#like I cannot stress enough how coding and representation work

[soullessjack]

idk i just think it’s a little weird that almost every character who gets the “innocent baby” / “little ray of sunshine” treatment usually ends up just having neurodivergent traits and actual negative traits in the show that nobody pays attention to. like idk man it just feels like diet infantilization to me and it’s a teeny weeny bit uncomfortable to see all the time

[random-imagines-blog]

King of the Wasteland {Tech Boy x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 1745 Summary: Tech-Boy finds it hard to tell you how he feels. It’s a good thing you’re a master of communication. Notes: Language. It is Techboy after all.

Technology is meant to be cold. It’s meant to be used for your purposes and then upgraded, and then thrown away. It wasn’t supposed to develop any sort of feeling. It’s representation as one of the ‘New Gods’ wasn’t like the others, who things were sacrificed to in order to incite favor. It was just supposed to work. And so it did for many, many years. Doing the thing that it was just supposed to do - until Mr. World had come into play, and stirred things up. And you. You had been the last thing that the Technical Boy had expected to come into his life and shake it like James Bond’s martini.

One of the New Gods yourself, you were on the fence about the war, having friends on both sides. Tech-Boy had been sent to try to lure you over onto his side. The winning side, he had promised. And with that charming tongue, he enticed you and you moved from neutral onto the new side, but preferred the sidelines because all of this violence and taunting was not your style.

It was his, so he did it on behalf of both of you.

“Irrelevant, medieval,” He ranted as you sat on your couch, sipping at a glass of wine. He had been turned down again by one of the other Gods, and turned to you in order to bitch about it. You didn’t speak, knowing that it was much better to let him get it out of his system. Shadow Moon - Wednesday - Bilquis. He would talk about all of them while you listened. He didn’t need advice. He wouldn’t have welcomed it, not even from you. He knew best.

He managed to get most of it out of his system, and then collapsed next to you on the couch. He brought his vape out of his pocket, and took a puff. It exuded a smoke that smelled of watermelon. Your favorite. You lightly tapped against his knees in a morse code pattern, telling him that everything was going to be okay.

“What in the fuck are they doing to me? Sending me as their errand boy,” He said, leaning his head back, exposing his long neck. “If I didn’t have you, I’d fucking explode.”

That wasn’t altogether new, but it was an unexpected compliment from him.

“All I do is listen,” You said, making little circles over his knees now. Communication was your talent, your gift to the world - made more prevalent by the psychiatrists of the last century and a half who found new ways of doing it. Body language. Different types of love languages. You even worked with technology on many things - morse code, binary. Media was your sister in many ways, and combined you created social media. That was the thing about Gods - they could merge. They became many things over time. Developed new skills as humanity became more and more creative about what they wanted and what they needed. “You’re more skilled than you realize. You’ve brought me and others onto your side. You just need to ... find the right language.”

He looked over at you, and seemed to evaluate what working with you on this would bring him. And then he nodded, agreeing with you. He paced around the couch and then settled down beside you, pulling his bony knees up to sit cross-legged. Such a Tech-Boy thing to do. He had troubles sitting still. He always felt the need to evolve. To be better. Restlessness was his demon.

“I-” He started. You turned your head to look at him, eye to eye. Whatever he was going to say didn’t come out. He looked like he had lost his nerve. You tilted your head to the side, patiently waiting for him to continue with it. “I...”

He’d never lost his words like this before. Been interrupted and stopped speaking, sure. But when all was silent, he always managed to fill it, even if it wasn’t in the most eloquent way. He was probably about as elegant as a gigantic elephant, stomping around, but instead of loud footsteps, he had his foul language. Not your greatest achievement in language.

“I appreciate it,” He finally managed to say. You nodded, and finished off your glass of wine, setting the goblet onto the table, and stretched out, your legs going over his body. It was hardly the first time. In fact, you were the only person that he allowed to get so close like this. His arm settled on top of your leg, and he had his thinking expression on. There was always something going on behind those dark eyes of his. And it was rare that he stuttered like that. Below his dignity, you would have thought.

“You seem like you want to say something else,” You said, speaking aloud what you were picking up on. He was tense. He was stressed quite a bit, but rarely tense. Of course you were going to notice. And of course you were going to grow worried. “What is it?”

“Fuck,” He said, rubbing the space between his eyes, breaking off the contact. That alone told you something. It was something about you. He was having trouble saying it.

“Just say it, boy,” You said, nudging him in the stomach with your knee. He held your leg down now, so you wouldn’t be able to do it again. He was stronger than those little twig arms would have you believe.

“I really fucking hate it when you call me that,” He said, glaring at you then looked away quickly. You sighed, and started to massage your own neck.

“Well, we’re going to be joining the old Gods by the time that you finally say whatever it is,” You spoke a bit dramatically. But that was what it was going to take. He was worrying you. But if you showed that to him, he would just revoke whatever it was. He wouldn’t say it. He’d go on ranting so he would seem normal again.

“I never speak properly to you,” He said, like this was some sort of revelation.

“What do you mean?”

“All I do is talk about this fucking war, how annoying media is, how much I hate Shadow...”

“Well, yes, but those are big parts of your life, our lives right now,” You said, reaching over and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Though you do seem really focused on Shadow Moon for some reason. You would feel a lot better if you just left that to Mr. World. You aren’t the only soldier in his army, after all.”

“Fucking right I’m not,” He grumbled.

His hands started to rub at your leg. It didn’t seem like he knew that he was doing it. His fingers made any tension that you were holding under your skin disappear. You weren’t about to start complaining. You smiled lazily, and moaned through your nose, enjoying it. He kept his eyes on you, watching you. “I need to tell you something,” He said, emphasizing the word need. You nodded, and decided to wait patiently this time. Clearly the pressure of earlier hadn’t worked.

He started to look like a fish that had been taken out of water. Or like a child in a school choir who forgot the words and was miming singing. “A little to the left,” You whispered, and his hands moved of their own volition, getting the sweet spot.

The room was preternaturally quiet. You did not keep clocks around in your house, so there wasn’t even the sound of one ticking.

“I -” He started, but then failed again. “Why do you have to make communicating so fucking hard sometimes? Isn’t it your job to make it easy?”

“I’m not trying to make it hard for you,” You said, watching him struggle. It hurt you a bit to see him that way. “Is there any other way that you could tell me?”

“What do you think I’m fucking doing here?” He asked. You pursed your lips and looked over all that he was doing. You took in all of those visual cues to try to understand what he was getting at. When it hit you, it hit you fast and by surprise. You hadn’t been expecting this message, let alone for it to be so loud and clear.

“And yet you still cannot say it?” You teased. It might have been malicious, he certainly thought that it was, but he smirked and looked away from you, focusing his attentions on the table.

“I ... love wine., He picked up your abandoned glass. There were still a few drops, clinging onto the bottom. Not enough to swirl but he attempted it anyway. You laughed lightly,  and shook your head. Well, some people were better at other forms of commuication than others. Tech-Boys wasn’t verbal, as was becoming abundantly clear. But it was physical.

“Silly boy,” You said, moving in closer to him.

“Don’t fuckin-” He was going to complain about you calling him that once again, but you stopped him with a bit of physical communication of your own. A kiss, put on his lips from yours. It was enough to make him shut up for a moment. Right in the middle of a swear too, which was no small feat.

He kissed back with a hunger that had been growing in his stomach for weeks. It had started off with a small craving, like one that he got whenever he discovered a new drug out there. But then when he had tried to brush it off, wipe it out of his mind, focus on work, it grew and it grew. It became so large, that he didn’t even have the room to develop the words to make it happen. His body went on autopilot, doing the work for him.

There were sparks flying during this kiss - both literally and figuratively. Little bits of electricity shocked the skin of both of you, until it became almost too much to bear and you pulled away, giggling at all of these sensations.

“Are you always this premature, or am I just lucky?” You asked.

“You and your fucking teasing.”

“What can I say? It’s how I communicate.”

[thelittlepalmtree]

Okay here's the Howard Ashman rant.

In the 1980s Disney was using trailers outside their studio because they couldn't afford the space. We all laugh about how the period from Walt Disney's death was called the "Disney dark ages" and many of us lament the few gems of 70s and 80s films that were written off in that time. But what we have to remember is that before 1989 Disney was in real trouble. And they could've easily gone the way of Bluth or other now beloved animators that never quite made it.

In steps Howard Ashman. He was a gay playwright who had written a few hits including Little Shop of Horrors. And he came on to be a lyricist. He was fastidious and paticular. He had a way he wanted things to be done. And he had a particular talent for writing quick successive couplets that you had to listen to very closely to not miss anything. And most importantly he insisted on one of the big, dramatic songs you got in the old disney movies. Like This is Love in Cinderella. The executives didn't know. Don't kids want flashy animations upbeat music? But Ashman insisted and he wrote not only "Under The Sea" but "Part Of Your World", a song I can still sing at the drop of a hat even though it's been years since I've seen the movie. It is the song that Let It Go counts among its ancestor. It is the song that brought Disney back to life.

It's a song about someone wanting to leave a life they know they don't belong in. Do we really think anyone other than Ashman could have written it?

To be fair I did learn most of this from Howard on disney+, a great documentary you should all watch. Howard created the musical formula that all Disney musicals have. An upbeat, fast paced song that holds attention, a beautiful dramatic centerpiece, and maybe a funny song thrown in. A bop, a ballad, and a lark. He would go onto work on Beauty and the Beast, and die of AIDS while working on Aladdin.

I cannot stress enough what Ashman did for Disney. He saved them. And he did this while hiding his condition so that he didn't lose his insurance and job. He pretended to be a complete diva while struggling and in pain every day. And he spent the last days of his life working for Disney, not with his loved ones.

Now think about what Disney could've done for gay representation if they'd wanted to. I get that there was a time when Disney may have faced real backlash for showing a gay character. But we now have Korra, Steven Universe, She-ra, Kipo, and so much more. And Disney wasn't on the forefront of any of it. We're still looking for breadcrumbs. And they're still killing projects on the executive level.

Every single executive at Disney owes their job to a gay man who died making their movies and instead of being a leader of representation, they have quashed anything but the worst parts of queer coding. It is absolutely despicable.

And honestly it hurts me, because maybe other queer kids could see themselves as Ursula or Scar. But I was always the princess. Ariel was my first favorite princess. And whenever I watched those movies I wanted to be pretty, and sparkly, and good. But Disney taught me that princesses always come with a prince. And that ran deep. Disney could have done so much good for me to just see a princess be gay. To have anything at all to cling to, where would we be if they'd been a leader on this?

I just feel so hurt to know how commodified Howard was. And I'm hurt knowing there are probably hundreds of gay animators, writers, musicians, and all other kinds of employees that are bringing their story to Disney only to be put in the same fucking meat grinder Ashman was. We deserve representation from Disney. They owe us.

[lucianalight]

My Thoughts on MCU Comic Con Announcements 2019

*Please note that this is my personal thoughts and feelings and they are negative regarding some of the news. But I’m genuinely happy for people who are happy and excited and hopeful by them. Warning for a long and disorganized rant*

Remember the time when Marvel’s announcements didn’t induce anxiety? Those where good times and I miss them. Because the moment I opened tumblr and read the couple of first posts on my dash I had a fucking anxiety attack. Over sth that counts as entertainment and generally should cause hope and excitement. You know the feeling you normally expect from sth owned by Disney. Anyway, I was having a conflicting inner monologue/dialogue(?) with myself(- “Clam the fuck down. It’s just a fictional character.” -“Stfu! You’re not helping. Like at all. I got this”) until I calmed down and was able to read the news and watch the panels.

The first thing I checked was the release dates of “Loki” and “Thor: Thunder and Love”(They couldn’t have found a more cheesy title than that). Because I can’t stress enough how much I don’t want Tom’s Loki in Thor4. They are both set to release on the same year with 4-5 month interval. So logically they have to work on the production at the same time. But does it leave enough time for Tom to be in two productions? I’m asking because I have no idea that whether it’s possible or not( @sevensamurai1951 Can you help me here?).

On the other hand watching Thor4 panel made me %85 sure that Loki, or at least Tom won’t be in it. TW was all about Korg and Thor budding romance or bromance or whatever. They are going to be the new duo(tm). And I have to say I fear that the first openly LGBTQ character(Valkyrie) is going to be handled by TW. Not only that, Jane Foster as Thor story line too. Considering the kind of “representation” we had in TR; And the way TW view strong female characters as “being more of a guy than guys” I fear for Jane’s characterization too. A lot. Anyway, I don’t care about this movie unless it’s going to include Tom’s Loki in it and if it happens I’m going to scream and complain and probably hit sth too. I’ve never thought a time would come that I don’t want Loki in a Thor movie but here we are. Final thought on this movie, the logo has a 80s vibe and reminds of the old western movies.

Now about “Loki”. I’m kind of relieved that it’s going to be post 2012 Loki and not Loki influencing history. But then how can the concept art of Loki in 70s be explained? With this story line also comes the fear that it’s going to have Cap in it who chases Loki to capture him and fix the branching time line and it would end with Loki being capture again and ultimately die in IW. And now that I think about it, it might be possible considering the concept art too. Would Cap chase Loki in different points of time with the help of Pym Particles? Ugh. This is not really promising and sth I’d like to watch. Since they won’t let the villain coded character win in the end. And notice how Tom emphasized on the Avengers era Loki and the way he said “a lot of psychological evolution that is still yet to happen“ implies to me that he is going to be portrayed as villain coded. However, Tom is excited and I can’t dismiss his other words: “it is one of the most exciting creative opportunities I think I’ve ever come across. This is new territory, a new world, new challenges, and I cannot wait to get started” . So I feel conflicted about the series. I’m also conflicted about the new logo. My first thought upon seeing it on my phone was “what the hell is this monstrosity?” But looking at it from the laptop screen, I feel it’s not that bad. It’s weird and chaotic and doesn’t have a specific style. Like Loki. I don’t exactly like it but I don’t hate it either.

The design in “O” kind of reads like “Ikol” to me which I think increases the possibility that they will go for the kid Loki story line too. Sth I don’t particularly care about and I’m going to be relieved that it’s kid Loki who will be in Thor4 and not Tom’s Loki. Honestly I prefer Tom’s work in MCU finishes with this series. Loki doesn’t deserve to have more retcons or be the punching bag for TW and CH. Although if they include him in Dr. Strange considering it’s about multiverse and it will have Wanda too, it might be fun. But I don’t think it will happen considering how much they declawed him in TR and IW and I don’t want the powerless version of him with those two other magicians.

On a final note, I couldn’t help but to notice how much people cheered for Tom and Loki and chanted Loki’s name again. And the reactions to Thor4 panel, specially TW and CH, wasn’t as enthusiastic.

[gaybutterflynerd]

This is going to be a controversial one, isn’t it? It shouldn’t be, but I’ve found advocating for acceptance of bipolar and schizophrenia usually either is viewed negatively or falls on deaf ears-

I’ve always found it hypocritical how people are so against the adhd “violent, lazy, and don’t care enough to try hard in school” stereotype, but the “people with schizophrenia are violent or completely deranged” or “everyone with bipolar or a personality is an abuser” stereotypes are often considered completely okay. They’re not.

We’re starting to finally get good representation for characters with ASD and ADHD and it’s amazing how we’re making so much progress in such a short period of time. But, I want you to try and think of a single character that’s even coded as having bipolar or schizophrenia and they’re not either heavily demonized or “violently insane”.

Even if you can in my experience it’s never treated as casually as something like adhd and autism.

(I can only think of a single character that’s psychotic and treated like a normal person and that’s Sydney from Camp Here and There).

I feel like it comes back to lack of ability to mask, and misinformation. Bipolar and Schizophrenia are specifically mental illnesses that can’t be completely treated by therapy. Therapy can help sure, but it is unable to resolve the main symptoms (the only non medication related things that can help are sleep, avoiding hallucinations including weed, and decreasing stress).

This means the person has zero control over them, and while they can learn to identify the signs and work around how their brains work, but they cannot actually do anything about the symptoms themselves. It is like trying to tell someone to think their way around a heart condition, it isn’t possible for them to do that. As a consequence of this it is very hard to mask, because they both directly affect perception and how you think.

It’s something that’s often very hard to explain to people who have never had to constantly doubt their own thinking. It’s a similar thing to someone with ASD trying to explain to someone who is neurotypical why they can’t just learn to read people’s emotions. It’s something that comes so naturally to them that they don’t understand that’s something their brain can’t naturally do. If someone is having hallucinations they cannot stop having hallucinations or naturally know they aren’t real. If someone is manic they cannot control their skewed perceptions, impulsivity, grandiosity, and fast speech. If someone is depressive they can’t control the hopelessness and darkness that brings.

(Also side tangent: please stop referring to mania like it is a good thing. It is not. Mania is often just as destructive as depression, if not more. It is like referring to a drug addiction like a good thing because it feels good. It feed the perception that when someone says they’re manic that they’re experiencing an “amazing creative high of great happiness” and it is very much not that. It destroys people’s lives.)

Stop claiming to be supportive of all brains and cling to harmful stereotypes of certain conditions. Stop stigmatizing vulnerable people just because they’re different from you, or have a condition that’s harder for them to mask. Normalize telling someone you might get psychosis and how you prefer them to deal with it. Normalize telling people you’re manic and might act off for a few weeks. And please, normalize the perception of people with schizophrenia and bipolar as normal people with a medical condition they can’t control. They are not murderers, they are not abusers, and often they are the ones hurt and not the ones doing the hurting.

Okay I’ll get off my soap box now-

If you don't judge people for saying "sorry ahdh brain" in public, then don't judge people for saying "sorry schizophrenia brain" in public

If you correct people when they misuse the term "ocd" then you need to correct people when they misuse the terms "psychotic", "delusional", "hallucinating" and "schizophrenic"

If you don't stare, laugh at or fear a stranger in public flapping their hands, then you need to do the same for a stranger in public talking to someone who isn't actually there.

If you give a trigger warning to sensitive topics then you need to give a trigger warning to unreality and false information as a prank.

If you want to normalize medication like antidepressants you also need to normalize medications like antipsychotics.

If you don't like people without your disorder joking about it online and report it as harassment, then you need to do the same for the tons of nonschizophrenics making "schizoposting" memes to make fun of us.

Just please include schizo-spec and psychotic acceptance into your mental illness/neurodiversity acceptance. We are part of your community whether you like it or not. We are constantly stigmatized, misrepresented and made fun of. We do what we can to help you, please return the favor.

Mental illness/neurodiversity acceptance is an ongoing action. We will get nowhere in the long run if we split the community into the "in" group and the "out" group. We could all accomplish so much if we worked together. But you need to include the "weird" people that don't fit into your aesthetic and don't fit the social norms.

Us psychotics and schizo-specs have been struggling for years and have been the only people fighting for ourselves while the people we plead to barely see us as human. If you are nonpsychotic and nonschizo-spec, you can help us more than you realize. Please include us and stick up for us the same way we have been including and sticking up for you.

[michaelgogins]

More Rant-Like Musings on Algorithmic Composition Software

I have recently completed a Haskell foreign function interface (FFI) to Csound, with helper functions for using Csound to render Euterpea Music values. The code is almost completely contained in Csound.hs.

In the process of writing this I have, of course, gained a better understanding of the facilities afforded by Euterpea (by Paul Hudak and others) and its offspring Kulitta and Jazzkell (by Donya Quick). In addition, while searching for other music made with Haskell, I have also learned more about TidalCycles by Alex McClean and others (for live coding music) and csound-expression by Anton Kholomiov (compose both score and orchestra in Haskell, render with Csound).

Below I list other systems that I have used or tried to use or at least examined, followed by a second list of pieces made with some of these systems. This post can in fact be used as (a highly incomplete) guide to recent algorithmic composition software. Repeating the above-mentioned systems, and in alphabetical order:

athenaCL by Christopher Ariza (Python, no longer maintained).

blue by Steven Yi (Java).

Common Music by Rick Taube (Common Lisp version, minimally maintained).

csound-expression and temporal-media by Anton Kholomiov (compose both score and orchestra in Haskell, render with Csound). csound-extended and Silencio by Michael Gogins (JavaScript, Common Lisp, Python, Haskell, C++).

Euterpea by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Grace by Rick Taube (Scheme), the most direct descendant of Common Music.

Jazzkell by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Jeskola Buzz by Oskari Tammelin (a tracker, but you can do algorithmic composition in it using peer controllers).

Java Music Specification Language by Nick Didkovsky (Java, no longer maintained).

Kulitta by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Max by Miller Puckette and Cycling 74 (custom visual programming language).

music21 by Michael Cuthbert, Christopher Ariza, and others (Python). 

nudruz by Drew Krause (Common Lisp, maintained by me, includes a Csound FFI to Common Music and OpenMusic).

Nyquist by Roger Dannenberg (XLisp).

OpenMusic by IRCAM (visual programming language based on Common Lisp).

Pure Data by Miller Puckette and others (visual programming language).

PWGL by Mikael Laurson, Mika Kuuskankare, Kilian Sprotte and others (visual programming language based on Common Lisp).

Reaktor by Native Instruments, which although primarily a user-patchable or visually programmable sound synthesizer, can also be used to compose.

RTcmix by Paul Lansky, Brad Garton, and others (C++ with custom scripting language).

Rubato Composer by Guerino Mazzola (Java, no longer seems to be maintained).

Slippery Chicken by Michael Edwards (Common Lisp, looks like another offshoot of Common Music).

SuperCollider by James McCartney and others (custom programming language).

TidalCycles by Alex McClean and others (for live coding music, Haskell).

Here I have ignored approaches to algorithmic composition based on machine learning, not because I think them unimportant, but because I don’t yet know enough about them. A starting point however would be Google’s Magenta.

I link below to some pieces that hint at the potential of some of these systems. Of course, it’s impossible to list all the best algorithmically composed pieces. My objective here is simply to focus on musical quality and originality and to present the best pieces I could easily find that were made using some of these systems.

Please note, I am primarily interested in pieces for fixed media, i.e., pieces that could be thought of as “through-composed” as opposed to “improvised.” But a lot of the action today is in improvisation, interactive pieces, and live coding. 

My own example piece: Parachronic, 2018 (CsoundAC in csound-extended).

I should stop right here before even starting, and mention the pathbreaking work of Iannis Xenakis, whose works such as La Legende d’Eer and Gendy3 proved very early on that programming could be used to compose great music. Ideas from Xenakis’ software live on in many other systems.

Gendy3, Iannis Xenakis (composer software).

La Legende d’Eer, Iannis Xenakis (composer software).

Rough Raga Riffs, Brad Garton (composer software in Common Lisp, probably rendered using RTcmix).

Le lac, Tristan Murail (OpenMusic).

for rei as a doe, Michael Edwards (Slippery Chicken).

demiurgic ecstasy whispering in streets of ear, Christopher Ariza (athenaCL).

Carlisle Variations, Drew Krause (nudruz, rendered by me using Aeolus).

Tom Johnson - Algorithmic Composition, “Algorithmic Composer” (Pure Data).

Fractus 1, Eli Fieldsteel (SuperCollider)

Algorithmic Composition, “acreil” (Pure Data).

Vanishing Trajectories, Akira Takaoka (composer software and RTcmix).

Zero Waste, Nick Didkovsky (Java Music Specification Language).

Tourmaline, Donya Quick (Kulitta).

Elmas Krizi, Andrew Bergemann (Rubato Composer)

Hypnotize, Donya Quick (Jazzkell).

TidalCycles Jam 1, Eloy Platas (TidalCycles).

Jungle Etude 1, Anton Kholomiov (csound-expression).

This exercise has been exhilarating in that it discloses some hints of the amazing potential of algorithmic composition, yet somewhat depressing at the same time. 

My depression arises from the fact that wonderful facilities provided by one system cannot be used by another system unless, as is actually often the case, they are re-implemented from scratch in that system. Needless to say, this is an immensely wasteful duplication of effort, and often does not quite work. Also, note the large number of systems that are no longer maintained, or are maintained by one aging composer/developer... for an even more extensive and possibly even more depressing list of software systems for composing, see Christopher Ariza’s list. 

Another source of depression is the great efforts expended by many composer/developers without leaving evidence of any music that I would like to hear again.

Composers are like cats, they are impossible to herd. But in algorithmic composition, almost all of the software developers are also composers. In other fields of software development, after a decade or so, standards emerge and the resulting synergies supply a walloping jolt of power to the field. Every new feature or library in one sub-field can then be used by developers in all the other sub-fields. Examples would include the entire suite of W3C standards, the MIDI and MusicXML standards in commercial music software, and standardization on certain programs such as Pro Tools or Max in computer music. As my list sadly demonstrates, this has not happened so much in algorithmic composition software.

I call on all composers who also are software developers to do something about this. It may be too late to do anything about existing systems, but if you are contemplating developing a new system, please carefully consider my strong advice.

Update 15 October 2019: James McCartney, the developer of SuperCollider and other computer music languages, commented “No” regarding these points because he perceived them as obstructing research and personal goals. I think that his point about a continuing need for research in new music programming languages is quite valid, so I have edited my advice to reflect this. I would like to stress that my overriding concern here is to create synergies based on the the ability to use new facilities and features along with existing ones, and to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

Do not create a whole new system. Instead, create an extension for an existing system.

In fact, create an extension for OpenMusic, Euterpea, Pure Data, SuperCollider, or Csound.

If you do create a whole new system, do not create a whole new programming language, even if you know how. Instead, create a library or package for an existing language.

In fact, choose a widely used language such as C++, Common Lisp, JavaScript, or Python.

If you do create a whole new language because it would just be so cool, do it as a library or package for an existing system (examples would be the embedding of the Python and LuaJIT programming languages in the Csound orchestra language, or the embedding of Csound in Pure Data and Max/MSP), or provide an application programming interface that can be used to embed your new language in other applications. And that leads to...

Create your system first as a library or package, only after that as a standalone application.

Many systems have issues with the representation of music. The developer/composer often creates a representation that suits their own particular style of music but does not work well, or at all, for other styles. MIDI 1.0 as it stands is no good, but it looks like MIDI 2.0 may be better. In any event, make sure that you support arbitrary pitches, rhythms, densities of notes and sounds, tied notes, and so on. Note that Csound has a very good low-level representation of musical events.

I compiled these lists to help guide my own future work in both composition and software development.

Please notify me of any errors you find in this post, or any suggestions you have for improving it.

[aroworlds]

Can I ask that, when we’re discussing and recommending creative media that isn’t just pride art content, like comics and music and fiction, we take the time to specify if something depicts aro-ace, non-SAM-using aro and/or allo-aro characters and/or experiences? That this, as much as it is possible to observe, becomes a standard part of how we communicate media in aro-spec spaces?

I acknowledge that it won’t always be possible, depending on the nature of the work. Some short pieces don’t have time to explore this, focusing more on general aromantic experiences; some works that are more about coded characters may not provide enough information to determine this. Some works will include lots of different kinds of aro-specs! If it is possible to determine that a character is a particular shade of aro-spec, though, and therefore their narrative is about that set of experiences, I’d really like to see folks make a point of observing this in their discussions and recommendations.

I’m seeing some circumstances where folks recommend aro content as simply that, aro content, but I click on it to discover that it’s really about aro-ace feelings and experiences, nobody ahead of me taking the time to observe this. If we’re not careful, we’re going to end up alienating allo-aro folks in assuming allo-aros can and should relate to all aro-ace representation.

(It can go the other way, too, where allo-aro content isn’t specified as allo-aro as opposed to generally aro, but I usually see this in places where aro-ace or aromantic and asexual is used as an identifying term but allo-aro is lumped under “aromantic”. In this case, the problem seems more a lack of recognition that allosexual aromantic is a term or category in use--uncommon outside of a-spec Tumblr.)

If an aro-ace story/character leans heavy on sexual repulsion or lack of interest, I struggle to find that it speaks to me as an aromantic. Even if it doesn’t lean hard on asexual experiences, aro-ace is something I relate to on the strength of my aromanticism, but it doesn’t depict my experiences of aromanticism shaped by allosexual attraction. (Something I increasingly wish to see in fictional media!) This is just a reality of the state of representation and a-spec history, not something I see shaped by intent; our dreams are several steps ahead of the shape of the broader a-spec community at present! But I would like an acknowledgement that any given aro-spec work depicts aro-ace, non-SAM-using aro or allo-aro characters/experiences (if appropriate for the work) so the community as a whole demonstrates the understanding that this particular story does not and should not represent all aro-specs.

For the same reasons that we specify a character as demiromantic or quoiromantic (if appropriate for the work) we need to say if they’re aro-ace, non-SAM-using or allo-aro. (And more detailed information on all characters’ a-spectrum identities, if extant.) It’s giving me the ability to make informed choices. All I want is to know that a piece is about aro-ace experiences, just so I don’t click on something labelled and tagged as generally aro only to discover that it requires me to also relate to experiences on the asexual spectrum. That is, I’ll admit, becoming increasingly difficult to take.

(The more I find myself as allo-aro, the harder it is for me to always find comfort and representation in media that treats asexual experiences as a universal accompaniment to aromanticism. And that, I think, is right and okay. You know I’m writing stories about allo-aro experiences right now; I have no expectation that aro-aces should connect to these. It is right and okay that not all creative works serve all aro-specs, especially when we’re writing about our own experiences and feelings! The goal of this blog is to support and encourage diverse aro-spec creativity so that every aro-spec someday finds representation that speaks to their unique intersectional identities and experiences--not to force aro-specs into writing stories that don’t speak to their own experiences, unless they freely wish to do so. People should write stories where aromanticism and asexuality are naturally inseparable; I’m just asking for an identifying tag.)

Again, I’ll stress that some media cannot be distinguished along thise lines; some works are just generally aro, neither aro-ace nor allo-aro. (Visual pride-flag works are often just aromantic and shouldn’t be shoved into an irrelevant category.) But if there is the capability to distinguish, if it is clear that not experiencing sexual attraction is part of an aro-spec character’s identity (or experiencing sexual attraction is part of a character’s identity), I’d really appreciate if observing this in our conversations becomes community habit. Just so folks can make informed choices as suiting their current needs of a work.

The aro-spec community is, generally, fairly good about this, but I have seen an increasing tendency to lapse. Before this becomes a widespread issue, I’d like to ask that my fellow aro-specs keep in mind the importance of letting folks know--by tags, by headers, by a mention inside a post--what kinds of aro characters or experiences any given work depicts.

[thelanguageoflovers]

DIRECTOR’S CUT THAT DAMNED UNIVERSE. -L

Spoilers!That Damned Universe was heavily inspired by a couple of books I once read, and I think it has a lot of meaning that goes under the radar of a lot of people, instead being registered subconsciously (the whole point of my writing, frankly). Here’s a ridiculously in-depth rundown of each chapter, from the writer’s point of view.Chapter 1The first chapter was meant to introduce the storyline, and show some exposition. Lincoln Academy was named after my elementary school, and is structured in a ridiculously unconventional manner, given the strong academic drive of the academy. We find out quickly that Cyrus, TJ, Andi, and Buffy all room in Stanford Dormitory along with the rest of the freshman class, and Amber is in Halsey. Halsey was named after my favorite building of the college in my hometown, while Stanford was after the university, where Cyrus would end up going to major in psychology if TDU extended that far.I put Cyrus on the fourth floor and Andi and Buffy on the second for the sole purpose of creating conversational periods between characters as they go between one another’s rooms or to and from classes. This set up the framework for TJ and Cyrus’ first kiss later on.I intentionally wrote Cyrus to react to his arrival at Lincoln with minimal homesickness for two reasons. The first, of course, is that Cyrus grew up with four incredibly overbearing but well-meaning parents, and he is eager to take a deep breath. The second is that Cyrus, as all characters and people must be, is a psychologically complex character, and his immediate lack of emotional displacement comes from that fact. He’s so overwhelmed upon arriving at Lincoln that he doesn’t have the time to catch his breath, let alone miss his parents.Finally, the last line. TJ almost immediately tells Cyrus he finds him fascinating upon meeting him, which feels almost rushed, but was planned to feel as such. TJ’s first impression of Cyrus is so sudden and rushed because he immediately likes Cyrus, and isn’t quite sure how to express his emotions, so he naturally does his best to make Cyrus happy.Chapter 2The first line of the second chapter (Cyrus woke to his alarm, going off at exactly 5:55 am, as it always had - Cyrus was sure it always would.) is a representation of how Cyrus follows a schedule in his life that doesn’t change, and he assumes it never will. However, in chapter 6, he doesn’t wake to his alarm, because he’d fallen asleep with TJ the night before. This was coded to imply that TJ teaches Cyrus to let himself be human and have a little more fun.Cyrus wakes to TJ gone, because I wanted to show TJ’s elusive nature early on in the story, then introduce his character a little bit later. His leaving confuses and intrigues Cyrus, effectively prompting him to get to know TJ better.He spends an exorbitant amount of type getting ready on the first day of school, which was to further cement the notion that he’s a touch over-specific in all areas of his life, especially when he’s in a new, unfamiliar, or stressful environment (Lincoln Academy just so happens to be all three).Their odd choice of cereal (both Rice Krispies and Cap'n Crunch) is a little reference to Gilmore Girls, in which Paris and Rory both make interesting and unique cereal and milk mixtures on a couple of occasions.Cyrus’s offhanded comment that TJ hates the universe is not only the root of the title, but a slight character development from TJ, giving him a human characteristic. This at the very least proves that Cyrus and TJ had a conversation of substance the night before, and had learned more than trivial things about one another.Andi and Buffy lightheartedly making fun of him for his taste in unobtainable athletes was meant to allude to his crush on Jonah back home, and to show that he’d grown more comfortable with his sexuality since coming out to them.Lincoln’s class periods are 40 minutes, with a 20-minute break between. This seems absurd at first, but later we’ll find that classes constantly run lat, justifying the minor absurdity.Cyrus and TJ’s conversation between 5th and 6th period is meant to show their friendship and the way Cyrus affects TJ in a positive way. They joke back and forth naturally, complimenting one another and letting the conversation carry without trying too hard.Chapter 3This chapter follows my own change and interpretation of actual things from Andi Mack, turning some of my favorite pieces of the show in relation to Tyrus into my own plotlines. The first is, of course, TJ’s acrimony towards Buffy. In the show, this is expressed as jealousy of her basketball skills, whereas I chose to change it into jealousy of her close relationship with Cyrus. TJ immediately leaving when Cyrus and Buffy walk into the dorm room is meant to further stabilize the notion that TJ thinks she and Cyrus are together, though at this point it hasn’t been confirmed.Buffy and Cyrus getting into a fight over his feelings for TJ shows that Cyrus isn’t ready to admit how he feels. This also allows for TJ and Cyrus to become closer when Cyrus can’t turn to Andi and Buffy for constant friendship.Cyrus’s conversation with TJ in the library is interesting, as the second TJ finds out that Cyrus and Buffy aren’t dating, the conversation lightens. They’re then able to have a conversation that moves along without the weight of their mutual awkwardness resting on it. Their academic banter throughout the conversation was meant to show that TJ and Cyrus were both highly academically minded, despite showing that trait in very different ways.Cyrus being unable to stop himself from asking if TJ is okay shows two things about him and his relationship with TJ. The first is that Cyrus is the type of person who cannot refrain from helping others. He shows unconditional empathy for others, and those he loves are never free from his well-meaning comfort. The second thing this shows is that he has grown so comfortable with TJ in under 24 hours that he’s willing to risk stepping possibly outside of his boundaries as an acquaintance/friend to ensure that TJ is going to be alright.

Chapter 4

All of Cyrus’s teachers (Mr. Marlow, Madame Aguillard, Mr. Stile, Mrs. Elliot, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Bailey) are slight variations of teachers I’ve had this year or last, most of which teach the same subjects I had them for.This chapter has one last interpretation of a classic detail from Andi Mack - the muffin. Their exchange of sandwich for chocolate-chocolate chip muffin proves that they’re friends, and care about one another enough to insist they have their favorite foods.I chose for them to play a game of 20 questions as a way to reveal exposition without stating their backgrounds, interests, and hobbies point-blank. This also allowed me to build their relationship through verbal learning.Marty being the friend who accidentally outed TJ let me introduce him to the story, and having him, Amber, Buffy and Andi rush into TJ and Cyrus’s room let me introduce them to one another. Amber and Andi’s quickness to flirt with one another showed that TJ and Amber inadvertently learned about love in the same way - they both grew up learning from their parents that those you love can leave quickly. Thus, they both picked up a habit of quickly establishing a close relationship with those they’re attracted to before they leave.Chapter 5 Cyrus wakes with a terrible headache the next day (and jokes with TJ about being hungover) because of the yelling and conflict the night before. I put this aspect in for two main reasons. One is, of course, showing that Cyrus can’t stand conflict, and is consistently trying to resolve it. The second reason I put this bit into the story is so that I could allow TJ to minorly comfort Cyrus in a platonic (but romantically intentioned) manner.Cyrus quickly saving TJ from having to out himself to Buffy and Andi was a move that I wrote in to show Cyrus’s growing ability to cut into conversations and protect those he loves, as taught to him by TJ.The small scene of TJ and Cyrus studying together exhibits the lighthearted, carefree side of their relationship that I thought was very important to introduce at some point in the story.The romantic tension between Cyrus and TJ as the former helps TJ with his compass foreshadows their awkward encounter following their first kiss later on. When it ultimately built to them falling asleep holding pinkies, that was meant to show that they were each aware of their feelings for the other, but reluctant to show them.Chapter 6When Cyrus and TJ wake up the next morning, they’re curled around one another, and it causes intense romantic tension between the pair as they go about starting the day. This ends when they go back and forth in a short exchange of ‘I wasn’t’ and 'well neither was I’. TJ tries to kiss Cyrus, but they’re interrupted by a phone call. This signifies the awkward, fumbling nature of the relationship, especially as they go to help Andi. Their acknowledgment of the awkwardness between them is a huge step in their relationship, which ultimately leads to their first kiss.Their argument in the stairwell being the lead up to their kiss was a choice I made because in the heat of an argument, emotions are heightened. This was important for the scene to work, as if they hadn’t been arguing, neither would have the courage to kiss the other.Final ChapterI had Cyrus start the seventh chapter regretting his kiss with TJ to drive the plot. This forced TJ and him to have an actual conversation about what exactly their relationship was at the end of the chapter.Honestly, there were only two reasons I made Buffy aroace. First, I’m ace and I wanted representation, so I took the opportunity when it arose. Second, I wanted to tease you guys with Muffy (anyone paying really close attention to AO3 will have noticed that I tagged TDU as a Marty/Buffy fic, then took away the tag for the last chapter).Cyrus wagering his asking TJ out for Andi doing the same with Amber was a way for me to close the Ambi storyline in a satisfactory way without dedicating an entire chapter exclusively to it.The mini-monologue of Cyrus deciding whether or not to kiss TJ was one I’d been writing in my head since beginning to write TDU, and completed the fic in a way that was so characteristic of my writing that I couldn’t help but throw it in just to make the story feel completely finished.

[bi-dazai]

hey, i just saw your tag on the "haunting and possession belong to women" post and i was wondering if you had any recommended site to read about the trope? its really interesting to me, id love to read more about it!!

i actually remember reading a really interesting article aboutit a few years ago but i cant find it lol....

if you can find any sourcespls send them to me cos id love to do some more reading on this but it seemsgoogle doesnt like me today

ill summarise what i canremember, as well as pull some information on real life exorcisms (which is ofcourse important in examining fictional exorcisms which are inspired by them,and are also really interesting and enlightening in this case). ill alsoprecurse by saying that im gonna write a very western history because thatswhat im most familiar with, however there is something to be said about howacross the entire world almost every culture that has possession and hauntingmythology will have that mythology heavily rotate around women or at leastfeature women in a central causation or effect. but yes, this is a western viewand history:

women have historically had avery strict expectation of behaviour. a woman exhibiting any form ofindependent thought - e.g. insisting on rights such as property ownership,money ownership (yes this was an actual issue lmfao), voting rights, the rightto education; expressing any form of the existence of their sexuality; engagingin “male” hobbies, arts, and careers - was almost always diagnosed or atleast considered to have some kind of hysteria, to be crazy. 

the trope of the possessedgirl in particular is synonymous to this. particularly in western storiesof “possession” (which are often told from a christian perspective), girlswho are possessed by a spirit exhibit traits described historicallyas “hysteria” and are presented as demonic. a girl will say vile things,insult men and the bible, she will be blatant about sexuality, and she will bedeemed as “possessed”. these are the same traits that society, inparticular western society, would use to diagnose women with hysteria or insanity.feminists were thought to be absolutely insane, sometimes possessed. often inchristian and religious lenses, the symptoms of mental illness (or what isperceived as a mental illness) are perceived as possession. almost allpossession narratives have a possessed girl, not a possessed boy, and almost all have a deeply religioustheme (not just because biblical demons are involved!). the behaviours ofpossessed girls also coincide with the image of women and girls as needing tobe kept “pure” - the standards of which reach a level of inhuman sterilitywhich, when pointed out by a woman falling out of these standards, are deemedas “horrific”.

theres also a subset of thisabout how exorcism became a major part of western culture again with the magiccraze of the 19th century and early 20th century, and that this increasedfascination and terror associated with religious punishments and demonicentities, along with the rise of the feminist movement and female independenceat this time, but thats a HUGE subset of history. like the magic craze involvesso many people and crazy aspects, its definitely more of a special interestkinda thing. but if you like reading about weird men doing rituals and jackingoff onto fruit, then 19th and early 20th century magic is fascinating. anywaythats a major part of why exorcism and possession is even such a common tropenowadays

here are some research paths for the possessed girl trope:

studying real lifepossessions - the easiest to find info on would be anneliese michel. massivewarning for abuse, neglect, horrific injury, etc.

how feminism was seen by menin the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries would be another good path

a major onewould be looking up the diagnosis and treatment of hysteria in the 19th century

looking into religious textson exorcisms

AFTER that, consider andresearch tropes of possessions in horror films, particularly ones featuringgirls being possessed

 next:

the haunted woman is slightlysimilar - as in, some details cross over with the possessed girl. but thehaunted woman is a later horror trope, emerging with the rise of horror pulpand horror cinema in the 1930s, 50s, and most importantly in the 1970s. inthe 1970s, feminism reached a new wave after the post modernist thoughtemergence of the late 1960s, the decline of the presence of Christianity in thecultural focus, and a whole other amount of things.

 withthe rise of second-wave feminist thought, particularly in the arts world andespecially in the film world, we began to see a rise in discussions of abuse,misogyny, and violence committed against women. the fact that women feared fortheir lives a lot more of the time than men did was now a commonly discussedtopic amongst not just scholars but the general populace as well.

 someother factors for this discussion:

- therise of magic again in the 70s and 80s

- thecontinued perception of the woman as a symbol of purity

- theprevalence and importance of Stephen king’s writing and horror style in the 70sin particular. works such as the shining and carrie had a massive impact on the future role of horror – itpretty much solidified the female horror protagonist as a thing.

 sonow we aren’t demonising women for being human beings – it is now far moreinteresting and popular in our horror to have a female protagonist bear thegrunt of ghosts, insanity, etc – as a representation of the ordeal ofwomanhood. women are haunted, not just by ghosts but by society’s pitfalls.they are lonely, hurt, burdened, but they survive.

 there’salso another aspect – it’s the scaremongering. women in the 70s began to havemuch more autonomy than they ever had. this left them often unprotected andalone. the haunted woman often lives alone, and has no male lover in their lifeactively defending them. and now they are being run down the halls by a demonicentity with a vengeance. wouldn’t it be great if they had a big strong man protectingthem??? yeah.

 this tropeis much more general and more flexible. there are far more interpretations onthis one, but its best to consider the context of the haunted woman trope. itsmodern interpretation was pretty much formed and solidified in the 70s and 80s,and updated a little to fit new production codes and expectations of gore,injury, fear post-9.11 (that’s an entire aspect of film history that is just….somuch…..)

 somepaths:

-secondwave feminism

-theconstruction of purity in 70s and 80s horror, particularly in slasher flicks

-theshift of the western conscience away from Christian prominence

-the socialchanges of the late 1960s and 1970s

-the production codes of Hollywood (thisone is more subtle but i cannot stress enough how much this thing shaped what ourperception of a film is)

theother thing is to study the history of the film industry, not just film. for over a century it has been possiblythe most popularly viewed art form in the western world, and it is so importantwhen studying tropes like this to understand the industry workings that shape them.

 i wish i could find the article cos it was rly good, but itwas quite a few years back. if you have any kind of access to a universitylibrary it might be good to look up some papers – there are miles upon miles ofstudies of the depictions of women in horror. also Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film byCarol J. Clover seems to be a good read, though ive only read a few chapters.

[redscullyrevival]

2011: Tiger & Bunny

For me, 2011 was an amazing year for anime. So many of my favorite shows popped out of this one year it’s kind of disgusting.

Mahou Shojo Madoka Magica, Hanasaku Iroha, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, No. 6, From Up on Poppy Hill, Wandering Son, Nichijou, my sweet baby Mawaru Penguindrum! What Am I to do?! Well. I don’t even know how to begin talking about Nichijou and I’ve talked plenty on Penguindrum so lets give another equally loved show the spotlight today!

Who is down for some Kamen Rider meets slice-of-life-lessons mixed with a healthy dose of X-Men and NASCAR racing?  

I was on board with Tiger & Bunny the day it was announced as a project. My boy Masakazu Katsura on character design? A live action script writer named Masafumi Nishida being brought in? Big O king himself Keiichi Sato directing? I was signed up! I was ready! And I was not at all disappointed.

Tiger & Bunny is about reality star superheroes who gain points for their heroics during Live TV broadcasts and who vie for funding and resources from sponsors. The supers’ costumes are plastered with the logos of (real world) corporations and are dominantly featured in the show’s openings (which can make for an odd experience if you’re watching the censored versions on Netflix) and the characters often find themselves at odds with what kind of hero they’d like to be verse the kind their sponsors and TV producers want them to be.

It’s a good fuckin’ set up isn’t it?! Oh my god.

A older hero (Kotetsu Kaburagi AKA Wild Tiger) and a rookie hero (Barnaby Brooks Jr. AKA “Bunny”) are teamed up by their sponsors and the two have to learn to compromise and collaborate while saving the day, the efforts of which start to carry over into their private lives as they grow as people.

Kotetsu is a veteran of Hero TV who holds old fashioned notions on the superhero lifestyle but possesses a well balanced moral center due to his years of service. He is the “old man” but has a solid grasp on why he does what he does as his days of doubt have already come and gone, but Kotetsu’s glory days are increasingly getting behind him.  

Barnaby is Batman if Batman were blonde and a much more stable individual although still, you know, pretty jacked up. Barnaby is emotionally closed off and simply does the hero thing as a means to an end; finding his parents murderer. Through his partnership with Kotetsu Barnaby begins to open up and truly consider for the first time what kind of person (and hero) he wants to be.

I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is that Tiger & Bunny is a show that has adult characters who grow and that they do so through a mutual give-and-take mentorship, friendship, and if you ask me romantic relationship. And that’s just the two main characters!

Tiger & Bunny has one of my absolutely favorite extend cast of characters in anime; they’re a diverse, layered, sympathetic bunch whose interactions and relationships as co-workers, competitors, friends, and found-family is the foundation the show rests on. Another key aspect of the series is that every character’s superhero identity relies on outward stereotypes (their superhero identities are crafted by corporations afterall) which are simplified reflections of the characters actual identities.

I’ll do my best to explain as Tiger & Bunny doesn’t draw a hard line with it, but this is a series that dips in and out of the the personalities and lives of the heroes as filtered though the simplistic picture TV captures and then their real lives and personalities.

For example, the sexy hero Blue Rose is sponsored by Pepsi NEXT because they want to capitalize on the association of her ice powers in reminding folks how tasty a nice cold Pepsi can be. Blue Rose is instructed to act cold and dominatrixy so as to fit into Pepsi’s campaign and we see that off camera she is also a bit cold - but we learn that’s because of conflict within herself.

Karina’s dream is to be a singer so she took the superhero gig because she was told she needed to make a platform for herself, build a fanbase, and put in some company time before being trusted with the budget of a true artist. As Blue Rose Karina gets to sing the closing theme to Hero TV and have mini concerts, but while she does her best to please the sponsors her full heart and attention isn’t exactly in being a hero. She complains about her catch phrase and is a teenager who is very aware of how the camera roams over her corporate designed costume. She misses out on time with her friends and her family doesn’t entirely understand her choices even as they support her in her goal.

Karina Lyle, like all the cast members, works through her problems while the audience comes to understand that there are parts of her that are similar to her hero persona but that her persona isn’t a complete representation of who she is.

This duality is pushed even further to the point where it is built into the literal presentation of the series.

When the characters are suited up, logos polished and on display, the series takes on the camera work and focus of what a show like Hero TV would probably actually be like but will drop out of that style mid fight to highlight characters real feelings and concerns - only to slip back into that heightened style once again. It’s hard to describe and it isn’t something the series does only when literally showing us things through the show-in-the-show, Hero TV.

Tiger & Bunny fluctuates between two kinds of Visual and Tonal Coding™: The structured posturing of what superhero media is like and what we all expect and then the wavering hesitant nature of being a human being with responsibilities and an inner understanding of oneself.

I have plenty of other things I want to talk about but if you watch the first three episodes of Tiger & Bunny you’ll start to get a feel for what I mean! It’s a very clever, subtle, tactic the series uses to compare and contrast it’s many characters with their superhero personas and is what gives the show such an enjoyable dynamic feel.

Because of this show’s characters and their wonderful duality this is the first and only time I’ll make this kind of comment: I do not suggest the dub of Tiger & Bunny and not because it isn’t good (it’s well cast and acted) but because the English script ignores the nuances of how characters address themselves because English can’t help it and the official translations don’t address any of it. 

Nathan Seymour (AKA the hero Fire Emblem) uses the gender neutral I/me pronoun "watashi" and informal feminine "atashi" for themselves which is hard to express in an English script as English doesn’t have gendered I/me pronouns. For those watching a sub there is still a lot of guess work if you even have the ear to pick out how Nathan refers to themselves because the character absolutely displays Japanese media stereotypes and as such Nathan can be seen to fall into the onee category with their dialogue being onee kotoba.  

I could get into this but I’ll just say again that this is a series where stereotypes are pitted against people who can fall into them but are shown to be more than them and Nathan is absolutely a part of that. The most thrilling and moving aspect of the second Tiger & Bunny film, and I’d argue of the entire franchise, is when the story goes into Nathan’s history and shares a considerate journey with identity - but what if you never make it there?    

At the end of the day who you are and what you know is going to define whether Nathan Seymour is a believable agender queer POC character or a strange flat stereotype - which isn’t anything special as that’s how all characters from everything are experienced and defined.  

If you want to get deep into this kind of conversation I suggest starting with Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology: Cultural Models and Real People by Shigeko Okamoto and Janet S. Shibamoto Smith. And if anything at all has caught your interest about Tiger & Bunny I full heartedly endorse giving this series a watch.

[your-dietician]

Vaccine Access Issues for People of Color – Diabetes Daily

New Post has been published on https://depression-md.com/vaccine-access-issues-for-people-of-color-diabetes-daily/

Vaccine Access Issues for People of Color – Diabetes Daily

This content originally appeared on Beyond Type 1. Republished with permission.

By Kayla Hui, MPH

On April 21, 2021, the Kaiser Family Foundation released updated data that found that Black and Hispanic people received a smaller share of COVID-19 vaccinations when compared to their share of coronavirus cases and deaths. Throughout the pandemic, communities of color have borne the disproportionate burden of COVID-19, highlighting the importance of equitable vaccine access. Vaccine access is not only crucial for people of color, but for those with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes. When overlaid with disparities such as implicit bias, it creates a compounded healthcare issue for communities of color with diabetes.

Unfortunately, vaccine access for communities of color has been all but fair. In Arizona, Hispanic people have only received 14 percent of vaccines despite accounting for 40 percent of COVID cases and 31 percent of deaths. And in Michigan, Black people only received eight percent of vaccines despite comprising 23 percent of deaths.

“Because of long standing economic discrimination, communities of color are much more likely to find themselves in jobs where they can’t take off work without docking their pay. They have to work certain hours and aren’t able to get away for a vaccine appointment,” Michelle Andrasik, PhD, clinical health psychologist and affiliate assistant professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, tells Beyond Type 1.

Communities of color have an increased burden of COVID-19 for a variety of reasons including required exposure during work. For Black and Hispanic people, 24 percent were employed by service industries compared to 16 percent of whites. These industries include restaurant, hospitality, and retail work, all of which require people-facing interactions.

People of color are also more likely to live in multigenerational households and in densely populated urban areas and housing situations, further exacerbating coronavirus transmission. In urban counties across the U.S., people of color comprised 56 percent of the population. Additionally, data showed that four in ten Black people (41 percent), Hispanics (38 percent), and Asians (38 percent) lived in areas surrounded by multi unit residential buildings compared to 23 percent of whites.

Another driver of inequitable vaccine access is vaccine hesitancy due to broken trust in healthcare providers among communities of color. Mila Clarke Buckley, a diabetes and food blogger who created the Hangry Woman, was diagnosed in 2016 with type 2 diabetes–a condition where the body cannot properly use insulin. However, after months of failed medications and skyrocketing blood sugar levels, Clarke Buckley discovered—after taking an antibody test with an endocrinologist—she had type 1 diabetes. “I was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes which has given me a little bit of distrust in the healthcare system,” Clarke Buckley says.

Clarke Buckley is not alone in her experience. Phyllisa Deroze, a global diabetes patient advocate and blogger, shares that she wanted to get vaccinated, but did not want to be the first due to the legacy of the nation’s medical racism. “The field of gynecology in America was created on the wounds of Black women who were enslaved. And so there’s just really a long history in America of just not treating Black people like human beings and using them as experiments,” Deroze says.

Deroze was told by one healthcare provider that her electrolytes were off, which prompted her to ask her provider for an antibody test. But that provider was offended when Deroze asked to be tested for antibodies. “I was once again denied antibody testing. It was clear that the endocrinologist was offended by me even asking,” Deroze says.

Deroze was misdiagnosed twice for type 2 diabetes, once in 2011 and another time in 2018, albeit having type 1 diabetes. Her misdiagnosis led her to experience diabetic ketoacidosis. “My life was on the line. And that shouldn’t happen,” Deroze says. “If a person is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, what is the harm in testing for antibodies just to make sure you’re treating the right condition?” It wasn’t until 2019 when Deroze was properly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes by her gynecologist

Clarke Buckley also recalls suggesting antibody testing on numerous occasions to medical providers. However, her idea kept getting shut down, putting her at risk for long-term complications as a result of untreated type 1 diabetes. These complications include: foot problems, urinary tract infections, eye disease, skin infections, heart disease, kidney disease, and even death. “It’s communities of color that are subjected to the system that essentially puts us at additional risk,” Clarke Buckley says.

Misdiagnosis of diabetes among people of color is not uncommon and is just one example of the bias of the medical system. Research shows that glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)—a measure of average blood sugar over three months that can show evidence of diabetes—is not an adequate health measurement for all genetic ancestry groups. Particularly for African ancestry groups, additional screening may be necessary to diagnose diabetes. This leaves hundreds of thousands of African Americans with type 2 diabetes undiagnosed. Additionally, a high HbA1c measurement alone does not prove that a person has type 2 diabetes. It only proves that glucose levels are consistently high. Therefore, an autoimmune antibody test must be done to confirm or rule out type 1 diabetes. Because type 1 diabetes differs heavily from type 2 diabetes in that type 1 always requires insulin treatment, a misdiagnosis could be fatal and lead a person without insulin into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a complication that occurs when the body does not receive enough insulin to break down glucose. DKA can lead to coma and even death.

Some states have made efforts to curb the unequal distribution of vaccines. For example, in Vermont, Black adults and other people of color were given priority status for vaccines. But despite these intentions, many state efforts have fallen short.

Kia Skrine Jeffers, PhD, RN, PHN, assistant professor at the University of California Los Angeles School of Nursing tells Beyond Type 1 that in California, the state distributed vaccine access codes to improve COVID-19 vaccine availability and access for hard-hit Black and Latino communities. “The special code that people of color could use to register to get the vaccine was being distributed among people who were not people of color,” Jeffers says. Instead, wealthier populations who work from home were misusing the system, the Los Angeles Times originally reported.

Anna Lopes, MD, family physician based in Southern California, explains that the underlying culprit of vaccine inequity is systemic racism. Lopes references the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, an ethically abusive study that failed to treat and inform Black men of syphilis in the 1930s and the forced sterilization of Puerto Rican women. “There was significant hesitancy in the Black community, and other communities of color, specifically because of institutional racism,” Lopes says.

Achieving Vaccine Equity

Jeffers suggests that to achieve health equity, health leadership must reflect and have representation from the communities they serve. “If you don’t have community stakeholders involved in the planning, then community perspective is often overlooked or underappreciated,” Jeffers explains.

In addition to having representation in health leadership, Jeffers and Andrasik add that equity involves recognizing and rectifying historical injustices and distributing resources like vaccines to populations that need it the most.

“What we have found in terms of access is that you really have to take the vaccine where people are. We have partnered with Black churches, community centers, and community organizations to open up vaccination sites,” Andrasik explains. “In doing that partnering, the vaccination sites then reach out to their local communities they have long standing relationships with.”

Still, people of color are struggling to access vaccines due to transportation, financial, language, and nebulous registration barriers. To achieve equity, Andrasik, Jeffers, and Lopes stress that states need to be more intentional with their vaccine rollout process to make equity intentional. “All of these access issues really create barriers that are easily mitigated when we really think outside the box and think about how we can do things differently, and in partnership with communities,” Andrasik says. Vaccine access for people of color with diabetes is just the first step toward equity.

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Read more about A1c, corona virus, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, insulin, Intensive management, vaccine equity.

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[420stepsahead-blog]

Do Not Go Gentle

I don’t know where to start from but here goes nothing. I have not been okay for quite some time and I have no clue for how long will it stay like this. It is suffocating me alive. It’s eating me inside out. Nothing seems to stimulate my feelings anymore. I really feel nothing anymore. It’s confusing and mind-itching. I am lost, I have no plans for the future and I just live the day for the sake of hanging onto life itself. I don’t know where to go or what I should do. I have so many questions with so little answers. It is beyond everyone at this point. It is not a humane-everyday problem everyone faces. It is not an equation you have a solution to. It is not a bug that you can write down a few lines of codes to solve and run. It is unreachable. It is untouchable. It is something hidden, within the soul, only I have the keys to; and of this I am not even sure. I am above and over the regular obstacles human beings come across. I understand and comprehend the mere issues individuals run into, in a systematized manner that the universe has arranged and put together for everyone to experience at least once in a lifetime. I am not saying I underestimate anyone’s issues but it is the least of my concerns, really. I just, have always looked up my entire life, to look for any clues. Up as in towards the stars, the skies, the planets; to feel more and to be more. I want to be and feel one with the universe. To explore more of what this enormous universe has to offer just yet. It such a complex thought. It is boundless, immeasurable, limitless, for this gigantic-cosmic world that is up there. I want to exist, I want to be one with the fabric and structure of existence itself, and not just be another human being that has lived his life studying and working to be another corpse in the dirt. I do not want to be another guest to the very-welcoming gates of Hell. I do not want to be another victim of life and its weight on us. I do not want to be like everyone else, not that I strive to be unique or better than anyone in any kind of way, but my interests and ambitions are more than enough for me to not want to settle down for any less than what I deserve.

Life itself is very exhausting. It is very tiring. The pleasures of life are not as consistent as it should be. The same pleasures are what brought us down here, starting back from Adam and Eve. Such a cinematic beginning to a never-ending torture on this ordinary and unexceptional planet. At some point in life the realization hits you, the need and urge to do more. It hits you deep, that such an intricate network of unknown information exceeds your ability to reach. For me, you know, and as strange and odd as it may seem, dreams have been the greatest relief for every obstacle I go through in life. Dreaming is something that will forever be the only thing that can make you feel like you are in control. Your consciousness is at ease, your mind is at leisure, your powers and functions are dim. It lessens the stress and fear life causes, let alone what other humans cause. Humans are indeed animals. Everyone is just waiting to bounce and shred you into pieces if what you say or do doesn’t match his religion or beliefs or whatever he’s heads first into. Full of hypocrisy and arrogance. Full of stupidity and ignorance. I just can’t handle it. The stigma, the misconceptions, the inability to explain something to others. It is as hard for me to talk about something as it is for you to find out I want help but won’t let you anywhere near me. Humans just say things that are downright ignorant and piss me off. I am tired of human interaction. I am tired of being tired.

If it was depression, and I have no idea if it is or not, would I have had this much energy to write all of this? Wouldn’t I be in bed? But how could it be, doesn’t it usually is triggered by something. Perhaps this time it just popped and I have been ignoring it all this time, perhaps this is the only explanation for this. It could be. I write because I have things to say I can’t say in real life. Things that would usually hurt people and things that people don’t have enough time to listen to. Things that are not as important for them as it is for me. I write because I need to rant. Because I have no one to talk to about all of this. No one is used to me talking anyway, I am mostly quiet, or mostly fun, you choose. I can’t talk about it even though I am the one who suffers within. I have to put up with people who tell me they worry about me or ask me if I am okay, of course I am not, but I don’t let them know that. I am the one who is tired and I don’t really care how sad or exhausted or concerned you are about me, it adds to my burden.

Everything is so dull. As if the sorrow of whole of the Holocaust episode, massacres and agonizing sufferings has been filled into my head. I cannot escape what’s within, I can distract myself, I can keep myself busy, but for how long? I need answers. I want reassurance. I want comfort. I deserve to have a normal life, even though this clearly is the exact opposite of what I mentioned before. Is this all a role-play or some sort of movie I want people to watch in the end? Is this being all some sort of screenplay that I write for someone to narrate after I die? As much as I would like to just put at end to all of this, I just do not want to die before the Grim Reaper decides it’s time to. I do not want to go away before God has given an order. Taking my own life is not what I am headed after. There has to be someone who alerts people about the sign at the end of the road. There has to be someone to sacrifices for others. There has to be some ray of sunshine at the end of the tunnel. There has to be someone who gives people hope and offers people everything he’s got. Only those who are worthy enough, of course.

Life is such an extraordinary symphony if you look at it in a perspective that allows you to understand and imagine each moment as a musical note that touches your soul. If it hasn’t at this point become a noise already. It is such a dramatic scene for you to witness. Let go of what bothers you once, and just listen deeply into what people consider food for their soul. Make a moment out of it. Create an unforgettable memory; do not let death ruin it for you, be the master of this musical piece, and even though the thoughts may haunt you at night, and only at the stroke of midnight during night, death ventures out and raises up the souls in the graveyard, which albeit are all skeletons in the form of humans, are animated and now free; they dance, party, sing, and enjoy life as it is, and fill the land with joyful darkness until morning. At the very end of this musical piece that you have put together for yourself, you can hear the piece go suddenly quiet towards the end of it as you hear a violin solo, which is the representation of death cursing and lamenting the rise of the sun, marking the end of darkness being completely free on Earth. At last you have understood it all. At last I have understood. Life isn’t about wanting to be, life is about understanding how to be. It is such a riddle, nothing appears ever so easily. 

I will not call it a day just yet, for I have more and more to write about and more days to live. 

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.“

[aroworlds]

First off, I loved your ask post about erasure, Scrooge, and representation. Anon, if you’re reading this, you’re a legend. Second, I haven’t read A Christmas Carol in a while, and I was curious how Scrooge is coded. In what ways do you see him as aro-ace? Thanks bunches!

First, I’m going to @ mention @thatmrgold, because I think they’re also a fan of Scrooge, additional to the original asking anon (or at least I’ve seen a reblog on one of my posts that suggests this–many apologies if I’m mistaken). I have read A Christmas Carol several times, but it’s many years ago now–my most recent engagement with the story is The Muppet Christmas Carol adaptation, seen last year! For this reason, I encourage anyone more familiar with the source material to expand upon my answer. I don’t have the detailed familiarity with the canon to answer save in broader strokes.

The main points where I think thatEbenezer Scrooge can be coded or seen as coded involve a previous failed romance (it’s depicted that he comes to love money more than hisfiancée, for which she leaves him), his long-running single-man-in-the-world status (he lives on his own, no partner, which is meant to indicate his hatefulness) and his isolation/disconnection from the world around him (demonstrated in a lack of compassion for his tenants, a refusal to allow his workers their Christmas, etc).

I’m going to explain why these points are effective coding, because written in a paragraph like that, they don’t seem like much. Thing is, they don’t have to be!

I’ll stress that much of this ties into long-running antagonistic aro-ace (and often autistic*) coding shared with other characters. A lot of a-spec coding is less about certain qualities suggesting a character’s being a-spec and more about those qualities being part of a broader literary canon of similarly-viewed characters. In other words, characters where people read those qualities together as having associations with a-spec identities, not because those character qualities are always inherently associated with being aro-ace or a-spec. In this sense, Scrooge is a-spec coded because Sherlock Holmes is a-spec coded and Clariel is specifically aro-ace and early The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper is aro-ace coded, and all these characters have commonalities in how they see the world, how they connect to the world and, most particularly, how the rest of the world views them. Viewed in isolation, Scrooge isn’t necessarily aro-ace-coded. Viewed in a social and historical context of other characters interpreted as aro-ace, on the other hand, he is.

I’m going to use The Big Bang Theory to explain my point, because I think Sheldon Cooper is the most recognizable character, and despite not liking the source material, I’m quite familiar with it. The Big Bang Theory doesn’t properly describe early-seasons Sheldon as aro-ace; it compares him to aliens, to plants and the scientific understanding of asexual reproduction. I think it does once or twice use “asexual” but it’s never in the current understanding of “lacking sexual attraction” and more like “a being without sex”. He’s constantly dehumanised for the aro-ace qualities the show won’t name. He talks, though, in ways that clearly demonstrate a lack of sexual and romantic attraction, and because of amatonormativity, they later give him a slow-growing romantic relationship as part of character “progression”. (Which is handled so disrespectfully and antagonistically, but that’s another post.) When people first hear the words aro-ace, they’ll commonly think of early-seasons Sheldon, because that’s the undercurrent of his character compared to characters like Scrooge or Sherlock. Even people who’ve never heard words like asexual or aromantic have an idea of what they think it is on first listen, because they’ve been exposed to so much unlabelled coding: in a world lacking intentional and meaningful representation to properly educate audiences on lived experiences, coding instead forms the basis of understanding.

(And it’s unexplored amatonormativity and aro/ace antagonism, of course, for why negative character traits are so often a-spec coding.)

This is why we end up with a character being aro-ace coded for things like not having a relationship and not connecting with people. These things do not inherently mean anything about the aro-ace experience, but they’re part of a social context where qualities indicate identities. Only the people who have a true need to understand–either as allies working with us or because they’re a-spec–go to a-spec communities to learn the diversity of experiences associated with our words, to look beyond the clumsy outline of coding.

(In fact, they have no concept of coding as distinct from representation.)

Additionally, especially because we a-specs are raised in a world where we are not seen or understood, we ourselves often come to relate to those qualities, however negative the coding and context, too. Not having a relationship says nothing about one’s lack of attraction, but many a-specs struggle to have a successful relationship, are pressured into ones we don’t want or are non-amorous. In a world where so few characters are depicted as long-term single in late adulthood, we’ll take that character for our own. Not connecting with society–well, I suspect the majority of aro-specs respect the need for Christians to celebrate their cultural and religious holidays, but when being a-spec is always a wall between us and the rest of the world, we feel and relate to that distance, that disconnect. When Christmas means people pestering us about our relationship status or lack of attraction, don’t we feel a bit like saying “Bah, humbug”? A romance failed by not loving someone else enough–not loving enough has been or will be levelled at many aro-specs, and I know that I’ve felt that because of my lack of romantic attraction, I must have loved something else over the “proper” romantic love for another person. It fits close enough to the amatonormativity we experience.

(There’s a reason why LGBTQIA+ and queer people so commonly relate to antagonistic characters, as their experiences of disconnection and alienation are as close as many of us get to our lived experiences. Only recently has there been, for some identities, anything close to representation, including representation that positively explores our alienation, enough that we might first see ourselves in anything other than antagonist characters.)

Lack of mainstream/broadly recognised representation, too, drives us to forge more intense connections with flimsier points of similarity than would be reasonable for a white, abled heterosexual cis woman connecting with white, abled, female cishet characters. She can be choosy about personality and character type in the characters she deems to be like her; we have the unconscious-but-constant knowledge that there’s few others like us and connect, in relief, just to have someone vaguely like us in the story, even if they’re clearly an antagonist.

On their own, these things are flimsy pieces of connection, but in a social context of coding and lack of representation, they become so much larger.

Does this make sense? A lot of what I see as aro-ace in Scrooge is less about descriptions of lack of attraction as it is broader brush-stroke images that correspond to lived experience or negative coding. Folks more familiar with the source material may be able to offer you more detailed examples, but for me it’s about the type of character Scrooge is in the social context of similar characters seen a particular way by a-specs and allosexual-and-alloromantic folks alike.

* Explanation of why I mention autistic coding under the cut for those who’d rather ignore the tangential murmuring:

A lot of aro-ace coding is also autistic coding because allo allistic writers cannot conceive of autistics being anything but aro-ace and aro-aces being anything but autistic. Both identities are seen as lacking empathy and connection to others, and both are subject to the dehumanising assumptions behind this kind of antagonistic coding, where aro-ace coding is used to show an autistic character as inhuman and autism coding is used to show an aro-ace character as inhuman.

Please note that the tendency for combining the coding does not mean that autistic aro-aces have full representation, as I see too many people argue: most of these characters are antagonists who don’t offer full, celebratory, supportive, intentional and beneficial depictions of aro-ace and autistic experiences. Aro-ace autistics are not positively depicted in the broader literary canon; surface aspects of their experiences are used to tell the audience a character is antagonistic. Given that I’m starting to see a few romance novels with autistic characters, by autistics and allistics alike, the idea that autistic aro-aces (and I don’t know of any autistic allo-aro character outside my own work!) are somehow more represented in fiction is raging amatonormativity. Again, coding is not representation and it’s disingenuous to conflate them.

[arcbazar-blog1]

5 Ways an Architect Can Make Your Life as a Contractor Easier

Working as a contractor is both rewarding and stressful. The job expands beyond the process of remodeling a kitchen or building a second bathroom. Contractors help people create a home of their dreams - a place where they will feel safe, happy, and loved. However, the job comes with its own unique set of challenges. Every contractor must've had at least one homeowner who changed his mind half-way into the process and then looked at you in disbelief when you informed him of all additional costs that would entail. What about a client who is calling you late at night when you are hanging out with your family or friends demanding a progress report? Bidding for jobs is not a fun process either. So, we have prepared for you a list of five very good reasons to integrate architectural design in your business to make your life easier and your clients happier. Without further ado...

5 Reasons to Integrate Architectural Design into Your Contractor Business

1. Win more project bids

According to the United States Census Bureau, $550 billion was spent on residential construction projects in 2004. In 2016 that number stood at around $467 billion. That's a 15% slow-down. At the same time, between 2004 and 2016, the number of people working in residential construction increased from 257,840 to 715,380 (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), which is equal to a 177% increase. So, not only did the market shrink over the last decade or so, but competition for the available projects has become quite rough. The ability to offer your client architectural services improves your offering and allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors, especially if you can offer such services without having to add high costs to your proposal.

2. Complete your projects based on a professionally created visual roadmap as opposed to homeowners' "vision"

How often do you start working with a client only to realize that they have no idea what they actually want? "I want it to feel spacious!" or "I was thinking of a mix of industrial style and classic vibes!" Sounds familiar? It happens rather often that a homeowner knows what he/she would like the space to feel like, yet is completely clueless as to how each piece of the puzzle - furniture, color palettes, materials, and space organization - come together to achieve their vision. It's not their fault either. The ability to create a cohesive space that both matches aesthetic expectations and is well thought-out in terms of its functionality comes with years of learning and practice. That's where an architect steps in. A professionally created architectural plan that gives a homeowner a visual representation of what the final result will look like, while providing a contractor with floor plans and relevant renderings is a bridge that connects homeowners' expectations with contractors' execution.

3. Minimize the stress of having to start over half-way into the process

Having you and your client agree on an architectural design also means that a client is much less likely to change his/her mind when you and your crew are half-way into the project. If you are a busy contractor such interruptions can mess up your schedule, putting more pressure on you and your team to deliver on time. It is also costly for homeowners. The more a homeowner goes over the initial budget, the less satisfied he/she is going to be in the end.

4. Free up the time you spend on catering to your client's architectural needs

Homeowners often times expect their contractor to act both in the construction and architectural/advisory capacities. Now, an experience contractor is more than capable of pointing out what can and cannot work for a space, walking a client through various design elements, and recommending color schemes that work together. However, that's not a contractor's job. It's additional work that often times doesn't get remunerated accordingly. Contractors have enough on their plate - ordering the right materials and ensuring they get delivered on time, organizing the crew's schedule and sorting out payroll, consistently communicating with clients and providing regular progress updates, ensuring that every action is in full compliance with health & safety regulations - the list goes on and on. An architect can save you time (and, let's be honest, a bit of sanity) by taking architectural design off your plate.

5. Make your contractor business more agile

Last but not least: let's say we've convinced you that architectural design has the potential to facilitate your relationship with clients, improve their happiness, and make your business more competitive. However, what about the additional costs of hiring an architect, you may wonder. Well, indeed, it costs on average $4,666 to hire an architect (it's much higher for new residential projects!). What if we told you that you can offer your client 10 design options for their needs, complete with floor plans and elevation drawings, for less than 40% of the cost? And that you could do that whenever you please without having to hire a full-time architect? That would make your business offering much more flexible, wouldn't it? Read on!

How to get 10 architectural designs for 40% of the cost as a contractor

When you think of hiring an architect you probably think of reaching out to one located in your area, introducing him/her to your client, meeting on a regular basis to develop plans, and so on. However, this is no longer your only choice. Arcbazar.com is a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing platform for architectural design. It makes architectural design affordable, while giving clients a range of options. Here's how it works: You set-up your project by describing your/your client's needs, expectations, style/material/cost preferences. You set the timeline for your project and decide on the award. The system will suggest an award based on what projects within similar parameters selected in the past, but it is completely up to you to put up as much money as you want. Arcbazar's network of 20,000+ designers and architects located across the world will get a notification of your project. You end up with 10 designs on average. And we're not just talking about a picture-perfect drawing of the space. We are talking floor plans, renderings, elevation drawings - the full package. You select your favorite three designs and the award is split 60/30/10 among these top three designers. There are a number of other fun features: public voting, the ability to invite specific designers, etc. The best part is that you own every design submitted in the project. Check out this gallery of just one submission for a new residential project out of a total of 17 that were submitted. The award for the project was $2,700. Sourcing architectural design solutions the traditional way would've cost $10,000+. Read more: Arcbazar testimonials.

How you can further benefit as a contractor from Arcbazar

You can use Arcbazar one of the two ways: 1) encouraging your client to run a project on the platform; 2) using Arcbazar as your in-house design service by identifying your client's needs and stylistic preferences, running a project on Arcbazar yourself, and then presenting your client with the top choices. Arcbazar does not charge designers and architects a fee for submitting their designs. A client, on the other hand, pays a 15%-20% service fee of the total project. However, we have a special offer for contractors. Send a request to saiarbcazar.com to receive your own unique code that will cap the service fee at $150 irrespective of the size of the award. It's that simple. Read more: How to Run A Successful Competition on Arcbazar In the meantime, create your free account with Arcbazar. Read the full article

[itchy-archive]

Digital Games Preservation

Summary

This text serves as introduction into complexity of digital games preservation. At first it introduces digital games as cultural artifact researched by established academic sciences. It stress endangerment and extinction of digital heritage. It explores wider concept than software/platform preservation. It tries to familiarize reader with complexity of preservation in wider context of games, with importance of preserving developing documentation, interviews, different version games, advertisements etc. I chose this approach in sense of concept of new movie historians who explore medium in complex production and perception dynamics. Therefore necessity of keeping preservation scale as wide as possible is priority for not yet established researches in future. Text also deals with problematic of hardware obsolescence, degradation and emulation.

Introduction

Discussion about video game as art form is still quite common in mainstream media. Topic is usually connected with discussion about influence of games to their users.[1] Question behind this discussions in context of this text is: are games worth of preservation? I do not think that answer is in accepting or rejecting game as art form. It will bring no relieve in thinking about games. Also there is no need to comparing games to other preservation efforts. From my pragmatical point of view games are worth of preservation because there is already huge research base dealing with games from many perspectives. Games are already perceived by academics as omnipresent cultural artifacts of this era. Human sciences like sociology, economy[2], culture studies, gender studies, psychology etc. are dealing with games in their own perspectives.[3] “Pragmatic rethinking of games as social artifacts in their own right that are always in the process of becoming. This view both better accords with the experience of games by participants cross-culturally and bears the weight of the new questions being asked about games and about society.” [4] Therefore necessity of preservation arise not only from player's demand but also from established academy environment.

Endangering of digital games heritage is well stated in International Game Developer Association's A Digital Game Preservation White Paper: “Digital games have a shockingly short life span due to the natural decay of the original materials and the rapid obsolescence of older media forms, as well as the failure and obsolescence of the hardware necessary to run them. Many digital games that are only a few decades old are already at-risk and require immediate preservation attention. As a result of obsolescence, it is imperative that we preserve the hardware and software environments that are required to run the games we wish to preserve: without the platforms to run them, the games themselves are useless. Unfortunately, the maintenance of old hardware and software environments is ultimately not feasible for long-term preservation due to the high costs of maintenance and inevitable failure of computer components. [5] Libraries and archives around the world have only just begun to pay serious attention to digital games, yet they already face the immediate problem of working together. If no concerted action is taken to save these games before they disappear forever, we will have lost the foundation of our industry's history. It will not be enough simply to hand the problem over to libraries and archives that are beginning to collect digital games – these repositories lack the expertise and funding to solve the many problems of digital preservation. They will also need the industry to help, because preservation methods are further complicated through current business practices of digital rights and distribution.“[6]

Promising initiative is coming from Library of Congress's project Preserving Virtual Worlds which is collaboration with University of Illinois, Maryland, Stanford, Rochester and industry partner Linden Lab. Project explore methods for preserving digital games. Major activities including developing basic standards for metadata and content representation and conducting a series of archiving case studies for games and multi-user games. Very promising is exploring FRBR and OAIS model in experimental case studies. It also stress necessity of industry cooperation mainly in sense of digital rights constrains. Although project is in development it rise hopes for systematic game preservation.[7]

Last initiative is coming from game community alone, by which I mean players and reviewers.  Arcade machines emulation project like MAME, gathering and obtaining Commodore tape images by C64tapes.org, community based database of digital games on Moby games and even illegal activities such abandonware site http://thehomeofunderdogs.net gathering scanned manuals of games or cartridge possession of review versions of unreleased games.[8] This community based approach based on network spreading a volunteering could lack of standardization, but maintain health spirit, common sense, knowledge and skills necessary for preservation. Collaboration of all three interested groups would benefit game preservation, but complications in keeping digital rights and fear of piracy does not create seamless environment. Each group could also diverse in perspective on exact goals of preservation, but common ground could be created.

For terms clarification purposes I am adding this note into text. Term digital game have roots in binary electronic system and term video game is coming from raster display.[9] In this text I treat both terms digital game and video game as equal synonyms. I also use term virtual world in same synonymous fashion. Sole term is describing shared multi-user environment or user's immersion into game's text,[10] but both refers to the game. This approach is common in literature I studied. One exception is term interactive fiction which is usually presented in conjunction with video game like two entities. But in my point of view interactive fiction is just another game genre. Essentially all mentioned terms are describing game from different perspectives, common preservation methodology is shared among them. Therefore I use simple term game in sense of above mentioned terms for stylistic and shortening purposes.

Preserve game and it's contexts

Preserving a running code and a platform or at least emulation serves for keeping experience of game alive. But gaming experience is only one of many fields of research. Proper research of cultural artifact is dealing with questions of how, when and where are games producing and how, when and where are games perceived.[11] Complexity of such approach deals with economical and social contexts demanding preservation of many sources related to the game. Manuals, PR kits, beta versions, review versions, presentation versions, demos, updates, localized versions, user modifications, gold editions, trailers, advertisements, interviews, reviews, discussions, artworks, project and design documents, production details, source codes and source artworks are pieces which feed research. Heterogeneous nature of digital and physical entities and complexities between related objects like different versions of one game demands describing of relationships between entities.

Reconstructing development process with decisions of involved people and budget, market researches, unimplemented or censored ideas are necessary for process analysis. Code studies are dealing with development of source codes and it's cultural contexts.[12] Original artworks allow researchers or developers to explore roots and ideas which constituted final appearance. General idea behind this approach is keeping as much context information as possible for future research interests, because aspects we are considering as important could change with new paradigms. We should consider such scope as ideal, its realization would be quite extensive and could be achieved only with cooperation of game's industry, game community and scholars.

Bit preservation

Basic and most important approach to digital games preservation is bit preservation. Ultimate goal is to preserve data of game storage formats and appearance of medias' artwork. „The greatest threat to the longevity of digital games is media decay, also known as bit rot. Bit rot is the gradual and natural decay of digital information and storage media over time, resulting in eventual unreadability. Bit rot affects different storage formats at different rates depending on the format's durability.“[13] As time goes on, reading of data from media becomes unreliable. These data bits cannot be recovered (and likely only partially) without extremely expensive hardware and significant analysis. Eventually the data is completely lost.[14] Another aspect is that we should confirm if we dumped data from media correctly. Because of heterogeneity of platforms specific hardware and software is necessary for data testing. Without correct image of digital game data, we couldn't consider game as preserved.[15]

Interesting aspect is existence of cracked or pirated version of games often accompanied with intro from demoscene. These artifacts of pirate community was not only presentations of programming skills but cultural artifacts conducted from sounds and visuals. Interesting connection between demoscence culture and games industry emerged with skilled individuals from demoscene moving into game business in roles of programmers, artists and musicians. Fortunately competitive attitude of scene tried to bring community created data into shared competitive environment. Demoscene quite effectively preserved and shared own artifacts firstly on pre-internet BBSes and later on scene web sites. But huge deal of work lays in categorization and crediting of artifacts, relating authors, individual groups and industry companies together.[16]

Hardware preservation and emulation

Excellent text dealing with hardware preservation has been made by Guttenbrunner in Digital Preservation of Console Video Games. It stress emulation as primary approach arguing with inevitability of hardware obsolescence and extreme upkeep cost of hardware long term preservation and sole impossibility when hardware production stops, it can not be usually replaced once broken. “The term Emulation refers to the capability of a device or software to replicate the behavior of a different device or software. It is possible to use hardware to emulate hardware or to use software to emulate software. An emulator is a program that runs on one computer (the emulator's `host' system) and thereby virtually recreates a different computer (the emulator's `target' system). The concept of using emulation for digital preservation is to keep the data in its original, unaltered form and keep using the software originally used to display the data. This software has to be run on the operating system and the operating system on the hardware it was developed for. To keep this chain alive, an emulator for the original hardware is produced. " Only one emulator solution has been developed commercially. Other solutions has been made in community driven projects. Mostly they are developed with preservation on mind and playing abilities is only coincidence. [17]

Recreating original game experience depends on proper hardware inner workings. But access to important information is limited in some cases which we need for reconstruction. “Unlike personal computers or early home computers the exact specifications of console video game systems and development documentation for game developers are usually confidential. The exact details about timing or accurate functionality of system components are often only known to the system manufacturer. They can get lost if a manufacturer goes out of business or decides not to keep this documentation any longer. Getting information about these systems usually means either to get restricted development documentation or to reverse engineer the system. For digitally preserving games for console systems it is necessary to know details about how to get video game code of the original media and information about how this code was interpreted on the original machine. Without the manufacturer it can be difficult to preserve a video game of a particular system.”[18]

Special problematic is individual games' unique hardware. Today's examples of musical games with controllers in form of guitars, drum kits or mixing controllers. In history light guns or special controller overlays were most commonly used. Such devices are tightly connected with game experience and without them games experience will at least crippled. Controller feedback in any way is also not supported by the tested emulators, which in experience for games that rely on force feedback to for example give the player information about getting hit. “The recreation of special controllers is not solved satisfying in current emulators. This is getting a pressing issue with console video game systems of the last two generations as lots of games are using purpose-built controllers to separate the console video games from games on personal computers or resemble games known from arcades. With the success of the motion sensitive controls developed for the Nintendo Wii as standard controller, the trend away from ordinary joysticks could continue. A strategy will have to be developed how to recreate the gaming experience of these special controllers.”[19]

Legal Constrains

Game industry is aware of complications with digital preservation when dealing with digital rights. Emulation, copying and sometimes copy protection overcoming are mostly illegal. Therefore industrial support is necessary. IGDA's white paper on preservation is explaining situation pretty well. ”The history of the game industry cannot be saved without support from its creators. Currently, there is no single institution within the game industry or in any government that is responsible for archiving digital games. Only various independent efforts made by libraries and archives throughout the world, and there are few industry-operated archives for the preservation and documentation of a company's history. Because preserving digital game history requires methods such as migration and emulation, support from the industry is required to overcome the many legal and technical barriers that currently prevent the preservation of its own history.

The first line of support that game companies can give libraries and archives is legal support. Digital Rights Management (DRM) licensing and copyright laws present barriers to the long-term preservation of digital games. While these laws were created to protect the intellectual property of the industry, they prevent the only viable techniques of long-term preservation: migration and emulation.

In order for digital media to survive decay and obsolescence, the information must be transferred, or migrated, from one storage format to another, which involves creating a copy. Sometimes, copy protection schemes prevent this process and must be overridden to secure a copy of the data, and often the physical act of simply copying the data may violate contract agreements and copyright laws. Additionally, the software and hardware platforms must be emulated, which can conflict with copyright laws governing hardware and software environments.

For long-term preservation to occur, exceptions must be given to libraries and archives so these tasks can be performed. It may well be that game companies and owners of game-related intellectual property do not object to game preservation by these institutions, but protocols for assigning these rights have yet to be worked out in a clear manner.

Additional legal support involves tracking ownership of copyrights and intellectual property rights for games that need to be preserved as well as verifying the existence of "lost" or missing games. Often, little information is known about older titles, making it difficult to determine ownership. The establishment of clearinghouses for such information, perhaps by trusted academic institutions or repositories, would benefit the industry as well as game preservation activities.””[20]

IGDS's text also deals with considerable problems of modern game distribution networks. We could not rely on longevity of such remote storage services. Other streaming digital distribution services do not even allow the creation of local copies. Industry attention is therefore required in order to ensure the long-term preservation of digitally distributed games because preservation efforts will ultimately depend on distributor. Installation licenses and encryption keys verification tools are effectively complicating preservation. “These practices ultimately tie copies of a game to a particular computer that is prone to failure and obsolescence rather than to a particular user, who has greater permanence. Moreover, encryption key verification tools often run on company servers whose lifespans may be limited to decades or, more likely, years. These services may not be operational in the future; when a validation service fails or is dissolved, games associated with it can no longer be verified and almost certainly cannot be run. Overcoming both problems will ultimately require industry support, because companies create, own, and operate these services.”[21]

Conclusion

Preservation of digital games requires collecting game data, platforms and unique controllers. Platforms and controllers will inevitably broke in long term perspective, therefore emulation and documentation is necessary for proper reconstruction of game experience. For purposes of future research is important to think about contextual situation of games. Therefore collecting as much documents as possible dealing with process of production and perception of game is necessary for purposes of future research. Legal issues have to be resolved with industry support and in cooperation with preservation institutions. Important part of preservation is community based approach developing emulators and using networks for gathering of game images and collecting information.

References

Baer, R. H. (1977)Television gaming apparatus. Patent number: RE32282. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=oTIYAAAAEBAJ

Begault, D. R. (1994). 3-D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia. San Diego: Academic Press Professional. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/publibrary/Begault_2000_3d_Sound_Multimedia.pdf

Borzyskowski, G. (1995). The Hacker Demo Scene And It's Cultural Artifacts. Australia: Curtin University of Technology. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.scheib.net/play/demos/what/borzyskowski/

Brown, E. et al. (2004). A grounded investigation of game immersion. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vienna. Available via: http://portal.acm.org/ft_gateway.cfm?id=986048&type=pdf&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=74144665&CFTOKEN=40380082

Burger, B. et. al. (2002) Realtime Visualization Methods in the Demoscene. CESCG 2002. Bratislava: Comenius University. http://www.cescg.org/CESCG-2002/BBurger/#sceneorg

C64tapes.org (2008). Commodore 64 tape preservation project. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://c64tapes.org/

Cifaldi, F. (no date) Game Raider: The Science of Game Preservation. Every archaeologist knows that sometimes, the only way to save a precious artifact is to steal it. 1up.com.  Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3177520

Cook, A.D. (2009). A case study of the manifestations and significance of social presence in a multi-user virtual environment. MEd Thesis. Saskatchewan: University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://library2.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-09102009-012757/unrestricted/ann_cook_thesis_edt_submission_2.pdf

Critical Code studies (2007). Critical Code Studies Methodology. CCS. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://criticalcodestudies.com/wordpress/?page_id=3

Defacto2.net (2004). Scene history composition. Defacto2.net. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.defacto2.net/includes/documentsweb/df2web99/scene-archive/history.html

Goldsmith (1947) Cathode-Ray Amusement Device. Patent number: 2455992. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=n-NZAAAAEBAJ

Guðmundsson, E. (2007). An overview of the mineral market in EVE Online. EVE Online. CCP. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=498

Guðmundsson, E. (2007). Quarterly Economic Newsletter. 3rd Quarter 2007. EVE Online. CCP. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/pdf/QEN_2007Q3.pdf

Guttenbrunner, M. (2007). Digital Preservation of Console Video Games. Master Thesis. Vienna University of Technology. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 http://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/~becker/pubs/guttenbrunner_games2007.pdf

Jerz, D.G. (2007). Somewhere Nearby is Colossal Cave: Examining Will Crowther's Original "Adventure" in Code and in Kentucky. Digital Humanities Quaterly. Vol.1 Num.1., The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations. http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/2/000009/000009.html

Cherbakov, L. et al (2009). Virtual Spaces: Enabling Immersive Collaborative Enterprise, Part 1: Introduction to the opportunities and technologies. IBM. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/dw/webservices/ws-virtualspaces/ws-virtualspaces-pdf.pdf

Kral, Jack (2000) 'Emotion Engine'? I Don't Think So. Newsweek. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.newsweek.com/id/83238

Lowood, H. (2009) Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White Paper. IGDA. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.igda.org/wiki/images/8/83/IGDA_Game_Preservation_SIG_-_Before_It's_Too_Late_-_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper.pdf

Malaby, T. M. (2007). Beyond Play - A New Approach to Games. Games and Culture, Apr 2007; vol. 2: pp. 95 – 113. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://gac.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/2/2/95

MAME (2010). Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://mamedev.org/

McDonough, J. (2008). How will we preserve virtual worlds? Wanted: Serious Games! Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 5,. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.slideshare.net/faro/games-erfgoed-presentation-840336

McDonough, J. (2008). July 2008 Partner Meeting Presentation. NDIIP. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/events/ndiipp_meetings/ndiipp08/docs/plenary_pca_mcdonough.ppt

O'Donnell, C. (2009). Praxis - The everyday lives of video game developers: Experimentally understanding underlying systems/structures. Transformative Works and Cultures, Vol 2. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/73/76

Scene.org (no date). About Demoscene. International Scene Organization. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.scene.org/demoscene.php

Seiler, J. (2008). What Can Virtual-World Economists Tell Us about Real-World Economies? Scientific American. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=virtual-world-economists-on-real-economies

Smurts, A. (2005) Are Video Games Art? Contemporary Aesthetics. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299#FN1link

Smutný, A. (2009) Zabíjení nevinných civilistů. A to je něco nového? Hrej.cz Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.hrej.cz/clanky/jsme-jen-nedospelymi-pokrytci-2909/

Software Preservation Society. (2010) – Classic software, preserved. For the future. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 http://www.softpres.org/

Szczepanik, P. (2004). Nová filmová historie. Antologie současného myšlení o dějinách kinematografie a audiovizuální kultury. Prague : Herrmann a synové

Tasajarvi, L. (2003). DEMOSKENE.KATASTRO.FI – THE EXHIBITION. Arsis 2003, Vol.1. Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://edmund.taiteenkeskustoimikunta.fi/default.asp?WCI=wciEDM_Download_Submit&lngDoc_id=835&strFile_nam=Arsis_verkko.pdf

The Library of Congress (2008). Preserving Virtual Worlds. Retrieved on 30. January 2010 at http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/pwv/pwv.html

Thein, K. (2005). Na okraj Nové filmové historie - Poznámky amatérského čtenáře. Iluminace. Issue 14; Vol. 1  Retrieved on 29. January 2010 at http://www.iluminace.cz/JOOMLA/images/stories/obsahy/thein_nfh_1_05.pdf

[1]            Kral, 2000; Smurts, 2005; Smutný, 2009

[2]             Guðmundsson, 2007; Seiler, 2008

[3]             O'Donnell, 2009

[4]             Malaby, 2007: 95

[5]             Lowood, 2009: 6

[6]             Lowood, 2009: 3

[7]             Library of Congress, 2008; McDonough, 2008

[8]             Cifaldi, no date

[9]             Baer, 1977; Goldsmith, 1947

[10]             Begault, 1994; Brown, 2004; Cook, 2009; Cherbakov, 2009;

[11]             Thein, 2005: 151

[12]             Critical Code Studies, 2007; Jerz, 2007

[13]             Lowood, 2009: 4

[14]             Software Preservation Society: http://www.softpres.org/glossary:bit_rot

[15]             c64tapes.org: http://c64tapes.org/

[16]             Borzyskowski, 2005; Burger, 2002; Defacto2.net, 2004; Demoscene, no date.; Tasajarvi, 2003

[17]             Guttenbrunner, 2007: 34

[18]             Ibid: 38

[19]             Ibid: 86

[20]             Lowood, 2009: 6

[21]             Ibid, 2009: 7

[char27martin]

5 Tips for Querying & Choosing a Literary Agent

So you’re in the query trenches. You’ve been gritting your teeth through this process for months, weeks, years, millennia, and suddenly, an e-mail comes in with the golden ticket: OFFER OF REPRESENTATION. The call goes beautifully, you are ready to sign. Then your inbox dings again. And so it begins.

                Brianna Shrum is a YA author living in Colorado with her high-school-sweetheart-turned husband and two little boys. Her first novel, a YA fantasy—NEVER NEVER—was released in September 2015, and her second novel, a YA contemporary romance—HOW TO MAKE OUT—was released in 2016. When she is not writing, she’s usually buried in someone else’s words in a book. You can usually find her drinking chai and reading by her Harry Potter Christmas tree, which she will probably never take down.

Getting multiple offers is often thought of as the dream scenario, and in some ways, it is! You get to pick! Hoorah! Celebrate! Then the stress sinks in. Personally, I wound up with four offers, all from literary agents I would have loved to sign with. Every time I heard, “Haha! What a great problem to have!” I responded with, “Right? Definitely!” Then just quietly stress-cackled until I could remind myself that it was, indeed, a good problem to have.

Since I have had two literary agents previously, I went through this round of querying knowing exactly what I wanted in a literary agent. So when I got an offer from a literary agent I thought was (and still think is) the bee’s knees, I let everyone with the manuscript or query know that I had an offer, set a deadline for their response, and Netflixed my way through the following two weeks. On decision day, I was sitting with three offers, all from literary agents I would have loved to work with. That morning, I had the e-mails written; my decision was made. Then, quite literally thirty minutes before I hit Send, I got a surprise call. Area code 212.

By the end of that call, I knew exactly what I needed to do. And it was not what I had been so sure of that morning. This brings me to:

Bri’s Tips On Making An Agently Choice

Do Not Ignore Literary Agent Red Flags

This is the FREE space in Literary Agent Bingo. There are the classic warning signs that reveal bad agents, like: reading fees, not knowing the market, not being down to submit your books to places you couldn’t submit yourself, etc. You can find lists of red flags around ye olde interwebs that can give you a more solid rundown, but the gist is: If your brain is flashing warning signs to you about anything you’ve heard this agent do, or anything that felt sketchy on the call, heed that warning. Alas, all the offers I got were from literary agents who had nary a red flag to raise, so in my case more elbow grease was required.

The biggest literary agent database anywhere is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the most recent updated edition online at a discount.

Know What You Want in A Literary Agent

When I was first started querying, it was hard to know exactly what I was looking for, beyond, “I want a good literary agent! I want them to sell my books! That covers it, right?” It does not. That isn’t enough. You have to go in with a strong idea of exactly what you need as a writer and businessperson, and what you’re willing to compromise. For me? I knew I needed a literary agent who was good at communication, who was dedicated to and clearly passionate about my career, and who was cool with my desire to write in multiple genres/categories. I wanted either an established literary agent with a good number of sales under their belt or a newer agent at one of the top literary agencies . I also wanted an agent I felt comfortable and got along with. That was me. Consider what you need. What are you looking for in the short-term? Someone who understands your book? Whose vision for submission aligns with yours? And most importantly, what are you looking for in the long-term? Someone excited about you as a writer, with enthusiasm for other projects as well as this one? Someone with whom you can form a career-long partnership? Different literary agents can have very different styles of communication, revisions, submission strategy, contract negotiation, how they approach sales, and how you manage your career together. Insight on your goals and their strategies can only help you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Literary Agents Questions!

You are not the obnoxious kid in class if you ask too many questions. It could be that a seemingly tiny question gives you massive clarity. For instance, I asked about their submission list, because someone with a readily available list of which houses and editors they planned on submitting was massively important to me. We discussed revisions (flashing sign: important) on this project and briefly talked about other projects I had in the works. And I asked about comfort with multiple genres and categories, speed, and submission strategy. Ask the agent what sets them apart from everyone else—both as an agent and the literary agency they are partnered with. Ask everything you want to know. Knowledge is power, and all that.

Your new complete and updated instructional guide to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book Get a Literary Agent shares advice from more  than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,  craft, the submission process, researching agents, and much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.

Use Your Resources

Get names of clients to contact. If you know current or past clients, contact them too! I’ve found past and current clients are often totally happy to answer questions, and they can be extremely enlightening. Also poke around on Publisher’s Marketplace. You can find info on sales, level of sales, genre, etc., that can really help paint a larger picture. Do some legwork up front on the literary agent and their literary agency, and you will be much happier later.

Make A Choice for Your Career

I cannot stress this enough. The submission, getting the book sold, dealing with a million little things after it’s sold? Each can be a process. Processes the right agent can really guide you through. Ideally, your agent will partner with you through this book, and far beyond that. When you sign with an agent, you are trying to find a person to whom you believe you can entrust your career. Not the person who dazzles you with the flashiest sales and prettiest words; not the person who might be your BFF. What you are looking for is someone you can build a partnership with. You don’t need to feel bad for who you choose or don’t choose. All it’s really about is picking the right agent for you.

When I got off the phone, I knew that although every literary agent I’d spoken with was fantastic, this person was absolutely the right choice for me, because I couldn’t imagine putting my career in the hands of anyone else. I thought, “Good lord, if he was that persuasive with me, imagine how he is with editors.” His professionalism, his enthusiasm, his knowledge, and passion for my work made it abundantly clear. So I signed with Steven Salpeter at Curtis Brown, and I could not be more thrilled.

Are you interested in querying Steven? Click here to read his submission guidelines.

Other writing/publishing articles and links for you:

Read These 34 Submission No-Nos Before You Query

Literary Agent Alert: Rachel Crawford (Wolf Literary Services)

How I Got My Literary Agent: Tony Peak

5 Important Tips on How to Pitch a Literary Agent in Person

38 Query Letter Tips from Literary Agents

If you’re an agent looking to update your information or an author interested in contributing to the GLA blog or the next edition of the book, contact Cris Freese at cris.freese@fwmedia.com.

  The post 5 Tips for Querying & Choosing a Literary Agent appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/successful-queries/brianna-shrum-querying-choosing-literary-agent