Windburn

Nate and Eric. Studio Time 22

2012-01-15T19:44:00.001-05:00

Eric finds a way to tell Nate to go to hell, and Nate tells Eric how he got there. I love these boys.

Studio Time 22: Pride

More Map Stuff

2012-01-12T00:47:00.001-05:00

I have such a hard time looking at the map in Simscity and translating it to TS2. Nothing looks the same. As you can see, I've got a lot more to do to take out excess roads and get rid of some of that empty space. The last shot shows how frustrating it is to deal with bridges that end in the midair.

Editing the Terrain

2012-01-08T06:39:00.001-05:00

I'm attempting it. I've been pushing sc4 files back and forth between Simscity4 and TS2, trying to get rid of extra roads, make the map smaller, and make some of the views a little more interesting. It is definitely not as easy as I expected, but it's not all that difficult.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T17:24:00.002-05:00

Dancing in the dark. With ornaments (some of which you can't see)...

I hope all the best for everyone, that you find success however you define it and happiness along the way.

Studio Time 21

2011-12-18T20:25:00.002-05:00

Rewritten and reshot several times and some of the shots aren't the best. Thank you to everyone who has supported and stuck with us.

Studio Time 21: Close

Mother and Child

2011-12-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

I aged up Hugs in a test NB and decided to compare her to her mother. All I can say is that she is definitely Cooper's daughter.

Wasting Time

2011-11-22T13:27:00.001-05:00

I've gotten a little bit further with the set that doesn't make any sense for me to use. I am completely at a loss about how to move forward without killing at least one major character, drowning her on the beach. Anyway, I spent some time trying to find tears makeup. Most of it is gross. This is subtle. Maybe too subtle.

Extra draft set shots below.

Working on a Set

2011-11-14T12:26:00.001-05:00

These are more concept shots than anything else. I'm trying to build a huge aquarium on the back wall, but the lighting isn't working very well so far. I'm not happy with the furniture, either. Anyway, the set is coming along slowly. I originally intended it to be a hotel suite, and I might still go with that if I can get the scene to ever make sense.

Chapter Twenty...with Feeling

2011-11-05T14:46:00.002-04:00

Chapter 20: Heart. Thanks to everyone who has followed us this far!

Never Happened and a Curtain

2011-11-02T14:31:00.003-04:00

One shot that I didn't even remember taking (when did I put free will back on?). That did not happen. I like the light.

The second shot is another accident: just testing the light when I put her in the lot. Poor Green Eyes, always looking around the curtain, never walking around it.

One Messy Update

2011-11-01T08:10:00.004-04:00

Forgive me for switching the point of view around so much in this one.

Studio Time 19: She. There are four different women; it could refer to any or all of them.

A couple of outtakes below.

Making a Diner

2011-10-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

I've been working on the sets for the next chapter. We need a diner, and I'm not good at stuff like diners. Anyway, this is what I have so far.

Edit:

Ok! I moved the walls in one space, which I think works better for a couple of reasons. I can hide the door (and I need to block the door or remove it when I'm taking the shots to keep people out so that's good) and I think it looks a little more like a diner.

And here's a look at the proprietor and her little sister.

Studio Time: Chapter 18

2011-10-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

The title could probably be applied to Gayl who fought a lot of gameplay issues to get this piece complete and posted. It is all her lovely work.

The link is on the shot.

Studio Time Seventeen

2011-10-11T08:29:00.003-04:00

After a long break, we've published an update. I'm a little rusty with this by now so I hope everything works.

Since Blogger seems to have removed the option to link from the post title, I linked from the shot.

Clone Death

2011-10-01T13:37:00.002-04:00

As I try on skins for Rayne, I've generated clones. I'm killing them off...

Skins

2011-09-30T19:06:00.001-04:00

We've been moving closer to an update, and in the process I'm finally moving the characters into the new NB. It's not as frustrating as building a lot, but I'm finding things that really annoy me. Like the skins.

Many of the skins are very old (because we've been doing this for a while). I've been trying to find new skins but so far they don't work at all. They totally change the character's appearance. I gave up with Rayne and tried to at least get rid of what looks like eyelashes that poke out too far. I moved the slider all the way to nothing in Bodyshop. When I take a look ingame at the result, the eyelashes are still there. Maybe they're not eyelashes. They're not makeup: I removed and redid all of that.

It's probably not possible to see the black THING over her eyes in this shot, but it's there.

Changing more than the wallpaper

2011-09-17T09:39:00.000-04:00

I spent a lot of time yesterday reworking this lot. I changed the windows, doors, roof, floors, wall coverings and furniture. It is still very much a draft. I would really like any thoughts, good or bad, or advice.

This is where the kitchen/dining area will go. There's not a huge amount of room, but I don't want to do a huge kitchen. Artwork and wallpaper will undoubtedly change. I don't know where it will end up.

Exterior: This is where the conversion from a modern design to a traditional one really breaks down. That front elevation is a blank wall. It should be an entrance. I don't want it to be an entrance but I might have to do it because it doesn't look right.

Covered spa area, whatever it's called, looking out at the bay. I might try using Lot Adjustor to bring it up closer to the water. All color choices strictly draft at this point.

Duff's Room. I'm not sure yet what to do with it. I added a balcony looking out at the bay and the city lights. It's open on both long sides.

The house is located right next to this lot, so at least the roof line isn't too dissimilar to other nearby homes or businesses.

Concept Shots: Finding the Person in the Paint

2011-09-15T13:46:00.001-04:00

I've been struggling with how to put paint to a wall Duff would own, and how to furnish a house I really believe would be something close to bare. It is really hard. I can't find a kitchen set that works. I can't find bookshelves that work. He should leave one clear fingerprint here and it's that painting. I'm scrambling with all of it and wish I could get some advice...

ETA: Adding the shot I used as inspiration:

ETA: Trying again...

ETA AGAIN: Not crazy about the change I made to the window, and I need to dump the couch. I found the chain, though! I've been looking for that chain forever and I finally found it!

ETA Friday Sept 16: Duff getting traditional. I had to start on the exterior. I'm not sure about all those columns by the pool: it looks overdone. The columns probably need to go under that overhanging balcony which looks like it's hanging out in the air.

A Wedding Album

2011-09-13T16:49:00.000-04:00

Because it's lovely. Alex and Danica

Gayl's Gift

2011-09-13T10:29:00.001-04:00

Thank you...it is beautiful and it works perfectly here! (I needed to get rid of that other painting...)

Building Angst

2011-09-11T13:01:00.000-04:00

I'm starting another post on this topic because it's easier to add more shots.

Because I've tried just about every other lot design for Duff and can't find one I like, I'm sticking with this one. I am running into design problems I really don't like, and I'm about ready to dump the idea of elevating it in order to get that string of stairs. There's no other reason to raise the terrain except to use those stairs, and they really do make a design difference.

There are gaps between the walls and the elevated terrain. The only way to close these gaps is to use CFE. I think that's the only way. Elevating it seems to force me to make it larger than I want as well. So I'm thinking about redoing it without elevating it.

This is the design Zhippidy kindly linked me to. It's not as large (which is a very good thing) but it still relies on those stairs, which I can't make work without the gaps.

ETA: Ok, my first really REALLY rough concept without stairs. Obviously I'm having trouble with the entrance.

ETA again: OK I can't find a fence or a gate tall enough. Does this look any better?

AND ETA AGAIN: That waterfall thing kicked my ass.

AND AGAIN...for Jean-Marie. Does this fence and gate work?

ETA MORE: I took out the room at the back of the pool and made it a sort of hot tub place. I have three different fences at the back because I don't know what works best. Duff's bedroom will be above that room overlooking the pool and the waterfall. The living room and dining room and kitchen stuff will be to the right. I'll figure them out. There's a whole empty floor above them. No idea right now what to do with it.

And this is my Break Things NB. There's nothing but land and air and stop signs out there. I build here first so I don't blow up anything important.

Damn. I forgot about the bathroom....

Duff's House: Still Searching for Ideas

2011-09-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

After spending a couple of weeks ripping up an old lot I thought I could use, and searching for inspiration, I started actually building. I used this house as a model because I thought it was pretty, I thought I could make it a lot smaller, and I thought I didn't need to put it on a foundation.

Well. It doesn't work. It REALLY doesn't work. The house is long and narrow. I'm trying to build on a beach lot. Unless the long and narrow is horizontal, it won't fit.

The second problem is that the tall blank walls might look interesting on that real contemporary house, but they look dumb on a sims house. And there are more problems but it doesn't matter because these two make this design and many more like it unfeasible.

I don't want yet another beach house built with wings. They all look like that. I don't want a foundation because I can't do much outside without using CFE.

ETA: For Zhippidy: this is as far as I got interpreting the modern lot. If I cut back the empty room to the right of the palm tree walk (it is way too big for my purposes) and went up a third floor, I might be able to make it work. I did not include an elevator, but that might be the solution to the stair mess. The lower level is a disaster, though. And I have to rethink the whole thing since the staircase should not be going into the second level.

A Few More Shots from Sandy Point

2011-09-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

This shot was taken from the house just up the road and across the street from Jimmy's place, which you can see from the front porch looking north. It's approaching sunset.

I have a number of homes and businesses finished and might do some kind of tour. I need to get serious about Duff's house, though. At least I got rid of the stage in front of it.

Problem with Stage

2011-09-04T10:05:00.000-04:00

I've posted this pretty much everywhere, I'm so frustrated.

This stupid square of stage will not go down. I've tried the sledgehammer, lowering terrain, move objects on, and the game still insists 'there is an object on the stage'. I deleted other squares of stage from this lot, including some right next to it, with no problem.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

EDIT: The stuck object remover worked. It nuked an outdoor light UNDER the stage. Link for anyone who has a similar problem: Directory Listing of Hacks

Duff in Rain

2011-09-01T14:23:00.001-04:00

Poor child has no place to live and it's raining on him. First it was Coop (who is safely indoors at this point) and now this difficult man. A little cold water won't hurt him, and I am really struggling to build something that suits him.

I'm having trouble focusing on anything right now so I've been using the 'make pretty' button to try to fill in the blank spots in the different neighborhoods. Sandy Point is looking pretty good. I put some more shots up here.

Playing in Water

2011-08-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

We are perhaps a third of the way through an update but encountering some problems, both creatively and otherwise. The creative roadblocks we can overcome. You can always write your way around a wall. It will take more time to work through the others.

Thank you for sticking with us. Have a water sprite... ;D

ETA: This bad child is Camilla's son, which makes him Don Lothario's second cousin (I think).

Jimmy's House

2011-08-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Breaux's House

Sandy Point: 6 Big Tree Lane

This lot was a download (don't remember from where) that Gayl originally redid and decorated. I've made a few changes, trying to keep Jimmy's rather complex character and history in mind. He inherited the place. He had limited funds, no way to adequately maintain it, and has made very few changes since he finally got a contract. The place is heated with a woodstove (not much in the way of heat required even during mid winter). A window air conditioner, a fan and windows that open provide cooling during the hot summers.

The tarot cards and Ouija board on the coffee table are important. And there are no books in his house.

As always with our lots, they have to function ingame. I can't overdo the clutter.

ETA: I finished more spaces and added more shots. As always, I would love help, criticism, suggestions.

Exterior

Kitchen and Dining

Living Room (plus the first shot before the cut)

Downstairs Bathroom (Somehow I missed the shower in the corner. There's a shower in the corner.)

Upstairs Loft and Bathroom

Bedroom

Link to the homeowner: Jimmy Breaux (Toad)

The Bathroom

2011-08-22T19:56:00.002-04:00

For someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in a spa gazing out at a verdant landscape from my marble tub, I pick at every bathroom I design ingame. And I am never satisfied. I really do not like bathrooms.

Two small baths for my WIP lot.

And this is Bath Number Two:

Beauty

2011-08-18T21:27:00.001-04:00

I've always loved clouds and weather, so it's a special thing when I can capture something like this. It was raining at the same time. When I put my hand on the deck rail, the sky splashed down on it.

I've been thinking about beauty. Beauty is always packaged with a bad thing, as if beauty comes with consequences simply because it's beautiful. Beauty is punished. Is it envy? Is it a warning? Is it a morality tale about not taking what you have for granted? Looking at fairy tales, Cinderella gets the prince because she has beautiful feet. Some of the other fairy tales are not so clear. So far as I've read, the male's beauty never comes into question. Do we assume he's beautiful or is that off the table? Why?

Cooper's House

2011-08-13T11:00:00.008-04:00

Hugs walking through the dunes on her way to school, and a shot of path to the beach in back of the house.

After spending so much time on this lot, I need to figure out why I spent so much time on this lot. Anyway, since I spent SO much time on it, here are some shots. It's not finished yet...the bathrooms still look pretty bare and the kitchen isn't much better. I haven't posted any shots of the bathrooms since I'm still really unhappy with them.

I'm constantly looking for constructive criticism about anything.

EDIT: Removed the slideshow. I keep updating the album and it's annoying to keep redoing the slideshare widget.

Front Entry

Living Room

Kitchen and Dining Room

Bar/Music Room

Lower level with entries to bedrooms

Master Bedroom

Hugs' Bedroom

Bathroom 1

Bathroom 2

Back of the lot overlooking the bay

View toward park

Writing and Hair

2011-08-12T18:35:00.004-04:00

After watching Tangled with my daughter, and reading Rapunzel again (and that's an interesting power play fairy tale), and spending a lot of time ripping hair out of my game, I'm thinking, what on earth is the deal with hair? It's sex. It's power. It's what you want and can't have. The color. The texture. Buzz it off and it's a statement. Spend thousands of dollars making it straight if it's curly or curly if it's straight and it's a statement (you got some $ statement). It's a flash point in religions (cover it up).

It's always there. Read anything and hair is there. Don't cut it or you lose power. A woman takes down her hair to signal her willingness to engage in sex. She puts it up to signal she is not interested.

Men sweat about losing their hair. A desirable man is a man with thick hair. The man who has lost his hair is a joke. When we write about a man, describing him as 'balding' dumps him into a sexually undesirable box even if he's young and virile. Hair is power for both genders.

Could you write without referring to someone's hair? How powerful is it?

Making Dreams

2011-07-07T23:57:00.004-04:00

I can't do much right now, so I'm working on a lot. It's my Bali lot. It is not done, really far from done, and I started to worry that it was going to be hard to get shots considering the levels until I realized it doesn't really matter. I'm never going to have to get shots from that lot. I think I'm not.

The break I am taking might be longer than I anticipated. In the meantime, I put Green Eyes in the draft lot because I wanted to see how the lights work. Cooper's bedroom looks like the bed from hell. All those candles and that red bed curtain look very strange..

Mid Summer Heat

2011-06-24T00:32:00.009-04:00

Apropos of nothing except that lot I used for these two will always crash, unfortunately, so I'm trying to build another one and having fun doing it. But it is one huge rush of beautiful before it crashes. Obviously I'm indulging myself.

First Kiss

2011-06-22T05:17:00.002-04:00

I'd just about completed this before I went crazy, so I took a couple of hours and quit worrying about every single freaking pose and shot having to be some kind of masterpiece. There are some stock poses.

The first kiss. Maybe the one you remember is not the very first, but the first that really matters.

This is for Qui. She helped me get the poses, sat up with me until awful hours, and put up with my crazy ranting. The garden shots would not have worked without her help.

I have been blessed far beyond anything I deserve. Thank you, Gayl, for yanking me back from the brink. And I'm going to take a break now.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us.

A Little Announcement

2011-06-20T16:06:00.000-04:00

Please see Gayl's blog.

Thank you for all the support you've given both of us.

Retroactive Changes and Bad Dogs

2011-06-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

I went back and took a look at what we wrote up to the point where we broke Studio Time away from Sessions. We should have done it sooner, and we should have taken the earliest workable link post and cut it in half. I'm not sure why I care. I did take the time to find the most important chapters and post them in ST way way down at the bottom, in case anyone is interested. I would still like to cut up the first one, but I don't know how to do that because I don't know where I would post it to provide a link.

I'm pretending this matters....

So. I'm taking the shots and I don't have something I thought I had. I've been working on this update for weeks now and I don't see an end in sight. It feels like hundreds of intricate poses and I'm tired and depressed. I look back at the old horrible stuff I did and cringe, but at least it was easy and fun to do. It's not easy now and it sure isn't fun.

I want to take a second here and cheer on the people who have published or they're in the midst of publishing. Go for it!!!

Here's a dog.

Gameshot and Minor Rant

2011-06-17T12:30:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to finish up the third big detailed set for the next update. Like everything else, it's going VERY slowly. I think this was at least the sixth time I've had to pull the entire DL folder to the desktop in order to find a piece of CC, which was not where it should have been. Once found, I put those extremely annoying things in their own collection file so I never have to hunt for them again because I am not going to remember that something that looks like a two story masonry arch is really a miscellaneous decorative item that costs $134.

It also took our combined efforts to locate this dress. Rayne doesn't seem to like something about the way she looks poor thing...definitely a little different look for her.

Not Yet It Doesn't Work

2011-06-13T15:36:00.006-04:00

I'm working on sets and I'm aggravated and annoyed and frustrated because I can't make them look the way I want them to look. And they have to function. Pretty means nothing if it doesn't work, if they can't sit down and if I can't get decent lines of sight from several directions. This is a WIP; some of the OMSP's are still visible and I will probably continue to move things around as I work through it.

Until I can get these sets done, no update. I'm trying.

We also have some memes because a couple of people asked for them. Here they are.

Studio Time 15: Outside

2011-06-08T14:12:00.000-04:00

After putting this off as long as I could, I finally forced myself to focus on it. It's a transitional piece but we had to do it. We'll be moving on to Duff and Rayne, at least that's the plan at the moment.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us, left kind comments, provided helpful advice and kept us going. We appreciate it beyond words.

Rayne's House

2011-06-05T13:50:00.002-04:00

Sandy Point: 1100 Bridge Pass

Picspam follows.

Exterior and Overhead View

Living Room

Dining Room and Kitchen

Computer Nook

Bedroom

Bathroom

Side Porch Looking toward Front

Ceiling Beams and a WIP

2011-05-28T13:37:00.001-04:00

I don't know how long I've been banging my head up against the ceiling beams, but it's been a while and all I have for it is a bruise. I've downloaded everything I can find that's called a ceiling beam including things that are not ceiling beams but could conceivably be used as ceiling beams. They never ever look like the pics I see on BPS or other similar sites. They're almost impossible to raise and lower, and 'almost impossible' is wrong. They are IMPOSSIBLE to raise and lower, not with my skill set anyway. Either they look like something from a log cabin or they're strangely shiny. So far I haven't given up but the quest is starting to feel ridiculous.

If anybody knows something about them, please help.

So I'm redoing Rayne's lot. The beach side of the lot worked just fine. The front, not so much. I want a front 'porch', one of those hideous Florida rooms. I'm not there yet.

Picspam of what I've got so far, and some of it is very much WIP:

Studio Time 14: Storm

2011-05-27T12:15:00.001-04:00

At least half of my shots are 'ruined' by inappropriate rain. I try to use it instead of just yelling at it, and this time I hope it worked.

Eating the Dessert First

2011-05-22T16:48:00.000-04:00

I read how other writers organize and focus with a lot of envy. I don't put things down on the backs of envelopes, but it's a lot of brief dialog and notes and warnings to myself NOT to get distracted by going somewhere that looks really interesting but it's a tangent.

Unfortunately, right now I'm having a hard time forcing myself to look at what has to come next instead of something insanely seductive that can't happen until the next bit is done. I think Gayl and I are both there. This huge OMG I want to write that!! No...slow down and do it right.

Is this normal? How do you stop feeling like you're force feeding broccoli when you want the ice cream?

Warping Time and Space: Rising Above Update

2011-05-19T15:33:00.007-04:00

We're going to do something confusing, but it's the last time. We're sliding the timeline along a tiny bit and posting the finale to Wyatt's Story: Rising Above, linking it to Studio Time. We realize this is going to put people off.

Please see Gayl's post on this story.

Thank you for your indulgence!

Confused: Studio Time Thirteen

2011-05-15T19:21:00.001-04:00

I don't have a clue what I'm doing and I don't think he does either. Thank you to every single person who reads our work.

This one is for Rob.

Growing Up

2011-05-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

Since Blogger ate everybody's stuff, I'm going to go ahead and just put in a link for both of these two boys. I sent them off to university a few days ago. They're in a dumpy little rental until I finish working on the overly ambitious dorm I decided for some insane reason that I had to build for them.

Eric and Nathan Stanfield

Reorganizing and Closing Out Old Work

2011-05-08T19:43:00.002-04:00

The link above goes to a post on Gayl's blog. If you have any suggestions for us, we'd really appreciate it.

I've already removed links on the linkbar to older work, although at this point it's still available through the Series Guide.

Studio Time Twelve: Sometimes You Just Need a Bad Girl

2011-05-07T21:12:00.006-04:00

Thanks to the beautiful and remarkable Qui (Colorblind among other fabulous works) for lending us her self sim for one of the scenes! The shot is obviously NOT her. Once in a while Camilla finds a way back into what we write. This was one of those times.

I think I restarted the game ten times in one day to get one shot (not the shot here, that was just serendipity). We are being methodical with this. We hope you enjoy and stay patient.

Thank you to everyone, all our readers. Your support means the world to us.

Apartments vs Dorms vs Residential Lots

2011-05-05T10:54:00.002-04:00

I'm making a place for Cooper's twins. It's a medium size lot sitting in a university hood. The individual 'houses' are quite small even though the shots make them look large. I plan on putting three or maybe four students on this lot, and I'd like them to stay in their own place.

I've never tried to place an apartment in a univ hood, so I don't know how that would work. I guess I could make it a dorm, but then I'd have to put ugly dorm doors up there. Any ideas?

Ugly Yellow Floors

2011-05-02T16:58:00.002-04:00

I don't know if you can tell from these shots, but I'm having a problem with floors. They turn yellow. White floors are yellow. Gray floors are yellowish brown. Black floors are a brownish black. Throwing down the reflective mirrors seems to help, but I don't know why interior floors show up yellow. There's some change in the design of the set as I keep working on it but that doesn't explain the color.

Thank You

2011-04-25T19:14:00.001-04:00

When I woke up this morning to the incredible birthday present waiting for me on Gayl's blog, I literally burst into tears. I cannot thank all of you enough. It means so much that you would take the time to do something so wonderful for me.

Please know I am so grateful, I don't know what to say.

Thank you. You are some unbelievably wonderful people!!!

Studio Time 11 Update

2011-04-24T18:23:00.010-04:00

This particular sequence will include a lot of different people with a lot of different motivations. We will be here for a while.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching ballet and used none of it. I had no idea there were so many different types of tutus.

Finding the Present in the Past

2011-04-16T09:19:00.001-04:00

This is probably of little interest to anyone but Gayl and me, but we spent a lot of time on it so we're posting it.

It's one thing to state that a character has been married four times and another to figure out why on earth he would do that to himself. We couldn't move forward until we worked it out. It took looking at each relationship separately, finding physical and temperamental similarities (a 'type'?), and staying true to Alex while we did it.

Lindsey
Tabby
Danica
Adriana

Sometimes It Just Rains

2011-04-08T17:32:00.007-04:00

Posting this before Gayl has seen it, except for the half that she wrote and shot. Begging for forgiveness in advance.

I had another scene I decided not to use, but I'm sharing the shots.

Happy Birthday, Gayl!

2011-03-21T09:16:00.001-04:00

Wishing you light and happiness!

Playing with Light

2011-03-19T22:49:00.020-04:00

Like anything I try to pick up, it takes me a long time to understand how it works. Installing the lighting mod has really changed I take shots, particularly the exterior shots. I wish someone would critique my shots. Tell me where to put the light and so on.

All shots below are just shots.

Making Eyes

2011-03-14T04:15:00.013-04:00

I finished mapping the shots for one scene, ONE scene, and finally finished messing around with the famous bar. Anyway, I need some people for this scene. Gayl made us some beautiful people and I'm all weird and upset so I decided to take one of them and put her in a closed room and make eyeball shots.

Here's the girl. She looks sufficiently unhappy. Probably the bad lighting since the poses were from the solo romantic photobooth set. And her nose is strange, it sort of blobs onto her cheek. I don't know why. And I hate that black hole in the eye when they're looking sideways. I've tried to fix it in PS without success.

I'm curious how the author gets that glossy effect on the shots in Fortune and Romance. I don't want to duplicate the effect which I think works better on the type of story she's writing than it would for me, but it's really pretty.

I am still ISO the posebox I used to get this shot. I didn't take notes and I can't find it.

Summary of Rising Above

2010-12-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

Summary of Rising Above:

Rising Above is a sidestory. Like the other sidestories, it focuses on an individual but still links to the main stories.

Wyatt Stanfield is the idealistic and romantic son of Cooper Stanfield and Cooper's equally idealistic and romantic young first wife, Julia. Wyatt grows up with his mother, listening to her cry at night over her lost love after his parents divorce. As a teenager, he finds his mother's body on Christmas Eve. She's been murdered.

His mother's death, his own idealistic nature, his anger and resentment toward his father and his father's second wife, all combine to form a potent brew. Wyatt makes emotional choices that lead to confrontations with his father and a misalliance with his music professor. The story attempts to chart a young man's journey to figuratively rise above a devastating experience and the pain that followed it.

Summary of Sessions

2010-12-22T12:38:00.008-05:00

Since we started Studio Time, I took a look at the old synopsis we'd written and decided it was time to come up with one for Sessions. It doesn't cover every detail. It does not cover Passages, Rising Above or Chameleon at all. I hope it will be helpful since Sessions is really long. I linked the characters mentioned in the summary to their bios (which also need updating). At least one of the bios has just been tweaked and updated with a new mosaic.

Studio Time

2010-12-21T03:57:00.007-05:00

In a moment of eclipse, we give you our latest.

It has been almost 4 years since Gayl and I began to write together. There have been difficult times for both of us, and we are both dealing with both game issues and RL issues, but there has never been a moment when we were not willing to try something new.

Our Press Release

Thank you for your support, your help, your criticism, your direction, and your friendship.

South Beach and Environs

2010-12-17T11:44:00.002-05:00

Shots of some of the neighborhoods in our world. There are five distinct communities (South Beach, Bayview, Sandy Point, Millwood, and Auburn); a university; a fully developed metro area; and two vacation neighborhoods. I may eventually split them into separate posts.

South Beach: the marina, the coast, the real estate.

Sandy Point: fishing boats and ferries, and the real estate isn't usually called 'real estate'.

Millwood: the road north and heading into the front range. Rustic but definitely not cheap. Cooper's parents, Shooter James, and Melinda all have homes in this area.

Blade's (Alex Ferguson) House

2010-12-14T14:47:00.002-05:00

South Beach: 109 Harbor Place

Foyer

Kitchen

Bedroom

Exterior Landscaping

Shooter's (Everett James) House

2010-12-14T10:08:00.008-05:00

Millwood: 119 West Ox Road

Foyer

Great Room

Kitchen

Bathrooms

Bedroom

Overview

Rob Porter's House

2010-12-14T10:08:00.007-05:00

South Beach: 140 West Marina Drive

First Floor

Bathroom

Kitchen and Office Area

Second Floor

Third Floor Bedroom

Shooter and the Welcome Wagon

2010-12-13T15:43:00.005-05:00

We haven't done one of these in a long time, and it's about time we did something purely ridiculous and fun.

Duff Tyson

2010-12-13T14:05:00.023-05:00

The second in our series, as we continue to work on the new band.

We were going to post house shots for Duff, but I changed my mind because they stink. And since I did them, I get to say that.

1. First Name - Duff
2. Hometown - Newport
3. Favorite Food - Rare steak
4. Favorite Color - Scarlet
5. Favorite Weather - Summer
6. Favorite Drink - Grand Marnier
7. Dream Vacation - Barbados
8. Favorite Dessert - Cherries Jubilee
9. Profession - Musician: guitar and vocals - Flight
10. One of the things I love most in the world - Stilettos and lace panties on a variety of women
11. One Word That Describes Me - Dark
12. Something Else About Me - Make sure you want the hot water before you grab the tap

Tagged - Characters: Ten Things about Jimmy

2010-07-10T16:24:00.026-04:00

Tagged by the incredible Kara and her meme about Tahlvin. Ten things about Jimmy Breaux:

1. He never knew his father. His mother died when he was young. Working from a mosaic we did for Jimmy, the one word he would use to describe himself was Abandoned. A word that can be turned different ways.

2. He believes in ghosts,although he's careful about admitting it.

3. Jimmy lost touch with his sister and sometimes worries that he ought to make an effort to track her down, but never does.

4. He quit going to school when he was 13 and never spent much time reading anything, and still doesn't think it's all that important.

5. His band is HIS band. It is not a democracy. He writes the music. He makes the decisions, he makes the rules. You're in if he says you're in, and out if he doesn't want you there.

6. He's not afraid of heights. Sitting on a roof feels natural.

7. Highly educated people in general intimidate him. He compensates by keeping quiet and trying to listen.

8. Jimmy is ambitious. He's not above using anything he can use to break through, make that next step. When he first met Rayne, he was not oblivious to the possibilities.

9. Rayne blew his plans wide open. Falling in love with her handicaps him. He knows it.

10. Jimmy's medicine cabinet contents: condoms; aspirin; matchbooks; pot when he can afford it; coke when he can afford it (remote now); Adderal; Dilaudid (not much left there); Bactine; OFF for mosquitoes; Colgate toothpaste; Old Spice deodorant; an old bottle of Polo cologne some girl gave him that he never opened; half a dozen razors; almost empty can of Gillette shaving cream; bandaids; nail clippers; a pair of barber scissors; a black plastic comb; four breath mints; a coupon for Fred's Fish Fry that got stuck to the back of the mirror a year ago; and a tab of something he decided he didn't want to use but forgot to throw out.

Street Shots That Didn't Work

2007-12-24T18:05:00.001-05:00

Trying to make a kind of scrapbook of the different areas of our world, and in the process I found examples of things that don't work very well.

In this case, I couldn't figure out a way to put anything on the other side of the sidewalk, so instead of a traffic jam, it looks like a bunch of people sitting in parked cars. I tried putting cars on the other side of the road 'going' in the other direction, but they didn't fit well. It doesn't look realistic.

This shot show the vanishing horizon problem. I like to use something in the background that gives some sense of depth and perspective. With this map, I get nothing but empty space. I could put some more rocks out there, but sort of tired of putting rocks all over the place.

Cities in the night are problems for me. I need to add more and different kinds of lots since everything blends together. The building in the foreground almost vanishes into the background NB decor.

Summary of Passages

2007-12-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

Written as a sidestory. However, the events impact characters and plot lines in Sessions.

The very young daughter of a legendary rock star and his second wife finds herself lost and confused as her parents struggle with trust in a tumultuous marriage. Rayne Stanfield runs away during one particularly high intensity argument, ending up on a cold beach in the middle of the night. She is rescued by a notorious, charming and narcissistic 'bad boy', Gabe Lombardo, who reluctantly takes a child he does not know to safety. The little girl is entranced, believes him to be a prince, and never forgets the incident. It colors the rest of her life.

This side story explores the growth of a spoiled and self indulgent teen age girl who chases a dream with little thought of the damage she causes to people around her. Rayne falls into depression and addiction, doubting herself, doubting her memory, opening bitter wounds in her family, while still relentlessly trying to find that prince.

Until she does.

I wrote this wondering what it would be like to hunt for someone you thought you wanted desperately and to finally find them. Would they be anything like what you imagined? Would you recognize them? Would they recognize you?

Recommend: Summary of Sessions

Link: Passages

Summary of Sessions

2007-12-22T10:03:00.015-05:00

This synopsis of Sessions does not include the substories Passages, Rising Above and Chameleon, all of which impact the main story line but can be read independently. Sessions continues an even older storyline. That summary is here.

Sessions picks up where the previous season left off.

It addresses a relationship broken by infidelity (Cooper Stanfield and his second wife Beth), his attempts to forgive her and find a way to keep both his marriage and his career as a performer. Arrogance, self indulgence, and the interference of old lovers and other interested parties all stress the fragile trust. Cooper's unwillingness to give up control leads to a showdown with his son, a confrontation in a parking lot with his wife's former lover, and more infidelity as he strikes out in revenge.

No one eventually wins. The couple separates, still in love but terribly divided. The other people caught up in the chaos find their own lives damaged: marriages broken and careers ruined. Cooper finds himself up for the biggest award in his career at a time when he can barely focus, and Beth tries to force herself to move on and forget about him.

More detail below:

Cooper Stanfield , frontman and lead guitar for the band Mercury Rising, returned from a tour to fire his wife's bodyguard, a decision that fell in the 'too little too late' category. The affair he suspected was imminent had already begun. That decision, and his delay in making it, set off a chain reaction of consequences.

A photoshoot of Cooper in compromising photos with a model was packaged with older shots of his wife and the bodyguard inflagrante and published. His wife reacted with anger instead of apologies. Ryan attempted to force her into leaving Cooper by confronting both of them. She slapped him down, stunning him, surprising and gratifying her husband. Ryan dealt with the rejection poorly, drowning his disappointment in Glenfiddich.

Cooper's teenage daughter Rayne, crushing on the man she'd grown up with, blaming her mother for breaking his heart, set out to seduce Ryan. convinced that he would see her as more than a child and fall 'in love' with her. Drunk and desperate, Ryan fell for it. However, Ryan never recognized her, and the intensity of his emotional attachment to her mother frightened and overwhelmed Rayne. She snuck away without revealing what she had done.

Her attempt to get cover from her best friend backfires when Miranda's father overhears the conversation. He takes it upon himself to inform Beth Stanfield that her daughter is sleeping with the former bodyguard, an accusation she furiously denies. When she confronts her daughter with it, acting out of anger and very unmaternal jealousy, Rayne admits it, mocks her, and opens a deep and bitter rift between mother and daughter.

Ryan's longtime pregnant girlfriend breaks off the relationship in despair, realizing he's in love with another woman, although she continues to hope that the baby will bring them together. Instead, she dies in childbirth, leaving Ryan unemployed, bleak, and with a son. He accepts work from a source he originally turned down, Melinda, the owner of a notorious brothel.

Into this mix came Gemma Wilson, a cousin of Cooper's first wife. Her interest was professional but she used her striking resemblance to Julia to get access to Cooper. His reaction is not what she hoped. After an angry argument with his son by Julia, who doesn't understand his father's resentment toward Gemma, Cooper takes off in a rage to demand that Gemma stay away from his family.

Cooper runs into Ryan and Beth who have met accidentally downtown. He assumes the worst. Ryan finally attacks him. Cooper leaves, telling his wife he's done with her.Rattled, concussed, furious, Cooper walks off and leaves his wife in the alley, drives to Gemma Wilson's place and impulsively and angrily assaults her. He leaves the next morning and drops by an old friend's 'gentleman's club', where she informs him that Ryan works for her, was in town with her, and that he has made a terrible mistake.

Cooper attempts to apologize, but he decides not to say anything about the encounter with Gemma. His wife blames herself for the problems, tells him it is all her fault for cheating with Ryan, that she takes full responsibility, but that the marriage is broken since they cannot get past Ryan. She asks him to leave. He leaves, still without telling her what happened the night before.

Over the next few weeks, Cooper meets with Gemma in an attempt to buy her silence. Beth meets an acquaintance, Alex "Blade" Ferguson, the frontman for the band Flight, and begins a tentative relationship which infuriates Cooper who considers it (and rightly so) as a direct challenge by a professional rival. And Gemma Wilson discovers she is pregnant.

Presented with the news, Cooper goes to his wife. Although they have separated, they are still close, unhappy about being apart from each other. When he finally tells her the truth, that he slept with Gemma, that she is pregnant, Beth is livid. She points out that Cooper let her carry all the blame when he had come directly from another woman's bed that morning they separated. She turns him away, and this time the separation appears to be final.

Synopsis of Story up to Sessions

2006-11-06T10:33:00.071-05:00

Recap and Explanation:

Prior to Sessions, we wrote independently. The stories began to merge characters and plot lines after about a year.

Rough summary:

The story of Cooper Stanfield, front man and lead guitar for the band Mercury Rising, and Rafael Taylor, the adopted son of a prominent policitian and his socialite wife. Mutually 'blessed' with charm, talent, arrogance and self indulgence, these two charismatic men lead difficult and broken lives that eventually bring them to confront one another. Choices have long consequences: cause great havoc, return great good, and continue to knot and tangle their children, friends and relatives together.

Organized by character instead of a straight story line. The major characters' lives intersect and intertwine, but they have their own stories.

Details below:

Cooper Stanfield: Lead singer and frontman for the rock band Mercury Rising.

(Mercury Rising: Cooper Stanfield, Heydon Mitchell, vocals and guitar; Daniel Whitney, drums; Aidan O'Malley, bass guitar)

Cooper married Julia Wilson when they were both very young, right out of high school, after knowing each other only one week.

Julia became the target of a psychotic fan who kidnapped her and held her and her infant son, Wyatt Stanfield, captive.

Cooper believed Julia was dead and was driven almost insane when he believed he was being haunted by her. Eventually both Julia and Wyatt were rescued by Cooper and his best friend and business partner Slim Savage. Cooper was seriously injured, shot and caught in a burning house, and, although he escaped with his life, he lost his memory.

He lived with Stevie Willows, a drummer for a local band, for some time as her lover until his memory returned. Stevie basically saved his life, scraped him up off the sidewalk when she didn't know who he was, and took a chance with him. Cooper will always have a special place in his heart for her. Great sex too, so apart from the special place in his heart, he's got another special place for Stevie.

When he returned home, both he and his wife had changed; she was unable to provide the kind of emotional and mental support he needed, and he had drifted away from her, and the marriage failed. Julia never got over the loss of her husband. Their son Wyatt grew up resenting his father for making his mother miserable, a bad situation made worse when Julia was murdered on Christmas Eve when he was a teenager, and he discovered her body.

Shortly after splitting with Julia, Cooper met Elizabeth Johnson, who was in the process of breaking up with her long-time lover, Tony Lombardo. She was reluctant to get involved with Cooper, seeing the situation with Julia as too similar to the problems Tony had with his ex, but Coop persevered and eventually married her.

The relationship was solid until Cooper decided to hire Ryan McDermott as a bodyguard for his wife, and then proceeded to spend most of his time on tour with the band.

A natural and enthusiastic flirt, Cooper was constantly in the tabloid and entertainment news photographed with other women.

The bodyguard and Cooper’s wife became extremely close, the attraction both physical and emotional, culminating in an affair.

Wyatt Stanfield:

Cooper’s oldest child. Raised by his mother, Wyatt is romantic, sometimes to a fault, and emotionally fragile. He never got over discovering his murdered mother’s body, and he has always wondered why his father left his mother.

During his first year at university, he became involved with his music professor, Bailey, a torrid affair that eventually came to the attention of his stepmother’s bodyguard when Wyatt took the woman to his father’s resort beach house for a weekend. Wyatt suspected that his stepmother and the bodyguard were more than employer and employee, so he resented being called on the carpet by the man. Cooper eventually discovered his son and the professor together and forced the woman to choose between Wyatt and her career, partly by bringing up the fact that they’d met before and challenging her to admit that she was fantasizing about him when she was making love to his son, a confrontation that occurred in front of his son. She chose her career, breaking Wyatt’s heart.

Wyatt has become very close to Cadence Mitchell, the daughter of Heydon Mitchell, one of the members of the band. Both of them believe they are in love (they had sex when she was still in high school) but Wyatt is concerned about repeating his father’s pattern.

Rayne Stanfield:

Cooper’s daughter and Wyatt’s younger half-sister. Rayne grew up with her mother and her mother’s bodyguard, Ryan McDermott, since her father was touring more often than he was at home. A childhood encounter with Gabe Lombardo, a man she remembers only as ‘the prince’ who rescued her, changed her life.

She has been haunted by dreams and frustrated by her inability to find anyone who matches the standard set by a very hazy memory of someone whom, in reality, is definitely no prince.

The search for that man prompted her to seduce Ryan at a time when he was very drunk and vulnerable, immediately after he had just been publically kicked to the curb by her mother. Regretting her action, Rayne eventually confessed to Ryan that it was not her mother who came to him, a confession that destroyed his last hope.

She continues to run through men (most recently Cruz Delgato) in search of her the man she remembers distantly but is not certain was ever real. Cruz is his son, although no one but his adoptive parents know that.

Ryan McDermott:

Ex Navy SEAL and celebrity bodyguard. Employed for years as the personal bodyguard for Cooper’s second wife, they grew very close, living together in what was virtually a family unit while her husband toured. Ryan’s relationship with his girlfriend Landry collapsed when it became apparent to both of them that he was in love with Beth Stanfield. Shortly after they split, Landry died giving birth to their son, Riley.

A single intense sexual encounter between Ryan and Beth was photographed in graphic detail, and eventually published. Ryan made a last ditch effort to get Beth to leave Cooper, a man he is convinced considers her just one of many toys and conquests. It was dramatically unsuccessful. Emotionally gutted and unemployed, Ryan has recently accepted a dangerous job offer from Melinda Owen. (See The Chameleon)

Rafe Taylor:

Journalist for Rolling Stone.

The short version: Young man with issues proceeds to take down women and toss them aside. He runs afoul of his cousin Gabe, who, far from being a voice of morality, is actually driven by envy. They clash. Fight over a girl. The girl chooses Rafe, and then dumps him for his charming and sociopathic cousin. Rafe moves on, falls in love with an older woman whose grown sons don't approve. Charming cousin finds a way to take him down. Rafe ends up being used by a series of cougars. Hates it, ends up overdosing. The woman he's in love with rescues him, and then seeks revenge on his behalf. She can't manage it without retaining an attorney who is a sexual predator. He says he'll take down the primary cougar if Rafe's woman goes to bed with him. Rafe doesn't know what's going on but catches them together. Dumps girl. Dives back into depression. Charming cousin Gabe, who put Rafe in that situation to begin with, ends up owing Rafe's girl a favor, and, because he has his own strange code, tells Rafe what really happened. Laughs and walks off. And no, they do not end up good friends.

Rafe is the son of Tony Lombardo and Eden Westover Lombardo Taylor. His father was involved in a long and intense relationship with Beth Johnson Stanfield before she met Cooper. The relationship ended badly when Tony refused to commit, and caused a long and heated family feud between the two families, primarily carried on by Tony’s younger sister Camilla. Rafe has a very close and mutually protective friendship with Beth Stanfield whom he never blamed for the breakup with his father. Rafe is married to Beth Stanfield’s best friend Gayl. Rafe is a dark horse – moody, sometimes volatile, and occasionally dangerous. He killed his half brother and engineered his own mother’s death. Rafe and Cooper have a longstanding and acrimonious relationship – Rafe shares Ryan McDermott’s opinion of Cooper.

Gabriel Lombardo (Gabe):

Gabe lived on the edge from the time he was old enough to realize what he could do with his looks, charm and intelligence. Very close to his cousin Camilla Lombardo, about the only person who could be called a friend. He clashed early with his cousin Rafe, whom he envied since Rafe consistently outshone him, briefly taking the girl he wanted (Amanda Alcaide, the woman who would eventually bear Gabe’s son Cruz and who never stopped loving him although he cheated on her constantly and finally ditched her and disappeared) and the attention he wanted from Rafe’s father Tony, whom he looked up to as a father figure.

As adults, Rafe and Gabe had a poisonous relationship. However, Gabe has his own code of ethics and did Rafe more than one favor, including bringing Rafe back to his lover.

When he was faced with a debt he could not repay, and knew for certain he’d overreached and would probably not survive, as his last gesture Gabe provided Rafe with intel Rafe needed to bring down Rafe’s mother Eden Westover, an abusive sociopath Rafe hated and Gabe considered the ultimate challenge.

Shortly before the end, Gabe stumbled onto a runaway child and rescued her without knowing who she was, an act totally out of character for Gabe who never did anything without the prospect of personal gain. The emotional connection was instant and mutual. The child was Rayne Stanfield.

Character Backstory Prior to the Older Work (there was some...)

Rafe:

Rafe Taylor: son of Eden Westover Lombardo Taylor and Anthony Lombardo. He grew up with his mother and her third husband, unaware of his biological father. He was a lonely and abused child. When he was a teenager, his cousin Gabe and Gabe's girlfriend Amanda ran into him, saw the striking family resemblance, and Gabe began to investigate (motivated by curiosity and hatred of his Aunt). Rafe met his biological father and moved in with him.

Confused and emotionally whiplashed, Rafe took out his anger and resentment of women in general when he was in college, deliberately seducing and abandoning them. He had constant conflicts with his cousin Gabe, who was jealous of the attention Rafe received not only from women but from his uncle Tony who had been a father figure to him. Both young men behaved badly. When Gabe set up a sting, got a video of Rafe having sex and posted it on the internet, Rafe's mother disowned him, leaving him with no money and few skills. His father was unable to make up the difference.

Rafe took a job as a personal trainer and met an older woman who took advantage of his precarious financial situation and forced him into a sexual relationship, which she then escalated, basically pimping him out. At the same time, he took a side job as a tutor for the son of a young widow. Rafe fell deeply in love with her. Already emotionally fragile, afraid he was going to lose the woman he loved, pressured into behavior he found increasingly repugnant, he began to collapse and eventually overdosed. He quit college, moved in with Gayl, and tried to pick up a broken life.

Rafe's father Tony was involved with a woman (Elizabeth Johnson) who befriended Rafe even as her relationship with his father was unraveling. She was his lover's (now his wife) best friend as well. The relationship, never romantic or sexual, grew over time into a close and mutually protective friendship. Beth risked her new relationship with Cooper Stanfield to help Rafe. Rafe never forgot it. (Neither did Cooper.) Rafe does not think Cooper treats his friend right, and his relationship with Cooper has, as a result, always been antagonistic.

Gabe and Rafe continued to spar, sometimes in open confrontation with mutual physical threats. However, when Gabe discovered serious criminal activity conducted by Rafe's mother, he turned over the information in what Gabe believed to be one of his last acts before his own criminal problems resulted in his death. Rafe, after consulting with his Aunt Camilla (his father's somewhat eccentric sister), acted on the information. It resulted in his mother's death. He grieved Gabe's presumed death more than his mother's, finally understanding Gabe's own emotional confusion and envy and acknowledging that Gabe had been willing to risk his life for him.

Gabe:

Gabe is the son of Don Lombardo and Ellen Boyd. His mother died in childbirth. His father was kind but absent and preoccupied with his own life. Gabe turned to his uncle Tony for support and became very attached to him. To Gabe, Tony was his father.

Gabe was a bright, restless, and charismatic teenager. He inherited his mother's pale complexion, blue eyes and slender build, something that bothered him since he compared himself to his uncle Tony's much larger and more muscular frame. It didn't slow him down much, though. He went through several girlfriends before forming what would be a lasting relationship with Amanda Alcaide, the beautiful, spoiled, equally bright and charismatic daughter of a nightclub owner.

Gabe went after his uncle Tony's first wife, Eden Westover Lombardo Taylor, partly because he hated her and partly because that's what he did. He was instrumental in discovering that her son, supposedly with her second husband, was actually his uncle's child. He received the gratitude he craved from Tony, but the gesture backfired on him. The boy, Rafe, was physically everything Gabe was not, and Tony's attention turned from Gabe to his son.

Gabe attended the same college as Rafe. Already envious, his anger spiraled when his Amanda got involved with Rafe. Gabe turned his now considerable expertise at hunting down and destroying people on Rafe. He began a deliberate campaign to both take down Rafe and to imitate him, putting on muscle, tanning, all the while going deeper into semi criminal enterprises. He enjoyed the challenge. He was very very good at it. Amanda went back and forth between the two cousins although her real love was undoubtedly always Gabe who never admitted he loved her, and actually never did care for her as much as she cared for him.

Gabe's life after college became increasingly chaotic. He had a formidable reputation. He had a formidable physique. He could neither settle on anything nor decide where to go and got deeper and deeper into trouble as gambling debts mounted up and friends and family turned away from him. Briefly employed by Cooper, Gabe attempted to steal company funds to cover some of his debt. Cooper, who was definitely not intimidated by him, discovered it, confronted him, and . His Aunt Camilla, Tony's much younger sister, was his only real friend, and her sympathy was limited. He finally married a woman he didn't like to pay off a debt, then kept the cash and ran.

On the run, Gabe had a brief encounter with a little girl he met on a dark beach in the middle of winter. Although he rarely did anything that didn't serve his own purposes, he rescued her and made an attempt to find out who she was and return her. She was Rayne Stanfield, Cooper's daughter. The incident had a lifelong impact on Rayne; Gabe, although he remembered her fondly, not so much.

Cornered and facing reality, Gabe said goodbye to Camilla, packed up what he had on Rafe's mother (which he believed would end in her death) and sent it to Rafe, walked into a dark alley and met the enforcer he had been expecting. He left behind a pregnant Amanda, a little girl who believed he was a prince, a cousin he had hounded relentlessly, and a larger than life mystique. He became a legend.