#Walters-Story design group

[boombox-fuckboy]

any podcast recommendations for guys Going Through It. im a sucker for whump and i’ve already listened to TMA and Malevolent sooo

Fiction Podcasts: Characters Going Through It / Experiencing the Horrors

Gore warning for most, here's 15 to get you started:

I am in Eskew: (Horror) David Ward is arguably the Guy Going Through It. Stories from a man living in something that very much wants to be a city, and a private investigator who was, in her words, "hired to kill a ghost". Calmly recounted stories set to Eskew's own gentle, persistent rain. The audio quality's a bit naff but the writing is spectacular. If you like the writing, also check out The Silt Verses, which is a brilliant show by the same creators.

VAST Horizon: (Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller/Suspense Elements) And Dr. Nolira Ek is arguably the Gal Going Through it. An agronomist wakes from cryo to discover the ship she's on is dead in the water, far from their destination, and seemingly empty, barring the ship's malfunctioning AI, and an unclear reading on the monitors. I think you'll like this one. Great sound design, amazing acting, neat worldbuilding, and plenty of awful situations.

Dining in the Void: (Horror, Sci-Fi) So, the initial pacing on this one is a little weird, but stick with it. A collection of notable people are invited to a dinner aboard a space station, and find not only are they trapped there, but they're on a timer until total station destruction: unless they can figure out who's responsible. And there's someone else aboard to run a few games, just to make things more interesting. The games are frequently torturous. If that wasn't clear.

The White Vault: (Horror) By the same creators as VAST Horizon, this one follows a group sent to a remote arctic research base to diagnose and repair a problem. Trapped inside by persistant snow and wind, they discover something very interesting below their feet. Really well made show. The going through it is more spread out but there's a lot of it happening.

Archive 81: (Horror, Weird Fiction, Mystery and Urban Fantasy Elements) A young archivist is commissioned to digitize a series of tapes containing strange housing records from the 1990s. He has an increasingly bad time. Each season is connected but a bit different, so if S1 (relatively short) doesn't catch your ear, hang in for S2. You've got isolation, degredation of relationships, dehumanisation, and a fair amount of gore. And body horror on a sympathetic character is so underdone.

The Harrowing of Minerva Damson: (Fantasy, Horror) In an alternate version of our own world with supernatural monsters and basic magic, an order of women knights dedicated to managing such problems has survived all the way to the world wars, and one of them is doing her best with what she's got in the middle of it all.

SAYER: (Horror, Sci-Fi) How would you like to be the guy going through it? A series of sophisticated AI guide you soothingly through an array of mundane and horrible tasks.

WOE.BEGONE: (Sci-Fi) I don't keep up with this one any more, but I think Mike Walters goes through enough to qualify it. Even if it's frequently his own fault. A guy gets immediately in over his head when he begins to play an augmented reality game of entirely different sort. Or, the time-travel murder game.

Janus Descending: (Sci-Fi, Horror, Tragedy) A xenobiologist and a xenoanthropologist visit a dead city on a distant world, and find something awful. You hear her logs first-to-last, and his last-to-first, which is interesting framing but also makes the whole thing more painful. The audio equivalent of having your heart pulled out and ditched at the nearest wall. Listen to the supercut.

The Blood Crow Stories: (Horror) A different story every season. S1 is aboard a doomed cruise ship set during WWII, S2 is a horror western, S3 is cyberpunk with demons, and S4 is golden age cinema with a ghostly influence.

Mabel: (Supernatural, Horror, Fantasy Elements) The caretaker of a dying woman attempts to contact her granddaughter, leaving a series of increasingly unhinged voicemails. Supernatural history transitioning to poetic fae lesbian body horror.

Jar of Rebuke: (Supernatural) An amnesiac researcher with difficulties staying dead investigates strange creatures, eats tasty food, and even makes a few friends while exploring the town they live in. A character who doesn't stay dead creates a lot of scenarios for dying in interesting ways

The Waystation: (Sci-Fi, Horror) A space station picks up an odd piece of space junk which begins to have a bizzare effect on some of the crew. The rest of it? Doesn't react so well to this spreading strangeness. Some great nailgun-related noises.

Station Blue: (Psychological Horror) A drifting man takes a job as a repair technician and maintenance guy for an antarctic research base, ahead of the staff's arrival. He recounts how he got there, as his time in the base and some bizzare details about it begin to get to him. People tend to either quite like this one or don't really get the point of it, but I found it a fascinating listen.

The Hotel: (Horror) Stories from a "Hotel" which kills people, and the strange entities that make it happen. It's better than I'm making it sound, well-made with creative deaths, great sound work, and a strange staff which suffer as much as the guests. Worth checking out.

[diabolus1exmachina]

BMW M1 Turbo (the extraordinary case of the BMW M1 with 1000 hp)

Ignore the livery. Or don’t ignore it. Like with every other Jägermeister racing car, it might be hard to actually walk past this orange beast without giving the standout paint job at least one glance. It was designed to attract attention, just how Günter Mast — the man that gave his OK to race cars with the famous stag on the bonnet — intended. The truth of the matter is, however, that this particular car’s convoluted history is as complicated as the story of the BMW M1 itself. Therefore this car is not what it seems to be, as the orange Jägermeister livery stems from the imagination of the man that rebuilt the car, the legendary M1 whisperer Fritz Wagner. And if you ask anyone at Jägermeister headquarters about the car, they will potentially reply with a polite letter from their legal department. To paraphrase Samuel Beckett: there’s nothing funnier than tragedy. And so, the story of the BMW M1 could be perceived as one of the automotive world’s funniest. The car was originally designed with the ambition to create the greatest, mid-engined racing car of all time. One that would beat Porsche’s dominating 935 in the all-important Group 5. A masterpiece made of speed and German reliability which, in reality, became a car that had to be reverse engineered to be sold for the road. All because of changes in racing rules and homologation, which stipulated how many cars had to be produced before a particular model was allowed to hit the track. The production number of 400 cars — which seems so minuscule by today’s standards — turned out to be the first problem on a long list of unfolding disasters.

In essence, the life of this beautiful, light, well-made machine that had been designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who reworked Paul Bracq’s original prototype, was plagued by bad luck and bad decisions. The fact that Lamborghini — who were supposed to produce it at their factory — went bust because of copyright fraud and embezzlement of funds didn’t help. However, it was the rushed solution to disperse production all over Europe that was the final nail in the coffin. Marchese built the car's tube frame, TIR molded the fiberglass, Italdesign mated the two and installed the interior, then the M1 was shipped from Italy to Stuttgart, where Baur would in­stall the BMW hardware, after which in Munich BMW Motor­sports would do the final touches and quality control. It made the M1 almost a quarter more expensive than any equivalent Ferrari or Lambo sold at the time. Case closed.

British generals in the second world war would often joke that Germans were not very good when it came to Plan B. This might be true. In the end, even if BMW’s head of Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch, the brilliant man that he is, thought of a way to market the M1 with the Procar series, in which F1 drivers like Niki Lauda, Clay Regazzoni, and Nelson Piquet would race the cars against privateers, as a prelude to the weekend's Formula 1 race, too few examples were made for the car to ever officially leave Group 4 as was originally intended. Later on, those teams who managed to finally race in Group 5, years after BMW abandoned the programme in order to enter to F1, found the M1 simply uncompetitive. Even the twin-turbocharged models built by Schnitzer, which developed 800 hp and more from their straight six engines, were plagued by problems. his finally brings us to this particular, rather unusual example. It was allegedly built for the famous Walter Brun racing team, who later on won the Group C World Championship with a Jägermeister-liveried Porsche 956. Brun’s friendship with Paul Rosche, the man who turbocharged the BMW 2002, gave rise to the idea of installing the M88 turbo engine originally planned for the March Group-5 car into a modified M1 Procar chassis wrapped into Group 5 bodywork. However, the car was never raced. Why? Even at BMW no one knows. Particularly good news considering that back in the day, when this 1090 kg machine was put on a dyno, it put out 1000 hp and 930 NM of Torque. A reading obtained just before the machine broke while the car apparently still wanted to keep going. Now in the hands of a new owner who intends to race it regularly, it will have plenty of opportunity to shine. And so a new chapter unfolds…

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Character Charts

Today, I'd like to introduce you all to most of the major cast line-up for Into, Across and Beyond!.

BLUR GANG

The Blur Gang is a bunch of multidimensional heroes from many universes all ganged together with the equal purpose of keeping things safe. The members of this team include:

OMT!Tails (the Tails of the Sonic.exe One More Time games by Mr. Pixel Productions)

CR!Sonic (an alternate version of the blue blur by @becdoesthings)

OMT!Mina (an alternate version of Mina from a parallel timeline to Tails)

Mini Sonic (from the Sonic the Hedgehog Parts 1 & 2 game)

Mr. Needlemouse (a cartoon-like Sonic made by @mcgamejolter)

EX!Alice (an alternate version of Xenophanes' right-hand girl by AetherAsterisk) and her robot mech, E4-R6:3

D-Sides Mighty (from the FNF D-Sides mod)

BK!Amy Rose (an alternate role swap version of Amy for Sonic and the Black Knight, conceptualised by @sstorminghearts)

CU!Sonic and CU!Sonia (a father and daughter from the ChaosIIUniverse by ToonsiteComics)

Nine (from Sonic Prime)

Nitro (my own original character)

Antho (from SFG1235's Mobiverse AU)

Ex-Prince Brian (from the Mobius' Freedom Fighters AU by jordangaming101 and @becdoesthings)

Hog the Tenrec (a bootleg Sonic character by Jack Gore on Twitter)

Wacky the Hedgehog (another bootleg Sonic character by danicorelove on Twitter)

Devy the Rabbit (character and sprite by NotSoDevy)

Trip the Sungazer Lizard

QUILL SOCIETY

The Quill Society are a group of multiversal characters responsible for protecting the very fabric of the Sonic and SEGA multiverse. Note in advance that only five of its members are on a bad side, and most of them are solely good. Their members include:

Lost Memory Sonic (from What if Sonic Lost his Memory? by The Sega Scourge)

Amy Rouge (from that Sonic Adventure 2 mod with everyone wearing Rouge's outfit)

Turbo the Alien Hedgehog (that one alien rival from the Fleetway comics)

Fiona Fox

Tekno the Canary (from the Fleetway comics)

Zonic the Zone Cop (from the Archie universe)

CD Alt Ending Sonic (from Sonic CD: Alternative Ending by Lucsan 2015)

Underground Sonic

Emperor Metallix

Errorverse Sonic (from the same AU Nitro originates from)

LEGO Sonic

Sunky and Tlels

Carol Tea (from Freedom Planet)

Sarah Henderson (from the Needlem0use series by ShutUpJojo)

Barry the Quokka (from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog)

E-21 (a modified robot from the Movie universe)

Milly Prower (by SallyAc63038470 on Twitter; SFW in this AU)

Blitz!Tails (from the Sonic/Avalice Blitz AU by BobTheGUYYYYY on Twitter)

Sonic.RAW (a Sonic.exe character made by randidesu)

Superstars / Discovery Omega Amy

OVA Knuckles

Rob o' the Hedge

Water Sonic (from that one Sonamy fanart based on Elemental; designed by @xblueshin)

Fleetway Amy

Stella Hoshine the Cat

Pana Der Hejhog

Bunnie Rabbot

Nicky Parlouzer

Somari

Warrior Feline Honey

VILLAINS

These are the various villains present throughout the stories. These include, in the Spider-Verse set:

Eggman Nega

Shadow Emerl / Uma Arachnis

Zeera the Zeti

Surge the Tenrec

Johnny the Shark Robot

Snively

Crimtake (the EXE from NotSoDevy's SONIC Lost Drive trilogy)

Gemerl / Anti-Miles

Dr. Beeman (Mr. Needlemouse's arch-nemesis)

The More than One Universe set includes:

Shalian (an alternate version of Toxinfect)

Crossover Realm Corrupt

Talrareth

Animator vs. Animation Corrupt

Richard Ambersilve

Sonath

Curse (my version of the character)

The Into the Sonic-verse villains include, from this list:

Dr. Finitevus

The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad (Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts)

Scourge the Hedgehog

Rosy the Rascal

Walter Naugus

And finally, we've some members of the AU's supporting cast, those being the OMT versions of Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Sally, Cream and Robotnik, alongside three other OCs of mine, Lucia, Karilvatch and Amelia, and the Mobiverse version of Tails.

Other supporting characters include:

The Errorverse counterparts of Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Eggman

Exeller (from the Spirits of Hell duology)

Team Lilac

Extraterrestrial Encounter Sonic / XE!Sonic and Xenomorphic (this AU's version of Eddie Brock and Venom)

The FNF trio from the Errorverse (alongside Bentonly/Bently Forceloyed and Isabella Fondsmith from New Identity, New Life)

The Prower Kids (Melody and Skye Prower)

The Errorverse's version of Benjamin Fairest/Softie Benji

Fellow SEGA and Capcom characters include:

Alex Kidd

Ristar

NiGHTS

Opa-Opa

Arle Nadja

Billy Hatcher

Mega Man / Rock Light

Over the next days, I'll drop some bios to explain who all these people are and their role in this AU. Do note that NONE of this is canon to the pre-existing AUs or official universes unless their creators deem it as such.

I apologise in advance if your favourite AU or a favourite OC didn't get in, but do know that this is only the surface level of how massive the multiverse can be. And just remember the one golden rule of the multiverse:

In the multiverse, everything is canon!

Yeah, we don't talk about THAT stuff, though.

Sprite credits:

CartoonsAnimate22 (OMT!Tails, OMT!Sonic, OMT!Knux, OMT!Amy and OMT!Robotnik)

Nebula / Cylent Nite (CR!Sonic and Lost Memory Sonic)

Cylent Nite (OMT!Mina, Tekno and Warrior Feline Honey)

jrm10071322 (Mini Sonic)

Octluigi (Mr. Needlemouse base; edit by Pico231)

deltaConduit (EX!Alice and CD!Sonic; edits by Pico231)

Sergey E.S.N. (front-facing Big Arms sprite)

Dolphman (S2 Mighty sprite; edit by Pico231)

Mod.Gen (BK!Amy, Nitro (edit and design by KoolTimYT, BroadwayBash123 and Pico231), Wacky (edits by Pico231), Fiona, EV!Sonic/Tails/Amy/Eggman/Knuckles, Bunnie, Snively, Scourge, Rosy, Naugus and the Prower Kids)

paveldechev0604 (CU!Sonic; edits by Pico231)

SEGA (CU!Sonia, Crimtake and Shalian bases; edits by Pico231) (SS!Amy)

Deebs and Xeric (Alt Mod.Gen Tails sprite; edit by Pico231)

@mcgamejolter (Custom Nitro, Amelia and Bently sprites, alongside original sprites for AVA!Corrupt and Richard)

Antho and BECDoesDA/JordanGaming101 (sprites for Antho and Brian)

Gavin’s Golden Entertainment (Hog sprite; tweaks and edits by Pico231)

NotSoDevy (his character’s sprite)

miniluv73 (Trip sprite)

SuperGoku809 (Amy Rouge sprite)

RatherNoiceSprites (Turbo, Somari and XE!Sonic sprites)

khalifax10 and Xeric (Zonic sprite)

Deebs (UG!Sonic and OMT!Sally sprites)

DerZocker (Emperor Metallix sprite)

LegoLoco7 (LEGO Sonic sprite; recreation by Pico231)

Miles The Duck (Sunky and Tlels sprites)

GalaxyTrail (Carol and Lilac sprites)

SFG1235 (Antho, Barry and MV!Tails sprites)

KostyaGame the Fox (E-21 sprite)

JunkeyBot (Milly sprite; edits by Pico231)

Nebula (Super Tails sprite; edits by Pico231)

randidesu (RAW sprite)

Gardow and Overbound (OVA!Knux sprite)

Gabriel_aka_Frag (Rob o’ and OMT!Cheese sprites)

FlewayAmysprite (Fleetway Amy sprite)

TheCrushedJoycon (TTS sprite; edit by Pico231)

MarkeyJester (Pana sprite)

NickyFan7 (Nicky sprite)

Shinbaloonba (Eggman Nega sprite)

Xeric (Uma sprite)

Willosonic (Zeena sprite; disguised form in one mockup based on a sprite by Teh2Chao2)

ManiaMadness91 (Surge sprite)

Lone Devil (Johnny sprite)

mtallic (Sonic.OMT sprite)

Rosabelle (S1 Extended sprite; edits by BECDoesDA and PrimalKoopaPictures)

NotSoDevy and NightAkio (Talrareth sprites)

paveldechev0604 (Original Sonic 1-based sprite; edits by Pico231)

Louplayer (Ohshima Eggman sprite; edits by Pico231)

Tonberry2k (S.S.S.S.S. Squad sprites)

Smoke-the-Pyroling (OMT!Cream sprite)

KoolTimYT (Dr. Beeman and Exeller sprites)

LiefBnuy (SMA Milla sprite)

HyperTails12 and LillyDragon (Carrie sprite)

NICKtendo DS (Time Eater sprite; edit by Pico231)

RaulHedgeBomber (FNF trio sprites’ palettes)

Hyperknux6 (custom NiGHTS sprite)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gabriel Scheffler and Daniel Walters at Can We Still Govern?

Why is the federal government so unpopular? For many Americans, the answer to this question appears self-evident—the government is unpopular simply because it does a bad job. As law professor Peter Schuck writes, “across many different policy domains, the public perceives poor governmental performance – and generally speaking, the public is correct in this view.” Another prominent perspective focuses on ideological movements, primarily (though not exclusively) on the political right, that for decades have worked to sow distrust in government through anti-government rhetoric and actions designed to undermine government’s effectiveness. Although there is some truth to both of these perspectives, they do not tell the whole story. Another major factor is that even when the government is effective in providing benefits or addressing social problems, few Americans understand its achievements. For instance, consider President Joseph R. Biden’s signature legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which delivers historic investments in combatting climate change, curbs prescription drug prices, and expands subsidies to obtain health insurance. These are undeniably important achievements. Yet public opinion surveys have consistently shown that most Americans have no idea what this law does or how it will benefit them. Nor is this an isolated incident. For years, polling found a lack of awareness of President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which represented the largest expansion in health insurance coverage since the enactment of Medicaid and Medicare and drove America’s uninsured rate to historic lows. It was only when Republicans came close to repealing the ACA in 2017 that enough public support emerged to save the law—barely. Government also succeeds in other quotidian yet important ways, ranging from protecting Americans from airline and traffic accidents to ensuring clean air to funding the infrastructure and investments that enable the local weather report. Yet most of us tend to take these achievements for granted or to overlook them entirely. Why are more Americans not aware of the ways that government succeeds? And why does the government not do more to make the public aware of its successes?

As we argue in a recent article in the Wisconsin Law Review, an important part of the explanation is that Americans are not tuned into where most of the work of government is being done: the collection of agencies known as the “administrative state.” The administrative state comprises the agencies that deliver or oversee public benefits and services—for example, the Postal Service, the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—and the agencies that regulate industry to promote safety, health, and welfare—such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission.

[...] Second, agency actions themselves are often designed or implemented in ways that obscure what agencies are doing or what role they are playing. For instance, despite numerous government initiatives designed to encourage agencies to use simple and straightforward language, many regulations (and accompanying explanations of these regulations) are still incomprehensible to the general public. This is in part due to the incentives created by administrative law, which places no limits on the information parties can submit in the regulatory process. This creates incentives for both agencies and affected interest groups to flood the rulemaking process with excessive information. 

[...] Yet, we believe agencies can and should do more to inform the public about their substantive expertise, the benefits they provide, and how to participate in administrative processes. New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps once employed millions of Americans and built infrastructure all around the country that is still in use today proudly branding such projects as the work of government agencies. Tellingly, recent research suggests that such programs had a greater political impact when the government directly hired workers, making the programs more traceable to the government, than when they merely subsidized private companies’ hiring of workers.

Today, at the very least, agencies can reduce their reliance on private contractors, write regulatory preambles in ways that are easier for the public to understand, and do more to proactively solicit the public’s participation in the regulatory process. Congress and the judiciary should also consider scaling back some of the legal constraints that prevent agencies from communicating effectively with the public or that encourage agencies to make their actions less salient and traceable. These efforts could include revisiting and perhaps repealing laws targeting agency “propaganda,” which in some cases are arguably overbroad, as well as more general administrative law doctrines that have the effect of chilling agency communications. If the Supreme Court is unwilling to abandon the major questions doctrine altogether, it could, at the very least, cease relying on agencies’ communications to the public as indicia of “majorness,” which has the effect of incentivizing them to downplay their own actions. Outside groups such as the American Bar Association can do more to reward civil servants’ accomplishments and to inform the public about the non-political nature of the work they do.

Gabriel Scheffler and Daniel Walters co-wrote in Dan Moynihan’s Can We Still Govern? Substack about how Americans are often unaware of the full benefits of government agencies and administrative policy.

[tsaritiz]

All Identity V references (or easter eggs) to popular culture found.

Some are taken from theories of fandom others are found by me.

Martha Remington as the surname taken from the typewriter brand "remington" (also curious beacause in the game you have to decode typewriters)

Doctor, Emily Dyer is inspired by Amelia Dyer a british serial killer who killed lots of young children while beyond her cares.

Helena Adams references to Helen keller, a blind def woman who were a full-time activist.

Priestress (Fiona Gilman) references to HP Lovecraft's story "The dream in the witch's house."

The Magician references to Servais le roy, the creator of the illusion technic of levitation.

Naib Subedar, in his backstory makes reference to the british invasion of india.

Thief, Kreacher Pierson references George Müller, a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. His surname is named after Arthur Tappan Pierson, a friend of George Müller who wrote his biography.

The explorer references to Gulliver's Travels.

William Ellis references William Webb Ellis, the alleged inventor of rugby. He also shares the exact same name as him

Norton Campbell's background story references the author H.P Lovecraft's short story titled The Transition of Juan Romero.

Enchantress, Patricia Dorval's adoptive mother references Marie Laveau a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Vodou, herbalist and midwife who was renowned in New Orleans.

Wilding, Murro's Deductions mentions Kasper Hauser, a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell.

Female Dancer, Margaretha Zelle references both Mata Hari, a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and Natalia from The Last Circus.

Acrobat, Mike Morton's appearance references both Arlecchino from Commedia dell'arte and Vander Clyde Broadway an American female impersonator, high-wire performer, and trapeze artist born in Texas.

"Prisoner", Luca Balsa references Nikola Tesla a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Entomologist, Melly Plinius references Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) the Roman author/naturalist/natural philosopher.

Batter, Ganji Gupta's background story references the British Colonization of Indian Subcontinent (1858-1947).

"Psychologist", Ada Mesmer's Surname references Franz Anton Mesmer, a German physician who developed the theory of animal magnetism. She may also be inspired in Ada Lovelace the matematician

Soul Weaver, Violetta references Aloisia 'Violetta' Wagner, a famous German freak show performer from the early 20th century. She was renowned for having tetra-amelia syndrome.

The Ripper, Jack references Jack the Ripper an unidentified serial killer active in the impoverished districts in and around Whitechapel in the East End of London in 1888. His background story references Walter Sickert, a German-born British painter and print maker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London and was suspected of being Jack the Ripper.

Geisha, Michiko references Chōchō-San from Madame Butterfly. She may also reference Yosano Akiko or Higuchi Ichiyo, both famous writers and geishas. But not only, she may reference the play of Fukuchi Ochi "Mirror Lion" .

Hastur is based on The King in Yellow from H.P. Lovecraft novels (Cthulhu Mythos Franchise).

Wu Chang, Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu references Heibai Wuchang (黑白无常, Black and White Impermanence) the two Deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld.

Photographer, Joseph Desaulniers references both Nicéphore Niépce a French inventor, usually credited as the inventor of photography and a pioneer in that field and Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray. His background story also mentions the French Revolution.

Mad Eyes, Burke Lapadura references Edmund Burke, a highly regarded Canadian architect best known for building Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct or "Bloor Street Viaduct" and Toronto's Robert Simpson store.

Dream Witch, Yidhra references Yidhra from the H.P. Lovecraft novels (Cthulhu Mythos Franchise).

Bloody Queen, Mary references both Marie Antoinette the last queen of France and a controversal figure during the French Revolution and the abilities based on Bloody Mary.

"Disciple", Ann's background story references the Salem witch trials.

Violinist, Antonio references Niccolò Paganini an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.

Sculptor, Galatea Claude possibly references Camille Claudel a French sculptor known for her figurative works in bronze and marble and her name references to the statue carved of ivory by Pygmalion of Cyprus of the same name from Greek Mythology.

"Undead", Percy references Victor Frankenstein from the author Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.

The Breaking Wheel, Will Brothers references the Breaking wheel with their trailer also referencing the Execution of St Catherine.

Naiad, Grace references Naiads, fresh water nymphs presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water from Greek Mythology. She also appears to reference H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Wax Artist, Philippe is based on Philippe Curtius a Swiss physician and wax modeller who taught Marie Tussaud the art of wax modelling.

Hermit, Alva Lorenz references Thomas Edison, a famous inventor.

Night Watch, Ithaqua is based on Ithaqua from H.P. Lovecraft novels (Cthulhu Mythos Franchise).

"Big Daddy" is likely a reference to "Big Brother" from 1984 by George Orwell, the leader who keeps all citizens under constant surveillance and controls them.

Allen, while little is currently known about him, is likely based off Zadok Allen from The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Andrea may be based on Antonia Bianchi, a singer and the long term lover of Niccolo Paganini.

Arthur Byers is likely based on Ambrose Bierce, the author of “Haïta the Shepherd” in which Hastur first appeared.[1]

Catherine is based on St. Catherine of Alexandria who was executed using a breaking wheel.

Christina's death scene in Philipe's character trailer is an allusion to The Death of Marat by French painter Jacques-Louis David.

Claude Desaulniers is based on Claude Niépce, the older brother of French inventor Nicéphore Niépce.

Damballa is based on the benevolent spiritual intermediary in Haitian Voodoo of the same name.

James Reichenbach's last name is a reference to Reichenbach Falls, the name of the location where Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes had his fight to the death with his greatest foe Professor Moriarty.

James Whistler is based on the real life painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler who was the mentor of Walter Sickert.

Papa Legba is based on trickster spiritual intermediary in Haitian Vodou of the same name.

Princess Lamballe is based on Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy (Princesse de Lamballe) who was one of Marie Antoinette's closest friends.

Robert is likely based off Robert Olmstead, the main character and narrator of The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Sullivan is based on Anne Sullivan Macy, an American teacher and lifelong friend of Helen Keller.

The currently Unnamed Cat God is likely based on the short stories Nyarlathotep and Cats of Ulthar by H.P. Lovecraft.

Blue Aladdin references to Aladdin from Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.

Violet Peacock's Chinese description references to The Peacocks Fly Southeast.

Both Poseidon's Crown and Poseidon references to Poseidon the god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses from Greek Mythology.

Caged Butterfly's description mentions Madame Butterfly.

The 1st Essence of Season 2 is based on several Fairy Tale Stories on each Costumes.

King's Tailor references to one of the Swindler from The Emperor's New Clothes.

Both Lazy Mr. Bunny and Mr. Turtle references to The Hare and The Tortoise from The Tortoise and the Hare.

King Arthur references to the character of the same name

Merlin references to the character of the same name.

Black Swan is based on Odile (The Black Swan) from Swan Lake.

Anubis is based on the god of the same name who is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld in Egyptian Mythology.

Ancient Soul references to the Ankh an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol used in Egyptian art and writing to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself.

Soul Catcher references to Day of the Dead a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6 from Mexica.

Golden Touch is based on King Midas a king of Phrygia who is known to turn everything he touched into gold from Greek Mythology.

The 1st Essence of Season 6 has several references to Greek Mythology.

Icarus is named after and based on the hero of the same name who is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth on Greek Mythology.

Apollo is named after and based on the God of the same name who is the god of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, sunlight, knowledge, herds and flocks, protection of the young and the Member of Twelve Olympians.

Leonidas is named after Leonidas I a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta.

Pam possibly is based on Pan the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs.

Captain Hook is based on Captain James Hook.

Eversleeping Girl is based on Wendy Darling.

Forgotten Boy is possibly based on Peter Pan or one of the Lost Boys.

Siren is possibly based on the Mermaids from Mermaids' Lagoon.

March Hare is based on the Character of the Same Name.

Alice is based on the Protagonist of the Same Name.

Mr. Bunny is based on The White Rabbit.

Bill is based on Bill The Lizard.

Caterpillar is based on Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar.

Knave of Hearts is based on the character of the same name.

Executioner is based on one of the Queen of Hearts' Card Soldiers.

The Mad Hatter is based on the character of the same name.

Queen of Hearts is based on the character of the same name.

Serpent is based on Quetzalcoatl the god of life, light and wisdom, lord of the day and the winds from Aztec Mythology.

Lady Thirteen is based on Yu Mo from The Flowers of War, portrayed by the actress Ni Ni.

Sophia is based on Sophia Palaiologina a Byzantine princess, member of the Imperial Palaiologos family, Grand Princess of Moscow as the second wife of Grand Prince Ivan III.

Ivan is possibly based on Ivan III of Russia a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'.

Maroon Crystal is based on Dorothy Gale.

Princess Ozma is based on the character of the same name.

The Wicked Witch is based on both Wicked Witch of the West and Dorothy Gale.

Emerald City Coachman is based on the Coachman.

Oz, the Wizard is based on Wizard of Oz.

The Tin Man is based on Tin Woodman.

The Spookcrow is based on Scarecrow.

The Toothless Lion is based on Cowardly Lion.

Golden Ratio references to the Philosopher's Stone a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold.

Electrolysis references to the technique of the same name that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction.

Ouroboros references to the ancient symbol of the same name that depicts a snake or dragon eating it's own tail.

Choir Boy has a The squared circle symbol an alchemical symbol (17th century) illustrating the interplay of the four elements of matter symbolising the philosopher's stone on his back.

Mutation represents Chrysopoeia an artificial production of gold, most commonly by the alleged transmutation of base metals such as lead.

Sulfuric Acid has a tattoo on chest resembling the symbol of the same name based on Dalton's Law of Atomic Weights.

Vine references to the Elixir of life a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth.

Philofelist possibly references to Necromancy a practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead – either by summoning their spirits as apparitions, visions or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events, discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the dead as a weapon.

Judge represents Pride.

Deputy represents Greed.

Clerk represents Envy.

Court 3 Commissioner represents Wrath.

Court 5 Commissioner represents Sloth.

Court 6 Commissioner represents Gluttony.

Court 7 Commissioner represents Lust.

Narcissus is named after the character of the same name who rejected all romantic advances, eventually falling in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, staring at it for the remainder of his life, his name is the origin of Narcissism.

Clio is named after the goddess of the same name who is the goddess of history, lyre playing and a member of the Muses.

Talia is named after Thalia who is the goddess of comedy and a member of the Muses.

Hebe is named after the goddess of the same name who is the goddess of eternal youth, prime of life, forgiveness

"Succubus" is named after a demon of the same name they are female demons that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity.

Rainmaker's Beauty Form is based on both Lady Shizuka, one of the most famous women in Japanese history and literature and Ameonna, a yōkai thought to call forth rain while the Prajna Form is based on Kuchisake-onna, that appears as a malicious spirit, or onryō, of a woman, that partially covers her face with a mask or other item and carries some sort of sharp object.

"The Prince" is based on the titular character of the The Happy Prince.

Feathered Cloak is based on Freyja, a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future) from Norse Mythology.

The 3rd Essence of Season 17 is based on The Masque of the Red Death.

Man in Red is based on The Red Death.

Runaway is based on Prince Prospero.

The 1st Essence of Season 18 is based on The Marriage of Figaro.

Fury is based on both Count Almaviva (Philippe) and Countess Rosina (Christina).

"Susanna" is based on the character of the same name.

The 1st Essence of Season 20 is based on And Then There Were None.

The 2nd Essence of Season 20 takes place on The Crystal Palace on a fictional setting.

Lockheart is shown to be a fictional daughter of the in real life historical figure Joseph Paxton an English gardener, architect, engineer and Member of Parliament, best known for designing the Crystal Palace.

The 1st Essence of Season 21 is based on Bacchanalia, an unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia.

Spring Heated Wine is based on Dionysus, the god of the grape-harvest, wine making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre and a Member of the Twelve Olympians from Greek Mythology.

Bai Ze is based on Bai Ze itself, a mystical Chinese beast connected with spirits.

The 3rd Essence of Season 22 is based on insects and also the seven virtues.

Winter Cicada represents Humility.

Frozen Butterfly represents Chastity.

Ant represents Charity.

Scorpion represents Kindness.

Mayfly represents Diligence.

Centipede represents Temperance.

Worker Bee represents Patience.

Boudoir Dream is based on Child Jane Hudson from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane which is a film adaptation of a novel of the same name, portrayed by the child actress Julie Allred

Iron Lady is based on Harriet Craig from the film of the same name which is a film adaptation of Craig's Wife, portrayed by the actress Joan Crawford.

Samara is based on Samarra from The Prodigal which is a film adaptation of Parable of the Prodigal Son, portrayed by the actress Lana Turner.

Rhythm of the Rain is based on Kathy Selden from Singin' in the Rain, portrayed by the actress Debbie Reynolds.

Recluse is based on Jef Costello from Le Samouraï, portrayed by the actor and filmmaker Alain Delon.

Hamlet is based on the titular character of the 1948 film which is the film adaptation of the play of the same name, portrayed by the actor and director Laurence Olivier.

Colonel Dax is based on the character of the same name from Paths of Glory which is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, portrayed by the actor and filmmaker Kirk Douglas.

The Red Shoes is based on Victoria Page from The Red Shoes which is a film adaptation of a fairy tale of the same name, portrayed by the actress ballet dancer and actress Moira Shearer.

The Black Tulip is based on both Guillaume de Saint Preux and Julien de Saint Preux from The Black Tulip which is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, both portrayed by the actor and filmmaker Alain Delon.

Just Around the Corner is based on Penny Hale from Just Around the Corner which is a film adaptation of Lucky Penny, portrayed by former child actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat and diplomat Shirley Temple.

Zouzou is based on the titular character of the 1934 film, portrayed by actress, French Resistance agent, and Civil Rights Activist Josephine Baker.

Ben-Hur is based on Judah Ben-Hur from Ben-Hur which is a film adaptation of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, portrayed by the actor and political activist Charlton Heston.

Dorothy is based on Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz which is a film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, portrayed by actress and singer Judy Garland.

Salome is based on the titular character from the movie of the same name, portrayed by actress, dancer, and producer Rita Hayworth.

Da Vinci is based on Leonardo da Vinci from The Life of Leonardo da Vinci which is a miniseries about the real life artist, portrayed by actor Philippe Leroy.

Svengali is based on the titular character of the 1931 film which is a film adaptation of Trilby, portrayed by the actor on radio, stage and radio John Barrymore.

Rashomon is based on the Samurai's wife from Rashomon which is a film adaptation of two Ryūnosuke Akutagawa novels "In a Grove" and "Rashōmon", portrayed by the actress Machiko Kyō.

Broken Blossoms are based on Cheng Huan from Broken Blossoms which is a film adaptation of The C**** and the Child, portrayed by the actor Richard Barthelmess.

Scarlet is based on Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind which is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, portrayed by the actress Vivien Leigh.

Faust is based on the titular character of the 1927 film which is a film adaptation of the play of the same name, portrayed by the actor, director and singer Gösta Ekman.

Million Dollar Mermaid is based on Annette Kellerman from the film of the same name which is a biography about the real life swimmer, portrayed by swimmer and actress Esther Williams.

[no-white-dress]

Who are your OCs? Could you introduce them a little? (i am not familiar with winx)

Wanna know the best part about drawing my own OCs? I have a list of them ready anytime. I will link the posts with the corresponding drawings.

Roughly by order of appearance:

Cassandra, fairy of celestial bodies: my winxsona, despite the title she is actually both a fairy and a witch. This ability to use both magic polarities is called magic bipolarism (more on this headcanon here). Just a version of me who speaks her mind more than I do, although I was very careful with what I actually wrote down. If you wanna look for me in my fanfic, she is not the real vessel.

There's also the winxsonas of my high school friend group, though a good chunk of it fell apart way before I finished writing the story. Some hard feelings made it to the page, but not all. Sadly I wasn’t able to coherently kick one of them out of the story and had to keep her till the end.

Aire of Magix, witch of time: she is co-owned with a friend of mine, and some of her first appearances are co-written as well (hence the shift in tone in some parts). She starts off as a freshman in Cloudtower, school for witches, she's impulsive and eager to prove herself and go on cool adventures.

Laverna, witch of ghosts: she exists because I wanted a minor annoyance for Aire. Your classic mean, bossy witch, with a nod to the Roman goddess of thieves she is named after for the little trial she imposes on Aire.

Henna of Zenith, witch of maps: along with Laverna and Yami, she shares the Cloudtower apartment with Aire. She's very unserious and her moral compass is basically whatever sounds entertaining for her. Her powers are a valuable strategic asset.

Yami, witch of natural disasters: she likes to present herself as calm and innocent when she can be quite mischevious. She does have a stronger sense of limit than her roommates (she is 60% of Henna's impulse control), and generally wants to avoid trouble if it can harm her or get out of hand.

Walter of Linphea: advanced class Specialist (student of Red Fountain, school for knights and mages), he has some form of magic but he isn't interested in it and never cultivated his powers. Hopeless romantic, he thinks critically and can make solid impressions of any teacher. Absolute Darcy simp.

Vanir: captain of Walter's Specialist team, he is a background character in winx's season one and I liked his design enough. Also his wolverine gauntlets are cool. He is pretty outgoing and cares about the safety of his teammates above all.

Takeshi: computer guy of Walter's team, insecure and a bit of a scaredy cat. To say he prefers behind the scenes jobs is an understatement.

Misha: the last element of Walter's team, tall, quiet and strong. I didn't really do much with him, not much to say.

Alec of Magix: third year Specialist, nephew of Codatorta (teacher at Red Fountain), a pretty vain boy who has no problem with dating around without putting in any work. Until a first year witch tells him off and he is shocked to find out that he'd do anything to impress her, actually. (Also co-written with Aire's owner, the first part of his arc is her doing).

He also has a team but they appear once to joke around with him about his date so...

Xavier: an old mage and famous professor, expert on magical artefacts and always busy in some new research he got a sudden interest in. Not the most social person, most of his colleagues dislike him due to his absolute lack of diplomacy, but he is right more often than not. He grumbles a lot but will help if asked.

Donnie of Whisperia, mage of metals: Stormy's little brother, Xavier's apprentice. He has a very sweet personality and desperately wants to reconnect with his sister and her friends.

Andrea, fairy of alchemy: based off a dear friend of mine, also a pupil of Xavier. She wants to advance her magic but without having to enroll in a magic school, so she stays with professor Xavier and in return she helps him study fairy forms. She's pretty sassy and direct, but unlike her mentor she knows when to hold her tongue.

There's a bunch of random characters for a parallel universe the cast briefly ends up in in the fanfic, but everything relevant about them is too closely knitted to the story to make sense out of context.

Nixie of Whisperia, fairy of thought: a third year student in Alfea, she only appears in a spin-off chapter so far but I really like her design. Her middle and ring fingers are fused together on both hands.

Harkan of Whisperia: Darcy's dad, doesn't resent his daughter at all, actually he feels guilty for not intervening when she cut them off.

Elle of Domino: Darcy's mom, same as her husband, with the extra of feeling responsible for Icy's troubles too because of her friendship with her mother Sitara.

Egan of Whisperia: Stormy and Donnie's dad, absolutely identical to both children except that he's short and they are not. Owns a restaurant.

Ambra of Whisperia: Stormy and Donnie's mom, works in the restaurant as well. When Stormy cut them off she focused on Donnie, like Egan did, while still keeping the door open in case Stormy wished to return.

Icy's dad: deadbeat who literally first saw his daughter 23 years after her birth. She wants nothing to do with him.

Mocca: Icy's coworker at the Magix disco, best wingman ever, loves to joke around with Icy and tease her. He knows he can afford it because she actually likes hanging out with him and won't freeze him off. Not for long anyway.

Robin: Mocca's boyfriend, isn't around much to tell the truth. His most interesting trait is his visor, a special device that helps him see colors.

Manuel of Earth: oh look, a male Earth fairy!! Long story short Earth was magicless for centuries due to canon events that involved cutting the wings of all fairies and apparently leaving only some female fairies alive on an island where they never aged, but the winx brought magic back and that... was never talked about again. Manuel is one of the people who developed magic without any guidance and had to learn on his own, until he went to a concert...

Dave of Magix, mage of smoke and fog: MY BELOVED- ahem. I need to pretend I don't have favorites. Certified Icy simp, loves to make her flustered and joke around with her, but also very good at advice. He's easy-going, flirty, has enough self-esteem to make up for the lack of it his partners sometimes experience. Very caring, he can speak five languages and works as a translator. He may not be much of a fighter but he can stand his ground.

Nadia, Alohi, Olivia, Viveca: some of Icy's freshmen students when she starts teaching at Cloudtower. Their drawing is still a work in progress but I can tell you I love their designs very much and I am very sad I don't have stories to write for them.

Daria of Solaria, witch of gravity: another one of Icy's students and later on her colleague, @dariaslore's winxsona. We have the best time imagining this fancy witch who can't go a day without a walk in the sun confuse the entire school. Her classmates think she'd be better off as a fairy (she would not), her teachers wonder how the hell she gets good grades when she's at school only during class and is at the Lake sunbathing every single day (she studies on the Lake's shore or directly on a boat in the middle of it). Super fan of princess Stella, of course, very into fashion, puts great care in her workout routine.

Then there's a lot of second generation characters who have no drawing or story (well, most of them) yet, so I'll keep them for myself for a while more :)

[taco-pal]

STARFIELD THOUGHTS SO FAR:

Been playing Starfield and while I love the game's astronomical highs, the lows the game contains are all old problems other games have already solved and also very annoyingly Bethesda design choices. It's baffling how Bethesda oscillates between being occasionally brilliant or stumbling into the most boring versions of quest design and character choices.

For instance, the gameplay loop of Fallout 4 felt incredible; loot houses and buildings for construction material while usually getting into some great gunfights that reinforce the idea of trying to survive in the wasteland and build a community. BUT we're going to have such a strange choice of a plot set up and limit the choices you're able to make and simplify the lore. Also you're not going to be able to romance the cool detective crooner and easy choice for love interest android man Nick Valentine because we're prudish weirdos who think it'd be icky!!!!

The main cast and main quests of Starfield are painfully dull. No one has any sort of real character depth. It's like they thought of a few archetypes but didn't give them any real sense of personality beyond that. Walter should be portrayed as a capitalist freak, instead he's a philanthropic capitalist funding his dream. Sarah Morgan is so robotic. Andreja is potentially interesting but has no depth. Matteo should be constantly presenting conflict within the group because he's religious, etc etc. Barrett seemed like he had a personality but there hasn't been much depth to him since the beginning of the game.

It's like Bethesda wanted to be as painfully inoffensive as possible that they whitewash conflicting ideologies constantly, so much so to the point that it feels like there's no real ideological differences between the main factions outside of the ones committing real crimes. Like, how could a free market economy EVER have a united government in space? How do all of these randos afford to have space ships? WHY give the player a ship immediately? It's also a massive misstep to not IMMEDIATELY include alien civilizations for interesting conflict!!!! This game wants to feel like Star Trek/Mass Effect but it misses so much of what makes those stories interesting. It is so apparent that they started working on this a decade ago because the science fiction tropes they present here became tired tropes between 2010- to now. Do you like Firefly? Here is our Space Western planet :) Do you like cyberpunk? Here is our neon drenched cityscape :) Do you like the Citadel from Mass Effect? Here is our version. :) It just does all of that stuff in ways that aren't even half ass effectve. It's also so fucking weird that they just don't want anyone to look hot? It feels so distinctly American in that it is so prudish and too cowardly to acknowledge that sex even exists in this universe lmfao. EVERYONE is so overdressed! It's hilarious. In the year that Baldur's Gate 3, the most horny game ever dropped? Laughable.

There's so much potential for interesting dramatic conflict and they don't explore any of it! It's such a boring way to present Constellation. Sarah Morgan says they do shady shit all the time and know what a jail cell is like, but has a meltdown the moment anything morally grey happens! It's like Bethesda is so averse to having any of these characters be disliked, so they ironed out any possible sense of real personality they could have.

It's so frustrating because there is so much potential here; a lot of the side quests are fun and present great dramatic conflict, even though they are undercut by some flat outcomes. Exploring planets and the ship stuff is all fun and engaging, jetpacking around and shooting dudes is fun as hell too. And yet the main quest is so damn boring it takes away from all of that. Ugh.

This is all without even getting into the horrid UI and terrible decision to NOT INCLUDE LOCAL AND CITY MAPS????? I want to love this game and have really enjoyed some of it! It's just got some very distinctly Bethesda flaws. It brings me no joy to say this. Ugh. :\

[mybeingthere]

Denis Wirth-Miller (1915-2010), born Wurtmüller in Folkestone to a Bavarian father and English mother.

Denis Wirth-Miller: Bohemian artist who enjoyed a close association with Francis Bacon.Denis Wirth-Miller was one of a group of artists who for many years injected the spirit of bohemia into the life of Wivenhoe, a small shipbuilding and repairing town on the Essex coast. The jollifications of Wirth-Miller, his partner, the James Bond illustrator Richard "Dickie" Chopping, and the painter Francis Bacon remain the stuff of local legend.

Such stories, true or untrue – among the latter is one that after Bacon's death his former Wivenhoe house was kept as a shrine by Denis and Dickie – have tended to overshadow Wirth-Miller's achievements as a painter. One recognition of this will be a forthcoming small retrospective at the Minories Art Gallery, Colchester.

Also undermining Wirth-Miller's reputation was the fact that from the early 1970s sight problems hindered him and that latterly he suffered from dementia. All this must have been hard for a man who had shown in London's leading galleries and had work in the collections of the Queen, the Arts Council and Contemporary Art Society.

Wirth-Miller was born in Folkestone, Kent, in 1915, where his Bavarian father Johann Wirthmiller (Denis later Anglicised his name) ran a busy hotel. Wirth-Miller's mother moved him to Bamburgh in her home county of Northumberland, where he was raised by his grandmother.After school, he joined Tootal Broadhurst Lee, the textile manufacturers in Manchester, where innate talent prompted his appointment as a designer. After arriving in London early in 1937 he met Dickie Chopping, who moved into one of the painter Walter Sickert's former studios in north London, where Denis was living. Thus began a lifelong relationship; in December 2005 they became the first in Colchester to make a civil partnership.

It was not without disagreements, even how about they first met – according to Chopping at a Regent's Park charity garden party, according to Wirth-Miller at the Café Royal, a celebrated meeting point for gay men. A friend was concerned about the vulnerability of the Sickert flat to bomb damage and advised them to leave London, lending them the dilapidated Felix Hall in Kelvedon, Essex. There, they scraped a living gardening and other jobs.Then, importantly, they met the painters Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, who had established the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, first at Dedham and, when that was destroyed by fire, at Benton End. The artist Mollie Russell-Smith recalled how, as a student lacking an easel, with trepidation she knocked on the door at Benton End and it was "flung open by three young men" – Chopping, Wirth-Miller and Lucian Freud. 

"They bundled me in, assuming that I had come to be a student, and Dickie showed me all over the house with great enthusiasm and charm. I was enchanted."

https://www.independent.co.uk/.../denis-wirthmiller...

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/denis-wirth-miller-bacon.../

[thoughtportal]

WHEN it opened in 1910, the 12-story Alwyn Court, at 58th Street and Seventh Avenue, attracted attention with its fabulously intricate facade.

Now the dark streaks of damaged terra cotta panels spot the landmark building, as the co-op that owns it evaluates repairs.

By 1900 Seventh Avenue around Carnegie Hall had New York's most important collection of apartment houses: the block-long Van Corlear, from 55th to 56th Street: the Rembrandt (New York's first co-op) at 152 West 57th; the massive Osborne at 201 West 57th and the eight-building Navarro Flats, stretching east from Seventh at Central Park South.

The apartment market had been invigorated by the new popularity of the co-op, a concept revived beginning in 1902 in a series of buildings on West 67th Street. Their sponsors were several artists, including Walter Russell. In early 1907 Russell had the architects Harde & Short begin work on the cathedral-front studio building at 44 West 77th Street. That summer Russell, working with the developer Alwyn Ball Jr., bought a Seventh Avenue plot at the southeast corner of 58th Street; in September the Real Estate Record & Guide said Russell would build a ''studio palace'' co-op, designed by the same architects.

For some reason Russell dropped out, and Ball reworked the project into one of the most lavish apartment buildings up to that time. The Alwyn Court had two apartments per floor, each with 14 rooms and 5 baths, renting for up to $10,000 a year; one 32-room duplex was offered at $22,000 per year. Harde & Short created a plan with a square, 12-story central light court and groups of entertaining spaces -- music room, living room, library, dining room, gallery and conservatory, which could be thrown together to create 2,000 square feet. In the typical apartment, the largest room was 18 by 30 feet.

Using the new medium of glazed terra cotta, Harde & Short developed the most intricate apartment facade in New York, executed by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company. The delicate, Gothic details at the entrance and the expanse of French Renaissance styling, all in light gray, rebuked the Victorian brick and brownstone of Seventh Avenue's earlier buildings.

The magazine Architecture praised the ''consummate skill'' of the terra-cotta work and the ''considerable charm'' of the entrance. But it added that while the design of the facade ''if made by a pastry cook, would be of the highest excellence . . . it can hardly be considered at all in the light of architecture.'' The overall result it said, ''defies description.''

In late 1909, the Alwyn Court opened to tenants. Most of them moved from private houses, like Jacob Wertheim, president of United Cigar Stores, who left a 50-foot-wide house at 5 West 76th Street to occupy the duplex. Another was Frederick Steinway; in 1925, as president of his family's piano company, Steinway moved the firm from East 14th Street to its new headquarters at 119 West 57th Street. In 1910 The New York Times noted that these new apartment houses could be just as palatial as private houses, but needed half as many servants. Repairs by the building staff were quick and it was easy to close up the apartment for travel; many tenants spent only a few months in the city.

Only five apartments had been taken by the night of March 4, 1910, when Patrick Quinn, a doorman, saw the reflection of flames in the windows of the Navarro Flats across 58th. He raced to alert the occupants, and Edward King and Robert Casson ran the elevator through the smoke until the motor shorted out.

No one was seriously hurt, although three housemaids, thinking the entire building was in flames, almost jumped from the roof to Seventh Avenue.

''Great Blaze Lights the City,'' said The New York Tribune on page 1, and 10,000 people watched; The Times described the Alwyn Court as ''a huge torch.'' The fire had started in an unoccupied apartment on the ninth floor, and broken through the windows; tongues of fire leapfrogged the blaze to the top.

Despite its luxury, the Alwyn Court was short on fire protection: with no fire escapes and without fire doors, its single narrow stairway served as a perfect chimney flue. There was no central standpipe so firefighters had to thread hose up floor by floor.

The damage was repaired and census records for the 1910's and 1920's indicate the Alwyn Court was fully occupied. But by the 1930's Seventh Avenue was no longer a desirable address and there were only six residential telephone listings in the building in 1936. By 1937 the building was empty.

The Dry Dock Savings Institution foreclosed and gutted the building in 1938, creating 75 apartments where there had been two dozen. Their architect, Louis S. Weeks, removed the heavy cornice and balustrade, and reworked the apartments to retain most of the large rooms.

The original corner entrance was closed, replaced with the present one on Seventh Avenue, and the new Alwyn Court was soon 100 percent rented, producing a gross income of $137,000 a year.

According to research by the architectural historian Andrew Alpern, one of the last tenants, John MacEnulty, salvaged four decorative stone lions for his house in Sands Point, L.I. The paneling from the Wertheim apartment -- described as taken from a French chateau -- was moved to the Squadron A Armory on 94th and Madison Avenue.

IN 1980, with a co-op conversion underway, the architects Beyer Blinder Belle supervised a $500,000 facade restoration, cleaning the terra cotta and replacing damaged blocks with cast concrete replicas. The artist Richard Haas painted a full-height trompe l'oeil mural in the central courtyard; with a new skylight, it became an atrium. The corner entrance was reopened as an entrance for a commercial tenant.

Now, 17 years later, the facade needs more work. Because large chunks of masonry are missing from the fifth-floor balcony, a sidewalk bridge has been erected on Seventh Avenue to protect pedestrians. Although the flat panels on the facade appear intact, about one-third of the window and balcony soffits are visibly damaged.

Gerard Meehan, the property manager for NRK Management, which oversees the building, says that last year a piece of terra cotta fell to the sidewalk. Now engineers are being interviewed, and any work will flow from a consultant's recommendations. Mr. Meehan says he doesn't think this project will be a major one.

[melmac78]

An interesting thought I had today regarding the puzzlement of the five Tracys ages/placement in regard to the TOS order.

Normally, parents tend to put their children in birth order from oldest to youngest. This is not done in TAG or the 2004 movie, which has them in Thunderbirds order.

TOS they’re not.

So I did some digging on the actual Mercury 7 astronauts' birthdates and see if there was any tie in to parallel them.

Sure enough - in that order John and Gordon are placed correct as oldest and youngest to their real life counterparts. John Glenn was born July 18, 1921 and Leroy Gordon Cooper was born March 6, 1927.

That said, the middle three wouldn't be the three they were named - Scott, Virgil and Alan, if they went by their birthdates.

It'd been Walter (Wally), Alan and Donald (Deke) if Gerry Andersen had went by their namesakes' actual birthdates.

Wally Schirra was born March 12, 1923, Alan Shepard Nov. 18, 1923 and Deke Slayton was born March 1, 1924.

Malcolm Scott Carpenter was born May 1, 1925 and Virgil “Gus” Grisson was born April 3, 1926 to round out the seven.

.....

So a theory, and it IS theory which folks can take or leave given I'm tired and just want to do something fun:

I wonder if Anderson had originally considered going by the oldest and youngest of the Mercury 7, and then the next three oldest, but then seeing the names, just went with more timeless names Scott, Virgil and Alan. (Virgil keeping his original name to clearly show the tie-in to the Mercury group, as Gus Grisson hated his original name and NASA didn't want to use his middle - Ivan - due to the Space race with Russia.)

Alan does sound older however than Gordon in the pilot, not to mention the hairstyles would match with an Alan being older dynamic, so it would make sense for him to still be photo layout wise older than Gordon, but then it was recast. John's sculpt is designed older so it still fits with the original story of who was the original leader/hero.

Given the style and temperament of the middle three however, their actual names fit their counterparts better.

Doesn't officially give them any birth order, but it may explain the photo order and why so much confusion on the order in TOS.

Seriously - Virgil/John being older debate aside, TAG does benefit with us knowing who is oldest to youngest in style of the characters, voice and vocalization of age.

[whitepolaris]

Old School Ties

Perhaps it’s because schools are so busy during the day and you only get to see them nearly empty when you’re serving after-school detention that the idea of poking around in an empty school brings out the naughty schoolkid in all of us. It’s certainly that way with the two great empty schools in Maryland-the DC-area National Park Seminary and the abandoned St. Mary’s College near Ellicott City in Howard County. True, most people who visit these places actually risk detention in the big house for trespassing, but from a tantalizing and legally safe distance, these are some of Maryland’s greatest treasures. 

Refinishing the Finishing School

With the demand for housing around Washington, DC, it’s almost inconceivable that a whole town could largely abandoned for fifty years just inside the Capitol Beltway. And yet that’s exactly what happened to Forest Glen, a Victorian resort town near Silver Spring. But even more bizarre than the fact it exists is the way it looks. The site’s two-dozen buildings include a pagoda, a Greek-style temple, a scaled-down castle, and Mediterranean villas, with statues scattered everywhere. That hardly qualifies as your average DC suburb. 

But how did such a strange place come about in the first place? Forest Glen began life as a suburb resort, attracting the new class of permanent government workers created by the 1883 Civil Service Act. The prevailing opinion at the time was that city life was unhealthy and it was imperative to take frequent breaks to country resorts. Silver Spring was far enough out to qualify as the countryside, so a consortium of developers built Ye Forest Inne there, a quarter mile from the Forest Glen station. For about seven years, it eked out a declining business until in 1894 two teachers bought it up and turned it into a girls’ finishing school. 

John and Vesta Cassedy renamed the site the National Park Seminary and touted the school’s creek of “soul training.” Their brochure read, “A daughter needs, above all, that the windows of her soul should be thrown wide open to the universe of beauty.” The Cassedys decided to ornament the area’s natural beauty with some man-made attractions. Inspired by the 1893 Chicago Fair, they embarked on a building spree between 1894 and 1916 that added sixteen “international” buildings-everything from a Swiss chalet to a Japanese-style pagoda. These newer buildings were designed as sorority houses. The rolls were filled with the daughters of prominent families-Chrysler, Heinz, Kraft, and Maytag-and the school remained active until 1942, under two changes of ownership. That’s when the army invaded. 

Under the War Powers Act, the army was empowered to commandeer buildings it needed, and it decided that the National Park Seminary was exactly what it wanted. The Walter Reed Army Hospital bought this place for $859,000, put in some utilitarian buildings, and left the rest to slowly fall apart. For decades, it was a great place for urban explorers-some of whom hastened the decline of the buildings by vandalism. During this time, locals liked to walk through the place and came to regard it as a public park. By the late 1960s, the buildings were crumbling so much that the arm drew up a demolition plan. By the end of the 1980s, the army wanted to level the place. It was then that Maryland residents began to call for preservation. In due time, the National Register of Historic Places and a preservation society called Save Our Seminary came on board and stopped the army. But the decay continued. They held back the United States Arm until a truce was finally reached in 2005. 

The sequel to the Forest Glen story as an abandoned site ends sadly. A group of developers area in the process of turning the ruins into prime residential real estate. The old inn and its grounds will become rental units, condos, and single-family homes. The place will retain its historic integrity (the preservationists will see to that), but it will no longer be the eerie abandoned place so many hundreds of people visited from the 1960s onward. 

[ulkaralakbarova]

Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Captain Patrick Hendry: Kenneth Tobey Nikki: Margaret Sheridan Dr. Arthur Carrington: Robert Cornthwaite Ned ‘Scotty’ Scott: Douglas Spencer Lt. Eddie Dykes: James Young Crew Chief Bob: Dewey Martin Lt. Ken ‘Mac’ Erickson: Robert Nichols Corporal Barnes: William Self Tex Richards: Nicholas Byron Dr. Stern: Eduard Franz Dr. Redding: George Fenneman Prof. Voorhees: Paul Frees Prof. Wilson: Everett Glass Dr. Lorenz: Norbert Schiller Prof. Ambrose: Edmund Breon Dr. Chapman: John Dierkes Mrs. Chapman: Sally Creighton ‘The Thing’: James Arness Gen. Fogarty: David McMahon Bill Stone (uncredited): Bill Neff Film Crew: Stunts: Sol Gorss Production Manager: Walter Daniels Music Director: Dimitri Tiomkin Screenplay: Charles Lederer Director of Photography: Russell Harlan Producer: Howard Hawks Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera Sound: Clem Portman Director: Christian Nyby Stunts: Dick Crockett Hairstylist: Larry Germain Costume Designer: Michael Woulfe Editor: Roland Gross Stunts: Leslie Charles Makeup Supervisor: Lee Greenway Set Decoration: William Stevens Stunts: Tom Steele Associate Producer: Edward Lasker Stunts: Duke Taylor Stunts: Bob Morgan Art Direction: John Hughes Stunts: Ken Terrell Special Effects: Linwood G. Dunn Novel: John W. Campbell Jr. Stunts: Teddy Mangean Assistant Director: Arthur Siteman Sound: Phil Brigandi Special Effects: Donald Steward Camera Operator: Landon Arnett Stunts: Russell Saunders Special Effects Technician: Thol Simonson Stunts: Bill Lewin Movie Reviews: John Chard: There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied. The Thing from Another World is set at The North Pole and finds a bunch of U.S. airmen, scientists and a journalist getting more than they bargained for when they investigate a space craft frozen in the ice. What is most striking about the film is the basic human story of team work, the pulling together of mankind during a crisis, this theme is a big shift from the short story by John W Campbell Jr. (Who Goes There?). Where that story and later John Carpenter’s wonderful remake focused on paranoia and mistrust, this film is something of the “polar” opposite (literally) as regards the group in peril. It bears all the hallmarks of producer Howard Hawks, who clearly influenced Nyby’s direction. The script, with its pros and cons of a military and scientific society, is very much of its time, blending po-faced observations with straight backed joviality. But this all works in the film’s favour and helps define it as one of the most important science fiction pictures ever made. Along with the other major sci-fi movie of 1951, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “TTFAW” firmly brought the visitor from outer space idea into the public conscious. But where the former film intellectualised the alien visitor, resplendent with a message of worth, the latter is about terror, pushing forward the notion that the visitor here is a monster that wants to drink our blood and attempt World domination. No major effects work is needed here because one of the pic’s highlights is only glimpsing the creature (James Arness) in little snippets, and this after we are made to wait for some time before things really kick off. This begs us to think for ourselves as regards this stalking menace, putting us firmly with this intrepid group of people, and we want to see them survive and we do care if they can or do succeed. The low end budget doesn’t hamper the atmosphere or flow, in fact Nyby, Hawks, cinematographer Russell Harlan and music maestro Dimitri Tiomkin, work wonders to ensure there’s a level of authenticity to the Arctic base and that peril is never far away. Not hindered by many of the clichés that would dominate similar themed genre pieces that followed it, film neatly taps into fears that were to become prevalent as the 1950s wore on. It may not be perf...

[dankusner]

SUPREME COURT

Justices reject drag appeal

Action means show at West Texas A&M will not go on next week

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from a student group that has been blocked from staging a drag show at a public university in Texas.

The justices did not comment Friday in refusing to issue an order that would have allowed Spectrum WT — a group for LGBTQ+ students and allies — to put on a charity show next Friday on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, just south of Amarillo.

The high court had previously refused to allow Florida to enforce its law targeting drag shows, while lower federal courts in a Montana, Tennessee and Texas blocked state bans from being implemented.

Drag shows across the country have been targeted by right-wing activists and politicians, and events nationwide like drag story hours, where drag queens read books to children, have drawn protesters.

The Texas college dispute first arose last year when the school’s president, Walter Wendrell, announced in a letter and column laden with religious references that drag performances would not be allowed on campus.

Wendrell wrote that the shows discriminate against women and that the performances were “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”

Wendrell blocked a show scheduled for a year ago.

Spectrum WT sued, arguing that drag wasn’t designed to be offensive and portraying it as a celebration of many things, including “queerness, gender, acceptance, love and especially femininity.”

But U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled against the group.

“The First Amendment does not prevent school officials from restricting ‘vulgar and lewd’ conduct that would ‘undermine the school’s basic educational mission’ — particularly in settings where children are physically present,” Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote last year.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which hears cases from Texas, refused to allow the drag show to go ahead or speed up its timetable for hearing and deciding the student group’s appeal.

Spectrum WT sought the Supreme Court’s intervention as the date for its 2024 drag show approached. Spectrum WT and its two student leaders who filed the lawsuit are represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, a national civil liberties group.

Former A&M president:

Why pull out of Qatar partnership?

The decision to close the successful satellite campus makes no sense, deserves more transparency

By RAY M. BOWEN

I was surprised and disappointed when I learned of the decision by the regents of the Texas A&M University System to cancel the university’s contract with the Qatar Foundation effective 2028 and close the campus in Doha commonly referred to as TAMUQ.

I wish they had provided additional information in support of their decision.

I understand the regents deal with difficult and complex issues.

I respect the fact that the decision they made is within their authority.

The source of my surprise is the 20-year-plus reputation of the partnership as one that’s successful in every aspect.

In the early days, I had a small role in the decision to partner with the Qatar Foundation.

They made their request to Texas A&M University a few months before I ended my time as university president.

In response to that request, Provost Ronald Douglas took a small delegation of faculty and administrators to Doha to evaluate whether we should pursue the opportunity in Qatar.

This group returned with a strong positive assessment of the opportunities there.

[grapesodadarkchocolate]

Spring--here--now???

January 16, 2024

“Of course history is the humbling story of our misbegotten inflations, and truth is the corrective story of how we return to exactly who we are.” —Mark Nepo

Dearest Richard,

Our nation was honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on his birthday yesterday. Most federal and state employees had the day off. A potential time for reflection on where we now ride as a country. Bringing much up close and personal for me.  Finding just cause for actions taken and falling short. Leading with the right foot arcing itself towards a more perfect world. I stand here in this moment claiming the roughness of intent towards actions taken. Humility is being eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What is lost and continuously seeks to be gained? What can be learned from our ancestors mistakes? This is the present question riding up for me. Continuing to learn, being held accountable for what I miss and need to amend. Staying humble throughout the process. Anything that alters the “good” that is  possible in a moment. It is something personal in the sense of my own responsibility in how I react. It isn’t because of somebody else, but it is about me in particular. Being personal because it is something between me and God. If I, for my entire life lean myself towards God’s divine design that is within me, then I experience a lot of writing on life’s chalkboard and then erasing. Trying again and erasing again. Not feeling shame, just feeling that I have a goal that I am working on and I need to practice more each and every day. Grounding down my innate imperfections over and again. This is what I am learning.

“Where did this all come from?” you might wonder. Getting sidetracked—yup,  but please stay with me for a bit. It makes sense in my head and I am anticipating this thinking will eventually bring me back around to where I need to continue heading out from. Learning something new can be messy and with no clear map it is easy to get off road. That can be where some of the most profound understanding can be found or it might just be a way to use up more gas. To get closer to running on empty. But that is the risk. I am presently game to take it and I hope you are too. For it seems more alive and open to the expanse of what life continues to offer me when I keep my eyes wide open.

So here goes— an explanation of my  brain’s thoughts, as tangle webbed as they may seem. As part of your archived papers saved by Martha Jane, I was reading through the Gethsemane Parish Visitor weekly newsletter telling of events for the week of October 5, 1945. It was where the notice of your upcoming memorial service was circled. To be held the following Sunday: “Open to all who wish to come,”  the notice read. In the leaflet there was a smattering of details about the number of parishioners in the pews that previous Sunday, the schedule for an upcoming Boy Scout meeting and the next speaker for the Youth Group. Mr. John Sinykin would be speaking about his project for training seeing eye dogs. Sounds interesting. There was even an ad for a jewelry store, White & MacNaught nearby at 812 Nicollet Ave., “offering a solution for my gift problem.” Huh.

Reading further along. Thinking about how the everyday details were interspersed in along with your memorial service notice. There was a congratulating shout out to Betty Anne Weitzel for having just, the previous Wednesday, graduated from St. Barnabas nursing school. There was a welcome home for Walter Hall who was returning from overseas following his honorable discharge from the army. Dang. There that wordless pain can thwack one in the face. I am glad Walter was returning home, but what about you? You needed to return home too. So I continue to read and on page 3 I come across this article by John Wall of Virginia. This is part two of his article. Part one was on the previous week’s bulletin, but this is the key sentences that caught my attention: 

“They [African Americans] have seen a world at war over ideas and ideals. They have learned that equality of economic, educational, and social opportunities is the right of every citizen regardless of race, creed, or color. No longer will they accept a second-class citizenship role.”

That message slapped up against my more recent finding about your dad and his land development company condoning racial covenants on land he was subdividing in this city where both of us were born. 

Here is the legalese from a document I had of some of his loan transactions. Selling only to the “caucasian” race. Learning more as more is uncovered. Trying to find room for what prejudicial actions look like and where we move from what is known and accepted. Or at least not spoken against to stop. So here he is, possibly sitting in a Gethsemane church pew, reading this article. Knowing there was movement that the war unlatched. Your dad, having worked in said position for decades now. Having raised a family. Moved out of the family home. Not certain if he was employed at this time or not. I don’t know what was in the mix but I just wondered if there was movement toward change for him? Was he a single bystander doing whatever everyone else was doing in the real estate business during the 20’s, 30’s and early 40’s or was he more of a ring leader? Knowing the power of silence can hold the crime of harm in place as much as overt actions can.

Just wondering. Stirring up the pot. Adding more ingredients into the mix. 

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." — Martin Luther King Jr.

With deep love and incessant curiosity,

Your Niece ❤️

Related blog entry: The Imperfects: July 4th: Read , July 4, 2019 🍇🥤🍫

This Week:

Words Matter: Opinion: "The problem isn’t Biden’s ‘illegal’ gaffe" by Jose Antonio Vargas, CNN: Read, March 11, 2024 📰

[ultraheydudemestuff]

Tower East

20600 Chagrin Boulevard

Shaker Heights, OH

Tower East is a twelve story high-rise office building located at 20600 Chagrin Boulevard in Shaker Heights, Ohio. At 160 feet, it is the tallest building in the city. Built in 1966-1969, Tower East was the last building in the United States designed by German architect Walter Gropius who founded the Bauhaus school of design and is considered a pioneer of modernism. Gropius designed this building during his tenure with The Architect's Collaborative (TAC).  BGK Equities of Santa Fe, New Mexico, purchased the building for $12.68 million in 2000. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 22, 2014.  In 2015, it was sold to E2G, an affiliate of the Equity Engineering Group Inc.

[grad604-haydenmiddleton]

AGI OPEN @ AOTEA SQUARE NOTES

Below are the notes I took on each speaker when I had the privilege of going to the AGI event. The star beside some of the names were my favourite speakers and so I also went and found some images online of their work that I enjoy.

TAKU SATOH *

TSDO website. HODO HODO = just enough. Gerry Lopez— surf realisation is designed by him. The ecological approach to visual design. A piece of cloth by Taku Satoh. HODO HODO design / just enough design. All things in moderation. Pure malt whiskey design. The more unique the shape the more quickly it’ll become trash. Reflective design rather than assertive. 21_21 design site gallery.

ASTRID STARVO

Interview magazine inspiration. Grid notepad maker based on influencial design books. Kiss— keep is simple, stupid.

IRENE PEREYA *

UX design specialist, website + user experience. M+ museum site designer. Thonix did the brand design / design identity system. Shantel Marleen? Meditative line drawing playful website designed. ‘One shared house’ website lesbian commune house epic. Inspired by where in the world is Carmen San Diego. Their design studio is called Anton & Irene.

1. Good UX can be unfamiliar.

2. Sometimes good UX should be beautiful first. We are biased to believe a more beautiful product works better.

3. Good UX does get in the way.

4. Good UX relocates complexity.

5. Good UX should be learned.

6. Good UX cannot be measured.

7. Good UX addresses my (the designers) needs.

HENRIK KUBEL

A2-Type. Designed Rail Alphabet 2 — designed for signage for railway stations.

PAUL GARBET *

Curiosity and optimism and empathy driving design. We create whatever we observe, the act of observation is an act of creation. Seeing faces in things is called pareidolia. Author of seeing things.

MICHEALA WEBB

Inbetween posters— working with First Nation Australian artists and designers.

DEAN POOLE

Alt group. Designing for Fisher & Paykel appliances. Design has to be present and keep stories alive. Designer of good shit soda. A hole poster is really cool.

AHN SANG-SOO

Designer of the life peace symbol. Korean designer. Life peace diary with iterations very cool. Pati design school is made by him / designed as well. Pati’s motto is “just play!” + “be spellbound!”. He’s kind of awesome just working and making a school in the pursuit of harbouring happiness, making new rules, changing things up.

ALEJANDRO PAUL

Calligrapher + Typographer. Very cool decorative font like Atelier Volatire + Varietta + Rigatoni + Fixture + Tinkuy. All very very cool I’ll look into these. Key Mono Asciii Art maybe Stephen should know this. Sudtipos type design studio.

PAUL BOUDENS *

Fashion and graphic design mix work on publications and posters, red is favourite colour to use. Started at Walter studio doing design for fashion design stuff. Number A magazine designer and creator.

EDDIE OPERA

Omaha performing arts designer. Apart of pentagram. Designing The Joslyn museum brand identity system. Made a 3 new typefaces based on the three forms of the three main museum buildings, the joslyn, the Hawkes, the Scott.

BLACK GRACE

Awesome performance with graphic movement tracking. Moving Tapu cloth.

PAULA SCHER *

Pentagram designer. A brand is an amalgamation of things. Designing the brand is just working on how it’s perceived. Graphic Design New York she has work in it and it looks cool. She became a play poster designer for the Public Theatre. Designing for each season of plays. Posters and systems as a whole and not just individuals. Systems in the erratic. Custom Knockout font design where the fonts could be edited in relation to each play. Very cool!

STEFAN SAGMEISTER

We are programmed to enjoy negative news. Designed data visualisations into old paintings to show how much better things have gotten. Also clothes that represent the data very cool! and water glasses. Hospital hallway design. Very all about optimism and spreading happiness. Made a book talking about those data paintings.

LARS MULLER

He is a publisher mostly. “The book is the only printed matter that is meant to last”. Books are a 3 dimensional object. The cover is what makes the book remembered. Uses simple design but the material and details make it intricate and interesting. Uses cement as a cover once also lots of subtle embossing used. Back cover matters too because of the ability to feel the back when you hold it which is much more likely to be touched than the front cover so the back is not to be dismissed.

THOMAS WIDDERSHOVEN

Leader at Thonik. Designed museum Boijmans inspired by the font and Mexican olympics design by Lance Wyman. Designed their building also inspired by these ideas alongside an architect. Made the book “why we design”. @studiothonik.

YAH-LENG YU

Designer of house facades in Singapore under this brand ‘Figment’. National gallery in Singapore design.

KRIS SOWERSBY

Klim type foundry person. Big font and typography maker, inspiring letter forms from Māori culture. Researching older more traditional type treatments to make digital and modern. Fonts Ata and Atakau. Works with Johnson Witehira too on this.

JONATHAN CASTRO ALEJOS *

Traces and Dirty Listening. Interested in the idea of printing noise. Archiving of traces or grafitti in the city. Traces of people left behind. Designing viynl covers since it goes into the idea of sound and noise as a physical mark:

KENYA HARA

Designer at Muji. The world is organic but mankind designed everything square. RE design project where he asked designers to redesign a bunch of 21st century products. Thinking fresh and new from anything we’ve ever seen before. Global becoming important also means the importance of local also increases. High Resolution Tour. Takeo paper show. “Make things unknown and then visualise them”. Gathering peoples attentions by emptyness.