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dognonsense · 3 months

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Question...how do you make your patches? They seem so fuckin cool. I'm working on a vest and a jacket atm, and I'd like for them to be done by the time a pride fest rolls around next month.

Main technique I use for making patches nowadays is linocut. Its best suited for mass production of patches.

Make sure to remember your carving the mirror image so you have to flip all the text. Using tracing paper to flip the design is a good trick, as well as leaving graphite marks on side, then pressing that to the lino to leave the marks in the same spot. Another trick with pencil is to view what ur carving in negative space quickly, put a paper over your design and shade over it with pencil, darker marks will be where you haven't carved yet.

I use speedball fabric ink, it takes 1 week to set then will be fine to be washed. I have magenta, violet, turqouise, and white. They have a limited range of fabric colors at the store. I have seen gold and silver fabric paint for sale and I will investigate it one day.

I use a speedball roller, i find the smaller one to be better than the big one as I can be more precise and waste less ink.

I got a fancy handle for $40 but the screws fallen out so its broken now so just get some heavy books. I used to use a mug. Whats important is pushing your whole body weight into it.

I got a speedball carving tool with different heads I can swap out so I can cut into the lino at different deepness and widths. The heads are stored inside the tool since its hollow and has a screwable removable bottom. I use linocut or dollar store erasers for my carvings. Make sure to wash the ink off your linocuts after your done using them.

A thing to increase the lifespan of you're linocuts is to use wood glue, some cork or wood pieces, and glued the lino stamps onto them. I dont do that yet so my stamps fall appart from overuse sometime and because I cut way too deep into the lino since I hate chatter.

Chatter is the term for in linocutting when theres little messy lines and stuff. It makes the art more recognisably to be linocut. My work is very clean with no chatter which is why people don't notice its linocut usually. This is a stylistic choice, with diy styles having a lot of chatter can look really cool so experiment with leaving bits of extra uncarvered lino sticking out in ur stamp. I need to experiment and buy some more lino.

You can also use multiple linocut stamps together to make a patch. Some patches ive made have like 8 different stamps. Ive made a dog nonsense patch where each letter was their own eraser stamp. You can also use different colors between the different lino stamps on the same patch to add more color. An effect I like to do is first stamp it in color, then the next day I stamp it in white over the same spot but shifted to the right and down slightly. It makes the text have a cool border 3D effect I love doing.

If making a more detailed picture with colors, i reccomend hand painting patches. I use white fabric paint mixed with acrylics for color to get all the shades i need. Acrylic paint mixed with fabric softener works too.

If doing words and you dont want a unique font reccomend using letter stamps. If you want a unique font for that i recommend hand paint for individual or linocut for mass produce.

The positive of letter stamps is the font is neat and can be done quickly. I know from lending them to my roommate that they are very helpful if you have dyslexia and have trouble getting letters right.

A visual effect of the letter stamps is that have a nice boxy edge effect, its an imperfection that adds a personally touch to it. I have both lower and upper case stamps that I got from michaels. You can use a hair band or elastic to hold a bunch of letter stamps together to make a word stamp.

You can use other stamps than letters that you find at craft stores for example my racoon print is a craftstore stamp.

You can also find big plastic letter stencils at the dollar store that you can use to do lettering by filling in gaps with a sponge or or paintbrush. They make special paintbrushes just for using stencils.

You can also get plastic stencils in the shapes of things, i got some for children and use a horse stencil for my horse smoking weed patch. Easier than drawing a horse myself.

Another technique I use for more unique clean patches is gel plating. I haven't tried printing laserprint images with it as ive seen online a lot but I will try one day. What i personally do is use it to make imprints with chains and physical objects.

Another thing i use with gelplates are any stamps or linocuts that dont have words, or words ones that i fucked up with and forgot to mirror when carving. It flips mirror image twice with the gel plate so it goes back to being right again on the patch.

Another patch making technique is using foamboard cut into shapes glued onto cardboard. This is good for a quick test of a design and is very cheap to make. It will not hold under water so is more difficult to clean.

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haee-elia · 7 months

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spence-tober: day 24 - tattoo artist

pairing: tattoo artist!spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: in which you come home to your husband and daughter

word count: 1186

warnings: you have a daughter, lots of kid stuff, mention of pregnancy and marriage and also you have a cat

spence-tober masterlist

Coming home from work used to be a dreaded part of the day for you, back when you were living alone in an empty apartment that didn’t feel like home. No roommate, no pet, no one to greet you or be happy when you walk through that door.

Coming home didn’t feel like that anymore. Not since you had started dating the love of your life.

It had forever changed. You worked longer days than your tattoo artist boyfriend, Spencer Reid, and so more often than not, Spencer was there to greet you when you walked in after a long day. Whether that was him fixing dinner in the kitchen or sitting in his beloved armchair doodling more tattoo ideas, you weren’t coming home to a lonely apartment.

Then one day, you didn’t just come home to Spencer, but to him holding a small gray and white emaciated kitten in his tatted up arms. He had found the kitten on his walk to work and had kept it near a heater in the shop all day long, finally bringing it back to your shared apartment when no one claimed it. Now, you came home to a little kitten pawing at your pant’s leg.

The kitten, named Walter after Spencer’s middle name, grew up, you and Spencer grew closer and soon got engaged and married. Now he was your tattoo artist husband and it wasn’t long after you got married that you both had decided to expand your family even more. It started with all three of you moving into a larger apartment and then trying to get pregnant. After a full year of trying, you fell pregnant and subsequently gave birth to your daughter, Luma.

Suddenly, you didn’t just come home to a cat meowing at you as you walked in the door or to your husband showing you a tattoo design, but a small child who would laugh joyfully as you ran to hoist her up into your arms.

However, today when you walked through the front door of your brownstone home, the only thing to greet you is Walter. You close the door behind you and hang your keys and coat up. Then you give a small cat treat to Walter to stop his incessant whines for attention.

A giggle echoes out from the hallway leading out of the combined kitchen and living room. You follow the sound, your work shoes clicking on the wooden floors, and are led to your daughter’s room.

“Hello?” You call out, being sure to knock on the door before entering.

You and Spencer were trying to teach your now five year old daughter privacy and were trying to instill knocking before entering.

“Mommy!” You hear a small, light voice call out. You open the door fully now and a smile grows on your face at the sight.

Luma has a matching bright smile on her face as she slips off her pretty purple canopy bed and rushes with her little legs towards you, hugging your legs once she gets to you.

“Hi, baby!” You greet her, removing her hands from your legs and bending down to properly hug your daughter.

She’s been sick for the better part of the week and was finally on the mend. Per the school instructions, you still needed to keep her at home for today and you and Spencer had been taking turns calling off from work to stay with her.

Today, Spencer stayed home with your daughter and you certainly could tell she was in better spirits than the days prior.

Judging by your husband who was in your daughter’s bed, which is much too small for his thin, tall frame, Spencer had been through a lot today. Not that he ever minded.

His hair was put up in small ponytails with thin plastic elastic bands and there were discarded towels on the floor which meant that they had a spa day. Spencer also had his arm propped palm side up on a pillow with his sleeve up as far as it could go.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” You ask your daughter.

The both of you have learned to never assume the intentions behind your child’s actions.

“We’re playing!” She simply says, still snuggled into your arms. When she got sick, which wasn’t often, she got clingy. Much like your husband when he fell ill.

You look to Spencer for a more clear answer, “Tattoo shop.” He clarifies.

“Ah,” You say, still holding onto your daughter. When she was a baby, you would often take her to Spencer’s shop as a surprise and then as a toddler and now, it was one of her favorite places in the world.

A closer glance at the bed would allow you to see some doodled hearts and circles on your husband’s arm and some washable tattoo markers lying on her duvet.

You should have known, Luma’s favorite game was Tattoo Shop where she would doodle on your arms or legs. At first, you let her do it with crayola marker, but after that one time she found a sharpie, Spencer had gotten her some washable kid tattoo gel pens to use.

“Look at Daddy’s arms!” Luma said, taking her small hand in yours and tugging you closer to her bed. On your way, you shuck off your shoes clumsily.

“I see, baby, you did such a good job!” You praise her, smiling as you look up and down your husband’s decorated arms.

At first, Luma would just draw random doodles usually over Spencer’s already existing tattoos. But now, she would incorporate them and work around to make it look ‘cohesive’, a fairly new word she learned after watching Project Runway with the two of you at night.

You lean over your husband’s arm and give him a sweet kiss in greeting and then thumb over the skin on his wrist that holds your matching tattoos. Ones you got in honor of the birth of Luma. A small little lightbulb that sat on the inside of your wrist.

“How’s your day been?” Spencer asks you, propping himself up a little bit more on the bed.

Before you can answer, Luma joins you in her bed and gently pushes down at her dad.

“Be careful! Don’t move.” She tells him. Spencer nods and settles back into the bed as you hold back a chuckle.

“It was good,” You answer, “Glad to come home to you two!” You tickle Luma a little bit and laugh with her giggles.

“I hadn’t gotten the chance to start dinner yet.” Spencer informs you, he nods to his arm which he is not allowed to move.

“That’s okay,” You say, then turning to your daughter, “How about we order pizza?” You ask her.

She cheers and all of you laugh in the room. “I’ll place the order in a little bit.” You say, settling yourself back into the bed a bit more.

You take your hand and pull up the sleeve of your long sleeve shirt and show the clean slate to Luma.

“Now, do you have time for another appointment?”

a/n: this was super fun and quick to write! i've been writing half of it during the day and then half at night, but i finished this super quick since i already knew the ending and so i don't have to stay up late tonight! woohoo!

#criminal minds #criminalminds #spencer reid #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fluff #dr. spencer reid #criminal minds fic #spencer reid au #spencer reid fanfic

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bomberqueen17 · 7 months

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car organizer

So I wanted to make myself the kind of organizer that hangs over the back of your car seat to hold your stuff, to keep the things that ought to stay in my car in, because with my old car, I hauled so much cargo and loaded and unloaded the thing so often and wound up with so much random junk in there that I lost my tire inflator, foldable shovel, and most of the rest of it. I thought, if I just attach those to the back of one of the front seats then it doesn't matter what I do with the car, if I'm hauling baby chicks or small humans, passengers or cargo or what, I don't have to worry.

I shopped around but I didn't see anything like what I wanted, so I went down in the basement and poked around.

Thus follows not exactly a tutorial, but a description of my thought process. This took forever but if I had to do it again I could do it faster, I think.

I had a weird but perfectly-sized rectangle of heavy-duty polyester canvas (twice as long as I needed, but exactly as wide, so I could use it double thickness), some suit interfacing, and then several yards of an all-plastic but beautiful brocade I bought from Jo-Ann's back when I didn't know how to shop for fabric.

So I bought myself a new tire inflator and folding shovel, and then measured the jump-start powerbank I already own, and made pockets exactly sized for those three things. I also guesstimated a pocket for my motley collection of ratchet straps. And then I laid those out on the bit of canvas, and figured I had room for a wide short pocket across the top-- gathered the bottom, and put a channel at the top and pulled elastic through, then sewed two seams down it to hold it into three separate pockets.

I did french seams on the first square pocket then realized that made it too small so I had to piece a little extension around the back of it. Then I realized that all-plastic brocade ravels horribly... unless you run a lighter along all the cut edges. Bickety-bam instant selvege. So I melted the edges of all the rest of my fabric, and no more French seams means no more excessive seam allowances.

(I didn't exactly follow this method but I did find a good tutorial here for how to make a cargo pocket. It might have worked better than what i did, LOL. I only made one pocket pleated, and one gathered, the others I tried mostly to make to size.)

[image description: a black panel of canvas lies on a table, with three pockets made of brown/black/gold polyester brocade lying atop it, chalked around like crime scene bodies.]

Laid them out, traced with chalk, futzed with the placement. Realized I didn't have to center that top one, and if I off-set it, I could fit the ratchet strap pocket next to it.

Attached the pockets to the canvas, then spray-adhesived the interfacing to the back, then folded the canvas in half, sewed it right sides together leaving one short side open, turned it right-side out, gingerly ironed it (everything is plastic). I had some of those huge thick plastic strips they seal around big boxes sometimes in the garbage in the basement so I pulled those out, carefully ironed them flat under a press cloth, and then cut lengths of them-- it was heavy-duty stuff, I think a dehumidifier had come in the package, solid plastic an inch wide-- and used those as horizontal boning at the bottom, middle, and top, securing in place with a line of stitching above and below wherever there weren't pockets. The top, I closed up by just folding the front over the back; it was the selvedge edge, so I left that raw, and zig-zagged it shut with the piece of "boning" inside, then pushed the boning up against the seam with my fingers and sewed the other side of the channel with a straight stitch.

I could not for the life of me figure out how to measure the straps. so i went out and sat in my car with a lighter, scissors, needle, thread, a pair of old shoelaces, a length of 2" wide elastic torn out of an unsuccessful earlier make (i have a roll of the stuff... at the farm, not here), and a length of heavy-duty twill tape I don't know where I got.

I held the organizer up to the seat, safety-pinned the twill tape to the top, threaded it around the headrest, safety-pinned it to the other side. Decided it needed more support, as the upper corners wanted to flop. Used a drawstring threader to pull the shoelace through the flap at the bottom of the seat, where all the cabling for the heated seat is stored-- there's upholstery covering it, open at both sides, so I threaded the shoelace through that, just to pull the whole shebang in taut against the seat instead of letting it swing freely into the knees of whoever might sit back there. Sewed it down on one side, safety-pinned it to the other. Cut the shoelace off, then sewed the remnant to one upper extreme corner, wrapped it past the headset, safety-pinned it to the other side. Finally took the 2" wide elastic, sewed it firmly down on one side, passed it around the seat, measured it, then passed it behind the seat to sew it down un-stretched to the other side, then put it on properly. So the non-stretch fasteners are only sewed on one side, and can be unpinned on the other if I need to take the thing off.

Then I loaded it up with stuff.

[Image description: the rear of a car driver's seat, taken from the rear seat behind it, with an organizer hanging from the headrest, brocade pockets stuffed full of objects. There's a green object hanging from a keychain at the top left-- it is a folding knife patterned to look like a leaf.]

Now the things that ought to just always be in my car can (mostly) just always be there. I should check that the tire inflator works, and I should periodically charge up the jump pack, but I already checked if the foldable shovel works (it does), and I carefully bundled up the ratchet straps into bags I made out of the cuffs of old crew socks, which sewn shut where I cut the threadbare foot off make perfectly-sized padded stretchy storage bags for light duty ratchet straps.

Top left to bottom right, it's got:

Ratty old work gloves, a clipped-on keychain with a decorative rosary and a functional folding knife, a sock-cuff bag containing a multitool screw driver, a little baggie of tampons, and some Kleenex The tire inflator kit, the jump pack kit three ratchet straps, a folding shovel multitool thingy, and a bag of toiletries with spare socks, chapstick, hand cream, a travel toothbrush and dry toothpaste kit, and a couple other things-- most of it is shit that was handed out the one time I flew business class on Icelandair.

Then, to the right, around my center console, I took a vintage like circa 2004 Old Navy nylon drawstring backpack, threaded those heavy-duty twist tie things they use to close disposable coffee bags through the drawstring bit of the mouth to keep it open, sewed some of the twill tape to the top, and added a magnetic catch to hold a plastic bag in place. The magnetic catch didn't do enough so I have some half-broken old hair clips holding the plastic bag in better position: that's now my car's trash bag, and the backpack's two tiny zippered pockets hold spare plastic bags.

Now the last thing I want to do is to get some hooks to hang from the passenger headrest, and get loops attached to my snow brush and squeegee, and hang those from the hooks, because otherwise they are always scattered around the floor of my car in the way of whatever I want to do.

Anyway. Ready for the inaugural road trip Sunday, when I drive back to the farm.

#about the author #sewing #real life #farm life #subuwoo

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maleficentmrsofallevil · 24 days

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My favorite wigs

Ankle is being a diva again (no walk, just sit), and I'm chatty.

Surprise! My favorite wigs are becoming more expensive - but there are some affordable ones, too.

Leekeworld: many available in-stock from Denver Doll Emporium (DDE). They run about $30 each, but there are a few on sale. I like them because they are soft, on the thinner side (so they lay nice and flat on the doll's head), and they are sewn to an elastic wig cap. I prefer size 7-8 for almost all of my big girls, cuz 8-9 seems a little too big for most heads (exceptions: Volks, Domuya, Supiadoll, and Little Monica. Those girls got some big noggins).

This is a particular favorite (Blend Misty 7/8):

This 60cm-1/3 size brown-black wig from AliExpress for $6.79 currently. It's thin and incredibly soft. AliExpress wigs are very touch-and-go: for the most part, they require significant alterations (thinning, bang trimming), but considering how cheap they are, I'm willing to risk it to find the occasional gem. Wefts are sewn to an elastic wig cap. Currently on Leona:

That's a silver Leekeworld wig on Doll Chateau Bella on the Y-Body-06 in size 6/7, by the way. Imomodoll Dio/Rei is wearing a size 9-10 silver wig that I'm pretty sure I got on sale from DDE.

Iplehouse: made for their dolls specifically. Wefts are sewn to an elastic wig cap. Lots of folks complain that the wigs are too thick and look fake, but I (a) don't care, and (b) love the vibrant colors. Aaliyah is wearing size 8-9 IHW_M075 in Sienna (currently $16.10 plus shipping):

Natural fibers. HOOOO boy, if I thought Leekeworld wigs were pricey, moving into the natural fiber world has been pure sticker shock. Getting one of these for $30 is a STEAL. They tend to run in the $50 and up range. Natural fiber wigs are generally made of animal hair such as alpaca or mohair (goats). A big part of the price is the - well, destink process, to put it bluntly. Goats are stinky. The fibers need to be washed and washed and washed to remove dirt (goats are dirty), stink, and funk. Then dyed, if you want a color other than white or brown. Then you gotta brush the hair and glue it into wefts. A buddy told me about the process after buying unprocessed mohair. No, thank you. I'll just pay someone else, if there's no objections.

However, because these are natural fiber wigs, you don't have the problems that come with styling synthetic (plastic) hair. Human hair dye, curling/flat/crimping irons, and hair products are all good for this kind of hair.

You DO need to worry about the integrity of these wigs. They're frequently glued to hard caps, so no water/wet-wet stuff at the roots. The hair is super fine, so no hard tugging, or you'll pull it out of the wig. But man, are they pretty, and so so soft.

Like custom dolls, outfits, or shoes, these are generally available only from independent artists. Mass-producing these would be a total PITA. And let's be real: you've got to be pretty dedicated to deal with all that goat poop. (Yes, goats have poop on their hair. FREQUENTLY.)

#dollblr #doll wigs

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gettingfrilly · 8 months

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Make up your Ed

I truly cannot look at this anymore but I don't want it languishing away in my google docs forever with no feedback. It can stand as a complete fic as is, but I do have plans to make it longer. Once I actually finish it, and edit it properly, I'll upload it to ao3 with an explicit rating. But for now, it's rated T, and only here on tumblr. All characters are 18 years old.

The plastic folding step stool creaks under his feet, a sure sign that it's either getting too old, or Eddy's getting too fat. He quickly decides the problem is the former theory as he grabs the see-through makeup case off the top shelf lining the walls of his closet, hidden behind a box of comic books. Careful with his cargo, he takes a slow step off of his stool, then saunters back into his bedroom and places the case on his nightstand. The plastic is smooth and cool under his hands as he thumbs open the latches, lifting the lid and running his fingers along the chunky, rougher, opaque plastic bordering the edges of the box. He painted the edges black himself when he first bought it using the money he got for his 15th birthday. The lines are painstakingly clean despite how much his hands had been trembling at the time.

There's more plastic inside, clear dividers creating organized compartments for his assortment of cosmetics, the collection a result of years of careful selection. Brushes and blenders, pallets and powders, dispensers, sprays, tubes, and polish create an array of colors, glass and plastic containers glinting amber under the glow of his lava lamp. Sucking on his tongue in consideration, he starts to pluck items from each section, putting together a color palette that suits the task at hand.

"Thank you for doing this."

Eddy turns to face the source of the soft voice, Double D sitting in the center of his circular bed, knees drawn to his chest as he pulls and snaps the elastic in the hem of his knee high sock, repeating the motion in intervals as he gazes down at Eddy's bed sheets. It's the first time he's spoken since entering his bedroom.

It was with that same soft voice he had asked Eddy on their walk home from school if he'd be willing to do Double D's makeup. The crunch of freshly fallen snow underneath their boots made Eddy unsure if he had heard him right over the noise.

"You want me to do your makeup?"

"Yes, if it's no bother. If it is a bother, then that's fine, it was just a thought."

"You, as in you, Double D, want me, as in me, Eddy, to do your makeup, as in putting sticky and powdery and wet stuff on your face using the same brushes and sponges I use on my own face?" Eddy repeated himself, pointing at Double D and himself in turn before gesturing at their faces.

Double D had huffed through his nose at him, already red-from-the-cold cheeks growing redder as he glared at the path ahead. "Like I said, if it's a bother-"

He cut himself off with a squeak as Eddy grabbed his hand and started jogging home, a wide grin splitting his chapped lips. Ed wished them luck before he was out of earshot, waving them off with his usual goofy smile.

He had ranted at Double D the whole way home, recounting tales of his exploits during the handful of times he drove up to Buffalo for a Saturday night of clubbing and drag, enjoying what the queer scene there had to offer. Stories were interspersed with boasts about his styling skills and the amount of eyes he caught and attention he drew, promising Double D that he’d turn him into a standout masterpiece that any queen would envy. The more he went on, however, the quieter Double D had become, until he had stopped talking completely and kept his eyes glued to the ground.The shift in mood didn’t go unnoticed by Eddy, who slowed his pace and started cracking jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood. Double D paid only minimal attention to him, and by the time they got to Eddy’s room, Eddy found himself sour and uneasy, wondering what the hell could be going on with him.

"No prob, Bob." He grabs Double D’s wrist and pulls his arm closer, flipping it over to reveal the paler side underneath. "Just make sure to use your math skills after to figure out how much money you owe me based on how much makeup I use."

That earns him a dry, withering look.

"Jeez, relax. Can't you take a joke?" He asks as he starts applying swatches of different foundations, watching the tendons in Double D's arm flex under the wet makeup sponge.

"As if I had no reason to believe you might have been serious."

"Oh lighten up." Eddy retorts, starting to bristle under Double D's prickly responses. "You're the one who asked me to do this, ya know—and here you are acting like you're about to go under the knife."

Double D has enough humility to look away sheepishly, averting his gaze and worrying at his lip. "...I know. I'm sorry, Eddy. I should be more grateful."

"Or just a little less bitchy." Double D looks back at Eddy to glare at him, but his expression softens when he sees the small smile on Eddy's face, only teasing him.

"I'll do my utmost."

"Good." Eddy says in response both to Double D and to finding a foundation that matches, putting the rest away as he grabs the makeup he selected and dumps it on the bed. The makeup rolls over the comforter as Eddy's weight creates dips in the mattress, crawling the oversized expanse of it until he's on his knees in front of Double D. He takes Double D's face in his hand, still cool from the face wash and moisturizer he used in Eddy's bathroom. Using one of his cleaner sponges, he starts applying primer, careful not to get any in Double D's exposed hairline. His sparse, dark hairs are held back by Eddy's makeup stained cloth headband, giving him a rare look at the full shape of Double D's face.

"Why do you wanna wear makeup?" Eddy finally voices the question that's been in the back of his mind since his excitement diminished.

"Well, why not?" Double D answers his question with his own question. "You wear makeup sometimes."

"I meant why all of the sudden."

"All of a sudden, Eddy." Double D corrects him while trying not to move his face too much.

"All of these nuts in your mouth." He mutters, hands unfortunately too busy for him to emphasize the point by grabbing his own crotch.

"Eddy, please."

"Just answer the question, Sockhead."

Double D pouts and is quickly scolded by Eddy into keeping his face still. "Just a whim, I suppose. Am I not allowed a whim now and again?"

"I just wouldn't exactly describe you as whimsical."

"Well. We all have our moments."

A silence follows the exchange, Eddy far from satisfied by Double D's answer. He's too distracted by contouring Double D's weird head to interrogate him further, though, too used to working with his own square shaped face. Thankfully for him, it's not too hard to get answers from someone who typically doesn't know how to shut the fuck up.

"Did you ever think you might be a woman?"

"Huh?" Eddy pauses at the sudden question, backing away from Double D's face, applicator hovering in midair.

Double D puckers his lips as if he tastes something sour, pulling the elastic of his sock further away from his shin before letting it snap back. "I mean... with your long standing fascination with clothing, hair products, and fragrances, and then dresses and makeup more recently. Didn't it ever cross your mind?"

He frowns at Double D's simplification of gender, though he understands what he means. Thinking to himself quietly, he goes back to shaping Double D's chin, taking a moment before answering. "Sort of, I guess. Briefly."

"Really?" He asks, voice tinged with hope.

"Yeah, back when I was still having my big ol' gay crisis. Pretty sure sexuality and gender crises go hand in hand. I mean, I liked boys, and I wasn't supposed to because I'm a boy. Makes you question shit."

"Just how much were you questioning?"

Eddy waves his free hand noncommittally before capping the applicator and reaching for the foundation he selected. "Eh. Enough to make me sweat over it for a bit. I kept asking myself which would be worse: being a gay man, or being a woman?"

"Oh." Double D says with a wince.

"Yeah, oh." Eddy agrees with his distasteful cringing.

"Do you still question yourself?" Double D hedges.

"Nah. Eventually figured I didn't want to be a chick, I just wanted to have a boyfriend. I hadn't fully realized there was a difference."

"But you still wear makeup and dresses."

Eddy shrugs. "Yeah, 'cause it's fun."

Double D raises the brow Eddy just shaped. "How so?"

"It's like... a joke, kinda." He answers after chewing on the question for a moment. "It's what people expect from a gay man. So fine, I'll do it. And I'll be smokin' hot and have fun with it. Hopefully make people really uncomfortable along the way, 'cause fuck 'em.” He punctuates his statement by popping open a tube of concealer. “That, and I spent my whole childhood being terrified over being masculine enough. It's a relief, knowing drag doesn't make me any less butch when I'm not in drag."

Double D hums. "Yes, I suppose even when you're in drag or just makeup, I wouldn't exactly describe you as feminine."

"Me neither. Is that what this is about, then?" Eddy asks, gesturing at the makeup on his bed and on Double D's face, starting to get the picture of what’s been making Double D so fidgety.

"Oh, me? No, I- well... perhaps. I don't know, it's all so confusing, Eddy.” He has to pause in his makeup application while Double D’s face goes through a wide range of expressions, Eddy huffing in frustration before forcing himself to be patient and listen.

“It's something I've been teased about my whole life, to the point where I'm starting to feel there's something about me other people know that I don't.” Double D admits, face settling on a small frown and wrinkled brow. “While I can admit I've always been a tad feminine-"

"Who says you're feminine?"

"Oh, come on, Eddy."

"I'm serious, Dee. What, 'cause you don't like sports? You spend more time reading than tossing a ball around? You're into bugs and nature and organic food?" He starts waving the concealer wand around like a conductor’s baton, jabbing it in Double D’s direction with each question asked.

Double D gives him a flat look, unmoved by his impassioned gesturing. "Eddy, you have accused me of being a sissy time and time again for those very same supposedly nonsensical reasons."

Eddy crosses his arms, careful to not get any concealer on his shirt. "Yeah, when I was a kid. I'm a different man now." He bristles, offended by Double D’s implication that he’s still some bigoted preteen.

"We're still kids, Eddy." Double D’s voice is almost too quiet to hear, as if he’s admitting something shameful.

"Speak for yourself."

Silence falls again, and Eddy takes the opportunity to get back to work. His mind wanders as he goes through the practiced motions of putting on makeup, going off of muscle memory as he tries to figure out just why Double D is being so cagey about this. He’ll never forget how casually Double D came out to him and Ed, only in eighth grade when he told them one sleepover that he was ‘fairly certain I’m bisexual.’ Buttery popcorn had fallen right out of Eddy’s hand and onto Ed’s sticky basement floor, feeling like someone just put his head through a brick wall, ears ringing from the non existent head wound and leaving him too unfocused to pay attention to the questions Ed asked in response. He continued to perform his best impression of a gobsmacked cartoon character until Double D had called out his name in the same tone he uses when he thinks Eddy is about to do or say something stupid. It took him a couple more seconds to recover before he was able to mutter out a ‘whatever floats your boat, Sockhead,’ quickly changing the topic of conversation afterward.

He didn’t sleep a wink that night—just lay awake staring at the glow in the dark stars him and Double D had put all over Ed’s ceiling two birthdays ago, trying to figure out how the hell someone could admit to something like that so easily. Wasn’t Double D terrified? Wasn’t he disgusted? Didn’t he hate himself? And why in the name of Christ and fuck and shit was part of him goddamn happy about this?

It had taken two more years for Eddy to be able to even say he’s gay out loud to himself, never mind to anyone else. When he did eventually come out to the other Eds, it was after a night of nervous binge eating, hours of trying to ramp himself up to it only to stuff his open maw with more junk food instead of letting the words come out. Eventually, Double D had suggested bedtime, and stabbed through the heart with panic as if he’d never get a chance again, Eddy stood, ready to spill his guts out—only to run for the bathroom to puke them out instead. Ed and Double D followed him close behind, and he whispered his confession into the porcelain, sniffling wetly and getting a lungful of vomit smell as he watched his tears drop into the mess below. He was a pathetic disaster, Ed’s attempts to soothe him with a bedtime story going ignored as he hyperfocused on the feeling of Double D’s cool hand running up and down his back. They went on their first date two weeks later.

So now he’s totally thrown off, the ill-fitting shoe on the other foot as he discusses gender identity casually while Double D works at picking a hole into his sock and looks anywhere but at Eddy. Double D never seemed to be insecure about his masculinity before, at least, as far as Eddy knows. If anything, Eddy had been insecure enough for the both of them, frequently pushing Double D to lift or run or take up boxing, anything to up his man cred. Double D had always been resistant, stating each time that his abilities simply lie elsewhere. Had he been self conscious about it all this time and Eddy just never picked up on it?

"Perhaps I was speaking only for myself. I fear you're far more mature than I am, Eddy."

Eddy leans back, startled not just by Double D talking after such a long silence, but by the content of his sentence, too. "Hold up.” He makes a show of digging his pinky into his own ear before tilting his head and slapping the side of it as if he’s trying to get something to fall out the other end. “I know I didn't hear that right. I've never heard you say I'm more ANYTHING than you. Other than loud or rude or messy or other negative shit."

"Well it's the truth!” It’s the loudest Double D has spoken tonight, his hands thrown up into the air dramatically. “I've been left behind in the proverbial dust, Eddy. You and Ed are so sure of who you are. Even you, who used to be the most insecure, awkward, and desperate for inclusion out of the three of us."

"Gee, thanks." Eddy replies, voice dry as the desert and hollow as Ed’s head.

"And now you're able to just... be!” Double D continues, ignoring his own accidental insult towards Eddy. “Without worrying about what others expect or want from you. The only reason you remain in the closet locally is to avoid consequences at home. But with yourself, or in the city, you're so genuine, so unashamed. Yet the older I get, the more unsure of myself I become, as if puberty somehow made me immature. I have no idea who I truly am. I'm rather jealous of you, Eddy." Double D’s excitement peters out as he goes on, slumping forward in defeat as his hands return to his knees.

“Oh. I get it.” And he does, finally. This isn’t just a gender crisis, it’s a growing up crisis, which is much more on track for Double D’s neuroses. Whether he becomes a woman or not, he’s still not gonna be a ‘boy’ anymore.

“Get what?”

“Shut up and listen, because I got something to say and also because I need you to not move your face for a while. I’ll try to put this in words your weirdo crazy bananas brain can understand.”

Double D follows Eddy’s instructions, tightly pressing his lips together and freezing his face into an impressive stock-stillness.

Eddy nods his approval, capping the concealer before grabbing a brush to start blending. “Okay, so. It’s like… we’re just molecules. I said don’t move your face!” Eddy scolds Double D for his poorly repressed grin, apparently finding Eddy’s attempt at using scientific jargon just so goddamn funny. “I know what a fucking molecule is, ya know. I’m not that shit at school.”

“Anyway,” he continues once Double D wipes the smirk off his face, “we’re molecules and atoms and junk. I don’t know who I truly am because there is no ‘who I truly am.’ You could break me apart into the smallest possible pieces looking for it and all you’d find is a bunch of loosely connected random shit.” He grabs a smaller brush to blend in the nooks and crannies of his face. “I never tried to look for who I am. I just spent my life trying to be someone everyone liked, which is impossible, and wanting to be something impossible just made me miserable and mean and shitty. I couldn’t be a complete person.”

Double D opens his mouth like he wants to protest, brows drawn in concern, but Eddy raises his hand to silence him. “It’s in the past. Then there was the whole running away fiasco, and then puberty hit me like a sack of bricks and life was already hard e-fucking-nough, so I tried to dial it back, just be someone that most people will like. That shrunk down to some people, then to just the other kids in the neighborhood, and one day I asked myself, well shit, why not be someone I like? I’ve never liked myself before. Should probably give it a shot.”

“Oh, Eddy.” Double D won’t be silenced this time, grabbing Eddy’s free hand and squeezing it tightly as he gives him his usual concerned mother face. Eddy sighs through his nose and squeezes his hand back, running his thumb in the junction between Double D’s thumb and pointer finger.

“Like I said, it’s in the past.” He slips his hand out of Double D’s and carefully applies lip liner while holding his chin. “All I’m saying is you gotta stop spending so much time up here,” he taps Double D’s forehead, “and try spending a little more time in here,” he finishes, placing his hand over Double D’s chest.

Double D looks down before glancing back up with a smirk. “In my udder?”

Eddy rolls his eyes at the callback, taking his hand back to get to finishing up. “Yeah, your udder. That’s where you’ll find the person you want to be.”

“So you’re a gay man because you wanted to be a gay man?” He asks flatly.

“Well. No. Okay, so, some of it is probably generic.”

“Genetic.”

“Whatever. The bulk of it, though? How we act, what labels we choose, what clothes we wear, whether we wear makeup or not—that’s all from exposure and desire. We’re all just cobbled together, Dee.”

“Is it really that simple?” Double D asks, sounding equal parts hopeful and doubtful.

Eddy shakes his head. “Nope. Having a true self you could look for under a microscope is what would be simple. Real life’s a lot more complicated than that.”

Double D widens his eyes, breath catching softly in his throat as he stares Eddy down. Eddy narrows his eyes back at him, unsure if he should feel complimented or offended by Double D’s reaction.

“Eddy… since when did you become so wise?”

Offended, then. “Since when did you only give me compliments that were backhanded? Just kidding, you’ve always done that. Now for real, hold still and shut up. Lemme do your eyes.”

Double D complies, trying his best to keep his wincing to a minimum as Eddy pokes and prods his lids. As long as he doesn’t start mumbling about pink eye, Eddy can put up with the occasional fidgeting. Once the eyes are done, all that’s left is the lipstick, and Eddy purposefully takes his time with it, Double’s D’s chin clutched between his fingers as his eyes slip shut, a soft blush glowing through the layers of makeup. Fuck, he’d kiss him it wouldn’t mess up his work.

“Okay, done.” He gropes around his night stand until he finds his gold painted hand mirror, shoving it in Double D’s direction. “Go ahead and lay on the praise for my incredible skills.”

Double D takes a deep breath before lifting the mirror and opening his eyes, face freezing at what he finds. Silent seconds slowly tick by as Eddy waits for any sort of appraisal, positive or otherwise, arms crossed and finger tapping against his arm.

“... I look like my mother.”

Eddy’s wince is automatic and unstoppable. “Mmrh. But, like, a hot version of your mom, right?”

“Eddy, my mother is-” Thankfully for Double D, for Eddy, for the reader, for the author, and for the universe at large, he cuts himself off before finishing that sentence. “And it’s so conservative.”

Eddy shrugs. “Yeah, well. You don’t usually go for gaudy.” He had picked a color palette he’d never pick for himself, all natural colors that would mix well with Double D’s skin tone, highlighting his innate beauty and giving his face a more feminine shape without making him look like he was about to start lip syncing to Shania Twain. The only splash of color he gave him was the lipstick, a deep cherry red and one of Eddy’s favorites.

“I don’t. You put so much thought into this, Eddy.” He murmurs, the content of his sentence not at all matching his dismayed tone.

“You hate it.”

“No, it’s not that. You did an exceedingly good job, your high skill is abundantly obvious, and I am still very grateful.” He quickly explains, still staring at himself in the mirror. “It’s just… I didn’t expect… I thought-” he takes a deep breath and sighs, putting the mirror down. “I feel the same.”

Eddy takes a deep breath through his nose and purses his lips, readying himself to be an ‘empathetic listener’ as Double D often describes it. At least he doesn’t have to put on the fake empathy face for him like he does for other people. “Okay. How did you think you would feel?”

“Different.” Double D gives the obvious answer, and Eddy has to hold himself back from saying ‘no shit.’ He waits instead, keeping his face neutral and his eyes on Double D as he fiddles with his blanket, twisting his fingers into the fabric.

“I don’t know. Anything, really. Elated, horrified, enlightened, disgusted, at peace, unease. Anything would have been better than still just feeling confused.” Double D starts to clutch his own arms as he talks, fingers digging into the fabric of his winter cardigan. “I still don’t know who I want to be.”

“What, you thought it would happen overnight? I’d share my ‘wisdom’ with you and your big brain would just work out the rest?” He puts scare quotes around wisdom, withholding the impatient huff he wants to give. “Shit takes time, Sockhead. It took me years of self loathing and fear to get to where I am.

Double D looks less than thrilled by the prospect. “Uh. But who knows, might not be that bad for you. You’ll figure something out eventually. You always do, Dee.”

“I do, don’t I.” He gives Eddy a small smile, only slightly forced as he takes his hands in his own. “Thank you, Eddy. You’ve been very sweet to me tonight.”

“‘M always sweet.”

“Of course you are.” He leans in to give Eddy a peck on the corner of his mouth, a chaste and innocent gesture, but when they part Double D stares at Eddy’s mouth for a worrying amount of time.

“Huh? Oh.” Eddy finally figures out what he’s staring at. Double D always opposes messiness. “Yeah, I didn’t use any lipstick sealer. Figured you’d be taking it off right after, so-”

He’s cut off by a far less chaste kiss, Double D sealing his lips against Eddy’s before he starts shifting against them, hands flying up to grab Eddy’s shoulders in a bruising grip. Eddy can do nothing but flounder, his surprised exclamation muffled against Double D’s mouth. Seeing as there’s absolutely no reason not to, he surrenders himself, arms snaking around Double D’s smaller frame, pulling him closer until their bodies are flush against each other, putting up zero resistance when Double D pushes down to the mattress. Glass and plastic makeup containers tumble and clink against each other as their shifting weight creates new divots in the mattress, followed by the soft hush of something smooth sliding over Eddy’s silk sheets, landing on the carpet below with a dull thud.

‘Hope my mirror didn’t just break. Glass is a bitch to get out of shag carpeting.’ That’s all the brain resources he has available for the integrity of his cheap mirror right now, the rest of it occupied by the overwhelming presence and persistence of Double D, hands grabbing and squishing the usual suspects, i.e. Eddy’s stomach, thighs, and love handles. Shortly after Double D’s hands start to rove, his lips start to travel, too, across Eddy’s jaw, cheek, then neck, pulling back a little bit each time to gaze down dazedly at the gory red trail he’s left in his wake. Eddy lets him, making no moves to take control of the situation, just breathing heavily beneath Double D’s ministrations.

Eventually, Double D slows to a stop, sitting up with his knees on either side of Eddy’s stomach as he lightly traces the path of kiss marks decorating Eddy’s heated face. His eyes are unfocused, lids hooded, body loose and face relaxed, not at all the ball of nerves he’d been since their walk home.

“I still don’t know who I want to be.” He admits softly, giving Eddy one last kiss on the cheek before he lays on top of him and nuzzles into the side of his spacious neck. “But I know who I want to be with.”

Eddy wraps his arms around him again, tilting his head to the side to brush a kiss of his own against Double D’s ear, an always hypersensitive part of his body. It brings him close enough to be drawn in by the allure of Double D’s hypoallergenic laundry detergent and natural deodorant, shoving his nose in his shirt and huffing fumes that can really only be described as smelling ‘clean.’ He embraces and is embraced in return, wanting and wanted, loving and loved.

“And I already have you, Eddy.”

#ed edd n eddy #eene #eddeddy #gettingfrillywrites

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gorbalsvampire · 19 days

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On Building Characters

I generally hold two things in my mind when I'm putting a character together at the dots-on-sheets level. Neither is the "quick and dirty" work-your-way-around-the-sheet process in the Player's Guide, where you decide if you're a Specialist or a generalist or a Jack of All Trades and just put dots in skills. I think that's really helpful for explaining and introducing how character creation works, but it doesn't go all in on the build to the extent that I like.

I try to walk the line between having a tuned, capable character with healthy dice pools in things that will be useful (key Discipline powers and hunting rolls for their Predator Type as a priority, survivability pools like social awareness, difficulty to surprise, and at least one decent combat roll as secondary concerns), and having a concept that makes sense as someone who was a person before they were a vampire and isn't just dots in the optimal places.

To understand my approach it helps to be familiar with the Stormwind Fallacy - the claim that "good roleplaying" is antithetical to "optimising character". It's nonsense, as Tempest Stormwind elegantly proved. Roleplaying is entirely a soft skill: one can play a finely tuned and powerful character to the hilt and still make in-character decisions that have entertaining, dramatic, difficult consequences.

There is a tension between optimisation and verisimilitude, though: a character who's been built entirely to be a good vampire often doesn't feel "right" or "good" because they're artificial: they weren't engineered as someone who existed before their Embrace. That's what the full process in the V5 corebook - not the two page summary spread but the chapter that follows, the full method for building a character - strives to avoid. As ever, slow and close reading of the book reveals deep truths.

In particular, the full method encourages you to break your skills down into Professional (two at three dots, two at two dots, one with a Specialty, derived from what your character's "day job" was), Life Event (one at three dots, one at two, derived from the most important thing that happened to your character) and Hobby (three at one dot, representing things your character has dabbled in).

Then you pick either one Skill to really overspecialise in (four dots, and you can move your Specialty in here too) or six more to pick up (two at two dots, four at one), and this is where you pick the "good at being a vampire" stuff that your character has learned to do post-Embrace. These are the ones that I like to keep plastic, fantastic, and somewhat elastic, selecting them to make sure the hunting, combat and survival stuff is taken care of. If you want to focus on combat, you'll need to pick a profession package that leans into it, and give yourself a reason for that focus. I'm looking ahead towards the stuff I'll pick next: Predator Type, clan Disciplines, and Coterie Type, so I know what to leave space for in my Background spend and contribute to the group fund.

The other thing that's always circulating in my mind is Flaws. In my experience veteran players kind of miss the point of Flaws in V5, expecting them to be customisation options like they were in the older game. They're more... story signals. You're telling the Storyteller this is the problem you'd like your character to have, a thing that's going to come up often during play. That means, from a "keeping the game functional and playful" perspective, you need to put some thought into what kind of obstacles, challenges, difficulties, barriers you enjoy overcoming, or don't mind being thwarted by. It's easy to pick something that ends up backfiring on you.

For example: I am really touchy about loss of agency and control. I won't touch the Weak Willed Flaw with a goddamn barge pole, because being able to throw some dice in active resistance to Dominate or Presence is important to me. I need to feel like I had a chance, however long of a shot it was. Now, one of my OCs should have this Flaw, it fits with the character and her relationships with authority, but if I'm going to play her in a chronicle I as player am going to repeatedly encounter something that discourages me from playing. It crosses a line, and setting myself up to cross that line repeatedly in play is a surefire way to make the play not playful any more.

That's what this optimisation stuff comes down to, really. Making sure your character is fun to play - that you can get stuff done in the game, and that you don't have to keep on doing things that spoil the experience for you.

#meta #vtm #v5 #vampire the masquerade #character creation #character builds #character building

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firespirited · 8 months

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So on Monday, I went out with the dogs with no plans to check the bins at all because the summer schedule is that they're empty on Mondays but notice that the local bins are in chaos with stuff strewn across the floor so I checked the bins themselves and there were 3 containers full of home appliances mixed with toys and shoes mixed with normal nasty rubbish.

I can't possibly cart the electronics home to remove the batteries so I stuff the loose batteries in my handbag and put the electric items in the recycling where at least they'll be sorted instead of being fire hazards at the dumpster. I don't have much time and I'll have to carry anything I keep for 1.5km so I left all that fabulous faux fur on plushies but at the very and, at the very bottom,

I found a little guy:

He is gunky and does not work (not reset, not moving the ears, not holding the tongue down) so I don't bother taking out my camera: I snap a few phone pics and get that fur into hot water and scrubbed with soap, external case off (this is called skinning and shucking because the furby community is glorious)

Insides aren't corroded or rusted. No damaged wires. He wasn't broken at all. Yay but also nay: no custom furb because someone might be looking for an original in working order.

Here's how to manually reset (motor force start) a furby: move the cog under the left side of his mouth: (not the ears or the white cogs in back) a horizontal cog above the speaker.

Here's how to do it if you really don't want to open a furby: use plastic pry tools to dislodge the hotglue attaching the faceplate at the brows and fur at the ears, pull the faceplate forward and down - it should get wedged nicely halfway down the beak, use a flashlight and a toothpick to move the cog that's at the bottom left under the beak. It could start immediately, it could be ten minutes.

Here's the difference between brushed and unbrushed, shaved and unshaved ears.

I removed every last bit of hot glue, dusted the insides, alcohol and melamine sponge cleaned the plastic, replaced the zip tie with elastic, sewed the toes back together.

He's a 98 type furby snow leopard from 1999. no lashes, thin ear felt but no scratches and appears to be fully working. I'll test him when my roommates are out in 3 hours.

I can't keep him but it's been a really fun project.

#furby #1998 furby #saf

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snitchesnsneeds · 5 months

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Bizarre V3 AU Explanations and More!

I wanted to explain a bit more about the ongoings of my Bizarre V3 AU a bit more and explain some behind-the-scenes stuff, so let's-a-go!

All of the main 16 characters have or will have superpowers! This was foreshadowed in Miu's, Maki's, Ryoma's, Kokichi's, Gonta's, Kirumi's, and Tenko's character descriptions. I don't know what everyone's will be, but a basic description of the power system is that they have the rareness and luck factor of Stands from Jojo but resemble the Devil Fruit users in One Piece more in that the abilities are physical and can be seen by anyone. Unlike Devil Fruits, abilities can be stacked and there can be multiples of the same ability, so two people could be elastic, but one can drain stamina and convert it into light while another can generate electricity and make metal and plastic float around.

There's also a second power system that's essentially Haki from One Piece. Willpower shaped into three different forms.

The Seven Holy Essences are one of the main things Bizarre V3 will be about aside from the characters themselves. Their inspirations are the infinity stones, the chaos emeralds, antiquated western and Japanese astronomy/mythology, and the general concept that plot coupons could be anything, really.

The "smaller, lesser essences" are based on the fixed stars and are a pretty important part in the overall backstory.

I don't have too much of a plot laid out so far, but I want it to be five "seasons" of sort. All I have is season 1 (basically what the character introductions set up,) season 2 (Idabashi lore, maybe take inspiration from Sonic Adventure 2? Add in the Purple People Eater somewhere, first final boss fight, etc.) and season 3 (version 3 of Star-Hunter Squadron: Elite Rangers!)

Characters do wear alternate outfits, including day-by-day clothes (well, most of them have day-by-day clothes.) Shuichi has clothes on and off the job, Kaede has a variety of sweater vest-related combos, Miu wears various outfits that are not lab-safe, etc.

Ships I'll feature are as follows: Saimatsu, Harukaito, Tenmiko and maybe even polyamory with Angie, Irumatsu (in the form of awkward and bitter exes,) ambiguous and possibly one-sided Saioma, Omota, and Omeno, Kokichi x some original character that appears in season 2 and is supposed to have a ludicrous amount of chemistry with him, and Kirumiu (is that the name for Kirumi x Miu? Miurumi?), mostly because I like it and my idea for it is that two women trying to get information out of eachother end up bonding over a lot of similarities between the two.

Writing-wise, the hardest part for me is trying to fit the Himiko plots into everything else. Himiko's busy with her overprotective girlfriend, joining what may be a cult, and serial killers while the other three-fourths of the cast is trying to figure out what the hell is going on with displacements and blue glows. Maybe Gonta gets depressed and exhausted from finding no results and goes to see one of Himiko's shows or even invites Himiko and her lovely assistant over, but Tenko gets involved in said displacements and blue glows.

To explain what I mean by "disappearances, reappearances, and displacements," here's some of the mysteries described: "Help! I can't find my husband" solved as "Oh! There's my husband! At a restaurant we went to once and hated? And he doesn't know how he got there?", "I couldn't find my keys, but they were in the attic. I wasn't in the attic since five years ago.", and "What the heck is the TV remote doing in my neighbor's front lawn?"

Danganronpa will appear as an in-universe franchise, but non-V3 characters will appear. It'll make sense when it comes up. Also fake memories implanted into vessels may show up.

There will be a fight scene between Maki and Kirumi in season 1 where they both use their powers because 1. They are on opposing sides and 2. Cool strong women fighting.

My idea of "Ryoma heavily interacting with DICE" partly came due to my desire to do something unique with Ryoma. I'm honestly getting tired of him being paired up with Kirumi and Gonta. I think there'll be a scene between Ryoma and Kirumi in season 2 and possibly onward, but in general I want Kokichi and Kirumi to interact, maybe a few Kokichi-Gonta interactions too, but little-to-no Ryoma-Gonta interactions. Also it makes sense to pair up the criminals and the gentleman and maid together.

The Gokuhara manor's description of vegetation growing in and around it is supposed to be similar to how there was vegetation growing in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.

Rantaro has to be the green ranger because his western VA played The green ranger. I had a power rangers hyperfixation when I was 10.

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vamqyr3 · 1 year

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u think u could do some smut with gaz?? there’s just not enough of it, literally anything i imagine him to be quite soft and loving icl

↳ KYLE “GAZ” GARRICK // PIG OUT. ୨୧

CW// BREEDING, RESTRAINING, DIRTY TALK, MENTIONS OF CAGES, DRY HUMPING, ONSIES, CRIB MENTION, FEM!READER, ECT.

NOTES// awe that so cute! Anyways, Pervert!Gaz treating you like breeding livestock.

There’s a distinct clink of metallic plastic on plastic. The links of handcuffs scrape into each other. The sound is ever constant, mocking the waves of his hips. Your nose deep into a pillow, damn near suffocating with two fingers wedged thick behind an elastic collar. Maybe this is his way of mercy, humping you senseless till inhibition melts away into slack. He’s billowing out hot smoke, towering over you strong and tall. Snapping you in half and demanding obedience with his left hand, other to your neck. He had been mad, carefully angry with you. Quick to listen to you beg to leave the spreader bar in its place over in the corner. How you would do well, speak kindly and make do.

There’s sharp jabs of pleasure here and there, mixing in with the frivolous heat induced friction of his waistband. It tickles, Gaz is lovingly gliding over the base of your spine. Trickling down between your waist and rigid back. A contrasting reminder to keep still and shut up. This is for him, your death, his gain.

Lined fingertips leave you a while to pull down the rest of his pant. The best of it coming down with his previous grinding. Had you been upright maybe he would’ve made you bite it off, dragged you by a knot in your hair and wrangled you still.

Fatty slaps replace metallic clicks, a soft connect between his dick and your upper half. His entrance comes without delay, it makes the cuffs spring off your back and wiggle around your wrists. Makes your spine curve to meet his weight and fabric stick to your lips with a sharp intake. His pride bites at his gummy lip, beating down approving noises. He scratches at your bloated cirvex with intention. Maybe he should’ve attached you to the crib he set up, fucked you there and left you to bake. Stuffed a blue onesie in your mouth to really shut you up, drive it home.

“Give me,” there’s a strained pause in his throat, “a son, bitch,”

Drool begins to pool in the slack of your mouth, first coaxing the collar then the sheets. His fingers tug at it, bring you back father with no breathing room. Not that you dared to move, lest he bring out harsher forms of punishment.

“I bet you’d look just as pretty round with a kid, honey,” he’s bullying your insides, voice tinted with sweet high honey. “Are you excited? Yeah, huh? Fuck, I bet you’d be just as sensitive,” your mind coasts to the thought of it. Mixing in with the pounding white noise of his hands clapping on your ass and the crude sharp hits jutting into your spine. It’s buttering down your thighs, oiling them wide and taunt, bulky lips bloating with pleasure.

He falls into a delicious rhythm, pressing you to warm the mattress and choking your wrists. Slowly, Gaz begins to swell up.

“Shit, I should keep you here, come back and make sure your nice and fucked,” he stabs your insides, mixing it to mush. “Would you like that baby? Huh? If I propped you up and fucked you like an animal?” You have half a mind to respond between wheezes and coughs. But you would. You would love for him to plug you wide with meaty fingers, stuff hot salty cum back between you and swallow what dared to escape. Lick the wet spots and worship every splatter. And with every sweet graze of his hipbone, red angry mark on your skin. Every pulse, squeeze and vibration, you wanted nothing more.

Gaz begins to bubble over, hand falling from your choker to waist. The slams sound even wetter, thick puff dribbles of gloss glissade down his thighs and mix into his happy trial. His twitching becomes sporadic, toppling over to steady himself onto you. Dumping heavy, brined loads of musty cum all throughout. A few crackled moans follow, and slowly his breathing shallows, steady. You roll on your side, assuming him to be spent.

Open mouthed and crusted with spit and salt, he grabs at you again by the thigh, steadying movement.

“Weren’t not done,”

#pervert!gaz #kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz garrick x you #gaz mw2 #gaz cod #gaz x reader #gaz modern warfare #cod modern warfare #call of duty mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty

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balkanradfem · 1 year

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What it takes to grow little transplants in my apartment!

I'm starting my first plants of 2023, and I'm going to go thru every single step I have to take in order to have them grow! This is extremely diy, no budget, we use resources we find on the street, I picked out these seeds from a vegetable I got from a friend, type of thing.

The first step is creating the place to put the plants. They need to be inside where it's warm, but get as much light as possible. I have these big french windows in the kitchen, and it’s the place that gets the most light in the morning. I will often carry the plants to the other side of the apartment for the afternoon, especially if there's sunlight! I don't have enough space on the windowsills to put all the plants there, so I have to create a makeshift table for them.

Now the way I usually make a table is I go to the basement, pick out a board (I collect abandoned boards next to the trash), and put it on the top of a big cardboard box. The cardboard boxes can actually take a lot of weight, so they work fine as a table stand, especially if the board is heavy. I found the board I used the last year, and then realized, that my roommate took all of my cardboard boxes when she was moving out, and I do not have an appropriate box to use! I went outside to see if anyone had abandoned a cardboard box, and in about 10 minutes, I found one:

And this is how the construction works:

Now that is taken care of, I need to decide what seeds I'm planting. Have I ever shown you my seed box? This is my seed box:

It looks messy, but all of the seeds I collected are in little packets I made from envelopes, and then they're sorted into categories, and each category is kept together by a piece of elastics. I just had to take out the brassicas (kale, cabbage, broccoli) and some early tomatoes, peppers and basil. I decided to sow a lot of kale and cabbage, and 5-6 little dwarf tomatoes, they’re an early variety and they'll give produce as early as May! I've had both basil and peppers successfully grow, sown as early as January, so I'm taking a chance at them again. These plants may not make it, since there's not a lot of light yet, but if they do, they'll give me the earliest produce in the year, and it's worth the effort. If it doesn't work out, I'll sow them all again in February.

Now the next step is finding the containers for them; I have lots of both found and gifted stuff, but my favourites by far are the yogurt cups, they're the ideal size for a pepper or a kale plant, and I can just fit a lot of them next to each other! I'm also trying these tiny black containers, to see how I like them. I'm using the food container with a lid to grow basil, because I've noticed basil germinates more willingly in damp conditions, and once I close that lid, the water won't be able to evaporate. Also all these containers need to have a decent sized hole on the bottom!

Now before I go on to get the soil and start planting, I figured I should make the labels! Once my hands are dirty I will be unwilling to wash them just to cut some labels out. My labels are just a random piece of thin cardboard (like from a chocolate box) cut into a strip, and then I write the name of the plant there. Otherwise I will immediately forget what I planted where. These are short-lived, for a lasting one, I've seen people cut out plastic containers into strips, and write on them with a permanent marker, that would last! But I only need these temporarily, I don't mind if they decompose later.

Now, the soil! If I hadn't been prepared for this, I would have to go to the forest, or some area where a lot of leaves were decomposing, to get my soil, but I always remember to take some home in the fall, so I already have a bucket filled with soil here.

This bucket is great for it because it has a lid I can close, and soil can't dry out in there. Soil benefits a lot from being kept damp, so all of the useful bacteria can keep living inside it. If it goes dry, it loses a lot of its biodiversity! This specific soil is from the forest, dug from under a rotten tree trunk. There's a lot of clumps and pieces of bark and roots, so I'm taking a minute to clean it out a little, I'm taking bigger pieces out so they can't obstruct my little plants. When it's all good, I'm mixing it with some more water! Ideally, your soil would be nice and warmed up before you're about to plant, because seeds like warm soil to grow in. But, if it's not, you can cheat and mix it with warm water to warm it up!

Now to fill the containers:

And now I have all of them filled up, I can finally plant. These cabbage seeds on the picture are new and untried, I ordered them online because I want to try and make sauerkraut this year! I'm excited to see if they grow well.

The only thing you really need to know about sowing seeds, they're supposed to go twice as deep as they're wide. Since all these seeds are tiny, all I need to do is to gently push them under the soil, and then pepper some soil on top. Like this:

I put two seeds in each container, just in case. Now they're all sowed, I'm spraying them with water gently, so that the soil would properly settle on top of them. If you were to water them with pouring water, it could easily displace the seed, so it's recommended to just gently spray on top!

There's one more important step to this; all of these containers have holes at the bottom, and they need to be put in watertight containers, so that they wouldn't leak when you water them! I always have bunch of old food containers on hand for this purpose:

Now with this setup, it's very convenient to bottom-water them. This means you never water the top of the soil; instead, you pour water in the watertight container, and all of the soil in the containers with holes will soak up exactly as much water as they need. This takes care of the risk of overwatering, your plants will not drown in this way, and also their roots will be encouraged to grow deep down to the source of the water.

And now they’re on their makeshift table! All the attention these need now is to get some water every few days, and to be in the brightest place possible.

#gardening #diy #sowing seeds #growing food #growing transplants #seed tutorial #growing seeds #growing from seed #diy plants

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freetheshit-outofyou · 11 months

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Every now and again the question of loaded magazines comes up. Man, I think this is as debated as much as why .45 ACP isn't used in place of our nuclear stock pile because of it's stopping power. I was given this by a guy I used to know, I'm passing it on to you. "Spring Sprung Sprang... the skinny on use of springs in firearms. Springs "rest" in their natural stress-free shape. When compressed or stretched within their normal service limits, they are well within the "elastic range" of the metal. This is the stuff of Mechanics of Materials 101. When you stretch ...steel in a laboratory, it exhibits a relationship between tension and deflection that matches a rather uniform curve. This "curve" is actually a straight line all the way through the elastic range of the metal. It then falters and evens out within the "plastic range" of the metal. Once you exceed the ultimate strength of the steel, it fails by breaking. The "elastic range" is defined as the range of tension you can put on a sample of material, within which it will stretch while under tension and then return to its original shape when the tension is removed. Just like a piece of rubber or elastic. You pull on it, it stretches. You let go, it returns to its original shape. The "plastic range" is defined as the range of tension beyond the elastic range. We're talking permanent deformation here. The metal stretches at its weakest point and actually becomes thinner as it stretches. Tensile stress is concentrated in this thinner area, and this is where it will eventually break. All springs are designed to be used in normal service within the "elastic range" of the metal. A coiled spring is in both tension and compression when not in its natural state. The helical coils are actually in flexure around the circumference, and of course flexure involves both tension and compression about a neutral axis. When you step on the middle of a steel bar that's supported at the ends, it experiences compression at the top and tension at the bottom. Springs experience this along the length of the coils, with the centerline of the coils being the neutral axis. When you stretch the spring from its natural state, and then compress it, you are just switching the "side" of the tension and compression. They reverse about the neutral axis. So... Because springs are designed to stay within the elastic range of the steel during service (and cocking the hammer of your weapon is well within the service range of the spring), you never permanently deform the spring. It will return to its natural shape when released. It does not "weaken" the spring to keep the hammer cocked. Just like it does not "weaken" a magazine spring to keep it loaded with ammunition. These are rumors spread around the firearms community by people who don't understand basic Mechanics of Materials. Can springs wear out without being stretched past the elastic range? Sure they can. Temperature fluctuations, rust, and cyclic shock loading within the elastic range can affect the cyrstalline properties of steel. But keeping your hammer cocked or your mag loaded isn't going to do it." I have a set of 4 magazines I loaded in 2010 that I will shoot at some point, but I already know the answer to the ag old questions of "Will it damage your springs".

#me #magazine springs #spring compression

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feltpool · 5 months

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Boxes of delights

Other family members have been sorting through the belongings of a deceased family member and the question comes my way of 'do you want her sewing stuff or should we just bin it?'

'Oh yeah, just bin it' said no craft inclined person ever

So I'm now in possession of two bonus boxes of mysterious and unknown content

This one is a small and slightly greasy feeling Tupperware box of unknown age

Contents: 11 reels of sewing thread of varying vintages and brands, some likely older than I am, and a travel type sewing kit in a clear plastic wallet complete with mini scissors, needles, and a tape measure

This one reel appears to have a tiny bit of surface mould, but I'm hoping it'll clean up with no issues since it appears so minor. I'll separate it from the rest and see how it goes

This box is much larger than the first

Here we have pins, needles, safety pins, scissors, 3 sewing machine reels, pencils, buttons, a pieces of tailors chalk, various bits of elastic, and two other items

One is this 'sewers switchblade', a thread/fabric cutter consisting of a razor blade held in a folding case that makes it's own blade cover and handle

And the other is this small bullet shaped emergency sewing kit which contains a thimble (in need of a good clean) a strip of felt holding 3 sewing needles, and two small reels of black and white thread

Also in the box are this assortment of machine and hand needles, some hooks and eyes, white bias binding and two well used crochet hooks of as yet unknown size

And under all of that are 35 reels of sewing thread of varying vintages and brands

Idk just how old some of these supplies are, but this reel of thread has a Woolworths price sticker on it and not only did Woolworths shut it's UK stores in Dec 2008/Jan 2009, but with the older logo on the sticker and a price of 20p marked on it I'm pretty sure it predates that closure by a broad margin

This small case was also in the bottom of the box with the thread reels

Opening it up reveals this

which assembles into a travel razor.

Why that was stored with the sewing supplies I have no idea

RIP Dorothy, I shall use your sewing supplies to the best of my ability and think of you when I do so. But I think I'm happy to let the razor go.

#sewing supplies #inherited possessions #a little bit of passed on history

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bxn-bonnie · 4 months

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Speedsters HC : Teeth shifting

I've thought about this recently while I was re-drawing my Wally West design, and I remembered I gave him braces at the beginning of his adulthood. If you quickly think about it and not acknowledge it, it isn't THAT of a big deal, it's just a personal character design.

I've decided to use my little nerd brain about it. Thinking about my own personal experience with orthodontics & some common knowledge about teeth. And I came with the conclusion that all the speedsters have or need retainers, braces, headgear (and other orthodontics stuff).

The simple reasons being, they use their speed at least once a day or more.

Because overnight your teeth shifts, but it's so unnoticeable until a dentist points it out (whether your teeth are crooked, your bottom or top teeth are way too forward, or your upper jaw got smaller). That's for someone that doesn't have super speed (connected to the speedforce). But for Speedsters, time can go faster for them, especially when they vibrate their molecules.

Instead of their teeth shift little by little every night, speedsters teeth shift so quickly (between 24 - 48hrs) that it's noticeable. so what? It's not gonna personally affect them for being heroes or their personal work. It does affect them, and it can even cause some gum diseases.

Any type of shifts that I mentioned (an over/underbite, crooked teeth, a smaller or larger upper jaw) can cause them issues eating, resting their facial features or more.

Now depending on how fast the speedster is, they'd have different types of oral treatment.

Example (with Speedsters who has treatments): Wally only wears traditional braces. And once his treatment comes to an end, he'll be wearing traditional retainers (wired retainers). Not that his teeth were THAT crooked, but he had concerning overbite. His teeth can shift back in less than a week if he doesn't wear his retainers (They're not permanent retainer, but he does have to wear them daily)

Barry, on the other hand, only has a permanent retainer (or bonded retainers if you will) WITH plastic retainers (you can have both). Barry's teeth are always going to be crooked, but not at a level where he needs braces.

Bart... Bart's teeth are so messed up due to not only his speed but also his accelerated aging. So he has to wear braces with forsus springs (elastics wouldn't work with him at all, just saying) BUT ALSO a palate expander (because of the rapid aging) & a headgear to sleep (yet again, rapid aging and his extreme speed but stopped wearing it for a while)

But this is my personal headcanon about the speedsters, don't take it too personal (in a negative way) if you don't actual visualize any of them with orthodontic methods. It's fine totally fine if you don't !! 👍🏾

#dc comics #barry allen #bart allen #wally west #wallace west #flash #kid flash #impulse #headcanon #flash family #flash fam #dc #dcu #dc universe #i dropped one of the english essay worth debate that I could ever do and leave like nothing happend #could also turn it onto a science essay atp too😭

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crackinglamb · 6 months

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👀 i gotta hear about your homemade pizza

It began as the basic Betty Crocker recipe for dough because I wanted pizza and was too broke to order it. And then I started to play with the proportions. And then I got pretty good at that. So I've spent the last 20+ years doing it. Now we rarely order out for delivery if I've got the ingredients to just make it. It has become a party favorite, a special gift, a treat, a comfort food.

I've made all kinds. This most basic recipe, whole wheat, mixed rye. I've made it super thin so it comes out really crunchy, or thick enough to hold a bazillion toppings. I've made the dough with whey leftover from cheesemaking instead of water. I have dedicated sheet pans specifically for making it. In three sizes. It's a bit of a labor of love for me these days, since it takes a fair amount of energy and I'm short on that a lot. But from what everyone who's had it tells me, it's worth every moment of pain.

A visual for you:

And because I am generous, recipe and instructions under the cut.

This is for the basic dough. It doubles very well, but tripling it leads to some necessary tweaking. And unfortunately, I can't tell you what that tweaking will be because it's case specific (usually the flour to water ratio, which will be totally dependent on your current humidity). In general, I consider that this recipe never comes out quite the same way twice. If you want something smaller, water to flour ratio is essentially 1:2. In the case of halving it, the same amount of yeast won't be too much, but cut back on the oil and salt. It also freezes well, if you're careful about thawing it so it has room to rise. It gets an interesting texture when it's been frozen. Crispier, but also more airy.

1.5 cups hot water (~110-115 F, ~45 C) 2.25 teaspoons yeast (or 1 packet) 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (the EV part isn't necessary, but adds nice flavor) 1/2 teaspoon salt ~3 cups flour (unbleached all-purpose is best)

Prep time: ~ten minutes. Rising: at least 20 minutes. Baking: 20-25 minutes (dependent on toppings, more wet stuff means longer cook time).

Bloom the yeast in the water, about five minutes. Add first cup of flour, oil and salt. Mix until there are no lumps (I use a plain old dinner fork with a sturdy handle). Add second cup of flour and mix. You should now have a loose, shaggy mess, not quite strong enough to hold itself together. Third cup should go into the mix in stages, because you may not need all of it. Or you may need more. You should have a soft mass of dough that's a little too much for a fork to mix it. It should be moderately sticky. If it's gooey, more flour. If it's not sticky...well, it won't be as elastic but it's not the end of the world. Don't add any more.

🌟This part is very important🌟. Pizza dough is delicate. This is the kneading part, but you want to be gentle. I do it right in the mixing bowl (remember that bowl must be big enough to account for rising). I only scoop and press for about a minute, or until all the flour is thoroughly mixed in and there are few to no lumps. It shouldn't be sticking to you anymore. If it is, more flour. A dusting at a time. Knead it again. Done? Form a ball in the bottom of the bowl.

Dust the dough with a little extra flour, cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise. This is an excellent time to get your oven pre-heating. For this style of pizza that will be 425 F (218 C), no convection. Don't worry if the oven is ready before the dough is, a fully pre-heated oven will hold its temp better anyhow, and most ovens will say they're ready before they actually are.

When the dough has doubled, or your oven is ready, whichever is last, punch it down, separate into two balls. This dough will make two 10x18 sheets. Coat the sheet pan (and your hands) lightly with olive oil, spread the dough out slowly and carefully so it doesn't tear. It will spring back on you. Get it most of the way there, go prep your toppings (or wait about five minutes), come back and finish it. Make sure it's even and pressed into the corners. Remember, delicate!

Top as you please. My usual is tomato, garlic and onion sauce spread with the back of a wooden spoon. I like part skim, low moisture mozzarella*. And then whatever you want. Favorites in this house are just plain with pepperoni, or pepperoni, bacon and onion. Bake on the lowest rack setting. I do mine for ten minutes, turn the sheet around 180 degrees, then another ten minutes. Cheese should be toasted lightly, edges of the crust should be crispy. It won't get that dark. 🌟In an electric oven, it might take less than 20 minutes! So keep an eye on it.🌟

*I've never made it vegan, so I don't know how that changes times and temps.

When it's done, sprinkle it with grated parmesan or romano if you'd like, but let it rest for a few minutes so it's not molten. Slice and enjoy!

Reheats beautifully in a toaster oven, I don't recommend microwaving it. Eaten cold is always acceptable.

Thanks for the ask. 💕 Have fun with it! And you may never want to order pizza again.

#asks #Lamb's Homemade Pan Pizza #this is also a great project/dinner to make with kids #Lamb the Younger has been able to help me with it since she was five

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