#the diffuse mode of thinking

[sirfrogsworth]

Let's talk about screens and eye comfort.

@krakenartificer wrote this in response to my motivated lighting post.

Maximum-visibility lighting is also accessible lighting. I cannot turn the brightness on my screen up any more than it is -- even a few seconds of a light-mode app at 75% brightness will give me a migraine. I believe you when you say that the train-light photos are legible to you. But with my screen at ~50% brightness in a medium-dim room, that second one, with the bright-white light, is already painful to look at. And since my pupils have constricted to protect me, I can't see almost anything else going on there.

I already mentioned that if people are having issues seeing dark elements in their content, their room may be too bright. That is a strategy to get the highest quality viewing experience, but it may not be the most comfortable for people with various eye sensitivities.

So I'm going to address eye comfort over image quality in this post.

I think many people have a misconception about the brightness setting on their display. Often people will turn it up and down depending on the content they are viewing. If something has a really bright element, they may turn it down. If something is too dark, they may turn it up.

That isn't really how display brightness is meant to work. This setting is meant to maintain picture quality and contrast as much as possible while raising and lowering the overall intensity of the display. And the intensity is meant to be adjusted according to the viewer's environment, not what is on the screen from moment to moment.

You want the intensity of light in the room to match the brightness of your screen.

Some people prefer to adjust their screen a little brighter than ambient so it is a little more legible. But that is a personal preference.

So if you are in a dark room, you'd turn the brightness down.

If you are out in bright sun, you'd turn your brightness up.

If your screen is displaying near white or pure white and it hurts your eyes, that usually means your room is too dark. A brighter ambient environment can help make "light mode" more comfortable. Try turning on some lights or going to a brighter space and see if it helps.

However, some people do not feel comfortable in brighter rooms. This is when you might consider "bias lighting." This is a soft light source behind your screen that you can adjust to the maximum tolerable brightness to keep your eyes from going into night vision mode or max dilation.

It's better if the bias lighting is spread out rather than using a small light source like a night light. Small light sources feel much more intense and can add to eye strain. You want the light to cover a large surface area.

String lights across a wall work well.

Or you can bounce a light off a wall or ceiling to diffuse and spread it out. Many people just put a light behind their TV and light up the wall behind it.

The idea is to make the room *feel* dark while still having enough light to keep your pupils from opening up and feeling like any sudden bright light source is blasting you in the eyeballs. Your pupils prefer gradual adjustments to light and dark. If you go straight from a dark scene to a bright scene without any bias lighting, your eyes might feel a bit melty.

If you are *still* uncomfortable with white on your screen and have a particularly strong eye sensitivity, then you might consider sacrificing picture quality for comfort.

Turning down your brightness is not a great solution because it makes *everything* darker. Again, the brightness of your screen should be close to the room lighting.

Typically, to get the highest quality image you want to adjust your screen so the blacks are as black as possible and the whites are as white as possible without losing any detail.

Rtings has a guide for monitors and TVs for this.

They have two patterns for black and white point adjustment.

They look like this.

You want to see bars all the way up until the reference point.

The white point is most commonly called "contrast" in display settings. Sometimes there will be a contrast adjustment AND a white point adjustment. In that case, the white point only deals with the brightest highlights and the contrast will affect all whites.

But if you have really sensitive eyes... forget the charts. Forget peak image quality.

Instead, try lowering your contrast and reducing the intensity of *only* the white elements rather than darkening everything.

The picture might look a little gray and dull, but you won't lose as much legibility in the shadow areas. You are just turning down the brightest stuff to make your eyes more comfy.

Max white point...

Lowered white point...

And if you still need to turn down your screen brightness, you can raise the black point to keep more detail in the shadows.

Again, that might not look great, but it will keep your eyes comfortable and you will be able to make out all the details you need to see.

You might also consider adjusting the color temperature of your screen to be warmer. Blue light is higher frequency and more energetic. Which means it can pierce and glare more than warmer light. So shifting things to the orange could also bring some comfort to sensitive eyes. Search for a “Warm” mode, “Eye Comfort” mode, or Night Shift settings.

Most TVs and monitors have these adjustments. Sometimes they call them different things, so you may have to do some googling. (God forbid tech companies ever agree on a standard.)

And if you are on a phone or laptop, you may need a special app to adjust these specific things. I would research "how to reduce white point" for whatever device you are using.

To review...

Adjust your ambient room lighting first. Brighter ambient room lighting can make bright white elements on your display more comfortable.

Display "brightness" should be adjusted to your lighting environment, not the content on screen.

If you don't like bright rooms, bias lighting behind your display can keep your eyes from going into night vision mode. This can prevent bright screen elements from being too intense or glaring.

If you have eye sensitivity issues, try all of the above first, and then consider lowering your contrast or white point setting. This will dim only the brightest elements on screen without making everything else too dark.

If you need to lower the screen brightness AND white point/contrast, you may lose detail in the shadows as well. You can try raising the black point to compensate. This is a worst case scenario and will probably not look great.

Consider warmer color temperature settings to reduce glare from high-frequency blue light.

[rennybu]

Hi Andy! out of curiosity would you be able to give any tips on, and this is the best way I can think to describe this 💀, rendering the elf glow ears? Like the glow of a light source where skin is thin i guess?

It's something that I've been trying to figure out how to do for ages in procreate, and is something I've always really liked in yours as well as others work when it comes to elves! If not thank you anyway, take it easy

hi!! i'm so sorry this took a while to get to.... I drew up a little step by step including what layer modes i usually use, but it's not foolproof and will need some colour tweaks on a per-drawing basis until u find your stride with it.

the term for this is subsurface scattering!!! its how light penetrates translucent surfaces and bounces around inside/diffuses back out into a 'glow'.... that orange radiance is Blood and Cartilage.

some videos i've enjoyed on the topic (1) (2) (and there r many more to do with 3D rendering, if you're interested in going down the rabbit hole... i think i took off running with glowy ears after learning abt subsurface scattering in my 3D animation course back in 2018. ITS SO FUN)

i'm using my own shorthand for. everything i drew here. but i hope it makes sense for visualizing a quick workflow in procreate!!!!

i personally use a mix of layer modes, depending on the piece, usually overlay, screen, or colour dodge... It is honestly something i should devote some proper study time to (paint from observation without layer modes - its Good to be able to better understand colour interaction this way) - but this is how I've been doing it for the last few years!

transcript under the cut:

from left to right:

Ear and base colour :)

+ New layer Consider colour of blood and flesh beneath the skin. I start with pinks, light orange, yellow Less illumination <--> More

Set layer mode to overlay (or ur fav add mode...), adjust your colours based on skin, light source, stylization, etc. Merge down once happy!

Duplicate line art layer, lock + colour it in warm. + Light emphasis if u want (pop!) I like to use overlay mode but its not necessary. Adds a sense of depth and vibrancy.

base + soft brush + red line art Same idea of light/skin interaction, without using layer modes. Red for blood/flesh, orange for transition, yellow for thinnest part of cartilage.

When it (light) hits the surface... it scatters idk

[sleepyheadnat]

Every interpretation of Ragatha's behavior (in light of recent revelations) I've seen so far has been different from my own. I thought I'd share my take then!

We now know Ragatha grew up with an abusive mother who demanded way too much from her and was probably emotionally unstable and emotionally unreliable—"I sure don't miss all the yelling." The thing with children with "time-bomb parents", though is that they sometimes end up taking it upon themselves to try and be the "glue that holds the parts together". All you want is a peaceful family and you trick yourself into thinking that you can make that happen, you can fix your parents, your siblings, etc., and finally achieve the familial stability you dream of.

That might mean becoming preachy and self-righteous because you're constantly trying to direct people towards the "right" behavior that will lead to the peaceful family you wish for. That might mean rushing to diffuse every conflict because you never learned to deal with that in a healthy way—you were a child, every conflict was armageddon. That might mean not being in touch with your emotions because you only ever worried about what is the "right" and "proper" and "safe" thing to feel, not what is actually real. That might mean becoming selfish because, at the end of the day, you only ever lived in survival mode, only ever thinking about what you need, what you want, and how to get others to act in the way that will benefit you—sometimes, even glossing over others' feelings and reasons for being in conflict (you just want the conflict to end).

I think that description fits Ragatha quite well.

[cityofmeliora]

notes on Primo's characterization 💖

let's talk about Primo! i think he's a really, really interesting character!

i've said before that i think Primo is the only one of the brothers who takes the whole ~satanic death cult trying to bring the end of the world~ thing seriously.

Primo was indeed very serious about the cult. maybe too serious? even some other members of the cult dislike that about him.

NAMELESS GHOUL: The first Papa Emeritus was someone very rigid, very strict, and very solemn. A real son of a bitch! (laughs) To be honest, we don’t miss him at all! MyRock #44 (2017) translated from French by @ a-wandering-ghoulette)

the best source of Primo characterization is a 2010 interview with Sweden Rock Magazine where Primo and the Nameless Ghouls kidnapped the interviewer. though i quote *a lot* of it here, i strongly recommend reading the full interview because it is truly fascinating. notably, Primo himself speaks in this interview rather than a Nameless Ghoul.

Primo is a misanthrope who believes humans are "vermin" that have doomed themselves due to their "intellectual decline". in his eyes, they are unworthy of life and will eventually be destroyed.

“Human beings are vermin, thus the end of humanity is ultimately a good thing. We play but a vanishingly microscopic role in this cosmos of nothingness.”

The devil-worshipping organization that the Ghost leader speaks of is claimed to operate on a worldwide level and among many different areas: from politics and business to religious movements, in the entertainment industry and on the street. It does not have a name, but its existence “can most easily be explained as a living and ongoing result of humanity’s intellectual decline and eventual decay.”

Primo affirms Ghost's mission statement as originally presented in the band's old Myspace page: to spread the devil's influence and convince other people that humanity deserves its inevitable end.

According to the statement on the band’s page, Ghost’s main mission is to trick mankind into believing that the end of the world is ultimately a good thing. “Our only task is to accompany the world’s downfall.”

A question comes to mind: wouldn’t the band, which with its poppy hard rock could by all means appeal to a much wider audience than ordinary black metal acts, gain more attention by engaging in more commercial modes of expression? “We have other entertainment groups within our organization who are doing just that. Our task is to emphasize the devil’s message in the part of society that has, to varying degrees, already accepted it. It’s directed at the social grouping that goes to the type of concerts that we perform. Our goal is to be able to carry out our black mass, our ritual, for them. Other members of the cult work with far more subtle modes of expressions, better suited for consumers who are not as receptive to the truth.”

though he openly calls the organization a cult, his religious belief is sincere.

to Primo, the band's anonymity and use of costumes are a way of showing reverence and humility in their task. if Satan is the Father, and Antichrist is the Son, the band is the (unholy) Ghost: the force which connects humanity to the power of the Father and the Son. for the audience to think of Primo or the Nameless Ghouls as individual people would distract from their message. when he takes on the role of Papa, he becomes one with their cause.

You refer to yourselves as a group of nameless spirits - should this be taken literally? Is the band actually something other than human? “To make it easier for mortals to deal with the fact that we, as individuals, have no significance in this experience, we have chosen to act as ghosts - hollow and diffuse.”

Why did you, as a leader, choose an outfit so similar to the one worn by the Catholic Pope? “For the Pope it is a way of showing reverence and seriousness, and at the same time humility before his task. He uses it to step into the body that is the essence and the fog, something we advocate too. It is our way of becoming one with the fog.” Things become clearer when the leader speaks of the meaning behind the name of the band: “Akin to the tripartite view so stubbornly proclaimed by the Christian faith, we too believe there is magic in the concept of three and we are part of it: there is a god, Satan, a son, Antichrist, and a ghost in the middle that is the inexplicable - the fog.”

Primo has a theistic view of Satan, believing he is real deity who speaks through / inspires the band's music. in this way, the Ghoul Writer could be considered a sort of prophet to him.

That’s right. Ghost have their music written for them. In one online interview, a so-called “ghoul writer” is mentioned who supposedly composes melodies and lyrics with the help of ungraspable powers from beyond – devilish whispers instruct him which words should accompany which chords, and so forth. “There is indeed a human individual who composes patterns of tones and words which operate ever so beautifully in unison. However, I am of the belief that there is a higher being who speaks through this individual,” asserts the Pope.

like a proper cultist, Primo cannot imagine having a life / identity outside of the cult. he remembers that there was once a time when he was not a member of the cult, but he cannot remember what it was like to be that person. his devotion to the cult has been a core part of who he is for a very long time.

How he got involved in this movement and dedicated his life to Satan, he has a hard time answering. After a long silence, the singer says: “I find it very difficult to remember the life I had before I found the darkness. It is therefore very difficult to answer your question. My memory doesn’t go that far.” Surely the Pope must remember something?           “I cannot remember a time when I did not find myself part of the dark energy. That does not mean that I remember nothing from my past life, only that I cannot remember how I felt then. This is because it was a time when I did not know very much.” Was it by coming into contact with other members of the organization that you found this darkness? “As I said, I do not remember when this happened. But I think…” He chooses his words carefully. “… I believe that, like many others, I was woven into this dark through subtle, human components found within it. Once again, my intellect was not as developed as it is now, so I have great difficulty in explaining what happened - when and where, and to what extent.”

while he cannot say exactly what happened to him or when, Primo seems to have had genuine spiritual experiences. he was always connected to the dark energy, and he feels that he became awakened and that his intellect has developed since he truly found his faith.

despite being a misanthrope, Primo admits he was brought into the darkness by some sort of human connection. he might actually have the capacity to care about some people.

in a Kerrang feature where Primo gets quizzed on "demonology, serial killers and stuff like that", he says the cult knew witches who were burned at the stake, but he doesn't like to talk about it. it stood out to me that he says he doesn't want to talk about it, because he speaks so openly and matter-of-factly about other dark / upsetting topics. at the very least, it appears he doesn't like it when bad things happen to other members of the cult.

WHAT DOES THE PHRASE MALLEUS MALEFICARUM TRANSLATE AS IN ENGLISH? A) HAMMER OF THE WITCHES B) HAMMER OF THE DEMONS C) HAMMER OF THE GODS PAPA: “That would be the witch-hammer. We knew some Witches, but unfortunately a lot of them were taken away.” KERRANG!: “As in burned at the stake?” PAPA: “Correct. But I don’t like to talk about that. (Answer: A) ✔

he seems to be quite pleased about other people dying, though. and he is certain they all go to Hell.

6. NAME ANY TWO OF THE THREE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF MAYHEM. PAPA: “Though one was not an original member two of the band are actually burning in Hell, and they’re good guests, certainly. But yes, I will say Euronymous and Necrobutcher.” (Answer: Euronymous, Necrobutcherr, Manheim) ✔ 7. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE SHIP THAT WAS DISCOVERED FLOATING ABANDONED AND UNMANNED IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN DECEMBER 1872? PAPA: “It was that ship with such a heavenly name, the lady Mary Celeste.” KERRANG!: “And can you finally tell us where all the people went?” PAPA: I’ll check the records. Obviously they’re all in Hell now, but the way they got there is a little cloudy. But then our Lord too works in mysterious ways…“ (Answer: Mary Celeste) ✔

some of Primo's other responses in this article reveal he has a dark sense of humor and perhaps cruel inclinations. when talking about possessions done by the cult, he says "sometimes you just want to do it for the hell of it" and "you want to make a bit of sport out of it", referring to a possession that (allegedly) influenced a serial killer. he refers to the victims of these possessions as "poor [name]", but his remarks on their misfortune don't indicate any actual remorse or sympathy. it might even be intentionally ironic.

5. WHICH PAINTER ALLEGEDLY UNDERWENT AN EXORCISM IN 1947? PAPA: “Poor Salvador Dali. You know we had his missus possessed as well, all in the name of Satan…” KERRANG!: Is possession something that’s done for serious reasons or just to pass the time? “Well sometimes you just want to do it for the hell of it…”  (Answer: Salvador Dali) ✔

13. WHAT AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER CLAIMS HE WAS COMPELLED TO COMMIT HIS MURDERS BY A DEMON THAT POSSESSED HIS NEIGHBOUR’S DOG? PAPA: 'That was that poor boy, the Son Of Sam. That sure was a successful possession, although it did involve far too much crotch-sniffing and turd-eating.“ KERRANG: "Is it easier to possess a dog than to possess a person?” PAPA: “Not necessarily, but you want to make a bit of sport out of it.” (Answer: David Berkowitz/Son Of Sam) ✔

also, many of the events Primo speaks about would've happened before he was born or when he was very young, so it seems he's studied the cult's history very well, and he keeps tabs on their current activities. he does his research!

and as a fun fact: Primo is pretty good at math :)

14. IF YOU’RE TRICK OR TREATING AND THREE HOUSES GIVE YOU SEVEN SWEETS, TWO GIVE YOU FOUR, AND ONE GIVES YOU NINE, AND YOUR PARENTS THEN DOUBLE WHAT YOU HAVE, HOW MANY SWEETS DO YOU END UP WITH? PAPA: “76.” KERRANG!: “That was alarmingly fast, sir. Are good mathematical skills important when you’re burning in the fiery pits of Hell?” PAPA: “We all have our different strengths, but of course the number we are most used to is 666…” (Answer: 76) ✔

there's not a lot of information about Primo, and what exists is hard to find, but i live to bring knowledge to the people 🫡. these are all the sources i have on hand that talk about Primo. if anyone else has other articles / videos talking about Primo, i'd really appreciate it if you shared them!

[pucksandpower]

grid kids : y/n having super bad periods like bedridden and seb try’s to tell the boys they can’t visit and they go into full like code red crisis mode

Grid Kids: The Best Medicine

Sebastian Vettel x wife!Reader x platonic!drivers

Summary: the grid kids do everything they can think of to make you feel better

Series Masterlist

Max enters the room gingerly, holding a steaming mug of herbal tea. “I googled it,” he whispers to Charles, who’s setting up a little essential oil diffuser on the bedside table. “This should help.”

Charles nods, looking at the variety of oils he’s brought. “Lavender for relaxation,” he explains.

From the other side of the room, Lando and George carry in an enormous heating pad. “This helped my sister,” Lando mutters, plugging it in, while George adjusts the settings.

Lance, a bit out of his depth but wanting to contribute, tentatively offers a stack of magazines and books. “For ... distractions?”

Mick, who’s been quietly observing, pulls out a small speaker from his bag. “How about some calming music? Always helps to set a soothing environment.”

While this orchestrated chaos unfolds, you, despite your pain, can’t help but be touched by the outpouring of care and concern. You try to sit up but the discomfort is evident.

“Hey,” Sebastian gently admonishes, propping you up with more pillows, “Let them fuss over you. They want to.”

As evening falls, the room is transformed into a comforting sanctuary. The soft glow from fairy lights, the gentle hum of calming tunes, and the subtle scent of lavender fills the room.

Feeling a bit better from all the care, you whisper, “Thank you, boys. But you don’t have to stick around, you know.”

Lando pulls a funny face, “And miss out on a sleepover? No way.”

One by one, the grid kids, following Lando’s lead, find a comfy spot on your enormous bed, cocooning you protectively in the center. Some snuggled at the foot, some propped against the headboard, and others squished in the middle.

With the soft chirping of crickets outside and the rhythmic breathing of your sons on all sides, you drift into a peaceful sleep, pain momentarily forgotten in favor of burrowing deeper into the love and warmth surrounding you.

***

The morning sun peeks through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room. you stir, the pain still present but noticeably diminished. As your eyes flutter open, you’re greeted by the endearing sight of the grid kids sprawled all around you, each in varying poses of sleep.

Sebastian, having given up his spot on the bed last night, is asleep in the armchair, a book resting on his chest. George and Lando, squished up at the foot of the bed, are tangled in a mess of limbs, while Charles seems to have created a makeshift fort for himself with every pillow he could find.

The aroma of breakfast wafts into the room, pulling you from your thoughts. Mick, having woken up earlier, stands in the doorway with a tray. “Morning! Thought you might be hungry,” he says, a smile touching his lips.

“Oh, Mick,” you murmur, touched by the gesture. “You didn’t have to.”

He sets the tray on your lap, revealing a spread of toast with bacon and eggs, fresh fruit, and some yogurt. “We all pitched in. Well, mostly Max and Lance. They seem to think they’re on MasterChef or something.”

Laughter ripples through the room as the others start to wake, each stretching and yawning. Max, rubbing his eyes, adds, “Hey, those scrambled eggs were a work of art!”

Lance chimes in, “Don’t forget about the smoothie. That was my masterpiece.”

George, trying to subtly smooth out his bed head, quirks a brow. “If we’re being all domestic, how about a spa day? Right here, right now.”

Charles, still nestled in his pillow fort, chuckles. “In this room? With all of us? I’m sure that will end well.”

Max’s eyes light up, “I’m in! But only if someone does that cucumber thing on my eyes.”

Mick grins, “You mean a cucumber facial? I’ve got you covered.” He dashes out, only to return moments later with a stash of beauty products. “My sister left these the last time she visited. We’ve got masks, scrubs, the works!”

Amused and touched by the turn of events, you announce, “Alright then, let the spa day commence!”

Sebastian, skeptical but game, adds, “I’ve never had a mani-pedi before.”

Lando winks, “There’s a first time for everything, Seb. Give me your hands.”

As Lando starts on Sebastian while Lance gets to work on making more of his famed smoothies for everyone. Meanwhile, George and Charles, having taken over the facial department, start applying face masks, complete with cucumber slices for the eyes.

An hour later, the room is a delightful mess. Mick and Max have somehow managed to get more face mask on their shirts than on their faces. Lando’s meticulous nail painting skills are in high demand, and George is draped over the foot of the bed, a bright green face mask contrasting comically with his hair.

You, through bouts of laughter, look around at the delightful chaos. “Alright, time for the big question. Do you or do you not feel bonita?”

Lance, his fingers spread out to dry the bright pink nail polish Lando chose, grins. “I feel bonita.”

Charles, attempting to peel off his dried mask, replies with a dramatic flair, “I was born bonita but now? I’m radiant!”

Mick chimes in, “Can’t see through these cucumber slices but I’m pretty sure I’m the most bonita of all.”

The room fills with banter, laughter, and the gentle ribbing that only close friends and family can share. As the day turns into evening, the spa treatments wind down and the room settles into a comfortable quiet.

You, heart full, look around at the makeshift spa and the joy it brought. “Thank you, boys. Today was unexpected but absolutely perfect.”

Sebastian, his nails now adorned with a clear glossy finish, adds, “I think we should make this a tradition. Spa day before every race.”

Max raises his own freshly manicured hand. “All in favor?”

A chorus of “Ayes!” fills the room and so a new tradition was born.

[solbaby7]

I Dare You

pairing: cassian x reader

warnings:prolly some typos, kinda douchebag!cass but very minimal, sexual tension, swearing, mentions of drinking, (literally have any of you ever gone bull riding before? bc that shit is not for the weak)

summary: Cassian doesn’t think you’re capable of letting your hair down to have some fun. I dare you to prove him wrong.

—

Someone must’ve laced your drink.

They had to have.

It was the only logical explanation for the unusual feelings beginning to churn knots in your gut the longer you took in the handsome planes of Cassian’s face.

Usually, it was easier to overlook when you were sober, too off-put by his demeaning comments and endless sexual innuendos to truly focus on the sharp cut of his jaw or the stubble that resided there. The tempting plush of his bottom lip captures your focus, its glistening from the cheap beer overflowing his cup and the foreign thought of what they would felt like pressed against your own evades your senses.

You blame it on the ambiance.

This place was no Rita’s, not nearly as cozy or tucked away but something about the clubs hypnotic hues of rich purples and soft blues casting over Cassian’s cheeks had your head slowly tilting to the side in silent appreciation.

Had he always had that dimple when he smiled?

“Truth or dare?” Mor yells over the thumping music, effectively breaking you free from your trance and stealing your attention. A bright grin is plastered across her face induced by the empty shot glasses on the table before her.

Your head shakes on instinct, not nearly as prone to letting loose as the rest of the Inner Circle. The outfit alone was far enough out of your comfort zone as is, allowing Mor and Feyre to use you like a baby doll; curling your hair and applying makeup over excited giggles and shared bottles of bubbly. The borrowed fabric sticks to you like second skin, its halter neckline more comfortable than you’d care to admit and the cool breeze of passerby’s on your exposed back is welcome. The tight bodice blends seamlessly into the flowy skirt that tickles the middle of your thighs, showing off more leg than you usually cared to bare but it had looked too nice against your figure to complain. “I don’t really—“

“Don’t even bother,” Cassian interjects, a beer clutched in one hand while the other rested lazily on the back of the booth. “She always says no.”

“That’s not true.”

It was.

You blamed it on their High Lord’s inability to complete his paperwork and file them properly afterwards. When you’d first arrived, there had been centuries worth of paperwork strewn about his storage room in no true order with the subjects varying from treaties and common laws on trade routes to pages worth of detailed documentation dividing up ownership of land. Blueprints for potential and current properties with box after box of receipts kept to keep track of the billing it took to run such a place—much less a whole city.

Simply put, you’d been stuck in work-mode; refusing casual outings and generous offerings of chilled bottles shared over dinner for months until you’d finally made a dent sizable enough to satisfy you. There’s no point in bothering to explain any of that to Cassian though, biting your words over the rim of your glass and the burn on your tongue is soothed by the sweet mixer. “Oh really?” He goads, a cocky glint in golden eyes as he leans forward, shoulders straining in the dark cotton of his shirt . “Answer her then, truth or dare?”

There’s a long pause—one long enough for Rhysand to clear his throat, fully prepared to diffuse the situation but your voice cuts through before he can. “Dare.” It’s spoken stronger than you feel and you muster up the courage to meet his eye as if you hadn’t just been gobbling up the miles of endless muscle packed onto his body.

“I dare you to let loose for once in your boring little life.” Feyre scoffs her disapproval at his wording, a hand smacking at Cassian’s arm but he doesn’t react as if he can even feel it. He’s utterly fixated on you, body language lax and still somehow emitting such a domineering presence it makes your feet shift in high heels. “Unless you’re too prude to even let your hair down?”

A brow arches and you ignore the burn creeping up your neck at the looks your friends are sharing, clearly having a mental conversation on who was going to have to intervene this time. Saving them the trouble, you comply. “Fine.” You’re too occupied in chugging the remnants of your drink to notice the surprised expression crossing the General’s face. He doesn’t miss you though, witnessing a mischievous darkness clouding your eye before you rise from the booth and squeeze through the endless sea of bodies.

“I don’t understand your problem with her,” Mor grumbles with distaste, a hand outstretching for the latest round of drinks being provided by the waiter. “She’s nice.”

“She’s boring,” Cassian promptly retorts, eyes sifting over the crowd in search for a flash of your dusky red dress but it’s nowhere to be found. His spine straightens ever so slightly, the grip on his glass tightening in his silent surveillance for you. “When you said you were hiring a female who’d be around so often that she’d be living with us, I hoped she’d be more…eventful.”

“Is that truly your reasoning, brother?” Rhys drawls out playfully, tugging his mate in closer to his side. A glass of whiskey is in his free hand, tilting the bottom of it tauntingly in Cassian’s direction as he pretends to ponder. “Or maybe it’s because you keep antagonizing her in hopes that she’ll notice you and yet she barely gives you anything back in return? Her passiveness must eat you up at night.”

It earns the High Lord a few laughs and even Azriel can’t hide the amused upturn of his mouth at Cassian’s expense but the Lord of Bloodshed can’t even begin to be bothered with that.

Not when his sights finally land on that sinful shade of red gripping at the curves contained within them. Cassian can’t even hear his family anymore, eardrums tuning out everything that wasn’t you as he watches the way you lean in towards one of the nicely dressed workers with a smile. The exchange is quick but Cassian doesn’t miss a thing, noting the challenging quirk of the males brow and he leads you behind a thick curtain that sectioned off a portion of the bar he hadn’t even noticed until now.

Words can’t describe the way losing his visual on you makes his skin itch, wings twitching with his irritation and the tense line of his shoulders doesn’t release for even a second. A plethora of thoughts plague Cassian’s mind. Surely you hadn’t taken his jest as an invitation to go be with some other male? Even if it would’ve been well within your right it was the furthest from his intentions.

“Run out of witty remarks?” Rhysand prods further, voice full of humor but there’s a hint of serious questioning lingering in his eye. “Or have I stunned you to complete silence?”

Feyre catches on quicker than her counterpart, following Cassian’s line of sight, watching as the same curtains you’d disappeared behind starts beginning to rise, a thundering chime ringing through the bar. “I don’t think it’s you who has him speechless.”

The others follow her gaze and quiet fascination sets root when more space is revealed. Situated right in the middle of the newly revealed stage is what seems to be the magical apparition of a fake bull, complete with horns and a nose that huffed out smoke. It’s one hell of a spectacle that has the inebriated crowd cheering with joy at the promise of such extravagant entertainment. “Trouble is in the house tonight. Let’s welcome her warmly.” The male announces, guiding you into the light and spinning you around for all to take in.

Cassian’s teeth grit together, disturbingly aware of every eye and muttered comment directed your way and his fingers twitch for the familiar weight of his sword. “No way...” He whispers in complete disbelief as you approach the bull with a practiced ease, hoisting yourself on its back with the swipe of your leg.

The motion is fluid, thighs shifting to get situated and the new position hikes up the hem of your dress. All the bare skin that is revealed makes his mouth water, elbows leaning against the table to brace himself.

Your gaze finds Cassian’s easily in the crowd, a devious smirk forms in the corner of your mouth and the wink you send his way has his cock twitching to life in his breeches.

Music flows through the space—a sensual tempo with a bass so deep it rattles the very blood in your body. There’s no explaining why you find such a comfort in it but you submit to the numbness it provides anyway, relishing in the absence of thought as you melt into the beat.

One hand latches securely around the saddle and the well-dressed employee begins his skilled control of the bull. It’s a slow rock, movements mechanical and jerky but you make it look graceful—hips shifting back and forth over and over as the speed increases. You barely look up, too caught up in synchronizing your body with the music, spurred on by the generous cheers from the other drunken fae with energy to burn and coins to spend.

Faster and faster the bull rocks, spinning you from left to right but your remain saddled in place, core strong and thighs braced for the chaotic jostling. Haughty whistles cut through the crowd when the bull abruptly tips forward, shifting the fabrics of your dress until you were face down, ass up and flashing the lacy boy shorts you had on underneath. “Come on,” You whine prettily to the male in control of the mechanism, hair spilling to one side of your face and a pretty blush fans across your cheeks at the salacious exposure. “That all you got?”

“Hold on tight.”

You’re grateful for obtaining the good sense it takes to heed the warning because in an instant the bull is jerking back to life, spinning and rocking in an attempt to shake you off. Jubilant laughter pelts free, hair blowing in the wind and dress flashing more of the soft skin that Cassian was just dying to get his fill of.

He’s been bested—that much the Commander can admit but it doesn’t feel like a loss when you feed his filthy fantasies without even trying. The roll of your waist will surely plague his dreams but the effortlessly seductive glint in your eye will haunt him to his dying breath.

It doesn’t dissipate. Not even when you finally tap out, easing yourself down on shaky legs and shuffle back to the shared booth with a breathy huff.

A peachy sheen has overtaken your cheeks at the bewildered stares your friends give you for your performance but the mess of your curls splaying around your shoulders has Cassian’s heart racing when imagining the others ways he could put you in such a state.

The others watch in complete silence as you steal the beer right from Cassian’s hands, cool condensation dripping down your fingers but you pay it no mind. “It seems that I am plenty of fun to be around,” He watches the slow roll of your throat as you swallow, unable to look away. “But that’s usually reserved for after hours.”

Cassian’s gaze darkens under the implication, lids heavy with desire. “Noted.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

That ontological dimension is what is missing from the progressive populist model, in which the masses cannot but appear as a dupes, fooled by the lies of the elite but ready to effectuate change the moment they are made aware of the truth. The reality, of course, is that the “masses” are under few illusions about the ruling elite (if anyone is credulous about politicians and “capitalist parliamentarianism”, it is the middle classes). The Subject Supposed Not To Know is a figure of populist fantasies — more than that: the duped subject awaiting factual enlightenment is the presupposition on which progressive populism rests. If the most crucial political task is to enlighten the masses about the venality of the ruling class, then the preferred mode of discourse will be denunciation. Yet, this repeats rather than challenges the logic of the liberal order; it is no accident that the Mail and the Express favour the same denunciatory mode. Attacks on politicians tend to reinforce the atmosphere of diffuse cynicism upon which capitalist realism feeds. What is needed is not more empirical evidence of the evils of the ruling class but a belief on the part of the subordinate class that what they think or say matters; that they are the only effective agents of change.

k-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher (2004-2016)

[melbrewer367]

How To Override Apartment Hall Walls and Floors

If you, like everyone else I know, hate the apartment hallways and want to give them the face lift they deserve, here's how!

An override is actually super simple. You just need S4S for this. Step one is to choose override under Build, and then click Build.

Now you need to find the wall you want to override. For this example, I'm making an override for the apartment in the Hakim House building. That wallpaper is called "Plaster Makes Perfect." (I figured this out by just going into build mode and searching and painting a nearby wall inside the apartment until I found the right one.) I have it set to Wall, Base Game, and I'm searching the word "plaster" to find it more quickly. Just click one swatch of the wall and S4S will pick all swatches, and then click "Next." Also, all of these instructions are exactly the same for floors, you'll just choose floors instead of walls.

Name your file whatever you want. To be consistent I name all mine to follow the naming convention: username_description. We only want to override one swatch so you'll just click "Remove Swatch" on all of the swatches except for the one you want to override.

Once you're done, go ahead and hit "Save" and then head back to the main menu. Now we need to get the wall we want to replace it with. This time, pick "add swatches" and then click Build. This will only pick one swatch instead of all.

Again, just find the wall you want to use. Only select the actual swatch you want and then click "Next." You'll have to create a file here again, I just have a package called "test" that I save over for these instances where I don't actually need a new .package file, I just need to grab textures.

Now you'll go to the "Texture" tab and click "Export All."

On this save screen, create a folder for these texture files and then click "Select folder" to finish exporting.

Now, go back to the main menu and open up your original file. On the texture tab, you now just need to import all of your texture files. You'll import a Diffuse, Normal, and Specular for each wall height. So 9 files total, these are what you just exported. Just click Diffuse, Normal, or Specular, and then click the wall height, and then click Import. Go to that folder of textures you just created and then choose the correct file. S4S named each one exactly what they are so it's easy to pick the right ones.

Keep doing that until you've replaced all 9 files, change your swatch colors, and then hit save. Congrats, you just made an override of that wall!

Hold up, you still want access to that swatch you just made an override of? There's a quick and easy solution. Go back to your main menu and choose "Add Swatch" and then click "Build." Find the exact swatch you made an override of, select it and click "Next." Give your new package file a good name.

Hit save and call it a day. That's it. Now, every wall in the game that is that brown plaster will be the wall with paneling BUT since I added that plaster swatch back, anywhere else that I wanted to use that brown plaster, I can just go and paint it right back!

For all the apartment wall and floor overrides I've created, go here!

Below is the walls and floors for a lot of the apartments:

Alto Towers

I ended up not making an override of this carpet so the swatch could be 10 or 12 but, as dark as it is, I'm pretty sure it's 12, plus I think 10 appears a bit too brown toned to be the right one:

Chic Street:

Culpepper House:

Jasmine Suites:

Landgraab Tower:

I missed getting a proper pic before placing my overrides but the original brown walls is the 23rd swatch of Basic Darks with White Trim.

The non-patterned carpet:

The Patterned carpet:

Spire Tower:

[guawowow]

Going crazy thinking about the complexities of Donatello and his relationship with his emotions in tottmnt just auuaua !!!!

Like, he's outwardly and unabashedly kind in this iteration and I'm SO here for it !!! And it doesn't diminish his ability to be snarky and witty, he still throws jabs at his brothers, but I feel like this donnie is a return to form in the sense that the center of his character, the motivation for his intelligence and penitent for creation, is kindness- more importantly, empathy.

routinely he is described as thoughtful, 'non-threatening', and usually very placid; we see mention of his temper when his computers are messed with, but he's extraordinary patient- polite, even- with the killer robot chasing him, subway security, and the blind conductor, all while under high-pressure stress. When confronting the Mechazoids for the first time, he keeps them at a distance and straight up complements the engineering ingenuity! Same when confronting bishop in the subway! He talks enthusiastically, respectfully, with her about her system setup! His first instinct is to diffuse the situation, approach her with humility and establish common ground. Dude like even when running away from the Mechazoid he was always thinking of the people around him.. he was telling everyone to get out of the way, waited for cars to clear (his brothers just straight ran through traffic and jumped over moving carsss), tried to usher people away from train cars he was fighting in, etc. And in the narrated recaps between episodes, donnie is the first brother to consider bishops motivations in an empathetic manner, "maybe she has a tragic back story". Of course that serves as thematic foreshadowing buy he was still the first to offer the kindness of reason to bishops character, maybe there's a reason she's doing this, not just anger that she is.

Not to mention he full ass built a robot to protect his brothers and took the extra time to program in impeccable manners. just for funsies heheh. eueueu Metalhead my beloveddddd😭🙏💙💙💙💙

ALL THIS and yet still, in episode 10, donnie considers himself non-emotional. He says he's 'all left brained' and implys that he operates differently from his brothers who he considers more outwardly emotionally expressive. And yet, in the same episode, he spends a majority of it comforting wingnut. He lends his ear and speaks to her kindly even when her panic exasperates their situation, he doesn't get mad when she freaks out, he takes the time to talk things through with her and make her comfortable whenever able. Even when they think Leatherhead has unmutated, he's sad but tries to put himself in her situation and understand her actions. HES SO SWEET IT HURTS DUDE ❗️❗️❗️ main point being, I dont think he considers himself emotional because he operates on a mode of empathy that is reason driven. He's emotionally logical, of that makes sense. It shows an INSANE amount of emotional intelligence and maturity, I just don't think he understands that because to him, this is logical, and his brother are anything but.

For a majority of his life, the only other people he has to compare himself to are his brothers. When up against anxiety riddled Leonardo, chronically angry Raph, and Mikey's carefree disregard, of course he sees himself and goes, 'ah ok. I must be less emotionally prone because I don't react like they do to these situations'.

I think he just understands the whole social song and dance of understanding better than he thinks.

I know the whole thing with tottmnt is the aspect of unreliable narration, but even then! Like if Leo wrote donnie like this then it probably because he routinely displays this kind of understanding behavior. Plus idk bout yall but I kinda consider the events of tottmnt as like a blurry semi-cannon? I think there are nuggest of truth in there, the broad strokes yk? Like the flood arc referenced 'the bishop situation' like it was a thing that actually happened, albiet in passing, and not just something to poke fun at Leo. It's got legs, there's ideas there to work with ajaja

[multifandumbmeg]

JJ, guy who has panic attacks calming Kie down in the hyberbaric chamber. Thinking about how this is both a cute relationship moment and another astoundingly consistent characterization moment. JJ is shown having what can pretty comfortably be called panic/anxiety attacks after John B's supposed death (although considering his childhood, I think it's safe to assume he's had more of them outside that timeframe). Of those times, though, he is never in actual danger. When he is in danger, like the hyberbaric chamber, he is always clear-headed and ready to go, just like real people with anxiety disorders (especially caused by things like abuse and other real dangers). When the moment hits and the threats are real, he can finally act on that adrenaline for once. And this is also likely why he is so recklessly drawn to dangerous situations. When you have a panic attack your body goes into the fight flight etc mode and when the "aggressor"/threat is something that doesn't actually threaten bodily harm, like a fear or an emotional (but not threatening) conflict - which is definitionally what a panic attack is - you can't do anything about it. You feel out of control. You're terrified in the grocery aisle and there's nothing to hit, nothing to run from, no one to appease or diffuse. But when the danger is real, you get that same rush of adrenaline only this time you can do something. And you've run these life-threatening scenarios over in your head so many times you have a plan, you can think clearly.

I love how they write JJ in this show. He's so consistent and realistic with his backstory while still being dynamic and having character growth. And I love that his romantic relationship with Kiara has been a part of that development, as the unique intimacy of romantic relationships often challenges people who've experienced abuse, but can offer opportunities to grow as well. I love that they have written Kiara in such a way that she actively encourages that (keyword active, not just magically by existing sexily beside him or dying) instead of rejecting him, giving up, and making it worse (especially for unecessary relationship conflict reasons). Props OBX writers.

[she-whatshername]

this is dark so i get if you don’t wanna go there but what would xaden, garrick, bodhi and liam be like comforting a reader who just went through a traumatic experience?

Don’t we all need a little comforting after this weeks past events in the fictional and real life non fictional world. I’ll try my best to keep this light, and full of comfort. Because I know they’d all be such gems at this.

Xaden:

I have not finished Onyx Storm so no spoilers but wow, I did not realize what a fucking sweetie Xaden is

Yes, I am late to the party on this, but I bring the best snacks so let me in lolol

I could see Xaden reacting one of two ways when he finds out about the experience

One - he loses his beautiful fucking mind and goes hard on revenge. Trying to keep calm while you explain but simmering on the inside. In fact he doesn’t let you finish before he gets up, kisses your forehead and walks to the door to take care of business. Whoever or whatever hurt you, its their last time

Two - he’s in comfort mode. Pulling you in to a deep hug, kissing the top of your head. Running soothing circles on your back or just listening quietly, giving you space to talk. He’s so fucking gentle with you.

I also think Xaden’s got a plan up his sleeve for you. If you’re at Basgiath and say, you go through something traumatic. You loose a member of your squad, you just get out of RSC interrogation, etc. You know you can’t break in public, so you’re holding it in. So, he takes you into the forests that surrounds campus after classes wrap and towards a clearing. Unbeknownst to you, you walk right into a warded dome that’s hidden to the eye. The dome is soundproof. You turn, realizing he’s on the other side and start pounding to get out. But Xaden is there, lifting is fingers to say “No one can hear. Grieve, scream, punch the barrier. You’re safe. Let it out. I’ll be here when you’re done.” He turns to give you privacy, and you spend the next fifteen minutes doing just that. When you’re done, you sign at him to release you, and he pulls you into loving embrace

Garrick

This man. This dimpled man right here

This sweet giant

Like Xaden, he’s thinking revenge. And will probably use the leverage he has either on campus and as Xaden’s right hand to see it through.

But what I love best about the made up facts I made for Garrick is that I bet he is the best diffuser.

I have a scenario I need to finish writing but i image that you’ve experienced the trauma and you’re not alright. You’ve been wounded during a patrol during the Riorson House days and you’ve fallen after getting stabbed in the side. You’re in shock, panic and pain taking over you. Garrick is at your side in an instant, cupping your face and in his hands, “Baby! Baby, look at me…there you go. You’re alright, you’re alright - no. No you’re not going to die. I’m here, yeah? You have to breathe, I know it hurts but look at me. Take a breath…good, good - don’t close your eyes, love. Keep them here, on me, okay? Don’t be falling asleep on these good looks, the boys will never let me down for this. Help is coming baby, Hold on…”

I’d be like “okay!” Lolol

Garrick also seems like someone who would give you space. He wouldn’t be constantly at your side but when you pass each other or at meals he’s always looking in your direction and waiting for you to give him indication that you’re feeling better or not.

Bodhi

A true sweetheart

Kind

Caring

Gentle

Compassionate

And maybe a little protective, but we need that now. And he’s ready to give it to us.

Bodhi is such a great combination of knowing what you need and giving you confidence to say what you want.

I totally imagining him sitting next to you saying “How can I help?” And if you’re too shocked or scared to say anything he’s asking, “I have a few ideas in mind, can I try something?” And the moment you nod he’s giving you exactly what you need to help feel calm and protected. He just knows you that well. If affection and touch is what you need, he’s pulling you close, and wrapping his arms around you, physically putting himself between you and the outside world. His embrace is protective.

He’s also in full caretaker mode. If we’re in the Aretia days he’s pulling you into his room, drawing you a bath in his private bathing chamber, setting out clothes for you to wear and helping you get in bed to rest. He’s bringing up food from the halls, and picking up on any missed assignments or missives.

He will also just cancel his schedule if you need him to. If part of taking care of you is being with you, done. Everyone else can wait.

At bedtime, he’s curling up next to you, kissing your shoulder and rubbing your back to help you sleep. If you need space, the bed is your’s and he’s curled up on a chair at you side for when you need him.

Also I know his bedside manner is just top tier. The way this man will give your verbal affirmation after verbal affirmation. Yes.

Like Garrick can help bring your emotions down, Bodhi is helping to lift you up

Liam

Very much like Xaden i believe

But i think what Liam excels at is distracting through storytelling.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with the trauma. Whether you are healing body or mind he’s sitting next to you, carving up something and just talking. He’s got a story for every emotion you may be feeling. If its grief, he’s telling you about the days when he lost his parents, or losing contact with his sister. If you need a funny story to distract you, he has one of those.

I can imagine he throws Xaden under the bus if you will, sharing a funny story when they fostered together at Xaden’s expense, “And if Xaden can fall on his ass and get scared shitless, you can too, love. We’re human after all.”

Though, he’s also giving Xaden praise as well, “If I didn’t have Xaden…I dont know how I would have gotten through those years after my parents, after being taken away from Sloane. But, just like Xaden was there for me, I’m here for you. I’ll always be.”

[hiraethwa]

one summer day

04 new dawn. where you learn something surprising about ushijima

<< 03 shining light. | >> 05 saturn i.

pairing: ushijima wakatoshi x reader a/n: i want ushijima to give me his jacket too, CRYING,,, side note i’m going be to busy in feb so updates will be posted every 2 weeks. thanks for reading! - ave word count: 1.3k warnings: mentions of past trauma terms: gap moe -- when someone has a hidden side that contradicts their usual personality/behavior

march, first year

ever since ushijima and tendo joined you and semi at your home back during the first semester, they have remained a constant presence at your study sessions. the four of you have become an inseparable group of friends, even though you stick out like a sore thumb between the tall volleyball players. you were considered tall among your female classmates, but next to the three of them? just a midget.

“i’m an adopted introvert,” you would explain when classmates ask you about how you became close friends with the ushijima wakatoshi and the oddball tendo satori and the pretty setter semi eita. 

the only complaint you have are the sidetracks from the actual point of said sessions, studying. with tendo and semi arguing over literally everything, it is difficult to stay on track. even ushijima adds in a quip to the banters every now and then, his straight-faced delivery of the infrequent lines making them even funnier. 

that is not to say you did not enjoy the privilege of learning about the different sides of the boys compared to how they were on court. no, you fully delighted in finding out random facts about the intimidating players that other people are not privy to. like how they had gotten you a plushie for your birthday, but it seems like they were more attached to it than you, by the way they greet the plushie whenever they are over at your house. 

today, with your parents being home, you all ended up studying in ushijima and tendo’s shared dorm room, all sprawled out in various states around the coffee table that sits in the middle of the simple room. 

“that’s it,” you announce, notebook flopping down on your face as you laid on the floor. “the words are no longer registering in my brain.”

“maybe if you sleep with the book under your pillow tonight, the knowledge will diffuse into your brain by tomorrow for the exam.” semi jokes from across the room in a similar state of dishevel as the four of you try your best to study for the last exam week of the school year on a sunday afternoon turned into night. 

“would that actually work?” 

“what do you think?” 

“maybe if i take a quick nap, then continue studying” you mumble more to yourself as you turn on your stomach, dropping your face on the floor unceremoniously.

“miyamura-san, it’s almost time for curfew, if you don’t go home soon, you will have to spend the night in the dorms.” ushijima kneels before you, picking up the book that you were covering your head with. 

you pick your head up to look at the boy solemnly, lips set in a pout. “so what? i am so fucked for the exam tomorrow, ushijima” you wonder how studying was going for him.

“you will be fine.” he puts a hand on your head in a gesture to comfort you. 

“you don’t know that!”

“in any case, having a good night’s rest is more important than any studying now.”

“you know, he’s technically right, school is just like volleyball, and ushijima-san is an expert at that.” tendo agrees with ushijima.

you sigh. “help me up then,” fingers wiggling in the air as you wait for ushijima to pull you upright.

if you were not in autopilot mode as you picked your things up and stuffed them in your backpack, you would have heard tendo’s teasing “semi, help me up” pointed at ushijima, followed by an instant flat “no” from your best friend. but your brain was turned off for the night as you pull your shoes on to go home.

“see you later,” ushijima throws to the two boys before he clicks the door shut behind him, gesturing to you. “shall we?”

for the most part, you two walk in comfortable silence under the summer moon. that is, until the neighborhood’s stray cat decides to jump out in front of you out of nowhere. you yelp and grab onto ushijima’s sleeve, startled by the sudden movement. 

he chuckles and much to your dismay (and shock), squats down and starts psps-ing at the orange cat. you are not sure how much gap moe he could be than this image in front of you right now. for starters, you are not sure if you are hallucinating from how tired you are, and secondly, if this is real, you need proof that this ever happened. so you sneakily take your phone out before calling his name innocently and snap a photo of him and the cat before he can react. 

“i’m gonna let that slide.” he puts his hand out in front of him in what looked like an attempt to pet the cat. you aren’t faking the shock on your face as the cat sniffs at his fingers before brushing up against his hand, as if saying pet me.

your jaw drops from the sight, “oh yeah? you don’t seem like the type.” you wanted to pet the cat, but this cat has only ever hissed at you in passing, so you are completely in awe and jealous of ushijima at this moment.

“only for you,” he turns to really look at you, a small smile playing on his lips. and then, as if he sensed the yearning in you, he tugs on your wrist lightly. “here, hold your hand out for the cat to sniff you.”

you listen to him warily, slowly inching towards the cat in case it tries to attack you, “like this?”

he hums in agreement, “and then, you wait for him to decide if you can pet him.” 

surely enough, the cat starts sniffing you, tail brushing against ushijima’s knees. you carefully smooth the fur between his ears, feeling awed for the acceptance. though shortly after, he returns to the boy next to you, rubbing its head against his hand. “he likes you more than me”

“i am a cat whisperer,” he nods. 

you laugh at his words. before you realize it, the words start falling from your lips. “my little sister was a cat whisperer too” 

and as if being doused with a bucket of ice water, you snap back into reality, painfully aware of your admission. your heart thunders as memories threaten to overwhelm you. stop. turn. lock. you picture shoving them into a bottomless box, locking it and throwing the key away until the next time they break free. just as you have practiced for the last 8 years. 

“miyamura?” ushijima looks at you expectantly as you snap back into the present. 

“yeah? i am feeling a little tired. let’s go.” you stand up abruptly, hoping that he won’t ask you about what you just said. that you mentioned having a sister to this boy you just became friends with a few months ago. you haven’t said those words out loud in a long time. you don’t even remember when the last time was.

to his credit, he does not ask any prying questions about the sister he has never heard of. the sister he has never seen. 

you don’t even realize that you were shaking, mostly from reliving your memories, but also shivering from the chilly night breeze until he drapes a jacket over your shoulders. 

“let’s get you home” he states, hands shoved into his pant pockets as he strolls ahead. 

leaving you staring at his retreating figure, brain muddled and heart jumbled. you vaguely remember him grabbing his track jacket and carrying it instead of putting it on before you left shiratorizawa. 

“are you coming?” he turns around to look at you. you hurry towards his familiar aura that encompasses your roughness, as he strikes up another conversation about something random. that night you lie in your bed, staring at the ceiling with paint scars from when it used to have glow-in-the-dark stars and planets taped to it; one question keeping you awake despite your exhaustion – what is it about this boy that makes you feel so safe?

reblogs and comments are appreciated!

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[theamityelf]

If the Danganronpa protags were Fazbear security guards:

Makoto tries to listen to the Phone Guy's message but some power flicker or spilled drink causes him to miss out on everything after "They're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night," so he knows the animatronics walk around but not that they might kill him and not that he needs to conserve power. When he sees them moving around on the cameras, he honestly thinks about leaving the office to go see, but he isn't sure he's allowed (and also he finds them a little creepy). Because he's keeping things casual, he doesn't waste all that much power. He runs out right on the cusp of 6am, and the hour changes before Freddy finishes his song. It isn't until the second day that he realizes he was in mortal peril. (The second day, he wastes a quarter of his power trying to call his boss and get permission to leave. When no one answers, he's still able to finish the night without dying, but it is stressful.)

Hajime listens to the message in full, them promptly checks the cameras to make sure he has a clear path to the exit, leaves his badge on the desk, and locks the front door on his way out.

Komaru listens to the message and tries to do exactly as instructed, ultimately running out of power from checking the cameras too much and then hiding under the desk until morning. If an animatronic comes in, she will throw a chair at it. Doing this gives her the courage to run for an exit and then recklessly taunt the animatronics from outside, once she sees they can't follow her out.

Kaede is so excited (or nervous) to be a security guard she's wandering the Pizzeria while the message plays without her. Doesn't hear a word of it. She's walking the halls, sweeping and humming, maybe even playing the arcade games to diffuse the tension, and there's honestly a chance that the animatronics go, "Well, she's not a security guard" and leave her alone. If they attack her, she does pretty much just die, though; she could not be less prepared.

Shuichi listens to the whole message and then panics so hard he doesn't check anything for a solid ten minutes. When he does look at the cameras, everyone's left their spot but no one is close to his office. This either unlocks problem solving mode in his brain and he perfectly manages the power while keeping the animatronics at bay, or he shuts both doors then and there and leaves them shut until the power goes off, at which point he walks through the hallways toward the building's exit in the dark and either survives or doesn't. There's no middle ground.

[ofsunnydays-and-moonlitnights]

DCA'S diffrent Modes! A headcannon of mine.

So I've mentioned this headcannon before here. But I headcannon Sun and Moon as having different modes, with each mode comes a different eye colour (explaining why in their merch in the games they have different eye colours sometimes.)

MOON

I talked a bit about the features Moon has in the previous post but I wanna elaborate more. First off is his Naptime more Or sleepy Moon. Sleepy Moon has blue eyes. To clarify it's still Moon but there are a few personality differences you can see in the diffrent modes due to coding. Sleepy moon is calmer, very sweet and loving, his priority is to care for the kids, help them sleep and calm them down (monkey see monkey do if he's calm they're more likely to be calm). in this mode he reads bedtime stories gives out moondrops and warm hugs. he has a heating system in his cheast and arms that warms to the perfect warmth for hug btw. The stars on his outfit have little led lights in them that glow in this mode like a nightlight. his bowtie also houses a star projector which has a toon setting or a galaxy setting for more realistic stars. He is also equipt with a music box that plays soft lullabies, and a scent diffuser that helps make kids sleepy, it smells like cinnimon apple pie, with hints of heather and nutmeg for extra sleepyness (don't tell anyone about the nutmeg) >_>.

Security mode! Moon feels most comfortable in this mode, he feels more like himself (possibly due to the fact he was stuck in this mode during those couple years of the virus...) in this mode he is protective and ruthless. He has a duty to protect the pizza plex but also the kids. He is equipt with threat detection which... well, this part went haywire during the virus and perceived everything that moved as a threat. he also has night vision! which helps him see in the dark, handy during naptime, and heat vision, great for checking the pizza plex for humans. his facial recognition gets an upgrede in this mode and he gets threat alerts on faces in the security database e.g. someone who's caused trouble before, or someone on the naughty list, or Banned list. Also all of the staff job and whether they should be on shift rn or not. He's a little less empathetic in this mode but of course he still cares. Any kind of threat can trigger security mode, he mostly uses it to scare bad kids into behaving, but it's very useful if a bad grown up isn't allowed to be in the daycare.

SUN!!!

I hadn't figured out Sun's modes last post but now I think Care mode and Play mode fit him well.

Care Mode! this is used for lecturing children, putting then in the naughty corner and banning them from the daycare if need be. He also uses this mode to care for a kids needs, whether they're hungry, sad, hurt. anything that needs a grown up is handled by Care mode. This is where he can be a little sassy. This mode is also used for pick up time so the facial recognition instantly matches a parent to their kids, so no mix ups happen. if someone comes in your stead to pick up your child it is recomended you phone in advance, tell him at drop off or you will be called and until confimation is verbally made your child will stay in suns care. Voice recognition is a major part of care mode, for the above verbal confimations and also for child care. who was that crying? where was it? these questions are answered in an instant. in care mode he is more strict and even bossy and a tad paranoid, he is though extreamly careful and does his best to create a safe space, both emotionally and physically everything must be safe and tidy. a single cry can trigger his Care mode to activate.

Play Mode! or Fun Sun! This mode is best for Arts and crafts, dancing, imagining, colouring out of lines with crayons, tea parties, acting, tag, hide and seek, All of the playing. this mode is the Sun the kids get most of the day, it's also Suns favourite mode to be in. he almost exclusivly skips in this mode. In play mode his system is mostly devoted to improvisation, and entertainment, he's the most spontanious in this mode.

thanks for coming to my ted talk ^-^

[dallasgallant]

Johnny’s quiet and zoning in a very different way than Pony’s quiet and zoning out. Despite him constantly being in a state of Fight or appeasement, the way he shakes when it isn’t cold out or constantly looks over his shoulder… he’s one of the calmest and most level headed of the gang.

He was scarred. He won’t be again.

Johnny is quiet, he’s the one all of the boys talk to because he listens so well and gives good advice. His voice is soft and wavers sometimes, but he means what he says. Part of it may be because of that survival mode he’s placed into- that he thinks so critically and logically because he’s got to do what he can to diffuse situations. (Most of the time he talks first - even with Bob)

He’s always the one to tell someone else to calm down and take a section, he’s the one to make a plan while still rocked with the fact he’s killed someone. He’s thought of ways out either through running away or otherwise before. It’s the fact when he’s comfortable with someone, the gang, you see that bit of sass and annoyance shine through… he’s quite opinionated when given the chance to be. (‘Awe get out of my hair’, telling Dally off or pony to stop complaining during the haircut etc)

It’s interesting as hes sort of a mix of several attributes from the boys. He has Darry’s logic, Steve’s anger, Dally’s frustration (different from anger) but then Pony notes that he’s more insightful than him, he always derives more meaning from movies or books that pony hasn’t even thought of. After all quiet people absorb the most about the world…

Johnny’s stronger than he’s given credit for. Through his constant fear he’s still that shoulder, that advice, that curiosity and sass. He should be remembered for more than just being scarred.

[cookiesandcrumbs]

So, I've been thinking of how it could be interesting to see the inspo i used for my Spring collection. A lot of it comes from Talbots catalogues. Spring came from their 2019 June and May editions.

First one is the cover, the poses for the cover as well as several of the other poses inside the catalogue, were made by the ever so talented @someone-elsa! Thank you so much again!

Next is the pedal pusher pants. Not very similar, in fact, not similar at all. But it was merely the idea of pedal pusher pants. I pieced together at least two different diffuse maps as well as a nice texture i got from fuzzimo that i edited a bit.

After that we have the espadrilles. I even tried to recreate the overhead shot of deco versions of the shoes haha. Don't ask me if i still have the deco, i don't. I may have accidentally deleted it. It wasn't made for public consumption anyway, only for preview. I do still have the XCF for it however, if anyone is interested in that. Canvas and wicker textures came from brusheezy and sims 3 respectively.

Next up is the bermuda shorts. Technically the inspo isn't bermuda shorts but, the mesh i used is called bermuda so, that's how that came to be. I looked all over for a pattern that might look somewhat like the inspo but, ultimately failed. Which is fine! I opted for a texture called Elegant grid from transparenttextures. I made some various embossing and overlay editing to it and got this elevated layering look. I think it came out neat.

Now comes the mock-neck. I made the mock neck neck myself. I just, selected the neck edges and scaled a little and nudged and unwrapped and uv mapped it somewhere else lol. The button area was a major struggle. I had to find a button texture that looked similar enough, i tried many versions. It's mapped separately from the actual shoulder, too, so the edges are 'crisp'. Inside the XCF i shared, you can find a version to recolor it the opposite way, dark base with light stripes. THAT took ages, finding the best overlay modes and combinations of layers. But i did it! You're welcome!

Here we have the skirt. This was a fairly simple item yet, it took some time to blend textures and copy and paste and gradient mask and noise and such, to get this look. I'm not even exaggerating when i say i had to re-make it AT LEast 5 times, on both masculine and feminine models. The diffuse maps are different since the masculine skirt sits lower than the feminine diffuse map. Both textures also needed to look like it came from the same roll of fabric, so i had to re-do it several times if i made a mistake. But the result i think is great!

Last but not least is the dress. I'm excluding the jumpsuit since it's identical but, Pants. I made the marble texture myself. Came out quite nice, right? The XCF for these also include an option to hide the bow, should you want to recolor without the bow. But, if you do that, you need a normal map without a bow. Fear not, i got you. In the download for the XCFs, I've included a folder called Extras, with just that, extra normal maps for both the dress and jumpsuit, without the bow! You can also recolor it without the marble if you want. The normal map i made for the collection is a solid one so you don't need a different normal map for those.

And yeah, that's it!