#so bored that internship applications are bringing thrill to my life

[thespoonisvictory]

crazy how many problems rapid relief tylenol and taking tiny little bites out of a Reese's can solve

[fleetingblossomofthedawn]

Hello! how are you? What would you recommend to someone who's considering studying archaeology?? Like how is the career, things like that...

DON’T DO IT! 

Okay I’m just joking, sorry anon. 

I have to say that I myself struggled a lot with my decision to study archaeology, even after I got my Bachelor’s degree, so I will tell you some things I wish someone had told me before I started studying:

Archaeology can be boring/monotone

Yes, we all know studying archaeology does not mean you will become Indiana Jones or Lara Croft and you won’t spend all your time in some tombs evading traps, so much is clear. But I’m talking about simpler things here. Though you can go on excavation from time to time, you will never be Schliemann silently looking at what he thinks is Troy, while the sun is setting on the horizon. You won’t stumble into a cave with your flashlight and discover some forgotten civilization. Say goodbye to your romantic fantasies. Studying archaeology means you have to read, like all the time. Every of the time. The library becomes your home, your apartment or room or wherever your bed is, is nothing but a temporary station for you. You read and you write and you read and then you write again, which can be frustrating and draining. And you have to do this with topics you don’t even care about at all. Which brings me to my next point: 

You won’t be thrilled by all aspects of Archaeology - and that’s okay

People find different things interesting in all aspects of life and archaeology is no exception. Some archaeologists can spend days in front of a sculpture and get a kick out of counting the curls and determine when it was made based on how the cloth buckles over the knee. Others hate sculptures and would rather spent their time with plain shards and take a look on how the pottery was crafted. Others don’t care for the materialistic aspects of pottery or sculptures too much and rather examine the iconography or compare it to other cultures. And some just want to map out cities. All of this is equally important but I can guarantee you, when you are studying Archaeology there will be one thing you love more than anything else and at least one thing you loathe. It doesn’t make you a bad archaeologist or not suited for the job, it’s just normal. You will have plenty of time to specialize later on but in the first years you have to do everything. And more often than not you will just count shards.

Getting a job is like fighting in the Arena (?)

As an archaeologist getting a job is hard, isn’t it? Yes and No, actually. It’s hard to get a job at University or at a Museum. There are always more applicants than jobs in these institutions and most often you will only get a fixed-term-contract (if you are hired at all). You will have to move around a lot from job to job, so it’s not best for people who want a stable and secure life. HOWEVER this is only true for people who are determined to work in no other field but Archaeology. During your time at university you will acquire many soft skills that qualify you for other fields as well, for example project management. So my advice here is, don’t be narrowminded. You can find a very good job if you are fine with not working as an archaeologist after you finish university. But if you are determined to work as an archaeologist in a museum or at university the way is excellent grades, networking, a mind-blowing doctor thesis, some time abroad and of course internships. 

So, overall would I recommend studying archaeology?

Hell, yeah! If you are passionate about history and ancient cultures, then do it! Maybe I made studying archaeology sound horrible, but actually it has been the best time of my life. I went on many field trips, which were all adventurous in their own way. I walked in ruins normal tourists are not allowed to enter. I helped preparing exhibitions. I held a clay letter in my hand which was written in Mesopotamia about 4000 years ago. I learned that the people today are not that different from ancient people. To me all this was definitely worth the hours in the library studying urbanistics. You just need passion and stamina. And to stay flexible about your job perspectives.

I hope I could help you anon!

[danvssomethingorother]

Start of Something More (P1)

Summary: A look into another time line where Ego never came to Earth and instead Yondu had changed Meredith’s life.

Characters: Meredith Quill, Yondu Udonta

Warnings: some violence, but nothing graphic.

My entry for @yonduweek.  I was just gonna post this large as heck thing for the last day only (AU) but there are elements of all the prompts in this. I wanted to break it up to be easier to read because 20 pages is just too much for me to expect people to swallow.

Also on A03  

-New York, 1988-

 “Come on…come on…”

 Meredith Quill bit harder down on the thin flash light hanging out of her mouth, her jumbled curses shaking her only light source around. She paused and quickly snapped the light off hearing a loud crash, she stood straight up and quickly moved behind a dumpster by the back entrance of the Stark warehouse. Waiting. Waiting. After several tense moments passed and nothing came of it, she went back to picking at the door.

 She got this damn far, she wasn’t stopping now.  

 In her backpack she had quite the collection of authorized paperwork she had picked off Howard Stark himself over the months of her grueling, almost dehumanizing internship. She had to wonder if Howard would have looked past her genius and went on to the next applicant to work by his side if wasn’t for her ‘womanly charm’ as Howard liked to call it (or as she put, he liked looking up her skirt).  

 She worked hard to crack into the safes and get close enough to flirt with Howard and get him off his guard enough to get this info. This was the greatest information she had ever accidentally stumbled into ease dropping on Howard’s private phone calls. Howard Stark was helping an organization called Shield crack into what sounded like a real space craft and the icing on the cake was they had a real life alien in their possession.  

 Often she was made fun of for her belief in extraterrestrial life. During her time at Stark Enterprise, the only joy she got was getting Howard’s college aged son riled up with her beliefs. Tony rolled his eyes and only promised to keep listening if she worked her magic and got him some of his dad’s good stuff he wasn’t allowed to touch. She always obliged to the request so they could both share some secrets between each other, if she went down tonight, she was telling Howard about all the things Tony had been hiding from him just to cause some chaos between them before she was probably arrested.

 She didn’t really feel she had anything to worry about though, Meredith Quill was getting off this rock for good tonight and no one was gonna stop her.

 Being an engineer who worked under a weapon manufacture certainly had its perks.  She smiled as the lock clicked indicating she had opened the door. Show time, she mouthed pulling a trigger from her pocket and activating the bombs she had set up around the area to distract the few people inside while she made her move.  

 She flinched a little feeling the earth shake from each bomb she had painstakingly set up. Months worth of grueling labor on her part. All the forms of security had to be memorized and she had to learn how to bypass it all. All the prototypes she had to steal. All that wiring she had to set up and men she had to deal with to help her plan go this smoothly. All of it was paying off and she couldn’t be prouder.

 She walked in with pride after waiting for the people in the facility to run off at the sound, her distraction working. She knew only three staff and three security personnel would be here tonight, most would be at the Stark Convention. She silently thanked Tony for the info she could get out of him while the little idiot was drunk.

  She walked into the work area and her eyes lit up at the space craft left unattended in the middle of the room. This was it, she was gettin’ off this rock once and for all. No more fighting with her dad, no more dealing with Stark’s shit, she was finally gonna be out in the stars like she had always dreamed.

 A loud snarl brought her from her day dreams, she looked across the room to the cell that housed who she guessed was the alien. He wasn’t too different from most Earth men. Big and burly, trying to act all big and tough in his leather jacket. The only real difference was he was blue. He was glaring at her and she glared back.

 “I worked hard to get in here tonight, Marvin the Martian and even ya aren’t stoppin’ me from getting off this rock and on my way to a better place.”

 He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head nudging his head towards a table with supplies neatly laid out across it. Each item bagged and tagged as being from the ‘unknown species’. She picked up what looked like an ear piece he was pointing at and gently opened the bag, sliding it in her ear as he was gesturing her to do.

 She jumped a little as the alien began talking to her and she could understand what he was saying.

 “Listen good girl, if ya want my M Ship, ya ain’t goin’ anywhere without me.”

 “And why would I want to bring ya? Ain’t ya havin’ fun with yer new friends?”

 “Just try to get far without me, girl,” he chuckled, “I would really love to see something entertaining, Terrans are awfully boring with all their talk of ‘science’ and ‘America’ and ‘Greater Good’.”

 “That sounds like Howard alright, you should try being his intern. Its like taking care of your oversized three-year-old…His son Tony ain’t so bad, has great taste in music.”  

 “All the Starks are nothing but pompous a holes to me,” he chuckled again making Meredith approach his cell, for a gross blue alien he weren’t so bad.

 “Can’t disagree with that, but hey I wouldn’t be here right now if Tony weren’t so young and gullible, so can’t complain too much about it either.”

 “You good with engineering, girlie?”

 “Wouldn’t be on Howard’s good side if I weren’t.”

 “Grab that Fin right there they so rudely ripped from my head and re attach it will ya?”  

 “I don’t even know who ya are, blue man. How do I know ya won’t eat me for comin’ near ya.”

 “It was very ungentlemanly of me not to introduce myself right away to a lady so brave enough to come rob my ass while I’m down,” she couldn’t help her smile at his sarcasm, “Yondu Udonta, my lady.”

 “Meredith Quill,” she said instinctively not wanting to seem too rude glancing back at the front entrance to make sure they were still alone.

 “Ya bought yerself only a little time, Merry Death,” she scowled at the way he pronounced her name but didn’t sink to his level by doing it to his own name, “Clock is tickin’. Ya best hurry and decide what yer doing.”

 Meredith thought about it for a moment. She was running out of time fast, her diversion wouldn’t keep them occupied long. She stared at the alien, her stare telling him all.

 “If’n ya don’t do that, yer gonna be defenseless on yer own when they get back. I like ya a little more than those idiots, so don’t fail me girl and I’ll drop ya off on Xandar when I get my ship back and ya’ll be right where ya need to be.”

 “Alright but I suspect foul play….I’ll…” she thought for a moment before pulling a bottle of pepper spray from her bag, “I’ll mace yer ass and it won’t be pretty. Hell, might be lethal to ya for all I know.”

 He just laughed at that not taking her threat too seriously. Taking a deep breath, she picked the lock of the cell as quick as she could making the man’s smile widen. She shot him a smug grin. Dating bad boys had its perks.

 As soon as she got in, she tossed her bag to the side and got to work on installing the fin back to his head as fast as she could, not wanting to chance them coming back so soon.  It was easier then she suspected it would be, like putting an engine back together. All the wires were easy to figure out, some needed a little bit of pressure to get back into place, those idiots probably just yanked it out of his head while he was unconscious. She felt bad, that it musta hurt, she gently shushed him when he groaned a bit at her tightening it, even taking the time to message the side of his scalp as she tightened the last part in to help him feel a bit of comfort.

 Her luck was never great though, good but not perfect. As soon as she got the fin reattached to his head, she heard someone already coming back. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she mumbled.

 “If yer comin’ with me ya best hurry.”

 She nodded grabbing her back pack off the ground and hurrying out the cell with the alien who looked thrilled to be on the outside looking down the guards guns.

 “How did the specimen get out?!”

 The lead doctor pushed past the guard and stared behind a very smug looking Yondu and stared straight at Meredith who shrank back a little beating herself  up a little for not getting that ski mask.  

 “Meredith?! How did this nut job get in here?!”

 “Ok but that hurts,” she scowled at the man, “At least I got here for actually knowin’ what I’m doin’ and not cause ma daddy’s got money, Carl.”  

 “As much as I’d love to stay here to watch ya tear this guy to shreds, Merry Death, I got shit to do, may I do the honors of gettin’ us outta here faster?”

 “What did the creature say?!”

 Meredith ignored her former co worker and nodded. To her surprise her new partner in crime let out a soft whistle and something shot off the table beside them. Meredith’s hair flared up as something whizzed past her. She briefly glanced at the red streak as it passed her by and drove forward and through the six men in the room.

 She didn’t expect he meant murdering her former colleges. She was shocked and unable to move for a second just staring at the blood that splattered on her shoes. She never liked these people sure but murder was a bit much.

 “Ya comin’, girlie?”  

 She stared at the corpses around her and knew she had no other choice. She was getting what she came for or she would stay behind and likely face a lifetime prison sentence or worse. She quickly ran into the space craft with Yondu.

 “What the fuck dude?!”

 “Wha?”

 “You didn’t need to kill them!”

 She felt her emotions buzzing in her head, what the hell was she getting herself into?

 “Its just quicker that way,” he shrugged pushing her down into the co pilot seat and preparing the ship to leave, “Ya got a lot to learn girl.”

 “Don’t patronize me!” she snarled but made no move to stop him as he helped her buckle herself in.

 “Just don’t think about it anymore then, Merry Death,” he grunted taking off through the hangar someone must have left open on their hurried scramble in and out of the warehouse during Meredith’s bomb scare.

 “Those weren’t good men. If ya weren’t part of their species, hell maybe that don’t even matter in their pursuit for ‘science’, ya would have been on their chopping block next like ya saved me from being.”

 Maybe it was the shock  but she couldn’t find the words staring at his solemn and serious face. Like this weren’t the first time this had happened to him. She felt a little guilty about not coming sooner.  

Guys like Carl were a little too happy about cutting into things they didn’t understand. While it was fine he did it to his prized taxidermy collection (always making Meredith’s skin crawl a little with how he described his exotic hunting trips and how he would dissect those creatures to know a bit more about them), it shouldn’t be legal to do that to something sentient. It was disgusting and cruel.

 “I’m only given ya what ya want cause ya saved me back there girl, so don’t take this like I like ya or nothin’. I’ll drop ya off at Xandar, you should be able to find some noble law abiding do gooder ta help ya from there.”

 “What were ya doin’ on Earth to begin with? It don’t seem like yer the type to abduct humans for experiments.”

 He snorted at that giving Meredith an incredulous look that made her sink a little in her seat.

 “I’m as low as they come girlie but I ain’t no slaver. That’s a low I will never get to. I ain’t gettin’ close to bein’ that again. I was just on a drunken joy ride and thought it would be funny to stop on a primitive planet. It weren’t.”

 She didn’t question him any further, not really wanting to know what he meant by that. She slid her head sets on and turned on her favorite band, Electric Light Orchestra and let Sweet Talkin’ Woman take her mind off things a little.

 “What is Xandar?”

 “The more advanced Terra. Bad place to be for a thief and murderer like me but its safe and harmless and should help ya find where ya want to go. We’re just gonna make a pit stop to find my crew and make sure they haven’t destroyed my mother ship yet.”  

 She nodded, even after watching him kill people, she knew he wouldn’t harm her, might as well just go along with what he wanted for now.

 They never quite made it to Xandar. Meredith couldn’t tell you when exactly she went from ‘cargo’ to a full-fledged ravager but that was just how her life went it seemed.

Like my work? Buy me a coffee.

[laura2017-blog1]

Letter of Intention

Dear All,

I'm Laura, 20 years old and I wish to apply for the Character Animation line. Please find my portfolio here: http://laura2017.tumblr.com/

My love for animation goes way back. I still remember how I got my first photo camera in 5th grade. There were so many stories in my head that wanted to get out. So whenever I had a friend over, we would grab my old Barbies and photograph them in story sequences. It was so difficult to photograph them in a way that our hands supporting the puppet wouldn't be seen. Naturally, I was thrilled to be able to record videos with the next camera I got. I still have some videos saved where I would dress my friends up in costumes and let them run through our neighbourhood to get my stories on the computer screen.

As a young teenager, I discovered my love for drawing. I used to draw days and nights just copying photos or drawing cartoon characters I liked. But what has changed my approach to drawing was a semester at TDA, which I attended fall 2016. After my rejected application last year, I was determined to get better. With my teacher Maja Vendelbo I studied anatomy and tones; the concept of core shadows blew my mind. It's still incredible to me how much I improved in such a short time span. (Here's my old portfolio: http://lauraischneider.blogspot.dk/) Moreover, I never would have believed how amazing an environment Viborg is. The students, teachers, and professionals are all so kind, fun and encouraging that I really feel this is the best place to thrive as an artist. My time here has been the most humbling and inspiring time of my life. I want to attend TAW because I want to improve and learn so much about the field I love; create interesting characters and bring them to life. When I think about studying at TAW, I'm just filled with happiness and excitement, and an eagerness to work hard.

Film and Drawing both being dear to me, I feel that animation is the perfect combination of my passions. Yet I think animation leaves a sense of wonder that live action movies do not. I really look up to Satoshi Kon and especially his work „Paprika". For me, this film is a great example of what makes animated films special. It merges the lines between reality and fiction through its fast pace and matching scene transitions. Paprika is a movie that truly lets you dive into the dream. Compared to "Inception", which presents the dreams as almost logical, too constructed, Paprika is much more imaginative and therefore I think it fits better.

I am convinced that the choice of medium is essential to tell a story properly. Take the classic "Jungle Book", which has so much charm, given by the rhythm of the traditional animation. While the 2016 remake was visually absolutely stunning, it didn't have quite the same impact as the original one. The animals seemed more relatable in the older one, as they were caricatured. The 2016 movie's ape king Louis threw me off – because the set was so realistic, the singing felt out of place. In a cartoon movie, you can get away with funky movement; it is an illusion of life after all. Still, it is certainly amazing to see how far the integration of 3D and live action has come until now... and how much further it can go!

After graduating from High School, I knew I wanted to work in the Animation industry. So I applied for an internship at the 2D Animation studio "Trickstudio Lutterbeck" in Cologne. I enjoyed my 6 months in their team, learning about puppet rigging and animation. Thanks to the time there I am proficient in Photoshop and intermediate with Toon Boom.

In addition, my colleagues and I would visit the Zoo once a week after work and observe and sketch animals. Now, drawing from life has become a habit of mine or the closest I've ever been to an addiction. I draw everyone, wherever and it's almost like a diary for me.

When my internship was over, I got the chance to intern at the VFX studio "Pixomondo", in their Frankfurt office for 3 months. There I looked at animation from a new angle, working as coordination. It was exciting to be part of this big studio, especially since they were working on the dragons of "Game of Thrones" when I came. Naturally, both studios were very different, the size of the team and thus the communication was most striking to me. While I was helping to communicate between the different departments at Pixomondo, at Lutterbeck we were all sitting in a big room together and would just call each other. However, they were also similar in one regard: both studios relied on good teamwork. I am of the opinion that animation is a team effort and everyone needs to be reliable and confident to communicate their side of the story.

Besides Art and Film, a passion of mine has long been Journalism. Together with a classmate, I was the chief editor of our High School's newspaper for well over 3 years. We instructed a team of around 15 students and had to take care of accounting, creating content, as well as getting it laid out and printed. It was a good lesson for me, as I learned how to lead and also work together with a team. Without all of our combined efforts, we never would have achieved 2 issues per semester, winning as many regional awards as we did.

Apart from the school club, I have been working freelance for the newspaper "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" for around 4 years now and I enjoy sharing my views and giving my audience food for thoughts. The same goes for my art - I always try to incorporate stories, ever since I read the book "Drawn to Life" a few months ago. Walt Stanchfield stresses how important the storytelling and the simplicity in a drawing are. Before, I would just draw a pretty picture, without much thought in the backstory. Now, I find the storytelling to be the most fun. With the basic skills I learned at TDA, I just want to bring interesting characters to life and tell their stories. In studio "Ghibli" movies, I really enjoy the characters. Take "Princess Mononoke" e.g., where they are all relatable to some extent. Even the ‘villain' has a motif and is not just evil; it's not just black and white. Eboshi (the antagonist) wants to save her people from the wild animals, and that is why she wants to kill the God of the forest. At the end of the movie, she realizes her fault and wants to rebuild the city in a better, righteous way. I really like this development in her character. "Frozen" on the other hand has generic characters with little development. Not only is Prince Hans a boring villain with little motivation. But even the main character, Elsa, acts without a goal and I do not see her as a good role model for children – and they are the main audience. Mostly, she behaves like an angry teenager. To put it in a nutshell: Good movies have a message they want to convey, just like good drawings hint at a deeper story. And interesting characters need to have a motif and need to grow with their challenges. That, for me, makes a great film.

An example I would like to mention is „Persepolis", which has simple, graphic style. Yet, it shows the character growth and the change in her world in a touching way. I think we as artists hold a responsibility to our audiences to entertain them and but to make them feel and reflect on a deeper level, as well. It is a privilege to share your views and to show how you see the world. Therefore, I want to use the skills I learn at TAW to create films with both a meaningful story and beautiful visuals.

For the future, I think the industry will rely more on smaller studios. In our global time, a lot of independent studios can reach a larger following now and get a better exposition. I also hope that the animation industry in Europe grows further. In Germany animation is unfortunately not really being invested in. It's a pity that what little 2D animation there is, is being outsourced to China because it would otherwise not be affordable. That takes away from the art form and treats it like a mass product. But stunning projects like "Song of the Sea" show that the co-productions in Europe can be successful, both artistically and financially. I look up to "Noerlum" and I hope to contribute to the art of animation just like they do. As for the medium, I feel there are a lot of options to explore: Take the "SPA Studios", which I admire, for example. Their innovative approach to 2D animation with a 3D look is very promising and I can't wait for their project "Klaus" to come out!

Born to a Spanish mother and a German father, their two cultures surrounded me growing up. Maybe that is why I am so intrigued by new cultures and languages. In 10th grade, I got to spend 5 months as an exchange student Nova Scotia, Canada. I really benefitted from being away from home as that made me more self-reliant and open for new perspectives. Besides that, I have traveled a lot throughout western Europe, of course spending many summers in Spain. The most precious travel memories are from a one-month Interrail trip through Italy I made alone last spring. Instead of sleeping in Hotels I tried out Couchsurfing and got to be more close to the actual life there. It was super interesting learning about my new found friends‘ lives and stories. Now I'm living in Viborg and learning Danish, which is luckily very similar to German. The reason why I like languages besides the culture is also because I want to be able to communicate with as many people as possible. I believe that Animation is communication in its essence. Work by Sylvain Chomet like "The Triplets of Belleville" and "The Illusionist" demonstrate this, as they work without words and yet communicate brilliantly on many different levels - through the story, the characters, the atmosphere.

Jean Giraud (Moebius) with his grand imaginary worlds is pure creativity. How he incorporates storytelling into his art is unrivaled and always lets my imagination run wild. I also like Käthe Kollwitz and her way to process personal experience through her work. They make her artworks feel precious and intimate. I would also like to mention Andreas Deja and his work on Scar in "Lion King" or "Dschafar" from "Aladdin". It is amazing how he manages to give the characters distinct facial mannerisms that make the characters feel real. On the other hand, I adore Ryan Woodward's flowy, seamless animation style. There are so many great artists out there and I hope to find my own voice, just as they did.

I am very lucky that my family absolutely supports me and my dreams. So they offered to finance my education. In addition, I have some savings from my internships.

 Viborg is a special place and I would be overjoyed to get the chance to learn here for the next 3 and a half years. I want to develop my art so much more and I know that there is no better place than TAW for my goal to learn the art of animation in an international environment. I sincerely hope you got to know me a little bit in this letter and that we will meet at the interview.

 Yours faithfully,

Laura Schneider