#coiling basics

[baylornonwovenstructures]

Coiling Basics

Coiling is a basketry technique that involves wrapping and stitching lengths of material around a central core material to create variety of complex forms starting from a circle or oval base. 

Refer to the coiling zine about the coiling process as you are exploring this process. This handout was created from selections from the book “Contemporary Basketry” by Sharon Robinson. 

Images above, from top:

our first day of coiling

our coiling zine

The paper core typically used to make coiled baskets. This is just one of many different materials that you can use to make a coiled basket. What else could you use to coil a basket? How could a meaningful choice of material enhance the concept of your work?

a few basic diagrams of the coiling process, showing how to get started and the basic figure 8 stitch (Figure Q-Figure S).

Heres a youtube video that shows the coiling process with yarn. We will be using raffia in class, but yarn or many other contemporary materials could also work to wrap and sew around your core material.

Here is another link that demonstrates the coiling process with step by step pictures. If you find a particular video or webpage helpful to learning this process, why not collect the resource for yourself by posting to your own blog? That way if you want to revisit the process in the future, you can pick up where you left off quickly and easily, a great use of the blog structure for your future benefit.

[bedrock-to-buildheight]

Someone get him a proper degaussing coil before Tenna passes out

[red-garden]

Imo Shen Yuan was super down with queer people in his first life because he was just a magnet for trans people. His first girlfriend actually came out right after they broke up and now they’re bros. He keeps thinking of himself as a loser boy despite being carnally desired by 70% of the school’s population, and it attracts other social outcast losers to his side.

[bonobokinnie]

making clay figures of various empire characters because I Must have little dolls of them

[ysaefinn]

Queen (gn) Suguru hates when you straighten your naturally beautiful curls for a "special occasion" 💔

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Neelix

By Ames

At some point, the Star Trek fan base decided the worst main character of the franchise is Neelix – he’s obnoxious, his jokes don’t land, he’s dating a two-year-old, he looks like that. But if you actually, I dunno, watch the show, your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By found that Neelix might be one of the most complex, consistent, and realistic characters on the show. Even Caitlin, who started our Voyager watchthrough disliking him, ended it bathed in the Talaxian love.

So get off the hate train and give the guy the open mind he deserves. He’s only trying to help the friends he met in the Delta Quadrant while battling some of the harshest mental demons the show has given to a character. Not to mention that Ethan Phillips gets to show his dramatic range show by show, comic relief one day, and emotionally destroyed the next. Check out both sides of the Neelix character below – the good and the bad – listen to our debate on this week’s podcast episode (stroll over to 51:16), and make your own decision! We’ll see you in the mess hall!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Now I am become death, destroyer of Talaxians The first season of Voyager is already digging deep into Neelix’s tragic backstory when “Jetrel” reveals that his whole family was taken out by the titular character’s metreon cascade. The whole episode is Neelix facing the man who killed so many Talaxians, and also facing his own deep guilt. When he forgives the dying Jetrel, he’s really forgiving himself and finally moving on.

There’s nothing like a family reunion We’ll have more to say about “Parturition” in our next section, but we start to see Neelix the caregiver in his interactions with the newly hatched dino puppet. Not only do we see an end to the entirely stupid love triangle between Neelix, Kes, and Tom, but we glimpse how much Neelix puts other people before himself when he pushes to save the baby monster thing.

I’m going to have plenty of material for tomorrow’s Briefing With Neelix Neelix’s nosiness, while frequently one of his more annoying traits, ends up paying off in “Investigations” when he uncovers the mole who’s been making contact with Seska and those wily Kazons. Not only does Neelix put himself at risk by going undercover, but he also ends up murdering that saboteur Jonas by throwing him into a plasma fire like a badass!

The 299th Rule of Acquisition: Whenever you exploit someone, it never hurts to thank them Ethan Phillips sure knows how to play a Ferengi, having portrayed Farek in “Ménage à Troi.” But Neelix himself also plays a damn good Ferengi, totally pulling off the Grand Proxy / Holy Pilgrim in “False Profits.” He initially fools Arridor and Kol with his quick thinking and improv, and when the game is rumbled, succeeds in protecting the Takarians from their Ferengi ploy.

What’s this week’s legend, Olmec? While overall we found “Sacred Ground” to be an unfocused and confounding mess, Neelix is still strong in it nonetheless! He does everything in his power to support the effort to get Kes out of her supernatural coma. Most importantly, he figures out the loophole via an old anecdote about an ancient king requesting an audience with the spirits, which Janeway pounces on.

I’m tired of being the target of all your hostility Sure, most of the time, you can view Neelix’s interactions with Tuvok as insufferable and tone deaf (much like I frequently find Archer’s constant needling of T’Pol in Enterprise), but it comes from a place of love and respect. It takes Tuvok several seasons to reciprocate this and it all starts in “Rise” when Neelix finally stands up for himself to the tactless Vulcan.

Intergalactic House of Pancakes As the Voyager’s morale officer, Neelix commonly goes out of his way to support his fellow crew members. It’s something a ship’s counselor should be doing, but we don’t have one of those. So Neelix takes it upon himself to offer comfort food (like blood pie in “Day of Honor” and banana pancakes in “Extreme Risk”), a shoulder to cry on, or his body in the form of a punching bag.

Flotter and the Crashed Shuttlepod We get more of caregiver Neelix in his relationship with Naomi Wildman throughout the show. As the girl’s godfather, he’s the only one who can get her to bed at night, with stories of the Great Forest in “Mortal Coil.” But he truly shines in “Once Upon a Time” when his impulse is to protect her from the possibility her mother could die, but it ends with both he and Naomi growing when he learns that being honest with her will help them better survive trauma together.

When is a Vulcan no longer a Vulcan? We loved the vulnerable, un-Vulcan Tuvok in “Riddles” and we love Neelix in this episode even more. Once again, he shows what a great caregiver he is by selflessly caring for others. It’s even more personal because the Tuvok-Neelix relationship has built over the show, so Neelix’s support of his friend really pulls at your heartstrings, especially with the heart-wrenching ending.

See anyone you know? Neelix gets two different farewell scenes with Kes in Voyager. The first is a touching goodbye in “The Gift” when they know Kes is transcending to a new type of Ocampan. The second might be the only good moment from the deeply problematic “Fury” in which a tormented Kes is rampaging around the ship but Neelix treats her with the affection and empathy he always has.

She’s a fine specimen of Klingon womanhood I ran out of room in the EMH post to include how uncomfortable I felt when he insists Harry Kim bang Officer Ch’Rega in “Prophecy” even though it’s clear Kim doesn’t consent. But you know who’s down to clown with a Klingon mistress? Neelix! He successfully gets the tall drink of bloodwine off of Harry’s ass and onto his own. Everyone wins! Qapla’!

Coming full circle Neelix’s character gets the perfect ending in “Homestead.” See above how we started the series with Neelix feeling guilty that he wasn’t there during the Talaxian-Haakonian war and accepting that he’ll never go home again. And here we see him off after he’s saved a lost Talaxian colony and gets to rejoin his people. It’s the most complete character arc of the show.

—

Worst moments

Always let your scavenger be your guide This isn’t all to say Neelix is a perfect angel. We first meet him when he’s scavenging around in “Caretaker,” and the very first thing he does is trick the Voyager into helping him free Kes from the Kazons who have captured her. Which is admirable, mind you, but he goes about it through deception and cunning. Not the best impression to make for the first time we encounter him.

Your ceiling is hideous This is one of those moments that isn’t entirely Neelix’s fault, but is definitely bad for him. What’s a better way to respond to having your lungs stolen from you as his were in “Phage”? I’m not sure, but it’s probably not constantly whining, wallowing in self pity, and accusing Kes of having an affair with Tom. Not a good look, though I certainly can’t say I’d handle it much better.

You don’t know where I was the night Rinax was destroyed As we said above, Neelix’s backstory that comes out in “Jetrel” really deepens his character. It’s also where we learn that he dodged the draft during the Talaxian-Haakonian war. I can’t judge him for hiding from a war he doesn’t believe in, but I sure can judge him for lying for many years that he was actually in the defense forces because he was ashamed for being a coward.

Get the cheese to sickbay This one’s just silly. What a strange development that it turns out the reason the ship is malfunctioning all over the place in “Learning Curve” is because the brill cheese Neelix whipped up to attempt to make macaroni and cheese. The schplict that Neelix brings on board infects the bio-neural circuitry of the ship, and it feels like a joke more than anything else.

Order the diapers. We’re about to become parents. Let’s put aside the “Kes is only two years old!” argument that we’ve had on the podcast myriad times, and instead have the “Neelix is a possessive and selfish partner” argument that’s actually warranted. In “Elogium,” when Kes is going through a traumatic life stage that forces her to decide if she’s ready to have children, Neelix somehow makes it all about him, which is gross.

How do you know where everyone’s quarters are? Speaking of Neelix being a bad boyfriend, he continues to be a controlling, jealous piece of shit in “Twisted.” Not only does he whine when Tom gives Kes a birthday present, but he also accuses her of being the town pump because her eidetic memory makes her remember where everyone’s quarters are. And then he vanishes randomly and we never get an apology!

Food fight! Most of these bad Neelix moments are clumped in the first couple of seasons, and that’s because it’s here at “Parturition” that the writers realized they needed to stop leaning on the jealous boyfriend trope and fix the Neelix-Paris relationship. It really was that bad. They were such children, starting a food fight over Kes and acting like animals during mating season.

No bone about it Remember how we gave Chakotay credit for not going out of his way not to desecrate a gravesite in “Emanations”? Apparently Neelix has no such qualms. He’s really gung ho to make some tools out of some humanoid bones he and Hogan find in “Basics.” And sadly for us, it ends up with Hogan getting killed by whatever monster or other left those bones there!

None of us knows what’s coming This episode would have made way more sense if it happened a season earlier. By “Fair Trade,” midway through season three, Neelix should know better that he doesn’t have to prove himself around his found family on the Voyager. But instead, he throws Tom and Chakotay under the bus and threatens his own life so he can get a map and continue to be the quadrant expert.

You sound as though you’re saying goodbye It’s not often that you’ll find one of our moments be a scene that didn’t happen. When Neelix resorts to a certainly suicidal plan to trick the black market dealers in “Fair Trade,” he thinks he’s going to die, but he never has a scene with Kes. I can’t forgive the writers for cutting a scene of him saying goodbye to Kes, who has ONE inconsequential line in the whole episode.

I want to hear about the Great Forest again If we can give Torres shit for how poorly she deals with trauma in “Extreme Risk,” then we can also share the disapproval for Neelix with how abysmally he deals with his mortality in “Mortal Coil,” as he nearly spaces himself. This is another reason why it’s clear the Voyager needs a counselor because even if the crew knew how to ask for help (they don’t), there’s no one to ask.

All we need now is a mark Being such a people person, Neelix also gets himself into trouble by being way too trusting. He easily falls for Dala’s nun story in “Live Fast and Prosper” like an absolute rube. And then when he and Tom are trying to prove they’re not rubes, Neelix picks the EMH to play a shell game against, who is absolutely the wrong mark. What a couple of rubes.

—

We’ve already had two helpings of Leola root and it’s time for dessert. Join us for more character spotlights as we continue through the Voyager manifest next week, and also keep following as we near the end of our Enterprise watch over on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also join us in the mess hall over on Facebook and Twitter, and give Neelix the credit he deserves!

[weedle-testaburger]

one big selfish regret I have is that I didn't go to america on holiday before things went to shit

[idalenn]

Day 2 - Horizon

Ao3 Link

Continuation of Day 1's prompt and Alphinaud and Lillian's meeting with Lolorito. Hearing of their experience with the Syndicate, another member offers assistance to the Crystal Braves (A Realm Reborn)

Full text below the cut:

“As a show of good faith, I shall be transparent: My self-aggrandizing rival is settling down for a feast that will surpass all before, and I intend to steal every morsel he has yet to lay his sordid hands on. All will be mine: meat, wine, bread, cheese, salt, and fruit. He has prepared the silverware and I will allow him that, if only to savor his cries upon raising the cloche to find my excrement steaming on that plate, and every plate besides.” The mustachioed Lalafell sunken into the cushions cackles like a fiend, hands clapping as he cheers for fantasies long on the horizon, his mirth mirrored by the cadre of servants circling the terrace.

Laughing loudest are the two Roegadyn rippling in muscle on his left and right, grey skin glistening in the sun, their palm leaf fans children’s toys in gargantuan hands. Clad in nothing but violet loincloths sheerer than summer clouds, every breeze is a test of will; the mind’s need to track movement against the social faux pas of being caught staring.

Below them, sunken into the center of the tiered seating pit, a trio of Au’ra giggle and splash about; one man and two women clad only in airs. Sirens looking to draw in the unwary. One climbs onto a slab of rock baked warm under the sun before turning over to expose her chest for Monetarist and guests, tail bone-yellow as teeth lazily drifting its tip across one velvet thigh, black as the night.

As his eyes begin to drift downward, Lillian jabs Alphinaud’s shin with the toe of her boot and draws a sharp gasp from the boy.

“I averted my gaze that time,” he angrily whispered.

“You’re doing better than me.”

A shadow falls across Lillian’s face, the entertainment above wordlessly calling out to be noticed, all contorting pale limbs and an arched back with feline ears twitching, a strip of silk obscuring nothing as they twist across a causeway of ropes. At a snap of the Lalafell’s fingers, the Miqo’te snatches a soft white pearl from a bowl hanging near. With the rope in hand, she uncurls her body like a snake lowering a curious head, legs outstretched and spread, and places the pearl atop the mound between, balancing it perfectly until level with his mouth for him to slurp the prize up.

He fixes his guests with a wry grin and winks at Lillian as she crosses her legs, red-faced. “Half-boiled hummingbird’s eggs. Care for a taste?” Something glistens on his gentleman’s mustache styled after Lolorito’s own.

A harsh laugh echoes. “I’d reckon the boy fancies more than a single taste of your lavish company, my lord.”

“Pleased am I to know that my establishment appeals to a potential partner. Pray let me know if you desire of me to whet your appetite or wet your lips while we discuss my terms.” He waved the Miqo’te contortionist back into her ropes. “I will be more than delighted to oblige. Ilberd has informed me much and more about you, my dear Warrior of Light. Such a splendid title. Well earned, I’m told. Shame I’d not possessed his crucial eye during your first arrival to Ul’dah all that time ago, else we might have sealed our alliance earlier. Alas, the coin turns.”

Alphinaud straightened his back, keeping his eyes forward along the narrow road free of distracting bodies. “Lord Adeledji…”

“Teledji Adeledji. To the name I was born, and the name you will speak.” He held an open hand aloft. A flurry of activity overtook the servants.

 “… Lord Teledji Adeledji.”

A glass brimming with layers of blue and red liquid topped with citrus slices appeared in the Lalafell’s hand with a blur of movement, bowl wider than his palm. He sipped at the contents, a crude appreciative noise rolling up his throat while he swallowed as the servants looked on. A visible weight lifted from their figures after he smacked his lips. “Continue,” he said.

“Ample allowance we’ve given to review your letter, in part because of your generous offer of supplying the Crystal Braves with weapons, manpower, and funding, but also in part,” he paused, looking to Lillian for a supportive nod, “Not that we doubt your magnanimity, but our experience with Lolorrito has taught us – has taught me – that no member of the Syndicate would willingly choose to operate on a loss.” Reaching into his pocked he pulled forth the letter received by the Crystal Braves, the seal placed by Teledji’s own hand broken. “No demands of us are written.”

“You believe I possess ulterior motive?”

The boy swallowed. “I do. A man of business, and a capable leader, nonetheless, always seeks profit in any form.”

Silence stretched long and thoughtful between them punctuated so often by the flapping of fabric and the splash of water. Teledji sipped at his drink, eyes closed, though none could discern if he were thinking, listening, or waiting out Alphinaud’s sanity. His accusation had been a bold one, and anticipation of the answer multiplied its weight and sodden the mass in a fearful poison. Apprehension had slowed even the servants' movements.

“Did I not tell you, Teledji?” Ilberd’s features twisted into a wolfish smirk. “Lolorito’s mistake was your gain.”

“Indeed, it was. Young Alphinaud can see right through us now.”

Teledji opened one eye to regard the boy. “I have misled you. I can provide the Crystal Braves funding and men, but no weapons. Close your mouth before the flies intrude. Time comes now for a lesson from me – I intend to teach you the art of trade and favors. By the end of our arrangement, you shall have all the weapons you desire in addition to my previous offerings, and I the means to carry out my campaign against Lolorito.”

“If I acquiesce to your new terms.”

“I assure you they’re supremely fair. And Ilberd will be assisting, as will your Warrior of Light.” He drained the rest of his glass, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Tell me – are you familiar with Castrum Occidens?”

[tiktaaliker]

the magician ability / skill / logic

reversed deception / failure / misuse of power

[jackals-ships]

also i realized bc ldb jackal is by themself y'all don't get a sense of scale so

BIG boy

[tvntheatre]

I redesigned them yesterday. :³

Refer to tags if you want to watch me rant. Feel free to ask about them or literally any other OC I've. :³

[milk-ducts]

I love ur art sm have an amazing day today dear💋💋

SORRY FOR RESPONDING LATE 2 THIS BUT omg,,,, ANON !!! u have officially made my entire week with this message !! like,,, u don't understand ,, this just made my heart feel so warm,, thank u angel this compliment means everything to me <3 i hope the rest of ur day is as bright and wonderful as u made mine <333

[vaguely-concerned]

comic set in the same AU as this piece of art! and yes, in this 'verse Blue has been sleeping hugging Zero's bloodsoaked coat for like a year and a half. you know like a normal person might

because I'm a huge sap it does end well though. death conquered, emotional support little bitch boy returned, everything's coming up agent zero <3

+ bonus doodle-y Zero looking cool in the pale moonlight

[supersumc]

People in the parahumans fandom making all these complex character analysis essays on this site, and here I am wanting to see the Coil arc recreated in 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel and wondering how good he'd be at it considering he basically has it as his power.

[the-voice-of-night-vale]

u know what i've been thinking about. how the economy expects you to be, right now, at a job you've been at and consistently getting raises in for like, ten years. it's almost like the implication is "well yeah, you'll be able to live off this job in three, five, ten years if you stick with it and grow in the company" which is all fine and dandy, but i kind of need to live right now

[baalzebufo]

finished my first kurnoth hunter today! this guy was kind of a test run for a lot of things but he came out pretty great. my first time trying to do highlights as well as basing. i may have glued some of my flock to my fingers by mistake, lmao

but yeah the base is pretty much just a combo of cheap grass flock, some teeny pebbles, and a couple army painter grass tufts, all over some stirland mud. nothin fancy, but it really helps bring the mini to life :)