#thinking about opening a poster-store on the realm :3

[windfighter]

I got inspired by VintageBeef and I have so much respect for him after this! It took me like a week to get this together!

Admittedly I only managed to work on it one hour at the time before my brain literally shut off. How has that man managed SO MANY maps?

And naturally I want to do more minecraft posters after this x3

that said

[sergeantsporks]

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 16 /?: Shopping and Secrets

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15,

In which none of the previous golden guards or wittebro died, actually, they're all fine and living happily together as one big dysfunctional family

Ao3

Jason frowned, opening and closing the door to the old house. The other kids had run to get more supplies, leaving just he and Luz at the house, looking for traces of magic that weren’t there “Run me through why it has to be here?”

Luz pinned a poster of the portal door up on the wall. “It’s always been here. If any spot is going to make a portal, it’s going to be this one.”

“Is it place-based? You said the old door used titan’s blood, so surely—”

“Well it’s my only lead,” Luz burst out.

Jason shut the door with a quiet click. “Luz?”

She rubbed her arms. “I had all of these notes, back in the demon realm, and I had access to materials that I just don’t have here. This is my only connection to ANY kind of magic! I don’t know anything about trying to build a portal from this side, Phillip’s journal—” She cut off, glaring at the ground.

A chill ran down Jason’s spine. “Phillip’s journal?” he echoed, “You had…”

“I should have realized. I mean, the British accent in the journal, the oozing admiration for the isles that matched Belos at that stupid parade, the fact that Belos even knew the portal existed and wanted it in the first place—”

“Whoa—Luz, it was just a journal, it had information you needed, there was no WAY you could have known that a journal from four hundred years ago belonged to the current emperor. Unless…” she’d been awfully cagey last night about the Collector… “Luz, did the journal say… how he met the Collector?”

Luz’s eyes darted around the house. “Haha, whaaaaat?”

Well, that all but confirmed it. “It just seems like… the kind of help Uncle would have used to build his portal. Luz, if you went looking for the collector to help you build your portal I—”

The door handle turned, and Luz pushed past him on the way to meet the rest of her friends. “HEY! You’re back, awesome!”

I understand, Jason finished in his head. Uncle Belos must have had contact with the Collector for CENTURIES, based on Steven’s sigil experience. Even if Luz had gone looking, it wasn’t like she’d been the one to free them, it had been that other kid, King. And if she had gone looking, then so what? She couldn’t have known what the Collector was capable of.

I’d free an eldritch deity myself if it meant I could get back home right now.

Well. Probably not actually.

But still.

Flapjack fluttered from Hunter’s shoulder to the ground, pecking at the floorboards. Willow, Gus, and Amity all plopped down on the floor, drawing faces on pieces of paper. Gus offered a piece of paper to Jason. “We’re drawing our families. Do you… want to draw Phoenix?”

Jason took the piece of paper, but shook his head, turning it over and over in his hands. “I don’t think my family will all fit.”

Luz wordlessly handed him a bigger piece, like the one she’d drawn the portal door on. Jason gave in and sat down, pencil tapping on the page.

An eyepatch

A hand missing a few fingers

A poof of unruly hair that somehow managed to store things

Constantly dirty, a patient smile.

Jason sketched face after face, his fingers trembling on the pencil. He offered a pencil to Hunter. “Do… they’re your family, too.”

Hunter took the pencil, but he didn’t sit down next to Jason. “Not the way they’re yours. I don’t… I didn’t know them. Except Phoenix, I guess.”

Jason pointed to one of the figures. “That one’s Cherry. He’s the second oldest, but he’s been there so much longer than Phoenix that he’s kind of more like the oldest.” He sketched another face. “This is Auric. He got really into healing, he doesn’t have magic, of course, but he’s pretty good at medicine, and stitches and stuff.”

He continued to show Hunter each of them, acutely aware of Luz, Willow, Gus, and Amity watching over his shoulder. A blossom of warmth sparked in the hollow pit as he talked, pointing out each of his family members and saying a little bit about each of them.

“Which one’s that?” Luz asked, pointing to the final person, the one with the patient smile and face smudged with dirt.

Jason’s stomach dropped. “Mole,” he said quietly, fidgeting with the corner of the paper, “He’s… my best friend. He likes to garden, and he’s a great listener. Even though he never says anything, he always knows how to make you feel better. I… before I left, I promised him I’d be back soon.” Jason got up, pinning the paper to the board under everyone else’s picture. “And I will be. We are going to build this portal, and we are going to see all of these people again.” He nudged the picture Amity had drawn. “That’s your sister? The healer?”

“Emira,” she answered with a smile, “Do you think she and Auric would get along?”

“I bet my dad would like Silver,” Gus piped up, “He likes dumb jokes, they always make him laugh.”

“I’d like to meet Mole,” Willow chimed in.

“He’d love to show you the garden,” Jason confirmed, “And he will. Because we’re getting home.”

Luz nodded. “So let’s start brainstorming. We don’t have any titan’s blood, what are our other options?”

Gus tugged out a golden earring set with a blue stone. “I picked this up from Greye. He called it a magic amplifier, and based on the way he was obsessed with finding galderstones, I’m guessing the stone is a piece of one. They amplify magic, do you think we could use it to make a portal?”

Willow snapped her fingers. “Hunter, your teleportation. It moves you from one place to another, how does that work?”

“I—you know, it’s always been something I’ve just done. But it’s sort of like bending one place to another? Folding two points next to each other, eliminating the space in between. If it was that easy to go between dimensions, though, someone probably would have done it by now.”

“What about with the galderstone?” Amity suggested, “It amplifies magic, it might make your palisman magic strong enough

Jason frowned. “Would he be able to take us with him, though? What if he gets stuck in the demon realm and can’t get back?”

“If I can get there that way, I can probably get back. I could find some titan’s blood, maybe? I could get titan’s blood and come back and we could build a portal. Or, you know, I could try to build one on this side.”

“Would you be able to get titan’s blood?” Amity interjected, “There wasn’t exactly a lot of it lying around when we were there last.”

“King,” Luz said softly, “King’s a titan. I…”

“King is a WHAT?!” Willow yelped.

Jason dropped his pencil.

That demon kid was a TITAN?!

“Yeah—Yeah, King is a titan. If Hunter found him… I mean, obviously don’t be like draining his blood or whatever, but—”

Jason shook his head. “Absolutely not, last we saw King, he was with the Collector. You want Hunter to go on a solo rescue mission against that?”

“I could get Phoenix, too,” Hunter suggested quietly.

Jason whirled around to face him. “Do you think I don’t want you doing it just because I don’t have personal stakes?! Hunter, he killed Uncle Belos with a flick of his finger, do you have any idea what he could do to you?!”

Hunter took a step back, eying him, and Jason realized that his fists were clenched. He took a deep breath, relaxing his muscles. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just… the Collector is powerful, and I’m nervous about you going without any way to contact us. We’ll get them back, both of them. But we’ll do it together. Not by sending you into the slitherbeast’s den alone. Is there anywhere else we might be able to find titan’s blood?”

“I don’t know if there is an anywhere else on the isles anymore,” Gus said gloomily, and everyone went quiet.

Hunter took the earring from Gus, holding out his hand for Flapjack. “Look, I’ll just try it. I’ll come right back if I CAN do it, and then if I can’t, no big deal.”

Before Jason could say anything else, he disappeared in a flash of gold

Only to reappear in the same spot. He shook his head, then disappeared again. Reappeared.

Hunter handed the earring back to Gus with a sigh. “I guess it was a long shot anyw—”

There was a scratching, a banging, and then a creature burst out of the wall, tearing through their picture of the portal door. It had a long, snakelike tail, and a terrifying snout of sharp teeth, a pink tongue lolling out of its mouth. It hissed, and Jason scrambled out of its way as it bolted across the floor, chased by a chirping Flapjack.

“What is that?!”

“’Possum,” Luz said casually.

“Those are urban legend!” Hunter protested.

“So are time pools,” Jason reminded him, “Yet, here I am!”

A wince from Luz.

What is up with her and the time pools?

Luz tapped her chin. “I think we might have been onto something with the palisman. Even without it being Hunter’s teleportation, palisman have a lot of magic, right?”

Jason flinched.

That’s for sure.

Hunter’s hand went up to his palisman. “What are you suggesting?”

“We could find a way to harness their magic, I bet. We just… have to figure it out. Back to the drawing board.”

“Mija?” Camila poked her head in, wrinkling her nose at the hole in the wall, and stepping gingerly around the nails sticking out of the floor and walls. “What happened?”

“Possum.”

“Ah. Please, please, please be careful about the animals, I don’t think your friends have had rabies shots. Hey, I was thinking we could get you guys some new clothes today?”

Luz glanced back at the busted diagram. Amity took her hand. “We’re not going to figure it out in one day,” she said quietly, “And we could probably use a change of clothes.”

Luz nodded, and they all marched back after Camila, who clicked a button on a set of keys.

The metal carriage in the driveway beeped and clicked back.

Gus yelped, clinging to Willow, who bravely put herself in front of he and Hunter. Jason snatched up a stick, gingerly poking at the carriage. It didn’t respond, didn’t growl, or give any other indication that it was alive.

Vee put her hand on Jason’s, pushing the stick down. “Okay. This is a car. We’re going to take a ride in it. It isn’t alive, but it does move on its own, without anything pulling it.”

“I got a magazine full of pictures of them once,” Gus said almost reverently, coming out from behind Willow to gingerly lay a palm on the ‘car’s shiny surface, “I thought they were just statues!”

“How does it move if it’s not alive?” Willow asked skeptically, “Is it like the blimps back home? But I don’t see any boiler, and you made it respond to your clicker!”

Jason tapped his index fingers together. “Novus made these wind-up toys that were full of gears that made them move. Is it like that?”

“Uh… sort of like both of those things?” Camila tried, “It’s… it’s a lot of machinery, and fuel, and… it’s not dangerous, not if you’re a safe driver, I promise.

Vee opened the side of the ‘car,’ and after looking at each other, they all climbed in, squeezing into the seats. Camila put one of her keys into a little panel and turned it.

The car rumbled under Jason, not entirely unlike sitting on a purring griffin, and Camila slowly backed out of the driveway.

And then they took off. It didn’t feel like they were going fast at all until Jason looked out the side window and saw the side of the road passing them in a blur. He gripped the seatbelt, knuckles pale, until they came to a stop in a huge stretch of black pavement, divided into little boxes by white lines.

“How far did we go?!”

“I don’t know, a few miles?”

“That fast?! It was only a few minutes!” Jason paced around the outside of the car. The face of it was warm to the touch now. “How do you work?” he murmured under his breath.

“Hey, Camila!” A man waved, putting one hand behind his head sheepishly. “Uh, seems my car battery is dead, any chance…”

“Again, Dave?”

“I’m going to get it checked out, I swear, I probably need a new battery, I know. I’ll drive straight to the nearest auto shop, I promise.”

Camila shook her head. “Alright, you guys run inside and start looking, I’ll be along in a moment.”

Jason hung around, watching as Camila drove her car closer to Dave’s, which was cold and still. Camila pulled a lever in her car, and part of the car popped, startling him. Camila opened up the car, exposing a mess of wiring and metal. Jason poked his head under.

“Whoa. Hey what does—” He smacked his head on the lid of the car as he pulled his head out. “—ow—what does all of that do?!”

“Uhh… I mean, I don’t know about the exact mechanics of everything in there, mostly it makes the wheels turn.” Camila dug a couple of long cords out of her trunk, red and black. “Here we go.”

Jason stuck his head back in to watch her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to transfer a little bit of electricity from my car to his.”

“Won’t that kill our car?”

“No, no. It’s not an exact… I’m just sort of giving his car battery a little kick to get it going. Like shaking it awake. It’s not going to hurt our car at all, and the battery charges as we drive anyway.”

“What are the cords for?”

“They’re called jumper cables, and they transfer the electricity.” Camila clipped the red clamp to Dave’s car, then to hers. “Red goes on positive, black goes on negative.”

“…What?”

“Right, uh, so, this box looking thing? It’s a battery. One side is positive and the other is negative. The cables are very specifically designed. Red goes to the positive side, black goes to the negative side.” She clipped the black cable to her battery, then to Dave’s. “Jason, could you turn the key in the ignition for me?”

Jason hopped back into the car, gingerly wrapping his hand around the key and turning it. The car hummed under his touch.

I did it!

Dave’s car coughed and came back to life, and Camila gave Jason a thumbs-up. He turned the key back the other way, and the car turned off. Camila undid the jumper cables, and Dave drove off with a wave and a thank you. Jason turned the key again.

On.

Off.

On.

Off.

Camila poked her head in. “Oh, just pull the key out once the car’s off.”

Jason removed the key with a frown, peering at the, what had Camila called it, the “ignition?” “How does the key make it work?”

Maybe if we can figure out how THIS works, we’ll be able to figure out how the portal key worked to power the door!

“Uh… it just sort of… does… It just starts the engine…”

“How come we could start his car with ours? They’re not the same kind of car.”

“I mean, the batteries are similar, it’s all electricity. Hang on, here.” Camila opened a hatch in the passenger seat and handed him a little book.

Owner’s manual.

“I think there might be a few books on circuitry and engines back at the house, Luz’s dad was… If you’re interested in machinery, I might be able to help you get started.”

Jason followed her into the big building nearby, reading the manual for the car. It wasn’t anything like the human realm books he’d read before about adventures and heroes, it was more like Sam’s heavy books on the theory of wild magic and glyphs. Still, it almost seemed impossible.

Anyone could learn how to use this.

He’d been able to turn on the car with no training, easy as that. And he was willing to bet that all of the strange metal boxes in the Noceda house would be equally easy to use. Nothing like the magic he’d never been able to make work.

Makes sense. They don’t have magic to use here, they had to come up with another way.

What would it have been like, to grow up in a place without magic?

The door hissed open in front of him of its own accord, and he jumped. Camila put a hand on his arm. “Just an automatic door. It’s safe.”

Jason eyed it.

Door.

Doorway.

Electricity used to open a door.

Palisman energy opens a door?

“I need to know how it works,” he announced.

Camila laughed. “Okay, ask Luz to show you how to use the internet later. For now, let’s just focus on getting you some clothes without rips all through them.”

The kids already had armfuls of clothes, and were popping in and out of the changing room by the time Camila and Jason found them. Hunter kicked the door opened dressed head to toe in some kind of bird costume, and a laugh burst out of Jason’s throat.

“What is that?!”

Hunter sniffed, tilting his face up and away. “High fashion.”

Jason tugged on the hood of it, pulling it over his face. “Awwww, you look like your palisman. It’s cute.”

Luz nudged Jason’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s find something for you. I’m sure we can rustle up a matching bird onsie.”

Jason shook his head, but followed her. “Hey, Luz?”

“Yeah?”

“About what we were talking about earlier—”

“Oh, look, here, I bet this’ll fit!” She dumped a couple of pairs of pants in his arms.

“Luz. Hey.”

She shifted from one foot to the other. “Yeah?”

“What’s going on with you? What’s wrong?”

“You mean other than the fact that my friends are all trapped away from their home, I left King with that thing, and I don’t even know if Eda’s okay?”

Jason winced. “Yeah. Besides that.”

“Nothing. Nothing at all, why would you ask that?” Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke until it was a squeak.

Very convincing.

Jason sighed, picking up a couple of solid-colored shirts. “Luz. Look. You’re… kind of a horrible liar.”

“Hey!”

“That’s not a—Luz, I just… you’re a bad liar, and the fact that you’re being so dodgy about this is… whatever it is you’re hiding, my brain is probably making up much worse scenarios trying to explain why you would be avoiding the topic like this. So please, please. Just tell me what’s going on. I can’t help if I don’t know what the problem is.”

Luz sighed, the fight falling out of her in a whoosh of breath. “Hunter and I… when we were in Belos’ mind…”

Jason couldn’t quite describe how he knew, he never could describe the shifts in people’s tones and moods and demeanor that clued him in to where he stood, but Luz’s whole being seemed to change. Her resignation shifted to cunning and slyness. Not necessarily in a malicious way, he thought, but he knew that the next words out of her mouth weren’t going to be the truth. She would hide whatever was bothering her from him for as long as she could manage.

“I should have done a better job warning King about the Collector. I knew they were dangerous, and if I had warned him, then maybe… maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Even though he knew it wasn’t the whole truth, something about it rang right. She was upset about something about the Collector being her fault. It just wasn’t that in particular. Jason nudged her shoulder.

“I mean, we’d all be dead if it weren’t for the Collector. I don’t think I can emphasize enough that Uncle Belos would have killed us all, and the whole isles with us.” Jason sighed. “It’s not… great… that he’s out. I’m worried about everyone at home, and I know you are, too. I wish that we’d never ended up in this situation, I wish Uncle Belos had never found them. But King did what he could in the moment to save us, and… that has to count for something, right?”

Luz shrugged. “Does it?”

Jason nodded, picking up a jacket. It was checkered in black and red, with a grey hood made of another material. There was so much variety in this store, and so many identical versions of the same thing that simply changed a size. He quickly discarded a skirt on discovering that it had no pockets, but picked up a vest made from wooly, warm material.

“I mean, look. I would way prefer if Belos had never hurt anyone in my family. Of course I would prefer that! But… if he hadn’t, I never would have met any of them. I wouldn’t have Mole, or Mom, or Dad if Belos had been… good. So, I… I don’t know. I’m not saying I should thank him for what happened, but… I can recognize that some good came out of all the bad that happened.”

“Is it worth the good? Really, Jason? If someone’s done something so bad, so horrible and ruined so many lives through their actions, even if they believed they were doing the right thing, is it worth whatever tiny piece of good they might have achieved along the way?”

Ohhhhhhhh we are not talking about Uncle Belos anymore.

Jason hissed out. “Ah… I mean, it doesn’t really matter, does it? Whether it was ‘worth’ the good things, I mean. Measuring actions in how much good or bad they do isn’t always the best option, especially after it’s done, justifying everything you do, justifying your existence is… it’s a slippery slope. At the end of the day, the bad thing happened, and we can’t change that. You can’t ignore that a bad thing happened, but you can also find good things in it that… they don’t fix what happened. They never do. But they can make the bad thing just a little easier to bear.”

Luz stared at him blankly, and Jason rolled a hand. “A… a bit ago, Phoenix kind of accidentally caused our dad to fall off of the roof. And I told him… I mean, it happened, and he couldn’t change that. There wasn’t a lot he could do in the moment, either, sure, maybe there were some things he could do that would have changed the outcome, but overall… it just kind of happened. What he did after was the important thing, yeah? What he did to help fix his mistake and help Dad was the thing that mattered. Bad things happen, sometimes we do bad things, whether accidentally or not. And we can’t take them back. The best thing we can do is… try to make up afterwards and try to do better in the future.”

Luz ‘hmph’ed. “And if Belos showed up today and apologized for everything and really wanted to make up for everything he’d done, would you forgive him?”

Jason’s gut clenched.

You always were my favorite of all the Grimwalkers.

Jason twisted the fabric of a shirt in his hands. “I don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t…” He set down the pile of clothes, putting the heels of his hands over his eyes. “Rrrgh.”

Focus. This is about her, not Belos. It doesn’t matter how you feel about him, treat it like we’re talking about her directly and not through this weird metaphor.

What would Dad say?

Jason put his hands back down. “I don’t know, Luz, I really don’t. But even if I didn’t forgive him, I mean, on his side, would it matter? On his side, he’d just need to make up for what he did. I don’t know if he ever could. But if he did, it doesn’t MATTER if I’ve forgiven him. That’s on me. That’s about my feelings. What would be important for… Belos… is that he do what’s necessary to fix what he’s done. Whether I forgive him afterwards or not.”

“Mm.” Luz picked up his pile of clothes. “Thanks, Jason. That… helps.”

Did it help enough?

“Yeah. Anytime. And if you need to talk to me about how… King… let the Collector out… Just let me know?”

She gave him a long look, searching his face. And for a second, Jason thought she understood. For a second, he thought she was about to tell him what was really eating her. But then she just nodded, and turned away.

“Yeah. Okay.”

[fermented-writers-block]

So, looking at the Book 3 poster, there’s some observations I’d like to add:

First off, from how these robots seem to share similar aesthetics - what with the rubber accordion-like look of the right one’s arms and the left one’s fingers - it seems as though they might be denizens that Grace, Simon, and Hazel will encounter/have encountered before. Though considering how they seem to be all dismantled and such, it doesn’t look like things will/went well for them very much, especially the poor sap on the left. I think all that’s really left of his head are his eyes and eyebrows. Poor guy.

But most pressingly, there’s something that I suspect could turn out to be pretty major, aka this interesting pod-looking thing:

From the design and aesthetics, I find it doubtful that it belongs in the Mall Car like one of those rides in the hallways or arcade sections. The outside seems far too plain and gray to fit in, the tubing doesn’t make sense as part of some game, and, a subtle but notable detail, there’s no visible joystick or controls as to resemble some kind of cockpit or such.

In fact, from how the bumps match the lip of this machine, it looks far more like an angled bed that something or someone is supposed to lie in rather than as a seat, though given it has what appears to either be an unbuckled seatbelt or tubing inside of it, it raises quite some questions on what that is meant to be used for.

And interestingly, there seems to be a second machine just barely out of frame to the left, and due to the similar angle of the slope to the bed, it seems highly likely to me that they’re meant to be paired with each other. To add to this, the dark patch near the feet area of the bed looks like it could be a screen of some sorts, perhaps as a monitor or a control panel with touch controls.

All in all, it seems to me like there’s three potentially possibilities here on what it could be and what it does:

1) It’s like a stasis/medical chamber for passengers who are injured and need healing, with the potential screen being there to monitor said passengers’ vitals or to send them into suspended animation.

2) Before the more sleek and white passenger pods, these used to be the old model until they got discontinued and replace. If the dark patch near the feet is a screen, then perhaps that's where passenger memories used to be displayed before the creation of the giant memory viewing machine.

3) It’s actually not for storing or transporting people, but rather for making people, with the tube inside of it meant to connect to very human-like train denizens like a charging or data transfer cable, and the screen at the front is meant for making modifications or such.

Of these three options, I can’t help but suspect that this third option might have the greatest chance of turning out true, as like been brought up by @sepublic​ and others, Hazel could very well turn out to be not a passenger, but rather a train denizen made to be extremely human-like. And as such, Hazel would present a VERY major challenge to the beliefs that Grace - and maybe Simon - hold about human superiority against “nulls,” a way of getting them to learn how to have empathy towards the “other” as Owen put it:

From this, it makes me wonder if it’s possible for Hazel to both count as a train denizen AND fully human by virtue of being born/conceived on the train - in essence having technically been made on the train rather than being literally made by it. This I feel would challenge Grace and Simon’s beliefs FAR more than if she was just simply an artificial creation of the train that was merely very human-like due to the Apex’s thought that all humans get numbers on the train that represent their power, and that anything without a number is not just nothing, but less than nothing.

After all, how would they be able to say that “nulls” don’t matter when one such “null” is a legitimate human child?

Not only that, but I think it would be more in line with Owen talking about how children being born on the train could work as a metaphor for being born into cold and uncaring systems as @sepublic​ put it. 

With that said, if a twist like this was to be put into the show, I have the feeling it’d follow how - while discussing what would happen if a child was born on the train in the Book 2 AMA - the Infinity Train crew said that they had different thoughts depending on whether they were born pre or post-Amelia:

With how One-One’s response to a human being born on the train apparently having been impacted by Tulip’s influence, and with how Amelia would have likely been caught up in her work to replicate her life with Alrick when Hazel would have been born, it seems likely that there might be somewhat autonomous systems in place to deal with this kind of issue.

I’m just spitballing here, but perhaps the pod-like thing up above isn’t strictly just a med chamber or an outdated passenger pod or a human-like denizen creator, but rather a combination of the three?

Instead of being for passengers in general, the enlarged upper body cavity of the open glass cover could be to provide room specifically for pregnant passengers, the flared bottom could hide some kind of propulsion system that doesn’t need to be as fast as the regular passenger pods, the screen could be both a vitals monitor and a touch screen control pad to control the relevant systems, the angle of the bed potentially being adjustable depending on what position said pregnant passenger needs to be in, and the yellow tubes and secondary machine to the left are meant for additional purposes related to the aforementioned autonomous systems the train might have in place.

As for what the gray tube inside of the resting chamber is meant to do, what it’s meant to hook up to, and where it’s supposed to go if the whole machine is for processing pregnant passengers and their children, well...

I think it’s best that we leave that in the realm of speculation for now. 

[smallcowplant]

Hi! I'm sorry to bother you with writing advice but, I know that some of your projects take place in like, universes that aren't our own and I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how not to info dump about the world and how it works, bc I find myself doing that and I feel like it would be very confusing for the reader. Thank you!

Hello! You’re absolutely not bothering me, don’t worry! I love talking about writing!

A little bit of a preface: 

At the moment, the only project I’m working on that takes place in an alternate universe is Jinx (and I suppose TSS kind of does, but it’s very much more real-world). And perhaps, this sci-fi story I have bubbling in my head. But that’s a conversation for another day.

I don’t ever really go Full Fantasy (mostly bc I really don’t like writing in that genre lol), I just take fantasy elements and adapt them into a reality that is very similar to ours!

I remember reading something in a Rainbow Rowell book about the character putting on makeup for the first time: “she looked like herself, but with the volume turned up” or something along those lines….and for whatever reason that really stuck with me. My worlds ARE our worlds….just with the volume turned up. (Take that to mean that I build my worlds off of the reality we exist in, just adding in fantastical elements.)

Btw, I’m writing this as if you’re asking me about a sims-based story, so I apologize if it’s not 100% accurate to you!

EDIT: THIS TURNED INTO A GENERAL RAMBLE ABOUT WRITING/STORYTELLING IN GENERAL BC I AM RIDICULOUS AND ONCE U GET ME STARTED I CAN’T STOP I’M SORRY

Personally, I’ve noticed that taking away writing that is separate from the pictures (i.e. NOT writing an extended caption under the screenshots) has REALLY helped me stray away from info-dumping. 

Relying solely on the captions on my screenshots has forced me to truly pay attention to how I’m framing a scene! I think my brain switched between writing for a drabble/a book to writing as if I was making the screenplay for a tv/film! 

Tumblr is an inherently visual platform, just like film or television, so focusing on the visuals instead of long descriptions works better for me. A lot can be conveyed by facial expressions/angles—-framing your character as significantly smaller compared to something else can convey the vastness of the problem/how alone they feel, framing them as staring up at something skewed can suggest that the thing puts them off-kilter, cutting back to character reactions (without words) can quietly show the audience how each character is feeling.

But anyway……

This also really depends on the POV of the character(/s) you’re telling the story through. 

Is this a Call to Adventure/Hero’s Journey-type story? Where your character(/s) are thrust into a new world/journey that they know nothing about?

If so, consider

Is your character an outsider/transplant to this world? Like, did they fall through a portal/through the pages of a book/stumble into this realm unwittingly? 

Or are they an insider to the world….have they lived in this world their whole life, only to discover something earth-shattering about their status quo that NEEDS to change (take down a big bad/search for their identity independent of their previous role/etc.)?

This will greatly impact how you share information with readers. 

If your character is new to the world, there will probably be your fair-share of Harry Potter in Diagon Alley-esque scenes, where your character stares open-mouthed at the world and ask a ton of questions to their guide. 

If your character is part of the world, they probably have a good grasp on what the world is like/what’s going on. They will know things the reader does not, and will start off with different motivations and ideas than the hapless newcomer. 

I think that it’s good for YOU as a writer to know your world inside-and-out, but your audience doesn’t necessarily need to be the same (at least, at first). 

Plant breadcrumbs through scenes—-a comment here, a poster/paper there, an action here—-that show your reader things about the world…..you want there to be curiosity with your readers….how does this work? Where did this come from? Why is this the way it is? Those are questions that build interest, and they are the ones you, as a writer, MUST have answers to (even if you don’t share that info fully).

Side-note, but I’m a big proponent in my stories for SCENES TO MATTER. 

If I feature a scene in my stories, it HAS to matter for the bigger picture. 

They have to function as plot/story-driving scenes. That doesn’t mean that they all have to be fast-paced, action/heavy scenes. 

A lot of the scenes I like to write are intimate, casual conversations between characters or small, introspective views of character’s daily lives. A scene with two characters talking can bridge the gap between intense/plot-heavy scenes AND reveal valuable information to your readers. 

A good slow-paced scene:

Tells us something new about a character/characters.

Reveals something about the world.

Builds a relationship/dynamic with the characters/world they live in.

A bad slow-paced scene:

Rips us out of the story only to have the character(/s) state something that we already know/waste time. (I used to have PLENTY of these scenes in my old sim-stories. The character would wander away from the excruciatingly slow-moving plot to comment that they were lonely/confused/scared…and those scenes didn’t add anything, lol. They just sat there, like a boring journal entry where all you do is go to the grocery store and take a nap.) 

Is one that you could completely omit from the story and nothing of value would be lost. 

Basically, if you find yourself having characters fuck off away from the plot just to state the obvious/describe the situation to us….cut it. You can convey emotions/problems through scenes/dialogue without having to be tedious!

Think of IRL conversations and how they work—-you may have a couple occasions where friends/acquaintances catch you up on drama/information, but they usually don’t dump EVERY person’s name/motivations/relationships. Think….what do your characters know? What do they not know? How do certain characters view each other/the world? How would they communicate that?

The great thing about storytelling is that you aren’t trapped into only showing what your characters know—-you can cut to a scene completely divorced from their POV (i.e. the villain/another world/etc.) and give that perspective to the audience. 

Just keep a tab on what 1) you know as the writer, 2) what your audience knows and 3) what your character knows. These are most likely all different things. You’re the Dungeon Master, baby! You hold all the cards and you know all! (You can use this to sow doubt/drop foreshadowing unbeknownst to your audience/be selective with what you show!)

tl;dr: focus on understanding your plot/plotting in general—-once you know what you’re going for, you can trim the fat. be selective with what you show/what your audience see’s. try to treat your creation like it’s real—for example: on Earth, how does humankind function? what are the rules/status quo/known truths? what are the anomalies/oddities? apply that to your story. don’t dedicate entire scenes to explaining the world your characters are in—–SHOW us (whether in visuals/interactions/dialogue), don’t TELL us outright. your audience is smart, and they can put things together over the course of the story. if your world has rules, remember them. they don’t need to be outright stated, but if certain things are not possible, communicate that through actions in the story. 

[audiogrizzly]

Top 5 Games of 2019

It was a little tricky to construct a top 5 for this year, though there have been a couple of surprises.  I wasn’t expecting the year to be a bit crap as we are no w on the cusp once more of a new generation.  But 2012 wasn’t all that bad of a year (PS4 and Xbox One would release in 2013) and at the moment, everyone is doing alright.  PS4 has sold through over 100 million systems, Nintendo are definitely on an “on” generation with Switch, Xbox has been able to get back into peoples good books with things like Game Pass (on both Console and PC, their PC side they seem to really be turning around), there’s even interesting things happening in the mobile space with Apple Arcade.

This won’t be the last year where my top 5 games are full of current gen titles, I am expecting the new systems to drop in around November, last time it was hard to find a top 5 specific to PS4 (as I listed each platform separately back then).  It IS however, another list of mostly AAA tier games.  If you want to know what smaller more “interesting” games I have been playing, check out my honourable mentions at the end.

Also, follow me on Melee.  It’s this new image blogging service from Imgur which you can download now on the IOS App Store (its just on iPhone at the moment) and it has seemingly been built to help people share gaming related clips and images off of places like Twitter and Instagram (and err, here on Tumblr).  I posted a couple of daft clips of me failing in Modern Warfare and Destiny 2 and it didn’t take long for them to amass a few likes and comments.

That sounded like a sponsored advert but ain’t nobody paying me for this.  Let’s get into my top 5

5. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

I was about to select Gears 5 to be my number 5 until I saw sense and cast my memory back to when I started playing Jedi (all the way back in November.  I was impressed by its intense action, impressive visuals and great characters.  I especially enjoyed the 4 armed pilot who always complains.  I did feel that towards the end I got sick of managing large groups of enemies so I dropped the difficulty to get through it, but I still haven’t achieved 100% of activities on all planets so I can still go back to it one day.

4. Borderlands 3

We all knew this was coming but not even I had any idea that we would have been actually playing it in 2019 way back at the start of the year.  For me, I look at the game.  I don’t care about weird magicians or their insane sounding legal woes, all I’m interested in is the work of a team who deserved better for their last title, but am still glad returned to what they do best, looting and shooting.  I enjoyed rejoining these characters I have followed over the last 10 years, all the referenced to older games, cameos from characters from Tales From the Borderlands and The Pre Sequel and was sad to see some people go.  I still have about a year of extra content to go through and I really appreciate the efforts they have made to make the game last longer than just one playthrough through in the Proving Grounds, Circle of Slaughter and Mayhem modes.  Though I have always tended to stick to Borderlands games and create builds for each and every vault hunter, so I will be doing that.

3. Mortal Kombat 11

It’s been a while since I last put a fighting game into my end of year round up.  And I HAVE fallen off MK11 a little bit, but this entry reminded me of how impressive it is for Nether Realms to pack their fighting games with some many things to do and keep people playing outside of just going into matchmaking and fighting others.  The Vault this year is basically another little adventure full of exploration and puzzle solving and the Towers of Time give you plenty of challenge and direction of many months to come.  You also have to give the developer credit for never backing down on the brutality of the game, they must have all got their heads together after DC Universe vs. and vowed never again to make watered down versions of Fatalities.  It is a game that keeps getting better and better.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

I was debating whether or not to include this years CoD.  I always get the same type of enjoyment out of it each year, people complain that it never changes but I’m glad it sticks to a formula.  Of course they are not identikit games, there are new maps, new modes, new ways of building your loadout and new touches, like how in this year you can snap to edges to stay in cover while you shoot, there’s the new special equipment system where you can drop ammo or reduce your footstep noise.  Having doors you can either peek through or smash open adds another level of strategy, there have been times where I have been able to escape being under fire by closing a door, re-positioning and then wasting whoever just wanders in.

The campaign this year, good to see it back, but whatever, the co-op mode is Spec Ops again, like it was back in MW2 and 3 but on a much larger scale, I have yet to complete one of these btw.  But as always, it’s the multiplayer that does it for me and Modern Warfare deserves credit for being what must be the first AAA game to feature cross platform play, not just launch with it.  I know that games like Fortnite are popular, but I don’t see that as a AAA title, it doesn’t have the full package, it’s just a mode and it started off small.  Call of Duty is expected to be big each year, has a lot riding on it and allowing for cross play is a big step.  I especially appreciate being able to play with a keyboard and mouse on PS4 and being able to matchmake only with people playing with controllers on PC, in fact, I have never really given the game much of a shot on PC before as I know people just fall of it, there has often been low player numbers reported on the PC versions of CoD and it looks like it won’t have that problem this time round due to cross play.

Modern Warfare still has to contend with Destiny 2 and Overwatch for my time as my main multiplayer game but it’s still as fun as ever.

1. Control

Put this down as my main “surprise” game of 2019.  A game which was not on my watch list, though I was aware of it as you can’t ignore a game from the makers of Max Payne (I did skip Alan Wake and didn’t care much for Quantum break though).  Bought it at the last minute before its release, downloaded it and was wowed by the sinister nature of the environment you run around in.  This weird fictitious US government agency which looks into paranormal activity which you seem to have become in charge of because you picked up a mysterious weapon from the deceased Director while searching for your brother.  What then follows is about 12 hours of wacky powers and odd video clips as you unearth what has been going on in this strange ever morphing building.

I especially loved how the game never holds your hand too much, the map of each floor is vague enough that you also have to rely on in-game signposting to move around, as well as a bit of memory work.  There is also great humour involved too in some of the PSA posters on a lot of the walls, the antics of the caretaker and the videos you find of Dr. Darling throughout the game.

I did have a few weird technical issues with the game throughout playing, but still found it to be visually pleasing, there was this weird hitch that used to appear after coming out of the pause screen that always threw me, it would be followed by a few moments of low performance before getting back into the smooth action.  But this didn’t stop me from having a great time with Control.  Perhaps the game that will be the most prominent in my head when I think of 2019.

So there you have it, control is my best game of 2019.  But let’s look at the other new games I played throughout the year in my honourable mentions:

Gears 5

The Outer Worlds

Days Gone

Apex Legends

Far Cry New Dawn

Trover Saves the Universe

Concrete Genie

Devil May Cry 5

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

And also a special mention to these old games that were rereleased/remastered/repackaged etc in 2019:

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Remastered

Halo Reach

And now, a look at the games I have on my watchlist for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077

Last of Us Part 2

Ghost of Tsushima

Halo: Infinite

Watch Dogs Legion

Phantasy Star Online 2

Gods & Monsters

Doom Eternal

Overwatch 2

Diablo IV

Minecraft dungeons

Marvel's Avengers

Carrion

Streets of Rage 4

Will they all even come out?  Let’s find out, happy new year!

[caveatauditor]

My favorite albums, days 1-10

Friends have requested that I share my favorite albums on social media, preferably with vaguely autobiographical blurbs accompanying them, so to avoid polluting the wholesomeness of my Facebook timeline with music geekery, these are they until I change my mind. I excluded albums from this decade because the decade isn’t over, so the ten gems that follow represent an attempt to make history conform to me.

1. Lil Wayne, Da Drought 3

Two discs of Wayne freestyling, bloviating, and holding a conversation over a bunch of sampled and/or stolen and/or obscure music, arranged randomly because in theory the mixtape goes on forever in both directions, a gorgeous tapestry whose details happen to consist of delectable beats and wild free-associative blather. Wayne raps like a child in a candy store, eschewing parsable semantic content in favor of puns and stray impulses and improvised phonetic twaddle and whatever he feels like saying in the moment; likewise, the beats don’t cohere, sonically or in sequence, instead sticking as many hooks as possible wherever possible as often as possible; the overall result comes off like a transmission from the filthiest corner of the id. The ultimate triumph of mid-‘00s mixtape culture, Da Drought 3 is fabulous aural wallpaper and hardly an album at all, so of course it’s my favorite album.

2. Joni Mitchell, Hejira

Given how beloved this album is among a surprisingly large number of my friends, I almost went with the equally astonishing Hissing of Summer Lawns, but let’s be real now--Hejira is flawlessly, magnificently beautiful like nothing else I’ve ever heard. The guitar lines lap and peal over breathtakingly wide, sweeping expanses of empty space--space like the open road, like the southwestern desert in the winter, like the urge to travel and stay on the move, like the empty human heart. The lyrics use the familiar musicianly trope of going on tour as a springboard for a set of travelogue meditations on solitude and perpetual motion, a condition imposed partially by circumstance and partially by internal existential need; she’s moving before the ringing opening chords of “Coyote” and she’s moving after “Refuge of the Roads” pensively winds down. The latter song in particular contains several moments that always, always make me cry, especially during the first verse (“We laughed at how our perfection would always be denied”) and the third (“A thunderhead of judgment was gathering in my gaze”). I’ll never use “relate” as a verb, but I’ve often taken refuge in the road. I always take this album with me, though.

3. Jandek, Blue Corpse

I’m cheating here: Jandek is a relatively new discovery for me, and I’m still working through his ridiculously massive catalog, but I’ve listened to him with sufficient fascination enough over the past year and a half that he deserves a spot. Fans say that Blue Corpse is a good starting point because it’s his most accessible album, but accessibility is a relative concept when we’re talking about experimental atonal lo-fi acoustic quasi-blues fuckery, so let’s just call it his most carefully sequenced--side two builds the way a second side should, starting with an extended harmonica solo before leading into his cover of “House of the Rising Sun” and the album’s ten-minute centerpiece, the lonely, furious “Only Lover”. I love this album so much I could easily imagine a better one lurking in some dank, unexplored discographical corner.

4. Janet Jackson, The Velvet Rope

As a sophomore in high school I heard The Velvet Rope and immediately decided this was the sexiest and most sophisticated music I had ever heard. I was right! To this day I hold a special place in my heart for R&B that confounds the traditional banger/ballad distinction--there are no ballads on this album! With its swirly synthesizer and xylophonesque keyboard chords, “Empty” sounds like a conventional slow song until you notice the second layer of hyperactive drums clicking maniacally atop the core rhythm track: nervous energy disrupting and complementing preternatural spiritual calm. “Tonight’s the Night” is a great cover because the act of covering an established hit mirrors the act of initial erotic exploration, of navigating your way through a series of gestures you knew about before trying yourself; the way she sings “Cause I love you girl ain’t nobody gonna stop us now” is defiantly blunt, unshowy, matter-of-fact. Those are the lyrics! She’ll sing them. Breezy, mechanical, exquisite, The Velvet Rope captures the fragility of intimacy.

5. Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree

I first became aware of Fall Out Boy in middle school, when the girl whose locker neighbored mine put up a bunch of Pete Wentz posters on the inside of her locker door. I envied her brilliance and poise, since she was obviously way smarter and cooler than me, and I’m pleased to say she was right: this daft, idiotic, magnificent album captures a world of teenage crushes, fixations, stupid feelings poorly rationalized, awkward proclamations blurted out and immediately retracted, aftershave clumsily sprayed on to impress a special someone, the scent of cheap perfume, lipstick stains on your pillowcase and friction in your jeans. It’s so flushed and clumsy it automatically enters the realm of hormonal teenpop utopia, with the crunchy guitars mirroring the anguish in eternal adolescent Patrick Stump’s heart. Pete Wentz writes solecistic, self-aggrandizing lyrics because teenagers in love are supposed to utter howlers like “The only thing worse than not knowing is you thinking that I don’t know” and (sigh) “Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness”. It’s an ode to the enduring power of romantic absurdity, in all its most entertaining guises.

6. Duran Duran, Rio

Like From Under the Cork Tree, only glitzier. Occasionally I play a game with select friends of mine where we try to guess whether a random snippet of doggerel is a Fall Out Boy or a Duran Duran lyric. “It’s just like a scene out of Voltaire twisting out of sight”? Obviously Duran, for citing French philosophy is such a New Romantic move. “We’re well-read and poised/we’re the best boys”? Self-defeating self-objectification is Pete Wentz’s favorite rhetorical device. “The sun drips down bedding heavy behind/the front of your dress all shadowy lined/and the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart”? Too florid; gotta be Duran. “Couldn’t cut me deeper with a knife if you tried/just take a look before you run off and hide”? No clue--blood and betrayal could go either way. “Let’s fade away together one dream at a time”? “Some people call it a one-night stand but we can call it paradise”? Well!

7. PJ Harvey, To Bring You My Love

As a senior in high school I heard To Bring You My Love and immediately decided this was the sexiest and rawest music I had ever heard. I was right! To this day I know no harsher or more beautiful approximation of what it means to yearn for the sublime. The tiny guitar figure in “Working for the Man”, half-concealed beneath the drums and muffled, thumping bass, devastates because it’s creepy and horrible; the maximalist guitar roar in “Long Snake Moan”, almost as loud and thundering as her distorted vocals, devastates because so would getting run over by a tank. On the rest of the album, she hits every mood between those two extremes, including rapture and delight in addition to all the abrasive ones.

8. Fleetwood Mac, Tusk

I almost went with Tango in the Night, given how my generation seems to have discovered and reclaimed it, with “Seven Wonders” popping up in Balearic dance mixes and American Horror Story. Tusk, however, is a giant compendium of whirring gears and rotating spokes and plinky keys and strummed acoustic guitars and tinkly music boxes and billions of other moving parts, and the totality of the sound correlates with a draining, overwhelming emotional extremity. Lindsey Buckingham fills the space with a bunch of tightly crafted miniatures, distilling his imagined ideal of the Fleetwood Mac sound into the searing anger of “What Makes You Think I’m the One” and “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (Lindsey Buckingham in a song title), but Stevie Nicks gets all the big statements: the thundering “Sisters of the Moon”, the incomparable breakup ballad “Storms” (“Never have I been a blue calm sea/I have always been a storrrrrrm” always makes me cry), “Sara”. Meanwhile, Christine McVie’s “Brown Eyes”/“Never Make Me Cry” couplet is the axis on which the album’s sequence turns. Tusk resonates because it conflates the singer-songwriter confessional urge with the band’s collaborative dynamic, creating a communal space for them all to bask in their shared hate for and exhaustion with each other.

9. Crunk Hits

I needed a compilation, and this magnificent one brings to life my favorite radio format: mainstream hip-hop in the mid-‘00s. Crunk and R&B were everywhere back then; to me this album sounds like New York in the hot, lazy summers of ’05 and ’06, when these songs confounded with their unprecedented hedonism and aggression and delight. Definitively singles-oriented, this music saturated a subsequent generation of hip-hop fans, so that album artistes in this decade like Young Thug and Playboi Carti have internalized crunk’s valuable lessons about shamelessly exposing the id. I couldn’t omit an album whose first five songs are Usher’s “Yeah”, Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz’s “Get Low”, T.I.’s “Rubber Band Man”, Chingy’s “Right Thurr”, and Ciara’s “Goodies”--damn! It’s practically a greatest-hits album for the entire decade.

10. Steely Dan, Gaucho

When I bought this album in seventh grade, I wasn’t aware I was buying the fleetest, shallowest, most efficient howl of anguish ever set to music. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are only ironists insofar as they’re romantics who mask their feelings in inscrutable form. The question with any of their albums, which are basically all flawless, is to what degree they’ll reveal their bleeding hearts, and on Gaucho there’s such a gash in the fabric the blood spurts out everywhere, staining the shag carpet, dripping through the singer’s sleeve onto his fancy leather shoes. The modest functionalism of their slick California studio-rock, the tasty licks and glossy keyboards and sparingly deployed saxophone and sudden sharp bursts of guitar, hardly enters into a dialectic with the desperation and horror of the songwriting--it’s the perfect musical expression for these feelings, as perfection that’s slightly disfigured is so much more devastating than total abrasion (when critics use “Bret Easton Ellis” as shorthand for the demented luxury porn we’ve enjoyed and suffered through this decade, what they really mean is “Steely Dan”). No matter how many glass tables you smash, how many ashtrays you inhale, you’ll never feel as shitty as this record.

[twilightvolt]

A 3 month late art summary featuring art that i haven’t uploaded here due to my absence. unless i randomly feel like it, i don’t think i’m gonna go back and upload them here. if you wanna see them, though, they’re all on my DA.

I know i've pretty much said all the important bits in A Sacrifice for the Wind, but i figure i reiterate everything said along with expanding upon everything that occurred during 2017. piece by piece. and yes, i did intend to make an art joke. So, to get it outta the way, 2017 stunk more than a dead fish on a city bus. i lost a lot during that year. i lost the will to believe in whatever the future had in store for me, i almost lost a few friends, i lost my motivation to work on my projects and above all...i lost the smile i've always kept on every year before that. never have i been so emotionally damaged in all 5 years of my artist life leading up to this point. But, i can't say it was completely terrible. as much as i bashed it, art wise, 2017 was a very progressive year. looking at every wedge on the clock, i can't stop staring at how far i've come since the end of 2016. after being stripped of my tablet at the end, i've even learned how to not be afraid of making permanent mistakes. But yeah, let's begin. by turning the clock all the way back to January. when things were much simpler.... January: Hukaro Nakawa ~Final Mix Yeah, this was done in October, but i uploaded it in January for Moon's birthday. plus, there was nothing noteworthy this month. i still remember all the nice comments i got. this was the beginning of a year that i ran right in and yelled "LET'S SHOW THIS WORLD THAT WE WON'T STAND FOR ANOTHER 2016!" Oh how naive i was... February: The Beast Inside Remember when i played a lot of League in my free time? i sure do. anyway, this was my next attempt after Hukaro to continue doing my "Squeenix Cinematic Style." this time on the, at the time, new revamp for Warwick. needless to say, i still think i did a better job on Hukaro. BUT, this was still pretty good. it was during these first few months when things were really lookin' up for me. i was continually working on things cuz i really wanted to make something and school was pretty cool too. March: Digimon ZX Cover ZX ISN'T DEAD I SWEAR! *ahem* I MEAN....hai. owo As we march on into March, i think R2 of Digimon Temporal Jump was going on at the time. we were going through our story entries and things were pretty great being with my best buds. i also began doing art streams i'm pretty sure, with this drawing in particular being done during two days of streaming. i'm being serious, by the way. ZX is not dead. i've been typing up the story on my phone, so look forward to those chapters sometime soon! April: Are You Ready? Yup. in anticipation for Digidestined.Com, i decided to start seriously developing Digimon Unchained ahead of time so people would be able to get to know Yuki beforehand. unfortunately, i didn't actually get to start the story until much later, but that was just me being a lazy bum. i was hangin' out on Discord and stuff, talking about how excited i was for what was to come. we all know what happened, but at the time, being able to go back to the world i once knew with Luneth was a big deal for me. it's like i was going back to the beginning. And fear not, peeps! i've been working on Unchained for quite awhile. you'd be surprised how much i've worked on it with Gao. ^w^ May: Bits n' Bytes Ultima Vocal Collection Oh yeah, i did a birthday gift for Fire too! just so you know, i do still wanna make OSTs for my other Digimon adventures, but without my tablet i can't really do them right now. this month was pretty alright if i remember. making new friends and strengthening bonds with old friends. things were pretty fun in the sun cuz y'know......summer was coming. June: Connection Flow in Ice and Snow AWWW YEEEAAAAH, LET'S KICK IT!!! *Another Way by Girugamesh plays at full blast* (if .Com had a vocal OST, that would be opening.....3 if i remember the list i made. would've been the final opening i think. it's been awhile since i looked at the files.) Now that .Com finally began, i was on the hype train to the sun as i feverishly worked hard on my .Com stuff. this poster was one of my proudest works this year tbh. i promised i would make something great outta this story. this would be the closure that Luneth and Vivi so desperately needed, and Yuki and Arcus would be the ones to save them and close their book for good. not only that, but i was also graduating high school. after throwing my cap in the air, i said my heartfelt goodbyes to all the friends i've known since elementary and middle school including the close friends in my AP Art Squad. Team AP Art Will Never be Apart! honestly, things couldn't be any more exciting for me. Gee, it would be a shame if something were to happen that would trigger a chain of events that would divide my friends forever and send me down a spiraling pain train to the void known as crippling depression. July: DigiJuly Day 5: V-Mon (Vivi) This drawing was done to commemorate three years of adventures with Luneth and Vivi. this was during DigiJuly, when i was doing Digimon doodles nonstop for the duration of the month. What was once a hype train became a train wreck once July came around. things were ok until DTJ burned down in a raging fire and that set the stage for the rest of the year. i literally wouldn't be able to overcome any of this until November or so. i don't wanna dwell on it anymore since i'd be sounding like a broken record at this point. August: D3P: D-Sona 3 Portable Not a lot of art this month either. can you believe that? XD Hoo boy. August. need i say anything more about this month? we thought things settled down after DTJ shut down, but something was amiss.... This was the month that it happened. the climax of the story best left untold....even though i told it a hundred times already. >_>' Outside of the incident, time was running short for our stay at our current home and we were thinking of our next move. i began to worry about college as steep student debt caused us to have a change of plans on where to go. i was beginning to doubt if i even had a future to believe in. i was running out of options, and i was running out of hope. And trust me, it only gets worse from here. September: The Next Generation After awhile, things were still going on outside my realm of knowledge. it only made me feel worse seeing everything transpire long after the initial conflict. with this stigma hanging over me, i finally decided to pack my bags and leave the Digimon group era of my artist life. it was a pretty sour note to end it on, but let's be real here, there was no way i could wait any longer for things to get better. granted, my birthday was awesome, and i couldn't thank everyone enough for coming together to try to bring my spirit back. unfortunately, my bout with depression was just beginning. it was so bad, i pretty much stopped taking care of myself, which would lead to a few days ago when i'd end up with one less tooth in my mouth. i swear i won't let it get that bad again. With everything plummeting down to the dark abyss, i said goodbye to the life i once knew. from here on, things were about to change. i wasn't gonna end here. not now. October: Howling in the Shadows From this month forth, my family had no idea where we were going. the beginning of the tale of the borderline homeless that still continues to this day. Packing away my computer and drawing tablet for what feels like an eternity, i was moving out of my current home that we rented for the duration of my senior year and into grandma's house......in a raging storm. i'm not kidding. the rain was so bad that when we got there, our clothes were completely soaked and we couldn't even see 5 feet ahead of us outside that night. i knew immediately that it was some sort of ill omen for what was to transpire in the coming months. in fact, i even had dreams of the aftermath of what might happen. Now that i was stripped of my digital art abilities, i had to think of something else to do. so, i decided to dedicate myself to going back to traditional art. Boy, did i have fun. November: Return to the Realm of Sleep Now, this was the only thing i was able to crank out in November. BUT, that doesn't mean i didn't draw. i drew stuff, but nothing noteworthy enough to upload here. i'm gonna tell it to you straight now. Arcus will return. With my mental health still kicking me in the butt (it hit me so hard i had a panic attack one day.), i wasn't really motivated to draw much. in fact, i even hid myself away from the internet for quite awhile. without my friends or my sense of purpose, i felt like i had nothing and i was pretty under the weather for a majority of this month. that being said, i snapped myself out of it by force. it was stupid that i still felt the way i did months after what happened. sure, it was horrible, and i wish i could forget everything. but i can't stay stuck in the past. And so, i picked up my colored pencils and other such tools, and began my journey to recovery. December: Lexicon (Lex) and A Sacrifice for the Wind I got the hang of drawing traditionally pretty quickly. throughout the month, i was on fire, drawing masterstroke after masterstroke. (at least, in my opinion. XD) Making my new home in the mobile communities of Amino, it was a nice change of pace from the big screen of my computer. i made a bunch of new friends (to the staff of the Aminos i'm in and the rest of the crew in our Digimon Discord server, you guys are the best and thank you for healing the pain of yesteryear!) and had a grand old time making new OCs, Lex being one of them. i honestly luv Appmon and i wish we got more, but i'm content with what we got tbh. it'll live on in Seikatsu and his friends. be ready to see them once again in the near future! And so, in the wake of destruction as the world continues to change around me, i chopped off my signature anime emo locks, revamped my wardrobe and set my sights toward the future. Nowadays, i've completely moved on from the pain, but that doesn't change the fact that it still happened. overall, 2017 was a complete pile of poopoo garbage and i'm glad the nightmare is finally over. Even if i can't completely write it off as bad, there's just way too many negatives that weigh down the rest of the year for me personally. it's March now and things are pretty hectic, but i've got newfound courage and i know this year will be better than the last. time for me to get back up and charge forth to a better tomorrow!

[saffronaura]

Folly Five AU - Run Away!

Third story part of the Folly Five AU. After leaving their studio, Whizbang and his toon co-star finally move to Toontown, but Whizbang runs into someone he hoped he never see again. Whizbang the Dragon, Sir Golly © me Bendy, Bendy and the Ink Machine © theMeatly, Mike Mood Illustration by the-vampire-inside-me

Prologue 1 Prologue 2 Prologue 3 Prologue 4

 Folly Five AU - Run Away!

When they both left Rushflow Productions in Los Angeles, Sir Golly and Whizbang followed the crowd of other toons who wereo n their way to Toontown. They walked, trotted, and bounced past human residents and eventually ventured out of the city limits. The coyote knight and his dragon companion approached a road tunnel and entered its depths with their fellow animated icons, walking down the dark passageway.

"...." Whizbang felt slightly nervous. For the first time, he was leaving his studio home and familiar L.A. terrority, but at the same time, he's moving into another world. A world that he wasn't ready for back then. Whizbang shook his head. No. He was ready, he can do it. With Sir Golly here with him, he was going to be fine. 

Soon, the tunnel walls around the toons transitioned into a more vibrant color scheme. A bright light appeared at the end of the passage, getting brighter and brighter as Sir Golly and Whizbang got closer. The young dragon shuddered quietly, but with a heavy sigh, he shook away any doubts, any possible fears, and walked into the light with his knight friend. The light blinded them briefly, but soon that glare disappeared, revealing the living, animated world of the Tooniverse. Whizbang and Sir Golly had arrived in the black-and-white toony area that is Toontown. Horse wagons and cars filled the streets, while residents ran stores, food stands, or were walking through the toon to get to places.

Sir Golly and Whizbang were both amazed, stopping in their tracks amongst the crowd of toons exiting the tunnel. They both couldn't help but stand and stare, taking in their new surroundings. This was their home realm, where they can fit in with others like them. "Eeeeee! It's him! Yoo hooo!!" A few lady toons squealed loudly upon recognizing Sir Golly and flocked over to him with glee. Sir Golly, surprised by how the ladies recognized him from his cartoon, didn't hesitate to allow the girls to fawn over him and he began to talk immensively about his role in his show, "My fair maidens! Tis enough Sir Golly to go around!" The coyote knight began to walk off with the female toons flocking him, telling wild stories of his "adventures off-set". Whizbang stood by and watched with a small smile on his muzzle. The toon dragon only rolled his eyes fondly at the coyote knight before he turned and walked into an alleyway, away from the crowd. This was his chance to explore Toontown for a while, cover some ground and become familiar with the town's layout. Hopefully during that time, Sir Golly can look for a place for him and Whizbang to stay. Whizbang would soon exit out the alley and walked along the sidewalk with other toon characters, passing by stores and trotting through intersections. Toontown was a bit more lively than the last time he was here a few months ago. More toons filled the streets, each originating from a cartoon that hit the big screen. There were a few toons he recognized from his youth, and there were many others he doesn't know. POP POP POP! "MOOOO!" There was a cry of surprise when a toon cow was spooked by a lit firecracker that was placed behind her. Whizbang was walking away when it happened, but he couldn't help but snicker as he looked back at his first prank victim. He then spoke to himself in his own language that is understandable only to certain toons and full-bodied animal toons, "Heheheh. Still got it." Toontown is filled with toon characters to play pranks on. He can't wait to try them out and see the reactions of each toon he pranked. Soon the young dragon came upon a bulletin board and sat down on his haunches, taking his time to look at the movie posters of new cartoons. Whizbang would soon spot the movie poster of William Thatch's The Medieval Fair featuring the toon dragon himself and Sir Golly - stapled right in front of some of the other posters. Whizbang smirked to himself proudly, "Least our poster is in front of the others." He stood back on his feet and resume walking down the street, intending to venture about more of Toontown. After a while, Whizbang stopped at an intersection to rest for the moment, letting other toons walk past him. As he looked up to the monochrome sky, he took in a deep breath and sighed. Feeling an itch, the young dragon lowered his head and reached his leg up, using his back clawed feet to scratch his neck before sitting himself up again. Whizbang said to himself, "Ahhh.... What a sight... what a day... what-" "'Ey! 'Ey! Whizbang!" Whizbang's ears flicked up when he heard a distant shout calling his name among the chorus of cars, horse wagons, and voice chatter. The toon dragon turned his head to his right, spotting a short, black and white toon running through the crowd of characters towards him. A fan of his show, perhaps? That character looked like... A toon devil? A strangely familar toon devil. A toon devil that... that has rows of sharp teeth... and an unforgiving pair of black and white eyes... "!!" Whizbang widened his eyes and his ears dropped down in growing terror. Just as realization kicked in, he screamed loudly and bolted down the street, "AAHHH!! What am I standing around here for?!" He ran past various toons frantically, even accidentally bumping into few of them in his haste. Behind him the toon devil ran at a quick pace to try and reach Whizbang. Whizbang hissed to himself, turning his head back to look at the black and white devil toon as he ran, "What is HE doing here?! WHY is he still around?!" The very same toon from his nightmares has come back to haunt him! This can’t be happening! While looking back however, Whizbang crashed right into a food stand parked along the sidewalk, inadvertantly knocking over the merchant and various food items to the ground. The young dragon comically stumbled forwards on his hind legs, his black hide was coated with ketchup, mustard and other condiments as he 'danced' about, trying to kick off bags and cans that stuck to him. "Ugh! Grr!" Whizbang grunted, finally shaking off the food condiments and trash from his body. He resumed galloping through the streets, even running right into the middle of a road, causing a few cars and horse wagons to lose control and skid to a halt. Panting softly, Whizbang looked behind him and saw no sign of the ink demon following him. The short thing most likely got lost in the crowd somewher. Whizbang began to slow down his run, sighing with relief, "Whew... I think I lost him..." "Whizbang! Er, Whiz! C'mon, pal, it's me! Don't ya remember!?" Whizbang's eyes widened when he heard a familiar and garbled voice, his scales bristling up in alarm. He slowly turned his head back, only to deeply regret it. Behind him was the large inky monster straight from his childhood memories, complete with its signature grin, curved horns, and a merciless pair of black-white eyes. The closer the ink demon was getting to Whizbang on the sidewalk, the more the young dragon saw how BIG the thing was. And it was moving FAST! In sheer terror, Whizbang felt his own eyes pop out of their sockets before they bounced back in as he yelled in fear, "AAAAHHHH!!" The horrifying sight of this beast only made Whizbang turn back around and resume sprinting, bolting even faster. This was NOT his day! What's worse is that this thing can move much faster now in its monstrous form! Any words coming from that ink monster fell on deaf ears as Whizbang was overcome with fear and wasn't thinking rationally. "C'mon, Whizbang, move!" Whizbang hissed to himself, bounding and leaping, even flying along to keep his distance away from the monster chasing him! Behind him the inky monster was steadily catching up, still bearing a somewhat sinister grin. Toon characters noticed the commotion and quickly jumped or dived for safety when the chase came their way, barely avoiding Whizbang, then the monstrous ink demon. The terrified dragon opened his wings wide and took to the skies to try and escape his pursuer, flying over to a rooftop of an apartment building. But then he started yelping in pain, quickly dropping and barely landing on the roof with one wing outstretched, "Owowow! Wing cramp, wing cramp! BAD time for a wing cramp!!" He stumbled about but quickly regained his running speed, partially folding his wings to let them rest for the time being. He leapt from roof to roof, his elognated legs allowed him to clear each jump perfectly. But down below, Whizbang spotted the ink demon slithering and running along the streets, soon gaining the same speed he was in! The young dragon began to panic. Soon that ink thing could try and climb up the buildings after him. Uh uh! No way! As soon as he jumped onto the last rooftop, Whizbang turned and leapt down the side of the building, squashing himself flat upon contact with the ground in the middle of a crowd of toons. He reformed instantly and sat down on the concrete, disoriented from the fall, "Ugh..." A woman's shriek filled the air, and the toons surrounding Whizbang quickly dispersed. The young dragon turned his head and saw the ink monster just turning the corner towards him! "AAH!" The toon dragon screeched, leaping forward and returned to running for his life. He frantically galloped along the sidewalk, panting as he went, "What is UP with that thing?!" In another attempt to escape, he suddenly took a sharp turn to his left.... Inside various stores and apartment homes, many toons were minding their own businesses and going about their day. BAM! That was until Whizbang crashed through the walls of their stores and homes, yelping like a frightened puppy, "YIPE YIPE YIPE YIPE YIPE...!" This startled and frightened the toons residing within the buildings, both customers and homeowners alike. Right afterwards, a massive blob of ink with a horn-shaped head followed the fleeing dragon through the jagged holes in the walls, still in hot pursuit, and calling out to Whizbang, "Whiz... it's me! Bendy!" BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Through each building, Whizbang used his physical strength to blast and crash through each brick or wooden wall. He wasn't injured by this feat, but his hide protected him from the debris. Eventually the toon dragon blasted through the brick wall of the last store building in the vicinity, creating a large hole. He darted down the alleyway he came upon, just as the wave of ink that was the monster pooled behind him and surged after Whizbang. Several minutes later... It's no use! No matter where Whizbang ran, that monster of ink was there. He can't shake it off! The young dragon was starting to get exhausted from having to run from his living nightmare, who is STILL  pursuing him. He came to a stop and looked around frantically, his black eyes scanning for a potential place to hide from this...this... thing! His ears perked up when Whizbang spotted an old abandoned warehouse away from the busy Toontown streets. "That could work...!" Whizbang muttered softly, before bolting towards the warehouse and entering through its open door. He would then hide somewhere inside. If he was found, the teenage dragon was willing to try and fight this ink devil for his life. Even if he was scared. Unfortunately for him however, the ink monster had seen Whizbang enter the old warehouse...

[theonyxpath]

We’ve got a ton of Scarred Lands content for you this week. Starting with the Scarred Lands DM Screen for 5e, available in PDF and print from DriveThruRPG. I think this is the first time we’ve done a GM screen in print, albeit as inserts for a customizable screen, like this one.

  A Land Where Legends Walk

Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, the revised and re-imagined Scarred Lands nonetheless retains its place as a modern fantasy RPG setting. This is a world shaped by gods and monsters, and only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The most populous continent of Scarn, Ghelspad, plays host to vast unexplored regions, hides unsolved riddles from ancient cultures, and taunts adventures with the promise of undiscovered riches hidden among the ruins of older civilizations. 

Yet the myths of the Scarred Lands are relatively recent events. The effects of the Titanswar still ripple through the world, and the heroines and villains of many of these stories are part of living memory, if not still living.

A useful reference tool for all Scarred Lands GMs, whether printed out or kept on a computer or tablet!

A four-panel GM screen features all of the tables a Scarred Lands GM needs in one place for handy reference.

See the Slarecian Vault section below for related material!

Also available in ebook and print from DriveThruFiction: Vigilant: Through Shadows and Dreams, Book One! This book is also available via Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook.

Eochaid Lenahr is dying… 

… having given everything to protect one of Scarn’s most dangerous artifacts. But how did the young son of a Venirian farmer ever come to be fighting on the side of the enemy, the nation of Vesh?

Meet the brave, driven Veshian vigilants who stand between a recovering nation and the poisoned, half-mad wilds of Ghelspad. Learn the story behind the Scarred Lands’ dramatic Serpent saga, one of the most significant events of the post-war era.

On a world as devastated as Scarn, what does it cost to become a hero?

Vigilant is set in the fantasy world of the Scarred Lands campaign setting, currently available in both Pathfinder and 5e OGL editions from Onyx Path Publishing.

Indie Press Revolution now has the full selection of Scarred Lands Kickstarter products, including:

Scarred Lands Player’s Guide (5e OGL)

Scarred Lands Player’s Guide (Pathfinder)

The Wise & The Wicked 2nd Edition (5e OGL)

The Wise & The Wicked 2nd Edition (Pathfinder)

Scarred Lands d6s

And finally: Our RedBubble store now has a Map of Ghelspad available for posters, canvas prints, and more!

Kickstarter Update

The Kickstarter for a prestige traditional print run of Chicago by Night for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition has two weeks remaining! We funded in about 15 hours! So far we have 1121 backers pledging $79,643 — 199% of our $40,000 goal. Closing in on 200%! So far we’ve unlocked nine stretch goals:

Chicago Folio: Includes the Camarilla Record and the Anarch Accounts

Old Traditions PDF bundle add-on: Chicago Chronicles vol 1, Chicago Chronicles vol 2, Chicago Chronicles vol 3

Let the Streets Run Red: A Chicago chronicle featuring characters absent from CbN, and rampaging across Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. A second chronicle, set in weird, rural Illinois.

Discounted Backer T-shirt

Digital Wallpaper

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary PDF add-on

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary Digital Wallpaper

Did you miss one of our previous Kickstarters? The following Kickstarted products are still open for preorders via BackerKit:

Dystopia Rising: Evolution: Dystopia Rising: Evolution rulebook

Scion: Scion 2nd Edition (Origin and Hero)

Trinity Continuum: Trinity Continuum (core rules and Trinity Continuum: Æon)

Exalted: Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought

Chronicles of Darkness: Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2

Changeling: The Lost: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition

Geist: The Sin-Eaters: Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition

Community Spotlight

The following community-created content for Scarred Lands has been added to the Slarecian Vault in the last week:

Slarecian Vault Character Sheet

Game Master Companion and Adventures to go with your new DM screen!

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Realms of Pugmire has been added to Canis Minor in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for White Wolf games has been added to the Storytellers Vault in the last week:

World of Darkness: Small town eschatology

Vampire: The Masquerade: Preview of War for São Paulo – Cainites and Other Sinners

Mage: The Ascension: Paradox: The Brainstorming

Exalted: Genocide Buzzsaw Style

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

[connorrenwick]

Los Angeles Artist RETNA Waxes Poetic About His Public Art Installation For the New RH West Palm

Special report by Jesse Bratter.

It’s an idyllic oasis in the heart of West Palm Beach: Lushly landscaped gardens rich with Medjool date palms; Moroccan-tile fountains signaling the Barista Bar, where the handcrafted donuts are as much of a pick-me-up as the coffee; a sun-drenched Rooftop Restaurant filled with verdant olive trees and ingredient-driven fare; and French-marble and Belgian-blue-limestone floors traveling through the intimate loggias of the ever-so-European Wine Vault. And we haven’t even gotten to the furniture yet. Because it is, after all, a furniture store—the new RH West Palm, The Gallery at CityPlace to be exact. And there are four floors and 80,000 square feet showing the breadth of RH’s collection to prove it, from RH Interiors to RH Modern, Outdoor, Baby & Child, TEEN, and RH’s interior design services and hospitality offerings.

SONNEMAN – A Way of Light for Restoration Hardware

While you wait for your table to open up in the restaurant, you might stroll, with Bellini in hand, past the American minimalist 1950s-style Metropolitan sofa by John Birch of WYETH, or the Marignan, Jonathan Browning’s crystalized version of an industrial chain-link chandelier. You may even come upon iconic reissues like the 1967 Orbiter II lamps, which Robert Sonneman, of SONNEMAN – A Way of Light, first designed 50 years ago and reimagined for RH Modern along with other signature pieces from his archives. With celebrated restaurateur Brendan Sodikoff at the helm of RH Hospitality, RH Chairman and CEO Gary Friedman is changing the way shoppers shop, creating a destination and human experience, and adapting a mentality that says come for the furniture and stay a while.

Photo by Jesse Bratter

But perhaps the most eye-catching element of all is the building itself. Designed by James Gillam of Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects, the gray-tinged structure rises out of the ground with a towering tone-on-tone hieroglyphic-esque art installation as though an archeological dig just unearthed an ancient, lost city. The mural is the creation of Marquis Duriel Lewis, the Los Angeles-based artist better known as RETNA. And fans will be pleased by the authentic manifestation of his stylistic alphabet. “The city wanted us to do something related to art for the community,” says Friedman. “I thought long and hard and wanted to bring Art Basel and Miami to Palm Beach and spice it up a bit. RETNA painted the entire back façade. It’s a great juxtaposition and surprise. I love his work because it’s graphic and architectural.”

Read on for RETNA’s take on street art, his installation for RH, and the role it plays in West Palm Beach’s efforts to integrate public art into the cityscape.

Your moniker, RETNA, came from a Wu Tang song: “Kinetic globes light will then shine, burns your retina.” Why did those lyrics resonate with you?

In graffiti culture, you look to stand out. You have to look for a name that is original that can make an impact. The letters had a good structure, making for strong, elegant shapes. I took the I out of my name. (I like to say I took the eye out so I can be the 3rd eye—everyone has two RETNAs.) Also, my early work was very colorful, and now it’s very monochromatic, representing the cones and the rods of a retina.

Where do you think the shift from vandalism to contemporary/fine art came into play with graffiti/street art?

That question is probably answered with the contribution of many artists over the years. In the 1980s, you had early pioneers participate in exhibitions at underground venues and it was more closely associated with the hip hop movement. While there were a few breakout artists, the word graffiti held a negative connotation. There are some that practice the tradition that don’t like the word graffiti; they prefer the term aerosol art, as you would identify an oil painter or watercolorist for example. I think in the ’90s—with the crackdown of graffiti in the states, the Buff as we would call it—you saw it spread very far to new heights in Europe where the subway graffiti system was in full swing. The Europeans seemed to embrace it more—that was my observation as they created great materials and had many more varieties of colors to produce more advanced renderings. It seemed like because of the appreciation of the arts in Europe, it was championed a bit more, or so it seemed.

I think we as graffiti writers saw a shift in the game as our movement was a very hierarchal system that really focused on the letters, and those who did not have good style or great aesthetics to the almighty tag, those who did not put up a sufficient quantity of work could not sustain a long career in the traditional graffiti sense. Although the monetary gain was never really part of the goal, the defiant nature was admired by your peers. With that said, a movement was brewing that saw street art phasing in where artists who did images illegally—whether with stencils or posters—gained traction, as the general public could identify with images that were easily recognizable. They did not adhere to the same standards as graffiti writers and a quiet tension arose between the two groups. To many traditionalists, this felt like the rug was being pulled out from under the graffiti realm. I can honestly say I was one of them but instead of complaining about it, I decided to change my position and follow my passion for muralism and design.

Photo by Jesse Bratter

Verdi’s Aida at the San Francisco Opera \\\ Photo by Cory Weaver, Courtesy of the San Francisco Opera

You’ve now designed album covers and opera sets, exhibited in solo shows, major art fairs and museums. Did you ever think you could make this big of an impact with street art when you were a kid?

I think the street art movement helped many outsiders of the culture who would not normally like graffiti or vandalism accept certain aspects of it, and it allowed artists to be accepted and commissioned for greater artistic projects, which range from the examples you mentioned in the question. I always knew the impact of what I was a part of would have a big influence, although I don’t think we have seen the scope of the role it will play just yet. Now you see beautiful murals going up all over the world and the public is starting to understand the key role art plays in the harmony of life’s uplift.

Your artwork is your own type of hieroglyphics/calligraphy. Tell me more about the symbols you use—are they deliberate or more decorative?

It’s my own interpretation of the Latin alphabet, my stylized version of text. The pattern is never the same as each building is unique and I never will write the same quote or phrase. Usually I try to identify what will relate to the area I’m in and what will work aesthetically on the building—I like to accent but still emit the grit in a very elegant way that will resonate with all walks of life. I like to think the building itself plays a role on the structure of the symbols as it has to flow in harmony with the architecture. My work may look decorative to some, which is expected due to the nature of how the work can be viewed, but there is without question an order to the madness.

Photo by Jesse Bratter

So architecture is a strong influence for you. What else brought you to designing your patterns? And what inspired your mural for RH West Palm?

Architecture does play a fundamental role in my work. When I was a youth, my aspiration was to be an architect. I’m inspired by civilizations of the past—the architecture remains timeless. The sequence of the events I participated in this year and the stylistic approach started with a Southern Pacific building I painted at ROW DTLA in Los Angeles. I created new formations for the letters S and E in my work representing the Union of Family (Male x Male x Female x Female). The S is phallic, representing Man, and the E in its dome-like shape represents the woman. The shape formations started to develop with the Cuauhtemoc building in the Tlatelolco neighborhood of Mexico City—it’s my tallest mural at 21 stories. The work I recently completed at The Kennedy Center played a crucial part as well. And we end this year with Monument, the title of the work at RH West Palm, which represents restoring the planet’s hardware. I wanted to address the idea of reusable energy and materials to better the environment.

RETNA at the Kennedy Center \\\ Photo by Scott Suchman for WNO

ROW in DTLA

Tell us about your creative process and your partnership with RH.

RH provided an architectural rendering and our team overlaid some of my work onto the building to get a sense of what the scale and color format would look like. I used Liquitex 12-inch freestyle brushes and a roller, and we broke up the wall into four equal parts to get a nice symmetry throughout the façade. The walls are always freestyle in my projects, so the mock-up gives a general idea of what we plan to achieve but I rarely work from a sketch; it’s all done spontaneously. RH is a good partner due their patronage of the arts and the risks they are willing to take to break out of the social norms within the corporate environment. The fact that they commissioned me, a graffiti writer out of Los Angeles who now has broken into the world of galleries, museums and operas but is still grounded on the street art scene like my forefathers Basquiat, Haring and others, is an honor for me and says a lot about RH. This is their flagship store and that speaks volumes.

Monument, the title of the work at RH West Palm, which represents restoring the planet’s hardware. I wanted to address the idea of reusable energy and materials to better the environment.

This mural aligns with West Palm Beach’s public arts efforts. And you’ve also had a presence in Wynwood and the Miami art fairs. What are your thoughts on the South Florida art scene?

The city of West Palm Beach was very accommodating and supportive, along with Gopal Rajegowda from Related, who has been instrumental in the development of the city’s center, which will continue to grow with the work that Nicole Henry Fine Art is doing with her mural program, bringing established and emerging artists to the area. South Florida is a destination for the arts, relaxation, great design, good nightlife, great food, home to many great collections, muses and inspiration, and, of course, the luxury brands that have made South Florida their home for years now. I am grateful to all of the people who have let me perform for them. I think what’s nice about these public projects is that they give access to everyone. The art belongs to the people and let’s hope they enjoy it as much as we do.

Jesse Bratter is a freelance writer and stylist whose appreciation for craftsmanship led her to co-found the artisan marketplace In The Pursuit. You can follow Jesse on Instagram and In The Pursuit on Instagram and Facebook.

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