#i have been thinking about getting different ambient lighting because i want to get a standing lamp to go near my kitchen table

[dreemurr-skelememer]

Hello :D

I have been following you for the last year or so (a few days after I got my Tumblr lmao) and I absolutely love your art!

I have been wanting to study your art style for a while but don't really know where to start,,,

Could you please show me a small portion of your art process, if it isn't too much trouble of course. Thank you and have a nice day!

hello. oh my god. this took forever to find. im sorry it took 2 WHOLE FUCKING MONTHS for me to respond to this but i wanted to put it off until i felt happy with my art process again, so here it is

my fall 2024 rendering tutorial! (this will be very very long)

FLATS AND WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO WITH LINES GIRL. then make sure to recolor the lineart to better match your base. trust me it helps, bold dark lines are Not your best friend when rendering. wait for that post-rendering

i start off with a doodle or a sketch, and then filling it in with flats and other details such as blush

FIGURE OUT YOUR LIGHT SOURCE. FIGURE IT OUT GIRL YOU CAN DO IT you can make it as simple as possible, make it as big as possible, dont even THINK about the details.........just make it really fucking big so you at least know where the shadows and the light goes THEN add smaller shading details LISTEN TO ME. LISTEN TO ME OKAY!!!!!!!!

my key point with this is for you to learn lighting fundamentals. it's SOOO ANNOYING but alas......they are all correct. it helps a lot.

one thing i also really want to point out is that i like creating a big shadow shape first before fixing up the little details (such as folds and whatever) because it helps me focus on the way the lighting actually works instead of tunnel vision-ing into making the shading make sense on the clothing.

contact shadows (i dont remember if thats what theyre called okay) theyre fucking ugly because im not actually thinking sorry 💔

okay so basically: contact shadows (if that's what they're called) are the spots in shading and lighting where light will NEVER hit.

shadows are still influenced by the colors and lights around it (it's why a blue shadow and a yellow shadow feel completely different, despite both being shadows) so it's not always COMPLETELY dark. BUT! there are small points in shadows where light never hits, and they're almost always super dark or pitch black.

it's hard to explain shadow and light so briefly for a tutorial, but you'll notice it when watching fundamental studies and when trying it out for yourself

YES i unclipped the multiply layer YES its ugly and terrifying but it makes coloring the multiply layer easier okay the colors merged w multiply so now it looks cool and has depth overlaying colors that actually make sense

so basically what i did was color the multiply layer that i used to shade the overall drawing

adding a band of red/orange/yellow around where the light hits, and blue where the shadows get big and wide, gives it a fake ambient occlusion effect in the way that a person would get if they stood under the sun with a clear blue sky

the colors don't have to make sense, especially because i never draw backgrounds, but coloring the shadows really help it give a sense of depth and extra subtle detail and effect that just helps make the painting look nicer

around the end, i also put in colors (in an overlay layer with a low opacity brush) that actually make sense in context of the drawing, which is the lit cigarette and the yellow eyelights mostly because none of the colors were making sense and i needed to actually make use of the lighting that DOES exist in the drawing lol

adding a muddy golden yellow pin light layer (opacity turned down to like 40-50%) to make the light colors less ugly lol

i SWEAR by the fucking pin light layer style. it's so useful and so so underrated.

i used an almost brown-ish gold color on stop of all the layers, and with the pin light layer, it helped make the bright (almost blue-ish) white colors more warm and more yellow. it just helps make things more warm (something i prefer)

i could probably show what it looks like without adjusting the layer opacity to truly show off what i mean (like in the coming section) but i sadly forgot to do that lol

make a layer on top of your drawing with this color in these ranges YES the drawing is fully merged NO don't be afraid, the base was fucking ugly anyway 💔 make this layer into an exclude/exclusion layer style TRUST turn down your exclusion layer opacity from a range of 10% to 40% literally until you're happy with the contrast and the way the color over the drawing. use your eyeballs. i know you can do it im so proud of you

this is pretty self-explanatory instruction-wise, so i'll go into why i do this instead

i really like art that seems like it has low contrast, with almost mid-gray shading and lines. i don't personally use dark and bold lines and shading, unless i find it necessary for the tone of the piece, so using this method helps lower the contrast of the art and make it look "pleasantly muddy" in the way that it's easier and softer on the eyes.

the inverted blue color also helps makes things warmer! the exclusion layer style is still a bit of a mystery to me but i really like the effect it gives, even if i don't completely get how it works lol

if you want an alternative method to this, and if you have access to it (because i primarily use sai and sai only), i absolutely encourage you to play around and experiment with gradient maps. there are so many out there you can make yourself or even get from others that just give the painting an extra amount of depth and color variation. they're SO fun.

personally, if sai2 gets a gradient map update, it's over for y'all it will literally be so over no one will be able to stop me

then i merged everything and actually adjusted the contrast back up because it was looking too muddy for me 💔 but the color adjustments are still there so all hope is not lost here's a comparison of the adjusted contrast in black and white (adjusted on the left) (newly merged layer without adjusting the contrast on the right)

as you can see, i actually turned the contrast back up (despite talking all about how i liked things with less contrast lol)

i wanted to demonstrate that doing adjustments should be done in moderation, and is why i adjust layer opacity often when making color effects you are free to play around with colors to help your style, but don't lose your initial idea and colors along the way. you still need to trust your own colors and intuition!

along with that, i just want to say that it's completely okay to change your mind mid-painting, and it's okay to make somewhat drastic changes. don't be afraid to change things you don't like or change your mind about certain aspects way later on that's basically the whole thing of this!!! don't be scared!!!

now im gonna hold your hand when i say this..........but you need to learn how to render by yourself. it seems like i can teach you but i literally can't, because rendering is different on every piece and depending on how clean your base is. i have to render A LOT because of how fucking ugly my sketches are LMAO to simplify it, think of it as obsessively cleaning up every detail you can see, but with a color picker and a clean, hard edged brush. if you have shit lineart, you don't have to redraw it cleanly over and over, just paint over it. that's basically what rendering is

THIS especially is where you need to be brave and stop being scared. like i said, i can't teach you how to render, and it's something you have to discover yourself because rendering is something that will always be personal to every single piece you make. the way you render on every piece is different. on one piece, you will barely need to render, and on another, rendering is more than half of your ENTIRE process.

don't be afraid to paint over your old art. rendering is a process that's both very perfectionist yet also very careless. find your balance and just go for it.

and then that's it……..u did it………..now yuo know how to paint and render. it's literally just layering shading and lighting knowledge until you think it makes sense and looks okay lol additional note: since i render in only one layer (you don't HAVE to do this, but it'll be harder for you…), i also made slight adjustments with the transform (and liquify, if you have it) tool to make things more proportionate. (i drew the head too big lol)

if you compare the finished piece to the final unrendered base, you can see that a LOT changed, including a bit of subtle proportion adjustment. particularly, the sleeves changed A LOT (because i really didn't like them) but it's also over all cleaner and more coherent, instead of having haphazard colors and shading just thrown about.

rendering is when you finally use all 100% of your brain to finalize and figure out where the shading should go, where to clean up your lines, where to ERASE or ADD BACK in lines, and make sure all your colors look coherent.

it's not as intimidating as it seems, i only use a hard edged brush with a little bit of color mixing and my color picker. it's like dragging and dropping colors to cover up mistakes, it's really quite fun when you get used to it i wish i could explain it clearer but it's hard to describe without visuals!

i hope this helped, and i hope all my yapping isn't annoying (art as a special interest beloved)

have fun studying and trying to render in my art style!

[quiltedlovers]

semester wind down has brought the return of the evening beddy bye nighty night comfy cosy reading for Lesiure and i have this beautiful jade green lamp on my night stand that i got at a thrift store that i love dearly but the longer i leave it on the hotter it gets and i am afraid i will fall asleep reading and my apartment building will burn down

[sosa2imagines]

You, me and Vegas! Part 5

Warning- Fluff, little angst, talk about failed dates.

The spa was a beautiful, tranquil place, with soft ambient music playing in the background. The scent of essential oils filled the air, creating a soothing atmosphere. The walls were covered in calming shades of pastel blues and greens, and the lighting was intentionally dim to help promote relaxation.

The decor was modern yet earthy, with plants placed strategically to provide a sense of nature indoors. The overall effect was a peaceful retreat, the perfect place to unwind and forget the worries of the world.

While Peach was enjoying her massage, completely relaxed and her mind at ease, Bucky was having a different experience.

The masseuse worked on his back, kneading and pressing his muscles, slowly loosening the knots of tension.

However, Bucky was not as relaxed as Peach. His eyes were wide open, looking around the room. He felt out of place, unused to such environment.

“You need to relax.” the masseuse whispered, noticing his tension.

Bucky looked at Peach, lying on her stomach on her table, her eyes closed peacefully. She looked so relaxed, it made Bucky envious. He wanted to relax too, but years of being on high alert had trained his body otherwise.

The masseuse's hands on his back continued their work, trying to coax the tension out of his muscles. “You're too tense.” she commented, pressing her fingers into a particularly tight spot.

Bucky, his head turning slightly, whispered over to Peach. “Hey psst, Peach…” he said quietly, trying to keep his voice low so as not to disturb the other guests in the spa.

Peach, her eyes still closed, hummed softly. “Trying to relax, Bucky.” she responded, a hint of amusement in her tone. “Like you should be right now.”

Bucky chuckled softly. “Yeah, I'm trying...” he replied, though he still felt somewhat restless. His body was not used to just lying there, doing nothing.

The masseuse continued her work on his back, but Bucky's mind was still active. He looked around the room, taking in the peaceful ambiance, the soft music, and the other couples in various stages of relaxation.

Bucky, still lying face down on his table, looked over at Peach again, trying to keep their conversation quiet. He whispered across to her, his voice a low murmur.

“Hey, Peach,” he whispered, catching her attention. “Seriously though, why are we here? This seems like a total waste of money.”

Peach, her eyes still closed but a small smile playing on her lips, didn't move from her position. “We're here,” she responded softly, “because we both need to relax. You've been too stress, and we are here to remove that stress.”

Bucky groaned softly. “But this is so... unproductive,” he protested, his voice still low but with a hint of frustration. “I could be doing something else, something useful, not just lying here let someone press on my back. I should be serious, I'm jobless.”

Peach's eyes opened for a moment, her smile widening slightly. “Jobless doesn't mean you can't relax,” she replied, her voice still soft. “In fact, if anything, being jobless makes you need to relax more. You're too much on edge, Bucky. And will being serious get you a job?”

Bucky grumbled under his breath but couldn't argue with her logic. “I guess not,” he sighed, feeling the masseuse's hands still working on his back. “But I'm not used to just... lying here. This feels... I don't know, weird.”

Peach chuckled softly. “I thought you'd say that,” she remarked, her eyes still closed. “But just try to enjoy the moment, Bucky. Stop thinking, stop worrying. You need this, let them take your stress away.”

Bucky, his face still half-buried in the massage table, smiled at her words. His expression softened, the tension in his features eased. He opened his eyes and looked over at Peach.

“You know,” he said, his voice quiet, “I was thinking...” He paused, then continued, “You should stay with me, for the time being.”

Peach's eyes opened and her smile widened as she heard his words. She turned her head slightly and looked over at him, her eyes warm and appreciative.

“Of course,” she replied, her voice soft but filled with happiness. “After all, what's a 'wife' for? if not to support and stay with her 'husband' in times of need.”

Bucky smiled back at her, his heart swelling with a mixture of gratitude and affection.

It was both a comfort and a surprise, Peach's easy acceptance of his suggestion. To have her with him, living under the same roof, felt both nerve-wracking and... nice. “You are impossible...”

Bucky and Peach, after their massage session, moved towards the pool area. The water was warm, the temperature just right. They relaxed there, letting the water soothe their muscles.

Bucky floated beside Peach, the water buoying him up. He looked over at her, her eyes closed, and spoke up. “Hey, remember that escort card?”

Peach opened her eyes, a curious look on her face. “The escort card?”

Bucky nodded, a slight frown on his face. “Yeah, that one,” he confirmed. “My best friend Steve thought I could use it...to loosen up. Especially after a failed date...”

Peach floated closer, her curiosity piqued. “And did you?” she inquired, her voice soft. “Use it, I mean.”

Bucky looked away, his gaze drifting to the water's surface. “No,” he replied, a hint of regret in his voice. “I just... couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm not the type to just... go to clubs and pay for a date.”

Peach nodded, understanding his sentiment. She knew Bucky was never the type to indulge in such things. She reached out and touched his arm gently. “Good,” she said, her voice firm and filled with reassurance. “You're too good for that anyway. Want to share why your date failed?”

Bucky let out a soft sigh, the memory still fresh in his mind. “She was just... not interested,” he said, the sting of rejection still there. “I thought we had a connection, and she seemed excited about the idea, but when the date happened...” He trailed off, his voice betraying a hint of hurt and disappointment.

Peach's heart ached for him. She could see, he had been hopeful about the date, and the fact that it had ended in disappointment must have been hard on him. “That's rough,” she murmured, her hand still on his arm. “I'm sorry.”

Bucky shrugged, trying to brush it off. “It's fine,” he muttered, though his expression didn't quite match his words. “I mean, it's not the first failed date I've had and probably won't be the last. It's just... hard, knowing that no one seems to want to give me a real chance.”

“So you have been through the whole, listen to sad songs, watch sad movies, questioning everything?”

Bucky chuckled, a bittersweet smile on his face. “Yeah, I've been there,” he admitted. “Sad songs, sad movies, questioning life... the whole thing. But it doesn't really help, you know? Just makes you feel more miserable.”

Peach floated closer to him, her voice filled with understanding. “Yeah, I get it,” she said. “It's like these things just make you sink deeper into the sadness. And then you feel even worse about feeling so bad.”

Bucky nodded, appreciating her understanding. “Yeah, exactly,” he agreed. “You just keep thinking, 'Why did this happen? What's wrong with me? Why can't I seem to find someone that wants to be with me?' It's like a cycle of self-pity and doubt.”

Days had passed since the spa day. Peach had tried multiple times to get Bucky to agree to give dating another chance. Each time, Bucky was reluctant, shutting down the idea as soon as it was suggested.

Today was no different. They were sitting in the living room, the topic of dating once again coming up.

“Come on, Bucky,” Peach insisted, her voice firm. “You need to give it another shot.”

Bucky shook his head forcefully, a stubborn look on his face, “No,” he said firmly. “I told you, I don't want to. I've had enough failed dates for a lifetime.”

Peach rolled her eyes in frustration, her determination to change his mind undeterred. “You can't just give up on dating, Bucky,” she argued. “You're a great guy, and there's someone out there for you. Just call her!!!”

Bucky's expression hardened at her insistent tone. “No,” he repeated firmly, “I don't want to. I'm tired of putting myself out there, only to end up feeling worse. I'm done with dating!”

Peach let out an exasperated sigh, her eyes narrowing at his stubbornness. “You can't just give up like this,” she retorted, not willing to back down. “What if you find someone really great if you keep trying?”

Later that night, Bucky sat on the edge of his bed, the phone in his hand. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do. The conversation he'd had with Peach earlier was replaying in his mind, her insistence that he give dating another try echoing in his ears.

He dialed the number with slightly trembling fingers, the dial tone seemed to echo in the room, the anticipation building.

The phone rang for what felt like an eternity, each ring making Bucky more and more nervous. He glanced towards the door, where he knew Peach was waiting anxiously, silently encouraging him. He could almost envision her expression, her eyes wide, lips pressed together as she hoped for the best.

Finally, the ringing stopped, and a soft, feminine voice answered. “Hello?” The voice on the other end was polite, yet held a hint of curiosity. Bucky swallowed back his nerves and spoke, trying his best to sound more confident than he felt.

“Hey, it's Bucky,” he said, his voice slightly trembling. “We met at my parent's party, and you gave me your number...” He paused, waiting for a response, the silence on the other end making him more nervous by the second.

There was a moment of silence before the girl responded, her voice registering surprise. “Oh, right, yes...” There was a pause, in which Bucky could almost feel an impending rejection. But then, the girl spoke again. “You're calling to ask me out, right?”

Bucky's heart skipped a beat at the confirmation. “Yeah, I am,” he replied, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner tomorrow?”

There was another pause, longer this time, and Bucky felt the anxiety rise inside him with each second passing. He knew she was probably thinking about her answer, weighing her options, and he almost expected a rejection. But then, she spoke again, her voice soft. “Sure, that sounds nice. See you at 8, at the Bristo. “

Bucky's heart leapt at her words. She had agreed to the date. He could hardly believe it. “Great,” he managed to say, trying to sound nonchalant, “I'll meet you there at 8. See you then.”

As he hung up the phone, the adrenaline from the successful call slowly subsiding, he let out a sigh. Peach, who had been listening from the other room, rushed into his room, a wide smile on her face.

“You did it!” she exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement. “I knew you could do it! You're going on a date!!” She was radiating happiness, clearly pleased with the outcome.

Bucky, still feeling the buzz from the call, smiled slightly at her enthusiasm. “Yeah, I did it,” he agreed, a hint of disbelief in his tone. “I actually asked her out, and she said yes. I can't believe it.”

Peach, her face set in a serious expression, gave Bucky some firm advice. “Here's something important,” she said, her tone authoritative. “Don't take your car. Sometimes girls love to give their dates a lift. It gives them a sense of control and independence. Besides, it makes you seem less self-absorbed.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. “You think so?” he asked, not entirely convinced. “I mean, I always thought driving made me seem responsible and dependable.”

Peach rolled her eyes. “Maybe for other occasions, but not for a date,” she responded. “Think about it. By letting her give you a lift, she can show you she's independent, capable and confident. Plus, it adds a hint of mystery and intrigue, especially if she is proud of her car.”

Bucky and Peach spent the rest of the evening discussing date ideas, with Peach offering her thoughts and advices. Bucky sat with a notebook, taking notes as she spoke, his expression a mix of determination and nerves.

He jotted down thoughts from Peach, such as the importance of good hygiene, active listening, and being genuinely interested in the girl. He also noted the tips about clothing and hair, the importance of paying compliments, and how to not come off too strong.

But most importantly, being comfortable and being yourself.

Part 4- Part 6

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[ronearoundblindly]

I just want to start this off by saying you are one of my favorite Steve writers of all time I can’t believe I just randomly found you one day. Every time I read something I think “oh this is her best” and then I go to something else and literally the same reaction so thank you of sharing this for free. The comfort reading your Steve stories give me is unexplainable.

LOL the funniest thing is I found your works on ao3 first and at first I didn’t click the tumblr there so when I found the CEO au here I was like “um excuse me who tf is plagiarizing — oh wait no same person. Thank god”

So I don’t know how you feel about writing about pregnancy and kids but Steve having to deal with that especially in the Sun Salt and Shield AU is so hilarious to me. Is there a hc you have about that? Or just in general about them getting more serious. I love that you didn’t take the easy way out and just “Splash”ify the mermaid reader.

Um🥹😚, all of this is great, and I'm not trying to just skip over all your lovely compliments (also, good looking out on the plagiarism because that issue's going around again 🥲). I just want to jump right into the headcanon of pregnancy and kids for Sun, Salt, and Shield.

This is mostly rambling. Sorry it's not well-formed, but there *might* be a chapter of fic percolating from this. No warnings. No detailed talk of pregnancy or birth, only vague reference.

Just the other day I revisited an ask about MissG/Doll not having the more humanoid body of idk-what-to-call-them classical mermaids?? And I wondered if that (the classic look) could have been a blended species from way in the past between deep sea mermaids and humans--essentially, would Doll and Steve have children that looked more like what we typically see as mermaids?

It's an interesting train of thought, and, frankly, perfectly logical. If they had a kid or kids, that's likely how I'd do it.

However--and this is a big HOWEVER,--I am admittedly not a big fan of pregnancy, kidfics, and all that 'adorable' parenthood stuff. Sounds a little cruel that way, but there you have it. I'm me. I make things more complicated than they need to be.

I would make pregnancy a different experience from humans. Doll's kind would have a different mentality toward offspring than humans. Some hilarious and/or angsty misunderstandings could ensue.

For example--because I don't think too deeply into these matters, shhhh--based on the sheer size of her whole species, I don't think deep sea mermaids visibly look pregnant like humans. Their hips simply get wider and they sort of thicken all the way through their torsos to mid-tail. Honest to goodness, humans truly just think Miss G is getting fat, but just in a 'putting on weight' way, not a nasty judgy way. In this event, and since you/G do not have the vocabulary to explain, your pregnancy goes unnoticed until it is very advanced.

To you, this is a common inevitability in the sea between mates, but there isn't the type of hoopla--for lack of a better term--surrounding the process.

So you're pregnant? Big deal?

Ummmm, wow, the wheels are really starting to turn on this, but also your species doesn't have a calculated sense of time. You live in mostly darkness (and the ambient/changing light of other mermaids' tails), so you wouldn't have any real way of explaining how long gestation for a baby is. Likely, the kid would grow super fast, too. Means Tony still doesn't know the average lifespan of your species because there are no common/known markers to describe how long your 'elders' have been alive.

Stuff I haven't worked out yet: would the child of a deep sea mermaid and a human be able to live in either native environment? That's where I'm thinking the lower-depth, classic mermaid comes into play; still has fins, can breathe air for short periods (but longer than you), probably can't handle heavy pressure for very long though (since you spend far longer in a pool, not the pressure chamber asleep, than most deep sea-ers while pregnant), and is lighter colored in scales and features than you due to the shallower water (more affected by sunlight).

I do think it would be cute for the child to have Steve's blond hair and blue eyes simply because that is unheard of in your species (as are the paler scales and armoring. I should mention that since you have lavender eyes--i.e. very light sensitive--human blue eyes are comparatively dark.

You'll notice I'm not saying son or daughter. When newborn young...I don't think anyone can tell if the child is male or female. I don't thing G's species cares, and I think you'd be very confused by how intently Tony and Steve try to figure that out. Conceptually, it simply doesn't matter at all what sex the kid is until puberty, and even then...it still sort of doesn't??

Hmm. That's all I got on this for now, but I sense I could probably come up with some interesting angst with a happy ending from it.

Thank you for asking!

A/N: Not that it matters, but I love 'Splash.' I've learned that it's fine to explore fantastical things to all sorts of degrees, and as almost all of fandom can tell you, fluff is great, fluff is necessary, and fluff keeps us afloat. Big HOWEVER, it is not okay to wash away anyone's race or heritage (in this case--obviously fake--a species' culture). Be respectful. It's that easy.

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

@fandom-has-taken-me-hostage @leah2901 @blogbog710

[zukosdualdao]

through all of the shadowy corners of me

zutara month, day three: (re)meet ugly/meet cute. @zutaramonth

summary: as katara's plans on the anniversay of her mother's murder fall apart, she ducks into a teashop to wait out the storm and finds herself familiar with the rude tea server she comes face to face with and promptly bursts into tears. because of-fucking-course.

warnings: grief, nightmares, references to kya's murder (and ursa's disappearance, though that is less explicit), and references to ableism wrt facial differences. also, just, some lightly gratuitous swearing, on behalf of katara's no good very bad day. she deserves it.

other notes: title taken from landon piggs�� falling in love at a coffeeteashop. because i am basic in that way.

Katara’s pretty sure the universe is conspiring against her.

First, it was the fucking felt-tip markers being all dried up—damn it Sokka—she needed for the posters for the protest she was supposed to head.

(She tries not to think about how really, first, it was the dream she woke up from, that she wakes up from often, but especially on this day, the dream with fearful eyes and the ominous drip of blood and the feeling of too late too late too late. The dream that is also a memory.)

Someone had to make the posters—because seriously, why was the school shutting down the campus food bank when a third of the student population was food-insecure?— so she missed her first class of the day to get new ones from the closest craft store, over half an hour way with traffic. There was supposed to be a quiz, too, and the professor is notoriously stubborn about absences and make-ups. 

And then there was this huge storm, so they couldn’t even have the protest today like they’d planned.

Now, as Katara ducks out of the rain and into the tiny little hole-in-the-wall ambient tea shop—The Jasmine Dragon, the sign had said—which is all warm lighting and soft ringing laughter from the bare few patrons inside, she figures she can at least get a cup of something hot to drink. It’s been a truly horrible day, and she can’t wait to get back home, sleep for ten hours straight, and wipe it from the record of her memory, but right now, this is her one saving grace.

So, when she gets to the second place in line, very patiently waiting as the server at the front snipes at the man in front of her, part of her wants to reel up to confront him. Sure, she knows customer service can be a day-in, day-out nightmare—she didn’t spend her first two semesters waiting tables because it was fun—but really, he could at least try to be a little nicer. The man wasn’t doing anything wrong, as far as she could see.

When she gets to the front, Katara opens her mouth to say—something, she doesn’t know what—and is caught off-guard to find that she recognizes him faintly. With his eyes the color of amber, swoopy, dark hair, and a shiny, painful-looking burn scar set against the left side of his face, on her right—yes, he was a boy who was in Sokka’s class back in high school. And he was a total jerk, barely speaking a word to anyone except to get into arguments, whether with teachers or other kids. She didn’t know him all that well herself, but she’d never liked him from the stories Sokka told or for the way he seemed to bristle at everyone and everything as she watched from a morbidly curious distance.

Zuko. Yes, she remembers him.

“Can I help you?” he asks, his voice almost a snarl when she spends a beat too long taking in his features, though he’s not looking at her, instead glancing down at his scratchpad. “I’m supposed to tell all of the customers we’re out of the oolong,” he adds in a rough voice, without looking up.

Katara wants to rage, wants to scream, why does he think he gets to treat people like that, god, at least have the decency to look me in the eye and treat me like a person when you’re being a dick—but instead, she bursts into tears. 

Very loud, messy tears. It’s been a long day.

And, well. He certainly looks up then. 

“Um,” Zuko says in lieu of an actual reaction, his right eye wide. His expression has softened considerably, his mouth shaped in surprise, his browline furrowed. “We have jasmine?” he tries.

Well, she thinks as he stands there stiffly, the perfect image of a deer in headlights, before reaching over the counter to push the napkin dispenser toward her, this is humiliating.

At least it’s not terribly busy in here. There’s no one standing beside her, and she only feels one or two worried glances from the tables, the shop mostly empty.

“Sorry,” Katara says through her tears. “God, I’m sorry. I just—I’m having awful day,” she says, motioning to her face as a way of explanation before yanking a napkin out from the dispenser to dry her face.

Zuko’s lip curls in what she thinks might be sympathy. 

“Me, too,” he admits on a sigh. “Sorry. What can I get for you?”

“Um,” she says, shaking her head and smiling through still teary eyes. God. “A cup of jasmine tea would actually be nice.”

“Sure.” 

She pays quickly and tries to ignore his eyes as they follow her over to the tiny round table she chooses in the corner. One cup, she thinks. She’ll drink one cup of tea and be out of here quicker than even the lightning flaring outside, before anyone can say anything about it, and then head back to her apartment and think through every turn in life that got her there, sobbing in line at a tea shop as a mean boy she knew from high school tried not to call her on it.

But he has other plans, because when he brings her order to her, he doesn’t just leave like he’s supposed to, standing there for several awkward moments that feel as though they’re spanning lifetimes.

Yeah. The universe is definitely conspiring against her.

“So… you’re… good now?”

Katara stares at him blankly for a moment, feeling her jaw grow a little slack.

“Are you… checking on me?”

A beat. “I’m just very committed to customer service,” Zuko deadpans, and Katara can’t help but laugh.

“Right,” she says. “Yeah. I’m… good. Thank you.” He nods—just once, a rigid jerk of his head—and starts to turn on his heel to leave.

But for some reason, she suddenly doesn’t want that. He’s being… almost kind of sweet, and it’s so incongruous with the memory she has of him that it kindles a new kind of curiosity.  “We went to school together, you know,” she says quickly, before he can fully turn around. He pauses in his tracks. “You probably don’t remember, but—”

“I remember you,” Zuko says before she can even finish. She frowns, intrigued. “You always wore your hair up in a braid and those loops. And once, even though we barely knew each other,” he adds with the faint traces of a smile, “you told off that kid when he was… uh…” The smile fades.

Katara remembers suddenly. It was an overcast day, not unlike the way this one had started, and Zuko had been sitting alone in the courtyard, not bothering anyone (for once) as Katara made her way to lunch when she saw some other kid go up to him to start needling him, saying horrible things about his scar. Very loudly.

Katara hadn’t liked that, so she’d marched right over and told the kid so. Also very loudly.

She’s pretty sure that’s the only time she and Zuko even tangentially interacted, and even then, they hadn’t spoken any actual words to each other. Everything else she knew about him came from stories and distant observation.

“When he was being a dick,” she finishes for him.

“Yeah,” Zuko says. Peering through his eyelashes, he adds more quietly, “I’ve always remembered that.”

“Really?”

A shrug of his shoulders. “You didn’t have to do that, but you did anyway.”

“I don’t like cruel people.” He nods, hands in his pockets, eyes suddenly downcast and looking almost a little ashamed. It makes her sort of sad. “Do you have time to sit?” Katara asks suddenly.

He looks surprised as he glances back at up her. “What?”

“I mean, I know you’re working, so don’t worry about it if not,” she adds in a hurry, tripping over he words. “I just thought maybe…”

“My shift’s actually over,” he answers, and suddenly, there’s a soft, sort-of-shy smile playing on his lips. “I—I could sit.”

He pulls the chair out and sits while Katara sips at her tea. It really is quite good.

“This is almost making up for the rest of my day,” she laughs, and his face scrunches up, maybe almost amused.

But then, the expression morphs. “Why was your day so bad, Katara?”

She’s surprised to find he ever knew her name, let alone remembers it now. He really is full of surprises. 

She could tell him the simple version, the actual events without the why she was taking it so hard, without divulging what it was really about… but, well…

He seems sincere enough in asking, at any rate.

“I just… I lost my mother when I was really young,” she begins to explain, feeling sort of choked-up and tight in her chest again, but no tears threaten to fall right now.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, and she looks up to meet his gaze, swimming with undeniable sympathy. “That’s something we have in common.”

She looks at him for a long moment, surprised. This is something they share, then. Something they can understand about each other. “I’m sorry, too. It’s awful. And… today is the anniversary. I usually just try to keep busy, but…”

“But everything went wrong?”

Katara hums.

“That’s the fucking worst,” he says bluntly, and Katara laughs then. He has very little tact, it seems, but also, yeah. It is. And it’s nice for someone to be able to… just say it. To feel it with her.

“It is the fucking worst,” she agrees. “But… I really am doing better now.”

“I’m glad,” he says, but he frowns, staring down at his hands, which are splayed on the table. “I really shouldn’t keep you from your day."

“I mean… the rest of my plans for the day have sort of fallen apart, and I should probably wait out the rain anyway, so I might, uh,” she says, feeling suddenly shy and hesitant. “I might stick around for a while. Get one more of these,” she nods down to her cup, warm and solid in her hands. “You know.” She takes another sip.

His smile glints, but it’s soft, too, definitely as shy as she feels. “I could do with a cup.”

Katara’s own smile grows wider.

The kindly older man who runs the shop—Zuko's uncle, Katara learns quickly—brings them out another round of jasmine, two cups this time, and Zuko slowly raises his in a cheers motions motion, a little awkward and a lot funny.

“To awful days?” he says with a raise of his brow.

“And to perfect storms,” she adds in agreement, laughter bubbling in her chest.

They clink their teacups together.

[jetra4ivor]

I saw a video talking about why Minecraft seems to have stagnated a bit lately and doesn’t have the same appeal as it once did. It talked about the usual complaints, such as inventory bloat, new blocks, structures, quality of life advancements… but the one aspect I didn’t see them talking about was ABSTRACTION.

I think that as Minecraft has been pushed closer towards reality, we’ve lost the inherent FEAR that comes from the abstract in the old video games Minecraft was emulating its style from.

Maybe it’s because I grew up with Atari as my first console, but there was a level of unnerving fear that was created through the hardware limitations and graphics during that era. Because everything was so abstracted, you let your imagination fill in the blanks. This blocky room with goofy eyeballs became a darkly lit haunted house where monsters could appear around every corner.

And Minecraft is clearly going for this level of abstraction. The entire world is just low resolution pixelated blocks, but there’s JUST enough definition that if you squint your eyes the world seems to mimic our own. It produces an uncanny valley effect that, coupled with survival elements, makes the game absolutely TERRIFYING at times.

And a perfect example of this is the creeper. What a horrifying monster! But the details of what it actually is are obscured through abstraction and pixel limitations. What exactly IS the creeper made of? Some people have interpreted the green blotches to be leaves, others see a wrinkly leather-like texture, others see fur. How do you interpret that grimace? Is is a permanent scowl? A sad mourning? There’s JUST enough detail to make the creature recognizable, but not enough detail to make it perfectly clear to everyone what it’s made of. That’s terrifying!

That so many artists can have such wildly different interpretations of the creeper is a testament to its intentionally unnerving design.

But over the years those terrifying edges have been smoothed out. Textures have been refined to be less garish and harsh. New more recognizable animals have been added. A parrot, for example, looks like a parrot. And just with the colors alone you can tell what kind of parrot it’s meant to be. There no ambiguity. No unsettling interpretation.

And even the enviroment has been smoothed out and changed to reflect reality.

So I think that the reason Minecraft today doesn’t feel like Minecraft of 10 years ago is because too much emphasis has been placed on mimicking reality. Even in the more recent additions these things have real world equivalence which reduce the inherent terror and unease that abstracted environments would evoke. The Nether today is far less scary than the Nether of 10 years ago, even if it’s still as dangerous.

There’s just something really unsettling about a perfectly square house in high contrast mossy cobblestone that you won’t get from a village of friendly NPC’s bathed in soft ambient lighting, you know?

I genuinely believe that Minecraft has leaned too far into realism. If they want people to keep playing longer, it’s not to add MORE structures, it’s to add back in some of the abstracted nature of the original game. Don’t make things inherently clear what they are. Allow people to interpret things in different ways. Stop trying to emulate realistic environments when the trees you cut down don’t even fall over. This is Minecraft! Minecraft is meant to be WEIRD and CREEPY almost like an alien’s failed interpretation of our word.

[cadaveerie]

the things i'm the most and least excited about for Dragon Age: The Veilguard!

includes DATV spoilers from the trailers and articles

i might continuously edit this post until the game actually launches as we receive new info!

all of these have been confirmed by the devs, except for those in which i clarify the opposite (ie: those that i write with a "possibly", which have probably been only suggested). if you want the source for any of these specifically let me know!

and a big shoutout to felassan for answering my question, because i started wondering if i just made up the 'pause during cutscene' thing, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I'd heard that lol

anyway, here it is!

GENERAL

no EA app or online mode/internet to play the game

pause during cutscenes

interruptible and resumable banter

no micro-transactions

CC

the character creator!!! - more diverse bodies, better (and darker. and better dark) skin tones and afro-textured hair!

change of voice pitch for Rook!

trans Rook! they/them Rook! and the ability to express that in-game!

b-bulge slider.......? t-tittie slider?????

different lighting options in character creator :]

in-game name suggestions for rook :]

nudity :D:D:D SEXOOO

PURPLE ROOK!!!!! (sarcastic/charming, like hawke. im gonna be insufferable to solas specifically)

CHARACTERS

"not that skeleton, but we're not saying no skeletons" as an answer to whether we can romance manfred (..... the fuck. idk what that means but... im game)

bi/pan romanceable companions! - it makes me happy, especially as someone non-binary and genderfluid. i'll die on this hill

paraphrasing: “the most romantic game yet”..... mmmm… yes….

the companions overall... i rly like both the designs and what we know of them

"are there companions gifts again" John: "(...) you very well might find things in the world that certain companions would appreciate!"

John: "Not going to get into specifics on interactables, but there is more to do in the Lighthouse than conversations with companions. The Lighthouse does have a kitchen, and your companions acknowledge it/use it both narratively and ambiently. Some maybe better than others."

more focus and intentionality on the companions' stories and relationships! yay!

inquisitor presence :D

maybe solas and inky? - not confirmed that they'll interact, but pleaaaase let them. no matter if it's a romance, friendship or hateful relationship, i need to see a reunion

the relationship between solas and rook! - from what they'd said it looks like they're gonna have a fun dynamic!!! i hope that it's kind of a bad relationship but that at some points there can be some appreciation, or respect. i think they said that it could be change, depending on you

cameos!!! - we know there will be some. confirmed morrigan cameo! my bets for others are on dorian (and mae), fenris (copium), zevran (copiumx2). and maybe these are reaches but... perhaps cassandra? leliana? illario? alistair? sten? either way im looking forward to it!

700 characters (wtf)

140,000 lines of dialogue (wtf x2. almost double of Inquisition's (80,000))

DREADWOLF WOLF FORM! DREADWOLF WOLF FORM!!! *scratches his belly*

LORE

visiting places we have never seen before like Tevinter, Antiva, Anderfels, Nevarra, Rivain, etc

more thedas deep lore!!! - elven gods! and this hasn't been confirmed, but since we'll go there... will there be tevinter lore? anderfels lore? rivain lore? antivan lore? titans lore (my theory is because of Harding)!?

GRAPHICS and CUSTOMIZATION

possibly a camera mode

beautiful textures!

beautiful landscape!

very nice hair physics! (big improvement)

gear customization + transmog

enable/disable helmets for cutscenes

COMBAT

I rly like the subclasses… they feel so…. gothic

combat looks more dynamic overall!

combos with the companions!

finisher animations!

mages can move while attacking apparently?

and they^ can use staffs, daggers and orbs :0

parry + shield toss :0

and i'm just excited to see how it actually feels while playing and how everything progresses!

things I'm kinda sad/disappointed about. just a little

only can bring two companions along (probably a 3 party total?)

probably no trans, they/them or they/x companions? :( (im assuming there will be characters that are trans (mae) and go by them/them or multiple pronouns, but i mean companions specifically)

only 7 companions. i was a little disappointed at first but tbh im fine w it now haha

they haven't talked about rook as a character much so im a little worried about that, their personal journey, their dialogue etc :')

that rook doesn't seem to have different beginnings depending on his origin :( not a huge deal but tbh i loved that about origins

can't choose multiple pronouns :( perhaps it's possible? they've explicitly said that you can go by he, she or they, but i don't think that implies multiple at the same time. it can't be that hard to program it so that it randomly changes between two or more pronouns, right? idk about game development so i dont actually know, sorry if i'm ignorant

this is suuuper nitpicky but in relation to the graphics.. i kinda wish the skins looked slightly.. different? idk how to put it, but they look kind of smooth? maybe too much? i just wish they had a little bit more texture, it kinda looks like they have a beauty filter, imo, and i think it would look better if they look slightly differently

and i have mixed feelings about how the characters are stylized overall. like... y'know, the whole "cartoony" discourse. at first i didnt like it at all, but since we've seen more im way more on board. still... i kinda feel like some things could look a bit nicer

idk how i feel about how the darkspawn look. like it's not a huge deal to me either, but... i just wish they looked different. lol. they do look a little bit goofy

and idk if i like the... veiny/nervous system looking-thing in demons either? like, i like it in theory but tbh in practice im not too sure

the remake of the warden's logo :((

that's it!

tbh im just happy about most things they've said and shown so far. i think a lot of these things are a good sign. also, things like the "not ea app necessary" make me inclined to believe that this is something they've had to fight for (cause you know, if ea could choose they'd do things their way) and that's something i appreciate a lot. that's why i think this and a lot of other choices and changes they've made in relation to the last game, are good signs that they've listened to our feedback in a lot of things! and i hope this reflects in the entirety of the game. i hope it's the case. idk i'm positive about this game! a little scared ofc, because i care and i want it to be as good as possible, but excited nonetheless!

are there things i didn't include but that you are excited about? what are you looking the most forward to, overall? i'd appreciate to see your excitement and know what you like the most!

[detectiveneve]

omg your tags on that last rb? i want to know your Exact thoughts on That dialogue in the scene right after astarion and tav get together because it is so interesting to me 👀

***WRITTEN DURING EA

Okay hi yes, I do indeed have some thoughts. Fair disclaimer that this is just my interpretation! I've only been playing the game for a few days technically, so this is all my first impulse in terms of characterization and influenced by my own path, so! Other interpretations will also be super interesting to read about. Also, obviously, we don't have the full cut, whatever comes out in 2 weeks will come out in 2 weeks. Anyways! Overanalyzing this little bastard's dialogue below.

Okay, this affectionate ribbing was referencing this dialogue here where you can comment on Astarion not being totally "present" post-party sex. Sorry this took me a second to respond to, I wanted to grab the screens for this:

(screencaps of subtitles that read:

Astarion: That's what you want, isn't it? To lose yourself in me?

(new scene) Astarion: You sleep light. I thought you'd be exhausted after last night

Tav: Did you enjoy it? It felt like you weren't fully there.

Astarion: I was holding back a little, it's true. I didn't want to lose control.

To preface this, Astarion's arc is clearly dealing with the push/pull of power and control, one's personal agency (and how it can be taken away), and what happens when an individual reclaims power after for a very long time being without that power. He's endured god-knows-what for 200 years, giving glimpses of his former life, the torture under Cazador, the things he had to do for Cazador (which, included at least finding Cazador's meals through likely charm and seduction, without his own say in the matter.) Now he's out, he's free, he's experiencing the world for the first time basically (as he remarks on in ambient dialogue a lot: everything looks different. Click on a globe and he'll say something along the lines of having never seen the world, but there's time now.) Stating all of that is necessary to me because I think whatever's going on in his terrible brain is several factors all kind of thrown into one; some factors good, some bad, some neutral, some questionable; again, just my interpretation of him, but.

OKAY. Now that that's out of the way. The first interpretation of this scene (and the sex scene in general in its limited capacity: since we don't have eyes on the cinematic.) we can have is the obvious one: you two had a great night, Astarion is being upfront, he simply didn't want to lose control, nothing else here to look at. It's fantasy sex and it's simply good fun.

(The rest is under a cut. Sorry, this kind of turned into a meta Astarion and Sex and all of that? Anyways. CW for a bit of discussion about sexuality + trauma + implications of lack of consent.)

But Do I Believe It's That Simple? Not Really.

On one side, I do think Astarion is genuine in his pursuing of Tav, of sex, of good times and pleasure: he's been locked away for 200 years and now he's traipsing around in mud (a novelty), which might not be ideal, but he can still enjoy the thrill of that too, looks for what's in it for him, what feels good, etc. in all of the circumstances he finds himself in. There's a kind of subdued wonder from him about the world at large; remarks on craving the sun while you're in the Underdark, of experiencing the world, and I think he really is rushing around relishing the freedom as much as he can. And since of course he can reject you, he's not doing anything he doesn't want to do. In short: "simple pleasures," have eluded him under Cazador's thumb, and good sex with someone that you're into is likely just one more of those things he hasn't really gotten to do in ... [checks notes] 200 years.

But I don't think that's the only thing going on in this scene. The fact that the dialogue specifically notes a kind of distance from him feels relevant (since, if they wanted us to think it was all seamless good fun, they could've left it as is.) And the thing is, Astarion. is a big fucking liar.

When he wants to brush aside his dream to Tav, he'll simply say he had some naughty dream and brush it off--which we later find out was a lie ("that's what we call a lie, darling.") and his dreams have actually been about Cazador. Again, only relevant because the first thing Astarion reaches for when he wants to obfuscate the truth is lying through charm, or lying through witty barbs, and when pushed, turns into outright snappy aggression. Saying that the only thing on his mind was the hunger is an easy solution to reach for; maybe it's not even quite wrong, that likely was also an aspect of it! But.

His general .. quick sleazy flirting doesn't come out of nowhere. He uses it liberally, and with everyone, in his Evil Twink Fashion. Can flirt with half the camp at one point or another in environmental dialogue (specifically gets shut down by Shadowheart and Gale, humiliatingly.. the secondhand embarrassment there oh boy.) How much of that he learned while under Cazador's thumb, having to manipulate and charm for Cazador, sexualizing situations where he did not actually have full say and consent in the circumstances, is unknown to us, but can be inferred as not negligible. It's his default state. Charm and persuasion and trickery spell safety, as does disguising any kind of weakness. Disguising his weakness poorly, mind, because he obviously has several moments of raw vulnerability you can get even without his romance being initiated.

I think his current mental state here is a combination of that; of lying to disguise whatever raw state is beneath, unearthed by having simply... some good fun with someone, not out of servitude to Cazador, not to flirt or cajole to protect his own skin, but yet one more thing that's been denied to him (and, possibly, albeit we can only guess at this, not claiming it as canon, forced on him unwantedly) over the last 200 years. But he and Tav here aren't close, close yet, and when Tav tries to push (via talking about the scars on his back), Astarion clams up quite quickly, moving on from the discussion as soon as possible. So whatever is under the minor half-truth of "losing control," isn't open to us yet; we've really just met in the grand scheme of things.

We don't know yet what sex means to Astarion; he hasn't really elaborated beyond the obvious. But, I think, given his behavior, his casual flirtiness, his "You want to lose yourself in me," (another line I can squawk about endlessly in terms of character analysis), sexuality (actual sex or simply sexualization) can be as much a means of securing safety, control, coercion, power, and pinpointing weakness. It's also something he can clearly also desire wholeheartedly and with no ulterior motives involved; and I think this moment shows that, and he's grappling with it uncomfortably, what this means for him, one more thing that he can reclaim for himself. He craves something real, I think, and he's only just now beginning to form a real identity outside of what Cazador did to him, and how Cazador haunts him.

Pursuing something like this is one more step in that direction. Unlearning these gut impulses to lie and deceive and charm his way with Tav is probably what we're going toward, given his glimpse of a reaction to a hug. Whatever else Astarion has to work through in regards to intimacy is up in the air, but there's clearly a lot more going on beneath his fairly shallow veneer of charm and flirtatiousness.

(Which. Can we just have the option to hug him as a casual dialogue option? Please?)

[wordsinhaled]

whatever you do, don't think about hob helping dream discover beautiful music and art that he missed during his imprisonment and them falling in love in the process

like, i've been losing my mind today because it hit me that dream was cut off from the dreaming in burgess' basement for the entirety of dave brubeck's lifetime (1920-2012) ?????? and it got me thinking, and

imagine hob inviting dream over to his flat for dinner (listen... dream of the endless was fully willing to eat KFC after he got out of burgess' cage in the comics - i am convinced he would not only eat, but also summarily enjoy and allow himself to be seduced by, hob gadling's boeuf bourguignon)

hob being absolutely meticulous about every detail - he may or may not have cleaned the place for a week beforehand! he gets dream flowers! he's got ambient lighting! he will neither confirm nor deny having purchased nicer tableware than he would use for himself for the occasion! he's got a very nice wine chilling in the fridge! he's dying of nerves because this isn't just anyone, this is dream, his not-so-stranger-anymore, whom he's been absolutely tangled up in feelings for, for literal centuries, coming to his home, you know, as a date, fuck

so, you know, last but not least, of course, he's got to have the proper mood music, and he really agonizes over it until finally he decides it's gotta be the album "love songs" by dave brubeck, which he has on CD (i love hob + vinyl records, but somehow, the idea of hob owning a sound system that plays CDs in the age of bluetooth/streaming and still having a carefully-curated collection of his favorite CDs is honestly even more endearing to me)

anyway, he sits dream down in the living room and puts on this album, and goes into the kitchen for a few minutes to uncork the wine

he comes back with the bottle and two wine glasses and has to pause in the doorway, because dream is just... sitting there, on the couch where hob left him, looking totally enraptured; he's got tears in his eyes, practically, and he looks like this may have done more to charm him than flowers and wine and the elaborate dinner hob has simmering away on the stove all combined ever could

"what is this thing called love" is playing, wrapping the room up in that wonderful intimate warm romance that jazz has, and hob just looks at dream basking in it and needs a moment himself—because god, he really does love dream, doesn't he, and if he once thought this was a love he'd ever recover from he knows now that he never will; and he doesn't want to recover, not if it means seeing dream like this

and of course dream, who can sense dreams, knows why hob has done all of this for him. he picks up on all the longing wrapped up in all these little precise acts—he can see all hob's dreams for the two of them, his vision for the trajectory of the evening, how he's hoping he might kiss dream tonight, if he's very, very fortunate and plays his cards exactly right—and yet they don't feel like dreams of possession or claiming, they feel like dreams of discovery and possibility, born of six hundred thirty three years of steadfast affection

and that just makes the music hit dream differently, be more to him somehow, because he isn't sure when the last time was that anyone did anything like this for him out of such an unassuming freely-given love that didn't seek to destroy or degrade or disarm him

oh, but it does disarm him, doesn't it? in ways hob gadling may not have expected

and they just... look at each other across the room, for a moment. dream, sitting there on the couch, elbow on his knee, chin in his hand, falling starry-eyed for hob's tenacious tender heart in real time; and hob with his hip propped on the doorframe and the wine glasses clinking together in his hand, trying not to lose his grip on the neck of the wine bottle, everything in the universe narrowing to the sight of dream

LISTEN. LISTEN, I'M HAVING EMOTIONS,,,,

[nomsfaultau]

Fault crew in nightvale :D

Nightvale of course bristles against interlopers, but this time the discrimination is that they’re new in town, not that they’re anomalous. Progress! And obviously if Nightvale decides to keep them there’s not much the crew can do to leave, so eventually they might even settle into a proper place in the town. Having like actual jobs and homes is crazy for The Blade and Wilbur. They’re remarkable only insofar as they’re something new to gossip about, which is a game changer. Everyone is very skittish of Carlos at first bc of the Foundation, and would probably murder Dr. Janey Lubelle if she’s around when they’re there. The Dr. Blake vibe is just too much.

Tommy as an intern bc hello red shirt! In a purely goof sense I can just picture that because everything is so insanely dangerous, he can just try to pet Khoshekh at the end of each shift and The Blade is instantly summoned. This is how he gets a ride back home. Tommy is likely in the most in danger due to having minimal protection and being nosy. Immediately tries to break into the dog park because he wants to see puppers.

While happy to finally be able to walk in broad daylight, The Blade is NOT pleased with the government surveillance state and corruption and has declared war on the night vale city council. Him and Sheriff Sam are beefing hard. It’s ON SIGHT. There’s probably a plot where he tries to take down the Nightvale government and due to a random old law somehow ends up mayor and hates it. Excited to meet John Peters, you know, the farmer, and is extremely disappointed about the invisible corn. Not sure how a Huntokar and The Blood God meeting would go but I think they should. Like…a protector who is a destroyer, do you get me.

On the other hand, city council is really mad at Tubbo for all the forbidden secrets they’re just randomly stumbling across bc of the omnipresence of the swarms. Tubbo gets locked up in the radon canyon like every other day and Phil breaks them out whenever they get board of watching HBO. Tried to follow along with one of Earl Harlan’s cooking segments and got very disturbed, but Wilbur just followed the recipe not aware anything was abnormal. Plus in Tubbos’ backstory there IS an old woman Josie reference, so it’s possible they already know her and she has been using their honey in recipes for years.

Parallel between the faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home and the half faceless young man who secretly lives in no home is fascinating. She keeps leaving him like centipedes in his drawers or whatever and it just goes ‘oh nice a snack’ which probably irks her. Likes hanging with the glow cloud bc the ambient lighting stops the void, who is itself pretty chuffed with all the dead animal carcasses

Philza got a letter for jury duty during Hiram McDaniel’s trial and blew it off bc he was dealing with the Foundation. I think he’d be very chill with Josh Crayton, bonding over different forms and getting stuck in a form you didn’t plan on. Impressed with Tamika Flynn’s Librarian wrangling as a teen, though is more supportive of people growing and changing interests than Cecil dreaming of the glory days. And uhhh technically he’s responsible for the death of many nightvale interns since in chapter Phthalo I used wtnv interns to name Foundation employees. Possibly interesting implications if Chad Bowinger, Maureen Johnson, and Kareem Nazari went to work for the Foundation at some point…?

[timetravelbypen]

22 for Thasmin 😁

Hello hello, I haven't forgotten! Here you go!

22. "Weirdly, the best sleep I’ve ever had."

            Yaz is exhausted. The Doctor’s had them on a three-day-long wild goose chase—or, wild dog chase, she supposes, although she still has no idea what the deal is with Karvanista—and as soon as they’d got back to the TARDIS, soaking wet and without any more answers than they’d started with, she’d sent them hurtling into the vortex and gone storming off without another word. Yaz had taken a very, very long shower and tried to go straight to bed, but in spite of the fact that her limbs feel like lead and she can feel the beginnings of a headache behind her eyes, her brain just won’t switch off.

            The Doctor’s been snappish with her, sometimes, for a while. Since the Master. She’s used to it, even if it grates at her, even if she doesn’t understand it. But these last few days have been… different. The Doctor’s seemed… desperate, somehow.

            She’s seemed scared.

            The look in her eyes before she’d stormed off earlier was dark and hopeless in a way Yaz was all too familiar with, but had never seen on the Doctor’s face before. She can’t stop thinking about it, for all she wants to go to sleep and forget everything about the last three days. She doesn’t think she can get the Doctor to talk about it, but she does want to make sure she’s okay… or at the very least not making things worse for herself.

            Sighing, she shoves herself out of bed and pads off to the kitchen to make two cups of tea. Mint tea for herself, and black tea with an obscene amount of sugar in it for the Doctor. But when she leaves the kitchen, she can’t find her anywhere. She’s not in the console room. She’s not in either of her favorite libraries. She’s not in the game room that’s been mostly empty since Ryan left, or in one of the other kitchens, or by the swimming pool. The ship’s got nearly endless corridors all winding around each other; she could spend hours looking and still not find her, At the very least, the tea’s going to get cold.

            She sighs, wondering if she ought to just give up and check on her in the morning, when the ship sort of burbles around her. The Doctor’s been teaching her to pilot, slowly, and there’s a lot she doesn’t understand yet. But a soft, bubbly hum at the back of her mind, along with the ambient glow of the hallway brightening along one side, is clear enough: the ship knows where the Doctor is, and wants Yaz to follow.

            So she does, circling back around until she’s in the console room again. Yaz frowns; she’d already checked in here, and it was empty, wasn’t it? But then the ship brightens the light around the hexagonal steps along the back wall, and Yaz finds a small, slumped over shape there.

            “Doctor!” she cries, just about remembering to set the tea down instead of dropping it in her haste. She looks so small, so crumpled up—had she gotten hurt and not said? Had something happened?

            She springs forward and reaches out, but unlike on Gallifrey, her hands are hidden somewhere underneath her, so instead Yaz gently brushes her hair away from her face, sneaking a hand between her cheek and her shoulder to try and find a pulse, because she looks so horribly still—

            As soon as Yaz’ fingers brush her skin, the Doctor jolts, sitting up so fast she sways on the step.

            “Careful!” Yaz says, catching her by the shoulders. “Doctor, what happened? Are you all right?”

            “Me? Oh, yeah, m’fine, just, you know, bit of a nap—”

            “The TARDIS were worried about you,” Yaz says, not saying that her heart is still racing in her chest, that the sight of her lying there fallen over like that had scared her too. “You sure you’re okay?”

            “Weirdly, the best sleep I’ve ever had, if you can believe it,” the Doctor says, and she stretches, her joints making horrible popping sounds.

            “Turns out, I can’t,” she says, rolling her eyes theatrically. “C’mon. It’s been an absolutely bonkers few days, you need some actual sleep in an actual bed. Where’s your room?”

            “Mmmm, haven’t really got one,” the Doctor answers, ducking her head. Yaz realizes she hasn’t pulled away from the grip on her shoulders, and so, very gently, she dares to stroke her thumbs back and forth, ready to let go the instant it seems like the Doctor’s uncomfortable. Instead, she can feel the tension bleed out of her body with each touch. “Got the whole ship, really, haven’t I? Except for your room, Yaz, that’s yours. Wouldn’t want to be rude.”

            “No,” Yaz agrees, smiling gently. She glances around and sees that either the TARDIS has once again provided or that they’ve forgotten to put away the stargazing mattress—it’s really become a bad habit at this point. “Still, there’s at least one better place than the stairs. Up you get.”

            The Doctor groans pathetically, but lets Yaz pull her to her feet and walk her over to the mattress on the floor, lets her peel off her coat and boots before collapsing onto it face-first. Yaz chuckles; she’s still concerned that the Doctor’s so tired, still worried about that hopeless look on her face and the shattered way she’d just found her, but looking at her now, starfished across the mattress with her hair fanning out around her head like a burst of sunlight, she can’t help but smile. She’s adorable like this, really.

            “See?” Yaz tells her, grabbing one of the blankets the Doctor hasn’t already pinned beneath her and pulling it up over her shoulders. “Better, right?”

            “Mmm,” the Doctor hums.

            Yaz nods, letting her fingers trail over the edge of the blanket. She’s not sure why she’s lingering. She should go, let her get some sleep, try and get some herself. But she can’t quite bring herself to move away just yet. When she finally does, though, the Doctor’s hand snakes free of the blanket to grab her own.

            “Yaz…” she says quietly. “You could… that is, could you… just for a little while…”

            “Do you want me to stay?” Yaz asks, just as quietly. She feels, quite suddenly, like she can’t breathe.

            “Please,” she whispers, and she blinks open her eyes, and there it is again, that frightened, desperate look Yaz can’t bear. “I can’t… please.”

            Yaz will think about it later. She’ll wonder why, and what it means, and whether it was a good idea. But right now, all she sees is that the Doctor is afraid, and that she can help.

            “’Course I’ll stay,” she says. “Go on, budge up then.”

            The Doctor shifts, and Yaz lifts the blanket and slides beneath it beside her. She’s about to ask if the Doctor’s got enough space when she moves in, burying her face in Yaz’ shoulder and winding an arm around her waist, holding her tight. Yaz lets out a surprised huff of laughter before leaning into the hug, the surprising warmth of the gesture.

            “Never took you for a cuddler, Doctor,” she murmurs against the top of her head.

            The Doctor says nothing, just holds her tighter.

            “It’s all right,” Yaz whispers. “I’ve got you, okay?”

            The Doctor nods against her collarbone, and slowly, as Yaz traces circles between her shoulder blades like her mum used to do for her after a nightmare, she relaxes. Her breathing evens out enough that Yaz thinks she’s dropped off again. Yaz closes her eyes, resting her cheek against the crown of the Doctor’s head, the soft Earl Grey scent of her and the steady four-beat rhythm of her heart unexpectedly soothing in her arms.            

“Sweet dreams, Doctor,” she whispers with a yawn. Perhaps, just for tonight, she can help give her that.

[synnthamonsugar]

in the spirit of saturnalia: I ask for a coffee shop au fic with savathun

Can I get an art grant to develop this into a full series? Do you want ME to write/draw something outside my usual body of work? Inquire here!

A small crowd gathered near the rear of the cafe, chattering raucously around candlelit tables, framed by floodlights trained on the small stage at the back. Another open mic night at the Gaslight Cafe.

"Good turnout tonight," Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil commented to the owner and senior barista, Savathûn. The middle-aged woman had long braids tied into a bun at the crown of her head, and a loud floral print shirt peeking from beneath a mint-green apron emblazoned with the logo of the shop. A stylized moth framed by an old-fashioned lantern.

"We'll see how long it lasts," she replied with a note of exasperated humor.

Lavinia tilted her head. Leaned across the coffee-bar so she didn't have to shout above the ambient noise. "Is the lineup that . . . bad?" 

"My nieces are the opening act," Savathûn commented, gesturing at the stage. Two identical women, perhaps a bit younger than Lavinia, dressed in what she could only describe as avant-garde victorian-goth-chic, long red gowns and pyramidal fascinators atop their heads, fiddled with an electric guitar and drum set respectively. The longer Lavinia looked, the more she could make out a familial resemblance to Savathûn, though there was something sharper in their features. 

Ada, in her role as M.C., took to the front of the stage. "Please give a warm welcome to our first performance, the Death Singers."

"Oh — that's, uh, promising? Your family has such accomplished musicians."

"They are talented girls but their style is —'' the first drumbeats started, shortly accompanied by a crunchy, guttural lick from the guitar, "—experimental." The lead leaned in close and belted out a shrieky vocal, loud enough to peak the mic. Both Savathûn and Lavinia reflexively flinched at the sound.  "Highly so."

The ensuing piece of music could be generously characterized as "harsh" and "atonal", less politely as "unlistenable" and "headache-inducing". Ir Halak and Ir Anûk traded off vocals throughout the set, and Lavinia found them perfectly matched not only in appearance but also intolerability. 

When they finally reached the end of their performance, a hesitant, obligatory round of applause fizzled from the crowd — excluding the next performer, who arose to his feet clapping and cheering. The girls waved and smiled at him as they gathered their gear and exited stage. 

The attrition rate among the audience was impressively low, but Lavinia wondered if Toland would change that. The pallid older man was a regular guest, spending hours sitting at different tables, sometimes tapping away at his typewriter but mostly getting into Diogenian debates with other customers. Savathûn permitted him to stay because his coffee habit provided her a reliable source of income. They often wondered what he actually did and could find no other explanation than this. Context clues pointed at a well-to-do wife who supported his unemployment, but not the Cafe. 

"Our next guest needs no introduction. Give it up for Toland, The Shattered, who will share a piece of his poetry—?" Ada enunciated the word as more as a question than statement, "— with us."

Lavinia was just glad he wasn't singing tonight. His timbre was almost as jarring as the twins'. 

"HUSH THE MOON. HUSH THE NIGHT. HUSH THE DARKNESS . . . HUSH, THE LIGHT . . ." If nothing else, she was impressed by the way he seemed to be able to speak in small-caps. He paced about the stage like a caged dog, delivering a performance that might've been pretentious if it wasn't utterly sincere. Some watched in transfixed or baffled silence, while others got up to refill their drinks at the bar. 

As more applause rippled through the crowd, and others gathered their things to leave, Ada approached the mic. "I didn't think anyone could find a rhyme for 'ouroboros', but you have a way with words. 

"Our next presenter is a sleight-of-hand magician—"

"That's 'illusionist', ma'am," the man waiting at stage-right drawled. He was decked out in a sequined suit of teal and green with a prominent snake motif, cowboy hat in hand.

" — Illusionist from the Tower Annex. Let's all welcome Eli—"

He shook his head.

"Wu Ming?"

"It's Germaine now. Legal reasons."

"Ah — well, let's all welcome Germaine, and his thrilling coin gambit—"

"Okay I'm out," Lavinia finally folded, gathering up her purse and books in one hand, and coffee in the other. "G'night Sav."

"Truly, you live up to your title," Savathûn replied, poking at her 'Lucky' nickname. "Goodnight Lavinia."

[alpinezro]

hi... I HOPE THIS IS ALRIGHT TO ASK but ive admired how you render for a long time and you mentioned a while back in a post that you'd studied light particles n how they work and i have been. deathly curious as to how you went about doing that... drawing from reference and doing studies of course, but was there any particular way you went about it? i hope this finds you well. anyways . sorry ! thank you for your time

no need to apologize, and thank you so much for asking! not sure i can provide the best explanation, but most of what i learned was off of youtube and some blog-ish websites. this probably wont make any sense at all but ill try my best.

The Anatomy of Shadows

a big part of it was learning the anatomy of shadows, specifically the terminator and different varieties. heres a diagram,

terminators are just where the light and shadow meet. you always want to be able to tell where the terminator starts and ends!!! be CONFIDENT and BOLD with them!!!! they communicate so much information about structure

more on the different types of terminators/shadows. the ones i most use are cast and body.

a great example of these is the rembrandt triangle, composed of the shadow cast by the nose (cast shadow) and the shadow of the cheek (body shadow). body shadows are so so aewsome because they represents changes in planes. cast shadows r just kinda there. but i think they get softer the further away from the object they are since the light particles wiggle their way underneath and create reflection/ambient light

Ambient Occlusion and Light

SPEAKING OF WHICH!!! ambient light is basically just, the light particles that are bouncing around in a scene. imagine you're at the beach and its a really cloudy day, the shadows arent gonna be dramatic like they would if you were in a dark room with one light source.

youd think that we're kinda like. enveloped in light by default but no, we're pretty much always in shadow. shadows are the normal part. light is a strange freak that broke into your house and fucked everything up.

more about ambient occlusion. ambient occlusion just occurs when objects get close together and light cant wiggle its way in, as stated earlier. heres a shitty example. AO is key to realism.

this guy explains it better than i ever could

Lighting Focus or Whatever the Fawk its Called I Forgot But There's Definitely a Scientific/Cinematic Term For This

another thing. level of detail in shadows is gonna be way different than in light and vice versa. u know when u spend a bunch of time outside and u go inside and its just solid black for a few seconds? its a similar idea here, ur eyes are so focused on the lit area they dont even give a shit abt the shadows.

because of this, i try to keep shaded areas blurred. a lot of detail is implied, just let the viewers mind fill in the blanks.

last but not least,

Subsurface Scattering (on the skin, at least)

can i be so honest with you for a second??? i dont actually know what this means, like in depth. im sure this has something to do with light penetrating through semi-transparent skincells and illuminating blood,, but i cant be sure. thats just an educated guess. past oakley is always smarter than present oakley for some reason.

i usually combine it with reflected light to create a more cohesive look. burt like... yeah... theres plenty of people who can explain this better than me

ok thast all i hope this helped at least a little!!!!! LOTS of youtube videos. lots of visualizing silly little particles bouncing around. i probably forgot some stuff.

this video is realy good

[blackjackkent]

OK, intrigued by the ambient dialogue happening at the next booth.

First of all the answer is yes. Second of all, this is either going to be hilarious or awkward as hell. Let's find out which.

"This city of stone and steel is an endless scream in nature's womb. I have felt no peace here. Until now."

Hello to you too, ma'am.

I'm not entirely sure what this lady's deal is (apparently she's a dryad?) but she has a very ethereal voice and VERY carefully positioned Boob Leaves.

She looks at Hector with great interest, in a dreamy sort of way. "Your eyes, stira. There is pain, endless and deep. But also devotion - blazing like the sun. You're in love, aren't you?"

I think Hector feels more than a little awkward about this. He's not averse to PDA with Karlach (cf. the clown kiss from a few posts ago), but his relationship isn't the sort of thing he would normally discuss casually with strangers.

However, Karlach has been grinning away at everything and trying to get him into the spirit of things at the festival, and she gives him a nudge in the ribs encouragingly. So he answers, somewhat sheepishly, "I do love someone. Someone close to me, actually." He shoots a look at Karlach sideways and grins slightly.

"You are wise to admit it," the dryad murmurs with a nod. "When it comes to love, vulnerability is armor. Truth, a sword. And trust, a shield. I pray you wield all three, stira."

Hector nods very seriously. He tries very hard to bring all three of those to his time with Karlach, and he knows she does the same.

"Bring the one you love to me," the dryad continues. "I will look into your hearts and see if your love is eternal, or doomed eternally."

Hector shifts uncomfortably. After the business with Akabi he has no doubt this is also a scam, and yet he would not wish even in jest to hear this woman place doubt on his love for Karlach or hers for him.

(A/N: You can call up any of your party to participate (or go get someone from camp) here, regardless of relationship status. Out of curiosity, I tried Jaheira and Shadowheart before moving on to Karlach.

Jaheira: "Hm? Oh, the dryad is comely enough - but you? Don't poke at questions you don't want the answer to, cub."

LMAO. Man, it's a lucky thing Hector's self-image is not tied up in his appearance because it's getting DUNKED on today.

Shadowheart does accept and just says dryly, "Love, is it? I didn't realize I'd bowled you over that much. Go ahead, impress me."

Anyway, moving on to Hector's ACTUAL love - realistically I don't think Hector would, on his own, engage with this, but Karlach is very excited about the circus and wants to see everything and thinks it's in good fun. So this is very much Hector catching the expression on her face and indulging her. XD )

"This could be fun, Karlach," he says mildly. "What do you think?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" she says excitedly, trotting up next to him. "Let's do it."

Look at these cuties.

"Close your eyes, little ones," the dryad says softly. "Be still as stone to earth. And remember to breathe."

Hector grins slightly to himself and closes his eyes. This is old hat to him, like meditation in the monastery. He closes his eyes, centers himself, breathes in, lets it out slowly.

And to his surprise, he feels the air change around him, a pale white light suffusing around his body... and when he opens his eyes, they are somewhere different, or perhaps somewhere within.

It is beautiful - a sun-lit waterfall down into a slow-flowing river, crossed by a log bridge; he stands at one end, Karlach at the other. She looks at him with a grin, bemused but comfortable.

This is more elaborate than he was expecting, and he fidgets uncomfortably again, then stills himself deliberately.

The dryad is standing nearby on the edge of the river and looks at them curiously.

"Ah," she says. "Glorious. Your bond is sweeter than nature's dew. I see you. Know you. But do you know one another?"

Hector blinks questioningly. He knows Karlach, yes - likely better than he knows any other soul. He is far more comfortable with that than he is with the strange dryad claiming to know him. But he says nothing, just waits.

"Karlach," the dryad says thoughtfully. "Her fire within can incinerate an enemy or warm a beloved. Listen. Think. Who does she loathe above all others?" Her voice takes on an abrupt, strange edge.

Hector's jaw works. There are two obvious candidates for the correct answer here - Zariel and Gortash. And he is not really sure, if asked, which Karlach would say she (or he) loathes more.

"Zariel," he finally says slowly.

"She's the worst of the worst," Karlach agrees, grinning at him. "I suppose a devil can't help her nature, but she's got a really godsdamn bad nature."

Hector feels himself drawn forward slightly, a little further along the log bridge towards her.

"Your bond beats in pleasure," the dryad says brightly. "It is an honor to behold. Many things delight the heart, but only one makes it sing. Tell me - what is her idea of a perfect day?"

(A/N: I know why they can't but it's a bummer Karlach doesn't get to answer a Hector pop quiz too. XD )

Hector blushes a little because he knows the answer but saying it out loud is something else. "Bashing baddies interspersed with victory sex," he says with a soft chuckle.

Karlach's grin widens. "You know me too well," she answers, with a wink that makes his blush deepen.

He takes another few steps towards her, halfway across the bridge now.

"Our touch has been of sunlight," the dryad intones. "But now we must look beyond. To the uncertain. To the future. A decade from now, what will the mighty Karlach do? Where will she be?"

Hector's smile fades and he goes very still. The brightness of the sun around them seems to dim abruptly, the noise of the waterfall receding.

He remembers Dammon's words back at Last Light, telling Karlach that she cannot survive indefinitely without returning to Avernus. He remembers Karlach, afire with determination, asserting her independence - that she would rather die than go back there.

He remembers telling her, "But I want you to live."

And he remembers her answer. "I want to live too - but not under any circumstances."

He swallows, meets her eyes and forces the words out, because they are honest, and he would not do her the disrespect of pretending she has not said what she said.

"Probably dead," he says hoarsely.

He sees the flash of understanding in her eyes, and regret. But then she grins, shakes it off. "Honestly," she says cheerfully, "probably. But hopefully not any time soon. I've got a *lot* of living to do yet."

He feels his heart twist in his chest. Is she laughing it off because there is a stranger's eyes on them? Or does she really think so little of the possibility of that thing inside her burning her up, of leaving him alone...

She crosses the remaining space on the bridge towards him and looks into his eyes, her expression softening. He tries to read the expression in her gaze but it is surprisingly complex; he can't quite tell what she's thinking.

"You really know me, don't you?" she says softly. "It's wild. In so many ways, we barely know each other. But where it counts, you're deeper in my head than the tadpole."

He smiles slightly. That, at least, is true enough. He reaches out, squeezes her hand gently. They will need to talk later, he thinks. Some things have been sitting undiscussed for too long. But this has, if nothing else, been a pleasant reminder of how close they are, of what she means to him.

"I press my finger to your bond," the dryad intones, "and find a shield. Impenetrable. It is... beautiful."

There's a rushing feeling around them, and suddenly they are back on the rickety circus platform, with the noise of voices all around them.

"Go in peace, seedlings. And know that you made one whose heart was long quiet beat with love anew."

[adamjagger]

One week of night vision

Hi guys, so this weeks post is going to be about my thoughts after owning my night vision for a week. So ever since I got the night vision, I have taken it out every single night since getting it from Brownells and there are a handful of things I feel like I should mention in this post. Things being stuff that I thought was going to be true that I found out we’re not and things that I, just happen to notice while using it. That being said, let’s get into it.

First things first, I didn’t realize how much the weather played a role in using a vision. The day that I got my PVS 14 we just so happen to be in a new moon phase so there was absolutely no moon visible. That being said, I was still blown away the first time I use this, even though it was the worst night to be using night vision. Things like ambient light from more populated locations or even just the moon make a huge difference in using night vision. One more thing to consider is cloud coverage, so I’ve been using mine primarily in the woods where it’s already darker, but then you add no moon and cloud coverage, and it’s very dark, but yet I was still amazed by the performance of this nightvision device.

The second thing I want to talk about is movement under night vision. Initially, I thought this was going to be a very hard task from everything I’ve ever heard before but to my surprise it was actually very easy. Walking through the woods and on trails and even walking around in my pole barn with a bunch of junk all over the place , I didn’t have any issues with doing that. I think the main thing to keep in mind when you’re doing this is remember that you’re wearing a night vision device and remember that your senses are a little bit decreased and then you should be fine. I do think it’s very important though to get out and walk around and move and do things with your night vision before you expect to be some high tier operator with it.

Next up is going to be the night vision accessories that I have mounted on my rifle and pistol. Initially, I didn’t really know what to expect with this. When using the sionyx camera and looking at my IR output, I wasn’t blown away with the performance of any of the items that I chose. But once having proper night vision in hand, they work far better than what they look like on the camera. Obviously, just like with all civilian illuminator devices I wish the illuminator on my holosun had a little bit more power behind it. But the laser itself has been fantastic. The Modlite ir850 light head is ridiculously powerful, and will basically light up the woods for as far as you can see, and then that brings me to the streamlight vir2 that I have mounted on the Glock 44. Overall, I’m very happy with that for the price and it comes in that I think it’s a fantastic option. It throws a fair amount of flood which is nice for a pistol and the laser itself is very easy to pick up as well. I’ve been very happy with all the choices that I had made in the IR department.

Overall, the biggest hurdle with us is just getting the night vision itself. Once you do that, then you can figure the rest out very easily. Like I mentioned earlier in this, I got mine from brownells, which I will have links down below to check them out. Along with all of my IR devices as well You can use code BOP10 to save a bunch of money over there on this stuff.

Anyways, if you made it here, thanks for reading night vision is super cool, and I highly recommend trying to get some for yourself because being able to see in the dark is an amazing feeling.

[multiverse-imagines]

Reverse Isekai Rants: Nights on Earth

A/N: I'm not dead, I swear, I've just been flopping around like a dropped Croissant.

No Man's Land/Gunsmoke is a planet with Two Suns and Five moons.

The nights there are still well lit, despite the lack of light. Moonlight bathes across the sands, sparkling red and green auroras across the sands as worms move just underneath.

It's these things, you think, that might be one thing that makes some members of the Trigun House miss about their home planet, their home dimension.

The Saverem Twins, from nearly all iterations, don't mind gazing into the void of space from the roof or the grassy yard, seeing the multitude of stars that are differently arranged from their own planet. They enjoy stargazing, and find it a way to have heart to heart talks, with only the vast number of stars and systems bearing witness. Not that the universe cares.

They don't mind because they were born in space. For the Vashes, they get to think about Rem, and the happy times they had. For the Knives, they get to be reminded when things weren't so complicated, when things were happier. It makes you want to find an anti gravity chamber. Maybe the Saverem Twins would truly relax, being back in the weightlessness of space.

For the Wolfwoods, Livio, Razlo, and Legato, they've never been without the spare moons in the sky. They fear the nights of the new moon, or overcast nights where the clouds make the world as black as the back of a dead man's eyelids... Not that they'd ever admit to it. Hell, you figure that's why Meryl stays in Seattle. All of the lights illuminating the town probably comforts her.

There's an old saying. "When you gaze into that abyss, it gazes back, and it tells you what you are made of." It must be that, and the instinctual fear of what hides in the darkness that does scare them.

You subtly introduced ambient lighting to them. String lights, electronic fire places, night lights, moon lamps, and more. Every bedroom in the Trigun house has them, even the Saverem Twins.