Tortured Artiste | Mark-McQueen.co.uk

Got me new glasses yesterday. Much more comfortable than the old...

Thu, 31 May 2012 13:54:15 +0100

Got me new glasses yesterday. Much more comfortable than the old ones… (Taken with Instagram at Dreghorn)

lacigreen: rebloggable by request wow. just, wow. Every time...

Thu, 31 May 2012 01:57:15 +0100

lacigreen:

rebloggable by request

wow. just, wow.

Every time you think there’s some hope for humanity…

Little concept work for #LoveAndMonsters chapter 4 -...

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:16:05 +0100

Little concept work for #LoveAndMonsters chapter 4 - #alienatedyouth #lottie (Taken with instagram)

Alienated Youth - Just Like Any Soap Opera

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:54:30 +0100

Alienated Youth - Just Like Any Soap Opera

What's wrong???

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:10:54 +0100

theguardgoesdown:

What’s wrong?

You have nothing to be depressed about.

Just try to think positive.

Just be happy, happiness is a choice.

Be thankful for what you have.

What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s wrong??????

They just don’t get it. They care, and they’re trying, but they just don’t understand. It’s impossible to explain. Unless you’ve felt it, you will never understand. Before it happened to me, I said those same things. I didn’t have a clue. I do now….

Depression is bad. Anxiety is worse.

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:33:16 +0100

I’ve had to try and explain what’s wrong with me, why I’m off work, to a lot of people lately, both face to face and over the Internet. It’s been arduous just trying to convey why, while I have no physical ailment (my arthritis aside), I am nowhere near fit to work. It’s quite awful when I explain I have stress, depression and anxiety and feel it very difficult to function on a normal level but people just pick up on the depression bit.

“So what if you’re a bit unhappy? Surely you can still get on and go back to work by now?”

Believe me, and I reckon you won’t unless you’ve suffered this as well, if it were that simple I’d have been back at work two months ago. I’d have been off for say, two weeks to get all my shit in order then I’d have got back in the swing of things. That’s simply because I’ve been suffering depression for nearly a year and before March I’d been dealing with it not too badly.

Depression is part of the battle, but anxiety is a different kettle of fish and then some. Getting me out of bed in the morning amounts to an epic task just now. Getting the motivation to do anything (I’m meaning doing the housework to going out to even putting a pencil to some paper) is mentally draining. Touching back on going out, I normally have to build myself up to step over the threshold, normally turning back 5 or 6 times before finally either stepping out or giving up. It’s even affecting my speech, regardless if I’m talking to a complete stranger or a close member of my family - I’m finding it hard to hold an intelligible conversation with anyone.

I wish it were as simple as ‘get some rest, take some pills and you’ll be fine’. I really, really do (and so does my bank balance, it’s not been this empty since my time and university). But people seem to be experts on depression while disregarding the other, more serious and debilitating problems (again, not meaning the arthritis). To an extent, it exacerbates the problems as you wonder if it’s all something stupid as everyone else is dismissing it.

Take it from me - it’s not something stupid. I’ve went from and outgoing and outspoken person to one who’d rather crawl into a hole and not come out. Think it’s stupid now?

Alienated Youth - Trading Card series 1

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:55:18 +0100

Alienated Youth - Trading Card series 1

So I’m trying to get a… style… as it...

Tue, 15 May 2012 22:42:51 +0100

So I’m trying to get a… style… as it were… for the Alienated Youth comics (not the Presents comics, the ‘gag a day’-type ones) and as such came up with this when doodling about last night. Can honestly say this has potential. Let’s see where it goes with the other characters, shall we?

On the Loose -- Alienated Youth

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:22:09 +0100

On the Loose -- Alienated Youth

Work in progress for the next Alienated Youth comic. Should be...

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:09:58 +0100

Work in progress for the next Alienated Youth comic. Should be posted next week, all going well.

nationofamanda: this weirdly reminds me of an 8 bit teeny...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:46:58 +0100

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

nationofamanda:

this weirdly reminds me of an 8 bit teeny little super guy in the best possible sort of way.

(i know i have neglected posting art lately, i will post more in the coming days!)

Two Problems - One Broken Stone -- Alienated Youth

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:52:24 +0100

Two Problems - One Broken Stone -- Alienated Youth

"Life’s a bit like ice skating - it takes a while to find your feet and once you’re..."

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:21:23 +0100

“Life’s a bit like ice skating - it takes a while to find your feet and once you’re gliding it’s the greatest feeling. However, even the best have falls - the difference is how quickly you get back up and going again.”

the (mass) effect of an ending

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:05 +0100

I would like to start this post off by making two small points -

I am a gamer who has been playing a multitude of video games over that last 23 years (and I’m 26 now, do the math)
I’ve not played Mass Effect 3, or either of it’s prequels, although I’m gearing up to start a Mass Effect campaign shortly. When I have the time that is.

That being said, what the fuck is going on with the furore surrounding the ending of Mass Effect 3? Seriously? I mean, people are pissed off at the ending and actually petitioning Bioware and EA (the developer and publisher respectively) to make changes to the ending as they feel it doesn’t give them the range of choices they expected and it doesn’t give them enough closure.

Now, as a gamer, I’ve encountered many games where I’ve played it through and been disappointed with the ending. I’ve plowed countless hours in with the characters to be let down by the final set piece or the closing scenes. However, this malarky with ME3 astounds me. Fair enough if these fans are disappointed with the game’s ending. That’s each and every individuals right and, as such, they have a right to express that opinion. What they do not have is the right to demand wholesale changes to the end.

The best point of reference for this for me is easily Final Fantasy VII. I, along with countless others, was disappointed to get to the end of the first disc of this epic game for antagonist Sephiroth to dive from the sky and kill off Aerith, one of the main members of your party. The outrage was (and believe it or not, in some corners still is) huge. There was letters to Square and the industry rags, newsgroups and websites set up in anguish, all pleading with Yoshinori Kitase, Hironobu Sakaguchi and their team to reverse the unthinkable. And at the time it was - it was unheard of for a main character to be killed off in a game in such a way that they were very literally killed off.Didn’t matter how many Phoenix Downs you had, what materia you equipped, what cheats you tried to pull off to stop the inevitable - Aerith was gone and there was nothing you could do about it.

My point? Did Square give two monkeys about the cries of the fanboys? Did they turn round and make a change showing that Aerith survived in some ridiculous way?

Did they fuck. And it’s exactly what Bioware is doing by turning round and saying they will revisit the endgame through DLC.

What. The. FUCK?!? (and yes, I do realise that is the third F-bomb I’ve dropped in this post. Sue me)

That crazy sense of entitlement that ME fans seem to have taken is one thing. The other crazy thing was the donation drive they had to try and make Bioware ‘see sense’ - getting concerned fans to make donations that would go to the Penny Arcade-initiated charity Child’s Play. This is a charity that I’m very much ‘pro’ - providing games and funds to sick children’s hospitals around the world. But the fact that some fans, when donating, were unaware that the donations was going to Child’s Play, that in fact said fans thought they were donating to see a new ending to ME3 being developed is worrying. Even more worrying is that when these fans found out that it was going to Child’s Play and not to fixing the ME3 ending there was a mass confusion with people even trying to reclaim their donations. Needless to say, Tycho can put it in words better than most, and did so here. But it is pretty fucked up. (4)

What worries me more is where this self involved sense of entitlement is going to lead. Don’t like the end of that must-have book? Cajole the author to write a new climax! Love the album except for that one song in the middle? Tell the band to get their asses into the studio to fix it! Were you expecting King Kong to tear through New York and have humanity slaving at his feet? Then march all over Hollywood until they bring out the ‘fans cut’! I’m sorry, but this is madness gone too far. Lets cut the bullshit people.

By all means, tell the creators they got it wrong. Everyone has that right. You do not, however, have the right to make them change their work. If I was working for Bioware and was part of the ME3 team, I’d be seriously upset and considering whether or not I wanted to put my vision through that again.

Reclaim Mass Effect? Get a life guys. Fuck! (5)

a world of black, white and grey

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:54:57 +0000

I’m loving the fact that every time I go to write something up here recently, to try and show how I am and what I’ve been up to, I draw a blank. It’s kinda like a writers block, except in a much bleaker way. (this may be a bit of a bleak, whiny post, hence why I’ve put it behind a cut. Please click to continue to have a look into my crazy psyche)

As much as I hate to say it, things are definitely not good at the moment. I’m having to deal with more shit that I normally would have to. This has now got to the point of simple worries, and it has got to the point it is effecting my relationships, my way of thinking and even my health. I’m not going to be one to shouting all of my problems over the internet, but I will say this much - I am losing my sense of self, my attention span has decreased to less than say… ooooh, 30 minutes, and I genuinely cannot remember the last time I got a full nights sleep (which is why I’m looking forward to tonight - means I’ll only be losing an hour where I’m not sleeping…). And it’s taken me to suffering a breakdown in order for me to admit how far I’ve let myself sink.

Needless to say, I’ve not been a happy bunny recently.

I think I’m writing this tonight just so I can see it down in black and white for myself. I’m not myself. I’ve not been myself. I’ve not been for more time than I can imagine. But I am seeking out help. I know that I’m not alone, just like I have been preaching to everyone I’ve been trying to keep it together for recently. I know I’m not going to be OK overnight, hell I might not be OK for weeks, months or even years (that’s for my doctor and myself to discuss mind). But that’s OK. I’m beginning the process of getting back to me.

I’m hoping that putting this up will at least affirm to myself that I’m trying. I hope to get myself writing, drawing and whatever else to get myself up and dusted off. I’ve been telling my wife the same thing for the past half a year and she’s doing better than ever. I guess it’s time to practice what I preach…

jessfink: Depression comics! Aaaah.Bigger version...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:04:12 +0000

jessfink:

Depression comics! Aaaah.
Bigger version here:
http://jessfink.com/kwe/

I keep believing this will happen someday but it never does. I am 30 years old and I still get waylaid by anxiety and depression.

What has happened instead is I’ve gotten better at dealing with it. Instead of curling up in a ball and crying in bed all day I cry for maybe and hour and then I try to do SOMETHING even if it’s just the dishes. I have to accept the fact that I’m never going to not be afraid of everything, I am just going to get better at managing my fear and maybe that is what being an adult is.

Use Birth Control? You're Fired!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:17:21 +0000

Use Birth Control? You're Fired!:

starline:

greaterthanlapsed:

We are talking about authorizing secular, for-profit employers to deny a woman coverage for birth control if the employer doesn’t believe that she and her partner should be allowed to have sex without getting pregnant. Yup, that’s right. If the owner of the Taco Bell where you work opposes birth control, Arizona legislators want to give him a legal right to deny you insurance coverage for your pills. Sadly, that isn’t even the half of it. You may want to sit down for this one. Arizona legislators know that whether or not her insurance covers it, a woman may get the prescription she needs to prevent an unintended pregnancy. They want to give her boss the right to control that too. The bill they are pushing would not only allow employers to take the insurance coverage away, but it would also make it easier for an employer who finds out that his employee uses birth control to fire her. You heard me right … to fire her.

*facepalm*

Chris Hanel: Spread the Word: Theft is Theft

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:53:39 +0000

Chris Hanel: Spread the Word: Theft is Theft:

chrishanel:

Do you support webcomics? Take this one question survey:

1. Do you take the RSS feed of over 90 webcomics, rip the images, put them in your Android app, and then put your own advertisements next to them in order to make money?

Congratulations: If you said “Yes”, then NO, YOU DO NOT SUPPORT…

These guys… look kinda familiar don’t they? I...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:02:07 +0000

These guys… look kinda familiar don’t they? I couldn’t be bringing them back, could I?

The GAME Conundrum

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:24:09 +0000

Back in the mists of time (well, 2006 in all fairness) I worked at a little shop just round the corner from my flat in Dundee. It was a lovely little shop with brilliant customers, an amazing shop team and, best of all, video games as far as the eye could see. It was called GAME, and I without a doubt call it the best job I’ve ever had. Getting to talk to people about games, recommending the best titles and supplying people with little discs filled with joy - it was like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Well, without the chocolate, of course.

So it’s come with a little trepidation to see the situation that’s been playing out at GAME Group over the last couple of weeks. As a former employee, it quite sad to see the dominant brand for gaming purchases heading toward the wall. And let’s be fair, don’t kid yourself - it is most certainly heading for the big mall in the sky.

It’s been debated that a lot of people have seen this coming and to a certain extent that’s true. GAME has been the dominant brand for purchasing video games since the take over by and rename from Electronics Boutique at the turn of the millennium. But the abuses of power that comes with that dominance has been majorly the biggest reasons for its downfall. The purchasing power of the biggest retailer in the market meant that at anytime, GAME could bet on the horse they thought would make them the most money at any given time. This normally meant buying up a large stock of certain games on the ideal that they would be able to shift considerable numbers of these games at launch. Other games would be bought to a much, much smaller amount.

There was one point when I was working in the Dundee branch where every shipment had about another 5-10 copies of Crazy Frog Racer for PS2, while more and more people would come in to purchase Guitar Hero which had recently launched, but for very little stock to materialise. GAME Group had bet on the fame (or more likely, infamy) that Crazy Frog had at that time and failed miserably as the amount of stock of this particular pile of shite was remarkable. I think during my time at GAME I never sold one copy of that game.

And it’s noticeable that this trend has continued. Regardless of the public demand, GAME will stock for the publishers that were willing to give the best returns and abused their credit facilities in this way for years. It was shocking, to say the least, when it was announced that GAME had lost its credit insurance, but it wasn’t surprising.

The other big nail in GAMEs coffin has been its trade in policies. Buying pre-owned has always been a bone of contention with the publishers (part of the reason that publishers are flocking to the likes of steam and downloadable games), but GAME took it to extremes. Most people buy a game with the knowledge that using that game as a ‘deposit’ on a future purchase was possible. Or so you’d hope anyways, as GAME’s trade in prices were atrocious, especially considering the upsell they made on the games when they sold them on. A game that you maybe had £10 back on would come through to someone else as a £25 purchase - quite a big difference. And even if the game was relatively new, if a lot of people had the exact same idea; well would see quite a dramatic drop in your return.

The fact is that compared to 6 years ago, when GAME’s only real rival was Gamestation, GAME has to contend with the rise of the independent shops that have risen in recent years, the online retailers such as Amazon, Play.com and Zavvi that have taken countless customers away from GAME’s websites and the publishers themselves that are flocking to download methods to circumvent the second hand market that GAME itself has had a hand in growing to the level it is. And that’s not even mentioning the supermarkets where you could pick up Mass Effect 3 cheaper than in GAME, while picking up the weekly shop.

Oh wait, you can’t get Mass Effect 3 in GAME anyways.

The fact that GAME can’t even manage to get itself stocked for the biggest titles coming out because of its financial woes just shows how bad things have really gotten for the former beacon of gamer society. I feel the most sorry for the staff at all of GAME’s 1000+ stores because they are the one thing that GAME Group has done right over the years - they make sure to hire gamers as the sales assistants for one purpose - they know what the hell they are talking about. They play the games they are selling and are able to give accurate judgements to the punters, be they seasoned gamers or parents not sure which shiny disc would be best to give to their 14-year-old shut in. Without them I’d hasten to think that maybe GAME would have been liquidated long before now.

If only they could hire some of them for the purchasing department and management they may actually have a fighting chance of making it out on the other side to provide joy to the next generation of gamers. We can only hope…