#some other smurfs probably get caught in the same cycle too

[schtroumpf-a-lunettes]

So going off Coquet = flirt, Schtroumpf Coquet aka Vanity Smurf

ok this is kinda hc type stuff which is more about comics vanity I guess;

Even though Vanity is not interested in girls he flirts with Smurfette, because the thing is he flirts with just about everyone. Despite flirting with the other smurfs he’s not actually interested in any of them either because he doesn’t think any of them are good enough for him/he’s too good for them. No one can meet his high, high standards. So yeah, he flirts with them despite not being actually interested in them at all, and from what I’ve read this is completely in-line with being a coquet.

Because at the end of the day it’s all about him and his self-centredness. He wants other people to see him as KNOW he’s attractive, to be desirable. stuff like that

meanwhile in the cartoon he mostly just keeps to himself and obsesses over himself. he loves himself enough so can’t care too much what other smurfs might have to say about it. But let’s make one thing absolutely clear:

IF Vanity were to turn his charms on just about any of the other smurfs they would be helpless. By focusing so much on himself, the others are all spared his intensely bedazzling charms. The guy has the power but he CHOOSES not to use it. because as long as he has his reflection to look at he doesn’t need anything more

[lunagalemaster]

Dannymay Day 2: Ice

(I’m late and this was overboard. Is this going to be a theme?)

Setting: Master of Space AU once more, sort of. Astral is narrating. No specific time period. 

Special thanks to @skyereminiscing​ and @ninjagorocksdealwithit​ for letting me use their Ice Sprite and Ice Prince Dannys! 

With that, let’s begin!

There was a huge difference between Cores and cores.

In short, Cores referred to the Dannys. The infinite, unfortunately incredibly important Dannys. Each universe created a Core once in its way too long lifespan (with a minor glitch here and there creating either an odd knock off or amusingly, an actor playing Danny). It was a ridiculous cycle. A Core was born, they lived, and if everything went well, they died after a long eventful life.

Astral noted that things only went well half the time.

The other half either were Cores with boring lives, those who died early, or those who never died at all.

Cores were important for sustaining a universe. No matter what they did, as long as they did something, their deaths would, at the very least, extend the longevity of the universe by a great number of Earth years Astral never bothered figuring out.

(Clockwork probably told him a few times, but considering it sometimes felt like he blinked and missed an entire millennia, the actual number of years were lost to him).

Whatever the actual number of years, it didn’t particularly matter. A Danny lived, they died, and their energy helped to make a universe live longer. Since Clockwork’s and Astral’s goal was to make universes live as long as possible, it was usually in their best interest to make sure that a Core was born.

Not that they could do much to keep the Core alive once he was born, but that was another story for another day, and by another day, Astral meant never.

On the other hand, cores were (with a few exceptions here and there), the lifeline of a ghost. Like Cores helped power universes, ghost cores were the literal center of being for every ghost, holding their power, personality, and essentially their very existence.

Unless you were a halfa, of course, then it had half of your existence...sometimes. Other times cores were in the halfas literal heart, and that really made a mess in some of the universes where a ghost managed to dispose of a Core by destroying their core.

The weirdest thing about cores, in Astral’s opinion, were their elemental effects. For some reason, some cores had elements. Not all of them but some of them. Astral could never figure out why (well, there was always an in-universe reason, but they varied and were way too complicated for his tastes). Of all the abilities ghosts could have, those related to their elemental cores always felt different than other powers. They didn’t relate to a ghost’s past, nor did it particularly relate to ghosts in general. Elemental cores were just another power….for no reason except to have an additional power.

Don’t even get him started on those with “musical” and “adaptive” cores. He tried to wrap his mind around these variations, and he  just came to the conclusion that they sounded cool and so the multiverse made it happen.

The Rule of Cool was a legitimate law, one that Astral himself indulged in quite often.

Generally, Cores tended to have ice cores….for some reason. Again, sometimes the sudden cryokinesis explained and other times, they just generally appear whenever the timeline demanded it. Astral tried to rational it all out, but by the time he found out that at least a fourth of the Common universes didn’t have cores, let alone ice cores, Astral realized that was a stupid thing to try to understand.

This, by itself, wouldn’t be too much of a big deal. Like ghost powers themselves, not every single universe had to have the same abilities. Fuck, the multiverse threw logic out the window as much as Astral did, which made sense when he thought about it. No, the reason why he was hung up on the stupid ice thing had nothing to do with lack of consistency or the consistent lack of consistency.

It was because for some damn reason, universes just loved to center ice as a Core’s main theme, even in Common universes.

If the ice theme was similar to the stars, Astral might have understood. Nearly every universe, with the exceptions of a handful had Core that either loved space or centered space around their universe. Space was loved by all of them in one form or another, and while the stars were simply a backdrop to him now, Astral distinctly remembered his pre-Master days and even his early days just staring out into the great infinity in wonder.

Ice on the other hand? Nothing. There was no reason. It was a theme and nothing less. The Cores didn’t have any attachment to ice, no memories, fuck, they usually hated the winter holiday. (Was this entire thing some great irony in the multiverse?) The only connection to ice they had was to their inconsistent occurrences in their ice core.

Clockwork said it was because the original universe had a Danny with an ice core. Astral preferred to think that the Rule of Cool had evolved into the Rule of Cold.

Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. Ice was a Core’s theme, and as a result, there were several universes dedicated to centralizing it to the point of extremity.

OoOoOoOoO  

Phantom, king of ghosts, leaned leisurely on the armrest of his throne, face impassive, as he eyed the babbling ghost before him. Bright blue eyes, bored at this endless routine strayed to the walls of his palace. The walls, changed to match the reign of the new king, packed to the brim with solid snow to the point only the most powerful of fire cores could even hope to melt it. Icicles clung to the ceiling dangerous, the pointed ends like spikes ready to close down on the rest of the room. The floor was slick and shining. If he wanted, Phantom could see his reflection.

“M-m-m-my K-king?” A voice whispered.

Phantom’s eyes snapped to the ghost, who jumped away in fright. The poor thing was shivering, from fear or the temperature, the king could not say.

Phantom smiled softly, “Please continue. I was just distracted. Not harm done.”

The ghost hesitated a moment, before nodding and continuing on.

The smile dropped from the king’s face, and it was all he could do not to let out another sigh. He wrapped his cape closer to his body, the snowflake design glittering nicely with the rest of the room. If he could, Phantom would be anywhere else, trying to proactively find a way to improve his kingdom.

But no, he was here, listening to some councilman explain boring economic efforts that he’d just hand off to someone who knew what they were doing. It was a boring thing, but a necessary one. He just wished that it wasn’t.

Phantom huffed out a breath and watched it float through the air. Crystallizing, making patterns, before breaking away.

Sometimes being  the Ghost King had a powerless quality to it.

OoOoOoOoO

Astral understood on some level.

On others he didn’t.

It was as much of a symbol as it was a mark of power.

However, for some, it was something new, but just a part of their lives just the same.

OoOoOoOoO

Danny frowned as the little wings fluttered behind him.

They felt...odd on his body, but at the same time, perfectly normal. Like an extra limb that had been asleep for who knew long, it at first was awkward almost painful, but now?

He turned his head to look at them, their fluttering stopping at the moment. Snowflakes trailed up and down the dragonfly esque design of the appendages. The base of the wings were a light blue, almost white, and probably would be if it weren't for the lighting. Even when they weren’t moving they seemed to be shimmering, twitching, ready to take off for a long flight.

Or maybe it was just him.

He shook his head and hopped off his bed. He headed towards his mirror to get a better look at himself again. The combination of morbid fascination mixed with a strange inner peace had him skitting his now, much brighter eyes toward any reflective surface he could find. Even if he jumped at the alien in the mirror (well, sprite), he couldn’t help but think that he looked...right for once.

Fueled by a desire to see his reflection, he felt himself floating off the floor in little hops, wings buzzing excitedly behind him. He couldn’t exactly understand flying just yet, but some deep instincts had him using his wings with whatever limited uses he could find.

He must have miscalculated his jumps because he found himself stumbling nearly on top of his vanity. Grumbling to himself, he gripped the edge and lowered his feet back on the ground.

Then he caught his reflection.

He looked like a Smurf. At least, that was always his first thought. Although, his skin wasn’t that deep of a blue, the shade of blue always closer to a light sky rather than deep blue of the little creatures, the deeper blue of his eyes and the dark blue spots of his freckles made it difficult not to make the comparison.

As he absently poked at his freckles,  his eyes trailed over the rest of his face. More pointed features of his jaw with pointed ears to match. Yet his hair poofed more than usual. Maybe it was to give the effect of powdered snow, but after his transformation, his black hair turned snowy white and seemed to shine softly off his head.

Danny didn’t even realize he was leaning forward until he pressed his hands on the glass. Startled, he looked behind him only to find his wings fluttering up a storm and his body floating gently off the ground. Slightly panicking, he leaned forward towards the glass, and he found his breath creating trails of frost, the ice crawling intricate patterns on the mirror in a way he’d only seen in movies.

Despite his predicament, Danny couldn’t help but smile.

OoOoOoOoO

For others, ice was their very of life. Their identity was tied to the snow and freezing cold just as important to them, as the very air they breathed. It was their story, their beginning, their end. Astral couldn’t disconnect them if he tried.

Yet despite it all, there was a certain innocence when it came to ice, snow more specifically. It should have been mundane, yet as the Cores explored the vast snowy plains, their eyes glittered as they eyed the land

There was an innocence and beauty in watching these Cores love the world around them that Astral appreciated even if he didn’t particularly understand.

OoOoOoOoO

Phantom snuggled under the snow, keeping his breaths low. It was dark and more than a little cold, but that was alright. He knew what he was doing. Paja taught him how to keep warm when he was lost in the snow.

He wasn’t lost now. He didn’t even need to fly very far to go to the village, let alone see it. Yet, quietly, as he could, Phantom camouflaged himself under the light cover of snow. He was sort of cold, and he was pretty sure he had snow in some weird places, but unlike the time he jumped into a giant piles of it only to have his Paja needing to take icicles out of his frozen hair, this time it was different.

He waited, anticipation building, his core buzzing with excitement. He tried his best not to shift too much. To keep quiet. Hidden. Not visible even by the greatest of-

“Found you, Little One!” Suddenly, Phantom found himself being lifted in air by two strong, familiar paws. He screamed in surprise, before the sound turned into a wave of laughter and giggles, as he hugged the Far Frozen who surprised him.

“Paja! You found me!” Phantom exclaimed. He floated up to rest on Frostbite’s shoulders, legs dangling between his head, as his hands held on tightly to his horns. “How did you know I was there?”

“I am a master tracker!” Frostbite said with a chuckle. He started making his way back to the village.

“But how?”

Frostbite sounded amused, as he replied, “It’s not too difficult to find a wiggling pile of snow.”

“Ohhh,” Phantom muttered, pouting a bit, “I thought that I was still enough.”

A giant paw came up and ruffled his hair, causing Phantom to giggle under his breath. The Ice Prince could hear the pride in his Paja’s voice when he continued, “It was a nice start. If you had been farther out, I might not have had that easy a time finding you. But alas, your wiggling and the circumstances made it quite a bit easier on me than you. You’ll learn,” he said, after Phantom gave a little sigh, “But you also need practice, but for now, time to get you warmed up.”

“Wait!” Phantom called out, floating quickly off Frostbite.

He arched an eyebrow, “Oh, what is it, Young One?”

“I just…” He turned away from the village and looked back to the endless snow, “...Can we stay longer? Just the two of us?”

There was a small silence from his Paja, and it made Phantom’s heart hurt. Out here in the snow with no one else around, he was free. No duty, no other Far Frozen, just the Ice Prince and his kingdom, sharing the land with the creature he cared more than anyone else in the Zone.

He looked back at his Paja, eyes wide and pleading, but to Phantom’s despair, he had already closed his eyes, shaking his head no. “I’m sorry. But we must make our way back home. Now come along. I don’t want you to freeze yourself.”

‘You’re my home,’ Phantom thought. And so was Maja and the snowy beyond, but he couldn’t say this, he knew. He didn’t want his Paja to feel guilty for anything. His home was here, and he was happy with his life!

However, as he longed for the vast expanse of the unknown, he couldn’t help but think he could be happier too.

OoOoOoOoO

It was ridiculous. There was no one connection that ice had to the Cores. Yes, there was overlapping ones (how couldn’t there be), but over the many Cores and many universes, they attached themselves to their ice abilities in ways that baffled him. Some for beauty, some for practicality, some simply using them because they were there, and why not? It’s another power, isn’t it?

Astral knew he shouldn’t be harped on the idea of an ice theme or narratives being carried just by this theme of ice, but he has seen the same story so many times and yet the stories of ice could either be completely boring or jaw droppingly emotional.

It didn’t make sense.

But nothing made any sense really, and the multiverse enjoyed beating his sense of reality into little tiny pieces anyway, so why not just go with the flow and enjoy?

Astral supposed the ice thing was just one little problem out of many that represented his struggles as a whole.

If the Cores were enjoying their ice abilities, who was he to judge them?

OoOoOoOoO

It was midnight in the middle of December in what could have been the coldest nights of the year. Danny had zero sleep in the last two days, he failed his world geography test, and he was only one parental late night check-in away from getting grounded for all eternity.

Even so, he found himself floating down towards the lake at the edge of town, the decently sized body of water frozen over for the winter. Despite himself, Danny couldn’t help but smile, clutching the bag in his hand even tighter in his excitement.

Flying was amazing stress reliever, sure, but his favorite pastime was getting riskier by the day. With Valerie and his parents both after his hide, one moment he could be enjoying the rush of air as he rushed toward the ground and the next, he could be plummeting for entirely different reasons.

So, no, with the chaos of his life and his already high stress levels, he did not want to risk being shot at, thank you very much.

Danny gently landed, boots barely making a sound, as the ice gained his light weight. While he was sure it would hold him, just in case, he crouched down, and after shifting the bag, pressed his free hand on the ice. His eyes glowed blue, and there was a woosh of cold air that rose up and unsettled the sparing trees around him.

He got up and pressed his foot down, moving his foot side to side. Danny stepped his foot once or twice, and when he was done, he smiled in satisfaction, giving the ice a little nod. After doing his tests, he floated over to the edge of the lake, made himself an ice bench. He settled himself and his bag down with a plop, transforming back into Fenton.

From here, covered from head to toe with thick winter clothes, Danny opened the bag, revealing a pair of figure skates.

It started out as a way to practice his new ice powers. Some nights, he’d go out, freeze the lake a bit, and try to make some snowmen or something. It wasn’t too big of a deal, and while using his ice powers wasn’t as practical on non-moving objects, as other ghosts, the powers were new enough that anything was helpful.

Although, if Danny were to ever come clean and tell his friends, he will remember never to mention the number of squirrels he pissed off while looking for target practice, or so help him, Sam would fully kill him right then and there.

The reason he started skating was a bit embarrassing. One night he freezed the lake and started sliding around like a clumsy baby penguin. Fenton stubbornness kicked in, and he wouldn’t leave the lake until he could slide around on the ice without slipping. He got the brilliant idea to put skates on the bottom of his boots.

It worked out well for about three seconds before he fell flat on his face.

Normal people would have given up there. However, a combination of dread of coming home and the before mentioned Fenton genes had him huffing, getting back up again, and trying to skate once more. When he got back home, the first thing he did was look up how to make actual skates and, of course, how not to flat out on his face.

He eventually bought a pair of skates when he figured out putting blades on the bottom of his boots was not very effective.

Danny didn’t exactly know what it was supposed to be to him. He never saw himself as a skater. Even if the thought did ever cross his mind, he would have shoved it down, tear it up, and make sure it never did again, in fear of Dash finding out and bashing him in the face.

Good thing Danny stopped caring what Dash thought a long time ago.

If Tucker and Sam ever found out what he did some nights, he’d never hear the end of it. They wouldn’t get it, not exactly, and while they wouldn’t make fun of him (for long), he knew they wouldn’t see this like he did.

It was like flying, except a bit more accessible. Whenever he moved on the ice, the wind flowing, body bending, and twisting, he couldn’t help but feel like he was in a whole other world.

Danny finished tying up his skates. Carefully, he made his way towards the ice,  smile wide on his face, as he started the now familiar motion of skating. He started slow, making sure he knew the motions. The wind picked up, as he went along, as he sashayed back and forth, marking his trail with the cut of his blades.

As time went on, he went faster, nothing too much, but he felt the air pick up around him, the cold holding him like a hug, and he closed his eyes so he could just feel the world turn into nothing but wind, ice, and freedom.

Hours later, Danny sat on the little ice bench once more. He was exhausted, face flushed pink, breath short, and sore from head to toe. He should have stayed home, slept, get some homework done.

Yet, as he stayed at the frozen lake and put away his skates, Danny couldn’t help but feel the happiest he’d been in a long time.

OoOoOoOoO

There may be a big difference between Cores and their cores, but considering their passion, not only with ice, but with the usual hope they had to continue on beyond what should be possible, Astral appreciated them nonetheless.

Ice was a staple of the multiverse. It wasn’t going away.

So why not just sit back, watch the show, and enjoy the winter wonderlands?

[thesmashcake]

Staying Sane While Editing Photos

The first thing I need to say before we get into this blog is that I believe photo editing is a fantastic way to enhance the creative vision you had in you head when you took the photo. For that reason I love editing my photos in Adobe Lightroom/ Photoshop and I think editing can be the cherry on top of any well crafted image. But, if we’re being completely honest I do have those days where I’d rather gouge my eyes out with a spork than sit behind my monitor for 6 hours straight.

I have been editing photos in Photoshop professionally since 1999 and in that time I have had many a day where I caught myself staring blankly at a box of sporks thinking “In the valley of the fed-up photo editors, the no-eyed man is king”. In order to save you from becoming a pale shell of your former self that hoards sporks and calls them “my precious” I’m going to throw you a lifeline. Here are my 5 tips to keep from going crazy while editing photography. I have developed these “sanity hacks” over many years and I use them daily. I’m using a few of these tips right now as I write this blog.

Editing can be extremely bad for your body

Before we begin, I really want to beat the dead horse so you guys understand just how bad extended photo editing sessions can be to your long term physical, mental and hormonal heath. According to the Mayo Clinic sitting for long periods of time has been linked to the following health issues:

Increased blood pressure High blood sugar Excess body fat around the waist Abnormal cholesterol levels

They went on to say that too much sitting overall and prolonged periods of sitting also seem to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Read the full article by The Mayo Clinic

Now that I’ve scared the hell out of you, let’s get to my list of tips to help you be happier and healthier while editing your photos.

Tip 1- Get yourself a record player.

As I write this blog I’m listening to Weezer on an honest to goodness vinyl record. I started listening to records while editing my photography because I think records just sound better than digital. My decision to listen to records was purely fueled by nothing more than audio snobbery but I quickly discovered a hidden health benefit. Records can only fit about 20-30 mins of music per side before you have to get up and flip them over. That means that twice every hour I have to stand up and walk over to the record player, giving me a much needed break. Of course while I’m up I do things like visit the restroom, talk with my coworkers, grab some water and so on. All of this adds up to about 5-10 minutes away from my desk twice every hour. Can anyone guess how often the Mayo clinic recommends you take a break from sitting at your desk? Yup…every 30 mins.

I’m currently listening to a Bluetooth record player that connects directly to my noise canceling wireless headphones. This is the only way to edit because I get the intoxicating pop and crackle of vintage vinyl while my state of the art headphones filter out distractions like traffic, ringing phones and annoying coworkers. If you work at home the same set up filters out dogs, children and annoying spouses. When I really need a break at home I pretend to be editing my photography while listening to David Bowie and sipping a nice Merlot. Daddies need breaks too.

For those of you interested in picking up a Bluetooth record player here’s a nice entry level player. Don’t forget to include some records with your order so you’ll have something to listen to when it arrives.

Tip 2- Learn the lingo, gringo

There is nothing that’ll turn your brain into a giant quivering pile of tapioca like than a marathon Photoshop session. If you’re about to punch in for a six hour shift of editing and are at all concerned about pudding brain, then you need to stay mentally engaged. One of the best way I found to stay mentally engaged while photo editing is to learn a new language.

This is something I discovered this year and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. Every time I sit down to edit photos I simply ask Alexa to open the Daily Dose app on my Echo Dot and I learn Spanish while editing. It’s a brilliant way to stay mentally tack sharp while utilizing the otherwise wasted time I’d be spending sitting at my desk. You’re stuck there anyway, you might as well learn a new skill. The best part, aside from being able to communicate with millions of more people on the planet, your brain won’t ooze out of your ears... Oh, and did I mention that the Daily Dose language app is FREE? (Free is our friend!)

For those of you that don’t have an Amazon Alexa you can pick one up for around $25.

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Keep Your Hormones in Check

So far we looked at tips for keeping your body and your brain healthy during epic editing sessions. But what about your hormonal health? This is often the most overlooked aspect of health when it comes to the negative effects of a prolonged photography editing. Many of you have probably suffered from the effects of a hormonal imbalance due to prolonged photo editing and just didn’t realize it.

When we edit photos our computer screens are adversely affecting our body’s Circadian Rhythm. The National Institute for General Medical Sciences describes circadian rhythm as “physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle. They respond primarily to light and darkness in an organism's environment.”

Without going to deep down the rabbit hole: our body uses the light around us to decide when it’s time to be awake and when it’s time to sleep. It does this by taking in how much light is available and what color that light is. As photographers we all understand that the color of natural light changes throughout the day from blue light to golden yellow at sundown. By bombing our eyes with blue light from our computer screens at all times of the day or night we are confusing our brains and really screwing up our hormone levels.

Every feel restless, depressed or irritable after a long Photoshop session? Now you know why. To get the whole scoop on your Circadian Rhythm check out this blog by Mental Health America.

Fortunately there are a couple of things we can do to combat the side effects of screen gazing and the first one just happens to be FREE. (I love free)

Tip 3-take a short walk in the sunshine.

I do this once every day and it really helps me feel more grounded during marathon editing sessions. (Makes the puppy happy too.) Combine this with flipping over your records every 30 minutes and it will really help you keep your sanity.

Tip 4- wear blue light blocking glasses when editing at night.

When you edit at night your computer screen is telling your body that it’s daytime and I find it hard to sleep after a nighttime edit session. So I simply wear a pair of cheap blue light blocking glasses and when I’m done editing I can sleep like a baby. Just remember to take them off momentarily when doing color correction otherwise your skin tones will be a bit smurf-ish.

Don’t Forget to Keep your business healthy

While the four tips above are designed to keep you healthy, this one is all about keeping your business healthy. It will also keep you mentally engaged so consider it a twofer. The next time you sit down to edit why not spend that time learning new business strategies, or marketing or researching SEO strategies. You know, all of those things you should be learning but never have the time necessary. Well, you’re going to be stuck in that chair for a while so why not have Alexa read you a business book on how to find more clients.

Tip 5- Download audio books on business from audible

Using the Audible app Alexa can read you any book in the audible library. This is hands down one of the best ways to get the most out of your time spent editing. I’ve said it in my blogs many times and I’m saying it again. I believe that for every hour a photographer spends learning photography it is imperative that they spend an equal amount of time refining their business skills. This is a great way to squeeze in those hours while not giving up the little things like…sleep. The best part: when you sign up for audible your first book is free.

I recommend checking out this audio book. It completely changed the way I viewed and approached my work life. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Conclusion

Editing for extended periods of time can be down right unhealthy. Add some fast food on the way to shoots and the next thing you know, you’ll be headed down the path to premature aging, obesity and possibly worse. So now is the time to protect your health by establishing good habits that protect both your mind and body. These are just a few of my healthy editing habits that I use daily and I really hope they help you. If you have any healthy editing hacks that might help other smash cake photographers, please share them in the comment section.

Until next time guys I wish you happy and healthy editing, Daniel