#suz gets a degree

[thezanyarthropleura]

“Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down…”

Suz Tanwa looked down.

And shuddered in her green scales at the long, dark fins breaking the water, centered on the shadows that swarmed in the depths below.

The corridor in the unstable ruins of Hrakert Station had tilted about thirty degrees on its long axis, and the wall Suz and Vette were now clinging to, near the ceiling, was not sloped in their favor. Beginning with the now-lowered left corner, the section of hallway had filled quickly with water to about a third its volume, a flood that had brought with it about a half dozen firaxan sharks that seemed very eager for a meal.

She carefully turned herself around to look at Vette. “Any of those brilliant ideas happening right about now?”

The time-displaced Twi’lek, her blue skin dark and hazy in the contrast of the overhead lights, hid her worry behind a smile. “Give me a minute to think, uh…” She looked determined, her soft violet eyes scanning the hallway. “If we can get that door to open, maybe it’ll relieve the pressure?”

There was, indeed, a side door attached to the corridor – on the left side, back near the junction to the previous section of the station, and now mostly underwater. It was made of thick durasteel alloy, shut tight, and to Suz, definitely didn’t look like it was budging anytime soon. “Maybe if this place still had working door controls, but it’s been centures! We’re lucky the lights still work!”

“I could probably fix that…” Vette said, screwing up her lip and maneuvering a few meters to her right along the wall. “If I had…”

She snapped out the vibro-climbing axe Suz had given her, and jammed it into a small, rectangular grate near the ceiling, prying at it until the panel popped off and dropped into the shark-infested waters. She smiled, staring up at the cylindrical shape she’d found inside the compartment.

“…a power cell.”

Suz widened her dark, voidlike eyes, but was only a little impressed. “Okay, but that looks heavy, so how do we get it over to…” She pointed across the hall. “…that door.”

Vette turned around, paused, and worried her lips. “…any chance you can give me another minute?”

“Think this might help?” A somewhat confused Bly called out from the previous room. There was a loud noise building as the former stormtrooper moved something around the door frame to sit near the intact edge. The thing was cube-shaped, and rumbled as it slid along the floor, or… no, that wasn’t sliding, it was—

Suz groaned. “Is that a kriffing box with wheels? Where did you find a box with wheels?” She considered a moment, and narrowed her eyes. “Where did you find wheels?”

“It was just sitting in the next room over,” Bly said, shrugging his yellow shoulder panels.

“Can it float?” asked Vette, and Suz could practically see the gears turning.

Bly kicked the crate a few times, and checked over the surface. “It’s empty, and looks airtight… might as well give it a go.” He grabbed the crate by the side rail, and rolled it over the edge into the slanted corridor. It bobbed below the surface of the water, but popped back up and drifted, the sharks moving to clear a path around it.

Vette curled toward the ceiling and planted her feet up on the wall. “Alright, Suz, reel it in until it’s underneath me.”

Suz secured her grip on the ceiling pipes with her organic right hand, and let go with her left, aiming and firing the prosthetic off on its cable. The heavy-duty suction cups at the ends of her splayed-out fingers popped with satisfying sounds of adhesion as they stuck on the crate’s lid, and the pulley in Suz’s wrist started retracting the line. She stopped the pulley when the crate was directly below Vette, but kept her hand attached in an attempt to keep it from drifting off.

Vette wrenched hard on the power cell, freeing it from its housing. The visible strain it put on her arm once loose confirmed its weight, and she just barely managed to get it to land on the crate when she dropped it. Miraculously, it didn’t roll off.

“Okay, now Bly,” Vette proceeded, turning herself around to face the opposite wall. “Pull the crate towards the door, try to get it as close as you can.” She bent her legs back to kick off the wall as she swung herself back and forth on a pipe, building up momentum until she finally let go, leaping across the corridor to the other wall. She struck her vibroaxe hard into the metal, puncturing the weaker surface layer near a seam, and as the slope was now in her favor, only needed the friction of her boots to easily support her weight as she moved herself sideways toward the door.

Bly – who’d been shocked still in concern, apparent even through the expressionless, yellow-striped stormtrooper helmet – moved as close as he could to the door without getting into the water, and shot out the grappling cable on his rifle, attaching it to the crate on the other side. Working with Suz, the pull and release of the two cables managed to get the crate and power cell reasonably close to the sealed door. Vette reached down with her axe and hooked it through the handle on one end of the cell, using what looked like most of her strength to drag it up to where she had her feet planted along the top of the door frame and had pried loose another panel.

When the cell was fitted into place, a few lights blinked on in the surrounding circuitry, and Vette flexed her fingers before slicing in. Moments later, there was a loud, grumbling hiss as the door slid open, and the water level quickly lowered, taking first the crate and then all six sharks with it.

“I’ll admit, that was actually really clever,” Suz said as she dropped down to the dry part of the floor.

“I do have skills!” Vette called back with grin and a light shrug, then leapt back over the shallow trough of water and landed on the floor near Suz.

Bly wandered over to them both, looking past them with an expression that, while unclear due to his helmet, didn’t seem too celebratory. “Now, either of you got any ideas to deal with that?”

He was pointing toward the end of the corridor, which Suz now noticed was blocked by a collapse made up of rocks and pieces of metal.

“Hold on…” Suz approached the collapse, miming out possible first steps with her vibroaxe and vibroshovel, but not only did it look like a complex jumble-up of interlocked pieces, moving the wrong thing might upset the delicate balance that was somehow keeping out the rest of the planet-ocean above them. “…alright, so, hear me out, but… what if we just started taking it apart, really carefully…”

Vette hmmed, but positively, and Suz took the salvation where she could get it, turning around with a relieved breath.

“There could be an easier way to do this,” the pondering Twi’lek finally said, but something about her face was flickering in glances and waiting for Suz’s disagreement.

Wait. Suz put a hand up. “You don’t mean…”

Vette pumped her brows up, and Suz sighed in defeat.

~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~

One trip back to the Reeko later, and the three adventurers were joined by one Force-restrained and clearly irritated, yet creepily smiling Imperial Inquisitor.

Well, a now-former Inquisitor and her three droids, who for some reason still had free rein to go wherever they wanted and were currently hovering behind her, exchanging light bumps into one another that could probably get violent if the occasional retaliation of gently-whacking limbs was allowed to escalate beyond playful slapstick.

“So, at last, you’ve found need of my talents.” Seventh Sister taunted with her usual grin and that sing-song modulated voice, fooling absolutely no one with her projected confidence or projected malice. The delivery was a bit dry, the huff of laughter forced, and even with their limited interactions so far, Suz was pretty sure even she knew the girl better than that.

For a sixteen-year-old kid determined to stay as far away as possible from the people that messed with her head, Seventh apparently hadn’t kicked her habit of pretending to be the cleverest and most disturbed person in the room. But however unnerving that weird, yellow-black corruption in her eyes was, the dark, purplish circles under them spoke more plainly and relatably of her state of exhaustion. She held out her forearms expectantly, and Suz forgot to even look worried before freeing her of the Force-suppression cuffs and pointing at the problem.

“Just move that wall without bringing this whole place down around us.” The Rodian arched a scaly brow. “Think you can do that?”

Seventh arched an eyebrow right back, the gesture tugging at the tiny, blood-red tattoo-dots on her forehead and temple. “You do recall that ‘bringing the whole place down around you’ is precisely what I did last time?”

Amidst the chaos that had been her eventful trip to Korriban and the formation of her new crew, Suz might have forgotten about that particular detail. “…Well, uh… now you know what not to do, so, just do the opposite of that this time, alright?”

Seventh rolled her eyes, and started walking.

Everyone stepped back, and Seventh approached the collapsed wall, her hands spidering in the air and slicing at it with claw-tipped gloves. Finally, she held herself still as if having caught a thread, then gently pulled at one rock, wiggling it slowly free with the Force and setting it aside.

She kept going, removing one piece of rubble at a time, often using the other hand to keep another section from moving. Eventually she started directing her droids around to hold a piece steady here or there, like three extra arms she could manipulate from afar. In minutes, for what should’ve taken a carefully-working archaeological team hours or days, the path was clear and the surrounding wreckage dry and stable.

But by the way she shook, and slightly stumbled, it had taken a lot out of her, as much as she tried to hide it. Suz wondered if she’d slept at all since coming aboard. To her irritation, a part of her was actually starting to worry about the damn kid.

Seventh had wasted no time holding out her arms again, impatient as Suz approached to reattach the cuffs. Suz would’ve done it, too, but of course, Vette’s face just had to look like that when she caught it with a glance in her peripheral.

Even though she’d been the one to suggest them, for fear of the girl getting left behind, Vette did not like using the cuffs. That was plain enough to see, and even plainer to see why. She wasn’t pleading, though, or arguing, just… sad, and discomforted. Greatly disapproving, or something like that.

Suz froze in indecision, unable to look at anything but the floor for a few seconds, and then with a loud sigh she was sure she’d regret, put away the cuffs.

Vette noticed, slowly perking up in surprise.

Seventh, however, panicked.

“What are you doing?” She demanded through a shaking scowl – furious, or… desperate? “I’m supposed to wear those, it’s part of our agreement!”

“Well, I’m rescinding it,” Suz answered with great reluctance.

“You can’t rescind a part of the agreement that I put forth!”

It was quiet all of a sudden, several long and impactful seconds facilitating the collective taking aback that put all idle movement on pause.

“Remember?” Seventh challenged with narrowed eyes, the only one with the certainty to lean forward. “I said I would wear the cuffs, whenever I’m not helping you. So?”

With an expectant glare, she thrust out her forearms. Suz met Vette’s worried, defeated eyes and gave her best, most genuinely sympathetic I tried shrug before considering Seventh again. “How about this, at least?” she asked with caution as she clicked both cuffs closed around the Mirialan’s left forearm, the blue lines glowing bright as the Force suppression renewed.

Seventh pulled back her arm, examined it, closed her eyes for a long, wincing moment, then nodded, breathing out something too much like relief from pain. “It’s acceptable,” she glared reservedly, then spun on her heels with more force than was needed and started walking quickly away. “If you need me again, you know where to find me.”

By that, she either meant an actual room on the Reeko, or the top of a large storage crate in the starboard cargo hold, by now it was about 50-50.

~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~/|~~~

My newest, shark-week inspired fic project, Suz Tanwa and the Shark Mages of Manaan is “four obscure star wars characters vs. a sharknado” and after that, it doesn’t really need to be anything else, but because I was feeling generous it also features: vacation episode, treasure hunting, HEIST!, crack treated seriously, crack treated like crack, the Order of Shasa actually doing something, almost everyone’s deepest traumas being set off at the exact same time, the Empire deserving what it gets and how, all the side characters being wlw except when they’re wlnb, none of those characters dying, shark movie tropes played straight, shark movie tropes played gay, everything being a metaphor for itself, mood whiplash, and so much more!

The crew (which was assembled in last year’s Suz Tanwa and the Zombie Pirates of Korriban, but this AU is always structured so you don’t have to read anything previous) consists of one Rodian treasure hunter from a real! Legends short story that’s now only accessible on the web archive, time traveler!Vette who lucked out of the Warrior story to also actually keep doing treasure hunting, post-order 66!Bly with angst and feelings, and cute!teenage!Seventh Sister who has issues but makes good choices. This fic’s supporting cast of OCs, or effective OCs, includes but is not limited to: Rich Popular Girl Who’s A Cyborg, Clawdite Karen, Heart Is An Awesome Power Actually, and From Onderon With Love And Bad Intentions.

The first two chapters are out now on AO3

(Or start with the prequel)

[chuuulip]

In My Veins

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader (Vampire AU)

Warning: A tinsy bit of violent, heavy (or not) petting, some fluff?  

Words: 987

Prompt: ‘I just want a little suck’ and ‘Okay, wait, that kind of turned me on’

Summary: Steve Rogers is not only your boyfriend but he is also your hero who sometimes has fangs and red blooded eyes.

A.N: This is from @the-ce-horniest-book-club​​  prompt request that I combined with Shameless hoes for Chris Challenge hosted by @stargazingfangirl18​​ & @navybrat817​​ 😉 This is the first time I wrote Steve Rogers as a Vampire and it’s short too lol, I’m proud of myself. This piece isn’t beta and if there’s a grammar mistake, that will be on me 😉. As always, comment and REBLOG (wink wink) are really appreciated ❤️. Let me know what you think about this.

***

"Steve… I'm still working." 

Steve can't help but nuzzled at the crock of your neck. The tip of his nose stroke an invincible paint that raised goosebumps on your skin. Your fingers typing here and there on your laptop while Steve hands also distractingly play with your sweatpants' drawstring. 

When you didn't budge and still work on your assignment, Steve planted a light kiss from your left shoulders, up to the top of your neck, under your ear. One particular kiss between your shoulders and neck accidentally made you wiggle your ass in your seat, which means Steve's lap. Since he insisted he really missed you, he asked you to sit on his lap.

"I just want a little suck." Steve's whined. 

When your significant other asked for a little suck, it's not a regular suck most people would think of. Cue to sexy time, at least to some degree. But not your boyfriend. Your big, beefy, baby blue eyes and blonde boyfriend type of suck would include sucking your skin to drown some blood. Yes, he is a vampire. His favorite spot to suck would be around your neck, really non-extraordinary. But sometimes he likes to drown blood from the inside of your wrist. But honestly, he hasn't really explored your body as a whole.

You met Steve a couple months ago. You plan on going back from Friday night's event with your university friend. When you exited a subway, an old man hit you in the head and dragged you by your collar to a secluded place. You are in a state of panic, helpless and can't do anything. At some point that night, you accept your fate if you have to die right then and there. The most baffling thing that happened on a somewhat dreadful night was when the old man tore up your clothes and showed you his massive fangs. His eyes turn red, nails grow longer like claws, and his mouth opens, ready to attack you. You thanked every god in the world when that fangs didn't sink on your throat. In fact, another stranger showed up and saved you—your hero.

You remember when his black coat fluttered under the dim light. His powerful punch sent the old stranger flying across the street. There's a somewhat inhuman fight that happened like a flash of lights. The old man definitely can't compete with your hero since he got a lot of punch on the face as well on his body. But when the old man's claws sank under your hero's wrist, your hero's face changed as the fangs also grew from his regular canine teeth. The dim light gave you enough vision on how handsome his face was before the fangs, but he just looks dangerously beautiful when he has it. Long story short, you passed out after seeing your hero fangs landed on the old man's neck and tore it open with his fangs. Black liquid gushed out from the old man's neck like rain, and you don't really know what happened to that old man after that. 

You wake up the next day in a hospital. Your hero stays in the chair inside your hospital room. His left wrist wrapped in a thick white bandage while his black coat draped loosely on top of his body. He was just too big for the hospital chair. You're thankful but also terrified. Who would believe that a vampire exists? When he's awake, both of you introduce yourself to each other. Long story short, you go out with your hero, and his name is Steve Grant Rogers. On when and why it happened, maybe it's a story for another time.

When both of you decide to date, it's kinda cute that Steve's very excited but also very nervous. "This is the first time I date since I turned into this thing," he said. There's still a lot of uncertainty in his voice, but hey, he would receive fresh sweet blood from you, so no complaining from his side. From you, the only downside of dating Steve Rogers is no sex, hopefully it will change soon. Most of the time, you would classify your beefy boyfriend as a golden retriever in disguise. He is just too soft most of the time. But he is dangerously handsome when he's jealous. Knowing it, you purposely made him jealous a couple times in the hope of getting punished by him. Although sometimes he got riled up, the punishment never passed heavy petting, and somewhat it dissatisfies you.

"Okay, wait, that kind of turned me on." you blurted out when Steve's hands moved from your drawstrings up to your belly button. You stop your typing when the distraction becomes too much to handle.

"Like," kissed. "-this." kissed. Steve right fore and middle fingers circled the outer of your belly button while he nonstop showered your neck with kisses and love bites. His left hand slowly traveled up to your breast. Massaging it in sync with his right hand on your belly button.

A soft moan escaped your lips when his left fingers circled your areolas and pinched each nipple. You huffed in frustration when he stopped and chuckled at you. 

"You want me to continue it, baby girl?" his voice an octave lower at your left ear. You leaned back on him. The back of your head rested on his right shoulder, exposing your neck to him. 

A whimpered of yes was the only answer you gave him, while you closed your eyes. 

"Not until I suck you a little bit, baby." he teased. 

You pouted at him and answered him with a fake annoyance. "Okay, but bring me your famous crème brûlée, and red velvet cake after you do that."

Steve chuckled and kissed your collarbone, "of course! Anything for my baby girl." he sank his canines to your delicate skin as he savored your sweet blood.

***

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[keepingupwithfundies]

I know kendras news is supposed to be happy but it’s heart breaking when I was her age I was graduating with a bachelors degree in bio chemistry and now I’m 23 starting my second year of Med school. I can’t imagine being tied down with 3 kids at this age. I know this is what some people want they want to be a stay at home mom and have kids young and that’s fine IF it’s YOUR choice, but Kendra didn’t get a choice because she was born into a cult

Very well said.

There’s an initial urge to celebrate pregnancy announcements, in part because it’s exciting content to cover, and we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that this is the reality for fundies. These folks say that growing their families is what they truly want, but the reality is that they hardly stood a chance to actualize something different for themselves.

Kendra was never offered the tools or perspectives that could have led to her self-sustainability. With her now expecting her third child at a young 22, she is locked into the lifestyle. She was purposefully inhibited from being able to live outside of her religious community. They’re trapped, and don’t have the skill sets to free their children. It’s a depressing reality. -Suz

[jewels2876]

Sweet Success - Chapter 3

I hope everyone’s enjoying this! I haven’t reached a stopping point yet - yikes!

Square filled: Bakery AU - @star-spangled-bingo

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, kids Isabella and Rebecca and James - Stephen Strange & Loki are mentioned, as is Sam!

Word Count: 994

Warnings for this chapter: a bit more angst, 90′s styles

Pics used are not mine!

Chapter Two

Chapter Three - Memories

You had pulled out your old yearbooks to show the girls what it had been like “back in the day.” They howled over the sky-high hairstyles of the girls and the parachute pants the boys wore. Then Rebecca had asked to see her dad’s yearbooks; you pulled out the one yearbook Bucky had kept. The girls giggled as they noticed the same corny styles. Suddenly the giggles stopped and both looked at you with owl eyes.

“What? Did you find a bad picture of your dad? Trust me that’s not…” you stared at the picture they had found. You sucked in a breath as your eyes teared up. Bucky was a little chubbier when he was younger but you were still mesmerized by his gorgeous eyes and his wide easy smile. What had all three of you shocked was the blond guy to his right, shoulder to shoulder. The hair was longer and his face still held on to the baby fat, but you recognized Steve Rogers nonetheless.

“Did you know they were friends?” Rebecca asked. You mutely shook your head as Isabella thumbed through the pages, finding her dad and Steve at every school function, every football game, even their home economics class picture.

“Mom, this is weird,” Isabella pointed at another face in the home economics picture. “Why does she look like you?” You scrunched up your face as you squinted at the photo. You gasped before looking at the front of the yearbook again, as if for the first time.

After James excused himself to go play on his Xbox, Steve sat in the kitchen looking at his old yearbook. He had only looked at it one other time after graduation, when he learned of Bucky’s passing. Steve fingered each page with a twinge between reverence and remorse. He hated that the two of them had lost touch after high school. Steve had always assumed they would go to the same college, date best friends and be together well into old age. Instead, Bucky had gone to New York for a business degree. There he had run into y/n, who had been a senior when they were freshmen, and sparks flew. Steve heard about the love story from his roommate who had been in y/n’s high school graduating class. It was the one time Steve told his roommate to go to hell, which had surprised and hurt her. It took a batch of his chocolate chip cookies before she’d accept his apology, along with the completely sappy story of how Steve had a crush on y/n since he was in grade school.

Steve landed on the home economics picture. His wry smile grew as he remembered Bucky’s last business idea back in high school: a bakery with the boys. Bucky would be the money guy, Steve the baker, and another friend Sam would be the marketing guy. They had goofed off in class, often drawing the ire of the other students and the teacher. Steve’s vision blurred as he stroked the image of your face, then Bucky’s, before closing the yearbook.

The girls had left you with the yearbook to catch up on the latest episodes of Riverdale. You still had the yearbook open to the home economics page, your mind racing for long lost memories.  You put Bucky’s aside to pick up your own again. This time you went straight to the freshmen pictures; only one page was necessary. Rogers, Steven Grant. He had the same expression as his other photos: lopsided grin, eyes a bit narrowed as if he was analyzing the person looking at him, a slight stoop to his shoulders and frame.

You set the yearbook aside again, cuddling up on the couch with a small throw pillow and a sigh. Your memories took you back to your first run-in with Bucky. You and a college classmate had been on spring break in NYC and the Central Park zoo had been on both of your to-do lists. A group of guys had been following you two around after lunch; you had turned around to give them a piece of your mind when your sharp gaze fell on Bucky. It was hard to ignore the sculpted body at first, until you locked in on his eyes buried behind strands of long dark hair. He pushed the offending strands back and smirked as you gaped at him. “Hey doll,” he had drawled, “cat got your tongue?” You felt your face flame red and you dropped your stare.  His eyes bore down on you as he spoke. “You look familiar actually. Are you from…?”

“Yes!” You went back to gaping, trying to place this gorgeous guy and falling short. Not that it had mattered. Bucky introduced himself and his two friends, Stephen and Loki, and asked if they could join you. Your roommate was too busy giving Stephen the once over to object. You spent the rest of the day together and, by evening’s end, Bucky insisted on getting your number.

“You won’t call,” you teased him as you wrote on his hand with your gel pen.

Stephen snorted and took a picture of Bucky’s hand with his cellphone. “I’ll make him call you so we don’t have to hear him whine about losing it later.” Bucky slapped Stephen’s shoulder and then groaned when he looked at his hand again. “See what I mean?”

Bucky placed a chaste kiss on your lips; you assumed there was a connection between the two of you but the kiss confirmed what you felt. You had graduated a year later and moved to New York to be with Bucky. He was everything you had ever wanted. When he graduated and gotten a job with Stark Industries, he bought you a gorgeous engagement ring. You had eloped three months later and never looked back. You looked down at the ring still on your left hand. Maybe it was time to give someone else a chance, you thought.

To Be Continued

I would love any feedback/reblogs/love in general 

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[dancal13]

Day 2 – So Much Music, So Much Wine

Quick Disclaimer:  Suzy and I both love live music, which is awesome as music has always meant a lot to me. And now Jack, Bailey and Megan are all into music - so I am still learning about and loving new music, while keeping up with past favorites.  But I have grown to hate large crowds (might even be a phobia for the small-minded person - meaning me).  So, we pay attention to all the small venues in Seattle and see a lot of up and coming bands as well as lot of bands that are past their prime.  Pretty cool on the whole, but what we miss out on is the big tours, the bands in the their prime, for example U2’s most recent stadium tour. Not a chance that I would go to that even though I love U2.  But Susan is clever and not one to give up on something she wants to do.  As I mentioned in the Prologue a couple of years ago our friends the Wilbur’s mentioned BottleRock and Susan had her in. Combining and weaving my love for music with my addiction and love for red wine into her sales pitch. The opportunity to see the Red Hot Chile Peppers (never seen by me) and hang in Napa Valley. I was low hanging fruit. (Sorry not such quick disclaimer after all)

And here we are…

We woke up Sunday morning to a chill and the threat of rain and thunder (could be song lyrics).  Much different than our previous visits, where our fears mostly included sunburn and 100-degree weather.  No rain gear, no worries – Susan doesn’t believe in General Admission, that is so bourgeois.  We are VIP Baby and VIP gets you shelter, nice bathrooms, shorter food and drink lines and an obvious sense of superiority.  This of course could easily be disproved, but it’s our story, so stick it. Our friends the Robbs (Jill and John) flew in early that morning and met us for breakfast prior to rocking out.  As true festival goers our breakfast included eggs benedict, smoked salmon-arugula-egg flatbread, Belgium waffles with fresh a bananas and a ham-gruyere omelet, obviously the breakfast of music rebels everywhere.

From there we dropped off the muscle car, its head banging purpose complete and left for the festival.  As we arrived the clouds opened, and we again questioned our attire. We watched in utter horror as umbrellas were collected at the gate and tossed into waiting garbage cans - NOT ALLOWED.  But we were quickly reminded who we were. 

We were VIP and loving every minute of it.  First Stop, I know hard to guess, the bar and wait, you guessed it a covered area looking over the main stage. We would never be anything but damp again as each big stage had a covered area waiting for us.

We had been here before, the covered area previously acted as shade, apparently it can serve two purposes. With wine and cocktails in hand we quickly worked our strategy.  In the two years since we had last attended there were some improvements to VIP. The first being that they had set aside a huge portion of the field in front of the stage for those of us who wanted to see the performers up close.  More on that later.

We headed back to the food and drink areas set aside for our elite status, which included some pretty awesome restaurants and drink options and an acoustic lounge, that featured performers who were finished with their sets or still yet to perform.  These quick and intimate performances lasted about 4 to 6 songs, with a much smaller crowd, maybe a 150 people at its largest. Pretty cool. Just a quick note: though we didn’t take advantage of this (or get taken advantage of by this) there was a booth selling very high-end CUPS of wines.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the menu for posterity.  You could get a small “plastic cup” of Joseph Phelps Insignia for a mere $72. It is here where we were quickly reminded that though we were VIP Special, we were way, way less special than the VIP Platinum attendees.

After some food and drink and an acoustic set or two, we ventured out to the main stage to see Skylar Grey. My only knowledge of her was when we received the first set of promotional materials and I was scrolling through the various artists; I was stopped by the picture of her legs.  See the accompanying picture 😊. Apparently, she is a singer songwriter known more for songs that she has written for more famous artists, she is also currently a local of Napa and a big fan of wine, maybe we will hangout some time.  The first song performed was a song she wrote for Puff Daddy, P Diddy or whatever his current name is.  She had a fantastic voice, tons of tats, and yes great legs.

We stayed for 4 or 5 songs, grabbed some fun pictures, and text-taunted our friends the Wilbur’s who went for multiple days and did GA, while hosting one of their daughter, a nephew and other young friends (as mentioned, VIP access got us pretty close to the stage)

Next stop the Firefox stage to see Gang of Youths.  If you have been to a music festival, typically you will come across a band you do not know, know only one song, or maybe know a few and their performance far exceeds your expectations - You are now a fan!  In the past I have had that reaction to Coleman Hell, New Politics, Odesza – this year it was Gang of Youths, sorry for the bad pic, I have video, but not quite sure how to embed.  They were rockers from Australia, and the lead singer and guitarist looked like Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, so Suzy enjoyed them as well. Hmmmm… GoY vs GoT coincidence?  I think not.

I was also able to capture this image during GoY, of the GA crowd behind me and my cup of cabernet.  I almost felt sad for their existence. Then I took another sip of cabernet, enjoyed the music and all was forgotten.

We headed to the third of four stages to see the Teskey Bros, a blues band that Susan had become a fan of, but finally bumped into our friends Brian and Anne, pictured below drinking Frozés (yup rosé slushies) 

and then stopped nearby for a quick visit to the Silent Disco.  A huge dance floor where everyone is provided a set of headphones that are channeling 2 or 3 different DJs.  Pretty funny to watch a bunch of people dancing together but to different music. On a channel that I wasn’t on, Don’t Stop Believing, by Journey was playing.  Half of the audience/dancers were singing along and singing so loud that I couldn’t hear my headphones, it was time to go.

The Teskey brothers were good and we stayed for most of their set.  We then made our way back to the main stage, the acoustic lounge and the food and beverage area in time for the evening set.  This is where my funny wife stepped up.  After getting an unsatisfactory pour of bubbles while I was receiving an abundant one, she decided to watch me during my next order.  Again, I received above the line pours for both our drinks.  Susan screamed; you are flirting with the guy working the bar.  And then again yelled that I was flirting with the girl during our next stop. Obviously these days I don’t believe in gender labeling (thanks Megan for you guidance), so I just went about my business of flirting, I know right – I AM SO WOKE.  The entertainment ensued from there as Suzy started making friends with people who had arrived early enough for seats, or spaces at the rails or just looked fun. After hanging a while with Suz, they would then offer their spaces to her as they left – by the end of the day we each had a role… Flirty WOKE Guy and Friendly “Who’s Your Buddy” Girl a match made in rock and roll festival heaven

Evening set: First up was Michael Franti and Spearhead.  Seems like he performs every year at Bottlerock, and I’m not sure anyone has a better time doing so.  We were near the stage, but when Michael Franti performs, that means you only get to see him up close for half the time.  He is a bare foot performer who likes to wander out and sing in the crowd, and he does it well. This was the first performance we stayed at for the entire set.

It was nearly 8:30 now and our backs and legs were nearly spent, but the headliner “Mumford and Sons” took the stage.  I’m a big fan of their music but was still surprised and awed by their performance. It was a bit harder than I expected, and they performed with so much energy it was great.  I will find a way to see them again, probably multiple times.

It was a long day, and I was sore for a few days after standing and dancing for nearly ten hours. I’m am not interested in attending other festivals like Coachella, likely because they are not in Wine Country. I know snobbery right?

One insight I would like to share. If you are attending something like this and using a bankcard for drinks, check ahead of time with your bank, as we found out the hard way, that it looks suspicious if you make a bunch of small purchases in a day (food and drinks), in another state. The bank can and will freeze your card until the next day, or until you call them. The good news or easy solution is to carry cash or a second card.  Learn from our mistakes.  

[bunyip-things]

hey gang!  Long time, no hear I know.  After almost four years my laptop gave up the ghost on me.  It fought the good fight considering how hard I use my laptops but I lost all my pictures and saves of Cronor!! (so much angst over that)  I finally got a new laptop and am currently reuploading (dang does it take forever) all my Sims 3 stuff from the ground up but - no new builds or world reviews for a while until I’ve got shop set up again.

In the meantime I did get to play some Sims 4 Strangeville and I’ll put those pictures below a cut since its spoilery.  Sims 4 is nice and fast so that’s fun but I just can’t get any excitement about building things on it and I run out of interest in collecting frogs and gardening too quickly to make it a home game the way Sims 3 is.  Strangeville did have great atmosphere though and made for a few fun days of gameplay.

I’ll start at the end since I didn’t take many pictures.  Brought in Suzie Sharpweather from my Sims 3 Amberville.  Somebody had to come save things after all.

she ended up in the trailer park with the cute trailer and took up painting and busking to pay the bills so I didn’t have to mess with an ‘official’ job and could make my own hours.  Things went to fuzz quickly of course and after the proper amount of ransacking secret bases, beating up people for their gear when push ups wouldn’t impress them and having the little nerd at the shop run away when she hit him with antidote she managed to collect a team to go fight the Big Bad.

The team consisted of Suzie:

Enzo the evil scientist (who got jumped by zombies each time and kicked their ass each time)(and yes, you can see I just let the cc fall where it may and didn’t bother fix anyone)

Craig, the military man who brought his coffee with him to the fight because - priorities

and George, who died before we could win the fight but showed up each time and it was just fitting he got to kick the Big Bad from beyond the grave, right?

I had to tackle the darn thing three times before I figured it out enough to win but win we eventually did and lost all that glorious freakish weather and creepy vibe (I know, I plan on booting it back up again if I end up lingering in the game now that we won). 

Anyway, without showing the Big Bad I’ll just say that afterward celebrations were in order and Suz busted out the guitar so a good time was had by all.

look, don’t fuck with my chance at a hot shower okay?  You knew the big bad was going down after this.

and here’s the sad picture Suzie drew with a level seven art degree to express her pain when her friend George died.

anyway, back to downloading stuff.  Hope to catch up with everyone soon!

[unknown-de-mordor-blog]

Five ships I’m still not over

Beleg Cúthalion/Túrin Turambar

Universe: Middle-earth, first age

Ship name: Nothing that’s widely used in the fandom, I don’t think. But I like to think of them as ‘Black Sword (referring to Turin’s cursed weapon) and Strongbow (direct translation of Cúthalion)’

To me, there's no character more tragic than Turin son of Hurin, and no pairing more tragic than him and Beleg. And no clearer love, too. I don't know if J. R. R. Tolkien intended for them to go that far, but their emotional connection is so deep and powerful that whether you ship them or not it's undisputedly one of the most beautiful relationships in Tolkien's lore. Alas! It's not powerful enough to undo the curse placed on Turin and his clan, which ends both his and Beleg's life all too soon and all too tragically. So, yes, I count Beleg as one of the elves who die for love.

Favourite quote: 'I would lead my own men, and make war in my own way,' Turin answered. 'But in this at least my heart is changed: I repent every stroke save those dealt against the Enemy of Men and Elves. And above all else I would have you beside me. Stay with me!' 'If I stayed beside you, love would lead me not wisdom,' said Beleg.

Uh, I love this so much because it shows the difference in their temperament and maturity. Beleg's an elf who has lived through and fought in so many wars. He's an (elf)man of duty, honour and intellect, and Turin is still a young man whose pride and stubbornness can seriously get in the way of a grown-up conversation. And Beleg is so not having any of that in this scene. He’d do anything for Turin, including ditching his command to find him, but he can pull some tough-love moves, too, when Turin’s unreasonable.

Uzumaki Naruto/Uchiha Sasuke

Universe: Naruto

Ship name: sns, narusasu, sasunaru

I think Naruto and Sasuke canonically love each other, I really do, but I don’t think they are together romantically at any point in the series. And that’s by design, really. Sasuke -- the last of the Uchiha, the tragic figure of the Naruto series (still not as tragic as Turin, but let’s not do this morbid comparison) -- has too many issues to work through, and Naruto isn’t in the position to really help him through them. So as soul-deep as their bond is, they couldn’t have been together and survive each other. Although, I really want that to happen. That’s what fanfictions are for, I guess.

Favourite quote: ‘If you attack Konoha, I will have to fight you... So save up your hatred and take it all on me, I'm the only one who can take it. It's the only thing I can do. I will shoulder your hatred and die with you.’

Honestly, Naruto might just as well propose to Sasuke with that because he’s essentially saying ‘give me your worst, I’m not leaving and never will’. I know friends could be like that, too, but normally not to this degree and not with this kind of commitment. I’m not surprised at all when Sasuke has to ask Naruto why the hell he is doing all this for him. It just goes beyond reason, really.

S'chn T'gai Spock /James T. Kirk

Universe: Star Trek

Ship name: K/S, Spirk

The Daddy of all ships! Pun intended! Spock and Kirk's friendship really walks that fine line of are they/aren’t they. I personally think they aren’t (another controversial statement coming from a shipper), but they’re so cute together you just can’t help think: what if they are? They have this deep trust and affection for one another anyway; why not push it a notch further? ‘This simple feeling,’ as Spock calls it, might as well be love.

Favourite quote:

Kirk: How's our ship? Spock: Out of danger. Kirk: Good... Spock: You saved the crew. Kirk: You used what he wanted against him. That's a nice move. Spock: It is what you would have done. Kirk: And this... this is what you would have done. It was only logical. I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be. How do you choose not to feel? Spock: I do not know. [tears fall] Right now, I am failing. Kirk: I want you to know why I couldn't let you die... why I went back for you... Spock: Because you are my friend. [Kirk places his hand against the glass and gives the Vulcan Salute as he dies]

It’s actually really hard for me to pick a quote for these two because I think every ‘Jim’ from Spock does the job except nobody else would understand it but me. (Second to that is, ‘Captian, not in front of the Klingons.’) While I love them teasing each other a lot, I think Kirk’s death scene from Star Trek Into Darkness has all the right punches to it. Spock has been unable to accept the feeling of friendship towards Kirk (actually just feelings in general) until the moment he watches Kirk dies behind the glass door. And all just comes out like BOOM! Not to mention how close Spock comes to killing Khan for revenge before Uhura tells him that Kirk can be saved but they need Khan alive. Honestly, that’s the only reason Khan’s head doesn’t go plop in Spock’s hands.

Morgoth/Sauron

Universe: Middle-earth, first age

Ship name: it just came to my attention that the fandom is calling this ship Angbang (a wordplay on the name of their home/fortress Angband). Nicely done, you naughty people. Also Melkor/Mairon if you’re going by their proper first-age names.

I think a lot of people seeing this ship would go ‘what?!’ Like, how is that even possible when Tolkien didn’t write a single scene with the two of them in it. I’d say in this case the absence is more powerful. Tolkien wrote the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales as lore, so they necessarily come from the perspective of the tellers; i.e., humans and elves. That doesn’t mean Tolkien didn’t drop hints about the complex characters that the dark lords of Middle-earth are. He even has Elrond says that people don’t start out evil, not even Sauron. So the question becomes, what the heck happened? And the heck that starts it all out is pretty much in the first few chapters of the Silmarillion where Morgoth is clearly a powerful and inventive figure but in many ways an outcast and shunned by everyone including the very power that made him. (*cough* daddy issue *cough*) And then we are made aware of the fact Sauron, who is also powerful and creative, isn’t on Morgoth’s side from the get go but decides to join him later. The power-hungry dark lords we are later told about aren’t that at all, so it raises the question of their true characters and motives. If anything, I think the length in which Sauron would go for Morgoth thousands of years after his master is defeated and shut away says something about their bond with each other. And if I know one thing, it can’t be fear or respect. If I have to make a guess, I think it is akin to love.

Favourite quote: There isn’t anything I can quote from the source material since there hasn’t been a dialogue or anything they say to an audience that could be trusted as genuinely representing who they are. One thing I do scream about is the scene in the Return of the King movie when the black gate opened and behind there isn’t just the tower with the eye of Sauron but Mount Doom next to it in the same frame. I was like ‘I know Morgoth’s not here but isn’t that him in spirit.’ Yes, I’m a proper trash for these two.

Also, there’s this awesome comic series (unfortunately discontinued) by Suz. It’s legitimately hotter than the fire of Aule’s forge, honestly.

Beren/Lúthien

Universe: Middle-earth, first age

Ship name: I’m not aware of any ship name for these two but ‘Beren and Luthien’ is catchy enough as it is.

How else to finish this list but to dedicate the last entry to the greatest love story of Middle-earth, and, yes, I'm saying that with a straight face because, holy hell, this couple defies expectations left, right, and centre. Luthien, our elven princess, is an active participant in her own fate. She falls in love with a human who, in an act of valour, accepts her father's stupid, impossible task to steal the most treasured jewel from Morgoth the Dark Lord himself. Luthien basically runs away from home, finds her man captured and tortured, and tears the goddamn fortress down in a showdown with the-dark-lord-to-be Sauron himself (which makes you question the competency of everyone else in Middle-earth). They then proceed to steal the jewel together. They don't quite succeed in bringing it back and Beren loses his hand in the process, but hey, they could say it's in his hand, somewhere, and now could they please marry because otherwise I have a feeling that Luthien is going to elope with her boyfriend and her mom and dad won't be seeing her again ever.

And this is really just scratching the surface of Luthien’s feisty personality quite unbefitting of most princesses until the recent overhaul of attitude by Disney. And all this came from a man who was born in the Victorian era when women's autonomy wasn't given or respected. But I think Luthien's depth of character comes from the fact that she has a real-life counterpart, and so she feels more like a real woman. And the love between Beren and Luthien feels compelling because its the love the professor himself had for his wife and life-long partner, Edith. You can check out their gravestone. I'm so not making this up.

Favourite quote: The song of Lúthien before Mandos was the song most fair that ever in words was woven, and the song most sorrowful that ever the world shall ever hear. Unchanged, imperishable, it is sung still in Valinor beyond the hearing of the world, and the listening the Valar grieved. For Lúthien wove two themes of words, of the sorrow of the Eldar and the grief of Men, of the Two Kindreds that were made by Ilúvatar to dwell in Arda, the Kingdom of Earth amid the innumerable stars. And as she knelt before him her tears fell upon his feet like rain upon stones; and Mandos was moved to pity, who never before was so moved, nor has been since.

It’s not a scene between them, but this is how far Luthien’s love and badassery goes. She loses Beren in a battle to protect her father’s kingdom, and she dies grieving him. In the afterlife, she gets to meet the god of death Mandos and sings him a song of their love and her grief. Apparently, she’s so good with words and music that Mandos is like, ‘I can’t handle the feels. You can have your husband back and have a mortal life with him.’ And Luthien takes the deal, of course.

[keepingupwithfundies]

The function of interdisciplinary studies is to allow for multiple concentrations in your degree. The up side of this is getting to narrow in and specialize on topics incorporating many different fields of study. One criticism of it is, if the study is not particularly focused, is it may lead to knowing a little about a lot. Which is still a good problem to have. -Suz

[webraftic-blog]

Best Branding Coaches to Follow In 2020

Following ideals, coaches, or guides to achieve your objective, not only makes your struggle more manageable, but they also show you a proper path to follow. We have coaches in life who teach us to take routes that will make our journey easier and avoid ways that will increase hurdles.

In branding, we have several coaches that have learned from their experiences, and they are here to guide us so that we could learn from the mistakes they have made.

Here are the best branding coaches of 2020 whom you must follow if you are looking for effective branding techniques.

Jacob Cass

Jacob Cass is the USAA’s famous brand designer, educator, strategist, and business coach for people who love creativity. Jacob is also the founder of his company JUST Creative, an award-winning branding and design firm dedicated to helping brands grow.

Jacob has been coaching creatives in both a one-on-one and a group setting, where he has helped tons of clients achieve branding & business success. Those of you who want to build a thriving creative business have a lot to learn from Jacob Cass then.

Suzanne Chadwick

Another famous name in the branding industry is Suzanne Chadwick. Suz is a bold business woman who loves branding. She is a speaker coach based in Melbourne, Australia, and consists 9 years of experience in the branding industry and another ten years’ experience in the sales and leadership market. Suzan has also worked with large multi-national companies and brands across the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Asia Pacific, and have supported them in creating stand out brands in their market.

Suz is currently working with female entrepreneurs worldwide with a mission is to support them in becoming bold and possess potent voices in their industry so that they could uniquely establish their brands.

Travis Brady

Travis Brady has a 17 years of above experience in branding and holds multiple degrees and certifications in human physiology and psychology. He uses his wisdom, knowledge, and experience to create massive transformations in the market and culture of organizations.

Travis is also the founder of Next Gen Coaching, where he is working to bring his dream in reality by helping businesses bring out their innovative, creative, and influential mastermind through their brands.

Summing up

These are a few branding experts who are working hard to help brands achieve their visions. Do you know any other top coaches of branding? Tell us in the comment below. To get further information on branding, visit https://brandezk.com/ now.

[jewels2876]

Finding the Christmas Tree – December 15

Summary: On the second day of Christmas, it’s all about the perfect tree

Christmas Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, FLUFF

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 491

A/N: The song referenced is linked and on Youtube - I apologize in advance because it mentions butts... I have frat boy humor on occassion!

“I’m freezing my ass off here!”

“It’s such a cute ass too! I’ll be sad to see it go!”

The tree lot was swarming with people so you were milling around trying to decide on… wait no, that’s not right. You were huddled into your puffy purple jacket trying to keep warm in the twenty-degree weather while your HUSBAND tried to decide on the perfect tree he was dying to find. “Chris, babe, can we please just put up my fake tree this year?” you whined as you shivered.

Chris turned to you in mock horror. “A fake tree?” He placed his hands on either side of the closest tree. “You’ll hurt their feelings! Stop with the crazy talk, woman!” He smirked and winked at you. You rolled your eyes and laughed in spite of yourself.

Chris wandered through the rows again. “I just can’t decide. Babe, are you sure you don’t want to help me here?” You pulled the hood on your jacket down and rubbed your gloved hands together. “Will it get me out of the cold sooner?” He nodded.

“Fine, that one!” You pointed at the one behind him, two rows back. It was a tall spruce, beautifully colored a blue green. He followed your finger and groaned. “My wife….” You heard him mutter. “What was that babe?”

“Nothing!” He glanced at the tag on the tree and pretended to swoon. “Jesus y/n! Are you trying to bankrupt me?” You giggled and jogged over to him. You looked at the tag and frowned. “Damn, for a tree?! Especially when we have a perfectly good, free…” Chris silenced you with a warm kiss.

You both heard a throat clearing and separated. The tree lot attendant grinned at you. “So are you going with this one?”

**

“Star or angel?”

“Angel.”

“This is just so you can continue to play that annoying, albeit hilarious, twisted Christmas song isn’t it?”

“Yep!”

Chris put the angel on the top; you both stood back to admire your work. “It looks beautiful,” you sighed and melted into his side grinning. He kissed the top of your head and wrapped his arms around you. “Not quite as beautiful as you, but it’ll do.”

You swatted his ass and smirked. “You’re just mad that we decided on this tree.” He danced away from you as you tried to smack his ass again with a grin. “Come on, babe, just admit it.”

He tried to avoid your hand while trying to swat your ass as well. “At least your cute ass didn’t freeze off; I’ve grown rather fond of it!” You giggled again and ducked out of his reach. “Stop it! If you knock this tree over…”

He grabbed you by the waist, pulling you into a searing kiss. “This damn fake tree will be fine,” he whispered between kisses. “But you may not be so lucky.” His eyes twinkled and you knew what was coming later.

“Just as long as we make the party on time,” you whispered before nibbling his earlobe.

Tag list: @sebs-potato @until-theend-oftheline @starksmile @lokiandbuckyaremine @ticklikeabomb @thenormreedus @woodworthti666 @greenarrowhead @lovely-dreamer19 @moonbeambucky @yafriendlyfangirl @lilyrosebae @after-avenging-hours  @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @marvelc00kie35 @thejemersoninferno @lionheo04 @bitsandbobsandstuff  @dewy-biitch @readitandweepfics @lokilvrr @lokiandbuckylover @lostinthoughtsandfeelings-blog @theimpossibleg1rl @princess-evans-addict @stuckyfox @sarahivi @4theluvofall @loricameback @moondancewrites @halcyonrogers @writing-for-a-chance @ruckystarnes @angryschnauzerwrites @221bshrlocked @suz-123 @senorita-stucky @devilbat @jpat82 @caramell0w @spookyscaryskeletonsus @theoneanna @lilybellsworld  @patzammit

[ohwhatamessiam]

All or Nothing - Prologue

Summary: Almost two years after she left him, Bucky is still trying to move on from their relationship. But when one of his nightmares begins unfolding in real life, he and the team must do what it takes to find her before it’s too late. Will she survive this? Is there any hope for their relationship to begin again? And will Bucky ever get closure?

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Bisexual!Reader, Bisexual!Reader X OC

Word Count: 430 (it’s a tiny baby update, I’m sorry)

Warnings: none yet?

A/N: Hey, it’s me, back with a little preview of the sequel to Give! This series will feature all of the Avengers to some degree, as well as a couple original characters. Bestie!SamWilson gets the spotlight in this one, and yes there is a bad bisexual pun in there. A huge thanks to @fangirlisms-22 for beta-ing this one for me! I went ahead and tagged everyone from the Give taglist, and my ask is always open if anyone else wants to be added! I also threw together a playlist for this, although I’m still getting it to where I want it. Let me know what you think, and I’ll have the first chapter up in a couple days hopefully!

If you haven’t yet, check out Give, the prequel to this series!

Give | Masterlist

“He’ll have a weapons speciali-,” Tony Stark said, as he swiped to another file on an internationally wanted criminal.

The chorus to “I Never Loved A Man” by Aretha Franklin blared from Sam Wilson’s phone, stopping Tony mid-sentence and drawing every Avenger at the briefing table’s attention to him. Pulling the phone from his pocket, Sam cursed himself silently for forgetting to place it on vibrate. It continued to ring as he stared at her contact name, South Bi Midwest, the nickname he’d given her after the last weekend he’d stayed with her in Virginia. A sinking feeling started in his gut. She wouldn’t call unless something was wrong.

“As much as we all respect Aretha, we’re in the middle of a briefing Sam,” Tony quipped, only a slight edge of humor softening his words.

“Is it something important?” Steve asked, noticing how Sam’s posture had shifted and his eyes went wide.

Ignoring Stark’s sass, Sam glanced at Steve and nodded, “It might be.” Standing from his seat and walking quickly out of the room, he swiped to answer.

“Hello? (Y/N)?” he asked as he leaned against the door frame.

“Hi Sam. No, no, it’s actually Nikki,” a woman responded, her voice strained.

“Um-,” he began, trying to remember who she was. “Oh, hi Nikki, why are you calling me on (Y/N)’s phone?” He’d only met her once, but he’d heard (Y/N) gush about her girlfriend for months now.

“Uh Sam, s-she’s gone,” what sounded like a sob breaking her words up.

“What do you mean ‘she’s gone’?” Sam’s heart sped as he began pacing.

“We just got out of a movie for date night, and s-some guys in a black SUV just showed up and grabbed her. She’s just, gone.”

“No, no,” he reached for the door, anger already rising in his chest. “Wh-, why would they take her?”

“I-, I don’t know. They just threw me her phone and made her tell me what your contact name was.”

“Okay, okay.” Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he continued, “Where are you?”

“The theatre 2 blocks from her apartment.”

“Alright, sit tight if you can. We’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“I’ll wait in my car,” she answered, her voice nearly a whimper. Sam entered the room, his eyes meeting Steve’s immediately. “Sam, please hurry.”

“I promise we will.” He could have laughed at that thought. They’d be flying faster than the speed of sound.

“And Sam.”

“Yeah?” he asked, clapping a hand down on Steve’s shoulder.

“They shot her.”

Sam stopped breathing.

Tags: @lostboyinneverland @irishdancr24 @suz-123 @yo-yo-bro-bro @hollycornish @tequilavet @plan3tmadison

[suzanneshannon]

What is Developer Experience (DX)?

Developer Experience¹ is a term² with a self-declaring meaning — the experience of developers — but it eludes definition in the sense that people invoke it at different times for different reasons referring to different things. For instance, our own Sarah Drasner’s current job title is “VP of Developer Experience” at Netlify, so it’s a very real thing. But a job title is just one way the term is used. Let’s dig in a bit and apply it to the different ways people think about and use the term.

People think of specific companies.

I hear DX and Stripe together a lot. That makes sense. Stripe is a payment gateway company almost exclusively for developers. They are serious about providing a good experience for their customers (developers), hence “developer experience.” Just listen to Suz Hinton talk about “friction journals”, which is the idea of sitting down to use a product (like Stripe) and noting down every single little WTF moment, confusion, and frustration so that improvements can be made:

Netlify is like Stripe in this way, as is Heroku, CodePen, and any number of companies where the entire customer base is developers. For companies like this, it’s almost like DX is what UX (User Experience) is for any other company.

People think of specific technologies.

It’s common to hear DX invoked when comparing technologies. For instance, some people will say that Vue offers a better developer experience than React. (I’m not trying to start anything, I don’t even have much of an opinion on this.) They are talking about things like APIs. Perhaps the state is more intuitive to manage in one vs. the other. Or they are talking about features. I know Vue and Svelte have animation helpers built-in while React does not. But React has hooks and people generally like those. These are aspects of the DX of these technologies.

Or they might be speaking about the feeling around the tools surrounding the core technology. I know create-react-app is widely beloved, but so is the Vue CLI. React Router is hugely popular, but Vue has a router that is blessed (and maintained) by the core team which offers a certain feeling of trust.

> vue create hello-world

> npx create-react-app my-app

I’m not using JavaScript frameworks/libraries as just any random example. I hear people talk about DX as it relates to JavaScript more than anything else — which could be due to the people in my circles, but it feels notable.

People think of the world around the technology.

Everybody thinks good docs are important. There is no such thing as a technology that is better than another but has much worse docs. The one with the better docs is better overall because it has better docs. That’s not the technology itself; that’s the world around it.

Have you ever seen a developer product with an API, and when you view the docs for the API while logged in, it uses API keys and data and settings from your own account to demonstrate? That’s extraordinary to me. That feels like DX to me.

Airtable docs showing me API usage with my own data.

“Make the right thing easy,” notes Jake Dohm.

That word, easy, feels highly related to DX. Technologies that make things easy are technologies with good DX. In usage as well as in understanding. How easily (and quickly) can I understand what your technology does and what I can do with it?

What the technology does is often only half of the story. The happy path might be great, but what happens when it breaks or errors? How is the error reporting and logging? I think of Apollo and GraphQL here in my own experience. It’s such a great technology, but the error reporting feels horrendous in that it’s very difficult to track down even stuff like typos triggering errors in development.

What is the debugging story like? Are there special tools for it? The same goes for testing. These things are fundamental DX issues.

People think of technology offerings.

For instance, a technology might be “good” already. Say it has an API that developers like. Then it starts offering a CLI. That’s (generally) a DX improvement, because it opens up doors for developers who prefer working in that world and who build processes around it.

I think of things like Netlify Dev here. They already have this great platform and then say, here, you can run it all on your own machine too. That’s taking DX seriously.

One aspect of Netlify Dev that is nice: The terminal command to start my local dev environment across all my sites on Netlify, regardless of what technology powers them, is the same: netlify dev

Having a dedicated CLI is almost always a good DX step, assuming it is well done and maintained. I remember WordPress before WP-CLI, and now lots of documentation just assumes you’re using it. I wasn’t even aware Cloudinary had a CLI until the other day when I needed it and was pleasantly surprised that it was there. I remember when npm scripts started taking over the world. (What would npm be without a CLI?) We used to have a variety of different task runners, but now it’s largely assumed a project has run commands built into the package.json that you use to do anything the project needs to do.

Melanie Sumner thinks of CLIs immediately as core DX.

People think of the literal experience of coding.

There is nothing more directly DX than the experience of typing code into code editing software and running it. That’s what “coding” is and that’s what developers do. It’s no wonder that developers take that experience seriously and are constantly trying to improve it for themselves and their teams. I think of things like VS Code in how it’s essentially the DX of it that has made it so dominant in the code editing space in such a short time. VS Code does all kinds of things that developers like, does them well, does them fast, and allows for a very wide degree of customization.

TypeScript keeps growing in popularity no doubt in part due to the experience it offers within VS Code. TypeScript literally helps you code better by showing you, for example, what functions need as parameters, and making it hard to do the wrong thing.

Then there is the experience outside the editor, which in the browser itself. Years ago, I wrote Style Injection is for Winners where my point was, as a CSS developer, the experience of saving CSS code and seeing the changes instantly in the browser is a DX you definitely want to have. That concept continues to live on, growing up to JavaScript as well, where “hot reloading” is goosebump-worthy.

The difference between a poor developer environment (no IDE help, slow saves, manual refreshes, slow pipelines) and a great developer environment (fancy editor assistance, hot reloading, fast everything) is startling. A good developer environment, good DX, makes you a better and more productive programmer.

People compare it to user experience (UX).

There is a strong negative connotation to DX sometimes. It happens when people blame it for it existing at the cost of user experience.

I think of things like client-side developer-only libraries. Think of the classic library that everyone loves to dunk: Moment.js. Moment allows you to manipulate dates in JavaScript, and is often used client-side to do that. Users don’t care if you have a fancy API available to manipulate dates. That is entirely a developer convenience. So, you ship this library for yourself (good DX) at the cost of slowing down the website (bad UX). Most client-side JavaScript is in this category.

Equally as often, people connect developer experience and user experience. If developers are empowered and effective, that will “trickle down” to produce good software, the theory goes.

Worst case, we’re in a situation where UX and DX are on a teeter totter. Pile on some DX and UX suffers on the other side. Best case, we find ways to disentangle DX and UX entirely, finding value in both and taking both seriously. Although if one has to win, certainly it should be the users. Like the HTML spec says:

In case of conflict, consider users over authors over implementors over specifiers over theoretical purity.

People think about time.

How long does a technology take to adopt? Good DX considers this. Can I take advantage of it without rewriting everything? How quickly can I spin it up? How well does it play with other technologies I use? What is my time investment?

This kind of thing makes me think of some recent experience with Cloudflare Workers. It’s really cool technology that we don’t have time to get all into right here, but suffice to say it gives you control over a website at a high level that we often don’t think about. Like what if you could manipulate a network request before it even gets to your web server? You don’t have to use it, but because of the level it operates on, new doors open up without caring about or interfering with whatever technologies you are using.

Not only does the technology itself position itself well, the DX of using it, while there are some rough edges, is at least well-considered, providing a browser-based testing environment.

A powerful tool with a high investment cost, eh, that’s cool. But a powerful tool with low investment cost is good DX.

People don’t want to think about it.

They say the best typography goes unnoticed because all you see is the what the words are telling you, not the typography itself. That can be true of developer experience. The best DX is that you never notice the tools or the technology because they just work.

Good DX is just being able to do your job rather than fight with tools. The tools could be your developer environment, it could be build tooling, it could be hosting stuff, or it could even be whatever APIs you are interfacing with. Is the API intuitive and helpful, or obtuse and tricky?

Feel free to keep going on this in the comments. What is DX to you?

Are we capitalizing Developer Experience? I’m just gonna go for it.

Looks like Michael Mahemoff has a decent claim on coining the term.

The post What is Developer Experience (DX)? appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

What is Developer Experience (DX)? published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[bolontiku]

So out of curiosity... I googled "passport endorsement page 27" and got this... Mind you it was the first hit

Poor Peter. There was also something in the original search about a lost passport (probs MCU refering to the one Tony got him). Peter is gonna get the third degree... This child.. Smh

@howlingourcolors @suz-123 @just-a-kj-blog

Marvel don’t even fucking know how old this boy is. They didn’t put his birth year on the passport

[razzmatash]

Promise and Protect

Day 6: Promise (and to a lesser degree Protect)

Pairing: McCree x OC

Word Count: 1384

Note: As always, the dog, Suz, and Juno all belong to @artsybizaar. This takes place after the recall has gone out and shit has literally hit the fan for the pair of them.

             Absently tapping her USB key against the table, Evan flipped it around every time it touched the wood and stared across the room. There were pictures on the wall, almost all of Jesse, but she didn’t see them. She’d already looked at them in the couple days they’d been at the house. But her thoughts were too scattered to focus on them right now.

           She could hear noises from the kitchen, Suz cooking lunch and talking to Billy. There were noises coming from the other end of the house, Jesse in the bedroom they were using. Angus was lying beside her on the floor, his deep breathing chuffing against her legs.

           It was a repeat of pretty much every day they’d been here and was probably why her thoughts were turning back to what had happened.

           Evan’s eyes closed and she leaned back against the couch. It wasn’t so bad when she was awake, mostly because she could distract herself, but she was having nightmares about what had happened at the lab. The sirens, the gunshots, the almost kidnapping…leaving Juno behind. Her dreams kept showing her everything that could have gone wrong beyond what had gone wrong. Jesse knew she was having nightmares, how could he not when she jerked awake after every single one? He’d asked her if she wanted to talk about it but she stubbornly refused, opting just to cuddle as close as she could get to him and try to forget.

           But it had happened and she was going to need to deal with it eventually.

           She flipped the USB stick again and her mouth flattened. All of her person projects, new and old, were on it. She’d had to leave her laptop behind so she couldn’t work on them but she was thankful that she hadn’t left any of the designs on the computer. She’d learned when Overwatch had fallen to keep her projects saved somewhere mobile that she could keep with her no matter what happened.

           “Darlin’?”

           Her eyes opened, her head turning at the voice. Jesse was standing at the end of the couch, giving her an odd look. “Mm?”

           “Whatchu doin’ on the floor?” he asked, his voice amused.

           Evan shrugged. She’d been petting Angus before and it had been easier to do from the floor. She had just stayed there when he’d gone to sleep.

           He glanced over his shoulder at the kitchen before he sat on the couch near her. “What’s on yer mind?”

           She looked at the USB, frowning. “I keep thinking about what happened at the lab,” she admitted.

           “Yer ma got out, Ev. If anyone was gonna get out, it’d be Juno.”

           “That wasn’t…I know,” she sighed. Once she’d gotten over her fear, she’d realised that even if she was facing off against that vigilante, that Soldier 76, Juno was not going to let some random mercenary take her out.

           “Alright, so it ain’t yer ma on yer mind. Ya finally gonna tell me what’s goin’ on in that pretty head o’ yers?”

           She smiled faintly at how thick his accent was. She’d noticed that the longer he was around Suz, the thicker his accent got, mirroring his mother’s. She thought it was cute, even if it did take her an extra second or two to figure out what he’d said.

           “Ev, darlin’, love the smile but kinda need ya to talk to me. We agreed to talk this shit out, remember?”

           Evan sighed and slumped against the couch, staring at the ceiling now. How did she put what she was thinking into words? “I couldn’t do anything,” she said after a moment.

           “What do ya mean?”

           “When they were trying to take me, when you and Juno came to get me, when you got me out,” she continued. “I couldn’t do a damn thing to help anyone. Not you, not her, not myself.”

           “Ev, you ain’t a fighter. Never have been.”

           But she did have self defence training, basic combat training. Everyone at Overwatch, no matter if they were never going to wind up on the front lines of a battle, got the training. It had been seven years since she had been dragged out of her lab to do it, but the training was there.

           “Hey, darlin’, don’t beat yerself up ‘bout it,” he said, moving closer to her and running his fingers through her hair. “Ya couldn’t have known what was gonna happen.”

           “It’s not that,” she insisted, twisting around so she was on her knees and facing him. “I was a liability to both you and Juno. So much so that she had to stay behind.”

           “She stayed behind ‘cause o’ that soldier,” Jesse said firmly. “We didn’t need someone else on our asses.”

           “If I could have helped, she wouldn’t have stayed.”

           “Ev, yer forgettin’ somethin’ basic. Juno loves ya, calls ya her daughter. She woulda sent ya away no matter what.”

           Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment. She knew that, even if she didn’t want to actually accept it. Juno wouldn’t hesitate to put her life on the line to keep her safe; which was exactly what she’d done.

           “What else, Ev?”

           Looking at him, she held up the USB in her hand. “Do you remember when we were with Overwatch and I had those designs for a weapon?”

           “Yeah,” Jesse said slowly, looking between the stick and her. “Ya didn’t get approval ‘cause the higher ups didn’t want anyone else getting’ yer tech.”

           God, that had been so upsetting. Was still upsetting if she thought about it for long enough. “I never got to make it,” she agreed, “but that didn’t stop me from designing it. From trying to get it perfect.”

           He studied her for a long moment. “Did ya?”

           “I don’t know,” Evan admitted, lowering the stick. “I never had time to work on a physical demo. Or the resources.”

           “It’s on there then?”

           She nodded and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to feel like that again, Jesse,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to feel like a burden to those around me.”

           “Ev, ya ain’t,” he stressed.

           “But I’m not a help and I want to be. If we’re going back, if we’re meeting up with Winston and whoever else is answering the recall, I am not going to just sit on the sidelines and watch the people I love go out. I want to be able to help, to be able to protect.”

           Jesse sucked on his cheek for a moment. “Ya gonna make the gun?”

           “I’m going to try,” she agreed.

           He was quiet for a long minute before he nodded. “Alright, darlin’, if that’s what ya want.”

           Evan didn’t resist him as he shifted his hand to cup the back of her head and pulled her up off her knees. “Jesse?”

           “I get ya wanna protect people, but I want ya to promise me somethin’.”

           “What?”

           “Ya gotta watch yer back,” he stressed. “No matter how much ya wanna protect other people, ya gotta keep yerself safe.”

           “Jesse, you just got shot three times protecting me,” she protested. “That isn’t-”

           “Don’t think ‘bout that, Ev,” he dismissed.

           “No, you can’t make me promise not to let myself get hurt when you just did that!” Evan said firmly. “I’m not making that promise unless you make it too!”

           “Ev, I got years o’ experience under my belt and-”

           “You still got shot three times,” she growled.

           He stared hard at her. “Forgot how damn stubborn ya are,” he muttered.

           “Ain’t much comin’ from yer mouth, Jesse.”

           They both turned to see Suz standing in the entrance to the kitchen. “Ma, I ain’t-”

           “Boy, don’t ya even start with me,” she growled at him. “But lunch is ready. So ya make yer promises and come and eat.”

           Evan watched her go, a little embarrassed as she realised Suz had probably heard their entire conversation. She looked back at Jesse when he sighed and returned his rueful smile.

           “I can’t promise I won’t get hurt,” he said quietly. “No one can promise that but…I’ll watch yer back if ya watch mine, Bambi.”

           Pushing herself up further, she was pleased when he leaned down to meet her. She kissed him quickly, pulling back to murmur, “I can promise that.”

[peachonice]

Rules: Answer the questions in a new post and tag 10 you would like to get to know better

tagged by @trahcee :)

1. Nickname: Suz, Suzy, Suzanne 2. Star sign: scorpio 3. Height: 5′3ish 4. Time right now: 6:15 pm 5. Favorite music artist: let me just say that I am the worst person to ask about favorites because I just can never figure out how to answer these kind of questions. so like of all time idk maybe The Clash but also maybe Girls Aloud I guess I won’t say BTS but 6. Song stuck in your head: BTS’ Fire 7. Last movie you watched: Tazza 2 for like the 12th time tbh 8. Last TV show watched: I’ve been rewatching Gavin & Stacey 9. What are you wearing right now: black leggings, hello kitty pj tank top and a totoro hoodie. (I was also wearing totoro socks earlier tbh but I changed them for blue wool knee socks) 10. When did you create your blog: I think early 2010, unless it was 2009 11. What kind of stuff do you post: like…….mostly kpop now, which I am sorry about but only kind of, but also kdramas and non-kdrama tv and things I find funny or aesthetically pleasing 12. Do you have any other blogs: no, although I should do something about the very old sideblogs I still have linked they’re annoying to keep seeing in the app 13. Do you get asks regularly: no, incredibly rarely but I mean if you want to talk to me though please go ahead 14. Why did you choose your URL: Waiting is one of my fav Girls Aloud songs, I was in full GA stan mode back in 2009 and so at the time I used this for everything and still do for non-real life related things just because (and only twice on other pop music related sites has it ever been taken, now it never is) 15. Gender: female 16. Hogwarts house: ravenclaw 17. Pokemon team: n/a 18. Favourite color: pink but also kind of purple and some shades of blue and also mint. but I usually choose pink things 19. Average hours of sleep: like 6 probably 20. Lucky number: 46 21. Favourite character: umm idk honestly? since I’ve been rewatching Gavin & Stacey I’ve been re-realizing how great of a character Ness is, but that’s not my answer because idk I love too many things that have characters I love to choose. also just nothing is coming into my head fast enough 22. How many blankets do you sleep with: a comforter and then I usually have a throw like lined up next to/against me but not on me? maybe that’s weird. I’ve been using flannel sheets lately just because they’re comfy but sometimes I wake up with just the sheets on because it’s too hot in my apartment and I don’t control the heat 23. Dream job: idk anymore, which is why I’ve gotten possibly deluded into thinking my deadend job that doesn’t use any of my degrees is good enough for a career and been too lazy to look into anything else. ouch ignore that. idk maybe a subject librarian (history) at an academic library, if I ever got off my ass to get my MLS (and double my loans). in an ideal world I’d be a writer but realistically I know I am far too lazy to write non-fiction and not creative enough on my own for fiction 24. Following: over 400 but I’ve gotta go through it actually because I think a lot are inactive blogs about stuff I’m not into anymore

not to be a rulebreaker and not tag but, anyone who wants to do it please do!

[dawnajaynes32]

Logo Design Awards: 9th Annual Winner Galleries

HOW is thrilled to present the 20 winners of the 9th Annual HOW Logo Design Awards in the gallery below. These winning projects were selected by Natasha Jen, partner at Pentagram, with support from the HOW editorial staff.

All 20 winners went head-to-head in an online Reader’s Choice voting. The Ad Victorem logo received 58% of votes in the logo design category, and the Yellow House logo by Brunet-Garcia Advertising received 35% in the identity applications category, making them the Reader’s Choice winners this year.

These two Reader’s Choice winners score a free Big Ticket registration to HOW Design Live 2018; are invited to take part in a main-stage trophy presentation at HOW Design Live; get a lunch date with a HOW Design Live speaker of their choice (pending speaker availability); and are invited to attend the official Speaker Reception with industry movers and shakers at HOW Design Live (one individual from the winning team plus one guest will be permitted). Not to mention, they’ll score attention as featured projects here on HOWdesign.com (stay tuned for those spotlights)!

If you missed entering the Logo Design Awards, check out the HOW Promotion Design Awards, the competition that celebrates your original recipe for outstanding promo-driven design.

Reader’s Choice in the Logo Design Category: Ad Victorem Logo

DESIGN FIRM/CLIENT Ad Victorem, Los Angeles; www.advictorem.design CREATIVE TEAM Anthony Wiktor, Freddy Nager, Greg Nicpon DETAILS Ad Victorem (Latin for “Towards Victory”) is a brand strategy + design agency that takes creative and strategic risks to help challenger brands outwit and outmaneuver the competition.

Reader’s Choice in the Identity Application Category: Yellow House

DESIGN FIRM Brunet-Garcia Advertising, Jacksonville, FL; www.brunetgarcia.com CREATIVE TEAM Jorge Brunet-García, executive creative director; Eduardo Sarmiento, creative director; Aerien Mull, art director/designer CLIENT Yellow House DETAILS Yellow House’s brand identity, inspired by social movement and activism design, is as big and resonant as its mission to leverage the power of art to transform communities. More than a physical space, Yellow House is a hub for collaboration among artists, writers, organizations and communities through thought-provoking exhibitions, education, events and dialogue. The simple icon is based on the actual slope of the Yellow House roofline. Images appear underneath, within or around the mark, which can be drawn, painted, tagged, chalked, sprayed, printed, cut or assembled—by anyone—giving the power of art to the community it serves. 

Winners in the Logo Design Category

1. A New Brand Identity for USP

DESIGN FIRM Siegel+Gale, New York City; www.siegelgale.com CREATIVE TEAM Kate Hilliard, creative director; Jonathan Field, design director CLIENT USP DETAILS United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), with over 200 years of storied history, sought to better communicate how their organization’s work has developed. From building roads in Ghana to helping to increase safety and health standards in third world countries, USP needed to tell their new story. After extensive qualitative research, Siegel+Gale developed the positioning for USP, “building foundations essential for a healthier world.” To express this new identity visually, Siegel+Gale developed a comprehensive visual system. The triangle of USP’s new logo strikes a balance between science, precision and rigor—core tenets of USP’s values. The precision of the point of the triangle represents USP’s focus on quality. And the base of the triangle represents USP’s promise to build foundations essential for a healthier world.

2. A New Identity for GroundTruth, the Global Location Technology Company

DESIGN FIRM Siegel+Gale, New York City; www.siegelgale.com CREATIVE TEAM Austyn Stevens, creative director; Kira Sea, senior designer CLIENT GroundTruth DETAILS GroundTruth was really at a pivotal moment in their business growth. They had the ingredients that set them apart—superior location technology and a hungry startup culture. They engaged Siegel+Gale because they needed a way to differentiate themselves from their competition and tell their story in a breakthrough way. “This rebrand allows us to tell a bigger story around location, setting us up for the next ten years of innovation,” said Monica Ho, CMO, GroundTruth. This rebrand is soup to nuts. Siegel+Gale developed a visual identity for GroundTruth that was iconic. The design elevates the value of location—beyond the technology that underpins it—and humanizes it.

3. Artis Ventures Identity

DESIGN FIRM Hybrid Design, San Francisco; www.hybrid-design.com CREATIVE TEAM Dora Drimalas, creative director; Patchara Charoensiri, art director/designer CLIENT Artis Ventures DETAILS Artis Ventures (AV) is a group of investors who have come together with the common cause to make the impossible possible. They passionately support and partner with socially conscious entrepreneurs that are driven to positively impact the world through disruptive technological innovation. The logo mark leverages the visual language of impossible forms to express the ambition, determination and vision of the group.

4. Bushi

DESIGN FIRM Patrick Finley Design, Christiansburg, VA; www.sova.vt.edu/faculty/pfinley CREATIVE TEAM Patrick Finley, art director/designer CLIENT Bushi DETAILS Bushi (B-urrito & s-USHI) is an Asian fusion restaurant that combines Hawaiian flavors and contemporary Japanese techniques. Specializing in poke bowls and sushi burritos, the Bushi logo combines poke, sushi and a symbol for the pairing (through an ampersand).

5. Three Leafs

DESIGN FIRM transform design, Taipei, Taiwan; www.transform.tw/index.php CREATIVE TEAM Kuo Yu Huang, art director; Suz Ling Shen, designer; Josh Chang, photographer CLIENT Three Leafs DETAILS Three Leafs is a tea brand that originated in Taiwan. Although Taiwan grows and produces many types of tea, oolong with one tip and two leaves is the best tea Taiwan has to offer. The firm designed this logo with the core value of this brand in mind and represented by three leaves: 1st leaf: The best quality 2nd leaf: The smooth taste 3rd leaf: The unique aroma

6. The Warsaw University of Technology Visual Identity

DESIGN FIRM Podpunkt studio, Warsaw, Poland; www.podpunkt.pl CREATIVE TEAM Emilka Bojańczyk, art director; Magdalena Burdzyńska, Magdalena Dobruk, Michał Drabik, Diana Gawronkiewicz, Agnieszka Prus CLIENT Warsaw University of Technology DETAILS The WUT logo is based on typography. The idea—transforming the ‘W’ into “≥”—underlines the scientific character of the school but also reflects its position as one of the best universities in Poland. The “WUT” symbol rotated by 90 degrees becomes part of the school’s motto, “Imagination is ≥ than knowledge.” The identity introduces a coherent visual language for the whole University—comprising 20 faculties and many institutes. Each logo within the structure is typeset in Radikal WUT. Historical symbols of each faculty have been redrawn in a consistent linear style—now it is apparent that they represent the same University, all the while preserving their autonomy.

7. UAU AU Brand Design + Identity

DESIGNER Ricardo Colombo, Americana, São Paulo, Brazil; www.ricardocolombo.com CLIENT UAU AU Pet Shower Móvel DETAILS This brand design and identity system is for the fun and happy brand of a pet grooming service in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A versatile and clean design with a cheerful color palette was used to visually represent the happiness that dogs brings to their owners. Note about the naming: UAU means “WOW” in Portuguese, and AU is an onomatopoeia for barking, resulting in an original and great sounding name (at least in Portuguese (: ).

8. Wine Fellas

DESIGN FIRM CF Napa Brand Design, Napa, California; www.cfnapa.com CREATIVE TEAM David Schuemann, creative principal; Kevin Reeves, creative director; Antonio Rivera, art director; Lisa Schuemann, designer CLIENT Wine Fellas DETAILS Wine Fellas is a Napa Valley–based wine club that offers curated wines that are natural, organic, biodynamic, farm-to-table, paleo-approved, chemical-free and low in sulfites. The logo solution was a tension of classic imagery that spoke to the rich European heritage of wine combined with a more modern new-world point-of-view that wines should be transparent about their contents and additives.

9. Woodward Foundation Logo

DESIGN FIRM Each + Every, Kent, Ohio; www.eachevery.com CREATIVE TEAM Alex Catanese, art director; Gabe Schut, designer CLIENT The Woodward Foundation DETAILS The Woodward Foundation is a local philanthropic organization that provides funds to northeast Ohio nonprofits and community-focused institutions. Each + Every partnered with them to create a brand identity system that would establish a visual language about the Foundation and build on the established credibility. The Woodward Foundation identity was made to honor and embody the foundation’s namesake and benefactor, Josephine Woodward. She was sophisticated and elegant—best encompassed by the art deco movement. As a result, the identity suite is filled with crisp lines, deco-reminiscent patterns and a color palette that conveys grandeur and grace. The Woodward Foundation now has a memorable system for their organization, one that pays homage to Josephine and will serve them—as they’ve served the community—for years to come.

Winners in the Identity Application Category

1. Artsy Pops

DESIGN FIRM Mampostea’o, San Juan, Puerto Rico; www.mamposteao.com CREATIVE TEAM Moisés Cruz, creative director; Luis González, Uriel García, designers CLIENT Artsy Pops DETAILS Artsy Pops is in the business of making ice cream popsicles that use only natural and fresh ingredients to create original flavors. The logo uses the popsicle as its basis and other elements in a pop art style. The Mampostea’o team loves that the ‘A’ becomes the popsicle, forming an iconic and minimalist logo with a friendly approach.

2. Aviatra Accelerators

DESIGN FIRM Hyperquake, Cincinnati; www.hyperquake.com CREATIVE TEAM Holly Shoemaker, art director; Andria Mierzwiak, designer; Kelsey Bennett, Sherwood MacVeigh CLIENT Aviatra Accelerators DETAILS Over the years, Aviatra Accelerators, formerly known as Bad Girl Ventures, has evolved from a “ventures” company to a resource center that helps female entrepreneurs from ideation to exit and everything in-between. When the company began to see disconnect between their brand, name and function within the startup ecosystem, Hyperquake helped to put meaning to the strategic and visual connections between Aviatra Accelerators and the women they serve. The new name and logo embody the courageousness of war-era female pilots—strong, multifaceted, and upward-moving— traits that also live within the female entrepreneurs the company serves.

3. Hanigan & Johnson

DESIGN FIRM Test Monki, The Woodlands, TX; www.testmonki.com CREATIVE TEAM Suzy Simmons, chief creative officer/art director; Brad Petak, chief engagement officer; Gabby Nguyen, art director; Gabby Nguyen, designer; Brad Petak CLIENT Hanigan & Johnson Orthodontics DETAILS Two orthodontics were partnering up and needed a new brand identity. Doing anything with a tooth was status quo and out of the question. Because both men are avid cyclists, Test Monki came up with a logo that made them both smile. It’s a bicycle that has both an ‘H’ and a ‘J’ inside it.

4. Humrun Logo

DESIGN FIRM Matchstic, Atlanta; www.matchstic.com CREATIVE TEAM Brian Nelson, designer CLIENT Humrun DETAILS Humrun is a communication tool that quickly connects restaurants with service technicians when there’s a leak or a break, and keeps everyone on the team up to speed. The concept of maintaining the flow and humming along was first brought to life in the logo by the use of the continual line for the symbol, and then supporting it with a custom wordmark constructed from curves that felt genuine and approachable.

5. IRIF—Visual Identity for a Research Institute

DESIGN FIRM Podpunkt studio, Warsaw, Poland; www.podpunkt.pl CREATIVE TEAM Magdalena Burdzyńska, designer CLIENT Institut de Recherche en Infromatique Fondamentale DETAILS This identity was created for a research laboratory—Institut de Recherche en Infromatique Fondamentale, cofounded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the University Paris-Diderot. IRFIF focuses on the mathematical foundations of computer science; computational models and proofs; models, algorithms and system design. The logo was inspired by code on perforated tape.

6. Little White Tooth

DESIGN FIRM Test Monki, The Woodlands, TX; www.testmonki.com CREATIVE TEAM Suzy Simmons, chief creative officer; Brad Petak, chief engagement officer; Suzy Simmons, Gabby Nguyen, art directors; Gabby Nguyen, Sarah Wright, Sofi Cruz, designers CLIENT Little White Tooth DETAILS Test Monki wanted to do something sweet and timeless with the logo for a pediatric dentist. They kept the logo black and white and brought in a rainbow of eight colors. They also created a set of emoji facial expressions that go with each color.

7. Pop Ratio

DESIGN FIRM Test Monki, The Woodlands, TX; www.testmonki.com CREATIVE TEAM Suzy Simmons, chief creative officer/art director; Brad Petak, chief engagement officer; Sarah Wright, Sofi Cruz, designers CLIENT Pop Ratio DETAILS When chief engagement officer, Carla Gomez, approach Test Monki about naming and branding her new PR & Social Media company, the firm did a mental fist pump. Carla is an avid art lover, well-traveled, and always smiling. So of course Test Monki wanted her new brand to “pop.” The name stems from Latin roots of Populous and Ratio that mean “people” and “relationship.” And so, Pop Ratio was born. The team used thick black lines, paying homage to one of Carla’s favorite artists, Keith Haring, as well as to represent her strong connections with people. The bright colors represent Carla’s “pop” of energy and bright outlook. Cap that off with some clever copy, and they had a winner.

8. The Dental Market

DESIGN FIRM Test Monki, The Woodlands, TX; www.testmonki.com CREATIVE TEAM Suzy Simmons, chief creative officer/art director/designer; Brad Petak, chief engagement officer; Sofi Cruz, Gabby Nguyen, designers CLIENT The Dental Market DETAILS While planning to renovate his office, Dr. Jimmy Sarant knew that his brand identity was at a crossroads. To help differentiate in a way that would connect with existing and potential patients, Test Monki moved everything to a more upscale and modern feel that also paired appropriately with his local Raleigh, NC roots. They kept the logo simple, modern and timeless.

9. The Machine, Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Vision for the Future of Computing

DESIGN FIRM Siegel+Gale, New York City; www.siegelgale.com CREATIVE TEAM Anne Swan, executive creative director; Krista Oraa, associate creative director; Margaret Molloy, art director/designer; Tien-Min Liao, senior designer CLIENT Radial DETAILS The Machine is Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s vision for the future of computing, designed to bring the promise of Memory-Driven Computing. Working with HP Labs, Siegel+Gale helped craft the vision and identity for the Machine. The logo and proprietary typography they created for HPE signal that this is a new language and way of thinking about the fundamentals of computing technology. It’s designed to look like a futuristic, entirely new language to convey the innovative and forward-thinking nature of HPE’s technology solutions. The Machine’s visual identity is indicative of HPE’s imperative to remain agile, decisive and fast in an ever-changing world.

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