#its Flat Colour With Neat Symbol

[astyrra]

why is it so hard to find actually good t shirt designs, especially merch t shirts

[slimestudy]

"..... beware of the radiation. Go past this point, and you'll meet a terrible fate, incurable by even the best of the doctors available." My finger grazed against the symbols that made up this ancient language. I could feel the hairs on my arms stand up as a cold chill went down my spine. We'd come across warnings like these before, many archaeologists had fallen ill unexplainably upon entering these odd tomb-like structures that were left barren. The current working theory was that these buildings used to be the center points of the lost civilisation, and though there were no remains of anything that could've been used by this primitive group of people to cook, nor sleep, it wasn't unusual for this to be the case when it came to the people referring themselves as hyumans, our distant ancestors.

The reign of hyumans had been long and gone through many phases, and it appeared that a lot of these had been documented by them, but how much was true and how much was merely made up stories was left to be determined as the translation process was long and tedious. It was around what this tribe of humans referred to as the two thousands that there appeared an unexpected long gap in which a lot of information just wasn't there for whatever reason. This gap lasted centuries until what appeared to be traces of poorly preserved paper was found. It was speculated that some King or other ruler had decided to destroy as much of the information of the past as possible, in an effort to make it seem like the history began from them. However, no mentions of such person existed.

And the papers that had been found of the missing era were odd. They either seemed to have various types of drawings, ranging from clearly children to masters of their craft, some of them carrying different names yet being very similar in nature, perhaps a case of a teacher and their pupils, or they had text on them. But the text ones were... odd. Some had what appeared to be neat handwriting, but somehow an enormous amount of these papers had lettering that seemed to indicate that there was either a wordpress or sort that was able to print out these things at command, with pictures, in colour. Which shouldn't have been possible. This odd tribe couldn't have been that advanced in their technology, my people had figured out automated printing in only couple of hundred years ago!

But.... looking at the buildings that did stand as a reminder, as a proof, of this era, were all so so odd. That level of metalwork was... not something that had been seen before. They'd made metal somehow resistant to the weather, made it impervious to rusting, these were large containers and old means of transportation that eerily looked like the modern windcarriers, there were long and streamlined metal tubes on top of tracks that made one think of the flatcars. They'd found these odd rectangular pieces with windows that only showed you darkness, they also had holes on them on the side, but was that just wear or was it something else... they didn't know. The inner workings of those flat rectangles were a mix of confusing and weird looking wires and metal. What any of them did was a complete mystery.

This society also had flatcars and tunnels that went underground, some even going underwater, connecting lands. Based on this they'd come to the conclusion that this had to have been an enormous kingdom with a lot of power and influence, many other nations most likely attempting to mimic its prowess.

"What does it say, sir?" The voice of a child snapped me out of my musings about this mystery kingdom. I turned to look at my guide, a local boy who'd helped me to find this place. I looked back at the clear warning. "It appears to warn people of a curse that would be cast upon anyone who enters these ruins by what we believe to be the Goddess of Death and Sickness, by the name of Radia. This could mean that this building was either used as a place of worship towards her specifically, or was viewed as otherwise holy, like a grave", I explained to the child, who nodded, eager to learn more, "Warnings like this should be taken seriously, many archaeologists who have entered these places have reportedly developed health issues and eventually died with odd growths found all around them. It's most likely some kind of plant, virus, or bacteria that comes back to live upon contact."

I turned around and readjusted my hat. "And because of this, we'll be leaving and informing the local authorities about the warning and telling them to use protective gear".

You’re a leather-jacketed fedora-wearing type of archeologist exploring a new ruin. Through exhaustive study you have translated the inscription carved everywhere inside. It starts “This is not a place of honor…”

[wasebastian]

Flat Design 2.0

The waning popularity of flat designs has caused concern. Today It has undergone renovations, and the updated form, known as Flat 2.0 or semi-flat, depends on toning and giving depth to its identity. Implementing gradients and shadows makes this possible. If you've been paying attention, you might have noticed that well-known redesigns have featured prominent brands like Stripe, Instagram, and even Apple's iOS symbols. This holds true for organizations like Mastercard and Dropbox. With the improvisation across web browser functions, a new phase has begun in the shadows.

Best web design used to mean overwhelming users with a beautiful interface that was loaded with animations and bright components. With drop shadows and fake-realistic textures, the web designer tried to animate reality onto the screen. The era of "Flat Design" is currently in full swing. The terms "minimalism" and "responsive attitude" are both components of flat design. Users may focus solely on the content with the help of this design. Usability is flat design's primary goal. However, flat design does not simply entail boring, "content-only" design.

Features of Flat Design

• The design is straightforward and uncomplicated.

• There are no decorative components to divert readers. The key to this element is getting rid of extraneous parts or features that don't contribute to the goal being achieved.

• The selection of colours is important in flat design. To create a pleasing and elegant appearance, vibrant, lively colours are used.

• The foundation of the design is a grid pattern with block pieces.

• They emphasize 2D visuals. The basic idea is the clever use of 2D items to produce a 3D effect.

• The site is interactive, appealing, and intriguing thanks to the liberal use of icons. When content is represented using icons, users may quickly recognize it. Additionally, they can quickly comprehend the message's main points without ever reading the material. Little colourful icons quickly catch the eye. Additionally, icon fonts make it simple to include them on the website without any hassle.

• In flat design, well-planned typography is the star. Words and lines are shown to them with distinct spacing between them. The font faces utilized are of a sufficient size, neatness, and legibility. A flat-designed website's entire font makes for easy reading for the readers.

Guiding principles of Flat Design

Simplicity should be the main consideration while building a flat website. Designers must adhere to this fundamental idea. Regardless of the feature they are implementing, they must follow this guideline.

When designing the site, use rich and vibrant colours. Designers can use the online tool "Flat UI Colours" as a reference while choosing the appropriate colour schemes. Bright colours are appealing, but they are not a need for flat design. You can also create a good flat-styled website using only black and white or neutral colours. The elegance and appealing appearance are the main concepts.

"Sans serif" font choice ensures a clear and crisp appearance in good typography. The information supplied must be concise and accurate. Links and buttons, among other User Interface components, must all be visibly distinct.

[vancafreader]

Fine Art Comics of Canada: Sixties to Seventies - Heart of London, Snore & More by Robert Dayton

Part One: The Heart Of London

There was a time where artists were making vast ripples away from Toronto and other outsized hubs. London, Ontario was such a place, all eyes were on it in the late 60’s and not Toronto. The Heart Of London comic book from 1968 was actually an exhibition catalog, an overview of the art that was happening there at the time. Organised by The National Gallery of Canada, this exhibition traveled from London to Toronto, Kingston, Edmonton, Victoria, Charlottetown and, of course, The National Gallery H.Q. itself in Ottawa.

This catalog/comic book consisted of fumetti, comics done using photos for the images. Fumetti was most prominently used in the 60’s by Harvey Kurtzman in Help and Playboy, prolifically in numerous Mexican comic book melodramas, and in Italian comics featuring the masked master criminal Satanik. Heart Of London’s particular fumetti is further stylized by heavily contrasted processing causing colours so bright that they make everything heightened artifice, buzzing as if emanating from a higher plane of being.

Cover of the Heart Of London catalogue

The Heart of London logo in Pepto-Bismol pink is rendered somewhere between Archie and underground comix titles. Above it, The Comics Code of Authority symbol -a comic book mainstay of the day implying that the work is of safe moral quality- has been altered to “National Gallery of Canada”, the institution that made this comic book and exhibition happen. The cover features what appears to be London public workers, perhaps? These men in yellow hard hats casually stand in front of a store with a Coca-Cola logo also coloured Pepto-Bismol pink, Pop Art style, at the city’s main intersection in what very well may be the heart of London.

The comic opens with a quote placed above a looming Brutalist parking lot, huddling various small businesses below it. This quote contains the phrase “heart of London” but it is rather self-deprecatingly not about London, Ontario but London, England in World War One. Sharing a name with London, England has often made this Ontario city the butt of many a joke, ie. “I live in London… (long pause) Ontario” with its population being just over 200,000 in 1968. Named in 1793 by Lord Simcoe, Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant-Governor known for starting the abolition of slavery, he was also fervently British, his vision for Canada was for it to be like England which he looooved, desperately (but stiffly) wanting this particular London to become Ontario’s capital. Alas, Toronto was chosen instead. Related, always related to everything: the term “cosmic consciousness”, the higher state of consciousness, was coined in London in 1872 by Richard Bucke, a psychiatrist and head of The Asylum For The Insane, after he received a blinding vision, illuminating him. Besides being active in asylum reform, Bucke was heavily involved in the arts -the vision occurred after an evening spent reading Romantic poetry as well as poems by Walt Whitman, who he later befriended. Yes, London, Ontario is an eccentric place.

The artists involved in the Heart Of London show were part of what was known as “London Regionalism”, a loose-knit movement of artists who were adamant about residing in London, away from Toronto or New York. Artist Greg Curnoe helped establish some of the very first artist-run centres there. He was an early member and huge proponent of CARFAC, a Canadian organisation that fights for artists to get paid and paid fairly for their work. CARFAC was founded in London by Heart Of London artists Jack Chambers and Tony Urquhart -along with Kim Ondaatje.

Besides Curnoe, Chambers, and Urquhart, the eleven artists in Heart Of London included John Boyle, Bev Kelly, Murray Favro, Ron Martin, David Rabinowitch, Royden Rabinowitch, Walter Redinger, and Ed Zelenak. They are all profiled in fumetti form talking about their practice through speech balloons and captions, along with quick biographical details. Many of these artists were known for their inventiveness, they were influenced by a variety of subject matter -including comic art- without falsely delineating these influences into false boxes of high or low art. They didn’t just make work in the visual art field either. Along with a Hart Of London work-on-paper, Chambers made an experimental film with the same name in 1970. This film intensely shows brutal shots of an abattoir in Spain interspersed with London scenes; it has been described by Stan Brakhage as “one of the greatest films ever made.”  Both Curnoe’s Heart Of London painting from 1967 and Jack Chambers’ 1968 work-on-paper Hart Of London are in the show.

Noted curator and historian Judith Rodger told me that Curnoe’s Heart Of London piece depicts The Forks Of the Thames downtown, “arguably the heart of London” near many of the artists’ studios with Greg’s studio as the main hub or heart of it all. As for the idea of a comic book catalog, it was a mystery until Rodger guided me to Katie Cholette’s PhD thesis Memory and Mythmaking: the role of autobiography in the works of Jack Chambers and Greg Curnoe which states that it was the idea of William Bragg, assistant to the director of The National Gallery’s extension services. Cholette’s paper quotes Bragg from the Sept 29, 1968 New York Times’ Arts Notes column, “…The idea was to make a kind of scrapbook, to talk as a group, not individuals. Their work is kind of echoed by the comics—it’s really their bag […] Everyone likes to read comics once in a while, anyway.” Due to its uniqueness, the catalog garnered a lot of press for the show. Beverley Lambert (Bev Kelly in the show) says, “I think we all thought it was pretty neat and it was funny. It got people’s attention.”

When I talked to artist John Boyle about this comic book catalog, he said right away, “It’s too bad that Greg Curnoe isn’t with us anymore, because he was really interested in comic books. And he always did comic book or comic-like drawings from the time he was a little kid.” In the book Greg Curnoe Life And Work, author Judith Rodger’s description of his 1963 painting Myself Walking North In the Tweed Coat could be ascribed to many of his works. “The flat, vivid colours; schematic outlines; and text all come from his love of the comic book.” As well as the inclusion of the name of the newspaper strip Mary Worth in the piece. Another colourful painting casually inserts Dick Tracy into the frame as a representative of one of his interests. Curnoe’s series of cut-out collages were often shaped into cartoony and anthropomorphic forms.

Curated by Pierre Théberge at The National Gallery, Boyle readily notes, “Both Curnoe and Chambers talked up all the other artists who were around in London, and ended up persuading Théberge to have a group show to get a sense of the whole London art scene.”

The comic book itself doesn’t give William Bragg’s name at all, nada. The designer is credited: Roger Duhamel, FRSC, Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationery, a federal government official, as well as the design firm: Eccleston + Glossop International. All of the photos, however, were done by the late Don Vincent, of whom Boyle says, “He was a friend of ours, of all of us. And a really terrific photographer. And he documented the whole London scene as it unfolded taking photographs all the time of everybody in this show and just of London, his whole life was photography.” Vincent’s work also appeared in 20 Cent Magazine, a delightfully scrappy local art magazine started in the mid-60’s with many of the people in the show, including Boyle and Curnoe, contributing writings and drawings. 20 Cent Magazine sold for 25 cents, ha! Vincent also photographed The Nihilist Spasm Band who are regarded as the first noise-rock band; this amazing, mind-blowing, intense and milk-spurtingly funny act was founded by the late Greg Curnoe, with Boyle and Favro (playing unique guitars that he builds himself) as still very active members over fifty years later. They are unique cultural ambassadors bringing such songs as “No Canada” to the world, having performed in Japan and in Vancouver at The Western Front with poet George Bowering guesting on guitar, and have had a documentary made about them by the late noise artist Zev Asher.

In one of Heart Of London’s comic book panels about Boyle an early issue of the four color MAD sneaks its way in. I asked him if he read MAD, “Yeah. Although that is from the designer. I read MAD, although not madly.”

A very young Boyle states in one of his panels, “The day I can truly defile myself in public, I will have accomplished everything, and I will no longer have a need to paint.” Reflecting today he says, “I still think that actually, and I think I may have succeeded. Because I do still have the need to paint. But I don’t have the need to show it anymore, or to get applause or approval from anyone. And I don’t know how that arose in me. But I kind of had a fair amount of attention and approval and acceptance and shows in fancy places and meeting important people and pleasing art administrators. And I kind of reached the conclusion that most of them aren’t worth pleasing and their opinion was not as good or not as important as the opinions of other people that I happen to know. And I thought they made a lot of mistakes and people that they chose to support. And also, their approval was very fickle. They were very fickle about it because as soon as fashions would change, their eyes were directed elsewhere and the people they thought were geniuses today were no longer geniuses tomorrow. I did kind of lose my enthusiasm for the art world, but not for painting. So, I was mistaken.”

The final pages of this catalog feature a few reproductions of pieces from the show itself, including Bev Kelly’s window paintings which, with its window panels, adapt quite easily to the comic book form, comparable to an ornate and mysterious painted comic page. The layout, however, was a bit fast and loose with one of her works being printed sideways. In her fumetti section she says, “These windows aren’t ‘real’ windows, they are still paintings. They don’t have sashes and you can’t see through them. A real window is to look through, these are to look at.” Painted on canvas, the window pieces used lumber to make the frames of the paintings, carved to look like the ribbed mouldings of window frames.

Bev Kelly was the sole woman in the show and when I asked her about this she said, “I’m very happy that they didn’t concentrate on this issue that I was the only woman. I didn’t want to be known as an artist because I was a woman.” Having recently moved to London from Saskatchewan with her husband, they were warmly welcomed by Curnoe and she would go see The Nihilist Spasm Band play every week at The York Hotel. Her first solo show was at The 20/20 Gallery in London.

She spent the first two years of her life in Biggar, Saskatchewan where the signs read, “New York Is Big, But This Is Biggar.” Being in London changed her notions of places like New York being the absolute cultural mecca. Beverley says, “There was a really vibrant cultural community there. You know what a regionalist Greg was. He really believed, as a lot of writers do, that you should write about what you know, or you should do your art about what you know, including where you live and so on. And, of course, when I started on the windows that was right out where I was living. The first ones were of my house and then I walked around and took pictures of various houses that I thought looked interesting. When I got a studio in London above one of the businesses downtown I used some of the windows there as inspiration for my works. And then when I went back to Saskatchewan, I was very into that, looking around at what is there where you live. I even got a grant to travel around small-town Saskatchewan and look at the local -in air quotes- ‘folk art’ or untrained artists, let’s say, just painting odd things on their house or their property or whatever. So, I went and I did interviews, took pictures of them, and I imagine I must have produced some kind of a report on it because I probably had to for my grant. So that led me into being more observant and looking more at where it’s from and what is around you and that you don’t have to go to some huge, big place to find art.”

Bev Kelly was her married name and she returned to using her original name, Beverley Lambert in the 1970’s. Lambert did a series of three large lithographs for International Women’s Year in 1975 on women’s issues dealing with real news stories that happened on the prairies. Many of these prints were donated to many women’s centres across the country. She has also worked in clay doing an entire main street based on the fictional Saskatchewan town in the humour book Sarah Binks by Paul Hiebert. Beverley Lambert currently resides in St. John’s, Newfoundland where she makes art and is active as a conservator.

Flip the comic over and it is the same but in either French or English depending on where you first started reading!

Boyle comments, “Last night, my wife and I were looking at the Heart of London catalog. She was amazed that this was a National Gallery touring show with a lot of artists who became major artists in the country. And it looked like they were trying to spend as little money as possible by making this skinny little comic book-like thing on newsprint and I think there’s a large measure of truth in that. Because, again, I remember when Greg Curnoe had a big one-man exhibition retrospective at The National Gallery and the catalogue that they did for him was kind of a minimal thing. It was like a paperback book with one colour reproduction and a number of inferior black and white reproductions and basically a list of artworks in the show. And in the same year, The National Gallery did a big one-man exhibition of Donald Judd, the American sculptor, and his catalogue was a huge coffee table book that weighed about 15 pounds and was three inches thick and loaded with colour from beginning to end. And that just, I think, represented a specifically Canadian problem.” When I mention this to Hairy Who member Art Green he responds, “Well, of course, because they’re trying to impress their betters in New York, so you get a job at The Whitney or The Museum of Modern Art. Canada has been an incubator for museum directors since forever.”

Hairy Who catalog page by Art Green, courtesy of the artist

This style of catalog for Heart Of London corresponds nicely with The Hairy Who, another such grouping of artists around that time who were part of “The Chicago Imagists.” Their three Chicago art shows starting in the mid-60’s were accompanied by comic books that also doubled as exhibition catalogs. The Hairy Who weren’t very aware of the underground comics scene then just barely getting started, they chose this method out of creative necessity, printing a glossy catalog was cost prohibitive. Green explains, “And the printing was expensive and not very good. And we didn’t want to have a show that was called ‘Six Recent Graduates’ or something unexciting like that. And so, we realised we all liked comics and we all knew how to do colour stripping because we’d taken silk-screening courses, we figured out we could do it. And it was cheap.”

Delineating further, The Hairy Who made playful art inspired by a wide range of neat stuff. The London artists were well aware of The Hairy Who. In fact, The Hairy Who were even going to show in London at The 20/20 Gallery. Boyle notes, “20/20 was kind of a precursor to the art in the so-called artist run centres, most of which aren’t run by artists anymore. But anyway, it was one of the first and it was all sponsored by local people in London. And I don’t think it lasted longer than a couple of years, but it was a terrific gallery while it lasted.” Many of the artists in The Heart Of London show were active in 20/20, which lasted from 1966 to 1971. Greg Curnoe discussed the show with Hairy Who artist Karl Wirsum, who in a letter to Art Green wrote, “Well, if they go ahead and publish a comic book, that would be all right.” Green notes, “He may have thought that the 20/20 Gallery was more well-funded than it probably was. But it was on, we all agreed to do it. We were looking forward to it.” Green himself left Chicago for Canada in 1969. The 1968 Democratic Convention had transpired and as Green puts it, “Everybody was angry at everybody.” He was dissatisfied with his teaching job there as well, so when offered a job at NASCAD, the art school in Halifax, he leaped at it.

Alas, the show didn’t happen. In a letter to Art Green, Curnoe writes, “We had to cancel The Hairy Who show and a lot of us were disappointed.” Boyle notes, “I suspect that it got caught up in the death throes of the gallery. And they would have had to cancel whatever exhibitions they had coming up.”

Green notes that both London and Chicago are far enough away from the more major centres that artists can, “…be free to go their own way because there’s not much at stake partly and nobody’s paying attention. And I remember the first time I had been in London, we were driving on our honeymoon to Halifax where I got the job. And I thought, ‘I’m gonna stop here and get a Canada Dry.’ I’m driving down what’s the main street that runs north south and pulled into a corner store. And I said, ‘Do you have Canada Dry?’ ‘No, but we got America Dry.’  I have never before or since seen a bottle of America Dry. I bought it and it wasn’t as good as Canada Dry. And, and that’s not a dream. I mean, I have never seen it ever again. But that made me say, ‘Wow, this is a weird place.’”

While Green was teaching at NASCAD, Curnoe came for what Green calls, “One of his annual excoriations, if that’s a word, he would rip them up one side down the other in public, for being a Canadian art school with no Canadians teaching, hardly any, and all yanks -and it was true! And so anyway, they would invite him and it was almost like a ritual. He would be in the public, there’d be 400 students there and Greg would just rip the place apart. I had known Greg, I heard about the show and so on, and we got along fine. And afterwards he’d come up to me and say, ‘Well, how did I do?’ ‘Greg, you’re doing great, but you do realise I’m a yank’, but I agreed with him 100%.” Both Curnoe and Green commiserated on how Canadian art was neglected at the school. “If he had been in Chicago, Greg would have been a member of The Hairy Who or maybe started it. But he was more political, he had to be, and Chicago, the politics were so acidic that you wouldn’t have wanted to be to be involved in it, unless you went in full immersion. And we were decidedly unpolitical. Although we all agreed on the politics of it. We were a collective in the sense that we wanted people to collect us.” On this, Art Green is a tad glib, having made art responding to and criticizing Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Both Art and Greg would visit with each other in various Canadian cities: Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto. “Nobody appreciated Greg in Toronto, they went out of their way to un-appreciate him. And luckily, they did put a put up a pretty nice retrospective after he was safely gone.”

Of London, Green notes, “I think that for a period of time. I don’t know how long it was maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours, maybe a few months? Maybe a few years. London, Ontario was most interesting art scene and literary scene in the whole world.”

The propensity for great art still ran in the water there, the stream flowed, there was a continuum and a recognizing of that history. London has some great galleries including Forest City Gallery, founded by Jack Chambers and Greg Curnoe, where The Nihilist Spasm Band plays every Monday night.

In 2013 The London Museum held the group show L.O. Today with artists Jason Mclean, Marc Bell, Jamie Q, Billy Bert Young, Amy Lockhart, Peter Thompson, and James Kirkpatrick. Many of these artists are a part of the Canadian Psychedooolic art comic movement that began in the 1990’s, captured and collected in the book Nog A Dod, edited by former Londoner Marc Bell and released by Conundrum/PictureBox. Much of the work in Nog A Dod occurred in Vancouver with a couple of these London artists relocating there, immersing easily, doing a lot of collaborative drawing and art books with other Vancouver based artists. Yes, ‘Canadian Psychedooolic’ was named after the fact by Bell, but we weren’t thinking of ourselves as a movement or a group at the time. Yet all of these art books had an unfettered comic wildness, funny, and expansively playful. And Nog A Dod got out there, impacting and influencing a lot of artists the world over. Furthering the connective tissue, in 2003, The Western Front in Vancouver put on an art show featuring ‘documents and ephemera’ from musical acts The Nihilist Spasm Band, The All Star Schnauzer Band (a somewhat fake band as mail art project involving Bell, Mclean, and Thompson) and July Fourth Toilet, a Vancouver based group that often involves many Nog A Dod and Nog A Dod related artists, including yours truly occasionally wearing outlandish semi-functional semi-nude costumes specially designed by Jason Mclean. The show was curated by Jonathan Middleton, who is now Executive Director at Art Metropole, a Toronto based artist-run centre dealing primarily in artists’ publications.

Getting back to Greg Curnoe. Released in two parts in 1970, The Great Canadian Sonnet contained numerous images by Curnoe. Described as a “Beaver Little Book”, the format was modeled after the popular Big Little Books, distant cousins to comic books so named for being small, square and thick. Big Little Books were marketed to children and featured popular comic, cartoon, radio and film characters of the day in text-based stories with illustrations on every other page. Some Big Little Books had flip-it cartoons in the top corner so one could make the character move. With its second volume The Great Canadian Sonnet does this as well, stating “See ‘em move – just flip the pages” on the cover and, sure enough, in the corner a spot rolls up a hill-like abstract shape transforming into a medley of human faces.

Written by poet David McFadden, Curnoe riffed off lines in his text creating a great many detailed pen-and-ink drawings for the book with titles that included “Proud Possessor Of Meaningful Pain”, “One that will be Truly Loved by the Prime Minister”, and “The Empty Universe” which featured a drawing of a tin of apple juice and a packet of bird seed -the book’s drawings contained many such absurdist pairings. The Great Canadian Sonnet was published by Coach House Press who were -and still are- known for releasing all manner of experimental works including poetry, prose and beyond. Both volumes together weigh in at over 400 pages, with every other page being a drawing by Curnoe.

Many thanks to Jason Mclean, Marc Bell, and Judith Rodger for their immense help with this piece.

Thanks as well to Art Green for use of his respective artworks.

Part Two: Scraptures, Snore and More coming tomorrow, Friday, August 20!

Robert Dayton

www.robertdayton.com

www.patreon.com/CanadianGlam

[bitchwhoreofastorm]

1E404 

The tide had gone out, leaving in its wake an expanse of damp sand flat as slate, as light in colour as a fresh buttercake, and the perfect texture for Sotha Sil's task. Choosing a place where an Emperor Parasol threw a long late-afternoon shadow to shield them from the sun, he knelt on the beach, smoothed down his robes, and waited. 

True to his predictions, he only needed to wait a moment. "What're you doing?" a small voice chirped from behind him, and then a soggy body draped itself over his back, a sharp chin butting over his shoulder. Vehk had spent all day in the ocean again, and hir dress was soaked, but the afternoon was so hot that Sotha Sil didn't at all mind that ze'd just gotten them both drenched. 

"Watch," Sotha Sil told hir. He pulled from his sleeve a long, straight wand of Dwemeri metal, pointed at one end.

He felt Vehk flinch, and hesitate at the new apparatus. Hir trust for Sotha Sil, however, was great enough to win out over hir apprehension, and after a moment ze slid down his back, worming hir way beneath his arm and pressing up against his side to gain a better vantage point. "What's that?"  

With slow movements, so as not to spook hir, Sotha Sil leaned fowards and used the tip of the rod to scratch a single symbol in the sand. 

"This is an 'Ayem'," he told Vehk, pointing at the letter with the rod. "This is the first letter of the Daedric alphabet."

Vehk stared at the symbol for a long moment, in silence, and Sotha Sil wondered if he'd confused hir. 

"It's the first step of reading," Sotha Sil said gently. "Do you understand what a letter is?"

"I do," Vehk replied. "It's just..." 

"What?" 

"She doesn't look how I thought." 

Sotha Sil blinked. "She?" 

"Ayem." 

"Oh!" Sotha Sil laughed. "No, Almalexia looks quite different to this, I assure you. This is the letter Ayem, not the woman from your spell." He offered the control-rod to Vehk. "Try drawing it out." 

Vehk accepted the rod from Sotha Sil and, wriggling forwards, and used it to scratch... a few lines that looked nothing like the original letter. Ze frowned, then scratched a few more unintelligeble lines, and then looked back at Sotha Sil with a grin. "There!" 

"It's... a good start," Sotha Sil said. "Here, you'll have an easier time if you hold the rod-- like so." He took hir hand, moving it into the correct position. "And then if you move it like this-- draw the top first, then the back." And, his bony hand clasped over hir small one, he moved hir arm so that the pen drew out a couple of neat 'ayem's, one next to the other. Then he released hir.

Vehk, encouraged by hir 'success', drew something that, this time, resembled the intended letter. "I did it!" ze said, delighted, looking up at Sotha Sil. "Now I can summon her. Like a Daedra! I'm going to take her swimming." 

Sotha Sil, smiling, leaned forwards and drew a different symbol in the sand. "This is a Seht." 

Vehk's eyes widened. "You're a letter, too?" 

"Can you try drawing that?" 

This time, Vehk had watched the order in which Sotha Sil drew the strokes, and ze managed to scratch out the appropriate symbol in the first try. "Seht?" 

"Well done!" Sotha Sil gave hir a squeeze on the shoulder. "You're a natural writer, Vehk." 

Vehk's face, lit up with pride at the praise, could've rivalled the sun reflecting off the waves behind hir. 

The sand was pleasantly cool, and, close behind them, Sotha Sil heard a few villagers go past; he paid no noticed, concentrating on making the most of his time with Vehk's 'lesson'. Below and between the 'ayem' and 'seht' that had been scratched into the sand, he drew a third symbol: a line, two prongs. "This," he told the child solemnly, "Is a Vehk."

Vehk gasped in delight. "I'm a letter too?" 

"Yes, of course! Don't you see the resemblance? It has legs." He pointed to the letter. "How strange it is, that you have legs! What sort of odd and peculiar mer has legs?" 

"Everyone has legs!" 

"Not I!" Sotha Sil pointed to his prosthetic legs, shaking his head as if in disapproval. 

This made Vehk burst into laughter, and ze hugged Sotha Sil's arms, cackling. "Not you!" ze giggled, "You don't have legs! You're weird!" 

"Can you draw that letter?" 

"Can I-- I'll draw myself! I'll draw Vehk." Giggling still, Vehk leaned forwards, and drew, as promised, a 'vehk' in the sand. But no sooner than ze'd drawn the letter that ze added a torso on top of it, and then arms, a head, and even a spear in one of its hands, laughing as ze added various features, glancing back to Sotha Sil to see his reaction. "I drew Vehk," ze declared. "See?" 

Sotha Sil made a show of inspecting the drawing. "It's not bad," he said. "But your legs are shorter than that." 

"No they aren't!" 

"Your legs are shorter and your head's bigger."

"Nuh-uh!" 

"Yuh-huh." 

"Ah-nuh!" Vehk, indignant, took the rod and attacked the 'seht' symbol, giving it, with a few masterful strokes, a large nose, a head of lank hair, and a pointy little beard. "You look like this!"

Sotha Sil touched his chin, self-conscious. "It's thicker than that!" 

"You look like a nixfish!" 

"A catfish? They're called catfish." 

"Nuh-uh!" Vehk, laughing, fell into Sotha Sil's lap, offering the rod back to him. "What's Voryn's letter look like?" 

"'Voryn' isn't a letter." 

"Ayem, Seht, Vehk aren't letters, they're a spell. Ayem ae Sehti ae Vehk." 

"They're-- they're also letters. They can be both names and letters."

"Why can't Voryn be a letter?"

"It's not really--" 

"I want Voryn to be a letter! VORYN--" ze stood, abruptly, stepping on Sotha Sil's thighs, waving hir arm, and when Sotha Sil looked over his shoulder, he saw that the High Councillor of House Dagoth was, indeed, standing on the walkway above the beach, in deep discussion with his brother. Vehk's summons caught his attention, however, and after a moment he began to walk over to them, leaving Endus on the walkway. 

Sotha Sil felt his face go hot-- he was inclined to rise to his feet and greet Voryn formally, as decorum demanded, but Vehk had fallen back into his lap. Vehk, at least, seemed delighted for Voryn to be joining them, wriggling like a landed fish until hir second-favorite person had reached shouting range. "Voryn!" ze called, leaning over Sotha Sil's shoulder. "Voryn, I'm a letter!" 

Voryn drew to a stop behind Sotha Sil, looking down at their handiwork. "A letter written in uncertainty," he intoned in his gentle cadence, as if reciting poetry. "A letter in the sand."

"And I've got legs," Vehk concluded smugly. 

"I was trying to teach hir to read," Sotha Sil explained to Voryn, feeling a little self-conscious in the presence of the older councillor. "There's a spell from Almalexia's ancestors that ze recites to comfort hirself, 'ayem ae sehti ae vehk', so I thought we'd start with those letters." 

"A noble endeavour, and you make a fine teacher." Voryn's voice was nothing but approving, but then he paused, looking over the scribbles in the sand. "Ayem, Vehk, and... and that is...” His eyes fell on the drawings. “... a Seht."  

Sotha Sil pressed his hand to his chin. "Ze's very creative," he said, with a small laugh. "The minds of children, no? Where do they come up with such things?”

"The minds of children." A profoundly awkward pause. "But bare faces have become quite fashionable among the youth, you might consider--" 

"I'm fine," Sotha Sil said curtly. 

"You look like a Nixfish," Vehk whispered against his ear, and then, with a demonic peal of laughter, leapt up and grabbed onto Voryn's arm. "Ayem ae Sehti ae Vehk ae Voryn... Voryn! Why's your beard so nice and Sotha Sil's so small? Does hair come from your legs? Seht doesn't have legs. Maybe they're just small like his beard is?" 

"Oh, Azura," Sotha Sil buried his face in both hands, not minding that they were sandy, trying not to listen to Voryn give Vehk a gentle chiding about 'manners' and the impropriety of remarking on people's appearances. 

The afternoon was hot, the sand soft, the tide a gentle murmur as it retreated from the beach, the ocean radiantly blue in the slanted sun, and he would cherish this memory always.

[rebeccalartfoundation]

Contextual studies and Unit 2

Contextual studies

In this session we were introduced to our brief for unit 2 and the theme of transition and transformation. We looked into the different ways this theme could mean in which I create a quick mindmap:

Then we looked into some approaches that feature ideas of transition and transformation.

Emma Kunz- Drawing as Healing (1930-1950)

                                                  Kunz, Work No 396

Kunz used art as a healing tool and medium for psychic abilities and clairvoyance. She would use a pendulum to plot points on graph paper and join them up in interesting ways. She would also do this with patients to heal them. Her work was for personal use and between clients- without the intention of being displayed.  

Reflection of Kunz work sees her associated along other ‘[...] artists such as the Swedish occultist Hilma af Klint and the US painter Agnes Martin, artists that “shared an interest in exploring abstract forms in nature and looked at nature through a micro and macro lens”, stated by curator Melissa Blanchflower who had co-selected a series of Kunz’s artwork for exhibition at The Serpentine gallery. 

I was really interested in this first approach as it relates to my interest in art therapy. I find art to be extremely healing and can help things express that we find difficult to verbalise. In addition, it has made me think about the art I had personally created for my own self care and self therapy. Some have been kept private and only viewed by me, while others I chose to publish on social media. Does the intention of my art change when I display it publicly? By publishing online for others to consume, does my art go through a transition from personal expression to consumption, or perhaps it can be both? The arts in general is created with feeling/emotions from the creator and in response to something in some form- whether it is something personal to the artist or an external force. 

Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung also proposed art as a form of therapy, where the creative impulse from an individual can reveal what they are truly feeling- “True art is something “supra-personal”, a force which has “escaped from the limitations of the personal and has soared beyond the personal concerns of its creator.”

Jung was also intrigued by and work with Mandalas. He kept a mandala journal, in which he would draw a mandala after waking up each morning. It is interesting to see how Eastern practices had affected western psychotherapy. As a brief task, we then drew our own mandalas, with only a few minutes to do so. 

I found it quite mindful and had drawn symbols I would usually doodle but in some parts I was hesitant on what to drawn next. It’s interesting as I felt it looked tight and too neat compared to the others, but perhaps this would change if I did it when I was about to fall asleep or shortly after waking up. Either way it was a good exercise for loosing up. 

Gutai (1950s)

Gu- (tool or measurement) tai- (body). A collective founded in 1954 by an avant -garde group. They had radical ideas for creating art which influenced conceptual and performative art in the 1960s and 70s. 

             Atsuko Tanaka, Electric Dress, 1956

  Murakami Saburo, Laceration of Paper, 1955. 

This movement was created as counter culture to western art- stemming from concerns of too much American culture in Japan. Part of the manifesto of Gutai was ‘Do something new’, ‘Create what has never been done before’ and ‘Shake hands with material’. The Gutai movement produced performance art and materials used in unusual ways. It follows their metaphysical and existential approach that materials are seen as equal to the artist.  Gutai also put preference of concept over form  and was also critical of Western Art/aesthetic that was more 2D and flat at the time.

I found this approach to be very interesting and has helped me view conceptual art differently, particularly with the use of materials. Doing further research, I came across the term Arte Povera. The literal translation is poor art, but the movement refers to use of disregarded materials to create art. Examples of this would be soil, twigs and rags. 

Sculpture by Michelangelo Pistolleto. Made from rags separated into colour and white, with a mirror in the middle to separate. 

              Anslem Kiefer, Palm Sunday. 

“ The attraction of the Arte Povera artists lies in their passion for the natural and the archaic.”   

Researching the Gutai and Arte Povera has made me think more critically how the choice of materials can impact the creation and intended meaning of a piece of art. It has also made about me consider what choice of materials I would like to use for the upcoming sculpture project and how I can transform them.

CUT UP METHOD

Lastly we looked up a process of the Cut up technique. An experimental method where existing work is cut up and rearranged in a new order. This can be done with text, audio and visuals.  It also was used by David Bowie for song lyrics.

As a short exercise, we had to create a poem with text from newspapers or magazines- again with a few minutes to do so. Below is my poem:

In a virtual ceremony

Our girl joined us earth-side

Promises we’ve had

Re-emerge into the big wide world a little more

I found this to be a fun exercise and I liked how my poem came out. It is short but effective. The lines from this are from three articles- a celebrity couple announcing the birth of their daughter, a technician winning an award for virtual events and an opinion piece on how the public would deal with another lockdown around Christmas. It also made me consider how appropriating existing work can create some new and give it new meaning. There is also other ways to explore the cut method- collaging especially, where artists such as Hannah Hoch and Lorna Simpson have taken images to create new pieces of art. 

Unit 2 and work ahead...

ESSAY

Looked at essay questions to have in mind- haven’t decided which one yet. 

1) In what ways have artists explored the theme of ‘identity’ through their practice? 

2) Reflect on the ways in which artists and their ideas have impacted on your own creative direction and curiosity during unit 1. 

3) Identify an area of interest that you plan to explore in unit 2. Compare and contrast the work and practice of 2 artists dealing with same idea.

All have some what of interest but I’m drawn to latter two. Will have a think over and decided over the next few days! 

Edit: I have decided to go with question 2

UCAS

Also keeping in mind UCAS applications, I have researched Masters that I am interested in:

Art Psychotherapy at Leeds Beckett (With NHS northern programme)

Art Psychotherapy at Roehampton University

Socially Engaged Arts Practice at Salford University

Immersive Arts at Brighton University

Fine Art at Brighton University 

MFA Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University 

Socially Engaged Arts Practice at Salford University 

MFA Fine Art at Kingston University

Edit: I was interested in becoming an art therapist but now found myself wanting to continue creative practice and explore- as this art foundation has allowed me to do so. I am now particularly interested in the Immersive Art course at Brighton University as it engage creative practice but running workshops with those in marginalised position. This would be a great course for me as I want to get into community arts and perhaps art therapy in the future. I am also interested in the Fine Art courses as it would again allow me to explore creative practice further. 

INDEPENDENT PROJECT/SPECAILIST PRACTICE

Due in March 2021, I will think how I will explore the theme of transformation/ transition for unit 2 and what I would like to create for my final piece based on the theme. To help manage my time, I will also use a planner and attempt to create a schedule on my laptop to help organise my work load better and scheduling. 

[anne-lister-adventures]

Friday, 14 February 1840

5 3/4

..

Fine morning Reaumur 13º at 6 1/2 on my table breakfast at 7 – Tea and coffee – As yesterday – All very good – The Maitre d’Hôtel sent by George to beg I would write a little note for the Prince – Yes! That done already – Had the man in – Gave him two ten rouble notes, and asked him to pay all the servants who had done anything for me, and gave him the note (vide line 14 above) – He said nothing that I saw I had not given enough – But, of course, to pay enough for master and man too, was out of the question – 

The wine we had should have been considered 40/- + 60/- more = 100/- would have been the least I could offer – The man had been sent over from Nijni with all the wine and eatables – Yes! But this was the Prince’s doing, not the man’s – Said nothing but felt annoyed – George by and by came to know if the Maitre d’Hôtel was to pay for the horses of yesterday out of what I had given him – No! Gave him 5/- this being what was asked for – 

Then asked George if he thought I had given enough – Did not know but I might give the man something who went about with us yesterday – He was in waiting – 10/-? No! said George 5/- enough – However in going out gave him a ten R.[Roubles] note, and gave nobody else anything – He kissed my hand and seemed pleased and satisfied – The Maître d’Hôtel not there – Not to be seen – Annoyed – Would rather have given enough whatever that enough might have been, had I known – Perhaps I should have given the Maître d’Hotel 25/- the other man 10/- as I did and the rest 10/- amongst them and 5/- as I did for the horses – Should I have given something for the Cuisinier? Il faut bien faire attention pour une autre fois à ce qu’il faut donner au domestiques d’un personnage – 

Off from chez le Prince at Liskovo at 7 35/’’ – Very fine morning – Sunshine – But Reaumur -20º very nearly lying in the open doorway in our Kibitka – Did not tell A-[Ann] this observed merely how much warmer it was than yesterday to which she readily agreed – 

Nice drive along the high ground along the high broad birch-bordered 60 to 80 or more yards wide road – Occasionally wooded hills – Left – At Ostashtchaikas 14 1/2 versts at 9 – Picturesque irregular village and wood church unpainted – This last stage all off the river and very jolting – Pigeons everywhere – Hilly, left, towards the river not seen this last stage – Village at 10 – And at 10 50/’’ and at 11 25/’’ Tchugunis large good long village on the height and some mills and wood church – More snow on the ground since Nijni – No tree so elegant here as the birch – Its gracefully hanging spray feathered with snow very beautiful – The heights, left, nicely wooded this morning – And wood sometimes near us, left, oak and much black or white abele poplar – And absinthe (or very like it) tops peeping out above the snow all along – Wherever there are many wind mills it must be a corn country and do they make brandy? 

Passed 2 or 3 large Piles of mat sacks (they are always square) this morning full of corn; and many of the sledges laden with them – Little village at 12 – Larger village and mills at 12 23/’’ – From the shape (valley-like) of the ground we might be on the river again, and among islands – Village at 1 and large village all over the hill side – And large good church and Station (had come the two lasts versts on the river) at 1 25/’’ – Seems to have been a fire here latterly – Very nice village this of Vasilarsca, and stop to breakfast – 

Little bit of a room, but nicely warm and a good tempered nice looking civil young woman who got us all we wanted, and would stand talking spite of our not understanding more than a word or 2 – She asked 20 S.[Silver] K.[Kopek] and much pleased when I gave a little 5 Silver Kopek piece over = 25 S.[Silver] K.[Kopek] = -/87 1/2 half what I have given before – Began breakfast at 2 and off at 3 25/’’ – 

From here (Vasilsarsca) all the way on the river – Finely wooded (oak I think) occasionally villaged high bank right, and flat and willow-brushwood (left) – No rock – All sand in strata – Yemangash picturesque village with unpainted wood church 1/2 way up the hill, the village creeping up above it and down below to the water’s edge – Vessels frozen up almost close to the doors of the houses – These little river ports very picturesque – Some new houses here as at Vasilsarsca fire recently in both villages – How pretty the colour of the new fir-wood houses – A warm, a light-ochrey, yellow-brownish tint – Many traineaux all along the river full of mat sacks (of corn) and hides (skins) &c. – Nice, neat cottage-Station House here (Yemangash) – 

Cloudless sky all today with red round the horizon shading gradually off into the azure blue as evening came on till now 5 10/’’ from an hour ago – The moment the cold relaxes so as not quite to freeze our faculties like our gelinottes, how light and gay one feels – What a clear delightful air – How charming this careering along – The King of European rivers now while he sleeps, wrapt in his wintry frost, we creep along the torso of the giant stream! – What a magnificent river! how fine the right bank – High and wooded with picturesques towns and villages, and little ports with some largeish (corn?) vessels all the parapets more or less carved – The carving of cornices &c. about the houses is very nice and pretty – 

Off from Y-[Yemangash] at 5 1/4 to Volovita Vrack, nice little Gorod at 6 3/4 – much shipping here – Nice little town and port – But from here except last five versts on the river all along the jolting summer road – So great was the jolting this morning from Tchugunis that our servants were upset (no harm done) between 12 and 1 – 

From Volovita Vrack to Staria Sunduris at 8 55/’’ I got out and walked till the horses were ready – Indeed I have got out every stage since breakfast – Staria Sunduris seems a very tolerable little celo with nice little church which I could see very well by the fine moonlight – Hardly breadth enough of road between our Station House and the street and the row of houses right down below on the level of the river – 

Off at at 9 20/’’ from Staria Sunduris and all the way, thanks to heaven, on the easy river – At Tcheboksas at 11 3/4 – Tea and frozen icy partridge and wrote the 2 last pp.[pages] and to here till now 2 25/’’ – Good Traktir, and apparently nice little Gorod – Might have slept here –

                                                                                                     versts

7 35/’’ to 9 Liskovo to Ostashtchaikas          .                              14 1/2

9 1/4 to 11 25/’’ O-[Ostashtchaikas] to Tchugunis    .           .      25

11 40/’’ to 1 25/’’ T-[Tchugunis] to Vasilsarsca . breakfast           21

3 25/’’ to 5 3/’’ V-[Vasilsarsca] to Yemangash          .                   22 1/2

5 1/4 to 6 3/4 Y-[Yemangash] to Volovita Vrack      .                    23

7 10/’’ to 8 55/’’ V-[Volovita Vrack] to Staria Sunduris                  25 1/2

9 20/’’ to 11 3/4 S-[Staria Sunduris] to Tcheboksas  . dinner       21 3/4

Some stops in Anne’s and Ann’s route from Lyskovo to Cheboksary.

[symbols in the margin of the page:]        N

[in the margin of the page:]             How pay servants

[in the margin of the page:]            Leave Liskovo

[in the margin of the page:]             Reaumur -20º

[in the margin of the page:]             Servants upset

Page References:  SH:7/ML/E/24/0014  SH:7/ML/E/24/0015 and  SH:7/ML/E/24/0016

[marginalgloss]

the red telephone

The thing about Control is that I don’t think I’ve ever played a game where I’ve felt such a vast difference between a game’s artistic and technical quality and its total lack of thematic and narrative depth. 

There is a good case for saying that this oughtn’t to be a problem. It’s long been the case that if a video game is entertaining enough, any further ‘depth’ (by the standards established by other media) is unnecessary. This is why we don’t much care if the story isn’t good in Doom. The sense of being there and doing the thing is enough. But Doom isn’t drawing on influences bigger than itself. Clearly it’s been influenced by a variety of things — from Dungeons and Dragons to heavy metal album covers and Evil Dead and everything in between — but Doom is not referential, and it’s not reverential. Doom is complete unto itself. Control is not complete.

Horror films and ghost stories and weird fiction are best when they are about things. Think about The Turn of the Screw and The Thing and Twin Peaks and Candyman, to pick a few examples off the top of my head. They work not just because what we see and hear and read is mysterious. They are compelling because they have intriguing characters and thematic resonance. The Babadook is not just a story about a monster from a book for children. Night of the Living Dead isn’t just about, you know, the living dead. By comparison I find it hard to say that Control is about anything, but it presents itself as adjacent to this kind of work. It is a magnificent exercise in style which trades in empty symbols. It wraps itself in tropes from weird fiction in the hope of absorbing meaning by osmosis.

It feels like a wasted opportunity, because the setup is not without interest. You play as Jesse Faden, a woman supposedly beginning her first day on the job at the Federal Bureau of Control, a mysterious government organisation that deals in high-level paranormal affairs. The FBC is a feast of architectural and environmental detail: a vast Brutalist office complex with an interior that seems to be stranded in time somewhere around the mid-1980s. Everything is concrete and glass and reel-to-reel machines and terminal workstations. It’s frequently stunning.

Unfortunately most of the staff are missing because Jesse’s visit to their headquarters coincides with a massive invasion by the Hiss, a paranormal force which has taken over the building. The Hiss is a sort of ambient infection that turns people into mindless spirit-drones, chanting in an endless Babel. (Conveniently, most of those drones are present as angry men with guns. There are also zombies, and flying zombies, for variety.)

There is, obviously, more to Jesse than meets the eye. She spends a lot of time talking to someone nobody else can see. But there isn’t that much more to her. Like every other character in the game she is a monotone. There is no reason to believe she has any existence outside the plot devised for her here. Similarly, the other characters you meet exist only as the lines they speak to you. It works only when the effect is entirely, deliberately flat: the most compelling person in the game is Ahti, the janitor with a sing-song voice and a near-indecipherable Finnish accent. He is nothing but what he is — he has no past, no future. He has all the answers, if only you knew what questions to ask.

Control is undeniably stylish. The interiors are striking, vast, spacious. Even on the smallest scale the game has a great eye for little comic interactions via systemised physics. You can shoot individual holes in a boardroom table and watch the thing splinter apart into individual fragments. You can shoot a rolodex and watch all the little cards whirl around in a spiral. If a projector is showing a film you can pick the whole thing up and the film will reveal itself as an actual dynamic projection by spiralling and spinning madly across the nearest walls. (Speaking of film, the video sequences with live actors are great fun, and this being a Remedy game, there’s a fantastic show-within-a-show to be found on hidden monitors around the FBC.) And all of this before I mention the sound design — the music, which is full of concrète mechanical shrieks and groans — and the endless sinister chanting which fills the lofty corridors and hallways of this place, The Oldest House. 

All of this is very, very good. And most of the time it’s quite fun to play. I mean, you can pick up a photocopier and fling it at enemies. It’s never not fun when almost anything can be used as a projectile. And then you get the ability to fly! At its best the combat in Control feels messy and chaotic — in a good way — but in a way that has little to do with typical video game gunplay. Staying behind cover doesn’t work because the only way to regain health is to pick up little nuggets dropped by fallen enemies, so most of the time you have to use your powers to be incredibly aggressive. The result is that often you feel like the end-of-level boss — a kind of monster — throwing yourself into conflict with a team of moderately stupid players who think they’re supposed to be playing a cover shooter circa 2005. 

That you are given a gun at all seems odd. The gun feels like a compromise. The gimmick of a single modular pistol that can shape-change into a handful of other weapons is neat, but those weapons are just uninteresting variations on the same old themes: handgun, shotgun, machine gun, sniper, rocket launcher. The powers are more interesting and powerful. But of course the gun has to be there; can you imagine them having to go out and sell this game without a gun in it? What would Jesse be holding on the front cover? 

A gun is an equaliser. It evens the odds between the weak and the strong. But if you’re already strong it doesn’t feel worthwhile. You’re clearly so much more powerful than everyone else you meet in Control that after a while you begin to wonder why the game is also frequently quite hard. The omission of any difficulty settings is notable in a game of this type; it suggests that the developers were committed to their vision in the way that might recall Dark Souls. In fact the hub-like structure of the game is pretty clearly influenced by From Software’s games, and though it’s nowhere near as challenging, it seems to be reaching towards the same kind of thing.

It’s a game which demands you take it seriously as a crafted object. But then it has all these other elements cribbed from elsewhere — the generic level-based enemies with numbers that fly off them when shot, and the light peppering of timed/semi-randomised side activities, both of which made me think of Destiny. So there’s games-as-service stuff wedged in here too, and it doesn’t sit at all comfortably with this supposedly mysterious, compelling world that you’re supposed to want to explore.

This isn’t a horror game. There are one or two enemies with the potential to induce jump scares, but given that you can always respond with overwhelming force, it’s never really unsettling. But it’s clearly been inspired by horror. A source often mentioned as an inspiration for Control is the internet horror stories associated with the SCP Foundation wiki. From there the game borrows the idea that unlikely everyday objects can become sources of immense cosmic power — hence we see items like a rubber duck, a refrigerator, a pink flamingo, a coffee thermos imprisoned behind glass as if they were Hannibal Lecter. A pull-cord light switch becomes an inter-dimensional portal to an otherworldly motel. The great part about this is that these little stories can be told effectively in isolation; it’s always interesting to come across another object in the game and to discover what it does. (The fridge is especially unpleasant.)

But experiencing this kind of thing in the context of an action game is entirely different to stumbling it on it online. SCP Foundation is pretty well established now, but still, there’s a certain thrill in stumbling across something written there in plain text, titled with only a number. When those stories are good, they can be really good. Given the relative lack of context, and the absence of any graphical set-dressing, there’s room for your imagination to do the heavy lifting. 

In Control these fine little stories are competing for attention with all the other crazy colourful stuff going on in the background. You read a note and you move on to the next thing. You crash through a pack of enemies and the numbers fly off them. There’s never a sense of the little story fitting into an overall pattern. That lack of a pattern can be forgiven in the context of a wiki. In Control, these stories start to feel irrelevant when you never come across an enemy you can’t shoot in the face. In a different format, or a different type of game, this kind of rootless narrative might be more compelling. 

But what is this game about? There’s a sister and brother. A sinister government agency. Memories, nostalgia. A slide projector. It’s all so difficult to summarise. When I think about the game all these words seem to float around in my head, loosely linked, but not in a way that suggests any kind of coherence. The game always seems to be reaching towards some kind of meaning but it only ever feels hollow. It feels flat. Yet all the elements that are good about Control must be made to refer back to these hollow, flat signifiers. Sometimes the flatness works for the game, but mostly it doesn’t.

Today, it’s hard to see that anyone could see the point in establishing a website like SCP Foundation if it didn’t already exist. Viral media is not what it was in the first decade of the 2000s. Written posts that circulate on social media have a shorter half-life than ever. It’s almost impossible for any piece of writing over a few hundreds words to go viral in ways that go beyond labels like ‘shocking’, ‘controversial’, ‘important’, etc. ‘Haunting’ and ‘uncanny’ don’t quite cut it. This kind of thing doesn’t edge into public spaces in the way it used to via email inboxes, or message boards, or blogs. 

Perhaps the weird stuff is still out there. Perhaps we only got better at blocking it out. With the arrival of any new viral content, today’s audience is mostly consumed by questions of authenticity, moral quality, and accuracy. If you think this creepy story might be ‘real’, you’re a mug. If you promote it you might be a dangerous kind of idiot. And that’s fair: there are a lot of dangerous idiots out there. Yet there’s something to be said for an attitude of persistent acceptance when it comes to the consumption of weird stuff on the internet. I know I become gluttonous when I come upon such things. I want to say: yes, it’s all true, every word. I’ve always known it’s all true. 

[lapetiteaquavita]

Rainy autumn evening

Why

Persuaded by @my-dyatlov, I publish my first oneshot in English that I write some time ago. Probably full of errors but I have never written that long work in English, so you must forgive me. I hope it got lost in Tumblr trash (even if @kriegsverlobte it's said it's niy that bad 😳)

Ship: Valery Legasov x reader (yeah 🙈)

Genre: Fluff

It was raining. Drop by drop. Thousands of them were falling on the Moscow’s ground, streets and sidewalks. Water was everywhere making everything wet and as cold as cold were souls of men in charge in Soviet Union. Gray shade of sky was similar to the grayness of city. Except few kitschy decorated buildings painted with flashy colours, most of them were nothing but concrete blocks. Skyscrapers were, are and will be inseparable elements of Moscow’s panorama. Finally, they are the symbols of Soviet power and strength. Many of people hated this city for its corruption, demoralisation or failing ideals of communism but yet you loved this city. Or to be more precisely, you loved a man who was living here for most of his life and this man was Valery Legasov.

He had been holding an umbrella for you until you finally fixed your shoes’ buckles. They can be very disturbing, especially when you wear heels during downpour. Neither you, nor Valery wanted you to die by slipping on the puddle.

When everything was done, you two took another walk in the park that was near to his workplace — The Kurchatov Institute. You have always admired his knowledge about all of these physics and chemistry stuff. It is not that you knew nothing about it, because from the day you’ve met you learned a lot, but Valery was always your ideal of scientist — truthful and with passion for his job.

Green leaves on the trees were replaced by colourful ones — red and yellow. Is it coincidence that in Soviet Union there wasn’t any rotten, brown leaves? That there were only these shades that reminded about the mighty state?

"Do you know why we can see these beautiful red leaves?", asked Valery, stopping next to tree which leaves were in shade of Soviet Union flag.

"Because this is how our brain interprets waves of visible light that are long from 650 to 780 nanometres, am I right?", you answered with a bit of doubts in voice.

"Yes, of course. You are absolutely right!". You could see a little smile was appearing on his face at that moment. He was glad that you tried to understand his job by learning the basics of physics and then these more complicated things. You were sacrificing your free time, after a work as a nurse, to discover all of these theorems and being with him from the moment he came back home after hard day of work in the Institute. Valery couldn't imagine more loyal wife than you.

After a while he continued his walk and you followed him because you didn't want to get wet. Especially that you were wearing a blue polka dot dress Valery bought you last year as a birthday gift. You always appreciated his presents, no matter what they were. He could give you (but he wouldn’t since it’s dangerous) fragment of pure uranium and you would be still pleased. Let’s be honest, Valery was the best present that fate could give you and he was the only thing that matter in your life.

As you were walking along concrete pathway it has started to rain heavier and heavier but wind wasn’t much more lighter. Leaves were dancing above the ground like they weren’t scared of the terrible weather.

“Moy dorogoy, maybe we should go home?”, you suggested. Sound made by wind hurt your ears and was one of the sounds you hate, so you immediately decided about coming back home forgetting about grocery shopping you had to do.

“Yes, I think it’s fantastic idea”, Valery agreed with you even if water wasn’t the most dangerous matter in his life. But he knew that you could get cold and sick and it would real catastrophe for him. That's why he hadn't been waiting any longer, he just started to run with you towards your shared flat. It wasn't big, it wasn't small, just average and yet, it was your kingdom where you were a queen of the greatest king — your lovely Valera.

After rushing through few gray, sorrowful streets you finally reached door of your home and you couldn't be any happier. You, as well as Valery, thought your run would never stop. And even when you two were under plain red umbrella, your clothes were wet as ground outside.

"Chert", Valery cursed when he was undressing his jacket. "Even my shirt is damp, amazing". Irony in his last word was very intense. Maybe he wasn't that type of man who need his clothes to be impeccable, but he still liked them neat and dry.

"Love, don't worry", you gave him a kiss on his cold cheek. "They will dry. Now we have other problems"

"Like?", he asked worried.

"We need to get warm", you said while smile was appearing on your face. "I don't want my darling to be sick".

"Me neither. So what? A bath?" Valery suggested.

"A bath". And then, you two went to the bathroom where white tiles decorated the walls. All damp clothes, that you had on yourselves, were thrown into the basket. While you were washing your makeup off, Valery filled the bathtub with hot water. Sweet scent of strawberry shower gel from East Germany was floating in the air. That created ideal conditions for you two to relax. Normally you didn't bath in that luxury but Valery thought about making this evening more special, as a little gratitude for all your kindness and caring heart you showed him. Even after years, he still couldn't understand why you chosen him, meaning nothing scientist, among a lot of better other men. You also didn't understand that, you just loved him with all your heart.

You loved the warm that radiated from his body every time you hugged him. Also at that moment when you were sitting in the bath with him, you didn't care about washing yourself. You just wanted to cuddle with your lovely Valera. To listen his heartbeat that always calmed you. To just be with him. And all of that happened. You couldn't imagine better man than him.

After a while of sitting without any motion, just letting you to lie on his chest, he started to play with a flock of your hair. He always done that in peaceful moments like this. Valery, if he could, he would lie with you next to him for whole eternity. For him nothing could compare with this. Even promotion on a General Secretary position wouldn't be that satisfying as being with you, watching you smile and hearing your laughter. Sometimes he felt like a young boy who fell in love for a first time, but he didn't care. You were the only one person that kept him on the Earth.

But water was getting more and more cold. When you had got goosebumps he decided to get you out of the tub, dry with a towel and wrap in warm, soft bathrobe since you forgot to bring a pyjama for you.

"Lyubimaya, I will make a tea for us. Wait here patiently for me", he said as he had put you off gently on the bedsheets and then put on his pants to not walk around house naked. You just watched his leaving figure to the kitchen where samovar with fantastic tea stood. This one kind of black tea, that Valery was always buying, was your number one. Any other didn't taste that good, any other didn't remind you about love of your life who after few moments brung you a cup of tea as black as graphite is. But you didn't have will to stand up and drink. Actually you were sailing away to the land of dreams. Dreams of your dearest man.

When Valery noticed that you were nearly sleeping, he just lay down next to you and embraced in tight and warm hug as he wanted to protect you from evil. You were the most valuable person in his life and didn't want to lose you.

"Ya lyublyu tebya, Valera", you had said before falling asleep with a little smile on your face.

"Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu".

[seaquestions]

fulcrum makes candy

i havent be able to work on any of my fics bcos i’ve been busy (and terribly unmotivated lately) but! i thought i’d post a wip since it reads as mostly finished so far.

(artistic licence for science stuff btw. i’m basically writing what should be chemistry as confectionery lmao.)

It all started when Crankcase told him about meeting up with CONS4EVA again.

Or Symbols, rather. The dimension-hopping Dire Wraith figured that a Cybertronian translation of his name would be a smidge less awkward than using his TBC handle or a mispronounced, synthesized version of his actual name. It sounded about the same to him with the universal translator, so no big deal. Crankcase still tried to say his real name right anyway.

Regardless. The point was--Fulcrum needed to make more energon goodies. The last batch had unfortunately been thrown in Symbols' face when the Dire Wraith was disguised as Thunderwing, so it was imperative to try again. He also ate all the good ones last time, which, note to self: don't do that, Fulcrum.

He almost forgot to ask, actually, if Symbols was even capable of eating the sweets. The answer had been yes, maybe. The Dire Wraith could \consume/ energon, but whether or not it'd taste any good or if it would all end up regurgitated on the floor was a mystery. Still! Fulcrum needed any excuse he could get to make goodies.

The pressure of being around so many Autobots was starting to get to him, a little. His proximity alerts kept popping up, all the time, because none of these people had any sense of personal space. Plus, do you have any idea how many times he had to frantically re-label someone from [enemy] to [ally]? It was a lot! His drop on Clemency might not have killed him, but it certainly didn't do him any good. He had to do all that manually, now. It was stressful, okay?

And Fulcrum liked to stress-bake. When he \could/, anyway. It was certainly better than some of his \other/ coping methods. But there usually wasn't enough energon on the WAP to go around making candy, so it had been saved for the particularly bad nervous breakdowns or for special occasions, like successfully escaping mortal danger or Crankcase going on a date.

Thankfully, the Lost Light seemed to have plenty of fuel for both itself and its passengers, which was beyond nice. Fulcrum had reluctantly gotten used to the whole siphoning and cannibalising thing while living as a Scavenger, but boy was it good to be back to consuming real energon. He might actually be able to make more than just plain gelled energon cubes! But since he didn't \actually/ know if Symbols could enjoy the treats, he'd keep it simple... This time.

The hard part was getting the equipment to make candy in the first place. He didn't know if there was a kitchen area on the Lost Light, but even if there was, he didn't really want to make candy around other people. He knew, from experience, that it was a bad idea. But the anxiety of asking someone for materials left him paralysed, and he almost gave up on the goodies entirely if it wasn't for Krok.

The mech, Primus bless his spark, had gone to ask the command staff in his stead, and surely enough, Krok arrived in Fulcrum's room arms full of everything the K-Con needed and more, in both equipment and ingredients.

"The captain got real excited when he heard that someone was thinking of making sweets," he said, with smiling optics, "A lot of these weren't even on your list."

And so, Fulcrum got started.

Cooking might seem a little daunting for the average Cybertronian. Energon had a reputation of being volatile, to an almost comical level. Heat it up a bit too much, and it just might explode. Every element had their own distinct flavour that changed wildly based on their interactions with other substances, and it was impossible to memorise them all! Or so it seemed. But in reality, it wasn't so difficult. At least to him it wasn't.

For a mech with absolutely no background in chemistry or metallurgy, Fulcrum took to the culinary arts very well. While he might not fully understand the hows and the whys of chemical reactions, he definitely knew what was delicious and what wasn't.

The first step was making the flavouring. Energon itself, in its processed liquid form, was virtually tasteless, so this was important. Adding simple ingredients like copper shavings, which had a tangy, sour taste to it and chromium flakes, which was just plain sweet, was the most basic form of food preparation.

Just dumping metal into energon felt a bit amateurish to Fulcrum, though. He wanted the goodies to have a consistent look and taste to them, like they were professionally made.

So, the little metal flakes--he went with copper, cobalt (tart, with a subtle sweetness), iron (bittersweet and kinda savoury) and cadmium (mildly sweet and rich, his personal favourite)--were finely ground into a powder alongside pigments to add variety to the colour palette. He didn't want everything to be bright neon pink. One had to differentiate between the flavours somehow. Plus, the pigments themselves could also add to the taste, depending on what you chose. Unless you bought those tasteless food dyes, but those are for cowards, and in the kitchen, Fulcrum was not one.

Cadmium sulfide, for example, worked as a yellow dye, but gave the energon a certain acidic sharpness that wasn't there before, thanks to the sulfur. Cadmium \selenide/, on the other hand, was a deep red pigment that went beyond sharp and turned it into full-blown spicy. But Fulcrum was supposed to be making sweet treats here. So instead, he paired the cadmium shavings with chrome yellow, or lead chromate, to enhance the sweetness of the pure cadmium.

The cobalt and iron powders were simple, matched with cobalt aluminate (blue) and iron oxide (red). Classic choices, though he had to be careful with the latter, because it could very easily start tasting like actual rust, which was simply disgusting. He \could/ use the mercury-based vermillion instead, which was also savoury, but again, Fulcrum was not a coward. In candy-making, anyway.

The last one, however, he always had to have a whole internal debate over. Copper-based pigments tended towards greens and blues, but that wasn't really what people thought of, now was it? He could use gold ochre, but the iron-based pigment didn't really mesh well with copper, in \his/ opinion. He could mix a cadmium orange, but, again, he didn't want his candy to be spicy.

In the end, he just went with the basic green copper carbonate.

Alright! With that done, it was time to work on the energon itself.

In a large pot, Fulcrum gently heated the liquid fuel up, slowly pouring in a gelling agent that he had warmed up earlier. Under normal circumstances, regular processed energon did not solidify. To do so, you'd have to freeze it or leave it out for \way/ too long, letting it congeal, which was gross. (Looking at you, Misfire.) The gelling agent would let the fuel cool into a nice firm slab of jelly.

He then added one and a half cups of crushed lead acetate, stirring constantly to dissolve the sweetener in the energon until no particles were left in the semi-opaque pink liquid. It had also gotten lighter, light enough that the dyes wouldn't end up mixing into really ugly colours.

When the mixture started to bubble the tiniest little bit, Fulcrum took the pot off the heat, pouring the fuel into four bowls, one for each flavour, that he then mixed with the corresponding pigment. Red iron, blue cobalt, green copper and yellow cadmium.

The jelly would need a flat plane to cool on, of course. When Fulcrum went to grab a tray though, he noticed that he'd also been provided with plastic molds. Someone else must've been into cooking, then. He wondered who it could be, maybe they could share tips or something.

The molds were pretty basic shapes, like stars and circles, but it was nice of them to have given him this, whoever it was. He should use them then. If he poured the blue cobalt into the circle ones, it could look like little sparks... which was a really cute idea.

...He did it. Of course he did.

Blue sparks, yellow stars, red cyberkittens and green raindrops. It was almost unbearably adorable.

The leftover fuel was poured onto the same tray, creating some neat rainbow gradients. They were pretty to look at but to be honest, he had no idea how those parts would taste. Welp! Who cares!

Fulcrum stretched.

That was the hard part done. He put all of the filled up casts inside his room's mini-fridge. A few hours and they'll be solid. At that point, he'd have to take them out of the molds and cut the leftover ones into little cubes. Then after \that/, he'd have to leave them out to dry overnight so the goodies could form their crisp exterior, while also exercising enough self-restraint to not surreptitiously pop one into his mouth.

Oof. Forget what he said, the hard part hasn't been done yet, actually.

Still. This meant that he had time to take a break.

[cynder-wolfy]

here’s me making a really long post rambling abt dragons from a game i play

just to clarify, 0 of these dragons are mine, they all come from an online game called dragon cave. i added links to their wiki page so people can see what they look like (&i can use this as a short cut) and all of their sprite artists are credited there. usually the sprite artists come up with their dragon's description as well

starting off with the list of pygmies or smaller dragons

kyanite pygmy - i really love these lil guys, they're playful & feisty and i could see them being really friendly but kind of fickle wild dragons, like they'll play with kids in the woods but parents try not to let them

mimic pygmy - i LOVE these pygmies, they're friendly during the day but at night they're >:-). i can see them being a dragon people regularly try to kill, cause i dont think they're above killing any humans in the woods at night

mint dragon - there isn't much to this dragon, they're just small & flightless and i can see people using them for weed control in their gardens cause they're herbivores

pipio pygmy - i LOVE these guys!! they're kinda birdlike and probably the 'perfect' pet dragon, but cause of their popularity i can see them being treated like shit a lot by breeders

common pygmy - could definitely be a pet dragon, but i think they'll just be a friendly wild dragons, & if you give them some honey they'll love you for like, a day lmao

red-tailed wyrm pygmy - just a good all round Boy, a wingless worm dragon that can still fly is pretty cool. i can see them as a pet dragon but they wander off a lot so most people don't bother. they're more of a 'around town' dragon than a dedicated pet

and now the normal/ bigger dragons :D

almerald dragon - they're very pretty and weird!! they're basically a mood dragon fdhfdj i like the colour change thing & that they're just kind of lazy, so i wanna add them in as a casual wild dragon that's just kind of indifferent to humans

anagallis dragon - oh i love these ones!! they're friendly and like sun bathing & defening smaller dragons, so i figure they're pretty good friends w humans too

azure glacewing dragons - big boys !!! too big to be concerned about humans but i love them !! i don't think i can find a place to add them but they could be used to background lore purposes

ash dragons - these ones are so cool, they big & have a scary face but they're gentle giants. smaller dragons go to them for protection. i really wanna add one in at some point, maybe towards the start of the story

black dragons - they were an original species on DC so their description is kind of flat, but they're pretty badass, i can see them being dangerous dragons at night

balloon dragons - i have no idea how i'll fit them in but god i love them, just a species full of lads

black truffle dragons- oh god i love these poor dragons, they canonically get exploited by humans so i can see people like. kidnapping them from the wild & locking them up. i think i wanna add them in later at some point, but they're good for lore purposes

dark green dragons - v good 'evil' dragon, i think i'll definitely be using them near the start or when things kick off

day glory drakes - !!!!!! i love this species !!! they're definitely the most popular dragon to own, cause they're about the size of a cat (:D!!!!) and they're so pretty, there's also night glory drakes but they arent as common as pets  

daydream dragons - i never read their desc up until now and oh god i love them. they literally just spend their lives zoning out. mood. i think it wld be cute if humans hung out near them when they wanted to sleep well or just have a good think 

duotone dragon - two-headed boy! love that! they’ll probably be in the story solely for that reason 

floret wyvern - god i love these ones!! they’re so pretty and nice sounding & i wanna be it’s friend. i think the calming aura is really cool & they could be an awesome recurring dragon or even a straight up main character at some point

honey drake - small good boy!! likes honey!! is basically a bee dragon!! i can see them being pets as well or just rlly friendly wild dragons, if you give them some honey 

kingcrowne dragon - hhh!! they’re so pretty and v good for more dragon/human history and lore

magi dragons - kinda neat & i can see them being feared by humans cause of how they use magic mostly. i think i’ll include their transport bsa in the story 

ochredrake - one of the only few bigger dragons to be considered pets, cause it specifically mentions that they tame easily & also i said so. pretty tight drake 

pink dragon - i can see these dudes being luxury pets or a status symbol just cause they’re pink i guess 

sapphire dragons - good for lore!! they’re very pretty and i definitely want them in the story at some point 

striped river dragons - love!! just some water loving boys. feel like adding them as casual wild dragon, not adding anything to plot just kinda bein there 

tatterdrake - just some vicious fun loving boys!! a good ‘evil’ wild dragon, idk if i’ll add them but i think they’re pretty cool 

whiptail dragons - love them!! small fast & cool. will proabbly be a wild dragon 

gold dragons - god these dragons are perfect for lore. the most hunted/sought after dragons to exist & they are Not Happy about it lol. 

neglected dragons - i’m not sure how i’m gonna logic these into the story, but i want to add them for lore & also just to show cruel humans are becoming toward dragons. owners will purposefully mistreat eggs so that the dragon inside is forced to become a neglected dragon, and they loath their owner for doing it but they’re too physically weak and dependant on that owner to be able to leave. it’s considered a huge status symbol to own/create a neglected dragon 

uhhh and that’s all the species i’ve looked at so far!! this is definitely Not all of the species on DC but i want to start out the story in a forest, so i only looked at forest dragons for convenience. maybe if i end up writing the story i’ll expand the list as roman goes to the different “zones” in the world 

oh and the plot i guess: the main character will probably be a late teen/early adult roman, living in town somewhere on the edge of the forest. he’s grown up in a time where there was mostly peace between humans and dragons but dozens of incidents start happening and the people of the town are slowly turning against dragons. he’s always felt kind of connected to them but was unsure why.

uhhh something Happens at some point & suddenly he can fuckin. Hear dragons talking. and it freaks him the fuck out. he tries to hide it but his mother notices and reveals that she found him as a baby in weird circumstances and had a hunch something like this was going to happen. so roman gets insanely curious about dragons once he can hear them, but he’s afraid to speak to them. only problem is the town is now against dragons and any more interest in them would only bring suspicion onto him.

so he just fuckin. goes out into the woods. and tries to learn by watching them. it obviously doesn’t go so well the first few times but he starts off with smaller dragons like pyymies and just tries to interact with them. 

i’m not sure if i’ll keep the story being him just going around & interacting with dragons. i could make it ambreigns like way later in the story once he starts travelling, and i think the first Big plot point would be him trying to convince the town the dragons are ok.

as for the dragons, there’s like a Big Evil dragon queen that has some kind of mana that’s never been seen before, so she’s slowly trying to infect the different dragons species with it to kill the humans who have been killing them. 

idk. its messy man!! its messy. but i like talking about it so i am. even if i dont write it its still a good story to play out in my head. i’m not good with fantasy stories so i’d probably screw it up lol 

if you’ve read this far I’m Sorry 

[we-are-all-obsessed-here]

Heart Strings And Melodies (Modern Musician!Poe AU) Part 2

(Not my Gif)

Summary: It’s been three weeks since Reader first met Poe, slowly they’re beginning to get to know each other better, especially when Poe is invited to an engagement party. (Because after writing the first one I was inundated with ideas for more parts and so if people want it or not, you’ll be seeing a few more parts of this)

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader

Masterlist

Three weeks had passed since you had first entered D’Qar, it’s quaint little style and atmosphere had grown on you insurmountably. You found the bar was somewhere beyond relaxing after a long day at work, and with the Christmas holiday season coming closer and closer, it meant you were in dire need of more down time. Gratefully you found out the bar was open during the day as well, serving coffee and a small range of food; since the bar wasn’t too far away from home, you found yourself making several trips a week at the end of your work shift to just sit and have a coffee and a sandwich. “Hey Finn.” You called as you entered the bar. Finn called your name excitably as you stepped over to the bar. “Another long day?” Finn asked you as he grabbed one of the tall coffee mugs and placed it on the coffee machine. “Don’t get me started. My flat is covered in papers that I’ve been taking home to get all sorted. They’re beginning to pile up. I can’t wait until Christmas has passed, it’ll calm down then.” You explained, perching yourself at the bar. You shrugged the blazer you were wearing off your shoulders, the black tie around your neck joined it after a moment, with deft fingers you unfastened the top buttons of your shirt. A huff left your lips as you leaned over the bar, your fingers brushing against the white tall mug Finn had just placed in front of you. “Thanks Finn, You smiled at the man behind the bar. “Hows everything going with the bar recently?” You add. “It’s going great, I mean when I’ve been on shift, it’s been pretty busy on a night, less so during the day but it means I can practice.” He nodded happily. “Practice?” You question. “Oh yeah! Poe has been teaching me how to play guitar, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as he is.” “Oh neat! I bet you’re better than what you think!” You enthused. “Hey are you coming to watch him play again tonight?” Finn asked curiously. “Back again are we?” A voice interrupted as a plate was placed on the bar beside you. You greeted the familiar kitchen staff before they disappeared back in the kitchen. “Yeah, I should be.” “Should be? You’re usually eager to come by.” Finn questioned. “I’m pretty exhausted, the idea of cuddling up in bed with a nice coffee is really tempting. David and Ryan are on about coming though.” You explain. “Well, if you do decide to stay home, pretty sure Poe will miss seeing you.” Finn commented. “Finn, believe me, with the number of women who are beginning to fawn over him, he’ll be too busy buying them drinks to realise I’m not there.” You smiled softly, taking a bite of the sandwich on your plate. “You do realise you’re the only person Poe’s ever bought a drink for?” Finn cocked a brow. You were taken back by the revelation, deciding to take more bites of your sandwich to avoid giving a response.

A knock at your door had you hopping over to answer it while tugging on a blue suede boot. You almost lost your balance as you swung the door open, your foot landing on the floor just in time to regain balance. “Hello you two!” You beamed, motioning with your hand to let them in. “Wow, who dropped a paper bomb in here?” Ryan laughed, his gaze darting around your living room. “That would be me. Work is piling up big time. It’s starting to stress me out.” You mumbled, a frown on your face. “Sounds like you definitely need a break.” David replied. “More like I’ve been procrastinating for hours and now a drink is needed. Desperately. So I don’t feel as shit as I have been.” You complained. “Come on then, lets get going.” Ryan said, grabbing your leather jacket and holding it open for you to shrug on. Once you’d picked up your bag, you grabbed your keys and guided your friends out of your apartment. You shivered as the cold winter air bit at the back of your neck and brushed over your exposed hands. An abrupt warmth covering the back on your neck startled you, causing you to spin on your feet to look behind you. Walking in quick steps to eventually walk in step beside you, your gaze fell on the familiar musician. His dark curls were slightly messy, but fashionably so, a bright smile was plastered on his face. Your fingers brushed over the soft material of the scarf that had been placed around your neck. “You do realise its winter right?” Poe asked with a cocked brow. “Yeah, I didn’t think it was this cold though.” You answered. Poe offered you a kind smile as he brought an end of the scarf around the front of your neck and tossed it over your shoulder. “You got any new stuff tonight?” Ryan asked excitedly. “You’ll just have to wait and see!” Poe said playfully. The musician pulled the lapels of his long black winter coat around his face as he let out a breath that came out in a white cloud. “Here.” You went to take off the scarf but Poe covered your hand with his. “No I’m good, we’re almost there anyway.” He smiled at you. You averted your gaze from his to glance down at the guitar case he was carrying. It was solid black, though it was covered in stickers, some you recognised though others you didn’t, especially an odd shaped deep orange symbol. Poe followed your gaze to the symbol. “Resistance.” He told you. “Resistance?” “The symbol,” Poe held the case up and let his fingers brush over the coloured sticker. “It’s from a group I was a part of a long time ago. Its a big part of my past, I miss them from time to time.” Poe explained to you. “Its sweet you carry them with you.” You noted. “I never thought of it like that.” He beamed down at you.

As you entered the bar, shouting a quick hello to Finn, Poe disappeared to ready himself for his set. David, Ryan and you settled at the bar, sorting out what you would be drinking for the night. “So you made it after all?” Finn smiled knowingly. “Believe me, I would’ve just been moping in my apartment. I haven’t had a great afternoon.” You admitted. “Well I’m sure a drink and a bit of music will cheer you up.” Finn offered. “I hope you’re right.” You replied. “Lets find somewhere to sit.” Ryan spoke after you were all served your drinks. As David stepped away from the bar, carrying the drinks on a tray, Ryan following close behind, you gave Finn a quick wave as you began to follow them. “Your usual table is free!” Finn called over the chatter at the bar. You gave him a thumbs up before calling over to your friends and motioning towards your table near the stage. As you stepped over to the round table, a small folded sign had been placed on the table, the word ‘Reserved’ written across it. You looked over your shoulder to Finn, giving him knowing look, he simply shrugged with a grin on his face. After sitting at the table, you took note of the yellow tulips sat in the small vase in the centre of the table. You shook your head softly, your fingers brushing over the smooth outer petals. A number of whistles and applause made you look towards the stage. Poe grinned at the crowd’s reaction as he stepped onto the stage, his guitar in hand as he perched himself on the wooden stool in the centre. You took a sip of your drink to try and distract yourself from the beaming smile he sent in your direction as his gaze met yours. There was no denying that Poe was one very handsome man, both inside and out, he was much different from many men you’d met before. Still the night carried on, Poe beginning his set with a song, you noted, that was one you’d told him you liked. You couldn’t help glancing around the room, each and every person was enthralled by Poe’s playing. A soft smile made its way onto your face as you turned back to face the stage. Poe continued to play, taking small breaks in-between songs to take a sip of cool water, his music filled the room and drifted out into the street, bringing passing people into the bar with curiosity. You were proud of how popular Poe was becoming, with each song he finished the applause increased, the smile on his face widening each time. “Okay final song for tonight-“ A wave of groans echoed across the bar, making Poe chuckle brightly. “I’m back next week.” He calmed the crowd with a smile on his face. Poe finished his set with a lively song, his fingers travelling along the strings quickly and skilfully, his foot bouncing along with the song.

“So what did you guys think?” Poe questioned as he sat down beside you, his arm going around your shoulders. “Amazing! Your new stuff is really something!” Ryan enthused. “You’re getting better every week!” David added. “Thanks, I guess I got a new spring of inspiration recently.” Poe looked over to you, a gentle look in his gaze. “Poe, we’re having an engagement party next week, do you fancy coming along?” David questioned. “Engagement?” Poe wondered. “Oh yeah, I asked Ryan to marry me at the weekend.” David explained. “It was really romantic.” Ryan added with a bashful smile. “I love celebrations! I’d love to join you!” Poe enthused. “Will you be coming?” Poe asked curiously, his gaze on you. “Of course! I’m the one helping them set up!” You grinned. The four of you sat for a while, drinking and chatting happily. As you yawned for the third time in several minutes, you glanced down at your watch. “Damn I should get going! Armitage wants me in early tomorrow.” You groaned. “You sure you have to leave so soon?” Poe asked. “I’m afraid so,” You told him as you stood, shrugging on your leather jacket then fastening it all the way up. “I suppose I’ll see you all on Friday. Goodnight guys.” You call as you backed away from the table. The small group waved and bid you goodnight. You hurried home, the cold winter air becoming even more icy than when you had first stepped out of your apartment. With cold hands you wrapped the scarf around your neck tighter, upon touching the soft fabric you let out a soft curse. You’d forgotten to give Poe his scarf back. You turned on your feet, wondering whether to turn back to return it to him. With a shake of your head, you recalled you’d be seeing him in just a couple days time and decided you’d give it back to him then. After stepping into your apartment, you shrugged off your jacket and hung it up by the door, then removed the scarf and hung it over your jacket, an aroma met your nose as your gently stroked at the fabric: the soft smell of sandalwood and leather. You let out a harsh sigh as you stepped around your apartment, your eyes travelling across the stacks of papers on more or less every surface.

“Look at you two, all loved up and adorable.” You teased as you opened a bottle of wine and poured three glasses. David and Ryan laughed softly at your words. “Just wait till you meet someone.” David noted. You laughed derisively, shaking your head. A knock at your door drew your attention. “Oh that’ll be the pizzas!” You hummed excitedly, stepping across the busy apartment to get to the door. Upon opening it you were face to face with Poe. “Oh hi!” You greeted. “Poe you made it! We were worried you wouldn’t make it!” Ryan exclaimed, joining your side at the door. “Wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He replied. Poe stepped into the apartment, his guitar case in hand. “You been working?” You questioned. “No, well yes but not as a musician, I though I’d play for you, well for everyone. I wrote something specially.” He beamed cheerfully. “Ooh we can’t wait!” Ryan enthused. “Would you like a drink?” You asked Poe after taking his coat and hanging it up beside others. “I’d love one!” Poe followed you towards the kitchen. “Wine?” “Sure.” The two of you stood for an awkward moment in silence. “You said you were working? What is it that you do?” You wondered. “I work part-time as a mechanic, usually on bikes. Then I work the other times at D’Qar behind the bar.” “So what came first? Being behind the bar or playing on stage?” You inquire. “Behind the bar. It’s how Finn and I met. During one of my breaks I was sat playing my guitar, trying to figure out the next part of a song I was writing. The manager said I played well and wanted to know if I wanted to play to a crowd, earn a bit of extra money. And thats how I ended up on stage every week.” Poe explained. “Wow. Lucky break.” You replied. “I’m hoping for another one soon. I’ve been trying to find a record label to take me on. No such luck so far.” He shrugged. “Well I’m sure someone will very soon. D’Qar will be needing more tables soon with how many people you’re bringing in.” You encouraged.

You stood beside Poe as Ryan and David began giving a speech to those who’d come to the party. A beaming smile burst out onto your face as they discussed how they first met and how everything since had been a dream come true. A round of applause filled the room as they finished speaking. “Love huh? It certainly is something.” You commented. “So you’re not currently with someone?” Poe wondered curiously. You chuckled softly. “There aren’t many men out there that aren’t complete bastards.” You answered. “There are a few that are decent.” Poe shrugged gently as he took a sip of his drink. “What are you-“ “Right, my turn.” Poe interrupted, a grin on his face as his removed his guitar from its case. Poe grasped one of the bar stools in the kitchen and carried it into the middle of the living room. “Hey everyone,” Poe gained everyone’s attention. “Thought I’d play a little something to celebrate these two deciding they’re going to get hitched.” Poe began to tune his guitar and strummed it a couple times, humming a slight tune to make sure it was sounding how he needed it. “Right, so I’m going to start with a song or two that you should all know,” Poe smiled, playing a quick tune before continuing. “Then I’ve written something specially for these two.” Poe gestured to David and Ryan. You smiled softly as Poe began to play. At first you struggled to place the song, though the moment he started to sing, you knew it immediately. A beautiful rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’. Each time he sung, his voice still took you by surprise, it had such a beautiful timbre. You sipped your drink as you listened to him play, mouthing the lyrics. As he finished the song, the room burst into applause, Poe looked over to you, you gave him a nod and a bright smile in encouragement, though it wasn’t like he needed it. As he started the next song, you leaned against the counter and poured yourself another drink. You were more than content to listen to Poe play, it created a feeling inside you that was almost like all your troubles were melting away. A soft look entered your eyes as Poe finished on his own song. The words were elegant, speaking of first meetings and first touches, first kisses and first nights spent together. Of memories made together and memories yet to come. Of growing old together but still keeping that love from that first meeting. The applause as he finished was much louder than when he had first started playing. He thanked everyone and returned to your side, replacing the guitar in his case. “That was really something Poe. You have to play that next week, everyone at D’Qar will love it!” You enthused excitedly. “You think so?” “Of course! Did you hear everyone’s reaction to that? You play something like that and you’re bound to find a record label any day!” You beamed. Poe and you stood in the kitchen for a time, drinking and chatting contently. “Damn, I gotta go!” Poe cried out as he spotted the time. “Oh? So soon?” You asked, slightly disappointed. “Sorry, Finn ended up calling in sick so they’ve asked me to cover his shift.” He explained. “I’ll walk you out.” You told him, draining your glass. As Poe reached the door, pulling his coat around him and pulling the lapels up around his neck and face you suddenly remembered the scarf. “Oh here! I forgot to give this back to you the other day. It’s damn cold out there tonight.” You reached for Poe’s scarf which you had stored in your jacket pocket then wrapped it around his neck. “Oh thanks! I was wondering where this went!” Poe smiled down at you. “You leaving already?” David called from across the room. “Got to pull an extra shift. Thanks for inviting me to the party though!” Poe called back. “I’ll see you next week.” Poe told you as he opened the apartment door and began to walk out. “Can’t wait.” “Stay safe till then,” Poe leaned down and pressed his lips to your cheek. “See you at D’Qar.” “You too…” You replied quietly. Poe gave a quick wave before disappearing out of sight. Your fingers came up to brush against where his lips had pressed against your skin. A smile made its way onto your face, a blush scattering across your cheeks. With a shake of your head, you closed the door and returned to the party.

[amyyheaton]

Stage 3. Discover and Research

For this stage we were told to research the context behind mark making through different time periods, such as; Neolithic, Aboriginal, Hieroglyphics, Tribal Art, Parietal Art and Cuneiform. 

What is the history of marks, signs and symbols as a visual language?

Neolithic art’s visual language consists of mostly of thick, black, lines of different angles and lengths. The Neolithic symbols aren't as easy to understand as it’s mostly seen as mark making. 

Aboriginal symbols are easier to read as they’re symbolic and easier to understand to what they stand for, they have a range of thick and thin black lines so it’s easier to tell apart from different symbols which also shows more depth.

Hieroglyphics are the most well known type of symbols due to their uniqueness as they based their symbols off of Religion and real life. Their Pictographic's were used as their writing system with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters. In their visual language they have range of thick, thin, straight, cursive lines and tend to use colours such as red, blue, white and gold.

Tribal art originated from Africa and has created this really beautiful ethnic ancient style, Tribal art is very colourful and used a wide variation of patterns such as; dots, lines, zig zags, and much more. Parietal art, also know as “cave art”, is the earliest type of art known, it’s found within the walls and ceilings of caves, the marks and drawings are used with the colours Red and Black as it was limited with colours they could use, the lines created are quite thin however there are some areas that appear to be drawn over to make thicker which gives off this real rough texture.

Lastly Cuneiform was one of the earliest systems of writing, invented by Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia. Their way of communicating consisted of a lot of shapes and mark making of lines which really showed its simplicity. 

What are the characteristics of these marks, signs and symbols and what are the differences between them?

Each of these time periods originate from different countries around the world and its styles have impacted from it. Hieroglyphics are very well established, each symbol is straight and neat but also varies from symbols of animals, objects and marks. They also use a lot of colours like Tribal art however, Tribal art varies over images, patterns, sculptures, masks, etc, rather than just as a flat wall art. Aboriginal Art has a lot of abstract art within its style but creates this unique, ancient type of artwork that is very clever and original. 

Who or what could I research next? Eg; once you have established your chosen time period, what artists/designers/photographers could you research that use marks, signs and symbols in their practice or have connections to your findings?

The next stage of this project I am going to research two artists called Bruno Munari who is artists that creates faces through a wide variety of mark making, and another artist called Keith Haring, he was famously known for his pop/graffiti-like work of people in a cartoon style. Both artists are both very different so this is a good opportunity to see what kind of style I prefer that I could potentially explore further.

What interests you about this research path and why?

I’m interested into finding new ways I can approach designs, the last time I used mark making into my designs was back in my first project ‘Iconography’. I haven't used mark making since as I was overly pleased with my final result so this will encourage me to explore and expand my ideas further. 

[airoasis]

"Luna Moth Love" Part 1 of 2 Green Gold Challenge ASMR Acrylic Painting Demo #GreenGoldChallenge

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/luna-moth-love-part-1-of-2-green-gold-challenge-asmr-acrylic-painting-demo-greengoldchallenge/

"Luna Moth Love" Part 1 of 2 Green Gold Challenge ASMR Acrylic Painting Demo #GreenGoldChallenge

Hello this is Dena Tollefson and welcome to my studio i’m so happy to have you ever here in these days if you are new to my channel thanks so much for joining and in the event you’ve been here earlier than welcome back i hope if you haven’t already you’ll ring that subscription bell so that you can recognize if i will be doing a live movement or will be importing a brand new video I do reside streams twice per week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 o’clock relevant time which is let’s have a look at that’s three o’clock GMT so this is the golf green gold undertaking and i hope that you are participating in the green gold undertaking I’ve acquired my green gold correct here and this portray goes to be a luna moth i’ll be using paint brushes I’ve received some residences and a few chisel blenders and a liner brush to sign my identify and that is all acrylic paint so I’ve blended up somewhat titanium white and a few inexperienced gold and now we are going to put this over onto the canvas so the green gold challenge is a enjoyable little assignment that I created and all of the persons who are collaborating and anyone can take part you just put the phrases green gold task into your title and upload your video onto your onto your channel and then the entire videos that i will to find that have the hashtag inexperienced gold assignment or have the words green gold undertaking in the title are going to go into a huge playlist and if you want more understanding about how you can participate i’ve a brief two-minute video on my channel that offers all of the small print of how to do that and for this video right here i am gonna this is my entry for the task and i proposal it will be relatively enjoyable to color the luna moth and i have received just a pencil simply did just a little graphite sketch one luna moth that’s in full flight and an additional little guy off to the facet here who’s just type of twisting and gliding and that’s whatever that’s very characteristic of the luna moth they’re most effective found in North the united states and after they fly they’ve these form of streamers that you see at the backside these long twisting streamers and when they’re flying they’ll twist their physique and twist these streamers so that they are able to confuse their major the foremost predator who is a bat so bats love to devour luna moths it seems that they are very tasty to them and so the luna moth has acquired some these little streamers that it uses to confuse the bat so it is not particularly certain which approach it can be flying and then the luna moth also has these form of neat there are two sets of almost like a false eye or something like a little eye shaped pattern and the luna moth is sometimes called the American Moon Moth so I concept it would be quality to place a moon in my painting just compositionally and then additionally to style of symbolize the title of the of the luna moth and luna referring of direction to the word moon or lunar and i’m just doing hanging a little titanium mild on that get the moon started so here is a little phthalo blue purple coloration and i inspiration I would get the get the sky began with that only a flat American Painter brush and we are going to just begin to dam at the hours of darkness inky sky so luna moths you really simplest see them lively at night time they’re nocturnal and the adult the adult on no account eats once it can be an adult it comes out of its cocoon so at butterflies have chrysalis is and moths have a cocoon so this little cocoon they when they may be little caterpillars they like to devour leaves from the birch timber and from walnut bushes another exceptional bushes and timber they usually they will go into their cocoon and then when they come out they simply reside for one week and so they don’t eat the entire time that they’re a a moth and in its grownup type they’re simply looking to find other moths to mate with and to proceed the lifestyles cycle and the physique of the moth is a type of a white fuzzy furry style of a factor and then they have got these amazing kind of simply shiny gentle limey gold green green gold kind of wings I feel they’re just rather lovely they may be also very tremendous they’re they are able to be as much as four and a half of inches throughout which is lovely significant from off so simply utilising the comb to take that colour and simply get it proper up alongside the edge there we go and i want the moth the smaller moth that i need it to show up in the distance more so and then have the focal point be extra the larger moth and i would like this smaller moth i am gonna paint him with some softer edges to make him believe like he’s receding and i am also gonna be eager about the moon and portray that with a tender part so that it also feels it can be find it irresistible’s more within the distance now this colour that you just see that’s been painted over the complete canvas as yellow ochre and that i tone all of my canvases good perhaps not a hundred percent the vast majority of my canvases I begin with a wash of yellow ochre if for some rationale i have a canvas I must have a white history or something like that but that’s lovely distinctive for me it can be most likely this heat yellow ochre and what that does is that removes the white and slightly bit something yellow ochre will peek through i’m simply utilising a filbert brush so that is a filbert has a smooth rounded facet on it it is obtained the roundness of a circular brush however it’s a flat if you view it from the aspect it can be flat and i am simply making these pleasant soft edges here for our luna moth that is off a bit distance just fine and easy variety of i am letting little bits of the underneath portray show by means of and i am working to get simply relatively gestural marks i would like this to not have i would like it to believe free and gestural so simply letting the paint do its factor come up correct here on the highest the top of the luna moth or the highest by means of wing there may be this fairly style of distinct burgundy color that we will be adding in somewhat even as now as i am working around the moon i’m letting a bits of the white go via and later we are going to come back with some brighter colors to get the feeling that the moon is reflecting light from the solar and it can be giving a appearing as a mild supply in the night time sky just sort of teasing that blue up along the sides of the moon get a bit extra blue there there we go my darken that up it is feeling a little of it inexperienced side with somewhat an excessive amount of of the yellow ochre is peeking via right here we go when i’m hoping that you all got a risk to take part in inexperienced gold venture and green gold is sort of a difficult colour to use and however yet it can be this kind of enjoyable and neat color so i am quite watching forward to seeing all of the distinct ways that each one of fellow youtuber artists are developing with i do know there’s going to be some performance art there’s gonna be paintings and colored pencil drawings and even someone’s going to be doing makeup so it will have to be a neat neat factor to peer the entire special ways that the color can be used so i’m simply scrubbing in somewhat bit I used a colour that I made with yellow ochre and black and white to have in the moon a little little bit of element let’s go in now with slightly bit of this everlasting alizarin crimson and begin to denote that this prime ridge on the highest of the body of the insect I’ve obtained this really best contrast between the green and then this strong daring color at the prime now I’ve received somewhat liner brush and a liner brush is fairly just a circular brush with lengthy bristles that’s meant for element work or I most often use it once I signal my name and these little eye patterns both at the prime of the body and the backside set of wings I suppose marvel if this is probably God made camouflage to spare that negative little luna moth so he can get faraway from from its predators however the bats need to consume whatever so probably when the luna moth is worn out and he’s had the end of his time then probably the luna might be the bat can have him as a snack however it’s variety of sad to think about that bad luna moth falling prey to the bat the myotis so i’m now not taking a what is this that is dioxazine purple and the highest of the eye marks have nearly like eyeliner or anything it’s like a darker bit and the middle’s have white so we are going to put a bit of little bit of this light colour in the center and then i’ll have got to blend these colours so they’re one of a kind methods you can combination of path which you could combination through robotically scrubbing a colour to both remove some of it or scrub it in and another method to blend can be so as to add a different color on prime so i will do type of a hybrid between the 2 i’m gonna do a little mechanical motion right here of the colour round after which add yet another color just to sort of soften that up so they are quite distinctive different approaches to make inexperienced gold I’ve received green gold correct out of the tube and i’m also mixing a green gold by using taking yellow and an extraordinarily tiny tiny quantity of black that can make style of a unusual variation just a little little bit of white right here on the body with pleasant little fluffy body and then the grey that you just see I just blended the gray making use of a little bit little bit of Mars black and a few white and a tiny quantity of yellow ochre to show the stomach or the backside of the luna i suppose it is the abdomen it is the bottom a part of the the torso of the insect i suppose I don’t know what the bottom little section is it can be a bit his little bottom but his little backside type of curves in in and down as he is flying so now I’ve bought only a yellow and i’m gonna just take yellow and restate some of these brighter areas on the insect over the preliminary out of the blue painted yellow ochre that are not yellow go that thinly painted green gold i am just coming again with a bit of little bit of yellow to brighten a few of these areas and now just a little bit of shadow so there’s the highest set of wings and the backside set and there is a bit of a gap between the two and i need to play that up by all I did was just use a darker variant so that might be green gold with a bit only a contact of black or person might use yellow after which and then black as a combo now i will go in and soften this edge by means of simply taking a smooth brush that used to be dipped into water smooth it off after which i will be able to form of unpolluted up the edge through simply scrubbing it out a bit of bit now if I acquired some paint where I didn’t wish it i will be able to always paint over the top so i have somewhat as can see just a little spot there on his physique the white physique i will go back and add just a little add a little touch of white to quilt that however I need to get the these of the moth has got style of fluffy furry however the wings themselves are form of soft and fluffy and furry so I need to sort of get that feeling after which the physique of the moth is very fluffy and furry so I need to get that feeling across via the paint and then one thing that’s fairly attribute between a moth and a butterfly is a butterfly has antennae which might be like somewhat stick with a bit of thing on the finish of little bulb at the finish and that you could always tell a moth from a butterfly when you consider that a moth will have form of a feathery watching the antennae will seem very feathery and and so that is that’s a giant colossal technique to simply tell them when you simply come throughout one and appear at it then that you could tell that means butterfly versus moth so I’ve got I used to used a liner brush to create that little feathery sort of outcomes I first put down a layer of yellow no longer yellow i suppose it was a cad orange medium or cad orange hue and then got here over the top with a bit bit more white plus the cad orange let’s take a little titanium white and our phthalo blue purple color and get that mixed up so the sky may be very dark by means of many of the portray and i love that contrast between the dark inky sky after which the moon but i’m looking to create a transitional area between this inky darkness and show the influence of the moon and the way the moon is interacting with the insects and the bugs are drawn to the moon so I wish to put certain attention on that here’s a exceptional clean dry round brush and i am taking a tiny quantity i’m gonna do a dry brushing technique right here i’m just taking an awfully time so this technique is called scumbling or dry brushing and once I’m doing this i’m simply hanging an awfully small amount of paint on the dry brush in order that brush is not wet at all first after which i will be able to put this paint simply sort of particularly brush it excessive and i will be able to both put it in and scrub it in or just calmly practice it here i’m gonna honestly scrub it in and i’m being careful to no longer put an excessive amount of paint on the brush for those of you who have ever finished stenciling you understand the outcome of that you’ll be able to take a gentle brush and put a very small quantity on striking relatively a little greater than what a person would use for stenciling nevertheless it’s the same style of concept where you you pounce it pounce they paint on after which here figuring out i am putting the phthalo blue red colour that we blended up just now and striking that on so first we have now a teal and then working outward from the moon now the phthalo blue red shade plus white so I wish to get this feeling of the teal is a warmer and lighter color and then figuring out and giving the feeling like the moon is brightening and lightening the sky however getting slightly bit of the colour up on to the insect that is k i will simply you understand put somewhat color over the top of that later i’m particularly more fascinated by getting getting excellent insurance policy and i would like some of the darkish colour to top by means of too so there is kind of an effect that you would be able to get with scumbling this dry brushing that’s distinctive than if the if the brush were at first wet a wet brush that I dipped into the paint is going to offer a entire distinctive mark than a fully dry brush with a spare amount of paint all proper so now an extra clean brush tiny tiny quantity of the teal i will be able to go back in and layer this now that it is dry return and layer that over and a further layer variety of enhance that teal color and fairly give a tender gentle part to the moon i’m going to be going back over with some titanium white in the other course there we go and simply making that tremendous tender so in my painting i am i am imagining that these two luna moths are going to have their love reunion or their love union up within the sky and they’ll be equipped to create more luna moths and that both of them will ward off the bat or if they’ll be a meal for the bat perhaps it’s right on their final day due to the fact they get a couple of week to live might be on the last day and the moth can have a meal but expectantly not too quickly so i am just going back over and restating some of these areas with thee permanent alizarin crimson and now signing my identify utilising cad orange hue and a liner brush well I need to thank every person for becoming a member of and i am hoping that you have had a fun time doing the green intention task and that you can make a version for yourself and end up part of this playlist and i am hoping to do it again this is 2019 i’m hoping to do it again in 2020 so so all people is welcome and and and i am hoping that you’ll participate so here is my finished painting and thanks so much for becoming a member of that is Dena Tollefson bye bye

[batterymonster2021]

"Luna Moth Love" Part 1 of 2 Green Gold Challenge ASMR Acrylic Painting Demo #GreenGoldChallenge

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/luna-moth-love-part-1-of-2-green-gold-challenge-asmr-acrylic-painting-demo-greengoldchallenge/

"Luna Moth Love" Part 1 of 2 Green Gold Challenge ASMR Acrylic Painting Demo #GreenGoldChallenge

Hello this is Dena Tollefson and welcome to my studio i’m so happy to have you ever here in these days if you are new to my channel thanks so much for joining and in the event you’ve been here earlier than welcome back i hope if you haven’t already you’ll ring that subscription bell so that you can recognize if i will be doing a live movement or will be importing a brand new video I do reside streams twice per week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 o’clock relevant time which is let’s have a look at that’s three o’clock GMT so this is the golf green gold undertaking and i hope that you are participating in the green gold undertaking I’ve acquired my green gold correct here and this portray goes to be a luna moth i’ll be using paint brushes I’ve received some residences and a few chisel blenders and a liner brush to sign my identify and that is all acrylic paint so I’ve blended up somewhat titanium white and a few inexperienced gold and now we are going to put this over onto the canvas so the green gold challenge is a enjoyable little assignment that I created and all of the persons who are collaborating and anyone can take part you just put the phrases green gold task into your title and upload your video onto your onto your channel and then the entire videos that i will to find that have the hashtag inexperienced gold assignment or have the words green gold undertaking in the title are going to go into a huge playlist and if you want more understanding about how you can participate i’ve a brief two-minute video on my channel that offers all of the small print of how to do that and for this video right here i am gonna this is my entry for the task and i proposal it will be relatively enjoyable to color the luna moth and i have received just a pencil simply did just a little graphite sketch one luna moth that’s in full flight and an additional little guy off to the facet here who’s just type of twisting and gliding and that’s whatever that’s very characteristic of the luna moth they’re most effective found in North the united states and after they fly they’ve these form of streamers that you see at the backside these long twisting streamers and when they’re flying they’ll twist their physique and twist these streamers so that they are able to confuse their major the foremost predator who is a bat so bats love to devour luna moths it seems that they are very tasty to them and so the luna moth has acquired some these little streamers that it uses to confuse the bat so it is not particularly certain which approach it can be flying and then the luna moth also has these form of neat there are two sets of almost like a false eye or something like a little eye shaped pattern and the luna moth is sometimes called the American Moon Moth so I concept it would be quality to place a moon in my painting just compositionally and then additionally to style of symbolize the title of the of the luna moth and luna referring of direction to the word moon or lunar and i’m just doing hanging a little titanium mild on that get the moon started so here is a little phthalo blue purple coloration and i inspiration I would get the get the sky began with that only a flat American Painter brush and we are going to just begin to dam at the hours of darkness inky sky so luna moths you really simplest see them lively at night time they’re nocturnal and the adult the adult on no account eats once it can be an adult it comes out of its cocoon so at butterflies have chrysalis is and moths have a cocoon so this little cocoon they when they may be little caterpillars they like to devour leaves from the birch timber and from walnut bushes another exceptional bushes and timber they usually they will go into their cocoon and then when they come out they simply reside for one week and so they don’t eat the entire time that they’re a a moth and in its grownup type they’re simply looking to find other moths to mate with and to proceed the lifestyles cycle and the physique of the moth is a type of a white fuzzy furry style of a factor and then they have got these amazing kind of simply shiny gentle limey gold green green gold kind of wings I feel they’re just rather lovely they may be also very tremendous they’re they are able to be as much as four and a half of inches throughout which is lovely significant from off so simply utilising the comb to take that colour and simply get it proper up alongside the edge there we go and i want the moth the smaller moth that i need it to show up in the distance more so and then have the focal point be extra the larger moth and i would like this smaller moth i am gonna paint him with some softer edges to make him believe like he’s receding and i am also gonna be eager about the moon and portray that with a tender part so that it also feels it can be find it irresistible’s more within the distance now this colour that you just see that’s been painted over the complete canvas as yellow ochre and that i tone all of my canvases good perhaps not a hundred percent the vast majority of my canvases I begin with a wash of yellow ochre if for some rationale i have a canvas I must have a white history or something like that but that’s lovely distinctive for me it can be most likely this heat yellow ochre and what that does is that removes the white and slightly bit something yellow ochre will peek through i’m simply utilising a filbert brush so that is a filbert has a smooth rounded facet on it it is obtained the roundness of a circular brush however it’s a flat if you view it from the aspect it can be flat and i am simply making these pleasant soft edges here for our luna moth that is off a bit distance just fine and easy variety of i am letting little bits of the underneath portray show by means of and i am working to get simply relatively gestural marks i would like this to not have i would like it to believe free and gestural so simply letting the paint do its factor come up correct here on the highest the top of the luna moth or the highest by means of wing there may be this fairly style of distinct burgundy color that we will be adding in somewhat even as now as i am working around the moon i’m letting a bits of the white go via and later we are going to come back with some brighter colors to get the feeling that the moon is reflecting light from the solar and it can be giving a appearing as a mild supply in the night time sky just sort of teasing that blue up along the sides of the moon get a bit extra blue there there we go my darken that up it is feeling a little of it inexperienced side with somewhat an excessive amount of of the yellow ochre is peeking via right here we go when i’m hoping that you all got a risk to take part in inexperienced gold venture and green gold is sort of a difficult colour to use and however yet it can be this kind of enjoyable and neat color so i am quite watching forward to seeing all of the distinct ways that each one of fellow youtuber artists are developing with i do know there’s going to be some performance art there’s gonna be paintings and colored pencil drawings and even someone’s going to be doing makeup so it will have to be a neat neat factor to peer the entire special ways that the color can be used so i’m simply scrubbing in somewhat bit I used a colour that I made with yellow ochre and black and white to have in the moon a little little bit of element let’s go in now with slightly bit of this everlasting alizarin crimson and begin to denote that this prime ridge on the highest of the body of the insect I’ve obtained this really best contrast between the green and then this strong daring color at the prime now I’ve received somewhat liner brush and a liner brush is fairly just a circular brush with lengthy bristles that’s meant for element work or I most often use it once I signal my name and these little eye patterns both at the prime of the body and the backside set of wings I suppose marvel if this is probably God made camouflage to spare that negative little luna moth so he can get faraway from from its predators however the bats need to consume whatever so probably when the luna moth is worn out and he’s had the end of his time then probably the luna might be the bat can have him as a snack however it’s variety of sad to think about that bad luna moth falling prey to the bat the myotis so i’m now not taking a what is this that is dioxazine purple and the highest of the eye marks have nearly like eyeliner or anything it’s like a darker bit and the middle’s have white so we are going to put a bit of little bit of this light colour in the center and then i’ll have got to blend these colours so they’re one of a kind methods you can combination of path which you could combination through robotically scrubbing a colour to both remove some of it or scrub it in and another method to blend can be so as to add a different color on prime so i will do type of a hybrid between the 2 i’m gonna do a little mechanical motion right here of the colour round after which add yet another color just to sort of soften that up so they are quite distinctive different approaches to make inexperienced gold I’ve received green gold correct out of the tube and i’m also mixing a green gold by using taking yellow and an extraordinarily tiny tiny quantity of black that can make style of a unusual variation just a little little bit of white right here on the body with pleasant little fluffy body and then the grey that you just see I just blended the gray making use of a little bit little bit of Mars black and a few white and a tiny quantity of yellow ochre to show the stomach or the backside of the luna i suppose it is the abdomen it is the bottom a part of the the torso of the insect i suppose I don’t know what the bottom little section is it can be a bit his little bottom but his little backside type of curves in in and down as he is flying so now I’ve bought only a yellow and i’m gonna just take yellow and restate some of these brighter areas on the insect over the preliminary out of the blue painted yellow ochre that are not yellow go that thinly painted green gold i am just coming again with a bit of little bit of yellow to brighten a few of these areas and now just a little bit of shadow so there’s the highest set of wings and the backside set and there is a bit of a gap between the two and i need to play that up by all I did was just use a darker variant so that might be green gold with a bit only a contact of black or person might use yellow after which and then black as a combo now i will go in and soften this edge by means of simply taking a smooth brush that used to be dipped into water smooth it off after which i will be able to form of unpolluted up the edge through simply scrubbing it out a bit of bit now if I acquired some paint where I didn’t wish it i will be able to always paint over the top so i have somewhat as can see just a little spot there on his physique the white physique i will go back and add just a little add a little touch of white to quilt that however I need to get the these of the moth has got style of fluffy furry however the wings themselves are form of soft and fluffy and furry so I need to sort of get that feeling after which the physique of the moth is very fluffy and furry so I need to get that feeling across via the paint and then one thing that’s fairly attribute between a moth and a butterfly is a butterfly has antennae which might be like somewhat stick with a bit of thing on the finish of little bulb at the finish and that you could always tell a moth from a butterfly when you consider that a moth will have form of a feathery watching the antennae will seem very feathery and and so that is that’s a giant colossal technique to simply tell them when you simply come throughout one and appear at it then that you could tell that means butterfly versus moth so I’ve got I used to used a liner brush to create that little feathery sort of outcomes I first put down a layer of yellow no longer yellow i suppose it was a cad orange medium or cad orange hue and then got here over the top with a bit bit more white plus the cad orange let’s take a little titanium white and our phthalo blue purple color and get that mixed up so the sky may be very dark by means of many of the portray and i love that contrast between the dark inky sky after which the moon but i’m looking to create a transitional area between this inky darkness and show the influence of the moon and the way the moon is interacting with the insects and the bugs are drawn to the moon so I wish to put certain attention on that here’s a exceptional clean dry round brush and i am taking a tiny quantity i’m gonna do a dry brushing technique right here i’m just taking an awfully time so this technique is called scumbling or dry brushing and once I’m doing this i’m simply hanging an awfully small amount of paint on the dry brush in order that brush is not wet at all first after which i will be able to put this paint simply sort of particularly brush it excessive and i will be able to both put it in and scrub it in or just calmly practice it here i’m gonna honestly scrub it in and i’m being careful to no longer put an excessive amount of paint on the brush for those of you who have ever finished stenciling you understand the outcome of that you’ll be able to take a gentle brush and put a very small quantity on striking relatively a little greater than what a person would use for stenciling nevertheless it’s the same style of concept where you you pounce it pounce they paint on after which here figuring out i am putting the phthalo blue red colour that we blended up just now and striking that on so first we have now a teal and then working outward from the moon now the phthalo blue red shade plus white so I wish to get this feeling of the teal is a warmer and lighter color and then figuring out and giving the feeling like the moon is brightening and lightening the sky however getting slightly bit of the colour up on to the insect that is k i will simply you understand put somewhat color over the top of that later i’m particularly more fascinated by getting getting excellent insurance policy and i would like some of the darkish colour to top by means of too so there is kind of an effect that you would be able to get with scumbling this dry brushing that’s distinctive than if the if the brush were at first wet a wet brush that I dipped into the paint is going to offer a entire distinctive mark than a fully dry brush with a spare amount of paint all proper so now an extra clean brush tiny tiny quantity of the teal i will be able to go back in and layer this now that it is dry return and layer that over and a further layer variety of enhance that teal color and fairly give a tender gentle part to the moon i’m going to be going back over with some titanium white in the other course there we go and simply making that tremendous tender so in my painting i am i am imagining that these two luna moths are going to have their love reunion or their love union up within the sky and they’ll be equipped to create more luna moths and that both of them will ward off the bat or if they’ll be a meal for the bat perhaps it’s right on their final day due to the fact they get a couple of week to live might be on the last day and the moth can have a meal but expectantly not too quickly so i am just going back over and restating some of these areas with thee permanent alizarin crimson and now signing my identify utilising cad orange hue and a liner brush well I need to thank every person for becoming a member of and i am hoping that you have had a fun time doing the green intention task and that you can make a version for yourself and end up part of this playlist and i am hoping to do it again this is 2019 i’m hoping to do it again in 2020 so so all people is welcome and and and i am hoping that you’ll participate so here is my finished painting and thanks so much for becoming a member of that is Dena Tollefson bye bye

[arastiia]

REALLY, REALLY LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY. RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  10  !  good  luck  !

TAGGED BY:@absolutiia & @mammaterasu (lemme luv u) TAGGING: (last few in my activity) @gloriatiia, @starrfated, @vcgabcnd, @aevyternal, @matoiii, @vindictiia, @wingedborn, @way-of-flowers, @tiiamate, @moralistiius​ & @drautcs.

BASICS.

FULL  NAME:  Satsuki Kiryuin. NICKNAME: Sats, sis, nee-san  (Ryuko); Satsuki-chan (Jakuzure) -- mostly post-KLK.  AGE: 18; turns 19 shortly after Ragyo’s death. BIRTHDAY: September 9th. ETHNIC  GROUP: Asian. NATIONALITY: Japanese. LANGUAGE / S: Japanese, English. SEXUAL  ORIENTATION: (prob.) asexual. ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION: biromantic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: complex. CLASS: High; the Kiryuins belong to the richest & wealthiest families ever known.  HOME TOWN / AREA: Honnouji; later on Kanagawa. CURRENT  HOME: Kiryuin Mansion. PROFESSION: Honnouji Academy Student Council President, Heiress to the Kiryuin Empire; new CEO of rebuilt REVOCs (post-KLK)

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: varies; black. Used to be extremely long (110 cm); short / shoulder-long (post-KLK) EYES: color varies, depending on incidence of light. Dark blue most part of the time, sometimes gray. Satsuki possesses narrow eyes which are framed by very distinct eyebrows. One of the few physical features she definitely shares with her mother. NOSE: Pointed.  FACE: angular, defined jaw & keen contours.  LIPS: rather thin. Perpetually frowning. COMPLEXION: Pale. Almost white when compared to her sister’s skin. BLEMISHES:  if examined close enough one will spot a petite patch of burnt skin on her back right between both shoulder blades (set on her spine). Hinting at the spot where life fibers made first contact during exerted experiments (in her youth). Mere ‘touch’ burnt the child’s skin, rendering her unfit  for further tests. Said piece of skin was later on cut open before both parents eventually realized that aforsaid life fibers could not make contact with her neural system (connection error). Satsuki’s right hallux nail has furthermore been replaced with a custom made steel implement.

SCARS: minor cut (almost bleached out/barely visible) right beneath her left cheekbone. Moreover three insection scars on left brachium, long cut / scar on right side of her neck (knife wound which she often covers with high collars / hair) -- post-KLK. TATTOOS: None. HEIGHT: 164 cm (172 cm with heels). WEIGHT: around 58 kg. BUILD: Slender in shape; defined muscle in arms, back & stomach. Long legs, broad hips + shoulders. FEATURES: sharp & stoic. ALLERGIES: None. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE: hair is kept extremely straight & tidy; both bangs & hair-ends cut in a perfectly horizontal manner. This changes as soon as she shortens her hair. Despite keeping her style 'neat’ still, it often stays more loose & a bit ‘wilder’. USUAL  FACE  LOOK: rather apathetic, devoid of emotion yet undeniably calm at the same time. Brows oft furrowed, eyes steely. USUAL  CLOTHING: various uniforms. Colors of choice are white & blue. Later perhaps even black -- Albeit having been a part of the fashion industry for quite some time already, Satsuki owns no sense for trends at all. This leads to her being prone to dress very formal; rather simple & plain. Items like long blouses & skirts are her favorites; she hardly will wear flat shoes & truly prefers heels (8cm) -- It is also known Satsuki sticks to more loose & unrevealing clothing when being able to choose. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S: Failure, losing those considered as family, being devoured by Junketsu & (post-KLK) becoming just like her mother. ASPIRATION / S: Killing Ragyo Kiryuin thus stopping her from gaining world domination; revenge for her dead father & baby sister (pre-episode 18) -- later on, protecting Ryuko & redemption become her driving force. After fulfilling this aim (thus losing her purpose), the rebuilding of REVOCs & the idea of helping those once hurt becomes the distraction she direly needs. POSITIVE  TRAITS: Ambition, sheer endless willpower, diligence, intellect, passion, rationality / ability to think out of the box, dedication & will to protect her ‘family’.  NEGATIVE  TRAITS: manipulator, can have an ill-temper when losing control, hardly shows any empathy, can be seen as taciturn, apathetic,cruel & cold. Lacks the will to open up, tends to isolate herself, arrogant. Cannot see herself being human (’an experiment’,etc). MBTI: INTJ. ZODIAC: Virgo. TEMPEREMENT: Choleric. SOUL  TYPE / S: Leader, Thinker. ANIMALS:  Owl. VICE  HABIT / S:  manipulating / torturing others & donning Junketsu thus wrecking own body in the process. FAITH: Satsuki considers herself an atheist. GHOSTS?: No. AFTERLIFE?: in a way,yes. REINCARNATION?: No. ALIENS?: obviously.  ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE: Satsuki owns a high position / plenty of wealth; she does,however prefer a rather humble & minimalistic life style. SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION: CEO; business woman. EDUCATION  LEVEL: basic school education + advanced education in several specific fields, excellent business skills.

FAMILY.

FATHER: Soichiro Kiryuin (deceased). MOTHER: Ragyo Kiryuin (deceased). SIBLINGS: Ryuko Matoi (alive). EXTENDED  FAMILY: Nui Harime (’artificial’ second sister.), Devas. NAME  MEANING / S:  To offer a more indepth analysis; the name Satsuki can be translated into ‘moon’; thus refering to most symbolic traits the moon possesses. White & blue are her main colors, water & air her main elements. She is an introvert; reserved & the calm force opposing her sister Ryuko (the sun). Satsuki can also (symbolically speaking) refer to the satsuki azalea: a certain type of bonzai which is famous for its beauty & sturdiness when groomed with enough finesse & dedication.

‘Kiryuin’ roughly means  "imperial house” (refering to her general family & the mere might it possesses) &  “empress, emperor". It is also important to note that the word ‘dragon’ can be found in there too (when analysing the kanji) -- given Satsuki’s role during KLK & the dragon symbolism found in both Junketsu’s activated form & the transformation scene itself, the meaning of said finding can be considered as rather self-explanatory.

HISTORICAL  CONNECTION?: n/A.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: heavy content appealing to her level of intellect. Prose / poetry & various rather philosophical works oft interest her too. It nonetheless depends on her mood. Classic drama / tragedy can be relaxing in her pov aswell. 5 SONGS: Classical music in general; Jakuzure’s  pieces are a blessing in her pov. DEITY: Athena. HOLIDAY: probably Christmas; Satsuki invests a lot of time & effort into preparing meals / gifts for Ryuko & her devas. She loves spending time with those she cherishes & surely takes a liking in the familiar atmosphere it entails. This only applies to post-KLK scenarios. Holidays hardly mattered to her while mother was still alive. MONTH: no specific one.  SEASON: Perhaps autumn. PLACE: despite liking to be among Ryuko & her devas in general, Satsuki oftentimes strives for isolation -- in this case own apartment appears to be the safest choice.  WEATHER: Rain soothes her.  SOUND: Clashing steel, falling rain, soft melody of a piano or quiet pieces of classical music played in the background; to name a few. Kiryuin does nonetheless cherish silence / a certain tranquility above most other things. SCENT / S: brewed tea. old books, freshly washed/ironed clothing, to name a few. TASTE / S: Anything bitter. FEEL / S: nothing specific. Then again Satsuki surely favors the feeling of being in total control & undeniable security. Gentleness is high on her list too for several reasons. ANIMAL / S: majestic creatures with highly symbolic value. She bases her favorites on certain situations or rational choice / value more often than not. NUMBER: no specific one. COLOURS: several shades of blue.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: great leader/motivator, extraordinarily good at rhetoric, manipulation, master in swordmanship / dual swordmanship, several martial arts, master of self-control, good listener/advisor, quick learner, etc. BAD  AT: acknowledging/dealing with own trauma, keeping (platonic) relationships alive, opening up / talking about herself, being ‘human’, coping (post-KLK), sarcasm & humor, picking the right clothes. TURN  ONS: she would rather avoid thinking about something like that at the moment.  TURN  OFFS: ^^^^ HOBBIES: reading & several other rather artistic occupations, sparring (kendo,etc), simply enjoying a cup of tea. She does not frequent hobbies as such given her occupation -- reading is thus perhaps the only activity she can uphold. Other than that she also enjoys being in her sister’s company / doing casual ‘stuff’ alongside Jakuzure.  AESTHETIC  TAGS: strategy, tea, Victorian Age, literature, books, conquer, katanas, control, poetry, classical music.

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: If  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own movie , what  would  it  be called, what  style  would  it  be filmed  in,  and  what  would  it  be  about ? — I would love to learn more about Satsuki’s childhood as such; about her life during these years, her education, the role she played in later years. How exactly did she conquer Honnouji, how did Ragyo’s & her interactions work out (not necessarily the ‘abuse part’ but more their dialogues, Ragyo’s influence on her earlier childhood,etc), how did the devas influence her life? How did she interact with them? How big was Jakuzure’s impact? How did they develop Honnouji Academy as such? -- to be honest there is a lot I wish to know. Perhaps also more about her mentality. About her redemption post-KLK, yada yada.

I have no specific name in mind but its title would probably be minimalistic. As for the style? I am not really thinking about a movie / documentation but more of a novel, I suppose.

Q2 : What  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like? — Heavy & militant pieces which feature a lot of power but also ‘softer’ piano compositions that are rather melancholic. Satsuki would def need some female singers in there too. Maybe also tracks featuring the ‘Aurora’ or ‘Cry no More’ vibe. Songs that seem to start rather atypically but evolve into VERY powerful songs carried by a certain celestical tune. It really depends on the context.The majority of her score would consist out of very strong songs with a bit of fragility / melancholy mixed in here & there. Q3: Why  did  you  start  writing  this  character? —  Satsuki is complex. A masterpiece in terms of character writing. She is certainly one of the richest characters I know & I love the amount of layers her character has. Writing her proves a challenge -- her dialogue is composed, every word often meaning much more than one might believe; also her psyche. Her drive. Her general story. I am simply drawn to antagonistic, manipulative heroes with surprisingly soft hearts & a terribly tragic backgroundstory who do awful things for the sake of serving a noble call. It gives me life TBH. Q4: What  first  attracted  you  to  this  character? — her power. & perhaps her design. The way she walked down the stairs in this undeniably majestic way? The way she held her first speech? I was sold.  Q5: Describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse. — her manipulative streak. How she treats her devas in the first half of the show. Even if I understand why she had to do this / why she performed the deeds she did; it hurts me everytime.  Q6: What  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse? — we are both manipulators. We are both hella introvert & driven. I cut my hair short kinda like Satsuki did too; I lowkey love running around in heels all day aswell. Other than that? Not that much.  Q7: How  does  your  muse  feel  about  you? — hmmm. I am positive that she likes me.  Q8: What  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with? — A lot of characters actually. I love seeing her interact with her devas (Jakuzure, Sanageyama, Gamagori & Inumuta) & ofc also Ryuko. My plots with Ragyo are very painful but feature an unique dynamic that truly strikes me. Then again, I usually only write with roleplayers whom muses could be considered as interesting to interact with.  Q9 : What  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse? — To be frank, I rarely really need inspiration? I sometimes rely on my experience drawn from similar characters which I wrote before (Kuvira most part of the time.) but other than that? Music, I guess. -- I also gain most of my motivation from writing down potential hc topics & discussing them with the squad. Q10: How  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete? — Sorta long. I rambled a lot + rewrote stuff around a thousand times tbh.