Val Quainton - curmudgeon

And here’s the schedule again!

Are these not crazy enough for you? Do you, too, crave the extra challenge verging into truly unhinged territory? Here are the National Days that fall during Slorch Week for more ideas.

By ElderlySardine, Val_Quainton, whovianuncle 

Written for the Warm Close: Through the Universes Event (hosted on AO3)

Chapter Two is now up!

The Book of Life has made a Plan and even identified two heroes to help it. Surely nothing completely unexpected will come along to get in the way...

And we will be giving points for every Pratchett and fandom-crossover reference spotted in this chapter! Jump in the comments – be in to win!

Four chapters, posting weekly on Fridays throughout July.

LINKS BELOW:

(This work is available to registered users only. Please log in to your account and use https://archiveofourown.org/works/87398466/chapters/231523046#workskin or search for the title with a Good Omens fandom filter.

Or start at Chapter One https://archiveofourown.org/works/87398466/chapters/231522716 Thank you!)

Character has 2 PhDs: either they did a dual degree program and are braggy about it, had a life-changing experience after their first degree and pivoted their whole career, or they find the structure of being a PhD student, despite all its stress, more comfortable and familiar than the stress of finding a Real Job and have a very indulgent advisor.

Character has 3 PhDs: who keeps accepting them to PhD programs. Either this person needs psychological help or their department needs to be investigated for its academic standards. Probably both

"People back then always married young it's natural!!!" Every single 1800s guide I've ever met casually mentions that, of course, you really shouldn't get married before you're at least 20, and waiting until 25 is usually better.

Or, like. Okay here's a long segment:

Just firmly going "it is crazy sexist to blame The Wife for overspending when thirty seconds of asking questions will immediately establish that her husband was outright lying to her about how much money they had. Talk to your wife like a normal person."

Or--okay, here. A section on being honest and not writing love letters in secret, because that's usually a good sign that there's something untoward going on....

....except that he then immediately acknowledges that sometimes, the reason you're hiding this from your parents is that your parents suck. That there are parents who frankly have not earned the right to approve or disapprove of your partner.

"Men and women being friends with each other is literally normal. Don't be a controlling freak."

"If you have to abuse a child to keep order in your classroom then you're a bad teacher."

Look at this again: If you deprive your child of love, or abuse them, they'll fall for the first person to be kind to them and try to get shacked up way too young.

Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops), FEED BABBY A TASTY BUG!!!, family Upupidae, order Bucerotiformes, China

that these women weren’t forced into this work

that these women are of age

that these women were treated properly on set

that these women are okay with it being released in the format it has been released(onto which website/etc)

Iteration is such a powerful artistic tool. The top photo is one of my first bird photos since I started this project. And the bottom is one of my latest.

It's the same camera. Same lens. But I made a series of small adjustments to my entire workflow. First, I wanted a less busy background. So I got a log to elevate the angle so only the trees were behind the birds. And I think the log has a more natural texture than the railing of my deck.

I was originally adding light from a flash, but I could not get it close enough to the birds to create a pleasing falloff. Light is more dimensional when it is closer. So I stuck to natural light, but now I try to take photos during the morning or before sunset so I get a much nicer, warmer light from the sun being lower in the sky.

And I also improved my post processing. These vivid reds are quite tricky to push and pull. Camera sensors have twice as many green pixels as red ones, so there is less data in the reds to work with. Combine that with a smaller sensor, fewer megapixels, and a 10 year old camera with 10 year old color science, and bright reds are just a pain to process. The difference between not enough saturation and too much saturation is minute. A bigger sensor with more megapixels gives you a lot more latitude in the gradients. But I experimented with dodging and burning and shifting the luminance of the oranges and reds so they blend into each other more naturally.

This is a living list that I will update of people willing to be asked questions about topics specified below for fanfic reasons! As this list (hopefully) grows larger, it will get reorganized for ease of access! Right now this list is short, so it's just going to be a list. If you wanna be on this list, message me or send an ask! If you are on this list, and don't want to be any longer, message me and I'll take you off of it!