#i will be finishing up any pre phase two threads that are currently in my drafts or get continued after this buuuut other than that

[rhulks-legs]

phase two

The party was going well. Very well, in fact. Most of the people had arrived, and with a grand flourish, it seemed one of the more prominent on the list also arrived. The Witch Queen wasted no time, making her way to the third chair that had remained empty all night. She sat with a whip of her dress to get it out of the way, then settled with a sigh. Rhulk turned his head, and she rolled her eyes. Mature as ever. Ohrund cleared his throat quietly.

“So.”

“So?” Rhulk glanced at Ohrund, a bit irked.

“Splendid party,” Savathun sighed out. “I didn’t think pink was your style.”

“It isn’t.”

Savathun looked over at Rhulk, proverbial brows raised. 

“Did you not-?”

“No. I did not send those invites.” Rhulk finally looked at Savathun, eyes wide.

“It was…strange, how they arrived. Time pausing does not happen often.”

Ohrund huffed quietly. “...I could do that. If I wanted.”

Savathun leaned over, looking past Rhulk and at the occupant of the third chair. “Who are you, again?”

Ohrund seethed quietly. “I am the Quinary Disci-”

“He is a constant thorn in my side,” Rhulk interrupted Ohrund.

“Well, that explains it perfectly then.”

Savathun’s smile unsettled Ohrund.

“What…does that mean.”

“Simply put, I am too important for you.”

“Kh-”

Rhulk raised a hand. “We have strayed off topic,” He growled quietly. “We all hate each other and are superior. Glad we’ve cleared it up. Now…” He lowered his hand and leaned forward to survey the ballroom. “We do not know who tonight’s host is. It is not I, nor is it either of you. Nobody here is pink.”

“Yes, nobody here is pink. I am so glad you know your colours, Rhulk,” Savathun gloated.

“I…have had it, up to here, with you.”

“Leave, if you hate me so.”

“You are the reason I cannot.”

Ohrund cleared his throat quietly. Rhulk snapped his head in Ohrund’s direction.

“Speak, o Quinary One.”

“The Witch Queen…clings to you so, despite claims of hatred. Perhaps-”

“NO,” Savathun screeched in response, causing Ohrund to laugh at her expense.

Rhulk snarled, his crest flaring. “Can we PLEASE get back on topic.”

Ohrund hummed quietly, and Savathun sent a scathing glare his way.

“Fine. The invitation, sent by our unknown host. Who do you suppose it is?”

“Perhaps one of the Nine,” Ohrund provided unhelpfully.

Rhulk rolled his eyes. “There would be cryptoglyphs on it if so. And that…ungodly smell of Jovian.” He snarled quietly.

“It was no Hive, clearly,” Savathun continued, “Nor Scorn. There is no Dark Ether on it.”

“Nor Fallen, nor anything of Humanity’s making,” Ohrund concluded.

“It does not matter. It is impossible to tell, with this heavy perfume on it.” Rhulk puts his invitation up to his face again. “...smells of roses.”

“Well…if they are hosting, perhaps they will reveal themselves soon,” Ohrund sighed as he slid down a bit in his chair.

The three sat there in silence. Rhulk then chirped sharply, and Miush rushed up.

“You are working.”

“And partying. Why?”

“I did not instruct you to do so.”

“I thought you’d want me to, as host-?”

“I am not hosting.”

“...then who gave Ydriskis the list?”

Rhulk sighed softly and waved them off. They scooted off with no comment. Ohrund hummed softly in curiosity. Rhulk murred quietly.

“This is…troubling.”

“I think it’s entertaining.”

Suddenly, a veil of darkness enshrouded the party, like the power had gone out, but…worse. It suffocated, blinded, an inky vantablack that consumed all. Multiple guests blew their Light and Dark in a panic, trying to defend those they loved or fight off whatever caused it to happen. Multiple gunshots rang out, as did the unmistakable swipe of swords. When the darkness receded, all the guests found themselves in the ballroom again. They seemed to have been arranged, like actors in a play, in the centre of the room, around something. At first glance, there was nothing to be gathered around, but before anyone could look down the doors slammed open.

Waiting in the doorway was a 40ft Lubraen, bubblegum pink, a lacy mask over their face instead of the matte one Rhulk had. In place of Rhulk’s crest, they had an oversized mink scarf, and instead of the familiar clunky anklets Rhulk wore, they had lace cuffs there as well. Seemed this one had both escaped the blast, and was fond of the richer things in life.

“Looks like you’ve all received my invites! Good, good!” The mystery Lubraen approached the group, then leaned over to look at whatever they were gathered around, prompting the group to also look down. It was only now that the guests noticed Rhulk was not standing with them.

This was due to him being dead.

Very, very dead. Dead as a doornail. In at least eight visually distinct ways. Frozen by Stasis, stained by Nether, burned by Solar, fried by Arc, touched by Void, covered in claw marks, bullet wounds, sword cuts, and remnants of Hive magic.

“Oh, it happened already, did it? Shame.”

The Lubraen clapped twice, and the darkness from earlier swallowed the party whole again. This time was…different, however. A small, indistinct musical jingle played, evoking the feeling of a sitcom. A booming, clean cut voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.

“Welcome back to WHODUNIT, the show where we see who has the most blood on their hands! Tonight, you’re hosted by Vhal-Cae!”

The light returned, slowly, as if they were fading back into reality. From nowhere and everywhere, an audience seemed to cheer. Vhal-Cae, it seemed they were called, now stood in front of everyone. The ballroom seemed to cut itself off just in front of them now, as if this were a studio.

“Good evening, friends, Romans, and countrymen alike! I am Vhal-Cae, and tonight, we’ll be figuring out WHODUNIT to Rhulk, the First Disciple of the Witness!”

The audience cheered again. It was disconcerting the first time, but now it was just plain disturbing.

“Thank you, thank you!” Vhal-Cae bowed to nothing. “Now, normally, I would have everyone go solve this on their own, but there’s too many of you to manage that. Sooo…”

They snap their fingers, and a set of stationery similar to the set the invitations arrived on appears.

“I’ve already come up with two teams; Savathun, Ohrund, Stig, and myself are all on Team Overseer! The Overseer is me. I have to keep an eye on you all, of course.” Their eyes narrow, and a thin pink string suddenly stretches between the four of them. Bound to each other by their wrists, if only for a split second before it disappears. Something has most definitely changed, however.

“The second team is Ydriskis, Miush, Ignorance, and Control, on Team Staff.” The same process happens between the underlings of the Disciples, and they all shudder just a bit. Ignorance is the only one who shows visible disgust, because he’s the only one who can.

“However, if any of our self-made teams are…lacking, there might be a transfer.” He chuckled softly. “I will announce the teams and any changes made after.” He claps, and the darkness encroaching recedes just a bit. It’s a thin comfort, if any. Time to discuss teams, it seemed.

Submit teams here!

@lxghtbound​ @aurea-fide​ @pawnshopsouls​ @fireteam-silent​ @eggsmuses​ @stcrmcalling​ @unlikelyandco​

[rebelmalewife]

SAGE 2021 HAS COME, FOLKS! MY BRAINROT IS INTENSIFIED BY ALL THE SHOWCASE OF THE FAN PRODUCED ENGINES AND CONTENTS BY EVERYONE AT THE EXPO! ALONG WITH WHAT YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE HAVE POSTED REGARDING ALL OF MIHOYO’S NEW CONTENT AND HOW HYPED YOU ARE! I UNFORTUNATELY, CANNOT PLAY GENSHIN AT THIS CURRENT TIME (8/26/2021) DUE TO HARDWARE LIMITATIONS, BUT I WANT TO SPREAD MY OWN BRAINROT AROUND THE DASH! SO HERE’S THE FIRST SERVING OF IT: A BOSS REDESIGN!

A reminder of my rules and regulations! This takes place in my traveler replaced verse! As well as that, I:

WON’T BE CHANGING ANY BOSS DESIGNS FOR PULLABLE CHARACTERS! IF THEY’RE A PULLABLE CHARACTER AND HAVE A BOSS BATTLE, I’LL MORE LIKELY THEN NOT WRITE A THREAD WITH A CERTAIN MAIN OR MUTUAL. THAT WAY, I CAN USE THAT THREAD AS REFERENCE FOR HOW THE BOSS FIGHT OCCURS IN THE TRAVELER REPLACED VERSE.

IT’S EXCLUSIVE TO THIS VERSE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO ERASE ANY OF AETHER/LUMINE’S HARDWORK! I JUST WANNA DO A TAKE BASED ON IT! SO IT’S SET IN MY VERSE WHERE SONIC REPLACES THEM. THAT WAY, MAYBE I CAN DO TRAVELER THREADS WHERE EVERYONE SHARES THEIR SIMILAR EXPERIENCES!

With all that out of the way! Let’s dive in! The whole boss fight, including design, mechanics, interactions, and unlockable rewards, and ost’s is under the cut.

FATUI MIRROR MAIDEN NUMBER OF PHASES: 2 BOSS BATTLE MUSIC: X

OPENING CUTSCENE

This battle is apart of a homebrewed quest featuring the duckling squad! As such, The Player finds out about it mid quest and speeds off to assist. As The Duckling Squad, lead by Sonic, arrive at the scene of a Fatui ambush, witnessing Diluc and Kaeya holding their ground with a few downed Knights at their side, Sonic and Paimon notice that the only person giving them trouble is a Fatui Mirror Maiden, which seems more then enough for the Knights capabilities, right? Wrong.

Sonic immediately notices the gem in her hands. “That’s-!” Paimon starts. “A chaos emerald! She’s powered up and more off her rocker then usual fatui!” Sonic diagnoses before spinning. “Aight, kids! Chill out here! I gotta handle this on my own!” But before he speeds off, Klee hands him a Jumpy Dumpty. He knows he’ll need that. 

As The Mirror Maiden prepares for her final attack against the Ice and Fire brothers, a jumpty dumpty hits her square in the face. Using her energy alone too clear the smoke, she’s not quick enough to stop a kick that sends her spinning through the air. Sonic lands just a few feet before Diluc and Kaeya. 

“Chill out, guys! I’ll take it from here!”

THE BOSS BATTLE *Cosmetic Change- This is Sonic’s DEFAULT DESIGN. However, in the Genshin verse, he has a BLUE AND RED SINGLE STRAP BAG. In all giant animal boss battles that require sonic to run at high speeds, a visual change is made to Sonic’s model. Paimon is situated in his bag..! Showing off surprise and fear at Sonic’s antics.

OPENING PRE-BATTLE DIALOUGE

MM: Foolish mortal! Your insolence will be punished by my swift and divine retribution! SONIC: Geez... Shakespeare in the park much? PAIMON: Man! Normal Mirror Maidens are a pain! But this one’s fired up on a chaos emerald! We gotta be careful!

Just like the Dvalin fight, This is an infinite track fight. However, Mirror Maiden never falls behind Sonic and will always remain in front. For her first phase, the boss battle will remain entirely 3D, with attacks being sent to the middle, left, and right lanes that the player will side step to avoid. Each attack is quicker then the last and some can cover two lanes at once, so watch for start up animations and try to account for attack patterns! 

Phase one of The Mirror Maiden fight is pretty straightforward. Dodge her powered up waterwheels, which fall from the sky after a firing animation. They fire randomly and MM fires more then just three, but they’re slow enough to avoid, just don’t get overwhelmed by the amount she fires and you should be good. Sonic’s sidesteps are quick and almost instant, but don’t get cocky. 

Her secondary attack is a stream of hydro bullets that require you to switch lanes, as she fires them so quick and upward that they act pretty much like beams. They’re easy to dodge, but she can use both hands to fire more then once. Just be on your guard.

Eventually, she’ll open herself up for a homing attack. You need to hit her three times. Each homing attack hit will cause her attack animations to speed up and their duration to lengthen. She’ll get pretty quick after the second hit so just stay on your toes and remember the sidestep. Don’t bother using boost here, she keeps up with you for the whole section of this phase so you’ll just be wasting boost energy.

After Three Hits, Mirror Maiden will go into Phase 2 of the Boss battle.

PHASE 2 BOSS DIALOGUE

MM: YOU INSOLENT! LITTLE!! RODENT!!! Her Majesty’s power will guide me!! Divine power!! Lend me all you have!! PAIMON: Ahh!! She powered up!! SONIC: No doubt siphoning energy from the emerald!! Dang!! This just got more tricky.

Mirror Maiden’s second phase has her drawing energy from the Chaos Emerald she has in her possession. So her attacks will be more powerful and she’ll have a wider arsenal to draw from. Along with that, she can use Chaos Control, which adds two more sections to the boss fight. Occasionally, Mirror Maiden will use Chaos Control to send attacks from the air, which will switch the camera to a birds eye view. Or, she’ll warp to the side of the track and force the camera into a 2D perspective. She’ll use attacks that are new and unique to those perspectives along with what she threw at you in the first phase. Be on your toes and ready for anything.

After a faster and longer version of her first wave of phase attacks, you’ll be prompted to hit her with a homing attack again. Your window will be shorter then phase one. Phase one gave a seven second window opportunity. Phase two gives you four seconds. If you don’t hit her in time, she’ll use chaos control to switch too a different camera perspective attack phase. After witnessing Chaos Control, this can prompt dialogue from Sonic & Paimon.

PAIMON: Her teleportation looks a bit different! She’s not using mirrors. SONIC: It’s Chaos Control. I’ll give her one thing, she learns quick! MM: I will freeze you to death, scum!

In the 2D phase, you no longer possess the ability to switch lanes. Mirror Maiden will create glass cages that rise up from under you. If you get trapped in them, she’ll have waterwheels fall into the glass cage, dealing incredibly high damage. It’s easy to avoid the Glass Cages though. They have a slow start up animation where you can see Mirror Maiden creating them under the player. Just move forward or backward from under them and don’t get caught when Mirror Maiden has them rise up. 

After that, she’ll switch back to the 3D Section like Phase One, and after a string of attacks, you’ll get another opportunity to hit her. After hitting her, she’ll guarantee switch to either the 2D attack phase, or the birds eye attack phase. In the Birdseye attack phase, the player gets full rotational movement. Along with spawning glass cages that the player can get caught in, dealing damage, Mirror Maiden will also have hydro bullets rain from the sky. You get small windows of room to avoid damage. Just keep out of the way of her cages and bullets and after a few attacks, she’ll move back too the front of the player.

After three hits between attack phases, the boss battle is over and you’re treated to a cutscene where Sonic kicks the emerald from out of her hands and lands behind her, catching it. When the Maiden falls from the sky and onto the track, Diluc and Kaeya use their regained strength from their short rest to finish her off. The Player then recieves their ranking score screen.

[nxtritething]

TASK001 : MUN QUESTIONNAIRE 

name  /  alias : caro / care / carebear gender  /  pronouns : female / she&her where  ya  from  ? : u s of a .  orig n y c. the  current  time :  9 pm ( when i started? ) , 1 pm ( when i finished ) job  or  major :  i majored in mechanical engineering and math. no, i canno favorite  thing  (  s  )  about  yourself :  i have some good one-liners.

why  you  joined  hqclouds :  ... i helped make it. also its felt like a long while since i got to play some of my favorite babes, and i just missed them, so i obviously had to jump at an opportunity to bring them back !!!

meaning  behind  url :  it’s uh...... next right thing ,  as in anna’s big song in frozen 2. and i just felt it like, FIT. 

last  thing  you  googled :  zac efron high school musical gif icons, bc i wanted to use for this, but then that account was flagged as adult content and i guess those beloved gifs are lost to the void now...

zodiac :  pisces in  your  opinion  ,  does  your  sign  suit  you  ? : yes. i am a crying fish. also i’m a pisces venus. it makes a LOT of sense. myers  -  briggs :  istj ??? i think?? moral  alignment :  i can be chaotic good, but mostly neutral neutral i think hogwarts  house : i used to be a slytherin, now i’m a hufflepuff. idk what happened to me.

three  fictional  character  (  s  )  you  see  yourself  in  +  why :  uhhhh... 1) bubbles from powerpuff girls. because i am baby. 2) juliet o’hara from psych. i’ve just been rewatching a lot of psych and i love how she’s such a serious yet funny / soft and idk why i just relate to that. 3) john mulaney in mulaney. because this is a cop-out to say i relate to anything / everything john edmund mulaney every does.

i  started  roleplaying : i first started on some fourms ??? on an app on my itouch ??? but my first tumblr rp group was percy jackson and everyone though i was this all knowing pjo fan... when really i was just fast to look shit up on the wikia. i had never read a single page of the series. types  of  rps  i  enjoy :  fandoms, typically ! i used to be exclusively love animated roleplays? like cartoons? but then i transitioned to musicals? like, exclusively playing musical characters??? at this point, tara is like the one exception nowadays... favorite  fcs  to  use :  um... olivia holt is a recent fave? joshua basset, also. my old faves are mary kate wiles and hunter parrish tho. real old. otherwise, i don’t know if i’d say i get attached to fc’s? fandom  (  s  )  you’d  like  to  write  in : i kinda wanna go back to some of my cartoon roots, maybe? i really haven’t deviated from the same 8 - 9 mostly musical characters in literally years...  fandom  (  s  )  you  aren’t  in  but  are  curious  about :  um... the raven cycle ,  miraculous ladybug  , uh..... everything else. i’m so randomly interested in everything.

share  a  funny  roleplay  horror  story :  my favorite is when i was in a youtuber rpf / oc rp, and this girl... made an oc... and made the fc... herself. she made a literal self-insert oc. with herself as the face. like low-res gifs of herself. why, you ask? i think she was trying to ship herself with dan howell. that didn’t age well, did it?

favorite  canon  muse  (  s  )  to  play : do i just list all the characters i’ve been playing for literal years? my recent faves are katherine plumber from newsies and princess anna. favorite  original  muse  (  s  )  to  play : i had a hunter parrish oc. he was in both the pjo and youtube rp. he was obsessed with hanging out with trees and pranks. don’t ask me why. canon  ships  you  can’t  help  but  love :  kristoff / anna , jack kelly / katherine plumber , jake peralta / amy santiago , orpheus / eurydice , && donny novitski / julia trojan. yes, most of these are musicals. who doesn’t love a good love ballad? trope  (  s  )  you  tend  to  be  guilty  of : uhh... adorkable, one of the boys, badass adorable

i  prefer  .  .  . angst  ,  smut  ,  or  fluff :  i am a massive sucker for fluff, but i’m so guilty of angst... i love pain. i don’t really do smut tho. sorry. long  or  short  replies :  i generally prefer short replies, unless we’ve somehow developed a thread into something long. or i’m feeling particularly inspired. pre  plotting  or  chemistry : i love chemistry with all my heart, but sometimes it’s fun to plot past connections that can reignite? idk. mostly chemistry sentence  starters  or  headcanon  memes : headcanon memes, because im never creative to turn a sentence starter into something that makes sense, esp between two characters who don’t know each other. single  muse  or  multimuse  blogs :  multimuse, because i spent too many years reblogging replies to the wrong sideblog and those days are over !!! gif  icons  ,  medium  gifs  ,  or  static  icons : i prefer gif icons for shorter replies and medium gifs for longer ones... or whatever my partner is using. i like some sort of consistency.

grab  the  book  nearest  to  you  and  pull  a  quote  from  it : ‘ what’s the rush? ’ repeat this phase when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. ask yourself whether somethings really needs doing immediately. are you ignoring your needs in order to do it?  - the little book of sloth philosophy. 

what’s  a  quote  or  song  lyric  that  speaks  to  your  soul  ? : “ did you fall? or did you let go? ”  -  connor murphy to evan hansen, dear evan hansen. ( idk why this immediately jump to mind but... )

top  current  celebrity  crushes :  jeremy jordan, corey cott, jordan fisher, claire saffitz, brian david gilbert. last  movie  you  watched :  bridal boot camp did  you  like  it  ? :  yes. i loved it. it’s absolute garbage and i loved it. favorite  movie  (  s  )    of  all  time : idk but i can always rewatch prince of egypt. godspell favorite  tv  show  (  s  )  of  all  time : uhh.... i keep rewatching psych.   favorite  tv  show  (  s  ) that  hasn’t  ended : brooklyn nine-nine, zoey’s extraordinary playlist. sports  team  (  s  )  you  rep : uh... grew up in a yankee / mets household. favorite  video  game  (  s  ) : pokemon, animal crossing  favorite  youtube  channels : drew gooden, danny gonzalez, jenna marbles.

put  your  music  on  shuffle.  what  six  songs  pop  up  ? :

greased lightin’ from grease live ; oh mother by hunter parrish ; nerds by bo burnham ; a miracle would happen / when you come home to me from the last five years ; just another day from next to normal ; who tells your story from hamilton mixtape. 

i haven’t listened to any of these in forever, but i am still, indeed, musical theater trash.

personal  aesthetic : demin overalls, scrunchies, the color teal, big stuffed animals. dream  vacation  ? : somewhere beautiful with people i love. dream  job  ? : perhaps like designing custom 3D prosthetics dream  car  ? :  i hate driving, but a big ol’ truck. like suv. big one. favorite  musical : gospell, dear evan hansen, bandstand, newsies, shrek the musical, mamma mia, i could go on... unwatched  stuff  in  your  netflix  /  hulu  /  etc :  sailor moon crystal, crash landing on you, locke & key, all the bright places, the half of it, younger, meteor, hello my twenties ...

what’s  a  subject  you  know  too  much  about  +  never  get  tired  of  talking  about  ? : musicals. so many musicals. i know both know too much and not enough.

[slaaneshfic]

Dean Kenning, Social Body Mind Map

I just finished reading and making notes on (using the Digestion System I employ to get around my badly limited memory, which is i think detailed in an earlier post) a paper shared with me by the artist and lecturer Dean Kenning. I’ve known Dean’s work for a while, we’ve been on panels and in exhibitions together going back 5 years or so, but this is the first time I’ve been able to got through a text to understand this system which he uses in teaching. I’m going to attempt to summarize it briefly here, and then talk about what happened when I tried the system myself. 

Dean sets up the context for the workshop against increasing pressures in the UK on art education. The system of education in this country is primarily based around learning, recalling, and appling pre-existing methods and facts on demand, to satisfy predetermined outcomes. This is a problem because it is both incompatible with learning art, but also therefor discounts art and the definition of “thinking” it embodies. The thinking in art is generative, rather than prescriptive. There are ideological reasons for this which Dean doesn't go into but which should be fairly obvious in relation to school as site of labour discipline and enforcer of pre existing hierarchies of thought and power. 

The “Social Body Mind Map” is method of understanding an artwork in particular, and art making in general as not arising from either a pre established set of ideas, or from an inscrutable and unknowable mystical self. It does this through the use of “the diagram” which i will return to, but first the aim of the workshop which this system is delivered to students by is characterised within its name, and the pairings of the four words. The “Social Body” reminds us that this is primarily about understanding self not as an autonomous individual but as the expression of multiple flows through one’s body connecting to things outside of it over time. The “self” (and Dead draws from Deleuze here) is better understood as an area where possibilities and influences converge. I wont go into more detail than that, as explaining this is in part what the workshop does. the second pairing is “Body Mind” and this emphasises that the thinking is something we do with our bodies rather than in some abstracted upper hierarchy. In fact Dean proposes the SBMM is a process of thinking through a diagram. Finally the paring “Mind Map” is a recognisable one to most students and is there to add a recognisable position to begin from. Dean’s mind map is not the same as the spider diagrams we might learn in school though for an important reason. Normally the mind map begins with a clear central position, the subject being “brain stormed”. Dean rightly points out that this standard method generally results in the reinforcement of existing structures, it favours cliches especially at first. Dean’s mind map will change this, by having the central position occupied by a partially unknown quantity. This unknown quantity will be “the art work”, which can be a completed, in progress or future one. Dean’s aim for this is as already stated to allow art works to be understood not as the reflection of some static self but as "generative of a subject”. The aim is also to articulate the “thinking” involved in art which is also generative. Finally, in order to achieve the latter, the workshop uses the former to “alienate the student from their work”, to make the artwork strange and not simply a “reflection” and therefore grant them agency in the process of production of thought.  

Workshop stage 1

the workshop begins by prepping the participants to think of where an artwork arises from other than just as a reflection of some unknowable constant self. Dean draws up a series of headings under which as a group they list the things which answer broadly the question “that facilitated this artwork coming to be?” the headings are 

Capacities (things like: perception, imagination, strength, emotion etc)

Motivations (things like: Will, pleasure, boredom, instruction, deadlines)

Resources (things like: materials, tools, support from teacher, friends etc)

Organisations (things like: school, galleries, manufacturers, government etc)

So thinking about the production of the artwork moves from “I used my imagination” alone, to a series of statements such as “i used perception of the feeling of clay to see what forms it could hold without collapsing” and “The government set a syllabus which means is followed by my teacher who sets the deadline of two weeks to produce this artwork” and so on. 

workshop stage 2

Dean then leads and example mind map, having already primed the students to think about their work in terms of these networks. the mind map begins with a “?” in its centre, and Dean tracks the influences which converge in this central point which is procedurally redrawn as “the artwork”. 

Students then do their own, on their own, drawing on large paper this network. of factors which caused this artwork to be. Dean has some good examples of how a student, whos central image the wardrobe grew a giant toe in the drawing. The toe is in fact the act of student stubbing their own toe against the wardrobe in the dark which has identified as a factor in why they were drawn to make an artwork about it.  

Dean’s recounting of conversations with students show that this workshop serves to uncover unknown or disregarded factors in the production of artworks. its described as “digging up hidden roots”. I think this is really important, I very much remember the feeling of art production as something “mysterious” in the sense that it was obscure. Following that pop cultural ciche of art just arising from some internal genius, that art was a reflection of the character or soul of the person making it. The process of production of ideas was not something I ever saw discussed in any art school I studied in including at Masters level. I understood in the second year of my MA that emotions where important, specifically that I could not make work when anxious, and I also developed rules around when during its cycle of development/production/reflection I would analyse a work (I’m currently deliberately breaking this rule, having adhered to it for over 10 years, specifically so I can understand it better, but thats another post)

Finally what also of note, is the manner in which the capacities/motivations/resources/organisations are connected to the alienated central artwork in the diagram also become important. As with everything in Dean’s system, there’s no prescribed way to do it, but in drawing out a line as a big toe, or casually decided as in mine to draw “fear” as the contents of a specimen jar this opens up further layers of reflection. This is a process of achieving that art teacher mantra of “letting go”. How you draw the limbs or tentacles becomes important without being anxiety provoking up front. 

Final final note, as stated all of the system is adaptable and emergent. The lists of capacities etc as just an example, and they are generated with the group including the potential for entirely new categories. I copied Deans example list into my notebook above, and used both that and further examples as and when i thought of them . 

My SBMM for “Ok, Welcome to the black parade”

OWTTBP is an artwork I started, and then deliberately let stall and left incomplete a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to write about the process of making it (even though this breaks a rule I’ve long followed, which is to not take apart works in progress, but to only analyse my works when there is at least one completed work between them and what I am working on now, my “one work buffer” rule). Reading Dean’s model for SBMM seemed like a perfect opportunity to work on this Reanimator corpse that I had left partially assembled, and also understand the process Dean is talking about better through employing it. 

[Briefly, the “artwork” as it stands is a short science fiction story, written to an arbitrary formal constraint of 5 line paragraphs for the majority of the text. There are two points where this 5 line pattern deviates. firstly there is a section where the paragraphs all begin “You wake up...” for 7 paragraphs (there are around 50 of the 5 line paragraphs, paras 31-37 begin with “you wake up”. Secondly, after the narrative in the 5 line paras ends, there is an epilogue, which loosely sticks to 2 line paras, and has a different tone of voice. The artwork so far exists as this narrative, and a structure whereby I want something to happen between each of those 5 line parars (excluding the block which begin “you wake up”, which are back to back, in the manner of the scenes of strobing in and out of consciousness we are familiar with in cinema) which pulls the audience out from the narrative into an unstable space. Likewise there will be unstable space between the paras of the epilogue, but where I understand the former unstable space to be disordered but partly intelligible, the space between the epilogue paragraphs should be utterly ahuman.]

Above in pink is a diagram I had already developed (there is another one in the post before this) on my own to try and understand the art work I had made. the Diagram using SBMM is right at the top of this post, drawn by hand in my notebook. What became apparent when drawing is that the diagram was going to be much larger than i had space for. There are threads which I felt dissatisfied with because i knew there was so much more detail which had been left out due to the “resolution” I was working at. For example, the first thread I drew was the “Verbal tic” head at the 12 o’clock position in the diagram. I have verbal tics which occur mostly when I am stressed and/or struggling to manage my intrusive thoughts. It feels like trying to tap alt-f4 with my brain or shake and etch-a-sketch. What I happen to mutter in the form of these tics goes through phases and for whatever reason, I had been muttering “Ok, welcome to the black parade” for a few weeks at the point when I decided to write a new story, and this become the image I began with, a character repeatedly muttering a statement about a My Chemical Romance song (which I must admit, at the time, I hadn’t even knowingly heard, i just knew the name).

My point is, that Verbal tic head could itself have expanded with multiple growths outward which followed the trains of why I came to be muttering that, how I had come into contact with the phrase, how I had experience in my practice of taking an arbitrary starting point to jump start a work, how I like the Becketian aspect of my tics which make language alien, how I like the repetition, how they connect in both directions of causality to anxiety (they are caused by stress, but they also draw attention to me) and so on and so on. 

In closing, I think SBMM is a fantastic system, and its refreshing to try someone else’s system of diagrammatics, rather than my own which is utterly organic and chaotic (see pink diagrams, and the monkey-goth drawing at the end of this post which I drew to write the “ok, welcome to the black parade” narrative from). I’m currently prepping material to write the section of my thesis which is about diagrams, and Dean’s system is going to be in there, especially as it serves a very good bridge between the chaotic-code-switch which i employ for practice and the much more structure systems I use for written research such as the Digestion System.  

[tanmath3-blog]

Justin Bog is a very smart man. He has a great sense of humor and always makes me giggle. He is very kind and is willing to help anyone and I really respect that about him and almost all of the amazing Indie Authors I know. Recently I had the pleasure of reading his book The Conversationist and a review will be coming very soon! I look forward to reading more from him. He also has the most amazing handwriting I have ever seen! If you haven’t met Justin Bog yet please make sure you so and read his books you will like them! Please help me welcome Justin Bog to Roadie Notes……

    1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story? Probably around twelve, and these were short skits, what would be called flash fiction today, humorous bits in the vein of Saturday Night Live plays. One centered on a trip to Mars as newsflash and the mission being doomed from the start.

2. How many books have you written? I have written a few more books than I’ve had published at this point. I have published five books so far, both indie and through two publishers in the past.

3. Anything you won’t write about? Interesting question. I won’t write about pets, dogs or cats, in pain or facing inhumane situations. I write about realistic people, but tend to set these characters loose in the suspense/thriller/horror genres. I’ve written literary short fiction and a crime novel.

4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc. I’m at the beginning of my sixth decade, married, no kids, one dog, Kipling (missing the second and searching for the next puppy), two barn cats, Ajax The Gray & Eartha Kitt’n, I am a development/content Editor and I’m working on my first job as a ghostwriter. I also have been helping out the local middle grade and high school as an Emergency Substitute Teacher.

5. What’s your favorite book you have written? Wake Me Up is up there because it took over ten years to polish. It’s the complex tale of a family facing one calamity after another after the son and only child is the victim of a hate crime. While recovering, or not, in a coma, the son somehow is able to see his family and the secrets they’ve hidden away from him, and themselves, for too long.

6. Who or what inspired you to write? I loved reading since second grade and always carried a book around. I was a “library kid” who haunted the stacks. I read books beyond my age as a pre-teen and teenager, the scarier the better. King, Jackson, Straub, Poe, Carver, Cheever, Irving, Ingalls were all influential.

7. What do you like to do for fun? I love to read, walk my dog along the hiking trails on the island I live on…there are thousands of acres to still discover here. I also love to watch movies and binge great television series. Hanging out with good friends is always on the docket.

8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book? I’m relieved whenever I do finish a book, and its publication date, since these happen so infrequently, are meant to be celebrated. I’ll go out to dinner, and within days I’ll be working away on the next book.

9. Where do you write? Quite or music? I write in my home office to random music, shuffling albums. I love The Clash/Kate Bush/Nine Inch Nails/and classical music.

10. Anything you would change about your writing? I wish I wrote many more hours than I do, but I’m also happy with how prolific I am. Having one book published each of the past five years is something I’m proud of. I hope to publish two this year: The Conversationalist: Horrorstruck Novella One and The Threads: Horrorstruck Novella Two sometime this fall.

11. What is your dream? Famous writer? My dream would be to somehow find a larger readership. Mine is small, yet growing. I love hearing how the tales I create hit someone.

12. Where do you live? I live on Fidalgo Island in the Pacific Northwest, part of the San Juan Islands north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, B.C. A lot of my recent stories take place on Fidalgo Island. The Conversationalist and the dark short tale added to that novella are set in Anacortes, the small city on Fidalgo Island.

13. Pets? I’ve mentioned my pets earlier, and I still miss my big male long coat German shepherd, Zippy, who passed away last fall.

14. What’s your favorite thing about writing? I like that writing can take my mind into a different state where I don’t even remember the songs playing in the background, when I’m really “into” the story, and I’m anticipating what my characters will do next. They often surprise me.

15. What is coming next for you? I just published The Conversationalist: Horrorstruck Novella One, and I’m in the long editing phase of the second horrorstruck novella right now. This novella is currently almost 400 pages, and needs to be cut in half. There are really two parallel stories being told in this book, and shortening it will make the book tighter. I hope to do this work next month. After that I’ve already written the beginnings of the next two novellas in this four-novella series. When these four are complete I’ll bundle them together into one book along with a connecting story that will introduce each novella. This will be a spooky story as well.

    You can connect with Justin Bog here: 

Justin Bog: A Writer’s Life blog — http://justinbog.com

Amazon Author Page — https://www.amazon.com/Justin-Bog/e/B0081R77IC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Facebook Author Page — https://www.facebook.com/JustinBogAuthor/

Twitter Page — https://twitter.com/JustinBog

  Some of Justin Bog’s books:

Getting personal with Justin Bog Justin Bog is a very smart man. He has a great sense of humor and always makes me giggle.

[datingadviceonreddit]

Hello everybody, first time posting in this thread and am only doing so because I don't know who else I can turn to for advice - so please, be gentle; no hurtful or negative emotions or comments here please.I really need some help here guys & girls, I don't want to lose this girl because she means the world to me.Backstory:My girlfriend and I started dating a few months before the end of grade 12 in High School. Lets call her Rachel. Before we started dating, she had been dating a friend of mine who lived interstate and whom I used to race bicycles with. Lets call him Charles. Charles is 3-4 years older than me.For the better part of the last 2 years of my time at high school, I had developed an insanely huge crush on Rachel. I drove to a party down the coast one evening early in the year with my cousin and surprise surprise, Rachel was there. We started talking that night and I was flirting a lot with her (because I thought she was single), when all of a sudden the topic of Charles came up and she told me they were dating (they met as a result of a funny tinder prank, can you believe it). Initially, this didn't phase me too much. I was still good friends with Charles and I was glad Rachel was with somebody who I knew was kind and caring.Anyway, so after a bit more talking that night, I politely excused myself from Rachel's company and sought out some of my other friends. Whilst just sitting, drinking and talking with a heap of my guy friends, this one bloke whom I went to school with bursted into the middle of our group and bragged about how he had just hooked up with Rachel. This was true, and I felt both hurt and ashamed of Rachel for she was still Dating Charles at the time and had seemed like a sensible, loyal sort of girl. How wrong I had been.I slept that night at the party with a stomach of jealousy and guilt for knowing what Rachel had done that night. I was deeply in love with Rachel, however she had cheated on her current boyfriend with somebody else she used to go to school with, and in my books that is a big no no. So I let my feelings subside, for a while.Fast forward to halfway through year 12 and Rachel and I have become great friends at school. We enjoyed each others company, studied together, meet up for coffee after school and just relish the chance to be with one another. On some level, I guess we were flirting our deep emotions for one another.Rachel invites me to her 18th birthday party in town one evening, I felt extremely lucky and proud to be invited because only 5 or 6 people got to go, including her boyfriend, Charles.Some point along the line before her 18th Birthday, Rachel told Charles about her cheating on him at that party down the coast earlier in the year, and you could tell he knew about it by the look on his face the entire night, he was being super obsessive about her and not wanting her to have any fun with anybody whilst she was out. A couple of times throughout the night, Rachel asked me for advice on what she should do; should she stay with Charles, should she break up, what should she do? I gave her polite advice like anybody would (not swaying her one way or another) and left town to go home and sleep not long after.A couple of weeks later, Rachel sends me a message telling me that her and Charles broke up. I'm not sure why she chose to tell me about this, my only thought being that she had feelings for me at the time and wanted me to be there for her. And I was.We started hanging out even more, enjoying and growing on each other more and more everyday... leading up to one night. Rachel and I both went to an end of school party the day after we graduated, and she kept insisting I had to meet her there and hang out. As soon as I finished pre-drinks with my friends, I raced with them to the venue and took Rachel by the hand and led her outside, confessed how I felt about her, and said that she didn't have to say anything in return - I just wanted her to finally know how I had felt about her all these years. She told me she felt the same, we kissed, practically spent the rest of the night together partying, then I told her I was going home. She told me she wanted to stay with me because she was still a bit upset, and so I brought her home. I said to her on the way, "you can share my bed. I promise I won't try and make a move on you, Im here for you as a friend though". She said yes yes, and we got home and hopped into bed. Next thing I know, we were hooking up and slept in each others arms all night.After this night Rachel and I started dating. Obsessed over each other, out honeymoon phase of the relationship was blissful and amazing. I thought it would never end.Current day:Rachel and I have been dating now for roughly one and a half years, I'm good friends with all of her family members and absolutely adore her parents, and I've been on a family holiday with them all overseas for 2 weeks. Rachel recently moved back home to take a new job in her hometown, which is roughly an hour drive from where I live in the city. The night before she moved back home we were laying in bed at her sister's house in the city, and she was crying and telling me she hated that we met so early in life, because there are so many goals she wants to accomplish and so many things she wants to experience around the world such as travel and festivals, but that she can't imagine her life without me and wants to spend the rest of her life with me. I didn't know what to make of this conversation (although I think deep down I knew where it was headed eventually), so I tried to comfort her and hold her, and we fell asleep spooning each other content and happy (or so I thought).Ever since moving back home, she has been quite, teary, only ever briefly responding to my texts and calls, asking me what I think about our relationship... everything I dreaded I would one day hear her say. Recently she has started house sitting for an old lady in the city and spending more and more time around there with her because its 'peaceful'. I got back home 2 days ago from a sports tournament and she said that had got really high by herself the other night because she wanted to relax. I'm not into drugs or anything like that (although I'm not shy of a drink), so this was hard to hear.She asked me to meet her in the park near my house so we could lay in the sun. During this time she talked non stop about how she was so confused, needed some time for herself and all the while crying non stop. I was shocked into silence, so I came across as a bit of an emotionless bastard.She suggested a break, and all I could do was say "yes, if thats what you want". I was angry. We parted ways and I got home, went up to my room and cried like I've never cried before. She is my world, she is the most amazing thing to happen to me and I cannot bear to see her losing interest in me like this - and the worst thing is that I don't know WHY! I call her and ask her to stop by my house before she heads back home, and she says she will.She doesn't. I rehearse from my heart what I have to say to her, how much she means to me and that I want us to continue down the same path in life, and decide to go and see her that night to deliver my heartfelt message.So I drive to her house (one hour away) to tell her, but as I am leaving town see her car parked at the old lady's house she has been at so often recently. I sum up the courage in me, wipe my eyes of tears and walk into the car port of the old lady's house.Rachel, the old lady, and a random man with a dog who I don't know nor could get a good look at, are all sitting outside at a table smoking and talking. The dog barks and alerts them to my presence, and I say "its only me" to which Rachel comes out and takes me outside so we can talk.I pour my heart into my words, confess my undying love for her and everything else I could think of - but it was as if I was speaking to a different person. The old Rachel, who said she never wanted to be with anybody else, wanted to spend the rest other life with me, wanted to experience the world with me, was gone. Instead, she stood glassy eyed and kicked the tire of her car as I rambled on and on about my love for her. I don't think she really heard a thing I had to say.As I finished, she pulled me into a hug and said "its not you, its me" "I want to be able to embrace my wild side, to be able to be free and not have to answer to anybody" "I love you as a person" all those things said to try and let somebody down easy... She wants to travel at the end of this year, and go to university next year. And she said she thinks we should have a 2 week break in which we don't speak, text or call one another to see how we both feel after that. She said we can talk again after this time.I would do anything to stay with her, I'll darn travel the world and save up enough to do so if it means being with her again.For the past 2 days I haven't been able to sleep, exercise or eat. My stomach feels like its been punched a million times and the pain won't go away. I feel literally sick. And the worst part about it is that I'm not sure she is feeling the same pain as I am. My worst fear is that we will meet to catch up after the two weeks to chat about things, and she will say "I have enjoyed being myself these past two weeks and not having to hang out with you - lets end it here". How can I stop this? How can I prepare something so special so that she HAS to take me back and realise what we had together is rare and worth a lifetime of sacrifice?Please, please - help me. I know this girl is so special, she is amazing and I do not want to lose her. I don't want any negative comments about how I deserve better and there are plenty more fish in the sea - I want you guys to understand the dark place from where I'm currently sitting in, and try to help me create the fairytale ending in which I somehow pull of a miracle and win her back when we meet again after these two weeks. The possibility of potentially winning her back after these 2 weeks is all that is keeping me from total collapse at the moment. Otherwise I think I might buckle. I've never been suicidal, but nothing seems to be out of the question the way I'm feeling right now. Its a pain like no other.She is interstate this weekend with her mum at a music concert, and I am on good terms with her dad, so I thought when she is gone I might be able to discreetly visit him and talk some things over with him to see if there is anything else I could possibly do to save the relationship? I would make him promise not to tell Rachel of course.Thank you friends.Tl;Dr: My girlfriend is quickly losing interest in me and wanting to experience her 'wild side' and follow her dreams/passions in life, but she means the world to me and I will do anything I can to keep her in my life. We are on a 2 week break and I need to think of something I can do to win her back when we meet again to talk after those 2 weeks. Any thoughtful advice is appreciated. via /r/dating_advice