Chapter Break Filler

[thegreyarea]

Ufff... I sent my prompt to Keep Looking, so I finally have some time to do... anything else!

Alkia, these drawings are beautiful and so delicate... I love them! I see them stitched in a pillow or something like that.

Wrym, that's an amazing story, with a surprising look (to some) at Sigrun. I always thought on her as very clever. She just likes to solve things straight, instead of thinking much on them. It's also great to have Tuuri as part of the gang.

Jitter, all your stories are fantastic and you keep getting better at this. Now I want continuations, please! What happened after? How Reynir spoke? What was the answer? That's a excellent beginning for a Reynir+Onni story... Askel and Sigrun's story is also begging to be told, and has an inspiring end. And the Väterströms are so unexplored... Makes me want to start writing about little Mia and her adventures!

Gaelle, that's a great scaring thing! I particularly like the simplicity and the contrast between the starry skies, that grab our attention, and the darkness of the silhouetted thing, that wants to grab us! Very well done!

[Jitter]

I'm thinking in some future adventure we'll see more of the Västerströms. Surely the burning buildings are in Emil's dreams for a reason? I'm more comfortable writing about the early Hotakainens as we know something of their fates, and I also think Reynir's family has lived in relative peace. Although we haven't really seen or heard anything between Árni the elder at the ship and then Reynir's family now, so there could be any sorts of developments in years 1-70. But I'm thinking Minna is not planning to go all the way back to the prologue characters, if we see e.g. Emil's backstory I assume it will be about Torbjörn and Torolf's family. Hopefully time will tell!

Funny, I don't mind getting jossed for stories set in the future, but I really don't want to write something about the past characters that would turn out to be completely wrong in relation to canon. No idea why!

Grey, I have read something about Aksel and Sigrun the elder in the Archive, go poke around there

Speaking of the Archive, should I compile the prompts into one thing and put it there? You guys seem to like them.

[thegreyarea]

I'm thinking in some future adventure we'll see more of the Västerströms. Surely the burning buildings are in Emil's dreams for a reason? I'm more comfortable writing about the early Hotakainens as we know something of their fates, and I also think Reynir's family has lived in relative peace. Although we haven't really seen or heard anything between Árni the elder at the ship and then Reynir's family now, so there could be any sorts of developments in years 1-70. But I'm thinking Minna is not planning to go all the way back to the prologue characters, if we see e.g. Emil's backstory I assume it will be about Torbjörn and Torolf's family. Hopefully time will tell!

Funny, I don't mind getting jossed for stories set in the future, but I really don't want to write something about the past characters that would turn out to be completely wrong in relation to canon. No idea why!

Grey, I have read something about Aksel and Sigrun the elder in the Archive, go poke around there

Speaking of the Archive, should I compile the prompts into one thing and put it there? You guys seem to like them.

I hope Minna will explore all the backstories and places from our team. The first story set up things, the second is going over the Hotakainens and Finland, maybe the next is on Sweden, Emil and his family. As you said, I doubt all that about burning buildings around Emil's house are there for nothing.

I also think that Minna isn't going to go back to the Prologue. She never hinted at that, and I believe she's more the kind to think on the Future. If she runs out of ideas for SSSS (which I doubt) she would probably start a story on the City of Hunger scenery.
That should leave us comfortable to write over the previous years, but I feel the same that you referred about going outside the canon.
My conviction is that we create stories in a setting (let's say Y1) and we want it to be our canon, even if Minna never speaks about that period.
So I fear that at some moment she will decide otherwise and leave my creation without connection, even if we know that it wouldn't change anything. A story is good, or not, independent to its adherence to the official canon. I don't feel it regarding my current story timeline, because it's too far in the past, but when I'm writing in the future, Y94/95, I keep thinking like "what if I'm writing about this character and Minna kills that person?".

I'll check the archive, thanks! And yes, I think your prompts can make a nice (and hopefully growing) collection.

[Alkia]

Thank you, everyone!! As for the text, that was just me making little notes that helped me remember who has what flowers/might be helpful to viewers. The writing next to Reynir is just my thoughts on how hard it is to depict white Rowan flowers on white paper. Oh, and Vulpes, those are hair/beauty products behind Emil  . Well spotted!

Jitter, that’s such a sweet spring story!!! I agree the Swedish/Finnish names sound much better than the English name for the flower. And yes, you should definitely compile these prompts!!

[LilG]

Alkia, oh ok then, thanks for the reply anyways 

[LooNEY_DAC]

...if you have some sort of index or Ao3.

Did you say index and AO3?

[Purple Wyrm]

Also, looking through your past posts, I’m glad to see another Warhammer 40k fan

One of us! One of us!

I've replied to your painting queries in a spoiler so as not to clog up the thread with excessive nerdery...

Spoiler: show

And, regarding WH40k, do you think it’s a good idea to paint my minis with regular acrylics? I know that I need a wet palette, and to thin my paints (saw this one enough to have it drilled into my skull), and that I need to prime the mini (though I won’t be using a spray, I’ll just paint a coat of white, gray, or black with a brush), and that the tone of the thinned acrylic won’t look as good as the thinned Citadel paint tone. I’m asking this mainly because I don’t want the paint to start chipping the moment I start playing with them, and though I don’t expect it to last as long as Citadel, I’d still like to know if it will last at least a couple of months and it won’t just start falling off without doing anything to the mini at all.

As long as you thin them down regular acrylics should be fine. Priming with regular acrylic could be an issue though - primers are specially formulated to bond to a surface and provide a base for other paints to stick to. If it's an option I'd recommend splashing out on a spray can of general purpose primer which you should be able to get from any hardware store - you don't need special modelling primer or anything.

Also giving your models a wash with detergent and water before painting them will help the paint stick - sometimes mould release agent can be left on them from the manufacturing process which will prevent the paint from sticking. If you ever end up painting resin models this step is ESSENTIAL, but it's still a good idea with plastic and metal ones anyway.

To avoid chipping or peeling you can seal your models with varnish. It's not essential by any means, but it does give an extra level of protection - especially for metal models which chip much more easily than plastic or resin. You can apply varnish with a brush, but it will tend to pool and not look great, so a spray can is the better choice. Again you don't need anything special, a light spray with a can of mat varnish (which again you can get from any hardware store) will do the job just fine.

Finally it's pretty easy to strip paint from models if you screw up, or you decide to repaint an old model as your skills improve. The basic procedure is to soak the model overnight in something that will melt the paint, but not the model, then give it a scrub with an old toothbrush. Metal models are virtually indestructible so you can soak them in something like acetone that'll strip the paint right off. Resin and plastic models are more fragile (acetone will straight up turn a plastic model into a pool of sludge!) so gentler chemicals are required. There's a cleaning product called Simple Green that's available in many countries that does a good job. Dettol disinfectant also does a good job although it'll eventually start melting the models if you leave them in for a week or so (as I learned after forgetting about a Sentinel that I was stripping ).

My final advice is have fun and don't get disheartened when your first models don't come out looking like something out of White Dwarf. Miniature painting takes time to figure out, so keep at it and you'll see your skills improve as you go. And make sure to post your models here when you're done!

Did you say index and AO3?

Thanks Looney!

[Keep Looking]

Chapter Break Filler

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Prompt 18: Home

.._.._..

For today's prompt of Home, thegreyarea has stepped out of their comfort zone to bring us a truly magnificent reminder of the many places and people that we can call home.

Spoiler: show

Notes: There's a "small" version (1250 px. wide) to follow the Forum recommendations, but that only gives you a general view, without all the detail. So there's a large version (5000 px. wide) where people can appreciate (or not ) everything. There's still a detail picturing just the bookshelf, where all books have the (user)names of Minnions (39* (!)) to allow anyone that don't want on can't see the larger version to, at least, see that part.

* plus Róisín and Nellie, that are on the hands of Mikkel and Emil. I already remembered more that I should included, but there's a point where you have to stop or it never gets done...

Here's a link to the image in its full size, for ultimate enjoyment: https://postimg.cc/t7J8yfvd

And the bookshelf:

Thanks very much to Grey for today's piece (wow), and if any of you are inspired by this prompt, feel free to share what you've made!

[Róisín]

Grey, this is amazing! And I am flattered to be one of the books, and glad you thought of Nellie’s poems too!

[Grade E cat]

Happy to be one of the books also. Couldn't make out the tiniest part of the text, unfortunately.
Otherwise, is that supposed to be Ensi in the dream's background? Also had a nice laugh whe I noticed Lalli had sparkles too.

[Róisín]

I showed Grey’s  picture to my husband, who was able to expand it to a size where I could see more of the titles on the bookshelf - those are wonderful! He asks if he may print out a copy. Not sure of the etiquette on that?

And I noticed Lightning/Lynn hung on the wall with Mikkel’s shotgun and Lalli’s rifle. This is beautiful!

[GaelleDragons]

thegreyarea, I've been woooww-ing at this for a good 5 minutes now. It's just.... woooow! The amount of details you managed to put in this is incredible!! And with the names of Minnions on the books (eee I see I'm there too, thank you so much!! x3) makes it as much a piece about the characters as one about the fandom. I can't talk in detail about everything I love about your piece (there's too much of it!), so I'll just make a list:
- Lalli and Emil with hair sparkles
-the Rubix's cube on the sofa
-Tuuri and Reynir each hiding card behind their backs (and Reynir's prehensible braid is a big YES)
-Reynir's and Mikkel's shirts
-the SSSS books on the shelf
-Kittyyyyyy!


I also made an illustration for today's prompt, though it's not nearly as full of details.
Basically I wanted to draw Reynir and also an icelandic landscape. So here it is: Reynir, at "home". ^^



It took me about one and a half Minna streams to complete (you do the math). I had a reference picture for the background, and I'm pretty certain it's Skógafoss.

Full size picture is here if you want to download it ^^

[Jitter]

OMGs OMGs Grey that is fabulous!

I will take a loong look on a bigger screen and come back with comments. I noticed myself on the shelf but couldn’t read the title on this measly screen. Could you link the full size image too?

Gaelle that is lovely! It could also go with my story Mist (although the real world Skogafoss is probably closer to the sea than Bruaradalur.) I love Icelandic scenery.

[Jitter]

I don’t know what happened, I didn’t see the link or the bookshelf blowup! I was too impressed by the main picture! Anyways thanks, more comments will follow.

[LilG]

Looney, thanks for that

Wyrm, I’ll make sure to go through the fics at some point.
Also, thanks for all the advice. I live in an apartment, so sprays might not be the best choice, but I guess I could spray them in the bathroom and vacate it for a while afterwards. Also, would soap and water also work to clean the sprue of anything that might hinder paint adherence?
And yes, I’ll be sure to post everything I make on the forum

Gaelle, I like the painted look of the background (and especially the sheep and their shadows) with the more cartoony looking characters in the foreground. I can only dream that I’d be able to finish a drawing of this quality in 2 to 3 hours.

thegreyarea, really love all the details in the drawing!
A few that stuck out to me:

Spoiler: show

Firstly, the seagull in the window that’s about to cause mass genocide on a scale never seen before.... no biggie.

Thank you for including me in the library! I’m quite pleasantly surprised to have found myself on one of the books, considering that I haven’t really contributed with all that much in terms of artwork, but I guess the nightmares caused by my avatar are the main reason for the inclusion, considering the title
The third ssss comic book also being there alongside the first two. Lets just hope it will have a successful starting campaign like the first two.

Reynir pointing out that Tuuri is cheating behind her back... because she’s completely transparent (she’ll have to get used to that from now on). Also, how would her clothes work? Does she just materialize them at will, or does she buy them from the local ectoplasmic-goods store?
Reynir also cheating behind his back by using his braid end as a third hand (I suppose his hair really does have a life of its own).

The Rubik’s cube is finally complete, hurray! Though by whom, we may never know... (my bets are on Kitty randomly playing with it and solving it by accident)

The swimming birds and flying fish because they are in a dream.
Also, what’s Ensi so bothered by? That the boys are having fun discussing with each other? She should really find some new friends and stop being such a downer

Also, is that a katana? Who’s the weeb in that room with a katana collection!? (jk)

And, regarding a previous comment

Spoiler: show

I didn’t mean to say that Sigrun doesn’t have clever moments, she definitely does (like the scenario presented in the second ssss comic book qna, where she states that she has previously killed trolls by luring them into collapsing traps), though not really on the level presented in-fic. Because, just like you said, she goes with the first thing that comes to her and doesn’t really think to much about it (which kind of lands her in dangerous situations periodically), like the way she wanted to gun down milk-troll without realizing that the armor is too tough, and she wouldn’t really give much thought or care about the scenarios she’s imagining in-fic. The puzzle solving mindset is kind of Mikkel’s style, if the way he dealt with the last trolls and the occasional, though constant, advice he gives is anything to go by.
But, I guess her peculiar behavior is the main joke of the fic, and I just looked a bit too much into it.