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luxekook · 4 years

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in too deep ☼ knj

☼ dedication: this fic is a bday present for the loml tay aka tay bay bay aka @interludemoonchild!!!! luv u long time <33 (sorry this isn’t about hobi skksksks)

☼ pairing: marine biologist namjoon x assistant reader

☼ genre: idiots to lovers, fluff, angst, crack

☼ summary: you had always grown up being told tales of terrible jobs with tyrannical bosses. but now, you’re left to wonder why you hadn’t heard more tragic stories of all-too-wonderful jobs with all-too-beautiful bosses... did falling for your boss only lead to heartbreak and a two weeks’ notice? or could it yield the possibility of romance?

☼ word count: 3.1k

☼ warnings: pg15, cursing, chaotic energy, pining, miscommunication, mentions of quitting, lots of sea nerd stuff, namjoon is smart af but an idiot in love, the reader isn’t any better, crabby bois, arguments, completely cheesy fluff, short make out sesh, mention of sex

☼ banner creator: heathy bby @shadowsremedy

☼ beta reader: the amazing and astoundingly talented phia @meowxyoong

“Kim Namjoon!” You cry, swatting the blue-clawed crab away from your feet with a broom, “What did I tell you about bringing your goddamn crustaceans into the office?”

The man in question hustles out of his office looking disheveled, “You’ve seen Carl?” He sinks right down to his hands and knees to peer under your desk. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, little buddy!”

You stare disappointedly as your boss picks up ‘Carl’ from his hiding place and cradles him to his chest. “Namjoon,” You sigh exasperatedly, folding your arms.

He looks up at you and blushes, “Sorry, Star. I just feel so bad leaving them downstairs at the lab. It’s so lonely and dark down there.”

While your stomach flips at the mention of his nickname for you, your eyebrows furrow in confusion, “Well, why don’t you just stay down there with them?”

“Because you’re up here…” He mumbles something incoherent.

“What?” You lean forwards, your ears straining to catch the garbled syllables.

Namjoon clears his throat, looking everywhere but at you, “Because it’s nicer up here.”

“Don’t tell your investors that,” You laugh, thinking of all the fancy and shiny equipment housed in the aquatics lab a few floors below. Working for a top-tier marine biologist sure had its perks - namely the state of the art kitchen with a full espresso bar.

“Star, I would never!” He looks affronted by the mere mention of such a thing. “Now, apologize to Carl for scaring him.”

You scoff, but just one glance into Namjoon’s sparkling brown eyes makes you crumble instantly. “Fine,” You begrudgingly shoot the crab a look, “Sorry, Carl.”

“See, Carl?” Namjoon croons, “She’s sorry!” As he turns back to you, you can immediately tell he is about to launch into Marine Biologist Mode™.

“Carl is a blue crab - a Callinectes sapidus, to be precise. That scientific name literally means ‘savory beautiful swimmer’.”

“Savory, huh?” You quip, relishing in the scandalized look Namjoon shoots you.

“Don’t listen to her, Carl,” He whispers, stroking a finger gently down the crab’s shell. “Now, where was I? Ah, yes… He’s named for his pretty sapphire-tinted claws, and he’s one of the most harvested species of his kind. So, don’t even think about it.”

You burst out laughing as he eyes you, “Okay, Joon, I’ll leave my pot of boiling water at home.”

Namjoon splutters out a choked laugh, looking at you like you are the most exasperating thing he’s ever come across. And, you probably are.

When you came to work for the distinguished marine biologist four months ago, you found him literally buried beneath piles of research papers, files, and National Geographic magazines. Apparently, he had tripped into his filing cabinet and everything had fallen off of the shelves onto him. The man had been a right mess. It was no wonder he had put an ad out in search of an assistant.

In your new role, you slowly but surely introduced some structure and organization into Namjoon’s life as best you could. The first thing you did was update his office. The man still had an honest to god lava lamp on his desk. You were still baffled at how he had managed not to break the fixture before your arrival.

Swiftly following the disposal of the cursed lava lamp, you ordered new file cabinets - and had them nailed to the wall. Virtually, you did even more. You restructured his online platforms and updated his schedule to include more than just scattered notes like “Meeting at 10AM, i think? Or was it 10PM?”

To his credit, Namjoon adhered to most of your suggestions and changes, but apparently he still refused to grasp the ‘no creatures in the office’ rule.

Overall, Namjoon was a great boss - kind, understanding, sweet, and a tad eccentric. His love for all things sea-related shone through the gentle way he handled his specimens, the passionate tone of voice he used while speaking on any related topic, and the stars in his eyes at the mere mention of discovering a new species.

It had been all too easy to become infatuated with him. Especially when he called you “Star” and left you to interpret the meaning on your own.

You remember the exact moment that you fell in love with him so vividly. It had been last month, just three months into working for him. Namjoon had been going off about fucking sand of all things.

“…Sand speaks of history, of science, of travels. Each grain of sand holds thousands upon thousands of years of movement, of erosion. For example, the beach outside of this building is tan because of the iron oxide tinting the quartz and the feldspar to a light brown color. But, there are other beaches that are black, white and even pink in color! It’s fascinating! And to quote the goddess of marine biology Rachel Carson: "In every curving beach, in every grain of sand, there is a story of the Earth…”

Yeah, you are head over heels for your boss. And that’s why you needed to quit.

The end of the workday arrives too quickly - a common theme it seems when you love what you do and who you work for. Namjoon walks beside you down to the parking lot. You sneak a glance at his face and note that he seems deep in thought.

Your mind slips to the image of you and Namjoon going home together to a shared house overrun with fish tanks and models of sharks. It’s all too easy to picture, and all too painful to acknowledge the impossibility.

“Star,” Namjoon’s voice jolts you from your fantasy. You blink up at him, realizing you’re both stopped beside your adjacent cars. Namjoon smiles at you, “I’ll see you tomorrow? It’ll be Friday, finally...”

It seems like he wants to say more but stops himself for some reason. You pause, waiting for him to continue, but he just blushes and brings a hand to the back of his neck bashfully.

“Yeah, Friday,” Your tone is less enthusiastic. You planned to hand in your two weeks’ notice tomorrow. It’s a complete strategy on your part so that you can have the whole weekend to cry and shove at least one gallon of ice cream down your throat.

You wave goodbye to each other and enter your respective cars. You watch Namjoon pull out of the parking lot before you and pause to rest your forehead on your steering wheel. You were so screwed.

Twenty-four exhausting hours later, you find yourself with your fist poised over Namjoon’s wooden office door. Are you actually doing this? Are you really going to quit the only job you’d ever loved?

Yes, you are. You love Namjoon too much to stay here surrounded by his charisma and his beauty. You love him too much to try to complicate his workspace, his sacred ground. You love him too much to ask him to blur the lines of colleague and lover.

You need to leave - for his sake and for yours. It isn’t like he still needs you. He has been following your routine with vigor and always keeps his office organized now. Your tasks have been dwindling for weeks.

It’s time to move on. God, even the tension today had been off the charts with you and Namjoon skirting around each other like you were both walking on eggshells. Clearly, he is also feeling like you are in the way.

With that in mind, you straighten your shoulders and finally knock on the door.

Your ears strain for any sign of an answer. Your breath catches in your throat as you try to sustain the meager amount of courage you had mustered up inside you. Twisting open the handle, you push the door open and are immediately met with an empty office. Damn, he must be downstairs.

You chuckle at the sheer idiocy of your panicked state over knocking on an empty office door.

This is perfect anyways. You can hand Namjoon your two weeks’ and then evacuate the building in one sweep. Shutting down your computer and grabbing your things, you trudge out of the room and towards the stairs.

The journey downwards seems akin to walking the plank as you take each step slowly, dreading the inevitable.

Ciara has it all wrong: you do not love it when you One, Two Step.

The entrance to the lab looms overhead. The steel double doors look more like the gateway to hell rather than a nice entrance to a marine facility. You don’t break your stride as you march through the doors. If you had, you might not have kept going.

The familiar light humming of the tank filters meets your ears as you peer around the rows of shelves containing colorful fish and scuttling critters.

“Joon?” You call, the nickname slipping past your lips before you can stop it.

“Back here, Star!” His answer sounds from the very back of the lab. Of course, that’s where the crabs are housed.

You make your way past the tanks of clownfish and the pools of stingrays to where Namjoon sits hunched over the shallow tank containing four green-tinted crabs.

“That’s it, Nala.” Namjoon croons as the smallest of the four crabs swims around the tank, “You show your brothers how fast you are.”

“Talking to your subjects again, boss?” You can’t help but tease the man you've grown to love as he fawns over his work.

Namjoon blushes slightly and nods, pushing his glasses up to rest on the bridge of his nose, “Studies have shown that it helps them develop.”

“I thought that was humans?” You say, shifting your weight back and forth. The letter in your hand seems to burn more each second you hold onto it. You couldn't take it anymore.

As Namjoon opens his mouth to reply, you thrust the letter into his chest and say, “Never mind. This is for you. Please read it later.”

With that, you fast-walk your way back to the entrance of the lab. The sound of the envelope tearing open only forces you faster. Fuck, it had been idiotic of you to assume that he would actually listen to you and open it later. Namjoon is as impatient as they come. Of course he wouldn't wait.

“Star!” His strangled call startles you, “What is this?”

“We can talk about it on Monday!” You reply, somehow already close to tears. Why is this godforsaken lab so big? You pace down the aisles of tanks and breathe a sigh of relief as the exit comes into view.

Then, Namjoon comes barreling around the corner, cutting off your escape. The man looks baffled as he clutches your written resignation in his hands. His chest heaves as he holds the torn pages out towards you, “What. Is. This. Star?”

You bristle. I guess we’re doing this now, you thought. Stiffening your shoulders, you muster all the false bravado you can manage, “It’s my two weeks’ notice, Namjoon. I’m sure a smart guy like you can read.”

“Okay, allow me to rephrase,” Namjoon stalks towards you, tossing the crumpled letter over his shoulder. “Why did you give me this?”

“The letter explains everything,” Your eyes dart around, both in search of a viable escape and in avoidance of his intensity.

“Sure it does,” He scoffs, his eyes blazing with disbelief. “I want to hear it from you.”

Your back hits the cool glass of the tank behind you. You’re trapped between the contrasting temperatures of the water and Namjoon’s body.

“Joon,” Your voice shakes, “You don’t need me anymore. You’ve done everything I've asked of you and then some. You’re organized. You’re on time. You’re put together. I barely have enough tasks now to fill a day, let alone a week. It’s time to move on.”

“Time to move on?” Namjoon echoes before barking out a humorless laugh, “I don’t need you anymore? That’s really what you think, Star?”

“Don’t call me that.” The nickname snufs out any trace of fight left inside you, and you plead, “Just let me go, Joon.”

“Never,” He growls.

“I don’t understand what you’re not getting,” You sigh, exasperated and drained, “You’ve surpassed my expectations and erased the need for my position. I think the saying ‘the student has become the master’ applies here.”

Namjoon gapes at you before he snaps, “You’re the one who’s not getting it! Have you ever considered that the student might just be in love with the teacher?”

Joon rakes a hand through his hair as you become the one to gape open mouthed at the frustrated man.

He continues, “I wake up earlier every damn day because I can’t wait to see you at work. I organize all of my things because I just want to see you smile at me when you notice. I spend an hour each night picking out what to wear the next day because I want to impress you… Don’t you see? Everything I do is for you, is because of you. I want to be the best version of myself for you.”

Your mind struggles to compute the seemingly impossible notion that the object of your affections returns your love. “Did you,” You gasp out, “Just say that you loved me?”

“Yes, you complete jellyfish! I love you. I am in love with you! And it’s not like it’s not obvious! I call you ‘Star’ because you are my starfish, my sea star. You are the one who keeps the balance to my ecosystem of chaos. You are the key species that keeps everything afloat.”

“And you thought that was obvious?” You yell back at him, “How on earth would I immediately have known the intense analysis behind your nickname for me, Namjoon the science buffoon?” You huff, scrambling to process the amount of information that had just been thrown at you.

He needed you?

He loved you back?

He nicknamed you after a fucking marine invertebrate?!

Namjoon blinks in surprise, “Did you just insult me with a Bill Nye pun?” You don’t deign to give him a response. Namjoon chuckles before grinning sheepishly, “Okay, fine. You make a good point.”

“I know I do,” You pout. “You can’t just spring this on me, Joon. Why haven't you told me this before?”

“Because I was nervous that you would leave me, that you wouldn't return my feelings. Obviously, the first point is moot. What about the second?”

“You’re asking if I love you back?” Your body sags against the tank behind you, “How could I not, you crab-loving, walking mess of a—”

Namjoon captures your mouth with his, kissing you with fervor. His hands wind their way up to cradle your face between them like you are the most precious thing to him.

Pulling back slightly, Namjoon rasps out, “So, you’ll stay?”

“Hm, I don’t know,” You crack a wry smile, “What’s in it for me?”

“Well, let me show you,” Namjoon replies before whipping his shirt off. You gape open mouthed at the expanse of beautiful tan skin in front of you.

Was that a hint of a tattoo swirling over his left shoulder?

He reaches down to tug at the hem of your dress, insinuating he wants it off. A nice concept in theory; however, with one look around at your surroundings, you slap his hand away. “Namjoon! Not in front of the fish!”

“But, Star, these aren’t fish! These are squid, and they are classed as cephalopods—”

You put a hand over his mouth, “Allow me to clarify: I will only fuck in a creature-free zone.”

Namjoon murmurs something beneath your palm. You give him a warning look before removing your hand. He immediately repeats himself, “My office?”

Your eyes narrow, “I know for a fact you have at least three crabs in there.”

Namjoon pauses, looking suspiciously shifty, “There are only seven…”

You wait for it.

“...teen.” He finishes.

“Kim Namjoon!”

Two Years Later

The short walk down the aisle ends too quickly as you find yourself standing in front of a teary-eyed Namjoon. Five of his friends stand behind him in a row, while the sixth stands proudly as the officiant.

They really are out here looking like a whole boy band, you muse. But, you only have eyes for their leader.

Namjoon stands before you, all tall and handsome in his tux; and as Officiant Jin™ begins the ceremony, you can't help but wonder how you got so lucky.

Finally, the ring exchange is introduced dramatically by Seokjin who spouts something about circles and never ending love. “Let us now have the rings brought forward and presented by the ring-bearer!” He booms, raising his arms up like he is summoning a great force.

Ring-bearer? You rake your mind for a prior mention of a ring-bearer… You thought Yoongi as the best man would have the rings.

Suddenly, Namjoon produces a silver whistle from his pocket and blows it once. You stare at your soon-to-be husband like he has sprouted another head.

And then you hear it: the sound of legs and claws scuttling across the floor towards the altar.

“Tell me that is not what I think it is,” You whisper-yell over to Namjoon, who looks way too pleased for your liking.

Your fears and exasperations come true as Namjoon swoops down to pick up Carl who has two shiny rings tied to his shell with a ribbon.

“Oh, Kim Namjoon,” You sigh as you watch him remove the rings from Carl and hand the crab off to a disgruntled Taehyung, “What am I going to do with you?”

“You’re going to marry me,” Namjoon grins.

And marry him you did.

a/n: jellyfish have no brains, lolz. idk why making joon call the reader a jellyfish made me crack tf up but IT DID.

#bangtanhq #ficswithluv #btswriterscollective #btswritingcafe #hyunglinenetwork #kwritersworldnet #bangtanarmynet #btsbookclub #btsnoonanet #hyungsmutsociety #maknaesmutsociety #bangtanscenery #kim namjoon x reader #namjoon x reader #knj x reader #bts #namjoon fanfic #bts fanfic #happy bday tay!!!!!

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rwby-redux · 4 years

Text

Deconstruction

Worldbuilding: Geography

Full disclosure: I hated doing this post. Not because the writing was difficult or the topic was boring—far from it. No, the reason I hated doing this was because I got sucked into a wikihole. I started out researching climate zones, and ten hours later I was reading an article about Icelandic hot spring rye bread (which is called hverabrauð by the way and you should absolutely check it out). I only realized what time it was when I looked out my window and saw the sun starting to rise. Try to picture what my sleep schedule has looked like for the last few days, and you can see why I might be just a smidge upset.

Sorry. Where was I?

Ah, yes: geography. The bane of cartographers everywhere. If you’ve ever dabbled in writing stories with a non-Earth setting, you’ll know that one of the most fundamental aspects of worldbuilding is the lay of the land. Even before you’ve started working on the cultures of your fictional people (or hell, even the plot), you need to develop the locations. Any writer worth their salt will correctly tell you that geography dictates who the characters are, what the story’s about, when major actions occur, where the major story beats take place, why things progress the way they do, and how certain steps are achieved.

Want an example of this? Take a look at the geography of Avatar: The Last Airbender and how it influenced the Fire Nation’s culture and resulting imperialistic conquest: [1]

A geographic map of Avatar: The Last Airbender depicting the four major countries: the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Air Temples. | Source: Imgur.

The Fire Nation, being located on a volcanic archipelago, was able to jumpstart its industrial revolution decades before anyone else, courtesy of access to natural resources such as coal and metal ore deposits (which were disproportionately scarcer in the other countries). This abundance of minerals was reflected in gold being commonly incorporated into Fire Nation royal attire, and the Fire Nation boasting some of the most proficient blacksmiths and swordfighters in the world (like Piandao).

Being an island nation, their culinary staples included aquatic and marine species such as waterfowl, fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, bivalves, and seaweed.

The mountainous regions of the Fire Nation made the land ill-suited for agriculture, which likely influenced the development of an oceanic trade route. This allowed for the import of otherwise-unavailable resources from the Earth Kingdom.

The trade route helped to reinforce a unified state by connecting all seaports, trading outposts, and settlements in the archipelago to the major urban capital. This interconnectivity created economic advantages, and solidified a sense of cultural unity and loyalty to the nation by making communication (via ship and messenger hawk) direct and expedient.

The navy emerged as a natural outgrowth of the oceanic trade route. Martial vessels would have been necessary for protecting merchant ships from pirates, collecting taxes from provincial settlements (because navies have steep operating costs), and enforcing the laws of the central authority. Similarly, as an island country, the only way the Fire Nation could have feasibly been harmed is through a naval attack, which would have given it the incentive to cultivate a naval defense.

At the beginning of the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation seized control of the northwestern Earth Kingdom because the region was rich in resources that they would need to sustain themselves if they were going to survive without international trade.

Their technologically-advanced navy and control of the major oceanic trade routes allowed the Fire Nation to orchestrate blockades, quickly transport troops and equipment between places, and limit the tactical movements of the other countries.

To say that geography dictates the story is an understatement—without it, the story wouldn’t exist. Good writing and likeable characters can only do so much to save a story that lacks this crucial component of worldbuilding.

So, how does this apply to RWBY?

In order to talk about that, first we have to address the unusual way that Remnant’s map was designed.

Back in 2012, while out at an IHOP with Shane Newville, Monty Oum had the idea of squirting a ketchup bottle into a napkin, crumpling it up, and then unfolding it to reveal the blotchy proto-topography of Remnant. His reason for doing so, as he explains:

“The philosophy behind [making the map that way] is that, I feel like, as a 3D animator […] utilizing all this technology, our process—all these computers, all these numbers and stuff—our process is so artificial, it’s riddled with so much artifice, that not only for that, but for everything else I do, I try to imbue kind of like an anarchy, an anarchic-like chaos, just to give it some sense of, like, randomness. Like, you need to preserve that sense of chaos because the process we do is so robotic. […] But the important thing was, like especially with everything that we just raise in our production value, that you have to preserve that anarchic energy that influences everything you do.” [2]

The original terrain map created by Monty Oum. | Source: RWBY Wiki contributor user:Sgt D Grif.

You’d be hard-pressed to disagree with the artistic merit of this design approach. There’s a simplistic elegance to be found in a creator forfeiting a degree of their control over a project, in order to watch how it might organically evolve.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t like leaving slime molds in a petri dish and letting them network until they resemble Japanese subway lines. While anarchic chaos can work for some disciplines of art, it creates glaring issues when applied to worldbuilding. Nature, although it appears outwardly random, is actually rather ordered. The reason why we don’t leave our houses every day carrying umbrellas is because we don’t have to—we have meteorologists that can anticipate the forecast days or weeks ahead. Plenty of natural phenomena can be predicted: weather systems over vast areas, environmental selection pressures converging on similar traits…

And, of course, plate tectonics.

You see, the problem with Monty’s method is that it didn’t account for the movement of Remnant’s continents. Because the planet’s continents were born from artistic randomness rather than methodical and deliberate forethought, we have no reliable access to certain information, like atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries. All three of these planetary subsystems—the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere—and their dynamics shape the geography of a planet.

Without this information, we can’t answer certain questions.

Was Lake Matsu formed by glacial retreat?

Are Vale’s mountains sitting on a convergent plate boundary? Or are they more like the Appalachians, which are the remains of the Central Pangean Mountains?

If Vale’s mountains were formed by convergent plate boundaries, then why don’t we see evidence of it in the forms of volcanism and earthquakes?

Is Vacuo’s interior desert formed by a rain shadow?

If Solitas’ geography is based on a polar ice cap, then how did early settlers survive long enough to excavate the Dust? How would they have dug through the ice and permafrost?

Has climate change ever resulted in changes in sea level that submerged or exposed the continents? Did early humans and Faunus move between continents by land bridges? Have rises in sea level ever hidden continents (like Earth’s Zealandia)?

Does Mistral’s capital rely on meltwater from the surrounding mountains for irrigating crops?

When the Younger Brother shattered the moon, did the lunar debris alter the landscape when it fell to Remnant? Was it like the Chicxulub asteroid that caused the K-Pg extinction? Did the lunar debris leave craters on the planet’s surface, or cause phenomena like impact winters and ocean acidification?

It bears mentioning that these questions pertain to real-life geographic concepts. This isn’t even touching upon fictional geographic concepts that RWBY introduced, like largescale Dust deposits altering the local environment in such a way that it functionally becomes its own ecosystem (like Lake Matsu’s floating islands). We’re also assuming that RWBY’s continental plates are capable of drift, and weren’t magically glued in place by the gods during the formation of the planet.

Given the scale of these problems, I think it’s safe to say that—while I can appreciate the artistry behind Monty’s design philosophy—the way he designed Remnant ultimately did more harm than good.

While I could spend all afternoon debating the pros and cons of condiment cartography, there are more productive things I could be doing with my time. Instead, I want to discuss Remnant’s geography as it currently is. Specifically, there are three questions I want to test:

How well does the geography hold up?

Does the geography have a realistic influence on society?

How well does the show integrate foreign geographic features into its worldbuilding?

As a quick disclaimer, I’m not an expert on any of the aforementioned subsystems. And because I don’t have any canonical information on Remnant’s atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries, it becomes impossible to prove or disprove the realism of its geography. For now, we’re going to err on the side of caution and assume that Remnant is a planet with a functionally-analogous lithosphere to Earth’s, and that Remnant’s features are byproducts of such a system.

The current geographic map of Remnant. It boasts five major continents (of which only four have been named) and multiple islands. | Source: World of Remnant, Volume 4, Episode 1: “Vale.”

How Well Does the Geography Hold Up?

To answer this, I used the Köppen-Geiger climate classification to categorize Remnant’s main landmasses (with the exception of the unnamed continent). This model organizes areas into distinct climatic regions based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The results I cobbled together are based on approximate latitude, ecosystems that we’ve seen in the show, canon maps, and comparisons between the continents and their real-world sources of inspiration (Asia for Anima, North America for eastern Sanus, Australia for Menagerie, etc). Here’s what I came up with:

SANUS: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), cold desert (BWk), cold semi-arid (BSk), hot-summer mediterranean (Csa), warm-summer mediterranean (Csb), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb)

ANIMA: Tropical rainforest (Af), area of tropical monsoon (Am), tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), subtropical highland (Cwb), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb), subarctic (Dfc), Mediterranean-influenced subarctic (Dsc)

SOLITAS: Tundra (ET), subarctic (Dfc), ice cap (EF)

MENAGERIE: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), temperate oceanic (Cfb)

VYTAL: Subpolar oceanic (Cfb)

This isn’t perfect by any means, but I think it satisfies some lingering doubt about the credibility of the geography. Sanus’ interior desert, for example, could easily be a cold desert climate. The exterior band of foliage on the northern and western sides appears to be indicative of a rain shadow effect caused by a mountain belt (the conditions necessary for creating this climate type). We have evidence of there being nearby western mountains courtesy of the earthquakes in Vacuo, [3] as earthquakes often occur near mountain ranges created by subduction boundaries. Similarly, oases (like the one once found in Vacuo) tend to form in cold desert climates as the result of rain shadows (similar to the el-Djerid oases near the Atlas Mountains).

All things considered, I’m inclined to give the climate regions a tentative pass. Like I said, they’re not perfect, but they seem to be holding up so far.

Does the Geography Have a Realistic Influence on Society?

Ehhh. It depends. With Vale it’s hard to say, given how little we’ve seen of the areas outside the capital (like the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall), and the fact that we haven’t visited any other cities in the kingdom. We know that Vale makes use of a massive port for trade and travel due to the nearby body of water. But there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly unique about the capital’s culture that can be directly attributed to its geography. Despite being a coastal city, it doesn’t have any signature delicacies derived from the abundant seafood. The architecture is largely generic urban-Western, and doesn’t incorporate the mountains in any way. Vale’s geography is little more than a convenient buffer against the Grimm.

Mistral, on the other hand, is heavily influenced by the geography. All of its houses and shops are directly integrated into the mountains, with an emphasis on vertical building to accommodate the limited space on the cliffs. Stairs, bridges, and electronic lifts are used for getting around the city. Unlike Vale, Atlas, and Mantle, which use motor vehicles, Mistral doesn’t have the space to accommodate modern roads, and instead relies on railroad transport (like the Argus Limited) to move around the continent. Compared to Vale, Mistral is a vast improvement on how well the writers used geography to influence the culture of a city. However, I still think the show could’ve done more to strengthen this connection. For instance, we see evidence of cave systems in Mistral, which briefly appear on-screen and are never brought up again. [4] Talk about wasted potential. Additionally, the show never addresses how the Council keeps its citizens from falling to death. No joke, the only place in the city that has railings is the safehouse where Qrow and the kids stay. What the hell do people do in the winter when the stairs and paths ice over? How do they not slip and fall and plummet to their deaths? And while I’m thinking about it, why doesn’t the city have a system of ziplines or ski lifts for getting around? Are native-born Mistrali people adapted to the lower oxygen found at higher elevations? And what about Mistral’s agriculture? Do farmers live outside the capital? How do they protect themselves?

Like I said, Mistral is better than Vale in this department, but it could still do with more worldbuilding.

Atlas and Mantle are more akin to Vale when it comes to noticeable geographic influence—or rather, a lack thereof. While the technology accommodates its residents via the heating grid, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of how the geography shaped the people of this continent. You’d expect a circumpolar indigenous group to have very distinct cultural traits, but there’s none of that. It’s just rampant technological growth. Now, you could argue that any aspect of geographic influence on culture was wiped out around the time of the Great War. But if the show wants me to believe that, it needs to show me proof. Whether it’s a conversation between two characters, or a political movement spearheading cultural revitalization. Something—anything—that might hint at how geography influenced pre-industrial Mantle.

And forgive me if I don’t feel like speculating about Vacuo, given that it’s only appeared in After the Fall and Before the Dawn. When the show decides to unveil it, then I’ll have more to say.

As for Menagerie? Another resounding meh. The inherent intrigue of a settlement that shelters aquatic Faunus is never fully explored. We get to briefly visit the Shallow Sea district of Kuo Kuana, but the scene is too focused on Blake’s and Sun’s conversation to let us fully explore the area. Which is a shame, because a concept like that could easily be taken to some really cool extremes. Like, what about entirely underwater settlements that are built on coral reefs? How cool would that be for Faunus that have gills, webbed appendages, or caudal fins? I’m not expecting Zootopia or anything like that, but it’d be neat if settlers had gone to creative extremes to accommodate the wide variety of Faunus traits.

How Well Does the Show Integrate Foreign Geographic Features into Its Worldbuilding?

In Volume 5 we’re introduced to Lake Matsu, an area rich with naturally-occurring superterranean Gravity Dust. What makes this place so intriguing is the fact that the Dust is in a constant active state, causing the islands to float in the air. Given that Dust is usually inert unless activated by an Aura, the existence of this place is frankly astonishing, and for the life of me I don’t get why the show treated it as little more than set dressing.

This phenomenon—which I’ve taken to calling a Dust vortex—has so much worldbuilding potential. What if Remnant had pseudo-ephemeral lakes created by concentrations of Water Dust? Or how about a cave system with an abundance of Electricity Dust that causes magnetic charges in the surrounding minerals, creating a place similar to Unova’s Chargestone Cave? Maybe Sanus’ southeastern desert has large pockets of Steam Dust that enshroud the area in permanent fog?

Dust vortices wouldn’t just be aesthetically cool, either; they’d have important implications for the lore. Let’s use Lake Matsu as an example.

If the Dust vortex has been there for a long time (upwards of thousands of years), then the organisms in this ecosystem would’ve adapted to it. You would have endemic wildlife—agamid-like gliding lizards, plants with wind-dispersed fruit, lianas and mosses draped from the underside of the islands, diving birds that nest on the outcrops, microbial detritivores found exclusively in the islands’ soil. Maybe Lake Matsu is an important stopover for migrating birds. Maybe the shadows from the overhead islands are important for predatory fish, which hide in the shade to ambush flying insects. Because the wildlife would be endemic to this ecosystem, perhaps the Mistrali government would designate it a protected area and prevent Dust companies from excavating the site. What if there were fishing towns on the shore that depended on tourism to sustain the local economy? Would they ever come into conflict with Dust companies that lobby the government to open up the area to selective mining?

I’m sure I must sound like a broken record at this point, but the worldbuilding possibilities on display here are nothing short of incredible. And the failure of RWBY to explore even a single one feels like getting repeatedly kicked in the stomach by a feral horse.

We’re now 3,000 words in and I didn’t even get to include ideas for tautological place names. It sucks, but sometimes you have to compromise and go with the idea that make sense to include, rather than the idea that exists just to be novel.

Sound familiar?

[1] Hello Future Me. “Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding — the Fire Nation [ The Last Airbender ]” YouTube video. October 26, 2019. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2BD13VzxY&t=3s]

[2] Rooster Teeth. “RT Podcast: Ep. 191.” YouTube video. November 14, 2012. 7:52 - 12:01. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kymVnsIUWLY]

[3] Myers, E. C. RWBY: Before the Dawn (Book 2). Scholastic Inc, 2020. Online preview. “The city of Vacuo had some order to it, with different districts for residences and businesses, and a wide street down the center for the market. But the outer edges of it were periodically wiped out, because of sandstorms or sinkholes or earthquakes.”

[4] Volume 5, Episode 1: “Welcome to Haven.”

#deconstruction #worldbuilding #writing #geography

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din-zel · 4 years

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disappearinginq · 4 years

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I've been quite enjoying your Magnum fics and looking forward to more! Do you think you'll be able to update soon?

Ugh. Hopefully? I started a new job in December, and it’s 8 hours at a desk in front of a computer, so the last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit in front of a computer.

There’s also the fact that I am ADHD as hell when it comes to Magnum fics (worse than any other fandom I have ever been in), so I have stories all over the place. Wrong Side - I’ve sort of hit a weird dead spot with the immediate follow on scene from where we left off because I am having an epic inner battle about if I just want to wing some medical issues/treatments, or if I give in to my obsessive nature for accuracy in fic. Bad Things: Well, the next chapter has gotten all sorts of wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey because it’s going back to how Magnum and Rick first became friends in addition to fulfilling a thought with Vix about how Higgins needed a moment of “I’M BRITISH. THIS IS HOW I EXPRESS MY CONCERN” after a long conversation about we interpreted her behavior differently.

There’s also a chapter that goes along with my head canon (and now sort of canon) that Magnum has a thing for sharks and marine life and volunteers in his off hours for marine rescue and when a body washes up on shore looking like a shark attack victim and Magnum points out that there’s nothing right about the scene for it to be a shark. (spoiler: he later gets bit by accident).

Annnnnd definitely tooling around with another for Found Family that is parts of their road trip back across the States that include 1) Thomas coming back to a country that yells at him for speaking Spanish because ‘THIS IS AMERICA, AND WE SPEAK AMERICAN ‘ROUND HERE!’ and not being the right color to be a war hero 2) after they’ve been on the island for a while (sometime in the series timeline), a museum/art gallery does an exhibition on war photography from Masters time spent as a war correspondent and one of the sets of pictures is of Magnum and the guys with Soraya, which dredges up some pretty awful memories for the guys Oh yeah, there’s also the sequel to Wrong Side, which is also being worked ass backwards because that’s just how it’s done apparently, and then there’s another one with the idea of completing the paintball snippet I put on here for funsies and working it into a Bad Things square. ....and that doesn’t even touch on the case fic I have going for Prodigal Son about a serial killer that may or may not be after the entire team (but shhh, they don’t know that). or the fact that I am in dire need of finishing one chapter for a Lucifer epic. I’m so bad at time management. So. Bad.

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ontherockswithsalt · 5 years

Text

The Fortunate Fall

aka I Don’t Know Why I Wrote This.

A/N: Hey, was a highschool!Joble AU missing from your life? No? Well here’s one anyway lol. This is the first part of a two-part short story (a two-shot?) that I felt like writing.

This one’s in Noble’s POV and I appreciate that his ass needs saving no matter the universe. Language warning applies. Word count: 1,821

“It's just fucking stupid, that's all,” I complain.

Jamie glances up at me from the spiral notebook on his lap as I pace his room.

“What, you think I'm an idiot? You think I'm not gonna graduate just because of some paper?”

“I didn't say that,” he maintains. “Mr. Craig said that.”

“Yeah well Greg Craig can suck my dick,” I mutter, glancing up the tower of Jamie's CDs sitting next to his stereo.

I hear his mumbled “Nice” from the floor behind me. “What do you normally do?” He wonders. “Bullshit your way through your assignments, or do you actually read?”

“There's something to be said for the art of bullshitting,” I argue. “It'll probably get me farther in life than understanding Paradise Lost. You like Radiohead?” I turn and hold up the jewel case for OK Computer.

He lifts his gaze once more. “Yeah.”

I look at him and consider it for a moment. Not what I would have guessed.

Jamie only turns his gaze back down for a second before it self consciously finds mine again. “What?” He exhales a soft laugh.

“Can I put this on?” I propose, feeling the curve of a persuasive smile at the corner of my lips.

His cheek twitches a little before he returns a faint shake of his head. “Sure. And then this draft is back on you, alright? I'm almost done.”

“What do you think so far?” I question as I eject the disc and switch it with my pick. “You're awfully quiet.”

“... A flawed contradiction of a villainous hero,” Jamie recites. “--The Devil glorifies freedom but remains the prisoner of his own ego.”

His voice with my words makes some kind of heat flicker in the pit of my chest that I tell myself to ignore while I concentrate on finding the track I want.

“Did you write that?” He asks. “Or was that Amy?”

“What do you mean was that Amy?”

“Isn’t she your girlfriend?” He murmurs. “Thought she wrote all your papers for you.”

I swallow hard, reaching up to scratch the back of my head while I turn around. “She's not my girlfriend. We broke up a long time ago.”

“Oh.”

I shrug. “I wrote it. Is that so hard to believe?”

He lets a moment -- filled only with the mellow hum of the dreamy song -- hang there before he shifts back against the side of his bed. “It's pretty good.”

Breathing out a quiet laugh, I lower my weight to join him on the floor. “Pretty good.”

“I mean compared to some of your horseshit I had to read earlier in the semester.”

My brows pull together, half offended, half amused that Jamie would attempt an insult when we hardly know each other. Outside of forced tutoring sessions at the library, and this particular time, at his house, we run in completely different circles.

I scoff but a smile surfaces on my face anyway. “Look, I know this shit. I just have better things to do.”

“He knows it, but he had better things to do,” Jamie echoes. “Cool, maybe they'll print that on your diploma.” He glances down as he crosses out a line on the notebook, then writes something in the margin. “You know it doesn't make a difference when it comes to your transcript, don't you? Whether you don't understand and can't do the work, or you do know and just choose not to work, either way, you fail. So if you can do the work, why let yourself fail?”

“Believe it or not, not everybody cares about their fucking transcript.”

“Then what's the point, Noble?” He shrugs, tossing my notebook to the floor before he stretches back. “I mean why even show up to school at all? Why are you here wasting my time?”

“Your time?” My eyebrows raise.

“You think I don't have better things to do? You have one AP class, I have six. And varsity track. And I work. And somehow I've been in charge of making sure your ass graduates.”

“It's a heavy burden, huh?” I quip. “What, am I supposed to have sympathy for you?”

“I don't want sympathy.”

“You think any of that matters ten years from now?” I narrow my gaze at him. “AP classes and your transcript and how far up your teachers’ asses you got in high school?”

“I don't know. Look me up in ten years and we'll see.”

Adjusting, I scoot down to rest on my side, propping my head up on my hand and I have to laugh. “I will. I'll call you when I get out of rehab and see how you're doing.”

A reluctant grin grazes his face, pulling at his cheek and it amuses me. He shakes his head. “Good to know you have a plan.”

I study his face for a moment, the way it changes with his smile as he glances away. I reach out for the pen that he dropped and tap the end on the notebook. “So what's the verdict? Good enough?” Then I slide the pen behind my ear.

Jamie glances over at me and tilts his head. “I made some corrections. I think you need to expand on your argument in a couple of the paragraphs.”

“But overall--” Then I blink up at him from where I lay across the floor, my eyebrows jumping with a convincing grin. “Thumbs up?”

Another huff of amusement blows out from him. “You need an A on this paper to bring your grade up.”

“Yeah.”

“It's not there yet.”

A frustrated grunt escapes me and I turn to roll into my back. Reaching over, I undo the top button on my rumpled white uniform shirt that I'm still wearing before I manage to sit up.

“I know you have better things to do,” He reminds me. “But--” Then he picks up the notebook and tosses it in my lap. “Don't just drop it. Because it's good. Get it done, alright?”

With a bored nod, I grasp the notebook and slowly get to my feet. “Awesome.”

Jamie shifts to stand up and without a thought, my arm reaches out. His hand clasps mine and with a flexed tension in my forearm that he matches, I tug him upright. From his own momentum, his chest collides with mine before he works his way a step back.

I swing my hand out to smack the side of his arm but somehow, damn that got my heart all hot.

“Ah… I'm gonna take off,” I announce before I bend over to retrieve the beat up paperback.

We make our way downstairs, through his big, quiet house. His kitchen glows, warm and dim from a single lamp on a far counter and I glance around for signs of anyone else. I know Jamie has a few brothers or sisters or a few of each, I can’t remember. But I know they’re all older and out of the house.

I hear shifting and movement from a room across the way and figure his parents are still up.

“Jamie?”

“Yeah mom.”

“You wanna come in here?”

I glance over at Jamie and point a thumb to the door, shooting him a hopeful look that I can just slip out.

He wordlessly reads it and shakes his head before tipping it toward the adjacent room, giving me a murmured, “Come on.”

Leading me to a study, he stretches into the doorway and I peer in from behind him to see his mom and dad sharing sections from the newspaper between two arm chairs.

“This is Noble Sanfino.” Jamie introduces with a quick gesture over his shoulder.

“Hi, Noble,” his mother smiles.

I see his dad lift his chin over the paper before he folds it closed. “Sanfino,” he echoes with this contemplative note that I definitely don’t miss.

My mouth is suddenly parched and I swallow hard standing just opposite this imposing man who everyone knows is some big deal police captain or Marine or both. I don’t know, but I’ll pass on divulging any more information. Instead I silently summon some kind of will that he isn't able to figure out the joint I smoked on my way over here… And the other one in my pocket.

“Uh, yes,” I confirm. “Noble. Nice to meet you.”

“He's in my English Lit class,” Jamie explains. “We were working on a paper.”

“Is that your Nine-Eleven outside?” His father questions.

I clear my throat. “Yes, sir.”

Blinking hard, he merely responds with a nod. “Quite a car.”

“What's the paper on?” His mom cuts in.

“Um, Paradise Lost,” Jamie pipes up. “John Milton.”

“Oh boy,” she retorts and reaches out to take the section from Mr. Reagan.

“Felix Culpa,” his father muses.

His wife hums a soft little laugh as she folds the paper. “The fortunate fall, huh?”

The fuck?

Jamie drops a hand hard on my shoulder and starts to turn me out of the room. “Exactly,” he mutters. “It’s pretty brutal. Come on.”

I manage a some semblance of a goodbye before I head to the door in the kitchen. With a simple see ya later, take it easy exchange, Jamie sees me out, closes the door between us and I blow out a heavy breath as my hand dips for my car keys.

Out on the driveway, I tug open my black Porsche and sink inside. There’s a heat along the back of my neck, in my throat that I can’t get to go away. Cops make me tense in general, so it’s no surprise that Jamie’s dad gets me all uptight, just sitting there. But it’s something else.

Something about Jamie’s quiet confidence in class. He has this way of making everybody feel like an asshole. But when I’m alone with him, he elicits some kind of… calming honesty from me and it’s like he doesn’t even try.

I struggle with what that means for a moment. Why I go home and wish I could keep talking to him when up until this year, I’d never bothered. Like maybe there’s some other tie I have to him that I can’t remember.

With a shake of my head, I push my key in the ignition and twist my wrist to start it. But I’m only met with a gritty, unpleasant rattle and I let go. A brief wave of dread dips through me and my brow furrows at the unfamiliar noise. I stretch my fingers and take hold of the key once more, turn it and the engine fails to come alive, stuttering a hopeless scratch once more until I release it.

“Goddammit,” I whisper and sink back against the leather seat.

My gaze flicks over to the book on my passenger seat, then the brick house in front of me. Drawing a deep inhale to my chest, I push open the driver’s side door and sigh, “Quite a fucking car indeed.”

...part 2 for another day...

#jamie x noble #highschool!joble au

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ask-de-writer · 6 years

Text

GONE TO SEA : World of Sea : Science Fiction : Part 3

GONE TO SEA

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

WORK IN PROGRESS (Word count unknown at this time)

Writing started 2005

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Chapter 02. Colony

All thousand of the new colonists of Sea stood in the largest recreational plaza to wish the crew of the ESA 14 farewell. Captain Alain wound up his speech by saying, “We have done our best to ensure that this colony has as good a start as it can have. You know that we would have been willing to take you all back with us if it were possible. The laws governing the physics of the Crossover drive will not let us.

“We will see that an expedition is sent to see how you are doing as quickly as the ESA can do so. You will be on your own until then. Sometime between forty two to fifty years from now they will arrive. Until then, may you be blessed by whatever Deity you choose to pray to.

“I hope that the relief expedition finds you well and prospering. May that vessel need only take back whatever unique and wonderful trade goods and ideas you have found to contribute to the community of mankind among the stars.”

To somewhat subdued cheers, the crew of the ESA 14 filed aboard their Slowpoke shuttle to return to the orbiting starship. Lifting with the silence of any well functioning Crossover device, the shuttle dwindled into the sky and was gone.

Giles Willon turned to Marcus Angerson and observed, “Got to say, this planet is a bit of a disappointment.” He flexed his elbows out from his body and finished with a grin, “Expected more elbow room. Know what I mean?”

Marcus snapped back, “Are you mocking me? You know that I am a soils engineer! The services of my specialty have been vital to the very survival of all twenty three other ESA colonies. Why did the ESA even bother sending me here? There is no land to bring to the needs of mankind. No soils to engineer at all! This is a travesty!”

Giles raised hand placatingly. “There is no need for such anger, Marcus. We all know why we are here. None of us is suited to a world like this. The probe that found this planet was programmed incorrectly but nobody knew it until we got here.

“Its program assumed that any planet with an atmosphere like this one meant that it had significant land masses and that some form of photosynthetic plant life had to exist. That is all. We all knew that no matter what we found here, it was a one way trip for us. It was a gamble. We sort of lost.”

Small, black haired and eyed Pele Barant interjected, “Maybe we did win but just haven't realized it yet. The gods can be really sneaky that way.”

With a sneer, Marcus turned his back on her, muttering, “False gods!”

Giles looked down a bit to Pele's usually cheerful Polynesian face and said, “Don't mind him. He is just disappointed with his situation, that is all.

“By the way, I enjoyed working on the truss work of this station with you. You did a great design job. We are lucky to have someone with your civil and mechanical engineering skills and marine architecture experience with us.”

Pele flashed Giles a ready smile and said, “Thank you. I appreciate having someone who can look down to my face and up to my work at the same time.”

/////////

As the weeks passed into months, the station began to settle into a routine as people got used to the strange situation that they found themselves in.

/////////

In his quarters, Marcus Angerson closed the door of his study to shut out the sounds of his wife Trisha and their two children Benjamin and Lora while he brooded on the wrongness of his situation. He pulled the blinds to seal away the glare of the sun and the vile sight of the endless ocean, with not so much as a sandbar above sea level anywhere on the entire planet.

There is no reason to it! All of my years of study on how to adapt alien soils to the needs of mankind have been wasted. Instead of being one of the most vital men for the colony's survival, I am now very nearly the least. What should I do?

His eye fell to the Bible on his working desk. Sourly, he picked it up and began to read. Somehow, it did not give the solace that it used to in times of difficulty. Doggedly, he went all the way back to Genesis and began at the very beginning.

////////

Hugh Barant raced his wife Pele and daughter Mala'klea to their quarters. His long legs could have easily overtaken them but young Mala'klea loved beating him in races, as long as he didn't make it too easy for her. Mala'klea's small hand hit the door frame only a tiny fraction of a second before Hugh's. Flashing her father a high-spirited grin, Mala'klea ducked into their apartment. Pele was already drawing wide the blinds to allow the generous sun of Sea to shine into their rooms and let them see the wonder of a rolling ocean that had no end.

There were some of Sea's many kinds of birds perching on the railing of their balcony. They were waiting to see if the people inside had something that they would share with the birds . . . or that the birds could steal for that matter. The birds apparently didn't see much difference. Besides, Pele or Mala'klea always set out a plate of something for them to squabble over. Today was no exception. Pele produced a fresh plate with a roasted fish that she had speared the other day while diving on the reef. A small bird-storm developed around the plate. The Barants sat on their side of the glass and watched with laughter and hugs.

/////////

Down in the Bio-safety and Nutrition laboratory, Kaim Hawadie told his many assistants, “Now that things are finally together, we need to got on the stick. While we were helping to build this place we did get some reports out. Just the construction area, less than one tenth of this reef complex, has yielded us a backlog of over three thousand samples to analyze.

“To help out, we have devised a report cover page that lists the following items. 1. Toxic, 1a. Useful Y/N, 2. Edible- no nutritional value, 3. Edible- contains ______, 4. Pharmacological value ______, 5. Other useful features _______.

“Our job is to get the reports out as quickly and accurately as possible. Of course, we are watching for the thymine, lysine and missing vitamins in every organism or sample that we test. If we find them, those reports will get a special red flag cover.

“Other experts will be trying to make sense out of our reports. Our job, and it is a big one, is just to get them the data. Now let's get to the analysis.”

/////////

Mister Torres sat back in an easy chair and watched his son Jason playing on the living room carpet. It was a Periodic Table game. His lovely and talented wife Mikhala was sitting opposite Jason, taking her turn at the game's cards.

Sadly he wondered, Will this place last long enough for you to grow up, Jason? Mikhala, will we live to see grandchildren? I really had no choice in doing this. What we have here is the best that I could give to you all. It is simply a hope. In the end, an empty hope.

Perhaps, Mikhala, my love, your knowledge of Slowpoke drive systems will let us move into space. I will need to ask you about the possibility of building us another shuttle. We can't risk such a move with only one shuttle. Farms in orbit or under domes on Wotan might actually allow us to survive. Down here those monster Coriolis storms doom long term farming or pretty much anything else.

I wish that I had someone that I could open up to about these things.

Mister Torres went back to studying his tablet computer. Immersing himself in the multitude of tasks needed to keep the colony running as smoothly as possible provided relief from his fatalistic ruminations.

/////////

Molly Miken called Mister Makle on the video link and invited, “Hey, Bronnie! Me and my structural maintenance crew are planning a barbecue cook-out and pot luck down on dock A. Want to come? Bring Tam and your son Mark along. We requisitioned one of the work boats for the afternoon to play about.”

A grin on his face, Mister Makle replied, “We will be there. We will have to stop by the Commissary to get something, though. Tam just got off work and Mark is on his way back from school. By the way, please don't spread my first name around, I took a lot of ribbing in school over it.”

Molly promptly shot back, “Don't worry about that, Boss! Your secret is safe with me! Unless I need to blackmail you for better working conditions . . . Bronnie.”

///////////

Marcus Angerson laid aside the Koran. In his shuttered den, away from the detested sight of endless ocean and the glare of the sun that could spawn such an abominable world, he glared at the books as if his problems were their fault. He thought, Months wasted. None of these, not the Bible, Koran or any of the other religious texts that I can find sheds any light on the real problem.

Once again, the small voice that had been prodding and guiding him for the last month or so offered, ((Of course they don't. Those books were written on Earth and, though they might provide some guidance, they were for the Earth. You are not on Earth. I do have a Plan for you, but the time is not yet ripe.))

Why am I so unnecessary? By all rights I should be the most important single man in the colony! In spite of my vital education, I remain utterly worthless. A mere teacher of children!

((At least that little pagan Barant got what she has had coming to her. In the end, all must come to Me. Before that happens, you may need to be brought lower still.))

A knock at his study door interrupted Marcus' brooding. Trisha, his wife, put her head in and announced, “Honey, dinner is waiting. Would you please join us today? We know how hard you are working, what with all of those school papers to grade. Ben and Lora have missed you these last few weeks.”

With ill grace, Marcus came out to the apartment's dining area. The window was open to the lowering sun, setting in a glory of low clouds, gilding them with gold, red and purple. A light breeze came in off the ocean outside.

Seeing the light and the sight of the endless sea that he had been studiously shutting out irritated him. Marcus strode angrily to the window and slid it shut with a bang. He pulled the blinds, plunging the cheerful room into the gloom that better suited his mood.

Marcus stamped back to the table and sat. He was reaching for his coffee when he heard Trisha's voice begin, “Sweet Lord, we thank you for the company at this table and this fine fish that you have provided us . . .”

Rudely he interrupted, “What are you doing? The blessing is my duty!”

Benjamin, hands still folded, said mildly, “We didn't mean to upset you, father. You haven't been here to say it for the last several weeks. We have been taking turns. It was Mom's turn today. Would you please say the grace for us?”

As he started to fold his hands, Marcus' eyes fell on the fish that lay on the plate at the center of the table. It lay on a bed of green and wrinkly sea lettuce. There was a hole through it, just back of the gills. His brows drew down in a rage. He demanded, “You were just asking me to sign for household money! How could you afford such a fish as this? You lied to me about being out of money!”

As Trisha looked up in shock at the accusation, Benjamin spoke up. “The fish didn't cost us anything, Dad. The Barants went diving on the reef a few days ago. Pele sent Mala'klea around with it as a gift.”

Marcus' lip curled in disdain as he demanded, “And what would you have made for our dinner if you had not begged from that, that . . . heathen?”

Lora gave her father a confused look and said, “Nothing. The kitchen is empty. The Commissary turned down Mom's card when we went to shop today. They said that there was no money left in it. That is why she has been trying to get you to sign the transfer.”

Ignoring his daughter, Marcus grabbed the plate from the table and hurled both it and the fish on it against the wall. He yelled in outrage, “We will not bend the knee to those vile pagans!

“That false idol worshiping fiend is behind all of my, eh, our misfortune! At every turn, she is put up on a pedestal and I am cast lower!”

Trisha, eyes wide in fear, was looking at her husband as if she had never before seen him. Tentatively she extended her tablet and stylus, saying, “Please dear, just sign the transfer and I will buy you whatever you want for din . . .” Her head rocked back as Marcus slapped her in the face. Her tablet fell to the table and skittered to a stop against Lora's dinner plate.

His own face twisted into a feral snarl, Marcus withdrew his stinging hand. Blood mingled with the tears that trickled down Trisha's cheek. He raged, “I sign you money every week! You should have plenty! Use it!”

Cringing in fear after his father's outburst, Benjamin found the courage to say, “You haven't signed us any money for about a month. You keep saying that you will do it presently but you haven't done it.”

Scrabbling to recover her tablet, Trisha extended it in another desperate attempt to get the money that they all needed. “Please, Marcus. Benjamin is right. It has been three weeks since we had a weekly transfer for the household funds. We are behind on our bills. We have the money in the bank to pay for everything. All that you need to do is sign the transfer.”

Anger causing him to draw a separate breath for each word, Marcus growled, “I. Am. Going. Out. . . When. I. Return. There. Will. be. Food. Fit. For. A. Godly. Man!”

Confused, the slap that she received bringing her greater pain than the brutal physical impact, Trisha asked, “Marcus? What is wrong with you? I am doing my best to . . .” This time, the now furious Marcus hit her face so hard that her chair went over. The tablet went flying, bouncing from the wall and landing on the floor. The back of Trisha's head hit the wall and then thumped to the floor as she fell. Benjamin and Lora ran for their room and locked the door.

Marcus drove his heel deliberately into the tough glass of the tablet face, shattering it as he strode to the apartment door. Over his shoulder he snapped, “You have joined the many seeking to bring me, to bring God Himself down and lift up the pagan above all! It must not be! You must uphold me, uphold God, with proper food or suffer the consequence!” The door slammed behind his retreating form.

/////////

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

#GONE TO SEA #World of Sea #Science Fiction #written by Glen TenEyck #Part 3

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sheithauzine · 6 years

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Stargazing Zine Contributor Spotlight

Get to know the contributors that are a part of Stargazing: a Sheith AU Fanzine! Meet @seitou, who did a Circus AU that is also part of our merch bundle!

Seitou

“Love is patient and kind; love one another.”

Circus AU! Your absolutely gorgeous art is not only part of the zine, but is being featured as one of the mini-prints in our bundle. Let me say, I’m definitely shelling out to get myself a copy of that one! What can you give us about the backstory of this AU? You’ve really piqued my curiosity!

It was originally an idea for a fanfic plotted out just before season 2 dropped, so I've been sitting on this for a while. Shiro was a former trapeze artist who suffered a horrendous fall at a young age and had to quit. He sees Keith perform Corde Lisse, the suspended cord acrobatics thing, a few years later and was entranced by him. At some point during his frequent visit to the circus Keith picks Shiro out as a volunteer to do tricks off his shoulders, lowkey flirting with him and slowly fall in love. How the story went after that depended on if Keith was working for Zarkon or Alfor, so either Keith and Shiro run away together, or Alfor ask Shiro to join their troop and he works his way up to Ringmaster.

So you do freelance art for a living, but also take fandom commissions as well. That’s a lot of art! How do you manage to balance your time and energy between your career work and your commissions?

It helps that the work I do get is related to one fandom or another, and that my situation is such that I am able to mostly focus on my art. Traditional work also takes longer or shorter depending on what medium I'm using so that helps. But burnout is very real, so I try to take breaks and do other things. Saturdays are generally my art free day, unless I have a deadline, then all bets are off.

Now that is relatable.

So you get to do fandom work for a living? That sounds awesome! What other fandoms do you do work for? Was there any process that led to you being able to do so or was it just a series of fortunate events?

A series of fortunate and unfortunate events really. I was originally going to college for Marine Biology, but I was going through a Junior college circa 2005 to 2008 and found out that I would have to get through calculus to get my degree. I was exhausted of math at that point so I decided to say forget that and looked for something else. Art had always been a passion of mine so it seems like a natural transition for me. So I applied to an art school, and while that's been difficult to maintain attendance, (housing is expensive in San Francisco) I don't regret it. As for fandoms, I've done art for Ronin Warriors, Transformers Animated, Superman, Harry Potter, X-Men: First Class, and Snow Villars from Final Fantasy.

I feel you on that one; I dropped my computer science major in a heartbeat because of calc.

Final question: Voltron has so many good characters, but most people have their own special fave! Who is yours, and why?

I'll be real my favorites are probably Shiro and Hunk. Because I love characters that are just good for the sake of being good. There is nothing wrong with flawed or damaged character, they both are in their own ways, but there isn't as much ego, selfishness, and baggage that other characters have. They are just good people trying to do good despite difficult circumstance. I have a soft spot for characters who try to stay tried and true despite hardships. It helps that Hunk is a sassy sweetheart and Shiro is a hot side of beef.

#Stargazing Sheith Zine #sheithauzine #Shiro #Keith #Sheith #Voltron

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sinceileftyoublog · 5 years

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One True Pairing Interview: A Glorious "Fuck You”

Tom Fleming (formerly Wild Beasts); Photo by Jenna Foxton

BY JORDAN MAINZER

For Tom Fleming, the end of Wild Beasts represented the opportunity to start over. Just last month, he released his self-titled debut as One True Pairing, a name inspired by the concept of a perfect match between two fictional characters, but that Fleming co-opted to fit with the theme of romanticism for a better world. His touch-points? Combining the idealism of 80′s heartland rock with the grey-hued class frustration of discordant UK punk. But unlike fan fiction, Fleming was actually able to combine worlds, in real life.

Much of One True Pairing was written on acoustic guitar and recorded on a 4-track with one microphone so Fleming could really isolate the feeling of the lyrics. “If I get straight on the computer, I mess around” with “stuff nobody cares about at that stage,” he told me over the phone last month. Once he had about 6-7 solid songs and was happy with his melodies, he worked with mixer and producer Ben Hillier until they were satisfied with the songs. But Fleming appreciated his time alone, previously used to being in a band constantly bouncing ideas off one another, this time able to reflect on his own creations.

Don’t get him wrong: Fleming is still in touch with his former band mates, calling Hayden Thorpe’s solo debut Diviner a “beautiful record.” And while he’s performed One True Pairing songs live as a duo, he’s open to the idea of putting a band together. But for the most part, he’s enjoying calling the shots. “To be on the road for 10-12 years is a difficult life,” he told me. “I wouldn’t berate anybody for not wanting to do that into your sixties.”

Read on below, as Fleming discusses various songs on the album and their sonic and lyrical influences, as well as consciously differentiating from Wild Beasts.

Since I Left You: How did you achieve a balance with your first solo record between making a personal, artistic statement and a politically timely one?

Tom Fleming: I was very aware of a solo record being some kind of secret ambition I’d always had--it was nothing like that. I had no idea what I was doing after Wild Beasts. I didn’t want it to feel like an indulgence. I wanted it to have a reason to exist other than my artistic vision. In terms of being timely, I was bothered by a lot of things--it wasn’t an attempt to make a quote-unquote political statement. It felt dishonest and weird and a bit creepy to not write about what was in front of me or at least in some refraction. There’s a reason people turn a blind eye in the UK in terms of economics. They like to think they’re “woke” and these things never come up until you implicate them...I wanted to make something that had a logic outside of itself. But I was very eager not to make a singer-songwriter record from a singular perspective.

SILY: The tie-in for a lot of people will be Wild Beasts. Did you consciously decide to make something that sounds separate from that?

TF: Some of it is a reaction--not necessarily for the audience’s benefit, but because I got tired of doing certain things. Wild Beasts records were very layered and quite delicate in places. I am trying to approach this as “I am a new artist.” I’m not sure I particularly care what the artists in bands are doing next unless it’s good. I don’t think it carries over.

SILY: Whenever you see a new moniker that’s also the name of an album and a song, it’s gotta mean something. Would you say that the song “One True Pairing” is emblematic of this new chapter for you?

TF: Yeah. The name just kind of stuck. There’s a hopefulness and romanticism. The words appealed to me. Not having my name gave me a bit more freedom and a role to play with.

SILY: What about the song “Zero Summer” made you want to open with it?

TF: Lyrically, and in terms of the sonics, it’s got that kind of aggression and slightly sarcastic nods to 80′s heartland rock that’s on the record. It’s also about the life of T.S. Eliot. There are a few puns to myself in it. [laughs]

SILY: I definitely got the 80′s vibes on “Blank Walls” and the guitars of “Dawn at the Factory”, because you still did an interesting synthesis of 80′s heartland rock, but the synthesizers are used differently than Springsteen, Henley, etc. did.

TF: Thanks, man. That’s kind of what I was going for. British music is a refraction of American music, so I wanted it to be that. There’s a romanticism to what I’m doing, and I wanted to do that but also make it a bit twisted and a bit askew and have the lyrics be a bit off-message. [laughs]

SILY: Some of the songs are a bit of a slower burn, like “Elite Companion” and “King of the Rats”, which is much more vocal-forward. How did it feel to be the only one singing on the record as compared to your past experiences?

TF: It’s different. I felt like I had to sing differently. I was ready for it, though. I wasn’t the lead vocalist before. I realize how much of it is delivery. The lyrics on the page don’t feel like how they sound, not only with pitch and accent but the type of attitude you sing it with. I sing a lot more aggressively, too. Un-decorative. I wanted it to sound a bit intimidating and a bit less pleasant to listen to. I wanted it to be unavoidable. You’re gonna hear every word here.

SILY: A couple songs stood out to me for their epic arrangements: “Alive in the Resplendent Flames” and especially “Weapons”, which has a loud-quiet-loud dynamic with an explosive chorus.

TF: That was a sort of like Joni Mitchell-y guitar tune with a stealth chorus that comes halfway through the measure. “Weapons” is a little darker in tone, but both those songs both have themes of escape from marination in violence and oppressive threats. There’s a line in “Zero Summer” about being doomed to repeat the same things over and over. I was very wary of making a white boy singer-songwriter record, which I think has been done infinitely, and much better than what I could probably do. [laughs]

SILY: A lot of the good examples of those singer-songwriters records have a sense of personal sharing, which you do communicate in terms of your interaction with the world around you, especially as it comes to contemporary society and politics. You kind of felt there was a lacking in people making art about the situation we’re in or addressing it head-on. Did you feel a responsibility to do it yourself?

TF: I’ve been quite fortunate to get where I got to. There are a lot of things I won’t escape from my economic background way back. In the UK, there’s a kind of fatalism to what you can and cannot be. There’s a dishonesty about how woke people tend to be. It’s very selective and public facing. It’s not really addressing their own role in it. I wanted to implicate the listener. I wanted them to go, “Oh God, that’s what I helped to create.” I’m not the only one doing something like that, but I’m trying to offer a point and counterpoint to it.

SILY: What about “Only God Can Judge Me” made you want to end the album with it?

TF: There’s a glorious “Fuck you” about that song. It’s like a gathering together. There’s a sort of a summation. That was the only one written in the studio. We were playing around on guitar and decided to add lyrics. The lyrics of that song and the way it feels are me wondering, “What does all this mean? What do I do now?” It felt right thematically to put there. There’s an almost sea shantiness to it, which appealed to me.

SILY: Do you have a favorite song on the record?

TF: Oh man...hmm, good question. I come and go as to which one I like best. I think “King of the Rats” turned out well. It was written quite quickly. It was very much a feel thing. I like “Zero Summer” in that it begins the record with a “fuck you,” just like the end.

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the album art?

TF: I love Jandek. His portraits are so off-kilter. I wanted to do something like that. It was the inspiration for me being in water...I didn’t want it to be kitchen sink realism.

SILY: How have the songs changed live?

TF: They’re more minimal, I guess. “Alive in the Resplendent Flames”, I’m doing a sit-down version of that, but for the most part they’re still full. This isn’t an acoustic show; this is a rock show.

Tour dates:

10/31: Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands

11/4: King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, UK

11/5: Yes, Manchester, UK

11/6: Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Leeds, UK

11/7: The Louisiana, Bristol, UK

11/8: The Grand Social, Dublin, Ireland

11/11: The Victoria, Dalston, London, UK

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doodlewash · 7 years

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My name is Kenley Jones and I am originally from Coastal North Carolina, currently residing in Central Pennsylvania. If you were to ask me, even just two years ago what I thought about the watercolor medium, my response would have been mixed. I knew what it was, but art was just not happening in my life at the time.

Here is a preface to the now. I grew up loving art, and drawing, even at an early age. My favorite subject to draw were airplanes. My dad was in the United States Marine Corps, and worked on them. The A-4 Skyhawk to be exact. He would take me on base to his shop and give me some GI computer paper, and GI Mechanical Skilcraft pencil. I would sit and draw airplanes for hours. As I got older, I drew more things.

I remember Christmas would net me drawing pencils, drawing pads, and sometimes, a whole Art kit. In high school, I took Art class all four years. We would have to turn in one good sketch every week. My main passion was just drawing. I did do a couple paintings with acrylic which were very abstract (One actually won 3rd place and ended up hanging up in the local Holiday Inn for some time).

After high school, I never really thought about art much, or drawing. That was over 20 years ago. Until, my first son was born. My wife had asked me to do some nursery wall art for the room in a nautical theme. She knew I knew how to draw. I had this big prismacolor set in the basement that I never used. So, at the end of 2015, my first attempt at Art was a top side view of a Blue Crab, in colored pencil. I was actually pretty surprised at how well it turned out. I never did this good in high school, 20 years ago. I went on to do some more sea creatures in colored pencil. I liked colored pencil, but man, it took a long time.

Now, before I get to the good part, watercolor, I will explain the title of this post. It has been over 20 years since I have sketched, or did anything artistic. I do think that you can get better with practice, but I didn’t practice. I think that being older, and having life experiences, has the answer to the question of how I am better now, than way back when. As age defines a person for what they become, new perspectives take shape as well. But most of all, I just think that it is a gift from God, despite all other opinions.

In the beginning of 2016, I was at the point of wanting to try something new. I thought “watercolor”! I always see these coastal themes and seascapes, and think, man if I could do something like this! So, I go to the store (you know the one), and buy a set of watercolors, some brushes, and watercolor paper. I want to keep it simple so I opt for more sea creatures on a white background. I love the simplicity of it.

I love how the water and pigment goes on the paper. I love the crispness of it. Being from the coast, I really love doing these type of paintings with tuna, mahi mahi, pelicans, etc.. My favorite paper that I use most often is Arches 140lb cold press.

How I paint

I simply start with a sketch of the subject using 2h to 5h pencil. Though, I might start using a 2b in the future. Then I decide what colors I want on my palette (I use a new palette each time with new paint). After my sketch is done, I go in with the watercolor. At first, it was hard to wait for the paper to dry, but I don’t mind it now. I don’t use a hair dryer (yet). I often go from light to dark colors as I paint.

My style now, is that my watercolor is sort of tight and detailed. One of my most treasured pieces is the “Blue Crab on a Pier”. The outcome was what I was striving for, and all of the stippling was well worth it. I love trying out new techniques that I learn. I am still in the beginning stages of a watercolor artist, so I love learning new things. And anything that I learn, I love to pass on as well.

One of the most important things I have learned is to allow mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes can add something, and they can teach you something. As I move forward, I want to try new things, new subjects, and perhaps, get a little more relaxed with a loose style. I am on a mission to learn and to reign in on my new perspectives.

I never, before, would have seen myself in love with this medium, but I do love it, and the elegance of it as well. I look forward to seeing the art here on Doodlewash, and to meet other people in the same art medium.

One golden nugget that I have to offer is this. Support your local art store. You will not only be in the midst of awesome products, but in a bank of knowledge from people that are more than willing to give, especially if you buy even one of those Tombow Drawing pencils (which is what I use), or not. ASK for a discount! They are not blind to the fact that you might have a 50% off coupon saved on your phone’s image storage for another big box store down the street. The place I often go to gives me a, get this, “Professional Artist Discount”. Whether or not I consider myself a professional artist, they do, and they respect my business.

Kenley Jones Instagram Etsy Doodlewash

#WorldWatercolorGroup - GUEST ARTIST: "A Long Break Brings A New Perspective" by Kenley Jones My name is Kenley Jones and I am originally from Coastal North Carolina, currently residing in Central Pennsylvania.

#WorldWatercolorGroup #animals #doodlewash #featured #illustration #painting #sketching #watercolor #watercolour

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teruyalab · 7 years

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Read more at teruyalab.com

Source: practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Meet Aaron Bowyer, a 6ft 6in tall reader with a beautiful reef tank that’s nearly as long as he is tall...

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE FARMER

Aaron Bowyer is clearly a talented fishkeeper who thrives on a challenge. He started the hobby as an eight-year-old, encouraged by his mum who kept tropical fish. He kept bread and butter community fish, successfully bred many and by the time he was 14, he’d moved onto planted tanks and discus. He could grow plants, aquascape with natural flair and was breeding his discus at the age of 15. I know this because he showed me some very impressive photos taken with a 35mm film camera.

Soon he moved into marines at a time when undergravel filtration was the norm and SPS corals were virtually impossible to keep alive. With a natural gift for all things aquatic, Aaron took the logical step and after A-Levels studied for a BSc degree in Aquaculture and Fisheries Management at Sparsholt College.

After an admittedly unrewarding career managing a well-known arts and crafts outlet, he maintained his hobby and got chatting with the owner of the Reef Dreams shop in Winchester. It wasn’t long before Aaron was offered the job of full-time manager. No surprises that he made the move and hasn’t looked back since.

Being the manager of a reef retailer had its benefits. Aaron was offered his current six-foot tank and cabinet by the shop’s owner for the princely sum of £100 — if he could take it away himself. That was around 18 months ago and the result now is nothing short of stunning (scroll down to the bottom of the page for video).

The tank is turned over 90 times an hour!

I arrived at Aaron’s home in the evening to find him away, still at work in his shop. His girlfriend, Anneke, kindly let me in and the brightly lit tank instantly caught my eye with the familiar bluish ambient glow that’s associated with most reef aquaria. I think my jaw actually fell open involuntarily to allow my brain to compute the heady high-impact mix of bright colors and movement.

Daisy coral.

Relishing the challenge

With 90–95% of the corals being brightly-coloured SPS I knew I was witnessing something pretty special, even as someone who’s more akin to planted aquascapes. The colors were so vivid and bright that any non-fishkeeper could be left wondering if indeed the corals were real!

Aaron returned home soon after and we quickly entered into a dialogue about his hobbyist roots. When I asked, “why reef?” his answer was remarkably straightforward. “I need to challenge myself”, Aaron replied. To grow relatively demanding corals to such a high standard is indeed a challenge, and one that Aaron has clearly relished.

Skimmer, nitrite removers and other equipment is hidden away in the sump.

Consistency is key

He puts much of the success down to consistency in product usage using the balling method — the technique of dosing different solutions to give the corals the minerals they need. Aaron uses the Tropic Marin Pro-Reef range of salt and balling products. The three balling solutions are all dosed automatically using a GHL auto doser and Aaron goes through a total of 1100ml every day. He has calculated that this equates to a mighty total of 74Kg of balling salts every year! In theory this should mean that there’s around 74Kg of added mass to the corals, which is incredibly impressive and leaves me wondering how sustainable such heavy growth can be. Aaron tests the water regularly to ensure the parameters with a variety of high-end test kits to spot any trends in water chemistry fluctuations.

There’s almost 600W of high-output T5 lighting with reflectors, so Aaron runs a cooling fan constantly over the surface of the water. The PAR reaches around 400–600ųmol at the surface and 150ųmol at the substrate. No chiller is employed. Aaron plans on putting even more light over the tank in the form of an eight–T5 ATI unit. I asked if he had considered LEDs but he explained that to get a similar quantity of light would cost over £3,000, using several Radions or Hydra 52 units. Arguably the effect of T5 can be more impressive than LED with its consistency in light spread and lack of glitter lines. It’s largely down to personal taste and budget, as with all aspects of fishkeeping.

The Copperband butterflyfish is a firm favourite.

Feature fish

Aaron’s fish selection is equally impressive. I’m a fan of seeing more smaller fish versus fewer larger fish, as it gives an improved sense of scale; a principle that he agrees with too.

Male Pseudanthias squamipinnis.

Dominated by a wonderful collection of wrasses, blennies, damsels and anthias, the mix of color and movement in the tank, especially after feeding was a sight to behold.

A large Copperband butterfly and Purple tang stood out as feature fish, with the former being Aaron and Anneke’s favourite specimen.

I asked if he had encountered any major issues with his set-up over the 18 months it had been running and was pleased to hear of nothing, except a jumper that triggered the installation of the mesh cover.

Aaron’s tank is filled with colourful SPS corals, all glowing with health.

Better than the telly!

The tank sits pride of place in the couple’s living room and I can’t see them watching much TV when there’s such a spectacle as this to appreciate. But Aaron suffers a similar problem to many other experienced fishkeepers and aquascapers — he’s never satisfied and is always looking at ways to improve his set-up.

He explained that one of the pink Bird’s nest corals in his system had lost its intensity and he was determined to rectify the problem. He told me that you can lose color in a coral in a matter of days, but it can take months to get it back again.

It’s this determination to reach the highest of standards that I believe has been the key to Aaron’s success, and I left his home feeling very inspired and motivated. Maybe it’s about time I set up a proper reef tank myself…

Meet the fishkeeper

Name: Aaron Bowyer. Age: 33. Time in hobby: 26 years. First fish kept: Platy. First fish bred: Platy. Favorite fish: Copperband butterfly. Fish he'd most like to keep: Achilles tang. Favorite coral: Any SPS. Top tip: Stick with a consistent approach.

Exquisite anthias swim between the corals.

Aaron’s fish list

Copperband butterfly, Chelmon rostratus Tile goby, Hoplolatilus purpureus Purple tang, Zebrasoma xanthurum Yellow wrasse, Halichoeres chrysus Yellow hogfish, Bodianus bimaculatus 2 x Yellow tail damsels, Chrysiptera parasema 2 x Orange spot gobies, Valenciennea puellaris Yellow tail wrasse, Anampses meleagrides 2 x Peacock wrasse, Macropharyngodon bipartitus Leopard wrasse, Macropharyngodon meleagris 6 x Lyretail anthias, Pseudanthias squamipinnis Green chromis, Chromis viridis Multicolor wrasse, Cirrhilabrus lubbocki Orchid dottyback, Pseudochromis fridmani 2 x Jewel algae blennies, Salarias fasciatus Red scribble blenny, Cirrhipectes stigmaticus Molly Miller blenny, Scartella cristata

Yellow hogfish, Bodianus bimaculatus.

Aquarium factfile

Tank and cabinet Custom 180 x 60 x 60cm/6 x 2 x 2ft with 120cm/4ft sump, total volume 1000 l/220 gal.

Lighting ATI luminaire 6 x 80W HO T5 lamps, 2 x 54W HO T5 lamps.

Photoperiod 8am to 11pm: 2 x 54W T5 White and Blue. 9am to 10.30pm: 2 x 80W T5 Blue and Aqua Blue. 11am to 10pm: 1 x 80W T5 Fiji Purple. 11am to 10pm: 3 x 80W T5 New Gen.

Circulation and flow 90 times per hour turnover; 2 x Jebao WP40, Jebao DC12000 in-line circulation pump, 2 x additional circulation pumps (15,000 and 20,000 lph), Eheim return pump.

Filtration

80Kg live rock (20Kg in sump).

C9 Bubble Magus protein skimmer

3 x Aqua Medic sulphur nitrate removers.

Rowaphos

Water management and additives

25 l/5.5 gal water change per week using RO water and Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt.

Balling classic nutrient regime using Tropic Marin Balling ABC, total 1.1 litres per day.

A+, K+ elements daily, 15ml.

KZ Coral Boost, 5ml per day.

KZ Coral Vitaliser, 5 drops per day.

KZ Amino acids 2, drops per day.

KZ B Balance, 10ml per day.

KZ Coral Snow, as and when.

KZ Bio Mate, 2 drops per day.

GHL Auto Doser.

Water parameters

Calcium: 450 ppm.

Magnesium: 1600 ppm (deliberately high to combat Bryopsis algae, extra Mg added to auto top-up).

KH: 8°.

Nitrates: 1 to 3ppm.

Phosphates: 0.01 to 0.05ppm.

#aquarium #fish tank #saltwater #nano reef #reef tank #reef aquarium #marine aquarium #marine tank #pico reef #アクアリウム

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neighbourskid · 4 years

Text

Future?

(original date: 06 May 2017)

People keep asking me what I want to do with my degree, why I’m studying English and Art History. I’ve been asked this question so many times, I lost count. When I was in grammar school, people asked me what I wanted to do afterwards, what I wanted to study. When I was in secondary school, people urged me to go look at jobs so I could go into an apprenticeship afterwards. Other people urged me to go to grammar school. In the end, I repeated a grade so I could go to grammar school without having to do the entry exam. Why? Because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Or too many ideas. When I was in primary school, my best friend wanted to be a marine biologist. I had no real interest in marine biology. Nevertheless, in primary school I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up.

See, I never really thought about myself much when I was a child. I didn’t live much into the future, I always lived in the moment. Of course, I looked forward to things. Like seeing my dad again the next weekend. Or that holiday that we were planning for a while now. Or going to the swimming pool next summer.

I remember my mom telling me once that she always thought I would be too dependent on my brother. My brother and me, we’re pretty close, I think. We weren’t the “typical” siblings that fight a lot because they are siblings. Of course, we had our rows, but I think most of the time we’ve been kind to each other. I think what played a lot into that, is that we’re only 18 months apart. We were the same height for a while and some people even thought we were twins. We also shared a lot of interests, I guess. Our parents never forced me into this typical girl role. Of course, when I was four, I think, my godfather gave me a doll for Christmas. I burst into tears upon seeing it. The next year he got me police cars. My mom and I always had our fights over clothes, but she never really forced me to wear dresses or exceedingly girly things, if I didn’t want to.

Our parents treated my brother and me pretty much the same. When my brother got a gameboy for Christmas that one year, I got one as well. I wasn’t forced into liking super girly things, and I don’t think my brother was forced into being super manly. I’m sure, if I were interested in STEM fields (or good at them anyway), my parents would support me in studying in them. I’m sure if my brother would’ve wanted to, I don’t know, be a professional dancer? They would have supported him.

I never really thought much about what I wanted to be when I grew up, though. My brother knew very early on that he wanted to make games and now, several years later, he studies game design. He’s there.

People keep asking me what I want to do with my degree, and honestly? I have no fucking idea. When I graduated secondary school I went to grammar school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life, who I wanted to be. When I graduated grammar school, I tried working for a year, because I didn’t really know what to study yet. I was unemployed for the better bit of a year. I’ve started studying English at university last summer. I am in my second semester now and in one month it’s already finished again. I have 4 semesters left getting my Bachelor at this university. What I want to do with my degree? Not the faintest idea.

Okay, well, that is not quite true. I know what I would like to do with my life, and I suppose my English degree is only helping me achieve that. But it’s not an obvious final destination for that degree. My peers will become teachers or work in advertising, PR, as linguists or do research. Me? I have seemingly unachievable dreams.

When I was in 6th grade, I wanted to be a mangaka, I wanted to draw mangas for a living. I even had the presentation we had to have about jobs about mangakas. My teacher criticized that it was a somewhat invented job (joke’s on you, Mrs W, every job was invented at some point). I soon dropped that dream because I found out just how little life mangakas have once they’ve managed to produce something worthwhile. At the same time that I got into mangas, I also got into fan created stuff related to that. I scrolled through pages beyond pages of fanart, I read some good and a lot of really crappy fanfics, and when that wasn’t enough anymore, little me, who had no computer at that point, started to handwrite fanfiction myself. Handwrite. On paper. Or when we weren’t at home, I wrote them in unsent text messages on my crappy old phone that didn’t have a note application yet. I still have a box full of pages scribbled full with ideas and stories I wrote when I was probably about twelve.

I’ve been writing stories for nearly ten years now. I started in German but from 8th grade on, I wrote in English as well, and once I was in grammar school, English was the only language I wrote in. That’s why I’m studying English. I want to improve my English. Make it flawless. Exercise that muscle, write as much and as often as I can. If I could be a writer, I would take it in a heartbeat. It’s not easy and not something you can study at university, but at least I can study something to help me with my writing.

What I tell when people ask me what I want to do with my degree? Sometimes that, sometimes not, because it’s not all of it. I don’t know if being a writer is the one thing that I want. Especially, what kind of writer do I want to be? That question ties into one of my other dreams.

This might be obvious, but I love movies. I absolutely love going to the cinema, I love the experience of it, sitting in a room with a handful of strangers (sadly, nowadays it isn’t more), experiencing the same thing and leaving the cinema, not as strangers, but as a collective, as a group, as people who have something in common, who have experienced something together. I love that. But I also enjoy watching movies alone at home. I do it all the time. I love watching tv series. Getting into that excitement of what will happen next. Of course, I always whine about how I have to wait a week when I’m caught up with a show and can’t just binge-watch through it all, but it’s actually a very good feeling. You get to think about it for a while and then (hopefully) get the answers to your questions. What I love about the cinematic media, is that it can make you think. It can give you questions, make you reevaluate opinions you had, thoughts you had, knowledge you thought you possessed. Movies have done so much for me. I’ve learned so much about myself through movies and tv shows. I come out of the cinema inspired, ready to go and change the world. I watch interviews or panels from conventions, I hear actors and directors and writers tell stories about their work in the film industry, about their experiences, their life and I… I feel so inspired by that. These wonderful, beautiful, intelligent people create worlds out of thin air, out of nothing, and kids, teenagers, adults, so many different people see these movies and get inspired, they are touched by it. That is so beautiful!

I am so often inspired by movies and I see what they have done for me and I…. I want to give that back. To pay that forward. I know that there are a lot of kids out there who are like me, who find themselves in movies, and I would like to give this back to them. To create things that inspire them. Make a movie that will change their life. That’s what I want. I want to inspire people. Give back to them what the film industry has given me.

Do I want to be an actor? I don’t know. Maybe. I’d have to try it out. I don’t… I don’t actually really care that much what I’d do, I just know I would want it to be there. I would happily bring cast and crew coffee every morning if it meant I would be part of something bigger, something that will someday inspire someone to do great things.

Right now I feel like going into screenwriting would be my number one choice. It has film and writing combined. It also helps that my brain usually comes up with story ideas in cinematic from rather than written. It’s hard writing a scene in a book when your brain supplies things like “establishing shot backed with lord of the rings style music” when you can’t actually write music into your book. So yeah, I think screenwriting is my choice at the moment.

Why I don’t tell that to people when they ask me what I want to do with my English degree? Because they look at you like you’re a crazy nutcase or a poor child with a dream that will never come true. I know, I live in a small ass country not even close to where I want to be. I know I still have a long way to go. But why look at me like I’m mad? Didn’t you ever have dreams? Did you not want to go out there and change the world? I can not and will not believe that your dream has always been sitting in a stinking office from 9 to 5, typing numbers into a computer and whining about how crappy the coffee in the cafeteria is. If it is, then good for you and your mediocre life. If you gave up on your dream? That sucks, man, and I’m sorry. But please stop shitting on my dream.

I’ve always been a dreamer and I will never not be one. So what do you care if my dream seems unachievable? It’s not your dream. What do you care if I fly too close to the sun? It’s my own damn problem if I fall, not yours.

So please, I ask you kindly, if you feel like asking me what I want to do with my English degree with that wonderful undertone that screams ‘you should’ve chosen some other degree’? Fuck off.

#blog post #import from old blog #personal #rant #future

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rosemarymargaretmyersmrazikcobb · 6 years

Text

This is an introduction.

Rosemary Margaret Myers Mrazik Cobb

Family names:Myers,Cobb,Turmo,Griffin,Passarella,Leddon,Wilson,Hall,DuPrey, Szydlik,Colaianne,Geary,Brown,Mrazik;Musselman,Frane;not Nadalin,Mattingly,or Iwaki,not Johnson,Karras,Schissler,or Connell,not Boehler,Wimsatt,Hennessey;not Baptist.

I like science,art,Latin language and its the Greco-Roman history,and Stonehenge,physics,botany,anthropology,archeology,ecology;Wales,Scotland,Ireland,New Zealand,Canada.

I remain single,by choice.

Objective and Overview:Seeking an opportunity with a company that will combine my experience in business,my bachelor's degree,and my interest in the sciences.At Hunter Engineering Company,I was working in the Marketing Information Department for seven years.I managed a database, prepared contracts,managed a yearly short term direct mail project,typed and distributed interoffice memos,and supported the Regional and Divisional Sales Managers with special projects.I utilized Microsoft Word,Excel,Outlook,and a mapping software.After Hunter Engineering,I worked at Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc and then Macy's.I graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Minor in Art History in 1988.Later,while working at Hunter Engineering Company,I began evening classes for pre-medicine,from 1996-2003 at UM-St.Louis.My focus and long term goal remains to obtain a PhD in the sciences.

Skills and Accomplishments:I am a past member of Toastmasters International,a public speaking organization.My office skills include data entry,marketing,managing a yearly short-term direct mail project,revising contracts,managing a database,typing and distributing inter-office memos, and supporting the Regional and Divisional Sales Managers with special projects. I used Microsoft Word,Excel,Outlook and a mapping software on a daily basis. My typing is currently 35 WPM and know 10 key by touch.My education includes a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a GPA of 2.453 and Post Baccalaureate Pre Medical classes with a GPA of 3.123.

My profile on Linkedin.com with a recommendation from Hunter Engineering Company at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemarymrazik/

My profile on Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/RMM038

I began a blog with a few notes that I kept while I was job searching; thai can be found at https://rosemarymrazik.blogspot.com/ My blog is a pretty good reference,that gives some of the other websites where my resume information is stores on.

My Twitter account is https://twitter.com/RMM038

My Pinterest account,which has a brief resume,can be found at https://www.pinterest.com/rmm038/

My Flickr account,with quite a few pictures,and of course,a short resume,can be found at https://www.flickr.com/people/rmm038/

I prefer Google's suite of computer products,so my basic background information,can be found at https://aboutme.google.com/u/0/?referer=gplus

These accounts are available for public viewing and reference.

When I was laid off from Macy's in Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach, California,sometime on January 18,2011,I decided to make the best of my time by starting my own online retail business selling sportswear,at https://www.companycasuals.com/SportswearByRosemaryMrazik/start.jsp To my disappointment,I floundered after a brief beginning,but the website remains.I,hopefully,will be able to begins this business once again, or another one similar to it;maybe a reading room,where I can sit with my laptop,a good book,enjoy a fireplace at its best in the middle of the winter, and have a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate.I seem to have a craving for Starbucks holiday pastries right now.

Well,anyway,I was placed at a job with the same Macy's location within a month or two after I was told that my job was cut,this being in the fitting rooms on the Women's side of the building;Macy's Womens at Manhattan Village Shopping Center.After struggling with part time hours for over a year,I was placed in another job,but this time,I snagged a fairly good job in the Macy's Men's Store as a Levis sales support person.Nice.I now had regular working hours;not bad for retail work shifts;but my hourly wages remained close to minimum wage,making financial ends meet quite a struggle.

So here is the boring part,my resume,at least in a small section of it.For my resume,go to my Linkedin.com account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemarymrazik/ or to my Facebook.com account at https://www.facebook.com/RMM038 or to my Indeed.com account at https://my.indeed.com/resume or to my Slideshare.com account at https://www.slideshare.net/RosemaryMMrazik

July 9,2007 to March 14,2016 Macy's Inc. Macy’s Mens and Home Store and Macy’s Womens Store Manhattan Village 3400 Sepulveda Boulevard Manhattan Beach,CA 90266 310-546-5525 www.macysinc.com

The above websites with my accounts and profiles of my background,are available for public viewing and reference.

ABOUT YOU "The last time I checked,I am Homo sapiens."Monday,July 23,2018. "Wales,Stonehenge,I would like to go camping near Loch Ness and have a bar-b-que,read one of my favorite books-"The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien,and Charles Darwin's books,"The Voyage of the Beagle" and "On the Origin of Species;"having a cup of tea with Tommy-my brother,Larry K.Iwaki Jr PhD-a friend,and whomever else would like to be there."Tuesday,July 24,2018. "And,I would like to walk my cat,or is my cat walking me?"Tuesday,July 24,2018. "I need to study anthropology,archeology,mix in some botany,and a little bit of astronomy and ecology,add in some Latin.And,by the way,I do not believe in the existence of a god;and,really,never did;or an infallible universe."Wednesday,July 25,2018. "Everything scholastic;just show me what you found,on a computer or laptop or computer tablet or book or ..."Thursday,August 9,2018. "MCCS Camp Pendelton-L.I.N.K.S."Monday,August 20,2018. "The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society;MCAS Miramar in Oceanside,California and Camp Pendelton-Marine Corps Family Readiness;US Vets near Inglewood, California;Hunter Engineering Company Corporate in Bridgeton and First Bank and First Services in Creve Coeur,Missouri;Mission Equipment in Oceanside, California and Macy's Men's and Home Store in Manhattan Beach; General Dynamics,Consolidated Grain and Barge,Cass Bank and Trust,Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance,Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance,McDonnell Douglas, and Monsanto."Friday,August 10,2018. "Just show me;I'm from St.Louis."Saturday,August 11,2018. "You figure out more,when you are doing something,outside,...just walk in small groups.""Everyone,completes a task each day,to maintain...""I help Karen,my sister,cross the street,when we are both in 1,1a,or 1ab,and we both see each other,and talk to each other.""You get up and get ready for the day,when the Sun rises.""Do not wait until after the fact,until you do something,or to talk about...""If all else fails,stay with a highschool friend or cousin,and think about,and do,the same schedule of classes,(Home Economics,English Literature,Shop and PE Classes,Art,Latin,Earth Sciences,Physical Sciences,Biology,Physics,Chemistry,Geometry,Algebra,Trigonometry,etc.);extracurricular sports and clubs,(chess club,computer club,audio visual club,cross country running);even the schedule for snow days,and study once again the same classes that you took.Sunday,August 12,2018.Monday,August 20,2018.

"What is the definition of Martial Law,and what are the Geneva Conventions? What are the violations of the Geneva Conventions,and what does this have to do with Martial Law?What are some of the acceptable forms of Civil Disobediance?"Sunday,August 12,2018;Monday,August 13,2018;Monday,August 20,2018. "Thank you Ambassador Steve Braur,and to your family,for the years of working at Hunter Engineering Company."Monday,August 13,2018. "Thank you Pat Dolbeck and Sgt.Polemini,Jack Van Nest,Gloria Durbin,Larry Piraino,Charles Powers,Danny Castro,Mike Ernsberger,Bill O'Brien,Jim Rahman, Mike Young,Gunny Stroud,and Major Harrington in the Auto Skills Center,and the many other people who I talked to in the Marine Corps,with MCAS Miramar and Camp Pendelton in Oceanside,California;while I worked at Mission Equipment with Jerry Giardullo."Thursday,August 16,2018.

"I have never earned,for an entire year,a salary that is at a minimum of the bottom range of middle class income.""Make your monthly and weekly expenses equivalent to you income.""My debt and expenses have always been larger than my income.""I have been encouraged to remain undereducated;but not from ...""I have never been disabled.""Office automation,ham radio,facsimilie machine,computer laptop,mobile telephone;libraries, books and cafes, blue cheese and breads, salads with salami,camping, travel and good company with family and friends-walking each day and study of books and working for a paycheck;expense to income ratio;wireless internet and WiFi,Irish potatoe famine,the flu and cough,severe weather."Saturday,September 1,2018.

Written by Rosemary Margaret Myers Mrazik Cobb,the daughter of Kathleen A. Myers-my mother,of the household of my parents Kathy Myers-my mother and Thomas H. Cobb-my father and step father,Karen A. Myers,Robert B. Mrazik, Rosemary M.Mrazik,Thomas J.Mrazik,David (Dave)Cobb,Dolly Griffin,and Suzi Cobb,Danny Passerella,and David Doodlebaugn,Pat Turmo;which is,for the most part,an athiest household-and I prefer to keep it this way.One of the household addresses was at 100 North Bemiston and Maryland Avenue in Clayton; then on Stafford Lane in Florissant,Missouri,and then at 12907 Nimes Drive in Creve Coeur,Missouri,in West Saint Louis County,in Somerton Ridge Subdivision.I will not renounce this household for any vague,religious reasons,or for anyone else.I attended and graduated,in 1983 from,Parkway Central Junior High School and Parkway Central Senior High School,both in Chesterfield,Missouri on Woods Mill Road near Olive Street Boulevard.I attended and graduated from the University of Missouri in Saint Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and a Minor in Art History in 1988,at Natural Bridge Road near North Hanley. I worked at Piece of the Pie in Ward Parkway Mall in Kansas City and at Chesterfield Mall in Chesterfield,Chenoweth-Chapman Cleaners at Bellerive Plaza in Creve Coeur with Mr.Lee,the Frame Factory in Creve Coeur with Carolyn Mandelman and Karen Coburn at Olive Street Road and Craig Road;First Services,LLP and First Bank with Monique Datillo and Melinda White,both in Creve Coeur at North Woods Mill Road and Olive Street Road;at Hunter Engineering Company Corporate in Bridgeton at Natural Bridge Road and Lindbergh Boulevard with Mr.Steve Braur,Paul Roberts,Bill Markey,Steve Helmkamp,Mike Green,David Newton,Bob Bock,Bob Toolen,Jeff Elder,Mr.Davis Shular,Mike Healey,Jeff Kern,Delyn Wirkus,Denny Bowen,Joe Staniszewski,Doug Woolverton,Frank Ponte,Joe Fuller,Harold Smith,Dave Smith,Jenny McDonald, Steve Meitz,Greg Dunkin,Rhonda Tenkku,Terri Burke,Cheryl Naes;at Pictage, Inc.in Torrance with Andre Kiel,Ariel Minguez,Julia Hamm Tashima,and Dave Shevock;at Mission Equipment and Lifts in Oceanside,California with Mr.Jerry Giardullo and Bill Markey,Danny Castro,Lucas McAhren;at BevMo! on Vista Way in Oceanside,California with Brien O'Neill,Scott Reid,Nathan Chavez,Jonathan,and Kelly,Sgt.Polemini;at Macy's at Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach,California with Shannon Giancotta,Teresa Matus,and Tracie Manick,Scott O'Brien.Cutting Edge Optronics in O'Fallon,Missouri with Randall St.Pierre PhD,Deb St.Pierre,Larry Iwaki Jr PhD-University of Illinois Urbana Champaigne with Dr.Dana DeLott,Larry Dupin,Sam Ponte,Ron Foche.University of Missouri in Saint Louis with Van Reidhead PhD,Mary Leopold PhD.George Nguyen with MIT and/or Harvard.Kathleen A.Myers with Webster University and Washington University in Saint Louis;Rosemary Margaret Myers Mrazik Cobb with the University of Missouri in Saint Louis and the University of Missouri in Kansas City;Karen A.Myers Cobb with the University of Missouri in Kansas City;Robert B.Myers Mrazik Cobb with the University of Missouri in Saint Louis;Thomas J.Myers Mrazik Cobb with Parks College of Engineering,Aviation,and Technology.

Read as much of this,as you would like to read;so do not forget,...

You do know something about this amazing universe.

Geneva Conventions. Sunday,July 15,2018;Thursday,July 19,2018.

Wednesday,July 18,2018;Sunday,July 22,2018;Monday,July 23,2018;Friday,August 3,2018;Saturday,August 4,2018.

I would like to eat an Imo's pizza about now. For an impromptu idea, put together a household Toastmaster's club to meet at the breakfast table;bring your own ideas for doing something that day.I do have one one idea that I would like to bring to the breakfast table,the Invictus Games...,as described on a Google search as "The Invictus Games is an international adaptive multi-sport event,created by Prince Harry,in which wounded,injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans take part in sports including wheelchair basketball,sitting volleyball,and indoor rowing." Eat those foods that you grew up with,especially when you think that you are getting a hayfever.Saturday,August 4,2018.

The cost and availability of college,based on something that is similar to the educational model that is, not only familiar,but works rather well;that is the public school education for high schools;factor in McDonald's,gas stations,shopping centers,...

The cost and availability of housing,based on something that is similar to camp grounds,Hosteling International,a library,...;not only are these familiar,but also works rather well.

The cost and availability of transportation,that you can live out of,and call "home;"something that is similar in concept to camping grounds,and Hosteling International,a library,...

Food:the cost and availability of food,that one can grow,year after year,in almost all living situations;something with the concept,of sorts,as a truck stop,...

Now for something that sounds fun and enjoyable;a walking holiday,book clubs,a squirt bottle water tussel, ... Gather under one roof with all of your cousins, kaftan style if you so choose,as often as you can;use the holidays throughout the year,if you need a good excuse to do something else;another good reason to write each holiday that you like,in a notebook or calendar.Now that I think of it,a calendar can be written in a small notebook;one that can fit in your pocket.In the same small notebook,write the names,addresses,and other contact information.Once you have quite a few friends and/or cousins,under one roof,(you can meet at a park,weather permitting,or the nearest cafe),and when you think of it,make certain to say the other person's name in a conversation. Begin doing those things that you did while in your high school gymnasium classes. Think of a sentence that uses all part of speech;and then,say the sentence in in context of your immediate surroundings;for example,when you are outside.

EDUCATION Funding for my education:I worked my way through college and without funding or support from my family.I also secured Federally funded student loans.I accomplished this on my own initiative. College:1983-1988 and 1996-2003 1996-2003 University of Missouri-St.Louis 8001 Natural Bridge Road St.Louis,MO 63117 www.umsl.edu 1996-2003:PostBaccalaureate Premedical Classes. * GPA is 3.123 on a 4.0 grade point scale (this include only the grades from 1996-2003 and not from the Bachelor's degree in 1988). * Total Credits Earned:Based on a semester:44 credit hours. * Advisor:Harvey P. Friedman,Ph.D-Pre-Health Professions Advisor/College of Arts and Sciences. * Classes include:Physics 011&012-Mary Leopold,Ph.D.;Biology 011&012-L. Friedman,Ph.D. and James Trager,Ph.D.;General Chemistry 011&012-Dr. Gutwieler,Dr.Dence,and Dr.Sterns;Organic Chemistry 261-Dr.Mannino;General Psychology 003-Dr.Marti Bonne;Calculus 100-R.J.Kashuba;Trigonometry-Mr. Mike Hsu. * Labs were taken with:Physics-Gabor Balzsi,Wentao Qin,and Dr.Lucy He; Biology-Kristine Motherhead,Dr.Mariette Baxendale,and Diego Perez-Salic; General Chemistry-Gary Nichols and Donna Kramer;Calculus-Al Stanger. * Labs were taken with:Physics-Gabor Balzsi,Wentao Qin,and Dr.Lucy He; Biology-Kristine Motherhead,Dr.Mariette Baxendale, and Diego Perez-Salic;General Chemistry-Gary Nichols and Donna Kramer; Calculus-Al Stanger. * I completed these classes while working full time at Hunter Engineering Company. 1983-1988 University of Missouri-St.Louis University of Missouri-Kansas City(1985-transfer student) www.umsl.edu;www.umkc.edu August 7 1988:Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Marketing:Minor in Art History * GPA is 2.453 on a 4.0 grade point scale. * Total Credits Earned:Based on a Semester:139 credit hours. * Member of the American Marketing Association. * Business Administration:Mr.David P.Gustafson-Business Policy,Ms.Ottilla Voegtli-Marketing Management,Buyer Behavior,Business Administration Problems; Mr. David Bird-Business Data Processing;Ms.Donna Rosenberg-Fundamentals of Production;Mr.T. Fuhrman-Financial Management;Ms.Sally MacAdoo-Business Writing;Mr.Probir Ror,Ph.D.-QA Business Analysis;Legal Environment to Business;Basic Marketing;Management as a Behavioral Science;Management of Promotion;Marketing Intelligence. * Sciences:Cosmic Evolution/Introduction to Astronomy,General Biology, Introduction to Sociology. * Math:Algebra,Finite Mathematics,Elementary Statistics,Intermediate Statistics. * Accounting:Principles of Accounting,Managerial Accounting. * Economics:Principles of Microeconomics,Introduction to Economics,Ms. Willadee Gillin and Ms.YueQui Huang-GTA-Macroeconomic Analysis;Mr. David Hakes-Money and Banking. * Literature:Mr.J.Spatz-Introduction to British Literature,Literary Types, Freshman Composition,Literature and Fine Arts. * Art History:Mr.T.Pickerel-Introduction to Art;Mr.Ken Anderson-Primitive/Tribal Arts;Foundation Drawing;Dr.Heldman-Greek Art and Archeology;Art Masterpieces;Modern Art. * Anthropology:Dr.Van Reidhead-World Prehistory,Human Origins. * History/Political Science:American Civilization-Helen Ruhrwein,Crime and Punishment,Public Administration. * Completed the classes while working at Chenoweth-Chapman Cleaners,Piece of the Pie, Inc.,and The Frame Factory. *Because Kathy Myers,my mother,and Tom Cobb,my step-father,insisted on a college degree I attended the University of Missouri-St.Louis.In 1984, a memorial service was held for Thomas Howard Cobb.

1978-1983 Parkway Central Junior and Senior High School 369 North Woods Mill Road Chesterfield,MO 63017 Lawrence Giles-Principal www.pkwy.k12.mo.us * GPA is 3.480 on a 4.0 grade point scale * Earth Sciences-Kestle-Vemmer,Physical Sciences-Wood,Biology, Psychology-Mr.Rayburn,Chemistry-Mrs.Wanner,Advanced Biology-Mr.Schumate. * Honors English-Mrs.Ziwot,Latin-Mrs.Doering and Mr.St.Clair,English-Mrs. Helfrich and Mr.Helfrich,Composition-Boyle,English Literature-Mr.Beck. * Pre Algebra-Mrs.Sanford,Algebra-Mr.Disterhauf,Unified Geometry and Math Analysis-Mr.Fusch,Algebra II-Trig-Mrs.Lynam. * Modern American History-Mr.Gallo;Middle East Studies-Mrs.Kraus;Shaping Western Society-Sullivan;US Government-Mr.Gannon. * Art-Mrs.Preusse,Drawing and Painting-Mrs.Davis. * Extra curricular activities:Track-Mr.William A.Sodeman,Model UN Club (International Club),National Junior Honor Society 1979-1980. *Because Tom Cobb,my step-father,moved his life insurance company offices from Clayton,MO to Creve Coeur,MO,I attended Parkway Central Junior and High School.Tom Cobb attended some of my high school track meets.Kathy Myers and Tom Cobb were at my high school graduation;Richard Mrazik did not attend.

Track-4 years total:3 years in highschool and 1 year in junior highschool. I have the track roster and the track team photos. 1980 Coach:Nina Roberts 1981-1983 Coach:William A.Sodeman

National Jr.Honor Society. Listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students:1981-82;1982-83.

May 28, 1980:Math Honor Roll Certificate Signed by James B.Harry-Principal and Virginia Hurt-Math Chairperson.

Class Schedule by Grade and Year

Grade 8,1978-1979 Unified Studies;Grades B,B;Teachers USB Team Pre Algebra;Grades C,B;Teacher Sanford Earth Science;Grades B,B;Teacher Kestle-Vemmer Latin A;Grades A,A;Teacher St.Clair Home Economics;Grades B;Teacher Bornemann PE Girls;Grade A,A;Teachers PE Staff Study Hour

Grade 9,1979-1980 English I;Grade B,B;Teacher Mrs.Helfrich Modern American History;Grade A,A;Teacher Mr.Gallo Algebra IB;Grade A,A;Teacher Mr.Disterhauf * Physical Science I;Grade B,B;Teacher Mrs.Wood Latin IB;Grades A,A;Teacher Mr.St.Clair Art I; Grades A,A;Teacher Mrs.Preusse Typing I;Grades B,B;Teacher Phillips Physical Ed;Grades A,A;Teacher Jones

Grade 10, 1980-1981 English II;Grades A,A;Teacher Mr.Helfrich Middle East Studies;Grades A;Teacher Mrs.Kraus Shaping Western Society;Grades B,Teacher Sullivan Unified Geometry;Grades B,B;Teacher Mr.Fuchs Biology;Grades A,A; Latin III;Grades A,A;Teacher Mrs.Doering Drivers Ed;Grades B;Teacher Schnell Physical Ed;Grades B;Teacher Major

Grade 11, 1981-1982 *Honors English III;Grades B,B;Teacher Mrs.Ziwot US Government;Grades B;Teacher Mr.Gannon Psychology;Grades A;Teacher Mr.Rayburn Algebra II-Trig;Grades B,C;Teacher Mrs.Lynam Chemistry;Grades C,C;Teacher Mrs.Wanner Latin IV;Grades A,A;Teacher Mrs.Doering Drawing I;Grades A;Teacher Mrs.Davis Physical Ed;Grades A;Teacher Ms.Roberts

Grade 12,1982-1983 Composition;Grades B;Teacher Boyle, D English Lit.I;Grades A;Teacher Mr.Beck English Lit II;Grades B;Teacher Mr.Beck Math Analysis;Grades B,C;Teacher Mr.Fuchs *Adv Biology;Grades B,B;Teacher Mr.Shumate *Latin V; Grades A,Honors;Teacher Mrs.Doering Drawing II;Grade A,Teacher Mrs. Davis Painting I;Grade A;Teacher Mrs.Davis Senior Survival;Grade A;Teacher Mrs.Buckley

1976-1978 St.Thomas the Apostle Grade School 3350 St.Catherine Street Florissant,MO 63033 Rev.Burke-Pastor Sr.Joan Galli,CSJ-Principal-1977 Sr.Margaret Brennan,CSJ-Principal-1976 1977-1978:Grade 7:Mrs.Dell'Orco 1976-1978:Grade 6:Mrs.C.Hanses *Because Kathy Myers,my mother,married Tom Cobb,my step-father,and moved into his house in Florissant,MO,I attended St.Thomas the Apostle Grade School.

1974-1976 Maryland Grade School The School District of Clayton Clayton,MO 63105 www.clayton.k12.mo.us/clayton Dr.E.H. Mueller-Principal 1975-1976:Grade 5:Carolyn Hackman 1974-1975:Grade 4:Mrs.K.Norris *Because Kathy Myers,my mother,met Tom Cobb and he found a house for her to rent close to General Dynamics and his life insurance company office,I attended Maryland Grade School.

1971-1974 McGrath Grade School Brentwood Public Schools 1775 Parkridge Avenue Brentwood,MO 63144 www.brentwood.k12.mo.us Mr.E. Renfroe-Principal 1973-1974:Grade 3:Michelle Costello 1972-1973:Grade 2:Ms.Karen Kuester 1971-1972:Grade 1:Gladys Barlow *Because Kathy Myers,my mother,was a single parent of four children and working at General Dynamics,she rented an apartment in Brentwood,MO.

Immacolata (Assumption) Grade School 8910 Clayton Road Richmond Heights,Missouri 63117 (314) 991-5700 www.immacolata.org

Professional References

Dr.Van Reidhead Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs East Stroudsburg University 200 Prospect Street East Stroudsburg,PA 18301 570-422-3539 www4.esu.edu (Dr.Reidhead was my Anthropology Professor from the Univ

Rosemary M. Mrazik 11412 East 186th Street,Apartment 125 Artesia,California 90701-5549 Mobile Phone:(818)325-9841 [email protected]

Objective and Overview:Seeking an opportunity with a company that will combine my experience in business,my bachelor's degree,and my interest in the sciences.At Hunter Engineering Company,I was working in the Marketing Information Department for seven years.I managed a database, prepared contracts,managed a yearly short term direct mail project,typed and distributed interoffice memos,and supported the Regional and Divisional Sales Managers with special projects.I utilized Microsoft Word,Excel,Outlook,and a mapping software.After Hunter Engineering,I worked at Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc and then Macy's.I graduated from the University of Missouri-St.Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Minor in Art History in 1988.Later,while working at Hunter Engineering Company,I began evening classes for pre-medicine,from 1996-2003 at UM-St.Louis.My focus and long term goal remains to obtain a PhD in the sciences.

Skills and Accomplishments:I am a past member of Toastmasters International, a public speaking organization.My office skills include data entry, marketing,managing a yearly short-term direct mail project,revising contracts,managing a database,typing and distributing inter-office memos,and supporting the Regional and Divisional Sales Managers with special projects.I used Microsoft Word,Excel,Outlook and a mapping software on a daily basis.My typing is currently 35 WPM and know 10 key by touch.My education includes a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a GPA of 2.453 and Post Baccalaureate Pre Medical classes with a GPA of 3.123. Experience 1983-2017

My next Job: March 15,2016:Unemployed.

July 9,2007 to March 14,2016 Macy's Inc. Manhattan Village 3400 Sepulveda Boulevard Manhattan Beach,CA 90266 310-546-5525 www.macysinc.com

My Permanent Address:I rented a room from the House Owner,Michael J. Mattingly with The Real Estate Group. Resided:July 26,2007 throughout February 28,2013,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik. *1971 Avenida Feliciano Rancho Palos Verdes,California 90275-1006 My Mobile Telephone Number:(818) 325-9841.

My Permanent Address:I rented a room from Karen Ann Myers-my biological sister;Rosemary Margaret Mrazik,John Nadalin. *Resided: March 2,2013 throughout October 31,2014. 222 Via Anita Redondo Beach,California 90277 My Mobile Telephone Number(818) 325-9841.

My Permanent Address: Resided:November 1,2014 throughout October 30,2015;Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Karen Ann Myers,John Nadalin. *Mariners Village Apartments 14000 Old Harbor Lane,Apartment 203 Marina del Rey,California 90292

My Permanent Address: Resided: October 30,2015 to April 13,2017;Rosemary Margaret Mrazik,Karen Ann Myers,John Nadalin. *Alessio Apartments 5720 West Centinela,Apartment 412 Building Three Culver City-Los Angeles,California 90045

My Permanent Address: Resided: April 13, 2017 to current;Rosemary Margaret Mrazik,Karen Ann Myers, John Nadalin. *Eaves Cerritos Apartments 11421 East 186th Street,Apartment 125 Artesia,California 907091-5549

I was interviewed and hired by Odessa Manligas-Men’s Clothing Sales Manager and Shannon Giancotta-Store Manager. * Customers:Dr.Barry Tischler,Fredrick Shaper,Oscar C. Juat Jr.,Brice Head,Carolina Verdin,Max Kaousi,Samuel Ibraham,Arturo Mendoza,Keanna Briles, Lynn Busia,Sung Kim,Sean (Son Van) Nguyen,Louis Dumont,Dr.Paul Nordin,Barry Nelms,Grace and Edward Kim,Nathan Au,Robert Powell,Patrick Vasquez,Alex Gaw,Thomas Cleary,Christian Eichelburger,and Wayne C.Smith. *Managers:Odessa Manligas,Irma Chavez,Donna Wade,Lavetta Hines. *Coworkers:Breanna,Akosita,Brenadette Zaklit,Sam Kallos,Kareem, Hanelmalmedhin.

*Store Managers:Manhattan Village Macy's:Tracie Manick-Store Manager from 4/2/2011-current,Teresa Matus-Store Manager from 2008-4/1/2011,Shannon Giancotta-prior Store Manager. *Odessa Manligas-my sales manager from July 9,2007 to March 6,2010 and from February 2012-May 5,2012;Irma Chavez-my sales manager from August 29,2010-February 2012;Donna Wade-my sales manager from March 6,2010 to August 28, 2010 and May 6,2012-July 15,2012;Lavetta Hines,Odessa Manligas-my signing Team Lead Managers from April,12,2015 through March 14,2016. *Polo Ralph Lauren Manufacturer's Sales Representatives:Ronald Romero- Shop Manager,James Burden up to March 2010 and Heidi Bruner-prior manufacturer's representatives.

Accomplishments: 4/12/2015-3/14/2016;Signing Team Lead.The job duties include:supervising a team of associates to ensure that all merchandise is properly signed; coordinate and oversee the timely execution of sign set-up and removal for the entire store;recruit,train,motivate,and develop Signing Associates to their fullest potential through coaching and feedback;and ensure that all policies,procedures,and standards are understood and followed by Signing Associates. * 37.5 hours per week.From 4/12/2015-5/2/2015,the pay rate was $13.10 per hour.From 5/3/2015-3/14/2016,the pay rate is $13.40 per hour.

5/6/2012-4/11/2015:Levis Merchandise Handler The job duties include: support the selling environment for Levis in the Men's Department to include assisting customers with selecting Levis;meeting the monthly sales goal; advising the customer about the product features and fit;merchandising the Levis product display;yearly inventory. * Bonus:The bonus paid to date from Levis in 2012 for meeting or exceeding the monthly sales goal for Levis was paid for the months of June,July, August,September,October,November,and December.My total bonus for 2012 is $700.00. The bonus paid to date from Levis in 2013 for meeting or exceeding the monthly sales goal for Levis was paid for the months of January,March, April, May,June,July,September,October,November,and December.My total bonus for 2013 is $1,000.00. * Sales in Levis by Month in 2012: For the month of May,my sales in Levis were 6% over the planned sales goal and 0.67% over last year’s sales. For the month of June,my sales in Levis were 6.04% over the planned sales goal and 19.68% over last year’s sales. For the month of July,my sales in Levis were 10.81% over the planned sales goal and 13.49% over last year’s sales. For the month of August,my sales in Levis were 21.20% over the planned sales goal and 30.15% over last year’s sales. For the month of September,my sales in Levis were 14.06% over the planned sales goal and 20.02% over last year’s sales. For the month of October,my sales in Levis were 28.34% over the planned sales goal and 37.89% over last year’s sales. For the month of November,my sales in Levis were 37.4% over the planned sales goal and 28.57% over last year’s sales. For the month of December,my sales in Levis were 11.2% over the planned sales goal and 29.7% over last year’s sales. * 37.5 hours per week, and a bonus when the sales goal for the month is met. From 5/6/2012-8/10/2013,the pay rate was $9.90 per hour.From 8/11/2013 - 5/3/2014, the pay rate is $10.90 per hour.From 5/4/2014-4/11/2015,the pay rate is $11.20 per hour.

1/2/2012-5/5/2012:Fitting Room Attendant,part time work,15-25 hours per week, $9.60 per hour. 11/10/2011-1/1/2012:Holiday Recovery Lead,full time seasonal work,$10.60 per hour,37.5 hours per week. Assigned to supervise 8-13 holiday seasonal associates in both the Men's and Women's buildings at Macy's in Manhattan Beach. 1/31/2011-11/9/2011:Fitting Room Attendant,per Human Resources,I was offered a part time Fitting Room Attendant position at $9.50 per hour at 15-30 hours per week. In May 2011,I had a pay raise to $9.60 per hour. 12/25/2010-01/31/2011:Recovery Associate,$9.50 per hour,0-30 hours per week . 1/18/2011:Layoff Status:I was informed by Human Resources that the sales support recovery positions were being eliminated across the country at Macy's.My current recovery position ends effective 1/31/2011.I was offered a severance package or to be placed in available openings. 10/31/2010-12/25/2010:Holiday Recovery Supervisor,full time seasonal work, $10.50 per hour,37.5 hours per week. Assigned to supervise 12-17 holiday seasonal associates in both the Men's and Women's buildings at Macy's in Manhattan Beach. The major job duties included making certain that the sales floor was presentation ready at all times in both buildings during the holiday season. I monitored the fitting rooms,sales floor and cash wrap stands for merchandise,and kept the displays ordered and well stocked with merchandise. 8/28/2010-10/30/2010:Recovery Associate,part time evening work, $9.50 per hour,15 hours per week as a second job to My Alumni Apparel.I accepted a cut in pay because this job was the only one available at the time that was part time evening work.

7/9/2007-8/28/2010:Sales Associate,Polo Ralph Lauren Sales Specialist in the Men's Department,full time,37.5 hours per week at a beginning pay rate of $10.00 per hour and ending at $11.77 per hour. * Bonus:Total bonus paid to date from Polo Ralph Lauren for 2008 is $2,850.00,for 2009 is $1,100.00, and for 2010 is $350.00.I was a member of the American Management Association for 2009. * Manhattan Village Macy's:Polo/Ralph Lauren Sales-Sales Volume by Month, Planned Sales Goals Vs. Actual Sales Volume,2008,2009,and 2010. This was my area of responsibility beginning in February 2008. * Sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren by Month in 2008 For the month of February,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 49.9% over the planned sales goal and 40.5% over last year’s sales. For the month of March,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 61.4% over the planned sales goal and 45.4% over last year’s sales. For the month of April,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 52.1% over the planned sales goal and 35.9% over last year’s sales. For the month of May,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 40.6% over the planned sales goal and 20.0% over last year’s sales. For the months of June,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 70.4% over the planned sales goal and 47.3% over last year’s sales. For the month of July,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 32.4% over the planned sales goal and 11.6% over last year’s sales. For the month of August,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 15.4% over the planned sales goal and 10.1% over last year’s sales. For the month of September,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -7.1% over the planned sales goal and -12.2% over last year’s sales. For the month of October, my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 13.6% over the planned sales goal and 4.0% over last year’s sales. For the month of November,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 58% over the planned sales goal and 28.9% over last year’s sales. For the month of December,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 1.4% over the planned sales goal and 5.6% over last year’s sales. * Sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren by Month in 2009 For the month of January,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -18.2% over the planned sales goal and -12.4% over last year’s sales. For the month of February,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -27.3% over the planned sales goal and -26.4% over last year’s sales. For the month of March,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -13.1% over the planned sales goal and -13.7% over last year’s sales. For the month of April, my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -7.2% over the planned sales goal and -13.9% over last year’s sales. For the month of May,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 9.52% over the planned sales goal and 2.8% over last year’s sales. For the months of June,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 5.71% over the planned sales goal and -0.33% over last year’s sales. For the month of July,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 27.6% over the planned sales goal and -6.7% over last year’s sales. For the month of August,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 17.2% over the planned sales goal and 8.2% over last year’s sales. For the month of September,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 5.7% over the planned sales goal and -9.4% over last year’s sales. For the month of October,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -11.3% over the planned sales goal and -22.7% over last year’s sales. For the month of November,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were (unavailable)% over the planned sales goal and (unavailable)% over last year’s sales. For the month of December,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 3.8% over the planned sales goal and -4.1% over last year’s sales. * Sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren by Month in 2010 For the month of January,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -2.9% over the planned sales goal and 16.9% over last year’s sales. For the month of February,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 42.2% over the planned sales goal and 34.7% over last year’s sales. For the month of March,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -9.5% over the planned sales goal and -9.9% over last year’s sales. For the month of April,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were 15.7% over the planned sales goal and -3.0% over last year’s sales. For the month of May*,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were -1.35% over the planned sales goal and -17.8% over last year’s sales. For the months of June,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were xxx% over the planned sales goal and xxx% over last year’s sales. For the month of July,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were xxx% over the planned sales goal and xxx% over last year’s sales. For the month of August,my sales in Polo/Ralph Lauren were xxx% over the planned sales goal and xxx% over last year’s sales. * Some of May's 2010 Week 4 sales data were available;I never received the complete report for the last week of May;The sales percentages used are estimates.

March 29,2011-March 29,2012 Sportswear By Rosemary Mrazik 1791 Avenida Feliciano Rancho Palos Verdes,CA 90275 818-325-9841 http://www.companycasuals.com/SportswearByRosemaryMrazik Small Business-e-Commerce,Sportswear Rosemary M. Mrazik:Small Business Owner

Company:On March 29,2011,I decided to start my own business after receiving a layoff notice from Macy’s.I created a website and a Facebook page to promote my eCommerce business selling sportswear. Suppliers:SanMar;Legal:LegalZoom.com

Products:Sportswear supplied by SanMar.SanMar is the exclusive distributor of Nike Golf, OGIO and New Era.The other retail brands include Eddie Bauer, Columbia Sportswear,Gildan,Jerzees,Hanes.SanMar also produces Port Authority,America's No.1 private clothing label.Red House,Port Authority Signature,Port & Company,District Threads, Sport-Tek,CornerStone and Precious Cargo complete SanMar's high-quality private label offerings.See www.SanMar.com for more supplier information,the copyright and trademark information. * I am not making a profit at this time or sold the product.This is completed in my spare time.

Aug. 16,2010-Sept.30,2010 My Alumni Apparel,A Division of Hombre/Libre Apparel Dr.Norton Donner,DBA Hombre/Libre Apparel 916 Silver Spur Road,Suite 302 Rolling Hills Estates,CA 90274 310-508-2129 Small Business-e-Commerce,Sportswear Barry Freeman-Owner and CEO

My Permanent Address:I rented a room from the House Owner,Michael J. Mattingly with The Real Estate Group. Resided:July 26, 2007 throughout February 28,2013,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik. *1971 Avenida Feliciano Rancho Palos Verdes,California 90275-1006 My Mobile Telephone Number:(818) 325-9841.

Office Coordinator Company:A new,start-up ecommerce business selling licensed collegiate merchandise. Suppliers:SanMar,Marty Lott-SanMar President,Accountant:Pat Weinstock, CPA, Palos Verdes,CA, Legal:Loeb & Loeb LLP Accomplishments:9/21/2010-9/24/2010:I created a website for University of Southern California,My Alumni Apparel's client, at www.companycasuals.com/MyAlumniApparel using the website template tools from SanMar. Because the funding for the company ran out,we closed the office doors on September 30,2010.Some of us will continue to volunteer our time.I was paid for three weeks out of six weeks of work. 8/19/2010 -9/30/2010:Office Coordinator at My Alumni Apparel:$15.00 per hour at 40 hours per week. 8/28/2010-10/30/2010:Part time evening work at Macy's;15 hours per week at $9.50 per hour as a second job.

*May 18-25,2007:Camping in California State Parks in Carlsbad,CA studying the flight of the pelicans and the seagulls near Miramar,Camp Pendleton,and the Army/Navy Academy:Kelly,Jonathan,

Jan. 31, 2007 Robert Half International,Office Team 300 North Continental Blvd.,Suite 415 El Segundo,CA 90245 310-343-4067 www.officeteam.com

My Permanent Address: Resided: December 28,2005 throughout May 18,2007,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki Jr.,PhD. Silver Oaks Apartments (760) 547-7733 *513 Canyon Drive,Apartment 17 Oceanside,California 92054 My Telephone Numbers:Home:(760)754-1892,Mobile (310) 683-9584,Backup Mobile (310) 683-9825.

Gianni Mays-Staffing Manager,Janet Acevedo-Division Director,Jessica Manley-Staffing Manager 1/31/2007:Interview and reactivation for employment at Robert Half International.

Dec.11-31,2006 Beverages and More,Inc. 2500 Vista Way Oceanside,CA 92054 760-697-8606 www.bevmo.com

My Permanent Address: Resided:December 28,2005 throughout May 18,2007,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki Jr.,PhD. Silver Oaks Apartments (760) 547-7733 *513 Canyon Drive,Apartment 17 Oceanside,California 92054 My Telephone Numbers:Home:(760) 754-1892,Mobile (310) 683-9584,Backup Mobile (310) 683-9825.

Brien O'Neill-Manager,Scott Reid-Assistant Manager,Nathan Chavez,Jonathan, Kelly. I was interviewed and hired by Brien O’Neill. Store Associate * Store Associate-Cashier,stocker.Seasonal job.I rearranged the products in the displays,otherwise known as “facing” the products to make the display presentation attractive to the customers.This included rearranging the wine glass display and the select cheeses,meats,and crackers in the refrigerated kiosk.Nathan suggested that I inquire into applying to the Los Angeles Police Department where he has a friend in the CSI Unit;I applied to the LAPD. *$8.50 per hour,36-38 hours per week.

Nov.14,2006 AppleOne Employment Services 2183 Vista Way,Suite B-2 Oceanside,CA 92054 760-966-3682 www.appleone.com

My Permanent Address: Resided:December 28,2005 throughout May 18,2007,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki Jr.,PhD. Silver Oaks Apartments (760) 547-7733 *513 Canyon Drive,Apartment 17 Oceanside,California 92054 My Telephone Numbers: Home:(760) 754-1892,Mobile (310) 683-9584,Backup Mobile (310) 683-9825.

Sherie Hall-Senior Account Executive * 11/14/2006:The initial interview and registration. Nov.6-14,2006:I placed 48 telephone calls prospecting and networking for employment.

Jan.3,2006-Nov.6,2006 Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc. 3210 Production Avenue,Suite F Oceanside,CA 92054 760-721-7262 www.missioneq.com

My Permanent Address: Resided: December 28,2005 throughout May 18,2007,Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki Jr.,PhD. Silver Oaks Apartments (760) 547-7733 *513 Canyon Drive,Apartment 17 Oceanside,California 92054 My Telephone Numbers: Home (760)754-1892,Mobile (310)683-9584,Backup Mobile Telephone Number (310)683-9825.

Small Business-Business to Business-Automotive Support Supplier *Jerry Giardullo-Small Business Owner (formerly a sales representative for Hunter Engineering Company) *Government Contractor for MIRAMAR Marine Corps Base: Pat Dolbeck-Purchasing, Sgt. Polimeni,Gloria Durbin,Larry Piraino,Charles Powers, Mike *Ernsberger,Jack Van Nest,Mike Young,Bill O’Brien,Jim Rahmin,and Gunny Stroud. Bill Markey,with Hunter Engineering Company,referred me to Jerry Giardullo to work at his company. *Sales and Service Representatives at Mission Equipment and Lifts, Inc.:Russ Murico,Gary Zuckerman,Tom Cattell,Jeff Larkin,Tyler Bastion,Danny Castro, Lucas McAhren,Grant Sattaur,Buddy Dutton,David Daniel. *Sales and Service Representatives from Hunter Engineering Company:Brian Fusilier,Tom Newcombe,Raul Aguilar,Scott Robb,Matt Harrington,Mark Johnson, Allen Hallenbeck, Chris Harvey,AL Linene Neill,Kim Froide,Randall Youngblood, Tim Hardy,Bob McDonald. *Office co-workers:Caroline Devereux,Teresa Swank,Christina Monfort,Delene Taywater.

Administrative Coordinator * Company:This is a small business owned by Jerry Giardullo,who used to be a sales representative for Hunter Engineering Company.He began his business to supply automotive support equipment to small business,such as auto dealers, to high schools and the military.I worked with Jerry Giardullo when he was a sales representative at Hunter Engineering Company approximately 2001-2002 when I was in the Marketing Information Department as a Sr. Territory Management Representative.He would correspond with me by email and telephone. * Basic job duties:The job duties included producing and tracking purchase orders,compiling a customer management list,shipping and receiving, tracking the inventory,answering the telephone,filing and organizing the marketing brochures from the vendors,producing quotes,and compiling the sales leads.Attended a sales meeting with the Hunter Engineering Company sales representatives,weekly staff meetings,and wrote meeting minutes. * Accounting:I maintained the petty cash for the office,created a ledger for the service technicians contracted to this company to track their commissions,created the purchase orders and quotes,created the time-sheets for the employees. * Marketing:typed the price lists for the products and equipment from the vendors,created a sales lead-prospect list,created a service call sheet as companies contacted the company requesting service to products purchased from Mission Equipment in the past.For Toyota of Carlsbad, I typed and produced a multi page quote for presentation along with Tim Malolepsy from Rincon Marketing.I organized and filed the literature according to vendors.Some of the vendors included Hunter Engineering Company,Balcrank,Rincon Marketing, and Tech Force. * Marketing Information:I maintained several databases. Purchase Order Management Database:I tracked the purchase of equipment from vendors supplying the necessary equipment bought from Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc. to complete the sale made to the customer.The purpose was to manage the sales to the customers and track the cost of items purchased by Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc. by ensuring that the product ordered by vendor was being delivered within a certain time frame,track back-ordered products,call the vendor to ensure that the order placed was in stock and obtain an approximate shipping schedule to Mission Equipment and Lifts, Inc. This included tracking the type of the product that was ordered, the cost of the product,the vendor name,the delivery date of the product to the warehouse,the delivery date to the customer,the names of the service technicians who delivered or installed the customer's order.The report was divided my month and totaled the cost of all products to Mission Equipment and lifts,Inc. at the end of the month.For example,I tracked the product ordered for MIRAMAR from Hunter Engineering Company,made certain that the product was in stock,when it would ship,where it was delivered either to MIRAMAR or the company warehouse, and contacted the appropriate sales and service representative at Hunter Engineering who would then schedule a time to meet with the customer to install and train the customer personnel on the appropriate use of the equipment.This also included contacting the customer if a scheduling conflict existed for the product ordered.For MIRAMAR,I faxed a safety plan for Mission Equipment and Lifts,Inc. to the appropriate officer,Pat Dolbeck in the Purchasing Department,for review by the MIRAMAR Safety Officers. Customer Management Database:I maintained a database for all of the customers and vendors for Mission Equipment and Lifts, Inc. including all contact information and divided by the SIC code and industry. * Service Department:I organized the service department office and used the following reports for organization and cost purposes.I maintained a service log giving the details of the job site,the cost of the equipment purchased for the job, the service technicians at the job site,the cost of the service call.To schedule the service technicians for the week,I updated a scheduling board for the job site that requested service for their equipment, the type of service call,and prioritized the schedule of the service calls from clients according to the complexity of the request and length of time to complete the service call.To confirm the delivery of the product to the customer,I created a delivery confirmation sheet for the customer to sign when they received the product.This was filed with the appropriate customer file.After the service technicians would inspect equipment for a customer looking for safety issues that would require immediate attention for repairs, I typed a lift inspection form detailing the recommendations for service or repairs and bound the completed report to be presented to the customer's decision makers to finalize the recommendations for repair or new equipment to be installed.This included MIRAMAR,Nissan Toyota,Toyota Carlsbad,Lexus Carlsbad,and others. * Inventory Management System:I organized the warehouse inventory and maintained several databases to track the inventory arriving into the warehouse and sent to the end user by cost and length of time stored in the warehouse.The reports included the following.Inventory by month was tracked by each purchase order,vendor name,product description,and totaled the cost of the products at the end of the month.Service truck inventory described the tools used by the service technicians with the cost of the equipment.The perpetual warehouse inventory report described the products received into the warehouse by month,purchase order,vendor,product description, total cost by month,and date shipped from the warehouse.The shipping log described the inventory shipped to the customer by week,vendor name,product description, and cost of the items at the end of the week.I organized the inventory by taking a physical inventory count on a regular basis.As the product arrived into the warehouse,it was designated to a specific customer using a labeling system and prepped for delivery. * $12.25 per hour,40 hours per week.

My Permanent Address: Resided:November 1,2005 throughout December 30,2005:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik,Lawrence K.Iwaki,Jr.,PhD. *Moonraker Apartments-Diane M.Friedrichsen,Apartment Manager. Moonraker Apartments Telephone: (310) 371-1819. 5530 West 190th Street,Apartment 125. Torrance-Los Angeles,California 90503. My Home Telephone Number: (310) 921-2850;My Mobile Telephone Number: (310) 683-9584.

Nov. 22-28,2004 Kelly Services at EDS 2121 Park Place El Segundo,CA 90245 310-543-3589 www.kellyservices.com

My Permanent Address: Resided: May 1,2004 throughout November 8,2005:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki,Jr., PhD. *Westview Apartments:Carrie Devoigne-Apartment Manager 2704 Aviation Boulevard,Apartment 16 Redondo Beach,California 90278 My Telephone Numbers: (310) 372-5212,Home (310) 379-1580,Mobile (310) 465-5220,My Old Mobile Telephone Number (636) 485-0410.

* Kelly Services at EDS was relocated to 21250 Hawthorne Blvd.,Torrance, CA 90503. * Temporary;ATM Department:coding ATM checks,third shift: 7:00pm to 2:00am or 3:00 am; variable hours.EDS Jeannie Cornett-Manager ATM Department.Job lead from Bert Riddick at the Beach Cities One Stop Business & Employment Center. * Salary:$9.50 per hour for the pay dates from 11/22-11/28/2004 for a gross pay of $242.25.

Oct.31,2004 and Dec.6,2005 AppleOne Employment Services 28901 South Western Avenue,Suite 217 Rancho Palos Verdes,CA 90275 310-833-8079 www.appleone.com

My Permanent Address: Resided: May 1,2004 throughout November 8,2005:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K. Iwaki,Jr.,PhD. *Westview Apartments-Carrie Devoigne-Apartment Manager 2704 Aviation Boulevard,Apartment 16 Redondo Beach,California 90278 My Home Telephone Number (310) 379-1580, Mobile Telephone Number (310) 465-5220,My Old Mobile Telephone Number (636) 485-0410.

12/6/2005 * Temporary at Krikorian Premier Theaters-Corporate Headquarters; 131 Palos Verdes Blvd.,Redondo Beach,CA 90277;(310) 791-8688:George Krikorian-Owner. * Duties: boxing promotional items for shipping;labeling coupons; stuffing corporate holiday cards;filing invoices.Salary: $8.00/hr for 7.58 hours, with the paycheck stub ending the pay period 12/10/2005 in the amount of $60.64 gross pay. 10/31/2004 * Temporary during Halloween-greet families and give candy to the children at the Avenue of the Peninsula-Shopping Mall.Salary:$8.00/hr for 3.50 hours, with the paycheck stub ending the period 11/6/2004 for the amount of $28.00 gross pay.

2004 Remedy-Talent Magnet 3501 Sepulveda Blvd,Suite 101 Torrance,CA 90505 Wie Lu,Recruiting Division,Customer Service Manager Initial Contact in 2004

Remedy-Talent Magnet 21081 S.Western Avenue #130 Torrance,CA 90501 Initial contact approximately in 2004.

March 11,2004-Nov.3,2005 Beach Cities-One Stop Center Business and Employment Center 320 Knob Hill Road Redondo Beach,CA 90277 310-372-1171 www.redondo.org/depts/recreation/one_stop_employment_center Federally funded career center offering job search assistance and business resources. * Attended workshops:Mary Sercu,Bert Riddick,Georgeann Griffis.

July 26,2003-Jan.23,2004 Pictage,Inc. 1580 Francisco Street,Suite 101 Torrance,CA 90501 310-525-1600 www.pictage.com

Permanent Home Address: Resided: June 25,2003 throughout April 30,2004:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Lawrence K.Iwaki Jr.,PhD. *Westview Apartments:Carrie Devoigne-Apartment Manager 2704 Aviation Boulevard,Apartment 12 Redondo Beach,California 90278 My Home Telephone Number (310) 379-1580,My Mobile Telephone Number (636) 485-0410.

Corporate Headquarters:Business to Business and Consumer-Event Services, Photography services for weddings *An Internet service company connecting the professional photographer to customers with office support,lab,and online finished products. *Dave Shevock and Lisa Keil interviewed and hired me.Employees:Andre Keil, Jason Kiefer,Mark Hicken,and Ariel Minguez,Julia Hamm Tashima,Natasha Krakowski,Joseph Padilla. Consumer Technical Help Desk * Answered inbound consumer technical support questions via telephone calls and email.Answered 40 to 60 phone calls per day for a total of 80 to 120 telephone calls daily for the consumer help desk. * Trained an additional 2 people on computer basics:the receptionist and a temporary for the product manager.Trained one person to assist my high work volume prior to and during the Christmas holiday season, my replacement. * Laid off due to a downturn in business.I have a letter from Pictage, Inc. verifying the lay off status is on file.40 hour per week. * $33,000 per year,40 hours per week.

*Dec.31, 2003: Dinner at Randy and Deb St. Pierre's house with Larry and his co-workers from Northrop Grumman Space Technology.Firthridge,Rancho Palos Verdes 90275. *12/25-27/2003:Larry K.Iwaki Jr PhD and myself traveled to visit Sayoko and Larry Iwaki,his parents,in Sacramento,CA.They live at Mead Avenue, Sacramento,CA 92855. *8/23/2003:Los Angeles County Museum of Art,French Masterworks,From the State Pushkin Museum,Moscow.I attended with Larry K.Iwaki,Jr PhD, George Nguyen, Sayoko and Larry Iwaki. *8/3/2003:Lunch with Deb and Randy St.Pierre at Portifino Way,Redondo Beach, CA.

June 2003, Feb.2004 AppleOne Employment Services 2221 Rosecrans Avenue,Suite 126 El Segundo,CA 90245 310-643-6913 www.appleone.com Ana Salguero;Initial Contact in June 2003.

April 15,1996-May 9,2003 Hunter Engineering Company 11250 Hunter Drive Bridgeton,MO 63044 314-731-3020 www.hunter.com

My Home Address: Resided:July 1995 throughout February 1,2000:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik, Jim Johnson. West Pointe Apartments 2081 Chablis Drive,Apartment C Maryland Heights,Missouri 63146

My Permanent Address: Resided: February 1,2000 throughout May 22,2003:Rosemary Margaret Mrazik. West Pointe Apartments 1922 Western Cape Drive,Apartment D Maryland Heights, Missouri 63146 My Telephone Numbers:Home (314) 576-5847,My First Mobile Telephone bought by Lawrence K.Iwaki, Jr.,PhD. (636) 485-0410.

Corporate Headquarters;Steve Braur-Company Owner Business to Business-Automotive Support Equipment, Engineering The corporate headquarters for a privately owned international engineering company that designs,manufactures, and sells automotive support equipment to major car manufacturers,service shops, and tire dealers.Government Contractor:Army Fleet Vehicle Maintenance. Employees:Joe Staniszewski,Don Emerson,Joe Fuller,Dave Wackter,Jim Huhn,Tom Triptow,Larry Caldwell,Denny Bowen,Bob Toolen,Frank Nowaczyk,and Roger Creason. The Regional and Divisional Managers at the time I was hired:Bill Markey, Greg Dunkin,Doug Woolverton,Charles Bullock,Jr.,Jeff Elder,Jeff Kern, Mike Healey,John Zentz,Erwin VanDeman,Davis Shular,Harold Smith,Mike Green,Wes Wingo,David Newton,Delyn Wirkus,George Ryan,John Obradovic,Eric Dickinson, Mitch Weller,and Tom Triptow. I was interviewed and hired by Eric Wolter. Marketing Information Department Dec. 1999-May 2003:Sr. Territory Management Representative April 1996-Dec.1999:Territory Management Clerk Hiring manager was Eric Wolter;co-workers were Pete Tessler and Ann Jansen. Successive managers after Eric Wolter in the Marketing Information Department:Greg Stain,Rhonda Tenkku,and Jeff Russell.Other co-workers: Theresa Houska,Computer Graphics Designer,was from my high school,Parkway Central High School,Sheryl Daugherty-Webmaster,Don Simmons and Darren Goodhart-Advertising Department,Don Cwiklowski and Kim Chandler-Technical Publications.

* Database management:managed the sales and service territories by zip code on a limited access and secured AS/400 database.After receipt of the FAR report or verbal instructions from the Regional and Divisional Managers, I translated the instructions into code and entered the information into the database according to a deadline.This included writing the code according to trade areas and quota by county,and any specific instructions from the managers.All exceptions to standard operating procedure were resolved first from the given parameters I had to make the decisions.For territory disputes between the regional managers and divisional managers,the retired VP-Sales and Marketing Don Emerson would either approve my recommendations or provide a solution.Upon the resolution of the disputed geographical areas, I obtained the agreement from the managers involved in writing. * Prepared legal documents: Produced contracts and amendments for the sales and service representatives according to the regional and divisional managers instructions from the database management:producing the maps and zip code listings, by reviewing the legal terminology in the contracts; questions concerning the Heavy Duty Truck (HDT) contracts were discussed with Pete Liebetreau-Product Manager;provided contracts in question to the Joe Staniszewski-VP of Finance for lawsuits. *Maps: Maps were produced for the Regional and Divisional Managers by downloading territory information from the AS/400 database to an Excel spreadsheet,linking the spreadsheet to the new mapping software, and producing territory maps, regional and divisional maps, and maps by product type for sales analysis.MapPoint Mapping Software,Microsoft Excel, Arpeggio, CAD printer. * Short-term project management spanning 3-4 months each year:I reported to Don Emerson and then later with Steve Helmkamp-Customer Relations Manager to coordinate the work with his department and the Marketing Information Department; supervised and trained Judy White for the data entry and the yearly mailing for the updated distributor contracts.September: Notify Don Emerson and later Steve Helmkamp to update the distributor contract and the accompanying bulletin.This included reviewing the next years contracts for changes to the policy on product lines,suggesting the changes in the legal terminology to Don Emerson or Joe Staniszewski,and after approval, completing a working copy of the distributor contract.The final copy of the contract was given to Rhea Yost for document maintenance in the advertising department.Order the supplies for the direct mail project.Produce the mailing return labels to Hunter Engineering.October:The distributor contracts were mailed within a two week time frame goal in October to the sales representative who would meet with the distributor at a later date to sign the contracts and discuss the changes to the product line or terms. Obtain the approval from Don Emerson and later Steve Helmkamp for the newly printed authorized distributor labels according to the "Hunter Red" logo. Produce the distributor contracts for each distributor, obtain a territory list by county and sales rep, cover letters for each sales rep, produce the sales representative's mailing labels,and send by certified mail organized by sales region to each sales representative.November to March: Data entry by the code for the returned and signed distributor contracts in the secure database. * ALI Reports:Produced the monthly ALI Reports to Pete Liebetreau-Product Manager:Brake Testers,Racks, and Safety Inspection Equipment. * Sales and Service Representative Profiles: I reported to Don Emerson. The reports included reviewing and filing psychological surveys, calculating the sales quotes for the territories, filing the educational achievements, work history, and family background for each new rep, the description of the territory by maps and zip code, filing the contracts and amendments as the territories changed, the assignment of the representative ID numbers. * Copy machine:I volunteered to maintain the copy machine after Joe Staniszewski asked me about the best features for the purchase.The purchasing department and the accounting department provided the requested purchase based on their budget. * Prospect/User Reports:Provided the prospect and user report for the new sales and service representatives and upon request from the regional and divisional managers and Don Emerson. The prospect user report gave the list of current customers and customers who expressed an interest in the Hunter Engineering Company products.The report provided the customer's contact information, equipment purchased,and the sales potential. * Sales Quotas:Calculated the quota for each new sales representative based on the sales quota set for each county in the United States at the beginning of each year. * Representatives' sales and service ID numbers: this was assigned to the two year parameter of available ID numbers.The ID numbers were to remain unused after a rep left the company for a two year time span. Returning reps were allowed to regain the ID numbers upon approval from management, specifically Don Emerson.The ID numbers are in a limited quantity and maintained according to the two year time span availability for the assignment.When the HDT product line was added, the ID numbers were reserved for that specific product line. The other product lines were separated for assignment. I provided the ID numbers to Cheryl Naes in accounting.She assigned the account number for her database management with my rep ID number. *Trade Areas:Organized the counties in a specific territory according to a dollar amount range calculated from the sales quota set for each county at the beginning of the year. *Special Projects:I reported to Don Emerson-the retired VP Sales and Marketing for the following projects for sales analysis.Reporting the delinquent contracts and amendments that were not returned and signed by the representatives within a specified time frame.Open Territory Report: I produced a report that listed the unassigned sales and service territories managed by regional managers.This report answered what areas remained unfilled by a sales or service representative,which regional managers have not hired a representative,and how long the territories remain unprofitable. The addition of sales territories to the existing territories. The goal was to increase overall profitability to the company by introducing a sales representatives who specialized in a specific product line,Heavy Duty Truck automotive products (HDT).

Promotion: December 1999,Rhonda Tenkku promoted me to a newly created position,Sr.Territory Management Representative.The promotion information is on file with Dave Smith-VP Sales and Marketing. * Member of the Direct Marketing Association. * $26,857.00 per year, 40 hours per week.

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Student name: William Roylance Module Code: XB3992 Assignment number: 3 Module Tutor: Ken Lau

Reflective Journal

My Honours project is to create the interior for a ship similar in design and purpose to the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. I will be creating an interior that eludes to the ship being a home to a crew of a ship that has “seen better days”. I want the player to view the ship as a “Junker”.

I have been taking inspiration for the ships interior design from multiple medias, notably science fiction films from the 1970s to the late 1980s (with additions of recent Star Wars films).

The Millennium Falcon contains many architectural features that I desire for my project. A well-designed feature in ships, designed in Star Wars and Alien, that are going to be referenced for my project are corridors.

Corridors

Ron Cobbs developed conceptual sketches for the corridors aboard the Nostromo in the 1979 film Alien.

Which was later brought to life by Set designer Roger Christian.

I want to incorporate the dark weathered look of these corridors into my design to show how the ship is a cheap, aged and battle-worn ship. These corridors are designed for a purpose and not for an aesthetic look which aligns with my vision for my project. Features of the design that work well are the protruding appliances/workings of the ship such as consoles, piping, wiring, vents, hazard lights, ladders, gas canisters etc. This shows a working environment for the crew where they need quick access to maintenance tools for when the ship inevitably needs repairs.

The curvature of the Millennium Falcons corridors strongly appeals to me as its design connects multiple rooms and levels within a compact environment, unlike the Nostromo’s long linear corridors.

Model designs research and inspirations.

prop ideas and research

I want my crew quarters scene to represent a grungy vision of the future. where luxuries like brand new technology are foreign to my crew so they have to make do with what they can build or salvage. To bring humanity to the crew I wanted to implement electronics and various other items from my childhood as I believe that the 90s to the 2000s right now represents the transition between retro and modern tech. I feel like using technology like an Xbox one is too recent a piece of hardware to evoke that feeling of salvaged forgotten technology.

Examples of this being used in Film include James Cameron’s Aliens and I, Robot starring Will Smith (2004).

The example in Aliens being the “I like to keep this handy, for close encounters” scene where corporal hicks reveal his pump-action shotgun which seems primitive when compared to the Marines standard pulse rifles.

Originally posted by spockvarietyhour

The example in I, Robot is the converse unboxing scene where Del Spooner (Will Smiths character) unboxes some converses that he has bought but in the time the film is set he describes them as “Converse All-Star, Vintage 2004�� meaning they are a classic design and make of the brand.

Which contrasts the futuristic look of most of the film.

The scene will contain many varying props that show what a crew would have aboard their ship. These will range from weapons and tools to pictures and clothing.

White Boxing the room

When building my scene one of the first assets I need to think about building will be the furniture. One I decided to focus on first is the centre piece of the social space, the table.

A beginning block map of the scene. This showcases props in a basic rendition of the dimensions and features of the room shape. This informs a layout of the key props and furniture of the room, such as: Main table, Toolboxes/cart, maintenance computer, lazy table (for dumping clothes, guns, various loose articles), Gun rack and maintenance desk, maintenance hatch (left open where maintenance on the inner workings of the ship has been done), upper vent (where cabling comes down), fridge and freezer location and lockers.

To inform the design and props of the scene i have decided to create a mini biography for the crew members of the ship. This is to help me think of what assets i would like to include in the scene and to inform the design of the narrative in the ship scene.

Crew biography

Captain/Hunter:

Age: 36 (human years)

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Heritage: daughter to the leader of nomadic space crusaders. The group was a religious group taking on a pilgrimage to the never gate. A destination believed to be the birthplace of galactic roaming celestial species worshipped by the group.

Traits: rebellious, hates authority, strategist for the crew but doesn’t consider herself the leader. Specialises in close combat and prefers revolvers/pistols. Likes whiskey, smoking and cleaning her gun, tidy person, disciplined and practises with her sword, which she maintains daily.

Prized possession(s): sword, pistol, whiskey glass, a picture of her mother.

Pilot/Tinkerer:

Age: 3 (Mechasapien years)/ 27 (Human years)

Gender: male

Species: Mechasapien

Heritage: born to a species known for turning scrap heaps into fully functioning tech. the messiest crew member, feels the most comfortable in cramped and messy places making repairs and improvements to the ship. Mechasapiens are a mostly biological species but after generations of technical enhancements to their own species the young of the mechasapiens are often born missing vital organs or limbs meaning they rely on technological prosthetics to allow them to survive or be able to function in most environments.

Traits: a builder rather than a fighter, his goal is to push the ship to its maximum limit using pieces of tech he finds on his journeys, rarely wears anything apart from mechanics overalls. Hard to find a better pilot. Was enslaved from an early age, like so many of his species, for their unmatched mechanical prowess.

Prized possession(s): enhanced prosthetic, multi-tool, goggles, handheld gaming unit.

Soldier/Hunter:

Age: 6/9 planetary seasons /108 (human years)

Gender: genderless species (born via metamorphosis)

Species: warriors

Heritage: from a species where technology is used only for travel, food and buildings. The species believes that the body is the temple where they live. Weapons were never used, only fighting using their version of martial arts. They believe weapons to be an abomination but understand and respect the customs of other species. Noble warriors that use stealth and strategy to master their opponents. A complete herbivore species, and known as forest guardians for their strong empathy with regards to non-humanoid species/ animals.

Traits: very strong and agile, disciplined and honourable. Very naïve in the typical customs of other species but agrees to take part to learn many. Refuses weapons even when in mortal peril. Trained to physical perfection and unmatched in hand to hand combat.

Prized possession(s): plant and pets (fish from various planets), powerlifting equipment and pull up bars. Plant trimming tools.

Appliances used in space.

Gathering reference material for appliances that would potentially make a small ship a home for a crew. Appliances for everyday living.

A futuristic rendition of a cooking station/kitchen with washing station

Alien Covenant kitchen

Alien (1979) kitchen (better view of utensils used by the crew)

Colour Palette research

Ship Interior Scene Colour Theme

Monochromatic with Complimentary

Complimentary From Left to right:

RGB 1(0.046,0.074,0.178)

RGB 2(0.117,0.146,0.255)

RGB 3(0.092,0.126,0.255)

RGB 4(0.178,0.139,0.029)

RGB 5(0.255,0.212,0.092)

Monochromatic from left to right:

RGB 1 (0.046, 0.063, 0.127)

RGB 2 (0.168, 0.186, 0.255)

RGB 3 (0.092, 0.126, 0.255)

RGB 4 (0.084, 0.093, 0.127)

RGB 5 (0.073, 0.100, 0.204)

Luminosity research

Luminous paint is largely used for artistic reasons such as wallpaper art, theatre, and tv productions but has used in safety and route marking. There are many aspects in my scene that are a hazard to health and safety so it would make sense for the crew members to try and eliminate that risk by using methods such as luminous paint to highlight hazardous objects and areas in a dimmer space such as crew quarters in a spaceship.

I have created cabling that will be covering many parts of the scene in the ship. In my example, I have applied an emissive to one of the cables which will stand out in the color theme of the scene and highlight these darker assets in the environment.

Luminous paint is used largely for art. Seeing as the environment is a home for a crew many attempts would be made to make the ship as homely as possible such as applying arts and crafts to create a comforting environment in a very mechanical setting ( such as a painting if home or something they won’t come across regularly on their travels)

visual referencing for cable damage for cables used in my scene.

referencing to identify key features of damage to rubber cabling and how the material reacts to wear and tear.

Ship wall panels referencing

In ship walls, a lot of detail is shown to visualize the intricacy of the interior of the ship. Exposed wiring and piping gives a peek into the workings of the ship. What distinguishes ship walls from other walls are the panels that build up the structure of the wall, creating a pieced together environment that is built ti be taken apart and repaired frequently.

typical features of the ship panel wall are the detachable pieces, vents, cabling and general modularity of the design of the wall.

Looking at different modules found in examples of wall panels in ships from various media.

Main Table Motherboard reskin

Current Table motherboard top

Wall Piece research

Modular walling with panels attached and detached. Thin and wide pieces.

I want my wall to have a mixture of attached panels and detached panels to allow the player to see the innards of the ship.

I can create modular assets to sit on the surface of the waling to add detail and to populate the scene. I will do this for vents, wiring, lights etc.

This modular ceiling is good for snapping together and will be useful for the corridors and main room of the ship. i will be making a flatter design for my ceiling.

Extra reference

Prop gun reference

Tart, L (n.a.) Artwork [Portfolio] Retrieved from https://pogop.artstation.com/projects

Aluminium deformation

under what conditions does aluminium deform (pressure, heat etc.)

aluminium melts at roughly 660 degrees centigrade.

In my science fiction setting for the scene, it is safe to assume that weapons will vary from conventional weapons we use. Examples of weapons occasionally used in science fiction include laser and plasma weapons.

lasers, for example, can heat objects up to several thousand degrees centigrade and the technology for laser weaponry already exists within the US military

my research is to see what laser burned aluminum would look like and to see what I need to do in substance designer to achieve that look in the material.

Wall Cabinets

Wall cabinets will have the same material but to differentiate them for the sections they are placed in the scene I will create decals to place on top of the cabinets to identify what type of luggage is in them.

Adding Details

I have created panels using weighted normal to improve the lighting on the models and to get a smoother bevel. To add details to the panels I am going to create a texture atlas so that I can add details in the form of alphas onto the models with the use of planes.

The Texture atlas will allow me to align the planes with the alpha I want to use in Maya without having to paint the alphas on with substance painter.

Texture Atlas

Using substance designer, I have created several different alphas to be placed on the panels to add extra details without having to model in the detail.

I have also created decals to be placed on items in the scene as serial numbers that the crew would reference in maintenance tasks. S:C M:DW787 means “Section: C, Maintenance: DW787.

References:

Azam Khan, (10th May, 2016). Building Ridley Scott’s “Alien” in UE4 [Article] Retrieved from

https://80.lv/articles/building-ridley-scotts-alien-in-ue4/

ChucksConnection, (N/A) A ChucksConnection Film Review [Article] Retrieved from

http://www.chucksconnection.com/irobot.html

David Axe, (7th February, 2018) The US Navy Bought Its First Big Laser Cannon [Article] Retrieved from https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/neqvag/the-us-navy-bought-its-first-big-laser-cannon

George2412, (11th April, 2017) Ever Since I was a kid, this has been my dream home. [Blog] Retrieved from https://imgur.com/gallery/z50Eg

Jonas Ronnegard, (15th March, 2017) JRO – Alpha/Brush Library 700+ Alphas [Blog] Retrieved from

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?205791-JRO-Alpha-Brush-Library-700-Alphas

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