#and so several times i changed computers and lost everything in my gallery because i just didn't know

[moonfromearth]

Thank you so much for the tag @honeyjars-sims this was so fun to do!! 😊

OC Evolution Tag

with Corey Altman!! (because of course I was going to do Corey 😆)

2/10/2022 - 10/17/2022 - 3/19/2024 My boy is already two years old I can't believe it! It feels like yesterday I was still playing the Globetrotter Challenge 😭 There's not a lot that really changes from OG Corey to the second Corey pictured, who I refer to as Canon Corey because he's the one that appears in pretty much all extra content and is his "official look." The biggest changes are the skin details. Back when I made him the first time the only skin detail I had was the Penguin Skin Blend, which got changed to the Cicada Skin Blend. His piercings also changed, and I kind of wish I'd given him more piercings and tattoos during the Globetrotter Challenge. I did add some more to Adult Corey, which is pretty much how he looks in game now/at the present point in the timeline where we left off.

Sorry that turned out really long 😅 I think a lot of people have done this but if you didn't get tagged and want to do it go for it!! 😁

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Ok regarding that “can i make Yves do my homework if I give him my childhood pictures” ask, exactly how much access does Yves have to our lives? Does he have images or videos from when we were still a baby or would they be new information to him?

A bunch of my baby pictures and videos are lost because my dad lost the computer that had them but we recently found my aunt’s old camera filled with our childhood pictures, it was a pleasant surprise for us but would it be for Yves too?

It absolutely is. If Yves was there with you while your aunt showed you the photo gallery of her old camera, Yves would momentarily lose a bit of inhibition and let his pupils dilate to a maddening degree before instantly constricting it back to appear normal. It's a rare, super deluxe edition photos of you, there isn't anything else like it out there as they're most likely not uploaded to the internet or a cloud based service, where he could easily hack.

Him coming across media from your childhood or at least during those early days where people still go to and get their photos developed, is like winning the lottery for him. Because, although he tries to collect everything relating to your existence, there is only so much he can do in a day. He rather prioritizes the present and the future, as the past is the past; neither you nor him can change it, he can only understand or connect it to your current behaviours or thought patterns.

He does have some information about you as a baby or a child, but that is if they're "readily available" to him. (I.e., it can be found in predictable places like in your childhood home.), that is why, Yves would try to build a good relationship with people you grew up with, to extract information.

Despite being reclusive as he is, Yves would never fail to attend every and any family gathering he is invited to or expected to come. Encouraging that drunk uncle to drink more if he knew he has something to say about you, bribing your relatives with gifts and career opportunities, perhaps even drugging that really difficult and combative cousin to make them more bearable to interrogate.

As soon as he knew your aunt could be another goldmine of your data, he would get to work. Wasting no time building a rapport with her, it's a piece of cake given how obsessive and manipulative his nature is.

Inevitably, your aunt will come to love him and see Yves as family. By extension, her relationship with you will skyrocket too, she will invite you to her place much more often even though she might not be the most sociable person in the first place. Yves will find a way to make her bend to his whims.

The majority of their conversations would be about you, only sometimes Yves would talk about something else if it meant he could keep the drive to spill more about your lore going. His sharp ears and mind will pick up on clues as to where he might find more pictures or writings about you. He would then break into your aunt's home to give it a thorough shakedown and leave without a trace. Yves would repeat this process until he's positive that she has nothing left to offer. That camera is getting fucking stolen and replaced with a duplicate.

It didn't matter if your aunt was a minimalist or a severe hoarder, he would go through all her things just to try and find pieces of your puzzle. He would wade through cobwebs, dust piles, rat droppings and mould if he had to, Yves isn't scared to get dirty to obtain what he wants, "squeamish" isn't in his vocabulary.

When she is robbed of all your essence, Yves would become distant. Not hostile towards her, just cold and indifferent. He would still maintain some sort of relationship with her though, in case she becomes useful again later. As of now, he either puts his entire focus on your current peripheral and direct life, or start to hunt other members down- from his snooping, he had learned of other people who may have valuable input about your childhood.

All of this is happening in the background. You wouldn't suspect a thing, there wasn't a dip in his attention for you. In fact, he may have gotten a lot more smothering, as Yves would be shaking at the thought of testing out his new theories and hypothesis that were birthed from his new knowledge.

He just loves you so much that he couldn't help himself but to get greedy. Yves wants all of you; past, present and future. And any version of you that could have been.

[shikantazaart]

Shikantaza Creativity Interview III - SPARTALIEN

At Shikantaza we are not content to just create art. We want to understand art. We want to understand the people who make art. Into the act of creation. Who are the people behind the art work? What motivates them? Where do they find their inspiration?

No two people think and act alike, so it is even less likely to find two artists who think and act alike. Yet, there will be crossovers, shared thoughts and shared experiences. Where do we adjoin and where do we diverge?

Our series of interviews with artists and creators aims to answer these questions.

In interview number three we speak to multimedia experimenter SPARTALIEN. You can find his creations here https://spartalien.com/visual as well as a collection of his work in the Shikantaza gallery.

1 - Starting with the most important question - Who is Memoria?

Memoria is Latin and means, when translated, memory / remembrance.

I named the merchandise for the album "2358" Memoria instead of Memory, because the main track titles are also translated into Latin.

I see my merchandise as small memories/artefacts. Not only because they are very rare, but because I can never go back to that time.

“Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things” - Cicero

2 - You work across different mediums. Do you have any preference for a specific form? When did you first find the format that was “you”?

I became really infected with the digital virus around in the late 90s when I built my first computer. A year or two later I started taking photos and manipulating them digitally. I also had a few printed, which allowed me to bring the digital into the real world. Then I discovered IRC and started learning a little bit of TCL. Since I had fun coding, I decided to learn the basics of web development because I needed a website to show my pictures to other people. In general, I was fascinated by the flow of information on the Internet. That distance is no longer a real hurdle when it comes to data transmission.

I've always loved music as a listener and small collector. I was then and still am one of those people who never go out of the house for long periods of time without a Walkman. Music production came into play when a couple of friends set up a small studio where they produced Techno/Psy. When I was there for the first time, I knew immediately that I wanted to try it too. A few old tracks from back then are still available on my website.

From then on, many of my projects have developed in the direction of music.  The input for a program was often music metadata or it was a website that was about music in some way or another. But since I was still at the very beginning of my learning process, I kept discarding practically everything in order to improve it or to learn new things. Around 2001, I started a web radio with friends, which was online for several years. The music was mainly Downtempo, Trip-Hop, IDM and Ambient. Promos from unknown artists from around the world were also broadcasted.

The atmosphere, the feeling I got from this time - how the music finds me and not the other way around, how it can change people's thoughts - has never left me since then.

3 - Do you feel that each medium allows you to express yourself differently from the others? How do you choose which medium you work in any given moment?

Yes. But I think you can convey the same feelings with any medium. The question is how direct it is. For example, pain can be expressed with fire but also with a chair in an empty room. At the end of the day, in my opinion, it's not about the artist's intention but about the perception of the viewer and his or her subsequent thoughts and actions. For example, imagine you make a dark ambient track that you experience as sad and heavy, but someone else tells you that it helped to relax and develop thoughts.

In addition to all of this, each medium also has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to technical implementation. So, sometimes the choice can also purely depend on skill or resources.

We all have ideas and often out ambitions outweigh our resources. Sometimes we need more resources, but more often than not we need to chip away at our ideas until our ambitions and resources align.

4 - Do you seek different sources of inspiration for your music than you would for your visual creations?

It's everything in the world around me that inspires me. Everything I perceive and feel, so to speak. Most of the time I don't have a melody or a picture in my head. It is more of a feeling and then I look for the right tone or shape for it, so to speak.

5 - How closely are your creations connected to each other?

Very close one could say - through my thoughts that I have wrapped in it. I always had a bit of a problem putting my thoughts into words. I tend to stray through various topics when I talk about something. With music and visuals, it feels lighter and more natural to get to the point. The "message" doesn't always get through, but being able to do so is liberating and invaluable to me.

6 - If you were to direct people to a specific piece of work that you feel really nails what you are aiming for with your creations, which would it be?

This is a hard question. Maybe I would ask you to sit down and listen to the album "FLOATING HIGH" in one sitting. Since it felt like coming home to me while making it. The music is less intrusive and not as precise in its message as the previous releases. Like its cover art, where the clouds could be seen as opening or closing. I wanted to create tracks that leave more room for thought while still telling a story.

7 - You have “X minutes of peace” on your site. Why is this needed? Was this made for you or for others?

For others but also for myself. For me it is self-reflection that allows me to understand myself better. But since I have problems with "just switching off my head", the moments in which I just sit quietly and let the recording device do its work are very valuable. In moments like these I can really switch off and think about something very carefully. Asking questions even though I feel like I don't have an answer. Or simply enjoying the precious fresh air and sounds of nature.

Unfortunately, too many people don't have time for that kind of peace. Too much pressure is on them. They either get this or that, or they can't survive. It's so sad how the system works. I simply think that if everyone would have more inner-peace, the world would be a better place. But then again, what do I know living under a rock between mountains?

The videos should allow us to find peace for a few minutes, no matter where we are. So that new and hopefully useful thoughts can develop.

The series  Let It All Go is actually the same thing, just with music.

For the really dark hours there is BRAIN I/O. From time to time I prefer to embrace the pressure. Difficult to describe. The concept is basically: don't think, just feel and record it. It's about things that I personally want to leave behind or at least want to learn to accept (not necessarily being okay with) them if I can't change them.

Peace is an issue for me. When I briefly find it only points the way to the next act. This is fantastic but self defeating. Why can’t we just stay in peace?

8 - When inspiration has left the building where do you look to find it?

I'm not really actively looking for inspiration. Somehow it doesn't work that way for me. So variety is important to me. That is why I usually have several side projects going on in the areas that I do not much publicize. Much of it never leaves my hard drive and is mainly intended to free my mind and get on to new ideas in the process. Coding, graphics, drawing, etc. But the music production is and remains the main focus.

9 - These are the questions I am asking all the interviewees. Why do you create? What is it that pushes you to keep creating?

The inner child is just too strong. I've been living for a while and I know exactly nothing. It kind of feels like that. So many things that you can create with the computer alone. I'm stuck in that loop where you just love to create things and learn - and use the new knowledge to create new things. Things!

10 - What would most assist you to create more works? Is there an ultimate goal for your creations?

More time and resources for sure. but most important to me is the feeling that my loved ones are safe. When I have to worry about their future because the system is going the way it is, it feels like a pile of stones in my head.

The creative / social goal of my art is relatively simple and based on my own experience. Art has helped me tremendously when I felt lost - or when I was just "bored". Taking time to really listen to or look at something can be very liberating.

My short-term financial goal is to generate a more or less regular income through art. But since I never released anything commercially before 2016, this world is still new to me.

My dream goal is to hear my music in film and games and to generate an income that supports my family.

Nonetheless, I think goals are here to create an initial path, not necessarily motivation.

I do not know of a single soul who has not been lost. Some never find their way back. Some don’t need to find their way back, they are happier in the place they found.

11 - If you were to offer a creator any advice what would it be?

Based on my own experience in no particular order:

Stay curious and open minded for different viewpoints.

Tutorials can limit your creativity. Sure, learn the basics, but explore as much as you can on your own and never be afraid to fail. It's a process, not a game.

On projects that take longer than a day to complete, set yourself a deadline when you want to have it completed. Not important if it takes longer, but in general that helps to stay more focused.

Very few things are easy when you start.

Limitations are not necessarily bad.

Don't wait for motivation to create. It will kick in usually a few minutes after you've started. Therefore keep your tools ready and organized so you can start creating at any time.

You can always turn off the internet.

Be open for constructive criticism.

Especially for the digital crowd, backup your stuff!

(All images and works by SPARTALIEN)

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 42

~*~Sebastian~*~

 Today has not been ideal.

Sure, my day started well enough. Emma laid out on the bar while I went down her was a very good way to begin. The sexy texts during her planning period was fun. Ed didn't threaten to kill me while we were texting. I got a text from Chace letting me know he'd be in town the week Emma was in Georgia. And I’m pretty confident talking to Emma tonight will be good. However, since the rest of my day has been shit, I'm a little worried.

 My train back into the city got stopped for who knows what reason. I was late getting to the gym. I wasn't the last to arrive and was in a good mood compared to others. The grocery didn't have the yogurt I wanted. Someone had either shit or vomited in the garbage can outside my building. I got stopped by a couple of fans, which isn't bad, but it was too close to my home. I don't care for that. Kirk didn't answer his phone and I remembered Will was out of town until tomorrow. I texted him asking if he could help me find something.

 All of this was trivial, but it was making me whiny.

 I think I miss her.

 Maybe not miss her, but like the letdown, after you've done something fun. Like the day you get back from vacation or post-concert depression. That's probably more accurate.

 No, I miss her.

 I said yes when the blonde drunk asked if she was my girlfriend. Probably should have checked with her first. I Googled "When is she your girlfriend" mostly because I was bored and whiny. This turned out to be like when you check your symptoms and hours later you still have cancer. There were lists. Thirty-two signs she's your girlfriend and seven she isn’t. You've met her friends. She cooks for you. You do activities together. She's met your family. You look forward to seeing her. All your time isn’t spent in bed. You enjoy talking to her. You can ask anything.

 Emma doesn’t know my friends, but I’m working on it. Also, found an incredible article that said you should have an idea by the seventh or eighth date. I started doing math. If every day is a date then were had eight dates. The next paragraph said, "But really it’s up to the couple."

 I realize this is me overthinking.

 I like the whole logical Google curated list of how to tell, but I think the best idea would be to have the relationship talk. Honestly, I don't have a problem having the relationship conversation. It’s just negotiating parts and deciding on a plot. Stalkers and people with relationship disorders have ruined "the talk" by inserting all sorts of shit into it. Bottom line: don't date other people and I get to call you my girlfriend. I know why I haven't brought up "the relationship." Because I've been too busy enjoying having one. Emma doesn't come across as someone who needs to define and label. It's not as if either of us hasn't been clear. I said it's not a long weekend thing. She said she was falling in love with me. Ok, not exactly those words. I may have added one. Doesn't change the facts or that it’s not just her.

Will texted back and I was going over to his place after the gym tomorrow. He sent something to the group chat with the guys and I laid on the couch going back and forth with them for a long time. Most of us were online, which happened more often than you might think. Anyone who wasn't would catch up later. This worked for us to keep up with each other's lives and tonight it was a fun distraction from my whiny assed mood.

 Group chat got a hasty "gotta run" when FaceTime lit up my screen. I hit connect and smiled. She looked fresh from a shower with wet hair and a clean face. She had on a purple tank top. "Your eyes look very green with that purple tank. Beautiful."

 "Thank you. You look tired."

I huffed out a breath, "Just a blah day. I’m kinda whiny. Seeing your pretty face is helping."

"Happy to help. What happened?" She shifted around and I could tell she was stretching out on her couch.

 I told her the multitude of little things that had gone on today, leaving out my frustration with no one being in town. "Nothing major. As I said, I’m being whiny. Plus, I think I miss you."

"I've noticed a distinct lack of you today as well."

 I laughed, "I like that. How was your day?"

Except for rambunctious children, she’d had a good day. I was glad. She had a good work out, her talk with Ed had been less inquisition and more fun, and volleyball practice had been short and turned into dinner with friends. They had a game Wednesday night and that was it.

 We laid on the couch talking about everything and nothing until I saw her yawn.

 ~*~*~

 I was in a much better mood in the morning. I got to the gym early and had run close to an hour before the others arrived. It was a heavy weight day and I felt strong throughout. When we were done, I was tired but felt good. I called Will on my way over and picked up some food. It was a little early for lunch, but we had some shit to do first. When Will answered the door I started laughing, "I'm so happy to see you."

"You too."

We hugged and I walked inside. Seeing him made me excited to talk about Emma. I'd talked to the guys at the gym, but a different level of friend. Very different. I wanted to tell someone important to me about how important I think she is. Being here is making me feel like I might explode. Why didn't I do this last week? I grabbed him for another hug, "So happy."

He laughed, "What the hell is going on?"

 "Do you have pictures from Kirk’s wedding?"

He scratched his head, "Some." We headed toward his desk where his computer was set up. I grabbed a chair from the dining table, pulling it over. "What are you looking for?"

"Not a what. A who." Will’s laugh confirmed I had a big smile on my face.

Will moved the mouse to wake the screen. "Kirk put everything on a web site. That might be better. I saved the link. My girl looked hot."

I was thinking I bet mine did too. I reached over Will for control of the mouse and clicked through the gallery. I was looking for Emma, but also Eli's long hair. First time I thought I saw her was standing next to Eli. The shot was from behind. If it was her, she had her hair pulled up with the loose ends hanging in ringlets. Her dress was dark green. Another dozen clicks and I found her. The front of her. She held a glass of champagne talking with Kirk and Boone. I took my hand from the mouse and pointed, "Her."

 Will pointed at her and looked at me, "Emma."

I mumbled, "Son of a bitch." I looked at my phone and saw she had about ten minutes left of her planning. I hit FaceTime and put the phone in front of both of us. Will looked confused. "Wait."

 Emma's face popped up and she said, "Hey, Sebastian." She saw it wasn't only me. She looked a little surprised then said, "Will?"

I fell onto the floor and yelled, "Mother fucker."

They were both laughing and I heard Emma's voice, "I haven't heard that from him before."

Will said, "It's a favorite. How did this..."

He was cut off by Alissa coming into the room and standing over me, "What's going on?" I watched her look at the screen, "Oh hey, Emma. Sorry I missed girl’s night last time. Will, are you introducing them?"

"No, I think they took care of it themselves."

They both knew her. I yelled, "Shit", and flopped onto my stomach.

 I heard Emma's voice again, "Is he having a temper tantrum?"

Will said, "No."

Alissa said, "Yes. Look." I was face down, but I assume she was showing Emma me. "Complete temper tantrum." Alissa’s phone rang, "I'll leave you to them. Next girl's night I'm there."

"Absolutely. Bye, Alissa."

 I was never going to get off this floor.

"My kids are due back. Sebastian, I'll talk to you later. Will, good luck with him."

I yelled, "Bye, Em."

Will kicked me, "Get up, dumbass."

 I crawled over to the couch, "How do you know her?"

"Oh no, no." Will joined me on the couch, "How do you know her?"

 I wasn’t arguing. It would be faster this way. "She lives up where mom moved. I got lost looking for chocolate chips at the grocery. She helped me find shit. I asked her out to dinner."

"Of course, you did. The lost in the grocery part." He was chuckling. "I'm surprised you asked out a complete stranger. Did she know you were you?"

 I shook my head, "Not until I introduced myself. Then she laughed."  Will did too. "She'd just come from the gym. Maybe some mascara, hair in a ponytail, and gym clothes. She was beautiful and so kind to this lost crazy guy. Then went spent like nine hours sitting in a restaurant talking."

 "Nine hours?" He shook his head, "Long time."

I glared at him, "Now, how do you know her?"

"I don't remember when I met her. It's been a long time. I'm sure it was a party or maybe one of Boone's gigs. She had a boyfriend. Then she didn't. She moved and hasn't been around as much. She always with Eli and his wife. I can't say I know her. She's always been nice and fun. Never heard anybody bitch about her. I think her boyfriend cheated."

I nodded as Alissa came back into the room. She spoke, "He cheated for months before she found out. Emma lived with Eli and Angie until she moved." She looked at me. "I've been out with her a bunch of times. She's a lot of fun. She’s kind, like you. I can see you two getting along."

"Why didn't either of you introduce us?"

 Alissa looked at Will then me, "She had a boyfriend and then she moved."

 Will added, "Several of us thought she was in a throuple with Eli and Angie."

I rolled my eyes and Alissa smacked the back of his head. "You did not."

"Yes, we did."

"You were wishing is more like it." She turned her attention back to me. "She wasn't."

"I know she wasn't."

 Alissa came to me and kissed my cheek, "I'm excited for both of you."

 Will stood and gave his wife a proper kiss, "I'II see you later, love you."

She smiled at him, "Love you too." She headed for the door, calling back, "Love you too, Seb."

"I love you." I watched the door close before looking back at Will. "I was going to be pissed if I'd done something stupid like saying no to being set up."

"I didn't. Maybe Kirk." I glared at him and he laughed. "Too bad you weren't at the wedding. She looked beautiful."

"Always does."

 "Oh, you've got it bad." I nodded. "Tell me all about her." He held his hand up waved in.

 I felt my smile forming, "I fucking adore her. She... ah..." I couldn't figure out where to start. "She has these green eyes and when she smiles she gets a dimple in her left cheek, just the one. Her hair is halfway down her back and feels like silk. The way she touches is delicate but strong. Sunday for over an hour she stroked my beard, just touching me. I would have let her do that forever, her fingers on my face." I tried to imitate on Will’s arm how she touches: the slow approach that becomes firm then eases away. "Something like that. We went to dinner, a walk by the river, she cooked dinner and we ate on her deck. We made Barbeque chicken sandwiches and this weekend she made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We went to an art fair and got mom stained glass. I won a fish for her room. Did a haunted house and line dancing. Went to the gym, she helped mom moving stuff, and we had a Romanian dinner. This weekend was a volleyball tournament where her team kicked ass. The best part was she ignored me the whole game. I had to give her a good luck kiss between sets, but that’s it. She was all in the game. I loved that she ignored me."

 Will added, "So maybe she won't take it personally when you ignore her."

"Yes.” Exactly why I loved her ignoring me. “And we've stretched out on the couch reading or watching TV showing each other our favorites. Even danced to some ABBA."

 I’d just done some kind of core dump and I could see Will's head was swimming, "You're been busy. That’s a lot of shit. Why are you just telling me, this has been going on for weeks?"

"No, it hasn’t. I met her last Friday."

 “You’ve spent all your time the last two weekends getting to know her.” He was looking at me funny. “Wow.”

 “Wow?”

 "Yeah, wow.” He made faces moving his lips back and forth "I mean... I want to tell you you've known her eleven days, you need to be careful." He laughed and grabbed my arm. “But I don’t know what you need to be careful of. I don’t think Emma gives a shit who you are. I think she's connected to music somehow. I don't know who, but I remember Kirk talking about some concert and Emma being the one to hook you up if you needed tickets.”

 I knew exactly who the hookup was. I liked he was telling me to be careful. I let out a little laugh, "She doesn't care. She's curious about my job, but not in a weird voyeuristic way. I'm not even sure what movies she's seen."

 Will smiled, "What a weird conversation. How do you start it, even? Hey baby, I was wondering which of my movies you've seen? Maybe rank them in order."

 I cringed, "Might say more about her than me. I needed experience and money. What's her excuse for watching?" We shared a smile and I went on, "I get what you're saying. I appreciate it. I have only known her for eleven days. I’m ok. Hell, I'm a lot better than ok. It's really good. The talking, the sex, the feelings. It's all really good."

 Recognition flared on his face. "I want to tell you to be careful because you're jumping in headfirst and I don't want you, my friend, to get hurt."

 I don't get over relationships easy. Takes me awhile and with the help of friends. I hate seeing my friends hurting too. I put a hand on his shoulder, “Thank you." I shrugged, "At least I’m jumping in the deep end."

 "Right in the deep end."

 We moved to the table to eat and continue talking. I checked his schedule because he and Alissa joining in this weekend sounded fun. I'd told Emma I wanted her to meet my friends and since she, Alissa, and Angie knew each other this seemed natural.

 Emma didn't have practice tonight so we were on FaceTime earlier. She was walking away from the kitchen when she answered, "Done with your tantrum?"

 I held my thumb and forefinger an inch apart, "Just a little one."

 "I can't believe the Will in your stories is Alissa's husband Will. I replayed the memories while I was on the treadmill. Did he give me a good character reference?"

 Her giving me back my words made me warm, "Yeah, said you were kind, fun, and didn't give a shit who I was. Oh, and thinks you're connected to a musician because you got Kirk tickets to something. I didn't tell him who." I didn’t want her to think I would tell her secrets.

 "Thank you, but you can. Not worried about privacy issues around your friends. Pretty sure your address on eBay would make more money than Ed's. Everyone knows where his house is."

 I was startled, "How?"

 "Some guy put the GPS coordinates on Reddit complete with Google satellite pics. Google has since blurred out the images and the realtor scrubbed the listing.”

 "Nope," I was shaking my head, "no, no, no, no, no. What's somebody going to do, ring the bell and say, dude, wanna have a beer? How would anybody think that level of invasion of privacy is acceptable. Right up there with fans commenting hateful shit to my friends. Drives me fucking crazy. Used to. I called them out and now we keep a list and rank them. Still gets to me sometimes."

 Her eyes got big, "I'm going to start a list of the wildly inappropriate sexual comments when you post a picture on Instagram."

 I held up my hands and laughed, "You'll never be able to keep up. We both know I'm down for some dirty talk, but wow, they can make me blush. I barely skim comments anymore. I used to respond to some. I miss that, but the other got out of hand."

 "What do you mean?"

 "Whoever I responded to became a target like my friends."

 "That's crazy."

 "Exactly."

 "We used to celebrate when someone got a follow or response. I'm sure there was jealousy, just not so public. I think the more time with social media the more people have taken advantage of the anonymity to say things they'd never say to someone's face."

 I smirked, "Some say it in person." I’d fielded some pretty filthy propositions over the years.

 "You gotta shoot your shot. I’ve seen it work at festivals. Hell, even a sign in the first rows. I don't think some of them understood what they were getting themselves into. The hotel bar isn't where you get a date."

 "That's a grocery store!” I held my hands up like I’d scored a touchdown. Because I had. “Everyone knows the best place to pick up women is the grocery store baking aisle." At least it was for me.

 "I'd heard, but didn't believe until a couple of weekends ago." We took a few seconds to just took at each other before Emma spoke again, "I talked to Angie today. They're free Saturday. What do you think about inviting Alissa and Will?"

 "I was going to ask you about that. I know they're free."

 "I do too!"

 "Exactly how well do you two know each other?" I gave her a worried look and Emma responded as I wanted, with a smile that grew into a little laugh.

 "Not well at all. We've been out together several times, but we've never talked outside of them. Angie and I thought we could order in, hang out at their place."

 "Sounds good." I didn’t care what we did or where we did it. "Tell me about your day."

[leigh-kelly]

(More Hospital!AU)

Like she predicted, Santana gets a yeast infection from her antibiotics and she’s absolutely miserable until the Diflucan kicks in. She’s irritable with Brittany, she’s short with Liam  and she groans more than she should when she wakes up to feed the twins. But then it’s over and Lauren starts at the hospital and the Pierces are coming to look at places to live in New York and Santana calms down. Like she always does after a bought with misery, she apologizes profusely to Brittany, she hugs the boys a little tighter and things go back to normal.

“My mom just called, they landed.” Brittany comes into Santana’s office where she’s working, phone still in her hand.

“I really feel bad we didn’t pick them up. Today was just a lot.”

“I know, if I rescheduled Mrs. Heeling’s surgery again she would have lost it. But they’re fine, they’re used to Boston. They just didn’t want to drive down and when we said they could use the car to go out to Long Island...”

“I can’t believe they’re going to bring our three kids to look at houses.” Santana laughs. “Though I’m sure my mother appreciates a few days to herself.”

“I think it will be good for your mom if my mom can take some of the days from her. She’s been absolutely amazing but I feel like it’s becoming a lot.”

“I’m just starting to realize that she’s getting older. Liam starting school will help, when she just has Max and Oliver, but before we know it they’re going to be all over the place.”

“That’s the first time you’ve said that without crying.” Brittany kisses Santana on the forehead. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me just make my last notations in this chart and return it to the nurse’s station. I’ve got sepsis in a three year old, if it gets worse, I’m going to come in tonight. I’m not leaving it to the on call doctor.”

“Whatever you need to do, honey. I get it.”

Santana finishes up with her chart and she and Brittany leave the hospital, anxious to be there by the time Brittany’s parents get to the house. They get home and all three boys are taking a nap way too late but Maribel tells them Liam refused his nap and then passed out on the living room floor while he was playing. Though they invite Maribel to come to dinner with the Pierces, she gently declines, her eyes giving away that it was a really long day and she’s just ready to rest in the privacy of her own home.

“We should at least wake up Liam, shouldn’t we?” Santana asks once her mom is out the door.

“Let him sleep, he’ll be up late with my parents and a little while longer might do him some good. Do you want to take a shower first or should I?”

“Do you mind if I do? I feel extra disgusting today.”

“Go ahead, I’m going to start dinner and then I’ll jump in.”

Leaving Brittany downstairs, Santana goes up into their bathroom and turns the shower as hot as it can go. She steps under the spray of the water and lets it seep into her skin, rinsing off the grime of her day. When she’s finished, she turns off the water and hears Brittany calling her from downstairs. It’s unlike Brittany when she knows Santana is in the shower and so she quickly gets dressed and goes downstairs to find Brittany sprawled on the kitchen floor.

“Are you okay?” Santana bends down beside her and sees Brittany’s face contorted in pain.

“I fell off the kitchen counter and I’m pretty sure my tibia and fibula destroyed.” Brittany breathes through the pain, something Santana never can believe that another human being is capable of. “Can you look at it?”

“Britt...I can see it from here. We need to get you to the ER.”

“The kids...”

“Look, I’ll call Mercedes. She’ll come here and sit with them until your parents get here. This isn’t a joke.”

“I know it’s not a joke.” Brittany snaps a little. “I’m sorry...it just hurts like hell.”

”Just give me five minutes, I’ll get everything situated.”

Santana immediately snaps into her taking care of business mode and she gets Mercedes on the phone. Then, because she’s concerned about moving Brittany’s leg to get her into the car, she calls an ambulance. She’s so glad the the boys are still sleeping when the paramedics bring a stretcher into the house and help Brittany get on it. Santana knows she’s in a lot of pain because she doesn’t argue with the fact that she’s not doing this on her own and Santana just holds her hand until Mercedes gets there and they can leave.

“Do me a favor?” Santana murmurs to Mercedes. “Don’t let Brittany’s parents come to the hospital, it’ll be too much for them.”

“I won’t.” Mercedes promises. “But I’ll meet you there once they get here.”

“Thank you.”

The ambulance bay at the hospital brings back horrifying memories of mass casualty incidents for Santana as they enter through the back and she wonders if Brittany feels the same way. She just lays silent and white faced as the paramedics wheel her in and Santana squeezes her hand. Neither of them know the name of the new ortho attending that comes to see Brittany, but considering surgical is already involved, they both assume that the paramedics called in a worse break than they’d expected.

“We’re going to have to surgically repair it.” The young doctor who introduces himself as Dr. Hart tells Brittany after her x-rays come back. “You saw the bones, they’re both shattered, you’ll need a rod to hold them in place.”

“Is Tina Cohen-Chang on in anesthesiology?” Brittany asks calmly. “If she is, that’s who I want. How long have you been at this hospital?”

“Three months, I know who you are, Dr. Pierce, I’ve just never had the pleasure of working with you. I’ll see about Dr. Cohen-Chang for you.”

“I’m sitting in the gallery.” Santana interrupts.

“Santana. No you’re not.” Brittany shakes her head. “I need you to go talk to Sue, let her know what’s going on and to call my parents so they don’t have to hear I’m in here from Mercedes. You don’t need to be in the gallery, its just going to make you anxious.”

“But—“

“No. Please, Santana. I don’t want to argue with you.”

“Okay.” She concedes and kisses Brittany on the forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Hart, don’t screw this up.”

Before she does anything else, Santana listens to Brittany’s request that she call her parents. Whitney is beside herself when she hears that Brittany is in the hospital but Santana convinces her that everything will be fine and the best thing she can do is stay with the boys. Then, she calls her own mother and has a mini-breakdown, sobbing ugly sobs in the waiting room. Brittany has been the one in this position before, sitting in the waiting room when she had her breasts fixed, watching her as the twins were delivered early, but Santana doesn’t think she has the mental capacity for the roles to be reversed. She knows that she has to talk to Sue, tell her that Brittany is in surgery, but she can’t seem to get herself together.

“Hey, I know this is killing you, but you need to pull yourself together.” Mercedes sinks down in the chair next to Santana and holds out her hand. “She’s going to be fine.”

“What do you know about this Hart guy?”

“I checked him out in the cab on the way over. He was first in his class at Johns Hopkins, did his residency at UCLA, he’s good. She’s in good hands.”

“Goddamn it. She’s always the strong one, ‘Cedes. I don’t know how to do this.”

“Yes you do, you did it for Oliver.”

“I almost had a damn nervous breakdown after he was born. It was Brittany holding me together.”

“I’m here, okay? You’re not alone. She’s going to get out of this surgery and she’s going to recover and everything is going to be okay. You know that I don’t bullshit you.”

“I know.”

“You need to go talk to the chief. She needs to know that one of her department heads is in surgery, if the rumor mill hasn’t gotten to her already.”

“You’ll text me if someone comes out?”

“Immediately.” Mercedes promises. “Go.”

Wiping her face with her hands, Santana pulls it together and goes to the elevator. Sue is in her office when Santana gets there and she lightly taps on the door. The chief looks up, surprised to see her so late, and waves Santana in. Shifting her weight between feet, Santana takes a deep breath and looks Sue in the face.

“Hi Chief Sylvester, I just wanted to let you know that Brittany is in surgery right now. She fell of the kitchen counter and her leg is pretty damaged.”

“Who’s doing the surgery?” Sue clicks at the screen in her computer. “Dr. Hart, good choice.”

“We didn’t really have a choice, he was the on call doctor.”

“Well she’s lucky, he’s good.”

“Look, she just wanted you to hear it from me, so...”

“I’ll deal with HR for a medical leave for her. She’ll probably be in no shape to talk to me in the morning, but let her know it’s taken care of.”

“I know her, she’ll want to do her admin stuff from home.”

“Not this week. We’ll talk about it when she’s had time to recover. I’ll take over her scheduling for the time being and shift around her surgeries. She’s helped me enough, I just want her to heal.”

Santana thinks of all the times she’s thought Sue was a hard ass, but she’s surprisingly gentle when it comes to Brittany, and for that, Santana is grateful. She thanks Sue several times and goes back down to the waiting room where Mercedes is flipping through a magazine. She gets back in the chair next to her and sighs heavily.

“Everything go okay?”

“Yeah, I mean, she was super accommodating. She’s going to deal with the HR stuff, so...”

Hours pass and Santana FaceTimes with the boys, promising Liam that everything is okay and she’ll kiss him when she gets home. Finally, Hart comes out and he tells Santana that Brittany did well and is in recovery. She can’t get there fast enough, she’s not even sure that she thanked Mercedes for watching the boys or for sitting with her for hours but she just wants to see her wife. When she gets to the recovery room, Brittany has her eyes closed and Santana sinks down beside her, taking her hand.

“You’re pretty.” Brittany giggles, opening her eyes.

“And you’re very high.” Santana lets out a breathy, relieved laugh.

“I don’t feel anything in my leg. Joe said that it’s fixed, so that’s good.”

“Yeah, he said it was an easier surgery than he was expecting and if you’re up for it, you can go home tonight.”

“I want to sleep in my own bed. With you, pretty lady.”

“We can make that happen, you know we just have to make sure you hit your milestones.”

“Santana, I’m going to be out of work for a long time.”

“Six weeks, minimum. You need to heal it, you have to be able to stand for hours at a time.”

“I know. This is going to hurt like hell tomorrow.”

“I called Shelby while I was waiting. I’m taking the rest of the week. Good thing I still have so much banked time from all the years I didn’t take it.” Santana sighs.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It takes awhile before Brittany is ready to go home, but when she is, a nurse wheels her out to the curb and Santana gets a cab. She puts Brittany’s crutches in first then helps her get situated and walks around to the other side. Because of the surgery, Brittany old has a soft cast on and Santana is extra careful that nothing touches her leg.

When they get to the house, Brittany is surprisingly good—even still under the influence of anesthesia and morphine—maneuvering on the crutches but Santana helps her up the front stairs and then Pierce comes running out to help Santana get her up in the inside staircase to bed. Once she’s settled and has taken a dose of her pills, Santana takes a deep breath and Whitney taps on the door.

“What can I do?” She asks helplessly.

“Mom, I’m okay, it’s just a little break.” Brittany yawns, tired from all the medication. “You and dad can go to bed.”

“Oh, honey.” Whitney comes over to Brittany’s side of the bed and kisses her forehead. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

Once Whitney has said her good nights and Pierce comes in to do the same, Santana goes down the hall to Liam’s room. She kisses him and he murmurs in his sleep, trying to fight his body to talk to her. She’ll get up with him in the morning, exhausted as she is, because she wants things to be as normal as possible for him even though it’ll be difficult with Brittany down for the count. Once he’s tucked back under his blankets, she goes back into the bedroom and sees Brittany flipping through the channels on TV. She lifts Max and Oliver from their bed and guides her achingly full breasts to them so she can nurse them for the first time since early in the morning.

“I’m sorry, Santana.” Brittany whispers.

“Why are you sorry?”

“For not being more careful. It was a careless mistake and now...”

“Britt.” Santana shifts Max a little so she can kiss Brittany’s temple. “It was just an accident, we’ll figure it all out.”

“It’s just running through my head all I won’t be able to do with only one good leg.”

“Our focus is on getting you healed. Your parents are here, my mom isn’t far away, we have support to help us while you recover. If you want the privacy, we’ll keep you up here, if you want to be in the center of everything, we’ll get you downstairs and set up on the couch. I know you’re good on those crutches, but I don’t know how much you’ll feel like walking around at first.”

”It just...really hurts.”

“I broke my arm when I was seven. I don’t remember anything about it except how bad it hurt. Do you want a pill?”

“It hasn’t been long enough since they gave me the Vicodin at the hospital.” Brittany shakes her head. “I’ll wait, try to sleep, just...focus on something other than the pain.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Let’s just go to sleep.”

When Santana wakes up in the morning, she can tell by the way Brittany is snoring that she woke up and took another Vicodin during the night. Brittany is always so tough, it’s hard for Santana to know that she’s in so much pain. She gently kisses her forehead and slips out of bed. It’s earlier than she’d like to be up, Max and Oliver are still sleeping, but because she didn’t take an Ambien in case Brittany needed her, she’s awake.

She goes into the bathroom, takes a shower and brushes her teeth, coming out just in time for Oliver to start whining. Not wanting Brittany to get woken up, Santana lifts Oliver from the bassinet and then takes Max too, careful not to jostle him and wake him up. When she gets downstairs, Whitney is already awake and has made coffee, so she hands Santana a full mug once she puts Max down and has Oliver settled on her breast.

“Did you sleep at all?” Whitney asks Santana.

“Barely, I was so worried about Brittany. It’s a bad break and...I just...it’s stupid.”

“It’s probably not stupid.”

“Seeing her hurt is hard for me. She always has it so together and looking at her last night splayed on the kitchen floor in pain, it was just a lot.”

“You love her so intensely. As horrible as it is that she’s hurt, it makes me so glad to see the way you love her. I know you’ve been married over a year now, but I haven’t gotten to see this much before, I only know what Brittany tells me.”

“I’m sure there were a lot of not so great things.” Santana sighs.

“She’s never said a bad word about your love got her. She just worried about the difficulties you had after the twins were born.”

“She’s my rock. I’m trying to be a rock for her too.”

“You are.” Whitney pats Santana’s arm. “Trust me.”

Once Max is finished eating and Santana finishes her coffee, she goes upstairs, peeks into the bedroom to see that Brittany is still sleeping, then goes into Liam’s room. She knows that he’ll be up any minute, so she crawls under the covers with him, stroking his hair. She’s not sure how much he knows about what happened to Brittany, so she wants to be there as soon as he wakes up to answer any questions.

“Hi, Mommy Noodle.” He murmurs, burrowing into her side. “Why are you in my bed?”

“I just wanted to cuddle a little bit with you, Sir.”

“Is Mama sick? Gramma said she was at the hospital but not to get worried.”

“Mama broke her leg. She’s okay, but we’re going to have to be really careful with her. We can’t run and jump around her.”

“Can I cuddle her?”

“We’ll have to see how she feels, but I’m sure she’ll want a big hug from you.”

“Can I see how she feels now?”

“We can go see if she’s awake.” Santana mods. “But we need to be really quiet in case she’s still sleeping.”

Holding Liam’s hand, Santana creeps down the hall. When they get to the bedroom, Brittany is sitting propped up on the pillows frantically typing away on her phone. Liam’s smile is wide when he sees that she’s awake and he climbs up on the bed so carefully to get to her side. He lays his head on Brittany and she pulls him as close as she can, hugging him tightly.

“Mama, I was so scared when Gramma told me you had to go to the hospital.”

“Can I tell you a secret, bud?”

“Yes, I can keep secrets. But Mommy Noodle can know too.”

“You’re right.” Brittany smiles. “She can.”

“My secret is that I was scared to go to the hospital too. I haven’t had to go there for me since I was just bigger than you.”

“Me and Mommy Noodle and Maxie and Ollie went there.”

“You’re right, and that’s what reminded me to be brave.”

“Did you get a lollipop?”

“You know what?” She laughs. “It was so late that I forgot to ask for one.”

“Can we get some today?”

“It might be a little bit hard for me to go to the store, but I bet Mommy would get us some, maybe you can go with her?”

“Mommy Noodle, can we?”

“We can definitely do that. We’ll take Max and Oliver too, I bet they’d like a nice walk in the sunshine.” Santana tells him. “Grandma and Grandpa can stay with Mama when we go.”

“Honey, I’m fine if they have things to do. They’re here to look at houses.”

“We’ll figure it out. I don’t want to leave you here alone just yet.”

“Yeah, Mama.” Liam interjects. “We gotta take care of you.”

“Cuddling with you is helping a lot, Li.”

“Are you working on your phone?” Santana asks.

“I’m just sending an email to my department. I want them all to hear from me that I’ll be out for awhile. I’ll still do the scheduling and—“

“Liam, do you want to see if Grandma can get you breakfast?” Santana interrupts, wanting to have a heart to heart conversation with Brittany alone.

“Okay, Mommy Noodle.” He hugs Brittany once more and hops off the bed. “I’ll be back.”

“Britt, Sue wants you to do nothing this week. You’re hopped up on all kinds of pain killers, I can see from your face that they haven’t totally alleviated the pain. She told me you can talk next week and see what you’re up to doing but that she’s taking care of things for now.”

“Santana, it’s my department.”

“When I was out before the twins were born, you made sure that I was relaxing. Now I’m going to do the same for you.”

“I’m fine.” Brittany insists.

“You shattered two bones. You’re not fine.”

“I’m fine enough to work from home.”

“Look. Sue is not going to let you do it, so you can insist to me as much as you want. But remember what it felt like when I was the one saying I could do everything.”

“That was different.”

“No it wasn’t.” Santana shakes her head. “Both situations are about medical advice. I don’t want to argue with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Brittany rubs her temples. “I hardly slept last night and I’m just frustrated the happened. I just...it’s hard to step away.”

“I know that better than anyone and I get that it’s worse for toy because you have a whole department counting on you. But just take a few days, adjust to your medication, get some sleep.”

“I think I actually want to go downstairs, but I really don’t know how to do that.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time.”

[shinra-makonoid]

Doubting it was the official TikTok doesn't mean I'm spreading misinformation??? Doubt =\= claiming something. It was referenced in 2016. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/gallery/how-to-colour-correct-best-correcting-kits

I don't disagree it doesn't change anything in regards to Heard if it was in 2016, that was not my point, my point was that how comes the official TikTok messed up their own release date when trying to correct info? I even asked this on my first post. The question to ask whether it was Milani's official TikTok was an hypothesis as to why they messed up, because they did.

Kind of shooting themselves in their own foot, especially since several people found other ways to bring other dates because there isn't any clear indication online. It festered misinformation, because then some claimed it existed already in 2014 and I personally didn't take the time to check (because I have other things to do than checking what date was the actual release of a make up palette, which is an insignificant point considering they backtracked it and most lawtubers agree it won't own them).

So I kind of find it very hypocritical and very nasty to claim that I spread misinformation when expressing doubt it was their official account when their own info don't line up at all on google. It leaves people who search for actual proofs (that are more than a computer screen with written "released in 2017" in red lmao) kind of lost.

"With all due respect", you are gullible and frankly stupid if you think that just because Depp is the victim and is in the right, that everything that is spread online as information is right. You still need to fact check things.

The next time you’re aimlessly scrolling through celebrity gossip/feminist news sites remember that this is what passes for feminism on @jezebel

According to @jezebel Amber Heard lying in court about their product in her attempts to frame Johnny Depp for the abuse she perpetuated was apparently none of @milanicosmetics business, and they were supposed to just let her get away with it.

This is what @jezebel stands for. Pro-Amber Heard feminism that is willing to let domestic violence slide as long as it’s perpetuated by women.

Don’t let them get away with it being some bland content filler news story. And don’t let them have your support in the future.

[orbemnews]

How NFTs are fueling a digital art boom Written by Oscar Holland, CNN This article was updated following the auction of Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 days,” which sold for $69.3 million. When graphic designer Mike Winkelmann started producing a drawing a day in 2007, he was simply looking for a way to improve his art skills. At best, the resulting “Everydays” project would help him promote his freelance work, which includes creating concert visuals for the likes of Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. But selling the digital images was not on his mind. This week, a compilation of over 13 years’ worth of the artworks, collectively titled “Everydays: The First 5000 days,” sold for $69.3 million via Christie’s, putting Winkelmann’s name among some of the art market’s most valuable living artists. A multi-million-dollar auction for Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 days” closed this week at $69.3 million. Credit: Beeple/Christies “It’s a bit surreal, because (digital imagery) wasn’t really something that I pictured, in my lifetime, being able to sell,” said Winkelman, who goes by the name Beeple, in a video call from his home in South Carolina ahead of the sale. “So it (has) come out of nowhere. But at the same time, I also really feel like this is going to be the next chapter of art history.” Virtual art has been created, and talked about, for years. But now, thanks to endorsement from celebrities as diverse as Elon Musk, Lindsey Lohan and Steve Aoki, online buzz in art and cryptocurrency circles, and, perhaps most importantly, blockchain technology, it has not only entered the mainstream — it is generating huge sums of money for digital artists and online collectors. Beeple’s latest sale comes just weeks after his animated work “Crossroad,” which imagined Donald Trump’s naked, graffiti-strewn body slumped on the ground, was purchased online for $6.6 million. Elsewhere, a digital animation of the “Nyan Cat” meme — a flying cat with a Pop Tart for a body — earned its creator Christopher Torres almost $600,000 in a virtual auction. The musician Grimes meanwhile made $6.3 million in under 20 minutes selling a range of collectible digital artworks. At the center of this explosion in transactions are non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Acting like virtual signatures, they address concerns that digital art’s value is diminished by the ease with which it can be copied or lost. While an oil painting can only be displayed in one place and has a definitive owner, a digital image, video or gif can be infinitely duplicated and enjoyed on screens around the world for free. This has often posed problems for prospective collectors, who don’t know how to price digital art and fear it will lose resale value. But now, NFTs are offering two things that the physical art market has always depended on: scarcity and authenticity. The rise of ‘non-fungible’ tokens NFTs are built on blockchain technology, which — just as it does with Bitcoin — offers a secure record of transactions. This digital ledger serves as incorruptible proof of ownership, meaning that “original” artworks and their owners can always be identified via the blockchain, even if an image or video is widely replicated. A “fungible” asset is one that is that can be replaced with another identical one of the same value, such as a dollar bill, while non-fungible ones, like NFTs, are tied to unique goods and are not mutually interchangeable. Like bitcoins, the tokens can be kept in a virtual wallet. They can then be sold or traded, often gaining value in the secondary market. This makes NFT artworks similar to physical ones — or any other real-world asset, according to Duncan Cock Foster, co-founder of Nifty Gateway, the platform behind Beeple’s and Grimes’ recent multi-million-dollar sales. “We have systems for collecting paintings, and we have systems for collecting sculptures. But until now, people hadn’t figured out a good way to collect digital art — and NFTs allow you to do that,” Cock Foster said on a video call, adding that buying tokens is easier and “a lot more accessible” than traditional art collecting. Related video: Just how much has the internet changed art? On Nifty Gateway, artists set the number of editions for any single artwork by deciding how many accompanying tokens will be made available. This can range from one-offs, where a piece is sold to a single collector, to open-edition “drops,” where tokens are made available for a limited period of time. The sale of Grimes’ “WarNymph” collection, for instance, allowed up to 9,999 purchases of various artworks within a seven-minute window. Several of the creations were listed for just $20 per token, some of which are now selling for thousands of dollars. By connecting artists directly to collectors, NFTs effectively cut out galleries and other traditional gatekeepers. While Cock Foster would not disclose the size of Nifty Gateway’s cut, he claims it is “far less” than what a gallery would usually take. For Beeple, this represents a “democratization” of the art market. “Now I have direct access to my audience,” he said. “I don’t have to go through an intermediary.” And there’s another benefit for digital artists: They can continue making money on their work, even after it has been sold. NFTs can allow creators to receive a cut on all future transactions — on Nifty Gateway, this is typically set at 10% — breaking with the centuries-old model whereby artists do not directly benefit when sold works grow in value over their lifetimes. (For instance, when a David Hockney painting sold for $90.3 million in 2018, setting an auction record for a living artist, the British artist didn’t receive a single cent from the sale. His dealer had sold it for just $18,000 in 1972.) One of digital images that Beeple produced daily from 2007. Credit: Beeple/Christies So, while Beeple made less than $67,000 when he originally sold his “Crossroad” animation, he pocketed a further $660,000 when the initial buyer sold it on. “The royalties are definitely something that make this much more sustainable and equitable for all parties,” the designer said. New breed of collector The collector behind the $6.6 million “Crossroad” sale, Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile, said that supporting creators is one of the unique benefits of investing in NFTs. While there is money to be made, and plenty of speculation happening in the crypto art market, the 32-year-old said that collecting digital works is about more than money. “I try to look into the life and career of the creators. I like to get in contact with them and meet them … for me, it’s important to see consistency and thoughtfulness about everything outside the art as well,” said Rodriguez-Fraile on the phone, adding that he is drawn to works that are “masterfully executed.” Beyond “Crossroad,” Rodriguez-Fraile said he has collected hundreds — perhaps thousands — of NFT artworks, selling only a handful so far. Beeple’s art often plays with pop culture icons in grotesque and unexpected ways. Credit: Beeple/Christies While the Miami-based collector was previously interested in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, were it not for NFTs, he said he would not be involved in buying art. His experience, like Beeple’s, suggests that the tokens are empowering a new breed of artists and collectors rather than taking a slice of the existing art market. “The analogy I like to make is Uber,” Cock Foster said. “When they were trying to make a forecast for Uber’s market size, they looked at the amount of money people spent on black cars (private car services). But because it’s so much easier to call an Uber than it is to call a black car, the actual market ended up being much larger than that. I really think we’re seeing something similar with NFTs. “They are lowering the barriers to collecting significantly,” added Cock Foster, whose platform operates under the ambitious tagline, “We will not rest until 1 billion people are collecting NFTs.” Future prospects Nifty Gateway may be a long way from its goal of 1 billion collectors, but the platform’s growth nonetheless reflects exploding interest in crypto art. In March 2020, the site recorded monthly transactions of $30,000; last month, this figure was up to $75 million, according to Cock Foster. This jump broadly coincides with another major force in the art world: Covid-19. With galleries and auction houses shuttered around the world — and people spending more time browsing the web or shopping online — NFTs have offered a new outlet for art enthusiasts. According to Beeple, this is why interest in the tokens has skyrocketed in recent months, even though the technology has been available since 2017. “You keep hearing that Covid has pushed things 10 years forward, and I think this honestly is a big part of it,” he said. “Everybody was sitting at home over the last year — so while I think this was inevitable, it really got accelerated.” The use of NFTs is now stretching far beyond the art world. DJ and musician Deadmau5 has used the tokens to sell digital merchandise, while the new Kings of Leon album is being released as an NFT. Nike is even reported to have registered a patent for tokenized shoes, branded “CryptoKicks.” This rapid growth has led to fears of an NFT bubble — one that may burst when the world emerges from pandemic-era restrictions. While collector Rodriguez-Fraile believes that “NFTs are here to stay,” he accepted that “we might be going through a period of hype … and I think the general ecosystem might slow down a bit when it comes to pricing.” For Cock Foster, however, the return to normality presents opportunities rather than threats — not least because galleries offer ways to experience digital art beyond a computer screen. “Digital art is very, very immersive,” he said, adding that displaying art is still important to online collectors. “So, I think we can build some really cool physical experiences.” This article was updated to reflect the final amount generated by Grimes’ NFT drop. Source link Orbem News #Art #boom #Digital #fueling #NFTs

[britishchick09]

sherlock ep 3 the great game livewatch

since i did a live-re-watch of ep 1 and a re/new livewatch of ep 2, i figured i’d finish off the season! i’ve never seen this one, so it’s the first totally new livewatch of the year! :D

ooh spooky beginning!

sherlock is talking to a guy for a case why in an old school tho?

omg sherlock keeps correcting this guy’s grammar lol :D

the guy will get hung for it (sorry hanged) is this victorian england

dramatic intro strikes again!

YO GUN SHOTS WUT

sherlock just chillin

AND SHOOTING WTF LOCKIE

SMILEY FACE!!!!!

john: “what the hell are you doing??” SAME WTF MR HOLMES

he’s shooting because he’s BORED OMG SHERLOCK LOL

omg john almost said the f word :o

WHY IS THERE A SEVERED HEAD IN THE FRIDGE

ooh they referenced ep one’s title in john’s blog post!!!

does that mean john comes up with the ep titles coolio :D

sherlock doesn’t like it tho :/

he deletes things he doesn’t care about like the earth going around the sun woah sherlock computer! :o

sherlock just said ‘hard drive’ epic B)

sherlock: “UGH HELL, WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?? so we go around the sun or we go around the moon round and round the garden like a teddy bear IT WOULDN’T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE!” ...teddy bear?

oh hey mrs hudson

awww she called their argument ‘a little domestic’ :)

let me guess sherlock hates the quiet peaceful world

RIGHT!!!

MRS HUDSON SAID ‘BLOODY’ OMG

and she’s putting the smiley face on the rent ‘young man’ :/

OMG WHAT THE FRICK EXPLOSION

hey is that sarah cool! :D

oh crap THE FLAT EXPLODED!!!!!

WTF DID SHERLOCK DO????

i thought this would happen in like s4 since that’s super dark not s1!!!!

lol sherlock’s just plucking his violin like nothing happened :D

yo is that moiarty mycroft?

ok this is his bro so according to google it’s... mycroft!

mycroft: “a case like this would require... ‘leg work’” ...leg work?

in my holmes inspired series the sherlock and mycroft characters hate each others guts and act like children around each other so it’s good to see that these bros just act cold and keep correcting each other

mycroft: “your business seems to be booming, ever since you and sherlock became.. ‘pals’’ johnlock shippers be like: ;)

mycroft wondered if it was hellish and my holmes character describes his bro as hellish COINCIDENCE I THINK TOTALLY!!! :o

the plans were on a ‘memory stick’ does mycroft mean ‘usb’?

sherlock putting rosin on his bow during the conversation tho ♥

mycroft: “you need to find those plans, sherlock. don’t make me order you” wowoza older bro much?

is sherlock badly playing his violin to test it or to kick mycroft out faster lol :D

this is probably benedict cumberbatch really playing because he didn’t take violin lessons until s2 i think and even then there was an overdub!

OMG I JUST REALIZED I’VE BEEN SPELLING HIS NAME AS BENNEDICT WHY

sherlock: “i’d be lost without my blogger” aww he really does like the posts! ♥ also major johnlock squee there

sherlock likes the ‘funny cases’ ;)

hey is that lestrade cool he’s back

the first thing sherlock says while reading the letter is ‘nice stationary’

john: “that’s the pink phone!” guy: “from the study in pink!” sherlock: “you read his blog?” lestrade: “of course we all do!” awwww :D

everyone’s snickering at sherlock not believing the ‘earth sun’ theory lol :D

ooh a warning! :o

john: “hold on, what’s gonna happen again?” sherlock: “BOOM!” bada bing, bada... B O O M!!!”

mrs hudson can’t get anyone interested in the flat aww :(

some weird lady’s calling what

SHE JUST SAID ‘STUPID BISH’ WOAHHHH

woah she was a hostage??

sherlock wants john to delete 8 mycroft texts lol :D

sherlock sarcastically called john ‘doctor’ lol :D

molly: “why did you say ‘gay’? we’re together!“ WAIT DID SHERLOCK JUST SAY THAT?? JOHNLOCK SQUEEE!!!!! also sherlock is aromantic sorry molly :/

molly: “he’s not gay!!” woah john much?

also that was about  her bf sorry johnlock shippers :/

sherlock says his makeup and underwear peeking out make the guy gay RUDE MUCH LOCKIE??

john: “that wasn’t kind” yeah LOCKIE

john: *figures out who the shoes belong to* how did i do?” sherlock: “well, john, really well! i mean, you missed almost everything important” lol :D

sherlock is great at finding out things props to him :D

the shoes were bought 20 years ago just like su lin!

sherlock: “a child with big feet-“ you mean senpai lol

1989 is 21 years ago here wowza :o

oh no the kid had a fit in a pool and died :(

someone stole his shoes! :o

aww john wants to help :)

mycroft is texting john now lol :D

john: “it’s of national importance.” sherlock: “how quaint.” john: “what is?” sherlock: “you are” :)

john is wearing a suit to see mycroft how quaint ♥

john: “he’s investigating now. investigating away” that’s sherlock for ya :D

mycroft knows it all just like sherlock what bros they are! :D

oh no the kid had poison! :o

it’s cool how a 21 year old mystery could tie into a bomb from a day ago :D

NO IT’S CRYING LADY AGAIN

she lives in cornwall camilla who

ooh pager! :D

sherlock is bored WHY

OH GREAT IT’S THE ‘FREAK’ LADY FROM EP 1 UGHHHH

oh no another mystery caller!

sherlock guessed he’s ‘stealing another voice’ ooh :o

aww they showed the guy he’s crying :(

they have 9 hours to solve the puzzle!

sherlock is faking being super sad to get info from this lady oh lockie!

random lady: “fishing! try fishing!” john’s reaction tho :D (this is like ‘daang that’s rad!’ but not as funny)

sherlock says ‘mazda’ weird but it’s cool :D

sherlock: “you’re very helpful” ...he’s not

sherlock: “mr. hewitt’s a liar” SEE I WAS RIGHT!!!

the drops in the lab look like the intro :D

phone guy: “we were made for each other, sherlock” woah woah YOU’RE NOT JOHN

ooh the blood was frozen :o

the way lestrade says ‘columbia?‘ is funny :D

the case is solved yet we’re only 37 minutes into the ep hmm....

sherlock: “i am on fire!” YAS LOCKIE!!! :D

great another call...

why is this guy constantly crying WHO HURT YOU SIR?

a restaurant scene... ep 1 was queerbaiting, ep 2 was stereotyping and this one is... SHERLOCK EATING??? :o

epic 2010 smartphone ;)

john: “lucky for you mrs hudson and i watch too much telly” yas john!!! :D

CRYING LADY SAID ‘BISH’ AGAIN

12 hours now WHO ARE THESE PEEPS AND WHY ARE THERE TIME LIMITS

throughout the scene there’s a snoring sound... is someone sleeping in the afternoon??

a dead 54 actress died 2 days ago... connection?

she cut her hand on a rusty nail dean from supernatural who

sherlock: “goodnight vienna!” *ringo voice* ♫ na na na na na na goodnight viennaaa!!!!!!! ♫ :D

lockie’s mind is racing again!!

john’s dr skills and sherlock’s mind are perfect for this :D

sherlock: “do you want to help?” john: “of course!” ♥

lestrade: “tell me, what are we dealing with?” sherlock: “...something new’ ;)

ughhhh her again!! THREE HOURS HAS IT EVEN BEEN 12 YET???

awww kitty!!!! ♥

the kitty is so loud and cute awww :)

the tv lady taught mrs hudson how to do ‘colors’ aww :)

sherlock went to fan sites for the show coolio :D

...omg what if there are fan sites for him and people ship johnlock in the show besides mrs hudson :o

awwww kittyyyy!!!!! :D

john thinks the lady got tetanus because of the cat NOT THE KITTY!!!

so are the shoe kid, tv lady and creepy phone people connected?

the phone people are bombers so at least that’s a connection

great the phone lady wants help UGHH

she’s telling sherlock things about the guy GIVE THE ADDRESS LADY!!!

wait was that a gunshot

it was another gas leak explosion! :o

the bomber killed the lady oooohh :o

sherlock: “heroes don’t exist and wouldn’t be one of them” oh but you are lockie ;)

sherlock: “you SEE you just don’t observe!” john: “okay, okay, girls calm down!!” GIRLS OMG LOL :D

sherlock: “you’ll never find him (some guy named gollem). but i know a man who can” lestrade: “who?” sherlock: “...me.” ;)

lady: “any change for a cup of tea?” sherlock: *gives her fifty* wowza what a generous lockie!

onto part 2!

the lady said a message was left ‘on the landline’ how 21st century of you...?

other lady: “am i supposed to be impressed?/” this is sherlock holmes we’re talking about here lady

lady 3: “we were having a night in...” *wallace and gromit intensities*

joe: “are you the police?” john: “sort of” he’s a consulting detective assistant thank you very much :)

sherlock sure likes giving lots of change to people in need :)

and he said earlier he doesn’t care about people unless it involves the case!

aww moonlight walk ♥

they’re in the tunnels like the netflix pic! :D

i wonder if this inspired that pic...

YO THEY BE RUNNING

the lady is watching a show on jupiter a gas planet hmmm...

she just wants neptune :D (i know her fave sailor senshi...)

OH NO SHE DED!

the tape is going backwards it’s so weird

OMG IT BE GOLLEM!!!

john: “let go or i will kill you” oooohhh gollem’s in trouble...

yo wtf is going on

SHERLOCK SHOT

who is this fancy french lady

sherlock s n a p !

the painting is a fake and that’s why she was killed?

some kid is counting down WHO ART THOU SMOL ONE???

sherlock: “shut up it only works if i figure it out!” yeah that’s true

aaand it worked!

the planet film helped sherlock discover the nova in the painting coolio :D

the mystery kid needs help! but where is he...

i still have no idea what’s going on tho it all went by so fast!

is this new french lady the one behind everything?

THE WHISPERS ARE MOIARTY OH FRICK

lockie be like ‘oh god...’ i’d be the same way if my mortal enemy was behind the case

why is john talking about strawberry jam with lestrade

oh it’s blood?

cool lifejackets :D

a wild sherlock appears!

is memory stick british slang for usb or just a holmes bro quirk because sherlock said it too

sherlock just broke into someone’s flat lol

and their last name is harrison... george much? ;)

so harrison stole the memory stick and gollem put in the bomb, moiarty hiring them both and having creepy people call sherlock and kill the tv lady, the guard at the gallery with the nova painting and maybe the shoe kid? is that how all this is connected?

john: “i’m not the world’s only consulting detective” aww he considers himself one too instead of just an assistant! :D

HOLD UP there’s a pool... is this the infamous tackle scene from the sarah z tjlc vid?

john is wearing a big coat hmm...

this is the pool where the kid died CONNECTION!!!!

oh no is this the calling guy

why does he sound like a silly american

YO he’s an american pulling off a brit accent

MOIARTYYYYY

moiarty: “jim moiarty! hiiii!!!” lol :D

plz shoot him sherlock this guy sounds so stupid

DID SHERLOCK JUST CALL HIM ‘DEAR JIM’??

the near fake kiss in that one ep makes sense now

moiarty in a sing-songy voice: “daddy’s had enough nowww!!!!’ DADDY WHAT

moiarty said gay :o

he just called sherlock ‘johnny boy’ why

AND HE SAID ‘borr-ing!!!’ OMG MOIARTY WHYYYY

i already hate moiarty so much but his lines are so funny what a villian!

sherlock: “what if i were to shoot you right now?” please do lockie

sherlock: “catch... you... later.” moiarty: “no you won’t!!! :D”

sherlock took off the jacket was that the scene?

john: “you ripping off my clothes in a darkened swimming pool...” THAT’S THE SCENE OMG JOHNLOCKERS ARE SQUEEING!!!!

omg moiarty’s back how stupid

SHOOT HIM LOCKIE PLZ

the music is intensifying...

LOCKIEEEEEEE......

and it ended!! i’m guessing sherlock doesn’t shoot moiarty which is a bummer but hey at least we’ll get more lols next season with them! :D

this was a great season finale! the beginning was wild and it got crazier from there. this is my least fave ep so far, but i still really liked it for how insane it was (and that kitty/moiarty lols!). it took 4 years to reach the end of s1, but it was well worth the wait! :D

[hobo4lyfe11]

[ KBTBB Co-Writing Fic ] Hate At First Sight ❤ At Last Glance Part 2

Fandom: Kissed By The Baddest Bidder Rated: Drama, mystery, thriller, romance KBTBB OC: Ryoko Inui / Kyoko Nakama Main Interest: Soryu Oh Summary: A mysterious woman with impressive skills is hired under Soryu’s care, but is she all that she seems? A/N: Leave Ryosuke alone! He’s just a puppy. Also I’m so glad @hotcocosharing​ was willing to write another fic with me~ always a honour and pleasure. You can find PART 1 <-- here :) Warnings: Soryu is cute Word Count: 1354 words

✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎✎

Soryu Oh’s POV

"That's impossible."

Eisuke's going off about how the security system in the hotel casino has malfunctioned but I find it hard to believe that the impregnable program, we've carefully installed, just 'malfunctioned'.

"Fine, I'll be there in 10 minutes," I guess I can indulge in his little burst of frustration once in a while.

It's not everyday you see Eisuke getting worked up like this so I wont be missing this. Heh, seeing 'The Great Eisuke Ichinomiya' lose his composure is entertainment enough for me.

"Make it 5!" He spits with irritation. Impatient as ever.

I arrive 10 minutes later, to the command room in the security ward of the casino, to find a young woman typing away at the main computer naturally. Her slender fingers fly across the keyboard at incredible speed and accuracy before restoring the corrupted server with little, to no, effort at all. Impressive. I would never have predicted an ordinary woman like her to be so useful. All signals regain a secure status and seemed to have increased in strength.

"Not bad," Eisuke says with a smirk.

I can tell he didn't expect to be so impressed by a spontaneous offer from a complete stranger, so much so, he decided to appoint her to the hotel security team, under my supervision.

Tch, now I have to take care of this woman? Probably Eisuke's ways of getting back at me for not coming within 5 minutes. Impatient prick... 

At least she's not annoyingly trying to vie for my attention by baking a cake on her face and bathing in perfume. I cant stand that. She seems reliable enough that Eisuke would offer her a job on the spot however, I cant help but find her presence unsettling.

The most secure program in the world that contains several walls of protection for our security system is broken down, and she just happens to be there to restore it back in just seconds? The progression of that was so perfect, almost as if it was planned and staged. Was this all just a coincidence or is she more than what she appears to be? I know better than to jump to conclusions without any evidence to back my theories up, so for now, I will just have to keep my eye on her.

The days go on by and she continuously surprises me, in unpredictably positive ways. Her skills are no joke when it comes to her job and, her hard work and diligence, is admirable. Reminds me of another girl I used to know.

It was back in boarding school when I first met her - she was always striving to be the best in every field, competing for the number one spot in every field- academics, physical education and even art. The way her eyes narrowed in concentration and her aim to always best herself, sparked a new feeling in my chest. How was it, that she was so different from the rest, so accomplished... So perfect.

But soon before we were meant to graduate, she dropped out of our school. The teachers said it had something to do with her family but obviously wouldn’t go into detail. I just saw her the day before and now I wasn’t going to see her ever again? I didn’t even have a chance to talk to her. To say goodbye. To tell her how i felt about her.

"Sir. Sir. Sir!" A voice yaps at me with persistence and returns me from my trip down memory lane.

"What is it Inui?" I respond as I see the woman tense up at the sound of his voice.

Strange. I guess she doesnt take too well to strangers or is easily frightened by sudden noises.

"Looks like the Black Heart gang is trying to breach our contract. What should we do?"

"I'll deal with them," I say before I get up and turn to leave. The woman seems to have stopped in her tracks and that doesn't escape me.

It doesn't take long before I return from dealing with the annoying scumbags who dared to even think they could sever the alliance in such a disgusting manner. I make sure to stop by the security ward before I head up to the penthouse to make sure everything is in order and everyone is doing their jobs accordingly, especially the new recruit. Unexpectedly, I come back to see her overseeing everyone and directing them with perfect coordination, improving efficiency all throughout the sector.

She never seems to disappoint. Perhaps its just in my nature to doubt everyone I meet but maybe, just maybe, I can rely on a woman like her for once. The slight smile that plays on my lips disappears the moment she looks at me. Her big clear eyes, so kind-looking but impossible to read, locks onto mine. I quickly look away to throw off any suspicions of me analysing her and leave to meet with the other auction managers.

"So how are you liking the new pretty lady the boss placed under your care, Sor?"

"She's surprisingly not bad -- she can hold her own and she doesn’t reek of gold digger and hooker." I reply naturally and look up to see the astounded looks on the other bidder's faces.

"Are you saying that the little Koro doesn’t make you want to kill yourself even though she's a woman?? Boooorring, I wanted a better reaction~~"

"She must have sexy collarbones."

"I heard that she was just a kid..."

"Maybe I should see what's so good about her myself."

I ignore the teasing from the peanut gallery but, Eisuke's knowing smirk pisses me off to no bounds. He knows. Is it because we've known each other for so long, or is it because he's THAT perceptive? I'll never know. The bidders panic and scramble when I pull out my gun, but to be honest, I don't actually mind.

It's late and I'm making my last rounds, with Inui and Samejima, before I go back to the Ice Dragon's Headquarters to rest. Today was a real pain in the ass, having to deal with the dirty mafia world but I'm doing the best I can to change that. I wont rest until I can use this influence on the world, for good. I won’t follow in my Grandfather’s cruel footsteps.

The three of us separate on our patrol to cover more ground in less time and by the time I’ve finished with my section, I go to look for the other two. I hear a slight thud coming from the server room, where Inui was in charge of checking, and I cautiously crack open the door.

Through the pitch-black room, decorated with thin rays of light, emitting from the LED lights of the cells, two shadows can be made out with a bit of squinting. As my pupils enlarge to allow more light to register in my brain, I tighten my clench on my trusty gun. It would seem as though the smaller figure has pinned the slightly larger one against the wall.

I can barely make out Inui's rambunctious voice which queue's my entrance. The smaller body jumps at my sudden entry and bolts out of the second exit that very few people know about. By the time I pass by the shocked-frozen Inui to pursue the mysterious shadow, it had disappeared through one of four possible escapes. Damn. I was so close.

I return to Inui and his crumpling body, whimpering like a lost puppy with abandonment issues.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Why didn't you fight back and chase after him?" I question him in frustration.

I know he is capable when he puts his mind to the task, but his mind is fickle. At that moment, Samejima bursts into the room and is utterly confused at the sight. The both of us throw puzzled glances at each other, not expecting him to look so broken. He was less of his over-exaggerated character, and had more of a tame and seriously forlorn expression.

"It's her. She's actually here.”

[rehncohro]

The Beginnings Of Fixing Things

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or haven’t been following me, you know that I’ve been working on a visual novel. This is a project that I began working on late 2016, but what you may not know is that I was wanting to make a visual novel as early as 2014. Late 2013, I had just gotten into Ace Attorney and several months later I wanted to make something inspired by it. Several ideas went to paper and I told an old friend about the idea. He said he’d be willing to program it and I would be the writer. If we would’ve gone through with it, it would have been made with Game Maker. However, in the end we never actually made this game.

I’ve still got some of the papers floating around in my house and I rarely even look at them. I gave up on this idea along with our “partnership” that we had for the game development company we wanted to start. After a long time away from this project, I decided I didn’t want to make any mystery novels (not counting the Ace Attorney fan game I ended up wanting to make at one point). Unfortunately, a lot of my ideas from this time period were scrapped. I would eventually find inspiration from a visual novel called Sepia Tears which I played in summer 2016.

Not long after finishing the game, I started writing I script and eventually gathered several other people: a couple other writers, a potential composer, and some possible voice actors. It really didn’t help that I was very inexperienced at the time. I had to look around for what engine the game would run and in the end settled on Ren’py, which I was a bit hesitant on. At first, it was pretty overwhelming. But over time, I managed to figure out especially since the people from the Lemma Soft forums have been really helpful. I eventually got to a point where I didn’t know where this project was going, so I quit writing it.

Fast forward to the end of the year, I got inspiration from another visual novel called Homeward. This visual novel told a really good story that I could easily relate to so I decided to create a visual novel with a similar message and I immediately opened up Ren’py and started typing away. For the next several months, I continued to tease with little information about the project. Eventually, I got around to finding some images and music to add to the visual novel and before I knew it, I announced some actual details: the basics of the story, the main characters, and some screenshots.

I would be on and off with working on it. Sometimes I didn’t want to touch it but other times I would feel motivated to write a whole lot of lines for the characters. Over the years, I’ve gotten much better at programming so I used some of my knowledge from my Software Development classes in this project. I even changed the UI because I got tired of the original but even this one I didn’t keep for too long. At one point, I almost lost the whole project because my computer quit working. I ended up getting a laptop to use while my dad tried to fix my desktop. In the end, we got it to work again and I was able to recover the files.

When I got back to working on it, I just tried to make sure the sprites showed up at the right times but after a while, I saw a free GUI (made by Luna Chai) that someone was using for their visual novel on Twitter. I decided to try it out. I had to make a lot of changes to get everything to display properly which includes adjusting background and sprite sizes. After a lot of time spent messing around, I’m really happy with how it turned out. It even came with some extra features like a music player.

There’s even an option for a CG gallery with the GUI but I highly doubt I’ll have CGs for the final version of the game. I had to make adjustments to the GUI itself, like font size just so that it would fit will with the universe I’m writing. In the end, I am really happy with how it has turned out. At present, I’m unsure when it will release but I am aiming for the first half of 2019. If I make enough progress it will come winter (Q2) 2018. We’ll see when we get there.

[entergamingxp]

Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed, so I made it in Fallout 4 instead • Eurogamer.net

By early January, I’d noticed something strange was happening to me. Grimes, La Roux and synthwave groups like Magic Sword had entered my music playlists. I’d finally watched Blade Runner for the first time, and was scrolling through galleries of the late Syd Mead’s brilliant cityscapes. I’d even bought Neuromancer and added it to my pile of books I will definitely get around to reading.

It was all in anticipation of one game originally due to arrive in April: CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. Yet as we all know, that release date is no longer happening, and Cyberpunk 2077 has been shunted back to September. So what was I to do with all that leftover cyberpunk energy?

I could have continued my media binge, but that’s hard to maintain for eight months – and I was eager for some gameplay. As my editor later mentioned, I could have just bought Deus Ex. Yet something far more radical had already entered my mind.

What if I recreated Cyberpunk 2077… with mods in Fallout 4?

If you’re looking to mod Cyberpunk into any game, Fallout 4 is a good pick: many of its assets already have a run-down techy feel, albeit perpetually stuck in the ’50s rather than the ’80s. Unsurprisingly there’s already a number of Cyberpunk 2077-themed mods available – but I wanted to see just how far I could push Fallout 4 to resemble the experience shown in the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo videos, which meant looking at mechanics and even small details like the HUD.

I resolved to keep modding until I broke either the game, the computer, or myself. Two weeks later, I’ve managed to produce something resembling a cyberpunk experience within Fallout 4 – although the process was somewhat messy.

Things very nearly failed at the first hurdle. Dystopian, neon-drenched cities have formed the backbone of nearly every cyberpunk narrative (perhaps too often) and I simply wouldn’t be able to start my project without one. Unfortunately this was also the most protracted part of the process. Most Fallout 4 location mods require a large set of additional mods to work, and my first pick – a massive Blade Runner tribute overhaul for Hangman’s Alley – had a required mod list so vast (with many now removed) that I couldn’t get it working. Instead, I went for something a little smaller called Blade Runner Avenue. Look, there were no Cyberpunk 2077 cities, so just ignore the Tyrel sign.

It was still a headache, requiring about 22 plugins, a script extender and the Transfer Settlements mod to import it – and even then the mod’s in-game blueprint threw up several more mods required to provide assets. Yet eventually I found myself standing in a bog as a city assembled itself before my very eyes. It’s not a massive space, but the mod does a great job of recreating a grim corporate feel with towering skyscrapers and shopfronts, along with a claustrophobic market space and a detective-style apartment. To make it all moodier, I used Darker Nights to plunge mini Night City into permanent gloom.

Alas, the struggle wasn’t yet over: various plants and debris were clipping through from the marshland below, and this was really throwing off the vibe. I went around weed-picking most through console commands and a mod called Scrap Everything – but the trees became the bane of my existence, defying my every attempt to uproot them. According to the internet, many of Fallout 4’s trees are essentially baked into the game world (via precombines) and are thus incredibly difficult to remove. Dead trees: welcome to cyberpunk.

I can’t list all the plugin mods as there were so many, but if you’re thinking of recreating this, you can find them by following the links for all the mods named in this article.

City complete, it was time for character customisation. Aside from an unfortunate incident where my character lost her eyes, this was pretty smooth sailing. I wanted the player-character to resemble female V, and I tried my best with the Fallout 4 character creator to produce something that didn’t look like an irradiated potato. With the help of mods I recreated the golden glowing eyes shown in the first Cyberpunk 2077 demo, along with surface wiring and an edgier hairdo. Then it was a matter of slapping on as much black eyeliner as I wore in my early teens.

The most Cyberpunk 2077 thing in this entire mod collection, of course, is the fabulous CROSS_77 Samurai jacket, which comes with gloves, an outfit and a demonic holographic headpiece (which I removed to prevent it hiding the face I made). Coupled with a holographic pipboy complete with cyber sounds, the look was good to go. Or almost, as I still had to find some weapons to make V armed and dangerous.

V2.0.

Based on the weapons shown in Cyberpunk 2077’s 2018 gameplay demo, an easy pick was the Gun GS Cyberpunk pistol, which is similar to the Militech weapon V uses and can be modded to have automatic fire and a glow sight. I wanted to give her a full arsenal, so I installed a Vector and modded it with a suppressor, along with a Cryolance weapon that resembled the shotgun. I’m not sure energy weapons are particularly cyberpunk, but it looks convincing when given three barrels.

It’s all very well looking the part, but I wanted to see what V could actually do. This is where I had to get really creative. One of the abilities shown in the demos is that V can scan enemies with her eyes to outline them, so I found a mod that highlights enemies at the touch of a button. Self-Guided Sniper Bullets let me install targeting computers on some guns, which aside from being ridiculously overpowered, also resembled the smart gun from the 2018 demo – even if the bullets didn’t have the same satisfying curved trajectory. I did attempt to make the bullets a little flashier with a tracer mod.

Cyberpunk wouldn’t be cyberpunk without the ability to hack things, and thankfully Fallout 4 already has something close to that with the Robotics Expert perk. In the vanilla game, you have to sneak up on a robot to hack it – but jlauzon’s Robotics Expert Overhaul lets you do this remotely mid-combat, and also hack turrets.

By far the most satisfying ability I added, however, was Bullet Time – which allowed me to produce those awesome slow-motion moments akin to Cyberpunk 2077’s Kereznikov ability (usable after taking a reflex booster drug). Fallout 4 does have something similar in the form of Jet, but that drug slows down everything and can’t be toggled on and off. In light of this I felt Bullet Time – which drains AP but can be used in shorter bursts – was a better fit. Conveniently, the ability also allowed me to change direction mid-air, and concentrate my fire on enemies’ legs – two features also shown in the 2018 demo.

Wheeeee!

Yet I particularly wanted a post-human element where abilities were tied to body implants, and two mods fit the bill well: CROSS Pre-War Cybernetics and Cybernetic Implantation Laboratory. The former has more of a focus on building exoskeletons, but allowed me to craft something similar to the strengthened arms in the 2019 demo (I opted to add electrocution for the video because, well, it looked cool).

The implants mod, meanwhile, is more typically cyberpunk as the technology is integrated into the player’s body. It also allows you to construct your own implants lab, which introduces some elements of realism by making you conduct research and wait in-between operations. More importantly, it’s got a fantastic implant called the Subcutaneous Micro-Relay, effectively a short-distance teleport. This was pretty much the closest I could get to V’s enhanced movement which allows her to jump forwards in a flash. Although, being honest, I did abuse this new-found power as a method to get down from the flat. There were no stairs.

After an unsuccessful scout for mantis blades and a Johnny Silverhand companion, I moved on to the finer details. I recreated the slanted HUD with a Cyberpunk 2077 UI preset mod, changing the colour to pink-red and adding a bunch of widgets. Sure, it isn’t strictly like Cyberpunk 2077’s HUD – but a cluttered interface is definitely in the cyberpunk spirit. Next up was floating damage, which I tweaked to somewhat resemble the combat text in Cyberpunk 2077, even if it lingers a little long in the air. To put the cherry on top, I also installed a custom radio mod and popped in some intense synthwave music to play while I was fighting.

Maybe not an exact replica, but close enough.

Finally, I was ready to start work on a combat demo to display all these features. If only I knew what was to come.

Getting Fallout 4’s NPCs to behave is an absolute nightmare. After initially using re-textured synths as enemies – which fell apart easily or turned invisible if I used a Courser – I settled on the Rust Devils faction, a mixture of robots and humans. To demonstrate the hacking ability, I needed to place a turret, but it took an age to prevent it from immediately mowing down the other enemies (a problem eventually solved with console commands). The turret also mysteriously caused some enemies to run away – something you can still see in the combat demo if you keep a close eye on the first robot. Hacking the turret to override it, meanwhile, was too powerful to show in the demo as it simply flattened everyone.

The combat demo also had a performative element, and I had to get to grips with the new mechanics, time myself with the music, and make the whole thing look relatively natural. I also cannot tell you how many times I broke my legs when teleporting downstairs.

To make matters more complicated, by this point I’d installed so many mods that some of them had finally started breaking. I was able to hold the creaking build together by reshuffling the load order and reinstalling some mods, and somehow, I ended up with a finished combat demo. But that was only half the battle, as I also wanted to create a peaceful city population – and they weren’t exactly compliant.

Please stop watching telly.

It turns out that simply spawning in settlers doesn’t exactly work, and after installing Better Settlers, I found myself with a modern but completely stationary population. Not good, not bustling. I discovered I had to invite each individual to the settlement to get them to move – and only through giving settlers specific animations and freezing them at their workstations was I able to create an even halfway-convincing city. This did not stop them doing stupid things such as walking into walls, falling under the settlement, or mysteriously teleporting upstairs to sleep in the apartment bed. Despite my best efforts to disable the AI with console commands, they’d often still bonk me on the head when I pickpocketed their ugly leather armour. And, though I’d artificially increased the number of settlers to reach a population of 47, there came a point where this started to make the game unstable.

Frankly, it was a minor miracle that all the mods worked together, with only a few crashes and one alarming incident where I couldn’t stop the camera spinning after an INI file edit. By the time I was finished, I’d tried out over 100 mods – many of which didn’t make the final cut due to technical issues. I’d also spent hours problem-solving my way around Fallout 4’s strange rules. Here’s an example: rather than simply giving myself the Robotics Expert perk, I had to instead add perk points then manually select it in the perks menu so it would actually work.

While it may have somewhat looked the part (and the new mechanics were immensely satisfying), there were limits to what I could do. Apart from the cursed AI, I was also missing a narrative, interactivity and Cyberpunk’s RPG elements – thus making the whole thing flashy but rather shallow. I’d like to think the actual Cyberpunk 2077 will go beyond fetishising retrofuturism into exploring deeper themes – although that’s a criticism frequently levelled at cyberpunk works.

In many ways, I think the process of creating the project was possibly more cyberpunk than the end result. As worded by Dani Cavallaro, cyberpunk integrates “hyperefficient structures of high technology with the anarchy of street subcultures”. While the modding community isn’t exactly a street gang, I think it can absolutely be defined as a subculture – one that exists largely online, publicly distributes and collaborates on work, and retools high-tech commercial products to suit its own needs (often beyond the original creator’s intentions). So mod creators are pretty cyberpunk in my book – as was my own quest to transform Fallout into Cyberpunk and push it to the absolute limit. My struggle to control Fallout 4’s rebellious AI and prevent them performing human actions also felt ominously appropriate. Maybe, having placed them in such a dystopian and hopeless world, I was the bad guy?

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/cyberpunk-2077-got-delayed-so-i-made-it-in-fallout-4-instead-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cyberpunk-2077-got-delayed-so-i-made-it-in-fallout-4-instead-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[notyourq-blog]

Backstory

This is the fuller version of Q’s backstory, I took it off their main page because it’s dark and it can be rather off putting whilst largely irrelevant.

Marcus History

Marcus Thompson was born to Maria and Joseph Thompson on an unknown date in March. As his father was somewhat of a crimelord with a large number of fingers in a huge variety of pies including human trafficking, drugs, weapons, etc the birth was never recorded so that, once Marcus got older, his father would have a completely obedient assistant who would never exist on the grid.

Marcus grew up surrounded by his parents and a small handful of his father’s men to raise him. It was noticed by his mother at a very young age that he was intelligent, she encouraged this by teaching him to play piano and chess but did her best to keep this from Joseph.

The young boy’s intelligence became obvious when he started to beat several of his guardians at chess by the age of six, upon discovering this his father hired an ex-Oxford Profession by the name of George to teach his son.

Marcus flourished under George’s instruction and, having no real idea the damage his father’s work did, he began to work to help plan and organise accounts for his father’s ‘business’. The 10 year old was thrilled to be so such use to his father and couldn’t understand his mother’s constant worry.

As he grew he got more and more responsibility, learning how to use a variety of weapons as well as different languages. This was also when he first began to use a computer (under careful supervision to keep him from learning too much about the ‘real world’) which he excelled at, soon able to hack into almost every system his father asked of him.

The morning of his 16th birthday found Marcus meeting all of his father’s business partners for the first time, at least he was pleased to be so well received by the men but, after their lunch, he was requested to truly become a man.

As the only softness in his life was his mother a gun was placed into his hand, she was forced to kneel before him, and his father ordered the boy to kill her. Marcus refused, leading him to be beaten until he was sobbing and bleeding, until his mother begged for him just to do it.

After his mother’s death Marcus continued on doing the work for his father, only for the man he had worshipped all his life to turn out to be more of a monster than any of the organisations he hacked.

George noticed this and slowly began to teach Marcus small things about the outside world. Just before the boy turned 17, George sent him away with train tickets to a small town in Scotland with enough money to see him through a few months. As Marcus left he knew the man would be killed for this but all he could do was thank him for everything before stealing away into the night.

After 2 days Marcus found himself in a small town, surrounded by more people than he’d never send in his life he decided to get food and hide away for a bit. Upon leaving the cafe later in the evening he quickly found that, as smart as he was, he needed male than intelligence to survive in the real world.

Thankfully a man called Jack, on the way to meet his friends at a bar, helped him and took him to his parent’s B&B where Marcus was able to shower and sleep properly. The next day Jack showed him around the town and the two began to bond.

Jack introduced Marcus to music and art that the boy had never even been aware of, teaching him about Scotland and trying to figure out how the teenager had ended up out here with nothing but a few bits of clothes and money.

Soon enough Marcus was working at a bar run by Jack’s friend, getting on well in the big wide world and slowly beginning to fall for the man who had been so kind to him.

Jack asked Marcus on a date during his second month in the town, not needing to do much more than just spend time together for both of them to be having fun and for Marcus to feel safe.

Months carried on like this, Marcus falling deeply in love with Jack and vice versa, even to the point where Jack’s mother would often tease them that they should be getting married in the spring.

Marcus was too relaxed and happy to notice the day one of his father’s men appeared in the town, feigning holiday with his wife and young daughter as he scouted out Marcus’ new life. Marcus was too relaxed until he came home from work and found his father sat next to Jack with a steel rod through his neck.

His father gave him the choice to come home by choice and he would put Jack out of his misery, or to argue and try to stay (with the full understanding he would be forced home anyway) while Jack slowly drowned in his own blood. Marcus broke down, sobbing for his father to stop and that he would go home. But Jack couldn’t be saved and the bullet was in his skull before Marcus could even ask why.

When they returned home, Marcus was kept constantly drugged to keel him reasonably docile. He lost a large amount of weight but was still able to complete the work required of him. His 18th birthday came and went without any kind words exchanged between father and son.

Marcus’ dosage was changed, feeding him drugs that led to anxiety and fear which were only able to be expressed violently. When the teen got particularly bad his father brought him people to kill - men, women, and children. In the full awareness that Marcus had barely any control over himself and didn’t really know what was going on directly after his shots.

After over a year of chemical torture Marcus successfully left a message with their location in MI6’s system, this allowed his father and many of his men to be captured or killed and left Marcus’ future down to a council of several spy agencies.

It was quickly decided that Marcus could not be left to roam the world due to his inability to cope with human interactions and expansive knowledge of hacking and other ‘detrimental’ activities. Officially Marcus Thompson was sentenced to death but Dr Jonas Port had a better idea.

Q History

Subject 16’s early memories were only full of pain and the confusion caused by drugs that were working hard to keep their brain completely empty. Dr Port would tell them how he was going to fix them, how he was going to keep them from being a monster and let their amazing brain be used for good.

As the pain faded S16 began to learn, not taking very long at all to relearn how to walk and talk and begin to question how the body they had been gifted works, touching their barely-there muscles to understood how they worked. Soon they learned onto harder material - mathematics, basic science, language and general information processing.

For the first few months of their existence they were told they couldn’t go outside. ‘It will make you sick. Undo all of my good work. Do not ask me again!’ Dr Port would yell in frustration as S16 queried where their human guards would go at night. So they kept quiet in the white room with white bed and white clothes and white mush that didn’t take of anything but that kept them alive.

One of their teachers, ‘you can just call me Nicole, sweetie’, was the first to take them outside. She was fired soon after, lost everything, but (if anyone had ever bothered to ask her) the smile on S16’s face as they touched the grass and watched the birds in the sky and realised there was more to life than learning for the first time had made it worth it.

Soon after that S16 met a man from MI6 who called himself Q. He was older than most of the humans S16 knew but he was kind and smart and reminded S16 of things they wasn’t supposed to remember. The man taught them what it meant to be the Quartermaster, how precious all innocent humans were and how S16 would work together with their agents to protect them.

Slowly, S16 (nicknamed Ben) came to learn the outside world in a way that felt uncomfortably familiar but they continued to push down any fragments of a life that wasn’t possible since they’d been no one before this. The old Quartermaster taught them everything they needed and then helped them to get a home in London.

There was a bracelet at first, attached around their wrist that told higher-ups everywhere they went. The galleries and theaters weren’t alarming though, they were still learning - trying to blend in with the humans they were going to be entrusted to protect.

After a few more months of no concerns Ben got another new name… Q. They replaced the man who had been so kind to them and set to work with MI6. Now the bracelet was gone they had no reason to take the medication that made their head spin… or so they thought.

Within a week there were nightmares. Stray, violent thoughts that could not be their own. A voice in their head that was almost their own, but not quite, asking what was going in and ‘why aren’t I dead?’ and other unsettling things.

Q did their best to suppress Marcus but, after the first horrible withdrawal, was unwilling to begin to take the drugs again. For weeks the two argued and fought for control for this body that had never truly belonged to either of them. First it had belonged to Joseph… then Marcus had given it to Jack willingly. And now Q refused to see them as anything but the property of Dr Port and MI6.

When a nighttime stroll would have gotten them killed, if not for Marcus’ own violent nature, Q decided that the man was perhaps so bad. And Marcus decided that nine of this was Q’s fault - they were little more than a child who had been forced to grow up and be exactly what they had been told. But maybe the future could change that.

[deviantstormtrooper]

Sleep, part three

We are back to Ellie’s point of view this time. I do not own any Star Wars characters or the Game of Thrones lines towards the end. There is a little bit of a mention of physical intimacy, nothing explicit though. Enjoy :)

I am currently sat up in the bed that I am sharing with Obi-Wan on our holiday. He is making breakfast for us, I can hear him pottering about in the kitchen. He has insisted that I stay here and relax as he takes care of everything. I've slipped Obi-Wan's shirt on, he likes it when I wear it, as though it signifies I am his. The book I am reading sits in my hands, though I am looking through the window at the moment. It is so beautiful here, all I can hear are the sounds of the birds singing in the trees. The lake at the back of the cottage is also gurgling away, it sounds very peaceful. I wish we could stay here forever.

It is our last day of our time away, though we still have a few days before we have to go back to work. I closed the book and placed it onto the stand beside the bed. I have enjoyed spending time with Obi-Wan and it being just the two of us. We've been out walking in the fields surrounding the cottage and talked about our future together. It makes me happy to know that Obi-Wan wants to have children someday. I think our children will be very cute, especially if they look like him.

We've also spent a day curled up together and watching our favourite films with a massive pile of treats to eat. Last night, Obi-Wan ran a bath for us and we lay in it until the water started to cool. We had moments where we would kiss and we just held each other. Once we got out of the water we dried off and made love to each other. We eventually fell asleep entwined together, I want to do that every day for the rest of our lives.

I remember the day I met Obi-Wan, it was a short time after I had finished my training and passed my assessment to be a paramedic. I'd volunteered to take the ambulance to the local school as I had always loved children. Teaching them about my work and showing them around the ambulance seemed like a good way to spend the morning. I had not expected to meet the man who would become my partner and the love of my life.

Obi-Wan came across as shy and unsure of himself around new people. He spoke so quietly that I barely heard his name. I saw him blush when we shook hands, it made me smile. I remember thinking that he was cute and a little bit nerdy, exactly my type of man. The ginger hair and the glasses made him look very young; it was only later that I found out we are only months apart in age. I am slightly older than Obi-Wan. It is odd to think we were born and lived in the same town and our paths only crossed later in life.

I saw Obi-Wan sat by himself when I had lunch at the school, all the other teachers were sat together. It made me feel sad to see him all alone so I went and sat with him. A look of genuine surprise crossed his face when I asked if I could sit with him. It took some coaxing but he eventually started talking to me. I heard the passion in his voice when he started talking about books, films, and games. The hour I spent with him went very quickly and I wanted to talk to him some more. I gave him my number and asked him to give me a call. I wasn't sure if he would call me or if he even wanted to start a friendship with me.

A month passed and I was certain that Obi-Wan was not going to call me. I could have called him at the school, but I did not want to pressure him. Eventually my phone rang and I heard his voice on the other end. I was glad he called me and I got to talk to him again. I sensed his shyness over the phone, as if talking to women wasn't something he did often. I eventually found out that it was exactly the reason for his shyness and his reluctance to meet up with me the first few times I asked him to do so.

Our first few meetings were filled with clumsy attempts at conversation and silences on his part. I persevered because I wanted to get to know Obi-Wan as a person. Eventually he started to open up and let me in a bit more. He told me that he had been asked out by someone once, only to find out she had done it for a dare. She had turned up with all her friends and humiliated him, they had tormented him for months afterwards about it. I had hugged him for a long while after he told me that story. It hurt to think of him going through that all by himself. He told me that he had stayed away from dating after that day, that it had put him off being with someone ever again.

The more time we spent together, the more I realised that I thought of Obi-Wan as a good friend. We grew closer as the months went by and I started to notice my feelings for him changing. Every time I was with him and playing computer games or going out for a meal and a film, I started to notice my feelings more and more. I realised that I had slowly fallen in love with him. My love for him had grown out of games and bonding over boss battles, films, and books. It had also grown out of the times when I would lie with my head in his lap. He would read to me from a book or we would watch something together. I fell asleep like that once and I woke up to find him stroking my hair and looking at me as though I was precious to him. When he realised I was awake, the look quickly disappeared, but I had already seen it.

Obi-Wan took me home every time we went somewhere, I waited for him to try and kiss me, but the kiss never happened. He would always leave as he wished me goodnight. I had started to think that I had imagined how he had looked at me. The most I got from him was a hug before he left. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if he was afraid of losing me as a friend. I tried to come up with a plan for us to talk about how we felt. I did not want to scare him away or make him think I was pushing him into talking about his feelings. I knew I would have to tread carefully, especially as he had been hurt in the past.

Many things changed the night we went to the theatre together. I bought a new dress and some jewellery to go with it. I wanted to impress Obi-Wan and maybe give him the confidence to make a move on me. I smiled when I opened the door to Obi-Wan, he was wearing a suit and it looked really good on him. I remember him stuttering and blushing a little bit when I told him how good he looked. I held onto his arm as we entered and left the theatre. Throughout the play I sensed Obi-Wan's eyes on me, as though he could not stop looking at me.

After the play had finished, we walked through the park. I talked about my favourite bits of the play as we walked together. I was looking for somewhere quiet so we could talk without any interruptions. We eventually reached the fountain in the middle of the park. I pulled Obi-Wan over to it and played in the water to combat my nerves over telling him how I felt about him. I hugged him and felt his lips brush against my head. I lifted my head and found myself looking into his beautiful blue eyes. Before I knew it I had moved close enough to him for our lips to touch and he pulled away. I heard him start to apologise until I shook my head and asked him to kiss me.

Our first kiss was everything I thought it would be; soft, gentle, and warm. He was a bit inexperienced at first, though he soon got used to it. I felt my heart start to beat in an odd pattern as we kissed, it felt so right to be in his arms. After we moved away from each other, I told him everything. I told him about how being with him had started out as friendship and changed into love the more time we spent together. I noticed the surprised look on his face, he obviously thought that I would only ever want to be a friend to him.

We spent the night together after picking up some of my things from my house. We talked a lot about us and being together as a couple. We decided that we would take it slowly and not rush into anything. The next four months were spent going out on dates and just being with each other. There was no pressure to take the next step, we would know when we were ready to progress. It may surprise people to know we lost our virginity to each other. I told Obi-Wan that I'd never been intimate with anyone before and that he would be my first partner. I'd dated before, but I had not found someone I wanted to give myself to. I already knew that he was a virgin and it did not bother me in the slightest.

The first time we made love came after we had talked a lot about what making love would mean to each of us. I knew that Obi-Wan had been afraid of not being able to perform and hurting me. I reassured him that we would take it slowly and I would tell him if it was hurting. We also looked into the reasons he might struggle to perform and talked a lot about his nerves. Leading up to the night we made love, we slept in the same bed completely nude several times. We took showers together and learned a few things about our bodies and where we liked to be touched.

On the night we made love we had been out to the art gallery and to dinner. We came back to my house, our kisses turned passionate and led us upstairs to the bedroom. We took everything slowly, just as I had promised Obi-Wan we would. I gave him time and he made sure I was well prepared for him before we went any further. I am glad we waited for so long because it was perfect. We had a few initial imperfect moments, but when we finally joined our bodies, it was as though we just fit together, as though we were made for each other. We cuddled up together afterwards and I told Obi-Wan I would always love him, no matter what. He kissed my head and told me that I am the love of his life.

I am pulled from my thoughts by Obi-Wan coming into the bedroom with a tray laden down with food. He is wearing a pair of pants but his chest is bare. I know he thinks he is too skinny sometimes, but I always tell him he is perfect as he is. He has a little bit of hair across the top of his chest that runs down the middle and to his belly. He once asked me if I wanted him to lift weights so he could put on some muscle. I refused, I love him as he is. I don't have a perfect body according to the ridiculous standards the world has for women. I am curvy and will never be any smaller than a size twelve. I have a few marks and blemishes in places, but I know Obi-Wan loves me as I am, he always makes me feel beautiful.

He puts the tray down on the bed and crawls next to me, I see the smile he gives me when he notices I am wearing his shirt. He leans in and kisses me, his tongue gently parting my lips and exploring my mouth. I kiss him back and run my fingers over his bare skin. He slowly pulls back and we rest our heads together for a few seconds. I love these quiet moments, we don't have to speak, we just simply sit or lie together. I smile at him as his eyes rest on mine and he smiles back. I stroke my finger down his cheek and he links one hand with my free one.

I eventually look away from his eyes and to the food on the tray, I notice it is a mix of all of our favourite foods. “Obi-Wan, you really have gone to some effort making all of this.”

“Anything for my beautiful girl.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, princess.” I pick up the plate that is obviously mine. He has made my eggs and toast just the way I like it. I close my eyes in satisfaction as I eat, he has always been an amazing cook. I notice that Obi-Wan is watching me as I eat, he likes to see that I am enjoying what he has made for me. I smile as I meet his eyes, he is such a caring person.

I put the plate down once I had finished eating and I waited for Obi-Wan to finish his plate of poached eggs and toast. I sipped at the glass of orange juice, he had obviously squeezed it himself. He picks up the bowl of fruit; a mix of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, and holds out a blackberry to me. I know what he wants, I let him feed it to me, his fingers brushing against my lips. I return the favour with a strawberry, his favourite fruit, I see him smile as he swallows it. We continue in this manner until all the fruit is gone. I slowly finish the orange juice as Obi-Wan drinks his tea. It's always tea, he never drinks coffee. He really likes his tea, he has so many different kinds at home.

Obi-Wan puts everything back on the tray and he takes it downstairs, I hear him wash everything and then he comes back upstairs. He sits down on the bed and he smiles at me, he takes my hand in his and he kisses the back of it. “Ellie, I was a lonely man when I met you. I believed I would never find love, never find someone who liked me simply for being me.”

“I know, I remember how lonely you were.”

“Then I found you, this wonderfully kind woman who helps people. A selfless woman who was patient and took time to talk to children about her job. Someone who reached out to a man who was struggling with being himself.” I slowly reached over and held Obi-Wan's hand in mine. He likes to talk over our relationship sometimes, to remind himself how we ended up here.

“I remember the early days, of playing games and watching films, of discovering how much I had fallen in love with you. I was terrified, I had been burned before, I was afraid of how I felt. I wanted to tell you, but I was scared of losing you as a friend. The day we kissed for the first time is something I'll remember forever, because you loved me back.” I squeezed his hand as I noticed the emotion building up inside Obi-Wan.

“I thought that I was dreaming, that I would wake up at any moment and be all alone again. I did not wake up, it was real, you had fallen in love with me. You loved me, even with the ginger hair and the glasses and the geekiness.” I chuckled at that line and he smiled.

“I think you will find it is because of the ginger hair, the glasses, and the geekiness. You also forgot to mention the beautiful blue eyes and the kind heart that resides inside you.” Obi-Wan blushed slightly at my words, he always does when I tell him he has beautiful eyes.

“You looked inside me and you chose me, when so many others passed me over for someone else. I went from a lonely man to a man who has love in his life and it is all because of you. You've given me so much, I only hope I have given you something in return.”

“Of course you have, Obi-Wan. You allowed me into your life, you took a chance as well. You were brave after being hurt by someone before. You opened up your heart and you let me into your life. You trusted me and you let me fall in love with you, you gave me your love in return.”

“Ellie,” he whispered as he hugged me. “I love you.”

“I love you too, always.”

“Always?” I heard the question in his voice.

“Always and forever, Obi-Wan.”

I felt him hug me tighter and I closed my eyes, he means everything to me and I love him dearly. He slowly moves away and stands up, he holds out a hand to me and I take it. As I stand up I realise he has a hand behind his back. My heart almost stops as he gets down on one knee, I know exactly what he is about to do. “Ellie, I want you in my life forever. I love you with everything that I am. Will you marry me?”

“Obi-Wan,” I say, and my voice cracks with emotion. I felt tears trickle down my face and I wipe them away. His proposal was so beautiful. I found myself kneeling down to be on his level and I kiss him gently on the lips. “Yes, I will marry you.” I saw the look of relief on his face before he hugged me tight to him. I felt his hand stroke my hair as I hugged him back.

We eventually pull away from each other and Obi-Wan opens the little box that he'd had hidden behind his back. It contains a ring that is in the shape of an eternity symbol and has tiny diamonds and emeralds embedded in it. It is simple and understated and totally beautiful. I hold out my hand and he slips the ring onto my finger. “I love you, moon of my life.” I smile at the reference, we have been watching Game of Thrones again.

“You are my sun and stars, Obi-Wan, I love you.” He smiles at me and we get up off the floor. We slowly climb into the bed together and I rest my head against his chest. His arms close around me and he just holds me. I sigh happily, we are engaged to be married. I am in the arms of the man I love. I tilt my head so I can look at the man who is to be my husband, there is nobody that I would rather be with, he is my everything.

[rtscrndr53704]

5 Cliché Logo Design Trends to Avoid

Logos are one of the trickiest things to get right in the graphic design world. It takes almost zero talent to make a logo — virtually anyone can do it. However, making a good logo requires a lot of insight, artistic skill and patience.

Too often we see designers falling into the trap of rushing into a logo design project and coming up with ideas that are so overused that they’re downright cringe-worthy. Today we’re going to take a look at five logo trends that fit this description. Read on to see if any of your go-to techniques are on the list (and make a mental note to avoid them in the future!)

Who Cares About Being Unique?

Before we jump into some of the logo ideas that you might want to watch out for, let’s address the question of exactly why you should be aware of and perhaps avoid logo ideas that have become a cliché. The answer here cuts at the very core of why logos exist.

From a branding perspective, a logo is in many ways the face of your company. When someone thinks about “Nike” as an entity, they immediately see that famous swoosh, the same could be said of a million other brands such as Coca-Cola and Apple. This isn’t just true for global mega-brands either, who could forget the “Monster” energy drink with its claw mark “M”?

The reason you remember these marks so vividly is that they’re unique, and companies will fight viciously to protect that. Any time someone gets anywhere near a simple apple icon, the Apple Inc. lawyers unleash their fury with significant monetary backing.

Destruction from Within

If so many companies are willing to invest so much into their brand’s unique identity, don’t you think they see it as an important part of their success? Sometimes though, the most dangerous threat in this area comes not from competitors or other brands, but from people actually working for the brand itself! These individuals have the power to completely destroy a long held visual legacy and cause mountains of bad press for companies. The people I’m referring to are, of course, designers.

The past couple of years have been filled with long established brands attempting visual updates only to receive so much negative feedback and public outcry that they are forced to retreat back to their original but newly appreciated identity.

“You owe it to your customers to provide rich, unique identities”

As a designer, you wield an immense power over the public perception of a brand. You owe it to your customers to provide rich, unique identities that won’t be easily confused with 3,000 other similar attempts by other brands.

With these ideas in mind, let’s take a look at five logo trends that designers just can’t seem to get over.

Arc Over the Top

I can’t tell you how many logos I’ve seen use some variant of this idea in the last ten years. In concept, the idea isn’t a bad one. The arc indicates progress, movement, soaring over the competition; it’s a great symbol. However, it’s so overused in nearly the same exact way that it’s almost impossible to incorporate something like this into a logo and hold onto any semblance of a unique identity.

When you’re tempted to use an arc that looks like the one above, try to think about how you can drastically change the visual translation of the ideas you’re trying to represent. Surely you can come up with a few other ways to represent progress. As designers, this is our job: tying complex concepts into attractive and relatable visuals, not simply repeating ideas that we’ve seen a million times.

Helvetica

Listen, we’ve all done it so don’t bother denying it. At one time or another you’ve typed out a company name in Helvetica and thought “looks like a logo to me!” The problem here is that we completely lose sight of what a logo is all about, as I just ranted about in the opening paragraphs. Just because something is attractive doesn’t mean it makes a good logo. That’s an important concept so write it down in bold letters in your logo sketchbook.

Helvetica is a great typeface. I use it constantly and am certainly not in league with the anti-Helvetica crowd. Everything type lovers say about this typeface is true: it’s versatile and clean and works perfect as a blank slate that you can project ideas onto. However, without some major help, it can make for the most cliché logo imaginable. I’m not saying that you should never use Helvetica in a logo, just make sure that when you do, you have some really unique visuals to back it up.

I’ll keep reminding you of the Gap fiasco every time I can because it serves as an important lesson where a brand tried to “update” their iconic look with a fresh logo. The result was a disaster and led to weeks of public embarrassment (and oddly enough the positive result of everyone realizing they love the old logo).

Not Just Helvetica

While we’re on the subject, keep in mind that this idea doesn’t only apply to Helvetica. There are plenty of other typefaces that are just as cliché or worse. I think the designer’s rule for using Papyrus should be somewhere along the lines of, “only use this if your computer has just two fonts and the other is Comic Sans.”

Random Colored Dots

This is an odd one that I’ve been seeing a lot of in logo galleries lately. It’s not particularly attractive or appealing and often reflects a lazy attempt to represent diversity. It’s sort of like a bad re-imagining of a Wonderbread bag.

Some designers get particularly creative and actually take the time to arrange the dots into a symmetrical pattern, but the result is often just as generic and uninspired:

The meaning here is so vague that it’s lost. Further, you simply can’t get around the idea that you’ve seen this exact idea on a million other logos. It’s time to let the colored dots go. Rather than starting with some simple vector shapes in Illustrator, why not grab a pencil and spend a solid hour sketching out every idea that you can come up with? Trust me, at the end of the exercise you’ll realize that it was worth the time and effort.

Chat Bubble Logos

Four out of every ten logos created for social media sites have chat bubbles in them. I just made up that statistic off the top of my head but there are days when I would swear it was true.

Once again, we have a concept that there is nothing inherently wrong with. A chat bubble is in many ways the perfect way to represent social media. Also, it’s a good thing when you land on a symbol that immediately relates your concept. However, as a unique brand identifier, it isn’t an easy element to leverage without a result that looks like everything else on the market.

Can you use chat bubbles in your logo? By all means. However, be sure to take the time to experiment with how you can take this overused symbol to a new place.

The Double Letter Overlap

While the chat bubble is a fairly recent phenomenon that arose as a result of social media, this logo trend dates back several decades. In fact, for as long as their have been law firm logos, this idea has been going strong.

It can be used with almost any two capital letters but any time you have a double “L” you can bet good money that this idea is going to pop into your head. My advice: resist it with everything in you. It’s completely generic and is in fact the very first idea that countless non-designers would run to in this situation. Given that you do this for a living, I know you can come up with something a little better.

Notice a Theme?

Take a good look at the cliché logo ideas that we just went over. Notice anything similar about all of them? The answer is that they’re all super easy to replicate. The problem with many designers is not that they aren’t capable of coming up with great ideas, it’s that they’re too lazy and tend to run with the idea that’s quickest to bust out. Contrast this idea with something like the Starbucks logo:

This is a really quirky logo that looks and feels truly unique. The custom illustration uses beautiful symmetry and repetition and the siren is anything but a cliché icon. Ripping off the logos above would take any designer ten minutes or less. Mimicking this idea is much more difficult. Admittedly, this isn’t always the case with strong logos, the Nike swoosh can readily be drawn by any twelve year old with a paint program.

However, the moral here is that any time you find yourself with the goal of making a strong brand icon that is completely own-able, try actually investing some solid time into your creation. The odds are that as you spend more time tweaking and refining your idea, the more unique it will become.

What Cliché Logo Ideas Have You Seen?

Now that you’ve seen my top five cliché logo trends, it’s time for you to join the conversation. In recent years, are there any logo ideas that you’ve seen seen that seem to get picked up and used over and over again? Share with us on Twitter @designshack!

Also be sure to let us know if you’re guilty of replicating any of the trends above. Don’t be ashamed, we’ve all come up with and even used horribly generic ideas so we might as well all laugh about it and learn from the comedy of the situation.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2szKeQb

[jasmineleeryan]

Chuck Close: Self-portrait/Five Part, State II (2009)

Critical Analysis: Assessment 2 

With technology rapidly advancing, artists are continually finding ways to work with its potential, rather than against it. Chuck Close (1940) is an American artist that has re-contextualised traditional art practices into the contemporary by utilising the “highly illusionistic, computer aided method of industrial weaving” (The Art Story, 2017). One of his most recent works that I saw at Out of Hand: Materialising the Digital exhibition was, Self-Portrait/Five Part, State II (2009) which explores every aspect of Close’s practice.  Close is well-known for his experimental and innovative techniques of painting the human face but has achieved fame due to his large-scale photo-realistic portrait paintings. His practice has developed using a range of other materials such as fingerprints, daguerreotypes, polaroids and even paper pulp that demonstrate his distinctive grid process that has guided his research. Through this critical analysis, I will explore the significant relationship between his material practice and process.

Self-Portrait/Five Part, 2009. Jacquard tapestry. State I: 71 x 185 in., Edition of 6. State II: 79 x 229 in., Edition of 6, panorama image taken at MAAS.

The unbelievable precision of Self-Portrait/Five Part reflects on Close’s intention as an artist. Seeing his work up close became the first step to understanding how these materials and technologies shaped the artwork. When my eyes first caught Close’s glassy stare there was this unreal intimacy about the experience. Five angles of Close’s face looked directly at me, the soft edges of his face melting into the background and forcing me to take a step back and admire the scale of the work, but its sheer scale was already restricting the eye to only sections of its detail at a time. It wasn’t the realism that overwhelmed me but the holographic qualities that the work developed as I guided my eyes across his faces. I think the qualities of the image created this illusion, replicating how the eye can only focus on a singular point, blurring it’s surrounding detail. There was this photographic element but was contrasted by the blackness that encompassed the faces which felt deeper than the room itself and brought the image further out, drawing me into its detail. However, as I moved closer, the details became stronger which challenged my expectations, my brain demanding to see the material that constructed this piece. It was not until the alarm went off and I stood face to face with the tapestry that I could see the complexity of its structure and the raw imperfections in his skin.  

Personal experience of Self-Portrait/Five Part, 2009. Jacquard tapestry. State I: 71 x 185 in., Edition of 6. State II: 79 x 229 in., Edition of 6.

The  Jacquard tapestry measures 79 x  229 inches in length which entirely covered the wall at the back of the gallery space, therefore separating it from the collection of objects that could have otherwise conflicted its intimate relationship with the viewer. The self-portrait images are based off daguerreotypes that Close has been working on since the 1990’s but don’t resemble traditional daguerreotypes which I will expand on later on. Close has reinvented tapestry and has brought this craft back into the limelight. By repurposing these somewhat redundant art practices, Close has made them contemporary. Throughout this process of critical analysis, I will be asking a lot of “why’s”; why daguerreotypes and not just a digital image? Why tapestry and not a large print, why portraits (Self-portrait 2009  in particular) and why make it at all?

Chuck Close has worked closely with Magnolia Editions’ Donald Farnsworth to refine and perfect the precision seen in Self-Portrait/Five Part. This panoramic series has “set a new standard for fine art tapestries” (Stone, 2009), by pushing the limitations of tapestry using the latest computer technology. The creation of this woven piece begins as a daguerreotype which is then translated into data known as a weave file and acts as a digital instruction set for the electronic Jacquard loom to read. This particular Dornier loom uses 17 800 Italian dyed cotton warp threads which generate a range of colours through various combinations and are woven at 75 shots per cm. Even though the weave is untouched by the artist, a colour palette ‘must be developed’ and can be continually refined to meet their intention. Close has been working on this piece since 2007, to reach the “level of fidelity and precision visible in the approved tapestry” (Stone,2009); producing up to a dozen weaves as a consequence of continuous experimentation of colour palettes. The whole tapestry isn’t woven each iteration and in an interview with Ilka Scobie, Close (2016) explains that they “do a lot of the work on the computer then [] start weaving strips. And then weave the whole”. It is this dedication to a process that defines Close’s work.

It is Close’s desire to represent the face through abstracted units that naturally led him to tapestry. To completely understand his progression to this medium, his intention as an artist needs to be defined. His tapestry work doesn’t immediately illustrate his signature grid method but by looking at one of his painted self-portraits, Self Portrait (1997), you can see how the grid has a direct correlation with the systematic process of tapestry. In this work the mechanical like process is demonstrated clearly, revealing the way he breaks his canvas into squares, and scaling up his subject. 

Self-Portrait, 1997, oil on canvas, 102 x 84 in. (259.1 x 213.4 cm).

What seems like an obsession could be related to Close’s prosopagnosia (face blindness) and his severe dyslexia, using it as “a way of processing information”(Lawrence 2004, p.136). Close (2012) states that he was “often overwhelmed by the whole” and would “break down things into bite sized pieces” which structured his process. Each cell in the grid would be filled in bit by bit with a distinct colour which would map out his first iteration. With each iteration, another colour would be inserted into the cell and so on until a phenomenon called “optical blending” would occur and form an abstracted human face. Close suggest,  “that his conceptual intentions are ultimately timeless, whereas his tools or materials are infinitely interchangeable.” (The Art Story, 2017). It is this translation from a given subject to a grid system that is fundamental to Close’s process and gives meaning to his work. The use of tapestry is just another step to involving an “alchemical transition from one state to another” (Stone, 2009) and demonstrating the artist’s engagement with material discourse “as a method of materialising ideas” (Carter 2004, p.7).

Close has engaged with modern technology as a tool to go where tapestry artist couldn't go before, and that is the ability to replicate photography. However, instead of starting from a digital image, Close begins with daguerreotypes which takes his process a step further and gives his work holographic qualities. Furthermore, his work starts as a material and is transformed into the digital and is then materialised again into a completely different state. But isn’t that a lot of effort for an image when it could have started digitally? These daguerreotypes also take on a modern aesthetic, unlike traditional daguerrotypes, therefore demonstrating Close’s dedication to detail and his ability to push his medium. When the method of printing an image onto a silver surface was invented, visual artists’ careers were threatened but it merely “fascinated” Chuck Close due to the “clarity and detail of the daguerreotype [and] nothing get’s lost” (Rexer, 2000). He magnified it’s qualities and modernised it’s aesthetic by using high-intensity strobe lights that emit 2 minutes of full sunlight in the expanse of a millisecond. Close (2000) also describes his work to be “all about focus and scale… The closer you get to a daguerreotype, the more you see. In some ways, it’s the opposite of a painting, which breaks down into brush strokes”. This idea is further explored in his tapestry and it’s ability to replicate the deep velvety black that his images do.  I think this is one aspect that separates analogue from the digital because there are still pixels that build a digital image and this characteristic contradicts what makes daguerreotypes significant to Close.

Furthermore, digital photography has changed the way a viewer interprets it’s meaning because “change the material and everything changes with it” (Herwirz 2008, p.139). The intention of photography started as the concept of documentation; the idea that “a photograph requires the presence of the subject for its production” which makes its existence so much more powerful. However, a digital photograph is still editable before it is materialised due to the advances in technology. Meaning the artist has “complete control over the final image, and has acquired the freedom of the painter to depict whatever he or she can imagine”(Cummins 2007, p.8). This materiality of daguerreotypes separates it from the digital because it evokes a more powerful and intimate relationship with the viewer. Close’s self-portrait does this so effortlessly because it is completely raw and is dramatised by its intense sharpness and scale.

Close’s work draws uptake historical significance of tapestry and reinvents it as a contemporary art form. The scale of the work resonates with this craft that goes back centuries, being produced to decorate walls during the medieval, renaissance and Arts and Crafts periods and was a form that was used to record history. Traditionally the weaver would hand weave using the horizontal threads or yarns (weft) to weave back and forth through long threads known as warp threads which were fixed vertically. The Jacquard loom was invented in 1804 which was a development of card weaving and revolutionised the process. This method followed its concept of patterns, allowing the weaver to “program” a pattern by threading various colours through the holes in the cards, the holes acting as on and off switches; if there were a hole, it would send the thread up and if there were not, it would send it down. This step forward in technology was still a lengthy process, taking months of work to complete a full tapestry but the punch card made it possible for the tapestry to be reproduced. The card used, known as perforated cards, were later used in player pianos and early computers that were able to select a thread to be used. Inevitably, computers became a tool for Close (2016), stating that “the computer, which owes its existence to tapestries, is a perfect medium in which to talk to the tapestry”. 

However, being once known as the rich man’s oil painting, tapestry has lost its common place in exhibitions because they have lost worth, partly due to  people being “puzzled by what their place is in the art world” (Grant, 2013) and the market unable to “decide whether they are real works of art or just expensive novelties”. This work demonstrates the potential qualities of this practice and how this art form doesn’t have to replicate its traditional purpose but be transformed through the technologies we have today. His commitment to detail is revived in his tapestry and its contrast against analogue photography emphasises his reinvention of past art technology. Close (2000) describes his purpose as “trying to banish the nostalgia from something old to make it about our time”. It demonstrates the influence of technology on art practice but it doesn’t change what it was before. Walter Benjamin (1935, p.16) explains this in … stating that “the history of every art form shows critical epochs in which certain art forms aspire to effect which could be fully obtained only with a changed technical standards, that is to say, in new art forms”. In saying this, this work has demonstrated how Close has pushed the expectation of what the new Jacquard technique can produce. An artist Kiki Smith (2013, Grant) thinks that due to this “a lot more artists will be drawn to creating works in this medium” which further strengthens Close’s influence on the revival of an old art form.

Through this work, Chuck Close isn’t making a statement but developing and exploring his process using yet another material. As a work that doesn’t seem over complicated at first glance, it is a product of complete dedication to process and structure. With each detail, there is a purpose and with every decision, there is experimentation. By utilising the modern techniques of tapestry, Close combines two historically significant art forms and transforms it into something truly contemporary. His process shows how artists can use the potential of technology as a technique to explore existing disciplines as a form of expression, without undermining its characteristics but developing its imperfections.

REFERENCES: 

Benjamin, W 1935, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, in Illumination, (ed.)Arendt, H, & ZOHN, H (1968). New York, pp. 3-16.

Carter, P 2004, Material Thinking: The Theory and Practice of Creative Research, Melbourne  University Press, Melbourne.

Chuck Close; American Painter and Photographer 2017, The Art Story Modern Art Insite, viewed 19 April 2017, < http://www.theartstory.org/artist-close-chuck-artworks.htm#pnt_7>.

Cummins, J 2007, Digital versus Analogue Photography, Waterford Institute of Technology, viewed 19 April 2017, < http://repository.wit.ie/961/1/Digital_versus_analogue_photography_a_compartive_analysis.pdf>.

Grant, D 2013, A Good Yarn: Artists’ Tapestries Are Popping Up in Museums, but They’re Not Yet Woven into the Market, OBSERVER, viewed 20 April 2017, < http://observer.com/2013/08/a-good-yarn-artists-tapestries-are-popping-up-in-museums-but-theyre-not-yet-woven-into-the-market/ >.

Herwitz, D 2008, ‘Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy’, New York: Continuum, London, p.139.

Lawrence, J 2004, ‘Chuck Close Houston and New York’, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. (146), no. (1211), p.136-137.

Rexer, L 2000, ‘ART/ARCHITECTURE; Chuck Close Rediscovers the Art in an Old Method’, The New York Times, 12 March, viewed 20 April 2017, <http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/12/arts/art-architecture-chuck-close-rediscovers-the-art-in-an-old-method.html>.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2012, Chuck Close on following the grid, online video, 21 December, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, viewed 19 April 2017, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e-p5M0vhZI>.

Scobie, I 2016, Close Encounter, Artnet Magazine, viewed 20 April 2017, <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/scobie/scobie8-5-08.asp>.