This is just to say that my friend @effies is brilliant and this short story about developing laser eyes is SUPER RELATABLE. #SFF #scifi #disability #accessibility
https://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-123b-laser-eyes-aint-everything-by-effie-seiberg/
@crystalvisits thank you Crystal!!!
@crystalvisits @effies
I read this aloud to Kestrell :)
@crystalvisits @effies
Kes wants me to add context: She has two prosthetic eyes, and spent a long time as a disability advocate. She has had actual discussions with MIT folks about how to get laser-shooting eyes. [In a non-comic-book universe, distressingly large backpack full of batteries, at *best*. But probably would still overheat her brain.] So this story was doubly resonant for her.
@AlexxKay @crystalvisits Battery tech is getting smaller every year... hopefully someday it'll be conveniently sized and won't overheat!
Aug 1, 2026, 1:53 AM@AlexxKay @crystalvisits @effies
Okay I need everybody in this convo to know that I just saw a video short on YouTube that was one of those reaction to posts on Tumblr and Reddit, so I don't know the originator of this, but: it was proposed to create a tabletop RPG character that had cobbled together something that *looked* like a gun with a laser sight at a distance, but when you got close, was clearly just a gun-shaped piece of wood with a laser pointer strapped on top.
Also the character has a giant demon-cat familiar.
Anyways, I just wanted to point out that low watt helium-neon red lasers don't run hot at all.
@siderea @AlexxKay @crystalvisits
lolol
@siderea @crystalvisits @effies
Low-watt lasers don't vaporize your enemies, though :-)
Aug 1, 2026, 4:59 AM@AlexxKay That's what the demon-cat familiar is for.
Though if you have your heart set on vaporization, yes, there is the perennial engineering problem of managing the waste heat.
@siderea @crystalvisits @effies
Kestrell: That's what my cyborg guide-dog with the gun turrets is for!