#not me noticing that i accidentally hid some details and having to edit the post 😭

[smodypers]

funny silly guy "sketch" in between commissions

commissions info • reblogs > likes

[captainrexisboo]

In A Single Night

Here it is, my lads and ladies and lovers. Only six hours after posting the promo lmao. Sitting at 1685 words, this is the first chapter to my WereRex AU (accidentally prompted by this ask), as well as my first installation of my Monster!Clones series (because apparently I have no self control).

This specific AU takes place during some vague historical time period, outside the Star Wars universe. More supernatural and magic than sci-fi. It is a romance! But, I don’t think it’ll be explicit. There will be very loose reminiscing of lovemaking, but no detail will be shared (yet- I mean c’mon, it’s me).

In this chapter, there will be warnings such as: body horror (not gore tho), the act of pinning, An Anxiety Attack, and An Actual Attack (again, no gore), and ANGST

Tag list will be in the replies, let me know if you would like to be added! Thank you all for your support, and as always any comments are welcome!!! Happy reading!!!

Edit: link to pt2

“Rex!”

Your whispered shout cut sharply through the still night air, not daring to be any louder. You’re not sure what you were afraid of, there was nothing in the woods to fear- except for the reason you were there to begin with. The pressure of the task at hand made your head swim, and the anxiety from terror made your hands shake, thinking of what you witnessed, your grandmother’s age-old guidance, and Cody’s blessing, it all came crashing down onto you in frantic waves.

You forced down a breath, the air scratching down your dried throat. Eyes frantic, you glanced in every direction, praying you found him before he found you. Your grip tightened on the rim of the helmet- of his helmet- and you stared into the blue jaig eyes that graced the front of the dome. It was the only bit of armor you brought with you, the most familiar to use, the only other clothes being his nightwear. The entire armored set and flowing blue mantle that he wore about the castle would’ve been too much to carry, too heavy. You needed to be able to move quickly, which was already proving difficult in the dense underbrush of the overgrown forest that he had escaped into, the leaves and low branches making your trek much noisier than you would have preferred. Dried twigs snapped under your boots, and every rustle from a night critter or chirps from various insects made you spin around with shoulders raised, terrified but ready to commit to the mission at hand- bring Captain Rex home.

~

You couldn’t believe it when only hours ago you witnessed the esteemed Captain fall into a frantic heap into the grass, a terrible aching cry ripping from his throat at the edge of town, the giant archway of the tall brick barrier that surrounded the village framing his crumpled body. He had been waiting for you, he had asked to meet under the light of the moon tonight while he was on break from patrol, just outside the town gates. You were about to run to the aid of your lover when something cold ran down your spine. An instinct to stop, stay out of sight- you’re unsure if it was the force of the raw wail or the way he seemed to be moving under his jacket...as if the muscles formed underneath his skin were realigning, morphing, writhing...growing. 

You stood back, frozen, breathless. You couldn’t tear your widening eyes away. Especially when you saw the thick fabric of his pristine white coat begin to tear and rip, partially from the swelling of his form, but also shredding from the clawing of his shaking hands, as if the material were burning him and he needed it off as soon as possible. Underneath, instead of the tanned expanse of scarred skin you thought you knew so well, was a coating of shining blond hair, almost a soft golden in the glinting moonlight. His screaming had subsided, but you could still hear his rough, ragged, deep breathing, even from how far away you were. His grunting and groaning were painful, you could tell his throat was already scarring from the harmful strain of voice, and yet he still found it in himself to howl into the night sky, throwing his head back in a gruesome, bitter ballad to the full moon above you. As the furious sound waned from him, you could see his form slacken in relief. His breathing was heavy, laced with an outraged growling. He moved from being lurched over on his knees to gaining onto his haunches. Where you thought he would be shaky, you noticed him channeling whatever was left of himself into standing up with his signature battle-ready grace. 

He stood tall, like usual...but with an extra two feet added to his height. The blond coating of, not hair, but thick, coarse fur, extended over his limbs, bristling in the cool of the night. His form not only stood taller, but also gave him a wider stance, even with hunched shoulders he was hulking, skin nearly ripping at the sudden growth. He rolled his neck and shoulders back, the sudden crack of settling bones finally bringing your lungs back to life as you took a gasping breath, a single stumbling step backwards- you were too loud. He whipped his head around to face you with a wild snarl, bounding to you, covering nearly two hundred meters in a matter of seconds. You shrieked, falling back onto the uneven cobblestone as he was suddenly on top of you, caging you beneath him in his new massive form, your heart hammering as whimpers stuttered past your quivering lips, his hot breath washing over your face, claws cracking into the hard rock next to your cheeks, threatening to cut at your hair.

His plush, bow-shaped lips curled over to showcase protruding fangs, mere inches away from your face as you flattened yourself against the cold hard ground, practically trying to will yourself beneath the surface before the unthinkable could happen. His face kept most of his shape, nose a little longer, a little pointed upwards, and jaw widened as if to take mauling bites out of anything- no, out of anyone. His normally cleanly shaven face was covered in the same fur as the rest of him, except for where his brows had been. The fur there was almost forming something like a dark mask, making a T-shape over his eyes and nose. All of this you could take in stride as he sniffed over you, you could stand any of this transformation as he kept you trapped below him, but it was his eyes that had you quaking. 

His kind, honeyed stare, the irises that held such adoration and desire for you as you whispered promises of love and devotion to each other behind dark corners and between soft bed sheets- that was gone. No trace of your dearest paramour to be found. Instead it was a fiery golden gaze, a purely carnal type of hunger, and for what you couldn’t be sure. His pupils had shrunk into pinpoints, surveying you like a piece of meat, like a meal. He opened his mouth with a throaty growl, baring his teeth to you even more, craning down to your neck with thick saliva dripping from his maw. As his teeth skimmed over your flesh, just before they could pierce through, is when you finally found your voice, previously dammed from terror, choking out a broken, “Rex, please…”

He paused at his name. Holding over you, as still as the hanging moon, upright ear twitching in response to your begging. Your breath shakes in anticipation, tremors running through your otherwise petrified body. He rears his head back harshly, suddenly, letting out a grim bark, and you screw your eyes shut tight to brace for the searing pain of your ripping flesh...that never comes. After a thick moment of watching the synapses of nerves spark behind your eyelids, you blink them open, slowly shifting up onto trembling elbows just in time to see him disappear into the shadows of the trees.

You’re terrified.

You want to cry.

You don’t understand what’s happening, so you stay lying on the ground, curling in on yourself as you silently sob out his name. You roll to your side, letting fat tears stream down your face, throwing your hand over your mouth as you push out heaving breaths, seeing the sharply pierced stone next to your head, splintering cracks coming from each hole at the force with which they were made. You laid there for what felt like hours, alone, shaking, small under the laughing moon. Emotion wracked through you, storming through your mind and body until you were left rasping for precious oxygen, completely emptied of your tears, the streaks having marked their pathway down your cheeks and neck to under the collar of your shirt.

Something whispers at the back of your mind as you’re coming down from your rush, a suddenly clear vision of your childhood, your grandmother telling you stories of shapeshifting beasts. Simultaneously man and monster, both in body and soul. You had asked her before she tucked you into bed once, while you were throwing on the covers and trying to blink away fatigue to finish the tall tale, “Is there any way to change them back? Aren’t they still human under their fur?”

She looked wistful then, staring out the window of your bedside, looking up into the moon. A sensitive shine came across her gaze, delicately reflecting the candlelight as she spoke so quietly you had to strain to hear her, even in the hush of your bedroom.

“If there’s someone who loves the beast enough, despite knowing their cursed form, underneath the light of the stars they can present the fanged horror with clothes-”

“Clothes? Grandmere, that doesn’t sound very-”

“Very what? Extravagant? Magical?” she chuckled, a little broken, wiping away sitting tears on her lashes, “Child, love is the most magical thing in the world. If it’s love in the purest form, telling the beast to come home, it will leave it’s brutish whims behind and dutifully follow it’s love back to the safety of a warm bed.”

She touched the garish scar you knew hid under her blouse, drawing in a sharp, shaking breath as her fingers traced the marred pink flesh of her shoulder, “If it’s not true… they’ll leave you. They’ll lose their last bit of humanity in that moment. Make you wish you had spared the energy you’d used to find them to begin with.”

You crash back into reality, her warning sitting heavy in your mind. You finally sat up, still in the middle of the empty road, surrounded by the dark windows of closed shops showing you your ragged reflection. You dusted off, getting onto wobbling legs before stalking off towards the castle. More specifically, the soldiers’ dormitory.

If the memory held any truth, then you didn’t have much time. You had to find his brother.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Gavin’s Misunderstandings Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Edit: It has been released in EN as of 13 October!

This is only the second time since they reunited that Gavin and MC are meeting for non-work purposes.

While MC is on her way to meet Gavin at the park, she notes how scorching the heat is, and that if she had known that the weather would be this hot, she would have picked an indoor activity instead. 

However, since they’re already at the park and there are periodic gusts of wind, she feels it’s a suitable day for boat rowing. At the same time, she’s worried that Gavin wouldn't find boat rowing interesting.

She sees Gavin in the distance and hurries over to him:

Before she says anything:

Gavin: You want to do that? We can do it together.

Even though the intimidating aura around him has lessened, I’m still at a loss and don’t know how to get close to him.

I want to try understanding what interests him, but he doesn’t speak much.

Seeing that I haven’t given him an answer, he repeats the question, once again leaving the choice to me.

Gavin: Do you want to do this, or look around?

MC: It just brings back a sense of nostalgia. When I was young, I would do this with my father. I think I haven’t done it ever since I got older.

Looking towards the little boats, Gavin hesitates for a moment. It’s clear that he is about to say something, but he swallows it, shutting his lips.

If it wasn’t for his odd behaviour, I wouldn’t have realized that the topic I brought up had struck a nerve…

Gavin seems to have a tense relationship with his family, and I rarely hear him bring them up.

I hurriedly rack my brains, thinking of ways to salvage the situation. Surprisingly, Gavin is the one who breaks the silence.

Gavin: You have such a good relationship with your family. My family usually doesn’t go out, maybe once a year to the park.

MC: I see… Then again, it’s rare to bring boys out for such activities.

Gavin: Really? I’m not so sure. I just wanted to try doing it with you.

Hearing this and thinking about how I’ve never seen him react to trying something completely new, I start to feel excited. I begin imagining his reaction to stepping on a boat for the first time – would he still remain as stoic as usual?

MC agrees, but the queue for the tickets is incredibly long so tells her to find a place to sit while he gets the tickets. After a long wait, Gavin returns… with fishing equipment. 

It turns out Gavin and MC had misunderstood each other:

Gavin: I misunderstood. I noticed you looking towards the lake, so I thought you were interested in fishing.

The laughter of the surroundings float towards us, a stark contrast to Gavin’s awkward solemnness. Tickled by the look of embarrassment on his face, I can’t help but let out a laugh. The more he confusedly asks me what happened, the more I laugh, to the point where I begin tearing up.

Gavin: What happened? Is it really that funny?

MC: No, nothing, haha. I just find this misunderstanding amusing.

With this, he lets out a breath, a smile in his eyes.

Gavin: While I was in the queue, I even pictured how you looked like fishing as a child.

MC: How can children have the patience to fish?

Gavin: If it were a normal child, that would be true. But you shouldn’t have a problem with it.

MC: Are you saying that I have the mentality of an old person?

Gavin: No, that’s not what I meant. In high school, you…

Upon bringing up high school, he immediately shuts his mouth, stiffly changing the topic.

Gavin: It’s fine, I’ll go back to get the correct tickets.

MC tells him that since the tickets have already been purchased, they should just try fishing. Since they rarely come here, they should create special memories:

Gavin: Even through fishing?

MC: Of course! This is the first time we’re both fishing, so it’s a worthwhile memory! Let’s set this day to be our “Fishing Anniversary” every year.

Gavin: Fishing Anniversary? Sounds good.

MC: I just spouted it randomly…

To hide the blush that is slowly creeping up my cheeks, I lower my face, snatching the fishing rod and bucket from him.

MC: All right all right, if we wait any longer, all the good spots near the lake would be taken!

Gavin: Okay. Give the things to me, you can pick the spot?

Out of nowhere, his fingertips brush the back of my hand. Warm, refreshing and dry, just like a summer wind. We both retract our hands at the same time, as though shocked by an electric current. After hesitating for a few seconds, he takes the fishing equipment from me.

Gavin: Oh right, the path to the lake is a little slippery, so hold onto me.

Looking at his outstretched palm, I nod my head and place my hand atop his. With my hand in his, he clasps our hands together a little tighter.

He follows my pace, and at certain points specially turns around to give me directions on which areas are safer to step on.

Since we’re at the lake and sheltered by shadows cast by the trees, logically speaking, the temperature here should be cooler than other places. Yet, I only feel my face heating up unnaturally, perhaps even hotter than being under the sun.

Although this is their first fishing experience, Gavin is surprisingly adept. He patiently shows MC what to do and warns her to be careful not to cut herself on the fishing line.

Without realizing it, I move closer and closer, until I hear a light cough from above my head.

Gavin: …If you can’t see it clearly, I can go even slower.

It is only now that I notice that I’m as good as glued to Gavin’s arm. Upon this realisation, the skin that made contact with his became even hotter than my head which has been under the blazing sun. Even my face starts to feel warm. My deafeningly loud heart beats block out all the sounds from my surroundings and even his voice.

Gavin: Are you feeling unwell? Your face is very red.

MC: No, not at all! The weather is just a little warm.

With exaggerated movements, I fan myself with my hand in an attempt to hide the redness of my face brought about by shyness.

Unexpectedly, he lifts the back of his hand to my face, checking if I am running a fever.

His drooping eyelashes soften his gaze, and his gentleness is comparable to the peaceful stirring of the lake, creating ripples on my heart. All hopes of calming down are gone, and I feel like I am going to explode amid the heat.

Gavin continues being blissfully unaware that he is the culprit of my plight.

He stretches out his palm in front of me. The originally stagnant air starts moving under his direction, brushing past the trees, brushing past his tidy short hair, and brushing past my crimson cheeks.

The heat is no longer unbearable.

Through this whole process, Gavin’s amber eyes remain fixed on my dazed face, his expression worried and serious.

Gavin: How is it? Feeling better?

MC: Much better. Thanks to that gust of wind!

Right after the words leave my mouth, the originally gentle wind suddenly shifts chaotically in all directions, like a beast with the lock of its cage removed. My hair ends up splayed all over my face. Through my messy hair, I can see Gavin looking frantic.

The chaotic wind stills, and he hurriedly and carefully helps me tidy my hair.

Gavin: I’m sorry, I lost control for a while.

MC: It’s not your fault, it was the wind after all.

Gavin: So… it is my fault.

They start picking up the fishing equipment that got splayed around, and Gavin seems to be searching for something in particular. Suddenly, they find themselves within nose-touching distance:

Our breaths are mixed together with the heat waves of summer, causing our faces to feel hot. I unconsciously shrink backwards, but his hand wraps around my back, holding me tightly in his arms.

Gavin: Wait, don’t move.

Nervous to the point where my eyes forgot how to blink, I watch as he moves forward.

He gazes at the side of my face, both hands hooking something onto my earlobe. I can feel his fingertips on my earlobe, and heart threatens to leap out of my chest.

The wind has become stagnant, the air completely still. His movements seem to be in slow motion and crystal clear.

After a relatively long time, he shifts some stray hair behind my ear, and opens the front camera of his phone towards me.

Gavin: It’s supposed to be worn like that, right?

MC: What is it?

Gavin: Ear cuffs. They were blown away just now.

Half of Gavin’s face appears in the phone screen, a serious expression on his face as he points to the ear cuff on my ear.

Clumsily, I accidentally pressed a button on his phone, and my dazed face is immediately saved in Gavin’s phone.

MC: Ah! Wait! Let me delete that photo!

Gavin: It’s fine to keep it. It’s cute. You look good with those ear cuffs.

Even though I can’t tell if he is complimenting the ear cuffs or me, it doesn’t stop my face from heating up several degrees.

They continue fishing, with him giving her tips on what to take note of. MC ends up catching three fishes while Gavin catches none. MC thinks that the fish can probably sense Gavin’s intimidating aura, which is why no fishes have come near.

After a while, MC can’t help but pat his shoulder and comfort him. Just as she finishes talking, Gavin’s fishing rod finally latches onto something heavy – a big tortoise. As he retrieves the tortoise from the hook, blood starts running onto Gavin’s arm.

While MC panics, Gavin calmly washes his hand in the lake.

Gavin: The one who got hurt isn’t me, it’s the tortoise.

I turn my attention to the tortoise which has hid inside its shell. Sure enough, its front leg has been cut.

MC: It looks like it’s in a lot of pain…

Gavin: I’m not sure how to stop the bleeding. Let’s bring it to the park helpers.

While he speaks, he takes off his white jacket without a moment’s hesitation and wraps the tortoise in it.

MC: Your jacket! Wouldn’t using a towel be enough?

Gavin: It’s all right, let’s bring it to the park helpers quickly.

His tenderness is so selfless, whether towards humans or animals.

They bring the tortoise to the park helpers, who assure them that it would be fine. They head to the washroom to clean up, and MC sees Gavin at the water cooler:

The crystal-like column of water sprays onto his lips, and the sweat dripping off the side of his neck shines in the sunlight. In a moment, his clean and cool breath is carried by the breeze into my heart.

There is a small patch of mud on his face, but he doesn’t seem to notice. I straighten my hand to wipe the stain off him. He immediately turns around, eyes filled with consternation.

Perhaps it is just the red flowers of the trees above, but I think I see a crimson flash on his face. I feel slightly embarrassed.

MC: Erm… Your face is dirty, let me help you wipe it off.

Gavin: Oh, so that’s what you were doing… Thank you.

MC: It feels like we keep misunderstanding each other today…

Gavin: Yeah. I’ll do my best to prevent it as much as possible next time.

MC: Huh?

Gavin: Although I don’t really understand the hearts of women, yours is the only one I don’t want to get wrong. So give me some time to figure it out, is that okay?

Even though it is meant to be a question, he says it with complete resolution, accompanied with a tone and gaze that cannot be denied.

It is so endearing that it stirs one’s heart.

MC: Of course you can!

No matter how much time you take, it’s fine with me.

No matter how long you need, I am willing...

[Note] In Chinese it‘s phrased like she’s accepting a marriage proposal

~

The date concludes with Gavin and MC back at the park after a year. Gavin notices that MC is deep in thought.

Gavin: Seeing that you’ve been trying to suppress a smile… Are you thinking of something happy?

MC: Yes, it’s something that makes me incredibly, incredibly happy. It is the thing that makes me happiest on earth.

🐟

Calls: First // Second

[love-it-or-its-free]

@dyke-diva

[edited to update pastebin and make links clickable.]

First, just some more context about me: I am a 33 yr old lesbian, butch (in a nerd way) and quite androgynous/GNC.

Until a year or two ago, I was an ardent supporter of trans activism, as it went part and parcel with being a member of the LGBT "Community".

Literally, asking this same question to myself was a turning point for me. I knew I was supposed to hate and denounce anything TERF-related.... but one day I realized, I didn't know exactly what TERFs had supposedly done, that would warrant such seething hatred against them.

Like I said, I comprehend hating Nazis, because I have seen evidence of the unforgivable brutality of the Nazi regime and its supporters. I've taken history classes, read books and original sources, and watched documentaries about it.

Basically, I have seen enough evidence to understand the scope of Nazi evil, so it makes sense to me why some people go around saying "punch nazis." Personally, I'm not the type to punch anybody... and I question whether punching actually fixes the underlying evil... but based on what I know, I totally understand why nazis are so hated.

But why are terfs so viscerally hated that they are directly compared with a mass-genocidal regime? I want to know the truth. If the evidence is out there, I want to see it, to keep my views updated and accurate.

Now on to your response.

I do not believe that you should debate hate groups. I think that doing so will only help spread their hate and

I don't really believe in debating hate groups, either. But I also believe that having a closed mind is a victory for authoritarians of all stripes. I have no problem engaging with people who disagree with me, because I generally believe in having "strong opinions, weakly held" -- I am firm in my beliefs, but my mind is open to evaluating new evidence. If I deem the new evidence convincing enough, I may change my mind or update my views. I value intellectual rigor, so I want to keep my views accurate and up-to-date.

I am severely distressed about the number of terfs in wlw spaces and think that something should be done about it, it has gotten to the point where if it is not stated directly that they do not support transmisogyny that I will often feel paranoid about being in the space.

Honestly, I would love if you could PM me about these "wlw spaces" that are supposedly crawling with terfs. I feel like I'm reading this from a bizarro mirror dimension, thinking... WHAT wlw spaces? Is there really anything like this, outside of a handful of unpopular tumblr tags and a couple of small subreddits?

The only spaces I know of, especially IRL, are bending over backwards to be so "q***r friendly" that actual lesbians are being pushed out. One local activist in my city, started a public speech by claiming, "terfs are lesbians who..." and went on to drag lesbians for not being inclusive enough. Why only lesbians, I wondered??

Singling out and pressuring lesbians that way is not okay, in my opinion. Lesbians deserve to have spaces for lesbian (natal) women only. Lesbians are allowed to be repulsed by penises. None of that is hateful! Lesbians should not be pressured to sleep with anyone they aren't interested in. Unfortunately, I see that happening a lot these days. The "wlw spaces" I know of, offline and online, increasingly pressure lesbians in this way. Not cool.

Now, I can handle those pressures... but I'm really worried about younger lesbians. Being a lesbian is hard enough as it is! We have a right to exist, and to express our sexuality without added pressures.

and finally reason three, trans people who are afab have been seen to dismiss terfs actions and beliefs purely because terfs do not actively threaten their existence like they do amab trans people.

I'm not sure if I follow this part... it seems like you're saying that some FTMs ("trans people who are afab") do not feel threatened by so-called terfs, because the perception is that terfs are more threatening to "amab trans people"? Sorry if I misunderstood, but I would be interested to learn more about this phenomenon either way.

The person who sent this ask had lots of “Terf Safe” tagged posts on their blog and in their likes (though it seems their likes are now private), so I had blocked them, on the post that I made on my @la-joueuse-ultime blog that I quoted above they had asked why Terfs and Nazi’s are being compared, saying “I know about the reasons Nazis are bad, we can study history to see that evidence. But where is the evidence that terfs are comparably bad?” I had responded “@love-it-or-its-free it’s not that their comparably as bad, it’s that they’re bad. They are a hate group that has killed trans people and because of that they shouldn’t get a voice to spread their hate.” I then told them I planned to block them, I had done so and then they sent this ask.

Well, just to be clear, you were the first to interact with my post. It appears that you went looking in terf-friendly tags, found my post, and decided to interact with it. I'm happy to clarify the details of this, but I think your wording makes it sound like I sought you out, when it was actually the other way around. I posted mild terf-friendly content, you directly compared terfs to nazis. I think that's extreme.

I guess it's a good thing I hid my likes, too, because it sounds like you were ready to trawl for "punishable" content. I mean... who among us has not accidentally tapped the heart while on mobile or something? I hope you aren't really intending to police liked content like that.

Now to the actual ask, I believe the reason you can’t find Terfs that have killed trans people is that, well, you’re literally not looking,

I am quick to google anything that pops into my head, so rest assured, I would not pose this question to a tumblr rando unless I had actually attempted to answer it for myself. I'm asking to try and gather more info/evidence on top of what I have seen already.

or you think that they needed to have direct (by direct I mean they physically took part in) killing the trans person. You don’t need to be holding a knife to take part in someone’s death, you can encourage violence against the minority, you can bully and harass them until they take their own life, or you can fight against medical procedures that some of these people need to live. Terfs have done all of these.

Right... but I specifically asked how you can directly compare terfs to nazis. I agree that bullying, etc. is wrong. But I am asking for the evidence you used to make the direct comparison. You are shifting the goal posts here. I'm okay with that shift if you are... because I'm happy to provide evidence of trans activists doing things like sending death threats to terfs (or any woman who is deemed to have "terfy" views) which seems directly comparable to what you are claiming here.

It took a second search to find Terfs encouraging violence against trans women.

I found similarly scant search results... but like I said, I'm willing to evaluate new evidence when I see it.

This post on Reddit (I recommend being careful, tw for violence) is of a screenshot of a Terf stating that “It is a shame that people cannot do this in America” the post contained a picture of a man seemingly attacking a trans-woman for using the bathroom where she was most comfortable to do so. The posts were made on Spinster, a “woman-centric” social media platform that was made by M.K. Fain, a known terf.

So... I'm honestly surprised you would link to that particular subreddit as evidence of anything. But I'll charitably ignore the source for now. What I see, as far as content, is a screenshot of an anon comment on a website. You claim that the comment must be from a terf. Why? 1) screenshots can be photoshopped. 2) Anyone can sign up for an account on sites like that.

Sorry, but this isn't convincing evidence to me. Even if it's real, it's not a death threat, it's not an incitement to violence. It could be "real" in the sense that some troll signed up to the Spinster site just to troll "as a terf". It's just a shitty anon comment. Of course I object to the sentiment behind it (see anti-violence disclaimer to follow)... but I don't believe it stands up as evidence to support your claims.

(aside: I don't want to make this post any longer than it is, but I noticed some not-very-nice comments from that link and collected them in a pastebin here )

Finally, I researched the actual murder case in question. All eight people arrested in connection with the homicide are men... not terfs.

(I'll include this disclaimer here, though I'm bummed out that I feel the need to be pre-emptive/defensive about it:

I am anti-violence. I condemn violence of all kinds. (See above: I'm a softy, not the punching type) I especially condemn murder and homicide, and I do not endorse eye-for-an-eye justice. I want less pain and hatred in the world, for everybody, even folks who disagree with me.

I believe "the Golden Rule" is called Golden for a reason... it's Key! end disclaimer.)

Not only that but I found many articles directly denying violence against trans people, that I won’t link because they were made by terfs for terfs and I do not want to give them a platform. By denying the violence trans people face you are encouraging it, telling the people who enact the violence that they won’t be punished for it.

Yes, "denying violence" sounds like a bad or at least ignorant thing to do. But how is it remotely equivalent to committing violent acts? Unfortunately, if I can't see the evidence, I can neither refute nor accept it.

Trans people have a shockingly high suicide rate, there is no denying it. This article talks about a Terf that targeted a suicidal trans woman to harass, as well as provides a link to an article about Cathy Brennan, one of many who try to directly prevent trans people from seeking medical help.

I read this, but I couldn't figure out the series of events it's describing. I looked around on my own, and found that it seems to be a response to an ongoing feud between Dana Taylor (author of the piece) and at least one other person. For instance, I found multiple blog posts from the "other side" which described Dana Taylor's participation in harrassment and doxxing campagins. Here's one person on twitter, describing their experience with being targeted:

I just googled myself and found this from 5 years ago which said I was going to be watched. I don't think they watched me.

source thread

That's just one example I found. There were many similar tweets and comments about doxxing involving the author of the link you gave. So I'm open to reading more about these incidents, if you have more links. If something bad happened, I would like to understand better. But right now, this at best looks like just one side of a multi-sided internet slapfight.

If you just listened to trans people you would hear story after story of them being attacked by terfs if you just paid more attention you would see them encouraging violence against trans people, and if you just cared a tiny bit more, you’d realize that trans people are human too.

I am listening, or at least I'm trying to listen by asking good-faith questions while trying not to be attacked for it. Are you doing the same, keeping an ear out for stories of terfs being attacked, and listening to their stories?

How would it make you feel if I said, "if you just cared a tiny bit more, you'd realize that terfs are human too." ?

Anyway, that’s the post thank you for being patient.

Same here. I want you to know that I truly appreciate your thorough reply and the time you spent on it.

[gratitudejoyandsorrow]

Strictly Professional

Summary: You recognized the problematic customers the second you saw them. Lin, however, took the cake with being the most memorable client you’ve ever had. (TattooArtist!Reader)

Paring: Lin x reader

Words: 4,428

A/N:Thank you to @strongenoughfoundation for being awesome and giving me tips for certain parts of the story (you’re the queen of dialogue)! Also, thank you to @how-could-i-do-this for proofreading (I’m glad i’m getting better at not switching tenses lol). I wrote this in celebration of my first tattoo lol! Thanks for reading!

Edit: @whenthingsgettoughdontpushmeaway - I remember you asking to be tagged when I posted. @buckybarneshairpullingkink - You already read it, but I didn’t forget (well, I did, but ya know lol)

“Is that him?” you mumbled to your coworker Liz as you emerged from your room to the front desk, watching the man that paced back and forth in front of the parlor.

You could always spot the first-timers the instant you looked at them. You could sense the excitement and nervousness rolling off them in waves, their bodies tense from the anticipation of the ink that would soon permanently mark their skin.

But him?

It was more like a tsunami of emotions, crashing and tumbling over his body as he questioned his decision to get a tattoo. You felt it before you even stepped foot into the same room as him.

“It’s so unfair that you always get the cute ones,” Liz whispered as she handed you his paperwork. She had an appointment in ten minutes, and with the piece being a fairly large and intricate one, she passed him off to you.

You rolled your eyes, ignoring her comment and scanned his papers, noting his name and birthdate. “Lin?” you called.

He spun on his heel at his name, his swift steps having him in front of the desk within seconds. “Hi, yes, that’s me,” he answered quickly.

You inwardly sighed, knowing exactly what kind of patron he was going to be: the spazz that spoke too much, asked too many questions, and would hold his breath until he turned blue. “My name is Y/N and I’ll be with you today. What kind of tattoo would you like Lin?” you asked, watching as he nervously drummed his fingers against the counter.

His eyes widened, looking at you disbelievingly. “You’re the one giving me the tattoo?”

The neck cramp that you got when you handled frustrating customers reared its ugly head. “Yes. This is a fairly small tattoo shop and you just happened to come in last minute, without an appointment…” you said slowly, narrowing your eyes and challenging him to say anything further.

“I didn’t expect someone that looked like you to give me a tattoo. I’ve always pictured a big, burly man and not a beautiful woman that…” Lin trailed off, sighing when he realized what an ass he must have sounded, “I’m just going to shut up now. Sorry.”

You were not amused. “So what would you like today?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper. “I want something like this,” he said as he smoothed it out on the counter, “I’m not exactly the artsy type but I wanted to give it a shot.”

You took it from him, curious. It was a rough sketch of a microphone with the wire looping around like a tail and seven lines that projected from the mouthpiece. Not too bad, you thought, surprised at his choice of tattoo. Judging by Lin’s straight-laced looks – hair cropped short, jeans, and a simple long-sleeved shirt – he didn’t seem like the type to get a piece such as this one. Hell, you were surprised that he was getting one in the first place.

You bit your cheek to hold back a laugh when you noticed that his eyes were shining with anticipation for your response. He reminded you of a puppy that successfully used the bathroom for the first time and was waiting patiently for their owner’s seal of approval.

“I’ve seen worse,” you hummed, the corners of your lips twitching upwards when you saw him visibly perk up, the theory of him being a puppy being further confirmed, “Follow me to my room and we can clean it up a bit.”

Lin eagerly nodded, practically bouncing with each step he took as he followed you to the back. When you instructed him to sit on your chair, he fidgeted, scanning the walls that had polaroids of the tattoos you’d done throughout your career. He barely lasted ten minutes before getting up to explore around the room, a clear sign that he was nervous and was trying to find something to occupy his mind while he waited.

“You did all this?” he asked in awe.

You didn’t look up from the transfer paper as you sketched out his tattoo. “Yup.”

“Have you been doing this for a long time?” he asked.

“Yup,” you replied, too busy working on the details of the microphone to answer him thoroughly.

“You’re still angry about my comment earlier, aren’t you?” he sheepishly asked as he walked over to you.

You look up from the sketch at his remorseful tone, concentration broken. “What now?”

“The thing I said about a woman giving me a tattoo,” he chuckled tensely, “I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I just think you’re really dope and intimidating and… I’m rambling. I’m nervous, sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s a natural reaction,” you said, returning your gaze to the stencil and making small adjustments, “there’s a stereotype in this field of work. Not a lot of people expect female artists.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean that it was okay for me to behave that way,” Lin answered genuinely.

You smiled at his sincerity, the twinge of annoyance that you felt earlier melting away. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” you said, taking another careful perusal of the stencil before you lifted it up to show him, “what do you think?”

He bent down to peer at the drawing over your shoulder. “It’s perfect,” he murmured, tracing the lines, “it’s exactly how I want it to be.”

“Great, so where would you like it?” you asked, smoothly scooting back to put some space between the two of you. He was way too close to your personal space and his presence caused your stomach to twist strangely.

He reached up to stroke the five-o-clock shadow on his face as he thought of the placement. “I think somewhere on my back would be a nice spot.”

“Take off your shirt and come sit down whenever you’re ready. We can figure out where exactly you want it.” you said, patting your tattoo chair. When he didn’t move, you looked at him. “What’s wrong? Are you getting cold feet?”

He straightened and shook his head, looking subdued. “No,” he murmured, “I just didn’t think getting my first tattoo would be like this.”

“You know, I was going to go easy on you,” you jested, “but make one more comment about a woman giving you your first tattoo and I might accidentally press a little harder with the gun than I’m supposed to.”

He sat on the chair and let out a low chuckle, reaching for the hem of his shirt to pull it off his body. “Ha. Funny. But please don’t.”

You barely registered a word he said, not when your eyes were too busy taking in his physique.

Ok-ay.

Lin’s clothes definitely didn’t do him justice. The loose long-sleeved shirt he wore failed to accentuate his broad shoulders and hid his defined biceps and forearms. A glimpse of his smooth, tattoo-free skin, made your hands tingle in anticipation to give him his first ink. When you met his eyes, they were twinkling with amusement.

“Turn around,” you said gruffly, hoping that he didn’t see the pink flush of your cheeks when he caught you checking him out.

Fortunately, he remained silent and followed your command.

“Any particular area you want it to go?” you asked, stepping forward and eyeing the expanse of his back.

He shrugged and the motion caused the muscles on his back to contract from the movement. You gripped the paper tightly in your hand, angry and confused at the stirrings of attraction that churned low in your belly. You mentally shook your head; he was a paying customer who trusted you to do your job and give him his first tattoo, not to ogle him.

“Maybe my shoulder?” he offered.

You placed the stencil against his left shoulder blade. “Here? Or on the other side?”

Lin paused as he thought it over. “Which one will hurt less?”

“It’s multiple needles repeatedly piercing your skin,” you deadpanned, “it’s going to hurt regardless.”

He chortled. “I guess there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of pain.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” You responded comfortingly.

“I’m sure. You must be very talented with your fingers,” he hummed, peeking over his shoulder to smirk at you.

You mirrored his smirk and wiggled your fingers at him. “Haven’t had a complaint yet. People leave satisfied every single time.”

The second the words came out your mouth, he sputtered. You realized what your words implicated and you quickly scrambled to take control of the situation. “I think your right shoulder would be a nice spot,” you mumbled, heart thundering against your chest at the newfound tension in the air. You could feel his gaze on you but chose to ignore him to press the stencil against his shoulder.

“I think so too,” he answered slowly.

“Great,” you said, reaching for the green soap to cleanse his skin. You applied the stencil, silent, not trusting yourself to speak. You stepped back and studied the piece, using for your marker to make small adjustments to the lines when you saw inconsistencies.

“Check it out,” you said once you were finished, giving him a handheld mirror to see the reflection of his tattoo on the full-bodied one, “and tell me if you want to change anything.”

You watched as he eyed the stencil, a smile slowly spreading across his face. “It’s amazing. I love it, Y/N.”

The shiver that went down your spine when he said your name did not go unnoticed. You let out a deep breath, trying to calm your frazzled mind.

Focus. Do your job.

He came back to the chair, peering at you as he waited for your next instructions. You cleared your throat and gave him a tight smile. “No complaints?”

He slyly returned your smile. “So far you’re true to your word.”

You snorted at his attempt to clear the air. “I aim to please.”

He cackled and you made a face of exasperation, but you couldn’t help but cave and join his laughter. “Alright, alright. Let’s get this show on the road,” you said, glad that the thick air of discomfort from your earlier remark was dissipated.   

He bit his lip and plopped down on the chair, facing away from you. You put on gloves and made quick work of setting up your equipment and gun, observing that he was back to being silent and fidgety. After another inspection of the tattoo, you cleansed his skin. “Are you ready?” you asked.

He let out a nervous chuckle. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright then, Lin! Stay perfectly still and breathe in through your nose and out your mouth,” you recited cheerfully, “and you can tell me to stop if you need a break.”

He nodded, breathing deeply, his shoulders tense from anticipation.

“And if you ask me to stop, I might have to laugh at you.” You teased, patting his shoulder to ease his worries.

“Aw come on, don’t say that,” he groaned, resting his chin on the chair to make himself comfortable.

You laughed and grabbed your tattoo gun, dipping the tip into the black ink. “Here we go,” you sang, letting the familiar energy of tattooing someone course through your veins and allowing it to start your creative practice. The first touch of the gun against his skin caused him to loudly exhale and you smile, relishing the sound and knowing that he was going to make it out of the session without a hitch. You understood the thrill of exhilaration all too well, the feeling so addictive that it was the reason why you had two full sleeves of tattoos and were in the career you were in.

“Oh, this isn’t bad at all,” Lin breathed when you stopped to wipe the ink that spilled from his skin.

“What’d I tell you,” you replied, grinning when you imagined his eyes widening from his realization, “I’ve got the magic touch.”

“You must think I’m a dork for freaking out so much,” he said, raising his voice over the buzz of the tattoo gun.

You snorted, keeping your eyes trained on his skin as you followed the smooth curve of the mouthpiece of the microphone. His hand that was resting on his knee clenched, and you paused to wipe away more ink and to give him a chance to recuperate. “Any plans for the rest of your day, Lin?” you asked, hoping that the routine question would distract him from the pain.

“I have a show tonight at Joe’s Pub,” he quipped, letting out a soft grunt when you began to shade in the microphone.

“A show?” you repeated, curiosity piqued.

“Yeah, I’m part of an improv rap group. It’s the reason why I’m getting this tattoo, actually.”

“I’m sorry, what did you just say? An improv rap group?” you echoed, your eyebrows shooting up to your hairline from your surprise.

“That’s exactly what I said,” he said, the inflection in his voice suggesting that he was holding back the urge to laugh, “We’re called Freestyle Love Supreme and we take random words from the audience and make a rap about it.”

You paused and took a swipe of the ink that bled from his skin. “That’s… actually pretty fucking cool, Lin,” you said sincerely, pleasantly surprised. They must be good to warrant a show in one of the most popular pubs in town.

“Thanks. It’s a fun gig and I get to do it with my best buds. I can’t really ask for more.” He answered, voice laced with reverence.  

You stayed mute, soaking in the information you’d been given as you focused on finishing the shading for the tattoo. Perhaps there was more to Lin than the overexcited, speak-before-you-think puppy than you thought?

“All of us have a variation of the same tattoo,” Lin explained, continuing on despite your silence, “all I need is one mic…”

“One beat, one stage.”

The chorus of your voices finishing the lyric caused you to halt in surprise.

Lin, taking opportunity of the break, twisted around to give you a look. “Nas?”

You nod, swallowing thickly. “Nas.”

You were suddenly overwhelmed with emotions, memories flooding in from your childhood where you spent your days with your older brother bathing in the lyrics of rap gods.  Your best moments were him sneaking you off in the late hours of the night, driving around Bennett Park and blasting Big Pun tapes and marveling over Nas’ Stillmatic album.  You met Lin’s gaze, breath catching when you saw the fondness that laid in the brown depths of his eyes. Your earlier assumptions about him were now completely shattered, the shards of your criticisms embedding themselves deep into your gut and twisting as you acknowledged for the first time that you were attracted to him.

Warning alarms blared in your head, but you couldn’t help but return his soft smile. You’d learned early in your career that divulging in stories about your life rather than listening to the clients would lead to misunderstandings of feelings, especially with the male persuasion. “My brother was a huge fan,” you answered, breaking a rule that you’ve created.

“He has an excellent taste in music,” Lin replied, “Nas is one of my biggest inspirations.”

You blinked, taking in his impossibly long lashes, the alluring slopes of his lips, and sharp, defined nose that suddenly caused your heart to flutter in delight. “A brilliant man that is worthy of people’s admiration,” you agreed, trying to keep your voice calm.

“Cosigned,” he laughed, leaning forward into the chair, harshly reminding you that he was a client, “can we discuss Illmatic, please?”

You squashed the attraction you felt and focused on finishing his tattoo. “I’m afraid that we have only a short time left together, Lin. I’d hate to be half-assed when discussing that masterpiece,” you said, mentally adding that it would be dangerous territory if you did. You had a feeling that the more you uncovered his layers, the more your attraction towards him would grow.

“If you didn’t have me swooning before, you definitely have me doing it now,” Lin murmured.

You pursed your lips, heart leaping up to your throat. You wisely chose to remain silent, finishing up the lines that projected from the mic. “Well that’s that,” you sighed when you finished, scooting back to reach for the sanitizer to clean his new tattoo, “want to take a look at it?”

He turned, and you didn’t miss the long look he gave you before he took the mirror you offered to him. He shuffled towards it, his mouth dropping open as he inspected the ink. “Holy shit, I love it,” he cursed, slightly jumping up in celebration, “I can’t believe I got a fucking tattoo!” He threw his head back and laughed, running his hand down his face in amazement. He spun on his heel and strode towards you, grinning from ear to ear.

You reached for the camera you tucked in one of the cabinets in your room. You motioned to him to turn and you snapped a picture of the microphone, taking the polaroid and placing it to the side to let it develop. “Congrats, you’re not a dork anymore,” you teased, changing your gloves before you bandaged him up.

“Ah, so you did think I was a dork,” he cackled as he bent his knees so you could reach his shoulder.

You shook your head, applying the bandage and sealing it with tape. “Leave this on for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of eight. Make sure you wash it with lukewarm water and with antibacterial soap. Pat it dry, don’t rub. Use unscented healing ointment and lotion and make sure to be gentle when you apply it.”

“Yes ma’am,” he saluted.

You folded your arms across your chest. “I’m serious. I don’t want you coming back with a bloody and infected tattoo.”

“Not a pleasant sight,” he winced, “I’ll make sure to take care of it.”

“Good,” you said, tossing your gloves and looking at the developed picture on your desk. You smiled, writing the date down and the words “Nas” as the caption. When you showed Lin the picture, the tender look on his face made your heart skip a beat.

“Not only am I making it to your wall of fame, but I’m also the first that is worthy enough of a caption?” he asked, softly smiling.

“Everyone gets to go on my wall,” you replied dismissively, purposely choosing not to address the second part of his comment, “now let’s go up to the front.”

His shoulders slumped in disappointment when you turned to tuck the picture in your back pocket before heading to the front of the parlor. The silence was deafening and your footsteps felt heavy. It was strange really – appearance wise, Lin was not your type, but from what you’d been privy to during your short time with him, you found yourself changing your mind.  His mannerisms and self-awareness were very endearing, and even more so, you craved to know more about his tastes in music.

The front desk was empty, the buzzing of the tattoo gun coming from Liz’s room a sign that she was still busy with her session. “It’ll be sixty dollars,” you said, stepping behind the desk.

He fished out a hundred-dollar bill and a glossy piece of paper from his wallet and slid them towards you. “Keep it, it’s all yours. You did a great job. Thank you, Y/N.”

You lifted the paper and inspected it, mouth opening in surprise. “Is this a ticket to your show?”

His tongue swiped out to lick the bottom of his lip before he spoke. “You should come out and see the show tonight. I think you’d like it.” He peered at you through his lashes, eyes gleaming with hope.

“I.. Why are you carrying tickets around? And I don’t… I can’t take this, Lin.” You breathed, fumbling over your words at his kind gesture.

“I kept it as a souvenir, but I want you to have it,” he answered, pushing the ticket back toward you when you tried to hand it back to him, “I’d like to see you out in the crowd tonight.”

Your head throbbed when you locked eyes with him, the meaning of his words clear as day. Heat crept up your neck and your knees felt weak, knowing the attraction was there, but damn it, you couldn’t. He was probably feeling sentimental, the rush of adrenaline and the trust he gave to you for his first tattoo causing him to form some type of attachment. It’s not like you drew the line either – your conversations with him weren’t exactly the most appropriate for a professional.

The bell attached to the door chimed and you looked up to see a group of girls nervously giggling and stumbling inside. “It was nice meeting you, Lin,” you said, holding up your hand for him to shake, “and good luck tonight.”

The warmth of his rough palm against yours was maddening, the heat spreading from your hand to the rest of your body. You lost track of how long you stared into his eyes as you shook his hand, spell-bound. A cough from behind Lin broke your trance and you jerked your hand back, stunned.

He gave you a tiny smile. “Have a good rest of the night, Y/N.”

And so you were left staring at his back, feeling empty with a forty-dollar tip and ticket in hand.

“I think you should go,” Liz chirped from the stool she perched in your room as she watched you clean.

You sighed and inwardly rolled your eyes. You should have never told her what happened with Lin; the last few hours had been spent with her giving you a list of reasons why you should go to the show.

“He was really cute, Y/N,” she repeated for what felt like the millionth time, “besides, there’s nothing wrong with dating a client.”

You glared at her. “For you, maybe,” you growl, “but that’s strictly against my rules. It’s taboo.”

“Oh please,” she waved off, “doesn’t that make a relationship more exciting?”

You laughed, astounded by her boldness. “If I did go, it would be over anyways. The show started at eight and it’s ten o’clock.”

“It’s a pub. They close at 2 A.M., I’m sure he’ll still be there,” she said, crossing her legs.

You shook your head as you finished cleaning up your space. Ever since Lin left, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. How was he as a performer? Did he bounce around the stage, spitting random nonsense left and right? He was too expressive, too energetic to not be. You sigh, plopping down on your seat. “He was cute, wasn’t he?”

She leaned forward, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Very, very, cute.”

“Nice try, but no way. It’s time to go home,” you laughed, getting up and grabbing your purse.

She pouts, getting up to help you close the shop.

“You’re no fun.”

You tightly clutched your steering wheel, the neon sign of Joe’s Pub shining down on your dashboard.

What the hell were you doing?

For some ungodly reason, you decided to take the long way home after work. It wasn’t because you’d have to drive by Joe’s Pub. Of course not. Not at all.

You leaned your forehead against your steering wheel, hoping the cool surface would knock some sense into your system. You were stupid, you didn’t know why you decided to veer off the road and pull into the lone parking space left in front of the pub. It all happened within seconds, and the blinking neon lights were mocking your indecisiveness to leave your car.

You just needed a sign.

A sign to throw caution to the air and say “fuck it”, to march inside the pub and tell Lin that you thought he was not a dork and that he was adorably cute. You wanted to know which Nas song was his favorite, how he felt about the beef between him and Jay-Z, and most of all, you wanted him to keep surprising you with all of the new things you discovered about him. You let out an unbelieving laugh.  How was it possible to feel so strongly about someone you just met?

A soft knock on your window pulled you out of your thoughts.

There’s your sign, the universe whispered.

Lin was standing in front of your window.

Your breath caught, and with trembling hands, you returned his wave. He stepped back as you scrambled out of your car. Your chest felt tight –  the feelings of bewilderment and yearning ballooning your heart to impossible degrees. “I can’t believe I’m here,” were the first words out of your mouth, “I usually don’t get involved with clients, but there’s something about you that I can’t seem to shake off.”

He stepped forward, invading your space, but this time you didn’t move away and welcomed the heat that blossomed from your stomach. The tension in the air was thick, the attraction wrapping around you two like a blanket, and you reveled in it.

“I usually don’t get involved with my tattoo artist either,” he joked.

“Shut up. Shut up and kiss me,” you demanded.

You didn’t know who moved first, but the instant your mouths collided, sealing together, you didn’t care. His pillowy lips were moving against yours, hands reaching up to dig into your hair to pull you closer, and the first touch of his tongue against yours caused you to groan in delight. You reached up and wound your arms around his neck, hugging him tighter against your body.

He let out a grunt, drawing back with a wince, effectively cutting off the kiss. “Ouch. My shoulder is sore.”

You let out a girlish giggle, pulling away from him. “Advil will help with that.”

“But I think the company of a beautiful girl while we talk about Illmatic is a better therapy.” Lin beamed.

You took his outstretched hand, waving goodbye to the ship of professionalism burning and sinking behind you, and let him lead you into the pub.

Just this once, you were going to risk breaking all the rules.

A quick glance at Lin from the corner of your eye made you smile.

You didn’t have a single doubt that it was going to be worth it.

[wiccanwyverngw2]

Glyph’s beginnings

This is my first time posting something I’ve written on here so hope you guys like it! This is just a little thing of recordings his mother, Vivi, did during the first month or so that he was living with them after being rescued from the inquest. Hopefully it makes sense you you all.

28th of Zephyr 1323ae 

Things have certainly gotten...interesting in our household once again. My wife and I woke up to a pounding on the door that turned out to be a small group of peacemakers saying we needed to come with them. We were terrified of course thinking that something had happened to Dizz but no he was still sound asleep all furry limbs and ears. He’s still such an adorable little fox.

They wouldn’t give us any details claiming that it was confidential and couldn’t be said out in the open. We left a message on the caretaker golem for Dizz when he woke up and followed them into the prison, still terrified the whole time. Heh I’ve still got little marks on my arm from how my flower was holding on so tight. We thought for sure we were going to be thrown into those cells for our research.

No it wasn’t anything so harsh. When we got there we were taken to a more secluded area where the captain was waiting for us. That’s where we got our answer. Mara saw him first. There behind the containment field was a small asura no older than Dizz maybe younger. Poor little thing was pressed as far as he could into the corner of the cell and was shaking so hard you could make it out from a distance. 

Mara, the dear, went straight to the cell to try and comfort the progeny and I doubt she heard a thing the captain said afterwards. 

He went on to explain that they had just completed a late night raid on an inquest outpost out in Kessex due to suspicion of them being involved in an influx of illegal asuran made weapons in the hands of the local bandits. They found their weapons but as they were clearing out the lab they found the progeny in a cell there. None of them had the heart to leave him there despite being a genetic experiment. 

It really was obvious. He had a beautiful pair of wings that he was hiding behind, or at least they could be beautiful. Even through the field I could see bald patches in the feathers and it almost looked like he was still going through his adult molt given all the white down. 

They knew about our experiment, honestly I can’t see Dizz as anything other than my son at this point. He is as much as an asura as anyone in that room. I’m getting off topic. Point is that they were going to put him in our care to see what could be done with him since we have experience.

Now Mara and I were both shocked by this to say the least. I mean they were asking us to adopt a progeny just like that? That sort of thing takes a lot of planning! It was obvious though that the captain saw the little puffball as nothing more than another creature to study. Honestly the guy was talking about him like he wasn’t even in the room! 

Off track again. We couldn’t say no of course so agreed. We didn’t know his name or if he even had one. We do know his identification code though, G-121, and he seemed to respond to that. He let us lead him out of the cell following us obediently with such a downtrodden expression and posture my heart really went out and I just wanted to hug him so, but I couldn’t with all those peacemakers around and that much contact might be too much at once for the little bird.

He’s home with us now in a spare room we quickly put together.I keep catching Dizz staring at the door. Sweet little fox wants to play with the new kid, soon Dizzy right now he needs to rest and adjust.

35th of zephyr 1323ae

G-121 has been with us for a week now, just a note if you happen to listen to these recordings in the future neither of us see you as just an experiment to run. You are our child now, but the higher ups want updates and they prefer to keep things professional and detached. I shouldn’t be saying this stuff on the recording. I'll have to edit that out or record a new one for the bosses.

All that aside we were able to examine G-121 without sedation. The delay was to ensure that the findings weren’t obscured by the readjustment period. In the interim he’s been isolated in his room with the exception of when Mara or myself comes in to give him food and to attempt to speak to him. On a side note he has pulled all the bedding we provided off the bed and made it into a nest on the floor that he seems to prefer to sleep on. Guess that’s the bird instincts kicking in.

He also doesn’t like taking food unless we take a bite of it first. I suspect from having his food drugged to see how he reacts. He does eat everything afterwards but still hasn’t spoken and still flinches if we move too fast or towards him.

On to the topic of today. We did just a cursory physical and initial photos today not wanting to risk traumatizing him further with scans and machines just yet. Once we got that old rag of a gown he had been wearing off, and incinerated after giving him better clothes that thing was gag inducing, we discovered that he was very thin to the point that his ribs and spine was easily visible. We’ll be upping his portions starting now. The going theory is that he’s inherited the faster bird metabolism from whatever species he is.

On that note it would be much easier to adjust for his needs if we knew what he was crossed with, but the council is blocking our attempts to gain access to the inquests notes on this if there even are any and they weren’t destroyed in the raid. Honestly it’s stuff like this that makes me realize just how incompitent the peacemakers and council can be and- ... There’s another bit to edit out.

Anyway you’ll find the aforementioned photos attached to this message. You’ll notice on the close up photographs of his wings there are several bald spots surrounded by newer downy feathers. I showed them to a colleague under the guise of having discovered a mismanaged griffin. He suggested they could be caused by stress plucking, which makes sense given all the feathers in his nest. We will try and provide him with a bit more to entertain himself with to keep him from continuing to pluck. One of those feathers is currently going through a sequencer so that we can figure out what he was crossed with to continue forwards.

Dizz has not been allowed to see G-121 just yet. He still flinches and winces whenever he hears Dizz running by or calling for one of us. Sweet little fox is already wanting to meet and play with his ‘brother’ it’s wonderful he’s already referring to him as such. Can’t really blame him he’s not really able to play with- I need to stop rambling and keep professional. It’s hard though when you’re talking about your progeny. Dizzy is just too naturally hyper and hasn’t learned to slow down just yet.

41th of Zephyr 1323ae

Unless something happens to warrant it I’m just going to keep these reports weekly. There’s really no need for daily reports.

Over the course of the week we got the results back and discovered my little lie was only a partial one. Turns out he is a griffin cross. Northern featherwing to be specific. With that in mind we have been able to better tailor his diet and we have seen a marked improvement since. G-121 still refuses to talk to us but is beginning to gain weight and energy. It’s not uncommon for us to find him walking around the room or even playing with the toys we’ve provided, but once we enter the room he stops what he’s doing and he loses that spark again almost like he thinks if we see him enjoying something we’ll take it away. I shudder to think how he was being treated before but he doesn’t want to talk about it and neither of us are going to force him.

45th of Zephyr 1323ae

This recording starts out differently. There are two voices talking from a distance.

“That last lightning strike must have hit the generator.”

“That was some surge I’ll go check on that you go check on Dizz you know how he gets when it storms.”

“Okay I’ll let you know how he’s doing be careful out there.”

The sound of footsteps fades off in the distance before coming back a few moments later more like running at this point. 

“Dizz! Dizzy?! Oh I hope he didn’t blink outside again. He hasn’t gotten a handle on that yet.”

The sound of a door being opened close to the recording followed by the recorder being picked up. “Isn’t that just the cutest picture ever. Vivi is going to love seeing this. Sleep well you two.”

48th of Zephyr 1323ae

Mara should we keep what was picked up during the storm? You’re better at these things than me. So during the inclement weather that rolled in a couple nights ago it appears that Dizz got spooked by the thunder and accidentally blinked into G-121’s room. We hadn’t planned on introducing them to each other until next week but it seems that the eternal alchemy had other plans. 

They’ve been nearly inseparable ever since that night. Dizz is so high energy being crossed with a fennec fox gave him the boundless energy the species is known for, but he has been so patient with G-121. He tells us that G was scared of the thunder as well so they hid together in G’s nest. Should we include the photo, hun? I’ll leave that up to you.

Since they joined forces G has been more lively then ever and hides behind Dizz rather than retreating into his own mind. I suspect it’s where Dizz is a genetic test as well that he feels a kinship with him that he doesn’t with us. He’s also started responding to questions more readily. Only head nods but progress. Right now they’re in Dizzy’s room playing with Fizz. 

Maybe we should get G a pet as well, dear. I’m sure a griffin hatchling would make him feel more at home. I’m going off track again.

Despite this speed up in the plan he’s still making steady progress. Gaining weight and beginning to show signs of growing new feathers. A good sign I was so hoping he would grow his flight feathers back. I truly can’t wait to see the day those gorgeous burgundy wings of his can carry him over the cube and off to wherever he feels like. Completely free as well...well as a bird. 55 Zephyr 1323ae G spoke to us! For the first time since he came to us he’s begun speaking. He’s got a very quiet voice and it’s raspy from not using it for so long but he did it! Him and Dizz were playing a game and we came in to ask if they wanted something to snack on. Instead of his usual nodding he looked up and told us “yes” It felt like Dizz saying his first word all over again it was such a surprise. 

He continued later today while we were eating our evening meal. Everyone has just been referring to him as G but we told him some time ago that if he ever wanted us to call him something else to tell us. While we were eating he said he wanted to be called Glyph. Little sweetie got so embarrassed while telling us his ears were red it was just the cutest sight. That’s one less hurdle to get over but he’s not free just yet. Now that he has a way to communicate he can begin his schooling and we need to run some more extensive tests to get a better look at what other mutations he might possess. Glyph should trust us enough now that we can get him into a scanner without him completely breaking down. 63 Zephyr 1323ae The scans went as well as expected. He held it together long enough to get it done but broke down as soon as he was out and clung to us the rest of the day. We’ve had to stop him a couple times when we caught him starting to pluck again. The machinery brought back some bad memories for him but it was something we had to do. That reminds me I forgot to mention that his wings have fully healed from his confinement and he now has a full feather coat again. Included in this message you’ll find the results of the scans, as you can see, there are changes to the shape of his eyes and the structures within indicative of those of a hawk. We believe from this and from observing him that Glyph can see much farther than with much better clarity than an average asura. We also can see a decrease in olfactory receptors so it seems he doesn’t have as great a sense of smell. Those seem to be the biggest changes in his senses.

The greatest changes are in his muscular and skeletal system. If you look you can see entirely new muscle groups across his chest, back, and shoulders that power his wings. This leads to what I think is the most troubling change he went through. His bones are hollow and honeycombed like a bird’s. This is great for allowing him to get aloft but I worry about what this could mean for him as anyone who knows anything about progeny knows about their propensity to hurting themselves.

That reminds me he’s starting to show signs of trying to fly. He’s flapping his wings when he’s playing with Dizz and chasing him around the lab or holding onto something and flapping them quickly much like fledgling birds will do when they’re stretching and strengthening their muscles to leave the nest. We’re planning on taking him out of the city to let both of them get some air and see if that assists him in getting airborne. Mara make sure to bring the aetheric recorder. I want to make sure to catch his first flight. 73 Zephyr 1323ae He flew! Glyph was actually flying! Oh alchemy you won’t believe how incredible it felt to see his feet leave the ground like that! He was laughing and was happier than I’d ever seen him since he came to be in our care. Both Mara and I were crying we were so happy for him when he picked himself up off the ground after landing and hugged both of us before he ran off to go again. Sure it wasn’t the most graceful first flight or landing, more of a powered glide really but he did it! Our precious bird is in his element now. I wonder if griffin parents feel this proud when their chicks fledge for the first time.

That being said I think this will be my last scheduled record of his progress. At this point anything the council wants to know they will be able to get from his school records. He is making good progress in catching up and will soon be on the same homeschooling schedule as Dizz. Glyph has come a long way in his recovery. He still has a long way to go and it will likely take him a lifetime to recover from what he went through, but we’ll be with him every step of the way. Sincerely, Mara and Vivi 40 colossus 1333 ae

Hey Moms. I found these old recordings in storage and since they had my name on them I listened to them. Hope you don’t mind my curiosity got the better of me. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for everything. You didn’t have to agree to take me in and raise me as one of your own, but you did. Thank you for everything you did for me. You were the first to treat me like an actual asura not just an animal to be studied. You let me be me and for that I’m forever grateful. Maybe one day you’ll take these back out and hear this. I love you both so much. Glyph

[anycontentposter]

$200 vs $4,000 Camera: Is Your Phone Good Enough for Travel Photography?

Sensor image quality has advanced so much over the last few years that phone manufacturers are boasting photographs that rival those from larger mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Some, like the Xiaomi Mi CC9 at 108 megapixels, quadruple the resolution of my best camera.

The iPhone 11 Pro and Google Pixel 4 have incredible night mode capabilities using imaging algorithm and stabilization that’s comparable to the high ISO capabilities of my Sony Alpha. Most of them shoot 4K video at 60 FPS. Between using Filmic Pro for film and Snapseed for photos, I have more options than ever with what tools I choose to shoot with.

And that’s just it. Options.

As a photographer and filmmaker, I don’t feel anxious that phones are allowing more people to produce footage that is comparable to my bigger and more expensive set-ups. In fact, I feel better knowing that on days in which I don’t feel like lugging my gear around or even taking my camera out to capture some food photography, I have the option of producing something that is high quality and sometimes indistinguishable from the images coming out of my Sony a7 III.

Comparing iPhone 7 Vs Sony a7S II Images

And I want to prove that using two photographs I took using my Sony a7S II and iPhone 7 (both are 12-megapixel cameras, both a few years old) a couple of years back in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. At the time, I didn’t plan on doing a comparison — I just happened to take the image first on my phone before pulling out my camera to get the shot with a slower exposure.

While resorting through my images recently, I came across the two images side by side when I did a batch edit and noticed that they came out differently (JPEGs don’t respond to the same changes as RAW files). Out of curiosity, I spent about 5 minutes to see if I could make the images similar.

The results were interesting. In fact, they were getting so close than I spent another 5 minutes to spot edit a few things to see if I can make them indistinguishable.

Here are the two photos:

How long did it take you to figure out which was shot on the iPhone 7 and which was shot on the Sony a7S II? How did you figure it out and are you correct? I’ll reveal the answer a few paragraphs down.

Did I Edit The Images?

Quite a bit. The process of creating a photograph is different for everyone and has only ever been limited by the tools that we have access to, whether be it in a physical darkroom or today in Adobe’s Lightroom (and Photoshop). Personally, I do most of my image editing in Lightroom. It’s fast, allows me to do most of the manipulation I want, and I can batch edit a bunch of similar images.

For these two images, I played around quite a bit with the white balance temperature, colors, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, curves, clarity, texture, and dehaze. The Sony a7S II image was slightly wider at 24mm on a full-frame sensor, so I cropped it some to match the iPhone’s field of view and I cropped the iPhone into a 2×3 aspect ratio to match with the Sony image.

Below are the edited images next to their originals.

Comparison With The Original Images

In the Sony a7S II original, you can more details in the cloud and the overall colors, tone, and contrast of the image are different from the edited version. I shot this with the Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM lens at .8 sec shutter speed, f/22, and ISO 100. The slightly slower shutter speed allows me to blur the movements of water just a bit. I was kicking myself for not bringing any graduated or ND filters to allow me to shoot even slower than this and to retain the details in the cloud.

In the iPhone 7 version, the first noticeable difference was the completely blown highlights in the cloud. The phone camera also exposed it a bit darker and warmer than a7S II. Other than that, the details are very similar and, in fact, the overall image is sharper than the Sony a7S II because there was some accidental motion micro-shake with the a7S II. The iPhone image was taken at 1/120 sec, f/1.8, and ISO 20.

For both, I added a gradient filter from the top down over the mountains to blow out all the clouds completely and went negative on the dehaze and clarity to add a soft glow to the top of the mountains. This effect ultimately hid the shortcomings of the iPhone sensor with not being able to capture the same dynamic range that a Sony RAW file can.

Below are two cropped views to give you a sense of detail.

iPhone 7 Sony a7S II

Like I mentioned earlier, shooting at .8 sec on a travel tripod standing on a windy bridge created some unwanted shake in the a7S II image. On the iPhone image, the detail is pretty sharp, and sometimes almost too sharp for me. To compensate for that, I dialed down the texture a bit to de-sharpen the image.

You can click here for the iPhone and here for the Sony to download higher resolution versions of the two images for pixel peeping if that’s your thing.

So did you guess correctly above? The a7S II was the first (top) one. Congratulations if you guessed it right. For me, it’s still hard when I look at them side by side, but the giveaway would have been the blurred movement in the water from the slower exposure.

Is Your Phone Good Enough For Travel Photography?

The short answer is yes. With careful composition and exposure, you can take spectacular photographs with your phone. With all the new phones sporting multiple cameras and crazy imaging algorithms to produce some high-quality images, you have a lot more features at your disposal with the device that you’ll always have on you.

With the iPhone 11 Pro, you can even get some beautiful portraits with some nice optically-produced bokeh at a tighter focal length. For landscapes, you can throw on a wide adapter and match the super-wide field of view of my widest camera lens. Even without it, you’re getting a pretty wide image.

With the Snapseed and Lightroom app on your mobile OS, you can edit images even quicker than on your laptop/desktop software. It’s crazy how fast I can create an image out of Snapseed and send/share it right away. I’m finding myself content with shooting on my iPhone a lot more than I was in the past. Even when I’m not, sometimes I’ll send the images from my camera to my phone and do an edit there for social media instead of waiting to load it onto my computer.

Ultimately, as far as photographs go, I believe the content of a good, compelling image will outweigh its technical specs, always. As a photographer and archivist, I want to have the best quality that I can get. When it comes to sharing, most content is consumed on mobile devices where you can hardly appreciate the qualities of a 50-megapixel camera. You probably can’t tell the difference between a 24- and 12-megapixel camera because of the relatively low image sizes that are uploaded and further compressed before viewing.

In other words, as long as an image looks good, most people won’t care about the megapixel count or even what camera it was taken with.

As far as video, which I will go into detail in a separate post, most cameras now shoot 4K 60 FPS, which will allow you to create some beautiful slow-motion footage. Using the Filmic Pro app, I have more control over my settings and have used footage shot from my phone mixed in with my a7S II footage.

The answer is basically yes, you can use your phone for travel photography.

Is The End Near For Professional Cameras?

Absolutely not. While I used this example to illustrate what you can do with a camera phone image (and not even the latest iPhone which is far better than the iPhone 7 camera), a lot of post-processing and artistic intent went into the final image. With the a7S II, I was able to shoot at a wider angle that I preferred (and even wider if I put on my 16-35mm lens). The built-in cameras are still limited in what focal lengths you can shoot with (although with all the triple and quad camera systems, that might change soon).

Mirrorless and DSLR cameras will, for the most part, still produce better images out of the camera than your phone, and allow you more flexibility with interchangeable lenses. For images with more shallow depth of field, the bokeh created digitally is currently not as good as the optical bokeh you get from different lenses. I will almost always shoot with my camera if I want to shoot portraits.

I also prefer the RAW images that come out of my cameras, which gives me more latitude to make fine adjustments. I’ve seen some amazing edits and composites from artists using JPEG images, so I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it’s just a little easier for me to have more data and detail to work with in my edit.

Ultimately, both my Sony (currently a7 III) camera and iPhone (currently XR) are tools, and I always process the images to create a final image that I envision and want to share. Learning your tools is the best way to get the most of your images and constantly relearning is the only way I’ve found to get better and not get stale.

These are all personal preferences, so how you look at it might be different, but it’s certainly interesting for me to see how far camera phone images have come since I first took a photo with my Sony Clie UX-50 PDA.

About the author: Kien Lam is an international photographer and filmmaker based in San Francisco. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. He runs whereandwander.com and believes in living for those moments that make the best stories, told or untold. He is working through his bucket list and wants to help others do the same. You can find more of his photos on Instagram. This article was also published here.

Read more about this at petapixel.com

https://coolarticlespinner.com/200-vs-4000-camera-is-your-phone-good-enough-for-travel-photography/

[anycontentposter]

$200 vs $4,000 Camera: Is Your Phone Good Enough for Travel Photography?

Sensor image quality has advanced so much over the last few years that phone manufacturers are boasting photographs that rival those from larger mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Some, like the Xiaomi Mi CC9 at 108 megapixels, quadruple the resolution of my best camera.

The iPhone 11 Pro and Google Pixel 4 have incredible night mode capabilities using imaging algorithm and stabilization that’s comparable to the high ISO capabilities of my Sony Alpha. Most of them shoot 4K video at 60 FPS. Between using Filmic Pro for film and Snapseed for photos, I have more options than ever with what tools I choose to shoot with.

And that’s just it. Options.

As a photographer and filmmaker, I don’t feel anxious that phones are allowing more people to produce footage that is comparable to my bigger and more expensive set-ups. In fact, I feel better knowing that on days in which I don’t feel like lugging my gear around or even taking my camera out to capture some food photography, I have the option of producing something that is high quality and sometimes indistinguishable from the images coming out of my Sony a7 III.

Comparing iPhone 7 Vs Sony a7S II Images

And I want to prove that using two photographs I took using my Sony a7S II and iPhone 7 (both are 12-megapixel cameras, both a few years old) a couple of years back in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. At the time, I didn’t plan on doing a comparison — I just happened to take the image first on my phone before pulling out my camera to get the shot with a slower exposure.

While resorting through my images recently, I came across the two images side by side when I did a batch edit and noticed that they came out differently (JPEGs don’t respond to the same changes as RAW files). Out of curiosity, I spent about 5 minutes to see if I could make the images similar.

The results were interesting. In fact, they were getting so close than I spent another 5 minutes to spot edit a few things to see if I can make them indistinguishable.

Here are the two photos:

How long did it take you to figure out which was shot on the iPhone 7 and which was shot on the Sony a7S II? How did you figure it out and are you correct? I’ll reveal the answer a few paragraphs down.

Did I Edit The Images?

Quite a bit. The process of creating a photograph is different for everyone and has only ever been limited by the tools that we have access to, whether be it in a physical darkroom or today in Adobe’s Lightroom (and Photoshop). Personally, I do most of my image editing in Lightroom. It’s fast, allows me to do most of the manipulation I want, and I can batch edit a bunch of similar images.

For these two images, I played around quite a bit with the white balance temperature, colors, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, curves, clarity, texture, and dehaze. The Sony a7S II image was slightly wider at 24mm on a full-frame sensor, so I cropped it some to match the iPhone’s field of view and I cropped the iPhone into a 2×3 aspect ratio to match with the Sony image.

Below are the edited images next to their originals.

Comparison With The Original Images

In the Sony a7S II original, you can more details in the cloud and the overall colors, tone, and contrast of the image are different from the edited version. I shot this with the Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM lens at .8 sec shutter speed, f/22, and ISO 100. The slightly slower shutter speed allows me to blur the movements of water just a bit. I was kicking myself for not bringing any graduated or ND filters to allow me to shoot even slower than this and to retain the details in the cloud.

In the iPhone 7 version, the first noticeable difference was the completely blown highlights in the cloud. The phone camera also exposed it a bit darker and warmer than a7S II. Other than that, the details are very similar and, in fact, the overall image is sharper than the Sony a7S II because there was some accidental motion micro-shake with the a7S II. The iPhone image was taken at 1/120 sec, f/1.8, and ISO 20.

For both, I added a gradient filter from the top down over the mountains to blow out all the clouds completely and went negative on the dehaze and clarity to add a soft glow to the top of the mountains. This effect ultimately hid the shortcomings of the iPhone sensor with not being able to capture the same dynamic range that a Sony RAW file can.

Below are two cropped views to give you a sense of detail.

iPhone 7 Sony a7S II

Like I mentioned earlier, shooting at .8 sec on a travel tripod standing on a windy bridge created some unwanted shake in the a7S II image. On the iPhone image, the detail is pretty sharp, and sometimes almost too sharp for me. To compensate for that, I dialed down the texture a bit to de-sharpen the image.

You can click here for the iPhone and here for the Sony to download higher resolution versions of the two images for pixel peeping if that’s your thing.

So did you guess correctly above? The a7S II was the first (top) one. Congratulations if you guessed it right. For me, it’s still hard when I look at them side by side, but the giveaway would have been the blurred movement in the water from the slower exposure.

Is Your Phone Good Enough For Travel Photography?

The short answer is yes. With careful composition and exposure, you can take spectacular photographs with your phone. With all the new phones sporting multiple cameras and crazy imaging algorithms to produce some high-quality images, you have a lot more features at your disposal with the device that you’ll always have on you.

With the iPhone 11 Pro, you can even get some beautiful portraits with some nice optically-produced bokeh at a tighter focal length. For landscapes, you can throw on a wide adapter and match the super-wide field of view of my widest camera lens. Even without it, you’re getting a pretty wide image.

With the Snapseed and Lightroom app on your mobile OS, you can edit images even quicker than on your laptop/desktop software. It’s crazy how fast I can create an image out of Snapseed and send/share it right away. I’m finding myself content with shooting on my iPhone a lot more than I was in the past. Even when I’m not, sometimes I’ll send the images from my camera to my phone and do an edit there for social media instead of waiting to load it onto my computer.

Ultimately, as far as photographs go, I believe the content of a good, compelling image will outweigh its technical specs, always. As a photographer and archivist, I want to have the best quality that I can get. When it comes to sharing, most content is consumed on mobile devices where you can hardly appreciate the qualities of a 50-megapixel camera. You probably can’t tell the difference between a 24- and 12-megapixel camera because of the relatively low image sizes that are uploaded and further compressed before viewing.

In other words, as long as an image looks good, most people won’t care about the megapixel count or even what camera it was taken with.

As far as video, which I will go into detail in a separate post, most cameras now shoot 4K 60 FPS, which will allow you to create some beautiful slow-motion footage. Using the Filmic Pro app, I have more control over my settings and have used footage shot from my phone mixed in with my a7S II footage.

The answer is basically yes, you can use your phone for travel photography.

Is The End Near For Professional Cameras?

Absolutely not. While I used this example to illustrate what you can do with a camera phone image (and not even the latest iPhone which is far better than the iPhone 7 camera), a lot of post-processing and artistic intent went into the final image. With the a7S II, I was able to shoot at a wider angle that I preferred (and even wider if I put on my 16-35mm lens). The built-in cameras are still limited in what focal lengths you can shoot with (although with all the triple and quad camera systems, that might change soon).

Mirrorless and DSLR cameras will, for the most part, still produce better images out of the camera than your phone, and allow you more flexibility with interchangeable lenses. For images with more shallow depth of field, the bokeh created digitally is currently not as good as the optical bokeh you get from different lenses. I will almost always shoot with my camera if I want to shoot portraits.

I also prefer the RAW images that come out of my cameras, which gives me more latitude to make fine adjustments. I’ve seen some amazing edits and composites from artists using JPEG images, so I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it’s just a little easier for me to have more data and detail to work with in my edit.

Ultimately, both my Sony (currently a7 III) camera and iPhone (currently XR) are tools, and I always process the images to create a final image that I envision and want to share. Learning your tools is the best way to get the most of your images and constantly relearning is the only way I’ve found to get better and not get stale.

These are all personal preferences, so how you look at it might be different, but it’s certainly interesting for me to see how far camera phone images have come since I first took a photo with my Sony Clie UX-50 PDA.

About the author: Kien Lam is an international photographer and filmmaker based in San Francisco. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. He runs whereandwander.com and believes in living for those moments that make the best stories, told or untold. He is working through his bucket list and wants to help others do the same. You can find more of his photos on Instagram. This article was also published here.

Read more about this at petapixel.com

https://bestcamaccessories.com/200-vs-4000-camera-is-your-phone-good-enough-for-travel-photography/