fandomhigh | Photography Through the Ages; Thursday, Third Period [01/18].

When it was decided that this lesson was going to be held in the danger shop, you'd better believe that Prompto spent way too much time setting things up to look all old-timey to fit the period of time they were going to be working from, and he might have even dressed accordingly, too, but he didn't have the time or resources for something like that. He did have a fancy old-timey jacket on, though, so that was something!

"Hey, guys," he said, greeting them all with a grin and a tip of his invisible top-hat that he was absolutely pretending to be wearing. "You may be wondering what about photographic history might be dangerous enough to require the danger shop, and if you're thinking of some kind of battle or monsters or anything like that, you're going to be disappointed. But the next step on the development of modern photography as we know it today was pretty dangerous, in that it involved a lot of chemicals to process images that are now known to be super harmful, especially mercury, which, fun fact, was sometimes called quicksilver, in the way that it was shiny and how it moved, and, well, if you know your Latin...."

He chuckled a little proudly, preening, because it was just really cool how the weird Latin thing with their names seemed to reveal itself to be accurate on so many levels!

"But, anyway! Today, we're talking about daguerreotypes, which is sort of our next step in camera evolution after the camera obscura. Basically, people were really trying to figure out a way to make the images projected by the camera obscura actually permanent, and, though a lot of trial and error, and a lot of different prototypes, a guy named Louis Daguerre finally landed on something that got enough traction to be commercialized and spread into popularity...until the next big thing came around. The development process is a bit involved, and, like I said, involved some harmful chemicals, so we're here in the danger shop so that we can try to recreate our own daguerreotypes without, you know, exposing ourselves to some really gnarly stuff. And you'll see some of this again once we get into developing film, too, and, honestly, considering the technology at the time, the crispness and detail you could pull from a daguerreotype is pretty impressive! But don't just take my word for it! Let me show you guys how it works, and then you can see for yourself! Any questions about the daguerreotype itself before we start to get into it?"

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In an old-timey fashion?

Rosa Diaz

Stark

Arden Finch

Ask questions about the daguerreotype that Prompto might have to google on his phone real quick! Learn the process of how to make a daguerreotype! Marvel and poke at the mercury because it's probably the only place you can without serious complications to your health and well-being, but man, it is so cool!!

Yesterday, Arden ~~who would ping into the sign-in thread after I've uploaded a good icon for it~~ had been too busy fretting over logistics to bundle up properly and had gone to bed with something of a scratchy throat. She'd gone to sleep with her balcony door cracked and had, therefore, woken up this morning feeling perfectly fine, but it was a good reminder to take the time and effort to dress warmly anytime she was outside.

Which was why Arden had entered the Danger Shop with a wide scarf wrapped around her shoulders and a hat pulled down over her hair. Couldn't risk a cold the first few weeks of class, amirite?

Yup. Totally important to stay warm in the winter! No one wanted to catch a cold! So a scarf made total sense, and Prompto was not at all eying Arden's a little suspiciously with a weird knot in his stomach! It was winter, that meant winter things....

But so help him, if she strolled in next week in a ratty trenchcoat or upgraded that hat to something less winter-helpful, he was not going to be okay!

Neither of those sounded likely, but an extra shawl over her coat for additional warmth was certainly in the cards!

Arden definitely didn't notice the suspicious looks Professor Argentum wasn't darting her way, and wasn't, therefore, hunching her shoulders about it or anything.

And now it's your turn to try making your own daguerreotypes! Take 'pictures' of your classmates or some of the moddable objects in this old-timey parlor and see if you can recreate the process of developing them successfully!

Or, again, just play with the mercury, although, really, Prompto get it, but would prefer if you at least tried to use it for its intended purpose of cool old-timey pictures.

Well, Detective Diaz was kind of terrifying and she thought it might be rude to ask to take Mr. Not-The-Rich-Guy-Stark's picture, so Arden turned to trying to compose cool pictures of the stuff in the parlor instead.

Though she did want to take at least one portrait. "Um, Professor Argentum, is it okay if I take a picture of you?" she asked.

Prompto agreed entirely about Rosa, to be honest, and the fact that that she made him nervous just by being there actually helped to tamper down some of his weirdness about Arden!

....some.

But when she asked to take his picture, he seemed to be somewhat flattered, like the idea that he would even be considered was a bit of a pleasant surprise, and it pulled a smile out of him. "You sure?" he asked. "I mean, yeah, totally! Go for it..." He realized he could just avoid saying her name entirely, but he felt that he should really get used to it and try to climb over that particular little trauma hill. "...Arrrr-den."

Look, he was trying, okay? Even just hearing it still made his skin crawl, so saying it, especially when it was a name he honestly was hoping he'd never have to encounter again in the rest of his lifetime...

But he worked through it and came out with a bit of an awkward smile and focused on the task at hand. "You think I should smile for the camera, or should I be all stiff and serious like so many of the people in these old timey photos usually are?"

Sorry that the name her mother had given her with her dying breath was so difficult for you.

Arden looked at his awkward smile and her own expression shifted several degrees further in that direction to match. "Uh, probably the stiff and formal one," she said, because that would be way less weird for her to develop than a picture that showed him struggling with...whatever weird thing he seemed to have with her. "Just to, you know. Match the vibe and all."

Well, she could have picked a name less shared by creepy murderous torturers with world-ending inclinations! But, like, props for the different spelling, at least!

"That's kind of what I was thinking, too," said Prompto, with a nod, although whatever he was struggling with could always be put aside for a picture, he was actually an expert at smiling it all away through the camera, to the point where there was already a more genuine smile playing on his face. But, remembering the vibe, he cleared his throat importantly to chase it away, furrowing his brow a little in an expression of stern consternation (that probably would have worked better on a less freckly, less baby face), squared his shoulders, and tugged at his jacket before folding a fist across his chest in what felt like a very dignified sort of pose, his eyes gazing out somewhere into the middle distance, clearly thinking of Important and Serious Things.

Well, wouldn't you just feel silly when this Arden saved the world, huh? Take that. Although, who was really gonna be surprised at white men ruining things for everyone again, let's be real?

"Perfect," she said, going to take the picture now. "You definitely look like you're thinking of the right kind of sherry to go with a chat about enclosure rights with your old school chums from Eton or whatever."

A few moments later and it was done, save for the developing. "Thank you, Professor Argentum."

Ok, Stark was definitely going to play with the mercury a bit because liquid metal was neat and unusual.

But he was also going to take a picture. If he could find someone to take a picture of...

He is still snickering over quicksilver, but can you blame him?

Photography Through the Ages; Thursday, Third Period [01/18].

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