#anyway!! this was a lot of fun despite the photoshop issues

[tuiyla]

Are there any plots that you just refuse to take seriously and/or hold against the characters, because you find them to just be THAT stupid or ooc?

Like for me, I just simply cannot be bothered about Santana's role in the Brody mess. The whole plot was clearly about giving Finchel that "stay away from my future wife" moment that we're meant to swoon over, and Santana was nothing but a plot device to get Finn in the room. So whatever. I am not engaging.

And it's slightly different, but I still mostly ignore the entire Lucy Caboosey plot. To this day, I mostly view it as them grasping for something to mock about Dianna, and coming up empty, they were like "let's just have fun destroying a pic of her in photoshop". The only good thing I took from that plot was it allows Santana to call her "Lucy Q" in fics.

Okay no more procrastinating answering this, hey Anon. Sadly I can't say I took so long because I've come up with a myriad of examples. Truth is, Glee's both a) so inconsistent and b) so far removed from reality at times and tonally shifting all the time that there are a bunch of moments we could dismiss as OOC. It actually seems to be an issue that everyone has that line in the fandom where they ignore things but the line is somewhere else in each case. Fun, thanks Glee.

For me, I actually don't cut Santana slack for that one because it was a big Yikes and unfortunately something she would at least sorta do. I do fully consider Finn a freak for it as well and hate the framing of the scene. As for Lucy Caboosey, it's funny, I've never known where I stood with that. I still don't. Honestly, since I can make it work I don't hate it all that much. I often feel like I do a lot of the heavy-lifting for the writers, more so than they deserve but Lucy Q is one of those that I can sort of make work so I don't ignore it.

An example of my own that immediately comes to mind is the infamous sex tape, of course, which is played for laughs and is the second most infuriating thing Flopson has written. Wow that man's scripts suck. I simply cannot treat it seriously or even as part of canon most of the time because it's just so icky. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite because I won't hold it against Britt's character but I just refuse to engage with that plot on any serious level. You can't, it's non-consensual distribution of underage p*rn played for laughs. Not even good laughs! Pathetic.

Another much less serious example that comes mind, and one that pisses me off regardless of it being a minor instance is Rachel and Mercedes' bathroom scene in 100. When Mercedes says Santana is one of high school ghosts? When she and Rachel commiserate about people like Santana and Quinn? No. Absolutely not. I refuse to indulge this pity fest designed to reestablish Rachel as the ultimate underdog despite all her dreams coming true. I refuse to let the writers throw not one, not two, but like four rich and interesting female dynamics under the bus. All so we can be clear who the baddie is and get rid of any sort of nuance in the Pezberry feud. They can pry Sancedes from my dead cold hands, and same goes for Quinncedes. Wasn't it enough throwing Quinntana under the bus in Trio? God, where does it stop.

Those moments often annoy me much more than entire storylines do. When the writers can only elevate one friendship/relationship by downplaying another. It's a sign of weak writing and I hate it. It's like they treat personal relationships as a zero-sum game. Anyway, other than that I'm blanking on standout OOC moments. I'm sure there are loads, like I said Glee's inconsistency is awful and happens not only from episode to episode but within 45-minute spans. It's inevitable that many moments will feel OOC and completely out of place. The ones I'd care most about are, naturally, Santana-related ones, but for better or worse I can integrate just about anything into a logical arc for her. Except for not talking to any of her friends in season 6. But I don't see that as an in-universe problem.

#this was hardly worth the wait lol but #hope there's something in there for you anon #glee asks #anon #glee's writing issues #new tag but most of my posts belong under it

[lanyuan]

THE FIVE GREAT CULTIVATION SECTS ✶ PAST AND FUTURE

➵ inspired by @yibo-wang‘s creation | for the @creatorsevents gif style exchange event

#all tag #.gif #ceproject1 #mdzsnet #😭😭😭 this was a nightmare. i'm so sorry it's late i promise i tried to get it done on time #there's a lot i'm not happy with but i have to stop listing those in the tags ksdhbkjs #anyway!! this was a lot of fun despite the photoshop issues #it was an educational challenge and i lovee the fading into one big gif #it was such a cool layout and i'm honoured to try to copy it sjdhbj #there's not much meaning to any of this besides #nhs's face being covered and #lxc with his back turned being too late to face forwards #also. before anyone tells me in the tags (or worse. the replies) that lwj is only the chief cultivator- i am aware.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #404

“death doesn’t answer when i cried for help”

The person you had the strongest feelings for dies, do you care? I'd be fucking devastated. It wouldn't feel real. Is there something you’re happy about at the moment? A few things. I'm still on that high of my APAP mask working, like I'm actually getting some fucking quality sleep, and I think I'm noticing the effects of my TMS therapy finally, too. My PTSD has most notably been much more bearable, and my interests are beginning to spread again. Do you want someone dead? No. Do you ever wonder what your ex is up to? I mean yeah, I think that's pretty normal, even for someone without my issues. Have you ever fed or taken care of a stray animal? Oh, many times. What is something you tend to worry about? My health and future. What is something you do that is unhealthy? Sit at the computer for way too long. I'm absolutely certain my vision is as poor as it is partially because of me endlessly staring at screens. What is something you do that is good for you? I'm not afraid to prioritize my mental health. What last caused you to force a smile? I was watching a Mark video for the first time in a while and was just reminded of how much I love and appreciate that moron. What was the last video game you played? Was it fun? Because you said "video" game, I guess I'll exclude computer ones, in which case I'm pretty sure it was Silent Hill 2. Given it's one of my all-time favorite games, of course I think it's fun. It's one hell of an emotional ride. What is something not many people know about you? The fact I was a dancer for many years would probably surprise people once they have a good idea of me and what I like. What word describes your basic style? Lazy, honestly. I dress for comfort, and given that's usually just pj pants and a tank top... yeah, I don't put much effort into my clothing when I'm going most places. Have you ever been told you were going to Hell? She kinda beat around the bush, but yes. Have you ever wanted to kill yourself? On more than one occasion. If yes, what convinced you not to go through with it? Well, I did OD once, but on the other occasions, it was the fear of the unknown that deterred me. Have you ever rejected a guy, only to have him push the issue by asking “why?” and insisting that you just need to get to know him better? Omg no, thank god. I would NOT handle that well. Is there something that you believe everyone should do and you can’t believe that some people don’t do it (e.g., recycle or go to the dentist regularly)? I didn't know 'til a survey question asked it that there are people who don't brush their tongue when brushing their teeth. Like holy shit dude, there are SO many germs on your tongue, clean that shit. Regarding the last good choice (healthy choice, kind choice, selfless choice, etc.) you made, what was your real motivation behind it? Ummmm the nearest that comes to mind is I guess taking my meds? I mean I do that every single day, but it's still a healthy choice for me. The motivation was because I am very serious about doing what I can for my mental wellbeing. What is something that you have had to practice at to get the hang of it? If you can’t think of anything, that’s okay, what’s something you are currently practicing at and trying to master? I really can't think of something for the first half of the question, but I can tell you that right now I'm attempting to force a routine of applying a therapy technique called "opposite action" into my daily life, where you, well, do the exact opposite of what your depression tells you to not do. It is WAY harder than it sounds, but I'm doing it with reading 30 minutes a day! Have you ever gone to the store to buy something, like a video game, when it came out at midnight? Not to my recollection, no. Regarding the last novel you read, was there a romance included? If so, was it central to the plot? The last novel I finished, yes. It wasn't central to the plot. Have you ever done relaxation meditations or listened to relaxation guides or positive-thinking/healing recordings? No, except in therapy when different therapists wanted me to experiment with it during a session. They just don't work for me. Do you have any interests that are also often shared by children? Yeah. Those are the one I'm especially self-conscious about. there something that could be a solitary activity but you really only like to do it with other people (e.g., watching movies, playing video games, etc.)? Watching movies or TV. Are you satisfied with the interior design or decoration in your home? Or do you think it needs a total home makeover? A makeover would be nice... Is there something that you’d like to own but you can’t find it anywhere? If not, can you a remember a time when you wanted something? Did you ever end up finding it or did you eventually stop wanting it? OKAY SO I actually have seen this custom-made once long after deciding I wanted it, but it was RIDICULOUSLY expensive. There's a location in the Silent Hill games called Heaven's Night, and I'd love love LOVE to commission someone to duplicate the neon pink sign of it to hang in my room. Hopefully one day I could still do it. Who makes you smile the most? Probably my cat, honestly. What piercings do you want/have? I've talked about the piercings I have, but I'll talk about those I want. My #1 is absolutely collarbone dermals, but as I've explained a billion times, I want to lose weight so the bones are more prominent for the sake of contrast; you can't really see my collarbones now, so I just think it'd look pretty dumb and random to just have random piercings somewhere around there with no dimension. I also want way more in my ears, dermals in my back dimples also once I've lost weight, my right nostril for the dozenth time (but this time I'll wear a hoop), and while I'd absolutely adore an undereye microdermal as well, it'd be pointless with glasses. :/ What's your favorite website? KM is my pride and joy and really feels like my online home, so despite using sites like YouTube more, that 'ole RP site has to be my fave. Do you own a fish tank with fish? No. I had fish bowls (AWFUL idea) as a kid, but never tanks Do you like the movie 300? Never seen it. Do you pop your knuckles? NOOOOOOOOOOO. I absolutely hate the sound. It makes me cringe and shiver. Do you have Photoshop? Yes. It comes in the Adobe CC photography bundle I have. Do you use tinypic or photobucket? I used Photobucket back in the day. Now I just upload to imgur. What’s your favourite song from the 1980s? You're talking to someone who adores classic rock/metal, haha. How about the 1990s? There are way too many songs to choose from. Have you won anything recently? No. How often do you make Excel tables? What for? Never. What was the last baby animal you saw in the wild? There was a poor fawn as roadkill on the highway recently. :/ Are you always available or online? Preeeetty much. Do you have dietary restrictions? Or do you just eat what you like? I can eat whatever. Do you prefer gold, silver or steel jewelry? Or no jewelry at all? Steel. I'm allergic to silver, and I think steel is more subtle than gold. Have you been binge-watching any shows lately? If so, what? No. If you dye your hair, do you do it yourself or go to a salon? I do it at a salon. If you have any, do you like your in-laws? I don’t have any. Would it bother you, if your partner had cut contact with their parents? If they had a good reason, no. Have you ever wondered whether you were adopted? As a kid I did because I thought Mom was meaner to me than my siblings, lol. What’s the best physical feeling in the entire universe? ........... This question is a setup lmfao. Have you ever grown a berry bush? No. Have you done something new to your hair recently? No. It's been the same for quite a while. I wanna dye it badly. Do you have bad anxiety? If so, do you take any kind of medication for it? I'm diagnosed with generalized and social anxiety, so yeah. I take Klonopin once and day and Ativan as needed for attacks. One thing you’ve experienced that you thought you never would have? HA, the first thing to come to mind was being noticed by Mark by making a viral (in the community, anyway) gif of he and his doggy. I shit you not, I couldn't sleep for three days lmfao. What was the last thing someone said to you that kept repeating over & over in your head? That I gained fucking seven pounds in two months at my last doctor appointment. I wanted to scream. How often do you have late nights out? Never. I'm a homebody. If you could, would you work from home? Do you think that would make you more or less productive? No. It would absolutely make me less productive. If you had the ability to change the weather, what would you change it to right now? Cool with a nice breeze, mostly clear skies, crisp air... That'd be nice right now. Is there something that you really need to do, but can’t seem to get motivated to do it? I say it all the time: finish decorating my room. It's funny, because I KNOW I'll feel more at home and cozy with my bedroom more personalized. Most disturbing movie you have ever seen? Paranormal Entity. The ending was... a lot. Has a life goal or dream ever come true for you yet? If yes, what is it? If no, do you think you’ll achieve it? Not that I can think of. .-. I hope I can achieve some... Have you ever had food poisoning? No, thank God. What are you listening to? "The Man Who Made a Monster" by Dance With the Dead. Do you think there will be a WWIII? I find it inevitable at some point down humanity's future. People are too hateful for it not to eventually. Has anyone ever asked you if you were emo? Yeah. Has someone ever liked you that you never thought would? Maybe? Idk. In all honesty, can a person be too nice? Yes, in some instances. Has one of your friend’s boyfriends ever tried to cheat on them with you? Yes, when I was around 12. And I let it happen. It's one of my biggest regrets. Is mental abuse really as bad as physical abuse? Of course it is. Emotional abuse can cut just as deep as some physical blows, or even deeper. Do you shop at Sephora for make-up? No. Zelda: Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time? I'm actually not into TLoZ. Do you own a rosary? I did as a kid growing up in a Catholic Sunday school. If you were homeless, how would you cope? If I had no loved ones in my life and no sign of things getting better, I'm honestly preeetty sure I'd end my life.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''under the graveyard'' by ozzy osbourne

[seblaine-rph]

it'd be so easy to do a s1 redo with age appropriate characters. you could have all the fun s1 drama and storylines but with characters that are 21+ and even alternative fcs to give it a twist, it surprises me there aren't any active rps like that around

Despite the one (super problematic) redo rp we can see in the tags, there aren’t any others. You’re right. And they are really easy to open up, run, and figure out plots and stuff for because you already have a full seven seasons worth of script to work with if you ever get lost. There have been rps like that before, which might be why there aren’t any now. Nobody wants to be the person that takes a thousand years to make a whole rpg only to get spammed with anons about how unoriginal and they are as thieves. I don’t think anyone looking to do a redo rp should feel like they might get harassed for theft, but it might happen. I can see gleerp sending out anon hate if another season one glee redo in college were to open up, even if they made their original. But it’s not like there’s anything unique or new that the admins over there created themselves, so there’s nothing for them to claim as intellectual property. If it were a season one redo with a twist, that might be a different story if someone were to snatch the unique twist. But it shouldn’t apply to the basic skeleton of a redo rp because you’re redoing something that someone else made, it’s not your original brain child.

Nobody wants to be the person that takes a thousand years to make a whole rpg only to get no apps either, because the community is pretty much dead and nobody applies to anything that their current friends aren’t already in. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it is. For this second issue, it would be nice if people were more open to joining things that aren’t made by their friends. If we could get that “I’ll join anything that looks interesting based on the plot and nothing else” energy back, we’d have a lot more rps in the tags. Graphics used to be the hot button, where nobody would app if the graphics weren’t stellar, but now it’s about friends. I remember seeing photoshop-less groups popping up a few years back to retaliate against the super pristine, elitist, you have to spend approximately ten lifetimes and sacrifice your first born to make a successful rp mentality, but those aren’t around anymore. I think that in general, the grpc and rp in general has been starting to really die off and wind down because people are no longer comfortable joining anything but their friend’s rps. So new people try to take their hand at admining an rp and in the past, that could have succeeded but in this rp climate.. it just ends up closing. Because people beg and scream for original rps all day and all night, but they won’t join them. The only rps in any of the tags that I’ve been able to find lately ALL have the same plot: open fandom or oc, everyone magically poofed from their hometowns and woke up here for no reason oh well here we are, let’s just write like that’s normal and nobody is going to be upset about being uprooted at all. The only rps I’m seeing in the grpc tag that are really active are just open town, no plot rps. All of the original ideas that I’ve seen started have all died off before they could even begin. Nobody seems to realize that by not applying to rps that are run by other people, they’re refusing to cross pollinate masterlists and create new breeds of friends that can blossom and flourish. If we all joined any rp we wanted to, we’d be making a ton of new friends left and right. Instead, we’re quarantined to our own friends and will only rp with the same people we’ve been rping with for five years. Think about it. If we all made our own rp, but refused to join anyone else’s rp... how are we going to get members in our rp? If nobody is joining anyone else’s rps? It’d just be the one admin per group and nobody else. You have to reach out and cross pollinate to keep the rpc active and fresh. I really do think that this right here is the number one killer of all things roleplay these days. I do still have places to rp but I have heard so many people complain about how hard it is to get their rp masterlist to flourish. 

It really would be easy though, and to be honest it would probably get more people involved in it than the pedophilic alternative. It’s 2021, not 2012 despite what my dyslexia might want to say about it sometimes; most people have learned how to spot and avoid a dumpster fire and with all of the people going to jail for internet activities that involve pedophilia and cp in 2020 and 2021 (I thought we learned the lesson with the former Glee actors much earlier than now, but I guess not), it’s no wonder people are avoiding pedo rps. You really have to want to engage in pedophilic activity to be hard-headed enough to not age the characters up appropriately and cause no actual harm to yourself or anyone else, it’s not like it used to be when people were dim enough to do it without thinking. Like twincest, incest, and other problematic behaviors that used to saturate the community... the silent time where people ignored the nasty and joined anyway while pretending to not see anything they thought might be problematic are over. We’ve all seen prominent figures in the grpc being torn down from their pedestals for engaging in problematic behavior, pedophilia being one of those things that people are getting mass hate for. So it really is a fight to keep writing it. You have to go through being dragged through the mud and hated on in order to cling to these things nowadays. To me, that just makes it even worse. Not only are we all advanced enough now to be beyond the 2012 insanity, it is also costly to a person’s reputation and ability to go through life without being flamed by anon hate to continue to live by offensive behavior in a way that wasn’t “real” back in 2012. Not to mention, we’re all 9 years older than we were back then. So we should have matured 9 years and we should be 9 years further away from being invested in children having sex and writing out the whole “teenage sexual awakening” and “coming of age” stories. Maybe 9 years ago when we were all 18, it might have been closer to relevant and something cathartic, but why on EARTH would someone that is around 30 years old still NEED to write children coming of age if not because they’re pedophiles? That’s the one argument I always see for this. But I want to write a coming of age story, but I want to write about my character maturing as a teenager and finding adulthood. WHY? Why do you want to do that? Why do you want to write that? Why do you want to obsess (because let’s be real, we all obsess over our muses and their relationships and lives) over children having sex? Why? Why can’t you write an appropriate coming of age story for someone in college? Why is it that the characters being 14 is so integral to your smut and your plot and your needs as a writer?

You’re also risking the law, as I’ve stated many times. Feel free to Google what happens when the FBI decides to look at your internet history and finds pedophilic content there. And the FBI will get involved if it’s a bigger case, like a roleplay group that contains a dozen members that are all tied to the pedophilic content. You can even Google “roleplay” with that and you’ll find horror stories of people being sentenced to 10-25+ years in FEDERAL PRISON for roleplaying the 18- having sex. That alone, if your morals are weak, should be enough to keep you away from writing pedophilic content. I just don’t see how anyone could ever say to themselves that they needed to write 14 year olds having sex SO BADLY that it was alright with them if it meant they had to go to prison for it. That’s making these people’s need to write child porn sound like an addiction. Nasty.

I honestly, truly, definitely, genuinely do not understand. You have to be a SERIOUS, GENUINE, SERIOUS PEDOPHILE with a SERIOUS PROBLEM to be willing to write in a group like gleerp that has minors having sex in it. Look at the risk. I do not ever want to be able to understand how the “reward” of being able to write 14 year olds having sex with each other is going to outweigh the negative risk. Even just your run-of-the-mill, every day pedo is going to be too scared to do something like that, because the risk outweighs the reward. So.... I just don’t understand how 30 year old adults are so invested in these characters NEEDING TO BE children in order for them to want to write them. Like... Age them up to an appropriate age and make it a college rp and have exactly the same plots and exactly the same things and exactly the same everything except suddenly it’s appropriate and not pedophilia or... keep them kids and get hated on daily and risk getting yourself and everyone else in your group locked up? 

I think the choice is clear to any sane individual. 

#glee rpg #glee rp #glee rph #rpcha #rpcw #rph #sebastian answers #you didn't ask for all that but I rambled #Anonymous

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Dislikes of Red vs Blue: Season 1

(Top 5 Likes)

So back a few months ago, in the lead up to RWBY Volume 7, I did a Top Likes/Dislikes list for all six volumes. I also did this for RvB Seasons 16 and 17, so… why not do it for the other fifteen? Especially with RvB18 on the way? Not only gives me an excuse to rewatch everything, but I get to have some fun~ So I will be covering RvB seasons 1-13 and 15. S14’s is gonna be a little bit different. But anyways, we’re gonna begin with the one that started it all, Season One~

Honestly though, critiquing Season One is hard. Mainly because this was a season made when RT was just a back bedroom with mainly Burnie and Geoff doing the machinima. We’re a long way away from RWBY-level quality. In the Blood Gulch Era,  it was just a bunch of friends making dumb stuff. Quality dumb stuff, but dumb nonetheless. So the five Dislikes are honestly minor and I don’t even really consider them bad. If anything, they show how far the show has come. So take the Dislikes list with a grain of salt, ut I needed to do it for the necessity of the list. So then, let’s get started~

#5. Not Fully Fleshed Out Characters

This is on the bottom because it’s really not that big a deal. The characters are kinda just somewhat exaggerated versions of the people that Burnie cast. They certianly have character, but aside from really Matt with Sarge, it’s just the cast playing exaggerated versions of themselves. It does kinda stand out because here, the characters don’t really have any defining personality traits or roles. We know a few things like Simmons being a kissass to Sarge, Grif is more out of shape, Caboose is a little dim-witted compared to the other Blues, etc. But when you look at all the future seasons, the lack of fleshing out is very noticeable. Especially for characters who are nothing like they were here, like Donut. I mean I don’t think he spouted even one innuendo here, it’s weeeeird.

Like I said though, this isn’t that big of a deal. The characters still have character and are still funny, it’s just clear that they hadn’t been fully developed. It’s a first season of what was originally meant to be a comedic miniseries and is very forgivable in that regard. It’s honestly fun to rewatch this season and then say Chorus and see how far the characterizations have come. Still, it is a tad noticeable and I needed five picks, so I’m gonna put it here. But again, it’s honestly fine. As is our Number FOur pick…

#4. The Voice Acting

These guys, aside from like… two or three of them, were not actors. They hadn’t done a bunch of material like they have now either, so this is again very forgivable. But it does make the voice acting lover in me kinda cringe when I hear it. You can tell that they’re trying, but as I said, this was still in the early days when no one really knew what they were doing. The one who did the best were either already actors (Joel, Yomary) or had more of a character to play with (Burnie, Matt). Everyone else, as I said, was pretty much given an exaggerated version of themselves and I think it kinda shows in the voice acting. They were all okay, but compared to their later performances and when they are given more characterization, this was not their best work.

But again, this is not that big of a deal. This was the early days and as I said, you can tell that they were trying. I think ti honestly adds tot he charm of early RvB. A bunch of friends making dumb stuff with a video game. I mean Gus outright recording his lines over the phone while living in Puerto Rico, he and the others were clearly dedicated to this thing. It’s not the stuff of legends, but given the tone of Blood Gulch, it works. It’s a dislike because like I said, it annoys my voice acting loving self and it’s weaker to their later performances. But still, it’s very enjoyable… even if some of the voices some chose are kinda jarring. Speaking of…

#3. Sarge’s Voice/Not Fully Fleshed Out Character

This one is super nitpicky, but it bothers me! We all know Sage and his overly exaggerated Southern accent, right? Well… in this one, he is much, much more subdued. Like I said, the characters weren’t fully fleshed out and so Sarge isn’t quite the same as we know him now. The voice reflects this. Here, Matt plays him like a stereotypical Nasty Drill Sargeant. IDK why, but the voice just… bugs me. I guess it’s just because I’m so used tot he current one, but it jarred me so much I had to check if Matt had been the one doing the voice in Season One. Sure enough…

Yeah, this one is very nitpicky and again reflects how I don’t feel the characters were very well fleshed out. I mean even comedic wise, Sarge didn’t really stand out and was really just there to give Grif a hard time. Even his hatred of Blue isn’t really there. Fortunately, this would be fixed in Season 2. Every time I look back at this though, it just takes me out for a minute cause ‘OMG this is not the Sarge I’m used too!’. So a nitpick, but a dislike nonetheless. But hey the fact that this is a minor issue speaks of how much I enjoy this season, haha!

#2. The Afterlife Scene

OH GOD THIS SCENE! IT CONFUSED ME ALMOST AS MUCH AS THE S3 TIME TRAVEL SCENES DID! ALMOST!

So… Blood Gulch is very weird. I mean it had Ghost Church, is this a surprise? But that wasn’t even the weirdest part of this season or even the entirety of the Blood Gulch Chronicles. No, that honor goes to this scene where, after Caboose shot Sarge when Church was possessing him, Sarge found himself in the afterlife. Church and Shelia are also there. Now, fortunately, Sarge comes back via Grif using CPR… on a bullet wound… yeah… but God this scene was the first time the show made me go ‘WTF am I even watching?!’ especially since unlike Chruch’s ghost thing, it never comes up again. Church having been an AI the whole time didn’t help.

Now I know it kinda got explained later as part of Recovery Mode, but it still leaves a lot of questions. Why was Church there? He got kicked out of Sarge’s body when he got shot. Maybe he went back in hopes of making it work? IDK. But maybe we can just say that since Church was possessing Sarge, he left some kind of trace and the Recovery Mode picked up on it. Cool… then why was Shelia there? Sarge wasn’t even at the canyon when Shelia was unleashed. Did Recovery Mode pick up on that from Church too since it was so recent? I guess that makes sense? And yeah I know that when they wrote this Church wasn’t intended to be an AI so maybe it really was the afterlife, but that’s no longer a possibility, so… AAAAHHHH!!!

Yeah… this is why I don’t try to think through Blood Gulch stuff too much. Doing so does nothing except make my brain hurt when I try to go over how it makes sense in canon. Don’t get me wrong, the scene was funny especially with Grif and Simmons trying to revive Sarge. Kinda feel bad for Grif for getting scolded when he just saved Sarge’s life, but it’s Sarge. Of course, he would. I also like the more muted colors int he afterlife and the weird wavy effects with the scenes in the world of the living. It’s a funny scene, just one that hurts my head whenever I try to make sense of it. Stupid me and my stupid need for logic…

#1. The Audio

This was by far the biggest thing I noticed, including back when I started this back in 2017. The audio is… not good. I think this might help explain some of the amateur voice actings because half the time, the filter effect distracts you from the performance. Now I actually do like them using the filter since it makes sense that they’d use mics int heir helmets to talk, but I think that they tuned it up a little too much here. The whole reason they did this was to hide the fact that people like Gus, Jason, and all the guys in California had to record their lines over the phone. It’s one of the better decisions that they made, but like I said, in this season it is super distracting.

The only thing maybe worse is the mixing when it comes to explosions. There are a lot of explosion effects in this due to all the guns, grenades, and tanks. They are loud. Really loud. Like I remember watching the scene where Church dies. I was watching it on my laptop with headphones and I had the volume at a fairly modest time. The explosion noise made me jump. It can sometimes also overpower the voice acting like I think there were a few times I couldn’t fully make out what the Reds were saying when Shelia was firing at the end. Add that tot he voice filter and… yeah.

The audio wasn’t bad. Like I could tell what characters were saying. The effect was just distracting though and clearly they needed some work on audio mixing. Which they, fortunately, did by the next season. I think Burnie even mentioned how annoyed he got at the constant complaints about the filter int he Season 2 commentary, but hey he listened! Still, for Season One, it was by far the thing that annoyed me most and while I know it’s because they didn’t have quality equipment, it still distracts me when I rewatch. So it’s going to be my Top Dislike for Season One.

Final Thoughts

As I have tried to make clear, I don’t view any of these as major issues. Heck aside from Audio, IDK if I’d even say I disliked them. Thrown off by them sure, but not outright dislike. It honestly helped the show I think. It’s certainly mature and kinda crappy work, but it added to the charm and appeal to the show. It’s why they still use stuff like and photoshops, it’s endearing. Even with the improved production quality and while they have maintained a lot of what made RvB such a fun series, the original seasons still have this unique charm that despite how stupid it is, you just wanna tune into it over and over again. So these may be Dislikes, but they’re ones to be proud of. But hey I’ve still got plenty of Likes to talk about, so stay tuned for that~

#rvb #rvb reviews #top likes/dislikes

[tksfandomhellhole]

Alright now this. This is the one I’ve been waiting for. This is the start to the (ongoing) series that makes me go “I NEED someone else to talk to about this.” Because boy do I have Plans™ that I really hope I follow through on

If I play my cards right the series may very well be the Apex of my apex fic career.

I also may have busted out my photoshop skills for it towards the end and it feels silly now but at least you can tell I had major fun with this

Fandom: Apex Legends (Video Games) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Revenant (Apex Legends), Pathfinder (Apex Legends), Mirage | Elliott Witt Additional Tags: Minor headcanon for The Syndicate, Canon-Typical Violence Series: Part 1 of Infiltrating the Syndicate Summary:

Revenant is bored to death. Pathfinder would spend 10 minutes searching if you told him gullible was on the ceiling. And Mirage somehow gets roped into this.

What ensues ends up being more dangerous than any of them bargained for.

Revenant is bored out of his fucking mind.

Between being in this communal living space where he has to refrain from killing all these people he hates and rarely getting the chance to curbstomp some of them in the ring himself, being an apex legend is not all he imagined it to be.

Where's the death and action he was promised? He hasn't seen a match all day.

Even assholes need to pass the time somehow.

"Hello there, friend!"

Ugh, great. The smiling scrap heap is here.

"Go bother one of those skinbags you love talking to." He says, attempting to strike down the potential conversation before it starts.

The attempt goes unnoticed, as Pathfinder responds anyways. "I would! But they are all in the ring." The screen switches to a frowning face for effect.

If Revenant didn't have proof standing right in front of him, he'd think it was impossible for a robot to wear it's heart on their sleeve. It's not like they're supposed to have them in the first place.

It does give him an idea though. Maybe he can get some entertainment out of this after all.

"Really?" Revenant starts, feigning interest "Which of those skinbags do you consider your friends?"

"All of my teammates are my friends! They are very nice. I hope my creator gets to meet them one day."

"All of them? That's pretty strange considering half of them can't even stand you, including me."

"My friends don't like me...?" Pathfinder is visibly confused but still pauses to consider the thought, and Revenant knows it's working.

"Yea, in fact, I'm pretty sure that skinbag with the stupid hair and holograms has even told me he hates you." Even Revenant knows the scrap heap is partial to that skinbag in particular, as stupid as the idea of a robot harboring any sentiment at all is.

"Mirage? But he is the one who told me about the games! Mirage is my best friend."

"Hey, if you still wanna believe that it's your choice." Revenant says, before taking his leave. The bot may not believe him but the seeds of doubt have been placed, and knowing both parties far better than he'd ever like to, it's only a matter of time before things come to a head.

At this point anything is better than sitting here brainstorming the fastest way to kill himself so he doesn't have to put up with this a minute longer.

And as if on cue, the man of the hour returns to the lounge.

"Ah, Mirage!" Pathfinder calls out, intending to settle this the most logical way: by simply asking.

Before he gets the chance to respond though, another match begins, and Mirage finds himself on a drop platform getting ready to enter the next game.

Pathfinder doesn't have an issue with that of course, until he actually hears what Mirage is saying.

The platform is about to descend, taking their team out of earshot entirely, but not before Pathfinder hears Mirage say "At least I don't have to fight with that smiling robot" with a laugh.

Pathfinder continues to look at the spot where the platform descended crestfallen long after they've disappeared.

"See? What'd I tell ya." Revenant says with the biggest shiteating grin because holy shit this was way easier than he'd thought it would be.

"Oh... I see. I thought I was beginning to understand humans better since joining the Apex Games, but it seems I am still ignorant..."

Pathfinder remembers feeling this way once before; shortly after meeting Elliott for the first time and learning of how he was being tricked. Had he been tricked yet again? Were all humans just cruel? Is this what he was supposed to learn when his creator abandoned him?

He was beginning to suspect learning about the human race was not such a good idea afterall. He did not like being deceived but he also did not mind these things when he did not know any better.

"Well there isn't really a lot to learn about skinbags I wouldn't trouble myself too greatly over it." Revenant begins panic backtracking because, yea, he was trying to stir tensions up a bit, but the scrap heap seems to be taking this far more personally than he thought possible, and he doesn't actually want to be the reason the bot figures out that most skinbags are terrible retched creatures- really, he should learn that on his own the hard way. Later. When he is far far away, and not right now, in front of him, where he can see how devastating this discovery is to the thing.

For a long moment, Revenant isn't even really sure if the machine has heard a word he just said, before Pathfinder suddenly snaps back to normal, in an almost jarring movement. "Well, I should get going now! See you later, friend." he says, and heads out of the lounge area, leaving Revenant more than a little confused.

---

Mirage had almost forgotten Pathfinder had been trying to ask him something earlier before he noticed he hadn't seen Path around since before that match.

That's strange, he thought to himself. Path was not the best at intentionally masking his presence,  so he should definitely have run into him by now, especially if there was a question still burning away at his mind. Pathfinder seemed to be an infinitely curious being.

There wasn't any harm in looking around at least. After asking "Path? You here?" to at least four different rooms, Lifeline finally took pity on him and pointed him in the right direction.

"Last I seen him, he was talking with Revenant. Ya better off asking him."

Stranger yet Mirage thinks, but decides not to jump the panic button just yet, heading over to where the robot in question idly twiddled with a knife.

"Revenant, was Pathfinder talking to you earlier?"

Revenant almost seems caught off guard by the question "Yea, what of it, skinsuit?" He bites out.

"Well, did you at least catch where he went after that? Cause he doesn't seem to be here."

If he didn't know any better, Mirage would say Revenant almost looks sheepish now, and given the context that's none too reassuring. Revenant says nothing and Mirage narrows his eyes in suspicion. "Wait, do you know something we don't?" Maybe it was just something robot related that non-robots wouldn't understand? Mirage didn't have any idea what the two could've possibly discussed that would make Revenant of all people clam up.

Revenant finally relents "Alright so I may have said somethings that set the walking quote machine off, but I didn't know the pathetic scrap heap was gonna run off like that."

"I'm sorry, did you say HE RAN OFF?" Mirage asks, internal alarm bells suddenly going off.

Revenant regains his edge with a smirk "Yeah, you might wanna go find him before he gets lost. He's about as smart as a toaster oven."

"Dammit!" Mirage yells, grabbing his gear on the way out.

---

“Stupid Revenant and stupid fast Pathfinder leaving without telling anyone. Seriously how did he get this far away already?" Mirage mutters to himself as he speed searches in the general direction he believes Pathfinder would have went. Maybe he should've enlisted Bloodhound's help before he left. At least they would be able to tell if someone had traveled this way recently.

It's dark out, and he's far from where the ship base docked. He hopes he finds something soon because he really doesn't want to be out here all night.

He's also starting to get paranoid, because he swears he heard some shuffling a few times that definitely wasn't his own, despite the fact no one is around.

Finally, he manages to spot the unmistakable  silhouette of Pathfinder up ahead.

"Path! What the hell are you doing out here?!" He yells, to stop the robot in it's tracks.

"Oh, hello Mirage! I have decided to quit the apex games."

Mirage takes only a moment to process this, before  asking, incredulous, "Are you dualsinal- delis- dil- are you out of your mind?!"

"I have been informed our friends do not like me, so it does not make sense to continue participating. I decided to continue looking for my creator elsewhere. It appears I am lost though!"

"Ok you're a robot, so you probably dont understand how ironic that is- but more importantly! Who told you that- wait, nevermind don't answer that, I already figured it out." Mirage says, putting two and two together. He sighs before continuing. "Okay, listen. Path. Nobody hates you buddy. Everyone thinks you're a valuable player to the games, and a valuable member to the teams. And, AND the games are still your best bet at finding your creator, not roaming the worlds blindly. So this is a very poor decision!"

"Then does this mean you don't hate me?"

"Hate you? Why would you think- Ok maybe I joke A LOT, but Path, you were the first person I even met in the games. If I hated you, you would definitely know by now."

"Really? This is great! I love you too, friend." Pathfinder exclaims, wrapping Mirage in a hug before he can object.

"Uh-huh, you're coming back and rejoining the games, that's great, now can we please go back? This place is starting to freak me out." Mirage says, pushing out of the hug.

Mirage begins to backtrack the way he came. "Alright, uhhh, I'm pretty sure it's this way, come on let's- ack!" The sound of a bullet whizzes by and Pathfinder and Mirage manage to get a glimpse of three armored figures coming from the direction it came from before dodging into cover behind a nearby rock.

"That's not good!" Mirage states, yelping when a spray of bullets flies past his head while attempting to assess the situation. "Path, how many crimes did you commit, since leaving the ship?!"

"I have not engaged in any illegal activities!" Pathfinder replies, similarly panicked.

"Well, It's a good thing I never leave the ship without my weapon holster!" Mirage says, pulling out a p2020 from his belt.

The three men converging on their position have spread out, attempting to cut them off on all sides.

"Alright, think fast Mirage, there's 3 guys flanking us, we have a robot with a grappling hook, me, and a single p2020. Totally doable."

Mirage straightens up suddenly and takes one last quick look over the cover before turning back to Pathfinder. "Follow my lead!"

Mirage dodges bullets as he runs out from behind the cover and sends out one of his decoys at the person flanking the left. They shoot the decoy and he loads a clip into their skull. In the same motion he swings back towards the center and heads for the remaining two enemies, activating  his decoy cloak.

Pathfinder takes the hint and uses the confusion to hook his grappling hook on an iron bar above the person flanking right, swinging into them at full force and knocking them out flat.

"You got bamboozled!" Mirage says, now dramatically posed behind the last guy. He takes aim and-

*click*

"Fuck." Mirage says, upon realizing his clip is empty. The man whips around to train his gun on him and Mirage instinctively stumbles a step back before-

The shadows twitch for a second and suddenly the man cries out in pain, robotic fingers protuding through him for only a moment before Revenant retracts his hand entirely and the man crumples to the floor.

"Revenant? What the hell are you doing here?" Mirage asks, relieved, not for the first time, that Revenant is on their side.

If you accused Revenant of being concerned about the trouble he may have inadvertantly gotten these two idiots into he'd brush you off, so instead he says "I was bored. Thought you guys might be up to something more entertaining. Looks like I was right."

"Well that was an uncomfortably close call. Do we have any idea who these wack jobs were?" Mirage asks approaching one on the ground to get a better look.

" ...Hey wait a minute, this is the Syndicate's symbol." He says, running his hands over a logo printed on the shoulder of their armor.

He picks up a boxy device from the person's holster and clicks the button. It boots up and displays a hologram with a dossier.

Mirage doesn't like being stressed, so he chooses to be offended instead. "Hey! Revenant's here too, why isn't he on the target list?"

"You think I got to be a hitman by being as loud and dumb as you two?" He responds, insulted.

Either way, this didn't bode well for any of them. "...Path, Rev, we-"

"I didn't consent to you giving me a nickname, skinbag." Revenant interrupts.

"You guys! We can't tell anyone about what happened here today."

"But Mirage, should we not notify our friends of-"

"No!" Mirage quickly grabs Pathfinder by the shoulders and shakes him for emphasis. "No. This stays between the three of us. We're already in enough trouble as it is, let's just go back to the ship and pretend nothing happened- And for the love of god, Path, don't try to quit the Apex Games again."

Pathfinder frowns at this turn of events but nods his head. "Understood."

Revenant simply gives a noncommittal grunt of acknowledgement.

"We might not live to tell the tale next time..." Mirage adds under his breath, taking one last look at the mercenaries lying at their feet.

Was there even a guarantee they could return to the games without further issues? Only time could really tell.

One thing was for sure; Revenant got exactly what he asked for.

Things just got a hell of a lot more interesting around here.

Perhaps it was time he revisited the Syndicate, add some targets to his hitlist. No one's gonna tell him where he can and can't go.

And maybe, for once, he had two targets to protect instead.

#apex legends #apex legends fanfic #pathfinder #revenant #mirage #series: Infiltrating the Syndicate

[spadesinglasses]

Druck (Series)

Oof the first episode dropped and we all died.

Side note: this post may or may not contain several unpopular opinions about certain stuff the fandom is on about)

Another note: okay so this was a lot, so click keep reading carefully.

Okayy so I’ll cut at this point I only care about 3 clips (I watched all of them).

Can we just talk about the 2nd clip? The longing and ache Matteo has for Jonas, the guy who’s literally just inches beside him. How he just carefully caressed his hair? He was so fucking careful that his touches were light as to not disturb the peace, the gap in time where he can be himself.

We all had those moments of ache for someone. We love someone so much that we just want to be physically close to them. To be intimate to them. Having that feeling to someone whose sexuality is not compatible with you hurts.

Jonas, a straight guy (despite that comment thing he did with Hanna) is the person of affection of Matteo. And Matteo already damn well know not to fall in love with a hetero but he couldn’t stop himself to love this fool specially whenever Jonas does something unbearably lovable.

 Been there done that, I had a feeling for a guy before and I did so many stupid things just to spend time with him. Looking back at it now, I was definitely obvious and it was humiliating. It’s not humiliating to love someome, but I probably looked desperate or funny. 

Next clip would be the 3rd. Matteo shrugging after saying “cool”��to Sara’s photo is just damn hilarious. And the fact that it’s like a mindless action makes it better. That action was for himself and nobody else and I just want more of Matteo doing these little actions mindlessly throughout the season.... and then have David notice it.

HOLY SHIT first scene with David holy fuck beanie boy where’s your beanie? Anyways, that shit there was something alluring omfg. Okay let me drag the other remakes for a sec. First was Martino and Niccolo. 

If I remember correctly their first major scene together was when Niccolo entered the radio meeting place. During that scene, Martino was preoccupied with himself and Emma and then he heard Niccolo’s voice, and the audio just had this whitenoise thing going on, like a static and just Martino’s senses are recalibrating and sharpening towards that voice and saw Niccolo and fell inlove. What i love with this scene was that it showed the whole sharping to focus situation when we fall in love. I love it so much.

Lucas and Eliot’s first scene was when Eliot entered the common room, Lucas saw Daphne smiling at someone and when he looked over there he saw Eliot. I imagine what Lucas feeling as an ember slowly getting bigger and getting hotter. It’s like this small piece of wood with small flickers of fire, just starting and then getting brighter and brighter until it becomes a fire of passion and sensuality.

They also noticed one another in that scene, with Eliot looking over the noise and seeing Lucas looking at him.

and now David and Matteo holy fuck dudes. Matteo was just there, minding his wee business thinking how to get Abdi’s weed from Amira and then bam there he saw this guy walking (I HAVE THE HUGE NEED TO KNOW WHO LOOK AT WHO FIRST, I MUST KNOW) and Matteo just felt something, something reminiscent of what he feels for Jonas and it was different, it was sudden and now he couldn’t take away his mind about this guy. 

I see Matteo’s situation close to Martino and I love it so much. About how they maintained eye contact longer than the others, how David looked back (ooof Andi Mack fandom say wazzup) after he passed him and how he saw Matteo still looking at him. 

Matteo dear wanted to look away, that looking at a guy for this long may be weird or whatever but fuck he couldn’t and it was eating him so much because how dare you take my attention like this.

He wanted to look away, he was about to look away but then he saw David looked back at him, and Matteo just grabbed at that time to look longer at David, to see his face, his eyebrows and his hair, and his cheeks and his eyes. Matteo wanted to make that moment longer but his mind just lost control over his body because jesus what is this feeling.

AND NOW THE HOLY 6TH CLIP.

Holy jesus fuck. Okay Matteo goes to this meeting group, with his usual level of enthusiasm, just saw there and let it do its thing. Amira was proud that Matteo was actually going through with what he said. Amira smiling and the girl squad is just happiness okay.

Okay back to Matteo, he’s done with photoshop Markus, he’s done with whatever they were doing because in the end it doesn’t matter for him, he’s just there for the weed and with his friends easily bailing out, he’s just over it. He left and walked away, eyes on the ground. And then he saw pants.

He was just about to warn the guy about the weird meeting but then he sees the guy he locked eyes with and fuck Matteo wanted again.

His body was automatic again, renewed confidence coming out of nowhere was just pushing him. He wanted. He looked at the hallway, thinking about shutting himself in his room, going to play music till everything just glosses over once more and it’ll be tomorrow. But oh he so wanted. He patted himself to find something, maybe they can share a common ground, something to keep him longer beside this person. Then he found his joint and offered it, his confidence wavering at every succinct answer of this guy. He’s like myself. They’re alike.

And then they were just there. Matteo couldn’t help but lean on the wall because he’s just so out of it. He felt like all vigor in his body left and now it’s just peace. I wanna love and be loved. This lyrics reminds me of Matteo completely and just I’m devastated for him. I see parts of myself with how Matteo deals with people around him. And it hurts me to see him go through all these things because it pulls back memories I wanted to forget.

David and Matteo talked, and we can actually see David opening up slowly and slowly, inch by inch as Matteo get closer and closer emotionally. He’s laughing, smiling, trying to pull anything out of David.

And David offered little bits of his life, stuff that he can now joke about, stuff that can be easily misunderstood and he loved doing it because its fun seeing people’s confused reactions and awkwardness because they all pry too much. But Matteo, Matteo was different to the other people around his life.

And then bam Sara enters and ruins this little bubble they made and tried so hard to keep.

And maybe its just me, but when Sara kissed Matteo, I can see David mouthing “okay” and it breaks me.

Because we see these two people again, can’t express their attraction to one another right from the start because society have made it impossible to do so. Made everything toxic.

And now David was there, just feeling lost and all happiness inside him that wanted to burst just simmered and then died. And Matteo who leaned over for the kiss did not even know why he did. It was just an automatic reaction right now. 

And then David was leaving, and then he left. David left with Matteo’s heart behind him. And Matteo was left there, like a husk once again numb but deeply, deeply excited for David.

Now for the unpopular opinion warning. Again, if I said something offensive (I always try my best not to be) I apologize and thank you for reading up til here. I try my best not to step on anyone’s happiness or feelings.

I want to express my opinion to the whole “GerEven is Matteo” thing.

First of all I’m tired. Tired of having to see these characters lose everything and just become “The Isak of Druck” or “Even of Druck” and I KNOW that fans didn’t mean it like that. That fans just love the original skam. WE all love the original skam with all its flaws and perfections.

But eventually it gets tiring. David and Matteo share similarities with both Even and Isak because they were in the same position as they were, they are just two guys lost to one another and couldn’t publicly express it. Like this is the case to all remakes. They may all got their start from Isak and Even but please let them soar as their own characters. Let Martino claim who he is. Let Lucas claim who he is. Let Matteo be who he is. 

I lost with whatever my point here is, but just let these characters, let these remakes BREATHE. Let them have a space to grow into as themselves and not have the pressure or threat of “they have to be like Isak and Even” destroy the meaning of these remakes and the original. 

This week had been troublesome specially up to the reveal of David. It was exhausting, and I wish that this would be the last, but I really doubt it. (I’m honestly scared for Skam españa season 2) So please just enjoy the series as it is. Compare if you like, just to show the difference, but comparing them and then dissing the remakes for not being the same as the original is just ... whatever I’m done with this issue.

ANYWAYS That’s it, I will make another post for some episodes, specially if I have a lot to say. I’ve watched the clips on the same day the subs were released so I just really want to put my opinion out there. 

#druck #david #matteo florenzi #other skam remakes im not even gonna tag anymore #glass thoughts #davenzi

[script-a-world]

My story is going to place in prehistoric times and I cannot find any information on the existence or status of plus sized people that I believe is neutral and not fat-shaming. Most sources say there weren't any, since better diet and a lot more exercise, but I doubt that, to be honest. Should I just say screw it and add plus sized characters anyway or would you suggest finding scientific sources first?

Mod Miri Note: Hi folks, there’s a lot of talk in this post about body size which I can be triggering for some readers, and with tumblr’s tag system being pretty unreliable, I just wanted to put up a quick warning in case that would be an issue for any of our followers who may want to skip this post. 

Feral: Yes. If you want to include plus sized characters, include plus sized characters. First of all, waist size is not actually a great indicator of physical fitness level. Second of all, at some point in prehistory humans evolved and when we did that, we evolved to store fat; this was likely for a reason. And third of all, no one is going to care if you do or do not find "scientific proof". The truth is, people have been people for as long as there have been people.

Tex: I would suggest to first figure out why you are defining things in the term "plus sized" - Google's Ngram Viewer finds that this wasn't in public circulation until almost 1950, which means that the vernacular would be entirely different the further back you go into the past. Wikipedia's article on "Plus-size clothing" indicates that the origins for this size group in fashion had comparatively very recent roots.

"Plus-size", "curvy", "big and tall", "stout"- these are all euphemisms to refer to a body type that is considered larger than the normal range. Human bodies are delicately-organized organic machines, and while they can tolerate a wide variety of stressors, they can only tolerate any given stressor for a certain amount of time before it damages the body - sometimes permanently, and fatally, if it's allowed to go unchecked.

The human body is built to be within a certain weight range for given heights - despite the flaws of the BMI, with its difficulty in telling apart muscle from fat (and which type of fat), it's still a good tool when used in conjunction with other diagnostic tests. To be overweight and to be obese are separated by very thin lines, and is better discussed in @ucsdhealthsciences' post "Fat but Fit: a pleasing myth or something else? ".

Given the comorbidities of being either overweight or one of the three grades of obesity, carrying more fat on your body than your body can safely tolerate is quite literally dangerous for your health. Prehistoric peoples rarely had the luxury of idleness or having someone transport them instead of walking (or even riding a horse/similar animal). Walking  in and of itself is ridiculously good for your health, to the point where exercising in the form of a gym or even manual labor can be a marginal part of one's exercise routine if someone has a choice about it.

I don't know why you doubt that a better diet and more exercise wouldn't reduce the occurrence of overweight/obese individuals - excess weight from specifically white fat has serious detrimental effects on the body and has a tendency to kill people off:

- "Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat 'brown' could help fight obesity"] from the University of Cambridge- Wikipedia- University of Virginia Health System - National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - "The Definition and Prevalence of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome"  by Atilla Engin  - "Prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome in Chinese obese women of reproductive age with or without metabolic syndrome"  by Liang, Peiwen et al.- ittybittykittykisses, archived version - Stanford Health Care - PDF "Mechanisms, Pathophysiology, and Management of Obesity"  by Steven B. Heymsfield, M.D., and Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D.- "Review of Childhood Obesity: From Epidemiology, Etiology, and Comorbidities to Clinical Assessment and Treatment"  by Seema Kumar, MD and Aaron S. Kelly, PhD- "A Proposal of the European Association for the Study of Obesity to Improve the ICD-11 Diagnostic Criteria for Obesity Based on the Three Dimensions Etiology, Degree of Adiposity and Health Risk" by J Hebebrand et al.- "Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years"  by The GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators - "Study of nearly 300,000 people challenges the 'obesity paradox'"  from the European Society of Cardiology

The Archaeology News Network has an article  about prehistoric obesity, and how it relates to fat storage in humans - the mutation of the uricase gene that was originally meant to help ancient humans survive famines and seasonal periods of low food. "Evolutionary history and metabolic insights of ancient mammalian uricases" by James T. Kratzer et al backs this idea up and goes into some further detail. "Archeologia dell’alimentazione umana [PDF]", or "Archaeology of nutrition" in English, by F. Gregorio and M. Sudano (abstract also provided in English) talks about how the human genotype has changed as diet and sedentary levels shifted.

Perhaps you're thinking of the Venus figurines as an example of "plus size"? But that's still not quite right - many of these figurines are meant to display what fertile women look like, especially pregnant ones (peak fertility for a great many cultures, but also a temporary state for women), and real-life steatopygian body types are mostly restricted to either parts of Africa or parts of India, often by tribe.

In China, and I believe parts of Asia with similar cultures, fat under the chin heralds many good things  - possibly because it meant you weren't starving and thus had enough food to be considered wealthy. Your mileage will vary on that, because China and many other cultures frown upon consumption unto excess for a variety of reasons.

People with more weight on them than average for their population, historically, have access to more food - which means ruling families, wealthy people - and once it was invented, (wealthy) farmers. But many cultures that were around in prehistory didn't have those kinds of societal structures, and pre-agricultural societies were inherently on the thin side because they were nomadic (which meant lots of walking), and had a diet primarily of gathered fruits/vegetables and whatever meat they could hunt down. It's usually the carbohydrates and other complex sugars in processed grains, such as breads, noodles, and bread-beers, that incite weight gain which is difficult to slough off, so it's something you need to keep in mind when worldbuilding your prehistoric societies.

If you want these kinds of body types in your worldbuilding, that's fine, but I would recommend that you don't try to view the past through the context of the present - life was very different back then, for very legitimate reasons, in ways that are neither wholly good nor wholly bad.

Saphira: Tex effectively nailed it, but I realize that you are likely writing "Plus-sized" characters into your narrative for representative purposes. You see how people under that title are treated in our current era, and you want to give them a more positive experience through your story. This is benevolently spirited, and so I understand your frustration with the situation. Being that history is not giving you a foothold for your vision, it's time to try another method.

Let's take a look at the Venus Figurines! They were made to represent women with bounty of life within them (as they were pregnant). They were also structures that represent faith. It gives us a fun, and positive, perspective on figures who are plus-sized. If we add a few degrees of separation, we get a foothold! First step: Pregnant people are plus sized. Second Step: Plus-sized means fertility and life. Third step: Anyone representing that plus-size is a bringer of fertility and life.

If Humans didn't have that plus-size due to their lifestyle and resources, then they may have idealized it. Look at how the renaissance models their women. They are plump and wealthy. Would not the people in your era feel similarly? Would they seek out, would they dream of, someone with that stature? Would they have a divine figure with those attributes? "This Venus figure represents a woman who is pregnant." "This Venus figure is not a pregnant woman, for it does not give birth to human children. Instead, it gives birth to vibrant fields, fresh water and honeybees."

If you are using divines or magic itself, you can find ways to representing plus-sizes in more creative ways. If you are working in a natural world, you can represent them with faith, or impressions of other creatures (like the bounty of a fruit, or the strength of a bear). Honestly, if we can worship skinniness through the art of Photoshop, others can worship the equally idealistic forms of the plus-size and all the wealth it represents in a pre-historic era.

Constablewrites: Another thing to remember about the Venus figurines is that recent scholarship has argued that they aren't just pregnant women, but they're self-portraits of pregnant women. That is, what was generally assumed to have been created by someone else *koff* men *koff* as an idealized depiction may have in fact been a way for women to explore and understand their own changing bodies. Perspective is critical when talking about beauty standards.

And Tex's point about the connection between economic status and beauty really needs to be underscored. You can see the point in history where a white person with a suntan went from being someone who worked outdoors (which meant they were poor and therefore undesirable) to being someone who could travel somewhere sunny and lounge around outside (which meant they were rich and therefore desirable). People are inclined to look for a mate whose children will be healthy, well cared for, and prosperous; the outward indicators of that status, whatever they might be in a given society, end up being conflated with an abstract idea of beauty.

Feral: As Tex, Saphira, and Constable pointed out "plus sized" has a wide definition (and can mean as small as an American size 10 depending on the brand), and it's important to also remember that "prehistory" has a wide definition - specifically a 3 million+ year definition. Prehistory covers everything from the first stone tools 3.3 million years ago to maybe somewhere around 5,300 years ago. Kinda. Prehistory means "before written record" and runs through the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age, which all end in different places at different times.

So, what this means is that depending on which epoch your civilization falls under, there may absolutely be the necessary agriculture and division of social class that have been brought up.  Narrowing down when and where you are trying to base your worldbuilding in will help you as you develop you characters and do further research on  a variety of issues that may come up.

Another thing to consider is that you're probably not going to be describing your characters as "plus-sized" in your story (and if you did, all your readers would have different concepts about what that actually means), so the clearer your idea of what the characters' body shape (aka "where mass tends to accumulate"), the easier I think it will be for you to describe the character to your reader in a way that expresses what you specifically mean when you're thinking "plus sized." The fashion designer Justine Leconte has a great video to teach people how to recognize different body types using celebrities [Youtube]. It is geared towards fashion and what to wear based on your body type, but the knowledge is still helpful.

You might have seen this post on Tumblr with the body shapes of all the greatest athletes in the world that might also be helpful for you. But ultimately, I stand by my original point. This is a topic that no matter what you choose to do and what evidence you use to back up your choice, some of your audience is going to have a problem with it. So, just create your world and characters as you see them.

#pylons #prehistoric #body size #obesity #beauty #physical appearance #body shape #Anonymous

[mysticsparklewings]

The Intrigue (Brush Marker Test)

So per my poll from a few days ago, the first of my drawings made testing new supplies going up is this one! Thanks to a ton of stuff getting the glorious "Clearance" tags and stickers at my local Michaels, I finally got my hands on a 6-set of Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers, which I've been wanted to try for a long time, and thanks to a well-timed sale, I also finally got my hands on four sets of 6 and a 2-pack of the Winsor and Newton Brushmarkers that I've been wanting to try for an equally long time. I decided to put the two different kinds of markers together for this test because even with 26 markers by Winsor and Newton, I felt I was still lacking just enough colors to get a good range to work with, (this is also the reason I usually grab whatever markers from just whatever sets I have when I'm just drawing to make art and not to test specific supplies) and only having 6 Spectrum Noir markers to use...well, that would've made for a very challenging drawing, now wouldn't it? After swatching the markers out, I was really drawn to some of the colors in the Portrait set from Winsor & Newton, and after staring at my options for a while, I felt like drawing a long-haired vampire dude would be fun and get the best use out of the colors I had. So I did I will say that the one major problem I had during this process, and it's actually fairly obvious (although I did choose to accentuate it on the shirt) is that the markers kept smearing my lines. Which is strange and confusing because I used a cobalt Copic Multiliner, which is supposed to be "water and Copic proof." So you'd think since these markers are alcohol-based like Copics, that everything would be okay. Apparently not! My best guess is that this ink (mostly the Winsor and Newton markers; the Spectrum Noir markers seemed to fair a bit better) dries more slowly or has more dye/pigment in it, or something. My original thought was that I had just made some of my lines too thick, but then I had the same problem a couple of times in areas where the lines were thinner/their original weight, so there went that theory. (Although the thicker lines probably didn't help, but I did that before I knew that was going to be a problem and it wasn't like I could suck the pen ink back up to fix it.) Anyway. Other than that, I liked both kinds of markers pretty well. The Winsor and Newton markers remind me a LOT of the Prismacolor Brush Markers, which are actually my favorite of all the alcohol-based markers that I've tried. Other than visual differences between markers, and the Prismacolor markers having a brush tip and bullet tip while the W&N markers have a brush tip and chisel tip, the main thing is the tips of the W&N markers are a tiny bit softer than the Prismas, and the Prismacolor markers have slightly more friction on the paper; they "stick" a bit more, but it's a very very veeeeery subtle difference. My only issue with the Spectrum Noir markers is I'm a little concerned about how long the brush nibs are going to last. They seem like they could be in very early stages of desalinization--a thing that can happen to all alcohol-based markers, including Copics, but tends to happen more commonly in older markers or markers with a very short shelf life just because of the formula used to make the ink. In this case, I'm inclined to believe it's more to do with how long the markers have been sitting in the store, unsold. There was a thin layer of dust across the top of the box, and this was the one set of about five options available that got a clearance sticker. And so, if that is the case, I will forgive it. The other part of the nib problem though is that the nibs do seem pretty spongey/foam-like instead of more of a nylon/silicone feel like Copics or Prismacolor markers have. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does point to the nibs potentially wearing out more quickly over time and/or with heavy use. I didn't have any issues while swatching or working on this drawing, but I will be exceedingly careful to try and not push my luck going forward, just because I'm a paranoid little potato after the hot mess that was the one set of Artist Loft markers I bothered to pick up. (Those nibs, for context, were awful and have started to collapse with very little use). Other than that, I don't really have much more to comment on. Both markers blend really well, and the Winsor and Newton markers, in particular, seemed to be very forgiving in terms of not being patchy if you laid them down inconsistently, and they soften out to a smooth blend pretty well, especially if you use more of a flicking technique while layering up the colors. The shadows aren't terribly dark in part because I only had so many colors to pick from and also because I am notoriously skittish about accidentally getting my shadows too dark on my alcohol marker pieces anyway. But I think Mr. Vampire here turned out pretty good despite that. I did have to touch up a few colors in Photoshop because my scanner kinda messed them up, but I think that's more user-error and my scanner being finicky than it is any fault of the markers. Speaking of which, I did the soft green background with a Pan Pastel to tie in with the green in his eyes, and the triangle-border thing saw the triangles filled in with some tri-tone pencils (a couple by Koh-i-noor and a couple by Crayola) that I acquired recently. I thought it would breathe a little more life into things, and I think I was right. I think it also ties the otherwise random colors together a little bit more. I added the border at all because I had kinda already decided on the pose I wanted to try for a vampire character, since the kind of character was where my color options led me, and while I could have just left it without, it felt kind of lacking without something to more formally ground the character, and as I said the colors feel a bit random without something to strengthen their presence. Which is ironic because the structure of the border was almost completely random, and yet my brain looks at it and just kind of glosses over that knowledge . Overall, I like the markers and I'm happy without how my tall, pale, and mysterious character turned out. Though for some reason I get "hypnotism" vibes from the final product; I think maybe it's the pose, the nature of triangles, and the seductive part of vampire lore combined that's giving me that impression? I'm not really sure.   He's not terribly original, but I may end up using this character again in the future since I do like his general design so much and how nicely he turned out here, we'll see. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

#winsornewton #winsorandnewton #spectrumnoir #alcoholmarkers #vampire

[outlanderfanfics]

Getting to Know Abby Debeaupre

This week, I interviewed another great Outlander fanfic writer, @abbydebeaupreposts!

Abby was born on the East Coast of U.S and grew up in and around New York City. She is 50% Greek and 50% Mutt, but can only (barely, she says) speak her native tongue of English. Without exactly revealing her age, she did admit that she has a playlist stuck in the 80s. She only started writing Outlander fanfics a little over a year ago. In school, she studied Political Science and Economics. Currently, she does mostly transaction work, focusing mainly on contingency planning and a lot of technical writing. For fun, Abby enjoys hiking, biking, playing tennis, reading, cooking, and watching documentaries. As a unique talent, she revealed that she can tie a cherry stem with her tongue! If she could travel through the stones, she would like to relive her life as a baby boomer or possibly go to Paris in the 1920s. She was adamant that she would not be all that adaptable to the 1740s, as she has a healthy respect for deodorant, tampons and indoor plumbing.

Keep reading to see the full Q & A.

What inspired you to start writing Outlander fanfiction?

The long droughtlander between 1 and 2. I started writing fanfic probably like everyone else --because there were some things I wanted to read that weren’t written yet. Also one of my children had a serious medical issue and needed surgery (he’s doing really well. If any parents out there need to figure out how to go about finding a peds neurosurgeon feel free to DM me). It was a hugely challenging thing to go through. I had a lot of time waiting and pacing in doctor’s offices and hospital corridors. The thing is you are still processing later on-- months later...it echoes across a lot of your life even after and there was upheaval for awhile. Anyway, I stumbled on Outlander fanfic -- perfect small snippets -- the fandom platform is a kind of shorthand that cuts through the expositional crap-- we know who the the characters are and mostly where they are going. Fics usually have regular updates so you stay interested, etc. A handful of writers in particular gave me something to look forward to, a nice escape and lovely food for thought about something other than the things happening IRL. That made a difference to me and I -- corny as this sounds--hope maybe I’ve been able to return the favor/pay it forward.

What are some of your favourite quotes that you have written?

This is a great excuse to reflect on what I have been doing so thank you for that. Let me preface this by saying that I love writing but readers make it fun, special and interesting. So I just wanted to say how enjoyable readers have made this experience. In the process of reviewing everything to try and pick out some quotes has made me realize that I did accomplish my starting goal-- I wrote some things that I wanted to read that remained unwritten and I am kind of happy with how things turned out. Here we go:   

“He kissed her as if she was the essence life itself and she kissed him as if by doing so she could bring him into the light.” --An Outlander Affair to Remember

“If my lips touch yours, Sassenach, I might no’ be able to stop. I’ve been holding heaven in my arms while you slept.” --An Outlander Affair to Remember

“Kiss me quick, all’s quiet, no one is coming.” Claire huffed as she dropped into his lap. “Aye? Well, if it ‘twas you coming, Sassenach, it certainly wouldna be quiet for long!” -- An Outlander Affair to Remember 

“I could have been content, you know...Everything changed when you came into Faith’s life.” Jamie could not remain silent. “Sassenach, I came into your life, too.” “I know. That’s it, exactly.” Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, as if the truth of the statement made her heart break. -- This is Us

“Dearest LJ, If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach; Your best chance is with a scalpel, not a spatula!” -- This is Us

“Sassenach, if ye think that kiss’ll help me focus on something other than how much I look forward to doing it again, I must tell ye I am no’ of the same mind as you. Come here, lass,” he said as he moved in for the kill. -- Queen’s Gambit

What is your writing process when writing your fanfics? 

I very specifically choose a quote or a scene or a theme from the source material and then challenge myself to drop it on its head and slide it from the OL-verse into my fic in a way that changes its meaning, reconstructs it or reinterprets it. This is true of all my stories except perhaps the Abby After Dark Collection-- which is a little less….literary in nature. This Is Us in particular uses many influences from the book-verse (and TV show too actually) and it has resonated with readers despite the fact that I know about half of the readers haven’t read all the books. I love the fact that it appeals to both kinds of readers.

Do you write during a specific time of day? 

I work looooong hours, I have a fairly busy life with my family and friends and so I try and attend to writing a little bit every day but some days more than others.

Do you ask for input from peers? 

Not in the way you mean--I don’t have a beta and I know it shows! But my peers are beyond supportive of me. We do discuss story arcs and character development, funny plot bunnies, etc. Especially when you get the odd mean anon. They are so great in those low moments. I have been blessed with cheerleaders in the fandom from day one. A lot of people ask how can they get traction for their work and on their blogs-- here is my best advice: team up with someone or several someones--There are artists out there, GIF makers, book analysis bloggers, script nerds, BTS photo blogs, photoshop wizards- find them team up-- @smoakingwaffles started really getting traction with @annalisedemoodboards and the Polaroid series. @futurelounging was just flat out funny and caught @bonnie-wee-swordsman‘s attention. I started on AO3 and @pissedoffsoka13 found me as did @thistlekat777 and really encouraged me to come to Tumblr and then @outlanderedandoverhere drew an amazing This Is Us the fic that is my blog banner and @cantrixgrisea started much as I did posting (but fanart on AO3)-- incredible stuff--and she is so adorable and funny. These are just a few of the ways people give input-- I learn everyday from what they are up to. 

Do you edit while you write or do you use a more stream-of-consciousness approach?

I am the worst proofreader in the world-- but I edit constantly, it’s why it takes a long time between posts. 

What is your favourite genre to write and why?

I don’t have one. I write more modern AUs. I am too much of a nerd about wanting to fact check things and it’s just easier to do that with a modern world setting. The only genre I don’t think I could do are the kinds of fics written by @futurelounging and @diversemediums and @kalendraashtar-- these fantasy/futuristic/past complexities that are fantastically unique.

What has been your favourite season of the show so far and why?

Season One 1-8 because a more perfect glorious season there never was. That is not to say that I haven’t been blown away by several episodes in all three seasons-- they have their strengths and weaknesses. 

Have you read any of Diana’s books? 

All of them and many side ones as well.    

Do you have a favourite book?

ABOSAA.    

Do you read/write fanfics for any other fandom?

Until a few years ago I hadn’t heard the phrase fandom let alone… so no.

What is one random fact about you that you have never revealed on Tumblr before?

I play Texas Hold ‘Em and a mean game of Oh Hell.   

And that’s Abby. Even though I haven’t added her stories to my archive YET, you can check out her fanfiction master list on her blog.

#outlander #fanfics #abbydebeaupreposts #outlander fanfics #aotw

[kierongillen]

Writer Notes: The Wicked + The Divine Christmas Annual #1

Spoilers, obv.

There's a backbone of Specials which I consider essential to WicDiv's plot. This is one of the main reasons we've ended up putting the Specials trade into the schedule before the last trade in the series rather than after it – as fractally as WicDiv is structured, this is information you should know before the end rather than after it.

They also work off a weird time-switched aspect – so they're read at the time of publication (for single readers) and also at the latter point in the story (for trade readers). In other words, they're revealing different information and to different import depending on whether you read them as they're released or as they're collected.

Which is an interesting challenge.

The Christmas Annual is the first Special which doesn't work like this. Looking at the schedule, we thought it healthier to add an extra month to the gap between arcs. The next arc is six issues, as is the one after that. We decided to add another special, and then saw what would be fun to do.

This was a boon for me. The problem is never not having enough material, y'know? The difference between something I'd like to do and something that is essential I do is narrow. Jamie had the idea of going back to periods we skipped and showing some of their key moments. I initially kicked against it a little, but when the thing I was trying proved too hard to make work, it seemed the simplest thing to do for me, and seemed a cute gift to the fans in a year that's been pretty fucking brutal.

(That we rarely get happier than bittersweet speaks to me, really. All happiness is tinged with sadness. “I love you” is married to “and one day we will all be dead”.)

But it was also a fun time. We got a gang of our favourite people together and did a bunch of short stories. Most of all, I got to write a bunch of people I haven't written for a while. I've missed them.

How were the stories chosen? Rapidly! The main limitation was not choosing anything which would spoil anything in Imperial Phase: Part Two. The Specials are designed to be spoiler-free for any trade which isn't released when it's released. We also wanted to show a bunch of kissing and similar social activities, as for a book which has as much emotional and sexual stuff driving the characters, there's relatively little on panel.

I wrote 'em, showed them to the gang, and then we worked out who we could ask to draw them. I was expecting I would remove several of them, but they all ended up going in, with tweaks in some cases in the story's focus. In terms of the characters selected, I definitely paid attention to characters who had relatively little screen time – so, Lucifer, Inanna and Tara.

Jamie's Cover

Using a bought Photoshop filter, this actually a lot more work than Jamie was expecting. It is wonderful though. It is to my eternal regret we never actually arranged it as a Christmas Merchandise thing. This is a delight to me. Really, we're aware that Jamie doesn't do many playful covers, so this was an opportunity we grasped with both hands. For all the iconic drama, there's also a playfulness to WicDiv that doesn't always show up on the covers.

Kris Anka's Cover

It's a Christmas Annual in the mode of a British Annual – in that these are annuals released at Christmas rather than having Christmas as a major theme per se. Anyway, despite all that, Inanna and Baal in hot make-out beneath the mistletoe is an absolute joy. I am pleased we get to do this.

IFC

The main editorial note to Designer Sergio was “Tackier! Tackier!”

The photo was taken in North London cocktail bar “Every Cloud.” Jamie is probably drinking some manner of Old Fashioned. I think I'm drinking some kind of Buttered Rum-containing cocktail. Chrissy draped the only decorations she could find over our heads.

1-6

Kris Anka! Jen Bartel helped out on inks on this as well, due to time constraints. Kris is currently on a Marvel Exclusive, so we had to get permission to do this story. Marvel said yes, so thanks to them enormously.

Yes, if you examine the timeline, Valhalla was certainly erected quickly. And yes, “Erected quickly” is a major theme in this story.

It's one of the lighter stories in the issue – obviously delineating what we know about Baal to this moment says a lot, and the same for Inanna.

I tried to write the scripts to the artists, but I also was interested in leaving it open for them to express things in their own ways. Generally speaking, I let the artists choose how to show the characters in a sex scene, as I want to see their own interpretation. It was a delight to see Kris go as far as he did here.

We did wonder whether we'd be okay with showing hard cocks. We're told that hard cocks are fine, but ejaculation is the problematic limit. I'm glad it's not an issue. This is a hot scene, but it's primarily a romantic one.

I love what Matt is doing with the panel on page 5 – the pinks and purples of Inanna here.

Baals expression on the first panel is very funny, as is the confidence in panel 3 of it.

7-8-9-10

There's seven stories, but several were just two pages. We realised the best way to do it would be to group the shorter of the long ones with the short ones so all collaborators get 5-6 pages each. This makes it much easier with trade royalties down the line, and organising 5 artists (plus colourists and flatters) is a significantly easier one than organising 7 (and their associated collaborators).

This is the first of the stories coloured by Tamra Bonvillain. I've never worked with Tamra before, but we loved her work, approached her, and she said yes. Thanks for joining us on this journey.

The artist here is Rachael Stott, who is probably best known for her Doctor Who work, but is about to do Motherland for Vertigo with Si Spurrier, which looks excellent.

There was quite a lot of careful balloon work here, to try and guide the eye and provide the necessary exposition (or really, reminders – all this is building upon or just showing events that have been alluded to earlier.) The eye-guiding is key – for example, due to a minor quirk of the first two panels, the Shard is hidden by the column which means that the view in the second panel feels instantly wrong. We end up disguising the shard with the dialogue so it's far less noticeable.

This event is alluded to by Lucifer in issue 3 of WicDiv.

The penthouse is the one we see in issue 1, which I presume is rented by the Pantheon for their purposes.

Writing Lucifer after all this time was a pleasure. Well, pleasure may be the wrong word. She's herself, and she's always very able to show bits of herself. Lucifer says things that no one else in the cast does, which is obviously one of her huge problems.

Yes, the first panel of page 9 did make me think of an OBJECTION! style WicDiv Phoenix-Wright-esque game.

The panel is also a place where we really had to do the work to put this in continuity – the obvious assumption would be that Baal is pissed off about Lucifer sleeping with Sakhmet, which is only really a minor cause of WTF-ness.

That Lucifer explicitly fucked with Baal and Inanna was hinted at early in WicDiv and made explicit in WicDiv 23. Inanna didn't consider the relationship exclusive, as he doesn't see why anyone would automatically assume a romantic relationship is exclusive. Inanna's great weakness is not always realising that everyone is like him.

The “You're a bad person” ties off why Lucifer and Sakhmet never slept together many times, also mentioned in issue 3. Sakhmet, I suspect, just doesn't like the complications and drama. She is deeply averse to complications.

The last three panels are classic comedy steady-angle shots. That the sprinklers aren't visible led to adding an alarm sound at lettering, to avoid the possible assumption that Baal made it rain indoors or something.

Reading this I find myself thinking about Lucifer in the Special versus Lucifer in the Annual – in the sense that we're seeing her much more humanly, which is leaning into what makes her comic (and awful). The last three panels are not ones you could imagine in The Faust Act, as seen through Laura's star eyes. Nice fucked off expression in the last panel from Rachael.

11-12-13-14-15

Chynna Clugston Flores is just one of my indie comic crushes. Blue Monday is basically one of those key links between 90s and 00s comics. Bryan Lee O'Malley pitched Scott Pilgrim as Blue Monday meets Dragon Ball Z. We pitched Phonogram and Blue Monday meets Hellblazer. She's a wonder.

As such, writing for her was a dream, and I was explicitly writing for her. While this is much more rigid in terms of panel shapes than Chynna would write for herself (the steady angle on the two people in the front seat is very much me trying to write a sort of claustrophobic talking heads kind of set-up) but I'm really exploring a very Chynna type place.

I've been thinking of Dionysus as a “Umar” for a while. When thinking up Dio, the image of writer Umar Ditta leading the Thought Bubble dancefloor was definitely in my mind, and I thought it'd be fun if they share a name, despite being very different dudes. (Not least that Umar could bench Dionysus now.) I asked Umar, and he said yes, so Umar he is. His first comic Untethered has just come out, and is well worth your attention.

This is the second sort of story in the special. One is just showing some key things which impacted the rest of the book, which were usually sexy funtimes. The other was showing some key relationships in the pre-pantheon lives. We've said that Dio was a friend of Baph and Morrigan, but never actually showed what that meant. It was good to get it here.

For those studying the timeline, this is the same day as Hazel become Amaterasu. It would also be the same day Dio takes a photo of Morrigan, and Cameron sits in the tunnel waiting for Morrigan. Busy day!

If I call out my fave Chynna moments, we're going to be here forever. Cameron with his sign on the rain is a joy. Honestly, this is such an odd thing – it makes me imagine what a Blue Monday set in the Midlands would be like.

There was a panic when page 12 arrived and I thought that Chynna had (for some reason) reversed all the seating orders in the car and had the car riding on the wrong side of the road. This is obviously a disaster, because the only way this story works is the characters' speaking order is based upon where they're sitting. But then we realised that the page had been flipped in the dropbox for some reason. Phew.

The quote is from Young Avengers 13, which came out a week or two before this arrived. Yes, I know.

(The question who wrote YA13 in this universe, when Kieron Gillen's career ended with Phonogram: Rue Britannia, is open.)

Page 13 was designed to be a mood break of the lived-in autobio, and Chynna really goes for it, in terms of the leaves and the panel breaking. Not using techniques in the whole piece makes them especially meaningful when they turn up. Tamra also did wonders in the colouring, going for the spooky autumnal reds, teals and purples.

(Tamra and Matt basically split the issue near 50:50.)

This is definitely a more Morrigan way of publicising gigs rather than standing outside shitty clubs and passing out flyers.

The WHAT!? panel is everything I could have hoped for.

The “Oh god. He puns. Morrigan fucked a punner. A wet punner's in my car.” immediately made me feel that I'm trying to channel a Warren Ellis character.

The off-panel MOTHERFUCKER is also a delight.

16-17-18

Emma's one of my favourite people, but I haven't worked with her since a B-side in the second issue of Phonogram: The Singles Club, with a Kate Bush short story. (EDIT: Plus in the Young Avengers Afterparty, which I’d blanked. This is the second time that’s happened to an artist from that. Which, given the time period I was writing that, is unsurprising). So it's lovely to get back with her, and she does some of my favourite work in the Special. Do go and have a look at her Breaks, which she draws and co-writes.

When Tara has had so little panel time, trying to work out how to approach her is key – and Emma manages to find a place which is clearly her, but also informed by Tula's iconic take. Matt also brings us much of those choices to the page in the colours.

It's useful, as this story almost acts as a prequel to issue 13. It's essentially the first time Tara pitches what she wants to do to Ananke, a moment which is at least alluded to in 13.

I wrote the story originally as two pages – specifically, the last two pages. I talked about it with Editorial Assistant Katie, and she noted it's a shame we never actually see Tara happy ever. Which struck me as true, and a problem – at least in part this Special is about showing different sorts and times of happiness. So I added the first page, which is my best pitch for Tara at her most positive. This is the unspoken stuff that's under the surface in issue 13, and Tara talking about the drive is one of her main bits of happiness. I talk about how the cast are all me in different ways? Tara definitely includes the part of me which never feels better than after having written something I think is good. I've certainly done the “if get a disease which means I have six months to live, have I got time to finish writing WicDiv?” maths.

Much like issue 13, I wrote considerably more captions than are used on the first page. You write it like a diary entry and then edit to the core.

I always say that an artist can make the script their own, and that I try to write to the minimum number of panels. Of all the artists in the script, Emma's the one who added most panels. This looks great, and is very much a part of her style.

Quick call-out to Clayton in the second panel of page 17: that tiny string of notes positioned either side of those captions is beyond perfect.

The last page is all kinds of sad. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I'm pleased with how the masks work on the page.

19-20

Second Rachael story. She's an enormous Lucifer fan, so was very excited to do this.

This is as simple as the stories get, in terms of a tiny yet meaningful continuity insert. This was there already, but I felt underlining it and reminding people of it at this point in the narrative is meaningful for obvious reasons.

(I had things I wanted to do in Imperial Phase II which I never found space for – or when I did find space, felt off and wrong.)

Writing Laura captions again after all this time was definitely a thing which took a while to find again. But I liked it.

(Spangly New Thing has captions to the fore again, for various reasons, so them as a formalist element is certainly on my mind.)

21-22-23-24-25-26

This absolutely was formative Indie Crush mode. Carla Speed McNeil's Finder was one of my initial loves when I came into comics in the early 00s. It's just astounding stuff. I'd suggest starting with Mystery Story, I suspect, but there's two big omnibuses of it, and I'd recommend just getting them. She's continuing doing other Finder stories alongside her work elsewhere.

It was originally 5 pages, but Carla suggested an extra page. I'd deliberately left an extra page space in the issue, in case anyone wanted more space... and Carla grabbed it. Good work.

When writing this, I was thinking of Carla's storytelling... but I also realised that a part of Carla's storytelling is to warp and make her own. Seeing what she would do with my script was a big part. I wanted the Carla magic applied, and she did – the extra page is a big part of that.

Notice how Tamra uses the palettes to distinguish the two different settings. Eleanor in the dark and Hazel in the light seems pretty useful, right?

That Lucifer and Amaterasu were friends and knew each other were one of the elements of the background I never had a chance to really run with, for obvious reasons. In the same way as I wanted to do some Dio/Baph pre-scenes, doing a Lucifer/Amaterasu: The Early Years appealed.

H's fanart was mentioned in issue 15, I believe.

As much as it's a dual story, it's really more about Lucifer. Amaterasu may not even appear to really aware of how much she's been slighted in the story. Or maybe she is? It is Eleanor's perspective. This is also the first dialogue we've ever had as Eleanor, rather than Lucifer reporting Eleanor. The resentment and anger is so much cleaner, the saying the unsayable aspect with less glitter.

Hazel is right. Eleanor is mean.

Adding a page appealed for various reasons, but at least part of it was that it's the only in-story chance to see a Lucifer performance. There was an alternate cover in the first arc, but it's not the same – though it's probably the same performance. We've talked about her Brixton performances before, and this is there. This would be a gig that Laura saw, as previously referenced.

The last page (and final panel of page 5) is a take on a scene that's already on canon – specifically, the story as reported in the WicDiv Magazine Special.

The last-minute panic of the issue was Jamie realising we'd forgotten to have Amaterasu’s facepaint on her in the final panel, so that was a quick patch from Tamra. Phew.

The “I'm sorry” panel is A+.

As an example of the Carla Speed McNeil of it all, the last montage of shots is her addition, which brings a visual closure to the sequence.

27-28

Back with Emma Viceli, with a missing scene after issue 8. The actual core details were alluded to in issue 10, but this actually takes us there. If you remember, at this point Inanna and Baal are no longer in any way romantically involved, but fucking the best friend of someone you were with is almost always drama. The purple and red colouring seems to make that be the subtext there.

We checked Laura's age here repeatedly, to ensure she was 18 in these images. It would be actively illegal if we messed up.

Clearly my fave thing is the call back to issue 4's PLAY IT COOL gag.

This issue's structure came after all the art started coming in. It's a mix-tape curation – in terms of what's the best order to take people on a journey. Things like Kris' story being first seemed obvious – his was the alternative cover after all, featuring Inanna and Baal, which makes it a de facto lead story. That this story is furthest along in the timeline made it a suitable end, plus that we open with Inanna/Baal. The real thing is that it's a story which ends with something resembling a concluding beat. “This is going to be complicated” feels like something that ends an issue in the way that many of the stories don't. I suspect the only other credible option was Chynna's story, with Dio/Baph riding off down a motorway. What feels like it could be an ending? What feels like Closure?

IBC

The titles were all added in the last minute, when we realised the best way to actually discern which story was which for the credits was to actually give them a title.  

SUMER LOVING was miscorrected to SUMMER LOVING at every stage of production, and had to be changed back every time. There is no love for Sumerian humour in the modern comic market place.

Anyway – off for the season now. The Imperial Phase II trade drops in January, followed by The Wicked + The Divine 1923 special in February and the new arc in March.

Thanks for reading.

#WicDiv #the wicked and the divine #Kris Anka #chynna clugston flores #carla speed mcneil #Rachael Stott #Emma Vieceli #tamra bonvillain #writer notes

[micahwalkerbait-blog]

MICAH WALKER ( LOGAN LERMAN / HE/HIM ) - is an 18 year old SENIOR student at NORTHLAKE High. They sit with the ARTISTS at lunch and are commonly known around school as the SWEETHEART, because they’re +COMPASSIONATE and +LOYAL, but also -INSECURE and -PARANOID. 

The Facts

📷 Micah has a reputation in school for being too nice to everyone, always trying to help, and always putting others before himself. He’s quite selfless, and that can be a problem sometimes.

📷 His mother was originally a Northlake High girl from a nice family that ran away with a Southbank boy to Boston, where they had Micah’s brother Derek and then later, Micah

📷 His parents aren’t around now. His mother was an alcoholic and got into a car accident back in Boston, because she drove under the influence and died in the crash (his family didn’t reveal the alcoholism part tho) And his father was a criminal, who couldn’t stand the thought of his one true love being gone. He got sloppy on a heist and killed somebody and got caught. He’s now in jail for probably the rest of his life.

📷 Micah can’t bring himself to open up about his parents. His grandparents raised him and he is blessed for that. They gave Micah everything he wanted, but he never wanted much. He was always a bright smiling boy, despite what happened with his parents. Therapists could never figure him out.

📷 He’s always afraid he’s going to be like his parents, so he makes sure to only do good deeds and treat everyone with kindness. It’s just in his nature. And because of the alcoholism in his family, he will never drink or try drugs, ever. 

📷 Going to parties he’s fine with. He likes to have fun and be with friends and everyone else. But he’s always the one making sure people are getting home safely and not drunk driving, which is mostly why he goes to parties, to lowkey watch over people.

📷 Although he’s the class sweetheart, who tries to be friends with everyone and make sure nobody excluded, the boy has some inner turmoil when it comes to the way he sees himself. He’s got some insecurity issues he deals with on the daily and is also real paranoid about things that could be going on, most likely as a resort from his family troubles.

📷 He’s on the school swim team and loves it! He loves swimming, his dream is to move somewhere to be a marine photographer someday. He was already accepted into a great school in Florida, too.

📷 And of course, he’s a photographer. He’s always got his camera around his neck. Which one? Who knows, he uses both digital and film. He often spends his free time in the dark room or on photoshop, working on projects and his own freelance work. He even helps out with the school Year Book and Newspaper.

📷 He has an unexplained passion for all things horror and cult films. never knew why himself, but they are the most interesting things for him to walk, especially when it comes down to anything zombie related.

📷 He’s openly gay and proud of it. He’s also crushing on his ex’s (who moved away btw) best friend from Southbank, who he has become very close with and really likes. 

Wanted Connections

The Crush: He might be a friend, but Micah thinks of him much more than that. He was friend’s with Micah’s ex, but even after that, Micah can’t deny that he has feelings for this boy. They hang out all the time, make each other’s days, but they refuse to acknowledge what’s in front of them. @jamesspeaks

Best Friends: Micah needs his group of friends! They can be from any group, they can all be friends together or best friends of his separately. But these are the one’s closest to Micah (since childhood maybe?), that probably even know his secret. (0/4)

Neighbor(s): One or more kids at his school that he grew up right next too. Being helpful and friendly as Micah was, he would have went out of his way to try to befriend them in their younger years. Whether or not they are still friends to this day, up for debate, but their families are most likely the types of neighbors that helped watch after the kids when they were young and exchanged Christmas presents. (0/2)

Ex-Friend: Everyone has that one from from childhood that grew apart. No matter how hard Micah tried, it still happened anyways. They just wanted other friends and to do other things. So they ended up not being friends or talking to each anymore. 

Swim Buddies: Micah isn’t the only one that prefers being under water over land sometimes. He has one friend (possibly also from the swim team) that loves to be in the water as much as him. They just like to chill out in the pool, try to race each other, and there’s a lot of splashing involved.

The Model: Somebody at school that Micah goes to whenever he needs some model work done, and this person is happy to do it. They’ve grown closer as friends when Micah started taking photos of them, even if it was professionally, because they spent a lot of one on one time together because of it. @imogen-prinz

Unlikely Friends: Micah is an ear for anyone to listen, even a queen bee/jock like this person. They’re usually not the nicest to people. And they were even bad to Micah for a while. But that never stopped him from being nice still and becoming a confidant for this person to talk to about the deep shit and end up being friends.

The Drunk: Micah always seems to be helping this person the most when it comes to parties, or when the other is away from home and drank too much. Micah is the go-to person they call to help them out so they don’t do anything stupid, and because they know Micah won’t judge them later. 

Little Brother Figure: He doesn’t have an actual younger brother. But this underclassmen is the closest thing he has to a little brother. He wants to protect him, help him through school, be there for him and actually enjoys hanging out with the kid. (could also be a younger cousin)  

Feel free to hit me up on here or the discord for plots, connections, ect! I’d love to plot Micah with anyone and everyone!!

#norla:intro

[harrisonfletcherqut]

WEEK 2 - VICE VERTICAL (POST-MORTEM)

I’m very proud of the title Vice Vertical by the way.

So yeah this could have gone a little better. For whatever reason I thought I had three weeks to do this when in reality I had two. I got to class and it turned out I had to have something playable by midnight which was a bit of a problem since I had essentially nothing. The previous night I had drawn some pixel art to use as the sprites for the game and composed a concept mock-up image in Photoshop to get a basic idea of what I wanted the game to look like but that was it.

Yes I stole a Contra sprite.

Anyways, this concept was missing quite a few things, mainly the background and a building that didn’t look like it was under construction. Since I had a pretty clear vision in my head of what the game should like I found it near impossible to find free sprites and art that matched that. So, I figured it might actually be quicker to draw the assets myself. Plus its fun.

Here’s all the sprites used in the final product that I had made myself:

Pictured below is the palm tree I used (not made by me). I had nowhere near enough time to make my own and this one was pretty close to what I wanted. The color of the original didn’t fit the aesthetic all that well however so I had to recolor it.

The only other assets I didn’t make myself were the explosion and the clouds used for the background.

Thoughts On GDevelop

I think I forgot to give some context about the game engine in my last post. The engine we’re using is called GDevelop. Basically it’s a free game engine catering to people that want to make games but don’t know how to code. Instead of code it has this whole drag and drop condition/event system that is far easier to understand than traditional programming. The problem with this is that you can never really make anything all that complex. The engine is incredibly limited, and your game ideas have to be veeeeeerry basic. It also doesn’t help that there’s not a whole lot of tutorials out there since its a largely unknown engine. Despite that though, I don’t mind it. For these basic games its totally acceptable.

Design Changes

Anyways, there were some design changes that were made when I finally got into real development. The biggest one being that instead of just having an elevator shaft on the left side, the right would have one too. This gave the game a slight bump in gameplay flexibility since you’re not just locked to jumping on one side. Also it made the falling elevator mechanic more forgiving since instead of having to wait for it to pass you can just run to the other side and jump there.

What Didn’t Get In

Since my brain had a bit of a special moment and I ended up only giving myself a day to finish this, there were quite a few things that didn’t get in:

The actual main character. I didn’t have enough time to draw a running character animation so instead of a super buff action star guy, you play a red rectangle.

Combat. This was a big one. I didn’t have enough time to get combat done so that entire aspect is missing from the game. No enemies exist apart from the falling elevators.

Sliding. The mechanic of sliding under tables or through the legs of bad guys also didn’t make it in. I was actually close to figuring this out but when I started testing it it just started breaking the entire game so it just wasn’t finished. The only table asset I made was reduced to just being a background element with no collision.

UI elements. No UI elements exist so its hard to tell what floor you’re actually on.

The background. Originally I wanted a very detailed background that would start as a sunset over city buildings and eventually become night the higher you got. This didn’t happen.

Being endless. The game is not actually technically endless. I wanted the floors to be randomly generated and infinite, instead, I just premade a bunch of floors and set every single element in the scene apart from the player and the explosion to fall down at a certain speed. This still gave the illusion that the player and the explosion were moving up. Honestly this worked fine for just the simple level the game ended up being.

Under the Hood

Here’s the full event system for the entire game:

I think it does show GDevelop’s strength in that this one page is literally all I needed to make the game I ended up with. The big group of text near the bottom is a list of the objects being given a permanent force downwards at a certain speed. As stated before this is just everything but the player and the explosions.

Also worth showing are the elevators:

None of this is ever seen by the player but the elevators are just suspended above the tower. When the game starts the elevators fall at a speed faster than anything else in the game, so they’ll appear as if they are just falling naturally.

The Final Product & Feedback

So here it is. All I got. For what is essentially two days work I don’t think its all that bad. It’s missing 75% of the planned features but yknow... could be worse.

Originally I posted the game without really testing it which was a mistake since it turned out to be incredibly hard. The feedback I got stated the difficulty as the main criticism though there were also some useful gameplay ideas such as adding holes in the floor to jump through. I wasn’t really doing anything at the time so I quickly went back into photoshop, made a ladder, then went into GDevelop and added in the ladder holes on a few platforms. This went a long way to making the game easier. Another suggestion was reducing the size of the explosions since in the original version they were taking up almost half the screen. Quickly fixing these two issues I re-uploaded a much easier (and more fun) version of the game which is seen in the potato-quality GIF above.

Conclusions

Overall I’m satisfied with what I got done in such a short time. I learnt a lot about GDevelop along the way and I’m excited to move on to the next project. A project which I will (hopefully) give myself a lot more time for.

I really like the idea of Vice Vertical and I would definitely like to complete the game at some point when I have free time. Making this was fun, and that's the most important thing to me.

#post-mortem #development

[michaelwma-blog]

An End To My Independent Life & Why I Now Work at RateGravity

Legit photo credit: Ally Schmalling. Deliberately hacky photoshopping: Yours truly.

For the last year and a half, I have accidentally stumbled into being an independent contractor.  After leaving my last startup in a bit tumult, I was not actually looking for work. In fact, I was determined to not work at all. However, I now am starting another chapter as Chief Marketing Officer of RateGravity, a seed-stage startup that is out to revolutionize the mortgage industry.

I am thinking to myself, "How the hell did I get here? Another seed-stage startup? Are you really doing this again? What are you, nuts?" The announcement goes public today  in a few hours, so I thought I'd try to take some time to reflect on the journey that got me here.

I: What Did You Learn, [Loser]? The month after I left my startup, my father-in-law and I went out to dinner. As the former Amtrak Chief of Police, he has a gift for cutting all the crap and getting to the heart of the matter. He asked, "In life, you either win or you learn. So, what did you learn?"

Ouch. OK, I didn't know what I learned. I was burnt out. Cashed. In fact, I was looking forward to my time "on the beach." More gooey blender drinks.  Less thinking.

Ironically, I never afforded myself that luxury.  I think I was just too scared to answer the questions directly. A former investor quickly brought a due diligence project. Another friend asked for another project help. Snowvation needed sales, marketing, and temporary executive leadership, and I was determined to ensure that ShredBetter would not have been sold in vain (BTW, Snowvation is kicking ass).

Looking back, I think I used work to defer having to answer the hard questions. This cycle repeated itself in random ways about 6 times in the last 18 months. I consider myself very lucky and thankful to my friends for being so gracious and open to letting me into their enterprises. What's more, that luck bought me enough time to assuage my own fears, I think.

II: For Hire: CXO With Commitment Issues So I worked, and through work often comes great therapy. As the great activist once Grace Lee Boggs said, "You make your path by walking."  And in that walking, I think I have figured some things out and have a clearer answer to my father-in-law's question. 

By seeing lots of growth and turnaround companies, I have gained newfound perspective about what I learned from my last startup: I honestly failed to continually evaluate my own 3 Questions This Over-The-Hill Entrepreneur Asks (if you don’t at least scan this link, the rest of this piece may not make sense to you, if at all!).

FFS, I wrote this myself about myself. Idiot. While I wrote this just before my 40th birthday, it has all the awkwardness of a high school prom photo. But you just have to embrace the awkward.

Fail 1. My co-founder and I jumped in too fast, never knew each other as people. It was a startup version of a shotgun marriage. Thus, I failed to answer my own Kidney Test:  Would I give my business partner my kidney? I really never took time to answer that question with an open heart and wide eyes.

Fail 2. I also failed my Uzo Abada Test: Where will my art live? We didn't define roles or what we individually owned. Through poorly constructed founding relationships, there was no place for my art to live. Despite guidance from my lawyer and friends who shared their co-founding disasters, we just forged ahead and said, "No need for explicit roles. We'll just figure it out later."

All bad moves. But I did it anyway. Fail. Fail. Fail. 

So Horsepowered Partners was reborn. Originally only intended to be a shingle for my side project ShredBetter, Horsepowered evolved into a very comfortable consulting model. I was able to de-risk myself personally and professionally.  I figured I sucked at answering those 3 big questions for a founder, so why try? 

Most of my projects were tidy 60-90 day projects.  Everything was by referral. I took a little cash from my clients, usually a little equity, and sometimes hired my long-term successor.  I didn't want to be around forever. See it, fix it, exit. I toyed with renaming Horspowered Partners to Your Rebound CXO. 

Subconsciously, I think I was hoping to just finish that last project for my beach time, which never came. To illustrate, I did a lot of digital marketing, yet have no website myself.  Serious commitment problems, for sure.

III: Gravitational Pull And now, I begin another chapter at RateGravity. It started as another one of my projects, "Hey, the person we were hiring fell through.  Can you hold us over? ... Sure, no problem." 30-day contract. Then another 30.  And now here we are full-time.

So, did I learn anything? I think so. Let's run the 3 Tests again. 

1. Kidney Test: Would I give my partners my kidney? 

You may not believe this but the founder, Patrick Boyaggi grew up in the same freaking Cleveland suburb that I did, Westlake. Unreal. 

In the two months we have worked together, we have also both worked hard to get to know each other as people.  I've stayed in Patrick's house, played with his kids, and gotten to know and adore his wife.  We've tried to connect as men, fathers, husbands and also desperate Cleveland sports fans. Our kids have said hi on Slack calls. Is it kidney-worthy? No, but it's darn good for 60 days.

That has extended to the rest of the executive team, where I spent extensive 1-1 time with each of them. While it's not perfect, it might be the most I know about my co-workers before I started a job except for starting ShredBetter with my lifelong friend Brian Morgan.

So does this pass the Kidney Test explicitly? Probably not.  But that's a really high bar, and probably bears revisiting. The point is, in being wiser this go-around, and spending 60 days working and acting like a member of the team, I know more than I've ever before in approaching a new job.

2. The Kid Test: Can I explain this to a 7-year-old?

Me: You know how we had to borrow money to buy our house?

Jack (now 8): Yeah.

Me: Well, Daddy's new company helps save people lots of money on that loan. We shop all the little banks for them and they can get deals that the big banks won't give them.

Jack: Like when you used to work at Bank of America? And how much money?

Me: Yup. Average? About $29,000. It's like getting our minivan for free.

Jack: Cool. Can I get a computer now?

Check.

The mortgage industry is quite a stacked deck. If you know me, you know I am a sucker for companies that overturn large entrenched business that accumulate wealth on the backs of everyday people.  I've been involved in this idea in many industries from financial services to funerals to fashion. If there is a way to disrupt inequitable structures and give Jane and John Public a fair shake ... well, you have my interest.

That's the core of RateGravity's business model and founding story. Patrick was an exec in a major lending company. But when wanted a loan himself, he hacked the mortgage supply chain. He went direct and got a rate that no one else could get. He thought, "Wait. That's the business. Why should I be the only one to get this? We make money on people not 'seeing our screen."

RateGravity is about flipping the screen, hacking it, and saving people money. I'm in. 

Oh, and by the way, you are overpaying for your mortgage. For now.

3. The Uzo Abada Test: Where will your art live? That's one of the beauties of working together for 60 days vs. interviewing for 3 days. As my good friend Farhan Thawar correctly writes cites, interviewing is garbage. My art is already living. And I think there is more to come.

With RateGravity, we've already had more than a couple of "passionate differences of opinion." What's more, we have worked it out. Even before we agreed to full-time terms, the team allowed me to implement and change several keystone parts of the business such as brand, CRM, analytics, and content.  The impact of these decisions extends far beyond my consulting tenure. There is a mutual respect for each other's roles that has already been tested. I am confident stuff will get out in the world ... and that's all I ever wanted.

***

As I look back among all this, I still at times doubt my own heuristic evaluation.  However, my wife, Katherine, is an amazing partner -- my best friend, and my best advisor.  While in compensation negotiations, always the most fun part of any recruitment, she said to me, "Look, I haven't seen you engaged in your work like this for over 2 years. It's nice to see you like this. If you can get it done, then just do it." 

Well said. And I did.

OK, enough navel-gazing.

Fired up. Ready to go.

#rategravity #career decisions #startup #mission #entrepreneur #purpose

[hopefulbagelboi]

Poem Adaptation Update

Mark suggested ideas for producing the required style that I was having trouble with. One of them was cut out animation (via stop motion) that included printing out drawn character from Photoshop and simply hand animating them. The other option was also cut out style but in 2D software (so making the character designs in Photoshop, importing them into ToonBoom, adding pegs to the various body parts and animating those pegs). The second option would save me plenty of time on animating the characters and it would also look pretty good considering I don’t have to re-draw as many frames. The first option also saves me in the sense that I won’t have to draw anything other than the characters and a few key poses.

In short, the less I draw the better the final production will be.

Found issues with each idea: Stop motion: - Lighting the stop motion set will be difficult, - Camera set up at the given angle.

2D Cut out: - Computer power, animating on a laptop will be difficult though there are no other available options during the holidays.

I attempted to follow closely to the style of one of the reference images, adding similar patterns or creating my own. The body looks ok, if not a little tacky, but the head I can’t seem to get right. It looks completely out of place and I’m not sure how to fix it.

On a more positive note, the back leg looks better than any previous attempt I’ve ever made so maybe I’m getting better at those.

With my complete inability to draw anything decent looking I am concerned about how I’m going to get this animation completed. My plan is to study wolves form all angles and take some tutorials on drawing them, that way stylising them should be a lot easier.

Though I’m almost certain I won’t actually get that plan done, I’ll most likely mope around over the holidays and then feel bad about it when I’m submitting sub-par work as usual.

Suggested changes for the wolf design: Longer legs Thicker neck Smaller head/ less round Eyes (V Look into Balto model sheets V)

(^ A few examples from the film ‘Balto’. The turnaround boards help me to understand how they built the characters and how they measured proportions. Can clearly see longer legs and much thicker necks to give them a distinct dog/ wolf appearance.)

Reflection: The entire poem went to crap because of my lack of skill for even the simplest things. I found that, despite having reference images, turnaround boards and the like I was completely incapable of drawing a wolf - let alone a patterned one. I kept trying, over and over, for weeks but in the end I gave up and decided to go with an ok-ish drawing and rig it.

(^Look at this god awful thing, I clearly cannot draw)

(^ Even with guide lines I can’t do it)

I rigged an entire wolf model in ToonBoom after my tutor had shown me how, but when I actually tried to animate it it didn’t work at all. The joints bend awkwardly and animating it was more effort than it was worth, so I scrapped the entire thing. It had taken a long time to rig and I now only had a few weeks left to finish this project, I knew I wouldn’t be able to draw anything nice to look at and animate it in that time.

(^ As is clear here I got the rig working, just not very well)

My solution, since I was so done with failing to draw and knowing I would never be able to make it look nice anyway, was to scribble my way through this. By this point I had lost all motivation, I was doing terribly even when trying my best, so why try?

(^ This is my scribbled wolf head. You can’t tell because even when I’m scribbling I still can’t draw well)

Overall I’m beyond disappointed with how my poem animation turned out. I wanted to have a lot of fun with it but yet again my lack of skills held me back. Even after practising drawing dogs and wolves for ages I still couldn’t do it.

One thing I will take from this is that I should stop drawing, because after over a year of practise it’s clear I’m not any better.

#AX2001 #Poem Adaptation

[diviinedogs]

❣️hoi, what was art school like? I'm planning to go myself (and my family is pretty passively aggressively turning me down), but I just want to know what skills do you learn? What is the experience? Thank u for your time! Ur blog and art are amazing btw

hI I think it really depends on the school but I can give like the idea of two of them since I went to another school for precollege to see if it was something I’d be interested in majoring in! C./C/A and I went to Ri/.ngli./.ng and my parents are actually letting me go back to school now so hopefully I’ll be back there in Fall c’: also thank you for liking my stuff!

this ask is gonna long because I know I’m gonna ramble so I’m gonna call the schools C and R so I don’t have to do the slashes all the time! C’s experience was a specific  1-2 month course so it’s nothing like actual college at R so feel free to skip down to it, I just thought it was important to add since it was my first experience at an art school

and after I talk about the schools I’ll say what stuff’s good to include in your portfolio, of course this is based on my experience but for the most part it helps in what you should try strengthening 

I did animation at C, which was 2D in the morning and 3D in the afternoon. I did precollege the summer before my senior year cuz it’s like the college experience before college so you do get the feel of how it is being on your own, and I wanted to see if I was good enough to pursue something art related. At this point, my parents were on the fence about the idea, so it would help them too. And C’s in California, so I had a bunch of relatives who could show me around and who I could stay with during the weekends

experience wise, the teachers and TAs I had were really nice, so in 2D it was stuff like learning Principles of Animation and the first thing we did was a flipbook animation I think? and then it went to looking at scenes from movies for inbetweens and character sheets and we all worked together reanimating a quick scene from a movie. In the end, we all chose a really short scene from an animated movie to study and reanimate for our final

while in 3D, it was just learning around Maya and doing animation exercises each day with it, eventually working your way up to a mini film (nothing’s completely rendered though! just models), other than that it was pretty much the same as 2D

so basically, I learned the basics and they were really helpful, but to be honest I felt a bit lost with how free it was, you basically had to learn everything on your own with the teachers just checking your work. I was really good at 3D but it... wasn’t fun for me lol so I decided that after this I’d want to stay in the 2D realm of things

now for R! My parents were worried about the starving artist myth and all that, so they would absolutely not let me do Illustration even though that’s what I really wanted, so I chose Game Design and I was like hey I’ll deal with it or like maybe I’ll like it. If not, I could always try convincing my parents to let me switch my major. 

the way things work at R is that all the majors are put into categories, so Computer Animation, Game Art, and Illustration are all the Media Arts majors. All Freshman take basically the same type of classes and things start breaking off around the second semester of freshman year. Eventually you like see no one outside your major lol

and lET ME TELL YOU........ R HAS A VERY HEAVY WORK LOAD, so you gotta be prepared for that. I think just about all art schools are like this, but R’s very strict on it.  Manage your time wisely, there’s a lot of times I’ve seen people pull all nighters just to finish all their assignments. I was really bad at managing my time too, so when I go back I need to be more strict on myself. It’s better to do things early and relax than relax until last minute and have anxiety hell. Not many of the teachers are about how much homework you have in other classes. Also, it’s good to not do things last minute because then you can relax earlier and scanners and place you go to take photos aren’t crowded.

and trust me, your teachers will know if you did something last minute, and they can tell whether effort was put into something or not. 

Now for classes, I’ll talk about just freshman year since that’s probably what’s most helpful to you right now and since I was made to drop out by my parents I’ll probably be repeating like the second semester of that rip.... anywAY

so, R starts you with foundation, so figures classes, 2D design, drawing (this one’s perspective! so important but rip everyone forgets everything after that semester so I should probably start studying perspective again)

the figure classes at R are sO GOOD............ you improve a lot with those, a few weeks into it I was thinking about the figures I had in my portfolio and was just like...... fuck these are so shitty how the hell did the school accept me.... of course the experience depends on the teacher, but I loved my figure drawing teacher he was really cool and good. He did demos at some point every class to where we would all just hover over his shoulder and watch him draw while he explained what he was doing. You i

2D design I hated because like...... abstract... it’s supposed to help you work with compositions and such but I really don’t understand abstract and execute it properly so that was a really difficult class for me 

drawing class is just doing still life and perspective exercises, you don’t really get to the fun part till second semester, I forget the other exercises but I remember that towards the end there was one where you designed a car (like a fun spin on it like.... I think mine was a firefly styled car? yeAH)

other classes were Film & Narrative (so studying films, it was cool) and Writing Studio, which is just like a writing class, they don’t really apply to skills/experience in art so I’ll skip over those

second semester, you still have Figure Drawing, but there’s more of a focus on stuff and you get to draw animals too (sadly no, no real animals come into the classroom. You work off of projections and then there’s a field trip to a big cat sanctuary)

drawing II gets fun because you finally get to use photoshop for your still life and assignments, the assignments get more fun like the Tro/./.ja./n Ho//rs/e assignment. Like you could either do the actual one or draw a similar scenario, I’m totally blanking out on what I did but one of the examples was like a giant wooden mouse with cheese and in the back were cats watching the actual mice. Anyway, it had even more of a focus on compositions and colors. 

Another assignment was designing a character’s room. It could be any character, but you couldn’t have anything that gave away their name. People had to be able to guess who the room belonged to just by looking at it. Sounds hard, but fun. If the character you chose had like a specific style from the concept art of where they’re from you’re free to use that too! I did Kida from Atlantis and one of my friends did Greg Universe’s room, so she got to imitate SU’s background style which was cool to see!

3/D desi/gn was............. super difficult to me, I almost failed that class >w>;;;; because it was woodshop type stuff and polymer clay depending on what you wanted. However, every assignment you did would lead up to the grunt assignment, which was like, you had three designs of things that would be possible grunt level monsters, and you essentially pitch a game idea to the class and they pick the best. SO again, modeling especially with actual clay is hard for me but it was a great experience when it came to designing and stuff. There’s more but I don’t want to get into all the assignments

3/.D design differs based on what major you’re in, and you only get it if you’re doing one of the Media Arts majors, but I’m pretty sure for the most part they’re the same?

if you major in Game Art or Animation, then you also take traditional animation, which was really fun but tbh...... I only knew how to do animation because of me being at precollege at C and then like learning stuff on my own, you were really left alone a lot, which is the same for some of the other classes. They’ll help you if you ask, but if you don’t then you can’t really get helpful feedback. Again, it depends on the teacher. The one I had was really nice and I frequently went to her for help.

so despite how some assignments/classes were hard for me, I really loved R and I’m excited at my parents giving me the option to go back, I just need to do a portfolio again >w>;;;; R’s a really good school with a lot of great resources. All of my issues came from problems with people (not teachers just other students) there and I’m not gonna get into those cuz personal lol

OKAY SO for portfolio tips

still life

figURES

ANIMALS, it makes you have a better understanding of anatomy and stuff

try to have a mix of media in there, like I mainly do digital but still have some traditional stuff to show that you know how to use those

I would keep figures realistic and not stylized so they can see that you have an understanding of them

depends on the school I think, but R strictly says in their guidelines to not do fantasy stuff like unicorns and dragons

NO FAN ART.......  you can have it but you need to be really, really vague? if that makes sense, like people shouldn’t be able to tell it’s fan art

have what you’re applying for in your portfolio, so like depending on what you want I’d add concept art stylized stuff or character designs 

you gotta have your best work in there, like some people like having okay/bad work to show how much they improved but that’s a bad idea, if you don’t think something’s good don’t put it in for colleges to see 

#anon #ask