#modern aperture

[sketchxx]

first time trying to draw environments

modern aperture my beloved

also i think aperture would use orange a lot too mostly to divide the place and make it easier to traverse

[robo-dino-puppies]

so I said I had a few (some humorous) screenshots from playing dragon age - I mean, not that many, and they're not that funny, but here's the origins edition:

Morrigan... what. what are you doing? why. are you still a spider. this is very awkward.

Warden Mahariel looking at the camera like it's The Office. she didn't sign up for... this.

(NOTHING would make her turn back into a human. I had to quit the game completely lmao. also it seemed like shapeshifting kinda sucked so I had her stop doing that.)

synchronized disapproval! (ugh this was before I found a mod that de-boobified the armor. I'm sorry Leliana, you look ridiculous.)

it's right behind me, isn't it?

these... sure are some creatures. the little hands... disturb me T_T but I still like them!

of course I had to make sure Leliana got Schmooples! (iirc I had trouble with this - the guy in Orzammar wouldn't talk to me about nugs even after Leliana mentioned it? or something? obvs I worked it out eventually)

this one I mostly included because I laugh at Alistair getting yeeted by a darkspawn in the background while I'm killing this ogre, pffff.

we killed a dragon! (the first and only dragon - I mean, besides the story-required one - that I killed haha. the combat was definitely not for me. you're welcome Morrigan.) the Korcari Wilds map is pretty though - I really liked the sky.

[deartiger]

AprSun - 2020

[doctor-chopperina]

Indianapolis Home Bar Single Wall Mid-sized danish single-wall concrete floor and gray floor wet bar photo with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, quartz backsplash and white countertops

[jibunbosh]

Mesmerizer is a satire of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and the rest of the modern short-form vertical video format

A brief thematic analysis.

I'm sure there are countless people already interpreting the imagery and details in this wonderful song & MV, like here and here, so I won't spend too much time retreading that ground. Miku and Teto are dancing. Miku gets hypnotized. Teto signals for help, but gets hypnotized at the end as well.

That part is obvious enough, but that's still pretty surface-level. What is this seemingly hyperspatial horror scenario supposed to mean to us?

While checking to see if anyone before me's already come to the same conclusions as I did and if I should bother not writing this text post at all (lol), I came across udin's great analysis video. She comes to the conclusion that the song tackles themes of disillusionment with reality and the ways we indulge in escapism to relieve ourselves of the pains of the world.

I agree with that reading! From practically the very beginning, we have Miku call to us - the viewer - to push away our true feelings. Teto comes in to peddle a solution, inviting us to surrender and empty our minds - in her words, "pretending to know nothing."

You, the viewer, are a critical character in this masquerade. For nearly the entire video, Miku and Teto's eyes are unfailingly trained on you. Or, well... perhaps they can't actually see you, but they can see a camera, or whatever other aperture the point of view is supposed to be from. And they know they're being watched. (Who else would Teto be sending distress signals to?)

Let's put a pin on that for later.

udin notes very early on that Miku and Teto are, conspicuously, kept in vertical frames - very similar to the video formats of TikTok (and Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and whatever other clones of the format exist.) You know, just like the animator Caststation's Rabbit Hole fan MV that went viral some months ago.

Hey wouldn't it be crazy if the song's producer, 32ki, released Mesmerizer shorts too haha. Wouldn't that be crazy.

Wow, wild.

These short-term vertical videos are captivating & alluring. If you're reading this, it's more likely than not that you've also found yourself caught up in them at least once, scrolling through the infinite algorithmic slurry and forgetting about the real-life issues you have at hand. Would you say, then, that you felt hypnotized? Mesmerized, even?

And so these two invite us to join their world and focus on the... uh... rectangle.

Their dances are repetitive, following the same loop. Their outfits are distinct, but their choreography isn't. They're copying the same formula, repeating it ad nauseam to the best of their ability.

They're doing a fucking TikTok dance.

Back to the pin I told you about earlier, with Miku and Teto looking at a camera.

Miku sways with the camera, eyes looking directly at it like a swinging pocket watch. She's been looking at it the entire time, after all. We've been seeing her via our screen this entire time, but, again, she doesn't necessarily see us. She's beholden to the camera, which she dances for day after day, caught up in its spell. She's hypnotized by it. Eventually, she breaks.

Teto, on the other hand, resists. For a while, anyway.

Despite her being the one jumping to us with the "solution" at the beginning of the MV, there's very quickly good reason to question how much agency she has in this. She dances for the camera as well, but she doesn't want to. She's signalling for help. She wants out.

Many content creators (as much as I personally loathe the non-specificity and soullessness of the term) have struggled with the adaptation to the short-form video format, and the preference the algorithm has had for these captivating, bite-sized videos. They're catchy, and easily drive up metrics. Practically anyone who's publishing their work via video format online needs to learn to adapt or fall behind, even if that means whittling their content down to fit the frame, the time, and people's shortening attention spans. Sometimes, that means compromising on specificity and completeness... or, in other words, the true representation of a full work.

The song's writer, 32ki, has been releasing songs on YouTube for several years. Their first YouTube Short, however, was posted only a year ago: a short, whittled-down segment of their previous song, CIRCUS PANIC!!!, hoping for it to win the ProsekaNEXT song contest. It was their first song to achieve widespread popularity and hit a million views.

The shorts, however, aren't the "true" versions of the song. The full song just won't fit.

We're being mesmerized as consumers of this endless stream of content, rather than appreciators of music and art. However, that relationship isn't completely symmetrical across the plane that is the 4th wall. Miku and Teto are trapped not by their attention spans, but by a compulsion to project their "truthful acting" and peddle that window into a colorful, problem-free world.

We, as the collective audience, need not dwell on any one thing for too long - we need only swipe, and move on to the next video. However, Miku and Teto are trapped behind the screen for eternity, day after day.

They're the only characters we get to see, of course. There's no evil 3rd voice synth character that's plotting to keep them trapped in there. We can't put a face to whatever force is hypnotizing them and trapping them behind the screen. It's faceless - like the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube recommendations or the TikTok For You page, or the impersonal corporations that develop & maintain those aforementioned apps. Miku and Teto's likenesses, on the other hand, are being exploited and extracted from for their entertainment value, being strung along by that metaphorical hypnotizing force like puppets on a string.

Many people, represented by Miku, enjoy their success on such platforms. It's freeing and liberating to throw oneself wholeheartedly into such an endeavor, of course! Others, represented by Teto, harbor their doubts of the emotional veracity of such a medium, but know they have little choice lest they face destruction... perhaps not literally as a person, but as an idea.

Wouldn't it be easier just to let oneself be swept away by it and give in?

[sirfrogsworth]

Let's talk about vintage lenses.

Here is your cool samurai show with modern lenses.

Here is your cool samurai show with vintage lenses.

Hollywood is no stranger to fads.

We are currently in the middle of a "make everything too dark" fad. But that fad is starting to overlap with "let's use really old lenses on ridiculously high resolution cameras."

This is Zack Snyder with a Red Monstro 8K camera.

He is using a "rehoused" vintage 50mm f/0.95 Canon "Dream Lens" which was first manufactured in 1961.

This old lens is put inside a fancy new body that can fit onto modern cameras.

Which means Zack is getting nowhere near 8K worth of detail. These lenses are not even close to being sharp. Which is fine. I think the obsession with detail can get a bit silly and sometimes things can be "too sharp."

But it is a funny juxtaposition.

The dream lens is a cool lens. It has character. It has certain aberrations and defects that can actually be beneficial to making a cool photograph. It's a bit like vinyl records for photography.

[ Peter Thoeny ]

It has vignetting and distortion and a very strange swirly background blur.

[ Gabriel Binder ]

Optical engineers have been spending the last 60 years trying to eliminate these defects. And I sometimes wonder if they are confused by this fad.

"I WORKED 70 HOURS PER WEEK TO GET PERFECT CORNER SHARPNESS!"

And whether you prefer to work with a perfect optic or a vintage one... it is a valid aesthetic decision either way. I think vintage glass can really suit candid natural light photography. You can almost get abstract with these lenses.

[ Peter Theony ]

Personally I like to start with as close to perfect as possible and then add the character in later. That way I can dial in the effect and tweak how much of it I want. But even with modern image editing tools, some of these aberrations are difficult to recreate authentically.

That said, it can be very easy for the "character" of these lenses to become distracting. And just like when someone first finds the lens flares in Photoshop, it can be easy for people to overdo things.

Zack Snyder decided to be his own cameraman and used only vintage glass in his recent movies and it has led to some complaints about the imagery.

I mean, Zack Snyder overdoing something? I can't even imagine it.

Non camera people felt Army of the Dead was blurry and a bit weird but they couldn't quite explain why it felt that way.

The dream lens has a very wide aperture and it lets in a lot of light. But it also has a very very shallow depth of field. Which means it is very difficult to nail focus.

[ Peter Thoeny ]

Her near eye is in focus and her far eye is soft. You literally can't get an entire face in focus.

There is no reason you have to use the dream lens at f/0.95 at all times. But just like those irresistible lens flares, Zack couldn't help himself.

Here is a blueprint that you can't really see.

Extreme close ups of faces without autofocus at f/0.95 is nearly impossible to pull critical focus on.

Looks like Zack nailed the area just above the eyebrow here.

Let's try to find the point of focus in this one.

Ummmm... she is just... blurry. Missed focus completely.

But Zack isn't the only one going vintage. I've been seeing this a lot recently.

Shogun is a beautiful show. And for the most part, I really enjoyed the cinematography. But they went the vintage lens route and it kept going from gorgeous to "I can't not see it" distracting. And perhaps because I am familiar with these lens defects I am more prone to noticing. But I do think it hurt the imagery in a few spots.

Vingetting is a darkening of the corners of the frame.

Light rays in the corners are much harder to control. A lot of modern lenses still have this problem, but they create software corrections to eliminate the issue. Some cameras do it automatically as you are recording the image.

Vintage lenses were built before lens corrections where a thing—before software was a thing. So you either have to live with them, try to remove them with VFX, or crop into your image and lose some resolution.

It's possible this is the aesthetic they wanted. They felt the vignetting added something to the image. But I just found my eyes darting to the corners and not focusing on the composition.

And then you have distortion.

In this case, barrel distortion.

This is mostly prominent in wide angle lenses. In order to get that wider field of view the lens has to accept light from some very steep angles. And that can be quite difficult to correct. So you kind have to sacrifice any straight lines.

And sometimes this was a positive contribution to the image.

I thought the curved lines matched the way they were sitting here.

But most of the time I just felt like I was looking at feudal Japan through a fish's eye.

It's a bit more tolerable as a still, but when all of these verticals are bowing in motion, I start to feel like I am developing tunnel vision.

I love that this is a tool that is available. Rehousing lenses is a really neat process and I'm glad this old glass is getting new life.

This documentary shows how lens rehousing is done and is quite fascinating if you are in to that sort of thing.

But I think we are in a "too much of a good thing" phase when it comes to these lenses. I think a balance between old and new can be found.

And I also think maybe Zack should see what f/2.8 looks like. He might like having more than an eyebrow in focus.

[miaoqing]

i really don't know how to feel about fics/aus where it turns out that sj's treatment of lbh is his own fault because he didn't speak up about issues with other disciples, genuinely misbehaved etc and also later (as bingge) lied about how much he actually got punished and in truth it wasn't any more than any other disciple, and that sj didn't know about the fake manual, when all of this is explicitly against canon.

yqy adresses this when sy wakes up, telling sqq to stop being so mean to lbh. in the sj extra, he himself says that lbh should have died a long time ago bleeding from the seven apertures due to the fake manual. sy says that pidw explicitly states that lbh was punished WAAAY more than any other disciple, and in those conditions obviously noone would tell their teacher about being bullied??

idk i understand altering canon for the sake of telling a story but... somehow it feels like a disservice to sj's character to ignore canon and water him down for the sake of making his redemption easier. and villifying lbh, which is what these fics inevitably end up doing, is also messed up - he was around 11 when he joined cqm. that's a CHILD. no matter how you look at it, sqq's "treatment" of lbh is neglect at best, horrible abuse at worst, and in modern times it would put him in jail faster than you could blink. giving him a realistic redemption arc is difficult, if not impossible, but if you truly love him with all his flaws and faults, isn't it worth the effort?

[religious-extremist]

I need guidance on something. I find myself committing sin (lying, anger) often - and I want to repent but I feel like it would be a lie to God because I know I will sin again, because I have fallen into these habits. I want to get better and seek God's forgiveness but I absolutely do not want to make false promises to God. I have asked other Christians about this but they all give me similar responses - "Just repent anyway, it's okay if you sin again," or "These sins are so minor, God doesn't care," or other things like this and it feels like being led astray to even consider these possibilities. I am asking you because I feel like an Orthodox Christian sticks more firmly to the Bible and not to modern interpretations of it.

Eagerly awaiting your response, and please pray for me. :)

St. Porphyrios used to say, “Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for light to enter, and the darkness will disappear.”

All habitual sins are rooted in the passions: lying and anger are the fruits of pride, which is the seed of corruption. It is necessary to struggle against them and not despair of our salvation. We cannot give up the fight against the desires of the flesh; it is impossible to be a Christian while indulging in the pleasures of sin.

God gives us the weapons we need to fight the passions through the Church; through frequent confession and communion; through prayer and fasting. I recommend you talk to an Orthodox spiritual father, as I am only a layperson, and a terribly sinful and foolish one at that!

The only way to avoid sin is to have perfect prayer, to have perfect stillness of the heart, to hold fast to Christ and keep Him in the center of your thoughts at all times. Have you ever heard of the Jesus prayer and the hesychastic way of life?

St. Macarius of Optina said, “Pray simply. Do not expect to find in your heart any remarkable gift of prayer. Consider yourself unworthy of it. Then you will find peace. Use the empty cold dryness of your prayer as food for your humility.”

I wish to say, his advice can be used to advance in all of the other virtues aside from prayer. Pray for God to keep you from sin, and if you find yourself falling into sin, use the shame of sin as food for your humility.

St. Isaac the Syrian also said, “As salt is needed for all kinds of food, so humility is needed for all kinds of virtues.”

While Elder Ephraim said, “Grass does not sprout in trampled ground; likewise, passions and wickedness do not sprout in a humble soul. As long as we lack humility, God will not stop humbling us through trials until we learn this important and most salvific lesson.”

So you might wonder, how can I gain humility? When you find yourself angry, look inwards and remember your sin against God. Remember the unmerciful servant, the fool who received forgiveness for his debt from the King and then assailed a fellow servant for owing him much less than what he, himself, owed the King. Pray for those who sin against you, and thank God for the persecution you face, because He allows you to face temptations in order to heal your soul of its passions.

“In order to abide in the love of God it is essential for anger and 'hate' to attain their maximum intensity but be directed against the sin that lives in me, against the evil active in me - in me, not in my brother.” St. Silouan exhorted.

Most importantly, no one can attain these virtues unless they are in obedience to a spiritual father. People fall into delusion thinking they can live a spiritual life outside of the Church, but in doing so, they follow the whims of their heart and nourish not their souls but feed the evil passion of pride in their hearts. Disobedience was the first sin committed by man in Paradise, and it is by obedience to a spiritual father that we free ourselves from the harsh judgment of God.

Please forgive me and pray for me, inadequate and late in my answer. You are welcome to send me a message if you wish to speak. It is hard for me to answer these questions adequately without conversation, the answer is so vast and encompasses so many facets of the spiritual life that cannot be explained in a short paragraph by a stupid person like me, so I recall instead what the saints have said.

The spiritual life is mystical, you must participate in the prayers, services, fasts, and sacraments of the Church in order to find answers; it is not something I can give to you with words, but it is an experience of God. “God is the Lord and has revealed Himself to us!” The only way to know God is by divine revelation, not by mere will, and we find God revealed to us through His Church! “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” Indeed, He knocks at your door, only you must answer and meet the Bridegroom yourself.

I am praying for you. May the Panagia be with you! May God have mercy on us, my dear friend,

Prayer for the Granting of all Virtues by Saint Ephraim the Syrian

Grant me, O Son of the Good One, that for which my mind yearns, and join to it that which is pleasing to Thy will.

Grant that I may choose to do good and in no way deviate from Thy will.

Do not permit me to be a wicked and hypocritical disciple who violates Thy commandments.

Protect me from thinking that I can walk along Thy path merely for the sake of appearance and thus by my hypocrisy deceive those who see me, inciting them to proclaim me blessed.

Grant that my heart might please Thy greatness in secret, and that my just life might glorify Thee publicly.

May truth be a mistress to guide Thy worshipper; may it preserve me in chastity both near and far.

Deliver me from the misfortune of knowing Thy law, yet lacking the desire to please Thee.

Vouchsafe me the company of people who are simple, but experienced and wise in the performance of virtues.

My flesh is weak. Fortify it with Thy strength. Help me, break the arrows of the cunning enemy, and number me among the hosts of Thine heirs.

Grant me, O Lord, ever to be among Thy dominion and to do what is pleasing to Thee. And whenever I begin something good, do Thou, O Lord, give me strength to complete it.

I know, O Lord, that I have sinned against Thy will. Clearly do I see that I have transgressed Thy commands. But do Thou, who makest Thy sun to shine on the bad and the good, deign also to shine Thy light in my clouded mind. And sins — those murderers and robbers who have taken up residence inside of me — will be driven out by this Thy light.

The Evil One sees in me no wickedness that did not come from him, for it is because of him that I have become wicked. I am, however, conquered by him through my own free will. The Evil One has entangled me because I myself instructed him to do so.

The slothful and the timid run from Thy yoke; Thy love shames the negligent.

Praise be to Thy goodness, to that mother of all teachers. The blows that they deliver to bring the stubborn to their senses are perhaps quite painful, yet sympathetically do they offer healing to the penitent.

Worthy of veneration are Thy Father and Thy Holy Spirit, Who rejoices at our return!

[miepstheguineapig]

If you ever feel like taking a selfie with your guinea pig but don’t want to show your face, this is the perfect solution! ✨️

I call these the "piggy-on-shoulder" photos. All you need to do is put on a cute top, grab one of your guinea pigs, and that's it. If you’re feeling fancy, you can curl your hair or add a nice hair accessory. 📷

Most of the time, I use my phone as a remote for my camera. With most modern cameras, you can connect your DSLR to your phone, and with an app, you can control the settings, focus, and shutter release button.

For Nikon (the camera brand I use), you can use the Nikon WMU app or Nikon SnapBridge.

If you don’t have this option and need to take the photo on your own, you can still take a photo like this:

✨ Set the focus manually where you plan to stand. You can use a stand-in prop like a chair or broom to set the focus.

✨ Set up your camera on a timer to take multiple photos at once.

✨ Press the shutter release button and RUN to the place where you’ve set the focus, then remove your stand-in object and pose.

This method is a little more time-consuming and not always accurate in terms of focus. So, I’d recommend using an app if you can or asking someone to help you. 🤩

For camera settings, I recommend a shutter speed of at least 1/250. Faster is always better, as guinea pigs tend to move quite a bit, even if they’re on your shoulder. Adjust your other settings accordingly.

If you’d like a blurry background for a dreamy look, aim for an aperture of f/2.8 or even wider. Although this also depends on which lens you’re using, the distance between your camera and the subject, and the distance between your subject and the background. 😊

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them below! 👇

[paper-mario-wiki]

sorry if this has already been asked and moreover answered, but would you be ok with people making characters/sonas in the same setting/world/laboratory as Ambrosia? :]

that's an interesting question. it depends!

as it stands, the "world" that she inhabits is ostensibly the real world, it's just that she happens to work at a very Aperture-Science-y kind of lab that throws her into inhumane experiments, and all of that exists sorta in orbit around her as the Unkillable, Self-Reconstructing Test Subject. that is to say, the lab she works at doesn't really have enough lore at the moment to exist without her, so any character that is in the same world that isn't directly related to her somehow would just be

A) an evil scientist B) an employee at an evil laboratory

neither of which u need my permission to make!

i mean, if your intent was to create another unkillable test subject, i think i'd find that a bit bothersome cuz her whole shtick (the shtick the rest of her world was built around) is her role as a sisyphusian gig worker which i made to express my existential discontent with the mundane horror of modern life, and so biting that would be a tiny bit gratuitous. i made a whole comic about how she's a freakish cosmic tumor that can't be explained with conventional science, so to plop another one next to her and say "actually it happened twice!" would take the wind out of her sails a bit, i think.

but also, im not a cop so u can do whatever u want.

[sharkrocket]

THE SUPER SCUFFED THANATICA LABS MODERN AU

There is so much groundwork that me and my partner failed to cover/did not think about, but I think we're going to just lay out what we have and just build upon it as more solid ideas come to fruition, so here we go

THANATICA LABS

Research corporation funded by the Powers That Be(?)

Dedicated to defeating death by prolonging life

Akin to Black Mesa or Aperture Science - Unethical experimentation going on behind the scenes

-----

DANIIL DANKOVSKY

Maybe not the founder? Maybe lead researcher?

Maybe founded it when it was a small lab and was bought out by The Powers to greatly expand funding?

Not exactly on the level - HAS done and WILL do shady things again

KNOWS what he's doing is illegal to some extent, but he tries to wash his hands of the dirty work (alleviate some guilt maybe?)

Hands the recruiters a list of requirements for his new hires (potential lab rats), lets them do the searching and he'll conduct the interviews

I have no idea what these requirements are

Sometimes the lab assistants go missing, he doesn't know anything about that, don't ask him

He LIKES his designers clothes - SOMETIMES it comes from Thanatica's grant money, SOMETIMES it's a few hundred here or there, BIG DEAL

-----

ARTEMY BURAKH

Studied in the Capital or IS studying in the Capital, and is in SO SO SO much debt

Is having trouble getting work because nobody is going to hire a surgeon with no ACCREDITED experience (cutting up bodies in your dad's unlicensed clinic does not count)

Looking to expand the medical practices of his provincial studies(?)

Maybe father has an illness(?) Perhaps Isidor suffering some kind of debilitating disease called the sand pest?

Was contacted by Thanatica Labs for a low level Lab Assistant position - It's Thanatica Labs, of course he's going to respond, that's a lot of money for an entry position, and he's going to have his name attached to a prestigious establishment

He's hired - Is under the pretense he can save up some money, maybe get some lab experience to eventually propose his own research somewhere else

Alternatively, went to university, left university to go home to tend to family business, came back to the Capital to resume studies and is looking for ways to expand his thesis?

Keeps his head down and minds his own business, the less he's under the eye of the lead scientist, the better

Doesn't mean he isn't talking to people and keeping a watchful eye - things are happening that aren't adding up, and it isn't just the grant money

Because he's so desperate for a job, it may mean he's more agreeable to participate in some of Thanatica's shady dealings

-----

THEIR RELATIONSHIP

This is so stupidly long, continued under cut

Daniil interviews Artemy and is so rude and condescending about it

Artemy is either biting back insults or being too sassy for his own good

Artemy gets the job either way, but it's VERY funny to imagine that Artemy failed the interview UNCONDITIONALLY, but was hired anyway under the pretense that Daniil didn't expect him to stick around for very long

"He's so handsome, shame that he's such a dick"

"He's so handsome, shame that he'll be medically indisposed for the sake of research"

Artemy figures out Thanatica is doing illegal experimentation but somehow despite this, it sort of falls in line with what Artemy is hoping to accomplish with his own studies (untested and unproven methods of healing that haven't been approved by any board)

Artemy decides to do his own experimentation behind Daniil's back

Daniil smells something suspicious, equipment and samples are missing (its his lab, he WILL get to the bottom of this)

He's been watching the new hire closely (assessing his potential for experimentation), eventually finds out that he's been performing experiments of his own with methods he's never seen before

Wants to put him under a microscope (literal) --> Wants to put him under a microscope (figurative)

Their confrontation can go a couple ways

Daniil approaches Artemy and offers him the resources to continue his work in exchange for doing some underhanded deeds to progress Daniil's own research

OR Artemy blackmails Daniil with the evidence he's gathered in exchange for resources - Daniil is largely unfazed by this, but sees Artemy's morals aren't exactly on the level either and he finds him very interesting so he allows him his resources in exchange for dirty work

Laughing at the idea that Daniil finds out that Artemy has no accredited experience and he lied on his resume to get an interview - Now he's even MORE desirable for underhanded work (thank you inkpot-demigod)

This would be the point Artemy is bagging bodies

Starts off with superficial antagonistic attraction (purely on looks, otherwise has disrespect for each other, condescending and rude) --> eventually develops into mutual respect for each other's work (cordial, maybe even friendly, "oh god why do they keep looking at each other like that") --> eventually develops into unprofessional workplace relationship (they are fucking in places where they definitely have no business doing so)

-----

"can we have artemy need a place to stay and daniil offers a space in his apartment and artemy packs him lunches to take to work. daniil thinks he's being subtle but just the fact he's eating lunch... all of his coworkers Know"

At some point during the relationship (most likely early on) Artemy mentions that his lease is ending and he's going to need to spend time looking for an apartment (or suggests that he needs to find a roommate to save some money because BOY DOES HE NEED IT)

Daniil IMMEDIATELY blurts out that he has space in his apartment (HE IS NOT JEALOUS, THIS IS JUST THE MOST ECONOMIC AND REASONABLE CHOICE, HE IS THE LEAD RESEARCHER AND HE CAN AFFORD A NICE SPACIOUS PLACE THAT HAPPENS TO ACCOMMODATE TWO)

It's closer proximity to the lab

They can keep discussing things in the privacy of his home

Not that Daniil NEEDS to save money, but having some extra is a plus

Artemy makes meals, food just APPEARS and Daniil never has to think about it

Co-workers are noticing that Daniil is ACTUALLY bringing lunches and eating food, hmmm very suspicious.....

Eva (lab receptionist, more on this later) notices the two of them coming into work at the same time in alarming frequency both carrying lunches and she's like SUSPICIOUS EYEZOOM

-----

"if the kids are involved with this i think it'd be kind of funny if daniil and artemy are desperately trying to hide the fact that they kill people but the kids definitely know that they kill people"

Not sure if they can live in Daniil's apartment if Artemy and Daniil have a living arrangement - Could be frequent visitors if Artemy is living there

Not sure about their relation to Artemy - would love to have him be uncle to his brother's adopted kids but this might get complicated

The kids are savvy enough to know about fucked up corporations, they are doing some MURDER in there

"Are you a mad scientist?"

"No pumpkin, I do very important research to extend the human lifespan"

"Oh…. That means people are dying in there right?"

"……."

-----

"i'm having a vision of daniil wanting to properly court artemy after a few trysts but he doesn't communicate this very well and he also has very little experience with this so he invites him to a fancy dinner or maybe even a gala and artemy is clearly out of his element the whole time and daniil is trying to make this work and its NOT... if anything artemy thinks daniil is trying to pull some power move on him AND THEN. at the end of the evening when daniil is trying to charmingly flirt and do a kiss, artemy is just like. what are you DOING and they do at least SOME communicating. its a START. this au is a murder romcom"

Daniil coming to terms with the fact that he's so gay for the new hire, oh god he's so gay, who allowed Artemy to be so handsome AND intelligent AND clever AND funny what the hell

He keeps looking in Artemy's direction and Temy thinks he's scrutinizing his work, but god knows Daniil needs to get ahold of himself

He has an idea: Invite Artemy to the next charity gala, show him off to some higher ups, thus giving him the opportunity to sing his praises, and Artemy should get the idea, then later in the night have some drinks and who knows

Daniil extends the invite to Artemy, Temy thinks he's getting some kind of promotion, so he agrees

The event is way bigger and way fancier than Artemy was anticipating, Daniil is showing him off to a lot of executives and Temy is trying to hold his own here - If this is some kind of test, he's going to wring Daniil's neck

"Why is Daniil being so flattering, is he making fun of me"

The two are finally alone and Daniil is sitting where his leg is bumping into Artemy's, he has his hand on Temy's thigh and he's leaning in so, so, so close and Temy panics - Not that he doesn't have his share of attraction to his boss but what is he getting at here? Some kinda power move? A cruel test? Blackmail?

They have been misreading each other this entire time and the both of them are UNBELIEVABLY embarrassed

Time to talk things out and admit some things to each other

-----

SOME LOOSE MUSINGS ABOUT OTHER CHARACTERS

Eva Yan

Receptionist at Thanatica, maybe specifically for Daniil's office/lab whatever

The only thing that matters is that she always sees Daniil and Artemy going in and out of the place

Privy to a lot of gossip and goings-on of the place, knows about some of the shadier stuff but she's far from put-off

In fact, she wants to be Daniil's next experiment and he is not having it

Dresses like "I have to go to the office but I'm going to a music festival at 6" boho chic

Yulia Lyuricheva

Works for the government helping to orchestrate shady evil things but she's not actively invested in being evil this is just a job where she can apply her mathematical genius

Eva of course goes on about wanting to be an experiment and neither Eva's enthusiasm nor the fact that Thanatica is so shady is surprising to her

Clara

She doesn't have to be here but if she is here than she runs around Thanatica like a rat and no one knows where she came from

She claims to be an experiment gone wrong but really she is just a girl in need of some caring parental figures in her life

Lara Ravel

In the city on a revenge mission to kill Alexander Block for the death of her father

DANIIL AND LARA MURDER SPREE WHEEEEEEE LET THEM HAVE IT I WANT IT

I have no idea how to make this happen

Block

Thanatica is not surviving this one Dankovsky oooooo it is not surviving

Head of the military operation to destroy all evidence related to Thanatica's experiments?

Roles of other characters unclear..... To be determined....

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS TEXT DUMP, MORE TO BE ADDED IF WE THINK OF IT

[arlertdarling]

❥ STARS IN YOUR EYES — armin arlert x gn!reader, modern au, fluff, established relationship, space nerd!armin, yet another incredibly self-indulgent, incredibly fluffy armin oneshot<3 (i don't actually know a lot about astronomy so sorry if i got anything wrong!)

“That’s Orion’s belt,” Armin says, tracing his fingertip along a short line of stars. “Those three stars there, see? And that kind of arced line is his shield. A little higher up there, that’s his sword.” He pauses, hand lowering as he searches the sky. “Canis Minor should also be… ah, yeah, look, Canis Minor, just there. It’s only two stars so it’s hard to spot. Canis Major is easier to recognise. I think it’s just here actually, see?” He connects a few specks of light together — a triangle here, a rectangle there. You raise your hand and try to mimic Armin’s movements. He puts his hand over yours, guiding it and correcting your lines. Then he stops at one of the stars, slightly bigger and easier to see than the others.

“This is Sirius,” he says, “the brightest star in our solar system and the… fifth? Closest to our sun. Around 8.6 light years away.”

“Wow.” You look up at him. “Wait, isn’t that the North Star?”

Armin grins at your interest. “No, that’s Polaris.” He moves your hand. “This one here.”

You think for a moment. “What about the closest star?” you ask. “Which one’s the closest to us?”

He sets your hands down. “Well, not counting the sun, the closest star to us is Proxima Centauri,” he explains before looking at you with a gleaming smile and eyes full of fascination. “Now, you’d think that because it’s the closest, logically it should be the brightest, right?”

“Well… yeah, I think so,” you agree unsurely.

“But it’s not!” He beams. “It’s actually the dimmest,” he says, pinching his thumb and forefinger together and holding it up to the sky, “because it’s so small! Only about a tenth of the sun’s mass.”

“So it’s like a little baby star,” you jest.

Armin laughs through his nose. “I don’t know about ‘little’,” he says. “It’s still so big that its mass has to be written in scientific notation. Or like, in terms of the Earth’s mass, which is also written in scientific notation.”

You smirk. “You know what else is so big that its mass has to be written in scientific notation?”

Armin is about to give a genuine answer but stops himself. “Were you about to make a deeznuts joke? On our romantic stargazing date?” You snicker as he sighs and rubs his hand down his face. “I can’t believe I almost fell for that.” He’s smiling despite himself.

“Boo,” you drawl as you bump shoulders with him. “You’re no fun.” You exchange childish grins before looking back at the sky. As much as you may tease him for being a nerd, Armin’s astronomy knowledge never fails to impress you. It’s endearing too, the way he rambles so eagerly. You could listen to him talk for hours.

“So, where’s the not-so-little baby star then?” you question, scanning the sky. “Can we see it?”

“Oh, no, it’s only really visible in the southern hemisphere,” Armin replies. “Though even then, you need ideal viewing conditions and a telescope with an aperture of at least 8cm to see it.”

You hum. “Guessing we don’t have one of those?”

Armin chuckles. “I think the bigger obstacle is the fact we’re nowhere near the required latitude to even try seeing it.”

“Whatever, nerd.” You giggle and rest your cheek against Armin’s shoulder as he continues talking about the constellations. It’s quiet; the countryside always is, but the nighttime brings with it a different kind of quiet. Crickets chirp and the night breeze rustles the grass and leaves. Above you, the stars are abundant, floating like lily pads in a blue-black pond. You’ve been looking at them for so long that it seems as though they’re dancing, spinning round and round like maple tree seeds in the wind. It’s almost hypnotic, tempting you to fall asleep, but the anticipation for what’s to come is keeping you awake.

Armin checks his phone, the light of his screen illuminating his giddy smile. “Okay. Any minute now,” he says, setting aside his phone. His eyes are gazing at the sky, but your eyes are on him. The darkness makes his features hard to see, but you’ve stared at him so many times before that you’re able to fill in the blanks by memory. The dainty curve of his nose, the soft shade of his lips, the aquamarine light in his irises…

You’re startled from your trance when Armin suddenly gasps. “Look!” he exclaims, pointing up. You follow his hand to a white streak passing through the sky. It vanishes, but not long after, another cuts through nearby. An extraordinary celestial phenomena, and yet you can’t help flicking your eyes over to Armin just to watch his reaction. It’s cheesy, but to you, no celestial phenomena compares to his smile.

You reach over and rake your fingers through his hair. “I love you,” you say absentmindedly.

It takes a second for Armin to give you his attention, too focused on trying to spot a meteor. “What did you say?” he says, turning to you.

You prop yourself up on your elbows and lean in close, brushing some hair out of his face. “I said I love you.”

He catches your hand before it leaves his face and presses a kiss to your wrist. “I love you too,” he whispers, smiling against your palm. You laugh giddily and rub your forehead against his affectionately.

Armin stares at you from under blond eyelashes. “Can I kiss you?” he mutters into the breath of air between you, one hand already hovering near your face.

You move your head the rest of the way into his palm and cup your hand over his. “It’s about time you asked,” you tease, and Armin’s chuckle tickles your lips as you meet. You mould to each other, soft and yearning. It’s a movement that expresses more than either of you could with words alone, pouring your feelings into each other in their rawest form, passing them between warm lips and even warmer breaths; slips of tongue and airy giggles. Armin’s hand is supporting your jaw, fingers tucked behind your ear delicately while yours pulls him closer by his sweater. When you part, for a moment, you just stare at each other; too enthralled to speak.

Armin smiles fondly, his awe melting into adoration. A thumb pets your cheekbone as if to brush away an eyelash, his other hand rubbing your hip. He doesn’t stop staring at you, putting every detail of you like this to memory. The way you’re framed by the starry sky, the meteor that passes over your head like a halo, how his hands fit to you like they were made to hold you. Armin sighs and nuzzles his head into the crook of your neck. “What did I do to deserve you?” he mumbles, his lips ticklish against your skin.

“I should be asking you that,” you argue playfully, stroking his hair. Armin doesn’t say anything; you just stay like that for a while, holding each other as the meteors glide by intermittently.

“It’s a little chilly,” Armin comments after a particularly harsh rush of wind. He runs his hands over the goosebumps on your arms. “You’re not too cold, are you?” He gives you a concerned glance, but before you can answer, he’s taking off his sweater and pulling it over your head. The lingering warmth on the fabric presses against you like a kiss as Armin helps you slide your arms through the sleeves. He gives it a few last tugs and pulls, making sure you’re all covered up.

When his eyes meet yours, he smiles sheepishly. “I know we should probably head inside… but could we stay out a little longer?” He adjusts the sweater again, but more out of nervous habit rather than necessity.

You smile at his sincerity. “Yeah, of course, baby,” you coo. “I don’t mind.”

The pet name makes Armin blush. He pats the space beside him and you shift to spoon his side, draping your limbs over his body. He curls an arm around you, lazily petting your hair. The both of you watch the fleeting strokes of light criss-cross above you, and for just a moment, you forget about the rest of the world; for just a moment, it’s only you, Armin and the stars beneath your fingertips.

[rosy-fox-art]

Cjverse Chat Memes Out of Context (2)

Feat. ( name and au, In order)

Twine (Sun Down)- @disruptivevoib

Ozzy (Voice of Reason)- @agent-8449

Paladin and Snare (Encore)- @b0vidine

Tune (Trial)- @keruukat

Amp (Trial)- @keruukat

Viscera (Swaps)- @disruptivevoib

Willow (Q-Thirds(- [Q-ott]

Judge (Swap)- @disruptivevoib

Silence (Ourobouros)- (mine)

Aperture (Ourobouros)- (mine)

Elm (Modern Prometheus)- (mine

[deartiger]

Urban - NYC/DUB - 2019

[ivomagus]

My Journey with the Lomography Diana 🎞️ 📷

Today, I’d like to share my experience with one of my earliest lomo cameras: the Lomography Diana.

I don’t remember exactly when I got my hands on it, but it wasn’t my first lomo camera. However, it was the first true Lomography-branded camera I owned—complete with its iconic toy-like design and 1960s vintage vibe. Mine was the Diana Hong Meow edition 🐼, styled in black and white with a panda on the film dial and a signature bamboo-green strap.

The Diana’s Unique Features ✨

This fully mechanical camera offers a lot of creative potential, especially for those who enjoy experimenting with analog photography:

Aperture Options: Choose between apertures for cloudy or sunny days—or even a pinhole setting!

Lens Focal Positions: 75mm lens focal length options include portrait, group photo, and landscape.

Signature Lens: The single plastic lens creates a dreamy, blurry effect that remains one of my favorite features to this day.

The spirit of experimentation is exciting, but the results are often unexpected—which is one of the reasons I eventually sold the camera.

Medium Format Film and Flexibility 🎞️

The Diana uses 120 medium format roll film, producing 12 square 6x6 negatives. However, by using a special bracket, you can switch to 16 smaller 6x4.5 negatives, maximizing the number of shots per roll. The film advancement is manually controlled and monitored through a small, red-filtered window on the back of the camera.

Flash and Accessories 💡

One of the standout features is the vintage-looking flash, powered by 2 AA batteries. It is versatile enough to use with other cameras, including modern DSLRs, thanks to the included hot shoe adapter. A set of colored filters for the flash adds to the camera’s experimental potential, allowing for creative lighting effects.

The Diana is also compatible with a variety of accessories. One of my favorites was a lens attachment that exposed fractions of the film, creating kaleidoscopic effects in a single shot.

The Diana Experience 🎨

The Diana offers endless opportunities for experimentation, both intentional and accidental. With full manual control over aperture, focus, and film advancement, it isn't uncommon to end up with underexposed, overexposed, or double-exposed shots. This unpredictability, combined with the limitations of roll film, made the Diana less versatile and reliable for me than other cameras.

Today, the Diana is available in both 120 and 135 (35mm) film formats 🎞️. If I were to shoot with a Diana again, I’d likely opt for the 135 version or use a 120-to-135 adapter. The camera is surprisingly sharp in the center of the frame but heavily dependent on good lighting, so I’d recommend shooting with the flash (something I regret not doing enough).

For those looking for a similar aesthetic with added practicality, I’d suggest considering the 135mm Holga, which offers comparable creative potential with greater versatility.

Final Thoughts

The Lomography Diana was a wonderful introduction to experimental analog photography, and it taught me a lot about embracing imperfections and surprises. If you’ve used a Diana—or are thinking about trying one—feel free to share your experiences in the comments 💬.

📢 This post was created for the Lomography Community on Tumblr. If you love experimental photography, we’d love to have you join us! 🌟

📸 Photo Credits: Images of the Lomography Diana Hong Meow Edition featured in this article are courtesy of Cameras by Max and jinchoo.

[daifukumochiin]

Summary: Sasuke's orderly life at elite Sairiumu Academy is disrupted by the arrival of Hinata, a timid transfer student whose obvious crush on him, a young man dedicated to his craft and his current relationship, stirs unease. (Initial SasuSaku with SasuHina endgame, modern Norse myth AU, high school, angst, romance, photography, postmodern-ish fic). Rated T

LIGHTS,

BOWS, and

MISTLETOES

an entry for SasuHina Month 2024, Day 27 : Forget and Remember

(for peachy-hina, since December)

ffnet: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14369143/1/Lights-Bows-and-Mistletoes

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57030778

Part 1: Lights

go to Chapter List>

viii

Northernness. 

In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis called that instant among a few which he met while reading the opening lines to "Tegner’s Drapa"–

–immediately lifting him into huge regions of the northern sky, and desiring intensely something that couldn’t be described, “except that it is cold, spacious, severe, pale, and remote.”

Sasuke had it all figured out during his presentation: the longing for an unattainable, imaginary world; an unsatisfied desire more desirable than any other satisfaction. The “cold, spacious, severe, pale, and remote” in Konoha. He had the color schemes prepared, the mood boards where the rest could take inspiration—he had the full vision.

But, a thing about artistic vision is how it would often only truly show itself in the mind of one, akin to a prophet's commission destined to be shared with a skeptical crowd. Once the candle is lit—the vision spoken, its flame cast upon awaiting wicks—is either one of two outcomes: an empowered mob, or a frustrated artist.

Sasuke stood in the darkened room, the glow of his presentation casting long shadows between him and the rest of the club. The pause hung heavy in the air, their bleary irises reflecting the projected screen, dull and unmoved. He burned with a fierce, solitary flame, yet the rest couldn’t catch fire.

Unease settled at the basement of his gut, lounging there, and crossed its legs. His fingers, clutching the wireless clicker, felt cold and alien, as if they no longer belonged to him. He loosened his tie and signaled for the lights to be switched back on.

“Questions?” Sasuke reached for his water flask. Funny, he thought as he took a sip, how it gave an impression of offering himself to a hoard of wild beasts ready to pounce without due reverence whatsoever. 

Click. Click. Click—their responses registered as a monotonous clicking noise in his mind; all clicks and no illumination. Barely a single one had lights flashing off in their imagination, their cranial apertures set to f/22 with shutter speeds at 1/1000, and their ISO sensitivity low. 

He took a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Creation is a brutal endeavor: fail to hold the fort—the sense of preservation toward the vision—and he’ll be torn to pieces; fall short of winning the Kage Jin and it would be his fall to take alone. 

"Fine," he exhaled. "I'll take you on. One. By. One." 

In the months that would follow, he’d find himself worn thin, hunched over his desk, eyes bloodshot and fingers sore from endless editing as he pushed forward with the vision singularly, just to fill in the gaps, and somewhere down that road, his natural demise. But even then, all he could really think about was winning the Kage Jin.

Last weekend, my friends and I couldn't enjoy our usual club because the DJ changed, and the vibe was off. We went bar hopping all night, but none of the places felt right. Is that it?

“Somewhat.” 

So-so. Kinda. 

At first, Sasuke had more patience. 

Who could blame Sasuke's club members for all their privilege? Northernness to Sasuke lies on the other side of the fence that is winning the Kage Jin whereas to them, photography is just a hobby and the club is for extracurricular credits. They didn’t have fathers who threatened to disown them or shatter their equipment should they choose to pursue photography professionally after high school. 

“How’s everything so far?” Neji asked during brunch at the school’s dining hall. His uni exams weren't until November, so Sasuke understood that when he was invited to join Neji for meals, it was purely a club matter.

“The theme was decided last week,” Sasuke replied, forking a pea.

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“Northernness. C.S. Lewis…” As he spoke, he closely watched Neji’s subtle reactions.

Neji paused from slicing his steak, considering. “Interesting. Though spare me the details. The theme is only as strong as its execution.”

Sasuke nodded. “We’ve had a few meetings since then and I’ve already set up teams for various assignments.”

“Good,” commended Neji. “I was introduced to a gallery chain owner from Hoshigakure the other day. I think he’ll find you interesting, so I’ve set up a meeting this weekend.”

“What time?”

“Sunday afternoon. Just clear it out. It’s a party attended by other patrons of art. Get Sakura to join you.”

“I think she’ll be busy with the Student Council.”

“I’ll just call you then.”

When he had been at the end of his rope, it was Neji who offered an extension. Parties and meeting new people were his least favorite things to do on a weekend, but Neji taught him networking was important if he were to make his future decisions right.

2. Isn't it too vague? How are we gonna incorporate pictures from the archives if you're hellbent on following a theme?

Sasuke carefully laid with gloved hands a set of old pictures that he had taken out from the archives on the light table where a few selected members gathered around.

“I’m thinking of a sub-collection that draws inspiration from these events,” said Sasuke. “The history, the pioneering spirit, a deep-seated longing for the extraordinary, and the pursuit of awe and wonder transcending the mundane—we’re bringing these essences into the present.”

“But how are we supposed to do that without just copying old pictures?” asked Kiba, a sophomore from another class.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed slightly. “We’re not copying. We’re reinterpreting. Look”—he tapped his finger on a photo—“What’s being built here?”

“The subway?”

“Ah, is that the Hashirama Bridge?!” Another member, Ino, pointed gleefully at a different photo.

The rest followed her excitement as they identified other notable structures in Metro Konoha during their earliest stages. 

“Think about the vision and effort that went into these structures,” said Sasuke. “Find modern equivalents or create scenes that evoke the same sense of achievement and significance. Reign in that energy visually.”

Then Kiba raised his hand. “The city’s expanding the subway and construction is currently going on. That might be a good place to start. The only problem we’d have is if it’s gonna be okay. Some places might need permits or things like that.”

“Leave that to me,” replied Sasuke. “I’ll contact Neji whenever.”

Days later Neji invited him again to brunch.

“The assignment you gave Inuzuka and his team was interesting. When I told grandfather, he insisted he’d have more stories to tell about how things were back then.” Neji chuckled and wiped his mouth with a table napkin.

Sasuke couldn’t swallow the partridge, so he had to down it with water first. “About that… I’ve decided I won’t be using their shots.”

“I see,” said Neji. “It was that bad, huh?”

“Well… not really.”

“Just say it as is. No one’s gonna hear about it. And I doubt anyone would fault you even if they did. You’re aiming to win, aren't you?”

3. So… wintry vibes? How the heck does that work? Konoha's vibe is just not it.

There are plenty of ways to capture the cold and remote right out the warm, sunny corners of Metro Konoha: early mornings; late nights; foggy mists; the bay after rainy afternoons; excerpts of nostalgia that could be replicated in the studio, and the lights manipulated among a plethora of non-CGI tools they could use for effects.

Determined to prove his point to the rest of the cynical lot, he rode the train to school at 4:30 AM and scoured the campus for interesting shots. Looking up from the school grounds, the silhouette of birds flitting among the intricate details of the roofline, gave him the idea to venture up to the school rooftop for a closer look.

He passed through Omni Glow Hall, one of Sairiumu’s oldest buildings, up a flight of stairs, and entered a dim, musty corridor lined with aged wood and old leather book covers. The air ran thick with the stench of persistent grime that no amount of upkeep could completely remove. To get to the rooftop, he pushed through an ancient twin door, gripping slightly on the coarse brass handles with grotesques set on their swirled parts. Despite their age and infrequent use, the well-oiled hinges moved smoothly. A gust of wind greeted Sasuke's face, followed by the sound of flapping wings, a sound one too many. He nearly snapped a photo by what he saw, his breath caught and his forefinger twitching on the shutter button, overwhelmed by the impulse to capture the scene and yet withholding from that desire.

Hinata Hyuuga stood on the rooftop with a lost look in her eyes, her hand extended as mourning doves gathered to feed from it. They surrounded her, from her head to foot—a swirling flock—which, while to an onlooker might seem ominous, a whirlpool of unknown diseases, didn't trouble her—not even batting an eyelash.

When she noticed Sasuke standing there, her eyes widened slightly before she quickly lowered her gaze, a soft blush tinting her cheeks. Her fingers trembled just a bit as she tried to keep her hand steady for the doves.

“G-good morning…” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. As she made a small, nervous bow with her head, the doves fluttered briefly and then perched back not long after.

“Good morning,” he replied with measured calm. He wasn't about to be found out. Some guilt; partly something else.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just looking around." He slipped his hands into his pockets and let his gaze drift to a random spot in the skyline. "What about you?”

“Feeding the birds… as you can see.”

“Right… Do you mind if I take a picture?”

“O-of the birds?” The sun was barely out and he could hardly see the expression she was making.

“Of the birds.”

“Oh. Go ahead… They're too occupied to care.”

Sasuke clicked the camera. Adjusted the center. Clicked again. Adjusted. Clicked a third time. True to Hinata’s words, the birds remained unbothered, even with the flash.

While scanning the shots he took, he said out of nowhere: “Thanks to the Norse myth book you left the other day, I’ve figured out what the club’s going to do for this year’s Inuwashi.”

“Inuwashi?”

“The club’s yearly publication. It's a candidate for the Kage-Jin—”

Sasuke fell silent for a moment, leaving Hinata waiting for him to continue. He wondered what she thought about the theme, about Northernness. If she would intuitively comprehend what he wanted; if she'd asked the right questions; if her pictures would enthrall him unexpectedly like her qualifying exhibition entry...

When he didn’t speak, Hinata asked, “Do you like it here? Are you having a pleasant time?"

Sasuke snapped out of his trance and took a few more shots, adjusting the camera settings with a practiced hand. “About the club or Sairiumu in general? I haven’t thought about it. Don’t ask weird questions.” As he spoke, he tilted the camera slightly, capturing a subtle glimpse of the top of Hinata’s head in the shot.

“Stay away from mistletoes,” she said.

Sasuke raised a brow at her odd statement. “What about them?”

“They’re bad for you.”

Sasuke smirked. No wonder Neji said all those things about her—he finally understood: she's a Norse myth otaku. This explains the disturbing things she had said and done to him so far. A tinge of relief swept over him now knowing that she's just this kind of crazy, who just thought that maybe, maybe he's—

“Like Baldur?" He could almost laugh, but he couldn't risk looking uncool. "Getting too much into Norse myth is bad for you,” he said, smiling crookedly as he turned to leave.

Hardly anything about him is like Baldur.

4. C.S. Lewis? Wasn’t he prehistoric? Wouldn’t that be too outdated and out of touch?

She’s just… She’s just so,

Has anyone in the studio met someone like her before?

Who in their right mind would think that? Norse myth? And they say C.S. Lewis is prehistoric.

While it couldn’t be denied that he has a beautiful face and a goodly overall appearance—which brought him trouble that could last a lifetime—but, had he been anything like Baldur—the Norse god of light and radiance, joy and purity, peace and forgiveness—he would've just dismissed the uninspiring submissions of his club members with a smile. He'd put in a kind word and tell them to try again. 

But Sasuke? He huffed and bristled like a mad horse and his dissatisfaction towards his members only grew.

“I apologize for that. You caught me at a bad time.” Sasuke rubbed his forehead, feeling the tension building up. One of the very few freshmen he had allowed to work on Inuwashi was just leaving his office in tears when Neji walked in.

Neji watched the freshman leave. “What happened?” He locked the door behind him.

Sasuke sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I tried to be constructive, but...”

“But it had been another subpar submission.” Neji nodded understandingly. “Don’t take it to heart. I trust I placed the perfect man for the job. You’ll make it happen for this club. They don’t have to understand now, but they will when the time comes and you’ve got a Kage Jin trophy displayed here…”

When Neji looked around his office, his gaze stopped at the framed picture of a quarter of a head and mourning doves above it hanging on the wall.

“Yours?” With Neji, it was almost a statement and he had to ask just in case.

Sasuke smirked and nodded, the event from earlier immediately forgotten.

“Fascinating.” Neji approached the picture to scrutinize it further. “I like the mysterious dark, inky shades, and gray contrasts, the almost smoky buildup of flapping mourning doves caught in a motion blur...” 

The picture never failed to draw compliments from visitors. Sasuke had developed a technique to achieve the quality of a traditional darkroom print out of a digital photo. So far, no one had asked about the head—whose head it was. Unconsciously, Sasuke made a habit of staring at her in a way that he couldn't in the classroom over fear of suspicion. The what-ifs and could-have-been left him with a continuous pang of regret and he feared the day that she might break into his office, perhaps through the glass window, open his chest, and discover the things he'd speak to no one: he couldn’t push away the thought that Hinata would have had more interest in Northernness than the rest of his club members put together. 

“Hey, do you think—” Sasuke paused.

Would Neji?

No, Neji would be strongly against it.

“What?”

“Nothing,” replied Sasuke.

“I never thought you’d find mourning doves interesting.”

“Me either.”

5. Are you saying we only start taking pictures in the winter? That's stupid and I'd totally hate it if we're shooting outdoors.

To set a wintry precedent, an atmosphere that would seal in the illusion for everything else that would follow, Sasuke proposed scheduling an outdoor shoot for the first few pages of Inuwashi. None of Konoha's mountains, not even in the winter, would compare to the snowy mountain ranges of the place he had in mind. 

"Yukigakure," he revealed. 

The idea was met with enthusiasm from the club members. They envisioned a cheerful trip to luxurious ski resorts and exclusive hot springs. Sasuke looked forward to the peril, to northern lights and white nights—something Hinata would've had better insights into, having come from there. But none of it would happen the way anyone in the Photography Club, including Sasuke, pictured it. 

6. Shouldn't we take a vote? I'm not saying 'Northernness' or whatever you just presented is a bad idea, but others might have suggestions that the majority would like to explore.

Morio, the vice president, posed a question during Sasuke’s theme presentation that echoed until the Photography Club’s falling out. But Sasuke didn’t have the foresight then. All he recognized was that Morio had the wrong notion about why Neji chose him, why Northernness would make Inuwashi stand out, why he was convinced he knew best, and thus answered Morio in this manner:

“Do you know why you’re not the club president? It’s because you don’t have what it takes to be where I am.”

Truth be told, Morio had always rubbed Sasuke the wrong way. As a member of the Student Council alongside Sakura and others, and with his family’s ownership of an S&Lee 500 mining corporation, Morio had the background and skills that made him a strong diplomat. This greatly contrasted with Sasuke’s solitary approach. He was a competent photographer and had a knack for connecting with others, making him a strong candidate for club president if it had been up to the members’ vote. In contrast, Sasuke preferred to stay cooped up in his office, often discarding other people's photos that he didn’t like in the bin.

Morio had all the right cards. The least Sasuke could have done was temper his response. No egos would have been bruised, and he might have avoided much trouble. Because, months later, when the time came for the review of the first draft of Inuwashi, Morio voiced out an honest observation:

“Most of these pictures are yours, Sasuke.”

“It’s the material that matters," Sasuke retorted. "You can’t argue with the quality. This is a winning piece in progress.”

Morio laughed dismissively. “You’re not running a club. This is a one-man show.”

Sasuke’s temper flared, and he slammed his fist on the table. "Don’t like it? Then leave. This is getting old."

He should've noticed it then—the odd spill of malice in the studio; how nobody was on his side.

“Guess we just don’t have that special something like you do,” Morio said with a suspiciously casual tone. As he rose from his seat to leave, more movement rippled around the table, and Sasuke watched in shock as his core members began to slip away, one by one.

He stewed over the betrayal all evening. If his former team members chose not to return, perhaps he never needed them. The new recruits, though still green and needing more training, could take over the simpler tasks. Besides, there was no rule in the Kage Jin’s guidelines explicitly stipulating that contributions had to come from multiple people. If it came down to it, Sasuke would manage on his own.

The following day, Sasuke arrived at the studio to find all his files and work in progress wiped out from his office computer, his cloud access hacked, and all saved progress vanished. Fortunately, Sasuke had learned to take basic precautions early on. He backed up his work and club files on an external drive he carried to school, and on a second drive he updated regularly from his home PC.

There was no doubt to Sasuke about who was behind the sabotage. When he spotted Morio talking to the girls in the classroom, his rage flared beyond control. Eyes darkened by anger, Sasuke lunged at him, gripping his collar, and delivered a swift, decisive punch to his jaw—all in front of Hinata. The shock on her face briefly registered at the back of his mind, slicing through his anger like a shard of ice. 

He clenched his jaw, feeling the sting of the aftermath on his knuckles.

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