#I like the neon sign kind of coloured lines style I did for this

[banesberry-anomoly]

Made a little gif thing for Virtual Diner cause Im kitchen staff for the bot :]]

So if ya order something with the Virtual Diner discord bot you might see us pop up on there!

[discotreque]

LwD 2.05: An Embarrassment of Dooplers

So I was a little nervous about this one! I hadn’t heard any spoiler-spoilers, but screeners have been out for weeks now, and I’d heard a bunch of individual, vague, non-spoilery hints about (1) big character moments, on the scale of a mid-season finale even though the show’s not taking a mid-season break; and (2) an ending that would make me cry.

I guess I imagined something relatively serious and dramatic, like “No Small Parts”? This show makes me cackle with laughter and giggle with nerdy glee and “d’awww!” at heartwarming friendships every week, but it’s only ever made me cry once—and then I was impressed that they were going to get there from the wacky hijinks we saw in the brief teaser.

The lack of a cold open made me apprehensive too—in my experience, that’s typically a sign that there’s so much plot in the rest of the episode that they need that extra scene—but after ~21.5 minutes of aforementioned hijinks, I was having so much fun that I’d completely forgotten about the alleged tear-jerker at the end…

…and they were not the tears I was expecting.

I didn’t think I’d be smiling and crying!!!! That was wholesome as SHIT!!!!!

I almost can’t believe they earned that—but they totally did.

After a Mariner–Tendi episode and a Boimler–Rutherford episode, we’re back to the “usual” Season 1 pairings… except the relationships between these characters have changed since Season 1. Mariner still feels thwacked in the abandonment issues by Boimler bailing for the Titan, and Rutherford’s having a tiny little existential crisis about losing an entire year of his life.

Both of which are extremely understandable and very heavy situations—and both of those situations get resolved because everyone in them is vulnerable with each other and honest about their feelings—AND that honesty and vulnerability brings both pairs of friends closer together. Are you kidding me?? I would watch SEVENTY seasons of that shit. Put it in my veins.

Onto the notes:

So basically Dooplers are Tribbles, but for cringe comedy instead of slapstick? Ohhhhh boy.

Look at Ransom the diplomat, tossing his own fork on the floor! I like that he’s actually a pretty competent Starfleet officer, despite also being a completely ridiculous person.

Wait a second, is that—OH HOLY SHIT, THE DOOPLERS ARE VOICED BY RICHARD KIND.

It makes sense that B. Boimler would find William annoying—who likes seeing their own flaws reflected back at them? And who could be a better reflection of one’s flaws than one’s literal duplicate?—but most interesting to me is that it implies on some level, Bradward knows the stick up his butt is a flaw. (Does William?)

Why does the Cerritos model have working phasers?!?!

I’m loving hot pink as the currently en-vogue colour for “dangerous sci-fi energy” in animation (cf. almost every previous episode of this show; Into the Spider-Verse; other stuff I can’t remember right now). As a former child of the 80’s, I’m living for it… but as a former teenager of the 90’s, I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to age as poorly as the harsh neon green of The Matrix, every Borg appearance on Voyager, and like 80% of the websites I made in high school…

SKANTS! SKANTS! SKANTS!

That fake-out joke with the fly-by over the Cerritos model was in the season trailer weeks ago, and I was so enthralled by that handsome lady that the sticker coming into frame still got me good 😂😂😂

BECKY Mariner????? omg yes

Some top-quality Boimler screams in this one. Poor Jack Quaid must drink gallons of throat-coat tea when he records.

One of the great things about Star Trek to me is that you never know what you’re going to get from any random episode. A murder mystery? A road trip? A spooky thriller? A cheesy romance? Broad comedy? Body horror? Didactic political screeds shrouded in tissue-thin science-fiction metaphors? Brain and brain, what is brain??? And after this many years of watching, you’d think I’d be hard to surprise. But if I ever told you I thought I’d see a Blues Brothers–style car chase through a frickin’ shopping mall on an episode of Star Trek, I would have been straight-up lying to you. I loved it, it worked for me, my jaw was on the floor and I was clapping with joy—but I’m definitely comfortable calling this one “unexpected.”

It’s CAPTAIN SHELBY!!! And an ancient babydyke crush rose from the depths of my childhood subconscious… (Also I think her Number One is based on the original makeup—eventually deemed too complicated—for Saru? Now that’s a deep cut.)

In 20th-century Trek, you almost never got to see what was going on inside a starship from the outside. Even after they switched from physical models (where it was next to impossible on a single episode’s budget) to CGI (which was still in its infancy, still not exactly cheap, and still broadcast in SD anyway), it was a rare thrill to see any meaningful interior details in an exterior shot. Disco’s modern VFX have given us some tasty, tasty treats in that department, but nothing quite as sublime as all the pink Doopler light glittering through the Cerritos’s windows.

Mariner says she’ll take her contact Malvus down with her, and threatens that they’ll end up “in the same cell.” Malvus is a Mizarian, a species introduced in TNG’s “Allegiance,” in which Captain Picard is held in a mysterious prison with one. I think I see what you did there, McMahan?

Bartender… so hot… lesbian circuits… overloading…

The Tendi and Rutherford C-story was, well, a C-story within a 22-minute episode, so there wasn’t much to it, but the one scene that mattered actually mattered a lot. I’m ambivalent on whether they should end up romantically involved—I’d prefer they don’t, but they’ll be one of the cutest couples in Trek history if they do—and as long as they keep that pure, sweet friendship between them at the heart of whatever else happens, I’m on board.

Carol Freeman was already one of my favourite captains before this season, and she’s been steadily moving up the list. The quiet throughline about her ambition to be on a better ship has been fascinating so far, and it’s starting to actually make me feel a little conflicted: I’m of course rooting for Captain Freeman to recognize her worth, make Starfleet recognize her worth, and become the ass-kicking captain of a hero ship that she’s clearly ready to be—but that almost surely means she’d be kicking ass off-screen, because LwD isn’t about those kind of adventures, and I’d be devastated not to have Dawnn Lewis on the show every week. So I’m kind of on the edge of my seat about this one!

I had so many favourite jokes this week I put them in a separate list:

“Even the replicated water on the Titan tasted better” is a low-key brilliant dunk on people who can’t shut the fuck up about the cooler places they used to live.

“Ooooh, they have a Quark’s now! That used to just be an empty lot where teens would make mistakes!” ← That’s literally me every time I go back to where I grew up. I felt so Seen™ I almost hid under a blanket.

“I would never go down the stairs!” (evil grin) (goes up the stairs)

The “well, shit” expressions from Mariner and Boimler as their crashed car sank right into the water… which started to bubble innocuously… and then the bottles of Data bubble-bath popped up, paying off a joke I thought had already been paid off—that was the one that woke up my poor cat this week. Just exquisite timing.

“YOUR PAGH IS WEAK, AND IT DISGUSTS ME!” “I don’t even know what that is, but I don’t like your tone!”

“Okona’s in there? He’s not even Starfleet! This is outrageous!” made me shout “NO!” at the screen like I was scolding my cat for scratching furniture. (She did not wake up that time.)

Best background joke: the neon sign at the dive bar advertising FREE SHOTS & BEERS. (Get it? Because they’re on a Federation starbase? Where nobody uses money?)

And of course Quark merchandised DS9.

This wasn’t just a standout episode of Lower Decks, this was a brilliant episode of Star Trek, period. The Dooplers, though extremely silly, are nevertheless also a clever sci-fi metaphor for real and relatable personal/interpersonal issues, and an effective plot catalyst for meaningful character growth from all four of our ensigns and the captain.

The jokes were hilarious, the action was kinetic, the A-, B-, and C-plots linked up thematically, the visuals were consistently and thoroughly gorgeous, the character beats—between Mariner and Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford, Mariner and Capt. Freeman—were all genuine, heartfelt and wholesome, and the references to other Trek canon were both deep and deeply affectionate.

Only 15 episodes in, and this series knows exactly what it is, exactly what it wants to do, and knows that it can knock our socks off doing it. Mike McMahan has said in recent interviews that the back half of S2 (and the apparently almost-fully-written S3) is a straight line uphill in quality from here—which surprised me at first, because McMahan seems like a pretty chill dude who doesn’t normally brag about his own work like that.

But then the Prophets sent me a vision of my space dad Ben Sisko, who reminded me of the words of 1930’s baseball player Dizzy Dean:

“If you can do it, it ain’t bragging.”

[Thanks to cygnus-x1.net for the screenshots this week—I was too lazy to do my own.]

[nostalgic-pancakes]

F is for friends who do stuff together - the awake at 2 AM remix

Joan needs a swear jar, Talyn's a lightbulb, Valerie is tired and valid, and Thomas+Sides are very confused)

Summary- Thomas has had his sides around for... a long time. That's for sure. And he knows that nobody else can see them (except maybe Lilly, but she has sides too, so).

Pairings- Pintroverts, Thomas and friends, Thomas and Sides

Read on AO3

Word count- 2666

Warnings- It has character!everyone, and NOT their real life counterparts. Please remember this.

Other notes- AU where instead of Vine, c!Thomas left chemical engineering for signing with a really dope theatre company with his friends. He still meets Nico at the mall, but Nico's a new writer for the company! All the sides are friends too! Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Look, the first time was an accident, okay? Joan was tired and a bit incoherent and what was Thomas supposed to do?!! Leave them be? No! So Joan ended up staying the night.

Except, the next morning was when everyone had entered the courtroom together and they'd gotten WAY too dramatic over whether to lie to them about a text they'd made like… two days ago and that Thomas had only seen after combing through a barrage of memes and that Joan probably wouldn't remember, come to think about it. But that was hindsight and after the utter nightmare that was a whole day (A whole day!!) with Aunt Patty the day before, Virgil and Patton were absolutely freaking out, probably giving Deceit (Who, in hindsight, Thomas knows as Janus) a little extra leeway into the conversation that day.

Either way, Joan had stayed the night in order to recover from the utter sleep-deprivation that they'd been going through, and Thomas had forgotten about the fact that Joan was even there for most of the morning, only seeing them after the entire courtroom spectacle (and a suspiciously dire warning from Virgil) at breakfast, and them leaving to see Talyn a little after (with plenty of hugs involved, duh).

Then Thomas told Joan the truth over the call, and Joan had said The Line (as Roman, Virgil and Janus call it with an oddly cryptid-like voice) and Thomas felt himself go frigid.

Since when did Joan know that Thomas talked to his sides?! Had they learned their names? Figured out that Thomas might just have a few extra screws loose than they might have initially thought?

"Maybe they even hate us now because we got so crazed over one little text and--”

“Virgil. Not helping!” Thomas yelps, and Virgil catches himself in his spiel of worst case scenarios, looking a bit sheepish. Patton and Thomas smile at him reassuringly (he hopes) and Logan clears his throat, causing everyone to turn to him.

“Well, Joan seems to be aware enough of the fact that you speak to us, but mostly considers it as you, as they had said, ‘talking to yourself’, and besides, you didn’t name-drop us too many times, anyways. And while it’s not really...ideal, that Joan thinks you talk to yourself for this long-”

“You can say that again, Stephen Hawk-Nerd”, murmured Roman. Logan winces, and Thomas kind of wants to hug him, so he does.

“Yes, Roman, and as bad as that nickname is, note that this is not, in fact a worst-case scenario. This can be put down to the fact that Thomas has some strange personality quirks-”

“Did you just do some wordplay there, kiddo?” Patton beams at the implication, while Logan, currently being shared by Thomas and Virgil, just groans and descends further into the contact.

“No, I did not, Patton, but what I am saying, is that this is not too bad. We can talk about it as a general personality quirk. This is fine.” Logan finishes, and becomes a heap in the total hug-pile of Thomas and Virgil, flopping over. Huh, he (as usual) has a point. Maybe this can work.

The second time was a pretty near miss, but once again, it was unexpected! He and the sides were just watching Mulan together as usual! They were piled up together, blankets in hand, and yeah, it might look weird to anyone who can’t see the sides, he guesses, with the blankets stretched out in places that have nothing to stretch onto, but once again, he wasn't expecting someone to come over! But anyways- whatever happens, happens. He's trying to be better about it.

It really doesn't stop Janus from pulling out all the stops (teaming up with Virgil, even!) when it comes to having to come up with an alibi to Terrence over why the blankets are arranged so strangely, even though there is literally nothing keeping it afloat. In the end, it's not the most believable lie, but Terrence is busy with Valerie just after, so he probably doesn't really think about it too hard. Besides, Thomas has always been a pretty quirky guy! ("Which could be an insul--" "Jack and Sullen, we love you very very much, but please, for the love of all things Disney, please breathe and take out your fidget cube..") So hey, what was a new quirk when added to everything else?

Meanwhile, Terrence is trying to figure out what the fuck he just saw, because he's pretty sure that there were more than one Thomas there, and Thomas only has two other brothers. Also none of them dress like twenties mobsters or are semi-transparent.

Nico was having a good day. In fact, he still is!

He and his (amazing) boyfriend were sitting on the couch- though more draped on top of each other than anything while binge watching ELITE and Tiny Pretty Things, while also being pleasantly high (as opposed to stoned).

Things only entered strange territory when during one of the flashback murder-y scenes in Tiny pretty Things, a strange man who looked like an even more chaotic Thomas with some grey hair on him entered the room from seemingly nowhere, and proceeded to occupy the sparse space on Thomas’s lap with his head, essntially just napping on his boyfriend’s lap while also being kind of see-through (???!!!???AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH). Thomas noticed, waved a small wave and started playing with this weird guy’s hair.

Nico is now a little high from the bong that he and Thomas had shared, but not enough to hallucinate, especially since, when the high was pretty much gone, the guy was STILL THERE. MIERDA. At this point, he’s just going to call it ghosts. Thomas doesn’t seem to mind too much anyways, so they must not be harmful. Nico decides to table this for another day and go back to binge watching crazy maniacs with his very soft and warm boyfriend, and let the remainder of the high coast along.

"We have to talk about the Thomas thing." Is the first thing Joan says without any bullshit, as soon as everyone except Thomas himself, Gavin (because it's two AM) and Quil are packed together in Thomas's living room, where he just binged Parks and Rec with everyone. They've all finally managed to shove Thomas and Quil back to their respective areas of sleep after 42 hours without said sleep, and nobody was allowed to talk loud enough for them to wake up.

"The… Thomas thing?" Asks Valerie. Oh that sweet summer child. Joan once again quietly calls everyone's attention by asking Talyn to shake their hair around like a neon-coloured alarm bell. This was especially effective in the otherwise dark kitchen where they were trying out glow in the dark hair dye.

"Well, as of lately, we've been seeing a lot, and I mean a lot of really weird shit coming from Thomas. Everyone, recount your experiences." Joan says in the most serious voice they've got. "I'll go first."

They wave their hands like Matt Mercer, as if they were setting up a dope DND campaign. Quietly, of course.

"Well, about a month ago now, I was cleaning here, at Thomas's, because I was sleep-deprived and would have crashed and died if I'd tried to go back to mine and Talyn's. So most of the night goes normally, as one would expect, but when I wake up in the morning…" Joan readjusts their beanie. "I hear Thomas in the living room, talking to people called Logan, Roman, someone called Pat, Virgil and 'deceit'. And this debate becomes an ordeal, alright? He re-enacts a whole entire ace-attorney style courtroom scene with these imaginary people? I called him out on it over the phone when he apologized for some random thing- I don't remember, and he kind of just… admitted that he talks to himself? And moved on.

Everyone absorbs this new information. Camden keeps braiding Talyn's hair.

"But that's not too big of a deal, right Joan?" Whispers Camden, tying up the elaborate mini fishtail plait in Talyn's hair. "I mean, thanks Thomas we're talking about. He could have been rehearsing or something- isn't he JD in the next production of Heathers?"

Terrence speaks up next. "Yes, this would have been all well and good, had the Blanket Incident ™ not occured."

Valerie shakes her head. Why are her friends like this? Oh wait. They’re all theatre nerds, queer and D&D players.

"In the blanket incident ™, I was walking past Thomas's room, as one does. HOWEVER, while he was watching Mulan, I noticed something wrong with his blanket pile!"

"What, that they don't have any Vetal Miking references on them? Because that's the true tragedy here."

"Nope, sorry Tal, the weirdness here was not about Vetal Miking references, but the fact that parts of the blanket were freaking floating, in thin air! I have discreet pictures!"

"What the fuck, Terrence." whispered everyone in a strange, haunting unison that could only be possible at two AM as they saw the very strange pictures.

"And that's not it!" Pipes up Talyn, who is now realising that they are very close to becoming too loud for 2 AM kitchen chats, and makes an effort to quiet down.

"At breakfast today, Thomas's waffles were making themselves- Thomas can't cook, y'all. And he can't even use is fucking waffle iron. And he was on the other side of the room! Talking to Quil!" After Quil left, he told the waffle creator to chill out because the stack was getting too tall!"

"Is this about Thomas's ghosts, guys?" Asks Nico, the new cute boyfriend and new theatre company writer as he plops down in Quil's usual spot. Nico's nice- everyone likes Nico except maybe Nico, to which, well, mood. ALSO- ghosts?!!

"Nico what the fuck do you mean by ghosts, you serial killer in training?"

"One, just because I have to write a serial killer in this new script and I'm enjoying it, it doesn't mean I'm gonna be a serial killer, you tonte. Two: yeah, the ghosts that follow him around and look just like him? They seem nice enough." At everyone's super unspoken request to elaborate, for fuck's sake, he takes the hint and does.

“Oh! So the first time I saw them, I was at the mall. You know, where Thomas and I met?” everyone nods, and Talyn readjusts their braces.

“So there was this guy in a hoodie- Virgil, as you said, and the Disney prince. Roman, I think. And they were just kind of… there? Roman was holding Virgil’s shoulder affectionately, and that’s about it. They were only really visible after about three or four hours of us talking, though.” Some of the people hum.

“Then, we were watching a movie and these two guys who also look a lot like Thomas just kind of lounged? On the couch? They were pretty faint, like if their brightness was decreased to about thirty percent in Photoshop.”

“Hey, same!” says Terrence.

“Yeah, so those guys- the one in the green t-shirt that has the legs on the bus meme- so weird- kind of just stretches onto Thomas’s lap and stays there, while the twenties mobster just… curls up to his side? And thomas is probably like, used to this because he kind of just lets it be and curls the meme shirt-”

“I think it’s Remus.”

“-Remus’s hair absentmindedly and moves on.”

“Fuck.” Whispered Joan very softly, but with great feeling.

“So what do we do about it?” asks Camden. There, finally, someone asks the real questions.

“Well,” puts forward Talyn. “They’re not harming him, right? And he’s had them around for a long enough time, right? So what’s the harm? Thomas is just haunted and will probably be on Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural at some point when he dies but hey, if he’s cool with it, we are too.”

Everyone seems to agree with that, and they’re in comfortable silence, until Valerie asks everyone to go the fuck to sleep, we’re still doing the Heather’s costume rehersals and Death Week starts in two days. With groans and cracked joints from Talyn, everyone hobbles off to their respective rooms in the duplex.

Meanwhile, a certain white-streaked side and his hoodied companion are listening through the wall, far away from what anyone can see, and they both visibly sigh in relief. That didn’t go too badly. The question remains: what do we do now?

“They KNOW????” exclaims Thomas, the next day in the (thankfully empty) breakroom, in between rehearsals- Candy Store is being run through and that means that everyone else is outside.

“Yes, Thomas, they know. Or they somewhat know, I suppose.”

“Yeah, because they think we’re-Thomas is being HAUNTED!!’

“Are you not haunted, then?” comes a voice, and Thomas turns around, forgetting to let the sides dissipate in his surprise. It’s Nico, with Talyn and Valerie close behind, who are clearly taking in the six other guys in the breakroom. Well, fuck. The cat’s out of the bag for good, he guesses.

“Could you get everyone else during lunch break? I’ll explain then.” Talyn nods and leaves with a smile, telling him that they’re not mad at him, while Nico asks, voice farther away “So are you haunted or not?”.

“So they’re… aspects of your personality that you’ve been able to manifest since you were a kid?” Camden asks, a bit disbelieving, even as Logan, Roman, Patton and Janus drape themselves over Thomas on one of the beanbags in the breakroom, filled with other nerdy gay young adults. Logan pushes up his glasses, ready to go on another tangent. Go wild, you funky little dude.

“Well yes, that’s exactly what we're saying. I myself am the embodiment of Logic- every fact that Thomas has ever learned, and his, and these are his words, not mine, ‘the only braincell’. He makes the air quotes to go with the expression, but is also smiling fondly.

“Classic Thomas.”

“Yes, Valerie, I am inclined to agree. However, this is not specific to Thomas. Other people can, in fact, do what Thomas is. Lilly Singh is one of them- the reason that she and Thomas are even friends is because in high school Thomas caught her talking to one of her sides in the art room.”

“So wait-- we can summon sides too?!” asks Nico, and he and Camden look genuinely excited, but Thomas knows the answer to that question.

“Unfortunately no, not really. You have to have an extremely active imagination, and also be ‘innocent’, as society would put it. I’d say näive.”

“For example, I couldn’t make any more sides after i was fourteen, because I watched the news by then.” pipes in Thomas. Joan seems to process this first, nodding and grinning sardonically. “Ah yes, the news. Wrecking childhoods since forever.” everyone nods in gay syncing, because gay minds think at the same time.

Valerie suddenly speaks up; “So how many sides do you have, Thomas?”

Thomas perks up, because his sides are possibly his favourite metaphysical beings (as narcissistic as that might sound) “I have six! My logic, morality, both creativities- Kids and Family and PG13-and-up, anxiety and deceit! I have two creativities because of catholic guilt and my mind’s inherent need to cause chaos, I guess.”

“Valid” replied Valerie.

The rest of break passed by pretty smoothly, with questions being passed back-and-forth about what the sides truly were, considering they clearly were not just Thomas, and Virgil even felt okay enough to come in later! So that was good. Though he kind of wishes Remus had made fewer Heathers jokes- Camden was starting to look squeamish, even as Nico frantically took notes of gorey facts to use in his script.

Honestly, Thomas thought to himself. What was I scared of?

Irrational things. And rejection, replies Virgil in his head. He laughs and pulls him in for a hug, and tries as he might to deny it, Virgil is looking pretty chuffed.

[datheetjoella]

Fantober 2020, Day 29: Soulmate

Author: DatHeetJoella Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Part: 29/31 (read the full collection here) Word count: 2,872 Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmate, Developing Relationship, Fluff, First Interaction, Mirror Link Read at: AO3, FFn, or right here!

                                            -------------------------------------

Green. For as long as he could remember, Haruka had dreamt of green. It was vibrant, ever-present, warm, and above all comforting. Like the essence of happiness was captured in one colour.

Outside of his dreams, Haruka had never encountered a green quite like it - at least, not that he recalled. Grass seemed dull in comparison, while neon signs screamed to call attention to them, but Haruka's green was a gentle shade, bright but still soft.

Haruka didn't know what it was supposed to represent, if it even had a meaning or if it was nothing more than an image his mind conjured up at night because it couldn't be bothered to create something else. But it wasn't unpleasant, far from it, so he hadn't questioned it beyond a fleeting thought here and there.

It was no different this morning; the last rays of green lingered before his eyelids when he woke up and left contentment in his heart. What was different this morning was the time displayed on his alarm clock, that either hadn't gone off or that he'd pressed in his sleep. Seven-fifteen, half an hour later than usual. There went his morning bath.

His good mood instantly vanished and he was almost certain a bad day would follow. With a sigh, Haruka pulled himself from his sheets and dragged his feet toward the bathroom.

The mirror above the sink reflected his sour expression, but he couldn't be bothered to unfurl his eyebrows. It wasn't like anyone else could see him right now and even if they could, he couldn't care less about his appearance or their possible opinion at that moment.

He grabbed the tube of toothpaste and his brush and pinched some onto the bristles, then he sighed again. Of course it squirted out too much, half of it spilling over and wasting away in the sink. Scrap that bad day and make it awful.

The thunder clouds were nearly visible above his head as he lazily brushed his teeth. Perhaps he should've just turned around and gone back to sleep, school be damned. Judging by how this day was going so far, he'd probably miss the train or get hit by a bus on the way there.

He spat out some of the excess toothpaste, but when he straightened his back, he wasn't met with his reflection. Instead, he saw a completely different bathroom, with a white wall instead of small blue tiles, and a completely different person; a person he didn't know.

It was a guy who he estimated to be around his age. His brown locks were styled in the most incredible bedhead Haruka had ever seen and his eyes were squeezed shut, a large hand covering up a yawn. When it passed, he lowered his arm and revealed his heart-shaped face with thick, upslanting eyebrows, a straight and slightly raised nose, full lips and pearly teeth.

Despite the visible fatigue wearing down his features, he was undeniably handsome. Very handsome. But when he opened his eyes and his pupils shrunk as they adjusted to the light inside the bathroom, Haruka's breath was stolen from his lungs. His irises were green. That shade of green Haruka had been yearning for since he was a child.

After eighteen years, Haruka finally saw his soulmate and he was relieved and touched and immensely confused.

Most people first met their soulmate when they were kids. As soon as they heard about the connection mirrors made between two people, a phenomenon scientists couldn't explain to this day, they'd spend days in front of the most reflective surface in their house in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their special someone. While Haruka hadn't been quite that eager, he'd be lying if he said that he didn't coincidentally pass by mirrors more often than before and lingered for longer than necessary.

Not once had he booked any success and after a while, he gave up. If his soulmate and he were destined to be together, they would see each other eventually. As the years went by, the lurch of his stomach whenever he stood in front of a mirror disappeared and the thought faded to the back of his mind, where it lived as a cricket that blended in with the rest of the white noise.

And now, when he overslept like he never did and was angry at the world for the tiniest little things going wrong, the day that had been written in the stars since his birth or perhaps long before that had arrived. It was almost funny. Almost.

Haruka was sure he hadn't seen him before, because there was no way he could ever forget a face as beautiful as this guy's. What did leave him baffled, though, was that he'd somehow been dreaming of his soulmate's eyes for years prior to their first meeting. That wasn't supposed to be part of the deal and he never heard of anyone who experienced it too, not from his friends or family members, not even in the most romantic movies or tv dramas. Had his soulmate been dreaming of his eye colour too, or was Haruka special for some unknown reason?

He didn't have much time to ponder it over. When his soulmate processed what he was seeing, his jaw dropped, then his mouth moved rapidly and he frantically waved his hands. What he was blabbering about, Haruka had no idea since mirrors were not equipped with microphones and speakers, but once he said his piece, he was gone.

Everything happened in a flash and before Haruka knew it, he was staring back at himself again. Like the image of his soulmate was nothing more than a hallucination.

Unsure of what to do now, Haruka quickly finished brushing his teeth and rinsed out his mouth. He wasn't sure if his soulmate was going to come back, but if he left now, then he might have to wait for eighteen more years to see him again.

Fortunately, his patience was rewarded. After a minute, the guy returned with a notebook in hand. He held it up and scribbled on the page in fine letters was, 'Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Makoto Tachibana. What is your name?'

The writing was in English and Haruka felt like an idiot once more. He hadn't even considered the possibility that his soulmate could be from another country. While his name was clearly Japanese and his appearance matched, that didn't have to mean he lived here and spoke the language fluently. Perhaps his ancestors moved overseas a century ago and he didn't speak two words Japanese. The possible time zone difference that came with it might've been the reason they hadn't met sooner. If that were the case, they were going to have a problem because foreign languages were not exactly Haruka's strongest suit. There was only one way to find out.

He held up his hand to tell his soulmate to wait while he went to fetch a notebook and a pen of his own. When he got them, he sped back to the bathroom, where his soulmate remained with a kind smile on his face. The drowsiness had vanished and instead, his eyes were twinkling, making Haruka's stomach flutter. Even without the mirror, Haruka would've instantly known this was his soulmate; never before had a single expression done so much to his insides.

'Haruka Nanase.' He wrote down and then he decided to cut to the chase immediately. He scratched at his chin as he pondered over the correct English spelling. 'Where are you from?'

'I am from Japan, and you?' Was his soulmate's response and his heart sighed in relief. At least he didn't have to worry about his English vocabulary anymore.

'Me too.'

His soulmate's face lit up even more - if that was even possible - and he excitedly scribbled more into his notebook. 'Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid you'd be from abroad and that I would have to write in English the whole time. My English is not so good.'

A tiny smile curled Haruka's lips. So far, that was one trait they had in common. But before he could write that, his soulmate put his pen against his paper again.

'I'm so glad I finally get to see you, Nanase-kun. I was starting to worry we might never meet. I've been looking forward to this moment for so long and I have so many things I want to ask you. Sorry if that's weird.' When writing in his native language, Makoto appeared to be very talkative. It was kind of cute.

'It's not weird. I've been wondering about you too.' Haruka held up his notebook, but then he lowered it again and added, 'and just Haru is fine. No need to be so polite.'

'Alright, Haru, you can call me Makoto, then. How old are you?'

'Eighteen.'

'Oh, you're older than me. I'm seventeen. I'm turning eighteen on November 17th.'

November 17th. Haruka hadn't given his soulmate's birthday much thought, but now it seemed odd he always passed such an important day by like it was nothing, while he was certainly going to celebrate it in the future.

'That's less than a month away. I should get you a present.'

Makoto wrote something, then scrapped it and wrote something else. What was left was, 'Thanks, but you don't have to. When's your birthday?' But crossed out between the lines, Haruka could make out 'meeting you is already the best present I could've wished for.'

Haruka felt his cheeks warm up and he averted his head. Although they met a mere handful of minutes ago, Makoto was already proving himself to be overwhelmingly sweet and kind. Not that Haruka expected anything less of his soulmate.

'June 30th.'

'Only a few months apart. I'm assuming you're in your third year of high school too, right?' Makoto wrote and Haruka nodded. 'Sorry if this is too personal, but do you mind telling me where you live?'

That question made Haruka frown. Makoto was his soulmate and they were supposed to live their lives by each other's side. In order to meet in person, knowing where the other was located was kind of a requirement. Maybe Makoto was a bit too considerate for his own good. 'I was born in Kyoto, but I currently live in Tokyo.'

Makoto's green eyes lit up in something Haruka could only describe as excitement. 'Really? I'm planning to go to a university in Tokyo in April! Meijou Chuo, have you heard of it?'

If Makoto was coming to Tokyo, that meant he didn't leave here yet, but that he would be within reach soon. That brought some peace to Haruka's heart; now he didn't have to jump through hoops to see him in real life. 'I have. What are you going to study?'

'Sports Education. I want to be a swim coach for children.'

This time, it was Haruka's turn to gasp. Did that mean Makoto was a swimmer too? It seemed almost too good to be true, but would someone who didn't love to swim really be his other half? 'Do you swim yourself?'

'I do. I specialise in backstroke. Does that mean you also swim?'

By the look of his broad shoulders, that wasn't difficult to believe. Haruka could only imagine what kind of muscles were concealed by his orange and yellow shirt.

'I only swim free.' Haruka noted down and before he knew it, he added, 'I was offered a swimming scholarship at Hidaka University. I'll be starting in April too.'

Makoto's mouth fell ajar. 'Wow, that's amazing, Haru! I'm so proud of you.'

If Haruka's face felt warm before, then it was scorching now. 'If you're going to a university in Tokyo, then where do you live now?'

'In Iwatobi, a small seaside town in Tottori. I was born and raised here. Have you heard of it before?'

The coincidences were stacking up so quickly it was almost scary. 'My grandma was born in Iwatobi. She lived there for years until she and my grandpa got together and moved to Kyoto.'

'Really? Who would've thought?' Makoto held up his notebook with a small chuckle. Haruka couldn't hear it, but he was convinced the sound was as lovely as his sunny smile was.

'She always made it sound like a beautiful place, so I've been meaning to go visit it sometime.'

'You definitely should, it truly is an amazing place. The view of the ocean is stunning and the mountains are perfect to hike or ride a bicycle through.' Once Makoto was certain Haruka had read it, he flipped the page and wrote something else. 'I've lived here for my whole life, so it's going to be hard to adjust to living in such a big city without my family around. Although I set my mind to it, I've never been all by myself before and I was scared I wouldn't be able to get around, so knowing you'll be there is a great comfort.'

Without conscious input of his brain, Haruka wrote, 'It is a bit scary at first, but you'll get used to it sooner or later. If you're not comfortable living by yourself, you're welcome to come live with me. My parents moved to Hokkaido for my father's work so I live by myself anyway.'

The second he raised his pen from the paper, he began to question his own sanity. He just met Makoto and didn't even know what his voice was like yet, let alone the rest of his life and how he was as a person. Soulmate or not, suggesting to move in together right off the bat was absolutely mental and there was no way Haruka was showing him this page.

To his relief and to his regret, Makoto suddenly wrote. 'I'm sorry, Haru, I have to go. My mom is calling me for breakfast and I still have to brush my teeth and get dressed. I'd love to chat with you more and ask everything I want to know, but if I don't hurry up I'll be late for school.'

The thought of having to part now they finally met after years stung, but even though their worlds stopped turning when their gazes locked, the outside world continued on like nothing had happened. 'It's okay. I have to get going too or else I'll miss my train.'

'Before you go, could I ask for your phone number and email? Then we can easily keep in touch without having to stand in front of a mirror all day.'

Haruka nodded again. 'Wait a second. I don't know them from the top of my head, so I have to get my phone.'

'No worries, I'll wait.'

Once Haruka had retrieved his phone from some side pocket of his bag, he sped back to the bathroom. He wrote the information out on the page and Makoto copied it into his own notebook.

'Thanks! I'll send you a message right away so you'll have my contact info too. Thank you for chatting with me, Haru. I couldn't have imagined a better soulmate.' Makoto tilted his head, eyes falling shut with a beaming grin.

Involuntarily, a smile graced Haruka's face as well. When met with such a joyous expression on such a handsome face, was it even possible not to smile as well? 'Me neither.'

After they scribbled some goodbyes, Haruka dashed out of the bathroom, promptly forgetting to even wash his face because his frantic heart was trying to hammer its way out of his chest. He had to start cooking or else he would certainly miss his train, but Haruka couldn't look away from his phone's screen, waiting for that message to pop up. Until then, he wouldn't be able to get a bite down his throat.

A whopping two minutes later, his phone beeped at last.

'Hey Haru, this is Makoto. Here you have my contact info. Sorry if I'm being too forward, and if that is the case then you can tell me and I'll back off, but do you have time to talk some more later? I've been dying to meet you and like I said earlier, there are countless things I want to ask you. If not, that's alright. Please know that you're always welcome to call me or send me a message whenever you want. I'll try my best to respond as quickly as possible. I hope to hear back from you soon, but there's no rush. Have a nice day!'

Haruka stared at the screen, his stomach tingling with a wave of unfamiliar feelings. Now he was definitely going to be late for school.

Little did Haruka know back then that Makoto and he would see each other in person sooner than he had thought, that Makoto's dreams had been overrun by cobalt blue for as long as he could remember as well, and that their first interaction had not actually been their first meeting. But least of all, Haruka couldn't have foreseen that the mindless proposal he wrote on that October day in front of the mirror but hadn't held up to show Makoto would come true.

[devil-kindred]

Get to Know Me - raisinghellinotherworlds

Saw @pd3 do this and though I’d give it a go!

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1. Name : Siren (it’s a pseudonym!)

2. Nationality: American

3. Age: 27

4. Birthday: January 29th

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign): Aquarius

6. Gender: Female

7. Sexuality: Heterosexual

More below the cut

[[MORE]]

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself)

For the record this is the only recent picture of myself I like and this is about as much of my face as you’ll ever see bc I know my angles.

9. What do you/did you study?: I went to school for a Bachelors in Arts with and emphasis on Sciences but never finished it bc 1) college is expensive and 2) I don’t know what I want to do career-wise so there’s not a point in going back anymore.

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have?: I’m a service desk associate at a department store. Something where I could deal with less people bc boy does this job push my patience sometimes.

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11. What is your birth order?: Firstborn/Oldest.

12. How many siblings do you have?: Technically four, but only two living.

13. Do you have good relations with your family?: My immediate family. My siblings are closer to each other (but they’re only two years apart) but we get along. I also have a good relationship with my parents though I’m not as close to my mom as I could be it’s hard to forget the not nice things your parent say to you as a kid.

14. How many friends do you have?: Lots though only a few I see/talk to on a regular basis.

15. Your relationship status: Single.

16. What do you look for in a SO?: Intelligent, kind, has a sense of humor.

17. Do you have a crush?: I guess.

18. When was your first kiss?: WHY *sighs* I was... 25.

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands?: I’ve... never been in an actual relationship? I’d like to say serious.

20. What are your deal breakers? Being rude, cheating, and treating me like a child/you know what’s best for me/someone in need of saving (new flash, i am not your princess peach/some damsel in distress. If you need to rescue someone I am not your girl).

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21. How was your day?: It’s still early into the day and I go to work in about an hour and a half and I get to close so we’ll see!

22. Favourite food & drink: French Fries. Or anything with potatoes. I’m a fiend. And Dr. Pepper or Coffee.

23. What position do you sleep in?: On my side/stomach on the part of the bed that’s against the wall.

24. What was your last dream about?: It was... highly NSFT and no, I will not go into detail.

25. Your fears: I’m not a fan of spiders or bugs of any kind really, I hate clowns, and I don’t like thunderstorms. Or tornados.

26. Your dreams: Move, either out of state or out of the country.

27. Your goals: See above.

28. Any pets?: A bird, Momo.

29. What are your hobbies?: Writing, playing video games, and reading (fanfic or books)

30. Any cool places in your area?: I’m sure there are but I live in a town surrounded by corn and other farmland so... it’s anyone’s best guess.

31. What was your last awkward situation?: The other day when a customer stared at me for a solid three minutes when I explained that due to the pandemic we’re no longer offering one of our services in an effort to reduce contact.

32. What is your last regret?: That I didn’t realize the true nature of some people who I no longer speak to sooner.

33. Language/s you can speak: English, Spanish (I’m so rusty though), a little bit of French, and a teeny tiny bit of Japanese.

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.): I believe in my many things so yes.

35. Have any quirks?: Uh... I mess with my hair when I’m nervous? & the more nervous I get my (already high) voice gets higher and will go up several octaves the more nervous I get?

36. Your pet peeves: People in my apartment building slamming the front door all the damn time.

37. Ideal vacation: Somewhere with nice scenery and where it’s calm.

38. Any scars?: Quite a few small ones on my head from a car accident when I was just a baby (I went through a window- got a few scrapes but other than that was unharmed) and one on my hand (it’s on both sides of my hand too) from when I was toddler and got bit by a dog.

39. What does your last text message say?: “I’ll let you know when I get some gameplay posted!” I have a sideblog for casual TS4 gameplay. Was telling a friend that I was going to post new stuff soon.

40. Last 5 things from your search history: No thanks! It’s all just checking if a word is really a word and spelling anyways.

41. What’s your [Device] background?: Lockscreen is a wallpaper from FFXV ft. The Chocobros; Hope Screen is Sam & Evie.

42. What do you daydream about?: Writing mostly.

43. Describe your dream home: Decent amount of space, a library room to hold all my books... good lighting, comfy.... preferably NOT in the middle of nowhere.

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion: I am not a fan. Particularly of Christianity but everyone has their own beliefs and in that regard, to each their own. Just don’t try to convert me bc the answer is f*ck no.

45. Your personality type: INFP.

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done?: Climbed onto the roof of the shed when I was little because I got something stuck up there.

47. Are you happy with your current life?: For the most part!

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life: Gymnastics, Ballet, etc.

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49. What does your wardrobe consist of?: Lots of t-shirts, jeans, shorts, flats, boots, etc.

50. Favourite colour to wear?: Black or Blue.

51. How would you describe your style?: Extremely casual.

52. Are you happy with your current looks?: Kinda? I really need to cut my hair because it’s gotten so long it’s annoying. But I can put up with it until it’s safe again bc pandemic. My hair is not that important I assure you.

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be?: Oh God, could I be taller? Like at least 5’3”? Which is still teeny but better than my 4’9” ass.

Do you have any piercings or tattoos?: I have 3 piercings and three tattoos (two finished, one in progress)

55. Do you get complimented often?: Maybe? I’m oblivious to the point that you could have a flashing neon sign with the compliment written on it and it would probably still go over my head.

56. Favourite aesthetic?: Biker Chic!

57. A popular trend that you dislike: Neon.

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58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with?: Blessed Be - Spiritbox.

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like: If I like a song, I like it. But if I have to pick one, I know everyone hates Despacitio. I know, ok but I really like the original version bc I like the sound. Latin music always has a fun groove to it.

60. Favourite genre?: Rock & Metal.

61. Favourite artist/band/genre?: Type O Negative, Pallbearer, Ice Nine Kills. Give me all the goth rock/metal and just fun metal in general.

62. Hated popular songs/artists?: Oh boy... don’t hate me but I um... don’t care too much for T Swift? And I’m not a fan of country.

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5: Devil’s // Door - VCTMS, Karasu - The GazettE, Path - Apocalyptica, I Walk the Line - Halsey, Drumming Song - Florence + the Machine

64. Can you sing or play any instruments?: I can kinda play bass but I’m still learning so it’s just like... the very bare basics.

65. Do you like karaoke?: I’m very self-conscious so no.

66. Own any albums?: Yes, though majority are digital.

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations?: Yes. I have it on for background noise in my room in which case I don’t pay attention to it, but I have XM radio in my car where I listen to Octane/Liquid Metal/Turbo.

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68. Favourite movie/series?: The Dark Knight trilogy or Hellraiser or Nightbreed.

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc: Horror, Sci-fi, and fantasy.

70. Your fictional crush/es: Too many. Look at my OCs and their SO’s and you’ll find a bunch of them.

71. Which fictional character is you?: My friends would say Mira Jane from Fairy Tail. My bestie says Mercedes from Fire Emblem Three Houses (minus the devout part bc... I do not have nice feelings re-religion. You do you though!).

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so: Yes, and once again you’ll be reading for eternity. So I’ll sum it up as too many to list.

73. Favourite greek god?: Apollo.

74. A legend from where you live that you like: It’s said that before big disasters happen in the town I live in + the surrounding areas, that you’ll see a panther. Supposedly one has been seen before at least 4 different bad things that have happened over the years. I’m in the midwest though so take that as you will.

75. Do you like art?: I do but I don’t really have a favorite. ... I am kinda partial to Van Gogh though.

76. Can you share your other social media?: I have a Pinterest but since my other social media has my name (which I also share with an OC whoops. That’s what I get for being indecisive and going the first name the name generator gave me) I’d rather not. If you ask and we’re friends I’ll probably give it to you but...

77. Favourite youtubers?: I don’t really watch too many anymore but I’ve been watching a lot of jacksepticeye’s gameplay. Aside that I tend to just watch channels like PlayStation Access or Outsidexbox.

78. Favourite platform?: Instagram

79. How much time do you spend on the internet?: More than I should, I’m sure.

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite? Uh, if I had to list them all you’d literally be reading this for eternity. To sum it up, I mostly play RPGs/JRPGs, open-world, survival horror (my fave), and a few (emphasis on few) FPS. Favorites are (once again with a limit): Bioshock, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Until Dawn, Silent Hill 2, and Fatal Frame.

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts): do you know how f*cking hard this question is as someone who’s a bookworm? Ok, ok um... Gotta have a limit or I’ll never shut up... um... Three favorites: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Horns by Joe Hill, and American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

82. Do you play board/card games?: On occasion! They’re best with bigger groups but alas, my apartment is rather small and I don’t have a lot of space for multiple people so I don’t play them often.

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema? No, but it sounds fun.

84. Favourite holiday: Halloween!

85. Are you into dramas?: As in, tv dramas? Kinda? I have a friend on lived in SK for a time and got into K-dramas so I watch them with her from time-to-time when she visits.

Would you use a Death Note if you had one?: No.

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to?: Oh boy... make everyone get along, ensure everyone could live their life to the best possible, etc.

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse?: Possibly.

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be?: I’m going with mythical instead of strictly paranormal but... a vampire!

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death?: As in to my body? Cremate me. To my stuff, give my books to a good home and take care of my bird.

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick?: Most people call me by my middle name already since I got tired of people calling me the wrong name (& I like my middle name better) and insisting my first name was actually a nickname (it’s not, it’s the same as the musician I’m named after) so if I were to eventually be bothered enough, I’d have it legally changed to my middle name.

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week?: I don’t know to be honest. I’m fairly happy with my life so I think I’d just not switch.

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo: ���

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true: I took karate classes for several years, I’ve never dyed my hair, I’ve had two jobs thus far.

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95. Cold or hot?: Cold I guess? If we’re talking in reference to seasons give me cool (aka Fall).

96. Be a hero or be a villain?: Hero because being a villain would mean I’d have to be mean to people and I can’t even pick the mean options in video games without feeling guilty so...

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme?: um... no? I’m not quite certain what this means but I’m going to go with no?

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time?: Shapeshifting!

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?: Immortal.

[lmfmp2021]

Creating Neon Sign Typography

Now that I have researched into the artist, Kate Bush, I will be moving onto creating my own piece. For this work, I’m hoping to create some artwork using typography where I will try to make it look as realistic as possible. To do this, I will be using Photoshop. 

To start, I went to the ‘horizontal type mask’ which you can find under the type section of the left side of the page. The next step is to click anywhere on the page, to which this will change the colour of the background to pink as this means it has actually worked. After this, I went to Dafont to find a suitable font. I wanted a font that reflected my theme so this type would connect even more. I feel that the overall look I will create from task wont properly match with my ideas. However, I tried to get around this problem as much as possible by using this rough sort of type. To me this reminds me of scars that are from the bark of the wood or on the ornangutans effected. This is because it looks like slashes from a weapon. Carrying on the process, the next thing I did was to type out a word, to which I chose ‘SAVE US’. My thinking behind this is that it relates to the orangutans. I also feel that this phrase feels quite personal. Once I have wrote this out, I increased the size of the text so that it was larger when presented on the page. Now to get my text as an outline like below, I simply just went to the ‘move tool’ which is the on the left panel. 

Here, I have then added a new layer and gone to ‘edit’ and ‘stroke’. Doing this brings up a new tab where you can now change the ‘width’. I chose to put it at 40px but this depends on the type of font and size you chose for your type to be. As you can see, I have also changed the colour to this green. I chose for it to be this colour as it reminds me of the concept of nature. Additionally, you need to make sure the ‘location’ is set to ‘inside’. Once you have done this, you can click ‘ok’. Doing this will show some outlines of the of this type now. 

After this, I then went onto google chrome to find a suitable backdrop to add to this type. Before, I had even started this task, I knew I wanted to have some sort of old wooden background. There are two reasons for this, one being that wood relates to the idea that this material is getting cut down for palm oil plantations. The other is that Kate Hush used this kind of thing in one of the pieces I analysed. So overall, I thought this was the best option. As well as this, I did think of having an old barn where I could show it at night with the sign lighting certain areas up, revealing this. Although, when I tried searching up for this, all the walls of the barns were flat enough to look realistic. 

When I was searching for an image on google, I had to change a certain setting so that it was a high quality image. To do this, I went to ‘settings’, ‘advanced settings’ and on ‘image size; I changed it to ‘larger than 1024x768′. This way all the images I won’t be looking pixilated once placed onto Photoshop where I will resize it. 

Next, I would copy and paste this image into Photoshop where I will resize it enough to that the two sides are covering that certain part of the page. I then moved this to the top of the page where I would duplicate the layer by doing ‘CMD J’. After this, I did ‘CMD T’ to transform it so I could drag it down. By doing this, it will hopefully line up better so there is no obvious line. Although, I found mine still didn’t properly line up so I had to slightly move the position so that it wasn’t so noticeable able. 

I have now double-clicked on the layer to which the type is on. This brings up the layer style tab, where I first went to ‘colour overlay’. I started by changing the colour to this slightly lighter green. Once I had done this, I went through all the ‘blend modes’. I think I ended up choosing ‘multiply’. Then I went to ‘outer glow’ where I have chose this dark green colour. Although this sign needs to be bright, I felt that have another shade of green would help to make the overall piece to seem more interesting. After this, I then just experimented with all the options to see what each one does. I ended up increasing the ‘spread’, ‘size’ and ‘range’. 

After this, I went to the ‘drop shadow’ setting, where I could another shade of green along with lots of other options. This includes, the ‘blend mode’, ‘opacity’, ‘distance’, ‘spread’ and ‘size’. This setting being called ‘outer glow’ means that it will slightly add another colour to the outside of the letters. 

Once I have done that, I will then went to ‘inner glow, to which I think this was the most effective setting. The reason for this is because it really finished the piece off. I also think the shade I chose was very effective too. As you can see below, I decided on this very light green/yellow. In this screenshot, it is showing this very clearly. Again, I have thought about the settings and what effect it has on the overall design. This time, I chose to not add too much and just change the ‘blend mode’. 

This screenshot beneath is presenting where the last step I have done is to use the ‘bevel and emboss’ setting. Using this option also had a massive effect on my end result as this gave a 3 dimensional look as this created the shadow. I also got to change the direction which the lighting was coming from too. As my type has some detail already from the font I thought this looked really appealing as it has enhanced this a lot more. As a result from doing this, it has added in some highlights but also shadow too. 

Here, I have then changed the lighting of the background, but to do this I had to merge two layers together. These two layers are the type and background which I did by holding down ‘shift’ and clicking these two layers. Doing this means you can select more than one layer at a time. After this, I did ‘CMD E’ as this actually merges them. The next step would then to be click your background layers and go to the circular icon that is located at the bottom right hand side. It should be half filled white white and other as white. Click on this and then select ‘levels’. Below is showing the tab that will come up. I then just played around with the bar, to which it will change the lighting of the background. 

Next, to get this glowing effect where the backdrop has been lit up around the sign. I used the ‘brush tool’ to which I chose a brush with the ‘hardness’ setting set to low as possible. this mean that I wont be adding a hard line. When picking the colours, I would either choose black or white. The black erases and the white reveals. So the black creates this lit up effect. 

Another this, I have then added this metal texture to the type. The way is which I have done this is I have found a high quality image of a metal surface on google chrome. You will then need to copy and paste this image, to which you can add a ‘layer mask’ to the ‘type layer’. I feel this creates a massive effect on the overall text as it now has some more interesting element in each letter. As well as this, the green this is highlighted around the edges too, achieves this really striking effect on the viewers. 

As a result, I think that this type loos really striking. Although, one mistake I made was the composition of where I have placed this type on the page. At the start of this task, I wasn't properly thinking about as I was more worried about what I was actually doing. However, I have just had an idea to add another element into the design which I thought could be a an orangutan. This way the type will be relating to the image below. 

[redvsvblue]

Busy

It occurred to me I haven’t written enough Mavin lately, so...here’s some fluffy Mavin, set in the FAHC AU. 

It's their anniversary and Gavin is busy.

Their anniversary. Gavin busy.

Michael almost can't fucking believe it – almost. For some reason (his laugh, his looks, his odd curiosity, apparently endless creativity) he loves this guy.

But all the love in the world right now can't stop Michael from being angry and frustrated and, under all that, disappointed and a little bummed out.

He knows Geoff didn't assign anything for Gavin today – Jack corroborated that story – because he asked for their day off and Geoff always respects anniversaries if he can.

Which means Gavin forgot their anniversary and is fucking working.

Michael sighs and looks dejectedly down at his phone, the can't, I'm busy, boi text still shining up at him, immediately under the wanna go for lunch? text.

Michael's already cancelled the lunch reservations. He had such a nice place lined up, too, one that does all of Gavin's favourite food and all of Michael's favourite drinks and it was going to be fun and Michael was going to drag them down to Vespucci next, check out the stores and the new retro-style arcade on the corner but no.

Gavin's busy.

Michael huffs and lies down on the sofa, rolling to grab the remote and turn on the TV – it's still paused on the Game of Thrones episode they were watching last night, almost got all the way through it before they got a little distracted by each other and had to move to the bedroom.

Fuck it. Michael presses play – he'll tell Gavin about it later.

No, he's not sulking. He's busy. Busy absorbing this episode so he can thoroughly spoil it for his absent-minded boyfriend later.

Busy.

--

Michael's phone buzzes during his four p.m. solitary dinner – reheated leftovers – and he scoffs loudly to himself as he reads the text.

Come to Chiliad?

> No

It'll be fun, boi

> No

Michael slams his phone screen-down onto the table – it buzzes a couple of times but he pays it no mind, angrily scraping his fork against the plate as he shovels more rice into his mouth. What, now the fucker wants him to go to him? No way. No fucking way.

--

There's a sharp knock on his door at six and Michael yanks it open with a huff, glaring at Gavin as he crosses his arms.

“What?” He snaps, and Gavin's smile falls, his eyebrows pinching together.

“I – Michael, I came to pick you up. Didn't you get my texts?” He steps closer and Michael pointedly steps to fill the doorway, blocking Gavin from shimmying his way inside.

“No,” he says. “Didn't bother with them.”

“You're angry,” Gavin says with a frown. “Michael, what happened?”

Michael cocks an eyebrow.

“What happened?” Michael repeats. “What happened?! You fucking forgot it was our anniversary is what fucking happened!”

Gavin's mouth drops open in horror and he frantically starts shaking his head, reaching out for Michael but stopping himself before he touches him.

“I didn't forget,” he says, “Michael, I didn't forget, I – I've been – can you just come with me?”

“No,” Michael snarls, hurt and disappointed and angry and frustrated and tired of today's bullshit. “You ruined my plans.”

Gavin freezes and frowns again, glancing down at the floor.

“You made plans?” He asks quietly.

“Yeah, of course I made plans! It's our fucking anniversary, you dipshit!” Michael shouts, tossing his hands in the air.

“Oh.” Gavin fiddles with the hem of his shirt and clears his throat. “I didn't – know you had.”

“Well no shit, it was supposed to be a surprise,” Michael spits. Gavin's mouth twists and the twinge of guilt that runs through Michael almost derails his bitter self-righteousness. Almost.

“I'll see you at work tomorrow,” Michael says, stepping back to close the door in Gavin's face.

“I had a surprise, too,” Gavin blurts out, his head snapping up and hand shooting out to stop the door. “I – I had a surprise, too, Michael. I wasn't – I wasn't working, I was - “ he breaks off with a thick swallow and glances away, shuffling a little closer.

Oh.

Michael kind of thinks he should feel stupid for assuming Gavin forgot off of one text, but – but Gavin doesn't plan things. He's a spontaneous guy, buying Michael birthday gifts on the spot and taking him on dinner dates on the way back from weapons testing – Michael's never known him to plan much in their romantic affairs at all – for god's sake, their first time was in the back of Michael's car, tipsy from the bar and sweaty from the dance floor. Gavin's a random, creative guy, and Michael's the one with a little bit more thought behind his gestures. It works. It's them. It's partly why Michael loves the guy.

“Gavin Free? Planning?” He says, makes it a little teasing to clear some of the defeat in Gavin's expression. Gavin mumbles something and Michael follows up with a confused “What?”.

“I wanted it to be special,” Gavin says, louder this time. “Y'know, two years. That's kind of special.”

Michael's frustration simmers down to practically nothing – yes, he's annoyed Gavin just let him think he forgot, left uncharacteristically early at the crack of fucking dawn, but it's tempered by Gavin's obvious nerves, his fingers twisting fitfully in his shirt and his weight constantly shifting from foot to foot.

Michael supposes if Gavin's taken the day to plan something for him, it must be important.

“Let me get changed,” he says finally, and the corners of Gavin's mouth tip up into a small smile as Michael finally lets him in. To be fair, it is their place, Gavin could have just barged in with his key.

Gavin's getting himself a drink when Michael reemerges, shrugging a leather jacket on and grabbing the keys to his Adder off the counter – Gavin sets his Coke down and gestures to the keys.

“You don't need those,” he says, and Michael quirks an eyebrow.

“Well I'm sure as fuck not letting you drive me,” he says. Gavin grins and pulls out a set of keys from his jeans pocket, tossing them to Michael.

“I'm not driving,” he says.

--

“Holy. Shit.”

“You like it?”

“Gav, I love it,” Michael breathes, running a hand over the smooth black hood and then leaning over to splay himself on it. Gavin laughs behind him and Michael pushes himself up to perch on the edge of the hood, pulling Gavin to him by his beltloops.

“Sorry I didn't tell you I actually had a plan for once,” Gavin murmurs. Michael shakes his head and kisses him quickly on the lips.

“You were trying to surprise me,” he replies, pressing their foreheads together. “I was being an asshole.”

“A justified asshole,” Gavin mutters, and Michael huffs out a laugh.

“It's both our faults,” he says, and kisses Gavin again. “Sorry I said all that shit.”  

With that, Gavin finally seems to relax, melting easily into another kiss as his hands settle on Michael's hips, pressing up against his thighs and the car. Michael places one hand on the back of Gavin's neck and lets himself indulge for a bit, his other hand braced on the hood behind him.

“Mm, fuck, Gav, the surprise,” Michael says, reluctantly breaking away. Gavin nods and pulls away with a smile, sheepishly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Michael slides off the car and saunters around to the driver's side, unlocking it with a sharp beep.

The inside is - absolutely beautiful. It's sleek as shit, all black leather and smooth, varnished dark wood, the stitching a tasteful silver. Gavin grins when he sees Michael light up, running his hands over the steering wheel and the dash and over to Gavin when he turns to kiss him.

“Jesus, you got me a car,” he breathes, pulls away from Gavin to admire the gearstick. “Did you drive it here?”

“Yeah,” Gavin says. “It's, uh, I got it black so you could – use it more often. Outside of jobs.”

“I love you,” Michael exclaims, adjusting his seat and glancing at Gavin. “I absolutely love you.”

Gavin's smile grows and he straps himself in as Michael starts up the engine – oh fuck, it even sounds amazing.

“Fuck, you modded the engine?” Michael groans, flexing his fingers on the wheel.

“Level 4,” Gavin replies, popping a stick of gum into his mouth and smirking when Michael groans again. Michael makes a mental note to suck Gavin's dick later.

“Fuck, Gavin. Chiliad, right?”

“Just to the cable cars.”

--

Gavin's practically vibrating with excitement the entire cable car ride, gazing at the view below them and restlessly bouncing his knee. Michael leans forward to place his hand on that knee and Gavin shoots him a smile before looking back out.

It's a gorgeous view, the sky darkening to purple to navy as the city livens up, neon signs flipping on and whole skyscrapers lighting up in vibrant colours. It would be breathtaking if Michael could take his eyes off of Gavin.

The cable screeches to a halt at the top of Chiliad, and they've barely stopped before Gavin's grabbing Michael's hand and leading him out. The wind whips around them up here, jostling the flaps of Michael's jacket and ruffling Gavin's hair as Gavin guides them out of the building to the wooden platform.

They stop by the railing and Gavin checks his watch – it's five minutes to eight – and Michael takes the chance to pin him against the railing, dipping down for a hot kiss to combat the chill of the wind. Gavin squeaks at the surprise and then loops his arms around Michael's neck, his watch cold against Michael's nape as he tugs him in closer.

Just as Michael starts to escalate it, nudging between Gavin's legs and biting gently on his lower lip, Gavin slaps at his chest, breaking away with a breathless laugh.

“Michael, you're going to miss it,” he says, glancing again at his watch. Michael kisses him again and Gavin indulges briefly before pushing him back once more. Their eyes lock and Michael keeps them pressed together everywhere else, his arms around Gavin's waist and Gavin's mouth inches from his.

A second later there's a series of small explosions and light bursts around them, illuminating the planes of Gavin's face and reflecting gold and red in his eyes.

“You're missing it,” he whispers, and Michael would argue that he's not missing a single thing, standing here staring at Gavin, but he looks away anyway, watching in quiet awe as more fireworks shoot up around them, around the entire mountain, bright reds and vivid greens offset by dazzling white and shimmery gold.

“You did all this?” Michael breathes, fascinated by the next boomboomboomboom of charges that sends fast streaks of blue into the sky, blooming into a constellation of light as it falls to earth.

“I had help,” Gavin says with a little shrug, staring at the next shot of fire that paints them in purple. “I owe Jeremy and Lindsay a few favours,” he murmurs. “And Ryan. And Trevor.”

Michael laughs and hugs him closer, kissing him as red bursts above them.

“Happy anniversary,” Gavin says when they separate, his fingers curling around Michael's shoulder.  

“Happy anniversary,” Michael repeats, kissing him slower this time. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

[kootenaygoon]

So,

Chris was asleep in my passenger seat, wearing a leprechaun dress.

We’d connected on the last day of Kamp Festival, the pair of us haggard and semi-conscious in my fold-out chairs. Chris was monologuing about her festival experience. She told me she jumped off a cliff, she overcame her fear of heights, she was proud of herself. She told me that these grown-ups playing in the colour games had legitimately reverted to their childhood bullying ways, making things all ultra-competitive instead of fun. Of course. 

“But I’ve met some amazing people here,” she said. “Like I think I’m going to remember these people for a long time.”

I could tell by how long-winded and earnest Chris was being that she was on something strong, maybe acid. She was about to crash hard, and everyone was packing up camp to leave. Becca had left for the coast with a Victoria DJ she knew, so I was all by my lonesome when it came to paying for gas. Chris offered to pay $40 for a ride home, but I didn’t accept it. I just wanted to make sure she got home safe, because she wasn’t going to be sober any time soon. I couldn’t imagine leaving her with a stranger.

Once we pulled out of the Kamp venue on to the highway, we were pretty much immediately stuck in a line-up. Chris put down the window and stuck her bare feet out into the wind. A minute or two later she’d slumped into herself, snoring gently, her head lolling slightly from side to side. I knew it wasn’t a big deal, that people did drugs like this all the time and woke up fine, that she wasn’t necessarily going to overdose in my passenger seat. My legs vibrated along with the music as I ground my teeth in concern. What if she had taken fentanyl or something? What if I arrived backed in Nelson with a corpse for a passenger?

“Hey,” I said, taking her arm. “You’re feeling okay? You’ll let me know if you need to puke or anything?”

She nodded. “I’m good. I’ve got some water here. I think I’m just going to sleep, if that’s all right. You can keep the music up, if you want. I like it when there’s music playing while I sleep. It fucks with my dreams.”

Did she she say that, I asked myself, or did I?

Aussie Chris lived with Chelsea up in Rosemont, and knew Blayne from before. She was a server at Vienna Cafe, a night club kid in her early 20s. She was biracial, half-asian, with a smattering of freckles under her eyes and shoulder-length brown mermaid hair. She was on a one-year visa and was looking to hit every music festival she could while she was in the country. When it came to partying, she was a professional. I liked her style a lot. She had a busy intellect. 

As we sat idle during the ferry crossing, I reflected on the last few days. The thing with Becca had ended on a bad note. We’d never spent this many days together in a row, and she was starting to realize what a drag I was. She was also less than thrilled to hear me talk about Paisley non-stop, whining that I would never get over her or that I was still processing things.

“I don’t mean this to be patronizing, because I do think you’re awesome, but I think you should consider therapy very seriously. It seems like you’re in a dark place, and I don’t know how to help you.”

“I never said I needed help.”

She laughed. “It’s like you have this giant sign over you that reads: NEEDS HELP. In an adorable way, but it’s alarming too. That you’re living in this constant state of desperation. Honestly, I think Nelson might be bad for you.”

While I pulled off the ferry and back on to the highway, I nudged Chris to pull her legs back into the cab. We needed the windows up. I thought about my job at the Star, and how repetitive the work was becoming. We’d hit all the available topics when it came to your typical small town goings-on, but we lacked depth. The real story was all these fucking overdoses, but they seemed to be outside our reach. There was a shroud of silence over these deaths, so they didn’t end up having a public record. I wondered how much was being kept from me, what angle I’d been missing. Why all this secrecy?

I wanted to help.

The reason I named my UBC thesis manuscript “Whatever you’re on, I want some” was because I was despairing about a friend lost to heroin addiction, also named Chris. We had grown up together, gone to the same youth group and camp together, but somehow he’d ended up trapped on the Downtown Eastside, en route to becoming a derelict soul. I gave up on him. That’s what made me feel guiltiest, was that I abandoned him. At a certain point I realized it just wasn’t healthy for me to know him anymore, no matter how close we’d been as teens. Addiction had defined our relationship, had ended it, and I wanted to understand why.

“I’ve been really into the paintings you’ve been posting,” Chris said, stretching out her arms as we slalomed through the woods. Slocan Lake looked just as infinite as ever. I turned down the music. “All the self portraits.”

I nodded, pretended to be embarrassed. “Yeah, I’ve just done a few now. I was inspired by this painter John Cooper, who I interviewed for the Star. He’s this guy in his 70s with like hundreds of students in the Kootenays and he’s a fucking legend. He knows Tom Robbins,” I said.

“His colour choices are really trippy, like lots of purple and crazy bursts of the whole rainbow for mundane things. Like he’ll do a rusted out car but suddenly it’s neon green with purple highlights, you know?”

She nodded, looking out the window. “I like paintings that have psychedelic elements like that. Paintings that take you somewhere beyond natural.”

I lit a joint. “And the guy’s crazy. You can just feel it in his work, this extra electricity. When I interviewed him he kept me on the phone for like 45 minutes talking. He tells all these crazy stories about the 60s and he’s just fucking hilarious. He’s known as the Toad Road painter because he’s painted the same rock like a hundred times.” 

“Hilarious.”

“Oh, and naked ladies. He paints lots of naked chicks.”

Chris had heard about my photo shoot with Blayne, and had talked to Chelsea about appearing as a model in one of my shoots. She had experience, so she would be completely comfortable in front of the camera. I’d been amassing subjects over my years in the Kootenays, shooting every kind of woman I met every way that I knew how. 

I loved them all. 

From there we continued to weave and dip, the RAV humming along like a space ship, as we worked our way through the joint. Chris told me about how she’d watched Joe Nillo live-paint at Kamp and how incredible it was to see him channel the festival’s energy into his canvas. She was roommates with the subject, Kylie, so she could see through all the goddess window dressing.

“It’s hard to tell whether he’s in love with her, or the painting.”

I laughed. “Why can’t it be both? He can channel his love for her into the work, even if they’re not together, right? He can remember the good things about her, the things he fell in love with. Those things don’t become irrelevant the moment you break up. There���s still meaning there.”

Chris looked at me, bemused. She knew I was talking about Paisley. “Listen, man, I’m just saying Joe’s got this way of channeling whole narratives into these images. They’re the sort of paintings you can sit down and read them like a book.”

“Like they have little details you have to look for?”

“Exactly. And that one you’ve seen isn’t his trippiest painting by far. We’ve got a bunch of his pieces still back at our house, I’ll show you. His paintings sing.”

Eventually Chris fell back asleep, as I was passing through Winlaw. From there I hurtled through South Slocan with my music back up, and back on the highway to Nelson. I thought about Joe Nillo and John Cooper, how they each embodied an approach to art that I could try to emulate. Like Joe I could produce work that was spiritually-infused, so that engaging with it feels like a religious experience. And like John I could gleefully go mad, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all while revelling in the universe’s exquisite beauty. I was sick of being just a journalist, of being constrained to reporting facts. I wanted to be a painter, an artist. I wanted to tap into the magic of the Kootenays and shoot it into my veins.

“I’m so full of love I feel like I’m going to paint the walls with my gore,” Chris said, but by then she wasn’t Chris anymore. It was the other Chris, from my childhood. He stared straight ahead from his passenger seat, angry.

“You remember that time we had a contest to see who could stay in that freezing lake longer, up my cabin. Do you remember that?”

“Yeah, I won. But you hogged the warm shower for like half an hour.”

“So who was the real winner?”

“I don’t even know what to feel about you, man. Like at least you’ve found a clean supply so I don’t need to read your headline yet.”

He laughed. “You act like you know how this is going to end, but you don’t.”

“This ends with me punching you in the head as hard as I can.”

“The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club.”

I turned back in my seat, and rubbed my forehead with a knuckle. It was Bob Dylan playing, so I stuck with that for a moment. It was a song I associated with my high school drama teacher, Mr. Van Camp, who sang this drunkenly on the last night of our provincial theatre festival: People are crazy and times are strange. I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range. I used to care, but things have changed.

“If you were a character in The Wire,” I said to Chris. “You would be Wallace.”

“And what would that make you? Poot?”

I smiled and glanced over my shoulder to where Andrew Stevenson was sitting surly, his muscled arms crossed as he looked out the window. Beside him was Ryan Tapp, listening to an iPod with his sunglasses on. If things got bad, these two were always nearby to step in. I had more power than people realized, than even I realized, but I was still figuring out how to harness it properly. If my life was The Wire, I wanted to control which character I was going to be. 

“Are you, kidding?” I said, reaching behind my seat to grab my grey shotgun. I felt the cold barrel in my palm as I pulled it into my lap, pointing it in Chris’ direction. I brought the barrel to his lips, and then his chest, and finally to his groin. I snickered with sinister pleasure.  

“Bitch, I’m Omar.”

The Kootenay Goon

[kdhvjhg-blog]

I spent the first day of my trip to Berlin trying to get to acquainted with the city, zigzagging across the not-so-invisible boundary that used to divide the German capital into two halves. But on the second day I want to go beyond the wall, beyond the former border, where the memory of the pain is not gone despite the scars being no longer visible to the naked eye.

When I get off at Ostbahnhof, I cannot miss the mishmash of old and new: the station of the east, with its red-brick facade and the wrought-iron vaults on one side, and the ultra-modern, bright coloured blocks of flats on the other. I walk along the Mühlenstrasse towards the starting point of the East Side Gallery, which is probably the biggest open-air art gallery.

The wall is still intact along the East Berlin strip of street where hundreds of artists have left their brush strokes at the beginning of the Nineties. The nearly one mile long section of concrete is a powerful celebration of freedom against hate and oppression.

The works of art are ironic and colourful, like Birgit Kinder’s iconic Trabant crashing through the wall. Russian artist Dimitrji Vrubel copied the famous photo depicting Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker hugging and kissing to celebrate the DDR anniversary in 1979. Mein Gott, hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben, reads the tagline under the graffiti: My God, help me survive this deadly love. A deadly love that broke a country into two: this is how the liaison between the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union is often described.

A bunch of tourists are taking turns in posing for selfies next to the graffiti, maybe without seeing the awful sadness behind the bright colors on the wall. And it’s embarrassing how people fail to understand the true meaning of the picture.

I walk along the street until I reach another landmark of the east-west division: the Oberbaumbrücke, the red brick tower bridge. It’s imposing, with its lower bay supporting the street, and the upper one sustaining the railway lines. The red bridge is yet another symbol of a divided city, where one of the several checkpoints was set up during the Cold War.

From the Oberbaumbrücke I take a tram to Grünbergerstrasse. Months ago I read an article about some café that apparently hasn’t changed much since the era of the German Democratic Republic: a place where you can still bask in die Ostalgie, the communist regime nostalgia. But there’s no way of finding it: the article I had read was published about a year ago, so maybe the place has closed down.

I reach Boxhagener Platz, where the Flohmarkt, the flea market, takes place every Sunday. It’s the mirror image of many other street markets in other cities: its smells like dust and incense smoke. People walk lazily, like if they have no particular destination, rummaging through second-hand clothes and crochet handbags. Strolling along the side streets is much better, especially since it’s sunny and not that cold.

But there are more things I want to see, starting from the Karl-Marx-Allee, just round the corner. The monumental avenue runs through Friedrichshain and Mitte. There’s nothing particularly remarkable, but what makes me want to see the 300-foot-large, multiple lane street are the buildings and the so-called brutalist architecture of the Soviet Union.

I have never been to Russia, but the avenue matches the image of the USSR that I have made up in my mind: the two twin square towers, the imposing nine storey blocks of flats overlooking the avenue that until 1961 was know as Stalin-Allee.

I leave Stalin behind and walk to the Fernsehturm in Alexanderplatz. I remember seeing photos dating back to the Cold War, and in particular a black and white image of a man and a kid – possibly a grandfather with his grandchild – walking in the fog, with the Television Tower and the World Clock in the background.

The only other person was a man looking like a soldier, or at least dressed like one. The contraposition with this Sunday afternoon is so painful that it feels like a completely different place. The Nike’s, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donut’s neon signs are an eyesore.

It might be a different place, after all. I choose not to climb to the top of the tower because the line for the elevator goes round the block, so I walk to the Rotes Rathaus, the red city hall, which was the seat of East Berlin city council.

I cross the road from the city hall and find myself in Nikolaiviertel, the borough named after St. Nicholas’ church. Should I come back to Berlin, I could easily do without seeing this area again: the seemingly ancient feel of the houses and the streets is nothing but a swindle, since the entire district was built in the Eighties in mock 18th century style.

Other than the Nikolaikirche, everything else screams a tourist trap – from the souvenir shops to the breweries whose waitresses are dressed up as Bavarian kellnerin. The set up is as unconvincing as a version of the Oktoberfest taking place on the French Riviera. Or like a Christmas parade on Bondi Beach.

My last stop of the day is the DDR Museum, just opposite the Berlin Dome. I am not sure whether the choice between the Dome and the museum is the right one, because I doubt that visitors really get the message the exhibition intends to convey.

For sure the Italian family made up of mommy, daddy and three screaming kids do not even figure out that there’s a message at all: because of them there’s a mile long line of people waiting to get on a restored Trabant. They seem to be under the impression that this is the Ferrari Museum or the Micro Machines theme park: the kids are on a roll, and so are the parents who keep suggesting that they should go faster.

I will never know what a Trabant smells like or how uncomfortable its seats are, but at least I know what the people’s apartments look like.  I walk through a static elevator coming from one of the actual council flats of East Berlin. I get a glimpse of what life was like back in the DDR times, when people were told what to wear, what to eat and what to do with their time. From the furniture, to the choice of kitchen appliances to the – scarce – food: everything was imposed by the regime.

This was how people in East Berlin were compelled to live until about fifty years ago, not centuries ago. They didn’t choose that kind of life, nor did they choose to wear the clothes hanging from their bedroom closet or to embellish their dining room with the yellowish blanket strewn across the sofa armrest. Choices were made and imposed on them. The message is loud and clear: life in the DDR was a synonym of hardship, near-starvation, repression and fear. Something that no human being should ever be forced to experience.

The post 2 Days in East Berlin: What to do and See appeared first on Thinking Nomads Travel Blog.

[sammis-workbook]

Getting to know your character - 9 steps exercise

Part One

Character One: 

external problem: trying to prove herself to the world while everyone is against her

internal problem: loneliness and guilt from what she did as a baby

how will they solve this problem: after a massive fight where multiple superheroes are involved they end up asking her to join them and she begins realising she is horrible through them and as do others, shed also gets educated on her powers through this group and finds people like her and realises they all had horrible moments like hers where they recognise their powers and she realises its just what has to happen in order for her to be able to do good and that unlike most people of her species she chose to good and realises her decision outweighs something she couldn’t control 

Character Two: 

external problem: a friend from her past who is killing a lot of people but is trying to recruit her onto her side using things she has done in her past against her

internal problem: guilt and loneliness, struggle to accept she is now a good person 

how will they solve this problem: 2 other people that join the team also feel the same about their past as her and through telling them they are good people she begins to realise the same about herself 

Character Three: 

external problem: keeping everyone in hell in line after the prince of hell (lucifer) disappears

internal problem: disciplining the evil soles everyday when it makes her feel really crap

how will they solve this problem: she ends up going to find lucifer, turns out he is on earth and that he left for the same reason she wanted to and they both question how they can find away out of it all, they decide screw it if hell goes to crap that is gods problem and so she chooses her human form with lucifer and he helps her find a place and they end up living human lives 

Part Two

Evaluation: Out of the three characters I think that character three best fits my description, I also think that this character has the most potential to make different, to give more to the character than just a power that makes them different or interesting. I think it might be a bit of a challenge coming up with a better pose that shows a better silhouette for the character which still shows off her outfits and specific style but I do think she has the most potential to be a unique and intriguing character.  

Part Three

Part Four

size: 5′4

eye colour: blue

hair colour: brown

body type: slim and fit

world/environment: futuristic version of earth, everything is very money driven, there is a lot of criminal activity, everything is technologically evolved and has quite dark undertones

Part Five

Decide if the character will be in a scenario from your story arc, or presented in an iconic way. - they will be presented in a movie poster kind of way with different symbols from what will happen in the story accompanying her

Do they have a supporting cast or will they be shown alone? - her two best friends are members of her team which might be shown in the poster as they are an important part of her story arc

Do they carry something with them? - she is always carrying her swords and daggers

Part Six

She loves to wear dresses, her regular clothes are very fashion forward, she loves wearing heels however when she is in costume she will still wear dresses but will wear flat thigh high boots instead

Part Seven

Describe what atmosphere your character's world is - It’s a very hectic world, very gloomy and cut throat. There is a lot of black market criminal activity. Heaps of secret parties and the whole world is run on your status, everyone climbing over each other to get to the top. It is very futuristic, all cities and billboards and neon signs etc. 

Part Eight

Part Nine

Character description: Elena was kidnapped when she was a young girl and trained into the worlds most elite killer. Living in a cut throat world the evil organisation ‘Hysteria’ began brainstorming different ways they could reach the top of the ladder and figured that killing their opposition and any one that got in their way was the best way to do it, but they could risk getting caught, so they made her. After years of brainwashing and torture a regular citizen broke through her outer exterior, making her discover her true self and break free. After a 3 year long identity crisis she decides she needs to start doing good and erasing the wrong she has done in her past, enlisting herself in a villain turned hero organisation ‘The Outcasts’ she begins to do this. But what happens when someone from her past begins causing havoc, pushing her closer and closer back to who she used to be.

[airoasis]

What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? | Kyle MacDonald | TEDxVienna

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/what-if-you-could-trade-a-paperclip-for-a-house-kyle-macdonald-tedxvienna-5/

What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? | Kyle MacDonald | TEDxVienna

Translator: Queenie Lee Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pcksteiner My identify is Kyle, i am the pink paperclip man. However before I get started on that story, I want to draw attention to this slide behind me. On the starting of each TED video out there, the some thing it is referred to as, the screenshot that precedes the video, all people’s standing like this … All of them. So, demand more from TED, put up comments on-line poking enjoyable at this, we need better screenshots for these videos.We can make a better world of TED with higher screenshots. Onto the paperclip though. That is this style of crazy concept I had once I used to be – Y’be aware of, about 10 years in the past, I was watching down at my desk, and that i noticed a crimson paperclip sitting there. And that i said, "Y’be aware of what, I remember this recreation called ‘greater and better’ the place you start with anything small, alternate it for anything higher, and then you definately repeat.I wonder what would occur if I took this red paperclip and tried to alternate it?" I posted a photo of that purple paperclip on a website referred to as "craigslist." Two ladies named Ronnie and Karina spoke back and mentioned, "hiya, that is beautiful cool! We’d prefer to trade with you. We obtained a pen formed like a fish." (Laughter) I was quite excited, this was once a cool pen. This was larger and higher than a pink paperclip. "How a long way can i am going with this idea? Anybody want a pen formed like a fish?" "surely, my name is Annie, and i have acquired a doorknob with a crazy face on it." (Laughter) Two trades in, I’ve already long gone means up from a paperclip, and i was once pondering, "How some distance can i’m going with this? Maybe i will be able to keep going until someday I owned a condominium or some thing from this." Shawn says, "Come all the way down to my situation, i’ll cook your burgers, and i will exchange you my tenting range for that doorknob, since i would like it to repair the knob on my stovetop espresso maker.(Laughter) We’re moving liabilities into assets; we’re growing price. We’re bettering each and every different’s lives, albeit on a small scale. But the Sergeant, David J, of the united states Marine Corps, he stated, "i have been watching for that particular model of tenting stove. I’ve acquired additional mills, would you like an electric generator?" To me this used to be a dream come authentic: an electric generator. Eventually, my teenage desires of being equipped to create vigour had been realizing. (Laughter) unluckily, most persons on the net failed to endure from a blackout, they failed to want vigor.So, my trading in for bigger and higher matters that I proposal had value turned into a legal responsibility. It took me several weeks to be capable to trade this. However I really determined one other person only recently out of his teenage years who did want to create energy with this generator. His identify used to be Martin, and he was once in New York city. He says, "appear, I’ve obtained an empty beer keg, i’ll alternate you an IOU to fill the keg with beer and a neon with "Budweiser" signal. What do you say?" So I met up with him. We made the exchange, and here’s us displaying all constituents of the exchange work. (Laughter) I rebranded the mishmash of IOU beer keg and neon "Budweiser" sign, and called it an instantaneous party. Does any person available in the market need to occasion? "My name is Michel Brett, i’m a noted radio and tv personality within the province of Quebec, and that i want to make a exchange with you." "surely Michel, what do you have to exchange?" "i’ll trade you my worst snowmobile." I was intrigued just through the notion of somebody’s worst snowmobile.It implied that he not most effective had a couple of snowmobile, however he was kind of cheeky and willing to show to me that, you already know, I’ve got higher ones, but i’m going to exchange you my worst. I used to be really happy to exchange with him. He was once a first-class guy, and it used to be a sexy fine snowmobile. Seeing the way it used to be the middle of iciness in Canada, and it was very cold, and a snowmobile at that time of 12 months had more price than in the summer, a snowmobile journal referred to as "SnoRiders West" known as me up and said, "hi there, we wish to offer you two trips for two to the Canadian Rockies in exchange for that snowmobile. It is going to regularly give our magazine some publicity, and who doesn’t wish to go to the Rockies right now of yr?" I stated, "sure, very well, what is the capture?" They mentioned, "The catch is that you could come to the Rockies; you cannot come to the city of Yahk in British Columbia." I stated, "okay, I obtained to find a loophole around this." So we made up our minds to kind of blackmail a country wide news institution.It is a really lengthy story, however what ended up happening was once I received on television carrying the emblem for the shirt I used to be wearing. It used to be referred to as Cintas, the uniform organization. It was just variety of an within funny story: my cousin’s husband had given me this shirt … A fair longer story to give an explanation for the whole thing. However, the head honcho of that enterprise noticed me on tv along with his corporate uniform on, and said, "Wait a 2nd, it is a gigantic legal responsibility to me, however it is also an opportunity." And we met up one night. He says, "i would wish to make you a alternate. What d’you say?" and i’m like: "I consider that is the superb way we will work collectively without selling our souls to the company ownership satan." He said, "nice, let’s meet up." So we met up.He provided this van for the shuttle for 2 to the Rockies, I drove the van to the Rockies; he flew considering that the go back and forth integrated that. And that i wound up with this colossal, colossal desktop, much greater than a paperclip, arguably higher, worst gas mileage, however to transport significantly better things than just that. So, I stated, "Does any individual out there want to trade?" And i noticed larger and better used to be just particularly getting larger, but how could it get better, what used to be the possibility right here? And i realized that i’ve been offered a recording contract, a bit of paper, a promise, an possibility to any one who’s excellent at track."Does anyone need to be a recording artist?" So I traded the van for the recording contract with Brandon. He used it to power around in his band, which used to be presently travelling around in a 1988 Volkswagen Jetta. Moving up to the van relatively helped him out. I took the recording contract. "Does any one need to be a recording artist?" It seems in general each person in the world wants to record music. (Laughter) I was once furnished my soul from a soul singer, a pinkie finger. Any one definitely offered me their virginity, which is – (Laughter) I don’t know what the legalities, or – remember that, I stated no, because Jody said to me, "seem, I’ve got a half a duplex in Phoenix, Arizona. Half of of it’s unrented. I will alternate a year free hire in my duplex for that. What do you say?" I said sure. I went down there. We made the exchange in entrance of the white wood fence. Very Americana. Now I had a year free employ.Her subsequent door – certainly one of her tenants clearly – Her next-door neighbor, Lesley, learned about this. She says, "i would like that free hire." She supplied me up a day along with her boss. To start with I was once like this type of sucks, like oo-er-hoo … (Laughter) considering that I did not understand who her boss used to be. She stood up – "i will carry him out." i am, "that is bizarre." She brings out her boss’s head. Her boss was once Alice Cooper when you consider that she labored at Alice Cooper’s town in Phoenix because the supervisor of the restaurant. I used to be like, "an afternoon with Alice Cooper, that’s lovely potent, what’s it’ll be worth?" His tour manager called me up and says, "We’re on tour in Fargo, North Dakota. Come up, experience a day with Alice Cooper, see what it is like." after which after our afternoon this happened live to tell the tale stage.(Video begins) (Cheering) (Applause) (Video ends) Alice is a rather excellent guy – this snapshot displays how fine he is. (Laughter) "look, it can be best you are doing this. You’ll in finding an Italian billionaire who’s a significant Alice Cooper fan. He’ll in most cases have several mansions. He’d readily alternate you considered one of them. Promise me one factor?" "What’s that?" Promise you won’t alternate a day with me for a weekend with the Rolling Stones or a night time with KISS. (Laughter) I mentioned, "all right, i’m going to are attempting." The phone rang, and it used to be Mark. Mark says, "i am an newbie photographer with quite a few KISS memorabilia. Are you be eager about any of that?" that is hard.I relatively wanted to exchange with him. "What do you’ve gotten?" He says, "good, I’ve acquired this, I’ve received that, KISS posters, KISS guitars, a KISS snow globe." When he mentioned KISS snow globe, I immediately mentioned, "yes, and only the snow globe." So, met up with Mark, traded the afternoon with Alice Cooper, a important possibility for a KISS snow globe. And the entire world form of kind of like oo-oo-oo – and that i was once like this is great, it lights up, changes colours. (Laughter) here’s some of the quite a lot of on-line responses from the video. That is the worst alternate that I’ve ever heard of, bar none. (Laughter) that is possibly the dumbest determination I’ve ever noticeable someone make …Ever. (Laughter) except for the folks on Jerry Springer. (Applause) other persons were far more eloquent in their delivery. (Laughter) And this used to be the one time during the whole undertaking where I had one more trade lined up. Every different alternate had come along serendipitously, and it would simply been this effective experience. Nonetheless, two months prior to all this, this man had referred to as me up and stated, "hey, my identify is Corbin Bernsen, i am a gigantic Hollywood actor. I am making a movie and i might like to present a paid, talking, credited position in a Hollywood film. Are you interested by trading for that?" I had simply performed the recording contract alternate, and was like, "yes, undoubtedly, this sounds best." He hung up the cell, and i’m, "Corbin Bernsen, who is this man?" It seems he is very good recognized, he’s been in many main films, and he additionally, in step with Wikipedia, has the sector’s largest snow globe collection, over 6,500 snow globes.(Laughter) because it used to be Wikipedia I knew it was once true, (Laughter) and i just type of stored it behind my head. When Mark said he had a KISS snow globe, I was once like,"that is ultimate." referred to as Corbin: "Do you wish to have the KISS snow globe?" "ship a snapshot." sent one. Corbin called again, "no longer most effective do i need it, i need it." (Laughter) while these feedback had been coming in like dumbasses, etc, I had no backup plan, and luckily for the venture and for Corbin, he did not get hit via a bus and he was still alive, and we made a alternate. He confirmed us into his snow-globe lair of over 6,000 snow globes, which looks form of like this. (Laughter) Following this, the financial progress Officer of the city of Kipling, Saskatchewan, a fellow named Bert Roth, known as me up and stated, "We see that you’ve been doing this task. Our city has a pair additional residences that we own.Would there be a skills that might be we might alternate any such houses for something you’ve gotten?" I say, "i’ve a position in the film." he is like, "That’d be perfect: What we had been pondering is having a large house warming occasion, a large party, inviting every body in the world to return to Kipling. We could offer an opportunity: we are going to name it ‘Kipling Idol.’ we will have are living auditions for the movie function, here, proper on the town." I mentioned, "that’s absolutely perfect, Bert. What you have got to do to make this occur?" he’s,"good, we want town council approval." I say, "all right, if that you can get it, that’d be first-class." He referred to as me back two weeks later: "I did it, I obtained city council approval, we will make the exchange." turns out city council approval was getting two people to put their hand within the air. But, full credit score to Bert, he made it occur. And we traveled to Kipling, and there we’re. That is how you trade a paperclip for a residence. And that is the apartment. (Applause) The quality phase about this whole challenge is fun, making the trades for things.Less complicated to tell the story with the objects, but it surely used to be the persons behind it. In Kipling, it appears, Mounties signal the deeds to traded houses. We had a large condominium warming social gathering, over 3,500 individuals came to the town of Kipling, a city of below 1,000 individuals, for an complete weekend. There were reside auditions on stage, 500 to 600 individuals within the crowd including the volunteer fireplace department, in a ability 300-individual building. So, yeah, they let it slide, but it surely was an strong expertise. Corbin Bernsen went out on stage, day after today in town, and said, "this is the winner of the movie position. Written on his again was the identify Nolan Hubbard. Nolan Hubbard had simply graduated from excessive tuition, was making minimal wage on the Bottle Depot.Two months after this photograph used to be taken, he was once down in la working on a movie with Corbin. An amazingly proficient individual who, with out this opportunity to make a movie, would have now not had that danger. And it was all in regards to the men and women saying, "yes, let’s build whatever, let’s do some thing collectively, let’s collaborate, let’s see what happens." That was once what one red paperclip used to be all about. There, at this house warming occasion in Kipling, Saskatchewan, Karina had the original red paperclip round her neck in a snapshot body. And folks were announcing to me like, "Wow, you traded with a paperclip, however do not you desire you had it again now?" (Laughter) that is received to be worth a lot of money. That’s bought to be – it can be rather famous.And i said to them that day what I nonetheless say at present: "It wasn’t concerning the paperclip, it’s no longer about having it, or selling it for what it can be worth. If I hadn’t traded away that red paperclip, i’d just be a guy sitting there at a desk holding a paperclip in his hand, wondering what would occur if I did some thing with the paperclip." So … You probably have a paperclip, alternate it away. You would most effective get a fish pen, nevertheless it might be the only step that results in an mighty experience.And, for me, that trip will likely be off this red circle. So, I want you the first-class. (Applause) (Cheering) .

[batterymonster2021]

What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? | Kyle MacDonald | TEDxVienna

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/what-if-you-could-trade-a-paperclip-for-a-house-kyle-macdonald-tedxvienna-5/

What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? | Kyle MacDonald | TEDxVienna

Translator: Queenie Lee Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pcksteiner My identify is Kyle, i am the pink paperclip man. However before I get started on that story, I want to draw attention to this slide behind me. On the starting of each TED video out there, the some thing it is referred to as, the screenshot that precedes the video, all people’s standing like this … All of them. So, demand more from TED, put up comments on-line poking enjoyable at this, we need better screenshots for these videos.We can make a better world of TED with higher screenshots. Onto the paperclip though. That is this style of crazy concept I had once I used to be – Y’be aware of, about 10 years in the past, I was watching down at my desk, and that i noticed a crimson paperclip sitting there. And that i said, "Y’be aware of what, I remember this recreation called ‘greater and better’ the place you start with anything small, alternate it for anything higher, and then you definately repeat.I wonder what would occur if I took this red paperclip and tried to alternate it?" I posted a photo of that purple paperclip on a website referred to as "craigslist." Two ladies named Ronnie and Karina spoke back and mentioned, "hiya, that is beautiful cool! We’d prefer to trade with you. We obtained a pen formed like a fish." (Laughter) I was quite excited, this was once a cool pen. This was larger and higher than a pink paperclip. "How a long way can i am going with this idea? Anybody want a pen formed like a fish?" "surely, my name is Annie, and i have acquired a doorknob with a crazy face on it." (Laughter) Two trades in, I’ve already long gone means up from a paperclip, and i was once pondering, "How some distance can i’m going with this? Maybe i will be able to keep going until someday I owned a condominium or some thing from this." Shawn says, "Come all the way down to my situation, i’ll cook your burgers, and i will exchange you my tenting range for that doorknob, since i would like it to repair the knob on my stovetop espresso maker.(Laughter) We’re moving liabilities into assets; we’re growing price. We’re bettering each and every different’s lives, albeit on a small scale. But the Sergeant, David J, of the united states Marine Corps, he stated, "i have been watching for that particular model of tenting stove. I’ve acquired additional mills, would you like an electric generator?" To me this used to be a dream come authentic: an electric generator. Eventually, my teenage desires of being equipped to create vigour had been realizing. (Laughter) unluckily, most persons on the net failed to endure from a blackout, they failed to want vigor.So, my trading in for bigger and higher matters that I proposal had value turned into a legal responsibility. It took me several weeks to be capable to trade this. However I really determined one other person only recently out of his teenage years who did want to create energy with this generator. His identify used to be Martin, and he was once in New York city. He says, "appear, I’ve obtained an empty beer keg, i’ll alternate you an IOU to fill the keg with beer and a neon with "Budweiser" signal. What do you say?" So I met up with him. We made the exchange, and here’s us displaying all constituents of the exchange work. (Laughter) I rebranded the mishmash of IOU beer keg and neon "Budweiser" sign, and called it an instantaneous party. Does any person available in the market need to occasion? "My name is Michel Brett, i’m a noted radio and tv personality within the province of Quebec, and that i want to make a exchange with you." "surely Michel, what do you have to exchange?" "i’ll trade you my worst snowmobile." I was intrigued just through the notion of somebody’s worst snowmobile.It implied that he not most effective had a couple of snowmobile, however he was kind of cheeky and willing to show to me that, you already know, I’ve got higher ones, but i’m going to exchange you my worst. I used to be really happy to exchange with him. He was once a first-class guy, and it used to be a sexy fine snowmobile. Seeing the way it used to be the middle of iciness in Canada, and it was very cold, and a snowmobile at that time of 12 months had more price than in the summer, a snowmobile journal referred to as "SnoRiders West" known as me up and said, "hi there, we wish to offer you two trips for two to the Canadian Rockies in exchange for that snowmobile. It is going to regularly give our magazine some publicity, and who doesn’t wish to go to the Rockies right now of yr?" I stated, "sure, very well, what is the capture?" They mentioned, "The catch is that you could come to the Rockies; you cannot come to the city of Yahk in British Columbia." I stated, "okay, I obtained to find a loophole around this." So we made up our minds to kind of blackmail a country wide news institution.It is a really lengthy story, however what ended up happening was once I received on television carrying the emblem for the shirt I used to be wearing. It used to be referred to as Cintas, the uniform organization. It was just variety of an within funny story: my cousin’s husband had given me this shirt … A fair longer story to give an explanation for the whole thing. However, the head honcho of that enterprise noticed me on tv along with his corporate uniform on, and said, "Wait a 2nd, it is a gigantic legal responsibility to me, however it is also an opportunity." And we met up one night. He says, "i would wish to make you a alternate. What d’you say?" and i’m like: "I consider that is the superb way we will work collectively without selling our souls to the company ownership satan." He said, "nice, let’s meet up." So we met up.He provided this van for the shuttle for 2 to the Rockies, I drove the van to the Rockies; he flew considering that the go back and forth integrated that. And that i wound up with this colossal, colossal desktop, much greater than a paperclip, arguably higher, worst gas mileage, however to transport significantly better things than just that. So, I stated, "Does any individual out there want to trade?" And i noticed larger and better used to be just particularly getting larger, but how could it get better, what used to be the possibility right here? And i realized that i’ve been offered a recording contract, a bit of paper, a promise, an possibility to any one who’s excellent at track."Does anyone need to be a recording artist?" So I traded the van for the recording contract with Brandon. He used it to power around in his band, which used to be presently travelling around in a 1988 Volkswagen Jetta. Moving up to the van relatively helped him out. I took the recording contract. "Does any one need to be a recording artist?" It seems in general each person in the world wants to record music. (Laughter) I was once furnished my soul from a soul singer, a pinkie finger. Any one definitely offered me their virginity, which is – (Laughter) I don’t know what the legalities, or – remember that, I stated no, because Jody said to me, "seem, I’ve got a half a duplex in Phoenix, Arizona. Half of of it’s unrented. I will alternate a year free hire in my duplex for that. What do you say?" I said sure. I went down there. We made the exchange in entrance of the white wood fence. Very Americana. Now I had a year free employ.Her subsequent door – certainly one of her tenants clearly – Her next-door neighbor, Lesley, learned about this. She says, "i would like that free hire." She supplied me up a day along with her boss. To start with I was once like this type of sucks, like oo-er-hoo … (Laughter) considering that I did not understand who her boss used to be. She stood up – "i will carry him out." i am, "that is bizarre." She brings out her boss’s head. Her boss was once Alice Cooper when you consider that she labored at Alice Cooper’s town in Phoenix because the supervisor of the restaurant. I used to be like, "an afternoon with Alice Cooper, that’s lovely potent, what’s it’ll be worth?" His tour manager called me up and says, "We’re on tour in Fargo, North Dakota. Come up, experience a day with Alice Cooper, see what it is like." after which after our afternoon this happened live to tell the tale stage.(Video begins) (Cheering) (Applause) (Video ends) Alice is a rather excellent guy – this snapshot displays how fine he is. (Laughter) "look, it can be best you are doing this. You’ll in finding an Italian billionaire who’s a significant Alice Cooper fan. He’ll in most cases have several mansions. He’d readily alternate you considered one of them. Promise me one factor?" "What’s that?" Promise you won’t alternate a day with me for a weekend with the Rolling Stones or a night time with KISS. (Laughter) I mentioned, "all right, i’m going to are attempting." The phone rang, and it used to be Mark. Mark says, "i am an newbie photographer with quite a few KISS memorabilia. Are you be eager about any of that?" that is hard.I relatively wanted to exchange with him. "What do you’ve gotten?" He says, "good, I’ve acquired this, I’ve received that, KISS posters, KISS guitars, a KISS snow globe." When he mentioned KISS snow globe, I immediately mentioned, "yes, and only the snow globe." So, met up with Mark, traded the afternoon with Alice Cooper, a important possibility for a KISS snow globe. And the entire world form of kind of like oo-oo-oo – and that i was once like this is great, it lights up, changes colours. (Laughter) here’s some of the quite a lot of on-line responses from the video. That is the worst alternate that I’ve ever heard of, bar none. (Laughter) that is possibly the dumbest determination I’ve ever noticeable someone make …Ever. (Laughter) except for the folks on Jerry Springer. (Applause) other persons were far more eloquent in their delivery. (Laughter) And this used to be the one time during the whole undertaking where I had one more trade lined up. Every different alternate had come along serendipitously, and it would simply been this effective experience. Nonetheless, two months prior to all this, this man had referred to as me up and stated, "hey, my identify is Corbin Bernsen, i am a gigantic Hollywood actor. I am making a movie and i might like to present a paid, talking, credited position in a Hollywood film. Are you interested by trading for that?" I had simply performed the recording contract alternate, and was like, "yes, undoubtedly, this sounds best." He hung up the cell, and i’m, "Corbin Bernsen, who is this man?" It seems he is very good recognized, he’s been in many main films, and he additionally, in step with Wikipedia, has the sector’s largest snow globe collection, over 6,500 snow globes.(Laughter) because it used to be Wikipedia I knew it was once true, (Laughter) and i just type of stored it behind my head. When Mark said he had a KISS snow globe, I was once like,"that is ultimate." referred to as Corbin: "Do you wish to have the KISS snow globe?" "ship a snapshot." sent one. Corbin called again, "no longer most effective do i need it, i need it." (Laughter) while these feedback had been coming in like dumbasses, etc, I had no backup plan, and luckily for the venture and for Corbin, he did not get hit via a bus and he was still alive, and we made a alternate. He confirmed us into his snow-globe lair of over 6,000 snow globes, which looks form of like this. (Laughter) Following this, the financial progress Officer of the city of Kipling, Saskatchewan, a fellow named Bert Roth, known as me up and stated, "We see that you’ve been doing this task. Our city has a pair additional residences that we own.Would there be a skills that might be we might alternate any such houses for something you’ve gotten?" I say, "i’ve a position in the film." he is like, "That’d be perfect: What we had been pondering is having a large house warming occasion, a large party, inviting every body in the world to return to Kipling. We could offer an opportunity: we are going to name it ‘Kipling Idol.’ we will have are living auditions for the movie function, here, proper on the town." I mentioned, "that’s absolutely perfect, Bert. What you have got to do to make this occur?" he’s,"good, we want town council approval." I say, "all right, if that you can get it, that’d be first-class." He referred to as me back two weeks later: "I did it, I obtained city council approval, we will make the exchange." turns out city council approval was getting two people to put their hand within the air. But, full credit score to Bert, he made it occur. And we traveled to Kipling, and there we’re. That is how you trade a paperclip for a residence. And that is the apartment. (Applause) The quality phase about this whole challenge is fun, making the trades for things.Less complicated to tell the story with the objects, but it surely used to be the persons behind it. In Kipling, it appears, Mounties signal the deeds to traded houses. We had a large condominium warming social gathering, over 3,500 individuals came to the town of Kipling, a city of below 1,000 individuals, for an complete weekend. There were reside auditions on stage, 500 to 600 individuals within the crowd including the volunteer fireplace department, in a ability 300-individual building. So, yeah, they let it slide, but it surely was an strong expertise. Corbin Bernsen went out on stage, day after today in town, and said, "this is the winner of the movie position. Written on his again was the identify Nolan Hubbard. Nolan Hubbard had simply graduated from excessive tuition, was making minimal wage on the Bottle Depot.Two months after this photograph used to be taken, he was once down in la working on a movie with Corbin. An amazingly proficient individual who, with out this opportunity to make a movie, would have now not had that danger. And it was all in regards to the men and women saying, "yes, let’s build whatever, let’s do some thing collectively, let’s collaborate, let’s see what happens." That was once what one red paperclip used to be all about. There, at this house warming occasion in Kipling, Saskatchewan, Karina had the original red paperclip round her neck in a snapshot body. And folks were announcing to me like, "Wow, you traded with a paperclip, however do not you desire you had it again now?" (Laughter) that is received to be worth a lot of money. That’s bought to be – it can be rather famous.And i said to them that day what I nonetheless say at present: "It wasn’t concerning the paperclip, it’s no longer about having it, or selling it for what it can be worth. If I hadn’t traded away that red paperclip, i’d just be a guy sitting there at a desk holding a paperclip in his hand, wondering what would occur if I did some thing with the paperclip." So … You probably have a paperclip, alternate it away. You would most effective get a fish pen, nevertheless it might be the only step that results in an mighty experience.And, for me, that trip will likely be off this red circle. So, I want you the first-class. (Applause) (Cheering) .

[beckyshawusw]

Pitch:

For our project we have to create a pitch to present our main ideas and initial research on the project to our lecturers. To then hopefully talk about/develop my ideas. Here’s my pitch and some of the work which went into it:

Intro Slide - Slide One

Slide Two - Text: After we were given the brief I decided that I wanted to do something futuristic looking. Also bring in realism to the idea, adding as much as I can to a shot to be subtle. I really enjoyed the first tracking project and I had many ideas of which I wanted to develop on for this version of the project. I am excited to develop the concepts and ideas of which this project will create as I want to push myself outside of my current comfort zone and try to do something which will really stand out. I think I will defo use the subtle technique and have smaller details as this is something which I love seeing in films. Here are some of the things I think I want to look at in this presentation: 

Research into some styles.

A couple of test shots.

Create a basic plan for the video (inc. storyboard, shot list, equipment, etc.)

Slide Three Text: Rough plan of Action timetable; Speaker Notes: Here’s a rough timetable I made for this project, last week obviously I worked on this pitch and came up with my ideas. This included test shots and a basic plan for the rest of the project. For week two of the project I basically am planning on obviously giving this pitch, booking out my equipment for the right day and also the green screen room. I also plan on doing a lot of test shots/planning the shoot. Once all that is booked for week 3/the end of week 2 I would shoot my project and also if needed plan some re-shoots. This is why I’ve given a week for shooting just in case.  Then for the final two weeks of the project I’ll work on the shots getting constant feedback from various people whom I usually speak to about my project.

Slide Four - Text: 

Add the element of camera motion to the image enabling you to bring previous VFX competencies into a more realistic and professional context.

Insist the importance of creating efficient and minimum data for the project at hand, always mindful of the pipeline and deadline they are working within

Understand the difference between object tracking and camera tracking.

They appreciate the inherent limitations within the properties of data and imagery they have generated.

Can extract motion data professionally across a range of film players. They have generated successful renders of text geometry that conform to motion within a shot.

They value and gage the prerequisites needed for an efficient pipeline. They appreciated the inherent limitations within the properties of data and imagery they have generated.

Speaker Notes: While planning I decided I need to re-visit the the objectives of which we were given for the brief. These are important for a successful project so I pinned the objectives and learning outcomes to 6 points. Anyway. Back to the initial project! 

Slide Five - Text: 

Glass: Here’s the work I did with tracking one. I really enjoyed it and enjoyed creating GUI and a more futuristic video and I think that this is something of which I want to work on in tracking 2 but more in depth.

Black Mirror: For my work one thing of which was a massive inspiration, was Black Mirror. Specifically season 3 (nosedive). So when I go to develop my tracking two idea I will re-visit this and possibly develop my ideas of which I came up for this.

Speaker Notes: So when developing my ideas for this project as I’ve said I feel strongly about possibly creating something similar to my tracking 1 project. For my previous project I really liked the colour grading I did and liked how similar it was to my inspiration, like using the pinks and blues. 

Slide Six - Text: What I liked about Nosedive: 

GUI - With nosedive I really loved the minimalist designs of the interface which looks very futuristic and how social media is going towards in its aesthetic design.

Colour Scheme - The colour scheme of Nosedive is one of my favourite parts of this episode as the way that it changes throughout the episode is extremely representative of the story.

Minimalist and Subtle Tech - I think that the aesthetic of which black mirror has with very subtle tech is something of which I really inspired to create. The slightly glazed over - tech eyes from the contact lenses is something I really loved.

End Twist - The ending of this episode is something of which I really enjoyed as the episode started as a happy thing and followed a path of a tragedy to the main characters downfall.

Slide Seven Text:  

Tales of Friendship - This was one of the examples of which Jason showed us during the pitch. One thing of which I loved with this is the playful tone. Which is why I’m considering doing this for my tracking 2.

Mario Dog - This is one of my favourite videos of which is on the internet. I am defo thinking about doing something like this for my tracking 2, I love how the dog interacts with the 3D elements as they’re tracked into the scene.

Epic Rap Battles of History - Epic rap battles has always been an inspiration of mine. I adore the moving elements behind which create an engaging visuals which was tracked and merged to the actor.

Creating a City - An idea I had was to create a fake scenario with a fake city. I like this idea a lot and I think that also having a neon colour signs tracked to the city would look great too. I will defo develop this idea more.

Slide Eight - Text:

Mario Dog - This video is something I watched before I joined the course and it is something of which I thought about possibly doing. I liked the idea of having someone interacting with blocks and as I liked the look of the 3D elements. 

Epic Rap Battles of History - Epic Rap battles of History is something which is super exciting. They have their own behind the scenes and the specific episode to the left is very cool as it shows parts of how the 2D elements in the motion background were made. This is one of my inspirations like the mario dog as after watching this for the first time it gave me the inspiration to learn after effects. So this is something of which I want to implement somehow.

Slide Nine - Speaker Notes: I think that despite my choice of what the actual project is, I will be creating something which shares the key aesthetics of Black mirror. As this is something which I personally am influenced by with my work. As I love small details and the subtlety which means you can watch the episodes over and over again with seeing each  new detail every time. This is something which influenced my tracking 1 too.

Slide Ten - Speaker Notes:  In this trailer they tried mixing the episodes within the real world events looking back at 2017. Showing the merge and fine line between the shows and reality. I absolutely love this trailer and think that the clips of which from the show and the news really blend together and the editing is so great.“Black Mirror” itself is actually confirmed by the creators to be a mirror of our current reality to see where technology is heading and also the ‘black mirror’ we get when our devices turn off. 

Slide Eleven - Text: 

Other Episodes: 

Entire History of You - With this episode I absolutely adored the subtle tech and the grain idea which matches with the contact lenses which people wear. 

Arkangel - I adore the aesthetic from this and the introduction of the new technology which begins in entire history of you. This episode talks about the ethics behind some of the technology which is in the future 

White Bear - White bear is an episode which really left me in shock. The ending is brilliant and as like many episodes the technology is subtle and powerful with its message.

San Juniper - The technology in San Juniper is something which is difficult to even fathom. The episode looks as if the two main protagonists are in a flashback episode but it’s revealed that they’re in a fake reality of which souls are uploaded to once the body dies.

Speaker Notes: While deciding to chose which idea I eventually want to settle down for, I decided to re-watch some of my favourite episodes and what I liked about each of them.

Slide Twelve - Text: 

Track the Future - This is a  piece of work which is created by another student at this university doing this project previously. I absolutly adore the look and feel of it and think  that they have the track completely right.

Eye of the Storm - Eye of the storm is a music video which Jason showed us. I absolutely love the tracking and the idea behind here. I loved the behind the scenes with the costume using green screen and I think if I follow my city idea I will key out something within the costume or maybe do this as a test shot.

Various Futuristic city shots - Within various films and movies seeing a futuristic city is something I’ve kind of always had an interest in building. If I do this I want to make it realistic so it would probably be more of an over the shoulder shot or a POV style shot. Kind of a Ready Player 1 vibe too.

Slide Thirteen: Portal idea storyboard

Slide Fourteen: Street idea

Slide fifteen Text: In class portal work - Here’s a test shot I made of the door idea which we did in class. I also took a photo of the door for reference. 

Slide Sixteen: Cities idea with Neon Lights

Slide Seventeen:  Neon Light designs - For my 3D design idea of the neon lights, I sketched out a bunch of lighting ideas, which I will track to the streets of Cardiff to look something more like the image below.

Slide Eighteen: Testing out Neon Lights in cinema 4D

Slide Nineteen: City shots for an idea of comping a city together.

Slide Twenty: City shots 2 - Location shots (where I’d possibly shoot)

Slide twenty one: Here’s some adjustments I’d do to the shots, for example the reds I’d add in Neon signs, the blue and green are a mixture of cleanups and sign replacement.

Slide twenty two: Chosen Idea - City POV - Black mirror Aesthetic

Slide Twenty three: Final slide

I think that my pitch didn’t go as good as I would like when I was presenting it but I feel that my ideas were shown well but I think my nerves got the better of me and I didn’t talk about my ideas well so I am planing on speaking to Jason about my ideas.

[cassiefairy]

I’m back home from Latitude festival and have taken a day off to rest after a weekend of non-stop performances and fun in the sun. Today I’m sharing my photos and a review of the best bits of this year’s festival so read on to find out what went well and why you should book your ticket for next year right now!

Things have changed at Latitude festival. Some changes were almost imperceptible but elements of the festival have definitely improved over the years. I enjoyed this year’s festival more than ever and I’ve put it down to a number of elements that made it feel like a really special weekend…

MUSIC

It seems like an odd thing to say, considering that Latitude is a music festival, but I was pleasantly surprised by the music performances. The thing is, I don’t go to this festival for the music – I’m a comedy fan and let’s just say that it’s been a while since I listened to Radio 1 religiously. But this year’s line up had plenty of names I recognised and, I’m pleased to report, they actually performed the songs you want to hear.

The trouble with headline acts is that I’ve sometimes found that they’ve been performing songs from a new album and barely touch on the old classics that you are hoping to hear. But this year’s headliners, The Killers, did not disappoint. All the top songs were in their set – in fact, it was like listening to a greatest hits album so I happily bounced from song to song, singing along all the way.

The whole performance was punctuated with streamers, lasers and glitter canons, and it felt super-showbiz thanks to Brandon Flowers’ bright white smile and Vegas-style sequinned lapels. Liam Gallagher popped onto the stage for a bit but didn’t join in with a performance as he ‘didn���t know the words’! However, most of the crowd DID know the words so you can imagine how loud and excited the audience was when the band finished their set with a highly-illuminated rendition of Mr Brightside. It was my best festival moment EVER.

I also enjoyed the fact that so many local performers were in the line-up, including Bessie Turner (who I’d recently seen singing at Old Jet) who starred on the BBC Music Introducing stage on Friday night. The honour of kicking off the whole festival on Thursday evening went to local lad Skinny Rodgers and his band. They took to the Solas stage in the woods and drew a big crowd of early arrivers, giving the audience a chilled-out introduction to their weekend of fun.

VENUES

Another thing that I didn’t think I’d be writing much about in my review post is the location. I mean, it’s at the same place every year, right? But what I want to tell you about is how much the venues within the festival have improved this year. First of all, I’d like to give the organisers a big hand for increasing the capacity of The Comedy Arena and The Speakeasy. Both have been given a ‘big top’ makeover, with much more space for a larger audience. I think that Festival Republic has realised just how many visitors attend to see non-music performers and have improved these stages no end. Another thing I enjoyed was that the venues themselves had been ‘dressed up’ for the occasion. The Lake Stage had hundreds of pretty ribbons flowing out around the edges, attached to flower-covered poles. This made the space around the stage feel bigger and created a canopy that felt like an indoor arena. The comedy tent was dressed up with purple and pink sails, and the Solas stage was probably one of my favourites with stretched canvases decorating the front.

AROUND THE ARENA

I noted an improvement in the general decor of the arena as a whole. The layout seemed to be more thought-out with a street feast dining zone in the centre. All the food vendors seemed to be smaller, independent companies and there was a wider variety of cuisines available. The food area was decorated with fairy lights, lanterns and had long tables laid out school canteen style in the centre. Even the plastic chairs had that back-at-school in the 90s look. There were interesting art installations around the arena too, providing plenty of opportunities for instagram photos. A twirling umbrella installation provided seating during the day and lit up at night. A circle of pallets covered by a bunting-and-fairy-lights ‘teepee’ was a cute meeting place. Even more pallets were stacked up as sign-posts to direct visitors to the different arenas, and they too were illuminated in a rainbow of colours at night. In fact, in the evening, every vista looked twinkly, magical and was lit up in vivid hues.

I can’t be sure if more signs have been added for the stages but I spotted so many glitter-covered signs, neon words and oversized circus-style illuminated letters. It’s like the organisers hopped inside my mind and created the kind of festival arena ‘decor’ that dreams are made of. Oh, and there was a second Latitude sign in front of the BBC Music Stage, providing another place for groups to pose for photos.

COMEDY

Comedy is the reason I go to Latitude festival so you can probably imagine how happy I was to see a comedy arena without walls and with plenty of space for the audience. Even from the hessian barriers at the far reaches of the arena you could see the stage and easily watch the performer on the large screens. I still preferred to be in the centre of the arena (out of the sun and in amongst the action) so I got there early to get a great view of my favourite comedians.The comedy tent was predictably heaving for the first show on Friday morning: QI Live. Hosted by Sandi Toksvig and featuring 4 comedians, it was bound to draw a big crowd of comedy and TV fans alike. Of course, Alan Davies was part of the panel and I’ve been a big fan since watching him perform in the What’s Up Dockers charity gig in the 90s. I hadn’t seen him perform live since, and was delighted to catch his set on the Saturday afternoon. After the hilarious live QI show I stayed put and enjoyed a further 12 comedy performances that day. Highlights included Joel Dommett, Matt Richardson, Rachel Parris and Jayde Adams, (who both incorporated songs into their sets) and Angela Barnes, who I’d recently seen at Cambridge Junction.

It wouldn’t be Latitude festival without Marcus Brigstocke (who was on the QI panel, as well as performing his own set) but no-one could have imagined what his new show would be like until he marched onto the stage in full costume and make-up. There were plenty of comedians on the other stages too, so I kept an eye on The Speakeasy, The Cabaret Theatre and the Music & Film Arena, where we saw Richard Ayoade in conversation about his films, northern rising star Chris Washington, one of our festival favourites Eshaan Akbar, uber-famous James Acaster, Jack Barry (the face of McCoys) and must-see comedian Jen Brister.

We’d be here forever if I was to list all the acts I saw in the Comedy Arena, but I will mention my absolute favourite of the whole festival: David O’Doherty. I first saw him perform with his tiny keyboard at Latitude in 2016 and it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. I mean, tears of laughter funny. I’ve been keeping an eye on his website for performance dates ever since and I’d just booked tickets for his upcoming UK tour. So when I spotted his name on the line-up I knew exactly where I would be on Sunday at 2:25pm. My husband went off to see Reggie Yates in the Speakeasy (where he got his book signed, good ol’ Reggie!) but I stayed put for another killer performance by David O’Doherty – how does he keep come up with new songs that get me rolling on the floor laughing? Brilliant delivery and genius keyboard skills.

There were countless live recordings of podcasts all weekend, and I particularly enjoyed Pappy’s Flatshare Slamdown, which went on well into the night on Friday. The final show of the festival for us was John Cooper Clarke’s poetry performance in The Speakeasy. We made sure we got there about an hour before the show to get a space and I’m glad that we did, as the arena quickly filled up to full capacity when his performance was about to begin. The combination of exceptional poetry and cheeky jokes was a winning combination to finish the weekend on a high.

Were you at Latitude festival this year? Let me know in the comments below and tell me your favourite performances of the weekend! And let me know if you’re planning to go next year after reading this review, maybe I’ll see you there haha!

Latitude Festival review 2018 – Music, comedy & venue I'm back home from Latitude festival and have taken a day off to rest after a weekend of non-stop performances and fun in the sun.

[boxession]

Firstly I’d like to say a massive thank you to guys over at ccbeauty.co.uk for sending me the amazing December edition of the box. CC Beauty is a make up and skincare subscription box that mainly features high-end products. The overall RRP of CC Beauty is always outstanding compared to what you pay for it. It is a luxury beauty box full of decadent high end beauty and makeup products each month. The December 2017 edition is truly a special one including an amazing designer brand, I really felt Christmas had come a week early when I unbowed this box. It a total treat and I felt truly spoilt and pampered. You can see my live unboxing here…

GUCCI EYE, Impact longwear eye pencil with sharpener. RRP £28. The first thing I noticed when I picked out this eye pencil was the luxurious packaging, the long black cardboard box was embossed with the Gucci logo all over it which in itself looked expensive and high-end, it also featured the GUCCI name in gold foil embossing, and the contents of the box also in gold foil. This is the kind of packaging you feel guilty throwing away, so much effort has gone into a piece of packaging you are going to be putting in the bin. I received the eye pencil in the shade cocoa, as you can probably guess from the name it is a rich warm chocolate brown shade. This shade is perfect for me to line my lower lash line just under my eyelids. I prefer a brown liner to a black as I wear a strong black wing on my upper eyelid and feel black on the lower lash line as well is too strong, therefore a brown smudged out subtle smokey line is the perfect balance and frames and defines my eye shape perfectly. The liner itself was soft and glided on beautifully, it was a pleasure to use and smudged out wonderfully. The eyeliner featured a blending sponge on one end that worked really well to give a subtle smokey line and to blend out the harsh initial line the liner gives. The eyeliner was supposed to be long wearing and although I can’t say what it would be like on its own as I did use a setting spray, it did last all day and until I washed it off that evening with only a little bit of wear and tear in the inner corner of my eye where it had faded a little and smudge slightly. Other than this it was still perfect. The eye liner also came with a black pencil sharpener featuring the Gucci logo, very handy as you know what us ladies are like, we tend to own ten pencil sharpeners and can never find the right one if we find one at all. This is definitely an item I will be keeping and not gifting to anyone and I believe will become my go to eyeliner. An absolute winner in my eyes.

GUCCI LIP, luxurious pigment rich lipstick. RRP £23. The packaging containing this lipstick again was stunning, the same black embossed box, with the gold leaf detailing, pure luxury, packaging like this sets high-end miles apart from drugstore brands before you even open the box. The lipstick was in the shade 250 dark romance and was a rich burgundy red colour, the pigment was strong it looked almost black before applying. The name of the shade “dark romance” was fitting too as it looked like expensive red wine, Red velvety roses, dark raspberry chocolate truffles. All things romantic, decadent and luxurious. The lipstick was creamy and applied easily like butter. I loved the colour on me as dark reds are my ultimate favourite colour. It was satin finish with a beautiful subtle and sexy shine. It lasted well and only needed reapplying twice throughout the day. It was not transfer proof but more a classic and traditional formula. Another winner for me, especially around this time of the year when I prefer to wear my deeper red coloured lipsticks.

GUCCI Première, Eau de Toilette, 5ml. RRP £5 (based on £31 per 30ml). I really enjoy miniature perfumes, not sample vials but the actual mini versions of the full size bottles, these look really cute and pretty on your vanity and they are a great value way of trying new fragrances without buying the full size version and not liking it. These handy sizes are perfect for holidays and weekends away or just popping in your handbag. The miniature bottle itself was very sweet and cute looking, a tinted glass bottle with a gold lid with the GUCCI name on the lid in the typical première cursive font. The smell was strong and powerful, definitely a statement perfume, the kind of fragrance strangers are going to comment on. Also used regularly it is one of those perfumes that people will smell on others and instantly think of you. The fragrance is elegant and feminine with powerful and vigorous top notes of wood and musk and the feminine undernotes of floral Bergamot and orange blossom. This perfume was released to celebrate “old Hollywood” and debuted at the 2010 Cannes film festival. I think this is the perfect fragrance tribute to the old iconic Hollywood actresses and to celebrate an era of style and sophistication in the film industry years past.

Cargo Cosmetics, land down under palette. RRP £30. This full size palette as you can probably guess by the name has a colour scheme influenced by all things Australian. Think shades related to sun, Sea, Sand, rocks and lush greenery and bush and you can predict the colours featured in this 12 shade palette. The eye shadows are pigmented and good quality, I experienced more fall out when I used them than I would have liked. They applied easily and blended well. The colours were all quite natural and neutral with the addition of a few blues and greens. It’s definitely a palette you could use alone and not need any additional single eye shadows. Opera is a shade that would work well as an all over base colour, joey is a perfect transition shade and the shades rocks and ferry are great crease colours. You then have a good collection of shimmer colours for the lid. Beach is a beautiful champagne shimmer shade perfect to highlight the brow bone and inner corner of the Eyes. Lastly you have two daring blues for a more adventurous look and a forest green, a lovely colour for a subtle pop of colour in your crease and lower lash line for an alternative different smokey eye look. I would really recommend this palette for beginners experimenting with eyeshadow and makeup too as it has a few picture demos of different looks on the box and also the shades are easy to work with and all go well together. The palette also contains a black eyeliner pencil which is good quality and easy to wear and a good quality double ended fluffy eyeshadow brush.

MAKE UP FOREVER, artist plexiglass gloss lip lacquer. RRP £16. This is the only item in the box I’m not overly fussed on, this is totally personal preference though as I have a disliking to lip gloss. I did try this gloss though and my verdict on it is good even if I would not wear it myself. I received the shade 209 which is an almost neon pink, unfortunately bright pinks are the only colour I cannot for the life in me make look good on me, it is the one colour I really don’t suit. The gloss though was very pigment and ultra glossy, almost looked like coloured, polished glass on my lips. It was long wearing but like all glosses it was sticky and transferred onto anything and everything, the reason I personally do not like lip glosses. The applicator distributed it perfectly and evenly and it only took one swipe on each lip to cover well, I would 100% recommend this product to anyone that does like lip gloss as the coverage, colour and shine were all really great. Overall I loved the December edition of CC Beauty and I am looking forward to seeing if they live up to this boxes standards in the future. Each item was good quality, good wearable shades for the majority of people and popular shades this time of the year. The value of the box was overwhelmingly fantastic and amazing compared to the price of the subscription. I loved this box and even though I could never wear the gloss, this is a personal preference and the quality and shade of the gloss would be popular and well suited to the majority of women, as much as I love pink I just cannot make it work for me.

  Thank you for reading,

Katieemma xoxo

The price of CC Beauty is £29.99 per month, the value of the box is usually triple that. You can sign up for a 3 month subscription and pay monthly or prepay for a 3 month subscription and only pay £75, that’s the equivalent to £25 per month.

Use the code ‘DECEMBEREDITION’ to get £5 off this month’s box!

Price of Box – £29.99

RRP value of box – £102

To order cc beauty or for more info please visit their website or social media accounts.

https://ccbeauty.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/ccbeautyltd/

CC Beauty Box Review by Katie – December 2017 Firstly I'd like to say a massive thank you to guys over at ccbeauty.co.uk for sending me the amazing December edition of the box.

[loradmurphy]

A Relaxed Urban Warehouse Wedding in Melbourne

This post A Relaxed Urban Warehouse Wedding in Melbourne first appeared on The Wedding Community Blog

Oh I do love a wedding with a relaxed, party vibe; throw in a warehouse venue and I am very happy! The urban warehouse space, Gather and Tailor in Melbourne, provided the perfect backdrop for Brent and Georgia’s wedding, and gave them a fabulous blank canvas to style as they wished… and style it they did!

The couple had an incredible neon pink ‘Til Death’ sign made, which they framed with an amazing floral installation, to create a great backdrop for the ceremony. During the after-wedding party, guests enjoyed espresso Martinis, doughnuts, delicious sharing platters of food, and lots of booze!

I really love Georgia’s style. She didn’t want a traditional wedding dress so chose a beautiful dress by Ellery, finishing her bridal look with “killer heels and some big, kick-ass earrings”!

Photographer Sayher Heffernan was behind the lens to capture this very cool urban warehouse wedding, and I am delighted to share Brent and Georgia’s big day…

Hilarious, Surreal and Perfect

“We met very late in the night, or should I say, early hours of the morning, at Pony, a bar in the city. It sounds cliché I know, but we just kind of ‘worked’ straight away and wanted to see each other all the time. Nine years later we decided to get married, so I guess we were both pretty sure we had found the right one by then!

“Even after nine years together and lots of chats about maybe getting married, I was completely surprised and had no idea it was happening! Brent had the proposal all planned to happen by the ocean (my favourite place to be), on the Mornington Peninsula where my parents live.

“However, in true ‘Georgia style’ I kept getting side-tracked while Brent seemed desperate to get me down to the beach! Little did I know, I was completely ruining his plan. In the end, he gave up and the nerves took over. While I set the table in the backyard for a big family lunch, he secretly placed my ring on an old tree stump in Mum and Dad’s backyard and proposed right there. It was hilarious, surreal and perfect all at the same time.”

Relaxed, Party Vibe

“We didn’t really have a wedding theme, but we both had a clear vision of how we wanted the day to feel. A traditional, formal wedding wasn’t for us. More than anything we wanted a relaxed, party vibe with amazing food, booze and tunes, and to share that love with all our nearest and dearest. We wanted our day to reflect ‘us’ completely – a little wild and edgy and definitely not bound by tradition!

“Brent and I both agreed from the beginning that we wanted our wedding day to all happen in the one place. It was important for us that once people arrived at our venue they got to settle in and didn’t have to worry about moving around or filling in time between the ceremony and reception.”

The Perfect Space

“Gather and Tailor is an urban warehouse wedding venue framed with huge prickly cacti out the front and surrounded with a backdrop of shipping containers. It was the perfect space for us, hidden away amongst factories and down a gravel driveway. Most of our guests thought they had taken a wrong turn as they tried to find the venue!

“The minute we walked into Gather and Tailor we knew it was the one. We just loved the space and the chance to add our own touches to make it completely our own.

“We first heard Nick’s (our guitarist) music last year in Byron Bay (a beautiful coastal town in northern New South Wales) while we were on holiday. He was busking and we loved his music straight away. When we started wedding planning we decided we would love him to play during the ceremony.

“Our celebrant, Megan helped us create a special, yet relaxing ceremony that was very us. She encouraged us to write our own vows, and we’re so glad that we did. We also chose not to hear what Megan had written for our ceremony until our wedding day, so we laughed along with our guests when we all heard it for the first time.”

Killer Heels and Kick-Ass Earrings

“I always knew I didn’t want a ‘traditional’ wedding dress. I actually feel in love with my dress before I was even engaged, after seeing a picture of it online. Following Brent’s proposal it was the first thing I tried on, and it was really the only contender. It was completely ‘me’ and I felt comfortable and super special in it! Above all else, it was so important that I felt like ‘me’ and had a pair of killer heels and some big, kick-ass earrings!

“My dress was by Ellery, an Australian designer, my shoes Francesco Russo, and I wore the most amazing earrings by an LA designer, Annie Costello-Brown.

“I gave my girls and ‘bridesman’ complete control over what they would wear. My only request was that the colour palette wasn’t too dark, and all us girlies wore gold heels! I just wanted them to wear something they loved and not something I’d made them wear!

“Brent had a clear idea on his ‘look’ and colour. He wanted to look special but not too formal, hence why he decided on no ties for himself and the boys, which suited the ‘feel’ of our day perfectly.”

Warehouse Wedding Styling

“We did all the styling, and were lucky to have my cousin, who is a sign-writer, help us bring most of our ideas to life. We had an amazing neon sign with ‘Til Death’ in pink lettering, coasters for the table with skull imagery that featured on our invitations, and a huge drinks menu banner.

“The gorgeous Petra and her team at Pomp and Splendour did the most phenomenal job. She was amazing to deal and completely understood my ‘vision’ from our first meeting. Pomp and Splendour played a huge part in styling the warehouse space. We had an amazing floral installation framing our neon sign, as well as bursts of flowers throughout the space, including a floral arbour and other arrangements.

“We ditched the idea of a seating plan, which most people were really concerned about! It worked out exactly as we hoped though, with everyone just grabbing a seat wherever they felt like it. Everyone mingled and got to know each other whilst sharing the most delicious shared platters of food which lined the middle of our long, tables, along with, of course, lots of good booze!

“We had ‘Mr. B’ set up an amazing cart outside at our wedding making espresso Martinis, coffees and doughnuts for dessert. Dave and his team were amazing – they were the talk of our wedding and everyone loved what they did. The boys had a line of guests waiting for their amazing Martinis the whole time they were set up!

“We were lucky enough to have a friend of ours to DJ later in the night. We had complete trust in him and our only request was ‘serious party tunes’ to get everyone dancing. He also surprised us with a smoke machine which really set the scene!”

Let Them Do Their Thing

“Our main advice to others is to do your research and choose vendors that ‘get you’ and ‘your vision’. It can be so hard to let go of all the little details, but you have chosen your florist, celebrant, venue etc. for a reason, so trust them and what they do. It’s hard, but as the day gets closer you have to let go a bit and let them do their thing.

Ultimately, don’t be bound by tradition. Create the day you want and soak up every single second of it! It was the best day of our lives and so special!”

Photography: Sayher Heffernan

Venue: Gather and Tailor, Melbourne, Australia

Celebrant: Megan Thompson

Wedding Dress: Ellery

Bride’s Shoes: Francesco Russo

Bride’s Earrings: Annie Costello-Brown

Grooms Shoes: 124 Shoes

Suits: Travellers Apparel

Bridesmaid Dresses: Paper London

Flowers: Pomp and Splendour

Catering: Pot and Pan

Coffee Cart: Mr. B Coffee

Acoustic Guitarist: Nick Cunningham

Styling Details and Finishing Touches: Neon Sign, Coasters, Drinks Menu Banner by Alpha Lewis Signs

This post A Relaxed Urban Warehouse Wedding in Melbourne first appeared on The Wedding Community Blog