#once i give them proper refs i WILL be doing comparisons

[genesisrecord]

romeo and julien except i never draw julien part 1

[fainthedcherry]

2024 Human Art VS 2019 Human Art !!!!!

AS PROMISED, HERE'S A POST WITH SOME NEW ART!!!

And also an art comparison, just to see, how much I improved in drawing the 2 bois <3

I'm MEGA tired despite having slept after work, but I WON'T let that deter me from writing a description!! YAPNADO AHEAD;

FINN AND MARCOOO. FINNANMARCO. BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE ACOUSTICALLY AND FERALLY YELLED ABOUT MY 2 FICTIONAL MEN WHOM ARE CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I'm SO glad, that in the new drawing, Marco finally looks like the twink he always was, but still enough meat on the bones to look NORMAL lmao, can't say that about the 4 other sketches of me trying to redraw this ref for years. xD (why yes, his wings took forever, why do you ask? /lh)

I'M MEGA SUPER DUPER GLAD, that Finn FINALLY looks like a chubby, wild bastard TOO, OH TOOTHPASTE MAN, HOW MANY HEARTACHES YOU GAVE ME OVER STRUGGLING TO DRAW AN ENDOMORPHIC BODY TYPE. BUT I CAN NOWWWWWWWwwww!!!!!

God this habit of loudly reading out my posts as I type them made me realise what a bad Schwarzenegger impression I do on accident bc I'm overly excited to post something after a month of silence SDKFSKLDG

ONE THING I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO. IS PUT EVERY DETAIL I NEEDED ON A BIG REF. SO I DID! I've drawn closeups of the boys's eyes, I've drawn Finn's tongue so that I don't need to constantly remind myself what his blush and flesh colours were sdfkldsgkl, I FINALLY denoted their heights, so people know that they're tall TALL dudes (and that Finn obviously will struggle w/ his lanky mfing legs, we LOVE giving a middle-aged man heart attacks once he reaches his 40's!!!)

ANNDDD ALSO SOME SIDE VIEWS OF THEM. The last side-view I had of F & M, looked REAL bad. Like, Marco's face looked WAY too stereotypically European (to my fault bc surprise surprise not many African people live in Europe so I had poor frame of reference but I've been fixing it via looking up images online instead, at least it helps but yeah, I have a hard time so far unfortunately💀), Finn's was just... B u c k e t. NOT LIKE HANDSOME BUCKET. BUT JUST BUCKET. IT NEEDED FIXING (fun fact I accidentally made Finn have the most attractive jaw shape for men according to beauty standards and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I JUST WANTED THIS MAN TO LOOK S Q U A R E AND THAT'S IT, MINECRAFT STEVE HAS MORE RIZZ THAN MOST MEN OFFICIALLY).

OH YEAH ALSO A CLAW REF AGAIN FOR FINN!!! His old ref looks too cool for me to give up on it tbh even as dated as it is sfjklsdglk, BUT I felt like I needed to redraw them properly.

FUNNILY ENOUGH A PERSON I COMMISSIONED SAID I HAVE SOME REALLY CLEAN AND NICE LINEART. I wish I heard that 5 years ago when I was really insecure about my bad lineart skills xD, I don't use lineart anymore nowadays outside of reference-drawings like these I don't plan to redraw in the next years unless necessary soooo yeah! They're gonna appear much rarer unless I go off and about making more ref sheets of all of my Sonc OC's sfklsdgsdfksdg

This drawing took 5 days to make btw. Not the hours spent on this LOL. 5 days of my life I'll never get back tho bc I care too much about my babies and I feel they deserve proper refs sdfklsdglk

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I MENTION.....HOPEFULLY I PLAN TO DRAW MORE HUMAN REFS IN THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF STAY IN MY COMFORT ZONE OF SONIC OCS ONLY. I for years wasn't confident in my ability to draw humans, but I can do so NOW at least!!!!!!!!!! Even if I'm like...3 years too late to how I wish my art looked back then already dsklfdsg, I have some high standards I need to continue to knock down as my 2024 resolution sdfklsdg

^IT'S BEEN WORKING THOUGH AS YOU CAN TELL BC I'VE BEEN UPLOADING SOME BAD DOODLES AND SKETCHES, BEEN DRAWING MORE GARBAGE AND BECAME MORE INVOLVED IN MY BELOVED FANDOMS. I wanna continue doing so! It was the most fun I've had with art ever. I hope to properly meet more fandoms I left in the past bc I thought it'd be embarrassing to share my passion for a franchise back then. I EMBRACE THE CRINGE NOW AS AN ADULT AT LEAST EVEN IF 7 YEARS TOO LATE ON THAT FRONT TOO. We all age and mature ig but I just become more silly year by year,,, c:

Oh yeah if you also see this btw lemme know, whether the new watermark tiles are subtle enough to not be noticed!!!! I know, watermarks are annoying and nobody likes them, but ever since AI invasions, I REFUSE to put my work online without ANY form of proof that somebody took it from my page. I just want people to stop lying on the internet for cloud and pick up a pencil. It's not that hard smfh. The only time I could excuse AI art is w/ amputees man. That's the only time I could empathise with someone, who wants to be an artist but LITERALLY can't bc they got dealt a bad hand in life. I digress my AI hate can be rambled about some other day, I know I love yapping and writing essays about THAT topic for sure sfklsdklg

I chose to post this ref to my Tumblr first tho, bc I still wanna work on my drawing of Abbacchio,,,, he is quite dear to me and I'd love to put effort into a doodle of him that won't take too long. Like 4 hours or 5 hours tops. I still have yet to figure out, if his cute star shape on his head is a hat or part of his hair. Bc I CAN'T TELL TBH AND I'VE BEEN DRAWING IT AS PART OF HIS HAIR PATTERN BUT I THINK IT'S A HAT NOW EVER SINCE I LOOKED AT MORE ASBR CAPS OF HIM I TOOK FOR REFERENCES. xD

Also another side-note, but I've ofc reduced down the lankiness of the dudes I draw™, but I in result wanted to sliiightly make larger feet/hands bc my Sonic phase will continue to possess me 'til the end of time /hj, if you also wanna lemme know what you think on that, bls do! I am messing about with stylization still. I am finding my footing with stylizing humans sOOO yeah!!!! I hope to some day be satisfied with my artstyle change of '24! So far it's been really rewarding and eye-opening to me and my journey as an artist for my 7 years of existing on the 'net w/ my silly goobers I like to scream about to in the void <3

Once again, tagnado also incoming below bc I dunno how to properly tag my art so lemme throw in things I THINK are relevant to this post sdkldsgkl

See you hopefully tomorrow w/ a lil doodle dump if I get around to it!!!! : D

[thecreaturecodex]

Dream Lord, Grimm

“Troupe Master Grimm” © Caio Santos, accessed at their ArtStation here

[Commissioned by @arachcobra​, who wanted dream demigods for the Dimension of Dreams. Since that’s a weird demiplane with relatively little information, I figured that it should be in the CR 21-25 range (and that the thematically similar Eldest of the First World are probably between CR 26 and 30). Hollow Night is, yet again, a game I am loosely familiar with but haven’t played. I did immediately fall in love with this character; theatrical goths are 100% my jam [see Gengar, my favorite Pokemon]. The main character is a tiny bug, right? So Grimm, who is enormous in comparison with him, is probably supposed to be about man-sized. But I wanted to have that scale difference if you’re having him fight your adventurers.]

Dream Lord, Grimm CR 23 CN Outsider (extraplanar) This spindly giant stands four times the height of a man, with thin clawed limbs concealed beneath a shadowy cloak. His head is a white mask shaped like a heart set in a sea of black, with red eyes and a vertical stripe through each. He moves with effortless grace despite his great size.

Dream Lord, Grimm Troupe Lord, The Nightmare King CN male dream lord of fire, rebirth and theater Domains Chaos, Fire, Healing, Luck Subdomains Fate, Resurrection, Revelry, Whimsy Favored Weapon lance Holy Symbol a heart-shaped mask with red eyes and a vertical black stripe through each eye Worshipers bards, destined sorcerers, performers, pyromancers Minions animate dreams, chaotic phoenixes, fire elementals Obedience Give a performance lasting at least one hour to an audience of at least one individual. This performance must incorporate a live flame into the act in some way. Gain a +4 sacred bonus to saves against fire effects Boons 1: levitate 2/day; 2: dimension door 2/day; 3: delayed blast fireball 2/day

Grimm is a dream lord, but is rarely found in the depths of the Dimension of Dreams. He is a vagabond and traveling entertainer, who moves from plane to plane with his troupe of fiery acrobats, clowns, dancers and thespians. In addition to the staged dramas his troupe performs, he often tasks heroes on these journeys with great quests to fulfill his love of real drama. These quests often involve journeys to perilous locations, nurturing a strange dream being, and culminate by facing him in battle. If the drama is successful, he is slain and reborn, demonstrating the cyclical nature of fate and the universe, before departing for new environs.

Grimm’s need to be faced in mortal combat is a compulsion that even he cannot fully explain, and it seems as though Grimm may be beholden to some power greater than he. Grimm is a dedicated combatant and fights to win. He has a sense of sportsmanship and theatricality, and creatures that do not respect his theatrical gestures (like beginning and ending combat with a bow) earn his disdain. Grimm typically opens combat by summoning flying fire elementals and focusing his attacks on enemies that are resistant or immune to fire. Grimm’s cape has a mind of its own and can twist into numerous shapes, such as a stinger to jab at foes, a drill when Grimm charges through enemies or a spiked ball to defend the Nightmare King when he uses his spell-like abilities.

Grimm’s personality is typically charming and smooth. He is soft spoken and careful with his words, and is happy to explain the nature of his fate to others, as long as they play their proper part in the revels. He is fond of bats, and incorporates many bat-like mannerisms into his behavior—resting while hanging upside down is a particular favorite. He is fond of artists, dreamers and performers of all stripes, and may bestow them with his divine favor as a patron.

Grimm stands about twenty feet tall, but is lean and light for his height.

Grimm   CR 23 XP 820,000 CN Huge outsider (chaotic, extraplanar) Init +12; Senses arcane sight, darkvision 60 ft., Perception +35, thoughtsense 60 ft. Defense AC 42, touch 30, flat-footed 30 (-2 size, +12 Dex, +10 deflection, +12 natural) hp 429 (26d10+286) Fort +19, Ref +27, Will +23 DR 20/lawful; Immune charm, compulsion, disease, fire, poison, sleep effects; Resist acid 20, electricity 20; SR 34 Defensive Abilities revivification, shield of dreams, spiny configuration Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect) Melee 2 claws +36 (4d6+10 plus 4d6 fire), sting +36 (2d6+10 plus stagger) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks drill rush (6d6+15, DC 33), impaling field Spell-like Abilities CL 23rd, concentration +33 Constant—arcane sight, tongues At will—delayed blast fireball (DC 26), dimension door, dream, dream scan (DC 26), greater dispel magic, haste, nightmare (DC 25) 3/day—quickened fire shield, empowered fire storm (DC 28), irresistible dance (DC 28), mislead (DC 26), moment of prescience 1/day—dream voyage, gate (travel only, DC 29), mass charm monster (DC 28), meteor swarm (DC 29), summon firebats, true resurrection Statistics Str 30, Dex 35, Con 32, Int 29, Wis 26, Cha 30 Base Atk +26; CMB +38; CMD 71 Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dimensional Agility, Dimensional Assault, Dimensional Dervish, Dimensional Savant, Dodge, Empower SLA (fire storm), Lucid Dreamer (B), Mobility, Quicken SLA (fire shield), Power Attack, Step Up, Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +39, Bluff +37, Diplomacy +37, Fly +40, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (arcana, local, religion) +33, Knowledge (planes) +36, Perception +35, Perform (dance, drama) +27, Sense Motive +35, Spellcraft +33, Stealth +39, Use Magic Device +34 Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Sylvan, tongues SQ dream lord traits, occult Ecology Environment any (Dimension of Dreams) Organization solitary or troupe (1 plus 2-20 animate dreams, phoenixes and fire elementals) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Dream Lord Traits (Ex/Su) Grimm is a dream lord, a powerful outsider native to the Dimension of Dreams. Dream lords gain the following abilities:

Immune to charm, compulsion, disease, poison and sleep effects

Immune to one energy type and resistance to another two energy types

A dream lord’s natural weapons, and any weapon it wields, count as chaotic and magical for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction

Occult (Ex) A dream lord gains Lucid Dreamer as a bonus feat, and     can use occult skill unlocks even if it lacks other psychic magic

Shield of Dreams (Su) A dream lord adds its Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to its AC and CMD

Summon (Sp) Once per day, a dream lord can summon thematically     appropriate monsters as a standard action. These creatures remain until dismissed or for 1 hour. A dream lord cannot summon a monster or monsters of greater than a CR 19

Dream lords can grant spells to worshipers as detailed in their divine information. A worshiper can gain boons from performing an obedience to a dream lord, as per the Deific Obedience feat, but the boons granted are simple, appearing as a 2nd, 4th and 6th level spell usable as a spell-like ability twice per day.

Drill Rush (Ex) This ability functions as the trample special attack, except that Grimm deals piercing damage with this attack and can use it on creatures of his size or smaller. The save DC is Strength based. Impaling Field (Su) As a full round action, Grimm may create multiple copies of his cape and force them to grow from the ground. He may make a single sting attack against all opponents in a 40 foot radius. Grimm may only use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. Revivify (Su) The first time in a year that Grimm is slain, he immediately returns to life and full health 1d4 rounds later. If slain for a second time that year, he is reformed in the Dimension of Dreams over the course of a century, and cannot enter the plane he was slain in for another millennium. If Grimm is slain in the area of a dimension lock spell or forbiddance keyed to chaotic neutral creatures, he cannot revivify, but returns to life in the Dimension of Dreams as above. Permanently slaying Grimm is a feat subject to GM discretion, but should involve a great quest, an artifact, or mythic power. Spiny Configuration (Ex) As a move action, Grimm can invert his cape and point it outward in a shield of spines. He may not make melee attacks in this configuration, but creatures striking him with melee weapons, touch attacks, natural weapons or unarmed strikes take 1d8+12 points of piercing damage on each hit. Melee weapons with reach do not endanger their wielders in this way. Grimm can revert his cape as another move action. Stagger (Ex) A creature struck by Grimm’s sting attack must succeed a DC 33 Fortitude save or be staggered for 1d3 rounds. The save DC is Strength based. Summon Firebats (Sp) As a standard action, Grimm can summon 4 fiery bats. These are treated as elder fire elementals with a fly speed equal to their land speed (perfect maneuverability).

[chibimuiwritesstuff]

MMA Fighters HuaLian - Meeting

Right. I’m just going to post this. The backstory to the Hualian MMA AU idea I thought up of how they initially met. This is not edited btw, so apologies for any errors.

----

They meet in a match.

Xie Lian has met many people in matches before, he is one of the best MMA fighters out there after all, so usually he doesn’t remember most of his opponents—but he remembers this one. He remembers him because he is tall (not an issue), lanky (he’s experienced enough to know skinniness doesn’t mean lack of strength), has an eyepatch covering his right eye (a handicap?) and is absolutely, ridiculously, unfairly, gorgeous.

The referee counts to three, the whistle blows, and Xie Lian tenses and is surprised when the other man barely moves a muscle. Just looks at him, expression unreadable. There’s an intensity to his gaze, but it’s not the usual look of a fellow fighter preparing to attack, it’s… it’s something else. It unsettles Xie Lian for a moment, makes his heart beat just a bit faster, but, well, if his opponent will not make the first move then that’s their mistake.

A rookie perhaps?

He launches forward and feels his heart sing when the man not only catches his blow, but dodges to the side in a way that looks effortless, but Xie Lian knows speaks of unbridled skill. Not a rookie then.

Not a rookie at all in fact.

The match is one of the toughest Xie Lian has had in ages. The other man is incredibly defensive and catches Xie Lian’s punches, kicks and feints blow for blow, although rarely making an effort to strike out himself. It’s mildly frustrating, somewhat confusing, and incredibly invigorating. It’s fun. It’s a joy Xie Lian hasn’t truly felt in a fight in ages. He dances around and is somewhat glad for the mask he wears so no one can see the ridiculously large smile he can feel stretching across his face. This is why he loves martial arts. This is why he loves fighting. So that he can dance with people like the man in front of him.

He’s almost sad when he finally manages to pin the other man on the ground for a count of three, and the referee blows the whistle again.

‘Winner, give it up for The Crown Prince!’

The referee holds his hand up, but Xie Lian can’t take his eyes off his opponent, who by this point is already sitting up and also looking back at Xie Lian as well. He looks unphased, unruffled. He does not look like a man who has just lost a fight. In fact, the small smile on his face somehow makes it seem like he was the winner of this match somehow.

His is registered under the fighter name ‘Crimson Rain Sought Flowers’. The people in the mixed martial arts underground call him Hua Cheng.  

Xie Lian remembers him and looks forward to the day he might be able to fight him again.

-

It takes another year before Xie Lian is able to meet Hua Cheng again—and it’s not for lack of trying. After their one match he had tried to seek him out, find out more information about this mysterious opponent who had stepped into the ring and fought with Xie Lian like he had just decided to do it on a whim, but there was nothing. There had been no previous fight records, and no fights he had signed up for afterwards. It was truly as if he had just appeared to fight Xie Lian and then left.

Mu Qing had commented dryly that maybe he had scared the other man off, as he did to so many other earnest newcomers, but Xie Lian didn’t see how that was possible. Hua Cheng had not been a rookie fighter, and Feng Xin had agreed on this as well. But, whatever the reason—Hua Cheng had never reappeared until now.

Once again Hua Cheng stands before him looking deceptively relaxed. If Xie Lian were anyone else he might have felt insulted. After all, he had won their last fight—Hua Cheng should look at least somewhat wary. But he doesn’t. Instead something about his expression makes Xie Lian feel like he’s just as excited for this match as Xie Lian is himself. Xie Lian smiles under his mark, forgetting for a moment that Hua Cheng can’t see his face. It’s nice, to face an opponent who not only isn’t intimidated by him, but appears just as excited and actually has the skill to back up their own air of confidence.

Xie Lian’s heart skips a beat as he catches Hua Cheng’s single eye and can’t help but shiver in anticipation of the match to come.  

The whistle blows, and this time Xie Lian waits. He wants to see what Hua Cheng will do, but Hua Cheng does nothing. In fact, the both of them stand still for so long, the audience begins boo-ing and Xie Lian’s mounting excitement begins to curl into confusion, and then into frustration.

Hua Cheng merely raises an eyebrow, “What is gege waiting for?” he drawls, smirking.

“I could ask you the same question.” Xie Lian replies.

Hua Cheng nods his head, as if he’s considering Xie Lian’s words very seriously, “Hm… that’s true.” And then he launches himself forward.

Xie Lian had been prepared, this is what he had wanted after all, but it shows just how skilled Hua Cheng is that for a second Xie Lian can’t track his movements at all and he is hit with a spike of surprise. It is only through muscle memory, born from hours and hours of training, that allows Xie Lian to effectively dodge Hua Cheng’s fist, following immediately with a counterattack of his own, which Hua Cheng also effortlessly dodges in return.

They continue like this for a few bouts, and it’s similar enough to their last match that it causes Xie Lian to pause. Despite Hua Cheng opening with the first strike, they’ve somehow fallen into a pattern where Xie Lian is on the offensive and Hua Cheng only defends and it’s… it’s frustrating. Xie Lian has never really cared about the actual competition itself, he simply joined matches for the sake of being able to fight others who were just as crazy about fighting as him, and so now he just feels incredibly put-out that it seems like Hua Cheng isn’t taking things seriously.

He stills, pulls out of his last punch and as expected, Hua Cheng jerks his arm back at the last second as well instead of taking the obvious opening to his advantage. Once again, they’re just two opponents, standing in the cage, staring at each other but neither of them moving. Neither of them have even taken a stance—standing almost casually, albeit somewhat alert. The crowd has also noticed the pattern of the fight, and some bystanders have begun jeering at Hua Cheng specifically.

“Come on! Put up a proper fight or just get out!”

“Don’t waste His Highness’ time!”

Both of them stand and listen to the calls of the crowd and while Xie Lian usually doesn’t like to encourage this sort of heckling, he can’t help but cock his head to the side and ask, “Well, are you going to take this seriously?” because what other conclusion is there to draw from this bout? It’s obvious that Hua Cheng doesn’t want to beat Xie Lian at all, doesn’t even really want to fight him at all. It doesn’t make sense and it makes Xie Lian wonder why he’s even here.

Hua Cheng simply smirks at him, but his posture doesn’t change. “What makes you think I’m not taking this seriously, dianxia?”

“You’re not even trying to go on the offensive. Any other person would have felt insulted by now.” Xie Lian replies.

“Well, it’s good that you’re not any other person then isn’t it?”

His voice is low and velvety smooth and it makes Xie Lian feel warm for reasons besides physical exertion. “Perhaps, but I also refuse to continue a match with someone who clearly doesn’t want to engage.”

He turns to the referee who also looks like he’s one second away from giving both of them warnings and it’s this that finally seems to pull a genuine reaction out of Hua Cheng.

“Wait--!”

Xie Lian turns and cock his head to the side again in question, since Hua Cheng can’t see his face.

“You’ve got me gege, this newcomer didn’t mean to offend. I was simply excited at being able to spar with you again and wanted to do anything to extend the time as much as possible.”

Xie Lian lets out a huff of air, feeling somewhat affronted.

“And what makes you think going on the offensive would have made the time shorter? Either you think too highly of yourself, or you are severely underestimating me.”

Hua Cheng shakes his head vehemently, “No, I can assure you I would never!”

Xie Lian signals to the ref to stand down and that he will handle things before turning back to face Hua Cheng properly once more, “Then, are you going to fight me properly?”

Hua Cheng nods.

They both return to the center of the cage and take up positions, eyeing each other warily. Since no time outs were taken, there will be no whistle to signal a new start—it is simply up to one of them to make a move.

The fight that follows leaves everyone breathless.

It is Hua Cheng that makes the first move, and when he does it is clear that he had been holding back. His attacks are quick, aggressive, and absolutely wild, but what is perhaps even more wild is how composed Xie Lian managed to remain in comparison. The only sign that he may have been struggling lay in the fact that despite the sharpness of his own moves, equally quick and unforgiving, he still had not won.

Attack are blocked, grabs and holds are escaped from and used to lead into secondary attacks, throws that would have had most fighters winded on the ground ended with miraculous recoveries with both parties somehow still on their feet. Even when the fight had devolved into wrestling, as Xie Lian struggled to pin Hua Cheng down for three counts, it was hard to see who was at an advantage—but eventually, a winner was decided.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm, a whistle was blown and as for the fighters themselves…

Xie Lian flinches when the referee grabs his wrist, having nearly forgotten where he is and what he has been doing. He had been too immersed in the fight. Too immersed in Hua Cheng. He hears nothing but the blood that is still roaring in his ears, continues to feel nothing but the soft panting of Hua Cheng’s breath on his skin as they had rolled on the ground, and sees nothing but Hua Cheng’s eyes as the other man continued to stare at him from his position on the ground—gaze dark and dangerous.

Then he blinks and he is back in the cage, his arm being held up, the crowd cheering. Hua Cheng stands and dusts himself off, calm and cool as ever, although even with the noise Xie Lian could still hear the ragged panting of his breath—matching his own laboured breathing.

“Good fight.” Xie Lian hears himself say, truly meaning it as he shakes the other man’s hand. It is warm, strong, and Xie Lian can still feel the traces of where those hands had left marks on his body. He represses the urge to shiver.

“It was truly an honor to be able to fight you again, dianxia.” Hua Cheng replies, smirking once again. Were it anyone else, Xie Lian would have been sure they were mocking him, but there was something in Hua Cheng’s voice that sounded more like reverence. Xie Lian drops the other man’s hand and laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

“I think the honor should be mine, you really didn’t make things easy for me.”

Hua Cheng doesn’t reply, and afterwards they are ushered out of the cage to make room for the next match. When Xie Lian turns his head after toweling off his sweat, Hua Cheng is already gone.

-

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both tell him to forget about Hua Cheng. They are, and have always been, Xie Lian’s best friends, so usually Xie Lian does try his best to listen to their advice—they care for him after all. But he cannot forget about Hua Cheng. During training he imagines the other man in front of him, he walks down the street and pictures fights with him in his mind, he goes from competition to competition seeking him, tries and fails to search him up on social media, but just like last time, it is like he has disappeared.

“You’re thinking about him again aren’t you,” Feng Xin grumbles as he sits down, practically throwing his tray of food onto the table of the university cafeteria.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xie Lian replies promptly as he takes a bite of his own lunch.  

Mu Qing takes the seat beside Feng Xin, placing his tray down more gently and completely ignores Xie Lian to turn to the other man at his side, “He was thinking about him again, wasn’t he?”

“I wasn’t!”

Feng Xin has the audacity to grunt and nod as he slurps up his noodles at an alarming pace.

“Hey! I said I wasn’t!”

Mu Qing lets out a sigh that Xie Lian thinks is supremely unfair, given the fact that his friends are the ones being rude to him. Then, Mu Qing grabs something from his bag—a piece of paper it looks like, and places it on the table. “We’re only doing this because we know you won’t stop mooning about him otherwise.”

“I’m not—mooning? I’m not mooning!” Xie Lian splutters, but he grabs the paper anyway, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm and then stops short.

It is an address and apparently it is for a place called Ghost City. He’s heard of Ghost City. Xie Lian frowns. Before he can ask the question though, Mu Qing already gives him the answer.

“He’s there. We told you to give up on him, but we knew you wouldn’t so we thought it’d be better to just see for yourself what type of person Hua Cheng really is.”

Ghost City was an underground cage match arena—everyone who was anyone in the MMA world knew about it. It was for the fighters who desperately wanted to prove themselves beyond the world of sanctioned, formal, competitions. For the fighters who truly wanted to test their skill in a match where they had to put everything on the line. The only rule in Ghost City was the one: there were no rules. Although Xie Lian loved fighting, this was a place he had no interest in. He had never been interested in hurting and dominating others, he simply just wanted to test his skill and to experience the skills of others.

If Hua Cheng was there though…

“Please, just remember to be careful alright Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian nodded, gripping the paper more tightly than was probably necessary. He looked up at his friends, at Feng Xin who continued to studiously eat his noodles as if they had somehow offended him just by existing, and at Mu Qing who was looking somewhere off to Xie Lian’s left looking disgruntled, and smiled. “You two really are the best.”

Neither of them bothered to give him a reply, but the address was enough.

[designsfromtime]

A Frank Conversation About Selling on Etsy:

So, you have a hobby. Your friends and family LOVE your work and advise: “You should sell your stuff!” Maybe you need some extra income and you hope you can supplement your bank account with a side hustle. So you open an Etsy store, spend hours wording your “About Me” page, upload some pictures, and then you wait for that first sale…annnd…crickets.

This is a scenario that is repeated thousands of times every day.  I hear it constantly from disappointed and angry Etsy shop owners. So what do you do?  Blame Etsy? Pay money for one of those “opportunists” who promise more sales if you buy in and follow their model with little to no success? Get angry and give up?

This isn’t a post telling you “how to be successful” on Etsy. Rather, it’s a very frank conversation to help with your “expectations” and, yeah, maybe give you a little advice.

Before you open your store answer some very frank questions:  Did you do your homework? - Did you go on Etsy and search for items similar to yours?  Is the market already saturated? – or do you have a unique item that isn’t available? If there are items similar to yours are they of better quality and workmanship? - or poorer quality than your work?  Answering these questions is ESSENTIAL and it will take total HONESTY and objectivity on your part, as well as from your friends and family who are advising you.

The first step is to self-assess your quality of work and your business model, as well as your expectations. The raw truth is, I don’t know ANYONE who has quit their day job and is supporting themselves through their Etsy store – Including ME!!

So let’s talk about each of these topics individually.

DID YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK:

Whether it’s bath bombs or historical gowns, you have to research your target market. You cannot skip this step!

For example, my daughter recently started a side-hustle making all-natural stain-free bath bombs, sugar scrubs, body butter, and whipped soaps to help with her Bachelor’s degree. Before she began, she purchased items from the most successful company offering bath bombs and tried them out. Turns out, they weren’t the same quality as hers – just mass produced. She researched the pros and cons of bath bombs using the feedback from those in her inner circle. What did they like or dislike about the competitor’s product. The biggest complaint - - they stain the bathtub and they weren’t hydrating! So, taking that feedback she played with her recipe and came up with bath bombs that are not only moisturizing, but DON’T stain the bathtub. She also offers themes and scents inspired by books or movies such as Harry Potter. That’s her hook! That’s what makes HER product stand out.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NightMareBathandBody?ref=pr2018_faveshops

It’s essential that you do your research before you open an Etsy store - or move to the on-line market in general.

To use historical costuming as an example. Let’s say you bought a slanted riding hat pattern and made yourself a ridding hat to wear at renfaire. You got lots of compliments on your hat and some of your fellow Rennies asked, “Where did you get your hat?” You tell them you made it, and they ask you to make them one. In consequence you decide if “so-and-so” liked my work, maybe I can parlay this into a side hustle?  But before you make that leap, have you researched how many 16th Century riding hats are available on Etsy?

Let’s say there are quite a few listings already on Etsy. Let’s say you look up the seller who has the most sales of that particular item. So, how does your work compare?  Is your fabric smooth on the base, or are their visible puckers? How is their hand-stitching? – are your stitches as small and even as your competitor? How much are they asking?  Be objective! It can be painful to compare your work, but it’s important if you want to be competitive.

Let’s say, your work is passable. Maybe it’s not exactly the same quality as your competitor, but pretty darn good in your opinion, so you decide that your way “in” is to undercut all those who are selling similar items. This is a tactic I see ALL THE TIME. But have you actually calculated your costs?  How many hats can you get out of one yard of fabric?  How many hats can you make with a yard of trim?  Are you buying your bases ready-made, or making your own?  How much does it cost for you to make your base versus buying ready-made? How much is the millinery wire you need to use? How much wire do you need to use for one hat?

All these questions are essential to calculate your TRUE costs. In addition, have you factored in the fees Etsy will charge you once a sale is made – to include the actual listing fees, as well as the cost of shipping.

When you undercut your competitors you cheat yourself, and then wonder why you aren’t making a profit! I’m not talking a few dollars. I’m talking about setting your prices so low you are barely making a profit.  You say: “But, I’ll raise my prices later after people get to know my work!”  Yeah - - I actually did that. BIG MISTAKE! I started off at a competitive price and the orders came pouring in. It felt great! I felt validated. But when I factored in all the extras I was offering that made my work stand out, and was not charging for, guess what happened?  When I started charging what my hats and headdresses were actually worth, and factoring in my actual costs, I saw a drop off in sales. Did I lower my prices again? NO! Every bead, every piece of trim, every stitch has value. So does your time!!!! Value your work and value your time. If it is quality it will stand alone among the hundreds of others being sold.

When you value your time and price your items accordingly, you will attract a caliber of customers who recognize the quality of your work. But your work needs to hold up in terms of quality. This is where you will need to be objective. That process can be painful. Trust me, I know!

I randomly run searches on Etsy to gauge what’s selling and what’s not – what’s available, and how they are similar to mine, and how much they are selling it for. What I often find are sewists selling items at ridiculously low costs. So low, in fact, I often wonder how in the world they can justify selling a gown for $200 when fabric and supplies make up 75% or more of their total listing price. I know what fabric costs. I know how many hours it takes to construct that item, and when I see shop owners selling items at ridiculously low prices the first thing I do is check where they are located. Many times they are over-seas sellers. The US dollar is worth more in many countries, but there are HUGE risks buying from over-seas vendors. I’ve heard too many horror stories, and quite frankly their work just doesn’t stand up to my standards for historical accuracy. But that’s another story for another time.  

NEVER price your items based on the lowest prices! Figure out your costs, to include your Etsy fees, and pay yourself a FAIR wage. Ignore, the bargain basement over-seas sellers. What you need to be putting your energy toward is honing your skills and making your items truly competitive. If an item is of the highest quality, people will recognize it and they will remember you.

If you cannot self-assess your work honestly and be objective and see where you need to improve, chances are you will be disappointed in the outcome of your shop. Just as important is to VALUE your work. If your work is not the same quality as your biggest competitor, you are setting yourself up to fail. Yes, there is a market for everyone’s work, but here’s the honest truth:  Just like you “get what you pay for” you attract a certain caliber of customer by what you charge!

Here’s an example for you! I have a young friend who likes to sew. She made an Outlander costume for her mother for Halloween using the American Duchess pattern. At her mother’s encouragement, she decided to open an Etsy store and she listed the costume she had made for her mother, and set her price at a ridiculously low cost, at least in comparison to mine. A woman who “claimed” to be a reporter purchased an item in January 2019. She ordered a pair of stays and a bodice and skirt. She claimed she wanted to wear it because she was going to “interview” the cast of Outlander. (I called bullsh*t, and her behavior only validated my prediction). My friend followed the same procedure I do, making the stays first and sending them to her, because you need measurements wearing your stays in order to construct the gown and have it fit properly. After multiple messages to the buyer, in which she tried to get the buyer to give her correct measurements, the buyer wasn’t responding, or was avoiding it claiming she was “too busy.” I saw my friend the following AUGUST and the woman still had not complied with her request for proper measurements!! She sent her a picture wearing her stays and expected my friend to figure out her size by the picture!!

My friend asked me for advice on how to handle the situation. With my assistance, we wrote the buyer on Etsy and explained IN DETAIL what she needed and WHY, and informed her that because she had not complied with getting her the specific measurements needed to complete the commission she would place the order on hold until the woman had time to provide her with what she needed. The woman tried to wiggle her way out of the commission after nine months by stating how busy she was in her work, and how she didn’t have a measuring tape and how inconvenient it was for her to find someone to take her measurements, and that maybe my friend should just cancel the order and refund her deposit as she didn’t want to keep “her” waiting. Yeah – Nice try, right?

Well, my friend had used the deposit to purchase fabric and supplies! – Not to mention, after NINE months it was too late to issue a refund. After 60 days PayPal won’t issue a refund.

Come October, two months after she reached out to me for help, my friend was still battling with this woman for the measurements she needed, and the hateful snit complained to Etsy, and then tried to open a dispute with PayPal! She claimed she didn’t believe her deposit had been used for supplies! I instructed my friend to send the woman the unfinished gown and ALL the supplies she’d purchased, stand her ground and NOT issue a refund, and chalk it up as a lesson learned. Bottom line? If this gal really WAS scheduled to interview the Outlander cast, she would have made more of an effort I’m here to tell you! But this client more than likely saw a seller who was just starting out, had only a couple of items in her Etsy store, purchased the costume on the cheap, and then tried to get one over on my friend.

This example is something you need to be prepared to deal with. You will need to be comfortable setting boundaries and being assertive! You need to be able to intuit when someone is trying to scam you, and you also need to know PayPal and Etsy’s policies. One of the mistakes my friend made was taking her conversation off the Etsy site and emailing this client. Communication on Etsy is a pain in the arse, but you CANNOT take your discussion off site! Doing so is against Etsy’s policies. Why? You need a paper trail, so to speak, of your communication. You need to document your conversations in an Etsy thread so that if a dispute is raised, Etsy can review your conversation. In this instance, my friend had documented her difficulties through the Etsy thread and they saw the efforts she had made to gain the client’s compliance and they ruled in my friend’s favor. But this is not always the case!

The moral of the story: If you price your work at bargain basement prices, you will more than likely attract clients JUST like this person. Now that’s not always the case. There are shady people out there, and even if you charge what you’re worth you will find clients who test your patience.

For instance, I had a client order a riding hat from me a few years back. She had a short deadline, so I went to JoAnns and purchased the silk and began construction. After two weeks she tried to cancel the order stating she found a hat to borrow and didn’t need to buy one at this time. I told her it was too late to cancel as I had already purchased fabrics and started construction, so she opened a dispute with PayPal and told them it was a fraudulent purchase! – claiming someone used her PayPal account without her permission. I supplied PayPal with documentation of our conversations, but they ruled in her favor because it fell within their 60-day deadline! It turned out I had another client who wanted a hat in the same color and was the same size, so I went ahead and issued her refund, but I told her that because of her shady behavior I would not accept any commissions from her in the future. She actually had the audacity to become highly insulted that I would refuse any future commissions and actually made ME out to be the bad guy for setting boundaries with a client who had wiggled their way out of a commission by lying!! Yeah…There are some “special” people out there, and it’s all part of working with the public, so be prepared!

I’ve also had people contact me to request I sell them one of my headdresses, but they only wanted the base. They didn’t want me to cover it and decorate it. I’m highly intuitive and I smelled a rat. I knew instinctively that what they wanted was to take my base and replicate my pattern, because I have created my pattern and it’s not for sale - anywhere! Working with the public can make you question the future of mankind, because there are some shady creeps out there with zero integrity. You will need to be prepared to bite the bullet and deal with them if you plan to work in customer service.

IS THE MARKET FLOODED:

There are a TON of historical costumes listed on Etsy.  Your first step is to evaluate what’s being offered and judge whether or not you are offering something that is actually needed. When I have an idea or find an item I want to make, the first thing I do is run a search for that item. If there are tons of the same item, here’s where you need to be objective and realistic. What’s going to attract sales to your store if there are dozens and dozens of shops offering the same thing?

I participate in some of the groups Etsy offers just for sellers. We try out new functions offered on Etsy and discuss our experiences as a seller. I hear people complain ALL the time about their items not selling. But let’s get honest. How can you expect to be competitive if your product doesn’t stand out from all the others? What makes yours unique when dozens of sellers are offering the same thing? Lowering the price isn’t a strategy that is recommended. Running sales and promotions are fine, but as we’ve already discussed selling yourself short may only be a temporary boon. It’s just not a sustainable business model. Not when you are selling your items for less than what your supplies and labor costs.  Find your niche!

If the market is already flooded, perhaps you might reconsider offering that item or reconsider opening a store all together. Chances are, if you ignore that advice, you will not see any activity in your store. That’s probably not the advice you want to hear, but wouldn’t you rather someone be honest with you?

Also, and you’re gonna hate this one as well – Your family and friends are NOT objective! It’s human nature. What might look great to them, might not attract attention in a larger market. That’s a painful truth.

ARE THE ITEMS SIMILAR TO YOURS BETTER QUALITY?

Being objective is painful, but it’s necessary.

If you’ve decided to press forward and offer items that are already being sold on Etsy, the essential next step is to assess the quality of your work. Before you enter the retail arena, take the necessary time to hone your craft. Quality is the ONLY way you will attract attention when you are offering items that are already flooding the Etsy or on-line market.  Again, undercutting costs is not a sustainable business model, so take the time – however long it takes – until your products are comparable and marketable. If your workmanship isn’t on par, then work for the next year or so to hone your skills and find people who can be kindly objective that can counsel you on where or what needs improvement. Don’t take that criticism personally. We all start somewhere.  I wish you could see some of my first corsets!  God, they were BAD. I mean – REALLY BAD!

One of the things you can do to hone your craft is to AVOID commercial patterns! These commercial patterns are not always historically based – In fact, most are not even close! Some are pretty good but DO YOUR RESEARCH. Read books on costuming. Invest and develop your reference library. Participate in historical groups on social media – hopefully you find those who are inclusive rather than snits who pick apart others’ work, and admins who DON’T participate in the petty drama. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience, so I avoid these groups. But for those who are just starting out, they can be helpful to lurk and absorb information. Ask questions if you participate in groups. BUT be prepared to deal with the costume nazis who hide behind the anonymity of the internet and are hateful and judgmental.

Rather than commercial patterns like Simplicity or McCalls, I recommend you purchase patterns that are more historical. Yes, they are expensive, but you need to invest in your craft and having the proper patterns are just as essential as your equipment. If you cannot tell the difference between Medieval, Elizabethan, Tudor, Rococo, Colonial, Regency, Victorian or Edwardian – You need to start studying! – Starting with underpinnings! There are subtle and not so subtle clothing style differences in each era. Nothing drives me more crazy than Etsy sellers or those on Ebay who buy a commercial pattern that isn’t fit for anything but a Halloween costume, and label it, “Renaissance” when it’s a mish-mosh of colonial and medieval eras.  PLEASE, take the time to read and study. Do your due diligence. I have been creating historical costumes professionally since 2012 when I retired early, but I’ve been studying historical clothing since 2001 and I learn something new ALL THE TIME! I push myself and tackle new eras to hone my craft. There will always be someone who knows more than you do. Just keep learning!

I am always available to give feedback, but actually teaching construction techniques over the internet is a challenge for me because I’m generally pressed for time. Watch You Tube tutorials, take sewing lessons, learn how to drape and draft patterns, but along with all of that…Practice…Practice…Practice. I learn something new every time I tackle a new project or venture into a different era.

MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS:

I am busy all year long with commissions, but most of the time we don’t get paid until a commission is complete. I also have expenses such as fees for an upgraded Etsy store, Etsy fees to list items – plus the percentage they take from each sale, as well as website fees – all of which are necessary to get your brand out there.

Aside from operating fees, I have equipment payments – because just ONE of my embroidery machines cost me over $5,000! But you see, my niche is historical embroidery and highly embellished work. I also have material fees, and repair fees on my equipment. You will need a quality sewing machine that is gear driven, rather than belt driven in order to make corsetry and to sew through layers of heavy fabric that you use in historical costuming. I have two embroidery machines, an air threading Serge/overlock machine, and a Juki semi-professional straight stitch sewing machine, as well as a smaller Brother sewing machine that we use for shirts and thinner fabrics when we both need to do machine work. I also have a cutting table with fold out eaves and cabinets that cost me $1200!! All of these tools of the trade costs MONEY.  You will also need dress forms in various sizes for both men and women. The cheap ones that are adjustable are too flimsy to hold up to these heavy costumes. Dress forms can cost anywhere from $300 to $1000. If you plan to compete, you need the tools of the trade.

There are hundreds and hundreds of hobbyists who are attempting to use Etsy as a platform to sell historical clothing to supplement their income, but there are VERY few shops that offer quality items with quality workmanship. If your work isn’t a cut above, you will find yourself disappointed when your expectations fall short of reality.

Even though we stay busy all year long, I don’t make enough to support myself just on my costume commissions alone. After my husband passed away in 2009, I was fortunate enough that he left me and the kids financially stable. Without his retirement income (he was a police officer who died as a consequence of his job) I could not pay my monthly bills on my commission income alone. Lalana works three days a week doing hair and works three days a week with me in my design studio. We do this more for the passion and the creative outlet, than we do for the money. Neither of us are rolling in it!

I have had young mothers approach me about advising them on how to do costuming so they can stay home with their kids. First of all, costuming is production work. When you have a deadline to meet your clients aren’t going to understand when your kids are sick or when your husband wants to spend quality time with you, or your house is filthy. Self-employment is NOT the answer to staying at home and earning an income. Unless you have extra household money to invest every month to keep you afloat and purchase supplies while you’re waiting to be paid for a commission, you’ll be working at a deficit.

There is also the issue of taxes. Etsy collects sales taxes on your behalf, but they don’t collect your federal income taxes or state income taxes, if you live in a state like California. Working under the table is a risky endeavor! Do you really want to risk being audited for income you didn’t report? My advice: Just don’t do it!! It’s not worth the risk. So, be prepared to hire a tax specialist to do your taxes every year. You will need to keep good records of all your expenses and income. Every spool of thread, every yard of fabric needs to be accounted for in order for you to have a REAL picture of your profit and loss. The purchase of equipment will help, but there again, you need to be able to afford to pay the monthly payments on equipment loans.

In conclusion, there are more CONS than pros to self-employment and opening an on-line business, not just on Etsy. For me, I found Etsy to provide me more traffic in my store than a high-priced website. Unless you have a website manager that constantly monitors your Search Engine Optimization and other such tech stuff that is beyond my comprehension and skills, you won’t get enough traffic to your website to make the expense worthwhile. This is exactly why I switched my fancy-schmancy website to a “Pattern” website via Etsy. It allows me to keep my domain name, while using Etsy’s platform to funnel traffic through my page. I get about 10,000 hits per month in my Etsy store alone.

The bottom line is that Etsy has worked for me, but it may not be a platform that works for you. There are tons of variables – as I’ve addressed above.

So, before you jump into the pond, make sure you know the temperature and depth of the water! Trust me, you’ll thank me for being honest with you.

[sjohnsonjohnson]

Virtual Sketchbook #2

Journaling 

1) I interpret directional forces to be the visual cue the artist adds to draw our focus to a mail point. I feel that the swirl of the bubbles follows a natural tornado pattern until we arrive with our eyes at the centre of the piece. 

Kaila Lance. Bubble Room Mandala. Directional Forces. https://www.etsy.com/listing/581801486/dot-mandala-painting-6x6-inch-art-by?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

2) This painting has three different focal points, things such as the birds and trees give it unity. The tree in the middle and at the sides of the painting provide balance to the piece. The triangle formed with implied lines also pulls the piece together. I think this is a wonderful example of variety that is unified in its message. 

The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. By Dawn Of the Shed. Unity and Variety. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-maiden-the-mother-and-the-crone-dawn-of-the-shed.html

3) The artist could balance the slender proportions of the lady with the big sleeves. I feel it makes her pop instead of disappearing into the background. I think the columns also frame the piece and provide structure. The red curtain draws the eye and balances the cool blue sky to the left. No part of the piece distracts from the other. 

Molly, Duchess Of Nona by Frank Cadogan Cowper. Balance.

https://www.artrenewal.org/artworks/molly-duchess-of-nona-maurice-howletts-little-novel-of-italy/frank-cadogan-cowper/52531

4) I think this picture is an outstanding example of a focal point that is brought into the foreground and the elements behind are subdued and blurry. There is no double of what figure the photographer was trying to emphasise. 

Family picture by a local photographer. Owned by myself. Emphasis and subordination.

5) All the colors are all part of a color scheme and of similar shade. The figures are all facing one way and the diagonals of the rifles are leaning in the same direction, providing rhythm. Our eyes naturally follow the men to the right, like they are marching in that direction. I think the similar shapes and lines of the men and their accessories are examples of repetition. 

May Day, Moscow. By Diego Rivera. Repetition and rhythm. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/85342

6) I love this piece because the idea of scale and proportion are mixed. It is hard to grasp if the angle of the photo is possibly distorting the size of the hand or if the hand is giant in reality.. The hand is enormous so in comparison the man looks tiny. I love how the photo would be unbalanced if the hand and arm were in proper proportion.

Sculptures by Gerardo Feldstein. scale and proportion. https://mymodernmet.com/gerardo-feldstein-sculpture

Composition Recipe- Writing and Looking

Portrait of a Girl with a Bussola, by Rosalba Carriera

The composition of this piece seems very simple at first glance but I feel that may have been the point of the artist. The background matches her eyes, and this is the key point in the recipe. The rest of the colors are of the same scheme except the eyes. When you look at this photo, you cannot look anywhere else, the eyes pull you in. Just in case the eyes don't catch you right at first, the implied lines of the triangle formed by the body will cause you to go from the bottom of the piece to the eyes. At first I did not think the piece had variety, but once I tore my gaze from the eyes I noticed all the minor design elements of the dress and the necktie, little pieces that give a little spice to the recipe. I love the use of pastels since it seems so lifelike and the colors are rich and yet the edges are soft. The lightness and shading around the hair give the perspective of depth. I love all the angels which give the viewer a look deeper into the piece instead of having the girl sit head on to the painting. Overall, the palate is light, yet rich with a smooth texture. This dish is a win in my book.

CONNECTING ART TO YOUR WORLD

The hue that has affected my life the most is green. I dream about a green that is so bright yet deep. The saturation of green is so intense that you want to cry. A green that glistens because it has had an abundance of rain to quench it. There would be no tint or hue, no black to middle or white to pale. I want to be surrounded by this green. It is the dream of going to this green place that will someday be a reality. Ireland. 

ART PROJECT–ARTIST’S CHOICE

I painted a silhouette of a unicorn with an acrylic medium.. I used my three favorite blended colors. Together they remind me of a beautiful sunset. I used magenta, phalo blue and dioxazine purple, and I used titanium white to tint the background colors. I tried to make the silhouette symmetrical with a chalk outline, but that is a shortcoming of mine. I used mars black for the outline. This is a meaningful painting to me because I love unicorns. I also use videos or templates typically to paint so although it seems simple, I'm not confident in my creative ability so I was happy this came all from my imagination. On a personal note, this painting meant a lot to me because it was my first in a long time. As a full time working mother, wife and now student, I feel guilty every time I want to paint. I always feel like there is something more important to do and I push my hobby aside. I am so happy that it was literally an assignment that I had to paint, and I loved every minute.

PHOTO/DESIGN- Group Discussion

(Group 1)

I wanted to pick logos that were not transient in my life but those that I truly identify with because they are in my life. A list of the logos in my surroundings: Tyson, Silk, Ninja, TCL, Eggo, Xbox, Tropicana, Zyrtec, Equate, Nike, Green Valley, Lysol, LG, Old Navy, Google, Kettle, Up & Up, Publix, Aveeno, Crest, Kirkland, Suave, Whirlpool, GE, Pacific Foods, Tidy Cats, Bob's Red Mill, Fruit of the Loom, Hyundai, Crayola, Elmers, Expo.  

How do you know about these logos? This is an interesting question. The answer seems simple, because these are the products I use. Then I thought, do I know them because I use them or would I know them because they are so mainstream. You may not drink orange juice but the logo of Tropicana is well known. I know these logos because I have been living in a society for 37 years with these logos in many forms; commercial, print, or radio. I understand the value of a logo in a way of trust. When I see a logo, I recognize and I have experience with that brand. I feel a sense of trust with that complaint or product. I personally value an easily recognizable logo as well.

[simranjeet-singh-sidhu-blog]

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[junker-town]

Why Courtland Sutton could be one of the biggest steals in the NFL Draft

He hasn’t gotten the same kind of attention as some of the draft’s other receivers, but retired NFL defensive end Stephen White sees a player who could be big surprise in the pros.

The whole time I was watching Courtland Sutton’s tape I kept thinking he reminded me of somebody on the field. It was nagging me through all four games, but I just couldn’t figure out who it was. Finally, after I had finished the process of watching each game three times a name came to me — Kenny Britt.

So I wasn’t exactly surprised when I compared their combine measurements that they were exactly the same height, 6’3, and weight, 218 pounds, coming out of college. The similarities didn’t end there. Britt’s arms were just a little longer and his vert was a tad bit higher, but Sutton’s 40 was just a hair faster and his 20-yard shuttle time blew Britt’s away.

More than all of that, they just move similarly to me on the field, so Britt seems to be a very apt comparison.

You may recall that Britt was a late first-round pick by the Tennessee Titans when he came out in 2009. That is pretty much what I see Sutton as, too.

For some folks this may seem like a knock on Sutton, especially if you only look at Britt’s stats since he’s been in the league. However, while Britt’s off-field issues have overshadowed, and in some cases, curtailed his performance on the field, there is no doubt that Britt was and is still a pretty good football player when he has his head on straight. I know its been awhile, but thanks to Google we can all be reminded that in his second season, nine of Britt’s 42 catches went for touchdowns and he averaged 18.5 yards per reception.

Mind you, that was with him missing four games.

Imagine what Britt could have been if he didn’t keep getting in trouble back then.

Provided he doesn’t follow Britt’s path off the field, I see Sutton as being the same kind of player with the potential for much better production in the NFL.

Sutton showed me he could be explosive as hell when I watched his film.

He would catch a short pass and, if given enough room to get going, he could turn a little into a lot in a hurry.

He also showed the kind of top end speed to beat corners on go routes down the field.

At other times Sutton displayed an ability to use his height well, going up to get the ball in the air over smaller defenders.

And he wasn’t at all shy about getting physical with cornerbacks if he needed to in order to get himself open.

Now, Sutton is going to have to learn how to be a little more subtle with his his pushoffs once he gets to the league, but I love the mentality of big wide receivers forcing the refs to call OPI. If a referee is going to let a wide receiver toss a corner aside to make a catch, then that is exactly what that receiver should do.

Hell, most of the time they just eat their whistle anyway (unless its Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans).

Yeah, there will be times when OPI is called, and like I said before, Sutton has to learn how to not be so obvious about it, but I would much rather have a big receiver that is too aggressive going after the ball in the air.

You can get a guy to backoff a little, but it’s hard, if not damn near impossible, to teach aggressiveness to a player who hasn’t shown any before they made it to the NFL.

I do wish he had at least made some of those catches after pushing the DB out of the way however.

Speaking of being physical, I also loved the way Sutton got after it as a blocker in limited opportunities. He was chasing cats all over the field on running plays.

It was obvious that half of them dudes didn’t want no smoke.

He did have this one play where he appeared to be half ass trying to block the corner and that looked bad, but it was literally the only “bad” block I saw him have in four games.

Wide receivers who are willing to really take it to defensive backs in the run game are always good money in my book. Most of the time when you see a long run by a running back there is at least one wide receiver wearing somebody out downfield.

Sutton can, and I believe, will be that kind of blocker in the pros.

Having said all that, the big swings in Sutton’s productivity in the games that I watched were a little concerning when I first watched his tape. Against Houston, Sutton had 11 catches (one of which isn’t on the tape that I watched), and against North Texas he had eight. But he only had one catch a piece against both TCU and Memphis.

So, what gives?

Well, first of all it is important to note that his one catch against Memphis was actually a 35-yard touchdown.

Also, on further review, both Memphis and TCU were smart enough to double cover Sutton quite a bit to keep him in check.

It’s hard for anybody to get off with that much extra attention, no matter how good you are. On the other hand, the fact that that those teams doubled Sutton so much showed how much respect they had for his game.

Sutton did, in fact, still get open deep a few times in both games, but his quarterback just couldn’t get to the ball to him.

One play in particular against TCU Sutton ran a beautiful seam route from the slot, only to have the quarterback over throw him on what should have been a layup.

Am I sure he would have caught those passes had the quarterback been able to put it on the money?

Well, I couldn’t be 100 percent sure since Sutton did have a couple of drops in those four games.

I also saw Sutton catch enough balls smoothly with his hands in the “proper” position in those four games that I would have given him good odds to come down with a lot of those if he had a chance.

Add it all up and you come away with a tall, strong, physical receiver with pretty good hands who can get down the field, jump over cornerbacks to make catches, as well as make somebody miss in space if he is allowed to get going.

I don’t know that Sutton showed that he can be spectacular, but I do think from his tape it’s safe to say the he can at least be really good. With his size and athleticism, that translates in to the late first round/early second round area. If he is drafted in that area or later, Courtland Sutton has enough potential and a high enough ceiling that he will have a legit chance to be one of the steals of this draft.

Since I don’t have access to all-22 for college football games, I use the next best thing for my draft profiles and go to Draft Breakdown where they post the TV copy of a bunch of top prospects’ games already cut up and ready to go. This time Draft Breakdown only had two of Courtland Sutton’s games from last season on their website, so I had to use Google to find two more (TCU and Memphis). For the purposes of this breakdown I watched Sutton play against North Texas, TCU, Houston and Memphis. Those represented the second, third, sixth and eleventh games on SMU’s schedule last season, respectively.

[welcometowcwmondaynitro]

WCW Monday Nitro 08/07/1996

It’s the day after Hulk Hogan turned heel. This was a pretty monumental event in wrestling history. If you didn’t grow up in this era you might not get it, the closest comparison at this time would be Cena turning heel, but even that pales in comparison to the shock of the Hulkster turning his back on the Hulkamaniacs, brother.

WCW is starting its summer run at the Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, which would last a few weeks.

As usual we’re welcomed by Tony and Larry Z to the hottest two hours in television.

Larry is going super casual. He’s a man of the people. 

Tony says “words cannot describe what happened last night, but the pictures will”. I don’t think it would be that difficult to tell it in words, it wasn’t exactly a complex situation. Larry says he’s disgusted, and Hogan’s actions were “total unmanliness”. They show pictures of Rey Vs Psychosis from the PPV, then Dean Vs Disco. 

The show starts with Rey Mysterio Jr.

His opponent is Dean Malenko.

Rey Mysterio Jr Vs Dean Malenko

You know how these types of matches go, a lot of speedy, flippy stuff from Rey and technical wrestling from Deano. Always good to watch. Towards the end of the match, Tony says “Malenko is showing he’s not only a champion, but he’s a man who can fight as well, and escape near-falls”. Well... yeah. He wouldn’t be champion if he was no good at those things. Thanks for stating the obvious, Tony. Match ends when Dean puts Rey on his shoulders on the top turnbuckle, throws him up as he jumps...

Then...

Ouch.

Malenko goes for the pin but pulls Rey up before the three count, then hits a suplex and once again pulls Rey up before the three. This comes back to haunt him when Rey hits the Frankensteiner...

And gets the three count. Your winner and new cruiserweight champion, Rey Mysterio Jr! The senior citizen front row are loving it. The guy in the “MGM” shirt literally jumps up and down in excitement.

Rey Mysterio Jr defeats Dean Malenko via Pinfall.

Tony says Mysterio earned the win. Larry says he didn’t earn it, Malenko made two mistakes, as if these are somehow mutually exclusive. We get a crowd shot, focused on this guy.

So that’s where Genie goes at the end of Aladdin... to Florida to watch Nitro with a really rough looking Steve Sanders. Cool.

We cut back to the locker room where Mean Gene is with the Nasty Boys and the Steiner Brothers.

What’s up with Rick’s over friendly smile here? It’s kind of creepy.

Scott Steiner says he doesn’t agree with how Harlem Heat won the titles or how they beat them last week when Parker hit Rick in the head with his cane, then gets interrupted by Knobbs. Steiner then yells “shut up, fatso” and says he doesn’t agree with how the Nasty Boys act or look (who would?) but that he respects their wrestling ability. Is he being sarcastic? Doesn’t seem to be, but if he isn’t then what wrestling ability?

Saggs says the Nasty Boys don’t care about the Steiners’ problems with Harlem Heat, they just care about winning their match tonight. He says the Steiners are taking a trip to Nastyville. Scott says “keep talking and I’ll knock your other tooth out”. Hah. Rick starts talking with this weird expression on his face...

And says “I don’t think it’s Nastyville, come down to the dog pound, and get down where it gets real nasty boys. You see, my nose is [inaudible, starts sniffing like a dog]

“I smell em, I smell the heat, I’m coming after you boys, [inaudible], I got you. Nasty Boys, you gettin’ away is just [inaudible] it ain’t gonna be personal”

Word for word. 

Knobbs yells a bunch of stuff as Rick growls like a dog. End segment. Wow. Rick makes his brother sound like Shakespeare.

OUR WORLD IS ABOUT TO CHANGE. ENTER THE REALM. BLOOD RUNS COLD. IN EACH OF US BURNS THE FURY OF A WARRIOR.

GLACIER. 

We get a shot on Mickey as we return to ringside.

Yeah.

Anyway, the announcers are still going on about Hogan’s heel turn as Big Bubba, Hugh Morrus and Jimmy Hart wander out.

Big Bubba is wearing a helmet.

Looking chilly, bro.

Larry says “the Dungeon of Doom are rebuilding their, uh... force, if you will”. If you will indeed. 

They are facing the Blue Bloods w/Jeeves and Earl Robert Eaton.

The fans chant “USA” at the Blue Bloods.

Big Bubba and Hugh Morrus Vs the Blue Bloods

Mercifully this match doesn’t last long. Larry meanwhile says that Earl Robert Eaton “doesn’t know how to treat a bummer the right proper way”.

What?

I’m not sure what he means by this, nor do I think I want to, but he then goes on to say “bummers do all the dirty work.”

“We have the same situation here. We just call them wives.”

Let’s just move on.

Oh, wait no, because Larry just said Hugh Morrus “moves like Rey Mysterio Jr”.

Okay.

John Tenta suddenly arrives and starts beating on Bubba. 

The Blue Bloods hit a double back drop on Hugh Mysterio Jr...

Squire Dave Taylor gets the pin. Tony calls it a “sensational win”. Not quite.

The Blue Bloods defeat Big Bubba and Hugh Morrus via Pinfall.

We come back from a commercial break and Eddie Guerrero and Psychosis are already in the ring.

Apparently this is Psychosis’ debut on Nitro. He didn’t even get a televised entrance. That doesn’t bode well. The cut to this split screen where Rey is talking...

But the announcers are talking over him, so we can’t hear anything he’s saying until Tony tells Larry to shut up. Rey is giving his opinion on Hogan’s heel turn, apparently. He says “there was much confusion in all of our minds. Especially the little kids, they were crying. They were very disappointed, and personally I’m very disappointed on who the third person was. I don’t think that’s fair for all of us. To all my Mexican friends... [speaks Spanish]... he betrayed us.”

Not sure why that had to be shown in the middle of this match - Psychosis debut, remember. Way to showcase him, WCW. Have Rey interrupt and talk about Hulk Hogan instead. I wouldn’t worry Rey, you’ll never be anywhere near Hogan. Watch out for Nash, though.

Larry says if Rey interrupts him again “he’ll have my hand upside his head”. It was the production crew who made the decision to air that, Larry. Rey didn’t walk into the truck and say “Zybszko’s talking, put me on now and cut that sexist old crank off”. I wish he had.

During the match, Eddie whips Psychosis onto the ropes, and Psychosis apparently gets hit in the balls..

Feels bad, man. 

“When human bodies get sweaty, they sweat” - Larry Zybszko. 

For some reason the crowd have decided Psychosis is the heel and started booing him. He hasn’t done anything especially heelish but, yeah, fuck Psychosis apparently.

The match ends when Eddie hits a superplex...

 Then a Frogsplash...

And it’s over. Psychosis debut ends with a loss. Welcome to WCW.

Eddie Guerrero defeats Psychosis via Pinfall.

We go to Gene, who is standing at the entranceway with Sullivan, Jimmy Hart and the Giant. 

Taskmaster’s arm is extremely shiny. Jimmy Hart’s suit is ridiculous. Why is the twizzler mouth there? 

Gene asks Hart about Hogan. Hart says “this is the first time in my life that I’m lost for words, and I really have no comment”. I can believe that. This is a guy with a screaming mouth on his jacket, after all.

Sullivan says “sometimes when you live for the destruction and demise of something, like Jimmy and I did, we lived for a year and a half for the demise of Hulkamania, and he plucked it away from us. He destroyed it himself”. 

Well, how much longer was he supposed to wait, Kevin? Another year and a half? 

Sullivan says that the evil deeds he’s done in his life have come back to haunt him, and that when he looks in the mirror he sees Chris Benoit. He’s a madman. Then he switches back to the New World Order. Jimmy Hart then says “there’s a new world order coming, Gene, and you could be out of a job”. Hah, don’t count on it. Gene starts to act offended by this suggestion he might be out of work, but then the Giant gets on the mic and reminds everybody that he’s the world champion, and as long as he is, “nothing in WCW can go wrong”. I’m not sure what logic he’s employing to come to that conclusion. Didn’t help Bischoff much when he was powerbombed off the stage. 

Giant says that last night the Horsemen “won the battle, but you didn’t win the war”. Strange thing to say considering Giant & Sullivan beat Arn & Benoit, but okay. As the Dungeon walk off, Gene continues to rant about losing his job, as if Jimmy Hart would have any idea whether that was actually true or not.

Here come the Nasty Boys.

The camera zooms in on a mother and (I assume) daughter dancing to the Nasty Boys theme.

Guy on the left is leering kinda creepily at the mom. I hope that’s her partner.

Here’s a story of two brothers, Ricky and Scott...

Nasty Boys Vs the Steiner Brothers

The Nasty Boys try to get a “nastys” chant going. About ten people join in. 

The design of the Nasty Boys shirts and Rick Steiner’s wrestling gear are both similarly horrific. Just a mess of scribbled coloured lines. An adult actually designed those.

Towards the end of the match Scott Steiner gets dumped out of the ring. Jerry Saggs literally forces a kid to get out of a chair so that he can use it to whack Steiner with. 

Splat.

You’d think this would be a disqualification, as the ref sees all of it, but no. 

Hour two begins and we switch to Bischoff and Heenan. 

Scott Steiner recovers from the chair shot and hits Knobbs with a belly to belly. The Nastys regain control briefly, then we get a shot of Sister Sherri and Colonel Parker watching the match from behind the stands.

Sherri jumps on the ropes to distract the ref, Parker hits Saggs with his cane, and Scott Steiner pins Saggs for the win. This means they get a title shot at the next PPV, Hog Wild, which Bischoff describes as “250,000 of your favourite bikers and you”. Sounds scary. 

The Steiner Brothers defeat the Nasty Boys via Pinfall. 

Gene is in the ring with the Nasty Boys.

He says he couldn’t sleep because of what Hogan did. Get a life.

Saggs says “life, as is wrestling, is all about attitude. And ours has always been nasty. The big man, along with that stinking cane, just sent a lightning bolt right through my stinking head with a big message. A big message that says change is inevitable, we’ve got to change”. Saggs begins to say “it’ll be a cold day in hell” and Gene is like...

Because apparently you can’t say hell in front of the kids at Disney. Only in Sunday School. Gene promptly pulls the mic away from Saggs before he can even finish his sentence and asks for Knobbs’ opinion. He tells Gene “don’t take the microphone away from him until he’s finished talking”, Gene then says “fine”, glances over at Saggs, and says “he’s finished talking”. Ice cold.

Knobbs says the Nastys don’t condone Hogan’s actions, but he doesn’t see anything wrong with what he did either. Gene isn’t impressed and pretty much cuts the interview there. 

Jim Powers comes charging out, and he’s so happy to be there.

 He’s facing Ric Flair for the US Title. 

What has Jim Powers done to earn a US Title match, by the way? Then again, what had Disco Inferno done to earn a Cruiserweight Title match at Bash at the Beach? Me and my silly attempts to look for logic in WCW. I’m just going to look at Liz, Woman and Debra instead.

Wooo! And yet it’s also sad to think that only one of them is still alive. And now I feel weird. Let’s just pretend it’s 1996.

Ric Flair Vs Jim Powers

You know how a Flair match goes. His opponent spends the match dominating, Flair cheats somehow and wins. Except in this one Flair doesn’t actually cheat, just wins by using the Figure Four, pretty much fair and square. 

Jim Powers, such a jobber that Flair doesn’t even need to cheat to win.

Ric Flair defeats Jim Powers via Submission.

Gene is standing by with the Horsemen and their ladies. Woman is giving the camera a sultry look. Arn is just glaring at the audience at home angrily. Debra is looking at Gene with a very concerned expression. Maybe she heard he’s out of a job too. We can only hope.

Gene: After last night, I know a lot of things are running through even the minds of the Horsemen.

Even the minds of the Horsemen? Sounds like a bit of a put down.

Arn says that what Hogan did make him “want to puke”. Gene is like:

Arn continues, saying the Horsemen never claimed to be role models, but Hogan did. Arn says that there are people whose “lives hinged on what he said”. I doubt it. If so then they have bigger problems than Hogan turning heel, frankly. Mongo says “the apocalypse is on WCW” and says it only has to do with the Four Horsemen. OK. Flair cuts in and says Mongo isn’t “jumping jack flash” he’s a five time all pro. He bigs up Arn as well, and says that until the outsiders can “heal the sick, wake the dead, and drive little girls right out of their head” ... and then doesn’t finish his thought process. I’m not sure I want him to - little girls?

Anyway, Flair screams “GIANT! GIANT! GIANT! There’s a new champ in town, one that can go all night long, ain’t that right girls? Wooooo!” 

Insane.

We cut to Bischoff and Heenan at the announce desk.

Heenan’s looking sharp. Bischoff not so much.

They both talk about WCW fighting back. At this point it’s pretty funny. I mean, we’re talking three people against literally dozens. It’s not really a contest, is it? Hell, just fire Hogan if it’s such a problem. In kayfabe Hall and Nash don’t even have contracts so they shouldn’t be an issue to begin with. Obviously the nWo will eventually become bloated and a legitimate force, but for now it’s just three guys, two of which are not even supposed to be employed by WCW. God knows what these guys are panicking about.

Anyhow.

Out comes the Sarge with Teddy Long - Holla!

His opponent is Chris Benoit.

Chris Benoit Vs Sgt. Craig Pittman

Obviously Benoit wins. Pittman doesn’t actually tap, though. For some reason Long comes in and tells the ref to ring the bell. Gotta protect Craig Pittman?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Chris Benoit defeats Sgt. Craig Pittman via Submission.

So, it’s the main event of the evening - Arn Anderson Vs Sting. That’s a pretty big match, but I don’t think they’ve mentioned it all evening. Too busy crying about Hogan, who isn’t even there. Anyway, out comes Arnold.

Fireworks go off as a sombre looking Stinger walks out.

Haven’t heard from him about Hulk Hogan, which is strange as he was directly involved in the match at Bash at the Beach. Haven’t heard anything from Luger, either. Or Macho Man. We’ve heard from Rey Mysterio Jr and Mongo, though, so yeah. Maybe we’ll hear from some of the others after this match.

Bischoff says “we may have guests” and that there isn’t enough security at Disney to handle the Outsiders. Really? Two, three people at most if Hogan is with them. You don’t have enough security to deal with that? Don’t be so stupid.

Arn offers his hand...

Sting pretty much says “fuck you”.

Arn Anderson Vs Sting

The commentators are still going on about Hogan’s heel turn. For fuck’s sake, we get it. It’s a terrible thing. It’s a betrayal. Heenan warned us all for years. WE GET IT. Call the fucking match. 

Sting and Arn have a serviceable match. Nothing memorable. The crowd are behind the Stinger, for sure. During the match they actually air another Glacier promo. They were so high on this guy. Glacier should have been the one to take down the nWo. 

At one point during the match Bischoff says that Sting is “lit”. That’s interesting. I thought that was a recent saying, but Bischoff was throwing it out there in 1996. Trendsetter.

Arn and Sting are taking a break.

Bischoff tells us a “black limousine” has pulled up and that it’s “not a good thing”. Well, the show is practically over so it could be worse. 

Ohhh, scary.

Hall (dressed in all denim, so 90′s) and Nash are out of the vehicle.

Bischoff and Heenan are shitting their pants at this point, whereas the crowd politely applaud when Hall and Nash arrive at the ring. The contrast is amusing.

We have a standoff. What was Bischoff so worried about? Look at all that security, led by “Big” Doug Dillinger in his barely fitting turquoise shirt. No problem. 

The Macho Man comes to the ring. Anderson tries to blindsight Sting with a DDT, but Sting basically just pushes Arn over and applies the Scorpion Deathlock.

Arn gives up. Sting wins. Notice how the women came out with Flair but were nowhere to be seen when Arn and Benoit were wrestling? 

Sting defeats Arn Anderson via Submission.

Okerlund is in the ring with the Stinger.

Check out the dude in the middle rocking the Eddie Guerrero look with dat tash and dat hair. Then the ginger boy next to him with the glasses and turquoise tank top. Why are so many people wearing turquoise? 

Sting looks like he needs a nap. He says “I am not at all surprised. What happened last night I’m not surprised about, coming from the two outsiders. But I will say I am very very surprised at you Hulk Hogan. But I should have known. I should have known when you were travelling to every town in that big fat limo. I should have known, because you didn’t want to travel with the Macho Man or the Total Package and the Stinger. Uh-uh, you were too busy making big movies, and coming in for a little cameo appearance. You were too busy walking on the dark side. I should have known when you referred to the Macho Man and the Total Package and me as three little dogs waiting for a chance to wrestle the great Hulk Hogan. I should have known when I looked into your eyes, but you know something I made a mistake. But you made a bigger mistake, because last night you wiped out and trashed every single little kid, every single person that was a part of your life, that patterned their life after you! You told them to believe in the man upstairs! You told them to say their prayers and to take their vitamins! You told them to believe in themselves and you know something? It’s a good thing you told them to believe in themselves, because they sure as heck can’t believe in you! And last and not least, to put the cherry on the top, all those little kids, you told them to stick it. No, you stick it Hulk.” 

Word. To be honest, based on Sting’s evidence, everybody really should have guessed that Hogan was going to be the third man. Did he actually make the little dogs comment? 

Gene tells Savage “you really got it stuck to ya”. That’s our Gene, he doesn’t mince his words. Savage says “I’ve got a message for Hollywood Hogan...”

“What I wanna tell ya, and I wanna do to ya, I can’t say on television, especially here at Disney.”

“But you take the worst thing that you can think about, and you multiply it by the number nine million, and then you multiply it by infinity and beyond...”

Yeah, Savage just quoted Buzz Lightyear in this supposedly serious promo.

“It would be just like one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert brother, because it’s  really really scary, what I’m thinking and gonna do to you, yeahhhh!”

Sting and Savage hold each other whilst Gene talks about emotions being high. 

We go to a break. I guess the Outsiders just... left? Oh, no, they’re just chilling with Gene.

Wait, what? Bischoff and Heenan are leaving puddles of piss on the floor and talking about not having enough security to handle these guys, and Gene is just standing around with them? Okay. Nash looks like he wants to give Gene a noogie. He totally should. I like how Nash is wearing a fanny pack. Was that cool in 1996?

Gene says that since the outsiders turned up, things in WCW have started to crumble, but he doesn’t think it will continue. Nash says he begs to differ. He says WCW took a beating at the Bash at the Beach, and the fans took a beating too. He says Hogan built professional wrestling and nobody appreciates it. He says next week the third member of the “New Order” will be at Nitro, and they’ll see what WCW can put up against them.

Hall says that this portion of Nitro is brought to us by the Outsiders and Hulk Hogan. He also calls Gene “chico”, which is something he’ll eventually stop doing. Believe it or not WWF sued over stuff like that, saying he was channeling the Razor Ramone character which belonged to the WWF and not WCW.

Hall says WCW should be begging them to come through the door. Gene brings up Jimmy Hart’s comment about him not having a job, again - really, Gene? This isn’t the time. Hall calls him “Scheme Gene” and says he’s got a job with the New World Order. I would have liked to have seen Mean Gene in the nWo. He turns it down flat by saying “I’ll continue to work for Turner Broadcasting”.

Gene asks where Hogan is, and Nash says he’s working on a movie. Hall says Savage is jealous of Hogan, and that Luger didn’t get hurt at the Bash at the Beach, he just fainted when he saw the Outsiders. Video evidence suggests otherwise, but okay.  

We cut back to Bischoff and Heenan. They show slides of the Bash at the Beach main event, including Hogan’s heel turn. They’ve been talking about it so often during the broadcast that this really isn’t necessary. Even if you hadn’t watched the fucking PPV you’d be able to describe the main event minute by minute just through the amount of times it was mentioned during this show. 

Heenan goes on a rant about how Hogan didn’t build wrestling, everybody else in the business did. Then the show ends. Anti-climactic. Why were Bischoff and Heenan so concerned about the Outsiders arriving, and there not being enough security? The pair of them were very quickly escorted back to their limo, with no issues, then had a brief interview with Okerlund before the show ended. Big deal.