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moonbaby26 · 3 years

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Title: Diamond in the Rough

Pairing: Peter Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Continuation from last chapter. You and the others get some more down time in your last day and night on the ship together. Reader talks about some sensitive things with Peter, culminating in more bonding and fluff at the end.

Warnings: Some cursing, mentions of sex and arousal. Nothing explicit though.

Chapters: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Taglist: @drikawinchester , @n0obmaster69 , @alexloveskili , @what-a-silver-lining , @bluesprings18 , @weakmoony-stuff , @slytherinsi-mp , @wintwrsoldiwr , @tommy-braccoli , @amourtentiaa , @cringingmemeries , @bi-panicatthe-disco , @himbos-are-my-lifeblood , @simp4mcuwomen

Peter Maximoff x Reader Masterlist

—————————

“So you really weren’t going to tell me that you just said ‘screw it, peace out, guys!’, and pulled the sacrifice card to throw yourself out of a plane?”

Peter’s voice carried through the barracks as he looked at you like you were the crazy one for once.

“Well...it was in the middle of crashing at the time.” You countered, much quieter by comparison and looking to Jean or Kurt for any help here. Some of you were sitting on the floor, others on the beds, roughly in a circle as you talked.

But Kurt only piped up to make it worse. “Yes, I did not like that at all. Next time we must find another way. I thought too that you’d chosen to go down with the plane so we could escape, (Y/N).”

“But you can fly right? None of us could fly.” Scott butted in a bit unexpectedly though, on your side of the argument no less.

“(Y/N) can levitate like me.” Jean corrected. “The flying is newer though, not yet perfected.” She smiled at you then in a way that told you she wasn’t about to let you back out of getting credit for that risk taken in Egypt. “You still hit the ground, hard.” She added. “I went back in your mind to make sure you’d made it after we teleported.”

The others all looked at you, and you tried not to lose your nerve. “My energy field was still up though when I hit. That’s the important part...”

“I mean I could jump off a building with a helmet on, I’m pretty sure it still wouldn’t work out for my head.” Peter retorted, though with a very self aware look before he finished. “And no, that’s not what’s wrong with me.”

Scott actually laughed at that, which surprised both you and Peter at least. Maybe he was different when alone with Jean, but in front of the group he’d stayed fairly no nonsense since Egypt. Though who could blame him for being a bit uptight after all he’d been through recently.

“We did all get pretty wrecked.” Peter admitted after a moment though. “Thanks for the save, Jean. Up top.” He held his hand up in front of her to signal for a high five.

She obliged, but a bit half heartedly. “I had the Professor in my head though, egging me on. He helped me unlock that. But I still couldn’t have done anything if you all hadn’t held that guy in place for that long for me. He just would have escaped.”

“I wonder what happened to the woman?” Kurt considered. “Do you think she learned her lesson too?”

“I doubt it,” Ororo answered then. “We called her Psylocke. But she just wanted to be more powerful. I don’t think she’d care now about who we hurt.” She looked at all of you at that. “I am sorry...if I hadn’t said well enough before. I thought he wanted to make the world better for us, but he didn’t. He really did just want to control everyone, human and mutant alike. I was wrong.”

Scott shrugged. “You figured it out by the time it really mattered.”

“And he probably just would have tried to kill you if you’d shown disloyalty any sooner than that,” You agreed.

“Can’t stay mad at anybody with a sick mohawk like that anyway.” Peter commented too, clearly admiring her hair.

Ororo chuckled. “If I’d known other mutants like you all before, things likely would have been a lot different.”

“Well you know us now.” Jean offered.

“Yes, I’m new here too,” Kurt added. “There’s a lot to learn. I’m glad Raven found me as well to bring me to the school. I never had mutant friends either in the circus.”

“Woah, wait. You were in a circus? Like the whole bit? Elephants and clowns and stuff?” Peter turned his head to look at him, curiosity easily peaked.

“Ja.” Kurt replied.

As those two went off into a separate conversation about whether or not there’d been bearded ladies, strong men, and the like in the Bavarian circus, you just looked back to Jean.

“We’ll definitely have a lot to catch up on when we get home. You think Jubilee is going to be mad that she missed all the action?” You asked, only half joking.

“Oh man,” Jean conceded. “She’ll be all over us wanting details.”

But her next words surprised you a little as her voice so easily transitioned just into your mind afterward for privacy, her lips no longer moving.

“You know as soon as she finds out you met someone, she’s going to go nuts wanting details about Peter.”

You could only look at her for a moment. It was such a strange thing to consider. This had all happened so fast. But with her bringing up that point, it was the first time you’d really thought about what it would be like to potentially introduce him to other friends of yours back home, to try and communicate what he meant to you already.

Could you call him your boyfriend? Would you say you were dating? He’d already called himself that label, but did that mean you could say it? Would the others even believe it was possible to feel these things for someone you’d only known such a short time? Would they think you were naive, or just caught up in the whirlwind of the moment and that this would all fade?

“Hey, relax. I wasn’t trying to send you into a tailspin.” Jean’s mental voice broke back through that wave of anxious thoughts. “I haven’t known Scott for very long either. If anyone wants to waste energy judging us, I would say that’s their problem.”

“Yeah,” You just answered then, remembering you still needed to respond in a way that made sense to the last thing she’d actually said out loud, about Jubilee. But you went quiet afterward, letting the others steer the conversation to new things as you all continued just trying to pass the time.

It wasn’t too very long later though when you’d had another visitor to the barracks. You were all a bit surprised to see Moira walk in, noticeably without the Professor and carrying something in her hands.

“Some new brass arrived today, or officials I mean. They wanted to speak to Charles themselves.” She said quickly, obviously realizing by your looks that you were all wondering the same thing of where he was. “But I wanted to come by and take care of this for the ones that needed pictures.”

As she spoke, she raised up the thing in her hands as if that should also be some clear explanation for her purpose here. It still took you a moment honestly to realize it for what it was, accompanied by what she’d said.

“For your licenses and passports that we’re printing.” She clarified anyway before continuing, the polaroid camera in her hands. “You two,” She pointed at you and Peter, and then at Raven. “And you. You already had valid driver’s licenses. We’ll reuse those photos for a new license and passport. Charles wanted everyone to have both, as you’ll still need to travel within the U.S. as well once we’re back. The rest of you I need current photos of.”

The thought of Peter actually taking the time to get a driver’s license seemed pretty absurd when he could travel anywhere much faster on foot, but before you could ask him anything, Hank was speaking up.

“But I already had a license and a passport,” Hank responded in some confusion.

Moira looked a little awkward, but still answered kindly. “But the pictures were of you before. It won’t match how you look right now for us to get back into the country.”

Raven snickered and Hank shot her an unamused look.

“Uh, but I can’t take off my glasses. You want me to take it with my eyes closed?” Scott asked dryly, though it was a legitimate question.

Belatedly you realized this also meant he’d been completely prepared to drive one of the Professor’s cars illegally then, before you’d asserted yourself to be the one to drive you all to the mall that day. This was a mental note you’d have to save for later.

“Glasses on is fine. We’ll note it as a medical exemption.” Moira answered easily, though already looking for a spot to have them stand against. “And this might actually be better to do in the hallway, if you could- Hey!” Her hands were abruptly empty, as she startled, then looking around.

You blinked after the flash that came almost simultaneously. A hand squeezed your shoulder before Peter pulled back away, the stolen camera in his other hand as the photo began to eject from it.

“I thought you couldn’t move like that with your leg,” Moira chided, now realizing what had happened. “And that thing isn’t mine to break, just so we’re clear.”

“You’re like three feet away, I don’t have to run if I can just lean over and grab it.” Peter responded smoothly, pulling the photo out before offering her back the camera. “So what, that thing is CIA issue? If I push the wrong button is it going to laser me or something?”

“No.” She huffed. But didn’t look as if she wished to extend the conversation any further to get drug into this right now. She just motioned for the others to follow her into the hall as she then turned away. “Come on, guys. We’ll try to make this quick.”

Peter didn’t seem to mind either way, just putting his attention back to the photo he was now holding as if it were a prize. “What do you think?” He asked you after a moment, the image becoming more and more visible as the film developed.

You saw yourself there, though surprisingly not a terrible image considering you hadn’t even been prepared. Your expression in the photo was simply neutral, glancing elsewhere even as Peter’s smile was wide and bright, him leaning in with his face almost touching yours in the photograph.

“I’ve taken worse,” you said truthfully, but then looked back to him, amused at his seeming satisfaction with it. You wondered if he was actually planning on keeping the photo, instead of it just being a little joke. Wouldn’t he rather a better one at least?

“What?” He questioned, seeing your expression. He flicked the photo gently. “It proves you’re real if anyone asks later.”

“Why would you have to prove...” But you ended up just smiling, and gave up before you even really started, seeing how happy he still looked. “If you want a picture together, I’m sure she’d let us take another if we asked. You know, if we asked nicely, and didn’t just steal her camera this time.”

“I like this one.” He insisted though, holding onto it regardless. “It really looks like you.”

“Um...wouldn’t I always look like me?” You asked quizzically.

“It’s real,” He tried to explain. “Natural? If we took another you’d just smile on purpose.”

You still didn’t fully understand. He was smiling in the picture after all. But to his point maybe, he did look almost giddy in the photo. Not something you would be able to replicate on command. “Okay.” You said, fine either way. “If you like that best.”

“There is something I think I’m going to ask Moira anyway though when she comes back,” He admitted.

It wasn’t very long either until you were able to find out what that was.

When the others did start to file back in after taking their pictures in the hallway, Moira had just leaned in the doorway briefly to thank them. “We’ll have these made up in time for tomorrow for your travel documents, thank you.”

She was already turning to leave again before Peter stopped her.

He cocked his head, piping up. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

She did pause, but her look back at him was slightly wary. Likely not knowing if this would be more humor or not. “Yes?”

He didn’t mess around though this time, just getting to the point outright. “Do you think you could send somebody to my Mom’s house? You know, just to say everything’s cool and I’ll be home soon? She’s probably losing her mind right now.”

Moira’s expression changed fully at that, empathy going to the forefront. “Of course. Yes. What’s her name? Her address?”

That mood faded just as quickly though as he raised his eyebrows, teasing. “Well shouldn’t the CIA know that?”

She sighed. Staring at him as the annoyed look returned.

“You’re so serious,” Peter smirked. “Magda Maximoff, suburbs outside D.C.” He rattled off a street address afterward, but still continued, “We’re in the phonebook anyway. Prof.’s been there too, he’d know.”

“We’ll look it up.” She agreed. “See you guys later.”

With that she was gone. The rest of you settled back, just sitting and talking again. And you’d gone off with Peter down by your beds after a while. Just the two of you again.

You’d realized obviously before now by their interactions that the Professor had met Peter at some point previous to his coming to the mansion the other day. But like so many things, in the rush of everything, you hadn’t learned much more.

“So Xavier’s been to your house. Was he trying to recruit you for the school?” You asked, honestly just curious. Though it was a little disappointing to consider you may have had a chance to meet Peter much sooner if he’d accepted any kind of invitation like that then.

You had been sitting on the bottom bunk together again, but he leaned back behind you now, stretching before putting his arms behind his head. He pulled his legs and cast awkwardly back up into the bed as you shifted to try and let him get how he wanted.

He looked pretty content though as he lowered an arm back to put it across your lap. “Well that was years ago. He had hair, he was walking. He didn’t want me for your little private school though. He just wanted me to help them spring my dad from the Pentagon...but I don’t think he knew it was my dad either then. It was all Logan’s plan to bring me. Really I didn’t find out much else. These dudes just showed up at my house, and I went with them to commit a felony.” He shrugged a little. “Probably not that smart, right? But I didn’t have anything else cool to do that day I guess.”

You wondered how much of that story Xavier would really tell you if you asked one day. You could only imagine what reasoning someone like the Professor would have to do something so brazen, even if it was to help Erik. Especially when Xavier had always preached to you all the importance of staying within the law and not using your powers to exploit any rules that would apply to non mutants. For now, you only asked a little bit more though. “How many people actually came to your house to do that then?”

“Oh, it was just three. Prof., Hank, and Logan.”

Well that made it even more interesting really. Hank was also so well known for always following the rules. But then again, he also was one of Xavier’s longest friends, like Raven and Erik. They’d all known each other since many years ago.

But this was the second time Peter had said this name of ‘Logan’. Shouldn’t you know that name? Well yes, you knew at least one. You couldn’t forget the name Jean had told you back in Stryker’s base. The man who’d gone on a rampage, though also cutting you violently from your own restraints before he’d escaped. Honestly you might even have scars from that when this was all said and done. But the name in and of itself wasn’t that unusual of a name. And what Peter was talking about apparently occurred years ago.

“I don’t think I know a Logan,” You said honestly. “Was he a mutant too?”

“Oh hell yeah,” Peter answered, raising up a closed fist. He made a noise, and a motion you didn’t understand as if he was doing something in midair with his fist, before adding. “Three big claws come shooting out this dude’s hand. It was so gross, but badass.”

You stared, the realization finally hitting hard. It couldn’t be a coincidence then. “Peter!” You exclaimed abruptly. There was just no way they were two different people. It was too unique of a mutation. “That’s the guy!”

“Huh?” He looked up at you in surprise. Confused at your sudden excitement.

“The one from the base! Didn’t Jean tell you?” Without thought, you lifted your shirt enough to show him those long claw marks still red across your stomach. They were dry now, already trying to heal. But it was three in a row, still clear as day. “The guy that tore through all those soldiers and freed me, she told me that his name was Logan.”

“She didn’t tell me that.” Peter stammered slightly, definitely caught off guard as you’d raised your shirt. “She just said to expect you to be bloody when I went looking for you.” He was staring at your exposed skin now though. “So Logan did that?”

You tensed slightly as you felt his fingertips graze your abdomen. It wasn’t unpleasant, just a bit unexpected. You lowered your shirt back down, but noticed obviously when he just let his hand stay under it.

When you didn’t show further aversion to the touch though, his hand continued idly wandering on the skin that was unbroken. “Well damn, that’s super screwed up then. I know they said a guy went full rage mode and tore the place up. And yeah, I saw the bodies he left when I went looking for you. But they didn’t say his name. I didn’t see him either before he took off.”

“It has to be the same person.” You reiterated. “But if you really want to be sure, you can always think of those memories of him, the Logan that you knew. If you let Jean look into your thoughts later, she could tell you for certain if it was him.

Peter looked a little disconcerted, but just agreed anyway. “Yeah, sure. I just, man how long did they have him there then? What a dick that Stryker guy was. Fuck him.”

But after the little bit of anger, he was only looking back at you. That thought of Stryker seeming to also remind him of your initial meeting with him. “How’s your ribs?”

You felt his fingers trail up across them at the question. “Sore,” You admitted. “But what isn’t?”

His voice was quieter then though, his hand moving back down before it reached your chest. “Then don’t jump out of any more planes please.”

You paused, wondering if he really was so bothered about that to have brought it up again. You’d all played so fast and loose that day though, doing whatever you felt you had to do. “It was a big day of firsts that’s for sure.”

“No kidding.” He agreed.

And nothing was ever going to be the same again was it? Even when you were all home again and the mansion was finally rebuilt. Were you all just going to go back to class like you hadn’t almost died? Would you just pretend that you didn’t know there were still entities out there that wanted you dissected, destroyed, or both?

“I think it gave the Professor a lot to think about too.” Is what you finally said. “I feel like he’s going to change some things going forward. But I don’t know how much yet. I don’t know if this could really mean the resurrection of the X-Men.” It was a crazy thought. Xavier and Hank never really liked to talk about that part of their past. They’d lost a lot then, or at least that’s always what you’d inferred from the bits and pieces you had heard over the years.

“X-Men...” Peter repeated, making a face like he wasn’t sure if it was a decent name or not. “Guess it’d still be better than being called Charlie X’s Angels or something like that.”

You smirked. “You know they used to all have codenames too.” Though you were sure not all of them were self named. “Xavier was just Professor X, Hank was Beast, Raven was Mystique, Scott’s brother Alex was Havok, your dad was Magneto of course. But there was Banshee, Darwin, and Tempest as well.”

He gave you a contemplative look. “Can I call you Lite-Brite then?”

Your look must have clearly said no, but he just kept going, very amused at your reaction.

“Glo-Worm?” He offered instead.

“Seriously? You’d name me after a bug?”

“Nah, they’ve got these super cute toy ones. Wanda had one. She slept with that thing all the time. They glow when you hug them.” He was grinning again now. “I mean, you’re comforting too right? Think I could make you glow?”

“I don’t think it works that way.” But honestly you might be lying to save face as he was now rubbing his hand further up into your shirt again.

“Don’t we all lose a little control when we get excited?” He countered, his tone getting a little more dangerous. “I know I do.”

You felt that statement was likely a bit of a trap, hesitating as your curiosity swelled. What could happen with his powers if he did have an uncontrolled moment like that? He was likely right though. Just like the onset of mutant powers came for most of you around the same time as puberty, they could also be triggered by intense emotions or stress. So it was reasonable to think that another powerful feeling such as arousal could also lead to some issues for those of you already less experienced in controlling yourselves.

“Brings a whole new meaning to safe sex doesn’t it?” He said as he let go of you then, putting his hands back behind his head. He still looked too amused, even though he seemed to sense when you needed another break from the touching to process your own thoughts.

“Did that happen with her?” You asked though. Not afraid, but yes, maybe some concern in your expression. You really hadn’t considered any of this before.

His smile faded at the unexpected mention of Crystal again. But he only hesitated a little, looking at you as he answered honestly. “Sometimes. She uh, burnt me a couple times. In the literal sense. She was like the band, Earth, Wind, and Fire. I mean she could control water too, but I liked the band joke better.” He frowned slightly. “She always hated that joke though.”

“Did you do anything to her?” You responded quietly before you could think better of it. Was this really any of your business? No, not really. But, it could be a part of your future.

There was a little surprise in his eyes, but his answer was immediate. “Babe, I’m the last person you’d ever have to be afraid of.” He looked bothered still as he continued though. “And no, I never hurt her. She would have knocked me into next week if I had.”

“So what does happen if you lose control that way?” You still asked, deciding you still did want to know.

He gave you an awkward look. But if he was going to offer out this information, it seemed there was going to at least be a small price for it. “If I’m really riled up? Turned on? You can say it outright you know.”

You weren’t going to say it in any more explicit way than that though, but you nodded at least. “Yes, you know what I mean.”

He sighed at your modesty, but reached out his hand after a moment. “Let me see your wrist then. Way easier just to show you.”

Well, if it was anything dangerous, he wouldn’t be so casual about it would he? You did offer him your wrist, not knowing what to expect as he clasped his hand around it.

You could tell he was focusing on something for just a moment, before the oddest sensation you’d ever felt shot from your wrist, down into your fingertips, and all the way up into your shoulder before you jerked your hand back in surprise.

Your reaction didn’t seem to faze him at all though as he’d easily let you go. It looked like you’d only done exactly as he expected. “You’ll still feel it for a bit after, just so you know.”

And you could still feel it, fading but definitely there as you flexed your fingers. “What did you do?” It wasn’t painful, but it was like a tingling, instantaneous whenever he’d done it. Not just through the skin, but into the bone, the muscle, everything. The only thing you could liken it to at all is when a limb woke up from being asleep, yet it wasn’t as uncomfortable as that and it was far deeper.

“Well you asked what happens if I get too excited. I, uh, vibrate?” He tried to call it something without really knowing what to call it. “I’m no science guy, but I’d guess it moves everything I’m touching down to what, the atoms right? So that’s what you’d feel. But it wouldn’t just be from my hand. I was doing it on purpose there. If it wasn’t on purpose it’d be literally all of me doing it.”

So that would mean, well...that would be a very intense sensation to say the least if you would happen to be having skin to skin contact in more places than one when he would accidentally do that. You tried not to let your expression change much at the realization. The last thing you wanted to do was to throw this very personal dialog further down into the gutter.

“I still think you’d glow though.” He added confidently. “And if your energy deal is always as warm as it was in that elevator shaft back at the base, I think it’d feel really good too. Just for the record.”

Yes, this was definitely teetering on that edge of going fully into a place you weren’t ready for just yet. But you only had yourself to blame. You asked him to elaborate, and he did. You knew your powers could be a lot more than harmless though. Much more than warmth. You didn’t know if it’d be too pessimistic to mention that right now though.

“I don’t know what I would do.” You finally said, just speaking the truth when you didn’t know what else to say.

“We can talk about something else you know if you want.” He poked you gently in the arm, seemingly offering you an escape route if you wished to take it. “Like we’re still going to the mall at some point right?”

“Definitely.” You answered gladly.

“You should come over too, play some video games when we get back. I’ve got an Atari and a Nintendo. Or we could watch a movie. You like Bruce Lee? Karate Kid? Stuff like that?”

The genuine eagerness emerging in his tone was something you really appreciated. A reminder that in reality, even though he evidently enjoyed any physical contact he was allowed to have with you, it was only a part of the whole picture. He just wanted to be around you too.

“Yes, I think that’d be awesome. I haven’t seen many of those movies, but usually Jubilee picks for movie night. Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles...over and over.”

He laughed. “Oh, no way. There’s more to life than Molly Ringwald. Time to expand your horizons!”

You were smiling too, about to say something back when Scott’s voice carried from further down the barracks.

“Hey, they brought dinner if either of you want to eat!”

“But is it even worth a crap!?” Peter called back immediately and just as loudly.

“Heck if I know!” Scott answered and you could swear you heard a lot less loud Jean tell him to quit yelling in her ear.

“I’m still salty about that fake strawberry garbage from earlier.” Peter said, just to you then as he sat back up.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to you though that the food would be brought to you all this time, considering the episode in the mess hall before. The only thing that did surprise you was that it would already be dinner time. Though it was hard to have much concept of time right now really, especially when there were no windows to see the sun or sky below deck.

But it did give it more of that prison feel too. The hours running together, locked away in close quarters, and now with government mandated food being dropped off impersonally. It either felt like prison or being in a rare species exhibit at the zoo.

“Well, you said you’re like a hummingbird metabolism wise, right? You have to eat something.” You spoke, while hanging back to give Peter a chance to get up on his crutches.

Really the hummingbird analogy you were liking more and more though as you personally thought they were adorable, and they literally were the bird equivalent to him in your opinion. This flamboyant little bird that beat its wings so fast it could actually hover in place or disappear in a blur once they did decide to take off. Not to mention the exclusive high sugar diet.

“Glo-Worm,” Was all he replied back, but very pleased when it still got a strong reaction from you.

“Please don’t make that one stick. It’s a lot less cute than Hummingbird.”

But he just offered a non-committal smile, walking past you. “We’ll see.”

——————————

Some few hours later, when it was time for lights out again, Peter had wanted to take a shower so you were already in the bottom bunk alone.

You tried to stay awake to wait for him, but you must have already been asleep for how bad you startled when you felt something pressing down against the mattress beside you.

And when you shot up, you were even more confused at the sudden pressure against the top of your head before you finally woke up enough to realize Peter now had his hand splayed there, pushing your head back a little.

“Woah,” He whispered in the dark. “You about nailed the top of the bunk. It’s just me.”

You relaxed, trying to look at him before you felt him let go, laying down beside you. As you laid down as well, he shifted several times, trying to get comfortable.

“I hate this damn cast.” He complained. “Do you know how weird it is to have to shower with a garbage bag tied around your leg?”

You could feel his still wet hair though on the pillow as he nuzzled in closer with you. You’d both joked a little earlier about looking forward to getting to share this bed one more time tonight before heading back to the U.S. and your sort of more normal lives tomorrow. The emphasis of the joking though had been about getting to continue the kissing that had been interrupted on the flight deck.

But now that you were here, you found you really just wanted to hold him and enjoy the warmth and quiet together. Because you didn’t know when this chance would come again. Would you go your separate ways tomorrow? You back to New York and wherever the other displaced students were now staying, and him back to D.C. to reunite with his mother? He wouldn’t be able to run and come to find you again until his cast was off. And how many weeks would that take, even with mutant healing factors?

You didn’t really know what the exact plan was after you’d arrive in the U.S. either, but maybe there was something you could do after all. “Hey.” You said quietly after a bit, hoping he was still awake.

“Mmm?” He made a questioning noise, hugging a bit tighter to you.

You took it as enough response to say that he was listening. “So they said that we’re landing in New Jersey tomorrow, right? Well everyone else is going to want to go north to get back to Salem Center, New York.” You didn’t really need to clarify where the school had been though, he’d obviously already found it. “But you’ll need to go south to get back to D.C., and it’s not like Xavier is going to expect you to find your own way home. Someone’s going to have to drive you and-”

But Peter didn’t even let you finish, already very on board with the idea. “And we give Prof. the old puppy eyes and beg for it to be you.” You knew he was grinning again then just by his tone. “I like it. Road trip.”

You felt relief that he approved of your spur of the moment plan, but then again he’d already said he wanted you to come over to his house sometime. You wouldn’t be able to stay very long you were sure, but at least you’d get the car ride together if this all worked out. And you’d get to see where he lived, maybe even hang out for a little while before having to drive back to New York.

It was funny how just like that you now had something to look forward to again. But would Xavier really be on board? Would he feel comfortable letting you drive back alone? You’d just have to convince him that you were old enough now and capable.

“I guess I should have cleaned my room a little better before I left.” Peter mused. “Can be a bit of a train wreck, just like the dude that lives in it.”

“Oh, someone else lives there too?” You teased slightly.

But Peter only played along. “Yeah, a real piece of work. Guy just plays video games all day, and wears out the same shitty records playing them over and over with the volume up. Maybe reads some comic books or jets off to nab some Twinkies from the convenience store down the block. Real outstanding citizen. I heard he’s dating now though. Who the hell would want that charity project?”

“Hmm.” You knew he was only half joking, Peter really still seeing himself in the way he just described to a large degree. But you were patient, and determined to keep working on building his self confidence little by little. “I think if he met someone then, it’d be someone who believes in the old ‘diamond in the rough’ expression. They must really just like him for him. They probably even see his real value even when he can’t yet.”

Peter was quiet for a few moments at that before you felt him run a hand through your hair. “I guess that would make him really lucky then. He probably should bust his ass to make sure he doesn’t disappoint them then and screw that one up.”

You smiled softly. “All he has to do is be himself. If you have to fight too hard just to maintain a relationship, it likely was never right to begin with.”

“Been there, done that.” He at least agreed, but was now running his fingers down along your face.

You knew what he was hoping for and leaned in to meet him as you kissed. It was very soft though, like he was still thinking of what you’d said. He didn’t press for much more either, just a few more kisses before he nuzzled his face back down against you.

“I’m still going to do the best I can.” He spoke quietly against your neck. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am.” You said. Feeling every bit of those words as you stayed warm against one another. It felt safe. It felt right.

And no one said anything else. You were both content to leave it that way, falling asleep just as you were.

———————————

(Continued in next chapter here)

#quicksilver #quicksilver x y/n #quicksilver x you #quicksilver x oc #quicksilver x reader #quicksilver xmen #peter maximoff #peter maximoff x y/n #peter maximoff x you #peter maximof x reader #peter maximoff x oc #x men #xmen #x men fanfiction

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iwritesometimes · 4 years

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so i was telling @poemsingreenink earlier today about my thesis for my master’s degree in publishing design. i think i posted these here not long after i got my degree, but that was years ago and sometimes you just have to trot out your own work to validate your existence, you know?

so anyway, my thesis project was to redesign some covers of books that had either main characters of color but whitewashed or ambiguous cover models, OR books with main characters who were not described so explicitly that it precluded models of color on the covers, but their publishers used white models anyway. (the thesis itself was on whitewashing in publishing design.) i think i ambitiously started with seven but ended up getting five done; below are the original covers and the redesigns.

note: i wanted to show specifically that it wouldn’t really even have been that difficult to diversify the covers, so i used only assets that were free and licensed-for-reuse under CC, including photography. the idea was that if i, with no budget, could make more diverse cover choices (even if the designs themselves were only so-so because, hey, i’m an amateur and wasn’t getting paid for these), then publishers didn’t have any excuses.

1. The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa

the main character’s name is Allison Sekemoto; her book cover looked like this.

this one was dead easy; i specifically tried to just redo the exact same concept with this one, only using a Japanese model.

2. White Cat, by Holly Black

this was a weird one; it came out right at the height of the publishing whitewashing awareness shitstorm, so it actually underwent a redesign before it was published to keep the image more in line with the character’s described “tan skin and dark hair.” the ARC cover is on the left, the published cover on the right.

this is a pretty small concession; i love the composition of the photo, but they could’ve done more, in my opinion - since the main character isn’t ever very explicitly described except to say he has “tan skin and dark hair,” why couldn’t he be explicitly not-white?

3. The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson

this one fumbles in two fabulously shitty ways: the main character is meant to be both dark-skinned and fat (at the beginning; apparently by the time she gets to the end she’s skinny, which i could write a whole other thesis about but i’d get thrown out of school for the profanity alone).

i think the above may have been the ARC; the one i worked from specifically had at least obscured her image so it was hard to tell what color her skin was, and had cut the rest of her body away entirely.

since my thesis was on whitewashing, i focused on just finding a model of color instead of trying to find a model that was also fat. as i recall, the story setting was sort of middle eastern or western asian-flavored, so i tried to find a model from that general geographical area.

4. The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton

the original cover of this one wasn’t so much whitewashed as...nothing-washed. you’d never know from the cover that the heroine was meant to be Chinese-Canadian. i also just found it kind of boring, lol.

i wanted to keep the original color scheme (it’s an action thriller and takes place in Hong Kong), while making it EVEN MORE action thriller-y and getting a woman of color on the front. i really liked how this one came out, it’s my favorite of the bunch.

5. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

of course this one was getting redone - it’s my favorite book, and until the last decade or so hadn’t had what i would have called a really good cover except maybe the first edition, which i have a soft spot for. over fifty years of publication, some of the lowlights include:

weird inhuman looking but still decidedly anglo faces!

generic fantasy wizard!!!

castles, for some fucking reason!

(the great gatsby called. it wants its ominous floating eyeballs back.)

and, finally, ICE CAUSE IT’S ON AN ICE PLANET YOU GET IT? DO Y--DO YOU GET IT??? ICE??????

*meryl streep voice* groundbreaking.

ANYWAY. i might be SALTY. so i spent like half the time i spent on the entire project trying to manifest my ~vision~ for an LHoD cover done a) in BLACK, and b) with an actual black man and an actual alaska native person on the cover. it’s not great and thank god the new folio society edition exists to right the last half-century of bad book covers for this book. but i still like the color scheme i picked!!

#i draw sometimes #it's my all-purpose art tag and hey i did do SOME drawing on these!!!!#publishing #whitewashing

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disinvited-guest · 4 years

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3/8/2020 Detriot

This show had some wonderful waiting! The weather was warm, and we never ran out of things to talk about. At one point, we saw an older man come out to the front of the venue and attempt to take a picture of the marquee. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but a few minutes after he left, Marty came out to the front of the venue, and crossed to the median of the street in order to take a picture of the marquee. Later, I saw the man with the woman who’d been with Marty, so I’m guessing they were both relatives of his.

The venue let us into the bar hours before doors, even checking ids and checking tickets ahead of time, so that when doors did open, we could go straight in. this all worked wonderfully, although the guy checking ids was pretty insistent that mine was fake. He asked me to tell him the address on the card, then for my license number, which I didn’t have any idea about. He eventually scanned the card and let me in, but it was really stressful.

Being in the bar so early, we were able to hear soundcheck, although there was nothing surprising except a bit of With the Dark, which they didn’t end up playing at the show. Once we got into the venue proper, we found ourselves along a security fence placed quite a ways from the stage, creating an aisle where security guards crossed continually throughout the show. I found a space further to stage right than I usually do, hoping it would allow me to see across to the drum riser, even with the added distance, which unfortunately didn’t quite work. It was a good angle to see most of the rest of the stage though. Fresh didn’t have interesting socks on, but he did have his hair in pigtails and under a ballcap, which he later switched for an orange bandana, and John Brunette was wearing glasses before the show started.

Since the first set was the same Flood set as before , I am once again shortening the format for this set, and doing a full recap on the second set.

Marty had a snack during the first few songs of the set, which he had been doing for the last few shows, but at this show Danny was eating a bit as well. He also put his pick in between the body and inlay of his bass to hold it while he ate.

There was a longer break-down during the instrumental part of They Might Be Giants than on the album, or than there had been the last few nights.

After messing up on We Want A Rock, Flans jokingly called a “band meeting” to discuss it, before greeting the audience and explaining the format of the show. “The first set is all Flood, the second set has hardly any Flood. Which will be better?” He then decided he wouldn’t be able to choose between the sets because “The sets are like our children. They’re all NEGLECTED!”

There was a bit of an awkward pause after that pronouncement, causing Flans to joke “next slide please” which he reused a few times throughout the show. He then promised us that this show had no teleprompter, and told us about a show he had seen that used one “It was bad, but that didn't make the tickets any less expensive.” Moving on, he asked Linnell “What did you- Did you get out today?”

Linnell explained that he had mostly slept, “We had a long day yesterday and a long trip here today,” and that everyone had been tired “I think we all lost consciousness at some point.”

Flans agreed, and demonstrated what it was like sleeping in a public place, his head leaned back and his mouth wide open, which both the audience and the guys onstage found hilarious.

Linnell then jumped in to assure us all that “We’re not completely straight-laced, but we’re not heroin addicts.”

Flans replied that there were only so many times you could deny that, saying he felt that “Saying you’re not a heroin addict is the sole domain of heroin addicts.”

Flans started out one verse of Your Racist Friend in a weird voice, but quickly realized it was unsustainable and dropped it a line in. During Hearing Aid, Dan sang along with the keyboard (which was using the voice setting) briefly.

Before Stilloob Flans introduced the song by explaining that “Lots of bands like to look back, but very few actually look backwards.” He explained what they were going to do, and attempted to ‘justify’ why they were doing it “When preparing we were looking for ways to make it interesting. Not just for the audience but for us.”

Linnell chimed in to say that it took a lot to prepare for this song, and it takes a lot to perform it “and we’re making it look hard.” He told us it wasn’t just musically difficult and compared it to eating a whole package of double stuf oreos, and how it seems like a really good idea.

Flans broke in, asking Linnell if he was”referring to the dedication it takes?”

“Yes!” Linnell answered, “The dedication, the GUTS!”

After Letterbox, Flans commented that the songs just keep getting shorter. The Johns then had a conversation about Harry Houdini. They had heard he was from Detroit, and asked the crowd for confirmation. The response was a bit ambivalent, with no clear cheer of yes like they were perhaps expecting. Eventually, peering out at the crowd, Flans said ”Some people are nodding. They're just nodding yes. He was from Detroit.”

A guy in the crowd shouted back at him “He’s still here!”

“He’s still here? Yes, he is still here,” Flans decided. Linnell then asked us if we had felt that, implying the presence of Houdini’s ghost. The lights did flicker the slightest bit when he said that, I’m guessing someone in the crew was being clever.

After Lucky Ball and Chain, Flans told us that on the album, that song had a fade out and that “Not many of our songs do.” He added that he wasn’t sure why, but that they were “probably tied with acdc for the fewest songs with a fade out.”

This reminded him of a supercut he had heard of ACDC endings, which he explained to us by demonstrating a few on his guitar. There was scattered applause and a sheepish Flans said quietly “That was three of them.”

Linnell chimed in, to demonstrate a few ACDC endings he thought were probably there, first yelling “Ehhhh!” and then “Yeah!” into his mic. The two then did one more ending together, with Flans adding his guitar to Linnell’s vocals.

An obviously amused Linnell told us to “Look for this on our next album,” with Flans adding that it would be called ‘Supercut.’

After the cheers and laughter died down, there was a beat, then Flans admitted “I don’t know what song is next.”

Rather than telling him, Linnell decided to give Flans hints, starting with the hilariously unhelpful “It’s off of Flood.” Which earned him a laugh from the crowd and a harried look from Flans. “I play a buzzer at the beginning of it,” Linnell continued. Flans still was confused, so he went to check his own copy of the setlist. While he was looking Linnell pointed out that a person in the crowd knew what they were playing next, because they had shouted it out. He pointed over in the general direction of the person, a few rows back from the drum riser, and they shouted it out again. Flans, returning to his mic, looked over and proclaimed “Oh look! It’s Mrs. Shut Up from shutthefuckup dot com! It’s good to see you, you don’t get out much.” There was a moment of shocked silence, and I think even Flans was a bit taken aback, because he tried to soften the blow, saying something about a talkative crowd.

They started Hot Cha, but Flans came in a little late, which meant it was just Linnell singing for the first line or so. Also, I keep forgetting to mention, Marty uses brushes for this song, which looks and sounds really neat.

Towards the end of the set, Linnell mentioned that they were still recovering from the travel and from the time change. (Since they had moved from central to eastern time, it felt two hours earlier than it was.) He joked that he expected their dopplegangers to show up for the show in an hour. “Whooaaa!”

Flans chimed in to point out “Houdini did live here.”

They finished out the set before leaving us for a “20 minute break that lasts an hour.” The crew got things set up for the Quiet Storm with no incidents, and it was soon time for the second set.

Godzilla was used for the intro music once again, and though Flans did a bit of his ‘creeping-onstage’ act from Chicago, he soon gave it up to bring his acoustic guitar over for Marty’s inspection. The two looked at the guitar intensely for a few moments before Flans pointed to a specific spot on the body of the guitar, which Marty inspected briefly.

Coming up to his mic, Flans mentioned jokingly that the line to the restroom had been short before they started into Music Jail. During the instrumental bit after the ‘form a band/take a stand’ part of the song, Flans moved closer to Marty, who turned and used his mallets to play the drum part on the body of Flans’ guitar! On top of being wildly interesting, it also sounded really cool!

Afterwards, Flans admitted “Marty and I have not done that move before in a public forum.” And pointed out a guitar owner in the crowd who had looked pained at the guitar’s treatment.

Linnell decided that maybe he was a mallet owner, suggesting that he was really thinking they were “Wreaking those mallets man!” which cracked Marty up.

Marty counted off for the next song and both Johns were ready, but Marty was not and stopped them abruptly. Looking over, Flans told Marty “I was there!” and Marty gestured towards himself, taking responsibility for the issue. I think he had forgotten to change a setting on his kit, because he messed with it for a moment, then counted them off again to start 2082.

The projection the band uses during this part of the show includes lightning flashes. This upset the security guards, who had told us all before the show that we couldn’t use flash-photography, and thought that someone was taking flash photos. They actually came down the aisle to tell random people taking pictures to turn off their flash.

Flans introduced the next song, Wicked Little Critta, as “hostile and actively aggressive,” dedicating it to their friends and relations in New England. Linnell claimed that they were deeply affectionate AND hostile, and that they could only express that affection with “mean feelings.”

Linnell flubbed a few lyrics during once verse of Wicked Little Critta, although he recovered quickly. Finishing the song, they left the stage to the Underwater Woman video once again. I’ll admit, I was a little tired of the video by this point.

They came back on stage part way through the last verse, and the crowd held off on cheering until the video was over. This meant they stood onstage in silence for a few moments, which was very strange.

Linnell acknowledged the cheers, when they did come, with the observation “We’re back again! We keep coming back!” They played Wearing a Raincoat, during which Flans must have made a mistake, because afterwards, Linnell said the song had used a “new introduction” and that from now on they were going to do it like that.

Flans told him “I’m yelling at myself so hard right now.” Linnell assured him that he had thought it was cool, but Flans just said “We’ll talk about it after the show.”

Moving on to introducing the next song, Flans told us it was from an album end of 2018 called My Murdered Remains “We did a lot of test-marketing on the title, and it turns out people are into hyper-violence.”

Linnell chimed in to say they had tested the title on “psychopathic focus-groups,” then used a deep voice to imitate them saying “Yeah! Good name!”

“We went to a screening of Clockwork Orange,” Flans decided, “and asked the audience afterward... what they thought would be a good name. And they just blinked three times for ‘Yes!’”

This led, of course, into The Communists Have the Music, followed immediately by Let Me Tell You About My Operation, during which Danny came up beside the keyboard to watch Linnell play. When Linnell caught him looking, he gave him a big smile.

Flans and Danny stood right next to each other for the intro to Older, which always looks incredibly cool with the symmetry of their instruments. During the bridge, Dan climbed up onto the rather tall drum riser to stand behind Marty and to pose dramatically during the pauses, often with the neck of his guitar pointing up and across the stage. This went perfectly with Marty’s super serious poses. Linnell did a cool bit on his Kaoss pad during the bridge as well.

From there, they played the Mesopotamians, after which Linnell brought up his new keyboard stand. He told us how long he’d had the old one and that he had started getting complaints and that he had “never felt wrong or bad until then.” He also told us the new one was a lot like the old one but it “has more stuff.”

“It has a sandwich,” Flans confided.

“There’s my math homework, but there’s also my lunch,” Linnell told us, adding that the jelly had soaked into the bread so that “the bread is turned blue on that side. Which is fine. I’m totally cool with that.”

“What we’re saying is stay in school kids,” Flans added.

He continued “We talk about healthcare a lot in this band. But…” he trailed off, then leaned into the mic “Next card on the teleprompter please.” Then started immediately into All Time What. The arrangement was different from 2018, with Linnell staying on keys, and Dan’s part covering the difference. At one point, Dan was air-playing the keys a bit.

From there, they played Ana Ng, and then Damn Good Times. There was an extra long pause between the chorus and second verse of Damn Good Times, Flans had stepped away from the mic, then took tiny steps moving back up to it. At the same time, Dan and Danny had what looked like a staring contest, which stopped when Flans began singing again. When it was time for Dan’s blistering solo, Flans told us all to sway along. At the speed needed, this moved quickly from difficult to nearly impossible, although some of the crowd hung on doggedly until the end. Danny thought the whole thing was hilarious and watched with amusement as most people fell behind and dropped out. They played New York City, going back to a part-rocking version this time.

Flans then told us “We’ve saved the best for now. Join us in welcoming-ing,” he paused, and when he went on was obviously still amused at his own blunder. “Mr. Curt Ramm on the trumpet back to the stage.” This meant, of course, that Curt was doing the intro to Istanbul, which was a nice switch up, even though I still would have loved another intro by Dan. While Curt was amazing us all, Linnell wandered off stage left for a bit, and Danny sat down on the edge of Marty’s riser. Istanbul was as high-energy as always, with Dan and Curt switching off for one ending, and Curt finishing it with a ridiculously high-note as always.

Dan and Marty left the stage after the song ended, while Flans told us they wanted to thank everyone in the audience individually, “Not every show is this fun for us. We have emotional problems.” He then introduced the last song of the evening as the opening song from Flood.

Linnell spoke over the crowd’s cheers with “just a note.” “Apparently this song is the exact length of time that it takes for you to wash your hands. So we encourage you to consider singing this next song rather than Happy Birthday the next time you wash your hands… Immediately after the show.” They played Theme From Flood, then left the stage to enthusiastic cheers and applause.

As soon as they left, a bunch of security guards took up posts along the front of the stage. It didn’t really obstruct the view at all, but I’m still a bit amused they thought these fans were going to cause trouble.

After a few minutes, they were back onstage. Flans looked out over the crowd as he got on, holding up one hand and moving the other in a circle. The crowd thought he was asking for more appreciation and increased their cheers. After a few moments though Flans stopped the gesture and said, still looking to the back of the venue “That doesn’t mean anything to us.” He did not sound pleased. I think someone on venue staff must have been making that towards him in a “wrap it up” type gesture.

Linnell said “You need an orange vest to do that,” although I’m not sure if he was talking to Flans or the person gesturing at them.

As the crowd started to quiet down, Flans told us they were ”having a conversation backstage about the nature of encores.” He explained that “Everything, including interpersonal relationships, is all just theatre.”

He then revealed that they time their encores, so that they don’t seem too nervous “At some point we realized we were basically walking offstage and turning around.”

Linnell added in a mock-desperate voice “Please don’t stop clapping! We’re insecure”

Flans continued, explaining that they time it to avoid looking like “the hambones that we are” but that they never take the time to explain why they do it. Because of this, people assume it is “a weird make ‘em earn it thing.”

He finished “But such is the nature of theatre ladies and gentlemen. Your attentions may be beautiful, but their effects are horrible.”

He then realized he had no idea what the next song on the setlist was. Linnell told him that the amazing thing was that their discussion “is the perfect segue into the song.”

Flans, halfway to look at his setlist, suddenly said “Oh! I remember! I remember.”

“Aggh!” Linnell replied, disappointed.

“I wrote the setlist,” Flans told us all, now back up at his mic. “Okay, here we go!”

They then launched into Fingertips, the beginning of which was marked by Dan gesturing wildly offstage making sure his mic was on. Flans did an exceptionally passionate boy band impresion for Heart Attack. As always, the whole thing was wonderful in the way that only Fingertips can be.

Flans told us all “We gotta get outta here!” Thanked us all for coming and for bringing our friends, then said “We know you have your choice of They MIght Be Giants-like bands, and we’d like to thank you for coming to our show, which we think of as the original show.” They then played Doctor Worm. Linnell didn’t change the settings on the keyboard for Dan this time around, and I think the keyboard setting they used was different because of it. As they left the stage, Flans pretended to smash one of the security guys on the head with his guitar.

The cheers for the next encore were noticeably quieter than they had been for the first one. I guess if people knew they weren’t coming out for a certain amount of time they were going to pace themselves.

After the correct amount of time had passed, they all came back onstage, with Linnell commenting “Was that 60 seconds? I feel that it was.” Linnell then pointed out another feature of his keyboard stand, the rearview mirror. “Marty has to look at me when we’re playing, in case I’m making faces.”

He then asked “You guys ready?” This got a cheer from the crowd, which surprised Linnell. “I...wasn’t talking to you, sorry. That’s okay, we’ll start over.”

They then started the always beautiful End of the Tour, then went straight into The Guitar from there. This performance had Flans using one Jim and one Dan, and an especially awesome-sounding Future of Sound.

They then left the stage for the evening. I think it might have been due to venue policy, but they didn’t give out any stickers, although Marty came out and gave out setlists and his sticks and drumhead from the aisle between the stage and the security fence. While I had another show, this was the end of the run for a lot of friends, so I said my goodbyes outside of the venue before heading back to the hotel.

#tmbg #recap

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mariaared21-blog · 5 years

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N n n nAmong the Americans who fought to liberate France in the months ahead was 1st Lt. However, don't expect CRM to build loyalty just because it's there. Three consecutive picks were dealt later in the round. The defendants then applied for and received the variances necessary to construct a three family dwelling on lot 6.

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sailorrrvenus · 6 years

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How I Shot the Falcon 9 Rocket Launch from an Airline Cockpit

“Oakland Center are you talking to that traffic at our 9 o’clock position? We got a yellow light out there and it’s coming up pretty fast.” This unusual radio transmission to Air Traffic Control from a Southwest Airlines jet caught our attention on an otherwise routine flight between New Orleans and San Francisco.

It was the edge of night and we were cruising at 38,000 feet through a sleepy section of airspace above Nevada. The faintest glow of red dusk light remained along the western horizon but the rest of the sky had fallen into darkness.

“Better get ready to take a video,” I joked to my first officer. “We’re in the middle of UFO country, right near Area 51, maybe we’ll get…”

“Hey, I think I see it,” he cut me off while pointing out our left front window.

A small, but intense, yellow light was streaking up through the desert sky.

“Holy crap!”

The streak of yellow was a good 50 miles away and it appeared to be moving parallel to us but in the opposite direction.

I instinctively reached down to grab my camera. I always keep a Canon DSLR and an assortment of lenses close at hand for moments just like this one. Every airliner has a little cubby hole next to the pilot seats where we formerly stored our chart kits filled maps and company manuals. These days we store all those documents on an iPad and the vacant chart cubby is the perfect place to stash a camera bag.

The moment I pulled out my camera the mysterious, fast-moving light disappeared.

Air Traffic control came over the radio responding to the curious Southwest pilots, “Yeah, Southwest they said there’s a Falcon 9 launching out of Vandenberg. That’s probably what you’re seeing.”

And then the yellow streak reappeared, but now it was significantly higher. It was at or above our altitude and accelerating rapidly.

I had no idea how long the rocket would stay visible and my camera was still set up for the street photography I had been doing earlier in New Orleans. The flight deck was too dark to read camera dials without wasting valuable seconds turning on the interior lights. I made a snap decision to just go for a shot, better to try and fail than miss the opportunity while messing with camera settings.

I knew I had left my camera in aperture priority mode, so I cranked hard on the thumb dial to open my lens to f/2.8 while lifting my camera to my eye. Then I set the ISO to 3200 and exposure compensation to -3 EV while composing a photo through the viewfinder. The autofocus struggled to latch onto the tiny light from the distant rocket but it eventually caught and I fired off a few photos.

Those first photos were garbage, all motion blur and camera shake. Auto modes weren’t going to work. If I was going to get a usable photo I would have to slow down and set the camera up properly. I turned on my reading light, set the camera to manual mode and dialed in my tried and tested settings for night aerial photos: ISO 3200, f2.8, and 1/20 second shutter speed.

“Oh my god dude! I think the rocket might’ve just exploded or something,” my first officer said.

I glanced out the side window to see the rocket’s exhaust illuminated like a planet-destroying comet approaching the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The rocket had come out from behind the earth’s shadow and the exhaust trail was glowing in the same way the moon glows in the night sky.

I had one last step to get my camera ready: switch to manual focus and focus to infinity.

When the Falcon 9 first broke out of Earth’s shadow the exhaust cloud scattered the sunlight forming a rainbow. Camera settings: ISO 3200, f/2.8, shutter 1/20 second.

With the camera set up, I took some shots, chimped, adjusted, and took more shots. I wanted to capture both the dusk light on the horizon and the rocket exhaust cloud. The settings pushed both my camera and my ability to shoot hand-held. My current camera is a Canon 5D Mark III. I trust the sensor up to ISO 3200, but if I go above that things start to fall apart. At first I could use ISO 3200 and 1/20th second, but as the rocket got further away I had to dial the ISO up to 6400 and dial the shutter speed back to ⅛ second. Those aren’t ideal settings for taking photos while flying at Mach 0.78.

In this photo you can see one of the rocket boosters relighting to slow its descent to the surface. SpaceX famously lands and reuses their solid rocket boosters, unlike most rockets where the boosters fall back to the surface. Camera Settings: ISO 4000, f2.8, shutter ⅛ second

With a few good photos in the bag I paused to make an announcement to the passengers: “Folks, if you take a look out the left side of the aircraft…”

The rocket event started at 7:25 and was over by 7:35. I’ve been flying airliners for 19 years, watching that rocket escape Earth’s atmosphere was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed while airborne. Part of me wonders if SpaceX scheduled the launch purposely for the lighting effects presented at dusk and free publicity from putting on the largest fireworks show possible, illuminating the sky over several large cities.

As the rocket accelerated it appeared to arch over the planet to the south. In this photo you can see the lights of Fresno in California’s Central Valley. Shortly after taking this photo the rocket disappeared from sight. Camera settings: ISO 6400, f2.8, shutter ⅛ second.

If they had launched in full daylight the rocket’s trail wouldn’t have been as visible. Or, if they’d waited till later at night, the rocket wouldn’t have climbed into the sun above the dark planet, the entire launch would’ve been in darkness. This launch was timed perfectly in the early evening. The rocket’s exhaust was perfectly highlighted creating maximum visual effect against the dark sky. I’m guessing millions of people across the Western United States saw it.

About the author: David Raboin is an airline captain with 24 years flying experience. He has taken a DSLR along on every trip he’s flown since 2004. All photos taken while flying are done in accordance with federal aviation regulations. Along with aerial images David enjoys street photography, landscape photography, and documenting his growing family. David has licensed his work for publication thousands of times through iStockphoto and Getty Images. His photos have been published in magazines, on the Internet, and used in ad campaigns. You can see more of his work on Instagram.

source https://petapixel.com/2018/10/12/how-i-shot-the-falcon-9-rocket-launch-from-an-airline-cockpit/

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pauldeckerus · 6 years

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How I Shot the Falcon 9 Rocket Launch from an Airline Cockpit

“Better get ready to take a video,” I joked to my first officer. “We’re in the middle of UFO country, right near Area 51, maybe we’ll get…”

“Hey, I think I see it,” he cut me off while pointing out our left front window.

A small, but intense, yellow light was streaking up through the desert sky.

“Holy crap!”

The streak of yellow was a good 50 miles away and it appeared to be moving parallel to us but in the opposite direction.

The moment I pulled out my camera the mysterious, fast-moving light disappeared.

And then the yellow streak reappeared, but now it was significantly higher. It was at or above our altitude and accelerating rapidly.

“Oh my god dude! I think the rocket might’ve just exploded or something,” my first officer said.

I had one last step to get my camera ready: switch to manual focus and focus to infinity.

When the Falcon 9 first broke out of Earth’s shadow the exhaust cloud scattered the sunlight forming a rainbow. Camera settings: ISO 3200, f/2.8, shutter 1/20 second.

With a few good photos in the bag I paused to make an announcement to the passengers: “Folks, if you take a look out the left side of the aircraft…”

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2018/10/12/how-i-shot-the-falcon-9-rocket-launch-from-an-airline-cockpit/

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onlinemarketingcamp-blog · 7 years

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8 Reasons to Stop Using Photoshop For Web Design

Judging by the amount of love it gets in all the design media, it seems like Photoshop is the perfect design tool. Designers and Photoshop go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly, it’s the holy grail of design productivity, you can use it to build anything your heart desires, and it will slice, dice, and make you a sandwich while walking your dog and waxing your car.

All kidding aside, a program that was once initially built as a photo editor and image manipulator (and a great one, at that) has slowly evolved into a bloated, sluggish, and overstuffed Swiss Army Knife sort of tool that tries to be everything to everyone. But the thing about Swiss Army Knives is that, while they are good knives, I don’t know anyone that would prefer to use them for cutting, sawing, unscrewing, scissoring, or bottle opening instead of a tool that was specifically designed for the job.

What’s so bad about using Photoshop to design websites?

Doesn’t translate to the language of the web Websites have a lot of dynamic elements: states, pages, dropdowns, transitions, animations… the list goes on and on. So what do we get in Photoshop? Layers, Folders, Groups, and Smart Objects. Which one do I use for a state change? What about a dropdown? Do I build all my pages in one file or as separate files? Do I use a group, a Smart Object, or a folder for this button? What about the header image? The language used in Photoshop does not translate to the language used in building a website, and this causes inconsistency and confusion between projects.

Terrible vector management Creating vector images is a necessary skill that designers need to learn to create scalable elements, like graphics and logos. And once you have experienced a real vector workflow (using a tool like Adobe Illustrator) you will wonder how you ever put up with the counter-intuitive vector tools inside of Photoshop. Standard vector elements are styled and controlled using entirely different sub-menus and dialog boxes, and you have extremely limited control over what you can do with them without using Layer Styles. Want to draw something custom with the pen tool? It’s another multi-step process or special option to make your pen tool convert to a vector shape instead of a path or selection.

Terrible Typography management Much like learning a real vector workflow highlights Photoshop’s vector shortcomings, working with good typography tools like Adobe InDesign (which supports a CSS-like paragraph and character style panel for modular editing) makes the flaws in Photoshop’s type management extremely apparent. It’s gotten better over the years, but there is still no way to sample/duplicate specific typography settings, link text fields, or re-use text styles.

Terrible color management Noticing a theme here? A good design program makes it easy to see which (Hex) color has been used on which element, and extrapolate that easily to CSS for building the actual site. Photoshop’s color management is all over the place depending on what you’re using (Standard layer? Vector layer? Text? Smart Object? Gradient?) and all of it is hidden under separate dialogue boxes, disrupting workflow at best, and forcing people to use alternative, less accurate color-sampling methods (like the eyedropper tool) at worst. And that’s not even including the Layer Styles options for color and border overlays!

Terrible slice/asset management While this has gotten a little better with the latest Creative Cloud update (assuming you have decided to switch over to the monthly licensing model to get the latest updates), asset management in Photoshop has been lacking for quite some time. Even something as simple as slicing an image for the web involves visiting multiple secondary dialogue boxes to control the name of the slice, the type of file it will save as, and how it will render upon export. A good web design program would enable you to see and edit this inline.

Inefficient workarounds for multiple linked instances of single element Much like good CSS aims to be modular and reusable, so that minimal edits are required to make changes, a good web design program would enable you to reuse elements in multiple places, where editing one element would result in changes to all of them. Photoshop can do this (sort of) using the Smart Objects feature, but this requires you to open the object in a new tab (or even a different Adobe program) which disrupts your workflow because your changes are not made inline.

Practically non-existent prototyping abilities A good web design program would enable you to quickly prototype a working version of your design, whether by providing some sort of interactive panel, or exporting your design directly into HTML/CSS for previewing in the browser. A great web design program would even export optimized, intelligent, and standards-compliant HTML/CSS (including typography, colors, buttons, etc.) for use on a production site. Photoshop does none of this. It can’t export HTML at all, not even a table-based layout with inline styles. All you get are (poorly managed) slices of static images.

Doesn’t translate to responsive or agile design The entire concept of a literal, pixel-perfect mockup is being challenged in the era of multiple devices sizes and constant design iteration. Photoshop does not contain any native flexibility tools that enable you to resize and reflow content on the fly (unless you integrate it externally with Adobe Reflow). But even if you are not concerned with creating a fully responsive mockup inside your design program, the fact that it’s a multi-step process to export usable content out of Photoshop makes it lousy for any sort of rapid or agile design process.

So what are some possible alternatives to the program everyone loves to hate?

(Update January 2016 to provide some newer alternatives)

Sketch A mac-only application, this newer app is specifically design for web and digital UI interfaces. It is being adopted rapidly by the digital design community due to its ability to produce anything from quick wireframes to full mockups. Like some of the programs that preceded it, it combines the best of vector management with raster graphics, and comes with a ton of tools specific to web design (like excellent filler content for mockups). It does a good job of combining the language of the web with the language you’d expect in a design tool, and the learning curve isn’t too steep if you’ve worked with something like Fireworks or Illustrator before. If you’re on a mac, I highly recommend checking them out.

Adobe Fireworks A former Macromedia acquisition, this web prototyping program was the gold standard in web design for several years. It had practically everything you could need – excellent vector and typography controls, inline management of slices, the ability to add States and Pages in addition to layers, reusable Symbols and Master Elements for modular design, the ability to preview your interactive elements as well as export to (table-based) HTML for prototyping. Unfortunately, Adobe never prioritized Fireworks in their development cycles, so it remained stagnant (not to mention a bit buggy) until earlier this year, when they announced they were ceasing further development of the program altogether. That being said, it’s still the most comprehensive alternative to Photoshop at the time of this writing. (Update: I’d argue Sketch replaced this now)

Macaw Update: Macaw just got acquired by InVision, a company who makes some pretty great prototyping tools) An upcoming tool (currently in development) that promises to take the best parts of the Photoshop and Fireworks GUI, and reimagine them as a semantic web design and prototyping program with a fully responsive canvas. Why is this exciting? Two reasons: encouraging a semantic approach to web design asset organization (the layer and group names become the CSS class names), and the ability for the program to make increasingly intelligent CSS decisions as it learns more about your project. Want to learn more? Go check them out! Or go back them on Kickstarter!

Google Web Designer This just-launched beta by Google (unveiled earlier this week) is an HTML5 app that has a similar Photoshop-esque GUI, where what you design is converted to output code. This app seems to be specially designed for building animations and ad creation, including banners, interstitials, and expandable ads.

Original Source: http://marktimemedia.com/7-reasons-stop-using-photoshop-web-design/

#Web Design #Photoshop #Graphic

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furynewsnetwork · 7 years

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By Steve Birr

A yearlong internal review the Associated Press released Wednesday examining an agreement the organization made with Nazi Germany concluded the AP did not aid the regime during World War II.

The Associated Press struck an agreement with Helmut Laux, a Waffen SS officer, during Word War II to exchange photographs with AP reporters through intermediaries in Lisbon. Hundreds of photos published in American newspapers throughout the war and credited to AP were shots taken by the Nazi regime. Photos of allied operations were sent to Nazis for publication in their papers after Adolf Hitler reviewed them as part of the agreement, reports Michael Rosenwald of The Washington Post.

In the review AP released Wednesday, they strongly defend their decision to engage the Nazis in order to get crucial access to what life was like under the regime. They also note the U.S. government, which found out about the agreement in June of 1943, approved the secret dealings through the U.S. censorship office. The AP review states the U.S. government saw “information value” in keeping the agreement.

“It is essential to cover tyrannical regimes and other undemocratic movements, when possible from within the borders they control, in order to accurately relay what is happening inside,” AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said in a press release. “That is what we do, without compromising AP’s independence or standards. During the violent and tragic period before the U.S. entered World War II, AP made a conscious decision to maintain access in order to keep the world informed of the ambitions of the Nazi regime and its brutality.”

The review was sparked after Harriet Scharnberg, a German researcher, published findings last year showing the AP bureau in Germany had ties to the SS. Earlier this year German historian Norman Domeier added to the questions swirling around AP when he uncovered a 1946 letter in March describing the deal to Louis Lochner, the award-winning Berlin bureau chief for AP at the time.

Willy Brandt, a reporter working at the Berlin Bureau, wrote a letter to Lochner in 1946 saying, “I have a confession to make, Chief, but don’t get a shock.”

It turns out Lochner was well aware of the arrangement. After war broke out between the U.S. and Germany in 1941, the Nazis arrested Lochner, Brandt and other AP reporters and held them for five months. Lochner struck up the deal himself with Laux while aboard a train deporting him from Germany, according to The Washington Post.

The AP review says Laux, an SS officer, “had a proposition to make” to Lochner, who apparently liked the idea of a photo swap. The photos were exchanged through intermediaries in Lisbon and later in the war through Sweden. Roughly 10,000 photos were traded during the war.

“It was extremely cynical of the AP to use these photos,” Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, a professor at Queen Mary, University of London and expert on Nazi Propaganda, told The Washington Post. “One tries to justify these things by saying the camera doesn’t lie. But Nazi cameras always lied. They were a colossal kind of fairy tale. None of these images are real. This is how Hitler wanted to be seen.”

Larry Heinzerling, an adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and retired AP deputy international editor wrote the internal review, which admits, “that AP should have done some things differently during this period, for example protesting when AP photos were exploited by the Nazis for propaganda within Germany and refusing to employ German photographers with active political affiliations and loyalties.”

Lochner won a Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for his thorough coverage of anti-Semitic activities in Nazi Germany and was reportedly known to personally hate the Nazi regime.

“[AP journalists] were doing their best to get out information that the world needed,” John Daniszewski, AP’s vice president for standards and editor at large, told WaPo in response to some criticisms. “It is easy to second-guess eight decades later, but we do not believe and did not find in our research any intention to deceive anyone about the German origins of these photos depicting scenes from the German side of the battle lines and inside Germany itself.”

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The post AP Releases Review Denying Allegations They Aided Nazi Germany During WWII appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

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pauldeckerus · 6 years

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A few days ago, I awoke to a text message from a friend who lives halfway around the world telling me that he had unexpectedly seen one of my images on a FOX News story. The image was from a photoshoot that I had done of Richard “Old Man” Harrison from the television show Pawn Stars, which airs on the History Channel. However, after looking it up and seeing what photo he was talking about, I was surprised. The photo I was met with wasn’t even one I remembered taking.

The portrait of Old Man that many of you have probably seen is this one:

But the image that appeared on television was this one:

As I read the message, I thought back to the shoot and tried to remember how exactly the day went and how the second photo came to be. I remembered that it was a particularly bright and hot Las Vegas day, and while were dialing in the lighting on set, I had the Old Man wear his sunglasses as we prepared the set so that he wouldn’t hurt his eyes. During testing, I got a shot of him still wearing those sunglasses, and it was a frame that the magazine decided to run with. I had since mostly forgotten it as I preferred the option without the eyewear. That’s the one I include on my website and in my portfolio.

It wasn’t confusing to me that they had used the photo since it was the one that was publicly released and licensed by the magazine — I was more wondering where it had come from. If it had been the photo of the Old Man without his sunglasses, that would have been one thing. That photo is very easily found online. But with his sunglasses? As far as I knew, there were very few people who had access to that file.

For those not in photography, the situation where somebody violates your copyright and uses your image without a license is a contentious part of a business that straddles art, commerce, and media. Most photoshoots, such as this one, are based upon a contract that the usage of the image is for a particular purpose and duration for payment. When an image is used outside of that license, it can mean a photographer loses out on thousands of dollars and significant amounts of time trying to defend their legal rights to the image copyright.

Since many of my photo subjects are celebrities, the reuse of my images is pretty common. The unlicensed use of my images is something I deal with fairly frequently, and I have to fight to protect for both my clients and my business. When somebody uses your image without a license it means losing out on both the income from the image as well as the attribution and advertising of your business.

In this case, I had been so focused on the image that I did not realize the context of why the photo was on FOX News. The photo was being used because Mr. Harrison had recently passed away. Upon learning this fact, I was upset (my immediate thought went to my client and his family): was somebody trying to profit off the image because of his passing?

At this point, let me take a step back and talk about what this photoshoot, and the Old Man, meant to me. It wasn’t a job that I took for the money. I did the shoot because it was an easy flight, the subject seemed interesting, and they told me I could be back in town in time to have dinner with my wife. However, once I got to the pawn shop and met the Old Man, things changed quite a bit. You see, I had just lost my grandfather in the weeks prior to this shoot. My grandfather was a great man that I loved to talk to, but as time weighed on him, those conversations were not the same because of old age.

At the pawn shop, I sat down with the Old Man before setting up any lights or taking out a camera, and we talked. He, like my grandpa, was also former military and had a kind yet salty personality. I can still remember at one point in our conversation forgetting who I was talking to as I completely felt like I was having one last conversation with my grandfather. It is something that I will always treasure. After the talk, we did the photoshoot and many images (including the ones in this article) resulted from it. We wrapped, we shook hands, and I flew home to dinner with my wife, which probably was just me rambling on and on about how I talked with my grandpa one more time.

Given my experience with the Old Man, I was even more adamant about figuring out what happened. My client for the shoot had been great so I wanted to reach out to them to see if they knew anything. Before I dialed that number, though, I took a closer look at the image that had gone out over the wire. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was a small number on the bottom right corner of the stolen image; it appeared to be a page number. I could even tell that at one point it had a credit line in the top left with my name, but this had become unreadable due to the extremely low resolution of the image.

Diving even further into the picture, I saw an odd ghosting in the shadows and went into Photoshop to add contrast to see if I could bring out more detail. At this point, I had gone from Advertising Photographer to cable TV Crime Scene Investigator… “Enhance!”

I found some lettering that was backward, and after horizontally flipping the image, got the last piece of evidence that solidified my belief that the image had been scanned from the physical magazine: I was looking at the text from the backside of the page that had shown through the thin paper on the scan. Putting it all together, this meant that it was highly unlikely the client I had done the photoshoot for was the source of the leak, which was all the more intriguing to me.

Sitting at my computer and doing some more digging, I found that the source of the image was from the social media page of the Old Man’s son Rick, whom I had also talked with while at the photoshoot. Like his father, Rick is a damn good guy and funny as hell. It is sometimes hard to read a person’s personality when they are away from camera versus on TV, but I can tell you, his fun nature is real.

Rick had used that image on Facebook to memorialize his father and to say goodbye. He had chosen to use that photo simply because, I assume, they liked the image.

It was while I was still on the phone with my lawyer that we both realized how much the photo of the Old Man meant to those around him. I shook my head and informed him that we weren’t going to pursue this any longer. It wasn’t about the loss of money for usage fees anymore, but it was the appreciation of one’s work.

I decided to contact the Pawn Stars regarding the issue, but not in an effort to discuss copyrights or get money from them, but instead to give them a higher resolution print of their Old Man, a person I will always respect. Had I known that photo was the one of the Old Man they all cherished, I would have given them a better quality image a long time ago. To think the only one they had was directly out of the magazine, with pages so thin you could read the copy from the reverse side through it, it didn’t seem right.

You read stories about photographers going after copyright abuse all the time, and it’s nearly always justified. In this case, I hope you can agree with me that seeking monetary compensation through legal recourse was not the right move. Sometimes you have to step back and remember that this may be a business, but it’s a business that relies on people. Once in a while, you have to remember that everyone featured in a photograph is a human, and as such all deserve compassion.

Rest in peace, Old Man.

About the author: Blair Bunting is an advertising photographer based out of Los Angeles, California. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can see more of his work on his website, blog, Facebook, and Instagram. This article was also published here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2018/08/21/copyright-vs-conscience-lawyering-up-isnt-always-the-right-move/

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