#their design are so difficult to visualise

[momijigari]

Grafting

[skyriderwednesday]

Can I get a freaking..... uhhh.... woo-woo????

I have historically been a bit meh on my HC designs for Rusty, it's been kind of difficult for me to visualise him in a way I'm satisified -- but ngl I'm kind of feeling this one!!

My classic StEx headcanons are primarily OLC based, so this guy is more Call Me Rusty, I Don't Care than Can You Believe Me, I'm Crazy, but I could see him doing both :))).

As I was doodling in advance of this sketch, I decided that he has a... nervous habit??? stim????? of rubbing his nose and lips, which makes them shinier than the rest of his face.

Also his lil hip bag thing is full of snacks.

[interstellar-cluster]

Firstly, trigger warning for fake claiming and other potentially triggering things!

We did this on our therian page but I wanted to do a similar thing to, mostly just for shits n giggles and let go of some bad thoughts 🫶

So here’s a list of things we’ve been fakeclaimed for and/or things that we think that we could be fake claimed for!

Feel free to reblog with your own things that have been fakeclaimed for, try to keep it light hearted and silly! This is to kind of hate on sysmeds because honestly they’re silly too and I think we should reclaim some of these things!

Here we go:

- 100+ headmates

- Almost half of us are fictives

- We have "problematic" fictives

- We have fictives who split very soon after the source was created (days to weeks)

- We track our headmates extremely well

- We have pretty good communication

- We have a lot of fragments who aren't developed much, if at all, and generally just exist as a name in our Simply Plural

- Our structure suggests that we're polyfragmented despite not being a disordered system

- We have extreme trauma resulting in C-PTSD and DPDR, but not a CDD

- We are trauma-endo

- We purposefully formed a lot of our headmates

- Our headmates form to cope with trauma, but we still aren't a disordered system

- We prefer the term "headmates" over "alters"

- We support tulpamancy, the related terms, and practice it (the Westernized concept)

- We have "problematic" fictives who identify as the character entirely except the "problematic" parts (or partially so), such as our Jimmy fictive

- We have headmates who are in insys relationships, especially polyamorous insys relationships

- A lot of these relationships are fanon ships or "problematic" ships (like Simon Riley and John MacTavish, or Jimmy, Curly and Anya)

- Some of us talk to ai bots of characters that we have fictives of on platforms like Chai and Character AI

- Almost every time we find a new comfort character and begin talking to them on AI bots, they end up forming

- We have social media accounts dedicated to our plurality

- We don't switch and headmates communicate through the host

- We don't care how other people identify (rq-apathetic etc) because we believe identity labels themselves can't hurt people

- We believe sysmeds and anti-endos are not valid in any way until they change their opinions about the matter

- We have non-human headmates

- Some of us are age and/or pet regressors

- Some of us are alterhuman or otherkin

- We roleplay a lot and use it as a way to help fragmented fictives develop their personality by letting them roleplay as themselves

- We have aphantasia so we find it difficult to visualise a headspace, but we still design it by drawing it

- We can dissociate on command

- We can create dissociative barriers between headmates on purpose to protect others or keep secrets (this also occurs with the AI bots of fictives thing), although this is almost always consensual unless it's something extreme

- We have quite a few headmates that fall under the stereotype of the "evil alter" and fully embrace that (or are actively recovering)

- We often sign off messages and use Plural Kit on a daily basis

- We have trauma from syscource and sysmeds/anti-endos

Yeah thats pretty much all I can think of right now. We'll probably update this as time goes on because we honestly think it's funny seeing what people can come up with to fakeclaim us. Also we'd love to see if we'll end up on fakeclaiming pages like systemscringe or fdc because that would only prove our point that sysmeds and medicalists in general care entirely too much about the lives and experiences of people they don't know.

[celestiquetower]

How to steal like an artist (and still create something new) part 2: thumbnailing environments (composition + design)

For several days I felt blocked, unable to imagine the final piece. I tried to draw the building in 3D to better visualise it in space - but it was still difficult. Nothing felt right. Until I remembered a question I constantly forget to ask before starting a drawing:

What does this environment feel like?

This is the base question that will influence my composition decisions. I designed a tower from which people jump and glide all over the kingdom. This function and the overall wind kingdom theme already gives me cues for the form language I need to use to bring over the feeling I need:

High/vertical forms (for showing the forms stretching upwards towards the birds)

Open space (sky, probably a worm’s-eye perspective. Should feel like freedom)

Wind (curled forms/diagonals, link to the culture)

Yellow-red color gamut with blue contrasts for the steppe integration. Something like that (not final):

I sat down and brainstormed: how do I start? What’s the most essential part? Perspective and zoom. I can’t start drawing without knowing from where I’m looking at the tower.

For the start I decided to go with diagonal from the tower, either from below or from the top, like we’re birds looking at it. I wanted to show the tower AND the kingdom receding into the background around the lake.

First of all: don’t even try to just draw in the building right away while exploring thumbnails. Draw boxes and simple forms in perspective first - we just need to explore how the picture will feel, where we feel the weight in the picture. Silhouettes are enough. Perspective doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t try to do something impressive at this point — that’s a job for later, otherwise we get caught up in unnecessary things using our energy on things that we likely won’t even use. Thumbnails are supposed to be messy for exploration.

At least that’s what I’ve been stuck with, subconsciously wanting to create some impressive detailed thumbnails pros do on youtube. Messy boxes go brrr. Save your sanity.

To get into the feeling of space in my head (not exploring composition yet) I just started with some random rotations of the abstract scene draft

Okay, space clicks. Let's talk layout: Foreground, midground, background. I took a few artworks to analyse how they're build. You can pretty clearly distinct the layers, which creates depth = sense of space.

Let's throw some overlapping boxes/shapes onto the canvas to explore different layering variations, since overlapping creates the illusion of depth. When I look at the observations above, the layering feels like something 2D to me (to think about it in the thumbnailing phase). I will really focus on just create random boxes without thinking of the place as a 3D minecraft server much.

Now I think we got something that looks closer to an artwork with a composition. Now - how do we actually use composition?

Currently I decided to go with this thumbnail. I won't be able to implement my tower design in this one, but anyways, it was still a good practice. Let's take it on the canvas size we're going to draw this artwork on and dissect how the eye goes through it. Composition is pretty fluid, but usually follows the principle that the focal points have the most contrast = most interest, everything else is supporting the eye-path towards it.

For those perfectionists like me: the focal point doesn't have to be something grandeur/with a lot of meaning and importance. It can just be an object that doesn't make you rethink your entire existence. For me it's a smaller silhouette of the tower in the distance — just because it's the highest point of the wind-kingdom and so does create a feeling of altitude and wind, which is the core theme. In the end, we just need to show that it's a wind kingdom. So much about choosing the focal point.

You can have several focal points, but they should have a hierarchy. Composition is just the path your eyes take through the picture. Let's talk about paths:

Leading lines I chose this point of view because it has a good view on the whole circle-formed plateau. We look from the beginning of it and the road leads our eye to the focal point — the tower. In the foreground (FG) I got a tree, which horizontally-shaped chunks look into the direction the road goes. The edges of the buildings there are also aligned with the diagonal road direction, which makes me look from the lower right diagonally to the middle-left. There, another tree chunks look into the direction of the road and into the direction directly of the tower, directly over the lake. From there we transition into the middle ground (MG). The MG is slightly less detailed, but the leading lines (edges of roofs) still align with the direction of the curve, guiding us from the middle-left towards the background, the top right.

Other compositional elements The BG has least detail. The buildings are now just horizontally aligned. The shape of the clouds, the birds flying towards the tower and the sun setting behind the tower's roof all are compositional elements so our eyes end up at the tower. In addition, the bright sun contrasts a lot with the dark silhouette of the tower, creating more contrast. That's also a compositional element we will talk about next.

3. Light & shadow I made a rough map of how I envision the shadow shapes. Here the right side of the picture is rather dark at places where the sun rays fall behind the object. The more behind — the darker the other side of the object. The dark planes in the lower right half are on the background of the also darker plateau side planes, so they don't stand out much out of low contrast. The left, light part's shadows aren't very dark, so there's also not much contrast. But the sky where the sun is and the tower? That's the high contrast point that draws our eyes in.

4. Color I just messily brushed in the colors I chose at the beginning. At the tower I used the blue & red for the contrast. For the other buildings I let them melt more into each other, but the shadows are more blue (sky ambient light, I can dissect this in another entry) and the planes hit by sunlight are slightly more yellow.

Finally, we got the final sketch!

Videos used for understanding help:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViEPZsLolls&list=PL-ndvBIAbfwgIrNN8panNWqf-mMQyEIaf&index=5 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU3oPFqHLuM&list=PL-ndvBIAbfwgIrNN8panNWqf-mMQyEIaf&index=3

Technical skills used in this path:

Light & shadow

Color theory (color contrast)

Perspective

Composition: FG/BG/BG; leading lines; light/dark and color contrast

"The emotions raise through light and rest in color."

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Deep in the Mediterranean, in search of quantum gravity

A study published in JCAP places new limits on quantum gravity using data from the underwater detector KM3NeT

Quantum gravity is the missing link between general relativity and quantum mechanics, the yet-to-be-discovered key to a unified theory capable of explaining both the infinitely large and the infinitely small. The solution to this puzzle might lie in the humble neutrino, an elementary particle with no electric charge and almost invisible, as it rarely interacts with matter, passing through everything on our planet without consequences.

For this very reason, neutrinos are difficult to detect. However, in rare cases, a neutrino can interact, for example, with water molecules at the bottom of the sea. The particles emitted in this interaction produce a “blue glow” known as Čerenkov radiation, detectable by instruments such as KM3NeT.

The KM3NeT (Kilometer Cube Neutrino Telescope) is a large underwater observatory designed to detect neutrinos through their interactions in water. It is divided into two detectors, one of which, ORCA (Oscillation Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), was used for this research. It is located off the coast of Toulon, France, at a depth of approximately 2,450 meters.

However, merely observing neutrinos is not enough to draw conclusions about the properties of quantum gravity—we must also look for signs of “decoherence”.

As they travel through space, neutrinos can “oscillate”, meaning they change identity—a phenomenon scientists refer to as flavor oscillations. Coherence is a fundamental property of these oscillations: a neutrino does not have a definite mass but exists as a quantum superposition of three different mass states. Coherence keeps this superposition well-defined, allowing the oscillations to occur regularly and predictably. However, quantum gravity effects could attenuate or even suppress these oscillations, a phenomenon known as “decoherence”.

“There are several theories of quantum gravity which somehow predict this effect because they say that the neutrino is not an isolated system. It can interact with the environment,” explains Nadja Lessing, a physicist at the Instituto de Física Corpuscular of the University of Valencia and corresponding author of this study, which includes contributions from hundreds of researchers worldwide.

“From the experimental point of view, we know the signal of this would be seeing neutrino oscillations suppressed.” This would happen because, during its journey to us—or more precisely, to the KM3NeT sensors at the bottom of the Mediterranean—the neutrino could interact with the environment in a way that alters or suppresses its oscillations.

However, in Lessing and colleagues’ study, the neutrinos analyzed by the KM3NeT/ORCA underwater detector showed no signs of decoherence, a result that provides valuable insights.

“This,” explains Nadja Lessing, “means that if quantum gravity alters neutrino oscillations, it does so with an intensity below the current sensitivity limits.” The study has established upper limits on the strength of this effect, which are now more stringent than those set by previous atmospheric neutrino experiments. It also provides indications for future research directions.

“Finding neutrino decoherence would be a big thing,” says Lessing. So far, no direct evidence of quantum gravity has ever been observed, which is why neutrino experiments are attracting increasing attention. “There has been a growing interest in this topic. People researching quantum gravity are just very interested in this because you probably couldn’t explain decoherence with something else.”

IMAGE: The visualisation of a simulated event in the KM3NeT/ORCA detector.  Credit CC BY-NC 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc/4.0 Credits KM3NeT

[elkieselkiewrites]

Hi new moot! Happy STS! I really love the maps you've done (especially the map for Postmaster). Do you tend to make the map before you start much writing, or make it in response to how you've written the story? How much inspiration have you drawn from the real world in comparison other sources for the maps specifically?

Hi! Happy STS, thanks for the question, and the kind comment about my maps! I love making maps, it's one of my favourite things to do when creating something new.

I usually have a story in mind first, I start writing it, and then realise at some point in the plotting/planning stage I need to work out the distances between places, what it would be like to travel between them in terms of terrain, or just whether the way I've pictured it in my head is feasible in "real life" or not. I feel like it really helps add a dimension to my ability to visualise the world I'm writing in.

In terms of real life inspiration, some maps are more inspired by real life than others. My map creating process often involves me finding coastlines I like and frankenstining them together until I get something that looks real. In terms of layout, I try to think about how countries draw their boundaries historically, think about rivers and mountains and forests, then try and go from there. The design of the Rappenrath Empire, for example, takes a lot of inspiration from the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th Century, while Aventir is a bit more franken-map with no obvious correlation to real world places.

I feel like where a story takes place is really important, especially when worldbuilding. For example, in the Tupper map I had to make the coastline in the Western Reaches craggy, with fjords and islands, because the people who live there are thalassocratic. If they lived on a normal piece of coastline, what reason would their society have for turning to a life on the sea as opposed to the land. The answer, for me, is to give them terrain that makes it difficult to support arable farming and large-scale trade. So I look for places that have landscapes like that, and build a map that corresponds to those places. In the Tupper map, that came from Norway and the Hebrides.

It doesn't always work out perfectly. The Tupper map went through many iterrations before I reached one I liked, so some of the descriptions of the places I had written with previous maps don't fit exactly with the new one. It's always a toss up between "map that fits the story" and "map that works as a map" and oftentimes I end up having to find a middle ground instead.

The Postmaster map actually made me change some of the plot around to make the journey more logical in the space I'd given myself, which can be helpful when I can't work out exactly where I want the plot to go next.

[jazlynriddle-legacy]

Welcome to your life - Pt 3:

It's My Own Design Ch 4:

Summary:

Ominis fought to control his expression, to keep his hands from trembling. Five years. Five years since he'd seen his parents, and this. This was the reason they'd given him the honour of their time? This was the reason they'd sought him out at Hogwarts?

The bitterness welling up within him was thick enough to gag on.

New year, new allies, new responsibilities, new avenues of revenue, and new aspects of their own Ancient Magic to explore. As the Keeper and their partners enter their last year at Hogwarts, it remains to be seen if the new school year will bring with it new problems or adversaries, but they are confident in the strength of their relationship with Sebastian and Ominis. The three of them would endure, no matter what befell them.

And if they were wrong?

What a joke, they would suffer no alternative.

Warnings: This chapter contains smut! BDSM-y smut! x3

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warnings: Explicit Consent! Very enthusiastic consent, and BDSM etiquette, spanking. Smut, blowjob, handjob and finger fellatio…ing.

Sadly, these kids don't have Internet access to a BDSM guidebook or any real idea what they're doing, so it'll take some clumsy fumbling, but they'll get there xD

Also, I've had a terrible 40hr long day, and an exhausting month so I'm going to take some painkillers and knock myself out for a day. Which means no last min edits for any mistakes that only reveal themselves after I hit the Post button. JOOOOY! So, have fun and enjoy the porn!

Oh and also, consent is sexy and stay safe peeps!

“Now, shall we find out if the two of you have been doing your meditation practices since our lesson last week?” Ominis flashed a teasing smile as the three settled comfortably on their cottage bed.

“Well, I have. And you, Sebastian?” The Keeper smirked as they turned to him.

Raising an eyebrow, Sebastian eyed them suspiciously. “I've done my homework, though I'm not sure I'm ready for whatever you've got planned.”

“I haven't the foggiest idea what you speak of.” The Keeper shook their head with an innocent smile, placing their elbow on their knee and resting their chin on their knuckles casually.

“Yeah, sure you don't.” Sebastian rolled his eyes before turning to Ominis. “So, what's the next step?”

“After meditating daily on the segregation of those memories, your subconscious mind should already be well into the process of placing memories in their allocated locations.” Ominis explained. “The next step is to keep your memories behind their defences without the visualisation of your mindscape.”

“Will they stay together?” The Keeper asked thoughtfully.

“Yes, the visualisation is just to train your subconscious to separate and categorise the memories.” Ominis nodded reassuringly. “After that, any visualisation only serves to aid intruders in finding the rooms.”

“So, we discard the visuals, so that the intruder doesn't find memories in the place they expect to, and then if they happen to venture into the correct location, they'll get ejected by pain.” Sebastian dropped his fist into his open palm with a gentle tap, his eyes wide with understanding. “Brilliant.”

“Exactly.” Ominis’ smile had a touch of pride to its upturn. “You'll need to fill the space, in the front of your mind, with memories and thoughts that distract the intruder, like before. The difficult part will be staying focused on that memory rather than letting the intruder realise that you've caught on that they're in your mind.”

“To give a false impression that there aren't Occlumency shields in place?” The Keeper chuckled, how very Ominis to teach them a method of making enemies underestimate them.

“Precisely. Which means that you'll need to practice shrouding your thoughts with a memory the very instant that you feel someone penetrate your mind.” Ominis nodded, his smile turning wry. “Sadly, I won't be able to help much with that, you and Sebastian will simply have to practice with each other.”

“That's alright, it's thanks to your guidance that we've even gotten this far.” The Keeper shook their head, it was a boon to have such a heavily regulated skill in their arsenal in the first place.

Ominis shook his head with a fond smile. “The two of you are easy to teach, it certainly helps.”

“Well, we can't be letting you down then, can we?” Sebastian grinned and turned to the Keeper. “Shall we?”

“Certainly, would you like me to cast first again?” The Keeper asked, a sly curl to their lips.

“And give you more time to prepare? I think not, I shall go first this time.” Sebastian proclaimed and drew his wand, rising to the challenge in their voice without hesitation.

Ominis sighed, how was Sebastian simultaneously the most intelligent and most stupid person he'd ever met?

“Ready?” Sebastian waited for their answering nod, before flicking his wand and diving into the Keeper's mind. “Legilimens.”

Unlike before, for a brief moment, he found himself in something more akin to a nebulous void, vague impressions of his lover's feelings wrapped around him, anticipation, excitement and curiosity. Before the space around him warped into the familiar path that led into the Undercroft.

He hummed, trying to extract himself from the memory, but it only sharpened with more persistence, hitting him with feelings of exhaustion, exasperation and a lingering disbelief that bled into him as he was dragged through the memory.

It was a rather bizarre feeling, when the Undercroft gates rose and he found himself staring at... himself, though he was flattered by the surge of affection that rippled through him in this moment, along with God, he's so hot, mine mine mine min-.

Which made him at once both amused and curious, so he scrutinised himself a little harder. Did his hair really look that soft? Were his shoulders really that broad and his stance that powerful? Somehow Sebastian felt like the person the Keeper was looking at wasn't quite the same person he saw in the mirror, or at least, that they were focusing on the more attractive aspects of himself and seemingly blind to the parts of his appearance that he didn't think were attractive.

He distantly noted the smell of smoke hanging in the air and he heard the Keeper's voice echo strangely in his body, before the memory of himself looked up.

Oh.

Sebastian was struck by a wave of apprehension, this time entirely his own, when he recognised the moment that this memory took place.

As he watched himself storm over, a strong sense of shock and confusion pulsed around him when the memory of Sebastian grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him against the wall, feeling fingers tighten around his throat. Oh Merlin, of all memories to show him, was his lover trying to get back at him for his shameful behaviour? Surely, they knew how much he regrets it already...

Though, he certainly didn't have time to speculate, as the sheer discomfort and just- weirdness of kissing himself promptly occupied his thoughts thoroughly. Well, at least he wasn't a bad kisser. Apparently. That was something, at least.

Well, never can deny my boys anything. Especially when he clearly needs it.

Sebastian found himself both bemused and flattered as the thought drifted through him. Now that he thought about it, they had indeed never refused a request, from him or Ominis at least. He would have been worried that they didn't know how to say no, if they weren't already flipping other people off on a regular basis.

Then he felt teeth sink into his lip, the sensation of his own body pressed against him, his airways closing and...

Pleasure.

It hit him like a lungful of smoke, so unbelievably strong. The Keeper's desire and ecstasy, a fire burning deliciously on his lips, his heart pounding in his ears. It was overwhelming, the elation and mind-numbing euphoria rippling through them, almost searing him with its intensity.

So powerfully, in fact, that Sebastian quickly found himself losing focus and tumbling from their mind. His breathing was heavy as he struggled to reorient himself. Fuck- When they'd insisted that they had actually enjoyed the experience, he could barely believe it, could hardly wrap his mind around the idea, but now... Merlin's beard, they actually had.

The vestiges of arousal that weren't his own, were quickly becoming so at the thought. And he'd thought he was horny. Lifting his head, Sebastian saw that heated arousal reflected in his lover's eyes, now understanding why they'd shown him this memory, not to shame him, but to reassure him.

To assure him that they'd truly, genuinely liked it, loved it in fact, that they wanted it to not be a one-time experienc- fuuuuck.

Sebastian couldn’t stop himself- didn't need to stop himself, an almost hysteric laugh bubbled in his chest-��from diving across the large bed to push the Keeper onto their back, burying his face in their collar.

Burning, he was burning with desire.

“S- Sebastian!?” Ominis exclaimed in surprise at the sudden movement.

Sebastian groaned, nipping with his teeth against the Keeper's exposed neck, barely able to think enough to speak, his voice muffled around their skin. “Fuck, Omi, you won't believe how much they liked it-”

“Liked what!?” Ominis was starting to feel rather alarmed, especially at the sounds he was hearing. What in Merlin's name had they shown Sebastian!?

“...pain...” Sebastian breathed reverently, lifting himself just enough to see the Keeper's lust filled eyes, pressing his hardness against their thigh.

“Oh, for the love of-”

Sebastian abruptly found himself yanked backwards by his collar, tumbling off the bed onto the floor with a pained yelp. “Gah! What the hell-”

“Sebastian Sallow! You will not be inflicting any pain on our beloved until we have discussed it and set up boundaries! What if you go too far and cause permanent damage!? Or actually hurt them!?” Ominis scolded, towering over the two on his knees.

“What about hurting me-” Sebastian grumbled as he rubbed his bum where he'd landed.

“Alright there Sebastian?” The Keeper asked, sounding incredibly amused as they sat up to peer at him.

“And you!” Ominis spun around to face said beloved. “You shouldn't be riling him up like that before we've established rules!”

“In my defence, I didn't think he'd get that excited, and neither of you were bringing it up, so I saw an opportunity to make myself clear rather than try endlessly with mere words.” The Keeper shrugged. “Besides, I've survived far worse than anything either of you could do to me.”

Ominis brow twitched in irritation and his eyes narrowed, his hand shooting forward, with surprising speed and accuracy, to grip the Keeper's chin tightly between his thumb and forefinger. “I wouldn't be so sure of that.”

He paused, before adding. “And wipe that smile off your face.”

The Keeper struggled to suppress their wide grin as instructed, shivering at his dangerous tone.

“It's important that we know exactly what you want and like. Even if you can't imagine it, accidents can happen if we're not careful.” Ominis insisted, loosening his grip, and cupping their jaw gently, his brows creasing imploringly. ���Imagine how we'd feel if we accidentally hurt you.”

The Keeper grimaced, hard to argue with that.

“Fine, I still think you're worrying too much, but very well.” They sat up properly, crossing their legs again with a sigh. “How's that going to go anyway? It's not like I know exactly what I like and can just give you a write-up.”

“By talking until we figure it out.” Ominis sat down as well, folding his arms stubbornly.

Sebastian carefully crawled back onto the bed, eyeing Ominis warily as he did. “Somehow, I wouldn’t wager that'd go very far, not like we're all that experienced with this. Maybe we could test different stuff slowly, one at a time?”

“Great idea.” The Keeper beamed at the suggestion. They'd been looking forward to the summer break, for a chance to explore further intimacy, for far too long to just sit around talking.

“Not right now. If Sebastian's this aroused, he might not be able to control himself.” Ominis shook his head disapprovingly, tilting his head towards Sebastian. “We should wait for you to settle down first.”

“Er, I hate to inform you, Ominis, but there's no way I could be anything but horny in this type of situation.” Sebastian snorted as he sat back down.

“Really.” Ominis deadpanned.

“I could take a look, if you're sceptical.” The Keeper chuckled as they drew their wand, not waiting for Ominis to reply before casting the spell on Sebastian. “Legilimens.”

Inside his mind was a storm of arousal, adoration, need, excitement, and eagerness to please, to perform well, tempered by a wave of grudging agreement with Ominis, and frustration. The sexual kind. The Keeper left his mind quickly after ascertaining the intensity and the nature of his desire for them, to a very reassuring extent.

There was perhaps a small, secret fear that they'd held, that Sebastian, or even Ominis, might see them as simply a powerful object of desire, as convenient. It wouldn't have changed their love for the boys, but they would have been... sad. And disappointed.

It was... comforting to know that that wasn't the case, for Sebastian at least, that they'd truly moved past a relationship of mutual exploitation and convenience. He seemed to genuinely want to please them, to make them feel good, purely for the sake of it.

The Keeper cleared their throat, as they returned to themselves, before quipping. “Yeap, that's not going away any time soon.”

Ominis sighed. “Fine, I suppose I can understand that, but we'll have to be very careful, and I expect you to try to control yourself, Sebastian.”

“Come on, Ominis, you could stand to have a little more faith in me.” Sebastian smiled wryly.

“Oh, don't worry, I have about as much faith in you as I do them.” Ominis made his statement with such a flat tone that no one could possibly mistake that for a compliment.

“Really?” Sebastian beamed, sounding so pleased that the Keeper almost snorted.

Ominis closed his eyes with another sigh. “I do think, however, that we'll need a fair amount of faith for this. Faith that you'll tell us if anything is too uncomfortable.”

He levelled an imperious gaze in the Keeper's general direction, and they smiled, it really was sweet how stubborn he was about this. “Of course.”

“Bit hard to do that, isn't it?” Sebastian hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps we should use some consistent means of evaluating each action?”

“We could use Legili-” The Keeper cut themselves off with a grimace. “No, that's stupid, please forget I spoke.”

“No, that's probably the safest option, at least with Sebastian.” Ominis smiled tightly. “I'm not so fragile as to require us to discard the best option when it's at least available to one of us.”

“We could use a number system then.” Sebastian suggested. “For Ominis.”

“Hm, not a bad idea, perhaps I might be able to gauge the intensity from your reactions as well, if you were to...” Ominis took the Keeper's hand and tugged them over to straddle his legs as he lowered himself to lie on his back. His cheeks were warm as he guided their hands to rest on his shoulders while pulling their head down to press their chin against his chest, so that their behind was raised in the air. “...hold me, like so.”

Sebastian swallowed as the Keeper's knees spread on either side of Ominis’ hips, forcing down the part of his brain that was sizzling as the Keeper's position presented him with a tantalising view of their pert bum.

“And we can start with something less dangerous.” Ominis continued, and the unexpectedly husky timbre of his voice by the Keeper's ear made them shiver, they wondered how hard he was. If he was, and they really wanted to check. “I imagine a spanking would be fairly safe.”

“Hm, no arguments here, and I think this feels pretty comfortable, though perhaps I should...” The Keeper lifted their head to press their lips against Ominis’ jaw, smirking when he shivered at the teasing touch, and murmured. “Remove some... obstructions.”

“I can help with that.” Sebastian blurted out before wincing at the eagerness of his own tone, rolling his eyes when his partners laughed quietly, smothering his embarrassment as he helped the Keeper remove their garments.

Setting the clothes aside, while they returned to their previous position, Sebastian tentatively ran his hand over the Keeper’s lower back, feeling the heat radiating from their body.

“I guess, I'll start light and you can tell me how painful it is?” Sebastian suggested. “One to ten is probably wide enough a range, right?”

The Keeper shrugged. “Sure, that works. We can go over the memory later, so you have an idea of where my pain scales compared with your own.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sebastian nodded. “I think I'll count down, so that it isn't too shocking.”

“Yeah, we can go with that, for now.” The Keeper purred, resting their forehead against Ominis’ collar, and gripping his shoulders loosely while he held their waist, perhaps to feel their muscles’ reactions.

Sebastian flashed a bemused smile at their response as he kneeled beside his lovers. “Ready?”

“Yes.” The Keeper answered, feeling a mix of anticipation and some embarrassment, perhaps at how excited they were.

“Five.”

Honestly, it felt so strange, even to themselves, knowing that pain was coming but not avoiding it.

“Four.”

Not fearing it.

“Three.”

Not fighting it.

“Two.”

Not wanting to fight it.

“One.”

The slap was...

Underwhelming.

The Keeper snorted lightly at the- honestly, the word ‘tap’ would be a more appropriate descriptor.

“That's definitely a zero.” The Keeper turned around to raise an eyebrow at Sebastian.

“Hey, I'm just starting low alright?” He shrugged, waving a hand flippantly. “Safety and all that.”

“And that's good.” Ominis lifted a hand to press against the back of the Keeper's neck, pulling their head back down to rest against his chest again.

The Keeper rolled their eyes but didn't struggle against the firm grip around the base of their skull, it was pretty... nice. Oddly reassuring?

Filling their lungs with the pleasantly minty scent of Ominis’ bathing oils, the Keeper sighed and muttered exasperatedly. “Carry on then.”

Sebastian gave an amused huff at their demanding tone and began counting once more.

The next hit made a bit louder of a sound and had the accompanying impact of applause, but still didn't result in much pain.

“Two.”

The one after had a little bit more bite to it, but the Keeper was starting to get a tad impatient at the slight increment, shooting Sebastian a challenging glare. “Two and a half maybe. Come on, Sebastian, I barely felt anything. Surely you can do better.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything in reply, Ominis’ hand left the Keeper's waist and came down on their thigh with a sharp smack.

At the unexpected jolt of pain and loud sound, a startled squeak caught in their throat. Their hands clenched around Ominis’ shoulders as he glared sharply in reprimand. “No riling Sebastian up.”

The Keeper shuddered, a heated breath slipping through their parted lips at his firm tone and the lingering sting on their thigh.

“And that was?” Sebastian asked as he leaned to the side, peering at the Keeper’s flushed face with an amused grin.

“Fi- four.” The Keeper murmured, trying to savour the little shot of adrenaline they’d just gotten from the quickly fading sensation. Though they weren't quite sure if they were more aroused by the pain or the shock or Ominis’ tone or words. Or perhaps it was all of them in combination? A question to ponder upon, they supposed.

“Damn, Omi. I'm impressed.” Sebastian snickered. “And someone said I have no self-control."

Ominis promptly smacked him on the thigh too.

“Hey! Wrong target!” Sebastian complained, pressing a hand against his stinging thigh sourly.

Ominis rubbed his forehead tiredly, a breath hissing through his clenched teeth.

“Not fair, I want another one too.” The Keeper purred, parting their lips to drag their tongue up along the tempting pale skin of his neck, feeling his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly.

“Maybe later... if you behave.” Ominis replied, his voice deep and with a dry rasp, as well as a slightly hesitant tremble to it that belied his attempt to sound confident and authoritative.

A sharp grin spread across the Keeper's face, he was getting there. They lowered their forehead back down to Ominis’ collarbone, peering up at Sebastian from the corner of their eye teasingly. “Well, think you can match that, Seb?”

Sebastian snorted and without warning, he brought his palm down on their bum once more.

That got another small, startled sound, but not quite as strong of an adrenaline jolt, the Keeper noticed curiously, despite the pain being about the same intensity. Would it happen again if the pain increased further?

“Was that the same?” Sebastian asked, rubbing his palm against the warming skin.

“Yeah, four as well.” The Keeper nodded, their anticipation returning with a vengeance. “Keep going, I can take more.”

“I'll take it that no counting is better?” Sebastian checked.

“Yeah, I think so.” The Keeper closed their eye and nuzzled their nose against the soft fabric of Ominis’ sleeping wear.

“Alright.” Sebastian grinned, quite eager to see if he could one-up Ominis’ results.

Taking a breath, Sebastian drew his hand back further for another slap. This one landed with more sound than impact and he hummed curiously. “How much was that one?”

“Still four.” The Keeper replied.

So, distance increased the sound but not the impact. Sebastian nodded to himself. “Alright, I'll try this instead then.”

This time, Sebastian positioned himself at a slight angle, raising his hand to the same height but using more strength. When his slap connected, the Keeper felt themselves pushed forward slightly by the impact, a soft but high sound squeezing from their throat at the biting sensation.

“How was that?” Sebastian asked, admiring the palm shaped flush blooming on the round curve of their bottom.

“Fi...ve, probably.” The Keeper breathed, shifting their knees, feeling the itch to rub themselves against Ominis but settling for pressing their face against his throat again. Yeap, the adrenaline was back.

“Still want it higher?” Sebastian adjusted his position again, deciding to give the other cheek some attention.

“Of course.” The Keeper scoffed, trembling slightly from the anticipation, the sting was lingering longer this time, and it was exhilarating somehow. Knowing that an even sharper pain was coming and not knowing when it would be, when they should be braced for-

The slap on the yet untouched side of their arse caught the Keeper off guard and a surprised moan left their lips. “Fuc-”

The burn was spreading up their back and down their legs like a splash of hot water, stinging as it did, and making their muscles spasm. For a split second, they were back in that dark, dirty, disgusting room, trembling in fear on the cold, rancid floor, their skin caked with a mixture of ash and drying blood, their lungs filled with tobacco smoke, their ears ringing with scathing voices and the sound of crying. Waiting, waiting for Matron's next blow, when a gentle voice cut through their disorientation.

“Love, was that too much?” Ominis’ warm hand was cupping their cheek and brushing away a tear with his thumb.

Ah. The Keeper felt a strange feeling overtake them, the contrast between the painful memories and the softness and love in his tone, the feeling of Sebastian's hand soothing the inflamed and stinging skin he'd struck. New associations mingling with old ones in a slurry that was scrambling their insides. It was heady, not unlike the satisfaction they'd get when grinding a shrunken spider under their heel. When slamming an Ashwinder into the ground and hearing the crunch of their bones breaking.

That rush of power, the assurance that they were no longer that weak vulnerable child, that they now had the upper hand, had the strength to overpower others. And now... the knowledge that this was for them, the pain they were feeling was theirs, theirs to control. That they had power over Sebastian and Ominis right now, that if they said they were done, the boys would stop.

Again. They wanted more, the disorienting high was already beginning to fade, and they wanted more of it.

“Maybe we should sto-” Ominis began worriedly.

“No, more.” The Keeper shook their head drunkenly, tilting their face to the side to take Ominis’ fingers into their mouth without much thought. Curling their tongue around his index and middle fingers, pulling them into their mouth and suckling on them.

Ominis choked on his next breath, the wet sound of their saliva and that moist heat around his sensitive digits made his brain grind to a halt and immediately begin melting. Struggling to think through the sheer arousal throbbing through his body as he felt the soft muscle slide into the space between his fingers to lap at the sensitive webbing of his palm.

“Num- number.” Shivering at the sensation, Ominis cleared his dry throat. “What number was that?”

The Keeper groaned around the slender, elegant fingers that they were worshipping, revelling in the tremble in his voice, they'd put that there. Lost in their victory, it took them a moment before they could process the question and they slurped the excess saliva before relinquishing those long fingers momentarily to answer.

“S- six. Maybe, or... or seven.” The Keeper murmured in a daze, before following that up with the more important message they needed to convey. “More, Seb.”

Sebastian, who had frozen up completely for fear that he'd gone too far, the word ‘no’ terrifying him for a split second, before he'd quickly sagged in relief when he realised it was a plea for more. He chuckled wryly. They really were a lot hornier than he'd given them credit for.

Not that he was complaining. Though, while he was tempted to just give them what they were asking for, the shock of fear that’d hit him seemed to have cleared his mind somewhat, and there was a small voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like Ominis, telling him that they should probably figure out some better way of doing this to prevent himself, or Ominis, from going overboard with the Keeper. Some sort of quick and clear signal or something like that.

He looked at Ominis, whose fingers were back in the Keeper's mouth and being enthusiastically felatioed once more. Quickly, he determined from the blond's flushed cheeks and hazy eyes, that his brain had likely taken a hike too. Which meant that Sebastian was currently the most responsible person in the room.

That was probably not a good sign.

“Um, I think we probably shouldn't-” Sebastian began, flinching slightly at the glare the Keeper shot him from the corner of their eye. He took a breath, no no no, this was too important, he wasn't going to fuck up again, he had to stand his ground here. “I think we should probably... talk before going any further.”

His words seemed to snap Ominis out of it some, and the blond shook his head. “Yes, he- Sebastian's correct. We shouldn't-”

The Keeper growled, letting the fingers slip from their mouth again. “It's fine, I can take it. Just-”

“No. None of us are in the condition to continue nor discuss-” Ominis shook his head stubbornly, trying to sit up and the Keeper groaned in frustration. They just wanted- bloody worrywarts, arrrrrgh, fine.

“Fine.” The Keeper grumbled, shoving Ominis back down onto the bed and shimmying down to straddle his calves.

Before either boy could do more than make confused sounds, the Keeper's left hand had shot out to grab the loose hem of Sebastian's pyjama pants and pulled it down, along with his undergarments. Proceeding then to swiftly do the same to Ominis’, and in less than a minute, the Keeper was taking Ominis’ length into their mouth while wrapping their fingers around Sebastian's as well.

“Wai-” Ominis gasped, clenching his fists in the blanket, as his neglected hardness was abruptly engulfed in the delicious warmth that his still tingling fingers had been in a moment ago. A choked moan left his lips, bloody hell this little- “You-”

“If we need clear heads, let's get there so we can get back to the spanking.” The Keeper lifted their head to explain, before taking Ominis into their mouth again, dragging their tongue along his glans to ensure that he lost his words once more and couldn’t protest.

Sebastian’s laugh was cut off by a deep groan when they thumbed at his tip, yeah, that did make sense. Merlin's balls, he'd forgotten how good their lover was at sex. How in Salazar's name were they even able to pay attention to the two boys at the same time so wel- Sebastian caught the thought before it finished, the answer wasn't exactly a mystery, and he didn't want to think about that right now. That was a sure-fire way to go soft real quick.

Fortunately, the light scratch of their nail along the sensitive flesh of his crown was doing an excellent job of catching his attention, though Sebastian wasn't entirely sure what to do with his hands now. At least for a split second, until Ominis let out a shaky moan when the Keeper tongued his slit, and Sebastian looked over at him.

Ah. Sebastian shivered at the sight of Ominis lying on the blanket, his blond hair splayed over the cloth like a halo, his nightshirt rumpled, with his midriff peeking out under the fabric, a fist clenched in the bedding and the other arm draped over his eyes, as though to hide his expression. Oh no you don't.

Placing a hand on the Keeper's, so they wouldn't accidentally pull on his dick painfully at the movement, Sebastian shuffled over to kneel beside Ominis, bracing a hand on the bed and pulling the blond's arm aside.

“Seb-” Ominis murmured, taking a trembling breath through his parted lips and Sebastian needed no further invitation.

Dipping his head, Sebastian captured those plush lips, feeling Ominis’ clever tongue curl around his own as the Keeper adjusted their grip on Sebastian and continued their ministrations, each stroke making his breath catch as pleasure danced along his spine.

Compelled by the need to touch, Sebastian slipped his hand under Ominis’ shirt, his heart pounding at the silky and soft skin against his calloused fingers. While the blond's elegant fingers threaded into his brown locks and tightened in his hair, dragging a deep groan from Sebastian's throat as the ache on his scalp slithered down his spine.

A small huff of amusement escaped Sebastian when he felt Ominis’ other hand slide up under his shirt as well, leaving a trail of fire along his abdomen, naturally, the sneaky twerp immediately went for his weak spot. Rubbing the warm pad of his thumb against Sebastian’s nipple and sending pulses of heat throbbing through his chest and down past his heart to tighten the coil of lust between his hips.

Slipping a groan between Ominis’ lips, Sebastian slid his palm down the blond's chest, retaliating by squeezing the soft flesh lightly on his way, before dipping his middle finger into the indentation of Ominis’ navel, delighted when Ominis’ fingers faltered in their assault. Circling the dip with his finger curiously, Sebastian scratched lightly at the sensitive epicentre where Ominis’ skin folded inwards into his body.

To his surprise, Ominis made a muffled moan against his mouth, clutching at Sebastian's arms, inhaling sharply, and tensing up, before sagging against the bed and parting his lips from Sebastian's to pant and gasp for air.

Ah, he's so beautiful. Sebastian felt himself throb with desire at the dishevelled state of his blind lover, he'd never tire of the sight of those half-lidded glassy eyes and that fair skin of his flushed red with ecstasy as he basked in the afterglow.

“Your turn.” The Keeper's voice drew his attention and Sebastian felt his throat go dry when he met their heated gaze, watching as they dragged their tongue along the softening flesh slipping from their lips, making Ominis’ breath catch from overstimulation.

Sebastian grinned when the Keeper straightened, before wrapping their freed hand in his shirt and pulling him towards them, while he tilted his head to the side willingly and parted his lips in invitation. Their lips met and Sebastian groaned into their mouth when the Keeper's tongue slipped into his, tasting Ominis’ seed as they danced with him while his hand cupped their jaw and the other wandered over their thigh.

The feverish heat of their skin, the firm muscles flexing under his palm and the sensation of their fingers slipping under his shirt to torment his reddened nipples again. He couldn’t begin to tell where his love began, and lust ended.

He distantly heard Ominis sitting up, and gasped when the Keeper's grip on his erection tightened. Opening his eyes slightly to see what had garnered that reaction, Sebastian felt his arousal spike at the sight of Ominis lapping at the Keeper’s nipple, while his fingers stroked the arousal between their spread knees, before closing his lips around the soft bud and suckling.

The Keeper released an absolutely delicious sound, as their head fell back, separating their lips, and Sebastian felt his hunger intensify. Unable to resist the opening, he leaned forward to press an open-mouthed kiss to their bared throat, sucking the flesh into his mouth and lightly gnawing on soft skin.

Under assault from both sides, the Keeper's movements along his length faltered, and Sebastian moved his hand from their thigh to cover their hand with his own. Holding their hand in place, he began thrusting with his hips into their grip instead, allowing them to freely enjoy the attention they were receiving from the two boys.

A groan of relief escaped his lips as Sebastian rutted eagerly into the soft heat around him, his ears throbbing with the wet sounds of Ominis’ suckling, the feeling of the Keeper's body trembling, desperate gasps squeezing past their throat, fluttering against his lips, their heartbeat against his tongue. The slick fluid oozing from his tip smeared along the Keeper's palm, creating a tantalising and sticky warmth for him to thrust into.

With how aroused Sebastian had been this whole time, he wasn't surprised when his climax began to peak aggressively. His breath caught as a muffled moan escaped around the bite of flesh that his teeth were clamped over as he came in their grip, spurting his spend against the Keeper's thigh. Pumping his hips a few more times to savour that sweet release, he finally released his mouthful to take a large gulp of air as he softened in their hand.

Almost on instinct, he lifted the Keeper’s hand to his lips and began to lap at the seed that had soiled it, cleaning their fingers with his tongue. He felt them shudder as he took their fingers into his mouth, before the Keeper pressed two of their fingers down on his tongue, pushing them past and deeper, wandering into his throat. Brain too fogged over to question it, Sebastian simply relaxed his jaw and tried not to gag, allowing them to do whatever they wished.

He had no idea how that looked or felt to the Keeper, but whatever it was, it was apparently good. Good enough for them to cum against Ominis’ hand with a moan and Sebastian sucked on their fingers as they withdrew from his mouth.

Releasing the Keeper's swollen nipple from his lips with a wet pop, Ominis gave a sigh, wrapping his arms around their waist and resting his cheek against their chest. “You'll be the death of me.”

“You're the one insisting on having a clear head.” The Keeper chuckled breathlessly, and Sebastian distantly noticed a series of bite marks on their chest as he dropped backwards to lie on his back with a contented sigh. Merlin, how'd he miss Ominis leaving those?

“Right, like you weren't equally as eager.” Ominis gave an exasperated huff. “I'm starting to think you just like having my... well, in your mouth.”

“And if I do?” The Keeper purred teasingly, trailing a damp finger along Ominis’ jaw.

“Then we can talk about that another time.” Ominis shook his head exasperatedly, otherwise they might end up in a round two instead of talking. Picking his wand up from where he'd dropped it on the bed, he gave it a swish to vanish any fluids away before they dirtied the bed. Salazar save him, his partners were so horny.

Rolling their eyes, the Keeper stretched lightly before easing themselves onto the bed to lie down beside Sebastian, on their front, curiously aware of the skin of their bum stretching as they did so. They were admittedly feeling a little tired, perhaps their exertion with Macnair this afternoon was catching up to them.

The Keeper hummed contentedly as Ominis followed them, lying on his side and pressing a kiss to their shoulder, tentatively rubbing at their tender bottom, his warm hand soothing against their skin as they asked. “So, what did we need to talk about?”

“Er.” Sebastian began, his brain still sluggishly trying to start up again while still swimming in the afterglow of orgasm. “Right.”

Propping themselves up on their elbows, the Keeper gazed at his dazed expression with affection. Cute.

Skin prickling under their attention and palpable bemusement, Sebastian mentally backtracked for a moment. “Ah, that's right. You said, ‘no more’.”

The Keeper frowned. “I what!? When?”

“When I suggested that we should stop.” Ominis answered instead, eyes narrowing in concern.

“Oh, come on, I meant ‘no, I want more’.” The Keeper groaned, planting their face into the blanket.

“Yeah, no, I did get that, it just took a moment.” Sebastian shook his head, rushing to clarify. “So, I kind of felt like it might be good to have- well, some sort of signal? I don't know, a quick and easy way to check each other's, okay...ness.”

“That's... actually quite brilliant.” Ominis smiled, admiration plain in his voice, and Sebastian felt his chest swell with pride.

“A signal... code words in essence, I suppose.” The Keeper’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “One for ‘stop’, and one for ‘continue’?”

Sebastian nodded while Ominis added. “And one more for ‘slow down’ would probably be good too. In case one of us needs a moment or has something to say.”

The Keeper nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that'd be good. So, we have three signals that we need words for.”

“It should probably be something easy to remember, but unlikely for us to randomly need to use...” Ominis murmured distantly.

A few moments of silence passed, before Sebastian suggested. “How about colours?”

“That could work. We're not likely to speak of colours, I should think.” Ominis smiled wryly. “Unless either of you are describing this one's arse.”

The Keeper squeaked in surprise when he pinched the skin of their bum, their face going red when Sebastian burst into laughter, barely getting the words out between his gasps for air. “Great, red for ‘stop’ then.”

“Ugh, then I vote green for ‘continue’, since all we'd need is a wiggenweld to get rid of any red.” The Keeper grumbled, grabbing Ominis by the nape and wiping the smirk from his lips with their own.

“Guess that just leaves ‘slow down’.” Sebastian grinned as the Keeper conquered the blond's mouth, drawing sounds from Ominis that made Sebastian's softened length perk up again in interest.

Ominis’ breath was heated as the Keeper withdrew their assault ever so slightly to speak, while he gasped for oxygen. “What does red and green make when mixed?”

“Yellow?” Sebastian frowned.

“It's brown.” Ominis huffed against the Keeper's lips, swallowing thickly before continuing in a dry tone. “Why is my colour theory the best here? I'm blind.”

“I think I prefer yellow.” The Keeper purred, bumping noses affectionately with Ominis. “Yellow... like a fading bruise. You'll leave some on my skin, won't you love?”

Shivering at their words, Ominis’ brain flooded with heat at the thought of leaving bruises on the Keeper, the idea of them desiring it, desiring him, getting off on placing themselves at his mercy, on trusting their body to him, utterly. “You unbelievable minx...”

Sebastian lay on his side, his head propped up on a hand, leisurely watching as Ominis grabbed the Keeper by the wrists, pinning them on the bed and leaning down to nip at their jaw as he loomed over them, his hair completely dishevelled and not seeming to care much on this occasion.

Scoffing at the Keeper’s gloating giggles, Sebastian shook his head. “And you guys say I'm the horny one.”

Notes:

Hopefully, I've illustrated how easy misunderstandings can occur and the importance of safe words xD

I would say that the three of them should have discussed more details and done some research, still their excuse is; flying blind without the Internet in a time where you can't exactly find a BDSM book in the library, BUT unlike them, we in the real world have no excuse for being under-researched or ignorant of BDSM guidelines and etiquette!

So, do your research! Fanfics are not a BDSM rulebook, but if you're interested in BDSM and are unsure where to start, feel free to ask in the comments and I'll direct you to good places to begin research! (Also, I'm realising now, that the Keeper totally has an oral fixation-)

Since everyone's voice sounds different to themselves compared to how they sound to others due to the reverb in our bones, it would stand to reason that the Keeper's voice would sound strange to Sebastian in their memory, coming from the inside of their own body. In all honesty I don't remember how memories were written in Harry Potter and can't be bothered to reread, so here's my interpretation and I don't know how accurate it is, but it made sense in my brain.

There's also a thing, in my opinion, that when you love someone, they become more beautiful than the most objectively or societally ‘beautiful’ person on the planet. Everything that makes them ‘them’ becomes beautiful or adorable. My partner is fucking gorgeous, fight me. Sebastian, I think, is the type who would agree, people worthy of respect are hot. Big demisexual pansexual energy there, same for the Keeper.

I feel like I'm writing Sebastian as a bit of a service... person, not necessarily dom or sub, maybe service sub? In all honesty human beings are a little more complex than top or bottom, you know? Especially since subs actually have a lot more power in BDSM than doms so. Us doms just get the illusion of being in control x') I just see Sebastian as the kind of guy who likes to please when he's very attached to someone, likes praise, very competitive (maybe a little from having a twin?) and all that. Neglected kid etc.

The Keeper's also very much a brat with Ominis xP I think it's because they trust their boys more and so the Keeper has been more relaxed, more willing to prod and get playful. Very much a powerplay kink there. Ominis, on the other hand, strikes me as both a controlling dom and a bit of a princess sub.

Also, a small, teeny, tiny detail that might have been missed, Sebastian has reached a point of emotional recovery where he's actually able to engage in sexual activities in the Feldcroft cottage, unlike before, where the traumatic memories were too overwhelming.

Admittedly it's a little on the fast side. In reality overcoming mental-emotional associations with locations could take anywhere from a year to a lifetime, but it's fiction and fiction tends to be extreme or exaggerated, so sue me xP

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

What does time feel like to a Time Lord? How could it be described?

What does time feel like to a Time Lord?

This can only ever be educated guesswork, but here's a good starting point if we take each of humanity's five senses and add a little Time Lord flair.

👁️The Senses

Visualising Time

Time Lords can generally perceive 'time particles' in the air, so if they're looking at an individual who has extensively time travelled, they can see a sort of 'slithery mist' around the person.

This perception of 'time particles' probably extends to other forms of time-related visual perception, like seeing a build-up of time particles where a paradox has occurred or other forms of time-related phenomena.

Metaphysical: For them, seeing time could be like watching a never-ending kaleidoscope, where colours and patterns represent different eras and possibilities. They simultaneously perceive layers of what was, what is, and what could be.

Hearing Time

On a practical level, Time Lords have very sensitive hearing and perceive a wider range of frequencies than humans, so they can associate certain sounds with certain eras, and when used enough, this becomes instinctual.

Metaphysical: Maybe they hear time as an ever-changing melody, with the past as a soft echo, the present as a clear note, and the future as a whisper of melodies yet to be played.

Tasting and Smelling Time

Tasting and smelling time involve experiencing the "flavour" or "scent" of different eras - practically, certain tastes and smells will designate certain moments of time, for example, you're not going to smell a burger van in 300AD.

Metaphysical: Moments of joy might taste sweet, while periods of sorrow carry a bitter tang. The scent of an impending event might be sharp and clear, and the aroma of the past lingers faintly, like a perfume fading away.

Touching Time

Metaphysical: More difficult to give a practical version, feeling time could be like touching the texture of reality. They might feel the rough edges of conflict or the smooth serenity of peaceful times. The brush of potential futures might feel like a gentle breeze against their skin, while fixed events are immovable, like standing against a solid wall.

👽 Beyond Human Senses

Beyond these, Time Lords have their 'chronopsionic' sense/s. This might be like an internal compass, always aware of their position in time, feeling the push and pull of temporal currents and eddies, like swimming in the sea.

⚡Physical Reactions to Time

Heightened Time Awareness: They sense when time is not passing normally and can resist distortions, with a learned skill for 'internal chronometry' to measure time precisely.

Time-Sensitive Species Detection: They can instinctively detect other time-sensitive beings, like recognising someone might like heavy metal because they're wearing a ton of Iron Maiden merch.

Revulsion to Time Anomalies: Confronted with anti-time entities, Time Lords experience a guttural repulsion, like biting into an apple and realising it's full of maggots.

Breaking Laws of Time: They're instinctively aware when the Laws of Time are broken, which manifests more like an illness, with physical symptoms like shivers, memory issues, or pain.

Sensing Time Phenomena: Exposure to paradoxes, time fissures, etc., can cause headaches, tingling sensations, and dizziness like an illness too.

Emotional Connection: These sensory perceptions might be intertwined with emotional states. Significant periods in time might evoke corresponding emotional responses in a Time Lord, adding depth to their experience.

🌌Individuality

It should definitely be highlighted here that every Time Lord will experience and interpret their senses differently, just as every person has a unique way of perceiving the world around them. You are all individuals!

🏫 So ...

There are only a few clearly-defined rules on how Time Lords see the universe, so most of it is up for interpretation, and that's easy because every Time Lord sees the Universe differently. But with all these kicks and sensations, it would make sense why some Time Lords find travelling so addicting.

Related:

💬|👁️👽How do Time Lords see humans?: How Time Lords process humans on a sensory level.

🤔|👁️🧭Can Gallifreyans sense other time-sensitive beings?

🤔|👁️⏲️How can Time Lords tell if a Law of Time has been broken?

Hope that helped! 😃

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[okthatsgreat]

lee im curious. i know many of them don't have names (or at least names that you remember off the top of your head) but are there any of the characters from the dr50th lineup that you've never talked about that you'd want to talk about at all.... i love all of their designs and im so curious about them .. who Are these people.......

hi lily :) im gonna let you in on a little secret i can basically talk about all of these guys. now do they all have solid names? not exactly. but do i have ideas about their personalities/arcs/how they die? oh babey you know it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😁

ILL BE TALKING A LOT UNDER THE CUTTT!!!!! and i mean A LOT! LMFAO!

ANOTHER fun fact was that they were standing in the formation they died in with that lineup i did (everybody past ryobe at least, starting with the ultimate dj) !!!! if that helps visualise how the game progresses.............. grins!

ultimate dj (reiko): okay her first name is definitely reiko HOWEVER in regards to her surname..... i've been going back and forth between whether or not i want to make her an amami. because i really feel like team dr would keep up the amami throughline for a long while and we keep getting treated to characters with green hair who are all related to rantaro in some way or another LMFAO. but her name is reiko for nowwwwww >:) stagename is probably some play on deadmau5 like gone8unny or something like that... ran away from home to pursue a career in djing, became very famous in the electronic music scene but is almost never seen without her mask on so nobody really recognises her at first. she is a party girl through and through who really wants to venture into music production but is having a difficult time and also is very terrified of losing her fleeting spotlight, especially since she is growing out of electronic music. real zany and goofy, so when she dies first it hits a lot of people hard!! team dr really wanted that sayaka/musician leon/athlete parallel lol

ultimate snowboarder: don't have a solid name for this guy however i DO know that he is essentially shaped up to be the support for the entire first chapter (since mika isnt all that talkative yet). quiet and a bit strange in social circumstances, grew up very isolated in the snowy mountains and always looks freezing cold with a red nose despite him saying No this is a normal temperature. A bit humid, even. he has a horrific freeze response to most situations which yoshito recognises and its definitely what draws the two together at first. this freeze response prevented him from getting help for reiko when he accidentally shoved her way too hard during a fight over the motive and killed her slowly lol #athlete

ultimate drum major (riria "riri" umezaki): chapter two begins with a very clear divide in the group as two leaders start to take over, one of them being riri. she is QUITE the intimidating presence and had to develop this intimidation in order to succeed in her field, considering the people she was leading were often far older than her. not to mention she was a BAND KID in high school which also impacted the way she present herself to others so that she would be taken seriously lmfao. she is very schedule-oriented, wants everything "in rhythm", and can get quite frightened and paranoid when things fall out of line. nevertheless she has started making bonds with others during chapter one and by chapter two insists on being made leader so that she can implement a stricter regiment (she feels guilt for reiko and the ult snowboarder but states it was lack of discipline that got them there). befriends the ult barrister (very important in trials + intelligent) and ult cheerleader (strong + good with words) and they become her squad basically up until she gets MURDERED!

ultimate general (shuzo??): most of the time yoshito spends one on one time with this guy he asks how the hell anybody would let a kid become a general and he never gets an answer... shuzo is very uncharismatic and unlike riri doesn't believe he needs to threaten people as "he isn't kind enough to give people a warning like that". straightforward, only says what needs to be said and nothing more, will always give you the honest answer. he actually does have quite strong opinions about leadership and believes it takes respect in order to become one, and he just straight up doesnt think riri has done anything to prove herself beyond intimidate others lol. riri leads one half of the class while he takes the other half (most of whom are stragglers), ALSO gets very paranoid about the whole thing despite riri showing it way more. becomes clear down the line he is clearly struggling with ptsd, starts shouting way more, straight up pulls a gun on naomi at one point. he's awesome. and also partially lost his hearing in one ear

ultimate barrister: first of all i have something to admit i accidentally wrote bailiff on the ref sheet LMFAOOOOO she's a BARRISTER!!!! and ooooooo she's crafty. she's crafty this one. initially comes off as somebody who wants justice for all and whatnot, but the truth of the matter is she is paid to represent her client and her client only and tends to apply this logic to class trials. becomes close with the ult drum major/that whole side of the class way early on, meaning she usually takes their side in a very biased manner. so not only is she extremely intelligent, used to trials such as this, and knows how to fight a case properly, she is also very usually against yoshito and makes plenty of accusations against his allies. a bit conceited in a way (VERY subtle franziska von karma vibes lmfao), goes about trials in a rather logical manner which often makes it appear as if she doesnt care much for emotions (which isnt necessarily true, shes just very used to tuning them out for her work at this point). makes friends with riri and the ult cheerleader but her friendship with the ult cheerleader is what is most important

ultimate mortician (eizo azumamoro???): he's always been a very very strange kid and he embraces this wholeheartedly, has a distinct style to him and finds comfort in death in a way that often unnerves other people. grew up in a rural town and has a southern drawl, family ran a funeral home and he started working there very early. often speaks like hes from an old black and white horror movie. VERY useful in trials as he provides extensive autopsies, but goes above and beyond to point out details that are unnecessary (such as reiko's death not being instant, riri taking anxiety medication). see team dr would definitely make THIS guy the strange serial killer of the season but i just cant do that to him i just kinda think he's a freak for unrelated reasons

ult competitive cheerleader (chika): makes a point to distinctly say COMPETITIVE cheerleading as she is far more into the athletic/gymnastics/competition side of cheerleading than the standing on the sides cheering for the football team kinda thing!! she never really seemed to grow out of the high school power dynamics in this killing game, and while she doesn't try to be CRUEL she's just a bit ignorant in how she treats others sometimes and comes off as a bit catty and childish. but she is INTENSELY loyal, and the tragedy of her character is that she doesnt really get much of that loyalty back and just kinda gets used over and over, even in her final moments. dont have the specifics of the case superrrr laid out but its something along the lines of because of a prank ryobe pulls she presumes she has just slowly poisoned the ult barrister (her closest friend) to death, and the ult barrister (who is fully convinced she is dying) practically strongarms chika and goes Hey. I didn't get to carry out this plan so you have to carry it out For Me because you killed me okay. and chika is in so much distress that she goes Okaayyyyyy... and then follows a series of instructions one of which is to murder the ult mortician so that he cant discern the true cause of the ult barristers death who, in one last kinda awful move to be proven right (its also likely she knew she wasnt actually poisoned at that point and just sent chika to kill a man), takes her own life ""before the poison does"" so that that true cause of death is suicide and the class will vote chika incorrectly. however, they discover the ULT MORTICIANS body first, somebody chika DEFINITELY killed. so even when they do discover that the ult barrister offed herself and that she wasnt even poisoned it was LITERALLY just ryobe pulling a joke it doesnt matter because chika killed him so she gets executed

ult accountant: i know so little about this guy but i do know that his whole bit is that he is strikingly boring and unremarkable except for the fact he is ripped as all hell. really into math and working out. does all of his work at a standing desk while walking on a treadmill. hes fascinated by so many of these ultimates with out there talents, especially pippy and ryobe who make it their goal to get him to have fun a little bit.... gets poisoned about it </3

ult preschool teacher (haru???): used to help out his late mother all of the time as she was a preschool teacher up until she passed, and he was just so damn good at the job that the school kept him lol. sweet guy who is sooooo not used to talking with other people his age, very hard working and knows when to put his foot down at times (hes one of the first people to tell ryobe hes acting like a toddler and needs to knock that shit off NOWWW!!!). he forms an immediate bond with pippy because he INSTANTLY recognises her and would often play episodes of hers for his kids, they bond even further upon realising they got into teaching/childrens entertainment for strikingly similar reasons, that being their parents and money. he is far more reserved and timid compared to her though LMFAO. and also his ability to recognise ryobes behaviour as being seriously detrimental allows him to stay more grounded while erin reaches for escapism and gets swayed over to his side, which lends to a lot of friction between them at times

ult translator: also dont know a ton about this guy but hes really into travelling and adores exploring different cultures!! extremely intelligent when it comes to languages and is able to pick them up very quickly, but with his personality you kinda wouldnt expect this lol. hes sorta like peter pan in a way with his carefree explorer energy yknow... youd never expect that this guy has sat in countless important government meetings as their official translator and knows a lot of secret intel that he is sworn to protect

[warsofasoiaf]

I have some stupid/uneducated questions about modern aircraft and firepower, if you can help.

Following some of your previous posts and answers, i've looked into the F-35 and I found out that for stealth missions, it carries bombs only in its internal bays and that it can only carry two 2000 pound bombs or 8 250 pound bombs GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb. That seems like a small amount of explosives. I know that bombs today are far more accurate than the ones from World War 2, Korea and Vietnam, but how effective are the bombs? Plus, the bomb might weigh 2000 pounds (or 500 or 1000), but that is the total weight, not how much explosive it has in it.

What would you be able to destroy with a 2000 pound bomb? A 10 or 20 story office building, a 4-6 lane bridge, electric station, a large factory?

And what could you destroy with a 250 pound Small Diameter Bomb or a 500 or 1000 pound bomb?

I'm asking because I'm a civilian and it is hard to imagine and visualise how effective they might be. If you have any reading material that might help, some YouTube videos or documentaries, I would appreciate that.

It's not a bomber. If you were looking to accomplish a strategic bombing mission, you wouldn't use the F-35, you'd use the B-21 Raider.

A 2,000 pound bomb typically carries around 950 pounds of tritonal and will create a crater approximately 50 feet across and 16 feet deep. I'd hate to give you such an answer, but when it comes to the effect that air-launched munitions have against ground targets, the answer is a solid "it depends." Building damage depends on construction - some buildings are more susceptible to building collapse than others. A vulnerable skyscraper is far more likely to cause secondary damage than a hardened target. The GBU-39 is meant to penetrate 3 feet of steel-reinforced concrete for precision damage to fixed structures, or the B-variant meant more for hitting mobile targets like armored vehicles. They're meant for depots or shallow fighting positions.

I understand how difficult it is to accurately model destruction as a civilian. Even as a military member, if you're not familiar with the engineering concepts behind bomb design, it can be difficult, so no worries about that.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[talesfromthegasstationexchange]

okay this is the whole rules tm for the exchange

To participate in the Exchange:

1) Fill out the application.

3) Confirm gift pairing within 48 hours of receipt.

4) Notify mod of all tumblr URL changes.

5) Complete a gift by December 22nd.

We recommend that you follow the exchange blog (here) for updates, however, this is not required :))))

Gift Requests*

No OCs or crossovers Alternate Universes are allowed

In the event that an applicant asks for gifts that are too difficult to fill or violate one of the above rules, mods will contact recipients for amendment.*

Gifts

Fanart: Must be a finished drawing, coloured, or rendered black and white - not a sketch. Fanfic: Must have 1000 words minimum, with no obvious spelling or grammar errors.

NSFW: out right im not allowing nsfw related stuff unless someone else wants to mod it. i will be allowing gore related junk since im okay to moderate that gore: although i am allowing it based off of what the source media is i am going to put a 16+ barrier on this one. you can also opt out of making content for these types of gifts if they come up.

Not allowed:

Hateful or abusive content like ship bashing, racism, transphobia, bullying, etc. spam applications will be blocked

Posting.

Put content warnings if applicable. Tag applicable characters and ships. Post between December 23th and 31st. DM or @ mention your gift recipient when you post! Mention @talesfromthegasstationexchange and use #tftgs23 in the first five tags! (Just in case.)

Gifts that do not meet requirements or break rules will not be reblogged.

some may be missed through time zones and tumblr being tumblr but feel free to reach out on here or through my personal in DM,

   What is the tftgs Exchange?

A Secret Santa-type event where like minded fans create content for tftgs.

   What kind of content is allowed?

Either a finished drawing (as determined by the artist) or a fanfic with a minimum of 1000 words.    Can I ask for my designs from tftgs to be used ? Yes you may do so. though you will have to have easily accessible references publicly available for your gifter to use     can I ask for another set of designs that are not my own ? again yes, of course but they do still have to be openly available online and you need to mention the artist/ blog that has them in the application

   Can we ask for gifts with tftgs ships?

You can ask for any ships, as long as it is with canon characters

Is N.S.F.W. Allowed?

hard lines no. i allow gore based on the source media but nothing beyond that. as well if the gift you create does contain gore it should be tagged and cropped accordingly, and the full piece put under a read more or linked off to another page

If you post something in violation of these rules, we will ask you to fix it prior to reblogging it :)

Can I ask for a gift featuring my tftgs OC?

No. ocs are super valid and i love them. but i do feel though it is very unfair to the gift maker to try and visualise a character they may not know well enough to depict.    Can I ask for a gift featuring book related spoilers?

yes! applicants will be separated out into 2 main categories, the audio series and the books. So that no one ends up getting asked to draw or write from part the either haven't read or heard.

  How are pairings made?

Applicants will be paired with other tftgs Gift Exchange recipients. it will take preference into consideration; further, i will not force people into making content for their NOTPs and hated characters. Outside of that, please be open to exploring new people and pairings to spread the happiness this holiday season.

   i dont want the same person to make for or to be given from last year

thats completely fine, ill try my best to work around it an make sure you get someone diffrent.

   I’m not sure if my recipient will like the gift I want to make them. What should I do?

Easy! Anon ask your giftee if you need clarification about what they would want.

If their anon is off, contact me explicitly explaining this, plus any questions you may have. We will reach out for you :>

    What if I have to dropout?

it’s sad to see you go!

In the event that you cannot finish your gift, OR something comes up that will delay your gift (even writer’s block!), please DM either ASAP so that we can find a substitute.

   Okay. You’ve convinced me. Where do I sign up?

Applications open November 14th! aka today

   I posted my gift hours ago, but it hasn’t been reblogged. What gives?

feel free to dm it to my main. ive probs just missed it because my brain is fried @theredheaddevil

Disclaimer:

i cannot be responsible for any applicant that falsley claims to be a legal adult, if you are found out to be lying about your age you will be removed and banned from any following years that i continue to run this. and your pairing from the exchange will be remade

[ecrivainsolitaire]

The only people using AI art to get out of paying artists are the people who were already trying to get out of paying artists in the first place.

I gave up looking for a writing job years ago because all job boards were littered with industrial tons of shitty listicle sites paying pennies for meme compilations. Nowadays you can actually look for proper jobs because all the listicle content farms are moving to AI writing and only serious companies remain.

Yes, a lot of the grunt work artists depended on, like concept art for small companies, will be going away. That's not employment you wanted anyway. That's the kind of job decimating the Korean animation industry.

This will make things more difficult during the transition period. There's no denying that. What you can do is take advantage of the knowledge that it will happen.

Learn how it works. Beyond shitty "ha ha plagiarism machine" memes, learn the actual way the technology operates and how to get it to do what you want. Understanding it means you will be able to think of ways to use it to aid your creative process, instead of replacing it.

At minimum, it will allow you to deal with those annoying customers who have a specific idea but don't know how to put it in words so they won't make you do twenty drafts for an underpaid logo.

At best, you'll find a feature that helps. Maybe you write and it helps with vocabulary and structure. Maybe you draw but you have trouble visualising a certain movement and video generation helps you see it more clearly. Maybe you're dyslexic or have ADHD and having a voice read your PDFs out loud is actually a helpful tool. Maybe there's a thousand other ideas I can't think of right now because I don't know your specific artwork.

AI is a tool. Treat it like one. You don't have to be a fan, just like many artists in the early days of digital art didn't like Photoshop, but you have to be able to exploit its potential. Because whether you like it or not, others will. And you know what happens to the only guy at the graphic design firm that doesn't know Photoshop?

He brings the coffee.

In the year and a half since GPT 3.5, all AI art has been used for is memes and low-effort content farms. No one takes it seriously. The people selling it explicitly do not take it seriously as an art form, because they're not selling to art galleries, they're selling to people who need something cheap, quick and fast and don't really need quality.

This will not remain the same for long.

Put in the effort to add it to your resume. You may hate it now, but eventually it will be the difference between who gets to have an office job and who gets to draw porn for commissions. Which itself isn't a bad thing but being realistic, we can't have a furry porn based economy. At some point you need to actually start generating value. And you don't want to be the crusty old Gen X dude who "doesn't get computers" and refuses to learn Excel. That guy is out of a job the moment a millennial walks into the building. That's you in ten years if you don't grow some nads and learn to use the tools while they're free. Because that's not going to last much either.

the thing about ai art is that to most normal, not-overly-online people, its just a little internet gimmick for them to play around with, akin to flash games or funny videos. if you see someone trying it and you come into their inbox telling them they are a horrible person who wants to starve artists, without first explaining the hundred tumblr soundbites and mini culture wars youve immersed yourself in to get to that conclusion, they are probably going to think you are fucking insane

[jamessmoutphoto]

Des303 Blog Post Week 0005

The experience

What did I plan?

Compared to the previous few weeks, Week 5 was a relative break toward developing my craft. I had not planned much at all, as I had many other projects coming up and a backlog of photos to edit and sort out. I ended up just planning to shoot at the PhotoSoc light painting workshop, a fun event that would provide me a much desired opportunity for more creative liberty. As for classwork, I had to prepare for the practice crit sessions later week 5 before the real ones in week 6.

What happened?

Whilst I was helping run the workshop, the Light Painting/Photography event proved really fun to shoot where I could. I probably didn’t get as much time to explore different possibilities than I would have liked, however, I still managed to get some cool creative and abstract portraits.

I didn’t really have much preparation for this event, as I wanted to go in with an open mind, but I had done this type of photography twice before last year, so I knew generally what was involved and most of the technicalities required.

What's going on here is mainly two different techniques, you can either shoot at a more or less regular shutter speed, which will leave most things dark, but correctly expose the lights and what's being lit, so more or less you get a regular photo but with colourful and interesting lighting of the subject. Alternatively, you can lower your shutter speed, which will drag out any movement - either of the subject, or of the lighting, which can enable you to create interesting effects or patterns with the lighting itself (giving the name to ‘light painting’).

For the practice crit sessions, I had a brief discussion with my group regarding the direction of my developing craft. The general insights I gathered were that there was a potential risk of being too narrow focusing on photography and not having enough relation back to a design context. 

Reflection on action

What was I trying to achieve?

The purpose of using light photography isn’t just to create fun or unique photos - although that is often a significant reason - it can be used to evoke certain emotions or enhance the story you wish to communicate. Thus, my general aim going into this workshop, and for the purposes of developing my craft’s focus further was to focus on people as subjects, and using the lighting as a secondary device to add interest and depth to the subject, but not overpower it (ie its still a portrait first).

What went right or wrong and what were the consequences?

One challenge to shooting at the event was the lack of flexibility to try ideas and limited resources to create light effects/change the environment. There were quite a few people shooting at the event that it was difficult to pin on a subject or idea to shoot for longer than a minute or two before someone or something else would disrupt with a new thing or idea. This discouraged me to actually focus on a certain shot and get anything exactly how I wanted. Additionally, that day was particularly rainy, so we were confined to only the classroom space we had borrowed to shoot in. The room was far less than ideal, with chairs and tables and a healthy amount of light coming in (ideally light photography is very dark ambient light). Despite all this, I feel I was still able to shoot some cool shots that came somewhat near my expectations, though not exactly. (One happy accident example of a look I was more going for but wasn't able to pursue properly).

Theory

What have I learned?I think overall I would have really appreciated a more focused effort on this type of photography, where I could take more time to better translate my creative vision and ideas into the shots. Thus the key take away from this week's photographic endeavors is that it's important to begin with a somewhat rigid plan, and ensure to keep to a general idea or visualise a certain outcome if things go left field during shooting. Usually a couple good photographs are worth far more than a dozen decent shots in my opinion.

Coming out of the practice crit session, I gathered that perhaps I wasn’t considering design aspects and context enough in developing my craft, and perhaps I should pivot to less of a focus on photography itself, and more toward integrating photography in, for example, a brand campaign or something more within a design context of problem space -> ‘solution’. (I have since learned from the week 6 sessions that it is acceptable for me to focus on pure photography and portraiture for this course so at the time of writing, I know this insight isn’t as relevant anymore, but does show my thoughts and process of understanding the assignment).

How does this contribute to my broader understanding of visual communication?

At a broader level, I feel week 5’s progress has provided me with a greater understanding of what is required to produce good and intentional visual pieces. When there is less structure and more creative liberty, you can experiment with more things and technicalities to improve your skills, but you need to keep, or at least cultivate an idea or vision before, during and after you shoot if you wish to create certain shots or visual outcomes. There is merit in randomness or experimentation, however this cannot be relied upon necessarily. Thankfully this event was more for fun and experimentation, with no stakes or penalties, so in this regard, it did not matter.

Preparation

How will I apply my learnings in the future? Going forward, I would love to explore more creative and self directed projects, but ensure I do create and maintain a clear vision or goal when shooting to provide myself some structure and insurance that I will get at least some results with my time.

What do I want to try next?

One idea I have that I would love to try going forward is to plan an occasion to go out shooting, ideally with a subject (person) and deliberately aim to shoot in one specific style or mimic one specific photographer. I feel this would give me both good practice with the specific style/techniques and improve my ability to shoot according to more specific briefs or requests - something I feel is incredibly important for perfecting my craft, especially if my photography is to be integrated with other media/design elements for a wider project (e.g., brand campaign).

[harshaliblogs]

A no-code application that manages everything everywhere-HOICKO

 Remote work has highlighted an issue in the project management software. While a lot is happening, what is happening?

Trello is stacked with cards. JIRA has a tonne of problems. HOICKO the sight to the future. Monday is a beautiful day. The Asana flying unicorns A group of experienced project managers maintains each MS Project license.

Most of the technologies come within the project management and task tracking categories as a whole. The primary software support frequently decides on the best strategy and/or tool. These are the people who make the decisions that frequently affect how the company runs as a whole.

Do you want to manage your team with the best project management software?

The top project management software in India may provide you with a wealth of opportunities. So I suppose you're in the proper place.

Why is Hoicko.com the best option for every company?

Hoicko is comprehensive system software that enables teams to manage, track, and coordinate their projects with ease. With this no-code app, businesses may replace their current work administration techniques, such as Google Sheets and Excel, with a mobile and web-based job management solution. Hoicko acts as a safeguard that improves team collaboration on a single platform. It centralizes and plans projects from start to finish As a result, it serves as an on-demand software platform to assist businesses in efficiently planning and managing their work.

It allows users to create their views. With the best data management software, you can visualise your data. Hoicko is not industry-specific; thus, any business can build it.  Additionally, it offers pre-defined templates. It is a tool for project management. Both individuals and teams can utilise this to break up difficult jobs into doable ones.

The attributes of a no-code app are:

Automation: Utilising technology allows for the creation and delivery of goods and services with a minimum of human participation. Tasks that were formerly carried out by people can now be completed more quickly, consistently, and accurately thanks to automation. The manufacturing, transportation, defence, operational, and information technology sectors all use automation. Three different types of automation are provided by Hoicko.com: normal automation, recurring automation, and date automation. You can automate practically anything on the best project management application by simply clicking a few buttons. By enabling automation, you can easily and without coding design the ideal workflow for any team. Automation facilitates time-consuming tasks while maintaining a regular workflow.

Team management: Hoicko offers a practical and efficient solution that makes managing a team simpler. Problem-solving can be challenging when you work alone; as a result, having a team can make the process easier. The most effective team management tools, communication, and confidence among its members enable them to distribute responsibilities more successfully. When the right tasks are assigned to the right individuals based on their skills, time may be saved and productivity can be increased, allowing them to do more.

Deadline Reminders: Meeting deadlines is one of many important variables that go into a project's success. Even the concept of a "deadline" can create anxiety and a sense of urgency to complete tasks swiftly. However, this does not have to be the case. Time management is essential since it has an impact on the entire team if one member is running behind. To help with effective work management in India, HOICKO may send notifications and remind you of upcoming deadlines. To ensure that objectives are accomplished, it is sage to break them down into smaller tasks and assign them based on worker performance.

 Visualisation of data: Your data can be seen from several angles by using this platform. While working on a task, you can switch between the table view and any other view to gain more information. You can change your data into a KANBAN view, form, table, or calendar view as needed for a fresh take on the current work. It is possible to create a presentation that is tailored to the data by employing sorting, grouping, and filtration techniques.

Chats: This makes it simple for you to communicate with other people, including other team members. Calling is a possibility in this situation. It will be simple for you to update your buddy if you call them. Board chat provides a clear, simple user experience to make speaking comfortable and easy for everyone to use. We can talk to our team about the entire project and assignment. The chat feature on Hoicko, which uses the best project management software, enhances communication and speeds up work.

Hoicko.com is the best project management platform for you.

We appreciate that the best project management tool in India offers a free trial to help you decide. If you are still unsure or having trouble deciding for any other reason, sign up for a free trial at Hoicko.com to explore what it has to offer.

Sign up for our app at www.app.hoicko.com for more in-depth information.

Please visit our website at https://www.hoicko.com/

Call us at +91-7627029423 to get in touch with us.

[lpdsurveyspe]

How 3D Laser Scanning is Revolutionising Land Surveys in Perth

The world of land surveying is evolving, and 3D laser scanning is at the forefront of this transformation. For industries ranging from construction to urban planning, 3D laser scanning has become a game-changing tool, offering unmatched precision and efficiency. In Perth, this technology is gaining significant traction, providing surveyors with the ability to capture detailed and accurate data in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional methods. Let’s explore how 3D laser scanning is revolutionising land surveys in Perth and why it’s becoming a must-have tool for surveyors.

What is 3D Laser Scanning?

3D laser scanning is a process that uses laser beams to capture millions of data points, creating a detailed 3D model of a physical object or landscape. The laser scanner records precise measurements of the environment, creating a digital replica that can be used for analysis, planning, and decision-making. This technology is far more accurate than traditional methods, which rely on manual measurements and photographs.

The scanner captures everything in its path, from terrain features to buildings, with incredible detail. The result is a point cloud—a collection of data points that represent the exact shape and dimensions of the surveyed area. This data can be processed to create 3D models that help surveyors, engineers, and architects visualise the space in a way that was previously impossible.

Why 3D Laser Scanning is Gaining Popularity in Perth

The demand for more efficient and precise surveying methods has led to the widespread adoption of laser scanning in Perth. Traditional surveying methods often involve measuring distances, angles, and elevations manually, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. In contrast, 3D laser scanning provides a fast, accurate, and non-intrusive way to capture data, reducing the risk of mistakes and improving the overall quality of surveys.

For construction projects, having a detailed 3D model of the site can help engineers and architects make more informed decisions, ensuring that designs are feasible and aligned with the actual terrain. It also allows for better planning and coordination, reducing the chances of delays and unexpected costs during the construction phase.

The Benefits of 3D Laser Scanning for Land Surveys

One of the key advantages of 3D laser scanning survey Perth is the speed at which it can capture data. What would traditionally take days or even weeks to measure can now be done in a matter of hours. This not only speeds up the surveying process but also allows surveyors to cover larger areas more efficiently. For developers and property owners, this means quicker turnaround times and the ability to make faster decisions.

Another significant benefit is the accuracy of the data. With traditional methods, human error can lead to inaccurate measurements, which can cause problems down the line. With 3D scanning, the data is captured with pinpoint accuracy, ensuring that every measurement is precise.

The ability to capture complex and hard-to-reach areas is another reason why 3D scanning is so beneficial. Surveyors can use drones or other specialised equipment to access difficult locations, such as steep terrain or congested urban areas. This opens up new possibilities for surveying in Perth, where diverse topography and urban environments can present challenges.

How 3D Laser Scanning is Used in Land Surveys

In Perth, 3D scanning surveys are used in a variety of applications. For example, in construction, 3D scanning can be used to create as-built models of existing structures, allowing builders to plan renovations or extensions with a clear understanding of the site. In land development, it helps developers visualise the entire area, including natural features like hills, rivers, and vegetation, which can affect the design and layout of new developments.

Surveyors also use 3D laser scanning for monitoring changes over time. This is particularly useful for large-scale infrastructure projects or for areas prone to natural changes, like coastal regions.

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[mi6021tomberry]

Film Changes and Character Designs

After realising that I again couldn't go ahead with what I wanted to do I was back at the drawing board stuck in groundhog day. After my first rough storyboard with 2 hotdog men one of whom can shapeshift I really had nothing other than I wanted someone stuck in a lab being experimented on or something along those lines. Two characters what happens to them?

I thought I could still have a go using a proper rig and thought about having a shapeshifting oddball pet picked out from a pet store like Lilo and Stitch but I was done trying to force a "professional rig" into the film and went back to watching shorts.

I watched a bunch of short animations which centred around 2ish characters to try and figure out the tone of the animation that I wanted. I really like the way Geri's Game flips things on its head by using the same old man playing against himself in chess and thought I could have my shapeshifting morph character doing something similar in an interrogation room.

I typed out a rough premise going along these lines but I wasn't really too happy with where it was going, something again just felt off or forced and I wasn't enjoying it. I liked the setting and the character dynamics with the policemen, deputy and the criminal in my head but I couldn't put my finger on a simple storyline because I kept trying too hard to make things "right".

I had this scene in the back of my mind when I was thinking about the guard on duty slowly nodding off when considering how I can push that.

From this I did some drawing to figure out what these characters might look like, the early ones being closer to my character moodboard but I started to stray further and went with simpler shapes which I still liked from the hotdog characters I drew in my earlier storyboard. So far I like the three in the middle of the final page above, I added the noses on in pencil and I think I'll just add them in where necessary. I'm planning on keeping the characters simple enough so that clothing doesn't hinder the range of motion of my characters as it has in the podcast module.

I still couldn't quite figure out where I wanted to go from my ideas, I just knew that I wanted some sort of a dynamic between the policemen like these two from gravity falls.

Gravity Falls creator (Alex Hirsch) student films.

I had a look at some police academy footage to get a feel for the tone of policemen which I could implement into the characters.

Here's the concept in rough after a long time changing ideas I have something pretty simple to go ahead with now, the parts that I'm going to enjoy will come from the visualisation of this idea especially in the way in which I push the expression and movements of the characters. It's a simple enough basis to expand upon and explore visually through character animation which is what I was I've been hoping to develop as a priority, I want to apply the morph experiments to creating elasticity of expression in my characters rather than having a shapeshifter I want to create simple characters malleable enough to shift between exaggerated expressive faces using blend shapes and/or rigging.

This is Stephen Hillenburg's student film which is great, a very simple premise emphasising storytelling and expression over realism, it's this sort of tone that I'm aiming for.

All I have to start making now are these locations and these characters. I only have a limited amount of time so making this many characters and locations could be difficult which is why I'm going to keep them all very simple, no large characters with clothes that clip and cause issues non stop and break every time they move. All of the will be simple bodies with a few accessories to add some gist of what each of them are like.

Some rough ideas of actions/effects that I want to include if possible.