#(i like to research symbolism and smash it all into one design for my part) (i find national symbols v interesting)

[screechingsandwichhologram]

(fascinated by countryhumans, in like a bug under microscope way)

[tholly6]

Week 1

CGI

Week 1

This lesson we watched some graphic animation trailers, mostly at Saul bass. We had a selection of books to look at and I chose lord of the flies because ei likes the themes of

So I am currently key framing this scene. I am keeping in mind that I want to incorporate follow through and a minute level of squash and stretch as I want the characters to move more realistically than exadurated.

human nature and savagery and felt that I would visually be able to symbolise this. I also liked the themes of boyhood, which implies a level of innocence and nievety.

For my home work I will be reaserching into lord of the flies

Week 2

At home I reaserched into lord of the flies and specifically its symbols such as barbarism and civilisation, loss of innocence,the nature of evil,human nature nd free will, I tried making some sporadic images of things that it brought to mind, as well as different movements. So I filmed different movements some quick and hars and some softer, from what I have gathered from the story us far there are some juxtapositions and dramatic changes in the story, this could be shown through passing or harsh sharp imagery.

For this lesson we had an introduction guide into after effects where we where given some royalty free videos to help us along the way as well.

This lesson we looked into working with the puppet tool, where we manipulated text, I figured this would also be handy when working the limbs.

I found the puppet tool generally easy and didn’t experience many problems with it

At home I continues on my research as I felt like I still had quite a vague idea of the story

Week3

This week we looked into motion in motion graphics, I found his particularly interesting as movement is something that can be applied to all parts of the animation including the text, image and even sound

For instance sound can match the movement to create a specific atmosphere that the animator is trying to convey.

More specifically we looked into different movements and what the conveyed / symbolised, for instance linker movement represents progression, circular movements represent perhaps recurring happenings in the story line. I gathered from this that since are task is making a trailer we have to hint and forebode rather than blatantly show the reader what is going to happen, knowing that my strengths lie in illustration bovever I know that this is something that I want to enhance on to fordhadow / forebode.

This weekend I will be mainly working on my concept art.

Week 4

This weekend worked on my imagery that I drew from the story like and started to compose snapshots of what my story board and what some of the movements / what images I was gonna use from my concept designs . After doing reaserch into the story I desided that the conch shell was a symbol used throughout the story as a motif of the imbalance of power, for instance one had to hold the conch shell to speak, this rule later became ignored as the boys started resulting to barberry and desided nort to speak and do whatever they wanted.

This week we looked at types of cuts in film such as the standard hard cut, or cut o n action, after my lesson I looked over these and thought what would be useful in my animatic. I felt that a smash cut could be used effectively ( transitioning between two contrasting shots) for dramatic effect.

I want the start of my animatic to be smooth and gentle, then gradually speed up and turn into chaos just as the story does

Now I have do my story board, as stoary boards go it usually takes me 3 to 4 ruff attempts and samples to come to the right one.

Week 5

Over the weekend I make my story board whitch I moved around a lot as seen on my slides and began making my animations and images for after effects and will try and get this all done in the next few days. For this I will be mainly working on proctreate as it is more efficient and less time consuming.

For my concept art I did a lot of it will watcher colour and ink as seen on my slides, I want to curate this same gritty texture through textures that I have made and the use of new pens I have brought on procriate to immatate brush strokes and printing. I am running behind so I need to use my time wisely so I can get onto my animatic as soon as possible.

Week 6- ill and not in

Unfortunately I am ill so will have to attempt the animatic at a later date.

Week 7

This week we began with maya, I found it difficult to get back into since it has been nearly a year since I have used the software but throughout the lesson I found myself picking stuff back up. We followed a tutorial of curating an ikea dining room step by stem, I focused on the tools and what they did for future reference. Found the mesh tool hard to use at first but after using a few times I got the hang of it. And was able to produce the room in that lesson.

Week 8 – not in as I was in A and E- allergic reaction to some hair dye.

Week 9

This week since I wasn’t here for the last lesson because I was in a and e I had to catch up on last lessons work. Witch was making glasses, with a combination of watching videos and help from the teacher I was able to do this. I find with maya often you should mirror sides to they are the same in size and length so when using a mesh tools it wont go wonky.

Week 10

This week I began my room for my character, I planed last lesson the lay out of the room, and how I added a few separate elements to the room such as a bunny and more sewing stuff to the room to reflect my character and her environment, the bunny being for her son, and the sewing kit for her and her son ( she fixes things showing her stoic character) I managed to get help when making the layout of the room, to combat this I watch the YouTube videos on maya to help guide me.

Week 11

This week I managed to retreated work on maya I thought I had lost.i then began on making my set of draws for my character, when I ried to add a mesh tool to something that was unequally beveled it didn’t work. To combat this I first added the mesh tool and then beveled.

I watch some videos and used how to make a bowl as reference for my candle holder, to complicate this all I need to do is make a handle, add the candle.

From here I will make the bed bunny and sewing kit, for this I will need to learn how to make fabric. Then I will and colour and texture to everything and have the candle be the main worse of light.

Week 12

This week I am continuing to make my assets I have already make my candle and cupboard along with a mirror.

I am now trying to curate a needle and tread, I first was tying to make the tread however I wasn’t able to snap my face to my vertex curve, so for now I had the idea that I would make a basket full of needles and threads. The threads being thread wheels that I have already make, all I need to do now is make the basket and duplicate.

Week 13

This is my last week, I have had a few attempts at my after effects but I properly started it yesterday, however I am going to have to do my after effects again today as some of the files got delegated and files got moved to different comps so it was all mixed around.

Although I have been set back by a day reducing my animatic did means I was able to root out some problems. For instance I was trying to use a puppet tool on a lined object which as difficult as it only moved sorta in lined to combat this on procreate I was able to use an extreamply opaque paint brush and then turn down the opacity this way when transporting in into after effects it was still stranparent so I could see the textured background, but still use the puppet tool on it as a solid object ( the object was an arm and a hand holding the conch shell)

The puppet tool came in very handy in bless I was able to manipulate still images to add a slight bit oof movement here and there.

This week although I havent got as many assets as I would like to be done I have attempted to try and texture them all.

I ran into some real problems when texturing as some of the objects just weren’t letting me apply the texture, I tried to search this up however I couldn’t find anything on it.

There is a possibility that I wil not get this room done in time for the deadline, I will attempt what I can and make other things in the project better to avoid a massive dip in my grade.

[reidingmelodies]

Sugar Rush

Summary:  Who knew finding the perfect wedding day dessert was so much work? Pairing: Spencer Reid x gn!Reader Category: Fluff Includes: Food consumption, light kissing Word Count: 2.4K

“Did you know the first wedding cake was most likely served in Ancient Greece?” Spencer began, looking down to where you were laying with your head snuggled against his chest.  You hummed in interest, moving your hand to meet his where it rested on his lower stomach, intertwining your fingers together.  Spencer smiled at the gesture before continuing his spiel, “But one of the earliest mentions of wedding cake originates from Ancient Rome where the cake was actually broken over the bride’s head in the hopes of bringing them good fortune in their life together”.

Your brows furrowed at that, and Spencer couldn’t help but laugh at your reaction.  “Well, we certainly won’t be doing that at our wedding,” you giggled, giving his hand a light squeeze.  

Flipping your hands over, he brought your hand to his line of sight and admired the engagement ring resting on your ring finger.  “Do you want to smash cake in my face after we cut it?”

You thought for a second before shaking your head.  “I don’t think so- unless that’s something you want to do?  I don’t even get why that’s a thing in the first place, it seems kind of gross”.

Spencer sighed in relief, beyond grateful that wasn’t something you wanted to do.  He loved you, and he was more than happy to exchange germs with you in other ways- but throwing cake at each other definitely wasn’t his style.  “I’m glad you don’t because I feel the same way.  Cutting the wedding cake is traditionally seen as a symbol of a couple’s commitment to each other, and I don’t want to ruin that by throwing cake in your face”.

You smiled, rolling over slightly until your stomach laid against his and propping your head up to look down at him.  Spencer hummed in approval at the new position, moving his hand from yours and resting it on your lower waist.  “Plus,” you added, “we’re paying way too much for the cake to waste a single drop of it”.

Spencer laughed in agreement, pushing himself up lightly to give you a soft kiss on your lips.  “So no cake smash- there’s one part of the great cake debate settled”.  You groaned at his words, dropping your head and burrowing your face in the space between his shoulder and neck.

“I don’t understand why there’s so many cake flavors to choose from!  Honestly, do we even need a cake?” you groaned, voice coming out as no more than a mumble against your fiancé’s neck.  Spencer rubbed your back soothingly, before humming in acknowledgement.

“We’ll figure it out, babe,” he reassured you, giving your forehead a quick kiss.  “On the bright side, regardless of whether we pick one or not we’ll get to try at least twenty different types of cakes for lunch tomorrow”.

“I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or not,” you laughed, pushing your upper half up to once again look at his face.  “But as long as you’re with me I’m sure it won’t be too bad,” you finished, leaning down to lay a sweet kiss on his lips.

“What a sap,” Spencer jokingly mumbled against your lips, causing you to pull away and playfully roll your eyes at him.

“A sap you decided to spend the rest of your life with,” you countered with a smirk, eyes softening in admiration at the grin that spread across Spencer’s face with your words.

“Best decision I ever made,” Spencer claimed softly, sealing his declaration with a concession of kisses against your lips.

You smiled, threading your fingers through his hair and continuing what you started- leaving the discussion of cakes and all things wedding behind, choosing instead to spend the night entangled with your fiancé, trading kisses and whispered declarations of love well into the evening.    

***

The next morning, you sat in the kitchen nursing your cup of coffee while Spencer took a shower before you headed to the bakery.  It had been six months of engagement bliss for you and Spencer, and you both found yourself on an impenetrable high for the first three months with no qualms.  As far as the two of you were concerned, you were irrevocably in love with each other, full stop.  You didn’t know when you wanted to get married, or where, but you knew that you wanted him by your side for the rest of your personal slice of eternity.  

Eventually, that answer stopped being met with aw’s from your friends, and instead had been met with playful eyerolls followed by logistical questions regarding the wedding.  It became apparent pretty quickly that there wasn’t a where or when anywhere in your plan, but the who, what, and why were pretty clear.  And when it came to wedding planning, the last three took the back burner.  Who would have thought?

Weekends cuddled up with your fiancé turned into Friday nights spent researching, Saturday afternoons filled with venue tours, and Sunday mornings comparing notes (and somehow, that was always the part that lasted the longest when it came to you and Spencer).  

Once the venue was secured, you both became invested in the rest of the details that made your special day unique to the two of you, settling on a lilac color scheme and Save the Dates in the form of bookmarks.  Everything settled into place pretty quickly after that, except for the dreaded cake.

There was just too much to it.  Between the design, number of layers, and flavors there statistically wasn’t a high probability of pleasing all of your guests much to Spencer’s dismay.  And as much as everyone said that the most important thing was that you and Spencer were happy with the cake, the two of you were more than happy with each other, and that’s all you really cared about.

“Ready, Y/N?” Spencer broke you from your train of thought and drew your attention towards him.  He smiled, holding a travel mug of coffee in one hand and your car keys in the other, motioning towards the door with his head.  

You nodded, taking the keys and heading towards the door with the love of your life in tow, internally cursing yourself for stressing out half as much as you have about a silly cake.

***

Two hours later, and one thing was for sure- you were right to be stressed.   The owner of the bakery was one of the sweetest women you’ve ever met (the title of sweetest belonged to Penelope Garcia, hands down), but as welcoming and supportive as she was you still felt like a fish out of water.

You and Spencer were ushered into a room with exactly twenty-three cake samples laid out on tables, accompanied by open portfolios and photos of some of the bakery’s most renowned creations.  In the time since your arrival you’ve tasted flavors ranging from lemon raspberry to mocha chocolate and you were exhausted.  

You couldn’t help but feel like the universe was punishing you and Spencer for joking around the previous night about how great it would be to eat cake for lunch.  You leaned over to tell Spencer just as much, and the exhaustion was almost worth it when you saw his smile illuminate the entirety of his face.  

“What happened to ‘as long as you’re with me I’m sure it won’t be too bad’?” he jokingly questioned, booping your nose and giving you a quick kiss on the cheek when he saw the joking glare beginning to form on your face.

“Changed my mind when you called me a sap,” you retorted with a smirk followed by a quick squeeze of his hand so he knew you weren’t serious.  Your comment made him laugh, and soon enough you were both in a fit of giggles surrounded by mountains of cake and half looked through portfolios.   

As your laughter died down the reality of the situation you were in began to set it.  You loved all of the cake you tried, but everything about what you were doing just didn’t feel right.  The more you envisioned your cake, the cloudier the picture became.  All you knew was that you wanted something that screamed you and Spence, but none of the flavors you tried did that.  You sighed, and Spencer immediately perked up, forever in tune to you and your needs.  

“What’s going on up there, love?” Spencer tapped the side of your head lightly with his pointer finger, causing the right side of your lip to slightly curl up.

“If I ask you something will you be honest?” you asked, putting your hand on top of his.  

Spencer immediately nodded, grasping his fingers with yours and bringing your hand to his lips.  “Always”.

“Do you picture any of these cakes at our wedding?”  You questioned, bringing the closest portfolio towards you with your free hand and flipping through the first few pages.  “They’re all so pretty, but I just don’t think they’re us, ya know?” 

It was quiet for a beat longer than you expected, and for a second you were nervous you had somehow offended Spencer.  But when you looked up and met his eyes, all you found was his understanding gaze looking back at you.

“I completely get what you mean,” he began, squeezing your hand before continuing his thought, “but Y/N.. do you really think that we’ll ever find a dessert that’s more us than donuts?”

You knew right away that he was joking, but you also couldn’t help but smile at the flood of memories that overtook you once he said it.

As Penelope liked to call your relationship, “the greatest love story of this generation” began just a block south of the bakery you were at over chocolate sprinkled donuts and coffee.  It was a Tuesday morning, and you were running a few minutes late in your morning routine.  You usually got to the cafe around 8:15, just before the majority of the 9-5 workforce showed up for their morning coffee fix.  

That day though, you had missed your usual metro and walked in the door of the café at 8:27 AM.  It was overly crowded, and you were already dreading waiting in the overpopulated line for your coffee, but as luck would have it Dr. Spencer Reid had picked that exact morning to treat the BAU to coffee and donuts. 

He had walked in the door behind you, smiling in recognition at the book he saw peeking out of your bag.  Before he could stop himself, he tapped you on your shoulder, reciting a fact about the author of the book.  Almost immediately, his face dropped, worried that you were going to tell him off for being nosy.

To his relief though, you smiled and asked him for his opinion on the book- before you knew it, you both made it to the front of the line, and you found yourself longing for more time with the stranger who seemed to know an infinite amount of fun facts.  

As you both waited for your coffee and donuts, you took a leap of faith and asked Spencer if he’d want to meet up for breakfast the next morning.  To your delight he agreed, and the rest was history.  After three months of sporadic breakfast dates whenever Spencer wasn’t away on a case (mainly consisting of you trying all of the donuts on the café menu and Spencer sticking to chocolate frosted with sprinkles), he took his own leap of faith and asked you out on a date beyond the comforting walls of the café.

As far as you were concerned, donuts were a fundamental part of your love story, and Spencer was a genius.

You smiled at the memory, turning to Spencer and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.  He gave you a lovesick grin in response- “what was that for?”

“Have I ever told you you’re the smartest man I know?”

Immediately, Spencer nodded.  “Just last week when I told you how many books have been published by Penguin Random House.  You also said it the week before when we were talking about polar bears and I-” your laugh caused him to lose focus, all of his attention instead focused on the way your smile lit up your whole face.

“Okay, okay so I call you a genius a lot- sue me,” you countered, giggling with every word that came out of your mouth.  “I think you’re onto something with donuts though”.

“Wait, really?  I was just kidding,” the confusion was obvious on Spencer’s face, but it was laced with excitement as well and you knew right then and there that he was as hooked on the idea as you were.

“I know you were, but that doesn’t make it any less genius!  It’s just so us.  And not only that, but think of all the different flavors we can get!  That way everyone has a choice over what dessert they have and we don’t need to stress over finding one most people will like.  Oh my gosh babe, and Penelope can definitely help us think of a cute way to set them up!  Maybe we can do a cake stand or put them out in a buffet style?”  You made eye contact with Spencer, eyes widening as you realized you haven’t even asked for his opinion yet.  Softly, you brought your ramble to a close, doubt slowly kicking in, “Unless you don’t think it’s a good idea?”   

Smiling, Spencer stood from his chair and motioned for you to do the same.  Considering the fact that you would do anything he asked you to, you followed suit and he pulled you into his side, planting a kiss to the top of your head.  “I think you’re the real genius in this relationship, Y/N”.  You giggled at that, and Spencer continued, “it’s an amazing idea.  And you and I both know Penelope is gonna love that you thought of her to help us put it together.  How about we go to the café and see if they’d be able to help us out, hm?  Maybe grab some donuts while we’re there too?”

You nodded enthusiastically, before grimacing at the idea of having another sweet, “We’re gonna have a sugar rush for the next week, Spence”.

“Every day with you is a sugar rush, Y/N,” he quipped, trying to hold back his laughter at the disbelieving look on your face.      

You chuckled, leaning in for one of many sugary sweet kisses awaiting you that afternoon before playfully retorting, “And you have the audacity to call me the sap in this relationship.”

***

Link to join my taglist ♡

Tagging: @calm-and-doctor​

[sam-roulette]

💍 Timsasha?

god these two are so fuckin cute ;w;

where they get married?

some kind of outdoor venue 100%, probably in a fancy courtyard with plenty of green spaces and a cute lil pond in the background!

when they get married ( ie what time of day, what month and season etc. )

it’s a summer wedding!! with a winter wonderland theme- it’s the best of both worlds all at once, and close to dusk, the sight of fireflies over fake snow makes for the perfect setting ;w;

what traditions they include ( do they get married under a chuppah and crush a glass, garter toss, ‘something borrowed, something blue,’ etc. 

They do the bouquet toss 100%! but first they’re play fighting over who actually tosses the thing hgvjh and if Martin is just the one who catches it that :) is a coincidence :)

what their wedding cake looks like?

god you know those cake designs where its really elegant white for the most part and then you turn it and down the side the entire thing is cut in such a way to look like a geode inside? it looks like that! 

….who smashes cake into whose face

they take the non-rock candy side and just each go for each other at once. Tim’s got cake in his veil. Sasha’s licking frosting from her lips. they’re both messes and theyre just laughing like hell with each other

who proposed to who first

Sasha! Tim also had a ring picked out and stashed but he’s always looking for just the ~right moment~, and he doesn’t want to pressure Sasha- which is why when she takes him to the park on night and does the cheesy ‘dropping to one knee’ proposal he’s almost in tears from how happy he is

who walks down the aisle and who waits at the altar ( or neither )

Tim walks down the aisle with Sasha at the altar, sitting so that she has a chance to rest her legs. Walking has been difficult, since escaping the not!them

what their wedding dresses / suits / other look like

Sasha’s gone all out with the ivory corsetted ballgown-and-pearl blazer combo, gloves colored a brighter white- but Tim, in a matching corset over his pale blue sleeved shirt and trouser combination, is wearing the veil.

what their wedding colour scheme is and what sort of decor they have

it’s a winter wonderland in summer theme! Which works a lot better in summer than one might think; a nice, elegant mix of whites, blues, creams and violets, complimented by the sweet summer clematis that naturally grows and the open greenery of the venue. It’s almost all outdoors, but the reception’s in those tents- you know the ones?- and even though the mix of subdued colors and bright, vivid colors should clash, it just looks lovely, like two moments in time bleeding together

what flowers are in the bouquet ( if applicable. bonus: what do the flowers mean? )

white heather primarily (symbolizing protection, admiration, and that your wishes will come true) with two bright yellow sunflowers, the only points of sunny color in the wedding ;w;

what their vows are ( eg poetry, traditional, improvised etc. )

They both try to write out their vows at first- especially Tim, putting those editor skills to use, what a nerd- but Sasha gets so caught up in the emotion of the moment that she forgets everything she put down and just speaks from the heart

if anyone’s late to the wedding

Danny, by virtue is being like Super dead

who’s in the bridal parties / groomsmen / other

Jon, Georgie and Melanie end up with the groom’s party and Martin, Daisy and Basira end up in the bride’s party

what their bridal party / groomsmen / other are wearing

Sasha and Tim tell each and every one of them that the theme for the wedding is something totally different than it actually is and that’s why Jon is glowering by Tim’s side in a hawaiian shirt and Daisy is in full 18th century dress by Sasha’s side, alongside with things 1 and 2 What the Girlfriends and Martin dressed as a lounge singer. Only Basira had the sense to sneak into their wedding plans and is in appropriate colors. Tim and Sasha are smiling extra in group photos 

who gives speeches at the reception ( bonus: what do they say? recount a sweet memory or two between them? tell an embarrassing story? )

Tim says a few words, but Jon gives the best man speech. It’s an oddly emotional one, looking fondly back over their times in research together and even the times when things were a bit rocky between them (around s3), and they slowly reconciled. He’s just glad everyone’s here and alive to share this

who catches the bouquet( s )

Martin catches the first but Melanie catches the second that Sasha “forgot” she had 

what their wedding photos are like ( are they sweet, with the couple holding hands or kissing or ~gazing into each others eyes~? are they silly, with a snapshot of the ‘cake-smash’ moment? or are they artistic, with one of them facing the sunset or holding their bouquets? )

some of them are sweet! some of them are silly! but in each and every one, Tim and Sasha look as though they’re having the times of their lives, and the photos taken when they don’t know their photos are being taken just show them looking at each other with such love in their eyes. leaning forehead to forehead while taking the first dance. Tim glancing at Sasha with a soft smile as she reaches just a little too far over the table, jacket slipping off her shoulder a bit. Sasha glancing at Tim while he’s thumbing through the records near the DJ, looking concentrated for all the world. They’re just in love and they didn’t even expect to make it this far...

what sort of food they have at the reception

The kind of food you eat, I assume (and also a dessert table and candy bar!! can’t have a wedding without some vices!)

who cries first during the ceremony

Oh, Tim, 100%. He adores Sasha so much that it’s unreal, and she’s a little misty-eyed herself. (Also Jon is a fuckin wreck in the audience but this ain’t about him)

how wild their reception gets ( who dances the best, who gets drunk first, etc. )

Neither of them get blackout drunk but Tim ends up a little tipsy by the end of the night. They’ve all made a fool of themselves on the dancefloor at least once

what their rings are like

Sapphires and silver and diamonds that are specifically lab grown, because Tim saw Sasha get really enthusiastic about the invention of those and wanted to see if there were any on the market. Tim’s has the biggest diamond, though, since Sasha couldn’t rest if he didn’t have something as pretty as he was

what sort of favours they have ( heart shaped sparklers, mini champagne bottles, personalised candy etc. )

whatever can be found tbh! They have a fairly small wedding in the first place- Tim doesn’t have a lot of family left, and Sasha barely knows hers, so it’s mostly just something with mutual friends. All the decorations are free reign to nab

where they go for their honeymoon

Someplace tropical, with a lot of outdoor activities and a cultural history that they can both explore together! Maybe somewhere in Greece. Maybe that island from Mamma Mia. who’s to say

something memorable that happens during the party / ceremony ( do they run out of ice and someone goes to get it in full formal wear on foot, does anyone fall asleep in the middle of the party, etc. )

Martin gets drunk. Hoooo boy does Martin get drunk. Absolutely no one else knows why he just so happened to drink so much- Tim speculates that it’s because he got so distracted with the thought of having caught the bouquet, he just wasn’t watching himself, while Sasha reckons that the cocktails tasted too similar to the mocktails to know the difference. By the end he’s managed to make Jon so flustered he nearly slides on a tablecloth and everyone remembers that his makeup was somehow perfect even by the end of the night

who officiates the ceremony

Some fuckin dude? Maybe? Do you actually need someone to officiate the ceremony or

what song their first dance is to

Paul Anka’s Put Your Head On My Shoulder- is using a song from 1959 a little too esoteric ? Perhaps, but after this it’s just indie and obscure folk music mixing with 2000s pop for five hours

who gives who away as they walk down the aisle

No one. Tim walks down the aisle alone, but holds, in a closed hand, an old necklace Danny had given him. Danny, even in death, was the only choice he would ever make for this

[winter-chill]

RWBY 7 - 3 “Ace Operatives” Thoughts

So thoughts...

BOO!!! they didn't work on stuff themselves.. although if it was Pietro and not just random scientists, I'll let it go :) And i'l give him props for using the Amity fights footage (i'll talk more on weapons later)

Oh, dust mines, launch site... ghiest, oh that's gonna bring back some memories

God Nora being so giddy about her stuff puts a smile on my face

and the Blake/Yang nod, the first of so many bumbleby touches this ep

They're really trying to hit hard again with Jaune and that sash, though it was a good set up for his hair cut (since I wouldn't really think of cutting it now when he's in a cold climate ideal)

Another very slight, but nice detail about having Yang be actually armless, not just fixing it while it's on her. We need more points like this, or maybe i just like the idea of it, but having those details shown off and not forgotten is nice. Also that's a beefy arm, though I swear it looks larger in the intro?

Again, having Blake have an onscreen notice of her hair leads well into why it's cut (though not showing it on screen? nor how/why her weapon's fix being gold... missed opportunity , truly)

WAIT??? Ruby got a NEW cloak? BOO, I would have thought her current one was still the original, has she been swapping it with each outfit? but, all the cuts and tears, the detail and history from her past fights, lost :(

I'll talk about the Oscar scene when it shows up, not here

Again, lovely intro to their new looks, but... could have been more. Showing them actually zip things up, buckle them in, cutting their hair themselves. Just lots of little details that would have added so much

I'll say it again, I think Yang's new glasses look weird.. too anime for the actual show style, but, I guess they 'work' ?

Also they all look to Ruby, this is her mission, her shot to call, she's back with her team (just rwby) for the first time so it's good to see them keeping the team dynamic, she was leader for a reason.

OH THIS SONG IS A BANGER!!!! also, totally a Weiss song (it said mirror)

Bunny hopping Ruby :D adorable

SUMMON SWORD SURFING!!! Finally

Blake really making the use of that ribbon, a little detail they again seem to forget about during most of 4-6 until it's necessary (running from adam in V6)

And... yep, no nonsense Yang sticking with the classics, recoil  (( I take it back, Yang's arm is the same as the intro, though I still think it somehow got bigger than when she put it on ))

And end it all on an amazing pose shot

Okay Ace ops time. Harriet, let me see what that little backpack thing do. But for serious, rolling only stops you from getting hurt on small drops, not several hundred foot... Marrow though taking a similar root to Ruby, seeming to ride it down, but he's doing some troll physics there, "stand on chair, jump off building, jump off chair at last moment, you only actually fell 2 foot"

Also, boomerang, gun? Honestly I kind of dislike the generic gun looking form, would have been cooler if it didn't change, but just had a little barrel pop out an end when he needed to shoot.

And now JN- OMG ELM YES, Loving the attitude. Oh Vine what's that on your back? you wielding an expanding throwing star (three pronged)

erm, right... JN_R

so, we got, some sick new looks, Ren's ponytail especially. Jaune's hair (i was one to hate it at first) in motion looks great, the concept art didn't do it justice. Also holding his sword on his arm..... kind of reminds me of @kumafromtaiwan's design for Jaune

"okay Jaune, you got this, it's not gonna be like Beacon all over again"

Oh, is he gonna use his shield like a plow, smashing through rocks, or maybe as a wing and glide do............................

DID JAUNE JUST FORTNITE PARACHUTE SHIELD HIS ASS TO THE GROUND?

Moving on though, yep, Hard light dust was a genius move he would have stuck in his head from Argus, and opens up the question of adding (what i'm dubbing) Shield Shield, with his V4 Nuckelavee Sword Sword, to make hard light blades.... SWORD SWORD SWORD???

a quick little peak at his shield, the emblem lighting up as he shoots a blast to bounce him from hitting the floor, that better be used later too.

And another amazing pose shot!

Oh Elm, you really need to work on your social skills. Actually maybe all the Ace ops do?

POUTY NORA!!!

and, good luck bad luck duo for the final team, this'll be fun.

NEW SCROLLS! Love them, slim and cool, and with new team icons (c'mon girls, smile for your picture)

and that detail on how Ruby zoomed, Weiss had to summon, and Yang had some energy stored up, so their aura is down a bit, but Blake is 100%

THE EARS, THEY SENSE BEES

Oh Yang, adorable goof

Oh Blake, also an dorable goof!!!

And Marrow is indeed the baby of the squad, you said it well Harriet, if a tad harsh?

Weiss no, this is a bad place for your name, but you're here to make it a better one, to fix that remember!!

Has.. has no one taught Ruby to project her aura to keep her warm, or at the others just dealing with it better? Either way, same Ruby, i hate the cold

Okay, yes, Oscar chat time

I don't know what to say, I agreed with it the whole time. Atlas is in a mess, there are good and bad times to tell people, and it's nice that Ruby has her intentions, but this may have been the same path Ozma first took, hiding things "for now" but never finding a chance to tell the truth later... they just need to keep it in mind.

And Oscar, please look after the Relic, I can already see red flags over your head the moment you took it, be that from Ironwood doing shady shit, Watts/Tyrian stealing it, or Ozpin popping back up to use it's last question.

OH, Clover, hitting a man hard with that, bringing up STRQ :/ all those fanfics of Qrow ('s semblance) being behind Summer's death, they all feel more realistic

I almost forgot, Qrow's looking snazzy too, those cross buttons, the eye/feather emblem embroidery in the sleeves. No... no necklace though?

Oh god Qrow's getting shipped with everyone this volume it seems. Good catch Clover.... I MEAN LITERAL CATCH

Halfick? Halphr... what did he say? Don't bullshit me captions, that wasn't alpha

REN!!! PAY YOUR GIRLFRIEND SOME ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaune you dork, nice try?

Another great Bee moment, Yang too can sense a disturbance in the force.

Weiss this is great, but can you keep your emotional daddy issues and the racial discrimination of a whole people a little more separate. But it's nice to again see you trying to make some amends and distance yourself from being.. well, 'Jacques' and his actions

OOF, Marrow coming in, hitting hard, and then acting like he's.... a millennial "I'm just a teen who does research, what do I know, boomer"

this scene though. Issues and history of faunus oppression, followed by a Schnee apolagy, and a faunus using her traits to help fix the past for a new future... that's some symbolism

Oh, a jump scare, good thing about Blake's semblance there too

HARRIET YES!!!! BIG FISTS, JUST WHAT I WANTED!!! PUNCH THAT ROCK

And RW_Y right behind already running before the rumbles settled to help their girl

I LOVE THE GRIMM IN ATLAS. don't get me wrong, Deathstalkers are still top tier, but these things are awesome too

and now we get to upgrades!

Nice, so Yang has some trigger-able explosives, so she doesn't have to rely on her semblance to protect her when she's using his shotgun blasts

A subtle little thing there, Weiss being able to shoot an icle, not doing so from a glyph, but from the gun part of

Myrtenaster directly

Okay yes, this bugged me for so long. A scythe is a big weapon, the weight is in the blade as much as it is the handle, so having to turn it around all the time would be unwieldy and difficult in combat, so just a tiny upgrade like this is both smart, and amazing for Ruby to have realised she needed

Although I still don't get how shotting a bullet down the barrel, can give her swings an initial boost of speed........

Marrow really out here flying though the sky like he's on a zipline? though the buzz saw boomerang is, again, brilliant

Oh................ So the boy who cried wolf, can pause time? I erm- actually hold on, I need to figure out how that's logical......

I'm just gonna guess it's more "Harriet is moving so fast, he did this for dramatic affect XD

JN_R once again, taking a moment, a little nervous but willing and--- now they're very much not nervous, doing their thing, never first to run in, but never first to run away either.

Also, Vine has a stetchy arm semblance, and Elm has rooting feet semblance. Ye they make a good team (i ship them)

THERE'S THAT PURPLE SHIELD BLAST

And finally StormFlower is getting some love. I don't think they look different, but having those blades be used in more various ways... grapples were a great idea

and again, Nora using that spiked back of Magnahild for more than a place to stand when she launches herself, loving it!!!

Oh Jaune, being nervous dorky, Nora a little ashamed? or ready to be.. and Ren, quiet as ever (i think he's kind of looking up to Vine honestly) don't worry though, you kids did good

OH Harriet... you don't wanna be left out of the action do you :) RUBY YOU DORK! And that little back+forth was actually hilarious

Hmm, I was always wondering how a fishing rod could be a weapon.. i guess pulling a grimm in works, but what was your plan then, to punch the Ghiest?

OH MY GOD THAT ANIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

again, what are you doing Clover? At least Qrow knows his semblance, acting all "i'm gonna look around, things could easily go wrong here"

Good luck bad luck eh? OH MY GOD Qrow don't make that face, the people are gonna ship you two even harder now!!!

And the hammer duo charging in first... ye Elm/Vine is just Atlas' Renora, and I love that dynamic

oh, weird dust draft from Ren stopping, sweat boiling on the rocks... this room is gonna be interesting, mess things up a bit? fluxuating gravity, hot and cold spots maybe??? Ah yes, dust energy... makes sense

And Marrow in the background while we hear him on the coms, just a great little look at how Vine seems to be "distant" from the moment, doing the whole, Ren style of vague-speak

Ye it is kinda empt-- oh. Also good work having not just the face move, but the whole midsection being rotated... kind of as if, the face is stuck to that one position... COINCIDENCE?

Erm, does this one seem bigger than the V4 Ghiest?

And now we see Ruby trying to act as leader, pause to think, to come up with a plan, where as the Ace (while more experienced) seem to have both a plan on how to take it out, and might also be a little to reliant on Clover, knowing his semblance will fix any little issues

Oh that trumpet, a very self-knowing victorious tune.

And again, Vine and Elm doing a whole of semblance work, shame we don't see them use their weapons a bit more here, same with Marrow though not using his semblance (whatever it is) at all.

HEY WAIT. those black parts weren't there earlier, nor did they appear on the V4 Grimm until it needed them to pull toge- oh... they stretched the limbs to force both a space to cut them, and for the grimm parts to sort of 'be revealed'

And another eye colour semblance indication. Loving the runners pose Harriet does too. She's not time-pausing fast... (I take back what I said about Marrow's semblance earlier?) but things do act slower, even while she's running quicker than we'd see as normal in that moment. It's not time-pausing, but it's very very fast. And the motion blur trail!!, just a tiny effect, but it adds so much detail

Marrow really is the child of the squad, he's the one to make a mistake, but again- kind of had to rely on Clover there.. Interesting to see how things pan out when he's inevitably killed, or trapped, or just isn't there

Little details here and there. Vine using his semblance not just to grab, but to push the grimm back. Harriet taunting it to get it's attention and then getting out before it can hit her (but late enough that it keeps it's attention on her and really slams it's fist down). Elm again sticking to her name, rooting that fist down, being basically an anchor in all her actions. And Marrow... throwing his boomerang

UGH.. that little medallion touch pisses me off somehow, it's so pretentious? but anyway, he had a good idea, pulling it out by it's mask, kinda really relying on his semblance to get between it and the ice chunk without bouncing off anything. Again, very semblance reliant group

Erm... she punched the grimm.. but i wouldn't say it's dead.. are we gonna ignore that??? IT'S GONNA RETURN LATER I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT

Vine again grabbing dust, would have loved to have seen Elm basically kick one to stick it to her feet instead of just catching (or pinning herself to a wall to catch it, as if it was too high to jump and catch)

And Harriet going in for the catch, only for....oh.. that's the first thing RWBY or JNR did this fight? (also no weird dust affects, i feel upset)

But ohhh, her semblance isn't speed. I had this same issue in last volume, that her semblance early on was supposed to be speed, and yet she uses it to fly, to separate into several for moments, and she can 'merge' with others to carry then, when like for Nora in V4 her reaction speed should have been way too slow to really be ready for when she was basically thrown at the previous ghiest

AY yep, I'm shocked if Ruby has control over her eyes, she never tried to flash them off during this whole scene... but again, after Maria's story, hiding them from people we don't fully trust is better

And another little bee moment, Yang flirting with them puns

Omg! Elm carrying Ruby, Yang and Nora dancing, love this group dynamic

Hey, it's that guy from last episode, why are we... Robyn?

huh, kinda spooky... flickering lights... Robyn, watts, or...

TYRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you not wearing your coat, it's cold remember! but that entrance, reminds me again of that "Cheshire cat inspiration" people first thought of back in his V4 reveal

HIS EYES!!! So whatever he does that triggers them is still apparent, and his stinger either still uses his own venom, or it's semblance related

And that line. He's here to mix things up... either he's finally gonna kill someone and let the police find out (unlike last ep when his victim was in a building, it'll take time till that's discovered... oh wait, blood) or he's here for info maybe?

[eerythingisshaka]

The Coffee Prince Pt. 3

(T’Challa x Reader)

  *Part 1*   *Part 2*

Word Count: 4.8k

Plot:  Stuck in your ways of living, one day at the coffee shop, you run into a tall dark roast that threatens to wake you up from your romantic hibernation.

*Previously*

Hi, I hope this is the right number.  (Y/N), I’m just calling to see if you would come with me to the music festival this weekend.  I don’t know if you heard about it or if it is your thing, but it sounds like a nice time.  We could just walk around, enjoy the sounds.  Uhh, just let me know when you get the chance, or I may see you at our favorite place.  (laughs then clears his throat)  Umm, but yeah, sorry for the long message.  This is T’Challa by the way.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Your phone prompts you to save or delete the message and you carefully save it before you listen a couple more times.  Putting your phone away you turn on your side, squeezing your legs together to bring yourself back down again.  You remind yourself that this is still just nothing more than two people meeting up at a public place with a bunch of other people.  No one has claimed nobody yet.  But like Tavia said, gotta milk it for what it’s worth, and how you feel right now is pretty damn priceless.

You had today on your mind every minute up until now.  When you woke up for work, you felt fully rested and eager to get through the day.  Not even the worst attitudes from customers could dampen your high from getting that call from T’Challa.  What a name, a melody of possibility in your head whenever you thought about him.  You purposely avoided the coffee shop just to make sure to keep anticipation at its peak.  You felt so silly thinking about it.  Tavia told you not to get too excited because it could still not count as a date yet.  The music festival was a 3 day bender, with hundreds of people attending.  She thought something so large and public wasn’t something a dude would choose if he is trying to choose you, in her nicest opinion.  You took her advice with a grain of salt, but one thing that couldn’t be denied is that he wanted to spend some time with you and that’s that on that!

The day of your date, you put yourself through nothing but self-love and self-care to get yourself in the right mindset.  Your playlist of bops hype up your spirit as your Aztec healing clay mask dry whilst you diy’d a mani-pedi for yourself.  Rinsing your face of the dried clay, you feel reborn, giving yourself kissy faces and posing to the beat of your jams.  For your hair, you had to go back and forth with yourself on what to do.  Your hair was currently in two-strand twists, so should you let them down, showing off all you defined curl beauty?  But it’s hot, so maybe a top bun or a faux hawk type of style could fit the festival vibe.  Or maybe save some time and step up the glam with one of your colorful headwraps.  Would he be offended, like you’re trying to be too into his culture or…

You decide to go for a half up, half down do.  Taking down your twists you pony your hair right on top of your head, spreading your curls out, leaving the other half to flow freely down the nape of your neck.  You put in some hoops, and some shorts to show off your most prized possessions.  You thank God and your mother for your gams.  A cool patterned tank and your gold gladiator sandals, you feel about ready, taking a glance in the mirror.  Your curves looked more ready than you felt as you checked the denim hugging your hips, the glint of your epidermis taking up all the attention.  You were a little self-conscious about having your thighs rubbing together or the shorts riding up, but those thighs were getting some attention today, so to hell with that!  Your tank was loose with large holes for the arms so your bra showed in places, which you loved cuz it was a cute one and them titties were sitting proper.  Your phone notifies you of your Lyft outside.  You get your crossbody bag and head out.

Closing your bedroom door Tavia sitting in the living room in a big old t-shirt and bonnet, eating some hot chips, watching the TV.

“Hey girl.  You look dope, wow.”  Tavia said deadpan, without even looking your way.

You click your tongue, “Why you playin? You didn't even check me out.  How I look?”  you say with a twirl.

Tavia looks back at you.  “Mhm, definitely catching somethin.  You shave?”

“Yeah, moisturized, the works.”  You say looking your legs over.

Tavia waves her chip at you, “Nah, nah.  Did you SHAVE though?”  She asks, wide eyed, sucking the hot red dust off of it comically.

“Girl!  Ain’t nobody tryna smash tonight!  What’re you taking me as?”  

“Well damn, why not?  Listen, you walk through here with some carnival game prize bigger than the door, imma assume he got some head.”  Tavia says.

“Shut your ass up!  I’m gone.  I’ll text you the danger phrase if this goes awry.”

“That’s mama’s baby!  Good Night!”  Tavia says throwing up the peace sign as you walk out.

The ride to the festival felt like a cross country journey.  You took the time to recheck your make-up, fan yourself from sweating since the driver seemed to not believe in A/C.  You went through different scenarios of greetings.  Hey!  Wassup?  Hi, how are you doing?  Funny seeing you here!  You fan yourself again trying to calm down, feeling idiotic with every minute.  Maybe it wasn’t the lack of air that was the issue.

Your phone beeps, probably Tavia hyping you or humbling you one last time.

I’m here, outside the entrance when you get here :9

The symbol at the end of the text message was not something you were familiar with, so hopefully it's not a blatant sign for something.  But you hopped in your seat a little. ecstatic at the message.  T’Challa was early, AKA on time and waiting for you!  God, what better way to have a man: ready and waiting.  And the only acceptable occasion for them to come early.

The car pulls up in the parking lot a few yards from the hoopla and you thank them as you get out.  Rows of cars lined the lot and the makeshift grass-converted parking area.  The cacophony of noise you here from the distance welcomed you as you walked down the sidewalk toward the welcoming banner until you saw him.  T’Challa paced slowly to and fro, looking up towards the sky, hands behind his back.  He dressed very comfortably, in a dark green buttoned down short sleeve shirt with some embroidery design on the front, accentuating his ample shoulder span.  T’Challa’s forearms were reporting for that duty, with biceps on deck.  Your pace feels slows as your feet become weights pounding the pavement.  Your nerves get to you as your mouth dries out.  Mixed with the summer heat, and you were officially the epitome of thirsty.  You try to have a proper strut down before he notices you: confident, bouncy, baddie.

T’Challa glances and finally sees you and a smile appears instantaneously on his face as he freezes in place to observe you coming up.  You try to hold your smile down as much as possible.  You don’t want to give him the upperhand of seeming too eager but damn, he looked fresh.  Within talking distance, you exchange greetings.

“How are you, (Y/N)?”  T’Challa asks pleasantly.

You nod humbly, “I am great, thanks.  How about you?”

“Much better now.  You look amazing this evening.”  T’Challa says with a quick glance over you.   Not even in a sleazy way, just like he truly appreciated your style, the apples of his cheeks practically popping off his face.

You start fanning yourself, giggling almost uncontrollably.  “Aww, I know I look a lot different outside my work clothes.  I can’t compare to these arms you decided to let out the house today.  Where you been hiding them?”  You say, turning up the flirt a little so he knows it's real.

T’Challa chuckles at you boldess, “Ahh, stop it.  My sister suggested this shirt.  I wondered if she was setting me up for something.”

“Mhm, for a thirst trap definitely.  But it’s great.”  You’re so starstruck.  “Uh, your text had an odd symbol at the end of it.  What does it mean?”  You pull out your phone and show it.

“Ahh, I meant a smiley face.  I;m not the best texter unfortunately, so typos will happen.”  He puts his hands in his pockets anxiously.   “Are you ready to go in?”

“Yup!  Let’s hit it!” You say excitedly.  T’Challa gives the ‘after you’ motion with a wave of his hand.  Once y’all make it inside, you feel overwhelmed with the crowds of people walking through, dancing, talking.  You get caught up in the scene, your mind fades out not sure what to tackle next.  

“Do you want to walk around?”  He asks over you.

You turn to see him waiting on your answer.  Your introversion was coming back strong.  

“Uh, yeah.  Sorry, let’s walk.”

Walking down the way you pass through see a couple acts performing.  Nothing really bumping in the section you guys are at.  You check T’Challa in your peripheral and he is just looking around, not saying anything.  There is so much you could say but you don’t know the precedence to say it in.  The worst thing about dating for you was the talking and getting to know each other.   

“Do you know any of the acts that were performing today?”  T’Challa asks you.

Shit, you thought.  You didn’t even research anything about this festival.  That would’ve been a great ice breaker.

“Uh...no.  I didn’t.  This could’ve been a country music hoedown and I’d be none the wiser.” you say pitifully.

T’Challa nods, “So, not a fan of the twang vocals of cowboys and saloon girls?  What music do you listen to?”

You shake your head smiling, “Not ‘cowboys and saloon girls’ though!  But those kinds of questions are too hard to ask!  I listen to so many kinds, I can't devote myself to a genre.  Even country sometimes, even though I lowkey trashed it just now.  It has to be done right, white people always take it and bastardize it.”

“Blues, jazz, rock n roll…”  T’Challa lists.

You say with a clap, “Exactly!  We get stuck with the short end of the stick, erased from history.”

“I feel similarly.  I am spoiled by my country’s sound.  I have other artists that I enjoy but I stick to a certain group of them.”

“Any that I heard of?” you ask.

He thinks a moment.  “That's the thing too, I'm not good with names!  I enjoy the art and almost entirely ignore the person creating it.”  You look at him incredulously.  He puts his hands up in surrender.  “It’s bad, I know.  But I enjoy a lot of old school acts, R&B, soul. And of course local bands from Wakanda.”

“You will have to let me listen to some of your music then.”  You say, suddenly shy again.  Did that come off too strong?  Too eager, as per usual.

T’Challa makes a subtle grunt noise, stopping next to you, “Oh, so you definitely want to see me after this, eh?” l

You smile as your stomach does NOLA bounce routine.  Trying not to answer right away, you fake a thinking pose, “Slip of the tongue, but we will see how the night goes.” you say teasingly.  

You guys walk past concessions and T’Challa offers to buy.  

“What do you desire?” he asks.

Looking over the menu, you really hadn't worked up an appetite yet but you sure as hell was hot in the unforgiving humidity.

“Just a slushie, please.”

“Good choice. What flavor?”

“Red.”

T’Challa looks back at you confused, “And by chance, what flavor is red?”

You roll your eyes, “Are you pushing your respectability politics off on me? Red is red, I said what I said.”

T’Challa laughs at your antics, placing the order with the cashier.  He gets one too, in blue.  You both walk down the way, enjoying your treats.

“Mm, this is so good.  Thanks for buying.” you say as you eat the sugary ice.  The coolness radiates through your body against the evening heat.

“You don’t have to thank me.  You’re too polite; I’ll have to fine you for your courtesies.”

“Nooo, I’m poor, please!”  you look to him with puppy dog eyes for forgiveness

T’Challa sips from his straw as he mulls it over.  “I’ll let you off with good behavior, for now.”  

“Too kind, my good man.”  you say before sticking your red-dyed out at him in jest.

T’Challa laughs at your action, “Your maturity is unmatched.”

A bell dings nearby and a crowd erupts.  One of those strong man meters is set up and is obviously a crowd favorite.  

“Hey, you think you could do work on that over there?”

T’Challa checks it out shaking his head slightly unsure, “Ahh, I haven’t been to the gym in a while, I don’t know…”

You look over at the worker passing a teddy to the patron, “Well, I want to at least get a consolation prize.  I’ll give it a go.  Hold this.”  You hand your empty cup to T’Challa, strolling over.  

“Madam, would you like to take a crack at it?”  The candy striped worker said, handing the mallet your way.

“Damn right!”  you say confidently.  

“You can do it!”  you look behind you see T’Challa, beaming, holding up both cups.  You square up and take a swing.  No bell rung, and it didn’t make it past wimp, but the thrill was nice as you came out of your shell a little more.  

“Nice try, young lady, nice try.  But no one goes away empty handed.  For you!”  the candy striped man gives you a mini plushie duck fitting the palm of your hand.

“Thank you!  It’s so cute,”  You say, walking away smiling at the cute animal in hand.

“Maybe it’d ring if she sat on it.”  a nearby voice said.

A white guy red as a beet sneers as you catch his eye, sipping his beer.  You feel your good vibes disintegrate as he smiles pridefully at his joke, you.  One thing that you haven’t been able to shake yet is how hurtful comments to your face about your weight can be.  Remnants from your childhood made for a shaky foundation in your establishment of your worth.  You knew these crowds would be an issue eventually.

“You sir, you’d like a shot?”  You didn’t even notice until he had the hammer in his hand, but T’Challa was at the game getting ready to swing down.  The ball shot up the column, rang the bell like a thunderclap, and knocked the dome clean off of it.  

T’Challa looked over to the man in the crowd pointing the hammer his direction, “If you can only find confidence in talking down to others, I would suggest you lay your head right down here next time, so I can drum some sense into your brain, eh?”  The white man was wiping his shirt, looking back at T’Challa all shooketh.  He must’ve jumped out of his skin when T’Challa brought the hammer down.

The candy striped guy picked up the dome of the bell, “Uh, sir, did you want your prize or…”

T’Challa lays the hammer against the game, “Yes, my good man.”

The worker handed T’Challa a large, plush black cat.  T’Challa took it, striding over to you.  Your heart swelled with delight as he handed it to you.  Not been to the gym in a while, my ass!, you thought.  Those arms, back, shoulders, with some thigh assist didn’t lie though.  You hugged your prize close.

T’Challa stood in front of you with concern, “Are you ok?  I’m sorry if I acted out of turn.”

You looked at him shaking your head, “Don't apologize, or I’ll have to fine you!”  you say with a wag of you finger.

“T’Challa smiled with relief, “He had no right to speak to you like that.”

You sigh, “I’ve heard it before, and I’ve heard even worse.”  You start to walk on as T’Challa followed.  “It was hard for me to fit in growing up at first because of my size, so I was bullied early on.  But I started beating people to the punchline and the bullying soon stopped.”

“Do you ever believe the things people say?”  T’Challa asked.

“No, not all the time anyway.  It’s gotten better since college.  I look at a lot of body positive people online and learn some tricks to cope.”

“(Y/N), I won’t tell you how to feel but anyone that talks about you with ill intent is either insane or not completely right up here.”  He says pointing to his head.

You gained comfort from the respite T’Challa gave you.  “I know, and sometimes it's not even them.  I can be my worst critic.  But I know not to fall for the smooth talking Negros that like to prey on the vulnerable too.”  you say pointedly.

T’Challa looks to you mouth agape, “I don’t consider myself a smooth person, so I won’t take that as a warning to me.”

“Oh please!  You waltzing over to threaten the guy in my honor?  Smoove.  Buying me a water a while back to soothe my scalded tongue?  Smoove.  The fact that you even got me to talk to you?  Smoover than smoove.”

T’Challa laughs, “All right, enough!  It’s not on purpose however.  Certain traits become exemplified when I’m around certain kinds of people.”  He looks at you smiling before looking on.  You hug your cat tighter.  Which cat you ask?  WELL......

T’Challa goes on, “and I'm no stranger to bullying myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I have a very smart alek, very calculative jester for a little sister who has no end to calling out my uncool ways.”

You laugh, “Little siblings are the worst. I know, cuz I am one, and we have that right!”

“Bast, when will the tyranny end!”  T’Challa calls to the skies.

A stage nearby lights up with low glow blues and purples, yellows and greens.  The a crowd erupts as the act is about to  start up and you hear something familiar.

“Oh my God.”  You freeze in your place.

“What is it?”  T’Challa asks worrisome.  

“Do you know them??  Oh my God!” You say without anything else, running into the crowd as the act steps up to their mics.  

T’Challa trails you until you reach a stopping point.

“Oh my God, The Internet!  Syd!  Oh my GOD!!”  You scream waving around your plushie.

Syd tha Kyd steps to the mic, crooning the crowd with her soft falsetto.  You sing along right with her, enamored by the surprise.  You look to T’Challa in all the excitement and you catch him smirking at you, nodding along to the music.  You take his hand and raise it up to sway side to side on the track, the electricity you felt being a mix from your idols and the foine dime to the side of you.  You booty bump him playfully to get him loose, he bumps you back.  All worries are cast away as the songs envelope you both, each one drawing you nearer to him, hands clenched the entire time.  

Their set wasn’t long, but you guys stayed for the entirety of it as the night sky cast over the park, stars decorating the sky.  The temperatures became bearable as the sun finally fell.  Torches lit the way for you all to see and walk around.  Once The Internet finished their set and the crowd dispersed, you and T’Challa start scoping for some grub.

“Do they have any wings around here or cheese fries, or somethin?”  you ask out loud.

T’Challa looks over the vendors signs and points, “Ahh, your wish is granted!  I’ll go ahead and order.”

“Wait!  I can’t eat wings AND cheesy fries, I was just playing!”  You weren’t but you wanted to be a lady.

“It’s ok, I’ll get both and we can split.  I’ll be back!”  Breaking from you, he walks on.

You hold your plushie close to you as you wait.  Looking around the park you think this would be a perfect picture moment for the gram.  Pulling out your phone you see you have a text from Tavia.

Ummm, what happened to texting me to make sure things were good though, like….

You text her back.  I was supposed to let you know if things are BAD.  No news is good news right?

Going to the camera, you shoot some scenery shots.  Looking over your options, Tavia texts back.  Well my bad!  Ok, keep doin you boo!

T’Challa comes back with wings in one hand, cheesy fries in the other.  God, you didn’t know what looked better:  the food or him.  And you were hungry regardless.  

“I got some waters too.”  He said, handing you the fries so he could get the waters from under his arm.  

“Ooh, good thinking.  Let’s find a spot to sit.”  you say as you take down a fry.  Walking into the park you find an unoccupied bench and sit.  The faded music in the background was very chill, setting the mood.  T’Challa takes a wing, eating the meat off.  You absentmindedly watch his mouth chew as he ate.  The muscles of his jaw masticating, his concentration to get every bit off the bone.

T’Challa wipes his hands and looks to you, “You were amazing back at the stage.”

You snap out of your trance, thinking over what he said, “Listen, I didn't do anything.  Syd and them, were going off and they haven’t made a bad track yet.  I’m only a fan.”

“It was pretty cool to see you so free spirited.  And I heard you a little.  You have some singing in your background, eh?”

You make a so-so motion with your hand, “I mean, a little bit.  I’ve never done it for an audience but my shower is a long time fan of mine.”

He laughs, “It’s really captivating to watch.  I wasn’t sure how comfortable you were here, but the music brought out another side I really enjoyed seeing.”

“Right!  I appreciate you noticing that.  I wasn't sure either cuz I’m such a homebody and then that guy.  I still can’t wrap my head around you standing up for me that way either.  I never had that happen for me.”

“Oh, Bast!  I haven’t had someone so endearing to do that for.  He doesn't know anything about you, otherwise he would’ve dusted the ground for you to walk.”

You laugh with your hands on your hips mockingly, “Well you haven’t even done that!”

“I can't defend the Queen and clean the quarters!”

You dismiss him with a wave of your hand.  “By the way, I heard you say that before.  What is ‘Bast’?”

“Where I'm from that is a religious figure that some follow.  A panther God.”

You cock your head to the side in curiosity, “Ohh do you have rituals, symbolism, and things around it?”

“Of course!  Chants, dances, the works.  Every religion just about does.  Do you follow a Christian God?”

You nod.  “Mhm, Team Jesus right here.”

T’Challa smiles, “Well, we have similar teaching just the practices stray off.”

“I always wondered about what religion I would have, had it not been for, you know.”

“Luckily my family does not know of that life, but I understand.  God is all around us, comes in many forms in my opinion.  I try to give honor wherever I am that things still grow, the earth still spins, things like that.”

You look up at the sky overwhelmed with the sensations of a successful evening, “God, it’s so beautiful out.”

He looks up.  “The city sky does not compare to a Wakandan one, for sure.”

You look at him, his neck stretched back wanting to touch it, “Tell me about it.  Your home.”

He leans back, resting his arm across the back of the bench.  “Words couldn't do it justice.  But just think about the most beautiful scenery you can imagine from nature shows, or pictures in a magazine.  Then amplify it by one hundred.”

“You still have family there?”

T’Challa smiles to himself, “Yes.  Mother, sister, and a bunch of people I consider family.  It’s a close knit community”

“Wow.  Do you miss it?” you ask.

“I do, all the time.  But I haven’t thought about it once tonight.”  Looking up to you, his eyes trained on your face.  He says tossing a wing to the side, looking away in the distance again; clenching his jaws, resting his hands on his thighs.   He looks nervous.

While studying his face you notice a unique detail to his hairline.  “You have the most adorable widow’s peak.  Just look at that.”  You reach over, stopping midway as he looks at you expectantly, “Do you mind?”

He shakes his head.  You lightly feel the curls that bunch to form this hereditary marvel.

“I wish I had one.  It adds so much character to one's appearance.  Like you need any but it’s like a little treasure.”  you say smirking as his curls tickled your fingertips.

While touching it, you look at T’Challa who is focused on you, not saying a word.  Mouth slightly agape, his eyes look to your mouth then back at your eyes.  If there was ever a chance to kiss him, this was probably it.

“Uhh, did you hear me, or…” you say trailing off and chickening out, moving away a little to ease the building arousal between you.

“I want to compliment you now.”  He says reaching for your hand, holding it.  “Your eyes have an innocence that makes me feel unworthy to hold your glance.  But I can’t help but to not look at you.  You remind me of every beautiful trademark that makes a woman special.  I could go on, but I don’t want to offend you.  But I hope I can get to know more of you, so I can verbalize it properly.”  

You look down at his long, knuckley hand holding yours. “T’Challa I don’t want you to talk about me anymore.”

T’Challa looks concerned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

You stomach trembles inside as you try to find the words, “No, I know what you mean.  But this is a lot for me to take in.  I’ll say it’s been a while since I’ve been paid attention to like this, so it’s kind of overwhelming but…” you move his hand and inch closer.  “I’m not a big conversationalist so I just want to...”

Your lips find each other, softly embraced in a kiss made for fairytales.  But you felt so much more than what the kiss portrayed: excitement, joy, aroused at the fact that his face meshed with yours so perfect.  His hand found the small of your back as your hand caressed his face gently to ensure the reality of it all.  Breaking away slowly you both stare into each other, high off on the clouds of infatuation.

“Man, I dig you.”  You say trying to break some of the romantic tension.

He smiles, “And I dig you, umhle.”

You smirk, “What that mean?”

“Something you should be very familiar with: ‘beautiful’”

“I could get used to that definitely.”  you say, embracing him once more.

As much as you could stay on that bench forever, it was getting late and the mosquitoes were being disrespectful.  T’Challa offered to take you home when the time came, but you needed a break or you might invite him up.  You car arrives and you hug him goodbye.  His hands wound around your back firmly, you securing yourself around his shoulders you take a mental note of his frame, so comfortable and meant for you.

“I had a great time, T’Challa,” you whisper in his ear.

“The pleasure was mine, (Y/N).  Let me know when you’ve arrived home safely?”

You nod, giving him a peck on the cheek for good measure.  You get in the car and he closes the door behind you, seeing you off.  You hug your panther plushie tight to your face as you recap the evening.  You were practically buoyant as you rode home, petting your prize tenderly, wishing it was T’Challa in your lap.

Making your way to your apartment, you open the door to see Tavia knocked out on the couch, and even bigger mess of snacks surrounding her and the table as she snores.  You slam the door to wake her up.

She startles awake, looking at you squinty, “Well damn, What time is it?”

“Maybe, midnight by now?”

“Mm, decent hour, must not have given up the draws.  Well go on and tell me about it”  She wipes her eyes, getting a better look at you, noticing your plushie.  “Uh-uh!  You got a prize!!  What did I tell you!”

“Bitch, I didn’t suck his dick.  I’ll talk to you in the morning.”  you say feigning tiredness.

“How fucking dare you!  I aint get no sleep cuz of you, you aint gettin none cuz of me!”

“Girl, you were just knocked out!  Go to bed.”

“But-”

Good night Tavia!”

You close your room door, tossing T’Challa Jr. on your bed.  Kicking your shoes off, taking your hair down, you pull out your phone.

Home safe!  You send to him.  You put your phone down and unclothe to get comfortable.  Suddenly a ding sounds and you dive for your device.  

Glory to Bast.  Sleep well, umhle.

You read it a couple of times before setting your phone back down.  Laying down, you clutch your prized possession T’Challa won you to your chest as the day’s event float in your head: euphorically exhausted.

Part 4

Other Works

King Kil’mawalls  

T’akia

N’Jadaka’s Helpful Hands

Some Weeks Are Better Than Others

Commencement Day

Song of Stevens

My Ragtag

@sweetpeachjones@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade@hairhattedghooligan@universalbri @therevolution-willbelive@you-like-this-chain @sarcastic-sunshines @airis-paris14 @afraiddreamingandloving @kreolemami

No mans land Tags

afraiddreamingandloving groovybbyy and nyeebey, yall here too! I just can’t tag you for some reason <3</p>

[euroman1945-blog]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – Archeological News From Around The World

Friday 22nd June 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  So much is being discovered, it’s almost on a daily basis, bodies, castles, graffiti, palaces, the list goes on, of course modern methods of examination of the ground certainly help, Lidar being a huge success in the archeological world, but quite often its old fashioned methods that reap rewards, understanding of poetry in one case today, I guess that there is a little Sherlock Holmes in a lot of Archeologists……

MUTILATED BODIES UNCOVERED IN ENGLAND…. CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Archaeological investigation ahead of road construction in Cambridgeshire has uncovered the graves of two men whose legs were chopped off at the knees, according to The Guardian. The men’s skulls were also smashed in. Archaeologist Kasia Gdaniec of the Cambridge County Council said the men are thought to have lived in the late Roman or early Saxon period. Their bodies were buried in graves placed at right angles to each other. The upper part of another body was found in a timber-lined well about 165 feet from the graves. The well had fallen out of use, and had been partially filled in with rubbish when the torso was deposited with its head intact. “People talk about the archaeology of conquest, but I have never felt it as strongly as here,” said Gdaniec. “The Romans arrive, the people who were here are completely subjugated, everything changes and is never the same again.”

BRONZE AGE VILLAGE DISCOVERED IN CHINA…. HOHHOT, CHINA—Xinhua reports that a 3,000-year-old village covering about four acres has been found in northern China. Pottery, ditches, and three tombs are currently under excavation. “The discovery will provide new reference for studies on archaeology and culture in [the] southeast region of Inner Mongolia during the Bronze Age,” said Cao Jian’en of the Inner Mongolia Regional Institute of Archaeology.

SEVENTH-CENTURY INSCRIPTION FOUND AT TINTAGEL CASTLE….CORNWALL, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that words and letters were found carved into a seventh-century slate window ledge in a building at Tintagel Castle in north Cornwall. The inscription, thought to have been a doodle or a scribe’s practice work, include the Roman name Tito and the Celtic name Budic. The Latin words fili, or son or sons, and viri duo, or two men, were also carved into the two-foot ledge. A triangle may represent the Greek letter delta. There is also monogram made up of a letter “A” with a “V” inside it and a line across the top. The combination may have been a Christian symbol, since “A,” or “alpha,” was often associated with a Christian description of God. Some of the words were written in the formal script found in illuminated gospel works, while others are informal in style. Win Scutt of English Heritage said the letters support the interpretation of Tintagel as a literate, Christian port with trade ties to Europe and the Mediterranean. Further study will try to determine whether the scribe was left or right handed, and what sort of tool might have been used to carve the letters.

TOBACCO USE IN NORTH AMERICA PUSHED BACK 1,500 YEARS…. TROY, ALABAMA—The Cherokee One Feather reports that tobacco use in southeastern North America could date back 4,000 years, or about 1,500 years earlier than previously thought. Stephen B. Carmody of Troy University and his colleagues detected traces of nicotine in a smoking tube dated to the Late Archaic Period, when the residents of the Flint River archaeological site were beginning to domesticate plants. The smoking tube was unearthed in the late 1930s by Tennessee Valley Authority archaeologists in northern Alabama who conducted excavations before the area was submerged by the damming of the Tennessee River.

POSSIBLE PALACE FOUND IN JAPAN…. NARA PREFECTURE, JAPAN—According to a report in The Asahi Shimbun, traces of a large structure built during the first half of the eighth century A.D. have been found at the Miyataki archaeological site in central Japan, near the banks of the Yoshinogawa River. Archaeologists think it may be the main building of the Yoshino no Miya palace, mentioned in historic records and poetry as a place frequented by emperors, based upon its size and design. Scholars have been looking for the palace for years, and assumed it had been placed safely far away from the river, in the mountains, with views of the river. “I previously thought the poem depicts the palace in an exaggerated way,” said Makoto Ueno of Nara University, “but Yoshino no Miya was likely a detached palace to enjoy the beauty of the Yoshinogawa just as depicted in the poetry.” Michio Maezono of the Nara College of Arts added that the placement of this building could have facilitated religious services to honor the river god.

STUDY OFFERS CLUES TO IRELAND’S BRONZE AGE ENVIRONMENT….VANCOUVER, CANADA—The Vancouver Star reports that researchers led by Eric Guiry of the University of British Columbia have tracked the effect of deforestation and farming practices on the nitrogen cycle through the chemical analysis of Bronze Age animal bones from Ireland. The nitrogen cycle is the process of how the element circulates through the atmosphere, land, and oceans. The more than 700 bones in the study came from some 90 archaeological sites across Ireland. The test results suggest significant changes to the nitrogen composition of soil nutrients—and therefore the food chain—occurred when land use became more intensive through deforestation, agriculture, and grazing some 2,000 years ago. Guiry thinks small-scale agriculture up until that point was likely to have had little impact on nutrients in the environment.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the archeological news from around the world this, morning… …

Our Tulips today are a view from the Wooden Shoe nursery in Oregon looking towards Mt. Hood...

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Friday 22nd June 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus #travel #news #love #blog #crime

[flotsamie]

11 and 12?

11.) describe your writing process from start to finish.

This one is a pretty long one so I might make another post about this. And remember, it’s always important to know that there is no single process that works for everyone, you’ve gotta come up with what works for you by testing stuff out. 

I use OneNote, so my writing process is split up into different sections: Notes, Worldbuilding, Characters, Planning, Outlining, Story, and Edit. 

Within my Notes section I mostly brainstorm. I write down inspirations, aesthetics, themes [motifs, symbolism], premise, and aesthetics. Here I’ll also put down sample pieces of the work I’m working on, if they come to mind. Notes is the rough and basic planning. 

Worldbuilding and Characters are pretty self-explanatory sections. If I have a fictional world I’ll create pages on culture, government, magic/science systems, religion, etc. The most important part of my worldbuilding process is the geographical design, in which I format the actual location out using a world/country generator and organize where all the important locations are. Worldbuilding is usually optional if I’m doing a real-life location or a fictional town. For a real-life location, I’ll usually do some research on the side and put all the necessary information into the Worldbuilding section. For a fictional town, I mostly just design the basics for the setting likes landmarks, etc.

In the Characters section, I’ll create a list of all the characters in the novel and do biographies for the POV, antagonist, and secondary characters. 

Planning is where it gets tricky and I’ll probably go more into it in another post. For Planning, I essentially try to expand the main conflict and premise as well as designing character arcs and subplots on the side. 

Outlining is where I get rid of all the creative fluff of writing and smash some scenes together to see if they work. Usually I’ll create a list of what I know needs to happen in the story, then fill in the blanks with necessary links and subplots in order to flesh out the character’s arc. Then I’ll put everything in chronological order and divide the scenes into chapters. 

Story is where I write. Simple enough. Also, important note, I don’t write in chronological order. And, trust me, it helps a lot if you’re struggling with writing currently. 

Editing is where I edit. This consists of re-organization chapters, reading them over and adding notes on the side. After I’ve finished with this, I usually re-write. 

12.) how do you deal with self-doubts?

I look them dead in the eye and say: “fuck you, doubts,—I do what I want”. 

Then my doubts laugh in my face and make me spent my entire night wondering if I’m meant to be a writer. 

Just kidding (not really). 

In all seriousness, you’ve got to confront your self-doubts and tell them to fuck-off. Otherwise, you’ll never get anything done. It’s hard and I definitely fail at it sometimes, but the only way you overcome something is to face it. 

It’s better to face it and fail, then to never face it and suffer the consequences of you not following your dreams to the fullest extent. 

Thanks for asking!

Ask me more questions from this list: https://writerniche.tumblr.com/post/169315634497/new-ask-game-for-writers

[je55ika]

Series & Systems Evaluation

The thing I wanted to achieve the most during this project was to do something out of the ordinary, I didn’t want to just do a bar chart or something, I wanted to push the boundaries and peoples idea of what an infographic is because I myself am guilty of seeing it as something boring and full of figures, thats what motivated me in this project and whilst doing it I found lots of amazing designers who absolutely smashed my preconceived idea of an infographic.

When I look back through my project I see that I had a lot of feedback from a lot of different people and I think that really helped my development throughout because most of the things I changed were off the back of feedback I was given. Mostly changing things that seemed obvious to me but reminded me that I need to take a step back and see if from other peoples point of view. 

I think overall my time management was good, I made use of different lecturers and speakers to help guide me and I looked at lots of inspiration to help me create something different. The only thing I wish I had was time after the final feedback to then maybe go back and work on the project again, or even to do two different versions as some said they liked the more chaotic graphic that had many symbols but I made the decision as the designer to do the simplified version for ease of use so I stuck with that and took that forward. I feel like sometimes if it’s too hard or complicated people can’t be bothered to spend the time working it out, there is a fine line between being intriguing enough to make them want to work it out and then it being too much.

For future projects I think the area I would like to improve on is being more experimental, to get out lots of ideas all in the early stages and go through them as I feel like sometimes a good idea can come to you whilst you’re exploring an idea you’ve already had. I would like to give myself time to be able to develop my tangent ideas a bit more, I know that it is hard to do when you only have a one or two week project but I feel the more I practice it the quicker I’ll become at it.

The main thing I learnt in this unit is to put yourself in the audiences shoes. From getting your idea to the final piece as I spent a long time thinking that no one would find my idea interesting, or that the audience would see the same things I see because I’ve done all the research to back up my ideas but the audience doesn’t see that part, they are looking at it with no context really. I will continue to get feedback from lots of different people as much as possible as I really feel it’s invaluable.

[flopostslove]

London Calling...

(Ok it’s really Suffolk calling, but hey I've got your attention now!)

This is the FCB (Flo’s Ceremony Blog) and here is the news... (said in a posh BBC newsreader’s voice circa 1940′s)...

Ok...so scene kinda set, here is the blog! 

I was soooooo excited by this brief... create a ceremony that incorporated Alan and Steph’s love of history and in particular WW2 and all things Bletchley Park, spies and codebreakers.

Challenge accepted and with my thinking cap on Kev and I headed to Bletchley Park itself to do some research...Totally fascinating place and I really do encourage anyone with an interest in our island history to pay a visit. Dilly Knox, Alan Turing and their thousand or so other colleagues are brought to life and their work explained in fascinating detail...

Anyway, so whilst there we happened across the wedding display in the Mansion House and this REALLY got me thinking...

Let’s start at the very beginning of the planning phase and the symbolic element of the ceremony. 

CODE BREAKING...

Bletchley, as we all know, was the home of the Enigma code breakers and some the staff were recruited after they had solved the timed cryptic crossword puzzle that had been printed in the Daily Telegraph on January 13th 1942...

So, okay then, let’s have a bit of fun I suggested...let’s set your guests the challenge of solving a ‘weddingword’...nothing too taxing, but something that would be a little bit different as part of the ceremony.

Alan designed the puzzle and we decided on the clues, only one of which was cryptic ( they all needed a little bit of help with that one, but more on that in a mo...)

THE FINISHING TOUCHES... 

The next thing for us to tackle in the planning phase were some of the finishing ceremonial touches. The happy couple wanted to sign a certificate and obviously I needed to print out their reading and vows to each other...hmmmm  

What little extra touches could I bring into the ceremony, props and the like that would really take us back to the era???

Long before mobile phones and emails, we were sending telegrams, and it was customary for a couple to receive several on their wedding day, especially during the war, from friends and family who could not travel to their ceremony.

(the display in the mansion at Bletchley and the source of my inspiration.)

So I decided to recreate telegram for their wedding certificate and reading! 

I have to say, I‘m quietly chuffed with how they all turned out.

RESEARCH CONTINUED...

And then it was onto the ceremony writing itself...history books and Google, great resources for any budding ( and established) celebrant!

 I soon found all the information I needed to create some really personal elements within their ceremony...I WAS in my own element. A period of time I am fascinated with too...

THE NAILS...

Anyonewho knows me, knows I WILL always endeavour to have my nails done to match the theme...they are on display for the ceremony so they have to look neat and tidy...this ceremony is no different...and thanks to Elle at the Station...they rocked the theme too ( with a little crossword of LOVE)

THE CEREMONY...

Woodhall Manor in Suffolk ... (gorgeous venue btw) was our setting for the day 

stepped in its own history it was perfect for Alan and Steph.

The fabulously talented Sarah Probert, got us in the mood with some classic 40′s songs before I walked in and set the scene with my period newspaper...had to be done, no point buying a prop and not using it! 

Steph entered after her bridesmaids, escorted by her proud dad, and serenaded by Sarah. 

Alan swallowed the lump that rendered him incapable of speech ( for about 30 seconds at least ) and then a banter filled ceremony commenced...we certainly had a giggle...

We solved the puzzle...

What was Severus Snape’s last word to Dumbledore when he was talking about Lily Potter? (ALWAYS)

Where did Alan propose to Steph? (BLETCHLEY)

This is a bit of a cryptic clue…What does Alan think he is a bit of ? Or if that is too hard… What is the name of the encryption device that made Bletchley Park necessary?  (ENIGMA)

They exchanged the most wonderful of vows ...here’s just a snippet from the Groom’s....

‘I take you to be my blah blah blah blah blah and all that guff…

This is no ordinary wedding and it calls for some inventive speaking from yours truly! 

Just like you and me this ‘Do’ is certainly not conventional. 

A quote I remember well is very fitting here “I know we’re not ordinary but whoever loved ordinary?” 

So, let’s get on with the show…’

Before we recruited our secret spy witnesses to help the happy couple sign their certificate...

And then it was on to my closing address...what wise words could I leave them and their guests with??

Pretty easy really. Did you know that Winston Churchill was as big on marriage guidance advice as he was on inspiring wartime speeches? After all, he did tell us his biggest achievement was getting his wife to agree to marry him...so I KNEW there would be some pearls of wisdom I could expand on..coupled with a few gems from the book Marriage Advice For Newlyweds circa 1940...I was onto a winner... a rather contradictory winner, but a winner nevertheless! 

I loved working with these two to create something truly special and very personal to them. Everything about their whole day just screamed the 1940′s...their special touches, the seating plan and OMG...THE CAKE!!! 

BEST CAKE OF 2020... ( And its only February!)

Everyone was commenting on how different their ceremony and their day had been, and that's what I had set out to achieve...I’m only a small cog in a large wedding wheel...but its a cog that should be integral to the rest of the day! 

The photos and comments shared over the past couple of days just show love radiating out of everyone and THAT IS just how it should be !

Memorable and reflective of each couple, their loves and passions and their individuality...

That’s why you use a celebrant, we really come into our own creating ceremonies like these!

‘Michelle is absolutely fantastic, she catered for our needs and wants. Took consideration for our theme and smashed it xxx’

[meditationadvise]

The Psychology of Luck — A How-To Guide On Creating Your Own Luck

Some time ago we had an article by Dr. Richard Wiseman on producing your very own luck. It was most definitely an eye opener however it ends up that it was just the pointer of the iceberg. The study, researches, and proof showing that you could create your very own luck isn't really simply fascinating. It's at times downright bizarre!

It's a little a long read, I understand, yet when I began, I simply couldn't stop. Every word is a gripping flight via the oft mysterious mind that comprises you and also me.

Oh, and also I truly like the component regarding black felines as well as good luck. Read listed below and also you'll recognize what I mean.

If you have not obtained time as well as desire an extra condensed version of Dr. Wiseman's article, inspect this out >>

...

The Luck Factor

By Richard Wiseman

A ten-year clinical research right into the nature of luck has actually exposed that, to a big level, individuals make their own great and negative fortune. The outcomes likewise show that it is feasible to enhance the quantity of good luck that individuals come across in their lives.

THE POWER OF SUPERSTITION

People have searched for an effective method of enhancing the good lot of money in their lives for many centuries. Fortunate charms, amulets, as well as amulets have actually been discovered in essentially all people throughout recorded background. Touching (" knocking on") timber dates back to pagan routines that were designed to generate the assistance of benign as well as effective tree gods. The number thirteen is seen as unlucky because there were thirteen people at Christ's last supper. When a ladder is propped up against a wall it creates an all-natural triangular which utilized to be considereded as symbolic of the Holy Trinity. To stroll under the ladder would break the Trinity as well as therefore bring unwell fortune.

Prof Richard Wiseman is based at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, and also has acquired a global reputation for study into eccentric areas of psychology, including deceptiveness, wit, luck and also the paranormal.He has actually composed three best selling publications. The Luck Factor explores the lives and also minds of lucky individuals, Quirkology checks out the interested scientific research of daily life, as well as 59 Secondsinvestigates the scientific research of self-help as well as fast change.A passionate supporter for science, Prof Wiseman is popular for his media looks, prominent talks, live performances, and also massive studies. He has been invited to speak at The Royal Culture, Microsoft, Caltech, as well as The Royal Institution. Over 1 million individuals have participated in his mass involvement experiments, and his YouTube network has received over 8 million views. Prof Wiseman additionally consistently functions as an innovative professional for print, broadcast as well as new media.

Most recently, Prof Wiseman has aided create Telepath - a mind-reading psychological app for the iphone.

Many of these beliefs and behaviors are still with us. In 1996, the Gallup Organization asked 1,000 Americans whether they were superstitious. Fifty 3 percent of individuals stated that they went to the very least a little superstitious, and also 25 percent admitted to being somewhat or very superstitious. Another study revealed that 72 percent of the public stated that they possessed at the very least one good luck charm.

Superstitious ideas and behaviors have actually been given from generation to generation. Our parents told us concerning them as well as we will pass them on to our kids. Why do they persist? I think that the solution lies in the power of luck.

Throughout background, people have actually recognized that great and bad luck can transform lives. A couple of secs of ill lot of money could lay waste years of aiming, and also minutes of excellent luck could save an enormous quantity of difficult work. Superstition represents people's attempts to regulate and improve this most elusive of elements. And also the enduring nature of these superstitious notions beliefs as well as habits mirrors the degree of people's desire to find means of raising their excellent luck.

In short, superstitious notions were produced, as well as have survived, due to the fact that they promise that many elusive of divine grails-- a means of improving great fortune.

TESTING SUPERSTITION

There is simply one trouble. Superstitious notion doesn't function. Several scientists have actually likewise tested the credibility of these age-old beliefs and also found them desiring. My preferred experiment into the subject was a rather unusual research carried out by high school pupil (as well as participant of the New york city Doubters) Mark Levin.

In some countries, a black feline crossing your course is considereded as fortunate, in other nations it is seen as unlucky. Levin wished to find whether individuals's good luck really transformed when a black feline crossed their course. To discover, he asked two people to try their good luck at an easy coin tossing video game. Next off, a black cat was encouraged to stroll across their course, and also the participants then played the coin tossing game a second time.

As a "control" condition, Levin additionally duplicated the experiment making use of a white, rather than a black, cat. After much coin throwing and pet cat crossing, Levin concluded that neither the black or white pet cat had any type of result on participants' luck.

Also, doubters have routinely staged occasions in which they have broken well-known superstitious notions, such as walking under ladders and smashing mirrors-- all have actually made it through the challenges intact.

A couple of years ago I chose to put the power of fortunate appeals to the test by empirically reviewing the real result that they have on individuals's good luck, lives, and also joy. I asked a group of volunteers to finish various standard sets of questions determining their levels of life complete satisfaction, joy, and luck.

Next, they were asked to carry a lucky charm with them and to check the result that it carried their lives. The appeals had been purchased from a New Age facility and guaranteed to improve good ton of money, wealth, and happiness. After a few weeks every person in the group was asked to indicate the result that the beauties had had on their lives.Overall, there was definitely no effect in terms of just how pleased they were with their lives, exactly how delighted they were, or how lucky they felt.

Interestingly, a few participants believed that they had actually been especially unfortunate, and appeared rather happy that they could currently return the charms.

THE LUCK PROJECT

Superstition does not work because it is based upon outdated and wrong thinking. It comes from a time when individuals believed that good luck was a strange force that can just be controlled by magical rituals and unusual behaviors.

Ten years ago I chose to take an extra clinical investigation right into the idea of good luck. I chose that the most effective method was to check out why some individuals are consistently lucky whilst others encounter little yet ill ton of money. In other words, why some individuals appear to live charmed lives packed with lucky breaks and possibility encounters, while others experience one calamity after another.

I positioned advertisements in nationwide newspapers and magazines, requesting for individuals that considered themselves remarkably fortunate or unfortunate to contact me. Over the years, 400 amazing guys and also females have actually volunteered to take part in my research study, the youngest 18, a pupil, the earliest 84, a retired accounting professional. They were drawn from all walks of life-- business people, factory workers, teachers, housewives, physicians, secretaries, and salespeople. All were kind enough to allow me place their lives and minds under the microscope.

Superstition comes from a time when people assumed that luck was a weird pressure that might only be regulated by magical routines and also peculiar habits. Jessica, a 42-year-old forensic researcher, is typical of fortunate individuals in the group. She is currently in a lasting connection with a guy who she satisfied totally by possibility at a supper event. Great ton of money has actually aided her accomplish several of her lifelong ambitions.

As she once clarified to me, "I have my desire job, two terrific kids, as well as an excellent guy that I enjoy extremely a lot. It's incredible, when I look back at my life I realize that I have actually been fortunate in simply concerning every location." On the other hand, the unlucky participants have actually not been so fortunate.

Patricia, 27, has actually experienced rotten luck throughout much of her life. A couple of years back, she began to work as cabin crew for an airline, and also rapidly gained a reputation as being accident-prone and a poor omen. One of her very first flights had to make an unplanned stop-over due to the fact that some passengers had actually become drunk and abusive.

Another of Patricia's flights was struck by lightning, as well as simply weeks later a 3rd flight was forced to make an emergency landing. Patricia was also persuaded that her sick fortune can be moved to others therefore never desired people all the best, because this had triggered them to stop working vital meetings as well as tests. She is additionally unlucky in love and has actually startled from one broken partnership to the following. Patricia never seems to obtain any lucky breaks as well as always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Over the years I have actually spoken with these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, personality sets of questions, and also intelligence examinations, and also welcomed them to my research laboratory to take part in experiments. The searchings for have actually revealed that luck is not an enchanting capability or the outcome of random opportunity. Neither are individuals birthed lucky or unlucky.

Instead, although fortunate and unlucky people have nearly no understanding right into the actual root causes of their great and also misfortune, their thoughts and actions are responsible for much of their fortune.

My research revealed that fortunate individuals create their own good luck via 4 basic principles. They are knowledgeable at producing and discovering chance possibilities, make lucky choices by listening to their intuition, develop self-fulfilling prophesies by means of favorable expectations, as well as take on a resilient mindset that changes rotten luck into good.

CHANCE OPPORTUNITIES

Take the case of chance possibilities. Lucky individuals consistently run into such possibilities whereas unfortunate individuals do not. I executed a really basic experiment to uncover whether this was due to distinctions in their ability to spot such chances. I offered both lucky and also unfortunate individuals a newspaper, as well as inquired to check out it and inform me just how several photos were inside.

On average, the unfortunate people took around 2 mins to count the photos whereas the fortunate people took simply secs. Why? Due to the fact that the 2nd web page of the newspaper consisted of the message "Stop counting-- There are 43 photographs in this newspaper."

This message used up fifty percent of the web page and also was written in type that mored than 2 inches high. It was staring every person directly in the face, but the unfortunate individuals had the tendency to miss it and the lucky people had the tendency to detect it.

Just for fun, I put a 2nd huge message half way through the newspaper. This one announced: "Quit checking, tell the experimenter you have seen this and also win $250." Again, the unfortunate individuals missed the possibility because they were still too hectic trying to find photographs.

Personality examinations disclosed that unlucky people are generally far more stressful and also nervous compared to fortunate individuals, and also research has actually shown that anxiety interferes with individuals's ability to see the unanticipated. In one experiment, individuals were asked to see a moving dot in the facility of a computer display. Without warning, huge dots would periodically be flashed beside the display. Almost all individuals noticed these large dots.

The experiment was after that repeated with a 2nd group of people, that were used a big monetary reward for precisely enjoying the facility dot. This time, individuals were much more anxious about the entire scenario. They came to be really concentrated on the center dot and also over a third of them missed out on the large dots when they showed up on the screen.

Lucky individuals produce their very own great fortune via 4 fundamental concepts. They are competent at developing and seeing possibility possibilities, make fortunate choices by hearing their instinct, create self-fulfilling prophesies by means of positive expectations, and adopt a resistant perspective that transforms bad luck into excellent. The more difficult they looked, the much less they saw.

And so it is with luck-- unfortunate people miss out on possibility possibilities due to the fact that they are too concentrated on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their best partner therefore miss out on opportunities making good pals. They browse newspapers figured out to find certain kind of job promotions and therefore miss out on various other kinds of work. Lucky people are more kicked back and also open, as well as a result see what exists instead of just exactly what they are looking for.

But this is only component of the story when it pertains to chance possibilities. Numerous of my fortunate participants went to substantial lengths to introduce selection and alter right into their lives. Prior to making a vital choice, one fortunate participant would continuously modify his route to work.

Another individual described an unique technique that he had actually created to compel him to fulfill different kinds of people. He had discovered that whenever he mosted likely to a celebration, he had a tendency to speak to the very same sort of people.

To aid interrupt this regular, as well as make life more fun, he thinks of a shade prior to he arrives at the celebration and also after that decides to only speak with individuals putting on that color of garments at the party! At some parties he only talked to women in red, at an additional he talked specifically to men in black. Although it could appear unusual, under certain scenarios, this kind of actions will actually increase the amount of possibility opportunities in individuals's lives.

Imagine living in the facility of a large apple orchard. Each day you have to venture into the orchard and also collect a big basket of apples. The very first few times it won't matter where you decide to check out. All components of the orchard will certainly have apples as well as so you will be able to find them any place you go. As time goes on it will certainly come to be much more and much more tough to discover apples in the places that you have gone to before. As well as the more you return to the exact same locations, the more challenging it will be to discover apples there.

But if you make a decision to always go to parts of the orchard that you have actually never seen in the past, or perhaps randomly determine where to go, your possibilities of discovering apples will be substantially increased. As well as it is exactly the exact same with luck.

It is very easy for people to tire the chances in their life. Keep speaking to the exact same people similarly. Keep taking the same route to and from work. Keep mosting likely to the same put on holiday. However brand-new or perhaps random experiences present the capacity for new opportunities.

DEALING WITH BAD LUCK

But a fortunate life is not practically producing as well as noticing opportunity possibilities. One more crucial principle rotated around the method which fortunate as well as unlucky people managed the unwell ton of money in their lives.

Imagine being decided to represent your nation in the Olympic games. You contend in the games, do quite possibly, and win a bronze medal. Just how pleased do you assume that would certainly really feel? A lot of us would, I think, be satisfied as well as proud of our achievement.

Now think of transforming the clock back and also contending at the same Olympic games a 2nd time. This time you do even better and win a silver medal. Exactly how satisfied do you think you would certainly feel currently? The majority of us believe that we would certainly feel happier after winning the silver medal compared to the bronze. This is not shocking. The medals are a reflection of our performance, and the silver medal suggests a better efficiency compared to a bronze medal.

But study suggests that professional athletes that win bronze medals are actually better than those who win silver medals. As well as the factor for this involves the means in which the athletes consider their performance.

The silver champions concentrate on the idea that if they had executed a little better, then they would have maybe won a gold medal. In comparison, the bronze medalists concentrate on the idea that if they had actually carried out slightly worse, after that they would not have actually won anything. Psychologists describe our ability to envision exactly what could have occurred, instead than what actually did take place, as "counterfactual."

I questioned whether lucky people might be using counter-factual believing to soften the psychological influence of the sick ton of money that they experienced in their lives. To figure out, I chose to existing fortunate and also unlucky people with some unlucky situations and also see just how they reacted.

I asked lucky as well as unfortunate people to think of that they were waiting to be served in a bank. Suddenly, an armed burglar enters the bank, terminates a shot, and the bullet hits them in the arm. Would this event be lucky or unfortunate? Unfortunate people had the tendency to claim that this would be significantly unfortunate as well as it would certainly be simply their misfortune to be in the financial institution during the robbery.

In comparison, lucky individuals checked out the situation as being far luckier, and also typically automatically commented on just how the scenario could have been much even worse. As one fortunate participant commented, "It's lucky due to the fact that you could have been fired in the head-- likewise, you could sell your story to the papers as well as make some loan."

The differences between the lucky and also unfortunate individuals stood out. Fortunate people have a tendency to envision spontaneously how the poor good luck they experience might have been worse and also, in doing so, they feel better regarding themselves and also their lives. This, in turn, helps keep their assumptions regarding the future high, as well as, increases the probability of them continuing to live a lucky life.

LUCK SCHOOL

I wondered whether the principles discovered throughout my job could be made use of to enhance the quantity of all the best that people encounter in their lives. To learn, I produced "luck institution"-- a series of experiments checking out whether people's luck can be improved by obtaining them to assume as well as behave like a lucky person.

The job made up two almosts all. In the very first part I met participants on a one-to-one basis, as well as inquired to total basic surveys gauging their good luck as well as exactly how completely satisfied they were with 6 significant areas of their life. I after that described the four major concepts of good luck, clarified how lucky people made use of these to produce good luck in their lives, as well as described straightforward strategies made to assist them think and behave like a fortunate person.

For instance, as I noted earlier, without recognizing it, lucky people often tend to make use of different techniques to develop opportunity opportunities that border them, how you can damage day-to-day regimens, as well as the best ways to deal better with misfortune by picturing how points might have been worse. I asked my volunteers to invest a month executing workouts and after that return as well as explain what had happened.

The outcomes were dramatic. Eighty percent of people were currently happier, much more pleased with their lives, as well as, probably most essential of all, luckier. Unfortunate people had actually come to be fortunate, and fortunate people had actually become even luckier.

At the start of the article I described the unfortunate life of Patricia. She was one of the very first people to participate in Luck College. After a couple of weeks accomplishing some easy workouts, her rotten luck had completely vanished.

At completion of the training course, Patricia cheerfully described that she really felt like a totally various individual. She was no much longer accident-prone and also was much better with her life. For once, every little thing was exercising her way. Other volunteers had discovered enchanting partners with possibility experiences and work promos merely through fortunate breaks.

POSITIVE SKEPTICISM

After One Decade of scientific research study my work has disclosed a significantly new method of taking a look at luck and the important role that plays in our lives. It shows that much of the good and negative ton of money we come across is an outcome of our ideas and also behavior. Much more notably, it stands for the potential for adjustment, and has actually generated that most evasive of holy grails-- an efficient method of boosting the good luck people experience in their day-to-day lives.

The project has also demonstrated how suspicion can play a favorable duty in individuals's lives. The study is not simply about unmasking superstitious reasoning and also behavior. Rather, it has to do with encourging people to move far from a magical point of view and toward a much more sensible view of luck.

Perhaps most crucial of all, it has to do with making use of science as well as uncertainty to boost the level of good luck, joy, and also success in individuals's lives.

[thereallygoodblogshow]

MA Fashion and Textile Practices Major Project Path - 28th May

Having a chat with Jo and filling out my PDP Self Assessment Evaluation Form has really helped me set some structure to my Major Project path. Receiving my feedback for TMA 1409 Processes module also helped me gauge which way my research and practical work should be going, and now I feel I have a relatively clear path ahead of me. 

Looking through my feedback from the processes module there were some great points made which I want to look at:

The comment relating to social media networks and how we communicate as people is an interesting point. Speaking to each other through text speak and emoji’s has lost some of the resonance language can portray, was I using the printed T-Shirt as a poetic vehicle? Or was I wanting to bring back some poetry to the way we communicate? Maybe I am. I am an older person and have embraced social media and communicating through it as an everyday norm, but I do hanker for those communications to say more, and to be said well, maybe my T-Shirts could do that.

The next comment was regarding what archetypes or symbols would future tribes relate to. The space on a T-Shirt is a limited one (although mine will be over-sized, so I have a little more scope than usual) so choosing what and how to say what you want to say is incredibly important. We all relate to symbols - we see logo’s and branding on a daily basis, and ancient symbols still resonate with us today, but which of these speak to future tribes? And how can I incorporate these into my designs?

In my processes blog I had used a music video to make a comment regarding the use of tribal style music within television advertising, and how it could subliminally encourage a sense of togetherness through a brand or product. The comment in my feedback was in regard the association of music and the band T-Shirt, and how as a medium it could also create a sense of belonging - to feel part of a tribe. Looking at Punk for example would be a great place to start as it not only encapsulated an entirely different kind of music, but was a movement, a prolific shift in culture and society - and had the T-Shirts to say as such.  

Looking at the above comments I began to think What is today’s poetry? What words speak to us on many levels and evokes so much emotion? To me it’s music and lyrics! So why not have a T-Shirt covered in song lyrics?! It was only the night before I had watched an episode of the American crime drama/comedy ‘Barry’ which depicts a hit man wanting to change his ways for the better, so he joins a acting class to become an actor. The expected mayhem and hilarity ensues, but there are also moments of real pathos. At the end of that particular episode the end credits music is ‘Smashing Pumpkins  -  Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ which is a great track from their 1995 album ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’. I then have the main chorus line running through my head all evening - ‘Despite all my rage/ I’m still just a rat in a cage’ - and wake up with it in my head the next day.

Smashing Pumpkins [Smashing Pumpkins]. (2011, Aug 2). The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly Wings [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-r-V0uK4u0

To me, that line is saying that we can get angry about the things done to us, we can protest and we can fight, but at the end of it all we are still controlled by governments and overlords. We are like test subjects - likes rats in a cage. Although it’s not all in vain like the song title suggests; we are delivering our message, albeit slowly, and we can still do something as long as we keep protesting and fighting - we will eventually change the status quo. The point is that we have the rage in the first place and are not apathetic to the ones who deem to repress us. 

Another song which sprung to mind was ‘Green Day - Letterbomb’. I had previously mentioned a line from it in my conversation with Jo - ‘Where have all the riots gone?’ - whilst we were discussing why people don’t riot as much any more. The song is taken from Green Day’s multi-platinum selling 2004 album ‘American Idiot’, an album which means a lot to me as I listened to it a lot whilst living in Spain with my husband, and throughout our consequential break-up. The song was not released as a single so there isn’t a official video for it. I found a YouTube video with the track and lyrics which actually works quite well to get the point across.

SrpskiStevieG [SrpskiStevieG]. (2011, Apr 14). Green Day - Letterbomb lyrics [Kinetic Typography] [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjuUMA6W9Zs

I feel this song is a call to power. We know what’s wrong with our society and what we need to do but we have become apathetic to it all. The chorus says ‘It’s not over till you’re underground/It’s not over before it’s too late/This cities burnin’/It’s not my burden/It’s not over before it’s too late’. It’s like a conversation with those apathetic ones, they’re saying what’s going on isn’t their fault, it’s not theirs to worry about but in the meantime society is collapsing all around. Whilst Billy Joe is saying but it’s not over until you die, until then we can all do something to change what we’re unhappy with.   

As I mentioned Punk is one shift in culture stemmed from political and social contestation where we have seen real change, but there are many other areas I can look at. It was suggested that looking at times which have been marked by artistic and creative expression such as Bauhaus, The Pre-Raphaelite’s, Pop Art etc would give a greater sense of purpose to the imagery I could use within my work. What could be the next cultural movement? Why is the use of text and graphics so important to mark these shifts? What events caused us to make these cultural shifts in the first place? Looking at the political agenda at the times of these cultural shifts may serve to address the above questions also. Society is effected by the ruling of the few, so creative expression becomes an outlet for our sentiments and emotions.

Black and white as a medium makes a striking statement, that’s why newspapers are still mostly monotone - with the exception of advertising, and that black text is more legible on a white background. So it was suggested that looking into newspaper posters and advertising would be a good course of research. I immediately thought of human billboards and the vintage black and white photographs they are depicted in. This then led me to think about The Suffragettes and how they used themselves as advertising for their own campaigns and how they and their advertising literature was so graphically noticeable. The same could be said of the protest march banners of today, we all have something to say and to shout about! I feel looking at these areas will serve to strengthen my research path and enable a more realised conclusion. 

I will look back over my first project proposal and see what research areas and methods I still want to continue with, and to incorporate these new paths along with them. It was also suggested within my feedback that I look at the website I had discussed previously as this could be a great platform for my practical work as well as a way to promote myself as a business. I think telling the story of my MA journey could be interesting, and along with some photographs of my finished practical work it could look impactful.

A Blurb book was also mentioned as another way of putting a narrative to my MA path, which is something I may consider. I created a book on Blurb whilst I was on my BA Graphic Design degree course, and it worked rather well, so I will consider this as a possible option further down the line.

My PDP form based on the above responses to my feedback is as below, it also discusses my plans for my practical work as well as the research directions I have mentioned: 

I am feeling excited to see how my practical work will look, I can envisage what I want it to look like but need to get it down on paper. I thought I could do a layout plan on Illustrator of the front and back of each T-Shirt mixing up the fonts and lyrics to get the look I want to achieve. I also thought about hand writing some of the lyrics and well as printing, spraying etc. I have some pieces of leather which I thought I could also use to form some of the text I want to add, so thought I could just apply this with fabric glue for a hand-made ‘punk’ look. With limited funds I will wait until I get paid to buy fabric and more materials I need, but I have acquired my sewing machine so will be ready to go once I have got everything together. I thought planning ahead with layouts on the PC first would help me visualise what I wanted to do and save time with the process later.

[jackfallows]

What’s a Cryptogram Puzzle Post? An Autobiographical Essay on Comics, Symbolism, Magic & Game Mechanics

Back in March this year, I began probably my most ambitious self-publishing project to date – Cryptogram Puzzle Post. The main barrier I’ve faced in terms of marketing so far is that it isn’t easily summed up in a sentence but this is also what I find most infectious about it from a creative perspective. For now, I’ve been describing it as ‘a monthly bundle of interlinking puzzles, codes, spells and illusions inspired by witchcraft and alchemy’. If you want to know more about what that looks like in real terms or how you can support it, there’s lots of information over on the website.

But I wanted to get into the guts of it here because although it may seem as though it’s sprung out of left field, it’s actually been a natural, even inevitable, distillation of all the things I find fascinating in life. And I want to define the links and interplay between those things because deconstructing everything is also a favourite pastime of mine, and kind of the umbrella under which the whole project could be placed.

So let’s start with comics - the love of my life and the medium and community that has served as the well from which I’ve drawn the majority of my craft. First off, let me just say that I think the comics industry is as problematic as any other kind of mass media industry. For starters, it’s unfairly pigeon-holed when represented in more mainstream media like television, so that our cultural understanding still tends to follow two very tired assumptions; either they’re about superheroes and therefore for straight, white, twenty-something men with poor social skills, or they’re sub-literature designed to bridge the gap into ‘proper’ literature for young people (and as such are silly and should be ‘grown out of’ by a certain age). I think these stereotypes exist for a reason but of course, I don’t subscribe to either of them and it’s been very encouraging within my lifetime to observe a significant shift in not only attitudes towards comics but also a diversification of their content, audiences and creators.

However, in no way is this to say that the industry isn’t still rife with abuse, misogyny, bigotry, and fascism in certain pockets; from Frank Miller’s steady decline into a paranoid right-wing fantasist to the endless list of creators who have been called out for sexually aggressive and/or abusive behaviour to little or no repercussions; not to mention the almost weekly onslaught of covers objectifying women’s bodies so barely-acknowledged at this point that it’s almost become its own tradition. And the list goes on, of course. In other words, there have been countless reasons to bow out of comics over the years, and where that urge has avoided me then at the very least I’ve felt a tangible level of trepidation when meeting people for the first time and telling them I’m a cartoonist, or work in a comic shop, or collect comics.

But the thing that keeps me coming back is the medium itself, the mechanics, the symbolism, the process, the untapped potential and the infinite possibilities not yet explored (impeded, even, by the cultural assumptions discussed above). People like Scott McCloud, Lynda Barry and Chris Ware have explored these ideas in ways far smarter than I could or would presume to here, so if you want a more thorough exploration than the one I’m about to offer, I recommend seeking out their work, writing, interviews and talks on the subject. But here’s how I think a life in comics has given way to this project, and why I think fans of comics have responded supportively to it so far:

Comics are a language of symbols. When a cartoonist draws a character, object or background, they’re rarely trying to recreate the way we engage with those things in real life, and if they’re the kind of cartoonist I get excited about, they’re also not trying to recreate the way we engage with those things in any other medium either. That’s why ‘wide-screen’ comics, photorealistic artwork and other such tropes tend to turn me off – trying to force Hollywood in there where it simply isn’t needed, overlooking the tools at your disposal, borrowing too heavily from more socially accepted mediums, following the money etc. all just leave a weird taste in my mouth. On the other hand, the cartoonists I admire concern themselves with trying to distil characters, objects and backgrounds into a form that will convey the idea or feeling they wish to communicate most efficiently. This is why when I run comic book workshops, the first thing I try to establish with participants is that being a skilled illustrator is not a prerequisite for making a successful comic book.

If it was possible to just smash that idea, we would not only kill part of an unhelpful culture surrounding comics that sees it being graded unfairly against other mediums in what we perceive as its “ballpark” – i.e. in terms of what TV shows or illustrations have that they don’t (slick production values or soundtracks for example), but we also see something like the recent groundswell in indie comics publishing where suddenly hundreds of unique voices are not only speaking loudly, they’re being heard for the first time and are being the first things heard by a new generation of fans.

The comic artists I most enjoy have an understanding of clarity, flow and immediacy, and they can bend those skills to fit a multitude of purposes, art styles, lengths and formats. From a creative perspective, that immediacy is also one of the most soul-crushing aspects of the medium as a creator too; often the hours of tedious monotony and forwards planning and experimentation is concerned with subtraction – it’s about streamlining the work to a point where the images and text become so consistent to the reader that they almost go actively unnoticed, only registering on a subliminal level. The potential hours that can be put into creating a panel may very well be to achieve the aim that it is only ‘read’ for a fraction of a second between other panels. Conversely, drawings and compositions can be utilised to make you linger, they can offer modes of engagement that are intrinsically linked to the story, or that act as a set-up for a contrasting pay-off later on. They are a medium; a language of symbols that it is discouraging to see so many people learn only to the extent you might learn the conversational basics of a foreign language at school. There’s a lot to be said beyond asking the time and ordering drinks.

And this habit of reducing things into symbols is manifest in so much of human endeavour for as far back as we are able to catalogue and observe; whether it’s the language systems we’ve developed to communicate with each other, the records we’ve kept as cave paintings, hieroglyphs, tapestries and books, the short-hands we use in our study of chemistry, mathematics, engineering and so on, down to the instant-recognisability we aspire to with logos and branding. And this last arena is a true testament to the power of symbolism, as it has given way to one of the most competitive industries on the planet. Capitalist and consumer culture relies on our almost primal relationship with symbols in order to thrive – what is McDonalds without the golden arches? What is Coca Cola without swirly white lettering against a red background? Symbols permeate everything we do, from the red, amber and green lights on our roads to the WiFi symbol stuck to the coffee shop window.

But our understanding of these symbols is a learned one; there is often no inherent link between the signifier and the thing it signifies, except a common (but not necessary) visual clue. Even words themselves are meaningless sounds and shapes until we actively build those connections between them and our lived experiences; which is to say there is nothing inherent in the word ‘orange’ that has anything to do with the fruit or the colour; if I wanted to (and I don’t) I could teach my child when he’s born that ‘orange’ is the word we use for chairs and he could go on reclining on oranges without any confusion about what that word meant on his part. In other words, a symbol out of context is devoid of content. And the meaning of symbols is not fixed or immune to personal, cultural or historical forces either.

So where does witchcraft and alchemy come in? Well that part is probably less surprising to people who know me or my work but there were slightly more considered reasons than pure aesthetic preference (although it’s still not certain which reasons had most bearing on the decision). I’ve been fascinated with witchcraft for a long time but have only properly started researching over the last year or two. To begin with, I was gearing up to make a long-form comic about a present-day coven that would act as a vehicle to explore the survival and recovery of abused people and their associated mental health issues.

The more documented history I’ve devoured, the more distinctly I recognise an evil that has survived the ages, as rampant now as ever before but appearing very differently – namely, man’s hatred of (powerful) women. Not only that but I recognise a culture of deafening silence surrounding abuse and/or the mistreatment of people suffering with mental health difficulties. There is so much parallel to be drawn between the dangerous and hysterical witch-hunts carried out by hateful, bigoted and above all terrified men in Salem during the 1690’s and their counterparts on Twitter, 2017. But I’m not about to draw those parallels because, like with the mechanics of comic books, far more qualified and interesting people have already taken the time to do this for us. As a survivor, a queer and a person who suffers from mental health issues, there is enough in there for me to identify somewhat with that history while also being so foreign to it that there is always more to learn.

This is especially true where actual practiced magic is concerned, as opposed to baseless prosecutions against hated women who weren’t witches. For example, actual witches frequently used (and still use) symbolism in their craft, science and medicine. Alchemy was considered magic until science caught up and now we shorten ‘alchemist’ to ‘chemist’ when we pop into Boots for our prescription. These were people breaking ground based on experimentation and intuition, understanding the flow and symmetry in the world and using that to redirect things when they got out of whack. Lots of it probably didn’t work, or worked as a placebo, lots of it did but not yet very efficiently, lots was deliberate superstition but all was carried out with conviction that there was more beyond what we can currently name and observe in the world, and there is good reason to explore it.

As part of my own recovery process over the last year or so I’ve gotten into meditation again and although there’s a bit of a gross cult surrounding ‘mindfulness’ at the moment, a lot of the basic ideas in there are ones I can get behind. Being in open, green spaces and just spending a bit of time taking things in and giving my attention to them does great things for my brain, and its encouraged by mindfulness – slowing down enough to be present and observe. I think the reason this works for me is because, subconsciously or otherwise, I begin to recognise the balance of things, not unlike a witch in a meditative state (or ‘trance’ or ‘possession’ as it was often misdiagnosed). Nature has its affairs in order – it knows roughly where the earth is on its axis and orbit around the sun, there are cycles of give and take on each level that allow everything its fair chance; again, I probably can’t tell you as much about this as David Attenborough but it does make perfect sense to me. If you have suffered trauma or live with mental health issues, you are used to being dominated by the fear of everything that is out of your control and the universe can really throw you a bone by convincing you there are some cogs in the machine still turning as intended, a few basic rules that all things must follow and a way to pretty accurately predict possible outcomes.

Which brings me nicely to games. I’ve had a lifelong relationship with tabletop games that is as passionate as it is strange to lots of people. My favourite thing about buying a new game is unboxing it, looking at all the pieces and above all else reading the rules; I like to play the game too, of course, but only to see the rules come to life. I’m not competitive, I’m not a very good strategist and I’m more likely to try and create a game when I’m bored than I am to play one I already own. A good rule system has the same effect on my brain as observing nature in action. I find the symmetry and the variables and the interplay between theme, aesthetics and interactivity completely spellbinding. Games are a rich and diverse medium, that allows creators to build worlds, tell stories and engage the ‘readers’ of that story in a way unlike any other. I have had gaming sessions where just as effectively as any novel or comic or movie, the mechanics have been able to immerse me in fully-realised fantasy universes, make clear and nuanced political points or elicit strong emotive responses.

In short, I’ve been spoiled, and as such there are two things within this medium that I think it’s wasteful to overlook. Firstly, a tabletop game is a kind of ritual and whether it’s played alone, with friends, partners or strangers there are people present and the ritual cannot be completed without them. Factoring human beings and all their associated quirks and abstractions into your game mechanics is a way to instantly give ownership and investment to players and to potentially increase the replayability of the game itself to an infinite degree. Like a coven of witches chanting in a circle, if one of them disengages because they have nothing to do or nothing of bearing to observe until it’s their turn again, the spell can quickly be broken and the ritual made a failure. People should be at the centre of the game play, rather than being the robots procedurally facilitating it.

Secondly, there should always be an element of choice for any action a player carries out; even if there is only one obvious choice in terms of achieving a given goal, the ability to wilfully sabotage that goal for no reason other than exercising the right should be built in; even if the choices given involve rolling dice and leaving the outcome in the hands of fate; even if the choices given are all stinkers and none of them appeal. Players should be given agency otherwise they cease to be players at all. We need the freedom to explore and learn through action if we hope to fully understand the universe created by the game designer. What kind of witch would create a spell for something that will happen inevitably anyway? The worlds we build in games should have balance and symmetry but should in no way be prescriptive or unable to be influenced by the players, otherwise the magic will die.

These considerations become interesting when transposing them onto puzzles, of course. With a puzzle, the experience you attempt to create for the gamer is one of unravelling a mystery with a single, concrete answer. So player choice lies in how to interpret the symbolism on each page and building in red herrings, or dichotomies, or even multiple paths to reach the same conclusion. And human-centred play lies in recognising the format of the game play; it’s printed onto paper and will be picked up and handled, it’s usually a solitary experience and therefore will slow down and speed up, placing more importance on maintaining a consistent atmosphere and making the puzzles reflective of the story and vice versa. In essence, I’m trying to provide the tools necessary to carry out a ritual that will transport you to and engage you in a fictional world. And like many of the comics and games that I enjoy, this wouldn’t be possible without tapping into that primal relationship we have with symbolism or that naturally meditative state we achieve when attempting to find the balance and order in the world around us (be it fictional or otherwise).

I don’t think I would class Cryptogram Puzzle Post as magic or comics or even as a game in the strictest sense but it definitely couldn’t exist without everything those mediums have taught me. And I’m excited to find out how much more there is to learn.

[lesedacondyvidi]

My TF|2 characters/OCs/loadouts/whatever

So ever since my buddy james bought me Titanfall 2, all the loadouts I’ve played with have always been named characters who’ve had themes, and specific ways I’ve played them. Over the 100 or so hours I’ve dumped into this game thus far, these characters have sort of started to solidify and be their own thing, and so this post is basically me canonizing that and laying out the cores of who these people are and what they do in the titanfall universe.(They mostly do the same thing at the end of the day, but its the details of how thats interesting.) 

If you’re interested, it’s all under the cut.(if it weren’t this post would be stretching your dash SO much. it gon b long)

I’m gonna go in order of their creation, starting with:

Sheila!

This is Sheila. She was the first pilot I ever made in TF|2, and she’s still around to this day. The core idea when I conceived Shelia was a single sentence: “She’s big, likes the color pink, and really enjoys making things explode.” And she’s still all of those things. Big. Sheila is built like a brick shithouse. She stands at a only mildly intimidating 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs in at 210lbs. And thats when she’s not geared out for combat. Sheila is, far and away the beefiest human character I’ve played in TF|2. How else could she carry the LSTAR, the Archer, fifteen rockets for it, and still be flying all over the place like you do in game? She benches fully loaded riflemen for shits n giggles. You might be wondering, why does she use cloak then? Invisibility seems out of place for her, you might be thinking. Well you’d be wrong. Being invisible is the best way for her to get up onto the backs of enemy titans, steal their batteries and blow them the fuck up. That is how harcore she is. If the archer isn’t cutting it, she’ll just turn invisible and do the work by hand. 

Sheila has 7 confirmed titan kills in the 4 years of her service with the 6-4, the frontier faction she’s sided with the most often. She pilots a semi-custom stryder class titan, A northstar; outfitted for out of atmosphere maneuvering. When sheila isn’t working with some group of people or other, she lives inside her northstar, flying from place to place, warping with a jury-rigged jump drive a friend threw together for her.  She keeps her northstar in very good condition, but the cockpit always smells like sweat, no matter what vain attempts anyone makes in cleaning it out.

Now we’re onto my first and so far only phase shift pilot: 

KZ-7413

This is KZ-7413 (”You may call me Kaz.”) KZ-7413, as you may have guessed by the scheme of their name, is a ex-titan. They were a stryder class titan, a Ronin, to be specific. But one really bad day, and the better part of an enemy ion’s laser core later, the old ronin’s data core was heavily damaged, and their former pilot, killed in action. Thats when a 6-4 engineer who was leading a scavenging/clean-up operation stumbled upon Kaz’s short-circuiting remains, and had an idea. After many months of research and work, the 6-4 finally had a functional human surrogate test platform for what was very experiential technology at the time, the phase shift drive. Originally this is all Kaz was ever meant for, but at the behest of Kaz themselves, they were outfitted with a more suitible for combat HFI-m style chassis, and began basic training. One of the first decisions Kaz made as an independent entity, was the style of chassis they were installed into, and what weapons they began training with. 

Last but not least, we have me.

Literally it’s just me personified in the titanfall universe.

Yep. If I were I pilot in TF|2, this is what I’d be running. Save the helmet. and the shaggy neck thing. Either way, I began my military service as a sniper for the militia, and I like to think I preformed decently well in that regard! but the higher-ups realized that my spatial intelligence wasn’t so good for doing the complex calculations that precision rifelry requires, and was much better suited to flinging myself between buildings like a monkey on steroids. And boy were they right! Of course my personal choice of sidearm is a remnant of my sniper days. My B3-E can drop a man sized target from a hundred meters in the right hands, and my hands are correct quite a bit if I do say so myself. The Sidewinder SMR (pictured,) is my general “make these big ass robots go away” tool. And you know what? it works pretty well! I’m not gonna lie to you though, I get the most mileage out of my data knife. I have a squad of at least 7 former IMC specters following me around and doing my bidding at any given time, and I have at least 20 of them stashed away in my hideout, keeping the place running while I’m gone. I’m pretty much an honorary member of our fleet’s acquisitions team. Half the reason the 6-4 keeps me around is because I’m so good at getting behind the enemy and turning their robotics against them. 

In all my days of service for the 6-4, I’ve earned exactly one measly titan kill. But I’ve destroyed or effectively disabled, at least, 350 specters, 149 Stalkers, and 7 reapers. Also I have 15 confirmed pilot kills, only 7 of witch were not earned with my knife. 

What can I say, I like to stab things. 

Oh! and, my titan:

Northstar 

I call her North for short, but her designation is AG-5791. She’s how I do most of my robot smashing, other titans included. I’m not the best Northstar pilot, but damn does that plasma railgun know how to put the fear a god into just about any motherfucker out there. Shot the left arm clean off of an enemy ronin in just the last mission I was on. That was a fun time.

Alright so thats it! These are all the characters who I haven’t dropped entirely or not played recently. there is one honorable mention I’d like to make though, and that is _ (literally his name is underscore, but it’s just the symbol and nothing else on all official documentation, of witch there is very little.) The 300 year old russian man who uses his space AK with parts originally made in 1947.  Is he actually 300 years old? No one knows. but he does have shockingly clear recollection of events that took place 300 years ago. anyway, that’s all the TF|2 I didn’t have the time for. hope you liked it!

[maggamaggamagga]

Fiction and entertainment lets us connect with the world and understand things, but at what point does it start to delegitimize voices? Today, in my local protest, I saw a sign that had Gene Belcher drawn saying “my body, my rules,” and I saw red. I felt like explaining women’s health and rights through a cisboy character saying that line for comedy’s sake was making a mockery of things, to say nothing of the layers of Weird Gendered Shit a little protest poster can’t hope to tackle. 

  I see my feeds swarmed with “sighted fictional reference at the march!” posts, like SPEW signs or referring to one another by Harry Potter houses, or using quotes from pop-culture juggernauts, and again, I find myself irritated. I don’t feel solidarity. These posts do not make me feel like we are united in our struggle, I feel like that we have failed in our fiction, because the ability to sympathize, empathize, and empower has stopped at the character before it reaches the people on oppressed axes who need the power and leverage of fiction the most. 

I carried a two-sided sign, one side that said “Your white supremacy can bite my mongrel ass, you croaking cheeto-dusted shitheel,” and I got my photo taken many times without permission, stopped to be given twitters about creative insults, or at one point given kind of an uncomfortable smile and told, “Well, you sure have a lot to say.” 

I don’t feel like I was heard. I feel like people saw the sense of humor that I worked very hard to develop (seriously, i was the unfunniest kid ever, I really think it’s a miracle people think I’m funny now) so I would be heard and took it to entertain themselves without respecting the anger and fear that informed it. I feel like people saw the phrase that occurred naturally to express my anger and saw a cool thing to collect or a piece of entertainment. They did not see a mixed-race woman who is shouting at the top of her lungs so creeping feelings of feeling filthy-blooded and unfit to belong to any community and feel precious, lovable, worthwhile, respected as her mongrel of a self are kept at bay. 

I think the constant references to fiction, to fictional revolutions, is also what contributed to my discomfort; the fact that I walked away from the demonstration feeling less confident that people are here to stay and fight once white, cishet, generally neurotypical, and able-bodied women’s rights are at least given the illusion of security. So many pop culture juggernauts are designed by people who mean well but reinforce the status quo: of whiteness as a default, of lip service diversity, of heteronormativity and gender essentialism. The dearth of Harry Potter references littering my feed reminds me of how the books co-opted the crises and filthiness of mixed people to be about white people -- because for all our headcanons and seizing HP away from the status quo, it was still constructed within its confines -- and how my initial deep love of the books waned with each installment and wore away at my self-confidence and belief that I was lovable. Its clumsy handling of mudbloods and squibs and blood purity wasn’t something I sympathized with. I tried very hard -- you should be sympathizing, Harry’s mixed like you, Hermione struggles for community acceptance from either side like you, etc. -- but in the end I just came out feeling worse about myself because JKR simply does not have nor gave respect to the lived-in experience of mixed people. She invented an unintentionally whitewashed version of it, because she does not have that lived-in experience to draw on when inventing her world of magic. 

Of course, since it’s me, and pretty much every waking thought of mine is about devising fiction and how fiction functions in communities, the way it reached around is that this reinforces the necessity to have fiction told by diverse voices, because no amount of research or word-of-mouth will ever be quite the same as lived-in experience. Every oft-referenced piece of media I saw today in context of revolution -- Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, even Star Wars -- was mostly penned by people who are a part of a white, cis, able, and heteronormative status quo. I noticed that I was not irritated by Rebel Alliance symbols all over the place the same way I was other media -- and I know that Rogue One and the eloquence and passion and visible pride of the likes of Riz Ahmed and Diego Luna and Donnie Yen and Oscar Isaac in their PoC identities that were imbued in the film played an enormous role in that. Its message of revolution and resistance and anti-imperialism rings less hollow. To a person who understands revolution in context of the Rebel Alliance, I think I feel more real than to someone holding a SPEW or Dumbledore’s Army sign, where their only real points of reference for someone like me is Filch smashed with Cho Chang with a dash of mudbloods and Moaning Myrtle. 

I make comics and media for a living, and it’s something I believe in as a world-changer with all my heart and soul. I love this job. I cannot think of anything I’m more passionate about. It’s the only thing I could ever imagine committing my entire life to. So when I looked at all this, I had to think to myself, where does the responsibility of the creator end and that of the audience start in righting all this? In removing tokenized people for the sake of cookies and praise, and instead giving us flesh and respect and life? Because I’ve always thought it a sign of creative laziness when you create a “price for admission” for your audience to understand or enjoy your story, but I need the world to do better for the sake of marginalized survival. 

On one hand, I want to ask of audiences everywhere to do better, to understand that what they know from fiction as Revolution is imperfect, and there is more gravitas and respect that the oppressed are due than pop culture references drawn on posterboard; that that isn’t representative of most of our voices; that it is ultimately about making you feel good, not making everyone more equal. 

On the other hand, I can’t ask my audience that. I can’t craft work that forces my audience to know Such-And-Such-Things and Care About Things The Way I Do. I have to be cleverer, I have to trick them into that. I have to make people become emotionally invested in what I craft, I have to lay the tracks and systems that I know and are a part of my reality in their heads so they recognize them in real life. I have to share my reality with them by inventing a new one we can both inhabit. 

More than once I’ve designed stories that have mixed-race kids everywhere or very layered postcolonial themes, and when I’m frustrated I describe it as, “whatever it takes, I’m going to make these characters so lovable, this setting so interesting that I will make you care, because nobody ever does otherwise.”

 I realize every day my limitations on that, both artistically and because of my own lived-in experience (or lack thereof), and I worry constantly about appropriating voices, about speaking over others, but also every day I realize I have to scream with all my heart through my fiction. I will get things wrong, but I’m also going to get things, my things right. And those matter. I matter. My voice is important. My voice can create change. 

I will make you care. My voice is one of revolution, the same way my self-love, my filthy blood is an insult to every white supremacist and xenophobic idiot that fucking dares. 

To every creator, to every creator of color, to every trans creator, to every disabled creator, to every queer creator, to every neuroatypical creator, to every creator who is all or some or just one of those, your voice is so precious, and it is the backbone of revolution and kindness and love that we have been deprived of but deserve in spades. I love you, and you’re so, so important. 

You have to keep making. Your work will make them care. Together we can be so loud that everyone will have to listen, and they will realize how marvelous and precious we are. 

[mynameisdreartblog]

Christmas Decorations

Aries: Santa isn't gonna eat Chips Ahoy, dumbass. I subscribed to UK Politics because I thought the UK was gonna fall apart, but it hasn't and it's just a slow and boring ride into chaos. So, I'm gonna unsubscribe, and I'll use the view outside as my determiner for how bad things are getting. […] Day three: I've reported no warships as I was predicting on my blog, and the only other person, that I've seen on Lambay, is Joe running track around the thing. Did you know that he likes to leave his sweat-towels on aster fields? Yeah, he thinks it's some sort of eco-friendly process, but it's just disgusting. […] Day nine: something has changed, and there's more buoys out there than normal. I think it might be the preemptive placement of sonobuoys to detect any submarines our government could launch, but you can never know for sure; it can also be an extension of safe-dive sites. […] Day twenty-seven: there appears to be a monument resurrected at Lambay, and Joe is gathering all his sweaty towels to be placed around it: actually forming a moat of sweat around it. Jesus, and here I thought he couldn't get any more disgusting: now, he's built a rack for his sweat-towels. […] Day eighty-one: the sweat-moats have sent up straight beams of light into the sky, and I believe those are signals to summon the alien race of liquid-form creatures destroying all the life on the island and combining to form a larger liquid form. But, May hasn't sent out her mid-control drones yet, — the ones that blast your skull with rail-spike if you say anything good about Corbyn — so the world isn't ending for me.

Gemini: Stupid-ass reindeer puppet. For the last time, I'm know full-well the responsibilities you have to take on whenever you design an AI that could potentially become a devastating swarm of technologically-advanced cyber-insects. I've read Jurassic Park and it remained as a warning for all of us when it comes to the potential dangers of cloning technology and genetic research as well as being a commentary on the colonialist nature of archaeology… all of which has nothing to do with what I'm working on. […] Hey, I've only got a limited budget: it was either this or the Earworm database, which could've been worse for us overall. So, are you gonna hand me those metal balls with the arcane symbols on them or what? […] Xymos has been working me overtime to try and get these nanobots functioning in time for the holidays, and they haven't been cooperative either: they're telling me, behind my ear, that this is bad idea, or that it'll overtake those closest to me, but I know better than them. […] I've awoken to find my coworkers covered in strange rashes and moving in a very sporadic manner: they were inserted with the nanobots yesterday, but I assume this is just a side-effect of their healing abilities, and we'll resume working tomorrow when they've recovered. […] The rashes disappeared and, upon doing so, my coworkers began aggressively telling me how much of a rip-off and fake person I am, before running out of the building claiming to be on an urgent business trip. I've also been informed that those weren't arcane symbols and that they were actually instructions for the air-ventilation system. So, all of those nanobots probably got out into the wild… Xymos is gonna cut my pay for this, and on a holiday too!

Scorpio: The ornament with a hangover in its reflection. I take showers at midnight just so I can be too tired and avoid having existential thoughts. There's no room for secret genius in the shower, and what can only fill the holes in my mind is the shower water trickling into it. […] The shower is the least convenient place to have scary thoughts about the outcome of your life because it provides you with no tools to express your fears: no stress balls to squeeze, only soap to slip out of your hands; no paper to write down your thoughts (unless you own one of those rubber Memo pads), only walls to draw smiles in the condensation; nobody else to vent towards, only your naked body. I could just fall asleep, but then I'd be awaken by the cold water: that, or be awaken to my dad yelling at me about the water bill. […] I'm a kid, and I shouldn't be having these thoughts at this age, but they don't make sense to me in that form: I have to imagine them as monsters that emerge from the filthy bathtub water. They come to attack me for playing in the dirt like a rowdy lady. Tonight, they may start by biting off my toes to teach me a lesson: turn the water red by virtue of being too exhausted to emerge from it. […] Where was I going? Oh yeah, inevitably out of the tub and into my bed where the thoughts can attack me again. I've mentioned before that the grimy sea-monsters of the shower like to nibble at my flesh, but they're really the protectors: they protect me from the monsters that attack from the mental — the ones that live under my bed. […] When they get to me, they like to fill my mind with thoughts of Vat19 and their position as purveyors of curiously awesome products.

Capricorn: The candy cane sharpened to a dagger. What's up guys, it's your boy, D-Mash of Top_Ice_Machine_Room_Reviews_Canada, here! Today, I promise that we're gonna get back into that gameplay of the deep web horror game, Smoke Signals. But for today, we're gonna be doing a review of this ice room in the ice room in this Becker's. This is another weekly episode of Ice Room Review (wait, I've used this before, haven't I)? […] As you can see, the room is pretty sparse, with the only things present in the room being this weird floor mat type thing probably designed to catch the ice, and of course, the Ice Machine. It's a standard ice machine and, if you've been following this channel for a while, you can probably recognize this as a Kowa... Kishi... something Japanese is the manufacturer. Top two fifths of the thing is this sleek box kinda thing, probably to make and store the ice. You got this button that dispenses the ice, and a nifty little grate that gets the ice you don't get and recycles it or something. […] Now, let's move onto the temperature of the ice room: remember that it has to be slightly cold on the inside and room temperature on the outside. This room succeeds at being cold enough to not be uncomfortable, but just enough to tell you that this is the room where you get that cold stuff. After saying that this place is definitely cool, the furniture accompanies it very well: the missing ceiling tile complements the bathroom next to it that has a missing toilet. […] Now, since I gotta play that horror game, let's finish off this ice room review with my favorite part of these videos: actually dispensing the ice! And… woah, there we go: push the button and there's ice. Anyways, make sure to smash that like button, annihilate that subscribe button, ring that bell, make sure to donate to my Patreon, and you'll be able to see my gameplay of Smoke Signals.