#while this Specific case was more collectively run and only solved bc it was so recent he could be ID’d by family

[enderspawn]

i know that interest in true crime, ESPECIALLY when it comes to unsolved shit, has a lot of faults, but there’s something incredibly endearing and human in the cases of unidentified people/bodies

like i remember watching this video essay about “the grateful doe”, a john doe body from the 90s which, due to ppl sharing what they had/knew online and having this Dedicated Community to finding his identity, finally got identified after 20 years

the part that sticks w me from that video tho was the poster that was made and spread, bc it started “can you help give him back his name?” and like. idk man that fucking sticks with me. it’s so painfully human, to want to identify this guy not just for any living family but for him. because he deserves to die known and with his own identity. they’re doing this for him, to give him back something of his own one last time, even if it doesn’t actually matter any because he’s long gone. like. that’s the inherent human goodness, actually.

edit: if anyone’s interested, I’m p sure this was the video in particular

[queen-scribbles]

The Long-Burning Torch

For the @shepherds-of-haven​ Shepherds Summer event, the Ryn/Red muses latched onto 20′s Detective AU and would not let go. I’ve gone so deep down this rabbit hole there’s gonna be chapters, but the first piece works as a standalone. (title might change along the way, again bc chapters)

----

There were, in Xaeryn’s experience, two types of people who made use of her services. Both were driven by desperation, both tended to hit her doorstep late in the day. There were the belligerent ones, incensed they had to stoop to hiring her, a Mage, to solve their problem. From them she had to pull the pertinent facts of their case one begrudging sentences at a time. And there were the frantic ones, who had exhausted every other route and she was their last chance. Details poured so freely from them she had to pick through it to find what was actually relevant to the case.

The young man standing before her now, at the start of her day, appeared to fit neither of those groups. He’d knocked and entered without awaiting an invitation, seeming unperturbed by the eyebrow she arched at his arrival.

“May I help you?” Xaeryn asked, leaning forward to rest folded hands on her desk.

He shifted to fold his own hands over the head of a walking stick she’d wager he didn’t actually need and smiled dryly. “If your reputation is anything to go by, Miss Shrike, I certainly expect so.”

She gestured to the chairs in front of the desk. “Let’s find out, Mr...?”

“Riel Syndran,” he said, passing her a business card as he took the offered seat.

The card was hardly necessary, and Xaeryn set it on the desk with only a passing glance. “You run Whitestone Couriers, don’t you?”

There was the faintest twitch on the left side of his jaw. “The company is a guild venture.”

“And I wouldn’t be much of a snooper if I couldn’t figure out who truly ran a company as vital to the city of Haven as Whitestone Couriers, Mr. Syndran.”

He gave her a sharp smile. “Very good. I knew coming to you first was the right call, Miss Shrike.”

“Flattered as I am by your confidence” --and she was; she was typically the last resort, being first was something of a novelty-- “why don’t you tell me what or who you need found, and we can discover if said confidence is warranted.”

“I’m certain it is,” Syndran said, his gaze briefly dropping to the Shrike Investigations placard on the edge of her desk. “But you are correct. To business.”

And business, as he explained it, ran thus: Whitestone Couriers had been contracted to transport a collection of artefacts, originally from all parts of Blest, from their previous temporary home at the Conte-by-the-Sea museum to Haven’s Hall of History and Culture.

”How well-known was your being contracted?” Xaeryn interjected.

“It was something of a secret,” Syndran replied, flicking invisible dust off his sleeve. “Some of the pieces are quite valuable, so it was largely in hopes of avoiding theft.”

Hopes that had proven vain. They’d had an uneventful journey--blessed with good weather, even--made it through city customs upon arriving at Haven (checked everything after making it through and found nothing amiss), and proceeded to the museum. Upon unpacking the artefacts, however, it was discovered one was missing.

(Of course.)

The missing piece--an obsidian and bronze pendent thought to belong to a ruler in the Jalis desert pre-Autarchy--had limited monetary value, especially compared to some of the other items in the collection. (Those, of course, had been more closely watched.) Its worth was largely historical and religious.

“Enchantments?”

“None so far as we know.”

“I’ll look into it for you,” Xaeryn said with a nod. She loved mind-twisters like this. “I’ll need to talk to your people, as well as the museum staff, so it would be helpful if you let them know I’m coming. Otherwise my kind” --a twitch of her fingers set energy dancing above them briefly-- “aren’t usually given the time of day.”

“Of course. I shall do so.” Syndran stood and bowed. “I thank you for taking my case, Miss Shrike, and look forward to your success.”

“Two things, Mr. Syndran,” she spoke up as he turned toward the door. She waited until he paused and looked back to continue. “I will, of course, endeavor to find this relic on my own, but should I require an expert’s... knowledge of its history, say, is outside help acceptable?”

His nose wrinkled briefly. “If you must. But as few others as possible, and only those you trust to keep it in strictest confidence.”

“Understood.”

“And the second thing, Miss Shrike?”

She smiled. “One third estimated payment is due upfront.”

“Oh, obviously.” He returned the smile and pulled out his checkbook.

----

She made some good progress between that afternoon and the next day. Interviews with the caravan guards and those responsible for the artefact collection gave insight to their procedures--which were indeed top-notch; it was impressive someone had managed to find a weakness--and how long the pieces were out of their sight coming through city customs.

“Don’t see why that matters,” the pink-haired courier who’d been in charge of the caravan commented. “We checked them all when we got through; made sure everything was still there. Standard procedure.”

“When you say you checked, is this a thorough examination or just a glance to make sure it’s still there?” Xaeryn asked, glancing at the notepad balanced on her knee.

“There’s no fine-tooth comb involved,” came the somewhat tart and harried reply, “but we do look to confirm it’s there and undamaged so nothing undeserved can later be blamed on us. The company has a sterling reputation for a reason, Miss Shrike, and the guild would very much like to keep it that way.”

“Hence your boss coming to me instead of the police.” Xaeryn tapped her pen against her chin and skimmed over her notes. “I think I have everything I need, Miss Aerin. Thank you for your time.”

Aerin gave a sharp nod. “Of course. Anything to get this cleared up and the artefact found as quickly as possible.” She flicked a worried glance toward the notebook as Xaeryn slipped it in her handbag. “How much did you write down? A lot of our procedures are trade secrets; if someone should see...”

Xaeryn laughed and withdrew the notepad again, flipping it open to show the other woman the symbols that filled the pages. “Never fear, your secrets are safe with me. An added bonus of my own shorthand; no one else can read my notes.”

“Smart.” A brief hesitation. “No one? You’re sure?”

“Well, perhaps the friend who helped develop it initially, but I’ve tweaked it since then.” She flipped the pad closed and stowed it in her bag. “I think it would take a little work even for him. We worked it out to take faster notes in class, but taking faster notes also come in handy in my line of work.”

Aerin relaxed and nodded again. “I’m sure it does. Thank you for the reassurance, Miss Shrike.”

“Of course. Have a good day.”

“You as well.”

With the last of the days’ intended interviews behind her, Xaeryn headed back to her office. Now to review what she’d learned from all the sources together. She was confident she had plenty to give herself at least a couple leads worth pursuing, even if there wasn’t enough for a scry.

---

It took a day and a half of running herself off her feet for Xaeryn to burn through the leads she’d found without much to show for it. She’d been unable to track down the specific guard who checked that portion of the shipment, but his supervisor assured her such an important collection would have been treated with utmost care, seeming miffed at the insinuation otherwise. None of the drivers or other courier employees had noticed anything unusual once they passed through customs, no interruptions or suspicious folks in the streets.

Even scrying had fizzled out without so much as a vague semblance of where it might be.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Xaeryn dug her fingers into her short hair and glowered at the photographs of the pendent Mr. Syndran had given her. It was so small. So easily concealed. And so simple it would hardly draw attention unless you knew what it was.

She’d been forced to grudgingly admit her minimal progress to Mr. Syndran when he called for an update and it had her in a foul mood. This sort of baloney was not how she kept the lights on. It was time for a new tack.

If she couldn’t (yet) trace where the pendent vanished from, perhaps it would work better to learn more about it; figure where it might be going and get a solid enough knowledge of it she could successfully scry its location. Who would want it badly enough for the hassle of stealing from Whitestone Couriers to be worth their while? Looking into the pendent’s history and provenance seemed the next logical course. Just because Mr. Syndran had told her it was on loan to the collection from the “proper” owners did not mean said owners had told him everything, or indeed, that they’d told the truth. She needed an expert and knew just where to find one.

It had been long enough since her time at Solhadur Academy Xaeryn actually had to look up the telephone number before calling. As she listened to the line ringing, she wondered absently how much of a gentle scolding Headmaster Tevanti would give her for her first contact in more than a decade being to ask for something rather than merely catching up. She’d always been the type not to bother people unless she had to. That was, after all, what she preferred. And her self-reliance had carried her through quite a bit. But she was aware most people would differ from her on that point; Tevanti especially was fond of jawing, so he would surely have words for her long silence.

She let it go to ten rings before giving up. Revelation came with a glance at the clock; it was late enough there was likely no one around to answer. No matter. She could drive out tomorrow. The Academy was in Capra, that wasn’t terribly far. (Not for business, anyway.) Headmaster Tevanti wouldn’t mind one of his favorite students dropping in for an hour or so to discuss a relic from one of his favorite historical periods. She’d even engage in small talk, if he wanted.

Xaeryn smiled to herself and locked both the photographs and her notepad in one of the desk drawers. If that was her plan for tomorrow, she should turn in early, make sure she was well-rested. Time for a trip down memory lane.

---

The morning was uneventful, aside from the troublesome discovery she’d left her office unlocked all night. She was normally more attentive than that, even being on a higher floor. But nothing was disturbed or missing, so Xaeryn shrugged it off and got on with her day.

If she selected her wardrobe with a more critical eye than usual, well, she wanted to look professional. Headmaster Tevanti had been a wonderful mentor, and she wanted to show how far his encouragements about using her bright mind and sharp eye had carried her.

(She wondered, briefly, as she pulled on the royal blue skirt and its matching blouse, accented in deep golden-yellow, if she would see any other familiar faces. But she shook off the warmth of the thought; they’d all scattered to the winds after graduation. Getting to see Tevanti would be enough.)

Satisfied with her ensemble, and needing to fill some time before she left, Xaeryn sat at her desk with her notepad and transcribed everything she knew about the missing pendent(not much), along with questions to ask. She picked out the best of the photographs from Mr. Syndran, just in case, and sighed as she looked at the clock. She’d still be a tad early for it to be polite, especially just dropping in out of the blue, if she left now.

So I’ll drive at a leisurely pace, she argued to herself. Take my time. Allowing a buffer in case there’s trouble along the way is only wise. God in heaven, she wished she could figure why she had worse jitters about this than some dates she’d gone on. “Oh, this is ridiculous,” she muttered to the empty office.

She locked the remaining photographs back in her desk, slipped the chosen one and her notepad in her handbag. After a moment’s internal debate, she slipped one of her stiletto knives down in her boot as well. Solhadur was far from dangerous, but it was prudent to have some measure of protection when traveling alone. She grabbed a hat on her way out the door--which she made certain to lock this time--and had it securely on her head by the time she reached the car.

----

Despite her efforts to make it a leisurely drive out to Capra, and weather that was perfect for that goal, Xaeryn still found herself standing in the entrance hall of Solhadur Academy at an earlier hour than would usually be considered polite for impromptu business meetings. She debated walking the grounds for a while, revisiting some memories from her time here, but decided simply apologizing for her early arrival was the better course of action.

With a final steadying breath and running one hand down her blouse and skirt to chase away wrinkles, Xaeryn headed for the reception desk. She smiled at the young woman behind it. “Good morning.”

The receptionist blinked, seeming mildly taken aback by how far up she had to look to meet her visitor’s eyes. “Morning, miss. Office hours don’t start until ten-”

“Oh, I’m not a student here,” Xaeryn said with a laugh. “At least, not anymore. And I do apologize for the early appearance, the drive out went much faster than anticipated.”

A brow twitched at that. “And what is it that brings you to Solhadur, miss...?”

“I’m doing research on a selection of artefacts and haven’t been able to turn up much on one.” It was barely a lie; she had read a bit on the other exhibition pieces, even if the pendent was the only one she needed to go deeper. “It’s from a period I know is of particular interest to the headmaster, so I was hoping to speak to him for a while, see if he could help.”

The receptionist pursed her lips. “Former student, you say?”

Xaeryn nodded. “If he’s busy first thing, I don’t mind waiting.”

““No, actually, being early is smart,” the receptionist said with a light laugh. “His hours are more full at the later end of things. This would be the best opportunity if you want some of his time.” She glanced over Xaeryn once more, then nodded. “You can go up. Third door--”

“On the left. I remember,” Xaeryn finished. “Thank you.”

“You might actually beat him there,” the receptionist laughed. “He isn’t always punctual.”

“I remember that, too,” Xaeryn returned with a grin. “Like I said, I don’t mind waiting. It’ll be good to see him again, few more minutes won’t hurt.” She toyed with one of her earrings as she headed up the stairs, steps lingering and heavy with nostalgia.

It was almost exactly as she remembered. A few portraits replaced or rearranged, new photographs from after she left. New name placards outside the doors she passed. The headmaster’s office door was closed, and a light inquiring rap of her knuckles brought no response.

Looks like she was right, Xaeryn thought with a smile, leaning against the chair outside the office to wait. Her gaze drifted to the high ceiling, following the details of familiar carvings to the scenes painted on the ceiling itself. Slightly faded from what she remembered, but that was to be expected after a decade--

“Xaeryn?!” The voice, still familiar even after years apart, sounded like he’d seen a ghost.

Her heart lurched in her chest and she’d spun around before the impulse to do so had even fully registered, his name tumbling from her lips unprompted in return. “Red?!”

He crossed the remaining distance between them in just a few strides(God, he’d gotten taller, how was that even possible?), barely remembered to set the books he carried on the chair before wrapping her in a hug.

Xaeryn didn’t even flinch, and only just managed to keep her grip on her handbag as she hugged him back. He still smelled of old books and ink and sunshine and she smiled at the memories it stirred.

Liefred Antiqua, her seatmate in any classes they shared and best friend regardless of how many they didn’t for the entirely of her time at Solhadur. Friendly, charming, and just as fond of books as he was people. (The nights they’d spent pressed shoulder to shoulder reading in the library were still among her favorite memories.) Between his warm nature and classic good looks, he’d had half the student body swooning  after him, and yet despite the sharp contrast to Xaeryn’s more reserved and self-reliant bent, they’d still spent most of their time together. Their friendship was the strongest of the few she’d formed at Solhadur, and Xaeryn valued it immensely.

(Too much to risk on anything like admitting when the sight of his smile sent something that was definitely not friendship fluttering in her chest. It was just a crush, it would go away.)

( And then it didn’t.)

They’d both had plans to travel after graduation, and she couldn’t count on all her fingers combined the number of times she’d almost suggested they do it together. But in this one thing, she never could quite summon the nerve. And before she knew it, her departure date had arrived and they were hugging farewell, and come with me wouldn’t unstick from her throat. After a few months’ silence stretched between them--both traveling and unsure where the other might be, obviously--she’d resigned herself to their paths never crossing again, much as the thought hurt.

And yet here he was.

All the memories flew through her mind in the few seconds their hug lasted, and had a lump starting in her throat by the time they parted.

“Wonderful as it is to see you,” Red began as he stepped back to reclaim his books and run a glance over her, “what are you doing here?”

Xaeryn cleared her throat as she returned the apprising glance with one of her own. He still looked practically the same. A few inches taller, shoulders a bit more broad, and an attempt had been made to tame his bright red hair. It had only achieved partial success, and combined with the warm glint in his green eyes, he still was the same Red she knew. (The same Red she’d been more than a little in love with, even if she’d never dared the risk of admitting it.)

“I’m doing research,” she said, reaching up to tug the back brim of her hat as she glanced at the office door. “Into some artefacts. I wanted to ask Headmaster Tevanti about one in particular that’s being difficult.”

Red grimaced and fumbled his books. “Did you not hear, Xaer?” His voice went soft on the nickname, despite them being alone. Voices did carry in these halls, as they very well knew. “Tevanti died.”

She blinked, shock and sorrow curling in her chest. “Wh- How? When?”

“Not long after you left, actually,” he said, raking his free hand through his hair and tousling it out of respectability. “You know he’d been having problems with his heart. It gave out a few months after you left.” His brow furrowed. “I’m surprised you weren’t told when you set an appointment.”

“I didn’t so much set an appointment as show up looking to talk,” Xaeryn admitted with a soft, wry snort. “And I did simply say the headmaster when speaking to the receptionist.” She cocked her head. “Who would that be, now?”

Red smiled sheepishly, half-bit his lower lip. “Me, actually.” He shifted the books to one arm and opened the office door. Slightly nonplussed by two such major revelations in a row, Xaeryn was silent as she followed him in.

“I thought you wanted to travel,” was the first thought to pop in her head and then out her mouth as she looked around the office. It was spacious, lined with jam-packed bookshelves(He must be in heaven), and in a state of... corralled disarray that was so very Red it made her smile despite the news about Tevanti.

“I did,” Red replied, setting the books on his desk. “And I got to, at least a bit.” He tucked a handful of papers inside an open tome occupying one of the chairs, flipped the book closed, and set it on a side table so he could offer her a seat.  “I’d already left when he passed, so Professor Rumi and some others kept things going until I got back.” Rather than sit in the chair behind the desk, he shuffled a small stack of books onto the floor and sat in the one next to Xaeryn’s as he continued. “He’d... wanted me as his successor, Xaeryn.”

“That makes sense.” The words were out  before she could weigh them, spurred by the disbelief in his hesitation. “You’re brilliant, charming, and have a history with the school.” Her face warmed in the wake of being so candid, and Xaeryn glanced over at the large painting of Tevanti that hung on the wall between two bookshelves. He knew what he was doing. “You’re a logical choice.”

Red laughed warmly. “High praise from the smartest student in our class.”

“But far from the most charming,” she countered with a wry smile.

The warmth of his gaze didn’t abate. “I’ve always appreciated your-”

“Bluntness?”

“Straight-forwardness,” Red substituted, and was smiling when she looked his way. “An ability to cut to the heart of the subject is an invaluable skill.”

Xaeryn gave a faint shake of her head. “As is your kindness. But speaking of the heart of the matter...”

“Ah, right. You came here for a reason.” He pushed his unbuttoned shirtsleeves up toward his elbows. “I can’t promise to know as much as Tevanti would have, but I’ll certainly do my best to help.”

“Actually...” She snapped open her handbag to pull out the photograph and her notepad. “You’ve done a lot of research on pre-Autarchy history, so you might be able to help more than you think.” She set the photograph on the desk and Red cocked his head to look at it.

“Solimer’s torch...” he murmured, turning the photograph for a better look as his gaze gained that focus of a niche interest being whetted. (Which, for Red, meant she was about to hear everything he knew about the pendent’s history in too much detail to called a summary, and Xaeryn found herself leaning forward slightly in anticipation.) He glanced up at her. “Isn’t this one of the pieces in that exhibit about to open in Haven?”

She nodded. “That’s why I’m researching it.” She bit her lip but barely hesitated on the gamble of her next words. ‘Those you trust’, Mr. Syndran had said, and there was no one she trusted more than Liefred Antiqua. “It was stolen, and I was hired to find.”

His head came up, derailed from the growing ramble on the pendent’s history.  “Oh?”

“I’m a detective,” Xaeryn said, playing with one of her earrings. She laughed softly. “Scrying does give a considerable leg up to finding things. Or people. But that only works when--”

“You know enough about them,” Red nodded. “So this visit is for business, rather than personal.”

“Mostly, yes,” she conceded, resting one hand on his knee. I didn’t know you’d be here.  “But I was more than willing to chat with Tevanti” --there was a pang in her chest--”which most definitely extends to you as well, Headmaster Antiqua.”

His neck and ears went faintly pink as he laughed. “Surely we don’t need to be quite so formal, Detective Shrike?”

“Just ‘Miss’,” she returned with a laugh of her own, withdrawing her hand to instead fiddle with her notepad. “I work for myself, not the cops.” There might’ve been a little pride in her voice at the words, but it was well-earned.

“I thought you wanted to travel,” Red said, turning her own remark back on her.

“And travel I did,” Xaeryn said lightly. “For quite a while, even. But a girl does need a job eventually, and I’ve always loved a good mystery.”

“Or even a bad one,” he teased. “All kidding aside, Miss Shrike, I’m sure you’re a brilliant investigator.”

She smiled, chuckling at the playful glint in his eye even as her ears warmed at the praise. “Thank you. And on that note, what can you tell me about the pendent?”

“Right, right. You’re here on business.” Amusement lingered in Red’s eyes even as he turned back to the photograph. His sleeves started to slide and he shoved them back up again. Xaeryn very deliberately kept her focus on the photograph, not his arms--or hands--as he tapped one finger at the center of the obsidian pendent. “This was a protection...  charm, I suppose you’d call it, worn by the head of the Solimer tribe ages ago. Literal ages. Without refreshing my memory, all I can tell you is they were one of the few tribes whose wanderings regularly took them through the heart of the Jalis desert, and yet they always fared better on those journeys than the other tribes, which was credited to this pendent.”

“So it is magical?” Xaeryn leaned closer to look over the piece again, not that a photograph could do it full justice. This was a familiar position; the two of them bent over a shared project, and she hadn’t realized how much she missed it until that moment.

“Possibly?” Red shifted and his shoulder bumped hers. “ The story goes that on their first attempt to journey through, they saw a light, like a torch, keeping pace with them. It only showed up at night, and seemed far enough away from their caravan the chief felt it was too dangerous to let anyone go after it to see what it was. Their wariness at its presence, however, kept them vigilant enough they were able to see and fend off any wild animals that came after them, and it did nothing except travel their same path, so they let it be. 

“A couple weeks into their journey, as their supplies were starting to run low, the chieftain’s wife was out hunting and strayed far enough in search of food that the sun started setting while she was out. As the skies grew dim she could see the Torch, much larger than they usually did from the caravan, though it was floating away. Seized by good old-fashioned curiosity” --he paused to wink at her and Xaeryn bit back a smile-- “she followed the light rather than work her way back to camp. She kept after it long enough night had nearly fallen when it crested a ridge and disappeared. She hastened after it, and when she made it over the ridge, found herself standing by a waterspring the likes of which they’d never seen. When she looked around for the light she’d followed, there was no sign of it, save a black rock that lay at her feet. There were no other rocks anywhere nearby, so she decided this must be what had caused the torch-like light her tribe had seen. 

“She carried it with her when she returned to the tribe with news of water, and the Solimer took it as a sign of the gods’ favor. The chieftain had it bound in bronze” --he traced a finger along the lines of the coiled setting-- “to be worn as a way to hold that favor. It was passed from leader to leader and from all accounts they had far better luck surviving the desert than the other tribes for a long time.”

“Was that not likely just them knowing better how to handle themselves? If they traveled those portions of the desert more frequently, of course they were better prepared.”

“Maybe.” Red shrugged. “We have no firsthand written records from any of these tribes, just legends and history relayed orally. And a lot of the second-hand ones were... lost when the Autarchy came to power. From the way the stories run, after generation of favor from the pendent, it was lost when the Solimer were defeated in a skirmish over resources with another tribe. Their next several trips went so poorly it cost over half their number, and they wound up assimilated into other tribes within the next couple decades just to survive.”

“Sad,” Xaeryn murmured, though she wondered if the pendent’s loss had become a self-fulfilling prophecy if they believed in it that strongly. “And what happened to the pendent after that?”

“That’s all I know off the top of my head,” Red said sheepishly as he sat back, running a hand through his hair. “Anything more I’d have to research. To refresh my memory.”

“Oh, that’s all? Tsk, tsk, Liefred, you’re slipping,” she teased, then snorted a wry chuckle. “Of course, it’s more than I had.” She showed him the scant lines on a single page of her small notepad.

Red smiled at the sight of the shorthand and let the playful ribbing slide as he ran a finger over the page. “You tweaked it.”

“A bit, to make it jive better with detective work.” Xaeryn tucked the pad back in her handbag. She’d been so caught up listening to him talk she’d not taken a single note. “I’m certain you could work it out with a little time.”

“Oh, time-” Red’s gaze flew to the clock at the same moment there was a knock and muffled “Headmaster?” at the door. “Damn. Forgot I have a meeting.” He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Tribulations of being in charge. Just a minute!” he called toward the door, then, to Xaeryn, “I can look into this more in my free time, if you’d like.”

What free time? she almost asked, looking at the stacks of books and papers everywhere. But she swallowed that in favor of, “That would be lovely, thank you so much.”

“Any specific information you need?” Red asked as they stood.

“Anything you can find is welcome, but specifically.... What happened to the pendent after the Solimer lost it, who would have claim of ownership, if ownership is contested... anything like that. I want to find it, but part of that may very well lie in figuring out who would have most reason to steal it in the first place.” Xaeryn pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “So I don’t wind up nagging you,” she laughed. “You can call when you find something. The telephone’s in my office, but I live adjacent, so I’ll always hear it.”

Red nodded and slipped the card in his pocket. “I’ll try not to take too long.”

“Much appreciated. Also...” She grimaced slightly. “This is something of a secret; the Couriers don’t want it being common knowledge.”

“Understandable,” he said as they started toward the door. “Oh, don’t you need this?” He reached back for the photograph and held it out to her.

“Yes, thanks.” Xaeryn smiled and tried not to let the flutter in her chest when their fingers brushed as she took it gain purchase. She slipped the photograph back in her handbag as Red opened the door. Given the student waiting in the hall, she was the picture of professionalism--aside from the twinkle in her eye--as she nodded farewell. “Thank you for your time, Headmaster.”

Several things flashed through Red’s eyes, the brief desire to strangle her, a loud burst of laughter, an eyeroll, but he settled on a warm smile, wide enough his dimples just started to show. “Happy to help, Miss Shrike.”

She was still fighting a grin as she turned to descend the stairs, heart practically singing with warmth. Of all the lovely surprises... Regardless of whether she succeeded or failed, this case was already among the most worthwhile she’d ever taken, simply for bringing him back into her life.

[februaryberries]

Study (?) tips that you don’t see on every study post

Hi gamers, I just finished my first year at college/university!!

This year was really a struggle for me because I was trying to get the help I needed for my mental health, and I did not succeed until literally the week before finals spring term. I just got diagnosed w ADHD and put on meds (thank god) and I’m excited for the next year to come.

Though this year was absolutely grueling I did discover some little tips that can really help ! This is coming from my experience w ADHD but it could relate to other neurodiverse learners as well ! Even if you are neurotypical some of these might help !! 

This post got really long so I’m gonna put it under the cut but, main Idea is bolded w a more in depth explanation underneath ( for those like me who see a block of text and go running)

In no particular order:

If you can/are up for it take a class before noon even if you are not a morning person. I am NOT saying take an 8am when u regularly go to bed at 4am! Bc that is dumb bb pls get some sleep. In my experience once I go to class my brain is like “oh things are happening now, it is actually a day and not just existing in a timeless hellscape.”

Once I am out of bed/out of my room I am at least mildly more productive for the rest of the day. Going to a class before noon means you are up and doing things for the day and early enough that you still have light. This ties into the next one

Start while it’s still light out!! At least for me I gain so much happiness from natural light/sunlight, and it is very hard for me to do things let alone START things once it’s dark out because my brain is like nope the day is over now. Plus in the fall/winter days days are getting shorter and shorter so it’s important to make use of as much daylight as you can. I feel like a plant w how much I rely on light to survive but it really does help! 

Put on ‘Real People’ clothes. This is something that really helps me, even if it’s just like, jeans and a turtleneck, maybe tucked in w a belt. I’ve found that when I put on academic-y clothes or like Adult clothes it helps me switch my brain into school mode. It’s kinda like putting on a uniform for work? If I’m in too loose of clothes or like pyjamas for example, I’m much less likely to be able to switch my brain into productive mode. For me especially its when i’m wearing tighter clothing rather than baggy ones? Like i said a turtleneck which like the sleeves are fitted to my arms, and jeans or pants that are fitted to my legs. I think it helps because it makes me more aware of my body in the space? Idk.  figure out what real people clothes feel like to you, and then have a couple of go to outfits you can slip on when you’ve been in a hoodie and sweatpants all day and really need to get some work done. 

On that note, put on shoes. For me along w the tight clothing, I do better in shoes, specifically ones that lace up and can be tight. Like hightop converse, or boots, or even dress shoes w laces. I think in a way my body needs to be contained so I can focus on something? I’m not sure why I feel like that but i’ve learned to work w it. Putting on shoes for me helps because

1. I’m not distracted by what I’m putting my bare feet on (i cannot stand wearing socks unless im wearing shoes so yes bare feet)

2. I’m not getting distracted by my floor n the fact that hey maybe i should sweep bc there are some crumbs sticking to my feet now.

And 3. You put on shoes when you are going to go outside and go somewhere. It’s like putting pyjamas on to go to bed, you’re brain associates those items with doing something, so putting on shoes can signal to your brain hey we are doing something now, and that something is work.

Talk to your teachers !! I understand sometimes you have a teacher from hell and honestly idk what to tell you at that point but in  a lot of cases teachers can be very understanding !! The amount of support I’ve gotten from my teachers this year is absolutely insane and 100% the only thing that made it so I didn’t get kicked out of college. Like reaching out to your teachers shows that you care! if you have to take a mental health day sometimes let them know !! i would always let my teacher know that I really wanted to be in class but I just couldn’t handle it that day. They also can help connect you to resources you didn’t know about ! 

Look into what resources your school has !! I was talking about how next year is gonna go now that I’ve been diagnosed and such with my friend, and how I was gonna contact the DRC (disability resource center) and she didn’t know you could get support for having ADHD!! Like I know you can get extensions on due dates, attendance forgiveness, and even potentially note taking assistance when you have ADHD and talk to them. even if you are medicated it doesn’t 100% solve everything and there are still ways to get support! Whether its study groups, writing centers/support, tutoring, or even contacting your drc or whatever your school has, it can really help!! I’m definitely going to take advantage of these resources if I can next year ! 

Find a place outside you can go to clear your head (or have a mental breakdown) 

I can’t even begin to count the amount of times i’ve been freaking out over something or stressed out of my mind and my room started to feel to stuffy and claustrophobic and i just needed to get OUT. try to make sure it’s somewhere safe and close that you can go to even at night. (maybe try to shoot a text to your best friend that you’re out and if you don’t let them know you’re home by a certain time to start raising alarm, your safety is the most important) I tend to like to be up high because i’m further away from people, and the streets and I’m closer to the sky.

My go to thinking/breakdown spot is the roof of the parking garage a block away. It has stairs that are easy access and the top levels are usually empty even during the day. It really helps me to just go out and listen to music and collect my thoughts sometimes. My head can start going a million directions at lightspeed and I need to stop and be present, and being outside helps. It’s a good way to regroup.

Spend 10 minutes picking up your desk/work space. I tend to let my room get cluttered and messy and out of control a lot, to the point where I know it’s going to take at least a couple hours to get it clean again. It is also hard to focus when you’re in a messy environment. I would stress myself out and be like “well i HAVE to clean my whole room because I can’t focus if my space isnt clean I cant start until I clean” and then I would put all of my productive energy into cleaning, and get maybe halfway done before burning out and going to bed.

You’re never going to get any work done if you keep in this mindset. So instead just spend 10 minutes picking up the garbage off your desk, put the dishes in the kitchen, and put things back in their place. Then you will have enough space to work on your assignment and that space will be free of clutter so it won’t be as stressful. 

DRINK WATER DRINK WATER DRINK WATER

Have a water bottle in front of you when you’re studying/in class. I get fidgety a lot when i’m in class/studying (thank u adhd) and so having a water bottle is a way for me to fidget I guess? Depending on the water bottle, you have little steps you have to do to drink that help u fidget,

for example: pick it up, take off the lid, drink, put the lid back on, set it down.

Or pick up, push button that opens drink hole (?), set back down.

When I have a water bottle on my desk it satisfies my need to do something with my body and comes with the bonus of staying hydrated, without me having to lose focus doing something else. Also you won’t get distracted by a sore throat or the realization that you are really thirsty.

Pay attention to why you’re not paying attention. Not everything that works for me is going to work for you, so you have to figure out what works for you. I started to notice that I would be uncomfortable or feel funny working when I was in baggy clothes and that helped me figure out I needed to wear real people clothes. If you find yourself getting distracted, take note of what is distracting you. maybe try literally making a list of things that distract you, so then you can identify patterns and how to combat them !

That’s all I have for now, I hope some of these could maybe help? All of these have helped me actually complete an assignment occasionally, and somehow keep my ass in college. I just want to say that my experience is my own and things that work for me aren’t going to work on every one. college can be really tough, especially your first year when you’re trying to figure everything out. I may not have all the answers but feel free to shoot me a message!! i’m here for you if you want to ramble about an assignment you’re fed up with or a teacher you hate or anything thats bothering you !! Everyone’s college (and life) experience is different so don’t feel bad if yours doesn’t look the same as the people around you ! Remember to take care of yourselves !!!

Have a good day :)

[prongsmydeer]

Ayesha Liveblogs Oh My Ghost (2018) Ep. 9-16

Part 2 of this post because tumblr would not let me save anymore either because of the numerous images I’m commenting on or because of how many times I use the word H*rny 

Kaopoon is frustrated bc Real Jiw is now vibing with her new BF Sun while she is sitting sadly on a swing set [Alexa play Sadness and Sorrow]

Backtracking to the other kind of drama: Lieutenant Murder is finally going to murder someone on screen (specifically his fellow police officer) because Lieutenant Murder jumped him for getting too close to solving Nammoon's hit-and-run case, which is at this point obvious he committed)

I love when Sun and Jiw flirt through their apartment wall

Jiw and Sun are dating now but the remaining point of contention is how much Horny Ghost just wants them to sleep together instead of getting to know each other to which Sun thinks “Jiw do u only want me for my body 😔?”

I can't believe that Lieutenant Murder's tragic backstory is that he was an orphan oh my god. Adoption is normal!! Murder is not!!

Lieutenant Murder was possessed by an evil spirit????? (After the first time he tried to murder????) WHAT WHAT WHAT

Sous Chef Rain is yelling at the restaurant staff bc of forgetting his birthday, bc he is, truly, a perennial pain in the ass

They are all out for Rain's birthday except for Sun bc of his and Jiw (Kaopoon)'s sex fight and so he is very anxious about his girlfriend being out with The Guys without him

Also Study-Abroad Win is handsome to the point of distraction AND nice  where is his romance? Where is the justice for the male models of the world

Sun's Mom does not know he is Dating and Housing his employee possessed by a Horny Ghost He Thinks is One Facet of Her Personality

Presented without commentary:

Win has been politely pretending not to notice that Sun and Jiw are in a relationship and now I'm thinking he will get a romance and it will be Ida, to wrap up most of the loose ends of this relationship pentagon. Based on no other reason than that they are both single

Dkjhgkjgh lmao @ Sun going to his whole staff: “WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE MARKET?” and then saying no to everyone one by one except his girlfriend

Kaopoon is making Sun help her dad install a restaurant hose in the middle of their work day hahaha

FINALLY PROOF THAT LIEUTENANT MURDER IS A MURDERER. Warning for murder related description, there was a flashback where it showed a still body (face obscured) wearing Kaopoon's outfit on his bathroom floor

They really hammered home the ‘he is a murderer’ thing, he has a bag full of evidence of his crime

In more lighthearted news, Sun's rice intolerance is psychosomatic bc his mum never cooked rice for him and it's Sad Boy Hours

Sun and Kaopoon!Jiw seem like they're finally ready to have sex (they've talked out their feelings and are going away together) but there are FIVE MORE EPS and the murder stuff still lingers so I wonder what other madness this show will unleash on me

Actually, six more eps!! Ahhhh that's so much time

Oh how the tables have turned now Kaopoon is the one too in love with Sun too have sex (bc she will go to the afterlife if she does -- But if she doesn't she'll be an evil spirit so... stuck between a rock and hard-on) 

I have been suspecting for a while tho that the sex will not change anything. She will probably have to solve her murder to pass on

You know what that is? Growth!!

Now they are back to the weird energy of Sun going “Now that we are in love I would like to have sex,” and Kaopoon!Jiw going “Sex????? Never heard of it!!”

Against Kaopoon's credit, she has not informed Jiw that their relationship has progressed this much. She's just like "yeah things are normal" bc she wants to spend as much time with Sun while she has the chance

Win and Kaopoon!Jiw are just being good bros and Sun, in tandem with the sex-back-and-forth, is jealous of their dynamic

Kaopoon has begun to solve her own murder!!! Unfortunately the first thing she did was point out inconsistent evidence to Lieutenant Parin, who extremely Murdered Her

I feel so happy for Jiw when she gets to experience normal boyfriend moments with Sun like these cheesy matching necklaces. <3 Why does Jiw's life have to be so complicated?

Kaopoon is... spiritually breaking up with Jiw, so she can end the messiness of her involvement with Sun

Ehkjehrrk Jiw is back to living her own life and a spirit just tried to grab at her and she just whacked their hand off and said, "Don't bother me now!" so she could keep cooking, love that for her

The employee-boss affair's out of the bag!!

They also keep cutting to Lieutenant Murder with his knife ready to go after Jiw for Knowing Too Much kjhgkhgjh so I guess the last four-and-a-half eps will dedicated to crime-fighting

Auntie Pu is kind of my favourite character on this show bc she goes from Ghost Nemesis to Ghost Mom all while having Sun's mom as her BFF and Sugar Mama

Hahahaha all the other restaurant staff (minus Win, who is chill) are sucking up to Jiw now bc she's dating Sun

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Jiw felt guilty about dating Sun when half the things he loves are things that Kaopoon did and now the Horny Ghost is out of the bag

I can only assume, bc he thinks she's bipolar, he will assume this is product of a hallucination

Reservations on the commentary on bipolar disorder aside, what DO u do when the person you love tells you that they can see ghosts and key relationship moments you had together were the product of them being possessed by a ghost

Sun now believes in ghosts but he's very upset about the romantic implications of this knowledge

“I think the reason I haven’t been reincarnated... isn’t the fact I’ve never slept with a man after all” HORNY GHOST CONFIRMED FOR DETECTIVE GHOST. VINNNNNDICATION!!!!!

Awww the restaurant staff are all surrounding Chef with support in his time of romantic woe

“But I want the two people I care about the most to be happy” I want Win to date Sun AND Jiw he's so good to them

AYYYYYYY Sun found out that Jiw made the recipes for the blog he liked (and called his soulmate) and now he's visiting her grandma bc he truly is in love with both Jiw AND Kaopoon

Sun said, “I acknowledge this is a complicated situation but I'm willing to work through the ghost thing and figure out how we feel about each other”

Cutting back to Lieutenant Murder, he has just meowed at his coworker threateningly in response to being investigated (for attacking that same coworker!!)

Lieutenant Murder wears this same stupid outfit every time he's gonna do a crime recently and can I just say: I hate it

WHAT'S HE GONNA DO, KILL EVERYONE WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT ONE OF HIS MANY CRIMES?? THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE! AUNTIE PU! JIW! THE FORESENICS ANALYST! ALMOST-SUN? HE CAN'T EVEN KILL KAOPOON BC HE ALREADY KILLED HER AND SHE'S A GHOST!!!!!!!!!!!

“Chef, is something wrong?” Jiw asked, after telling Sun that his brother-in-law is a murderer who also probably hit his sister with a car

Sun said, “Pls don't be a murderer I love u bro” and Parin said “My life of crime is very important to me”

This is Kaopoon possessing Auntie Pu so that Kaopoon, Jiw and Sun can be a crime-fighting trio, love that for them

There are SO MANY crimes going on right now I cannot even begin to describe but just know Lieutenant Murder is responsible for all of them

So Jiw has been kidnapped (GUESS WHO) and Sun is investigating every school in the area and Kaopoon has a network of ghosts looking for her while Jiw tries to find a way to communicate her location. The Crime-Fighting Trio Continues!!!

You'd think more people would notice  what a creep this guy is considering that he is literally DIGGING A GRAVE for the woman trapped in his cupboard!!

Poor Nammoon she has no idea her husband is possessed by a murderous ghost. Which like, to be clear, he did try to murder before the ghost possessed him sooooooooooooo

“You're a good person,” said Nammoon, to a man who has committed at least three murders with a fourth on the go

Sun rescued Jiw via high speed car chase and now Auntie Pu and Kaopoon have taken Sun's car to chase Parin and GET HIS ASS

Also Jiw got 2 attack Parin which I think she deserved to get to do

Oh yikes it's possible she fatally injured him which doesn't bode well for the psychological implications of this whole ordeal

Nope I was wrong the ghost-busting continues

Well I don't know what's more perturbing, the resolution of that fight or the fact that there is still one more episode of 1 HOUR left jhfkjhkfjh this better be a happy filler ep where Jiw and Sun get married omg

HORNY GHOST SHOW REALLY MAKING ME TEARY-EYED ON THE LAST EP

The entire restaurant staff is a collective of morons who love Jiw for who she is  

Jiw won a cooking scholarship and gets to study abroad in Europe for two years so it's Sad Boy Hours with Sun again

THEY GOT A SECOND DOG THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT'S HAPPENED ON THIS SHOW

SCREAM NOW AUNTIE PU IS A RICH AND FAMOUS GHOSTBUSTER MEDIUM

Sun has expanded his restaurant business, leaving Rain in charge, and so they have been sent a new employee Summer, who I guess is everyone's new Pain in the Ass just for fun kgjhkjhkgh

He was merely a plot device to prove the Chef Boys are Bros 4 lyf

In a weird turn of events Parin is still alive with amnesia???? Even if all of what he did as an adult was ghost possession stuff.... he did still try to attack a baby as a teen. That's a thing he did! Are we forgetting this????? I guess!!!

GET SOME THERAPY NAMMOON!!

BACK TO THE DOGS:

Sun is strumming a guitar woefully because he misses Jiw:

SHE'S BACK AND THE JIW SUPPORT SQUAD IS THRIVING:

Sun is presumably somewhere sadly shaking a tambourine

IT'S FINALLY HAPPY BOY HOURS

[thechildoflightning]

JKSF Jobs

I got asked awhile ago by the lovely @mewithanie if I could write about everyone’s jobs in jksf if it sparked my interest. It did spark my interest, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it into a one-shot or story, so take a tumblr post bullet-style explanation instead!

Read on to find out all about the jobs Patton, Roman, Logan, and Virgil hold in just keep stumbling forward (baby im waiting for you)

tw: suicide (oc), PTSD and trauma (mentioned only), mentions of drugs, alcohol, and school shootings.

Patton

Runs a non-profit

Non-Profit pairs up with schools

Non-Profit is an art therapy center focused on increasing connection within teenagers and allowing them an appropriate outlet for emotional turmoil

Patton’s group generally gets placed on ‘high-risk’ campuses or campuses that have incidents happen at them

‘High-risk’ in this case is defined by higher than normal suicide rates, low attendance rates, high-levels of illegal activity (generally drug and alcohol use), high rate of poor mental health, more than average amounts of cheating, etc

Instances involve things like excessive inappropriate school-wide behavior (ie. all the kids getting drunk and disorderly at a school event) as well as shocking incidents (student death from suicide, overdose, drunk driving, or things such as school shootings)

Some kids come by choice, others are referred through a suspension exchange program

Pretty much, a kid gets suspended but can choose to go to the group’s meetings instead of facing suspension

Kids get referred for suspensions that deal with violence, drug use, alcohol use, excessive absences, and so forth

The idea behind it is that suspended the kid will only negatively impact the kids record and give no reason to change behavior, while the group can help get to the root of the issue and work towards solving/improving that instead

Other kids go by choice bc they’re looking for extra support, a healthy outlet, advice, etc

They have weekly after school meetings (per each district, with one focal school in each one. The program is currently seven districts wide)

They also have lunch drop-ins were you can come make art, chill, get a snack, pet a therapy dog, and other stuff

One of Patton’s first schools was the same school Virgil works at

Patton generally leads the entire non-profit and has delegates to deal with the different districts

He handles the school/district that Virgil is at, though he attempts to go to as many things at the other districts as he can

Does a lot of outside work promoting the program to school and school boards, but is starting to delegate a lot of that work to others so he can focus on the kids instead of the bureaucratic shit

Has had to cut back on individual involvement and delegate more as the work and stress from running an entire non-profit has taken a large toll on his health related to chronic illness

He is Not Happy about this fact, but it’s for his health and he needs it. His spouses help support in any ways that they can.

Roman

Theater Boi

He is a director for a local theater company that is actually not half-bad

Enjoys the heck out of it

Went into college planning to become an actor

And boy does he love acting and the truth is? He was good enough. He could have become an actor. 

But somehow he finds it even more magical running everything behind the acting (and so so much more work, god he never realized how much Work This Was)

So he joins a theater company and he slowly works his way up

At first he comes in as assistant choreographer 

He’s young and they don’t think much of it, but the show genuinely improves by his individual suggestions and work and wait, who the fuck is this kid and how do we hang onto him?

He makes his way up quite quickly, sliding his way into assistant directly and then co-director and then suddenly the director’s leaving and now he’s the director

It happens fast and it’s very very exciting but he’s also honestly a little overwhelming and he’s never been good at managing large tasks without procrastinating bc executive dysfunction (see this post and this one about Roman and ADHD)

And now he is The Director and an entire production is depending on him. Everything. All of it. And it was what he was looking for but it’s a lot.

The first time he’s on his own, it goes okay

It’s by far not the best the company has done, but it’s also not the worst and the company is pretty supportive of his jump to director and the people who have been there longer help him learn to delegate tasks

And so he tries again, and he does better, and he just continues to get better from there

There’s just one hiccup: the scenographer

Basically the scenographer Does Not Like Roman and it creates Conflict

(In my head I sorta imagine the boss character Joan played when they were playing Thomas as Roman as Joan as the boss character in that one part of “Can LYING Be Good?”)

Luckily, Deceit later takes that position, and him and Roman work way better together and pull off some pretty bomb ass productions

Roman has been asked to join other companies before- specifically travelling companies and work on Specific Productions- which is very cool and very exciting but he decides he’d rather do what he’s doing now bc 

a) he enjoys the rhythm of his work. b) larger productions are more stress. c) he doesn’t want to be gone from his spouses. And d) he gets a lot of positivity and meaning out of what he does now and doesn’t see a reason to change that

Every summer he also runs the local chapter of Shakespeare in the park. 

He does act in these as well bc it’s completely volunteer based. Deceit also acts in these with him and these two theater dorks have way to much fun together

They may or may not of kidnapped Trixie for one of the productions (with Virgil’s consent of course)

Logan

Logan works for a company that considers themselves as a “research and problem-solving team for the improvement of marine environments”

Basically, Logan researches issues that negatively impact marine life and helps come up solutions to improve or solve these issues

Most of what he does is cycle through data that other researchers collect and figure out what that data means and how it connects

He looks at a lot of abstract numbers and pulls them together to state exactly what the numbers are reporting 

From there he brings that research to a board that forms a hypothesis and then comes up with potential solutions

These solutions are often considered very progressive and liberal and as such cause a lot of debate

Solutions range from legal changes (laws reducing companies waste, laws to prevent oil spills, protection laws around certain species/habitats, etc) to inventions (boats that clean the ocean, replication of habits to help support species that can’t live outside of a certain ecosystem, etc)

The company Logan works for has had numerous very successful projects and many of these projects were successful bc of Logan’s involvement

Logan’s spouses are very very proud of this fact

Logan is modest af and brushed it off

Logan’s had quite a few articles published in scientific journals and his findings/theories/work have also made it to national news in the past

Logan himself has actually been asked to present some of his stuff on the news multiple times. He refuses each time and someone else goes in his place.

Does this mean that person gets a lot of credit that should be assigned to Logan? Yes. Does that person feel bad? They do and try to give credit to Logan. Does Logan care? No, no he does not. 

Logan could care less about credit, he just cares about marine ecosystems and That’s Literally It

Seriously, people ask him things like “does he understand the ‘political implications’ of his job” or “Are you okay with your team constantly stealing your work” and he’s just like “Fish are cool. Leave me the fuck alone.”

Logan has also done more hands-on experience which has included cool adventures that included scuba diving trips to study coral reef damage, spending days in heavy wetlands, and swimming with sharks

His spouses think that this is the coolest thing and Logan agrees a 1000%

He usually works on research because that’s Where He’s Comfortable, but the occasional planned (it has to be planned) research trip is always exciting

Logan also has so much passion for his job. So much passion. It’s sort of an agreed upon deal in the house that when Logan comes home he will generally Need To Infodump because his job is The Coolest

Because of this, a time period between him getting off work and them eating dinner is designated Logan Infodumping Time

Generally this happens while they cook (because as mentioned a few times, Logan is the best cook)

Even if his spouse aren’t helping w/ dinner, they usually try to stick around and listen because a) Logan is Cute when talking about things he enjoys. b) he talks about interesting stuff. c) even if they don’t find it interesting, Logan’s enthusiasm is infectious and they just Have To Listen

Virgil

Virgil is a high school English teacher

He generally teaches sophomore regular English and junior AP English

Classes can shift slightly depending on the year

Virgil was at first a very distant teacher and didn’t connect with his students

Like his students thought he was a fine teacher bc he wasn’t too strict and didn’t assign a bunch of hw, but no one really liked him either

About his fourth year teaching, a kid at Virgil’s school got suicide baited and ended up taking their own life

It was a Big Deal (and is also how Patton found his way to Virgil’s campus)

After the event, there were lots of discussions and groups at the school, and each teacher talked to their classes

Virgil’s discussion was,, impactful to say the least

He talked to the students frankly about the issue and opened discussion to the topic while making sure to keep it respectful and calling students out on shit while at the same time helping support everyone who was struggling

He ended it with a small speech about self-worth, what it meant, and the struggle to achieve it, especially when everyone around you is pulling you down

It spreads like wildfire throughout the school and suddenly Virgil is a very well-liked teacher because He Gets It, y’know

(to clarify- his student’s do not know about his suicide attempts or personally history regarding his PTSD and experiences, that said, they all know there’s something different about this teacher. Something that makes him understand in a way others don’t)

He also has just this snark that students fall in love with

(One of his class’ learning targets for an entire week was just “We’re going to stick it to The Man. How you ask? Well we’ll find out!”

There was also a situation one year when one of Logan’s articles turned up in a multiple choice quiz and No One, including Virgil knew the answers (Virgil did have the answer key but it Did Not Make Sense)

He had to actually call Logan to figure it out

Turns out, most of them was the quiz maker’s mistake because he was asking questions about “author’s tone” and “author’s purpose” and Logan’s just like,, I didn’t meant to have any tone? I don’t understand tone? My purpose was I like fish? Why are they saying it’s to educate the average person??

(pretty much they analyze Logan’s article from a neurotypical standpoint, which Logan Is Not, so it doesn’t work. Virgil scraps the quiz.)

[loving-jack-kelly]

Psych AU

Jack

Is Shawn, obviously

Cop dad, troublemaker because he liked disrupting his dad’s authority, actually very smart but does his absolute best to avoid people knowing it

His dad figured out he had a photographic memory when they were like, watching a movie, and Jack called out a mistake that nobody believed was real until he rewound and showed them, and then trained him to be super observant

His dad really wanted him to be a cop and Jack refused out of principle

Never held a job for long because as soon as something else caught his eye he’d go for it

Usually squeaked by on stretching pay from a job for forever, living in a tiny apartment, and doing art commissions when he could get them

Is really good at reading people from what his dad taught him

A Chaotic Good in its purest form, he’s always trying to help people but gets in his own way with his antics

Davey

Is Gus

Jack’s best friend while they were growing up

Was very respectful of authority and balanced Jack out, until Jack got him in on his schemes and then they were the terror of every adult in town

Pharmaceutical salesman, knows so many medicines off the top of his head

Drive a Blueberry and Jack makes fun of it but actually loves the car

Lawful Good, always obey the rules unless Jack makes him do otherwise, has a hard time lying

Spot

Lassiter, obviously he’s Lassie guys

Head detective, very put together and capable

Solves cases all the time and hates that Jack also solves cases all the time

Acts high and mighty but really does care about everyone

Crutchie

Juliet, Crutchie is Jules

Shows up and Jack is instantly like oh boy that crush hit me over the head with the velocity of a 747

He’s a transfer detective who’s worked his whole life to get where he is despite being an amputee and having a prosthetic

Jack acts like his crush is a joke but means it 100%

Crutchie is very capable and kicks ass and hates being underestimated because it’s almost kept him from achieving his dream before

When he was first trying to get to be a police officer he almost wasn’t allowed into police academy because they thought his prosthetic was a hazard and it took him his entire time to convince them otherwise

Now he won’t let anything get in the way of his being the best detective he can be

At first Jack bothers him because he had to work so hard to get where he is and Jack just shows up and starts solving crimes without seemingly a second thought, but Jack grows on him

Katherine

Chief Vick

Is technically the interim chief but she’ll death glare anyone who calls her that because she deserves to be full chief and everyone knows it

Very skeptical of Jack and thus Davey but they are efficient and so she lets them keep working

Jack likes calling in tips to the police when he solves a case on his own because he thinks it’s funny that he can solve crimes from his couch that the police can’t

Eventually he calls one in and they call him in, he assumes it’s for like, reward money, but actually they suspect him in the case because he was right but it sounded like insider knowledge

He doesn’t want to admit he figured it out because of his observance and memory, but they’re going to arrest him, and he noticed the front desk cop was superstitious and so on a whim claims to be a psychic

Spot, the would-be arresting officer, is like, no way, that’s fake, psychics don’t exist

But Jack uses the things he noticed while waiting to be seen to “prove” that he’s psychic and everyone kind of starts to believe him because how else did he know so much about people he’d never met before?

But then Katherine hires him as a consultant for a case that they can’t solve because she figures he can’t do much harm when they’re about to lose the case to higher ups anyway

So Jack shows up to Davey’s job and is like, dude, I have a job and you have a job with me, let’s go

To which Davey responds, no way am I doing anything with you, your last five job attempts have been disasters

But Jack convinces him eventually and soon they have an office and a private investigative business

Davey constantly threatens to tell everyone that Jack isn’t a psychic but he never would because Jack really is solving crimes and they’re best friends

Jack flirts. With literally anyone. Even when it’s entirely inappropriate. Davey does his best to keep him in check. It doesn’t really work

Jack his sister just died don’t flirt with him

Jack her best friend is missing

Jack he’s the bad guy

Jack she is literally trying to murder us stop complimenting her form

Jack he

Jack she

Jack

He’s so ridiculously bi people genuinely think he’s joking like they think he’s straight making gay jokes because of the sheer number of times he flirts with guys and girls all the time

He does his best to seem as immature as possible, but he has a pretty high emotional intelligence

For a while, Crutchie is dating a guy who’s similar to Jack, which makes Jack sad because he wants to be dating Crutchie but Crutchie has never seemed interested

Eventually Crutchie overhears Jack talking to Davey about him and Jack says that he’s willing to just be friends if that means Crutchie is happy, only he wants to be happy too, and he can’t imagine being happy without Crutchie because he’s pretty much fallen in love with him over the years they’ve gotten to work together

And then Crutchie eventually gets together with Jack, after he gets out of his other relationship

Dating Jack is essentially dating both Jack and Davey because they’re always together

It also ends up being much like babysitting sometimes, because Jack gets into all sorts of trouble and Davey only does so much to stop him before joining in

Also when Jack proposes his speech (taken directly from Shawn’s proposal bc tbh it was an incredible proposal) goes like this:

Charlie Morris, I do not believe in love at first sight, because I didn’t even need to see you to know I wanted to spend forever with you. That didn’t make any sense. Scratch that. I have spent my whole life running from one thing to another, quitting and running and quitting and running and pretending that my destiny was to drive a wienermobile.

Davey: He was young and afraid of commitment.

That’s true. But I’m not that young anymore. And I’m also not afraid. Because when I’m with you, Char, I’m just fearless and unbreakable.

Davey: Like Samuel L. Jackson.

Jack: No, Samuel L. Jackson was the glass man.

Davey: Not emotionally, Jack, not emotionally.

Jack: Okay, dude, well dial it back just a teeny bit.

Davey: *choked up* Okay.

I know that I come with baggage, and a best friend who’s not going anywhere. Ever. But I promise you that from this moment forward the only running I will be doing is into your arms, and I will never stop holding your cold little hands or losing myself when I wake up in the morning and look at you and recognize how frickin’ lucky I am.

Davey: *in the background* Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it’s happening, say yes, say yes!

Crutchie: Yes, yes!

Jack: Okay, well technically, you just said yes to Davey.

Crutchie: Well ask me, Jack!

Crutchie, will you marry us? Me? Mostly me? Even though Davey is always gonna be part of the deal and one day he’ll have his own Crutchie and we’ll be one big family and we’ll have dogs, all rescues, and kids, probable before we’re sixty. Just marry me so I can show you how amazing our life will be together?

Davey was crying by the end of it and Crutchie said yes, obviously, please do yourself a favor and watch the scene from the real show it’s cinematic genius.

Spot meets Race and for pretty much the only time in his life opens up easily and right away

And then it turns out Race is the criminal in the case they’re working on and Spot has to arrest him but he promises to wait until Race is out of prison and they end up together anyway

Now for the true reason this au works: the quotes. The dialogue. All of these are direct quotes from the show.

Davey: You named your fake detective agency "Psych"? As in "got you"? Why didn't you just call it "Hey, we're fooling you and the police department; hope we don't make a mistake and somebody dies because of it."

Jack: First of all, Davey, that name is entirely too long; it would never fit on the window. And secondly, the best way you convince people you're not lying to them is to tell them you are!

Davey: How do you just eat when there's a dead guy laying there?

Jack: What, is that rude? Am I supposed to share?

Jack: Good morning, detectives! Are we collecting donations for the policeman's ball?

Spot: We don't have balls.

Jack: I honestly have no response to that.

Crutchie: You're not hired. I can't pay you. If it turns out there's something to it, I'll make sure you get put on the case. That's all I can do.

Jack: Crutchie, I'm quite sure we could work out some kind of services exchange. You see I like to do some sketching myself and sometimes I need a model.

Crutchie: Huh! [gets up and walks from the room]

Jack: Was that inappropriate? ...Felt OK.

Jack: Don't panic. Those bites are consistent with a T-Rex bite.

Davey: You know that?

Jack: Yes, I know that. [shows picture of himself in the mouth of a T-Rex skeleton] I was banned from the Wyoming National Museum for that shot. The bruises didn't go away for a year, but it was totally worth it. It was my best screensaver ever!

Crutchie: Jack, how do you know this?

Jack: The same way that I know that as a child Spot wanted nothing more than a pony.

[They all look at Spot]

Spot: Oh, come on. Who didn't?

Davey: Anyone who wasn't an 8 year-old girl.

Spot: I hate snow globes.

Jack: Huh. That's strange, because my psychic sense told me specifically that snow globes didn't give you nightmares of being trapped in a clear ball with snow that burned your skin off.

Spot: Who keeps telling people I like snow globes?!

Jack: I don't think anyone's here.

Davey: How sure are you?

Jack: Fairly to pretty damn.

Jack: Davey, don't be a myopic chihuahua. I have a full-proof plan that solves the case and gives the Chief all the credit.

Davey: What is it?

Jack: Actually, all I have is the phrase "I have a full-proof plan." Beyond that, I'm wide open.

And so many more these are all from like the first three seasons of eight the whole show is like this it’s incredible and I love it

[juniperpublishers-robotics-blog]

Face Recognition and Skin Extraction under a Dynamic Video- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

As society develops further, the demand for more complex information increases. With this in mind, the use of the naked eye becomes unsatisfactory, as the desired information may present itself in a manner that requires more advanced technology in order to capture it. Therefore, we need to understand how to capture and confirm what it is. For the reason, in this paper, we demonstrate first how to capture the video information, deal, and store each frame as an image then by comparing the current frame with its previous frame, finally return a histogram matching algorithm value (Bhattacharyya Coefficient) for their similarity, meanwhile determine whether it is a fast-moving object. As an object appears on a dynamic video, the first frame differential dichotomy processes the image and disregards the background. The object then appears again in a second image via the same processing while a background image is taken simultaneously. These steps allow for the corresponding regions to be analysed so that the object is identified via a collaboration of the two separate images. Afterwards, face recognition and skin pigmentation are extracted and detailed. By using Face ++ interface for face and skin recognition experiment, after some tests, in the case of a good picture resolution, the recognition rate is about 70%; the skin color extraction is one kind of relevant color extracting, when it has a well-lit background, so the effect will be better.

Keywords: Similarity; Frame differential dichotomy; Face recognition; Skin color extraction

Abbrevations: FLD: Fisher Linear Discriminator; DLA: Dynamic Link Architecture; PCA: Principal Component Analysis

Introduction

Nowadays, the human vision is more and more limited with the development trend of the world. For observation, when an object flash too fast or small in some cases, the human’s eye sometimes is unable to catch these things due to its structure and characteristics [1]. Because of these limitations of human eye, however people still want to acquire and understand these information, we need to take our eyes to observe things through the computer.

Scientists and researches utilize this study to detect, determine and track the video (static background) of dynamic objects. Video object recognition and tracking for the purposes of this aspect of computer vision research is not an alien concept, and then in recent years to identify objects and real-time tracking of the object of everyone’s attention more and more technology, and now are usually intelligent wisdom under the circumstances, for the city, it is hoped that more and better urban environment, crime rates drop, so they know we are not satisfied with the recorded data, extract information not satisfied, we want to tap the regularity of the content in the video, for example, through a person’s posture we can see this is a good man or a bad man hovering waiting crime of opportunity there that we need to face life video recognition. Do people face security control, you need a video device on the grade. This includes human face acquisition, data extraction and expression, and so on. By these methods, it is possible to recognize facial expressions more clearly [2-4]. There by understand this technology has a broad space for development and market, and thus produced for this research and understanding of the idea.

The object recognition is a very easy thing due to its real applications related on human vision, however, it is not an easy thing for a computer system [5-6]. Since the object recognition scene is complex and would change at any time, thatwill cause some difficulties for object identification and tracking by a computer. In addition, the most important thing is the recognition accuracy will drop a lot. So for this reason, this studymainly focus on understanding and exploring a dynamic video under a static background.

The main processes of this study first is through the video analysis and background information to calculate these image in video, then re-take the image of each frame by comparing their degree of acquaintance among images in video to determine whether there has been an object can be identified, and then after these return-related information, which will be marked on the feedback moment in the image frame for easy observation. If the object is identified and recognized the facecase, it will make a different kind of feedback information such as a color recognition or the number of individual appearing in the video.

For the above process described, this paper will analyze and use a number of different algorithms and methodologies to deal with the various stages in order to understand each algorithm and compare the rate and efficiency of operations, and then improve them after summarizing conclusions. The operating platform is selected on the PC online using Open CV and MATLAB caculation.

Methods and Experiments

The present trend of object recognition

Identifying object in a video is belonging to aspects of the image recognition, for the purpose, it needs to experience three development stages: character recognition, digital image processing and recognition, object recognition. Text recognition began to be studied from 1950, and became more and more strong after the digital image storage capacity promoted, it has a convenience and a huge advantage to usbut is easy to distort, so people began to study the digital image processing and recognition methodologies to tackle it. The main object recognition refers to the three-dimensional world of objects and the environment perception and understanding, it is an advanced computer vision scope [7]. In the image recognition mode, there are three kind of development process ways to have been identified: statistical pattern recognition, structural pattern recognition, fuzzy pattern recognition [8].

In the past ten years,the objectrecognition in video has been the study core for many researchers. Up to nowdevelopment, there is indeed a great achievement, such as domestic face ++ and HW Cloud for the study of face recognition, and there are some domestic companies for the image recognition in the text and the image recognition for studying bank card numbers and other identification strings, even the network has a lot of relevant information.

It means that the image recognition technology at home and abroad is growing fast, however, for object recognition in video, this research is not very mature, because most of the studies are not very complex at specific scene collection and analysis, and do some non-specific or random scene still existing a certain degree of difficulty, that is, an adaptive performance is poor, if the target image has a strong noise, or a larger image defects, it will has usually no desired results [9- 11]

Video deal & image similarity

When identifying objects in video, we first need to deal with the video, the video needs to be converted to the corresponding frame picture output which can be learned by image processing and recognition.When one image in video is converted into each frame, because the object may not always be necessarily to appear in the video, when detecting whether it is an object, many frames without the object appearing will be also included in the detected queue, for example, if a period of 20 s video only has 1swith an object appearing, then this will be the case many unnecessary image framesare detected, and thus will have a longer run hours and be inefficient. And we need to understand how to filter out these unwanted image frames. To solve the above problem, in this research,we comparetheir acquaintance between theseimage frame to filter out some useless image frame.

Image similarity algorithm introduction

Histogram matching

Histogram matching must first be a gray-scale, then transfer it into the desired histogram. It has the following three steps: 1) the histogram of original image is equalized of gray; 2) form the desiredhistogram; 3) reverse the first step conversion [12-14] .

When comparing the acquaintancedegree uses thehistogram matching, it usually calculates Bhattacharyya distance and Bhattacharyya coefficient,where the pasteurized factor is used to measure two discrete probability distribution. The pasteurized factor is the amount of overlap of two statistical samples’ myopia calculation [15-16]. Why it is used for the processing image similarity,because its effect on the image acquaintance degree is the best. These formulasare the followingEquation (1) and (2). Bhattacharyya distance:

where q and p refer to the two discrete probability distribution in the number domain, BC refers to the pasteurized factor, Bhattacharyya coefficient as follows：

where a and b are for the two samples, n is the number of sub-blocks, ai and bi are the a and b number in section i.

We start histogram based matching approach to compare their image acquaintance by the above description. Theimage must be first gray-scale processing, here we use MATLAB fuction to transform as the following statement: I = rgb2gray (M), where M is theinput image andI is the grayscale image referredto M. Then use the statement [Count, x] = imhist (I) to read the grayscale image histogram information, where Count is the histogram data of vector grayscale image and x is the corresponding color vectorrespectively, then go through the calculation of distance and coefficientformulas. Another method instead of MATLAB for grayscale images are as follows: For grayscale images, the image is actually through the weighted average of RGB three components to acquire the heaviest gray value as the following standard formula: gray = 0.11B + 0.59G + 0.3R, where is just a one kind of weight from the perspective of human physiology. As Figure 1(a)-(b) show the original image, then got the results as shown in Figure 2 observation.

As shown in these results, the hitis their respective histogram data referringthe pasteurized factor as the similarity of the two images. But the method is indeed obvious weak point, for example,one picture with above white color and below black color compared with one picture with aboveblack color and below white color, their similarity is 100, hit = 1.00, this is an apparent error.

Sift Transform Algorithm

Sift is also known as scale-invariant feature transform, which was developed by [9], and made further advance in 2004; its application includes object recognition, robot map perception and navigation, image stitching, 3D modeling, gesture recognition, video tracking and motion match; this algorithm has been patent and ownedby the University of British Columbia.Sift algorithm consists of four steps:  

a) detection of the extreme value in scale space;

b) use the neighborhood pixel at key points for the distribution parameters of gradient direction as each critical point in the specified direction, so that the operators pose rotational invariances;

c) generate the sift feature vector and rotate the axis of feature point to ensure its rotational invariance;

d) do the feature matching [17].

Perceptual hash algorithm

This is a kind of method that it will generate a ‘fingerprint’ string after each image is processed, and then make a comparison with it, if it is closer to the result, it would has much more similarity. Usually the first step of the algorithm is for image size shrinking to reduce the differences caused by the different image scaleand then simplifies color to gray image and compares each gray pixel again after calculating the average of gray value, If the mean greater is than or equal to the average, denoted by 1, others by 0.5, more thanassemblesas the above results, it is a so-called image ‘fingerprint’, finally followsup the same rule for the different images. The advantage for this method is that no matter how you deal with any image, change its size or color, its ‘fingerprint’ will not change.

With the above three algorithms, the latter two algorithms havea more powerful calculation and higher accuracy for these high complexity image than the first algorithm, howeverour study does not fix on the high image acquaintance, andwe just want to know whether there is an object in the video on the line, so that this study uses and implements a simple histogram matching algorithm.

Video background extraction

There are lots methodologies for video background extraction [18], for example, the time average, the multiframe average, the codebook method [19], and the Gaussian mixture background model method [20]. Here we use to interframe difference method to realize it, which uses to images adding plus meaning to deal the video background extraction. Assuming the taken all image in frames are designated picture (N), where N refers to the N-th frame of video, specific implementation as follows:

For N=1：NumberofFrames

Backg=Backg+picture(N)

End

Backg=Backg/NumberofFrames

But when we have some real-time requirements for the background processing, then do as follows：

For N=1：mov.NumberofFrames

If（N<=NumberofFrames）

Backg=Backg+picture(N)

Else

Backg=Backg+picture(N)-picture(N-NumberofFrames)

End

End

Backg=Backg/NumberofFrames

The video background extractions can update real-time through the manner described above.

Mark motion objects

The object recognition is carried out by determining the differences between two images to confirm the object; it can be performed as follows:

C=picture（N）-Backg；

Here it is described by two images as shown in Figure 3 & 4, and the result is shown in Figure 5. The image will be binarized after image subtraction, which uses iterative method based on the approximation value, first find the maximum and minimum gray value recorded as Rmax and Rmin, then make the threshold T = (Rmax+ Rmin) 2 , divide it into two groups R1 and R2 based on the mean gray value after the threshold value, then obtain two average gray value of μ1 and μ2, finally obtain the new threshold value T = (μ1+μ 2) 2 . Furthermore, let f (x, y) is a function of the input gray-scale image, and g (x, y) is a binary image output as follows:

Figure 6 shows the display after the manner described above, then extract the inside information from the image binarized result and feed back to the picture (N).

Mark the recognized objects

By the manner described above, we have successfully found the objects in video meantime label them, so now we want to identify items. Because each object has its own characteristics, even the same thing for basic terms that have different forms, for this reason, we will mainly fix the recognized object marks for face recognition.

Face Recognition

The researchers have a lot of attention for face recognition in the recent studies. Because the recognition from the image of a person’s face is a much challenged project, the face size, orientation and posture in a image have different changes; even also some special cases, such as too bright and object occlusion cases; the above situations will affect the recognition efficiency. Here we introduce the definition of face recognition: it is to determine the location size and posture of all face in the input image if present; face recognition is a key technology of face information processing in recent years, and it has become a research subject within the field of pattern recognition and computer vision [14].

Principal components analysis

Principal Component Analysis(PCA) is for the optimal orthogonal transformation in image compression, [15-16] proposed the first PCA for face recognition application based on the Eigen face concept using the main component vector to reshape human face. The principle is based on the optimal orthogonal variation to expand network recursive manner to achieve its recognition. For this mode, it is assumed there are X categories in face gallery, and each category has Y face training images. Each image will be treated as a sample Pij (the jth people image in the ith category), where 1≤i≤X, 1≤j≤Y, and image is N * N, first the image icon will be vectorized into N2 * 1, then the average training vector in X face image is as follows:

uses Pij-μ to acquire the mean difference vector eij, after that forms a N2 * XY dimension matrix as follows:

extract the eigenvalues and orthonormal eigenvectors of total scatter matrix AAT through this matrix, denoted by B = AAT, then introduce R = ATA, and find out the corresponding eigenvalues λi and eigenvectors vi, so can obtain the feature vector:

Finally sort out i λ , and select the corresponding eigenvector subspace according to requirement, thus complete the dimensionality reduction and feature extraction purposes [16], PCA uses the described above mathematics for face recognition. However, this approach has some shortcomings, such as light and size, etc., which will degrade its recognition rate.

Neural networks face recognition mode

Artificial neural network is a set of brain science, neural psychology and information science crossover studies, its algorithm is a mathematical model to simulate the human brain systems and applications; it is a lot number of processing units support each other with non-linear, adaptive information processing system [12-13]. This method can be for a lowresolution face image, partial autocorrelation function, and partial second-order matrix. The main advantages for this method are

a) simulate a person’s thinking in image;

b) have a massively parallel and collaboration processing power;

c) strong self-learning ability and adaptability;

d) has a good fault tolerance;

e) have a non-linear mapping.

Elastic image matching face recognition

Elastic graph matching method is based on dynamic link architecture (DLA) method, which presents the face with a trellis sparse diagram, nodes in image use the Gabor wavelet of image position to obtain the feature vector mark called the jet, and the image margin is tagged with the distant vector. Its matching process flowchart is shown in Figure 7. Wavelet analysis is characterized by a time-frequency analysis, when the point in space at different frequencies in response to the surrounding area constitutes the point feature string, the high-frequency portion will correspond to the small details within the scope, and the low frequency part of the point will be a wide range around the scope. The wavelet transform elastic image matching algorithm takes into account both the face local detail and retains its spatial distribution, therefore, Gabor function is often used as a wavelet base function [9].

The Gabor transform is generated by an analog of the human visual system. The retinal imaging can be decomposed into a set of filter images by simulating the human visual system; each image can be decomposed to reflect these intensity changes in frequency and direction within the local area. The texture features can be obtained by a set of multi-channel Gabor filters, which actually is to design Gabor transforms, where fisher linear discriminator (FLD) refers to an improved feature face. Although this method can tolerate a certain degree of change in posture, facial expression and lighting, etc., but due to the high complexity of time and space, it is difficult to meet the requirements of large-scale real-time face recognition.

Face recognition method summary

At moment, there are many different algorithms for face recognition, not only just above described, for example, the Hidden Markov model, support vector machine (SVM) for face recognition [6], the line segment of Hausdorff distance for face recognition and human face recognition methods are based on skin color. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, however the present study, we tend to mix a variety of methods.

Experiment Tests

Main process

Here the main study is to implement whole operation for some complicated tests like multi-faces recognition and multiskin color extraction under a video flow, the main process flowchart is shown in Figure 8. After each experiment, we will explore their effects.

Video processing

Because this test video has no fast-speed objects, we use second speed rate for image processing in video and intercept their background by a few frames in a second. Now the video in seconds is intercepted, then their background is updated for image display in real time. In this research, the video is mainly static background, so we can directly use the background of this scene as the background, and it is updated in one second time in several frames of video as it relates to the quality of the background image and the entire experimental results. Table 1 shows the image similarity rate for the filtered image collection after the moving object is identified.

The next recognition test is by the face ++ interface, we found that some time they still cannot be identified from these results and thus it is needed to do more processing. When it is confirmed in the previous image, in the frontal face appearing, and then if no face appears again through the process at the current image, then confirms it is in the different frame and identifies it. Furthermore, when the received human face number of Jason data from the face++ interface does not return 0, then put this frame as the current output. Therefore, we make a further process based on the modified process as Figure 9 shown and the processed output is shown in Figure 10 (a). When these faces are recognized by the above-described manner, the skin color region extraction is followed up and the results are shown in Figure 10 (b). Because the background color and the body color are somewhat similar, so some part of the background sometime will be also extracted.

The experimental tests show a more successful set of results. In general, the method described above is for the PC base, it can be seen in the study there is still some effect, although fast object recognition marked area is sometimes not very obvious and face recognition in many people’s situation cannot be fully recognized and skin color is not very complete extracted. The main reason is that the software process speed cannot match with the hardware’s.

Conclusion

In the study, we demonstrated some characteristics of the image operations in a video through some simple algorithms and methods and made some improvement such as a sift transform algorithm and perceptual hashing algorithm to fulfill. The face recognition rate can be promoted by increasing the image resolution, and then takes into account the speed, so the video resolution is set on 640 × 360. We can extract more background in frames by summing and averaging them, then the effect is better. For recognizing object in video, we try a running marked in real time, and face recognition and skin color extraction have been realized by extracting a video image to observe their effect and implemented some algorithms, the experimental tests show a more successful set of results.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by HuaQiao University, Fujian, P.R. China under the HuaQiao Scientific Research Foundation for Talents plan.

Authors’ Contribution

First demonstrate how to capture the video information, deal, and store each frame as a image then by comparing the current frame with its previous frame, and then analyze the object corresponding region marks on images then determine what the object is and meanwhile do the face recognition and color skin extraction.

For More Open Access Journals Please Click on: Juniper Publishers

Fore More Articles Please Visit: Robotics & Automation Engineering Journal

[bubonickitten]

What are your favourite/most reccomended skyrim mods for someone who's only played vanilla?

Okay, so I went through my Nexus Mods Manager and Steam Workshop mods lists and picked out some of my favorites. (Note that some of them require SKSE.)

General:

ETA: Forgot to mention the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, which is honestly something worth having even if you don’t use mods, because there are a lot of broken quests and glitches even in the vanilla game and this makes it so you encounter less of that. 

SkyUI - Takes a little while to get used to, but once I did, I definitely prefer it to the vanilla UI. Also adds a Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) that a lot of other mods use to toggle different options offered by those mods.

Sounds of Skyrim - There are three: The Wilds, Civilization, and The Dungeons. Adds a ton of new sound effects to the game and lets you toggle which ones you do/don’t want.

Climates of Tamriel - New weather patterns, sounds, lighting, etc.

Run For Your Lives and When Vampires Attack - If you’re tired of unarmored, unarmed NPCs rushing at incredibly lethal creatures and expecting good results.

Better Stealth AI for Followers - Because it’s really annoying when you’re trying to sneak and your follower is carrying a damn torch.

Mods for your convenience:

Detailed Mine Map Markers - Adds the type of ore that can be found in the mine in parenthesis after the mine’s name on the map. VERY convenient.

House Markers - Adds map markers to player homes that are available in the base game.

Return Home Teleport Spells - Adds spellbooks to each of the houses you can get in the main game, plus the Ragged Flagon and Archmage Quarters.

Teleportation Books and Teleportation Books (Dawnguard) - More teleportation spellbooks.

Lock Picking Chalk Marks - I wish I found this mod twelve playthroughs ago. It makes lockpicking a lot more tolerable.

Infinite Gold for Merchants - Gives each merchant 20,000 gold to barter with. Useful if you’re like me and like crafting and stealing and hoarding but then have trouble selling it all without having to travel to five different cities.  

Lightweight Potions and Poisons - Adjusts potion/poison weight to 0.1 instead of 0.5 so you can carry more stuff.

Earring of Unburden Lite - Earring that significantly increases your carry weight. Thank god.

Bandolier Bags and Pouches - If you still need more carry weight (I know I do) and/or love accessorizing.

Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers - If you’ve ever done this quest, you know how useful this would be.

Jiub’s Opus Quest Markers - Why this wasn’t in the base game is beyond me. 

Unread Books Glow - Adds a glow to any books you haven’t read yet (including skill books). Helpful especially if you like collecting things.

Enemies-related mods:

Extended Encounters - The original that I have installed has been taken off Nexus Mods, but apparently there’s a similar one here.

Even More Dragons! - Adds significantly more encounters with dragons - I love it, but it’s hell when you’re still at a low level, so be careful. There are two other versions - More Dragons! (more encounters than usual, but less than Even More Dragons!) and Most Dragons! (which… I tried this one first and it’s great if you feel like fighting four dragons at once outside of a major city and then having to resurrect like 20+ NPCs when the dust settles just so you’re not walking around in a ghost town, but if you just want to casually complete quests without constantly being on fire, I recommend downgrading to More Dragons or Even More Dragons, lmao).

Extra Encounters and Extra Encounters (Dawnguard) - In case you still aren’t satisfied with the sheer number of people, places, and things that want to kill you in Skyrim.

Diverse Dragons Collection - Adds 14 new types of dragons to the game, so while you’re constantly being harassed by dragons, at least you get some variety.

More Enemies - Adds new types of enemies to the game. (Beware the bridge trolls, they’re dicks.)

(This is getting long, so I’ll put the rest under a cut.)

Factions:

Moonlight Tales - Customizable werewolves. Offers different pelt and eye options; a wolfkin alliance option (i.e. if you’re a werewolf, wolves and other werewolves aren’t hostile); and options for involuntary lunar transformations, which adds a new dynamic to the game.

All Thieves Guild Jobs Concurrently - Lets you take one of each type of job from Vex and Delvin simultaneously, which means less trips to and from the Ragged Flagon.

Localized Thieves Guild Jobs - Lets you choose which Hold you want a job for, rather than having it be randomized. Which means less saving and reloading and cursing in order to get a job in that last Hold you haven’t taken over yet. (Not compatible with All Thieves Guild Jobs Concurrently. I’ve tried both and both are good, it just depends on your playstyle which you might prefer.)

Improved Vampirism - Requires Dawnguard.

Aesthetics™:

Enhanced Blood Textures - [chanting] more blood! more blood! more blood!

Pure Waters - Really improves the appearance of rivers, lakes, etc.

Book Covers Skyrim - Adds really nice unique covers to all the books in the vanilla game and DLC.

Lanterns of Skyrim - Adds lanterns along the roads all throughout Skyrim. They turn on automatically when it starts to get dark (iirc you can customize the timing in the MCM).

Shadowmarks - Adds Shadowmarks to player homes. Because the Guild Master lives here.

Skills/Crafting/etc.:

Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade - Exactly what it says on the tin. Also very customizable depending on your specific preferences (requires SkyUI for its MCM feature).

Wintermyst Enchantments - Adds 124 new unique enchantments to the game. FUN.

Smithing Redesigned - Redesign of the smithing skill tree.

Smelting Plus - Melt more stuff.

NPCs:

Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions - Lets you adopt up to 6 kids. You need to couple it with player home mods that allow for 6 kids (there’s a list of compatible mods in the mod description).

Khajiit Child Ma’isha - Adorable Khajiit daughter. Just recently, a dragon was attacking me and she ran over and started wailing on it with a dagger I gave her. I love her. (Supplement with this mod, which lets her wear actual child clothes. Because sometimes with mods that add non-human children, the clothes are glitchy bc the mod uses the adult models of those races that already exist in the game, just… make them smaller, lmao.)  

Adopt Aventus Aretino - Because when he grows up he wants to be an assassin, just like you.

Lucy and Louis - Adoptable vampire children, because why the hell not.

Marriable Serana - Because why isn’t she romanceable already? (+ Hearthfire addon, to allow her to move into homes added by the Hearthfire DLC.)

Khajiit Black Market - Adds black market merchants to taverns across Skyrim. They sell useful stuff like spellbooks, all kinds of soul gems, rarer alchemy ingredients (e.g. nirnroot, daedra hearts), etc. - and, of course, skooma and moon sugar.

Kidmer - Adds a bunch of adoptable mer children to the game. Because it’s weird that only human children exist in Skyrim.

Beast Kids - Adds Argonian and Khajiit children to the game.

Adopt Beast Kids - More Argonian and Khajiit children, but adoptable.

Dominions More Khajiit - Just adds more Khajiit NPCs throughout Skyrim (and not just enemies - they’re NPCs with specific names and present in different factions, e.g. in the Companions and Dark Brotherhood).

Dovahbit of Caerbannog - Super cute immortal bunny follower that wears tiny helmets and carries all your stuff. Seriously.

Friendly Brynjolf - Makes it so he doesn’t keep blowing you off with the same one-liner after completing the main Thieves Guild questline. Also makes him marriable.

Quests:

The Paarthurnax Dilemma - Makes it so you can say “fuck off, I’m not killing the penitent dragon, he’s just minding his business on top of his mountain and talking at clouds” to the Blades and the quest won’t just indefinitely hang around in your quest journal forever because you refuse to kill Paarthurnax because who would want to do that. But also if you do want to kill Paarthurnax for some reason, this mod apparently adds dragons who will defend him from your treachery.

Wyrmstooth - This one adds a whole new region and questlines to the game, but it’s been taken off Nexus (it was the same author as Extended Encounters). I’m mentioning it bc it’s worth knowing about in case it ever gets put back up.

Falskaar - Adds a new region and questlines.

The Forgotten City - This one’s hard to explain so I’ll just say I highly recommend it and give you the description as provided by the mod creator: “a murder mystery investigation set in an ancient underground city. You’ll need to solve it using your wits, and the ability to travel through time. It has a dark, non-linear story in which you’ll interrogate suspects, explore the city and its many secrets, and navigate challenging moral dilemmas. It features multiple endings, an original orchestral score, and professionally voiced dialogue.”

Following Mercer: A Thieves Guild Quest - A short questline that takes place after the main Thieves Guilt questline. You kinda just follow clues to find Mercer’s hiding places for all the loot he stole, and also kick his now-ethereal ass a few more times.

Markarth Undercity - Really cool questline. In case you wanted to spend more time in Markarth, but underground this time.

New Markarth Adventures - Because hell is Markarth.

Helgen Reborn - I literally just installed this one for my newest playthrough so I don’t have much to say about it yet, but it looks interesting. Make sure you don’t have this one active until after you finish “Unbound” (the first quest in the game, where you escape from Helgen) because otherwise you get stuff like this.

Legacy of the Dragonborn - This is a HUGE mod. It adds a museum in Solitude for you to put all of your collectibles (including collectibles from several player-created mods that are either packaged with it or compatible with it), as well as its own questlines.

Moonpath to Elsweyr - Adds a new questline that lets you travel to Elsweyr. Can be a bit glitchy, though - like, in some of my previous playthroughs, it would make all sabre cats in the game invisible, lmao. It’s packaged with Legacy of the Dragonborn if you decide to use that one, and I don’t have the invisible-sabre-cat problem anymore ever since uninstalling the standalone Moonpath to Elsweyr and just using Legacy of the Dragonborn, so ymmv.

Missing Apprentices - This just fixes the unfinished Missing Apprentices quest in the vanilla game.

Armor/weapons/items:

Immersive Armors and Immersive Weapons - Both add a ton of new armor and weapons to the game.

PrivateEye’s Heavy Armory - Adds a ton of new weapons and variety to the game.

More Interesting Loot - What it says on the tin.

LC_Immersive Looting - More loot items, like above.

EK Ring Limiter - Toggle how many rings you want your character to be able to wear at once.

Cloaks of Skyrim - Cloaks! Cloaks everywhere!

Amulets of Skyrim - Now with more amulets!

Konahrik’s Accoutrements - Dragon Priest Armory - This is another one I just added and I’m not far enough along in my playthrough to be able to see any of the content yet, but supposedly it’s pretty good.

The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal - If you’re in for some Oblivion nostalgia.

Skyrim’s Unique Treasures - If you’re the collecting type.

Improved Closefaced Helmets - Better meshes for the closed-face headgear in the game.

Skill Book Overhaul - Adds more skill books to the game. I just added this one yesterday but so far I like it.

Royal Armory - Just added this one yesterday, too. Adds some unique weapons for certain prominent characters.

Unique Weapons Redone - Gives unique weapons actual unique appearances, rather than just looking like common weapons with added enchantments.

Recurve Longbows, Recurve Longbows - Dawnguard, Recurve Longbows - Dragonborn - Add longbows to the game. They do more damage and have a longer range, but the pullback time is longer, so it’s a nice balance. There’s also a really cool longbow you can get once you unlock the Dragonrend shout - it’s basically a longbow with an enchantment that has the same effect as the Dragonrend shout, and it’s great (especially if you have one of those More Dragons mods installed).

Diamond Smithing Collection - A series of mods for craftable gemstone weapons and armor.

Light Armor Hoods - Craftable hoods.

Thieves and Assassins - A Better Rewards and Treasure Mod - Makes it so the loot you find will be more oriented toward thief and assassin characters (light armor, daggers, bows, etc.). Nice if you’re like me and usually play the exact same type of character and have little use for heavy armor or two-handed weapons.

Player homes:

Elysium Estate - My favorite player home mod so far. It’s gorgeous and detailed, has toggle-able displays for unique items (Thieves Guild quest items, dragon claws, dragon priest masks, Daedric artifacts, etc.), a guest house for followers outside, planters outside for planting your own garden, tons of storage for specific items, a lot of bookshelves, a bunch of crafting stations in the basement (Skyforge/smelter/grindstone/workbench, alchemy and enchanting tables), its own cow and goat and chickens (they have names any everything and they’re coded as necessary NPCs, so you don’t have to worry about the constantly-spawning dragon in that area killing them). There’s a cute little backstory (it belonged to a gardener who worshiped Kynareth and is passing it on to the next worthy person) but there’s no quest to get it, you just have to read a note on the front door and find the key, so you can basically access it in the very beginning of the game. It’s also compatible with Hearthfire multiple adoptions, so there’s an option for six children’s beds.

Breezehome FullyUpgradable - This is my second-favorite player home mod, and it was my go-to before I found Elysium Estate. It adds a lot more storage, displays, etc., but my favorite thing about it was that it added a basement area with a library, a secret entrance accessible from a cave outside Whiterun, and crafting stations with autochests. Basically, when you access a specific storage container (smithing chest, alchemy ingredient bag, etc.) it automatically scans your inventory and gives you an option to automatically empty all applicable items into that container, rather than having to go through and put away each item yourself. It’s also hooked up to the crafting stations - so if you activate the forge/workbench/grindstone, it automatically adds everything from the smithing chest to your inventory, and then automatically puts it all back when you’re done. It’s pretty convenient.

Khajiit-related mods:

I basically always play a Khajiit, so I have a lot of mods specific to beast races.

Amazing Race Tweaks - Khajiit - Different passive race abilities for Khajiit. I also have this supplemental mod installed to cancel out the jumping bonus - jumping very high is fun but it takes twice as long to come back down and that was annoying for my impatient ass. (Amazing Race is a series btw, there are versions for other races besides Khajiit.) Also check out Passive Race Abilities.

Khajiit Speak - Complete Dialogue Overhaul - Makes playing as a Khajiit a LOT more immersive. It changes your dialogue choices to match the dialect of the rest of the Khajiit in the game (e.g. use of the third-person rather than the first-person), and also adds Khajiit-specific bits of lore (e.g. using the Khajiit names for the various gods). Also, lots of sarcasm - it’s pretty great.

Khajiit Ears Show - Headgear doesn’t hide the kitty ears. This is a TES5Edit script so it requires you to use that. I honestly have no clue what I’m doing with TES5Edit but I followed the instructions in the mod description and somehow got it to work, so… 

Coverkhajiits - More high res textures for Khajiit.

Digitigrade Beast Races - Gives Khajiit proper paws for feet. Also gives Argonians raptor feet. Compatible with the armor in the main game and DLC, but not always compatible with new armor from other mods.

Better Claws and Gauntlets - Actually see the claws on Argonians and Khajiit. Like above, not always compatible with armor added by other mods. And if you’re not wearing gauntlets, the claws usually don’t show.

Dawnguard Glowing Vampire Eye Fix - Lets Orc, Argonian, and Khajiit vampires have glowy vampire eyes.

Beast Skeletons - Adds Mer, Khajiit, and Argonian skulls and skeletons. Because it gets boring seeing only human skeletons everywhere. (It’s mostly lore-friendly, so you won’t come across a bunch of nonhuman skeletons in the ancient Nord burial sites or anything like that.)

[gggoblin]

i said this to someone days ago (over the course of a couple days) after a lengthy multi-day conversation we had regarding our lives, our relationship, and specifically some things i had learned while on a social hiatus this month. (for fun i’ll point out that i’m an aries sun, virgo moon, gemini mars, taurus venus, aries mercury, cancer rising, aquarius saturn, aquarius dominant. they’re a libra sun, capricorn moon, libra mars, sagittarius venus, virgo mercury, capricorn saturn.) they haven’t responded to anything i’ve said so this is literally the end of the convo. my optimism turned to realism rather quickly and i realized this was an unintentional break up. not in the traditional sense, but a very specific kind of ending. i recently realized how to stop holding myself back, and now i can no longer allow other people to hold me back either. i’m posting this as a reminder, not some kind of call out. this was directed towards them, but it’s also a letter to myself as well as everyone else i know. these words were several years overdue to both them and myself. i’ve been holding back on my honesty so i’m posting this with all of its out-of-context glory to share some of the light and help whoever can relate or wants to take anything from it. opting out of a read more so forgive me por favor. excuse the typos and shitty grammar. down to clarify anything that seems confusing. life is good ~

your ego is intolerable and the source of probably all of your problems. you suffocate meaningful conversations with your ulterior motives. you’re not as open as you think you are. you admitted to being unloving inside. you cannot be both unloving and open. your desire for me to open up may have been genuine, but the intent behind that has been mostly self-serving. you like to use me to feed your ego as well as ease you into finally acknowledging just how enslaved you really are. everything is a learning opportunity so the benefits i’ve experienced from this have been strictly coincidence. possibly even luck. i’m not mad, just aware. i know how proud you are that you indirectly help others. that you can manage it being the way that you are. but pride fuels the ego. i know you’ve got a thing for small, harmful pleasures. we’ve all got addictions. the only reason why you recognized the power of my anxiety is bc you experienced it yourself. still currently experiencing. all we can provide to others is what we experience, what we encounter, what we know for certain. it’s important to share who we are and i’m glad that you do that instinctively. but you’ve assumed a lot of inaccurate things about me. things you’ve projected onto me because they are all you know. you don’t understand my personal experience the same way i don’t understand yours. but you feel the need to define me regardless bc that’s what makes you feel safe and secure. being in control. having answers. being right. it makes it impossible for you to fully receive my openness. it makes it impossible for you to trust me as an individual existing outside of the limits of your mind and ego. i made this same mistake in a way. i projected key aspects of who i am onto you. i assumed the level of your inner compassion and have treated you accordingly. assuming you understood things in a way that you actually don’t. shouldn’t have done that. it only limited communication between us. anyway, i understand that i have no idea how to help you solve your problems in the way that you need me to because that’s unknown territory for me. you can get lucky and learn from me, but there’s no order in chance. no method or process. just effort and hope. hopefully this helps you realize the same. you can’t help me bc you don’t understand who i actually am. and you can’t until you figure yourself out some more. same goes for me. again, you did not help me in the way that you believe you did. i can’t stress that enough. but the possibility remains of us eventually syncing up. maybe you already understood that. maybe you already understood all of this. it took me a second to work it out emotionally but sharing now seems like the right thing to do just in case you didn’t realize what was happening. barriers exist for a reason. they are the proof of imbalance. but i wholeheartedly believe we’ll both get our shit together eventually.....well i believe that unless martyrdom is your only real passion in life. if that’s what you have love for, that will be your quest and your legacy. personally i’m interested in something much more complex. something with an infinite number of continually expanding dimensions. if that’s where your heart really is, you’ll always be a dead end for me and i a dead end for you. a cul-de-sac. purposeful but limiting. just another possibility i realized. cool either way. interacting with you always reminds me of just how peaceful my reality is. everything is clear before and after i interact with you. your ego literally sucks the life out of me. it encourages me to not be myself. it’s the opposite of kindness. i can’t help but fight against it. that’s why i stick around. but it’s a battle i can’t win. that’s why i shut down. but again once i’m free to be myself, fighting again doesn’t seem like such a dumb idea. pointing out all the ways the ego can control someone seems like a really smart idea actually. your ego makes you all talk. not only with your ideas and goals, but also literally you never stop talking you never slow down. you always have something to say. some answer or explanation for everything. no concern over how quarter-assed it may be. a clear sign of being afraid of not knowing not having all the answers. when we talk, i’m quick to say i’m confused or don’t understand of don’t know something. i try not to lie to myself about those things bc i know it hinders growth. & i know you notice how often i do these things bc i’ve watched it frustrate you. us not being on the same page. not only with my curiosity though. happens when i disagree also. the “lack of connection” aka lack of confirmation. you literally hate me when i’m not supportive of your ego. that lazy blind faith ideal you’re so obsessed with. you’re so afraid of being wrong. so afraid of being seen as a loser. so insecure about someone else being ahead of you when the competition you’ve signed up for doesn’t even exist. you’re obsessed with winning and being superior. it’s more of a priority than reaching the truth. this has been so obvious. everything is a threat to you. you’re so afraid of the world. you said it yourself. the world is full of danger. it’s peak paranoia. i understand your panic and mania so much more now. i can/could relate to so much of this but there have been clear difference between us. sometimes i’ve wanted to tell you to calm down but i know that would only intensify your feelings. i tried to help by being gentle and nice and loving but that only made things worse. i tried to be direct and tell you that you’re good enough regardless of what’s going on inside of you or what you’ve done, but you’ve never believed me. just used these things against me bc you’re dependent on your ego. life without it scares you. you said the way i am goes against everything that you are. that’s true. your aggressive method went against all that i am. but that changed. i opened myself up and now it’s a part of me. your ego is never going to allow you to give anything other than what you already are a chance. i can barely imagine how frustrating that must be for your soul. don’t think i’m judging you bc i get it. it’s heavy and help from an outside source probably doesn’t exist. you’re the only one who can kill your ego and fighting yourself is hell. no judgement. i understand why you always told me i had it easier than you. everything is harder when your ego prevents you from giving love. so much you can’t feel and therefore so much you can’t learn. so many ways you can’t grow. all of this was so obvious when you decided to spend our entire conversation talking about yourself and how i was wrong and why you were right and how much more you knew. you never even took a second to be happy for me. my life has been getting better every day and you’re not even interested. you were barely interested in what i contributed to the conversation. you felt comfortable continuing our conversation even though you hadn’t read all those texts i sent. you have no idea what i could have said to you. but you didn’t find it important. nothing could have been important enough to you. as long as you’re being ruled by your ego, everyone will always just be pawns to you. you talk about all the ways you’ve made others’ lives better. how damaged they were and how you cured them. you rarely mention learning from others. no significant benefits to experience from those beneath you, right? you never bring up how other people have dealt with things when you try to give me advice. everything comes from you. no other examples. seems like you’ve collected nothing from others. nothing you trust. nothing that could be more informative than what you’ve experienced. your speech, your experiences, your gratitude, your kindness, all of it. so egocentric. it’s a little different when you’re with people and sober. a different kind of social anxiety. you’re afraid of physically feeling how much your ego is hated. you’re afraid of picking up those vibes bc you wont be able to just run away from them. you don’t want to be confronted so you have to tone it down and play nice. but in text or when you’re drunk/fucked up, you feel safe. you can hide. in text you can be as real as you want. when you’re intoxicated, everything can just seem like a joke or a mistake. an excuse to be irresponsible. your ego is such a coward. and it honestly believes it’s being real and open. you are so full of deceit. you honestly believe this is attractive? that you’re better this way? more functional? more productive? cooler? more respected? more confident? you’re lying to yourself more than you’re lying to everyone else. you know all of this. you know you could be so much more. you know you could feel more. do more. give more. take more. you’re just afraid of the struggle. you’re afraid of truly being vulnerable and having to find new ways to be okay in this big scary universe. you assume the unknown is going to feel worse than anything you’ve already felt. but the truth is it wont. it’s going to feel like real brutal happiness. real freedom. not just freedom of expression. freedom in all areas. it’s going to be light even when it’s heavy. because it’s going to be infinitely better than being limited by your ego. it will be a new addiction but an actually healthy one. i know there’s a good chance none of this will affect you. i’m not even assuming you’ll actually read all of this. i’m still mindful of time. you’ll get where you’re going when you’re supposed to. but i care so i have to say something. i have to try to help you however i can but i also have to make sure you understand you can’t fuck around with me anymore. if i don’t get offended, i wont feel guilty. if i don’t feel guilty, i wont feel like a failure. if i don’t feel like a failure, i wont be blinded by my own ego. and if i’m not blinded by my own ego, i can see everything clearly. if you don’t change anytime soon, i can see you becoming consumed by the hate you feel for me and everything that i am. you wont want to talk to me anymore if i don’t give you what you want. i wont mind if it happens. i wont be upset and i wont judge you. my love for you has never been conditional. i’ll still be here in some way if you ever see things differently. maybe it’s also important to acknowledge that i see that you’re trying. i can’t remember if i addressed that or not. i notice when you’re making attempts. they’re confirmation that a you beyond your ego exists. the real you is real. you are seen. i guess i now understand your smoking dependency too. maybe it really does help you feel things you can’t otherwise. maybe it makes you feel like the person you really are beyond your ego. i never judged you for that but i never fully understood the importance either bc i projected my feelings onto you. just seemed like a shortcut. but i get it now. maybe if we both smoked, we really would have synced up and everything would have seemed so easy and peaceful. you know, if we only interacted when we had smoked. but we would have learned nothing. that finish line would have been the starting line. there are no shortcuts on a circle. we just wouldn’t have moved at all. we would have missed everything. the whole journey. the whole cycle. but i understand the appeal. definitely seems a hell of a lot better than suffering and being separated. but things aren’t always as they seem. i still think this is way better and way more satisfying. the higher the goal, the harder the struggle. 

[juniperpublishers-robotics-blog]

Face Recognition and Skin Extraction under a Dynamic Video- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

As society develops further, the demand for more complex information increases. With this in mind, the use of the naked eye becomes unsatisfactory, as the desired information may present itself in a manner that requires more advanced technology in order to capture it. Therefore, we need to understand how to capture and confirm what it is. For the reason, in this paper, we demonstrate first how to capture the video information, deal, and store each frame as an image then by comparing the current frame with its previous frame, finally return a histogram matching algorithm value (Bhattacharyya Coefficient) for their similarity, meanwhile determine whether it is a fast-moving object. As an object appears on a dynamic video, the first frame differential dichotomy processes the image and disregards the background. The object then appears again in a second image via the same processing while a background image is taken simultaneously. These steps allow for the corresponding regions to be analysed so that the object is identified via a collaboration of the two separate images. Afterwards, face recognition and skin pigmentation are extracted and detailed. By using Face ++ interface for face and skin recognition experiment, after some tests, in the case of a good picture resolution, the recognition rate is about 70%; the skin color extraction is one kind of relevant color extracting, when it has a well-lit background, so the effect will be better.

Keywords: Similarity; Frame differential dichotomy; Face recognition; Skin color extraction

Abbrevations: FLD: Fisher Linear Discriminator; DLA: Dynamic Link Architecture; PCA: Principal Component Analysis

Introduction

Nowadays, the human vision is more and more limited with the development trend of the world. For observation, when an object flash too fast or small in some cases, the human’s eye sometimes is unable to catch these things due to its structure and characteristics [1]. Because of these limitations of human eye, however people still want to acquire and understand these information, we need to take our eyes to observe things through the computer.

Scientists and researches utilize this study to detect, determine and track the video (static background) of dynamic objects. Video object recognition and tracking for the purposes of this aspect of computer vision research is not an alien concept, and then in recent years to identify objects and real-time tracking of the object of everyone’s attention more and more technology, and now are usually intelligent wisdom under the circumstances, for the city, it is hoped that more and better urban environment, crime rates drop, so they know we are not satisfied with the recorded data, extract information not satisfied, we want to tap the regularity of the content in the video, for example, through a person’s posture we can see this is a good man or a bad man hovering waiting crime of opportunity there that we need to face life video recognition. Do people face security control, you need a video device on the grade. This includes human face acquisition, data extraction and expression, and so on. By these methods, it is possible to recognize facial expressions more clearly [2-4]. There by understand this technology has a broad space for development and market, and thus produced for this research and understanding of the idea.

The object recognition is a very easy thing due to its real applications related on human vision, however, it is not an easy thing for a computer system [5-6]. Since the object recognition scene is complex and would change at any time, thatwill cause some difficulties for object identification and tracking by a computer. In addition, the most important thing is the recognition accuracy will drop a lot. So for this reason, this studymainly focus on understanding and exploring a dynamic video under a static background.

The main processes of this study first is through the video analysis and background information to calculate these image in video, then re-take the image of each frame by comparing their degree of acquaintance among images in video to determine whether there has been an object can be identified, and then after these return-related information, which will be marked on the feedback moment in the image frame for easy observation. If the object is identified and recognized the facecase, it will make a different kind of feedback information such as a color recognition or the number of individual appearing in the video.

For the above process described, this paper will analyze and use a number of different algorithms and methodologies to deal with the various stages in order to understand each algorithm and compare the rate and efficiency of operations, and then improve them after summarizing conclusions. The operating platform is selected on the PC online using Open CV and MATLAB caculation.

Methods and Experiments

The present trend of object recognition

Identifying object in a video is belonging to aspects of the image recognition, for the purpose, it needs to experience three development stages: character recognition, digital image processing and recognition, object recognition. Text recognition began to be studied from 1950, and became more and more strong after the digital image storage capacity promoted, it has a convenience and a huge advantage to usbut is easy to distort, so people began to study the digital image processing and recognition methodologies to tackle it. The main object recognition refers to the three-dimensional world of objects and the environment perception and understanding, it is an advanced computer vision scope [7]. In the image recognition mode, there are three kind of development process ways to have been identified: statistical pattern recognition, structural pattern recognition, fuzzy pattern recognition [8].

In the past ten years,the objectrecognition in video has been the study core for many researchers. Up to nowdevelopment, there is indeed a great achievement, such as domestic face ++ and HW Cloud for the study of face recognition, and there are some domestic companies for the image recognition in the text and the image recognition for studying bank card numbers and other identification strings, even the network has a lot of relevant information.

It means that the image recognition technology at home and abroad is growing fast, however, for object recognition in video, this research is not very mature, because most of the studies are not very complex at specific scene collection and analysis, and do some non-specific or random scene still existing a certain degree of difficulty, that is, an adaptive performance is poor, if the target image has a strong noise, or a larger image defects, it will has usually no desired results [9- 11]

Video deal & image similarity

When identifying objects in video, we first need to deal with the video, the video needs to be converted to the corresponding frame picture output which can be learned by image processing and recognition.When one image in video is converted into each frame, because the object may not always be necessarily to appear in the video, when detecting whether it is an object, many frames without the object appearing will be also included in the detected queue, for example, if a period of 20 s video only has 1swith an object appearing, then this will be the case many unnecessary image framesare detected, and thus will have a longer run hours and be inefficient. And we need to understand how to filter out these unwanted image frames. To solve the above problem, in this research,we comparetheir acquaintance between theseimage frame to filter out some useless image frame.

Image similarity algorithm introduction

Histogram matching

Histogram matching must first be a gray-scale, then transfer it into the desired histogram. It has the following three steps: 1) the histogram of original image is equalized of gray; 2) form the desiredhistogram; 3) reverse the first step conversion [12-14] .

When comparing the acquaintancedegree uses thehistogram matching, it usually calculates Bhattacharyya distance and Bhattacharyya coefficient,where the pasteurized factor is used to measure two discrete probability distribution. The pasteurized factor is the amount of overlap of two statistical samples’ myopia calculation [15-16]. Why it is used for the processing image similarity,because its effect on the image acquaintance degree is the best. These formulasare the followingEquation (1) and (2). Bhattacharyya distance:

where q and p refer to the two discrete probability distribution in the number domain, BC refers to the pasteurized factor, Bhattacharyya coefficient as follows：

where a and b are for the two samples, n is the number of sub-blocks, ai and bi are the a and b number in section i.

We start histogram based matching approach to compare their image acquaintance by the above description. Theimage must be first gray-scale processing, here we use MATLAB fuction to transform as the following statement: I = rgb2gray (M), where M is theinput image andI is the grayscale image referredto M. Then use the statement [Count, x] = imhist (I) to read the grayscale image histogram information, where Count is the histogram data of vector grayscale image and x is the corresponding color vectorrespectively, then go through the calculation of distance and coefficientformulas. Another method instead of MATLAB for grayscale images are as follows: For grayscale images, the image is actually through the weighted average of RGB three components to acquire the heaviest gray value as the following standard formula: gray = 0.11B + 0.59G + 0.3R, where is just a one kind of weight from the perspective of human physiology. As Figure 1(a)-(b) show the original image, then got the results as shown in Figure 2 observation.

As shown in these results, the hitis their respective histogram data referringthe pasteurized factor as the similarity of the two images. But the method is indeed obvious weak point, for example,one picture with above white color and below black color compared with one picture with aboveblack color and below white color, their similarity is 100, hit = 1.00, this is an apparent error.

Sift Transform Algorithm

Sift is also known as scale-invariant feature transform, which was developed by [9], and made further advance in 2004; its application includes object recognition, robot map perception and navigation, image stitching, 3D modeling, gesture recognition, video tracking and motion match; this algorithm has been patent and ownedby the University of British Columbia.Sift algorithm consists of four steps:  

a) detection of the extreme value in scale space;

b) use the neighborhood pixel at key points for the distribution parameters of gradient direction as each critical point in the specified direction, so that the operators pose rotational invariances;

c) generate the sift feature vector and rotate the axis of feature point to ensure its rotational invariance;

d) do the feature matching [17].

Perceptual hash algorithm

This is a kind of method that it will generate a ‘fingerprint’ string after each image is processed, and then make a comparison with it, if it is closer to the result, it would has much more similarity. Usually the first step of the algorithm is for image size shrinking to reduce the differences caused by the different image scaleand then simplifies color to gray image and compares each gray pixel again after calculating the average of gray value, If the mean greater is than or equal to the average, denoted by 1, others by 0.5, more thanassemblesas the above results, it is a so-called image ‘fingerprint’, finally followsup the same rule for the different images. The advantage for this method is that no matter how you deal with any image, change its size or color, its ‘fingerprint’ will not change.

With the above three algorithms, the latter two algorithms havea more powerful calculation and higher accuracy for these high complexity image than the first algorithm, howeverour study does not fix on the high image acquaintance, andwe just want to know whether there is an object in the video on the line, so that this study uses and implements a simple histogram matching algorithm.

Video background extraction

There are lots methodologies for video background extraction [18], for example, the time average, the multiframe average, the codebook method [19], and the Gaussian mixture background model method [20]. Here we use to interframe difference method to realize it, which uses to images adding plus meaning to deal the video background extraction. Assuming the taken all image in frames are designated picture (N), where N refers to the N-th frame of video, specific implementation as follows:

For N=1：NumberofFrames

Backg=Backg+picture(N)

End

Backg=Backg/NumberofFrames

But when we have some real-time requirements for the background processing, then do as follows：

For N=1：mov.NumberofFrames

If（N<=NumberofFrames）

Backg=Backg+picture(N)

Else

Backg=Backg+picture(N)-picture(N-NumberofFrames)

End

End

Backg=Backg/NumberofFrames

The video background extractions can update real-time through the manner described above.

Mark motion objects

The object recognition is carried out by determining the differences between two images to confirm the object; it can be performed as follows:

C=picture（N）-Backg；

Here it is described by two images as shown in Figure 3 & 4, and the result is shown in Figure 5. The image will be binarized after image subtraction, which uses iterative method based on the approximation value, first find the maximum and minimum gray value recorded as Rmax and Rmin, then make the threshold T = (Rmax+ Rmin) 2 , divide it into two groups R1 and R2 based on the mean gray value after the threshold value, then obtain two average gray value of μ1 and μ2, finally obtain the new threshold value T = (μ1+μ 2) 2 . Furthermore, let f (x, y) is a function of the input gray-scale image, and g (x, y) is a binary image output as follows:

Figure 6 shows the display after the manner described above, then extract the inside information from the image binarized result and feed back to the picture (N).

Mark the recognized objects

By the manner described above, we have successfully found the objects in video meantime label them, so now we want to identify items. Because each object has its own characteristics, even the same thing for basic terms that have different forms, for this reason, we will mainly fix the recognized object marks for face recognition.

Face Recognition

The researchers have a lot of attention for face recognition in the recent studies. Because the recognition from the image of a person’s face is a much challenged project, the face size, orientation and posture in a image have different changes; even also some special cases, such as too bright and object occlusion cases; the above situations will affect the recognition efficiency. Here we introduce the definition of face recognition: it is to determine the location size and posture of all face in the input image if present; face recognition is a key technology of face information processing in recent years, and it has become a research subject within the field of pattern recognition and computer vision [14].

Principal components analysis

Principal Component Analysis(PCA) is for the optimal orthogonal transformation in image compression, [15-16] proposed the first PCA for face recognition application based on the Eigen face concept using the main component vector to reshape human face. The principle is based on the optimal orthogonal variation to expand network recursive manner to achieve its recognition. For this mode, it is assumed there are X categories in face gallery, and each category has Y face training images. Each image will be treated as a sample Pij (the jth people image in the ith category), where 1≤i≤X, 1≤j≤Y, and image is N * N, first the image icon will be vectorized into N2 * 1, then the average training vector in X face image is as follows:

uses Pij-μ to acquire the mean difference vector eij, after that forms a N2 * XY dimension matrix as follows:

extract the eigenvalues and orthonormal eigenvectors of total scatter matrix AAT through this matrix, denoted by B = AAT, then introduce R = ATA, and find out the corresponding eigenvalues λi and eigenvectors vi, so can obtain the feature vector:

Finally sort out i λ , and select the corresponding eigenvector subspace according to requirement, thus complete the dimensionality reduction and feature extraction purposes [16], PCA uses the described above mathematics for face recognition. However, this approach has some shortcomings, such as light and size, etc., which will degrade its recognition rate.

Neural networks face recognition mode

Artificial neural network is a set of brain science, neural psychology and information science crossover studies, its algorithm is a mathematical model to simulate the human brain systems and applications; it is a lot number of processing units support each other with non-linear, adaptive information processing system [12-13]. This method can be for a lowresolution face image, partial autocorrelation function, and partial second-order matrix. The main advantages for this method are

a) simulate a person’s thinking in image;

b) have a massively parallel and collaboration processing power;

c) strong self-learning ability and adaptability;

d) has a good fault tolerance;

e) have a non-linear mapping.

Elastic image matching face recognition

Elastic graph matching method is based on dynamic link architecture (DLA) method, which presents the face with a trellis sparse diagram, nodes in image use the Gabor wavelet of image position to obtain the feature vector mark called the jet, and the image margin is tagged with the distant vector. Its matching process flowchart is shown in Figure 7. Wavelet analysis is characterized by a time-frequency analysis, when the point in space at different frequencies in response to the surrounding area constitutes the point feature string, the high-frequency portion will correspond to the small details within the scope, and the low frequency part of the point will be a wide range around the scope. The wavelet transform elastic image matching algorithm takes into account both the face local detail and retains its spatial distribution, therefore, Gabor function is often used as a wavelet base function [9].

The Gabor transform is generated by an analog of the human visual system. The retinal imaging can be decomposed into a set of filter images by simulating the human visual system; each image can be decomposed to reflect these intensity changes in frequency and direction within the local area. The texture features can be obtained by a set of multi-channel Gabor filters, which actually is to design Gabor transforms, where fisher linear discriminator (FLD) refers to an improved feature face. Although this method can tolerate a certain degree of change in posture, facial expression and lighting, etc., but due to the high complexity of time and space, it is difficult to meet the requirements of large-scale real-time face recognition.

Face recognition method summary

At moment, there are many different algorithms for face recognition, not only just above described, for example, the Hidden Markov model, support vector machine (SVM) for face recognition [6], the line segment of Hausdorff distance for face recognition and human face recognition methods are based on skin color. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, however the present study, we tend to mix a variety of methods.

Experiment Tests

Main process

Here the main study is to implement whole operation for some complicated tests like multi-faces recognition and multiskin color extraction under a video flow, the main process flowchart is shown in Figure 8. After each experiment, we will explore their effects.

Video processing

Because this test video has no fast-speed objects, we use second speed rate for image processing in video and intercept their background by a few frames in a second. Now the video in seconds is intercepted, then their background is updated for image display in real time. In this research, the video is mainly static background, so we can directly use the background of this scene as the background, and it is updated in one second time in several frames of video as it relates to the quality of the background image and the entire experimental results. Table 1 shows the image similarity rate for the filtered image collection after the moving object is identified.

The next recognition test is by the face ++ interface, we found that some time they still cannot be identified from these results and thus it is needed to do more processing. When it is confirmed in the previous image, in the frontal face appearing, and then if no face appears again through the process at the current image, then confirms it is in the different frame and identifies it. Furthermore, when the received human face number of Jason data from the face++ interface does not return 0, then put this frame as the current output. Therefore, we make a further process based on the modified process as Figure 9 shown and the processed output is shown in Figure 10 (a). When these faces are recognized by the above-described manner, the skin color region extraction is followed up and the results are shown in Figure 10 (b). Because the background color and the body color are somewhat similar, so some part of the background sometime will be also extracted.

The experimental tests show a more successful set of results. In general, the method described above is for the PC base, it can be seen in the study there is still some effect, although fast object recognition marked area is sometimes not very obvious and face recognition in many people’s situation cannot be fully recognized and skin color is not very complete extracted. The main reason is that the software process speed cannot match with the hardware’s.

Conclusion

In the study, we demonstrated some characteristics of the image operations in a video through some simple algorithms and methods and made some improvement such as a sift transform algorithm and perceptual hashing algorithm to fulfill. The face recognition rate can be promoted by increasing the image resolution, and then takes into account the speed, so the video resolution is set on 640 × 360. We can extract more background in frames by summing and averaging them, then the effect is better. For recognizing object in video, we try a running marked in real time, and face recognition and skin color extraction have been realized by extracting a video image to observe their effect and implemented some algorithms, the experimental tests show a more successful set of results.

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