#the anchors and arrows series

[afrognamedfizzarolli]

Helluva Boss observations and easter eggs you may not have noticed!: Pilot

The pilot is both a great place and weird place to start, as it is our introduction to the cast and world, but also no longer considered canon. Many of the events and details we learn/see are later confirmed in the series itself, but there were quite a few changes.

I want to start off with some design changes!

With Millie, she used to have white roots visible, this actually kept up for a few of the early episodes. As we know now it seems imps have two noticeable instances of sexual dimorphism: females have black horns with thin white stripes and naturally black hair, and males have evenly sized black and white stripes on their horns and naturally black hair. We see many trans or otherly gender queer imps that dye their hair with visible roots. I assume Millie's design was changed when that was established to be a gender difference in imps.

Her heart tattoo is also much smaller, and switches sides (an animation error almost certainly) When the pilot first came out I actually thought she had a heart on both shoulders.

Some stuff with Stolas!

We see his hand outlined with a red glow at one point, presumably representing his magic. While in the series his magic is represented by blue. This is most likely due to the change of his character as he was originally planned to be a villain.

Not a design change, but I find it funny that Stolas' name in Blitzø's phone is "Creepy Mouth (aka one night stand bird dick)". Surprisingly all being spelled correctly.

Stolas' Grimore! I actually only noticed this on this last watch. It was a darker blue(purple? red? It changes in different scenes) and instead of the moon design it has a different insignia of his that we still see throughout the series in various places (notably on his bed) it also has no design on the back.

Little details!

I didn't realize before either that the woman who Moxxie is trying to shoot before Eddie gets in the way, is Eddie's mom. I'm sure this is something many others picked up on immediately though.

Speaking of which, the human news anchor shown at the end bares a striking resemblance to a character of Brandons: a news anchor named Flint Dicker.

A poster of "THE AMAZING IMP SIBLINGS" is on the wall of the conference room. Showing Blitzø, Barbie Wire, and another character labeled "Tilla". This was changed in the series to just being Blitzø and Barbie, Tilla's design being slightly altered and then used for their mom.

Hazbin easter eggs! Oh boy is there a lot of them.

In the commercial sequence we see in the room of one of the targets a framed drawing of Sir Pentious

In the background of when Blitzø is interviewing a previous client, there is a billboard for 666 News ft. A photo of Katie Killjoy, I especially love this one as Brandon ended up voicing her!

In Blitzø's office he had a vision board labeled "BOSS GOALS" with 5 drawings, in the center is Blitzø labeled "ME!" Top left we have Katie again, top right is a duck with a top hat and two $'s, this assumably referencing Lucifer, bottom left is Rosie, an arrow pointing to her hat labeled so eloquently "HAT" and lastly in the bottom right there is a more detailed drawing that looks to be Carmilla Carmine labeled "Moxxie drew not as good" this tracking later as in 1.05 "The Harvest Moon Festival" Moxxie talks about Carmine angelic weaponry, showing a great interest in her business.

Next is a dumpster in an alley with various graffiti. Notably, a face that looks to be Nifty, "ALWAYS CHASING RAINBOWS" and "HAPPY HOTEL". There is also a sinister face labeled "DEVIL". Im not sure if this is a specific refrence to anything though.

Lastly, one that I'm sure almost everyone noticed but feel the need to include, is we can see Loona watching Charlie's performance of "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow"

Funny observations:

When the crew teleports into the church, we see maany people with some pretty detailed designs, I do not know if or what they may be referencing, but I have a strong suspicion it is something, my guess is that they are caricatures of some people who worked on the pilot. One person in specifically is wearing a jacket with a patch reading "WHEN YOU SEE IT" with a 👌

Signs! In the hospital we see a sign saying "WE SAVE LIVES" in faded text it reads between we and save "try to" and after lives another line is visible starting with "but" I cannot make out the rest.

Others show that they are in ward 13, the next room over labeled as 667, implying the room that Eddie was in is 666

A note is taped to the side of the fridge of the break room reading "LOONA DONT EAT MY LUNCH -MOXXIE"

Another thing I only noticed recently is when Blitzø sneaks out at the Goetia palace, he is naked except for his jacket, with the grimore serving as some creative censorship. (+Stella's beta design. I personally love her current design, but this one wasn't bad)

When Blitzø makes the comment about making Moxxie the employee of the month he holds up a small plaque as an example, a larger version of this same plaque, is visible on a wall in the commercial sequence.

While in their hazmat suits(idk if that's what these actually are), you can see the shape of Moxxie's bowtie under it

... and just Blitzø holding some targets panties, cause why not

There are a handful of other details, but I'm going to hold onto those as later on we see call backs to them. Also, I've spent a lot more on this than Id planned already, I have at least 3 hours on this one alone.

Please bare with me, I promise these will get more interesting the further we go in the series!

[itsphoenix0724]

Your Heart on a Platter- Prologue (Eris x reader)

Summary: The only way to seek your revenge is to return the heir of Autumn's heart back to a witch in two months time. However, this task proves much more difficult than you presume it to be.

Word Count: 2k

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first ever series, and I'm so excited to write it! I'm excited to finally bring this idea to life, and I hope you all enjoy it as well. This won't follow the exact events of the ACOTAR timeline as I'm putting my own spin on things, but it is set before the first war. This part is also only exposition, so no romance yet I'm sorry! Part 1 will be out very very soon! I know some things will be a bit cryptic but pieces will come together as the story progresses I promise!

Prologue, Part 1, Part 2

Of all the seasonal courts in Pyrthian, you think the Autumn Court might just be your favorite. It wasn’t too cold or hot like Winter or Summer and didn’t have the stifling energy that the Spring Court always seemed to exude. Instead, Autumn was calm, almost peaceful, and the wind felt like a cold kiss against your skin as your ship docked in the port. You had a lot of work to do in Autumn, but you suppose you could enjoy the scenery first. Guiding yourself off the ship, you pulled the hood of your cloak over your head as you headed into the busy streets of the small trading village you had anchored in. With the Autumnal Equinox tomorrow in two months,  the court was preparing for a month-long celebration, including small carnivals, feasts, dances, and plenty of balls hosted by the High Lord of Autumn himself. 

Beron Vanserra was a piece of work, but at least his court knew how to throw a good party. 

 You were moving unseen between the market stalls, swiping an apple and a piece of cheese from a stall or two, and watching all the nobility of the court waltzing around, looking at the finer stalls that offered books and jewelry. You had one destination in mind and had to find one witch by the night's end. You could hear the Suriel’s voice scratching in the back of your mind over and over, your meeting replaying in your mind. 

“Hello, Twilight Princess, or should I say wild thing? I think I prefer wild thing…it seems to fit you better.” the monster’s voice scraped out; you swear it felt like your heart wanted to beat out of your ribcage.

“Hello,” you greet with a slight nod, keeping a safe distance away, never letting your bow and arrow stray from your captive. The monster seemed to smile at you, a chill settling into your bones. 

“I know what you wish to ask me, child, and I fear you will not like the answer,” the Suriel seems relaxed–even with you aiming an arrow at its chest. “Ask me your question, and I shall give you your answer.” The monster tips its head at you.  

“How do I get back in? How do I break the wards?” You move closer, the answer finally in your grasp after all this time. You can practically feel the rush of victory flooding your veins. 

“A royal carriage is passing through a small town in Autumn in 2 weeks. It is carrying a servant. You need to become its passenger. But before that, you must talk to a witch…she will give you what you need.” 

“And how do I find this witch?” you press further. You’re not in the mood for a goose chase through the whole Autumn Court. You were hoping the Suriel would just give you the answer themselves. The monster, at least, seems amused at your frustration. 

“You must look in a place hidden from untrained eyes; you will find your witch there. An old woman with the antlers of a deer.” The Suriel nods again, seeming satisfied with their answer. “That is all I can say.” 

You try not to let your frustration show, but if this was all the monster had to tell you, you had to take what you were given. You were already formulating a new plan. You had new information you told yourself you could work with this. So, you lay an expensive royal blue cloak in the grass and back away from the monster. 

“Thank you,” you mutter as you redirect your arrow to shoot the snare loose around the creature's ankle. The Suriel rushes to the cloak as you retreat into the woods–seemingly pleased with the quality and color. 

“Your welcome, wild thing,” it drawls at your back, “I’ll see you again soon.”

It took a lot of time, but you figured out the carriage easily. A new servant was being brought to the palace for Beron’s eldest son. Getting yourself in that carriage was easy; locating the witch was significantly more challenging. Places hidden to untrained eyes were relatively easy to come by in Autumn. There was practically a foxhole in every corner. You had to hang around a lot of shady places and ask a lot of questions about an old witch with deer antlers who could break wards. You also got many strange looks during this endeavor. 

You tracked her down to a tavern hidden in the woods, glamoured away from any royal guards or any with intentions to reveal its location to someone who should not find it. The carriage was passing through tomorrow, you didn’t have much time, so you had to hope this old witch would be here tonight. 

The tavern was lively, with loud music and plenty of drunken patrons singing and dancing. All of them are hiding from one thing other- guards, an enemy, or themselves. You ordered two pints of their strongest beer, sat at a table in the back, and waited. 

Hours Passed

You began to pick at the skin around your fingernails. If this witch didn’t show up soon, your window would close. That carriage was coming through in seven hours, and you had until then to figure out how the hell this witch was supposed to help you. 

You could see her then–the witch you were looking for, wrinkled tan skin and two tall deer antlers curling out from the top of her forehead. You couldn’t even imagine how old she was based on how fae aged. She sat down across from you and picked up the pint you had set at the seat across from you, reaching out one wrinkled arm. 

“I heard somebody was looking for me…” the old witch drawled at you, sipping the beer. “You paid for the expensive pint too,” she says, nodding at the glass, “So you must really want something.”

“I need to know how to break a powerful ward. It was warded against my blood, bones, and soul. I’ve tried everything I know, and it won’t break.” It’s true, you had spent months in the day court trying to find someone who could help you, but no one was familiar with this type of magic. Every book about it had burned from history a long, long time ago. “It’s ancient magic.”

“I know the wards you speak of, girl,” the witch smiles at you, and you can’t help but notice that her teeth resemble fangs, “I remember the place this magic came from.” She’s looking at you like she can see into your soul. 

You’re not entirely convinced she can’t 

“Will you help me?” You ask. You definitely do not have time to sit here all night. 

“I will help you,” she whispers, “for a price.” Well, you were expecting that. “There’s something I need you to do for this spell to work, and if you can do that, then we’ll discuss payment.” 

You lean forward on the table, “Anything,” you promise. “I’ll do anything.” the old witch smiles at you again, laying forth her proposition. 

“On the night of the Autumnal Equinox, you need to bring me the heart of a firstborn Heir, and if you succeed, I will meet you back here at this time, the night after the Equinox. You have two months.” You suppose that explains why you needed the carriage. “You need the heir to trust you by the time you bring the heart to me, and the heir must know you and your soul for the spell to work.”

You took a moment to consider. If you did this, you would be a fugitive in the entirety of Pyrthian. After a few minutes, you’ve made your choice. 

“Deal,” you nod at the witch as you take a sip out of your own pint. “Two months.” The witch gets up to take her leave, disappearing into the crowd and leaving you alone at the table. You don’t give yourself time to process. You need to sleep and prepare for the carriage tomorrow. Draining the rest of your pint, you leave to the inn off the side of the bar to get some sleep. 

The following day you changed in the small room of the inn you were staying in. You had acquired a simple dress and apron to make you look the part of a demure female servant you were supposed to be playing. You weren’t too worried about being able to hold a glamour on your appearance. The palace was bringing in tons of extra servants and guards for the upcoming months of festivities, so you seriously doubt anyone will be paying close attention to your appearance. You make your way into the small bathroom off your room to try to scrub all of the grime out from under your nails and make yourself presentable. Soon the girl who looks back at you in the mirror looks nothing like the feral thing you’ve become from your time in exile. 

You decide that's for the better.

Before you set off, you flip the skirt up your thighs to secure a holster holding a dagger and three smaller knives. You wrap the cloak around your shoulders and leave the inn, setting off in a spot to wait and track the carriage. 

About an hour later, you see the royal carriage rolling down the road and begin to track the carriage through the woods silently. At least the little magic you could still tap into allowed you to keep your silent movement. Eventually, the carriage stops to let the horses have a break, and you see a small girl step out of the carriage and presumably go to have a moment of privacy to relieve herself. You follow her to a small clearing far enough away from the guards. Covering her mouth with your hand, you sneak up behind her, pressing the dagger to her throat.

“Don’t scream,” you mutter into her ear, “I really don’t want to slit your throat right now, so do not scream.” You can feel the girl's tears running down her cheek and her whole body trembling. She nods against your hand aggressively, “I’m going to take my hand off now, and if you try to make a sound, I will kill you.” She nods again, and you remove your hand as she spins around to look at you.

“P-please…don’t kill me.” She’s a pretty high-fae girl, you suppose. Probably from the same port town you passed when you sailed into Autumn. 

“I won’t kill you as long as you don’t give me a reason to.” The girl nods again, tears streaming down her face. “What’s your name, you ask her?” 

“Soph-Sophie,” she manages to stutter out, and you nod, accepting her answer. 

“Okay, Sophie, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to say that you got unexpectedly and violently ill in the woods and that the carriage must make a detour to the small town ahead to retrieve your cousin to go in your place. I will be waiting in the Honeycomb Inn. That is where you will tell them to pick me up ” She nods again, still crying; it's beginning to annoy you. “Say you apologize to the High Lord and his family, but you have a replacement.” 

“I understand,” she manages. You gesture back towards the guards with your dagger. She moves quickly, and from your listening, the guards seem to understand as they help her back into the carriage. You track the carriage until it reaches the town as directed, and you greet your “poor, ill cousin” when she shows up. After you get into the carriage, you breathe a sigh of relief. One of the most complex parts of this plan was over, and now all you had to do was wait until you arrived at the High Lord’s estate in Autumn.

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Fashion Challenge - Week 32: Sizzle Season 2023 Sendoff Special!

The last week of Sizzle Season is upon us! This season is most notable for introducing the S-Blast '92, finally giving us a Super Scope to match the N-Zap, and the Painbrush, the first new Brush introduced since the series started in 2015. It also gave us the new Salmon Run stage Slammin' Salmon Junction, and while there are some dissenting voices, the consensus seems overwhelmingly positive about it.

Unfortunately for our purposes, it is also the season so far to have introduced the least amount of new gear, as it did not add any gear from the previous games to the stores. As such, we are revising the usual rules a bit.

For this challenge, you must build your outfit around one of the gear items introduced in the Sizzle Season 2023 Catalog, or as rewards in Salmon Run. The rest of the outfit can be anything, but the core of your outfit must be that Sizzle Season gear piece.

You've got a total of 33 items to pick from:

Barrelfish Home Helmet

Crust Bucket Visor

Cap'n Cap

Stealth Squidbeak Shield

Glam Clam Specs

Seashell Bamboo Hat

Do-Rag, Cap & Glasses

Noise Cancelers

Commander Cap

See-An-Enemy HUD

White retro Tee

Takoroka Tandem

Black Ranger Vest

Lyco-P Streetstyle Tee

Hype Stripe Button Up

Annaki Anchored Coat

Umibozu Road Jersey

Takoroka Nineties Nylon

Indigo Boss Haori

Retro Future Suit

Hyper Guppies

White Lo-Vert Hi-Tops

Tenya Octopurps

Annaki Strappy Sandals

Dappled Hammertreads

Arrow Toesies Purps

Pro Trail Boots

Icy Down Boots

Rules:

Put together an outfit of any kind that is built entirely around one of the gear pieces specified above. Please give your outfit a name.

Send it to me via ask or submission, please don’t add it to a reblog, that makes it very easy to miss! Also, please clarify that it is a submission for the challenge and not just a regular submission.

Only one outfit per person! You can submit multiple photos of that single outfit, though.

Please include the gear you picked in the submission. It makes my life just a touch easier!  

The outfit should be submitted before Monday morning, as I will pick my favourite submissions to feature on Monday evening.

[princecharmingwinks]

Sterek Fic Rec - August 2022. Evening all, time for some new fics to add to your reading list. Enjoy :)

written in the cards by elisela (1/1 | 2K | General)

Stiles should have known it was too good to be true. Hot men don’t just show up at his door for no reason and despite doing regular tarot readings for people, Stiles doesn’t actually believe in fate or any type of higher power that would listen to his stupid, lonely, post-finals drunken wishes.

“You need to tell Jennifer that I’m not her soulmate,” the guy says. When he crosses his stupidly buff arms over his chest, Stiles can practically hear the seams of his sweater begging for mercy.

Jesus, she hadn’t been lying about her boyfriend being absurdly attractive.

Nailed It by Poppets (1/1 | 2K | Mature)

“Seriously, dude? Stiletto nails?”

Derek has a thing for marking Stiles. Stiles decides it’s time to return the favour, but first he needs a good set of nails.

Toss A Coin To Your Alpha by fairytalesandfolklore (1/1 | 625 | Teen)

Stiles walks through the forest, high on post-battle adrenaline, having a grand old time strumming the stolen lute in a series of tragically out of tune powder chords, belting out parody lyrics to a familiar melody Derek recognizes from a tv show he recently watched, replacing all instances of Geralt with Derek and white wolf with sourwolf.

An Alpha's Mark by Piscaria (1/1 | 12K | Explicit)

Stiles never thought he'd get a tattoo -- then he found out human pack members could grow stronger by taking an Alpha's Mark.

Baking is Whisky Business by Leslie_Knope (1/1 | 7K | Mature)

But Stiles’ most distinguishing feature, besides the pretty eyes and the mussed hair? He makes a fucking mess every time he bakes, and Derek is the unlucky soul who’s stuck cleaning up after him. Seriously, if he didn’t know any better, he’d think Stiles was doing it just to screw with him.

(Or, the one in which Stiles is a Great British Bake Off contestant, and Derek is the long-suffering production assistant.)

I want to be that person by unholy_obsessions (1/1 | 1K | General)

“Oh you’re mad at me now?” Derek asks rhetorically. It’s unnecessary, Stiles notes, for him to be so worked up. He isn’t even that hurt, he’s definitely had worst injuries.

“I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal about this Derek,” Stiles replies, voice rising and arms flailing in frustration.

“Because I love you!”

Achingly Infinite by whenwordsmakesense (1/1 | 2K | Teen)

"Derek..." Stiles says, voice so low it's almost impossible to hear. They stare at each other for who knows how long, and when Stiles finally unfreezes enough to come forward further, Derek steps back. Stiles' magic isn't stopping him, so he moves as far away as possible, stands at the door to drive home the point that he's done with this conversation.

He stares at the blindingly bright sky visible through the window as he says, "I don't deserve good things, Stiles."

Arrows Made of Desire by loserchildhotpants (1/1 | 6K | Explicit)

There's a MOTW, Scott's an idiot and a Bad Friend, Stiles has a magic bat (not a euphemism), and Derek submits to the mortifying ordeal of being known (true, but also a euphemism).

But I'm Only Human by spaceprincessem (1/1 | 3K | Teen)

“Who did this to you?”

He watched Stiles flinch, taking a small step backwards with wide, fearful eyes. Derek felt his heart ache and he used all of his will power, the sweet lingering scents of vanilla and cinnamon, to anchor himself.

“Derek?” Stiles asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“Stiles,” Derek said hesitantly reaching out, the boy's bruised and bloodied face illuminated in the street lights, “who did this to you?”

(500) Days of Sitting In Front of the Computer by orphan_account (1/1 | 4K | Teen)

The boy, Stiles Stilinski, had always been into MMORPGs. The other boy, Ithuriel, had always been into MMORPGs as well, albeit secretly. The Alpha, Derek Hale, was possibly the object of Stiles's affections. One day, Stiles met Ithuriel.

But be warned, this is not a tragedy in which Derek Hale saves Stiles's virtue from Ithuriel. That would be ridiculous.

This is a love story.

princecharmingwinks special mention (This is a little darker than my normal reads but it sucked me in straight away and I loved the sterek dynamic, it is sizzling!)

Enemy of My Enemy by calrissian18 (1/1 | 8K | Explicit)

Stiles blinks hard. He can’t argue that he’s not quite all there, a little woozier than he would like, but he’s done more difficult things a lot worse off. The wolf didn’t know shit and Stiles sure as hell didn’t need him. He huffs out a little laugh into his own chest, leaning back against the armrest and chin dropped to his sternum, head lolling slightly. His eyelids are heavier than they were a minute ago. “What makes you think I wouldn’t use the opportunity to gut you? I hunt werewolves for sport, and so does everyone I have left.”

A careful claw tilts his chin up and it takes Stiles’ eyes a second to bring the face in front of him into stark relief. “You can barely keep your eyes open,” the wolf says softly, “I don’t think you have the upper hand now, human.”

Man, I just love this pair! You writers make me fall in love with them all over again every time I open AO3. I am very greatful. Remember to leave kudos and comments for our amazing writers. See you next month!

[telomeke]

MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT – REPRESENTATION MATTERS

Maybe it's just my own wishful thinking, and maybe it's too early to tell for sure (though I don't think so), but remembering what Producer Aof, Director Au and the rest of the team did with Bad Buddy – it looks like the MSP team is giving a positive shout-out to the spectrum, even while anchoring the series firmly within the BL genre.

We have–

TinnGun – gay

SoundWin – gay, though Win may be bi/pan

TiwPor – likely gay

YoNook – straight

And Ep.7 suggests Pat may be straight/bi/pan but he comes across as more ace or arrow (to me at least).

And FINALLY the lesbians get a mention! 😍

(above) Ep.7 [3I4] 5.04 – musical-loving lesbians exist, even if they do break Pat's heart

I'm just hoping they give us a trans character somewhere too – oh WAIT a goshdang hot Bangkok minute, they already did! 😍

(above) Ep.5 [3I4] 7.13

The role of the producer at GMM Music in Ep.5 was played by actor and host Golf Kittipat Chalaragse, who openly identifies as a transgender woman.

It's important to note that she is treated by the boys with utmost respect in her one scene, and also that she broke disappointing news to Gun (not being shortlisted for signing despite his obvious talent) with kindness and empathy.

This quietly positive portrayal of a trans character in a position of influence is important for all the trans kids out there who might be watching this. (And yes, I'm aware that Golf's character in the show is not specifically identified as trans, but given her fame in Thailand I think most Thai viewers would see her as such.)

Bearing in mind that My School President is a lightly-crafted Thai-style High School Musical taking place in a QL universe, I believe that it is still carrying the sense of mission previous (more strident) Thai QL dramas have been sounding – The Eclipse, Not Me, and even Bad Buddy come to mind.

As with most other QL series, no one is treated as being less than anybody else based on gender or sexuality. So the boys take their Ep.6 music video – about the awkwardness of being in love while in the friendzone – happily into BL territory, free from any fear of societal judgement.

Previous dramas that did this (to the best of my memory) had an older target demographic, but this one is sending out a message of hope and normalization to a younger audience that it's OK if your sexuality or gender isn't society's perceived norm.

And to those who fit within the perceived norm as well, there is also the messaging that the trials and tribulations of your queer friends, family and compatriots have a lot in common with the dramas of your cishet lives too – so maybe it's time to stop othering anybody for being a little bit (or even a lot) different. (This is ultimately the message behind the switch from straight couples to BL ones in the Ep.6 music video, and also the BL switch in Bad Buddy's Kwan-Riam musical.)

It's not the first time a BL has been sending out messages geared to bolster queer self-esteem and normalization, but it's the first high school one in recent memory that seems to be radiating positivity all around, and hopefully its message will land with the younger set.

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.10 [2/4] 12.20 – Pran's t-shirt wasn't ahead of its time, but its message still applies a year later

Heartstopper may already have done this, and its finished product is perhaps a bit more realistically grounded and polished, but that show was restricted to a smaller, paying and arguably older audience on Netflix.

I cannot begin to emphasize how important it is that My School President and its messages of positive self-worth are beamed free-of-charge to LGBTQ+ teens all over the world, including places where it might not even be safe to be openly LGBTQ+.

My School President may be going all out to entertain (and it does), but beneath the froth and fluff it's still doing something. With the team behind it I wouldn't have expected anything less. And I'm so glad they're at it still. 💖 👍

[heybaetae]

hi kelli ♥ firstly, i need you to know the bts social media series is perfect, and you should feel very proud of yourself. second, may i ask how you wonderfully did the photo slide on your gifs? thank you ♥

hi, thank you! i had to figure out how to do that myself, so i'll try my best to explain it. but i can only do so while assuming you have basic gif making knowledge with timeline in photoshop and know what keyframes are. i'll put my explanation under a read more in case this gets long. the gif set we’re referencing.

HOW TO CREATE A “SWIPE EFFECT” IN A GIF

i had to do two different methods of this depending on whether or not one of the slides was a still image or if they were both videos. i’ll show you both scenarios!

if both “slides” were videos, i simply made each gif separately at the exact same size (540px) and with the same amount of frames (70), colored them, converted each of them to a smart object, then layered them together on one canvas. 

i just stretched my canvas of the stigma gif by 540px to the right and ended up with a 1080px width canvas to add the first love gif to, right up against each other. 

if i played the gif, it’d look like this: 

and my timeline like this:

since these gifs are 70 frames, i had to keep in mind that i was going to crop this back down to a 540px square anchored to the left and then insert keyframes to make it pan in that direction about halfway through the gif. so while choosing my scenes, i had to know which gif was going to be on the left or right and remember that the first 35 or so frames of the left gif were the only ones that would be seen, while only the last 35 or so frames of the right gif would be seen. 

for example, once i crop it and add the effect...you won’t see the person walk up and shove taehyung against the garage and you won’t see those first couple seconds of yoongi picking up the rock before he throws it. so the frames of each respective gif that are gonna be seen still need to have impact in a short amount of time!

to keep track of exactly when i want to insert the swipe effect, right before i converted the first love gif to a smart object and layered it onto the stigma canvas, i selected the 35th frame so that the red playhead would automatically be in that spot once it was converted and layered on top of the stigma gif in timeline mode. that red line is my placeholder!

once i had them stitched on a canvas like that, i selected both of them and converted them into one smart object. so now i’m working with one timeline and the red playhead is still holding my place. this is when i changed the the canvas size back down to 540px to the left so i would only see the stigma gif. the gif on the right doesn’t go anywhere, it just doesn’t show.

so now with the red playhead still in the middle of the gif already marking my spot on the 35th frame, i immediately lay down a keyframe by opening the group on the timeline and clicking the clock next to “transform”. it lights up that yellow diamond to the left of it and places one under the playhead on the timeline. this is basically going to keep a record of any movement i make with my canvas now until i make another one.

next, i used the right arrow on my keyboard to move the red playhead about eight spots. the number is up to you, but i decided i wanted the swipe effect to last about eight frames from start to finish. keep in mind though that the lower the number, the faster it’ll look. 

then i hit Ctrl + T to enable the free transform tool. you’ll see the transform box show up around the invisible part of the canvas where the right gif is. at the top of the menu, you’ll see where it says 540px. we want to subtract that exact amount, so change that to 0px.

you’ll see the canvas suddenly showing the gif on the right. this is because i just moved the whole thing to the left by perfectly subtracting those first 540 pixels of the 1080px canvas. hit enter or click the checkmark.

and now there’s a second keyframe eight spots from the first one.

if you play the gif now, the effect takes place right between those two keyframes.

technically, it’s just panning the gif like this:

but since we cropped it back to a square, the end result looks like it’s swiping between two slides! and of course, we lose those last few seconds of the left gif and gain the last few seconds of the right gif.

this is when i converted the gif to frame animation and set my speed to 0.05.

note: those keyframes tend to add half the amount of frames as you choose to take up the swipe effect. so since i made it last eight frames, it added four frames to the end of my gif. so i just deleted two frames from the beginning and end to narrow it back down to 70. the swipe effect starts at around the 33rd frame in the final result, but it’s close enough. it doesn’t have to be perfect. i then converted it back to timeline again and all my layers to a smart object one more time and this is when i added sharpen and duplicated it onto my instagram template. i used the free transform tool to size it down. by sharpening it very last as a smart object, it kept the quality in tact at a smaller size. 

if the first “slide” was a still image, i did all the same steps above except i’d have to make my still image a 70 frame gif too by duplicating the image 10 times, making them frames, then copying and pasting the frames after the selected ten frames six times.

like so:

selecting “make frames from layers” on the frame animation timeline:

selecting all the frames, then copying them:

repeat the above step, but click “paste frames” instead and then “paste after selection” in this window:

do that step repeatedly until you have your desired amount of frames, set the speed to 0.05, then convert it to timeline animation and your layers into a smart object, which you then can layer your other gif onto and go from there with the stitching and canvas adjusting. as long as everything is always the same length.

with an image first, i would put the first keyframe at around the 20th frame instead of exactly halfway so there were more video frames than image frames. just always keeping in mind how many video frames i didn’t mind losing in that time.

here’s what the complicated ordeal looked like with only still images and several swipe effects.

my canvas stretched to fit as many images as i needed:

of course, i made this into a 70 frame gif like above.

then i cropped it back down to a square to the left around namjoon and made keyframes that stretched about six spots after every ten, using the free transform tool to subtract the width of the image from the current pixel count as i went until it reached 0 and the crop was just around jungkook. this was a 4200px canvas with 600px wide images, so i subtracted 600 from that number in the box at the top of the menu each time. this was not as perfectly executed as a two-panel example, but i did my best. the more images to swipe through, the less keyframes i could use. so it goes a little fast, but you get it.

my timeline with all the keyframes.

what it’s doing:

the finished result:

i hope this made sense!

[heliophaestus]

does anybody care about the silly little show with a total fandom of the seven people who were in it. no? Too Bad

[ID: Seven pencil sketches of characters from the short series Scrambled Signals. The first two drawings are of the co-anchors Emily and Tommy sitting at the anchor’s desk in the studio. In the first they are holding each other and grimacing in fear as they look at the camera. In the second Tommy leans on their hand and says “… just play it.” with an exhausted look on their face, while Emily facepalms while making a noise of complaint. The third image shows Emily and Holly sitting at the desk, with Holly smiling widely as Emily looks over at her with apprehension, saying “yep… we… let her.” Fourth image shows Tommy trying to claw his way out from under the desk, while Holly is grinning directly at the camera as they push him back down. Emily is looking over with surprise mid-wave, and there is an arrow pointing to Tommy saying "guy who was just in the Shadow Realm". The fifth image is Tommy looking over with uncertainty and unease at Emily, who is passed out and laying down on the table. The sixth image is of Alex standing at a prosecutors bench with a hand outstretched in the Ace Attorney objection pose, with a text box below saying “L + ratio + stole my pen you asshole!” The final image is of all the crew members, Holly, Emma, Parks, Alex, and Michael all sitting in their positions unbothered, with text pointing to the anchors out of view saying “*witnessing the horrors*”. /End ID]

[deadhumourist]

Real Sugar: The Menu

Pairing: Rockstar!Frankie Morales X Female Chef!Reader

Rating: T, but series is M

Words: 1300+

Warnings: Descriptions of food, some music heartbreak, let me know if I missed something?

Summary: This interlude doesn't feature Frankie apart from mentions, but it's a peek into Chef's head as she's planning the menu for Frankie's visit to Cassis and her connection to Frankie prior to her taking the job. It takes place during Chapter 2.  These dishes were made up, so if you try this at home results may vary :P

A huge, soft thank you to @just-here-for-the-moment for reading this over and for convincing me that I should yeet this out there. Love you <3

Read the rest of the story here. Taglist

----

Frankie was surprisingly evasive when it came to personal questions in interviews and when quizzed about what he enjoyed, the answer was simply "something sweet, definitely not good for you." It didn't help you at all. 

That night you settled down to scribble some notes. With food, you found inspiration worked best when you teased out the threads as you worked - you just needed an anchor and your sense of intuition would guide you the rest of the way. The notes were initial suggestions to get your mind working, but your hands, eyes and taste buds would take over the moment the ingredients were laid out on the counter. 

Your notes on food were always peppered with doodles, adjectives, rough little line drawings for plating suggestions and arrows as you plotted out preparation notes. To the untrained eye it looked like a crab scrawl, but this was the beginning of a three course meal that would change your life in ways that you couldn’t begin to imagine.

So, pencil gripped studiously between fingers (you loved the faint whiff of graphite and would not be swayed to ink) you jotted down flavours and ingredients as they came to you. Some, you crossed out again. Your ideas were not really flowing, and tapping the pencil on the lined paper impatiently, you stood up from your seat. 

Music always helped you think, so you reached for your soundbar remote and played Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, Aquarium. The notes tinkled through the space as you decided to lay down, prone on your back. Getting comfortable, you let the notes effortlessly fall over you like raindrops, the harmonies coaxing thoughts and memories from your mind like wind whipping up leaves on a sidewalk. 

It felt like the air clearing and you breathed deeply, nestling your head even further back into the plush carpet. 

You relaxed, letting the images and impressions come to you, and after a few long moments you sat back upright and knew what you wanted Frankie to know. How you wanted to show him the different textures and facets to you. The surprise and delight of a discovery in every mouthful, something that touched all the senses at once and left a fragment of knowledge behind in memory and heart. 

You smiled as you jotted down a few more dish concepts. To share yourself through your craft was a deeply personal experience. It often revealed more about you than you intended. Like that you hoped in your heart of hearts that Frankie would find something familiar and comforting in your work as you did in his. 

The music that soothed you when you were nervous about your interview at Cassis. 

The night before the interview you had tossed and turned in your bed, the covers uncomfortably wrapped around your limbs like the anxiety was wrapped around your throat.  Grabbing the phone off your nightstand, you searched for their second album, scrolling to a ballad that Frankie had written about missing home. Santi’s smooth voice crooned about the small things at home that seemed insignificant at the time but ended up being important. The harmonies and words slowly unspooled the tightness clawing at your throat and you fell into a dreamless sleep. 

The music that eased the pain from being left for someone else. 

Slumped over your kitchen table on your day off from work, tears unabashedly rolled off your cheeks onto the wood below. Turned up loudly, was a song from when Frankie had his heart broken. The woman had carved something out of him and he was struggling to recover. Santi’s emotive voice, with Frankie’s lower baritone as backing vocals, slowly smoothed over the jagged edges of your heart until it was smooth like sea glass. 

The music that released endorphins into your bloodstream like a heady drug. 

Empire was the supporting band for an outfit that was all the rage at the time. You were not here for them but they ended up leaving the biggest impression out of the whole festival experience. 

These were the early days; Santi was still clean-shaven and a new guitarist had just joined, the previous guy having left after coming to blows with the band. You still had to whip out the festival leaflet to refresh your memory on the band lineup. 20 minutes into their set you had turned to your friend at least twice, screaming above the din “How the hell did I not know this band? Fuuuck they’re good!” while taking gulps of now-warm beer and moving in time to the music. 

The tightly-packed crowd moved like a sea of bodies, one mass undulating to the loud music. In your little spot on the grass you felt the bass rip through your sternum and it was a pure unfiltered happiness that exploded in your veins like so much concentrated sunshine. You closed your eyes and focused on the feeling, and when they opened, they fell on the source of that feeling. Frankie leaned over the stage, a joyous open-mouthed smile shining into the crowd as his fingers expertly danced and flicked over the strings. 

Frankie had shared his innermost self through his music, and you wanted to share yourself back. There was a strange familiarity about following an artist and their work, one you knew was only as deep as your own imagination. To you, right now, Frankie was someone who inspired you. After Thursday, you hoped you would find out what else Frankie was.  

After an hour you felt satisfied with your notes. Then you wrote out the dishes, a life and temperament in three courses. 

Halibut with oyster and yuzu espuma and radish. 

Perfectly flaky, soft cubes of halibut on a gossamer oyster and yuzu foam, tasting of summer, citrus and surf. Crisp curls of shaved watermelon radish add a crunch and blush in a nod to the vivid colours of the season.

I love swimming in the sea. Feeling the warm breeze whip around me when I emerge from the briny ocean. This is when I feel lightest, when the summer sun warms me, and when the sea leaves salt tracks on me like imprints. 

Seared beef rib-eye with marrow compound butter on creamy mashed potato, herbed porcini mushrooms and lemon garlic asparagus. 

A beautifully marbled round of rib-eye, baby-cheek pink in the centre with an expertly seared crust, nestled into golden, buttery mashed potato. A dash of umami comes from  mushrooms pan-fried in butter, thyme and garlic. The pearly fattiness of the marrow melts into the meat, infusing it with even more of its own flavour. The lemon on the verdant, just-crunchy asparagus lifts the flavours on the rich plateful. 

I am down to earth. I understand the meat and bones of the world and I work with the fire that transforms us under harsh circumstances. 

Madagascan vanilla baked pudding with jasmine blossom ice cream. 

Warm, spongy baked pudding with a fine crumb and smelling richly of fresh vanilla pods, cosying up to a light floral ice cream, white as first snow with the texture of pure, creamy silk. Crowned with a delicate spun sugar heart.

I want softness. The kindness and reassurance that comes from holding someone's hand and it being enough. 

You set the pencil and paper down and looked it over again. The following day you would buy these ingredients and give it a proper go in the kitchen, with Empire on full blast. 

----

Comments and reblogs are appreciated! <3

[autumnwoodsdreamer]

Hi!

5 y 19.

Have a good day 🙃

Fanfiction Writing Ask Game

5. The fic you’re most proud of writing?

I have to say, it’s a bit of a tug-of-war between Lift a Sail and Anchors.

Lift a Sail started the series that I’m still enjoying crafting and it was the first time I had ever written so many chapters and reached a novel-length word-count.

But Anchors is the one I poured my heart into the most and I’m still amazed at how it all came together. I’m so glad it’s message about family and home came through and reached so many, and I’m elated that the story resonated with so many who have been through chronic pain and disability.

So I think Anchors get to win this round.

19. Have you ever created an OC for a fic?

Oh, yeah. I make plenty, really—if plot calls for extras, I makes extras. I try not to get too bogged down in details for like passersby and shop vendors but I always try to make them real. I use advice like “give everyone a reason to be in the story” and “write every character like they believe they’re the main character and the story is about them” when making even extras, often because I find that even giving them a name and a backstory (that most likely won’t trickle through to the actual narrative but I’ll know) helps paint a picture in my mind which, in turn, helps flesh out the world and the scene.

(Because I write quite a bit in Star Wars, I always try to make OC’s aliens—because I just love aliens and I feel there should be more shown—so I use little tidbits about the alien species to aid the story. For instance: if this OC is of an aquatic species but they’re a shop owner on a desert planet, how’d they end up there? Are they struggling with the dry heat? Do they have some accommodation like a humidifier around? It all paints a scene for me and I’m not saying it’s totally necessary but I enjoy immersive storytelling so that’s what I do.)

But actual, full-fledged, fleshed-out and named OC’s? Chi Drench from Anchors, my beloved, comes to mind. A blue Twi’Lek doctor from Lothal who helped the Rebels out during the Empire’s occupation on the planet and now is a surgeon and resident at Capitol City’s medcentre. I had so much fun building his personality and his quirks, like the fact he’s always wearing a colourfully printed cap and cartoon character pins on his scrubs—partly because he’s just very drawn to colours, partly because he now has the freedom after the Empire’s fall to be as expressive as he wishes, and partly because he helps out in the children’s ward and he likes to brighten their day.

And, of course, the crotchety old medical droid he works alongside who’s a bit of contrast to him, Sloan.

I’ve also made a host of OC’s for The Lighthouse Keeper, like Iris the Nautolan woman who lost a leg and half her head-tendrils in some attack during the Empire and now runs a boarding house, and Arrow the ancient navigation droid who now co-owns an Inn in Wild Space.

[starjunco]

Day 30: The End Is Nigh (Ao3)

Long one today. Skip the first section if you’re not interested in physics and math (which I hopefully didn’t butcher too badly) and magic theory.

Continued from Day 26. Also, TW: Heights, falling.

-------

“You’re standing on the bed of a truck going 50 miles per hour next to a train going 60. You throw your knife and by some miracle, it makes it through a window and sticks in the far wall. How fast will you be moving when you warp to the knife?”

Antastus Cadera, their Royal Guard teacher, let the question hang for a couple seconds as he looked over the room of cadets. In Nyx’s experience, the man was nicer than most of his peers, but still as much of a hardass as the rest when it came to running them ragged. The man slammed his hand on the nearest table top. Half the room jumped.

“Wake up people!” he warned before focusing on one of the 30 students unlucky enough to get the theory class at the end of a day’s worth of physical training. “Lazarus -- fifty, sixty, or zero?”

“Hopefully zero,” Luche droned. And he was one of the ones that looked like he was trying to pay attention.

“That is what it will feel like, but if it were the truth, you’d be hitting the back of that train car real quick. Furia!”

“Whichever one the train was going.” Tredd’s voice was muffled by the arms his head was currently laying on. Nyx was impressed -- that he was awake and that Cadera was letting him sit like that.

Cadera stared at Tredd for a moment as if considering reprimanding him but apparently decided it wasn’t worth the effort if he was managing to pay attention.

“Correct. Velocity is relative -- if we’re moving in the same direction, at the same speed, as our surroundings, we won’t notice the change. When warping, you will take on the velocity of your anchor as it is at the moment you reappear. In this case, it is moving with the train, so it -- and you -- will be going 60 miles per hour. What would have happened if you warped to the knife before it stopped in the wall? Ulric!”

Half the class chuckled. Nyx peered back at them. He had found out the answer to that the hard way the first day they were training in the ability. Turned out he was good at it and picked it up fast. It also turned out, however, that it is possible to be too fast.

“You hit the wall,” Nyx said dryly.

Cadera smirked but nodded. “You’re now going just as fast as your knife -- you hit the wall at the same speed it would have. And in this case you would likely then be acquainted with the back wall of the car too if you didn’t manage to get your footing fast enough.”

He turned to the board and drew a series of tall rectangles then a stick figure laying flat far above them with dashed lines above it and an arrow pointing down below it.

“You are high -- really high -- and all the sudden you need to figure out how to safely land. Ideas? Ostium?”

Libertus blinked, trying to focus on the board. “Throw at one of the buildings.”

Cadera nodded. “Not a bad first instinct, but here’s the problem: terminal velocity of a human is 120 miles per hour or 176 feet per second,” he said as he wrote the numbers next to the stick figure’s downward arrow. “You don’t get there instantaneously but that’s the number we’re going to use. That’s 16 stories zooming past you every second you’re falling. Blink and your knife’s out of sight and the connection too weak to feel. More ideas! Ulric!”

Nyx frowned and tried to think -- his head had started to jellify as soon as the numbers came up. “Wait until you’re about to the ground and throw at it?”

“How fast do you suppose you can throw your knife?”

Nyx looked at the man blankly. Luckily, it seemed to be a rhetorical question.

“Likely at the fastest, 30 miles per hour -- 220 feet per second…” He drew a little stick knife down under the falling figure along with the numbers. “It has a terminal velocity higher than yours, but it’s not going to mean much in that amount of time. It’s going 44 feet per second faster than you are, but you’re still covering four times that distance each second. Is it possible?”

Tredd raised a hand over his head -- which didn’t move off his other arm -- and whistled as he quickly lowered it and slammed his palm onto the desk.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” Cadera said with a nod. “In theory maybe it’s possible, but practically?”

“So you’re saying we’re doomed,” Libertus stated. “Then what’s the point?”

“Not doomed,” Cadera said with a grin. “Not yet. Here are your options…”

-------

Nyx stared at the quickly approaching ground as he took out his other kukri. The timing at this speed would have to be beyond exact.

He twisted and threw one of the kukris upward and warped nearly immediately. Suddenly he was going up rather than down. Gravity regained its pull on him quickly, but it gave him valuable time -- time to judge the distance, time to plan exactly what he needed to do.

His head wasn’t exactly what he’d call clear -- the world seemed to move much more than it usually did when he was warping or even in the air -- but thankfully warping was something he could nearly do in his sleep now. So long as any nightmares stayed away anyway.

Two more times he reversed his momentum by throwing a kukri up, slowing himself down closer and closer to the ground. And then he threw one kukri down and the other up one last time.

He warped to the second and watched the glint of the first hit the earth. He reached out, seeking the energy he had put into the weapon, the aetherial anchor that made warping possible…He felt it, just at the edge of his ability. He reached out and--

The dirt was cool and soft under his body. He breathed deep and tried to relax with the relief. Voices crackled in his ear and began to drown out the distant noise of the disintegrating, crashing ship.

The other glaives were regrouping, trying to determine who survived and who didn’t, but for now, Nyx was just going to lay here a little while. He needed a break.

[crossdressingdeath]

Sera's Past and Now Things

- Nobs have that look. Ending coming. - Not how a Jenny is supposed to go. They're not supposed to go. - Not right. Do everything for everyone, get sick. Not right. - Can't put arrows in it, put them everywhere else. - I will never miss. - I will make them know Alaris had (scratched out) HAS friends.

Uh, ouch? Bioware look me in the eyes and tell me this was necessary.

The thing with Sera is that for all her talk about how horrible nobles are she doesn't seem to have been really, truly forced to reckon with the unrelenting cruelty and unfairness of life in Thedas the way other companions across the series have been. Which makes sense, she was raised by a noblewoman and in the main game she's only nineteen, twenty years old and has the resources to travel across Thedas (she's from Ferelden, we find her in Orlais, if I'm remembering right she mentions having been in Tevinter at some point (although I might be mixing her up with someone else on that last point, it's late and I'm Very Tired), that sort of travel takes cash), of course she's a little naive about just how bad things can get. And it's pretty annoying at times in the main game, but here we see the flip side of that. Her friend is dying. They have given so much for Thedas, they were finally going to get the chance to rest, and instead? They're getting worse and they're going to keep getting worse until they're dead. They did so much for everyone, and their reward? They get sick. Fatally so. It's not right and it's not fair and (as far as anyone knows) there is nothing anyone can do about it. And I feel like it hits harder coming from Sera than it would from anyone else (although side note I would've liked the chance to get at least a note from the LI about it even if we for some reason weren't given a full cutscene), just because she does so often fail to grasp the gravity of the situation throughout the main game. Even she can't deny what's going on any longer, and it's clearly hitting hard. It reminds me of that banter she has with Varric where he tries to explain to her that her romance with Quiz is likely to end in tragedy and she just does not get it. Well, now she's being forced to face the fact that her friendship/romance is ending in tragedy. Her friend is dying and she can't save them.

And of course it's made worse by the fact that Quiz is reading this and is having to face how much their impending death is hurting their friends, which if you approach it with the assumption that they knew the Anchor was going to kill them from the start might be exactly why they kept quiet about that for as long as they could. Basically in every respect reading this is extremely painful and I think it was maybe a touch unnecessary. Especially since we don't get a cutscene post-amputation where everyone's relieved to see Quiz okay. Why didn't we get that, Bioware.

[lairofdragonagelore]

Exalted Plains: Ghilan’nain’s Grove and the Dead Hand

The great stone hand was something of a mystery. One assumes it is a piece broken off from a larger whole. If so, judging by the size of that one hand, I imagine the entire sculpture to be... well, large enough to require the use of obscenities to describe it. Thus I have only one question: where is the rest of the statue? It is difficult to imagine how something so large could go missing.

—From A Journey through the Dales by Lord Horace Medford, "Adventurer" 

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

The entrance to this place is protected by a statue of Fen’Harel.  

The place is immediately shown as a sanctuary for lizard creatures: gurguts and dragons.

The first thing we notice when we head into this place is the immense amount of urns, inuksuit, funerary tablets, and skeletons. Dark sections of the original ruin have their floor covered in bones. This part of the ruin is also creepier and darker. You can see from a design point of view that this place was meant to be sinister. If we remember Solas’ words, this place inspire a mixture of Falon’Din and Andruil presence; an excess of death and sacrifice.

And of course, we find these red structures as well, that keep reinforcing the idea that sacrifices has been made in a given place.

The dead Hand

Heading east across the creepy ruins leads us to the Dead Hand. A big stone hand which landmark adds little information. Its source is an orlesian who started this adventure, and as we will see later with Fen’Harel’s statues, he has not much idea about Elven culture to analyse what he sees. 

So putting aside that, I feel this dead hand has a high chance to have been part of a city in the Fade [as we see in the Shattered Library] that once the Veil appeared, was removed from the Fade and fell/leaked into the waking world. These kind of hands can be seen in four places: 

During the main quest where you go to the future and you see a gigantic Andraste floating over the Red Cliff Castle. 

The Fade, where we see a gigantic Andraste as well. 

The Fade of Flemeth, which shows us a hand which keeps skeletons hanging from strings, and 

The Shattered Library, which hands hold eluvians.  

In all cases is clear that these big hands are a product of the Fade, so the fact that we can only see this hand and not the remnants of a colossus statue around it, makes me suspect this is another consequence of the installation of the Veil in the world.

If we follow the stair down close to the Dead Hand, we will find a place that looks like an elvhenan crypt. There are many urns and skeletons and you can trigger the codex  Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide. Sadly, it's another codex of Gisharel and therefore, impossible to trust.

Here, there is a puzzle. The walls are decorated with those golden rings that may be representations of power, control, or the orbs.

In the centre we have four howling Fen'Harel statues, four tree-rings, and an archer. The idea is to shoot energy arrows into the trees without Fen’Harel blocking it. The puzzle can have an interpretation depending on what each element represents.

The trees are related to the crossroads, the eluvians, and the lyrium [DA series tend to represent these trees the same way they represent lyrium veins]. These trees, in the  Shattered Library, seem to be related to magical raw power. They contain new powers that are added to the inquisitor’s anchor. The ring surrounding their canopy reinforces the interpretation that this is the source of power and control. So more reasons to associate them with Lyrium and magic and eluvians. 

A central archer wants to activate each of these trees/powers, but Fen’Harel is always blocking it. This is an interpretation that sounds almost as Evanuris propaganda: the bad wolf is blocking the power. How much of this puzzle can be interpreted and how much of it is mere game mechanics? Hard to say.  This is just a mere speculation of what potentially can represent since we have almost nothing for sure about what the true representation of these elements.

The device that controls the movement of the statues is made of a block of stone with ancient elvhenan language that we only see in the Temple of Mythal. With this, we are sure this place is as old and ancient as the Temple of Mythal, so it reinforces a bit more the idea that this place is a fragment of a bigger place that was cut off from the Fade and got stuck in here.

We find a broken statue of Fen’Harel, not sure if it could have been on purpose or not.

Once all the trees are activated, wisps of energy fly to another small chamber where two ringed-trees are activated. Here the trees work like the interpretation of "sources of energy". They open a chamber's door which is flanked by archers.

Inside we find something very curious. Two Fen'Harel statues guarding and defending an elven tomb. The tomb has two small archers on its lid-epitaph. Looting the tomb will give you crafting materials and will summon undead creatures.

One of the wolves triggers the codex Dirthamen: Keeper of Secrets , which again, is unreliable since its source is the Keeper Gisharel. What it's interesting, if we keep in mind what we know from the Temple of Dirthamen, is that Dirthamen apparently had two ravens, one of them with the name of a Demon: Fear. He bound them to him, so they could not reject his command [We are associating all this thanks to the context of the Grey Warden and their plan of bounding themselves with demons]. 

In the temple of Dirthamen we know or suspect that the priests of Dirthamen had exceptional strange bounding powers, to the point to bound the High Priest to an existence that turned him into a despair demon. Maybe Dirthamen was an evanuris with the knowledge of bounding spirits [And his duality with Falon’Din could be through a process like this: one bounded the other to himself]. And as we see in the owl statues, much of his symbol is related to the golden ring, which seems to be related to control and bounding. I speculate that maybe Dirthamen had the secret of how to turn elves [who had no real shape and were formless according to the documents in the Shattered Library] into clear, strong shapes, and therefore, slaved them [originating the Vallaslin since it’s in this temple where we see so many Vallaslin inks: the object of a white bell shape]. Maybe the one having the knowledge of this bounding process was Dirthamen and Falon’Din stole it, bounding Dirthamen to himself, and later, his slave elves. After all, Falon’ Din had an exceptional vanity, according to Solas.

The grove

Going out from the Dead Hand, we have access to the Crow fens. Curiously, we find many owl statues around this fen. Close to this place there is a codex of Scattered Notes, which shows how wrongly Orlesian scholars can be with creatures they are seeing in front of them, allowing us to conclude that clearly they don't do better when it comes to ancient elven history.

This place is where the Fen'Harel's statue in the horizon seems to be watching at, guarding and protecting, or just maybe looking at the rebels he can go at the rescue, since this place gives a lot the vibes of being a hell of slaves and sacrifices.

In this place we also find a shrine to Fen'Harel which has a unique fashion: a wolf in black, the other in white.  Sadly, the triggered landmark is highly unreliable since it's written by Genitivi and gives no useful information. But it seems to hint a duality in Fen’Harel’s nature: a white wolf and a black one.

Close to this shrine, we find a note beside a corpse: Ripped Piece of Paper. A person who was scammed, trying to find a treasure, and died in this place.

Heading to the exit of the grove, we find a broken statue of Fen'Harel which triggers a landmark called Broken Dog, which shows how little this orleasin lord who turned into an adventurer knows about Elven culture calling it "broken dog".

We find more and more places with corpses, not sure if they were due to the dragon [although this dragon had an electric breathe, not fire] or they belong to the time of the Dales or they are even more ancient.

We find the hart statues which trigger two codices: Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt and Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla. The first one is apparently a song to Andruil. Due to the lack of explicit source, it's hard to know if it belongs to the Dales time or it's older.  We are informed here that Andruil is the "mother of the Hares". There is a comment about sacrificing some to nourish others which adds a lot of more creepiness to this place. The second codex is another tale of Gisharel. Once more, impossible to determine which parts are true and which one are twisted details. In it, it claims that the Hare and the Hawk are favoured animals of Andruil. Andruil turned Ghilan’nain into a Halla to find the path back home. But again, these details need to be taken with a pinch of salt because they are unreliable.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[thehuntingdomain]

12 Tips To Sight In A Compound Bow

Do you know how to properly sight in a compound bow? Would you like to learn the steps on how to sight in  a compound bow? In this article, we share the steps on how to sight in a compound bow.

A. The Paper Target Method

1. Unstrung Bow

Make sure that your bow is unstrung.

2. Setting Up Your Target

Set up your target so that it is at a distance of 20 yards. If you do not have a 20-yard range, you can use the 30-yard mark on a standard archery target.

3. Position Yourself

Take your stance so that you are perpendicular to the target, with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Draw the string back to your anchor point, making sure that the arrow is lined up with the center of the bow.

4. Release The Arrow

Take a deep breath and slowly release the arrow. Try to keep your hand steady as you release the string. If your arrow hits the target, congratulations! You have successfully sighted in your compound bow.

5. Armguard

You will also need an armguard to protect your forearm from the string, as well as a finger tab or glove to protect your fingers. You will also need a target and arrows.

B. The 3-Dot Method

1. Shooting An Arrow

Start by shooting an arrow at a target 20 yards away.

2. High Shot

If the shot is high, move the top dot down.

3. Low Shot

If the shot is low, move the bottom dot up.

4. Shot To The Right

If the shot is to the right, move the right dot to the left.

5. Shot To The Left

Lastly, if the shot is to the left, move the left dot to the right.

6. Shoot Another Arrow

After making the necessary adjustments, shoot another arrow at the target.

7. Repeat Process

Repeat this process until you are satisfied with your accuracy.

Conclusion

Sighting in a compound bow is not difficult, you just have to follow a series of steps to properly sight it in. In this article, we shared the steps to sight in a compound bow. If you would like to learn more about how to sight in a compound bow, then click this link.

[dencyemily]

VeChain Poised for Bullish Reversal as TD Sequential Flags Buy Signal

VeChain (VET) has emerged as a focal point in the cryptocurrency trading arena, drawing attention due to its upward price trajectory. Analyst Ali Charts, recognized for insightful market analysis, predicts a potential bullish reversal for VeChain. This optimistic forecast is rooted in the signals generated by the TD Sequential indicator, indicating a significant shift in VeChain's trading dynamics.

Ali Charts' analysis of the 3-day chart reveals an ongoing downtrend characterized by a series of red candlesticks representing closing prices lower than their opening. However, a notable green candlestick, accompanied by a substantial wick, signifies market indecision – a common precursor to a reversal. The inclusion of a green '9' arrow, a characteristic feature of the TD Sequential indicator, adds weight to the prediction of an impending bullish turnaround for VeChain.

On the daily price chart, VeChain's market activity is depicted through a combination of long and short candlesticks, showcasing the variable degrees of daily price changes and market volatility. Intriguingly, the presence of wicks on these candlesticks indicates intraday price reversals, highlighting significant shifts from daily highs and lows before closing. Consistent with the 3-day chart, notations such as the '9' and an upward arrow suggest the application of a specific trading indicator across multiple time frames.

VeChain's current price, noted at 0.027057401, aligns with the technical analysis provided by Ali Charts. CoinMarketCap reports a slight decline in VeChain's price, standing at approximately $0.027007, representing a 5.52% decrease over the past 24 hours. The inclusion of high and low price points on the charts offers crucial context, anchoring the technical predictions in real-time market movements.

The comprehensive analysis by Ali Charts contributes to the narrative that VeChain's price trajectory is poised for a bullish reversal. Traders in the VeChain market are attentively monitoring these signals, eagerly anticipating the potential upward trend as the market responds to the TD Sequential indicators.

[allamalad]

BOOK 4, BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH LLAMALAD REVIEW

Ok first HELLO?!?!?!? I HAVENT DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN FOREVER?!?! Now thanks to my new aztec mythology storyline I've decided to dive back into the pjo series and finish book four. I finally have the time to do so, AND NOW I GET EVEN MORE STUFF TO READ I GOT 5 MORE BOOKS AFTER THIS ONE, THEN THE SUN AND THE STAR, THEN THAT OTHER ONE!! (I forgor the name) NOT TO MENTION THE NEW SERIES COMING UP!!! so excited rn!! Alrighty let's get onto the review. THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS BTW

EVENTS MAY BE OUT OF ORDER DUE TO ADHD RAMBLING

OK SO THE BEGINNING SEEMED PRETTY NORMAL. always like seeing capture the flag, very fun!! Im a certified hater of the saytrs that were dissing grover, they can go like, fall in a hole or something.

Possible jail break with a coward dude with 100 hands?!?!?! Also woman with like a bunch of dragon and other animal heads that's also pretty cool. Comparing these designs to aztec monsters is very silly lol

Skipping to when they finally get into the laberynth, HERA IS VERY SUSPICIOUS I DON'T LIKE HER, but like then again maybe she's just on edge cuz Zeus cheated on her like half a million times. So what do I know.

Sphinx scene was very silly, sphinx is bbg, she is one of my favorite monsters cuz she reminded me of nepeta from homestuck.

Percy getting blown up by a volcano filled with silly little feral creatures is also pretty standard, then getting saved by some garden person. Her name was calypso, very nice name!! Her character was also refreshing.

Fight with that other one son of poseidon was also very cool, but i was too busy feeling bad about Annabeth and her interaction with Luke. Buuuut- ANNABETH STOP CRYING OVER HIM IK HES LIKE A SIBLING TO YOU BUT GET OVER IT HES EVIL NOW!!!!

Stupid little creature eyepatch demi god literally running as soon as they free him, mf is NOT greatful. Smh. IDC IF YOURE THE CHILD OF THE REVENGE GOD OR WHATEVER GET OVER IT YOU EDGELORD!!! speaking of edgelords, NICO STOP TALKING TO DRUG DEALER GHOSTS WHO HOLD YOUR DEAD SISTER OVER YOUR HEAD STOP!!

Speaking of nico when he got held hostage by that other guy previously and percy had to talk to those freaky flesh eating horses, those monsters were pretty neat. Like carnivorous horses seem like an awesome creature design. 10/10 would fight for my life.

OK GOING BACK TO THE SUBJECT when nico finally got betrayed by that ghost king guy it literally went like this

King of ghosts: MWAHAHAHA YOU STUPID CHILD I GOT WHAT I WANT U AINT GETTING UR SISTER BACK, DEATH TO THE CREATOR OF THE LABYRINTH HERE I CO-

Nico: skill issue

King of ghosts: WHAT?? WHAT DOES THAT MEA-

Nico: S K I L L I S S U E

*Obliterates with ground powers*

Also, my biggest comment and my FAVORITE REVEAL IS LUKE??? HELLO??? HIM COMING OUT OF THE TOMB POSESSED BY CRONOS ALMOST KILLING PERCY WITH TIME POWERS IS LITERALLY SO COOL?? it sent LITERAL chills down my spine, like, percy having time warped around him because he is the titan of time basically, and almost KILLED percy if it weren't for that hair brush. DUDE. LIKE, DUDE. THE NARRATIVE IMPACT IS IMMACULATE, ESPECIALLY ANNABETHS REACTION IS SO..

THEN THE LITERAL SOB FEST THAT IS PAN'S DEATH?? HELLO BRO LITERALLY JUST WANTED TO FADE AWAY BUT WAS ANCHORED BY THE FALSE HOPE OF THE SAYTRS. WUUGH WUH WRKG

Ok NEXT I must say the pet hell hound is literally adorable I love her sm TOO BAD HER OWNER KILLED HIMSELF jk nico killed him kinda BUT STILL. that battle at the end was REALLT COOL. Nico using his epic powers, tyson being tyson, and horse man shooting arrows epically?!?!?! and THE ANGST. I literally almost cried again when one of the only two dionysus children DIED. like BRO WHY THEM??? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GIVE THEM A NAME, THAT MADE IT WORSE, AND THE FACT THAT DIONYSUS ACTUALLY CARED AND PROBABLY GRIEVED FOR HIS SON.

Ok I think I covered the main parts, finally after this and after the death ceremonies, Annabeth being annoying, and nico being emo again and leaving, percy went home for his birthday. And everything seemed normal, tyson literally being the best character as normal, Mr blowfish man wanting to marry Percy's mom. AND THEN NOT ONLY POSEIDON PULL UP, BUT ALSO NICO?? LIKE YALL WERENT INVITED BUT OK. also sand dollars are cool I guess.

OK IM DONE NOW BYEEEEEE. BOOK IS 100/10 EXPECT POSSIBLE PJO FAN CONTENT SOON, BUT ALSO MAINLY MY AZTEC MYTHOLOGY STORYLINE!! FAIR WELL, ONTO BOOK 5 NOW

[charliepipedesigner]

Initial Home Page Designs - Major Project

Since the home screen is essential in giving the user a beginning platform for the user to explore the app, I prioritised this ux/ui design.

First Impressions

Being able to impress the user with a visually pleasing and interactive home screen would determine the reputation of the service for the audience because the user should have access to the majority of the content on the app whilst the layout and graphics are considered. One of my first ideas involved drawing cards to allow the user to complete daily and weekly tasks as a motivational aspect. The cards would have illustrations of the mascot to present the focus point of the task, supported by a header, the challenge number, and an arrow to direct the user to the location of the task on the app. I used inspiration from a digital design on Dribbble about a gamified fitness service that encourages a broad audience to be active as a beneficial hobby for themselves. The visual on the web page display a series of vibrant assets and social media posts that I thought were helpful in giving me idea for how I'm going to inspire my target audience.

User Engagement

I would need to design a well organised and visually appealing layout that can keep users interested and encourage them to interact with the app more, especially considering the attention span that 15-18 year olds have. To add satisfaction for the users, I've considered how to visually present the completion of tasks by choosing bright colours such as green and turquoise to connote the completion and rewards for using the app. In addition I've once again used the logo font to create the tick icon by expand the type into an object, and then cutting the anchor points to form the shapes into a tick.

Navigation

Going from left to right, this is the process of designing the home page. The guides on Adobe Illustrator helped me a lot to position and aline everything. As I was positioning everything onto the artboard I would always find new ways to make the layout look better. For instance, the tab bar at the bottom of the page changed a substantial amount since the first design. As well as that, the director's microphone on the first card needed more detail in order for it to be attractive. I'm very happy with the iconography because I believe they're easy to identify even without a description underneath that explains what they are. As for the colour palette, I tried not to implement too many colours so that the app continues the brand identity from the logo and badge, meaning I've implemented black and turquoise into the majority of the visuals.

Conclusion

I am satisfied with the process of designing the home page because a lot of changes were made, which then resulted in a considered layout and visual design. On the other hand, I believe that there is still room for improvement, and I could potentially change the layout completely in order to provide an unconventional approach to the app design.