#I can refine the design overtime

[ya-boi-alex]

crack brothers I mean zzz boys, yeah, that's the name 👍

[omelettedraws]

Something different, last year I made this OOAK Lolita puppy girl art doll! :D Every part of her was handmade by me! With a Polymer clay head, fabric clothes and ears, and a wire armature also using apoxie sculpt with a fleece outer "skin" (I've got more progress pics here if that hopefully makes that clearer!! 😅)!

The whole inspiration for her design came from buying one of those random bundles of trim from Michael's that had one cool ribbon that reminded me of those old school Lolita headdresses (which is hard to see in the pic coincidentally asdfghjkl)! I would really like to make more dolls like these, because I've realized overtime that I really enjoy making physical art with my hands like sewing and sculpting compared to just digital drawing. I think the one thing holding me back with this method of making art dolls is how the fragile they are. Even tho they're not designed to be played with or anything, it feels scary even just posing them due to the wire armature, so I'm scared of them inevitably snapping inside their body and being impossible to fix without screwing up the clothes/skin! Even when I use multiple strands of thick wire. 😭 But idk what other method to use.. I like crafting the body over using a base doll so it can be custom, but I wish they had the strength of a fashion doll's plastic body and joints! I tried hand sculpting a BJD this summer too, but the process is definitely a bit more tedious! 😅 Oh well, I guess I just gotta start a journey of trial and error and refining my process!! :3

Here's a close up of her dress!!! :P

[tanuki-kimono]

Types of ôgi (folding fans), handy reference chart by Edo-era lover Nadeshico Rin. Please note this overview doesn’t cover all Japanese fan variations, for example also see maiôgi (舞扇 dance fan), tsunenoôgi  (常の扇 common fan), shizume (鎮扇 noh fan), rokkoku (六骨 Kamakura fan), gunsen (軍扇 war fan), etc etc.

Fans were first imported to Japan from China, and were used from the start as symbols of status and refinement. Chinese fans were originaly rigid ones (see modern uchiwa), and according to Rin, foldable ones appeared in Japan during Heian period free from Chinese influences.

In the past, word ôgi 扇 meant “sliding door” (today 戸板 toita), and overtime lost its original meaning to only designate folding fans.

From right to left, you can see on first picture the oldest known Japanese folding fans:

Hiôgi (檜扇 - ひおうぎ) - hinoki cypress fan, used by Heian nobles. Some theorise those were first made from shaku 笏 (a type of ritual wooden baton used in Shinto) hold together by threads. Hiôgi were symbol of power and formal ones were heavily decorated with painted sceneries and dangling colorful ribbons.

Kawahori (蝙蝠 - かわほり) - lit. «bat» fan, appeared around mid. Heian period. Those were simplified hiôgi meant to be used in Summer. The lighter frame had paper pasted on one side, somehow giving the aspect of a bat wing when seen from reverse.

From there, kawahori fans morphed during Muromachi period:

Ukeori (浮折 - うけおり) or «floating» types which had unmovable handles and looser top parts. Some examples are: - Suehiro (末広 - すえひろ) - spread out fan, with curving ribs - Chûkei (中啓 - ちゅうけい) - ceremonial fan, used by nobles, samurai and monks - Bonbori (ぼんぼり) - the little brother of the chûkei which appeared during Edo period (bonbori are paper covered lanterns I don’t know if those and this fan are linked).

Shizumeori (沈折 - しずめおり) or folding types, where whole structure can be collapsed, looking quite sleek and refined. Most known fan of this type is: - Sensu (扇子- せんす) - folding fan, which is the most spread nowadays. During Muromachi period, paper began to be put on both sides, hiding the ribs. Interestingly, Imperial court still favors one side paper only even today as a nod to the original design.

During Edo period, folding fans use spread among the whole population and their ribs started to get more and more decorated with sukashi (透かし openwork). Some popular designs included:

Hanabishi (花菱 - はなびし) - flowery diamond-shaped cut-out​

Nekomasukashi (猫間透し - ねこますかし) - «cat door» cut-out (sometimes also called nekome/猫目/cateye)

Kamatarisukashi (鎌足透し - かまたりすかし) - «heels apart» cut-out

Oosukashi (大透し - おおすかし) - big cut-out

Rokkotsusukashi (六骨透し - ろつこつすかし) - «six points» cut-out

Chôjisukashi (丁子透し - ちょうじすかし) - «clove» cut-out

Nagachôjisukashi (長丁子透し - ながちょうじすかし) -«long clove» cut-out

[alienssstufff]

me with my llau master doc in my hands shaking... it's me again... i honestly don't really have any questions or anything other than: i desperately need to know if you have some ideas for scott's design. golf boy with his little gay golf club breaking in zombie brains ykwim.

P much down to answer almost any Last Life Apocalypse related questions (granted they aren't about Scar and Joel... i wish to keep them a secret for last)

Admittedly haven't touched much on the GGG side of the au! But I can give some notes on them and what not!

NOTE timeline order goes like: 3L > LimL > LL [DL events are not a part of canon but hints to relationships from it are implied throughout the story]

Scott (alongside Joel and Jimmy) grew up on the rich side of town (during the 3L > LimL period) and would grow up to be entrepreneur of some sorts with the founding of the Scottage Club and the revival of the GGGs. Imagine his wardrobe like Ryan Evans from HSM, lot of blue/white/gold. His current outfit I imagine it's like Akechi's Persona 5's casual wear: White button up, blue woollen vest with diamond patterns, beige pants. He'd have a gold chain brooch in the shape of diamonds to represent those crystals he has on the head of his mc skin. Yes imagine him with a golf club.

Pearl close overseas friend of Scott's. Hated eachother as kids during LimL but reconnected overtime and are besties through networking. Archaeologist who does taxidermy sometimes as a hobby, she's odd. Pearl would be the exact opposite colour palette of Scott's lots of red/black/gold. No clear image in my mind to what she'd be wearing, preferably pants, preferably something relatively good yet refined to walk around in the cold for. Most notable feature though being a giant wolf's cloak that can be either worn as a jacket or a cape - picture the kinda coat Beowulf Skullgirls has but a tad longer.

They've survived relatively long throughout the events of the Last Life apocalypse because of Pearl's knowledge to survive from her site visits as an archaeologist and Scott's large access to resources in the mansion enough to combat the Shade-E-E's gas station in terms of supplies. (Shade-E-E's has radio and wifi reception, the Scottage Club has a full wine cellar for molotov cocktails. pick your poison)

[thebananasaurusartblog]

Decided to recycle an old species of mine; Vraelith.

They are an omnivorus intersex designer species on the planet Vrael. They have several subspecies of varying niches and vast colonies across the planet, reigning as the only species with complex reasoning and technological advancements. They were engineered specifically to populate Vrael, with almost all of the fauna closely related to their genetic sequences but forcibly evolved to fit specific niches. Most the creatures evolved overtime to adapt with a great many extinctions as their designers succeeded and failed. Eventually the planets designer abandoned it's creations, leaving everything to adjust and fight for itself.

Despite the sci-fi, Vrael has it's magics… though not in the typical spell casting methods. Everything exists on a little-understood energy, highly charged energy, which the planet's non-liquid crystalline core is made of. Energy can be 'used' through only the most adept Vraelith who are born under extraordinary circumstances- but they don't fully understand it. When something is made or born, energy from the planet is transferred into it and when it dies, said energy returns to the planet's core, keeping it charged.

I'm still working on refining all their world, lore, and species info, but I have 6 pages and a billion sketch pages. I'm no biologist or science wizard but I'm having a good time again lol.

[arguablysustainable]

4 Ways To Practice Sustainability in Your Wardrobe

As the fight for climate change is infiltrating into all industries, one of the majors being fashion, it's normal to feel the pressure of finding sustainability in your apparel.

Not to fret, arguablysustainable here has a guide where we show you four different ways to make the switch from not so eco-conscious to sustainability?...uhhhh duhh!

1. Purchasing Apparel from Sustainable Brands

One of the more obvious ways to practice sustainability is to make the switch to brands that practice it themselves. Not sure where to start or find which brands support the act for climate change and practice sustainability? Check out sites like Good on You that help identify which brands receive a 10 on the sustainability chart and ones that unsatisfactory.

2. Don't Throw It Out Just Yet!

I know, I know. That t-shirt that you love and have worn only a million times now has a hole in the sleeve. Why keep it right? False! Don't throw it out just yet! Most apparel that are donated still end up in the landfills so while it might seem like a sustainable choice to "give it a new life", it is highly possible that that one beloved t-shirt will be seeing the landfill eventually. What to do then? Repairing, swapping, or properly recycling the garment in a textile recycling bin are just a few ideas. Grab those patches, lace, buttons, and get your thinking cap on!

3. Buy Secondhand

Purchasing from secondhand is one of the best ways to practice sustainability as you are saving a garment from hitting the landfills. What we like to refer to as a scavenger hunt for hidden treasures, you never know what you will find secondhand. Most secondhand stores are easily more accessible and affordable so more bang for your buck! Grab a friend, get your playlist ready, and start scavenging!

Psssp!!

Don't feel like wasting hours hanger after hanger, rack after rack? Shopping for secondhand doesn't have to be so time consuming! Websites like ThredUp offer secondhand apparel shopping virtually. Grab a snack and a blanket and scroll away!

4. Rent Your Entire Closet

Wanting to take a more refined approach? Practice a capsule wardrobe? Rent your outfit (or two) that will be delivered directly to your front door. Renting clothes not only practices sustainability as the items are secondhand, it also encourages consumers to experiment with different styles without having to worry about return policies. Online companies such as Rent the Runway and Tulurie specialize in fashion rentals. Mix it up and try that skirt you weren't sure about without any consequences!

While it may be difficult to reverse the impact the fashion industry has had on climate change, it doesn't mean it's too late to make a change. Practicing sustainability doesn't have be difficult! Implementing small changes overtime is already taking your first steps towards a more sustainable life and more sustainable industry.

Written by Julia Catipon

Keep up to date with us at Arguablysustainable for more sustainable news and tips in fashion.

[theenchantedecho]

Secret Society of Style: The Fashionable Lives and Scandals of the Wizarding World's Elite

Hold onto your hats, dear readers! Amidst the gloom and doom of the ongoing war, we've uncovered an enchanting tale filled with glamour, intrigue, and of course, fashion. Our sources have recently spotted Narcissa Black, Andromeda Tonks, and Mary MacDonald sashaying around Diagon Alley in the most bewitching ensembles. Let's dive into the magical world of wizarding high fashion and unveil the secrets behind these style icons, shall we?

The Black Sisters: A Tale of Two Styles and a Family Feud

While Narcissa Black is known for her elegant, icy demeanour, she certainly knows how to bring the heat when it comes to fashion. Spotted draped in opulent emerald velvet robes, the stunning witch oozed sophistication as she strolled through Diagon Alley with her signature grace. Rumour has it that Narcissa's wardrobe is a treasure trove of magical garments, each with its own unique charm (literally).

On the other hand, her estranged sister Andromeda Tonks, mother to the adorable Nymphadora, has embraced a more eclectic and daring sense of style. Our sources gushed about the rebellious combination of her chic black robes, paired with a daring dragonhide corset. Her bold choices have not gone unnoticed, as whispers of admiration (and envy) follow her wherever she goes.

An anonymous source close to the Black family told us that Narcissa and Andromeda's style rivalry might be rooted in their strained relationship, with fashion serving as a battleground for their unspoken tensions. "They've been at odds for years," our source confided, "and it seems their fashion choices are just another way to one-up each other."

Mary MacDonald: A Dash of Muggle Flair and a Secret Romance

It seems Mary MacDonald, a former Gryffindor, has also become a trendsetter in her own right. Mary, who's been known to dabble in the Muggle world, has brought back some delightful Muggle-inspired fashion to our magical society. From her colourful, floral-patterned skirts to her tasteful use of Muggle accessories, Mary has certainly created a buzz within the wizarding fashion community.

But the buzz doesn't stop there. Rumours are swirling that Mary's newfound Muggle fascination might be linked to a secret romance with a Muggle-born wizard. An eyewitness claimed to have seen her sharing a butterbeer with a charming Muggle-born at The Leaky Cauldron, sparking whispers of a budding love affair. We can only speculate whether this romance might influence her fashion choices even further.

The Gossip: Fashionable Friendships, Rivalries, and Secrets

As these three enchanting witches continue to turn heads in the wizarding world, the rumour mill is working overtime. Are they simply friends bonding over their shared love for fashion, or is there a more competitive edge to their stylish outings? Our sources suggest that Narcissa and Andromeda's tumultuous relationship may be a driving force behind their constant one-upmanship in the style stakes.

Fashion Expert Weighs In

We reached out to Lavinia LeFay, a renowned magical fashion designer, for her thoughts on these fashionable witches. "It's brilliant to see prominent figures embracing the beauty and diversity of magical fashion," Lavinia said. "Each witch brings her own unique flair and personality to her style, which I believe serves as an inspiration for the rest of the wizarding world."

Stay Tuned for More Magical Fashion

While the ongoing war against Voldemort continues to cast a dark shadow, it's essential to find moments of beauty, creativity, and enchantment in our lives. These stylish witches remind us that even in the darkest of times, there's still room for a touch of glamour and self-expression.

So, dear readers, keep your eyes peeled for more fashion-forward sightings and gossip from the magical world. Will Narcissa continue to showcase her refined taste, or will Andromeda's daring looks steal the spotlight? And what about Mary MacDonald's blossoming romance? Will her Muggle-inspired style evolve with her heart's desires?

We encourage you to share your thoughts, sightings, and of course, your own fabulous fashion moments with us here at The Enchanted Echo. Together, let's celebrate the magical community and the enchanting world of wizarding fashion.

In the meantime, don't forget to participate in our latest fashion poll, where you can vote for your favourite magical outfit of the month. Who knows, your vote might just be the deciding factor in our wizarding world's ultimate style showdown!

Remember, dear readers, fashion is a powerful form of self-expression, and even in these trying times, we must never forget to let our inner magic shine. Stay vigilant, stay stylish, and above all, stay safe in the midst of the ongoing war. We're all in this together, and together we'll continue to thrive and create a brighter, more fashionable future for the wizarding world.

@ablackprincess @medasgalaxy  @vclatiles

[maddiecopesblog]

I had a look at this fascinating article by Shekhar Gurav relating to adding imperfections into UX design. While I doubt my project will go down the route of UX design, it was interesting to see examples of how UX has changed and sort of lost its character over the years. The article touched on the fact that design tends to swing on the form-function pendulum overtime and currently, design seems to be focused on function. (I will add this article was written in 2018 so some of the sources might be mildly outdated however from what I gather the majority is completely the same)

Shekhar mentions that the need for a clean, minimalist look that lacks distinct character comes from the increase in mobile use and the need for designs to be versatile for web and phone usage. The development of software like adobe illustrator also plays a part with designers being able to precisely render illustrations better than ever.

As a maximalist myself, Ive found the increase of clean, soulless design heartbreaking, while I do appreciate things being easy to use, I don't think that ease has to come at the cost of all character. With an overwhelming number of brands opting for an identity that is devoid of any kind of quirks, I think the pendulum is due to swing back soon, at least I hope, or everything is going to end up looking exactly the same.

One thing that the article mentioned that I think is closely related to my D&AD project is that imperfections make things relatable. As humans, we are flawed, and so seeing things similar to us makes us feel more at ease. Shekhar uses the example 'A hero bouncing back from criminal life is much more compelling than a do-gooder one.'

Another thing that I thought was really interesting is that imperfections are inherently memorable: 'we tend to remember people by their imperfections. Well, no one’s proud of remembering people like this; but we indeed do it. That acquaintance with a mole. The uncle with a war-wound. That co-traveller you met who had a stammer. The neighbor with a weird walking style. You get the point. If only brands and designs started taking note.' I think this is completely true, and something I want to tap into when it comes to refining my ideas for my project.

Imperfections have soul, they carry stories and quirks with an undeniably human touch. They can make anything from products, to characters, to design more relatable for people that interact with it and I think that's something really special. eBay presents itself as an accessible brand, but makes no mention of the fact that some of their second hand items might well be flawed. I think Ive got a great opportunity to shed some light on that, and encourage people my age to embrace the imperfections of the pre loved.

[azenta]

Is needing consensus in terms of knowledge/information a plague of any particular function? The biggest frustration I have over typology is that nothing is fact, everything seems up to interpretation. There's no "true" definition of the functions, it varies depending on the source. This makes it impossible for me to feel confident about my self typing. Of course there's lack of self awareness involved too, but even when I try to use external feedback about me in order to find a most fit type run into this issue: depending on the source my strong sense and prioritization of right/wrong fits Fi, but in another it fits Ti. My penchant for having realistic expectations and looking for workable solutions is attributed to Te for some, for others is a Se trait. I tried the identifying your type by the inferior function but there's the same issue, for example: I totally fit the zero patience with detailed sequential work, poor retainment of methods and hypocondria of some inferior Si descriptions, but not he terrible memory, lack of attention to physical reality and disdain for tradition that other profiles emphasize. I rarely have issues typing others because "I know it when I see it", somehow I can correctly recognize the axis in others (they just jumps at me and I can explain easily). That's why I end up relying on the theoretical side of things because supposedly it'd be more objective, you either fit the definition or not, but that doesn't work due to the lack of consensus. I'm frustrated that I can't apply the same method I use to type others to myself simply because, at least on a conscious level, there is no method. I tried using the relating method by watching a bunch of people of a supposed type too see if I think like them, but it didn't make things more clear due to several of them seeming mistyped, besides factors like clearly being a different Enneagram type etc. I'd watch one ISTP and be like "Oh yeah, I agree with this and that, maybe that's it", but then watch another one and go "No way we're the same type, I can't comprehend this way of thinking at all".

It's also an issue when trying to have typology being taken seriously: if people who use it and even are seen as "authorities" about it can't even agree on what a function is, are the even real? I know they are because like Jung, I see them in people around me all the time. But how am I suppose to prove their existence if they can't be diagnosed by an exam, let alone be quantified? It ends up looking like Astrology from the outside, which it really isn't at all. Nothing against mystical things like astrology, I used to be super into it when much younger, but overtime I dropped it when it became clear many people do not fit their supposed designed personality pattern at all. They try to use caveats like "Oh, it's because you're in the third Aries decant, so you're almost a Taurus", and it's clearly a bullshit excuse. If it doesn't work in real life then it isn't real. I had people telling me to "go with what seems right", but I have no idea of what they're talking about, seems like randomly picking a number at a game, but how could that possibly work? 

_________________

I know it's not an ask, but allow me to reply.

Typology as it is a pseudo science exactly for that: no way to prove jack shit about it, but still observing something that keeps being mentioned and shared by many.

As of now, it's impossible to be sure of anyone's type because it lacks objective measurement and the testability to refine and define the actual observed phenomenon. Without this objectivity, confirmation bias, foster effect, barnum effect, and a multitude of other things are still on the table and biasing the whole thing. Descriptions are doomed to be generalized crap and also prone to loose touch with what they were meant to define in the first place.

The only theory I have come across that have the potential to cross this damned threshold between pseudo to actual science is called CT - Cognitive Type. It succeeds to be the closest because it is the only freaking fucking theory out there that built itself around an objective methodology that proves itself to be consistent and that shows actual result by inter judge measurement.

Even then, as I just said, it's still a potential, because there is still much to do to prove it in any shape or form. It hasn't yet crossed that threshold. Plenty of individuals in the community also ask themselves how real those said functions are.

In the end, typology is a field that still demands lots of work to be put through to become much more than what it is and to prove to have some form of reliability, or even utility beyond validating people's sense of identity. So, it's up to you to choose what to do with it considering its present state. Either you maintain it as some hobby, and get lost into eternal questioning, doubting and uncertainty while navigating a vast pool of varied subjective descriptions, or you try to push it through, which requires a rigor and investment that not much are ready to put in because they have much other things to do, care about and deal with in their life.

[fluidsf]

A Polar Visions / Polar Visions Amplitude review of -

Francisco López - a bunch of stuff (1980-2020)

Release date - July 2020

Reviewed format - Francisco López self-released (under the Nowhere Worldwide banner) USB business card, as kindly sent to me as a review copy by Francisco López

Note - you can purchase this release in digital format directly from Francisco López' Bandcamp page here: https://franciscolopez.bandcamp.com/album/a-bunch-of-stuff-1980-2020-40-years-of-sonogenic-composition

Welcome to the first review on Fluid Sonic Fluctuations review in 2021! Today I’m discussing Francisco López’s very large multi-part anniversary compilation a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) which was self-released by Francisco both as a neat USB business card and later reissued as download through Bandcamp in 2020. With this compilation Francisco is celebrating the 40 years he’s been creating immersive sonic compositions in the experimental and underground music scene, practicing his own coined way of sonogenic composition. a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) presents an excellent thematic overview of Francisco López’ discography through a large number of excerpts from his ever-growing universe of untitled compositions as well as titled pieces. The excerpts are organised into 15 parts which Francisco has tagged with his own invented genre names, which both point at his own personal sound philosophy but also have a subtle comic touch to them. Besides the excerpts, Francisco has also included several full-length (as well as almost full-length) as well as rare, unreleased and at the time of the original release still unreleased compositions making the compilations a great mixture of both showcase and rarities compilation. Whilst Francisco’s full-length compositions are often quite expansive in length making them suitable for a full-on immersion in the sonic universe created, the way every chronologically ordered part of a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) flows makes for a different yet equally intriguing and immersive listening experience with creative usage of both fades and hard cuts connecting the tracks together making every part that the full 12 hours worth of listening this compilation consists of a very rewarding listening experience. Francisco’s philosophy on both listening itself as well as his way of composing always originates first and foremost from the experience of listening in a very immersive sense which goes beyond source recognition or surface-level emotions but is very much settled in immersion within the sound world itself leaving the often cathartic, subconscious effects to the listeners themselves to feel and thereby completing the composition. Francisco himself reminds us of his philosophy but also shares some new insights on 40 years of sonogenic compositions in this mini-interview I did with him over email:

Orlando Laman - Over the last 40 years you've released a large number of your compositions, the selection on a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) is organized using your own invented genres. Regarding bringing together selections of compositions as collections through series (like recently, Two Head Snake) or by listeners themselves discovering certain connections between releases, how do you view your full collection of works as a whole, especially in the way all this shaped sonic matter is forming a sonic universe completed by the listener?

Francisco López - Well, as a whole I guess I see it as my way of having a more meaningful and richer interaction with the world. Not through representation (as in canonical so-called 'field recordings') but rather through penetration into sonic matter and its ontology.

OL - From listening to your compositions and interviews with you it's clear that most of the time you create compositions without planning things ahead, creating a system or trying to execute creative ideas through manipulated sound matter. It's a matter of composition that is both improvisatory based on the sounds themselves yet also very refined and perfectionist, which makes the compositions feel very natural but also unpredictable in captivating ways.

FL - This is what I call 'sonogenic composition', i.e., a practice of creative work with sound (and listening) in which sound themselves lead the way; not merely as 'samples' of elements to be placed in a pre-existing structure / grid / idea, but a generators of structure, pace, dynamics, texture and anything else imaginable in a sonic work. That's why I dislike the term 'manipulation'; in this context, I'd rather use 'evolution', which describes more reliably what takes place in this process.

OL -The results are more important than the tools used, however one thing that intrigued me is your manipulation and usage of low to sub-bass frequency layers of sound within many of your compositions, even those from the early 1980s, with low to sub-bass frequency sounds being an area of sonic matter that falls somewhere between the audible and felt area of sound and its direction being hard for humans to discern, how do you view this field of sonic matter relating to your compositions? Is it an area of the spectrum which you intuitively often accentuate in compositions or is this area one which you've gotten used to working with overtime to fully utilize the audible (and inaudible) spectrum of sound we can hear from sub-bass to very high frequencies?

FL - I like rich music, in all imaginable senses. That naturally includes the frequency spectrum, both audible and sensible (we do a lot of our hearing haptically in the low and sub-low ranges). As I've learned to compose largely through an intensive and extensive listening interaction with the world, those low frequencies are a 'natural' part of my sonic palette.

OL - a bunch of stuff(1980-2020) features excerpts which are often quite a bit shorter than your full compositions and releases, your full releases often feature long single compositions or a collection of shorter compositions making up one full "untitled" album release, besides these you've also released a few released a few albums which span several hour up til a full day worth of listening. In the compilation context and with the albums featuring shorter compositions the whole listening experience flows in an intriguing manner at times, with some pieces having a hard cut at the end rather than a fade-out or silence, this can have the effect at times of sudden realization of the composition's finite state within the album. Additionally, releases that span multiple hours can have the effect of the listener's listening mode moving from a focussed listening to a state in between listening and the sounds seeping into the subconscious of the listener creating certain emotions or triggering memories, What is your approach in selecting compositions for the albums and compilation releases, taking into account the listener experience? And further zooming in on time disappearing from our perception as we're fully focussed on the sounds, especially when listening to your multi-hour releases, is there a difference in terms of creating these extended-length releases to your other albums and compilation, relating to the listening experience you present?

FL - I like to be compositionally free to work with time. Traditional limitations like the length of a record or a radio show shouldn't limit our adventures in creative listening. To me, mega-long compositions (i.e., 24-hour or longer, like some of my pieces) generate micro-worlds of sonic experience that suggest a different kind of listening -one that gets closer to a form of 'inhabiting sound', which is tremendously suggestive. Different people will approach such extensions in varied ways, but I believe they always generate an unusual and fruitful potential for a very different, interesting and appealing experience of sonic matter as space and as time.

Many thanks to Francisco López for sending over the physical release as well as answering these questions and sharing such inspiring insights. Before we dive into the analyses of the separate parts as well as thoughts on my favourites tracks on this compilation I’ll mention what you can expect from the physical version of a bunch of stuff (1980-2020). Like most of Francisco’s releases the focus is all on the music and immersive sonic experience itself, so the USB business card itself features quite minimalistic design combined with a lovely photo of fire however. The content of the USB business card itself is a liner notes PDF file as well as the full compilation with 15 folders making up all the parts. Every folder contains the tracks as lossless 16-bit/44.1kHz CD quality files. While the best listening experience of Francisco Lopez’ work is by going into the compositions with a fully clear mind without knowing in advance what to expect in terms of a description or listings of sources used, the liner notes file does list the sound sources for some some of the tracks although Francisco isn’t getting specific about what these exactly consist of so beside the credits and tracklist parts not spoiling anything these source details are still staying cryptic enough to not reveal the workings behind the magic of Francisco’s compositions. Let’s now dive into a bunch of stuff (1980-2020).

a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) starts with first part All In. All In features a collection of pieces that mix various compositional approaches López takes together, with the All In being appropriate as “maximalist” pieces in terms of density of the sound matter or layering. In terms of sound matter I spotted bird and cicadas but there are also some “hidden” melodies in some of these pieces, either through certain resonances within the sound layers used or as series of tones that peek through the textures. López’ signature very low sub bass frequencies (also mentioned in my mini-interview and subtle glitches also appear within these pieces. In my favourite track 2012 - With_In [excerpt] López brings us an eerie tapestry of mysterious swirling resonant wheezing sound that flutters left and right, makes percussive shifting clicks to the left and right side and appears as this cloud of shaky sonic matter we are floating in ourselves. The perspective shifts from within (no pun intended) the sound matter to looking at this matter from a distance but the general experience is definitely very much grounded within the sound itself. The aforementioned hidden melodies appear in this piece too, in the form of hollow resonant diffuse tones that add this mysterious ambience of uncertainty to the emotional situation that might arise from our being in this environment. Whilst quick shifts do occur in some of Francisco’s compositions, the gradual continuous nature of this piece definitely helps the subtle shifting of focus within the layers of sounds as well letting the sonic matter work onto your mind in a certain meditative state. Delusional Cinematic follows, which features chopped up, at times quite abrasive collage like compositions of various sound matter including environmental sounds, movie sounds and music fragments. At times the compositions are stylistically comparable to Noise in their uncompromising more harsher edged nature. The pieces also feature rather clever transitions making for listening experiences that are as captivating as films or TV series themselves but in this case the imagery is purely mind-created.The strengths of my favourite track 2017 - untitled #360 [excerpt] are both in the silent brooding atmosphere of the composition within this longer 10:27 minutes excerpt and the way it progresses from one situation to the other. Starting from this eerie minimalist situation featuring quite a lot of shifting, rustling and clicking high pitched sonic matter there is something quite eerie about the idle space in between the sounds which creates a bit of a vacuum effect within the space and the at times wildly varying spectra and panning of the sounds themselves makes for quite some disjointed bits and pieces being scattered around this space as well, feels quite like being in a medieval village whilst sounds appear and disappear out of nowhere. In its second phase the piece moves into a battlefield of wild low frequency laden combat, helicopter whirling, a lot of (gun)shots and a further brooding mass of low frequency rumbling following up the first phase’s more resonant metallic waves of lower pitched sound. The transition from the battle to the dive underwater in which the battle can still be heard but in a more muffled state is one of my favourite aspects from this piece as it does add such a natural flow to the aural narrative this conjures up in my mind. I’d say this piece does mix Francisco’s more purely textural qualities with an inspired sense of rapid-cut composition making this one of his pieces which you can listen to through filtering and diving into its layers as well as letting your mind make up its own story through the progression from phase to phase within the composition. The next part Drone World features Drone pieces in the sense of especially hypnotic high frequency streams of sound, rhythmic sounding environmental sound matter as well as low bass frequencies and resonances. My favourite piece on this part is 1992 - Hypogeion [excerpt]. The piece is noticeably quite a bit louder than the other compositions before it on this part and whilst Francisco is clearly not trying to make a composition in a traditional manner this piece stylistically does remind me of 90’s Tribal Ambient, albeit in a more improvised manner. Featuring an array of highly resonant and bassy mallet tones as well as reverberant tribal style percussion the except of this piece showcases a particularly intense part of the composition moving into a more laid-back sustained phase. Somewhere in between mysterious factory and Egyptian pyramid sonics it features some excellent mixtures of dense tonal layers blending into each other with the overtones creating diffuse and at times dissonant interactions of sound. The percussive elements are quite high pitched throughout with quite some crystal like sounds flowing throughout the sonic space like grains of silver but overall the layers of sound flow much more like rippling shuddering waves that are often shifting from interlocking to interfering creating that always captivating element of mystery within Francisco López’ compositions. Afterwards in the Lo-Fi Broad-Band Tape Noiselationism part we have Noise oriented pieces made up of collages of sound matter of an Industrial and more organic nature as well as AM radio sourced sounds in compositions that feature some sweet droning and rhythmic sub bass frequencies. The pieces are more minimalist in terms of composition but equally captivating and showcase the more extreme side of López oldest works. My favourite track 1983 - untitled (1983) [excerpt] features most of the aforementioned elements. It’s a raw, lo-fi composition made up of various layers of electronic signals broadcast over shortwave radio with its beginning being the most recognisable in terms of source. However as always with Francisco’s compositions, the immersive experience is much more important than trying to further analyze what the actual sounds are and in this case it’s a particularly physical listening experience. The sound is grainy and often artefact laden, filled with hiss and sharp frequencies and in this fragment there is some kind of pattern of tones recognisable within its first half, as a whole however it sounds more like flying through an electric interference laden sky in which bits of metal are swirling around you in this cloud of disturbance and interference. Unlike some of the other 1980s composition excerpts on this compilation however this piece features a few hard cuts and changes to different clouds of fragile sound. Whilst being a continuous stream of hissy sound matter the piece eventually breaks up into shards of sharp irregular shaped sound movements until the fade-out. It’s definitely quite noisy in a way but I feel it’s also quite organic as all of Francisco’s works are, the sounds flow as freely as nature does and never feel artificial compared to what generally is considered as natural sounds. Following part Medium With No Message moves through various types of recording and playback medium based compositions both analogue and digital but actually does recall a lot of the crackling sounds and resonances from Francisco’s environmental sound matter based works as well. There is some recognisable glitch work in the last piece however but this again sounds more crystalline like than the at times clinical sounding works by other Glitch oriented artists. When we look at my favourite piece on this part 2002 - untitled #128 we find a piece that is minimalist in terms of its textural density. Quite like a breeze of wind subtly increasing in intensity, crackles, ticks, pops and other little grains of sound matter gradually build up a subtle rustling cloud of sound accompanied by mysterious tonal elements. Just like the diffuse spectrum of a light shower combined with how you can sense a lot of details in these sounds within quieter environments this piece offers a lot of depth, ever-changing bits of sounds within the subtly intertwined layers as the fluid qualities of the sound grip your ears and mind in a both intriguing and enjoyable manner. In the following part Mutated Locations we can find pieces based on environmental sound matter which are evolved into repeating rhythms, strange resonances as well as eerie and metallic layers of sound. The first few pieces carry Francisco’s darker Industrial like sonic approach to composition whilst pieces later on within the track list have a lighter (cleaner) sound and utilise the sub bass frequencies in a more intense manner as well as featuring less audible techniques of evolving sound matter. Whilst Francisco’s compositions aren’t really dark, I do often get a pretty eerie feeling from some pieces which I do like a lot and the more directly hitting approach of some of the compositions works better than the forced subtlety that some other sound artists would try to keep within their compositions. In my favourite track on this part, 2014 - untitled #321 [excerpt] we have a rather gripping flow of events. Just like the other tracks surrounding this one there’s quite a lot of depth in this piece and the imagery conjured up in my mind by this composition also particularly feels like looking at this sonic environment from above. As I felt this piece, it’s like a mass of clattering and shifting sounds as well as rather high pitched details quickly increasing in intensity as the layers demand more and more attention culminating into some particularly spooking train whistle like tones which keep hanging in the air at the end of this except until fade-out. The whole track feels quite like exploring one of these areas in which unused train carriages are stored, some of which rusting and degrading away until we’re suddenly transported to a used railway in which a brownish grey transport train is just about heading our way. Then on the following part Nice Noise we indeed have a collection of Noise styled compositions by Francisco which ranges from early metallic sound matter collages forming streams of layered Noise to more glitchy and granulated sounds in later tracks, cleaner hissy sounds with the last track blending these elements together in a similar way like pieces on the All In part. This last track, 2020 - untitled #380 [except] is also my favourite piece from this part. With Francisco combining various approaches from the 4 decades he is active by now within this piece he also created a very captivating mysterious sonic environment within this piece which is less abstract than other pieces but makes for a very unique listening experience with its combination of environmental sounds and brooding hypnotic tones. It’s quite like this dream about a cold dark forest you find yourself in which is “breathing” as one entity, with the animals providing soundtracks to this process of breathing through the hissy and hollow sounds they produce, the strange low thumps at the end, further thicken the surreal plot of this sonic story. Non-Representational Environmental Sound Matter is the part that follows and is in a way similar to Mutated Locations in terms of selection but inverts the compositional approach by showcasing Francisco’s environmental sound matter pieces with less extreme evolution within the sound matter itself but instead use some great layering, unpredictable structures and amplification creating immersive listening experiences in which some sounds are still recognizable at times but form elements within newly composed environments that are like the title says different from just reality. The excerpts on this part are also longer and feature more gradual progressions within which makes for more meditative like listening experiences as you shift your focus through the various layers within. My favourite piece in here is 2011 - Hyper-Rainforest [except]. It’s the longest excerpt Francisco has taken from any piece on this compilation but it’s also especially good that he’s selected a long part of it in the editing process as it’s a rather subtly enveloping composition. There’s a lot of sonic details of the rainforest you can pick up in this one, especially the many different animals within the rainforest, but also various other natural environmental sounds. One of the best things about the way this piece is composed however is the combination of shifting layers with an almost narrative like progression of sonic situations and directions, but all the while staying within the same sonic universe, giving us the ability to travel without moving, but in a different sense. I found it particularly enjoyable to shift through listening modes, at times spotting certain sounds, at other times taking in the effect of the entities within the sound matter and letting the fabric of each of this work on mind as well as sense of depth in the sonic space through listening. Indeed through the shifting layers you also start to sense the location of certain sounds within the depth of the piece as at times having a strangely reverberating acoustic distance to them whilst still sounding as being in the same sonic universe making for a quite magical listen. The progression of the piece towards the rain shower which abruptly ends into a sudden quiet section of soft chirping sounds adds a radio play like narrative element to the piece too as Francisco provides a bit of a frame for the behaviour of all sonic elements within the piece as certain changes that appear within this environment. It heightens the immersion too as not only do the changes make your part of the sonic universe, but they also point towards the deeper subconscious effects of streams of full spectrum sound matter like rain and the many layers of diffusion hidden around the centre of it. In the following part Sonic Seeds and Mega-Evolution Francisco utilises sonic seeds, which sound similar in approach to grains of sound to sculpt mostly unrecognisable sound matter into richly resonant, metallic and often glitchy forms. This part starts with an amalgamation of layers of sonic matter, after which the pieces grow ever more rhythmic and at times recognisably melodic in a way. The results of this sonic approach are somewhat similar to some pieces in the Nice Noise part but in this case the compositions are showcasing more of Francisco’s abstract Glitch like works, differing from his compositions grounded in environmental sonic matter but still bearing some similarities with the organic sound matter in terms of crackling clicks and the usage of high frequency sound. My favourite piece on this part is 2020 - untitled #383 [excerpt] and this one is a particularly glitchy composition. Following a nice gradual progression throughout this excerpt, the composition builds from a cloud of metallic crackles to a final section of glowing droning tones. All throughout we can dive into the various layers of clicky and mostly pointy sound matter that make up the framework of sonic actions that make up this composition feeling somewhere between machinery rhythms and liquid organic matter. The buzzing glitched “bass” tones make for a great ground of the framework, driving the composition forward with quite rumbling low frequencies which when combined with the glowing tones of the final section make for a quite intriguing combination of abstracted rhythmic sound and glowing diffuse sound combined within the same sonic universe. It does remind me a bit of Autechre as well in terms of approach, although in a less chaotic and more organic manner. Afterwards in the part Soundtracks With No Real Subservience we can listen to a selection of soundtrack pieces by Francisco, composed for various films, including art films and documentary. Moving from intense Noise like compositions towards less abrasive compositions featuring concrete and environmental sound matter, Francisco works with sounds within a more narrative type of fashion with the pace of the compositions being quicker and having more of an emotional edge to them. There’s also some more division in sections audible within these pieces as well as the darker qualities of environmental sound matter. In my favourite piece 2016 - Anima Ardens [excerpt] we are presented with another intriguing situation as the piece combines quite peaceful organic sound matter with layers of metallic clangs as well as a brooding diffuse tonal cloud hanging in the air. Quite like finding a mysterious wooden house which is also used as a metal workshop the juxtaposition also makes it feel quite like roaming around in the forest at night. The sharp swirls and clicking sounds, combined with the hollow tones and clangs instantly conjure up quite some magical imagery as these elements start to blend into each other as well as change or fade out whilst remaining a continuous flow of sound keeping its grip on you within the sonic universe. Next part The Ultra-Quiet, Not Conceptual features some of Francisco's quietest pieces. Indeed these are excerpts from his pieces that feature quite a lot of very quiet sound matter and silence moving from a hollow resonant flow of sound to soft rustling and clicks to some surprisingly intense sections of sub-bass frequencies in later pieces within this part. These sub-bass frequency section do also feature in my favourite piece on this part, 2013 - untitled #309 [excerpt] and in this case they’re accompanied by muffled mysterious drones that fade into soft-focus out of the silence. Like most pieces on this parts it’s a very subtle listening experience best listened to on good speakers, including a subwoofer or headphones with a good bass response to properly hear the subtle sonics Francisco builds up in her creep out of their corners. Afterwards on the next part VirtuAural Machines Francisco zooms in on his machinery based pieces. The part features a mixture of approaches to the sonic experience of machinery itself moving from relatively rough softly saturated Industrial like pieces to the usage of percussive mechanical elements to create hypnotic sonic framework as well as eerie sonic universes made up of huge halls filled with heavy clangs of equipment, siren like diffuse, distant tones and pointy and hissy sonics blending together into enveloping streams of sound around us. Whilst some of the sources on this part are at times recognisable in a way, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had once again by the strange textural qualities of the sound matter as these entities in themselves have a particular enjoyable quality within them here, which is helped by the often spacious panning within the compositions. Favourite piece 1990 - Fango de Euriptéridos [excerpt] utilises the aforementioned spacious panning rather well and also amplifies another aspect of machinery in that it’s based a lot around shimmering tonal resonances reverberating through a large spaces rather than emphasising the (harsh) hissing and repetitive elements of machinery. It features various types of sonic actions but the general sonic focus is on this warm glowing mass of resonance that vibrates in certain ways as well, creating shifting droning tones that seem to make the floor vibrate as well. A quite “temple” like approach to an Industrial sonic universe. Following part Within The Noosphere features a rather different kind of compositions by Francisco in that most of these pieces are built up out of many layers of other music, which are evolved in various manners. Moving from pretty intense tape collages to tumbling Plunderphonics Metal barrages to the rather amusing wailing stretched tones of the old song sampled of a vinyl recorded on the last track it’s Francisco’s compositional work at its most structurally and sonically disruptive. Favourite piece 1994 - Concert for 300 Magnetic Tapes [excerpt] feels quite like a mountain landscape built out of many types of sonic matter. Most matter used within this piece is quite noisy, quirky and quite explosive too but the general fuzzy and crumbling nature of all these bits combined does still conjured up this curious imagery of a mountain landscape made up of sonic material. Recognisably musical and human sounds are at times still audible in between the cracks of the mass of sound, but in a subtle way. The following part Xeno-Instruments features a selection of Francisco’s “acoustic” pieces, in the sense that some of the compositions do feature acoustic musical instruments, at times without much audible post-production. The results are quite mysterious as can be expected from Francisco’s approach, feeling quite like the sound of the earth crust being broken open, sharp clouds of buzzing sonics, thundering percussion rhythms and wooden rumbles travelling through the room. Indeed most of the time it’s not even audible that there are actual acoustic instruments used, which is definitely the quality of Francisco’s work in that he consistently keeps evolving the sonic universes he conjures up and can find richness, “alien” new elements as well as captivating details though any method of composition and with any sound matter he finds making for a very solid but still diverse body of work. The aforementioned wooden rumbles feature in my favourite piece 2011 - untitled #275 [excerpt]. Built up out of rhythmic elements, low rumbles as well as diffused spooky tones the piece progresses in a subtle and deep manner. There’s this great metallic bell like clang that creates regular accents in the first half of this excerpt filling the room with rich resonance periodically. The rhythmically moving wooden elements form irregular patterns that do follow a certain scheme of sections in terms of there appearance and are spiky but also somewhat dampened in nature. Strangely reverberating tones almost form a diffuse melody in the second half which then moves into a brooding cloud of tonal sonic matter. It’s the kind of piece that feels somewhere in between your room starting to create its own sonic universe as well as the sonic picture of an abandoned wooden windmill’s mechanical sounds of past activity. Final part Yes, Humans features compositions that all feature recognisable human sounds or traces of these in various manners moving from amusing locally recorded environmental sound matter to layered children’s choir recordings and a further direction of ever more evolved and abstract sound matter culminating in one of Francisco's most recent compositions (from the last few years) on the final track. This final part quite nicely compiles Francisco's approaches in a way, as radio play like recordings moving in the ever more mysterious abstract and at times cinematic sonics of Francisco’s later works. My favourite track here is the rather short but sweet 1992 - Sofia [excerpt]. In nature is more straight-forward than other pieces on this part but I do find the juxtaposition and sounds themselves within this piece rather nice. It starts with a TV recording of some kind of Soviet TV commercial which sounds all cosy and sweet but afterwards cuts to this Russian Orthodox(?) church in which can hear chants. I especially do like this combination as the commercial seems to recall the memories of the Soviet Union in perhaps a bit overly rosy manner while the church sounds totally loose from anything that might conjure up bad memories and sounds much more peaceful in a way. The way you can hear Francisco walking around the church as well as all kinds of extra noises including a loud cough, footsteps and muffled talking adds to the amusing nature of this piece. The lo-fi nature of the recording also makes the chants themselves feel more like a cloud of tonal sonic matter as syllables get a bit drowned out in the recording. Francisco López’ a bunch of stuff (1980-2020) is an excellent compilation showcasing a great selection of Francisco’s rich discography of compositions which by now reach over 40 years. Full of immersive, uncompromising sonics this compilation is a rewarding listen for anyone who wants to get into Francisco’s music and wants to have a curated overview of his discography to get started diving into his full-length and shorter releases. There’s also some great material in this compilation for fans of Francisco who already have multiple of his releases as the rarer material and recent pieces offer some further sonic enjoyment and the compilation’s selection and sequencing also offers a new more mixtape style manner to enjoy Francisco’s compositions. It’s a recommended compilation for anyone who wants to get into Francisco López as well as fans of Noise, Sound Art, Tape based experimental music, Glitch as well as a uniquely personal approach to sound matter based experimental music, sonogenic composition. Definitely check this out.

You can order a copy of the physical USB business card edition here: https://www.blackhole.la/webshop/francisco-lpez-a-bunch-of-stuff-1980-2020?fbclid=IwAR3pcZfCIT-3Y7BR2M7AjTuph_3TWUm2ZHFjwmuNadir21X_imHnv9ODiZk

[mamawaffle]

Overwatch Fic Exchange

So I participated in @clareguilty‘s Overwatch fic exchange and this is the first time in probably 10 years I’ve posted anything online. I got @unseaworthy, hope you like it love! 

Mostly fluff, Pre Explosion, Gabriel Reyes, Gender Neutral/Female reader, ~2000 words

You stretch, happy to finally be done with mission assignments for the week. You had pulled overtime for the last month to get ahead of schedule, and if everything during the missions went well, you would enjoy a quiet Friday Saturday and Sunday. You had packed your laptop and cellphone into your bag and had nearly signed off when a ping alerted you to a manual override for a mission. In years past this had been rare, the commander trusting the handlers- and the computers- to make sound decisions. But recently there’d be a lot more override requests, not from the agents but the commander himself.

Well, you decide sitting back down at your desk, no use in putting off what can be done now. It was a simple escort mission, one that you’d assigned Agent Thomas and Agent Elias to; two  compatible, quiet agents with compatible skills. Instead, Elias had been replaced with Nunez, a weapons specialist with a predisposition for explosives. What was the commander thinking?

Movement catches your attention and you flick your attention up; speak of the devil and he shall appear. “Sir are you sure about this?” 

“Sure about what?” Commander Reyes came around your desk to see the screen better. You noticed he was dressed more casually than usual, he still wore his dark pants and boots, but he was wearing a regular t-shirt instead of his hoodie or armor. You can see the hint of a tattoo on one of his ridiculously toned muscles-

With a heaving effort you pull your attention from his arms to rove over the holoscreen again, pretending you’d been invested in the information the whole time. As he came around the desk your attention drifted to the side-by-side statistical profiles of the two agents again. The commander placed one hand on the back of your seat, and the other reached past you to rest on your desk, giving you a good dosage of the cologne he wore in the office. It was a long standing debate among the other Blackwatch handlers what exactly he wore- Lieutenant Stroud insisted it was an old school Christain Dior- “a refined scent for a refined and mysterious man”-, but Agent Jones insisted that it was something more modern like-.

“Y/N,” you hear the commander call your name, pulling you from your thoughts on the old office gossip back to reality.

“Yes sir, um, I mean, Gabriel.” Saying his name was enough to make your heart stop he was so intimidating, but he insisted on it when it was just the two of you. Taking a breath, you switch back into work mode with the confidence of a woman who doesn’t have a school girl crush on their boss. “Thomas and Nunez don’t have any complementary stats at all. I mean lately they’ve had at least some overlap,” you point a finger at the mission requirements and trace it along the screen to show, “but this one really takes the cake. Thomas was already a long shot for the mission being an espionage specialist but Nunez?” You shake your head and drop the pointing hand to lean your chin on it, “he’s a pyromaniac who can be seen with explosives strapped to his back on an escort mission with a man he hates on his way to the near Antarctic tundra.”

“It’s fine,” he moves the hand on the desk to your mouse and clicks the confirm button, and a window pops up asking for your password. “Call it commander intuition, but I’ve got them paired for a reason. Sometimes a scientist escort requires cunning wit, quiet observation, and explosives.” The disbelief must have been plain on your face because the commander laughs and stands up straight. “Trust me, I know exactly what I’m doing.” 

And so for the next two days you contemplated what exactly Reyes thought he was doing. You thought about it as you saw Nunez and Thomas off, you thought about it when Stroud and Jones bid you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah respectively and headed to the states for the rest of the week. You thought about it when you overheard agents talking about how contact with Agent Nunez and Agent Thomas had been lost in the middle of an unseasonable storm. The scientists had been fine and were maintaining shortwave radio communication with the agents, instructing them on the locations of various survival items, including a single blanket that they had to share. You even thought about it as you mechanically went through the checkup portion of your yearly physical with Doctor O’Deorain, another agent with the maddening request of only using first names for those they’d become fond of. 

You supposed that the commander actually could be onto something, humans made mistakes and computer programs were as fallible as the programmers who designed them. As commander he had to be observant of not just what the system told you, but  collect other information and be able to pair or group agents accordingly. 

“You seem fit as a fiddle Y/N, it is a shame you don’t go out into the field more often. You would be perfect for the work.”

“Hm.” You answer non committedly.

“Speaking of field work, congratulations are in order for George and June, they’ve just arrived safely from their chilling ordeal.”

Your mind belatedly connects the names to Thomas and Nunez and you look up at her. The doctor had her perpetual grin aimed at a tablet, either at your charts or at the list of agents landing on base you couldn’t tell. “Gabriel mentioned something about a celebration but I don’t think I’ll be attending.” She pulls her face into pinched disapproval. 

“I uh, think I’ll pass too. I really just want to take a break.”

You move to stand but she puts a hand to your shoulder, “I do have just one more question for you though, if you don’t mind my asking.”

You shrug, “sure.”

“What exactly is our commander up to?” She doesn’t allow you a response past your confused expression. “He’s spent an awful lot of time with you in the office, and there haven’t been any truly dangerous missions for the entire month. I understand that you have been handling the bulk of agent assignment as well, and you have been awfully quiet this afternoon. Dirty conscious got your tongue?”

“I..” So you weren’t the only one to notice how weird the commander had been. You shrug again, “I have no idea, sorry Moira.”

“You don’t think that it’s odd, that previously openly hostile coworkers have become incredibly..” She lets the word trail off, searching for the right word. “Chummy.”

You hadn’t thought about it, but now that she’d pointed it out it was weird. Every pairing or group that you’d sent out for the last month had come back not only in higher spirits, but as great friends. Maybe it was a piece of the puzzle, but you shook your head no at her.

Moira pulled her hand away slowly, the serious expression relaxed into her perpetual smile again. “I only thought he’d have filled you in, my apologies for holding you.”

Understanding the words as a dismissal you flash her a nervous smile of your own and beat a hasty exit from the infermary toward the mess hall The doctor made a good point though, things were much quieter in the halls and common areas. You would have to think hard about how all of that fit into Reyes’s master plan, but after you got a bit of dinner in you.

You could maybe get in a bit of observation time if you-.

Your thoughts stop short as your round the corner into the Blackwatch mess. “Oh my god.” 

The words fall slowly from your lips. It looked like Christmas had thrown up, garland lined the walls in a tasteful Blackwatch symbol with colorful lights brightening the greenery. The room lights had been dimmed so that the multitude of blinking snowflakes hanging from the ceiling could be seen well. Upon closer inspection you can see that whoever had done the puking had made sure to include other holidays too. Tiny plastic menorahs and kinara were in the middle of tables surrounded by red LED candles, and the tablecloths had various holiday characters. And at the culmination of it all, in the center of the room, a huge tree was being decorated by agents who hadn’t gone home for the holidays to the tune of Mirah Carrey

“So,” McCree said on your left, “what’d ya think?”

“I think Reyes is gonna have a heart attack.”

“Naw, it was his idea after all.” He claps you on your back as he walks past you and calls over his shoulder, “you comin or what?”

In all your fuss of maintaining a black operations organization over the years, you’d barely acknowledged the holiday other than making a few calls home and mumbled greetings in the office. Overwatch, of course, threw a company wide party every year that was about as bland as they came, and nearly every Blackwatch agent turned down the invitation every year. But this was the first time they’d thought to throw their own. 

You sigh and follow after McCree. “I guess I’ll see what you’ve done to the tree.”

For the first time in years you actually enjoyed yourself on Christmas eve. You put up a few decorations with some agents and even saw Thomas and Nunez hanging off of each other. The two seemed to laugh at the whole situation when you congratulated them on a job well done.

“Make lemon cakes out of lemons,” Nunez shrugs and pecks Thomas’s cheek with a kiss. And then suddenly it clicks. Your gaze slides over all of the new couples floating around the room, there hadn’t been any fights all week and now you had confirmation.

The missions, the overrides, it was all to set them up!

You turn away to go look for Commander Reyes and bump into a solid wall of ugly blue and red sweater.

“Oh, sorry Y/N I was just-.”

You put a finger to his chest hard, “Gabriel Reyes I cannot believe,” you glance around you but every seemed reasonably invested in the festivities to not notice you, but you still drop your voice, “you were using assignments to play matchmaker.” 

The commander grins at you and gently pushes a small box that matched his sweater at your chest. “Merry Christmas.”

You hiss under you breath, “Reyes I’m serious.” You push the box back into his hands, but a few of the other agents were starting to notice your confrontation. “Commere.” Taking his arm you pull him to a table that lined the wall. You sat down pulling him down with you and he pushes the box into your hands again.

“I feel like you’re not feeling the Christmas spirit.”

“Reyes-.”

“Gabriel.” He insists.

You breathe out a heavy sigh, “Gabriel what the hell?”

“Well we couldn’t really throw a party with everyone trying to kill each other,” he shrugs as if that was enough explanation in of itself. 

“This is so against all kinds of protocols.”

He makes a flippant motion with his hand, “I’ve never been one for following rules. I’m sorry for the secrecy but you’ve got to admit the quiet’s been nice.”

You glance behind you, at the agents, a lot of who you would consider friends, dancing drunkenly to Christmas In Holis and at the twinkling lights and absolute treasure trove of food being brought out. You guessed this was okay, and he was right, the lack of reports being filed had made your work much easier.

“Promise to include me in your nefarious schemes next time Gabriel?” His grin was infectious and you found yourself already looking back on this as a funny situation.

“So your gift?”

“Oh yeah.” You quickly work to slip the ribbon securing the lid off of the box. 

You stare down bemusedly at the mistletoe. “Isn’t this stuff supposed to be above us for a kiss Gabriel?”

He smirks, “we make our own rules here Y/N.” And he leans in for a kiss.

[waterditinfears]

Fictober 2

Prompt number: 2 “That’s the easy part.”

Original fiction: The Seasons

Rating: G

Warnings/Tags: None

—

Oliver arrived first. A light blazed from under the office front door, and he waited there as Camille parked her bike next to his SUV. She tugged the helmet off, mass of purple waves hitting her shoulders as she did. They then swooped left and right as she glanced around, hanging the helmet on one of the handlebars. Just as Oliver opened his mouth to say she could bring it inside, the air around the fiberglass shimmered and the helmet disappeared. Chill February air remained in the space where it had been, and Oliver blinked twice as Camille sauntered up to the sidewalk, hands in her pockets. 

“Hi,” she said again, another smile blooming on her face as he waved.

“So….that was pretty cool,” he said, nodding to her bike as he swiped his keycard, pressing the door inward. 

“Oh. With the helmet?” she asked, following after him and nearly turning around to stare at the door as it shut. “Easier than lugging it around. You get new security?”

“Yeah. Got a big donation after what happened with the museum—figured I’d use it to improve it since we’ve got a few more readers.” Oliver shoved the card back into its designated spot in his wallet. “Never know when someone’s going to get pissy about something.”

“Doesn’t have anything to do with, you know.” Camille gestured to herself, hand up and down, and Oliver paused at the entrance to the newsroom and quirked a brow. “Spooky stuff.”

“No. Why?”

“Just checking.” She looked around at the empty desks and quiet coffee maker, tilting her head like a cat trying to hear better. “Guess it’s just us?”

“Yup. Sent everyone else home; no need to keep them here.” And no money to pay for the overtime, though Oliver didn’t mention that. She’d only offer to help again. “Besides, it worked out. Now you can tell me all about spooky stuff.” 

“That’s true,” Camille said, raising a brow at his desk, still covered in paperwork. Oliver got the sudden, wild urge to sweep it all into the trash bin.

“You want some coffee?” he asked instead, nodding toward the paper cups on the office’s beige kitchenette. “Karlie’s been giving me lessons.”

“You ever find out if she’s smuggling in contraband beans?” Camille asked, a grin stretching her lips.

“Doesn’t seem like it. Though who knows—she’s pretty sneaky. Would make a great reporter if she wanted to be.” 

“I think she likes bossing everyone around too much for that,” Camille retorted, grinning wider. “I’d love some coffee, though. Even if it’s just the regular beans.”

“One regular-beaned coffee coming up, then,” Oliver said, tossing the old filter and grounds into the compost bin and popping new ones in. The scent of damp paper and roasted coffee beans wafted around the open room, and Camille took a deep breath, watching Oliver with lazy, half-closed eyes. 

“So a vampire did that,” she said, after a few second’s silence, and Oliver nearly dropped the pitcher filled with water, sending the cups to the floor. “That corpse, I mean.”

“How do you figure that?” he asked, the thrill of learning something tingling from heart to head to fingertips. “I mean. I guess the bite marks on the neck?”

“Well, that, sure. But also they turned themselves in.” Oliver stopped and stared as Camille picked up a cup he’d knocked off the cabinet and handed it back. “Felt bad about it—hadn’t meant to do it. And they knew they’d be found out as soon as we heard about the body, so. Best get ahead of it. Probably a mix of all of that.” 

Oliver took the cup and finished pouring the water, chewing on that information until the scent of brewing coffee overwhelmed the grounds and everything else. “So…what happens to them now?”

“Nick’s sussing out specifics. Why, and when.” Oliver leaned against the cabinet, watching, and Camille came to stand next to him, arms folded and smile gone. Her brow furrowed as she stared at the chipped linoleum, shaking her head. “It’s not a great situation, but at least there’s no need to do a manhunt. A vampirehunt,” she corrected herself. “That would have been a pain.”

“True.” The coffee began to bubble and then pour. Oliver handed Camille the first cup, watching in fascination as she drank it straightaway, the steam curling up and over her cheekbones. “Why’d they turn themselves in? Afraid of getting caught? Or do you think they really felt guilty?” 

Camille shook her head. “Vampires aren’t supposed to feel anything at all,” she said, and shrugged, taking another sip of the coffee. “So figuring out who did it, that’s the easy part. Figuring out why…I hope it’s because they thought they’d get caught, but it’s hard to tell.”

“If I ask you to explain any of that, would you?” Oliver asked, and Camille snorted into her mug, a third less full than it had been a few seconds ago. 

“Not a lot to explain. Vampires aren’t supposed to feel anything; the whole…process..sort of…ruins that. There are a few who have lingering emotions, but not many; it’s pretty rare. Assuming the one who did this to your corpse is one of them…” Camille shrugged, the frown returning, a stack of refined wrinkles popping up between her brows. “It’s not likely they’re going to have a good afterlife. Pretty rough to spend your decades chomping down on people.”

“So you wouldn’t kill them?”

“What?” Camille’s chin shot up as Oliver grabbed for his own mug. “Why would we do that?”

“I mean. You said what Moira did, that’d be punished by death. So why not this? Not a whole lotta difference.” Oliver took a sip of his own coffee and yanked his tongue back, burned. “I mean. I guess Moira killed a few more people, but didn’t seem like that mattered. Seemed like it was more about what she did, not the…quantity. I guess.”

“Oh. This, erm. Bit different. All initial indications are that your corpse was willing to be bitten. The vamp had the waiver, whole nine yards. We’ll need to see if it was signed under duress, that sort of thing, of course.”

“A waiver.” Oliver’s coffee seemed far less important than the idea that somewhere, some poor lawyer had needed to draft up a liability waiver for a vampire. 

Camille seemed to have caught on to the ridiculousness: she looked away, that plum color coming back into her cheeks. “Right, well. Like I’ve told you, we try and do stuff as legally as possible. We don’t want to be found out, sure, but it also seems like the right thing to do.” 

“And so you make waivers for the vampires. Before they bite someone.”

“Sure. Makes people really consider the consequences of baring your throat.” Camille glanced up at him, a smile flickering across her face. “Seems like our suspect—our murderer—went too far, but that’s not how it started out.”

[fourangers]

Some bad porn can turn out to be good (2/3)

Summary: “Why are you watching porn on broad daylight and…is this…is this a blond guy fucking a japanese man?”

Who would have thought that porn watching could have such enlightening results. NaruSasu, blow job, anal sex, mutual pining without angst, Comedy, Romance, AU working in an advertisement agency. Some InoSaku.

AO3 link | ffnet link

Chapter 1

AN: We might probably get bunch of technical terms inside advertisement agencies since I’m taking advantage that I work in this field ayyy. It won’t take too long. Why did I write an AU related to my work? Errrr…'cuz I'm too lazy to research a job I'm not familiar with? Hohoho . This chapter there’s blow job.

⏤.⏤ 

“We’re going to enter a competition.”

Everyone managed to keep a poker face, even though they were groaning inside.

The CEO of the agency continued his speech. "It's going to be tough, but I swear if we win it's going to be very worthwhile. The client wants to make an annual campaign, aiming to boost the sales by giving prizes to their clients.”

“So it's the usual being part of a club, earning points that converts to goodies thing.” Sasuke muttered.

“Yes…but they also want to use this opportunity to expand their sales to other states. South and South-west is already guaranteed that most grocery stores have their products, so they want to concentrate on Center states, North and North-east. That means they are willing to spend about 1 billion to any ad agency that will get this case. The presentation is scheduled on the next month, where we need to showcase the whole yearly strategy, alongside the Key Visuals within each season and a spreadsheet about budget planning.”

This time all the workers grimaced in varying degrees of expression.

Shikamaru raised his hand in question. “So is the whole agency going to concentrate in developing this whole campaign on those following weeks?”

The managers in each sector glanced at each other before the Creative Director explained. “We will, but not entirely. We’ll organize planning, brainstorming fitting with producer analysts. Meanwhile, our art directors will be focusing delivering the daily jobs with our steady clients. When it’s your time to design everything, we already talked with our account managers who will ask for a longer deadline for more meaningless things, other jobs we will hire some freelancers to take care of it. Of course, there’ll be some that will require your direct attention and/or need to be sent daily like social media posts. There will be some days you’ll work overtime.”

The CEO hurried to add. “But we’ll pay the dinner, taxis and everything, and you guys can ask for some days off after that. You’ll have to negotiate with your respective leaders. Like I’ve said, I promise all that this is worth it, if we secure this campaign we won’t have any financial issue this whole year. If we win, I vouch that by the end of the year I’ll pay everyone a trip to Las Vegas all-included for a week.”

That caught everyone’s attention, with good bunch of people clapped and some hoot called.

Encouraged by his workers’ cheers, the CEO continued. “Also, on that day when they announce that we won, we’ll just drop the pen. No more work that day, everyone can go home and relax or join us to celebrate in a bar. So is everybody in?” Most enthusiastic employees and younger people shouted with excitement. “Good! So let’s get this started! Your management will explain more with details ok?”

“Alright.” Their Creative Director mumbled once all the team were in a room. “We’re still in the process to properly accommodate this whole mess honestly, so I have some bad news. Every art director needs to deliver the primary main Key Visual by the end of this week.” Naruto groaned, with other mumbled protests and grunts coming from his fellow coworkers. “And I’m going to keep things exciting here. This time I’m going to sort with a new AD/copywriter/planner team, to make the ideas fresher. First copywriters come forth and write your name here and put in the box, where I’ll select randomly with which planner you’ll be paired with. Then ADs will do the same and we’ll form the trio.”

This situation was all kinds of boring; Sasuke thought to himself, but his heart skipped a beat once he glimpsed blue eyes standing out of the crowd while he folded his piece of paper. His streak of good luck couldn’t possibly stretch this far, right, he’d be probably asking for too much at this point of the story.

“Last team will be…Sakura as planner, Sasuke as the copywriter and Naruto as the AD.”

Thank God in Heaven.

“HmmmMmmmmmMMmmm, well well well.” Sakura approached Sasuke, beaming widely as they both watched the blond man from afar. “I guess it’s about time you should restock your lube and some condoms, right?”

“Sakura.” Sasuke warned her, when Naruto noticed them and waved his hand, they waved back.

“What? ‘M just sayin’, you know, just sayin’...” 

“Sakura, your weak attempts of gangster lingo is appalling, I advise you to keep your opinions to yourself and do not try to make any innuendos regarding me and Naruto. Knowing that dumbass, I’m pretty sure it’s going to backfire.”

“Hmm…okay, point taken.” She agreed begrudgingly, while they walked to pick the briefing. Naruto was already reading the content, and curled his lips upwards.

“Hey guys! It’s been a while since I worked with y’all right? I’m sure it’s gonna be great.”

Sakura nodded and smiled back. “So…what kind of KV you need to create now? Hopefully nothing too crazy.”

“Yeah, it’s not that bad.” Naruto sighed. “We have to create the main one that provides enough visual explanation about the campaign but since it’s annual, there’ll be secondary thematic KVs like Christmas, Black Friday, Easter and so on. So it has to have enough personality, but not that much so it’s customizable. That’s the whole trick.”

Sakura grimaced. “That sounds tough.”

“Right, by the way, now that I just heard Naruto…” The creative director chimed in. “No one is going to get extra brownie points if your KV is chosen, you’ll all send to me and people will vote solely according to their preferences, they won’t know who designed it.”

Naruto turned around, throwing a significant glance. “We’re gonna win this, obviously.”

Sasuke snorted. “Obviously.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Alright, the first KV is up to you two, meanwhile I’ll do some research about the client and this campaign, and share through e-mail.”

“Alright cool, thanks for the help.” Naruto grinned. “I mean, ignoring all the chaos we’ll face in the next few weeks, I’m excited to be working with you guys! We won pretty cool competitions together right.”

Sasuke was excited too, but for entirely different reasons. He noticed Sakura staring towards him with a knowing smile. 

She said. “I’m looking forward to work with you too. Well, I got to go now.” She patted Sasuke’s back, messing with Naruto’s hair before she went away.

“Maybe we should re-read the briefing, see if there’s any info that will help us out.” Sasuke slid smoothly next to Naruto till their shoulders touched, vision focused on the piece of paper the blond man was holding, getting so close Sasuke could feel the steady breathing on his face.

Sasuke focused his gaze back to Naruto, noticing the raised eyebrows. Naruto muttered. “Ok sure, let me read it outloud for you. And then, I guess I’ll search for some references for inspiration then.”

Sasuke had less than half his mind to really listening with whatever Naruto was reciting, his entire attention aimed to see if the art director recoiled or showed any discomfort towards his close proximity. He actually appeared to be further relaxed instead, and this undoubtedly counted as a positive sign. Sasuke had been growing even closer to him in those latest days, but no matter how much he tried to imply he wanted to be included in Naruto’s possible dating pool, that dumbass was oblivious to it all. 

He’s going to use this rare chance to make his point across, since his subtle signals went unnoticed. 

Soon they finished brainstorming, Naruto groaned as they went back to their station. “Man, I just hope we won’t overwork too much. And if we win this account, I hope that the client is easier to swallow than most.”

Sasuke smirked. “All clients are hard to swallow. Just some gives you a different first impression once they were gliding through your throat.”

Naruto halted on his steps stupefied and retorted. “I can’t believe that an uptight asshole like you is spouting a dirty innuendo at any time you can get nowadays.”

“I see no problem doing so, now that we share a common interest.” He said in a monotone voice.

Naruto studied Sasuke for a while, before he shook his head and snorted. “You’re one of a kind, man.”

⏤.⏤.⏤ 

“Well! Now that we received all the material, as well as the chosen KV, let’s get started with our own work.”

“I guess…”

“Hn.”

“I’m excited to see all our ideas come together and trade some back and forth.”

“Hm…”

“Yeah…”

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued. “...anyways, I made a rough sketch about our part of the project, but it's nice having this brainstorm so we can come up with cool ideas so I can refine my planning.”

Naruto whined. “...man, I'm not looking forward opening Shika's psd file. He doesn't name his layers, doesn't organize into folders and for some crazy reason he knows how to find it himself. Honestly it's easier to find a needle in a haystack than navigate through his KV.”

“I still can't believe that he won this round. I mean, it's visually appealing for sure, but ours were good too.” Sasuke muttered. “Well, Temari is this client’s account manager so it's quite understandable. That man can create wonders for his girlfriend.”

“Yeah…bet that she promised one night of kinky sex and Shika is ready to move mountains for her. For a lazy guy like him, that's pretty impressive.”

“Agreed.”

Sakura stared in deadpan and sighed. “Alright boys, will you quit being such sore losers and focus on the job for a second?”

Naruto threw his head to the back with a sigh and Sasuke sniffed imperiously.

“Alright, since we’re responsible with the summer campaign part, I already searched some marketing activations done on beaches, as well as some we could do on music festivals.” She said.

“I already have some sketches in mind to the KV, but roughly it’ll be a lot of orange and blue colors. They are always a good contrast.”

“Noted, I’ll write some slogans with this in mind.” Sasuke said. “Oh, by the way, have you heard from Temari that they are asking around if a celebrity is interested to endorse our campaign?”

“Yeah, she told me that!” Naruto exclaimed. “At least they are going to hire some celebrity to substitute the guy in Shika’s KV, and I’m so glad ‘cuz that guy was like...super fucking pale.”

Sasuke opened the aforementioned picture on his laptop and mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. “He doesn’t look that bad.”

Naruto craned his neck closer to him, switching between looking at Sasuke and the man in the KV and widened a mischievous grin. “Yeah, you’re right…he appeared that he actually saw the sun at least once in his life…unlike you.”

“Excuse me. I assure you that I fit in the criteria just as well as he would.” He rebutted, lifting his chin.

“What?!” Naruto guffawed. “You look like you never went to the beach once!”

“I do have indeed, I just take good care of my skin. Aesthetically speaking, I could be an excellent choice to represent this campaign.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “You’re so fucking full of yourself. Yeah yeah yeah, we all know you’re a pretty boy, what else is new.”

“That while I may be a good choice, I’m sure you, instead, is on the other side of spectrum.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat⏤!!” Naruto protested. “I’m the perfect embodiment of summer, you asshole!”

“You sure? I mean, you always wear baggy clothes.” Sasuke smirked. “Maybe it’s to hide some beer belly under your t-shirt.”

The blond man abruptly stood up from his seat and yanked his t-shirt upward to show his lean, sun-kissed stomach. Sasuke managed to mask his total interest by resting his chin on his palm with a languid raise of an eyebrow. “See?! Feast your eyes with my sexy self!”

“I’m supposed to be amazed by this? I mean…I think I can see some belly fat over there.”

“That’s my six pack, that’s what I have you bastard! My abdomen is 100% sturdy muscle. You can touch it if you want.” 

Don’t mind if I do. “Since you insist.” Sasuke uttered in the most bored tone he could muster. Licking his lips, he raised his hand, feeling the silky warmth once he brushed over the tanned skin. He noticed how it twitched under his fingertips, giving a rush of excitement through his veins. “I’m not entirely convinced, it feels pudgy to be true.”

“Pudg⏤you’re not doing it right, you should touch here, bastard.” Naruto grabbed his wrist to let his hand have full contact on the taut stomach, sinewy muscles and all. “See?”

“Ah...yes. I guess I do. Maybe.” Sasuke kept the airy voice, even if he was sliding down to each bump of Naruto’s abs, fingers skimming through the belly button. “I guess you did prove me wrong.”

“I did, right? Told you I was right.” Naruto grinned, puffing his chest.

“Hm.” His thumb caressed languidly his belly, graphite eyes zeroed onto blue ones. Naruto’s victorious beam faltered noticing Sasuke’s heated gaze, staring back with a little bit of hesitancy.

Sakura was torn between being amused and exasperated while she observed the unfolding situation. Dear Lord, it was almost like they had forgotten she’s in the room, wasn’t it? No wait, they probably were aware of her presence, since Sasuke had the look that he’d tear Naruto’s t-shirt apart if only she wasn’t there right now. She cleared her throat.

“Alright Naruto, now that you had your fun letting Sasuke grope all over your body, can we go back to the brainstorm we were having?”

Jumping startled, Naruto dropped his t-shirt in an instant looking exactly like a deer caught in the headlights. Sasuke however, glared at her for the unwanted interruption. Sakura smiled. They just make it so easy for her to tease. 

Soon they focused on the task at hand, right on time when Naruto’s stomach started growling in protest.

“I guess that’s it for now, my boys. Ino and I are thinking about going to a restaurant close by. You want to tag along?” 

“Thanks for the invite, but I brought my lunch box.” 

“Hm, yeah! Me too, sorry ‘bout that Sakura. Next time for sure.” 

“Sure Naruto! Next time.” Sakura threw a side glance towards Sasuke, a lopsided grin broadening on her lips. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. 

“Please don’t tell me you’re eating Ramen Cup again.” Sasuke grumbled, while they were walking to the cafeteria.

“My dad actually nagged me about it, so I’m eating something else this time.” Naruto sighed. “Wow, I guess everyone already ate their lunch, this place is so empty.” 

“This is not a bad thing, we won’t have to wait in line to heat the food in the microwave.”

Naruto perked up. “You’re right! We’ll be able to eat calmly and slowly.”

“Sure, and if we have enough free time, we could watch some porn together.”

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned. “Yeah, doesn’t sound bad, we can even do some good ol’ hand jobs to each other while we watch, what do you think?”

“Not a bad idea, where do I sign up?” 

Naruto swallowed dryly, shifting his gaze sideways to hide Sasuke’s piercing eyes. Rubbing the back of his neck, he chuckled. “You know, sometimes I really don’t get if you’re joking or talking seriously.”

Sasuke let his hand glide through the tanned arm. “Take off your pants and we’ll see.”

Naruto slacked his mouth, staring flabbergasted. “Yeah sure, let’s just skip lunch and do it right now.” When he witnessed the eager face Sasuke was making, he scoffed. “I’m kidding, you crazy bastard. C’mon, let’s get to eat ‘cuz I’m really fucking hungy I could eat a whole cow.”

Frowning, Sasuke obeyed nevertheless.

⏤.⏤.⏤.⏤

The drumming on fingers on the table followed the constant buzz of the coffee machine, stopping once it was done. He picked his mug, inhaling the nice fragrance and sighing while he went to his seat. Sipping in long, paused gulps, he observed blue eyes focused on the task at hand. His hand rested on Naruto’s thigh, but the latter didn’t show any significant reaction, either he was too busy to notice or he didn’t mind such close touch.

Sasuke inclined his whole body towards Naruto, his mouth settling inches from his ear. “Need any help?”

Naruto stiffened for a second, before dropping his shoulders. “Hm, yeah, actually…if it’s not too much, can you change your text with shorter words? So it’ll be easier to organize the blocks of text and make it more aesthetically pleasing.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but nodded nevertheless. Throughout this entire week where they were all huddled together, he made sure he used the most blatant flirting in his arsenal but even if Naruto recognized it (which is somewhat a showcase of evolution), he appeared to rebuff most of them. 

Sitting on the table in front of them, Sakura typed non-stop, occasionally peeking on their interaction. This was so much more entertaining than those sugary drama series she and Ino would binge watch at night. If it depended on Sasuke, he would sit on Naruto’s lap and ride him all week, and he was very determined to reach this goal. She’d pity him if this appeared to be a lost cause, but she definitely noticed Naruto seldom glancing Sasuke’s back when he thought no one would see, eyes locked with a ferocious hunger adorning on his face, before returning to hide behind the monitor in haste.

Yep. Very entertaining.

However, this was probably the 4th or 5th night (or maybe more, they lost count) they stayed extra hours working on this project and their brains were already screaming for help. Sakura was yawning non-stop, Naruto was rubbing his eyes while he was erasing some background with his tablet, and even if Sasuke was the most resilient of the trio, he realized that he was rewriting his texts more than the usual.

“Naruto⏤” Sakura called, the blond AD grunted in response. “I’m done writing the marketing strategies. How much have you done so you can send me some layouts?”

Naruto dropped the pen, scratching his head. “Honestly, I think I’m going to take a while. I’m staring at the same shit for about an hour, and there’s still tons of other things to do on the list. I’m gonna wash my face, chug more coffee till I’m awake enough to do anything.”

“Alright, that does sound pretty ominous. I guess⏤” She stretched her arms and yawned. “I’m exhausted and I don’t think I’ll be much of a help staying any longer. Do you mind if I go home now?”

Both young men shook their heads and Naruto added. “Sure, you look pretty tired.”

“I’ll arrive early tomorrow to put everything you’ll do tonight. Just remember to put on the server before you go. And once you’re done, you two better rest well ok. I’ll talk to our boss that you were up all night and you’ll arrive late tomorrow.” She picked her purse and smiled. “Well, I’m out. You boys better behave!” She said as she threw a significant glance towards Sasuke, and went on her way.

Naruto was still had his hands busy adjusting the picture, so he muttered. “So. You’re almost done too?”

“Yes, I already send you the e-mail. But I’m going to stay until you’ve finished.”

“Oh cool, great. Actually, I’m happy you’re staying the night.” Sasuke widened his eyes, though Naruto grinned playfully. “In case I need your help to tweak other things.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Well, I have to be here in case I need to fix your screw ups.”

“You never waste an opportunity to be a bastard, do you.”

“Well, you like it. Anyways…” Sasuke sat on a chair next to the blond man, their legs bumping to each other. “Let’s check if the new text helps you out.”

“Hm.” Naruto opened the document and began changing each layout, seemingly unbothered by the close proximity. After a while, the blond man could feel eyes practically boring holes through his gaze, and he shifted around his seat. "Jesus man, do you ever blink?!" 

"I'm bored." Was his nonplussed answer. 

"Then go check your facebook, instagram, whatever."

"Not interested." Sasuke recited with the same droned tone. 

"Check the news, go piss off some Trump supporters on the comments session." 

"I've already exhausted all the latest feed."

"Well then…" Naruto shrugged. "You tried Buzzfeed?" 

Sasuke gave him a look.

"What?" 

Sasuke sighed, picking up his notebook. "Alright, I better let you concentrate on your task or we will work till sunrise." He smirked. "I could take a page of your book and watch porn." 

Naruto laughed. “Please don’t.”

“...why?”

Because I’ll get hard if I see you jerking off. “Because reasons.” Naruto muttered.

“How eloquent.” Sasuke snorted. “Is the sight of a man masturbating such a turn off to you?”

“What? You know I like guys, why are you even asking this question?”

Just making sure. “So your problem surrounds exclusively to me then.”

Naruto almost bit his tongue, coughing. “No⏤no, no no no. I mean⏤” He coughed again, making an incredulous face. “Whaaaaat⏤noooo, where did you get this idea??”

Sasuke widened his smirk. “You didn’t give me valid explanations, so I have to make some assumptions on my own.”

“Yeah yeah well, you’re wrong, it’s really not what you’re thinking, you arrogant bastard.” Naruto grumbled.

“Hm. So you’re not even a little bit interested seeing then?”

Tilting his head to one side, Naruto said. “Seeing what?”

Sasuke didn’t answer his query, opting to type a very recognizable gay porn website, while he widened his legs. 

Naruto’s jaw dropped. “No, hey. Don’t do that⏤we gotta, I gotta concentrate ya know.” 

Smirking, Sasuke noted the slight panic in his voice. “So I do distract you.”

“Anyone would be distracted with porn nearby, that has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh? So you wouldn’t mind if I do this…” Sasuke adjusted on his seat, fingers sliding his shirt upwards.

Swallowing dryly, Naruto still managed to roll his eyes. “No, you look ridiculous and I really need to finish designing those pieces.”

Sasuke ignored him, clicking some random video and skipped directly to the good part. Naruto jumped from his seat when he heard a long moan, and threw a dirty glare despite receiving a nonchalant response in return. 

“Really? Really?” Naruto groaned, placing his headphones on his ears and putting the loudest music possible. “Some people are actually trying to work over here, ya know!”

Sasuke picked his laptop, tilting it so the screen wouldn’t be facing the blond man. In this brief period of silence, he concentrated in moving an object in Photoshop, till he caught some movement on the corner of his eye. The dark blue shirt was yanked up, completely exposing Sasuke’s lean stomach. He reached the button of pants, opening and dragged the zipper down in an unhurried pace. Naruto drank on the sight of the dark grey boxers, noting all the shadows and bumps beneath it, revealing what was definitely a rather impressive size. Pale fingers glided over the smooth fabric, and Naruto just couldn’t tear this image away from his eyes. He licked his parched lips when Sasuke kept palming on his boxers, though it took to a sudden halt. Naruto almost bemoaned outloud until he realized that Sasuke was staring back at him with quirked lips.

Sasuke flicked one side of Naruto’s headphones, whispering. “Enjoying the show?”

Scowling, he hunched his shoulders. “Do you enjoy being such a exhibitionist bastard?”

“In most occasions, no, not really.” Putting his arm around Naruto’s chair, Sasuke closed in. “Only to few selected people I’m interested in.”

Sasuke studied how blue eyes widened vividly, mouth slack though they didn’t break the gaze trained to each other. Naruto appeared to fall in realization, hastily turning his head to look on his monitor. Sasuke’s fingers reached to the tips of blond hair, tucking it behind the ear before he cupped the tanned cheek, succeeding to let Naruto’s vision trail back towards him. He was getting so close, he could feel the heat emanating from the bronzed skin. When blue eyes were half-lidded, with heartbeats racing, he also shut his own eyes.

Naruto let out a very wide, epic and loud yawn.

“Oh shit. I’m so sorry. I⏤” Naruto yawned again. “I’m so fucking tired man, I swear. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Since the whole mood had evaporated to thin air, Sasuke released his face at once, going back to his seat and zipped his pants. “It’s okay. It’s already over 10 after all.”

“Yeah, I’m beyond exhausted. There’s not a lot of things left to do though, it won’t take too much of our time.”

“Fine.” Sasuke grumbled, in his usual monotone voice. “I’ll stop bothering you then.”

Naruto scratched his head, unable to come up with anything to disperse the dark cloud looming on Sasuke’s head. He returned to his task, a quiet air settle between them with the occasional help coming from the brunet copywriter. 

“Alright, finally! It’s the last layout I’m doing today.” Naruto stretched his arms, groaning. “I still need to put all the images in the system, it’s going to take a while.”

Sasuke picked his smartphone, standing up. “I’m going downstairs for a quick smoke then, before it’s all done.”

“Yeah sure! Thanks a lot Sasuke.” Naruto beamed, with an acknowledging nod in return. Once the dark-haired man was out of his sight, he released a loud sigh. Thank God for his baggy pants.

Okay, now he gotta go to the bathroom fast. Sasuke usually spent long minutes for his cigarette break, so he better seize this opportunity well.

⏤.⏤ 

Sasuke inhaled a puff a smoke, glaring at the fallen ashes. Tonight all signs pointed out that he didn’t have any possible chance being involved with Naruto. Maybe it’s time for him to start giving up, even in the most blatant flirting that dumbass just yawned back at him.

Growling, his foot crushed the half-used cigarette to the ground, his bad mood escalating. He hated the idea of having to step down, but he also didn’t want to push his feelings if Naruto was uncomfortable. 

This sucked. Sasuke sighed, walking back to the entrance. He couldn’t wait for this night to be over so he could just go back to his apartment and drink his sorrows away, or something like that. Anything to forget the twisting pain wrenching his heart.

However, once he was back to the ad agency, he noticed that Naruto wasn’t on his seat. He shrugged, walking towards the bathroom. Maybe he’d see the blond man drinking the twelfth cup of coffee in a row, rocking his body back and forth, he’d probably fall asleep while standing. The thought of this made him chuckle a little.

The kitchen was also empty. Sasuke resumed his steps towards the bathroom until he froze on the spot.

He heard a moan.

The pitch of the moan was very recognizable as well. And considering they were the only people left in this entire building and the voice was so deliciously familiar, Sasuke remained standing still, listening to the pleased grunts as it grew in cadence. He almost wanted to scream in frustration. This idiot just couldn't wait for a more appropriate time to do his business, could he? Now Sasuke was sure those moans will plague his dreams for the next few months for sure.

"Ah…" Naruto groaned in a way that shot straight to his groin. Sasuke bumped his head on the door, this dumbass was driving him insane. He better go away. “Ahnnngh⏤” Right fucking now. “Ah⏤Sa…”

“Sasuke…”

He did a double-take, shaking his head. He’s hallucinating, he must be. He probably had been wanting Naruto for so long that he’s hearing the craziest things. 

“Ah yes⏤!” His echo brought shivers down Sasuke’s spine, chanting once again. “Sasuke⏤”  

He barely registered himself banging the door open, brain gone haywire as he strode in fast steps to the half open stall. He heard Naruto’s panicked grunt, trying to close the door stall but he was faster, prying it open with a wicked smirk.

“Why, hello there. What do we have here?” Sasuke murmured, noting the flushed face, chest heaving heavily and even if the blond man was trying his hardest to cover it, he saw the thick cock jutting out of the denim pants. Sasuke licked his lips.

“Sasuke!! The fuck, you can’t⏤” Naruto still attempted to shut the door but Sasuke used his whole elbow to keep it open, quirking that infuriating sexy smirk of his. “You can’t just barge in like that! Get out!” 

“Trust me, usually I wouldn’t bother myself snooping over anyone’s private moments but you called my name. And naturally, I just responded to such call.”

Sasuke saw Naruto clenching his jaw, though didn’t come up with any word of denial. His hard-on was still nestling in the midst of blond curls, so he succumbed the desire to touch it, tip of fingers flickering on the slit and earning a moan from Naruto.

“It looks like you’re in need of my help too.” He gradually let his hand wrap around Naruto’s cock, but only let it graze over it. “In any case you’re interested.”

Naruto hissed when Sasuke gripped his cock tightly, before releasing it at once. Sasuke was gradually lowering himself, with one knee to the ground. He kept teasing him with fluttering touches, brushing through the length and crumbling any remaining resistance. He wanted Sasuke for so long…and why is this bastard so irresistible?

“Well?” Sasuke caressed his inner thighs. “I won’t know if you won’t tell me anything dumbass.” He let out a hot puff of air over the sensitive head. “Naruto?”

Unsatisfied from the lack of response, Sasuke stood up. Sturdy hands seized his hair all of a sudden, growling close to his ear. “You better get there before I fucking lose my mind.”

Smirking undaunted, he continued to widen the distance despite seeing the incredulous blue eyes. He felt a grip on his nape, pushing him down even if he exerted some strength against it. His mouth was practically touching the head of Naruto’s cock, so he licked the beaded pre-cum, revelling the lustful gaze. The hand clenched around his hair when he sucked the sensitive glan, thrusting inside his mouth a few times before he glided it in. 

Naruto tossed his head to the back, moaning. With one hand encasing the base, Sasuke’s tongue curled around the joint between the head and the shaft, slurping and encasing with his lips. How sexually gratifying this felt, with each suckle and light bite, Naruto would groan, hiss and curse loudly, crying out in dark pleasure. Their eyes locked together, Sasuke would swallow the cock, staring how those cerulean hue darkened in hunger. That hand was still holding his head in place, tightening in a vice grip and made him moan with his mouth stuffed around that hot flesh.

Without a sign of warning, Naruto shoved till his cock went deep through Sasuke’s throat. Sasuke didn’t deter him, just threw a defiant glance back. With his hand clutching the black strands of hair, he thrust his cock in Sasuke’s mouth over and over, the grip on his scalp with the salty flavor of skin blended in this spicy mixture of pain and pleasure. 

His senses were already being overwhelmed by a musky scent, signalizing that Naruto was getting close. He released the cock from his mouth, stroking till one spurt of cum reached his face, bursting and flowing on his hand. Naruto was still heaving heavily, so Sasuke cleaned the best he could, tucking the flacid dick back to the orange boxers. He patted the tanned cheek, whispering close to the ear. “You want to continue somewhere else? My apartment is pretty close by.”

These sentences were enough to sober Naruto up, as he stared back with uncertainty and longing, before his eyebrows knitted in blazing determination. Feeling a little rattled about this sudden shift of emotions, Sasuke opened his mouth to question until arms enveloped around him, lips silencing him with a kiss.

Whatever was inside his mind just evaporated as Sasuke responded immediately, lips gliding and matching in a wet lock, his own hands reaching to hold Naruto’s waist. Soon his tongue slipped in, drinking the pleasurable grunt, consuming him, pulling him even closer. Sasuke inhaled sharply when their mouths parted for a second, coming together in increased intensity while Naruto embraced him tenderly, almost possessively. 

Both men paused to catch their breaths, staring longingly to each other. Sasuke was acutely aware of warm fingers caressing his back, while his own hands wound up brushing Naruto’s cheeks. Blue eyes crinkled soft and open, approaching in an almost lethargic way, with his nose nuzzling his cheek till full lips reached his mouth.

Naruto was kissing him harder, unyielding, akin to some unnamed desperation that Sasuke returned in kind. His hands instinctively reached to Naruto’s t-shirt, craving to yank it out, but the blond man seized his wrists and pushed it down. Growling, Sasuke thrust his pelvis, however Naruto just remained liplocked, not touching anywhere that would provoke any sort arousal.

Naruto backed away, his eyes still brimming with affection while he combed the dark hair. He didn’t resist the yearning to brush those beguiling lips, capturing once again to a swift kiss. He released with a loud sigh, shaking his head. But Sasuke held his chin with his fingers to catch his attention, closing in with his teeth lightly sinking on the lower lip. Naruto yielded for a while, though his hands were already placing in between their bodies, slowly pushing away.

At that moment, nothing in the world mattered for Sasuke aside Naruto. He was ready to rip his heart off if necessary to keep him by his side, but Naruto uttered out:

“I think…we should really call our uber.”

 That declaration was so out of left field that broke Sasuke’s line of thought. He muttered. “What?”

Naruto nodded. “Uber. We gotta call an uber. We’re pretty tired tonight right? We should go.”

Graphite eyes blinked, not quite catching the whole situation. He managed to murmur, his lips trying to reach Naruto’s but the latter deflected away. “We can go to my apartment, it’s close…”

“Yeah, um…” Naruto gently nudged Sasuke body off his lap, standing up. “I’m just⏤so fucking exhausted, I swear.”

“Naruto.” Sasuke clasped his arm. “But what about⏤”  

“I know. “ He rubbed his eyelids. “I’m sorry, we’ll talk later. Okay? I’m sorry.” Naruto pleaded, gulping dryly. “I’m so sorry. I⏤” Sighing, he exited the bathroom with a thunderous noise from the door.

Sasuke took too long seconds to really absorb what happened, running in search of Naruto. Too late, he already exited the building.

What the hell just happened? 

--.--

AN: Ayyyy what's this sudden angst? It's probably my fault lmao. Anyways...Hmm…while I was writing the beginning of this fic, I actually thought to myself if I didn’t embellish like it’s a cool place to work and it had so much cool prizes and recognition. So before anyone is changing their mind over their careers, let me tell you something: Most of the time, it’s a lie. And most ad agencies (at least here in Brazil) sucks. It’s changing pretty slowly, but it still sucks. You work overtime most of the time, recognition is mostly “I’ll pay for tonight’s beer” but no salary raise or bonus. There’s backstabbing involved too. Oh, and at least where I used to work, they won’t pay for those overtimes hours and even though they claim “you can rest another day”, it’s really complicated to negotiate the “I want to rest on x day”. The Las Vegas trip thing is real, but it’s something out of the norm, sadly. Also, the ad agency that gave such trip though, makes their employees work, like, twice the time. Anyways, like any job, it has its merits and its downfalls.

[bioswear]

Shitty game dev experiences

So like, for the past 6 months I’ve been stuck in this horrible student game dev hell that I’ll call “Tex Blechs”. It is a game that was pitched with ZERO substance, and the team who pitched it only liked it because one of the people on that team’s fiancé pitched the title pun (Which is Just Tex Mechs, which also seems mildly racist?) and the stakeholders (aka our professors, aka 3 white men) LOVED the pun, even tho they had no idea what the game was about. They literally said “idk what Tex Mechs is about, but I want to play it.” Like?? No??? Which is red flag #1. So they pick that as one of the three games that was chosen for us to develop.

The game designer for Tex Blechs is the person who pitched the pun, and was also the game designer for our last, cohort-wide student game, which was equally lackluster in quality, overscoped, and lacking in true substance. All of which would be fine I suppose if she didn’t overscope all of her projects, since it’s a student game. So, she has this massive game idea for a project that’s really only meant to be 10-15 minutes of quality, solid gameplay and to this day, it still is not.

Let me say that the original content she wanted was: 2 different levels (a farm and a canyon) with 5 arenas, Left4Dead style, 1 tutorial level, five different weapons, four different kinds of enemies, and an opening cutscene for the game AND an end cutscene. In retrospect, this wouldn’t be a lot for a bigger dev team, but this team has 16 people. We only have three artists total, not including myself and the VFX artist, who is a level designer in the program. That’s a big fuckin order. We have 16 weeks for this game. That is not a lot of time. At all. To model/sculpt, retopologize, UV unwrap and texture, rig and skin, and then optimize a handful of assets to a quality that can be considered “Steam-worthy”. Oh, right, our end goal is to get greenlig for steam publication, which counts as a shipped game for our resume.

The level designers on this team are stressed as fuck. They have had to constantly crunch and remake arenas the entire game, and never have actually had the time to polish the environments as well as they could have because theyre constantly working on refining combat, set-dressing, and other such things. They have been a sprint behind because they had to remake the arenas, which is a canyon environment. (And then the professors/stakeholders complain that it “doesn’t feel like Texas”; what the fuck is Texas supposed to feel like? Texas doesn’t have canyons, Texas is flat as fuck)

I am art lead for this Tex Blechs, and good lord is it a beating everyday. If I were an object, I’d be a piñata. Despite my efforts to try and convince the GD to scope down, each time I’d be met with “well we can just reuse stuff” or “as the game designer, I want this to be in the game” and I’m listened to, but I’m not HEARD. It’s only just RECENTLY, out of 6 months development time, that she’s decided to cut stuff. But all the stuff she’s cut so far, has been things that are already completed, and have been for a few milestones, because they “weren’t working out.” She didn’t even tell the producer she had cut this stuff, and I had to be the one to tell the producer instead, which was a surprise to her.

I have been a really good lead for my artists, and one of the most organized leads during the entire project. This fucker is like “but you’re not doing your job because you’re checked out and frustrated at this game.” Which is a horribly large and inaccurate assumption about me, as I do my job and I do it well to the point that in my peer evals, people have called me “a good lead,” “willing to help her team with extra assets,” “a good advocate for the art team,” etc. So I try to tell him that I can have an opinion but when I’m in the room I’m doing my job with minimal complaint. And this fucker SITS IN OUR ROOM during the workday because so many people have complained about the sloppiness of the game designer and the producer.

Anyway, my artists and I had this big meeting about the scope of the game and the concerns we all shared, which was that there was no feasible way to do everything that was planned. So we have a meeting with the game designer involved, too. And we express our concerns, and frustrations, and need for less content if we want to make a good, polished looking game. And this bitch? She turns it into a sob story about how hard it is to be a game designer and how it’s hard to look at the big picture and that it was never her idea she just had the title, and that she didn’t even know what the game was supposed to be, etc. Meanwhile, none of the artists are feeling sympathy because she never once answered any of our questions, and only turned it into a sob story about how hard her job was. Frustration point #500. This is back in September.

Things still don’t improve until like, a week ago. We have team retros where we go over what went well, wrong, and to do better next time for each milestone.

Every. Fucking. Time. Someone says that the game is still overscoped and that someone or multiple people have crunched because they had to. And still NO CHANGES. No intervention from faculty, who wants to slough off the responsibility that they set us up for failure onto us. NOTHING.

So naturally my artists and I form a solidarity about the shit working conditions and often bitch about stuff, mostly outside of class, where we’re allowed to.

So today one of the bitch ass white men who picked the game pulls me aside and says that I’m being too negative because I often talk about the flaws of the production and development environment, and that it’s affecting the rest of the team, but this is absolutely not true in any way. I try to tell him that it’s not just me, and I’m not the cause of the team wide low morale, and that I’m not their ringleader or telling them how to feel. But he still insists that it must be my negativity, and not the months of constant crunch, overtime, overscoping, disorganization and incompetency of the other two leads that’s obviously the problem. That would be too easy.

He says that, because I’m the lead, that my negative comments are affecting the other artists as if they aren’t grown-ass adults who can formulate thoughts and opinions on their own. He’s treating me like I’m some big bad ringleader and the artists are my lackeys, but really they just hate BULLSHIT, which has been 90% of this games development.

He also has been stalking and monitoring my twitter because the producer on my team is spineless and frail and snitched me out during her production class, and tried to use some of my personal opinion posts against me today, too? Saying that they’ve been making their rounds to the entire team and that it’s hurting my credibility with them, which is also, again, not true, as nobody on my team follows me on Twitter and that a good majority of my team also has the same kind of feelings that I do about the games development shitshow (they are much less verbal during class, much like I am much less verbal about it during class).

Anyway, that’s been my fucking life for the past 6 months.

[ccarmona77]

Week 1

How to Design with Intention

In order to solve the difficult design decisions without making assumptions on our own aesthetic preferences is in the Intention. (Elena Gkoga)

The first question that we need to ask ourselves is: “What is our goal?”-- we need to define the intention and come up with a plan. It can help unravel hidden walls, traps; but not necessarily solve the problem. 

Process for designing with intention:

Define: Describe the goal and its challenges

-Question everything; the brief, audience, and the goal. It will help to describe and visualize the intention and explore possible blockers and challenges.

Simplify: Take the challenge and break into pieces 

-Breakdown into small manageable and measurable goals. It will take away pressure and help us understand the project on a much deeper level.

Minimize: Throw away all the unnecessary stuff

- Tackle one problem at a time, pick quick wins, the safe bets, and those first.

Focus: Pay attention to who you are designing for

-Be aware of our biases and be conscious that we do design for a specific group of people. It’s all about THEM! Our design decision should always point back to people. 

Learn: Search the hell out of the industry and competition

-Learn from other designers, we shouldn’t rush to reinvent the wheel, but instead refine, improve and adjust the wheel to out particular vehicle.

Get inspired: Keep an open eye, mouth, and mind

-We need to critically observe and evaluate. Be open to explore the diff. Directions, solutions, or trends.

Evaluate: Do a regular reality check

-Take a step back to see the full picture. Re-evaluate and repeat.

Team Human

In this reading talks about how humans have interacted with different kinds of mediums in order to see and communicate with one another. One thing that I found interesting was that we use one way mediums very often such as articles, books and television to witness what it’s happening to people across the globe, and how it creates new intimacy as it lets us see the world through another person’s eyes. Humans have been social beings since the beginning of time, and now with our evolution we’re trying to improve our communication skills by adapting it to our newest advanced tech. As new medium surges, it affects our communication with one another and instead of creating social platforms for all of us it turns these platforms into isolating ones. However, everyone is so focused on what kind of advanced tech we will have in the future and don’t appreciate the relationships we have between people and the easy access of even initiating conversations with the tool that’s in our hands 24/7,our cellphones. 

Design Matters- Podcast

Interview of Robert Fabricant and Cliff Kuang by Debbie Millman.

-Build a portfolio, build your work overtime, try new projects, try new mediums, and new fields, in order to gain confidence and knowledge in every medium possible and get more connections.

-Always challenge yourself!

-Fabricant and Cliff Kuang wrote a book about user experience and design.

Computer’s are a tool for a designer, to help tackle their design’s with facilitation. Sometimes these tasks can be easy and other’s not so much.

-Always ask yourself “Why am I doing this?’ and “for who is it for?”, instead of doubting yourself “can I do this?”. 

Create with clear and informative intent, and basing it off of the audience.

-Don’t be too set on a design, be open to change

-Start with marginalized groups of people that you primarily wouldn’t go to, you’d be amazed by their feedback and their opinions. 

The Type Bible

Chapter 1

Typography exists to honor content. One of the principles of durable typography is always legibility; another is something more than legibility. It takes more on various forms and goes by various names, including serenity, liveliness, laughter, grace and joy. (These principles apply, in different ways to the typography mediums). The original purpose of typography was simply copying, and imitate the scribal hand in a form that permitted exact and fast replication. The task of a typographer is to interpret the text and be able to help inform the reader to analyze, and read it with no trouble.

Chapter 2

This chapter went over the rules of kerning, spacing, ledding, and measurements. Although, these rules are small they create huge differences in typography work. I never knew the amount of precision put into typography. I basically learned the basics in the first typography class, and really was blown away by the amount of precision typography has and how it can be inconsistent by a small error. Having words with little spacing between them can be hard to read. The measurements behind spacing are usually measured by picas, points, and ems. Another rule discussed in this chapter is hyphenation, used better than to use inconsistent spacing. 

[ziansjourney]

Platformer Postmortem

I think I have experimented enough with this Platformer prototype enough to gain an idea about the design process regarding Platformers. Here’s the end result:

(Note that even though the score says text, once the game is initialised, it will automatically update to display score)

With guidance of the Game Design Workshop, the book has helped me understand and better my skills in the design process. I think my prototype suffices all four areas of digital prototyping mentioned in Chapter 8.

Game mechanics feels simple, basic, and fluid to understand. Collect coins and defeat enemies to increase a score and avoid hazards until you reach the end of the level indicated by a red flag.

Technology can be mostly disregarded because the software GDevelop handles it with no error. Events ultimately worked fine in the end as well

In terms of Kinesthetics, the feel is what I conclusively aimed for. An appropriate running and strafe speed, jump height isn’t too small or too much

Aesthetics looked pleasing although most of the assets were already supplied. The score screen in the top middle, and the ‘Level complete’ screens although a little low in quality, still enacts its purpose sufficiently. However, the background could be refined some more, instead of just being mostly blue

If I had the opportunity to redevelop or more time on prototyping a platformer game, there are a few changes I would implement. Firstly, after playing around sometime, I’ve noticed my game seems too basic. There were no creative or innovative features in my opinion that makes the game spark. Just travel to the right until you reach the end. I tried to counter-act this issue, by adding in more hazards and a moving death barrier. These hazards include a new enemy that was 4 times as fast as the standard enemy and lava to kill the player if touched however still pretty lacking in difficulty. I understand that challenge and ability have to be balanced according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of ‘flow’ in chapter 4.

I feel like my game reaches too much into the 'boredom' area, despite adding in these new features. But upon thinking it some more, if I added 1 or 2 more features/mechanics to contribute challenge, it can lead to frustration as levels could be long and the player is only limited to 1 life. I add in a 'Lives' system as even a slight touch in the lava can lead to resetting the entire level, which I think is too punishing upon the player. I could also add in a mechanic how completing a level flawlessly could increase your score, some sort of incentive to still play cautiously and hastily.

If I had the opportunity to change the design of the prototype, I would completely rehaul the aim of the game. Currently the objective is too reach the end of the level while outrunning deathclouds. Can be pretty bland and repetitive over multiple levels. Instead, I would want to create a sort of endless platformer, with the objective is too reach their highest possible score. Overtime, new enemies would spawn that could vary in health/speed/mechanics, new rules that would be implemented at different intervals of game time such as collecting an object before a timer runs out or possibly adding in the deathclouds here too. However, figuring out how to implement such mechanics at different times, making sure randomness doesn't influence the players ability to reach a high score to an overwhelming degree, and figuring out how to have health and different mechanics in enemies would albeit interesting, could prove too difficult within my set time constrictions.