#flag making tutorial

[ryanyflags]

Flag Making Tutorial

This will be a more technical step-by-step tutorial on how I make my flags (also a long post because I wanted to be thorough, plus I love flags lol).

The program I use is Inkscape, a free vector (.svg) editor program for pc.

I have templates set up, so the actual flag making process is pretty easy/quick.

Hotkeys/Locations/Other Reference

I'll be mentioning these options, so I thought to put them here all in one list. (They list the keyboard shortcuts first)

Snapping: magnet symbol (top right of screen), or under the adjacent arrow ◀️ symbol.

Document properties: shift+ctrl+D, or under the file menu (top left corner of screen). Display (1st tab) Guides (2nd tab) Grids (3rd tab)

Fill and Stroke: shift+ctrl+F, or under object (top of screen).

Layers and Objects: ctrl+shift+L, or under object (top of screen).

Align and Distribute: ctrl+shift+A, or under object (top of screen).

Import (Images): ctrl+i, under the file menu, or by dragging into the Inkscape window.

Save As: ctrl+shift+S, or under the file menu.

Export: shift+ctrl+E, or under the file menu.

Selector Tool: S, or cursor symbol (left side of screen). Click, or click and drag around the objects, to select them.

Locking a selection: lock symbol between the width and height boxes at the top of the screen.

Transform Selections: the width/height and x y position can be changed by typing in the X,Y,W,H boxes (near top middle of screen), or by dragging the corners/edges (resize) and inside the object (move).

Duplicate: ctrl+D.

Delete: delete key, or right click on the object.

Node Tool: N, or below the selector tool (left side of screen).

Rectangle Tool: R, or square symbol (left side of screen).

Pen Tool: B, or pen symbol (left side of screen).

Gradient Tool: G, gradient square symbol (left side of screen).

Mesh Tool: swirly square symbol (left side of screen).

Dropper Tool: D, or dropper symbol (left side of screen).

Undo: ctrl+Z.

Redo: ctrl+Y.

Creating the Template

Download Inkscape and open it, under the Time to Draw tab, click New Document.

First, snapping needs to be enabled, and under advanced mode enable grids and guide lines snapping. (This is crucial for making the stripes equally sized, spaced, and the overall flag in the right ratio.)

I'll be making a template with a 2:3 flag ratio.

Open document properties. (I like to move these types of windows to the right side.)

Under display, set the width to 42px and height to 28px.

Under guides, just click create guides around the current page.

Under grids, make sure rectangular grid is selected, and click new. (Grid units should be in px.) For the major grid line every option, change it to 2. (I also prefer to change the minor grid line color to be transparent.)

That's pretty much it, your template is done :D ! Just save it wherever you want. I like putting it in an easy-to-access flag folder, as it is needed to open it every time to make new flags.

You can use a different width / height / grid size / flag ratio if you want, these are just the numbers I'm comfortable with / used to.

Also, since this is a vector, the image can be infinitely big or small without any quality loss, so the small dimensions above don't actually translate to a low res image.

Creating the Flag

(I'll be using the rainbow flag to demonstrate.)

Start by having the template open.

You can import images (like .png/.jpg files) to color pick / reference if you want. Said images can be transformed (resized/moved) by selecting and transforming them using the options mentioned in reference. (This is optional, they should just be off to the side so they don't get in the way.)

To create the stripes, use the rectangle tool. Click and drag from one grid corner, to a lower grid corner.

While the rectangle is selected, use the dropper tool to pick a color from a imported image. You can also use the fill and stroke (shown on right) tab to create your own colors / edit colors / etc.

You can make these stripes however you want, they just need to all be equally sized. (They don't have to all have the same height, if you intentionally want that (like the demisexual flag for example).)

Then select all the stripes and transform them so that they fit the page.

All that's left is to save/export it.

To export it, use the export tab, under single file, page, adjust the width and height (in px) to however high res you want your image to be. (I usually do 3000 by 2000.)

Type in the desired file name in the box next to the folder symbol, use the folder symbol to choose its export location (which can also be used to determine the file name and save/export it), the adjacent drop-down-menu to select what to save it as (,png, .jpg, .svg, etc.), and the gear symbol to adjust other settings (I leave it as default, with antialias turned off (set to 0)).

And done, you've made a flag :D 🏳️‍🌈

Extra Notes

Layers and Objects: a menu that can be used to manage objects. Like their layering position (whether they are above or below another object), and other options can also be done here instead of with keyboard shortcuts.

Vertically striped flags: it's very similar to above. You would just make the rectangles taller rather than wider.

Wavy stripes: first use the pen tool to create zigzags. (The pen tool works like a outline, so just click along the grid corners, and join the line at the end. The fill and stroke menu can be used to make it a solid colored shape, and remove/add outlines). The steepness/frequency of the zigzags is up to personal preference, they just need to extend off the page a bit. To create equally sized wavy stripes, have the all side lengths (highlighted in red) be equal except (depending on how you draw your zigzags) the first or last wave, which should have half the side length of the others.

Select everything, and with the node tool, select all the zigzag nodes (the corners don't need to be selected), and click make selected nodes smooth (half circle with point in middle symbol, at top of screen). (It'll likely look like it has weird lines in-between the waves, see glitch section at the end for how to fix that.)

Then resize it all to the height of the canvas. And done :)

This can of course be vertical too.

Gradients: You can use the fill and stroke dialogue, gradient tool, or mesh tool to do this.

To create the gradient, select the object, click the linear gradient symbol (gradient box) under fill and stroke. Or dragging / double clicking with the gradient/mesh tools. (The mesh tool is what I used to create the square gradient.)

To change the colors, click on the arrows or circles under fill and stroke, or by clicking the points on the shape, to select the nodes. Then use fill and stroke to change the colors.

To create new colors/stops, click on the plus+ symbol under stops (under fill and stroke), or double click on the gradient. Edit the new colors in fill and stroke again.

To change the location of stops, use stop offset under fill and stroke, or drag the nodes on the gradient. You can also move the end points on the object to make the gradient slanted or vertical.

Symbols: I make my own when I can (like the demi- triangle can be drawn with the pen tool, and resized to the correct proportions). When the symbol is too complicated, I import a .svg of it. Wikimedia commons is a great resource, and the popular twemoji comes in .svg format too. You could also edit it on over the .png in a rastor program if need be.

The align and distribute tab can be used to center symbols (or any other selected object). Select page for the relative to option, and use the symbols underneath to center/align it however you want. (You can also use different relative to options, like last selected, if you want to align it to an object instead.)

Deleting imported reference images: you can do this before saving it as a .svg, if you don't want to keep them / want to clean up the .svg file.

Antialiasing: an option that blurs things basically. A image with antialiasing off will be sharp pixels, while a image with antialiasing on will have transition colors between the main colors.

Below is an example. The left side is without antialiasing, and the right side is with antialiasing.

I can see why it might be preferable to have it on (like for diagonal shapes), but antialiasing can make recoloring .png (not .svg) files hard. The extra different colors messes with fill tools. I also think it looks cleaner without, so I prefer it off.

Exporting glitch: sometimes an exported image will have a thin line between the stripes, despite the fact the stripes are perfectly next to each other. (This seems to not just be a problem with Inkscape, but with vectors in general.)

Below is a zoomed in example of what it'd look like. The left side shows the stripes are all next to each other, but the right image has a transparent line in-between the stripes.

This can be fixed a number of ways.

You could select all the objects, and duplicate them twice.

Or overlap them. The stripes will still be the same size when overlapped, but they will technically be behind each other, so there will be no gap.

With all the different stuff mentioned, you can basically think of them as building blocks with the grid as reference. They can all be mixed and matched together.

I didn't mention all the options, just because there's that many different things you can do in Inkscape. I'd encourage you to play around with all the different options/tools yourself.

There's also some great Inkscape guides on YouTube, it's where I learned how to do a lot of this from (even if they're not for flags specifically, the concepts in those videos can be applied to flags).

Here's an overly elaborate flag I made, just to demonstrate some (but not all) of the things that can be done.

Anyways what a long post haha. But maybe this will be helpful for anyone interested in making (pride) flags.

[dianadwilder]

USA Themed Coaster Pattern

These wonderful little designs are so quick and easy to make and are perfect for having around at parties or to celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July. Just three colours of yarn and simple stitches you could also make these as gifts for friends

[vocalux]

hmm im thinking about actually making the archive but i dont know if it will turn out exactly the way i thought and im scared , ,

[noxwithoutstars]

How do you create the color palettes for your flags?

It depends on the term! I also usually start with the layout of the flag, like stripes and shapes, before I do colors, so I have to think about where the colors go and which ones I'll have the most of.

For things that are related to some media, I usually colorpick for a general palette, then adjust/switch colors/etc. until I like how it looks:

Sensitivesongic: almost completely colorpicked from the album art -- Celestiaresortic: colors similar to the background of this level in the game -- Areaxlibric: less saturated colors from the book covers.

If there are colors already associated with some aspects of the term, I start with those and build from there. Different colors also add to the feel of the term!

Regifructorcic: Inspired by Hera/Juno, whatever you want to call her, and therefore colors reminiscent of pomegranates and peacocks -- Twilitstar: Blues/purples suggest stars and twilight, browns suggest bronze and make it feel more ancient -- Orderaromic: Dark suggests nighttime, and the pale pinks make it warmer, more familiar.

Otherwise, it's honestly just vibes. Or what colors I want to work with that moment. When I'm stuck, I just pick a main color or two and think about the complementary colors or analogous colors, then mess with the values (light-dark; always try to have variation in the values) or maybe the saturation (the greyness/vibrancy -- changing the saturation creates a similar but different effect to value).

Aurimellan: The saturation doesn't change mostly, but hue and value do -- Salicrystic: There's a shift in value and saturation together but not hue -- Midnightsunphraseic: Change in all three!

[sexually-confused-goblin]

Why does Pinterest always make it seem in their emails like it's our responsibility to make sure they don't wrongfully flag or take down (after reporting I guess) pins?

No no no, you made a decision and then backtracked because you realised it was a mistake - so stop telling me to look through and delete those pins that might transgress your tos from my folders until you actually manage to only flag the pins which do, because saving a pin and whether or not I get a notification concerning said pin feels more like playing Russian roulette at this point

[mushlivingroom]

i loosely followed thedimelions’s tutorial for naturally dyeing a pride flag, with a lot of added research about natural dyes, stains, mordants, sewing, etc, and i wanted to share my results!!

process, notes, and more pics under the read more🌱

starting off i soaked my fabric (100% cotton acquired from joann's during their closing sale, rip joann's ;-;) in a 1:5 mixture of soy milk and water for 12 hours, then let dry on a clothesline in the sun, then dipped and dried two more times (the proteins in the soy milk help the natural dyes adhere to the fabric, creating darker colors and better colorfastness)

while that was happening i started making my dyes, which involved simmering my chosen dyestuffs in some water for 30-60 minutes. i didnt time it, just went until the color developed to a point i was happy with

as far as ratios i didn’t measure, but the more dyestuff = stronger color so err on the side of more

red: turmeric + baking soda, paprika, and yellow onion skin dye as the liquid base

orange: yellow onion skins

yellow: turmeric

green: red cabbage + baking powder (LOTS), turmeric

blue: red cabbage + baking powder

purple: red cabbage

for the red cabbage dyes, i added the baking powders and soda after simmering and just kept adding and stirring till i got the color i wanted. ((BIG NOTE red cabbage, and debatably most of the others that I used, are fugitive dyes, meaning its not a true dye and more of a stain that will fade with time and wash out more easily, especially without mordanting on additives like iron. keep this in mind if you end up doing this project or transfering these methods to cloth you will be using for clothes, ie washing and wearing more frequently))

i also tried to make a pink with avocado skins and pits, which did come out a lovely rosy color, but i didn’t end up using in the final flag, which i might use beet or red cabbage + lemon juice or another acidified for next time to get a more bright pink

now with my dyes ready and my cloth dried out from its previous soy milk dip i cut it into strips and stuck it in the jars, which were placed in the sun for the day (alternatively, you could simmer the cloth in the pot) and then left to sit overnight

the next day i squeezed out the excess dye and gave the ones with turmeric a light rinse to get the grit out, then hung them to dry

((small note i reused the dyes baths to see what would happen since they still looked just as pigmented, but the colors are much much much more faded on the second go around. all in all its doable, but I wouldn't recommend it.))

now time to sew! i procured a second hand sewing machine specifically for this project and had never sewed before, but thankfully this required the easiest stitch in the game (a straight stitch in a straight line). i looked up how to sew a flag specifically to get those clean lines rather than just overlapping, and this video was great (shoutout Suffolk Public Library)

as you can see my flag ended up quite long cause I left a lot of wiggle room, so I just look up flag ratios, trimmed it up (and used the extra strip of rainbow as decoration) then added a white strip folded over to make a way for me to hang it on a stick if I ever so desire.

and ta daaa! i would still like to clean it up a bit, and do a zig zag stitch around the outside to stop the cloth from fraying further, but im happy with the unpolished look of it. once i figure out how to get a pink I like, and how to get browns and blacks, i want to make a progress flag and trans flag. also just started growing some indigo, so excited to see if I can get some blue dyes out of that.

[radioconstructed]

// I hate that the search function doesn't work on this site because I need to find that post of Al dealing with her Florida Man accusation of the week going "who tf started a rumor that I was arrested for making a bomb tutorial for ISIS and putting it on YouTube" because I need to follow it up with "their flag is in comic sans and I have too much self respect to be associated with that"

[lulusbinky]

♡ agere crafts༅

paw print: i tried to do some crafts you can do alone n some with a cg! and im pretty sure theres tutorials online for most of these things if needed!༅🐾

♡ clay ──୨ৎ── air-dry clay is wut j use! and you can use colored air dry clay or paint it when its dry!༅

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♡ sticker making ──୨ৎ── draw or print cute designs, then laminate them or use sticker paper to make your own stickers! there lots of tutorials online!༅

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♡ make a wand ──୨ৎ── but howw? well first pick a base for your wand like a stick, dowel, or anything that works!! then paint it if you want before adding maagic details like wrappin' a ribbon round the base, gluing on tiny gems, or drawing lil designs! then lastly...the top! glue a big star, heart, charm, etc. to the top! and if you wanna do a lil extra you can make up a fun spell for your wand, like “this wand brings happiness" or whateva you wan! or im pretty sure ive also seen already made star wands at places that you can just paint and add details to!༅

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♡ sensory bottles ──୨ৎ── fill a clear bottle with glitter, beads, charms, whatever you wanna add!! and then add water to finish the sensory bottle!༅

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♡ scratch offs ──୨ৎ── i mentioned these in my tips for littles without a cg post, but im mentioning them again!! they can be used as a reward system for yourself or you can put positive messages on them, whatever you want!! to make them you outline your scratch off on a piece of paper, so a star, circle, heart, box, etc!! and write what you want inside! then you put tape over it before mixing paint and dish soap together to paint onto the tap afteer youve placed it down! thats all! if i didn't do a good enough job explaining, there are lots of tutorials online too!!༅

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♡ make a fish ──୨ৎ── get a paper plate and then cut a triangle out! then glue the triangle on the opposite side for the fin! you can get paper to make more fins to glue on as well! then color your fish!༅

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♡ finger painting ──୨ৎ── prettyyyy self explanatory and already pretty well known but i still thought id mention it! id recommend getting an outfit you don't mind getting messy before though ofc, and then paint to your hearts content!༅

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♡ mini garden/terrarium ──୨ৎ── get a bowl or a flower pot and you can paint it if you wish!! then add some soil in grass or moss and thennn add cute lil decorations! you can add fairys, just lil characters, a mini house, anything! and even a real flower or smth! you could also do it in a mason jar and make it like a terrarium!༅

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♡ juice popcicles ──୨ৎ── anotherr popular one, get an ice tray, pour juice in, and then add a popsicle stick, put in freezer over night, n boom!! juice popsicles!༅

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♡ pom-pom popsicles ──୨ৎ── you can look up how to do this one too, but you just get a card, pom poms ofc, a popsicle stick, and some double sided tape, and cut out the card into a popsicle shape, glue it to the stick, then use the tape to add the pom poms! you might need some help with this one! but you can use your favorite colors, your flag colors, whatever you wana do!༅

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♡ paint a rock ──୨ৎ── another self explanatory one! you can look up some ideas for inspo though if you wish!༅

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♡ paper bags ──୨ৎ── you can use paper bags to make puppets or lil houses! if you're confused on how, you can again look it up!༅

[blackynsupremacy]

CLARK KENT HELPING

YOU TAKE OUT YOUR

BRAIDS HEADCANONS

pairing: henry cavill!clark x blackfem!reader

fandom: DC

this was brewing in my head while actually taking out my braids today. plus, i wanted to give my baby henry a shot at this.

summary: it’s that time again! time to take down those 1-2 month old braids to prepare for your next fresh set. the only problem is, it’s raining, you’re tired, and you know it’s gonna take forever. yeah even getting your hair taken down, washed, detangled, and dried can be a hassle. fortunately, your fiancé, clark kent, is always happy to help with the process.

contains: lots of words, some things are based on true events, self insert, fluff, romance, established relationship, you and clark are simps, you and clark being fine, nudity but no smut, clark being a green flag, cuddling, kissing.

taglist: @rosiestalez @afrowrites @afrogirl3005 @simply-the-best23 @jkr820 @zombiehe4rt @elitesanjisimp @sabrinasopposite @gxuxhdjdu @tryingtograspctrl @ellethespaceunicorn

(i know i didn’t ask if ya’ll wanted to be tagged, but y’all are mutuals that consistently interact with my posts, so this is how i’m showing my appreciation! thank you! let me know if any of yall want to be tagged in my next blurb. again thank yall and i love my mutes)

• work was work today.

• it’s raining like hell.

• but good news, you’re getting your hair done this weekend! ain’t nothing like a fresh set of braids.

• the bad news, you gotta take out the old braids, wash/condition/detangle, and blow dry your hair all before your appointment. (yk how these new hair stylists be)

• girl, you’re dead tired, but you know you need to start asap!

• good news again though! your man clark kent is already home and you know he’s always down to help with your hair.

• ya’ll have been dating for 4 years before he popped the question a month ago on your anniversary.

• one thing about clark kent, he’s gonna hype up your hair no matter what style.

• he believes you’re stunning whether you have braids, twists, a lace front, locs, a slick back ponytail, a silk press or, your natural. he loves it!!

• he loves to watch you style it on your own or if you’re following along to a youtube tutorial.

• you’ve taught him a thing or two like taking down braids, detangling, applying edge control, and even helping you to wash and condition it!

• he catches on pretty fast and follows your instructions to a tee.

• his love language is acts of service and when it comes to your hair, he wants to make sure he does it properly.

• he told you he wants to continue learning because he can see himself helping out with your future daughter’s hair, so why not start with his future wife?

• this man is going to be the death of you.

• you see clark sitting on the couch with his laptop. as soon as he hears the door shut followed by your sigh of exhaustion, he’s already putting that to the side and zooming in your direction to take your bag, umbrella, and jacket off your hands.

• this man is teeth rotting sweet. how’d you get so blessed?

• he greets you with a warm embrace and plants a kiss atop of your head. he peeps that new growth, but he won’t mention it until you do.

• you both take a seat on the couch and have a brief conversation about each other’s day. you sigh again and run a hand through your hair one last time.

• “it’s about that time, clark. i’m getting my hair done soon and i need to start taking my braids down, but i’m so tired!”

• you whine and lean your head on his broad shoulder before you peer your “please help me” doe eyes into his blue ones that were hiding behind his glasses. he doesn’t hesitate to keep that eye contact either. it’s so intense yet intimate. you almost look away because even after 4 years, clark can still get you a bit flustered from time to time.

• “baby, would you like to help me out again? i promise you’re not gonna have to do all the work. i just need some assistance to get this done faster.”

• you playfully pout and bat your lashes. you already know the answer, but this brought you joy. you knew he was waiting for an opportunity to help with your hair again.

• he shows off those pearly whites before he enthusiastically responds, “i’d never thought you’d ask. you go change into something more comfortable, i’ll handle the rest, and we can get started.”

• he lays a chaste kiss to your lips and pats your behind to signal for you to handle your business and you don’t hesitate to do so.

• by “handling the rest”, clark gathers the necessities: 2 pairs of scissors, a detangling comb, 4 hair ties for sectioning, a plastic bag from that one drawer in the kitchen, your satin bonnet, and an order of chinese takeout placed on doordash.

• clark was waiting on the couch and he gleamed when he saw you come back clad in a white tank, no bra, grey cotton shorts, and one of his oversized, plaid flannels.

• as soon as you found yourself comfortable on the couch, clark handed you a pair of scissors and ya’ll got to work at cutting the braids shorter before you both section off your hair into 4 parts and start unbraiding from the front.

• you started on the right side, while clark took over for the left.

• you obviously know of clark’s abilities, his extraterrestrial heritage, and his intense duties as superman. he makes sure his powers can be of help in the most important areas of his life, one of them being your relationship.

• he’s had some practice with unbraiding and his fingers moves like clockwork. he moves at a delicate, quick pace and uses his keen eye to make sure your hair doesn’t get tangled or pulled, so there’s no unnecessary breakage. braid by braid, each one is removed out of your head and into the empty, plastic grocery bag that’s placed between you two.

• he’s seen you sometimes get it tangled and you would be quick to just cut it off, but with his aid, you’ve been doing that less frequently.

• after about 30 minutes, clark can already hear the doorbell ring and footsteps walking away. the food’s here.

• he opted for contactless delivery this time because he knew he just had one more braid….and done!

• he urges you to give your hands a break from unbraiding your side and to wash them because your dinner has arrived. he chuckled as you perked up hearing that because you were hon-grey!!

• he also takes it upon himself to gently place your satin, royal blue bonnet on your head.

• it’s his absolute favorite because it’s patterned with his iconic red and gold family crest!

• you have a friend who owns a small business of designing bonnets, durags, and head scarves with the cutest patterns imaginable for black nerds like you.

• they got some with superheroes, anime characters, hogwart house symbols, disney, you name it!!

• 2 years ago, you asked them to commission a bonnet to match his heroic attire.

• this was to show him that you’re proud of his kryptonian roots and that you 100% support him being one of the world’s most selfless heroes along with the other members of the justice league.

• you sometimes worry for his life, but he always tries his best to make it back to you in one piece.

• but girl, that bonnet had him geeking when you showed it to him!! his face heated with a bright hue of pink before he plants a billion kisses all over your face. his voice never ceasing his appreciation and eternal love for you.

• you both chill for a few minutes to eat and watch some tv.

• you stretch your hands, placed your bonnet on the coffee table and resumed to unbraiding the last strand on the front before sectioning it off with a hair tie and starting on the back of the right side. it seems that time moves slower (or faster) as your fingers meticulously unravel each braided strand.

• clark is half way done with his entire side. his brows raise at the sound of your soft groan of what seemed to be pain and exhaustion.

• “babe, my fingers are starting to cramp and so are my arms.” you gripe and pause your movements to massage out the stiffness in your fingers.

• clark also pauses what he’s doing. he delicately grasps your hands into his, sprinkling tiny pecks on each aching knuckle. his pink lips lingers on the rock that adorns the fourth knuckle of your left hand before those baby blues gaze into your own eyes.

• you could clearly see your worn reflection in his pupils, but you lovingly smile as you know what he’s about to say.

• “c’mere, beautiful. let me take care of the rest while you sit and relax. it’s just a few more and it’s nothing i can’t handle, so it’ll be my pleasure.”

• that’s true. clark’s an invincible kryptonian. unless your hair was laced with some green k, a cramp within the joints of his digits wouldn’t be possible. if you ask, he would one day take out your braids all by himself without you having to lift a finger and he’d be in pure bliss of taking that burden off your plate.

• he spreads his thighs apart. the large palms of his hands encircle around your waist to shift your body in between his legs before his fingers get back to tenderly remove the last remaining braids.

• as he does so, you simply enjoy each other’s presence. ya’ll would be cracking jokes, planning suggestions for the wedding, your jobs, and a myriad of other topics to kill time.

• about 30 more minutes pass by and your braids are finally out! he leans back feeling accomplished and marvels at how much your hair has grown over the month.

• “may i?” he politely asks. his expectant eyes glancing into yours for approval.

• “of course, kal.” you grin. it’s like seeing a child light up in a candy store, he’s so elated.

• you feel more at ease and lean into his touch as his fingers lovingly caress through your natural hair and scalp.

• you know that he just wants to feel your hair in it’s natural state. it’s not out of a fetish, but out of pure fascination, so you let him!

• you love that even though you’ve been together for 4 years and he’s helped you with your hair on multiple occasions, the curious kryptonian wonders why he always has to ask you before touching your hair.

• as a journalist, he’s gonna conduct his own research.

• he educates himself and he understands the history of that one boundary in your community, so he always asks you before touching your hair or he waits for you to offer.

• he’s not even human and he understands the basic human decency of not to reach out and touch someone’s hair out of nowhere.

• you sigh in relief and thank clark with a kiss before you go to dispose the plastic bag of worn out braids to the kitchen and into the large garbage can. you turn around and lean up against the sink.

• now it’s time to wash, condition, detangle, and dry.

• clark already knows the next step. he stands from his position on the couch and stretches his back muscles. he moderately saunters to the arched threshold that separates the kitchen and living room. his tall stature works in his favor as he casually raises his arms with his hands gripping the arch that’s a few inches above his head.

• you know exactly what pose i’m trying to poorly describe to the best of my ability. it happens to be one of those non-sexual turn ons that men do without them realizing.

• you go into a bit of a hypnotic state as you stare at his bulging biceps. you also take notice of how his white t-shirt raises up to expose a small section of his sculpted abdomen. the raven tresses on his skin that perfectly matches the messy curls on his head form a trail straight down to his—

• the trance is broken by the baritone voice of your fiancé.

• “my eyes are up here, angel. were you even listening to me?” he flirtatiously quips and tilts his head with a playful smirk curving on his lips, lowering his arms to cross them over his chest.

• like some suave lady killer, he approaches you and places his index under your chin to shift your gaze to his.

• girl, not you getting caught in 4K! you know that man is fine, but you got to finish off your hair. there’s no time to waste when it comes to that, so you must stay focused.

• you can’t help, but feel the heat of embarrassment rush on your melanated cheeks and giggle nervously before you confess.

• “i’m sorry, clark! after all of these years, you still get me sprung. now, what were you saying, boo? ”

• “it’s no worries, (n/n). don’t doubt that you’ve got the same effect on me too.” he blushes himself, beaming at the compliment and pecks your forehead, nose, and lips before he resumes his question.

• “would you like to wash in the sink or shower?”

• he bursts into a joyous laugh as you don’t hesitate to choose the shower.

• of course he was hoping you’d say that, but you shut down the idea because you just want to kill two birds with one stone, wrap this up, and cuddle in bed.

• he understands where you’re coming from and it’s no pressure at all. you both love when you two get down in the bedroom, but you share a common belief that spending quality time is the key to true intimacy.

• he takes your hand and leads you both to your shared bathroom.

• he puts his glasses on the sink, switches on the shower and checks for the perfect temperature that’s not too hot for your scalp, but not too cool for your body.

• you go to obtain large drying towels, african net wash cloths, and disposable shower caps. you then seek out the shampoo, conditioner, and detangling cream to nourish and clean your hair.

• you return to the bathroom with the items and clark gets your second opinion on the water temperature. you get a feel and let him know that it’s just right before you both strip of your clothes until you’re both completely naked. you make sure your engagement ring is placed in the velvet box it came in and set it on your drawer before you both step under the running water.

• clark reaches up to detach the shower head. before making a move, he asks if you need any further assistance in this step and you gladly accept, closing your eyes as he handles the shower head to pre-rinse both of your heads for a well deserved cleaning.

• as he puts the shower head back where it belongs, you let him know that you want to do the shampooing for both you and him.

• yep, clark uses your products on his hair!

• one time after your fifth date, he hugged you and his sensitive nose stealthily picked up on the natural, sweet, and intoxicating scent of the hair lotion that seeped into your scalp. he thought at first it was your perfume, which he loves too, but he was mistaken!

• “my god, you smell amazing.”

• clark takes you out to dinner and feeds your ego! okay, kal-el!

• he couldn’t get enough of it!

• this aroma— it was like something fresh and made from natural ingredients without any harsh chemicals.

• it reminds him of the homegrown warmth and love that his parents, jonathan and martha raised him up in back in smallville.

• if it wasn’t so soon (or the fact that he hasn’t told you his secret then), he would literally fly you out there in 10 minutes.

• when you moved in together, he would sometimes sneak a bit of your shampoo and conditioner in his hair routine once or twice a week until you finally caught up to him!

• you scolded clark a bit for using your products without permission because you would’ve let him use a little if he’d ask and plus, that stuff was expensive!

• he looked genuinely remorseful and apologized. “i’m sorry, (f/n). it was wrong of me to sneak like that, but i just wanted to use it because it’s like i’m taking a part of you with me everywhere i go. that way even though we’re apart, i don’t feel so alone in this universe anymore.”

• that almost had you crying and throwing up. he’s as big a simp for you as you are for him, so you couldn’t stay mad at him!

• you had an agreement to share or double up as long as you both are putting in for it.

• it was definitely no problem for clark because besides it’s sentimental value, it does wonders for his hair! it looks healthier, shinier and it feels softer compared to those 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner concoctions that he’s been using since high school.

• he loves your weekly beauty supply store excursions. he doesn’t care if the 6 items in your cart is $35, he’s paying for it all!

• clark’s aqua pupils observes from behind as you pour a generous amount of shampoo into your palm, rubbing the other against it, and massaging the bubbly, white substance through your scalp. your fingers work to make sure every single hair on your head is lathered in the coconut scented liquid and he notices that you’re careful not to tangle it.

• his own trance is broken by a “your turn! now lean down a bit, my love.” you’re now waiting for him to follow through, leaning his head down and forward to make his now drenched, dark hair right in your view and in your reach.

• he exhales at the contact of the cold shampoo descending on his scalp. as your fingers massage through his hair, his eyes close and a smile of ecstasy plays on his lips.

• your touch, the scent of the product, and the fact that if he opened his eyes again at this very moment, your breasts would be right in his face is clark’s idea of his personal heaven.

• you both take turns to rinse your own hair and each others to double check that all of the suds of the shampoo are gone.

• you repeat the process again, but this time it’s with conditioner. once that’s applied, you both put on the shower caps to let it rest and do its thing.

• you both use that time to talk some more and thoroughly clean your bodies of the filth of the work day using the african net wash clothes and aromatherapy body wash.

• after one last rinse of ya’lls hair, you cut the water off and grab the towels set out to wrap around your soaked bodies and dripping hair before walking to your shared bedroom.

• fortunately, you and clark have your own respective hair dryers, so that step doesn’t take too long before you take on the final boss: detangling.

• still clad in your towels, you and clark apply the detangling cream through your scalps. as he uses his comb to effortlessly rake through his noir mop, you just kind of stand and stare at the detangling brush in your hand.

• if you’re tender headed, you’ve probably lived the nightmare over and over with your heavy handed mother tugging the comb through the knotted ends, jolting your head and neck forward as you whined in pain. of course she got mad at you for that and said that it didn’t even hurt.

• you’re grown now! with your own bills, home, car, job, and man. there’s way more stressful things in the world than getting some knots out.

• you start the teeth of the comb from the root of your hair and hear the wet stickiness of the detangling cream as it glides to the end.

• okay, we’re getting somewhere! no pain or the pulling of knots for the next few strands near the front. now let’s start on the back. comb one, comb two, comb three—

• “ow, ugh!” you yelp. cringing as you hit a knot at the end.

“ woah! sweetheart, are you alright?”

• clark immediately halts his actions and puts his comb down. he takes one step behind you to examine the situation.

“please, lord, don’t tell me it’s tangled that bad.”

• you attempt to comb without breaking your hair out and the more you try, the more painful it gets. your arms and hands started to stiffen again.

• you lowkey wanted to cry because you just want this to be done and sleep peacefully in clark’s arms for the rest of the night.

• you immediately ask clark for help and he once again, comes to the rescue. he was gentle and comforting, but straightforward when it came to getting those knots.

• he talks you through it to make this a little easier.

• “i’m so sorry, honey. this is gonna hurt a bit, but we’re gonna knock these out and go straight to bed in no time, okay? i love you.” he kisses your temple before he proceeds with the task.

• several minutes of detangling are over! clark gets a second shower of kisses all over his face as you thank him again.

• you discard your towels and replace them with your nightclothes. clark’s shirtless with his sweats and you’re comfortable in another one of clark’s shirts with a fresh pair of cotton shorts.

• you put your hair in an afro puff ponytail and as always, you let your fiancé do the honors of placing your superman patterned bonnet on over your hair like a king crowning his queen.

• he looks at you with such pride and joy. seeing you happy feels so good it hurts. it makes him feel as weak as when he’s around green k. maybe even more.

• clark wouldn’t feel too comfortable to wrap his hair up just yet, so you suggested he uses a satin pillowcase instead.

• speaking of pillows, you look at the clock and realize it’s gotten late. you and clark shut off the lights and retire your exhausted bodies into your bed.

• you lay in a fetal position and turn to face him. kryptonians don’t usually need that much sleep as humans do, so you weren’t surprised that he was still awake.

• you both gaze and admire each other in comfortable silence. your hand reaching to his jaw. your brown toned fingertips caress the pale yet angelic face of the man you love. he closes his eyelids and leans into your warm touch.

• like a magnet, you drew closer to his face until your, full yearning lips rested on his. it doesn’t take him a second to melt into it, his hands clinging to your waist to rest your figure on top of his. your palms find themselves to rest on each side of his jawline.

• between each kiss, the moonlight illuminates the wide smiles you exchange to each other.

• after you two get your fill of each other’s affection, you lay your head on clark’s chest with his arms still acting as a shield around your back. he pecks your temple and is pulled in by the music of your steady heartbeat. he looks down to see your eyes pointed toward his and your hands folded flat on his chest.

• “thank you, clark. thank you so much for your help, your patience, your kindness, your love, and your compassion. not to mention that you are so fine, you still get me giggling like a schoolgirl at my big age! whether you’re superman, clark kent, or kal-el, i just thank you for being you. i love you, clark kent and that’ll never change.” your lips curve with a beaming smile.

• “(f/n), you need to know that everything i do, i do it for you and i’d do it again. you’re the most beautiful person and i’m not just talking about your stunning beauty. your heart is golden. despite everything that we’ve been through, it’s always been you. you understand me, you give me grace and hold me accountable, you still believe in me when i don’t even believe in myself. that’s how i knew i had to ask you to marry me, so i love you more, (f/n) kent and that’ll never change.”

• “look at us! we’ve only been engaged for a month and it sounds like we’re exchanging vows already.”

• “that sounds like a great start to me.”

• you both laugh and he gives you one last lingering kiss on your lips. your heads drop and your eyelids close before you take your peaceful slumber in each other’s presence.

[strwberrybils]

Hi! I’m not sure if your requests are open, but if so, I have a cute, fluffy idea.

Billie x Black!reader with Billie researching and learning how to take care of and do her daughter’s hair. She’s watching tutorials, reading articles, and trying things out on fake mannequin heads. Maybe you could include a 5 + 1 scenario where Billie tries and fails to do a hairstyle on her daughter’s hair, and finally, there’s one time when she’s successful.

the four times billie tried to do your daughter's hair, and the one she succeeded

contents. mom!wife!billie eilish 𝑥 mom!wife!black reader. fluff/slice of life. one swear.

masterlist ‧₊˚ taglist

gabi's quick thoughts. so i realized right before i posted this that you wanted 5 and i only have 4, im sorry :( but i hope you still like it + this prompt is so adorable gahh. thank you for the request !!

1. the first time

billie’s standing in the middle of the bathroom with five products in her hands, yet she hasn’t a single clue what any of them are for.

curl custard. leave-in. detangler spray. oil. cream?

she vaguely remembers you telling her something about the lco method— liquid first, followed by cream and oil. but you also said that it depended on hair porosity, which she didn’t even know was a thing to begin with.

her brow furrows. “baby,” she calls, not for your daughter, celeste, but for you, voice echoing down the hallway like a white flag, “what order does all this go in again?”

you peek in the doorway with a smile and no real intention of helping. billie had insisted on learning how to do your daughter’s hair, only asking you to help her when needed, and you knew that this was just another opportunity for her learn. “read the labels, honey.”

“i did read the labels,” she grumbles, holding up one bottle like it personally betrayed her. “they all say to use them together. it’s not saying anything about an order.”

she ends up putting too much gel and not enough leave-in, and your daughter’s little coils are crunchy for the rest of the day, which, she had a little fit about layer.

but billie tries, and that’s really all that you could ask for— and celeste still says “thank you, mama,” with a lisp and a toothless grin, and that’s enough to make billie want to try again.

2. the mannequin

you catch her late at night in the kitchen, way past everyone’s bedtime.

you had initially gotten up for a glass of water when you found billie sitting at the island, focus written all over her visage. she’s got a bald-headed practice mannequin clamped to the table like a hostage, a spray bottle in one hand and her phone propped up with a youtube tutorial playing on mute with the subtitles on.

the mannequin has about half a head of synthetic hair sewn into a crooked part, and it looks like it’s been through war— which makes you laugh. the braids were bumpy and rough, but still, you cracked a smile at her efforts.

“you alright?” you ask, trying not to laugh.

“don’t,” she says without turning around, braiding and unraveling the same three pieces over and over again, frustrated. “don’t make fun of me, i’m learning.”

“who told you to buy a fake head?”

“reddit did. since you won’t let me practice on you.” she huffs.

you can’t stop the laugh this time. you’re careful not to wake your daughter up, but it was kind of hilarious that you woke up in the middle of the night to find your wife playing in some mannequin’s head. she glares at you, and the mannequin loses another braid in protest.

3. the ‘puff incident’

“i just wanted to do the two cute puffs,” billie sighs at you, “the ones you always put her in for school. that’s not even that hard— and i still can’t do the shit.”

“swear jar!”

“sorry.” billie grumbles underneath her breath.

celeste is sitting on the floor in front of her, arms crossed and eyes teary from all the tugging. the part is zigzagged and the puffs are lopsided and one of the elastics popped off like a rubber band under pressure, which had really set your wife off.

“you said ‘easy’ in the video,” billie grumbles, replaying the tutorial for the third time, “this is far from it.”

you kneel beside them, smoothing your baby’s curls with gentle fingers. “yeah— easy if you’ve been doing hair since you were twelve,” you murmur. “not if you just started last month. it’s a process to learn.”

“i’m trying to get it right,” she says, quieter now, “i just don’t wanna mess it up.”

you kiss her cheek and help her redo the puffs together. her fingers follow yours, slowly, steadily, make sure to pay attention to every little detail.

4. wash day

billie severely underestimated how long wash day is.

before she started attempting to do your daughters hair, she didn’t really ask that many questions. she was interested, but she often just let you have your time on those saturday’s that you spent doing your own hair.

but now, things were different.

she’s got celeste in the tub with conditioner slathered in thick and a wide-tooth comb in hand, but her arm is cramping by the third section and there’s still a whole back half to go.

“this is actually just child labor,” she sighs, more to herself than anyone, and your daughter giggles like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard.

she doesn’t get all the tangles, and you have to step in halfway through, but it doesn’t matter. she’s learning. she’s present. and your daughter won’t stop telling her how “everything’s perfect, mama, you made it perfect.”

billie looks exhausted but proud of her contribution, and she feels even more secure when you give her an affirming kiss on the cheek.

the one where she succeeded.

it’s saturday now. billie took her time doing the twists the night before, watched three different videos on how to coil properly, and even made sure that your daughter wore a bonnet in solidarity.

the sun’s peeking through the windows and the house is slow and quiet, just morning cartoons and cereal crunches, per usual.

billie’s in the living room with your daughter between her legs, detangling with care, sectioning with clips, and using the right amount of leave-in this time. she parts with a steady hand. twists gently. oils the scalp. seals the ends, all like you taught her weeks prior.

you walk by and pause in the hallway to watch them, peeking out behind the door. your daughter’s humming to herself, and billie’s tongue is sticking out a little in concentration, eyes half focused on whatever is playing on the tv.

she undid the twists and fluffed them out with a wide-toothed comb, then sealed it with a bit of biotin oil she had found underneath your cabinet.

after she was done, celeste got up to go look in the mirror, and she gasped, which made billie a little anxious until she exclaimed, “i love it, it’s so pretty!”

billie exhales like she’s been holding her breath all month.

you peek out from your spot and make your way over to your wife, wrapping your arms around her waist from behind and kiss her neck, and she melts a little into you.

“you did it,” you whisper, “i told you that you could.”

“finally,” she breathes out in relief, “i just… i wanted to get it right. for her. for you.”

you squeeze her tighter.

“you always do.”

₊⊹ taglist: @47lake | @hopingforgoodblogs | @zendayasredbottoms | @chrissv4mp | @mseilishmwah | @justtr | @lovelyy-moonlight | @bilsdillldough | @billiesrighthand | @karaaeilish | @billiesbabygirll | @hrts4billieeilish | @drunkinyourbenz | @amara-eilish | @profoundcoffeepeanut | @billsbabydoll | @bilssturns | @lovxlyvee | @stargirl-mayaa | @emilyshortcake | @enchantingesme | @alexawhatstheweathertoday | @dyinbymistake | @ash198458 | @astrcmoni | @diceroll65 | @thefeverburningalive | @bxllxebxtch | @slxtarchive | @zbeaa | @youmademefeel | @billiesguitar | @kittluzbills | @bitchesbrokenpromises

[thatonegreenleaf]

~PRIDE! CAS background room~ (with mirror!)

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happy pride month! 🌈 but please remember you are worth celebrating every month of the year! there are 22 different versions of this CAS room, for 22 different pride flags! they start with the classic rainbow flag, and then are in categories. you can find them all in the download folder below ↓

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♥ Download the package file and put it right in your Mods folder! (up to 5 folders deep)

♥ You can only have one CAS background/room in your game at once, remove any other before putting any of these in!

♥ Reflections need to be set to low, medium, or high but not OFF in your game's graphics settings for the mirror to be functional.

♥ Base Game Compatible!

♥ DX11 and DX9 compatible!

-

Follow me on twitch!

Support me on patreon!

⇢ download on sim file share! ⇠

WATCH MY TUTORIAL ON HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HERE!

♥ built using littledica's original CAS room files ♥

♥ simlish fonts: just sign here by @franzillasims ♥

♥ rug (non cc) from ruggable ♥

♥ 2t4 jonesi blanket conversion by @msteasims ♥

I DO CUSTOM CAS ROOM (and other) COMMISSIONS! fill out my commission form ♥

TOU: do not claim my cc/CAS rooms/presets as your own! recolour/convert/otherwise alter for personal use OR upload with credit. (no paywalls)

stuff I'm using here: reshade | cas lighting | (I'm wcif friendly if you want anything on the sim!)

[befemininenow]

Read this if you're interested in preserving anything feminization or femme related!

With the inevitable ban of TikTok and the elimination of LGBTQ+ protection on Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram, never mind the awful moderation on Twitter, there's really not much sites where LGBTQ+ people can express themselves without being harassed by anyone hateful. Bluesky is an alternative that seems ethical. YouTube is good to use for actual feminization tutorials. As much as I despise the API decision, Reddit is one of the few sites where trans spaces have really good moderation and has a lot of useful info regarding transition. It's only a matter of time before these sites go down the gutter. That includes Tumblr.

Speaking of which, Tumblr seems to be a safe space for a lot of us. Unfortunately, a lot of blogs have also been target of termination and their posts have been nuked, even with reblogs and shares. Since feminization captions seem to be one of the more difficult pieces of NSFW posts to preserve, there's only one thing you can do continue that scene: repost.

While we have survived constant purges and flagging in the past, the future of feminization blogs and captions is looking more bleak as we speak. Sure, a lot of p0rn blogs have been deleted, but even the more SFW blogs like VikkiPNK have faced termination, probably due to so much flagging. It was so bad, I got instantly flagged 8 times myself! (plus a "copyright" strike)

So how can you help with this problem? Reblog your favorite captions! Hell, save all your favorite captions in a folder and repost them here or outside Tumblr in case the original gets deleted! It doesn't even have to be my captions. It can be another caption creator or some old legacy creator that no longer exists. Some of us don't even have Twitter or other sites, yet I see some of my captions being posted there. It's a sign of relief and I lowkey do get happy when I see other blogs sharing my posts.

And while we're at it, save your favorite TikTok videos as well! A lot of feminization caption creators use TikTok to make their captions and it will be a huge loss for a lot of them. The site is closing this Sunday and unless you live outside the US, it will be gone for good. You will see less Brooke Monk, Tate McRae, Neekolul, Pamibabyy, Peachybunn, and other creators, so save those too!

If you reached this far, thank you for reading and please reblog this post so that we can preserve as many captions for years to come!

[roksik-dnd]

For everyone who asked: a dialogue parser for BG3 alongside with the parsed dialogue for the newest patch. The parser is not mine, but its creator a) is amazing, b) wished to stay anonymous, and c) uploaded the parser to github - any future versions will be uploaded there first!

UPD: The parser was updated!! Now all the lines are parsed, AND there are new features like audio and dialogue tree visualisation. See below!

Patch 7 dialogue is uploaded!

If you don't want to touch the parser and just want the dialogues, make sure to download the whole "BG3 ... (1.6)" folder and keep the "styles" folder within: it is needed for the html files functionality (hide/show certain types of information as per the menu at the top, jumps when you click on [jump], color for better readability, etc). See the image below for what it should look like. The formatting was borrowed from TORcommunity with their blessing.

If you want to run the parser yourself instead of downloading my parsed files, it's easy:

run bg3dialogreader.exe, OPEN any .pak file inside of your game's '\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\Data' folder,

select your language

press ‘LOAD’, it'll create a database file with all the tags, flags, etc.

Once that is done, press ‘EXPORT all dialogs to html’, and give it a minute or two to finish.

Find the parser dialogue in ‘Dialogs’ folder. If you move the folder elsewhere, move the ‘styles’ folder as well! It contains the styles you need for the color coding and functionality to keep working!

New features:

Once you've created the database (after step three above), you can also preview the dialogue trees inside of the parser and extract only what you need:

You can also listen to the correspinding audio files by clicking the line in the right window. But to do that, as the parser tells you, you need to download and put the filed from vgmstream-win64.zip inside of the parser's main folder (restart the parser after).

You can CONVERT the bg3 dialogue to the format that the Divinity Original Sin 2's Editor understands. That way, you can view the dialogues as trees! Unlike the html files, the trees don't show ALL the relevant information, but it's much easier to orient yourself in.

To get that, you DO need to have bought and installed Larian's previous game, Divinity Original Sin 2. It comes with a tool called 'The Divinity Engine 2'. Here you can read about how to unstall and lauch it. Once you have it, you need to load/create a project. We're trying to get to the point where the tool allows you to open the Dialog Editor. Then you can Open any bg3 dialogue file you want. And in case you want it, here's an in-depth Dialog Editor tutorial. But if you simply want to know how to open the Editor, here's the gist:

Update: In order to see the names of the speakers (up to ten), you can put the _merged.lsf file inside of the "\Divinity Original Sin 2\DefEd\Data\Public\[your project's name here]\RootTemplates\_merged.lsf" file path.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions! Please let me know if you modify the parser, I'd be curious to know what you added, and will possibly add it to the google drive.

[heartless-aro]

DIY Pride Gear

In honor of Aromantic Spectrum Awareness week, I thought I’d make a list of some resources for making some DIY aro pride gear!

Aro Rings

For anyone who doesn’t already know, an aro ring is a white ring worn on the left hand middle finger, signifying that the wearer is on the aromantic spectrum.

If you want to make one yourself rather than buying online or searching through local stores trying to find a suitable ring, AUREA made a pretty detailed tutorial on how to make an aro ring, which I’ve linked below.

It’s also pretty simple to make rings out of polymer clay if you would prefer an easier method.

Pride Flag

This tutorial is for a rainbow flag, but if you would prefer to make an aromantic flag, you could just use the same method with different fabric colors. (Since the aro flag is a 5 stripe flag, you’d probably want the fabric strips to be around 20.4 cm wide by 150 cm long if you want to get close to the dimensions of the flag in the video).

Pins

Great if you want to make something cheap and easy with a pride flag on it, especially if you want to make something with one of the more obscure or complicated flags, since those can be harder to sew or buy.

Patches

Aroworlds is aro-specific and thus includes many different aro flags, but the tutorials in the two videos can also be easily done for pretty much any horizontal striped pride flag.

[fuck-i-like-too-much-stuff]

The image of Mechanic! Style clocking out from a long day of working his ass off, emotionally and sexually stressed because his jailed boyfriend has been ignoring him for weeks, hunched over under a table lamp, watching a tutorial on how to make a tiny paper bouquet and adding said boyfriend's diner's (also the diner he is working his ass off for) little flag to it as his way of communicating an apology to Assassin! Boyfriend. What a boyfriend.

[kitschycritter]

Howdy, my name is Critter. Have y'all heard of this lil thing called Craftivism? Here are 5 types of Punk/DIY Crafts I think we need to embrace, sooner rather than later!

Crochet/Knitting

Yarn and crochet/knitting supplies are relatively easy and inexpensive to get your hands on, and learning to crochet/knit is relatively easy with video tutorials. Once you learn the basics, you can create patches and clothing items that support certain causes. You can also do yarn-bombing (essentially graffiti using crochet/knitting) as a way to spread awareness about certain issues. Here are the patterns I listed above:

LGBTQ Pride Keychains

BLM Patch

Palestine Flag Heart

LGBTQ Pole Wrap

Womens March Hat

Pins

All you need is something hard and sturdy to act as the base for your pin (bottle caps work best), soda tabs + a safety pin, and some glue to secure everything. Paint or decorate them however you please. Let people know who you are and what you stand for. 

Kandi

While Kandi can be a way to express yourself and your identities, it is also a way to make community. Kandi-trading is huge in the EDM scene, and it is a huge part of why that community is so tight. You don’t need to make anything elaborate, especially to start out - just get some cheap pony beads from the dollar store, some letters, make some pretty bracelets. Keep them, trade them, give them away. 

Embroidery

Embroidery is a very fun and useful skill to develop, as you can basically put whatever you like wherever you want. Mend your socks, personalize your jacket, make some patches. Stop buying those shitty embroidered clothes from temu or shein and make your own one-of-a-kind pieces. Learning embroidery is pretty easy, just get some fabric, some thread, a needle, and go ham.

Zines

Zines are not only a way to spread awareness about certain issues, but they are a way to express yourself and talk about your personal experiences. I’ve included instructions on how to fold a zine, as well as some examples of zines. If you would like to learn more about zines & their history, I recommend @/decolonizationcoven on Tiktok. If you would like more examples of zines, check about any social media platform, but especially Pinterest. Lastly, if you would like inspiration for zines, Canva has lots of templates of zine layouts that are easy to replicate.