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lizziempress · 7 months

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Custom Emoji Design

If you can draw, you can design engaging emojis. While illustration rules are sometimes better broken, there are proven methods that will produce effective emojis.

I enjoy receiving emoji and sticker requests. At Home Brew Agency, I’ve created artwork for major entertainment properties, including Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, The Curse of La Llorona, Blockers, Mama Mia!, The Croods: A New Age, The Animaniacs, The Suicide Squad, SCOOB!, The Conners, 2019 CMA Awards, Trolls World Tour, and Abominable, to name a few. Let’s talk about what it takes to build a solid design that is ready to go live.

1. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Anyone may submit a proposal for a new emoji to the Unicode Consortium. However, only a small percentage of these submissions will be encoded.

Don’t allow yourself to be discouraged. Believing in your potential is essential. Equally important is the ability to weather rejection. That is an inevitable part of following any creative career path.

Fortunately, there isn’t only one platform by which emojis enter the world. Great clients may call upon you to illustrate emojis for exciting properties. The marketing departments of major films and TV shows love to feature their characters as custom Twitter emojis, Facebook stickers, GIPHY stickers, and Apple Store sticker packs.

Don’t have a client base yet? Then this is the perfect time to build a portfolio. Or, upload your set to a creative market site to offer your indie designs and build up your fan base. Just keep going.

2. RESPECT THE SPECS

Many clients and platforms will have strict specs for you to follow. The client may provide a document detailing the nuts and bolts of what they’ll need. Dimensions, file format, vector vs. bitmap, style, etc. If they don’t present a set of specs, ask for one.

It doesn’t hurt to do a little research first. Then you’ll be able to ask informed questions such as “Would you like this to be delivered as a 1x1 transparent PNG at 72dpi?” or “Will the platform requires that we deliver the original vector file?” Twitter will require you to submit vector files with a 1x1 aspect ratio. GIPHY stickers, however, have slightly different requirements. Ignore this at your peril. If you don’t design the file correctly, you will likely face building it over again. Don’t waste your time (and the client’s time). Do it right from the start. You’ll probably need that time to handle the client’s design revisions.

3. TELL A STORY

Emojis are a bit like contemporary hieroglyphics. This medium is all about communication. What is your emoji’s intended message? Make sure your design’s message is abundantly clear. Of course, we all know certain emojis have double meanings (particular fruit come to mind). But even in that case, make sure the drawing of your eggplant reads as an eggplant, not as a random oblong object. It is helpful to check out Emojipedia. Not only will you be able to study the wide variety of styles created to differentiate between brands, but the meaning of each emoji is listed. https://emojipedia.org/

4. THINK CLEAN

If you approach emojis like a logo designer tackles a new icon, you’re on the right track. Designing impactful, legible illustrations that register at a small size is your primary goal.

Twitter emojis always work best when they are simple. For most characters, stick with a head shot. Clients will want a distinctive representation of their character. The tendency is to yearn for detail. But remember, this isn’t a portrait painting. Do your best to use as little information as possible while still achieving a good likeness. Once you add shoulders and limbs, you’re in sticker territory.

Stickers are a unique category. You may view the Wonder Woman stickers ©2017 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved TM & © DC Comics that I illustrated at Home Brew Agency at the Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wonder-woman/id1241224506

As you can see, stickers provide more real estate for detail and depicting action. When you submit a figurative drawing that is complex, the face will probably become too small to read within a line of text. If a hand or other extra detail is required to express a specific emotion or action, enlarge the head (think cartoon proportions) to accommodate. Too many details will become a muddy mess once the emoji is live. Bold and concise is best.

5. SKETCH IT FIRST

As with all illustration projects, a few minutes of thumbnail sketches in the beginning, will save you hours in the end. Work out the kinks and discover the design challenges now, before you take the time to build out a polished finish.

Show your favorite concepts to the client. They’ll have ideas from there. Entering the second round of sketching is still faster than repeatedly editing a finished illustration. Thumbnails don’t need to be perfect. This is the stage when you and the client get to experiment with concepts.

If this is a personal project, ask some friends what they think of your thumbnails. There are also online design hubs like Dribbble, where you may get feedback from other artists and professionals. You will become a stronger artist and more resilient to critique.

4. TIME YOURSELF

Have I ever gone straight to a finish (without a sketch)? In a few cases, when a client’s request was unambiguous, and the turnaround was ultra-tight, yes. Entertainment advertising deadlines are no joke. I fondly call these assignments emoji emergencies.

However, rushing will often lead to mistakes. Mistakes cost money. I wouldn’t recommend skipping the sketch phase or blasting through a finish if you can help it. Don’t be afraid to communicate this to the client, either. You’re the artist. You know your capabilities.

Time yourself on a trial run if you aren’t sure. Does it take you less than an hour to build a representation of a flower or a symbol, but triple that amount of time to draw a face? How long does it take you to create a collage of three celebrity likenesses? Be open about your production timeline with the client. Why not share a sample chart with your work and how long each piece took you to create? This way, everyone involved can plan adequately.

5. VECTOR IS YOUR FRIEND

If you aren’t already in love with the magical world of infinite scalability, get comfortable using a vector-based illustration program now. Specific platforms (such as Twitter) will require it. When you scale a vector image file, there will be no loss of quality. Due to the need for responsive artwork capable of adapting to varying screen sizes, vector files are necessary for modern design.

I recommend that you build vector art from scratch. Should you chose to skip ahead by using image trace, be prepared to do clean up work. Diligently remove any excess information you don’t genuinely need. The fewer points you use, the smoother your curves will be. As for texture, you can produce a lot of incredible imagery and depth within a program such as Adobe Illustrator. A quick google search will fill in your knowledge gaps. Just remember to economical with your choices early on so that future edits will be a breeze.

6. TEST & SHARE

Now that your polished emoji is ready for its debut — test it. Consider mocking up your emoji in a line of text for your chosen platform to avoid any mishaps. That way, both you and the client will know how well it will work in reality. Share a sharp, full-size preview of your working file with your audience as well. Though it will appear significantly smaller when live, we are here to make beautiful representations of characters and emotions.

7. CELEBRATE

Emoji development is a rewarding challenge. Enjoy the sense of accomplishment and share your work with the world. I look forward to seeing your creations go live!

#custom emoji #emoji design #illustration #art career #freelancing #stickers

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providencecomicsconsortium · 6 years

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We are still looking for more kids for the Olneyville Comics Classes. And we are making gifs!

Also feel free to drop in on Washington Park Library too!

#providence comics consortium #olneyville library #risca #washington park library

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ultimatespideypoolfan · 3 years

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This comic piece should have been a sequel that should’ve been canon. It’s non-canon anyway. The “Hero times two” comic should take place after the Gen Rex finale where Rex cured every EVO in his world, Rex got his Providence room back, after several days of fighting new non-EVO supervillains villains! As a fun fact for this comic, according to Gen Rex's Fandom Wiki VK & the Pack escaped with Black Knight and the Consortium in the finale at the same time when every EVO is curing, might be been in Ben's dimension (With the exception of Black Knight and the Consortium). So Rex hunted the Pack at Ben's dimension.

#ben 10 #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 ultimate alien #generator rex #crossover #comics #ben tennyson #gwen tennyson #kevin levin #rex salazar #bobo haha #headcanons #my headcanons

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carotidartistry · 5 years

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COVID and the Arts

The existence of algorithm-driven, non-chronological "timelines" is very bizarre right now. On my Facebook feed, I see posts from March 10 talking about starting the second week of previews or celebrating good box office returns. On March 12, my job ceased to exist, as did the jobs of hundreds upon hundreds of people as an entire industry shuttered over the course of one day.

The cancellations and closing of events and arts/entertainment venues, while important for public health, have left many people (who earn on a gig basis rather than salary) very suddenly and entirely without expected income. There is no work-from-home option, just their job disappearing entirely. Some people will be able to collect unemployment insurance, but many won't even get that, as they work as independent contractors who are paid a fee for work delivered or vend their goods directly to customers at such events.

This is a tough time for arts/events organizations and those who work them (which includes not just artists but all of the ushers, custodians, etc. whose work is tied to the event itself). I'm compiling ways to support those who have been impacted (pass-the-hats for donating to individuals, funds that are accepting donations, ways to purchase people's goods/services, etc.) and resources for those who have been impacted. The industry community is coming together in a heartening way right now, but it would mean a great deal to me if those not in the industry could take a moment to glance through and maybe even to share this information. Even if you can't make any sort of donation yourself, it means something to have this hardship be seen and acknowledged.

Additionally, if you have tickets to events that have been canceled and don't immediately need your funds returned, I encourage you to wait a bit before reaching out to the theater/venue/etc.. Box office workers have been overwhelmed. And particularly if it was a ticket for a non-profit or grassroots organization, if it's possible, I'd encourage people to consider donating the cost of their ticket rather than demanding a refund.

While I'm aware that there are many people in many sectors taking a hit right now, I am putting my focus on where I am and would like to keep that the focus here. Please share any relevant updates, additional resources, etc..

Support Those Who Have Been Impacted

A general pass-the-hat for individual theatre workers (updated daily): I Lost My Theatre Gigs

“The Indie Theater Fund is launching this fundraising campaign to provide direct support and emergency relief to independent theaters and artists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” https://www.facebook.com/donate/509591526599992/509604039932074/

NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund: "We seek to provide support for low-income, BIPOC, trans/GNC/NB/Queer artists and freelancers whose livelihoods are being effected by this pandemic in NYC. Whether it's from cancelled gigs, lost jobs, or a lack of business due to coronavirus scares, we hope to orchestrate an egalitarian approach to crowdsourcing." [Note: their funding applications are currently closed as they make sure that they have enough resources to cover the 500 people who have already applied.] https://www.gofundme.com/f/nyc-lowincome-artistfreelancer-relief-fund

"The Philadelphia Performing Artists' Emergency Fund was created amid the COVID-19 outbreak to assist performing artists whose income has been impacted by show cancellations, slowing ticket sales, and/or low turnout during this pandemic." https://www.gofundme.com/f/philly-performance-artist-fund

"The Boston Artist Relief Fund will award grants of $500 and $1,000 to individual artists who live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)." https://www.boston.gov/artistrelief

Boston Music Maker Relief Fund: "Small grants of up to $200 will be paid rapidly on a first come, first served basis to affected artists and groups. Please see grant guidelines below. Donations will be accepted from individuals and corporations in order to replenish the fund and continue making payments to eligible music makers in the queue. The Record Co. is covering all admin/processing costs so 100% of every donation goes directly to music makers in the community. Please consider donating using the form below or contact [email protected] to get involved.": https://www.therecordco.org/relief

Durham Artist Relief Fund: "Funds donated here go directly to artists and arts presenters in Durham who have been financially impacted by cancellations due to COVID-19, with priority given to to BIPOC artists, transgender & nonbinary artists, and disabled artists": https://www.northstardurham.com/artistrelief

Emergency Relief Fund for Artists During COVID-19 (Minnesota): https://www.givemn.org/story/Epf3ag

Opera San José Artists and Musicians Relief Fund: “This emergency cash reserve will allow us to provide support to the musicians, singers, carpenters, stitchers, designers and other hourly company members that make our productions possible and who will be deeply affected by COVID-19.”: https://operasj.secure.force.com/donate/?dfId=a0nf400000QZ7hKAAT

A pass the hat for individual SXSW workers: "Update 3/10: We have received over 400 submissions - thank you! We are working diligently to verify each submission and get them posted. As of today, the total amount of reported income lost is $2,108,835. Your stories are heartbreaking but we know them all too well. We appreciate you, we see you, and we love you, Austin. Hang in there." https://www.ilostmygig.com/

2020 ECCC Artists Alley: An unofficial compilation of Eccc2020 artist alley online shops. Browse the goods of artists who won't have the opportunity to sell directly to their anticipated customers: https://ecccartistalley.tumblr.com/

Artists Alley Online: A directory for some of the artists who would have been at Emerald City Comic Con (March 12-15, 2020) had it not been moved due to the corona virus. https://artistalleyonline.com/

Shoutout to the theaters who have suspended performances but are still paying their artists in the interim. These have been reported to include: Ars Nova (https://arsnovanyc.com/), Geffen Playhouse (https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/), WP Theater (https://wptheater.org/), Soho Rep (https://sohorep.org/), Playwrights Realm (https://www.playwrightsrealm.org/), New York Theatre Workshop (https://www.nytw.org/), Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (https://www.rattlestick.org/), the McCarter Theatre (https://www.mccarter.org/), Parity Productions (https://www.parityproductions.org/), and Second Stage Theater (https://2st.com/). (sources: https://twitter.com/diepthought/status/1238194781437734912?s=19, direct email from Second Stage)

More who have been named are the Public Theater (https://publictheater.org/), Transport Group (http://transportgroup.org/), Vineyard Theatre (https://www.vineyardtheatre.org/), and Lincoln Center Theater (https://www.lct.org/). (source: https://twitter.com/westratenick/status/1238847988262453248)

Please consider giving those organizations (and any others who are doing similarly) your support if/when you're able to.

Resources for Impacted Arts/Entertainment/Events Workers

Freelancers & Community Resources 2020: Resources centered for artists and those impacted by gigs being canceled/postponed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xt1QZlGsyga_HrXagubV9O0rebV5dx4DuMOd2sWvWwc/edit

COVID-19 & Freelance Artist Resources: https://covid19freelanceartistresource.wordpress.com/

NYFA Emergency Resources: "Artists who experience personal hardship or who are impacted by a large-scale disaster, or who need funding for a last-minute opportunity can find critical resources in NYFA's Emergency Resources Directory.": https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Emergency%20Resources

The Indie Theater Fund: "Rapid relief grants of up to $500 will be awarded to support our community, prioritizing the consortium of companies, venues, and individuals working in NYC independent theater (Off-Off-Broadway in theater houses of 99 seats or less), operating with budgets under $250,000. We will award grants on an on-going basis until our funds run out. Grants can be requested via a simple online application and will be reviewed on a first come first serve basis.” https://forms.gle/pLm7bLhKQE8AbpDn6

Send your information to "I Lost My Theatre Gigs": https://ilostmytheatregigs.squarespace.com/

Philadelphia Performing Artists' Emergency Fund: Emergency Funds can be requested by any Cabaret, Drag, Burlesque, Theater, or performance artists facing a financial hardship caused by COVID-19. Performance artists who need aid can apply here: https://forms.gle/SwsMERPM1CTivFyc7

Boston Artist Relief Fund application: https://cityofbostonartsandculture.submittable.com/submit/af2153eb-2d87-4e9d-9ebc-5861eb135999/boston-artist-relief-fund

Boston Music Maker Relief Fund application: https://therecordco.typeform.com/to/w6wTkF

Durham Artist Relief Fund application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEJKTP91h5e7MuUITHj96J6eKWeZjgVLZjLG4Wp-WMhyQ4mg/viewform

SXSW workers send your information to "I Lost My Gig" here: https://www.ilostmygig.com/

#theater #theatre #off broadway #opera #sxsw #eccc #eccconline #freelance artist #freelance artists #nyc #boston #philadelphia #durham #covid-19 #coronavirus #covid 19

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docgold13 · 4 years

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365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out Villains - One Villain, Every Day, All Year…

July 28th - Mirror Master II Evan McCulloch has been the second villain to operate under the name of The Mirror Master. He grew up in an orphanage in Scotland. Following traumatic experiences in his childhood, McCulloch went on to become a hitman. In a cruel twist of irony, McCulloch ended up accepting a sanction that led to his assassinating his own biological father. Later, McCulloch was recruited as a mercenary by a governmental consortium in the United States that protected the interests of large-scale businesses. McCulloch was provided with the costume and weaponry of the original Mirror Master and was assigned to assassinate Animal Man (whose activism was disrupting the cattle industry). McCulloch decided to break away from this consortium when they asked him to kill Animal Man’s family. He then operated on his own as the new Mirror Master, ultimately falling in with The Rogues and battling The Flash (Wally West). A version of McCulloch has appeared in The Flash television series where the character is portrayed by actress Efrat Dor. The second Mirror Master first appeared in the pages of Animal Man #8 (1989).

#365 DC Comics Villains #DC Comics #Mirror Master #The Flash #The Rogues #Efrat Dor #Animal Man #cut-out #paper art #DC Villains

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safrona-shadowsun · 4 years

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Loose Ends

It was an unbelievably relieving sign to see the habit of emergency requests fade from her chatterstone. Azeroth's finest had fought back against the odds somehow amidst a meltdown between the Factions, and the excess of N'zoth's corruption was finally under control with the Old God's proverbial and literal gates closed.

Safrona poured a drink tonight to The Earthspeaker, Magni Bronzebeard, who many owed their lives, minds, their very souls to. Had the glorified man-diamond not organized Azeroth from it's own impending wars, she could only have assumed there would be many more absorbed from reality, the face of Azeroth irriversibly changed forever. Diamonds were truly a girl's best friend.

The act itself of pouring a drink was comforting as ever, pulling her mind away from the truth of the sheer amount of existential disaster Azeroth had managed to survive from one year to the next. It was often best not to dwell on the scars left on the body, or the burdens created of what had been seen on the mind. The taste of the vintages provided livened the tongue, and some burned down the throat, reminding the body to be here, in the moment, while some helped to relinquish the soul of what weighed them down to better move on to the next day. Considered a lobbying point for the funerary home her fiance tended in the daytime, most came in the night to The Elysian Sojourn to confess, and mourn losses the rest of the world could not relieve them of. A good few came to talk in safety, away from the discerning eye of their own home cities.

It had been a wise choice to convince Saraj to abdicate the lounge from Silvermoon, where it had been a small wine bar with even smaller freedoms. As it came together with the Consortium's financing, the Sojourn could be whatever she wished to make it, and the thought was carefreely invigorating in a way nothing had been since the turn of the New Year.

Tonight, she did not think on the damage the Mindraker Nessex had made of her a time ago, or the possible dizzying insights the Void had tried to thrust upon her in her sleep.

Tonight she did not think about the implications of Sylvanas abandoning the Horde, or the angry transformation of Tyrande and her Night Warriors, though many confessors that swallowed their shots of whiskey confessed their hate, confusion, or dissolution with it all.

Tonight, Safrona basked in an accomplishment. She had landed a few assitant couriers in the week, and had the time to herself she always should have, even if her restlessness would speak for her otherwise. The Elysian Sojourn sprawled out before her on its 7th opening night, and it was truly hers, a marvel. Moreover that enough felt well enough about the lounge to find it. Something for once belonged to the identity of the Courier, Safrona Shadowsun, something she could be proud of wholly.

The curtain of the confession booth parted, another patron come to confess, and Safrona straightened to bid the new face welcome. Another sister of the void peered back at her, young of face, petite of form. A smile beamed to almost comical proportions on the visitor's lips, a barely contained excitement suffusing the undecisive face as it decided on what her first words may be. Safrona had to chuckle as the elf tried to compose herself. "Well come on then and sit, I won't bite you."

"Sister, I'm just so glad I found you!" A petite, manicured hand grabbed for her own. Caught off guard, Safrona allowed for the touch, where she may have normally evaded it. It was served with a uncertain pat, though she maintained her little smile. The young woman made her feel like a celebrity that didn't want to be there.

"Well, "Sister", I would normally insist on the formality of "Courier", but I'm no courier here. So, Saf will have to do."

The reply seemed to slowly drain the excitement from the young void elf's face, like a candle flitting out, complexion shadowing over. "You...no. Who is Saf? Come on Tes. It's Winny. Me." She tried another bright smile, her eyes liquid as they teared over. Hand moved, reaching toward Safrona's long, red braid. "What did you do your hair? This is something silly I would do, you know."

The reaching became much too awkward, breaching the composed smile as Safrona veered back from the touch. "I think you have the wrong pers--"

Sudden as a flame, ‘Winny” exploded, her voice a shriek between tears. "NO! You don't get to DO that! You've done that to EVERYONE! You're not going to do that to me, Tesrael. We thought you were DEAD! It's been years...what is WRONG with you?! I'm your gods-damned SISTER! WHY are you playing these games?!"

Stunned into silence, Safrona watched the girl's face contort between anger, frustration and hurt before she darted away, fleeing to the portal exit. Many of the patrons turned to look upon the scene as well, a union of awkward silences.

Dread, a different sort of dread than anything N'zoth could throw at her sent Safrona's stomach plummeting as the name "Tesrael" settled on her. Hair rose in mnemonic recognition.

Instinctively, she pulled the curtain closed and shakily uncorked a bottle of bourbon. The confession booth was now reserved for one tonight: herself.

#Safwriting #Warcraft #Safrona Shadowsun #Void Elf #Stories #Drabbles #A mess of loose ends #Wennefer Dawnsinger #It begins...

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doomed-jester · 5 years

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Just finished my Generator Rex rewatch. It felt like it ended with loose ends, even if it tied up enough major plot elements to be a satisfying finale. This is a show that could really benefit from the Samurai Jack treatment. Heck, I'd be happy to have it come back as a comic like Invader Zim did.

Some spoilers if you do plan on watching it (it's 60 episodes and imo a solid series) but some stuff they never really resolved:

- The Consortium seemingly keep their powers after the finale, or at least some of them.

- Van Kleiss is still alive and an Evo, along with most of the pack who have escaped into Breach's pocket dimension.

- Van Kleiss can still create Evos at will. His claw thingy was destroyed but we've seen him regrow more from less.

- As White Knight points out: There are still nanites. Meaning all the people who are already evos, and all the incurables, are cured again. It seems like he's implying that people could still go Evo, or that Evos like Meechum could still activate dormant nanites and activate them. Basically, the Evo threat isn't necessarily gone.

Also, a revival would do this show some good. It really felt like it could've benefited from a more mature demographic. An older audience could've let them give more weight and gravitas to stuff like killing vs containing Evos, and made a bigger point about rights of Evos controlled by Black Knight's Providence.

Also, if this show were popular now:

- Rex/Van Kleiss shipping would be insanely popular and there'd be so much Discourse about it because of Rex being like a minor (I think?)

- Caesar being autistic would be a super popular (and basically canon) headcanon. There would be much unnecessary discourse.

- Six as Aro/Ace would also be a popular headcanon and there would be a lot of complaints when he got with Holiday.

- So. Much. Human. Bobo. Fanart.

- Also Human!Zag-RS

- and human most-of-the-evos

- Evosonas would be a thing, but probably a niche thing.

Anyway Generator Rex is a good show and deserves a revival. Did I mention JK Simmons is in this show? JK Simmons is in this show and you should watch it.

#generator rex #rex salazar #agent six #rebecca holiday #bobo haha #white Knight #black knight #jk simmons #cartoon #cartoon network #fandom #evo #nanites #providence #tv show #show recommendations

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draftsmanfive · 5 years

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I wrote Generator Rex fanfiction

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474666/chapters/41153456 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13183033/1/Gen-Rex-Machina

Don’t know how active the Generator Rex community is here on Tumblr (or anywhere else in the world for that matter asfd), but after a quick search on this site I found some fairly recent posts with some traction and thought I’d plug my fanfiction! It’s a post-canon continuation that explores the history of the Nanite Development team as well as the aftermath of The Event and the fate of the Consortium, the Pack, and Providence. Many elements were inspired by the Action Pack comics and the precursor comic, Machina Rex, to be included in later chapters.

I’ll also post art for the fanfic whenever I can--but if what I already described sounds interesting then please consider checking it out!

#artists on tumblr #art #Generator Rex #fanfic #writing #GRM

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waterwindow · 5 years

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@bloodshadow213 Okay! This is actually the second ask I’ve gotten about Al in the last couple days.

So I guess hopefully I’ll be able to help the Anon as well with the information.

Al’s story is complicated. And 90% of it took place in V1 which means it’s laced with campy jargon, continuity errors, stories being told out of order and.... “””comics logic”””

WARNING, THIS IS REALLY LONG.

It doesn’t help that a lot of Wiki data and other online sources on him are completely false. Most of them confuse him with his Astral Twin Alvin and they can’t even get his actual height correct EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THE INFORMATION IN COMICS CLEAR AS DAY

if you’re going to WRITE THE ARTICLE could you please at least---

read the comics (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

ahem.

Despite that he’s one of my favorite characters, and so I’ve spent a LOT of time (YEARS) thinking about him so I’ll be the first to admit my interpretation of events is completely biased. I’ll do my best to separate concrete information from my headcanons.

anywho here’s Albert, HE’S..... HANDSOME.....

Okay so Albert- he’s got a few split personalities. Mr. Element and Doctor Alchemy. He’s also got the power to transmute elements. Yes- another misconception is that Albert’s gun or the philosopher’s stone is where he gets his powers. And where it was apparently retconned that Al needs the Philosopher’s Stone for most of his existence that wasn’t the case.

(and personally I still don’t believe that’s the case, because we’ve only ever seen ALVIN actively loose his powers when the stone is taken from him. And that might make sense once I get into who and what Alvin is. But let’s focus on Albert for now)

Anyhow, yes Albert is a metahuman.

He got his powers from meteoric radiation beamed into his brain as an infant. And his powers and split personalities are linked somehow or somewhat with celestial activity.

Anywho, the Element Gun at the very least is more like a magic wand that he can use to channel his power through. And it’s actually useless in the hands of someone else.

(I have a few headcanons that the Philosopher’s Stone might also be a meteorite- if not a larger piece of the meteorite that originally mutated him as a baby. Or it could be a figment of his imagination (link to headcanon).)

One thing that does seem consistent is that Albert’s powers are more or less suppressed and he has to assume one of his undesirable personalities to “unlock” them.

BUT EVEN THAT’S NOT ALWAYS TRUE. Here’s Al saving a firefighter as Mister Element.

(This isn’t the first time Mr. Element has been heroic, So it’s my headcanon that the Mister Element personality isn’t necessarily ‘split’ with Albert’s. It’s just a more intense version of himself. Because out of Costume, Albert is quiet and mild-mannered.)

ENTER THIS ASSHOLE

So there’s a plot where Eobard needs Albert’s help to get his speed back. But Albert won’t help because his powers are ‘locked’ behind his ‘Evil’ personality. So Eobard makes Albert go and steal stuff (with the random ability to hypnotize people by vibrating that he magically obtains for this single story) And spends the entire adventure trying to impress Al and gaslight him into thinking he likes crime.

And poor Al is just

he’s so done. It’s horrible I ship it

OKAY ANYWAYS

My ultimate point here before I got distracted fangirling is that despite Barry’s efforts to help, Eobard wins Al over and convinces him that he IS ultimately Evil.

The story ends with Albert momentarily betraying Eobard right as he was commanded to kill Barry. (using the power of self-hypnosis to counter-act Eobard’s influences.) Though convinced he is forever and permanently evil at that point, Barry knocks him out and uses the cosmic treadmill to take Albert to the future where he can be um

‘cured’

of his evil tendencies forever.

COUGHS this isn’t a lobotomy at all

So yeah! Al is ‘’’’cured’’’’

ENTER THIS STINKY BOY

Albert’s been a good. So Alvin shows up and starts running around as Doctor Alchemy COMMITTING CRIME. This is the first story we see him in so everyone thinks Albert is the one running around in costume, of course.

(Barry, Iris, and Rita are all part of Al’s life but I haven’t gone into them in depth for brevity- because holy shit this is long....)

(yes you read that right, Rita keeps tranquilizers on hand for Albert- for... obvious reasons- earlier in this post you saw he wigged out and caught their car on fire while they were in it. SHE PUTS UP WITH A LOT....)

( Headcanon-talk though. It couldn’t have been easy for Al either knowing he could be called a liar or drugged by his spouse at the drop of a hat. Of course Rita has every right to fear for her life. And she’s done a lot for Al, at the risk of her own safety. But that being said... they do get an off-screen divorce, and I believe it was 100% mutual.

This has got to be an unpopular opinion, since the fandom loves Rita and of course I’m sad they wrote her out of the story as well. I love her too! But it couldn’t have been easy for Al either. Living with a mental illness and a distrusting spouse who keeps a weapon on hand to use against you. And it’s clear later on that Albert literally has such an awful time keeping his shit together that he needs much more help than just Rita can provide. RAH RAH BLAH BLAH-)

Anywho,

they cart Albert off to jail, but Alvin kidnaps him. With every intent to frame him for all the crime he sees fit to do.

According to Alvin, he is Albert’s psychic/astral twin. Born at the same time and with an identical childhood to Albert’s.

Again according to Alvin, they sit on some sort of moral Teeter-totter. Where whenever Albert is good- Alvin feels an uncontrollable urge to be evil. and vice-versa.

Anyways he invented this potion called Desmodium where the fumes can cause people to be susceptible to hypnotic suggestion (Wow Alvin knows about hypnosis too, his entire life is so coincidentally similar to Albert’s) - which is how he was able to use Rita to lie about Albert’s alibi and frame Albert for Alvin’s crimes. He explains that because of their psychic connection, Alvin was able to locate where Albert hid the philosopher’s stone and used it to take up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy. (in this scene Albert is also under the influence of Desmodium which is why he’s just sitting dead-eyed like a doll)

So Alvin leaves to try and kill the Flash, and once he believes he has won, he reveals himself to Barry- and obviously he doesn’t succeed, so now Barry knows the truth of what’s going on and is on Albert’s side. Meanwhile, Albert escapes and feels the uncontrollable urge to don the Mr. Element costume to combat his evil twin. (Wigging out from the stress probably- which is why I headcanon that the Mr. Element personality is just a stronger-willed and decisive version of Albert.)

SO THEY FIGHT. It’s glorious.

Albert saves a firefighter, Barry sees the whole thing. Also Rita and Al meet up off-panel where he explains everything to her and she in turn explains everything to Barry and that’s completely convinced him that Albert is completely innocent and is in fact trying to do the heroic thing.

SO Albert, Rita and Barry work together and ultimately defeat Alvin. And from there on Alvin takes up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy permanently, becoming an honorary Rogue while Albert goes into retirement.

(Alvin seems to be the only one who ever hung out with the Rogues at all and had a relationship with them. He seems to have got along well with Lisa - or at the very least she seems entertained by his antics. Whereas she has no patience for perverts, and yet she’s bemused by Alvin’s flirtations when he’s drunk. Also Alvin being in consortium with the Rogues is why I believe Hartley much later comments on how ‘Freaked out’ the Rogues are of Albert.

Because whO IS THIS GUY? WHERE’D THE FUN REDHEADED AL GO.... Also all things considered, of course he laughed in their faces.)

I’M NOT DONE YET.

VOLUME 2

So somewhere along the line, Alvin discovers that he isn’t in fact Albert’s astral twin. That he’s actually a completely artificial construct born by the philosopher’s stone (or Albert himself depending on your interpretation) Personality completely made up of Albert’s ‘Dark Side’.

(WHEN or HOW Alvin came to this realization isn’t explained, but if I had to headcanon it might have been when he somehow survived his ‘death’ in his Blue Beetle cameo.

He attempts to merge with the Philosopher’s stone and it leads to his demise... AND THEN APPEARS AGAIN FOUR YEARS LATER IN THE FLASH. WE CAN READ INTO THIS- THEY DEFINITELY DIDN’T MAKE A MISTAKE.....)

Anyways, back to Flash v2. In volume 40 and 41 Alvin has completely lost his mind- likely due to his identity crises and tries to take over Albert’s life completely. Convincing Wally and Linda (and himself apparently) that he is ACTUALLY Albert Desmond, and not the evil twin.

But Wally figures out that it’s actually Alvin and defeats him.

And finds Albert locked up in the closet (FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG....)

Hopefully not long, Wally postulates that Alvin had been listening to Albert’s phonecalls and wanted an opportunity to get the Flash once and for all.

Alvin is taken to jail, but escapes almost instantly, leading to a fight with Wally that doesn’t look like it will end well for him. BUT GUESS WHO SHOWS UP JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME

butt

Fake memories you say, Wally? Would certainly explain why Alvin’s life was so identical to Albert’s.

And that is the end of Alvin, killed/absorbed by his own brother.

....

hey- remember this?

It’s almost like Al’s story could be read as a metaphor for neurodiverse repression to the point of self-destruction. Instead of working with him, they literally lobotomized the ‘evil’ out of him and gave birth to a physical manifestation of how he felt himself perceived by the outside world.

i’ve been reading these comics for too damn long

Anyways! After that, Albert vanished into the wind. He became Doctor Alchemy permanently and denounced the Mr. Element name- calling it an ‘embarrassment’. He became solitary and committed crimes much darker than his previous. (notably, a cop-murdering spree in Gotham).

Albert is literally unstoppable and the only reason he’s not wreaking havoc is He’s now characterized by his unhealthy obsession with books and escapism and finding ‘Peace and Quiet’.

Not only that, he seems to have developed a something of a grudge against Wally. (Either that or he’s too far gone to care about anything any more)

And that’s..... basically the end of the story. There’s some loose ends that got nuked out of existence right before Flashpoint. Something insinuating that Albert may have a larger role to play or knows more than he’s letting on- but it’s literally so vague it could be interpreted as anything. The plot is lost in the wind, unfortunately.

But If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for listening to my dramatic summery of Al’s story

Believe it or not, but I wasn’t even half as thorough as I could have been. So I definitely encourage you to read v1 and draw your own conclusions.

#doctor alchemy

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providencecomicsconsortium · 7 years

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The Providence Comics Consortium supports the Community Safety Act because we want all the kids and adults in our communities to be safe and treated with respect on the street.

Providence City Council votes on it tomorrow (Monday April 10th) show up to support: https://www.facebook.com/events/397737960612933/

More info on the Community Safety Act here:

https://providencecommunitysafetyact.wordpress.com/

#providence #community safety act #providence comics consortium

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jsferris · 6 years

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Excerpt from soon-to-be-completed comic “Bridgewater.” Part 1 published in Providence Comics Consortium Micro-Wipeout #1; part 2 “Over Bridgewater” accompanied the Lung Cycles/Cla-ras split on Lily Tapes & Discs; part 3 “Sibboleth” is new.

#comics #jeremy ferris #bw #bridgewater triangle #sumi ink #herping

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blackoutlandish · 7 years

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Ex-red friendly publishers

I’ve been writing for a few different collective-pseudonym serials (NDA clauses prevent me from being specific about which ones), and I called my publishers to ask about their policies on hiring ex-reds. One was firmly opposed; I will be terminating my contract with them, and I was clear as to the reason why.

In searching for another publisher to make up the gap, I accumulated a list of which publishers are and are not inclusive of ex-red writers. I hope you all find this information useful.

Inclusion of a publisher on this list does not constitute information about whether or not I have ever worked for that publisher.

Openly ex-red friendly: These publishers state on their website or in a press release that they welcome ex-red writers and editors.

Echo Bridge Press is primarily a comics publisher, with a sideline in tie-in novellas. They’re known both for unusual diversity in on-page representation and for spotty quality of that representation. They’re best known for their High Dawn series.

Iron House publishes interactive narrative, primarily menu-choice prose; you may be familiar with their Breath and Altered Islands series. Their imprint Foundry publishes illustrated free-prompt works, including Watchful Mother.

Ex-red friendly: These publishers indicated by phone and/or email that they would be willing to hire ex-red writers and editors.

Bailey Royal publishes detective and adventure fiction, including the Time Captain! and Dark Falcon series.

Emerald Ribbon Books mostly publishes verse and structured prose, with a sideline in high-concept block prose such as A Library, A Labyrinth and Afternoon in the Sand Garden.

Intolerant but lazy: These publishers indicated that they will avoid hiring anyone they know to be ex-red, and/or would consider disclosure of ex-red status to be inappropriate and/or unwelcome.

Etrog Books

Global Print and Publication

L5 Pressworks

Actively hostile: These publishers indicated that they will take measures to ensure that they do not hire ex-reds.

Amalgamated Publishing Consortium

Gerbil Press

Printr

Shoebox Paperback

Hard to classify: These publishers don’t fall neatly into any of the other categories.

Blood traditionally only accepted red authors; they recently began running one story per issue from ex-red authors. Their sister publication Sweat accepts Mioleen authors.

Northern Lights Press only accepts Erethani authors, but indicated that they would accept submissions from Erethani ex-reds if Ereith does decontamination.

R!OTzine requires that its writers not disclose their caste “past or present”, and has previously fired a writer for stating that she was born-clean.

The Spectrum Journal requires disclosure, and each caste has a different collective pseudonym. In addition, the caste is marked explicitly by a colored circle on the byline. Ex-red authors have a thin red outline around their circle, but not a different pseudonym. The quarterly subscriber poll includes a question about whether the journal should accept submissions by red authors; so far the results have been against.

Long Tail Press has the following to say in their FAQ:

Q: Do you accept submissions from red or ex-red authors? A: We debated this question at some length. Ultimately, it was decided that Long Tail Press should provide a neutral platform and not intervene in editorial decisions except to the extent required by law. Individual editors set their own standards for submissions. If you disagree with an editor’s decision, you can contact them through their user profile page.

Unknown: There were some publishers for which I was unable to acquire information on their policies, or which asked me not to disclose their policies, or which I did not bother to investigate. I will not list these here.

Please feel free to add similar information about employment policies in other fields, if you have it.

#amenta rp #ex-reds #anti-ex-red hate cw #writing #reds

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ramrodd · 4 years

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Newt Gingrich, the Son of Man and the Rape of Congress.

youtube

COMMENTARY:

It turns out, your corespondent was correct; Donald J; Trump has emerged as the Anti-Christ, constitutionally. He's actually not the Anti-Christ, but the more like King Saul: he is jealous of the actual contituntional Philosper-King, We, the People. He along with the Movement Conservatives who consider themselve the original Reananaucs, have been led astray by Newt Gingrich since he bagan his agenda to become Speaker of the House.Gringrich has been running an Trotsky-inspired political scam on America based on the formula for creating a domestic, internal insurgence leading to polarization, tribal confrontation, violent revolution and regime change by political coup.

As I recall, your correspondent referred to Daniel 3, Daniel 6 and Daniel 9. Daniel 7:12 is, or course, the Son of Man and the numerological triangulation of this guy's prophecy revolves around Obama when it started and Trump. The GOP has been engaged in a domestic insurgency since William F. Buckley, Jr, published his Sharon Statement and established Movement Conservatives like Rick WIlson, Nicole Wallace, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham through his farm system for engaging and developing people with the same crypto-Nazi cogintive organization as Mike Pompeo, Mick Malverny and Tom Cotton and give them a lucrative career advancing a Newty's program of insurgency as useful idiots.

Now, we have had an election where that prophecy is being played out in real time on Twitter until the Rape of Congress by Trump's followers, who are almost entirely useful idiots who add mass to the demonstration, but at the tip of that lynch mob, the Proud Boys,/white supremacists/ Q-ANON conspiracy to inspire a race war, Virtually all of them are Pro-Life.

Pro-Life is the Anti-Christ.

Now, the people around Obama/Biden were engaged in the Democratic Socialsm of Jefferson Deomocracy as reformed by the 13th Amendment. The numerology of the 13th Amendment, is the same numerology as the Son of God in Daniel 7:13, That is, Jesus is very often attached to the number 13 in some way as either the finger of God, Himself (which Jesus most certainly was) or it was the finger of God, Itself. It is just a consitent figure of speack in the entire narrative of the Bible, from "In the Beginning" to Amen in Revelation. Numerology is a signpost installed by God from the very first and over the centuries. In that regard, it is perfectly inerrant.

And I couldn't explaing this to you in this manner if the Arabs hadn't invented the numerological symbot for "nothing" Zero/0. Zero doesn't exist, numerologically, in the narrative of the Bible (or anywhere in the Judeo-Christian literature, codified and uncodified, as a concept, until the Romans showed up. Everbody used alphabets that had originated out of number after Melchezidek came along. He was part of the guild associated with the Magi of Matthew. This guild apparently spread out across the Mediterrean and planted some seeds of wisdom gleaned from the systematic application of process theology to the universe as it unfolds out infront of us. The big change they made was to introduce 9 base numerology to replace the 8 base numerology of the Egyptian priests, which had produced the social economic structues based on building pyramids as important scientific observations of the firmament. Intellectually, 8 base numerology is a cul-de-sac and becomes decadent. It's a closed system economics, zero-sum/engineering/gold-based banking that was preventing the globalization of the capitalism the Roman empire brought to the world. I mean, there was stuff that began to occur at that moment, when the seed of 9 base numerology began to grow in Abraham's imagination, to Bretton Woods. This is the thing about Elizabeth Warren: she is hooked into that righteous banking model.

But it really became jet propelled when Islam inventing Zero/0 as a useful symbol of accounting. And the only thing that has prevented this rigtheous banking system to take mankind to Space is everything connected with William F. Buckley's Sharon Statement of 1960 but creating the Tsusamie of the Rape of Congress on 7 January 2021.

Remember Daniel, Chapter 7, where the Finger of God designates the Son of God. 7 very often is used as a lightening rod where the lightening from the Finger of God will enter into history as a Sign. So, Daniel 7:13 is the place where the Finger of God sets the process in motion to produce The Cross and Daniel 7:13 the Finger of God has touch America with divine intent and produce the Rape of Congress that can be traced from 1960 through Speaker Gingrich to Steve Bannon to 7 January 2021, God created a lightening rod to expose the working of Satan in the American body politic and that agency is Newt Gingrich. Trump just happened to be his marionnette.

Trump didn't become a crime boss until he won the election with intellectual property his Moscow partners in the 2013 Miss Universe Contest stole from the DNC and Clinton campaign by committing treason with a transnational crime consortium.. They've had him by the balls the whole time and Putin has nothing to do with it.

Now, the only question in my mind was how much coordination went on between Gingrich, Bannon and this transnation criminal consortius which is currently has America under seige with a Nory based cyber-attach trying to look like it's coming out of the Kremlin. This is the reason for the structural polarization Newty's political strategy creates, to overthrow Congress and the federal government. I mean, if you've read Atlas Shrugged, she describes exactly what Newt Gingrich has been doing since he got into politics: Newty is the answer to "Who is John Galt".

Virutally all Libertarians have been useful idiots for this insurgency since they began attending YAF meetings and the C-PAC convention annually. It's like Comic-Con or a Trekkie or AmWay convention only focused on reinforcing the Virtue of Selfishness, Public Choice economics and narcissism the new righteousness. The basic Pro-Life Evangelical community family values.

All the Pro-Life Evangelical warriors who participated in the Rape of Congress pretty well define the right-wing useful idiot, while the people who Trump launched down Pennsylvania Avenue as a shot below the warterline of The Constitutional Ship of State, the basic cannon foder led by peoole being financed by the transnationa criminal constortium with Euro-dollar black mone being laundered through PayPal and Patreon.

How can you tell the difference between the cash flows of the Koch brothers to the Prouc Boy insurgency and Vory drug money?

You can't. That is one of the functions of Citizens United: it's all green. It goes into Meta Chruchs like First Presbyterian and, from my perspective, shouldn't be stopped. The fact is, we need to repartriate these black eurodollars to repair the damage done by the pandemic and whatever damage the Trump administration has done to the US Economy, which scares me in connection with the connection between John Galt and the potential collapse of American finances that was avoided in 2008.

And your coorespondent intuited the Finger of God in contemporary American politics by a using a narrative 2500 years old employing the numerology of the Bible. My biggest complaint about Christian apologetics is that it is just another version of the Marxist dialectic historic deconstruction that became the dominant paradigm in the 60s cultural wars (and continuing). History is a forensic science, like the practice of law, and in, Christian apologetics, history is superior to narrative/literature as a social construct. And, as a literature major, that pisses me off. Before history could congeal to abstract reconstruction, narrative IS. In the Beignning was the Word and history emerged from one of the ribs of the Word by way of narrative.

And before the Word was in the mind of God, Number IS. I Am that I Am: number the stars if you can.

And, again, Islam provides an essential validation of number in the mind of The One (as is presented in Revelation 4.2) in Sura 74:30 "And above it is 19" employing symbols I can employ to explain how number works as a figure of speach and a jewel in the fabric of Scripture. All that tapestry is lost in historical reconstruction because it doesn't seem to be evidence that can be defended in a court of law or a PhD defense.

But there it is. You have been praying all your life of a sign from God and now you have one: the Rape of Congress on 7 January 2021, as I write this 7 days and a wake-up from a constitutionally processed peaceful Change of Command.

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khalilhumam · 4 years

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The world’s largest education impact bond delivers on results midway through the program

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-worlds-largest-education-impact-bond-delivers-on-results-midway-through-the-program/

The world’s largest education impact bond delivers on results midway through the program

By Sarah Osborne, Emily Gustafsson-Wright A gregarious third grade student, Bhairavi, loves school and particularly loves working collaboratively with her classmates on group projects and hands-on, experiential learning. She believes “studying will allow me to find a good job, through which I can work hard and support my family.” Bhairavi’s school is run by Gyan Shala, which provides unique learning environments and support for students and teachers alike, primarily in underprivileged areas in the state of Gujarat in India. One such teacher is Naghma, who was herself a Gyan Shala student, and after recently completing grade 12, has returned to serve as a teacher for one of the schools in her community. Bhairavi and Naghma’s Gyan Shala schools are supported as part of a program known as the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond (QEI DIB), which aims to improve education outcomes for over 200,000 primary school students over a four-year period from 2018 to 2022. These students are in four regions of India, and represent students in government and private schools, as well as program-specific learning centers.

About the QEI DIB

Like other impact bonds, the QEI DIB shifts the focus from the achievement of inputs to outcome achievement. UBS Optimus Foundation provided $3 million of upfront risk investment, which is reinvested in the program annually if outcomes are achieved for the previous year (known as capital recycling). In total, the program has an outcome funding pot of $9.2 million, provided by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Comic Relief, Larry Ellison Foundation, and Mittal Foundation. The consortium of funders, convened by British Asian Trust, covers service delivery costs and an interest rate up to 8 percent per annum if outcomes are met, and incentive payments to service providers if targets are exceeded. An additional $1.4 million in evaluation and performance management support has been funded primarily by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (formerly DFID) and the UBS Optimus Foundation. The QEI DIB is much larger than its predecessor, the Educate Girls DIB, which came to a close in 2018. Not only does the QEI DIB serve many more students, but it is also unique in that it features four different service providers, each delivering a different intervention. After one year of the program operating with three service providers, a new partnership with Educational Initiatives and Pratham InfoTech Foundation (El-PIF) was formed, bringing an ed tech solution into the mix. There was also an additional region added for one of the original service providers, Kaivalya Education Foundation (KEF). Based on the ethos of adaptive learning that the impact bond model embraces, following year 1 results, one model was discontinued—an indirect model from Society for All Round Development (SARD)—when achievement was below the expected performance that underpinned the selection of the program. The year 2 service providers and interventions that they delivered are described in detail in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Quality Education India Development Impact Bond interventions and targets

Results framework

Given the dire statistics on learning across India, the QEI DIB seeks to improve the literacy and numeracy outcomes of children in marginalized communities. Whether the four interventions in the program achieve this learning is measured through an independent evaluation conducted by ConveGenius Insights (formerly Gray Matters India or GMI), using a quasi-experimental design. Learning targets are measured through the GMI tests—written and oral assessments developed locally in accordance with the curriculum. These learning targets equal the difference in growth in learning over time between those receiving the interventions and a comparison group. The targets are based on expected intervention effect sizes taken from a meta-analysis of global and Indian literature on comparable education interventions. Across all service providers and across subjects, the average expected learning gain is 25 scale score points in a given year, which is equivalent to one standard deviation. Payments to the investor, the UBS Optimus Foundation, are based on a price per outcome times the learning outcome times the number of students enrolled and are reinvested into the program at the end of each year if outcomes have been achieved and there are positive returns. A cap is placed on cumulative outcomes in a given year (not more than 125 percent of the outcome) and a maximum internal rate of return of 8 percent at the end of the four-year DIB. This translates into a base case potential return of $745,000 for the investor.

Year 2 learning achievement results

Two years into the impact bond, average results are promising for the three interventions that were evaluated (an evaluation was not conducted for the fourth intervention due to the COVID-19 pandemic). As can be seen in Table 2, the four service providers reached 104,833 students across 711 schools over the two-year period. On average, the cumulative achievement across all grades over two years demonstrates that QEI DIB schools substantially overperformed relative to targets. The table shows that there are different targets for each service provider; this is related to the expectations around what each type of intervention could potentially achieve based on the literature. There are also differences in achievement between service providers: For example, while KEF achieved a scale score that was two to three times the target, EI-PIF and SARD with their direct model achieved 7.5 and six times the target, respectively. Disaggregated results by literacy and numeracy demonstrate that all assessed service providers overperformed except for KEF in Gujarat, which underperformed for grade 4 in language and math (while overachieving in both subjects for grade 3) relative to the comparison group.

Table 2. Overall performance on learning outcomes

Drivers of these results

The successful second-year results of the program offer many opportunities for further examination and learning. A few in particular stand out as possible key drivers of these results. As Brookings has previously written, the high-stakes environment of a development impact bond, and the scrutiny that provides, is a key piece of the theory of change for driving more and better results for any impact bond. In the case of the QEI DIB, this provided a mission-mode focus for the service providers—for example, EI-PIF adopted an initiative titled “Mission 35” which targeted using 35 minutes of the program per student per session and also doubled up classes when devices were available to maximize access to the intervention. The high-stakes environment of a DIB also leads to some challenging decisions—for example, dropping the SARD-Indirect model and adding the EI-PIF, a program with a very successful track record prior to the DIB. However, this also may have pushed the SARD-direct model in year 2 to achieve its high performance. Additionally, Brookings has identified active use of data as central to outcomes-based financing. In the case of the QEI DIB, the service providers were able to tap into existing data-driven cultures and systems to actively manage and validate programmatic decisionmaking. One example of this is the Journey application, which KEF uses to provide school leaders with real-time data on indicators across seven categories of learning inputs (including parent contact, teacher capacity, and remedial classes) that are tied to the intervention’s outcomes achievement. Another example is from EI-PIF, which has a data-minded organizational culture, including through access to daily and weekly email trackers and individual student and school evaluations. Lastly, SARD actively assigned its support services to schools based on performance. One potential challenge for the QEI DIB, as well as other impact bonds, is the balance between focusing on the outcome metrics stated in the impact bond terms (such as math and reading) to the detriment of other subject areas. This is an area to examine in all impact bonds more closely in the future. While the above drivers plausibly explain the success of the programs in the context of the impact bond, there are two additional explanations for the substantial overperformance in learning (up to 7.5 times targets in one group). One explanation is that on average, students were performing at a lower level than expected for their grade at baseline, which left more room for improvement in learning. Second, during these past two years, the comparison group has been performing below expectations, which increases the gap between the treatment and comparison groups and leads to a larger effect-size.

Learnings and looking forward

The results from the first two years of the QEI DIB are promising, with many children experiencing substantial learning gains in QEI DIB-supported classrooms and programs. The key issue facing the QEI DIB and many other education initiatives around the world is tackling learning losses that will likely result due to the COVID-19 school closures. The impact this will have on learning relative to the predetermined targets, and challenges to those targets, is yet to be seen. Additionally, as the QEI DIB crosses the halfway point into the second half of implementation, there will be pressure to ensure that learning gains continue to rise. With an evaluation methodology structured around annually measured learning gains relative to a control group, overperformance in one year could potentially lead to challenges the following year(s) maintaining that same level of performance. This is because rates of gain on most human development indices often begin to taper at higher levels of performance, as there is less room for improvement at these higher intervals. For example, in education programs the literature suggests that substantial learning gains for students at higher proficiency levels are more difficult to achieve than for those at lower proficiency levels, who are catching up with their peers. This challenge of overperformance in one year leading to difficulties for the following year’s results is one which permeates all impact bonds with an annual evaluation design. In the case of the QEI DIB, this challenge could (unfortunately) potentially be mitigated by learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The drivers of the year 2 QEI DIB results, the challenges experienced during implementation, and broader lessons for the sector from the QEI experience were discussed in an event hosted by Brookings on October 15. The robust conversations at this event add more depth and nuance to the QEI experience from the perspectives of the investor, outcome funder, service providers, and evaluator. We encourage you to watch the recording and read our summary of that conversation. Brookings is committed to quality, independence, and impact in all of its work. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment and the analysis and recommendations are solely determined by the scholar. Support for this publication was generously provided by the British Asian Trust.

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