#one could even call it profesional art

[zer0status]

Unfortunate development be like

(I know, it's beautiful right?)

[moonstarsunearth]

Watching the hotel room scene with Tashi and Art and more and more I feel that Art was the one trying to make this personal while Tashi wanted it to keep profesional. And I think he was doing this because he desperately wanted a reason to feel again something,to play and win. That is why he was asking :" tell me it doesn't matter if I win tomorrow? Tell me if you would love me no matter what" " I am playing for both of us". While Tashi is the one wanting to keep the things professionaly :" you are the professional competitor",it must matter to him,not her ,"it can't be about avoiding my judgement" " I am your coach,I work for you".

Until Tashi finally made it personal and told him about leaving him,but did it help? I don't think so,that is why they reacted in that way and why Art was so sad and crying and Tashi with feelings of unease,it didn't work. And we see it the next day,Art is still not feeling tennis,even if she told him that,we are not seeing even a little bit of 6 grand slam winner Art Donaldson in that match against Patrick. And I think that is one the reasons she called Patrick,not just because she lived tennis trough Art,or for not fulfilling her ultimatum,or to fuck Patrick,as she said she felt winning against Patrick as Art had never did before,he could feel confident again,feel tennis again and even if he retired,it would be in his terms. She is taking care as she said to Patrick in his car.

And Tashi felt resentful about this, because she had to do that,like we don't think about how humiliating must be for Tashi to ask Patrick to lose,to show how bad Art and she are,she is asking him to save them,but she was still willingly doing it because she cared. She said in the scene when they were watching the match Art lost that she couldn't do that for him,giving his confidence back,but she is still here trying.

I even think Art isn't even sure about the retirement,that is why he wanted a reaction from Tashi when he told her,like yeah he lost his passion for tennis but I think he also wanted to have it again,he is tired not just of tennis but feeling that way,he is in a losing streak because he lost his passion,after a surgery,the brutal ,demanding,consuming life of a elite tennis player and confidence issues but also it isn't just a cause -effect thing,but a vicious cycle where his defeats made him less confident, tired and with desire to give up and retire and then he loses again... If retirement is what he really wanted and Tashi isn't confronting him,when that must be his biggest fear,why Art didn't feel any type of release at all ?

I remember their first scenes and how Tashi asked him two times " what do you want?"in different tones ,she gave him the option of retirement or continuing being tennis player and he didn't answer really what he WANTED,may be he didn't even know. They are fighting with this battle for some time after the injury,the hotel room scene is the lowest point.

[snowrabbitz]

Analysis time!

iz

So this art has been in my mind for a really long time and even though it can just be an ‘introduction’ art for Kaiser I wanted to see If I could get something interesting out of it! (english isn’t my first language so sorry for the mistakes!)

So to begin with, Kaiser is in the spotlight meanwhile Isagis in the dark which can be seen as Kaiser being a worldwide know player as Isagi is just an unknown person. Kaiser’s football is old and used in comparision with Isagi’s almost new football which makes me think of two things: its a symbol of what Kaiser went thourgh to be were he is (which is what I personaly belive), because lets be honest, being a profesional player is not easy, you have go through many hardships and even then nothing is guaranteed so I my guess is that Kaiser really did have to climb his way to the top (it wouldn’t be a surprise since we have seen how youngs talents like Sae have been tested and maybe that is why he is so possesive with being the ‘top’ in BM) where Isagi’s career is just beginning or it could be symbol of how BL (Isagi’s football) is a new thing where Kaiser is the old and conventional way.

But things get interesting when you see the flowers: at first glance they’re blue roses which symbolize nobility and elegancy but there is two important meanings that I find curious: in japanese they can mean ‘a dream come true’ which lead me to the hardships that Kaiser lived but at the same time in some places means ‘ longing to attain the impossible ‘ since blue roses don’t exist in naturals ways so maybe Kaiser’s dreams is somethig that he just have in a superficial way BUT you can see how some roses are kind of purple bc of the light, blue and purple roses are related since they both means royalty and elegancy, the purple rose also means respect and admiration (maybe Isagi’s wish to became better than Kaiser?).

Last but not least, in Kaiser crown (can it be called that?) you can see that in the front it has a lock which lead me again at the superficiality of Kaiser’s success (trying to obtain something imposible like the blue rose) because he doesn’t have the ‘key’ to unlock it but does he really want? He is already one of the world new XI so what more does he wants?

Anyways, I just wanted to share this since its has been in my mind for so long and I have no one to talk about it:((

I really hope we get his backstory, I feel like there is so much to him that what we see now.

[dianight]

My very pretentious but totally correct take when it comes to the video games industry is that the atrocious state it is at the moment comes entirely from the fact that big companies care more about money than art.

Which might be like a “duh” moment for most in here, but in real life people do not put 2 and 2 together.

Why are lootboxes, battlepasses and subscriptions so prevalent? Are they important when talking about the state of the video game industry compared to say, 10-15 years ago?

---

Small tangent to talk about how one of my friends told me about how there’s a crossover thing between magic (card game) and lord of the rings. So there is an Aragorn card, and I was told “he’s black”. So my first thought was well he seems more red/white to me, but yeah he commands an army of ghosts so I can see it.

But it was black as in skin colour, not black as in mana colour. And then I was like, what does it actually matter. How is that even important.

---

So the overall point is, why do people care about (I believe it’s called) identity “politics” in games? Whether it’s a character skin colour, gender, sexuality, etc; how is it always, without fault, the thing that causes so called “controversies”?

Why is it that companies get away with insane work conditions, a misogynistic culture, predatory monetization models, layoffs when the company itself is doing great, and many other outrageous problems?

---

I see people playing the new diablo game, and it’s like. Terrible memory some people have.

Diablo 3 was a disaster until more than a year after launch. It was an always online game, totally unthinkable at the time. Diablo is mostly[1] a single player farming game, why would anyone need to log in to a server to play it? Well there was this thing called the real money auction house, where players could sell items to other players for real money. And it was terrible, because in the first weeks there were already bots flipping items (scalpers, basically). Eventually it was removed, but the always online remained.

The game had other problems that are less relevant, such as an overtuned late game, terrible balance (melee characters were inviable), terrible loot and a very, VERY mediocre story.

Moving on, other blizzard fuck ups include, among others:

Killing off any support for heroes of the storm, a moba that was relatively unpopular. They decided it was not worth putting money into it, fucking over many casual players and a few profesional ones.

Several lawsuits because the bosses literally can’t stop sexually harassing their employees.

Killing off any support for overwatch just to promise a PvE mode on overwatch 2. Releasing overwatch 2 with no PvE. Making an announcement that there will be no PvE in overwatch 2. Just because overwatch 2 has better (for blizzard) monetization.

Old expansion packs uses to include way more back in diablo II and starcraft. Now it’s just DLC after DLC with very little. This is “standard” these days, but it doesn’t make it any less shitty.

So, if you know all (or some) of these things, why would you give money to blizzard? At this point I just ignore when they release anything.

But “gamers” will see a new game and they HAVE TO play it. Like I am aware it can be a fun game. It probably is. But it is simply not worth paying for it.

---

How are we meant to preserve games (as an art form) when they are always online games that when the company decides are not giving them enough money get abandoned.

How are we meant to appreciate the story, visuals, sound design or gameplay when all of them are so influenced by how much money they can give to the company.

Games have to be released at X date > Features are dropped or incomplete or not properly tested > Game is terrible on release > Patches are put out (maybe) > Game is in a decent state, several months/years after release (optimistic).

All of this impacts every single aspect of a game. The story might be inconsistent, incomplete or simply bad because the writers didn’t have enough time for it. Or it was two people doing the job of five people.

Visuals are a big one, because as long as it looks shiny enough other problems can be ignored. That’s why there is such a big emphasis on graphics (games that are 100GB+ because of fancy cinematics) over everything else. But artists are affected by crunch culture too, and as far as I’m aware severely underpaid. I do think “AI”[2] it’s going to make it even worse by virtue of being cheaper, even if results are not good they will be good enough.

Sound desing can be monetized too. Make players pay for tracks. Copyright everywhere so it can’t be shared easily. I haven’t mention it but it applies to both visuals and sounds (artists), and that’s the fact that they are underappreciated profesions that are nonetheless vital for any entertaiment industry. Yet the trope about the starving artist is unfortunately true.

---

To finish off. We still get objectively good games every once in a while, usually from “indie” developers before they get popular, become a big studio and fall to their own hubris. Who are we kidding at best they get bought out by a bigger company and never release anything interesting again.

---

[1] A big part of diablo 2 was (is) the trading aspect of it and the community around it, but you could experience 100% of the game by yourself in single player mode.

[2] “AI” would deserve its own post, but my opinion on it (in short) is that it is simply a tool and any hate should be directed at capitalists that will use it to keep oppresing workers in new (not new) ways.

[peternelthorpe]

Criticism In Music

New Post has been published on https://wr1tepress.com/criticism-in-music/

Criticism In Music

A criticism, or “critique” as it is also called, refers to any kind of oral or written opinion, whether negative or positive, communicated to a perfomer by an instructor, judge, mentor, other musician or even non-musician. It is an evaluation of a performance that is shared to the performer by the evaluator. It is sometimes also shared with the public, such as in media, where, in this case, it is more commonly known as a “review” . You, as a musician, can become adversely affected in your morale and possibly even discouraged if you do not know how to properly deal with it. Any art, including music, is so close to the persons very essence that any criticism about it can hit home like a ton of bricks, even devastating an individual, believe it or not.

But criticism for the musician is inevitable. It comes with the territory of learning and performing music, from instructors, other musicians, admirers, fans, from all sorts of sectors. It is an inherent aspect of conservatories and music competetitions.

Technically speaking, every person has the right to express his/her opinion on anything. Oftentimes, people feel the need to express their feelings regarding anything in the arts. You hear it a lot with film and music. These can come off as either complimentary or critical.

If one receives a praiseful comment, such as how wonderful or moving their performance was, they should accept it, thank the originator and be genuinely proud that they could capture anothers heart with their aesthetic power. It is encouraging to hear such words, and rightfully so.

However, ANY criticism or advice, either negative or even positive, from a non-professional (non-musician) should be entirely and utterly ignored.

Regardless of whatever personal impact you created upon the listener, they are not the correct source for technical advice.

Example: A pianist is performing a Bach piece and gets carried away with the dynamics (loudness and softness of various notes).

After the performance, his friend, a non-musician whos dabbled in studying some music theory, praises him and advises him on how great the intensity on the dynamics was during the performance.

The pianist makes the mistake of taking this as technical advice (instead of just differentiating between that and praise).

He then enters a music competition where he performs the piece by getting carried away again on the dynamics.

He promptly gets flunked and loses the competition because this piece he was performing, of the Baroque era, does not feature any sort of extremity in dynamics.

When a musician receives professional criticism, however, it can oftentimes be contradictory. For instance, one authority may say how excellent ones pedaling is while another comments on how muddy it sounds. This can leave a musician with uncertainty and unnecessary confusion. A thing to realize is that profesional technical critiquing can sometimes be opinion-oriented. But, it can also very well be corrective. There is a way to deal with this.

A musician always truly knows his or her own areas of weakness. These become more prominent and the individual becomes more tuned and aware of them as time and progress goes on. One should always be able to take such criticism without becoming introverted or feeling harmed. When one gets any such critiquing, the first thing to do is take it into consideration and evaluate it for themselves. If one feels that criticism was incorrect, then they have a right to evaluate that accordingly. A musician should always maintain his/her integrity. Though, at the same time, they should be open-minded and willing to learn more and become better and better. There is a fine line between not going the effect of poor criticism and being stubborn and never learning anything.

Lastly, there are always those individuals in society who seek to squash and put down creative minds, whether out of jealousy, insanity or their own failures. This occurs in any of the arts. As a musician, NEVER allow anyone to do this to you, for their “criticism” is merely an effort to overtly and openly put you down, or to slowly and insidiously suppress you by sounding “helpful” . Disregard it and continue being creative and making music!

[tarlosprompts]

such a lonely heart

Prompt: “But, I have been very unhappy since you left. I just want to know what I can do to bring you home.”TK to Carlos

claimed by vic. 

I’m sorry I didn’t answer to your ask nonnie, but, tumblr isn’t letting me. I really wish I did justice to your prompt! I hope you guys enjoy is as much as I enjoyed writting it! 

(Inspired by this post)

read on ao3

TK and Carlos had an… interesting relationship, to say so. If anyone asked them about the other, they could answer that it was the best two years of their lives, with a nostalgic smile forming on their face.

They had the kind of relationship anyone wanted.

They cared for each other. Everytime one of them wanted to speak about something that was eating them alive, was trapping them inside their minds, the other could listen without second thoughts, whatever their day had turned into. They could guide and advice them if they wanted to, or they could just be there holding them (the physical touch was way important than actual words), reassuring them they would support them until the end of the line. If one of them was injured by the job, after being anxious all day until they see with their own eyes that their loved one was indeed okay, the other could take care of them, 'heal their wounds', treat them like their life was depending on it. Because, according to them, that is love.

They needed each other. Every time they could work on the same call, they could steal a small kiss or a quick hug from one another. After a lond day at work, the other could wait for them with open arms, a warm and intimately atmosphere surrounding the house. They had a home to come back to, a specific person to come back to. Because, according to them, that is love.

It was those moments. The small kisses they were stealing, the little hugs they were sharing. TK putting his forehead on top of Carlos' shoulder every time they interacted. Carlos putting a hand on top of TK's waste, holding him steady. The way their feet tangled once they went to bed. The "behind the back" hugs, touching their forehead on the others back, that made each other's heart run miles of marathons. Touching their foreheads when the other cried, either due to a hard day they had at work, or because they just needed to cry their heart out. Brushing their lips together, smiling teasingly before the actual kiss.

Saying the first 'I love you's' did take them a lot time. TK was scared of loosing him after he came across his own feelings, Carlos was afraid he might was pushing to far. So, they maybe hadn't said the words with ease, they were showing it with every move and touch they shared together.

However, according to most people, all good things must come to an end.

"I don't think I can do this anymore Carlos."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's just, our lack of work, the way I always have to worry if you'll ever come back, you worrying about me if I ever come back… it's too much for me right now!"

Carlos' gaze was blank and TK cursed the time and place Carlos had learned to hold back his face and body expressions because he really needed to know what the other man was thinking, "So what are you suggesting?"

"I think we should call it quits."

And then, just like that, TK was out of Carlos' life and Carlos was out of his.

The first two months had not been easy. TK was feeling many emotions at the same time, overwhelmed, but, he knew he could move on from this. He did in once the past, he could do it again. Although, Carlos was not Alex. Carlos was a unique kind of person. He was under TK's skin, a part from his heart, his own soul, was, and always will be with him. TK knew, he understood, that, which made the whole 'getting over Carlos' operation much more harder than he wanted to. Sometimes he even wondered why he ended thing, other times he caught himself ready to either text the man back or even call him, just to make sure if he was okay. He still cared about him, still kept wondering if Carlos had made it hope safely. I he was okay after a difficult call. Because that is love, and he knew it.

Months passed by, it became easier and easier for TK. He even went on calls without anxiety eating him alive, praying to whoever was listening to, not land on Carlos while he was there. Now the two men we very profesional with each other everytime they met, not letting a single feeling get in their way of doing their job right. That, for TK, was a big win.

TK knew what he was doing. He knew how to lock his feelings away, how to look away, where to yell, scream, punch. He was used to it, by now. He knew how to control or where to direct his emotions. However, what he heard next, still, caught him on guard.

"I though you and Carlos had broken up?!"

"He have, Mateo.", his tone was steady. He did not want to show his confusion on why did probie brought up one of the few things that used to make him still want to wake up to see the light of the sun the next morning, or how hard his heart was pounding now. He and Mateo were tasked to go and grab some supplies from the store that Paul needed to finish tonight's dinner. "Why are you asking?"

"Oh, nothing serious, I just happen to meet Carlos the other day and he was wearing on of our old AFD hoodies. You know, the black one with the hood? The first one we got when we were first recruited by your dad."

And that's when TK lost it, nearly dropping the things he was currently holding inside his hands.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yes Mateo everything's fine. Let's pay end get out of here."

The ride back to the station was quiet. TK kept his gaze on the road, not flinching once, while Mateo kept glaring at him occasionally. TK knew Mateo wanted to ask, he wanted to know, but, TK was beyond glad he did not bring the topic back into the light because, at this moment, he did not know how he would've react in the mention of Carlos. Even thinking his name gave him the chills.

000

It was past midnight. TK's mind was running marathons. He could not sleep. All he could think about was the conversation he had earlier with Mateo. All old feelings coming back with such a rush. As if they never left. Correction, they actually never left.

He was now sitting on his bed, his legs crossed, staring at his phone for the past fifteen minutes, debating if he should or should not. "fuck it", with a small sign he pressed Carlos' name and waited for the other man to pick up. The second he was about to give up-

"Hello?"

TK kept staring blankly sometimes at the wall across him sometimes at his own phone. He had not heard his voice, talking like this, without any trace of professionalism, for so long. He missed it.

"TK?"

TK cleaned his throat before speaking, "oh yeah, Carlos, hi. I'm sorry for calling you this late!", his voice yay more pitched and high than he wanted it to be, "it's late, again I'm sorry, I'll just hang up-"

"It's alright, I was not sleeping anyways."

Silence.

"TK? Are you still there?"

"Oh, yeah, yes! I know it might sound odd but, can we meet at the park in a bit?" he sounded so pathetic he wanted to punch himself in the face.

"Um, yeah sure?! See you in a bit."

After hanging up, TK let a sigh, feeling like the biggest weight had left his own body. Before he got up and started putting clothes on him, he stayed a few seconds laying on his bed, watching his dark sealing like a piece of art, his breathing steady.

000

When he asked Carlos to meet him in the park, he did not know the reason why. He did not believe the man could agree meeting him in the middle of the night, after being apart from each other, this long. He just wanted to see him. He just missed him.

"So…", Carlos was now staring at him. The two men were sitting on a wooden bench, silently watching the black sky, that was somethings changing colours due to the small light the stars were giving. It was a peaceful night. Not many cars where on the road. A small lamp was shining, making the darkness look a little less scary. Just a little. The world was sleeping and yet, TK was there, in the middle of the night, right next to the love of his life. If he could still call him that.

"I think it's time for me to go-"

"I miss you Carlos", he could not hold it back now, "I miss you so damn much. I thought by pushing you away, I could protect you from being hurt if anything happened to me. I though that if I pushed you away, I could protect myself from hurting. I thought I could move forward but, I have been very unhappy since you left. I just want to know what I can do to bring you back home. I need you Carlos! I've been dealing with all these emotions, trying desperately to hold them back, to avoid them. You mean so much to me Carlos. You're under my skin, the fuck can I do?"

Both men were crying. Carlos kept watching him, not saying a word, just, being silent. TK could not deal with it, "talk to me, please! Say something, yell at me!"

“We can’t keep doing this. It’s one way or the other. I love you to damn much but, if we’re going to do this thing, if we're going to try this again, it’s either all in or all out. I’m not going to just keep dangling for you.”

“It’s not that easy, I know...I love you too, and I want to be together. I want you more than anyone I’ve ever been with before.”. Not waiting for an answer and, without hesitation TK grabbed Carlos, bringing him for a watery kiss, not wanting to waste any more time. Carlos places his hands on his waste, bringing him close, deepening the kiss. Both tried to be as close as possible, tried to make up the time that was already missed.

"Just so you know, I know you've been wearing my AFD hoodie the months we were together." TK attempt to light things a little did not went the way he though, but, he was not complaining.

"In my defence, it was the only thing I had left from you. I did not know that to expect. It was my shield of armor. As you said, you're under my skin man, the fuck can I do?"

[livehorses]

Narnia fandom read-along: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.

Sorry for the delay, but I’ve been passing through spiritual rough times and I been feeling a little discouraged to do some things...but I don’t want to end the month without sharing my thoughts about this amazing book.

Favorite Quote from this book:

"Courage, dear heart"

My Lord! This quote means everything to me! When your worst nightmares chase you, when it’s dark and you’re afraid, suddenly a light immaculate white bird kindles the path for you, gives you comforting, hope, strenght and courage. And the way Aslan adresses Lucy as “Dear Heart.” shows how much Aslan loved her, even after she dissapointed Him with the magician’s book subject. That adressing melts my heart!

“This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

The quote talks for itself. ;)

Favorite Chapter:

Uhh... do I have to choose? I must say my favorites are the three last chapters which are: “The Beginning Of The End Of The World”. “The Wonders Of The Last Sea.” and “The Very End Of The World.” I got really excited with those narrations since they reach the beguinning of the end of the World. The tranquil, pasive, relaxing envirorment, the flowers floating in the water, the sweet water taste that you can drink without getting tired of it, but wanting more and more the more you drink of it, but that is not unsatisfying or frustrating, but one of the most pleasant experiences; wanting more without being wrong, a good methaphore of how can be thirsy of God’s love, that is more sweet and satisfactory than honey.

Another one would be “Eustace Adventure.” I must say I love Eustace’s character arc (and not character plot twist as I was wrongly saying before) and I loved the time he remained as dragon. Yeah, it was aweful in a way, but I believe Eustace as a dragon was more pityed and it is kinda cute. 

Favorite Scene:

Every scene in this book! Mostly the travelings on the sea. As I said before, the scenes when they arrive to the beginning of the end of the World, Eustace as a dragon and I will add the scene when Lucy sees the magician’s book. I’m thankful that in here, Lewis explores Lucy’s “weak” side. She’s a more relatable character because, when you’re not as popular or noticed like some people you know, despiting that you’re loved and have the valious supporting of good people, and you feel like your value is little, you can wrongly relate it with beauty aspects and try to pretend. I feel sorry for Lucy when she’s trying to be another Susan. But the scene is so powerful.

Another scene would be when Esutace is un-dragoned by Aslan. I love the parallels between him giving up their skin scales as we must give up material stuff to be free and ourselves. It’s also the relieving after receiving God’s forgiveness and Grace, and a good example to represent the Bautism.

Favorite Character:

As always my dear Lucy, more because here she’s so more relatable.

Then it would come Edmund, because he shows how much he has grown, how he tries to be a good king and to continue Peter’s work. 

Caspian of course, he is now a mature young boy that takes his tasks as king profesionally and responsibly. 

Reepicheep will be always one of my favorites (goodbye my little warrior T.T) I love how he always take risks without fear, how is loyal to the royal family and willing to die for them (and in some way he does.) 

Eustace, from the beginning I took Caspian’s thought of him: that he was funny. I’m not going to deny I was amused by his whimpy behavior and his tantrums. But most of all I love that in the end, he let Aslan to reach his heart and change him. He becomes so wise at the end, an endearing character decided to change, to help, to learn when at the beginning he wanted to give lessons, and I love his faith.

But if I’m truly honest, my favorite character was Lord Drinian, the Dawn Treader’s captain. He’s such an experienced sea wolf, so loyal and protective with his king, an expert of the sea and all that is related to it. And, a little stubborn too.. 

Overall Rating:

I must say, of all the Chronicles Of Narnia book series, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is my favorite. Can I say something more stronger please? I dare to say, my favoritest. It has all elements I love:

To begin it starts with a sea painting, it’s a journey across the sea. It has a story of characterized stars, starry nights, a “noble” dragon, my favorite characters, good christian messages,and has a great ending.

The ending scene has a lot the appearance of my favorite kind of days weather: a freshly breeze blowing into your face, a shiny Sun above, a pure clairly blue sky with no cloud in it, and calmy sea with noble wavings full of mermaids!

I like that there is no real enemy in the story. It’s only the characters traveling among many adventures in search of seven lords. It figures me like those Christmas mexican plays we call the “Pastorelas (Shepperdlies?)” That tells the story of the Bethlehem shepperds’ journey to the Manger. But the devil tries to distract them with his temptations so they could never reach their destiny.

So this book is like. Its characters travel among a sea full of dangers and temptations that can keep them away from the real course. But by Aslan’s Grace (as happens in pastorelas as well) they could make it to the end.

My rating: 11/10. A huge piece of art this book, an aesthetic book.

[jilipollo]

Naked Jilipollo

Pensé mucho en postear esta nota, que ya tiene algo de tiempo que la escribí pero en su momento había decidido dejarla en el olvido, por la paz. 

Desde que comenzaba a adentrarme en este mundo de la ilustración y en cierta medida del arte, escuchaba comentarios por todos lados acerca de los egos enormes que pupulan entre todos y cada uno de los ámbitos artísticos. Y ciertamente me he encontrado con varios casos así, pero vaya, nunca me he llegado a enojar, ni frustrar, ni odiar... por escuchar comentarios ególatras. Incluso siempre busco lo atractivo e interesante de cada argumento y lo utilizo, cuando es posible, a mi favor. De mi probablemente han hablado y, como dice el dicho, “que hablen bien o mal, pero que hablen” (¡hablen de mi por favor, necesito atención!). Y siempre había creído que la gente más grande y profesional, la que comenzó desde cero, auténtica y en verdad trabajadora es la que menos se molesta ni le importan hacer comentarios de ese tipo. Pero veo que siempre puede haber alguna excepción, puesto que supongo no todos tenemos esa misma esencia. 

Quizá les parezca a algunos este post repetitivo, necio, “ardido” o que busco llamar de alguna manera la atención. Tengo mis razones para haberme decidido a postearlo finalmente, y espero que el inglés no sea impedimento para comprender mis motivos... Disculpen si lo escribo en este idioma, pero tenía que ser así por el objetivo y naturaleza del mismo post.

I never really do this kind of things; I consider one shouldn’t make “enemies” unnecessarily, and I think I shouldn’t give my opinion more than what is strictly necessarily. But I think in certain circumstances I take the risk to harm my soul if I don’t express what I think and would damage my integrity. So I’ll say what I have to say carefully, I think hiding is a bad idea.

I got an email from a popular illustrator a while ago, where she basically claimed I was “stealing her style”. Her name is Yuko Shimizu, a Japanese illustrator based in NY. It certainly surprised me when I read it, and knowing about her popularity, well, it certainly made me feel insecure about myself and made me have my doubts about my work. So I was thinking about this situation over and over, remembrating all those things and situations that were forging and enhancing the way my work look like, what made me came up with my style and also my REAL influences. I also asked the opinion to a couple of Art Directors (who also knew her work) from NY and, honestly, they didn’t agree with her. So, I kindly replied to her email in the most proper, respectful and nice way I could and gave my opinion to her, which, of course, differed to what she wrote (if you’d like to read that post, click HERE).

I’ve already posted a few of the original great masters who used that simple but precise and elegant stroking (like Shunbaisai Hokuei), where I took a bit from it to use in my own style.

Ya había posteado algunos de los grandes maestros originales quienes utilizaban ese simple pero preciso y elegante trazo (como Shunbaisai Hokuei), de donde tomé un poco de ello para usarlo en mi estilo.

Some occidental classical painters from different art movements such as Impressionism, Fauvism, Art Noveau, etc. took that king of stroking and colouring technique for their own painting styles “La Modiste”, from Alexandre Charpentier.

También varios pintores occidentales clásicos de varias corrientes como el Impresionismo, Fauvismo, Art Noveau... retomaron este tipo de trazo y coloreado para sus pinturas. “La Modiste”, de Alexandre Charpentier.

I sent the email. I didn’t know what to expect... if there was something to expect. I started to check my social network and, just after I sent the email, I found a post on her Facebook fan page where she was talking about this “creepy” guy (me) who copies her work in every detail he could, and even the videos he uploads are made exactly “in the same” way she does (yeah, in the same way most of illustrators do, with a mobile). Then, just after that, I realized she blocked me from all her social media. Yes, really. I found this reaction a bit strange for her... age. But most important, I really thought it was very inappropriate to talk about me with all of her followers like that.

I hoped she eventually would reply my email at least, which I think was the most reasonable and respectful thing to do instead of saying those crappy things about me in the internet. I waited, and waited for weeks, but the email never showed up. By that moment I didn’t want just to know what she thought about my email. What concerned me the most was what she was posting about me, the fact to post it without telling her thoughts directly to me, and that she may continue doing it (I wouldn’t be able to know because she blocked me). As I never received a response, I decided to write another email to her, this time regarding this issue, which I think I had all the right to ask for. Again, everything with all due respect and in the best proper way in my limited English knowledge (Spanish is my mother language). Then, I finally had a response from her. If it can be called a “response”. It was an angry and bitter email where she told me she didn’t reply because my email was “counter-accusatory, dismissive, shunning, and condescending“... And just because there was one guy who didn’t agree with her, which apparently was a “punch” to her ego. It looks like she took all the negative adjectives she could find in a dictionary and throw them to my face. Well, just in case you read this one day Yuko, I think most of them certainly describes your attitude instead.

I think there are quite a few artists out there that has a more similar style as hers (...or maybe the other way around?) . I wonder if she complains with them the same way she did it with me.. Pienso que hay varios artistas que tienen un estilo más similar al de ella (¿o al revés?). Me pregunto si ella se queja de ellos de la misma manera que lo hace conmigo..

I also found it quite insulting and totally out of place from her to tell me I couldn’t have written an email in the way I did, and, above that, my English shouldn’t be that fluent, so probably somebody else have written it for me. Well, at least I was making an effort to make it understandable for her, right? Instead, when I invited her to read my past post in my blog, where I copy-pasted her entire email HERE about my first concerns, my real references and influences of my stroking style through facts, quoting great artists (which I am sure are also some of her influences), hoping she could understand and try to keep this in the best terms as possible, she just said she wouldn’t waste her time reading it. Is that fair? Then, after this other email of hers, I decided to ignore it and let it go once and for all. It obviously seemed she was just fatuous, vacuous, angry and trying to defame me in a bad way. So I thought this will take us nowhere. That was a while ago. Nevertheless, this situation has been somehow at the back of my mind all this time...

The reason why I’m posting this came after a friend of mine sent a screenshot of a post where she tells her followers somebody else made a similar illustration as one she previously made. 

This could be true, and that happens all the time with illustrators, but her work is indeed very similar to one from an illustrator colleague, “el Moreno”, who made it before hers. I know there are many works that look similar as somebody else’s work, and most of us have used other works as reference, but it’s a complete different, dishonest and kinda hypocritical thing to be openly claiming “I’m using her style” after looking at her illustration compared with my colleague’s one. So this encouraged me to openly write my thoughts through this way, my social media, just as she did when talked about me.

I hope this post could reach her and hopefully she finally could have some time to read it. Written in English with no “extra help” Yuko.

One last thing: in case you’re reading this, I don’t know if you claim to everyone you feel has a similar style as yours, which I still don’t understand why it bothers you so much instead of looking at it as a compliment, or if you only did this to me. Yuko, you shouldn’t be angry or jealous about somebody else’s work. I don’t think it’s necessary to be like that. Your work is very good too, and surely I have many things in my style that are different from yours and viceversa, which makes us different and unique. And that’s absolutely a great thing! Please stop telling people that “I’m stealing your style”. As I said, your work is great, but I’m not even a big fan of your work. I think you’re  underestimating my skills. And no, I won’t stop posting my work (and videos) on my social media, by the way.

I think the best way to finish my post is quoting the same phrase she wrote in her email: “If I get a reply from you, it’s great. If I don’t, then that’s that. No sweat. But I hope you think about what I wrote”. So, that’s my answer.

Si, a veces también escribo con seriedad, cuando es necesario. Animemos el momento con esta rola de Corine y sigamos chambeando, que hay que pagar estos malditos vicios y excesos.

PS. Compártelo por favor, eso me ayudaría mucho.

[2wnikiangel]

Ask game

Rules: answer 21 questions and tag 21 people. Because I always feel I little bit nervous, when I need to tag people I like or follow, I would like to see answers of everyone who found this game interesting!

Tagged by @kasielartist. If you don’t know her, just go to check her awesome arts. She’s very talented and I think we will hear about her more in the future. And she’s very kind and modest. Just a precious. :)

Warning: I love writing, so everything you’ll read by me is pretty long. Not Sorry.

Nickname(s): My father started to call me “Niki” when I was 4 years old and I’m so used to it, that I practically like it more that my real name. Some of my friends likes to call me “Angel”, because I like to help people. That’s why my full nickname is Niki Angel. And yes, my older sister calls me “špunt”, that’s a czech slang for “very small person”.

Zodiac: Acording to Horoscope, I am -- creative (yes), passionate (kind of), generous (yes!), warm-hearted (yes!!), cheerful (yes!!!), humorous (trying but failing), arrogant (well, yes), stubborn (more than anyone around me), self-centered (nope), lazy (ooooh), inflexible (yes, and I hate it) -- a summer and Sun child, Leo.

Height: Something between dwarf, human and elf -- 1.55 cm.

Hogwarts house: Traits: dedication, hardworking, fairness, patience, kindness, tolerance, modesty, loyalty and produced the fewest Dark wizards of all the four Houses. Who I am? I’m Jean Valjean Hufflepuff! I remember how sad I was like a kid when everyone thinked about me like a stupid person, just because I was in the Hufflepuff. But, after some time, I wear our colors just proud as other houses. Because we have nothing to be ashamed of! Just look at the traits! That’s something what can change the world in the most positive way!

Last thing I googled: Keanu Reeves. It was because in Czech republic he isn’t so popular and everyone around tumblr and youtube are just so crazy about him that I wanted to know why. Now I know and I watched two films yesterday with him in lead role.

Fave musician(s): I FREAKING LOVE MUSIC. My taste it’s pretty diverse. I wrote only favorite of every gender of music I listen mostly everyday, because otherwise we would be there for more than a week. When you click at the name of the artist(s) you can hear my favorite song made by them.

Kpop: Ultimate favorite is “TVXQ”. It was my first Kpop band back in 2007, when I started to listening Kpop. Then I love “VIXX” (+ “Leo” / “Ravi” / “LR)”, “4Minute” (+ “HyunA” / “TripleH” / “Troublemaker”) and “KARD”. Others I like to listen everyday:

Girlband: “2NE1″ (+ “CL”), “AOA” (+ “Jimin”), “BLACKPINK”, “Brown Eyed Girls” (+ “GaIn”), “CLC”, “EXID”, “Girl’s Day”, “Girl’s Generation” (+ “Taeyeon”), “Miss A”, “Red Velvet”, “Secret” (+ “Hyoseong” / “Jieun”), “SISTAR” (+ “Hyolyn”), “Stellar”, “T-ARA”

Boyband: “100%”, “B.A.P” (+ “Yongguk & Zelo”), “B1A4″, “BEAST”, “Big Bang” (+ “G-dragon”), “Block B”, “BTOB”, “BTS” (+ “Rapmoster” / “Agust D”), “EXO”, “GOT7″, “iKON”, “INFINITE”, “JJCC”, “MBLAQ”, “MONSTA X”, “Nu’est”, “SHINee”, “SS501″, “Super Junior”, “U-Kiss”

Solo: “Ailee”, “BoA”, “DEAN”, “HOLAND”, “Hyoshin”, “Jessi”, “Sunmi”, “YEZI”

Rock / Alternative: Tie between “Panic! At the Disco” and “The Score”. Their music helped me on every exam on university and inspireted one of my biggest Les Mis fanfic project (I think it will be done next spring). Others: “8 graves”, “30 Second to the Mars”, “Billie Eilish”, “Against The Current”, “Coldplay”, “Disturbed”, “Evanescence”, “Fall Out Boy”, “Five Finger Death Punch”, “Get Scared”, “grandson”, “Hurts”, “Imagine Dragons”, “Linkin Park”, “MISSIO”, “Nine Inch Nails”, “One Republic”, “Set It Off”, “SIAMÉS”, “Starset”, “The Cab”, “Thousand Foot Krutch”, “The Neighbourhood”, “Twenty One Pilots“, “Digital Daggers”

Classic: Favorite is our composer “Bedřich Smetana” His Moldau is still one of my favorite piece of work. Then “Beethoven”, “Mozart”, “Vivaldi” and “Wagner”.

Cover: Because this talented people matters too! “Chase Holfelder”, “Nick Pitera”, “Peter Hollens” and “ZEK”.

And many, many, MANY soundtracks and instrumental music for games, films, series, original works, etc.

Following: Les Misérables and Ao no exorcist artists, writers and fans. Some psychology blogs too.

Followers: 10! And I really appreciate it. I’m still new to tumblr, not so active and my fanfiction writing is still on start. Hope, maybe after some years, I will have more thank to my works.

Song stuck in your head: “Imagine Dragons songs battle - Peter Hollens vs. Chase Holfelder”.

Amount of sleep: 2-4 hours per day. I’m so used to live under pressure, stress and lack of sleep, that’s is weird to sleep more than 4 hours. That sometimes happens on holidays, 1-2 times in year. And I seriously don’t remember how much sleep I’m getting. Maybe 8 or 9. Irony -- I love sleeping, but we have some love-hate relationship.

Lucky number: 13. Stuck with me from my middle school years.

Do you get asks: Actually - no. And I need you to know, that I’m absolutely okay with them. So if you want to ask something or just chat or you have problem and want to help, just messege me. I’m open to everyone.

What are you wearing: Red summer dress. (And, yes, I’m not one of the fashionable person you want to know.)

Dream job: Soldier! But... Well, I’m too small and not 100 % healthy so I must give up this dream when I was 14 years old and my doctor told me that I will never be a soldier. It was pretty hard for me back then, but I decided to work for police in Special Victims Unit with focus on sexual abuse on children. I’m slowly getting there thank to studying and hard work!

Instrument(s): I played piano profesionally for 10 years. I stopped after some time on highschool because I could no longer attend courses in my town. I can still play it, but don’t have piano or keyboard at home, so I sometimes play on train stations just for the nostalgy. BUT! I want to buy my favorite piano for 30. birthday. Hope I will save the money, I have 7 years for it. OH, and I can play some songs on quitar.

Language(s): Motherlanguage is czech, so is absolutely normal for me to understand slovak. I speak english, even thoughs I have C1 certificate, I’m nervous and can’t speak or write without shaking, sweating and making stupid mistakes. I learned german on middle and high school, but can’t say a shit practically anything in this freaking language. When someone ask me something in croatian, polish or russian, I mostly understand but I blame it on Slavic roots. And I’m learning french for 6 months now, because I always wanted to speak and understand this language.

Fav song(s): “Hurricane by 30 Second to the Mars”! Mentioned already in the “Favorite musician(s)” ask.

Aesthetic: piano sheets, coffee, blue color, literature, music, theather, optimistic thoughts, deep thoughts, dogs, family, friends, love... <3

Random fact(s): My lucky number is 13, so 13 random facts about me!

MY FAVORITE book is “The Picture of Dorian Gray”; musical is “The Phantom of the Opera”; anime is “Yu Yu Hakusho”; manga is “Ao no Exorcist”; film is “The Shawshank Redemption"; series is “Game of Thrones” but not the season 8; band is “TVXQ”; color is blue in any shade; season is autumn; dogbreed is “Czechoslovakian woldog” and icecream with flavour of citrone or pistachio.

My biggest dream it’s make everyone on this world happy, satisfied, loved and accepted.

I’m coffe AND tea person. I can’t choose what I love more!

I love cleaning the house while listening (and stupidly dancing and falsely singing) to music.

My life motto? “Freedom. Beauty. Truth. Love.” Bohemian all the way!

I’m pretty shy and don’t talk much at first. I like to be around people, don’t get me wrong, but mostly I’m a listener. That’s maybe why I love writing so much.

I already know what song will play at my funeral! It’s “Lacrimosa from Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart”.

I’m romantic! If you’re my parnert just prepare to be woke up with your favorite breakfast, we will watch your favorite series and talk about it all the time, I will plan our vacation just to make sure it will be unforgettable for you, I will buy your favorite perfume, I will DIY presents for you, I will respect and love you with all my heart, I will praise your work, I will learn about your hobbies and support them... Yeah, my friends call it’s “annoyingly submissive” but who cares? That’s just me.

Even thought what I wrote here (^8.) - I fall in love only one time in my whole life. It was 2 months after my 18. birthday. He was tall, black-haired cishet man, witty, inteligent, humourus, gently, ironic, sarcastic and beautiful human being. And he’s my boyfriend for 5 years now and we have awesome 1 year old daugher. 

I studied law and public administration in highschool and criminology on university. In Semptember this year (2019) I’ll start my master’s degree for public safety and 2 years long psychology practice. After this I’ll go to work and start my distance learning of psychology (A/N: 3 years for bachelor + 2 years for master + 4 years for doctor + 2 years of another practive - then exams and only AFTER ALL OF THIS you can become a psychiatrics with your own office! That’s why I wanted start studying this subject AFTER my police graduation).

I have emepthophobia - abnormal and very strong fear of throwing up. This is why I eat only things I know for long time (no raw meat, no sushi, no experimental cusaine); I don’t like eating at restaurants (I’m afraid that some guest can get nauseated and start throwing up); I don’t go to amusent parks and never was (and I'll never be!) on their attractions; I am abstinent (Don’t try to force, seriously); I don’t like to be around drunk people; I hate hospitals and doctors (even thought a deeply respect them, but try to get the tube into my mouth ONE MORE TIME AND WILL DESTROY ALL YOUR BLOODLINE) and I HATE films when they put throwing up like “comedic” aspect (mostly American comedies. That’s why I don’t watch them.). Actually, just writing it down makes me anxious because I imagine all the things I’m writing and it’s horrible... (I needed to stop writing, calm myself for like half a hour and even after this I didn’t wrote everything that I hate about this phobia).

I’m demisexual but still don’t see myself as a part of the LGBT+ comunity. Maybe because when I come out some friends of the comunity (namely gay, lesbian a trans female lesbian) they say that “demisexuality is nothing compare their fight for rights” and it’s “just another heterosexual made-up thing for which don’t want sex or want to judge others who love sex with no relationships including”. That’s why, when someone ask me why I support LGBT+ so much and have so many friends of them, I’m saying that I am a “Straight Ally”. Even though I know it’s not all the true (because I don’t identify myself like heterosexual at all), I just don’t fell I need to explain or “come out” like some others. I just live with it and I’m happy. To all demisexuals: Don’t ever think you are weird. You aren’t! You can fall in love. You can feel aroused. You can have fuctional relationship with no sex or sex including. You don’t need to have anyone to be happy. Just like have a family, child/children, husband/wife and be sometimes excited to be touched by your loved one(s). You can love or hate hugs. You can found someone attractive just INSIDE and be happy with it. Every demisexual it’s different. But still matters. Don’t ever think about to be ashemed by your sexuality. It’s your thing and NO ONE can’t say a shit about it.

Yeah, and I beat cancer when I was 17 by the way. And still not 100% healthy but living.

Thank for tagging and hope you found it interesting!

See you next time, maybe with my another Les Mis fanfiction!

[schoolaccounforschoolstuff-blog]

The world maturity and common sense.

Here we are... Yet again. As you know we now have a tradition where you must consume something while reading this blog. Last time we had cookies. Wine before that. Tonight we shall experiment with a sandwich. Why? Because it is a genius invention. 2 pieces of bread with sausages,  cheese, letuce and occasionally butter. Why? Because when sandwiches were first invented people probably thought it was stupid. It probably took time as any other invention does for it to become acceptable to the public. Sandwiches for example, are currently one of the most common dishes for students. For instance when I have a snack, I will probably buy myself a sandwich. Why? Its cheap and not ramen, so there is no danger of poisoning yourself. 

WORLD MATURITY

There are many instances of things only now being acceptable for the public. For example:

- the idea of women voting used to be ridiculous

- gay marriage

I could go on forever. All of these things are now part of our everyday lives. We take them for granted. But there has always been one thing that was never really accepted by the public. It never reached its potential. That thing is video games.

Now I know what you are thinking. “Oh come on. You listed all of those important things and now you are talking about something that is just for kids. Everybody knows videogames make you violent (maybe I spelt that wrong).”

Videogames are an art. It takes many years to develop them. They are a mixture of all other arts put into one. For a game to be good you need: - a good storyline - excellent audio effects - have beautifull graphics. Those are just some of the things you need. Found any similarities to other arts? The storyline is usually written in books. The audio effects come from music. The graphics come from drawing. And on top of all that you need to make sure the gameplay is good. Now you see it takes a lot more then you might think to make a good game.

So why do videogames have such bad reputation?

Many say they make you violent and then they list all the school shootings ever to happen. Some even mention how some kids were able to shoot perfectly, when they never had a gun in their hand beforehand (see what i did there? Oh ok.) That is simply an effect we call ..... I totall forgot the name. Let me grab a sandwich before I explain it to you. Ok. The effect I am talking about occurs anywhere. It is when you learn something by simply watching somebody else do it. You could say they knew how to shoot because of movies. Heck. News even. But no. It is the videogame’s fault (that apostrophee is a bit missplaced). The violent part is totally not true. Sure there are games like gta or call of duty where you bassicaly comit crimes or kill people, but you have to be a really special idiot of a parent to buy your 9 year old son a game which was rated to be for people by the age of 16 and up. Also. Not all games are about shooting. There are no bad guys. There is just - the player and an objective. Even the fps games (first person shooters) do not make you violent more over they make your anger management better. Why? Well sometimes there are players who purposely tease you and try to get you mad. Playing with them makes you learn to control yourself and focus. To a lot of people games are a place where they can relax, hang out with friends and just have fun. 

Even if all of these things would be accepted by the public, games would still not be treated right. If I tell you there are actual profesional players who make a living out of playing games and have milions of fans, you are probably going to burst out laughing. It is true. Tournaments do exist. In the year 2012 a whole football stadium was filled for a tournament. And the tournaments are growing every year. To gamers these things arent just games. They are a part of their life. They cherish them. Often times tournaments are a lot more interactive then any other sports tournaments and the people who watch them are from 10 years old to over 50, heck there is a 70 year old playing games. 

Why am I writing this?

Because I am worried. Though videogames are growing bigger every year, they are not growing at the rate they can. I believe this can become part of our daily lives just like football. But when will this happen? It might even happen I will not be there for it.

Well that is the end of our daily discusion. Sorry it wasnt amusing as the previous ones.

So here is the entry in 50 words more or less.

I went to school, had classes and came home.

Grabed myself a sanwich and did my homework.

Procrastinated and played piano.

At last I showered and wrote this blog.

This was 29 words. Damn, I must be hungry. I am going to go grab myself a sanwich and go to sleep. So should you.

[piuswong]

Improv for Ideation

Thanks to a really fun SXSW workshop that my colleague Rachel and I ran back in March, I'm ready to explore more. First of all, I wrote and released a reference book called Engineer's Guide to Improv and Art Games, which STEM profesionals or educators can use to learn about some design methodologies and the games or exercises that can help you practice them. That book was a great exercise in summarizing everything I'd been thinking about in this area up to that point.

Second, I'm now really investigating running in-person professional development workshops for engineers and educators locally in Austin and maybe around Texas. There's definite interest in improv for STEM locally that I didn't see even a year ago, and with the right partners it could work out. If you're interested, please let me know, or sign up for my mailing list on the topic for my studio Pios Labs.

One of the art games that we played at the SXSW workshop was something called "Exquisite Corpses," which my brother and a former coworker both separately showed me years ago. The variation we played had small teams gather around their tables to collaboratively generate series of alternating drawings and text captions, back and forth. It was a game to have people (1) overcome any self-consciousness or anxieties about their sketching abilities, (2) try generating both visual and verbal ideas under some time pressure, (3) play well with a team, and (4) have fun. I've been playing this for years, with friends, in a bar with classmates, and at work when needing to refresh brains, and it always results in hilarity. I started a running archive of these things on Imgur.

(taken from http://www.piuswong.com/proj_improvengineers.html)