#This piece took me waaaay to long

[substituted-shinigami]

6th Division Detention Unit Gated off Living Room

The intensity of the scene is greatly diffused by the embarrassingly pink baby gate.

So I was done with the Bleach Dog Au. Honest! I did a quick piece, but then I was done! But then I read this post from polynya about how Rukia was bearing her fangs at Renji in order to try to get him to not worry about her, and I was like, "bearing fangs…HEY, THAT'S SOMETHING DOGS DO!" (Yes, I'm sorry, I know there is way more to the article than that, but I have a one-track mind 😅). 

Anyway, so then, right, I was going to do this super sad piece. Where the Rukia-dog was going to be growling at the Renji-dog from prison, or worse not even looking at him. However, I thought about it, and I was like, "What even is a dog prison??? Is it the pound??? That's really sad, I don't know if I want to do that. What about a crate? That's not so bad." So then I started googling dog crates and other enclosures and quickly learned that some people just use baby gates. And when I saw how cute some of them were I laughed so hard that I knew I had to do it. So here we are.

Did you know that they make bathrobes for dogs? Apparently, they do. And I know that Byakuya didn't appear on the scene when Renji was in this outfit (otherwise he would have fought him A LOT faster) but I couldn't just NOT share this very important information with the world.

[olderthannetfic]

I went scrolling through anti ao3 tags and blogs because I was bored and not doing the shit I need to do and you know for a group of people who every year twice a year throw such hissy fits you’d think they’d at least have a point, but all their arguments make no sense(except their one main one that they almost never use?--why??) Like ok, there is one argument for why people shouldn’t give money to ao3, and that is the argument that ao3 is bad website because it has bad policies and refuses to moderate. I disagree, but ultimately if someone thinks that ao3 should update the TOS and moderate what fan fiction they allow, it makes sense that that person would be against the site making money because… well they are against the sites founding principles, I’m not shocked they don’t want it to succeed.

But the rest of the arguments!? Man they make no sense at all

“They are scamming you there is no way they need that much money”, ”its immoral to give money to ao3 because they already have so much!”, “Even if ao3 was perfect, its ridicuslous to give 100K to a fan fiction site!” — like… maybe I’m the asshole here, but ao3 made about 250,000 this spring, so they make about 500,000 a year… that’s just not that much money! That could what, pay for 10-30 employees at best! And that’s not counting the actual cost of all the shit they currently spend their money on! I get that ao3 is run by unpaid volunteers so antis think that 500K is a lot, but that’s not true! That’s not a lot of money at all! It might be a lot of money for an individual but for a company that’s practically pennies. Wikipedia, which granted is a lot bigger than ao3, with 57,218,269 pages to ao3s 6 million works, makes 155 million to ao3 500,000. According to antis ao3 has over a million in reserve and well according to wikipedia they have net assets of US$240 million. One is clearly more than the other!

I saw someone say that servers should be 1K, which is so stupid and out of touch with eveything I almost died laughing. I had a project using firebase this semester, I created 2 projects within firebase one for my school project and one to dick around and figure out. I accidentally set my test database to a “pay as you go” version instead of a free version. And almost had to pay a thousand dollars for the month! I wasn’t even using that database it was just sitting there but I check my google billing to make sure I wasn’t paying anything and it turns out I was! 150 dollars actually so that sucks! (My fault though)

Also also I keep seeing that its ridiculous and evil to pay the much for a site that “doesn’t improve” but the “doesn’t improve” is referring to A) no changes in TOS, which I don’t want to happen any way so good. B) the fact that it’s still in beta, which I don’t give a fuck about and I don’t understand why I should care. I think antis are dont like that the layout hasn’t changed but I don’t want to the layout to change. Also things come out of beta because they are a commercial product to be sold(this is very simplified), which is why some things come out of beta to waaaay to early and are glitchy as all hell! Ao3 isn’t being sold to me its slowly being built and archiving things that would probably be lost, and it will probably technically be in beta forever, but it doesn't effect me and I don't care. Would it be better if it came out of beta only to continously updated like a lot other shit does. I don't really play video games but I know ppl that do so I know at least once a game came out that didn't really work and people needed to later update shit for it to function and I'd argue thats worse than a functional website just being in beta forever. C) The claim that it hasn’t changed at all, which is just not true! They added the exclude section and eventually added the blocking shit. The blocking took too long to come out, so I guess in this sea of dumb criticism theres at least 1 piece of critism that makes sense. And finally again I don’t want it to change! Every other week we are all bitching that Tumblr or YouTube or Instagram or any other app are needlessly changing the layout or adding shit we don’t want in order to keep up with latest trends, make it more marketable or try and attracted new users. Ao3 is great because its never going to change. Ao3 and Craigslist will always kinda look like ass and I’m ok with that. If it aint broke ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I could keep going but there is no point. I just think they are all so stupid.

--

The thing about beta is the funniest because AO3, like oldschool shit from the 90s, has actual criteria for coming out of beta.

It's not "we've been going for 10 years" or "we want to sell the product": it's "we've checked off all the things on this checklist".

And they still haven't done them all, so it's still in beta.

[shopwitchvamp]

not trying to be a hater, but genuinely curious, long ago i saw some people saying your skirts were of a lower quality and were prone to being torn and ripped because of this lower quality, was that a fluke in certain pieces or did you begin selling clothes at a lower quality with a lower price point until you could afford to ship out clothes made of better materials?

Hmmm, a couple questions to narrow down what you heard that about:

1) how long is long ago? If you mean reeeeally long ago (before about.. 2017?) Then they were totally different skirts from a totally different manufacturer.

2) who were the people saying that? (because sometimes people put some rude stuff in comments on posts when they've never even seen my skirts in person, but also if it was specifically sometime in summer last year I might have been the one you saw complaining about quality issues)

3) was it definitely about my skirts or was it about similar ones somewhere else? I get confused with other people a lot, so just to check.

Regardless, I've never heard of anything ripping or tearing, but I have had issues with pilling. The first thing to come to mind is that last year I did have a bad batch of skirts where the issue went further back than the manu that does the printing for my skirts, to the manu they get blank fabric from.

Summer 2022 there was a much, much higher percentage of skirts than usual with some kind of fabric flaw where the fabric was pilling very quickly, sometimes after only being worn once. This was while I was still with FHF, so some of their skirts were affected too, but just by chance more of my designs had issues than theirs. Spider Lily Maxis in particular got the worst of it. Maya Kern (who was also using the same manu at the time) had similar issues with some skirts' fabric around that time too.

This is when I started switching over to "Milk Silk" fabric after getting some samples from my manu of different fabric options and running them through a bunch of testing (high heat washing and drying, friction tests, etc). The "Milk Silk" option not only felt softer/smoother, but it also turned out to be much more durable than the "Matte" fabric I used to use. So that's what's available on the shop now.

Anyone that got a dud skirt was sent a replacement made with the new fabric as soon as I had them on hand.

Also the cost to me from my manu hasn't changed (beyond shipping fluctuations), so none of this has anything to do with cost cutting before or after getting that bad batch.

If this is about skirts waaaay further back in the 2014-2016 range though, we were using ArtsCow which still wasn't about cost vs quality but about accessibility and being able to order as little as one thing at a time. Finding a manufacturer to work with directly instead of going through a company like ArtsCow took time, and the very very early skirts were an experiment more than anything. I didn't think I'd end up in fashion, haha. Mainly I was selling handmade crocheted plushies back then and just wanted to try out making skirts because my friends were also doing it and it was a fun and cool new thing to offer at cons.

[chernobog13]

I had me one of these when I was a wee lad. It was a present from my aunt who lived across the street at the time and who, I suspect, bought it so my sister and I wouldn't come over to her house all the time asking for cookies and other treats.

The sub was made of "fibreboard" pieces (really just heavy-duty cardboard) that interlocked together. You accessed the sub through the conning tower, which opened like a hatch. The torpedoes and missiles were hollow plastic (soft vinyl?) and were "fired" by air pressure from squeezing little bellows. I don't remember the "electronically lit instrument panel," but I think whoever put it together was too lazy to insert batteries. I don't recall missing that feature, because the sub was a blast to play in.

The Supermarionation show Stingray, which I enjoyed, was broadcast at the time, so I would pretend I was part of the show. A lot of times I would also make believe the sub was a spaceship

I know me sainted mum wasn't super fond of the sub because it took up most of the playroom my sister and I used. I don't know why mum was opposed to it, because no one else used the room, and the sub would keep me occupied for hours. Instead, after about a week, she had us take it outside to our postage stamp-sized backyard. Then she told us to leave it in the yard when we came in for dinner, and that it would be there in the morning for us to play in again.

Not me, and not my backyard (waaaay too big), but I found this photo of some lucky kid playing in his Polaris sub around the same time I had mine.

Except it rained that night. Hard. And my fibreboard/cardboard sub essentially melted into mush, the only things left being the periscope, torpedoes and missiles.

We never got a replacement sub, much as I wanted one. No one was willing to fork out another $7.73 (the price + shipping fee), which is the equivalent of $74.56 these days, for kids who couldn't take care of their toys.

One of these days, if I'm feeling industrious enough, I'll search the Interwebs to see if I can find the plans for the sub. Then I'll see If I can figure out how to make another sub, but big enough for my adult carcass to fit in.

And if that works, no one's gonna see or hear from me for a long time, 'cause I'll be exploring the oceans depths.

[lunartflare64]

I did it. I made an OC to be Leonora's GF. The shipper in me wouldn't let her get away with being a disaster lesbian without a GF. So here is the other disaster lesbian, Julie! Personality and background under the cut! (Be warned, I ramble)

So! Julie! She's a year older than Leo, making her 19 to our girl Nora's 18, and an artist

Julie cut off contact with her parents when she was 14 (they sucked), and two years later she found herself mutated, and since her roommate has a green keel-bellied lizard...she got stuck with bright blue-green scales and a pretty long tail

It sucked those first few months, obviously, but she was already kinda a hermit, and what's done is done, so she wanted to focus more on finding what her new normal looked like

Weirdly enough, very few mutants were content to live semi-normal lives, mutant communities were very.....combat focused. Even if Julie was interested in fighting, her tail would give her a massive learning curve, so.......no, that's not happening

So how will she contribute to the mutant community? Well, tattoos don't really stick around through the mutation, and getting tattoos the regular way doesn't really work well (fur and scales don't cooperate with tattoo guns, and that's before you take into consideration things like shedding), so she'll focus on bringing tattoos to the mutant community! Luckily her roommate (a biologist in college) took her mutation well and is happy to help figure out how to make that actually possible

Its not just tattoos, she learns how to do a wide variety of piercings and body mods, her only limit being actual surgery (she has a strong stomach but not that strong). She believes its important to give these options to mutants, its not mandatory, but if a mutant decides they want to have fun with their form, have control over how they look, then they see a future with their mutated body. Its acceptance. The majority of them didn't choose to be this way, but now that its done they should have the chance to have fun with it, should they want that

Outside of her new career, Julie has found a love of parkour. It started out as something she did for convenience, since the rooftops are safer to travel on for mutants than the road is, but it turns out the species she was mutated from are super big on climbing, so when she's feeling particularly pent-up, scaling the nearest skyscraper is the ideal workout for her

I haven't quite worked out how Julie met Leo yet, but Leo's siblings weren't there for it. They had no idea about Julie for the first few weeks, and even after they found out their sister was seeing someone they still didn't meet her for a while after that. Leo hasn't really had many opportunities to have a life completely separate from her siblings, and she loves them, but Julie was a breath of fresh air. Aaaand Leo wanted to keep her GF to herself for as long as her nosy siblings would allow.

Julie is a pretty smart person on her own, she started one of the first "mutant" businesses, of course she's smart. And no matter how chill she is, she likes to stick to her schedules. But with Leo......that all kinda goes out the window. For both of them. Their braincells cancel each other out and suddenly they're staring at a livestream of a goldfish tank for three hours straight.

It has it's downsides, schedules fall to pieces after they start dating, everyone hates it, but it also gives them the rare opportunity to just...forget their responsibilities. And since neither of them do that ever, anyone who plans on interfering with it is gonna find waaaay too many ninjas in their house the next night

Okay, I thiiiink I'm done rambling about Julie. For now. Time to give my wrists a break, and then I can move on and start drawing these dumb lesbians, I love them so much

[blueinkie]

Finished this pizza cookie thing

there's a gun in this so scroll pass if that makes you uncomfortable, its not graphic or anything but yknow.

Anyways, wanted to try some character perspective stuff or whatever

also wanted to try doing a lineless piece since I haven't done one in a really. really long time.

this took me waaaay longer than it probably should have. I litterally had to redraw the whole thing because I forgot to save the first file. Then I found it again but I actually like my second attempt ( this one that i'm posting) more so yay.

some other pizza cookie doodles:

omg, she's out of her work clothes!!! wowza

[y0d00p]

my childhood mirror world headcanons involved the king being mirror escargoon. he was a huge piece of shit, he was responsible for DMK's scar and I wrote a really violent edgy fic about it. wtf was his name... Eslaze. oh my god and his shell was this sentient creature named Shelley. he had a wife with long pink hair and a really cool name? Salasarazel. anyway Dedede's counterpart was like, a kid, because I couldn't draw Dedede (this was waaaay before triple deluxe). and Eslaze took him in I guess and they had this slow burn father son relationship. Christmas was a big deal for them? I don't really remember why. it was just this big important sentimental thing lol

it's Christmas so I was just thinking about it. part of the reason I have the mirror trio living in a cold/snowy area now is kind of a callback to my old mirror Dedede having a Christmas thing going on. I love calling back to that old stuff, it's like a fun little easter egg just for me lol

[alatismeni-theitsa]

This whole making of ancient Greek mythology series in books and movies Hollywood does goes waaaay back to the Renaissance period when the Italians longed for the glory days of ancient Greece and Rome. So they taught about the great philosophers and made art based on that, our plays and teachings were an inspiration for Europe. And that same inspiration was in US as well with all the immigrants going there.

Yes there was the Asian also culture that influenced, but the core was Ancient Greece so it remained on top even to this day. Especially nowadays with the popularity of our mythology it will not calm down, but I at least hope we Greeks can create our own pieces of media instead of hoping from foreigners to do it for us.

I mean, it wasn't just the Italians...But back then, if it was someone who had the closest connection to the Roman empire, this is the Italians. So I find it a bit natural they remembered those ideals and eras again and used them as they pleased. I think the Italians have our backs more than anyone else in Europe when it comes to how our myths are used because they are seeing the same shit from the New world countries and northwest Europe.

And the funny thing is that these western European countries tried to fight off the Romans at every chance xD It is great to get influenced by other cultures, don't get me wrong. But they went into such a large degree of fetishization that they consider themselves inheritors of the Greek culture even though they are not in the Greek culture.

Large parts of philosophy and medicine they also took from the Arabs and Persians, but they very conveniently forget them. Ancient Greece was an ideal they wanted to build their ethnic identities around, much more in the US, which needed a shared ground. That's why, at the same decades the Greeks in the US were segregated, suffering from police brutality, and called dirty rats, buildings inspired by ancient Greece and Rome were built all over the country.

There is a lot of appreciation in the beginning, but it has come to the point of misappropriation, and the Greek people never asked to be seen as "the representatives of the white culture" (or other racist bs). If I decorate my house in traditional Hindustani style and I don't give a shit about North Indians and their culture, am I really inspired by their culture, or do I just keep the elements that suit me and disregard what doesn't look "pretty" to me?

"We owe it all to ancient Greeks" my ass. They can't pronounce a Greek surname, name a Greek dish, or show Greece on the map to save their lives. They don't give a shit about Greece's history and its people after it became Christian. Because it doesn't suit their Catholic/Protestant-Evangelical propaganda and aesthetics. (If you ask them about Byzantium they are like "eeh what is that??")

As I say in a popular post of mine, if you see “Greek mythology” and your mind goes to North Americans and Northwestern Europeans, you haven’t decolonized your mind yet. (link)

[intoafandom]

Ok bruinsblr, it’s been a few weeks and i think im finally ready to say some stuff.....

Firstly, if it wasn’t ABUNDANTLY CLEAR, i was in denial, probably more than ive ever been in my entire life. I’m only NOW starting to feel it as I type this out (which i KNEW would happen and its why i put off making this post).

It doesn’t feel real. It feels like someone took the script and ripped it into a thousand pieces. It feels like it wasn’t supposed to happen that way at all and that there was something evil force flipping the scales. It feels like everything just suddenly disappeared, like all of the sudden everything just freaking stopped and everyone just disappeared. I feel like I haven’t seen the team in YEARS even though its only been a couple weeks. Everything just feels gone.

Yall know ive been posting about oneus (and onewe) waaaay more often lately (and its not just because they came back with new music and ravns been active). Again, ive been in denial and oneus (and onewe) are my helpful distraction. Cuz otherwise ik i would’ve been a total complete mess. 2019 still feels worse to me because, again, I haven’t let myself feel all the emotions tied to the elimination. I haven’t thought about bergy or krech, I haven’t thought about the free agents, or anything else relating to it because if i do ik I’ll probably break aaaand im not ready to go down that road yet.

I’m happy about the regular season, probably more than I’ll ever be about another season ever again. Everything that happened was so surreal. Linus’ goaie goal, the bench clearing for Bergy’s 1000th point (and the fact that i got to go to the game where they honored him). The winter classic at fenway and JD killing it in LITERALLY every way possible. We got pooh bear, we got meth bear, we got everything. There were so many milestones, so many players who had the best seasons of their career.

I kinda feel like im in limbo. Like I don’t really know what to do with myself. Cuz i literally haven’t watched ANY other playoff games and it all just feels so weird. And i guess that’s the word that sums everything up for me. Weird.

I think when the season started, we all could feel that this was the last dance. And now that its over, I don’t know how to feel or what to do. I don’t even know how to post about the bruins rn. Cuz everything just feels so freaking weird and disconnected. I think im just detached from reality. I’m in my own little space where none of the painful emotions have fully hit me yet.

And now i feel like i don’t really know what to do with myself. Because since 2018 this has been a hockey blog (with a few other things randomly thrown in). The past 5 years have been hockey hockey hockey, and ive been posting about the same people for so freaking long.

And like...I don’t really know what to do now because im pretty 100% sure that some of those core people are going to be gone. Dynamics are going to change, and im someone who HATES change.

Honestly, at the beginning of the season/the end of last season, I was almost completely checked out of bruinsblr. That was the height of all the drama (iykyk) and the team got crushed in the playoffs + all the sh!t canes fans did to pasta. I was sick of lb’ing because i just wanted to watch the games in peace without having to see all the hate. I was sick of missing cute cellys just so i could type “BERGY YOU KING” before anyone else. I was exhausted.

But then this season came along and it was like all the joy from 2018-19 (my first year as a hockey fan) all came back. I was lb’ing the way i used to, without focusing on notes or followers. I was just enjoying it. Enjoying the games, enjoying the moments in real time. I didn’t make as many edits, I didn’t force myself to make them when I wasn’t motivated.

I enjoyed the season the way i was supposed to. As a fan rather than...whatever the fvck this account is. And it was amazing.

All this to say, idk what is coming. Idk what this off-season is gunna be like and idk what next season is gunna be like. Will I still lb? Maybe. Will I still edit the bruins? Maybe. Will I still post about the bruins? Maybe. Probably.

But am I going to obsess over the wags anymore? No. Am I going to screenshot things from insta and post them here with the caption “omg player xyz is so funny/cute for this!” No. That’s stuff I feel I’ve grown out of. Don’t get me wrong, i still love jd and cmac and bambi carlo and all the others, but i dont feel like posting about their personal lives anymore, especially when yall can just go to their instas and see it RIGHT THERE.

Here’s what I know though. I still love the bruins. I love their friendships and the team dynamics. I still love hockey, i still love sports. And this is still a fan account (duh its literally called IntoAFandom). I’m still going to post/talk/rant about it all. I’m still going to be a reblog queen and im still going to follow the tags like ive always done.

But I’m also telling you that I’m going to he posting a lot of oneus and onewe now. I feel like im moving into a new stage and they’re a part of it. So if you dont like it, this is your out. I wont get offended, kpop isn’t for everyone (hell, i used to ACTIVELY avoid it the entire time i was in high school and for a couple years after I graduated too).

Basically, I’m going to do what makes me happy now, just as I started doing this season. I’m going to do whatever I’m in the mood to do and I’m not going to force myself to do anything. Im going to watch the bruins and im going to continue to be a fan of them. I still love them and i still love the team. But im also going to love oneus and onewe and im going to stop holding myself back.

Yall know i loved marvel for the last 5 years too, but i think a lot of you probably know that I haven’t been into it lately, but that’s a post for a different time lol.

All this to say im growing. Im exploring new things, finding new loves. And its fun. Im learning korean (why am I lowkey good lol), I’m writing a book, i finally got over my fear of talking to people (yay me).

I feel like im starting to look at the world in a new way, a way I haven’t looked at it in a long time. And it’s making me happy, honestly.

This post took a weird (theres that word again) turn, so I apologize, but i feel like this is all connected somehow. I don’t know what this account is going to look like in a few months, but I guess thats the fun of it all.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the typos (ik there’s gunna be some but I’m too lazy to proof read this oop).

Thank you to all the friends ive made on bruinsblr (Liv and Sarah, thank you❤️). This isn’t a goodbye, because lets be real lol. But I guess its a new beginning? Idk. But yeah.

[insertsomthinawesome]

25, 26, 29, 30

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

I actually don't think that's ever happened to me! I had somebody on deviant art once say my artstyle was like theirs. i think that's about it tho? There was somebody here on Tumblr who said my first WOlfwood drawing was like a combo of 98 and Stamp and I was like???? I did not do that on purpose. xD (am honored tho. 98 Wolfwood is a good lad from what I know.) 26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended OOH. THis is another one I feel like I should know but am drawing a blank.

OH I KNOW I KNOW I REMEMBER: THIS PIECE ON DEVIANT ART People kept thinking me giving Reigen black wings meant I thought he was evil when more I was trying to say he was tainted by his own questionable deeds! I totally get why people were thinking that tho xD A very understandable reaction and the title of the piece also used to be "Not What he Seems" So it came off WAAAAY more antagonistic towards Reigen. 29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically Somebody beat you to 29 so I'll copy that answer here: "OOOH. OOH I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD KNOW THIS BUT MY BRAIN IS DRAWING A BLANK. oooh I feel like, I'd have to say Probably Jak & Daxter and Monster Hunter. I LOVE both. But like hmm. I've had very brief periods of times of trying to draw for them or thinking about doing so. But I've never really done so. And with J&D it was SO LONG AGO. They're both very beautiful and inspiring in their own ways. But I don't think either has really ever made me sit down and be inspired artistically??? I think it could totally happen tho." 30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

OOF oh no xD

THIS piece of Albedo From genshin Impact. I was always pretty proud of this!! And I thought it'd do WAY better. SOmtimes it just be like that tho! :D The other one would be THIS This was my first post to tumblr tho, so Honestly I understand why nobody saw it xD Also its in this middling phase I had with art where I was still kinda figuring out a LOT of techniques and stuff (and I've learned a thing or two about fashion design i hope 8/) But honestly I'm still really proud of it? It took a lot of effort and it was a very self indulgent piece that connected with who i was then (loving Undertale) And who I'd been in the past (Loving Blinx, Sonic, and Ratchet and Clank) So there's a lot of like, nostalgic and warm emotions attached to it that make me wish it'd done better. (also cause I HATED doing backgrounds and I put a lot of effort into that one) BUT at least its still special to me!! :D And again these things just happen sometimes. I prefer they be obscure than I force people to like them. And who knows? Maybe somebody will dig them up someday and love them :)

[altargarden]

hi! I'm working on making my own oracle/divination deck thing (I've been finding it a bit hard to use most pre-made deck systems to their best effect and there are certain features I wish were there that aren't, so I thought why not make one myself thats streamlined for my ease of use?) and am looking around for other peoples experiences with divination decks. even if it's not creating your own deck, I'd appreciate it if you walked me through your processes of caring for your deck and what you like to do for readings.

if you also have some advice for using tarot cards with greater ease I'd also appreciate that! much as I am want to have the deck I'm working on finished as soon as I've the concepts down and the methods of use solidified it will take a great deal of time to finish making the deck. I already have these cards and know the basics of their use so I might as well learn them as well as I can.

sorry if my phrasing is weird or my words seem wrong, I'm not very good at communicating over text. also sorry for assuming you have a deck if you actually don't. I hope you have a good day :)

hello! firstly, sorry it took me so long to get to this - memory issues deleted the memory that i had this ask sitting in my inbox. i hope this still is of service to you!

firstly caring for my decks:

i tend to keep the current deck i'm using nearby. a piece of solid advice for your deck, is to make sure it can fit in a variety of places - don't make it too big.

i also tend to place them on a cloth during reading - whether the cloth is a reading cloth, or it is the blanket i keep draped over me when i'm in bed.

when i'm not using them, i place them in a drawer with my other decks, being cushioned by another piece of cloth.

in terms of cleansing them, i only do it when i feel absolutely necessary, by knocking three times on the deck or by smoke cleansing them.

how i charge them is through prayer to lucifer for concise readings that don't confuse or upset me.

how to read tarot:

start small. don't begin getting familiar with the decks by doing a whole celtic cross spread, that's waaaay too many cards for when you're getting comfortable with tarot. start with one card to two cards for your questions, and try to be flexible with what the book says it means.

i suggest finding a (separate) book that gives you meanings for cards in respect to financial advice, romantic advice, divine advice, general advice etc. i have a book for that and i use it as well as the book that comes with the deck itself.

look at the imagery and try to make connections yourself. what a card means to you is way more valuable than what it traditionally means.

if you can, get a deck that's for beginners - one that has key words or a short meaning on the image of the card. this is invaluable when learning how to work with tarot.

if you have any further questions feel free to lmk!

[ofallthingsnasty]

As someone who was actually excited to get a molar pulled, who knows what was going through your patient's head. But I'm not kidding. I was excited to get a tooth pulled. Hear me out. It's kind of a long story. I swear I'm not crazy.

At least with me I had a molar that was in severe pain for a year and a half that took multiple trips to the dentist to finally figure out what was wrong and I could tell you exactly what tooth the pain was coming from. First they told me it was cavities they were filled. I was still in pain. Then it was my wisdom teeth. They were removed. I was still in pain then the dentist said the pain was all in my head and accused me of making it up in order to get pain meds. So he accused me of being a drug seeker and he refused to treat me anymore. So I had to get a new dentist this one finally sent me to a specialist where they discovered I had a crack in the root of the exact molar that I had been saying was the source of pain for a year and a half. So I was ecstatic when it was finally removed. The oral surgeon said it came out in three pieces and I was lucky it did not get infected and started causing other problems. To this day I have no idea when or how I cracked that tooth.

Now looking back I probably did freak out some of the workers because being happy or excited probably isn't the normal reaction to getting your tooth pulled. But to know that l will no longer be in pain after so long. Plus I had been told it was all in my head and I was lying and accused of being a drug seeker. It was validating to finally have answers and proof I was not crazy. Plus the cherry on top. The dentist who accused me of being a drug seeker office closed down. Hopefully he's no longer practicing.

So who knows what was going through your patient's head or maybe it hasn't sunk in that their losing a tooth. You never know

Oh jeez, I'm so sorry that happened to you 😨 I am floored that you got accused of that, that is just inexcusable... But I'm glad it all worked out in the end. Cracks/fractures can be really hard to find and diagnose, but that's no reason to bully a patient 😡

And I get it!! I've had people in who sat themselves down in the chair and said 'today we'll pull x tooth' with enthusiasm. Or acute cases who were so happy afterwards. I think he has lived with these lose teeth for years now and just knew deep down they had to come out; I think he just thought about it and prepared himself waaaay ahead of that appointment, that's why he was so non-chalant. But in the end - only he truly knows. I'm just a little sad for him. So many teeth, all lost to periodontal disease, not even caries :( So preventable...

[maybeamiles]

One piece time! This time I'm covering Fishman Island, and doing it a bit differently.

I'm writing down my thoughts as I watch the episodes, then I'm gonna go back through once I hit a good stopping point and edit them to be more cohesive, with a lightning round of my favorite moments at the end. This is gonna be a longer post, so here's a cut to make things easier on everyone.

It seems there are some similarities between this arc and the last one. Last time, even with some of the strongest people in the world by his side, Luffy failed to save Ace and his crew. I think this arc is meant to show us just how much stronger everyone has gotten.

Now, at first, I thought Hordy would have gotten the energy steroids from Doflamingo or Big Mam, since they might've benefited from the unrest at Fishman Island. I also thought Hordy might have been Fisher Tiger's son once they started talking about his "true identity."

I was wrong on both fronts. Everything about Hordy was created from circumstances on Fishman Island. It makes thematic sense. One of the biggest themes in One Piece is the idea of "inherited will." AKA: Our most valuable legacies are our dreams. On Fishman Island, we also see inherited trauma. This explains why Otohime wanted to move everyone above land. It wasn't to save the fishmen from humans, it was to save the fishmen from themselves. By refusing to pass on their hatred, they're trying to keep the spark of hope alive in people.

AND SPEAKING OF INHERITED WILL- Fire fist Ace! Luffy is using Ace's power! He's carrying his brother with him! He doesn't want anyone else to die because of what happened before.

And that blood transfusion scene? The people behind that deserve a raise. The music choice and timing were amazing. It really highlighted exactly what was behind this moment, which to us seems so simple Really shows that a good song and visual motif can elevate a scene.

I'm looking forward to the new world and seeing what Big Mam is all about. I've heard Wholecake Island does great things for our boy Sanji, that should be fun.

LIGHTNING ROUND:

The "Luffy Vs. Jimbei" Episode made me laugh at how little fighting there actually was.

The squid who swam too close to the sun and his still-living pal are references to Daedelus and Icarus.

Hordy's bleached redesign is one of my personal favorite tropes.

It took me waaaay too long to realize the guy in the intro with the straw hat was Rodger, not Luffy

Of Course Hordy pulled a Macbeth and killed the person he framed for the queen's death, classic.

Robin needs to have a "Gigantesco Pie" attack ("Pie" is Spanish for foot). It bugged me when she called her giant kick attack "Gigantesco Mano" which would be "giant hand"

I do however love how all of Robin's attacks are Spanish. Lets me flex what little Spanish I do know.

Sanji's moonwalk is amazing.

Franky got the magical girl transformation he deserves.

I love the "Honk" sound his tank makes when it fires.

Surume is officially the best straw hat pet.

I look forward to the day when Zoro gets to properly duel someone of his skill level

[exhibitphotopdx]

Mexico and a Beach

Monterey Bay at low tide releases hundreds of years of decay.  Fish eating other fish and pieces eaten by crabs and all of it mixing with oxygen to surrender their scent to the ocean breeze.

Driving north of Santa Cruz through pumpkin country on the coast road.  Another forgotten coastline though so close to The City as to be within lunch break distance.  As Portland labors under a winter storm flowers bloom here and young Mexican couples take selfies in the flowing yellow sea.  I was reminded of another coast road a thousand miles away, much further south and lost to the past, of winding turns and sparkling blue-green shallow bays.  Holly and Dana had been alternating between singing and snacking in the back seat of our 4WD while Edmund and I held down the beers and conversation up front.  As we rounded a bluff, a particularly fetching half moon of sand opened below us — a pickup truck with a huge camper shell the only inhabitant under a copse of palms at the south end and an empty campsite at the north end beckoning.  I hadn’t seen any kind of pullout or road but slowed a bit to scan the hillside.  “There” said Edmund, tracing a zigging line down the south end of the cliff.  On either side of the beach steep cliffs pushed into the water and fell at least 150’ into blue.  I kept an eye out for anything else but as we got to the southern curve there was a dirt pullout and a rough road leading off the edge of the cliff.  I kept some speed as I pulled off — these tight corners often produced a speeding bus or truck — and so hit the first drop at about 25mph, which was WAAAAY too fast.  The drop combined with a fast lefthand turn to hug the cliff face and we all lost contact with gravity for a moment before the SUV slammed back down.  I’m pretty sure I hit the ceiling twice and the noise of the cooking and camping cases loosely netted to the roof rack was deafening.  The girls began screaming.  I would have screamed, too, had I not been completely absorbed in the task at hand.  The “road” spun itself against the cliff at a remarkable angle and several immediate washouts had me trying to launch a tire off the last outcrop and up onto the even-steeper angle of the cliff to get us around them.  Braking was impossible — the loose dirt would slide us forward with no control.  So I gassed it and felt the drivers-side lift impossibly high.  I hoped the cargo net would hold — I hadn’t packed it for this and could imagine all our equipment strewn down the hillside for hundreds of yards.

Below the washouts, the road evened out slightly, seeming much more stable.  I managed to grind the brakes to a complete halt.  Something felt like a broken tooth at the end of the pedal.  My head hurt from contact with the ceiling.  The girls were still screaming.  I took a deep breath and turned in the seat.  “That is NOT helping.  If anybody wants to try the rest of this, I’ll get out right now.  No?  Then shut up.  If YOU want to get out, I’m fine with that, too.  But I think I see the way down from here.”  Edmund brushed beer off himself and took a long drink.  His slightly-tan English skin had gone back to a normal deathly white.  The girls gulped but quieted.  I took another deep breath.  Letting off the brake, I started picking my way down the remaining 100’ or so of vertical.  There were at least two weird sounds coming out of the truck but nothing was exploding and I felt like the first thing to do was get down.  At the pickup truck, two campers had emerged and were clutching each others arms and pointing in amazement.  There were a few sliding skidding stops but the rest of the path was less dramatic than the first 50’ and in 15 minutes we were parked under the palms at the north end of the beach.  The other campers walked up to join us.  They brought me a cold beer.  “Sorry we don’t have enough for everyone but we figured the driver could use it.”  Looking back at the cliff and tracing our path it looked totally improbable from below.  I wasn’t sure I could make it back UP and the remains of a VW Bug covered with cactus seemed to augur poorly.

“How, exactly, did you get a top-heavy pickup in here?” was the question on my mind.  They grinned.  Low tide.  Drive around the bluff on hard-packed sand and take an easy beach road out.

We stayed nearly a week.  Camping chairs thrown nipple deep in the warm shallows and tiny fish nibbling between our toes while we drank cold Corona and cooked over a beach fire.  At night the water was no less warm but gained luminescence and we marveled at the trails we left to mark our passages.

[doc-hudson]

Hello again

Alternative title: Doc finally learns Luca’s name and accidentally peer-pressures Milo.

Dated: 18-  20 November 2022

Luca Paguro

Luca was excited! This whole obstacle course looked like fun, and Milo was even going to compete! He couldn't wait to see how he did. He didn't know anything about causes or charities or whatever all that other part was, and he hadn't had a chance to ask Ian either so he was still confused, but it was fine. It would be fun just to see, and hopefully Milo did really well.

He glanced around and saw a familiar figure he didn't expect to see. "Oh! Hi! You're okay!"

-

Doc Hudson

He hated it. He absolutely hated the current situation.

Really, if Paul was around it was simply because it was innevitable -the event was waaaay too close to home (in more ways than one) and staying inside felt like giving up.

So, here he was, arms crossed as he hoped this whole event would pass quickly and free him of his misery; But then, Paul heard a somewhat familiar voice and-

“Oh” it took him a second, but he did recognize it's origin “Kiddo! Nice to see you, too. You competin’?”

-

Luca Paguro

"Oh, did I ever tell you my name? I don't think I did. I'm sorry, that was rude. My name's Luca, he/him and they/them. I'm not competing since I have, um," oh no, what was it called? It had been so long since he'd looked at the permission note Laurel had helped him create before he finally dredged it from his memory, "exercise induced asthma! Yeah, that's what it is. So running isn't good for me. But my friend Milo is competing!"

-

Doc Hudson

“Don’t worry, sport, we didn’t have a lotta time to waste anyways” he said, extending a hand in a somewhat-formal greeting “Luca, it is, then. I’m Paul but you call me Doc ‘s quicker. Nice to see you’re doin’ fine”

And that wasn’t small talk, he was genuinely happy to know that the kid had managed to arrive home unharmed, they’ve had quite the bad time back then and deserved some rest after the whole purple thing fiasco.

“Oh, I see. Well, there’s no shame in that, I ain’t competin’ either, I have a bad-” everything “-leg. Isn’t ideal for this sorta stuff, but, hey, we can cheer on your friend and still have a good time, right?”

-

Luca Paguro

Luca nodded, filing the name away with everything else he'd learned. He knew Laurel and Magnus would like to know that too - they hadn't been too happy with the partial story he'd been able to give them after everything had happened. Plus Laurel had wanted him to do a nice thank you, so he probably still had to do that.

Instead he nodded, smiling. "Yeah! That's him, Milo. He doesn't have any magic, but he said he's really excited to try and race this week. I think he's been training or something? It seems like it's fun for him."

-

Doc Hudson

Milo. Who doesn’t have any magic but is really excited to race.

Hm. That sounded awfully familiar -he sounded like that one kid on twitter that had been rather pleasant during the whole discourse

That kind of gave him an idea.

“Say, Luca” he began, a sly smile forming on his lips “just because we can’t join in the event doesn’t mean we have to miss the fun. Do you happen to know what charity is sponsorin’ Milo?”

They could thank him back, maybe give him a little extra motivation.

“Let’s make an extra donation to his name. That way he’ll be doin’ somethin’ real cool even if he doesn’t”

It was only fair, really.

“How your folks doin’, by the by?” he couldn’t, for the live of him, remember the name of the person whose home Luca had been asked to been taken to, so...

-

Luca Paguro

Luca entirely missed the undertones to the smile (not enough sharp teeth for it to reach threatening in his eyes) so all he saw was the friendliness of it.

"Well, I think Pacifica Northwest, the Board member, is technically sponsoring him but he's racing to earn money for a charity that works with homeless Magick youths," he responded, trying to be as accurate as possible since he wasn't sure exactly which piece of information was important. "But I bet a donation would be really nice! They can probably use a lot of help."

Of course, the mention of his 'folks' immediately had Luca's stomach tying itself into knots. By now he knew that 'folks' usually meant 'parents' and Luca didn't know how his parents were doing. He could guess because they were strong and smart and they had lots of friends in the community so they were probably fine. But he couldn't find them to know about it.

He didn't think to connect Laurel or Magnus with 'folks'.

"Oh, they're, um, fine”

-

Doc Hudson

“Well, wouldn’t you look at that” Paul replied in obvious approval of what just been said. Milo seemed like a legitimately well intentioned kid, Mundus or not “Yup, that’s a good cause for a good kid”

Sending some extra dollar- well, quids, their way would be pretty good. The kids would feel some accomplishment, Milo would have fun, Doc wouldn’t feel completely useless, it was a total win-win for all parties involved.

Though...something seemed kind of off with Luca, for some reason.

“The people you’re stayin’ with...that nice lady at Tortuga Place. She ain’t your mom?” he asked, somewhat worriedly -Luca was a good kid and seeing them suddenly lose their spirits felt...wrong.

-

Luca Paguro

Luca beamed - obviously he agreed. After all, if it weren't for Laurel he would probably be one of those homeless Magick youths since it wasn't like he had money or places to go or anything really when he'd arrived here a few months ago. It had to be bad if you didn't have a Laurel looking out for you, so it was good someone was.

The clarification had him blinking slightly before shaking his head.

"Oh, no, Laurel isn't my mom. She's sort of like my aunt," was that the right term??? Family terms were so flat in English, it was hard to keep track of event he story he was supposed to tell. "But I don't stay with her either."

"See, she already has Barley living there, and then Eilonwy is living there, and Ian doesn't live there but he still comes around for dinner a lot, and then there are the dogs, so instead she helped me get a room with Magnus next door. Magnus is really nice, even if his cat doesn't like me but I'm trying to find a way to win the cat over because I want to be friends with him."

"But Laurel seemed like the best place to go on Halloween because she's a warrior and she's really smart so she can handle anything."

-

Doc Hudson

...Huh.

What was with Swynlake and family-less kids?

“I get it now” Paul nodded, extending a hand into Luca’s direction, then carefully patting him on the shoulder “There’s this kid ‘round, name’s King. He’s in a situation like yours and I’m...kind of his Lauren, I guess? Or Magnus, so I kinda get it”

Luca and King would get along famously, Doc figured -his kid could teach Luca a couple of lessons on self-confidence and Luca could try and calm the other boy down. Maybe. Probably. Except not really. chances were that they would end  up burning down a kitchen together (which was fine as long as said kitchen wasn’t his, thank you very much).

“He’s about eh tall, loud as hell, must be ‘round somewhere” he said, still trying to cheer Luca up “I’ll introduce you guys if we find him ‘round -and don’t worry, kiddo, cats are known to be picky lil’ guys, you just have to buy their love via food and maybe some petting, that’ll do the trick, they’ll love you in no time”

-

Luca Paguro

Luca listened to the explanation of King - although it was hard to see how this guy could be Laurel.

He seemed very nice and was clearly a good runner. But he wasn't Laurel. Nobody was.

He could maybe be a Magnus though. That made sense.

Obediently, Luca looked around although he had no idea what this person looked like, and it felt like most people were taller than his own 5'6". "Ok, that sounds good! I'd like to meet him." Mostly. Actually the idea made Luca mildly anxious because what if this other person didn't like him, or thought he was too weird or he wasn't actually weird enough so his story didn't make any sense and then he would be suspicious and -

"This cat doesn't seem to like the petting. Or the food. Or talking to him. Or anything really. At this point even Magnus just said it might be better to leave him alone. But all the dogs at Ruff to Fluff usually like me so that's really nice!"

-

Doc Hudson

“Maybe, if he decides to grace us with his appearance” Doc chuckled, knowing that King came and went on his own and that simply couldn’t be herded around “Kid’s a little wild”

And, again, Luca seemed more like the calmer type -the kind that was considerably more comfortable thinking about how to properly socialize with the neighbour’s cat or staying away from trouble.

“Hm. Is he an old cat? That would explain some things” he offered “us old folks prefer to stick to our routines, but if you approach us little by little…”

He wasn’t letting Luca feel defeated by the idea of a grumpy cat, no, siree.

“Ruff to Fluff? What’s that?”

-

Luca Paguro

"Maybe?" What did old mean for cats?

Old was such a hard concept for Luca to grasp because they'd never really met anyone who was old. The elders of their pod often retreated to the deep when they were ready which could be what was considered 'old' but they weren't nearly as old as elves were supposed to get. And their flocks rarely had animals reach 'old age' either considering they were usually sacrificed before then.

There were people around town that were the oldest beings Luca had ever seen, but they were younger in age than his own parents. So what was old?

"I think Magnus said he's 15?"

It was much easier to talk about his favorite place in town and he brightened up.

"Ruff to fluff is the best! It's sort of a combination of adoption shelter and pet grooming and pet daycare depending what you need. But even if you aren't ready to adopt, you can still go in and play with all the dogs if you're nice. My cousin Ian works there, and Greg owns it and Greg is super super nice. I bet you'd like it!

-

Doc Hudson

“Huh. I think that’s old-ish for a cat, yeah” but he couldn’t be sure “That may be it, kitty’s just a bit grumpy and used to have things go a certain way -they probably feel uncomfy with change. Don’t sweat it ”

He wasn’t a cat, but he could understand being irritated at sudden change, or someone else getting all the attention around.

Anyways, Luca seemed way more excited about the other topic, so…

“I see” he nodded, after making a mental note about ‘cousin Ian’ and ‘the super super nice Greg’ “ ‘ve never had a pet, so I don’t know ‘bout that, kiddo. But bein’ able to go and play a little with the dogs sounds pretty nice -that’s how you spend your time? helpin’ the folks over there?”

-

Luca Paguro

"Sometimes. When I'm not studying."

Which was a lot of the time. The thing was, he really did like what he was learning! It was interesting and exciting, and every day felt like a new part of the world was opening up to him. He didn't ever really want it to end.

It was just that there was so much of it too, and so much of it that assumed you knew other things that he didn't know. The other kids in his class had taken years to learn a lot of this, so he was constantly having to play catch up and get extra help. In everything. But the first poor grade he'd gotten had made him feel so badly, especially when it seemed like this teacher had been disappointed in him, that he'd immediately started to study a lot harder.

"Ian has to keep reminding me I'm not allowed to adopt all the dogs and take them all home with me. But I also get to play with Blazey at Laurel's house which is really nice! And sometimes Ian lets me play with Yoda and Frito at his place - or rather, Frito will play with me and Yoda mostly ignores me but apparently he does that to everyone so I don't feel so bad."

-

Doc Hudson

“Of course” Doc nodded “School’s oughta be your first priority. Makin’ the best of it ‘s sure to help you achieve your dreams”

And he did feel that way, but wasn’t about to explain his whole life story, how studying had given his life a whole purporse after he believed he’d lost it, to poor Luca; “School’s good and important” seemed a good enough platitude to give, even without context.

“Huh. Sounds like animals really like you and viceversa” he joked “even if Yoda and the old kitty have their own ways of showin’ it”

And he’d continued musing about pets if  it were not for…

“...say, don’t you think it’s gettin’ pretty cold, sport? I've heard weather’s unpredictable ‘round this parts but this ‘s ridiculous”

-

Luca Paguro

Luca wasn't sure about that. That required him to have a dream, and mostly his dream right now was to successfully pretend to be human and to find his way back home. But that was okay! School was nice for now and he wanted to be good at it.

"Actually, a little while ago I was able to help an otter who had hurt his paw which was really cool! We took it to Ruff to Fluff since Greg also knows a lot about animals and wildlife medicine. But we got along really well."

The question was an effective distraction as Luca looked up, trying to see if he could figure out what was going on (since he didn't really notice the temperature difference yet).

"It's the clouds. The clouds are different now."

-

Doc Hudson

Paul blinked, evidently confused.

How could an otter possibly end up in Swynlake, of all places?

But, meh, maybe it was a magical otter, a shapeshifter stuck in that form, or a selkie or what-have-you; The really important thing was that Luca had a cool story to tell and Greg had somehow managed to help the lil’ fella in the end.

“They are…” Doc said as he looked up “we may need to bundle-up real soon, pal. Maybe get ready for some rain”

That sudden weather change would probably be pretty inconvenient for the Prix, too.

-

Luca Paguro

The more Luca stared at the clouds, the more he felt like there was something different about them he should notice. The problem was, for as much as his magic could influence the weather, he didn't know enough about surface weather to be able to tell the difference.

Standing there in his flannel shirt and bare feet, he didn't feel like he needed to bundle up yet. But now even he did tart to notice it was a little chillier.

"I don't think it's rain...the clouds look cold for that."

-

Doc Hudson

“Yeah” Paul sighed, now rubbing his hands in order to keep them warm “so it seems”.

Great, just what he needed, snow. As if dealing with the event itself wasn’t bad enough.

“I may need to take my leave, wouldn’t want the cold to screw me over” he explained Luca, a guilty smile on his lips -he wouldn’t bore the kid with the details “I suggest you do to, kiddo. Or at least go get an extra sweater, okay?”

He then patted Luca’s shoulder.

“I’ll be seein’ you, sport. You be careful and say hi to Laurel and Ian for me, okay?”

-

Luca Paguro

Luca was distracted enough by the clouds that he almost missed the goodbye before turning to smile up at the man. 

"Oh, okay! Yes, you should definitely take care of you. And if you want to come to Laurel's house or Magnus's, I know they would like you and want to thank you. But I can say hi to them all for now."

-

[winters-sketches]

some drawings of the beans with experimental styles! i'm not too happy rn with my art cause it either a) looks weird with too much soft shading or b) takes waaaay too long

thus, style shenanigans. you can use these as icons if y'all want, just be sure to tag me!

analysis for myself under the cut:

Aubrey: slightly thicker lineart with hard edges and inked shadows; half-painted shading with harder edges

+ combination of graphic contrast and painted strokes which looks awesome to me

+ QUICK!! very fast and easy to do, took like 30 minutes

+ works well with airbrush effects while preserving sharp edges

+ so much room for color shenanigans

there are no cons i love this one

Basil: thin penciled lineart with detailed coloring and shading

+ textured and full of detail

+ highly conducive to airbrush effects and shading because the details make up for the loose shading

+ it just looks really pretty and intricate

- takes. so much time. too much time.

- cannot be paint bucket filled easily at all

Kel: semi-simplified lineart style with hard shading and strong focus on color vibrancy

+ great result with the near-lineless look

+ very vibrant and colorful

+ graphic vibes, which i like; seems to be from the simplicity of the lines and shapes

- few issues with contrast and the whole image feeling a bit dull

- takes VERY LONG to do the whole colored lineart thing, along with just coloring in general

- doesn't work super well with airbrush effects because of the low contrast

Sunny: old style with airbrushed shading and thin minimal lineart

+ works well with airbrush effects and layer modes

+ easy to paint bucket fill

- lineart isn't detailed enough to accommodate for airbrushed parts; looks blurry and lazy

- not much room for color experimentation and difficult to shade without layer modes

- takes kinda long to do

Hero: slightly thicker lineart with soft edges and transparency; painted shading and color

+ beautiful painted textures...

+ open to color expermentation

+ also easy to line

- more difficult to ensure contrast due to softer edges

- takes a long time to color

Mari: loose thick "lineart" with round brush painted coloring

+ extremely open to color experimentation, i can mess around with this as much as i want

+ very fast lineart

+ works pretty well with airbrush effects

- coloring takes a while cause it's painted

- may not work as well for more "realistically" lit pieces