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real-live-human · 2 months

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Requesting that you talk about Finch

sniles at you.

ok so first up: a disclaimer that finch has had and likely will continue to have her story rewritten in pretty significant ways, so. no promises as to how much of this stays accurate or will line up with whatever i've said in the past. also secondary disclaimer that in the interest of getting to write more i will be making this more or less a completely comprehensive infodump on everything i have on her at present, so who knows how organised it'll end up.

so! the very basic introduction is that finch is a kholo - the term being taken from pathfinder 2e's renamed gnolls, but basically think big anthro hyena people. she was initially a dnd character, and i still have her set in a broadly medieval-fantasy-ish world, although she isn't really bound to the specifics of any published rpg system or setting these days. she's on the short and scrawnier end for her people, but still damn big next to a human, and in addition to being a skilled fighter, has gotten by thanks to (somewhat poorly-defined) magical abilities. (more on that later!)

finch's life can more or less be characterised by both being a victim of circumstance, and tending to not make very good choices. one older detail i'm debating whether or not to keep "canon" is that basically, when she was born, a disease swept through her clan, killing a lot of cubs and new mothers. while obviously nobody could really blame her for that, it did lead to people considering her to have been born under a bad sign, so to speak. either way, her early life was... not great. while fairly communal and focused on supporting everyone in the clan, kholo culture can also tend to be a bit of a meritocracy where anyone who isn't "pulling their weight" gets looked down on. finch, as the runt of her litter and permanently affected by the aforementioned childhood illness (if we keep that canon), was just never as big or strong as others her age. this also led to a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, where others' disdain for her caused her to isolate herself, which in such a community-focused culture, did not improve anyone's opinion.

what changed was another kholo named blackthorn (just thorn when she met finch - kholos get their second and eventually third names at major milestones). she was a mirror of finch in a lot of ways - well respected, strong, one of her generation's up and coming hunters. for reasons nobody else could really explain, the two actually got on really well together, and blackthorn came to be the one person finch really considered a friend. finch was still not broadly popular, but through a mixture of social connections via blackthorn and actually believing that maybe she wasn't destined to fuck everything up, things started to look up for finch. she gained status as a reasonably talented hunter, and despite remaining a bit of a black sheep, became somewhat more respected, if not always liked.

from her status as my official Angst Character, you will not be surprised to learn that this did not last. something happened - in earlier versions of her story, she gets a family member killed on a hunt and spirals right back into self-doubt, but i'm not too sure on the specifics as of now. regardless of what it was, finch's good fortune and reputation began to turn. i mentioned that kholo society's focus on supporting the clan as a whole has its darker side, and eventually finch came to be seen as a threat, having become more reckless and endangered her clanmates while out hunting. blackthorn found out that the oussla (essentially the leading council) planned to put her on trial for these charges, and told finch as much.

she took this about as well as you might guess. finch had been meant to be taken to trial the next morning, and so that night, just before dawn, she tried to slip out unnoticed. blackthorn caught up to her, and this led to a confrontation. blackthorn was convinced that she could vouch for finch and talk the oussla down from the usual penalties of execution or exile, but finch was sick of trying to rely on the clan's rules. when finch refused to stay, blackthorn tried to stop her, the two got into a brief fight, and after injuring blackthorn, finch managed to escape into the night. she would never see her clan again.

unfortunately, life outside the clan is not particularly easy. as i mentioned, the details of the broader setting are still pretty blurry, but humans and whatever other sapients exist tend to be disposed to see kholos as monstrous, or even outright demons. so finch managed to get by in self-imposed exile, although not without frequent conflict with human society. eventually, in a scrap with some soldiers after being caught stealing food, she was very nearly killed - she took a spear-butt to the head, was knocked down, and by all rights should have been skewered then and there. what changed her fortune this time could not have possibly been blackthorn.

time seemed to stop, and the entire world was coated in a haze of ash and smoke. a figure appeared out of the smoke, and although it was impossible to distinguish as more than a blurry silhouette, finch could swear it sounded just like blackthorn. it told her that if she wanted to survive, to not die at the end of some human's spear in a back-alley in the middle of nowhere, it could help her - but only if she let it. by all rights, she probably should have been more hesitant of it, but it sounded so much like her, and she wanted so badly to believe that blackthorn had found her somehow, that she accepted. an instant later, as the spearman tried to finish off his quarry, she seemed to dissipate into smoke for just a moment, long enough to flow up past his weapon and get her teeth into him.

this is where we get to her poorly-defined magic, mentioned earlier. the thing-that-is-not-blackthorn seems to have granted her some ability to phase in and out of solidity, vanishing into smoke and dust just long enough to slip past all manner of dangers. what exactly the being-that-could-not-have-been-blackthorn gets out of this "deal" is unclear, partially intentionally on my part, and partially because i have yet to work it out. using this magic too much does seem to take a toll on finch's health, burning through her own energy, but any strict benefit to that-which-she-desperately-wants-to-think-is-blackthorn is unclear. however, if it wasn't already obvious, it absolutely is not blackthorn - it may be some sort of amalgam of all of finch's guilt and fear and anger taken metaphysical form, or perhaps it's something entirely distinct from her, just taking the form of the only friend she ever had to manipulate her! the possibilities are numerous.

i. thiiiink that covers everything? there's a few miscellaneous notes i could add (like how finch is still just finch whereas thorn became blackthorn represents finch's disconnect from her own people, having never had that naming ceremony, or that i am partially ripping off how spirits work from a webcomic i really liked about 10 years ago) but if you want to know Who Finch Is and What's Her Deal, i'm pretty sure this covers it all. many thanks for asking :3

#asks #godmybackhurts #finch #she has been consuming my writing brain for the last couple weeks since i started rewriting her story and such #if i do not supply her enrichment (writing) she starts gnawing out through my skull

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that1nkyone · 2 years

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I really love how you write the Submas twins!!

I feel like you hit that Goldilocks zone of nailing their quirks without making them the only “thing” about them- it feels like a rarity in the fandom, lol

Would you happen to know any other writers that write submas well? I feel like they’re hard to find in such a sprawling fandom

Oh, thank you! I feel like I'll flanderise them regardless - let's be real, there's not a whole lot of content about their characterizations in canon. We gotta make do and expand on what tidbits we have. XD

I feel like @pigdemonart and @modmad in their respective comics have done fun and wonderful takes on Ingo and Emmet, respectively!

It's difficult to say in writing any kinda fanstuff, however - you can enjoy characterisation based on whether it's Appealing to You Personally, whether it's Well Written, or whether it's Accurate to the Source Material. And those are all different things!

I think a fic writer can play with any or all three. No rules to it.

#submas #Pokemon

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oh-i-swear-writes · 3 years

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Any advice for new mpreg writers?

Oh wow! Hi there Nonnie!

^ You have made me feel like this, just FYI. I’m both soft and honoured you’d come here to ask this! 💕

Okay, first piece of advice is... send it to me. Seriously. I’m always on the prowl for new mpreg fics/kid fics... guys and nonnie, send me your recs.

Secondly, if you’re looking for actual writing advice I’m probably not your girl. I’m a real plantser, it tends to go off course pretty quickly and that’s why we end up with the occasional 200k epic. I promise I never actually meant to write the War and Peace of mpreg fics... but here we are. Also, I rely very heavily on my beta to pick up errors/issues with characterisation and continuity and my favourite words and phrases. Trust me, if y’all saw a first draft of a T original you’d probably cry and unfollow me. And honestly? I wouldn’t blame you.

That said, I know that @the1918 and @darter-blue have previously made writing tips posts if that’s what you need!

On the mpreg end of things... well... the main thing I did before I started this was read around. Don’t ask me why because I’ve no idea, but I’ve always enjoyed the fics. So when I started writing I picked the parts/processes that writers had used that I enjoyed most.

I tend, even with an A/B/O fic, to have my men very male with no additional parts and so on, but that’s totally a personal choice. I think Lynne (@the1918) refers to this as the butt baby approach.... Anywho, write what works for you. Hell, if I am going to give writing advice, that would be the only thing I would say.

Next is timeline. You’ve got a very specific timeline to use, literally a google search of pregnancy by trimester or month-by-month should give you a pretty accurate breakdown that’s easy to use. Of course, it has to translate into the length of the fic you’re trying to write and whether you’re doing multi-chapter. I think we all know I find a multi-chapter actually easier, but I did manage an mpreg one shot for @hawkeyeandthewintersoldier‘s birthday when I wrote Wear Your Scars Like Wings.

Aside that, honestly? Just figure out how it’s going to work in your world, whether there’s A/B/O dynamics there, whether it’s a one-off thing or the norm and just really commit. I think the important thing is that regardless of whether someone is happy or not pregnancy is a HUGE deal and it’s emotional and as long as that’s front and centre in your mind, you can’t go far wrong.

I hope that helps, and in case it wasn’t clear from the above:

When you have written your fic please send it my way <3

#fic advice #oh I swear answers #fic writing #writing tag #anon asks #lovely people

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hollygoeslightly · 4 years

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1. I couldn't help but find Sydney's actions at the end to be very deceitful. As much as it's framed as a tragic choice where he comes out a bruised victim unintentionally hurting Charlotte, I feel that his choice is quite like Ms Champion's and he and the audience cannot actually claim that the exact same thing is any better than her cruel choice years ago. They both left their betrothed for money and we have no idea whether her circumstances were dire or not, yet she was painted as a villain.

2. And as much as I fell in love with Charlotte and Sydney, Sydney's actions at the end when it came to his treatment of her, were deplorable. Even Lord Babbington didn't kiss nor touch Ester in that society until he proposed, even when it seemed a sure thing. He respected her dignity in society and understood what it meant to take advantage of a woman before truly providing for her or making a promise. Thus when they finally kissed, it was celebratory.

3. I had a feeling when Sydney kissed Charlotte before asking for her hand, in a sense rewarding the audience prematurely, that it wouldn't happen. Simply because in that society and context, he knowingly skipped the steps of honoring a woman rightfully rather than using her. He made no promises before they kissed. He didn't propose. Also, speaking to Charlotte about marriage is too important to delay for a week later. The fact that he didn't spare a minute to finish their convo spoke ill.

4. All of these little things at the end of the season, the last episode, left a bad taste in my mouth and gave me the sense that it would end badly. Because as much as we know that Sydney loves Charlotte dearly, his actions were irresponsible and spoke otherwise. Even with money, there are many possibilities for something to come through. You don't barter with a person though, risk hurting someone you love especially after promising them a life, or leading them.The irresponsibility is likeOtis!

5. I know that in that society, Sydney is smart enough to know how much his actions would have consequences on a vulnerable young woman who doesn't even have money to her name. He knows that it's important to have promised marriage before touching her. He knows that making such a promise, he mustn't break it, because she will make arrangements pertaining to her entire life and wellbeing, resting on him. He's also experienced the same vile taste of that happening to him! What do you think?

6. Also just to be clear, I don't want to demand anything of you and I don't want to be negative. I love your meta and I put weight on your interpretations which is why I'm asking. I also love the character of Sydney, which is why I'm deeply disgruntled by this. Not the end, bc I saw that coming, but what the last few incidents mean for his character. I trusted that he'd understand his impact; all the parallels to scoundrels, the context of society, and the contradiction to Babbington is not good.

Hey!

Thanks for the question. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to break down your question into parts in order to ensure my answer will make some semblance of sense.

Real Life and Reel Life

I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating as it has a significant impact on how I interpret the show – I am not an Austen purist, nor am I a stickler for complete historical accuracy when it comes to my enjoyment of a particular movie or TV show. For instance, I know some people were frustrated by the historical inaccuracy of Charlotte wearing her hair down, but Charlotte’s modern hairstyle was never something that bothered me. Everyone’s mileage varies of course, but as long as the characterisation is cohesive and interesting and the creators have managed to convey the overall spirit of the period of time the story is set, I’m happy.

It’s also worth noting that while Jane Austen was a fairly historically accurate author, her body of work had a very narrow focus – middle class and upper class families in country villages in southern England. And while her body of work is historically accurate, it’s also intentionally sanitised. Regency and Victorian England was a time of significant social, political and economic change – beneath the shiny veneer of tea rooms and good manners was an underbelly of sex, drugs and gambling.

Why am I mentioning this? Because Sanditon was Andrew Davies’ attempt at expanding Austen’s focus – placing Austen’s signature study of manners against the backdrop of a fairly chaotic period in time. Personally, I loved this aspect of the show. Not only did Davies force the audience to confront their preconceived ideas of what a typical Austen character actually is, but it allowed the characters to push against issues outside of love and marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I swoon every time Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage after the ball at Pemberley or Anne reads Wentworth’s letter, but it was nice to have a slightly different interpretation of Austen’s work.

Finally, I firmly believe that part of the agreement you undertake when interacting with any form of entertainment is the suspension of some degree of reality. The amount of suspension is dependent on the work of course, but even true stories require some form of suspension (e.g. the amalgamation of characters, timelines sped up) to be entertaining. In the case of Sanditon, the characters inhabit a close approximation of Regency England, but not an exact copy (e.g. Charlotte wears her hair down, clothing is not always period appropriate). This is also the case when it comes to characters breaking a few of the social conventions that Austen routinely explored. For example, while Sidney kissing Charlotte prior to proposing to her in 1x08 would have been frowned upon in the real world, in Davies’ version of Regency England, Sidney kissing Charlotte is not a poor reflection of his character nor does it indicate that he knowingly took advantage of her – it’s simply a way to drive the narrative forward and create an entertaining story. This is supported by the fact that Charlotte’s reputation remains in good standing despite spending time alone with both Sidney and Young Stringer and that Esther faces no consequences for the exposure of her romantic/abusive relationship with her brother in 1x08. So while I understand that for you, Davies’ choice to overlook certain social conventions is frustrating, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the world Sanditon presents us is not 100% historically accurate, and for the purposes of entertainment, I don’t think it can be.

Sidney, Eliza and Otis

Following the fire in the new terrace apartments in 1x08, Sidney is forced to make a choice between love and money – his love for Charlotte and his desire to save his brother (The Worst) from debtor’s prison. Sidney is faced with an impossible choice and in the end chooses to sacrifice his own happiness (I think Sidney believes that Charlotte will be able to move on and find happiness again) for the well being of Tom, Mary and the children. As you’ve pointed out, this is a direct parallel to Eliza choosing money over her love of Sidney. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to claim that both decisions are equal in cruelty – doing so removes all nuance from the situation.

While I understand why some members of the fandom believe that Eliza could have had a valid reason for choosing money over love, I don’t believe the narrative supports that argument (whether this would have changed in S2, I’m not sure). Eliza is described by Tom (1x06) and Arthur (1x07) as intentionally betraying Sidney’s trust, choosing the safety of wealth over love.

Arthur – “Do you know, for years all I knew about my brother, Sidney, was that he was driven to the West Indies with a broken heart.”

Sidney – “And what’s your point Arthur?”

Arthur – “I admire your spirit of forgiveness that is all. If it were me, I do not think I could bring myself to trust her again.”

Arthur speaks of a betrayal of trust that he does not believe he could ever get past, a betrayal he is surprised that his own brother is willing to forgive. The reason Sidney is so damaged by Eliza’s betrayal is not because she was forced by circumstance to marry for money (if that was the case, it would be presented as two lovers torn apart by outside influences e.g. Sidney and Charlotte), but because by choosing to marry for money, she publically declared that Sidney was not enough. The love and future he could offer her was not enough. Eliza’s choice is so cruel, because her decision is so mercenary in nature – it’s a decision made out of choice, not necessity. She made the decision knowing what it would cost and she deemed that cost (Sidney’s self-worth) worthwhile.

This is also the case when it comes to Otis’ treatment of Georgiana. Otis made an active choice to barter with Georgiana’s name in order to extend credit for his gambling debts. He had multiple options available to him, number one being to stop gambling, but he made a decision where he would benefit and Georgiana would be placed at risk. On the other hand, the audience is made aware that Sidney is forced into a position where there are no right choices. Regardless of the decision he makes, someone will be hurt. He is the only one in the position to find the money to keep his brother out of debtor’s prison and as a result, Tom’s failure to insure Sanditon costs Sidney his future with Charlotte. Intention matters. Yes, all decisions lead to people being hurt, but Sidney is the only one who also suffers as a result of the decision he made.

While I understand the audience was upset by Sidney’s decision (I didn’t like it either), I also think an ending where Sidney and Charlotte marry while Tom is sent to debtor’s prison (most likely for the rest of his life) and Mary and the children are made homeless and shunned by society for Tom’s misdeeds, would have also been incredibly unpopular.

Sidney and Lord Babington

On the surface, I can understand why you’ve compared Sidney and Lord Babington. Both fall in love with feisty women and both intend to propose marriage to said feisty women – it’s an easy connection to make. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Sidney’s actions are wholly bad and Lord Babington’s actions are wholly good simply because Lord Babington’s proposal ended in a marriage.

Let me give you another interpretation of Lord Babington and Esther’s relationship (not one I subscribe to, but one that can be drawn based on the narrative). Taken by Esther’s honesty and derision, Lord Babington makes Esther aware that he has feelings for her. Esther in turn rejects Lord Babington and tells him all further attempts on his part would be futile. Despite this, Lord Babington continues to pursue her, writing letters which she never answers – another clear indication that she is not interested. Lord Babington visits Sanditon with the express purpose of seeing Esther (1x05) and requests a private walk without a chaperone where he proposes marriage. Esther rejects his proposal. After hearing Edward speak badly of his sister, Lord Babington visits Esther in private, again without a chaperone present. Following Lady Denham’s recovery he once again goes on an outing with Esther without a chaperone. After discovering that Esther had a romantic relationship with Edward and Esther telling him that she doesn’t love him, Lord Babington proposes marriage for the second time and Esther finally accepts. They marry.

If S2 had gone ahead, I’m fairly sure Esther’s love for Edward and her lack of love for her husband would have been a major plot point. And while I think it would have all worked out in the end, that Esther would have realised she loves Lord Babington, what if it hadn’t? Esther may have come to resent her husband, trapped in a marriage by a husband who knows his wife does not love him, still pining for the one man she couldn’t have because of circumstances out of her control.

Again, I understand why the choice to ignore some social conventions may be frustrating, however in Davies’ version of Regency England, breaking these conventions do not have the consequences they would have had in real life. By judging the actions of the characters by real life rules, you are assigning intention and consequence where there are none.

I think it’s also worth noting, that apart from Sidney and Charlotte themselves, nobody knows that they kissed and only Alison, Mary, Georgiana and Young Stringer are aware that Sidney was intending to propose marriage. Charlotte’s heart may be badly bruised, but her reputation is still intact.

Charlotte’s Agency

Perhaps it’s because Charlotte’s agency is more quietly expressed than other characters, but I think the argument that Charlotte became passive in the final two episodes, overlooks the very active choices Charlotte makes in regards to her feelings for Sidney. Passiveness suggests inaction, and in 1x08 Charlotte chooses to act – she asks Sidney whether she can join him on his walk into town. This may seem inconsequential, but it is anything but. Because Charlotte is not only choosing to trust in her feelings for Sidney and in his feelings for her, but she is telling Sidney his feelings are reciprocated and those feelings are strong enough that they need time alone to discuss their possible future together. The agency lies with Charlotte the whole time.

We began with the scene with a rather inane discussion about the weather and Charlotte’s family – Sidney is both desperate to discuss their conversation from the previous night, but patiently waiting for Charlotte to indicate that this is something she wishes to do. She does, telling him she would rather continue their walk together than return to town for her dress fitting.

Charlotte – “We seem not to be walking into town?”

Sidney – “Ah, yes, your dress fitting. Forgive me, what a fool I am. Should we head back, perhaps?”

Charlotte – “No, there is absolutely no urgency about my dress fitting. A walk along the clifftops is much more to my taste.”

Sidney – “Good. My thoughts exactly.”

Sidney is willing to end their walk and the possibility of discussing their feelings at the slightest hint that this may not be something Charlotte desires. However, following Charlotte’s lead, Sidney admits that he wished to find time alone with her to discuss their conversation while glancing at her mouth every five seconds, and of course they kiss. What is important to note is that Sidney continues to check in with Charlotte at every point in the lead up to that moment. Charlotte only had to say no or ask to return to town for Sidney not to proceed, something she is well aware of and actively chooses not to do. Responding positively to Sidney’s actions is not the same as passiveness. You only have to watch as Charlotte stares longing at Sidney to know that she desired the kiss just as much as he did.

Why am I mentioning all this? Because in your question, you talk quite a bit about Sidney’s choices and actions, and the consequences they may have for Charlotte, without acknowledging that Charlotte is an active participant. Do I think that means she could have somehow prevented what occurred? No, but nor do I think it’s fair to remove Charlotte’s participation from her own storyline. She may be a victim of incredibly poor circumstances, but I don’t think it’s fair to say she is a victim of Sidney’s poor behaviour. Sidney and Charlotte not ending the season married does not cancel out Charlotte’s agency in choosing to pursue her relationship with Sidney.

Thanks for the question, I hope I made sense!

#askbox #sanditon #jane austen #sidney parker #charlotte heywood #lord babington #esther denham #sanditon meta #mine

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roadtohell · 4 years

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ok here are my final bbc les mis thoughts... i know i’m v late to the party but if anyone also has thoughts i’d like to hear them!

it’s probably not gonna sound like it, but i DID actually quite enjoy it as general entertainment. most of my complaints come from my interpretation of the source material as well as the 2012 film (which is impossible not to compare to)- if it was an original story i wouldn’t have nearly as many reservations.

things i really liked include:

absurdly cute baby marius, who i would die for

happy fantine :) for a bit

the handling of gillenormand and his relationship with marius, which i felt was v book-accurately sad and screwed up but also sweet when the time came

the thenardiers- the fact that they still retain a bit of the comedic edge only adds to the repulsiveness of their deeds imo.

things i really disliked include:

most of valjean’s character- he was generally angry and unlikeable. i think davies intended to highlight his struggle to do good, which isn’t an inherently bad goal, as book valjean totally has questionable moments followed by rackings of guilt (see: his attitude towards marius). the problem with the series portrayal is that what should be mostly internal conflict instead manifests itself in actively poor treatment of others throughout the whole story. sure, bbc valjean gives out money like it grows on trees. he also angrily fires fantine for lying while he himself lives a lie, stiffs gavroche on delivery money and tells him to buzz off, and makes cosette watch a chain gang to prove a point. it’s... an interesting angle, no doubt, but it misses the whole point of valjean’s story- the transformative power of kindness- by a mile.

a lot of adult cosette’s portrayal and especially her relationship with valjean. i get it, people often consider her tricky to write, boring, more of a symbol etc. etc. and feel the need to jazz her appearances up a bit. davies does not do a good job of this. her curiosity and idealism is framed as being frustratingly naive, as if to justify valjean’s overt possessiveness and control over her. he ends up physically restraining her over their “i want to see the world-” “well, the world sucks and i’m just protecting you” fight they spend most of their time having, which isn’t even resolved one way or another. the last episode does treat her better, thank god, but the cosette=love thing is less impactful when she’s literally pulled out the “i hate you” line. 😬

javert’s absurd level of valjean obsession- he honestly becomes a bit of a joke, eventually assuming valjean is the leader of the rebellion for no reason other than it involves crime. besides diminishing his competency, it’s actually easy to forget that he’s guided by his rigid sense of justice, not just his VPS (valjean positioning system). one day an adaptation will really take the time to explore how javert’s worldview applies beyond valjean, including to himself (i’ve always loved the brick scene where he asks mr madeleine to fire him), but it’s definitely not this one.

the sexualisation, jfc. frankly i think davies should be guillotined just for his interview statements on this topic. of all people, he decided to sexualise eponine and cosette. no i will not elaborate. there are also countless unnecessary implications, including between valjean and fantine, valjean and MARIUS, and a random convent girl onscreen for 0.2 seconds just to say she was looking forward to sex. but at least there was no santa sex scene, i guess?

thenardier straight up says he’s going into the slave trade and marius still gives him money... tf

the two boys gavroche looked after, starving in the street, is the final shot. because we all needed another dose of misery.

while i adore the musical, i can imagine why davies doesn’t enjoy it- it has no subtlety whatsoever with its messages about god, love, the LAW, revolution, death and everything else. add that to tom hooper’s dutch angles and extreme closeups and you have something that could easily be considered way over the top. davies presumably wanted to create a story that, as well as containing more plot than the musical, felt less preachy~ and more grounded in reality. in this, i think he succeeds- events are fairly book accurate, and a lot of the changes he does make, regardless of whether i like them, would certainly check out in the real world.

but hugo was one opinionated writer, and so treating les mis like a historical event comes at a cost. davies might despise the musical’s “doggerel lyrics”, but they are true to the novel’s message of compassion and love. in this series, the hope that shines through now and again is always quashed with little reflection; discussion on social justice, so clearly outlined in hugo’s introduction as the book’s purpose, is kept at arm’s length. therefore davies’ more cynical storytelling and characterisation, which also minimises hugo’s religious and political ideas, ultimately loses touch with the heart of les mis.

nobody who benefits this much from the musical’s success has the right to be such a dick about it, especially when the end product isn’t even better. to be clear, i think it’s a good series, and as an adaptation it could be a lot worse. but it’s hard to ignore questionable characterisation, sexualisation, and general steering away from the central ideas of its source material. i’d prefer to sit through russell crowe’s stars any day.

#such is life #24601 #bbc les mis #this got long #i was trying to be balanced #and not be too [knife emoji]#pretty much everything i don't mention #i thought was ok #anyway watch les mis 2012

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handheldlaserscanner · 3 years

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What Are The Benefits Of Using A Handheld Laser Scanner?

In today’s industries, there are many practical uses for a handheld laser scanner. This device is not only handy but is also powerful to capture accurate measurements and details placed in front of it. Regardless of the object’s size. This very feature enables various professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, interior and product designs to maximise the accurate measurement of objects and subjects across several industries for a variety of applications.

Whatever industry you may be involved in, there will be plenty of applications for a hand-held laser scanner device. However, beyond its applications are several benefits that you also must take advantage of.

Design

3D measurement and scanning can be applied at the design phase by starting with a physical object and using it to design a CAD model. Oftentimes, designers need to work around or fit their design to existing objects. These mating parts can also be scanned using a handheld laser scanner device and incorporated into the design, resulting in parts that fit better consistently. This process where an existing manufactured part is used to create a CAD model is often referred to as reverse modelling or reverse engineering. By utilising this, new designs can incorporate and improve upon engineering optimisation already inherent to the manufactured part.

Production

A handheld 3D laser scanner can be used to capture changes to tooling or parts that occur on the shop floor. Tooling typically means being “hand-tuned” to achieve the final desired look and finish of a design or part. Using 3D scanning, hand modifications and optimisations can be transferred from tool to tool and ensure all manufactured parts match after production. Such technology can also be used to analyse and characterise tool wear during production. If used correctly, it can also predict or eliminate tool failure. In the event of tool failure, 3D scan data can be used to recreate the optimised part.

Quality control

A handheld 3D laser scanner can also be used to analyse the “as-built” condition of parts after they have been manufactured. Typically, non-contact technology is used to quickly inspect the overall shape and size of parts, quickly detecting issues such as part warpage or overall scale issues. Contact inspections are well suited to analyse bolt-hole locations, bores, bosses and other prismatic features. That said, 3D scanning technology is often used in combination with statistical analysis software to calculate and ensure quality in manufacturing.

Quick prototype making

Prototypes are important for many businesses because they provide information about a product and its effectiveness. Companies launch prototypes to test a product before they start distributing it.

A Creaform handheld scanner is a handy device because of its ability to accurately measure prototype models and identify any distortion in the object. Any data acquired from the scan will be saved for later use and can be used to compare information on future designs.

Compare design compatibility

While a professional Creaform handheld scanner can be used to compare the likeness of prototypes, they can also be used to evaluate and determine the compatibility of designs. This is useful to businesses that make products that have a variety of parts, such as auto companies.

When a design is made, you’re unable to know whether your products will come out to fit as you expected. By using a scanner, you can see if an object will fit inside a manufactured product before you start mass-producing it. Whether you are planning to measure a small or a big object, there is a 3D scanner out there that is suited for the job.

A handheld laser scanner, though still considered an emerging type of technology nowadays, offers a lot of benefits as listed above. Aside from its convenience and ease of use, its measurements also offer a great deal of accuracy and the greatest value for your time, effort, and money. If you have become intrigued by this product, then make sure that you seek the services of a reliable provider. That way, you are guaranteed to get nothing but highly effective solution for your business needs. Once you have invested in a worthwhile product, you will also reap the benefits of the quality and services of your provider.

#Best Handheld 3d Scanner #Handheld 3d Laser Scanner #Handheld 3d Laser Scanner Prices #3d Portable Handheld Laser Scanner

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whitewolfofwinterfell · 5 years

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Can you do one of your metas on Elena, her strengths, flaws and why you (and I!) still like her despite the fact that many understandably don't?!

Yes! Thank you so much for sending this in. I love any opportunity I get to talk about and defend Elena, because I think she’s such an unfairly hated/disliked character.

I actually wrote a very in-depth meta about Elena before here, but since I did it a couple of years ago now some of my opinions and thoughts have changed since then. What I speak about in the sections about Elena being a Mary Sue and her strengths and weaknesses are still what I think, so it’s particularly worth reading that, because that’s relevant to this question.

The thing is with Elena is, yes, she’s a flawed character, but characters should be flawed because human beings are flawed. Elena’s flaws are exactly what make her relatable and real. Based on what I’ve seen in fandom over the years the main reasons people seem to dislike Elena are because she’s selfish, a Mary Sue or undeveloped as character. In my previous meta I explained why she’s not a Mary Sue, and I stand by that. As for the selfish part, I agree with it wholeheartedly. Elena is selfish, but who isn’t? I don’t understand disliking or hating on a character based on their selfishness because selfishness is a natural human trait that is instilled in all of us. In fact, most of us have to actively try to not be selfish and to be more considerate of others, because we’re naturally hard-wired to think of ourselves first. I would argue that Elena isn’t anymore selfish than any other character on the show and that rather than selfishness, it’d probably be more accurate to refer to it as self-centredness. And you might think those two words mean the same, but to me, selfishness is actively choosing to put your own well-being above others at the detriment of those around you. Self-centredness is a tendency to think about yourself first and to be oblivious to the impact that has on others around you. So, I’d say that Elena was self-centred rather than selfish. She had a tendency to think about how she felt and how things affected her and wasn’t always able to see how others around her were feeling or how they may be affected. The claim that Elena was undeveloped is also a valid argument. I like Elena but even I’m not blind to the incredibly poor characterisation and development she had. I understand the writers intentions with Elena, but unfortunately, it didn’t really work. It felt like Elena never really went beyond her original character profile. It’s like the writers sat down in a room and decided the core traits they wanted her to have in the pilot episode and season 1, but they never really went beyond that. So for me, a big part of the reason I like Elena is because of the potential her character had and the fact that I feel like she’s unfairly hated, as I’ve already mentioned.

Overall, I really don’t think Elena was that flawed, except for her self-centredness and indecisiveness. The biggest flaw of her character was the inconsistent writing that failed to fully build upon her as a character or explore her nuances and sacrificed her characterisation and development for the sake of her romantic relationship. I think that over the years people have exaggerated her flaws in open rebellion against the writers who plugged Elena as this wonderful, selfless heroine whom everyone worshipped and adored. Whenever there’s a character like that people deliberately search for their flaws. This kind of writing also tends to turns people off the character and instead they start to root for the ‘underdog’ or the character that is sidelined (in this case, Bonnie and/or Caroline). So a big part of the problem with Elena’s character comes from the writing and the way in which the narrative constantly centred on her, put her on a pedestal and tried to push her as being special, which people begrudge.

Ironically, the reason I love Elena is because I don’t think she was special. She was just a very normal girl who wanted what most teenagers want - to get through high school, have fun with her friends and live some semblance of an ordinary life with happy moments in between. She wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t special, she was just a girl that tried her best in impossible situations. She didn’t always make the best decisions and she wasn’t always the embodiment of empathy and compassion, but she showed amazing strength and resilience in the face of adversity. Time and time again she experienced tremendous traumas but she dealt with them as best she could, and in the process remained an optimistic and kind soul. Her resilience was undoubtedly her biggest strength. It still astounds me that Elena was able to overcome so much pain and trauma.

When people criticise Elena’s character, I think they fail to consider that although we’re not explicitly told it Elena consistently exhibited signs of depression. She explicitly said that after her parents death she didn’t want to live, she stopped enjoying her hobbies such as writing and cheer leading, but most significantly, she displayed reckless behaviours and suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately, her suicidal tendencies have been brushed off as being acts of “sacrifice” to save those she loved. I’m not saying they weren’t sacrifices, but her willingness to die was not normal for someone with a healthy mindset. I would die to save someone I love, but it wouldn’t be an easy decision. And perhaps that makes me sound like a terrible person, but I don’t want to die. I have a strong desire and instinct to live and sacrificing my life for someone I love is something I’d do, but I’d be absolutely terrified and heartbroken. However, when Elena was faced with the possibility of her own death, she didn’t seem to care. She passed it off as “I’m doing it to protect the people I love”, but whether that was true or not it doesn’t change the fact that she was going to die. The way Buffy reacted to finding out she was going to die is exactly how I would expect a teenager to react to receiving that kind of devastating news (x). Elena never reacted like this at the prospect of dying. In fact, when she died in 3x22 she seemed at peace, as though she was okay with the fact that she was dying. Afterwards when she woke up in transition she literally said, “I was ready to die”. It’s strange, because I always accepted that Elena didn’t want to be a vampire and that she was heartbroken at the start of season 4, but on reflection it doesn’t make sense. Elena has been around vampires and she knew that although it has it’s cons, she could still have a relatively normal life. Plus, she had a support network around her, particularly Caroline who had literally gone through the process of becoming a vampire two years previously and who had adapted to it brilliantly. I look back now and the only explanation I have for Elena’s reaction to becoming a vampire is that she wanted to die. Lets not forget that a few episodes later in 4x06 she tried to kill herself. She was under the influence of the Hunters curse, but all the curse did is bring her own self-loathing and suicidal thoughts to the forefront. And notice how in her relationships with Stefan and Damon she made some sort of reference to how they provided her with a reason to live. About Stefan: “After my parents died I kind of felt like I didn’t know how to live anymore. Like I didn’t want to. But then being with Stefan, somehow I just figured it out. And that’s what love should be. You should love the person that makes you glad that you’re alive.” About Damon: “ I’m not sorry that I met you. I’m not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything, that in death you’re the one that made me feel most alive.” Elena actively searched for something to live for in her relationships with Stefan and Damon, which just demonstrates to me that outside of those relationships she felt she has no reason to live. That’s hardly healthy and also explains why her relationship with Damon became so intense in seasons 5 and 6 to the point that she described him as being the one that defined her and felt that she couldn’t live without him.

I could continue assessing this aspect of Elena but it’ll get too long. The point is that Elena endured a lot of hurt and trauma and people crap on her for some of the shitty decisions she made (none of which are really that bad, they’re just generic incidents of self-involvement that we’re all guilty of) without taking into account the context of her character or her mental state. Even the fact that she entered into relationships with vampires as a human is indicative of self-destructive tendencies. Regardless of the humanistic qualities Stefan and Damon had, the fact that they were vampires was obviously only going to bring strife to Elena’s life, but she disregarded that and chose to be with them anyway. Elena had a lot of deep-rooted emotional issues that she didn’t really ever get to deal with because every time she tried to make progress and heal something else traumatic happened to her. People don’t want to accept that Elena was a victim because the narrative placed her as the victim, and it pisses people off, but whether you like her or not she was a victim. Almost everything that happened to and around Elena was as a result of what she was (the doppelganger) or who she was connected to (Katherine, Stefan and Damon primarily) rather than her own decisions or actions.

She was also a victim of the writing. I don’t want to bring ships into this too much because that’s a separate issue, but Elena’s entire characterisation was sacrificed for the benefit of her relationship with Damon. The writers had to change her in certain ways to make that relationship work and instead of Elena having the kind of development we generally expect characters to have (whereby they change for the better), she actually regressed as a character. Elena��s entire character was built around the idea of her being compassionate, empathetic and nurturing, and being a good friend, girlfriend and sister, but all of that immediately became null and void when she got into a relationship with Damon. How could we believe that Elena was compassionate and a good friend/sister when she willingly entered into a relationship with a man who abused and raped her best friend (Caroline), murdered her brother in front of her and kidnapped and threatened him later on in the series, brutally attacked her other best friend (Bonnie), murdered Vicki and turned her into a vampire and killed Aaron. Those are just the bad things Damon did to Elena’s friends and family that I can recall from the top of my head. And this is also a core aspect of Elena’s character that people have a problem with - her entire characterisation no longer stands when she gets into a relationship with Damon. No matter how much the writers tried to tell us post season 4 that Elena was a kind, selfless and caring person, friend and sister, being with Damon automatically invalidated all of that. For Elena to make sense as a character and exist in that relationship, they had to completely re-establish her entire personality and core traits and the writers couldn’t be bothered to do that so just swept it under the rug. The problem is that fans don’t turn a blind eye to things like that they notice it.

So the big question here is why do you, and I, and others still like Elena? Well, I can only speak for myself, but I like Elena because (prior to season 4) she was a genuinely sweet and kind-hearted person that was relatable and had lots of potential but that was done a great injustice by the writing. Elena could’ve been one of the best loved characters of all time if the writers had known how to handle her, but they lost her character amidst the triangle drama and her relationships with the Salvatore brothers (honestly, I think if the triangle didn’t exist, Elena would’ve immediately been a more well-liked character generally). She didn’t do anything to warrant the terrible things that happened to her and has been consistently bashed by fans who nit-pick the minor examples of self-centredness she displayed and overlook all the kindness she showed and the hardships she endured. The horrendous traumas she suffered through have been glossed over but honestly, as a 17 year old girl that went through everything she did, she showed incredible strength and resilience. For that alone, I cannot do anything but love Elena Gilbert.

Also, as a side-note, on a more personal level, I relate to Elena a lot as a character that’s considered flat and boring and that people see as lacking in conviction. I’m always very insecure that I’m dull, that there’s nothing interesting about me and that people will find it difficult to like me or connect to me because I’m a very neutral character. I also worry because I don’t have a specific path in mind for my future or one thing that I’m passionate about and want to dedicate my life to. And I feel like people a lot of people in real life really are like this. Not every single person in the world is super deep and multi-layered with really well-defined personalities. Not everyone is fun, vibrant, charming and charismatic. Likewise, a lot of people don’t know exactly what they want out of life (in fact, I’d argue people who know what they want are in the minority of people). A lot of people are just dull and ‘ordinary’ and don’t have their lives mapped out. We have this tendency to analyse characters based on their traits, their strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, desires, fears etc. which is fun and I love to do it, but real people are more complex than that. If I asked people that know me to describe my core personality they probably wouldn’t be able to (hell, I don’t even think I’d be able to!), because you can never really articulate the essence of what a person is no matter how hard you try. People are contradictory and personalities, feelings, thoughts, morals, beliefs etc. are very changeable. There are core aspects to who we are, but people can change the way they think or behave or what they believe all the time depending upon circumstances and experiences. Elena may not necessarily have a core personality or characterisation that is maintained across the series, but in a strange way, that makes her more human to me than any other character. And I relate so much to the way that Elena never really knows what to do when it comes to making important life decisions. It’s important to remember when analysing Elena that despite Nina looking (and being) older than 17, Elena is supposed to be a 17 year old girl. Most teenagers that age don’t have a clue who they are, what they want or who they want and are just living day to day and seeing where life takes them. That’s exactly what Elena did and since she “made it” it gives me hope that I will one day too.

Thank you so much for asking, lovely! I tried to keep this short, but I have a lot of thoughts and feelings when it comes to Elena. Hopefully I made sense, because I felt like a lot of this was very muddled and explained terribly.

#answered #my meta #tvd meta #elena gilbert #anti-delena #theofficestan

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scripttorture · 5 years

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Torture in Fiction: The Dragon Prince

The Dragon Prince is a wonderfully written and beautifully animated cartoon. I don’t usually take on a whole series but I was interested in the pitch and have fond memories of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was curious to see what the creators had come up with since.

And overall I really enjoyed it. The characters are engaging and the plot is an interesting twist on a lot of typical fantasy tropes. (It also helped that this is the first time I’ve seen an animated character sign.)

The review contains spoilers for the entire season (1) of this cartoon.

After humans started using dark magic, magic drawn from destroying naturally magical creatures, an alliance of elves and dragons drove them to the western side of the continent. In the war that follows humans killed the dragon king and destroyed his egg.

Years later a group of elves sneak into the human kingdom, determined to assassinate the king and his son in revenge. Rayla, the youngest of the assassins, discovers that the egg is intact and alive. With the human princes, Ezran and Callum, she sets out to return the egg, the titular Dragon Prince, to his home.

But once again I’m rating the depiction and use of torture, not the story itself. I’m trying to take into account realism (regardless of fantasy or sci fi elements), presence of any apologist arguments, stereotypes and the narrative treatment of victims and torturers.

Which means I’m not focusing on the main characters or their plot line here. Instead this review is going to focus mostly on three side characters: Runaan, the leader of the elven assassins who kills the human king, Viren, a dark mage and the king’s advisor who takes over the country on the king’s death and Gren a guardsman loyal to Ezran and Callum’s Aunt.

Viren chooses to have Runaan kept alive and imprisons him in a stone cell. He’s chained in a seated position with his hands raised above his head. Viren attempts to bribe and threaten Runaan into revealing information about a magical artifact. Runaan refuses and in retaliation Viren casts a spell imprisoning Runaan’s essence in a coin.

As Viren tries to consolidate power he clashes with the princes’ aunt, a military commander who insists the boys are alive and should be searched for. Viren manipulates her into returning to the front lines but not before she leaves Gren in charge of searching for the missing princes.

Viren has Gren imprisoned. He’s chained in a standing position with his hands kept level with his head.

I’m giving it 2/10

The Good

1) Torture and the threat of torture is used in the context of interrogation but the story shows it failing. Runaan rejects every request for information Viren makes. He also rejects every 'olive branch' Viren extends.

2) Torture isn’t shown changing or even mildly influencing Runaan’s strongly held beliefs. If anything the story shows Runaan’s anti-human stance becoming more entrenched in response to torture.

3) Viren’s motivation for imprisoning and torturing both Runaan and Gren is quite in keeping with reality. Runaan is an enemy soldier. Gren is loyal to the old regime that Viren is actively trying to replace. This makes both of them political enemies, treated as threats to the new regime’s security. That’s incredibly true to life.

4) The timing of Viren’s bribes also felt like a good point to me. Runaan is captured and abused and then Viren attempts to bribe him into cooperation. First he uses food and drink, then he uses the offer of freedom. I don’t know whether it was intentional or not but I liked this element because it supports the notion of Runaan’s opposition becoming firmer as he’s mistreated.

5) I enjoyed Viren’s general characterisation throughout this and the way he justifies his actions. He presents himself as a ‘pragmatist’. He says he’s willing to make the ‘tough choices’ for the good of others and the Kingdom. That’s the kind of torture apologia torturers often parrot.

6) And that view doesn’t go unchallenged in the story. Other characters point out that Viren’s actions mostly benefit himself. His cruelty and his so-called ‘pragmatic’ lack of morals are presented as causing bigger problems than they solve. Together it creates a really good, succinct and understandable portrait of a torturer. It shows him parroting typical torture apologia and it shows why those views are wrong.

The Bad

Both Runaan and Gren should be dead several times over.

The portrayal of stress positions here is frankly appalling. It's difficult to be exactly sure about the passage of time in the story but Runaan is kept with his hands chained above his head for at least a week. Gren is kept standing for days.

Stress positions kill after about 48 hours.

In this case, neither character is depicting as suffering due to the way they're restrained.

Runaan is shown suffering but this is visually and narrative linked to other things. He's bruised because he was beaten when he was captured. His arm is withering due to a curse. He's weak because he's refusing to eat and drink (which should also have killed him, however I’m willing to give that more leeway in a non-human character). But the stress position he's kept in isn't depicted as fundamentally harmful.

This is more or less repeated with Gren. He isn't shown refusing food or drink and he wasn't beaten when captured. His posture in his chains is relaxed. He shows no signs of pain or discomfort. He leans against the wall and whistles. His movement, colouration, coherency and memory all seem to be completely unaffected.

Stress positions are incredibly harmful. They are painful. They cause wide scale break down of muscles in the victim’s body. This initially leads to a build up of fluid in the extremities. Which causes painful, discoloured swelling in the limbs, sometimes to the point that the skin ruptures into blisters. As more muscles are destroyed the protein released into the bloodstream becomes too much for the kidneys to handle and they fail. One description I read described the kidney’s being turned into ‘swiss cheese’.

The result is a protracted, painful death that can occur a significant period of time after the victim is released from the stress position.

The fact that it’s a stress position singled out as a ‘harmless’ torture is extremely significant here.

This is a torture that generally doesn’t leave lasting marks. It’s a torture that’s common in the modern world. And we unfortunately live in a world where torture trials often hinge on the presence or absence of ‘physical proof’.

Scars.

Survivors are regularly dismissed and belittled because they were tortured in ways that didn’t leave obvious marks on their skin. Because their torturers used techniques like stress positions.

Showing these tortures as harmless backs up the societal view that these tortures don’t ‘count’. That the pain these victims experienced was not real and they don’t deserve our help or compassion.

It backs up the notion that these particular victims are to blame for what they suffered.

These aren’t obscure philosophical notions or debates. These tropes, these patterns, these arguments affect our treatment of torture and torture survivors now.

They are part of the social structures that deny torture survivors asylum. They are part of the reason it takes survivors an average of ten years to access specialist treatment.

Presenting these apologist views uncritically to young children isn’t neutral either.

Because even without taking into account parental blockers on internet searches accurate information on torture is incredibly difficult to find. Any curious viewer, of any age, who watches these scenes and searches for more information would come across more torture apologia long before they find research on torture.

Especially as they may not even link what they saw to torture.

A casual viewer would first need to make that link. Then be aware of the term ‘stress position’. Then be aware of the academic journals or niche authors who publish on these topics. And then have access to enough money to pay for those sources.

Some of the sources are not available in translation.

The result is that the overwhelming majority of viewers are likely to accept what they see: that stress positions cause no harm.

These details are small. They don’t get a lot of screen time. They’re unimportant to the plot.

But they are not neutral. They matter.

The way the different ideas at play here interact matters. As does their impact on the real world.

And as a result, despite many good points in the portrayal of torture, I feel like I have to give The Dragon Prince a low score.

Overall

Part of the reason I wanted to review this was to highlight how prevalent torture is in children’s media and how cartoons are often sending out the same misinformation as adult action movies.

The Dragon Prince doesn’t suggest that torture works and it doesn’t justify brutality. But at the same time it’s downplaying the damage torture causes by treating some tortures as essentially harmless. It’s telling that the tortures singled out this way are clean tortures common in the modern day.

The tortures that victims are commonly subject to now, the ones that don’t leave lasting marks, are the ones being singled out as harmless. As not ‘proper’ torture.

The message that only some tortures and only some victims ‘count’ starts young. And the sad thing is the people creating this, writing it and drawing it probably had no idea they were portraying torture when they chose to have characters chained to the wall.

The background knowledge most people have on torture is poor, made up of apologist tropes and rumours and misinformation. But it is so widely accepted that it probably doesn't even occur to most creators to fact-check what they write.

And the result in this case is a wonderfully made cartoon, which includes fantastic representation of disability, of racial diversity and women. While parroting tropes about torture that are actively harmful to victims.

Edit: If creators are not prepared to show the effects of torture then they should not use torture. If those effects are unsuitable for a children’s show then I’m left wondering why they included torture.

Personally, given the level of research these particular creators lavished on other areas, I suspect this was ignorance not malice.

Disclaimer

#tw torture #torture in fiction #the dragon prince #clean torture #scarring torture #torture apologia #stress positions #fantasy

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thesethingsofours · 4 years

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Take Your Time

During lockdown, our individual perspectives of time were shaken. If time is subjective, what do we do with it?

Time and space are modes by which we think not conditions in which we live. — Albert Einstein.

The defining feature of work as a commercial lawyer is not the suit, the intellectual discussion, the clients, the office politics, or the sloshing around of money. It’s something they never show in Suits or The Good Fight: the stopwatch. On every lawyer’s computer, a piece of software (unironically named Carpe Diem) provides rolling timers to be clicked on and off when moving from one task to another. Every moment is accounted for.

At the end of each day, the minutes and hours are shovelled into a database, where the lawyer writes a detailed narrative for every block of time. The information is then used to build an accurate bill for the clients and to assess how hard each lawyer is working. In an industry where work is charged for by the hour, every minute has an exact, predetermined value; both financially, and how each lawyer is viewed as an employee. Time is quite literally money.

As a lawyer, sometimes, I wished the clock would speed up, desperate for my hours to increase towards my monthly billing target. On other occasions, it whizzed past unstoppably as I strained to meet an imminent deadline or demonstrate my efficiency. Time was rarely a neutral experience. Recording every minute of every day for analysis by my superiors made me extremely sensitive to how I perceived time. Maintaining a balanced temporal mindset in these conditions was a battle; a battle against time — the constantly conspicuous overlord I could never overcome.

Until I did. Sick of stopwatches, after four years I left to follow my passions of photography and writing. Now, when I am freely roaming the streets photographing a new city or pressing pen to paper, I typically lose all concern for time. It still requires my consideration — to finish photographing before nightfall, or ensure I still eat at reasonable intervals in the day — but I am no longer forced to attribute an arbitrary numerical value to it, financial or otherwise. I acknowledge it exists but tend not to think about it. In doing so, my levels of day-to-day contentment have dramatically increased.

In the lockdown spring, this sensitivity towards time was laid bare for all of us — how it passes through us in wildly different ways, how we scrabble for a method to gauge it, and the enormous effect it can have on our emotions. But what can we do about it?

I barely know what day it is. — Everyone, 2020

Through every lockdown conversation, the above sentiment became a running joke. Days were long, weeks were short, or vice versa. For some, April went extremely quickly, while for others, it felt like an age. In any case, the unifying feature was a sudden discombobulation in the way we perceived time. Under the pandemic’s grasp, our familiar time-markers disintegrated, replaced by an erratic Covid-clock. Outside of Italy, you may have followed how many weeks behind the boot-shaped island your country was from getting a kicking (“Two weeks ’til we reach 1500 deaths a day”). Perhaps your measurement was a lament of absent activities (“This would have been our third day in Istanbul”; “Next Saturday would have been our wedding day”). Alternatively, you may have watched the kilos emerge around your waist like tree rings as you ate yourself towards comfort.

No matter how you compiled your days, the confines of our own, limited perception mean we construct time on the basis of both the individual — how it feels, and the collective — the metronomic hands of the clock. The clock is physics-driven — an objectively agreed approximation of an extremely strenuous concept, variously comprising of the big bang, Einstein, gravity, the speed of light, black holes, entropy, the multiverse and Back to the Future. This idea of time and its relativity to space is difficult to get one’s head around. Perhaps it’s so difficult because arguably, both spiritually and scientifically, time doesn’t exist at all. Instead, there are only sequential events and tangible atomic changes, which we consciously witness and translate into “time”. In that case, “time” is a primitive form of expression — a language for something we have waived our need to fundamentally understand.

Given the challenge of understanding time on that level, most of us simply live based on Earth’s rotation. Other than for a handful of space-travellers, whose time has theoretically bent and slowed, we experience time only as far as it visibly appears in our day-to-day lives: day turns to night, trees grow and shed leaves, skin loosens from taught to wrinkly (unless you’re Rob Lowe). For this reason, we speak of time in the comprehensible terms of three-dimensional, physical space — “the party is after lunch”; “I’ll be there in 10 minutes”. Even then, language and culture have a meaningful effect on how we perceive that spatial construct. Do you characterise time in terms of volume, like the Spaniards (“a full day”); or distance, like the Swedes (“a long day”); or dispense with the linguistic concept entirely, like the Amazonian Amondawa tribe?

Time as a Feeling

Regardless of our rudimentary attempts to describe time, how it feels remains unique to each of us. Our memories, emotions, habits; body and brain function all play a role in how we perceive it. The feeling of minutes, say, from waiting for a train; hours, from hunger between meals; days, from waking up every morning; months (I daresay) from menstrual cycles; or years, from marking birthdays. In any given moment, a near-innate, biological “pacemaker” and measuring tools honed from our experiences combine to determine how long or short a period of time feels. These sensitive mechanics make our time perception deeply susceptible to external forces:

Time perception, just like vision, is a construction of the brain and is shockingly easy to manipulate experimentally… as subject to illusion as the sense of color is.

Brain Time, David M Egelman, 2009

To this end, it is well understood that when the brain processes a large amount of information in a short period, such as absorbing a new experience or enduring a traumatic event, we later recall time as having passed more slowly. As children, for whom everything is new, a two-week summer holiday feels endless. For adults, such a break can feel achingly short.

That said, these psychological mechanisms are still subject to each individual’s unique personality and circumstances. For example, loneliness has proved to be a significant factor in slowing people’s sense of time during lockdown, while a greater use of digital devices is likely to have sped it up.

In the latter case, technology disrupts our internal pacemaker and increases our stress levels: if you have an hour to complete a task and it feels like 50 minutes, you’re subconsciously pressurising yourself to do things 20% faster. Even without the ubiquity of digital clocks in the corner of every eye, it stands to reason that our Pavlovian response to bombardment by notifications changes how we digest time. And that’s before you consider how much we outsource memory (a crucial aspect of time perception) to our phones, without understanding the cognitive consequences.

Between Zoom calls, smartphone scrolling, working on a laptop, binging Netflix, repetitive tasks, adaptation to new circumstances and unusual social occurrences, any given lockdown day was liable to speed up or slow down by the hour; further assembling into weeks, which would slip through our fingers or linger indefinitely. Disorientating, yes, but also a valuable reminder that our perception of time is subjective, and therefore something we have a degree of control over.

Take Your Time

While compliance with the clock helps us interact with others and make a living, we should be wary of allowing it too great an influence over how we enjoy or endure our experiences. Frustration from waiting, pressure from deadlines, habitually arriving late or early — all these arise from the way we process time. Finding ways to free yourself from its yoke can be useful, not only in an uncertain era where another challenging lockdown might be just around the corner, but also as we return to more conventional ways of living. A warped perception of time — whether too fast or slow — has been linked to stress, anxiety and depression. Insulating yourself from a fluctuating perception of time serves towards a consistent mental state.

In practical terms, it helps to do any fulfilling or challenging activity with no incantation of time attached: distance yourself from technology, wander aimlessly outdoors, read from a page rather than a screen, thin out your schedule, study something new, write down your thoughts. When you cannot control your activities, mindfulness has been shown to help. Focussing on the present moment hypothetically minimises stimulation of your internal pacemaker; slowing your sense of time and allowing you to relax into whatever you find yourself doing.

Whatever your circumstances or interests, the key is to take your time, to the fullest extent possible. Take life at your own pace, whatever that might be. Avoid the agitation of scoring life based on time achieved or missed. Wind your own clock and be sensitive to what makes it tick. As an ex-stopwatch jockey, I attest to its benefits.

youtube

#wellness #coronavirus #Mindfulness #health #lifestyle #time

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thereadingchallengechallenge · 6 years

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Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley Rating: 5/5

When Aki goes on a summer trip to rural Mexico with her church's youth group, she intends to try new things. She's sick of hiding who she is - that she's not interested in music anymore, that she wants more than her church and her family and her school, that she's bisexual. And when she meets Christa, she knows for certain that she can't hide her feelings anymore. It's time to start figuring out who she is.

This book was incredible. Despite being some sort of bi myself, I haven't read that many books about people who identify this way. But this was an excellent place to start. Not only is it a wonderful representation of one (maybe two) bisexual characters in Aki and Christa it explored the confusing aspects of being bi. Aki wonders several times throughout the book about what it means to be bi and how confused she gets which was awesome to see. She didn't really come to a conclusion which irked me a bit but she is only 15 or 16. She has time to figure stuff out.

And there were the sex scenes. These scenes were accurate, respectful, and they highlighted how important it is to practice safe sex regardless of whether or not there is a penis involved. I've always thought I was pretty educated about safe sex but this book reminded me that there's always more to learn so for this information to be in a YA book is so, so important.

I also loved the interplay between religion and the social justice issues talked about in this book. I think if you're going to tell a story with religious and LGBT+ themes, this is the way to do it. There was no damning animosity, minimal queerphobia, and it was just really respectful. I especially loved the subplot with the debates and the conference the church leaders would attend after the novel ends. It was cool to see a church represented as being truly interested in social justice issues and willing to learn and explore ways they could help.

This was altogether just a wonderful novel. I loved the characterisation and the character development. I loved the diversity. I loved the storylines. I loved the setting. Everything was amazing. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a book about bisexual girls or just LGBT+ books in general. It was wonderful.

#our own private universe #robin talley #lgbt books #reviews #trcc original #5 star reads

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bardqueenofgallifrey · 7 years

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do u have any tips for writing smut?

oh my god

I’m…oddly proud that I’ve reached the point that people seem to think I’m good enough at this to ask me for advice??

okay…here I go!

Smut: Some Important Things To Get Right

Motivation:

The most important thing in my opinion is actually the same thing I give priority in any kind of writing, which is character motivation. Regardless of whether you’re writing a random hookup in a bathroom or nice emotional stuff in a bedroom somewhere, why your character is doing the do is still crucial to know, because it’s going to dictate how they’re going to approach the whole situation and what they want out of it.

Are they hooking up with a random because they’ve had a bad day and need the stress relief? Are they emotionally needy? If they’re having emotional sex, how do they feel about the other person? In a more emotional scenario they’re more likely to genuinely want to please the other person.

Actions are dictated by motivation. This still applies in smut.

Research:

Or rather, know what the fuck you’re talking about. Don’t try and write femslash smut if one or both of them has long nails, unless those hands are not remotely coming into play (and even then, questionable). Don’t try and write male slash without lube (I’ve never written male slash smut and doubt I’ll be doing so any time in the foreseeable future, but even I know that there is never an excuse to not do this).

Know how the bodies work. Practical experience isn’t necessary (god knows I’ve yet to get any), but having at least a bit of an idea of what your body does will help a lot, trust me.

A good way to do research is to read other well done smut, I know that’s definitely how I learnt. It’s generally less ridiculous and more accurate than most erotic novels or pornography.

Characterisation:

The quickest way to kill the mood in a scene is for something to be out of character. And when dealing with sex, that’s definitely a place where it’s easy to do that. Wanting dirty talk or certain endearments or pet names is understandable, but they can shoot a smut scene dead if used when they shouldn’t be because it’s just too wrong that a character would say that.

Example 1: If Severus Snape was calling someone ‘honey’, that would obviously just be plain wrong (why anyone would want to write smut about him, god knows, but it’s the simplest and most extreme example I can think of).

Example 2: It’s very unlikely for any alien who isn’t extremely and near completely accustomed to Earth culture to use any kind of degrading dirty talk, because most aliens wouldn’t come from a subconsciously sex negative culture, and would be completely baffled by the use of the word ‘whore’ in any context, as well the idea of sex being bad/sinful in general. (An argument could be made for, say, Time Lords, because they’re giant prudes, but they’re still going to approach it very differently.)

Detail (or rather, lack thereof):

When I first started writing smut, I know I suffered from a fair amount of embarrassment. Hell, I still do, to an extent. There are certain body parts I just won’t name because I feel too weird about it. Some I’ve come to be okay with occasionally using, but it’s taken literal years to get to that point.

What I’m getting at is, don’t be afraid to keep it vague. You can still write a steamy scene without getting all particular about exactly what is getting touched where. If you’re only just getting started writing smut, don’t be afraid to take it slowly. Readers can work out a lot by implication.

Besides, too much detail can actually kill the vibe.

(As a general rule, I’ve found that less detail can be better for more emotional scenes and more detail better for ones that are meant to be more just like straight up filth, but this is generally speaking because I’ve seen several exceptions to this on both sides.)

Basically, use whatever level of detail you’re comfortable with and go from there. Don’t feel you need to say anything you don’t want to.

Appeal:

When it comes down to it, does what you’ve written appeal to you? If you don’t find it hot, there’s a good chance other people aren’t going to either. In the end, you can only really write what you would want to read, like you would with any other piece of work.

Now - go forth and write! And have fun!

(Seriously though, I hope this helps. I’ve never really…put a lot of thought into my process before.)

#writing tips #writing advice #smut writing tips #smut writing advice #writing #anon asks #asks #i say shit #Anonymous

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whittlebaggett8 · 5 years

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Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific Approach: Between Promises and Perils

A large-level dialogue following week will the moment again spotlight the options and troubles inherent in Jakarta’s regional eyesight.

Future 7 days, Indonesia is established to hold what officials have characterised as a superior-amount Indo-Pacific dialogue in Jakarta. Further than the engagement alone, which is established to attribute Southeast Asian states as very well as major powers including the United States, the growth will spotlight the broader concern of Indonesia’s own tactic to the Indo-Pacific inside of its broader international policy and amid a series of domestic, regional, and global developments.

As I have observed right before in these web pages and elsewhere, even with the heightened target on the Trump administration’s Free and Open up Indo-Pacific (FOIP) method since its unveiling, FOIP has also catalyzed a collection of reactions from regional states, some of whom have advanced their personal Indo-Pacific ideas before and have bolstered their endeavours to build them.

Amongst these is Indonesia, and that need to occur as no shock. Southeast Asia lies suitable at the middle of the convergence concerning the Indian and the Pacific oceans, and Indonesia’s heft inside of the subregion implies that Jakarta would want to have a say in how the broader location develops. Indonesia has also extensive seen by itself as a regional leader on geopolitical difficulties, and although there have at instances been gaps amongst its lofty aspirations and sober realities, it has unquestionably performed an crucial and at instances underappreciated part in the advancement of the regional architecture in Southeast Asia, such as the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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Though just one can trace Indonesia’s method to the Indo-Pacific again substantially even more depending on how it is defined, in a contemporary perception, Jakarta’s vision could be said to commence to cohere during the tenure of previous Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Beneath Yudhoyono, yrs in advance of FOIP was unveiled, Indonesia experienced instructed an Indo-Pacific eyesight all-around the East Asia Summit (EAS) – a body which is in and of by itself a testomony to ASEAN’s individual “Indo-Pacificization” about time to consist of the larger engagement of big powers. At the time, then-International Minister Marty Natalegawa even publicly raised the prospect of an Indo-Pacific Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, however the solution under no circumstances acquired off the floor.

Though Indonesian international plan less than recent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been much extra domestic-centered relative to the Yudhoyono years and an express Indo-Pacific concept had not been formally articulated at the outset, Indonesia’s tactic to the planet had in point continued to advance person elements of what might be regarded as an Indo-Pacific solution. To take just one illustration, even at the beginning of Jokowi’s presidency in late 2014, international coverage adviser Rizal Sukma experienced explicitly linked the world wide maritime fulcrum (GMF) strategy to a relationship in between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans (or what he termed “PACINDO”), with discrepancies struck concerning the Indo-Pacific approach under the Yudhoyono administration on different counts, including geographical scope (with a higher concentration on India and the Gulf nations).

But while Indonesian officers may perhaps have a stage when they emphasize that Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific conception had its genesis before FOIP was disclosed, it is also accurate that FOIP’s launch has additional intensified Jakarta’s quest to advance this concept and form the regional dialogue. This is thanks to a variety of elements, some of them more historic, these kinds of as Indonesia’s purpose as a regional leader and its classic suspicion of exterior powers dominating the regional agenda, and other folks a lot more up to date like developing nervousness about mounting U.S.-China strategic competition and also concerns about areas of federal government plan in both of those Washington and Beijing that operate opposite to Jakarta’s pursuits, irrespective of whether it be on the Israel-Palestine challenge or on the South China Sea. Some of Jakarta’s issues are also shared by neighboring Southeast Asian states to varying degrees, even nevertheless they may well not have the very same pounds and willingness to convey people views.

In response, we have observed Indonesia articulate its Indo-Pacific solution a lot more plainly and also undertake a sequence of steps to guidance this eyesight on a regional foundation. In terms of rhetoric, Indonesian officers, which include Overseas Minister Retno Marsudi, have repeatedly emphasized the principles of Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific notion as a signifies to both of those handle Jakarta’s issues and distinguish it from those of others. Indonesia’s approach is centered on inclusiveness (to not leave other people, which include China, out) as effectively as ASEAN centrality (to make sure the group is serving to generate regional discussions instead than significant powers drowning it out).

That has continued into 2019 as effectively. Even heading into the new year, Marsudi and other officials built very clear that they would include advancing the Indo-Pacific concept on the prolonged listing of Indonesian foreign plan priorities for the year, which incorporate a number of agenda products tied to Indonesia’s position as the present-day holder of a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council. Indonesia has also been emphasizing the alignment of its development of the strategy with ASEAN, with Marsudi increasing the challenge as component of her conferences with Thai counterparts during Thailand’s ASEAN chairmanship this year and Jakarta looking to continue to see the situation talked about in several ASEAN-led fora.

Indonesia’s continued development of the Indo-Pacific method is not with no promise. At the incredibly the very least, Indonesia is serving as an crucial voice to remind the two Beijing and Washington that countries in the region have a say in the region’s upcoming – a fundamental stage that is however at situations inadequately appreciated in much more completely bipolar conceptions of Asia. Additionally, Jakarta’s continued articulation of the notion both inside and over and above ASEAN channels can also support intensify discussions in Southeast Asia about what the subregion’s job ought to be in the growth of the Indo-Pacific notion presented its continued de facto purpose as the centre of Asian regionalism. As genuine as some Southeast Asian concerns might be about some conceptions of the Indo-Pacific, the truth is that if Southeast Asia and ASEAN do not assistance actively shape it in a thorough, actionable way, then the subregion will merely be shaped by it in ways that external powers would favor.

But advancing an ASEAN-centered eyesight also has not been with out its issues. For a single, at a regional level, further than meetings and general ideas, the unwillingness or incapacity of other Southeast Asian states to critically dedicate attention to shaping a subregional eyesight of the Indo-Pacific idea can make it far more difficult for Indonesia to align its own tactic with that of other countries in the subregion, contributing to a perception that Jakarta is a lot more of a lone voice somewhat than a regional representative. The broader global natural environment is also arguably extra tough to advance this strategy relative to the Yudhoyono years, presented intensifying significant energy competitors and the unveiling of the Trump administration’s very own FOIP, which has brought on newfound fears about the thought and what it implies. The domestic context for overseas policymaking is also different under Jokowi, and, no distinctive from the knowledge of other Indo-Pacific nations around the world, acquiring a president who has continued to evince quite little particular desire in foreign coverage relative to Yudhoyono is significantly from great for Indonesian policymakers as it can limit the traction a particular initiative can have.

Of system, these challenges are not insurmountable, and the existing context could also evolve as effectively, starting up with Indonesia’s very own general election future month. But as we see additional personal manifestations of Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy, such as the substantial-degree dialogue Jakarta hosts next 7 days, it is essential to maintain them in standpoint. They ought to be viewed more as component of Jakarta’s emerging method to the notion instead than a spectacular new advancement in and of by itself, regardless of what the headlines might recommend. And they should really not detract from the broader actuality that the foreseeable future prospective clients of Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific strategy will be contingent much less on the specific steps that Jakarta usually takes, and much more on how it navigates the more common assortment of alternatives and issues to maximize its guarantees and reduce its perils.

The post Indonesia’s Indo-Pacific Approach: Between Promises and Perils appeared first on Defence Online.

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#ASEAN Beat #ASEAN centrality #ASEAN Indo Pacific #ASEAN Quad #global maritime fulcrum #Indonesia for

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homepictures · 5 years

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Five Interior Decorator Advice That Had Gone Way Too Far | interior decorator advice

Scandinavian, American mid-century and minimalistic interiors accept bedeviled the autogenous architecture industry over the accomplished few years. However, experts accept these styles won’t be assertive in 2019. Instead, 2019 will see a improvement of appearance and vibrancy, convalescent on the adequately akin capacity that prevailed in the past. For example, Art Deco, Japanese minimalism, warm, adult tones, and accustomed abstracts will amalgamate with antiques and personalised touches to accomplish apartment active and expressive. Below, we altercate these trends in detail, as able-bodied as their abeyant amount and budget-friendly tips to analysis out these trends in your own home.

Amazing of Affordable Interior Design Tips And Tricks At #6458 – interior decorator advice | interior decorator advice

Art Deco was the prevailing art and architecture appearance in the aboriginal 20th aeon (1920’s-1930’s). It was characterised by able geometric/starburst shapes, automated furniture, gem accent colors (emerald greens, golds, abysmal reds) and brownish finishes. To accompany Art Deco into the 21st century, you can booty these capacity and absorb them into an contrarily minimalist room. For instance, you can brace a luxurious, colossal jewel-toned couch with a glassy chrome affected mirror and abstruse art. This can anticipate the allowance from attractive airless and outdated. Automated copse appliance with gold accents and doors are additionally abundant at abacus an Art Deco appearance to your home. Lastly, you should abate the use of floral, applique and raw edges.

Art Deco may not be the best advantage if you’re on a bound budget, but there are means to arm-twist this appearance for cheap. In fact, if you boutique from account food like Ikea, you can end up outfitting your home in the Art Deco appearance for about S$2,500. For instance, you can alter your pillowcases with ones in ablaze colors or a geometric patterns such as Ikea’s Sanela pillow covers or Svartho options. You can additionally attending at sites like eBay and Etsy to get abate accurate accessories, such as vases, ashtrays and baby curios from the era.

This table shows the boilerplate amount of Art Deco aggressive appliance from account food such as Ikea compared to high-end food such as Taylor B Design

Those attractive to do a abounding advance in this appearance will acquisition that it can be absolutely costly, as Art Deco appliance is advised to be added of a comfortable appearance that includes abnormal shapes and adorned detailing. For instance, a chesterfield daybed in a aphotic hue is a abundant addition to the difficult to acquisition and added few hundred dollar added big-ticket arced sofa. You should additionally absorb metal and bottle appliance and adorn with mirrors that accept sharp, geometric angles.

If you are active in a collapsed that is on the abate side, boastful and bright trends may not be the best advantage for your space. However, Japanese minimalism and congenital appliance are two trends that are predicted to break on trend in 2019 and can aid in authoritative your amplitude feel bigger and calmer. While the Japanese artful is already absolutely accepted in Singapore, you can brace the trend by abacus altered built-ins and peppering reclaimed board appliance or aged wabi-sabi ceramics throughout your flat.

Helpful Interior Design Advice To Spruce Up Your Home … – interior decorator advice | interior decorator advice

This table shows the boilerplate amount of custom congenital cabinetry and appliance from carpenters in Singapore

Story continues

To maximise the Japanese artful in your flat, your focus should be on copse appliance and built-ins, darker contrasts and clean, simple curve throughout your home. Muji is a abundant affordable advantage for bodies because this trend, although buyers should agenda that beds can get absolutely cher with costs bottomward upwards of S$1,000. When allotment appliance and accessories, artlessness is key as continued as it feels accustomed rather than antiseptic and too “perfect”. You can additionally accede affairs appliance that’s low to the ground, as it not alone matches the artful but can additionally accomplish your amplitude assume larger.

Introducing antiques to your home is addition trend assertive to accretion acceptance in 2019. There are several things to agenda apropos this trend. The aboriginal is that this trend can assignment for any budget. If you are on a budget, you can try your luck with sites like Ebay and Etsy that action antiques from every bend of the world. On the added hand, you can try art auctions such as Sotheby’s if you are attractive to splurge on aged artwork or decor.

However, the additional point is that debauchery this trend can bound accomplish your collapsed attending anachronous or kitschy. To abstain this, you can accede swapping out alone one class of account with an antique. For instance, you can bandy a apparent mirror with an aged one, or you can bandy out your abreast art for a best or aged oil painting. If you’re added adventurous, you can alike accumulate aggregate avant-garde but get an aged couch or dining table as an unmissable account piece. Finally, you can acquisition antiques that represent your ancestry to accord your home a personalised feel that will be altered to your family.

Experts' Tips for Choosing Interior Paint Colors … – interior decorator advice | interior decorator advice

With environmentalism and sustainability biting through every industry alignment from biking to design, autogenous architecture admirers will acquisition 2019 to be a year aggressive by sustainable, accustomed and creatively advised pieces. To add these elements into your home, you can attending for pieces such as rice cardboard lanterns, handmade adobe ceramics and accustomed bolt like jute. You can additionally attending for acceptable appliance fabricated from recycled or reclaimed materials.

It is accessible to accompany these abstracts into your home alike if you are on a bound budget. As ahead mentioned, Ikea can be a acceptable abode to get an inexpensive, “natural” attending for your home. If you don’t appetite to commence on a abounding calibration renovation, you can accede stone-inspired bark and stick tiles for your kitchen backsplash as a quick and adequately bargain way of abacus commodity new. However, you should accomplish abiding to buy clamminess and calefaction aggressive tiles in adjustment to action Singapore’s boiling climate. Those accommodating to absorb added can attending at Journey East, a mid to cher abundance that recycles and reclaims appliance and abstracts into altered pieces. You can additionally agreement with accustomed bean and quartz backsplashes while bond altered metals to accord accomplish your amplitude feel added organic.

Whether you are activity to do to do a all-encompassing advance or advance in some bespoke or aged pieces, it consistently pays to be accurate and abstain risk. First, you should consistently makes abiding the autogenous architecture close you appoint has been appropriately vetted and has affidavit of their work. A acceptable autogenous architecture close that isn’t aloof aggravating to get your money will additionally be able to acquaint you whether your eyes is acceptable for your home and Singapore’s climate. Second, you should accomplish abiding your home allowance action provides abundant advantage for not alone your advance but additionally any big-ticket items you may adjudge to purchase.

This table shows the boilerplate home allowance allowances and premiums for HDB flats in Singapore

Last, while alluringly you should utilise your claimed accumulation to armamentarium a renovation, you may charge to get alfresco help. To abstain advantageous aerial absorption rates, you should anxiously analyze advance accommodation ante to acquisition the best affordable costs for your advance project. While ante may assume absolutely agnate from coffer to bank, alike a bead of bisected a percent in your absorption amount can save you about a few hundred dollars over the advance of your loan.

Image 16 From Post: The Best Interior Design Advice In World – With … – interior decorator advice | interior decorator advice

Regardless of autogenous architecture trends, you should alone acquirement things that will accomplish you happy. You should ample your home with things you love, behindhand of whether or not those things are advised trendy. We’d adulation to know, are there any home architecture trends you’re animated to see gone? And which autogenous architecture do you anticipate you’ll try out abutting year?

The commodity Appetite to Be Ahead of the Curve? 4 Autogenous Architecture Trends Predicted for 2019 and Their Amount originally appeared on ValueChampion.

ValueChampion helps you acquisition the best accordant advice to optimise your claimed finances. Like us on our Facebook folio to accumulate up to date with our latest account and articles.