just finished undertale. ok i see the vision. i now understand yall's Sans-to-Benrey obsession pipeline. and the Papyrus-to-Tommy Coolatta pipeline

Glass and Pomegranate Seeds

Something stirs in the darkness, and Aphrodite glides upwards from the impossible softness of the bed. It knows the contours of her body as well as she knows it, and in her world, this too can be a throne.

She is sheathed in sheets of exquisite silk that might as well have been a designer gown for the way that they drape her body, capturing every inch, every curve, every beautiful line of her. Beneath these, she is naked, but it has been a long time since nakedness felt akin to vulnerability. Perhaps never. In the room where she had slept, a man dozes still, his hairy arm laid over the place she had vacated, warm and smelling of her. She is confident he will not wake, but casts her gaze toward him anyway, a faint echo of a smile, once brighter, tugging at her perfect lips, and it is as gorgeous as it is heartbreaking. He is her physical antithesis, as ugly as she was beautiful, and some cruel poet might have presumed he was a jape the universe had set down for her, or a cruel command of Zeus in vengeance for her continual defiance. But it is she who is the goddess of love. She who decides the fate of the heart. This man did not need another's ironic intentions anymore than he required the aching beauty of the other gods to find his way here, to her bed, and to somewhere far more precious still. But that was a story for another time, for Aphrodite's senses were never wrong. Something was stirring in the darkness, demanding her attention.

Off of the bedroom, there was a balcony, wide and open to the world. Overhead, a storm brews. The clouds were wicked, tumultuous shades of violet and black interspersed with gray. They crackle rumble with their energy, and a lightning-bolt shoots through the sky, crashing to the earth several hundred meters below. In her tower, in her privileged palace, she is not currently at risk of being threatened by this storm. She is above the clouds as much as she is in them, those gathering below her balcony, so close she might touch them, a perfect mimic of that which spills out above her. Of course, her risk of danger might alter some once they realize what she had done. It was no small thing, but then again, love never is.

Her fingers touch the crystal orb that is suspended in rings of gold, turning it. Her magic fills the sphere, and she can see all the world. Not just Greece, or Rome, where one day her name will be known, but the totality of it all, places where they worship her under different names. She has many forms, some gentler, some more fierce, but in all she commands the heart of the worshiper in a way no other god can quite manage. Aphrodite whispers the name of the god she seeks, the name that is the same as his realm. The orb shudders, her light flickering out from it for a moment. It strains. Hades has done his best to keep her sights from here, wary of her as much as he is of the other gods. She cannot blame him; Aphrodite knows what she is, and would be glad to use this little fact against him if she needed to. They are all like this, defensive, territorial creatures. If he wishes to protect his domain, so be it. But love has worked its way into Hades at last, insidious and clever as it has always been, even if he might not have believed it once, and where love goes, so too may Aphrodite follow. The crystal flashes once more, and she sees into his realm. They are in a room whose walls are constructed entirely of platinum that would make Zeus green with envy, its ceiling formed of glass set with innumerable precious gemstones that perfectly mirror the sky wherever he wishes it too - they all have their eyes, she remembers. His are turned to Olympus, and she is not surprised. Hades is not fool enough to believe this venture of his will go unnoticed, and he must know it cannot go unpunished, either. Such is the cost of love, especially so for the god.

He is not alone. She had not expected him to be. There amongst a world of gemstones and metal is a woman. She is beautiful, Aphrodite remarks, as she often had when she'd seen the goddess previously. A daughter of Demeter, with skin gleaming bronze and hair even now woven with flowers. They do not wilt here amongst the dead, and Aphrodite knows that she is life itself. Another reason for Hades to desire her. Aphrodite cannot hear them, but she sees the woman's cheeks color with a rosy hue, and watches, fascinated, as her lips tug into laughter. She had been watching Hades' courtship of her, though the poets will one day tell it wrong, as they will do so many other things. In their story, he takes, but in hers, in the one which is closest to the truth, it is Hades himself who is first stolen. Hades, who had ascended out of his dark domain at the beckoning of Zeus, to personally escort the soul of one of Zeus's champions. The king of the gods was a danger to all who became embroiled in his interests, but he was as loyal to those temporary loves as he would ever be to Hera, flighty though he was. Aphrodite had been visiting with Demeter when the earth shuddered with his rising chariot, and had been amused to watch as sweet Persephone's head turned to watch the progress of his black horses through the sky. Demeter had tsked, and Persephone had returned to chattering with the nymphs who kept her company, obedient. Much must have been the shock of Demeter when Hades came to give his respects, though truly the man held more decency than most of the pantheon contained were it compiled. He was often quiet, it was to be sure, and his contentment with his lot was considered disconcerting by those always aiming higher, but such was Hades' way.

Aphrodite had seen it the moment that his eyes had befallen the gaggle of women that laughed and sipped ambrosia beneath the shaded canopy of an alder tree. She knew without needing any further assessment which had caught his eye, unaware as though she was. And then the girl had been summoned to meet the king of the underworld, and Hades had grown quieter. His visit was always short when he joined those on Olympus, but it was shorter still today, and Aphrodite had even perceived a faint blush coloring his light cheeks. She had chuckled to herself, and continued speaking with Demeter, all the while plotting.

It had been easy enough to concoct a reason to visit Hades, descending below the earth to beg for two lovers divided by death. As always, he had narrowed his eyes when he saw her, a warranted distrust unguarded in his features. She had made her plea, and made it well - she did most things convincingly, whatever Homer might say, and in the end a deal was struck. Aphrodite would not usually linger to make herself a nuisance, and in doing so threaten the bargain made, but today she had other motives for arriving than young love. She mentioned casually, just as Hades was gritting his teeth, that she had passed gentle Persephone plucking flowers on her way here, on a cliff-side which overlooked the wine-dark sea. How charming, she remarked approvingly, and how brave to draw so near to the edge, unafraid of the tumultuous waters below. She left soon after, but did not return immediately home. It was true that Persephone was plucking flowers, but she had not been alone. Rarely did Demeter permit such a thing, and with good cause, for mortals and gods alike suffered hubris. Aphrodite told to a group of handsome men, demi-gods no doubt, of the beautiful women who liked to pluck the flowers, just as she had told Hades much the same. Their souls were gentle and she sensed no harm, so she was pleased when they thanked her, knowing not it was a goddess in their midst, and went forth to seek these women. Lust, Aphrodite knew, and even love can begin with suggestion.

The men came often to visit the nymphs, but only Persephone held no interest in them. Their faces were charming, but Aphrodite noted with interest how vain she found them. But still they came, and it was on one such day that Hades approached. He watched that day, and for two more after, until on the fourth he approached her. Aphrodite did not need to watch any longer, not after she had seen this exchange. She needed no arrows, no whispered spells to ensure that what lay buried there would bloom. The heart knows itself far better than the mind will ever do.

You may have heard of a story about an innocent girl and a thunderous chariot, but that is not this story. In this story, Aphrodite's story, but also Hades' and Persephone's, there is only a man in love with a woman. He does not take, but rather gives. Gives his love, gives his heart, gives his world. In this story, she eats the seeds willingly, as good as any marriage vow, though these are later whispered before Aphrodite herself. In this story, the world still grows cold, and many still suffer, and many still die, because there is strength to a mother's love, to any love. And in this story, Persephone agrees again to arise, to split her year between one love and another. But in this story, there are no tears from her eyes when she descends. Aphrodite makes a habit of viewing it, at least for the first millennia. They are a beautiful couple, as she knew they would be, his darkness tempered by her light. She brings warmth where she goes, treads with light, and he makes her stronger with each winter they spend. Aphrodite enjoys watching them, her most proud success. There are those who utter foul against them, who declare their story something dark and dangerous, but the goddess of love knows the truth.

She thinks of the man who belongs to her, and she to him, and she smiles. She understands, more than most, how love can bloom in the most unlikely of places.

Charmed Reboot Season 1 Episode 9

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Plot: “Mel turns to Harry for guidance after learning information that leaves her questioning everything she knows; Macy is determined to not let fate get in the way of her potential relationship with Galvin.”

The plot was very interesting and well-paced. Significant but not overabundant time was given to each character and story arc. The Sisters got the most screen time and focus, as should be. Each of the supporting characters got enough screentime to serve the purpose and tell their storyline this episode but not enough to steal focus. 

Positives: The episode was obviously the midseason finale. I normally hate those episodes because they are, generally, poorly written and cause a disjoint in the season. However, this one was very well written. It concluded a bit of the story arc questions that have been quite up in the air. Exanples Include: 1) When will Maggie discover the truth about Parker? 2) How is Galvin's protection rune going to be circumvented? 3) What are our villians main motivations? 4) When push comes to shove, who will Parker side with? 5) How could the source come into play?  On the Other side it propsed a lot of new questions going forward. For Example: 1) What are the main goals of The Sarcana and how does recruiting Mel play into that? 2) Are the Elders really as pure intended as they like to protray themselves? 3) Is Jada really into Mel or is she just seducing Mel to her side? 4) Is Maggie going to forgive Parker and does he really deserve forgiveness? 5) Even if Maggie does forgive Parker, could their relationship actually survive? 6) Is Galvin now going to be in on the sisters' secret Life as witches? 6) How is Harry going to be rescued from Tartarus and exactly how will this experience affect him?

Negatives: Harry being dragged into Tartarus makes a lot less sense when you consider that Harry could have orbed to safety at any point. I guess we'll have to pass that off on Harry being intoxicated and not thinking clearly. Otherwise it turns the cliffhanger into a massive plot hole. Now that Galvin's protection rune is null and void, it seems as though Macy/Galvin may officially become an item. Not looking forward to seeing that. Dr. Wagner was proven to be untrustworthy and working with/related to the villians. This is unfortunate because I was hoping she'd become the Elise of this reboot. 

References to the original (This section contains spoilers for the original series.): Parker seems to be a counterpart yet also an antithesis for Cole. While both Parker and Cole are half-demons who manipulate the youngest sister and that manipulation becomes something else, their motivations are quite different. Cole started out as a totally evil demon with little humanity intent on killing the sisters before developing an obsession with Phoebe and abusing Phoebe and her family. Parker, on the other hand, is very human and seems to truly love Maggie. While he did do some bad things, he never wanted to and was forced into those actions. His motivations weren't evil. He was simply seeking to survive but even at that he didn't want to hurt Maggie or her sisters. We learn some aspects of The Source that differs from the original Charmed. In this one, the source can only be brought out into a demon born from a human. In the original, options were much wider as the source could be any upper-level demon. I like this change as it makes the source more unique and it narrows the chances of us seeing multiple versions of the source like we did in the original. A demon shapeshifted into one of the sisters. We saw a lot of that in the original series. I'd go as far as to say too much. Mel and Maggie talking about Maggie's deadbeat father reminds me a lot of how Prue would talk to Piper and Phoebe about their own deadbeat father, Victor.

Theories/What I’d Like To See: I think we will have to wait at least an episode or two before Harry is rescued. I hope this isn't just skated over and Harry is actually impacted by it. He could potentially develop PTSD and this could lead to showing a positive representation of trauma recovery. I think we will also learn more about why The Sarcana need Mel so badly. I'd like to see other whitelighters and see how they compare and contrast to Harry.

Favorite Character This Episode: I'd have to say it's probably a tie between Macy, Parker and Harry. I've been loving Macy and Harry for awhile but this is the first time Parker has won me over. 

Favorite Quote/Interaction: I loved the bonding between The sisters and Harry this episode. Especially, the Vera's sharing Marisol's traditions with Macy and Harry. 

Tidbits: I kinda need family history of the sisters. I wonder if we will get to see Tartarus or if it will remain mysterious. Honestly, I'm hoping we don't get to see it and our only knowledge of it comes second-handed.

Please join me again for next week's episode. In the meantime, please send me asks and/or messages. I would like to get more involved with the community.

40K Fiction: The Crimson King Review by George Daniel Lea

One of the most intriguing elements of the Black Library's Horus Heresy series is its penchant for filling in gaps that exist in the Warhammer 40,000 universe's established history. Since all that has been traditionally provided concerning an event that spans decades is a brief overview for the sake of context, the potential for storytelling, character building etc is almost infinite. Whilst the Thousand Sons legion arguably boast one of the most complete and traumatic backgrounds of any of the original Space Marine legions, there is an era of their history that has always been decidedly vague, lacking anything but the most supeficial and perfunctory details: that following their flight from Prospero and establishment on the daemon world that would become known as Sortiarius, Planet of the Sorcerers.       In the latest instalment to the Thousand Son's story, writer Graham McNeill attempts to elucidate this abyss, exploring what the legion has become in the aftermath of its near-extinction, its shifting philosophies and perspectives, what its Primarch, Magnus the Red, intends following his apparent defeat at the hands of Space Wolf Primarch Leman Russ, and how these matters will come to affect the wider Heresy. McNeill wastes no time in establishing back story; the novel assumes that the reader will be at least passingly familiar with the events of both A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns, focussing instead on particular characters within the Thousand Sons legion, documenting their evolving states, now that they are free from the Imperium's strictures, but also their despair at the legion's escalating disgrace. Concerning itself primarily with Chief Librarian Ahzek Ahriman, the plot follows his efforts to forestall the flesh curse that has returned to plague his brothers; efforts that, for all their elaboration and sacrifice, result in nothing but atrocity. In this, Ahriman is fast losing the faith and loyalty of his brothers, many of whom blame him and Magnus for the state their legion has come to, others of which ache to leave and pursue their own destinies in the wider universe. One of the more intriguing aspects of the book is the time scale in which it operates; being set within the Eye of Terror, time moves differently for the Thousand Sons than in the material universe. As such, from their own perspectives, the Thousand Sons operate on Sortiarius for hundreds -if not thousands- of years while the Heresy grinds on beyond, fracturing into myraid, conflicting cults and covens, many of its number ascending to the states of sorcerers, establishing their own small kingdoms upon Sortiarius's shifting plains. As for Ahriman, he and a small cabal of brethren find themselves repulsed by what the legion is becoming, and what their Father is tacitly allowing by his absence. Providing a contrast to Ahriman is Amon, another consistent character in the Thousand Sons novels, who acts as Magnus the Red's equerry; one who maintains a closeness to the Crimson King and his intentions that not even Ahriman can match. Whilst they exercise a certain rivalry, the relationship between them is as complex and ambiguous as that between any of the Thousand Sons; McNeill takes time to establish that no character in this book is clear cut in terms of their motivations or loyalties; statuses shift constantly, depending on circumstance, making every moment fraught and uncertain; seeming victory undone by an instant of betrayal, redemption snatched by unforeseen means from what seems almost certain defeat. Amon is certainly one of the most intriguing of the Thousand Sons, especially in contrast to Ahriman, who is, in many ways, his antithesis, which will have grave ramifications for both in the future, as has already been detailed in John French's Ahriman: Exile. Whilst subtle and, for the most part, unspoken, the influence of fate and chance (or, to give them another name, Tzeentch) pervades every moment, esepcially relating to certain key figures within the Thousand Sons, not to mention the myriad enemies and allies that they encounter, driving the skeins of their destinies: A surprise inclusion occurs in the form of none other than Lucius the Eternal, the arch-champion of Slaanesh, who accompanies the Thousand Sons after hunting down and confronting Sanakht, their master swordsmen, in a previous short story. Following their disrupted duel, the two have become respectful allies, if not reluctant friends, their relationship at once antagonistic yet inevitable, Sanakht seeming to accept that their destinies are inextricably intertwined. Even more surprising is the part Lucius comes to play in the destiny of the legion, for good or ill. Alongside new characters such as a Aforgomon (a quietly esoteric Lovecraft reference), a daemon contained within a mechanical shell, Dio Promus, an (ex) Ultramarine Librarian who spoke in support of Magnus at the Council of Nikaea, a contingent of Space Wolves sent to hunt down Magnus and his sons following the shattering of Prospero, the book also includes some familiar faces in former Remembrencers to the Thousand Sons, Lemuel Gaumon, Camille Shivani and Chaiya Pavarti, all of whom were last seen fleeing the desolation of Prospero and falling into the Imperium's hands. McNeill orchestrates a cast that might otherwise be unwieldy with surprising panache throughout; each and every character has a part to play in a wider design, whether they know it or not, perhaps the most profound and unanticipated significance reserved for the least likely, which brings their character arcs full circle, and starts them on entirely new circuits. As for the eponymous Primarch, the status Magnus the Red occupies in this book demonstrates him to be not only one of the most powerful primarchs (very close in nature to his Father, at his most metaphysical and legitimately divine), but also the most complex in terms of character: following the breaking of his physical form over the knee of Leman Russ, Magnus has shattered into myraid contradictory aspects of himself, which are scattered across both the Eye of Terror and the material universe. Ahriman and his cabal take it upon themselves to find and cohere their Primarch, whose remaining aspect upon the Planet of the Sorcerers is slowly dwindling, sacrificing itself in the construction of The Orery; a vast library and repository of lost knowledge within the Warp itself, so that whatever remains of mankind following the galaxy-burning war of the Horus Heresy might one day rise again and perhaps succeed where he and his sons have failed. Not only does the reader learn a great deal of the contradictions and ambiguities that inform Magnus, we also gain some insight into how the legion operated and perceived itself during this previously empty and unspoken portion of its history: at the opening of the book, the Thousand Sons still refuse to proclaim for Horus, no matter that the Imperium has turned on and exiled them, no matter that the Warp is slowly claiming them, undoing all they once sought to make and sustain: they regard themselves as martyrs upon the altar of knowledge, Icarion entities that soared too high and saw too deeply, who might still garner some redemption, if they can only restore their broken Father and the knowledge that has been lost. Nor does the legion acknowledge or accept Tzeentch as their patron or master, at this point; if anything, it's difficult to determine if they even know what Tzeentch is or that it exists: rather, the legion is slowly fragmenting into isolated sorcerers and their warbands, all of whom pursue their own goals and agendas, who operate on different plains of time and reality, meaning that some already perceive what is going to happen in the future, whereas those events are already the long dead past for others. There are many dynamically difficult concepts at work within the book, especially relating to time, causality and event following event, which McNeill handles gracefully and with reference to metaphysical imagery that is extremely esoteric, but which works in context with the Thousand Sons, their philosophies and the consistent imagery and ethos they exhibit. One of the more significant books within the history of the Thousand Sons and the Horus Heresy itself; essential for those with an interest in the Thousand Sons and those legions whose histories directly intertwine with them, as well as those interested in a more complete outlook on the Heresy in general.

‘Podcast’ tour via collage.

The internal geography of the Grand Parade campus has changed since I was last there (1967-68) and so, inevitably, has the premise upon which art is made. At that time we were being psychedelic, free spirited, and often quite intensively introspective but to little purpose. Politics didn’t enter into our thinking.  But in this show, politics permeated everything that made its purpose clear; some of that personal, some social, and some encompassing global issues. Some gave us clues as to the raison d’etre of the work, the artist’s motivation or inspiration, their process and how it got there in the way that it did. But many didn’t; I’m a psychologist and that intrigues me. Communication feels central and while the art may be a communicatory channel in itself, if the message isn’t received by the viewer, or fails to spark something in the viewer, then I wonder if it can be said to have succeeded. I was there with a friend; we talked about finding ourselves looking at the last frame in the film, the last paragraph of the story, but with no idea of what led up to it.

The show covered three floors; the gallery area at ground level housing the Fine Art exhibits, a room behind this and part of the first floor was occupied by the Inclusive Arts students, and then on the second floor were the Digital Arts installations. In between, on the walls around a landing, were images from photography and fashion. They seemed displaced, temporarily put up in bed and breakfast rather than being allocated hotel rooms.

Fine Art

I think it’s an unavoidable fact that positioning a piece in elegant and purpose-built surroundings adds a kind of value and confers a dignity and gravitas it would find harder to accrue in less accommodating circumstances. Separating this out from the work itself is quite demanding – does this piece have an impact because of its inherent quality or simply because of where it is? Some pieces were certainly impactful: ‘The Tables are Turning’ for instance showed us paintings on the undersides of small tables that point to emerging restoration of political balance – what was beneath is finally coming to the top, a commentary on the people’s response to oppression. More bafflingly impactful – in terms of the space it took up and the voices played on loop – was a long row of cones wrapped in tights, each with a lipstick on top. This was designated a performance piece but as the artist was not there at the time of our visit, there was no dialogue to provide context. Two artists were on site and one of them came over to see what we had made of this piece. She tried to describe its origins and message but neither of us really understood. She herself was showing a very large abstract painting which occupied both physical and mental space in that its title did not give much clue as to its derivation. When I asked, the artist talked about being in the moment rather than having an end in mind.

The other artist on site was exhibiting a radiator piece which, when we found it, similarly gave away little as to its reason for being there. When we asked him though, he spoke fluently and eloquently about the how, why, and what of his exhibit and set it in a wholly understandable context. The radiator’s back story is one reflecting the horrors of war and represents a documented political assassination in Nazi Germany[1]. Knowing this immediately added the story to this final paragraph and I wondered why something of it did not accompany the piece since it made such a difference to our experience of it.

Some of the pieces were cheeky – ‘People Who Piss Me off’ for instance, an installation comprising a filing cabinet with ticker tape printed with the names, presumably, of those people, spilling out. I can sympathise, many of them piss me off too, and I had a quiet chuckle. Other pieces managed to distance themselves from us by being dull-coloured, abstract, and untitled which made us question ‘what it was for’ – what were we supposed to take away from this artist’s work? In the end, we took very little beyond wondering how long these pieces had taken to make and what had driven the artist to reach these solutions.

Another piece – small wedges of dark wood with collaged images on them attached to a large piece of wood and rising from the floor – was so well executed and had an aesthetic appeal with its colours and surfaces that there was an inherent impact. What it was saying was not so clear – were the two wedges on the floor lost or left behind, or were they are the first of a tumbling avalanche with the rest poised to follow? The label gave no clue and I would have liked a clue.

The overriding impression of this part of the exhibition was that, where context was provided – even just an idea of the developmental process – works became immediately more interesting and held value as a communication. We wondered, along with the artists themselves, what the people who visited made of the work when there was no one to ask; how the thousands of people who had not chosen to visit saw art when they were challenged to ‘experience it’ in a vacuum and whether this was why so many were not there. Are people afraid of looking foolish for not ‘getting it’, or do they see the whole business as an exclusive (and excluding) side show that isn’t for the likes of them?

Inclusive Arts

The next floor – fronted by a display in the area beneath the stairs that introduced the focus – was given over to the Inclusive Arts programme. This course is the only one in the UK offering artists the opportunity to express their work in collaboration with disadvantaged or ‘othered’ groups, and so works with people on the autistic spectrum, with women isolated by fear, with parents similarly isolated by the weight of caring for a disabled child, with voiceless people lacking connection with art and its positive effects. A sculpture constantly being remade illustrated the ways in which people, as I interpreted it, remake themselves in order to meet expectations; a closed hut with spy holes in it told us how much is hidden from us by so many; knots in fishermen’s rope was the entanglement many people experience in trying to escape or belong. The art on this floor was keen to talk and tell us about itself with postcards, printed sheets, labels and conversation. It wanted us to know and to understand.

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Somewhere between this and the second floor was a small photography and fashion display. It felt like an afterthought, sitting there on the walls in a corridor between spaces.

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Digital Arts

Finally, we found Digital Arts where not only did the artists want us to see and know but also participate and make the art, albeit temporarily. That we missed the literature was due not to their negligence but to the darkness of the rooms and our own inattention on entering. There was information on the doors; we slipped past it into the fascinating areas beyond and I had to chase people down later to find out who they were and the titles of their work.

Alberto Sande was unfortunately absent when we visited but very quickly came back with the thinking behind his stunning piece involving deep rhythms, and coloured images given a 3D effect by projecting them through a gauze curtain. A sofa gave us a front row seat and a keyboard – the musical sort – as a way to affect the visual display. Seeded by thinking around a number of ideas drawn from Alice in Wonderland, Deprez’s Drolatic Dreams of Pantaguel, and a Chinese essay on the Thirty Six Stratagems, this installation would have been a challenge to interpret right off the bat. The artist kindly sent me his abstract by email but I would have loved a conversation with him to explore the roads he took in making this piece. It was interactive and projected some deep dark sounds alongside the images and low frequency notes always speak to me of something profound.

Moshref’s Phoenix showed us the cyclical rise and fall of ideas and philosophies, emphasising the place of the phoenix as a positive influence. Using a range of equipment, this installation permitted participants to become the phoenix itself and change digital representations on a number of screens. Its particular focus though was resistance to the oppressive regimes that are systematically brutalising women, and we talked about the wings representing expansiveness; women taking up their space in the world by right and not by permission, and our world seeking collaboration as the antithesis to nationalistic insularity. As a visiting maker of the art in this context I could not help expressing my own views but as it was visually but not auditorily reactive, neither ‘Fuck Trump’ nor ‘and while we’re here, fuck Boris’ had any effect on the display.

Summary

Fine Art had a catalogue containing some but not all of the works, and works from a previous show which were not on display. It did not seem to see in its mission any reason to assist visitors in understanding the work but when we asked, those present gave eloquent and valuable responses. Fine Art occupies the best position in the show. Quite often I hear that art is something to appreciate without explanation, and this seemed to be the position taken here too. Sean Scully, in his recent documentary, appears not to be a subscriber to this view saying that there is an inherent arrogance in expecting people to do this, with the implied assumption that, if they fail, then they must be stupid [link to my blog post on art and meaning]. This goes back to the question I started to address with the two artists on site – that of their audience. Visitors were most likely self-selecting art aficionados and there is nothing wrong with that, but what of all those others who were not there, self-excluded because art is ‘not for them’ or they fear not understanding it? At the very least, this misses a marketing trick and one assumes these graduates are hoping to make a living from their work. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Fine Art occupies the main space and has the catalogue.

In contrast, Inclusive Art had all manner of explanatory leaflets, printouts on the walls, and postcards but no catalogue. Nor was their work in the first catalogue. These artists appeared very keen to talk about their motivations, the media they used, the collaborations with disadvantaged groups and individuals, and had produced work that spoke directly to those issues by involving the people affected in producing that work. I wondered later if any of them had been present at the show in the role of artist as they seemed not to have a presence when we visited.

Digital Art was a little harder to find and had only two exhibitors, but they made up for this with sheer enthusiasm and technical and artistic skill. Their ideas were expansive and the means of expression wide ranging. While one artist, Sande, was not present when we visited, his subsequent response to an email suggests he would have been as keen to involve us as participants in his interactive installation as was Moshref. The Digital Arts show was not just collaborative but also allowed us as visitors to influence the art itself.

[1] I lost the actual reference but a search using keywords Nazi Car Assassination brings up the heroic act of Jan Kubis who ran out in front of the open top car of high ranking SS officer Reinhardt Heydrich with the intention of shooting him. The gun jammed but he was able to throw a bomb which eventually killed Heydrich, probably saving hundreds if not thousands of lives. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18183099

Images from the day

        Slideshow

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Collage with pastels

University of Brighton MA Show 'Podcast' tour via collage. The internal geography of the Grand Parade campus has changed since I was last there (1967-68) and so, inevitably, has the premise upon which art is made.

Display Abilities - The 7 Simple Principles of Aesthetic Style

Before we discuss what're some of the design axioms that you could affect on-line content, we ought to define what we mean by "Design ".This is one particular words which can be ever-present atlanta divorce attorneys business that produces something, but it frequently suggests something different to every individual invoking its meaning.

With this debate, we are making the controversy that to design something is always to program its inception, manufacturing and use, and that the application form of regular axioms can increase the application of the thing. In the case of on-line academic content, this implies a plan of the point, Magazine Cover  speech and evaluation of the content applying acknowledged instructional design principles. Yet, we are working in a structure that requires the factor of different programs of design ideas from different fields. The use of media types such as for example typography, pictures, and audio are immediately restricted by the on-line distribution technique in equally speech and specialized considerations.

Put simply, if we will produce academic content on-line, we sometimes must be good in the realms of knowledge, task administration, Net technology, graphic design, audio design and internet growth and design, or we want a competent group to aid our efforts. Nevertheless, the growth techniques of each group will be different to such an extent that we may be responsible for several parts in just a task or be forced to modify hats due to resource constraints. We may possibly not be experts atlanta divorce attorneys place, but we had greater be particular that people are in least passingly knowledgeable, if for number different purpose than to learn how to determine and evaluate projects for different members.

In a nutshell, we ought to look at design as applying particular common axioms obtained from different professions to the different elements of our content to be able to produce that content more practical and effective. To get this done, we must draw from ideas as different as graphic design, information structure, instructional design, internet design and growth, typographic design, audio growth and others.

Fundamental Visible Design Components

It is likely that a big part of the on-line content we build is likely to be presented in a visible form. For this reason, it's highly relevant to contemplate what're some acknowledged aesthetic design axioms being employed by specialists and what we may study from them to utilize to our work. Nevertheless, the axioms are typically placed on aspects, or blocks of aesthetic representations that people must at least note in driving, though they might not absolutely all use to our explanation of aspects or how we will use the principles. A set of these aspects might contain:

position

space

shape

tone

type

bulk

point

structure

pattern

time

mild

shade Fundamental Visible Design Maxims

Nevertheless lists of aesthetic design axioms can change from individual to individual, most lists can include some layout of the following:

scale - generally contrasting one item with another

percentage -typically evaluating elements of an item to its different aspects

balance - frequently represented as an notion of symmetry

pattern - generally discussing the action or keeping of aspects in just a design

stress - usually a major position These axioms are saw with different motive with regards to the software, so it becomes difficult discover a definitive record, so we will just suggest that record for instance:

Symmetry/Asymmetry - placing aspects in connection to one another

Area - group of aspects or objects to represent indicating

Alignment - a credit card applicatoin of symmetry that includes placing of aspects along a line in connection to one another

Duplication - the saying of aspects to build significance the in the eyes of the audience

Character - the "action" or obvious advancement of aspects relating an orderly or disorderly pattern

Hierarchy - assigning a visible buy or dominance to aspects

Stress - to make a aesthetic major position

Comparison - applying obviously disparate aspects to produce stress

Unity - combining all aspects into a beneficial speech Symmetry/Asymmetry

Symmetry is normally attractive to visitors, since we are shown that it is beautiful. We recognize shaped aspects since we instantly realize aspects greater when they're reflective of each other. Similar and opposite aspects seem sensible and, in the aesthetic feeling, are often regarded beautiful. Irregular aspects in just a group are often troubling and also unnerving to many observers. The external performances of our personal figures are shaped, therefore it is understandable that this is a normally beautiful construct.

Area

The proximity of aspects denotes their relationship to each other. Components which can be closer have a stronger relationship than those who are successfully distant. This may affect pictures or text, and is just a clear aesthetic signal for the audience as to relationships.

Alignment

When objects are aligned along an imaginary or obvious point in a arrangement, relevance and buy is heightened for the viewer. Arranging aesthetic aspects within grids is just a long-standing and frequent practice within aesthetic design.

Duplication

Duplication reinforces relevance of an factor by signifying the importance of that factor to the viewer. They could skip it on the first watching, but after a sequence of repeated aspects appear, they begin to recognize that the factor is important. Recurring aspects such as for example shades or styles also type an association between different functioning aspects, and supply a unconscious link to them in your head of the viewer.

Character

Every aesthetic number of aspects has some type of "emotion" to it. If that active is arranged and focused, then the "emotion" experienced by the audience ought to be shut from what the creator intended. If but, the weather don't support the intended active, then the effect of the audience may be irregular in what the creator intended.

Hierarchy

People inherently desire to know what is most important in a visible layout, so that they can more easily uncover indicating from the work. By providing a clear delineation involving the relevance of aesthetic aspects, the audience can more easily understand what they should be considering, in what buy, and for what reason. Insufficient a hierarchy leads to frustration and wandering of the eye.

Stress

That idea is related to hierarchy, in that, by providing one unique part for the audience to instantly emphasis upon, the creator can then identify an buy for the audience to follow, or at least get across a main point.

Comparison

Sometimes, the simplest way to emphasize an factor is to provide its antithesis to the viewer. That shows the significant top features of the factor by their shortage in its opposite.

Unity

The best goal of any aesthetic design is never to draw interest to the or that factor in isolation, but create a coherency between all aspects, to be able to provide a message. Design that supports number meaning is flat and uninteresting, and eventually ignored by the audience as being irrelevant. If design aspects could be coerced into reinforcing a specific meaning or effect then, the design serves its purpose.

Now Is The Perfect Time to Read Scott Reintgen's Nyxia

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The pursuit of a powerful resource pits ten teenagers against each other in Scott Reintgen's Nyxiad Triad.

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Jul 17, 2018

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Young Adult Fiction

This post was sponsored by Penguin Random House. The views expressed in the article were not influenced by this sponsorship.

"The ultimate weapon. The ultimate prize. Winner takes all." So says the tagline for Nyxia, the first novel in a three-part young adult series by Scott Reintgen. With the second installment in the series, Nyxia Unleashed, about to hit bookshelves, we're taking the time to catch readers new and old up on what went down in The Nyxiad Triad's riveting debut.

In the world of The Nyxiad Triad, teenagers are gathered from around the world to compete for a chance to mine an incredible resource on an alien world. The corporation funding this operation, Babel Communications, dangles quite the tantalizing prize in front of them: For the cost of working for a short time and being away from home for a couple years, these kids and their families will be set financially—around $50 thousand a month for life. Of course, there are a few catches, and not all is as it seems aboard Babel’s ship Genesis 11.

Emmett is the lens through which this story is told. He’s a bright young man from Detroit who is tempted by the monetary compensation Babel offers. His mother is chronically ill. With the money, he can provide a better life for his family. Emmett also seeks to validate the family name. He carries with himself a token from their past: a key made to open the chains of a former slave ancestor. With this opportunity, he hopes to have a success story as his legacy.

Babel Communications brings together kids from many different walks of life: Emmett is from Detroit, Michigan. Bilal is from Palestine, Kaya and Katsu from Japan, Jasmin from Tennessee, Azima from Kenya, Jaime from Switzerland, Isadora from Brazil, Longwei from China, and Roathy from the Triarch Empire. Thanks to Babel’s nyxia-enabled technology, they can all easily converse with each other.

Emmett explained early in the book about the origin of the name Babel: "I don’t know much about the Bible, but I do remember the story of Babel. I always thought it was weird. God scatters the people and gives them different languages. Babel Communications has gathered the peoples of Earth and reversed it. There’s something sacred to our easy, borderless conversation. Either something sacred or something forbidden."

There’s definitely some Biblical allusions in the book. Babel Communications is the most obvious metaphor. They provide the international crew and contestants with devices so they can easily understand each other, completely antithesis to the Tower of Babel story. And of course, the end goal is to reach Eden, the planet which contains the only known source of nyxia.

Nyxia is a well composed novel, easily accessible to casual readers as it is quick-paced and packed with action, but also conscious of the classic science fiction lover. There’s not a lot of heavy descriptions here, and in fact sometimes I think we miss a line or two of needed description as I had to go back at least twice to re-read a paragraph and see whom I missed entering a room or joining a fight.

This is a large cast of characters, who we only meet more of during the journey to Eden, but Reintgen does an admirable job giving our characters easily identifiable character traits, so they were no longer just names on a page but people with complicated lives. As Emmett grows close to the ever-friendly Bilal and the adventurous Kaya, we also grow close to them.

At the center of this story is nyxia. Nyxia is without a specific form, resembling a black stone until someone forces their will to shape it. Nyxia is an impressive, powerful and dangerous tool. During the story, it is used to make translation gear, form deadly weapons, and shaped into any number of obstacles or whatever the situation requires. It’s almost too powerful, the Mary Sue of tools, and so it needs some boundaries to make it somewhat believable. For one, it can’t be transformed into water. And also, the nyxia is limited by the strength of its user. If someone is not ready to manipulate nyxia, they are in peril of being manipulated themselves.

Read Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

There’s a couple instances in which we see how dangerous the nyxia can be. In one quick scene, the kids are given the task to manipulate larger and larger pieces of the material until they collapse. Emmett prides himself on getting further along than a competitor until it’s his turn to feel the negative effects.

“Pride comes before the fall…” Emmett describes, echoing another Biblical sentiment. “Something outside me pushes its way in. Claws explore the deepest places, touch the parts of me I will never see. In that impossible dark, I see a face…”

Nyxia is described as having an inner pulse, an alluring temptation. In this instance, it is personified and we truly see it as more than a sculpting material to be used by a powerful will. Sometimes, it forces its will right back. It’s a bit nightmarish, and makes me wonder if we’ll be exploring the substance’s hidden personality in the next volume Nyxia Unleashed.

To me, nyxia represents temptation. It’s raw, unchecked power and the greed of Babel Communications (and the greed they in turn inspire in these teens) is what forces some truly awful consequences.

Three quarters of the way through the book, the stakes for the kids aboard Genesis 11 change drastically. It wouldn’t be fair to spoil that here. Just know that, around this point in the book, Emmett has every reason to be very suspicious of Babel’s motives and methods.

The story takes us through some significant twists. It goes from a simple competition to a dark world of corruption and mistrust. We see characters like Jaime and Roathy and Isadora change greatly over the course of the story, for better or worse. The antagonists are not always clear-cut. The only truth is that there is always something underneath it all, like the mysterious force that exists within the nyxia itself.

Read Nyxia: Unleashed by Scott Reintgen

Nyxia works for me because it doesn’t talk down to its readers. It is aware that teens live complicated lives, are insightful and aware of their surroundings, and can fall victim to the vices of greed and avarice just like adults. Best yet, our main guy Emmett is not always the best person. He tries to be, but he has some moments in which he describes himself as a destructive black hole. He knows he is capable of great harm if he lets loose, but he tries desperately to keep that in check.

Mistakes are made. Promises are broken. The pursuit of this seemingly magical nyxia is at the center of it all, but to what lengths is this group of teens willing to go in order to get the payday of their dreams? You’ll have to check out the book to find out. With the next installment about to drop, it's the perfect time to dive into The Nyxia Triad.

The second book in the Nyxia Triad series, Nyxia Unleashed, will be published July 17, 2018. 

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The Satoshi Revolution – Chapter 3: Wall Streeting Bitcoin (Part 5)

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The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations. Section 1 : The Trusted Third Party Problem Chapter 3: Trying to Undo Satoshi by Wendy McElroy

Wall Streeting Bitcoin (Chapter 3, Part 5)

Bitcoin was supposed to demonstrate the power of a true free market. Instead it’s full of scams, rent-seekers, theft, useless for real purchases…. Mission accomplished.

— Adam Chalmers

Blaming the free market is a tried-and-true excuse for government wedging itself into situations that would normally resolve themselves. The free market is also a reliable scapegoat for messes created by government and its crony capitalists.  Many people believe in the turpitude of the market place because the accusation is so often repeated and because it has a surface credibility. Financially awful things happen to people in the free market. It cannot be denied. But who or what is to blame?

The free market is nothing more than individuals exchanging with each other in the absence of the state and other forms of force, including fraud. Some individuals will act badly because that is a choice human beings make on occasion. Not all bad behavior will involve force or fraud. For example, opportunists may prey on the vulnerable and convince them to make poor investments without necessarily misrepresenting them; the investor does not perform due diligence because some individual will behave foolishly.

If force (theft) or fraud does occur, then no real true exchange is present, and the interaction ceases to be a free market act; it becomes a criminal one. The free market corrects for criminal behavior in many ways, including a court system for redress and ruination of the criminal’s reputation. The faux exchange is often one-on-one, which further limits damage because the injured party can refuse further contact and proceed with greater caution.

This is not a market failure; it is a reflection of human nature, which would haunt any economic system. Otherwise stated: human beings are fallible, and some are given to vicious behavior. The free market is a massive collection of individual choices that are driven by an almost infinite number of motives upon which no ban is passed as long as the expression is peaceful and not fraudulent. Overwhelmingly, people will act in their own rational self-interest. But a significant minority will act like fools or like rogues. The free market is not to blame; they are.

The question is not whether the free market is perfect; it is not. No human arrangement is utopia. The question is whether any other system is better. More pointedly, does a centralized system under government control contain more or less force and fraud than a free market one? Consider only one issue. The free market allows individuals to assess situations and decide the best course for themselves. It allows them to learn from experience and mistakes. It allows individuals to take control of their own lives.

The Argument for Exchanges

There are good reasons to use exchanges. And good reasons to decry their use.

The good reasons: modern finance leaves little option for those who wish to conduct complicated exchanges, like futures trading or currency exchange. But everyone should be clear. This is the anti-Satoshi because it drives people back to trusted third parties, who are the government or its equivalent. The smartest among us hold as little wealth with trusted third parties as possible for as short a period as possible. They achieve their goals, and leave.

But it is important to note that centralized exchanges that report to governments and function as banks, albeit under a different name, are the reverse of the freedom promised by Sataoshi.

Choose for yourself. Stories abound about exchanges confiscating accounts, being hacked, turning people into the government, collapsing into oblivion, and generally screwing their customers. They are the “trusted” third party Bitcoin was designed to avoid. A return to them is the death of community, which the crypto-economity evolved to provide; it is the antithesis of individuals supporting each other in pursuit of the knowledge and independence. Satoshi and core developers knew that centralization and government control were the cause of economic injustice, and that the central banking system was its engine. If people wish to be part of that system, if they don’t believe in the promise of Bitcoin…then, so be it. But those who still have the vision will not join you.

Allow me to sketch how we arrived at a juncture at which an immense tool of personal freedom is being converted into an immense tool of government control. It cannot happen without the complicity of average people. Caveat: crypto is still the best community I’ve found, with many people committed to helping others for nothing other than the ideal of helping others. I salute everyone who does so, and I thank you for the benefit to my life.

The Argument Against Exchanges

Forget government. Government will always want to control. It produces nothing but control; it consumes productivity and freedom, impoverishes all it touches. Government succeeds because people cooperate. Some do so because they believe in social control. Not for themselves, of course. No one you ask says that they personally need a gun pointed at their head to keep them from raping, stealing, murdering, plundering. It is everyone else they wish to point the gun at.

Satoshi’s game-changing brilliance lay in his understanding that the trusted third party was the control mechanism by which the individual was owned by the system. Again, how did this occur? In a word, convenience. And this weight of decision is on the people who make it. Or, rather, it would be on them if their decision did not, ultimately, fall upon the rest of us through force of law. Ultimately, their choice – your choice – becomes law under which those who wish to trade freely become outlawed, arrested, persecuted. And you don’t escape responsibility for that.

Satoshi and Bitcoin’s core developers argued that centralization and government control were the overwhelming cause of economic injustice, especially theft through the central banking system; inflation is only one form of theft. Unlike the free market, however, there were no corrective mechanisms: no court of redress, no reputations to ruin, no chance of avoiding the thieves in the future because government and central banks are monopolies.

Chalmers’ assessment of cryptocurrency’s dangers has some merit, but little of the risk should be ascribed to the free market. Some is due to cryptocurrency straying from the decentralized, peer-to-peer path of Satoshi Nakamoto and returning to trusted third parties, like centralized exchanges that retain private keys. Another risk factor is the panic or recklessness with which people dive into crypto, with no knowledge of what it is.

Satoshi expressed the essence of Bitcoin when he wrote, “I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.” The trusted third party in question was the collective financial system that was highly regulated by governments in order to benefit politicians and the elite. By establishing “peer-to-peer” electronic cash, individuals could bypass the financial system and still make long-distance transactions for which cash was cumbersome or unfeasible. By sidestepping trusted third parties, individuals maintained considerable privacy and control of their own wealth. They were freed. But, apparently, many people love their shackles.

With that sentence, Satoshi announced a gift to mankind. He didn’t ask for payment, he didn’t seek patents or copyrights, he didn’t want personal recognition. It was a gift. His one sentence embodies what Bitcoin was meant to be. It expresses the essence that made people so excited that they devoted their lives to a cause. The words to focus upon are “peer-to-peer,” and “no trusted third party.”

The next column will deal with how exchanges are a huge threat to economic freedom and a betrayal of all that Satoshi offered the world.

[To be continued next week.]

Thanks to editor/novelist Peri Dwyer Worrell for proofreading assistance.

Reprints of this article should credit bitcoin.com and include a link back to the original links to all previous chapters

Wendy McElroy has agreed to ”live-publish” her new book The Satoshi Revolution exclusively with Bitcoin.com. Every Saturday you’ll find another installment in a series of posts planned to conclude after about 18 months. Altogether they’ll make up her new book ”The Satoshi Revolution”. Read it here first.

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