#this time i wanted to try conveying a concept/message just in 1 image alone

[moonviewer]

"I will keep going forward, no matter how hopeless it might seem."

(please do not repost my art and just leave a link to it if you'd like to share instead, thank you!)

[killian-spey]

Death Would be Kinder [ch.1]

[Drusilla/Spike/Calendar!Reader]

Words: 2626

Fic Concept: Jenny Calendar’s sister spends some “quality time” with the Season 2 Vampire Squad. [Ch.1 takes place in BtVS S2 Ep14]

TW/CW: Kidnapping, Violence, Nightmares.

AN: Check out the [Prologue] first if you haven’t already! :D

Tags: @prose-for-hire , (Comment below or send an ask to be added!)

You had run through the sewers for hours before you pulled yourself out of a manhole halfway across town. Escaping from the factory had worn you out completely, and you made your way home, hoping that Angel and Buffy had done the same.

When you got home, Jenny was asleep on the couch. It looked as though she'd been waiting up all night for you. You tucked a blanket over her and took her empty tea mug to the kitchen before going upstairs, where you flopped into bed and immediately found sleep.

You opened your eyes in the dark and two stormy grey eyes were staring into yours. You sat up confused as your eyes adjusted to the dark. A moment passed, then a new pair blinked into existence; they were blue, cold and unmoving. Their faces grew recognizable and a pit of anxiety grew in your stomach. Spike was leaning against your window sill. Drusilla was laying on your bed, reaching for you with one hand. You stumbled backwards with a yelp, falling onto your floor. Yellow eyes flashed once in your peripheral and then everyone was gone, just as quickly as they'd all appeared.

As you stood up, you found yourself in the factory. It was brighter here, but cold and empty. You spun, looking for an exit. Flashes of images knocked you off balance like punches. A red dress, flowing ribbon, blonde hair, black hair, crooked smiles, pointed teeth. Bells rang in your head, you saw a wheelchair, then painted red nails, then a ridged face. Your head was spinning. You were spinning. Faster and faster until you felt nauseous.

It stopped suddenly. A single thought pierced your adrenaline-rushing head. Soon-

You opened your eyes with a gasp, staring at the ceiling of your bedroom. It was morning and your alarm was going off. You stayed there a few minutes, snoozing the alarm so you could let your heart catch up with reality -or rather slow down to reality- before you got ready for the day and hopped in the car with your sister. Seems Buffy wasn’t the only one having bad dreams about vampires that should've been dead. Lucky you...

As it turns out, Buffy and Angel didn’t check in after last night’s screw up at the factory; thankfully Buffy came into school a couple minutes later to confirm she was still alive. The same couldn’t be said for Angel though, so tensions were high among the Scoobies while researching the Judge.

You were asked to use your artistic skills to draw the Judge to the best of your memory while the others looked into tomes with written references. The world tended to pass you by when you were drawing, so you almost didn’t notice when your sister left the library. She had been summoned by your Uncle, but for what you didn’t know. Not long after, the lights went out.

You stalked out of the library, seeing Xander, Willow, and Angel in the lobby of the school just down the hall. Willow was making her way towards Angel when-

“Willow, get away from him.” Jenny came from the left, holding up a cross as she stepped towards Angel. Oh. Oh no. You pulled a stake from your belt and called out to Willow as calmly as you could muster.

“Willow, walk back towards me.”

“What are you two talking about? It’s just A-”

Angel lunged forward and grabbed Willow by the neck. Familiar yellow eyes peered out of the darkness of the hallway as Willow yelped, struggling against the choke hold.

“You’re not Angel anymore, are you?” Jenny walked closer to Angel.

“Wrong. I am Angel, at last.” He pulled Willow back away from Jenny, “I’ve got a message for Buffy.”

“Why don’t you give it to me yourself?”

The two of them exchanged words and fought, allowing Willow the opportunity to escape Angel’s clutches and join your huddled group on the outskirts of the fight. Buffy got shoved into the water fountain, dumbfounded as Angel walked out the door laughing. The fight was over as quickly as it started, and a blanket of stunned silence covered the whole group. After what felt like an eternity of numb, unmoving shock, you and Jenny gave each other a knowing look. You’d failed. Angel was gone.

You don’t remember how long you’d been sitting in the library, vaguely listening to the group tell Giles about the confrontation with Angelus. Jenny was trying to keep Giles from panicking, and you sat numbly with your guilt. You only looked up when Buffy fled the room, Giles calling after her. You wanted so badly to apologize, but if Buffy ever found out what you’d known, she might kill you herself. You excused yourself from the library, mumbling to Jenny that you’d be in the studio back home.

-----

The garage door creaked as you lifted it. Jenny had given you one of the car bays to use as an art studio while you lived in Sunnydale. Your studio was one of the only places you knew where you could truly be alone with yourself. Jenny had never judged you or your art. Ever since your parents died, she’d stepped up and been supportive of you. You brushed your hand along the top of your canvas stash, picking a large, almost square canvas and setting it on your easel.

Painting had been a way for you to cope with strong emotions for as long as you could remember, but with the events of today you felt lost. You sat on your stool in front of that blank white canvas for what must have been hours. You eventually decided that nothing could convey what you were feeling in the moment, so you decided to paint something the opposite.

You used cream-white, gold and rust to block out a background; it was light, idyllic, and serene. It would be a white-stone conservatory, full of hanging candles and lanterns with a mezzanine balcony covered in ivy. Over that you dropped bright, vibrant tones of yellows and reds and greens. You blocked them into the spaces you would put dancers in flowing gowns and painted blues where you would place their partners. It would be full of life. You stood back a moment, studying. The scene was missing something; joy and innocence, maybe. You place a few, short splotches of pinks and light yellows for younger girls. They were running in a small stampede, weaving through the forest of colorful silks on the dance floor- chasing after fairies or some magic that existed only in their imaginations. There it was. You had vague shapes and a vision, and you were intent on chasing it.

You painted all through the night, and well into the morning. Jenny had left for the school hours ago, but hadn’t said anything. The painting was finally done. You sat in your stool and wiped your hands on your jeans. It was done, you had worked for hours, you had cried for Angel, you had smiled for the imaginary children, and for a moment you were satisfied... Then you noticed it.

In the center of your painting was a lone dancer. She wore a red gown with dark lace over the bodice and had equally dark hair. Your painting was somewhat post-impressionist, preferring interesting shapes over pinpoint detail, but it was unmistakable. In a ballroom of strangers, you’d painted her. Drusilla. You didn’t know what to think about that.

You stared at Drusilla in the painting, stuck in an introspective daze until a creaking sound pulled you back to reality. Your uncle had opened the garage door and stepped into the studio bay with two cups of coffee. You pulled up a stool for him and he handed you one, sitting beside you in front of the painting.

“Janna called,” he began cautiously. “She is on her way home with your friend, Buffy. I don’t know how, but she knows.”

“She’s going to hate me for this,” You scanned the sweeping lines of a yellow skirt somewhere else on your painting, trying not to let the tears prickle at the corners of your eyes.

The door to the garage opened behind you both and you looked down into your mug, anxiously tapping your nail against the ceramic. You couldn’t bear to look Buffy in the eyes, your guilt returning in full force.

Your uncle lit a pipe and stood up as he spoke,

“She told me you would be coming. I suppose you want answers,”

“Not really.” The voice wasn’t Buffy’s.

You snapped your head towards the door to find Angelus leaning against the door frame, blocking your exit. You scrambled, picking up a fistful of wooden paint brushes off your work table in a desperate search for weapons. You spun back towards Angelus just in time to watch him snap your uncle’s neck. An arm smacked against your leg as he dropped onto the concrete floor- a sensation you would no doubt remember the rest of your life. You snapped a large paintbrush in half to give it a pointier edge, but Angelus grabbed your wrist before you could even make a move on him. This was the sickening moment you realized just exactly how tall Angelus was. Exactly how far above he loomed over you.

“Ah, ah.” He tutted at you with a smirk. “Wouldn’t want to go angering the guy who holds your life in his hands, now would you?” He twisted your wrist until you let go of the brush, then wrapped his other hand around your throat and pushed you onto the worktable.

“You know, it really is embarrassing that you’re so darn fragile!”

He was laughing, but he was right. In comparison you were a mouse fighting a lion, you had no chance against him. You clawed fruitlessly at his hand, but he just squeezed harder. Your vision was already fuzzing out, and it was getting difficult to even see Angelus’ face clearly as he taunted you.

“Oh, stop squirming, you’ll be unconscious in a minute, kid. Lucky for you, I need some bait. So you get to live for a while, isn’t that exciting?!” His voice was giving you something tangible to focus on, but it was no use. Another moment and you were unconscious.

-----

Your head pounded like a drum when you woke up. You opened your eyes, but it took a while for them to adjust to the dim light. You tried to rub your eyes, but your hands were tied down to the armrests of the chair you were sat in. Your eyes darted around for any sign of Angelus, but found none. Everything was empty. Silent. Against your better judgement, you called out into the empty factory.

“Hello?”

You waited. No one responded, but you felt you were being watched.

You didn’t know how much time had passed before you heard a small, soft melody coming from behind you. Humming. Your heartbeat kicked up a notch as you scanned the room.

“I can hear you going pitter-patter from here,” Drusilla had spoken from a place you couldn’t see. You heard each of her footsteps click closer and closer behind you until you could feel her standing just inches away. You let out a shaky breath and she shushed you quietly.

She ran her hands through your hair, dragging long red fingernails across your scalp. She began detangling your hair with her fingers, idly humming once again. You let your head tip back as she picked lightly at a particularly bad snag, dismantling it and continuing her exploration of your hair. By now you’d noticed you were crying, silently terrified and unnerved by the ministrations of the vampire behind you. She yanked a new snag in your hair and you couldn’t help the small yelp that escaped you.

“Is the doll hurting?” She pulled her hands away when she realized you weren’t going to answer her. She walked agonizingly slowly around your chair, stopping directly in front of you. “It’s rude to ignore people.” You stared at the floor, avoiding her gaze. You did notice, however horrified, that she was wearing a new, yet familiar, red dress with black lace.

You could feel her staring down at you, almost willing you to look at her. When you didn’t, she dropped to her knees to meet your eye line, resting her cheek on your knee. You studied her face as she ghosted her hand up and down your left thigh, occasionally picking at the smatterings of paint that were still all over your jeans.

“You’re an artist. I like artists,” She picked up her head and you chuckled nervously as she looked at you. In a morbid way, you were glad she liked you, whatever that meant. It might mean I live a little longer.

You looked up at the ceiling uncomfortably, then scanned the room for an escape, for something, anything you could do. She dragged her finger from your thigh up to your neck as she looked up at you. For a moment, you were scared she’d slice your throat, but she wrapped her hand around your jaw and pulled your face down gently to look at her.

“You’ll be my little pet Artist. We’ll have lots of fun together,” She stared into your eyes with a dangerous smile. She rubbed her thumb against your jawline -her hand still holding your face as she stood up- until she burst into a fit of giggles. She dropped your face and pulled her hands together, close to her chest, as she walked backwards a few paces.

As if she’d sensed him coming, Spike rolled into the room and stopped his chair just next to you. Drusilla gracefully perched herself on Spike’s lap and after a few minutes of flirting, Angelus came down the spiral staircase with the Judge, who voiced that he was ready to leave.

“About time.” Spike gave Drusilla a kiss and told her to have fun.

“Too bad you can’t come with, huh?” Angelus was taunting Spike and -despite your fear- you were studying the interactions for a better understanding of the relationships at play. Spike was staying behind under the pretense of watching you, but it was a thinly veiled jab at his current handicap. You watched silently as Angelus practically stole Drusilla off Spike’s lap before they left the factory. Spike stared at the doorway they'd left from for a while before he glanced back at you, staring at him. You dropped your eyes immediately, but it was too late.

“What are you lookin’ at?” He wheeled himself to the other side of the table.

“I won’t be in this chair forever. I’ll get back at him.”

“Of course you will.”

He squinted at you, probably just as surprised as you that’d you’d actually spoken back at him. He turned his chair and got up close to you again, murder glinting behind his eyes.

“Are you being funny? ‘Cause I could kill you in half a second, you know.”

“No, no jokes,” You shook your head at him, weakly lifting your hands within your restraints in surrender. The last thing you wanted was for him to prove just how tough he still is.

“Good, cause I would,” he pointed his finger at you as he continued on, “...kill you, I mean.”

“Right.” You squinted, processing.

“You’d do well to remember that.”

You pressed your lips together and nodded awkwardly. He stared at you about 7 seconds longer than he needed to before huffing and rolling off to another room. As soon as you were alone, you sighed in relief and stared up at the ceiling; only one thought in your mind.

Oh. My. God.

[thewritershelpers]

Improving Your Writing when English Isn’t Your First Language (mega-ask)

As you can see above, we've gotten more than one question about writing, improving your writing, and even publishing in English when it's not your native language. First off: that's awesome. To anyone writing or even consuming in a language that's not your first, kudos to you.

You can google any variation of this question and get different articles with a ton of the same advice, and some with conflicting advice. Not only have I compiled the most commonly repeated information, but I've also reached out to people on our Discord server and others for their personal experiences.

I'll start off by listing concise versions of the advice and then expound on them further on in the article. Remember that we are not experts on your writing and that everyone learns in different ways and at different paces. These are in no particular order.

-be patient

-practice

-get feedback from native sources

-don't undermine yourself to your audience

-Grammarly

-research

-don't get discouraged

Be patient

That's first because, well, duh. Patience is so important for both yourself and your writing. Writing is hard enough of a passion without the added difficulty of doing it in a language that doesn't come naturally. In the world of literature, writing/publishing in your non-native language isn't just a matter of translating words. It requires translating of ideas, concepts, and even cultural norms, which is why just slapping it into Google translate won't work.

Part of the reason for the advice of having patience, too, is that writing in your native language needs to take time. It doesn't really matter how fast you can whip out 20 pages of a first draft--it'll still be a simple first draft. Writing is a craft that requires not just love and passion but time. So what if you need a little bit of extra time--or a lot of extra time--because you're accomplishing a feat most don't even think about attempting?

Next is to practice.

That goes hand in hand with what I said about being patient. Again, writing in and of itself is all about practice and doing it daily (not that I'm an expert on getting that done, but you know). But when it comes to practice another language, there are different ways you can do that. You can reach out to native speakers (for English, there are going to be so many people willing to help, even just in our community! you just need to ask) and practice having conversations or ask them to look over your work. Practice by turning on your favorite movie or TV show in English with subtitles in your native language. Watch videos on YouTube, find a Spotify playlist/podcast, in your target language. There's also plenty of people who have done what you're trying to do who have shared their experiences and what helped them on those same platforms.

Get feedback from native speakers

This is a bit of an expansion on what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. In my experience, and from what others have shared, writing in a non-native language can be pretty clinical. Writing with figurative language or in metaphors won't be as easy or come as naturally as it does in your own language. Things like idioms and even pop cultures reference aren't always going to translate even if you have the exact words. That's where native speakers come into play. If they're willing to look over your work, whether as a friend or in an editorial position, they can give you advice about whether the wording in one spot sounds clunky or if a phrase doesn't make sense or if there're synonyms for what you already used to help convey your message even stronger.

Don't undermine yourself

This is something that I personally am saying. It's not mentioned on any of the linked sites, and no one I talked to said it. But as someone who is a native English speaker (and even has a degree in it) I think this is super important. This point goes towards native English speakers/writers, too. Don't undersell yourself and undermine your work to the audience before they have even picked it up. Disclaimers are different, and it all comes down to the words you use and how you use them. Let your readers know, whether it's people on AO3 or a literary agent, that English isn't your first language. Let them know concisely that they may find some basic errors--but stop there. Don't grovel. You have nothing to apologize for, especially once you've given that warning (those is it really a warning? what's so dangerous or scary about a few mistakes?). You're writing is not going to be any less of an accomplishment for a few grammatical errors, or mistranslated phrases, or even typos. I've seen so many mistakes in published works that it's kind of ridiculous. But if you put something out there for someone to read and in the same breath say "I don't know that this is worth reading" I'm going to need extra convincing to pick it up. *kicks soapbox away*

Grammarly

*NOT sponsored*

Grammarly is a wonderful tool that you can use, for FREE. It not only (with the free version) helps correct spelling and grammar, but can also help point out the tone you're writing with. For example, right now, Grammarly is telling me that this writing sounds mostly informative--which it's meant to be--and a little appreciative and friendly. When sending emails I've had it tell me that it sounds formal (which I was going for), and I've also had it not say anything because the text was a different kind of writing (like when I'm proof-reading something being posting it on AO3...). I honestly don't know what else it helps with once you've paid because I've been happily using the free version for about 3 years now.

Research

Don't be afraid to pick up a book, or head to the library, or pull up Google. Research is paramount to writing anyway, let alone once you're doing it in another language. Your research options are limitless and can include your mutuals on social media as well as those dictionaries that translate from one language into another. Research can also include (in my humble opinion) binge-watching/reading your favorite things...in English. In four years of university, one of the most frequently said things was to improve your writing 1) write every day and 2) read every day. You're never going to learn from worrying or overthinking, and you're also never going to learn from just doing DuoLingo (that's more conversational than literary anyway).

Something a member of Discord specifically said in relation to research was to look at morphology, at the roots of words (and root words). Morphology is, in linguistics, looking at how words are formed. For example, let's look at "biology". There are parts to this word that each has a different meaning, that formed together created a new/elevated meaning. "ology" means the study of something, and bio means life. So biology is, simply, the study of life. Once you've got those basics of things like "ology" under your belt it'll become easier to not just translate words but the concepts (if this works with your learning style).

Last but not least, don't get discouraged.

Writers of all kinds get discouraged when writing in their native language. Even those of us who speak English as our first language make mistakes worth discouragement (you will never know how many typos were corrected by Grammarly as I wrote this all out the first time). English is not an easy language. It's not the hardest, but it's far from easy (learning another language isn't easy regardless of what languages are involved). This is a post from someone who is a non-native English speaker but you would never know unless they told us.

While researching for this, I found some articles/blog posts that said mostly the same thing, and are where I got some of the information

This one is from a native English speaker giving advice

This one is for writing for non-native English readers, but still has good advice

And finally this one is a blog post (I think) from someone who is a non-native English speaker!

In specific response to some of the asks:

English, like any other language, changes. It's a very dynamic language, actually, and from region to region, there will not only be different accents but different frames of reference. 1950 isn't so far back in time for the English to be drastically different from what is spoken today, but I'm in the USA and you're asking about Oxford. English in England has very different nuances, even more so than you would get between California and Texas and New York. This is a link to the Oxford English Dictionary list of words that became more common in the 50s. However, this is a generalized list, not specific to any English-speaking country let alone region or city. If you're wanting to look at how to convey the accent of people from/in Oxford, there are videos on YouTube of people speaking in different accents so that you can have an idea, a comparison, at least in your own mind. With the 50s it's going to be more just thinking really of what words and lifestyles and things weren't around yet; cell phones didn't exist yet. Here's another link to some stock images of Oxford in the 50s. Remember, this time was very close to WWII so there'll be lingering effects of that, especially in England.

About fight scenes and curses, there's a ton of resources on that. If you just search "fight" on our page, you'll get a ton of posts answering that question. Also, here's a link to a superb and excellent source on writing fight scenes. When it comes to curses...just watch Rage Quit on YouTube, or spend a while on TikTok. If you want to dive right in just Google "English curses" and there'll be YouTube videos, entries on Urban Dictionary, you name it.

When it comes to publishing, once you've gotten your manuscript is a perfect time to have a native-speaking friend look it over. Whether editing is their thing or not, they'll be able to help with the things that are really obvious. I don't have any experience publishing in a different language, though, so there might be other resources along the different stages to help you. Some general publishing advice I've gotten: when wanting to publish fiction, literature, start small. Start with short stories in literary journals, online and in print. You really can't make much headway with large publishing houses without a literary agent and it'll be easier to attract one if you have evidence that you can write, and write well enough people want to read it. When it comes to poetry, just start submitting. Get familiar with the process, and educate yourself on things like simultaneous submissions and a good rejection. Publishing is an ever-changing game that isn't cut and dry in any language or country. We can't tell you what's best, but my advice is to go with your gut and try your best. Don't be afraid to try again, too.

Everyone overthinks their writing. Or at least, everyone I know who writes does. Honestly, in my opinion, if you're not overthinking at least a little bit, you're not worried enough. You will never be able to fully know whether you've explained or described enough. A good chunk of the experience is up to the readers, so you have to leave them some wiggle room for imagination. But that doesn't mean you have to cheapen your story or short-change your characters. You mention specifically that you're POC, which I'm gonna guess also means that your characters will be POC. It's never too much to specify the race/ethnicity of your characters, even in a fantasy work. How you go about writing those descriptions might need to change but it's kind of like chocolate chips, in my mind: you decide those things with your soul.

So, there you have it. A ridiculously long way to say: you're awesome, you do you, practice, love yourself and your writing, and don't be afraid to put yourself out there (in any way).

(images read:

Anonymous said: Im writing a book based in Oxford in 1950s. how was the language different from now. I am not from an English speaking country at all. Never been outside my country either. And Im going to write a book based in England in English

Anonymous said: Hi there, I’m a writer for almost 3 years now but since English isn’t my first language I get discouraged easily if things I write come off strange to myself. Do you maybe have any advice for me, on how to motivate myself and not comparing myself with native English speakers? Thank you in advance!

Anonymous said: Hello! I starting to work on this shortfic but it’s been really hard. It’s like I’m trying to building a house alone and with my bare hands. Even though I’m already used to write in mother tongue. Any advice for non-english speaker trying to write their first story in English?

Yaelburstine said: Hi. Do you have any tips about how to write a good fight scene and curses that people speak English get cus’ it’s not my first language

gyger said: I am not a native english speaker, but most of the books I read are in english and I generally prefer writing in english as well. However, I am worried about making mistakes that I can’t recognize myself. I have no idea how good my english is to a native english speaker, plus some things are easier to write in my native tongue (such as dialogue). I’m also worried about publishing, since that definitely would be easier in my country than abroad. How do I decide what language to choose?

Anonymous said: As a POC writer and English as their second language, I overthink all the writing I do. I feel like I don’t describe my ideas thoroughly or my character descriptions are vague or not good enough. I’m currently working on a YA novel but I plan on writing a YA fantasy novel but I feel like my lack of vocabulary and grammar structure makes me give up on finishing my book. Is this normal for native English speaking authors or is this considered a language barrier thing? Thanks! Love your blog!

Thank you for your questions, and for your patience as we do our best to answer them.

-S

[pamviles]

Codism Manifesto

By Pamviles

Ⅰ  Background

When I was eighteen, I suffered from a mental disorder for half a year, and it was during this time that I discovered art. My philosophy also began to take form during this period of time. I had read extensively into the fields of philosophy and science (especially quantum physics), Plato's cave enlightens the imagination to unknown spaces, Descartes’ demon destroys previous structures of philosophy to rebuild a new system and Wittgenstein's mirror of the game captures the essence of philosophy through language. The centuries-long debate surrounding the nature of matter as either a particle or a wave, and its reflection on the real world has perpetuated through the theories of Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrodinger and others. As well as the fragility of knowledge itself, all the above helped me re-understand the world. In university, I spent three years creating my own philosophy, I used ‘imagination’ as the basis of my philosophy, through the form of Dialogues (The Dialogues of Mr. Walter and Mr. Galson, a total of seven articles, included in my book ‘Drifting: an artist's madness, sex, art and philosophy’), involving questions concerning existence in reality, the possibility of god, the truth in history, the vanity of inspiration, time, and fate. All of the aforementioned are presented in my artworks. I believe an artist above all things should be a thinker, and to a certain extent, examine the dissionance of their thoughts through their own art.

My early artworks refer to surrealism. The mystery and fantasy of surrealism is what led me into the realm of art. Surrealism is a means of elaborating dreams. It can break reality and bring reality back to a fantasy realm, distorted and merged with forms of the inner desires, struggles and pursuits of an artist. To me, the charm of surrealism lies in that it can fully show the inner world of an artist. But as time passed, I was no longer content with surrealist expressions, because if I wanted my art to leave a mark on history, I had to create something that had never been done before.

Since 2018, I have been rethinking my artworks. Using my educational background of mathematics in my practice, my current artworks incorporate the form of code as a major element of my art style. In fact, my early artworks also had an element of coding, but only in recent years have I gradually formed a theory of my own.

I was self-taught in painting while I majored in mathematics in university. The element of mathematics may seem to have no relation to art, but for me, mathematics is the basic explanation of how things work in the universe. Art, on the other hand, is a manifestation of unique human emotions and souls, the former being the cornerstone of reason, and the latter the ultimate sublimation of emotion. Both are important forms of human understanding and expression of the world. What kind of collision can be brought about by combining the two together? Integration or contradiction? I merge mathematics and art based on my own understanding of both fields and the reflection of the past torture and encouragement from these two. I hope to bring viewers to new thoughts about math and art.

To me, painting is like a colorful shell, and theory is its soul. After two years of summarizing my own ideas of art, the time comes to solidify the first draft of my Codism Manifesto.

 Ⅱ Definition

Codism in art refers to the recompilation of common language systems into new images or symbol systems by means of mathematics, linguistics, etc. and incorporating them into works of art. The compiled cryptosystem can be symbols, lines, geometric figures, color changes, cubes arrangement, etc. It is a rigorous system with regular rules instead of random, it hides the original information to be expressed in the form of codes. This cryptosystem needs to fuse with the created artwork. They are complementary and not independent of each other. It is precisely because of a variety of patterns that different cryptosystems can show, that it can be embedded into artworks and become an inseparable part of it.

 Ⅲ Meaning and purpose

1.      Symbolic meaning

In the art of painting, you can often see the traces of symbolization, and use certain images or symbols to harness a concept or meaning. For example, people think of religion or death when they see the cross. There is also a certain symbolic meaning in my art. In addition to the specific objects in the painting, my code has become a part of the symbol. So far, I have created over ten code systems and integrated them into the artworks. Sometimes a painting is just one code system, and sometimes multiple codes are superimposed. The shape of each set of codes is different (some are lines, some are geometric, some are round deformations, some are symbols similar to hieroglyphics, etc.), because in different paintings, I will choose according to the theme of the painting, and it is because of the different forms of these codes, they have different symbolic meanings to the picture. Since these codes are formed through mathematical processing, and mathematics is the basis of all scientific and technological progress today, the presentation of these codes on canvas represents technology and science. The code itself is a hidden method, sometimes symbolizing secrets or unacceptable ideas or even a reflection of the virtual world.

I could have presented numbers or mathematical formulas directly on the canvas, and even extracted a part of my Apm theorem to add to my paintings, but I think said approach is too blunt. Trying to combine mathematics and art by selecting some random symbolic elements of mathematics and forcing it into the picture would be reckless and rather dull-witted. The works created in this way seem to me to have no meaning of mathematics but a shallow representation, let alone apply any mathematical knowledge. Throughout my works I have to capture the essence of mathematics through my own coded system, because only in this way can I be more organically connected with the subject I need to express and integrate with the picture.

The symbolic meaning of artworks is based on the artist and the audience having a common cultural knowledge background. But in pure mathematics, in a series of theorems and proofs, no symbolic elements can be found. The world of mathematics is so pure that it only has logic and reasoning. And when this cryptographic code with mathematics is introduced into art, it is to a certain extent a betrayal of symbolism, and this is also one of the processes that will gradually appear in my works.

 2.      Words and communication

Before becoming an artist, most of my work was in writing. When I started to paint, I always thought about the difference and connection between painting and writing.

Reading a paragraph of words requires clear and organized thinking and time in order to understand the meaning in the text. In contrast, processing a painting can be scattered or even instantaneous. Reading text is like a narrow stream flowing, and it is single and coherent in time. It can only be understood by reading one word after another, as this is the brain's way of clearly organizing and making a single-channel sequence. But viewing a painting is like standing on the edge of a radiant lake, and the result is immediate sensory pleasure or other instant experience. The former is the perception of understanding, while the latter is a sensory experience. Words are constrained by time, yet it is the most ideal tool for expressing thoughts, because words (or language) itself is the basic way of thinking. The painting is an instant impact, and its viewing is not constrained by time. (Of course, to understand some certain paintings still requires time, but that would be a different subject.)

My code embeds the narrative and comprehension elements of text into the painting, which makes my work, not only have the immediate sensibility as the painting itself, but also implies step-by-step understanding. The existence of the code does not necessarily suggest that the audience needs to understand the story or meaning behind it, but work as a representative of the comprehension and revelation that can be obtained by reading.

My code system brings a time-like depth of procedural understanding to the painting in addition to the visual characteristics of the painting itself.

 When a piece of art is presented, it is a non-verbal communication between artist and audience. It does not have a concise expression of information like verbal communication, and the information of the work may be transmitted unconsciously by the artist to the viewer. Since this nonverbal communication between the artist and viewer is unclear, not all audiences can receive the message.

The most direct way to convey information is to through language. At this functional level, art is unable to match. And there is no need to compare, because an artist, to a certain extent, is hiding information rather than to exposing it, especially in contemporary art, the information that the artist wants to express through various forms of presentation lets the viewer explores its meaning like a maze, layer by layer. Perhaps one of the charms of contemporary art stems from this. Organizing and hiding a message is to give it a sense of mystery to arouse the viewer’s interest, and allow the viewer to experience the pleasure it brings little by little when solving the mystery of the message. Therefore, in addition to visual enjoyment and stimulation, for the viewer, art also has a bit of pleasure in the decryption process, although this information itself may be rather bland. As Oscar Wilde once said, "the commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it." At some point, art is a fantasy lie with psychedelic color, and it is through this lie can the viewer more fully experience the preciousness of the truth lying behind.

My artworks that conceal the information in the form of codes symbolize the process of constructing this lie of art.

 3.      The Mirror of Math

Mathematics is a law that exists in all things in the universe. It exists at the beginning of everything, and will exist until the end of time. It is a pure world that can be independent of the physical world. It is not swayed by any biological or physical events, but at the same time it is the basis of the law of everything physical. Mathematics can exist beyond time, and is the only thing that never changes. In the modern society, it is also the basis of today's technological progress and represents the glory of our times.

In my work, as the elements of mathematics have been embedded, the eternal side of mathematics is introduced. In the form of cryptography, the data and information in science and technology is given a contemporary aspect, representing the development of the modern world and the possibilities of the future. This is also expressed in some of my paintings. They depict not only a current state of time, but also a trend or possibility into the future. Nowadays, humans have created all the glory in technology, but perhaps in the near future, with the development of AI, technology would have promoted the evolution of humanity itself or even more radical changes, as the intelligent life form that existed at that time, what would they think about the origin and pursuit of the human beings that existed and their own?

 For me, the creation of the codes is an attachment to the conservation laws of all things in the universe. When I see various lines or different shapes in a picture, it is like seeing a series of random numbers. I always want to find the pattern in this chaos that explains it and gives it a sense of meaning in a regular form of order. And in our lives, aren’t they similar? Both spiritual and material pursuits give us a meaning in life, and maintain its continuation through inherent laws such as a stable social system, morals, etc.

In addition to the code with the sense of order in my artworks, it is also accompanied by elements of randomness, and this reflects the events or emotions in our lives that are unpredictable or controlled.

So in a way, my work is not only like a cryptographic map with hidden information, but also a microcosm of life and a world in the form of symbols.

Therefore, when I use the math to create different code systems for my art creation, I am attempting to construct a completely new world in its purest form, a mathematical form mirrored by the physical world that we live in. In this new world, there is no trace of tangible living things. Instead, exist abstract expressions of feeling and reason, and the merging and struggles between them. Within these artworks, the use of code symbolizes the constant laws of our physical world and the various inherent methods of comprehending our reality.

 Ⅳ Overview

Codism is the product of the collision between math and art. It has a very characteristic symbolic meaning in the performance of art, and organically integrates related elements such as written word and communication, math and logic, data and information and various other concepts into art. The emergence of codism will hopefully add a different movement in art history.

First draft: 2019.12.31

[songwritingtipsandtricks]

Hey lads, here is the transcript for the second episode of the podcast. 

Hello and welcome everyone out there listening to this program.

Thank you for tuning in once more for another episode on songwriting tips & tricks

Have you ever been searching for a better way to rephrase an idea, or maybe you've been looking for a word that fits the meter or beat or paints a more beautiful image in the audiences head? If that is the case, then today's episode will help you with just that.

Today's episode is dedicated to a powerful weapon that should be an essential tool in your songwriting. Of course, we are talking about synonyms.

What is a synonym? Or instead, what is the definition of the word synonym.

1 one of two or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses

2 a word or phrase that by association is held to embody something (such as a concept or quality) a tyrant whose name has become a synonym for oppression

So close your eyes for a minute, or think back to the last song you have been working on. Are you there? Great. Now try to remember writing the lyrics and what you have been thinking about. Did you write the words straight from your mind? Did you contemplate the pictures and how you could clarify or rephrase it more colloquial? If you did, then you are already implementing this powerful tool. If not, don't worry, it is rather tedious work and may take a lot more time than your usual writing.

But how do we use a Thesaurus properly, and what is the intention behind it.

So in general, firstly we open our Thesaurus, may it be digitally or analogue. Then we search for a word we want to get a synonym for, so you search for the entry like you would in a dictionary, or you type it in a digital option. Let us simulate this for a second. So given we are looking for a sharper word for the rather common word heart. In the right context, that word could be compelling on its own, and maybe your style of writing could be based on an everyday style of speech. However, perhaps you want to re-illustrate the picture.

So we search for the entry heart in our Thesauruses. Type it in on MacMillan.And on the left, I have already searched for the word in the rather heavy book (which may be the significant disadvantage of an analogous one). And from here it is quite easy. When we have found the word, we have to think about the meaning we want it to convey. In this case, heart does not only stands for an organ in a body but has various meanings depending on the context. So in the internet version, in our case, the MacMillan dictionary, this is quite easy and well-organised. We search for the right meaning, and just beneath the definition of the word, there is a button for the Thesaurus. As easy as that. Then there is an array of general terms about the concept behind the word heart. So as some of you might know there is a theory in linguistics or language studies in general which is called the semiotic-triangle. This triangle tries to explain the cognitive work when we read, write or speak a word or vice versa. So when we think about a picture we want to convey may be the heart, in this case, we might immediately know the word in our native language. Still, if you are writing in your second language, it might take some more time. So the logic behind this triangle is that the word heart, of course, is just defined term in your language. At the same time, in another language, like in German, there is a different word for the concept behind this. Anyway, you get the point. A word is not bound to the picture. And of course, both the idea and the word are not the real thing.  

And this is excellent news for us songwriters. This means that writing has seemingly endless possibilities for rephrasing and conveying pictures. So rephrasing is an essential and essential part of speech.

So let's get to work. We have found the Thesaurus online an see where the internet comes in handy, not only do we have it at hand at any location, but it is easy to handle. The offline version of this is not as fast as the online one. However, we might get more information and an interesting choice of words that are not available on some platforms and has a special sophisticated touch to it. But that depends on your choice of Thesaurus.

Now you might ask, where do you get neat synonyms and how can you use it in your songs?

Perhaps just have a look in a nearby library, book or antiquities shop or do a little online research for a suitable Thesaurus. For my taste, MacMillan, Merriam-Webster or the Oxford dictionary are reliable sources with high esteem. Analogous Thesauruses should also be adequately collected and published by a renowned publisher. If you are a student at a university, there may also be a table in the linguistics faculty giving away old books that and if you are lucky like I was with my Oxford Thesaurus, you get a tremendous Thesaurus for free. Having one at home comes in quite handy when you are writing.

So there is a little poem we are going to write together now. It intentionally is not sophistically well written nor rhyming, as we think about the synonyms to rhyme it with.

The pain I try to drown in bottles.

The hole it left me with alone

The broken heart lies down in pieces

You swept away so easily

So well, not much of a story, it is quite open and un-rhyming. However, some pictures could be coherently connected. So, we need to look for the nouns adjectives and adverbs, as they convey the most pictorial meaning.

The PAIN I TRY to DROWN in ALCOHOL.

The HOLE it LEFT ME with ALONE

The BROKEN HEART is DOWN in PIECES

YOU SWEPT away so EASILY

The nouns are the most critical conveyors in language, as they determine the verbs that follow it and also have specific attributes. So in order, we will look up nouns first, then think about the verbs and then have a look for the adjectives and adverbs. In this case, I will be using the MacMillan Thesaurus.

A suitable noun for pain would be agony or distress, I find as it paints a picture of great pain and is more specific.

Next up Alcohol, MacMillan does not have the word I am searching for, so I head over to Merriam-Webster. I like the bottle, as it is quite illustrative and fits the broken pieces in the next line.

Another word for HOLE would be crack, and I like this one as it has a delicate touch to it.

Heart, we had earlier, and a suitable word which is quite the contrary to the picture is virtue. And if the protagonist is a man, it leaves the impression of weakness and weariness. Let's try this once and change the to my as well as it is more personal. To my mind, I'm going to drop the is. We are also going to stick with pieces in this case as I cannot find a suitable word that is of my liking.

So this far we have got:

The distress I TRY to DROWN in bottles

The cracks it LEFT ME WITH alone

My broken virtue down in pieces

and you SWEPT AWAY so easily

The last line is mainly verbal and adverbial, so we're going to proceed with the verbs.

For verbs, I prefer Merriam-Webster, as there is a whole section between a noun synonym that find synonyms for the verb.

To try, we are going to trade in to strive, as it also has the same sound as try but has a more zealous feeling and in this context seems more vulnerable. Drown is left the same. The next line is also staying just as it is for now. The next line is without a verb, and the next line suits the picture of shattered glass and erasing all evidence.

So far, we have:

The distress I strive to drown in bottles.

The cracks it left me with alone.

My broken virtue down in pieces.

And you swept it away so easily.

So next up adjectives and adverbs.

The first line has none, the second one only has the alone. And the Thesaurus has on one's own as a suggestion. And thus I'm rephrasing the line to The cracks I'm left with on my own. The broken virtue could also be sinking to pieces as it gives an exciting connotation to the act of falling and cracking open. Perhaps a slow-motion memory or a submerged feeling of shock. The easily is quite dull and common, so the Thesaurus also suggests naturally. In this picture, I find it rather suitable, as he/she appears to be emotionally cold and perhaps a notorious heartbreaker. I'm adding a pronoun in the last line, and we are about done.

So eventually we end up with something like this:

The distress I strive to drown in bottles.

The cracks I'm left with on my own.

My broken virtue sunk to pieces.

And you swept it away so naturally.

Well, it is not a Shakespearean masterpiece. However, this is the first synopsis perhaps, from where we can continue with the next part of the story.

So for now, I think this is a great start. Maybe some of you want to try using my poem with your Thesaurus and start telling your own story from there. I'd be thrilled to hear some of your own interpretations that have different twists.

As you can see, you can find synonyms for nearly every word you might be searching for. Maybe you understand now, how powerful this tool can be. An interesting exercise is using a verse or chorus from one of your favourite songs and try rephrasing it. It opens up a whole world of opportunities, as suddenly there are so many words you can choose from. While pop-music today sometimes is somewhat stodgy in its choice of words, maybe you can go this extra mile to add appealing pictures to your lyrics.

So if you have a few minutes, look up your favourite song and rephrase a few lines from the song. If you like, just send me a message with your poem, and I read it out in the next episode.

Okay, just one more thing that pops up in my mind right now. I guess that most of you listen to music in the language you are using in songwriting as well. An inspiring approach to new inspiration or idea could be to use a song in a language that you are not writing in, in my case that would be German, roughly translate it and do the same thing we did earlier. You might come to entirely different ideas and pictures that lead to a number one hit while telling the same story with different words.

So thank you for listening to this episode. There is more to expect in the next month, and I am so thrilled to continue this program.

I want to leave you with a song recommendation today, and I am really inspired by the style of writing that is implemented. An artist I discovered a few weeks ago. Boy In Space, if you haven't heard of him, has heartbreaking lyrics that are so illustrative. His song Drown is a touching ballad and really well-written. So not only the song is really catchy and flawlessly performed, but the lyrics in themself carry a lot of meaning and fit the music so beautifully. He has recently been the opening act for Alec Benjamin, and his social media is really down to earth and fun to follow. Give it a listen and note down some pictures, rephrase his songs if you want to as well and happy songwriting.

So long I hope you enjoyed today's episode and stick around for another round next time. If you like the format, please feel free to support it by subscribing to it and marking it 5 stars. More tips are available on the Tumblr-blog on songwriting tips & tricks. I wish you all the best and see you next time.

Have you ever been searching for a better way to rephrase an idea, or maybe you've been looking for a word that fits the meter or beat or paints a more beautiful image in the audiences head? If that is the case, then today's episode will help you with just that.

We are about to discuss different reliable Thesauruses, be it digital or analogue, rephrase a sample poem and devise a scheme on how to rephrase a line. In the end, you'd be fully aware of using synonyms properly, finding new approaches to writing original lyrics and getting new ideas from rephrasing your favourite songs.

If you like the format, leave a quick review and subscribe to the show. If you know friends who are searching for a program just like this, just let them know as well. If you have any suggestions or feedback, leave it in the comments or send me a message on any social media platform.

Until the next episode, as always, happy songwriting.

Kieper

[lazuliblade]

“Figure Skating Fan” Magazine 2018-2019「羽 から生まれる」Translation

This is the interview with costume designer Satomi Ito on the construction of Yuzuru Hanyu’s Origin (and a little on Otoñal) costume featured on pages 42-43 of the February issue of フィギュアスケートファン (Figure Skating Fan) magazine released Dec. 22, 2018. 

I’m formatting this to resemble the original formatting in the magazine.

Words after a long dash ------ are the interviewer talking/asking questions.

Words in「Japanese quotation marks」are Satomi’s responses.

Where text color changes for emphasis, I’ve used bold italics.

The interviewer tends to put technical terms, concepts, and key words in “quotations”. Which means: 

When they bring up titles of literature, program names, and quoted phrases, those are in 『blocky quotes』instead. 

Anything within (parenthesis) was originally in parenthesis within the article.

[words between brackets are my translator’s notes] 

Following English conventions, I’m writing her name as Satomi Ito. For reference in Japanese: 伊藤聡美 いとうさとみ Itou Satomi The interviewer/writer is いとうやまね (Itouyamane) - a writer unit composed of Itou Miho and Yamane Seiji.

I’ve left the honorifics. They refer to Yuzuru as ���Hanyu-senshu” (athlete Hanyu) throughout the entire article. -senshu is the respectful term for athletes. -san is the general honorific (Mr./Ms./Mrs.).

---------------------------------------- I agonized over capturing the ways they said certain phrases, but even so, I’m just an amateur translator, which means there are some turns of phrase I probably could have translated better. I originally wrote this all by hand, so there’s no Japanese transcription typed up, but if you’d like a specific section to see what exactly they said, send me an ask or a message and I’ll be happy to type that up. For more learning, sewing/fabric/technical terms will have a glossary at the bottom, along with various notes. 

INTERVIEW[<---the original text is actually in English, but misspelled as INTERVEW]

Costume Designer・Satomi Ito

「羽 から生まれる」Born from feathers

Here is Origin’s “temporary-stitched”[baste-stitched] costume. Black lace on a flesh-toned base, and velour pants. In costume designer Satomi Ito-san’s atelier, she let’s us see the “idea’s prototype.” Interview/text: Itou Yamane

100 feathers

-----Black and white feathers are being attached to the lace on the upper body, aren’t they! Although it’s surprising that the feathers are all handmade.

「I made all of them here. First, I cut leaf shapes with a rotary cutter, then I cut into the sides with scissors. The black is [made of] PowerNet, the white is a 2-way with a bit of thickness. Both are fabrics with elasticity. One by one, I would sew this by hand.」

-----It must be a large number of feathers isn’t it?

「I wasn’t counting, but it’s probably around 100. I don’t know the exact number of feathers that I’ve cut each and every time. I’ll feel like “it’s not quite enough, huh” so they increase. The entire weight is light, though.」

-----When I first saw what Hanyu-senshu was to wear, a structure, or should I call it a construction?, I thought “it’s like an architectural structure.” By way of intricate three dimensionality, there’s a sense of great depth.

「I’m doing that quite consciously. If you just simply put the feathers down it won’t feel very 3D, so I kind of group creases to make it feel like the feathers float. When it’s just right, I pin it.」

-----As for the white feathers, there’s also a gradation on the front side, huh.

「The appearance would be too jarring if white abruptly appears on the black fabric, so I put in a bit of airbrushing. Filling just the center part with black. Furthermore, there’s factoring in the sketch too. Whatever pattern there is. I’d try and put it on the [mannequin] torso and it’s like let’s place this feather on this area.」

-----You do the airbrushing on the styrene boards by the wall, right?

「I’ll fasten with pins. Lining up a large quantity.」

-----On these boards, numerous......starting from Hanyu-senshu, [Shoma] Uno-senshu, [Marin] Honda-senshu, [Wakaba] Higuchi-senshu, [Mai] Mihara-senshu, and others. Thinking about the airbrushing for the various costumes, I’m deeply moved. I thought “is this fine art”?

「It’s not. (laughs)」

-----The inlet-like form of the chest is wonderful isn’t it. I was impacted by the inlet being composed of black feathers.

「To start, I cut the lace on the chest area roughly, then apply the feathers there. In the middle of that process, I also cut hole shapes here and there in the lace. It’s a sense of torn holes.」

-----Also on the lace itself there’s an intricate pattern of light-and-dark, furthermore, you make light skin-tone portions. This is the secret of “depth” isn’t it.

「And I put feathers on top of that. I’m pretty interested in this technique. Of all the costumes I’ve made for Hanyu-senshu so far, this one is my favorite.」

-----The curves on the back are also technical. The detailed flow of gold is beautiful. It’s a little terrifying.

「I kind of thought it’d be nice if it looks a bit bone-y. I could do lines which run along the shoulder blades. Then in addition the crawling-like gold stones and bugle beads, and putting in purple rhinestones too.」

-----At the sketch stage, did you have an image for the white feathers? 「At first I was thinking of just black feathers. But because that didn’t really stand out, I kind of thought maybe adding in white feathers would better bring out the “sense of feathers being attached.” I’m glad I did put them in.」

-----It’s effective. The amount and arrangement are also nice.

「As for the design image, the [costume’s] flow changed a little. The result: I was correct that the feeling of ascending/rising would come out more than before. Entering production, I mostly don’t look at the design image. I won’t know the full picture not putting it on the [mannequin] torso and making it. Although because there is the initial image, there are times where I do more-or-less stick to it. That’s why the completed piece isn’t faithful to the sketch.」

The concept is from the “surname”

-----As for these costumes, for stuff like attaching feathers, or setting rhinestones, to give some examples, was there an assistant?

「For 『Origin』, the craftsmanship is brutal, so I did it all myself. For the Short [Program] 『Otoñal』 I received help.」

-----This is about the part most essential to a designer. Can we say that the design’s concept comes from Hanyu-senshu’s “surname”?

「『The nonhuman born of feathers』. All along I’ve thought I want to make a costume with that theme. This time it came true.」

-----Hanyu-senshu feels superhuman doesn’t he. He’s not an ordinary human. Shae-Lynn Bourne also said as much.

「The Hanyu name, isn’t that by itself cool? The song’s starting pose too, it has the air of spreading one’s wings. Although I knew absolutely nothing of the choreography, so having the image link pretty well was surprising.」

-----I thought you must have heard the concept for the choreography beforehand. It seems Shae-Lynn conceived it from the 『Kojiki』. Without establishing some [sort of] story and image with the choreography, the world won’t unfold, I heard.

「Design is like that too, isn’t it. With nothing, you can’t create. That is the same. Hanyu-senshu is Hanyu-senshu, so he likely has yet other different ideas.」

Each Individual 『Origin』

-----From this one piece various worlds unfold, it’s wonderful isn’t it. I as well, from the concept 『born from feathers』and the 『Kojiki』information, researched various things on birds coming from Japan’s creation myths. I also more-or-less tried reading the English version『KOJIKI』. Because I was interested in how it’s conveyed to foreigners.

「Was there something?」

-----Quite a lot of birds appear. Within those, the black Yatagarasu and the golden kite, after that I came across the egret that Yamato Takeru, on the cusp of death, metamorphosed into and flew away. I thought “this is nice,” and I wrote it in the [article] column.

「There’s a story nature to it, right? Exactly. Although, I didn’t consider it to that extent when I designed [it] (laughs).」

-----Hanyu-senshu himself likely wasn’t thinking of the『Kojiki』either. I think it’s good that the performer, creator, narrator, and fans each have their own 『Origin』. As for the design check-in, did you send the image to the person himself [Yuzuru]?

「This time, because I was able to take the time to meet personally with Hanyu-senshu, the design image and fabric were shown at the place to him himself. As for baste-stitching, it’s done when he’s in Japan at ice shows and such.」

-----What about the final fitting?

「That’s also just before he flies to the actual competition. The product delivery itself is passed on through the manager.」

-----About how long did it take to design and construct the costumes this time around?

「The ornamentation alone takes 1-2 weeks. From design to product delivery it takes about 2 months. For 『Origin』 the image solidified relatively quickly, but the Short kinda ended up taking a lot more time.」

-----The blue of the Short is pretty too, isn’t it. Rather than fall, [it’s] winter-like. The crackling line of rhinestones is characteristic.

「It’s the image of ice crystallization. And you can also see it as the tracings left by blades on the rink. He’s the champion of the ice, so I thought it would be nice if [the costume] could have that symbolization. Because he’s the young noble of the ice.」

-----We can say the fundamental [costume]order was the blue and black-gold of the tributes’ original designs from Johnny Weir-san and Plushenko-san, but could you also be making alternate versions?

「The Short and Free each have two [costumes]. The B version too is a similar feel.」

-----I’m looking forward to the day we can see those too. First off, wishing for Hanyu-senshu’s return from his injury.

(Itou Satomi) Costume designer. [After high school] enrolled in the Esmod Japon school of fashion and design. The ‘08 Kobe Fashion Contest special choice award winner, studied abroad at England’s Nottingham Trent University School of Art & Design. After her return, [while] at Chacott she came to be engaged in figure skating costumes; [has been] independent for 15 years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glossary/Notes:

Baste-stitching - a temporary loose stitching to hold the pieces of fabric together while the initial form and alterations are being made.

PowerNet fabric/PowerNet mesh fabric - a type of high compression 4-way stretch fabric

2-way fabric - fabric that stretches in 2 directions, meaning it has some elasticity (4-way fabric stretches in all four directions)

bugle beads - the thin tube-like beads often associated with embroidery

the title of the article 羽から生まれる“Born from feathers” or “Born of feathers” is a pun on Yuzuru’s last name: 羽生 

In a previous interview, Satomi talked to Itou Yamane about her past work focusing on fashion as architectural structures, and deciding which kind of architectural design to use as a motif. Which is why the interviewer brings up “structure, or should I say construction?, architectural structure”

I translated this 王者 as “champion,” because it’s slightly different from the court title “king”王様. Satomi is giving reasoning behind her expression of ice crystallization - saying that he’s a champion (“ouja”) of the ice, then adding further: “because he’s the young noble of the ice”- which would sound a bit odd and redundant if she had just called him a “king.” 

Yamato Takeru and the egret - "isn’t it a swan?” The Japanese text is 白鳥 which normally would mean “swan”(hakuchou), but in parenthesis the interviewer clarifies the reading as “しらとり” (shiratori). It seems the white bird that’s referred to as 白鳥 in the Kojiki and Nihonshoki is considered to be referring to the bird 白鷺 (shirasagi) in modern Japanese. Here’s a site (JP only) about the myth, with pics of the shrine.

the interviewer tweeted pics too

The column that the interviewer mentions, I think they’re talking about how they wrote down the birds to mention in this interview column itself. They’ve written various pieces before for magazines and online articles, and they published a book last year called   氷上秘話―フィギュアスケート　楽曲・プロ��ラムの知られざる世界 (secrets on the ice - knowing the world behind figure skating songs and programs). They dig up information on the music, art, design, history, and legends (basically, an entire meta book on theories and relevant links), and shed light on the actual choreography and program’s concept. So it’s possible they could be writing something else too.

I want to include photos of the full two pages, but I feel that’s probably something I shouldn’t do... so I’ll wait a while longer and then edit this post. 

[astreetcarnamedwynn]

ask response: fic questions

This was fun! Thank you, @goldensillydragon, for submitting the ask and for giving me the opportunity to take sweet trip down memory lane. I was able to answer them quicker than I anticipated. If anyone else would like my rambles about any fic I’ve written, just submit an ask/message with a fic title. I’ll answer some or all of the 15 questions. :D

goldensillydragon: Thank you, and don’t worry, take all the time you need. The fic is “Remembrance Of Things Past”, because it owns my heart and it’s a thing of beauty (and, frankly, to me it has become the standard I compare all Blackfrost fics to!).

Feel free to add anything you may want about it, just reading your thoughts on it will be a pleasure, you cannot imagine how much I love that fic!

Fic Links: Here on AO3 or here on FF.net

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

I am a fandom old. I first started writing fic in 2001. I wrote steadily from 2001 to early 2007, and then I stopped for 5 years, largely due to work. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first fandom I ever wrote for, I loved it and Firefly to bits, so I was super excited at Joss Whedon directing a big budget movie (oh how time changes perspective). I’d never read an Avengers comic before seeing the movie (I was an X-Men gal growing up). I can’t even remember at this point if I’d seen any of the Marvel movies prior to Avengers. I just know I came out of my first viewing of it in 2012 with a restored fannish heart. I needed it too. That year was hell for me personally, and writing Avengers fic was an escape.

I’d come out of Avengers, like many, impressed by Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. I was especially intrigued by his scenes with Natasha, how both of them played around with perception (Loki with his illusions, Natasha with people’s conceptions of herself), so the first Avengers fic I wrote was a short one-shot called “The Animal Inside” in which Loki visits Natasha to talk with her about the animal/beast inside and redemption:

Loki holds her gaze and says, “My sentencing happens today. Odin will…render his judgment against me. I believe even your society grants last requests to the condemned.”

Natasha holds her breath, unsettled at the confession.

“How did you do it?” he asks. “How did you stop being who you were and become who you are? Barton told me about your past. The red in your ledger. How did you…stop?”

I continued it in a slightly longer one-shot called “The Dog Days are Over” in which Loki has somehow found his way to Earth, rather than having been executed by Odin for his crimes, and Natasha encounters him on a mission. She tracks him down to understand why.

“Why aren’t you dead?”

He smirks. “Because Odin loves sadism almost more than his missing eye.”

And then came the beast. “Remembrance of Things Past.” In its current and unfortunately permanent incomplete form, it clocks in at over 200,000 words in nearly 50 chapters. I worked on it for close to 2 years. From what I remember, I wanted to challenge myself to find a way to write a Loki-Natasha romance that seemed plausible, that especially didn’t compromise her character in significant ways. What I settled on was Loki crossing Dr. Doom (a villain who, in the comics, was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with him), and Odin directly asking Natasha to help Loki as he knows about the conversation they have in “The Dog Days are Over” through Heimdall. To save Loki, Natasha would have to delve back into her past, as he would have to deal with his past sins to try to atone.

Hence the title: “Remembrance of Things Past”

2: What scene did you first put down?

Probably the first scenes, bridging the time from “Dog Days” to Odin asking Natasha for help. I likely planned a good chunk of the first set of chapters in advance, but I would have started at the start.

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

It’s been so long since I’ve worked on this, and so long since I’ve read it, that it’s hard to choose a favorite with any certainty. Here are some that I liked enough to highlight when posting and that stick out to me now making this:

In one of the rooms, she forgets which they are so numerous, Natasha finds Loki regarding the carved and painted ceiling. The reflected light shines golden on the room and on him. She wonders how he ever successfully lied or deceived, his eyes convey so much. His gaze now is elegiac, a smooth sky covering a seething sea of rage and regret.

*

On the smooth expanse of his life in Asgard, Loki had always felt the scratch, the spot that mars, the place where the pieces of himself should come together and fit, but instead they grated, they set his teeth on edge, and he lived in Paradise as a man tormented by a shadow from the corner of his eye, glimpsed only but never seen.

*

Odin looks once more at Loki and Thor, then he turns and finds Frigga. As they regard one another, a goodbye too inadequate for millennia together, the body of Odin Allfather begins to rupture, the energy within pouring forth, burning, burning, burning his body to ash. He looks up at the stars beginning to shine in the night sky, and Loki may not be able to stop him, he may not be able to save him, but he can do this. He closes his eyes and pictures the view from the end of the world in Asgard, the deep ebony of space, the graceful curve of the distant worlds, the stars as they flare and beam golden light upon the realm, and he projects the image for his father to see. He sees Odin smile as he gazes upon the vista, then the energy takes hold and his body disperses, disappearing amongst the stars.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

“Isn’t it funny the way the worlds turn and the fates fall?”

I ended up liking it so much it became the summary/tag line for the fic overall.

5: What part was hardest to write?

The last major sequence, an epic fight on the Helicarrier that spanned 5 chapters- collectively known as “Blow Up the Outside World.” There were SO MANY different threads to interweave, SO MANY characters to keep track of and get into position for the final outcome to happen. In the first chapter alone, Loki, Maria Hill, Natasha, Bruce, and Sif all have point of view sections. The next chapter, Thor, Frigga, and Darcy on top of a few repeats. Jane, Tony, Clint, Steve in the next few.

SO. MANY. CHARACTERS.

But I made it work. It was hard. I remember having charts planning out what was happening where on the Helicarrier so events could sync up correctly. It was brutal and satisfying when it all came together.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

It got me writing again, and in a serious way. It will always have a special place in my heart for that reason alone.

7: Where did the title come from?

It’s a riff off of the Proust novel Remembrance of Things Past, which is one of the few huge epics I haven’t read.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Not that I can remember.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Not of the fic overall, but of individual scenes and plotlines. I can’t remember any specifics. I’m fairly sure I didn’t intend to write Steve-Sif as a romantic pairing until story events necessitated them interacting and then I fell in love with their interactions.

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

See the response to #1. :)

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I think I did a great job with the action sequences. I think I developed Natasha and Loki’s relationship in an interesting way, in a way that respected both characters and felt plausible. I like a lot of the narration and weaving the various plot threads together, especially in the last big action sequence.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

It’s unfinished. Unfortunately that’s how it will have to stay. My fic writing interests have strayed from Marvel, and I’m currently trying to finish another epic fic beast.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story?

So many songs. I don’t have my Blackfrost mixes on my iTunes anymore, but I know I listened to a lot of Olafur Arnalds. “Heart’s a Mess” by Gotye. “The Difference Between Us” by The Dead Weather. “Cosmic Love” by Florence + the Machine.

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

Not really. I hope they enjoyed reading it!

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

To not indulge in EVERYTHING I want to write in a story. I doomed myself when I let the POV of the story expand from Natasha to Loki and then to other characters. Don’t get me wrong. I love, love, love so much of what I wrote, but the story grew to something I couldn’t sustain, especially when Cap 2 came out and my brain was all Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. So with “That Which You Seek” and “And the Wounded Sing,” my two big Bucky-Darcy stories, I kept the POVs focused solely on them- Darcy in the first, Bucky in the second. The same with my Yuri on Ice story “Sixty Impossible Things.” There are times I’d love to delve into Viktor’s or Yuri’s POV, but I keep the focus on Yuuri. This has helped. I finished the two Bucky-Darcy stories, and I’ve gotten back to writing “Sixty Impossible Things.”

[violetsforkino]

‘riveriver’ vol. 17 ☾ march '18 ( translated by yutopia )

pentagon violet moment

delicately beautiful heart-broken love song to color the street into violet

the great ambition of self-produced idol

pentagon debuted with 'gorilla’ in japan in march last year recorded a good sales result with their 2nd japan original mini album 'violet’. started with 'violet’, a hit song handled by member kino for the first time, it also included 4 original japanese songs, and shone with the weekly no. 1 ranking in all tower record branches.

the perfect 10 members cherish team work and take care of staff. they will check out videos of overseas artists when they have time, and face music seriously every day. they understand themselves better than everyone else, and the strong ability of members to produce in their own directions is the biggest advantage of pentagon.

which song is your favorite one in the album 'violet’? kino: 'love’, since i feel like it is a song we sing for fans. yuto: me too. it’s a song that’s easy to remember. yanan: should be the title track 'violet’ (japanese version). it’s a song full of kino’s love. jinho: yeah, i think so! it’s also a song written by our adorable brother. wooseok: the melody is good enough to get you goosebumps. shinwon: it’s in a very painful and sad vibe. hui: i’ll choose 'up up up!’. it’s very delightful and i’ll feel better as i sing. e'dawn: me too! i like the song itself, not to mention the performance making it even more enjoyable! hongseok: i’ll choose 'wake up’. i like japanese anime very much. i think it will be very catchy as a theme song of anime.

please appeal to us any point in the title track 'violet’ to listen kino: same as the korean version, that yuto saying 'yuto-da’ before his rap. it sounds very sweet and i’m satisfied. i’ve never thought that this phrase will be so suitable in such a delicate song (laugh). yeoone: it should be the harmony between the sad lyrics and the beautiful melody anyway. i usually like this kind of song. e'dawn: my own part (laugh), because i rap wholeheartedly. yanan: i think so, probably. you can’t be unconfident to your own part. wooseok: no matter how many times kino sings, 'yeah violet yeah,’ at last, i still like this.

korean version is co-produced by kino, e'dawn, yuto, and wooseok jinho: the lyrics are very nice itself, especially kino who is used to reading a lot of books and i think he is emotional. we’ll be happy if you listen to the song while paying attention to the lyrics. kino: i always want to compose a song in the theme of my favorite color purple. but it’s a bit different to express love or emotion with purple… anyway, i wrote the lyrics with the thought of having more people feel empathy. hongseok: it expresses a painful feeling gently. i like this kind of view of the world. shinwon: 'your words are as pretty as a flower’ (korean lyrics). the lyric is a point as well. it sounds very dramatic.

how’s the choreography? hui: in the 2nd chorus, there’s a dance presenting the image of flower. please check out that part!

kino also took part in composition. after it’s finished, who’s the first one to listen? kino: shinwon hyung. he told me that 'it’s a very nice song,’ and i was very happy.

'violet is a kind of flower’ what is your favorite flower kino: digitalis (foxgloves). as i mentioned before, i like purple the best. therefore i think purple digitalis are very good. hui: mine is usnea. i think the color is very pretty. hongseok: mine is hibiscus syriacus (korean rose). it’s the national flower of korea hongseok: yes. flowers in pink are very beautiful. anyone who choose in the reasons other than color? yeoone: rose! since it’s the most passionate flower. e'dawn: camomile. it’s very cute. yuto: i like dandelion. wooseok: my favorite one is saffron. yanan: i prefer trees over flowers. jinho: i’m… not interested in flowers (laugh).

'beautiful’ one of track list is composed, written, and arranged by mr. jung ilhoon from btob in the same company. yanan: he is a senior who always supports us. i learned a lot in the opportunity to spend time with him. wooseok: it’s happy to have a further relationship with ilhoon hyung. hongseok: he also told us that 'let’s compose together if there’s a chance. jinho: he gave us direction nicely during the recording. what advice did he provide at the site? yeoone: he said 'if you sing confidently, it can be conveyed to the fans for sure.’ kino: during the recording, although there’s many difficulties, he praised us, 'you did well,’ and we became more eager to do better. e'dawn: when we are praised, we felt more natural and got more power. hongseok: he praised me, 'your voice is very good.’ hui: these praise gave us a lot of confidence, and he gave us many advices as well. yuto: such as, 'try your best to be aware of the strong and weak of the song. wooseok: 'try to imagine the image of each word one by one,’ he said. shinwon: he gave us detailed direction of the atmosphere of the song, and we could complete the recording safely.

each of you participated in the production including lyrics and melodies. when and how do you usually compose and write? kino: once there’s a melody or lyrics appearing in my mind, i will arrange the compositoin immediately. jinho: when a melody or idea appears, instead of working alone, i will discuss with others when i am writing. hui: i compose songs according to the mood of the day. wooseok: i also brainstorm lyrics in the mood of the day. e'dawn: i’m not the type of 'in the mood of the day.’ i always keep processing composition every day. yuto: when i am producing music, i always have myself bear in mind to explore my imagination broadly. hongseok: i’m not quite used to doing it myself, so i foten do it with kino. i will discuss concept and theme with kino in the process.

which artists or producers are you influenced by?hui: i’m influenced by mr. yoon jongshin greatly. kino: mura masa, a producer from the u.km and a singer-songwriter troy sivan. i feel like i share similar emotion with the two and i am also influenced at the production aspect. e'dawn: i want to produce music that gives others power like michael jackson does. wooseok: for me, it’s american hip-hop artist joey badass! shinwon: i’m much influenced by one direction member harry styles. i’m thinking about trying to compose with guitar like he does. yeoone: i’m not influenced by particular artist. i just listen to new age music a lot.

not only pentagon’s songs, hui also handled wanna one’s 'energetic’ and 'never’, showered in the spotlight in the name of 'composition idol’ in a leap. hui: i am sincerely grateful to the attention towards my music, i feel honored. i will work hard to present music in different genres hereafter.

2017 is a very compacted year. look back then, how do you feel> kino: since we did a lot of things, i think we really worked hard as pentagon. jinho: i feel like all the things i wanted to do were achieved, so it’s a proud year. shinwon: it’s a very good standing point towards 2018. wooseok: but i think we are still at the starting line. e'dawn: i think it’s a year that we have ot be thankful to those who support us.

if you praise yourself at this moment? yanan: we shouldn’t praise ourselves, because we’re still not good enough.

then, if you give yourself a yell, what would you say other than 'what a hard year! fighting for this year too!’? hui: i want to say 'don’t forget your initial resolution this year!’ e'dawn: 'don’t forget your thankful heart’

other than yourself, if you have to choose a member to give out some messages, to whom and what will you tell him? yuto: i want to tell yeoone hyung that 'what a hard work for drama shooting!e'dawn: i will tell yanan that, 'thank you for being the mascot of pentagon’ wooseok: i will say to yanan hyung as well, 'let’s work hard hereafter!’ kino: i will say to hui hyung. although 2017 is tremendously hard year, he put so much effort in for pentagon. 'don’t feel stressful from now, huiting!’ jinho: i want to say something to hui, too. 'for being a leader, and writing songs for us, i am always grateful!’ shinwon: i want to tell hui and e'dawn hyung who participated in triple h that, 'here you have run without any rest in 2017, it’s been really hard!’ hui: i want to tell all the members that, 'you’ve worked hard this whole year. from now on, let’s do our best as happily as we do at this moment!’ yeoone: i also want to say, 'what a hard year,’ to all of us. hongsoek: we have overcme a lot of difficulties in this year. yanan: i want to praise us, but we may have feel self-satisfied, so i chose not to praise! (laugh).

what’s your personal target this year? kino: i want to give out better songs. hui: i want to compose many songs. jinho: i want to compose good songs! yeoone: i still want the group to shine on the 1st place of music program. hongseok: i want to try on dramas, movies, and musicals, etc! yuto: to train up my ability in rap, lyrics, and composition. shinwon: i want to have myself grown more. e'dawn: i want to show a better me! wooseok: i want to work out harder and build up my body. yanan: i want to work hard in order to be able to have promotions in china.

finally we’ll have leader to tell us pentagon’s ambition this year hui: we hope to have more meeting with universe who loves pentagon, and to deliver our music to more people. to get more love, we will do our best hereafter!

after going through mnet 'pentagon maker’, they debuted in 2016. they are a 10-member group with multi-nationalities included korean, japanese, and chinese. they debuted in japan in march 2017. the members share a strong bond with each other, and their biggest charm is that all of them are able to compose and write. the japan 2nd original mini album 'violet’ released on 17 jan became a good start of 2018.

[yasuda-yoshiya]

EP2 reread notes, Part 1

It’s been a long time, but my Umineko reread has been slowly progressing! Here is a long-overdue update.

My readthrough of Episode 2 has actually been complete for months. This episode is both particularly important to me and covers a lot of particularly sensitive material, and as such I was hesitant to just post my rough notes in mostly unedited form as I did with the first episode; I really wanted to make sure I could properly express a lot of things about this episode in particular, and to that end I’ve been fleshing out my notes into a more substantial commentary this time.

As such, it seems appropriate to split this one into multiple posts. I’d like to hope I can get the others out fairly soon, now that a lot of the draft has been fleshed out! But for now, here’s the first part of this episode, focusing on Shannon’s half of the flashback arc.

Prologue

* The way George's narration in the intro is worded really does emphasise just how much he values his relationship with Shannon primarily as feeding into his own self-worth, making him feel like he can play the part of the "guy teasing the girl he likes" when that's always been something that he's only been able to look at enviously from the outside before. It practically comes across like he's using her to act out his own pre-existing personal script for his "dream romance" a lot of the time. It always bothers me that Ryukishi captures these disturbing nuances so well, but doesn't really seem interested in following through on critically exploring them with George the way he does with his other characters...

* Well, I suppose you could say that Yasu values George for basically the same reason, that he makes her feel like "someone who can know love" when she sees that as an unattainable dream for herself. It's sort of interesting to me in theory to think of the George/Shannon relationship through the (very cynical) lens that it basically amounts to two people both using the other as a piece to achieve happiness for themselves, but it's hard for me to really see that as an equal thing when the whole dynamic is so transparently skewed towards George happily getting to achieve his dreams and play out all his personal fantasies with no worries while Yasu is quietly making all kinds of agonising internal compromises with herself in the background.

* The metaphor that Shannon uses about the huge tank at the aquarium "being no different from an infinite sea to the fish swimming inside" always really gets to me. I think the whole concept of being able to define your own reality and the idea that "if I just believe I'm happy, then I am happy" is one that feels very personally familiar and important to me, so Yasu's particular idea of "magic" and the way Umineko is built around exploring that is a big part of what makes it resonate so much with me. I always have mixed feelings about what Shannon expresses here; I think there's a lot of genuine truth and power in the sentiment (a lot of the value of life really does come down to what you perceive it to be), but at the same time I sort of feel like if you've reached the point of consciously telling yourself "my world is complete to me as long as I don't know what I'm missing" as a coping strategy, then by necessity that means you've already kind of gone past the point of being able to wholeheartedly believe in that illusion. In a way, that's what Beatrice ultimately breaking Shannon down represents. But at the same time, I still sort of find myself wanting to say that consciously struggling to "build a self-contained world for yourself" in that way can still lead to a valid and genuine sense of fulfilment, even so - and in a broad sense I think being able to find peace and satisfaction in something that you know to be imperfect is a skill that everyone has to learn to an extent.

* This idea also pretty much sets the stage for one of the main themes of the episode as a whole. The fish tank metaphor represents Shannon's attitude to her relationship with George that amounts to "This love can obviously never really happen, but I can create an illusion of love that will be real to us", and trying to convince herself that that's fine; much of the conflict between Shannon, Kanon and Beatrice that follows in the rest of the episode is centred around Yasu fighting with herself over whether she really can feel content with that much or not. In contrast, George's immediate thought in response is basically "However big it might be, it still just looks like a tank to me", which...well, it's no surprise that Yasu is so afraid of what might happen if he finds out that his relationship with her isn't really his dream come true, but an attempt to create an indistinguishable illusion of that dream being possible. It's vital for him to remain ignorant of the fact that their "tank" isn't actually an infinite sea.

* God, George is awful. That's all I've got to say about the rest of this sequence. I'm tired of talking about George.

* The whole scene at the shrine is really powerfully written, and possibly the first part of the series where we really hear the unfiltered voice of "Yasu" speaking. The symbol of the shrine mirror as a metaphor for Shannon's unchanging fate and the obstacle to Beatrice's resurrection takes on all kinds of new dimensions given everything that mirrors mean to Yasu; the thing that Yasu needs to destroy in order to become "human" in her eyes is "her self", her own reflection in the mirror. The physical reality of her own body prevents her from being the person she wants to be - a sentiment that goes way back to Yasu's feeling as a child that the reality of her own pitiful face reflected in the mirror was a threat to her image of herself as the great witch Beatrice. The way Yasu translates these pre-established parts of her personal mythology into a new context to convey how she feels about her present situation always feels very authentic to me.

“Furniture”

* And now we flash back to the origins of Shannon's feelings for George. I do find it a little easier this time to understand why George noticing and unobtrusively helping to smooth things over for Shannon when she made mistakes was so touching to her; she's so used to being unnoticed and taken for granted as a servant that it would mean a lot when George showed consideration for her as a person. And I do appreciate that his "humble-bragging" moment afterwards is framed as totally transparent and that he's willing to laugh at himself when Jessica mocks him for it too; I can see why a little flaw like that could seem endearing and humanising to Shannon from her perspective at the time, in the sense that it makes him feel approachably human and not just "admirable".

* Well, like I think yumeta said on Goats, Shannon and George's dynamic actually seems okay when they're allowed to mutually acknowledge and laugh about each other's "childish points" together, but it's when George gets in the creepily patronising role of talking about "rules" and "orders" and gleefully enjoying one-sidedly making her uncomfortable that it gets really gross to me... Unfortunately, George is really specifically invested in feeling like he's "becoming an adult" and "overcoming his childish phase" through this relationship, so it feels like he ends up actively working to stay securely in control of their dynamic as much as he can to prove that he's "a real man" or whatever. Being honest about his immature aspects and letting Shannon poke at his "cute points" too much probably hits too close to his insecurities for him to be willing to keep it up for all that long - which is a shame because I think that's probably the kind of relationship Yasu feels most comfortable with, as you can see from BeaBato.

* The way the narrative transitions between these two scenes gives a lot of insight into how things like this must have influenced Yasu's current view of herself. The memory of Eva's whole "you're not worthy of George, know your place you servant" rant in the past becomes a reminder to Yasu in the present, something she uses to reinforce to herself that she was foolish to think she could be anything more than furniture; this scene really makes it easy to see how Yasu finding out the truth about her body would have just fed even deeper into reinforcing these kinds of messages about her "inferior, unworthy, subhuman" position that she'd already been receiving her whole life because of her social status. Those two parallel aspects of her seeing herself as "furniture" definitely feed into each other a lot, and the subsequent scene with Natsuhi abusing her just goes on to further hammer this home; the idea that Yasu is less than human is something that her environment has drilled into her for a very long time, even without taking into account the issue of her body.

* At the same time, though, I think it's important to note the implication that Yasu evidently refused to meekly accept Eva's words at the time and did keep pursuing her relationship with George regardless. It's clear that Yasu's lifelong mistreatment as a servant alone *wasn't* enough to totally crush Yasu's sense of self-worth; continuing to pursue a relationship with someone so "far above her station" shows that despite everything around her reinforcing her inferior position, Yasu was still able to believe strongly enough in her own right to happiness that she was able to actively reject that deeply ingrained impulse to resign herself to her current misery on the grounds that she should just be grateful for what she had. A big part of the tragedy here is that it feels like Yasu having her status as subhuman and unworthy of love physically "confirmed" to her when she solved the epitaph really pushed her straight back into those terrible thought patterns, just as she was starting to cast them off.

* But even after enduring all of that, Yasu still can't bring herself to totally give up and accept that she can do nothing but resign herself to a fate of being furniture - instead she ends up fighting with all she has to overcome that subhuman status in a different way, as portrayed through Shannon's use of "Beatrice's magic" here. Much as it might be easy at first glance to dismiss Yasu's concept of herself as furniture as passive and self-defeating, I think it's important to note that her narrative is specifically centred around her desperately fighting AGAINST that perception of herself and trying to overcome it in whatever way she can, even with everything around her constantly trying to push her back down into the resignation and stagnation that "Shannon" represents. I feel like it's really missing the point to frame Yasu's pessimism about herself as primarily a problem of her own innate personality, rather than a problem of her initially strong hopes for herself being slowly crushed and eroded as an inevitable consequence of her brutal circumstances and the awful environment she's had to adapt to.

* The particular way that Beatrice tempts Shannon into breaking the shrine mirror - in other words, into going through with testing the explosives - is very illuminating in terms of what pushed Yasu over the edge. If love is the all-important "single element" and the only thing that can make a person's life worthwhile, then continuing to live in her "body incapable of love" would be dooming Yasu to a hollow and meaningless life, as far as she's concerned. On the other hand, if Shannon continues to "deceive" George by hiding the truth about her body, using "magic" to make that illusion real, then she can live as if she was a real human for a time - but the further she goes with that, the further she goes past the point of no return and commits herself to having to create the catbox in the end to preserve that love, because it can't last indefinitely. But as Beatrice puts forth, isn't that still better than living a hollow life forever?

* And of course the wonderful Kanon-kun comes to the rescue, driving Beatrice off and telling her to stop trying to lead Shannon astray. But Beatrice isn't concerned, because she knows her words have left their mark - as evidenced by the butterfly marks on Shannon and Kanon's hands. Even the framing of the narrative itself is designed to reinforce that sense of inevitability; at this point we've already witnessed the scene where Shannon breaks the mirror, so we "know" - as Yasu "knows" - that Shannon isn't going to be able to resist in the long run. Yasu just isn't able to resign herself to being unhappy forever; she'll take her chance at happiness even knowing it's likely to lead to ruin.

* And honestly, even though Yasu frames that as Shannon giving into an evil temptation, is it really so evil to want some level of happiness? What Shannon wants is only what any "normal" person would automatically be entitled to. I think Yasu's "Beatrice" in this episode generally becomes a lot more sympathetic when you understand that her anger at Shannon basically comes down to her refusing to accept her assertion that her miserable situation is fine as it is, and that she doesn't need or deserve anything more - because, frankly, Shannon *is* wrong about that. That genuinely is a messed up attitude. But of course, the other side of that is that, in the course of arguing that Shannon isn't fine as she is, she's also putting forth that her current state is truly miserable and pathetic and unfixable without resorting to drastic measures - and there's obviously a ton of unealthy self-loathing in that too, in a different way.

Wonderful Utopia

* Aaand then we flash forward into the future to show that George and Shannon's relationship is going smoothly, and Jessica and Shannon are talking together happily about it. This is a little dark when you consider the implication in light of the preceding scene (because Shannon gave in and accepted Beatrice's "magic", everything is going fine).

* This is really yet another thing that shows a huge amount of courage from Yasu when you think about it; Yasu was totally aware that going on an overnight trip with George could easily lead to her body being exposed, but she still went along with it. She was willing to risk "breaking the magic", even though that should have been unthinkable if she totally believed Beatrice was right about her relationship with George. Like Ryukishi said in the Answer interview, it must have been a very complicated feeling for Yasu when she found out that George booked separate rooms for them after all; of course she'd be glad not to be exposed in the short term, but in a way, it might have been a relief for her to have been "forced" into confessing the truth and taking the reaction as it came, to have the choice taken away from her. This is pretty much the same mindset on which Yasu ends up building the whole mystery roulette - deep down, she wants someone to stop her and "make her confess", so she gives the survivors all kinds of openings to "expose her", but she still needs someone to corner her into revealing everything. The fear of the consequences makes it impossible for her to step up and do it of her own accord. Even so, taking that kind of gamble with George here at all must have taken a lot of bravery...

* In contrast with Beatrice's mockery and derision of Shannon in the previous scene, now that Shannon has "accepted her" Beatrice is very friendly to her. The whole arc here, with Beatrice acting at first like she's truly happy for Shannon and George and has their best interests at heart and Shannon coming to see her as a friend, but then eventually revealing her true nature as an evil sadistic witch who was deliberately tormenting Shannon by making her know a happiness that she couldn't ever really be allowed to have...it totally works as its own story on the surface level, so nothing seems "off" about it on first read, but it really does hurt so much when you understand that it's Yasu reflecting back on her decision to keep pursuing love despite knowing she's "furniture", and how she tried to pretend to herself that that was a pure and noble thing when it really ended up being just a cruel way to increase her pain and deceive both George and herself with the false promise of a relationship that could never be fulfilled.

* The way Beatrice is so persistent, even while still maintaining her friendly facade, in reminding Shannon not to "get too full of herself" and forget that her love is only possible because of Beatrice's magic - in other words, not to delude herself into thinking that George and Shannon's love might actually go deep enough to survive the revelation about her body - is extremely upsetting. I don't actually think she's wrong about this (that George is really in love with an "illusion" of Shannon rather than Yasu herself), though to me that's more a testament to George being a jerk than to Yasu being fundamentally unlovable - but I think the genuine truth in what she's saying makes it a lot harder for Yasu to shrug it off.

* This part makes it clear that Shannon's attitude has changed quite a bit since we saw her hopelessly lamenting earlier. She concedes to Beatrice that her relationship with George could only have started because of her magic - but she wants to believe that, now that their relationship has progressed this far, she doesn't need that magic any more. She wants to believe that their love has become strong enough that it can survive George finding out the truth. And that “should” be the case, right? If everything George says about the strength of their love is true, it should be able to overcome that kind of barrier easily. That's why Shannon was willing to take that risk of going on an overnight trip with George. Beatrice sort of indulgently agrees for now, but she also insists that Shannon keeps the brooch around just in case she does want to use it again; as much as Yasu would like to totally believe that George would accept her, she can't abandon the catbox as a fall-back option.

* It really hurts to read this because Yasu obviously really, really wanted to believe in what Shannon is saying - it's really easy, and heartbreaking, for me to imagine Yasu originally choosing to keep going with George knowing that she was only constructing an "illusion" and that the magic would have to end some day, but then as things went on, to start to let herself believe that, you know what, maybe love could conquer everything! Maybe there's hope for her to live as a human after all! But it also makes perfect sense to me that Shannon ultimately "loses" to Beatrice on this, because the reality of the signals George was giving her (laughing off and dismissing any tentative attempts Shannon made to bring up her issues or to question his perception of their relationship and the picture he was painting of their future) make it very, very hard to believe he would really react well to hearing the truth.

*Another aspect of this is that...well, from Yasu’s perspective, the longer she goes without revealing the truth to George, the more chance there is for George to become strongly  invested in her as a person and to develop the kinds of resilient feelings that could theoretically withstand the revelation about her body - but also, the more devastating the potential fallout becomes when George finds out about her “keeping this secret for so long” and “letting things proceed this far without telling him”. I’m hesitant to talk too firmly about this, but I think that kind of uncomfortable balancing act in terms of considering "when to tell your partner” is probably something a lot of people in similar situations to Yasu can relate to, and it’s remarkable to me that Ryukishi is able to capture the stress of that kind of situation so well.

* The way Shannon reflects on Beatrice's underlying loneliness and how she becomes a lot more approachable when you get to know her is really sweet and endearing! The way Yasu writes Beatrice's character here in her "friendship" with Shannon is very consistent with the image of Beatrice we get from Maria's (and even Natsuhi's) scenes with her later - of someone who seems like an intimidating, all-powerful witch on the surface, but actually has a lot of endearingly cute and childish traits once you get to know her, getting all excited over the sweets Shannon brings her from Okinawa. It really comes across here, just as it does with Maria, that she's really desperate for company and genuinely overjoyed to have someone to talk to since she's been trapped on the island for so long - she may be "all-powerful" in magical terms, but the loneliness of living in an environment where no one else can recognise or acknowledge that power, and the unexpected joy of having someone who can actually see it and be grateful for her use of it, is also evident.

* I really like how those things that Beatrice's character expresses about Yasu still translate so strongly when she's being written into a completely fictional, metaphorical scenario - the person who Beatrice is enjoying being able to help with her magic and receiving gratitude from here is...well, uh, herself, in pure physical terms, but the reaction that Beatrice would theoretically have to Shannon as a separate person in this fictional narrative also expresses important things about her character. Aah, I just really love the unique way Yasu is characterised through these constructs, it's so clever and multilayered and I could gush about it endlessly, ahaha.

* And once again, Kanon comes along to break up this chat and scold Shannon for listening to the witch. God, Kanon and Beatrice's mutual antagonism in this episode is really intense. I'll talk about it a lot more when we get to the more Kanon-centric parts of this episode, but they really do hate each other a lot, and the things that mutual hatred expresses about Yasu's self-loathing always hit me particularly hard.

* It's amazing how easy it is in hindsight to read this scene as Yasu wrestling with herself; it all flows very naturally once you understand what they're really talking about. Yasu really wants to believe she can overcome her being "furniture" by achieving love, but Kanon represents the part of her that remains cynical about that possibility; he believes that she's letting Beatrice delude her into mistaking the illusion of love she's created for something real. He's kind of right, too; though I absolutely don’t believe it’s impossible for a strong love to withstand something like Yasu’s secret in principle, Kanon is right that George and Shannon's relationship isn't really the perfect fairytale love that Shannon would like it to be, and Shannon really has put herself in a very dangerous and precarious position by letting her relationship with George proceed this far. At this point, though, Shannon seems stronger than Kanon; she's optimistic enough about George right now that she wants to believe she doesn't need Beatrice's magic any more.

* It's sort of important to note that Kanon and Beatrice are pretty much aligned on their view of Yasu's situation - yeah, it sucks and it's hopeless, she's totally furniture, George won't accept her at all - but their opinions on how Yasu should respond to that are very different. Again, though, that's probably best saved for when we get more into their interaction...

* Regardless, for now, while Shannon is in this positive frame of mind, she decides to give Kanon a chance at Beatrice's "magic" too, lending him the brooch. And note the implication here - if Yasu is really so happy and optimistic about Shannon's relationship with George, as this scene tries to push so hard, then why does Kanon still need to be given a chance? This sort of implies to me that Yasu's not as confident in George's acceptance as she might want to admit; it's kind of ugly to say that Yasu might have been partly thinking of Jessica as a "backup plan", as Confession puts it, but there is an element of that in here. But I'd also argue that Yasu wants Kanon to try to pursue love because the idea of gaining happiness as Kanon specifically is so important to her that she needs to check out that possibility too.

* Kanon grudgingly decides that "maybe he might learn something if he tries this magic" - in other words, despite his skepticism, maybe if Yasu did seriously try living as Kanon, it could make him happy in a way he didn't foresee. This gains even more weight in light of Confession - we know that hearing Jessica express interest in Kanon gave Yasu a totally unexpected rush of euphoria. This new gambit, to give Kanon a chance of "magic", is informed by that - Yasu has to try to pursue and explore that new sense of happiness she experienced back then, even with Shannon already being in such a committed relationship with George.

* In a way, it's sort of interesting that Yasu's decision to pursue love with Kanon comes at a point when Yasu is feeling more optimistic about herself - at the point where she's able to try to tell herself that "love can overcome being furniture", and where she's willing to take risks like the overnight trip with George on that basis, even though Kanon and Beato's words of warning obviously represent her lingering doubts about that. Kanon normally shows so much pessimism about himself that trying to achieve love himself would be unthinkable - if Yasu's unable to even fully believe in Shannon being able to achieve love, when Shannon is so intentionally designed to be lovable and to compromise Yasu's internal self to that end, then how could Kanon possibly have a chance? But when Shannon momentarily experiences hope through her own relationship and becomes more optimistic about herself for a while, that sort of serves as a stepping stone to letting herself believe that maybe Kanon’s chances might not be so remote either. I guess you could say that's something good that came out of the George/Shannon relationship, although when all was said and done Yasu probably regretted making things even more complicated for herself by opening up this avenue too...

* And that’s as good a stopping point as any. Next time, I get to talk more about Kanon-kun, which is always very exciting!

[eorzeasntm]

ENTM C8: Week 5 - RESULTS!

The end of Week 5 has come, and let’s see a little recap of what we asked.

This week I asked them to cosplay it up! I wanted to see how close they could come to looking like one of their favorite characters, and come one people – they killed it! Even the judges had a hard time with this one! Good, make those judges work! lol

But as in all things, the overall favorite for Week 5 is:

Samuru Lantis

Congratulations! But this does not give you permission to go draining peoples blood! lol

 Critiques:

We only have 3 judges this week – Everyone tell Vaughn to feel better!  :3

Rongi, Katarh and Nadede have critiqued all 8 models this week:

Rongi:

Gangly - We’re almost finished! You’ve been killing it this Cycle and last week’s shot was no different! I loved the tilt, I loved the outfit, I loved the location. I know that most people would use that area at night, and with a dark filter, so it was interesting to see it being used with a lighter filter. Moving on to this week’s shot, the only two things I can say is 1) I wish you had used the Kingdom Hearts reference picture instead, because I see a red jacket in the reference shot, but not one on you. In YouTube Cycle 2, Iris didn’t match her reference picture and it got her eliminated. And 2) her bracelets are gold!!! Haha. But other than that, I love it. Before even seeing the reference shot, I immediately knew it was Aeris. I love the white glow along the outside of the shot, and the flowers are perfect. I’d love to see a wholes series of these shots, with you looking in different directions, different poses, etc. So please post your other shots as well in the discord! Good job this week! I have no advice for you other than to keep it up. You’re doing everything right. See you in the finale!!!

Nicol - You are killing it! Last week you won, congratulations! This week I think you have a high chance at winning again. I immediately knew who you were and I let out an audible OOO when I saw it. Just to make a strong shot even stronger, I wish you had a few people in the back; wearing suits, haha. The shots great. Love the outfit. You look nice blonde as well. Haha. Going into the Finale, I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope you can find a background that will work perfectly with whatever pose and glamour you decide to do. Good luck!!

Samuru - Welcome back Samuru! I appreciated the location you chose last week, but unfortunately couldn’t understand the concept you were trying to convey. For the finale, I hope you can match your subtitle with your glamour and background. If you say you are reflecting, choose an ethereal or relaxing place, not somewhere washed out with sunlight, you know? Even the pose, while you are at least off center, is just you standing there looking off screen. This week’s cosplay shot, on the other hand, is PERFECT. I have no idea who that character is, but I LOVE the pose. I love the outfit. I love the long deep hallway and the tilt. I love the shadow at your feet. The candle, the plant. All of it. This is your strongest shot to date and one of the strongest this week. Next week I want you to take all of this, the tilt, the awesome glamour, the powerful pose, the dynamic background, and submit one last grand shot for the finale! Good luck!!!!

Zetsumei - Welcome back Zetsumei! This shot was extremely interesting. I will say that I wish you hadn’t used a cosplay shot for your reference image, but I understand that you did it to show that the cosplayer’s pose was also your inspiration. I love the pose and the glamour. I like the white behind you because it makes us solely focus on you too! I don’t know how much control you have in your face when you lay down like this, but if possible, I think it would have looked even better had you been looking at the camera sexily instead of over my right shoulder. But this is an awesome image. Very strong and unique. You’ve killed it these past couple of weeks and so I have no advice for you before going into the finale accept to continue to ROCK it!!! I have high hopes for you!

Linmei - The makeup is gone this week and has been replaced with your strongest shot to date! Great job. Last week’s shot was great, background and framing wise. The pose is alright, but the glamour is too dark and you blend right in with the amazing background. I wonder if something white or silver would have worked better (to counter balance the white gates in the upper left). This week was also amazing background and framing wise! The glamour was also hilariously perfect and the pose matches what I think that character would do (I don’t know them but just from image alone I love her personality). Your right hand is cut off a little bit though, and that could have been avoided by bringing the camera just a bit more to the left. I wouldn’t have minded this shot being centered because of how spread out the pose is. Your body takes up the entire canvas, and I love that. I think this shot is great. Going in to the finale, I know you want to put that tattoo back on your face, but if you do, I say lose the blue lipstick and give yourself a short or more up-do hairstyle and really show off the tattoo. I want you to look striking! Good luck!!

Destiney - Welcome back!! Last week I loved the simplicity of your shot. Great location, great choice, great glamour and pose. I wish you had tilted it just to add a bit of spice to the image, but other than that it was definitely a Destiney shot. This week you really went for it! I love that you had two friends help out and the outfits all match perfectly. Looking at the reference image, I get that you were lining them up like in the shot, but I think it would have been more interesting to have them standing closer to you, so you look like a team or close allies. Other than that, I love it. I think their poses match the characters, I think your wings look great. The blue on your chest centers my vision on you, and the background is very…angelic-church-medieval to me. Going into the finale I hope you can continue your simplicity is best photoshoot-style, but add just a bit of spice using tilts to score big! Good luck!!!

Leviathan - Hey bud! Welcome back! So, looking at your portfolio (all of your pictures) I can tell that battle shots are your specialty. Your scenic shots are always great, but I think you really enjoy the battle shots more. Last week was beautifully framed, and the background was great. The glamour was good in that it helped you stand out, but I would have removed the necklace. Your subtitle mentions being home, and yet you are looking at me, the viewer, instead of your homeland! This background is beautiful enough that risking a back shot would have been great and really worked at conveying a message! Your cosplay this week is probably your weakest shot of your portfolio. I like the background, the tilting, and the lighting on the tiles in the back, but its SO dark. I can tell your hair matches the reference picture, but everything else is really hard to make out. I also have no idea who the guy behind you is. You mention a butler, but also say that he is supposed to be an old man. I think the shot would have been stronger without him, and with more lighting. I think you have your legs crossed, and your knee pad is coving your face? But when I zoom in on JUST your face, I think you look really sexy and your face is awesome. Haha. Going into the finale I want you to impress me the way you have been before. Don’t let this shot be a dark (lol) spot on your resume! Good luck!!!

M’telihgo - Welcome to another round! Let me commend you on framing this perfect so that you are completely in frame from toe to tip of sword and ability. That, is really good. I think using the Limb Darkening and lighting features would have really brightened (LOL) up this shot. Looking at your reference shot, its full of light. Yours is just dark, especially on the bottom. I love the pose and the use of abilities though, and the background matches the reference shot perfectly. I’m not sure if this is what happened, but I feel like you equipped the Paladin’s AF and then looked for a character that matched that outfit, instead of choosing a character and then making the in-game gear work for you. Looking at Destiney’s, all her characters are also Paladin-type characters, but she dyed gear and really made it her own. Maybe you just like this character and lucked out that that gear matches so perfectly, but if you showed me this pic without the reference picture, I would think you were just a Paladin, and I think that defeats the purpose. I don’t think it’s a weak shot at all, and I know for the finale you will blow me away one last time like last week! I believe in you! Good luck!!!!

Katarh: Wow y'all, holy heck.  Tightest my scores have been yet - and the highest!  Instead of my usual 3Cs (concept, costume, composition) I graded on "mood" costume and composition - and every single one of you NAILED the mood. Here's my feedback.

Gangly:  This immediately brought to mind Aerith's iconic scenes, so perfect location.  Your costume makes you immediately recognizable.  I love the drill curls.  Dead in the center of a field of flowers is risky, but I feel like you pulled it off. Good usage of the vertical shot as well. Very nice!

Nicol:  Great usage of the cinema frame to show off your movie star! The tilt is good since it adds some tension to her action pose.  I love the costume, love the pose, love the mood, but the background is the one place I feel could have use just a tad more tweaking.... I can't unsee that moogle mailbox. That is literally my only nitpick here. Great job!

Samuru:  Great costume and a good selection choice for your character. The tilt adds to the drama of the scene you're building.  I like the background but I am unsure why the light is so bright coming from the window. It does make some cool long shadows at your feet, though!  The one issue I have with this image is that you have distortion on your character due to the perspective shift.  This can be tough to avoid and can be used to good effect in some scenes, but in this image, it is a minor flaw.  

Zetsumei:  Excellent Rydia!  I love the usage of the bright red flower in her hair.  "Wig" choice is perfect, and the costume is pretty much about as close as you can get since SE has not seen fit to give us a Rydia set yet.  I feel that you sacrificed the background in order to get your pose - while your costume is great, and the pose is amazing, the background just isn't there.  That does detract from the overall composition, but you did still nail the Rydia mood 100%.

Linmei:  I never played LoL and didn't recognize your character (I thought you were a JoJo for a second there!), but I still love this image so much.  Not only is the costume a nearly dead on match using otherwise wholly unrelated wardrobe bits, you have managed to create a totally zany mood in this image. This is one case where the deliberate character distortion absolutely works.  I really can't think of anything to improve this image.  I think this is one of your strongest shots yet.

Destiney:  I love the decision to bring in some extras to complete the squad.  You also did an excellent job with all three of the costumes.  The background is appropriate, but feels just a hair too... busy? And too bright.  I thought the Hall of Valhalla scenes were a bit dimmer so I double checked.  I think a less bright filter would have made this shot, something like the Echo or maybe even one of the sepia filters.  (But then we'd lose that lovely color coordination, so maybe not.)  Still, this is dead on for the mood and the costumes are amazing.  

Leviathan:  Another game I never played so I had to go look it up :)  I think you got the mood of this character just right.  I love the usage of your horns and OMG THOSE BOOTS I NEED THEM (j/k.) The scythe is fantastic.  I question the usage of the extra here.... since I never played the game, and he's not in your reference image, I had to ignore him for the purposes of judging the composition, which means he doesn't really add anything to the scene.  The rest of the composition is great, however - a little dark but it has a lovely background, fun camera tilt, and some interesting lighting effects.

M'telhigo:  I had to let out a little bit of a gasp here because your Saber is so lovely.  You've gotten very close to her outfit, considering we're still missing a lot of pieces that would go into the costume, but more importantly you nailed her mood here. Excalibur high in the sky!  The vertical shot gives you a maximum view of the costume, and I love the particle effect mimicking her magic from the reference image.  I think my favorite thing is the little hint of the moon in the very corner.  Great job!

Nadede:

Gangly Zilla: Gangly this is a very lovely shot from you this week. It is so serene. I also promise to try not to fall through the church roof onto your flower garden. As I’m looking at your shot this week, I can’t help but start playing Aerith’s theme in my head (one of my fav’s by Uematsu). I like the fact that you decided to take this week’s shot amongst the flowers, almost reminiscent of the first time one meets Aerith in FFVII, and the pose that you used is one that I almost always see in pictures. Your glamour is for the most part pretty spot-on. I do like the lighting in the picture and the fact that it appears you used a vignette to help draw the audience’s eye to you. I don’t think I can really find anything wrong at all this week. I cannot wait to see what you come up with next week. Keep it up!

Nicol Grunenberg: Nicol I do have to say that you have been improving the last week or so! Keep up the good work. Your glamour is spot-on with the persona you chose to exemplify. I also like how in your pose you can just get a glimpse of your eyes staring at the audience as if telling us “Come get me, if you dare.” It would have been rather interesting if you were able to gather up some friends to replicate the reference image (more the merrier sometimes). The tilt of the screen also helps your shot give a more dynamic feel to it. I would like to encourage you to keep in mind of what is within your surroundings when you take your shots. I say that because the moogle mailbox takes away from the feel of the shot, granted it does have me wondering if Terantino would put something that odd/cutesy in a frame. I do admit I’m not a big Terantino fan (gasp) but I do give him props for how he does his films and I think you did him some justice with your shot. Keep up the good work and can’t wait to see how you fair with next week’s shot!

Samuru Lantis: Samuru, I must say, well done! This is something I’ve been waiting to see from you. It appears you might have been listening to feedback and putting them to good use. Yours is another one that I see and can’t help but start playing certain music in my head, like Symphony Fantastique or Night on Bald Mountain or anything along those lines (what can I say, I like my classical music lol). I love how the light hits you from behind and casts a shadow onto the floor and extends beyond the edge of the shot. You have the right tilt that actually works with your image and helps give your pose some movement and makes it appear as if you just pulled your sword out. Your overall shot also has the feel of artwork that I’ve seen surrounding Castlevania. Your glamour is spot on as well. Keep up the good work, keep taking from the critiques and can’t wait to see what you pull out of your sleeve next week,

Zetsumei Tsunarashi: Zetsumei, for the most part another lovely shot from you this week. Your cosplay is pretty much spot-on, just like a lot of the other models. I like how you are practically the dividing line between the bright sky and the dark ground. It also looks like you might have played around with the limb darkening to help draw the audience in to where you are at. Your eyes are another thing I’m liking as well as you are seducing whoever is off screen and telling them (with your eyes) to go to you. How your eyes are facing and how your body is posed, it works perfectly.  While I do like the shot itself, there are just a few things that do throw it off some. What is throwing me off for this shot is how the skirt is sticking up (I know there is nothing anyone can do there) and biggest thing throwing me off is your back leg appears to be going through the object you’re lying on. I also wished you could have used a reference image of the actual character instead of someone else’s cosplay of the same person. So far you haven’t disappointed me yet and can’t wait to see how you do next week.

Linmei Quan: Remind me not to do anything to tick you off Linmei. I’d hate to see what would become of me if there was a use of force :S . Your glamour is spot-on to a t. I do like the lighting that you have going on in your image. Along with the depth of field gives you almost a soften look. I also like how the blues in your image goes well against the reds/pinks. It helps make things within pop out. What I do find off setting in your image this week is the severe tilt you are using. It just feels very awkward and appears that you chose that angle to get your whole body into the shot. I also wonder what the shot would look like with how you are posed but your eyes were looking towards the audience somehow (if it is possible to do). Don’t get me wrong, the image does show your personality and you seemed to have picked a toon that works well for you. It is just that tilt that I am not caring much for. I encourage you to try to blow me out of the water next week as well as stepping out of your comfort zone. Good luck and can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

Destiney Delvanguard: Ah, Odin’s main girls, the Valkeries. Another image that has me playing Ride of the Valkeries in my head. It is so refreshing to be able to see your face fairly well this week. I do like the statue that you have in the background and feeling like you and your companions have just finished praying before going off to join Odin’s side. You and your companion’s glamour is pretty spot on with your reference. While I do like what is going on with your image, I can’t help but feel that maybe another colored filter would have worked better. The colored marker filter makes you look a little washed out, especially next to the color of the wings. Keep playing around with filters as some will enhance your image while others take away from it. Keep on reading and taking from feedback given. Can’t wait to see how you fare next week.

Leviathan Seagreen: Leviathan, you have been one of my favorites so far in this competition but I feel that you might’ve taken a step back this week. While it appears that your glamour is spot-on with the character that you’ve chosen, your image is a lil bit too dark for me to tell. I do like the lighting you have going on, I just wish that you could have added in just a little more light to your image to help make you pop out some more. It appears that you do like the dark backgrounds so I encourage you to play around with the lighting some more to help make you pop out some more. Would love to see you back towards the top for me this next coming week so good luck and looking forward to what you come up with.

M’telihgo Feilyon: This is a very nice shot that you did this week M’telihgo. Unlike most uses of the colored marker filter I’ve seen, so far it has worked nicely for this shot. I also like how you have a light colored glamour on (which fits your reference image perfectly I might add) against a dark background. It helps make you stand out even more. I do wonder how it would have turned out if you used a light vignette, but then again, you don’t really need it at all. I can’t really find nothing much wrong with your image at all. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next week.

[artdjgblog]

​Innerview: Effie Lin / ​DPI Magazine (Taiwan)  

November 2009 - January 2010

Photo: DJG (2009) by Cayla Kennedy (Age 5)​

Note: Interview for a magazine feature.

0​1) What is your philosophy in your art world? I have to be a human first and a maker of things second. Sometimes the two court together really well. Sometimes they pick fights and choose sides. I sort of have a get up and go method and plan to always be working on my life and work, and to my best ability, given the resources at hand. It’s not that I have a complete lack of care, responsibility or feel disenfranchised or on the outskirts. Though, I do have my moments. Even in bad moments, when it’s probably not a good idea for me to be around me, I try to eventually spin a positive from that experience. They can be the most crucial moments as I learn a great deal once I get beyond their borders. I think that’s part of the process. Process is a big deal and we’re all a part of it. And there is such a thing as bad process equaling a positive in life and work. All I know is that I need to be honest and pure with how I speak inside and outside of the work I am putting on and off the table. Anyway, I’m not really a grouch or a slouch in both areas of life and art, but it is a constant work in progress. I think that thinking too much about it, or the idea of it in the larger spectrum, can become damaging, unhealthy and grow bean stocks further from the truth. Though, I might add that I understand how hard it can be to keep from big ideas and big thinking, it is. I like where it is that I’m at right now and it all stacks up to here. I just need to be making things until I move on to something else. And that something else will probably involve making things too. I love what I do. There is a bigger component to the little pictures that I’m here presenting. I just need to keep up and in the know of the tip toes and perhaps leave some behind in the only way I can try, that means being something like me. ​0​2) What is your favorite medium and why? I feel that maintaining and manhandling a single medium would be quite overwhelming. I admire those that can do it, and do it skillfully. Not that I’m a special breed, but I don’t understand how some people can milk the same cow every day, for years. Every day is a little different inside and out and that fuels my mood of operation. I think that I suppose there is a definition when one looks at the work I’m doing, and the way I go about it, to easily pin me to a favorite medium. I like to use my hands and things around me to tell my stories. But, I don’t know much other than the day-to-day as my mind and energy wanders much on the map. I wake up and see what weather we’ve got. I believe much of it comes from growing up on a farm and spending a lot of time alone. A lot of people think that time is at a stand-still on the country clock. It wasn’t for me as there wasn’t really a cap on the kind of external culture and entertainment I could in-take and fuse with country living inside and out. Everything was a big pot of soup for me and it still is. I was always doing something and I still am. I also watched my Grandma make a lot of things by hand, and although not really an “artist”, she’s been a big influence on the work I’m doing. Another thing, I can’t be as involved with my work when there is a computer screen barrier involved. I can use a computer, but it is only like a nail gun to me. In my college studies while struggling with the introductory marriage of technology and design, I almost quit completely. Funny, before even getting on a computer I naively claimed to tech-savvy peers, “I am going to take the route that doesn’t employ computers.” Anyway, computers are cool and all but it is not how I like to really play. It didn’t help that around this time in my early 20s, I also had doubts about my artistic talent and identity. I also never felt comfortable visiting the design firms of my possible “future”. Some people find a home in them, but I couldn’t and wanted to be in a sense, a stay at home mother to my art. So, these factors led me to re-learn and go back to being a kid locked up inside and/or getting that kid to come back out…becoming an adult can be crippling. I started putting my identity back in the work at this time by leaving my human elements and story behind. I was also exposed to new kinds of external stimulus with art and culture and that helped me see things better too. I eventually had a calling to do my own thing completely, dropped out of school, moved to a big city and mixed it all together. Cities are big cooking pots anyway. But, on a personal level, I’m not done cooking yet. I’m kind of “mild” right now compared to most. I’m just one more guy carving a name on the cinder block and trying to pay the bills. ​0​3) Could you talk about the exhibition post of “Showing My Sheep”? Could you talk about your creating concept? I was born and raised on a farm. We raised sheep and showed sheep at county fairs. I used to have a basketball court shared with the sheep lot. As a youngster I spent some time wanting to be a farmer and in many ways now I kind of am. I’d like to live on a farm again someday, mostly for quiet space, to have more animals and to have a big barn I can work in. I did my first retrospective art exhibition called “Showing My Sheep” after five years of working on my art odyssey. Yeah, that’s not a long time for a life or career overview, but it was important for me to show my whole flock of work together like that and up to that point. And in truth, a 5 year old sheep is middle age. The image on the exhibition poster is a quick scribble of me (or something like me) in sheep’s carcass/dress. I’ve always wondered silly about sheep walking upright and maybe a bit of my love of Gary Larson “The Far Side” comics is shining through just a bit too? But, there is more to this one as it is a tribute to my upbringing as it represents my sheepish nature and approach mixed with the “wolf in dress” image that I think we all catch and can’t catch up with, at least every now and again (notice the front legs and how they are also a wolf snout?). Another idea in this sheep image is how zombie-like an artist, anyone for that matter, slaves to their nature. I rummage a lot of thrift shops for unique papers and board game “play cards” to print on. Paper can add another dimension to something like a poster, in this case adding to the idea of the game of life and art I play. The board game this paper came from is called “Facts in Five: The Game of Knowledge”, thus adding to all the pieces of art and life that added up to the making of my 5 year retrospective. There is also the handwriting element of an anonymous other’s involvement that I find fascinating. Plus, there is the “grid” pattern that reflects a panel fence to keep the sheep in and out…breaking fences, doing my own thing, so to speak. If you squint you might even see sheep pellets, or what I used to refer to as M&M’s, as they would make for an interesting game of basketball. Did you get all that? There are lots going on in this one. Almost another 5 years after that exhibition and I wonder if I’m nearing the end…hmmm. You never know. ​0​4) Which one of your work is your favorite? Or which one made you spend the most time and effort? What’s message you would like to convey through this work?? Favorite Work: My favorite piece of personal art was stolen at an exhibition in late 2004. It is the only thing of mine that wasn’t/isn’t documented (scanned, photographed) and I can’t recreate it. It is a simple little broken pen scribble drawing of a mentally handicapped water bison. His name is Mortimer. I made him in a couple minutes while on hold on the phone with the phone company. I busted a pen and let the ink spill. I’ve tried other drawings like it, but they turn out different. I have a lot of favorite works, but that one is the winner and loser. Time & Effort: I don’t think you really need “time” or “effort” to make something stick or feel, or even get something done. In fact, once I’m in the creative moment there is no such thing as “time” and “effort”. If you do something enough and love it, then it becomes another extension and you’re a paint brush for something bigger. Though, the words do become tangible when “life” stuff is thrown into the mix. This can’t be denied. Due to my so far 8 year schedule of day jobs, night jobs, marriage and the general day-to-day, I’ve always worked fairly fast and in small slots of time and many things at once, lots of things. It’s as much mental and military discipline as it is anything else and I just go for it. If it ever starts to feel like a chore, I try to take a short break or study up in other areas. If it ever becomes a chore out of my grasp, I’ll find something else to do completely. It can be struggling at times, but there is something good about the “life” stuff that I feed from. It can add fuel to the fire and makes me realize that I’m not always first in line. Sometimes it can be rough sitting on my hands while at the day job, but I’ll make up for it. In truth, there are never enough resources for the things I’d like to leave behind before I’m called quits. But, I sure try to make the best of “time” and “effort” while I’m here. I’ve made many posters and I love the fact that the poster has a shorter shelf live than something like the CD. I like experimenting with posters because if it gets swatted down, it only lived for a couple weeks and another will come along. They are kind of like flies. At three to five sessions, I try to court CD packages a lot longer. There are instances when an image instantly clicks in my mind when I’m told of an upcoming CD and that’s the final product, but most of the time I have to make them incubate and mature. I’ve always been fascinated with productivity and the human mind and mood, at least in my path. I often look at my timeline of work, wondering how different some of the things would have turned out had I did them on another day or even a minute later than I did them. The past few years, my music design output has shrunk some. I reached a certain point after 2006 to where I realized I needed to step back. I still do a few music projects here and there, but mostly just make a lot of visual art for myself. Which, I’ve always teetered on visual art. Maybe I’m trying to make up for Mortimer? I did start something different for me and in a medium that I’d love to pursue more. It wasn’t until this year (2009) that something really consumed me and that was a music video. It has been a great thing for me to be more patient with a project. Now, that’s a whole different extra innings of “time” and “effort”. ​0​5) Which one of CD cover/album artwork is your favorite or make you really proud of? What is the concept? Could you talk about your creating process? Did you listening to the music when you working? I’ve been asked this question a lot. I always answer with: “Whatever Makes You Happy” by The Elevator Division. It’s something to feel proud when you accomplish anything, but even more when it is all done and duplicated by hand in one night. 250 CD packages were made out of hand-cut cardboard, spray paint, stencils, rubber stamps and glued inserts. The concept is a hand shooting off a missile finger. The music themes revolve around relationships on and off the battlefields of life and war and the cover image relays the idea of shooting off one’s options, as in, “Whatever Makes You Happy”. Conceptually (design-wise), it might be the best thing I’ve got in me and inspiration came at the last minute before production and during a great Midwest thunderstorm. Upon the last spray of paint in my basement (yes, I was stupid enough then to spray paint in an unventilated basement), there was a crack of lightning and I flew upstairs and out the door of my home and slid down the well-watered front lawn and into the gutter of the street with red spray paint all over me. The squatters on the porch at the supposed drug house across the street got a kick out it. It was a massive affair and I swore I wouldn’t do it again and then I did a near repeat 4 years later for another band, but not all in one night. I swore I wouldn’t do that again-again and then I kind of did it again two years later. So, I must be due up for another one soon. In the case of The Elevator Division, the band lived with me and practiced nearly every day directly outside my basement studio door at our home. There were several bands that this happened with. I usually don’t listen to albums that I’m designing very much and I rarely listen to them after they are a finished product. This is especially so when it is blasted in the flesh right next to me. ​0​6) Why is sound/music important to our life? What is the most important for designing the album/CD cover? I’m not a fan of a lot of “noise”, but I like sound and I love music and I like some noise music. I love the idea and image of the album cover and making an album “feel” on the outside and giving it an identity. I find I have a detachment from the music and the memories when it is fused in our current in-between stage right now of technology and mp3 land. Even if they have a digital image shroud, they lack a hard identity to me as they float out in space and it makes me a little sad. I prefer a physical collection/body of music, with identity. I don’t want to get too far into this topic and I’ll add that both formats have their good and bad. And I love walking to and from work with a pocket overflowing with Bruce Springsteen songs (I have the records at home too). Along the same lines, I think that the idea of “cover art” or something physical isn’t going to die 100%, at least not in my lifetime. I do hope it doesn’t get even more eclectic-expensive like it kind of is looking. I love album art and I can’t really afford it. I just remember one of my earliest memories being the apple on records by The Beatles. That was/is important to me. I bit that apple and it has been good to me for 30 years now. ​0​7) What had been the most challenging thing to you in art world, and how did you overcome it? I think I have challenges and things to overcome and then I tune into the news or watch certain documentary films. I realize there is nothing for me to complain about after that. Of course there are some personal issues that challenge me and my little world. A major one of is overcoming some of my social phobia. It’s made me who I am and probably factors to why I make the way I make, but it has kept me from getting in the ball game as much as I probably should have. Though, what is “probably should have”? Technology makes great networking devices, and is “the now”, but at the same time I always feel so exhausted and behind with it. I also don’t have resources to keep up with it (money, time and mind) but I’m trying bit by bit. Another thing I’ve always carried a heavy lump with is a day job. But, it’s the only way for me to stay afloat. Every year I spend more money than I make with art (currently, I have 24 cents in my DJG Pay Pal account). One way to overcome this is to stop entering high-cost art and design competitions, which was one way of being social with a lot of people. Well, from a global publishing stand point. Competition fees are rising so much these days. Another challenge is the business end of the art. I stink at business. Though, a lot of that has to do with not having enough time and not being the best at problem solving and math, plus always being broke. And I would rather just make more art. I’m a happy camper though and constantly doing my thing. ​0​8) What are your future goals in the art world? Naturally, anyone who feels they’re sitting on something at home is going to set their sights on doing their own thing full-time and for full-time income. But, even if I never get there, I will be punching my own time card in some form or another. I’ll find peace. I’ll always be working on something and working on myself. I could easily keep my head down all day, dragging my wagon (and I kind of do), but I love the idea of sharing my work on a larger, global scale too. It is global on the internet, yet I easily butt heads with technology as it can get quite beastly. But, I appreciate it greatly as even a decade ago you probably wouldn’t have found out about me to get an interview like this. Thank you! I’ve met a lot of my initial goals and it’s easy to sit here and think about tomorrow but I need to work out today to make it there. I’d love to eventually put out an officially published book or lots of them (any bidders?). I plan to start with some handmade ones very soon. I’ll also finally be selling things on my web site soon. I’m currently working towards a 10 year retrospective show of my time in Kansas City, MO USA. I plan to show everything. Also, I will be working on more and more visual art in the coming year. I’d love to exhibit my physical work in more nooks and crannies of the world. I’ve been fortunate to do this a little bit, but nothing on a massive scale. I love the idea of ideas and imagery inspiring people. I also love the idea of relaying an interpretation of the world, while we’re all down here in this together. It’s kind of neat to think I’m leaving a little trail behind in this way and sharing that. Though, I’m not so confident art can change the world on a large platform, I do think it can help a little bit. Even if that means muscling up a smile that you can say was honestly spent. -djg

[saragolakthesis]

Case Study 

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared // Web Series // March 2015 // Episode 4

DHMIS is a British animated surreal horror comedy web series created by filmmakers Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling that first appeared online in 2011. The goal of the series is to comment on children’s television and learning, particularly in Britain. The intended audience of the series is teens and young adults of middle-class but, can be misinterpreted for young children at first glance. When the narrative of the series begins, it is clear that there is a deeper and darker message behind everything and thus, not suitable for younger audiences to watch. According to The Film Theorists, the context of the work is, “ultimately a parable for the loss of control that artists trade off when they work on bigger screens”. Their messages are manipulated and their morals are poisoned by others with ulterior motives. Thus, it addresses the negative influence of media on youth in terms of kid shows and manipulation. Each episode is only several minutes long that uses puppets as actors. For this case study, I will be focusing on Episode #4 entitled, Afternoon of the series as it is most relevant to my topic, directly dealing with the internet and technology. Each episode however, forms into one piece as the entire narrative takes place on the same day, but at different times of the day.  

Analysis of Events

1. Question Fun

The episode begins with three puppets, Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck, representing cast members from an ‘educational’ show for children. They are shown playing a board game called ‘Question Fun’ and the Red Guy chooses a card that asks, “What is the biggest thing in the world?” Looking at the details around the room, the viewer can see a calendar hanging on the wall with June 19th as the date, various wall decorations usually depicting an animal, and skill-based activities such as a bookshelf, a globe, and a math timetable poster. In addition, in terms of colour, the image of the room is very dull, boring, and uses mainly primary hues. Moreover, this scene questions the concept of ‘fun’ which is something that is never thought about in my experience. As Red Guy reads the question, he and his friends are unsure of the answer thinking, “if only there was a way to learn more about the world” thus, they turn their attention towards the globe for help. The globe spins around as a personified item with a face that is about to educate the puppets about the world, however a computer suddenly appears into the scene from behind and disrupts their attention from the globe. This expresses the notion that technology distracts users from finding answers with the resources that are available around them, for as mentioned before, the room is filled with other means of access to knowledge.

2. Digital Mind

The computer starts to sing a song that goes along the lines of, “im a computer…I would like to show you inside my digital life, inside my mind there is a digital mind”.  I believe it expresses the notion that the user behind the computer is the mind inside the computer as people can be seen as functioning with the mind of a computer, hence being absent from the physical world with digital thinking space. The Red Guy asks the computer his question, thus choosing digital information rather than to look at the globe. However, his question gets interrupted as the computer sings about how wonderful he is for, “im very clever…I tell you the time, help you find something your wanting to find…you can do it all digitally”. During the song, the items that are mentioned are shown in a pixelated/bit-map style. The style used to portray the images relates to the concept of the online interface design. Also, a newspaper is shown on the table entitled ‘OPINOIN’ which is misspelled and the computer holds a magnifying glass over the news that is replaced with an image of oats. This expresses how useful information is replaced with ideas that are meaningless and pointless. Furthermore, as the computer continues to sing, the viewer can hear that auto tune is involved, expressing how people rely on these technologies for everything. I should also mention that the computer has hands that are usually mouse cursors. Furthermore, the word ‘Digitally’ is emphasized from the song as the word itself appears across the screen through a glitching process in a pixelated font. As the song wraps up, the Red Guy points out the fact that they already have a computer, showing a laptop placed near the globe slowly opening. This valuable piece of information had been cropped out of the scenes until this very moment. It expresses that even though the puppets were aware they had a computer, they did not seek it first for information.

3. Information

The computer mentions that, “before we begin our journey, I just need to get some information from you. What’s your name? Where do you live? What do you like to eat?” At this time, it shows the personal questions being printed out from the computer, with the icons and type on the paper in a pixelated style. The puppets immediately answer the computer with their personal information without taking the moment to think about what is being asked of them. This expresses the notion how users are willing to give up their information, especially when signing up for a new website or when starting up a new computer. The computer continues to ask a few other questions, but the Red Guy slowly begins to feel overwhelmed and irritated that he hits the keyboard and tells the computer to essential be quiet. The computer becomes incredibly angered by this and everything in the physical space begins to glitch. The puppets are suddenly transported into the digital world.

4. Digital World

The puppets transform from something tactile into a digitized representation of the self. The computer leads the puppets in an orderly line on a checkered path singing, “Welcome to my digital home! Everything made out of numbers and code!” The computer is suddenly seen with wires as legs, towering over the puppets in relation to height, depicting the notion of control over its users. Throughout the transition, a series of glitched and 3D graphics are shown of items that are floating around with large, googly eyes, looking directly at the puppets as they walk. The Digital world appears to be over-saturated, interesting and engaging unlike the ‘real’ world. The Yellow Guy is confused with what is happening as he questions, “If im sitting at home, but im inside the screen?” The computer answers, “but your not you, you’re your digital you, virtually real whose controlled by real you”. However, the puppets are not using any tools, such as a mouse, to control their virtual selves, so who is really controlling them? The Red Guy begins to show interest in this new world and asks, “in this digital world, what can we do?” The computer offers that, “there are over 3 things to do” showing only a bar graph that symbolizes information, digital style that symbolizes the need to keep up with the trends, and digital dancing that symbolizes entertainment. These words are replayed over and over and each puppet that opened their own door finds something new. The sequence gradually gets faster and the music also speeds up in the background. Everything at this point becomes dark and creepy as the Yellow Guy opens a door to no information, while the Duck’s design style becomes more realistic, and the Red Guy sees more people joining in on the dance. This moment shows how users are distracted by other things that the internet has to offer, such as fashion or entertainment that appear to look more realistic, resulting to the user not finding useful information in the end.

5. Physical World

The scene is shown back in the ‘real world’, however the Red Guy is sitting alone in front of the computer screen attempting to pull himself away and shut off the system. The two other puppets seem to have ceased to exist in the real world physically and are thus, portrayed as creepy pixelated holograms. This expresses the notion that the digital world is trying to create a presence in the real world. At this time, the digital world is shown in a chaotic state as it is glitching uncontrollably during a party. Behind all the ‘digital dancing’ there is a large glowing computer screen that can be seen as a symbol of control with wires exposed from the bottom in which link to the main puppets as some sort of binding chain. The Red Guy notices a plug that stretches from the room and under a door leading to another room. This door can be seen as the divide between the real and digital world as the Red Guy opens it both in the digital scene and in reality. When the door opens, the viewer is shown the backstage of the ‘set’ of the series that is supposed to resemble the room that the episode starts off in. In this room, there is a camera shown with the same large eyes as seen on previous items, which in this case, are constantly ‘rolling’, implying how everything is being recorded. The space is deprived of color and the puppet actors are revealed to be random props, such as a mop or a box of oats. In addition, the design of the room is expressed in an illustrative, amateur style along with handwritten type. Suddenly, a person in white appears from behind the props, holding one of them in one hand, hence expressing the figure that manipulates all the objects behind the scenes. The episode concludes with another figure in black entering in front of the screen with a clapperboard to wrap up the scene. The Red Guy realizes that he was not living in reality and that there were people controlling what he thought was ‘his own free actions’.  

Conclusion

Episode 4 of the series is all about computers and how it can teach us about the world, but in the end, the message gets corrupted and it concludes that in the digital world, people end up doing frivolous things like fashion and mindless entertainments. The episode conveys how users are initially getting sucked into digital technology and become distracted with superficial things rather than information they were looking for in the first place. For instance, the question asked at the beginning of the episode was never directly answered by the computer that it is in fact the digital world, but throughout the episode, the red puppet is seen resisting the influence and manipulative behaviour of the computer. It tells the viewer how technology is changing people, distracting us from our goals, taking our personal information, and appearing as something that looks very real, hence confusing the distinction between what is real and what is not. Hence, the theme is how lessons can either fail or succeed in ‘educating’ – brainwashing a specific view onto a person. More specifically, how T.V. shows are not educating kids, but are focused on making money instead. According to The Film Theorists the date June 19th is a time when stock markets reached record highs all over the world, but it was also a time when television was a huge deal in Britain. The internet can thus, be a dark place where things go creepy and too digital, however the episode ‘Afternoon’ teaches the viewer a lesson on a worthwhile topic of digital technology.

This related work is relevant as it uses design elements to portray a sense of the ‘digital’ such as pixelated imagery/text, along with extreme glitch transitions. In addition, the work is thought-provoking, educating the viewer through critical thinking about their own self and how they can relate to what is being shown to them. Other design methods such as pattern, personification, and colour are also used with intent in the series to express a specific message of symbolic meaning of the action taking place. Everything that is seen on the ‘set’ is there for a purpose, linking one idea to another to create a more sinister outlook of the issue at hand. Moreover, the entire concept of the video highlights key points that I wish to bring awareness to within my own project. This includes the notion of surveillance and how the digital world attempts to overpower the physical world with its ideologies and intelligence. This take on the internet reveals the dark qualities that come with it, as they are undermined and hidden from the user by showcasing only its best attributes. Hence, it underlines how the innocence of a digital environment can be so easily corrupted when it begins to blur the distinction with reality.  

[trishagoh]

NESTLE CERELAC CAMPAIGN

#SAVESYOUTIMEFORTHEMOREIMPORTANTTHINGS is a mock campaign created for Nestle Cerelac. 

The objectives of this campaign is to present Nestle Cerelac as a quick yet healthy solution, to help parents save time on having to prepare meals for their baby to have more precious time spent with their baby. 

The problem is that Nestle Cerelac is perceived to be boring. Flavors are too basic and plain: wheat, grains, bananas... 

Parents tend to think if it’s so simple and plain, they might as well make from scratch. 

Hence, I decided to use that as its unique selling point and brand it in a way where spending precious time to create fond memories with baby is more important. 

By using Nestle Cerelac as a base, which is loaded with nutrients sufficient for babies, saves them time then having to make it from scratch as it is quick and simple to make just by adding milk formula or hot water.

The visuals would work as a poster series, capturing the fun times and memories parents can create with their little ones.

POSTER SERIES

Visual 1:

Visual 2:

Visual 3:

Visual 4:

Note: The images used are sourced from Google and edited on Adobe Photoshop. 

CRITS:

1. Joanna Dorai:

Consider a key message that is closer and clearer to the role of the product... In reality, parents would spend time with their kids with or without the product. Or, they could be too busy to spend time with kids anyway, let alone prepare a simple meal. In this way, the headline doesn't quite sell the product.

So think about what the product really solves - yes it is a quick and nutritious meal. The question is, so what? And why would people care?

Therefore perhaps think about what Cerelac (quick nutritious meal) would mean to them as a busy parent. For example, busy parents need a quick fix for their children's meals. The problem is the instant format makes them feel like it is less nutritious which makes them feel guilty for spending so little effort in preparing an important meal for their children. The challenge then is how do we make the simple act of pouring in hot water or milk formula feel like a respectable effort? Explore if this will inform better your copywriting and art direction.

2. Gabrielle Moey:

It's nice that you use another approach (sentimental element) on this as you are right, I think people generally see this as quite a boring product. I think your poster conveys that mum and kids relationship/memories very well. But looking from the branding perspective, I think your key message could be improved. 

Right now I see 2 key messages - "The More Important" & "Saves you Time". Perhaps focusing on just one can help expand your vision more and help you further communicate the message to your audience. 

Once you have your narrowed down key message and target audience, I'm sure that you will come up with a more clear direction of design that works for that particular audience.

3. Annabelle Foo:

Choice of visuals are warm and captures the heart of spending quality time with family.

Convenience of the product is clear & straight to the point.

Suggestions/Feedback:

Although the visuals revolve around a similar theme, try using images without watermarks on them! (Visual 3 & 4)

The messaging behind #SAVESYOUTIMEFORTHEMOREIMPORTANTTHINGS can be expanded more to highlight the values that your visuals are bringing out. Like you said, the series captures the fun parents have with their little ones - these important things are actually little things that a parent would never want to miss out on in their child’s life - like when their baby learns to crawl for the first time or when a toddler utters words. However in reality, these moments take time and it’s easy for them to go by. 

You could expand these situations into different headlines of your visual instead of having a similar headline since it’s already in your visuals! You have a really strong concept going on already, and if you boil it down even more to a single sentiment, I think it could be #NeverMisstheLittleThings or even #LittleThingsTakeTime which is where the main benefit of Nestle Cerelac also comes in - convenience! 

That way, the hashtag also becomes catchy/memorable and also most importantly easier-utilised on social media platforms.

3. Eunice Loke:

Layout is clean Question: If the time spent to make porridge from scratch and make cerelac and add stuff is the same, why would I want to buy this? Problem: boring and plain Solution: Spice it up 4. Basil Cha: Definitely a great cause, about creating time to spend with parents and kids- Think it needs a bit more depth. The direct solution is that the solution saves much more time that can be spent with kids, but how can the brand actually encourage this relationship between parents and baby even more? Feels like parenting is a chore and this solution is just helping your burden but what if we position it as “my favorite things” instead of “the more important things” e.g. My favorite thing is playtime and I have more of it because I spend less time prepping meals. “These are a few of my favorite things”    Advertising has gone past straightforward directions, need to tap into your audience. Is it stay-at-home moms? Working moms? What are their biggest pain points, what are their joys? When we understand our audience we know how to reach them. (Similar to evangelism no? HAHA)    

Try not to use pictures with watermarks on it (if not have to Photoshop them out with the Clone Stamp tool – you can explore this) but there are tons of free stock images now like Pexels and Unsplash. Also if you’re targeting Malaysian people use Asian families not white people? 5. Yae-ber Neo: Hashtag as campaign title ought to be careful with use of hashtags as campaign titles. Think from the perspective of a user on Social Media what would catch your eye, readability, length and message all play a part. Study the more successful hashtag campaigns and discover the big idea that drives their campaign to relate with the target audience.

Execution: Elevate your execution by photographing on your own, examiners appreciate this better because then you can also incorporate a stronger conceptualization to back your execution. If you have to use a stock photo, do make sure to get those without a watermark. Visual hierarchy: arrangement of your items (visual, headline, body copy) should lead your reader to understand the message just as you plan for. Choice of size, colour, contrast, alignment and placement will do the trick! Headline: your headline ‘for the more important things’ is not bad, the treatment however can improve. The visibility is not as clear as your slogan/subhead, ‘saves your time’. Experiment with choice of colour, outlines, drop shadow etc. to see how you can make your key message (headline) stand out. Colour: Creating a colour palette that you stick to would give overall brand consistency. Body copy: should give it a little more breathing space, have more negative space on each side, look a little cramp atm, and enlarge the bottom box. 6. Sarah Ann Toolseram: Choose the right images. Change The font or change colour to give allowance for printing errors. Pictures are appropriate for target audience -Feeding can be a bonding activity. -Saves you time from prepping the meal or feeding the kid? So you can have more time for fun things.For the more important things -TaglineDesign consistency. 7. Damien Chung: I Understand the idea behind it, the motivation behind it. It’s a good thought. Personally, I don’t find the selling point really convincing for me. It’s basically the same as milo or rather powdered milk (since it’s for babies), or baby food. Perhaps what can be done is not shifting away the focus from the boring flavours but instead find a way to highlight it and make it interesting. Because parents might actually find the process of making food for their babies even more so interesting and also worthwhile, rather than finding ways to save time on it. From that satisfaction, it might then translate to them having fun with children. Preparing food is also considered “an important” thing 8. Ian Lai:

I really like the concept of focusing on the important things, like special moments with your child. But “#SAVESYOUTIMEFORTHEMOREIMPORTANTTHINGS” doesn’t work as a campaign hashtag, it’s too long and hard to read and remember. Something simpler like “#theimportantthings” would be easier to remember.As for the visuals/ads, I think that it can be stronger to drive home the message of focusing on the important things. Right now parents spending time with their kids is too generic. You want to really guilt trip parents with the visuals. For example, baby’s first steps. It would really suck for a parent to miss it, and every parent can relate to it.  Copywriting can really drive the message across, “Don’t miss baby’s first steps just because you’re busy preparing her dinner.”“Saves you time for the more important things” is a good tagline for the campaign. Every ad could end with that as a tag. The typography can be more simple and tasteful, no need to have different font sizes or dancing letters (a bit high school word art). Also a better font choice for the body copy would help

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Vehicle of Communication Part I: Propaganda Banknotes

Propaganda means the spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause or a person. It is an intentional try by countries, individuals or groups to form, control, or alters the attitudes of others through communication with the intent that in any given situation the reaction of those so influenced will be manipulated as the propagandist desired. The purpose of such propaganda can be a compelling argument, rumour or on factual base. It also can be the half-truth or an outright bluff. The intention of the propaganda doesn’t matter; they are done to influence the opinion of the general population. Duplicity and propaganda had been around since ancient times. One can use many things for the propaganda, but the most brilliant way to convey one’s message is to use a medium that is used by people on daily bases, a medium that can be easy without any kind of problem. Such a medium can only be paper money, the most favoured way to communication and a vehicle of propaganda also called Propaganda Banknotes. It’s a less obvious mode to propagate thoughts using direct, sarcastic and funny ways to communicate.

The banknotes are the convenient tools in the hands of the sly, crafty and sneaky propagandist; just imagine what can be a better instrument to propagate a message to common folks than a banknote. It is a genius notion to utilise the paper currency that is used on a daily bases. Propaganda banknotes are the way to drum the message in the people’s mind day in and out which will eventually become the part of the national idea, perception and intellect these propaganda ideas and thoughts can come in various forms, it can be subtle and can be direct.

  Early propaganda banknotes of America and the French revolution

  After the Chinese and Swedes who created paper currency in their respective country, we can give American colonist the celebrated third position to facilitated commerce through paper currency. This action happened in American colonies due to the shortage of spices, which was the term applied to circulated cash in the New World. In December 1690, Massachusetts General Assembly voted to issue banknotes in English pound as they were wary of the economy being hampered by barter system, few pence, Spanish doubloons and home minted pine tree shilling. As time went on the cash shortage problem of the American colonies was solved by printing more paper currency. This practice ran counter to the British policy of tight money. It was meant to keep the colonies dependent upon Mother country England. British attempts to regulate and enforce colonial trade eventually became one of the principal factors to spark the fire of revolution in American colonies .

  Image 1: a -In the above-shown image banknote created in 1775 issue of the United Colonies, is design illustrated a bloody hand impaled upon a thorn bush on the 5 dollar bill. The hand represented Britain and the bush the American colonies and Latin motto, reads, “Put up with me or leave me alone”. It was designed by Benjamin Franklin.

    Soon the revolutionaries of these colonies learned the way of propaganda against the mother country. When, in 1775 the Second Continental Congress convened, its first agenda was to pass a law authorizing the printing of paper money. When the fever of revolution was in full swing and the standing army was created to oppose the governing mother country. The propaganda became more vocal and obvious. First, it started with Latin motto but now on 50 dollar Continental Currency note features a thirteen tier pyramid such as found on the US one dollar bill today. The thirteen steps stand for the thirteen colonies in image b. The motto “PERENNIS” means EVERLASTING. This was powerful propaganda designed to bolster a fledgeling nation.

    The last note in this image is of Massachusetts Bay Colony colonial note of 1775. It was designed by Paul Revere. This note was issued after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revere chose to portray the Minuteman as a patriotic symbol of American freedom. This choice had a profound propaganda impact upon the loyalties of colonists still doubtful about breaking with King George III. One can say the propaganda banknote played a vital role in it.

  Bogus confederate state of America note

  Confetti and propagandas in term of banknotes have two different parts and uses, but when a concept of war comes in the picture both of this instrument are used together to weakening the enemy. During the Civil Wa,r the south had no hard currency to the meet the demand of daily commerce many printing contractors were hired to print note by the Confederate government. These printers issued notes with different designs according to their convenience, so as a result many different designs of the similar denomination were in circulation. One of the best examples is 5 dollar note. To take advantage of this situation and undermine the southern economy, the North issued a bogus note of five dollars with no serious counterpart.

  Image 2: a – The most famous bogus creations during the Civil War was the Confederate 20 dollar issued on 25 July 1861. This 20 dollar bill was entirely fictitious and did not have a genuine counterpart. Therefore, after being smuggled into the Confederacy, it gained acceptance as the real thing and was widely circulated throughout the South. Today this specimen is known among collectors as the “Female Riding Deer” note.

  Post World War I propaganda note the part I

  Next are the propaganda banknotes circulated between World War I and II, the notion of the propaganda banknotes of this era was running on the different level itself. All sorts of revolutionary causes and old hatred expressions were printed on these notes. Passions were raised and old fears rekindled as these messages made their rounds.

  It all started when Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian Imperial government in 1917, they wanted their ideology do spread worldwide. So in 1921, the Soviet banknotes carried a message inviting open rebellion against all anti-communists. The message was simple propaganda to read “Workers of the World Unite!” It was printed in at least six main languages of the Asian Continent.

  Image 2: b – After the 1914 revolution they consolidate their hold on Russia and as in 1921 the Soviets felt sufficiently strong to advocate world communism. The propaganda message on the reverse of this Soviet 10,000 rouble note exhorts workers, in six languages, to unite in overthrowing the capitalists of the world.

  Post World War I propaganda note part II

  As the end of the World War I came, all the Allies exacted a heavy penalty upon a defeated Germany in the form of war reparations. It included unbearable financial payments for the cost of the war and the outright ceding of German territory to France. German citizens were outraged over such excesses and were powerless to do anything about it. This mishandling of German affairs after World War I was a principal factor leading to the rise of Adolph Hitler and to World War II. Much of this anti-French sentiment found its way onto bank notes.

  Image 3-a: To show the undercurrent of French hatred, the German town of Kahala depicts an obsessed French man ‘France’ in the form of an archer pointing an arrow at a helpless ‘Germany’ on 75 pfennige, which is bound to the stump of a tree. Emaciated Germany, shown as little more than skin and bone, is riddled with arrows and is about to receive another in the form of further war reparations.

  Perhaps the best-known example of anti-French sentiment is the famous German “ghoul” note. It the best example of the propaganda banknote Post World War I in a subtle way. In 1922 the post World War I inflation was just getting started at Germany and prices were skyrocketing. So, 10,000 marks Reichsbank note was issued.

  Image 3-b: The 10,000 mark Reichsbank note of the time bore a reproduction of Albrecht Durer’s “Portrait of a German Worker” as its vignette. A propaganda message was hidden in the portrait in the form of a “ghoul”, or vampire, which is seen to be drinking blood from the worker’s throat. The ghoul represents France, sucking Germany dry as a result of excessive war reparations.

  Till now we saw the German sentiments against the French now we will study the French notion of Germany during World War II when Germany forces occupied many of the French territories.  The area that remained free under Nazi Germany was Vichy France. As the war dragged on the anti-Germen sentiments increased and even the commoner were participating. They could find ways to raise their morale and lower Germany’s prestige through propaganda. It involved “do-it-yourself” propaganda kit. The method was simple and the materials readily at hand. At that time the banknote for Germany occupied France and Vichy France were issued by Bank of France. The 20 franc was the most common denomination. The brilliant ides of Propaganda on this banknote.

  Image 3-c: In this note, the creativity of the ordinary citizens defied their occupiers by pasting the bust of Hitler, cut from German postage stamps, onto circulating 20 franc notes. The stamps were pasted onto the note to make it appear that the Breton fisherman was strangling him, much to the delight of loyal Frenchmen.

    A British Parody of a French Fifty Franc Note

  The year of 1941, it was a year after the fall of France. An interesting imitation of the 50 franc bank.

  Note that was in circulating were dropped over the occupied territory of Germany. This note was the brainchild of the Political Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office. The propaganda on the note is directed at Germany’s deteriorating financial condition and the cost to France of the German occupation. The bogus currency, known as ‘Code 90’, was dropped over France on the nights of 10 to 13 June 1941. The 50 franc notes were delivered by the Royal Air Force and a British Army Balloon Unit. Few of the notes had punch hole, it was evident that they ever send through balloon via the English Channel. The one without the holes were dropped from the air.

  Image 4-a: The Germans and their lackeys look like robbers in the eyes of the public and to decry the cost to France of the occupation. Pierre Laval ‘the French puppet’ and Adolph Hitler adorn the columns at left and right. On the signature lines the title Le traitre Laval ‘the traitor Laval’ is substituted for the customary Le Caissier General and L’espion Abetz (the spy Abetz) in lieu of Le Secretaire General. The dejected scribe has written on the scroll before him “Cost of occupation = 400,000,000 francs per day”. An empty treasure chest lays open on his desk. In place of a serial number, the parody carries the date 23.6.1940, which was the day that General de Gaulle announced the formation of a ‘Free France’ to carry on the fight against Germany throughout the remaining French territories. At the bottom of the note is a cartouche bearing the words Aux Boches pillant riens impossible meaning ‘To the plundering Germans, nothing is impossible’.

  There are many other examples of propaganda banknotes of this era which were issued from both sides to convey the message or change the opinion of the masses. The finest examples are:

The Bank Restriction Note of 1818

The Ghetto Notes of Theresienstadt

The German propaganda notes air dropped over North Africa

Propaganda banknotes of European theatres

Polish army overprints of 1944 Warsaw uprising.

  These banknotes are the medium to convey the thought or manipulate the notion of the general public for a cause. It can also be issued to hide the actual intentions and portray an illusion of prosperity and wealth, one would analysis these notes as per the situation of that time. There many more such note present to further analysis and discuss, to know how the turning point of the event came to be. So keep visiting our website to know more about Propaganda banknotes in our next instalment. Till then take care and keep collecting.

                    Image and Data courtesy THE USE OF BANK NOTES AS AN INSTRUMENT OF PROPAGANDA by John E. Sandrock.

  Counterpart: The term counterpart here referred to the actual currency circulating, the north took advantage of economic instability of south and released a propaganda banknote in the south of five dollars note as this denomination has the different design.

  Vichy France: The remainder, which was not under direct control of the Nazis, was called Vichy France after the capital of the same name. Vichy, in the south of France, was governed by a German puppet, the elderly and doddering Marshall Petain, a onetime French hero of World War I. Vichy territory was not subject to actual occupation by German troops. Petain’s government gave the appearance of independence, but in all ways was subject to the orders of Hitler and other Nazi officials.

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5 Tips for the top Law Firm Logo

What does your law firm logo suggest for your possible clients? You only have one particular likelihood to create a very first impression. Upon meeting a new or potential client and exchanging company cards, the client will get an impression of one's firm according to the law firm logo alone. So, what does your logo say about your firm? Your law firm logo represents your law firm towards the outside globe. Every single seemingly insignificant aspect of it tends to make an impression on the client. Font. Color scheme. Name arrangement. Text size. Spacing. Inclusion of a scale or gavel image. Seeking at your enterprise card and firm logo, your client gets an impression. Your client types an concept in his or her head of what your firm stands for. Is your logo contemporary or conventional? Does it make you appear frugal and indifferent, like you produced the logo yourself in Microsoft Word or does it appear like you value your reputation and look, and had a professional designer make the logo? Before approaching a logo designer or producing the logo oneself, there are some very important steps you could take to obtain a clear image of what the logo should really entail and how it ought to represent your law firm. Tip 1: Appear at your competitors You don't want your law firm to look just like the other law firms inside your practice location and location, lest your firm be unmemorable to the client. The final factor you want to do is confuse the client with what sets your firm aside from everybody else. See what you like about their logos. Make notes. Try and gauge how their logos make you perceive their law firms. Do their logos make the firms appear qualified or do they seem just like the firms are unremarkable? Believe about what you like and never like about these firm logos when deciding on how your individual logo is going to appear. Tip 2: Modern or regular? Make a decision on a theme Do you'd like your logo to become modern or regular? They are the two key theme alternatives for law firm logos. This usually suggests the difference amongst serif and sans-serif font. What does that imply? Open Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Variety your law firm name in Times New Roman, Georgia, or Garamond font. Then, variety your firm name once more in either Arial or Helvetica. The initial three fonts are considered serif fonts simply because you can see they've tiny lines around the bottom and sides of letters like A, B, and C. The sans-serif fonts do not have these lines. Serif fonts are related to newspapers, considered additional standard fonts. Sans-serif fonts are linked to Net content material and are viewed as modern day. Do you'd like your law firm to have the appearance of a regular, storied practice or do you desire it to appear sleek, adaptive, and modern day? The selection is yours. Tip 3: Select a Font Now that we've decided no matter whether to go serif or sans-serif, we really need to select which font is going to represent the firm. Initially thing's very first, it should be noted that you should not use a commonly applied font. Arial, Helvetica, Instances New Roman. Individuals see these fonts everyday. No matter whether they recognize them promptly as Arial, Helvetica, or Occasions New Roman, persons know these fonts. They see Instances New Roman even though reading the newspaper. They see Helvetica when having around the subway. They see Arial when reading web sites. These fonts usually do not make an impression anymore. There are lots of internet sites exactly where you may download fonts totally free. Google features a directory of free of charge fonts, most of which you are guaranteed to not have come across. Take a look around. Use the Google Font tool to test out your law firm name in diverse fonts and examine them side by side. 1 final tip on picking out a font: Never be indecisive. When two or three fonts could look comparable to you, your customers will under no circumstances know the distinction if you opt for a font for the law firm logo. They are going to by no means realize that it was down to three comparable fonts. The client will likely not be influenced any differently by comparable searching fonts. You may need to ask someone else for their opinion on two or three fonts, but make a selection and stick with it. Tip 4: Decide on your colors On the internet it is possible to locate many color wheel tools useful to assist web designers choose color schemes. Click on a key color and they may suggest complementary colors. Just ensure that you use a colour selection assisting tool. Otherwise, you could possibly end up choosing two colors that just never function together. When picking colors attempt avoiding those of a law firm inside your practice location and area. You desire to make confident you stand apart within the thoughts of your client. Should you assume each colour mixture has been taken by the firms in your region, just make sure that your logo look various to distinguish you from your competitors. Tip 5: Photos or No Images? Typically a law firm logo entails an arrangement of your names on the partners. At times it is an abbreviation of those names. Other occasions, the logo consists of a tried and correct symbol on the legal profession - the scales of justice - or a gavel - alongside the partner names. Typically, I hate the scales of justice and gavel. They've been played out. They are overdone. They are sickening. They are unimaginative. In the event you are going to incorporate an image alongside your companion names, why not contain a memorable image that represents your law firm, conveys professionalism, and also originality? It is possible to do this by such as an image, in the event you so select, in the initials of the firm partners' names. In the event the firm is Crane, Poole, and Schmidt, you might possess a little CPS initialed logo. This is a a lot more modern day element to law firm logos, differentiates the firm, as well as appears skilled. So, in the event you are going to consist of an image, take into account shelving the gavel and scales for something a little extra modern and special.

Conclusion With all of those recommendations in thoughts, you are ahead of the game. No matter whether you determine to produce a logo your self or approach logo designers, you realize what you'd like your logo to convey. You know the message you wish your clients to receive. You realize how your competitors look and how you happen to be going to appear different. Now, you can clearly envision what your logo is going to appear like without needing to get wildly distinctive styles from a designer that won't be useful for the firm. If you are proficient at Photoshop, I'd suggest taking a shot at building a logo oneself. If not, perhaps it is best to contemplate hiring a logo designer. In this crowdsourcing era of Online technology, logo styles might be incredibly low-cost. There are various web pages now like 99designs.com where it is possible to crowdsource your logo design, getting as much as many hundred design and style mock-ups sent to you by freelance designers, with you deciding upon and paying for your favourite. Read More Information Here Indiana Mesothelioma Legal Claims

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That Emoji Might Not Be Saying What You Think

This morning, my guy texted me:

And I texted back:

He said, “Good morning! It’s a beautiful day. Love you!”

And I wrote back, “Good morning! I’ve got a song in my heart. Mwah! Love you, too.”

The texter and I are close. We know each other, so our emoji-only conversation made sense to us. The message is unambiguous enough that even an outside observer might have interpreted it similarly. But that’s not always the case when it comes to emoji. Although familiarity and context made this little exchange successful, research shows that emoji interpretation varies, particularly across different cultures.

The Cultural Associations of Common Emoji

You’d think that pictures are a universal concept. Especially very simple pictures meant to convey an idea or emotion. But ask any visual artist and they’ll tell you that there are as many ways to interpret a piece of visual art as there are people to view it. Take Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream.

It inspired this:

The emoji is intended to convey fear. (In fact, it’s name is Face Screaming in Fear.) Those who know the Munch painting might easily see this emoji as conveying exactly that. Others might call to mind Kevin McCallister in the movie Home Alone. But still others view it as an expression of shock or amazement rather than fright.

https://giphy.com/embed/d2YWTOsVtuHgOHhC

via GIPHY

  Fun fact: The actual intention of The Scream is much more layered than a “scream of fear” would suggest. Munch’s own description is: “I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous infinite scream of nature.”

Emojis were supposed to make communication across cultures easier, but the jury’s definitely still out on whether they succeeded. Not only does the appearance of emojis vary across devices, but the way we interpret them also varies depending on where in the world we happened to grow up.

The Pile of Poo is a great example of cultural differences at work. Western cultures might interpret this little character somewhat figuratively (as you might if you were trying to convey that you’d had a crappy day), or even literally (which requires no further explanation.)

In Japan, however, the happy little pile is a way of wishing someone good luck. The Japanese word for poop is unko. Because it happens to start with the same “oon” sound as the Japanese word for luck, a unique culture-specific phenomenon was born. In Japan, you can buy golden poop charms and even candies shaped like . . . well, you get it.

Fun fact: Canadians use the poop emoji more than folks in any other country.

There are other examples of Japanese culture inspiring emojis that most Westerners don’t get, or at least tend to use in a different context. You know the little guy who looks like he’s shedding a single tear?

It’s actually an emoji called Sleepy Face. And that’s not a tear; it’s a snot bubble. This rather, er . . . charming effect comes from Japanese anime, where the snot bubble is often used to paint a comedic picture of a sleepy character.

Here’s another often misinterpreted emoji.

If you live in a Western culture, you might well view this as an expression of anger, especially if you’ve watched enough cartoons where the raving mad character blows steam out of his flaring nostrils. But hold on a minute!

That emoji is named Face With Look of Triumph. It’s intended to convey the sort of derisive snort you might give if you’re #Winning.

The emojis we favor also vary by country. According to a popular 2016 report by SwiftKey:

Canadians score highest in emoji categories you might typically think of as ‘all-American’ (money, raunchy, violent, sports).

The French use four times as many heart emojis than speakers of other languages, and it’s the only language for which a ‘smiley’ is not #1.

Arabic speakers use flower and plant emojis four times more than average.

Russian speakers are the biggest romantics, using three times as many romance-themed emoji as the average.

Australia is the land of vices and indulgence according to the emoji data, using double the average amount of alcohol-themed emoji, 65% more drug emoji than average, and leading for both junk food and holiday emoji.

Americans use more LGBT-themed emojis more than others.

Americans also lead for a random assortment of emoji and categories, including skulls, birthday cake, fire, tech, meat, and female-themed emoji.

Are emojis a language?

Emojis were designed to be the next evolutionary step from text-based emoticons. Shigetaka Kurita, then an employee at the largest mobile provider in Japan, created them in early 1999. They’re meant to provide an image-based system for expressing abstract ideas or emotions (like laughter, sadness, confusion, or sarcasm) with a single character, similar to Japanese kanji. In fact, the word “emoji” comes from the Japanese e, meaning picture, and moji, which means character.

But are these picture characters a language of their own? Here’s some insight from Grammarly’s 2016 article on the subject:

According to Johanna Nichols, former professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley, the gold standard for distinguishing languages is “mutual intelligibility.” In other words, if a speaker of one language and a speaker of another try to converse, will they understand one another? If the answer is “yes,” the second speaker is using some sort of dialect. If the answer is “no”, that person has created or adopted a new language.

Although the future of emojis is evolving, most experts currently view them as more of a language enhancement than a language proper. Their effect is additive. Still, as the example I provided at the beginning of this article illustrates, it’s possible to have at least rudimentary conversations in emoji.

But I wasn’t quite satisfied that a brief emoji exchange could indicate a capacity for mutual understanding. I wanted to test it further.

An Attempt at Emoji-Only Conversation

I enlisted a friend to help me explore the idea of an emoji conversation. Would we be able to understand each other in a slightly more complex scenario than a simple good morning?

Esha and I have known each other for over twenty years. We became friends because we haunted the same arts and writing chat room back in the early years of the public Internet. (May Prodigy rest in peace.) Although we’ve been lucky enough to hang out in person just about annually since we’ve known each other, most of our friendship takes place online. I felt that if any relationship could withstand the emojis-only test, this one would.

Esha and I have different cultural backgrounds. She was raised in Hawaii, the child of academic and artistic parents. I was raised in the upper Midwest, the child of working class parents who didn’t bother to graduate from high school. She’s lived in England for about twelve years and is becoming more integrated into that society. I embody Midwest Americana.

I decided that a slightly directed conversation would afford us our best chance for success, so we asked each other questions and then attempted to reply with emoji.

Esha’s emoji answer seemed pretty straightforward to me. Here’s what I guessed:

It turns out I was pretty close!

Now, it was my turn to tell an emoji story for Esha. I hoped I could convey ideas through images as well as she had. Here’s how it went down.

And here’s what Esha guessed:

Sidebar: I use “actually” way too often when I write. Good thing I know how to streamline when I proofread. Unfortunately, I didn’t proofread in chat.

Before I set out to have this emoji-only conversation, I was convinced it would fail, and fail comically. But Esha and I know each other well. In hindsight, I might’ve considered picking a more distant (or at least less communicative) friend or acquaintance for my experiment if I wanted to show the challenges of communicating in little digital pictures.

Never fear. Samantha Lee has that covered. For an article in Quartz, she tried communicating solely in emoji for a day. The results weren’t nearly as impressive as mine and Esha’s. She wrote:

By the end of the day, I’d learned a lot—and tested the strength of a few friendships in the process. Texting without words turns out to be a lot like eating soup without a spoon: It’s possible, but not pleasant.

Are emojis nothing more than images that might be interpreted differently by different groups of people, or even different individuals? Or do they have a chance to become universal? Either way, emojis represent a unique cultural phenomenon. Send your friend an emoji-only text today and see what happens.

The post That Emoji Might Not Be Saying What You Think appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/cultural-associations-on-world-emoji-day/