[Video]

[burnyoudown]

[When the feed turned on, Kavinsky seemed to be sitting on the floor in the living room of the place he shared with Blue.]

Hey. Hope everyone's having a good day.

[He was being oddly nice... Maybe he was just in a good mood.]

Is anyone here like, artsy? I was thinking about tattoos, a dragon in this case, and it'd be better if I had something visual to work with, you know?

[Don't ask him how he planned to accomplish a tattoo here; he likely wouldn't explain.]

Comments

[Video]

[stitch_witch]

[And here is a video of a woman who is knitting what is clearly a nice sweater to reply to you. One whose video has the sound of little clicking in it, for a moment of two. The sound of the claws of a dog hitting a floor.]

I have seen a number of people with a good bit of artistic talent here, but I do not know if we have anyone with experience with tattoos.

[burnyoudown]

[Honestly, he was so mesmerized by the sight of someone knitting (something he'd only seen Prokopenko's grandmother do before) that he didn't even immediately realize the sound wasn't like, the knitting needles or something.]

Oh, really? That's good. Doesn't necessarily have to be tattoo experience, just like- illustrations or line work. Something that would translate well to a tattoo.

[Something he could (literally) puzzle over in his head.]

[stitch_witch]

[Come now, knitting isn't so strange, is it? Oh well, at least the boy is entertained, though she knows it not.]

Do those things translate to each other well? There are not many who make tattoos where I am from.

[burnyoudown]

[It is to him. He also thought it took quite a lot of talent--or at least practice.]

Yeah. Like, you typically don't want something that's too detailed? But then there's also plenty of people who have really detailed tattoos. I think it depends on the specific art and the tattoo artist in question. For like, how well it turns out. Couple of my friends at home have really nice tattoos. Skov's got roses on his neck- always sort of figured that would hurt more than other places.

[Of course, Skov also had piercings in places Kavinsky would never consider getting things pierced, so his pain tolerance was probably a lot different.]

[stitch_witch]

[Practice. He should try spinning thread. That takes practice too.]

An interesting prospect to consider, how complex art might or might not be. I suppose something similar is true of all crafts. For I cannot help but see it as a form of crafting.

[burnyoudown]

[That sounded like a different sort of difficult--not that Kavinsky couldn't be patient, when he wanted to be.]

Yeah, it definitely is. Oh, size probably factors into things, too. Like, trying to pack a lot of detail into something too small probably wouldn't turn out too good.

[A thoughtful pause.]

I'm not sure I'd be good at a lot of craft stuff. I've got an eye for detail but that's just like, one part of the equation, you know?

[stitch_witch]

[There's no reason not to try something new. Spinning was a hobby that could easily be done without too much thought once you got used to it.]

That seems likely to be true. I've heard similar things from crafts people.

And you might be shocked. Many people prove themselves skilled in crafts in ways they don't expect.

[burnyoudown]

[That was true. And Kavinsky was typically not afraid of trying new things.]

Mmm, maybe. I don't know what sort of thing I'd even be interested in trying. I'm not like...well versed in what kinds of crafts there are.

[stitch_witch]

Anything that creates something new, be it art or clothing or weapons, those are crafts. Have you ever created something?

Video

[the_freak]

[Eddie grins, head cocked curiously to the side.]

...What kind of dragon?

[burnyoudown]

Uh-

[About that-]

Yeah, sort of. It's a bit-...complicated, though.

[For more than one reason.]

[burnyoudown]

That's a good question. In theory I was considering having the design wrap around my arm, like from shoulder to wrist. So I'm not sure if an eastern or western dragon body shape would work better? But a Slavic design would be rad, too. I just-

[He gestured vaguely, a touch frustrated.]

Obviously there's no resources here to be like 'this is what I'm thinking of', which makes shit harder. So really it's like, what looks good. I could try to put together some references, but.

[But if he had references in the first place, or was confident coming up with them, he might not need to reach out to others in the first place.]

[the_freak]

Well, I've got this? [Eddie smirked and held up his Dungeons and Dragons book, flipping to an appropriate page with a flourish.] You know, you're looking for inspiration or whatever. Or there's this bad boy. [He lifts his arm to show off the Wyvern tattoo on his right tricep.]

[burnyoudown]

[Oh. Well, that could be helpful, actually. He leaned in a little for a better look.]

Where'd you get that?

[He knew what Dungeons and Dragons was, at least, in a very basic sense, it was just one of the last things he'd ever expected to see here.]

And dude, that tattoo's pretty great.

[stitch_witch]

You're still an artist then. A crafter. It is good that you have an art to work in.

[burnyoudown]

[The relief he felt about not being questioned for why it was complicated was immeasurable.]

I never really thought of it that way, but I can see how you're right.

Though... [He paused for a moment.] I have sort of been interested in learning how to play guitar. ...Actually- does that count as a skill or a craft?

[the_freak]

Just showed up one day, I dunno Man.

[Eddie shrugs, but looks pleased.]

It's not my edition from back home, things way newer, all this shit that never existed when I played.

[And of course he grins at the compliment.]

Got of few of 'em.

[stitch_witch]

The means by which we work our crafts are our skills. They go hand in hand.

[burnyoudown]

Yeah, I guess that does sort of happen sometimes.

[Maybe in different circumstances, he would've joked about it being aliens...but knowing things here, it probably was the aliens.]

Huh. When are you from?

[It was still weird that he had to ask things like that, but it felt less weird than the first time he'd asked.]

Nice. Hey, would it be cool if I got a look at that in person sometime? [A beat.] The book.

[Though he wasn't necessarily opposed to a tattoo tour, either.]

[burnyoudown]

Oh- that's a good point, actually.

[He paused for a thoughtful moment.]

And making music is still- it's creating something, even if you can't like, technically touch it.

[You could still be touched by music, in an emotional sense.]

[stitch_witch]

Of course it is. It's a beautiful construction, perhaps moreso for how fleeting it can be compared to other crafts.

[burnyoudown]

Mm. Yeah. That's true.

[Of course, now he was pondering guitars and how likely (or unlikely) it'd be to be able to learn while stuck here.]

Anyway, I guess I should let you get back to your... [He hesitated for a moment.] knitting?

[He'd been sure it was knitting before he'd decided to say anything about it out loud, but now of course he doubted himself. What if it was crochet? He didn't know the visual differences, after all.]

[stitch_witch]

We'll only have sweaters if I knit them, and at the moment I don't have the energy to spare to do so magically. And I should return to it. Thank you for talking.

[the_freak]

Eighty Six.

[Which might as well be the stone ages compared to most everyone else as far as he's aware, and he waits for the same to be confirmed.]

Yeah Dude, of course. I host games in the diner if you're ever interested.

[burnyoudown]

Oh. That is...so many years before I was even born.

[And also sort of sounded familiar. As in, he'd asked Max the same question but couldn't remember what specific year she'd said. Something in the 80s though.

He paused a moment before continuing.]

I'll consider it. I don't actually know anything about it. Like...how anything works.

[the_freak]

Yeah. Figures. Everyone seems to say the same.

Pretty much everyone I'm dealing with is a novice, you wouldn't be the first one I had to explain it to.

[burnyoudown]

I'm sure the 80s were just fine, though. Like- Metallica started in the 80s. And, uh...

[Yeah, that was all he had.]

Well, at least I'm not the only one. Serious question though. How often do dragons actually come up in a, uh- game?

[the_freak]

The 80s had the best music. Metallica, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Led Zeppelin, W.A.S.P, Dio- there's so many.

They're usually saved for either a boss or the main villain, so...maybe once in a campaign. Not all that often. Gotta save the good stuff.

[burnyoudown]

I dunno about best, but there's definitely a lot of good music.

[He was semi-teasing and semi-serious.]

Mmm. I guess that makes sense. Why do the dragons have to be bad, though?

[the_freak]

You got a better contender?

[ :| ]

...They don't. That's a good point. Most people make 'em bad. I've done a few games where I flip the script. And uh- you can always try to reason with the bad guys. Had a few people win a campaign without drawing a single drop of blood. It was pretty impressive.

[burnyoudown]

I dunno. There's a lot of new music that's good. But also like, any songs or bands I could mention didn't exist in '86.

[So like, without being able to play any of the music he could talk about, it felt a little pointless. Of course, he did have a few more modern songs on hand, but they were literally all Bulgarian hip-hop.]

Yeah, I've noticed that trend, but...I've never really gotten why so many people are so determined to make dragons evil. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with dragons.

[He still was, actually.]

I grew up with stories about dragons that weren't inherently bad, and that helped people sometimes. ...Or that appeared like hot guys with wings. Which, honestly? Sign me up.