#bright colours and blue sky are their defaults

[s0fter-sin]

i don’t like the colour of smoke screen. idk what colour i was expecting but it just looks like somnambulist

[wjbs-bonkle-au]

Redid my Bionicle primary-element palettes! They all use official colours that are available by default in Studio, so they can be used in digital MOCing.

List of all colours below.

Fire:

Volcanic - Black, Dark Red, Red, Orange, Yellow

Ash Cloud - Dark Grey, Dark Tan, Sand Red, Bright Light Orange, Light Yellow

Swamp - Dark Blue, Dark Red, Reddish Orange, Light Blue, Light Yellow

Spectral - Purple, Rust, Red, Light Purple, Dark Pink

Forest - Dark Brown, Dark Red, Reddish Orange, Medium orange, Yellow

Gas Field - Maersk Blue, Sky Blue, Light Orange, Bright Light Orange, Light Yellow

Water:

Coastal - Dark Blue, Blue, Sand Blue, Medium Blue, Lime

Polluted - Black, Dark Blue, Dark Purple, Lilac, Blue-Violet

Tropical - Dark Turquoise, Light Turquoise, Maersk Blue, Sky Blue, Light Blue

Sulphuric - Bright Light Orange, Dark Turquoise, Dark Azure, Medium Azure, Medium Green

Aquifer - Dark Blue, Dark Bluish Grey, Sand Blue, Dark Azure, Medium Blue

Swamp - Medium Brown, Dark Turquoise, Dark Azure, Medium Azure, Sand Green

Earth:

Cavern - Black, Dark Grey, Purple, Orange, Tan

Desert - Black, Dark Grey, Dark Tan, Light Grey, Tan

Diamond Mine - Dark Bluish Grey, Dark Grey, Dark Tan, Light Grey, Dark Azure

Jungle - Dark Bluish Grey, Olive Green, Light Grey, Sand Green, Very Light Grey

Bog - Black, Brown, Light Brown, Medium Brown, Olive Green

Magma - Black, Dark Red, Dark Grey, Reddish Orange, Light Grey

Air

Jungle - Dark Green, Green, Dark Turquoise, Light Green, Lime

Polluted - Dark Grey, Sand Purple, Olive Green, Sand Green, Light Green

Fog - Dark Grey, Dark Tan, Olive Green, Medium Lime, Light Lime

Coastal - Sand Blue, Dark Turquoise, Medium Green, Sand Green, White

Swamp - Black, Dark Green, Green, Olive Green, Light Lime

Desert - Dark Tan, Medium Lime, Light Lime, Tan, Yellowish Green

Stone

Desert - Black, Brown, Dark Grey, Medium Brown, Tan

Sulphuric - Dark Bluish Grey, Dark Grey, Orange, Bright Light Orange, Light Bluish Grey

Mesa - Dark Brown, Light Brown, Dark Orange, Reddish Orange, Salmon

Mountain - Light Brown, Dark Gray, Olive Green, Medium Tan, Very Light Grey

Coastal - Sand Blue, Dark Tan, Light Grey, Tan, Light Blue

Geode - Purple, Magenta, Dark Grey, Light Bluish Grey, Very Light Bluish Grey

Ice

Mountain - Sand Blue, Dark Grey, Light Grey, Light Blue, White

Glacial - Dark Blue, Dark Blue-Violet, Dark Azure, Bright Light Blue, Light Blue

Iron Oxide - Dark Red, Red, Sand Red, Very Light Grey, White

Tundra - Dark Green, Brown, ???, Bright Light Blue, White

Cavern - Dark Turquoise, Dark Azure, Bright Light Blue, Light Blue, Light Aqua

Auroral - Medium Violet, Dark Azure, Light Turquoise, Medium Azure, Light Blue

[bbyquokka]

imagine felix laying on ur chest while u play with his soft hair and kiss his forehead bye its been on my mind all day i need someone to cuddle me😠😠🙁

summer luvin'

FLUFF BELOW CUT – MINORS, AGELESS & DEFAULT BLOGS; DNI

warnings: gn reader, established relationship, domesticated au, non-idol au, pet names. words: 0.9k ~ (902)

dont repost. dont translate. feedback and reblogs are highly advised and appreciated!

the scorching hot sun beats down on your skin. the hot, suffocating air blows past you every now and then, the wind chimes singing with each hit of the humid wind.

the skies are clear, not a cloud in the sky to help provide some shade from the intense heat the sun is providing. you have done everything that needed to be done today so you're now taking the time to relax.

the only thing that needed to be done, was water the plants and freshly grown veg and fruits you and your significant other, felix, have decided to grow together to help reduce the cost of grocery shopping; even if it's just a little.

a pink and white plaid picnic blanket rubs against the skin of your arms and legs. the soft texture of the grass shifts around and rustles as you lean up on your elbows. you place one hand above your eyes to provide you some cover from the sun as you watch your lover water the strawberries and cucumbers.

blue denim shorts and green crocs accompany him. his blue hair pushed back with the help of a black headband, beads of sweat roll down his forehead and temples. his naked chest and torso on display as his skin is slowly turning from a tanned colour to bright, burning red.

“hey felix.” he looks at you as he holds the green watering can. “have you put on sun cream?”

felix pouts a little, looking around sheepishly before shrugging and giving you a cheeky smile. you sigh, shaking your head slowly as you sit up fully and grab the sun cream.

“c'mere.” felix finishes watering the plants before bouncing over to you. he takes of his crocs by wiggling his feet and legs before kneeling down on the blanket in front of you.

“lix, you're burning.” you frown.

“i thought i did put on suncream.” he pouts.

“it's the hottest day of the year darling. you have to be safe, especially when you're out.”

“oh, this is nothing! it's way hotter in australia.” he laughs.

“we are in australia.” you state as you squirt the cream onto the palm of your hand.

“oh.. right, yeah. ops.” felix laughs as you shake your head and rub your palms together.

“on your stomach. i'll put some cream on your back.” felix shuffles into his stomach, arms being used as supports for his head as he rests his cheeks on them. you rub the cream into his hot skin as you feel a tad worried about how red his skin is looking, making a mental note to by some aloe vera next time you're both out and about.

you rub the cream onto his back and the back of his legs before helping him in applying the cream on his chest, abs and arms. you apply some on his nose and cheeks.

“your freckles are so clear now.”

“they are?”

“yeah. the sun really helps bring them out. your whole face is decorated with freckles. it's the cutest thing i've seen.”

a pink blush rises to his cheeks to which you giggle at before stroking the blush. you gently kiss his cheek as felix hums softly.

“do we need to do anything else today?” he asks softly as he watches you reapply your own sun cream.

“i don't think so lix. i think we've doing everything today.”

“great!” your eyes widen as felix gently tackles you. you land on your back with a soft thump and grunt as felix nuzzles into your chest, his arm loosely draped over your stomach. once the initial shock of the sudden attack is over, do you smile and hold him close to you.

you both ignore the fact that you're two very hot people, skin sticking together as the heat from the sun and each other mixes and rises. sweat accumulates on both your foreheads, the feeling of stickiness and grossness rising; but you both ignore it.

you close your eyes slowly as you listen to the sounds of the birds singing their sweet and gentle tunes. the cheers and shouts of children playing in their back yards ringing in your ears before occasionally dying down to nothing but blissful silence.

you absentmindedly twist felix's blue hair around your finger, raking your fingers through it and massaging his scalp. he lets out soft and gently hums and groans as you occasionally kiss the top of his head.

soon, the heat of each other becomes too much. after minutes of being close to one another, does felix pull away slowly. he stands up and disappears into the kitchen. you hear the sound of water running and felix rummaging around in the cupboards.

you think nothing of it, thinking he was just preparing some food and drinks for you both, until you feel something wet explode onto your stomach causing you to shriek and bolt upright.

you look up at a mischievous looking felix. a couple of water balloons in his hands as a bucket of them is situated by his feet.

“oh! you're on, mr!” you laugh as you grab a balloon and instantly throw it at his torso.

“water balloon fight! looser has to cook dinner!” you shout as you rush to your feet, grabbing more balloons in your hands.

“oh, you're on yn! just know that i'm going to kick your ass.”

“in your dreams, felix!”

note: if its hot where you live, remember to stay hydrated, wear sun cream and dont stay out for too long!! stay safe everyone ☀

tags (open): @sstarryoong ; @oshimee ; @unh0ly-dr3am3r ; @septicrebel ; @alyszaen ; @writerracha ; @hyunluvxo ; @aestheticsluut ; @xcookiemonsteer ; @telesvng

[silvesi]

Hello! I've been tagged to do this 3 times, by @dotmander @commander-winterberry and @lynxfrost13 , as I am SLOW! Unfortunately, now that means you get three characters >:3

Unusual muse associations:

Fedsy :

Seasoning: Does lemon juice count?

Weather: That really bright sunlight after a storm. Humid.

Colour: Rose red

Sky: Sunset, but when the lighting is such that the sun is red and the clouds are that dark purple haze

Magical Power: Teleportation. CREATURE MODE.

Plant: Ti plant, specifically cordyline tango. the pinkey one.

Weapon: Dagger

Subject: Chemistry

Social media: Twitter. To piss people off.

Makeup product: Really brightly coloured liquid eyeliners. Probably red.

Candy: Those plastic sherbet straws that u get to fill with so many different flavours from a huge dispenser 

Fear: losing control-?

Ice cube shape: Sphere. Orb.

Method of long distance travel: Skiff

Piece of Stationery: Ink brush

Three Emoji: 💜😔🪷🔪 FOUR.

Celestial Body: VENUS. (small. hot. all round chaotic. Eats scientific equipment for fun.) 

Dralsin :

Seasoning: gravy is seasoning

Weather: Generic day, temperature is okay, it's a bit grey but whatever. Oddly still, though. why is there no wind.

Colour: <- ourple :)

Sky: That kinda sunset/night where there's no sun left but there's light scattering off the atmosphere, just barely.

Magical Power: Shadow beast Mode, defensive invulnerability edition?

Plant: Insanely large croton.

Weapon: Sword/shield

Subject: Phys ed.

Social media: facebook, begrudgingly.

Makeup product: uh, shaving cream? he's meticulous abt shaving his cute tree fuzzies

Candy: THERE'S THIS ONE HARD CANDY IN YORKSHIRE MIX. IT'S DARK. WEIRD TRIANGLE SHAPE. AND IT TASTES SO BAD. ANISEED???

Fear: Being rejected, outcast

Ice cube shape: frozen plastic water bottle smashed on counter

Method of long distance travel : The Mists

Piece of Stationery: pencil, but it has to be sharpened badly with a knife

Three Emoji: 😐🐈‍⬛👾

Celestial Body: The Kupier belt

Larry:

Seasoning: samphire

Weather: overcast, gentle snow, light breeze.

Colour: icy blue :)

Sky: sunrise blues and pale yellows

Magical Power: HOLY, CONDITION CLEANSING, PURGING FLAME

Plant fungus: Mycena subcyanocephala. sry it has no non latin name its cute as hell tho

Weapon: greatsword

Subject: Art

Social media: no

Makeup product: noooooooo

Candy: Peach gummies

Fear: Causing others suffering through his own actions

Ice cube shape: default cube

Method of long distance travel: Airship

Piece of Stationery: Mechanical eraser

Three Emoji: 👍🫂🪼

Celestial Body: uranus. (blue. sad. lonely. COLD. just like larry fr)

Alright I'm tagging at random, no pressure!

@little-leaf-man @sunsrefuge hiii

[beinfriends]

MUSE FILE

BASICS! NAME: Abigail "Abbey" Esther Pope AGE: 32 [default], 28 [M3] BIRTHDAY: February 14th GENDER: Cis female SEXUALITY: Bisexual INTROVERT, EXTROVERT, OR OMNIVERT?: Omnivert HEIGHT:  5′2" BODY TYPE: She's tiiiiny. Very smol. Pretty average otherwise. EYES: Blue HEALTH: Good health, she's just accident prone. MEDICATION: None. TEMPERAMENT: She's VERY sweet. She's gently friendly, though a bit shy at times, and easily made nervous, but still a very happy woman overall.

FAMILY! FATHER: Abraham Pope (deceased) MOTHER: Mona Pope (deceased) SIBLINGS: N/A PARTNER: Abbot Pope (husband) OFFSPRING: None yet, but they're definitely planning on having some soon. PETS: N/A, but they want to get a puppy.

ADDITIONAL! SMOKES: No. DRINKS: Yup. Her and Abbot don't drink to excess, but they drink at least once a week since they usually go and get drinks with Paul and Linda. But they do like to get really fucked up about once a month when they go to a DCMC concert, lol. DRUGS: No. DIET: Probably a lot of veggies. She isn't a vegetarian, but they just seem like the type to lean more towards that sort of diet. She eats pretty lightly, too. ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCE: None. TATTOOS: None. PIERCINGS: Ear piercings. MAKE-UP: She wears a bit! Usually lipstick, maybe a little blush at times, but not much otherwise. JEWELLERY: Aside from occasional earrings, she has her wedding ring. GLASSES/CONTACTS?: Nope. PERFUME?: Sometimes! MISC: She's got freckles :] DRIVES?: If it was modern verse, yes, but she probably has driving anxiety. WRITES LOVE POETRY?: Nah, but she'd read it. CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY?: Yes! FAVOURITE COLOUR?: Dusty pink. SLEEPS?: Fuck dude she sure does. HAS PLUSHIES?: Her and Abbot have a teddy bear. MUSIC TASTE?: She probably likes country, honestly, or folk, but she's open to most music. READS?: Sometimes! FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY: Meeting Abbot on the first day of Kindergarten :] he was very shy and so was she but something got them talking and they wound up becoming best friends by the end of the day. SINGS IN SHOWER?: Probably!!

tagged by: old meme tagging: YOU!!!

Abbot version under the cut.

BASICS! NAME: Abbot Abraham Pope (formerly Abbot Jedediah Bishop) AGE: 32 [default], 28 [M3] BIRTHDAY: June 13th GENDER: Cis male SEXUALITY: Bisexual INTROVERT, EXTROVERT, OR OMNIVERT?: Extrovert HEIGHT:  5′6" BODY TYPE: He is also pretty small, and very lean. He's got short legs, too. EYES: Blue HEALTH: Good health. MEDICATION: None. TEMPERAMENT: Not super energetic, but still quite outgoing and friendly. He loves talking to people and has a good, strong sense of humor about things.

FAMILY! FATHER: Jedediah Bishop (deceased) MOTHER: Sarah Grace Bishop (deceased) SIBLINGS: His dad walked out on his family when he was 4 and 100% had more fucking kids he didn't take care of, but they're all dead in any case, and Abbot never knew them. PARTNER: Abbey Pope (wife) OFFSPRING: None yet, but they're definitely planning on having some soon. PETS: N/A, but they want to get a puppy.

ADDITIONAL! SMOKES: No. DRINKS: Yup. Him and Abbey don't drink to excess, but they drink at least once a week since they usually go and get drinks with Paul and Linda. But they do like to get really fucked up about once a month when they go to a DCMC concert, lol. DRUGS: No. DIET: Same diet as Abbey, since they make all their meals together. ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCE: None. TATTOOS: None. PIERCINGS: N/A MAKE-UP: N?A JEWELLERY?: Just his wedding ring. GLASSES/CONTACTS?: Nope. PERFUME?: Nah. MISC: He's also got freckles :] DRIVES?: If it was modern verse, yes. WRITES LOVE POETRY?: Nah. CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY?: Yes! FAVOURITE COLOUR?: Sky blue. SLEEPS?: He sure does. When he's depressed, he has a problem with hypersomnia, though! HAS PLUSHIES?: They have a teddy bear. MUSIC TASTE?: Country, classic rock, folk, that sort of thing. READS?: Not much, but sometimes. FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY: Also has to be meeting Abbey. She was the one bright spot in his life. He was very shy and anxious about other people as a really young kid, and Abbey was a little spooked by him at first, but eventually they clicked, and she became his closest & only friend... and eventually, his wife, lol. SINGS IN SHOWER?: Yeah, sure.

[nitroish]

So if the Links didn’t just wear little hoop earrings, what earrings would they wear?

here we fuckin go babey!!!

legend has fourteen earrings (7 in each ear) and swaps em out often. i draw em w some of them often. (wild gifts him heat res and shock res ones and he goes :OOOO GASP because why didnt HE think of magical protective earrings and he fuckin wears the shock one all the time. its one of the cuff earrings that is on the top shell of his ear. uhh basically the ones i draw him with. are the ones in this answer. <3 KJFGHFD

warriors has dangly earrings that he doesnt wear alot cos they get caught in his scarf and arent really suited for battle. he wears them on a nice night out tho!! i think theyd be pretty? like uhh. triforce earrings, some simple gem looking ones, some simple small chain earrings that hang down, just. anything he finds hed like. he also wears studs but those are BORING. theyre good for subtle but god. god, hes not fucking subtle. he probably found and has the most obnoxious stud earrings. ALSO ear cuffs that wrap around his ears if u know what im talkin bout. decorative and sleek and very fancy.

hyrule has mini jar n bottle earrings w things inside them!! little pieces of plants or dirt or water or even stuff that kinda looks like potions tht are different colours. i think they would be cute. he deserves it. he also has studs but they r subtle and just small gems. he prolly didnt have a ton but when you visit other hyrules and have some downtime maybe. maybe he wants to window shop. and maybe he gives in to those urges to buy. because he Can. also can u imagine him w a sword earring stickin thru his ear. amazing.

i meant to continue this but its been in my drafts for so long that i forgot about it, so im gonna leave it as is, kinda! the rest are gonna be lightning round answers

time: normal earrings. studs, maybe some cuffs? just the default ones that link wears. hed have a collection of cute earrings - cuccos, cows, mini glass jars. theyre all stud earrings with the shapes. he doesnt wear them but theyre cute, arent they??

wind: swords. as. earrings. theyre pirate lookin ones. maybe some studs, maybe some actual wide hoop earrings. hed look nice in gold i think. hed have such a cool arry of earrings. from treasure they found to gifts from people for his and the crews help.

wild: any and all he sees. mostly ones with magical enhancements like his sapphire or whatever ones are in his lobes, and the rest are decorative. hed like the chain ones that dangle and connect earring to earring.

twilight: he has the main link piercing, and the other earrings are purely fake/decorative. he has the ear cuffs that are fuckin gorgeous instead of earrings!

four: five colours: red, blue, green, violet, and black. he likes the small hoop earring. when theyre split they have their respective earring colour. the earring wont always be in the same place - like? it could go like this: blue's is a lip piercing, red's is a helix, greens is a lobe, and violets is a tongue piercing/eyebrow piercing. who knows!!!

sky: oh his are so pretty. maybe big bright earrings are saved for holidays or celebrations for skyloft! he likes ribbon earrings or the classic link earring. he also has an orbital, i think. he doesnt have a ton of piercings, just the two in each ear. he wouldnt be opposed to more, but hes not really actually given thought abt it.

[evansyhelp]

✧  TEXTURES  –  A TUTORIAL BY EVANSYHELP. 

In this (long and image-heavy) tutorial, I’ll be showing you how I make textures, as requested by a very kind anon. I use Photoshop CC 2019 but you should be able to replicate my methods on most editing software. Please like or reblog this post if you find this helpful!

Index.

Ethically Sourcing Your Images.

Finding The Right Image.

Making Your Texture.

Other Tricks I Use.

Quick Recap.

Making Textures Without Images: Speedrun.

Outro.

Ethically Sourcing Your Images. 

I will be explaining a couple quick ways to make textures without any images at the end of the tutorial, but since my personal favourite way involves images and that’s specifically what the anon requested, that’s what the majority of the tutorial will be focused on.

The first step, naturally, is finding an image to use. My personal favourite site is Unsplash, but there are plenty of options out there. 

What you need to keep in mind is what kind of license the images have. Unsplash is free for personal and commercial use with no attribution required, which makes it perfect for things like this. There are more sites like this in my free for commercial use masterlist (linked at the end of the post), but unless you’re using them in products you’re selling (like graphic commissions), the commercial aspect isn’t something you need to worry about. Just check the site/photographer’s rules to make sure you’re allowed to edit the images for personal use, and whether attribution (credit) is required. 

Another important thing to keep in mind is that these sites typically never allow you to redistribute the images as they are. That means you can’t just go to Unsplash’s texture category, save the images without any changes, and reupload them in a texture pack on Tumblr. That’s stealing. We don’t do that.

Finding The Right Image.  

Knowing what kinds of images will make good textures is a learning curve. My first couple texture packs are rough compared to what I make now, because I basically taught myself with no guidance and learned through trial and error. But with practice, I learned what worked and what didn’t. 

You want your images to be HQ, either with no ‘subject’ (ie. a person) or with a large background. Higher contrast is better but not super necessary. You should hopefully be able to envision what kind of texture you want to make before you even touch the image.

Making Your Texture. 

For the majority of the tutorial, this is the image I’ll be working with. Credits can be found in the link at the end of the post. 

Open your canvas. You can make specialised textures, like 100px for icons or 540px for Tumblr graphics, but I personally prefer to make them large for versatility. I’m using 800px in this tutorial. Once you’ve chosen your size, upload your full-size image into the canvas. This is where the fun begins!

Drag the image around into a nice position. Or use Edit > Transform to rotate, flip, and warp the image in different ways. Or use Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to change the size or the angle more precisely. Or probably some combination of all three! With Free Transform, make sure this aspect ratio anchor is selected so you don’t butcher the quality of the image, unless you’re warping it intentionally:

This is all very individual to each image you use. You might want to flip one, shrink another, put another at a 30 degree angle. Just experiment until you end up with something you think would look awesome as a texture. For the sake of providing a good example, I flipped this image vertically, shrunk it to 80% its original size, and rotated it until it looked like the smoke/cloud was coming from the bottom right corner. This is what we have:

Then we move onto enhancing. Textures work best when there’s a lot of contrast because it’s easier to manipulate the blending modes. So if your image isn’t already high contrast, these adjustment layers (Brightness/Contrast, Levels, and Selective Colour) are your new best friends:

If you don’t see this on your Photoshop, go to Window > Adjustments and it should pop up. Again, just experiment, because different images will require different things. Essentially, you want to make the darks darker and the lights lighter. Something I like to do is add a Selective Colour layer and use the Black slider. Pick out the primary colour of the image, and then Whites, in the drop-down menu, and move the bottom slider (left to lighten, right to darken) until you’re satisfied. Like so:

So with those Selective Colour settings and the following Levels settings, here’s the before and after of my image.

Much better contrast! If you want to end here, you can, but I personally prefer grayscale textures a lot of the time because it makes it more versatile. Instead of being forced to make a blue graphic because this image is blue, I can make any colour graphic I want with one simple black and white Gradient layer. Photoshop does have a default Black & White adjustment feature, but I prefer using Gradients.

Pro tip: if your image doesn’t have a pure black, you can keep the darkest parts of your image dark by using the left slider, shown below. 

A lot of the time, I’ll also decrease the opacity of that Gradient layer, to somewhere between 80% and 95%, so just a hint of the original colour comes through. This gives it more dimension in my opinion, while still keeping it mostly neutral. Here’s 100% vs. 85%:

You may find that you want to add a little more contrast after. With this texture, I decided to grab another Selective Colour layer, pick ‘Black’ in the drop-down menu, and pull the Black slider up to +40. I also settled on 95% opacity for the Gradient. And here’s the final product!

Other Tricks I Use. 

That covers how I make a lot of my easier textures, but here’s a quick run-through of other, slightly more complex tricks. I’ll be working with this image (again, credit at the end of the post):

This, of course, is not as obviously texture-worthy as the previous example, but I love textures with strong lines, so here’s how the magic happens! I wanted to get rid of the detail on the bottom half, so I used the Polygonal Lasso tool to select it:

Then I used the eyedropper tool (the 4th symbol under the polygonal lasso in the image above) to select the blue of the sky and, on a new layer, painted that selection completely blue. I decreased the opacity to 90% just so it wasn’t a total block colour, but not enough that you can really see the lines. I repeated this process for the sky, so it looked more consistent with the bottom half.

Then, using the eyedropper tool again and making a new layer for every colour, I went in with a small soft paintbrush and painted out the harsh vertical lines on each segment of the stripes. I didn’t want to make them totally perfect, but I painted over the bulkiest interruptions. 

I added a black and white Gradient layer, using the slider tool I showed you before to darken the darks and lighten the lights, and decreased it to 50% so that it wasn’t totally black and white but still more neutral than the original. Here’s the result:

Another fun way to shake things up, which unfortunately will require Photoshop (CS6 should be fine, not sure about earlier versions), is the Filter Gallery. Go to Filter > Filter Gallery, and you’ll find a TON of effects that change your image drastically. Most of the default settings are nightmarish, but you can play around with the settings panel on the right.

Here’s just a few results that are possible with the Filter Gallery, labelled for convenience. You can view the HQ versions in the link at the end of the post.

Quick Recap. 

So you don’t have to reread this obnoxiously large tutorial every time you want to reference it in the future:

Choose a HQ image.

Resize, rotate, flip, and/or warp.

Enhance the contrast.

Black and white!

Paint over problem areas!

Filter > Filter Gallery.

Making Textures Without Images: Speedrun.

We’re almost done! There are some tools built directly into Photoshop that can allow you to make textures completely from scratch, and I’ll briefly cover my favourites here. 

The first is pattern fill layers. I spent too many years not appreciating the patterns feature in Photoshop, but they’re great. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Pattern, click ‘OK’ on the box that pops up, and another box will pop up to let you choose your pattern. 

By themselves, they are UGLY. It can take a while to figure out how to use them. But if you change the scale, change the blending mode, and change the opacity, you have thousands of textures at your fingertips. And if you add two or three together? Billions of possibilities. I can do a more in-depth tutorial on patterns if y’all are interested, but here’s two examples I just whipped up in a matter of minutes, using two patterns on each:

The next feature is gradient fill layers, and the gradient tool. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient… to select a gradient (or make your own!) and an angle, OR use the gradient tool (featured below) to drag the gradient across your canvas manually. On its own, boom, that’s a gradient texture. Paired with a pattern or put through the Filter Gallery? Even better!

The last is brushes. Brushes can be great for textures because there are so many kinds. You want to make a paint splatter texture? Paint splatter brush sets are everywhere! You want to make a smoky texture? You can get brushes that look like smoke! Smudged? Scratchy? Grunge? Halftone? Light leaks? Torn paper? Brushes have your back. 

With all of these features (and things like actions, too!), your saving grace is going to be this little cog wheel shown below, and the list you’ll find under the Reset/Save/Load section. There are SO many more options built directly into Photoshop that you don’t even see right away, because you have to add them manually from this little cog wheel. 

And you can download countless more patterns, gradients, and brushes from sites like Brusheezy and DeviantART. A couple tutorials on downloading and installing them can be found in the link at the end of the post, but remember, download these things ethically. If you want to sell products that use a custom brush, it’s your responsibility to find brushes that are free for commercial use. If you don’t want to credit the creator, it’s your responsibility to find resources that don’t require attribution. 

Outro.

I think that’s everything, guys! If you found this tutorial helpful or otherwise enjoy my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi! I offer exclusive rewards, like custom graphics, to everyone who donates. 

Due to Tumblr’s latest rules about links, you can find the credits list, the promised bonus tutorials, other important links, and the full-size HQ versions of the textures made in this tutorial over here.

Thanks for reading!

[ashleighwho]

Toy Review: PriCast And Yattemita Aplli Sets

In season 1 of Kiratto PriChan, every character uses a Pichan Cast, or PriCast. This cellphone-like device acts as their camera, phone, and dressing room.

In this post, I'll discuss what the Pink version of the PriCast toy is like, as well as what two of the additional items - called Yattemita Aplli* - can do.

If you'd like to see it demonstrated,  check out the featured Story on my collectors Instagram page - instagram.com/ashleighglitters

*Aplli is the translation used by AmiAmi, OtakuMode, and Madarake, and the one I have chosen to use as it's the one you'll likely need to use when buying it. However, other translations like Aplpli, Appuri, App, and Application, are just as valid and accurate.

The Pink PriCast

My PriCast is the Pink version, which comes with Mirai's Priticket, and has both Mirai and Emo as voiceovers by default.

The  big, clear "Kiratto" button features a light that flashes various colours, and the PriTicket slots into the back of the device, over the battery compartment when not in use.

Considering it's made by the A.R.T.S. label, which is known for being low quality, it isn't nearly as bad as I'd expected it to be. But it still isn't great.

The mirrors on both sides are very shiny and genuinely reflective, which is nice, and the prints on both the buttons and the aplli are crisp and bright. It does tend to pick up on my fingerprints though, making it look very used and dirty. It would have been nice if there were some kind of protective film over the reflective parts, as with only a little gentle usage, they're already beginning to show some wear and tear.

My one major issue with the quality is that the pink plastic looks oddly streaky, and even "dented" in places, which is very unfortunate given it's a brand new item.  

There's also the fact that, from the first time I switched out the aplli, the black sticker detailing around the holes started to look shabby and worn. I suspect with any serious amount of usage, they could start to peel up, which is a major issue if you like to display it open.

Using The PriCast

When first turned on, Emo and Mirai greet you with "Let's La Prichan!" no matter what aplli are inserted.

When the Priticket is swiped while the default aplli that come with the PriCast are inserted, it plays the generic dressing room tunes, and either Mirai or Emo get to have a Kiratto Chance. This consists of playing the audio from the show, with the Kiratto button flashing the colours of the rainbow.

At certain moments, just as Mirai and Emo press the Kiratto button on screen, the user has to also press it on the PriCast. The Kiratto button will then turn the colour of the performing/inserted character.

The cast comes with 3 default Yattemita Aplli - the Prichan Clock, the Live button, and a vaguely Instagram-with-sparkles looking logo.  These can be seen inserted on the picture above. Only the Live button has any real function, as the other two largely act as placeholders for the separately-purchased aplli.

The Live button should go in the top left-hand hole. The other two can be inserted anywhere.

If the Live button is in a different hole when a character aplli is inserted, the device won't pick up on the character, and will just do the default instead.

There are 3 other, permanently fixed, flat buttons that vaguely resemble that of a touch screen phone.

(Please note that I'm just loosely translating and/or guessing these button names as I could not find any English information about this item anywhere, and they aren't named within the show.)

The one on the top right "Play" button has several functions.

Pressing it once activated a Dance game, where a nursery rhyme tune will be played and the button will flash in time, which you then have to repeat by pressing it. This happens twice, and if you succeed both times, there's a Kiratto Chance.

Pressing it twice in succession activates a colour coord game, where you choose a  colour. The script will play, followed by the Kiratto button flashing different colours of the rainbow, and stating each colour. Again, if you choose correctly, a Kiratto Chance will play.

Pressing it three times will go to Kiratto Chance, where you press the Kiratto button multiple times while the light changes from one colour to another. Generally, the colours match the Yattemita Aplli character that is inserted. It is a game of luck, sometimes ending in a Kiratto Chance, but usually it does not.

For some reason, no matter what Yattemita Aplli button you use, Mirai always does the voice over for the Play button, though the Kiratto Chance will always match the the aplli inserted.

The bottom left (which I called a "Love" button) produces a comment, or compliment. If using the standard aplli, it will only play once per press, while a character aplli will produce one when pressed once, or three in a row if pressed a second time.

The final, bottom right button is a "Camera" button, that makes timer and shutter sounds, while the Kiratto button flashes like a camera timer. Three times in a row, the characters will comment as if they were on camera, taking a photo, or say their catch phrases. These phrases appear to be in a randomized order, and again, the default will either feature Mirai and Emo, or the character whose aplli is inserted.

If you insert several aplli at once, it will randomly choose which character does what. This includes if you mix aplli from different sets, which is interesting but not very useful and doesn't really add anything to the experience. Personally, I would have preferred if inserting multiples could produce a group song or performance with the PriTicket, but sadly that isn't the case.

Without the additional aplli, you can't choose the characters at all.

The Dance Lesson defaults to Mirai, the Camera alternates between them, and the Love button is mostly Emo. There is no way to get Rinka's voice over without the Kiratts Aplli set.

If you leave the Pricast alone for a while, it will eventually go to sleep, which is good because it saves the battery. Pressing the Kiratto Button wakes it up again.

Using the Yattemita Aplli Sets and PriTicket

Placing a single Character aplli on top of the Live button will result in the device stating the character and coord that corresponds with that aplli, and you can leave it sitting on top of the Live button while using the various flat buttons, and sipe the PriTicket.

However, balancing the aplli on the PriCast like that can be awkward, as the aplli are prone to moving around and falling off. To stop that from happening, you can remove the default aplli and put the character aplli in it's place.

If you're only using one aplli, you must remove the Live aplli and use the top left corner hole, or else the device won't recognize that an aplli is inserted. If you are using more than one aplli, it doesn't seem to matter which of the other two aplli are replaced.

To remove the aplli, you need to press one of the three corresponding buttons at the back of the device. These will push the aplli out of their clips. Inserting them just means pushing them into the hole, where they'll clip into place.

Swiping the PriTicket with the default aplli will play a dressing room soundtrack, and a Kiratto Chance. These are randomly voiced by either Mirai or Emo. The priticket used it Mirai, but it makes no difference - you could use a thick credit card or your finger to make it work the same way.

Inserting a character aplli will change the dressing room song, and a performance song clip. Both with correspond to the songs that character produces when performing on the show.

Yattemita Aplli Set - Miracle Kirrats

Mirai and Emo's character aplli are only useful for playing their respective songs, or guaranteeing they will be the speaking character. Otherwise, you can achieve most of their functions using the Pink PriCast with just the default aplli. However, you can only get Rinka's aplli with her song and voice functions as part of this set.

Compared to swiping the PriTicket without an Aplli, their insert songs - specified on the front of the box - play instead of the Kiratto Chance.

Emo's aplli plays "Pom Pom Sky High Dream" when the ticket is swiped. With Emo's aplli, the Kiratto button light turns Yellow and White.

Mirai's aplli plays "A Million Flowers for the Thrilling Future". Mirai's Kiratto light is pink and white.

The Rinka button produces a new dressing room song, as well as Rinka's song "The Cool Coord Changed Me", and her  Kiratto Chance. It plays her voice with unique phrases when used with the Love and Camera buttons.  Her lights are blue and white.

If you insert all three at once, it will randomly choose a different character each time, or if you press the Kiratto button when it flashes their corresponding colour.

Yattemita Aplli Set - Meltic Star

These were definitely worth purchasing if you like Meltic Star, as there's no other way to get their characters on a PriCast.

Just like the Miracle Kiratts, each character aplli comes with their own unique phrases for the Camera and Love buttons, plus their own dressing room sequence, kirratto chances, and appeal song inserts. When inserted or tapped on the Live button, they also introduce themselves and their coord.

Mel's aplli plays "Check it! It's a Mel-Mel Cool Coord!" with Purple light.

Displaying The Aplli

You may have noticed that the faces and motifs on the inside of the Aplli are crooked or upside-down. This is because they need to be able to spin, but as a result, any movement can cause them to become crooked. People who are particularly fussy about their displays may find this very annoying to deal with, though it is possible to turn them by moving the dial on the back with your fingers.

Issues With The Sets

I personally chose to buy the Kiratts set, with all 3 members of Kiratts. However, there are also sets for just Mirai and Emo, the latter of which is pictured above,.

Those specific character sets come with two songs, one of which is the same as the song in the Kiratts set,although the pictures on them are slightly different. If you're an avid collector and want to buy all of the aplli, this means that you will have to end up with doubles of some aplli. There’s also the fact that they don’t really do much more than simply using the defaults for Mirai and Emo.

This would not be a problem if it were possible to buy a Rinka set or default device, in which case you could simply by 3 character sets, and not the Kiratts group set, or just the 2 different defaults.

However, the only way to get Rinka on the PriCast is from the Kiratts set, as she does not have her own character set or default device.

Something else that I find incredibly annoying is that these are supposedly "coords" - where we used to have cards with the outfits or parts of outfits printed on them, now we have tiny plastic squares that don't reflect the coords worn on the show whatsoever, and it seems a little redundant for them to state the coord they're wearing when you cannot see it.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I do dearly miss the collectible nature of the cards, the textural nature of them, and just the fact that we could actually see the coord in the real world, or at least as close as we can get without a cosplay.

Kiratto PriChan's arcade game still uses the ticket cards, so it's an odd choice to make them mostly useless with the PriCast and in the show.

The Boxes

Boxes are boxes, and the Pricast is very standard as far as boxes go. There's no window on it, just pictures on the front, including Emo and Mirai, the items inside, and a ton of text.

The back of the box is an entire text wall, while the top features instructions on how to use the Live button it with the arcade machine to get an exclusive dress, and also the fact you can buy more Yattemita Aplli Sets, which essentially work as character- and song-specifying buttons.

The sides do feature brief guides on how to use it, but they don't begin to explain how complicated it really is - but I suppose you can't fit that in such a small space.

Overall, I'd only really keep this box for storage or resale, as it's not really display worthy on it's own, nor does it display the PriCast.

Unlike the Cast, the aplli sets  - which is what I'm going to call them as it's much simpler than "Yattemita Aplli Sets" - come in a clear bubble on a printed cardboard backing. It looks a lot nicer than the bulky box, plus there's pictures right on the front to show you how to use them.

On the back, there's some more vague instructions, along with pictures of which coords these aplli are meant to represent. And I'm using the word "represent" on purpose, but more on that later.

Overall, I quite like these, and they were very easily opened without causing any damage, making them perfect to store and display the aplli in.

VS The Show Version

As far as aesthetics go, the TV show and toy version look very similar. The "mirror" is a screen for viewing on the show ( or at least, that's where they look through when filming,) but functionally, that wouldn't work well in the toy, so it's a good compromise rather than leaving it plain plastic.

The pink is a very different shade, with the toy being a dark, bright pink and the show version being a softer pastel tone, which is a weird choice.

I would have loved to have had a digital version of this item, with an actual camera and screen, but given this is a budget item, it contains a surprising number of relevant gimmicks and games.

Cost and Shipping Time

The PreCast cost 1,830 JPY on sale at AmiAmi, or about $28 NZD.  The Yattemita Aplli Sets cost 310 JPY each, or $5 NZD.

With shipping, it totaled a little over $45 NZD, and arrived within three weeks. It was packed really well in a standard AmiAmi box with a ton of paper packing.

Given the current climate, I felt that was quite cheap and fast, however, I do live in New Zealand which is not as restricted or has as much backlog as other countries.

Conclusion

Although I do quite like this item overall, I will say I am glad to have bought it on sale rather than at full price.

It's fun and does accurately reflect the show, while still adding in some interactive extras which is nice.

If you're only an Emo and Mirai fan, the cast on it's own will suit you fine, but if you want some Meltic Star or Rinka moments, it's absolutely essential to invest in the Yattemita Aplli sets.

[missantichrist]

About my Apprentice

BASICS

Name: Atlas

Birthday: April 17

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Orientation: Gay

Favorite flower: Tiger Lily

Favorite food: Crab cakes

Favorite drink: Absinthe

Love Interest: Muriel

This lovely art below is by @fantasmagorias​ and Atlas is the one in the back row on the right :) 

(Literally everything else under the cut. I just didn’t want people who don’t care about my Arcana stuff to have to scroll through all of... that ⇩)

APPEARANCE/PHYSICAL TRAITS

Height: 6’2”

Body type/build: He’s thin, lanky, and muscular. Think Julian but a little bit more toned muscle, less dorito and more hourglass and instead of a pancake butt, he thicc

Skin: He’s white, but not pale. He has no special birthmarks/scars or beauty marks. Just a gangly white boy who’s become a little bronzed from living in sunny Vesuvia.

Hair: He has light golden blonde hair (lighter than Lucio’s by quite a bit, but not platinum). On one side of his head his hair swoops over like Julian’s, but the other side is shaven save for 3 braids that run around to the back of his neck. (My friend @fantasmagorias drew Atlas perfectly, including his complex hairdo. It was like he literally jumped from my brain to hers. I’ll attach that at the bottom of this post!)

Eyes: He has bright white eyes. I strongly agree with the theory I heard that each character in the Arcana’s eyes match their patron Arcana. Atlas’ is the fool, so he has white eyes like Scout!

Distinguishing features: He has very defined cheekbones, a sharp jawline and what I can best describe as curious brows. He’s definitely got a fun, mischievous look to him. Even when his face is in its resting state, he looks like he’s smirking and always has an adventurous glint in his eyes. When he smiles you can’t help but smile too, as his smile is very bright and nearly always genuine.

Clothing: Atlas makes most of his own clothes, and if he isn’t wearing something handmade, he’s wearing something Asra or Nadia got him. He’s always dressed very funky and in bright colours, like orange, blue, purple, and green. 

Default outfit -  Tits out Vesuvia! He wears a loose white tunic with brassy buttons that clasp at the waist, leaving most of his chest exposed, and a blue and purple paisley patterned scarf that no one has seem him leave the shop without. Over his top, her wears a sleeveless cardigan that drapes just below his booty that is a deep, bright royal purple with bright orange and gold embroidery. He wears high waisted pants that were originally white, but are now a light tan/beige, decorated with darker beige markings and small white beads. Around his lower waist his shirt is kept shut (so that only his tiddies are showing and not his entire front because wow what a sin that would be) by a light green sash that was “artiscally” stained with light orange and blue markings. He wears tall tattered light brown boots with tassels/fringe on them.

Travelling outfit - He romances Muriel, so his travelling outfit includes a thick cloak that was gifted to him from Nadia and a colourful blue and purple paisley patterned scarf Asra gifted him. (The cloak looks exactly like Muriel’s except the fur is bright white and rather than being lined green it is lined the same colour of blue as his scarf). He wears the same silly, tattered brown boots he always does.

Masquerade outfit - Atlas wears a wolf mask at the masquerade (this plays both into the fact that Muriel’s familiar is a wolf and the fact that the fool is most commonly represented by/with a dog). His mask is white and glittery, adorned with pearls from the waters of Prakra. He wears a long, multi-layered, flowy, deep blue skirt with gems decorating the silky inner fabric of the skirt. It looks like the night sky when light reflects off of it and moves like calm water. His top is a loose white silk that covers his back and abdomen and tucks seamlessly into his skirt and is belted with a gold sash. His arms, shoulders and neck are adorned in gold, a pattern similar to that of Asra’s masquerade outfit’s gold accents, except the gold pattern travels all the way from his shoulders to his wrists, where it is clasped in place by thick gold wristicuffs that each have a single large pearl in the center. He wears a thick gold choker around his neck that looks exactly like the wrist cuffs except neck-sized (lol). When he attends the masquerade he has his makeup done by Natiqa, who opted for a simple look with dramatic gold eyeliner and some highlight. 

PERSONALITY/INTERESTS

Personality: Atlas is very straightforward and not afraid to speak his mind, he is constantly making silly quips and jokes; he loves making others laugh. He has what I call a “hero complex”; essentially he loves protecting and saving people. Anyone he can’t save he blames himself for. He blames himself for both Morga and Khamgalai’s death, but because of his positive attitude and his habit of pushing anything negative deep down inside him and his need to not let anyone around him feel down, he doesn’t tell anyone. 

He romances Muriel, and in his route he’s very loud and obnoxious. Muriel hated him at first, but slowly, because of Atlas’ high energy and positivity, Muriel came out of his shell quite a bit and grew to love Atlas.

But, Atlas is not always loud and high energy. He gets lost in his thoughts often and becomes quite serious, especially after being in a tough or scary situation, even though when he was in the situation, he was making jokes and laughing through his stress. (He very much so relieves his anxieties through comedy).

He very rarely gets angry, but when he does it’s terrifying. He becomes a raging inferno that nothing and no one can stop from raging on. This is because he pushes his self-hatred so far down that he’s an emotional bomb just waiting to go off.

Likes: Being a hero

Dislikes: Failure

Fears: Losing loved ones

Habits: He will throw himself headfirst into danger without thinking if he sees someone who needs help.

TRIVIA

I keep my ocs as canon as I possibly can, that’s why Atlas has no last name. He has no idea who his family is or where he’s from. The only thing he does know about his past is that he died of the plague and that he had a mysterious aunt who he’s pretty sure has died. Pretty much, anything Asra doesn’t know, Atlas doesn’t.

As far as bonus (lemon) 😏😏 material, Atlas is a vers switch. When he’s subbing he loves being tied up and edged to the point of tears leaking from his eyes. Like Asra, he very much so enjoys delayed gratification during sex. When he’s topping, he’s a soft domme and consistently checks to make sure his partner is doing okay. But he is not gentle. He likes to hear his partner scream, being vocal turns him on *so much.*

Tagging a few Arcana sluts: @vesuviannights​ @queenofeden​ @16reapergrell66​ @fantasmagorias​ @superlemonsweet​ @kidlightnings​ @athousandstarstodreamon​ @llyrel​ @dd-d--dd-d​ @lemon-trap​ @devofuck​ @thesanguinerose​ @candygirl3473​

[irrevocably-delicious]

Hey what’s up, that HTTYD 3 poster got me fucked up

So this official poster has been released for How To Train Your Dragon 3 and it has left me with... opinions. 

My first initial reaction was excitement! Oh hell yeah HTTYD 3 is coming out! I adored the first two! But then i saw...

SIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHH I knew immediately that this was most likely a female night fury and fuck yeah shit fuck it is which is so disappointing. I could write a huge essay on how female characters are portrayed in media. I could write a massive blog about smurfette syndrome and how female characters are always just a pink, soft version of their male counterparts, or how female animal or anthro characters still have to fall into society’s beauty standards so we do crazy things like give ducks tits or large eyelashes. 

I COULD talk about why these things occur, and how this is a worrying reflection of how society views human females, that males are the default and females are the other... but I’m not going to do that TODAY.

Hi my name is India and not only do I have an animation degree, but I also have a degree in animal and veterinary science.

This design doesn’t just insult me as an animator. This design insults me as a scientist. 

Let’s begin. 

So if you asked me to design a female night fury for the poster, this is what I would have come up with:

Because from a superficial perspective? I would not expect that there would be an obvious difference between males and females. Night fury’s obviously take a lot of design influence from axolotls, who you can only sex by examining their cloacas. Many species of lizards must also have their sexual organs examined for reliable sexing, because colour and size variation in many species are not a reliable way to tell the difference between males and females. 

Someone paint this girl’s nails pink! Otherwise HOW WILL I KNOW?

But I digress that sexual dimorphism exists, and from an animation perspective, you need variation in the character design so people can tell your characters apart. Kids need to want BOTH toys goddamit.

Sexual dimorphism is most obvious and famous in many bird species. In birds of prey, particularly your fast birds of prey such as raptors, your females will be much larger than males. Colour variation in birds (and some reptiles) also occurs. But it is the MALE that is the most colourful and “beautiful” in order to attract their mate. Females are often shades of grey/brown and definitely not a colour that would make them an easy target in their environment.

The female peahen is a basic bitch.

So keeping these size variations and natural colour variations in mind, here’s another suggestion I might offer:

She’s larger! She’s a different colour! Toothless is the sleek, deep black almost blue colour, while she is more in that grey/brown area. I can totally tell the difference.

“But India!” I hear your protests. “Why can’t she be white?! You can have dramatically different coloured male and females in the natural world. Have you heard of eclectus parrots?”

And I would say “Yes! Yes I obviously fucking have! Of course I have heard of the eclectus parrots, who when they were first discovered, people thought they were two different species and kept wondering why they weren’t breeding when they put all the green parrots together and all the red ones together. I’ve course of fucking heard of eclectus parrots you wet petri dish!”

But here’s the thing about eclectus parrots. They live in the rainforest, so while they are different colours, there is still an element of camouflage to this colouring. The female blends into the green treetops and the male looks a lot like a delicious fruit. 

A white night fury... just doesn’t make sense? Judging by when we first meet toothless, and my bullshit knowledge of fictional dragon behaviour, it’s fair to assume that night furys hunt at night. Toothless is so dark that he is almost impossible to see in the night sky. This is where the tension comes from when Hiccup first encounters the night fury. He just sees blue flame and not the dragon itself, because it is so difficult to make him out against the dark sky. 

This female night fury would be shot down so quick. She would stick out terribly at night. She wouldn’t catch shit. All the sheep in the field would be like “Oh fuck, I can see Phyllis two miles away. We all better shuffle into the barn.” There’s a reason albino animals are so rare in the wild. They just stick out too much and often get eaten. 

“But what if female’s hunt during the day? Wouldn’t being white help them blend in with clouds and the bright sky?” 

THEN WHEN WOULD THEY FUCK? Would males and females just pass each other at sunset like fated star lovers? That’s stupid. That doesn’t make sense. This isn’t Ladyhawke. 

But I’ll humour you. Yes, yes, we see white birds all the time. And you’re right! That white belly really helps them blend in with the clouds and bright sky. 

But they’re not all white. Especially birds that have to hunt or eat on the wing. We see this kind of patterning a lot of sea birds. Their bellies are white, but the tops of their wings are dark grey/brown. This is so when they nest, or are maybe viewed by a LARGER bird from above, they will blend in with the land or ocean below. White against a deep blue ocean really stands out... But dark grey? Not so much. 

“But Indiiiiiaaaa” some protests again like an absolute idiot who is about to be slapped out of their ignorance. 

“Night Furys are so fast that nothing could possibly catch them! They don’t have to worry about camouflaging to avoid predators!”

Alright Dumbass McBitch! Do you know what the fastest bird in the world is?

It’s the peregrine falcon. GUESS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE?

WHITE BELLY. DARK TOP. 

The peregrine falcon is actually probably a decent comparison to the fictional night fury actually. Small in size, bird of prey, HORRIFICALLY FAST. But they have this sort of colouring for similar reasons. The dark colouring isn’t just camouflage during flight. It also helps them blend into their environment when they are nesting. 

SO IF YOU SOMEHOW CONVINCED ME THAT NIGHT FURYS ARE ALSO ACTIVE DURING THE DAY I COULD CONCEDE A DESIGN LIKE THIS:

But it’s not just colour. It’s not just size. There are other things that worry me about the female night fury’s design. The first is that she seems to have fewer of those... antennae things? And the few she has are much shorter. We’ve seen Toothless use these and they seem to be similar to a cat’s whiskers in their sensory role. So why on earth would she have less? And they be much shorter? SHE NEEDS THOSE! Without them, she may have difficulty flying, orienting herself in the air or feeling the winds she will have to combat. The designers are trying to feminise her by making her seem sleeker and rounder... which functionally makes no sense... why not do the opposite? Giver her really long antennae! Have them constantly moving in the wind!

The other thing that I immediately noticed was how SMOOTH she looks. They took away almost all of her scales. And again... doesn’t she need those for protection? This is so odd to me because it feels like they’ve removed her scales in the same way that pin up artists never draw body hair. Body hair is seen as unsightly on women, so artists remove it, leaving their subjects smooth and shining.

Do... do the dreamworks designers think the scales are unsightly? Have they waxed this dragon? And replaced her scales with body glitter??? Guys.... guys...

Whyyyyyy

Also they made her nose a lot shorter? That’s stupid. Don’t do that. 

Which one’s the girl?? Their noses are the same length so I can’t tell. 

So I can actually greatly improve the original design by just remedying these things.

Oh yeah I made her claws bigger??? BECAUSE THEY FUCKING MADE HER CLAWS SMALLER. 

But already I’m like... less pissed at it. Like “Aw yeah it’s still white, but at least they didn’t mess with much else.”

I think in a perfect world they would have given me something like this:

BUT! They did not.

And I’m not complaining just for the sake of complaining. I promise. This poster irritated me so much because HTTYD over the past 2 movies has had some stellar design. ESPECIALLY with it’s female characters. Astrid and Ruffnut are such courageous designs to me, because they’re not your classically beautiful disney knock off. Ruffnut is harsh looking. She has angles. She makes gross faces. These are all privileges that have traditionally been reserved for villains or men. Astrid is introduced in the first film like she’s some incredibly beautiful bombshell... but she really looks like a little girl. She’s kind of scrawny. She has only the smallest hint of a bust. She has a weak chin and her ears stick out, but it doesn’t matter because Hiccup thinks she is stunning.

Catch this chin in a disney movie. It will never happen.

We’ve even seen excellent female dragon designs! But we weren’t even aware that they were females because it’s not plot relevant, but they were not obviously coded. They just looked like sweet dragons!

Stormfly is a girl. You can tell by how much glitter in on her body and her short, rounded spikes. 

I just wish the HTTYD designers took more risk with the female nightfury design. The design they came up with is lazy, predictable, functionally incorrect and... kinda sexist honestly. I will still see this movie. I will still marvel at all the other wonderful designs, but this has left a bad taste in my mouth. 

From now on I hope to see more female characters that look like Sadie from Mouseguard

And less like ... this fucking shit

Not even Bambi is free from my wrath. 

[designbyhollyb]

WEEK 13 - FINALISED PACKAGING MOCK-UPS AND FINAL DESIGN RATIONALE✨

FINAL DESIGN RATIONALE:

My final DESN1011 packaging case study design is based off my “Starhead” concept. While my “Constellations” concept was initially voted on in assessment #1, I found that concept too basic (it was the logo on a dark background) to explore and continue to work on; as well as that, it didn’t convey the themes or concepts that I initially wanted to explore with the product packaging. 

My final packaging concept is mascot and illustration based. The mascot I created for this brand is called “Starhead”, specifically made to go match with the space-gimmick and Japanese-kawaii visual themes. Starhead is a small chibi character with four soft colours – white, blue, pink and yellow – made to draw the eye but remain visually pleasing at the same time. The rest of the packaging continues the colour theme with an illustrated yellow-pink cloud background, blue sky and swing.The logo is hand-written to further the sketchy, rough look of the artwork, and can change colour according to the packaging. 

The default colours on this particular packaging are pink, purple, yellow and blue. The sub-fonts used are “Sketchy” and “Simpel”, the latter a more formal text used to display important information such as statements on the front (“No added preservatives,”) and ingredients/diet information on the back. The back packaging is separate from the front, and includes a simpler cloud background to make the nutrition details easier to read. 

All designs for the packaging are based on the theme of space, Japanese mascots and tea. 

The shape of the bottle is extremely important to the project as it also continues the themes and is a suitably unique, recyclable glass canvas to work on that, paired with the bright pastel aesthetic of the packaging, would pop from shelves. 

[purplepersnicketywrites]

Drabble prompt!!! Okayyyy so I know that soulmate prompts are overused but sksksks I will NEVER tire of them! Kirishima has only ever been able to see red all his life. He was told that when he touched his soul mate for the first time, he would see all the colors. Bakugou turns out to be his soulmate, but plot twist! Bakugou still see’s no colors. In fact, he never saw colors. He always assumed he never had a soulmate. But he’s kirishima’s soulmate, so...? (Idea: bkg is just colorblind)

Never enough soulmate AUs? That’s a Very Correct Opinion.

This may have gotten a little out of hand. Just a smidge. Fuck. I hope you don’t mind a 7.7k oneshot? I linked it here on AO3, too!

“So your colour’s red, right?” Eijirou asked. At that point, it was really only a formality. He didn’t really know the other kid with the pale-ish hair or the blood-red eyes.

Eijirou watched Bakugou’s face screw up in confusion.

“What the fuck?”

“Well, you know,” Eijirou said, pointing at his head. “Red. Like, your eyes. Like my eyes! And my hair. Whatever colour your eyes are, that’s your colour, the colour you see first. You know that, right?”

“What, that’s not a thing,” Bakugou said, scowling.

“Sure it is, man,” Eijirou said. He turned to Kaminari. “What colour do you see?”

Kaminari looked up from his book. “Uh, yellow, why?”

“What colour are your eyes?”

“Yellow,” Kaminari said. He blinked. “Oh, huh. Weird.”

Kaminari went back to his book, and Eijirou held out his hands as if to say ‘you see?’ to the other boy.

“Two matches don’t fuckin’ mean-”

“It’s a documented thing, dude, there’s like, scientist things about it,” Eijirou said.

Bakugou squinted. “Journal articles?”

“Yeah!” Eijirou snapped his fingers. “That’s it!”

Bakugou grunted, and that was the end of that conversation. Eijirou never did get an answer out of Bakugou about what colour he saw.

The next time they spoke, they were almost back-to-back. Eijirou didn’t know exactly how they’d been transported over here, but it must have been that smokey bastard’s quirk. At least they were still in the training facility, and not, like, Antarctica or somewhere inconvenient like that.

Eijirou’s overall impression of Bakugou up to that point was: unsociable, unpleasant, and most importantly unhinged. The blond was fuckin’ crazy.

Except… he wasn’t. There was an entirely different Bakugou here with him now. He was calm, analytical, and he refused to panic or lose his head. His reflexes were insane, and he had faith in the rest of their class in his own way.

Eijirou thought that for a moment there he saw Bakugou. The real Bakugou. The hero he was gonna become, and not the angry kid he was right then.

It was something that sent a shiver down Eijirou’s spine. He was standing here with one of the greats before he’d gotten there, someone who was gonna go down in history with a victorious snarl on his face and heat hanging in the air.

For a moment, Eijirou saw the future, and he decided that it was one he wanted to be a part of.

For a moment, Eijirou thought he saw more than red.

It became more than a moment not too much longer after that, the colours.

It was the Sports Festival, and the students were thronging, trying to organise their teams for the cavalry battle. Eijirou wanted to win. Everyone did, of course. He tried to make his way towards the flash of red that was Todoroki, because he probably had the most powerful quirk out of anyone in the class, and Eijirou’s was pretty good against temperature extremes.

Todoroki had already had his pick of their classmates, however, and there weren’t any spots left on his team. That sucked. Something else red caught Eijirou’s eye - another pair of eyes. Aha. Todoroki might have been the most powerful of them all, and Midoriya was, well, he was whatever he was, but then there was Bakugou.

He was arguably the one who wanted to be a hero more than anyone else here, and Eijirou was pretty sure their quirks were compatible, so he made a beeline towards the boy who was scowling around at everyone crowding him and telling them he couldn’t remember their quirks.

Something curled in Eijirou’s gut as he called out Bakugou’s name and felt those red eyes snap to him immediately.

“Shitty Hair,” Bakugou muttered, which, rude. Eijirou wasn’t gonna let that slide, but at least the guy recognised him.

Eijirou knew Bakugou was gonna agree to work with him, because Eijirou knew what Bakugou wanted. Eijirou picked out Sero (long range quirk with a variety of applications, reliable) and Ashido (good in high-stakes situations, from what he remembered).as their side-horses. It was a strong team.

They lifted Bakugou up, Eijirou’s breath sliced into his lungs for a moment, and colour splashed across his vision. But the cavalry battle was about to begin. There was no time to consider it, or laugh, or talk, or do anything but meet Bakugou’s red eyes, red framed by yellow-gold-pale hair, and bare his teeth in readiness.

Bakugou didn’t say anything. Eijirou didn’t think he had to, though. Eijirou could feel it in every one of Bakugou’s leans, in the furious beats upon Eijirou’s head, could hear it in Bakugou’s voice when he said Eijirou’s name and no one else’s when they switched targets to that insufferable, thieving copycat.

Soulmate.

He saw it in Bakugou’s grin when they fought, the rush of it through his veins and in his lungs, but it didn’t mean more than the desire to win, and Eijirou jabbed and jabbed and he was forcing Bakugou backwards. Eijirou sliced Bakugou’s cheek (would it leave a scar?) and even red was so much redder now.

Soulmate.

But that didn’t matter, because Eijirou could see Bakugou’s brain clicking along, shuffling around the piece of Eijirou he knew (colours?) and trying to solve him, because Bakugou also wanted to win.

No holding back. Reach that future or don’t, become a hero or don’t. Die either way but if you didn’t taste that blood on your way out then what’s the fucking point? That was the important part. They were both there for the same reason.

Eijirou saw the moment Bakugou knew how to do it, how to win, and Eijirou’s last thought before the bright, white heat knocked him back into darkness was that the sky was blue, it hardly changed a thing, and he was glad of it.

Soulmate.

They were friends after that.

Eijirou pestered Bakugou to tutor him, and Eijirou learned a lot.

Bakugou explained the maths that Eijirou didn’t get in angry barks, and Eijirou learned that Bakugou was too goddamn smart. Bakugou whacked him on the head with a rolled up newspaper when Eijirou didn’t answer quickly enough, and Eijirou learned that while Bakugou seemed impatient, he didn’t leave the library or restaurant or kitchen table they were studying at until they’d gone through each question.

When Bakugou shoved notes at him after class, and warned Eijirou not to waste his time, Eijirou learned that Bakugou worked so, so hard to do what he did, and he expected everyone else to do the same. If you didn’t give a hundred percent, all the time, every time, he took it as a personal insult.

Sometimes Eijirou wondered about that, and Bakugou’s rift with Midoriya. He remembered Bakugou scoffing, saying Midoriya was quirkless, and the first time Bakugou had gone apoplectic when Midoriya had used his weird bone-breaking quirk.

They had grown up together, right? And if Midoriya had never used his quirk before, well. Bakugou would see that as a slight, wouldn’t he?

So Eijirou learned, and Eijirou understood, his own mind ticking away, and he thought that Bakugou really ought to learn how to chill the fuck out. He was always on edge. Wound up tight, like a spring, twitchy as a racehorse sometimes. What would he be like, away from the rest of their peers at school? Away from the competition there? More than that - what would be be like out of public eyes?

More than that, even - what would Bakugou be like without his eyes flicking to a doorway while they studied (or didn’t - Eijirou had got Bakugou willing to play video games with him now) at a home? Without Bakugou’s grumbling about his own parents, without the slight tense to his shoulders and his bitten-back curses when one of Eijirou’s younger siblings darted into the room?

Bakugou shoved a ticket at him one day. This was Bakugou’s prize from winning the Sports Festival. Winning, but not winning.

Eijirou got Bakugou’s anger about that. Todoroki had thrown the match due to personal issues. Kind of a dick move, but Eijirou didn’t know all the details so he guessed he couldn’t judge. It wasn’t a victory, it was a default, an ‘oh, you’re still here, huh?’. It was cheap. The golden medal wasn’t worth anything. It was hollow and wrong and Eijirou got it.

These, though, the tickets… They were an opportunity. A silver-lining around a thunderous cloud, a chance for an experience that didn’t have to be graded or won or judged by the entire country. Bakugou shoved a ticket at him, told him in gruff words about I-Island, about how he had a ticket to be at the island before it opened to the world, and he had a plus one, and Eijirou grinned.

He had a couple of suits to buy.

Eijirou knew that Bakugou would never say he was claustrophobic.

He just didn’t like small spaces all that much, because it made his quirk harder to use. He didn’t like wearing ties, or buttoning up his collar, because it was warmer and it made him sweat more, and fuck, no one wanted more of Bakugou’s particular sweat to be pooling anywhere. (Eijirou wasn’t thinking about any of that too deeply.)

Bakugou didn’t much like swimming - not because the thought of being under or drowning - but because it might wash his sweat away entirely and that was just as bad. Bakugou only stared at muzzled dogs when they hung out together because he was zoning out, shut up. Not because he was remembering.

Eijirou knew all of that, of course, so when his soulmate’s jaw clenched as they boarded the plane, he let Bakugou take the window seat with no complaints. When Bakugou’s knuckles whitened on the armrests as the aeroplane rumbled to life and rolled over to the runway, Eijirou just nudged him with an elbow.

“You ever flown before, man? I haven’t,” he said.

“Couple of times when I was younger,” Bakugou replied. “Family holidays.”

“Oh, cool!” Eijirou said. “Where did you go?”

That conversation took them well into the air.

If Eijirou noticed Bakugou’s long exhale when they got off the plane at the other end, well, it sure was a relief to be able to stretch their legs again!

“What the fuck,” Bakugou said, entering their room at the hotel. Eijirou bounced behind him, trying to see.

“Whoa,” he said, when he did. Gaudy, was probably the first word that came to mind. Bright colours that sort of made him wish he couldn’t see them. Cyan, turquoise, pink and purple and violet and burgundy and lavender. Roses. Hearts. Tackiness exuding from every surface. He felt himself grinning as he shot a look at Bakugou. “This is kiiinda like a love hotel.”

“Fucking hell,” Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. He squinted. “There’s only one bed, what the fuck.”

Oh, so there was. Kirishima snorted. “Cozy! Dont worry, man, I sleep like a log and I hardly snore at all!”

“Hardly isn’t none,” Bakugou grumbled. He took his suitcase over to one of the tables in the room, and Eijirou grabbed his own. He set it next to Bakugou’s case.

“You got a plan for the rest of the day, Blasty?” Eijirou asked. Bakugou looked at him for a long moment.

“Gonna take a nap,” Bakugou said. He frowned. “Bath first, maybe. You should too, you stink like an airport.”

“I didn’t know that was a particular scent,” Eijirou went to look at their en-suite. “Bakugou dude, there’s a hot-tub in here!”

Bakugou came to peer around him. “Huh. Big fucking shower, too.”

“S’gotta be a honeymoon room,” Eijirou snorted. “So you wanna use the traditional bath, or try the hot tub?”

Bakugou quirked an eyebrow at him. “If there’s a hot tub anywhere, you get in it, dumbass.”

Aha, Eijirou thought. Here was the Bakugou he’d been looking for. The one just for them. “Sound advice if ever I heard it!”

Eijirou wasn’t mad that the others were there, really, it was just that the second he’d spotted them, Bakugou’s walls had slammed back up with such intensity that Eijirou thought that maybe he’d heard them. He’d finally found Bakugou in the best mood he’d ever been in, and within a matter of seconds all of that was shut away again. It was hard not to be a touch resentful about that.

Bakugou got all stompy on the way back to their hotel room, and Eijirou had a waver of doubt that he’d be able to convince Bakugou to even go to the dinner. It was still worth a try, though. All those pro-heroes… It was a networking opportunity like no other! Plus, well, Eijirou was pretty sure Bakugou would look great in the suit he’d brought.

Which, you know, was maybe eighty-percent of the reason he’d bought it. Possibly.

It wasn’t like it really mattered - Bakugou didn’t seem interested in him that way. Or anyone, really. Soulmates could just as easily be together platonically as romantically, and so long as they were, that was what Eijirou wanted. To be Bakugou’s best friend, for Bakugou to be his.

To stand next to that hero that Eijirou had seen in him.

Indulging somewhat in his little crush wasn’t going to hurt anything, anyway. Actually, on that note, Eijirou wanted to look up what floor the gardens were on…

What really hurt was being injured in a fucking villain attack. It wasn’t serious, but being slammed into a wall was kinda painful. So much for the peaceful walk around the gardens that Eijirou had planned for.

Ah, well, the important part was that they had won.

Summer came. Summer was bitter with the taste of defeat. Eijirou’s quirk hadn’t been enough to pass their practical test. Aizawa had let them onto the trip, but it was gruelling, and painful, and Eijirou was so tired. He wanted to be outside with the others. Then-

Then there was smoke in the air, clogging up the forest, and a hole where Eijirou’s heart should have been beating.

The landing wasn’t graceful, but they had all made it together. They had Bakugou back, Eijirou had hold of his hand, and he never wanted to let go.

He did, though, when Bakugou tensed, when the blond’s walls slid back up after that one crystallised moment in the sky. Bakugou folded his arms and withdrew into himself. He was snappy. Regular old Bakugou snappy, and Eijirou couldn’t even begin to imagine how much effort it must have taken for the other boy not to show that he was trembling.

He didn’t seem to want Eijirou to know, either. He pulled away when Eijirou tried to grab for him again, which wasn’t like him. He didn’t duck away from Eijirou’s arm slung over his shoulder, ever, and he let Eijirou hold him back from things. Not tonight, apparently, but that was okay. He was safe. He was back.

To Blasty: hey man, did you get home okay?To Blasty: i’m assuming you did, haha

To Blasty: i heard they’ll be keeping you under lockdown for a few days, that sucks! but i guess it’s saferTo Blasty: i don’t think my parents really want me to leave the house either hahaTo Blasty: you want me to come over at some point? i’m pretty sure i’ll be allowed if it’s you. we can play a video game! To Blasty: i can bring snacks!

To Blasty: hey bro are you okay?

To Blasty: hey it’s alright if you don’t want to, but you can talk to me about all that shit that went down, right? you know that? To Blasty: or about like, anything

To Blasty: Bakugou?

He didn’t reply to any of Eijirou’s messages over the next few days.

Moving into the Heights Alliance building was exciting! Everyone was carrying boxes back and forth, and Uraraka was very politely trying to tell half of the class to fuck off, because she didn’t want to use her quirk on their stuff.

Eijirou was pretty sure that he had all of his boxes up on the third floor. Most of his stuff was unpacked, and his bed was made, and his training equipment was set up. He stuck a poster up on the wall and grinned at it. Nice. Manly.

He still had a couple more boxes of assorted knick-knacks and books, and- oh, that box wasn’t his! He picked it up, and it was kinda heavy. It clanked a little. Bakugou’s name was on the top of it.

Ah.

Eijirou was sort of under the impression that Bakugou was avoiding him. None of Eijirou’s texts had been replied to, though they had been read, and that wasn’t like Bakugou at all. His replies were sporadic, sure, but that because he didn’t check his phone all that often. If he’d read a text, he usually replied to it fairly quickly, even with short, one-word answers.

He hadn’t seen the other boy since he’d started moving into the dorms, either - which, considering the name outside one of the rooms next to him was kinda unlikely.

It was probably something to do with Kamino. Eijirou couldn’t blame his friend for being a little cagey after that, maybe even embarrassed about being rescued. Yeah, that fit Bakugou. Still, they were soulmates, and Bakugou ought to know by now that Eijirou wouldn’t judge him, or think he was weak, or any of that stuff.

Eijirou wasn’t weak either. He squared his shoulder. Right. Well, if Bakugou wasn’t replying to him via text, he’d just have to talk in-person. Eijirou shouldered the box and strode out of his room and the short way down the corridor to Bakugou’s room.

Eijirou knocked, but he didn’t wait to hear a reply before he opened the door and pushed his way into Bakugou’s room.

“What the f-”

“Hey, Bakugou!” Kirishima said, plastering a grin over his features. Bakugou had his arm in a box and a slightly startled expression on his face, one that quickly morphed into outrage.

“What are you doing in my room, hair-for-brains?” the blond growled, standing up. Eijirou rattled the box he was holding.

“This ended up with me, but I think it’s yours,” Eijirou said. He held out the box. Bakugou glared at it, as if the thing had chosen to go wandering all by itself. “Our rooms are right by each other, so something must’ve gotten mixed up. What’s in it?”

“None of your fucking business,” Bakugou grumbled, moving at last to snatch the box away from Eijirou. He immediately stepped back to his previous spot. There was definitely something going on here. It was almost like Bakugou felt uncomfortable being near him, and that stung just a little.

Eijirou pouted. “Aw, don’t I deserve at least a little look? I carried it all the way here.”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes. “All the way from your room.”

“Yeah, talk about a marathon, right?” Eijirou said, and Bakugou sighed. “C’mooon bro! It makes a weird noise and I’m curious.”

Bakugou opened the box with a grumble under his breath. Eijirou shuffled a little closer to peer into it, and Bakugou didn’t try to move away. Ooh, there were about five weird poles? Bakugou looked at him from the corner of his eye. “There. Happy?”

“What are they?” Eijirou asked, picking one up. Bakugou’s face turned exasperated.

“They’re hiking sticks, dumbass.”

“Oh, you hike?” Eijirou asked, pulling out one of the sticks to inspect it. The blond groaned and made to grab for the stick, and just like that the tension in the room evaporated. They were still friends, and whatever waver there had been, they always would be.

If you refuse to go down, it means you’re stupidly strong.

Eijirou felt the words thrum through him, as he pushed and pushed at his quirk, to reach that state he’d been practicing with. The criminal with the knife quirk looked aghast, and Eijirou felt almost like laughing.

“LOOK AT ME!” he bellowed. Not at the civillians, not at any escape routes or for underhanded tricks. Look at him, look at Red Riot! See him!

See the sparks flying off his grating joints, his teeth, bared! See all of it, look at him and- 

Rappa, on the other hand, broke him.

Eijirou thought a lot about it, in the hospital. Breaking. Breaking his unbreakable form. He went down, and he’d lost. He wasn’t strong enough.

Yet.

Yet was the important part. He- He’d stand up again, he’d try, again. He had gone down, but he couldn’t let anything keep him there. Not when his soulmate was expecting him to be strong.

Eijirou didn’t get to talk to Bakugou when he got back, just saw that he had waited for their group to get back. Kaminari joked that he was worried, and Bakugou threw him into the couch cushions and left for bed. He had been worried. Eijirou had seen it, briefly, in the crease of his brow.

Bakugou just struggled with the whole feeling-expression thing sometimes. Eijirou had a feeling that he was letting all of the others ask their questions and such, was waiting for a quieter moment to talk to Eijirou alone, but…

Bakugou had his second license exam in the morning, and Eijirou didn’t want to disturb him. A talk could wait until the morning, or maybe even the evening, once Bakugou had his license.

“Let’s see it!” Eijirou said, snatching the license from Bakugou’s hand. “Nice! Hey, you even let them take a good picture of you.”

“Oi!” Bakugou yelled, chasing Eijirou around the room. “Of course I did, it’s my hero license!”

“I didn’t know you could take good photos! You’re always sc- Whoa!” Eijirou’s step faltered a little as he turned a corner in the tight space, and Bakugou took the opportunity to tackle him to the floor. Bakugou grabbed for the hand holding his license and wrested it free. Eijriou let all of his limbs relax. “You’re always scowling in the pictures we try to take.”

“S’cause I don’t wanna be in them,” Bakugou said, rolling his eyes and pulling Eijirou up by the hand. Eijirou didn’t want to let go, but he sort of had to. “My parents work in the fashion industry, you think I don’t know how to game the camera?”

Eijirou faked a gasp as they sat on Bakugou’s bed. “Bakugou! Are you secretly a model?”

“Fuck no,” Bakugou grimaced. “The hag and the old man used to put me in photoshoots when I was little, but I don’t do that shit any more.”

“You could be a model,” Eijirou said. “You’ve got like, the all of it for it.”

Bakugou quirked an eyebrow. Oh, shit, fuck, Eijirou had just said that with no hesitation, huh? “’The all of it’?”

“You know what I mean,” Eijirou said, blushing just a little. “When we’re pros, everyone’s gonna want you for magazine shoots, and you’re gonna be amazing at it ‘cause you’ve already had that experience.”

“I guess,” Bakugou snorted. Eijirou really liked that sound. Bakugou’s laugh without the laughter. He wasn’t losing his shit over something, but he was amused, and it was just. It was nice. It was a happy sound, most of the time, and Bakugou deserved to feel happy.

“I’m kinda jealous, actually,” Eijirou said.

Bakugou looked at him, suddenly inscrutible. “Jealous.”

“Well, yeah, that whole side of hero studies - all the engaging with the public and the interviews and photoshoots, you’ve seen that world already,” Eijirou said. He sighed. “I dunno, man, you’re so far ahead of everyone, it’s incredible, but I feel like I can’t keep up a lot of the time.”

Bakugou scowled. “What’ve I said about forgetting that keeping up shit?”

Eijirou grumbled under his breath.

“My parents,” Bakugou said. He paused, scowled down at his hands for a second, and then continued. “They, fuck, probably wouldn’t be too put out if you wanted to ask them. For tips. On that stuff.”

“Yeah?” Eijirou grinned. That might be fun, actually. Bakugou shrugged.

“Guess I could ask ‘em when they come visit me this weekend,” he said. He looked at Eijirou from the corner of his eye. “They’ll probably be fuckin’ embarrassing about it.”

Eijirou was pretty sure he could handle the Bakugou parents. They were at least a little more polite than their son, ha. “I don’t mind! Please ask them!”

“Yeah, fine,” Bakugou grumbled, as if he hadn’t been the one to suggest it in the first place. “They might get pushy and try to get you in a photoshoot or some fucking thing like that. Just to warn you or whatever.”

“Ah, well, it’s all experience, right? I wouldn’t mind,” Eijirou grinned. “And I’m nothin’ special so they probably won’t really want me in front of a camera very long anyw-”

“Hey, shut up,” Bakugou snapped, slapping Eijirou’s shoulder. “You have the all of it too, or whatever the fuck.”

Eijirou felt himself blushing again. “I- You think?”

“Obviously.”

Eijirou sighed and looked at the floor.

“What, you don’t trust my judgement, huh?” Bakugou frowned at him. Eijirou opened his mouth to respond, but Bakugou continued. “I don’t get your attitude, sometimes. You’re positive about everything except yourself. Everyone tells you you’re great, but you don’t ever fuckin’ believe them.”

Eijirou tried to argue. “Well, I’m not flashy, or-”

“Ugh, flashy!” Bakugou groaned. “You don’t need to be flashy, Kirishima.”

“Coming from the flashiest guy around that’s not really saying much,” Eijirou grumbled at his feet.

Bakugou scoffed. “I’m not gonna lie to try and make you feel better, you idiot. You don’t need to be flashy to be a good hero or a good person. If people don’t notice you, that’s their fuckin’ loss.”

Oh. Eijirou felt his lip wobbling a little.

“Baaakugooouuu, I’m gonna hug you,” Eijirou wailed, throwing his arms around his friend. “Thanks for always knowing what to say, man.”

“Ugh, you’re so fuckin’ mushy,” Bakugou said, trying to wriggle away but not trying very hard. “Get off me, ya moron!”

Eijirou released him and flopped backwards onto the bed. “Will your parents kill me if I wear crocs around them?”

“No, but I will,” Bakugou threatened.

Eijirou didn’t wear crocs, but he did wear a wonderful neon leopard-print t-shirt that Mina had got him for his birthday, and a striped pair of shorts. Bakugou spent the entire car journey to his parents’ studio glowering at Eijirou for it.

“It’s not like I’m gonna stay in it,” Eijirou said. “Your parents are gonna wanna use their own stuff, right?”

“You’re embarrassing,” Bakugou growled.

“Hey, at least it’s something interesting to look at,” Eijirou said. “Mr Has-No-Patterns-Of-Any-Sort-In-His-Wardrobe.”

“Plain clothes can pair with anything,” Bakugou said. “None of your clothes match each other. Leopard-print, stripes, fuckin’ polkadots.”

“Variety is the spice of life, dude, and I thought you liked spice,” Eijirou grinned. Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“Everyone’s gonna get a headache, looking at you in that fucking thing,” Bakugou said, prodding the front of Eijirou’s shirt. “Leopard-print is so fucking obnoxious.”

“Then don’t look at me,” Eijirou said.

Bakugou squinted at him. “That would damage your ego.”

“Ha! My ego?” Eijirou laughed. “You’re the one who’s all het up about this. You think your parents are gonna be like ‘Oh no, oh woe, widdle Katsuki’s best friend is a fashion disaster! Our only son! How did we raise such a-’“

“Oh my god you’re so annoying,” Bakugou said, shoving at Eijirou to shut him up. Eijirou laughed and shot a quick glance at their school-assigned chauffeur, but he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them, or care.

“Haha, so whaddya want me to do? I can’t show up without a t-shirt,” Eijirou said. Bakugou looked… thoughtful. “Bakugou I can’t, that’d be weird.”

“You literally don’t wear anything over your chest in your hero costume,” he said.

“That’s different!” Eijirou complained, folding his arms across himself. “My quirk shreds everything.”

“Consider it training for when you show up to places in your hero costume,” Bakugou suggested.

Eijirou could feel himself flushing. “Dude, it’s your parents. I know your parents, it’s weird.”

Bakugou snickered.

“Augh, you’re making fun of me,” Eijirou pouted. “Not fair, dude, not fair.”

Bakugou’s parents were eager to see him, it turned out. They fussed, for lack of a better word. Eijirou felt a little overwhelmed, and Bakugou spent most of the time there groaning and rolling his eyes.

“While we’re waiting,” Bakugou Mitsuki said, referring to Eijirou’s stylist. This had turned into a bigger operation than he’d thought it would be. “I’d like to know what you think of soulmates, Eijirou.”

“Soulmates?” Eijirou asked. Oh boy. He was kind of terrified of what Mitsuki might mean, considering that his soulmate was her son, and in the room being styled himself, and pretending not to listen and they still hadn’t actually spoken about it.

“Mm, are you of the opinion that soulmates must be romantic?” Mitsuki asked. “It’s fascinating to hear people’s opinions on these things.”

“Um,” Eijirou said.

“Ugh, don’t make him uncomfortable with weird questions, hag!” Bakugou called.

Mitsuki glared over at her son. “You aren’t part of this conversation, brat!”

“It’s fine,” Eijirou added. “Uh, I guess, soulmates don’t have to be romantic. They can be, but a soulmate is a person you just click with, I guess? So, yeah, you might have a partner, or a best friend, or both, or, or something else I guess. I’m, uh, not ruling anything out?”

Mitsuki nodded. “A sensible approach.”

“Ah, thank you,” Eijirou said. Across the room, Bakugou had his thinking face on while his stylist nodded to herself and went to clear up her tools. Was he trying to figure out if Eijirou had a preference? He’d tried to be vague enough not to give away his now rather large crush on his friend. Oh god.

“Now, Katsuki was telling me that you wanted to do this to experience one of the lesser-known aspects of the hero industry,” Mitsuki continued, drawing Eijirou’s attention back to her. “I think I can do you one better - have you thought about brand sponsorship yet?”

“Oh, I think that’s something we’ll be looking at next year,” Eijirou said. Mitsuki nodded.

“Well, I was thinking-”

“Oi!” Bakugou snapped. “Are you trying to scout him?”

Mitsuki shrugged.

“Don’t agree to anything she asks you to do without going over a contract first,” Bakugou said, squinting at his mother. “I can’t fucking believe you.”

“Watch your language,” she snapped. She looked back at Eijirou. “As I was saying, before I got interrupted, you look like an ideal candidate for our brand. I wouldn’t want to ask you until you’ve gone over sponsorship legislation in your classes,” and at this she shot a look at her son. “But I would appreciate it if you would bear us in mind when you do get to that point. No doubt you’re going to get many offers from many places. I just wanted to offer first.”

“Oh, wow, that’s-” Eijirou spluttered. “Thank you!”

“And if you could perhaps also convince Katsuki to do the same when the time comes-”

“Shut up, hag!” Bakugou growled.

“Sure,” Eijirou said, closing one eye as the stylist was doing something to it. Bakugou growled some more. “I’ll do my best to get Ba- uh, K-, um, Baku-”

“Just use my name, dumbass,” Bakugou grumbled.

Eijirou’s insides turned fuzzy. “I’ll do my best to get Katsuki on board!”

“Fantastic,” Mitsuki said. The stylist moved to Eijirou’s other eye, and Mitsuki’s expression turned critical. “Ahh, yes, good. You have excellent bone structure, Eijirou! Yes, I’m very excited to see how the camera likes you. Katsuki?”

Bakugou - or, Katsuki now? got up from where he had been sitting and came to look at Eijirou as well. The stylist hadn’t done much to him that Eijirou could see, just a touch of eyeliner, and more mascara than Bakugou - Katsuki - normally used to hide the paleness of his lashes.

“Accentuation on the eyes looks good,” Katsuki said, looking back at Eijirou. He tilted his head. Eijirou tried not to squirm under the attention. “You gonna put his hair up? He likes those shitty spikes he came in with.”

“Oh fuck no,” Mitsuki said. Eijirou’s heart sank a little. “Maybe a ponytail, but the way his hair falls naturally frames his face - the fringe especially - makes his eyes pop more. They’re the feature we’re trying to draw the most attention to here.”

Katsuki nodded. “What’s dad planned for the outfits? How many?”

“Just a few,” Mitsuki said.

Katsuki huffed. “This is gonna take all fucking day, ain’t it?”

“Language! And yes,” Mitsuki said. “I thought it best to give your friend a realistic taste of this world. I’m afraid photoshoots are often long, boring affairs with far too many people poking at you and talking as if you aren’t there.”

“Oh, it’s not boring, it’s just, uh… It’s relaxing?” Eijirou said. Katsuki snorted.

“You’re polite as ever, dear, but we all know this part of modelling is mind-numbing,” Mitsuki said.

Eijirou’s stylist finished up the work on his face, and then Eijirou found himself staring into a mirror. Holy shit, he could see what Katsuki meant about his eyes. His eyelashes were naturally long and dark, but whatever mascara they’d used on him made a dramatic difference. The eyeliner was winged, and, well.

Whoa. “Whoa. I look…”

“Hot,” Katsuki supplied. Eijirou blinked and turned towards his friend, who went slightly pink under his makeup. “Or fucking whatever.”

“Thanks, Katsuki,” Eijirou said. The other boy’s eyes widened a little. “Uh, it is okay for me to say your-”

“Yes, fuck, it’s fine,” Katsuki grumbled. He looked away for a moment, and then met Eijirou’s eyes again. “Eijirou.”

Eijirou grinned, the feeling of hearing his name on Katsuki’s tongue sending fizzes and tingles all through his nerves. Haha, fuck.

“Ahem,” Mitsuki said, and there was a twinkle in her eye that made Eijirou think she had seen right through him. “This way, and we can get you dressed up!”

“Dude!” Kaminari’s voice chased Eijirou up the corridor, and the bright-blond boy brandished a magazine at him. Mina and Sero weren’t far behind. “Why are you and Bakugou in here?”

Oh, it had been published already? Eijirou hadn’t thought it would come out so soon. “His parents own a fashion line and I asked if I could get some photoshoot experience. They said they might use the photos but I didn’t really think they would.”

Kaminari opened the magazine, to one of the fashion pages. Wow, Eijirou really was there, and Katsuki, in various outfits and poses.

“Dude, you look like, amazing,” Kaminari said, sounding slightly outraged.

“You so need to start wearing eyeliner more,” Mina said. “And your hair’s always been cute in that style! You should mix it up a little more.”

“Ah, maybe,” Eijirou said, rubbing at the back of his head.

“I can’t quite get my head around the difference between this Kirishima,” Sero said, pointing at the magazine. “Fashion forward, trendy, hip, and the real you man! Did they have to force you into this stuff?”

“What, no, I liked it all!” Eijirou protested. “It’s just not my normal style.”

Kaminari’s eyes moved to the side. “Aha! Hey, Bakugou! You’re both models now, huh?”

Katsuki glanced at the magazine as he came to stand next to Eijirou. “Hm. Guess the hag did use those. I’ll get her to pay you.”

“Wow,” Kaminari said. “Are you ignoring me, man?”

“Yes,” Katsuki said. He elbowed Eijirou in the side. “Don’t spend too long ogling that fucking thing, Eijirou, we’ve got maths to revise.”

Eijirou groaned and Katsuki flipped the bird at him as he walked away. “Guess I’d better-”

“Oooooh,” Mina said. “We’re on given-name terms, are we?”

“Ah, hm,” Eijirou felt himself turning red. “I need to, uh, maths.”

“Sure you do,” Sero grinned. All three of them were grinning, actually.

“Fuck you guys,” Eijirou grumbled. Kaminari opened his mouth. “Don’t.”

Kaminari closed his mouth.

“You know, I think red’s still my favourite colour,” Eijirou said, more than a month later, stretched out on Katsuki’s bed. “Yellow was a very strong contender, and blue is like, wow, but I guess red just feels kinda like my colour, y’know?”

Katsuki swivelled in his seat, staring at Eijirou with an unreadable expression. “What?”

“You know, colours!” Kirishima gestured around the room. “I know we haven’t really talked about it much but-”

“You… met your soulmate?” Katsuki asked. Eijirou felt himself blinking.

“Huh? ‘Course I did?” Eijirou said. Katsuki scowled.

“You didn’t say anything,” Katsuki muttered. “Who is it? When?”

Wait, what? Eijirou tried to parse out the meaning of Katsuki’s words.

“Dude,” Eijirou said. “First year Sports Festival? The moment you climbed on my shoulders?”

Katsuki’s scowl was replaced with blank confusion. “The fuck?”

“Bro,” Eijirou sat up. What the hell was going on? “You’re my soulmate. I’m your soulmate.”

Katsuki’s jaw tightened. “I don’t have a soulmate.”

Oh. Katsuki didn’t want a soulmate, huh?

Well. Eijirou bit his lip hard to try and stop his eyes from watering, but he didn’t think he was successful. Katsuki didn’t want him? Eijirou had thought they were friends - best friends. Something in his heart was tearing.

Eijirou stood up. “I have to go.”

“Eijirou,” Katsuki said, moving up out of his own chair to block Eijirou’s path to the door. “Wait, fuck, that’s not what I meant.”

Eijirou waited. Katsuki looked off to the side, chewing over his thoughts.

“I don’t- I’ve never seen colour. Any colour,” Katsuki said. Never? “I don’t- If I never saw anything then I can’t have a fucking soulmate. Are you sure it wasn’t Sero or Ashido?”

“It was you,” Eijirou said. He knew that, skin to bone and deeper still. There had to be something more to this.

Katsuki rubbed at his face. “Shit. I wondered why you’d been tolerating me this whole damn time.”

Tolerating? “Katsuki… You know you’re my best friend, right?  Whatever this weird soulmate thing is all about, that’s- That’s still true. I wanted to be your friend before the Sports Festival, the colours were secondary to all of that. So don’t think I’m here ‘just ‘cause of that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. “Fuck, I can’t believe you never said anything.”

Eijirou let out a shaky laugh. “I didn’t need to. Or, I thought I didn’t.”

“Dumbass,” Katsuki said.

There was something slightly shaky in his voice, something Eijirou could feel. It wasn’t because they were soulmates - and they were - but because he knew his friend. So Eijirou stepped towards him and drew him into a hug. Katsuki leaned into it, his own arms coming up to cling to Eijirou.

Since Katsuki had learned that they were soulmates, something had changed between them, and not in a bad way. It was just a tiny shift, something that Eijirou was sure no one else would have noticed, but something about Katsuki seemed happier. He was a little less withdrawn. He was considerably more affectionate, in his own way.

It was like he no longer had a reason to hold anything back, and Eijirou was trying to work out why that might be. He had his ideas, of course, but he wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to make assumptions about what he hoped might be the reason for it all.

Maybe Katsuki liked him as much as he liked Katsuki. Maybe.

Something landed on Eijirou’s desk during their next study session. Paperwork? He looked up at Katsuki, who was fidgeting in the chair he’d brought over from his room.

“Read it, or whatever,” Katsuki said.

Eijirou reached for it, and-

“Hero Team Application Form?” Eijirou read the title, and he stared at Katsuki. “You- Katsuki, you wanna be a hero team with me?”

“Yeah, I do,” Katsuki mumbled. “You’re strong, and our quirks are compatible. And, y’know, we’re soulmates. Apparently. So. Figure there’s no one else I’d wanna partner with.”

Eijirou looked back down at the paperwork. “I… didn’t think you’d want to partner with anyone.”

“Yeah, well, you’re you or some shit,” Katsuki said. “Well?”

“Yeah!” Eijirou said. He slammed his fists together. “There’s no one else I’d rather partner with, either.”

Eijirou saw the tension drain from Katsuki’s shoulders. “Good. Fuck, guess we better fill this shitty form in, then.”

It was way, way better than maths homework.

Something that wasn’t his alarm woke Eijirou up. It was a shaking of his shoulders and a weight on his bed dipping the mattress.

“Oi, oi, Eijirou,” someone hissed. Eijirou groaned and struggled to sit up.

“Ka’ski,” he slurred. “Wha’ th’fuck’re y’doin’ in here.”

“I’m going for a run,” Katsuki said, leaning back to look at Eijirou.

Eijirou blinked through the darkness. “Whassa time?”

“Four.”

“Fuck you, Katsuki,” Eijirou flopped down again, but Katsuki jabbed his shoulder. “Gerroff me I don’t wanna run. At four. What the hell.”

He sat up again as Katsuki only responded with more poking. “And it’s Sunday! Sunday’s a rest day for my muscles what the entire fucking hell, Ka-”

“Shh,” Katsuki said, covering Eijirou’s mouth with his hand. Eijirou felt like biting him. “I didn’t say you had to run, dumbass. I need someone to time me.”

“Fuckin’, fuck, four AM,” Eijirou grumbled behind Katsuki’s hand. “Fine, fine, but you owe me one. Get off my duvet.”

Katsuki snickered and stood up, walking over to the lightswitch and flipping it. Eijirou cursed the sudden bright light, flung his blankets off, and then remembered he’d gone to bed in only his boxers. Ah. Eijirou pulled his duvet back over his lower half and felt himself go red. Katsuki’s gleeful smirk just made Eijirou’s blush get worse.

“You might wanna wear a little more than that out on the track,” Katsuki said, in a conversational tone. Eijriou could see the blond looking at him, though, and it was far too early in the morning to be considering the significance of that. “I hear it can be cold.”

“Get out of my room,” Eijirou hissed, and Katsuki cackled his way (quietly) out of the door.

Eijirou clicked the stopwatch as Katsuki crossed the line. The blond staggered towards the grass and then collapsed onto it. He rolled onto his back, panting heavily. “Well?”

“Full second faster than the last lap,” Eijirou said, grinning as Katsuki fist-pumped the air.

“Fuck… yeah,” he panted, and waved his hand around.

Eijirou went to grab it, to pull his friend up, but Katsuki grinned and yanked him down instead. Eijirou yelped, and then he found himself sprawled on top of Katsuki, unable to look away from the red-red-red of his eyes.

“Hi,” he managed to breathe, and Katsuki’s grin widened.

“Heya, soulmate,” Katsuki said. Oh. Katsuki reached one hand up to play with a loose lock of Eijirou’s hair - he hadn’t bothered putting it up yet. “Eijirou, can I kiss you?”

Eijirou’s breath caught for a moment. “Yeah.” 

Katsuki tugged on the lock of hair to bring Eijirou’s face closer, closer still. Then Eijirou’s eyes closed, and there wasn’t any colour at all. That didn’t matter, because what was there was Katsuki, a pair of lips on another, and two hearts beating wildly together.

“Hey so, something I didn’t know about dogs, yeah,” Kaminari rambled away about something on one of the sofas in the common room. Eijirou and Katsuki took up most of the second sofa, Eijirou lying on his boyfriend with his head on Katsuki’s chest. “Is like, about their sight.”

“Hey, do dogs get soulmates?” Mina interrupted, perched on one of the arms of Kaminari’s sofa.

“No, it’s a human-only phenomenon,” Katsuki growled. Sero, sitting between Kaminari and Mina, hummed his agreement.

Kaminari pointed at Katsuki and then continued. “They don’t get soulmates but! But this thing is about colour. My dudes. My dudette. Dogs don’t see colour like we do! They don’t see red light! It’s like a kind of colour-blindness that-”

“Fuck!” Katsuki sat up, half-dislodging Eijirou. Eijirou grumbled, but Katsuki poked at his shoulder. “Ei! Ei! Colour-blindness, Eijirou!”

Eijirou took a few moments to process what he was saying. “Holy shit that’s a thing that exists! Kaminari, can people be completely colourblind? like, no colours ever?”

Kaminari blinked. “Uh, yeah, achromatopsia affects about one in thirty-three-thousand people.”

Sero shook his head. “How do you know that? And you’re failing biology?”

“Look, if I have to see the Calvin cycle on more time I’m gonna explode bigger than Bakugou’s quirk,” Kaminari said.

Eijirou tuned out the bickering that was about to ensue, staring at Katsuki instead. “There’s gotta be like, a way to test that out, right?” 

“Don’t need it,” Katsuki said, shaking his head. “You’re my soulmate. Fuck whatever’s up with my eyes, I already know that you are.”

“Aww, that’s so manly,” Eijirou grinned.

Katsuki looked at him some more. Eijirou’s stomach flipped, because that was the look that informed him that kisses were imminent. “I love you, Eijirou.”

“What?” Eijirou felt his eyes go wide and start watering. “I- Oh my god, Katsuki, I love you too!”

Katsuki pulled him into a hard kiss that stole Eijirou’s breath away. Eijirou pressed him backwards into the sofa cushions, deepening the kiss and-

“Hey what the fuck,” Mina’s voice cut through the moment and Eijirou sat up again. “Can you guys wait like, a day before you start making out in front of everyone again? Please? Just twenty-four hours of not seeing you try to lick each other’s tonsils would be nice.”

“I don’t have tonsils,” Eijirou said, brightly. “Had ‘em out when I was eight.”

Mina levelled a dark-eyed glare at him.

“But, uh, point taken,” Eijirou said. He looked down at Katsuki. Wow. “Hey, so, two options - one, stay here and stop smoochin’, or-”

“Option two,” Katsuki said.

“Right, thought so,” Eijirou stood up, pulling Katsuki with him by the hand. “See you guys later!”

For now, (and for the rest of their lives,) he had a soulmate to spend some quality time with. And to kiss a whole bunch, of course.

[slipsthrufingers]

So on the weekend, while procrastinating over housework and actual work I didn’t want to do, I accidentally wrote 4.5k words of a fic I’d vaguely planned out around the time of 8.01 or 2 and I was feeling really happy and enthusiastic. Then I forgot about it, and then I was rooting around my google docs and found it.

Set in an AU world where Brienne doesn’t follow Catelyn after Renly dies, but Jaime still ends up maimed. Tywin receives a letter from Tarth requesting the Crown’s aid, and he sends his son to investigate it.

So here is the first chapter/part. unedited. Thoughts welcome!

On the seventh, miserable day of his journey, the captain sent a cabin boy to wake him with word that their destination had been sighted, and that within a few hours they would be docking at Evenfall. Jaime grumbled his understanding at the boy and told him to take the vomit-filled chamberpot with him as he left.

He had never suffered from sea sickness before, not on any of the many journeys he had taken from Lannisport, or from Kingslanding, to Dorne or even Pyke. But then for every one of those trips he had been healthy, and whole, and not the maimed lion he now was. Still, daily, the stump of his arm ached badly enough that he needed a drop or two of the milk of the poppy to get him through the day, and often a full carafe of Dornish Red to get him through the night.

Jaime leaned over his narrow cot and clumsily forced open the small porthole to let the room air a little. He was sure it stank to the high seven heavens in here, though he had long gone nose blind to it. He took a deep, steadying breath of the salty air, before filling his basin with water from the jug the cabin boy had left behind. He stripped and washed as quickly as he was able, not wanting to focus much on the way his ribs could be counted now, or on the way his hip bones protruded sharply higher than the flat waste of his stomach. He dressed as quickly as he could, but had to pull on each item slowly, awkwardly, so as not to knock his right arm against anything, for fear of the pain that it would bring.

Eventually, he completed the basic task of getting dressed and inspected himself in the small looking-glass hanging on the back of the door. He could do nothing for the wine-dark bruises beneath his eyes, or the pallid grey of his skin, but his father had ordered his hair and beard trimmed before they set sail, and it still looked well enough a week later. And his red jerkin had been altered to fit this scrawny, ruined body, and as such he looked less starved and more lean.

The Lion of Lannister. He thought to himself, darkly amused, remembering the sad, emaciated beasts he and Cersei had found in the bowels of Casterly Rock. They had been tame things, starved enough that they would have easily been able to slip through the bars if they had had the spirit to try. Cersei had slipped her hand through the bars to pinch the hide of the lion within reach, but it barely flinched, and she had pouted at him in her disappointment. She had dared Jaime to pull on its mane, wanting to hear it roar, but he had been frightened, and refused.

Now I am as tame as them.

He saved his hand for last. It was a heavy thing, wrought in iron and plated in gold filigree. It was well designed, and easy enough to attach to what was left of his arm— there were straps and a buckle— but underneath the bandage the wound was still healing, and the golden hand pressed against the worst of it in a deeply uncomfortable way. Qyburn had promised that soon the pain would ease as he adjusted to the prosthetic, but had encouraged him to go without the hand as often as possible, even without the bandage, to let the scars feel the fresh air. But his father had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was to be wearing it the moment he met Lord Selwyn. You must present the best possible face of House Lannister. He had said, looking with disgust at the absence at the end of his son’s right sleeve, as though this was something that Jaime had done to himself on purpose. As though it were obvious where the blame for his maiming lay.

Eventually he emerged from his quarters, holding on to the balustrades as he ascended the stairs and reached the main deck. All about him, the sailors were busy, moving quickly from aft to bow, some climbing the rigging, others doing something to the sails, Jaime was not quite sure what, but it was clear enough they were readying the ship to port. He turned and climbed up further to the poop deck, so he would be out of the way of the sailors and could be afforded a better view of his destination.

He could not deny that Tarth looked beautiful. It was bigger than he had expected it to be, considering its size on the map of Westeros. The island was quite mountainous, and several of the higher peaks were tall enough that Jaime would not have been surprised to see snow caps on them, were it the depths of winter. The mountains stretched all the way to the water, in places, ending in looming sandstone cliffs.

There was a small settlement directly in front of the bow. There were, perhaps, two hundred brick houses in many varied colours, winding their way up what must be a fairly steep hill, leading towards a modest looking keep sitting atop a cliff face on the northern end of the town. That must be Evenfall Hall.

At the very precipice of the cliff stood a skinny tower, taller even than the main keep itself, built of the same white marble as the keep. In the bright sunlight of the day, with the blue of the sky behind them, they almost seemed to blend into the light cloud cover.

“How long ’til we dock?” He asked the captain, who was standing at the helm, carefully directing the ship into the cove.

“Mayhaps twenty minutes, m’lord.” The man said gruffly, with the tone of one who’d prefer not to be asked questions at this particular point in time. Jaime nodded and left him to his business, choosing to stand portside as the ship was brought around, which gave him the best view of the modest town that was to be his home for the next few weeks.

They docked smoothly, and within moments the crew were jumping from the deck, securing the ship against their assigned mooring. Behind him, the captain ordered the anchor dropped, and the gangplank set out for them to disembark. Jaime was eager to set his feet on solid ground for the first time in a week, and perhaps find some relief from the rolling nausea that had beset him the entire voyage. So he did not wait for a runner to announce his arrival to the Hall, as his father had bid him do. They scarcely could have missed the grand vessel pulling into the cove with Lannister red sails and crest emblazoned on each of the sails. Jaime was sure they had been, therefore, suitably notified of his arrival. And considering what he was here for, they would be very unwise to leave him waiting now that he was here.

The dock itself was solidly made, industrial, if not ornamental like the one in King’s Landing, and for a moment he let himself feel the stability beneath his feet. But as he took a step, his knees wobbled beneath him, and for a moment he feared he would fall. By instinct, he thrust his right arm out, to brace him, but then remembered too late the pain that falling on his maimed arm would bring—

But a strong, small hand steadied his other elbow. It was the cabin boy from earlier. “Alright, Ser?” He asked, brown eyes wide with concern. He had served Jaime as something of a default squire or page boy throughout the journey, but Jaime was ashamed to realise he had not even bothered to learn the boy’s name.

“Thank you, er..” He trailed off, hoping the boy would overlook the lapse on his part and continue steadying him.

“Peck, ser.”

“Peck.” Jaime repeated, and then, silently to himself, he repeated it again, so as not to forget. Peck.

“It happens, Ser. Your knees get used to the rocking on board the ship, and then when you’re back on dry land they sometimes keep up the trick.” Peck explained, and then carefully, still staying close, he released Jaime’s elbow.

Still, Jaime felt a little dizzy, though that was more the fault of last night’s wine than the dry land, but he did not feel he would fall.

“Can you see to my things, Peck, and then join me tonight up at the keep? I’m sure the captain can spare you.”

“As you like, ser!” Peck agreed, enthusiastically. It was probably the first time the boy would be allowed within a Lord’s house, even if that house were as modest as Evenfall.

Jaime nodded, and carefully took a step or two. His knees seemed more stable now, stronger, and he set aside the fear he would fall into the water and made his way to the dock master’s residence. Hopefully someone would be there to greet him already, else he could wait there til they arrived.

[chpinthestacks]

In the Stacks with Kathryn Savage: Qualities of Water

The Blue Lagoon was trashed the day a fellow artist went swimming. Floating solo cups. Drunk couples making out in milky blue water, taking selfies.

“Effluent water from the Svartsengi Power Plant is used to create a warm lagoon of heavenly blue colour, set in a rough black lava field,” writes Ari Trausti Guðmundsson, describing the Blue Lagoon and its properties.

Effluent: “an outflowing” often of “waste material (such as smoke, liquid industrial refuse, or sewage) discharged into the environment,” as defined by Merriam-Webster.

The Krafla Power Station, a geothermal plant near lake Mývatn, feeds the famous Mývatn Nature Baths with water the color of melted club cocktails.  

The Selárdalur Pool, unassuming, small and rectangular, located on the shores of the Selá river, is a popular river for salmon angling.  

Krauma spa: modern and slate black beside fat bright tubes hissing steam piped from the nearby Deildartunguhver hot spring.

Deildartunguhver singlehandedly generates the water used for heating the towns of Borgarnes and Akranes.

Between April 14th and May 23rd 2010, Eyjafjallajökull erupted, grounding 100,000 flights. The eruption created such dense sky ash because the stratovolcano lies underneath a glacier. [1]

Physical geology researchers at the University of Iceland Department of Earth Sciences study glaciology as related to ice dynamics and climate change. Researchers observe and record the decline in the extent and volume of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. [2]

In Skagaströnd, in north Iceland, glaciers eroded volcano craters during the ice age, carving rough stone sea cliffs and revealing volcano vents.

Iceland is a continental ecotone. Glaciers and volcanoes, overlapping.

Lakes in Iceland can scald you, cold to the touch but riddled with hot springs along the bases.  

Swimming is deeply rooted in Icelandic culture because there are many pools. Almost every village has at least one year-round geothermal swimming pool.

George P. Mitchell was early to apply the process of fracking to shales for extracting oil. Fracking—hydraulic fracturing—creates “frack fluid” which has been associated with drinking water contamination in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, and Wyoming. [3]

The Boundary Waters is newly open for sulfide mining, which produces toxic waste and could devastate the water quality in that region. [4]

Near Williston, North Dakota, homeowners have lit flames under their kitchen taps—as a consequence of fracking in the region, gasses and chemicals are released into home water pipes. [5]

“Some people ruin it for all of us,” the artist at the residency said, of her fellow Blue Lagoon-goers, who litter solo cups. I picture water without anyone in it, all milk-blue lit with red.

I live near the Shoreham Yards Roundhouse, a historic landmark built in 1887. It was once a hub for the Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railroad Companies. The Roundhouse is now vacant. A few years back, some fixed-gear bikers wanted to take it over, but they couldn’t develop it owing to ongoing pollution cleanup efforts. Shoreham is a Superfund, the Roundhouse a bullseye for extensive soil and groundwater pollution. [6]

Iceland is geologically porous owing to volcanic activity and tectonic shifts. Tectonic shifts open the earth. Steam and water rise to groundwater, rise to the surface.

From Ari Trausti Guðmundsson I learn 70 percent of Iceland’s energy is culled from domestic sources, hydro- and geothermal. Hot water from drillholes feeds pools. Geothermal energy production isn’t pollution free—releasing volcanic gasses—but it’s renewable.

Iceland’s effluent spa water is good for psoriasis and treating other skin disorders.

Near the Krafla Power Station there’s a shower and sink in the middle of a lava field that constantly runs water. Story goes, someone at the power plant tapped a drillhole and outfitted the little bathroom as a joke.  

Notes: Works I’m indebted to in the research of this post include various sources footnoted throughout as well as Living Earth: Outline the Geology of Iceland by Ari Trausti Guðmundsson. Quoted excerpts are from chapter 9, “The Subterranean Powerhouse,” pp. 329-359. Some of the lines here are direct quotes from sources footnoted. I consider this brief essay a found poem of sorts.

[1] Facts culled from Volcano House promotional bookmarker with facts about Eyjafjallajökull. www.volcanohouse.is [2] Facts culled from an information flyer about the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland Masters Programme in Earth Science. [3] https://www.nytimes.com/news/the-lives-they-lived/2013/12/21/george-mitchell/; https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/fracking/environmental-impacts-water/ [4] https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/09/06/boundary-waters-mining [5] Gasland directed by Josh Fox, 2010. [6] https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/g-27-11.pdf; http://www.minneapolismn.gov/cped/projects/cped_shoreham_yards; http://www.journalmpls.com/news/development/2016/08/velodrome-proposal-still-alive-for-shoreham-yards/

[jaykaymediapix]

UAL2 - Unit 3: LIGHTING

1.1… Assessing Lighting Sources

This Unit 3 project explores the different types of light sources available for photography. And it is the White Balance feature in cameras, a feature I have never used before until now, that opens up new creative possibilities in terms of colour and exposure. The heat/warmth from available or artificial lighting can be measured in the form of a colour temperature in the Kelvin scale (K). This warmth can be picked up by a camera’s sensors and hence impact the quality of the image produced. With the White Balance presets, an image’s colour temperature can be adjusted to create a more accurate reflection of the actual scene or stylised for artistic purposes. Presets already installed in the camera or those created by the photographer can help retain consistency in the look of images as available and artificial lighting conditions can change for a variety of reasons.

A camera’s key preinstalled White Balance presets, which impact a photographic image’s colour, are: Incandescent/Tungsten – normally associated with indoor lightbulb. Fluorescent – another indoor artificial light normally considered warmer and brighter than tungsten. Direct sunlight/Daylight – for consideration when shooting outdoors. Flash – ideal for low-light conditions. Cloudy – improves the lighting for what could otherwise look underexposed. Shade – helps brighten an image for an object under a shade. Choose Colour Temperatures – from 2,500K (K = Kelvin temperature) to 10,000K; they give the photographer greater flexibility in the use of colour temperatures. The generalised school of thought is this: the higher the Kelvin temperature, the cooler/bluish the colour cast or hue or shade, and the lower the temperature, the more orange/reddish/warmer the cast or hue or shade. Bear in mind, this does not mean the actual objects change colour. A high Kelvin temperature might mean a bright blue sky that highlights the brightness of a sunlit object outdoors. Manual Presets – these are customised presets created by the photographer for repeated usage. Auto (AWB) - the default White Balance function enables the camera to scan the scene and automatically determine the best preset settings.

2.1… Light metering techniques

For this Unit 3 project, I did not use a light meter. I used available light on a sunny day for the outdoor shots, indoor lighting at night-time for the indoor shots, and artificial light in the dark by shutting out and shutting off all other light sources.

[roaming-sonder]

Your Move, Detective.

Mockingbird is a notorious detective with a paranormal inclination, who is also acclaimed for her efficiency and skill. She has been given a challenging case regarding a killer who leaves letters addressed to her at the crime scene, each one more infuriating than the last. She has received the latest autopsy and letter.

Mockingbird was no fool, she hadn’t ascended to a renowned status for lazy analysis. Once more, her eyes skimmed the letter, picking it apart as if it wasn’t the fortieth time she’d done so, and once more the words remained a generic villain monologue. A veil to mask the true danger lurking within the author, she believed.

Your move, detective. That parting sentence made her blood boil, because she had no idea what her next move was.  Three people were dead, a fourth missing, and she had nothing to show for it, no leads, and no suspect. Throwing the letter down, Mockingbird turned her face to the window, rubbing at her blue eyes, they felt tired and heavy, willing her to give up for the night. Newfound determination surged through her bones, no, there was work to be done.

The young detective stood, her crooked fingers lifted her silver mask from where it sat upon the desk, she fastened it over her face in a swift movement, securing it tightly before letting her hands fall to her sides. Mockingbird could be criticized for many things, but not one disbeliever could criticize her for her refusal to back down from a challenge.

Cracked lips pulled back into a wry smile, there may be no specific suspects, but she’d encountered killers like this before, they usually had a gap in their lives, a void they filled with stereotypical agendas. If forced to profile a potential murderer off of the evidence they had alone, she’d assume the perp was a male, for the mutilation done to the female victims was extensive, possibly pent up aggression fueled an attack with sexual intentions. Likely, it was a man who would be commonly rejected, the mundane or monotonous, not hard to pick out in Ashlock. If she had to take it further, he may not have had a strong female role model growing up as she was either abusive or neglectful.

Only that profile clashed with the personality presented in the letter, so there were two guilty with the potential of there being more. One being the mastermind, the one who premeditates each killing, and then a lackey with the dirty hands.

The author of the note was well articulated, educated, basing her assumptions off of that, they were a white collared worker at the very least.  That demographic was a tad bit harder to pin as Ashlock was a corporate city with thousands upon thousands of companies and call centers based within its boundaries. The unemployment rate was at an all time low, and many civilians worked typical office jobs at default as they tended to be amongst the easiest to obtain.

Well, whoever was orchestrating the attacks knew how to cover their tracks.

Perhaps they were of higher standing than she was giving them credit for. After all, Karla Anderson had worked in Josfield Tech as a Sales Executive, it would make sense if she opened her door to a co-worker, or a CEO...

However, Harvey Josfield had already been cleared from suspicion.

Mockingbird opened the case file on her computer, tucking her limp black hair behind her ear, if she was remembering correctly... Ah, there, Karla was applying to other jobs for a higher pay grade, the officer in charge of interrogating Josfield had stated that Karla believed she was being underpaid, and had begun seeking other establishments for employment.

So it was entirely plausible that she’d open her front door to a representative of a company she’d applied for, or better still, the CEO of a company. While the latter was more wishful thinking, it would help narrow down the list of people Mockingbird needed to talk to.  Immediately, she snatched her phone up and dialed the number supplied by the police.

On the third tone, he picked up, “Hello, this is Harvey Josfield speaking.”

“Hello Mr Josfield, my name is Detective Mockingbird, I’m working on the current murder case involving your former employee Karla Anderson. You said in the interview with Ashlock’s Police Department that she was looking for other placements of work, as she believed the paycheck to be unacceptable, or at the very least not up to her standards, correct? I’m curious as to if she elaborated upon which companies she was applying for.”

After a few moments of stunned silence, Josfield stammered, “Ah, Detective, it’s truly a pleasure- um, yes, well, she mentioned a few in our last discussion, such as Langford Communications, Bradley & Sons Insurance, and if I remember correctly, Equity Tech.”

That caught her interest, Equity had also been the preferred place of work for second victim Lauren Hewitt. Was there a connection, or was it mere coincidence?

In murder cases, coincidence was an elusive concept.

“Thank you for your time, your input has greatly helped me, I’ll keep in touch- oh, before I go, could you make a list and send it to the superintendent? I’d like to take a closer look at the companies she applied for, thank you.” He muttered a few phrases of confirmation, and some parting words, then she hung up, feeling rejuvenated. Her toes tapped upon the wooden floors in uncovered glee, while this potential lead could bring them no closer to the killer, it was better than waiting for another corpse to be found.

Evening settled over Ashlock, the bright lights of the deceptive city cast a flurry of colours over the darkening sky. In her modest apartment on the fourth floor, Mockingbird felt invincible, beating away the awful kernel of dread that had threatened to unfurl hours before. White teeth flashed in the dying light when the detective clutched the note in her hands once again, her lips were twisted in a sneer and a grin, a challenge accepted.

“Death,” rough and unforgiving, her brutal tones barked for her partner.  He appeared in the doorway, his expression unimpressed, one eyebrow arched in question, “I know the next place to look.”

“Oh?” He drawled, his gaze flickered over her frame, “you look excited,”

Detective Mockingbird wasn’t entirely sure she could argue with him, her eyes had lost their heavy weight, and her spine straightened at the idea of finally getting somewhere in the stalled case. After weeks of flogging a dead horse, after two months of being toyed with, and ridiculed by an anonymous threat, Mockingbird was bending the killer’s rules, changing them to suit her tune. This murderer underestimated her, expecting her to dance to the whims of the law, but little did he know she was held to no restraints. Her moral compass could not be compared to the pure holy righteousness of the police force’s, oh no, the detective had her own game she loved to play.

Besides, she wasn’t world renowned for having a moral backbone.