#there's a reason I only post low-res images online and this is it

[emilybeemartin]

Oh mercy, nobody's, I hope. Please don't steal art from podunk fan artists online. I swear I have a Redbubble shop built; I wasn't able to work on it over the holiday, but I'll try to get it live in the next day or two.

[the-hummelverse]

In terms of the hummelverse.com website, it's online again by the way! Been online for a couple months again already actually after the catastrophic failure and year-long downtime caused by moving it over from my previous hoster. But I didn't have any time to do much needed post-move maintenance so far, which I am slowly catching up with now.

Notes:

The website is now SSL-enabled (using https instead of http), but this doesn't really change anything except that some browsers/extensions should now be less likely to act like it's a malicious page trying to steal your credit card data... (This was genuinely the main reason why I had to change hosters, since the previous one would have charged me 10€ per month extra for it when most others out there have it as a free default for your contract???)

I thought the newsletter signup form was broken, but it only doesn't show up when I use Firefox on my desktop PC so maybe my adblocker is overly zealous. I haven't been writing any newsletters lately partly because of that, but now that I know the signup form isn't actually broken, I'll try to get back into the habit. That means if you cannot see it either on the homepage, please try a different browser or check if one of your browser extensions might be blocking it!

The art gallery works again, but uploading the images is very tedious and time-consuming. I forgot to move over the folder that contained all the images on the server, so I had to wipe the database and have to re-upload them all. It shouldn't interfere with the functionality of the website otherwise, though.

The tumblr post feed on the website is broken and I don't really know how to fix it since the API seems to have changed and I am not fully able to wrap my head around the new code. There's a chance that I'll figure it out eventually but it's very low priority for me right now, especially since I set up a webhook for the HV discord server that does the same job but in a more convenient manner.

The pages for the LEGENDS card game are there on the server, but I have to rework and update them with more current content/info. I'll do that as soon as I'm able and will add a link to the homepage once that's done. But it leads me to the next and last point:

As I've mentioned before I want to look into alternative solutions for selling/distributing both my books and my trading card game and the merchandise (bet most people didn't even know there IS merchandise....look, I'm very bad at this whole marketing think, ok?). There's also other Hummelverse things floating around like the free short horror video game I made ages ago and the pen&paper ruleset, for example. I am thinking of adding a sort of "hub" to the homepage that either provides a proper and complete list of links to all these miscellaneous things, or maybe even find a way to consolidate them onto my own website as completely as possible. This is still in the early musings phase, so don't expect to see much of this until a couple months down the line...

[domers-group8]

Pavel - R&D Render Test

Last week I had done some R&D which I did not write a blog post about after sharing with my team, thus wanted to quickly add it to the record on here. I tested out the process of rendering out a 360 panoramic sequence from unreal in 8K quality, then taking it into Adobe Premiere and downsizing to 4k and exporting. Making sure everything is working correctly and thus eliminating any possible problems early on in this projects development. While also taking note of how long this took my computer. It took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to render 3 minutes of time. (Which is 4319 frames at 24 FPS).

I used a pre-made level for this test. Infinite Blade - Grasslands. Here is the result! (I cut down to only a few seconds, due to the large file size)

(Also, Erik made me aware of some AI tools by NVidia that could be useful to use for downscaling when the time comes, I've yet to test them myself yet).

There were a few issues I ran into, the first being with the shadows on some objects that the camera in scene wasn't facing. However, after closer examination, this did in fact match my scene. The reason was the sun facing the direction of those objects, when seeing the image in it's distorted view I thought there was an issue here but it was just my mind playing tricks on me. The second issue was the sun glints/reflections on the water. It seemed to create large flickering sparkles on the renders that were not present in my scene. I narrowed the issue down to being that the sequencer in unreal is re-loading some or all of the scene assets but was not able to find a quick and easy solution. My lecturer Neil Gallagher said to play with the "warmup" setting under anti aliasing when rendering the sequence, unfortunately this did not fix it. However, I have found a workaround, which is to very slightly increase the roughness of the water shader from 0.0 -> 0.1 (See right image bellow). This seemed to have solved the issue. Lowering the specular could further reduce this problem if needed.

Even though our animation does not have water, I wanted to debug this issue as I could imagine this happening with the windows on our spaceship/vehicle (which will have low roughness as well). Or even some other element that we don't know yet. That's all for now! Cheers.

References

Epic Games. (2015). Infinity Blade: Grass Lands. [Online]. Available at: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/infinity-blade-plain-lands?sessionInvalidated=true [Accessed: 3rd February 2024]

pavelm. (2024). Render test 360 8k to 4k. [Online Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2SFOTfVYWk [Accessed 3rd February 2024]

[verygayandverytired]

i finished making this entire insane and pointless overanalysis of loki’s magic tarot cards from bayonetta 2 last night

and today i was finally able to preorder bayo 3 trinity masquerade edition

obviously these events are directly connected

[voltagesmutter]

Kiro - Cruel comments [Smut]

How OC (Bella) reacts when images of her and Kiro’s relationship are leaked and the fans are not happy. Smut and wee bit of fluff cause its Kiro and he’s frigging adorable and hugely under appreciated.

Smut and NSFW content.

You sobbed slightly as you flicked through the comments on social media, watching the endless stream of comments run across your eyes.

‘Seriously who is she?’

‘Why is Kiro HOLDING HER HAND!’

‘Is she ill? Is Kiro taking care of the sick people?’

‘What is Kiro doing!! My husband is touching another woman’

All subtle comments from fans posted on a photo the press had leaked of Kiro and you holding hands as you walked out a building together. You admitted you didn’t look great but you’d been on set all day and wasn’t exactly expecting the swarm of hidden paparazzi outside. You couldn’t help but sob uncontrollably, the painstaking words hurt you, even though they were only words. Kiro’s fans were so loyal and dedicated, they were the main reason you had not publicly announced you were a couple, regardless of dating for months. 

A knock at your front door distracted you and you opened it to see Gavin standing there.

“I saw the comments online, are you okay?” He asked, a slight blush to his cheeks and you give a nod with a smile. You invited him in. 

“You didn’t have to come,”.

“I wanted to come, I wanted to check you was okay,”.

“Thank you, it’s just a bit hard, some comments are so cruel,”.

“I know, I’ve seen them, his fans are scary, you need to be careful,”. You giggle slightly at his comment and shake your head.

“I’m not scared by teenage girls,” A comment you would live to regret. 

Kiro had been on tour to promote his newest tv show meaning you had to face the oncoming abuse alone. The first day after the photos had been released, you were on your way to work when you saw some girls staring at you with anger. The following day they were the again only it had gone from two to a group of nearly 20, all eyes staring at you and it made you beyond uncomfortable. By day three it felt like a swarm, each set of eyes following you and your movement, like a lion eyeing up a helpless gazelle. That was when you had to call Gavin, you wanted to reach for Kiro but he was in a whole other city, what help would he be. 

“Come on, just keep walking,” Gavin said, reassuring you, even though he was pure muscle even he felt intimidated by the hoard of girls that had appeared. You managed to keep it together until you heard it.

“She’s not even that pretty, what does Kiro see in her” The harsh comment burned into your brain and you felt tears begin to roll down your cheeks. Gavin shielded you and led you away before turning to comfort you.

“Have you spoken to Kiro?” He softly asks you. 

“N-no he-he’s on tour I don't want to distract him,” You sobbed through your tears.

“Bella, you need to tell him, this is abuse, ignore their words please, I think you're beautiful,” He whispers before mumbling the end as he wipes away your tears. Your breath hitched as you tried to calm yourself down before looking up at Gavin. He had a slightly blush on his cheeks as he gazed back at you.

*Click*

You both heard the click and saw the flash before turning to see what was happening. One of the girls had followed you and ran off, she had captured a sweet comforting moment between you and Gavin. 

“You need to speak to Kiro, come on let's get you home,” As he gently squeezes your hold, guiding you back home. 

By the time you had got home social media was already blowing up.

“Girl spotted with Kiro now prays on to next victim”

“Mystery girl clearly moves on”

“Has she broken our Kiro’s heart?”

All you wanted was to see and talk to Kiro but he wasn’t here. You dialled his number but it went to voicemail. What if he saw the image? What if he got the wrong idea and thought something was going on between Gavin and you? Surely not, he knew how much you valued his friendship. But then again, the image spoke a thousand words if you didn’t know the situation. Unable to speak to Kiro, the abuse, false stories, the herd and the girl's comment rang through your head and it became too much as you sobbed into your pillow.

You knew dating Kiro would be difficult at times, but this? This was cruel and harsh, you felt sorry for Kiro having to deal with this all through his career but he never came in the wrong light. He was a sweetheart in their eyes, and yours, but what had you done to deserve these comments? You adore Kiro with all your heart, you knew you had fallen in love with him, but you couldn’t do this…

You had finally managed to fall asleep, after much tossing and turning, you wanted to be with Kiro but he would never be yours, you would always share him with his fans and clearly they didn’t take to you. You had switched your phone off, the endless stream of comments and re-sharing of the photo of Gavin and you were dominating your platforms. You knew when you next spoke to Kiro, things had to end, you weren't strong enough to deal with this.

A rapid banging at your door startled you from your sleep. You clutched your bedsheets, it was 3 am, who was here. Your face went white, what if it was one of Kiro’s fans… The knocking started again and you slowly crept to the floor, grabbing a slipper and holding it close to you, if anything happened to you at least you could try retaliating with some kind of weapon. You kept the chain locked and slowly opened the door before you saw him. His blonde hair was sticking to his face, he was panting slightly.

“Kiro?” You asked as you opened the door, seeing his standing in front of you. Was this a dream?

“I know I’m being stupid, please tell me I’m being stupid and that photo isn’t wasn’t it’s saying online” He panted as he looked at you. 

“Kiro what are you doing here? Your supposed to be on tour,”.

“Please, please tell me it’s nothing,” He pleaded.

“He was comforting me, that was all, I tried to call you but it went to voicemail, I turned my phone off,” You yawned. You took Kiro’s hand and pulled him inside, sitting him down on the sofa. You felt your eyes tear up, you had to do this now.

“Why was he comforting you?”.

“It’s nothing, Kiro look we need to talk-”

“It’s not nothing, I’m your boyfriend please tell me,” He says softly, reaching forward and taking your hand. As you blink a tear escapes, he was so perfect and he was yours but you couldn’t have it no more.

“It was just a run in with one of your fans,”.

“What happened,”.

“It’s fine, look Kiro-”.

“Tell me” He said with a stern voice that shook you a little. Kiro was always so soft and gentle, this was the first time you heard him raise his voice. 

“Your fans, it started with the comments online, then they began swarming me on my way to work and it just got too much, I had to ask Gavin to escort me because it made me feel so uncomfortable, then… then one made a comment towards me and it got to much and he was just comforting me but one of your fans followed us and they twisted it completely,” You began but ended up sobbing and Kiro pulled you close to his chest, stroking your hair.

“I’m so sorry, you should have called me the first day with the comment,” He whispers against your hair, holding you tight to him as you sobbed into his chest.

“Kiro, I can’t do this,” You sobbed even harder against him, your tears soaking through his shirt.

“Gavin rang me, he told me everything, he told me what horrible thing that girl said, how upset and scared you, so I raced back here as fast as I could,” He said, holding you tighter. He was just so caring.

“But your tour,” You whispered and looked up at him.

“I’ve postponed it, you're more important than any promotional tour,” He said, cradling you tight to him.

“I’ll address my fans, I don’t want to hide this anymore, I want the world to know I love you , I don’t care what the fans think, all I care about is you and making sure your safe,” He whispers and leans down, pressing a kiss to you as you grip his jacket.

“I love you too Kiro,” You manage between kisses as the passion between you build up. You’d hadn’t seen him in weeks and it was rare you got time alone like this, even if it was stupid am. As things got heated he pushed you back gently, so you lay against the sofa, his lips still in contact with your as his fingers undid your silk pyjama top. You arched your back slightly, giving him easy access to slip it off, his fingers grazing over your exposed nipples causing you moan into his mouth.

“I’ve missed you so much,” He whispered as he placed kisses down your neck before his mouth met your breasts. You let out a low moan and his mouth takes you nipple, wetting it before moving to the other, subconsciously you begin to grind your lower half against him, feeling his strong erection against your thin material shorts. 

“I missed you too-Ah” You moaned as he bit sharply onto your collarbone, your fingers tugged at the material of his hoodie and within a second it was gone. You ran your fingers down his toned chest, with the amount of snacks you find him indulging into it's a surprise how he’s still so toned. Your fingers stop as you reach his trousers before undoing them.

“Someone’s eager, Miss. Chips,” He mutters as he places kisses down your exposed stomach before taking your shorts hem into his mouth and pulling them off. The sight was breathtaking as he dropped them from his teeth and spread your legs, since you’d been in bed alone you had no panties on and your soaking core was on show to him.

“Only for you… fuck, fuck Kiro!” You cry as his fingers tease your clit before running down your soaked fold. He gives you a mischievous grin before sink a finger into you and thrusting into you. Your back aches slightly and the moans slip from you as another finger enters into you. He knew exactly where to touch you, where made you cry his name on repeat. Your eyes roll back whilst your hips thrust against his hand, still pumping into you and curling, hitting that intense spot inside you. 

“That's it, cry my name, tell everyone who’s you are,” He groans as you tighten around him, ‘kiro’ constantly falling from your mouth. One more curl against your sweet spot and he had you undone, pulsing around his fingers.

“Oh-Kiro..Oh!” You cry in pleasure at your orgasm, your hips bucking but Kiro holds them in place with his other hand. He continues to pump into, letting you ride out the intense pleasure you had experience before removing them and sucking them clean. You almost came from the sight. Slightly breathless, you sit up and reach once more for his trousers, your eyes hazed with lust.

“Ah, ah, this is all about you, making you feel better, now let me take care of you,” He groaned as he pulled down his trousers and boxers, his erection springing free, standing solid and proud. 

He pushes you back down, your lips once again meeting before settling between your legs, he bends your knees so the bottom of your feet are lying flat on the sofa and kneels up. He breaks the kiss as he pushes himself into you, his hands planted firmly onto your hips as your back arches from the sensation. He gives you a few seconds to adjust before thrusting into you, the moans spewing from your lips giving him encouragement to increase his speed. He watched as one of your hands get lost in your hair, the other holding your breast, tugging at your nipple as they bounced to his thrusts. He takes one hand and places it under your lower back, helping to deepen the angle and within one thrust you cried his name in ecstasy. 

“K-Kiro-Oh-Oh god there,” You manage between moans, your skin tingling on fire as he thrusts deeply into you, hitting the spot that would undone you in seconds. Your hips began to thrash, your back fully arching off the sofa and the hand in your hair moved down to toy with your clit. The sight for Kiro was too much and he groaned your name, his hips snapping against you before releasing his load into you triggering you and your release. You pulsed intensely around him, yours eyes screwed tightly shut as tears ran from them, his name repeatedly falling from your mouth.

“You're so beautiful,” Kiro whispered into your ear as he was spooning you, the pair of you basking in your afterglow. 

“That was so intense,” You were still panting from the high intensity session you had both endured.

“I promise you, first thing we get this whole mess sorted, I won’t have anyone harming the woman I love,” He says, pressing sweet kisses to your shoulder, his arms wrapped around your waist and you fall asleep feeling safe in his arms. 

The following morning Kiro did a live stream and you was doing your best to avoid being pulled onto the camera.

“So you see guys, this is Miss.Chips,” He said and playfully tugged you so you landed in his lap, your face going red.

“Kiro!” You cried and tried to cover your face but Kiro pulled them away laughing.

“And I love her, I love her so much and I know you’ll all love her too,” His gaze was fixed fully on you, not on the camera or the comments flooding in, he looked at you as if you was the only person in the world.

“I love you too,” You whisper as he leans forward and kisses you softly before giving you his famous smile.

“So please, don’t harass her, swarm her, make horrible comments about her, follow her, take photos and twist situations, respect her please, otherwise I’ll retire,” His tone was serious and you looked at him shocked, his career was everything to him. With that he ended the video and wrapped his arms around you, resting his head on your shoulder.

“See I told you they would love you,” He whispered as he flicks through the comments with you.

‘Sweetest couple ever’

‘Kiro, why did you keep her hidden for so long! She’s adorable’

‘I want someone to look at me at how Miss.Chips look at Kiro!’

Your heart melts at the comment and you relax against Kiro’s chest. 

“They can love you as much as they want, but their not allowed to love you like I do,” He mumbles against your neck before pressing kisses down it and gently biting it, causing you to moan slightly. 

“I’m going to make you feel so good, I’m going to make love to you for every mean comment you read,”.

“I think we might be here for a long time Kiro,” You panted as one hand fondles your breast over your top, the other running up between your thighs, sweet kisses being placed against your neck.

“Good thing I cleared my schedule then,” And with that you spent the rest of the day feeling the love Kiro had for you.

[reilly310]

The “eyes” have it

Did you know?

A study, conducted at the University of Glasgow in 2013, found that Eye Reflections in Photos Can Reliably Identify Who's Behind the Lens.

To test how effective a mirror the cornea was, researchers took passport-style photos of college students in a lab setting. Bystanders were placed a few feet away, facing the subjects, while the photos were being taken. When the researchers zoomed in on the subjects' eyes in the photos, they were able to see pixelated versions of the bystanders' faces.

  “...the scientists found that study participants could correctly identify most of those tiny faces. When the bystanders were strangers, participants could correctly match a pixelated photo with a higher-quality headshot 71 percent of the time. When the reflected faces were people the participants knew, the rate of successful identification jumped to 84 percent. “

In this study, the researchers used a high resolution camera (39 megapixels).  As a result, their reflections were clearer than what the average cellphone camera would produce under the same conditions (The 2016 IPhone 7, for example, has a resolution of 12 megapixels).  The study concluded, though, that, if the viewer knew the person reflected, they could identify them even when the picture was blurry.

“Previous psychological research has established that humans can identify faces from extremely poor quality images, when they are familiar with the faces concerned. For example, [the researchers] found that viewers could identify blurred photographs of familiar faces with equivalent image resolutions as low as 7×10 pixels.”

Identifiable Images of Bystanders Extracted from Corneal Reflections 

The researchers used a pixelated image of Barack Obama as their example. 

For our fandom, the equivalent would be a pixelated image of this guy.

Subjects in the study were reflected in a human’s eye.  If a human eye, with a cornea measuring approx 11.5 mm in diameter, can capture reflections, imagine what a cat’s cornea, measuring 16.5 mm in diameter, might reveal.

Maybe we don’t have to just imagine, though.....

Say a cat (we’ll call her Eddie) received a jaunty Christmas bell collar in December 2016 that she felt was beneath her dignity to wear.

She may have felt compelled to glare at the person (or people) responsible for said gift as they were taking her picture.

Let’s take a look and see if we can identify, with at least reasonable certainty, who she might have been plotting revenge against looking at.

Original picture posted by Cait on 12/25/2016

The picture has been cropped and enlarged below with the most prominent reflection (person #1) on Eddie’s left eye, circled.

Below, the image has been further cropped and enlarged, again with the reflection circled. Tilt your head just a bit to the left.  Do you see it yet?

If not, no worries.  In the following gif, I’ve tinted the reflection with sepia and enhanced the image using contrast and lighting tools (from a free, online site..nothing fancy).  At the end of the gif, I’ve removed the background to show only the reflected face.

Now that we have an enhanced face of person #1, is there a reflection of person #2?  Though it’s harder to see, I happen to think so.

Below I’ve gifed the progression of highlighting person #2.  I used the same photo enhancement tools as with person #1 (sepia tint, contrast and lighting) but also added color tints for the phone (white) and sleeves (red).  ( Note:  I can’t say for sure that she’s wearing a shirt with long sleeves, but I wanted to break up the monotony of the sepia tones, in part to make it easier for you to distinguish the hand that’s covering part of her face from her face itself.)

As the image emerges below, you will first see her arms/hands and phone and then her face/hair.

Next, similar to what the University of Glasgow researchers did in their study, let’s compare the reflections to an actual picture of the likely subject. 

Person #1 appears to have a beard, or at least several days worth of facial hair, and he’s wearing glasses. (Though appearing dark-tinted in the reflection, these would be regular glasses.) His hair is light in color and looks longish on top with some curl there and over his ear.  His overall appearance seems casual/scruffy, like he’s a man on hiatus from work, hanging out at home “sort of personally” with his cat and...well...his Cait.

Here is the reflection side-by-side with a picture of scruffy Sam from a more recent hiatus.

And here, I overlay the two images.

Moving on to person #2, here’s a side-by-side of her reflection with a recent picture of Cait.  (I flipped the 2019 picture so that her head was tilted in the same direction as the one in the 2016 reflection.)   I didn’t overlay these images, but Cait being there is a pretty safe bet.  After all, she took/posted the picture.

Like Sam, Cait appears to be wearing glasses in the reflected image with one lens visible and the other blending in with her dark hair color. 

In summary:

The picture of Eddie was taken in a less ideal setting, in terms of lighting, and with a lower resolution camera (likely an Iphone with 12 megapixels) than those taken in the University study.

Despite this, images of two faces can be seen reflected in Eddie’s eye.

As in the study, the “bystanders” (Sam and Cait in this case) were close to the “subject” of the photo (Eddie).  How can I deduce this?  Because pictures of the “pancake kitchen”,  where this picture was taken, were posted on a public realty site when the flat was for sale, so the layout of the kitchen is known.  ( *See “re-enactment” photo ...term used loosely here...below.)

Because I am very familiar with their faces, I am able to recognize that the images reflected in Eddie’s eye bear a strong resemblance to Sam and Cait and, therefore, conclude with reasonable certainty that it is them. 

Reflections aside, the cat collar always screamed “picked out by Sam” to me.

* “Re-enactment” picture

It probably won’t come as a surprise that the idea to do this “re-enactment” came to me in the early morning hours on a night I had insomnia.  I combined both the reflected faces and Cait’s reflected hands/arms with stick figure art, found online, for their bodies. The result is...well...not art .. but a cute, if a bit silly, rendition of the scene showing you approximately where SC would have been in relation to Eddie. 

It’s not perfectly accurate, of course.  In reality...

SC were likely sitting at Eddie’s level or at least crouched down to it.

Eddie was sitting on that location of the table but turned toward SC.

Based on the size of his reflection vs Cait’s, Sam’s face was probably a bit closer to Eddie than Cait’s was when the picture was snapped. 

Sam was probably not wearing a necktie and was (probably?) wearing pants. ☺ (Cait would so wear that dress, though.)

As an aside, even though there’s no proof of where Sam’s arms are from the reflection, I like that his stick figure arm just couldn’t help but go around Cait’s shoulder.  Art imitating life.

So there you have it.  Do you see what I see?  Don’t see it?  See it, but don’t want to believe it?  I respect all opinions, but this is meant to be something fun to speculate about (Remember fun?  I know it’s rare in our fandom these days.), so maybe give that a try or, if not, scroll on by. 

[fpinterviews]

Jaclyn Santos

FP: We've spoken about the subject of the male gaze, and even part of the mission statement of FP is to question what it means when women artists control the power of their own objectification. There have been other artists who have paved the way, ie. Vanessa Beecroft, why do you think it is still considered controversial and shocking for a female artist to portray her sexuality as outwardly powerful and/or vulnerable?

JS: While many women artists have displayed their own sexuality in their artwork, every girl and woman still has to confront this topic individually and form her own convictions. It's something we continuously re-examine as we age and deal with new personal  struggles. There are so many conflicting messages in society regarding a woman’s stance on her own sexuality and most women are still trying to figure it out for themselves. On one hand, society definitely rewards physical beauty yet, in many other ways, it can be an impediment. Increasingly, I think people turn to media figures as a barometer for their own morality. For the "Shock Challenge" I wanted to generate discussion about the way women are often criticized because of images they present of themselves – particularly the way certain female celebrities objectify themselves by posting sexy personal photos on social networking platforms such as Twitter. Often these photos are low-resolution and snapped from cell phones. I decided to photograph myself in this manner as a sort of contemporary “self-portraiture” and elevate the photos to fine art status by re-contextualizing them. I then displayed the images in the gallery and allowed the audience to physically alter the work in any way with sharpies, which draws attention to the way women are criticized online. I titled the piece, “Triple Self-Portrait in Bathroom,” which references Andy Warhol, an artist known for working with the idea of celebrity persona.

Another reason it may still be considered controversial is because of female competition, which occurs in part due to socially imposed myths of female worth. The scrutiny with which women can judge each other is incredible. Growing up, I wasn’t horrendously unattractive but I did go through an “awkward phase,” and for five years of my life other girls ridiculed me nearly every day. Now that I am older and have grown into my looks, I am condemned by some women because I keep up my appearance, when if I didn’t I would be put down for it. The world sets up a standard for beauty, then criticizes those who admit they struggle with it. I’m willing to honestly examine this contradiction through my artwork.

FP: You've also mentioned isolationism in your statement...a theme that seems to be prevalent in American culture today, particularly because of the internet, and our ability to be alone yet still remain virtually connected. Can you speak about how that relates to your work?

JS: I think the piece I did for the "Art That Moves You" challenge on WOA, "11x17", touches on the issue of isolationism in contemporary urban culture. It also examines voyeurism, a somewhat natural response to isolation.  While most people do not spy on their neighbors' with binoculars, voyeurism has transcended to the internet in a more diluted version, where many of us use social networking platforms and blogs to comment on the lives of those we see on Television and other forms of Media. The pseudo-anonimity of the Internet offers protection while potentially causing further isolation. I think this has affected women in a very specific way. Oftentimes women display sexy images of themselves in an attempt to garner attention or praise, yet this often backfires into “unwarranted” criticism. Too often photos or explicit videos are released without consent.

FP: In regards to the nudity on the show...it really was a missed opportunity as you said for the production to discuss the current state of feminism as it pertains to the art world. Such a HUGE topic and yet (for the sake of time constraints? titillation of tv?) Bravo chose to edit down your provocative "shock value" piece to a hot girl defaulting to her own voyeuristic sexuality more than anything else. How did you feel about that? What could they have done to further the dialogue? What do you think would have happened if say one of the male artists had asked to photograph you naked or had photographed themselves naked...do you think more or less would have been made of that episode?

JS: So far my character has appeared very one-dimensional. The fact is, I am not a "bimbo" in any capacity.  Instead of portraying my true personality, they jumped on every opportunity to dumb-down my character. I was very disturbed by the way my piece, “Triple Self-Portrait in Bathroom,” was depicted on Work of Art as well as the way my character and art making process were completely distorted. I don’t think this was done because of time constraints; rather, it was done to create a very simple story arch that any casual viewer could follow. This was problematic because it made me look like I default to nudity without any thought behind the concept of the work, which undermines my art process. I am not shy about my appearance as they suggest, but I did feel incredibly vulnerable being taped in the nude. There's a huge difference between presenting a photograph that I have carefully selected and composed, verses handing over raw footage that can be manipulated in any way whatsoever. I was very hesitant about doing this but I believed in the piece and the producers said they needed the footage only to display my process. Yet in the episode, the rest of my process was barely discussed, then it was falsely made to look as though I was not responsible for conceptualizing the final product.

The treatment of sensitive issues on set was different for the boys. A male contestant was not required to film himself ejaculating on a piece of art, which caused some tension on set.

FP: In The Art of Reflection: Women Artists' Self-Portraiture in the Twentieth Century, Marsha Meskimmon states: "If the task was to find oneself, then the crisis for the postmodern subject is that nowhere is home, everything shifts and changes. What is the reflection in the mirror that 'vanity' holds? She refuses now to be the 'site' of another's desire and reflects back to you the insubstantiality of your projections."1

Do you think it's possible for the physicality of an attractive female artist to ever be a separate entity from her work, particularly if she is the subject matter of her own work? Is vanity and the mirror important to an artist?

JS:  To answer the question, if the womans' chosen subject matter deals with nudity or sexuality in the form of self-portraiture - i.e. Marina Abramovic, Cindy Sherman - no, I don't feel the artist's appearance could be a seperate entity. If the subject matter involves sexy images of other women or the imagery is more illustrative - i.e. Lisa Yuskavage, Hillary Harkness - I think it will be much less of an issue. I think it can only be a non-issue if the artist completely plays down her appearance or doesn't acknowledge it in her work. Yet this doesn't necessarily mean it won't be an issue. At a college critique, a guest artist was invited to our studios and the minute he saw me, before he ever saw my work, he blurted out, “you are the artist”?  “You don’t look anything like an artist... YOU are as interesting as your work." This sort of thing happened so often that I made a decision to incorporate my appearance into my work.

FP: Another great quote from this same book: "One of the key issues in feminist theory has been that of women's voice in male language. To what extent is it possible to enunciate a truly different position when you are already within the structures which mark your difference?"2 Do you think the art world is still a predominantly masculine one or is it now equal...what has your experience been thus far?

JS:  While certainly more doors are now open to female artists, there’s no denying the highest paid artists are all still men. There’s also no denying that the vast majority of Art collectors are men.  I worked for Jeff Koons for two years and there were very few women who came in to purchase work. Granted, this may simply be because men still make more money than women and if women had more spending power, more of us would invest in contemporary art. I think it is a challenge to make work about women that can appeal to both a male and female audience on the same level. We respond to images of the female form rather differently, and it's hard to subvert the provocative aspect of a sexualized image.

FP: The high-low art status is interesting in your pieces --do you think anything can be elevated to art status by redepicting it?

JS:  Yes, it can, if done in a particular way.  Intent is important -- low art must be appropriated in an intelligent way. For instance, a high school student copying his incredible hulk comic book is entirely different than Jeff Koons appropriating the hulk into his personal iconography.

FP: You worked as a studio assistant to pop art icon Jeff Koons. Has he influenced your work? And who are your biggest influences?

JS:  Before I ever worked for Jeff Koons, I loved his Made in Heaven series as well as his Luxury/Degradation series. Speaking of Made in Heaven, that’s a prime example of low-art being successfully elevated to high -art. Jeff Koons is brilliant and there are very few people who love art as much as he does. Working at his studio was an incredible learning experience. It was so interesting to see how he spoke with visitors about his work and I learned an incredible amount of technical skill while at his studio. Jeff talked "acceptance" quite often. We must accept who we are -- our individual and collective pasts -- our shortcomings, failures, weaknesses, and strengths. As artists, we must be honest with ourselves in order to make work that is personal yet transcends to a wider audience. So many artists have influenced my work, but to name a few: Damien Hirst, Marilyn Minter, Laurel Nakadate, Liz Cohen, Vanessa Beecroft

FP: Where do you see your work evolving now that you've participated in Bravo's Work of Art? Has the show inspired you in a new direction? What's on the horizon? Where can we see your work next?

JS:  Participating in the reality show was an experience like no other. It really made me more aware of the internet as a portal for criticism and dialogue in fine art. It also opened my eyes to how incredibly critical and voyeuristic our culture is, and I think I would like to comment even further on these qualities in my new projects. The show also allowed me to branch out into other mediums when appropriate, something I think I may have been afraid to do before.  Since the show wrapped up, I’ve been continuing my series of figurative paintings as well as a new series of explosions that respond to the war and oil spill.

Check my website, www.jaclynsantos.com for frequent updates of my new work.

[transrightsjimin]

i was tagged by @soulmates7 thank you!!

7 ALBUMS GAME

Rules: Make an image HERE of your top 7 albums, just type in the name and select the album. This can be top 7 of all time or this year or whatever you’d like. 

ok i couldnt choose at all so now i have two images

but also i worked for 6+ hours on looking up bands i had seen live or used to listen to more often and i made a list with albums and singles that i have repeated / re-visited a lot or that simply mean a lot to me nd that i’d recommend to others. it was a bit hard to make bc i also love a lot of songs that are single releases with only 1-2 songs, but i don’t listen to them like you would to a longer single / mini album / full albums. i wanted to include laboum’s full length albums (two of us and low pop wow) but those sadly have the lowest production value in most of the songs so i cannot enjoy those fully. there’s also some older plastic tree albums from the 1990s that are hard to access for listeners so i can’t add those. anyway this is the full list (in progress) lol

CHECK IN GAME

1. How has your day been?

quite ok! i slept for 9 hours thats fucking wild, idk how that happened but im grateful! did cry abt gender stuff and am a bit frustrated abt how i took so many hours to look into old albums instead of do useful stuff, but it was very fun and inspiring.

2. What’s the last thing that made you smile?

hmm idk? i dont rly like, keep track of when i do or dont smile when im not in public hgghkjg

maybe the halloween pictures my mom sent me from her home? those were fun. or maybe my friend. idk i was quite cheerful / neutral this morning but since later in the afternoon i had a dip(?)

3. What’s keeping you entertained these days?

uhmmm ive been recently watching halloween-related videos by Abby Green on youtube and rly enjoy her vids on makeup and halloween films and other chitchat and her makeup looks are so cute! also im watching sabrinah the teenage witch episodes from time to time w my friend in the evenings, though we also watched more of stuff recently like goosebumps episodes and films and the griezelbus film and carrie yesterday. we also watch a bunch of other shows but im not too entertained by them, i just find it hard to look away hjfdkhg

4. If you are in some kind of quarantine/self-isolation, what do you hope to achieve in this time?

uh i dont know? my country has never had a real full lockdown but i of c do try to limit going outside aside from working hours, though life hasnt been much different from pre-pandemic as i rarely do fun stuff anyway. i was always inside at home for most of the time but i dont do super exciting stuff here too bc i’ve probably never gotten out of my burnout i got in 2013. i did recently watch stuff together w friends online like watch bts stuff or try to dance together but everyone is either busy or has shitty connection nd it just didnt rly work.

i mean i do want to help better my mental health through CGT and giving myself more structure nd being stricter w bedtime. i rly hope my mental health will get better but idk if i can bc the CGT appointments are 12 in total and after that the therapy stops. it rly sucks but i accepted the offer as i otherwise would be on another waiting list elsewhere too and at the previous place i had therapy for several years, i kept getting new therapists regularly too bc of stuff like their contracts ending or pregancy so i guess im used to not being able to see a therapist for a long time. so idk.

i want to get better mental health and better concentration. i also just need to get a stupid fucking job bc while i dont want to work at all, i have to to be able to live and i need a reason to get out of bed every day to go somewhere so i would have more structure and be less depressed. i mean i could say i want to draw more and dance and read more but ive been saying that for years and i still rarely do it bc im so demotivated nd have worsened focus for years and my special interests are all over the place so i never think about getting stuff done while i really should.

5. Post selfie, if you’re comfortable doing so

from a while ago. it gave me 70s vibes somehow, i like it

LAST SONG

versailles - prince (got bored so i quit playing the song)

LAST SAVED PICTURE

the downscaled selfie and 7 album pictures above

tagging: @princeshojo @lampshroomomg​  @trespassers-will @baepsrae

[lovetaylorswift29]

Lyrical Deep Dive:

Death By A Thousand Cuts

Kaylor analysis 👁

My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my My, my, my, my

Echoing “my, my, my, my, my lover” signifies DBATC and Lover are about the same relationship.

Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts Flashbacks waking me up I get drunk, but it's not enough 'Cause the morning comes and you're not my baby I look through the windows of this love Even though we boarded them up Chandelier's still flickering here 'Cause I can't pretend it's okay when it's not It's death by a thousand cuts

Taylor is saying goodbye to being seen publicly with Karlie. She has flashbacks to better times when they were glass closeting, feeling on top of the world. She gets drunk to deal with the pain of keeping their relationship a secret, because when morning comes they cannot be seen together. Despite not being able to publicly acknowledge her relationship with Karlie, she looks forward to the times they still share together privately, and knows it was their decision to board their relationship up. The public no longer thinks they’re friends - no paparazzi photos of them around the city, no longer attending events together. It’s all been boarded up, even for Kaylor fans. The chandelier is still flickering though because they are still in a relationship, but it’s extremely private and requires keeping secrets, sneaking around, PR stunting, etc. While this decision may have seemed necessary for both of their public images post-Kissgate and originally worked for them, it’s exhausting to keep this charade up - it’s “death by a thousand cuts”.

I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright They say, "I don't know" And what once was ours is no one's now I see you everywhere, the only thing we share Is this small town You said it was a great love, one for the ages But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages?

Taylor goes through her day - doing press, attending award shows, etc. I see “take the long way home” as having two potential meanings - she’s taking the long way home, a secret route to get back home and be with Karlie, or she’s saying this whole charade of them no longer being seen together in public is for a planned end game, one where they can eventually be open and together outside their home. This long winding road has had many unexpected turns, they’ve needed to pivot around with their long-term plans - the ending is not in sight and Taylor worries about the uncertain scenarios ahead of them.Their relationship being “no one’s now” I think is reference to the fact that the public no longer sees them together - people who enjoyed their public outings, the speculation of them being more than friends - it’s no longer out in the open to be discussed by the general public, even Kaylor fans, who need to look for clues and signs that a relationship between them still exists.

Taylor sees Karlie everywhere around New York City - whether on a huge billboard in Times Square or having flashbacks when she’s in a neighborhood they once enjoyed publicly together. They still share NYC - both of them are residents (probably living together), but it’s all memories now and literal images of their faces plastered around the city as a constant reminder that they aren’t able to be honest about their love in interviews or with their fans. The YOU she is referring to about it being “a great love, one for the ages” could be both her and Karlie themselves reminiscing on better times in their relationship (Victoria Secret fashion shoots, Vogue cover shoots - when Kaylor basically ruled the world). I think the last line in this verse is Taylor talking to the public and her fans - if you assume Kaylor is over, you’re mistaken, since she’s still writing their love story into her music.

My heart, my hips, my body, my love Tryna find a part of me that you didn't touch Gave up on me like I was a bad drug Now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club Our songs, our films, united, we stand Our country, guess it was a lawless land Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand Paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust Tryna find a part of me you didn't take up Gave you so much, but it wasn't enough But I'll be all right, it's just a thousand cuts

Taylor’s in bridge city again here - describing the pain of keeping something so meaningful and such an important part of your well being a secret. It’s the hardest things she’s ever had to do because it’s consuming so much of her time and energy to avoid any PR slip ups. I’m very much theorizing here, but I think the next few lines relate to Karlie’s stunting with JK and eventual “marriage”. Maybe Taylor didn’t expect Karlie to go as far as she did with their “relationship” or contract. Who knows the logistics that went down (I certainly don’t), but maybe Karlie grew impatient with Taylor changing her coming out plans and decided to go forward with the PR stunt because of reasons related to her own career - I think this caused problems for them, which they obviously got through and PIVOTED their end game plans, but I think Taylor took it as a hard blow and probably hates seeing images of them online or in magazines - she’s searching for what they once had in places they once were out in public, happy together. I also think the 2016 election results played a part in Karlie/JK’s arrangement - “...united, we stand / Our country, guess it was a lawless land”. Karlie realized the effects this has had on Taylor and tries to quiet her fears and comfort her, reassuring her that this won’t be forever - both her and Taylor know that they will be together in the end.

The next few words are the most telling to me, with Taylor acknowledging how much this stings and is a result of their back and forth plans for coming out. I’ll theorize that Taylor originally was the one pushing off the plans, fearing she had more to lose at the time and taking things very seriously post-Kissgate. Limited Kaylor being seen out together to eventually becoming non-existent, sparking rumors of a feud and falling out. Who knows what they originally hoped would happen when they were glass closeting, but Taylor panicked and she’s still dealing with the repercussions of that. She’s consumed in everything she does throughout the day by her feelings for Karlie and memories to happier times where they were free to be seen out in public and support one another. Taylor maybe feels like she gave Karlie so much of her love but it wasn’t enough to stop her from re-signing her contract and taking things to a 10000 with JK, especially when Taylor has kept her beard so low key and out of the way for the most part. After she calmed down she realizes she overreacted and that what she has with Karlie is too real and more important than what the public reads or says about them. They are still each other’s end game. It’s going to be all right, but the daily pain of hiding someone so important in your life, especially when you were once inseparable in the public eye to now people assuming you hate one another isn’t the end of the world, “it’s just a thousand cuts”.

[funkymbtifiction]

Is this how my version of Inferior Fe, or is it a 3 thing?

I got typed ISTP on Nardi’s site and reading the ISTP tag here I could relate a lot to the characters and posts. One thing however that always trumped me was the inferior Fe descriptions. Because I couldn’t relate to ISTPs experiences on forums I decided to dig deeper. I got all the recommended books on MBTI to find an answer, even Was That Really Me? to check out the Fe grip chapter. It didn’t get me anywhere so I began to think my meltdowns were mostly induced by my Enneagram (3w4). I wanted to check out with you guys to see if it’s an Fe or 3 thing.

My self pity parties are private, but  I have had a couple meltdowns in front of my family and always for the same reason. I first had then when I was 13, and they were identical: I attempted a recipe I saw on a cooking show and my sauce turned out wrong and I just…sat down and cried. I remember my mom trying to calm me down and show me how to salvage it. I had no idea why, but it crushed me. Perhaps because I had previously always got everything I cooked right at first try. Later on Mother’s Day I decided to cook the whole day for my mom and grandma. I made a great chicken pie for lunch and planned a lavish afternoon tea. My cake turned out great and I was on cloud 9 until… half of my chocolate truffle spilled out of the window where I had put the pan to cool down on. I just remember bawling at how “Everything is ruined!!!”. Again my mom calmed me down and I used what I could save. Over time I got much better at dealing with mishaps, and started to improvise and be more creative when things didn’t go as planned. I still felt a bit upset when I couldn’t deliver as promised, but would be placated by knowing it was still good. But this weekend, more than decade later, it happened again. The empanadas were taking forever in the oven so I put my mom’s in the air fryer and it burned. When I saw it I felt like crying for a second, but turned it into anger. I told my mom to eat mine and started screaming about how angry I was that after so long working on it I couldn’t eat it. The truth is I wasn’t angry at all. I just felt like it was easier to be angry than sad. But it didn’t work and minutes later I started bawling at how it was ”BURNED, IT’S TOTALLY BURNED MOM, WHY DON’T EVER BELIEVE ME?”. Then I started going at how it was 1 AM on a Sunday and I had nothing to eat. It’s weird that I can be completely aware that logically the situation it’s not a bid deal, but feel like it is at the same time. Like the usual me takes a seat and just lets this stranger take on. It always baffles me because I only ever felt comfortable crying in front of my mom watching movies about a year ago, and I never share my struggles with anyone (even her), so all this bawling like a kid is very weird. I’m the logical “People are too sensitive!” “Suck it up!” one.

I thought it could be related to 3 because those episodes were mostly about not performing up to my standards, and disappointing the people I wanted to make happy and being hungry lol). I never was pressured about that at home, it was always an inborn thing, my rigid self standards and self expectations. I have memories of that from age 3 in kindergarten. I always felt so embarrassed when I underperform because you see, I was the “prodigy”. So nothing but the best from me. I care about my image and how people treat one another and behaving appropriately, but I disagree with how people say Fe users take on the values around them as their own. My take on several important things has always been different form my family and peers, and even now I disagree with a lot of the current views that are deemed the “correct” ones, and I’m unwilling to compromise on my values to fit in. I cut people/things from my life as soon as they cross a line.

My private meltdowns no one knows about are pretty dramatic and looking back on them, mostly childish and unlike me. They usually are about me being hurt by other people’s voicing their unsatisfaction at me. I keep on thinking on how unfair the person is being to me, of all the things I’ve done for then and all mistakes they made and how they take me for granted. I fantasize about leaving them and seeing how they cope, and being very successful and happy on my own while they realize the mistake they’ve made. This went on for years, I even used to do the silent treatment thing, I wanted then to come to me. But a couple years ago, things started to change. I would start thinking like usual, but at every accusing or self pitying thought a voice would couter it with how it was their every right to complain, reminding me of my mistakes. Basically it shuts down the hypocritical and self righteous part of me that is always the one to critique, but never wants to take the blame. I’ve grown very fond of this change as I think it’s a sign of maturing, and it helps with my self awareness.

Um.

You are not an ISTP. The reason you’re not relating to ISTPs online is you don’t share their judging axis. What you describe is clearly Te and Fi related.

An ISTP who didn’t do a recipe properly wouldn’t tell anyone or cry about it, they’d just eat it, or they’d use Ti to break down the system and figure out what went wrong, then adapt a different method the next time they made it.

Te expects to follow a recipe and have it turn out just exactly like the recipe says it will, and if it goes wrong, despite having done everything “right,” then it’s ruined. I have seen several IXFPs have similar meltdowns after working hard on something and not having it turn out right – they can be melodramatic about it, because low Te doesn’t know how to improvise or fix it and their aggravation makes it a disaster. I see this less with TJ types but it still happens sometimes.

You also sound like a 1 core more than 3 due to your idealistic notions of having to get things perfect on the first try – a 3 would deny they made a mistake and/or make a big deal out of re-framing it, or claim their sauce was superior, but instead you are being hard on yourself because you’re not living up to your own high personal expectations of instant perfection – a bit like Nina in Black Swan, who works her toes to the bone to be “the best.” You may have a 3 fix, or you could have a 2 fix, since your fantasies are all about how you aren’t appreciated for all the things you do for other people – that is specifically a 2 “sin” (being angry about not “getting” from giving), so you may be 1w9 (too high of expectations, generally hardworking and calm) with a 2w3 or a 3w2 fix.

In that light, you may want to consider the thought that you could be an IXTJ. 1-cores often go with IXTJs, more so than ISFPs, and if you are indeed non-emotional and rational most of the time, these rare snits could be low Fi. But ISFP isn’t out of the question if you know and identify with high Se/lower Ni.

- ENFP Mod

[bluestarlightqueen]

Terms of Service

The Calamity Corner | Starlyte Studios

Digital Art Commissions

General Information

By purchasing a commission you agree to my terms of service and that you have read through them thoroughly. You also agree to not file any chargebacks regardless of the service used for payment. 

Failing to thoroughly read and abide by my T.O.S. may result in denial of your request or a permanent ban from purchasing art from me, depending on the scale of the offense and/or repeat offenses. Please read through ALL my terms before placing a commission order in order to avoid any issues. 

Please note that my T.O.S. may be updated, edited, or changed at any time. Please review my T.O.S. before every commission purchase. 

If my T.O.S. changes during a commission piece, your piece will be put on hold and you will be notified of the change. Your piece will resume once you have responded to my message/acknowledged the change. 

You are only purchasing a digital file - no physical print will be sent to you. 

Finished commissions will be sent by email only. 

You will receive a full-size render of your commissioned piece, plus a lower-resolution copy for posting online. I ask that you please only post the lower-resolution image if you want to share it online. 

My signature must remain on all artwork commissioned. 

No exceptions will be made. Removal of my signature on any pieces will result in the loss of your rights to the commissioned artwork, and I as the artist may use, resell, or redistribute the piece however I see fit. 

Be sure to save a copy of the artwork on your computer, a USB drive, and/or other methods of storage. 

I cannot guarantee the files sent will be able to be re-sent later in the future if you for some reason lose the files. I use email as a delivery method to hopefully avoid any issues with this, however I as the artist am not responsible for saving a backup of the files for you. 

I as the artist reserve the right to cancel or postpone your order if I cannot complete the order at the given time, if I do not wish to draw it, or if you have been troublesome in any way to me or other artists. See Refunds and Cancellations for more information. 

As an artist, my art is constantly evolving - this means that my style might vary between pieces in terms of color/sharing, line art style, composition, etc. vs what’s in my gallery for examples and what’s on my instagram. There’s not typically large differences, but be sure to check all the examples I have available as well as taking a look at my latest pieces either on Instagram or other social media pages. 

Do not ask me to draw in a style that is not my own. If you commission me, do it because you like my art style - I will not draw in another artist’s style because their commissions aren’t open. I also will not draw in the style of anime or tv shows or games. Please be respectful to the artists you commission! 

Please note that I only share WIP sketches upon direct request with reason. 

I will show TWO (2) WIP images during the commission process. 

(1) At the beginning of the process for overall feel of the piece & confirmation of the pose with flat colors (no lineart) for pieces that include color. 

(2) Before the final piece is completed and sent. 

WIP images will be low resolution and watermarked. 

I’ll keep as close to the original colors as possible, however if you want me to use all of the exact colors, please include a color palette of every shade you want used and what it’s for in your request. 

You must give clear details of the commission you wish to receive. See How to Order for more information. 

Aight y'all now that it's disguised a little better, just ignore this, I'm RickRolling one of those Instagram commission scam bots by saying this is my TOS 🤣🤣 Artists, feel free to link this page to scam bots who reach out to you! XD

Here's the bitly shortened link for anyone interested!

https://bit.ly/3PoWwUx

I made sure that the preview wasn't suspicious so it works well even if the audio doesn't auto-play, the point gets across xD See how many bots fall for it and tell me the story in the comments if you use this! 🤣

Credit just in case lmao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ 💀

[home-working]

Let There Be Sunlight

Holy shit it’s 2019! What did you get up to in 2018? What were your achievements, your successes? (Tumblr, I see that you have quasi-upgraded your blogging platform so I can have proper post titles AND photo layouts, congrats! Except they don’t really work!!)

One thing I did was upgrade my workspace, cause holy fuck it was starting to get depressing having my desk in a dark corner.

Welcome to Homeworking HQ (Ditmas Park) 2.0! Now I get to push pixels beside my big, bright, plant-adorned window, which allows me to bathe in all the reflected sunlight I can take and more easily spy on the people across the street at all hours of the day. In addition to relocating my desk, I got rid of another shitty table I didn’t like/need and replaced it with something useful: colour-coordinated S-T-O-R-A-G-E!

Behold!

Since apparently I don’t know how to purchase anything that isn’t red, yellow or blue, I found this not-Bisley™ wheeled filing cabinet online and then filled it with shit to organize other-shit-that-was-cluttering-up-my-apartment. There is nothing quite as satisfying as hidden things unnecessarily matching other things that are also hidden!

The only other surface I now have to eat off/do anything at is this IKEA “kitchen island” which I mostly end up standing at if I have a guest over like some awkward personal bartender because I currently only have one tall stool:

December: back on the holiday caramel-making bullshit.

Anyways, so far, it’s been a success sitting 10 feet closer to a natural light source, measurable by the fact that I really actually enjoy sitting at my desk again.

Wow, I’m sitting beside a window! Ok!

But how else does one define success? Purchasing objects to improve your quality of life is one thing, but measuring success in your career and personal life is trickier.

Warning: the rest of this post is basically me practicing long winded/unfunny/unresearched existential thought diarrhea so feel free to maybe skip it!

When I was younger and still unsure of what direction my life would take post-art school, I knew that at least no matter what I ended up doing, I wanted to be successful at it, and loosely defined that “success” as being able to make a living from it (growing up in a financially unstable household, self-sustained monetary security was of high importance). I was very lucky that I fell into a creative line of work that I not only found enjoyable and challenging, but was able to turn into a relatively fruitful career.

But the thing with a low threshold of success is that as soon as you achieve it, you need to begin rescaling your definition of it to keep moving forward: you need to embrace AMBITION.

O, ambition! What highs! I remember in my late 20s working a full-time advertising job then coming home and joyfully working a number of assorted freelance jobs. I loved it! (My then-boyfriend hated it!) I was productive! I was building a portfolio! The future! and! amount! of! work! was! limitless!

But now I’m TIRED. Thinking about work makes me TIRED. Just seeing my phone display “January” made me TIRED. Last year when I had a temporary full-time gig, with a 1.5-hour daily commute, I got home and ate take-out sushi with 13 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and ignored my freelance work and fell the fuck ASLEEP.

And still, despite a lack of energy (vitamin B and heme iron be damned), I feel guilty every minute of the day before 10pm that I’m not working on something. Even if all my client jobs are complete, I still feel like I should be taking advantage of that rare “free time” and work on a personal project (this post itself is a direct result of the joy/guilt from staying in on New Year’s Eve).

There’s the concept of a healthy work/life balance, but who has time for that? No minute can ever be wasted, because ambition is always perched on your shoulder whispering: you need to produce MORE THINGS; you need to work HERE, or teach THERE; you need to be on THIS WEBSITE, or THIS LIST, or in THIS GALLERY, or work with THIS STUDIO, and have THIS TITLE, or give THIS TALK… or you’re not really achieving success. Even if to outside eyes it might look like you’re doing pretty damn good, when you measure yourself next to your industry peers, you’re ultimately a smidgen above average, at best.

What’s sadly comforting is that achievement insecurity pervades almost everyone. A friend that I consider to be extremely successful (owning companies, property) once confided that their own family doesn’t see their achievements to be very worthwhile. Another friend, who puts so much work into running their own small business, is realizing the energy they’re pouring in is not resulting in a sustainable existence. Yet another friend, who seemed to have achieved the whole perfect job/house/marriage/dog combo, felt inadequate for having trouble conceiving.

So what if you’re not reaching the level of success you think you should have by now? Does yearning for more keep you moving forward, or just make you feel shitty? When do you abandon ambition? As my friend Amil Niazi recently commented on the Sheryl Sandberg concept of “leaning in”, when can we just give up and “lean out”?

What I’m realising is that what possibly makes the idea of abandoning success so difficult is that I, a single woman, don’t know what I’d replace it with. As 20-somethings unburdened with families to raise or households to maintain as earlier generations were, we were instead burdened by the freedom and expectation to become who we wanted as early as we could. And if we millennial women are not trying to live our most ambitiously fulfilling lives [on social media], do we even have an identity?!

If a woman chooses to forego ambition, there seems to be only one acceptable reason for that: motherhood. (She can have it all as well, but god forbid she have neither!) But I’m not sure I want that either, and so giving up success without starting a family means I will have to decide if I not only want to let myself but also society-at-large down.

Your 30s (ironically the decade that I’ve decided is about learning to not give a shit) seems to be the ultimate reality check; either you’ve already “made it”, or you need to embrace that you haven’t, probably aren’t going to, and are too damn tired to keep trying. Do we just need to give ourselves a break at this point? Re-evaluate our definition of success yet again, instead of abandoning it altogether? Maybe the better question is WHY I feel the need to measure my own success in the first place, when everyone’s definition is different anyways... someone’s definition might be having a baby and a white picket fence; mine should be managing to survive in New York without health insurance while self-employed.

Me, exemplifying the self-satisfaction that comes with writing about yourself on social media while simultaneously exhibiting how my apartment has been reorganized.

I was recently told by an older friend that your 40s is about learning to love yourself. So I guess I’ve got 4 more years of trying to “make it” before I can officially give up and force myself to be happy with (or at least acknowledge) what I’ve achieved thus far, and worry about nothing more. Looking forward to that menial office job and craft room in the sky!

Colophon sweater & socks: UNIQLO; toque: Army & Navy; sweatpants: Alternative Apparel; mug: some print-on-demand company; glasses: Steven Alan clearance; plants: IKEA & Home Depot; couchy thing & kitchen island: IKEA; stool: Target; status candle: Diptyque; filing cabinet: Walmart.com; wall poster: Grilli Type; everything nice: probably MoMA Design Store deep discount; caramel recipe: David Lebovitz; optional subtitle: “Or, How I Never Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hustle”; most horrifying thing I remember from a dream last night: Kylie Jenner; most stupefying thing to waste time image searching: Kylie Jenner’s teenage face transformation; best thing to snog as the clock strikes midnight when home alone on NYE: duty-free booze

[occupyblog946]

Face Swap App

Face Swap App For Pictures

Face Swap App Ghost

Face Swap App Iphone

Face Swap App Windows

TECHNOLOGY

Our app seamlessly swaps any face including those in statues, paintings, video games and also retains emotions of the face being transferred to. This is your fallback content in case JavaScript fails to load. Swap Faces in your own photos. The best and completely FREE photo face swap app. Features:. Swap Faces in your own photos. Easy to use, with realistic results. Swap Faces with different pictures. 1 or 2 photos, with up to 6 faces in each photo. Open photos from your gallery or take a new one using your camera. 1: Face Swap Video Camera App For Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. Starting the list with the top app on the Play Store is Face Camera. As the name suggests, this app offers the typical feature of interchanging face with another person in the picture, along with various other amazing features.

You only need 1 portrait photo and 1 video to make a high quality face swap!

Detect faces

The AI bot detects and identifies faces by running facial recognition software.

Analyze attributes on the face

Face Swap App For Pictures

By learning the given information from detected faces, AI could analyze their specific features on the face.

Reconstruct the 3D model of the face

Mimic the side profile and small detail features of the face by generating a renderable 3D face.

Replace the original face

After every features are defined, iface AI will swap the new face in.

Case 1

Personalized Ads

Recreating an interesting commercial footage by replacing faces in the original one at no producing cost! You can be creative without over-spending any budgets

Case 2

Film Production

By using iface AI for movies or in-game 3D characters, re-generating a fresh speaker for the footage can be easily done.

Face Swap App Ghost

Case 3

In this particular post, we will have a list of some of the best root apps for Android. So you will have a one-stop solution for finding the best Android rooted apps for the devices that you own. Rooted apps certainly have changed a lot of the Android working rhythm and how the device actually functions. Download Rooted Android Emulator Macbook This was all about changing the MAC in non-rooted mobile phone, for rooted devices you have a bunch of options to select from. Download leaving on a jet plane01. Download rooted android emulator mac.

Demonstration Pitch

Sampling your commercials or sample images by swapping celebrities in not only help to improvise your sample's viral-possibility but also easier visualization for your clients.

Have you ever thought about the best friend picture challenge? Our face swap app is able to give you a chance to win this photography marathon. Changing faces on photos has become one of the most important leisure time activities among friends online. Millions of users of Android devices, iPhones and iPad owners are looking forward to getting modern apk to process and edit their images and photo galleries in a most unique way.

Gd 2.11 free download mac version. From now everybody will have a great reason to laugh after watching funny photos which you have made together. Because every single shot and every selfie of a couple can change the idea of the pic from upside down. There are many ways to replace face with another one online, but only Retouchme app face swap is able to guarantee unique experience with low price and huge satisfaction level. If you want to try this easy and nice application, you need only two persons to make a live snapshot. Funny selfies with celebrities have become reality for our users, owing to the advanced technology of Retouchme software. From now on, you are able to feel a famous paparazzi who is trying to sabotage the private life of a Hollywood celebrity. Combine various options and skin types of models and you will find yourself in the world of fun and entertainment.

How to swap faces in pictures

You do not need to worry about the latest iOS or heavy computer software to install on your home pc. To start using this nice and easy image generator you need only your smartphone which has Android or Apple apps. Of course, a built-in camera to make shots is also necessary.

download the application from the app store of yourself smartphone;

open the image gallery of your device and find the photo you need to change; Master lock serial number list.

pasted into the window of the program, which is already open;

choose the right effect to apply;

send it to designers using the button in the right upper corner.

Before-After using swap faces app

Start using this face swap photo editor and begin to understand the happiness of free entertainment for you and your friends. Crop, rotate, change, remove, cancel, replace and montage favorite moments of your life. From now you will understand why Hollywood stars are so angry to see their photos published in modern magazines or portals because sometimes photographers use these small tricks to get a hotshot. Such trick is used not only to destroy the private life of film stars but also to make nice and lovely calendar images to use, laughing all year round. Body type or location does not matter when you use Retouchme to change face in a photo with another face. Just put your preferred snapshot into the application and start choosing correcting options, offered online. A number of ideas and suggestions will make you change even gender of your model, not only slight editing. Create short video files with the help of corrected images to show the before-after results.

Why you should choose Retouchme

Face Swap App Iphone

Simple. Retouchme app to swap faces on pictures an easy changer for all models of modern

smartphones, tablets, computers, and PCs. There are no additional requirements for memory. Professional approach. Only real designers are processing every single selfie, and image to obtain the best professional result. No auto responses are used to communicate with clients.

Easy access. The app is easy and intuitive. There is no need to have additional computer knowledge, or subscribing to computer lessons.

Face Swap App Windows

Low cost. Only 99 cents are necessary to start playing with your selfie gallery, or images so your friends and colleagues start surprising about great results in editing. Just enjoy making them laugh.

[astrogeoguy]

The Full Milk Moon precedes June, and Many Pretty Planet Pairings!

(Above: In this image taken on March 31, 2012 by Damien Peach, yellowish Saturn at top and reddish Mars at centre, hold court over the spectacular, distant globular cluster Messier 22. This week, Saturn alone guards the distant deep sky object. NASA APOD April 12, 2012)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from May 27th, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory, or another in your area, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

If you’d like me to bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

Public Events

On Monday evenings, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday evenings after dark, they offer free public viewing through their telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

On Thursday, May 31 from 11 am to 1:15 pm, join Dr. Kim Tait, Teck Endowed Chair of Mineralogy at The Royal Ontario Museum for Journey to Mars: Rocks, Rovers, Results and the ROM. It’s free with ROM admission, and registration and details are here. 

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, June 2 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

After a long period of inactivity, I’m pleased to announce that the David Dunlap Observatory will re-open for public events starting this Saturday night, June 2! Kicking off the season will be Professor Paul Delaney of York University talking about The Search for Planet 9, all about Pluto and the objects beyond it. Tickets and registration can be found online here. If you would like to volunteer at the observatory, contact me and I’ll connect you.

Asterisms Abound

If you missed last week’s tour of the many Asterisms in the night sky, I posted sky charts with the asterisms labelled here.

The Moon and Planets

Tonight, Sunday evening, the very bright waxing gibbous (nearly full) moon will start a tour of the major planets – landing less than a palm’s width to the left of Jupiter and accompanying it as it crosses the sky all night. Look for the pair of objects in the southeastern sky after dusk. 

On Monday evening, the moon will hop east to appear a fist’s width above the bright orange-red star Antares, “the Rival of Mars” in Scorpius (the Scorpion). The moon never ventures too far from the zodiac constellations because its orbit is tilted only 5° from the ecliptic, the imaginary circle that defines the 13 zodiac constellations. Yes! I said 13. Annually during the first half of December, the sun passes across the foot of Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer). Maybe he’s trying to trip Ole Sol!

(Above: The sun’s path along the ecliptic, as indicated by the green line, carries it through the 13th zodiac constellation, Ophiuchus, in December every year. This week, the moon will hop over Ophiuchus’ foot, as shown here for 10:45 pm local time on Monday, May 28.)

On Tuesday morning at 10:20 am EDT, the moon will reach a point opposite the sun in the sky, triggering its full moon phase. The full moon of May, known as the Full Milk Moon, Full Flower Moon, or Full Corn Planting Moon, always shines in or near the stars of Libra (the Scales). To unaided eyes, the moon will look full on Monday night, and still look full when it rises on Tuesday at sunset. But binoculars or a telescope will reveal shadows in craters along only its left edge on Monday and along its right edge on Tuesday. 

Look for a medium-bright star sitting a few finger widths to the upper left of the full moon in the southeastern sky during late evening on Tuesday. That star, named Sabik, marks the knee of our friend Ophiuchus! On Wednesday evening, the moon will hop over Ophiuchus’ leg, putting Sabik about a fist’s diameter to the moon’s upper right.

(Above: This week, the moon’s eastward orbital motion along the ecliptic, as shown here at 11:45 pm local time on Wednesday, May 30, carries it past Saturn and Mars.)

Also overnight on Wednesday, the moon will be situated a fist’s diameter to the upper right of yellowish Saturn. Then on Thursday evening at about 10:45 pm local time, the now waning gibbous moon will rise in the east with Saturn. The moon will sit only two finger widths to the left of the ringed planet and both objects will fit easily within the field of view of binoculars. 

Saturn is sitting near three deep sky Messier objects this week. (If you wait a few days for the moon to pass out of the sky, you’ll have better luck seeing them.) Messier 25, an open star cluster 2,000 light-years away and nearly as broad as the full moon, will be sitting a few finger widths to the upper left of Saturn. Messier 22, a globular star cluster nearly ten thousand light-years away, will be two finger widths below Saturn. And Messier 28, another globular star cluster that is almost 18,000 light-years distant, will be three finger widths to the right, and below, Saturn. You should be able to see Saturn itself until almost 5:30 am local time, when it will sit about 1.5 fist widths above the southwestern horizon.

(Above: A close up view of the Moon - Saturn encounter on May 31. The three deep sky objects, Messier 22, Messier 25, and Messier 28 will remain in place once the moon departs the area. Binoculars will show a field of view similar to the orange circle.)

Wrapping up the moon’s tour, low in the southeastern sky between 1 am local time and dawn on the morning of Sunday, June 3, the waning gibbous moon will sit a few finger widths above bright reddish Mars. Both objects will fit into the field of view of binoculars. Mars, now noticeably brighter than Saturn, continues to steadily brighten and increase in size as the Earth’s faster orbit brings us closer to the red planet this summer. (We will pass it on the “inside track” in late July.) 

(Above: The moon will meet Mars on the morning of Sunday, June 3, as shown here for 2 am local time.)

Venus continues to gleam in the western evening sky this week as it climbs away from the sun. The planet sets at about 11:30 pm local time. Tonight (Sunday), our sister planet will end up extremely close to a yellow, modestly-bright star named Mebsuta which marks the waist of Castor, the westerly twin. Both objects will fit into the field of view of a small telescope. You can observe Venus drawing away from Mebsuta on each subsequent evening.

(Above: Brilliant Venus will pass close to the much fainter yellow star Mebsuta in Gemini on Sunday, May 27, as shown here for 10:35 pm local time.) 

Jupiter is still visible all night long this week. Look for it as a very bright object in the southeastern sky after dusk. It will reach its highest elevation (about three fist diameters) above the southern horizon around midnight local time, and then descend into the southwestern horizon before the sun rises. The bright star sitting just to the right of Jupiter is Libra’s (the Scales) brightest star, Zubenelgenubi. In binoculars or a small telescope, it splits into a closely spaced pair of stars. 

On Wednesday, May 30 between 11:07 pm and 1:17 am, the black shadow of Jupiter’s moon Io and its little round black shadow will cross (or transit) Jupiter’s disk. A reasonable backyard telescope will show the black shadows, but a very good telescope is needed to see the moons themselves. 

The Great Red Spot takes about three hours to cross Jupiter’s disk. But the planet’s 10-hour rotation period (i.e., its day) means that the spot is only observable from Earth every 2-3 nights.  If you’d like to see the GRS, use a medium-sized telescope (or larger). You’ll have your best luck on evenings with steady air – when the stars are not twinkling too much. The best times to try this week are: Sunday, May 27 at 10:10 pm, Tuesday, May 29 at 11:49 pm, Friday, June 1 at 9:19 pm, and Sunday, June 3 at 10:57 pm. All times are given in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), so adjust for your local time zone. Try to look within an hour before or after the times I’ve given. 

Distant blue Neptune, still among the modest stars of Aquarius (the Water-bearer), has become observable in telescopes in the pre-dawn eastern sky after it rises about 2:15 am local time. I’ll post sky charts for the observable planets here.

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.

[eirian-houpe]

For Scene-it-Saturday: Your choice - show us a scene that you think otherwise won't see the light of day.

Thank you, Anon, for requesting something for Scene-it-Saturday. I think you might be the first.

Here’s a scene that I don’t think will get posted anywhere, at least not in it’s current form. Even the surrounding events might only get /touched/ on, but I’m not sure yet. It’s related to Disparate Pathways and is “backstory” for events that occur between when Belle is taken to Gold and later in the story. For that reason, I am going to put it under a cut, just in case... spoilers.

The large room was all concrete, steel, and glass. The lights were kept low to facilitate the ease of viewing the large, overhead display. That suited him just fine because it also allowed him to better see the many computer screens which sat at various levels on the desk in front of him. What did it matter that there was an extra monitor at the end of his display? Who would even notice?  It was his job, after all, when there were no live cases to oversee, to run tech for. Nothing to do but to monitor online and radio chatter, to intercept intel from the Dark Web and relay it all to the appropriate agency or single operative.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face, tired, even though it was only mid-afternoon. He’d been there since early morning and had barely stopped for lunch. He had good reason. The fifth monitor.

Tracking an agent ‘off-book,’ was frowned upon, and would likely result in censure if he got caught, but after what had happened recently - whether or not it was wanted - he was determined that /someone/ was going to watch this particular agent’s back.

He was that someone.

After another sigh, a yawn, and a sip of lukewarm coffee, that he vowed to freshen up some time in the next few minutes, he brought his fingers back to the keyboard, re-routing some snippets of information to Agent Rice in Homeland Security; some transcript notes to the director of the ATF - inter-agency cooperation at its best.

A small sound and a flash of red in his peripheral vision drew his eyes back to the end screen, a call-in to 911 reporting shots fired at the location he’d managed to triangulate from the agent’s phone. He pulled up the headset from around his neck and keyed his access code to break in on the call so that he could hear, and on a separate keyboard, began to run an algorithm to try to grab a visual from the nearest camera.

His fingers flashed as fast as his suddenly pounding heartbeat, only increasing as several other calls reported the same, and then his rapid beat faltered, as a dialogue box flashed up, indicating that same phone he used to triangulate the location was being used… used to also call 911.

”911, what is your emergency?”

“He’s hurt,” it was a tiny voice, like a child, and racing - clearly terrified. “A man shot him, and then they fought, and there were more men, all shooting.”

“Shit!” He redoubled his efforts to get a visual but was afforded very little coverage from traffic cameras in the surrounding neighborhood. “Fuck it, what did you do!”

As a last resort, he keyed in an intercept for a private security company that, his research told him, had a customer in that area, turned the camera through the extent of its range. His breath caught, and his already tortured heart stalled.

There were bodies on the ground - one he recognized, knew intimately, and even though it was a grainy image in black and white, he could see the spreading, dark stain on the front of his body and on the ground.

He forced himself to remain professional - as professional as he could. It wouldn’t help if he freaked out now. He could do that later when he knew his lover was safe.

Pulling the mic into position, he executed a series of keystrokes and joined the call. He identified himself immediately before he informed the dispatch officer, “I have eyes on the scene. The victim…” he hated to use that word and forced himself past the catch in his throat. “...is an undercover agent with the FBI - his badge number is JTTx97584211. His name is Jefferson Milnor.”

As soon as dispatch had acknowledged the information and acted appropriately, he ripped off his headset, transferred the call to his cell, and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. He was out of the door before anyone could ask him where he was going.

How much of this gets included, or even touched on will depend on how much of Belle and Gold’s time together in Storybrooke gets written.

Thank you for the ask!