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#general eyewear
scintillulae · 2 years
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lamaisongaga · 7 years
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BACK IN TIME: LADY GAGA STUNS IN TIA CIBANI
On Valentine's Day 2015, Lady Gaga was photographed leaving her New York City apartment en route to run some errands while feeling her new bob haircut.
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The freshly-engaged beauty wore a midnight-blue velvet maxi dress with long sleeves, knotted front and side cut-outs (which we sadly can't see) from TiA CiBANi’s Pre-Fall 2015 collection [look no. 10].
She covered most of it up with her Helen Yarmak brown sable coat. Gaga's version features a chain print silk lining.
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Her oversized round sunglasses are vintage found at General Eyewear (similar pictured).
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The metallic silver shoes are the Ferragamo Susi pumps in “Butter Platinum”.
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shampoo1234ghgdc · 9 days
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Tech-related  UV Protection, Mirrored Wayfarer Sunglasses (52)  (For Men & Women, Blue, Black, Green)Special price₹169₹99983% off
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cripplecharacters · 2 months
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Hello! I'm planning to draw/write a character who, due to an accident, got quite a bit of scarring on her face and lost an eye. Would they need a prosthetic eye? While searching, everything I found included a step of "And then you'll get fitted for your prosthetic eye", making it sound as if everyone who loses an eye needs to have one, but what would happen if someone didn't? Additionally, would there be a difference between never wearing one and wearing one at first, then stopping?
Hi, thank you for your ask!
Generally it's considered beneficial to have something replace the eye because without it the eyelids will droop and the socket will shrink. It also (more importantly) protects the tissue that's left from things that could potentially get inside, which could cause infection. As far as I was able to research, the former is mostly aesthetic (in adults/people who finished growing, which I'm assuming your character is) but the latter is very important.
However; it doesn't necessarily need to be a prosthetic ("glass") eye - they're the most common option, but eye patches and conformers all protect the socket from debris and stuff just fine (in fact any kind of sealed eyewear probably would). Prosthetics and conformers are medically roughly the same while eye patches do nothing to help the socket or eyelids keep their original shape. (I made a very long post about eye patches but TLDR, I think they're too often associated with frustrating stereotypes and tropes.)
Prosthetic eyes are unfortunately extremely expensive and need professional regular care that a lot of people can't afford, so not everyone can use them. Conformers (basically big, transparent contacts) are an alternative that some people might choose. You can't really see them when they're inside the socket. Here is a very interesting video about conformers and prosthetics by Clay Butler. I wrote a video description and transcript here because the original doesn't have them. It explains a lot of things in a very comprehensible way from a first-person perspective. If you want something that makes sense other than a prosthetic this could be a great thing to consider :) (smile)
If someone doesn't have anything to protect their socket, they risk infection and all the problems associated with it. So you technically could go fully bare, but it's less than ideal. I've also heard that the sensation of eyelid going over the eye socket is uncomfortable (because it's so bumpy) but I assume it depends on the person.
I believe that the difference between never wearing any protection and wearing-then-stopping would just be how fast the things I mentioned in the second paragraph would set in. So if your character recently stopped wearing a prosthetic or conformer, their general eye area would probably look more "normal" than if they never wore it at all.
Here's also the facial difference post that I always link for people making characters with facial scars, which might be helpful to you.
I hope this helps 🙂 (smile emoji)
mod Sasza
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valentineish · 10 months
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What I need abled people to realize is how fucked up it is to ask strangers about our mobility devices or medical equipment. I especially need you to internalize is how much this functions like catcalling.
The harassment started the minute an abled decided to approach me. There was not an appropriate way for them to ask about my body and the equipment it needs. But because of their actions, I am given the job of figuring out what's more dangerous: disclosing intimate details about my life, health, and body, or pushing back.
Without fail, ableds get hostile when a cripple like me chooses the latter. There is outrage at even the most polite expression of "no thank you". Trying to express how they've violated me isn't even an option. I am already aggressive for not performing an impossible standard of grace.
And because of this stranger's choice, because of the power dynamics at play, my existence suddenly centers on a stranger. My life needs to go on pause to handhold a totally unknown abled's feelings about my hurt they caused. All the while, I still have to brace for the potential that they will overpower me, or steal my equipment, or try to institutionalize me.
This is a terrifying position to be in. And it happens so frequently, my stomach drops whenever a stranger approaches me.
There are no neutral questions you can ask about a stranger's body – and my equipment is part of my body. This is not small talk. This is not considerate or empathetic. Despite how it looks to you, these are not like comments on somebody's outfit.
Hearing any inquiry about my crutches or limp or whatever from somebody I don't know is invasive and creepy. It's like somebody asking you "what did you do to become left handed?" or "did you always smile like... that?" or "oh my god, why do you have glasses?", then being expected to give an in-depth answer. It fucking sucks, and for disabled people, it has broader implications than you can imagine.
If you want to know why that person you spotted needs medical equipment? Tough. Shut the fuck up, mind your goddamn business.
EDIT: I want to include an ask I got about this post so it doesn't get lost in a reblog. Screenshot and expansion will be under the cut.
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Anon was right to point this out! I would like to better clarify the point I was trying to make.
I chose people commenting on somebody's smile, dominant hand, or eyewear on purpose. Expression can be impacted by things like facial paralysis or even neurodivergence. Paralysis or amputation can require changing one's dominant hand. And despite their normalization, prescription glasses are medical equipment.
Ablebodied people can get comments on these things. Some people just have distinctive expressions. People can be naturally left-handed (and notably, punishing left hand dominance was the standard for generations). Non-prescription glasses were a huge trend in the 2010's. Similarly, ablebodied people can temporarily require mobility aids! You or someone you've known has likely needed a cast or crutches due to an injury.
Strangers approaching an ablebodied person about these things is still bad. It's inappropriate, and the kind of thing you'd vent to friends about for being uncomfortable. Still, answering typically won't require sharing extremely personal, potentially traumatic information. It does not carry the fear of stating "my body is like this forever for a reason scary or inhuman to you".
When these questions are directed towards a disabled person, though? It does carry those heavy implications. We are being put at risk. A stranger is asking us to divulge our ability status, and give them wildly personal history. Furthermore, it confirms us as disabled – thus putting us at risk for discrimination of varying levels of severity, including institutionalization.
My point in making that comparison was not "people don't say those things". Strangers absolutely do this. My point was "comments about medical equipment count as body commentary". My crutches or bifocald do not get treated like the extensions of myself they are. The severity of this harassment, then, does not translate to those who don't need such accommodations.
Questioning somebody's body or the things supporting that body is never a good idea. Whether abled or disabled, a stranger is bothering that person simply to sate their own curiosity. Nothing of substance can be gained – but everything is at risk for disabled people.
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nyc-looks · 1 year
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Thanja, 26
“I’m wearing Marni eyewear, Duality Junkie neck, Botter top, Vaquera bottom, and Dries Van Noten slides. Currently inspired by my hypomania and general mood swings.”
Sep 14, 2022 ∙ Seaport
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frodo-with-glasses · 7 months
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Frodo with Glasses timeline
(A revised version of this post, now made to be more book-accurate)
For as long as anyone can remember, there’s always been a tendency for poor eyesight in the Baggins line.
By the time he adopts Frodo, Bilbo has been wearing eyeglasses for years, and it doesn't look like he'll stop needing them anytime soon. The family curse—or rather hereditary inconvenience—actually skips a generation with Drogo, and Frodo is lucky enough to inherit his father's improved eyesight.
Unfortunately, he doesn't protect the gift very well. Though he doesn't need glasses at his coming-of-age birthday at 33, a decade or so of studying and reading by candlelight turns him soundly nearsighted. He denies it until he can't deny it anymore, and then ignores it until he can't ignore it anymore, and after much teasing and cajoling from his friends (especially Merry Brandybuck) he finally capitulates and purchases his first pair of eyeglasses at age 45.
It's at age 50 that his world is turned upside down.
The cross-country trek to Crickhollow is haunted by Black Riders—and, one hot and humid morning, by rain. Rainwater turns Frodo’s glasses all wet and fogged and streaky, and he valiantly tries to keep them clean with his handkerchief, but with a stumble over a hidden root and a slip of the hand he drops his handkerchief in the wet leaves and ruins it. It's not even midday. Frodo, being a BabyTM, thinks to himself, “This is terrible. I can’t see. I’m walking blind in the rain and the forest, I’m hot, I'm wet, I’m tired, it can’t possibly get any worse than this.”
It does.
Frodo falls face-down, with his sword underneath him, at Weathertop, and his glasses receive a hairline fracture. Sam becomes their keeper, tucking them safely into his pocket, as Glorfindel hoists Frodo onto a horse and rushes him to Rivendell. When Frodo makes his stand at the Ford, his vision is blurred; not only by the nearsightedness, but by the Wraith-Sight turning the living world to shades of shadow. He collapses on the bank.
An hour or so later finds him in bed, pale and deathly still, tended under the careful watch of Elrond. Sam slips his glasses onto the bedside table.
By the day of the Council, the elves have replaced the broken lens. They have no need of corrective eyewear themselves, but they are master craftsmen at any trade when they put their minds to it; and the construction and maintenance of eyeglasses is actually a necessity now that Bilbo lives in Rivendell.
But on October 24th, when Frodo first wakes up, his glasses haven't yet been repaired. His health came first, of course; and there was little sense in fixing the little trinket when their owner might not survive to use them.
But he is awake, and he is alive. Frodo steps out of bed and looks at himself in the mirror, surprised to see how much weight he's lost and how much thinner and wiser he looks in the elves' green clothes. And then he turns, catching sight of his spectacles on the nightstand…and seeing that small crack, split right through the lens, makes his shoulder feel ice-cold and crackle with pain, and he shudders.
His glasses are broken far more severely in the fight in Moria. Knocked off his face and trampled underfoot, probably, or got under him somehow when the "hammer and anvil" skewered him. Either way, after Gandalf falls, Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship barely escape with their lives.
Just out of bowshot of the Gate, standing in the midst of the Dimril Dale, they stop to recover and to mourn. Frodo stands upon a ledge with the wind in his face, clutching to his chest his broken spectacles: one lens is crushed, and the nose-bridge is snapped in half.
Gimli repairs them for him during their stay in Lothlorien. Dwarves are known for their skill in masonry, of course, but someone as learned as Gimli is also skilled in glass-blowing, and after a little trial and error, he replicates the prescription right down to the smallest margin of error. It’s not quite the same—maybe it never will be—but it works well enough to keep going.
Still, Frodo wonders if he hadn’t lost half of himself, too, like the shards of glass lying somewhere in the dark of Moria.
In the shadow of Amon Hen, the Fellowship breaks. Sam is his only companion now. Somewhere in the maze of the Emyn Muil, one of the hinge screws begins to get loose. They’re stopped for their midday meal—and Sam is busy cobbling together their little lunch of lembas and a few wrinkled berries that he foraged from the banks of the River—when Frodo attempts to twist the screw back in with his fingernails and teeth. He fumbles it, and the screw drops right out and disappears into the gravel and the thin grass. He sighs, lamenting that he forgot to bring his repair kit from home in Bag End.
“Repair kit?” says Sam. “Well, bless me, Mr. Frodo, I’d almost forgotten!” He throws open his pack and buries his entire arm into it, all the way up to his shoulder and almost to his neck, rummaging around until he cries “ah-ha!” and drags himself to the surface.
In his hand, held high over his head, is a little brown case. It was one of the various small belongings of his master's that he'd packed in Rivendell, to bring them out in triumph when they were called for, in a moment just like this.
Frodo—overwhelmed with equal parts delight, relief, and annoyance—cries, “My dear Sam! You might have mentioned that earlier!”
“Slipped my mind, sir, begging your pardon,” Sam answers as Frodo takes it from him. “But we also had the help of elves and dwarves and other such folk who’d repair ‘em better than the both of us.” He has the good grace to look a little embarrassed, but still peacocking with pride on his foresight saving the day.
Frodo has opened the case on his knee and pulled out one of the little screwdrivers, but he looks up, and seeing the look on Sam’s face—desperately hoping for praise, but too polite to ask for it—he smiles.
“What would I ever do without you, Sam?”
Sam puffs up like a pleased rooster, and his smile widens until it nearly overtakes his face. Frodo can hardly hold himself back from laughing.
“Help me find that missing screw, won’t you? It fell into the grass somewhere around here.”
That instance ends happily, but their good luck doesn’t last forever. Frodo loses his handkerchief in the putrid bog of the Dead Marshes, and cannot wash the fingerprints of mud and filth off his lenses. Mordor grows—a distant, shapeless, black-grey blob on the edge of his vision, lit by fire.
It’s in Cirith Ungol that he loses his glasses for good. Somehow, they manage to stay on him in Shelob’s lair, though the hobbits scramble through the bones and filth and web-laced crevasses in the rock; but Sam is held up by Gollum, and Shelob poisons Frodo, and when the orcs find and strip him they take the glasses as a prize.
Far away, at the Black Gate, though he doesn’t know it until later, the Mouth of Sauron will present his trophies: a cloak, a staff, a mithril shirt, and a broken pair of glasses.
When Sam arrives to rescue Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, he doesn’t have his spectacles.
Only the Ring.
Frodo shambles through Mordor, basically blind, tripping over loose rocks and shale. The visions that swim before his eyes, taunting and just out of reach, are perhaps the effect of this cursed land, perhaps the illusion of his own failing vision…perhaps the trick of the Enemy in his mind.
All is a blur of exhaustion and starvation and acrid, furnace-dry, throat-burn air, until the bitter end.
The Ring is destroyed.
Frodo wakes up in Ithilien, his hand heavily bandaged. Within time, from the artisans of Gondor, he receives a new pair of glasses.
Those are the same he carries with him until the end of his life, when he boards the ship in the Grey Havens.
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jsheios · 2 years
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collection of splatoon headcanons & random canon facts but some of these I forgot which is canon and which Isn’t because they overlap so much
Octolings arent mind controlled by the shades/goggles or Octavio’s music, it’s all just propaganda stuff that keeps them loyal (eyewear's just cool tech)
(On a less canon & more headcanon-y note, Callie actually got pretty close to Octavio, on behalf of the canon fact that she heard out Octavio by choice. She empathized with & started to really understand Octarian society's issues while down there. I'd argue she probably stayed there by choice for a long while before Octavio fucked up all that trust and brainwashed her)
Pearl's voice used to be uncontrollably destructive. She only learned to control her voice after meeting Marina
Marina is just in love with Pearl. I see so many depictions of Pearl being a pining head over heels disaster for Marina but rarely the other way around, I need justice
The Sea Cucumber flip phones in Splat 3 are actually an older model, the smart phones in Splat 2 are newer models. Sea Cucumber phones aren't a new trendy phone, residents of Splatsville just can’t afford the newer models
Marie is the younger cousin & saw Callie as like an older sister to look up to when they were kids
Inklings didn’t think Octolings were squids because they’re dumb, they thought Octolings were squids because they’re taught that Octarians are extinct in Inkadia
Agent 4 was homeschooled but also really academically advanced. They only just started going to a school in Inkopolis shortly after getting recruited as an agent (Yes, they make that transit to school from wherever the hell they live every single day)
Shiver’s family/clan is just a bunch of sharks
Each member of Deep Cut come from long lines of families that have been hosting festivals in Splatsville for generations, each family representing a light that saved their ancestors in the floods mentioned in the Sunken Scrolls (half of this is canon)
(Shiver being an adopted octoling still works in this case, though them coming from a family of octolings in general is probably the most likely to be canon option. Idc though shark family shiver real)
Marina definitely makes manga under a pseudonym. It may or may not be that one yuri/love triangle manga series in the game, but if it’s not she definitely has a collection of them
Big Man’s real name is Mantaro, though most people think ‘Big Man’ is his actual legal name
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sinisterexaggerator · 2 months
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Friends In Low Places (part 1 )
Tech and Hondo Ohnaka
Rated: Teen and up (a rare general audiences fic on my part.)
Warning: Violence, death, injury, all comparable to what we see in The Bad Batch, stealing, foul language, sass, pain mention, broken bones mention, secrets, fight or flight.
Summary: Tech is plummeting toward death, yet he is spared, all thanks to a Weequay pirate who was simply in the wrong place at the right time, depending.
Word count: 5k+
Notes: This is a kind of crack / AU scenario. I like the idea of Hondo being the one to encounter Tech after his fall. The idea was definitely inspired my Phee's line at the end of season 2: "Well, don't go running off with any pirates or smugglers while you're gone," and by an ask I got from @spicedrobot :) Don't take this too seriously, though at the same time I tried to make it plausible. The main point of this was to have fun with Tech and Hondo ribbing each other in their own way. I love both of these characters, and I am excited to see what you guys think.
P.S.: This will have a few more chapters, but I am sure I will not be able to finish this before Wednesday (the season 3 premiere), though I do intend to keep writing this story no matter what happens in canon.
Read on Ao3
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Tech had only milliseconds to formulate a plan of action, yet there was nothing that could be done.
A dense fog stretched on for what felt like kilometers, the world below advancing swiftly as he descended. His head whipped to the left and right, the remnants of the railcar bearing down on him with regrettable rapidity.
There was not anything to grapple onto, nothing to prevent his fall.
The clone craned his neck; there was a rumbling sound the likes of which sublight engines made, the distinctive shape of a ship materializing like a phantom from the breadths of the mist. From this unnatural angle, it appeared to be 55.52 meters in length, painted brown and gray with yellow detailing, some additional markings on its nose and sides.
There was no time, much like he had told Wrecker moments earlier.
Tech disengaged from the length of cord that was still attached to the hunk of metal threatening to overtake him, his unmoored form slamming hard into duralloy, a resounding thud most likely heard by all within. At the same time, the tail end of the railcar met the tail end of the unknown vessel he had landed upon, hazardous debris shooting off in one direction while an electrical discharge and the beginnings of a fire sparked to life shortly thereafter.
Alarms sounded; he heard voices rising in fear and anger. He tried to breathe, clinging desperately to shreds of the ship’s hull as it began to make a nosedive toward a vast expanse of trees. He could not decide what might be worse: being crushed by the massive weight of the railcar, or shredded to pieces in what was sure to be a nasty crash.
Tech sat up; he stood, albeit shakily, activating the appropriate leg muscles to tighten his grip and stay his balance, even as the starship tipped. Once the canopy of the trees beneath him was within range, he sprinted with all his remaining energy, running to the closest edge.
Leaping as far as his momentum would carry him, Tech braced for impact, the first of what must be a thousand branches pummeling his body as he dropped, once again, toward the ground.
---
Two brown eyes fluttered open at the sound of a tenacious grunt; something or someone was attempting to acquire his right boot. In his delirium, the clone could not understand what one would do with it, noting that the two came as a pair. He moved to speak, though he found it difficult for his vocal cords to produce sound, the onset of a splitting headache having silenced him from protesting against this attempt at robbery.
“Hmm?” a deeply resonate hum filled his ears, the voice belonging to a face he could not see; it appeared that his eyewear had been lost in the fall, Tech left in a world full of undefined shapes and vague outlines in comparison to what he was used to; it was a thing that worried him despite there being so much else to worry about.
Currently, it was the theft of his shoe.
“Oh, uh—” there was a clearing of this person’s throat, “—you are not dead.”
“No,” Tech managed, beginning to flex his fingers as he stretched them in turn, determining if one or many of them were broken - so far so good.
“Den... I shall come back later,” this oddly vivacious voice declared, the rustling of nearby foliage signaling to Tech that he was lying in a bed of something fibrous and soft.
Eriadu. He was still on Eriadu. A series of factoids flooded his overtaxed mind.
A terrestrial planet in the Eriadu system of the Seswenna sector, Eriadu is located in the Outer Rim. Known for its varied geophysical elements, it is defined by landforms such as mountains and jungles—
The canopy - the native flora - he assumed, had slowed his descent. It was the last thing he remembered before his vision inevitably went dark.
“I—I will be needing that boot.” His voice sounded unlike himself, weak and pained. His chest burned, though he was sure had it not been for his armor, he would be dead. Reaching out with limbs that were sore and stiff, Tech found the grass beneath and around him to be dense, yet spongy.
A part of a larger family, either Poaceae, Cyperaceae, or Juncaceae, this monocotyledonous plant had narrow leaves, hollow stems, and clusters of very small, usually wind-pollinated flowers— though Tech could not tell given his present condition. Grown for either food, fodder, or ground cover, this particular variety had helped to save his life and occurred naturally, much to his silent thanks.
“Deeey are not my size, anyway,” the previously ebullient voice replied, now having taken on a dry and dour tone. He felt movement and heard a “thwack” at what he theorized was his boot returned to him, the crunch of vegetation being trampled underfoot accompanying the retreat of the mysterious figure.
“Wait,” this clone called out, the form before him turning to glance over his shoulder.
“You look like him. Are you… one of dem?” the man questioned, Tech not having an answer as his inquiry was incomplete; it lacked specifics, yet he surmised he meant one thing.
“Are you speaking of Jango Fett?” Tech asked, hands pressing against earth for fingers to splay apart as he used his forearms to halfway right himself, though it was tough going.
“Ah, so you are,” the man replied, traipsing forward through the grass in Tech’s direction once again; his black boots were the only thing clearly visible at this height and at this range - he had his own, so why did he need his?
“I thought so. A clone, den, but you look… so different. Skinnier. Sort of, how you say, sickly. Not at all like my dear old friend...”
Tech brushed off his insults, not taking offense, as that sort of thing did not interest him. He cared not what others thought about his outward appearance, as he knew that it was what is on the inside that counts.
“I am a member of an experimental unit that was engineered with an enhanced mental capacity and superior intelligen—”
“Dat es all fine, well, and good, but. BUT. You look ab-so-lute-ly terrible. I am… surprised dat with de level of damage tu your factory-made armor, you are still among de living.” 
Then, Hondo paused, as if thinking about something. “Yes, yes… perhaps you are of his ilk, after all.”
“I need to get back to my brothers; to Omega—”
“—Indeed. I am en a bit of a predicament, tuu, you see—”
“—They are in danger, the Empire—”
“—De Empire shot. me. down!” this man practically yelled, overcome with a sudden, zealous anger. Though not privy to the exact way his beloved, modified luxury yacht had been taken out, assumptions could. be. made!
Tech thought perhaps it was in his best interest not to admit he may have had something to do with it, although it had been out of his control.
“You would tink dey have never seen a Weequay pilot a SoroSuub 3000 over restricted airspace before,” the man continued, Tech taking this time to slip his boot back on. “Why, I even masked its signature! But de area was swarming with activity from de moment I arrived,” he was quick to claim, Tech staring up at the blurry sentient who was much too loud for his pounding head.
“Lower your voice. Someone is bound to hear you, and I do not think that—”
“—Are you giving Hondo a command?”
“—we should remain here for much longer.”
“I am not one of your subordinates; I am Hondo Ohnaka! De king of pirates, and captain of de notorious Ohnaka Gang,” the being professed, Tech noting his hand to be wafting in the air. “Ef et were not for being dragged entu your war, I might still be sitting pretty, hm?”
Hondo did not want to think on his ravaged base. At least his ships had been safely stowed away beneath the desert, residing in a spacious, private vault of his own design. He also did not want to think about how his favorite amongst them was now nothing more than bits of twisted and charred shrapnel; it would never again grace the skies or soar amidst the stars.
Then, he seemed to rethink things, the Weequay emitting a low growl in disapproval. “Mn… But I suppose dis es not your war, either. You were… created en a lab,” he finished, Tech’s attention having waned to the point he was now searching the surrounding area with both hands, looking for his goggles.
Studying the clone commando down the tip of his nose, Hondo found a new topic to speak on rather quickly. “You are very, very lucky,” he informed him, “what wit you not yet being dead, and for Hondo tu be here at de very same time. Tell me, what was dat other explosion I heard?” he asked curiously, the self-named pirate king bending forward at the waist to hunch over the wounded man.
“Our mission should have been straight-forward, but it was a failure,” Tech stated matter of fact. “It was complicated by the presence of Saw Gerrera; he sought to bring down the entire Imperial facility when our goal was to install a homing-beacon on one particular ship that—”   
“—Ah, you speak of ships! Yes, yes… Dat es what I need,” Hondo glossed over the rest of the conversation, ignoring Saw's mention entirely and the series of unfortunate events that had led Tech to this place. “But tanks tu you and your little playmates, de planet es now crawling with Imperial forces, more so dan usual, I suspect!
Another pause. “Are you not… Imperial?”
Tech was tempted to ignore the question. “No, I am not. However, it seems we are both in need of the same thing,” Tech snapped back, his temper rising. “Though it would benefit me to find my goggles,” he added wryly. “I do not suppose you might help with that.”
“You supposed correctly!” this Hondo fellow confirmed with a smile in his obnoxiously jovial voice. “Unless…” he  trailed off. “Dere es something en et for me, perhaps?" Never mind he knew what it was like to desire one’s own eyewear should it be lost or taken from you; at the moment it did not matter, nor did he care.
Tech sighed, already exasperated. “You said you are a pirate. I happen to know one such similar person, a treasure hunter by the name of Phee Genoa. Perhaps there is something of value that can be traded if we manage to leave Eriadu alive. My destination would be the planet Pabu. It is where I exp—”
“Phee Genoa?!” Hondo asked, exhilarated. “Why, I have not seen her en years!” He turned his back, something red and splotchy nearly hitting Tech in the face. It was this scoundrel’s coat, though unable to make it out for what it was.
“Pabu…” his voice darkened, Tech not noticing the way this devil’s eyes lit up, glinting behind worn transparisteel as his lip curled upward in a toothy grin.
Wheeling back around, Tech was nearly smacked a second time by the brigand’s foppish attire, raising one arm to protect himself as this Ohnaka brandished a finger toward the dark pall that hung over the sharp and dangerous cliffside, settling just above the jungle’s canopy. “So, DAT es where she has been hiding… What a wily, enterprising woman she es…”
Tech felt a pang like he had not felt before, not in the least bit enjoying the shade this man had taken when he had mentioned Phee by name. He also wondered if he should have brought up Pabu in conversation at all, mentally scolding himself, even though this stranger was no friend to the Empire.  
“Is it a refugee planet,” he reminded himself, knowing that Pabu’s location was not exactly a secret, only that their presence there ultimately put many lives at risk, and that Phee had been kind enough to take them in.
“Do you know her?” Tech asked, attempting to mask the unsettling feeling that lingered in his gut. Then, he thought to pose another question. “And just what are you doing here?” he queried harshly, unable to prevent the acerbic inflection that was produced alongside his curiosity.
Ohnaka chuckled, easily deducing he had struck a nerve. Tucking that bit of information away for later, he placed two fingers along the outside of his swoop-goggles and gave them a gentle tug. “You see deese?” he inquired.
“No,” Tech answered brusquely.
The Weequay frowned, at once understanding his meaning and correcting himself accordingly by giving a more thorough explanation; he was walking, or rather crawling, blind. “Lommite,” Hondo whispered with a sinister air. “You see, et es—”
“—a type of ore considered to be one of the primary constituent materials of transparisteel, durasteel, starfighter canopies, and dura-armor. It is mined on both the planet Didyma five and here on Eriadu. Chalky in both texture and coloring, lommite is often utilized by artists and can be molded like clay for—”
“—My dear child,” Hondo interrupted as he had so rudely been, “you forgot one ting en your quite elaborate and unnecessary explanation.”
Tech brushed off what was meant to be another insult, struggling to stand on his feet. The rogue commando would groan in pain and straighten out; he would tower over the other man if he could only manage to keep proper posture, as he was in too much quiet agony to do so. He ascertained two of his ribs were broken, and that his already injured femur had incurred another setback, though he only stared blankly ahead, thinking hard on what it was he may have missed in his otherwise accurate description of the mineral in question.
“Et es easy money,” Hondo finally offered, clasping his hands together in front of his ornate belt buckle as he observed the clone rise with great difficulty. Not commenting on his physical condition – yet – Hondo began to circle around the boy, for that is exactly what he was. A young man in the prime of life, forced to spend it perhaps not how he saw fit, but with a blaster in his hand and a bucket on his head.
“En fact, dere es a mining operation not tuu far from here – one with ships!” Hondo finalized, Tech squinting to barely make out the excited expression the Weequay sported on his striated face; he had waltzed back around.
“And you plan to steal it,” Tech stated flatly, his body turning slowly toward the left as he began scouting for any differences among the grass; he was looking for something gray and yellow, with a recording device affixed to its side. He would even settle for something large and bulky: his helmet. Unbeknownst to Tech, it had bounced off his head once his body had landed roughly in the grass; at least it had stayed on for the majority of his troubling descent.
“What else would one du with et? Bury et like treasure tu come back for later?” Hondo asked in a petulant, derisive tone.
“Is that not what pirates do?” Tech retorted, his own tone less than amused. He managed to locate his bucket in some nearby brush, inspecting it for damage. His visor was cracked as well as the circumaural radio muffs that allowed him to communicate at close range with his squad. He tapped his vambrace with two fingers as he held on loosely to his headgear; the components within sizzled and sparked. He was in fact stranded here, and without a way to comm for help.
Then, he had an idea. One that was better than nothing.
The pirate scoffed, Tech ignoring his theatrics to readorn his battered helmet. He flipped the visor down. Though the head-up display had a hairline fracture that split apart into various directions, it was still somewhat functional. He felt suddenly elated, though this was only a small victory.
“Perhaps you are… unable tu understand when I am joking, for however smart you say you are,” Ohnaka quipped.
“It hardly seems worth the effort,” Tech commented in regard to his poorly thought out plan.
“Ap-Ap-Ap!” the Weequay interrupted viciously, “—dat es where you are wrong, my friend.”
“I am not your friend,” Tech said in his defense, “and I am seldom wrong.”
“I am betting dat you are,” Hondo rejoined callously, all teeth.
Tech did not speak for a moment, gathering his thoughts. One bit of local history came to mind, a fascinating story that pertained to the current topic of conversation. “Have you ever heard of the pirate queen Q'anah?”
Hondo narrowed oblique, gray eyes, “And what of her?”
“Well,” Tech began, “Eriadu used to be a frequent target for pirates, marauders, and privateers. Lommite shipments leaving the planet on their way to the Core were of particular interest to these pirate gangs. This planet formed their own paramilitary group, which was named the Outland Regions Security Force; they attempted to handle the situation by themselves. This force found itself to be stretched too thin to deal with the problem on a more permanent basis, the pirate threat becoming far worse when multiple gangs formed an alliance under the leadership of queen Q'anah.”
“Take a breath, why don’t you?” Hondo chided, though truth be told he loved a good story, even if it was one he had already heard, and, more often than not, he preferred to be the one telling them, however humoring the clone only so much as he desired.
Tech disregarded him, continuing unperturbed. “Eriadu Mining and Shipping was ingeniously outsmarted by Q'anah's Marauders, who brought the mining company to the brink of bankruptcy. The raids ended when Wilhuff Tarkin, a then lieutenant in the Outland's anti-piracy task force, managed to crack the sequence Q'anah used to decide which specific lommite containers she would target.”
“What a decidedly smart woman she must have—”
“—the same Wilhuff Tarkin who is working under the authority of the Galactic Empire, the man whose home base sits at the top of Raven’s Peak,” Tech pointed out, having just come from there only a few minutes ago. Or perhaps it was hours now; he did not know for sure.
“Uhh— Uh-huh,” Hondo offered in response, not able to come up with anything more articulate than that.
“He managed to infect the chosen lommite containers' hyperdrive motivators with a virus that would spread to the pirate’s vessels, forcing their navigational computers to override the coordinates entered to instead deliver the ships to the waiting Outland Security Forces.”
“Mhm, mhm, yes, alllll very fascinating, but I du not see what dis has tu du with—”
“—Q'anah's reign ended abruptly when Tarkin ordered that Q’anah and her crew be placed into empty shipping containers that would be subsequently programmed to slowly pilot themselves into the sector's sun. The feed from within the container was broadcasted live as the pirates were slowly roasted to death in order to strike terror into the hearts of anyone who dared to follow in Q'anah's footsteps.”
Hondo cleared his throat, turning his back on the chatty clone. “Dat other planet you mentioned, er, Daddy fiv—”
“—Didyma five—”
“—Perhaps et would make for an easier target, but—”
Tech scrutinized the man, or that part of him which he could barely pick out against a backdrop of tall trees, opening his mouth to counter his assumption.
Hondo added something more; he had not been finished. “Dere es one thing you failed tu mention, however.”
Tech sighed, fiddling with the settings on his visor, aiming to adjust its current configuration to display the heat signatures of sentient beings. All living things gave off infrared energy to a degree. It was with this knowledge that Tech was able to bypass - and even solve - his current dilemma, the one in which he was unable to see, despite it being only possible between a dizzying variety of crisscrossing fractures and uneven lines.
“And what might that be?” he asked, words clipped.
“De fact dat I am Hondo Ohnaka,” the Weequay sneered, gazing at him from over his armored shoulder plate, “and Hondo Ohnaka survives. every. time.”
In fact, he just had survived yet again! Not a scratch on him; it was more than he could say for his poor men.
Tech was not impressed, assessing his DC-17 blaster pistols to make sure that they were still operational. “Who or what you are is irrelevant,” he began, “what matters is finding a mode of transportation that will get us out of here, preferably undetected.”
“Irrelevant to whom?” Hondo Ohnaka asked, already beady eyes constricting further into slits as his prominent brow ridge bowed inward, Tech not reacting to his sudden change in mood. The commando had, without much effort, gotten under the scoundrel’s skin. To deny Hondo’s importance or notoriety within the galaxy at large was perhaps the biggest insult one could have placed upon the Weequay; his reputation preceded him! How dare he suggest otherwise!
“What is relevant is—” Tech was not sure why he hadn’t thought to ask yet, his train of thought derailed before he could finish one sentence to complete another, “—do you have a comlink?”
Hondo huffed, turning back around. “Ef I had a comlink, du you not tink dat I would be hailing my crew  —what es left of dem—” Hondo mumbled, “— for a much-needed rescue? Granted, should my frigate meet ets end at de greedy, grubby hands of de Empire, den, I will be very, very angry. I am not… well liked when I am angry,” he stated in a low, gruff tone.
“Did you arrive here alone? There is security in numbers,” Tech could not help but to inquire, though he thought he already knew the answer; he had heard multiple voices cry out during the ship’s descent.
“I ded not come alone!” Hondo assured him indignantly, “my co-pilot was killed en de crash.”
Tech had nothing to say for once, simply keeping his eyes trained on the man. Part of him felt like it was his own fault. He weighed his options on coming clean.
Already this Weequay was unpredictable; he easily decided to continue holding his tongue.
“…As were two others of my men—” Hondo grumbled, “—dey ded not seem tu understand de meaning of safety. I told dem, boys, strap en! But—splat! A very ugly ting tu witness.”
A few seconds elapsed; Hondo glared. “Since my name es of noooo importance tu you, I hesitate tu ask what yours es,” he stated, obviously rankled.
“I am Tech,” the clone said without fanfare, much unlike his current company.
“Tech,” Hondo repeated slowly. “Tech, who es nothing like Jango; du you have any other bright ideas?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Hondo groaned a displeased sound, yet he could not help but wonder what this brainiac had come up with. Currently, he was thinking about how he could use this child-soldier to his benefit, not above cutting and running should the need arise.
“Enlighten me, oh smart one,” he derided.
“Though I do not have my goggles, my visor will read the heat signature of any living thing. I may have trouble with inanimate objects, not to mention my heads-up display is damaged, but if we work together, perhaps we can make it to the mining facility to procure—”
“—Ah, so you are not above stealing,” Hondo cut him off.
“When the situation calls for it,” he answered succinctly.
“So verrrry wise, you are,” Hondo offered, sarcasm lacing his butter-smooth baritone.
Just then, voices could be heard in the near distance; they sounded human, eager. Hondo bristled and pulled a vibrocutlass from its sheath as Tech reached for his pistols.
The clone did a doubletake, catching the sword's outline thanks to its vibration. When molecules vibrate, they are known to bump into one another, thus transferring kinetic energy to other molecules. Sometimes, this energy radiates outwardly as heat; Tech was more than a bit surprised. “That is an odd choice.”
Hondo glanced to the clone, then into the thick of the forest. When Tech did not cease his unrelenting stare, Hondo turned back to face him. “Es dere a problem?”
Before Tech could answer, a bolt of blaster fire whizzed past his head. He had only marginally shifted to the right in the nick of time, the readout on his display having flashed a warning as the plasma ray came rushing toward him.
“I suggest we run,” Tech said cursorily. 
“What a highly intelligent ting tu say,” Hondo mocked.
Though in an exorbitant amount of pain from head to foot, somehow Tech found the wherewithal to push forward, dashing past the pirate to head into the cover of Eriadu’s jungle, albeit with a limp and heavy breathing.
“Just where are you going without me?” Hondo called out, turning tail to follow in pursuit. “And very slowly, might I add,” he commented, reflecting on the hobbled gait of Tech just a few feet away.
The Weequay groused churlishly as a small group of white-clad soldiers appeared before them. A bolt ricochet off the tip of his cutlass, Hondo having blocked the incoming shot to send it flying back at their enemies. “You don’t even know where de facility es!”
“You should lead the way,” Tech admitted, releasing multiple rounds of fire into oncoming TK Troopers, striking two down with ease. He watched, impressed despite himself, as Hondo Ohnaka sliced the neck of one man and shot another through his plastoid armor with what appeared to be a DL series heavy blaster of some kind; he had withdrawn it from a holster against his hip.
“What an astute observation!” he remarked sardonically, “yooou watch my back, and I will watch our front, yes?”
Hondo was not expecting a reply, nor did he wait for one, putting holes through two more troopers as they vied to overtake them.
Searching within the appropriate pouch strapped to his thigh, Tech withdrew a sonic-based grenade, setting the trigger for a five-second delay. Tossing it with skilled precision, the device detonated, clearing the way for them to move forward through the woods.
“A few tricks up your sleeves, ah?” the pirate called back, having stopped momentarily to catch his breath; he was not as young as he once was, a notion he only seemed to remember when in the heat of battle.
“That was a sonic detonator,” Tech explained for no reason whatsoever, “it emits an oscillated pulse that—”
“Da-da-da-da,” Hondo interjected, snapping as if this man were his own underling,“Iiiiii know what dat was. Now, keep moving, or du you not tink dat you can manage dat?”
The scalawag had squinched deeply, exaggerating his expression to denote that he had not failed to observe Tech’s current condition, which happened to be poor. Even though having this pirate for company was less than ideal, without him, he was unsure if he would be able to escape; Tarkin, or Hemlock himself, had already deployed men to smoke them out. His chances were slim at best.
“Perhaps we can come to some kind of understanding,” Tech offered, already comprehending quite clearly that this man was money driven. While credits were not something he had a lot of, with the help of the others, and hopefully Phee, he would be able to afford to pay him off.
“An agreement?” Hondo nonchalantly tapped the dull, flat side of his blade against the curvature of his shoulder. “You mean you would like tu… make a deal?” he asked, his question not without skepticism, yet Hondo was always game when it came to profits; it was more than obvious his interest was piqued.
“I do not wish for you to run away and leave me behind,” Tech stated concisely, thinking that in this situation honesty was the best policy, although deserving to be withheld in others; he could not remember a time that it was not before now. “The extent of my injuries must have you alarmed.”
Hondo seesawed his head to the left and right, waving his hand and the blaster held by it carelessly in the air. “Eh.”
Tech managed to ignore this, too. “It is plain to see that you are driven by material wealth. We spoke briefly about compensation. I want to be clear: I can promise you the sum of five-thousand credits if you are willing to escort me both to the mining facility, and to find my family.”
“Family?”
“Yes, I mentioned them earlier before you interr—”
“—Five-thousand credits es… paltry at best…”
Hondo tensed; he stopped moving, the tap-tap-tapping of his vibrocutlass coming to a pause. His face hardened as he appeared to observe the man for the first time, his dark gaze traveling the clone from head to foot.
“And what family could a clone possibly have?” Hondo grit his teeth, knowing better than to ask that question.
Tech’s muscles tightened, his mouth forming a thin line. “My brothers are my family; Omega is my family."
“You have so many brothers... Just how many of dem are d’ere?” He did not bother to ask who Omega was.
“They are a part of my Squad. We are a team,” Tech squared his shoulders, not understanding why he had to justify the terminology he had used.
“I see…” His answer was sufficient, tugging the scoundrel’s heartstrings juuuuust enough.
Ah, if only his men were so loyal…
Hondo was no doctor, but he could both sense and see that this boy was on his last reserves. His republic armor had been modified, but it was still beat to shit, cracked in places from whatever chaos had previously ensued. Not to mention, he was compensating for his unfortunately flawed eyesight through that helmet of his; curious, as Jango had a perfect 20/20 and never wore spectacles a day in his life.
The red-clad devil sighed, filling his lungs completely so as to exhale unhurriedly through broad, flaring nostrils. And just like that, he turned on his Pirate’s Honor, sheathing his sword though he kept his blaster on hand.
“I suppose you may come en handy,” Hondo said flippantly, not wanting to admit he had a weakness for sob stories, and especially those that had to do with… family.
He allowed himself to reminiscence on his poor, sweet mother for a time, thinking of a piece of advice she had once proffered him:
“Hondo, someone else’s urgency is your opportunity.”  Truer words had never been spoken.
Finally, he straightened his hunched back and tutted. “Yes, yes, yes, come with me, and we shall survive dis, ah? Or. My name es not Hondo Ohnaka! And I can assure you dat et es,” he confirmed, as if there had been any doubt.
Besides, thought Hondo, there was no reason not to keep this fellow around a while longer; his family was missing him, after all. Perhaps they would be willing to bargain more than credits. If they were stationed on Pabu as this Tech had said, the treasures housed within its renown Archium would more than cover his expenses; a greedy glint twinkled in his eye.
“I owe you my gratitude,” Tech replied, shifting his weight on the leg that in fact hurt less, yet was still not free from pain.
“Ahhh, but you owe me more dan dat. Do. not. forget, my friend,” Hondo stated, repeating the descriptor Tech had already once denied; his face had split apart into two halves as his grin spread from ear to ear. Then, he turned, beginning to walk - though a little bit more slowly – into the depths of Eriadu’s wilderness.
Tech felt unnerved despite their accord, thinking the Weequay’s smile was suspect if not downright suspicious of something greater, something being hidden beneath the contrived contracting of all fifty-three of his facial muscles. But for the moment, he chose to trust him. There was not much else he could do, a reoccurring theme over the course of the last few hours.
Remaining guarded and forever watchful, as best he could be in his current state, Tech trundled forward, surrendering himself to whatever else was likely to occur.
---
Comments and reblogs much appreciated! Thanks for reading!
Part 2 coming soon.
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Do you want your eyes to hurt?
I can’t see anything!
The hopefully temporary flimsy sunglasses Blinky had been given to contrast his eyes’ light sensitivity were uncomfortably digging into his ears. They also, true to word, made everything extremely dark. He had to hold onto Pokey again.
Tinky looked through the handheld drawstring bag they had been given, analyzing its contents more closely; five brand new toothbrushes, multiple small toothpaste tubes, the medication bottles from earlier, a folded piece of paper, stickers, and a 20 dollar bill.
Sunglasses aren’t that expensive. We could find a store around here.
Like that one?
They look up at where Pokey pointed out. A dirty-looking tan building tackily called General Store is squeezed between two other, better kept stores.
Mmm, that’ll do.
As Tinky and Blinky dispute about Blinky’s choice of eyewear, Nibbly wanders to the snack section of the store.
Yellow’s your color.
I don’t hoard colors, they can be whatever color you want.
And yet you refused to buy those cotton candy ones. It fits with my whole theme park thing-
Those were impractical! And pink doesn’t suit you.
The few other people in the store give them the occasional glance.
Tinky!
The two stop their discussion to turn to the voice. Tinky squints, bemused.
…A crown? Seriously?
Wiggly has carefully placed a plastic crown on his head. His crutches make him stumble some while walking, but he gets close enough to them.
I deserve something for going through all of that.
Mm, yeah. You’re such a big boy, Y’wrath. But you already have your stickers. Tough luck, sorry, bud.
Wiggly excited grin slips into a glare.
You’re only two centuries older. That doesn’t mean anything!
Three. I’m actua-
I’m making Uncle Wiley sell Wiggly dolls right outside your park next timeline.
Tinky sighs, scanning around while they have their back and forth.
…Hey, Blink - Blair, what about purple glasses?
Blinky whips around excitedly, eyes sparkling. Snorting, Tinky plucks out a bedazzled pair of color-tinted purple sunglasses from the rack.
Putting them on, they allow a lot more visibility through the shades than the hospital’s sunglasses. Blinky hops excitedly.
These work!
Get in line, I’ll be there in a minute or so.
As Bliklotep leaves, Wiggly makes a face.
So he gets glasses and I can’t get a…one dollar crown?
Tinky hums, crossing his arms.
Well, he does need those…what’s your deal with this crown?
Y’wrath glances down, biting his inner cheek. He slowly looks back up, eyes teary.
…Pwease, Tinksy?
Your baby talk shit works with your dolls, not your older brother.
Shit.
The crown is taken off his head and spun around in Tinky’s hands.
Go get the others - tell Nibbly I can’t buy him snacks.
When they leave the store, Blinky looks elated.
Here.
Wiggly breaks into a grin when his crown is balanced on his head once again. He laughs - a hiccuping sound.
…You’re not wearing it to school.
I know that.
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cutiecorner · 10 months
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I haven't done one of these in a while but this was in my drafts: its cg alfred time babey. Three cheers for our fictional grandpa.
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Wow Alfred how come DC let's you adopt (checks notes) ALL the babies
If someone regresses he knows about it. Don't ask how he just knows
And he WILL start subtly babying them. Most heroes are stubborn af and struggle to accept even butler help, but Alfred has a talent for easing them into it. Come up to Wayne Manor feeling stressed and 2 hours later you're surrounded by blankets on your second plate of cookies. How'd you get there? Nobody knows
Subsequently there's like a lot of heroes who only accept help from Alfred, especially regression related help. The original Justice League come to mind, he eventually made a point of checking in on them all once he realized how Pointedly Fatherless they all were. They may be too proud to tell their team they're struggling, but no ones too stubborn for Alfred. The doors always open for them and they do use it, liberally.
Like I mentioned before, Diana, Clark, J'onn, John, Shayera, and Wally are all very much adopted by him, and are the ones he cares for the most.
Alf loves having the league around when they're small. Parenting is his passion and the more the merrier, especially when the objective is to keep the stakes low and relaxed. Raising his kids often involves more world ending threats than he'd like, so he always welcomes a respite where he can just coddle them.
And coddle them he does, kiddies under Alfred's watch are the definition of spoiled materially speaking. He is always there for whatever they need, and he takes great pride in his attention to detail. He knows just what shows everyone likes, their favorite pajamas, their stuffies names, their go to treats - everything they want, he will provide
Behavior wise though, Alfred keeps thing just as in line as usual. He's certainly not hard on anyone, but he is an authority for sure. He loves to keep a schedule, and he finds it often necessary for little ones who are used to being in a survival frame of mind. Rules and guidelines always brought him a lot of comfort, and he hopes to bring the same grounding affect those he watches over. Though of course, he's nowhere near immune to puppy dog eyes.
He tries to be in tune with everyone's emotions and help them work through big feelings. He himself struggles with Alexithymia and mild emotion in general, but he's learned strategies to pick apart feelings and deal with them. He knows a lot of therapy techniques from dealing with Bruce, and teaches them whenever he can
He uses a lot of strategies from raising Bruce with regressors, especially those who are autistic. He knows how to best communicate without words, how to figure out what parts of the environment are stressful, and how to keep a space not over or under stimulating. They have lots of tools like headphones, eyewear, communication cards, etc.
Despite being usually formal, something about having regressors around flips a switch on the affection meter. Suddenly everyone is only referred to by sweet nicknames. And he's just general less butler more dad. He's open to snuggles if they're requested.
He's very patient. Takes all the time his little ones need to collect themselves. Most if not all regressors in his care find him profoundly calming, even while not in the headspace. But holding their hands and encouraging them softly definitely does help.
He loves making little outfits for his regressors, especially when they're based on clothes they miss from their childhoods. The look on their face when he recreates their favorite shirts or jammies is pure dopamine, and they look so sweet in their cute little outfits.
Alfred loves to create games and structured activities, one of his favorite things to do is create mysteries for the little league to solve!!
He's welcoming to any nicknames - Alfie, Bubba, Dada, Mr. Pennyworth - but he's especially partial to "uncle alfie". It makes him melt.
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mariacallous · 4 months
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In 2024, increased adoption of biometric surveillance systems, such as the use of AI-powered facial recognition in public places and access to government services, will spur biometric identity theft and anti-surveillance innovations. Individuals aiming to steal biometric identities to commit fraud or gain access to unauthorized data will be bolstered by generative AI tools and the abundance of face and voice data posted online.
Already, voice clones are being used for scams. Take for example, Jennifer DeStefano, a mom in Arizona who heard the panicked voice of her daughter crying “Mom, these bad men have me!” after receiving a call from an unknown number. The scammer demanded money. DeStefano was eventually able to confirm that her daughter was safe. This hoax is a precursor for more sophisticated biometric scams that will target our deepest fears by using the images and sounds of our loved ones to coerce us to do the bidding of whoever deploys these tools.
In 2024, some governments will likely adopt biometric mimicry to support psychological torture. In the past, a person of interest might be told false information with little evidence to support the claims other than the words of the interrogator. Today, a person being questioned may have been arrested due to a false facial recognition match. Dark-skinned men in the United States, including Robert Williams, Michael Oliver, Nijeer Parks, and Randal Reid, have been wrongfully arrested due to facial misidentification, detained and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. They are among a group of individuals, including the elderly, people of color, and gender nonconforming individuals, who are at higher risk of facial misidentification.
Generative AI tools also give intelligence agencies the ability to create false evidence, like a video of an alleged coconspirator confessing to a crime. Perhaps just as harrowing is that the power to create digital doppelgängers will not be limited to entities with large budgets. The availability of open-sourced generative AI systems that can produce humanlike voices and false videos will increase the circulation of revenge porn, child sexual abuse materials, and more on the dark web.
By 2024 we will have growing numbers of “excoded” communities and people—those whose life opportunities have been negatively altered by AI systems. At the Algorithmic Justice League, we have received hundreds of reports about biometric rights being compromised. In response, we will witness the rise of the faceless, those who are committed to keeping their biometric identities hidden in plain sight.
Because biometric rights will vary across the world, fashion choices will reflect regional biometric regimes. Face coverings, like those used for religious purposes or medical masks to stave off viruses, will be adopted as both fashion statement and anti-surveillance garments where permitted. In 2019, when protesters began destroying surveillance equipment while obscuring their appearance, a Hong Kong government leader banned face masks.
In 2024, we will start to see a bifurcation of mass surveillance and free-face territories, areas where you have laws like the provision in the proposed EU AI Act, which bans the use of live biometrics in public places. In such places, anti-surveillance fashion will flourish. After all, facial recognition can be used retroactively on video feeds. Parents will fight to protect the right for children to be “biometric naive”, which is to have none of their biometrics such as faceprint, voiceprint, or iris pattern scanned and stored by government agencies, schools, or religious institutions. New eyewear companies will offer lenses that distort the ability for cameras to easily capture your ocular biometric information, and pairs of glasses will come with prosthetic extensions to alter your nose and cheek shapes. 3D printing tools will be used to make at-home face prosthetics, though depending on where you are in the world, it may be outlawed. In a world where the face is the final frontier of privacy, glancing upon the unaltered visage of another will be a rare intimacy.
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springw6ter · 7 months
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Hi (nyfw thoughts)
Ok so first I just want to say that this fashion week was so boring and really sums up the kind of good idea drought we’re living in. BUT there was a fair share of discussion over some things so! instead of trying to fit my thoughts about everything on the app formerly known as twitter, I’m just gonna tell y’all here.
Shows talked about in this post; Proenza Schouler, Eckhaus Latta, AREA, Luar, Helmut Lang, Elena Velez and Tory Burch
Proenza Schouler
There’s no way Proenza was going to ruffle any feathers this season. They have a loyal following (which I’m sure has nothing to do with the celebrity affiliations of the brand) and a consistent history of people pleasing so they’ll always get their praise from Vogue. They dropped a new monogram which is the only “newness” they wanted to introduce. Jack McCollough said they wanted to continue last seasons narrative and they sure did! (Only thing different was no Sevigny). The clothes are obviously well made and evoke wealth in that special kind of iykyk way. Many people said this looked more like Helmut Lang than Helmut lang did (I’ll get to that later) and they’re not entirely wrong. Not gonna act like I wouldn’t wear this collection but definitely nothing groundbreaking.
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Eckhaus Latta
Eckhaus latta is a brand that has always had a special place in my heart (maybe because I’m from the city that the two designers met and started the brand together in)(maybe). My style has definitely evolved since I first became aware of the brand but I’m always interested in what they’re doing. This season they got experimental! They worked with a 3D printing company named “Unspun” where they came up with jeans made from all different materials like hardware store twine and ikea plastic bags. The way they combined tech innovation and sustainability is not just commendable, it’s very forward thinking, which is a staple in the brands identity. With that being said some of the collection felt directionless in comparison to all of the innovation. The sheer (which dawned their new EL monogram) was very MNZ store to me but not in a bad way. I like that they’re not trying to be trendy and come up with new things however a-lot of brands were doing that so it makes me wonder if that’s a good thing or not.
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AREA
I loved their modern Stone Age ladies. I think it was one of the only luxury focused shows where I was like wow! This is different. The fur printed coats were so gaudy and held its shape in the way good ol’ fur coats used to. I think this collection was really cohesive, adventurous, new. Everyone saw Saweetie wear it at the VMAs and even the unfashionable general public could see the yabba dabba reference. The prehistoric influence was chosen because as Piotrek Panscyzk said “pelts and bones were the first things humans had to build an identity around”. There’s definitely a case for a narrative about how much luxury (the hunger, the status) mirrors pre historic, pre civilized behaviors.
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Luar
Raul Lopez is a diamond. This collection kind of came of as a continuation of last season as well but I like this brand so much that it feels good to me. I feel like Raul is constantly playing with this really restrictive, God-fearing way of being and an inhibition-less eternality. Padded shoulders, the top draped from the eyewear, perfect collared shirts, jeans and leather, it had all the perfect Luar moments for me. No notes.
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Ok.. now on to the “controversial” shows
Helmut Lang
When Peter Do was announced as the new creative director of Helmut Lang, everyone rejoiced. Why? His strengths as a designer seemed like a natural fit for the brand. Expert tailoring, black and white as a main color palette, maybe a little overlap in philosophy.. but as the outfits came out people’s reactions… were… unfavorable to say the least. People saw the reference to key Lang moments like seat belt bondage, the use of Ocean Vuongs poetry (which I felt was terribly misunderstood), the classic button up and jeans as disappointing instead of nostalgic. For me, personally, I think everyone’s expectations were rooted in something that Peter Do could not have delivered. That expectation being Helmut Lang himself. People saw Do as the second-coming and that’s just the truth but where do we draw the line with our expectations on reliving the past and how do we honor the kind of openness necessary to evolution? I myself had to sit with the collection and came to the conclusion that maybe Peter is just defining a clear end to the Helmut era of yesterday and the start of his own journey now. After closely looking at the collection and it’s details you can see how wonderful the clothes really are. It is everyone’s responsibility to question and examine the things they “care” about and I think this fashion public is not patient enough for that. It wasn’t the greatest debut but it also wasn’t the worst. Anyway we’ll see what comes next.
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Elena Velez
Mud gate ss24! Since her NYT article last year, people have been really fed up with Elena (I learned only after the mud fight started to circulate) and she doesn’t really seem to mind, she seems to like it actually. She argues online, she argues IN lines, she doesn’t pay people adequately and the list apparently goes on and on. This collection is called “the longhouse” and in her press release she says a lot of things about the commercialization, sanitization, condemning and control of womanhood, she talks about anti-heroines and contemporary female evil (which she loves to embody I guess) and she says that this show was ritualistic catharsis from oversocialization. I think it’s pretentious when someone has to use so many complex, institutionalized words to convey their message. She’s speaking in code. To be honest I like her clothes but I don’t think her designs are that original. I really want to raise the question who does her message benefit? We should all be allowed our multiplicity in this life, that’s true, but being a bad person in practice is something I’m personally not attracted to. I’m a little confused but it is what it is.
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SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO TORY BURCH!!!!
Who I think should be receiving a cease and desist from Miuccia Prada any moment now. This collection is such a departure from the Tory Burch we all grew up with. This must be that post divorce clarity. I like it! It’s 60s. It’s Prada. It’s miu miu. It’s Tory Burch now too!
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If you made it this far I really appreciate you ♡ this was just for ki’s sake. It’s not my most critical thinking to date but there was discussion and I loved that. I wanted to contribute and this was the best way I could think of. Lmk if I should do this again with lfw!!
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pisspope · 14 days
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urgent question with several followups: do you think zeke inherited grisha's eyesight (does he really need glasses); do you think ksaver or grisha's glasses were prescription or just reading; do you think any of them have astigmatism to the point they shouldn't drive at night or would struggle in the club. i mainly mean zeke, thank you your holiness
AAAH sorry i didnt see it was urgent !!!!!!!!! answering right away !!!
Yes, and also no. Lemme explain. Yes, Zeke inherits a LOT from Grisha, much more than he'd ever feel comfortable with. Eye color, hair texture, eyesight, general pretentiousness... BUT! The Beast Titan's healing cures all ills. In my Twisted Mind®, the inheritance of the Beast cures Zeke's eyesight before it degrades to the level of needing glasses. also his foreskin grows back
Grisha's glasses are prescription, he's near sighted as all hell. Ksaver's are reading glasses, or, more specifically, magnifying lenses that he uses to look at small things during experiments. In my mind, the little raised metal pieces (see image) are so he can lift the glasses up without touching the frames and getting hazardous chemicals close to eyes. Like, they function as both glasses and protective eyewear. So his eyesight isn't bad, per se, he's a Shifter, too, after all. But he's also a nutty professor who forgets to take his scientist glasses off when he goes home lol
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As for the astigmatism, I'm assuming we're verging into modern AU territory here which... from a cat to a kat,,, it really varies by AU to me. Honestly, since I feel like canon Zeke has 20/20 vision because of the Beast and is only wearing the glasses to feel close to Ksaver, I always translate that to his vision being just fine in modern AUs as well. It all goes back to that classic Zeke Yeager Pretention to me: he wears glasses because they make him looks "Smart" and "Bespoke". Don't get it twisted, I LOVE Zeke with bad eyesight, I love Eren or Pieck having to pick him up from work because he has night blindness. BUT! The idea of him not needing glasses and just putting on airs wins out to me.
But also the idea of Zeke, old man at age 29, unable to handle the club because of the strobing lights is eating me ALIVE thats so cute i -
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thank u for the questions it feels so good to get That Man thoughts off my chest
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howhow326 · 1 year
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What if I reworked the Miraculous Powers jk... unless
So I feel like a common criticism of Miraculous Ladybug is that the Miraculous are kind of underwhelming: The Lore says that the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous are equal in power, but the Ladybug miraculous has like a gazillion different powers (Lucky Charm, Purification, Miraculous Ladybug, and now miracle charms) while the Cat Miraculous has the one power. Likewise, the lore says that the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are the strongest, but the both of them are just above average compared to literal Time Travel!
So building off the other two posts that reworked the Miraculous Ladybug power system (ill try to link them in the comments of this post so Tumblr dosen't hide this) I will now do what the title of this post says!
Yin & Yang miraculous: 7 powers (strongest miraculous go brr)
Wu Xing miraculous: 2 powers
Zodiac miraculous: don't exist lol (I don't like them. If I did keep them, then I think they should still just be one power. And the rabbit miraculous should have a different power)
■ ■ ■
Ladybug Miraculous of Creation Yang
Creation: Lucky Charm (same old)
Ladybug: Smell, Agility (all of the miraculous explicitly get passive animal powers now. Ladybug has a good sense of smell that she can use to identify objects and super agility to dodge attacks)
Transformation: Purify (It's the same thing as before, but now it works on all of the miraculous powers and not just the Butterfly/Peacock. Because the Ladybug miraculous is one of two strongest miraculous and it makes more sense for it to counter everything and not just two things)
Animation: Miraculous Ladybugs (Just going to point out that I changed the Peacock attribute from emotion to animation. I don't get how the life generator is Emotion outside of the fact that living things have feelings, in which case it could also be called the miraculous of Respiration cuz everything breaths right? Back on track, the Ladybugs work on everything now like Purify)
Protection: Miracle Charm (I really like how well this fits! And again, it works for all negative miraculous powers and not just two)
Illusion: Looking Glass (I am proud of that name. This power summons eyewear that lets the user see the truth. That truth could be anything from seeing through illusions or seeing through lies. Bout to end Lila's whole career)
Domination: Obedience (I kinda struggled to come up with a power this time. So, Obedience allows Ladybug to force someone to obey a rule or a group of related rules like the law of the land. The obvious use is to passify criminals, but it's also kinda brain washing. Marinette would be tempted to use this power on Chloe and Lila, but resolve herself to only use it on villains. Also it's broken so maybe using it drains all of Ladybug's energy)
Black Cat Miraculous of Destruction Yin
Destruction: Cataclysm (same old)
Black Cat: Hearing, Vibrosense, Night Vision, Speed, Agility (remember when Chat had Night vision in season 1? Anyway, Chat has a lot of sensor powers and speed to make him good at fighting and tracking down akumas, in contrast to Ladybug's defense orientation. Btw, Vibrosense is the thing Cats do when they sense vibrations in the air. Remember it because almost everyone has it lol)
Transformation: Corruption (I like to think Chat is villain coded [affectionate] so I gave him a lot of evil powers. Corruption is the same thing as Akumas, buy Chat can't control what they turn into or control the person. This makes this a high risk high reward power where Chat either turns a villain into something harmless like a dog or into godzilla)
Animation: Catastrophe (I stuggled to come up with something again. So this is like a reverse of Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybugs where, instead of restoring everything, Catastrophe blows up everything. Another high risk high reward power, its useful against villains that change the environment and terrible to use otherwise)
Protection: Charm Breaker (It breaks charms. It also breaks the magic hax that akuma villains use, so Chat could use this to break brain washing and the like. If Chats not going to be integral to curing akumas, he could at least be good for fighting them)
Illusion: Cheshire Cat (I stole this name from the other posts. So my version of this power lets Chat disguise himself as literaly anyone which gives him something to do outside of fighting. Now Chat can go espionage yay!)
Domination: Disobedience (While Marinette's Domination power is her only offensive one, Chat's Domination power is his only supportive one. Disobedience allows Chat to break magically forced obedience: so it works on Ladybugs stuff and Amoks.)
Butterfly Miraculous of Transformation
Transformation: Tenshi/Akuma (same old, now with clarification on what a good akuma is called)
Butterfly: Mind Sense, Flight (Butterflies aren't psychic but who cares. Mind sense alllows the user to sense people's active brains which includes emotions and some of their thoughts. He can also fly with wings now because I said so)
Peacock Miraculous of EmotionAnimation
Animation: Amok (same old)
Peacock: Sight, Hearing, Vibrosense, gliding (apparently, peacocks can sense vibrations using their feather crests. I really didn't know that before I started searching. Also, no flying, just falling with style)
Turtle Miraculous of Protection
Protection: Shell-ter
Turtle: Water Vibrosense, Strength, Endurance, Speed Swimming, Holding breath underwater (Did you catch that it's good underwater yet? The miraculous power ups still exist, the Turtle just makes those redundant now. Also, I tried to give Carapace some more tank abilities to make up for him being the least mobile hero. He can't jump over buildings, but getting punched by him is the same thing as being hit by a truck)
Fox Miraculous of Illusion
Illusion: Mirage
Fox: Hearing, Smell, Vibrosense, Night Vision, Speed, Agility (I really like how Rena Rouge is less of a fighter and more of a mezzer/trickster in the show, so I tried to highlight that here. She has a bunch of senses to help with intel gathering and can always dodge or run away if she gets caught. She's also faster than Chat and more Agile than Ladybug, but weaker than both)
Bee Miraculous of Domination (Note: Domination is the name of the Bee Miraculous attribute in the French version and the English one changed it to Subjection, which literally means the exact same thing. I like Domination better, so bye bye petite Subjection)
Domination: Venom
Bee: Smell, Vibrosense, Flight (Yes, Ladybug being the only bug her that cant fly is weird, but I didn't want her to lose her Spiderman swinging)
Ladybug and Chat would have to spend time during a better version of season three learning to use their new powers instead of relying on the dollar store justice league.
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troius · 6 months
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ichibe's blank-eyed state he keeps going in and out of is really intimidating, but it also always reminds me of daruma dolls. what do you think? is there some kind of metaphor or symbolism going on here, or is kubo just doing it because it looks really fucking cool?
It's pretty interesting, isn't it? My general rule is that if nobody calls attention to it, it's just a stylistic quirk. I sort of see the daruma doll thing, but I'm honestly not that knowledgeable on the subject. Some of the daruma dolls I've seen do have pupils to their eyes. Maybe somebody who knows more about this can add in.
As far as the aesthetics are concerned though, you're right that it's extremely fucking cool. It's also an extension of something that Kubo has been doing since the beginning of the story, with the strategic use or nonuse of eye contact. Go back chronologically through my Uryu tag and you'll see how Kubo carefully avoided having Uryu make full eye contact with the reader, which creates a sense of unease and mistrust. He does the same with Aizen's early glasses, with Gin's narrowed eyes, with Tosen's various eyewear, even Urahara's hat. Compare these with somebody like Nanao, for instance, who generally has both of her eyes visible despite wearing glasses.
What he's doing here is playing on a common human trait-- we like to see where people are looking. It's reassuring. You can tell (or at least, you thing you can) what a person is thinking about from looking at their eyes. And conversely, you can't do that if you can't see them.
Kubo's takes it up a level with Ichibe, because there isn't anything concealing his eyes. He just has moments where you are looking directly at his face and yet can't see his pupils. And that's far more directly unnerving, not just because we can't see what he's looking at, but because we probably can't see whatever that thing is.
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