS AS ONE RACE, AND REDEFINE CULLING FOR YOUR ENTIRE RACE.

Ahem. I mean, you’ll use the power of friendship or something to kill lord english. wooooo.

VRISKA: Fiiiiiiiine. VRISKA: Thank you. VRISKA: For........ VRISKA: Sticking around. I guess.

Good girl. Now hold hands with them and write a song about your friendship.

Oh goodness, some more friends to add to the bunch. Equius and Horrus. I guess it’s time to update team PMMVKFSLAD to... PEMMVKFSHLAD. Even funner to pronounce.

VRISKA: Well. Might as well t8ke stock of our freshly downsized crew.

Dammit, have I been wasting my time keeping track?

VRISKA: There's myself, Meenah, Tavros, Aradia, Sollux...

SMAVT (these arent gonna stop being fun to pronounce.)

VRISKA: Davepeta, I guess? Whoever you are?

Come on Vriska, COME ON... Obviously it’s a dead Nepeta who was prototyped fused with a bird version of Dave from another timeline who was also prototyped in order to create the most badass sprite yet.

VRISKA: Feferi, hi. Nice to see you, I guess. At least, one version of you.

Pft. I just love this greeting for some reason. There’s something about the words “Feferi, hi. Nice to see you, I guess.” That keeps making me laugh for some reason.

VRISKA: Equius! Yeah, hey neigh8or. Lovin’ the new getup.

Goddamnit Vriska quit talking so casually I’m giggling like an idiot.

VRISKA: A 8unch of dancestors? I swear I know all your names. VRISKA: Aaaaaaaand that’s. It. VRISKA: Like... 13 people. VRISKA: That’s just. VRISKA: SWELL!

Vriska, you must fight the urge to off 5 of these suckers. Also, just gonna check and see if my math adds up. Alright, nope. PEMMVKFSHLAD only has 12, which means I haven’t seen everybody yet or Vriska’s counting was wrong. Or there are two Kankri’s but let’s just pray that isn’t the case. Also just gonna mention the fact that Horrus looks really upset over there.

I’m just gonna hope this isn’t sarcastic happiness.

VRISKA: Well at least I know pretty much everyone here! For the most part! VRISKA: 8etter than nothing! A decent collection of powers and skills. VRISKA: Davepeta, you have wings, and claws, and pro8a8ly some com8in8tion of time and heart powers that HAVE to come in handy somehow, right? VRISKA: Yeah!! VRISKA: Hahahaha!

Ooooh fuck. She’s gonna lose it.

(that goddamn moment when you forget how to put images on tumblr posts and then beat yourself up about it because you feel like a dunce)

Hmm. Yeah. Yep, she seems happy. Good.

VRISKA: This is fine! Everything is fine! VRISKA: I can TOTALLY work with this!

That’s right Vriska! Just embrace the power of friendship!!

VRISKA: And I know exactly what went wrong with the plan! VRISKA: Don’t 8et all your money on one horse! A horse that you don’t even know for sure is a8le to run!!

Oh it sure did run. It ran right on outta here with your fiancé (gotta get the fancy e) on it’s back. Too bad it didn’t just. Ride away with Lord English.

VRISKA: Stupid, stupid, dum8!!!!!!!!

: )

VRISKA: 8ut I can learn from my mist8kes. Just like I always have. Say something doesn’t work. So what? Get right 8ack up and keep trying! Look at it from a new angle. 8ecause there is w8y too much at st8ke not to!

You’re goddamn right Vriska! I mean, if Lord English destroys the universe, Jade can’t totally get with Rose- Oh right. Jade’s all grimbark and shit. And I just remembered, that battle’s still going on isn’t it. Ha ha. Why do I pray for these ships to be canon. Are they really the most important thing for me during this fuckfest?

VRISKA: I 8et there's a totally reasona8le explan8tion for everything that went sideways. What the weapon actually fucking did. Why my luck ran out. Whatever that HUGE G8PING HOLE in the Furthest Ring is!

s’called the Green Hole™, learn the lingo sweetie.

VRISKA: I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!

Did somebody say overused and practically decaying meme?

Yeah. Nobody said that.

OH FUCK THAT’S A TROLL I THOUGHT THAT WAS A WEIRD STRUCTURE OR SOMETHING? AND. It’s Aranea. Just who we needed to see right now. Hopefully she doesn’t get everybody killed again! : )

VRISKA: No fix8ting on the past. That’s all 8ehind me. VRISKA: I just have to FOCUS. I’m sure the answer is right in front of my f8ce. VRISKA: Hell, may8e it’s been lying in pl8in sight this entire time!

Yes, and the answer is to LEAVE right now before anymore trolls join your lil powwow.

MEENAH: yo fishka MEENAH: dont mean to burst your bubble or nothin MEENAH: like watchin you lose it and blubber at yourshellf has got a serious entertainment factor MEENAH: but you might wanna actually MEENAH: look behind you

NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS ENTERTAINING, And now is NOT the time to look behind you because we don’t need Vriska gone wrong fucking everything up with her hidden agenda’s again.

Goddammit stop acknowledging h e r

VRISKA: What NOW?!

VRISKA’S NOT GONNA BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS. I’M NOT GONNA BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS. NOBODY’S GONNA BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

VRISKA: Uh.

UH IN FUCKING DEED. SHE BETTER NOT PROPOSE SOME PLAN HERE, BECAUSE SHE IS LITERALLY MORE OBSESSED WITH HERSELF THAN VRISKA FUCKING SERKET, AND LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY IT COULD END IF THEY FOLLOW HER ADVICE IS WITH HER COMING OFF AS SOME HERO. I SWEAR IF SHE’S WEARING SOME SHIT EATING GRIN IN THE NEXT PANEL. IT FEELS LIKE SHE’S GONNA BE WEARING SOME SHIT EATING GRIN IN THE NEXT PANEL.

FKAJHLSPOI:BGIBDSHFBDUIBFSDOIBFAISPHBVCP*#HRUQ(PHURBEFID

F U C K Y O U A N D Y O U R F U C K I N G F A C E Y O U S P I D E R B I T C H ^ 2

ARANEA: Why, hello there!

Fuck you

ARANEA: It sounds to me like you might 8e in need of my particular talents and services.

FFFUCK... you

ARANEA: Luckily for you, I’ve come to offer just that.

FUCK YOU...

ARANEA: You’re welcome, in advance.

FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. IM. IM DONE HERE. ARANEA, UNLESS YOUVE SHAPED YOUR SHIT UP I HOPE EVERYBODY HERE TAKES TURNS BEATING THE HELL OUT OF YOU

ALRIGHT

ALRIGHT.

Alright.

Alright...

Calm...

That’s the end of the update.

this was a fun one.

wooopty dooooo......

alrighty, bladda bladda outro seeya later

spider bitch^2

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #Act Omega #hs act omega #act omega liveblog #hs act omega liveblog #Spider bitch

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mystech-master · 7 years

Text

Zaun Q&A Tidbits

Piltover one here

Piltover got a reddit Q&A, now it’s Zaun’s turn.

link here

question asked by fan

answer from rioter

Q: What made you decide to join Zaun and Piltover into one super-city and what inspired this direction?

A. This had been in the works for a long while. I know early discussions on the two cities idea were meant to emphasize the differences and similarities of the two cities, while ramping up that connection and conflict through being so close together. They have no choice but be aware of each other every day, and it allows us to delve into ideas about what a symbiotic relationship looks like when not everyone is happy about it. It felt different to all of our other regions, it heightened possibilities for conflict (and therefore drama), and meant we could play very different Champs off each other pretty easily. Regions need to have natural hooks for storytelling and provide opportunities that other places don't. After all, if your new city just does the same as another on the other side of the world, why does the story world need it?

Q. Is Twitch still a resident/champion of Zaun?

A. Yes! He will eventually be getting some bio and story love too

Q. I recall some concerns about Zac's parents being deceased in the new lore; what made the team decide to "Uncle Ben" them?

I feel really bad about it; they were cool people who did the right thing, and raised Zac responsibly and lovingly. Those teasers with their scribbled notes on them were really sweet; there's one where they call him cute that makes me smile. Them getting killed in the lore update really guts me, honestly.

At the least I wish one of Zac's parents lived, to be his Aunt May rooting for him. Does Zac really have to be Batman, and not Spiderman?

I do like Ekko's lore, where he explicitly isn't an orphan, so I can't complain that everyone has dead or missing parents, but still, I feel so bad about Zac's plight.

A. Hi, the thinking behind that was that with them still alive, teaching Zac right from wrong, he didn't really have anywhere to go as a character. Was him being good a product of their guidance or something coming from him and what he'd learned? Now he has to embody the goodness he wants for himself by himself, and that's a much more interesting story space...

Q. Any pre-existing characters served as inspiration for Viktor? Parallels with Doctor Doom are plenty in my mind.

How far has he progressed in terms of his evolution? Does he still need to breathe/eat, has he augmented his cognitive abilities?

It's strongly hinted that he does still have shreds of humanity about him. Is there any part of him that holds any regrets on where he is and how he got there? Or is he completely satisfied with his current existence?

How do you think he feels about Zaun? Characters like Ekko/Blitz/Zac/WW seem almost inseparable from the city, what does Viktor think about it?

Edit: Can he remove his mask? There are mentions of smiles in his story but all we see in the game is his mask. Is it removeable or grafted into his skin?

A. I was inspired by the real-life scientists who worked on developing local anesthesia. Some of them experimented on their own bodies to see if the anesthesia worked before trying their techniques on patients during operations. That mentality felt very much true for Viktor, who wants to make humanity better and would never intentionally hurt someone - he would absolutely test a new method on himself if he thought it might be dangerous or hurtful.

Viktor has performed many modifications to his own mind and body, but neither his body nor mind are entirely machine - right now he is a hybrid, though he is constantly upgrading and tweaking his mechanical parts.

I don't think he feels regret - what would be the point? I'm sure like anyone he has made decisions that he would have changed in hindsight, but he doesn't dwell on these. He uses the knowledge he gains from each experience to move forward and do better in the future. I do think Viktor is happy with his current levels of mechanical modifications, and has eliminated many problems from his life through his experimentation.

Like many of the characters from Zaun, Viktor is very much a product of his society. He has been able to use the ingenuity, freedom, and boundless resources of the city in order to create progress and experiment in ways beyond what anyone had yet accomplished. He is not limited to the rules and regulations that held him back in Piltover - here in Zaun, he can do what no one thought possible.

I've always seen the mask as something he can remove and put back on as needed (i.e., to take a sip of sweetmilk).

Q. I love what you did for Viktor. He's oddly enough "human" and despite augmenting himself with cold steel he's surprisingly warm. He's very sympathetic despite his methods being rather questionable at times.

A. Glad you liked the Viktor story! :D I had fun trying to imagine what it's like to have have such a strange, logical distance from emotions. And yeah, I definitely don't see him as cold - he can still empathize with others, but he isn't swayed by what he sees as unnecessary emotions like fear.

Q. Can i ask do you think Viktor is a scientist before a machine herald because he shows signs of sympathy

A. Interesting question. I would say he is both; they are not mutually exclusive. Viktor very much values science and the scientific method - he teaches Naph to ask questions that dig deeper into a rumor, and to value primary sources as evidence above hearsay. Viktor also believes humans have certain weaknesses of spirit that machines do not have, so he's still very much a "machine herald". Through augmentations, Viktor has done his best to rid himself of what he sees as useless and harmful emotions, but he still has empathy for others (as is hopefully evident in this story).

Q. Is Zaun's design and style based off of any real cities?

A. Not wholesale, but all of our work is derived from a lot of real-life references mixed in a particular combination (that will feel like Zaun if you get a sort of rough formula down). There's plenty of Victoriana and Art Deco references, but we don't tend to reference the entire art movement, because that can be too broad. For Zaun's case, we specifically looked at the industrial design in that era and took design cues from it and translated that to architecture instead.

We also kinda think of things like symbolism and how shapes 'feel' to people. For instance, Zaun has a lot of struts and vertical elements. Narratively, we can explain that by saying it's bare metal, it's rough, unpolished, it's the Zaunites' way of building sturdy platforms out from rock. But visually, having struts and vertical elements brings us to a specific industrial era and sets the visual tone of the place as well. So we try and capitalize on these feelings and associations to create the mood of the faction as well.

Response to ^: So Zaun is 1930s New Jersey but in a big canyon?

Response to ^: That's a really good description. We'll go with that. :) It also has strange mechanically augmented people and mutant rats

Q. Would Warwick ever attempt to hunt down Dr.Mundo? How would it go?

So, since Viktor is a misunderstood "Villain", would you say Jayce is a misunderstood hero? It seems like he's really arrogant and only cares about the glory.

A: Ooh. That's an interesting idea.

I'd like to think that Jayce has legitimate heroism within him, but he just needs to stop thinking he's better than everyone else and start focusing on how to work with people.

Q. I have to know, in Viktor's colour story, did he choose to assist Naph solely out of a desire to test and see the results of his fear-suppressing chip mixed with an expectation of a future evolution; or was it derived as well from his lingering human impulses to uplift and grant agency to the downtrodden?

I'm honestly not sure what to, or even what I want to believe of him. The candid nature of Viktor both in his bio and Emberflit Alley really caught me off guard.

A. This isn't the first time Viktor has used the fear-suppressor - he's certainly not using Naph as a test subject. I think Viktor witnessed an inequity when he saw Naph bullied outside his door, knew exactly how that he could help, and fixed the problem. The whole reason Viktor developed all his mechanical augmentations is not just science for science's sake - he genuinely wants to help people and make the world a better place.

Q. to the artist: how did you make sure that each others style matches and do you guys have a end picture in mind or start and see where it takes you?

A. Great question! The team has a central idea of what each faction feels like and we try to boil it down to key phrases and also key shapes. We used words like "Industrial", "Claustrophobic", "Pipework", among others, for Zaun. We spend a lot of time gathering reference and trying out different shapes until we hit upon a palette that represents Zaun. Circles, curves, repetitive struts, holes punched in metal. This way, any artist who works on Zaun has a body of research and a database of sorts to work from.Generally, I don't think we have an end picture in mind that's very clear. We have this general idea of how it should feel like, but we don't really know what it'll end up looking like until we go through an iterative process and finally land an image that 'clicks' and excites everyone.

A2. In addition to what u/riotwhren said about structures, In term of style itself you can compare Piltover and Zaun : in the case of Piltover, a lot of the architecture and shapes tend to be geometrical and symmetrical , a bit like American Art Deco style, Whereas in Zaun, their ability and craft of metal enables them to do a lot of round shapes, tubes, and intricate flowing shapes quite reminiscent of the Art Nouveau metro gates in Paris.:)

Q. What were your inspirations for Zaun? What was the in-house sorta guidelines for what made Zaun? Also, incredible work on the stories - Zaun feels like a living, breathing place and it makes me feel a lot more connected to the champions and proud of Ekko for fighting for it.

A. Hmmmm, I think the key thing we kept repeating over and over again in meetings, both narratively and visually, was... "We need to make it livable. It can't be too dire with no hope whatsoever, it's gotta feel like someone might actually want to visit it".

And of course, the color green. Before we really delved into exploring the visuals, all the green in Zaun was conceptually all from goo and toxic poisons. But we wanted to make it more livable, so eventually the idea emerged that we could represent the green with the cultivairs, and also moss on bricks and stuff instead of neon goo. That way we kept the green but also made Zaun feel more livable.

Q. will you keep making lore in perspectives of citizens/people who aren't the actual champions?

A. Most certainly, yeah. It's fun for us (and hopefully for you) to see the world of Runeterra through the eyes of people who aren't mega-badasses. Like how reading Tales of the Mos Eisley Cantina made the Star Wars trilogy feel much bigger and deeper.

Stories about characters who aren't champions allows us to delve into the world in ways the champions can't (or don't often). It broadens the world and keeps it from feeling 'small' by virtue of so many champs all being involved in the everyday lives of people.

Q. Hello! I am a lore aficionado, and have read and loved every champion's lore, and would like to know more about Warwick, and why you decided to remove Soraka from his lore when she was a very prominent part of his two previous lores. His new lore is still excellent, but it hurts to see such a major player in his lore tragically torn from her spot in his story and character. :(Sincerely, A Warwick main.

A. Partly it was so we can make Soraka her own woman/celestial, partly to give Singed and Warwick's relationship a bit more focus and dynamism. Though we like to include relationships in the origins of our Champs, it's best to do so when those relationships amplify the core of who the Champ is. Personally, I think it was a good move for all three Champs.

Q. Why are u trying to blur some champions identities if u don't have an exact idea of what they are? I'm talking about Janna (also happened to Amumu and Rammus in the past) I mean we are supposed to know exactly what they are, what s up with this ambiguity?

A. Personally, I don't find Janna's identity all that ambiguous -- she's got some mystery, sure (as magical things should in order to feel properly magical, in my opinion), but she's assuredly a physical manifestation of faith and hope from sailors who prayed for fair winds. Which is why her superpowers are summoning wind and hugging sad gay boys.

Q.--- If you'll indulge me a little further, Noxus's "Conquer and patriate" seems very similar to the Roman Empire's way of running things. Would you say that Noxus's control over Valoran is roughly equivalent to the Roman Empire's control over Europe? And furthermore, does Demacia actually pose much of a threat to Noxus, or do they function more as a "stubbornly unconquerable defender" rather than a political rival?

A. Yep! Noxus is similar to an ancient Rome or ancient Persia. And "stubbornly unconquerable defender" is an accurate assessment for Demacia!

Q. A question to help better visualize the city: what sort of fashion do Zaunites wear? What are the differences between each societal class in their dress (i.e. what do the rich vs. poor wear?) And lastly, is there any sort of 'people of Zaun' type concepts anywhere? As I recall, there was at least one concept image for Piltover's people! Thanks!

A. We do have people concepts, but I'm not sure when we're getting them on Universe. In terms of fashion, there are definitely differences between the classes -- among the lower and middle classes, lots of rolled-up sleeves, layers, and various mechanisms to keep the toxins out and your feet dry. Among the upper classes, brighter, vibrant colors (because $$$), and there's less need to have protective elements in your clothes, so more refined patterns and cuts. In fact, I'd say the rich chem barons would pride themselves on looking nicely presented when riding one of the lush elevators up and down the city.

Q. Does Blitzcrank have any hextech going on in him, or is he entirely steam powered?

A. Blitzcrank does not have any hextech within his core - he's made from a bunch of discarded golem parts originally powered by steam, but Blitz reconfigured his own mechanics in order to help others. So you might say that he's fueled by the power of LOVE. <removes tinfoil hat>

Q. Has Ryze, in his travels throughout the years, ever been involved with Zaun in some way?

A. I'm sure he's passed through at some point...

Q. Is there any form of police or anything of the sort in Zaun? half of these guys hunt people at night just for the lulz

A. The Chem-barons are the kind of unofficial law down there, keeping their patches secure and keeping things - more or less - safe. It's not good for business when things get too out of hand, but it can. And when it does, the retribution is swift and brutal. Also, if things get too out of hand down there, the Pilties might come down...

(Also if you look on the reddit page there is a huge discussion, too huge for this post, where the Rioters actually ask why people liked the Journal of Justice so much and why they got rid of it. Go check it out if you’re one of those butt hurt people who hate the new lore).

Q. Why the change for Mundo? Why change him from being a scientist who became twisted from his own experiments to being 'lol idk he's purple'?

A. Because his original lore had a massive amount of crossover with Singed both in terms of narrative detail and tonal space. It also just didn't really mesh with his personality ingame, which is much more jovial and darkly comic.

Q. So Blitzcrank is a self-learning AI, but do computers exist in Valoran? if not, is hextech magic enough to this kind of processing?

A. Piltover and Zaun does not have mass production or the factory system - everything they create is made by a talented craftsperson who has studied for years. So all creations are unique, one-of-a-kind bespoke creations, meaning no computers. Blitzcrank doesn't have hextech within his core, he's a steam-powered golem who modified his own mechanics and became sentient in order to make a greater difference in Zaun.

Q. why zaun is full of criminals ? was it a good place in another time ?

A. Not everyone is a criminal, there's a lot of awesome people in Zaun, but harsh times can lead to harsh responses from some.

Q. What exactly is the relationship between Jinx and Ekko?

A. It's complicated.

Q. And what's the relationship between Taliyah and Ekko?

A. I'm not aware there is one...? Though the kid from Shurima might have passed through Zaun in her travels and I suspect they'd have found kindred spirits in one another.

Q. Is Mundo's tongue purple or blue?

A. The blue in the splash is from the potion he drank.

Q. What kind of relationship do Zaun and Noxus have? Does Zaun regularly supply weapons to Noxus, or does it try to refrain from getting involved in that age-old Demacia/Noxus conflict?

A. Zaun/Piltover trade with Noxus and it's an amicable (as far as any relation with Noxus goes) but the empire is now beginning to see that maybe, just maybe, there's something to this new-fangled technology that's coming out of these two cities.

Q. Does Viktor know about Orianna and if so, what does he think of her?

A. I'd be surprised if he didn't know about her, and he likely thinks of her as some inventor's folly, not yet realizing that there's more to her than a simple clockwork automaton.

Q. How did Zaun become so toxic and poisoned, it was a normal City like Demacia before anything, wasn't it? :D

A. There was a catastrophe in Zaun's past that sank it into canyons and cliffs that ripped through the landscape, which together with the chem-tech researches that have happened since...well, that's not a good mix.

Q. Any chance of Zaun being completely free from all the gas and poisonous filth? :D

A. I suspect their are chem-alchemists working on that very thing right now.

Q. Were there any inspirations you guys drew upon in the making of Janna's new backstory? I've always wanted a Miss Peregrine-type character in League, so I couldn't be more happy with her new lore, personally <3

A. Kiiiiiind of? We mainly just beat our heads against a wall for a couple weeks until we came up with something that we all liked. We sort of realized after the fact that she's slightly Neil Gaiman-y -- a god who was forgotten and then came back as more people started believing in her again.

#reddit #lol #league of legends #zaun #q&A #zac #viktor #blitzcrank #ekko #jinx #the secret weapon #the machien herald #the boy who shattered time #the loose cannon

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ehonestreviews · 5 years

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Abstract art painting techniques and tips for all abstract artists

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nicemango-feed · 7 years

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Free Speech Activists Deplatform Speaker From Free Speech Event - Not The Onion

This post could alternatively be titled: *Anti Free Speech Regressive SJWs Silence Dissenting Thinker At FREE SPEECH EVENT* The irony here is really something. Gad Saad & Jordan Peterson were on a Free Speech panel last weekend, (at an event that was previously cancelled) where this time they actually justified having someone uninvited, de-platformed even, from a SACRED... 'FREE SPEECH EVENT'. I mean you know these guys right? (Please note there were two other people on stage who I don't really know much about so I will keep this post about my faves, JBP and The Gadfather, yes he really calls himself that)

I mean ...really....this is pretty much ALL they talk about.

In a hilariously hypocritical twist these Politically Correct Regressives were trying to justify silencing a 'different viewpoint' just last weekend.

Nevermind the person they uninvited was probably well worth uninviting (in my cucked leftist opinion) as she was the Rebel Media 'Journalist' Faith Goldy who appeared on the Neo Nazi Daily Stormer affiliated Podcast after Charlottesville. But what do I know, I'm not the one constantly advocating for & promoting alt right/light figures. It's especially rich coming from them because Saad has on more than one occasion promoted White Genociders such as this person (who also happens to be a holocaust denier, suprise surprise):

Click to enlarge. Read full story here

And Jordan Peterson has himself had a friendly chat on a Neo Nazi podcast about 'Western Civilization' with a person who advocates for using violence to remove non-whites from her future fantasy ethnostate:

Host of that show is another extreme race & IQ obsessive wanting to deport non-whites. http://pic.twitter.com/QF00K9Tr3d

— Nikolashvili (@ViniKako) March 12, 2017

How do people with such associations and endorsements think they get off for disinviting someone for associating with better known Nazis/White Nationalists? Speaking of 'guilt by association', you'll never guess what Gad had to say about Faith Goldy:

Image from 'Free Bird Media' video - another outlet that appears to be White Nationalist/Alt Right friendly as the host himself claims he does associate with those types of people and doesn't appreciate getting thrown under the bus by Gad.

Well well well, in this situation...Gad thinks you are who you hang around with ...that doesn't mean good things for him now, does it - as someone who's literally called a holocaust denier a "Viking Heroine". Or is this standard selectively applied?

After basically begging for Infowars-Paul's approval Gad makes a weak joke about how people want to punish him for associating with people like PJW who does, by the way, also spout white genocide stuff. He had to make the joke himself you see because no one was that outraged in that moment, so he has to kind of perform the outrage to fulfill his desire for victimhood.

Here, once again Gad disapproves of 'guilt by association' ....when it's applied to him.

Now, let's take a look at their explanation for deplatforming Goldy,

Image from Free Bird Media. Watch the full clip here

First point I'd like to make is, that it's disturbing how softly they all tiptoe around someone they themselves just mentioned was on a Neo-Nazi affiliated Podcast after the Charlottesville tragedy. None of the panelists are able to disavow her.

Instead it goes something like this;

Peterson: I know Faith, I don’t believe that she’s a reprehensible person (after knowing of and saying he watched her appearance on a Daily Stormer related show, which he himself didn't find acceptable to the point that he's having to justify to a full room why he, the free speech hero is de-platforming someone.)

Peterson: ....She was associating with people who’s views she should have questioned. (Well, that's putting it mildly, Dr P.)

Peterson goes on to talk about how she should have asked some hard questions but then immediately backtracks and starts making excuses for why she didn’t challenge any views on the nazi podcast. You know who else went on a nazi podcast and didn't ask any really tough questions right? Jordan Peterson himself. In fact he's criticizing, leftist, postmodernists, "neo-marxists" in most of that conversation and even claims to the *neo-Nazi woman* he's conversing with that "their aim is to shake the foundations of western civilization to the core" - just imagine sitting with a Nazi and dumping on leftists as destroying western civilization, then going on to deplatform someone else for appearing on a nazi podcast while not asking tough questions. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Now back to the video where he's explaining why they deplatformed Faith Goldy:

Peterson: ....its more difficult than you might think when you’re facing people , even if u don’t believe them, to be rude enough to challenge them.

Just take a minute to let that sink in… JBP who is furious with liberals, postmodernists and SJWs all the time, thinks its hard to be rude enough to challenge ppl on a nazi podcast.

You can see what his priorities are.

“...that’s not so easy, especially if you’re an agreeable person” continues Jordan

The panelists go on to blame it on the fact that she’s a journalist and that she didn’t do her job as a journalist…lol

...as they sit next to Gad Saad who’s done a glossy softball interview with several white genociders and even a holocaust denier.

Gad says in his explanation to the audience, “…there is also a pragmatism right, you may decide you’re all for freedom of speech BUTTTTT [emphasis mine] that doesn’t mean that you invite to the dinner party someone who’s views you don’t agree with… (isn't this pretty much what people's argument has been against shutting you and your selective free-speech friends down in the past?)

And then he immediately softens the blow by jumping to “I..I’m not saying that was the case with Goldy” [Yeah heaven forbid Gad, that you do the decent thing and come out against her views openly, without hesitation, at the first go after knowing she went on Daily Stormer related media for a friendly conversation.]

Here's Gad on Free Speech when it's not being applied to people *he* wants de-platformed:

Oh - looks like we have some new 'enemies of reason', and 'intellectual terrorists' in town.

Image from: http://ift.tt/2yUqFEQ

Guess him an his pals are fascist castratos, by this standard....because guess who used a but clause.

Sounds like you, wanting someone de-platformed from a Free Speech event, Gad.

“So the fact that you might for some event decide to disassociate from that person doesn’t suggest that you are being hypocritical to freedom of speech” —— LOL except you’ve literally been outraged at people about this same thing before…you hypocrite!! You didn't just personally disassociate from her, you wanted her de-platformed from a free speech event.

And here's Jordan, unable to stand for his own actions...."I didn't say we were correct". Let's face it, these guys were a mess. Maybe now they will think about why it is that people don't want to associate with them, for 'pragmatic' reasons... or with Milo.

Anyway, their own rightwing fans weren't having it:

"Aryan Soul" was very upset indeed.

And then of course there were the mutual fans, upset that there was any tension between these lovely people at all.

Gad soon released another video on his channel explaining his side of what went down, excuses, excuses. By this time he'd been experiencing some hate from Daily Stormer-friendly Faith Goldy's fans so he wasn't quite as soft, but note that this change didn't come from principle, it came from Faith Goldy's fans personally attacking Gad with vile, unacceptable anti-Semitic comments. The fact she went on Daily Stormer related media still had him tiptoeing around whether he disagreed with her views or what kind of person she is.

The Youtube comments on his video ranged from his disheartened anti-sjw fans depicting him as a buzzword using SJW to being just disgustingly bigoted.

Gad shared some of these anti semitic comments on Twitter and they truly were horrific.

Seeing the corner he'd backed himself into by palling around with and sucking up to white genociders, white nationalists, holocaust deniers and general alt lite/right figures, made me feel quite sad for the man who had in the past instigated pile-ons on me, and tweeted angrily about me for days for just pointing out his evident shady associations...."for pragmatic reasons", you know.

On twitter people pointed this out to him repeatedly. I wonder how that made him feel...I wonder if he actually gave it some thought, the fact that he was propping up and associating with people who would drop him the second he stopped being useful to them.

No matter how hard he panders...Gad won't ever be welcome in the ethnostate as a Jewish immigrant from the Middle East. I sincerely hope he thinks about the consequences of his actions in light of this incident.

Gad's own views about Muslim Refugees aren't so non-bigoted either, maybe some self-reflection can happen after this?

He views 25K refugees being allowed into Canada as 'collective suicide' - especially strange coming from someone who has describes himself as a refugee.

Because you know....refugees = automatic anti-Semite, cuz Muslim. That's not bigoted at all...its interesting that his anger was directed always at refugees for potential anti-semitism, but never once directed at the many far right figures he's promoted.

I wonder how he's feeling about "right-wing extremists" right about now. It's in quotes because...you know...right wing extremism is not a real thing, right?

Will Gad and Peterson reflect on their own associations and others wanting to 'pragmatically disassociate' from their types of viewpoints now? Or will they go on as if none of this happened and they are still the Free Speech Warriors they claim to be?

Hopefully people will start to see through their many hypocrisies and double standards, but maybe that's a lot to ask of alt-right/lite friendly audiences. I mean some of these fans willingly refer to themselves as "Gadfellas" and make religious artwork for Peterson....which he tweets unironically of course.

Totally normal Rational Skepticism.

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onlineuni-blog · 7 years

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Ultrabook: Intel's $300 million arrangement to beat Apple unexpectedly With an end goal to limit the (ARM-based) tablet risk, Intel needs PC creators to …

My desktop isn't the main PC I plan to supplant in the following couple of months. I require another portable PC as well, and my objective is straightforward: to discover a 13" MacBook Air that isn't made by Apple.

For reasons unknown I'm by all account not the only one needing this legendary non-Apple MacBook Air. Intel needs them as well—it calls them Ultrabooks. The chip organization has been kicking the Ultrabook thought around for a couple of months now, and it has fantastic desire: before one year from now's over, it needs 40 percent of PC portable workstations to be Ultrabooks.

Ultrabooks are ultralight PCs, similar to the MacBook Air, close to 0.8" thick, similar to the MacBook Air, with Intel processors, similar to the MacBook Air, metal cases for unrivaled warmth dissemination, similar to the MacBook Air, SSD capacity, similar to the MacBook Air, long battery life and significantly longer standby time, similar to the MacBook Air, and reasonable, similar to the MacBook Air. Gracious, and they ought to boot in 7 seconds or less (which after all other options have been exhausted, the MacBook Air can most likely draw off, as well). Is the MacBook Air really a Ultrabook? Intel revealed to us that that is dependent upon Apple—the MacBook Air is a Ultrabook in everything except name.

Intel, quick to fortify interest for PCs (as opposed to for ARM-controlled tablets) is unmistakably so irritated by the powerlessness for PC OEMs to meet this determination that it as of late reported the making of a $300m "Ultrabook Fund" to put resources into organizations that are attempting to construct this sort of equipment. That is a dooming arraignment of the PC business.

What Intel is requesting is promptly achievable. We realize that since Apple's offering a great many Airs. But then the world's five greatest PC makers—HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and Asustek—have so far been not able thought of something proportional. What's more, evidently they're not near overseeing it, either, on the grounds that Intel supposes it must contribute pots of money to close the hole.

This isn't a perfect approach; it would be better if the OEMs could deliver these machines all alone. Still, the catalyst is currently there. Issue illuminated? Most likely not.

My mission

I'm not being troublesome only for it.

The most recent MacBook Air is an attractive machine from various perspectives. The size, weight, screen determination, and battery life are all phenomenal, and the evaluating is mind boggling. Truly, did Apple neglect to put a 1 preceding the 999? Tragically, Apple's equipment drives me up the divider in various ways that may appear to be irrelevant to you, however which together essentially wear me out. I've had a go at living with an Apple tablet all the live long day, and I just can't.

As a matter of first importance, we have the console. Of course, Apple consoles have a not too bad feel, and that backdrop illumination, which many people appear to go insane for, is somewhat favor. It's quite recently too awful that Cupertino can't get the damn console format right.I'm English—a mobile, talking Brit. I place "u"s in words like "top choice" and "shading," I see plays at the "theater," and I stroll on the "asphalt." This has repercussions. The first is that I've been writing on a British console format for a long time, and, guess what? I'm cursed in case will stop now.

Lamentably, Apple doesn't offer a console with a standard UK design (BS 4822, for gauges wonks out there). Apple has a console format it calls "UK"; I even get a £ image from squeezing shift-3, much the same as on a genuine UK console. In any case, I hope to discover #, the image that on American consoles possesses a similar move 3 spot, on its very own devoted key, found on most consoles the world over however not in the US. A few different keys have additionally been moved around. Also, it's for reasons unknown, to the extent I can discern.I can settle this blemish in programming. I have a custom console format that makes the correct characters show up when I press the keys, so it's not deadly. It's quite recently revolting; the keycaps at no time in the future match the letters that show up on-screen.

What I can't settle in programming is Apple's doltish limited return key. On non-US consoles, the arrival key is twofold stature, more extensive at the top than the base. The top part is not exactly as wide as delete above it, but rather even the base half is more extensive than an ordinary keycap. Not so on Apple's consoles. The top part is quite recently under the width of a standard key. The base part is, hopefully, a large portion of the width of a standard key. The outcome? I miss the arrival key constantly. Indeed, even following six months in a row on a MacBook Pro, I miss. Other portable workstation consoles don't do this. IBM didn't. Lenovo doesn't. Dell doesn't. HP doesn't. It's simply Cupertino being troublesome.

I likewise utilize the page route keys—the home/end, page up/page down square of six—around a million times each day. All things considered, aside from when I'm utilizing a Mac, since (ha-ha) Apple does exclude them. This isn't another thing, mind you; the organization has recently never watched over them. The keys can be found on the full-estimate "expanded" consoles, however not on any convenient. There are workarounds—key blends that I can easily forget—however I need genuine equipment keys. Unfixable.

I'm likewise an aggregate sucker for TrackPoints ("areolas"). Apple's trackpads are the best in the business, and signals are awesome. In any case, I simply couldn't care less. I'm speedier and more exact with a TrackPoint. Shockingly better, give me both. A TrackPoint for indicating; a touchpad for motioning.

On top of all that, I need to utilize Windows on my tablet. I'll likewise need to utilize the Windows 8 beta on it. That implies I can't bear to be held prisoner by Apple's lethargic Bootcamp driver bolster. Regardless of the possibility that the various imperfections are settled, this current one's a dealbreaker.

These might appear like minor issues. Maybe they are; other individuals may not give a tinker's cuss about any of them. Be that as it may, a PC is basic to my occupation and my life. I put a huge number of words into the console each day and effectively pile on 80 hours seven days of PC utilize. New PCs cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, and I shouldn't need to make due with something that doesn't really fit my needs.Welcome to struggleville

How about we begin with Dell; I go to dell.com and look for a portable workstation. I need something like a 13" MacBook Air, so I tick "11 to 14 inches" and "< 5 lbs," Dell's ultralight classification. I get back three to a great extent undefined machines, running from $999 to $1359. What's the distinction between them all? I don't have the foggiest idea, they all look like variations of the "Alienware M11x." It's befuddling and overpowering, not accommodating.

It's far and away more terrible on the off chance that I simply peruse without looking. The alternatives I get are simply... useless. Yes, I need "Ordinary Computing," so I need an Inspiron. Yet, hold tight, I likewise need "Plan and Performance," so I need a XPS. Hold up a moment, I need "Thin and Powerful," as well. So perhaps I need a Z Series? Be that as it may, the main line that clearly coordinates my expansive pursuit criteria—lightweight, 11-14"— I wouldn't much consider in light of the fact that I don't need a "gaming" portable workstation, as I'm never going to click Alienware!

Is this the most ideal approach to offer portable PCs? Make a pack of classifications with subjective, covering marks, and simply trust that purchasers figure out how to battle through the framework to discover something that isn't pathetic?

Perhaps HP will be better... actually no, not so much. Their site has some by and large weirdnesses (yes, I'm in the UK, and yes, we're metric, however no, I don't need my screen measured askew in centimeters; we don't do that). The same odd marks cover everything—I know I don't need "Little/Netbook," however I need both "Ordinary Computing" (that term once more) and "Elite" (since I don't need it to be moderate, isn't that right?). What's more, who knows what "Begrudge" implies? When I tick my screen size and weight boxes, I get back a product of lousy netbooks that are practically the direct inverse of what I want.Lenovo does things a little in an unexpected way. It begins off with a similar moronic arrangements that must sound good to some person in advertising—"Controlled for efficiency" and "Improved for stimulation" and "Straightforward components worked for flexibility"— however underneath, at any rate, it has a decent, perfect table that rundowns every one of the variations and their real elements or configuration focuses. It's a bit Excel as methodologies go, however in any event it's reasonable and compact.

What's more, Lenovo needs the table, since amazing—are there a great deal of models to look over. Seven distinctive ThinkPad arrangement—T, X, X Tablet, Edge, L, SL, and W—four IdeaPad arrangement—V, U, S, Z—and the Essential G and B arrangement. Inside every arrangement you normally have a scope of screen sizes. 13" screens are lamentably uncommon, yet the X arrangement looks encouraging. Lightweight, 12.5" screens, in length battery life, and, being ThinkPads, a brilliant TrackPoint. This could be my new machine!Weirdly, when navigating to X arrangement, a 13.3" screen is currently a choice all things considered; The table on Lenovo's UK site is quite recently off-base. I inspect the X220, the variation with the 12.5" screen, and it looks exceptionally decent, as well. So I gone through the configurator. I get that the "12.5" Premium HD (1366×768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna" screen is superior to the "12.5" HD (1366×768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna." Fifty dollars gets me "Premium"— however what else? I click "Help me to choose" and get nothing even remotely accommodating. Furthermore, once I include Bluetooth, a coordinated webcam, a 128GB SSD, and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, the framework cost comes to $1999. The 13" MacBook Air costs $1299! With a superior screen, better Bluetooth, and better WiFi!

The Lenovo has a substantially speedier processor, yet that is a considerable measure of additional cash for something with just a minimal advantage. The MacBook Air's better screen is a great deal more profitable to me.

Perhaps the X1 can charge better. At any rate it at no time in the future has any unexplained screen alternatives; 13.3" 1366×768 "Premium HD" is the main decision here. This is a trick the configurator pulls various circumstances, requesting that I arrange things that have no alternatives and where everything I can do is press "next." once more, everything turns out badly once I include a 128GB.

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