#Also experimenting with noise/grain a little

[aeriona]

“All in a day’s work!” (Total drawing time: 8 hours, 31 minutes).

Bloodier version under the cut:

This is an older photo from around 7-8 years ago, at that time Harlow would’ve been around 17. She’d been hunting salmonids since she was 13, but taking on a Steelhead solo would’ve been a big deal to her back then.

You can tell the photo’s old because Harlow doesn’t have her EVP slopsuit yet, and because she has two eyes. Weird, I know.

[hockpock]

Glasses Review - Firmoo

Hello vision impaired friends, I bring you the gospel of Ordering Your Damn Glasses Online

I have previously ordered from EyeBuyDirect (luxotica/lenscrafters'/America's Best in disguise, sorry.) and Zenni Optical ( most well known online provider, A+ would recommend) and have seen lots of ads for free pairs from a competitor, Firmoo. I have too much prescription for the free pair offers to ever work out from ANY provider, but their fun designs put them on my list.

When my current glasses broke, I was dinking around and saw their current promotion is Buy One Get One Free PLUS 20% off lenses and as lenses are the real $$$ I jumped on that like tigger on crack. I am VERY nearsighted with astigmatism and the average pair of glasses from lenscrafters used to cost me $300 minimum.

After much deliberation with a million tabs open and a poll I ignored the results of for Reasons, I ordered a pair of clear frames and a pair of purple steampunk-y wireframes . Two pairs of HIGH PRESCRIPTION glasses for $87 shipped. I could cry, y'all.

Note: I have an up to date prescription and a nifty app that measures Pupillary Distance or 'PD'. you will need both these things accurate to have the best experience buying your glasses online.

I ordered them 9/22, they shipped 9/25, I received them 9/29 with regular shipping. They came well packed - each pair was in a bag made of cleaning cloth material inside a sturdy plastic case and they come in a foil bubble mailer.

Both pairs feel well made, with lots of attention to detail-

however I did not pay attention to detail or pay extra money for the Re-he-heaaallly thin lenses. So the clear ones are slightly too big and I hate the way the nose pieces sit, while the purple ones are a wee bit small across the temple and heavy to boot. I haven't had dents in my nose like this since I was 12.

the website lists their exchange policy as 30 days, the pamphlet that came with the glasses says 60. Either way it was pretty painless to go into my order history and select "exchange". The form I filled out with my reasons for dissatisfaction promised me I would be contacted within 24 hours.

My 'personal Firmoo consultant', 'Karen', emailed me with a code for the full price before discount of both pairs + standard shipping, as well as the usual customer service canned answers about checking the sizing information and did I know I could upgrade the lenses?

Also I could keep the failed pairs 'FOR NOW', here are some places that accept glasses as donations. (mixed messages, Karen, but sweet!)

New friends are April006, round anodized wireframes with a cute dingly gem thing, and Sandy020 , literal tortoiseshell cat eye frames.

This time I used the site's search terms to cut the temple width and earpiece length options down and double checked the weight of the base frames. (14g vs 24g for the round wireframes before my coke-bottle lenses. RIP my nose. )

New order was placed 10/5 and they arrived 10/17 . (last time I checked the tracking estimated arrival had creeped from the 19th up to the 23rd so grain of salt. This may be a tactic to make the order feel like it got here faster or legit delays. In my case there was a federal holiday involved.)

Complete disclosure I'm gonna grab a pair of pliers and take the little dangly off the wireframes. It makes a noise when I move my head and if I don't fold the frames in the right order when I take them off it'll scratch up the lenses. I ain't gonna remember to avoid that, so off it goes.

The Good:

Large selection, Good Quality, Good Communication. Lots of Off the Beaten Path options for internet weirdos. Firmoo p much always has a promotion going.

My wallet is so happy. SO HAPPY. Frames run $20-30ish to start. lenses will vary with your prescription and options.

If y'all want 50% off your first frames and to give me a $10 credit they have a referral program and my code is T4Z8I2. BOGO20 is a better value but it expires 11/01/23.

The Bad:

Not flexible about lens options- you go down one track and pick your options within that. If there was a way to put tinting on a pair of glasses other than blue light blocking I couldn't find it. (in contrast I believe Zenni lets you choose a range of colors and tint depth on any pair, designed as sunnies or not)

You Will Get Emails. Firmoo REALLY wants you to buy more glasses and post about it and tell your friends and HERE THIS CODE IS ONLY GOOD FOR 3 DAYS, GO BUY NEW GLASSES. They are marketing themselves to fashionable young influencers who change styles every month. Unsubscribe with impunity.

like Zenni, this is a company with the majority of it's functionality based overseas. It's cheaper because you're ordering directly from a factory and not paying Luxotica's markups to itself. Customer service is mostly English as Second Language speakers and there may be delays.

Not For Emergencies. I was able to coast on a pair of glasses from a prescription or 2 ago but it's gonna take time for your order to be made and shipped.

Overall I'm very happy with them and will probably order again.

Next time I have spare money I'm aiming at Wherelight because y'all. they are next down on the list of reputable to shady AF but they have the most amazing WTF designs.

[fbfh]

Tony stark x daughter!reader where reader got SA'd and is having a hard time telling her dad?

usa/english/rainn hotline 1-800-656-4673 (also european hotlines, 46 countries listed).

first of all anon I want to give you the biggest most sincere virtual hug. absolutely we can talk about what an amazing dad Tony is, especially under these circumstances. (disclaimer that I don't have much if any experience writing about SA/SA trauma, I did some reasearch and as with all topics I don't have much experience in, pls take this with a grain of salt and feel free to send feedback if you'd like <3 /p)

Tony knows something is off with you immediatley. he's had a weird feeling he can't shake, but Pepper keeps dismissing it as more anxiety. When he first sees you after what happened, his stomach drops. He knows something is wrong, he knows his baby isn't okay, and he is going to make things right no matter what happened. You normally have such an easy time talking to him, but now you can't, and he knows it's serious. He doesn't press you for details right away (after asking if you're okay and doing all the usual dad check in stuff), but he knows you need him. He pulls you into a warm, comforting hug and rubs your back. You can hear the thrum of his arc reactor syncing with his heartbeat, and the white noise is so soothing and comforting and he's such a good dad who loves you so much it all makes you cry again.

"What happened?"

He asks so seriously, you know he understands the gravity of the situation. You try to tell him, but you get all choked up again, and you just... can't. He holds you and comforts you, rubbing your back and talking to you until you start to feel better.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. It's okay." He says in that dad voice that snaps you out of your spiraling thoughts. "You don't have talk about anything yet if you're not ready. Okay?"

You nod, and he wipes your tears away. His hands smell a little like metal, and you know he's been working on his suits.

"Tell you what. Why don't we get some shwarma delivered from that place a few blocks over, we'll pick out a couple movies - what was that one you said you wanted to show me? The really bad one with the birds?"

You nod, but you don't laugh. He wraps you up in his blue hoodie, and has Jarvis call to order your food. He stays close to you, sending Pepper a message to cancel everything he has to do right now, the penthouse is on lockdown until this is resolved. He stays close to you, making sure you feel safe. He wants more than anything to know what happened, who hurt you, what was said or done to upset you like this. While your food is on the way and the movie is loading, the penthouse is quiet aside from your muffled sobs. Tony holds you, rocks you gently, comforts you. After a while, he pulls back enough to wipe your tears away and look at you. He gives you that dad look, the serious heart to heart one.

"I want to make this, whatever it is, better." He states, and you know he means it. He would move heaven and earth for you without hesitation, and he has in the past, and he'll do it again.

"But you need to tell me what's going on. I can't fix the problem if I don't know what it is."

Everything about your dad is so comforting, it makes your throat tighten up and your eyes well up with tears again. You try to explain through choked out, shuddering sobs, but you just can't get the words out.

"Okay, okay," Tony comforts you, bringing up one of his holographic screens he uses for work. A translucent glowing holographic keyboard appears in front of you.

"Why don't you try writing it out?" He offers, hoping that will be easier.

By the time you're done writing out what happened, you look over at him. You're almost scared for a moment, a part of your racing anxiety worried that he won't believe you, or he'll blame you, or-

"Thank you for telling me."

he pulls you into an even tighter hug, holding you close, and his voice shakes as he speaks.

"You did the right thing by telling me, okay?" He comforts you and reassures you that it's not your fault, that you're safe, and that he is never, ever going to let that happen again. Through every battle and alien invasion, you've never seen your dad this protective, this pissed on your behalf.

He gets a little more information from you, the location, the time, if you know who it was. He hacks into anything and everything with a camera until he finds the son of a bitch who hurt you. Then he sends out the drones. He has Stark drones, armed to the teeth, follow the bastard's every move, monitoring him while Tony gets everything together. He gets you counciling and resources, he calls you out of work or school or whatever so you have some time home to recover. If you want to file a police report, believe me he will get it filed immediately. If you don't want to, Tony has other ways of getting your attacker off the streets and away from you for good. Maybe he plants classified shield information on him and gets him thrown in a maximum security prison, maybe he pays someone to blast him into another universe. You don't really know the details, and you don't really want to. All you know is that your dad comes into your room after "making a few calls", and informs you that he's never, ever going to bother you again.

He does whatever you need him to do so you feel as safe and empowered as possible. Your suit gets upgraded, security systems get maxed out, and Tony finds a way to hook Jarvis up to keep an eye on your vitals.

"I'll get a ping if your adrenaline or cortisol spike, or if anything else looks iffy." he explains, hooking up the new system. "Even if it's just a stressful day, I'll know what kind of ben and jerry's to bring you."

You thank him again, and he hugs you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

"I love you, kid."

[heybaetae]

hii i love ur gifs so i have been wondering if u know how to low down the size of a gif without losing its quality?? i hate when i want to post a certain gif and it being 13MB but if i cut it it's ugly 😔😔😔 sorry for my english 😔

hi, thank you 💕 i think i have answered similar questions before in my gif help tag, but i can offer some more (hopefully) helpful tips and things you should consider to help keep your gif under 10mb.

1. crop size & amount of frames

the two go hand-in-hand. big cropped gifs with a large number of frames will result in a big file size. if you're making a 540px wide gif, you're either gonna wanna make the gif shorter in height or use fewer frames. for a square gif, i try to keep it between 50-70 frames, but sometimes i still have to trim it down depending on how bright or colorful the gif is (i'll get to that in the next points).

however, making the gif a shorter height like 350px or 400px might give you a little more room for more frames without having to delete any. i like big gifs if i have a great quality file. 600px tall is as far as i'll go (though it's rare) and in that case, i try to keep it limited to 40-50 frames.

basically:

540px wide gifs = fewer frames or shorter height

268px wide gifs = more frames, more potential

tip: for the sake of convenience, i really recommend making presets of all your go-to crop sizes by selecting "save preset" in the drop down menu next to your chosen dimensions. note that mine are all set two pixels more than i need because some photoshop versions leave a transparent border around gifs. when i use my convert to frames action, it deletes those two extra pixels for me and my gif will have the proper tumblr dimensions before i export.

more tips to get rid of extra frames:

delete frames with camera flashes, you will rarely notice a difference.

always check for duplicate frames.

original footage is slow motion? it's got duplicated frames. delete them.

2. sharpening

your sharpen settings can also increase the file size. here is a great post with examples of when to know when your sharpening is crossing into unchartered territory and how to avoid it. manually adding noise effects can also increase file size, so keep that in mind when you're doing it for aesthetics (i personally love noisy gifs too!).

3. brightening

adjustment layers that handle the "light" in a gif such as curves, levels, and exposure can all affect the file size in different ways. darkening the black points using these tools in your gif helps reduce grain as well as the amount of colors in the final product.

curves: use the white and black eye droppers to find the lightest and darkest points in the gif, thus adjusting the white balance of the footage if needed.

levels: move the left and right sliders inward to balance them out even more and bring back more details.

exposure: my favorite trick EVER to lowering the file size if it's over 10mb when i go to save for web is moving the "offset" slider of an exposure layer slightly to the left. it will darken the black points even more and add some contrast to your gif and it can minimize the file size by quite a lot.

3. coloring

you want to be able to save your gif with 256 colors without reducing the number manually in order to get it under 10mb (we've all been there). sometimes you can get away with doing that without losing much of your quality, but it's always ideal to NOT have to do this. selective coloring and color balance are your friends when it comes to enhancing and/or getting rid of tones you don't want. i can't give you a whole course on coloring alone, but i can say that ONCE AGAIN, darkening the blacks under the black tab in selective coloring will help. i usually go up to about +5 or more if i need to. neutralize your reds and yellows for skintones, especially when giffing idols. don't go too overboard with the vibrance if you use it. be conscious of colorwashing. experiment with photo filters or gradient maps if you're aiming for a cooler or warmer look.

i hope this helps, i am not a magician but i do think a lot of these key details help me a lot when my final gif is over 10mb and i need to go back and make adjustments.

[minhosblr]

hello! i hope ur day is going well! im not really sure how to word this but ur one of my favorite gifmakers on this site!! and i was wondering if u have any tutorial or would be willing to tell how!! do u make ur gifs so sharp! along w being so smooth and gorgeous im foremost always just stumped at how beautifully sharp ur gifs r!! not to mention the coloring!! regardless of if u get to answer any part of ur process or not, i just wanted to tell you ur gifs r very very beautiful. im always so awed and admiring wnv i see them! so warm and prettily colored yet so sharp!! apologies for gushing here, pls have a good day!!!

AHHH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY, ANON! It always makes me so happy, when I get any kind of compliments on my gifs, so this really really really warms my heart!! ♥

I did a gif tutorial like 1,5 years ago which you can find here! My sharpening has changed slightly from back then, so I'll just tell you what I do now.

Much more detail under the cut (this got way longer and detailed than I had expected)!

This is a walk through of my sharpening/effect process, so if you want any tricks about colouring or anything let me know!

The first important step to sharp gifs is the video quality! The higher the video quality is, the prettier and sharper your gifs will be. TS files are the highest quality (most of the time, sometimes they kind of scam you ngl) files you can get. Else 4k videos are great too! For me I usually don't go under 1080p (with few 720p exceptions). Sometimes I don't really like TS files, because they're a bit too sharp for me. This is mostly if it's a variety show. Concerts tend to be not as sharp in my experience.

I use vapoursynth to resize my gifs before putting them in photoshop. I usually don't do any sharpening or denoise in vapoursynth. This site has everything you need for vapoursynth!

For sharpening and stuff in photoshop, I usually do camera raw + topaz denoise + sharpening + 1% blur at 30% oppacity.

A bonus tip is, if you've done everything and tried soooo hard to make it non-grainy, but you just can't get it to do whatever you want it to... embrace the grain and add a noise layer! I do this with big gifs (540x540) usually.

To go more in depth, my settings for those are as following...

Camera raw

Texture (tekstur) I usually go between 20 and 30, depending on the thing I'm giffing. For Clarity (klarhed) I do the same number as texture, but minus 10. Idk why, it's just how I usually roll!

For Topaz denoise I usually only use a little bit. Like 0.04-0.06 overall strength. I don't really have any "this is what I always do" settings, but usually my shadow is at 0.90 and my highlight is 0.48 (because I liked it one time and then just kept it). You can also use the denoise option in vapoursynth, I just prefer photoshop, because it feels like I have more control over it. I know a lot of people don't use denoise at all, but I usually do with files less than 4k quality!

OBS! Using topaz denoise on smart objects in photoshop is a bit tricky, but I made a video about it once, so here you go! (the video is kind of outdated for me, so ignore the sharpening part and focus on the "how to do after you've put denoise on your gif" part. Also ignore my voice, thank you).

Sharpening:

These are my settings for sharpening. If I think the gif is a bit too sharp after I've added a blur filter, I change the amount (mængde, sorry my ps is in Danish) to 80% and that usually does the trick!

If you use all of these, this is how the smart object will look, before you convert it into frames

Let me know if you have any other questions or anything at all!! ♥

[soosoosoup]

The way you art is so frickin amaaazziiinng. I get seratonin everytime I look at anything you draw!!

If you feel up to answering, do you have a way of finding color palletes? I dont know if you've done troll OCs, but as someone whos trying to figure that out its been a struggle 😅. Like Grey Branch, is he grey grey or blue grey? Country trolls, are they green or yellow/brown/green combo? Heck if I know. Did I mean to make one look like Fiona the Ogre, no no I did not.

You just seem to get the colors down so well, everything looks beautiful and bright and fantasyful, just wondering if you had any tips.

Thanks in advance and have a lovely time of day!! 🫶🏻

awww thank you so much <3 and I get serotonin every time i get a lovely ask!! Also thank you bout my coloring!! That’s very comforting to hear as I too am still trying to get a handle on it. Bc of this I don't really feel quilified to give good advice lol (especially as i have yet to make a palette for an oc) 😅. So have some basic coloring tips Ive learned. Sorry it’s not about palettes and stuff.

Try to put some color in shades. Like with gray branch! I add teal blue into his grey skin and some blue/purple into his black hair. Honestly just avoid pure shades (black, gray, white) a little color mix does wonders.

Another thing I've learned is to not be too hesitant to try out a seemingly off color. Trust the process, it could very well fit in w/ their surrounding colors &/or after rendering. I also use pastel noise filters, helps bring my colors together.

There are plenty of tips out on youtube or other platforms made by very skilled artists both digital and traditional. They’re great with explaining the beginnings of color schemes, moods, & themes for palettes.

But my number one advice is to experiment. Messing around with the color wheel has been the biggest help, moving up and down, side to side helped me establish what saturation and luminosity means. As well as helped me see color as less literal if that makes sense. Sorry it’s hard to put into words 😅

Hope this helps, sorry it's not a lot, again I'm still learning so take what i say with a grain of salt. Wishing you the best of luck in your palette/coloring endeavors & wishing you the loveliest of days :)

[fiammee]

Hello, how are you? Hope the playing session in the last week was good!

So, for the question for this weekend since I got to listen to Jon's composition... What are you top 5 of his solo compositions and why?

Heyyyy my dear and welcome❤️ finally finished school, waiting for the final exam :)

Actually I didnt get to play on last sunday bc our teacher got sick like 30 mins before the show😭😭 hopefully hes good now and tomorrow we might play again, crazy story😵‍💫

Lets start (its always so difficult to do a good placing but lets try🥲):

5) Before I Forget

A good mix of pure rock 'n' roll, ballads and english folk/medieval music. Also his arrangement of the Bach Toccata and Fugue "Bach onto this" with Cozy Powell on drums (fantastic work of his) is so nice to listen to.

4) Gemini Suite

The "sequel" of the Concerto, with each movement based on a different member of the deeps. You can clearly see his interest in the zodiac (Gemini being his sign, and every musician that participated had their sign and birthday too!). This work stands out from the previous one obv bc Its orchestral, but also because you can feel that his music is mostly not melodic or follows an harmony, but it's "organized noise", bizarre jingles, sound effects (like percussion parts) and sound walls that are so fascinating and unconventional to me. Also his collaboration on the 3rd movement with Yvonne Elliman (really nice singer, you should check her work!). My favourite movements are Piano, Drums and Organs.

3) Sarabande

Another tribute of his love to Bach and Baroque dances (every piece maintains the name of the specific dance) where he kept the original time signatures but experimented more with the electric-acoustic interaction between instruments. Sarabande (track) is hypnotic and captivating, and Gigue has a beautiful continuous piano part that sets the rythm :)

2) Boom Of The Tingling Strings

One of his later and first orchestral-only works. If I remember correctly he got this title from a poem about a childs experience with being under a grand piano, and the thing that stands out for him is that "unexpectedly violent" sound, recalling his childhood (so cute☺️). He wrote a piano part so complex compared to his skills that got played only by a concert pianist (Nelson Goerner), so I consider this work to be also one of his most challenging, both in technique and expression; very atmospheric piece, with melancholic inspirations from the 900' revolutionary composers (take this personal view with a grain of salt: im no professional in judging correctly this kind of music😭 but the piano solo part in the middle of Allegro Giusto reminds me of the Prokofiev's War Sonatas, more precisely the 6° in A Major: again this was composed during the middle of a the 2° world war and the sovietic dictatorship, and the music perfectly shows the chaos that took place in people's minds: I've got the same "out of place" feeling with Jons music and its mindblowing for me). Altough I wrote an essay here its still too little to describe this incredible piano concerto 😌

1) Concerto For Group And Orchestra

I want to put the Concerto still on no. 1 bc of the huge impact it had both musically and socially aswell. A first approach of combining popular and élite music in 1969, a revolutionary period where the younger generations wanted to change the old post-war sistem that moved everything, so the union of young-old was visionary enough. He made this work with a strict deadline and in basically no time, probably going burnout after burnout: but he still managed to kick asses and showed his early genius to the world, making Ritchie mad enough (I bet to this very day) ❤️❤️❤️

This was a bit long, ooops🤣 but you gave me the right occasion to talk about it in a free manner, so thanksss dear💋 (I know that I have to still make a review abt your fic gal, I wish to find the proper time soon😭)

[eggmixercortex]

the thing about skinamarink is that people tend to say that it would have been better as a shorter film - particularly people who hated it - and while i understand where that idea is coming from i actually disagree.

(long as hell)

people who disliked skinamarink for the most part cite the long, "empty" shots between relatively little/mediocre action as the reason that the film didn't work for them. and i actually agree with that last bit, i think that the scares in skinamarink are kind of badly done*. they're just the sudden movement + loud noise combo, if they were standalone they would suck. and the first point isn't technically wrong either! i would bet like 50-60% of skinamarink is just still shots of dark hallways with film grain. and i'm going to make it clear that i have no problem with people who see the film this way. if you hated skinamarink that's perfectly fine and you aren't 'missing something' that could magically make you like it.

however, I do think that making skinamarink shorter would actually DECREASE the quality of the film. Heck, the short film that kickstarted the creation of skinamarink, is about 1/3 the length, and about 0% as scary. is it well made? absolutely. is it interesting and worth the watch? very much so. but scary? not in the damn slightest. and that's why the length of the full film is important, because when the action of the film is condensed it removes the truly unique thing about Kyle Edward Ball's style as seen in the bitesized nightmares and Skinamarink.

i'm a pervert for this type of film so i am of course highly biased but the thing that skinamarink does is kind of like the allegory of the cave. in the allegory of the film you the audience are expected to be affected by the suggestion of the film rather than its direct contents, in a really extreme fashion. this is a relatively unique way to present a film, and i personally think Ball is really very good at building a successful atmosphere for this type of device, and i hope that he makes more films like this in the future. BUT the issue of course is that because it relies so heavily on the audience being able to essentially scare themselves, if you the viewer can't do that, skinamarink immediately falls flat on its face. if you look at each action scene in isolation it becomes fairly obvious that they're all... a little silly. the formula is pretty much just ack! something is weird! and suddenly it jumped at the camera! excepting the ending which is 3x speed settings of the same thing. and that's fine, but not showstopping or anything.

most horror that utilizes 'jump-scares' tries to build up to it of course, but skinamarink almost literally gives you nothing to work with except for the knowledge that something is going to happen... eventually. and for me that worked really really well! i was literally frozen in fear! it took me around 10 minutes to be eaten alive by the damn film! but for someone who that doesn't work on, its not going to work at all. the film will genuinely be boring and the audience member who walks out or says that is was a dud isn't actually missing anything - skinamarink is just a film that relies so heavily on its one aspect that the rest of it crumbles if that doesn't land.

skinamarink was made (intentionally or not) to appeal to a very, very specific type of audience, and pretty much ignores anyone else. if skinamarink were more like Heck it would definitely appeal to more people, but also would have been a significantly less interesting film. this is also why i get a little annoyed at people who act like skinamarink fans are 'snobs' or that people who didn't like it are 'missing something' because it isn't actually a particularly artsy film in story. reading an essay about the themes isn't going to make the film experience scarier (but would be a fun read, mostly) its just that the film works best with people who can scare themselves out of going to the bathroom at night.

genuinely, if you watch 20 or so minutes of skinamarink and you aren't enjoying it, leave. it won't get better** and it's not worth wasting your time on an experience you really won't enjoy just because you feel like you have to. if it sucks hit the bricks man

(i would love to re-watch with a staunch skinamarink hater so we can discuss the different pieces of it tbh... there's so much to talk about in the structure here)

i adore the empty skinamarink shots because they demand you fill them yourself with only the little paper towel ghost they gave you to work with it's awesome. but also sometimes you would prefer the movie give you at least a bedsheet lawn ghost instead.

*the action moments are some of my least favourite scenes, and i genuinely think that the toy phone moment could have been removed entirely. it's not good...

**again, not saying its bad to dislike skinamarink! it also might improve for you but like. don't let people force you to sit thru paint drying for 16 hours part two just bc it could get good later

[eldritch-spouse]

Hmm I think neomorphs would understand bonds and maybe could bond w humans?? I also think they *could* be smart enuf to understand human culture

Like imagine ur horny and u start shedding ur clothes and the neomorph immediately knows exactly what u want

I think I heard u say this abt breg in one of ur fics, but they would def also make low noises to comfort a mate bc I imagine them as very territorial

I also feel like they could have have a crush on a human if said human took care of them(or they just find them mate worthy) so they try to pursue u.. I remember one scene in a movie where rhe neomorph just stood quietly infront of a human (b4 getting killed oop) literally towering over them.. if I was there and had it staring at me like that I’d feel some romantic tension

Yes, that's what I was hinting at with this ask.

To me, I believe their ability to form bonds outside the species would stem more from the fact that they're the "blank slate" before David 8 starts fucking with them to make the xenomorphs we know. But take what I say with a grain of salt, I'm rusty on Alien lore. Anyhow, I don't think David could have made xenmorphs into such a social/colony-based species if the neomorphs themselves didn't already have some level of surprising social adaptability.

The scene you're mentioning is a tad dubious because the person standing in front of the neomorph was David, who is a synth. Xenomorphs can tell a human apart from a synth, so I'm keen to believe neos can do the same, and they might have hesitated purely out of morbid curiosity. It could also just be the fact that the neomorph had recently eaten, and therefore might not have had as much of a violent drive at the moment. Though the way they reacted inquisitively to David's exhale, as opposed to violently, is a good start.

My idea with that comic was to explore that hypothetical bond a little bit more, this time in a setting where you meet one in a premature stage and experiment with the possible outcomes of raising one of these beings (which makes absolutely no sense from a realistic point of view, but all my brain cells were effectively shut off when I sketched it). You're under the impression his obsession with you is typical of pack behavior, and to a degree it is, but you mean more to him. And that only sinks in when it's already too late to do anything about it. Now, I'm a yandere blog primarily, so of course the neomorph was implied yandere in that comic.

The bond implies that he'll get to know your body through scents and gestures. Just as he'll be able to decipher your intent from the tone of your voice and you'll pick up on the different meanings of his vocalizations. It's a learning curve, but they're very fast learners and extremely adaptive, so you might "synchronize" much faster than expected. Naturally, this would definitely lead to him understanding what abrupt stripping means, or if nothing else, gouge your arousal through some sort of scent stimulus. Mimicry is likely to happen at some point, wherein the neomorph will attempt to reproduce your own sexual gestures in an attempt to behave more like you and further erase any sort of communication barrier.

When it comes to noises, I haven't really thought about it too much, but I like to imagine they might be capable of differently pitched rumbles, judging from that same scene where they interact with David. Not all of their high-pitched vocalizations might be born of hostility/fear/alarm, but if they're quiet around you it's probably a good sign.

I'm on the fence about them being territorial. I can see neos being protective, but I just haven't seen enough to determine if they'd stick to one place and become attached to it.

[giomagnetism]

spencer emoji questions (: except i'm on desktop as always. lying, ghost, milky way, pencil, music note, books

emoji prompts

🤥 LYING — are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

Answered here!

👻 GHOST — do they believe in ghosts? what are their "ghostly experiences", if any?

augh. Okay, first of all, Spencer grew up with Shinto practices and beliefs, so that's her baseline. But I'm still not confident enough in my place of research with it to be more specific than that; and take this answer with a grain of salt, because it's bound to change. That said, Spencer's kind of halfway on the skeptic to believer scale; she believes in the supernatural, but will sooner check for a carbon monoxide leak than cry ghost. I want to say she'd believe more in broad forces rather than individual hauntings, by dint of personality—there's definitely more to reality than what we make of it, but in this day and age, anyone who says that's most likely trying to sell you something. She takes offense to the impracticality of it all. Don't you want to know the answer instead of obscuring it?

With that in mind, she doesn't interpret a lot of the weird things which have gone on at Grizzco as ghostly. Bad weather, strange noises, and tech malfunctions are par for the course; glimpses of things that aren't there get chalked up to exhaustion. But it does not escape her that it is a place all but built to manufacture lost and vengeful spirits—and, yeah. She's a little scared of it. She dreams of Shiloh as a dead man more often than she'd like to admit, and it takes her a very long time to forget that one late night spent in the building trying to track down their lost coworker.

🌌 MILKY WAY — what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

If I had to pick one singular thing, the most memorable, it was definitely her infatuation for silver things. I remember wondering what kind of characterization I could imply with badges and a banner and went with the silver scheme from there. Then I was still stuck on the idea of a real jerk of a salmon runner, and naturally matching her with Shiloh, giving them both an excellent synergy and real hatred of one another. She was sarcastic, cutthroat, bitey, entitled, commanding, and stupid as fuck from the moment of conception. If that wasn't enough, even then she didn't actually want to be there—but, for various reasons, she didn't think she had a choice.

✏️ PENCIL — is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

Literally so many.

Maybe we will wake up singing. Maybe we will wake up to the silence of shoes at the foot of the bed not going anywhere. (dots everywhere, richard siken)

Before it happened, it was never going to happen. / After it happened, it was always going to happen. (against silence, frank bidart)

"Hotel" by headspace-hotel

Such a waste of a girl, such rumination. / I am obsessive. I contain nothing but the replay. / I am blood and blood and replay. I am please don't go. (i put the coffin out to sea, lisa marie basile)

There was a great difference, I said, between the things I wanted and the things that I could apparently have, and until I had finally and forever made my peace with that fact, I had decided to want nothing at all. (outline, rachel cusk)

Know that the desire to be perfect is probably the veiled expression of another desire—to be loved, perhaps, or not to die. (how to be perfect, ron padgett)

Last year I abstained / this year I devour / without guilt / which is also an art (you are happy, margaret atwood)

🎵 MUSIC NOTE — what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

Spencer's playlist's comprised of an hour and a half of songs that sound nothing alike and don't make any sense together. OK, that's hyperbole, but I do want to clean it up a bit more before I make it public; I'll list a few I'm biased toward.

buttercup — Hippo Campus

Waste — David Vertesi

Private Life — Oingo Boingo

I Am My Own Muse — Fall Out Boy

And just for fun, other stuff I like to imagine her band covering:

What the Hell — Avril Lavigne

good 4 u — Olivia Rodrigo

Call Me — Blondie

Killer Queen — Queen

Eventually I'll update her setlist tag with more, it's kind of a catch-all for music that reminds me of her.

📚 BOOKS — how were they at school? what is their best subject? what is their worst subject? do they have a favourite subject?

In most of her fellow students' view Spencer was that peak annoying overachieving teacher's pet with no personality beyond homework and fewer friends. She was a diligent, quiet student who didn't rustle feathers and put in rigorous work, much to the pleasure of her teachers... but she wasn't ever good at learning. Every high grade she got was a product of hours poured into homework, extra reading, and self-teaching—and especially of her parents' intense standards. No matter how much effort she put in, how much she pushed herself and memorized and stayed up late studying, she was always little more than average. She didn't have a favorite subject—she moved quite often and changed teachers frequently, and found the subject unimportant in comparison to how it was taught.

Language arts was her particular kryptonite, though; Spencer is not a woman built for metaphor and she finds both reading and writing more difficult than they're worth. She isn't illiterate, but doesn't think of writing as an art, and her attempts at it... leave something to be desired. Nor does her work as a lyricist shine with wordplay and mastery. Band would be an obvious answer for "best subject" but she was never actually taught it or music theory—it's the one thing she's managed to pick up under her own power. She's alright with numbers, and did fine with geometry though not so much with algebra... The one good memory she does have in education was an especially patient and hands-on geographies teacher, and that remains the one time she actually excelled in a subject.

[justices-blade]

no (tea)leaf unturned // lyon + edward

Reason and Faith band together to put on this month’s special seminar: the history of tasseomancy! You will be learning the “magic” behind divination and how the old masters used the remains of tea leaves and coffee grounds to predict future events. Just in time for the moon of love, you will all be divining your romantic futures from a delicious cup of white rose tea. [Grants Reason or Faith +1] starter for @sacretic.

It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, ice-flowers are blooming… On days like these, what better to do than enjoy a cup of white rose tea?

For the record, Edward could count a few things he'd rather be doing, like not having to drink the tea while stuck indoors, or having that tea be hot chocolate, or be one of those homier grain blends he likes instead of rosy and expensive-smelling, because he's not sure he can savour such a delicate taste appropriately. But also, he likes coffee even less, and it is pretty cold outside, so he gets it. It also beats struggling to read a single page of whatever while a professor blathers on for the better part of an hour, and he had signed up for this for a more hands-on experience in understanding magic better...

Sure, tasseomancy sounded cooler as a word than what it turned out to be, but it's a kind of fortune-telling, right? It's what Micaiah does on the regular. And even if it doesn't work for real (not like he could know), it would still be a cool party trick to bust out later. He's come to terms with his initial disappointment pretty quickly, and is actually kind of looking forward to the whole thing now — Exciting, albeit possibly embarrassing, but honestly? He's got nothing to hide or know about.

(At least to his knowledge.)

Humming a raspy tune to himself, Edward brings the tea set over from the trolley to the desk he's sharing with his appointed partner: A gentle- but melancholy-looking young man by the name of Lyon, who looks positively miserable to be here. That, he gets too. Hoping to help at least a little, he shoots the other a winning smile as he sets down the set and sits down afterwards, picking up a spoon to twirl between his fingers idly.

"I've gotten better at enjoying tea recently, but never this nice! This kind looks sorta expensive. Smells good, too. We're pouring our own cups, yeah?" It's a rhetorical question, so he continues on. "It'd make sense, since it's our fortunes."

The tea steeps between them, even as Edward runs his mouth in attempt at lightening the mood. A clink of spoon against teapot as he gestures with his occupied hand — It's a light noise, deliberate, not an issue over the general noise of porcelain starting up across the classroom. He leans in a little, lowers his voice, a playful twinkle in his eyes, hoping to put the other at least a some kind of ease.

"By the way, if you're nervous — whatever I read from yours or you from mine, we can keep a secret. Promise!"

[septembersghost]

Which memphis mafia members do you consider reliable sources when it comes to Elvis?

this is a tricky question because i know opinions vary and accounts have notable discrepancies...it's difficult with everything surrounding elvis because it often feels like, to one degree or another, everybody was looking for a way to exploit their connections to him (not necessarily in a malicious way, though some definitely have done that, but just insofar as everybody relying on him and their stories and experiences with him financially and for other assorted reasons, as comments in this thread mention), and did so especially once he died and had no say in any of it. i have a lot of qualms with the total lack of hesitation in sharing intimate details about his life with the general public that go a bit far beyond explaining his character and experiences, and yet at the same time of course there's an insatiable curiosity and market for it because people want to know about him. it makes me think of the preface shared from june's book: “There have been lots of books written about Elvis Presley, of course, with probably as many personal memoirs among them as have attached to any other cultural figure or entertainer in history. Some have been spurious, a number seem to have been written out of little more than personal rancor, motivation has ranged from love to money to self-adumbration..."

i'm rambling, but sometimes it's difficult to sift out the people still looking after e and his personhood versus those using him for their gain. jerry i would count easily as one of the former, perhaps the most obvious choice there. maybe george klein and billy smith? perspectives range all over the place on charlie hodge, joe esposito, marty lacker, lamar fike, the stanleys, and even larry geller (despite elvis often being open and vulnerable/trusting with him in particular), to the point where i feel like we have to take everything with a grain of salt and be circumspect about individual subjectivity and agendas. red and sonny i struggle with for *multiple* reasons, and given what they did to him (and whoever the third one was involved with that book. god el i'm sorry sometimes i cannot keep track of all of your people...), i think it cut him to the core, from which he did not recover (and he didn't have time). but i also respect elvis' inherent generosity and kindness and forgiving qualities that he extended to the people he loved, even when he was hurt.

tl;dr ugh sorry this is not a particularly helpful answer because it involves so many factors and complicated people. tbh i'm probably not the best person to ask this because my little introvert self that cares more about elvis' humanity and artistry than some of the noise and chaos around him is way less informed about each of those guys as individuals. i do think they all loved him in their own ways, to one degree or another, but their usefulness and incentives in sticking by him could be mercurial. and e was far from perfect himself and i'm sure many aspects of being in that group were not easy, he was responsible for many of his choices, but he also had a retinue of people clinging to his lifestyle. it can be painful to observe how he had this mix of enablers and dependents around him as constant companions and everything still unraveled the way that it did.

edit: i went to the sub to see if i could find you a better/more comprehensive response quickly and still turned up a lot of dispute, but this comment speaks to some of it (also funny how some of the comments here use similar language to what i'd already written, i appreciate seeing those thoughts from others): Each has told their version of their story and of course each person is the hero of their own story, and many paint themselves as Elvis's One True Best Friend. Some, as you mention, had proper jobs, others were really, truly sycophantic hangers-on, some were true blue friends and brothers, and some would barely qualify as part of the "Memphis Mafia" at all - they just happened to be in the right place at the right time and latched on to what little time they had in his periphery. For most who care, I think it comes down to an individual by individual basis...Personally, I think more attention should really be placed on the artists, songwriters and creatives whose influence impacted Elvis's actual creative and commercial achievements and legacy. But people like hearing celebrity gossip, and Elvis fans have always been voracious to consume anything and everything they can about him. People also like picking sides and being in opposing tribes, even over the most petty shit. In our collective cultural grief over the loss of Elvis, trying to grasp onto anything and everything left that we could, we gave them all attention to hear them say nice things, and the media happily gave a platform to those who were willing to help tear Elvis down off the pedestal his fans put him on, too. I think, at the end of the day, people are looking for understanding about what happened. Many would like to take their sides and lay moral judgment on all of them and everything they've said or did, as though talking about who was or wasn't at fault for what happened would change things or help us understand what happened any better. But we weren't there, and never can go back and be there. Some were good, some were bad, some just happened to kinda be there because Elvis wanted or needed them for whatever reason. The only sure truth is that Elvis died regardless of all of them - which is a tragedy. And they're all just background characters who've taken up too much time on center stage. And now that most of them have left, I think it's about time to bring the curtain down.

[stella-mia23]

Color Font Sculpture

I decided to choose my colored version to print, liking the end result more. There was a lot more creative freedom being able to experiment with multiple colors. I decided, using effects I knew from past experience to make it graffiti themed, wanting to use effects such as grain, diffuse glow, and gradient that could help me achieve this look. To add a little more than just the letter I chose, “S”, I used the curvature pen to create a circle, and a little more to the pattern I created. With the letter, I used the direct selection tool to manipulate and create a dripping effect, to further the graffiti look, knowing real graffiti paint does leak. I added the gaussian blur of a duplicated image in the background, to add more depth to the pattern, looking a lot more like street graffiti. For the colors I chose, I had originally chosen just red, but by adding a slight gradient, the color change added a lot more than just adding the basic black and white look, I went with a red tint with a saturation change. The grain effect adding the slight amount of noise was the perfect finishing touch, as if it is the texture of a wall behind it. For the sculpture I used the technique of texture by incorporating different effects, and the use of negative space, focusing solely on the singular pattern. I wanted to emphasize solely on the singular strip of pattern as a focal point, the negative space with the backdrop also adding a sticker effect to my work. Overall, due to having experience with digital art, it was easier to incorporate my own style into my final piece, the texture showing this with how it adds dimension to the letter.

[schakira]

follow-up on the wooden bathtub thing b/c you also asked about cleaning: that is a GREAT question and i'm not sure! i have more experience with wooden ships in saltwater, which is generally Way easier than freshwater as the salt acts as a preservative. (as long as you stay out of latitudes where shipworms are a problems). for cleaning the (untreated wood) deck, we would pump loads of seawater over it with the fire pump & scrub it at 45° to the grain of the wood with a very coarse broom brush. this (allegedly) opens up the fibers just enough to get gunk out from the grain & ensure the wood stays appropriately moist. i would wager that, historically/on untreated or simply oiled wood, the cleaning process for a big always-full tub like that is pretty similar - you empty it out regularly, dump in a couple cups of sand for abrasive, mix in a bit of water, and use a brush-broom to scrub the bejeesus out of it. then flush it clear of sand, re-oil if needed, and refill.

for modern polyurethane or epoxy varnishes, it'd likely be more like an acrylic hot tub - no abrasives, but still regular emptying, using not-too-harsh cleaning liquids, and scrubbing with a not-too-coarse brush. but that's not something i know much about

the problem with fancy varnishes/epoxies is that when they get a tiny crack or flaw in them that the water can get through, it starts to stain the wood behind & looks REALLY unsightly.

bit of fun trivia: if you use iron nails in particularly tannin-heavy woods like oak while they're in contact with saltwater, a chemical reaction occurs that makes the wood rot & disintegrate really fast. you say that the wood is "iron-sick," which i think is cool as hell. as such (and due to the high cost of worked metal in a pre-industrial society), even the biggest of ships up through the mid-1800s were built with as little iron as possible. planks were attached with "tree-nails", inch-thick oak dowels hammed into pre-drilled holes and used just like nails.

this entire time, I've been wondering... doesn't using abrasives to clean through wood wear down the wood? how often do you need to clean your wooden bath tub to ensure it lasts longer?

OHHH i recently heard about how quickly irons deteriorates in water, so they use a "sacrificial anode" though i'm unsure on its different applications outside of ships.

to think that ships were entirely made out of wood... does the wood absorb the water? does it expand? does it break the ship when it does so? or does it just do creaking noises...

[pgy4611fiu]

Final work by: Emily Rosario

title: Girlhood Core

My two main inspirations were the photographers Melissa Haugen, and Juuso Westerlund. I came across both of them on Pinterest. I was immediately drawn in by the way that they present movement in the photos. The photos capture a sense of animation and youthfulness that I would also like to present. I also appreciate how their images romanticize the ordinary life of kids as they go about their day.

One of my other sources for inspiration is the 2017 film, The Florida Project. This strong film follows the story of six-year-old Moonee and her fellow playmates. Living in a shoddy motel off the highway right next to Disney World, Moonee lives a rough low income life with her struggling single mother. Despite the harsh reality of her life, Moonee has no trouble living in her childlike world, where her worries are those of getting enough playtime while the sun is out.  This reminds me very much of my eight-year old sister who still maintains her bright and lively character even after our family has gone through traumatic events and difficulties. This theme of innocence and childlike naivety to the realities and sufferings that adult are forced to confront. 

Project Description:

"Girlhood Core" is meant to evoke nostalgia with my viewers that revolve around childhood memories that we may have forgotten with the passing of time. The main subject is my little sister who was my main source of inspiration. In a time where children are growing up faster than they need to, partly because of the internet and social media, I want to capture these moments where my sister is thriving in her vibrant, and imaginative world and emphasize the special and wholesome nature of what it means to be a kid. My photographs are meant to give a blurry or fuzzy effect, alluding to our hazy memory of childhood.  I wanted my photos to be primarily candids, which makes the context less artificial and therefore more easier to relate to. My angles are different in each photo in order to change the perspective of the viewer that helps engage them with the activity that is happening in the photo. I used low angle shots to add drama to the scene. I also purposely obscured my sisters face in some photos to draw attention to the activity she was doing, so that way the viewer can place or see themselves in her position. In each photo, I wanted to keep a dynamic composition so I made sure to move her around the frame and have her in different positions. I also wanted to keep the frame busy, since I wanted to capture the disorderly fun of childhood. Overall, my theme is the enchanting world of childhood that is a sadly fleeting thing. 

For this project, I used my Nikon D5100. I would incorporated techniques such as large depth of field, short depth of field, contrast, color balance and overall composition. I also experimented with different exposure times, depending on the time of day I am shooting at. To achieve the film filter effect of my images, I used both the Adobe Photoshop 2024 and the MacBook Air Photos gallery edit feature. On Adobe photoshop, added a layer of the photo filter Sepia, which is a warmish orange. I edited the Noise/Grain to about 50% to create the blur like effect. I also added a Curve Adjustment layer and made a reverse ‘S’ shape. On the Photos gallery, I lowered the contrast and added a vignette. I reduced the saturation to add the vintage look while bumping up the vibrance to retain the sharpness of the colors.

If I could continue this project, I would love to recreate scenes from famous movies that I watched as a kid. For example, The Parent Trap (1998), Cat in the Hat (2003), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), or Matilda (1996). I would also love to include more of my sister's friends or cousins, to have the atmosphere more lively and vibrant. 

[gai2024]

An Unforgettable Summer

The beauty of the hottest season of the year is incomparable, and that summer... oh, that summer was definitely unforgettable. It all started with the anticipation of months ending, suitcases packed and dreams being fulfilled under the immaculate blue sky and the sun that reflected the golden glow in the hearts of adventurers.

The trip began with a kaleidoscope of landscapes that passed through the window of the old car which, despite its noises and mechanical whims, was the time capsule that transported us to a parallel universe where everyday worries simply did not exist. The songs that played were the soundtrack of a summer movie, where each melodious song carried with it the promise of eternal moments.

The destiny? A small and welcoming coastal village, whose beaches were fringes of pure magic bathed by the ocean. Every grain of sand, every shell on the shore, every wave breaking with delicate force on the beach was an invitation to start over, to inspire something new. It was as if time there had its own rhythm, a kind of peaceful cadence that soothed the soul.

And it was there, in the softness of languid afternoons and starry nights, that friendships were strengthened. The laughter shared under the shade of coconut trees, the improvised games and challenges that only detachment from routines allows, the tropical flavors that blend perfectly with the sea breeze... Everything contributed to building the tapestry of experiences that we would come to call "the best summer of our lives."

Love also gave the air of grace, in a way as natural as a sunset that dyes the sky with an impossibly vibrant palette. Summer loves are made of different stuff, woven with the golden light of the sun and the freedom of the wind that knows no boundaries. And although not all of them last beyond the season, their flavor is revived with each wave that kisses the beach in an eternal return.

There were also moments of introspection: the solitary walks along the beach at dawn, when the sun rehearses its first chords on the horizon and the breeze still carries the freshness of the night that is leaving. In those moments, silent conversations with one's self were possible and the sea became the best listener to confidences and dreams.

As August drew to a close, nostalgia was already beginning to cast its shadow, but it was a soft shadow, because each memory was already recorded in vivid colors, ready to be accessed when the cold of other seasons blew through the fallen leaves of future days. .

The unforgettable summer taught us to live, to love, to be free. He showed that happiness is made up of moments and that the beauty of life often lies in simplicity: a swim in the sea, a shared smile, the warmth of the sun on the skin.

When the bags were packed again and the old car took us back home, we knew that something within us had changed. We were loaded not just with souvenirs, but with an experience that had transformed us. And so, each summer subsequently would carry a little of that magic, a perennial flame that would warm us with its memory of days of an absolutely unforgettable summer.

Follow on Instagram: @mylife.usa2024