#might buy a cheap one first and take some time to learn to make my own

[elsbunny]

— els with a hyper feminine gf!

warnings: hyper feminine reader, ellie being a nerd, gf!ellie, LOSER els, ellie being a meanie in the beginning just because shes a idiot in love, overall just fluff <3

when ellie first met you she thought you were shallow, and she still curses herself for it

with that let’s say she didn't get along with you at first, always getting irritated when you demanded more time to get ready

there was no way to get away from you because you guys had the same group of friends, so in time ellie learned that you weren't just some fancy doll who only thinks about pink and glitter

she even learned that you get extremely frustrated when you forget your lip gloss, so she bought one to always keep in her pocket

ellie who became obsessed with the perfume you wear and always manages to smell you up close

ellie who thinks you are the sweetest girl in town

ellie who still tries to pretend she doesn't care about you, but every time she sees a cute stuffed animal she buys it and has it delivered to your house

ellie who always rolls her eyes every time you start talking about the expensive bags you like, even though she loves hearing you talk about things that amuse you

ellie who loves that your not afraid to perform your femininity

ellie who finally accepted that she adores that your always so giddy and jumpy and pretty like a doll

ellie who got close to you and started giving you the sweetest nicknames (dollie, sweet face, pretty girl, angel, princess, bambi and pinkie)

ellie who had about fifty existential crises before asking you out and sending you a paper at the end with a "do you want to be the only mouth I kiss, yes or no?" and of course she put a little heart on the side

gf!ellie is the type of girlfriend who sends you pictures of marceline and princess bubblegum saying "that's so us"

gf!ellie who would just sit there, smiling like a idiot watching you ramble about some new cute outfit you bought for yourself, always nodding her head to make sure you know shes following along

gf!ellie who stays up all night watching tutorials on how to do cute hairstyles

gf!ellie who became a MASTER at styling your hair, always adding cute little pink bows because she knows you’d love it

gf!ellie who took some time to fully understand your fashion sense

gf!ellie who became your personal skincare product tester

gf!ellie who learned how to paint your nails

gf!ellie who patiently waits for you to get ready and smile widely when you show up all pretty

gf!ellie who always appreciates the way you take your time to always be neat

gf!ellie who was extremely happy when you bought matching pajamas, yours being pink with bunnies everywhere and hers being green with little dinosaurs everywhere

gf!ellie who grew a bit possessive after she realized that everyone finds you attractive

gf!ellie who always sends you links of cheap, but nice, clothes expecting you to spend less

gf!ellie who associates you with everything thats cute

gf!ellie who saw a cute bunny and immediately sent you a picture saying "that's literally you babe”

gf!ellie who loves that you both are the perfect example of polar opposites

gf!ellie who deeply loves everything about you and would do anything to make HER sweet girl happy <3

MIGHT MAKE A PART TWO BECAUSE HYPER FEM X LOSER MASC ITS MY KINDA OF THIIIING BABES

#elsbunny #🐇 izi #ellie x reader #ellie x you #ellie x fem reader #ellie williams smut #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams tlou2 #ellie williams #ellie williams headcanons #ellie thoughts #ellie tlou #ellie reactions #drabble #👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 - els my baby bear #ellie girlfriend #👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 - els baby bear

[horselessheadperson]

LITANY AGAINST FAST FASHION: A SHORT GUIDE

2 disclaimers:

I'm not an expert, these are just my ideas. The more you can add on or correct the better, please reblog

The first responsibility in fixing these issues (there are many, it's not a single problem with a single solution) lies with the people making the big money off of this. If you feel like you already have a system for making clothing and textiles work for *you* and you don't feel up to changing anything, that's absolutely fine and you should feel good about yourself for finding something that works.

Having said that, here's the main problem as I see it:

DUE TO FAST FASHION, WE'VE ALREADY PRODUCED ENOUGH TEXTILE/GARMENTS TO LAST US FOR GENERATIONS

The term "fast fashion" really comes from the rapid circulation of collections high street brands go through. H&M famously advertises they have "something new every time you visit", you can always find new pyjamas at Primark, Pull & Bear prints new shitty tshirts every day. Obviously, not all of those clothes actually sell well and then continue to get worn until they are absolutely beyond repair. Most of those garments end up in landfills. Even the stuff that sells usually doesn't survive past a couple uses and gets thrown out.

=> What can I do in the face of this?

Cherish every bit of textile you have. Even dishcloths. Remember even though sewing machines exist every label, hem, and embroidery is hand-crafted onto your bit of fabric. Was it under $50? Then it's likely someone suffered to bring this to you. This is obviously not your fault and this is not meant to inspire personal guilt, but it might inform the way you handle fabrics. Wash something instead of throwing it out whenever you can and follow the instructions on the label. Choose the right kind of fabric for your needs so you don't have to continuously get new stuff.

Learn how to repair and/or alter stuff. This is a big one HOWEVER I feel like this advice is often thrown around without mentioning that a lot of clothing these days isn't made to be repaired. Some socks are so thin and flimsy they won't take to darning and some shoes aren't meant to be cobbled. Most hems don't have enough spare fabric to lengthen a pair of trousers these days. Once you learn about these techniques though you'll be able to more or less tell which is which before buying. I feel confident in my repairing abilities now so I only buy clothing that's sturdy enough to take a few repairs. Again, if that's above price range, don't feel bad.

BUY SECONDHAND. This is the single best piece of advice anyone can give to avoid the fast fashion trap. Always look for a secondhand option - charity shops, bespoke vintage stores, refurbished design, heck, even ebay. Buy something that has already been through circulation and don't add to the demand for new products. The way quality has declined over the last ten years, this also means you'll likely get much higher quality.

Learn to make your own stuff. This is basically a last resort as it's costly and takes a lot of effort and resources. If you're at all interested in fashion though, it's very much worth it to at least look into one or two fabric arts to pick up on the side. You'll have full control over the materials, cut, size, and finish of the garments you make yourself. If nothing else doing this will help you appreciate how much a piece of fabric or a garment is really worth in terms of labour and expertise.

Wear a piece of clothing until you can't repair it any longer. Then, turn it into rags or use it as scrap material for small projects if you do any crafts. After that, donate or re-sell what you can. No, not everything that's donated gets sold, but it's still the most responsible way to get rid of textile products you don't need anymore.

Buying more expensive garments isn't always better. I've had €500 shoes that went bust after two wears and I've had cheap tshirts that lasted for years. When you need a longer lasting item, say, a coat or a pair of boots - do some research, check second hand options, and stay critical. Don't buy based on brand. A good example is Doc Martens, whose boots have famously more or less gone to shit the past 5 or so years.

Remember, fashion is both a verb and a noun. Enjoy!

#fashion #fast fashion #clothing #textile art #textile industry #textiles #sewing

[robinsceramics]

@catkin-morgs yeah, I've got tips! <3

First, it definitely does take time. Especially when you're just starting. It's not great to have a time limit while making sculptures, especially since one of the essential materials in ceramics is time. See, (I'm about to geek out for a minute feel free to skip this paragraph), clay is made of tiny flat particles ("plates") with water between them, and the water allows the plates to slide around over and under each other. That's why clay is moldable! But when the water dries out of the clay, the plates stick close to each other and are no longer moveable. So, while working with clay, time and wetness counteract each other. But you have to take time to make a sculpture look like what you're envisioning and less like blobs of matter. You have to get the main shapes into place and then smooth them out and refine them, and that takes time, man. In ceramics, you learn to make time your friend while it tries its best to be your enemy.

All of that to say, yeah, if you're rushed, it just won't work out that well. I'm glad you're thinking of trying again in a less regimented environment!! That takes some real bravery, to try again at something you weren't good at the first time.

Also, on a personal note, I know you have an eye for good Shapes and pretty Animals. That sense of physical proportion, posture, cuteness, color, and so on, will pay off in ceramics even if it takes a while to get your physical skills to match your eye for beauty.

If ceramics turns out not to be for you, that's fine. It took me years to get to where I'm at now skill-wise, and it's not worth the investment for everyone. And I have been extremely lucky. My dad had all the materials necessary for ceramics just. hanging around the house. when I was growing up. And he helps me fill the kiln, which he owns, which is not a cheap or easy investment. So: I acknowledge that I have been privileged in getting into clay. Please don't feel insufficient if you just Can't because the resources you'd need aren't worth the price of laying your hands on them. Ceramics as a hobby is Expensive :|

But there ARE resources! Community centers, public studios, and even private studios (on request) often have studio classes, studio hours, and kiln sharing available. You'll typically have to pay for that, of course, but I mean. it's way cheaper than buying your own $2000+ kiln and equipment and stuff. As a college 3rd year, I'm facing down what it'll look like for me to get my own studio equipment in the future, and man... at least until I've saved some more money, I think that getting membership in a public studio is the way to go for me. It might be the same for you.

Oh, and don't worry about buying your own materials if you go that route. A studio, whether public or private or university-owned, will typically provide all of the raw materials necessary to ceramics making out of the fee you pay to use the studio. You won't need your own clay, glazes, or maybe even your own sculpting tools depending on the studio.

Another resource is https://www.kilnshare.com, which is a worldwide network for potters to share kiln space! Oh, and if there are no studios in your area, depending on how much you want to invest and what your schedule is like, if there's a college with an art program, there's always the possibility that you could audit a college ceramics class. *shrug* just throwing anything out there that might help!

As for how to do the sculpting itself—you'll figure it out! I promise! Doing sculpture because you want to is way different from doing it for school. Put love into what you make, and it will be lovable.

#not ceramics #my process #ceramics asks #sorta

[rainyfestivalsweets]

Grocery shopping/Food

Inflation is a huge thing right now and people keep asking how to lower your grocery budget. I grew up poor. Here are some tips I learned over the years. Just my opinions/tips:

There are alot of things a person can do to build food stability- IF you have the space and resources.

First one is gardening. An herb garden, a patio pot garden or a yard garden. I also did little stints of guerilla gardening, which is basically planting veggies in weird places. You can Google victory gardens to see how they used to do it back in the 40's.

Also, if you have a house with a yard, consider planting a fruit tree and some fruit bushes.

But as far as grocery shopping goes, if you have a limited budget & are on a weight loss journey, the first thing you should do is stop (or severely limit) shopping from the inside grocery aisles.

Why?

Because these foods might seem inexpensive, but it is really common to overeat those foods. They are designed to be hyperpalatable.

I recently saw an episode of Heavy where the person was cooking 3 boxes of some meal.... and eating them all.

If you buy these foods at all, you need to practice portion control with them. Check the box for the serving size and then divide it into individual servings before you start eating it.

It is really important that you don't beat yourself up for wanting this food. It is designed that way. Your body is a biological machine of sorts and it has evolved to *want* foods that have certain levels of fat, salt & carbs. It is because these are the foods that helped us survive.

When shopping the perimeter, I normally take a walk around to see what foods have volume so a low price. Some suggestions are potatoes, collard greens, radishes. But really, I will try anything that is low cost. Give it a shot and see if you like it.

That is how I starting eating collard greens. Walmart had huge bags of them for like $2. I bought a bag and threw in some greens with every meal. Why not?

You don't need designer greens that are $10 a pound.

So yesterday, the thing I would have bought for cheap and tried was fresh bunches of turnips greens for $1.29, and mustard greens for about the same (I am traveling tomorrow so I won't have time so cook it).

Be curious and explore. You may be able to find ways to stretch your budget using unpopular foods. Unfortunately, the internet has popularized some previously staple foods - eggs, cottage cheese, cauliflower etc. But do what you can with what you have, and use portion control so that you are making things last.

Sometimes you can find frozen foods for good prices- I found pags of peas at Walmart for $.84. Peas! Hell yeah! I added Pease to everything. Peas have some protein and a good nutrient profile.

In contrast, a box of weight watchers protein candy bars were $5 for 4 bars. ON SALE. Ugg. That is a treat option... but those food products are so freaking expensive per serving I am trying to limit those.

Other things I did was watch videos on how people got by in the depression...and try some of those meals. Read older books and see what they were eating.

Our food acquisition has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. People used to do alot more foraging, hunting, & fishing. We don't have access to some of those things anymore. And if you do have access, definitely try those things as well. If you have access to buy food from a farmer/rancher, do it.

Now we have food deserts. But that is a post for a different time.

#groceries #grocery store #grocery shopping #grocery haul #healthy lifestyle #getting healthy #losing weight #healthy eating #fitblr #healthy habits #operation lose this gut #weight loss #operationlosethisgut #weight loss journey #shopping #food #food scarcity #poor #food tips #budget food #budget #grocery shopping tips #veggies #sales #clearance

[dweetwise]

The Long Con (part 1/6)

Happy Oktoberfest! 🍻 With the festival starting today in München, I figured it would be the perfect time to start posting this fic 🥰 Please also check out @ell-clavel's amazing riconti art that inspired me to write this AU in the first place 🧡 Rated G | 1.5k words | ao3 link [next]

"Man, look at all these people!"

Meg's grin was bright as she jogged past Ace and looked around in awe, her bow-adorned braids bouncing in time with her steps.

Ace hadn't expected quite this much of a crowd, either. It was only a Monday afternoon but the festival area was quickly filling up with groups flocking to the large beer tents or shopping at the stalls lining the central street.

He knew Oktoberfest was popular, but not this popular.

"I wonder if they're here to see Denson too." Ace smirked. "You might have some competition for the spot as her number one fan."

Meg's face scrunched up. "Shut up. You're the one who insisted on flying all the way out here, not me. Oh, look, there's a chocolate fruit stand!"

Ace smiled and bit back a snarky comment as Meg excitedly took in what the festival had to offer. The girl was an avid fan of country artist Kate Denson's work—Ace had a sneaking suspicion it was something she'd listened to with her late mother—and after an off-hand comment that Denson would be performing in Münich at this year's Oktoberfest?

Well, Ace simply hadn't been able to resist.

Just like he couldn't resist obnoxiously cooing, "Want me to buy you some choccy bananas?" when Meg kept eyeing the food stall.

Meg bristled. "I'm not fucking five years old."

"Really? Could have fooled me, with those pigtails."

"I'm just blending in," Meg said. 

She did a twirl to show off the rest of her outfit: a frilly top and floral bodice combined with full-length lambskin pants. She looked like she'd jumped straight out of one of those quaint paintings of a girl yodeling in the Alps.

"Which is more than I can say for some people," Meg snarked.

Unlike Meg’s outfit, Ace’s get-up had been thrown together on a budget. The fancy red waistcoat he’d…acquired from a casino’s staff room and it clashed horribly with the cheap fake bundhosen bought from a tourist shop. Hopefully, the random scarf and traditional Argentinian belt he’d tacked on would make it seem more like a fashion statement instead of an insult to Bavarian culture.

"So I took some creative liberties," Ace said.

"Yeah, that’s probably for the best." Meg smiled smugly. "You're about sixty years too old to pull off leather pants, anyway."

Ace gasped. "Attacked by my own protégé! The audacity!"

"Wonder where I learned that from," Meg said dryly. She looked around again. "I'm gonna go scope out the other tents before the concert."

"And here I thought you wanted me to hold your hand at baby's first festival."

Meg rolled her eyes and pointed at a large tent with something resembling a clock tower next to it. "That one looks the busiest. You go check it out and I'll come find you once I'm done."

Ah, ever efficient. Ace had taught her well.

"Remember to have some fun, too," Ace said. "All work and no play makes Meg a very dull girl!"

"And you remember what we're actually here for." Meg's piercing blue gaze bore into Ace's. "If I find you in a beer chugging contest again, so help me—"

"That was one time and the frat boys dared me!"

"Ace."

Ace smiled and shook his head. "Of course. Who do you take me for?"

Meg raised an eyebrow. "I bet I can score more than you."

"Oh, really?" Ace countered. "Maybe whoever loses should pay for lunch the rest of the week, if you're so confident."

"Deal." Meg turned around, waving over her shoulder as she walked away. "Smell you later, old fart!"

"Have fun, Firecracker."

Meg disappeared into the crowd and Ace allowed himself a moment to appreciate how far they'd come. It seemed like just yesterday that he'd taken the girl in.

A few years ago when he'd been stateside, Ace had managed to cash out big after a blackjack win streak. When he'd left the casino, he only made it two blocks down the street before someone bumped into him and Ace was very aware of the weight of his wallet disappearing from his pocket while he struggled to right himself.

The thief had run off in a blur of red hair and sneakers pounding on pavement. After feebly trying to chase after them, Ace had stayed in the area and waited, and only a few hours later the pickpocket—a teenage girl—returned to the scene of the crime. She was clearly tailing a woman in a fur jacket and designer purse, but even across the street Ace could see that both the fur and bag were obvious fakes.

Amateur mistakes, really.

This time, Ace had familiarized himself with the surroundings beforehand and even as the girl spotted him and took off in a sprint, he eventually managed to corner her in an alleyway.

And after some angry screaming from the girl and a kick to Ace's shin, they'd ended up in a 24/7 shoddy diner with Ace buying her a meal in exchange for her story.

Meg had been homeless for months after her mother passed away from cancer. At only seventeen and with no close relatives, she'd been forced out on the streets and struggling to survive; it was only her sharp reflexes and years as a track star that kept her afloat by doing petty crimes.

And maybe it was the situation that was eerily similar to Ace's own childhood, or the fire he could see in her eyes, but Ace had only smiled before critiquing her pickpocketing technique and asking if she'd ever thought about being a con artist.

That was how Ace ended up taking Meg under his wing and teaching her everything he knew. With his experience and her quick feet, they made a surprisingly good team and had traveled across the States stealing and scamming much more efficiently than Ace usually managed on his own.

Having another person in on his schemes made a big difference. Meg could do anything from pretending to join Ace's poker table as a stranger to emptying someone's purse while Ace was doing magic tricks as a street performer. Meg had only been caught once by the police, and she'd been so convincing at sniffling pathetically and claiming she was only fifteen that the officer had taken pity and simply called her father—a.k.a. Ace's burner phone—instead of taking her down to the station.

But easy money or not, Ace hadn't expected their arrangement to last long. A few months later when Meg turned eighteen, she'd already earned enough to start her life anew—yet when Ace asked where she was planning to settle down, he only received a look of pure betrayal. And then there was screaming and crying and Meg accusing him of abandoning her, just like her dad and everyone else.

Ace had never wanted children, but as he dared to hug Meg for the first time and she merely clutched at his shirt and sobbed in his arms, he decided he'd do his best to be there for her the way nobody had been for him.

That was four years ago and Meg was still here, so he must have been doing something right.

Ace knew that their friendship was unorthodox. A middle-aged man and grumpy young woman who were visibly not related often garnered suspicious looks, especially whenever they went out to eat in a proper restaurant or money was tight enough that they had to share a twin instead of booking separate motel rooms.

Which was ironic, because it was Ace who hated sharing a room with Meg. She took ages in the shower, always sat on Ace's bed to eat and got crumbs all over the sheets, and stayed up way too late watching crappy late-night TV when Ace was trying to get his beauty sleep. It was like she knew exactly how to annoy him and did it with a smile every chance she could.

He tried not to show how proud he was of her mischievous streak.

Ace chuckled to himself. He couldn't have asked for a better partner-in-crime and he was glad they'd had enough extra cash to make the trip to Germany. Even if she tried to play it cool, Meg was clearly excited about seeing both the country and her favorite musician.

The fact that this happened to be one of Europe's biggest festivals, with countless drunk, rich patrons for easy pickings and dense crowds to quickly disappear into was simply a bonus.

Ace took a steadying breath and straightened his shirt—patterned with tiny card suits that hopefully nobody would notice weren’t traditional Oktoberfest checkers—and slipped on a familiar confident persona. As long as he pretended that he belonged here, everyone else would believe it too.

With a carefree smile and a spring in his step, Ace made his way to the beer tent to people-watch for a worthwhile target.

#dbd fanfic #ace visconti #meg thomas #dbd #dweetwrites #dead by daylight #yes ace reluctantly adopting younger survs is my favorite trope #i loved writing his and meg's banter #also i hope it was obvious that this was inspired by the oktoberfest skins #i thought 'hmm how can i get felix meg and kate all be at oktoberfest at the same time' #and this was what i came up with #gee i wonder which rich german patron ace will try to scam???

[briarpatch-kids]

I had a dream I was running a race (in my chair) alongside you and so so many other wheelchair users. It was really nice to feel surrounded by a community!! Maybe one day I will have built up the muscle strength to try a race..... n e ways ty for inspiring a dream!

Yes!!! Wheelchair racing is so much fun. It takes a long time to build up that strength but it's really good for me physically and emotionally and its hard to take rest days now because I love it so much.

A couple tips:

if you're running in a custom daily use wheelchair, make sure you've adjusted the balance as far back as you can safely go. More weight on the rear wheels is better.

Learn to do wheelies while moving. You never know what the pavement is gonna look like and being able to lift those front casters while moving is HUGE in not ruining momentum.

If you get running every day, replace your casters every few months. Scooter wheels and bearings work as a cheap replacement that are just as nice as medical ones. I get mine from YAK off ebay for like $20, including the bearings. If you have good streets, go for 4 inches or smaller. If you have bad streets go for 5 or larger.

Once you have a couple races under your belt, you might be able to apply for a grant from various disabled sports organizations, depending on how you do the races you can get a classic racing wheelchair for pavement or a Grit chair for offroad and cracked pavement like I have. Pretty much nobody buys their own adaptive sports equipment unless you're a high level sportsman or rich. Some people get the equipment first, but most places ask what kind of experience you have, presumably making sure you'll both be able to do the sport and will actually use the equipment. A lot of times there's clinics to try out different equipment. Places usually have borrow equipment you can use before you get your own. (asking your parks and recreation department of your nearest population center is also good. Boise has some)

Leave yourself at the end of the workout tired but not spent. Or as my doctor calls it "to the point of fatigue but not past it." A lot of sports injuries happen because someone ramped up the intensity of their training too fast. You want to end your workout feeling good, so you want to go back out there. Exercise isn't supposed to be grueling punishment!!

[nothing0fnothing]

Hey! So I have some lived experience in being poor and mentally ill I had to learn the hard way in my adulthood after growing up with abusive neglectful narcissistic parents. Maybe it will help someone else.

1. Instant pot. Crock pot. Rice cooker. You only need one, but all 3 are versatile, can use very little electricity to run, and are perfect to dump ingredients into and come back later to a healthy, cooked dinner.

You can research which is best for you by looking up "crock pot recipes" "rice cooker meals" to get a feel for what types of meals you can prepare in each and how it's purposes can best fit your cooking style.

2. Get your electronics secondhand. Phone companies make so much off of poor people bc they contract us into pay plans that mean that by the time our phones are needing replacing, we've paid for it 2 or more times over. Consider going Sim only and getting your phone secondhand.

Websites like backmarket and envirophone sell refurbished phones, tablets, laptops, smart watches, TVs, consoles, headphones, all sorts like new and for a fraction of the price point you'd usually get them at. I've not bought an electronic new since 2015 and the products I get refurbished last just as long as if I'd bought them new. Plus it's better for the environment. Even if I had money I don't think I'd go back to buying new honestly.

3. Static charger. If you're Autistic and can't sit still, like me you might be finding that the first thing to go on your electronics is your charge port. It's really annoying because it's not a cheap fix and I have had to replace phones early when they won't charge any more.

Last year my girlfriend and I got static chargers. It's an adapter that sits in your phone/tablets charger slot that magnetically connects to a universal charger. Its great for us because now everything rechargeable (phones/tablets, but also headphones, game controllers, keyboards/mouses) takes the same cable. It's really handy, but for me the best part is that the adapter doesn't move. So even if I'm fidgeting with my phone on charge it won't wear down the charger pins over time. We paid £20 for 3 and it's paid for itself because I've not had to take my phone for it's yearly fix since I got it.

4. Make a cozy space outside of bed. As a bedrotting girlie I know the allure of just saying "fuck it" and curling up in bed is so strong. I also know that when I do it for days at a time my sleep quality gets worse, my days blur together and my mental health gets so much worse. Especially if I'm working, watching TV, eating all my meals and doing my hobbies all from my bed.

One thing that helps me break up the bedrotting and at least helps me get some decent sleep so I might wake up feeling better tomorrow, is having a cozy spot that isn't in bed I can spend at least some of my day in.

For me, it's the couch in my living room. I've furnished it with pillows, blankets, and a little coffee table I can rest my stuff on so I can feel as comfy as I do in bed, but not actually be in bed most of the day. For You it could be a book nook, or a floor bed, or a desk with a chair in your bedroom.

5. Giant water bottle. This one is really simple. We need 8 glasses of water a day to be healthy and hydrated. Basically nobody depressed has the energy to fill up a glass of water 8 times a day. If you can get a water bottle that holds 2 litres (65oz) of water, now you only need to fill one drinking vessel once a day to be healthy and hydrated.

It's really simple and sill but it honestly saved my life. I buy those drink flavor packets because I drink more when it tastes nice. Is it as healthy as plain water? No. Is it healthier than no water? Yes. Easy peasy.

My bottle is from Meoky, its the 64oz stainless steel camping bottle with a flip straw I got for under £20. I like it because it keeps my water cold and I'd rather walk on hot coals than take a sip without a straw, but I've bought same size BPA free plastic bottles for like £3 and they have lasted me 2-3 years too so the budget options are absolutely worth it too.

6. Reconsider what's worth getting second hand. Generally when thinking about buying secondhand we mean clothes at the thrift, and that's great, but buying pre loved can be anything, and you can buy some high ticket items at an affordable price point that way.

If I ever want an appliance I always look second hand first. My rice cooker is secondhand and it is my favourite appliance. I've also bought a popcorn maker for a fraction of the price I'd buy it new, and I'm looking for a Kitchen Aid mixer for no more than a third the price they usually sell at. My vanity houses my shark air styler, I got it refurbished second hand and it was like new when I bought it. I use it every day and it still has so much wear in it.

Generally, the bigger and heavier something is, the closer to free you can get it, because the people getting rid of it just want it gone. If you ever need a washing machine or some furniture, look on gumtree or local no buy groups first. Type "free ___" followed by where you live into Google to get an idea whats available. If you're furnishing a space it's very likely you can get everything you need for the cost of the van you hired to collect it all.

7. Frozen vegetables. Fresh produce is getting more expensive and because we neurodivergent and mentally ill people can have a habit of letting fresh produce rot in the fridge, wasting money and making more mess to clean up, it's usually not worth it. The thing is, frozen produce is cheaper because it is picked in season, healther because it is frozen at optimum ripeness, and can be safely stored in your freezer for months, it's so worth doing.

They're usually pre-cut and can generally just be chucked into your dish frozen to defrost while cooking, making them easy and accessible. You can buy mixed vegetable packs (in the UK the most common is sweetcorn/peas/carrots and broccoli/cauliflower/) for some variety too, which I like to just dump a portion into soups or broths for some added vitamins.

8. Medication delivery. I've been medicated for mental illness for years, and a regular problem I used to have was I would neglect going to pick up my meds because I was depressed, then I'd run out and be unable to collect them because the lack of meds was making me more depressed.

Now however, I'm signed up with an online pharmacy. They processes my prescriptions exactly the same way any other pharmacy would and dispense them through the post in a box that fits through my letterbox. I never have to leave the house for meds again which is actually a lifesaver, the shipping is super cheap, like free for 3 day delivery and £2.99 for next day, and it's all processed through a super simple app that I only have to use like one a month when I request my refill.

It's so worth it and if you struggle to get out like me I absolutely recommend it. In the UK it's called Lloyd's Direct Pharmacy, but I'm sure it's a service you can find in other places of the world too.

9. Laundry separation is a lie. Which isn't a big deal for people who don't care about throwing money away on extra loads or people who have the spoons to faff around separating their clothes arbitrarily, but for poor neurodivergent people, it is.

So here's the thing, the rules of separating laundry by colour came about when clothes were made of all natural materials that would stick to each other when agitated and natural dyes that would run in water. Nowadays, clothes are made of synthetic or blended materials that can handle the friction of a modern machine and synthetic dyes that hold up to basically anything. 99% of clothes on the market, and therefore probably 99% of your wardrobe, is polycotton or some other poly-blend. So generally, everything you have can just all go in together on a warm wash.

Now, if you have woolen, linen or cashmere pieces, you should be separating them and following the care instructions on the label, but everything else, just shove it in mate, nothing bad will happen.

10. Protein powder. Protein powder is cheap, it's stored dry to it basically never goes bad, it's obviously protein so it's a really good addition to your diet, it tastes of whatever flavour you buy it in so it's a good meal substitute if you're depressed and your appetite is low, and it comes together really easily.

I usually get it in big tubs because they're cheaper per gram that way and I just add them to my coffee/hot chocolate for a boost or stir it into some Greek yogurt for a quick healthy snack. Thats actually my favourite way to get protein in because it's like 2 minutes and it covers up that sour taste yogurt has. I've also stirred it into milk for my cereal to varying success but it's good because the fat in the milk and the carbs and fortified vitamins in the cereal make it basically a meal. If I'm struggling for breakfast I usually add a scoop or two to an instant porridge pot and I have a ready to eat nutritional meal ready in the time it takes to boil the kettle.

#mental health #look after you #long post

[fluffy-critter]

#crosspost #busybee

[cake-apostate]

I personally think that all the protags and their friends do gift exchanges :] Demifiend gets everyone a Magatama which they all vehemently refuse to eat, Kazuya and Raidou get people regular Tokyo items because they’re... surprisingly rare, Devil Survivor Protag makes everyone personal mixtapes, etc

Happy Holidays!

Oooh, nice! I can see that.

I do see the cast of SMT in certain ways, especially since I write fanfic for them, so some of my choices might seem a bit weird outside of my head. I'm assuming that interdimensional travel is a thing. Also, on top of giving to friends, there's also a Secret Santa designed to give for people you don't know.

Kazuya gets people practical things, and I see him as someone who's good at cooking. He gives out new pots and pans, new knives, a new spatula.

Aoi would think carefully about what everyone would want before giving it. But she'd default to a big box of holiday treats. Including alcohol. She does not care if the recipient is underage. Either that, or she'd hand out training equipment, since I headcanon her as someone who loves sparring.

Aleph gets everyone guns. I think of him during the game as having difficulties grasping social conventions and niceties, since he only experienced one year of life (yes, he's two years old, but he spent the first year as a baby). When given the advice, "Give something that you would want," he straight up buys the guns he wants.

Hiroko winds up getting Aleph and Daleth stuffed toys, which they treasure. And since she's already at the store, she gets a stuffed animal for the Secret Santa.

Daleth brings out potions the fairies taught him to make.

Naoki is someone I think of as growing up poor. He'd discreetly measure someone and get them a nice warm jacket.

Hijiri gets copies of relatively obscure mythologies, which always turns out extremely useful in SMT.

Raidou, at Naoki's suggestion, gets a lot of stuff that's cheap and plentiful in his time, but will become valuable handmade antiques or specialty snacks in their time.

Flynn gets potted plants for everyone. He does not always get how difficult it is to take care of some of these plants, and he also gives plants that you wouldn't usually think of as a gift, such as rice plants in wet buckets.

Isabeau matches people to manga. Jonathan matches people to books. I have no idea what Walter would do.

Nanashi gives blankets and pillows, and they're super comfortable. Both Bonds and Anarchy Nanashi do this, but Anarchy!Nanashi enchants them to help people sleep better.

Asahi learns to brew her own liquor and beer, and gives that out as gifts. If anyone is concerned that she is under the legal drinking age, they don't show it.

Hallelujah winds up with a lot of money and connections thanks to his new job as a Yakuza boss, but he's trying to remain frugal. Part of it is that he's not inclined to luxury, but the other is that it really helps his image if he's not extravagant like Tayama was. So he'd get something that's nice, but not too nice, like the cheaper accessories at the Ginza Special Shop.

In the Anarchy universe where Hallelujah is the Goddess, he winds up blessing people for good health. Since I've got Dealing with Dragons on the brain, he ensures that nobody will ever have problems with their teeth.

Nozomi gives potted plants like Flynn, but she's a bit more aware of what you can and can't grow. So they're enchanted to be a bit hardier, and she writes down care instructions.

Toki gives almost everyone better weapons. Since you can't get better than Gungnir, she'd give Gaston a book on lance techniques. And since Hallelujah doesn't use weapons, she might give a book on meditation to improve his magic. She gives machetes to people she doesn't know.

Gaston gives jewelry, since that's what Luxurors give each other.

Navarre is exempt because he doesn't have any money, but he's good at giving suggestions to Gaston.

Danu makes things fertile. If they're farmers, their harvests are rich. If they keep animals, they give birth to more babies than usual. And if nothing applies, she gives good health.

Dagda firmly does not celebrate Christmas, but does participate in the Secret Santa gift exchange. It's a neverending thermos of porridge.

Dagda does, however, give Nanashi a gift: a 'get out of death free' card, stylized as a Monopoly card with Nanashi's name on it. He clarifies that the card itself is just a joke; the real gift is a promise to bring him back to life, and it doesn't matter if he loses the card. If Nanashi dies of something like illness or starvation, he'll cure or feed him so he doesn't die right away. And if he manages to die of old age, he'll give him time enough to say his goodbyes before dying for real (and/or let him scare people at his funeral).

Blasted Akira, he doesn't have a lot to give right now. He just gives out IOUs for stuff later, which includes, "Any one thing you want from the treasury."

Infernal Akira scavenges through trash for a living, and I'm thinking that he's not just good at repairing things, but making new things. Most of the usable parts would be used to improve his city, so he'd turn the scraps into a found artwork piece. At the same time, I can see him as someone who gifts very generously out of necessity; he needs the other Demonoids to like him or they'll overthrow him. He might get someone the newest video game console; probably gives Blasted Akira money so he can buy it for him. Big scary demon man in Tokyo would cause problems.

The Embryon generally has trouble with the prompt. Serph winds up giving the gift of friendship, and gives shooting lessons because that's what friends do. Heat gives a fully butchered dead demon, accompanied by a bottle of their blood; this poses problems to people who just think it's ordinary meat. Sera only has a vague idea of Christmas from holiday movies, so she gives out stereotypical gifts like a drum set, a working train set, and stuffed toys. Argilla tries baking a pie but it doesn't turn out well because she's learning how to cook solely from a cookbook. Gale thinks everyone likes math and gives a book on proofs he finds interesting. Cielo gives a mixtape.

I headcanon Roland as Jewish; it started with 'Blitz is a real surname and it fits him' and then turned into 'I knew a classmate with that name who was Jewish' and then into 'what the hell, Roland's Jewish now.' So he doesn't celebrate Christmas even if he has a better idea of what it is. He thinks about everything he missed when he was stuck underground, and decides on boxes of chocolates.

The Nahobino at this point would be God, so he might give out what looks like those coupons children give their parents (like, "clean my room without arguing"), but actually contain stuff like, "Use of a room where time stands still (yes there is internet access because magic)," "Instant transportation to any given location in the universe, round trip, safety guaranteed," and "Change the weather to anything you want, within reason." He also specifies that while they can be used on another's behalf, only the user can activate it; this is so that they get used up within the receiver's lifetime.

Maybe someone tries to argue that Aogami should join in. He winds up cleaning the air and oceans around Japan as his gift, saying that it's a gift to humanity, and they are humans. The receiver is too polite to fault his logic, and the Nahobino winds up discreetly giving them the same coupon gift as above, on the basis that he and Aogami are technically the same person.

#shin megami tensei #digital devil saga #smt #megaten #shin megami tensei i #shin megami tensei 4 #shin megami tensei nocturne #shin megami tensei apocalypse #shin megami tensei 5 #shin megami tensei v #shin megami tensei iv apocalypse #shin megami tensei iv #shin megami tensei ii #shin megami tensei 1 #shin megami tensei 2 #shin megami tensei iii nocturne

[autolenaphilia]

If you are like me, and have a lot of hair growing on your body (including the face) that needs shaving, I'm going to suggest getting an old fashioned double-edged safety razor. They look as this

Image source, by Simon A. Eugster.

Sure there are other options. Epilator machines by plucking the hairs give a long lasting effect, but they're painful and personally I can't stand the noise they make. Also electric razors are out for the same reason. Plus, replacing the heads on these machines can be expensive.

And the mainstream option for non-electric hair removal, cartridge razors are terrible. You are stuck buying cartridges from the same manufacturer that makes the razors, and the cartridges are expensive as fuck. And the worn out cartridges are a bizarre amalgamation of metal and plastic that are a nightmare to throw away in a responsible manner. The same applies to disposable plastic razors.

Double-edged safety razors are far superior. Double-edged razor blades are incredibly cheap, doing a quick currency conversion, I can buy a ten pack of blades for 4.5 dollars or 4 euro. And they are all metal so easy to recycle. And they last for a long time in my experience. So for money saving purposes, DE razor blades are your best bet. And you can use any blade from any manufacturer and it will fit your razor.

The razor itself might cost some, the one from the manufacturer mühle i have used for years cost about 42 dollars, but a single one can last a lifetime, they are usually very durable. If you are shaving other parts of your body than your face, you might want a razor with a longer handle so you have better reach.

They require a bit of technique to use, but it's not hard to learn. Standard shaving prep stuff applies, moisture the skin, shower or wetten the hair, and use some lather. You can use shaving cream, but i use lather from a bar of soap and it works just fine. Shave in multiple passes, first drag the razor over the skin in the direction the hair grows, then in the opposite direction, that will take care of most of it, but you might need more passes.

Unlike cartridge razors, DE safety razors don't have heads on a pivot, which means two things.

The first is that you shouldn't apply pressure while shaving, you will just tear your skin off. Since there is no pivot to adjust, it's needless to apply much pressure. Just put it against the skin and move it gently over the area with the hair.

The second is that you need to hold the razor at an angle at about 45 degrees, otherwise you might cut yourself. This is the trickiest part to learn, and even when you know the how, you might require shorter passes of the razor than with a cartridge razor, since you need to stop in order to adjust the blade angle against the skin as your body curves.

Once you learn it, you are fine though, and much better off financially than other options for shaving. Truly, looking good on a budget.

#shaving #my writings #razors #financial tips

[ducknotinarow]

[2012 FootClan AU, FTM Casey and Shredder]

"It's Casey..."

His voice was soft at first, but he actually spoke up, something rare for him to do when Karai wasn't around to back him up. But Casey was tired of being misgendered by his father, that anger he was known for sparking, fingers curled into fists as he dared to speak back,

"I said, my name is Casey an' yer know that - I'm yer son, not yer daughter!"

| Muse interaction

Shredder strolled up toward his throne aggravated under the metal helm he wore. Unsure what was the most annoying issue and matter to handle right now. With that news about a ninja star begin found branded with an all to familiar symbol he knew. Saki had learned that he didn't finish the job in the end all those years ago. He should have made for sure that Yoshi perished in that fire. Because somehow that rat, was not only still alive but also keeping his own wrenched clan around. His men were turning into mutants left and right thanks to some unknown substance created the apparent alien life running around the city! His city that he had a hand in all dealings over. But these so called Kraang. It was putting a bit of a damp into his operations. Getting in the way of his main motive right now. His focus and resources were all pouring into one thing. Finding Yoshi.

Well they should be all focused on this one mission.

Taking his seat as he narrows his eyes towards the door waiting for Eve to walk through the doors. His eldest daughter of three, and apparently his daughter with the most outlandish train of thoughts here. He found the silver bottle by chance simply labeled as testosterone. How many times has he had to have this conversation with her? This was starting to become nothing more then a distraction. Doors opened as Eve was escorted by a few of his foot soldiers. She looked ridiculous with how she been dressing herself these days. As if the layering of her clothes was going to some how hide the truth. How she presented herself even. If it weren't for needing to up hold his image to his ninja he might make his thought far more known.

Instead, he simply closed his eyes as he waved a hand to dismiss his ninja. There was no need for them, waiting for the doors to close before he breathed out the annoyance he could only feel. Holding up the small silve jar in his hand. "What is this?" He more demands then asks, but his daughter seems to ignore the command she is being given here. Frocing his hand to grip the small bottle tigther in his hand. Slamming his hand down on to the arm of his chair demanding his daughters attention on him.

"Evealyn answer when I speak to you" He never had to raise his voice ordering his children even pit of acts of defiance seemed to get them to snap back into line.

"It's Casey..."

"What?" He didn't even jave a moment to think it over before he answered his disdain shoild be easy to pick up on how he said it though. He couldn't understand why this was getting worse. Why she even had this idiotic idea in her head. She was born a girl she doesn't just suddenly change this! "Evealyn." He sigh his disappointment just oozing over every letter of her name as he look back to the bottle in his hand.

Where did she even get this from?

"I said, my name is Casey an' yer know that - I'm yer son, not yer daughter!"

Sakis's attention snapped back to her. "Here, I was simply dispointed in my daughter's pour choices. But it seems I am to mourn my daughters death here tonight."

Saki moved to stand up now after he hardly stated as such. "Because that is the only way I am seeing a loss of my daughter here! Now, enough of this nonesense!" He raises his tone now as he holds out the small silver offending bottle of drugs. "Going behind my back and buying this? Do you even know if this is safe, Evealyn! This could just be a cheap knockoff! Did you even stop to think how it would react with the adderall you already take?" He poses here to his daughter, but she's not given much chance to speak anyway. "No, of course, didn't! It's likely already affecting and negating what you need, the more important thing here for!" He contuines to scold. "Now answer me, Evealyn!"

"I said, my name is Casey an' yer know that - I'm yer son, not yer daughter!"

Saki narrowed his eyes onto his daughter at the bold display of defiance being shown before him. Eve could sometimes when Karai was around be just as strongheaded as Karai was. But alone? Eve seemed dless likely which was the aim of the goal to achieve. Put an end to thi at last.

"I have no son." He stated coldly as he clouded eyes fell on to Eve before him. "I wouldn't even attempt to consider such a mockary" tossing the bottle down on the floor. As it rolled down towards his daughter. "To ever be a son of mine. Your lucky I haven't decided it means you wouldn't be a daughter of mine either!"

Saki nearly spits as he speaks out towards them. "I brought in a daughter name Evealyn into my home, my family. Instead of leaving you in the hell hole." As is Eve owned him to be his daughter for this one thing alone. "I gave you a home for you and your sister you fought so hard to keep safe." He's happy to remind her of. "I fed clothed and gave you both of you a roof." He contuines to lay out to what he sees is his clearly confused child here. "If you are not my daughter then I guess you are no mkre than a common foot spider of my clan."

Meaning less, the foot spilders all abandoned their identities unneeded when it came to severing under the heel of their clan leader. Their 'father' so to speak as they all looked to him from guidance and more. "And you know what I do to my ninja when they step out of line?" It was a faint vague threat, as the blades from his gauntlet slid out as he raised his arm to display them. But, the fact he hadn't stepped closer meant Eve had a chance to back down.

"Now stop woth this foolishness its nothing mkre then a distraction Evealyn. You know what we're doing here. You were ment to be scouting for any signs of the Hamato Clan not messing around with your deliousions!" He let the blades slide back as he turned his back on to her.

"Now get out I don't want to hear anymore about this. If you were to ever be accepted as my son? You would be such a disappointment to me now."

#muse| oroku saki #madamkezzie #aflockoffeathers #[ the sins of the father -aflockoffeathers] #[12 verse] #[foot!casey au] #[ftm casey] #ic rpely #muse interaction #ic reply #((Just in case I did look it up and no there is no risk of what Shredder complains about hes just being a bitch and assuming things here u- #((Id say this is before any interaction with the turtles still considering Shredder hasn't found a trace of them yet when this takes place) #tw: parent abuse mentioned #tw: transphobia #tw: me hating this cause I had to write it u-u #((nah im being dramtic but still ;3;

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Bound by Choice - Chapter 1

A/N: I need you all to trust me. Yes, I am aware this is utterly self-indulgent and that I have four other books planned out after this one, one of the future books being already outlined and ready to write. I know this is not what I usually write, but, again, I need you all to trust me.

Plus, this was really, really fun to write and I started it when I was in my Peak Pokemon Submas Obsession about a year or two ago now, so it's some of my favorite writing in a while.

Fandom: Pokemon (Black & White, All Media Types, Legends: Arceus)

Characters: Original Character, Kudari | Emmet, Nobori | Ingo

Rating: Teen Audiences

Summary: Andy has always been afraid of pokemon and what it is that they’re able to do, which makes their life rather hard considering they’re twenty-two, live in Unova, and work in Nimbasa City; which is known as the battle capital of their region. Their closest friend and semi-adopted mother being a former gym battle leader also didn’t tend to help matters.

A panic attack on a subway car they thought was empty, however, leads to them meeting the infamous Subway Bosses and learning that pokemon, while terrifying, weren’t the monsters they had grown up believing them to be. Getting sucked up into the lives of the two Subway Bosses and their best friend Gym Leader Elesa might be even more terrifying than the pokemon, however.

AO3 Link: Bound by Choice, Chapter 1

Chapters 2-5 Immediately Available on Patreon

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If you enjoy this story then check out my Writing Commissions.

…or, if you prefer, you can just buy me a ko-fi! ☕ …or, if you have a nice allowance, support me on Patreon! 🪶

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Chapter 1 - Andy

It wasn’t the lack of noise to show the office was empty that had alerted him, or the way his head jerked up from a half-asleep state for the third time, or even how all light in the office had switched from sunny filled glass windows to cheap, flickering overhead lights. No, what alerted Andy to the fact that he had stayed far too late for the third time that week was the slap to his back with the annoyingly bright and cheerful accompaniment of, “Andy! Do they got you pulling doubles again? And on a Friday no less!”

“No, Anthony,” Andy said, forcing himself to not push the words through gritted teeth as his back stung from the ‘friendly’ slap. Anthony wasn’t even a bad person! He was just vaguely dick-ish like every other office coworker who didn’t want to be there. “I’m not pulling doubles. Just finishing up some sheets.” 

“Man,” Anthony sighed, Andy closing his eyes and just barely resisting the urge to groan. That was Anthony’s ‘nostalgic’ sigh. “I wish I had the energy you kids have today.” 

I’m twenty-two, first of all, Andy resisted the urge to scream. And second of all, you’re only seven years older than me! Why in Arceus’ name-?! Andy pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the fact that he was definitely treating himself to something sugary and unhealthy for how much resisting he was doing when it came to maiming his coworkers. 

As it was, Andy simply began disconnecting from his station, nodding and humming in all the right places as Anthony began yet another one of his monologues. If nothing else, Andy could at least be satisfied with the fact that he had finished inputting all the data into the National Dex that his team was supposed to have finished that week. A quick look at his xtrans showed that mercy did indeed exist in the world. If he booked it, he’d make it just in time to grab one of the last trains of the night back home. 

Standing up, and taking a minute to let the wave of dizziness roll through him that came from sitting in a chair for six more hours than he had wanted to, Andy looked to Anthony. The man was still talking. “-really, at this point you might as well just transfer to the night shift with how often you’re here- Hey! We could be desk buddies!” Ah. Anthony was attempting to lead him into the realm of eternal torment. Not today. 

“Something to definitely talk to Lindy about!” Andy fake chirped, pitching his voice into something as cheerful as he could manage when it was almost ten at night and he had clocked in at nine that morning. “For now, though, I should probably get going before they nag at me about overtime. You know how they are.”

Andy faked a laugh, nodded along to Anthony’s own joke that was basically a rip off of his own, and slowly backed away with his bag. The second Anthony turned to bring someone else into the conversation, Andy booked it. 

There was a time Andy would have felt bad about that, but as it was, he could only feel tired relief as he made it past a gauntlet of elevators and into the locker rooms. It was his only safe haven as the night shift workers had already clocked in and all the day workers were long gone. Like he should have been. 

“‘Oh, Andy, I have my bachelorette party tonight! You just have to cover for me!’” Andy mocked under his breath, tugging and pulling his lab coat off of him — Why did they even use lab coats? They worked in data entry! — before tossing it into his too-small locker. “Pretty bold to have two bachelorette parties in the same month,” Andy grumbled, pulling at the tie around his neck.

A quick tug of the clip-on tie and the blue fabric soon followed his lab coat, Andy happily grabbing and squirming into his worn, familiar blue and white hoodie that already made him feel more his age of twenty-two instead of thirty-five. The next time he was given a job recommendation, he would sooner change regions. 

Throwing his satchel around his shoulders and pulling on his old black-and-blue hat he had found in a thrift shop advertising some pokemon tournament from years ago, Andy shot a glance towards the clock in the room and booked it back to the elevator. The trains — especially those of Gear Station — waited for no man. 

Thankfully he made good time through the rest of the building, stepping out of the elevator and onto the bottom floor when the reverabting bark of a Houndoom had him feeling like his heart was about to throw up, give out, or both. He knew — he knew — that the Houndoom was tamed and registered and belonged to the security guard behind the desk who was quietly hushing him, but that didn’t mean anything. 

It didn’t mean anything because as always — as always — he heard his mother’s words whispering through his mind, sharp and cold and so, so true.

Pokemon are dangerous, darling. You’ve seen how much harm they can do, haven’t you? Your friend, Mandy? She was out of school for two weeks because her Houndoom burned her… and they can do a lot worse than that. 

“Evening, Andy!” The guard called — Rupert, if Andy could remember right, which he wasn’t sure that he could. “Don’t worry about the gruff old boy here, you know how he is.” 

“Right.” Andy snapped out robotically, trying to tamp down on his shakes as the Houndoom looked at him and remember, darling, Pokemon are dangerous. You can never trust a creature that could hurt you so easily. “Have a good night.” 

Getting out into the main roads, Andy closed his eyes and took a sharp breath. The Pokemon in Nimbasa were never wild. They all belonged to trainers that could recall them and hide them away in pokeballs. Andy wasn’t in danger in a city this big. He wasn’t.

But what if a Pokemon disobeys its trainer? They warn young trainers all the time, after all, that’s why the Gym Challenge is so important. You can never trust a Pokemon, darling, not even a trained one. You should only fear them-

“Not the time,” Andy muttered forcefully, pushing the old thoughts and memories out of his head as he sped walked towards Gear Station. Every cry and scuttle of a pokemon that he heard had his heart rate ramping right back up, already on edge from something like a Houndoom barking at him. “Not. The time.”

He was getting better, as Lenora liked to point out. Andy didn’t always flinch when pokemon were near him, after all. He sometimes could handle being right beside them and not even feel his heart race! It was just… the bigger pokemon that still set him back. The dangerous pokemon. The battles… 

“Almost home,” Andy cut his thoughts off before almost shoving his glasses off his face with how hard he rubbed at his eyes. It, surprisingly, did nothing to help the headache that was forming. Damn screens. “Almost home and then I can sleep all weekend.”

Getting into Gear Station proper, and with his heart still racing more than he would have liked, Andy did his best to block out anything and everything that had to do with pokemon and battling. Considering he was in Gear Station which was home of the Battle Subway, it was harder than he would have liked. 

Still. He was nothing if not stubborn. He managed to focus on the sounds of the buskers over those of pokemon cries. He managed to keep his gaze on the ground, eyes skipping to the shoes and looking away quickly when seeing paws, claws, or tails. It was when he was passing by one of the battle cars that he resorted to burying himself in his xtrans, muttering under his breath as he flipped open the screen to the keypad and began drafting a message to Lenora. 

The woman may not have been his mother, but she sure acted like it when worrying about him. It was nicer than Andy would admit to most times. Still, a message letting her know that yes, he was on his way home and no, he had not been mugged and left for dead by Team Plasma holdouts was in order. 

Dodging the influx of people — because Gear Station, one of the biggest parts of Nimbasa City, even when it was so close to closing, was never not busy — and doing his best to avoid eye contact with any trainers or pokemon, Andy just made it onto his train before the doors were closing shut behind him.

“Cutting it close,” Andy muttered to himself, lightly rolling his neck and getting a few cracks out before collapsing onto a blessedly empty set of seats. The train car was fuller than it normally was on a Friday night heading towards Nacrene City, but all Andy cared about was that he was sitting down, his tired eyes were finally shut and resting, and the familiar overhead announcements all blurred together overhead. 

And then, of course, the pleasant greetings and reminders faded for, “And remember that the Battle Subway tracks run every day except Sunday and Wednesday! Detailed schedules for the battle cars can be found all across Gear Station or-”

Andy, deciding that when it came to pokemon and battling he did not want to think about it, dug out his headphones. He crammed them in before he even had them turned on, the sounds of the announcements already muffled.

Familiar motions had his blessed, wonderful xtrans playing his usual music set, an alarm ready to go to wake him up for when he would definitely pass out on the train like he usually did, and his emails from the Nacrene City Museum and Lenora pulled up. He was almost certain he managed to get a full two sentences in about the de-extinction program Lenora headed when unconsciousness hit. 

⁂

Andy startled awake by choking on an interrupted snore-turned-grunt as his back hit the seats of the bench he was sitting on, one earbud falling out as he blearily looked up at the ceiling of the subway. His first thought was that it was remarkably clean for being a subway car. His second thought was that the sudden stop of the train must have meant they were at one of the stops along the route — possibly his. 

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” Andy mumbled to himself, grateful his earbud headphones were the ones with a cord that rested around his neck. He did not want to have to go digging for a lost earbud- Ah, announcements. 

“-thank you for riding on the Yellow Line with us today and welcome to Gear Station. Please remember to take all belongings, items, and pokemon with you and have a safe journey to your next destination.” 

“Yellow Line,” Andy muttered, looking around the now empty car with utter bafflement. It wasn’t like the Gear Station trains to get their announcements mixed up and wrong. They must have, though, since Andy had boarded the Orange Line. “Weird.” 

Bringing up his wrist to check the time, Andy blinked at the empty screen of his xtrans, remaining black even as he prodded at the power button and tapped the screen. His xtrans was dead. Huh. 

Standing up, Andy shifted his satchel to rest more comfortably on his shoulder as he peeked out the door and looked at the outside of the train. Instead of a long, orange line that stretched out around the entire train, it was yellow. 

Another look around showed Gear Station, the normal Agents waiting to take tickets or standing at the counter no longer there. Stepping back onto the train, Andy slowly sat down and looked to the scrolling bulletin board above the doors to the next cart. It read their location, Gear Station, and the time, 9:48pm. 

“Huh. Alright.” Okay. Things were lining up and starting to click together. Andy had not boarded the Orange Line, but rather the Yellow. With how he had been avoiding the pokemon and trainers, he must’ve mixed up his trains since they sat right next to each other at the station. 

Another glance down to his xtrans, still dead, revealed why he must have not heard his alarm or any music, now that he thought about it. His xtrans had died due to a low battery. He vaguely remembered making a mental note to charge it before he left work. He hadn’t. Hence, no alarm to wake him up when he had drifted off.

Alright. That meant he was alone at Gear Station, which sat in the second busiest city in Unova, at night. It also meant his xtrans was dead and he had no way to contact anyone and, with the late night, he was most likely stuck there until morning. He had probably already missed the last train to Nacrene City. 

That meant he was stuck. He was stuck. He felt lost. He absolutely felt overwhelmed. There were no buses that went from Nimbasa to Nacrene, especially not this late at night. He didn’t have the money for any sort of cab service or hell, even a hotel room. He doubted his workplace would let him crash there for the night. He didn’t even know anyone in Nimbasa, let alone have anyone to trust to crash at their place for the night and-

He heard the cry of a pokemon from somewhere in the station, something large and loud and almost angry-The last coherent thing Andy was really aware of was his breathing speeding up, those familiar whispers seeping into his head and you really can’t do anything right, can you, dear? If you run off on your own like that, all those pokemon are going to just gobble you right up.

#pokemon #submas #my writing #bound by choice #original #whew i'm a little nervous about this one actually #i haven't really done anything close to original main characters in a fanfiction setting for a WHILE #and people who know me know 'Andy' is just a spruced up self-insert lmao so uh #i hope you guys enjoy it!

[circle--of--confusion]

what hobby should i start if i have way too much time on my hands?

Oh wow uh. Let's see.

Knitting: portability. You can take most small projects like scarves or hats with you to work on. Acrylic yarn is relatively affordable so if you're starting out, you have a lot of options. Knitting was my first hobby and it's stuck because you start with basics (knit and purl) and then build off of that to make different stuff.

Crochet: probably the easiest and it can make some cute stuff. I'm not wild about it but I always gravitate towards crochet when I want to make objects, not garments. Crochet stitches have a very sturdy makeup so they're great for plushies.

Sewing: a lot of important things like mending and sewing on a button are taught. You can also take a lot of time to just learn techniques and practice on the machine. Although a decent one might set you back a couple hundred but you can always shop second hand. The maintenance can get annoying but it's important to do. Fabric price can vary so if you want something cheap, sewing is probably not good to start with.

Cross stitch/embroidery: not exactly portable but probably the one that takes up the smallest amount of space. A lot of thread is super cheap and hoops and fabric are easy to buy in craft stores.

Lastly, painting: I like watercolor because of the effect it has. If you buy any paint and paper: arches or Strathmore are pretty good paper and I'd reccomend 140 lb paper. And Windsor and Newton have pretty affordable paint for a beginner that I feel look nice. I'm not a huge fan of acrylic but a lot of people can make excellent designs with it.

So in terms of cost: knitting/crochet or cross stitch/embroidery would be a good start. It's easy and probably the most affordable

Sewing is good for learning a lot of technical stuff and being hands on with projects and going step by step.

Painting is fun if you want to mix different art mediums together

Hopefully this helps! Lol

#personal #asks #knitting #crochet #sewing #painting

[ohblackdiamond]

how to: ace’s destroyer costume

The easiest route is, of course, to not do it at all and commission a replica maker-- there are several that make high-quality renditions of most every era. The issue is, basically, expense and time (commissioned pieces tend to take months on average). There’s also the option of buying a KISS Halloween-type costume and these honestly tend to be pretty respectable. 

But with some background in sewing and a lot of patience, Ace’s Destroyer costume definitely isn’t an impossible DIY project at all.

First off, you’ll need to reference like crazy. I started out looking at the costume breakdown here, but I also ended up looking up individual photos (particularly those that ended up on posters) and concerts (Ace’s solo here in particular) for a better sense of how the costume was built and the parts needed. 

Basically, Ace’s Destroyer costume, broken down, is two very large triangles (the chestpiece, which actually has a seam in the front), and two trapezoids (the gauntlets). For my initial patterns, I cut out some leftover wrapping paper (a good, easy way to cheap out as it’ll give you the length you need).

Ace’s costume, like basically all the non-Elder costumes, also has a regular black bodysuit as its base. Although I’ve made bodysuits before, I opted to save time by purchasing a plain black bodysuit instead of making it from scratch. I had initially planned to mod the bodysuit to my measurements as it was a little big, but, well, time.

The big things that stand out about Ace’s costume, as usual, are the vest (chestpiece?) and the various silver-piping accents. Because I knew they would be the most boring parts, while simultaneously not requiring a whole lot of measuring/exactness, I started with the silver accents. The only measurement you really need for the belt is your waist circumference (go ahead and increase it a couple inches because this belt goes a bit above and below your natural waist-- my belt ended up being about 2″ wide). The only measurements you need for the silver portions of the cuffs are, of course, your wrist and forearm circumferences.

For the belt and cuffs (and, eventually, the “wings” on the chestpiece), I used the techniques I’d learned years ago when making Sailor Neptune cosplays (the “wing” areas of the sailor suit and the piped accents on the gloves)-- wrapping fabric around nylon roping, stitching it on, and then attaching each fabric-wrapped rope to the other. Personally, I think you could possibly have just broken out the E6000 and glued the ropes instead of stitching them, but then you run a non-negligible risk of there being raised areas where the glue was, or it coming apart. 

I drafted up a pattern for the vest and cut it out of some black stretch velvet I already had handy. There is a sheen on the vest of Ace’s Destroyer costume (not so much on his Psycho Circus reiteration) that is somewhat reminiscent of velvet, although I’m not sure that was what was actually used. I had some extra black stretch velvet lying around, so I initially used that, but if you’ve worked with velvet before, particularly thin velvet, you’ll know it has a tendency to slip against itself and be generally hard to work with. I added interfacing to resolve this problem, but my interfacing, unfortunately, was a bit too thick and didn’t really fix the issue. Eventually, I gave up and bought some non-stretch velvet that was less slippery and easier to handle. 

Now to add the rhinestones. There are several different variations on the rhinestone pattern (Ace, like everyone else in KISS, went through several different costumes/pieces of costumes each tour), but in the end I went with the more classic one, with the single comet on one side and what might be a little galaxy on the other. The back had the other comet and Saturn (or maybe Jendell), per Ace’s Christmas 1977 shoot, because you can’t not. 

I initially sewed on the rhinestones, but after a few test runs on scrap fabric, I realized that E6000 held up just as readily as hand-sewing, so I glued on the remaining rhinestones (make sure you allow at least one night of it being undisturbed for a secure hold). Please use E6000 with caution and in a well-ventilated area; I would recommend the small bottles that are meant for jewelry/notions, since the rhinestones are very small and those bottles have several precision tips.

Attachments/putting it all together: In mine, the vest attaches at the front and back to the belt via large snap-on fasteners, and the “wings” are sewn to the vest. The belt itself also attaches via snap-ons. For the gauntlets, I would recommend sew-on velcro (I initially used snap-ons for this as well, and it’s just not seamless enough).

Thoughts/comments:

*Probably the most important thing for me to keep in mind as I was working on this was proportions. Ace is 6′1,” and I’m 5′1” (and a woman). I had to scale things down very extensively in all areas (the width of the piping accents and wings, etc.) and even change where the v-neck of the vest landed in order to be more flattering-- I couldn’t go for complete accuracy, and in the end, I feel like I actually went smaller on most areas than I needed to.

*Were I to do this costume again, for the belt/"wings,” I might try wider nylon roping, or, possibly, use either upholstery foam or fabric batting instead of roping. The rope had a bit of a tendency to curve (I had a tendency to rush, too) that’s not conducive to the straight lines of the costume-- I think if i had segmented the rope more, I wouldn’t have had that problem. I think creating a pattern for the wings prior would’ve been pretty helpful and was a major misstep!

*I wouldn’t wish those boots on my mortal enemy. While I did buy the fabric for them, time really got the better of me. There are two primary ways of “making” boots-- either you glue the fabric to an existing pair of boots (that has the overall shape of the boot you’re making), or you sew a slipcover for the boots out of the fabric, and put that around the, well, actual boots. My personal recommendation would be the slipcover route for Ace’s boots in particular, due mostly to the size of his boots. When I was planning this, I deliberately bought boots that did not have the extended platform, mostly for ease of wear.

*Material cost: ~$25 (black bodysuit) ~$30 (2 yards non-stretch velvet) ~$35 (3 yards ribbed silver 4-way-stretch spandex fabric, for the boots) ~$20 (3 yards 4-way-stretch silver vinyl) ~$4 (silver thread) ~$8 (rhinestones) ~$30 (boots) ~$35 (nylon roping) ~$5 (E6000) ---  ~$192 (not inclusive of shipping); I would put the actual cost at a bit over $225

*Time cost: I worked on this off and on (mostly off!) for roughly seven months. It absolutely can be done in a shorter timespan than that, but I work full-time and had a lot of things going on in my personal life. I’d guesstimate about 70 hours on the actual construction (including drafting/mockups/various false starts). Things like the silver accents were done by hand in order to try to get as close to the roping as possible, which ate up a lot of time.

*Worth it? I get a lot of satisfaction out of cosplays/costumes I’ve done myself (and hadn’t done one since several years pre-covid), so personally, I’d say yeah, it was worth it to me. Your mileage may vary. No matter how accurate your costume, Ace will not take you with him when he heads back to Jendell, so keep that in mind, too!

#kiss the band #ace frehley #kiss band cosplay #kiss band

[forget-about-me2]

Trans Omo- STP Edition - Part 1

Okay, so I said that I could write a whole arse list about trans omo focused on STPs and I realised that it might be a bit too long so I'll split it up into multiple posts. This first post isn't really a list but more an introduction to STPs. (Also my asks are open if you want me to elaborate on anything, there's a lot to tell so I might forget something.)

First of all, what is an STP? The proper term is a Stand To Pee device. People also refer to it as an STP device, but most commonly it's just called an STP. STPs can be used by AFAB people to enable them to stand to pee. The way this works is that STPs are basically a funnel that you press to your anatomy peeing into the cup and then it's guided in front of you allowing you to clear your pants.

Situations where this can be useful, include festivals, hiking and other places where bathroom access is a bit difficult when you don't have the right anatomy. Aka having to hold it while a penis haver can just unzip.

This goes double for trans people, men's restrooms often have fewer stalls than female restrooms and then have urinals to make up for it. And after having been 3 years on T and full-time passing there's still nothing worse than having to wait in a relatively small restroom where the sinks are not quite within arm's reach of the urinals while other guys are using the urinals. Especially when you're about 99% sure the guy in the stall is taking a shit so you can sometimes wait a long time.

There are many kinds of STPs, in all price ranges. I think most non-trans people would, if they know STPs exist in the first place, think of those plastic funnel-type things, like the Shewee.

But there are many STPs that are penis shaped and can definitely be called prosthetics. STPs can be expensive as fuck, I've seen them around 500, 600. Maybe even higher I can't remember. Those are really realistic and people wouldn't think twice when getting a glance.

My first STP was a cheap plastic one shaped as a penis and it set me back about 20 euros.

My most expensive one was about 200.

But the point of all this is that STPs come in all different kinds and shapes. Also different designs. Each company designs the funnel in their own way. What works for one person might not work for someone else.

Each STP requires practice, that's always true. But a situation where even after having it for ages you're still not quite able to manage to make it work without at least some leakage. And that can be disheartening as fuck. Especially when it was an expensive one you thought about buying for a long time.

This actually sorta happened with my most expensive one. I can sorta use it, but there's almost always some form of leakage and I've had really dysphoria triggering incidents with it as well but more on that later. I got a new one now and that one works a lot better.

I think that's it for now. Next up I'll be talking about the first time learning to STP and building up the skill.

#trans omo #omorashi #omo prompt #stand to pee #ftm ed

[yoshiyakiryu-archive]

What do you recommend as a first project for learning to use a sewing machine and do you have any tips about sewing with a machine in general? Any youtube videos you’d recommend for it, maybe?

Unfortunately I do not watch YouTube! I learned from books and watching my mom. Matt's suggestion is dollightful, she's got some beginner tutorials linked in the description of this video for the very basics and some specifically for doll clothes, and sells mh doll patterns on etsy

First sewing project for learning your machine, and for learning machines for the first time in general? A lot of people say a pincushion, which you're going to want at some point if you didn't buy one, but here's what I learned first and what I've always had other people learn first:

Pillowcase. Get thrift store sheets cheap, ones that do not stretch (most sheets don't, avoid nylon and spandex until you want to up the difficulty level), and make yourself two pillow cases. They're going to suck, but they'll teach you how the machine works, to regulate the speed, how to sew a straight line, and how to pivot your project without taking it off the machine. If new machines don't anchor your thread for you (remember the newest sewing machine I've touched is from 1960) as I have heard they might? You're going to learn that too.

If you don't have the fabric for this and want to just jump in, make doll pillows, stuff them with the scrap you're going to end up with if you have no stuffing, and make those pillows pillowcases. This will teach you to work small, and will need more precision, which'll be more to learn in one go, but you'll be skipping a step in going to doll clothes. Working at this size will also help you gauge how big things end up being once they're sewn at that size (smaller than you'll likely expect)

If your machine doesn't auto thread itself (again I am not sure what modern machines DO), it's good to spend some time threading it a couple times before trying to use it. It's going to be tempting to pull your fabric through, don't do that, just guide and feed or you'll snap your needle. Always give yourself more thread than you think you need. Your stitches should look the same on the topside of your fabric as on the bottom side, and if either side looks tighter, you may have to adjust your tension to suit the fabric you're using, and the problem is going to be on the opposite side of where it's visible. 9/10 times it's your top tension and for this reason your bottom tension is hard to get to because you may never ever need to touch it. Keep your machine oiled and learn what it sounds like because they'll often tell you when they don't like something by complaining.

If all else fails speak to your machine in a firm tone to let it know you're in charge

#asks #🥰 #hi mir welcome to special interest hell enjoy your stay