#and it's still in my completed sketches folder not my uploaded one so.... surely it still needs uploading

[haphazard-pen]

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

A Miraculous TikTok Account

Part 22

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My brain really gave me ideas for four different stories at once and then said ‘good luck’ huh

There were a few moments right after they realized that it was Hawkmoth that the miraculous holders had panicked. They had all half-ran to their rooms and started looking around to make sure their identities were safe.

And, surprisingly, it seemed that they were.

Carapace’s backpack had been thrown across the room hard enough to dent the plaster but the books and folders inside were untouched. His computer screen had been cracked but Hawkmoth hadn’t even tried to unlock it.

Right, so apparently he was just trying to scare them. A kind of ‘I know where you sleep, don’t test me’ situation.

He fixed his overturned desk chair and took a seat with a heavy sigh of relief. His room was in shambles and he was going to have to spend one of his few nights off cleaning and maybe beg for money from the rich kids, but at least his family was safe.

“Hey, guys?” Called Chat, his voice laced with concern.

Carapace was on his feet in a flash. Considering Hawkmoth was only really concerned with getting the cat and ladybug miraculous, it was entirely plausible that he’d only been looking to figure out those two identities.

(Why had he decided to trash the house if that was just it, Carapace didn’t know. It would be better to not let on the fact that he knew who they were. Pettiness, maybe?)

He was the first to Chat’s room, but he could hear the others running over, too.

Chat was standing in his room, a confused frown playing at his lips as he nudged things around with his feet. He looked up at the others. “He didn’t do anything to my room… I don’t…”

“Huh?” Said Ladybug.

There was a beat where everyone looked over the room. Chat was right, he realized. The room was a mess but not in the same way everyone else’s was. Nothing was broken.

And it wasn’t like Hawkmoth would have just missed the room. It was in the middle of the hallway, and everyone else had been hit. It wasn’t a time thing, he had just… somehow not done anything.

The four in the doorway exchanged wary glances.

And then Rena snickered. “He must have thought he’d already done your room. I mean, look at it. It’s enough of a mess, he didn’t need to do anything.”

“That’s true. I’d assume I’d already done it, too,” said Chloe.

“Maybe we should stay in here for the night,” suggested Ladybug. She bunched up the front of her dress in her hands. “It’s safer, no broken glass to step on or anything.”

“The bed’s certainly big enough,” said Rena.

Chloe nodded. “And it’d be nice to have something to do. At least he has a working TV, still.”

“Sleepover in Chat’s room it is!” Said Carapace with false cheer.

If Chat noticed anything off about their demeanor, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he started walking around and picking stuff up.

They all went off in different directions.

He detransformed and changed into a designated Sleeping Hoodie (which was definitely different than his everyday hoodies) and a pair of sweatpants… then he reluctantly added socks. Ladybug had been right about the floor being more than a little dangerous. Still, wearing socks around the house was weird to him.

At least it wasn’t shoes.

He walked down to the kitchen for some snacks and found Ladybug mourning the broken coffee machine. She was curled up on the ground, hugging the few remaining coffee pods to her like she thought Hawkmoth would come back and steal them.

He slowly knelt down next to her to make sure she wasn’t going into shock or something.

She blinked at him, and then her face hardened. She no longer looked sad, instead she looked absolutely livid. He wasn’t sure this was an improvement.

“I’m killing Hawkmoth.”

There was no response to that that didn’t sound stupid (and he didn’t want to mess up and add himself to her hitlist), so he just reached out and rested his hand on her head. He had no clue what he was doing, but it worked, somehow. Her shoulders relaxed.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Murder is bad or whatever.”

He couldn’t really disagree, so he just nodded and withdrew his hand.

He got up and realized he’d forgotten why he’d come down to the kitchen in the first place. He stood there for a moment, fruitlessly trying to recall why he was there, before dejectedly going back to his room. It was there that his stomach growled to remind him that food was a thing and he headed back down.

Chloe and Rena were in the living room. Chloe had changed into a nightgown and Rena was sporting a sports bra and pajama shorts.

Chloe had her phone out and she motioned for him to move so she could get a better shot. He did so, moving to hide behind the couch.

She beamed at him before tapping her phone once and beginning to speak:

“Hawkmoth is so lame. I mean, look at all this. He comes into our house when he’s completely sure none of us are around like a --”

“Fucking,” Rena swore for her.

“-- coward. Imagine being so scared of what five teenagers would do in retaliation for trashing their house that you don’t even have the guts to do it while they’re there. And all he did was throw --”

“Shit.”

“-- around! Do some damage! Congrats on wasting maybe a few thousand euros, but maybe step up your game a little. Even your akumas do more than this.”

She walked over to show the message Hawkmoth had written them and then rolled her eyes.

“I mean, look at this --”

“Shit.”

“What does he think he is? A 90s cartoon villain? PLEASE. At least those have the --”

“Balls.���

“-- to actually show up once and a while at the season finale. Give me a break. Hawkmoth, if you want us to be scared, maybe you should try being an actual threat, don’t you think?”

She stopped recording and uploaded the video as is.

He got out of his hiding place.

… did he really forget what he was doing? Again?

Well, he knew whatever it was he was doing was in the kitchen. He walked in and realized that, hey, it was a KITCHEN. What could he be doing except for getting food? He walked to the fridge and found that, to his horror, Hawkmoth had just straight up stolen their food. Like an asshole.

He dejectedly made his way up to Chat’s room, intending to collapse on his bed and whine until the rich kid ordered pizza or something, only to pause in the doorway.

Chat’s room was… clean? The floors were spotless, the bed made. The room smelled faintly of lavender.

His brain scrambled for an explanation. Maybe Chat had been akumatized. Or, maybe, someone else had gotten akumatized into a copy-Chat and they’d taken the wrong one home by mistake. Or Rena was playing a prank on them.

Chat looked up from the game he was playing and gave a half-smile. He was wearing a set of silk pajamas, because of course he was.

“Are you coming in or are you just going to stand there forever?”

He didn’t know what was going on, which was really just a summary of the entire night if he was being honest, so he just went on autopilot and picked up the other controller.

The others filed in one at a time. Ladybug was first and she blinked a few times before she slowly walked over and sat on Carapace’s other side. He had no clue what she was wearing, because she had wrapped herself up tightly in a thick blanket -- wait, wasn’t that just the comforter on her bed?

Before he could ask her this, she wriggled her arms out of her blanket and started sketching. (Everyone knew not to interrupt her when she was working unless they wanted to risk her snapping at them, and the loss of her coffee could only make that worse.)

A few minutes later Rena plopped herself down beside Chat. Carapace flinched and ended up dying in the game. He hadn’t heard her come in, but that wasn’t surprising anymore, just annoying. He glanced at her and saw that she looked angry enough to make an akuma.

Oh. Right. Rena was the one always cleaning up after Chat. He’d be mad, too, if he had to do that for months only to find out that he was perfectly capable of cleaning up after himself.

She calmed down a little when she saw that their game was currently not going well. Karma.

Chloe came in last and, as always, was the most blunt: “Who are you and what have you done with Chat?”

Chat paused the game and pulled an awkward smile to his face. “I… it’s still me. It’s just… I didn’t want to have my first sleepover to be so messy.”

There was a moment as this registered in everyone’s minds.

“This is your WHAT?!”

Fuck the Hawkmoth thing, this was way more important.

~~~

Taglist

@nathleigh @sassakitty @th1s-1s-my-aesthet1c @blueslushgueen @woe-is-me0 @ladybug-182 @cas-and-their-refusal-to-write @trippingovermyfeet

[cardandpixel]

RocketBook Flip - a rare review and it’s not a game!

Before I go any further, I feel I must point out that I don’t have any financial connection to RocketBook whatsoever – this isn’t a piece that was requested or courted by RocketBook or affiliates and I’m not receiving any reward or sponsorship either in product or direct payment for this article. I just like the damn thing and love it when an innovative piece of tech (in this case quite low key) just works. Hi I’m Paul, and I have a bit of a problem with notebooks – A4 lined, sketch, reporters, Black & Reds (ohhhh the sheer number of B&Rs), goofy ones, serious work ones, battered ones, pristine ‘for best only’ ones – and they all fill at an alarming rate. I make notes on everything. Working as a sound engineer and designer, there’s always mix notes, soundscape plots, ideas, VO notes and scripts, SFX ideas etc etc. At home it’s a very different story – it’s much worse. Game notes; blog notes; hurriedly scribbled quiz questions spurred by watching another episode of Mental Floss’ 500 facts about cheese; RPG notes and story ideas; my own script writing; world building; sketches; other creative ideas; song/music notes and ideas; and that’s before we get to to-do lists; and the dreaded ‘things I must remember’. So my journal life is many, varied and plenty. The usual issue is… ‘what frakking journal did I put that amazing idea in????’, and that’s way before we get to the utter horror that is possibly losing a whole journal or forgetting to bring one home from work. I’m 53, I forget more than I recall, and journals help bring some semblance of order to a massively chaotic and fertile brain. What I’ve needed for a long time is some way of organising all this info or centralising it in some way. Sure I’ve looked at apps – I used Things, Evernote, Notes, and One Note for years, and they are really, really good, but they relied on either having a charged device exactly when I need it (yeah – me too) or net access, which for a new-ish theatre, is surprisingly a bit of an issue at work. And the most important part – I actually enjoy the physical act of handwriting long-hand. I still write actual physical letters to people, it’s adorable and a bit creepy in this age, but I call it charming and leave it at that. Handwriting, for me, allows me time to think and process in a way that typing just doesn’t. Handwriting is slower, I rarely cross anything out, and so I always have the whole of the thought. So what I’ve ideally wanted for years, was a reliable way of organising all my notes and storing them electronically so I have access even without the actual journal, with OCR so they’re editable, and still being a tactile handwritten experience. I’m naturally a sceptic (I actually subscribe to Fortean Times – yeah – I card carry!) and so online ads and particularly FaceAche ads are a field day for critical thinking triggers. I don’t think I’ve ever received from Wish, exactly what I ordered from Wish. And so when an ad from RocketBook constantly kept popping up on my timeline a few weeks ago, I was naturally “it’ll never work” But their website looked legit enough – they had a dedicated UK shop, it was relatively steep to buy in but not so wild that if it didn’t work I wouldn’t be crying too much about the money wasted, and at the end of the day it was a 10th the price of a ReMarkable 2 which is actually what I thought would solve my problem. I’m furloughed at the mo and though I could argue the case for £300+ notebook (test me, I could), I just couldn’t justify it now. And RocketBook had a good summer intro offer. I ordered on the Wednesday, and the impressively glitzy and graphic-design-playbook poly package was dropped on my doorstep just 2 days later by my cheery postie who yelled up the drive “Package for ya, looks very exciting!!!!” I like that our postal service is still invested in the hopes and dreams of their customers. It was exciting. All the instructions for getting started with my new Teal RocketBook A4 Flip were right there before you even open it. The main body houses the pad and a cleaning cloth, and a clever little side pocket houses the supplied Pilot Frixion pen.

RocketBooks come in several models, all configured slightly differently. I have the Flip which is a top spiral-bound softback pad with 21 double sided ‘pages’ giving 42 pages in total. The Flip has lined paper one side, and dot paper on the reverse (great for D&D maps, impromptu tables, mixer channel plots etc)

DELIVERY & FIRST IMPRESSIONS The pads are nicely made, with sturdy covers (available in some really nice colours too) and a solid, thick plastic ring binding. Initially, The RocketBook does feel a bit odd. Its ‘pages’ are actually a synthetic polyester blend and feel quite shiny to the touch. The sort of surface you just instantly feel is not going to be great for ink! Each page is edge-to-edge lined or dotted with a heavy black border. At the bottom is a prominent QR code used for scanning and some very feint icons. These 7 icons are the key to the ease of use of the RocketBook series. But more later.

THE APP

The pads work with a companion app, that is absolutely free and available for Apple & Android. In fact, RB even do downloadable printable pages so you can try the whole system absolutely free before you buy – I didn’t, I just bought one, y’know. The app allows you to set up your destination locations, your preferences and does the actual scanning. Just one quick note, I have the app on both my phone and iPad and had to set-up the app the same for both, there appears to be no way of swapping preference settings between devices, though I can see why this may be intentional.

Currently, the RocketBook allows you to choose from the following locations to send files to: GoogleDrive, box, EverNote, DropBox, slack, OneNote, iCloud, OneDrive as well as simply to an email (or multiple) addresses and iMessage. Impressively, these are not fixed either, so you could choose your 7 destinations to be 7 email addresses of team members. These 7 locations are the icons at the bottom of each page. To select a destination for your file, you just make a mark in that icon box (tick, circle, something unsavoury) and that page will be sent to whichever you select. This makes the system very flexible indeed as not every page is necessarily sent to every destination. You always decide every time you fill a page. Change your mind on a second revision? No problem, add or change icons at any time and re-upload.

There’s a really handy table on the inside front cover for you to note what icon sends what where. This is also wipeable, so can be changed anytime.

I have mine set by default to:

Rocket > main email address (either as PDF, JPG, OCR embedded or as separate txt file)

Diamond > GoogleDrive (you can specify exactly what folder too)

Apple > iMessage

Bell > OneNote

That actually still leaves me 3 spare: shamrock; star; and horseshoe.

The app took me maybe 20mins to set-up, that included decision time for destinations and setting up a few target folders. It also included a few ‘test firings’. I didn’t get everything right first time and a few things didn’t send, but crucially, a tiny bit of digging revealed very simple troubleshooting (including the aforementioned issue with no sync’ing of phone and iPad), and all in I was finding the files in all the right destinations within about 30 mins. The website, FAQs and community are immensely helpful with any other issues as well. I had a tiny issue with OneNote seeming to take ages to sync, but I think that’s an issue with my OneNote settings, everything else was almost instantaneous. You can also handily set the app to auto-send as soon as it scans, or allow for manual review.

CLEAN UP ON AISLE ROCKETPAD The main reason I wanted to look at the RocketBook was the issue of reusability. My journal shenanigans are by no means the biggest ecological disaster on the planet, but if we are to believe Tesco (who probably issue as many receipts at our local Tesco Express in a day as journals I’ve ever used), every little helps. If I could find an ecologically better solution, I should at least take a look. The RocketPads work by partnering with Pilot pens called Frixion. The really clever bit is RB’s paper technology and how it works with the Frixion ink. At present, the pads only work with the Frixion pens – except the RB Colour which works with Crayola’s dry-erase crayons. When you write on the ‘paper’ with a Frixion pen, it remains wet for a few seconds and then dries pretty quickly. There’s no smudging whatsoever in transit, which is pretty cool. From then on, it may as well be permanent, until you have transmitted your page and decide you don’t want the text anymore.  To wipe the page clean, you can dampen the supplied cloth and just wipe the surface clean, it’s weird but it works! But then damp cloth in your bag? So I use kitchen roll to dampen, then wipe dry with theirs. Others even have an adorably kitsch spray bottle in their kit. RB reckon if you are not going to use the pad for a few months, to clean the pages as the ink can get trickier to shift after a long time, but for day-to-day use, I’ve tried writing and wiping well over 20x and the page hasn’t become discoloured or tarnished at all. The only pad different in the range is the Wave which cleans by microwaving! Do NOT do this with any of the others, bad things will happen. The ink doesn’t take scrubbing or any time to come up, I clean my pages in about 10-15s. The page can feel a little tacky when it’s damp, but leave a minute or so and the page will be back to normal. RB do say that odd things can happen if the book is left near a heatsource or in a hot car, vis-à-vis, the ink can completely disappear horrifyingly enough. They say that putting the pen or the pad in the freezer for a little while will actually restore the ink, but I’ve not tried it yet so can’t confirm or deny how that goes. Handy for spies in hot countries though, so there’s another target market. If you are always going to send your pages to the same places, then don’t erase the marked icons, and the page is ready for new notes straight away, otherwise, scrub them too.

I CAN’T READ YOUR WRITING – ARE YOU A DOCTOR? Initially, the RB pads send their files as scans of the pages in high contrast monochrome (colour is available) when you snap the page in the app (which auto-frames for you and takes maybe 10s to capture). The formats are either as images or PDF. If that had been it, I would have been quite happy, but the RB pads have another trick up their sleeve. Firstly, they have a function called ‘Smart Titles’ which allows you to name your files directly from the page by writing a filename between double hashtags ie ## this is my scrawl 24/8/20 ## and the file will pop up in your destinations with the filename “this is my scrawl 24/08/20” – this is insanely handy – there’s no protocol except your own and the hashtags, and it makes your files super easy to search. You can even send groups of pages as a single PDF. But the notebooks go even further. They actually offer full searchable OCR which the app can be set to send embedded in the PDF or image, or more usefully, as a companion separate .txt file. Now, my handwriting isn’t the neatest, but it’s not bad so I was prepared for some editing to be necessary, but impressively again, the OCR was about 90-95% accurate. In a page of text it missed maybe 3 or 4 words and even those not badly. This is all considering their full OCR is still only in beta! It gets confused with diagrams on the page, but that’s to be expected.

Text Generated by OCR: ## Blog post och test Aug 2020 ## This is a little demonstration of the OCR capabilities of the Rocket Book pads and app. I've told the lovely people that the hit rate is about 90-95% so please dant let me down here flip pad. Hopefully the file name will also prove another point further up in the section and not make me look like some charlatan or snake-oil salesman.Hope you enjoyed this demonstrahen, now go away and leave me to write the next great novella.Bye!

HOW MUCH? On average, I pay anywhere from £4-8 for a decent A4 notebook/journal, so at £30-37 (dependent on model), the RocketBook pads are not a whim purchase. That said, I get through a lot of journals in a year, and given that I would expect to easily get 2-3 years out of a RocketBook pad, then I’ve saved money. Will it replace all my notebooks? No. You need to be thinking of carrying this round as a kit: pad, Frixion pen (at least 2), and cloth.  RB do a series of portfolio sleeves for the pads but it does push the price up a bit still, but for a rep, engineer or salesperson, this still makes sense. They’re less bulky than a normal A4 pad too. What I would say is Tesco and Sainsbury’s currently stock Frixion pens and at much better prices than buying them from RB directly, I just paid £3 for 3 pens on offer at Tesco compared to £10 from RB. You get one pen with the pad, but you’re going to want more soon, so stock up next time you’re shopping for truffle oil crisps. If you use whiteboards a lot, RB also have you covered. Instead of the pad, £16 will get you a 4 pack of ‘beacons’ – little self-adhesive triangles that effectively do the same thing as the QR code in the pad. You don’t have the icon options obviously, but if you’re looking to distribute quick meeting or group notes, this would be a boon. CONCLUSION Considering this was a fairly speculative purchase on my part, my early experiences with the RocketBook Flip have been really impressive. The flexibility, the ability to store every page in a different location if you really wanted to make it fantastic for organising my notes, which can save me hours of finding the right ^^$&^$&$ notebook in the first place, then scouring that for the one paragraph I was looking for etc etc. The searchable text facility, in-app history for re-sending etc and last but no way least, functional handwriting OCR, makes the RocketBook not only novel, but actually useable! Would I buy another? As a second notebook – yes. I look forward to seeing what the actual longevity of the product is once I come off furlough and start cramming my day bag with all my junk and a notepad again, but yes, I’d probably just have one at home, and one for work, but make the last 5 mins of each day, scanning and sending work notes so I have them with me wherever. Impressively, the RocketBook Flip just works and it works well. ‘Er Across The Table has already sold several folk at her work on the idea and she doesn’t even have one herself yet! I love it. It’s taking a little adjusting to, but it’s all good. The most important thing though is the writing experience, and I have to say, the combination of the Frixion pen/ink and the polymer technology of the Flip, again, just works. It’s smooth, doesn’t skip or smudge for me (I know some right to left users and left handers have reported some issues) and feels great to write on. If anything I have to slow down a bit as the contact is so smooth that your writing can get a bit ahead of you! RocketBook have produced a cracker of a product. It might not seem like much, but if practical working journals are your thing (ie not create and keep things) then I can highly recommend the RocketBook series.

[abkdkzine]

A Guide to Making Portfolios

Contributor applications are open, but I noticed that there’s a few people who may be confused or don’t know what certain parts of our guidelines mean. So, here’s a simple guide showing how to make a neat portfolio that obeys our instructions and requirements!

(I kind of refrained from making a bunch of lighthearted jokes or comments though, so I might’ve missed my chance on showing just how dorky I can get, haha!)

I’ll be covering both art portfolios and writing portfolios in this guide, but I also hope this helps out anyone who might need this sort of information in the future because this information doesn’t apply to just our zine! With that said, I’ll start with the very basics: getting to know cloud storage and sharing services, or in this case, Google!

Technically speaking, portfolios are basically any and all of the platforms you post your content into (like Tumblr, Instagram, DeviantArt, etc.). But, when you’re applying for something that requires you to show your works in a professional manner (such as in fanzines or IRL jobs), knowing how to organise your works can help you out in the long run!

Google is such a versatile platform which allows everyone to have access to all (if not almost all) of their organisational and work-related products! As such, if you have a Gmail account, you should also have this wonderful privilege. One of their products, Google Drive, lets you store your files and organise them any way you want them! There’s a little box icon on the top right of the browser which will reveal all of the products you can use too, so if you don’t know what they are, it’s a good idea to explore a bit on your own time. 

Through Google Drive, you’ll be creating a folder which will serve as the place your files will be uploaded into. Keep in mind though that Google is not the only platform that offers cloud services! Dropbox is an example of another popular platform among others.

In this example, I’ll be referring to our zine’s contributor applications. Make a new folder in your Google Drive by clicking on that big ol’ “New” button, and use that button again to upload 3-8 of your works for our zine’s applications. Or, drag and drop files. It’s surprisingly fun to do and watch!

Be sure that your folder’s privacy settings is open! Just activate the folder’s shareable link (as in anyone with the link can have access to it), and it’ll let us look at all of your examples without trouble!

But, why do you want us to do this, you might ask?

Like I mentioned earlier, knowing how to organise your things helps you out in the long run! But in our case, if an applicant chooses to send us a form with a portfolio that doesn’t quite follow our requirements (such as putting an entire gallery or website with all their works)... 

Well, it’s going to be an inconvenience to the moderators because there are going to be a lot of applications to go through within a limited time frame. We simply won’t have the time to look for your best works in a portfolio showcasing all of your pieces. We set a maximum limit of 8 examples for portfolios for that reason!

Any added works will not be considered in the examples, and any applications with galleries or websites sent to us as their portfolios will have a VERY low chance of being considered at all.

Instead, make that neat little folder shown previously and individually add the files you want to share! It won’t take up a lot of your time, I promise. That way, you can make sure you’ve chosen your most quality works, and we can review your application in a timely manner! This method is the most preferred way for us to receive portfolios.

Writers, if you are unfamiliar with Google Drive, this process can apply to you as well. Make a new folder, label it appropriately, and upload your files! Word documents can be transferred instantly, so fear not for your formatting – you’re in good hands. However, if you are concerned about it, I suggest that you take a look at Google Docs. You can copy and paste your works there instead, either all three written examples in one document or three separate documents in the folder. 

Realistically, not following the rules sets a bad impression on the people reviewing your portfolio. We want to see your best work, and we want you to feel confident in your examples! If you show us that you can’t follow simple and easy tasks such as organising your works, then we’ll get the impression that you’ll do the same elsewhere. Regard this as though you are preparing for an actual job interview because this helps with your reputation as well.

So, what can I do to ensure my chances to be considered?

This is a section that is more for art than it is for writings; but here’s a general consensus for what kind of submissions or examples are expected and what is not expected!

A bad portfolio consists of little variety among the shown examples. If your examples are mostly made of your subjects in several different angles, that’s alright, but if there’s a lack of principles of art (such as rhythm, movement, proportion, variety, etc.) then the portfolio wouldn’t really be very interesting to the judges. Sketches, while some look nice, aren’t good examples because zines require complete pieces!

For written stories, the worst possible examples out of so much more that you can present in a portfolio are: bad understanding of characterisation (out-of-character factor), mediocre understanding of grammar (or unedited versions), and uninteresting.

A good portfolio shows a clear understanding of the elements and principles of art. There’s variety among the pieces which shows creativity and thought. Properties like different colour schemes, addition of environments, angles, and etc. are things that make portfolios interesting to look at.

For writing, having a good grasp of grammar, understanding of characters, and personal style are good indicators that your writing is well done and given some thought! In other words, it allows the readers to feel engaged with, which in turn makes it more interesting.

But, most of all:

Your pieces have to be related to the zine’s theme! It’s different for every zine, of course, but generally, application reviewers look to see if the applicant is genuine about liking the concept(s) behind their projects, and that the applicant can portray or illustrate the subjects of the zine well with the skills presented among the examples.

Wanderlust revolves exclusively around BakuDeku, and so, seeing examples with both of them featured in your works will guarantee you, one-hundred percent, a spot for consideration.

Sounds good to me! But, can you clarify what to avoid?

As previously suggested, guidelines are made to make sure the reviewing process goes as smoothly as possible for the moderators or judges. I’ll be using our own guidelines for this example as well!

Since many zines like to request for a number of linked examples in their forms for their portfolios, we understand that it might be a force of habit or something that some people may consider easy to do. But, I’ll say this once again: we require prospective contributors to create their portfolios through a shared folder (lots of cloud services exist!) because it saves us, the moderators, a lot of time from copying and pasting every single link!

When you show us your social media links, don’t do it like this:

Tumblr: @ariririsu

Twitter: @ariririsu 

Give us the actual links to your platforms! This also saves us a lot of time instead of typing it down. We would be ever so grateful and happy if you do this.

Keep your examples up to date!��We don’t want to see what you could do back then. We want to see what you can offer us now. It’s like selling a bunch of pastries at a bake sale, but you’re selling us pastries made two years ago. Your most recent works gives us the most accurate and best representation of your skills.

Once again, incomplete sketches or written drafts are no-no’s. If you want to know what I’m talking about when I mentioned the principles and elements of art, here’s a neat little roster that breaks down what makes compositions in artworks more three-dimensional and interesting.

Going over the specified number of examples will not affect your chances of being accepted in the zine. So, if you add two or three more works in your portfolio, rest assured that we will not even look at them. For the same reason I mentioned beforehand: there is going to be a lot of applicants, and we want to get the reviewing process done as soon as possible to maintain our schedule. Less mess, less stress.

Some Pieces of Advice:

Have some confidence in your works! If you feel super shy and you’re still building up that confidence, the judges would be more than happy to supply you with feedback if you ask for it. Their feedback will not be destructive, but it will be meant to help you improve your skills. Take whatever advice they give you and at least put them into consideration too!

Zines and other huge projects like these take a lot of your time. One thing that I’ve seen people commonly do is that they miscalculate the amount of time and commitment they can put into these projects, and they often have to leave them. Doing so will negatively affect your reputation. So, when you’re not sure if you can dedicate a lot of time to the zine, we highly suggest that you don’t apply to keep the game fair to others who want to be in the zine as well.

Communication is VERY important in these projects. Never ever disappear on the projects without saying something because it’s going to cause the moderators to have to find ways to contact you and be very worried if something happened to cause the sudden disappearance. Like the previous point, doing so will negatively affect your reputation.

Just so you know, you’ve got time to make your portfolios if you don’t have enough examples! You can literally apply at the last minute and it would still count!

Again, be sure that your Google Drive folder’s settings are shared to those who has the link!

And with that, I hope I was able to make a nice guide which emphasises certain rules in our own zine guidelines as well as how to make a good portfolio! I’m not sure if there are other guides like these around, but I hope I got a bunch of general zine rules correct.

We look forward to seeing your applications! Our zine applications close on January 12, and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!

[fics-for-my-heart]

Convention handling (p.1)

Summary: working a convention is always a bit stressful, but what happens when you’re asked to be your celebrity crushes handler

Words: roughly 2,673

Warning: some swearing, a bit of a slow burner

A/N: This got outta hand FAST. I’ll upload it in two parts so that my app doesn’t thrown a tantrum. I did some editing after putting it on here so the work count isn’t exact. My apologies.

Masterlist

Part One  Part Two.1  Part Two.2  Part Three

“Alright guys, any more questions?” Dad asked, looking around at the faces. “Set up starts tomorrow at eight in the morning. Please try and be on time.” The murmurs of “yess” filled the room. “Also, my phone will be on 24/7 starting tonight till the end of the event. If anyone needs anything call.” He lifted his arms. “See you guys bright and early.”

Convention season is always busy with getting talent, and setting up sellers for booths. But two days before and after are always the busiest. Some talent like to show up a day early and do some sight seeing, others only show up an hour before they are set to be out. With the crowds from previous conventions growing steadily, your family’s company that puts the event together extend it from three to five days. This meant more talent, and much more planning.

“Y/N!” Your dad called before you reached the door. “Can we go over the weeks plans just one more time, I want to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Sure.” You sat back in your seat and pulled out the floor map and flowchart of times and locations.

It’s going to be a long night.

—

Eight came early, and in the blink of an eye it was the last day of set up. Some of the talent had started to arrive, and as they did, their handlers left the set up to assist them.

You had just finished setting up the line barrier for a voice actor when you heard your name.

“Y/N!” There was a frantic edge to it.

“What’s wrong?” You turned to find your dad, eyes wide with worry.

“Aiden called, his kid is sick and he won’t be able to work this year. He was suppose to be a handler and he called last minute and I need someone to cover for him.”

“I might be able to pull some strings?” You pull your phone out to start making called.

He shakes his head. “It’s too late. He called legit last minute. The actor he was suppose to assist is already here. I’m going to need you to please be his handler.”

Your jaw dropped. Last time you were a handler the guy was a complete ass. Felt like rules didn’t apply to him, not to mention he liked to drink too much. “I..I don’t know. You remember last time.”

“I do.” He bowed his head slightly. “But this time is different. He is a younger actor. Your age actually. And he is one of the bigger ones we were able to snag for the entire week. I’ll give you a bonus. And the moment you feel uncomfortable I’ll take over.” His eyes were sincere, and you knew he was serious.

“Alright. Alright. But I’m holding you too that bonus.” You pointed a finger at him and laughed. “What room is he in?”

“You are a blessing. Thank you so much. He is in room 504.” He handed you the folder and jogged off to take your place on the set up crew.

The venue that was used for the convention is conveniently connected to a hotel. So an entire floor gets closed off just for the actors and actresses that attend. You made your way up to the fifth floor, silently hoping that whoever you are stuck with this week doesn’t go crazy.

When you got to the floor, it was crowded with security and people moving into their rooms. Along the way you stopped to answer questions and say hello to a few familiar faces so it took almost ten minutes to get to the door.

You knocked, but no one responded. Knock. No response. Finally opening the folder to fetch the room key you froze when you saw the name at the top of the schedule. Tom Holland: Spider-Man, Avengers Infinity War, Chaos Walking.

“No way.” You whispered under your breath. Before you could question it any more, the door opened. Your eyes slowly travels up to the persons face. Socks. Sweats. Hoodie. Tom fricken Holland. Hair still dripping from a shower. Your voice was stuck in your throat. Dad totally planned this.

“Alright there?” His voice was like angels singing.

You clear your throat, shaking your head hoping to clear it like an etch-a-Sketch. “Sorry, sorry.” You extended a hand. “I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’m going to be your guide this week.”

Tom took your hand softly in his. “Nice to meet you.” Then his brow furrowed in confusion. “I thought someone named Aiden was to be my handler?”

“His daughter is sick so he had to cancel this week.” You shift awkwardly. “My father can arrange someone else if you’d like.”

“No. No. No. It’s alright! Please come in.” He stood to the side, allowing you entry to the rather large hotel room. The comfort of the actors attending was always the most important thing to you guys. Tom closed the door, making his way to the couch. “So are there any other changes? I like to try and be a little prepared.” He smiled softly. “At least when it comes to doing cons like this. Things can be so hectic that it’s easier to have a play by play.” He was rambling, eyes darting between yours as you made your way to the couch.

“Um, I don’t believe so. I haven’t had a chance to look over your folder specifically. Do you have yours? I can compare them to make sure.” You took a seat beside him, opening the folder on the table.

He reached in his bag, pulling out a similar folder and made his way to the couch beside you. “I do. There’s a few things I highlighted to make sure I remember them.”

You took found the schedule sheet and held it beside yours. Scanning back and forth between the two. Tom watched as your lips moved slightly and your head nodded as you read.

“Everything seems to still be the same.” You smile, pushing your glasses up. “We still have the rest of the day before the convention. Do you have any questions?”

Tom brows went together as he thought. “Hm.” He sat his back against the couch. “Your number maybe?” Then quickly added. “I had Aidens for emergencies I figured since you are my current handler I’d uh be better off with yours.” He stumbles a little over his words. Causing you to laught a little.

“Of course.” You stick your hand out for his phone, keying your number in and texting yourself so you could have his. This is wild.

“Also. Where’s the best place for a burger around here?” He patted his stomach. “I haven’t eaten since take off and the flight was so long.”

“There’s a diner down the road. Best burgers and shakes in town. Would you like me to join you? Or I can have on of our security members tag along.”

He jumped up. “You can go. Let me dry my hair a little and I’ll be ready.” With a soft smile he turned on his toes back to the bathroom.

A few hours later, the two of you sat across from each other, talking about random things and getting to know one another.

“Shit. That really was one of the best burgers I’ve had.” He dropped his napkin on the empty plate and patted his stomach.

You smiled, starting to pre bus the table. “Told you. Best burgers in town.” You glanced at your watch. “Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“Not really.” He stretched. “I’m rather stuffed and sleepy.”

You nod. “I’ll take you back to your room and you can get some rest. Tomorrow you don’t have to be out till around twelve so I’ll be by a little after eleven?”

He grabbed the bill, against your protest, and nodded. “Sounds good.”

-

“Tom!” You hit the door again with your palm. “Boy swear. I’m coming in.” You warn before pulling the key card out. It was 11:15 and he hadn’t answered. You swiped the key card and opened with the beep. “Tom?” You whisper. The room was quiet as you tiptoe in.

Toms sleeping figure was laying peaceful in the bed. One leg out of the covers and his arm draped over a pillow. His face was pressed against the pillow under his head.

You slowly put your hand on his. “Tom. It’s Y/N. It’s time to get up.”

With a gentle shake his face scrunches and one eye opens. “This is a lovely wake up call.” His voice is muffled with his face still firmly on the pillow.

You blush a bit. “Well good. Now get up or we’ll be late.” You poke his hand again before turning to the couch to give him some privacy.

A few minutes later Tom cleared his throat. “Ready?”

“Yup.”

You knew Tom was amazing. With all the videos and post about him going around it wasn’t a secret. But seeing him with everyone really brought the man behind the screen to light. He hugged and shook everyone’s hands. Got down at eye level with the kids and even let them “beat him up”. Your heart swooned with ever bright smile that walked away from his booth.

When it came time for his lunch, the line was still long.

“I’m not really hungry, do I have to leave right now?” He asked, eyes soft with the worry of having to leave these people standing here while he left.

You shook your head. “I’ll have someone bring you something.”

The light behind his eyes returned as he smiled brightly at you. “Thanks, love.”

In all your time working the conventions, the days never went this fast. It felt like you blinked and it was time to close off the line and then the last of today’s guest tricked out.

“I swear, doing this gets better with every smile.” Tom sighed, leaning back in his chair to stretch. “I love this part of my job.”

“It was something. You are amazing with the kids.” The two of you had started waking the back way to the hotel.

“I think it’s because I remember feeling that excitement. Knowing that someone I look up to shook my hand and was real. Knowing I’m that person for the kids. Warms my heart.” He was practically bouncing beside you, and placed both hands over his heart.

You gave him a soft smile. “Would you like me to order you something for dinner? There are some take out menus in your folder.”

He shrugged, reaching in his back pocket for his key as you approached his door. “Sure. Will you stay?” He slid the key through the reader, looking over at you as he opened the door, then rushed to add. “Tomorrow is kinda busier and I wanna map everything out.” A slight blush has made its way to his face.

“Sure.”

He smiled. “Awesome. You can pick the food, you know this place better than I do.”

-

“You will get an hour break between your panel and when the line for your booth will open back up. You can hang out, eat, freshen up or go back down to your booth.” You glance at him over your glasses. The two of you agreed on Chinese, which was currently sitting almost empty on the table. “Are you paying attention?”

“Hm?” He looked up from his distraction, a fortune cookie. “Yeah. Sorry. Hour break to do whatever. This fortune is odd.” He shrugged, putting it safely in his wallet.

“Are you going to let me read it?” Your eyebrow is raised as he slowly looks at you. A soft pink tint to his cheeks.

“Nope.” He swiftly picks up the folder from between you. “So just to be clear. Tomorrow I’ll be at my booth for an hour and a half. Then I have a panel for another hour and a half. A break. Then back to my booth?” You nod, taking another bite of your food. “Then the next day, no booth, just photos?”

“Yeah, we realized it’s easier to set an entire day aside for people to get the professional photos taken. It’s less stressful and people get a little more time to go through. It was actually an idea I threw out there after talking with some people. They didn’t like how it was so rushed so they could get everyone in.”

“That’s such a smart idea. The pictures are always fun. Everyone asking for different poses. Oh this will be a blast.”

“Thanks.” You shyly say, glancing at the time. “Holy shit. It’s almost twelve.” You close the folder and pack up your leftovers. “I should go. It’ll be another early day tomorrow.”

Tom walks you to the door. “Well, I look forward to my wake up call.” He give you a hug hiding his warm cheeks, warning a yip from you. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

-

The next morning, you had to wake Tom again, warning more grunting and a “shouldn’t have stayed up so late” groan. The day quickly went to shit. The panel before Toms took longer so he stayed at his table for almost another hour which was fine. But everything was pushed back and they moved his panel room. Just lots of running around and by the time you walked him back to his room he was out before his head hit the pillow.

The morning of the photos you told him you would be by a bit earlier so he could get ready. Of course, you had to let yourself in a wake him up. To be honest, it was becoming one of you favorite parts of the day. Seeing him with a soft face and bed head. Sometimes snoring a little. All it did was make your crush stronger, but you weren’t complaining.

“Tom. It’s time to get ready.” He rubbed his face deeper into the pillow, but did wake. “Tom.” You spoke a little louder, poking his hand. Still nothing. “Ugh. Thomas.” Your fingers found their way to his messy brown locks, gently scratching at his head. This time he pushed his head toward your hands. “Wake up sleepy head.”

“No.” He whispered, leaning even more toward your hand, which you swiftly removed. “Nooooo. Come back.” He made grabby hands in your direction.

Your face was so warm. He is just half awake. It was nothing.

“It’s photo op day, you gotta look presentable.” You voice was soft as you watched him open one eye.

He frowned. “It’s so early, but fiiiine.” He slowly rolled over and stretched, showing that he was shirtless under the blankets. You quickly jump around, eyes wide. “Oops.” He chuckled, realizing he wasn’t wearing a shirt. “Give me like ten minutes and I’ll be ready.”

Sure enough, ten minutes later he came walking out of the bathroom. Hair styled and fully clothed. “Alright let’s get this show on the road! But first I need some coffee.”

-

Once again, you were mesmerized by the amount of care Tom put into every interaction with fans. He let them choose the pose, asked them how they were and if they were having fun, always gave hugs. It was so easy to get lost in the way he was that he caught staring a few times, but you caught him staring at you just as much.

About halfway through Tom was able to take a lunch break, which consisted of the two of you throwing chips at each other. The rest of the day moved faster, with an equal amount of stolen glances between you.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” Tom asked while he helped the photographer pack.

You look up from your phone. “Sure. Pick the place and I’ll order it.”

“No. No. I mean like let’s go out and eat.” His ears had turned pink.

You fake shock, wanting to see the pink rise more. “Are you asking me on a date, Holland?”

Just as you hopped, the blush grew more. “Maybe? Is that a yes?”

“Of course I’ll go to dinner with you.”

A/N2: the second part will be up tomorrow.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 53)

Six weeks to the Festival, the team focused on the performance on the night itself.

“Song choice is by far the most important component,” Aqua had said on Sunday as they were driving through the crowded streets. “The moment the MC announces what number you’re going to do is the moment you can lose a good chunk of the audience immediately.

“With that in mind, what we shouldn’t have is one of the latest hits that people have been listening to on repeat for weeks, if not months; something too niche like an anime opening, however mainstream the show itself might be; or even one of the immortal classics, as that’s too safe, too predictable of a choice, and runs the risk of someone else singing it, too.”

“Is that last one really that much of a problem?” Ruby asked.

“Yes.” Aqua replied, before she shuddered. “I used to love ‘Remembrance’ from FELINES until I heard half-a-dozen little girls and two little boys completely, utterly fucking butcher it in a row; the second rendition was a funny coincidence, and by the fourth we just wanted it all to be over.

“The audience for the Tsukimi is going to be much less patient than that, especially considering this is the highest, most professional bracket.”

“So what do you suggest we pick for our production?” Diana asked.

“Aside from the opposite of everything I just mentioned?” Aqua replied. “Something that Weiss is already familiar with, and can ideally belt out perfectly on a dime; that you all can design a kickass choreography and set around; and above all, can produce, construct, and rehearse in as little time and cost as possible.

“My family’s willing to put in quite a lot into this, but we don’t want to go that far into debt.”

“Well, in that case then, I’ve got the perfect song idea in mind: Senbonzakura.” Weiss said. “Barring my grandpa having repurposed the machinery, or donating the props and costumes, they should still be back in Hoshiko, just waiting to be brought out of storage and reassembled.

“They probably even have the old dance notation and schematics in there, too!”

“Perfect!” Aqua said, before she frowned. “Oh, wait, but didn’t you totally bomb that performance?”

“I did, but that was mostly because I was distracted by you all night!” Weiss cried, blushing. “I’m far less hormonal and much more mature now, I swear!”

Aqua chuckled. “Alright, alright, I believe you! So, status update at the Bakunawa come Saturday morning?”

“Sounds good.” Weiss said, and by Monday morning, they worked on the performance whenever, wherever,  and however they could:

Doing research, brainstorming ideas, and designing elements on the way between classes, during meals, and in the back seat of the Bakunawa’s van, on their scrolls, in their notebooks, or on whatever they could write on at the moment;

Calling up friends and family, requesting all manner of support, be it Nick and Freya for materials from the still quarantined Schnee home, assistance from Ruby’s numerous mechanically inclined friends at the Bunker, or the numerous dealers and suppliers spread out all over Mistral;

And meticulously compiling, indexing, and occasionally translating all that information, put into a series of binders on all four of their desks, and a special folder synced to all of their scrolls.

“How do you guys even manage to keep up?!” Lotte asked as she helped sort through giant piles of papers, ripped out pages of notebooks, and the odd napkin from the dining hall or the Bakunawa, mostly in Akko and Ruby’s handwriting.

“My grandfather was a never-ending idea factory himself,” Weiss said as she worked on a different pile. “You don’t accomplish as much as he did if you never figured out how to organize your own brain, and teach other people how to do the same.”

“Supervising large projects on severe time constraints, limited resources, and a distinct lack of manpower is nothing new to me,” Diana said as she put those piles into the plastic sleeves of yet another binder. “You could say that was something of my specialty back in Atlas, with how many I ended up at the helm of, officially or otherwise.”

“Diana! Weiss!” Akko cried as she came scrambling to them. “Where was that thing about the giant human and summon mountain/pyramid at the end of the performance?!”

“Page 17,” Weiss said, handing her a binder labeled “Unorthodox And/Or Ill-Advised Ideas.”

“Thanks!” Akko said, before she returned to the far wall of their room, where Ruby and Constanze were busy modifying the sketches and blueprints mounted on it.

The page in question was scanned, uploaded, and even 3D printed for the benefit of the Bunker students they were video-conferencing with, before they exploded into discussion once again, animatedly chatting and typing.

“I hate to sound pessimistic, but are you sure you guys can pull this off?” Lotte asked as she watched them. “I didn’t realize it’d your plans would this adventurous.”

Weiss snorted. “Oh, believe me, Lotte, with Akko involved? It’s only a question of how impressed the audience will be on the night itself. All you have to worry about is your end of the plan.”

“How’s working in the Bakunawa’s kitchen, by the way?” Diana asked. “Seemed like a very lively and energetic place, even from the dining area.”

“Very well, and it really is!” Lotte replied, smiling. “The Urbinas are very open to ideas and recipes from Jasminka, they’ve been really generous with the herbs and spices they let me experiment with, and overall it’s been a pleasure to work with such talented, passionate people.

“If I really had one complaint, it’s that things can get kind of… scary.”

“How so?” Diana asked. “Is it the constant flames erupting from their woks?”

“Oh, no, that’s not a problem, I just get kind of nervous when ingredients explode, fly into the air, or get neatly sliced into hundreds of tiny pieces,” Lotte replied. “Sometimes, I take a step back and see if my glasses and my bangs are still in one piece, or they just haven’t had time to fall apart yet...”

Diana stopped and looked at Lotte blankly. “… Pardon…?”

“All three of the Urbina brothers are former huntsmen,” Weiss explained. “They like to use their old weapon techniques and semblances in the kitchen, though they keep two separate sets of cooking and combat equipment.”

“They keep the second on the kitchen walls as decoration.” Lotte added.

Diana nodded. “That sounds incredibly dangerous, and possibly illegal,” she said as she resumed filing and indexing.

“It can be, it’s not, and they’re all top-of-the-line professionals both in the culinary and the hunting worlds, I assure you,” Weiss said. “Heck, I even got some amazing techniques and pointers from them that I still use today.”

“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever want to start diversifying and expanding my technique, thank you,” Diana said, before they focused entirely on their work.

By Saturday morning, AWRD, BLJC, Whitley, and Aqua were at the Urbina’s apartment above the Bakunawa, having one last discussion and revision session, until they had a final draft just before lunch.

“Alright, this plan is about as perfect as it’s going to get!” Aqua said as she looked at the finished blueprint on the Urbina’s living room floor. “So, when are you guys going to start building the set? You going to need the van to move people and materials around? Because I’m sure Uncle Jun-Jun can switch the shifts around so we can help!”

“We’ve actually got a construction crew already hired, no need to worry!” Weiss said. “They’re a full package deal, thanks to some negotiation and Grandpa pulling some strings.”

Aqua chuckled. “Ole Nick pulls through with a miracle yet again! Think we can work in ditching their caterer and taking us on instead? My family’s cooking will probably be some great incentive to get the work done!”

Akko chuckled nervously. “Ahaha, yeah, I really don’t think we should do that...”

Aqua looked at her curiously, before her face fell, and she slowly turned to AWRD and Whitley with a hard look. “You didn’t.”

Weiss forced herself to look Aqua in the eyes, before she quietly said, “We did.”

“Aqua, please understand: we need professionals, who’ve been licensed and can be relied upon to do top-notch electrical work, carpentry, and mechanical rigging, especially in such time-and-resource-constrained circumstances as this.” Diana started.

“You know the Tsukimi’s super strict about their regulations!” Akko said. “We can’t just go submit anything for final inspection that we’re only really pretty sure won’t collapse and possibly injure a lot of people, or break the stage!”

“My friends from the Bunker wanted to help, but getting them over here and back to Wind Path without getting in the way of either their or our classes is too expensive and inconvenient.” Ruby continued. “Not to mention it’s exam week, and the professors promised midterms are when the training wheels come off...”

“And I assure you, they were our very last resort, and we tried every alternative avenue short of selling our souls to questionable powers, but all of them were fully-booked, too expensive, or lacking in the expertise and reputation we require.” Whitley finished.

Aqua closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath, then said, “Do you guys mind if I talk with Weiss in private for five minutes? We’ll just be in my room...”

There were no objections. Aqua started heading down the hall and to her room, the rest of the team and Whitley gave Weiss reassuring looks, before she quietly followed after her.

Aqua’s sister Topaz and her cousin Aubergine were already in the room when they arrived, but with one pointed look, they were down the bunk bed ladder, or grabbing the contents of their desk and hauling out the door in a hurry.

Aqua locked the door after them, before she turned back to Weiss. “What did they want for it?” she asked flatly.

“To become an official sponsor for our production, have the company and their contractors’ names mentioned during our opening spiel,” Weiss replied. “It was their one condition on account of how sudden and work-intensive this whole thing is.”

Aqua nodded once. “I see.”

“Look, Aqua, I didn’t want to make this decision either, but--” Weiss started.

Aqua held her hand up, Weiss stopped. “Did you know that we were supposed to get more from Bunyan than just my hospital and therapy bills paid, that fat stack of hush money so PR could start burying the events of that day into the ground?”

Weiss was quiet for a moment, before she said, “No, no I didn’t, actually...”

“Yeah, they were supposed to get me new legs, too,” Aqua continued. “Not the same mind-controlled, highly advanced robot limbs that your grandpa has, but one of those clunky exo-rigs they give to their lumberjacks, the ones who’ve seen accidents especially.

“Sure, it would have been unsexy as hell, save for certain niches, but I wanted to take it if it meant walking again. You know why I started learning how to get around in a wheelchair instead?”

“… No, why?”

“Because the rig would have had ‘Bunyan Logging Co.’ etched on it, big, bright letters, complete with the logo, right alongside the Creidhne Corporation’s. And between having to learn how to get around less two legs, or having a constant, painful reminder of how I lost said limbs in the first place, strap me into a wheelchair, thanks.”

Weiss sheepishly looked down.

Aqua sighed. “Look, Weiss: I understand why, and accept that we need Woody’s help. I don’t like it, but neither did I enjoy seeing ‘Bunyan Logging Co.’ on the checks we paid to the hospital and cashed in the bank.”

She narrowed her eyes as she pointed a finger at Weiss. “But there is no way I, nor anyone else here will ever have him, any members of his crew, or hell, even representatives from the company under this roof, eating our food, or even being within a block or three of our street if we can help it.

“Understand?”

“Yes.” Weiss replied. “I should mention that we actually already arranged for a neutral meeting ground.”

“It’s not Haven, is it?” Aqua asked. “No offense, but it takes a long ass while to get all the way up there from way down here, and I’ve still got my job at the shop.”

“It’s in the lower city too, and I’m sure you’ll find it’s an excellent choice,” Weiss said, before she told her where it was.

Aqua nodded. “Alright, yeah, that’ll work! Just tell me when to go, and I’ll…” she sighed “… try to show up there. How soon do I have to meet up with him?”

“About a week, week and a half,” Weiss replied. “For now they’ll just be rebuilding an old stage and making improvements to some real estate we got from the school, and the repair and retrofitting for the set pieces—it has been four years since they were last used, after all.

“We’ll probably start needing your input when it’s time to rehearse, and problems are bound to show up.”

Aqua nodded again. “Well, my connections are certainly going to be happy about all this new business coming their way… and Weiss? One more thing: try not to have that vicious guard dog of yours maul Woody’s ass again until at least the day after the Festival

“It’s gonna be really bad for our PR otherwise.”

Weiss sighed and looked at her sword hand. “I will, Aqua, I will...”

Five weeks to the Festival, early morningon a  Monday, AWRD made their way to the training grounds, Ruby and Akko on the bikes hauling a cart full of props and materials from the Schnee home, Weiss and Diana riding with the cargo, reading aloud and quizzing each other.

Soon enough, a train of vehicles started to roll past them, all painted and branded as Bunyan Logging Co. or one of their well-known partners. At the head of it was an all too familiar pick-up truck, hauling lumber instead of gang members in its bed.

The cars all came to a stop one-by-one, older professionals and Timber Wolves dressed in work uniforms than gang colours getting out, unloading equipment, taking in the area, or pulling out scrolls and clipboards.

Weiss tried to keep from scowling too hard as she watched Woody carefully step out from the passenger side of his truck, a brand new scar on the other side of his head, his hair now shaved into a Mohawk.

“Wow, your professor really wasn’t being exaggerating when she said they just gave you a patch of dirt out in the woods, did you?” he asked as the team rolled up beside him.

“Let’s just get onto business, Woody...” Weiss muttered. “You mentioned there was something you needed to personally discuss with us?”

“Yep: your blueprint and your plans are almost entirely unfeasible with the time and the budget you’ve given us.” Woody replied, pulling out his scroll and projecting his annotated version of the plans—red “ink,” alarmed notes, and entire sections and figures crossed out and overwritten abounded.

“I don’t know what in the hell my mom told Weiss’ grandpa, but I am sure as shit we’re not going to be able to do all of this.”

“Woody, my grandparents and mother managed to build the original set, concept to finished product, in a single month, all by themselves, up to and including setting it up during the Tsukimi Festival with time to spare.” Weiss said calmly. “Our modifications are just shaving off size or retrofititng to fit the new regulations, or even streamlining things with newer, better, easier technology.”

She said gestured out to the sizable crew around them. “Are you saying this army can’t do what three people could?”

“No, I’m saying that unlike your family, this crew has to abide by labour laws, union laws, and the laws of time and space,” Woody replied. “As much as I’m sure you’d love us to be working round the clock, 24/7, and performing some fucking miracles while we’re at it, we can’t.”

Weiss groaned. “So what can you do?”

“We’ll have your stage rebuilt and designed to the Tsukimi regulation rigging and wiring by the end of this week,” Woody said, scrolling down to a different section of his plans. “The rest of this crap is getting mounted on the trees on temporary test rigs, until you guys figure out how exactly we’re supposed to cram all that in the same space outside of theoretical plans, let alone set it up and tear it down fast enough to avoid disqualification during the Festival.

“We’re blue collar, not blue fairies.”

“Fair enough.” Weiss replied. “Is there anything else?”

“That was it.” Woody said. “You guys just leave your crap, and you can go.”

“With pleasure...” Weiss grumbled.

Soon enough, all the crates were unloaded, AWRD was heading back to the school, and the crews were all assembled before their supervisors. From the cart, Diana and Weiss watched a wave of unease, surprise, and resignation quickly spread through them as soon as the plans and the work they needed to be doing.

“I have to say, it’s getting extremely hard not to tempt fate right now...” Diana said quietly.

“Please try your damndest not to, Diana,” Weiss whispered back. “We’ve got our own big problem to deal with...” she said, looking at their notes, their books, and the details of their exams coverages.

Diana nodded, before they resumed studying for prelims.

[skyscribbles]

Plans for 2018

I say ‘plans’ cause lord knows what’s gonna happen but!! Better to plan and try than give up just because I’m not sure. Anyway it may be long so I’m gonna ramble it below the cut

First major plan:

Work on a set schedule

I feel like I can get a little bit lost because I don’t have STRUCTURE anymore. Working in a classroom or general work environment did me so many wonders, cause my brain could snap into a work-mode. Unfortunately I don’t really have access to that kind of thing anymore, so I have to set it myself. 

The basic plan is:

Monday: Sketches Wednesday: Linework Friday: Color/Finish

This can apply to commissions or personal works! If I have multiple commissions, I can send off multiple sketch stages on Monday, try to get lineart done on Wednesday, finish ‘em by Friday, etc! Tuesdays and Thursdays would be sort of free-drawing days where I can doodle or have fun.

That’d be one drawing a week at the least which is!! Ideal!

Saturdays and Sundays might be study dedicated? So I can kind of keep myself on the ball, while still getting work done. Of course I’ll have to factor in IRL stuff and anything that gets in the way, but if I can get at least something done each of these days, it’ll be good enough. 

100 Theme Challenge

I opened a folder on DeviantART for a 100 theme challenge! I’m gonna try to make complete pieces for it. I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish all 100, but I’m gonna try! If I can manage one piece every week, I can get it done in less than 2 years... /dies

Which should be a good show of my progress. Of course I’ve taken on many challenges before and have fallen short, but ATTEMPTING challenges is better than not, cause even if I do fall out of it, I still have work done that I wouldnt have done before! So there isn’t much to lose, and some to gain!

Get Some Kind of Project Going

Patreon sadly is probably not going to happen in the near future until i can get some personal stuff settled, but I did consider maybe trying to open a Redbubble store! I have to research proper printing colors/formats and the like so my products wont be cheaply put together, but that’s a possibility!  I may also do something with my Ko-Fi! Probably simple commissions if people donate or something! I’ll worry about that later.

I’d do a comic but honestly I am not any sort of comic artist. I haven’t shown much interest and passion for it, and I know it’s something you absolutely NEEEEEED to be passionate about to even hope to finish. It doesn’t mean I wont ever try a short comic or two that’ll be like, 2-3 pages! But a long running series is not in my future.

Stream....Eventually

This one’s part tech issues and part anxiety issues. 

I kind of hate being WATCHED when I draw cause it makes me stiffen up really bad and then I can’t quite draw as easily, and then THAT makes me worry all my stuff is turning out bad in front of everyone and that I’m a sham of an artist, blablabla etc, and I know it’s something I’ll HAVE to get past eventually. But I’m gonna take baby steps on this one. Maybe I’ll try to upload Youtube videos or something of me drawing once I can learn some basic video editing!

And Finally, Try To Get Over Myself

I KNOW THIS SOUNDS MEAN LMAO but hear me out:

I have, a lot of issues with anxiety still. Even sharing works can make me nervous and tense cause I get hard on myself if I worked SUPER hard on something and just comes out...subpar. I have to work on getting over these fears, and learning to not get so personal with every drawing. It’s mostly on me and a mental thing I have to work out, but I want to become courageous and post more, even if it ends up garbage! At least people can see that I’m not always at the top of my game, and it’s fine to have drawings that just aren’t as good.

No artist is always at 100%. I don’t expect that from others and I shouldn’t expect that from myself. Not to say I wanna be LAZY but, just learn to forgive myself if I screw up a drawing... 8′D;

ANYWAY THATS THE RAMBLE, here’s hoping I can stick to at least most of this!! And see y’all in 2018!!

[cosmosogler]

hi guys.

last night i had nightmares. i had to fly in a plane back and forth across the country like five times. on the final flight we crashed in the snowy wilderness. a notable chunk of the dream was just me sitting in the woods with a bunch of valley girls getting wet and cold.

when i woke up it was still hot and i just... couldn’t get back to sleep? i didn’t even want to. i just sat in bed for 25 more minutes doing nothing.

OH. last night i took the allergy medication. the one that helps you sleep. except while i was dozing i suddenly started having... FLASHBACKS!!! so then i was panicking but i couldn’t get up or wake myself up enough to do anything about it and i was just fighting this drowsiness and flailing and man it was kind of awful. it took me forever to even fall asleep and it was kind of because it snuck up on me. i don’t even remember closing my eyes.

anyway i got up and flopped into some normal people clothing and sat around waiting for the fluoride treatment to finish again and then i biked to campus and it was muggy and hot (but not as hot as my apartment). i got settled into my office, did ACTUAL HOMEWORK (!!!!!!!!!!) for a while, and then went to the ta training. then i biked over to the drc, where i learned that my appointment had been with the psychiatrist and i wrote down the wrong place. i had to reschedule that, and then while i was at the drc i took the opportunity to set up an appointment with the girl who had contacted me last week. when i got back to my office they had set up an appointment with the wrong staff member so i’ll have to call them tomorrow.

i hung out in the office until 5-ish and then i biked home in the rain. it cleared up as i pedaled up the hill so that was nice. i made a smoothie for dinner and had some snacks throughout the evening... and i drew for two and a half hours! i finished less than a page. but i finished two panels of horrible, horrible bookshelf.

it takes forever. it’s not hard but there’s so many lines.

but LOOK AT THIS NERD:

it’s like drawing a completely different character. i think this is the most engaged he gets in the entire story. 

other than when he actually gets engaged, i guess.

he’s helping timpani wash her dishes. i’m having trouble with the plates is all. it looks better since finishing the panel. you’ll probably see it tomorrow.

i’m so happy i only have to draw the bookshelf two more times though. at least until we end up in the library again in two scenes. 

anyway, maybe earlier i had more to say but now i’m just... so tired. i’m really struggling to focus and remember stuff. i don’t want to move. 

something good today is that i did half my em assignment, which isn’t due until next wednesday. i feel like i’m on top of things for once. i even did a tiny little bit of reading for stat mech. easing into the school work. i also got a lot better real fast at my note taking program, which i am also using to do homework. suzanne told me how to print out my work to turn in when it’s due. and with the pen my notes are gonna be a lot less huge so that’ll be good too.

socially i’m having Problems. as usual. keegan walked over to look at my computer when he noticed i was clicking around at my desk and i closed out of my folder before he could see it haha. and ammar actually got a look at my new notebook, which i am using to do practice sketches and references. he made an excited noise and i slammed my hand over it and said “nuh uh” and he seemed disappointed. “maybe later,” i said. 

should have expected that. if i draw on campus people are just gonna notice i’m drawing. but i spend so much time on campus it’s kind of obnoxious to only draw at home. i guess i’ll have to prepare myself. maybe i can talk to my therapist about it next time i see her in one million years. or i guess i’ll just have to work through it here.

it’s really the value judgments. i’ve talked to harrison about it... i don’t mind criticism. it’s a normal part of getting feedback and it helps you make your style work. it’s the comments like “this is weird and you are weird for thinking about it” and “it’s just too strange for me” and “what is this some kind of pokemon” that get to me. “this is bad and you are bad” comments. you’re a nerd so your opinion doesn’t matter and your art doesn’t matter. you’re a dork so you’re not a worthwhile human being. no one wants to hear your opinions because you had this weird idea and shared it, how embarrassing. you’re weird so no one wants to talk to you.

and then they make fun of you when they think you can’t hear them. they don’t know you’re sitting directly outside the window watching the moon rise. or even when they know you can hear them because you are literally three feet away! that one was a good time.

and... i know not everyone is like that. it can’t be that everyone is like that. but enough people are like that, and enough people who know me very well and are close to me and know exactly what i’m self conscious about are like that. i can’t do that again. i can’t do it again. i can’t find that out about my new friends/coworkers, that they are willing to say things like that about me to me. 

one of the comments i got in group therapy was “it sounds like people haven’t always treated you the way you deserve” and that stuck with me. “but you are strong” is the second half of that sentence. 

i don’t know how i deserve to be treated. i feel like i don’t deserve anything. but i protect myself anyway, i guess, because i expect to be treated the way i deserve. which is horribly. i’m afraid of being treated the same way my whole life. and if people don’t know what i like they can’t deliberately attack the things i like, and the things i like about myself, and the things i spend time thinking about. they can only do it on accident which is completely different and mostly forgivable.

i’m just so tired. i’m tired of being treated like garbage by so many people. people i barely know, total strangers, people i’ve spoken to about serious topics, people i like, people i admire, people i love, people in charge of me, people i have to be around because that’s where i’m at. 

and yeah. i know i’ve been treated nicely by people in those same categories. but it’s so few. it’s never enough. i feel selfish. “please be nice to me” but everyone has to be nice at all times. it makes me feel... bratty and childish. expecting people i love and am emotionally close to to be nice to me. like of course that’s not guaranteed. i’m not naive. i’m not “pure.” i’m not “too good to interact with normal people.” high and mighty. arrogant. full of myself. egotistical.

of course people aren’t gonna like me. i’m not likable. i’m overwhelming. of course people attack me. i talk big and that annoys them and then they realize i am tiny and weak and they can take me down a peg and i won’t be able to bite back. 

it’s even easier to take me down a peg when they figure out what i like and can attach my worth to that. my classmates might not think anything of it now, but it’s easy to take the step over to “sammie’s priorities are totally whack, she draws instead of practicing physics, which she is very bad at” or “hey remember that thing i was cool with before? I’M NOT COOL WITH IT ANY MORE!!!”

and if they do that i can’t bite back. i don’t think that way. i’m not... cunning enough for that. genuine insults are so difficult.

today i wore my “cool dude” shirt and one of the upper classmen pointed it out. he’s the one whose pants are always falling down. like i have never seen the guy with his fly up. it intimidates me. but i said the shirt makes me feel better about myself. a little later while i was talking to keegan and harrison about, like, life standards, i said “OH NO THIS IS MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS!!!” and then i hated myself. two references to the same thing is Too Many. especially when i saw the guy look over at me. i wanted to skitter under a rock like the horrible goblin i am.

but yeah. opening up continues to be difficult. even when i fail to be subtle about it because i’m stupid and can’t stick to “never bring this up” when i make a decision to never bring it up. it’s like, part of me wants to talk about it, part of me wants to share. but so much of me is violently opposed to the idea. but then i thwart myself by drawing in a place where other people can easily just walk in and see.

thwarting myself. i’m always doin that.

this is why it’s hard to figure out who i am and what i want!!! god jesus!!!!!!!

the worst part is that it’s not even one incident that brought this on. i wish it had been. it would be easier to deal with. it’s just. it’s been so many people for so many long years. half the time with these comics i have to take a deep breath and bite my lip and just upload the dang things. and this is on the internet!!! virtually no one personally knows me!!!!

ok. good talk. now it’s 11 so i filled out an hour. (my timer is 45 minutes but that’s ok.) i have about five closing thoughts but i’m not sure i want to actually say any of them. might keep it to myself and forget about it later. 

even with harrison i feel like i am giving out too much of myself. i keep trying to curb it back but i am doomed to make the same social mistakes over and over and over forever i guess. overwhelming. i tell him about my drawing process and then i feel sick. i mention a life anecdote and i wish i could fall through the floor. i’m desperate to talk about anything but physics so he and my other friends won’t catch on to how stupid i am. i’m really scared of someone starting to like me as more than a friend. it keeps me awake at night. i don’t like that story. i’ve heard it too many times.

all the problems. at some point i’ll just have to take a deep breath and cannonball into the icy cold deep end of “allowing people to discover things that are personal to me” and hope for the best. just like last time. and the time before that. and the time before that. and even the time before that.

[monalisaliveshere]

“The most sophisticated people I know – inside they are all children.” – Jim Henson

The photo above is of me and a whole bunch of cardboard on October 8, 2019 as I waited to introduce our Cardboard Creature project to an incoming class. It was all down hill from there!

Here’s how we did it:

I introduced this unit by showing Caine’s Arcade, a film by Nirvan Mullick. I’ve been showing this video to students for years, but this is the first time we’ve followed it up by working with cardboard. And I’m so glad we did!

Students started by responding to a bell ringer prompt in their sketchbooks: Design a figure you could make 3D. This prompt is purposely vague and open-ended, allowing for creativity and active imagination. It also initiates first consideration of thinking in 3D. This was a great opportunity to differentiate between creative drawing and scientific diagrams, although they both require creative thinking. These are a couple of the responses:

After sharing designs with the students at their table, groups were formed by students based on friendship, like-mindedness, and similarity of creature design. I encouraged groups of three, and when necessary due to class size, groups of two or four were formed. During their first group meeting, students compared designs and discussed possibilities for a design that either combined individual drawings or elaborated on one of the drawings.

Together we also looked at the cardboard artwork of artist Justin King:

Cardboard Animals By Justin King

And after a couple of classes as an inspiration boost, we also looked at the work of Monami Ohno:

Cardboard Sculptures By Monami Ohno

I also shared these three attachment attachments with the students through Google Classroom. We went over the various ways to construct 3D forms with cardboard so it becomes a mechanical endeavor, well thought out and conceived for prime support and bonding.

Students then began the design process with one person sketching for each group. I asked students to show me their plan for mobility for the figure and for attachments.

This went very well. Clearly there is no shortage of imagination in the 5/6 art classes! Here is a slideshow of some of the group drawings:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Creative Constraints for this project were:

Attachments must be made with attachment techniques and hot glue

Creatures must be self supporting and have mobility

Finished creature width and depth must fit within the designated box

Checking the size of the creature against the designated “size checker” box

Groups were able to start building as soon as their design was approved by me. We were using Canary Cardboard cutters and scissors, glue guns, yarn, and brass fasteners. No tape. We discovered along the way that fishing line was helpful for Phase Two: Stop Motion/Green Screen (shared in a separate post). A couple of groups also used sand for ballast on top-heavy models.

The cutters were arranged in little “toolkits” with 4 cutters and one scissor in each, enough for one toolkit at each table. At the end of every class students returned the tool kits and the glue guns (also one per table) to the supply table. I took a quick inventory to make sure they were all accounted for as I didn’t want these tools to leave the classroom.

I was thorough in going over the potential hazards of the cutters and glue guns. Early on there were five or six minor cuts and about the same amount of minor burns, for which band-aids and/or cold water soothed all. Fortunately, nothing was serious, and the accidents tapered to zero after a couple of classes. Experience and confidence seemed to build resistance to injury.

Here are some photos of the cardboard artists at work:

Checking the size of the cardboard part against the designated “size checker” box

Dedication!

And a video of one group explaining their project as they put it (her) together:

I teach nine different classes over two days. Classes are 50 minutes long. It took most groups between five and six classes to make their cardboard creature. As groups finished, they started Phase Two – Stop Motion/Green Screen, for which I had demonstrated the apps and process around the fourth class as some groups neared completion of their build. By October 30, most groups were finished building and we took a break from building/filming so I could show them Phase Three – 3D Design (shared in a separate post); how to design for 3D using Morphi App. I was also concerned about working with hot glue and cutters while the kids were wearing costumes on Halloween; I know my own costume was too “drapey” to be messing around with hot or sharp things.

Notorious Ruth Bader Gentili with the cardboard creatures

As the Cardboard Creatures were completed, they graciously posed for photos before being herded to the school lobby for display there. As two students and I were finishing up the display near the end of the block, students were pouring into the hallways for lunch and recess. We were mobbed with excited kids looking for their creatures.

Above photo credit: Jennifer Mannion

And now (drum roll, please) here are some of the Cardboard Creatures:

Reflection:

If I could bottle the energy the kids brought into the classroom for this project, I would apply it to some of the traditional art projects that cause some kids to check out, disengage, and mutter, “I’m not good at art”. Everyone was at home with this project. It was so different and challenging we all knew and accepted failure as part of the process. The class atmosphere was truly one of discovery, exploration, and true collaboration.

And if I had a nickel for every time a student asked, “Can we just stay here and do this all day?” I could pay for all of the glue sticks we consumed. Kidding not kidding. We went through about 200 glue sticks, necessitating a next day Amazon order in the middle of things to keep us in business. That’s completely my fault. Working groups can get away from you quickly. While you’re helping one group sort out structural issues, another group is using the glue to fasten one edge to another, which intuitively seems like it would work, but doesn’t. Cardboard is heavy and one bead of glue along the edge doesn’t support the weight. Mini-demos about this popped up in the middle of classes as I saw the mountains of glue on certain pieces. What’s the alternative? Tabs, flanges, and Lacing:

Much has been written about the important role of play in child development. This felt like play for all of us. As the teacher, my job was to facilitate the project and interactions. I would intervene with building help or smoothing group dynamics as needed. With group work, certain students struggle to maintain the balance between leading and being led. That’s where the teacher has a role in defining possible tasks within a project and helping groups to either separate out a little to make sure all are busy with defined jobs or to go all-in on one task. For instance, early on, EVERYONE wants to use the glue gun, and the teacher helps ensure that everyone has a chance.

Over the past few years I implemented group projects in November. The past few years, my fifth grade classes were engaged in the WeRMakers Product Design unit and the sixth grade classes incorporated 3D printing in the Game Makers unit. Typically we would have accomplished the important first tasks of creating a portfolio folder, making sketchbooks with covers that are also artworks, learning to photograph art and upload it to Google Classroom and our online gallery, Artsonia, as well as completing at least one additional independent art lesson before moving on to group work.

This year I shook it up a little, going from portfolio folder to sketchbook with cover artwork right into the Cardboard Creature group project. One reason is because at the end of the last school year, when I took inventory of my supplies, I also took a look at the materials I had collected through the years. I had an abundance of cardboard, including large sheets from the packaging of white boards throughout the school. As the project took shape in my mind, I reached out to my colleagues for more. It turns out Gary, a custodian at my school, is the keeper of the boxes from food deliveries, and there is a pretty good assortment in a space right outside the school kitchen. He kept us in cardboard throughout the project. Thank you, Gary!

I liked this scheduling shift a lot, as it tuns out. The group work enabled classes to get to know each other more quickly. This is especially important for my fifth grade students who come together from two different schools when they get to middle school. It also helped them to know me as a teacher earlier in the year – to learn that I value originality over sameness, exploration over duplication, and that when I get their attention, I say what I have to share and then get out of the way. This is a nice foundation to have established as we go forward into the school year.

Lastly, for me personally, I learned a lot about constructing with cardboard. I learned a lot about my students as individuals: the natural leaders, the forceful, the followers, the easy-going, the always helpful, the determined, the rays of sunshine. I enjoyed being in the art space with students, all 200 of them. No  school day or cardboard creature was the same. It was fun.

Holden waves “hello”

Brandon’s Mini-Mona Lisa

My demo for how to make a rounded form ends up as a hat/helmet, of course…

And it was magical. When I would lock up at the end of the day, I’d glance back thinking I might catch all these little creatures coming to life for the night. And when I opened the door in the morning and threw the lights on, I could feel a shift in energy, as if they had suddenly become still…the secret life of Cardboard Creatures.

  Cardboard Creature Project – Phase One – Build "The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children." - Jim Henson The photo above is of me and a whole bunch of cardboard on October 8, 2019 as I waited to introduce our Cardboard Creature project to an incoming class.

[ferociousqueak]

Family Resemblance, Ch. 8

A new chapter! And it didn’t take a year! Thank you, as always, to @servantofclio, @thievinghippo, and @pagerunner for their awesome beta work and endless support <3

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8

And now on FFNet!

Chapter 8: Hubris (2165)

(noun): a great or foolish amount of pride or confidence

#

Alli was dying by the time her last class got out. It wasn’t that she didn’t like galactic history, but jeez did Matriarch Aelya have to focus so much on all the boring stuff? How many stupid treaties were there, anyway?

She caught Kardi’s arm just outside the door and started to pull her down the hallway. Segundus—tall and lanky, not yet grown into his dark brown crest—caught sight of them and followed after.

“Hey, Alli,” Kardi said, looking down at her arm. “Where are we going?”

“To solve a problem,” Alli said, letting go of her once she’d fallen in step.

“Okay,” Segundus offered. “What kind of problem?”

“The kind that needs a lookout when you solve it,” Alli said, grinning up at him.

Kardi’s brow furrowed. “I have to tutor Glows with the Light of the Enkindlers in an hour. Will your problem be solved by then?”

Alli nodded, having met the hanar Kardi was tutoring and appreciating how much they needed help understanding algebra. “Oh yeah, definitely. Fifteen minutes, tops. I just need to find one of those terminals the Keepers use.”

It hadn’t taken Alli long to learn the natural current of the student body flowing through the hallways, and now she could navigate through it like she’d been doing it for years, not a handful of weeks. She turned down several halls, pushing past volus, salarians, asari, turians—even the odd human.

As a matter of course, Alli tried to stay away from the other humans. Most of them she’d known from Arcturus, and seeing them usually made her stomach do somersaults. But this school was so much bigger; there were easily three times as many students in her grade as there were in the whole school on Arcturus—primary and secondary combined. She could avoid them fairly easily if she was careful, and she had no desire to be reminded of how much they disliked her—or to prompt them to share their opinions of her with the students at this school.

Alli was much more comfortable with Kardi’s friends—with her friends. Realizing she actually had friends now was so jarring that she sometimes pinched herself—checking first to make sure no one was looking, even if they didn’t know what the gesture meant—to make sure she really wasn’t dreaming. She still half-expected they would get bored of her or come to realize what all the kids on Arcturus had realized—that she wasn’t someone you wanted to know or associate with if you could help it. So far, though, they hadn’t seemed to come to either of those conclusions, and she wasn’t about to voice her worry. Not when things actually seemed to be going well.

Alli and Segundus often studied together and fell into an easy back and forth of one-upmanship. Their strengths tended to overlap, which made the competition that much more fierce, though still friendly. She’d already gotten a better grade than him on their first test. He held his mandibles in tighter that day, and she figured that was how turians pouted. Well, he should do better next time.

Tullia, also a turian, seemed transfixed by Alli’s hair and had hardly known her a day before she’d asked timidly if she could touch it. Alli wasn’t used to that close of contact, but the laser focus on Tullia’s face made her acquiesce, hesitating at first but slowly growing used to it. By the time Alli had finished her first week, it had become routine for Tullia to take up one of her braids, undo it, and then try to braid it again. Despite the initial challenge of only having six fingers, it only took a few tries for her to get the hang of it.

Lessa, a small-framed asari with much darker blue skin than Kardi’s, was a more reserved than her other companions and would usually only talk to Alli if they were alone or the others were preoccupied in a different conversation. Her voice was soft and quiet, and she would send Alli sketches—of the Presidium, of a keeper, of the krogan statue, of just about anything—at unexpected hours, but no message came with them. She asked Kardi whether Lessa did this with anyone else, and Kardi shrugged and assured her she would get used to it.

Neirin and Cortne, a salarian and a volus who appeared to Alli to be inseparable, seemed to come into the group from time to time and disappear again just as suddenly. Kardi said they were usually holed up in the school’s chemistry lab, doing goddess knew what but at least the school was still standing.

Right now, however, she only had Segundus and Kardi to help her. It might be nice to have more than a couple lookouts, but she’d work with what she had. She led them to a Keeper nook near the school’s server room—an area far removed from any of the areas frequented by students—and peeked around the corner. Perfect. No Keeper right now.

It was funny, now that she thought of it. For as much as she’d heard about aliens hating humans, they’d been friendlier to her than anyone she’d known on Arcturus. Had Dad been wrong? No, he must’ve known something she didn’t. So why had every alien she’d met been so nice to her? It was nice having friends, so she didn’t want to question it. But why?

She brought up her ‘tool and interfaced it with the console in front of her.

“What are you doing?” Kardi whispered around the corner at her.

“Kaius was completely unfair in how he graded my essay,” Alli whispered loudly over her shoulder as she navigated her folders to find the virus she was looking for. “So I’m fixing it.”

“Fixing it?” Segundus’s head appeared around the corner, just above Kardi’s, his mandibles trembling with the question. Alli suppressed a sigh of frustration—some lookouts.

“Yes, fixing it,” Alli said. “My parents fought in the First Contact War, and my mom almost died. Like hell am I gonna call it the Relay 314 Incident.”

She didn’t have to look over her shoulder to feel Segundus and Kardi exchange glances in the beat of silence that followed.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Segundus asked, a nervous tremor in his voice.

Alli rolled her eyes but kept her attention on the progress of the program she was uploading to hack into her teacher’s grade book. “Of course I am,” she said, trying to suppress her annoyance. “I refuse to let my grade suffer just because Kaius can’t get his head out of his cloaca.”

“But don’t you think he’ll notice?” he asked. “What if he catches you? Won’t you get in trouble?”

The program chimed to announce successful access to the grading book. “There,” Alli said, grinning. “Why would he notice? He’s done with that assignment, so there’s no reason to go back and check it. I’ll be fine.”

She turned and rounded the corner again to face her friends, neither of whom seemed keen on moving. Segundus shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His brow plates shifted down and his mandibles twitched in that way that said he was debating whether to say what was on his mind. “But, if he does catch you, not that he will, but if he does . . . Alli you could get kicked out of school. Is it really worth it?”

Alli paused and glanced back toward the console. She hadn’t considered that. On the outside chance she did get caught—maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but maybe toward the end of the term—where would she go? Would she have to go an Alliance school again? Dad might be happy about that because she wouldn’t be around so many aliens all the time, but she could already see Mom’s disappointed face.

Kardi crossed her arms and looked disapprovingly at Alli. “Did you at least try talking to Kaius first?”

Alli’s cheeks felt hot and she pulled at her braid, looking at her fingers as they twirled the end instead of at her friends. “Well, no, but I thought he’d . . . My dad said turians are . . .” She glanced quickly at Segundus and her blush burned hotter. “I . . . I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll, uh, I’ll leave my grade.”

She turned back toward the console, and in a few swipes, killed the hack. She faced her friends again, her blush starting to subside, and grinned sheepishly. “You’re right,” she said. “I’ll try talking to him tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll be reasonable.”

Segundus seemed to relax and Kardi’s expression softened. “It’s okay, Alli,” she said and put an arm around her shoulders as she led them back the way they’d come. “I know things were different on Arcturus. My mom says new races can go through a bit of—what did she call it?—culture shock when they first come to the Citadel. You’ll be okay. You just need to get used to things here.”

Alli felt her own shoulders relax. How could she have thought that hacking into Kaius’s grade book was a good idea? She wasn’t on Arcturus anymore; she would have to try to do things the way everyone did them here. But now she looked like a cheater. Would Kardi and everyone else start to reconsider being friends with her? Alli’s heart began to race at the thought. She would have to try harder if she didn’t want to end up an outcast again.

The halls were now practically empty; apparently, the enthusiasm to rush home at the end of the day wasn’t species-specific. It hadn’t been more than fifteen minutes since the final bell had rung, but you wouldn’t think so to look at the abandoned halls. Perhaps that’s why it was more surprising when the three of them turned again and nearly ran into a student leaving the administrative office. Alli stumbled back several steps, still caught in Kardi’s arm and registering the student as human.

“Shepard?” His voice was incredulous, and the sound of it sent electricity racing down Alli’s spine.

“Gerald,” she said flatly, meeting his icy stare.

He stood a full head taller than her. Pale skin, sandy blond hair, dark brown eyes—he’d been a favorite among many of the girls on Arcturus, but the sight of him only turned Alli’s stomach.

Gerald rocked back on his heel and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, don’t you look just chummy with aliens,” he said with a sneer curling his upper lip. “Figures.”

He didn’t go into more detail about what he figured, but she could tell he was trying to bait her. She ground her teeth and refused take it—that would only make things worse. Instead, she stepped out from under Kardi’s arm and brushed quickly past Gerald, in no mood to spare any more words for him. He followed after her. Figures.

“I almost forgot your mom was on Einstein too,” he said at her elbow. “No idea what she did to get an assignment like that. Or who.” Alli curled her fists and felt the heat rise in her cheeks—though not from embarrassment this time—but kept walking. “It’s so good to see a familiar face here. We’ll be best friends, I’m sure of it.”

Segundus appeared at Alli’s other side, and she felt Kardi’s reassuring grip on her shoulder.

“Alli, who’s this?” Segundus asked, and she could hear an edge in his tone. She hadn’t told them about Gerald; she’d hoped when she hadn’t seen him at the school that she was finally done with him. She wanted to forget all about him.

“No one,” she snapped. She kept her glare fixed firmly in front of her. She wouldn’t look at him. “Go away, Gerald.”

But he didn’t go away. “My dad was on meritorious leave when Einstein docked here. He stopped a transport of slaves practically by himself. So I’ve been on Earth with him for the last few weeks. Now he’s back on duty, so here I am. I guess you wouldn’t know what that’s like, though. Your dad’s never done anything meritorious.”

Alli felt the hairs on her arms stand up as the now-familiar tingling started to heat her skin. Kardi gripped her harder and pressed her fingertips into her shoulder in the sequence of the maneuver she knew was supposed to quell her corona. “Alli,” she said, her voice flat and full of warning that didn’t need any more words.

Alli appreciated the reminder, but it wasn’t necessary—she wouldn’t let Gerald get to her, she wouldn’t. She clenched her jaw and kept walking, not looking at him. “I’m not doing anything to you, Gerald. Go away.”

He laughed and walked a little faster until he was in front of her, putting a hand on her chest to stop her—a glacier seemed to settle in her gut. “Come on now, I’m just trying to have a friendly chat,” he said, his hot breath near enough she could smell the milk souring in his mouth.

Segundus stepped forward and tried to position himself between Gerald and Alli. “You’re making her upset. Stop.”

Gerald sneered at Segundus and pushed him aside with the back of his hand—Alli only distantly registered Kardi’s excuse me and Segundus’s low growl—keeping his attention on Alli. “So what, Shepard? No humans want to be your friend, so you start hanging out with turians of all things? Did you promise to be his pet or something?” Alli felt Segundus bristle beside her but she put up a hand to stop him from doing anything. “You know, I think my dad was wrong about you. You’re more like your mom. Bowing to aliens, licking their boots. I mean, your dad might be a psycho, but at least he’s got stand—”

Alli’s fist connected with Gerald’s jaw before she was even aware of the impulse. She’d heard her dad talk about seeing red in a fight, but that’s not what she saw. No, she saw blue. It flickered and licked at her eyes, her arms, her fists like fire. The blue coursed over her skin, humming and pulsing and amplifying her fury tenfold. She wanted to punch Gerald again. And again. And again as many times as it took for him to stop talking, stop following her everywhere she went.

Gerald was on the floor, holding his jaw and looking terrified, when Alli felt a three-fingered hand on her chest and another holding her arm back from striking another blow. She didn’t even get to feel any kind of satisfaction before terror flooded her.

“You’re—you’re a biotic!” Gerald shouted, pointing at her as he scuttled backward one-handed on the ground. “I knew it! You really are one of those freaks!”

Kardi had stepped in between Alli and Gerald and flared her corona. “How stupid can you be?” she spat at him. “Of course I’m a biotic, you idiot. All asari are!”

Alli felt ice run through her veins and turned in the direction Segundus pushed her. What had she done? She walked quickly down the hall, hearing only distantly as Kardi argued with Gerald, who insisted he knew what he’d seen. Segundus kept his hand on her back and matched her strides easily.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I . . . I don’t know—”

“I’d have done the same thing,” Segundus said, a low growl on the edge of his voice. Alli stole a glance at him and saw his mandibles twitching in agitation and his brow plates turned down. “I’m guessing the two of you didn’t get along on Arcturus?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, the tears forming behind her eyes. “He’s gonna tell his dad I’m a biotic, and then his dad’s gonna tell the Alliance. They’re gonna send me to BAaT, I know it.”

“Kardi can talk circles around anyone. She could probably convince him he’s a turian if she tried. He won’t say anything,” he said and stopped walking.

Alli realized they’d arrived at a rapid transit just outside the school. She hadn’t been paying attention to where they’d been walking.

“Go home, Alli. Kardi and I will take care of Gerald.” He flicked his mandibles in a strained smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I might even let you beat me at calc to help you feel better.”

Alli laughed weakly and sat heavily into the car. Home wasn’t far away, but she really didn’t feel like walking even that short distance. What am I going to do, she thought, panic already boiling in the back of her mind. If Gerald told his dad, that was it for her. He could have her sent away—far away from Mom, from Dad, from all her new friends. Of course. Right when she was just starting to get used to this place—just starting to look forward to seeing friends, to having friends.

The rapid transit stopped in front of her home and opened the door. She hesitated a moment, flexing her fist and shaking it out. It had only been one punch, but her knuckles were red and the skin burned. How was she going to explain all this to Mom?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Don’t panic, she told herself. Just be cool. After taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes and stepped out of the rapid transit. The door loomed ominously in front of her, daring her to walk inside and face the consequences of her actions. She lingered only a few moments, then took a deep breath and walked inside. As quietly as she could manage, she slipped her shoes off by the door and hung her bag on its hook. Maybe Mom wasn’t—

No. Mom was home. She was sitting at the dining room table, her elbows on the table and hunched over something. She looked . . . distressed. What was she reading that she found so upsetting?

“No,” Mom said quietly. “No, this can’t be what it looks like.”

Oh no. Had Gerald already told his dad? Was she already talking to his father?

“I didn’t read the report, but it’s unlikely that what they found is inaccurate.”

Alli couldn’t see Ms. Dess from where she stood, but she recognized her voice. That was weird. Alli couldn’t remember either Mom or Ms. Dess being here this early before. When did they get here?

Mom shook her head. “No, I know. I just mean there has to be an explanation. Something not obvious. This is . . . it can’t be . . .” Ms. Dess hummed but didn’t say anything else. “I have to talk to Drescher about this. She owes me. I don’t care if it’s classified, if anyone can shed some light on this, it’s her.”

Alli stepped quietly around the corner and said, “Mom?”

Mom jumped in her seat and put a hand on her chest. She looked pale, almost sick. “Alli!” she almost shouted, her voice high. “You startled me.”

Alli looked down at the table, where a blue envelope and a pile of papers—real sheets of paper, not datapads—was spread out in front of Mom. Alli glanced across the table, where Ms. Dess seemed to sit impassively, but Alli could tell she’d gone tense as well from how her mandibles pressed tightly to her jaw.

“Is everything okay?” Alli asked, looking from Mom to Ms. Dess.

Mom exchanged a look with Ms. Dess and seemed to ask a silent question. Ms. Dess nodded, and Mom began to gather up the papers and shove them back into their envelope.

“I have to go,” Mom said as she sealed the blue flap. “I have to go to Arcturus for a meeting.” Mom took the stairs two at a time and disappeared into her bedroom. Her voice was smaller, but it traveled as she said, “You’ll stay with Ms. Dess and Ms. Sana until I get back. I should be home in a few days.”

Alli looked at Ms. Dess and cocked her head, not knowing exactly what question she wanted to ask. Ms. Dess, however, wouldn’t make eye contact and instead passed her hand over the top of her crest. Alli heard the slide of the closet, and if she had to guess, it was Mom pulling out her travel bag to pack it.

“It’s nothing to worry about, starshine,” she said, still in her bedroom, her voice unusually high and reassuring. “Just a little last-minute meeting with Admiral Drescher for a, uh, research project.”

Alli frowned. She hated it when Mom lied—she wasn’t even good at it. Alli kept her voice low as she asked Ms. Dess, “Is Mom okay?”

“She says she is,” Ms. Dess said, but the shake of her head and the shrug of her shoulders told a different story.

The fight with Gerald seemed so far away now, and only the throb in Alli’s hand reminded her how fresh it really was. Should she tell Mom now or wait for her to get back? She certainly didn’t want her to find out from Gerald’s dad. She opened her mouth to ask why Mom was so upset, but then Mom was already coming down the stairs.

“There’s some food in the fridge and the pantry,” Mom said. “Pack as much of it as you’ll need, and I’ll deal with the rest when I get back. I have to be on the first transport shuttle out of here and it leaves in,” she brought up her ‘tool’s interface, swiped a few times and sighed. “Twenty minutes.”

Mom walked past Alli toward the door, barely stopping to kiss the top of her hair.

“But what if Dad comes back?” Alli asked.

Mom froze in front of the door, her hand hovering above the glowing green access panel.

“Call me,” she said and the door opened then closed behind her retreating figure.

Alli turned back toward Ms. Dess, fear freezing its way through her veins. Both her parents had been deployed at the same time before, but this felt different. “What’s going on? Why was she in such a hurry to leave? Why couldn’t she just call Drescher?”

Ms. Dess finally met her gaze again. “I wish I could tell you, Alli, but even I don’t know. Those were classified . . . research papers. I don’t know what they said to make her so worked up. Your mom is the only one who knows what she’s talking about.” Her gaze shifted downward and settled on Alli’s hands. She frowned and said, “Alli, what’s wrong with your fingers? They’re pinker than normal.”

Alli glanced down at her hand and sighed. “I got in a fight,” she admitted, defeated.

Ms. Dess’s brow plates drew down in disapproval, but she didn’t say anything for a long moment. Finally, she sighed and asked, “Are you all right?”

Alli didn’t know how to answer that question.

#

It wasn’t Michael’s fault.

Fucking Geneva. What a goddamn mess.

He’d done everything he was supposed to do to get Greenwood and her team onto the ship undetected. It was some fucking new guy with an itchy trigger finger who got them into a firefight with every goddamn Alliance soldier posted to the ship. Even with Michael deliberately missing every shot, Greenwood’s team ended up with four fatalities. She and the only other surviving member of her squad were taken into custody.

Then they found Michael’s access codes and the virus that hadn’t had enough time to self-destruct, and he was taken into custody too. Just. Like. He. Fucking. Said.

Fucking goddammit.

There was a lawyer already waiting for him when they arrived on Arcturus, and he seemed confident that he could get Michael off with very little trouble.

“These raiders obviously stole your access codes, Major,” the lawyer, Mr. White, said as he scrolled through the list of charges and evidence. He was tall, blond, and utterly forgettable. No scars or marks marred his skin, he was good looking but not remarkably so, and he exuded calmness. Michael couldn’t help admiring how effortlessly this person was able to achieve the kind of infiltration look that spies and spec ops soldiers often worked for years to perfect.

“You’re the victim here,” White continued, “and there’s no reason a highly esteemed N7 operative like yourself should be railroaded like this.”

Michael stared at the lawyer for a long moment, unsure of whether he actually believed what he said or if he was already working on building reasonable doubt—he didn’t know much about the law, but he knew the prosecution would have to build up that much. He shrugged and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. As long as he didn’t get nailed to the wall for this shit, it didn’t matter.

“How long do you think it’ll take to sort everything out? JAG was pretty quick to send you. Should I take that as a good sign?” Michael asked.

White kept his eyes on the datapad in front of him and shook his head. “The Judge Advocate General didn’t send me, Major Shepard. My employer is a friend of yours who wishes to remain anonymous. He’s very interested in making sure an innocent man like you isn’t punished for other people’s misdeeds. We expect to have this misunderstanding cleared up as quickly as possible. Your grand jury is scheduled for a week from today.”

Michael breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he wouldn’t be forgotten. “That seems . . . fast.”

White nodded and turned off the datapad’s display as he looked up at Michael for the first time since he’d sat down. “It is. We see no reason you should languish under house arrest while an interminable investigation into these trumped up treason charges goes on for weeks or months. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable. Call your loved ones. Let them know there’s been a misunderstanding that you need to address but that you’ll be home soon.”

Han. Shit! He’d been so focused on what was immediately in front of him that he hadn’t considered her at all.

“Yeah,” Michael said, dreading that particular conversation already. “I’ll do that.”

White stood and left without so much as a goodbye, and Michael leaned forward again, rubbing his hands through his hair. What was he going to tell Han? This White person could probably get a grand jury to believe he hadn’t done what he did and dismiss the case, but would Han believe it? He’d made so many pains to convince her he wanted things to work between them, and she seemed to believe. Hell, she’d practically eaten it up. Not that he was lying—he really did want things to work out. He was sure she’d believe anything she told him now too. She was in his corner, no matter what.

He was going to have to steer clear of these people after this mess got cleaned up. Maybe one day when he wasn’t under so much scrutiny, he’d be able to go back to helping their efforts. If that day ever came, that is. Who knew how long he’d have to keep his nose clean for?

He stood and started pacing his room. It wasn’t a cell, not exactly. He had a decent-sized bed, a bathroom, a small table and a couple of chairs, and the room to himself. But just on the other side of the door stood a guard who would make sure he didn’t leave. It was better than what he’d gotten after the incident with those batarian slavers, so he took that as a sign the evidence wasn’t exactly conclusive yet.

He paced the room, his mind reeling over what he was going to tell Han. Maybe if he slept on it, he would have a clearer head and know what to say? So he did.

For three nights he slept on it, pacing his small space during the day and tossing and turning in his bed at night. This was serious, and he had no idea how he was going to explain himself to Hannah. The Alliance was easy. Han? Not so much.

On his fourth day in custody—a brutally boring, interminable time he spend exercising and shifting between novels he couldn’t focus on—he took a deep breath and decided a text was the best option. He was supposed to be home by now anyway. She must be worried sick.

//MS: Geneva mission got complicated. Tell Alli I’m tied up on Arcturus working out details. Be home soon.

He watched the blinking cursor for a good fifteen minutes before sending the message. When he finally stopped agonizing and sent the message, he laid down on his bed and covered his face with a pillow. If he was lucky—and he was usually lucky—Han would take the two short sentences at face value. He hadn’t lied, after all. It’s not like she could accuse him on that front. His ‘tool beeped.

//HS: Good to know.

What was that supposed to mean? He closed the interface and took a deep breath. It didn’t mean anything. There was no way she could know about what had happened. She was just glad he had checked in with her after being so late coming home. It happened with spec ops soldiers. Sometimes timelines didn’t work out. Han knew that. Of course she did. He had nothing to worry about from her.

He started rehearsing what he’d tell Hannah about why he’d been delayed in coming home. He wasn’t comfortable with a direct lie, but he couldn’t tell her the truth either. But he would have to tell her something. Maybe if he framed everything through White’s words? Technically, that wouldn’t be a lie.

Two days before his grand jury, and one day after he’d messaged Han—fuck he was going out of his mind with boredom—his door hissed open, and he assumed it was White coming to break up the monotony and work out any last kinks in his story. Maybe they could cast enough doubt on the prosecution that the charges would be dropped and he’d never have to go to trial at all.

But it definitely wasn’t White at his door.

“Thank you,” Hannah said to the guard. “I won’t be long.”

Michael’s stomach dropped. He wanted to do something, say something, anything. But he was frozen, dumbfounded, in place as Hannah walked calmly to the table and sat where White had been only days ago. Why was she here? How did she know where to find him?

She pulled up her sleeve and removed her ‘tool from her wrist.

No. Not her ‘tool. His ‘tool. The black stripe down the side of it was unmistakable.

“Han—”

She held up a hand to stop him and said, “You’ve made me an accessory after the fact.”

Not plaintive. Not angry. But even, like she was remarking on the weather. The coolness of her tone sent a chill down his spine, and he swallowed hard. Where the hell had she found that ‘tool? And how had she found out what was on it? He’d deleted everything the last time he used it. The thought came to mind that she wouldn’t be an accessory if she’d left well enough alone, but he didn’t dare speak those words. Not with the way she sat as serenely, as calmly as the eye of a hurricane at the table with her hands clasped loosely together in her lap. God, why did she have to be so curious? Couldn’t she just have thought he was having an affair like a normal person and let him dispel that doubt? Why did she have to go digging around? And who was helping her? Who else knew what he’d been doing?

“Han, this isn’t what it looks like,” he said and took the seat across from her. How was he going to explain this? He didn’t know how he was going to explain it, but he had to say something that would get her on his side again. He’d think of something.

“It’s funny,” she continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “I didn’t know about the Geneva incident when I arrived on the station. I came here with the intention of going to Drescher to call in a favor and ask her for your sealed records because I needed to know for sure why you would be trafficking classified weapons research. I came here because I wanted to give you the chance to give me a reason that wasn’t what any of this looks like.” She said the words pointedly and pinned him to his chair with her stare. Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed—yeah, she was angry. Angrier than he’d ever seen her. “Then you told me about Geneva. And the admiral had a lot to say about that little incident.”

Hannah leaned forward and put her hands on the table. “You brought these people into our lives, Michael. You brought dangerous people into our daughter’s life, and as long as you associate with them, she’s at risk. She deserves so much better than that.” To his surprise, her shoulders slumped, and she let her head fall forward into her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. “I deserve better than that,” she said, defeated and almost too quiet to hear.

The impulse to put his arms around her was strong, but he resisted—there was no way Han would want him touching her right now.

She looked up, meeting his gaze again—the anger was gone, but it was replaced by something more . . . upsetting, unnerving. No tears betrayed her, but her eyes glistened and her brow furrowed. “Did you ever think of me in all of this?” she said, her voice breaking.

“Han, please let me explain—” he started but she waved away his words and leaned back again.

“Even if you did say something true at this point, I wouldn’t believe it,” she said.

She took up the ‘tool, and in one fluid motion, she ripped away the black strip, much to Michael’s surprise. She cleared her throat and said, “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to plead no contest to the charges. You’re going to serve your time. You’re going to tell the authorities everything you both know and think about who you worked for when you let those bastards on Geneva, which should get you a reduced sentence.” She stood again and made her way toward the door. “I won’t tell anyone about the arms trafficking, but that’s the only favor I’ll do for you. A big one, if you ask me. When these people are out of your life, I’ll consider letting you back into Alli’s.” She paused. “You’ll hear from my lawyer in the next week or so.” She hesitated with her hand raised to knock on the door. She turned toward him and said quietly, “Please, Michael.”

He wanted to go after her. He wanted to protest, to tell her she had everything wrong. He was protecting their family, not putting them in danger. But a lead weight kept him in place.

Michael sat rooted to his chair for a long time after she left. Was any of this really happening? If she’d let him say anything at all, he would’ve been able to explain himself and the people he worked with. He could explain that, yes, they might be dangerous, but not to humans. Or if they ever were, it was only in self-defense or in service to the greater good of protecting more people. They wouldn’t have hurt anyone on Geneva if the plan had worked out. He wasn’t putting Alli in danger—the opposite, in fact. He was making sure the galaxy was safer for her, and these people were doing the same.

But he knew Han wouldn’t hear any of that.

“They’re gun runners, Michael,” he knew she’d say. “Who do you think they are?”

A fair point. But still. She didn’t understand. She wouldn’t understand.

What would happen if he didn’t do what she said? What if he got the charges dropped and also promised not to pass along classified documents anymore? Couldn’t they compromise? Why did he have to go to prison? Out of some kind of misguided principle?

Han’s ultimatum rang in his ears, and he felt like he was going to be sick. There would be no compromise; he knew that already. He was going to have to spend a significant part of his future in prison, and he was going to have to face Alli from behind a glass wall several inches thick. She would believe the things she was going to hear about him. She was going to look at him like a convict, like a traitor to the Alliance, and he was going to have to live with that somehow. Because the alternative that was that he would never see her again at all. Han hadn’t said it like that, but she’d been abundantly clear.

Han. She was sending her lawyer to him. So she was . . .

Fuck.

His thoughts chased each other for hours. The guard came in once with his dinner—which he didn’t touch—and then again to take away the tray. At lights out, he lay in his bed, but his eyes refused to close. Han’s face filled his mind, and he couldn’t shake the look of betrayal he’d seen there. What if he’d told her about Cerberus and everything he’d done for them before the Geneva incident went FUBAR? Would she have been more understanding? Would she be putting him in this position now? Would she be on his side? He scrubbed his palms over his face and forced his eyes to close. Those questions were useless and their answers didn’t matter because they didn’t change anything about his current predicament.

There was no getting around it. Han won. He’d do everything she asked of him. If there was a way to get her to look at him with . . . anything but that angry, devastated look, this was it. She wanted him to go to prison—to serve his time, as she’d said—and he would. Not happily, but obediently. Maybe then she’d reconsider . . .

Michael felt himself drift, but sleep eluded him for what seemed like endless hours. When the lights in his room flickered on, he gave up. He got up, cleaned up, and asked the guard to call his lawyer. By 0800, White was seated across the small table from Michael once again.

He sat passively as Michael explained his decision. When Michael finally finished, White said simply, “No.”

Michael groaned in annoyance. “I want a different lawyer. I’ll take whoever JAG assigns me. Hell, I’ll represent myself if I have to. This is my decision. Not yours. Not our mutual friend’s. Mine.”

White’s stillness was unsettling, but he persisted. “No. Major Shepard, your intentions are admirable, but unfortunately, you will not be allowed to serve a prison sentence, let alone reduce it by divulging such private information. Furthermore, our friend still considers you a valuable asset. He would much prefer to continue your relationship. He has authorized me to present you with an alternative option.”

Michael shook his head. “An alternative option?” Then realization dawned on him, and he knew that none of what he’d said was new information to White. “How can he have an alternative option?”

“I bugged your room when I was here,” White said dispassionately. “I can imagine that fact is not a pleasing one, but it’s standard practice for detained operatives, nothing personal. Our friend has considered Commander Hannah Shepard’s offer and would like to make a counteroffer.”

The impulse to pummel White into a bloody mass was strong, but Michael tamped it down. “Talk fast,” he said, grinding his jaw.

“Your colleague Greenwood’s exit strategy has been set in motion. In a week, she’ll be transferred to Vancouver to be held there; however, there will be an accident, and there will be no body.”

“You’re going to kill her? After everything she’s done for . . . our mutual friend?” Michael felt himself shaking with anger. He didn’t particularly like Greenwood, but she was a good soldier and committed to humanity’s welfare. She didn’t deserve to be dispatched so callously.

White nodded once. “In a sense. In one week, Bethany Greenwood will be declared dead. The following day, the world will meet Caroline Meyerhoff. Caroline has an extra seat on her shuttle registered to Gabriel O’Connor.” White paused before continuing. “Will Mr. O’Connor make his flight?”

Michael huffed. “What about the other guy? The one who fucked up everything to begin with. Give him that seat.”

White returned his glance to his datapad. “Mr. Ames has been reassigned. My employer believes he will be more useful serving his sentence. His particular skillset—or lack thereof—is more useful inside a prison than outside of it.”

Michael paused to let himself think about what exactly someone like Ames would be assigned to do on the inside. He’d guessed there were more of these people around than there appeared to be—to engage the batarians on the scale they had, they’d need quite a few people on the inside feeding them information and resources—but only now was he starting to understand exactly how many of them there were. He leaned forward and said, “Let’s just say I don’t take this . . . exit strategy. What happens then?”

White gave no pause before giving his answer. “My employer will assume you no longer wish to continue your friendship. He will maneuver to preserve his existing assets accordingly.”

Michael pushed back his chair and started to pace, his hands on his hips. “So, I go with you or you kill me. That’s what you’re telling me?”

White shook his head. “Those are your words, Major. I’ve said no such thing.”

Michael snorted. This manipulation was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “Yeah, right. You’ve said nothing at all.” A thought came to him that sent a chill down his spine. Had Han been right? “What happens to my family? If I don’t go with you.”

White folded his hands on the table and said, “The commander’s resolution to reveal our friend’s operations poses a problem. We prefer to deal with problems before they progress.”

Michael rounded on him, pulling him from his chair and slamming him against the wall. The only thing stopping him from snapping this fucker’s neck right now was the guard standing on the other side of the door. White seemed to know this and hardly reacted to Michael’s sudden outburst of violence at all.

“However,” he continued patiently, “she also appears to be largely ignorant of who our friend is and what he’s trying to accomplish with his operation. The less she knows, the better, wouldn’t you say, Major? It seems then that you offering more information would only create more problems for her. Well, only one more problem, specifically.”

Han’s words came ringing back to him. She’d been right: he’d brought these people into her life. All the anger went out of him, replaced by resignation and nausea. He dropped White and backed away.

“What do you need me to do?”

[amyperkins]

Level 4 | Visual Thinking | Evaluation

Truthfully, I have enjoyed this project however more so in certain areas than others.  I found this project more difficult to start off. Probably because I was letting my worries and lack of inspiration get in the way of progress and not letting my ideas flow freely, but I got into the swing of it quite well after that.  Upon reflection, I can now see the exact point at which I became more confident, and had more clear ideas to share in tutorials.  My project came to life after the talk that George Beverley gave us.  I believe this talk was invaluable to me.  This presentation and the one-day brief was useful in providing me with tips for how to generate ideas.  I feel that it also gave me an opportunity to step back from my project and have a day working on a different mini brief, which recharged mind and unlocked other aspects that I may not have considered exploring before.  This project has aided the development of my technical skills.  The workshops taught by Scott were great and I really enjoy being able to then work on animating my own poster with the skills and knowledge that he has passed onto me.   We got to dabble in software that I was unfamiliar with initially, such as After Effects, and how we can interlink the use of softwares like Photoshop and Illustrator with it to created different styled animations.  I will most certainly be wanting to use After Effects again in other projects if I get the chance to and look forward to discovering what abundance of tools and effects it has to offer.  Regarding my poster designs, I believe the limited colour scheme and simple, yet large text work well together.  I was worried that they seemed too plain.  Perhaps they would have been even better if I had considered introducing textures to the text or behind the text as a sort of shadow effect.  Now I know for next time that that is something I could play around with in greater depth.  I think the white text aids the posters as it is bold yet still allows the ballet pose to be the most shocking and dramatic aspect on the page. After all, the ballet is what is being advertised.  I am happy opting for vivid tones as the background; this works well in my opinion.  They are attention grabbing and suggest a cheerful, contemporary mood to the posters.  The critique was very helpful for me to move forward with my project.  I was quite nervous as to what people would say about my work at this stage, but the feedback was so positive and only gave a few amendments which would make the posters feel more complete and like a series. I enjoyed seeing my work printed out, full size and in the flesh.  This made it so much easier to analyse each of the sections.  I could immediately see what problems there were with the spacing, image to text sizing ratios, readability and simply, if all three designs worked well as a series.  In the next project I will be doing this a lot more so that I can constantly be reviewing and critiquing my work as I go along.  An area I know I need to improve is file organisation.  I am determined that this will be a strength in the next project.  Trying to find the right file has been an added frustration to my project planning and progression.  I know this is unnecessary and comes down to organisation and management skills, which is not my strongest area. I need to get back into the habit of making named folders and putting everything I document into those as I go along - I know I will benefit from this in the future.  Joining the Vis Com course, and therefore being introduced to the project a little later was not a massive issue for me luckily, and I managed to understand the project specifications comfortably.  Perhaps this is partially down to the fact that I feel this course is a better fit for me and so far, throughout this project I have been appreciating the structure and organisation of the course.  However, I feel that this may have made me fluster at the beginning, when we were showing ideas in group tutorials. I was slightly daunted and thought that I needed to catch up with loads of research and I focused on having quantity rather than the quality of my ideas so I was not pleased when I did not have much to go on when it came to my turn.  Next time I will take my time to come up with my own ideas as a priority.  Once I have ideas with substance I can research them further and, in my experience, other inspirations tend be stumbled upon along the way as well, which is half the fun. I did not entirely understand the concept of setting up a blog, as I had never made anything like this before but it has gradually grown on me.  As well as having sketchbooks on the go, I found it hard to transition from documenting research in a sketchbook with experimentations and inspiration, to uploading them to the blog instead.  Nonetheless, in future I will now know what kind of things are expected of me to be put on a blog. Next time I will stand by the logic that it is better to put everything up if I am not sure and then make amendments later if needs be, rather than not uploading very often and risk losing a sense of continuity and order.  As I look back through my project it probably would have benefited from more analogue experimentation.  Although, the sketches of my initial poster ideas, created using oil pastels, were very helpful for me.  I drew out my internal imagery and could see them on paper and from there I could created the designs in InDesign and adjust the placing of elements, such as the dancer pose, logo position, scale and typeface.  I could see that the layout of my design and the odd structure of the bus side advertisement would not compliment my design compositions.  The adshell and billboard layouts are much more favourable here.  Overall, I believe that this ballet project was a success and that I achieved the brief. I have certainly taken a lot away from these studies.   I look forward to the next challenge; working in an improved and more organised manner with many more skills and experiences to build upon.

[shannonwantstohugyoutwo]

Daily Log - Process of Production

I continued and finished my research document and worked on the Harvard referencing. I have uploaded it to my blog so it is easy to access. I learnt how to successfully create professional looking references. This will help me link things much quicker in the future as I understand what I am doing.

I finished most of my sketch book and started putting it in a larger book so all the work is together and presented nicely. I added pieces to the already existing work, which helped develop my drawing technique. It also helped me plan things out better, as I learnt from my mistakes. I will use this knowledge in the future as this way I can prevent or at least minimalize any errors while creating my sketch book.

I have finished my surveys and have gotten responses from it as primary research and have written an analysis on each part and linked it to my work and what I will do. By doing this I learnt which pieces people like and which pieces people dislike, as well as what they liked and disliked most on particular pieces. I also know what type of concept people like the most by looking at their responses. I will use all the feedback to create my work to the target audience expectations. This means I will focus on what they want to see, in order to appeal to them. I also queried about colours, and I will use the feedback given to me to create appealing pieces.

I finished my research and made sure that everything was finalised. I then sorted out the primary research onto one document and the secondary onto another, as this way it is clearly laid out. I also printed off some of my work to stick in my sketch book to show the development of parts of my work. I also reorganised my sketch book, cutting out small sketches and grouping them with related pieces. All of this will help me organize my work much better, and will also help me plan things out in the future to avoid wasting time.

Over the Easter holidays I added lots of work to my sketchbook, so all the work is in one place. I put the backgrounds together, with the annotations and annotated multiple other pieces too. This, yet again, helps me organise things in a clearer way. I still plan to re-organise the pages however all the linking pieces are on the same page as of now. I feel that if my sketch book and other work is organised and presented in a clear way. I may do a contents page as I have a lot of work, however I’m not sure at the moment.

10/04/18 – 11/04/18 – I finalized any work and placed it in the drop boxes to be reviewed. This way I can develop it based on the feedback given to me. If there is no feedback, then I will ask my peers as it will help me develop my work through using other people’s opinions and ideas. This way, I can ensure that all the work is done to the best of my ability and that it is up to the expectations of those around me.

12/04/18 – I completed the risk assessment and uploaded it to my blog. I also started on a new piece of concept. I based the new piece of concept off of the constellation sky concept I did previously, and I’m happy with the idea so far. I learnt how to add a glow to lines and parts of the work, as well as how to change the opacity on different layers to get the effect I want.

13/04/18 – I finished the piece of concept off and I am very happy with the final product. I shaded parts of it, which I usually struggle with as shading is my weakest point however I’m happy with how it turned out. I also learnt how to use a spaced out blending brush to create areas that are darker to make the image look less flat. I also began a new piece which in which I dabble with different character ideas and lighting effects as the piece will be a scene of four or five people camping in the woods. I feel as though this will help me get better at shading as I plan for there to be a lot of dark and light places in the piece. This is partly based off of the feedback given to me too, as some of the concept people wanted was rainforests. Although the piece is not based in a rainforest, is a forest and this will help me develop on drawing trees and wooded areas in general.

17/04/18 – 19/04/18 – I continued the camping piece, adding colour after doing the base sketch and drawing the final outline. I am happy with the piece so far. The practice of doing faces is vital, as one of my main focuses in faces as I aim to create characters for my FMP. I also started a piece that I may not include in my final project as it isn’t appropriate for younger people as the setting is meant to be for adults only. The mature one is a piece that some friends of mine requested. The main focuses of it is body poses, which really helps develop character designs. I also dabbled with a different art style, going for pop art inspired shading.

20/04/18 – I updated my Wix website with all the work that needs to be uploaded and personalised the appearance in order to make it friendlier looking and easier to navigate. This gives me experience for the future if I ever need to create my own website again using Wix.

24/04/18 – I continued with my camping character piece. I now have the finished outlines of the characters and have begun to add colour to them. I also have a rough sketch of what the background is going to look like. As well as this, I added some sketches to my sketchbook.

25/04/18 – 27/01/18 – I ensured all my paper work was finished to a good standard and made changes where needed. This enabled me to add as much detail as possible in response to the feedback given by my tutor. I also started a new piece as I had a sudden idea and didn’t want to lose it. I created a rough sketch of it and then continued on the camping one, adding more colour to the characters.

01/05/18 – I looked at various character expressions and sketches in order to create my character profiles. I looked at different body types too, as I plan on doing full body previews. This will help me develop a quick and easy way of drawing expressions. I also responded to the feedback given to me by my tutor and developed my work further. I was instructed to turn the sentences of my production log into more detailed paragraphs and so I started doing so.

02/05/18 – I continued and finished the paragraphs of my production log which will make me write in more detail in the future as I am now confident in how much detail is needed in the production log. I also queried if the piece of work that was adult oriented was suitable and allowed for my project and was told it is. I also continued my new idea, developing the background more in the form of sketches and starting to do the line art for the piece.

03/05/18 – 04/05/18 – I created the production logs for the bats, ghost and pumpkin pieces. I then uploaded this into the pre-production folder. I decided to do this with all the concept I have done as this way I have a hefty amount of pre-production and the process of how I have done my concept is laid out for people to see. I learnt an effective way to lay out the production logs, with four images per page and the writing on the right hand side of the page, I feel as though the space is used well and the images aren’t too small or too cramped.

07/05/18 – I created the production log for the Blue sky concept I did, using the same layout as the previous production logs as it is easiest to create. I also created a production log for the tree background, the dark blue and pink background and the pink sky background. I added descriptions of the process to all of these and then uploaded them onto the website. I found that saving all the images first and then putting them all on a word document at the same time is much more time efficient than doing them one by one.

 08/05/18 – I drew character expressions based off of another expressions sheet in order to learn how to fluently draw faces in different ways. I added hair or some sort of head feature to give the character some personalisation, and I’m happy with the results. I also did a production log for this and uploaded it to moodle. I feel as though I can draw expressions quicker, and if not, I always have the piece to refer to if needed.

 09/05/18 – I continued doing the production logs, finishing the tree background one and uploading it to the moodle website for my teacher to mark. I also started on the writing for my facial expression drawings and will upload the production log of that to moodle when it’s done.

10/05/18 – I continued the Halloween piece, finalizing the line art and starting on the colour. I recorded it by using OBS, and in doing so expanded my knowledge on the software. I will then put it into Sony Vegas pro to edit it down, add music and upload to YouTube. This will help me understand how to edit videos down easily and efficiently. Later, however, I discovered that the video had not completely recorded and there was chunks of footage missing. Because of this, I will just create a normal production log and upload it to moodle when finished.

14/05/18 – I continued my production logs and uploaded things to my blog. I updated my research, adding descriptions of the surveys on, and updated my Wix website, adding the information to the bottom of the research page too. I asked my peers on their opinion for a piece of concept. I was unsure weather to include cat ears on a character design or not. Depending on their feedback, I will choose the fitting one to please my audience. I also went through my work and made notes on future work that I should create. In doing so, I can develop my already existing work which will make me automatically do the improvements to the work in the future as I will be able to spot the errors.

15/05/18 – I uploaded the expression production log to my Tumblr blog. To show all the linking previous work, I reblogged it from my first-year blog which made it appear on my new and currently used blog. In the future I may combine them both, so I only have to update one and I can keep track of my work better, however for now the brief requires me to have a separate blog for my FMP.

16/05/18 – I recorded myself drawing an evil version of the cat girl. I then edited and uploaded the video onto YouTube so it is easily accessible. I also uploaded this to my Tumblr blog. This took me a long time, however I now know how to successfully edit and render a video, and upload it quickly. I will use this knowledge in the future if I need to upload or edit any other videos. I also took screenshots of all my production logs and uploaded these onto my Wix website as I was told to. I also updated my production log on my Wix website and Tumblr blog. I continued do update my sketchbook too, finishing work that needed to be done and sticking new pieces in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PldWss4I-dU – This is the video recording of my cat girl character. I found it much easier to record and then edit the video to upload onto YouTube than creating a document based production log. In the video, it is easy to see how I did the piece whereas in the documented production logs they may be harder to follow. I may make another Production Log video in the future.

17/05/18 – I attempted to continue with my concept, however the computer I was sat at didn’t work with the drawing tablet I had access to so I continued written work. I started my Halloween production log for the characters, however the piece is not finished but I did what I could do so far. I also planned out what I needed to do on paper to get my thoughts together. This will help me organize what I need to do and when I need to do it. I can also organise my time better this way. I asked my tutor to review my work as I had updated it much more from the last time it was seen and have responded to the feedback given. I also uploaded my feedback for different pieces of work onto my Tumblr blog so it can be found easily. I looked into more detailed colour theory and plan to do a document or include it into my sketchbook.

18/05/18 – I continued on my Halloween piece, adding colour to more of the characters and planning out the background. As I had developed on the concept piece, I also updated the production log, explaining what I had done in the next step. I checked with my tutors on things I was unsure with, as I didn’t know if I should include the expressions study in the final concept piece document. I was advised against it as I did not end up using any of the expressions in the final concept pieces so was told to leave it as pre-production. I also created a document with all my final work on for people to add feedback to which will help with the development process and so all my work is in one place at a time. I plan to put all my final projects on the Wix website as a gallery, without using a word document. I also finished up any work that needed small things doing. Doing all this checked some things off my to-do list that I created earlier in the week.

19/05/18 – 21/05/18 – I continued on the Halloween concept and as of now, the piece is nearly finished. I also continued on my sketchbook, sticking in final things. After looking through it, I have decided that I will take apart the different pages and then put them back together, but in order. This will definitely make it clearer to see the process of different pieces and all the planning of them. I also continued on my Halloween production log, which is almost finished and can be continued when I finish the shading on the actual concept.

22/05/18 – I responded to all the given feedback, and then started to work on more documents. I found a version of Celestia that I was able to edit, and so I created a production log on her showing the process of creation. I saved all my work to my USB and was able to order it correctly. I saved all the finished concept into a folder as JPEG’s, this way I can put them onto a word document without the borders of Photoshop, which would have been the case if I had screen shot each image. I could have snipper tooled it, however saving them as a different file type was much easier. I started collecting feedback on the final products as well, which I can put into my primary research and my evaluation. I put all of the feedback that was given to me onto Moodle under the Primary Research post-box.

23/05/18 – I focused on getting feedback for my final products off my peers. I made sure the feedback was sectioned off for each image and also made sure that it was clear for which image they were giving feedback for. I also started, finished and uploaded my evaluation to Moodle for feedback off of my tutors. I also updated my Tumblr blog and Wix website with any work that isn’t already on and made a new checklist of things I need to do after crossing off what I have already done.

24/05/18 – I finished the Celestia production log and uploaded it to Wix, Tumblr and moodle. I also continued on my sketchbook when I was home. Created a checklist and uploaded everything onto Wix and my blog, and then responded to any feedback that was given to me. I also finished the Halloween production log and inspiration pages. I also added annotations to everything, making it so I had explained how everything had helped me and where it had helped me.

25/05/18 – This day is the deadline day, and so I finished my Production diary and uploaded it to Wix and Tumblr. I also finished my sketch book. I printed off all the final pieces and stuck them on a page each, showing clearly the work I had done. I also stuck all my inspiration work into my sketch book, as then it is on my blog, Moodle and sketch book. I took my sketch book apart so it was in different pieces, and then reorganised it so the inspiration was at the front and the final pieces were at the back.

Overall, I feel as though I managed my time well, considering I finished all my computer based work, with the exception of my production diary, before the deadline date. I feel confident in my work, as the feedback I have gathered is very positive. I also like the way I chose to present it, both on my blog and in my sketch book. I think the glossy paper really adds the finalized look to the concept too, and im happy I chose to do so. Throughout the process of creating the concept, it is clear on how my skills have developed by looking through my production diary. It shows how my confidence in shading grew and therefore was able to create a detailed piece.  

[andreihan-cipm]

Project Delivery (S7)

Client / Project specifications:

Concept: The title, main  idea and aim of the magazine, purpose and theme.

Pre-Production Stages:  Target audience, Market research, Analysis of existing products, Mind maps,  Sketching layouts, Logo samples,

Design and Layout: The  look of the editorial content, graphics and additional advertising.

Production schedule:  Proposal, deadlines for each task, design schedules, printing deadline,  distribution date.

Content planning: Content  for all pages (including covers) – Headline, Lead, Body, Pictures (+captions)

Printing and Distribution:  Meet the deadline.  13/March/2017

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Review the project with your client -

It is now the 01/03/2018 and I have completed 8 Sections of the Evaluation Stages. Considering the amount of time given to complete this assignment, I must say that I have used every single minute wisely and got the best out of it. 

The production stages of the magazine have been finished on the 23/02/2018, and I have been working on the blog ever since. The magazine has also been uploaded onto blurb.co.uk and I have ordered two printed copies + a PDF optimised copy. They should arrive ON or BEFORE 05/03/2018. I have had to speed up the production process of the magazine, so it arrives on time BEFORE the submission date (13/03/2018).

This has improved my time management skills.

I have managed to get in touch with a variety of companies and individuals who are either students or artists, in which case, some of them contributed towards my project. I made sure that I gathered enough information, documentation and material for the articles from the contributors (including myself). I have made sure I provided CLEAR and ORIGINAL content, related to each one of the articles. 

I have managed to get in touch with 2 real businesses (out of 8-10), who have granted me permission to use their material as part of the advertising section in my magazine. 

I have practised a series of several different ‘jobs’, such as Photographer, Interviewer, Digital Artist, Magazine Editor, Graphic Designer, Project Manager and Journalist.

I have made sure I was very organised and kept track of every single file/folder/item that was related to and was part of my magazine. 

I have proof printed the Magazine (at the university’s library) - Errors were made but then amended.

I have checked the quality of every image that will be printed onto the pages of my magazine. According to the Preflight tool in InDesign, the pages have passed the test. No errors and no pixelated images (no resolution lost).

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Time scale: Please identify milestones

November – Project Proposal

December – Pre-Production (Ideas/Mind maps, Style/Layout of Magazine, Artists research, Content.

January – Gathering content, interviews, asking for copyright, send emails.

February – Magazine printing research, finalising page layouts and content, putting everything together

March – Get everything ready for distribution.

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Ensure the project is running to plan - 

Since there are less than 2 weeks until the submission date, even though I am almost by the finish line, I still feel like I should keep up with the good work and not stop just yet.

So far, the project has met my standards and yet everything is going as planned. I only wish that more people got in touch with me and allowed me to feature them in my magazine. However, it is an understandable situation, since most students have deadlines approaching soon, and yet it is very hard to find time. I am yet very grateful for the ones who did contribute. 

The next things I will have to do from here is to present the magazine to my tutor for professional feedback and finish off the remaining sections of the blog (S9 & S10) - Time remaining: 12 days +/-

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Check your assumptions made earlier are still valid - 

The only assumptions I have made were about the pricing of the book. I have mentioned that my total budget would be £50.00

Proof printing the magazine has costed me £15.00 (exactly)

Ordering the magazine has costed me £13.59 EACH x 2 = £27.18

Digital PDF Optimised Copy - £3.00

£15.00 + £27.18 + £3.00 = £45.18

£50.00 - £45.18 = £4.82 OUTSTANDING

 - According to all this information, I have trusted my gut feeling to set a reasonable budget to fit all my needs. I have also managed to save £4.82.

[1402385yr3personalproject]

Animatics, test animations and setting up for the final production.

Before finding out what program I was going to use to render the final in I had already done a few animation tests in Maya which where still useful as I was going to use Marmoset Toolbag 3 to render and didn’t need to redo them for Unreal engine which would require a more advanced rig. This meant I now had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen in the animation, what kind of scenes I had to animate which brought me back to this page in my sketch book. 

By this point I knew what I was going to do for a camera panning shot through the scene but I wasn’t too sure what I would do for the character animations. I decided to focus on action shots, the first half of this page focuses on the specific actions I want the character to perform in the first person camera. The second half of the page shows a basic animatic of the actions shots as a consistent shot.

The plan was to have the camera panning shot end at an open vault which is where the character starts there animations from leading them towards where the camera started. When these two animations are spliced the camera will be fore shadowing the events of the shootout between the character and the enemy. Where as the character animations will be showing these events happening whilst the camera reveals their reason to be there.

This is a Gif of the first half of the page showing the. I drew simple sketches of the action shots the character will perform. The first shot is of the layout of the scene where I plotted out the entrance, enemy position and the exit where I will add the vault. The next shot is a reload animation showing the character removing the magazine and adding putting it back in. The next shot is the inspect and cocking animations of the weapons which will be the first shot of the character, introducing them and the weapon. The next shot is of first person, crouch, run and walk animations which reminded me to try different these animations. The last is an image of aim, fire and recoil animations which are all implemented to the final animation as extra effects to the animation..

The next Gif image is of the basic animatic for the scenes which I need to capture for the final animation. Shot one to two are of the character walking to the first corner (closest to the vault/exit), shot three to four are of the character hearing someone creeping closer, then the character leaning around the corner where they start to take fire which is now revealed to be from an enemy. Shot five to six is of the character leaning back around the corner, then shooting at the enemy who is taking cover behind the other corner in the hallway closest to the entrance. Shot 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 is of the character moving towards the enemy. The enemy then hears them and goes to aim at the character. A large shootout then commences between the two characters. I simplified these scenes for the final to just have the character being fired at whilst charging up the hallway and shooting at the enemy. I thought this would work better for the final animation being a trailer increasing the tempo of the final shots.

The following gif is images from sketchbook that a drew during life drawing challenges and sessions. I took advantage of drawing any sketches possible of the model turning, curling their back or leaning as I thought this would help when it came to animating and positioning the characters waist, shoulders and arms in the shooting and looking around corner animations.

This is a test animatic of the action shots where the character approaches the corner, then walks around it approaching the enemy position where they expose their self. The main character aims, shoots and disables them and then reloads. Doing this helped when practising for what is happening in each scene involving the character of the final animation.

The images below are of the main animation folder I created for the project. Once everything was finished and the scene and rigged objects where set up in marmoset toolbag 3 fully textured I could create this file and fill it with only the assets I need for the final animation. This saved me so much time when it came to actually rendering the animations and getting everything completed.

Most of these folders are self explanatory by their name. 

Animated models including all the baked models used in the animations that will be imported into Marmoset Toolbag 3.

Animation complied folder is where I created the final video file for submission. It just includes all audio and video assets needed for rendering the final video.

Renders folder where I kept each rendered .mp4 video from Marmoset Toolbag 3. I was sure to back this up 3 times in case something tragic happens. 

The textures folder which held each final texture for the models used in the scene.

This was one for the more important folders holding all the scenes set up fully in Marmoset toolbag 3, here I saved the final version of the scene with all textures. This meant that once the animations where completed in maya all it took was baking and exporting the models then importing to Marmoset and applying the textures to the model. After this all that was left was to key frame any advanced camera animations and special effect animations, including the shell casings coming out of the weapon.  This kept everything from the lighting, rendering effects to special effects on the cameras consistent throughout the whole animation.

This is the folder that contains all of the animations from maya with everyone of their iterations. I wanted to show these images not only to show an insight on the work flow and how I did the animation but also because I thought it would be best if from here on I post videos which are progression reels of each of the animated scenes in the image below. Which will leave me to post the final animation.

I broke the final animation up into 6 parts which will be rendered individually. This is because I found out that if I was animating a scene for too long with the simple rig that I was using things would get messy after 600 frames of animation such as out of sync movements between joints or the joints will have been moved in so many directions that the getting them back into a perfect pose such as holding the weapon again took far too long and looked messy. 

The first part to animate and render is the camera moving through the scene. The second part is the reveal of the character and weapon (named inspectandload in folder). The third part is the character crouching and checking around the corner (named lookaroundcorner). The fourth part is the character shooting around the corner back at the enemy (Name shootingaroundcorner) The fifth part is a last minute addition to the animation, a slow motion scene of the characters shell casings hitting the floor following their shooting (named shellshittingfloor). The sixth part is the character coming out of cover, charging up the hallway whilst shooting back at the enemy then assuming cover behind on of the cement supports (named chargeuphallway). 

With this explained I feel like from here on out I can upload the progression reels of each animated part even ones which are not mentioned here as they where not used in the final animation. This should close the blog well with the posting of the final animation.