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wordsfromthesol · 5 years

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Out of Place (2/6)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader Summary: Meeting Dick, and the rest of the batboys. You’re confused, since you are nowhere near Bludhaven or Gotham. Some tragedies, some battles, etc. Happy ending because I’m a sap. Warnings: Language, blood and torture and other injuries, light smut Word Count: 1.6k A/N: Second part! I’m almost finished with the story and hope to post the rest soon.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Juggling everything up the stairs, you slowly walked up to your apartment. Not really a surprise, when the mysterious man was passed out on your couch.

*Sigh* Well, I guess my day off may be a little more relaxing that I thought.

Putting away the groceries, you sprawled out on your living room floor to assess the abundance of medical supplies you purchased. You looked over to see his eyes open and staring at you.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. I need to check and redress all of (motioning to his entire body) …that. Here go throw these on.”

Catching the boxers, he sulked into the bathroom.

“Naked was too much but add some boxers and we are good?” he slyly commented.

*rolling your eyes* “Like I said, I need to check all … that” you motioned for him to sit on the floor next to you. All the stitches, much to your surprise, seemed to be holding nicely. Cleaning them once again, you proceeded to slather them with Aquaphor and opened an ungodly amount of gauze. Once you were satisfied, you got up and handed him more ibuprofen and the sweatpants and t-shirts you bought.

“Alright, you can put some actual clothes on…carefully so I never have to redo those stitches.”

He popped the pills in his mouth and pulled on the clothes.

“So…I’m going to need your computer.”

“Yeah, I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask” you motioned towards your laptop. “If you can get into it, you can use it” knowing it would be no problem for the vigilante to bypass your password. “Though…it is a work computer, so if you could…I don’t know mask whatever you’re planning on doing. That’d be great. I’d like to keep my job”

“Believe me,” chuckling out, “there will be no traces of what I’m doing on your laptop”

After pouring another cup of coffee you walk over and plop down next to him on the couch. “So…what exactly are you doing? Because you sure as hell aren’t going back out there anytime soon.”

“Eh, I’ve been through worse. I can’t let these guys slip through my fingers again.”

“Look…I don’t even know how you made it out alive last time. How on earth you dragged yourself to my apartment, and why my apartment is still beyond me. BUT, if you’re going after them again, clearly you need a better plan…or some back-up. OR better yet, both”

“Yeah yeah, I’m already contacting someone. Worried about me?”

“Wipe that sassy smirk off your face. Of course, I’d rather not have you die. Not that I even know your name” you mumbled that last sentence. You understood why, but you refused to call him Nightwing the entire time he crashed at your apartment.

Sensing your frustration, “How about you call me John for now.”

“How original, is your last name Smith”

“Well, it was my dad’s name. John…not Smith”

“Fine, so are you going to answer any of my previous questions? Or am I just your nurse for the day? Which, by the way, is not my profession.”

“Alright, alright,” he turned to look at you. “I was like a mile up the road near the water. Somehow this gang is smuggling drugs through there.”

“You mean that shitty beach by the bridge? There’s like always people there, how on earth would they get away with that?”

“I think people are a lot less observant than you think. But anyways, I was just doing some recon. Apparently, I wasn’t hidden well enough though because the next thing I know something sliced my back. Blah blah fighting blah. I escaped and ran down the street. I saw the light on at your apartment, so I gave it a shot. Guess my instincts were right”

“Man, so riveting. You should be a story-teller.”

His hand shot up to his chest, “I’m so hurt”.

You let him continue on as you searched for a movie to watch. There was no way you were watching a romcom with him here, so you settled for a mindless action movie that you’d seen way too many times. Within thirty minutes you had curled up in the corner of the couch and fell asleep. Who knows how long you had been out, but you awoke to two people arguing in your kitchen. Great, another vigilante has joined the party. I did not sign up for this. Looking up you saw another man, similar in size, though a bit taller than…John…wearing a red helmet.

“Man, I didn’t know I was throwing a vigilante convention in my apartment.”

The two men, you assumed the other was a male, looked over at you.

“Uh…Y/N, this is my uhm, back-up. Red Hood.”

“Right, I’m not calling you that. If you are setting up base in my apartment, I’m going to need a real name. Not necessarily yours, but something you will answer to.”

“Jason, call me Jason.”

“Right, so John and Jason. Great. What are you to scheming about now? The men at the beach? Got some big plan to take them down” You sat up and noticed the guns attached to Jason’s hip. “Woah woah woah,” you swiftly grabbed your own firearm and pointed it at the newcomer. “I did not agree to some random ass dude strolling up with a pair of 45s.”

Jason smirked and pulled his guns out of the holsters. He dropped the mags and locked back the slides. “Calm down, Annie Oakley, these aren’t for you. You know your gun is purple right.”

“Yeah, still shoots the same bullets.” You lowered the pistol but didn’t set it down. The new guy seemed way more hostile than John. “So, you two idiots have a plan? Should I be calling out of work again tomorrow so I can stitch up more wounds?”

The two exchanged glances. Well you assumed. You couldn’t exactly see Jason’s face under that ridiculous helmet.

“Right…well. You said it was a drug smuggling thing. Do you know how they are smuggling said drugs?”

“Not really, that’s why I was doing recon before I was ambushed. I think it was the league.” He whispered that last part to Jason, but you had heard it anyway.

“Alright, well. Let me see if I can help then.” Picking up your phone, you called your dad.

Hey dad!

What’s up sweetheart?

Alright, I’m helping Y/Sister/N do some research for her story. And she is wanting this gang to be smuggling drugs into like a beach area. Not an intense beach, more like the one by my apartment.

The one near the bridge?

Yeah yeah, like that one. Any ideas how they would do it?

Well that type of beach would be easier, less people, but still enough to make the pick-ups look not so…shady. Let’s see…broken piers, fishing, jetskis, those weird night parties they have down there. Ya’know what I would do?

Let’s hear it.

I would take a boat “fishing” and drop the shit encased by some nets. Later, a buddy could come pick it up on a jetski…or honestly just swimming. That beach has a bunch of like camping type stalls surrounded by trees. People collect shit at the beach all the time, no one would think anything of it.

Hm, alright, well I’ll fill her in when she gets off work. Thanks dad!

You glance at the boys, “Well that’s my contribution. Now get out of my kitchen so I can cook.”

Confused, but grateful for the information, they made their way to the dining room computer to hash out the plan. A few hours later John began to suit up.

“Don’t think you two are leaving without eating.” You set three plates down on the table and walked back into the kitchen. The two vigilantes sat down as you brought out some waters. “Alright, so, tell me the plan so I can make sure I won’t see you two dead on the news in the morning.”

Reluctantly, the two divulge their planned take down.

“Alright, I’m coming with you.” Why the fuck did you just say that.

“As exciting as that would be, hell no”

Picking up the plates you called back, “What…what was that? I can’t hear you through that ridiculous red helmet”

“Y/N/N, listen. Jason’s right, you aren’t trained for this. You’d be a liability, and I’d just be worrying about you the entire time.”

“Awe, worried about me?” sarcasm dripping from the statement, “Look, I’m not stupid. I’m not going anywhere near that fight. Or the league, or whatever. But I have a car, and I’m sure there is another one of those weird night parties I see there all the time. I’ll blend in, and that way I can call the police or something if everything goes sideways.”

“Y/N/N”

“Look John, it’s not really up for debate. Let me check these stitches one last time before you ruin them.” You let out an exasperated sigh.

He sulked into your bedroom, not wanting to hear any of Jason’s commentary. You were satisfied with their state, walked into the living room and grabbed your car keys.

“What, I don’t get nurse Y/N to look at my stitches too?”

“Can it Hood, let’s go.”

The three of you pulled up to the beach. Nightwing pointed to a nearby hole in the tree line. “So that’s where I was the first time.”

“Okay, and I see a crowd of people just over there. They seem about my age, so I’m going to post up.” You open the driver’s door, “Scream blueberry if shits going sideways.” You chuckle as you climb out of your blue car.

“Y/N has lost her mind. Why the hell would I scream blueberry.”

“Jay, she’s just trying to be helpful.”

“Dick, we don’t need her help. We need to keep our head in the game. This is the fucking league.”

The two got out of the car and began to lay the trap.

#nightwing imagine #nightwing x reader #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #batboys imagine #batboys x reader #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #red hood x reader #red hood imagine

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hornsandthings · 5 years

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red in your eyes, blood on my hands;

pairing: barry berkman x reader

summary: barry forces the reader’s hand by coming home beaten and bloody, asking them to stitch him up.

tags: angst & fluff! (my staples, of course) + blood. // word count: 1.8k // ps. i was overwhelmed by the super nice feedback on my prev. barry piece, thank you so much!! x

barry groaned as he crumpled into the couch, his eyes shut tight as you knelt before him. he was loosely tugging at his jacket’s zip, the dark metal gleaming wetly. the black clothing stuck to his torso, deceiving the casual eye but it was no absolute keeper of secrets. you touched, you felt, and your hand came away red.

he shifted and you gasped, catching sight of the wound beneath the rip, an oozing, bloody mess. “barry,” you whispered, eyes wide, “barry. i need to take you to the hospital.”

he raised his head at that, wincing. “no. no hospitals,” he wheezed, weakly nudging at the plastic bag on the ground with his foot.

“you’re bleeding, barry! it’s deep—”

“stitches. all i need are stitches,” he reasoned, so pale and so tired. your mind was racing while his movements were slow, his breaths laboured. “i’d do it myself, but my hands are shaking.”

and they were. you gripped them hard, searching his eyes before dropping your gaze to his wound. his shirt covered the gore, but the wet, darkened patch was quickly growing. heartbeat pounding in your ears, it took several moments before you realised what barry was trying to ask, making you look down at the small package that peeked out from the bag.

a sewing kit.

“w-what?” you stammered, shaking your head wildly. one of barry’s hands had since slipped your hold, gripping his middle. red seeped between his fingers. “no. n-n-no. i—i can’t—i can’t do that—”

“please,” he sighed, the pain in eyes making your throat constrict. “i’m not doin’ so hot—”

“barry!” you pleaded, desperation making you sweat. he was already pulling at his shirt, letting it tear to reveal the blood beneath. the wound gaped, swollen and angry. it even seemed to throb, barry’s blood still oozing free with every heartbeat. his head lolled back onto the seat, looking down at you with drooping eyes.

“listen, barry, i don’t know how—you need a goddamn doctor—”

“i’ll tell you how,” he said, lip curling as tried to readjust his seat. there was the grumbling undertone of annoyance and frustration in his voice, or perhaps it was only the pain. “please, baby, you’re all i—agh, fuckin’—”

the blood had left a trail, all the way down his stomach to the line of his pants, beginning to stain the couch itself.

“fine,” you rushed, swallowing hard. “shit. okay, tell me what to do.” clenching your jaw, you stared that wound down, trying to get used to the sight. it was revolting, forcing your steely determination into a grimace. when barry failed to answer, you gripped his chin with the kind of strength only panic could induce. he was your lifeline now, just as much as you might’ve been his.

“yeah, okay,” he said, nodding. “you need to sterilise the needle.”

“h-how?” you whispered, tears stinging your eyes as you fumbled with the little sewing kit. your hands were trembling so hard that you almost spilled it all.

“fire is the quickest.”

you nodded, hurrying to the kitchen. the drawers banged as you tore them open, utensils knocking together as you fumbled for a gas lighter. everything – your face, your skin, your eyes – felt hot as your daft fingers repeatedly missed the trigger.

“fuck!” you squeaked, and a tear burned down your cheek. you changed tactics by rinsing your hands before filling a bowl with water, then gathering some paper towel. you tried to steady yourself, but your knuckles remained white, and the painful lump in your throat was there to stay.

kneeling between barry’s legs again, you had him hold onto the needle for the moment. “clean—gotta clean—”

your words were whispered, stuttered things, barely coherent as you started wiping the blood away. barry hissed, but you were being as gentle as possible, guided by caution rather than sympathy. your alarm seemed to calm somewhat as the wound became a jagged cut as opposed to an indiscernible gory mess, but something else was stirring in your chest. you couldn’t quite identify it, but it felt hot and fast, like something building. escalating.

finally figuring out the gas lighter, both of you watched the needle glow red. “that’s good,” he croaked. you nodded mutely, preparing the thread. “alright, come—come closer.”

barry settled against the back of the couch as firmly as he could, pulling you with him. his thighs brushed either side of your middle, and the smell of sweat and iron was pungent as you leaned close to his chest. his hands settled on your shoulders; it was almost a comfort.

“okay. start at the bottom, yeah—there.” pressing a hand next to the cut, you readied the needle, listening intently. “outside to inside, inside to outside,” he was saying, but you were shaking too much and the blood was warm on your fingers—

“dammit!”he growled, and you whimpered, sight blurring with fresh tears as that needle hung limp from his skin. the single stitch was loose, and the wound was still as gaping wide as ever. he eyed the mess you made, but squeezed your shoulder in reassurance. “it’s too shallow,” he panted, and you felt horrible for causing him more pain, but you weren’t a doctor; hell, you didn’t even own a first aid kit.

“i’m sorry,” you said, shaking your head. “barry, i can’t—”

“you can,” he insisted, starting to relay instructions again. he often interrupted himself with little grunts as you worked the needle, grinding your teeth when you had to pinch the skin together to pull the thread through. the task itself got easier with every additional stitch, getting used to the smooth slide of metal through flesh. “th-that’s it, baby. you’re doing—ouch, jesus—g-great.”

“fuck you, barry,” you ground out, feeling that tight, pressing feeling in your chest again. what if he woke up later with infection? what if it just ripped open again, what if he had lost too much blood already, what if he falls asleep and doesn’t wake up?

but it was done. a jagged line of simple interrupted sutures kept the wound closed, the black thread in stark contrast to his pale skin. his calloused palm slid up your neck to cup your jaw, pulling you up until your lips met his. it was a breathy kiss, soon interrupted by your choked sob. barry’s brow furrowed, looking down at your limp hands. they were stained with his blood.

your head spun. releasing a shuddering breath, you shifted to rest your head in his lap, gently curling your arms around his calves. he was running a hand through your hair, allowing some of the tension to leave his body.

“thanks,” he murmured, voice hoarse. you didn’t know what to say, trembling with lingering shock. you wanted to throw up; you wanted him to leave; you wanted to kiss him; you wanted to go to sleep.

“did you have to do this in the marines?” you ventured, fixating on the plastic bag you had kicked aside in your earlier haste. it boasted one of those stupid yellow smiley faces, telling you to have a nice day, but this one was crumpled and creased and folded in upon itself.

“i never had to, but we still had to know how,” he said, his response coming quicker than you expected. perhaps he was relieved that you weren’t asking about what had brought him here tonight, and you weren’t going to, either. a part of you was furious that he had the audacity to ask you to do this, to stitch him up, keep death at the door despite being just an average person. there was this, but also the anger that came with panic.

barry had scared you.

“are you going to be okay?” you sniffed, lifting your head. he gave you one of those soft, barely-there smiles, and you wanted to sob. “i’m so sorry, barry. i messed it up. it’s probably going to scar.”

“i don’t care,” he said. “it’ll make me remember that you were there for me when i, uh, when i needed you. i don’t… i don’t really have that with a lot of people.”

your heart clenched at the words. reaching for him, you halted as soon as you caught sight of your hands again, sticky with blood. recoiling, disgust crawled down your spine as that gaping wound flashed in your mind again.

with haggard pants and deep grunts, barry lowered himself to the floor next to you. “stop it!” you rushed, “you’re going to undo the stitches.” but they held, and barry took your hands in his as he dipped them in the bowl of water. “what are you doing?”

“saying sorry.”

you weren’t expecting it to work without any soap, but some of the blood flaked off your skin as barry gently washed it. tears rolled down your cheeks as you wondered how many times he’s had to do this for himself, how often his sink or shower had run red. your gaze kept drifting to his injury, trying to determine how he’d gotten it. if it was an attack, or an act of self-defence against barry.

“hey,” he said, his hand cold and wet as it held your cheek. “i’ll redo the stitches later, but i really needed to close it up fast. thank you, baby. i mean it.” barry kissed you again, all furrow-browed and smushed nose, stubble scraping your skin. it was familiar, reassuring, and you let your lips mould to his over and over again, hands curling over his nape. he tried to shift even closer, but the strain had him groaning in pain.

“let me get you some painkillers,” you sighed, helping him to your bedroom. he was heavy as he leaned against you, limbs gangly. he fell asleep before you even got the pills to him, still sitting against the headboard in his dirty clothes.

and so things dulled to monotony again; you showered, dressed, fell asleep beside him. the next day, barry would wake up with a hundred apologies, saying things like i shouldn’t have involved you and i wasn’t thinking straight, but you’d tell him it was alright, it was all alright, even though it wasn’t. the feeling of barry’s blood slipping through your fingers was oppressive, sickening; it filled you with such regret and fear and longing. however, the thing – the most ridiculous thing, perhaps – was that you loved him. you loved barry berkman, despite his shades of grey, and you’d much rather get your hands dirty than have him struggling out in some empty alleyway.

“please don’t do this again,” you had whispered to his sleeping form, gently smoothing out those frown lines on his brow. it was a futile wish, because barry’s life was governed by murphy’s law, but if he still held hope in his heart, so could you.

#barry berkman x reader #barry berkman imagine #barry berkman fanfiction

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androgynousblackbox · 4 years

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Crafts I have done during quarantine

I was bored so decided to rate and review all the crafts I have done while I had nothing else to do. Working in felt Pros: -It’s fairly easy to do, even kids could try it, given that someone checks on them to be careful with the pointy stuff like scissors and needle. -You end up with something cute and soft that is going to be your very own plush, like wow, don’t you feel accomplished for making your own plush. And you can make it however you want, adding as many details as you could ever want. Or not, whatever, it’s your own choice. -There is a lot of free patterns for a lot of things online available. Do you want to make a beetle? Have a pattern for it. Do you want to make a bear? Have a pattern. And in case you don’t happen to find the pattern for the thing you want, you can always just make it yourself or adapt a prexisting one for the thing you need. -You can add details in embroidery if you want, to give something extra. Cons: -To work with felt you will either need a lot of glue or develop a second skill, that is sewing so it will take some practice before you are making the lines straight or as close as they need to be. Or else risk getting all untangled and have the fucking thing have it’s filling picking on a corner. -Time consuming. Between making/printing the pattern and cutting the parts there is no much trouble, that will feel like a breeze. Depending on the size and the level of detail, It’s the fucking sewing that will take you forever and, again, if you are not used to it, I hope you enjoy getting pinched, having the thread tangled up it’s own ass, having to redo a stitch because it came out way too fucking ugly and thread that motherfucker through the needle’s eye again and again, because you are going to do a lot of that with each single piece. Don’t try to make it perfect or your eyes will get tired. Which is a shit advice if you WANT to get it perfect and cute and exactly as the pictures show, but you won’t because you are just starting so, fuck, embracing the potential ugly it is. Take solace in the fact you made that ugly and that ugly wouldn’t exist without you. -3D images objects like balls for heads or body will take even more time and maybe especial patterns if you can’t just do them from your own imagination. -The plush will never end up exactly as you imagined after you put the filling the first times. Just deal with it. Rating: 6/10 because fuck sewing. Cold porcelain Pros: -It’s easy to make and if not, cheap to buy, infinitely cheaper than polymer clay and, on my case, so much easier to find. -Some cold porcelain can come in certain colors, but if you don’t have access to those that it’s okay, you can grab the cheapest paint you have on hand and kneed it together with just the tiniest amount. Your hands will end up a mess, but at least you can have all the color you could need to do anything with one single package. -Speaking of packages, cold porcelain is usually sold in bigger quantities than polymer clay so you could do a lot with just one. -You don’t like how it turned out in the end because the thing dried way darker than you expect? You can paint it over with acrylic paints no problem. -Did I mention that is cheap? The ideal glue for cold porcelain is white glue, the same shit kids use for school. Just a tiny amount will be more than enough to join any pieces together as long they aren’t too heavy, so with buying a big bottle you will served for a pretty long time. This only work as long the piece hasn’t dried completely, though. -If for whatever reason you want to save on glue, use water. In general you can use water to make more intricate details, join two pieces so they appear as one or smooth something out. -I have used three different brands of cold porcelain and I had never had a problem in which my fingerprints got stuck all over it. -Are you a terrible cooker that gets bored waiting for the food to cook, gets distracted with something else and come back to find you overcooked? Or rather, get so nervous about that happening that take out the food before it’s completely done and had to stand eating something undercooked because put it again on the oven sounds like too much of a hassle? Don’t worry, because cold porcelain doesn’t need an oven. Just make sure the thing can dry on the position you want and let the air do it’s job. -It’s completely non toxic so literally anyone can work with it. -It usually smells like nothing or like glue, so if smell is something important to you on your craft, this is not bad. Cons: -Cold porcelain can be sticky as fuck, especially when you add water or just kneed it with paint, so you will have to use some kind of moisturizer on your hands to handle it easier. Oh, and for this too you will need to cut your nails and clean your work station because once a little hair or unwanted particles get stucked there, good luck taking it out if you don’t want to paint over afterward. So, hey, this could be a pro actually, because if you are someone that doesn’t remember to clean your hands as much you should, cold porcelain will force you to do it and maybe help develop the habit. -Depending on your environment, it could take one, two or even three days for it to dry completely, so you will need to develop some patience for this. The more intricate your piece is, the more you will have to wait for each of them to dry some before putting the details or join together so it doesn’t become too heavy. This could also be a pro for some because you can take all the time you want to modify or add whatever you want. -You must be careful about cracking because what looked like a tiny line during the modeling could turn into an abyss once it’s dried. You will usually be able to fix it easily putting more cold porcelain on top or covering with something else. -Everything you do will be reduce in a 30% in volume, so the figure might never be as big or the size your expected it to, unless you can actually calculate that kind of stuff before time and, like, who has time for that. -Depending on the shape of the figure, you may have to keep turning it from one side to another while drying so it doesn’t warp. You can avoid this by putting the figure on top of a bunch of paper tissues. Rating: 10/10, fucking love it. Punch needle Pros: -Once you understand the basic principles (don’t pull the thread, don’t make punches too far apart, hold the needle right), then it’s very easy to do. -You can make your own pins, plush, pillows, handbag and, truly, anything you can imagine with the fabric. -You have a double effect in which one side looks all smooth and the other one it’s all fluffy and soft, so you can combine both to make something really cool. -There are different size of needles so you can work with embroidery thread or yarn. -It’s very satisfactory to “punch” on the fabric, going with the needle just up and down and up and down during the whole process. You don’t need to be extra careful with it for fear of hurting yourself by accident so you could get your hand busy with that while watching a show or seeing a video. -If embroidery seems like too much work for you, this is the easier version of it even though, as said, the effect and the way of handled it is not going to be the same. Cons: -You will need especial made needle for this, so if you don’t have easy access to them you are kind screwed. There are some needles that come with different options for different threads, but the cheaper one is going to be a single one of one size with which you are only going to work with one type of thread. -You will spend A LOT of thread in one single piece so you better have a lot in hand to complete it. -You will need a especial type of fabric in order to punch it without completely destroying it. -There is not a lot of people who do this kind of craft, so you might struggle to find people interested on it or that publish their work so you can get some inspiration from. -It is, after all, time consuming because you are going to spend a good while just filling up one single are. If you are doing an entire area, that is going to take even longer. Raiting: 8/10 because impatience. Wet felting Pros: -If you are still a terrible cooker, but somehow find the action of kneeding relaxing, then this is the craft for you. It’s so easy that it’s a good activity for kids too. -Low level concentration required because once you get to work the thing with your hands, you can be doing anything else with your eyes and it won’t matter because you are just working with wool, soap and warm water so you can’t hurt yourself even if you do get distracted. -You can do practically anything with this, from clothing for dolls, dolls themselves, accesories and more. It’s up to your imagination and the ways you find to make it. You can even use it to wrap a bar of soap and then not only will help rid of dead particles easier when you use it, but it will last longer. -You can use embroidery for details once it’s dried and ready, or also needle felting.

-Any type of clothing made with this will be the warmest shit you ever had when it’s cold, will last the longest and will keep you drier than other fabrics. Wool is fucking awesome. -Two pieces done the exact same way are never going to look the exact same way. There will always be something unexpected that will give it a unique touch. -Because all you are doing is working with soap and water, your hands will be all clean and nice by the end. -This is an old as fuck technique so you know it must mean that works. -You can dry it around any shape you want, like a vase, and it will permanently take that shape no matter what you do with it after. Cons: -You must be able to get access to natural sheep wool. Synthetics might have pretty colors, but they won’t stick to each other like natural wool does. This can get expensive the more colors you want to add, if you happened to be a lazy fuck like me who can’t be bothered to learn how to dye it. But, you know, there is that option at least. -Making this is an entire process: you need an area where you don’t mind if some water gets spilled onto the floor, space big enough that you can kneed it all you need, put plastic or a towell underneat, don’t mind that your own clothing can end up a little wet and have access to warm water. If the dyed of your wool starts coming out, your towell will end up tainted with it. -If you are doing something 3D, once it start drying, your piece will reduce it’s size and become tighter the more you kneed it so don’t expect it to look the same as it was when wet. And it will take a long while to dry completely until it’s able to be used, like two or three days depending on how big it is. -If you like a smooth kind of look, this is not the thing for you. It doesn’t matter how much you work the wool or how well it’s made, there will always be some hairs sticking out so you will have to learn to live with that and take it as part of it’s charm. But unless you are extremely sensitive about your skin, it won’t be itchy to use either. It just feels warm and comfy. -You try to find people who dedicate to this on the regular. Just try. Rating:7/10 because it’s a lot of work. Crocheting (amigurumi) -Very forgiving type of craft unless your warn suddenly decides it doesn’t want to untangle and end up with an unexpected knot or breaking something trying to pull it appart. -There is A LOT of information, resources, groups, channels and more for you if you are a begginer. Plenty of patterns are also available for free and there is a lot of inspiration to take from that you can easily customize to your own needs. -It’s extremely satisfactory see a shape slowly being formed through your work and in the end you can something soft and cute all for yourself, or whoever you wanted to give it to. -You can do your own dolls, doll’s clothing, figures and creatures adding or taking whatever detail you want, no one is stopping you. -Yarn as a source material is easy to get for most people. A crochet hook are not that expensive either. -Since the warn and the needle are bigger than what a needle for sewing and thread would be, sewing parts together or for adding details it’s not that diffcult. -If you don’t like sewing not even then, or you want something to look a very particular way, you can needle felt it. Cons: -High level concentration required, especially if you are a begginer, because you must count a lot and if you miss even just a single step, the entire thing will look forever weird to you, but aren’t willing to go back all the other steps to find out what went wrong either. -It will take a while getting used to hold the hook and the warn in a way in which the work doesn’t end up too tight or too loose. -Patterns can and will confuse the fuck out of you in the start because you first need to learn an entire vocabulary in order to interpretate them. It’s like reading music, it’s just a bunch of meaningless symbols without that aknowledge. -If you have any kind of cronic pain in your hand, you will need to take a lot of breaks because a lot of crocheting will only make it worse. -The limit of what you can do is always going to be how you descipher the right way to crochet it. You can’t just do the thing, escupt it like on the cold porcelain and then it’s done, there is what you wanted, but you must work it row to row with a lot of care so you don’t miss anything or overdo it. -There is a lot of ways to hold your hook, your work, to do this or that, but all amigurumis are always going to have the same samey texture and look, so you must really be sure you are all about it before getting into this. -Also, if you want to create a new pattern or modify a prexisting one, you will need math. Fuck that noise. Rating: 5/10 because numbers suck. Needle felting Pros: -Excelent stress reliever since you are literally stabbing the wool to do your betting. -Because you are working with a needle, you can be as precise as you could ever want, making sure your work looks exactly as you wanted it to be. -You can sculpt the wool into any shape you want, but unlike cold porcelain or wet felting, there is no drying time required. The work is done and ready when you say is done and ready. -You can do great dolls with this technique since the wool is so flexible and maleable. -You can work with the wool and a needle, or combine this with other techniques to make something more unique, like on the case of amigurumis, welt felting or punch needle. It doesn’t need a especiall fabric either, you can use it on any to add fun details to your liking. -You don’t even actually need wool if you don’t have it close. If you lack any specific color, you can get it’s equivalent on yarn, make fluff out of it with a steel brush and use that for felting just the same, or use the yarn directly. Although if you do that last one you will need to work it a little more to get rid of the original texture and make it smooth. Cons: -The more you work on your wool with the needle, the more firm and less hairy will be, unlike wet felting in which you have to live with it. Problem is, this could take a lot of time and even more so if you don’t have any especial holder and are working with just a single needle in your hand. We are talking about hours and hours of stabbing and stabbing, so make sure to take breaks and let yourself breath before keep going. -High level of concentration required because the moment you get distracted, you will end up stabbing yourself. There are accesories you can put to cover your fingers, but if you don’t have access to those, be careful because those needles can get pretty deep. For this reason I wouldn’t recommend it for a child. -Compared with other type of crafts, there is not a terribly lot of resources for people interested on this and a lot of it is tutorial videos in japanese for some reaosn. If you speak any other language but that one or english, even less than that so a lot of your journey is going to be experimentation. -The needles might have no trouble piercing your fingers, but they are still very fragile, some more than others, so you can’t just grab whichever and go ham to town with it because it will end up broken. If a needle seems like it bends too easily it can be used, but carefully and once the piece it’s too firm for it to penetrate you will need to change for a sturdier one. You will probably need multiple needles of varyin sizes to finish one single work. Rating: 9/10 because I saw a neede literally piercing my finger and that wasn’t fun. String dolls

Pros -I love them?? There are so easy and so cute, omg??? And you are telling me that I can add embroidery, felt, wool or anything I want into it but all I need for the base is yarn? And no math or couting stitches required? Fuck yeah. -Anyone could do any of this, with or without an armature, and as long you have the glue to make sure nothing comes out of place even after some handling, then you have something a keychain, a figurine or doll exactly to your liking. -There is not a lot of resources for people to make these, but those that do exist are fairly easy to customize. Most of them were done by kids so, yeah, definitely they can do it too if they want. -Theorically you could make them as big as you want, but there is nothing wrong with just having something small and adorable. -You can recycle little balls of paper or scrapped yarn in order to make the filling for the head. Cons: -Unless you construct them very well and use a lot of glue, and depending the level of details integrated, they might not be the most durable thing on the Earth. They are relatively easy to repair at least. -Because they are usually small, like small as the palm of your hand small, you might not have space to make it extremely detailed. You can try, though, I guess. -Medium level of concentration required because you have to make sure that the yarn is tense enough that will keep it’s shape and not unravel the moment you let go. -If it’s too firm but you still need to add something with a needle, good luck forcing it’s way through it. Raiting: 10/10 would string again.

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