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unmaskedagain · 5 years ago

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Rock Star

I was feeling a bit of writer’s block this morning. So I went through my prompts and found this awesome one. It has a bit of angst.

She lost her friends. The boy she was in love with broke her heart. No one in class apart from Chloe would even speak to her anymore. Lila’s lies had taken root in class, leaving Marinette in the back alone and abandoned. The worst part was that Marinette didn’t even know if she could be friends with any of her classmates again after the truth was exposed. In the effort to cling tighter to the coattails of someone who promised them the world, they had abandoned a childhood friend as if the friendship meant nothing; as if Marinette meant nothing. And as if that wasn’t enough, Akumas were getting stronger every day. Chat Noir was pushier than ever before. Most days it was all too much.

Most days Marinette didn’t want to get out of bed. She rarely smiled anymore. She couldn’t find it in her to design. It was like the life force had been drained from her. It didn’t take long for her parents to notice. However, after weeks of trying, when it became clear that Marinette wasn’t going to talk to them and that she wasn’t getting better, they sent her to a therapist. After they managed to get her to promise to at least try.

Dr. Vanderbilt was a kind woman with greying red hair and a Scottish accent. It took multiple sessions before Marinette started to open up about her problems at school; about feeling overwhelmed. One day after a session, the doctor gave Marinette a notebook.

“What’s this for?” Marinette asked taking the black notebook. The front of it said it had a 1000 pages.

“Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed, I want you to write.”

“Write what?”

“Whatever you want,” Vanderbilt smiled. “What you’re feeling. Poetry. Songs. Quotes you know. Write a story. Whatever helps you get what you’re feeling out, lessen the load you’re carrying a bit.”

So Marinette did.

It was a struggle at first. She never thought of herself as much of a writer. Then she started writing random quotes she knew. Then Marinette started writing a bit of poetry just to try to express herself in a way she could understand. However, during a particularly troublesome day, when Alya accused her of being lazy and not being a good class president, Marinette resigned her position much to the shock of the class and started writing song lyrics.

One of the recommendation from Vanderbilt was to always stop doing things she didn’t want to do just because it made other people happy; especially if it was at harm to herself.

The doctor made Marinette write 100 times: I will not set myself on fire to keep you warm.

Marinette always hated being class president; the stress alone could kill a dozen elephants. She hated doing free commissions so she stopped that too. She hated doing the whole birthday celebrations, when everyone was quick to forget her that year. Or plan parties and fundraisers for trips that class made sure to make clear they didn’t want to her go to or on. So she stopped that too.

It was freeing.

Writing lyrics to songs were freeing. Soon she was writing them during class, lunch, after school, when there a moment of free time when helping out at the bakery.

And Vanderbilt was right. It did help her.

Marinette to smile a lot more. The pep in her step was back. She started hanging out with Chloe and Luka more and more. She made friends with others kids in class. She created a website and started selling custom designs.

One Friday, after school, Marinette found herself in Jagged’s Hotel room with Chloe and Luka. Jagged had asked Marinette to bring his new concert wardrobe that he had commission from her. He had and Clara Nightingale were going on tour together.

After Jagged had reviewed the clothes and approved them, proclaimed each outfit to be, “Rockin!”

Marinette found herself writing a song in her notebook while Luka and Jagged discussed musical influences. Chloe and Penny discussed a potential internships.

She was so invested in writing that she didn’t notice when the talking stopped. Or when Jagged asked her if she wanted Pizza.

Marinette jumped back when a hand suddenly waved in her face. “Wait! What!” She looked around and saw the amused faces of Jagged, Penny, Chloe, and Luka. Even Fang had a long grin on his face.

“What’s this love?” Jagged asked pointing to her notebook. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for ages.”

The bluenette blushed and tried not to hide her notebook; it would only make them more curious, “Nothing; just a notebook for ideas.” Technically that was true.

“Right on, can I see?” Jagged asked.

Marinette instantly pulled the notebook to her chest and her blushed turned a dark red. She was not going to show a Rock Star the song she wrote. She’d rather die. “Nope! Nah ah, nothing to see here.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Yes, because that’s totally what someone with nothing to hide does.” The blond looked at Penny. “She writes song lyrics. They’re pretty good.”

Marinette glared at the blond, “Traitor.”

Luka looked a bit curious. Jagged had a full blown grin on his face, “I knew it!” he shouted. “I knew there was a rocker in you. I had just had to wait a bit, love. Come on. Let me see then! Show Uncle jagged your songs.”

It took about twenty minutes to get Marinette to agree and then another ten to pry the notebook out of her hands. She watched with a pit in her stomach growing bigger and bigger as she watched Luka, Chloe, Jagged, and Penny flip through her notebook. Reading the lyrics that came straight from her heart.

What if they hated them? What if they thought she had no talent? What if they thought she was a freak? What if! What If!

“This is good, mate,” Jagged suddenly said. An impressed look on his face. “These are really good.”

“Told ya,” Chloe said smugly.

Penny nodded, “I wouldn’t mind commissioning some songs from you.”

“I’d like to jam together,” Luka said. “Maybe we can do a duet.”

Jagged suddenly shot up, “Penny! Call the guys. We need a band! Marinette’s gonna sing for us!” He ran for his guitar.

“Marinette’s going to do what now?” Marinette shouted.

Marinette was going to sing.

She sat on a dark brown wooden stool, in front of Jagged’s backup band, with Jagged and Luka on guitar. Chloe and Penny watched in the background. An assistant help up a camera.

Jagged had decided to give Marinette a rockstar makeover; well as much as she would let him. Her hair was pulled back in a faux hawk with a few curls framing her face, her makeup was flawless, her face was painted to look like she had been crying and her mascara had gotten everywhere.

It took a while for Jagged, Luka, and she to work out the music would be good for her songs and what songs she’d use. She decided to let the four: Jagged, Penny, Luka, and Chloe decide on the best ones. Marinette was too bias, she knew.

They had practiced. Everyone assured her she had an amazing voice but Marinette thought they were a bit biased too. They loved her too much to hurt her by saying anything mean.

“Hey fans watching!” Jagged said into the mic. “Today, I got a special guest here. My honorary niece and personal fashion designer; Marinette. She’s written some kick ass songs and agreed to prove that she’s a rockstar like her Uncle. Give her some love!”

Marinette got up and waked to the mic.

The drum beat started slowly. Marinette took a deep breath. The guitars and piano started.

Marinette opened her mouth to sing,

“Someday I won't be afraid of my head

Someday I will not be chained to my bed

Someday I'll forget the day he left

But surely not today.”

The beat picked up a bit.

She fought not to close her eyes as she sang. Instead, she thought of why she wrote the song; all the pain, all the mess going on inside. Her blue eyes got a faraway look to them.

“One day I won't need a PhD

To sit me down and tell me what it all means

Maybe one day it'll be a breeze

But surely not today

But surely not today”

Admitting she was in therapy was hard. Penny comforted her and admitted she went a lot too. Jagged hadn’t been happy when Chloe told the two adults just what was happening in Marinette’s class.

“Oh you don't know what sadness means

'Till you're too sad to fall asleep

One day I'll be snoozing peacefully

But surely not today

Surely not today.”

Marinette voice carried across the room. She let herself get lost in the music. Otherwise, she’d be too panicky over the fact that she more or less admitted to being depressed.

“One day I'll swear the pain will be a blip

I'll have the hardest time recalling it

I'll be the king of misery management

But surely not today.”

This song was a promise to herself. That she would move on. She would get better. Somehow, someway, Marinette would conquer all that she was going through and be better for it.

“One day that song won't make me cry anymore (oh no no)

One day I'll get up off the bathroom floor (hey yeah)

Oh, piece by piece I'll be restored

But surely not today (surely not)

Eh, not today”

Marinette swayed to the music, dancing in place. The other people in the room watched, entranced by her voice.

“oh you don't know what happy means

If it's only in your dreams

I'll be acquainted with my jollities

But surely not today

Yeah, surely not today.”

There were days when Marinette swore she forgot what it meant to be happy; questioned if she had ever been really happy. Or if she had just fooled herself into thinking she was. She knew better now. And Marinette refused to let the dark thoughts win.

“Surely not, surely, surely not

Surely not (surely not today)”

Marinette sang that part softly. She knew she wasn’t going to get completely better right away. But she would… One day.

“One day the thought of him won't hurt the same

Won't need distractions to get through the day

I guess I hope I'm gonna be okay

'Cause I'm not today.”

The song slowly died down. Silence filled the room. Then there were claps and cheers. Jagged’s new manager Harvey Boyd looked ready to wet his pants from excitement.

“Yes!” jagged yelled. “That’s how you do it!”

Marinette blushed again and ran off stage as Luka readied himself to perform. Penny and Chloe both assured her that she had been amazing but Marinette couldn’t stop her heart from racing in her chest.

Chloe helped prepare her for her next song as they watched Luka perform.

He had gotten used to being Solo since Kitty Section kicked him out the band. Luka sang a called, She will be loved. A sad melody that was fit him to a T.

“I don't mind spendin' everyday

Out on your corner in the pourin' rain

Look for the girl with the broken smile

Ask her if she wants to stay awhile

And she will be loved, and she will be loved”

When he was done, once again Harvey Boyd had that hungry look on his face.

Then Jagged performed one of his hits. After that he brought Marinette up on their makeshift stage again.

Marinette didn’t feel any better performing the second time. She’d be singing the song Jagged chose.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

So much for my happy ending

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

So much for my happy ending

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh”

The song was definitely more Rock than her last one. And she wrote it most about Adrien, some of it geared toward Alya and the rest of her friends.

“Let's talk this over

It's not like we're dead

Was it something I did?

Was it something you said?”

Marinette had wondered for months what she had wrong. Why it was so easy for them to just ignore her; disregard her, end their friendships.

“Don't leave me hanging

In a city so dead

Held up so high

On such a breakable thread”

They left her alone. Adrien left her alone. She trust them, and just left her.

“You were all the things I thought I knew

And I thought we could be…”

Marinette closed her eyes for just a moment as the beat of the music changed.

You were everything, everything that I wanted

“We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it

All of the memories, so close to me, just fade away

All this time you were pretending

So much for my happy ending

So much for my happy ending.”

The song went on for a few more minutes. She had let the music as the guitar solo slowly died down. The song was met with applause.

Marinette performed a few more songs, along with Luka. After one of them, Harvey had come directly up to her and Luka and offered to be their manager. Apparently, Jagged’s label had been watching them and wanted to give each of them a record deal. If Penny and Chloe hadn’t been there, both Luka and Marinette wouldn’t fallen her their butts in shock.

Jagged called Boyd away to discuss something.

Luka gripped his guitar so tightly Marinette feared it would break, “That didn’t just happen, did it?”

“Nope,” Marinette shook her head, earnestly. “It’s the fumes from all their hairspray. It must have knocked us out. We’re in coma right now.”

Chloe glared at them. “Oh. Shut. UP! You were amazing. You both were. Marinette you screamed Girl power. And Luka, there’s probably a million girls planning on marry you right now.”

“I have to call my mom!” Luka and Marinette said at the same time.

Her parents were excited about the news. But they made it clear as long as it didn’t interfere with her school work, she could do whatever she wanted. Sabine and Tom were just happy their little girl was back.

Luka said his mom was the safe. School first, hall of fame second.

Jagged pulled Marinette on stage for one last song. The song was chosen by Chloe. It was the song Marinette wrote once she realized she was done. She was done with the drama in class, done with fake friends. Done with game and lies. Done with mean comments and ice cold glares. She was over it. And Marinette didn’t care anymore.

“You wanna play, you wanna stay, you wanna have it all

You started messing with my head until I hit a wall

Maybe I shoulda known, maybe I shoulda known

That you would walk, you would walk out the door.”

Marinette watched Penny smile as she turned on the big fans pointed at her.

Said we were done, you met someone and rubbed it in my face

Cut to the punch, she broke your heart, and then she ran away

I guess you shoulda known, I guess you shoulda known

That I would talk, I would talk

She remembered Alya standing in class renouncing their friendship, and nearly everyone joining her. The look on Lila’s face as she finally fulfilled her promise. Adrien not doing anything, and avoiding contact. He never stood up for her; not once. He blocked her calls, stopped answering her texts, until finally he let Nino and who else in class convince him to end his friendship with Marinette outright.

But when got over the loss, the heartbreak; she decided it was for the best. Marinette didn’t need them. She didn’t want them. Marinette swore she’d never be friends with them again.

“But even if the stars and moon collide

I never want you back into my life

You can take your words and all your lies.”

The fire in Marinette’s eyes caused a few people to step back; including Luka. Then a wide smile spread over her face and

“Oh I really don't care

Even if the stars and moon collide

I never want you back into my life

You can take your words and all your lies

Oh oh I really don't care

Oh oh oh I really don't care?”

When the song ended, everyone cheered.

Jagged grabbed the mic, “Wasn’t she pure Rock and Roll, or what?” He picked up Fang. “What do you think, Fang? You loved it! For those of you who don’t know; this is my pet,” He told the camera. “Totally coolest guy ever. I’d never do anything mainstream like get a cat or anything.” He said with a wink. “For those of you who loved today’s acts; I’ve got some good news. All songs are going to be on itunes. Just look them up! In Addition; my label wants to offer both Luka and Marinette records deals. Who knows, maybe I’ll reach out to Clara about them coming on tour with us; we could use a couple of awesome opening acts.”

Marinette went home with the biggest smile on her face. She didn’t think much what happened. She figured the record deal wouldn’t go anywhere; someone would realize just how lame she was and stop it dead in her tracks. Marinette also figured that Chloe had exaggerated about how many watched; no one wanted to see some Amateur sing, even if it was on Jagged Stone streamed it.

It wasn’t a big deal, Marinette thought when she went to bed, tomorrow no one would even remember her. Still, it was a pretty fun.

By Monday morning, Marinette would learn just how big of deal it really was. Little did she know that, overnight, her song ‘Not Today’ was downloaded over 2 million times? Her song ‘Happy ending’ sold over 3 million. But ‘Really Don’t Care’ broke records. The rest of the songs had had performs sold well too; each selling over a million copies. The world was listening to her music, and she had no clue. Luka did pretty well too; his songs were just trailing after Marinette’s in sells.

Marinette had been helping her parents in the bakery’s kitchen, listening to the radio, when a new song started to play. Marinette turned white as a sheet, “M-Mom! Dad!” She said, her voice trembling.

“What’s up, honey?” Tom asked, worry clear in his eyes.

She pointed at the radio with a shaky hand, “That’s mine.”

“What?” Sabine asked confused.

“That’s mine,” Marinette repeated. “That’s my song!”

Her parents looked even more confused. Until they listened closer to the song and recognized their daughter’s voice.

Sabine dropped the pans she was holding, “You’re on the radio,” She whispered. “You’re on the radio.” She yelled, cheering.

Tom pulled his daughter into a giant bear hug, “My sugarplum’s a Superstar!”

After Marinette’s song

Once, she finished in the bakery, Marinette ran to Chloe’s. When she was let into the penthouse, she rushed to Chloe’s room, and as soon as she saw the blond, she yelled, “I’m on the radio!” And screamed. Chloe screamed with her.

Then Luka called and screamed, “I’m on the radio!” The sound of his mother cheering the background. As far as he was concerned it was the best day of his life. The year had sucked so hard; first his sister became one of Lila’s groupies, then he got kicked out of his own band, he realized he and the girl (Marinette) he had a crush on were better off as friends, and he broke his lucky guitar and had to fork over his savings to buy a new one.

But getting a record deal, being on the radio, nearly made all of it worth it. Luka still really wanted his sister back though.

The three friends spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and being amazed at their luck. Chloe got the internship she was after in the PR department. Thanks to Penny, she’d be Luka and Marinette’s promotor. Or least learning firsthand how everything works.

When Monday morning came, Marinette was still oblivious to just much had changed in so little time… Until she got to school, and some random girl asked for her autograph. Marinette stuttered out a, “Sure.” And signed the girl’s notebook. While she was doing it, four other kids lined up behind her. She signed each one with a smile.

“I really like your song: Not today,” One guy told her. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that gets that way sometimes.”

Marinette was so touched, she nearly started crying right there. She would’ve if Chloe hadn’t dragged her away, with a hiss about not crying in front on fans.

On the way to class, a few kids stopped and asked her for a picture. She agreed. But when more and more kids tried to get her attention, Marinette, once again, had to be saved by Chloe.

“You are not getting mauled on my watch,” Chloe tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’d never get to work in PR again.”

Marinette giggled. Chloe rolled her eyes with a fund smile.

The smiles died when they reached class. They had gotten there early. Marinette was rarely ever late anymore sense she had lighted her work load. Only a few kid were there. Max, Nathaniel, and Mylene; they all looked at Marinette with wide eyes.

Marinette ignored them as Chloe and she went to their seats. They made light talk and ignored the looks of the other students as more and more arrived. Most didn’t say a word to her; not knowing what to do or say.

When Rose arrived, she immediately rushed over to Marinette, “I love your music. I didn’t know you could sing!” She chirped. “I can’t believe you performed with Jagged Stone. You’re so lucky.”

The bluenette gave the other girl a small smile, “Yeah it was amazing. Luka was great too,” She added. “He’s ecstatic about the record deal. He was so bummed when Kitty Section kicked him out; something about him holding you guys back. Did you guys ever find a new singer and lead guitarist? It’s been months, right?” It was spiteful. It was the meanest thing Marinette had ever done. And they deserved it.

Rose visibly wilted. So did Ivan and Juleka. Every member of Kitty Section regretted kicking Luka out of the band the moment they saw him performing with Jagged Stone; getting the break of a lifetime. And when they heard about a potential record deal… well, let’s say regret didn’t begin to cover it.

“Oh, we’re working on it,” Rose smiled, a big fake smile on her face. “We got a lot of people we’re considering.” The truth was, and it was hard for Kitty section to learn, that most people who had a fraction of Luka’s talent didn’t want to work with a bunch of teenagers. And without Luka there, no one was reminding them to practice or book gigs.

Rose returned to a seat, feeling more bummed than she had when she got to the class. She had been happy for Marinette, and for Luka. But she had so many dreams for Kitty Section and herself that just because she was happy for them, didn’t mean she wasn’t unhappy for herself.

Chloe pulled Marinette back into the conversation, just as the last of the students arrived, “So, once you sign the record deal, are you going to go on tour with Jagged and Clara. Luka said he’s going.”

Marinette frowned. She hadn’t really considered it much. Clara had reached out to her congratulate her on the record deal and tell her how much she loved Marinette’s songs. Clara had hinted hard that she’d love Marinette to come on tour with her. But Marinette didn’t know. Being a rock star wasn’t ever one of her goals in life.

“I still want to design,” Marinette admitted.

Chloe shrugged, “So do that too.” She suddenly gripped Marinette’s arm. “You can wear design your own dress to the Teen Choice Awards, and the MTV music Awards. You can design my dress!”

Marinette laughed, “My song came out like three days ago, and you’re practically writing my acceptance speech; I might not get nominated.”

The blond scoffed, “Oh you’re getting nominated. Do you know how many people downloaded your songs? Records were broken. Even my mother played ‘Really don’t care’ whenever she wants someone to stop talking to her now. Go on tour!”

“I’d need more songs,” Marinette said. “I’ll need to release like an actual album.”

“Penny went through all yours songs, remember?” Chloe said. “She sent me a list of all ones that she think would top the charts. She wants to record, ‘Fight Song’ as soon as you sign with the label. And she swears, ‘I kissed a Girl’ is going make people lose their minds.”

Marinette sent her a smirk, “That song’s half yours remember; we wrote it after you and Kagami got closer.”

“Won’t even hide the body, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe growled.

Marinette laughed, “Fine! If I go on tour, I want you there with me. I couldn’t do it with you! You’re only one I’d trust me my social media accounts.”

“How could you invite Chloe,” Alya asked hearing the end of the conversation as she arrived just after the bell rang. “I’d be a much better social media influencer than her!”

Chloe raised an eyebrow, “Uh huh, and how’s the traffic for the Ladyblog?” She asked.

Alya flushed with anger. It was bad. They all knew it was bad. Ladyblog had died dramatically after Ladybug vocally for the other press to hear told Alya she didn’t work with reporters who didn’t fact check. “Marinette’s my bestie; I should be going with her.”

Marinette snorted, “Last I check your bestie was Lila. Or don’t you remember ending our friendship?”

“Well, I, uh,” Alya stuttered out. She had completely forgotten disowning the bluenette. She had been so excited when her mother told her friend’s name was trending, thinking she’d see Lila Rossi, only to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng on the top search list of the day. Then she watched the video of her performing, when Jagged mentioned the record deal, Alya lost her mind. Her mind was filled with images of her and Marinette at music awards shows and on tours; movie premieres. It was all going to be amazing.

Except it wasn’t. She and Marinette weren’t friends anymore. A balloon popped inside Alya.

Marinette gave her a sad smile, “What did you think I forgot? Or you must have.”

“The chances of that happening or as likely as Jagged Stone owning a cat,” Chloe smirked as Lila walked into the door. “Or did you forget that part too? Wonder how Lila saved something he never owned?”

To her credit, Lila didn’t bat an eye. “He doesn’t own one now. He must have forgotten the poor thing once he got really famous and they went out of style. I wonder what happened to it.” It was good performance. Lila even got teary eyed.

Still, Lila was met with suspicious looks. The class started to wonder if she was really their golden ticket. Or if the pissed of the real one instead.

“Congratulations, Marinette,” Lila simpered, jealously flaring in her eyes. “Who knew Jagged Stone was your Uncle?”

“Shouldn’t you?” Chloe poked yet another hole in her story. “You said you were oh so very close.”

Marinette smirked, “I had get my rock and roll genes from somewhere.”

#ml fic #ml salt #marinette dupen chang #luka couffaine #chloe bourgeois #Marinette deserves better #adrien salt

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vampiresuns · 4 years ago

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Cassano Arianamenzi | The First Of The Cassano

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Cassano Arianamenzi: The clever Court Archivist who would become Consul

I have mentioned in a couple of places, but particularly in this post, that the Cassano (and the Radošević-Cassano by extension) aren’t nobles, and they only ended up with the Consulship through a scheme, and no one quite knows how they did it.

Well, that’s not entirely true. This is Cassano Arianamenzi, the woman who would change the history of the Vesuvian Consulship forever.

Name: Cassano Gizem Arianamenzi.

Meaning of the name: ‘Cassano’ is the name of a series of towns, while ‘Gizem’ means ‘mystery’ in Turkish.

Nicknames: Cas, Ari, Arianamenzi

Family: She is the eldest of five children, and the daughter of a Philosopher who earned a Court Position as a scholar (Father) and an artisan who made instruments (Mother). They had her while fairly young so she was raised by her grandparents and great aunts for a portion of her life. This never brought her problems with her parents, who were very present, but taught her the importance of community. The Arianamenzi all raised their children that way and lived in a multi-generational household.

They lived in the edge between Goldgrave and Centre City. They were never particularly well off, though they had enough. All of her siblings studied through apprenticeships, and she did so on a scholarship on the account of being the daughter of her father. She often said rich people and aristocrats mistake education for class (for a reason), but once they learnt you had had an education without being like them, they suddenly praised you through romanticising your position in life, thinking anyone who wasn’t like them must’ve starved to be able to spell their names, because naturally everyone who wasn’t like them was stupid.

Clearly, these people got on her nerves.

Their siblings were: Riparte (she/her), Flavius (they/she), Eziz (he/him) and Nora (he him).

Favourite Food: Spicy Mussel stew.

Favourite Drink: Kvass

Favourite Flower: Cherry Blossoms

Birthday: September 7th

Age: 37 for the relevant events in her timeline, but she was born 377 years before the events of the game.

Zodiac: Virgo sun, Aquarius Moon, Aries Rising

Patron Arcana: The Devil (always reversed) and the Page of Pentacles

Devil, Reserved: freedom, release, restoring control.

Upright: ambition, desire, diligence; Reversed: lack of commitment, greediness, laziness

Pronouns: She/Her

Languages Spoken: Vesuvian (common tongue and old dialect),Firentian, Prakran, Galbradan Bulani.

Magic: Language magic and language manipulation — she can tell the intention and honesty of people through their words, both spoken and written. She is able to perform different kinds of incantation, manipulate glyphs, and temporary and limited alteration of the world around her through words.

Being a ‘language manipulator’ is one of the few magical traits the Cassano possess. She wasn’t the first language manipulator in her family, and the Arianamenzi don’t know who was, nor they care. It skips generations, however.

There’s a couple of them between her and the current generation of the R-C, but the last language manipulators of the Cassano have been Vitale Cassano, Consul of Vesuvia, Aelius Anatole Radošević and Artemisia Cassano.

Familiar: A mongoose (Egyptian mongoose) called Pearl.

Song: Centuries, Fall Out Boy

The Poison Plot of The Vesuvian Court & Facts about Cas Arianamenzi.

Cassano began working as an archivist, handling the paperwork of the Court and the Consul, when she was 27. By the time she was 33 she was working directly with the Consul, though she mostly worked in the archives department, and the old Palace’s library. A year after she landed the position the Poison Plot began.

In the span of three years, three Consuls and two temporary placeholders were poisoned in the Vesuvian Court, as well as five other officials and a diplomatic envoy.

Cassano had began putting the pieces together on her own, mostly thanks to her magic and her job as an archivist, but she was able to win a new perspective on this when the Count of the time, a magician named Sibona, began venting to her, trying to escape both the Vesuvian summer and late spring heat, and her Court.

After the last of murdered Consuls was poisoned, Sibona, who had already figured out Cassano was also a magician, asked her why didn’t she solve it. If she did, Sibona would make her the Consul.

Cassano declined originally, telling she had no Courtly aspirations nor wished to end up dead, but eventually agreed. Count Sibona realised she knew more about politics than what she gave away, and decided to trust her gut about her.

She wasn’t wrong. Cassano was able to solve the plot and restructure some of the Court functioning, including the basic functioning of the Consulship as related to the City and working with a seven people integrated council (which you can read about here).

One of the reasons she was able to solve it was because Aristocrats dismissed her for not being one of them. Court Archivists and Court Staff were seen as invisible and she took advantage of it, as she did of her magic.

The Palazzo, however, wasn’t endowed to her. It belonged to the one of the murdered Consul’s who had no open succession. Whether Sibona let her get away with manipulating who it would pass to, or she never realised, Cassano didn’t know, but given how her magic worked, it was extremely hard to prove she had forged anything to begin with.

That Consul didn’t really use the building. Up to her, the Consuls lived in the Palace with the Count. She refused this because she couldn’t leave her family alone. Her family and friends were also the reason why she tried to procure the Palazzo in the first place. It was less about the status symbol and more about “these goddamn Aristocrats have entire empty buildings and for what, for fucking what.” She was able to safely house her entire extended family along with more than one friend.

She is the entire reason why the Cassano have the tradition of having the Palazzo opened to the people — the Arianamenzi realised that with this building, they could now help their community in an even bigger scale. While she “inherited” (aka took as a squatter) the Palazzo with everything in it, most of the collections have been donations from friends. The space is supposed to be communally kept. A lot of the paintings in it, and some of the oldest murals are there because she gave the opportunity to friends of her family by commissioning them, so she could show rich people their work.

They did try to poison her. She was able to anticipate it through her scheming and was, in fact, waiting for it, to the point she contacted one of her friends, an alchemist who was an expert in poisons from South End, to help her with a preventive antidote.

Most of it was to show Aristocrats what a little fraternity between people can do.

She firmly believed she had more in common with people in the street than the rest of the Court. A lot of what she believed and how she carried herself as the Consul is the origin of a lot of ways to be that the Radošević-Cassano as a family now have. She is also responsible for the saying “nothing mortal can kill a Cassano” (because the poison didn’t kill her).

When asked about how rulers should be, this was her reply: “A ruler shouldn’t be feared, nor loved. A ruler should be competent. Discussions of punishment or morality only detract a ruler from their one true command: to do their goddamned job.”

Count Sibona liked her because she thought Cas was weird.

It wasn’t Cassano who came up with the Consul ascension ceremony, it was Count Sibona who most likely came up with it to be a shit about Cassano taking an entire Palazzo without asking.

Her wife’s name was Caterina.

Because I believe Arcanaverse rapiers to be an invention of at least 150 years after she was alive, her sword was not a rapier. She learnt while she was studying and apprenticing under a scholar because she was bored.

She wrote two books in her lifetime: a book about political philosophy, and a book in the old Vesuvian Dialect about the origins, secrets and magic of Vesuvia. It is not, however, a history book. Instead is mostly about language magic and Cassano’s own theories about how to interject with the magic of the Canals if needed. It also has the knowledge passed down from Count to Count, because the Consul has always been supposed to be privy of it, because the Consul has always been supposed to rule in absence or incapacitation of the Count or their heirs.

This book has never left the hands of the Cassano family, except for a brief period during the life of Vitale Cassano (Anatole’s great great grandfather). In the Janiverse (@apprenticealec‘s and my Arcanaverses combined) the book is stolen by the Scholars of the Sea Palace, but Amparo Mediavilla, wife of Vitale intercepts the middle man before it’s too late. In my regular Arcanaverse, it is taken for similar reasons, and Amparo still retrieves it.

Count Sibona also described her as a mongoose with the skin of a woman.

Her name became a surname with her brother Nora (the youngest), who takes after her as the Consul for around ten years before a niece replaces him. Nora introduced himself as “Nora, Brother of Cassano” which got constricted to Nora Cassano. Kin of Cassano was also very normal to refer to both her family and friends by Aristocrats so it stuck

#the arcana #the arcana oc #the arcana worldbuilding #my writing #cassano arianamenzi #the radosevic-cassano

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the-writings-of-kaos · 5 years ago

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Humans, the pets: An epilogue

Abduction log: Home never tasted so good

He was going home.

———

A tall alien figure was atop a large podium, standing at a lectern as the other councillors moved to sit in their seats as the high councillor had done. Readying to make the announcement. The spotlights turned on as the crowd lights were dimmed. And the high councillor, began to speak.

“Peoples of the galactic alliance. It has come to my attention that a new sapient species has been found, and contacted. I will be displaying images of them now.”

On a giant screen above the councillors images of humans in cities going about their daily lives were viewed, pictures of humans around camp fires sharing stories as the fire burned brightly. And one last image, of humans participating in war games, the one so famously now known to the galaxy as chess. The images faded to black as the crowd slowly regained cognitive focus, the immensely adorable images fading out of their minds as the screen turned to black.

“As I’m sure you have noticed, they are by far the most adorable sapient species we have come across thus far. And while I’m sure many of you would like to find them and bring them to the council, I’d like to set something on the table to be if debate.”

The high councillor paused before setting a large text block to be displayed, carrying the information that needed to be shared.

“This species, when we first contacted them, was originally taken form their home planet and sold as a pet. While the owners were lucky enough that this one was complacent, he did however kill an entire platoon of reptilian pirates who were unlucky enough to attempt to raid the ship they had been on. With a zero enemy survivor count.”

Shocked gasped could be heard throughout the crowd, as aliens began to puzzle over how such a thing could be true. Finally someone from the crowd shouted out.

“Show us proof!”

The screen blinked onto security camera footage. Showing little being walking towards reptilian pirates with his arms outstretched for an embrace. The crowd was heard awwing and cooing as they saw the little being hug the reptilain. Before they went silent as the pirates head was spun clean off. and fell to the ground. The high councillor continued.

“We have returned this, human they called themselves, and inquired the officials of their race as to what army or mercenary group they were part of. We were then informed that this was not any trained military combatent, but instead a technician undergoing their third class education.”

More shock gasps and panicked murmurs erupted from the crowd, before being silenced with a wave from the high councillor as they continued.

“Yes yes, quite shocking. Now back to political matters.”

The high councillor clears their throat before continuing

“This race know as the humans, have colonized much of the galactic arm of their home planets location. They already have more planets then any known military force in the alliance, and it seems that they have been preparing for first contact ever since they began dreaming of reaching out to the stars.”

The crowd went into a crazed exsplosion of discussion, bigger then even the triglybornitites. They simply couldn’t be that big of a race. The crowd went silent again as the councillor began to exsplain.

“They have many great arts, stories, legends and myths. But something has caught my attention, something they call fictional art. It is where they create art works and writing pieces from mental illusions, and create wonderfully as they put it to borrow a human phrase, magical separate worlds within these art works to tell fake stories to entertain each other.”

The councillor paused to let the confusion calm down.

“With these works they created fake stories, of them reaching the galaxy and finding no one here. Because of this they have been blessed with joy of our appearance, they are ready to become alliance members at once. But here is the issue...”

The councillor took a moment before continuing, themselves needing a moment to subside their own unnerve.

“The humans are unspecialized, they do not have a purpose as soon as they are born. And they end up searching for that purpose multiple times throughout their lives. And this is what makes them such a threat. They are what we now know are called generalists, well at least biologically.”

The crowd was shouting in confusion and misunderstanding over how such a race could form. Without specialization how did they choose their jobs, their lives their purposes. All this was still erupting from the crowd as the councillor shouted over them.

“This is why the technician when the ship was attacked, was perfectly able to defend the ship and succeed in their victory. They are capable of improvised combat, they have over seven forms of combat arts, which they teach to eachother as young as adolescents. Because of this they are a major military threat, and they can adapt to almost any environment. They spread themselves across their planet from their equator to their icy poles and still seek out more places to spread to. They have cities on volcanic islands, entire metropolis’s in locations of recurring natural disaster.”

The crowd was panicking as the proof was displayed on the screen, images of places known as Hawaii, Florida, and the Cari-bee-an where the ocean waters regularly barade the shores.

“As a final note...”

The crowd went silent

“We have ammited them as a defender species, and we will have them fight with us!”

The crowd cheered, these juggernauts of the galaxy were here to protect us! This is the best thing to happen since Zarzac the fifth was defeat a hundred years ago.

———

“Hello humanity, this is captain Shammerock of the extra terrestrial species affairs commission. And it is with my most highest honour I’d like to announce we are no longer alone in the Milky Way!”

All across human space people were celebrating, the human home system Sol 3 with their three blue and green perals orbiting the sacred yellow dwarf as the celebration was wrought with triumph. Earth, Mars, and the newest edition Venus, freshly cleared of toxic atmosphere and colonized moons of rich resource.

A message popped up on the dash of the commison comms officer. And was sent all across the human communications and information platform. A message the galaxy was yet to know the mistake of making.

“Dearest human race. From the people’s galactic alliance.

It is with grateful heart that the alliance appoints the human race as a defender race. Along with free trade and access across all allied space, this includes the human race to fight with and for the alliance as a whole. And to aid those in the alliance should they ever need it. Welcome to the alliance, we are pleased to be having you. -people’s galactic alliance”

———

-Several weeks ago-

Abduction log: Sweet (but not real) sorrow

———

Hequ’lutik: Kafr’litik!!! The kenal called and demanded we be there imeadiatly!!!

Hequ’lutik galavanted through their accommodations, looking for their bond partner. Finding them in the relaxation room, getting ready after having heard Hequ’lutik.

Kafr’litik: Quiet down, do you have any idea what it could possibly be about?

Hequ’lutik: Not a clue, the kenaler sounded panicked and demanded that we get there as soon as possible.

Hequ’lutik and Kafr’litik charged out of their accommodations, quickly running into the transportation pod to be taken to the nearest drop point to the kennel.

———

There they were, the awful beasts who had locked him up in their ship for all of his recent memories. The same ones he could only assume were simply playing along with him, like he was a toy.

Smith spoke into the translator that the doctors had given him after the kenaler figured out he was sapient. It beeped quietly, as it translated the words roughly and spoke to the kenaler beside him.

———

The drop pod had arrived, and the wholly bison inside were frantically trying open the hatch. As little being beside Gorgash attempted to speak through the translator.

Gorgash: sorry could you say that again little being?

Little Being:When am I allowed to leave home? I do not wish to meet them again.

Little being gestured with their upper left appendage to the Whooly Bison running towards them, faces of worry strewn across their face.

Gorgash: Soon. The things in blue need to talk to them, and you together.

Gorgash pointed to the blue dressed new contact committee members, who were coming over aswell. Then all at once everyone arrived.

———

Hequ’lutik springed from the drop to the kenaler and littlebing standing in wait, Kafr’litik following close behind. When they got there, she noticed three Sig’abons wearing blue colour clothes had arrived aswell.

Hequ’lutik: Kenaler! Exsplain yourself! Why have you called us? Was little being hurt? And what are they doing here?

Hequ’lutik gestured a appendage to the first contact committee members, before rushing over to Little Being to look them over for any damage. Much to her suprise, the people in blue held her back. As Little Being, looking as cute as ever in their new protective wears, raised their upper appendages in a means of protecting themselves from her.

Kafr’litik: ok ok, what’s going on here? Why won’t you let us near our pet?!?

Leader member: Your ‘pet’ is a NR class organism.

Hequ’lutik: I don’t care how smart they are, Little Being is my pet. And you will give them to me or I will sue you and your kenal.

Gorgash: That means they are a newly discovered race! You fur for brains, bull dropping.

Kafr’litik: Whoe whoe. Newly discovered race? What do you mean?

Leader member: I mean they are a sentient organism, that was kidnapped and sold to you as a pet. And miss Hequ’lutik step away already, you know how dangerous they are. And we aren’t allowing you to harass them.

Hequ’lutik: Ha! Bull dropping!?! You must be off your atmosphere sir, because there is no way they are sentient. They can’t even articulate any excuse of writing or language!

Kafr’litik is stepping away, getting ready to turn around and dash back to the pod. A committee member grabs him before he leaves, and locks his hooves together before he can run off.

Hequ’lutik: What are you doing!?! We are innocent of any crimes you are accusing us of, unlock my partner this instant!

Leader member: I’m afraid we can’t mam, you and your partner are to be taken in for questioning as to how you didn’t realize that your ‘pet’ was sentient. And to direct us to the buyer you got them from, so we can locate their government before they launch out something to find them. Cmon move it.

Gorgash: Follow me Little Being, let’s hear what your slavers have to say.

Little being: Don’t call me small and cute, my name is Smith.

———

A message popped up on my dash, from a kenal in one of the core worlds. They found something and needed a first contact team imeadiatly. As well as an interrogator to figure out what was going through the heads of the owners.

Looks like they need me there too.

Authors note

Alright, I made some edits and I will be doing a second part to the epilogue. Hope you enjoy.

As always credits to my fellow authors, prompters, and commenters.

#humans are space australians #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #humans are adorable #humans are space oddities #humans the pets

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not-xpr-art · 4 years ago

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Art Deep Dives #2 - The History of Fanart

Hi everyone!

This post is part of my Art Deep Dives tag, where I ramble about art-y things, often with some relation to art history in some way.

just so you know, these essays aren’t formal in anyway lol! I just do them for fun & to hopefully be interesting in some way to someone!

This week I’ll be talking about the history and importance of fanart! It’s not the entire history of fanart, just some key moments and points in it that I feel are important!

(this essay is about 2500 words long btw!)

Part 1 - What even is fanart?

I think when a lot of people hear about ‘fanart’, they often think of it as a new thing, something that came along at some point in the last century when media begun to be mass circulated around the world.

But, of course, fanart has existed long before media like Star Wars or Doctor Who were created, and even long before photography was invented, even if it wasn’t necessarily referred to as ‘fanart’ at that time since the concept of ‘intellectual property’ hadn’t been introduced at that point.

So I think at first we need to define what we even mean when we refer to ‘fanart’...

Put simply, it’s artwork made by people who are interested in something created by someone else, such as a TV show, film, book, podcast, video game etc. However, by this definition, where do original characters created by the fans as part of franchises fit into the picture? Or celebrity fanart? Or artists who use famous people’s appearances as the base for their own characters? Or what of artworks of media that have long since passed copyright laws (such as Shakespeare works, Austen works, etc)? And where do illustrations of books fit into this?

So perhaps a wider description would be, artworks made by fans of and inspired by something “belonging” to someone else (either a piece of media or... themselves). The issue of this description is that most portraiture would fit into this. So... are we about to call Thomas Gainsborough or Joshua Reynolds, two of the most famous British portrait painters of the 18th century, fanartists?

I think a lot of people in the art world would scoff at this concept, because even now the feelings surrounding fanart are pretty negative. They see it as less of a valid form of art and instead as ‘derivative’ and ‘unoriginal’. I’ve heard both non-artists and artists alike talk about fanart as ‘not real art’, and then in the next breath they’re praising portraits made by Leonardo da Vinci or Vincent Van Gogh.

I also think it’s important to note that fanart isn’t exclusively portraiture too. Often artists will draw landscapes, still life works or even abstract pieces based on their favourite media. And as previously mention, a lot of artists and writers create their own characters within a world created by another person. So, for all intents and purposes, that is a form of original art, but it is often still put down in comparison to people who make up an entirely new story and world for their characters.

Part 2 - Renaissance artists and Bible fanart!?

One of the most common defences I’ve seen for fanart is that Renaissance artists’ basically did Bible and Mythology fanart, and their artwork is considered ‘masterpieces’ so... that’s that!

Right?

Well, if we’re sticking with the definition of fanart being something based on a series of characters or concepts owned by someone else, then Religious or Mythological based art would definitely fit into this.

(Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Virgin of the Rocks’, currently being held in the National Gallery in London).

But I think it’s important to note that the art world was a very different place in Renaissance Europe. Concepts and characters didn’t belong to any one person or group of people, instead everything was a lot more homogenised. There’s a reason why when we think of figures like Jesus or the Virgin Mary, we have a very particular idea of what they look like (a very white-washed idea, I might add). The same thing goes for portrayals of figures from Greek or Roman mythology. There were often motifs associated with these deities that dated back to Antiquity, and Renaissance artists looked back to this for their inspiration. But there was no one specific point of reference for these ‘characters’ other than the Bible, which didn’t actually ‘belong’ to anyone, not even the church.

So, I think it’s valid to bring up Renaissance artists and how the modern concept of ‘originality’ in art was less important to artists or patrons, and much of the art they did was exclusively works based on something the artist did not come up with. In my first Art Deep Dive, I talked about how History paintings (which were often Religious or Mythology based) were valued for being the product of an ‘artistic genius’ and their connection to spirituality in comparison to portraits or landscapes that depicted the real contemporary world.

But do I think it was actually fanart?

... Probably not... Although I wouldn’t begrudge anyone believing it is, because in a way it does somewhat fit into the definition of fanart. Instead this was to look at how society’s relationship to art has changed drastically in the hundreds of years since that era, as has the purpose of art itself.

And I think it does bring up some interesting discussions of why we are so obsessed with ‘originality’ in art at the moment when it’s not something that was really important before, though!

Part 3 - What about portraiture?

So... What about portraiture huh?

Now, portraiture has existed for as long as art has, essentially, but it took until the Renaissance era and beyond for it to be associated with patrons. Portraiture was more than just ‘old-timey photography’, since it was linked distinctively to a sign of wealth. I mentioned Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds earlier, who were two very influential portrait artists of the 18th century, who both fed into a market of middle and upper class patrons wanting their portraits done in this era.

(This is a piece by Reynolds of the Actress Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse).

And in a way this makes portraiture probably the earliest example of fanart as we see it today.

Except, a part of fanart that people who do it (including myself) often bring up is how it’s connected to a sense of passion and love for something. In a way, portraits done purely as commissions for an aristocrat for profit doesn’t necessarily fit into our modern notion of fanart.

This brings us back to that darn description of fanart again. Because in our current world fanart can be defined as work of celebrities done as commissions. Except, perhaps, if you’re a known portrait painter (no one says the designer of the postage stamp did fanart of Queen Elizabeth, despite the fact that it... kind of is?).

So, why is it that a portrait of the Queen is simply a portrait, but one of Billie Eilish is ‘fanart’? Who decides these parameters? And also who decides which one is more ‘worthy’ or ‘valuable’?

Places like the National Portrait Gallery are filled with portraits of famous people from history. But it’s never referred to as the ‘National Fanart Gallery’. I think in a way this boils down to who is doing the art, who the art is of and why they’re painting it. It is funny, though, that the distinction between fanart and portraiture of famous people is so similar that it requires such detailed specifications as to which is which.

So, I think it’s clear to see that where portraiture fits in the history of fanart is a contentious one...

Part 4 - Shakespeare, Fairy Paintings and other 18th/19th Century Curiosities...

From the late 18th until the late 19th century essentially saw the birth to what we now know as ‘fanart’, in a way. The growth of middle-class audiences in the early part of the 1800′s meant that there was a new found desire for landscape, genre and portrait art. And coupled with the growth of secularism, history paintings in their traditional sense had lost appeal.

There was also the small matter of media being so much more accessible and wide spread to bigger audiences due to the industrial revolution. Books were being printed more easily and sold and a reasonable price, not to mention that a significant portion of the population could now actually read, or at the very least were given some form of education. More travel and trade (and also colonialism) also lead to an increase of new kinds of media being explored. Birth of the Gothic genre, Science Fiction, Fantasy, etc, all forms of fiction that we’re very familiar with now were only just entering the public’s consciousness at this point.

Much like now, technological advances were both a blessing and curse to the people of this era. And also like now, art was used as a way to express what was happening in the world. A great example of this is JMW Turner’s Flying ,,, which shows an old ship being transported into harbour by a steamboat, something that was very new to this era. It spoke of the new technologies overpowering the old, and the fears a lot of people had because of this.

This lead to the development of Fairy Paintings, to move to a new time of history painting that was more based on folktales and works of fiction by writers like Shakespeare, and were often used as a form of escapism. William Blake is a prominent figure in this type of painting, along with some Pre-Raphaelite painters.

This is a piece directly based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Henry Fuseli and is completely undoubtedly fanart in essentially every way. Many of his works, and the works of his contemporaries, were based on the works of writers like Shakespeare.

This piece, along with most of his other works, was also exhibited in the Tate Gallery way back in the early 19th century. Fanart like this was openly welcomed into galleries in this era, something that’s a far cry from my art teachers in school and college actively discouraging us from doing any kind of fanart for our projects.

The mass appeal of these kinds of art lasted well into the 20th century and even after the advent of photography, which created an entirely new kind of media to be consumed.

I actually think that a lot of this animosity towards fanart stems from a lot of fanart being born from drawing from photos as references, which is why I think artworks that are fanart from an pre-photography era are valued above artworks done now.

Part 5 - The Beginnings of Intellectual Property and Copyright Hell...

Earlier I mentioned how fanart could be defined as work done inspired by media belonging to someone else. However, this begs the question whether a single person or company can actually own such things as characters and story concepts.

Copyright as we know it today essentially originated in the 18th century. Now, I’m not going to go into all the history of copyright here (partly because it’s confusing af), but essentially throughout the 18th and 19th century all across the world, intellectual property laws were brought in for books & later extended to other media types. They basically prevented any other person or publisher being able to copy, distribute or adapt the piece of media. As many may know, copyright laws run out after a certain amount of time (I believe either between 70 or 100 years), by which time they enter the Public Domain and are free to be used in anyway by anyone.

Copyright laws can be a real detriment to fanartists, however, particularly when large companies like Disney cracking down on any small hint of one of their characters in the last few years. This feels particularly insidious to me given how most Disney films are based on old fairy-tales and legends. But in using these centuries old stories and giving them the ‘Disney flavour’, they have been able to essentially repackage the original story for their own profit. Disney of course aren’t the only company to do this, but given how Disney own basically everything media-wise now, they are the biggest perpetrator of this at the moment.

It’s important to note that to this day, copyright doesn’t extend to ideas or themes. As well as this, copyrighted media can be used by people who don’t own it either by asking for permission or via ‘fair use’. But as a lot of Youtubers would tell you, this is often something that is ignored by large companies in favour of holding monopoly over the entire thing.

This is of course not to say that copyright can’t be a good thing. I believe that artists and creators deserve to have the rights to their individual works. The issue is surrounding big conglomerate companies using copyright not as a way of protecting and supporting their in-house artists, but as a way of boosting profits.

My thoughts are that copyright laws should exist to prevent other people or companies from stealing or overtly copying/adapting a work made by someone else, not preventing a small freelance artist from selling a couple prints of a drawing from a film Disney made 20+ years ago based on a stories written hundreds of years ago.

(I know it’s not as simple as this, but you get what I mean lol)

In a big way, copyright laws were what created our modern notion of fanart, since prior to that no-one really had ownership of their works in the same way that copyright allows you. So, even thought I’ve been quite pessimistic about it, fanart really wouldn’t exist without it so... it’s not all bad lol?

Part 6 - Why is any of this important??

I realise that this is a strange question to ask at the end of this essay, but I really wanted to leave my true personal thoughts until the end in order to keep at least a vague sense of being objective through this lol...

To me, fanart is something that made me fall in love with art in the first place, particularly digital art. I was able to find communities of like minded people and make some really good friends, all because of fanart.

I’ve also spoken to other artists who say how fanart allows them to connect to their favourite shows or characters or celebrities, and a way of expressing their love for something! It’s also often a gateway for artists to get into art as children, and some have said how fanart has allowed them to be more creative in general!

Fanart is something so intrinsic to fandom culture, so much so that it has existed for as long as people have loved things (even long before the internet). And I know that a lot of public figures who receive fanart, either of themselves or of works they’ve created, often express genuine happiness of being the inspiration for someone else...

So, fanart is important to us because it’s escapism, it’s freedom, and it brings us together in such a genuine way!

I wrote this essay because I wanted to truly explore where fanart actually came from, and what I ended up discovering is that the artworld has never been clean-cut separated into ‘original art’ and ‘fanart’!

The history of fanart is messy, confusing, but one thing is very clear to me: it doesn’t just run parallel to the history of art as a lot of people assume, it is instead interwoven into the fabric of all art!

So for my fellow fanartists, keep on doing what you’re doing, because your passion and love is palpable in your work, and really isn’t that what fanart is all about anyway??

~~~

Phew... Can you believe I actually did try and keep this short lol?

Anyway, thank you for reaching the end! And a special thank you to the people over at Artfolapp (my username is dangerliesbeforeyou over there btw!) who gave me their thoughts on fanart!

As always, my ask box is open for anyone who’s interested in discussing this further, and I also have an Art Advice Tag if you need help on improving your art!

#art deep dives #fanart #history of fanart #art history #art discussion #essay #history of art #blog post #i'm just... really passionate about fanart ... can u tell lol?#i may do a follow up of this one day since this is far from everything i want to talk about #but i figured 2500 words was enough for now..

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sayuricorner · 5 years ago

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Ever After High x Twisted Wonderland AU Headcanons part 8

Part 7 Part 9

AU concept

MASTERLIST

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing!

This part will focus on Raven’s, C.A. Cupid’s and Poppy’s twisted Wonderland profile and as well on some headcanons of them with the Pomefiore dorm and the school.

Characters profiles:

Name: Raven Queen

Gender: Female

Age: 15-16

Birthday: November 25

Starsign: Sagittarius

Height: 165 cm

Eye color: purple

Hair color: Dark with purple shades

Homeland: White kingdom

Dorm: Pomefiore

School year: first year

Occupation: Student

Club: Light music club

Best subject: Music

Dominant hand: Left

Favorite food: Salted caramel

Least favorite food: Anything too spicy (ex: hot sauce)

Dislike: Doing what is “hexpected” of her aka being the new Evil Queen

Talents: Singing and music in general

“Everything is so differents from all what I though I knew, but this school do to me one thing Ever After High never do: it give me the opportunity to make my own destiny!”

In bonus, here’s some illustrations and fan arts of Raven in the AU done by the amazing and talented @zebrabaker and @icant-choosename-help ! ^^

Raven Queen(made with Dolldivine) by @zebrabaker as she is presented in their fanfiction “Choosing Destiny” go read it and their others fanfics as well please their writtings are amazing! ^^

Raven Queen as a Pomefiore student draw by @icant-choosename-help you can see this fan art’s post by clicking on this link and please take time to also check their others arts they’re an awesome artist! ^^

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

Name: C.A. Cupid

Gender: Female

Age: "old as teenage love"

Birhtday: November 24

Starsign: Sagittarius

Height: 165 cm

Eye color: Blue

Hair color: Pink

Homeland: Olympus

Dorm: Pomefiore

School year: First year

Occupation: -Student

-Presenter at the school’s radio station

Club: School’s radio station(she’s the founder of that club)

Best subject: Mythology history

Dominant hand: Right

Favorite food: Cupcakes

Least favorite food: Can’t eat some fresh fruits, vegetables or nuts unless they’re baked(Headcanon I made up: she had a pollen-food syndrome that she contract because of her pollen allergy)

Dislike: Not being able to help someone’s love problems

Hobby: Give love related advices to her peers

Talents: love advisor

“In those troubled times some people’s hearts become troubled as well, with time they will heal and I’ll make sure to help!”

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

Name: Poppy O'Hair

Gender: Female

Age: 15-16

Birthday: june 19

Starsign: Gemini

Height: 165 cm

Eye color: Blue-cyan-green

Hair color: Auburn with half dyed purple

Homeland: White kingdom

Dorm: Pomefiore

School year: First year

Occupation: Student

Club: Fashion club( she’s the founder of that club)

Best subject: Art

Dominant hand: Left

Favorite food: Chicken wings

Least favorite food: Liver and onions

Dislike: Being restraint in her creativity

Hobby: Fashion

Talents: Fashionnista

“New school, new horizons and a new page to my story!”

Raven Queen at Pomefiore:

-The first times at Pomefiore and NRC in general were a bit akward for Raven mainly because of the cultural shock.

-Her dormmates were very nice but them over complimenting her was very akward to her so at first she mainly hang out with Epel.

-With Vil at first things were not simple, you see, he was VERY extasic to had the direct descendant of the Beautiful Queen in his dorm so he was often rambling to Raven about how an honor it was to have her in Pomefiore, how great the Beautiful Queen was and how proud she must be to had the Beautiful Queen as her ancestor.

-This make Raven really unconfortable, she don’t know what answer to this all her life her lineage was paint to her as just being evil and now she was ina place where the Evil Queen was see as a hero. Honestly she don’t know how to process all this.

-This and she had some diseagrements with him about his obsession with beauty.

-As for Rook, well, he was nice with a charming but again: over-complimenting a bit annoying and in his case to the umpteenth power as if she suddenly become Apple.

-However she prefer not tell them about her disconfort ‘cause she’s scare to sound rude and offend them so she keep it to herself.

-At one moment, Epel took her aside to talk to her ‘cause he notice for a time that she seemed to be bothered by something.

-After he insisted, Raven finally explain to him what was wrong.

-After she said her piece about everything, Epel, rather shocked about what Raven gone through at her former school, was about to say something when they suddenly facing two shocked Vil and Rook who hear everything.

-Raven was about to say something only to be cut by Vil who say to her with a worried voice something like “You silly potatoe! Why didn’t you tell us a thing?”

-The four then got a long conversation during which they set the record stray:

1)She wasn’t in her former school anymore nobody is going to scold her for being who she want to be.

2)What her former headmaster and her former classmates tried to force her to do was wrong and she was in the right to stood up for herself.

3)She don’t had to be scared to tell what she think.

4)They’re her dormmates and by so if she had a problem or anything which is on her mind she can come see them for help.

5)”And please don’t be a stupid potatoe next time you feel like this and come to us to talk about it! Keeping all those negative emotions to yourself is not healthy at all!”

-Raven was surprised by hown this turned but she was also happy they didn’t reject her.

-After this conversation her relationship with her dormmates get better.

-The others classmates even noticed that Vil was strangely more and more invested into Raven’s well-being.

-Like for exemple, she show big problems of control of her magic? Vil go explain the situation to the headmaster in order for Raven to had tutoring with a experimented student to learn to control her magic.

-Or when some students surprised her singing and Cater even recorded her telling how good her singing is and that she should try the light music club? Vil made Rook fetch Raven(of course in a Rook style and by that I mean “take Raven by surprise and bring her to Vil while holding her like a bride”) and after discussing it with her he encourage her to join the light music club if she want.

-The others students joke that Vil act as a brother version of a mother hen even if Vil deny it. But one thing is clear in the students mind: whatever Vil is deny it or not Raven was now Vil’s honorary little sister.

C.A. Cupid at Pomefiore:

- Although she is still shaken about what happen with Apple at Ever After High, Cupid is intrigued by her new school, curious about the new possibilities to help people’s heart.

-She’s also very happy to see Raven once again and to be in the same dorm than her.

-When she learn that Pomefiore is based on the heavy efforts of the Beautiful Queen she though that that fit her perfectly, ‘cause after all the beauty of the heart is also an amazing thing and she put many great efforts in it.

-She barely get into Pomefiore that she begin to give advices to people who seemed to need it.

-Quickly words about her goes around the school and soon many others students came to see her for an advice.

-Face to all those students wanting her advices Cupid decided to re-create her radio show so like this students from NRC would be able to ask her for advices and got an direct answer.

-After talking about it to the headmaster Crowley and recruting some students she found the Night Raven College’s radio station.

-The radio got different show, Cupid’s is about love advice.

-In a matter of time the new school’s radio become very popular among the students.

Poppy O'Hair at Pomefiore:

-When she entered in the Night Raven College, Poppy was rather wary.

-She an undirect victim of Apple ‘cause she targered Holly accusing the girl to be too beautiful and to knew about the "Snow White” story too much to her taste.

-Because of this Poppy is very worried about Holly’s well-being, even after their transfer, so when the sisters have been sorted in two different dorms she wasn’t at ease at all.

-Fortunatly Raven reassured her many times to not worry about Holly and that she will be fine at Octavinelle.

-She often go find her sister at lunch time to ensure herself that Holly was okay.

-To vent her stress Poppy begin to draw fashion designs more than usual to keep herself mentally busy.

-One day she looked at all the designs she created, she made so many of them, so many she want to make real.

-Unfortunatly the only way to make it possible would be through a club, but there’s no fashion club in NRC.

-Then she think “if there’s no fashion club then why not creating one?”

-So with her new objective she gather all informations she need to create her club.

-She prepared all the documentation, found students, mainly from her dorm, who were interested to be members including Lizzie and Ashlynn.

-She then present her project to the teacher who she heard could be a potential teacher councelor for the club: Divus Crewel.

-When the teacher took a look at Poppy’s club project he become interested and told her he will present the project to the headmaster and will accept to be the councelor of this club if it approved.

-Some times later an hyperactive Divus Crewel burst in headmaster Crowley’s office while screaming “DIRE YOU NEED TO APPROVE FOR THE CREATION OF THIS CLUB RIGHT NOW!”

-And so the fashion club was officialy created

-The club took comissions from others students which with the money allow them then to create bigger projects.

-Even though Vil is not a member of the club he often model for them.

-He even post pictures of himself wearing the fashion club’s creations on his MagiCam giving the club a big exposure.

-Soon the fashion club become very popular and the school even turn to the club for making clothes for school events.

-Poppy even get commissions from celebrities.

TAG LIST :( a reblog will get you a place in the tag list! ^^)

@virgil-is-a-cutie , @zebrabaker , @icant-choosename-help , @twistedwonderlxnd , @cowardlybravette , @iwilldietomorrowyees , @balsae , @shinypainterkid , @biscuitbirdpeach , @feuilleszuyu , @pale-lady-dreamer

#ever after high #twisted wonderland #ever after high au #crossover #headcanons #headcanon #raven queen #poppy o'hair #ca cupid #au idea #fan art #repost #zebrabaker #icant-choosename-help

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mariemichonao3 · 4 years ago

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The concept of ‘Mary Sue’ - a change through the ages?

Due to current politics, I recently entered a discussion about today’s fan fiction stories with main characters that would generally fit the literary term ‘Mary Sue’, as far as the following specifications apply:

“A Mary Sue is a type of fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as unrealistically free of weaknesses. Originating in fan fiction, a Mary Sue is often an author's idealized self-insertion. Mary Sue stories are often written by adolescent authors.” (Sources, see Wikipedia)

For those in need to look it up, the term ‘Mary Sue’ was created in the early 70ies when fan fiction author Paula Smith wrote a Star Trek fanfiction parody(!) in 1973, "A Trekkie's Tale", which featured a certain female Lieutenant Mary Sue ("the youngest Lieutenant in the Star Fleet—only fifteen and a half years old") and in which she satirized that kind of female ‘original characters’ widespread at that time in Star Trek fanfiction.

This type of character, of course, appears in every fandom written by people of every gender and age, and although the ‘unrealistically free of weaknesses’ part can vary according to the writer’s own flaws, the ‘idealized self-insertion’ is what brings me here, today.

I’m not here to discuss the Mary Sue concept per se, au contraire, but to share an observation that really, really bothers me. And as a woman, I especially would love to warn inspire young writers to maybe rethink certain aspects of their idealized picture of themselves. I don’t want to write a boring scientific piece that nobody wants to read, so in short and without pointing out any story in particular that’s the situation observed:

Where, initially, the idealized kid actually had ambitions which went further than her/his bodily features and looks, I read more and more often that the teen’s abilities and dreams go no further than having and interest in social media/TV, make-up, clothing, accessory, and maybe connections/inherited titles/money and all their ambition is becoming and influencer/model/actress/singer/it-person.

Where the original parody showed Mary Sue as the smartest ever person to graduate from the star fleet academy and ever get a commission, showing unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling, combining skills and sparking the interest of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy at once, the typical Mary Sue following through the years always featured at least one inspiring interest, skill or ambition. The most famous ones used to vary from being a nurse, vet or doctor, police, DA, PI, lawyers, judges, journalists, archaeologists, art experts, musicians, dancers, poets, librarians, all kinds of sports, arts, or magical abilities or being fighters, captains, gangsters or pirates. Even the girl in the most laughed at “50 Shades Of Grey” is an English literature major who wants to become a journalist. It has only become prevalent – or at least come to my attention in bigger numbers – in stories since “Twilight”, which knowingly was written with a religious background and reflected the ideal of Mormon world view ideals, that the girl ‘Bella’ had no further dreams or ambitions for herself beyond marriage (to a certain guy) and the following motherhood.

But why do I care at all what teen/twen kids today write? Why does it bother me so fucking much?

Because, HONESTLY! With showing that THAT is, where your interests, your dreams even, lie, you’re making it easy for them. You let those “Handmaid’s Tale”-patriarchy desiring, right wing, anti-female/diverse-rights loving assholes win! Where we had to fight for things like control over our own bodies, deciding whether we are allowed to vote, work or study and what we want to do with our lives – with or without influence or a paying partner/family, you apparently go back to dream of the idealized versions of uneducated eye-candy who do not bother or care for any ambition, or education, except for super shallow and superficial shit!

While I TOTALLY get that not all of you can dream of becoming chancellor or (vice) president or to pursue an academic or scientific career, save the climate or cure cancer, please, at least dream of something magical or fun, handcraft something, cook or plant herbs, draw comics, write romance novels, whatever, but please don’t let current politics or religion or shallow media content push you back to historic times and thinking it’s desirable to be nothing but a pretty and superficial arm candy whose interests are manicures, expensive handbags and make-up. Even back in archaic days everybody knew: “Behind every successful man there is a strong and intelligent woman(/lover)”. Dream of more, please.

#please discuss #mary sue #the handmaid's tale #star trek #fan fiction #AO3 #50 shades of grey #twilight #fandom

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andyctwrites · 5 years ago

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Selling Your Story – Peaks and Pitfalls of Publishing Contracts

Points to consider when deciding if a Publisher is the right fit for you.

Landing a publishing contract is the Holy Grail for many creators who set their sights on “breaking in” to comics, and it’s understandable as to why this is the case…

It’s a big ego bump for starters. Someone external, has recognised your work as good enough to be associated with, promote and sell. In terms of logistics, publishers have established distribution and promotional tools at their disposal and should have a bigger voice than you alone to share your creation with their customer base. As an independent creator, associating yourself with something bigger can also boost your profile – Like a more positive version of joining a gang in prison (I’d imagine).

The subject of publisher relations with creators, differential deals and the fairness of agreements became the subject of debate across comics twitter recently. Voices of creators and collaborators I have a great deal of respect for came out to talk about their views on several publishers with messages of both condemnation and support. Wider spread trends led to a number of freelance workers actively sharing what they had been paid for projects. While there’s no need to pick through a debate which is easily searched, I’ve been thinking a great deal on the subject of publisher contracts. Specifically, how an independent creator can review and consider what publishers are offering more critically in the hope they secure favourable terms, or at very least don’t feel regrets down the line as items not considered at the time of signing come home to roost.

I’ve sat to write this piece in the hope it sparks more discussion and helps those working in the small press scene, which I love, ask the right questions and considering offerings from publishers who show interest in their work. Hopefully I’ve made it accessible and not hideously dull.

Before we take a step further, let’s cover a few notes and caveats here:

Who is this guy? – I’m Andy Conduit-Turner a writer and extremely small name, in all but letter count, in UK indie comic publishing. The chances are, that if we’ve not met, you’ve not heard of me.

My comics contracting experience is primarily limited to drafting my own commissioning contracts to engage with collaborators for comics I have written, and in licencing short stories which I’ve written to appear in anthologies and other mediums produced by others. At the time of writing, I have neither signed with, or been rejected by any major (or minor) comics publisher and am not providing comment on any observed content which may or may not appear in a publishing agreement from any given company.

I am, neither a qualified legal professional or literary agent. In the event any contract you ever receive for any purpose is of extreme importance, investing in the support of a qualified person with greater industry experience is of far greater value than anything you’ll read here.

Outside of comics, my professional career and other personal projects over the last decade have seen me review, interpret, question, edit and respond to countless legal agreements for a variety of purposes. This has left me with a wealth of experience in considering longer term impacts for both the purchasing and suppling parties of service agreements – I’ve spent a great deal of time having both commercial and capability-based discussions prior to contracts being signed.

This is by no means an anti-publisher piece – Regardless of where you stand on recent publishing discussions, I’ve no desire to create an Us (Creators) vs Them (Publishers) sentiment here. There are countless publishers who are passionate about sharing creator’s stories, invest significantly and add a great deal of value to both individual projects and the industry as a whole. No reputable publisher is out to trick creators or deliberately give them a raw deal. That said, as with many transactions, a publisher is a business with an end goal of limiting liability and generating revenue in both the short and long term – Depending on your ideological feelings, this isn’t necessarily an inherently evil objective, and it’s how publishers remain in business.

Your publishing contract is equally not a formality, a magnanimous offer from a friend with nothing to gain from the arrangement, and your unconditional ticket to success and acclaim. Different deals will work for different creators – A good deal to one will be an unacceptable deal for someone else and there are few terms which would be universally perfect or awful for everyone. I’d hope through these pages I can maybe help you consider your offers, ask necessary questions and make decisions you’re comfortable with for your own circumstances.

Negotiation carries risks – Especially within the sphere of indie publishing, there are a couple of truths we need to reflect on.

1. Comics are an attractive and exciting creative medium for people to get into. Especially if a publisher is welcome to unsolicited submissions, they are likely to have no shortage of people interested in publishing with them.

2. Many publishers aren’t huge organisations. In the event a member of their core team is not already a legal professional, it’s unlikely they will have a legal department on their staff to directly manage adjustments to legal documents and agreements.

What this boils down to is that, many publishers may simply not have the resources or interest in negotiating or adjusting a contract with you – There’s every chance that the offer made to you is non-negotiable. While I’d argue that the withdrawal of an offer in response to a question asked or statement challenged in good faith is indicative of the professionalism of the organisation in question, you should be prepared for the fact that being the squeaky wheel may not land you the deal you want, and may take the one you have off the table.

A Note on NDAs and Market Norms

NDAs, or Non-Disclosure Agreements are very common, as part of, or prior to contracting in many industries. They are typically used to protect (in this case publishers’) private or proprietary information concerning their business practises, contracting terms, project pipeline and pay rates private and confidential. They are a routine consideration and not indicative of any sinister goings on. In keeping with professional conduct, if you sign an NDA you should, of course, respect its conditions though here are a few considerations and questions you may ask or confirm however.

1: Is the NDA mutually beneficial – While you are agreeing not to share the details of a publisher’s business and offer outside involved parties, does the signed NDA bind the publisher to offer you the same regardless as to whether the end result is a signed publishing agreement?

Are there stated commitments to your work remaining confidential and not circulated to other outside parties during your negotiations? What commitments are made to the return / disposal of any project details or materials shared should an agreement not be finalised.

Additionally, can you expect details on deals you accept in terms of up front remuneration, percentage splits on profits and additional contract terms to remain confidential?

2: Pitch exclusivity – Are there any expectations, formal or otherwise that you should not pitch your comic elsewhere until negotiations have been concluded?

3: Your right to advice – No NDA should prevent you taking appropriate professional advice before signing any final agreement.

Rules on business competition internationally, already provide a great deal of legislation to ensure businesses to remain competitive and prevent illegal practises such as price fixing and market sharing. While market norms may dictate and guide the offers you’re likely to receive competing businesses should not mutually agree to adhere to set fees or conditions. At this point I’ll pause and note that I don’t hold the market specific professional knowledge to apply Anti-Trust and similar business competition legislation to publishing contracts – These should be forefront of a publisher’s mind when managing confidentiality of contract content.

So…With all of that now said (in painstaking detail) let’s get into this shall we

What’s in this for you?

So, you’ve pitched your book to a publisher and they’re interested in working with you? Great news! Now comes the time when you need to consider what you want to get from your potential partner, and consider, realistically, what you’ll accept. For many creators your wants and expectations may include:

Contribution to production costs. Particularly for writer led teams, an ability to appropriately pay artists, colourists, letterers, editors and other professionals make up the bulk of comic production costs even before downstream logistics such as printing, marketing and distribution come into play. Many publishers may state up front whether this is a model they can support. Initial production costs add to the overall risk and increase the volume needed to sell before profits are realised. Consider – Landing a publisher may not relieve you of the need to raise personal funds or take to Kickstarter.

Upfront royalty payments. A noble dream for some, though likely only realised by more established creators. Belief in your project will need to be high to warrant an upfront payment to the creator for a book prior to a single copy being sold Consider – Manage your expectations here, how promising is your pitch? Do you have a track record of success that offsets the risk of an upfront pay out?

Percentage Profits – This is likely to be a long-term arrangement of any publishing deal whereby the creator and the publisher acting a licence holder take an agreed % split of future profit revenue generated from the project – Profits from what exactly we’ll come to later. Consider – There’s no way around this, any additional step in the process here are going to reduce the by unit revenue you receive per each sale. By working with a publisher, the benefit to you is that they support you in, ideally, selling more copies than you would alone.

Production and logistical support – Sure, you know writing, art or whichever your creative field may be, but there’s every chance that your publisher is more familiar with the processes involved with getting your book into people’s hands. With established relationships with suppliers and retailers your publisher may also be able to optimise the per unit profit on your book sales, in addition to increasing your potential audience through supply networks and wider convention attendance.

In some cases, your publisher may also take a creative role in the process, appointing an editor, or suggesting changes to make a book more marketable in their experience – We’ll also return to this point later.

Comic Financials - Hypothetical example – Comic X

Working without a publisher

You as creator spend £2000 on the production of your comic (Art, letters, colour, whatever!) Print volumes allow you to obtain copies of your book at £2 per copy

You price your book at £5 per copy Let’s then also assume a modest spend of £200 on website, and attending some local cons, and you break even on Postage and Packing. Under this model you’ll see a profit on your creation once you sell your 734th copy of Comic X. This assumes you sell exactly all of your stock and are left with no additional copies which you’ve paid to have printed, but not yet sold. Let’s make this a tiny bit more complex and suggest that you diversify from selling physical copies online and at cons alone. You begin selling digital copies via an established digital store front at £3. You also connect with local comic retailers who agree to carry copies of your comics in store. To keep this simple and not lose the remaining 3 people this dive into maths hasn’t lost already let’s assume that your sales across all avenues equal out to 1/3 each, and once again all copies you produce will sell. The digital sales have no print cost but the digital storefront takes 50% of the sale price

The stores agree to purchase copies of your book from you for £4, creating a 33% share on profit after print costs.

Under this scenario, Comic X will officially be profitable after around 245 direct physical sales, 489 digital sales and 367 sales via stores.

Working with a publisher

Under this model, we’ll assume that you as a creator invested the same £2000 in production costs but nothing further, leaving the publisher to manage the printing along with costs for attending conventions etc.

Outside of the numbers here, your publisher is also the party taking the risk regarding the volume produced if any copies go unsold. The trade off is that your publisher will take a percentage of any profits before they reach you. For this example, let’s say you agree on 50% revenue share and receive no contribution to production costs or any upfront payment.

For argument sake, let’s assume your publisher secures the same unit costs and margins (though you’d hope they may be able to negotiate better through volume purchasing). Understanding a publisher’s direct cost with con attendance, and marketing when applied to a single book is a level of hypothetical we won’t attempt here.

Focussing on you as a creator, under the same sales methods used in the non-publisher model you would begin to see profit on your production investment of £2000 from publisher paid royalties after 445 direct sales, 889 digital sales and 667 in store sales.

After all this talk of money, the first thing to recognise is that it isn’t everything to all creators. Many will consider the long-term goals of building an audience as a pathway to bigger and better things, or simply an investment in their creative hobby. Those with realistic aspirations will likely not expect to anything resembling a profit from their early books (save perhaps for those with the skills to produce a comic entirely alone or with collaborators satisfied with payment purely from sale revenue). For many creators, having a partner who ensures copies of their books get into people’s hands, minimising their own administrative efforts is the goal.

What is critical is to do your own calculations, consider your goals along with level of financial investment and energy you have to invest in selling your own book. In this simplified example, we’ve not considered the accuracy of print orders vs sales, tax applications or eligible rebates or potential publisher costs deducted from profits to account for their operational expenses, but it should give you a loose model to consider your own investment against.

Potential Questions – Depending on your financial and creative motivations

What sales numbers does the publisher consider to be a success? Assuming the publisher will set sale price – What margin do they consider acceptable vs costs? What sales avenues does the publisher use? Does the publisher have established relationships with distributors and retailers with agreements to carry their stock? If so, what regions and countries do they have distribution networks within? Which electronic store fronts does the publisher make books available via? What volume of conventions, in which locations, does the publisher typically attend? Are they willing to share any statistics on which platforms generate the strongest sales? How, if at all, are publisher overhead costs factored into overall sale profits for division between publisher and creator? Does the agreement permit the creator to obtain copies of the publication at cost, or discounted rates for either personal use or onward sale? What marketing methods do the publisher deploy to promote new and existing content? Does the agreement, place any expectations or limitations on the actions of the creator to promote the comic? Does the agreement commit the publisher to any minimum volume of books to be produced for sale, or resources allocated to promote the publication?

What’s in this for them?

Now we come to the other half of the deal. In working with a publisher, you grant your partner certain rights in potentially both the short and long term. Understanding the rights, you’re happy to sign away and the long-term implications can be key points in your decision-making process.

Your potential publisher may request some of the following:

Percentage Profits on book sales – This is a given and how your publisher will make the most immediate return on backing your comic and investing in its production or distribution

Editorial and creative direction – While some publishers may primarily take on completed projects, others may provide editorial input. For many creators, this may be beneficial professional, input to improve the project overall. Consider – When you engage an editor privately as a self-published creator, the final decision on how you incorporate your editor’s feedback is your own. A publisher driven edit may take the final creative control out of your own hands. As with many aspects in this section this can be a positive, but it is something you should consider and make peace with before you agree to your publishing deal.

Revenue on sale of promotional and licensed goods – As part of your agreement, your publisher may gain rights to produce and sell a variety of goods associated with your comic. For a small press projects, this could be as simple as prints, postcards and pins made available as add on purchases, but an agreement could equally account for additional 3rd party licensing. Consider – From a financial perspective do you retain a share of the profits from the sale of promotional or licensed goods? Is the rate in line with the percentage you earn from book sales? Depending on the answer to these questions, if your book is successful and lends itself to popular merchandise, you’ll potentially see a larger return on your production investment more quickly, in time you may even see more royalties from the tasteful sets of commemorative glassware your story has produced than the book itself. From a creative standpoint, you need to consider that you are likely giving up a degree of control here. If you’ve strong feelings that series logo should never appear on a tote bag, this is potentially something your deal may remove your option to veto in the future.

Adaptation rights – In licensing your comic for publication, your publisher may request rights concerning the adaptation of your comic into other mediums. These rights may extend to written and audio productions, stage, television and film versions and interactive media such as video games. The requested rights may be inclusive of both financial benefits of licensing for alternative mediums and overall creative control in the adaptation for other media. Consider – If you’re a creative person with hands in other media, be it a keen filmmaker or an apprentice of coding, you may wish to seek to retain your own rights to pursue alternative interpretations of your story. Particularly in fields you have interest in. This may also be the time to consider how you would feel about any alternative take on your work with which you may have no creative involvement or influence over.

Sequel / Spin-off Rights – In agreeing to publish your project your publisher may also requests rights relating to production of related projects, both in comics or other media (as detailed above). These rights may include first review and option to license the new publication prior to it being offered to other publishers, the right to engage the creative team professionally to actively work on a related publication, or potentially engaging a separate creative team. Consider – As with the above point, your decision on agreeing with these terms will depend on your overall attachments to the project and your own long-term plans for ongoing related stories. If the idea of having limited or no control on how your original story grows into future projects gives you cold sweats, this is a right you’ll need to consider your comfort with, before you sign. How important is having ongoing control to you?

Potential Questions – Depending on your financial and creative motivations

What history does the publisher have with facilitating adaptation of comics to other media? Does the agreement, obligate or limit the creator in efforts to adapt the publication for other media? Does the publisher actively seek opportunities for property adaptations, or is this handled ad hoc as interested parties approach the publisher as licence holder? Does the publisher’s right to financial share in adaptation driven revenue differ in the event that the publisher take no active role in adapting or pitching the an adaptation of the property? What rights do the publisher hold regarding the sale or transition of publishing or ongoing licensing rights to a third party?

Overall, considering the ongoing rights and control a creator or creative team is willing to hand over to a publisher will be a critical point for many in making a decision before signing an agreement. How you perceive the value of publisher input, a potential reduction in creative control and your confidence in the long-term potential of your story will be key points in influencing what you’re comfortable in conceding in exchange for the benefits your publisher brings to the table.

The Finer Details

With the main points of your agreement carefully reviewed, it’s time to consider the ifs and buts, concerning the terms and limitations of your agreement.

Time – How long does your agreement grant the stated rights to your publisher? A set period? A set period with right to extend or first refusal to negotiate extension on similar terms or terms related to performance? Indefinite? Location – Are publication rights granted internationally or only in certain territories? Does your selected publisher have capabilities to market and distribute in all stated territories? If not, do they actively seek third party partners to distribute successful publications in additional territories?

Obligations – Are there stated timings for release, efforts to market, volumes sold, or stock made available for purchase a publisher must maintain to retain the license to your comic? Remuneration and Reporting – How frequently are royalties calculated and paid to the creator or creative team? Are there lower and upper limits to disbursement amounts? What reporting does your publisher provide to indicate gross profits leading to creator revenue share? Specifically, when it comes to matters of accounting. If you intend to maintain a financial interest in the performance of your work, appropriate transparency of accounting may be essential to understand your publisher’s level of investment and gross earnings before final profits are divided? Most organisations should permit you a right to audit, but be mindful of the conditions applied. Permitting a deep audit via the appointment of an official accountant able to review documentation on a publisher’s premises may fulfil legal obligations but creates an immediate pay wall for you as an independent creator, whose initial earnings on a single book may not warrant the investment.

If your potential publisher is able to provide sample reporting, you can accommodate yourself with the level of detail prior to signature and assure yourself that the level of transparency meets your level of interest.

Legal obligations – In addition to any submission conditions when you pitched your book, signing a publishing agreement will almost certainly involve your further verification that the work is your own and indemnify your publisher from any obligation or responsibility should this statement prove inaccurate in the future. In addition to the obligations on the creator, take note of any commitments made by the publisher to protect the IP you are licensing to them, and potential indemnity from any actions arising from material changes to the work or subsequent adaptation upon which the publisher, or their representative exercises creative control.

Limitations and release – Tied to the any limitations relating to time or location stated in your contract, it’s also worth noting any other terms which would lead to overall rights being returned back to the original creator or creative team. The most commonly anticipated reason for this would be publisher insolvency, though in some cases a struggling publisher with the appropriate rights could look to sell on any held licensing rights to a third party to raise capital prior to this occurring (assuming your agreement permits this). Clauses that benefit the creator in this area could speak to the minimum level of production or service provided to promote your comic, which if not met over an extended period results in the rights returning to the creator to pitch elsewhere or develop further with no further obligation to the publisher, thus holding your publisher to a higher degree of accountability for your book’s ongoing performance. Another alternative may represent a defined buy out clause, permitting the creative team to release themselves or further obligation to a publisher by either ensuring a pre-defined return on the publisher’s initial investment or a sum equal relevant to the book’s performance. The latter examples, I’d anticipate would be less frequent in their appearance within standard contract language, however these may be some of the most essential inclusions for a creator who is invested in the long-term management and performance of their work.

For an example, we’ll return to Comic X…

Worst case scenario…

Joe Creator, writer of Comic X, signs a publisher agreement granting licencing rights, inclusive of, merchandise, sequel and adaptation control and financial rights irrevocably to a publisher.

Joe’s agreement sees the creator receive 50% of Net profits from book sales but nothing from any additional licensing or merchandising unless directly engaged by the publisher to work on this new content under a separate agreement. The publisher will manage distribution and printing costs but does not contribute to the initial creation cost for artwork and associated tasks.

The rights will return to Joe only should the publisher file bankruptcy or should they fail to produce any volumes of the work within a defined period following initial project completion.

With no minimum term of service, the publisher fulfils their obligation to Joe through a short production run of 50 copies of their book, which are not directly marketed by the publisher but organically sells 30 copies through their inclusion on the publisher’s stand at conventions. The remaining 20 copies are sold at stock clearance reduction prices and do not recoup their print costs. The book is not listed digitally or marketed to any retailers. In the end of his first year since publication, the royalties owed to Joe from the profit share fall well below the minimum payment threshold and no payment is made.

In the five years that follow, the book remains listed on the publisher’s store front as “Out of Stock” and based on performance no further print runs are ordered.

Meanwhile, Joe continues to build career momentum through well received subsequent releases, published independently and interest in obtaining adaptation rights for Joe Creator properties hits public consciousness. Having secured irrevocable licencing rights the publisher secures a lucrative 3 series deal with Netflix adapting Joe’s original Comic X series. Netflix opts to use their own writing team, whose agents ensure they are recognised as lead creatives. A credit listing “Based on Comic X by Joe Creator” appears at the end of the opening credits, but everyone skips these.

With the Netflix series differing significantly from the original Comic X, rather than reprint the original, the publisher opts to engage a different creative team to spin off a new ongoing series based more closely on the aesthetic and themes of the new Netflix creation. The financial impact to Joe from creating the original work remains fundamentally minus £2000 as the £35 owed to Joe in previous revenue falls below the minimum payment threshold. This is an extreme example, played up for the sake of hyperbole, but hopefully it illustrates the point Consider your conditions carefully, what you gain, what you give away, and the level of effort your publisher commits to you. and finally.

Know who you’re dealing with - Know your own worth

Throughout previous sections, I’ve encouraged creators to consider what they want from a publisher, what they are happy to give in exchange and the finer details of agreements.

I’ll leave you with a (mercifully) briefer point by encouraging both research and self-reflection. Your research on a publisher should not begin and end with “Who is accepting pitches?”

Consider the fit of your project within their body of work.

Meet and connect with other creators who’ve worked with them and politely request their feedback.

Look at publisher’s company performance and makeup with resources such a Companies house or Endole. Do they appear financially stable? How large is their team? What other interests to their leadership team have?

Look at publisher’s websites and social media platforms, how are they marketing? How large is their reach? How much interaction do you see with their posts? How large is their portfolio?

Measure your own, time, resources, and reach against your potential publishers and consider objectively and, in quantifiable terms wherever you can, how you measure up. If you’re brining a sizable or active existing audience with you to a publisher this may enhance your ability to negotiate.

To wrap up I’ll say, that I hope the last, almost 5000 words *Jeez* have been of some value, whatever your experience of creating or publishing to date. I by no means consider myself an authority on anything so would be delighted if this sparks further conversation and discussion from others who may add more specific examples and considerations which may help others chasing the goal of having published work out in the wild.

I’ll return to one of my opening points that there are some fantastic publishers doing incredible work in the indie comic scene and making books possible that would otherwise never see the light of day. For indie creators, whether a publishing deal is a Holy Grail or a Poison Chalice will likely remain up to the individual and determined by how circumstances play out. If this helps just one person, take pause, consider their options and make an informed choice it will have been worth the effort.

#comics #comic books #smallpress #indie comics #publishing

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cloudfiveclub · 6 years ago

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age is just a number ➵ z.d.j.

Summary ; Zabdiel’s always had a thing for older women.

Warning(s) ; swearing

Word Count ; 2.2k+

Author’s Note ; hey everyone! this is the first part of a collab series @dimelomamii and I have written together. pretty basic of a plot with cliches, but hopefully you guys enjoy it! let us know your thoughts and if you’d like to see a continuation x

masterlist

disclaimer | these are only based on my own opinions and imagination and are purely fictitious, as such they in no way accurate or true

When the hell is this meeting going to end?

You had been stuck in this meeting for about three hours discussing the designs for a skyscraper your company got commissioned for another in Shanghai. You loved your job, but this project was just so boring. Your boss was just droning on and on about all the unimportant stuff, and the details that were crucial were not being discussed. You had tried bringing it up a few times, but it seemed like nobody was quite interested in that just yet.

“Alright everyone, we will pick up where we left off tomorrow,” your boss finally concluded. You sighed quietly in relief, gathering my materials and making a beeline for the elevator, dodging attempts at conversation from your coworkers as politely as you could. You packed up your stuff at your desk, before exiting the building, making your way to the train station nearby. It was the evening rush hour, and the subway was jammed pack with people all eagerly rushing to get home.

Along the way, you came across a poster of that one boy band your younger sister, Camila was in love with. CNCO, they were called. You didn’t know them very well, you just knew they were talented and attractive. Camila, on the other hand, was ready to die for them. She’d emphasised that fact on numerous occasions; swooning over their “ridiculously good looks”, more particularly the one with a curly mop of black hair who always wore a bandana. Joseph or Jacob or something.

Still, while you weren’t a huge fan, Camila still was, which was why you had taken the liberty of getting VIP tickets for the both of you for their concert in the city the following month. Lucky for her too it lined up right on her 19th birthday. You still remembered the absolute joy on her face when you told her she was actually going to get a chance to meet the “loves of her life”. She’d screamed at the top of her lungs, immediately pulling you into a crushing hug. She claimed you were the “best sister ever”, in which you responded that she didn’t have a choice on that seeing that you were her only sister. Nothing made you happier than seeing her happy.

You weren’t going to admit it out loud, but you were pretty excited to meet them too, even if you didn’t particularly like them as much as most of the other girls. You’d seen some interviews, and listened to a few of their songs, and they seemed like great, talented boys. You really were looking forward to meeting them, but for now, there were more important things to take care of.

Like that boring project.

“Just go straight to your left and you will find the room with a sign that says meet and greet and just join the queue,” the guard informs the both of you as he scans your tickets. You thanked him, and Camila and you make your way inside. She was practically buzzing with joy, excitement evident in her large eyes.

“God, I know I’ve said this a million times by thank you so much, Jen,” Camila said to you once again. Her hand gripped your arm tightly, squeezing in gratefulness, and over-excitement. “You’re seriously the best sister anyone could ask for.”

“I know,” you responded, laughing lightly.

You reached the designated room backstage, and you were immediately struck by how chattery everyone was. Girls of all ages were abuzz with excitement and talking to one another, whether or not they personally knew each other or not. You could barely remember the last time you’d seen so many fangirls in one place. This was a young people thing, you’d told yourself. You remembered coming for meet and greets and going to concerts when you were younger, but you were a grown working adult now, you barely had the time.

“I’m really nervous Jen, what will they think of me?” Camila blabbered nervously. She ran her hand through her hair in attempt to make herself look better, although she already looked perfectly fine. “Do I look ok?” she asked, turning to face you.

“You look great and don’t worry, they will love you. Just be yourself, but don’t jump onto what’s-his-name. Bandana guy. Give him some space, alright?” you tell her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. You look back up, and screams sounded out suddenly as the boys came backstage. You swore you saw someone faint, but you couldn’t quite tell from all the chaos.

“Oh my god, look at Joel,” Camila practically squeals in your ear, grabbing onto your arm and shaking it vigorously. You wince when she yells, but you laugh her enthusiasm off. “Fucking hell, he looks better in person,” she adds on, fanning herself dramatically with her other hand. You snort, rolling your eyes at her reaction. He was kind of cute, you figured.

Security calms everyone down as best as they could; slightly redundant but still a solid effort before they started the meet and greets. The two of you wait in line patiently - well, you did, you couldn’t say the same about Camila - until security motions you to pass through a curtain that leads to the stage where the boys were standing and talking to one another.

Grace and composure, you’d reminded Camila, but that piece of advice seemed to fly out of her head as she skipped over to Bandana guy and pulled him into an eager hug without so much of a “hello”. Or “hola”, since they were latino.

You trailed behind her, greeting them as Camila moved on to the other members to do her round of hugging and fangirling. Standing next to Bandana guy was a particularly tall member. She wrapped her arms around him and he returned the hug warmly, and when he looked back up to say hello to you, you swore he did a double take.

“Hola,” he greeted, his tone a little off. You raised your eyebrows in confusion, but gave him a friendly smile. You let Camila have them to herself, and you kept your eye on her to make sure she didn’t do anything particularly stupid or invasive. But in your peripheral vision, you could see the tall one eyeing you.

Damn, was he not going to take his eyes off of you? Was there something on your face? Did you put too much blush on by accident?

You glanced at him briefly, making eye contact awkwardly for a split second before you moved your gaze over to your sister again.

A little awkward... but at least he’s good looking.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket, and you inwardly thanked the heavens for saving you from a mildly awkward situation and instead giving you something to do to make yourself seem preoccupied. You fish your phone out of your back pocket, opening up the lockscreen to see a new text from one of your coworkers regarding work. You typed a response to her, but as your fingers were moving across the keyboard, you started to get a feeling that someone was moving towards you.

You look back up, and realise it’s the tall one from earlier making his way towards you. You stood awkwardly in place as he approached you. He wasn’t that far away, but it seemed like he was taking forever to get to you. It was like some intense scene from a movie, and you couldn’t help the nerves that had started to creep up on you as he walked towards you.

When he finally reached you, he stood awfully close. Maybe even a little too close. He had an intense gaze, and you felt instantly vulnerable simply just by looking at him. He looked even taller up close too, and he towered over you intimidatingly.

“Uh... Hi?” you said, your tone making it sound more like a question rather than a friendly ‘hello’. “Can I help you?”

Zabdiel’s POV

“Perdona, sabes dónde está la tierra? Porque desde que te vi ando en las nubes,” I spoke as lowly as I could.

I noticed how a visible blush crept onto her face when I said that, and it definitely only fuelled my ego. It must have worked. Not one of my best pick-up lines, but if it made her blush, it means it really wasn’t that bad.

She was absolutely gorgeous, and had quite a nice looking rack going on in front. I let my eyes rake down the length of her body quickly, slow enough that she noticed it but fast enough to seem like I was merely doing a quick once over of her. I didn’t want to seem like such a creep.

She mustered up a pretty smile, though I did get a feeling she was midly uncomfortable. “I don’t really know you guys, sorry, aha,” she told me, her tone still light. “My sister’s the bigger fan,” she added, gesturing to the other girl. I looked over, and saw her sister almost draped across Joel, but still simultaneously talking to Richard and Chris. I had to hold in a laugh. Joel was always one of the more popular ones amongst the fans.

“Uh- what’s your name, by the way? And how old are you?” She asked me.

I stuck out my hand, prompting her to shake it. Her hand was small and smooth against mine, and the differences in our palm size almost had me distracted for a second.

“Zabdiel, 21. You are?”

“Jennifer and I’m-”

But before she could finish her introduction, the security guards had started guiding both her and her sister away, an indicator that their time was pretty much up and had to leave. My heart skipped a beat, panicking momentarily when I realised I only knew her by name and physical looks, and didn’t have a number or anything. I didn’t have time to ask for any of that, but thankfully her sister delayed their leave for a little.

“Wait! I didn’t get a picture!” She exclaimed. She handed her phone over to a guard, and pulled both me and Jennifer into the frame quickly, pushing Jennifer between me and Richard while she stood between Joel and Chris. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer, and put on a grin like always.

“I’d love if I could have your number, cariña,” I whispered to her quietly through clenched teeth while the guard snapped a few shots. “I’d like to get to know you more.”

“No offense, but I’m not that interested,” she whispered back. My heart dropped a little when she said that, shoulders slumping slightly. Disappointing, but I wasn’t going to pass up on an opportunity to get to know a pretty girl that easily.

“Can I at least have your Instagram?” I murmured, stepping away as the guard gave a thumbs up, indicating the picture had been taken. She looks at me skeptically for a few moments, before she nods. She gives me her user, and I fish my phone out of my pocket hurriedly to type it in and find it. It was private, so I sent in a request, but before I could thank her properly, she and her sister were ushered away.

“Gracias mamita, enjoy the show!” I shouted after her anyway.

Jennifer’s POV

Goddamn, you still had zero idea what happened.

You still couldn’t quite believe your luck; having a man as attractive as that ask for your number?

Zabdiel, his name was, was performing on stage with the rest of his bandmates. And you were pretty much salivating. He was a guy who knew how to move those hips, and you didn’t understand how he could feel zero shame doing something as sinful as grinding into the air like that. It was ridiculous. Guys your age were nowhere near as good looking as him.

You blushed furiously when his eyes met yours, and his left eye dropped into a wink. The few girls directly in front and behind you went wild instantly, and you knew they were screaming because every one of them thought he had winked at them. But you knew it was directed at you. His hand moved down towards his crotch for a brief second, and he grinded against his hand and you didn’t know if it was possible, but all the girls around you screamed louder.

You could barely take your eyes off of him the entirety of the show, completely in awe and starstruck even though you weren’t a fan. Well, you were definitely one now.

The time went by way too quickly for your liking, and before you knew it, you were back home after dropping your sister at your mother’s place. You were still in a daze from what had happened, and all of Camila’s swooning and rambling went in one ear and out the other the whole car ride.

Jesus, you didn’t even have sex with him, Jen, all he did was hump the air and you’re already dying.

You huffed as you threw your keys into the dish on the table, ready to collapse into bed after such an eventful day, but before you could do anything else, you got a notification from instagram.

You opened it up, and it brought you to the ‘requests’ section in your DMs. Your heart nearly jumped out of your chest when you saw who it was from. Zabdiel.

#cnco imagines #cnco #cnco fanfic #cnco imagine #cnco x reader #zabdiel de jesus #joel pimentel #richard camacho #erick colon #erick brian colon #christopher velez #zabdiel de jesus x reader #zabdiel de jesus imagines #zabdiel de jesus imagine

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obsidiancorner · 6 years ago

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I have a question!!! How long have you been drawing and how long have you been doing digital art? Was it difficult to start with? I'm looking at learning to draw, but I'm not sure if I want to start traditional or if I want to get a tablet. TELL ME!!!

Hey there! Sorry this took me a full day to get to. I wanted to make sure I had time to properly search/attach links and whatnot. Then I had to contend with bath and bedtime for Kiddo. I literally started this post at 7pm... It’s now almost 11.

I have been drawing in traditional mediums since I was a LITTLE kid. Really little. Before I was in Kindergarten. I broke away from it after I graduated high school but came back to it after I moved to Florida. Chibi Cullen was my first digital piece, though. So... technically since October of 2017. I got my tablet at Christmas 2017 and that is when I REALLY got into it.

To answer what you should learn on: That’s largely a personal decision and not one I can really help you with outside of giving you some info and some links to help get you started.

Bare bones basic info:

Traditional is cheaper but you can play and learn without restraint on digital. It’s just that the tablet is going to be a MUCH bigger deposit. To get started in traditional art supplies, you can get away with approximately $20. A tablet is going to run you at least $50, likely more.

Keep in mind: expensive equipment does not a better artist make. A graphics tablet will not make drawing easier. Sure it has tools to help, like line stabilizers and such... but only practice will truly make you better.

I expand on this stuff below but first, my opinion.

My humble opinion:

If you want to just dabble and see how you get on: go traditional.

If you absolutely positively KNOW art is a skill you WANT to pursue no matter the degree of difficulty it is for you, that’s when you can begin to entertain the idea of a getting a tablet, but make sure you weigh everything out.

I don’t want to see anyone shell out that kind of money and have it be used once. I cannot stress enough to make sure you know your heart before sinking in on an expensive piece of equipment like a graphics tablet.

The rest is under the cut because this is a long post and I don’t want people to hate me.

Digital

If money isn’t an issue and you have a decent computer, you can consider going digital.

FireAlpaca, Krita, and MediBang are all free to download digital painting software. I, personally, have FireAlpaca and I love it. But I have also been toying around with trying Krita out. However, all of these programs are good enough that I don’t think you’d miss not having PaintTool SAI or Photoshop.

I will sing the praises of my Huion graphic tablet until my dying day because it will honestly probably last me that long if I don’t upgrade to a more advanced one sometime down the line.

Seriously. The one I have right now has already been dropped (because I’m clumsy as fuck), thrown (courtesy of a melting down kiddo), peed on and subsequently washed and sanitized (courtesy of an asshole cat), and stepped on (because my guy tripped over the asshole cat and knocked a whole bunch of shit off my desk in the process). The thing still works. They ARE built to last.

The version I have is the H610 Pro which costs about $80.00. There is some hand/eye coordination that needs to be learned because you will be drawing on the tablet but the image will be on your screen. That can take some time to get acclimated to.

My H610 is not the cheapest tablet they offer... I know that much but I haven’t really done a deep dive into Huion’s selection. But there are other types of tablets as well. Wacom, Yiynova, Lenovo, Microsoft, Apple, and Samsung all have tablets for artists.

If you want to talk tablets with monitors that allow you to see what you are drawing where you are actually drawing, you’re gonna be looking at throwing down a hefty chunk of cheddar (a couple hundred at least). For Huion products, that’s the Kamvas series of tablets.

I have had my tablet for 14 months already and I use it All. The. Time. I tell you that to tell you this: I have not yet replaced the nib on my pen and don’t anticipate having to change the nib for another year at MINIMUM. The tablet comes with four backup nibs. So, at almost daily use, you can easily get a decade worth of art out of the set they give you out the gate.

Traditional

To just do some light sketch stuff while you are getting used to drawing, it’s cheapest to just get some cheap mechanical pencils or drawing pencils and some simple printer paper. If you want a sketchbook, go cheap.

Once you get into your groove and want to start branching out, by all means, buy more expensive supplies if that suits your fancy. But to just get started on basics: Go. Cheap!!! There is no reason to spend more than $20 (and that’s being exceptionally liberal) at Walmart or the local dollar store.

I cannot stress enough that to just start out you don’t need pro quality anything. Crayola or RoseArt is what every. single. artist. started on because most of us started in school and just kept going from there. Those companies are still around because they are the building blocks every artist started on (at least in the USA... I don’t know about foreign markets). Guaranteed.

I still, to this day, use Crayola colored pencils. Two reasons: 1. I’m incredibly cheap and, most importantly, 2. they work just fine.

Conclusion (at last, amiright?) and Affirmation

I know I sold my Huion tablet pretty hard in the digital section but that’s ONLY because there is more information needed to make an informed decision (like sturdiness, brands, etc.). There is a lot less to discuss for basic supplies to just get started.

I will suggest traditional more often than I will suggest spending boatloads of cash for a beginner.

The choice between digital and traditional largely boils down to two things:

Cost

Drive / ambition / want / dedication

For the average person/household, cost effectiveness is critical in this economy. Even if you know in your heart of hearts digital art is a skill set you want to achieve, if you can’t afford a tablet, go traditional at first and gradually save up for a tablet. If you aren’t sure you will like drawing enough to sink in AT LEAST $50- and that is a fairly low-balled price tag- go traditional.

I will only ever recommend a tablet as a starting point to those who know with 100% certainty that drawing/digital painting is a hobby/skill they WANT to pursue.

I know I cannot tell people what to do because, ultimately, the choice is theirs. All I can offer is my opinion and some words of wisdom and caution.

I will say this, though:

Art is a skill, just as much as writing, sewing, knitting, and so on. ANYONE can learn this skill. Some advance faster than others due to natural aptitude but anyone can do it. You just have to dedicate time and patience to learning it.

Every artist started with stick figures. ;)

Remember that.

Every single one of us started by drawing stick figures.

That’s not to say that’s where you will begin, but an affirmation that literally EVERYONE, including commissioned artists, starts in the same place. Stick figures in crayon when we were kids. We all evolved from there.

Do NOT under ANY circumstances beat yourself up if you set out to draw a cat and it looks like Ditto with whiskers. (It’s happened to me. Literally that exact scenario. It’s okay to laugh. I sure did.) This is a Ditto, in case Pokemon isn’t your thing:

Keep at it and you will improve. I promise. Regardless of which way you go. Keep. At. It. and you will improve.

Drawing/painting is a constant evolution, regardless of medium, be it digital or a traditional one. Once you get the basics down, you begin to develop your own style. And even your own style changes as you progress. Look at mine. I’ve drawn two things for you. Hannah and Satinalia Cullen. Both mine but the styles are lightyears apart because I worked and evolved.

Studies in anatomy, color theory, light theory, and the like will be your best friends. Good reference photos will be your best friends.

And always remember: art is 150% subjective. Look at Picasso and Jackson Pollock. They are nothing like Michelangelo, Da Vinci, or Georgia O’Keefe. All of it is art.

Abstract, Renaissance, Nuveau, Deco, Modernism, Fauvism, Pointilism, Impressionism and the rest... All art. All very different styles.

All. Are. Valid.

All started with stick figures somewhere in their history. You gotta start somewhere but keep at it and you will succeed.

#art tips #digital versus traditional art #getting started #links and info #kagetsukai

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douxreviews · 6 years ago

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The Punisher - ‘Trouble the Water’ Review

"He that sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind."

Frank Castle is a killer. That's what he does best, that's how he is perceived and probably how he perceives himself. This could have changed after he avenged the death of his wife and kids and decided to take a new direction in life. A clean slate. Maybe being a killer didn't define him after all. The second the circumstances asked for the Punisher, though, there he was again. But Frank Castle is also a hero. He has a good heart and does all he can to protect the innocent; his victims are the bad guys and he makes the world a better place every time he takes one down. But can a man with such brutal and animalistic methods ever be seen as a hero of the people?

One of the reasons I enjoyed "Trouble the Water" so much was that it portrayed Frank as a hero and gave him recognition for it. At the beginning of the episode, Sheriff Hardin is trying to put the pieces together and can't trust Frank, but as the hour unfolds and Frank displays his honor and battlefield capability, the Sheriff changes his mind.

Throughout the first half of the episode, nearly every choice the Sheriff made drove me nuts. Surely, he couldn't trust the three people he had in custody, but whatever Frank, Rachel and Marlena were involved with was clearly much bigger than what that small precinct was capable of handling. Hardin's obstinacy nearly got everyone killed. I honestly thought the situation was going to end with a huge blood bath and I was happy that was not the case. Well, not for the good guys, anyway. In the end, Hardin knew the only reason he and his team made out alive was Frank. When he thanked Castle for all he did, that was a rare validation for Castle and a well earned one.

The battle in the precinct was really well constructed. From the moment the power went down and communications were off, the episode delivered one great scene after another. Facing a nearly certain death sentence, Hardin and his deputies discussed the possibility of giving the prisoners away. That was realistic and I liked how no one was portrayed as selfish for considering that option. They just wanted to make it out alive and be reasonable about their odds, and Frank was literally asking to be sent outside. It took a gun-wounded Deputy Ogden to close the case and have them decide to take the more noble path. Seriously, Hardin had a good group of people with him.

Another moment of worth was the conversation between Hardin and Pilgrim. In last episode's review, Shari said "I am curious to see how someone who detests profanity, technology, and apparently casual sex is not averse to hiring assassins, buying off the police, or committing murder." Well, now we have an explanation for that. Upon identifying the Sheriff as a man of faith, Pilgrim suggests that he shouldn't waste his time protecting "godless people." And that's how usually these fanatic types justify the violence they perpetrate, isn't it? As long as the target are sinners, people who profess other faiths or "godless people," not only it isn't a problem to take them out, it might as well be God's work. It's despicable, really, but it's a twisted moral that makes sense to religious extremists.

The opening scene of "Trouble the Water" took us a little inside Pilgrim's world. We learned that his wife, Rebecca, is ill, they have two kids and he was commissioned by an influential religious couple, Anderson and Eliza Schultz – hello, Martha Kent –, to retrieve the photos Rachel is carrying around. The way Eliza walked with Pilgrim's children as she said she'd take care of them gave me the impression that Pilgrim didn't have the option of turning the mission down. Not that I think it matters to him, choice or no choice, he'd probably see it as God's will and go for it anyway.

Anderson said that one member of their group had been thrown in the Lion's Den. But we don't know what that means exactly, do we? The longer Rachel takes to explain what is going on, the more I resent her. On an intellectual level, I dislike this choice of hers because it's mostly a stalling technique to stretch this particular plot. But even accepting that this is how the writers chose to render the tale, I just find Rachel to be incredibly selfish. She is not evil, she even shows some sympathy for the people hurt in the crossfire, but she clearly doesn't care enough. There were bodies dropping dead left and right, and even before the possibility of more people getting killed trying to protect her, she still wasn't willing to give these people the grace of knowing what they were about to die for. On the other hand, I liked that she helped Frank get out of the handcuffs. Sure, she knew her survival chances would greatly improve, but I still enjoyed their silent understanding.

Elsewhere, Billy Russo is out and I honestly didn't think it would happen this soon. Who is right about him, Madani or Dumont? Billy is dangerous, full memories or not, so Madani has a point there, but is he faking it or is he truly damaged and traumatized? I'm not sure Madani is convinced it's all an act, I believe she is desperate to be on top of things for once, to be one step ahead, so she needs to commit to her theory. It's desperation, not professionalism, that is driving her every action right now, and she will be no match against Russo at this state. At least she was smart enough to take his diary and go get Frank. And what an entrance, indeed, with perfect timing. Now she saved Frank's life too and they can both help each other.

Bits and Pieces

- Title musings: "Trouble the Water," as explained in the episode, comes from the Bible and refers to a pool whose water was troubled by an angel and the first person to get into it would then be healed. John 5 narrates an occasion in which Jesus healed a man who never had anyone to put him into the moving water. The expression gained a new meaning with the song "Wade in the Water," sang by the choir in the beginning of the episode. The song says "God is going to trouble the water", a reference to when the Red Sea, parted to let the Hebrews pass, closes leading to the deaths of every men of Pharaoh's army. It's safe to say that Frank was the one who troubled the water this time, killing every men of Pilgrim's army.

- Where is Micro? I miss Micro.

- Deputy Murphy took a while to get out of the nothing-ever-happens-here mode. I loved her nonchalant attitude.

- Josh Stewart is doing good work as John Pilgrim, but Pilgrim's perpetual dead gaze kind of drives me nuts.

- So, Rachel's real name isn't Rachel, but I decided to call her Rachel in this review for the practical reason of still not knowing her real name. Some of her aliases are Susan, Peggy and Stephanie, and one of those could turn out to be her actual name.

- I liked that Rachel returned Ogden his five dollars.

- Anderson and Eliza Schultz sponsor Rebecca's medical treatment.

- Pilgrim has three faded tattoos, at least. One is some type of cross symbol, another one looked like a skull, and on his back the wings of an angel.

- I had the impression that the writers were setting up a possible partnership between Marlena and Frank. I was sad to see her go, but maybe she isn't really gone and now has a motive to switch sides?

- How did Frank leave the precinct without being seen by that army of killers?

- Russo with that mask, walking quickly holding a woman close to him, and no one thought something suspicious was going on? Really?

Quotes

Eliza: "If we serve faithfully, we will reap rewards."

Frank: "How's the leg?" Marlena: "Next time, I'll hit more than your hand." Inmate: "You two married? Sure sound married."

Sheriff Hardin: "I ain't buying this Pollyanna routine."

Sheriff Hardin: "Delayed gratification's good. It built the middle class."

Frank: "If you run, you can't see what's coming up from behind you."

I liked this episode a lot. Carefully constructed, climatic and with a wonderful payoff. Three and a half out of four Bible quotes.

Lamounier

#The Punisher #Frank Castle #Billy Russo #Dinah Madani #Marvel #Marvel Cinematic Universe #MCU #The Punisher Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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firstumcschenectady · 4 years ago

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If I'm honest, I'm not a fan of my own weaknesses. (I pause now to await the ones who know me well to stop laughing at my understatement.) I would really like to be strong, capable, and impressive in all ways.

I'm not.

I'm a normal human mix of capable and incapable, strong and weak, impressive and profoundly not impressive. It is truly annoying.

From conversation, I'm under the impression that some of you are more at peace with this than I am, and that is such good news. You are all living proof that wisdom, maturity, and the grace of God are profoundly powerful. I'm also aware that some of you are with me, in being frustrated in your own imperfection, and always pushing yourself for more. May God's grace transform us too.

Anyway, my own sense of self, and my own impatience, are quite a lens to bring to our Epistle reading today. Paul talks about a “thorn in his side,” one that he has asked God to remove repeatedly, and one that he has come to believe is USEFUL in his ministry. The use of the thorn in the side? Keeping him humble, and reminding him that "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."

Paul, who in this whole passage is modeling a different kind of leadership is refusing to play the games asked of him. Others have come to the church in Corinth bragging about who they are, what visions they've seen, and what authority it gives them. Paul has been asked to justify himself and his authority.

The passage we read today is part of him refusing to play along.

It opens with a weird piece about “someone” having a vision, which ends up being Paul, but he refuses to give any details or use it to gain any power over anyone else. Furthermore, he refuses to engage in even arguing about what form the vision took. Paul is NOT PLAYING by the rules.

He is facing people who boast, but he refuses to boast, OTHER than about God, so instead of bragging about himself, he talks about his WEAKNESSES. He talks about the thorn in his side. (No, no one knows what it is. Options in likeliness order include physical ailment, mental illness, outside persecution, or spiritual torment.) And then he talks about God.

I found a wonderful passage from a commentary I was tempted to share, but it was so dense I didn't think it would help anything. So, instead, I'm going to summarize it for you, and put it in the footnotes.1 2

Paul is being told that the thorn in his side, that weakness in him, is a place that God's grace can work. For Paul, this connects to Jesus being “crucified in weakness” but raised to life by the power of God. If Jesus' life was defined by his weakness and God's strength, then sharing the Good News of Jesus is also about letting God shine through our weaknesses. So Paul doesn't try to overcome his weaknesses, nor dismiss them (like the Cynics and Stoics of his day). He also doesn't try to be self-sufficient, which would involve limiting his own needs to limit his dependence on others. Instead, he accepts his “thorn in the side” and other weaknesses, and lets them guide him to dependence – on God.

So, to those bragging about what they've experienced of God, Paul refuses to boast, except about his WEAKNESS. To those seeking self-sufficiency, Paul responds with his dependence. This is definitely one of those cases where I can see why Paul was such an effective messenger of the story and love of Jesus.

This humble Paul, who only brags about his weakness, who acknowledges his dependence, who speaks highly of others but not himself, and who names the work of God in anything others might praise in his own life – THIS is the faith I grew up with. This is what I saw in my own church, and at church camp, and in the Annual Conference leaders when I started attending as a young teenager. I watched this being modeled, and I internalized it. The faith of bragging about the accomplishments of others, but not of ones self. The faith of seeing remarkable transformation happening, and thanking God. The faith of humility. This all feels like first language faith to me, the way that things are without even having to think about them.

From where I stand today, I don't know if that's good. Or, at least, I don't know if it is equally good for everyone, or for every time. And I wonder if another person had been with me in those faith-forming experiences if they would have heard it and internalized it in the same ways.

This is funny, because there is a HUGE part of me that says “OF COURSE THIS IS GOOD, this is WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE, this is what being GODLY looks like.” But I've learned, over the years, to question everything, especially things that refuse to be questioned.

I wonder if “be humble, only speak of the accomplishments of others, praise God for anything praise worthy in yourself” ends up taking especially strong hold in women, in people of color, and in others who are marginalized, which ends up supporting the status quo in ignoring the wonders and accomplishments of many of God's beloveds. And, I think about the quiet ways women and people of color are shamed for appearing to be insufficiently humble. I wonder if there are ways that those who are not marginalized are immune to the message of humility, and end up being the only ones comfortable with touting their accomplishments. And then, since others are also touting theirs, they seem the most capable.

I wonder if my first language, faith of my childhood ends up doing more harm than good by reinforcing exactly the ways that society wants to ignore the giftedness of many of God's children.

Rev. Dr. Eric Law in The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb says, “Our vision of the Peaceable Realm is not based on fear. Instead it is based on lack of fear....This lack of fear is created by the even distribution of power.”3 When humility is used by some, but not others, we end up protecting those in power, instead of moving towards power sharing. Law's book discusses a cycle of Christian living between death and resurrection: 1. Giving up power, choosing the cross 2. Cross, death, powerless 3. empowerment, endurance, faithfulness 4. Empty Tomb, Resurrection, Powerful. He emphasizes that we need to hold things in balance, not staying in one part of the story, but living the cycle over and over again. In fact, he talks about those with power giving power away, and that is if this is a way of life, power gets shared.

I think that maybe the faith I grew up with is one with GREAT value, especially in any situation where I have power. It is good to brag on others, lift others up, focus on inter-dependence, be aware of one's weaknesses, and take it as an invitation to invite another's strengths.

However, I think it is, maybe, only part of a fuller story. It is also important to see how God has gifted us, and think about how we want to use those gifts for the kindom. It is important to hear how what we have to offer blesses others. It is important to receive power, particularly when we are in a situation where we don't have much. I think the full cycle is bigger than the one I'd internalized.

So, I don't know what message you need today. (I don't know what one I need today.) Maybe the reminder to look for God at work in our weaknesses, maybe to brag on each other, maybe to give up on self-sufficiency – and maybe to get REALLY REALLY clear on your own strengths and gifts and not let anyone take that away from you.

But I do know that Paul in 2 Corinthians and Jesus in his own hometown know a thing or two about being human, being limited, and finding God in the midst of it. And whatever else the message is in these passages today, I appreciate the reminder that God can bring good out of my weaknesses, and that makes them rather wonderful just as they are. Finally, I appreciate the struggle, to reach for a fuller faith, and acknowledge the complicatedness of trying to live as a follower of Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen

1“The apostle is directed to understand his affliction as part of that weakness in and through which God's powerful grace is operated. It is clear that, from Paul's point of view, the decisive demonstration of this oracular pronouncement is Christ himself, 'crucified in weakness,' but alive 'by the power of God.' This is why weakness is the hallmark of his apostleship, because he has been commissioned to the service of the gospel through the grace of this Christ – a grace whose power is made present in the cross. Paul therefore does not, like the Cynic and Stoic philosophers of his day, strive to transcend his weaknesses by dismissing them as trifling. Nor does he, like them, hold to the ideal of self-sufficiency, striving to limit his own needs and therefore his dependency on others. Rather, precisely by accepting his tribulations as real weaknesses he is led by them to acknowledge his ultimate dependence on God.” Victor Paul Furnish II Corinthians in The Anchor Bible Series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company Inc, 1984), 550.

2 Funish, 550.

3 Eric H. F. Law The Worf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 1993) 14.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

July 4, 2021

Photo Credit to Barb Armstrong.

#Thinking Church #Progressive Christianity #question everything #First UMC Schenectady #UMC #Schenectady #Sorry about the UMC #Rev Sara E Baron #Eric H F Law #What is God up to #Humility

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armeniaitn · 4 years ago

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Armenian Art through the Gaze of Western Institutions

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/culture/armenian-art-through-the-gaze-of-western-institutions-52878-27-08-2020/

Armenian Art through the Gaze of Western Institutions

However, Dr. Vazken Davidian, Faculty of Oriental Studies and Calouste Gulbenkian Postdoctoral Fellow in Armenian Studies at Oxford University, acknowledges these labels lack “an understanding of the cultural networks and exchanges that have influenced Armenian artists or craftsmen and women, and how these Armenian objects, individuals, and visual vocabularies have influenced and enriched those of the wider region.”

In context, they often are encouraged by negligence and contribute to ignorance concerning Armenian artistic creations rather than appreciation for the various populations which have lived within Armenia, the identities of the artists who have created in Armenian styles, the dance of cultural exchange Armenia embraced, and the breadth of ethnically Armenian artists throughout the world, he continues. “Where works are displayed is of course central to how they are displayed,” he notes – and in the West, institutional mislabeling is endemic of academic whitewashing.

Maranci makes it clear that even when there are numerous indicators which would normally signal a work as being Armenian, if the dealer, seller, or curator have not been critically exposed to Armenian culture, they may still be mislabeled. This lack of education often leads to instances of unacceptable oversight when “there is this beautiful object that was labeled as Islamic” with no mention of Armenian maker or origin, “but you turn it around and there’s an Armenian inscription on it.”

This is not to gloss over nuance — there are many unknowns when it comes to art attribution. Maranci shares the status of many beautiful silver vessels which were excavated at Erebuni, an Urartian site occupied during the 4th c. and 5th c. BCE which has been historically Armenian. Though the provenance is known, “We don’t know [who made them]. We don’t know if they were the product of trade. We don’t know if they were commissioned. We don’t know the identity of the artist,” she says. Even when the provenance is known, the identification of its creator may be elusive. For example, as Davidian points out, “if a carpet style is common among Kurds and Armenians in the Moush region, it is difficult to say who the creators were.”

Prof. Keith Watenpaugh

Attributing art to Armenians is further nuanced by ethnically Armenian artists who themselves did not identify principally as Armenian.

“For example, particularly Armenian nobles in the medieval period understood themselves primarily as members of their family,” Maranci contributes. Even in modern times, Hrag Vartanian, critic, curator, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic, reveals, “a lot of modern artists in the US for instance, did not want to identify as Armenian because they didn’t see benefits,” due to the initial status of Armenians as non-white immigrants to this nation, which threatened deportation. Attribution is conversely further obfuscated when art is produced by diasporic Armenians, for in these cases the ethnicity of its creator may need to be recognized in addition to its context of creation.

Davidian adds: “Reclaiming what is or is not produced by Armenian artists or craftsmen or women does not mean erecting proverbial ‘walls’ around objects such as the head of the goddess Anahid in the British Museum or a ceramic vase or tile from Kutahya and declaring them as ‘uniquely Armenian.’ It is about understanding the context of their production and the processes and exchanges with cultures near and far which have influenced them — just as critically defined Armenian art has influenced other cultural processes. Only then can we properly reclaim these… mis-identified or stolen objects as part of our own cultural heritage.”

Turkish Influence

“The presentation of an artistic or historical object as ‘Armenian’ or not during the 20th century and today is very strongly intertwined with the legacy of massacre and genocide and how the history of violence” has been and has continued to be “narrated and silenced,” says Davidian. He adds that due to the total appropriation, or Turkification, of Armenian art which followed the Hamidian Massacres and Armenian Genocide, many ethnically Armenian cultural goods including rugs, ceramics, embroidery, woodwork, and other crafts, “especially items lacking signature or identification marks of their producers,” are still “presented largely as Turkish or Kurdish art.”

This history of Turkification and continued academic negligence regarding Armenian art and cultural artifacts has affected the degree to which institutions are able to identify those objects that came to them as a product of theft or state-sanctioned looting. This problem extends to many of the objects remaining in catalogs from the early twentieth century, which are most likely related to the trafficking of goods after the Genocide.

Additionally, Armenia or Armenians may not be mentioned in attributional labeling because of “certain political agendas that would be pushed in by modern states” regarding their relations with the Republic of Turkey, Maranci explains. This motivation has caused Armenian art to be exhibited by ahistorical monikers in Western institutions such as a gallery entitled “Ancient Turkey” in the famed British Museum. (At the behest of a petition organized by Gagik Avagyan, the gallery was renamed “Anatolia and Urartu” in 2013.) However, “one cannot always assume, fairly, that the sort of sinister implications go all the way down from the donor or the seller to the museum to the curators. We can’t implicate the curators necessarily, but we can educate them” – in these cases, first on the history of Turkish violence against Armenians and its subsequent denial, then on the violence committed against our cultural heritage and its subsequent denial.

Until Genocide denial is stifled and the background education regarding Armenian culture is incorporated into curricula, Dr. Maranci expresses these other labels are always a red flag: “They sound like they’re actually pushing something aside… Why is that [label] being used? Why are they not using the term ‘Armenian’?”

The Zeyt’un Bible

Impact of the Western Gaze on Armenian Art

This ignorance and prejudice regarding Armenian art has drastic implications on how it is presented. Vartanian observes, “any discussion of Armenian art becomes very broken, fragmented, and it doesn’t actually take it on its own terms, but often fits it into bigger categories that end up instrumentalizing Armenian art and making it always secondary rather than central to the conversation.” Thus, most of these mis-attributed Armenian objects remain deemphasized in the storage of other cultures – further erasing Armenian art and any chance it has of being seen publicly – let alone through an Armenian lens. Tucked between the cracks, a wealth of Armenian art resides within the palms of those hands which participated in cultural exchange with Armenia for years – utterly peripheral.

This narrative skews perception concerning Armenian art and cultural goods – from their significance in relation to neighboring artistic traditions to “actually developing a real sense of how big this corpus is” Dr. Maranci states. As it stands now, “how can we know how much [Armenian art] is out there?” For scores of Armenian works have already been discovered and stored but remain buried within the storage of institutions which have erased Armenian art for decades. “I would actually say there’s probably a lot more out there than we know.”

Cataloging works through a Western lens which is blind to Armenian culture not only shrinks our corpus but also flattens the vibrance of our historic tangible culture. Mr. Vartanian declares, “We are never going to get a full picture of Armenian art when we use Western ideas around art because all the best Armenian art isn’t just oil on canvas or sculptures,” as is often heralded in the Western canon. “Some of it is handicraft. Some of it is dance. So we have to expand our notions of art to incorporate those worlds within those boundaries.” Vartanian further expresses that this blasé attitude toward Armenian art has “created Armenians that only know little parts of our history and end up feeling like there isn’t a significant history of Armenian art.”

Even our perception of the function of Armenian art has been harmed by the Western lens: “a lot of the most precious artifacts of handiwork and art were actually stored and shown only on precious occasions for people as an almost individual relationship [with them] which is very much against the traditional idea of how we see art, at least in modern American art history,” comments Vartanian.

Cultural and Artistic Reunion

Sometimes, persistence in correcting the correct identification of a work of art pays off.

This past February, five years after the historic settlement between the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America regarding the provenance of the Canon Tables of the Zeyt’un Gospels, a new model of attributional recognition was exercised in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Md. A collaborative week-long inspection of their 18th-century Jeweled Gun of Sultan Mahmud I was undertaken by Armenian experts and those at the Walters Museum at the request of the National Museum of Armenian Ethnography and the History of the Liberation Struggle in Araks, Armenia to re-examine its attribution. At its conclusion, the artifact’s label was revised to attribute the jeweling of the piece to Armenian Christian Hovhannes Agha Duzian while maintaining recognition for the many other artisans who were integral in its creation.

Davidian identifies that for continued productive change, we must “make sophisticated arguments because the contexts of art production, like all intellectual activity, whether Armenian or not, are complex and don’t take place in a vacuum… We must find a way of proposing labeling practices that are inclusive and true of all their components and contexts in which they were created.”

In the meantime, Maranci declares that Armenian viewers “may be the closest thing to an expert that these objects have ever seen.” She emphatically recommends perusing museums’ online catalogs – which have recently expanded largely due to COVID-19 – for Armenian art, arguing that Armenian communities have both the ability and responsibility to exercise their familiarity with Armenian language and history by educating their local institutions. In this way, Armenian communities have the capacity to, after years apart, reunite these timeless works with the corpus of Armenian art and include them in the legacy of Armenian cultural history.

(Isabelle Kapoian is a student of economics, art history, and international affairs in the Class of 2021 at the University of New Hampshire. She holds professional interests in cultural property law and art market economics, plays the harp, and most enjoys reading and contributing to the Arts & Culture section of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Isabelle has participated in the Armenian Assembly’s Terjenian-Thomas internship program in 2019 in Washington, D.C. and the AGBU’s Global Leadership Program during this past summer, is co-president of her university’s Middle Eastern Cultural Association, and sings in the choir at Sts. Vartanantz Church in Chelmsford, MA. She has been the summer intern at the Armenian Mirror-Spectator through the Armenian Students Association Journalism Internship.)

Read original article here.

#Armenia #Armenians #Covid-19 #Culture

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sunflowerspectre · 5 years ago

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Backwash | Commission Piece

This is a commission piece for anon, who commissioned a sequel to The Backwaters.

Commission Info

Title: Backwash Summary: Five years after the Backwaters Incident, a reformed Bucky comes back to Shuri with the hopes that they can turn over a new leaf and start something new together. Warnings: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha!Bucky, Omega!Shuri, AU

A03 | Read the Backwaters on Tumblr | A03

<< Previous Chapter | Last Chapter >>

Trigger Warning - Miscarriage and heavy grief

Backwash | Chapter Three | Word Count: 5506

Shuri feels different when she returns to work - self conscious of the mark still on her neck and the lingering smell of an alpha that clings to her. Even as she walks, her body is tucked in, smaller, more uncertain than usual. She can feel the eyes that wander to her, the ones that linger on her neck. She spots a few curious looks and open, gaping mouths that have questions on their tongues. She dodges those people as much as she can. She doesn’t even think she could face Wanda - who has grown to be a very liberated omega with a warranted hatred for alphas.

But there is one specific redhead that she does need to face. She spots Nat in a nearby empty training space and slips in, immediately taking the chance given to her to speak to Nat in private. Bucky’s words about staying with Nat have lingered with her in a way that she feels she needs to address.

Nat slows down on the poor punching bag that she’s been using, sweat beading down her forehead as she acknowledges Shuri’s entrance. When Shuri doesn’t make a move to join her in training, instead opting to stand nearby with her arms crossed tightly to her chest, Nat’s lips thin as she realizes just why her friend has joined her. She stops, taking mercy on the swinging bag, and sits down at the nearby bench beside Shuri.

From the corner of her eyes, Nat can see the change in Shuri. She doesn’t meet Nat’s gaze, holding her head down somberly, arms still crossed as she leans against the wall beside the bench. She can spot the dark mark on Shuri’s exposed neck, the way that Shuri tries to tuck her head in a vain attempt to make it less noticable.

“He visited you, didn’t he,” Nat asks, her voice even as she starts to undo the wrappings on her hands.

Unless Shuri opts to settle this out in one of the training rings, she figures that she won’t be getting back to practice for now. Despite the way that her heart begins to pound at her chest, Nat’s expressions are neutral and don’t give away to her growing panic. It was one of the first things that she learned from Shuri.

“He did,” Shuri confirms, her voice softer and she looks up toward the ceiling with a tired sigh. “He had a lot to say.”

Nat leans back against the wall, glancing up toward Shuri who has yet to even look at her. She doesn’t blame her - not really. She isn’t even sure that Shuri wants to look at her, see her, even talk to her again after this. Talking to Bucky was a risk - a risk that she had to take, knowing in her heart the potential there was for him to become a good man again. Sending him to Shuri, however, was an even bigger risk - a risk that could have a high reward and a high loss potential. If it didn’t go well, she would lose Shuri. Possibly forever. If it did, there is potential for her to gain a sister-in-law of sorts. She still can’t tell which way it went.

“-And,” Nat presses gently, treading through dangerous waters, “Did you listen to what he had to say? Or did you just punch him and call it a night?”

She pauses briefly before continuing, “I wouldn’t blame you for telling him off and calling it… I wouldn’t blame you for doing the same to me either.”

Shuri had thought about it. She thought about storming in, cursing Nat for disclosing her location, for abusing her trust, for putting her in that situation in the first place. She can’t lie, it still hurts thinking about it. Thinking of Nat going behind her back like that. Talking to her cousin is one thing - something that a part of her would understand - but sending him directly to her, with no warning, no guarantee for safety or for it going well. But the angry fire in her chest has dwindled to that of a small, painful spark.

Frankly though, Shuri doesn’t really think that she has the energy in her to be that angry.

“If it didn’t go so well, I might’ve. But as of right now, he’s in the process of taking some of his bags to my apartment.”

Shuri snorts and glances toward Nat with tired eyes, “But that doesn’t get you off the hook. Nat - you gave my location out, you disclosed private information and you violated my trust by sending him over.”

Nat doesn’t argue, she doesn’t dispute the claims. She agrees with Shuri instead, nodding along solemnly as she prepares herself to face whatever punishment Shuri wants to dish out. It would be completely warranted and to be frank, despite the fact that it went well, she would deserve it. She can’t say anything that would excuse her disclosing Shuri’s location during such a private, intimate, and vulnerable time. Especially without warning.

Shuri slides down, taking a spot beside Nat on the bench. Up close, she looks older than Nat expected. Over the past few years, Nat had noticed the gray hairs that peak out at her hairline from the stress of the job or the creases forming at her eyes, but seeing her now, she looks even more exposed, softer, tired. She looks like a completely different person than the one that saved her.

“That hurts, you know,” Shuri starts, her voice soft and Nat can see the way that Shuri’s eyes begin to water. “But I’ve thought of you as my closest friend these past years, but you’ve been speaking to Bucky for a good while now. I don’t know if you talked to him while he was still in containment and if you did, what you discussed. So I just need to know one thing, Nat.”

She turns to look at her, meeting her gaze evenly with wide, wet eyes. Shuri absently dabs at her eyes with the back of her hand, her throat swelling as she tries to swallow down the onslaught of emotions.

“Was our friendship part of a scheme to get Bucky and I together? Were you a friend only because you wanted me to trust you - to trust him?”

The declaration is off-putting, taking Nat off guard enough that she sits there in silence a bit longer than she should have. Out of all the responses she had expected from Shuri - from curses to punches to the silent treatment - having Shuri break down in front of her, accusing her of being that manipulative isn’t one of the things that she had prepared for.

Nat is manipulative, she’s woman enough to admit it. She knows how to work people, how to achieve her goals. She knows what people see when they look at her and she uses it to her advantage. It started as a survival method when she was trapped with a man with anger issues that could lash out if she pushed too hard, but adapted into a habit that she’s since molded into one of her biggest assets as an agent.

But manipulating friends? Yes, she actually does that too, but only sometimes and usually accidentally on reflex. Always with the little things though. Never for something so big, never so intentionally for one of the one few people that she trusts and holds close to her heart. She never does it to hurt the people she cares about and while she cares about Bucky and Shuri, while she does want to see them have a chance together, she would never falsify a friendship with the woman who saved her from that backwater town.

“No,” Nat finally speaks up, her voice wavering with honesty as she wishes that she carried blunts to work. “It was never fake with you Shuri. A few other people, maybe, but you saved me from that town. You saved me and Wanda. We wouldn’t be here without you, we wouldn’t be safe if it weren’t you. Hell, who knows if we would even still be alive?”

“-I was your friend, first and his cousin, second.” Nat continues, “And as your friend I hated Bucky for a while too. Used to even hate him for leaving me with Bruce, for never sitting down and actually asking if I was happy. But he is my family and out of all our family, I always saw the most good in him and when he proved that he had the potential to be as good as I thought, to be a better man, I eventually saw the chance for him and you to give it a shot.”

“I wouldn’t have even thought about sending him your way if I didn’t know that you still thought about him,” Nat presses, “I know that you went to the cells after you heard about some of them leaving for rehab. I know that you went there looking for him. I saw that look on your face when you went in and the look on your face when you came out. As much as I think that you wanted him to still be there, to validate your hatred for him, you were relieved when you saw he wasn’t.”

Shuri can’t deny that, as much as she really wants to. She sighs and leans, resting her head on Nat’s shoulder. Nat leans into the contact, resting her own head against Shuri’s in response. Nat’s hand slithers around Shuri until it reaches her shoulder, rubbing comforting circles on her skin.

“I know the confusion you’re growing through.” Nat quietly admits, “Maybe it’s not exactly the same, but it was definitely similar. Sometimes I think about the what ifs. What if I had followed him to college and ignored everyone trying to stop me? What if I just went out to college by myself without him? Or what if we left and never returned to that fucking town? What if I visited him in the cells and he begged for mercy and forgiveness? What if he got out and we started a life together?”

“I go through a lot of what ifs,” Nat continues, “That all got answered when Bruce didn’t pass his psych exam and was labeled ineligible for rehab… But Bucky did pass and it’s time for you to at least get your answer on your what if.”

“I want to,” Shuri confesses, “I want to at least try, see what may happen. I know that I can hold my own if something goes wrong. I know that if he ever does anything shady then I’ll get the pleasure of slamming his jail cell myself. I want to see where this goes, see if I can trust him, and if he’s really changed. But I know that not everyone will like my decision.”

Everyone is vague, but they both know the most worrying prospect that would fit right into that sentence. The one person with the most hatred on alphas, who has worked to become one of the biggest rescue-relief agents for injured and abused omegas and betas. Wanda. Their liberated mutual friend whom they both love, but know her well enough that due to her own trauma and abuse, she would never fully understand the concept of anyone forgiving ant of the men from that town - even if it is Bucky.

“I’ll contain her,” Nat reassures, “I’ll make sure that she doesn’t find anything out by Bucky. In the meantime, you better do something about that mark on your neck if you don’t want an earful from her.”

Shuri’s lips turn into an amused smile, though the idea of Wanda chewing her out for letting an alpha claim her. I can’t imagine what her reaction may be if I showed up to work one day to announce that I’m pregnant. Shuri laughs a bit at the thought, but it dies off as a thread of terror shoots through her.

____________________________________

It’s been just over two months. A month of moving in, of learning each other in a mundane, normal way that they were robbed of before. A full month of tension while they learned how to compromise, what words are better left unsaid, what fights are better to walk away from, and sometimes, you don’t have to win - you just have to hold the other person close, apologize, and remember to not to do it again.

They’re doing well, Shuri likes to think. Well enough. They both have their moments, but they’re trying. As long as they’re trying - as long as he is putting in as much effort as she is, she will stay. She thinks that’s what love is sometimes - after the excitement dies down, after you settle in, love is a decision you make every time you wake up. It’s not all clouds and warm hearts. A part of love is work. Compromise. Doing something for their benefit instead of your own. Not expecting things in return, except for their own love and warm hands.

But they’re still in that awkward in-between stage of moving in together. The stage where it doesn’t feel like it’s her apartment anymore, but it doesn’t quite feel like its theirs either. Her stuff is still plastered everywhere - from the fancy furniture that holds her favorite blanket to security system to make an FBI agent nervous. She still has her favorite stuffed animals on a small shelf in the bedroom.

But she’s still working on getting used to finding men’s clothes left on the floor by the bed that had been discarded in the middle of a hot night. She used to dust on a regular basis, but she can see streaks on the windowsill from where the blinds have rubbed against the small window ledge. There are times where the grocery list has foods on it that she doesn’t recognize, but she is willing to at least try, but she’s still learning his favorite foods and how to incorporate them into her meal plans while he’s still learning that she prefers the left side of the bed and needs room to stretch out her legs.

It’s that adjustment, for the both of them, of learning how to live with someone else. She stayed with him in the town, for a while, but that was such a different circumstance that it doesn’t count. They stayed together in the cabin during her heat too - but that was passionate, love making full of a fire that could have burned them.

The fire is out now. They have to get used to the mundane. The everyday. The part that’s left out of every romance movie and is skipped over in every romantic book. The part that is the most real thing that every single person has to understand and go through if they’re in a relationship.

Just like every single relationship, when sex is involved and children are possible, there tends to be at least pregnancy scare. It depends on who you are, whether you’re the person who cries from happiness from two positive marks or the one who feels their heart rip from their chest as they sit in the bathroom in silence, hovered over the counter as they wait for the results. The one who screams or the one that throws up. The one that has to tell everyone, or the one that doesn’t want to tell anyone.

Shuri isn’t sure which one she is yet. The idea of being pregnant had always been a somewhat happy idea, but the idea of it and going through it are very different things. She doesn’t know how she feels about the idea of having children right now - she’s still employed, she’s in a somewhat stable but rocky relationship, and there’s a million other things that she didn’t expect to be or go through whenever she would have to pee on a stick.

She can’t even bring herself to move, sitting on the edge of the tub, pants pulled up after taking the test. She counts the seconds, her chest heaving as she can feel her stomach turn. She feels like her heart is being torn apart. Her foot taps against the tile floor impatiently, her hands clasps together under her chin as she rests her elbows on her knees. It takes everything that she has to finally glance at the test results.

Positive.

Odd. She thought that she would feel happier. Then, without warning, she promptly throws up into the tin.

_______________________________________

Bucky is thrilled when she tells him. He practically swoops her into his arms, grinning ear to ear, and then gently sets her down. When the words start flowing from his mouth, they don’t stop and she can’t bring herself to interrupt him. He doesn’t experience the same nerves that wreck through her veins or the stress that makes her head throb. He immediately starts talking about the possibility of them moving out, buying a house more suited for a family, going to see his folks to tell them the good news, the colors of a nursery.

He doesn’t say anything about the possibility of her not surviving the birth or the medical bills that this all would bring. She’s done the reading and he doesn’t ask her about how she’ll feel about possibly wearing adult diapers after giving birth. What will she do when she passes a blood clot the size of a baseball after passing a baby. The fact that she knows she will not look very pretty in any birthing videos or after-birth pictures. That during pregnancy her joints will swell, her feet will be huge. She’ll look like any moving truck that he wants to rent while not even asking her if she wants to move in the first place.

He is already talking about sending out cards to announce the pregnancy. He admits that he doesn’t know much about baby showers, but that his mom will and that she will absolutely be thrilled about planning it. He asks her if she’d be okay with his mom organizing the party and all she can do is dumbly nod as she sits down at the table, her eyes becoming more and more vacant as he drifts on and not everyone will be alright with them having a child before they’re properly married.

“- ‘course we could always have a wedding before ya start to show,” Bucky proposes, “And I’ve got all that family wealth to support us. Enough to get a house and get us started. I’ll take care of you and the baby, pay for anything we may need. Maybe spend a bit on that wedding, but I don’t think we’ll be needing any big ol’ honeymoon or grand ol’ party. Not sure about what your work will think about you quitting your job with such a short notice though.”

Her head is spinning. She can already feel her ears ringing, but when he mentions weddings and quitting her job, she finds her voice. It comes out in a venomous fire that spews at him, spitting at him for giving her knot while knowing that she was in heat.

“Slow down, darling.” Bucky’s brows furrow as his stance becomes stiff, “I think you’re forgetting that someone begged me for my knot. Someone wanted this just as much as I did.”

“-I didn’t want this,” Shuri stresses, her words hissing through her teeth, “I’m not ready for a babe and I’m sure not ready for all that nonsense you’re spewing about us moving, having a wedding, buying a house! Quitting my job!”

Her venom makes him almost take a step back, but he plants his feet firmly on the ground and stands up tall and stiff. Shuri’s eyes are frantic, emotional, and are burning with a type of fire that he hasn’t seen from her in a while.

Bucky frowns deeply, “Pa always said that pregnancy makes women emotional, but is this really necessary, darling? We both knew this was going to happen eventually, sugar. You’re claimed, remember?”

Oh she remembers - her neck still itches from where he bit into her. She doesn’t regret that mark, not entirely, but she is regretting doing it so soon. Letting her heat drive her, tossing out logic through the nearest window and throwing herself onto him like a needy bitch.

“We may not be married yet, hell, we may not have really talked about weddings yet and I’ll give you a point for throwing that on you. But kids are bound to happen with you going to heat and me going through a rut. Kids are natural. Just like you quitting your job. It’s bound to happen at some point with us settling in together. Having a kid just seems like the perfect reason to finally do it though, don’t you think?”

Shuri’s anger eats away at her skin, her veins warming from her chest and igniting her clenched fists as she resists the urge to act. She used to be so good at hiding it - at acting calm under pressure, at holding in her emotions to spit out witty remarks and coy smiles. But she’s older. Her nerves are worn and stretched out - but her last one has finally snapped and it has acted like a spring, pole vaulting her forward at a momentum that she is struggling to slow down.

“No, I do not bloody think so. You made a promise you better uphold, you will not tell me what I will and won’t do. I will not quit work and I most certainly will not marry you just because I’m bloody pregnant!”

She wants to spew more curses at him but she bites her tongue and turns, heading out the apartment as she ignores his calls for her to come back. When she comes back, she decides to let him really know just how bad a silent treatment can be.

________________________________

(Trigger Warning - Miscarriage)

She still comes back home after work, makes him dinner and they eat it together in the thinly held together illusion of a family. He asks her how work was, if anything interesting happened, while poking at his plate with a frown. She tells him good and no. For every question he throws at her, she answers him curtly, if at all.

He tells her that the house needs some more cleaning one night and she dials a service for it with a petty aggression. When she burns his food, he doesn’t make a comment on it and eats it. On the days that she feels too nauseous to eat, he notices and brings her whatever takeout he knows that she likes. When she complains about the smell of pickles, she came out to find all the pickle jars in the trash.

They gradually start to sleep in the same room again. Bucky moves from his place on the couch - the place where she threw his pillow and her least favorite blanket, he had taken the message without complaint. It took a while before she allowed him to have his hand wrap around her waist while they slept.

When he whispers apologies into her ear with a roaming hand, she defies him. When he apologizes over breakfast, she accepts it and for a while, the tension that had build up in their little home had thinned enough to walk through, to speak through, and when it fades away, she can kiss him goodbye when he leaves for work and smile as she packs lunch for her own workday.

She tells him that she plans on quitting work eventually and he agrees that she should do it when she’s ready. But they started to talk about weddings, gradually, casually. What colors the nursery should be. Possible names. His parents start to send over baby clothes before she’s far along enough to know the gender. Nat even gave her the biggest hug that she’s ever had.

But she hasn’t begun to show yet. Not as much as she thought she would be, but she supposes everyone is different. What is her baby bump could pass off as some extra weight. It hides under flowy shirts, sweats and skirts. She’s not even 20 weeks along and the doctor tells her that her size is normal. A few more weeks and she would be able to feel the baby kick.

But then she spots. Lightly. A few drops that don’t worry her at first - she’s pregnant, a lot of weird things happen during pregnancy. But then the cramps come. Cramps that start to seize her muscles, holding onto her so tight that she feels like she is going to be ripped apart from the inside out.

She rushes to the restroom and she screams.

_______________________________________

The doctor’s office is quiet. Deafening. Despite the pristine white walls, Shuri feels dirty. Cold. Gross. She’s reminded of cold nights in abandoned buildings. When Fury sent her on missions that were dark and in caves that she had trouble navigating. Missions that sent her home covered in dust, ash, and blood.

It’s that feeling you have in the field. When you know that something bad has happened and you’re waiting for the aftermath. It’s the tension of waiting for the enemy to finally pop out and strike.

But when the enemy finally hits her, it’s a sharp knife that goes right through her heart. It leaves her speechless. Empty. Hurt. Surreal. Like she’s dreaming, that this is a twisted nightmare. A simulation. Alone.

She barely registers when the doctor is gone, when she’s left alone with Bucky whose hand is so tight on her shoulder that his knuckles are white. She feels like her heart has stopped. She isn’t sure if she even remembers how to breathe. She doesn’t even know that she’s crying until he finally reaches down and wipes them away. Once she realizes it, she can’t stop the flood gates that wash through her.

“I - I wasn’t -,” Shuri starts, unsure of how to explain the emotions cruising through her, the heartbreak of losing a baby that she knows she wasn’t ready for, but she was trying to get used to. “ - I didn’t want this to happen.”

Bucky knows - she was vocal on not being ready for a baby. He doesn’t think that she wanted any of this to happen, but he knows, deeply, that she wouldn’t stoop this low. That she would never endanger herself or their baby this way.

No one is ready for a baby, he had realized that when he had to start reading all the parenting books that Nat shoved his way. When he had started to worry about the little things that he missed like baby locks, but then finding something else he missed every time that he thought he had prepared for everything. Then he had started to wonder just how he was supposed to have ‘the talk’ with his son - and he was convinced it would be a boy and he realized that you can’t prepare for everything.

Just like they never prepared for this.

_______________________________________

Shuri quits work the day after their baby died. She tells Fury that she can’t come in that day or any day. He doesn’t argue and a part of her knows that he already knows everything about what happened. Fury has always had ears everywhere, always knew everything. She receives therapy pamphlets anonymously in the mail and she tells him thank you, but the brochures have started their own stack by the waffle maker.

Bucky tells her that it’s a good thing that she quit - that he is proud of her for wanting to put herself first, for taking some time off to be a good housewife. But the truth is, her quitting is selfish. She couldn’t go in and face everyone, she couldn’t even accept the wounds to heal enough for her to go work after a break. She knows that she couldn’t. She needs some time - time to process, time to grieve, and time to accept things.

She feels awful, her heart feels empty and hollow. She feels old and soft and spends too long in what would have been a nursery and can’t bring herself to clean up the paint cans that they had already opened. Her stomach never returns to the right shape, not in the way that pleases her and when his hand touches her stomach at night, she opts to spend the night on the couch herself. Sometimes she wakes up with her favorite blanket tucked in or she will wake up in the bed alone to find Bucky curled up on the sofa.

She never voices it to Bucky, but she thinks this is her fault. She can tell how heavy the weight on his shoulders are and can’t risk starting another fight when she barely even has the energy to do the everyday things that need to be done. But a part of her feels like maybe if she was happy if she saw the positive sign then it wouldn’t have happened. Maybe instead of fighting with her boyfriend, instead of spewing venom and cursing herself for getting pregnant, she should have rejoiced with him instead.

Bucky, for his part, lives up to his promises of taking care of her. As he works and pays off their rent, bills, and other necessities, he also is careful with her. Less stubborn. He holds her gently at night and whispers, in a half asleep daze, that they will get through this and it will be okay.

Through grieving heartaches, they have to break the news to everyone that they told. They realize this when one of his parents’ gifts arrive and Shuri spends a good twenty minutes weeping over the children's booties and bottles. But telling his parents is the hardest thing that Bucky ever has to do. Shuri can’t even begin to imagine how the conversation goes. When she explains that she didn’t even have a family to tell in the first place, she offers to be the one to break the news to Nat.

Telling Nat is one of the hardest things that Shuri has ever done. She stared down the barrels of shotguns, fought against enemies who wanted to gut her like a fish, and survived more than she probably should have. But telling the woman who can’t have children, the woman who was her best friend, who had been happier about the pregnancy than even she was, and had already dubbed herself an aunt that the child that didn’t even make it to this world yet is gone... Looking that woman in the eyes and telling her that she won’t be aunt - not now at least, maybe not for a while. It was one of the few times that Shuri saw Nat cry and Shuri came home that day with a tear-stained shirt and streaks rolling down her cheeks.

It’s a slow progress, but each night that Bucky comes home, he finds one more thing changed. The nursery slowly starts to shift into an office as the opened paint cans disappear. Bucky takes it upon himself to paint the walls back to their original color and silently, Shuri comes in and helps. He doesn’t ask her where everything went, he can’t bring himself too. He finds everything from the unopened cradle box to the clothes and bottles all shoved deep into the closet.

Then one night, they finally find their voice and the more that they talk, the more that their hearts mend.

“We never picked out a name,” Shuri muses quietly, stirring absently at a cup of coffee as she joins him on the couch, “We never found out the gender, but what would you have named them?”

Bucky isn’t sure if there’s a right or wrong answer so he goes for the honest one, carefully telling her that he always felt in his gut that it was going to be a boy. He planned on talking to her about naming him.

“Buchanan,” Shuri muses, repeating the name and mulling it over with a look in her eyes that he can’t quite read. “Buchanan.”

They do not talk about it again. They don’t have to. Putting a name to their child, to the one that they have been grieving over, a name that was a whisper when they cried, the one that Shuri had dug out from clots of blood to hold until Bucky found her. It puts a name to what they have been through, validating it in a way that they can’t explain. It makes it all real, but in a way that they can grasp.

It fills in a part of the void in their hearts that they were missing. Even though they know that the rest can never be filled in, even if they have another child. Buchanan will always be the slight tear in their lungs from when they wore out their voices through tears and Buchanan will always be that one spot in their hearts.

#marvel #alpha beta omega dynamics #alpha beta omega #omega #alpha #dynamics #shuri #bucky #miscarriage #tw: miscarriage #myworks #backwash

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adelaster · 7 years ago

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8 Months, 21 Potential Blog Posts

Happy November! Rachel here. Somehow it is Thanksgiving already. Somehow a summer in Maine has come and gone. Theo and I thought we’d be blogging all the way through it, but instead we ended up just living it - and now we’ve already said farewell for the season.

In June, I did start a post that already had become irrelevant by July. In August, I rewrote the post and almost put it up, but then it suddenly became September and so much more had happened. Throughout the summer, I would find notes in Theo’s handwriting toward posts that he intended to write, but they all seemed to turn into grocery and hardware shop lists instead.

Given the sweet chaotic sprawl of our lives, it’s possibly impossible that we will ever keep up this blog as regularly as we originally envisioned. At least, for now. But we’re not abandoning ship – we’ll just post as we’re able, sporadically, here and there.

In the meantime, here is a list of blog posts that I would have loved to write over the past eight months:

1) A post about all the big changes in our lives this past winter and spring. In a nutshell, Theo dove into a new job at Spring Lake Ranch, an amazing therapeutic work community in Vermont, and finished the first draft of a new play commission. I held down our homestead in Minneapolis and worked on transitioning to fully freelance life, a shift that (as of July) now is being supported by a Playwrights’ Center McKnight Fellowship! Bit by bit, along the way, we got pieces in place toward our goal of spending a large portion of the summer in Maine.

2) A post about the Alliance of Artists Communities’ Emerging Program Institute, which I had the honor of attending in Washington D.C. this past April. It was so good. I learned so many things. I got so many ideas. I met so many incredible humans. I want to tell you about all of them.

3) A post about my road trip out to Maine in June, picking up Theo from Vermont along the way, and all of our experiences getting settled in - like installing a mailbox (it’s more complicated than one might think) and learning the delightful fact that the New Portland post office is only open for two hours in the early morning and two hours in the afternoon daily.

4) A post about the trip to Asheville that I took in June, for a cousin’s wedding, where I got inspired all over again by my family and that city and Black Mountain College.

5) A post about Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island at Nibezun in July. Theo and I still haven’t found adequate words to talk about that incredible experience. Perhaps you should save the date for July 13-16, 2018 and plan to join the next one (all are welcome). This ceremony will happen annually for 21 years! h/t Jennie Hahn for the initial invitation.

6) A post about the two dozen brilliant souls, family and friends and colleagues, who visited us in New Portland throughout the summer, many of whom came for informal artist residencies lasting a few days to a few weeks (for some remarkable examples of work made during this time, click here, here, and here). Everyone was so kind and patient with our very raw work spaces, a couple momentary power outages, and even the failure of the water pump (which meant fetching water from a well with a bucket for more than a week until it was replaced)! Everyone contributed to the space and its future in some beautiful way, from collaborative brainstorming, researching, and problem-solving to taking on house projects, chores, groceries, and cooking. THANK YOU Rae Simpson, Bob Whitten, Sarah Myers, Steven Wright, Leigh Hendrix, Karen Cellini, Erica Hassink Logan, Theo Langason, Amy DeLap, Andrew Jendrzejewski, Emily Mendelsohn, Kate Dakota Kremer, Jonathan Crimmins, Jennie Hahn, Cory Tamler, Henry Peck, Meara Sharma, Casey Llewellyn, Terry Hempfling, Meghan Frederick, Jon Grayboyes, Josie the Dog, Jeffrey Wells, A Wonderful Person Who Shall Remain Anonymous, and Hannah Geil-Neufeld!

7) A post about house projects galore. We did a few this summer and have a long list of more we’d like to do. The actual completion of a task as simple as installing makeshift shelves in the bathroom somehow ends up adding five more tasks to the list; and the research required toward any given larger task, like renovating the barn, easily could take years. (As my mom once noted, paraphrasing a neighbor, caring for a house is like caring for a person’s health – a constant process, ongoing, over a lifetime.) We had a delightful time getting to know numerous local contractors this summer, and we’re so hugely humbly grateful for the many ways in which our visitors contributed labor and consultation.

8) Related: A post about the valuable Skype consultation that we had with Cameran Bailey to discuss future heat and alternative energy possibilities. We were reminded that what we’re doing is no small undertaking and that it’s very important to take a holistic view, in assessing what to tackle first. Cameran is an incredibly generous, patient, brilliant human (highly recommended if you need a consultant in this arena)!! We’ve got a whole lot of good homework to do...

9) A post about the remarkable lectures by Torkwase Dyson and Wu Tsang that some of us attended at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, just 30 minutes away from New Portland - a pretty excellent neighbor.

10) A post about meeting the intrepid founders of the Barn Arts Collective (located in Bass Harbor, Maine) and seeing their latest delightful children’s theater production. h/t Mallery Avidon and Meghan Frederick for the introduction!

11) A post about visiting my collaborator Terry Hempfling at the dreamy Lighthouse Works residency on Fishers Island, New York, and learning about how they operate. So much thoughtful goodness there.

12) A post about the labor of making a space for making. Related: Mierle Laderman Ukeles and “Maintenance Art” (h/t Emily Gastineau). This project’s combination of “development” and “maintenance.” Related: how to interact with the summer’s expenses on our books and taxes next year? The assessment of whether any given financial transaction is “business” or “personal” can feel so absurd when these realities are, in fact, inextricably woven together.

13) A post about the natural environment all around us in New Portland. The trees and bugs and deer and foxes and sky. How different it feels to be so much closer to and aware of nature on a daily basis, compared to being in the city. How clear it becomes that nature ultimately is in charge.

14) A post addressing this question we keep getting of “What’s your vision for this space?” On the practice of staying open as we research and gather and listen and brainstorm and simmer on what is needed (in the field, in this state, in this country and beyond) in tandem with what makes sense for us and our lives. When people ask us this question, “What’s your vision?” we keep saying things like, “We don’t have a singular vision right now” - which feels both vulnerable (it is super tempting to wish we had a more specific, concrete, satisfying elevator speech ready to go) and exciting (we’re swimming through so many wondrous possibilities). Of course, we also keep being reminded that staying open and undefined is, in fact, also a vision. I’m reminded how much active work it is, to stay in a space of not knowing, to trust a process over time.

15) Related: Casey Llewellyn gifted a copy of Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown to us. I am reading it now, and it is so crucial and good. A post, probably multiple posts, about reading that book.

16) A post about what it was like to be in such a quiet rural place all summer as Charlottesville and other atrocities unfolded throughout the country and world. We are continually considering how the work of cultivating this space intersects with social justice and equity work already happening in Maine and nationwide. How it might meaningfully support existing efforts, how it might offer crucial rest and rejuvenation, how it might become a hub for imagining new ways forward, how it might serve different functions at different moments, how it might surprise us with new functions along the way, how we need to keep listening hard.

17) A post about how we’re recognizing that we’re fluidly moving into a new phase of this process: one that involves a rapidly growing network of people. From the start, Theo and I have known that the project of building this space has to be bigger than the two of us; and now that we’re here, taking the next step, that truth rings loud and clear in our bodies. We really can’t do it all by ourselves, and that is so entirely appropriate. Ultimately we know this project will only make sense for us if it’s useful beyond us, if a community* forms around it to help inform it and conceive it and shape it. And that’s already happening - has been happening - slowly, steadily, bit by bit. It’s kind of blowing our minds.

18) *A post about Against the Romance of Community by Miranda Joseph, another relevant book I finally started reading at long last (h/t Lara Nielsen, five years later). I’m not very far in yet, but I can tell it’s gonna be good.

19) A post about my monthlong residency at MASS MoCA in September - the wonder of thinking about residencies while doing one. The structure of that program and how it compares to others. The place of North Adams. The place of the Berkshires. The people I met.

20) A post about a phone call I had with Carlos Uriona of Double Edge Theatre, over a year ago already, about how the company was founded and how their farm base operates now – and then an amazing site visit that Theo and I had with Carlos and Cariel and others in September! Also another call, quite awhile back, with Nick Slie of Mondo Bizarro talking about the collaborative development of Catapult in New Orleans - the challenges of building a space while also making art, and that perhaps sometimes building a space should be the art for awhile, the sole project of focus, rather than trying to juggle it all at once.

21) A post to ask: Where/how do you think we should capture everything we’re processing and learning!? We have been gathering literally hundreds of resources and ideas and contacts that generous people have been sharing with us along the way, in our email and in a Google Drive and on our phones and in notebooks and on scratch pieces of paper everywhere. Once upon a time, we thought this blog would be The Place to gather all this wisdom, but clearly there’s more wisdom than we have capacity to organize and post. So we wonder: Do you have any suggestions? Any preferred platforms, organizing systems, archival impulses, hot tips?

To sign up for periodic email updates about this endeavor (very periodic – confession, we haven’t even sent out the first one yet! – but it’s coming), click here.

To learn about some ways you can get involved from afar or in Maine next summer, click here. (It’s an old post, but all the stuff we wrote leading up to this summer still is relevant, more or less.)

To see more photos from this past summer, click here.

All images taken by Rachel in New Portland, Maine, 2017.

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