#// but it takes a LOT of product to get it to be perfectly orb shaped

[fatedefyd]

when tang takes all the product out of his hair, it sweeps easily and is also naturally very thick

it usually ends up making him look at least a decade younger, depending on how he styles it, or look like a completely different person if he also switches out his glasses

[girlwiththegreenhat]

portal. go

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): i have two favorites perfectly tied but one of them has other opportunities for this meme so i will do the other one. chell. chell my beloved. nothing stops this woman. she survives the death trap of a facility that is aperture, twice. she can talk but she chooses not to out of pure spite. i know it’s a video game and giving up is counter productive but when her bad situation is the worst its ever been and she wakes up at the end of the miles-deep elevator shaft in the ruins of old aperture... she gets up. and she keeps going. “tenacious” is one of the few things we know about her, and i admire that so much. 

and after the ending, if anyone can make the best out of a post-combine world, it’s her. she’s free and she deserves that.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): wheatley in the first half of the game is 100% my little scrunkly my little bastard orb my little fella that i balance on my face for as long as i can Without Fail Every Time when he pops off his stupid rail because he asked me to catch him but god dammit i have no available hands. he’s an idiot. he talks too much. he likes going thru the Funny Tubes in ch5. wheatley my friend wheatley from portal 2 2011 valve corporation :)

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): does doug rattmann qualify for this, the funny painter man living in the walls who you never actually meet but you see the remnants of him in his dens. he does so much actually and i think about him a lot. there are probably people who have played both games who don’t even know his name but it’s his spaces that contribute one of the best elements of the wrongness of aperture, and it’s amazing how you can feel so connected to him and appreciative of him and you literally never see the guy. if it weren’t for him chell wouldn’t have gotten out of the facility at all. i always get so wrapped up in the environment that when i find his spaces i have to Stop and think about him, look at them. appreciate the paintings even though they’re the same every time. sit n listen to exile, vilify, maybe cry a little.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): the companion cube counts as a character and it counts for this category specifically because every time i get my hands on that thing my mood increases and i get legitimately excited over a metal box with a pink heart painted on it. it’s in a chamber that takes like, two minutes to complete if that, in each game. it has no dialogue. it sings if you get really close to it. iirc it’s existence is a parody and guess what, i’ve fallen for it. LOVE that box. i have The Box in real LIFE. LOVE that box. ... also the curiosity core. that lil dude is baby. i think it’s funny how you have to incinerate both of these characters

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): wheatley gets to go twice because of what he does in the second half of the game. he’s a little shit. stabs you right in the back and given that he was Made to be stupid, by god, is he. ... and yet. he’s too endearing. he’s the new Big Bad and he’s horrible at it. he’s just... stupid. really stupid. i Get what it’s like being set up to fail and i can’t help but feel sorry for him?? i wouldn’t unironically call myself a “wheatley apologist” he definitely did Bad Thing (Which Was Bad) but i find the concept of him getting a chance for redemption and taking it really interesting which is why i like Blue Sky so much. he is my problematic fav and absolutely a pathetic little dude as well but i want him to be happy. i’m gonna play basketball with him real quick before he gets to be though.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): this is the only prompt i got stuck on so you know what i’m putting All the cores into an actual plinko machine, even glados. except space core. space core has done nothing wrong, ever, in his life.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): cave johnson is going straight to hell just for what he did to caroline. she makes me sad, man. so naturally his Other Crimes makes him a perfect candidate for superhell.

[thedreadvampy]

well if I get nothing else out of it my recent obsession with Melanie King has caused me to learn a lot about enucleation surgeries

anyway I think I assumed empty eye sockets would be more out of shape but it turns out there's a lot of Stuff in there that isn't eyeball, who knew?

I find eye surgery fascinating which is unfortunate because for a lot of people is one of their biggest squick points. but like the structure of the eye and eye socket are SO INTERESTING they're so MECHANICAL

anyway if you're interested I'm like 90% sure the Melanie surgical details are more or less as follows: (warning I'm trying not to be gross but it's potentially a bit graphic if eye stuff or surgery stuff is a Thing for you)

DISCLAIMER I haven't had any experience with this surgery, I'm not blind/partially sighted and I'm not a doctor, I'm just googling and reading a lot of patient advisories

In an enucleation, they effectively just sever the muscles holding the eye as close as possible to the eye itself, peel them back, then carefully sever the optic nerve and pop the eye out.

depending on how extensive the damage was, the most likely surgery for this type of eye trauma is eye removal. this could be enucleation, which is where the whole eye is removed (including the sclera and optic nerve) but the muscle, fat, connective tissue and eyelids surrounding it are kept. it could also be an evisceration, where they just remove the innards of the eye, but either way post-surgically they look pretty much the same.

If she managed to fully blind herself, regardless of how badly damaged the eye is, they'll consider removal. Advice says 'if the eye is blind to light [ie fully blind] and painful, removal should be considered'. Removal really substantially reduces the pain in most cases.

It's not a long procedure - the NHS says to expect a 48 hour stay but that's standard overnight observation for surgery requiring general anaesthetic

After the eye is removed, they'll put in a plastic or organic spherical implant to fill the space and hold everything in place. it's made with a bone-like tunnelled surface so that the tissue of your eye socket can graft onto it and give it some of the motion that an eye would have, and they just suture the muscle back into place and leave it to take

In an evisceration it's similar except instead of severing the muscle and nerve, they cut into the sclera (the tissue making up the surface of the eye), open up the eye and remove all the Bits (the lens, cornea, vitreous fluid etc), then they put the implant inside the shell of sclera and suture the sclera and conjunctiva back up over the front.

Evisceration is the preferred method where possible because it's a lot simpler and less invasive. So whether or not Melanie had an evisceration or an enucleation depends on how badly she damaged her eyes (I imagine mostly whether she went in far enough/roughly enough to significantly damage the sclera/eye socket)

There are other eye removal surgeries that remove stuff around the eyes (like the lids) or that don't allow for implants, but those are much more for very extensive damage (or tumors/aggressive infections) not really the sort of targeted damage Melanie inflicted.

After surgery, your eyelids are stitched together for the first few weeks to give them time to adjust. it's a single stitch that's removed after 2-3 weeks. behind that they put a 'conformer' which is a piece of clear plastic to prevent the eyelids contracting as they heal.

It should stop hurting after a couple of days, but for the first few days you may get a lot of headaches and nausea (eyestrain symptoms, basically)

It heals pretty fast (you're meant to be back to normal activity after bit over a week, although you shouldn't rub or touch your eyes for a fortnight). you have to wear bandages and pads for the first week to keep the swelling down, but after that you wouldn't expect to have bandaged eyes.

while your eyes are stitched closed you are going to gently wash them in boiled water periodically to clear up any mucus or dried blood. once the stitches come out you're going to have to do antibiotic eye drops for a while to keep it clean and safe while it heals

It takes 2-3 months for your eye socket to heal well enough to start fitting a prosthetic (I'm not sure what the time scale is with Melanie's situation bc I don't know how long has meant to have passed between MAG154 and MAG160, but my sense is that since 8 weeks is the minimum to start the fitting process and the actual prosthetic production can take a while, she probably didn't have time to get set up with prosthetics)

Prosthetics are an aesthetic choice not a health one. your eye will be fine without one, the glass/plastic prosthetic eyes aren't structural bc you've got that implant they put in during surgery too fill the space of your eye, they're just a cover that fits over the front of the implant to make it look more like an eye (sort of like putting in a giant contact lens). before you're fitted for a prosthetic you're going to keep wearing the conformer to help your eyelids keep their shape.

The implant (sans prosthetic) doesn't fill the whole of the same space as an eye, if I'm understanding right, because the prosthetic has to fit snugly behind the eyelids. Natural eyes aren't spherical, they curve out at the front with the lens and iris sitting on top of the orb, and the glass eye takes up that space.

Because of that, an enucleated eye without a prosthetic in doesn't push against the eyelids the way a whole eye does. There's still a curvature to the lid - you can still see the orb behind it, they aren't falling back into the socket like with a non-surgically removed missing eye - but if the eye is open the lids are likely to be a bit slack and droopy compared to before the enucleation. to me it looks a lot like a severe lazy eye - often very nearly closed and with a downward slant. the eyelid often needs surgical correction even with a prosthetic in to look the way it did before losing the eye.

in the open eye, you can see the implant clearly. when it's healed it will be mostly overgrown with conjunctiva (the tissue that you can see around the rim of your eye and on the backs of your eyelids). this means it's pinkish-red, with fleshy tissue stretched quite thinly over the the white of the implant. then a prosthetic will go over the top of that if it's worn, between the conjunctiva on the outside of the implant and the inside of the eyelid. the fact that the conjunctiva is covering hard white "bone" rather than skin means that the implant looks a slightly lighter pink than the rims of the eyes and has a somewhat different texture.

Light won't cause pain (sunglasses would, again, be an aesthetic choice not a practical one - it's not like some surgeries that leave you very light sensitive, you haven't really got anything to BE light sensitive) but early on moving your eyes too much or rubbing them might hurt.

Unless you get an injection you shouldn't need much physical followup beyond getting your stitches out, but the NHS provides counseling services to help you adjust to losing the eye (and I assume this is more substantial for something like Melanie's case where you go from being fully-sighted to fully blind in a sudden and traumatic way. I'm struggling to find anything about what to expect from bilateral enucleation and I imagine that's because the circumstances that require removing both eyes are fairly limited, since surgical enucleation is pretty rare anyway and usually it's because of an accident or a cancer which are likely to mostly affect one eye)

once you get a prosthetic, it stays in most of the time - you don't remove it to sleep, swim, bathe or anything else. you take it out and wash it once every few weeks. it can be uncomfortable to start with and feel too tight behind your eyelids. you pop it out with a wee plunger and put it in like a giant contact lens.

this means unless she really screwed up her blinding and had to have drastic surgery like removing her lids or muscles, which I don't think is likely to be the case, her face probably won't look super different by S5 except that her eyes will be droopier and more half-closed than before (if she's not wearing prosthetics. if she is wearing prosthetics they'll probably look normal she just won't be able to focus on anything or like. see. but visually the lack of focal depth should be the only tell). what you can see of her 'eyes' probably won't be the classic symbol-of-blindness Empty White Orbs - they'll be a similar shape to an eyeball and a similar colour to the rims of her eyes/her tear duct. she might be wearing sunglasses but she probably wouldn't bother in the apocalypse unless it really worried her how she looked. she almost certainly wouldn't have bandages, pads or patches over her eyes. she might well be wearing a conformer if it's up to a couple of months after the surgery, which will make her 'eyes' shinier and from the looks of photos, maybe look darker/redder? if she's got a prosthetic, it will probably be a standard one (because custom ones are really expensive) which means it may not perfectly match how her eyes looked before and will probably not be anything funky like rainbows or idk, cat eyes, however fun I think that would be. if she's wearing a prosthetic or conformer she's likely to want to use eyedrops because they can be a bit dry and itchy on the eyelids.

[e-king-court]

It’s that time of year again...

...and by that I mean it's my birthday.

 I don't generally celebrate my birthday. It became A Thing after my parents divorce, and since then, it is definitely a cursed day (last year I got a whole pandemic, so...)

This year, however, I decided I wanted to write me a story. Some months back, while scrolling through Facebook (I know, I know) I came across a post of a post that was a plot bunny. It was a tweet from user @JohannesEvans that read:

Hot goth in the woods that keeps answering the door and sighing and going "no, I'm not the witch, he lives over there" and points across the street to a dazzling pretty boy wearing a gold waistcoat who's waving excitedly at them

I immediately wanted to write it. So I did.

 Now, to no one's surprise, I didn't start this story until roughly a week ago, so... well, it's almost done. So, for now, just to say I've properly celebrated my birthday, please allow me to share with you the first half or so of this silly story. It's rough, really rough, and doesn't have a title. I'm not thrilled with it, but... guilty pleasures, etc. Enjoy!

Quiet. That’s what the little alternative community in the woods had offered. Peace, acceptance, solitude. Quiet.

So Locke bit back a curse when someone knocked on his door for the hundredth time that day. Poppy seeds scattered across his work bench when he jumped because of course he hadn’t used a measuring spoon. Why would he use a measuring spoon for the smallest ingredient? Obviously, pouring straight from the bottle is the best way to measure poppy seeds.

The knocking persisted. Locke sighed and set the bottle down with a thud and rattle of chains. He stomped his way up front and tugged the door open, startling the pair of young women standing on his doorstep. Their eyes widened and the three of them stared at each other for longer than Locke thought was polite.

“Can I help you?” He didn’t growl. This was good communication skills.

The two seemed to shake themselves. “Are you Mr. Devereux?”

Locke sighed. “Which Mr. Devereux?”

They blinked and exchanged a confused glance. “We, um… we’re looking for a spell.”

“Then you want the witch.” He pointed a long arm over their heads toward the obnoxious display across the street. “That Mr. Devereux.” As one, they turned and Locke followed their gaze.

Sebastian was lounging in a pool chair, a cheap thing with neon yellow piping and no pool in sight. He was surrounded by colorful plants, flowers, and enough suncatchers to make any light fairy jealous. Locke was dismayed to see that he was sunning. Long legs, waxed and bronzed, stretched up to the hem of a pair of nautical striped boyshorts. A too small gold waistcoat revealed a pierced belly button and parted with sequined lapels and a collection of charms and pendants against his chest and the hollow of his throat. Golden blond hair was classically cut, cropped close to the sides and left almost strategically messy on top. Locke was not surprised to see the flash of glitter, either put there intentionally, or polluted from the obnoxious, glittery, sun-shaped sunglasses taking over most of his heart-shaped face.

His smile was almost blinding as he waved. “Hey, gorgeous!”

Locke frowned as his face went hot and wished for the hundredth time since moving in that he was the kind of goth that wore full face makeup. “That’s the witch.”

The women gawked at Sebastian, turned and gawked at Locke glowering in the doorway, and then looked at each other.

“Umm… sorry,” the apparent speaker of the duo said, and they turned and fled across the street, whispering to each other as they went. Sebastian stood and stretched, that waistcoat riding higher and those boyshorts hugging… well, everything. Locke sighed and shut the door with a snap.

Newlight Falls was advertised as a quiet town with a village-like atmosphere, tucked away in the old growth forest and home to those who didn’t fit in elsewhere. It was home to all sorts of paranormals, which included an uncommon amount of witches, plenty of fairies, and the obligatory pack of werewolves. Being that it was only an hour away from three major cities, it had become a bit of a tourist attraction, replete with warm-weather festivals that the fairies almost exclusively coordinated. Locke wasn’t a fan, but they were good for the town and good for business.

Even with all that, Locke fell in love with the place almost as soon as he saw it. He’d found the listing on Will’o, trying to find something close to the doctors he needed, but not directly in the city. Not only was his dark little cabin perfectly suited to him, but being back in the woods meant plenty of shade and long trails that he could disappear into if the festivities got to be too much.

It was also supposed to be haunted, which, perfect, but so far he hadn’t experienced much more than a few things being moved and a book or two knocked to the floor. No great shakes, really.

With the image of Sebastian’s sparkling navel piercing embedded in his mind, Locke sulked back to his work room to clean up the poppy seeds and see if the tea could be saved.

“Locke!” Benji’s happy voice boomed, big arms open and face nearly split by his smile.

Locke returned his smile but stayed sequestered on the front stoop out of the sunlight. Benji came to him without question, wrapping him up in the kind of bear hug only large goblins could give. He grunted and gave Benji’s back a pat as the air was squeezed out of him. “Hey, Benj.”

“Good to see you, you look good. This place looks great,” he said, stepping back to appraise the front of the house. To most, it needed some work, but Locke was partial to the busted exterior shutters and chipping grey paint.

“Thanks, the web is real, orb weaver, real beauty,” he said, motioning to the port window overhead.

Benji’s smile went tight and strained. “Love it,” he grunted like it hurt. He cautiously turned his attention away from the spider. “Thanks for letting me come.”

“Of course! Make my favorite sibling miss Fairy Fest after listening to him whine about it for ten years? Fat chance. C’mon, I’ll show you your room,” he said, motioning Benji in.

Benji grabbed his suitcase and thundered up the steps. “This place has a guest bedroom?”

“Eh….” Locke whined and didn’t answer further. It did, but the guest bedroom was where he’d put his workroom and it would have been too small for his hulking brother anyway. Instead, Locke had cleaned up his own bedroom and got a cot for his workroom. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable, but he could deal with it for the week that Benji was visiting. It wasn’t often they got to spend time together one on one.

They wandered in. Locke waved over the small living room, through the doorway to the small kitchen and dining nook, the water closet under the stairs, and then brought him up to the attic that made his bedroom and the full bathroom for his use during his stay. Benji caught on quick, but didn’t say anything, no doubt having considered how small the house was.

“We’ll have to share the shower, but otherwise, this room is yours for the week. I, uh… can’t say I’d be real thrilled if you picked someone up at the Fest, but, I’ll be the best wingman I can be,” Locke said, drawing the curtains back from the port window to let some light into the room.

Benji chuckled. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Thanks, man, this place is great. Mostly,” he said, eyeing the spider visible through the window.

Locke smirked. “Ghost isn’t too rowdy, either.”

“Ahha, of course you’d have a ghost,” Benji said with a self-deprecating laugh. Locke’s grin went cocky and he thumped his way back down the stairs.

“I gotta make a product run when dusk rolls around if you want to see the town proper tonight. There’s not a lot except some kitschy shops, but you might like one of the little restaurants for dinner,” he said, wandering into the kitchen.

Benji hummed and sniffed the air, eyes landing unerringly on the box that took up most of the little dining table. It was full of Locke’s teas, creative little blends in labeled linen baggies waiting to be delivered to the shops in town he was contracted with. “Sure, I’d love to see the place.”

“Cool, you can carry the box,” Locke said, wandering back to his workshop. Benji’s laugh made the windows rattle.

A few hours later, with the sun set enough that it didn’t irritate Locke’s eyes and skin overly much, he was leading an easily distracted Benji through town. The whole town was decked out for Fairy Fest, covered in lights and flowers and full to bursting with fairies. They flitted about in showers of sparkling color, some already celebrating by tossing petals or handful of pixie dust over the myriad of tourists also steadily filling the streets. Locke would have felt out of place in all his black and chains, but there were plenty of darker fae around, too. If anyone stood out, it was his rather large foster brother, his impressive figure causing people to practically dive out of the way, even as poor Benji apologized.

“Stop apologizing, Benj, you’re only walking,” Locke said with a smirk.

Benji was all tight frowns. “I feel bad, though.”

“Don’t, you’re fine. This is us, though,” he said, veering for a shop door. Benji followed, uttering a few more unnecessary apologies as they went.

The dark little mystic shop was one of Locke’s favorites. It was an evening shop and sold pretty much the same stuff that the rest of the kitschy shops sold, but it was themed dark. Spangled black and purple curtains and tapestries kept most of the natural light out, the shelves all made of cast iron and mahogany. The goods skewed toward occultish, but nothing available to the general public could cause any trouble. Even the obsidian athames were blunter than a letter opener. There were more exotic wares in the back, but the owner, Ms. Gloushire, was highly selective when it came to those sales. Even Locke, who was a resident, didn’t have her convinced, but he was getting there. Not that there was anything fancy he needed for his teas.

Benji, of course, veered right for the collection of polished stones and crystals. Locke grinned and teasingly hissed for him not to touch all of them. Benji glared at him but didn’t put down the peacock ore he’d already snatched from the display.

“Ms. Gloushire?” he called when he saw the front end empty.

“Is that you, Locke!?” a muffled shout echoed from the back.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, sliding his sunglasses onto the top of his head.

A moment later Ms. Gloushire was whacking her beaded curtain out of the way and she smiled warmly at Locke before her eyes settled on Benji. “Oh, you have a friend today.”

“Yep. My brother, Benji,” he said. “I have the tea for you for the Fest. The Starry Night, Full Moon, and Crossroads.” He set his box down on her counter beside the register and pulled back the flaps.

Her face lit up and she rubbed her hands together. “Ooh, excellent. Everything work out all right with your last check?”

“Yes, ma’am, not problems at all,” he said, smiling softly.

“Good. All this newfangled equipment. I know it’s more convenient for the Norms, but electronics and magic don’t always mix well. But if everything’s fine, then it’s fine,” she said, casting her new POS system a distrustful glare as she dug into the box of teas. Locke just chuckled and waited patiently for her to finish her counting and inventorying. Satisfied, she marked it all down and set the box aside.

“All right, dear, everything looks to be in order. If I need anything else, I’ll call you,” she said.

“Yep, you know where to find me. I gotta stop at Coriander’s. You have a good night,” he said, flicking down his sunglasses.

“You too, Locke. Pleasure to meet you, Benji,” she said with a suspiciously sharp smile. Benji tittered nervously, thanked her, and they were off.

The stop at Coriander’s was brief and uneventful. Locke handed over the second box of teas, things packaged in lighter bags with more spritely names, while Benji was one again glued to the shiniest objects the shop had to offer. Even with Coriander chatting at top speed about a new topic every few seconds, they were done relatively quickly. He said his farewells to the bubbly sprite, flicked his sunglasses down, and turned toward the door, only to be blinded anyway.

Sebastian was in the doorway, pushing his outrageous sunglasses onto the top of his head as he meandered into the shop. As soon as he saw Locke he smiled and Locke frowned at the butterflies in his stomach.

“Hey beautiful,” Sebastian said, smooth and a little high. His eyes instantly flicked to Benji and his expression went briefly blank, before he smiled again and got a little swagger. “Well, well, who is this delightful new face?”

Locke glanced over his shoulder and wasn’t surprised to see Benji’s face dark with blush. His greenish skin and purplish blood made him look a little brown, but it was definitely a blush. Locke didn’t blame him.

“Sebastian,” he said. “My brother, Benji. Here for the Fest.” He cleared his throat before his voice broke and ignored the look Benji gave him.

Another expression briefly flickered across Sebastian’s face, this time more surprised than blank, and quickly settled into a coy grin. “Brother? Well, welcome to Newlight Falls, Mr. Benji. I’m Sebastian Devereux, Locke’s neighbor,” he said, sauntering forward and offering his hand. He was a head shorter than Locke, which had Benji nearly towering, but as usual Sebastian’s confidence was unwavering. Locke figured it would have to be with a neon pink sequin sarong over those...shorts.

“Good to meet you, Mr. Devereux,” Benji said. “Which neighbor would you be?”

“The one across the street, handsome. Incase you ever need to borrow a cup of sugar,” he said with a wink. Benji grinned stupidly and Locke nervously fussed with his lip ring. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I have some tea to stock up on.” He winked at Locke, who barely resisted watching as Sebastian sauntered past. He huffed, tugging his hood closer to his face, and hurried out of the shop, leaving Benji to scurry after him. Maybe the hood and sunglasses disguised his blush enough? He certainly hoped so.

--

“So how are the infusions going?”

Locke looked up from pushing around his caprese. “Hmm? Oh, they’re fine. They’re infusions.” He cut a bite of cheese and tomato. “I had one last week and I think I’m scheduled for the week after next. Mostly vitamin D right now.”

Benji nodded, obliterating a half-pound cheeseburger and fries. “I remember summers are harder.”

Locke shrugged. “Yeah, but being here has been really great. The woods are so dense that I don’t always get a rash, so I can be outside more during the day.”

Benji’s face lit up. “Oh! That’s really cool! Mom and dad will be happy to hear it. See? I told them this was a good move for you.”

Locke huffed. “What, me telling them how great it is wasn’t enough?”

Benji waved him off. “You know how they are, they always worry about you.”

It wasn’t unwarranted. Locke had been a sick kid with all kinds of health issues and sensitivities, not the least of which was chronic anemia. At the time, being in and out of foster homes like he was, it had been difficult to narrow down his symptoms. Until Dan and Lori snagged him, the pale, scrawny, constantly exhausted thing that he was, and gave him a solid foster home to grow up in. Within the first year they’d discovered he had vampire heritage, which explained the majority of his weird symptoms. It wasn’t enough that he had to have transfusions, but it still meant he was anemic and allergic to too much direct sunlight. After that, with the support of his new foster family, Locke improved enough that he was able to finish school, and even got a degree.

Now, with a healthy lifestyle, he could live pretty normally, even if he still needed to be monitored monthly. Newlight, on top of being paranormally inclusive, also happened to be an hour away from the office that handled his case, which was still better than the two and a half hours he’d been traveling while still living near Dan and Lori. They might not have adopted him, but they still considered themselves his parents, and made quite the fuss when he moved so far away from them.

“Well, I really am doing great. You can tell them that I'm happy and healthy and even the ghost doesn’t bother me too much,” he said.

Benji snorted. “Lori would flip her lid if she knew you had a ghost.”

Locke grinned and didn’t think Lori would honestly be too surprised.

Other than the caprese salad, the choice of restaurant had been deliberate. It sat across from a stretch of woods with a marked path, and that path just so happened to let out a few yards from Locke’s house. The dark fae of Newlight loved to fill it with all sorts of mischief, some of which was quite pretty depending on the mood. With it being tourist season, and the endless woodland trails a huge attraction, Newlight had strict ordinances for what was and wasn’t allowed on the public paths. Benji was hesitant to take the woods home, but Locke assured him it was quite safe so long as they stayed on the path.

True to form, the woods were full of eerie giggles and mysterious lights, shrubs shaking and twigs snapping in the shadows along the lit path. The usual lamps that ran along the ground had been replaced with overhead string lights, zigzagging back and forth  like a trail of will-o-the-wisps. Since the sun had finally set, Locke was able to shuck his hoodie and take off his sunglasses. Extreme temperatures had never really bothered him, but the summers could be pretty oppressive. It was nice to feel cool night air on his skin.

Half way home, a fairy appeared, a curvy woman in a diaphanous lavender dress and long, curling black hair. She hovered her way across the path, watching them with a wicked grin and shining black eyes.

“Evening, Iris,” Locke said casually. Benji made some choking noises behind him and Locke suppressed a grin, imagining his brother was blushing so hard he was almost purple.

“Hello, Locke. Who’s your friend?” she asked, moving a little closer.

“This is my brother, Ben.”

Her grin got even more mischievous. “Nice to meet you, Ben,” and she was off again, disappearing into the trees on the opposite side of the path. A symphony of chittering laughs hit them and Locke snorted.

“Wow,” Benji huffed as they kept moving, eyes nearly glued to the spot.

“She works in Mrs. Gloushire’s sometimes,” Locke said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah?” Benji mumbled absently, still searching through the darkness. Locke wanted to tease him, but it was his turn to blush when another fairy appeared.

“Hello, Galena,” he nearly deadpanned, glad it was so dark.

Galena was tall and willowy, built lean like a swimmer and burnished like bronze. He was dressed in what Locke could only call a poison green loincloth with a braided rope of poison ivy draped across him like a sash and pinning back half of his long, curling brown hair.

“Hello, Locke.” He did a little spin, purple wings beating wildly. “What do you think of my Absinthe costume?”

Locke blinked. “Isn’t that the same costume from last year?”

Galena scoffed. “You’re no fun!” he snarked, but blew Locke a kiss anyway and darted off again. Locke sighed and picked up the pace.

“Are the woods always like this here?” Benji nearly whispered to a chorus of laughter.

Locke shrugged. “No, they’re just excited for the Fest. It’s pretty quiet outside of tourist season.” Benji just hummed softly and got a little closer when something shrieked nearby.

[e350tb]

Steven Universe: Marooned Together - Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

“You guys sure you’re gonna be alright?” asked Lars.

“I can help,” added Sadie, “I…”

“We don’t know if the Diamonds have an override for you,” said Garnet. “Until we can check back on New Earth, it’s safer if you go back to the Sun Incinerator.”

“I… okay, yeah.” Sadie nodded. “Good luck, guys.”

Stevonnie, Lapis and Garnet watched as Lars, Sadie and Lenny disappeared back down the dark corridor. Stevonnie bit their lip, turning away from them and gazing ahead - there was a set of doors ahead, open just a crack - enough to expose the total darkness within. They swallowed.

Lapis took their hand.

“You okay?” she asked.

Stevonnie nodded.

“Yeah,” they said. “I’m fine.”

Slowly, they stepped forward, heading into the unknown. Stevonnie went first, sliding gently through the crack and onto the other side.

“Okay,” they said, turning around. “Now it’s your-”

SLAM.

Stevonnie jumped back as the door slammed shut, leaving them alone in darkness. As the echo of the crashing slam slowly died away, they could hear muffled pounding on the door, and cries of their name.

“Lapis!” they cried.

They reached for the door, trying to get their fingers into the crack to pull it open. It was nearly completely useless - not even their nails fit.

“Hold on!” they shouted, “I’ll try to find a way around!”

“Hello, Rose.”

The hairs on the back of their neck prickled, and though there were about a million things they would rather do at that moment, Stevonnie turned around.

A small ray of natural light shone through the old roof, just enough to create a narrow  spotlight - underneath it stood a porcelien-white pearl, her eye cracked, her mouth twisted (there was no other word) into a smile. She floated a few inches off the ground, her remaining eye almost unfocused even as it stared at them.

“White Diamond’s Pearl,” they whispered.

“Starlight,” said White Pearl. It sounded like a greeting.

“I know who you really are,” growled Stevonnie.

“As do I - even if you don’t.”

White Pearl’s smile widened ever so slightly.

“In fact, I know a lot more than you think,” she continued. “I’m very glad you’ve come here, Starlight - sometimes you have to break a gem to save her. And nothing breaks a gem quite like the truth…”

“What?” Stevonnie titled their head.

“Oh Starlight… did you really think your ‘rebellion’ was unique?”

White Pearl extended an arm and clicked her fingers. A light burst into being, brilliant and white, shining onto a mural on the wall. It was White Diamond, arms extended - but her gem looked markedly different. It was flat both on top and on the bottom, and it seemed considerably larger.

“Long ago,” she said, “White Diamond was whole.”

---

“We have to get through to them!”

Lapis pounded on the wall, both with her hands and giant, watery fists - the sturdy structure refused to budge an inch. Garnet paced behind her, looking around for an alternative way inside. She could see nothing, just the corridor stretching back the way they had come.

“We can try another floor,” she declared, “Maybe…”

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

A section of wall to their left shifted, undergrowth brushed aside. A pair of Chrysalis drones floated out, followed by the tiny form of Aquamarine, wand extended. Then, floating in her stasis aura behind her, came a prisoner…

“C?”

C was hurled to the ground - she already looked battered, her visor cracked and her hair ruffled.

“Your friends,” sniffed Aquamarine, “left this defect behind when they fled the foyer.”

“That's not true,” coughed C, “I… I told ‘em to go ahead… they… they're already halfway back to the Sun Incinerator, and when they get-”

Aquamarine flicked up her wand, and C was sent hurtling into the roof with a mighty crash. She flicked down again, slamming her to the floor once more.

“Now here’s how this is going to work,” declared Aquamarine. “Either you'll surrender, or I'll shatter this dumb little Peridot against the wall…”

---

“When White Diamond was young,” continued White Pearl, “she was plagued with imperfections. And so she trimmed them off. Her stubbornness and inflexibility became Yellow. Her irrationality and emotiveness became Blue. And her distracting empathy and passion became…”

Stevonnie looked down at their gem and rubbed it.

“Pink,” they said.

“No,” said White Pearl. “You.”

She snapped her fingers once more. Two more lights - yellow and blue - illuminated the images  of the respective Diamonds. Each sat on a large chair, like that which had been on the moon base, leaning down - they seemed to be listening to a small figure.

“Each of them was young and inexperienced - each of them had their own ideas. Each of them needed a test of loyalty.”

“A… test?” Stevonnie tilted their head.

“Their first colony,” said White Pearl. “Always chosen to meet the right criteria - an organic civilisation in a pre-industrial state, unusual natural ‘beauty,’ production of coarse and unrefined gems like quartzes and rubies. That alone was temptation to doubt the natural order - but White Diamond knew they needed one more thing. A specially constructed factor…”

White Pearl glanced towards the small figure in Yellow Diamond’s mural.

“A temptress.”

“A… what?”

White Pearl’s smile changed - now it felt almost familiar. The voice that came next sounded vastly different, almost like a recording.

“You look so happy.”

Stevonnie shook their head.

“I… I don't understand…”

“They won't find out,” continued White Pearl, “Because you look just like a quartz… you changed you shape for a day!”

The penny dropped.

“No…” Stevonnie stepped back. “You can't… that doesn't make sense…”

“What if we took some time to explore some of Earth's other features?”

“Stop… stop!”

“Oh, but it makes sense, doesn't it Starlight?” White Pearl continued. “It was her idea to go to Earth. It was her idea for you to become Rose Quartz… or was it Lemon Quartz? Or Blue Quartz? And why was her gem on her forehead, Starlight? Why did she wear all four colours?”

“She… she wasn't…”

“She was.” 

White Pearl snapped her fingers once more. A fourth mural was lit up - this one of a single, pale Pearl.

“A perfectly imperfect pearl,” she said. “Guiding you down the road to rebellion - just as I wanted her to. You're only unique in that you are the only one to have failed the test.”

Her smile, though it never shifted, seem to take on a new, sinister quality that sent shivers down the fusion’s spine.

“It destroyed her, you know. To find out.”

---

“Aquamarine,” snarled Lapis, “I’m gonna shatter you into…”

“No.”

Garnet’s gauntlets vanished as she slowly raised her hands.

“Clearly you have proven yourself superior,” she said. “We surrender unconditionally.”

“What?!”

Aquamarine’s grin could perhaps be described as the kind associated with consuming human waste.

“Very good choice, fusion,” she said condescendingly. “Perhaps now the Diamonds will show you a little undeserved mercy.”

“Garnet, you can’t-”

Garnet turned to her, and just barely through her visor, she could just about see a wink.

“-I mean, yes Aquamarine, I surrender to your…” She took in the impish form before her. “...tremendous might.”

“Oh, you flatter me,” sniffed Aquamarine. “Surrendering to save a common Peridot? Pathetic.”

“We’re… Peridot enthusiasts,” said Lapis.

“Or at least she was once,” said Garnet.

“Garnet.”

“There’s just two things I want to know,” said Garnet. “Where’s Topaz?”

“Guarding my… esteemed colleague 4DT,” replied Aquamarine, crossing her arms, “Why do you care?”

Garnet smiled.

“Buying time,” she replied. “Second question - have you ever seen the main cannon of the Sun Incinerator in use?”

“What?”

Garnet’s grin widened - she grabbed Lapis and leapt to the ground as a purple beam smashed through the wall.

---

“Destroyed…” Stevonnie’s eyes widened. “Pearl’s alive?! Where is she?”

“Pearl?” White Pearl replied. “That Pearl led you astray, Starlight. She was designed to tempt you, and to be reset when you passed your test - which you didn’t, because of her. Why would you ever trust her again?”

“Because I care about her!” replied Stevonnie.

“Like she cared about you?” White Pearl seemed almost to chuckle. “She cared about you because I wanted her to. None of it was genuine. None of it was real. She was a puppet-”

“No, she wasn’t!” thundered Stevonnie. “She’s my family! It doesn’t matter where she came from, she’s a Crystal Gem and-”

“The Crystal Gems are a lie, Starlight,” said White Pearl, “You really must stop fooling yourself. Or shall I remind you of that creed?”

“No!”

“Fight for life on the planet Earth… or was it Gourlbun or Ai’namsat?”

“Shut up!”

“Defend all human beings… or whatever other indigenous life forms… even the ones that you don't understand…”

“Stop!”

“Believe in love that is out of anyone's control…”

“I’m warning you!” Stevonnie clutched their sword.

White Pearl seemed to stare into their soul as she continued regardless.

“And then risk everything f-”

Stevonnie thrust forward. Their sword slid right into White Pearl’s chest.

For a long time, there was silence. They felt their arm shaking, tears pricking at the corner of their eyes.

“It was all a lie, Starlight,” whispered White Pearl.

“I… I don’t care.”

White Pearl disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Stevonnie fell to their knees, feeling sick to their stomach. Their sword clattered to the ground beside them, and their hands shook uncontrollably.

They never noticed the crash from the door, and barely reacted to the blinding sunlight that suddenly streamed in. Only when they felt themself suddenly yanked up into the sky did they look up - they found themself staring into Lapis’ sapphire orbs as they flew up towards the Sun Incinerator. The gem shot them a smile.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ve got you.”

Stevonnie breathed in deeply through their nose. Slowly, they glanced back down at the wrecked temple, the face of White Diamond blasted away, and sighed slowly.

“It doesn’t matter,” they whispered, “I’ll find her.”

---

Lars stared at the bubble in front of him, inside which was contained Aquamarine’s gem.

“What do we do with that?” he asked.

“There’s a prison on New Earth,” replied C. “Well, it’s really a detention centre, but… it’s where they keep Commander Lewis. They’ll probably have space there.”

Lars nodded.

“Okay then,” he said, “Twins, get us home.”

“Aye Captain!”

“Yes Captain!”

Lars turned to Sadie, standing next to the captain’s chair, staring at her mechanical, detached fingers. He reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?”

Sadie exhaled, long and slow.

“I’m gonna be.”

In the back of the bridge, ignored by the others, Lapis and Stevonnie sat against the wall - the fusion had just finished telling their girlfriend their story. Lapis bit her lip, looking up towards the roof.

“...it doesn’t feel fake,” she said at last.

“That’s what I'm thinking,” agreed Stevonnie. “Mom didn’t fail a test. Maybe Blue and Yellow did.”

They shook their head.

“But if everyone finds out…”

“The way I see it,” replied Lapis. “The rebellion isn’t Pink Diamond’s anymore. It’s yours. It doesn’t matter what she did, or where it came from - just where it goes.”

Stevonnie chuckled.

“You’ve come a long way, Laps.”

“I learned from the best,” replied Lapis.

She leaned in and pecked Stevonnie on the cheek. They giggled, putting an arm over her shoulder.

“Lapis,” they asked, “will you help me find Pearl? I mean, when I find out where to start looking, do you want…”

Lapis placed her index finger on Stevonnie’s mouth and smiled.

“Always.”

[hornedwyvern]

Head-canons for Children  in ‘Dew Drops in March’ and ‘Promises of Spring Roses’ series.

Updated 12/10

So in my series’ notes I spoke that Chise and Elias eventually have children. I was really urging to write a bit about them and their personalities. Going in order by first born. I head canon that since Chise is a mage and has gained the unnatural long life that mage’s experience. I will be going into detail in how Chise has over comes and dealt with being a Sleigh Beggy in the newest chapter of ‘Dew Drops in March’. Part of this plays in to how her and Elias plan their lives. I’m a bit odd about talking my own personal OCs but these are just my head-canons. 

Evangeline 

-First born child, she is a exact copy of Chise appearance-wise. She has wisps of red hair most of her first year but by the time she’s a adult she has a head full of dark red hair, it’s a few shades darker than her mother’s but very vibrant. She has the deep green eyes and freckles that dot her face. When she and Chise are in town together they will get commonly mistaken for each other when separated.  

-When Chise is pregnant with her which she is not planned, just a day in the fall she tells Elias she’s pregnant before going to bed nonchalantly, Elias is a wreck. It’s the most nervous Chise ever sees him and to be honest why wouldn’t be. Low-key Chise is a bit of afraid of what their child will be like, even the possibility that it might kill her but when the time comes and they both see their child is perfectly human and nothing wrong with her. They accept her without a second thought, this really baffles every one they know. They too were interested to see what they produced.

-Titania and Oberon come a few days after the birth to bless their child. All sorts of fae are drawn to her which scares Elias and Chise that she too might be a sleigh beggy but really it’s just she is well liked by all the neighbors.

-Her personality is a bit more spunky than Chise and Elias. She still has the gift to see otherworldly beings (It would be very surprising if any of their children didn’t as they have magical power houses for parents.) and posses a natural talent for magic. She is a quick learner but easy to bore and this makes for very frustrating lessons with her father. They tend to butt heads due to the imbalance in their energies. Chise has no idea where it came from, she blames it that Evangeline has a very carefree lifestyle as of now.  How she resembles Elias is his thought process for some things, she looks very carefully into things and think of the science of it. She always is some what blunt and will hesitate before saying thing. Communication isn't her strong suit but learns to build it better. 

-She enjoys more forms of wind, air and weather based magic. Her staff she builds later in her life is a mixture of grey and brown wood that is blended to look like a gust of wind and roots with a sapphire orb sitting on top. She finds her self drawn to the sky. When they visit Grandfather Lindel, she is more than happy to ride beside him on top of the dragons. Her love for the mystic creatures and eagerness in learning about them prompts him to ask Chise and Elias to take her on as his apprentice and successor to the Dragon Aerie when she is 15, the same age Elias purchased Chise. Elias is very hesitant at first but with nagging of both of the women in his life, he gives in. 

-The first day she becomes Lindel’s apprentice he gives her a Obsidian flecked egg to tend to and hatch. It was orphaned by it’s mother and needed some TLC. He deems this as her first responsibility to prove she can become his successor.  She is determined to take care of this egg, it is her child and she sleeps with it beside her or sitting up with it in her lap to keep it warm at night. Those months are extremely long, especially it is during the worst of the winter for the most part.

-Six months after she is given the egg it hatches into a black feathered dragon. She named the dragon; Šiaurys. He ends up adoring Evangeline like a big sister. and grows to the size to where she can ride him singly. She even builds him a saddle and decorations for his tail. Together they claim stake to the skies above the Aerie. Lindel finds their enthusiasm a bit dangerous some times but two years after they are pros at flying in sync. When Lindel is busy in town one day, they both take a quick flight to visit Elias and Chise who promptly scold her for leaving the Aerie and being seen. Lindel serves Evangeline and Šiaurys a harsh punishment when he finds out. 

-Combat training is not highly looked upon but Lindel finds that she should have some way of protecting the Aerie if it comes under attack. Teaching her both weapon, hand to hand and dragon based combat. She teaches Šiaurys how to breath fire as well without instating fear. He’s one of the few dragons that can so he becomes quiet popular even though he was bullied for being a orphan as a welp. 

- Šiaurys at a certain point when she is older and taken over the Aerie for most part comes to terms that he loves Evangeline. He was raised in very human ways and feel their emotions more differently than how Dragon-Raised Welps are. He tells Lindel this who doesn't agree but he asks Lindel to give him a Glamour. He flatly refuses, it takes about a year and a half for Lindel to finally agree to give him 6 hours of being in a glamour so he can spend it with Evangeline during the Summer Solstice. He doesn’t tell her who he is during the whole time, saying that he’s just a wanderer and they have a good time. It really baffles her when he turns back into a dragon.

Alastair 

-Second born child and their first son. The only planned child of the three so far. It’s Elias’ idea to have another child bout four years after Evangeline left to go live with Lindel. It takes Chise some times to accept the idea and they soon find out they are having another child. When they found out they were going to have Evangeline they planned to have one child at a time, doing their best to raise that child and then take a break for a few years and have another when they were ready. So far the plan seemed good. 

-Though amidst the pregnancy, they both get into a fight (Note; this takes place in December) about Elias still some what being controlled by the church and being ask to take care of some things right around Christmas. Chise takes a walk to cool her head and encounters the Winter Goddess while in the woods. Instinctively she covers her belly but the Goddess knows too well and asks to offer her a blessing.The goddess freezes Chise whole, it doesn’t feel much like a blessing more like a cold, quick death but the ice crumbles and Chise reluctantly says thank you and asks what the gift was. All the goddess say is ‘He will be beloved by the cold night and all that exists upon it” 

-Chise understands she will have a boy and gives birth to Alastair whom is completely human looking like Evangeline a few months into the spring. She doesn’t tell Elias what happened until a few years later when they realize he has the attraction of a Sleigh Beggy but without the cons. He can easily manipulate any thing water based -- snow, liquid, ice. They attempt with other elements but nothing works. His relationship with Angie is a strong one because her familiar is that of a water one. Hugo takes a quick liking to them the first time they all visit London together.

-His personality is very similar to Chise and Elias; he’s quiet and hard working. He quiet and is usually in the study with his father when they are not taking lessons. His love for literature and study of fae prompts him to be tempted by them so. At a young age he takes on a familiar (Like around 6 or 8) which is a Ice Aerial named Iokul.  He has a very hot temper for a winter elemental but his use of magic just strengthens Alastair’s production and skill to manipulate his given element. He is born in the Sun of Pisces as well. 

-His staff is a dark, almost blackish brown staff that is smooth up the to top which is formed like a rooted bird cage, with in it is a clear unpolished crystal that had a manifested blue light glowing within it. He doesn’t make his staff until he is roughly 18, Evangeline making hers when she is at the Aerie with Lindel blessing it. Elias blesses Alastair’s. 

-As a older adult he starts to dabble in black magic, more of that to come. 

Scarlet  

-Scarlet is the last child I have thought of, she is the black sheep next to her two humanoid siblings but is the most strongest when it comes to capability of magic. She resembles Elias with a skull head and horns, like in Chapter 41 of the series; she has Orange-Blondish hair, Green instead of Red like her father. At a older age she loses a lot of confidence in her appearance and starts wearing a glamour (Which is a exact copy of Evangeline but with blond hair) This is when Elias tells her she cannot rely on that form to save her and gives her a pep talk on how to come to terms with her appearance. 

-Oh poor Chise, labor for her is a hard one. It includes alot of bleeding and many hours of just toiling through the pain. She survives but is extremely weak and has to be seen by a doctor after. Not necessarily because of the shape Scarlet’s body is, I want to say her womb had thorns in it. I’ll think more on that later. Any way this makes Elias feel very bad as well shocked to see Scarlet. 

-I think this is because Chise comforted Elias when he was having trouble maintaining his human-like form and passions got high. Thus she was conceived in his most natural state.  

-I think at one point when Chise is recovering, Elias debates about killing his own child; saving it from a life of suffering? He is a single lift of his staff away from doing it until Chise rustling in the bed breaks his concentration. When Scarlet is a few months old, the guilt pries at him and he tells Chise who is extremely disappointed as well angry with him. He revoked his rights getting to handle or see Scarlet for a good month until Chise is comfortable with him with her alone. She even goes to the point of kicking him out and making him stay with a elderly Simon for a day. 

-Alastair is 14 when Scarlet is born. She was not planned but he dotes on her as a good big brother should but gives her to Silky when she becomes a bit too rough. He’s trying his best. 

-Scarlet admires her father alot, she loves her mother but she can speak to Elias very easily. His words translate perfectly to her, even after when she is a adult and he tells her he attempted to kill her after birth, she forgives him. Aside that she is constantly questioning things, looking for a new way to solve things as well how to make herself to be as approachable as possible. A version of Elias that wants to delve into society and learn from people. She also has a kind heart and a special place for anything of the cute variety.

-Chise accepts this child without a second glance. Infancy is a bit hard but always supportive of her child and what lies on the inside. Scarlet asks her mother why she chose Elias to be her husband and admires that she can some day meet someone like her for herself. 

-As a adult, I dont know much yet but she becomes extremely respected among her peers, she’s on the shorter side and has a larger staff out of her family but is the perfect combination of her parents’ power. When Titania sees her for the first time she tells Chise she is a very special child and is destined for great things. Like all their children but Scarlet will put herself in history books, or that’s at least what Chise thinks. 

Anyway! That’s what I have. If I think of more I will post more. Let me know if you have any questions ~

[ennead13x]

just stupid things on a replay of a game i love (OR dmc1, part one)

1.) Leave it to Capcom to divine that the best way to get me to like a protagonist is to show me him getting his ass handed to him and subsequently laughing it off (...but mostly just having his ass on a silver platter, with all the garnishes and definitely a toothpick through him.)

2.) Just how many people has Dante had to point down the street because his shop’s sign looks like it’s for a strip joint? How many people did he not bother showing the door?

3.) Trish does not know how doors work, neither at the shop nor on the island. Sure you can just run like 20 steps to the gate, get some loot on the way...or jump this 30 foot cliff. If Dante could have followed her, do you think the trap might have sprung early? And I am still sad that we never get to properly fight her.

4.) Dante gets bored after .03 seconds and will start his idle animation of twirling his guns around no matter where he is - in a sewer, mid-battle camping an enemy spawn point for easy orbs, on the very tippy top of an impossibly pointy massive statue (he likes to feel tall).

5.) There’s...not really much difference between what you can interact with and what you can’t. (Except for the glowing keys, of course.) While this is visually pleasing, I’m reasonably certain that a third of the runtime on all my old save files is just me trying to jump on top of or put my sword through literally the entire environment. This playthrough is shaping up to be about the same.

6.) Not one but TWO secret missions basically boil down to "step on these 100 spiders for me real quick".

7.) I have - several times - accidentally paused mid-fight to read books on things like feudalistic taxation laws, prisoner logs, and the timey-whimey madness happening to these poor medieval schmucks.

8.) Which explains the perfectly functioning bi-plane and grenade launcher we find in a 13th century fortress that is surprisingly well-maintained for having stood out at sea for some 700 years.

9.) There is no way that this game ISN’T a product of the 90s, regardless of its release date. Despite that, the original graphics still hold up pretty well for being 16 years old (I’m playing the 2002 ‘Greatest Hits’ release on my PS2).

10.) Just NOPING out of the corridor the instant Phantom tries to follow you. Alternatively, playing a friendly game of baseball with her[? them? there are a LOT of babies, see #6] as you back away slowly.

11.) You can avoid fighting the Shadow in the courtyard (on Normal Mode) by taking down the wall its statue is *ahem* LION behind, then just exiting the courtyard and faffing about in the corridor until the enemies there are cleared. (Maybe farm a few orbs out of them so you can pull the trick of buying a blue orb right before the end-mission boss battle.) When you go back into the courtyard, all you’ll have to contend with are seemingly infinite Death Scythes. Easy trade-off.

12.) Of course, once you do clear the courtyard of whichever enemy you prefer, you can immediately decide to press your luck and go back down to an entirely different part of the castle to fight THREE Shadows at once. You know. For kicks.

13.) Nelo Angelo just. He just. He comes out of the evil mirror like a menacing badass ready to crush everything...then he...He pops off onto the patio for some air? LOL BYE.

14.) No, but knowing who he is and having his character fleshed out in the prequel and reading the production notes in artbooks from when this game was still Resident Evil all these years later has just made him more funny and more sad at the same time??? You beautiful dramatic bastard.

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

Which top chef cracks the best poached egg?

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/which-top-chef-cracks-the-best-poached-egg/

Which top chef cracks the best poached egg?

How do you like your eggs in the morning? Boiled, fried and scrambled are simple, but ask your significant other to poach you an egg and you may end up going hungry.

The perfect poached egg is tricky. From thin, watery whites to split yolks, eggs that disintegrate in the pan or are ripped apart by bubbles, there are so many ways it can go wrong.

Two-thirds of Britons say they can’t poach eggs properly, and this week domestic goddess Nigella Lawson admitted even she was intimidated by the fiddly job until recently, when she devised a new approach — using a tea strainer.

Cooking the perfect poached egg can be a tricky art, with two-thirds of Britons saying they struggle to do so properly

She revealed that the flawless poached eggs served in restaurants aren’t so easily achieved, either: chefs use scissors to remove the scraggly ends before putting them on your plate.

So how do you perfectly poach an egg? The one incontrovertible piece of advice is this: freshly laid eggs (medium-sized are best) poach better than supermarket eggs. The latter may be up to 60 days old, so their inner membranes are weak and they will spread out in the pan.

And the best cooking method? We asked chef Theo Randall, whose restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel on London’s Park Lane has won awards for its brunch menu, to pit his own method against the very different techniques of seven of his fellow chefs’…

Nigella Lawson admitted this week that she uses a tea strainer to remove the watery bits of egg to produce a more perfectly shaped finished product

NIGELLA LAWSON: NIFTY TEA STRAINER

Nigella holds her tea-strainer over a cup and cracks the egg into it ‘so all the very watery bits go underneath’. It’s nifty but seems like a waste of egg.

Then she decants the egg into another cup and adds a teaspoon of lemon juice. She boils a pan of water and turns it down — ‘almost turned off’ — before sliding in the egg and leaving it for 3-4 minutes. She uses a slotted spoon ‘to encourage the white to come up in shape’, moulding the wispy tendrils into a neat orb. Then she uses the spoon to take it out.

THEO SAYS: ‘This seems fiddly but it’s not as silly as it looks. She is using the strainer to remove the watery outer white, which is tasteless. Using the spoon to mould the egg is clever — you could do lots of eggs in one pan this way.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: Nigella’s eggs look perfect — neat orbs of bulbous yolk surrounded by swirled white. They taste quite citrussy but are runny and delicious. Shame about the wasted white.

Score: 9/10 

DELIA SMITH: BASTE IN SHALLOW WATER

Delia Smith, who wrote a whole chapter on eggs in her 1998 book How To Cook, stresses the importance of fresh eggs.

Fill a pan with one inch (2.5cm) of water from a boiling kettle and put it on a gentle heat. When you see tiny bubbles, break the eggs into individual bowls before slipping them into the water. Set the timer for 2 minutes, with the water barely simmering. When the two minutes is up, take the pan off the heat for ten minutes. Keep basting the tops of the eggs with hot water. Use a draining spoon to lift them out and dry on kitchen paper.

Delia Smith recommends breaking the eggs into individual bowls before pouring them into a pan of boiling water

THEO SAYS: These flatten out and look more like fried eggs. It is certainly a purist’s method but all that waiting and basting won’t be for everyone.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: Disappointingly flat, rubbery on the bottom and almost solid. The one positive is the taste: they are creamy and almost melt in the mouth.

Score: 2/10

JAMIE OLIVER: CLING FILM POUCH

Jamie Oliver has offered several techniques in the past, but his latest way has a quirky twist. First, he spreads out cling film and drizzles some olive oil on it. Then, he lays the oiled cling film loosely over a ramekin dish, oil side up, and cracks an egg inside. He draws the cling film together and ties it in a knot. The resulting egg parcel is lowered into simmering water until it looks opaque (2-3 minutes). Pat dry, remove the cling film and serve.

THEO SAYS: ‘It’s fiddly to get the eggs into the cling film and even worse trying to get them out. The cooking time is far too short: to penetrate the plastic they need more like 5-6 minutes.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: Although the eggs look a little strange where the cling film was knotted, flip them over and they are perfectly presentable. Nothing can escape into the water, so they are bigger than the other eggs but taste quite watery and insipid.

Score: 6/10

Jamie Oliver says he packages his eggs in some lightly oiled cling film to create a parcel which can then be lowered into simmering water

PRUE LEITH: DOUBLE DIP

Bake Off judge Prue Leith uses a traditional method hailed as ‘infallible’ by the great cookery writer Elizabeth David. Her first requirement is ultra-fresh eggs, which give a bright yellow yolk. She recommends boiling a pan of water and dipping each egg, in its shell, into it for 30 seconds, using a suitable-sized spoon. Then, boil a pan of fresh water, add a dessertspoon of vinegar, stir until a whirlpool forms and break the eggs in. Cook for a minute to a minute and a half, then remove with a draining spoon.

THEO SAYS: ‘This is a fairly conventional method, except for the short poaching time.’

SARAH’ VERDICT: The yolks have detached from the whites slightly in the whirlpool, leaving them straggly. But they are still runny and soft inside.

Score: 7/10

GORDON RAMSAY: VINEGAR VORTEX

Gordon Ramsay’s poached egg recipe has a little bit of everything. He boils a pan of water, seasons with salt and pepper and adds a teaspoon of white wine vinegar.

The vinegar helps the whites firm up: the acid affects a substance called albumen in the egg white, which sets the egg. Gordon cracks the eggs — kept at room temperature, so they cook faster — into ramekins. Using a large balloon whisk, he creates a fast-moving vortex of water and gently tips the eggs into the centre. The egg should take between 90 seconds and two minutes to poach. Remove with a slotted spoon; dry on kitchen paper.

THEO SAYS: ‘It makes sense to have a swirl in the water to shape the egg — and a whisk gives a stronger current than a spoon.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: There’s quite a lot of white left in the pan and the eggs have half-separated. The egg white looks more congealed than fluffy, while the imprecise poaching time means the yolks are harder, too — not ideal.

Score: 3/10

THEO RANDALL: RED WINE TRICK

Next is Theo’s own recipe. He breaks his egg into a cup, boils a pan of water and seasons with a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of vinegar. Unlike most chefs, he doesn’t use white wine vinegar. Theo prefers red wine vinegar, which has a tarter, fruitier flavour. ‘You can taste it in the eggs,’ he says. ‘Balsamic would work well, too — just don’t use cheap old malt vinegar.’

Next, he uses a metal spoon to create a gentle whirlpool and lowers the eggs carefully into the centre, almost immersing the cup so they don’t fall from a height. He keeps the pan at a slow boil for three minutes.

THEO SAYS: ‘I like my eggs runny, so this is just right for me. They’re not as neat as the other eggs but it’s how they taste that matters.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: The red wine in the vinegar has given the eggs a creamier, almost pinkish tinge —they are certainly not as bright white as the others. But the white is well-cooked, the yolk is nicely oozy and they taste almost sweet.

Score: 8/10

Mrs Beeton swears by a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh but not newly laid eggs for the perfect breakfast feast

MRS BEETON: ZESTY FLOURISH

From her iconic 1861 tome Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, this uses lemon juice instead of vinegar and calls for fresh but not newly laid eggs.

Mrs Beeton explains: ‘If poached before they have been laid 36 hours, the white is so milky that it is impossible to coagulate it.’

She suggests boiling water in a shallow saucepan or deep frying pan, adding salt and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for each pint of water.

Break the eggs into a cup, tip into the water and reduce the heat. Tilt the pan and use a tablespoon to gently fold the white over the yolk. Simmer until the white is set, before using a fish slice to remove the egg.

THEO SAYS: ‘The low heat means the eggs spread out before you get round to coaxing the white over the yolk, but if you take your time they come together nicely. The tilting keeps the eggs neatly on one side of the pan. My biggest complaint is the amount of white left in the water — very messy.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: Far from the prettiest result but the whites are fluffy and evenly cooked, with a subtle lemony zing. This would be good for a large family, as the gentle technique means you can poach 4-6 eggs at once.

Score: 5/10

MARY BERRY: SWIRL AND SIMMER

Like Delia, Mary Berry shuns vinegar and there isn’t a whirlpool in sight. In her 2013 book Mary Berry’s Cookery Course, she recommends cracking an egg on to a saucer first. Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and let it simmer.

Delicately slide the egg into the water and reduce the heat to low. Poach no more than one or two eggs at a time — any more and they may become tangled.

Mary advises gently swirling the water around the edges of the pan to curl the white into a neat shape. Simmer gently for about three minutes until the white is opaque, lift out with a slotted spoon and drain off excess water.

THEO SAYS: ‘It’s unusual to crack the egg on to a saucer first, as this encourages it to spread out when you want the yolk and white bunched together. But I can see the method in her slow swirling technique: there’s no risk the yolk will become detached from the white, and it forms a rustic but attractive shape.’

SARAH’S VERDICT: Small and perfectly formed. The yolk oozes out beautifully when you cut into it, while the white is silken and glossy. Impressive.

Score: 8/10

Nigella Lawson emerged triumphant in the poached egg challenge, beating her fellow celebrity chefs to score an admirable 9 out of 10

  Original Article:

Click here

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How to Create Magic in Your Photos with the Pixelstick

Who doesn’t want special super powers? Popular culture is awash these days with characters with added extras. To date, these include wizards with magic wands, Jedi’s with light sabers, and now there are photographers with pixelsticks! That’s right, welcome to the future because the pixelstick is here and it’s going to change the way you do photography if you embrace it. The pixelstick enables you to make amazing light paintings in camera, so let’s take a look at it and see why it’s an essential purchase for those who like creative photography.

The light from the pixelstick perfectly framed my friend and fellow DPS writer, Pete DeMarco.

What is light painting?

Light painting is a technique you can use to create fascinating images. To do it you need to photograph at night, use long exposure, and have a light source. You can divide light painting into two types, those that you do in front of the camera, and those you do with the camera.

Light painting with the camera: Using the camera to light paint is called kinetic light painting and involves techniques such as zoom bursts, or camera rotation.

Lighting painting in front of the camera: You can also move lit or glowing objects in front of the camera during a long exposure, to paint the scene in front of the camera.

In many cases the first time you do any light painting it will be to spell your name using sparklers or a flashlight. The next step if you became more serious would usually be making light orbs, and other light painting shapes with things like fairy lights. Now there is the pixelstick, which makes light painting both easier to do, and more sophisticated.

Light orbs are a lot of fun to create and it’s even more fun to light paint with the pixelstick as well.

The game changer, introducing the pixelstick

The pixelstick is the result of the inevitable evolution of light painting, and the advancement of technology. The pixelstick is a product designed and produced by bitbanger labs, following a successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign. The neat thing about the pixelstick is that you can program it to create any light pattern you want, in fact, you can even use it to create light painted pictures.

This is possible through importing BMP files onto an SD card, which can then be slotted into the pixelstick’s operating system. You have control of many useful aspects, brightness of the light, the speed of the pattern transmission, repeat firing of the pattern, white balance, and delayed fire, are some of the useful functions.

The pixelstick comes with a controller that you can use to change the light painting design.

Vital stats, what you need to know about the pixelstick

The pixelstick at full length is great for light painting, but not so good for traveling. It’s fortunate that the design allows you to break it down to half its length, and store it in the bag. But, the length is still too long for hand luggage on a plane, which presents a problem if you plan on using it in more exotic locales. The essential information about the pixelstick and what comes with it are:

Comprised of a strip of 200 RGB LED lights, allowing for a combination of 16 million colors.

Has an aluminum case housing, to protect the LEDs from damage.

Full-length 187cm (73.5 inches), and a storage length of 109cm (43 inchses).

Weight is 1.8kg (4 pounds).

The device uses 8 AA batteries.

There is a control center with a battery pouch that attaches to the stick, with cables to connect everything together.

The 200 LED lights come enclosed in a light-weight metal case which protects them from any damage.

How to do light painting

Light painting is a long exposure technique, which you’ll need a tripod to achieve. You can follow the steps set out below, or for a more detailed guide check out: Beginner’s Guide to Light Painting .

Choose a location and time of day that will be dark. You need to be able to expose for at least 10 seconds in most cases, so locations with less ambient light are ideal.

Dress in black clothes, this will minimize the chance of you showing up in the photo.

Place your camera on a tripod, and compose your scene. As you’re light painting, make sure there is enough space within the composition set aside for the design. In other words, plan where and how big the light design will be, then make sure it will all be contained inside the frame.

Take the light source into the scene you composed, turn it on, and leave it in front of the camera.

Turn on your camera’s LiveView function, and focus on the light source using manual focus (use the + or zoom button to show a magnified view which will make it easier for you to focus). Leave the camera in manual focus to make sure your focus point remains the same.

Set the camera’s self-timer to 10 seconds, and begin the countdown. If you have a remote shutter release you may prefer to use that to trigger their camera.

While the camera is counting down, move into position in front of the camera with your light source in hand.

Just before the shutter releases, begin your light painting pattern.

Carry out any light painting you wish to do. Then, once you have finished painting, turn off your light source and move out of the frame.

Go back to your camera and wait for the exposure to finish. Check your result and repeat if necessary.

A lot of people have fun using sparklers to create light paintings. These look nice, but the pixelstick takes it to the next level.

Using the pixelstick to create abstract light paintings

There are many different types of light sources, the pixelstick is just one example. However, these effects can also be achieved by using something as simple as a kid’s toy light saber. The focal point of your image is going to be the light painting itself, or perhaps an architectural feature that you’ll emphasize with light.

The main thing is to keep it simple, with the light flowing through the scene. If you over-elaborate and make too many movements then it’s the digital equivalent of scribbling on a piece of paper, and it usually doesn’t turn out well. So when you’re making abstract light paintings, keep these things in mind:

Keep the line flowing. You probably know leading lines work well in photos, and light painting is a great way of introducing some into your frame. Have a plan for the direction the line will flow in your frame, and how it will lead the viewer’s eye to the point of interest.

Use repetition. Having a pattern in your frame and repeating it makes a nice light painting. Repetition often works well for photographs, and the control you have with the pixelstick allows you to do this more easily.

Keep it simple. There is a temptation to overcook (do too much) a light painting. With practice, you’ll find the strongest scenes use a more minimalist approach. A simple rotation of the pixelstick or light saber is often all that’s needed.

The pixelstick is really good for abstract work. The preset light patterns that come with the stick will help get you going quickly.

The most effective light paintings happen when things are kept simple.

The pixelstick for portraits

The pixelstick can be used to frame a model, and/or create leading lines towards the subject making it a powerful tool for portrait photographers. The difficulty you will encounter when shooting long exposures with a model is freezing them so they’re sharp. The pixelstick itself isn’t any better than other light painting tools you can use, but the following tips can help.

In this photo, a Jinbei 600 flash was used to light the model, while the pixelstick produced the light painting around her.

Keep the exposures short. The shorter the exposure, the less chance there is your model will move. This will mean shorter, simpler light paintings.

Use strobes to light the model. Using a strobe (flash) to light your model means that any movement in the model is less likely to show.

Ask the model to hold still. This is easier said than done, but if your model can hold really still for 20 seconds, then you can create longer more complicated light paintings.

Have the model face away from the camera. Any movement of the model’s face will show in the image. So, having the model face away from the camera helps it look less obvious.

Where the pixelstick really works well is how you make it interact with your model. This may mean that the colors in the light painting contrast with the color of the model’s clothes. Or maybe you can make the model appear to be holding some of the painted light. The creative potential of light painting combined with a model is vast, so you should have fun.

Asking the model to face away from the camera makes it much easier to mask any movements there may have been during a long exposure.

Light painting for product photography

The customization available with the pixelstick makes it a fantastic choice for product photography. One of the main niche genres is car photography, where the ribbon lines or checkered flag designs can be used.

This technique is similar to photographing a model, only your product won’t move, which allows for longer exposures. You can program in the name of the product, or even the company’s logo. The pixelstick really beats other types of light painting hands down, as the light design can be made to specifically match the product or branding.

Cars are great subjects for light painting of all forms. The pixelstick provides more options for experimenting.

Personalizing your light design

The ribbon presets, and the downloadable BMP files that come with pixelstick provide a lot of creative variety. But the real fun starts once you begin to add your own designs into the pixelstick. It’s this feature more than any other that gives this tool its power. The creativity is really infinite so here are a few ideas for you:

Find images through creative commons of national flags.

Edit the color scheme of some of the downloadable patterns that pixelstick provides.

Photograph textures shots of leaf beds or brick walls and use them to light paint.

Use your own landscape photos.

The texture and pattern of this traditional Korean roof made for a great light painting pattern.

Converting your files for use with the pixelstick could not be easier. Pixelstick has a drag and drop service on their website where you can do this easily. Alternatively, you could design and edit your image with Photoshop. Your image needs to be sized to 200 pixels high, with the length being as long as you desire. Once this is done the file needs to be flipped counter clockwise and saved as a BMP file. When creating a new file, any black areas will appear as blank (no light) when the light painting occurs.

In this photo, the area around the statue of a Buddhist grandmaster has been light painted using the traditional Korean pattern I created (above) as the light source.

Vibrant videos with the pixelstick

The pixelstick’s scope of creativity goes beyond still photography, and it can do amazing things for animation. You are going to create a stop motion video with the pixelstick, and use a series of long exposure photos to make this. Think of an animation flipbook, only this is the digital version of that.

Steps to create an animated GIF

Animating a single scene with the pixelstick could not be easier. Follow these steps to make an animated gif (like the one below) or perhaps a short video. You don’t need a pixelstick to create this type of animation of course, but you have a lot more options at your fingertips if you do.

The pixelstick can also be used for make smaller gif animations. The creative potential here is huge.

Set your camera on a tripod, and ensure it doesn’t move.

Compose your scene, and decide where your light painting animation will occur.

Use a remote cable shutter release, this will prevent any movement of the camera.

Allow a long enough exposure for you to complete the light painting.

Begin the exposure, and move into the frame to start and complete the light painting.

Repeat the exposure and the same light painting at least 10 times.

Take your camera home, and import the photos to your computer.

You now need to import the files to photoshop. To do this go to file>scripts>load files into stack.

Open the timeline window, and select “create frame animation”. This will import one frame into your animation.

On the right-hand side of the timeline window click the menu option, and select “create frames from layers”. Now reverse the order of the frames.

Hit play and remove any frames that interrupt the flow of your animation.

The file is now ready, export it as a gif file.

Stop-motion videos

Creating a longer stop-motion video is very similar to making an animation, in essence, you’re just making an extended version. As opposed to repeating a light painting many times, you may well simply move through a scene when making this type of video.

It’s better to use a dedicated stop-motion app for making this type of video, with stop-motion studios for windows, and istopmotion for mac being a couple examples of options.

One frame from the series used to make the stop-motion video below.

Conclusion

The pixelstick really is a magical tool. You can create spellbinding images that will wow your friends if you decide to purchase one. The size of the stick is something of a double-edged sword, thought. It allows for bigger more dramatic light paintings, but it is also harder to transport, even when broken down into its carry bag. Is the pixelstick worth dropping the extra cash on, versus a cheaper D.I.Y. light stick? If you’re serious about improving your light painting, then yes it’s worth the money in my opinion.

The ability to customize the type of light emitted gives you so much control. Doing this with a DIY light-stick would take many hours, and in many cases would be impossible to replicate what the pixelstick does. At around $350, you could spend more money on other photography gear without getting the same level of creative energy you get from this tool. Whether you’re interested in still photos or animation, this will quickly become a vital part of your setup.

The way you make light interact with the surroundings can be highly effective.

The light paintings the pixelstick is capable of are highly sophisticated.

In this image, the pixelstick was used to add repetition to the scene, and create an otherworldly feel.

The flow and lines that you can create with the pixelstick make the photo stand out much more.

The Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur are framed using light from the pixelstick, adding a lot of interest to this photo.

The light weaves in and out of the pillars, adding direction to this photo.

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The post How to Create Magic in Your Photos with the Pixelstick by Simon Bond appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School http://digital-photography-school.com/create-magic-photos-pixelstick/

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How to Create Magic in Your Photos with the Pixelstick

Who doesn’t want special super powers? Popular culture is awash these days with characters with added extras. To date, these include wizards with magic wands, Jedi’s with light sabers, and now there are photographers with pixelsticks! That’s right, welcome to the future because the pixelstick is here and it’s going to change the way you do photography if you embrace it. The pixelstick enables you to make amazing light paintings in camera, so let’s take a look at it and see why it’s an essential purchase for those who like creative photography.

The light from the pixelstick perfectly framed my friend and fellow DPS writer, Pete DeMarco.

What is light painting?

Light painting is a technique you can use to create fascinating images. To do it you need to photograph at night, use long exposure, and have a light source. You can divide light painting into two types, those that you do in front of the camera, and those you do with the camera.

Light painting with the camera: Using the camera to light paint is called kinetic light painting and involves techniques such as zoom bursts, or camera rotation.

Lighting painting in front of the camera: You can also move lit or glowing objects in front of the camera during a long exposure, to paint the scene in front of the camera.

In many cases the first time you do any light painting it will be to spell your name using sparklers or a flashlight. The next step if you became more serious would usually be making light orbs, and other light painting shapes with things like fairy lights. Now there is the pixelstick, which makes light painting both easier to do, and more sophisticated.

Light orbs are a lot of fun to create and it’s even more fun to light paint with the pixelstick as well.

The game changer, introducing the pixelstick

The pixelstick is the result of the inevitable evolution of light painting, and the advancement of technology. The pixelstick is a product designed and produced by bitbanger labs, following a successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign. The neat thing about the pixelstick is that you can program it to create any light pattern you want, in fact, you can even use it to create light painted pictures.

This is possible through importing BMP files onto an SD card, which can then be slotted into the pixelstick’s operating system. You have control of many useful aspects, brightness of the light, the speed of the pattern transmission, repeat firing of the pattern, white balance, and delayed fire, are some of the useful functions.

The pixelstick comes with a controller that you can use to change the light painting design.

Vital stats, what you need to know about the pixelstick

The pixelstick at full length is great for light painting, but not so good for traveling. It’s fortunate that the design allows you to break it down to half its length, and store it in the bag. But, the length is still too long for hand luggage on a plane, which presents a problem if you plan on using it in more exotic locales. The essential information about the pixelstick and what comes with it are:

Comprised of a strip of 200 RGB LED lights, allowing for a combination of 16 million colors.

Has an aluminum case housing, to protect the LEDs from damage.

Full-length 187cm (73.5 inches), and a storage length of 109cm (43 inchses).

Weight is 1.8kg (4 pounds).

The device uses 8 AA batteries.

There is a control center with a battery pouch that attaches to the stick, with cables to connect everything together.

The 200 LED lights come enclosed in a light-weight metal case which protects them from any damage.

How to do light painting

Light painting is a long exposure technique, which you’ll need a tripod to achieve. You can follow the steps set out below, or for a more detailed guide check out: Beginner’s Guide to Light Painting .

Choose a location and time of day that will be dark. You need to be able to expose for at least 10 seconds in most cases, so locations with less ambient light are ideal.

Dress in black clothes, this will minimize the chance of you showing up in the photo.

Place your camera on a tripod, and compose your scene. As you’re light painting, make sure there is enough space within the composition set aside for the design. In other words, plan where and how big the light design will be, then make sure it will all be contained inside the frame.

Take the light source into the scene you composed, turn it on, and leave it in front of the camera.

Turn on your camera’s LiveView function, and focus on the light source using manual focus (use the + or zoom button to show a magnified view which will make it easier for you to focus). Leave the camera in manual focus to make sure your focus point remains the same.

Set the camera’s self-timer to 10 seconds, and begin the countdown. If you have a remote shutter release you may prefer to use that to trigger their camera.

While the camera is counting down, move into position in front of the camera with your light source in hand.

Just before the shutter releases, begin your light painting pattern.

Carry out any light painting you wish to do. Then, once you have finished painting, turn off your light source and move out of the frame.

Go back to your camera and wait for the exposure to finish. Check your result and repeat if necessary.

A lot of people have fun using sparklers to create light paintings. These look nice, but the pixelstick takes it to the next level.

Using the pixelstick to create abstract light paintings

There are many different types of light sources, the pixelstick is just one example. However, these effects can also be achieved by using something as simple as a kid’s toy light saber. The focal point of your image is going to be the light painting itself, or perhaps an architectural feature that you’ll emphasize with light.

The main thing is to keep it simple, with the light flowing through the scene. If you over-elaborate and make too many movements then it’s the digital equivalent of scribbling on a piece of paper, and it usually doesn’t turn out well. So when you’re making abstract light paintings, keep these things in mind:

Keep the line flowing. You probably know leading lines work well in photos, and light painting is a great way of introducing some into your frame. Have a plan for the direction the line will flow in your frame, and how it will lead the viewer’s eye to the point of interest.

Use repetition. Having a pattern in your frame and repeating it makes a nice light painting. Repetition often works well for photographs, and the control you have with the pixelstick allows you to do this more easily.

Keep it simple. There is a temptation to overcook (do too much) a light painting. With practice, you’ll find the strongest scenes use a more minimalist approach. A simple rotation of the pixelstick or light saber is often all that’s needed.

The pixelstick is really good for abstract work. The preset light patterns that come with the stick will help get you going quickly.

The most effective light paintings happen when things are kept simple.

The pixelstick for portraits

The pixelstick can be used to frame a model, and/or create leading lines towards the subject making it a powerful tool for portrait photographers. The difficulty you will encounter when shooting long exposures with a model is freezing them so they’re sharp. The pixelstick itself isn’t any better than other light painting tools you can use, but the following tips can help.

In this photo, a Jinbei 600 flash was used to light the model, while the pixelstick produced the light painting around her.

Keep the exposures short. The shorter the exposure, the less chance there is your model will move. This will mean shorter, simpler light paintings.

Use strobes to light the model. Using a strobe (flash) to light your model means that any movement in the model is less likely to show.

Ask the model to hold still. This is easier said than done, but if your model can hold really still for 20 seconds, then you can create longer more complicated light paintings.

Have the model face away from the camera. Any movement of the model’s face will show in the image. So, having the model face away from the camera helps it look less obvious.

Where the pixelstick really works well is how you make it interact with your model. This may mean that the colors in the light painting contrast with the color of the model’s clothes. Or maybe you can make the model appear to be holding some of the painted light. The creative potential of light painting combined with a model is vast, so you should have fun.

Asking the model to face away from the camera makes it much easier to mask any movements there may have been during a long exposure.

Light painting for product photography

The customization available with the pixelstick makes it a fantastic choice for product photography. One of the main niche genres is car photography, where the ribbon lines or checkered flag designs can be used.

This technique is similar to photographing a model, only your product won’t move, which allows for longer exposures. You can program in the name of the product, or even the company’s logo. The pixelstick really beats other types of light painting hands down, as the light design can be made to specifically match the product or branding.

Cars are great subjects for light painting of all forms. The pixelstick provides more options for experimenting.

Personalizing your light design

The ribbon presets, and the downloadable BMP files that come with pixelstick provide a lot of creative variety. But the real fun starts once you begin to add your own designs into the pixelstick. It’s this feature more than any other that gives this tool its power. The creativity is really infinite so here are a few ideas for you:

Find images through creative commons of national flags.

Edit the color scheme of some of the downloadable patterns that pixelstick provides.

Photograph textures shots of leaf beds or brick walls and use them to light paint.

Use your own landscape photos.

The texture and pattern of this traditional Korean roof made for a great light painting pattern.

Converting your files for use with the pixelstick could not be easier. Pixelstick has a drag and drop service on their website where you can do this easily. Alternatively, you could design and edit your image with Photoshop. Your image needs to be sized to 200 pixels high, with the length being as long as you desire. Once this is done the file needs to be flipped counter clockwise and saved as a BMP file. When creating a new file, any black areas will appear as blank (no light) when the light painting occurs.

In this photo, the area around the statue of a Buddhist grandmaster has been light painted using the traditional Korean pattern I created (above) as the light source.

Vibrant videos with the pixelstick

The pixelstick’s scope of creativity goes beyond still photography, and it can do amazing things for animation. You are going to create a stop motion video with the pixelstick, and use a series of long exposure photos to make this. Think of an animation flipbook, only this is the digital version of that.

Steps to create an animated GIF

Animating a single scene with the pixelstick could not be easier. Follow these steps to make an animated gif (like the one below) or perhaps a short video. You don’t need a pixelstick to create this type of animation of course, but you have a lot more options at your fingertips if you do.

The pixelstick can also be used for make smaller gif animations. The creative potential here is huge.

Set your camera on a tripod, and ensure it doesn’t move.

Compose your scene, and decide where your light painting animation will occur.

Use a remote cable shutter release, this will prevent any movement of the camera.

Allow a long enough exposure for you to complete the light painting.

Begin the exposure, and move into the frame to start and complete the light painting.

Repeat the exposure and the same light painting at least 10 times.

Take your camera home, and import the photos to your computer.

You now need to import the files to photoshop. To do this go to file>scripts>load files into stack.

Open the timeline window, and select “create frame animation”. This will import one frame into your animation.

On the right-hand side of the timeline window click the menu option, and select “create frames from layers”. Now reverse the order of the frames.

Hit play and remove any frames that interrupt the flow of your animation.

The file is now ready, export it as a gif file.

Stop-motion videos

Creating a longer stop-motion video is very similar to making an animation, in essence, you’re just making an extended version. As opposed to repeating a light painting many times, you may well simply move through a scene when making this type of video.

It’s better to use a dedicated stop-motion app for making this type of video, with stop-motion studios for windows, and istopmotion for mac being a couple examples of options.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2k2iFxr

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How to Create Magic in Your Photos with the Pixelstick

Who doesn’t want special super powers? Popular culture is awash these days with characters with added extras. To date, these include wizards with magic wands, Jedi’s with light sabers, and now there are photographers with pixelsticks! That’s right, welcome to the future because the pixelstick is here and it’s going to change the way you do photography if you embrace it. The pixelstick enables you to make amazing light paintings in camera, so let’s take a look at it and see why it’s an essential purchase for those who like creative photography.

The light from the pixelstick perfectly framed my friend and fellow DPS writer, Pete DeMarco.

What is light painting?

Light painting is a technique you can use to create fascinating images. To do it you need to photograph at night, use long exposure, and have a light source. You can divide light painting into two types, those that you do in front of the camera, and those you do with the camera.

Light painting with the camera: Using the camera to light paint is called kinetic light painting and involves techniques such as zoom bursts, or camera rotation.

Lighting painting in front of the camera: You can also move lit or glowing objects in front of the camera during a long exposure, to paint the scene in front of the camera.

In many cases the first time you do any light painting it will be to spell your name using sparklers or a flashlight. The next step if you became more serious would usually be making light orbs, and other light painting shapes with things like fairy lights. Now there is the pixelstick, which makes light painting both easier to do, and more sophisticated.

Light orbs are a lot of fun to create and it’s even more fun to light paint with the pixelstick as well.

The game changer, introducing the pixelstick

The pixelstick is the result of the inevitable evolution of light painting, and the advancement of technology. The pixelstick is a product designed and produced by bitbanger labs, following a successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign. The neat thing about the pixelstick is that you can program it to create any light pattern you want, in fact, you can even use it to create light painted pictures.

This is possible through importing BMP files onto an SD card, which can then be slotted into the pixelstick’s operating system. You have control of many useful aspects, brightness of the light, the speed of the pattern transmission, repeat firing of the pattern, white balance, and delayed fire, are some of the useful functions.

The pixelstick comes with a controller that you can use to change the light painting design.

Vital stats, what you need to know about the pixelstick

The pixelstick at full length is great for light painting, but not so good for traveling. It’s fortunate that the design allows you to break it down to half its length, and store it in the bag. But, the length is still too long for hand luggage on a plane, which presents a problem if you plan on using it in more exotic locales. The essential information about the pixelstick and what comes with it are:

Comprised of a strip of 200 RGB LED lights, allowing for a combination of 16 million colors.

Has an aluminum case housing, to protect the LEDs from damage.

Full-length 187cm (73.5 inches), and a storage length of 109cm (43 inchses).

Weight is 1.8kg (4 pounds).

The device uses 8 AA batteries.

There is a control center with a battery pouch that attaches to the stick, with cables to connect everything together.

The 200 LED lights come enclosed in a light-weight metal case which protects them from any damage.

How to do light painting

Light painting is a long exposure technique, which you’ll need a tripod to achieve. You can follow the steps set out below, or for a more detailed guide check out: Beginner’s Guide to Light Painting .

Choose a location and time of day that will be dark. You need to be able to expose for at least 10 seconds in most cases, so locations with less ambient light are ideal.

Dress in black clothes, this will minimize the chance of you showing up in the photo.

Place your camera on a tripod, and compose your scene. As you’re light painting, make sure there is enough space within the composition set aside for the design. In other words, plan where and how big the light design will be, then make sure it will all be contained inside the frame.

Take the light source into the scene you composed, turn it on, and leave it in front of the camera.

Turn on your camera’s LiveView function, and focus on the light source using manual focus (use the + or zoom button to show a magnified view which will make it easier for you to focus). Leave the camera in manual focus to make sure your focus point remains the same.

Set the camera’s self-timer to 10 seconds, and begin the countdown. If you have a remote shutter release you may prefer to use that to trigger their camera.

While the camera is counting down, move into position in front of the camera with your light source in hand.

Just before the shutter releases, begin your light painting pattern.

Carry out any light painting you wish to do. Then, once you have finished painting, turn off your light source and move out of the frame.

Go back to your camera and wait for the exposure to finish. Check your result and repeat if necessary.

A lot of people have fun using sparklers to create light paintings. These look nice, but the pixelstick takes it to the next level.

Using the pixelstick to create abstract light paintings

There are many different types of light sources, the pixelstick is just one example. However, these effects can also be achieved by using something as simple as a kid’s toy light saber. The focal point of your image is going to be the light painting itself, or perhaps an architectural feature that you’ll emphasize with light.

The main thing is to keep it simple, with the light flowing through the scene. If you over-elaborate and make too many movements then it’s the digital equivalent of scribbling on a piece of paper, and it usually doesn’t turn out well. So when you’re making abstract light paintings, keep these things in mind:

Keep the line flowing. You probably know leading lines work well in photos, and light painting is a great way of introducing some into your frame. Have a plan for the direction the line will flow in your frame, and how it will lead the viewer’s eye to the point of interest.

Use repetition. Having a pattern in your frame and repeating it makes a nice light painting. Repetition often works well for photographs, and the control you have with the pixelstick allows you to do this more easily.

Keep it simple. There is a temptation to overcook (do too much) a light painting. With practice, you’ll find the strongest scenes use a more minimalist approach. A simple rotation of the pixelstick or light saber is often all that’s needed.

The pixelstick is really good for abstract work. The preset light patterns that come with the stick will help get you going quickly.

The most effective light paintings happen when things are kept simple.

The pixelstick for portraits

The pixelstick can be used to frame a model, and/or create leading lines towards the subject making it a powerful tool for portrait photographers. The difficulty you will encounter when shooting long exposures with a model is freezing them so they’re sharp. The pixelstick itself isn’t any better than other light painting tools you can use, but the following tips can help.

In this photo, a Jinbei 600 flash was used to light the model, while the pixelstick produced the light painting around her.

Keep the exposures short. The shorter the exposure, the less chance there is your model will move. This will mean shorter, simpler light paintings.

Use strobes to light the model. Using a strobe (flash) to light your model means that any movement in the model is less likely to show.

Ask the model to hold still. This is easier said than done, but if your model can hold really still for 20 seconds, then you can create longer more complicated light paintings.

Have the model face away from the camera. Any movement of the model’s face will show in the image. So, having the model face away from the camera helps it look less obvious.

Where the pixelstick really works well is how you make it interact with your model. This may mean that the colors in the light painting contrast with the color of the model’s clothes. Or maybe you can make the model appear to be holding some of the painted light. The creative potential of light painting combined with a model is vast, so you should have fun.

Asking the model to face away from the camera makes it much easier to mask any movements there may have been during a long exposure.

Light painting for product photography

The customization available with the pixelstick makes it a fantastic choice for product photography. One of the main niche genres is car photography, where the ribbon lines or checkered flag designs can be used.

This technique is similar to photographing a model, only your product won’t move, which allows for longer exposures. You can program in the name of the product, or even the company’s logo. The pixelstick really beats other types of light painting hands down, as the light design can be made to specifically match the product or branding.

Cars are great subjects for light painting of all forms. The pixelstick provides more options for experimenting.

Personalizing your light design

The ribbon presets, and the downloadable BMP files that come with pixelstick provide a lot of creative variety. But the real fun starts once you begin to add your own designs into the pixelstick. It’s this feature more than any other that gives this tool its power. The creativity is really infinite so here are a few ideas for you:

Find images through creative commons of national flags.

Edit the color scheme of some of the downloadable patterns that pixelstick provides.

Photograph textures shots of leaf beds or brick walls and use them to light paint.

Use your own landscape photos.

The texture and pattern of this traditional Korean roof made for a great light painting pattern.

Converting your files for use with the pixelstick could not be easier. Pixelstick has a drag and drop service on their website where you can do this easily. Alternatively, you could design and edit your image with Photoshop. Your image needs to be sized to 200 pixels high, with the length being as long as you desire. Once this is done the file needs to be flipped counter clockwise and saved as a BMP file. When creating a new file, any black areas will appear as blank (no light) when the light painting occurs.

In this photo, the area around the statue of a Buddhist grandmaster has been light painted using the traditional Korean pattern I created (above) as the light source.

Vibrant videos with the pixelstick

The pixelstick’s scope of creativity goes beyond still photography, and it can do amazing things for animation. You are going to create a stop motion video with the pixelstick, and use a series of long exposure photos to make this. Think of an animation flipbook, only this is the digital version of that.

Steps to create an animated GIF

Animating a single scene with the pixelstick could not be easier. Follow these steps to make an animated gif (like the one below) or perhaps a short video. You don’t need a pixelstick to create this type of animation of course, but you have a lot more options at your fingertips if you do.

The pixelstick can also be used for make smaller gif animations. The creative potential here is huge.

Set your camera on a tripod, and ensure it doesn’t move.

Compose your scene, and decide where your light painting animation will occur.

Use a remote cable shutter release, this will prevent any movement of the camera.

Allow a long enough exposure for you to complete the light painting.

Begin the exposure, and move into the frame to start and complete the light painting.

Repeat the exposure and the same light painting at least 10 times.

Take your camera home, and import the photos to your computer.

You now need to import the files to photoshop. To do this go to file>scripts>load files into stack.

Open the timeline window, and select “create frame animation”. This will import one frame into your animation.

On the right-hand side of the timeline window click the menu option, and select “create frames from layers”. Now reverse the order of the frames.

Hit play and remove any frames that interrupt the flow of your animation.

The file is now ready, export it as a gif file.

Stop-motion videos

Creating a longer stop-motion video is very similar to making an animation, in essence, you’re just making an extended version. As opposed to repeating a light painting many times, you may well simply move through a scene when making this type of video.

It’s better to use a dedicated stop-motion app for making this type of video, with stop-motion studios for windows, and istopmotion for mac being a couple examples of options.

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