#i got the box set on when it was really cheap too which was nice cause the “box” that it came in got delivered to me completely broken

[jenna-louise-jamie]

im so tempted to buy all the alex rider graphic novels, but they cost $98 canadian dollars... and that's the cheapest set i could find too

[elsweetheart]

havduaha hello hi i think i'm inlove with you- anw i reaaaaaaalllyyyy love your writing. got me giggling and kicking feet fr hdjashaj soooo i just want to request somethin or whatnot just... dealer!ellie... whatever you want to do just make my dreams come true so i can pass away in peace (just kidding... or not) just gonna leave it here, again i think i'm really inlove with you HAJDHWJSHA BYE MWA

hiiii omgomgomg thank u!! i’m so happy u like my writing + you’re so sweet of course i will write dealer!ellie she is so chefs kiss 💋

beginners luck — dealer!ellie

tw// drug usage !! not smutty just flirty <3 more to come tho !!

• you and ellie were always seeing eachother around campus, or at parties where she’d be doing business. so much so, that the two of you would often laugh to eachother and chat at social gathering about how often you bumped into eachother. things were definitely a little flirty from your perspective, but you didn’t wanna read into it too much. so she’s not a total stranger — you just wouldn’t consider her a friend, and you wouldn’t wanna be stuck in the friendzone anyway.

• she’s always wondered why you’ve never tried to buy from her and then simply put it down to you seeming too innocent to wanna smoke and honestly she thinks it’s cute.

• that is until you can’t sleep one night, mind super frazzled from staring at a computer all day that you decide fuck it, now is the perfect time to start.

• so you march over to ellie’s dorm, and everyone knows where ellie’s dorm is because everyone buys weed from ellie. you didn’t think to change out of the tank top that’s just a little too tight and your cute pj pants, and before it’s too late you’re knocking on her door.

• she opens up pretty fast, and she looks like she just got back — wearing a carhartt jacket over her hoodie, her sneakers still on. she lets you in and honestly she’s surprised and confused as you’re the last person she expected to come knocking at 1AM.

• “i want to… erm, i’d like to buy a…weed.” you try and sound confident but you shrink down when she chuckles, stepping aside and letting you into her room. “i got plenty of those.” she replies as she pulls out a metal box and you don’t quite catch that she’s slightly making fun of your naively worded request.

• she lets you fish through all the pungent baggies with labels you don’t understand on them before you’re looking up at her with doe eyes and a shrug. “i don’t really know what i’m looking for here.” you admit defeatedly.

• “you never smoked before? like not even at a party or anything?” she doesn’t sound judgemental, more curious and you feel more comfortable to be truthful.

• “no, never. just struggling to sleep and i think it might help me.” you respond earnestly and she thinks for a moment, seeming to analyse you before taking the metal box and closing it, storing it away.

• “i don’t usually sell to beginners. they don’t know what they’re doing and then they go away and smoke more than they can handle and then come freaking out at my door saying i laced them or some shit, which i obviously did not. but… i dunno, you’re always nice to me when i see you, and plus i know what it’s like to not be able to sleep. so, i’m gonna help you out.” she ranted, digging through another one of her drawers before she stood back up, holding a smaller tin.

• “thank you, ellie. you’re a lifesaver. what is that?” you ask shyly with your eyes on the tin. she pries it open and nods towards her bed. “sit down.” she offers in a softer voice and you do, watching as she gathers her equipment. “it’s my personal stash. the good stuff, you know. you don’t smoke pretty girls out with the cheap shit i sell.” she chuckled like it was obvious, continuing to set up her little rolling station at her desk, perching on her chair. you flushed all over at her calling you pretty and smiled.

• she talks you through how to roll and prepare the blunt, and you’re trying to listen — you really are. but you’re both finding it hard to concentrate when she’s that hot and explaining things to you, and you’re showing her how good of a listener you can be by responding with small dreamy “mhm”’s to her instructions. you swing your legs as you stare at her, her fingers continuing to do the last bit of rolling and twisting of the pink rolling paper she let you select.

• “now the boring parts out the way…” she smiled as she stood up, flopping down on the bed next to you and pulling her lighter out her pocket before setting them down on the bed between you and shuffling out of her jacket. you felt your body heat up and the close proximity and you kicked off your slippers, crossing your legs and facing her.

• she placed the joint carefully between your lips, eyes flicking from your mouth to your eyes as if for permission before lighting it. “now inhale and you’re gonna hold it for a few seconds, alright?” her voice was calm and quiet and it eased your nerves slightly as you did what she said.

• she let you take a few more hits commending you with a “see? you’re a natural.” before taking her turn, inhaling with more confidence as she relaxed back against the wall beside her bed.

• the two of you get talking as you smoked, and you clicked instantly, talking about her day and then talking about yours and laughing together. you almost forgot what you were doing, as after a while it became second nature.

• the fogginess started to hit you as she was talking and you began giggling, eyes now pink and watering as you observed how pretty she was as she spoke. she trailed off, taking a drag of the blunt and you moved closer to her on the bed.

• “your freckles look like little stars.” you tried to widen your eyes so you could see more and she chuckled, tilting her her slightly to catch your eye.

• “you good? it’s hitting you huh?” her voice was laced with amusement as you bit your lip and nodded with an innocent grin. “does it feel good?” she asked, in reference to the high but the question made your eyes flutter anyways. “mhm.”

• the good feeling lasted for what felt like forever, but when she made you laugh at a stupid joke a little too hard you found that your heartbeat sped up just a little bit too much. you tried to play it cool, taking a deep breath as you flattened your back against the wall, staring at her bedsheets.

• she moved her head slightly, trying to catch your eye. “you in there?” she cooed, placing a hand on your shoulder.

• “yeah. m’okay just... focusing on breathing.” you breathe out, a little whiny and trying not to panic. ellie barely reacts, reaching under her bed and pulling out a water bottle from a multipack, opening it for you and handing it to you lidless. “you’re alright, just smoked a little more than you can take for now. just relax, ‘kay?”

• she pulled her laptop up and put some kind of animated comedy on the screen to distract you, and somehow you ended up with your head resting in her lap as the two of you watched, ellie smoking another to herself. you relaxed yourself, and the high felt good again. you rolled over to look up at her, watching her smoke as her beautiful features were lit up by the glow of the screen. her eyes were pink and glossy now too and the room was smokey. you noticed the sock over the smoke alarm on the ceiling just past her head in your eyeline and giggled, attracting her attention.

• “what you looking at?” she smiled down at you and you shrugged it off, instead choosing to play with the drawstrings on her hoodie.

• “how much?” you asked sweetly. “before i forget.”

• “how much what?” she stroked your hair back.

• “how much do i owe you for this premium experience.” you giggled. “can see why so many people buy from you now. y’must be popular with the ladies.”

• she chuckled, but in a modest and almost nervous way as she leant back more against the wall— taking the moment to really look at you as you stared back. the weed induced haze gave you the confidence to hold her gaze without looking away.

• “i guess a beginner wouldn’t know that pretty girls smoke for free.” she smirked and you bit your lip in girlish excitement at her calling you pretty again. “especially pretty girls that are extra pretty when they’re all giggly and smoked out with big pretty pink eyes.” her voice was smooth and your heart fluttered again, but in a good way this time.

• “i suppose you should be paying me then.” you joked quietly and she laughed, nodding. you sat up slowly, eye contact not breaking once and your faces close.

• “so… do you let all your beginners lay in your lap and smoke with you?” your eyes danced between hers and her eyes were heavy lidded, lazily staring at your lips before blinking up at your eyes, stubbing out the last of the roach into the ashtray.

• “first time for everything. figured i’d try it out on the cute girl i see around campus that i was too much of a pussy to talk to.” her voice was quiet, almost lusty and you licked your lips.

• “me?” you breathed out sweetly and she smiled again.

• “clever girl.” she praised, pulling you in to meet her lips.

i don’t rlly like this but hey ho i can’t be bothered to write it again :))))

[gabessquishytum]

Work has been killing me and I can't get the idea of Hob, as stupid and sweet as he is, getting a job as a security guard at a local sex shop. He got interviewed by the manager of the shop, really Lucienne is a lovely woman and got to meet some of the day crew. Unfortunately, the morning guard is pretty comfy in his current position and as such, he's stuck working nights.

Working nights isn't so terrible. He has to deal with far more weirdos and sex objects than he's accustomed to, but other than kicking out the occasional masturbator inappropriately using the video arcade, he's loving it! Except for the night cashier, whose little black name tag reads "Dream." He was warned about this guy by Lucienne as he can be a bit of an asshole and really curt with both customers and staff. He's also mostly silent throughout the shift as he stocks and helps people find things which kills the ever-perpetual social butterfly Hob is. It's not like he needs to talk, but it would be a hell of a lot more fun busting shoplifters and perverts when you have someone to commiserate with after all. It also doesn't help that he's so goddamn pretty it hurts.

This all changes when a guy comes in and starts hardcore perving on Dream, asking him which lubes he's used, if he's ever taken a real dick before. Really invasive questions. Hob steps in and tries to get the guy to see reason, but he's not receptive to the idea. Then Hob gets loud and the guy gets loud back. Things break down into a fist fight Hob soundly wins by knockout.

After he tosses the guy out, he panics about losing his job and Dream, for all his prickly personality and hateable sneer, comforts him and tells him as long as nobody says anything to Loosh, then it's history. From then on, they learn a lot about the other. Hob is in classes to become a teacher. Dream is on the spectrum somewhat and has a lot of sensory issues, which explains the attitude. Back and forth until they're taking smoke breaks together in the storage room and get even closer.

By the end of Hob's three-month probation period, they're already going at it like rabbits. Dream only feels safe when Hob works and they've done more than their fair share of "product testing."

- 🤜 Anon

Aww this is such a meetcute <3

Turns out, Dream is a bit of an expert when it comes to the merchandise in the shop. He’s tried a bit of everything and he does genuinely give good recommendations to customers (if they ask nicely). Hob, on the other hand, is a bit of a newbie. He’s used a pussy pocket but it was cheap and kind of eh. And he loves to finger himself and get fucked by the guys he occasionally brings home, but he’s never dared to buy his own dildo.

Now he’s got Dream to satisfy all his needs, but Dream has also started introducing a few little toys in the bedroom. He asks Hob to wear a cock ring, and he also gets Hob to use a bullet vibrator, and most times they hook up Dream has a plug already snuggled in his arse. The more Hob sees, the more curious he gets, and he eventually admits that he’s a bit clueless when it comes to sex toys. Dream gives one of his rare tiny smiles, and promises to give Hob a thorough education.

It’s Dream who picks out Hob’s first dildo for him and presents it to him after work. There’s even a ribbon tied around the box. He tells Hob to go home and give it a try, and to keep him updated. Hob’s ears turn bright red and he scurries off to do as he’s told. The toy isn’t huge - in fact, it reminds Hob of Dream’s dick. Long and not too girthy, with a fat mushroom head. Hob sets up his phone to easily take pictures… and he gets to work. All too soon he’s desperate to cum, but he desperately grips the base of his cock and frantically texts Dream for permission. He’s a very good boy - he even says please.

It’s the first of many toys that Dream picks out specifically for Hob to use. It’s almost getting to the point that working together in the sex shop just makes them so horny all the time. They have to frantically make out (and occasionally frot on each other) during breaks.

Next time someone comes in and tries to steal a dildo, Hob collars them and hauls them out. Then he pops back inside to check on Dream.

“He picked a terrible, cheap model.” Dream shakes his head. “I could have told him that. If he’d only said please.”

[johannestevans]

have you ever done any fics for House MD?

I've just got the one that's up on Ao3!

Experimentation

Rated M, 2.7k. House tries something new on Wilson.

“So. Ditched Christmas with the wife for a cripple, huh?” House asked. He looked up from his noodles as he said it, meeting Wilson’s gaze on the chair beside the couch, and he saw the shift in Wilson’s face, the way he shut down just a little bit. House was drunk. He was aware of that, was aware of the pleasant buzz that rested between his ears. They’d bought some wine at the liquor store when they’d picked up the takeout, and it turned out a nice, cheap claret paired well with Vicodin and chow mein.

“Like you said, I’m Jewish,” Wilson said.

“Yeah, and married,” House said. “What, she made a nice dinner, and you ditched… for this?”

“House,” Wilson said.

“Hey, no judgement,” House said. “Just seems weird, that’s all. Ditching your bed to sleep on my couch. I mean, if you’re gonna cheat on your wife, you might as well really cheat.”

“I’ve ditched important stuff for you before,” Wilson said with a roll of his eyes.

“But this isn’t for me,” House said. “This is for you, you jackass. Can’t use your drug addict bestie as an excuse for everything.”

“I just didn’t feel like it,” Wilson said, and House could see the tell-tale signs of the hackles rising as he leaned forward, feeling his body pleasantly separated from his motor centre, the way he swayed just a little too far forward, the way he set the box down just a little too hard down on the coffee table. “She’s stifling, House, that’s all, and sometimes I just don’t want to be alone with her.”

“Oh, but me, I’m not stifling,” House said.

“Are you complaining that I want to spend time with you?”

“No,” House said, lurching slightly on his feet as he stepped forward, delicately taking the box out of Wilson’s hand and setting it on the coffee table. It looked nice outside. Dark. Cool. Not freezing cold, just… mild. Enough to be glad to be inside, and away from it. He had a thick blanket on his bed, and some stupid, knitted throw Wilson – or was it Julie? No, it was Wilson, it would have been Wilson who thought of putting something on House’s bed, who thought of House being cold – had got him a few birthdays back.

“House, I was eating that,” Wilson said. To House’s mild (although not exactly surprised) curiosity, Wilson’s body language did not change as House stood between his knees, which were slightly parted where he lounged back in the chair. This was a new experiment. Not one, in fact, that he’d tried on Wilson before, which was questionable, given how long they’d been friends, but—

Well. This wasn’t just a prank, or a test of his sensibilities. This was a slightly more extreme experiment than House generally went in for, because this was a new kinda bridge to burn, a new frontier. The wine made it easier. The fact that Wilson was Wilson made it even easier.

“Can I help you?” Wilson asked, his head tipping back, and his eyes narrow as he looks House over, as if searching him for some kind of evidence, some kind of clue, as to what he’s gonna do next, what he’s gonna say next. “What?” House looked down at him, and Wilson shifted, leaning forward slightly, and said, “House, for God’s sake, if this is one of your stupid mind games let me finish my—”

House leaned in, his head tilting to the side, and caught Wilson’s mouth under his own, leaning in between his spread knees, letting his own rest – with his weight on his good leg – on the sofa’s edge. Wilson’s mouth was hot under his own, and his body was warm, too, warm, bigger than most of the hookers House was used to, with more average proportions. Light muscle in the shoulders, a soft belly, square shoulders… Of course, there was no make-up, no perfume, either. No fishnets, although—

This was the big gamble. This was all the money on the black 33, and the wheel was spinning, spinning, spinning…

And Wilson’s mouth opened wider, letting House kiss him properly, letting House’s tongue come up against his. Their lips smacked against one another, and House didn’t let his body react when Wilson’s hands came up to touch House’s hips, touching the hem of his t-shirt where it lay over his jeans, the touch featherlight, as if he thought he’d get smacked away.

Read more here.

[neon-draws-sometimes]

utmv if it was frisk playing with their toys??

Fresh has little charms that often come with dolls/ in fashion packs and clip onto his glasses.

He’s basically this universes Barbie, being everywhere and having many doll runs up to modern day

here’s his base if you wanna put funny little outfits on him

Error is similar to a preskool style toy, (with the play sets unlocking when you twist the figures) but combined with a a playmobil

he’s a sans figure from a different set that Frisk dribble all over because they didn’t want two of the same character and his face was really misprinted

The Dreemurr Family are in-universe Calico Critter equivalents

Some people say they’re creepy bc of the eyes but many people collect them

the lore of them on the back of the is they’re aliens but that’s not super important

Chara is from a kinder surprise toy, and their sweater is loose because it’s from a Dreemurr Family set and isn’t made to fit them

Toriel and Asgore are not together

Nightmare is apart of the Monster High-counterpart brand, and had a villain arc in an animated movie when his brother, Dream, decided to stay at the in universe Ever After High equivalent instead of coming back

his apple and tentacule pattern reappears in his jacket btw, I just didn’t feel like drawing it

(I haven’t drawn Dream yet)

Killer is dollar store bootleg Dream doll painted like the Sans figure His eyes are drippy bc the paint was wet when they packed him and the makers used too much of it He’s a bootleg of a kitchen set, hence the knife

He always follows nighmare around (made up by Frisk, to be clear)

I haven’t drawn the rest of the nightmare’s gang yet, but here’s the info

Dust is a Fresh bootleg with some different body parts but a bootlegger fresh head, so his proportions are strange And his seam on his torso is craking open and is held together with a rubber band His limbs always come out and he smells like chemicals

Horror is an action figure for some Walking Dead style show that Frisk got attached to and begged to buy him until their parents relented

haven’t drawn Mettaton yet, but he’s a competing fashion doll to Fresh, with his gimick being that his legs and arms pose like the lil guys above

the rest of his body is a normal fashion doll

Frisk gave him a chainsaw from Horror’s set and pained it pink and glittery

His box looks like his box form in the game (thanks for the idea, @paintedplum7 btw! Hope the @ is ok)

Fresh hates him, according to Frisk

Napstablook is probably one of these squishy mochi toys but I haven’t decided yet

Gaster is mad scientist themed putty, which “melts” like the picture above.

He has a plastic head part with goggles taht strap on, and comes with two hands each holding test tubes which you stick in the putty with the head to form his body

Vinny is apart of the Fresh line

He was originally a Fresh doll with a unique outfit, but was quickly given made his own character

he has molded on hair for sure. Except for Totally Hair Vinny, ofc

his full name is vinegar.

sans and papyrus are both evil skeleton guys who come in an evil cave lair set. Frisk decided they weren’t evil tho, so their personalities are exactly like canon.

Mad mew new is one is those super nice anime figures with multiple hands and faces

Alphys is a dinosaur figure like these. Made totally of vinyls and was pretty cheap. she was printed with a pretty silly face (this is a positive) She happens to fit a lab coat outfit and glasses Frisk has, thus becoming the alphys we know.

Undyne is a action figure from an old he-man type show. She is dating Alphys according to Frisk

Ink is a fashion doll, similar in style and proportions to the Rainbow High line. He’s not a high schooler though, he’s from one of those inspirational style lines. He’s an artist who is all about how cool being an artist for a career is. There’s other dolls in his line for different careers

Ccino is a strawberry shortcake style doll, who in his base outfit comes in a cafe with his cats. he’s scented like either coffee or French vanilla depending on if you got the early release or not. what happened with the change is a bunch of senstive parnets complained about his original scent and the coffee in his cafe, saying it was “too adult”, so he was changed to French vanilla, and the coffee in his cafe changed to hot cocoa

his cats are alls scented too, and flocked. they’re all named after competing doll brands/toy brand’s character (like how the real ccino has cats named after the au characters), which got his company into a lot of legal trouble lol

You can see some of them in the other character art above.

he’s only had two releases (the coffee and French vanilla versions) due to the companies financial troubles and all the lawsuits and no other character exist in his universe. ( :[ )

aannd I think thats everyone? Whew this is a long one

credits?

Greaser by @radsee

ink by @comyet

error and fresh by @/ loverofpiggies

undertale characters by Toby duh. It just feels weird not putting h him here ?? So

Killer by @rahafwabas

dust by @ask-dusttale

horror. @/sourapplestudios or something. I support don’t the ableism one the original, it won’t be in this au

ccino by @black-nyanko

[imagine-silk]

Christmas Office Party

》 WIP for the Miguel's Secretary story, one of the little parts that is mostly inconsequential and will be expanded. Also trans flag snowflakes because I found them.

You never quite liked secret Santa, it would be infinitely better if you got someone and they knew so you could get them something they wanted instead of shooting in the dark or getting them a gag gift. But as luck would have it there was an office secret Santa and there was an uneven number so you had to join. Luckily, Miles wasn't too hard to shop for. A few color pencils would have done it but you weren't that cheap, especially for him. That and it wouldn't do for an office setting.

He unwrapped it and was kind of confused before he thanked the room for whoever gave him the briefcase. You chimed in and said he should open it effectively outing yourself, you didn't care in the slightest. The look on his face was priceless. Miles was an adult, sure, but you knew the look of a kid at the tree in the morning. The sense of pride almost made you brag so you took a drink of your eggnog.

When Hobie's turn came it was really nice. It was a bunch of little things, jacket pins, guitar picks, black things, silver things, even a loc needle. He was genuinely surprised before his smile turned smug. "Thanks, big man." Looking straight at Miguel.

Miguel's previous unbothered state became annoyed very fast. "Why can't you ever be quiet?" You did find it amusing, so did most of the office. He looked annoyed but seven months with him told you he was embarrassed.

Later, during the actual party, you were looking for a chance to slip away quietly. But when you found that moment Miguel left and it would waste all of the effort of sneaking if he saw you, because knowing him he was probably going to his office for something. You waited till he came back and took the next moment. You grabbed your purse and 'went to the bathroom for lady issues'.

His office was unlocked so that made it easier for time. You took a little box wrapped in green paper and a yellow bow out of your purse and placed it on his desk before slipping back out. But from the door, while you weren't making your get-away, you could see your work station and there was something on it. A long thin box wrapped in dark blue and tied with a red ribbon. You couldn't help laughing. Great minds think alike.

Neither of you said anything on Tuesday. Miguel had a new watch no one blinked an eye at. You had a red tie everyone saw and asked about because you were never one to wear ties. All you said was someone important gave it to you and it became the word around the office with the endless question about who it was. Jess tried the 'girl to girl' thing. Pavitr said please and if anyone else gave you the tie you would have told him. Even Hobie was getting into the mix. But you didn't move an inch.

"Okay, now that the kids are gone, who is it? Stays between you and me." Peter asked in the buddy-buddy way he did everything. It was at this point starting to die down but Peter wanted to know, if not to have a laugh to be in with you.

"They're still adults." You responded. You wouldn't be a very good secretary if you broken under any kind of pressure, this was nothing. All week not a word came out of you and that wasn't going to change.

"Do I know 'em or are they an outside source?"

It was clear to you this was going to become school yard talk and you were ready for rapid fire answers. "You're just as bad as the kids."

"Family?"

"It's cute you think I'm going to tell you."

"Boyfriend?"

Ha, I wish. "Like I said, I'm not saying anything."

"Girlfriend?"

"Changing the gender isn't going to change my answers."

"Brother?"

"I have work to do."

"Sister?"

"I already said genders didn't make a difference."

"An estranged child."

"You're covering a lot of ground to get the same answer."

"Leave her alone, Parker." Miguel said as he walked past and into his office. There wasn't an inch of malice which was a switch. A month ago he would have told the both of you to get back to work. Maybe the holiday has mellowed him out.

Peter didn't quip back or talk shit, he furrowed his brows. The way he turned to you was with an actual question, like he had the answer but it was too far removed from the subject. "Is it Miguel?"

You didn't skip and word or react. "Being specific isn't going to get you an answer either."

[punisheddonjuan]

My IEMs gave out the other week. No great loss, I liked them quite a bit but they were $30. I mostly bought them as an experiment to see if I could tolerate wearing them, I have a bad history with earphones. A pair of Apple iPod earbuds netted me a four day stint in the hospital back in 2007 with a staph infection in both ear canals that got so bad they were nearly swollen shut (and even after I was discharged I was on IV antibiotics for a week at home). So I've been understandably squeamish about earphones since. That said, wearing heavy closed back headphones with a ten foot long cord to the grocery store is not super convenient, and I just need that sound isolation if I've got a migraine. So I bought a pair of cheap, well reviewed IEMs to dip my toes in, the 7hz Zero. I really liked them, my partner even bought a pair.

So when they died the other week I decided to upgrade a tier and bought a pair of 7hz Sonus IEMs with the small amount of Christmas money I received this year. These things are fantastic, it's honestly insane that a dual driver IEM is available under $100 (those are Canadian dollars I think they're around $60 USD). They're very good on the technical merits, and they're tuned so well that it's the first time I haven't been tempted to fiddle with the EQ right out of the box to compensate for a lacking in the sound characteristics. They've got very good bass, smooth mids, articulate treble, almost no sibilance at the frequencies you'd expect to find it (4khz to 6khz), and nice sound stage too. You don't feel "inside your head" so much with them.

They even come with a nice carrying case.

I've got them paired with a $10 USB-C headphone amp/DAC with my phone (RIP headphone jacks, I will never buy fucking wireless headphones, fuck that bullshit) and I'm streaming my music collection from my home server through PlexAmp, and it's all fantastic.

I used to carry around an expensive and heavy stand alone DAP (iBasso DX150) with all my music loaded on microSD cards and this new set-up is such an upgrade in convenience (and battery life) and is on par vis-a-vis audio quality despite being half the cost. I miss some of the features from Neutron Music Player which I was using with my DX150 (parametric EQ, stereo-to-binaural DSP) but on the other hand I'm not switching out between three or four microSD cards, my entire 5600 album collection is just available on the fly, and it's one less thing to carry.

So yeah, a strong recommendation for the 7hz Sonus for anyone looking for a very affordable, excellent sounding pair of IEMs. I guarantee that these will net you a better experience than a pair of Airpods at a third the cost.

[an-isolated-lifeboat]

Experiment: Building a Stress Box

There are a lot of names for these sorts of set ups - sensory needs boxes, anxiety box, distress tolerance box - all somewhat different based on the items used and guiding philosophies. For my first pass at this I wanted to focus on sensory needs but also make other tools that I already know help when I need some enrichment in my enclosure. 

So why make one? Honestly because it something I just haven’t tried yet. My sleep schedule is starting to oscillate again so I’ve been getting up later and staying up later. And especially after midnight, I’ve been getting almost...psychologically itchy even if I like whatever it is I’m doing. In the past, this would have been prime middle of the night food time. But lately if I eat too late, I’ve been getting an upset stomach, that’s been a no go.

So I thought it would be a good chance to test out some new sensory tools as well as make other calming tools a little more accessible to pull out more often. 

While sensory needs most often get talked about in the context or autism and ADHD, everyone has them. A group that has high sensory needs and is often over looked are people who have or are currently experiencing trauma. Which is all of us. Whether it’s the pandemic generally, isolation, financial stress, or other factors - it’s impossible to overstate the toll this is taking on everyone. 

Sensory needs are one of those sets of needs that I think a lot of people overlooked at the beginning of the pandemic in favor of “staying busy” but as people look at isolating again, I think it’s worth revisiting. The goal of this experiment is to put together a fairly cheap box of sensory + self regulation tools and see both how often I used it and the pros/cons of each tool. In a couple weeks I’ll come back to this post and try to write an update. 

But I wanted to cover what I bough and the logic behind each tool. Both so other folks can see my thinking and I can see later how well it held up in practice. Note that none of the links are affiliate links but they do generally lead to Amazon. I spent about $30 for the sensory tools but split most of them with my partner. So if you’ve got someone you can pool your resources with it helps because it’s hard to get solo quantities.  

First I’ll cover the tools I already which are the more self regulation type tools: 

100 Piece Puzzle - Really love this one from New York Puzzle Company. It’s sturdy and satisfying. Doing a puzzle when I’m stressed has been really helpful and the mini puzzles are the best because I don’t have to commit to the activity for like the 3 hours it takes me to do a 500 piece one. I can usually get a 100 piece one done in under an hour. The pattern matching is soothing and there’s no ambiguity in what done looks like. I put it in here because it’s my favorite at the moment. 

Other options for puzzles: 

3 Mini Puzzles in Tubes: I have this set and like it a lot. The pieces are very very small making it more difficult but also more portable. They have lots of options. Image quality isn’t amazing but I love them for the price and function. 

3 Mini Bird Puzzles: A step up in quality from the puzzle tubes and they have normal piece sizes. Great for the price. Not quite as nice as the New York Puzzle Company ones but a great middle of the road option.

I also have decent ones I’ve grabbed at the Dollar Store.

Sleepy Sudoku - I think these are machine generated but hand checked. I’m not totally sure. But so far I’ve enjoyed this collection of Sudokus. The mediums run a little hard to me but I’m also way out of practice and I’m relearning the techniques again. 

Other similar options: 

The Modern Cottage Collection Coloring Book: works best with colored pencils which I don’t have at the moment. Markers work okay. Might at it to the box at some point. 

USA Today Crossword: Tough but satisfying little book of crossword puzzles.

I’ve previously picked up puzzle books from the Dollar Store and Ollie’s.

Second are the more sensory oriented tools I included: 

Kinetic Sand - one of the first things I added. I really liked this stuff as a kid and I was really craving something I just just stick my hands in. When I parsed 1/3rd out for my partner though I noticed she was picking it up and just watching it fall - a visual stim. So it seems like it could be good for that too. My one reservation with this is the weird smell. I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to put me off of it - we’ll see. 

Floam - I was honestly just curious about this one. I hadn’t gotten to play with it much when I was a kid but the texture really appealed to me. When I pulled it out though, it was tougher to mold than I remembered. My partner really liked it as she has much stronger grip strength. I took two for my box and gave to to her. 

Pop It - I’ve seen these so many places and wanted to try it. So far I’m a little underwhelmed but I think it has the potential to grow on me. I just wish it had a little more resistance to it. My partner and I stood in the kitchen popping shapes in and out of the boards so clearly we found it engaging enough. 

Thinking Putty - This one I went out on a limb for but it is by far my favorite of everything I got so far. I only got a mini because I wasn’t sure if I’d like it and it’s not the cheapest, but holy crap it’s so satisfying to use. I sat there in the kitchen playing with it, putting it up, and pulling it back out again. It was a little hard to open the first time, really sticky, but cleaned up easily. I’m already planning on getting more. 

There are somethings I might add to my box that I already have:

Deck of Cards - I already keep two sets in my game bag but I think moving one to this box would be a nice way to remind myself to use them to calm down. I like playing solitaire in the evenings to unwind already so maybe it would be good for destressing at other times. 

Rubik’s Cube - I got this in my stocking a few Christmas’s ago and I still haven’t learned to solve it but it’s real fun to just mess around with. I think especially if I took the time to learn it then it’d be very helpful in here. 

I’ll know if the experiment is a success if I like using it and helps me regulate through spikes in my anxiety. I’m most interested to see what it’s like using these in front of other people whether the ones I live with or over Zoom. I’ve been getting more dysregulated in social situations than I used to so I’m wondering if I can overcome any resistance I feel to using them during and not just after. I’m especially interested to see if it helps on low energy days. 

I’ll be back in a few weeks to give any updates and I hope this sparks some ideas for other folks! 

[betterlost]

@shxkespexre said ; will's knocking at shep's door, a wrapped gift under one of his arms. inside the wrapping paper is a leather jacket in a marine blue which fades to a darker shade at the bottom. dark vine - like lines are sown into the sleeves, curving, from top to bottom and make their way to the back of the coat, circling a yellow moon displayed in the center. the tag on the inside of the jacket says ' my beloved moon '. will decided to make something special for the other - it's the holidays, and in just a few days, a whole year since they met will have passed, so . . he wanted to celebrate it!

Nicholas is only half-dressed when he stumbles to the door - not that it's early, he's just hungover as all hell; a good look given he's working the night shift later today, he's sure. He's managed to find his way into a pair of jeans, at least, though his flannel is still completely unbuttoned. He has the wherewithal to run a hand through his hair, make it look almost-manageable, and then crack it open.

Of course, it's Will. He's never gotten another visitor to this dingy little apartment, and why would that change now? His disgruntlement lightens when he sees him, even if the glare from the sun makes his head pound, and the bard is welcomed in without hesitation. The package tucked under his arm is glanced over dismissively at first, though, with some surprise, that - fuck him - the whole goddamn month's already flown by. It's Christmas. If he could kiss his past self on the mouth right now, he would, for having the foresight to buy a gift or two to hide away in his closet well in advance. Of course, then he'd chew his present self out something fierce for having forgotten.

...He probably should've bought nice wrapping paper. Damn it. Look how crisp the edges on that thing are. He'll have to ask Will how to wrap, next, really drive home the fact that he's just a little bit incompetent.

"William Shakespeare, man of many talents," he quips, carefully peeling off the tape to unwrap the box without tearing the paper. That stuff's not cheap. He folds it up once it's removed, setting it on his coffee table. When he removes the lid of the box, his hands still almost immediately, his face running through a gauntlet of emotions; surprise, confusion, and then an almost-reverence when he finally lifts the jacket up to study it. His hands trace over the embroidery and linger especially long on the tag inside of it. On one hand, it's just a jacket - on the other, Nicholas has never in his life owned a piece of clothing made for him, not a hand-me-down or something pulled from the thrift store or Walmart's clearance rack. It feels intimately personal and the monumental effort it must have taken to make makes his own gift, tucked away behind his boots, feel paltry in comparison.

"Oh, darlin'..." he shrugs it on, stands up from the couch, and does a little half-spin - not to show Will the back of it, but so he has a moment to harshly but discreetly swipe a wrist under one of his eyes. He's not drunk enough to cry. "This is - you told me you were a tailor, but I was expecting codpieces and frilly collars, not..." not anything like this. When he returns to the couch, he doesn't sit down, just leans down close enough to Will to kiss the man's forehead, hand lingering on his cheek. It seems better than just saying 'I love it' or 'you shouldn't have' - both would be true, but they always feel insincere. "Will, I dunno what you want me to say. Shit, sunshine, I'm the worst at gift exchanges. I - look, stay here just a minute, I've got something for you, too. Gonna look like rat shit compared to this thing," but, still, he rises with a shrug and strides off to retrieve the shoebox he'd stuffed it in to hand off to Will.

It really isn't anything quite as fancy. Just three small pots of dirt and some bulbs - daffodil, snowdrops, hyacinths. Awkwardly, Nicholas coughs. "They grow pretty early, you know. Early spring. And it's not to - I mean, hell, guy like you probably knows all about flowers." Will seems endlessly talented and clever. "But I thought in case you didn't I could - we could make it a little partnership. Our garden, right? Get some dirt under your nails," he elbows him. "Manual labor, just what every man wants to think about on Christmas."

[hoskinsvarietyshow]

Okay. So apparently autism means I form a really strong connection to a lot of the things I own. If you’ve got similar habits, I recommend investing in some sturdy stuff. Doesn’t have to be expensive, but I’ve found I buy a lot less crap if I have specific things I have invested time and a bit of myself in.

Some of my favorite things: 

Clamshell cigarette case: (good for holding notes, lists, business cards, disposable masks,

A cool pen: I have a ball point and a fountain pen. Highly recommend a fountain pen. It pushes you to relearn cursive because that’s what it was meant for.

A watch: Frankly watches are just cool and add nice details to your silhouette. Mine’s dead so I just set it to secret numbers.

A deck of cards: I got a neat little pirate deck. Good for practicing riffle shuffling when you’re waiting for things. Nice for playing Hearts or Crazy Eights when waiting with friends. Even playing dice in a shady back alley. 

Tarot deck: I don’t believe in Tarot but I really like having them around. I have one in a cool wooden carrying case.

External battery: Mine has a built in carabiner so you can clip it to your backpack or belt loop.

Pedometer: I bought a neat little pokeball pedometer that I carry around with me.

A necklace: Good for showing a sense of personal style. 

Sturdy backpack: Mine’s made of old retired sailcloth so it’s thick as shit and weather resistant.

Carryon: Managed to find a 1970s American Tourister bag for $1 at a garage sale. Absolutely fantastic. Deep. Wide. Fits in all of those carry on dimension cubes. Great for transporting stuff you don’t want your neighbors to see you walking into your house with.

Cigar Box: Mine says “Jucy Lucy” which I think is funny as hell. It isn’t the traditional flat clamshell shape, mine opens from the top but it’s great for transporting small little things like your jewelry, cards, etc

Suspenders: My tummy can hang over my belt and belt buckles may look cool but man can the wrong one cut into your tumtum. 

Cowboy boots: Pricey. Don’t buy cheap. If they aren’t in the stars, don’t do it. But. They’re great for confidence. Like high heels with more stability. Slip on and go. Plus if you’re a pants person they can change they way your pants look around your ankle if you want a slightly less form fitting look to your silhouette.

Scarf: Great for if you’re feeling self conscious about your middle while you wear a coat as well as staying warm or keeping the wind off your neck. 

 Toiletries bag: Get one that isn’t just made of some kind of stiff cloth. Pleather is good for feeling classy as well being easy to clean and pretty stain resistant.

Cufflinks/broaches/tiepins/hairpins: Sometimes you need to really dress up. Usually when someone else is getting married. I like having a tiny bit of bling especially when I’m wearing a rented suit.

Bike: You can get one for about $75 on places like Facebook Marketplace. Really handy for when gas prices are too high and you’re cheap enough to suffer for it.

Skateboard: Super pricey. Not for the faint of heart. But a good way of meeting new people and getting out of the house. Do not start on hills like I did. I still have a dent in my ass.

Workbench: You might not have the room which is fine, but if you do, have a table you can store all of your hobby gear in one place. Something meant to take a beating, not a walmart folding table.

Cane: There’s no honor in pain. If you’ve got bad knees, bad joints, or frequent blisters, grab a cane. Get one with solid wood. It will breath more in hot, cold, and humid weather. 

Sunglasses: Getting blinded isn’t good for anyone so invest in that prescription. I also recommend a pendent eyeglass case if you have regular lenses.  

Camera: Your phone is neat and all, but frankly I don’t trust the cloud and film is more neat.

Sturdy phone case and a pop socket: We’re all adults. We know why. Don’t support your phone with your pinky. It’ll cause a lot of strain on your hands.

These are things I’ve been buying over the last few years. Slowly but surely I get things I can see myself enjoying. I try and ignore shitty plastic stuff. Get the braided charge cable. Get a cheap broken watch you can have repaired later. Minimalism is bullshit and nostalgia is poison but getting some cool stuff that will last you a few years will feel fantastic.

[orpheuslament]

Hi, I had another ‘Lestat and Claudia on their trip to Europe’ dream!

In this one they arrived at a hotel stylized as a farm in a tiny village outside a big town, all the buildings normally used for animals or farm equipment were little wooden houses for the guests forming a square around a manor house in the middle which held the lobby, restaurant, room for playing cards and a small theatre. Lestat loved how fake everything was, poor wooden exteriors and fully-furnished lavish interiors with red sofas and expensive carpets. He and Claudia took one of the tiny houses. The coffins they had were the only rectangular boxes sold in proximity, cheap and uncomfortable, but Claudia was delighted being there, she immediately decided to take part in the play organized by some local actors and guests, they were really nice to her. Lestat started to look at Claudia differently when she started acting, she was no longer a daughter or sister. She was something else, something similar to Louis, she didn't sleep in his coffin, but... They grew close. And then, as they started to be reckless and feeding way too near to the hotel or even in it, Claudia suddenly, one morning, just before down, got captured by some men, a few of them actors she knew, who noticed something’s wrong with her, they cut open her leg and removed a part of her bone to study it. She barely made it into safety of the coffin, badly burned. Lestat took care of her, but her injuries would take a long time to heal. Of course he was rude about it, berating her for stupidly trusting people, that she’s too small to walk around on her own, how could she ever forget. But he also killed all these men and set the hotel on fire, so you know...

I don't know why I keep dreaming this AU, I swear I don't make it up, it genuinely just appears to me in dreams ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

persephone im too drunk rn to read this but i will tomorrow

[perpetual-fool]

-

I've been thinking about the tuning pegs on my viola. I don't like them, in principle. I also don't like all the alternatives, and I'm wondering why I should feel any way about anything.

Practically speaking, I just need to set it up properly. It was cheap. The pegs and peg holes have to have a matching taper for there to be enough friction to hold the strings, but not so much that you can't turn the pegs. That's manual work and it just wasn't done. I sort of half did it, since it's completely non-functional out of the box. Partly I didn't know what I was doing, got scared and stopped when things started looking weird. And in part I had the wrong (poor quality) tools. My peg shaver (looks like a manual pencil sharpener) is for violin pegs, not viola. I ruined a peg last night, being too small, and had to carve a new one out of some scrap wood I had lying around. It's not pretty but I do have one well-fit peg now. It's still not great. Friction pegs just kinda suck. I mean, if they did the job well then surely mechanical tuners wouldn't be anything more than a novelty. I'm inclined to fall for 'just as good' arguments, thinking everything would be magically perfect if I could just figure out the right way to do it. But yeah, no. I did a good job on this, this is just how they are. That one fine turner instruments always have is proof enough.

But I saw this new tuning system that enthralled me for a bit. (Actually that's what got me thinking about this.) There's these tuners by NS Design where you just kind of shove the string in the hole, turn the screw, and that's it. You can even take the string out and just put it back in quickly and easily, it's great. It's a bit big though. I was trying to puzzle out how it worked, but remembered that patents are public. You can just look up the whole thing on a government website. (Aside, their search function is really nice. It's sort of the antitheses of what I've been lamenting about elsewhere at places that just want to sell you shit. Like, the other day I was trying to look up cases for viola bows, specified my results to the "musical instruments" category. And Amazon un-specified it to "all" and gave me a shit ton of results for hunting bow cases, despite actually fucking having actual fucking music bow cases on their stupid fucking website. Anyway;) So, I'm looking at the patent drawings and I'm just not feeling it anymore? It takes up a lot of space. It requires a couple precision parts. It's not 'elegant'. Does it have to be elegant? What would that even entail?

So then, aesthetically, I'm lost. I guess it's like, this object is for making pretty noises. There's this necessary but ugly thing hanging off it that doesn't make pretty noises. And I want some kind of platonic ideal instrument where the strings just float in the air and are tuned by force of will. And having a magic hole for the strings to disappear into is a big step towards that. But it's not just a magic hole, there's levers and screws and mechanical bullshit down that hole. So do I want mechanical elegance? Do I want an efficient mechanism that makes the magic happen with barely a handful of parts? I was mulling over the idea of a 'headless' acoustic (which would be a challenge), and the simplest solution to holding the strings would be a screw. Like, on the non-tuning end, the strings are held by being pinched under a screw. But screws are UGLY and they'd add WEIGHT and then it would require TOOLS to change the strings. And there's just an endless string of impossibly incompatible 'requirements'.

Why am I like this? Is this even 'me', or just bullshit I've been conditioned with? Maybe I should do things 'wrong' on purpose, build shit crudely with the cheapest hardware store parts I can find.

Yeah there's something here. 'Have-to's are imposed by others. Do I really even know myself if I don't know how I feel about things? Why do I even do things? I don't have fun you know. Enjoyment is sparse, petty, and fleeting. Everything sucks and it's an endless struggle to un-suck it. Would I be happy once things are sufficiently un-sucked? Maybe. I do tend to feel pretty okay right after figuring something out. Sure, let's go with that. For now, I will make it my personal quest to un-suck anything within my domain. I'll wake up and think "what can I un-suck today?". I will look at the situation at hand and consider, "how can this be un-sucked?"

And a little more seriously, there's one thing I have that makes me feel a little bit happy. A sharpening stone. A Shapton Glass 500 grit, top of the line, virtually perfect for what it is. I've studied sharpening more than anything else. It took me years to arrive at that conclusion, as expensive as the stone is I've spent that much many times over experimenting, getting stones I thought were the penultimate choice.

So I should obsess, stay focused on one thing until it's done. accept the cost when it gets expensive. (Ya' know, if feasible.)

(I lost track of what my point was.) Is there a meaningful answer to "why should I feel..?" Like, either I just do feel that way, or someone has tricked me. right? Say, if I'm supposed to feel that putting mechanical tuners on the instrument is bad because it makes it too heavy, either I concur based on my own experience and judgment, or I'm being manipulated. So, I'm confused, I've never been able to feel my feelings unadulterated, and I need to find myself?

[loopyhoopywrites]

Writing Questions Tag

Thanks for the tag @space-writes :)

What is your absolute all-time favourite ideas you’ve ever had?

Probably the short story that was the first version of The Last Damsel, because it was what led to me discovering my love of writing silly ridiculous comedic fantasy. That one, essentially Monty Python AU, has now become an entire trilogy (theoretically), and I really feel I've found my writer niche.

Is there a question you’ve been asked in the past that really stands out to you, and you still think about sometimes?

Not to do with writing. An acquaintance once asked me a question that sparked an entire sexuality crisis, but that's a whole other story.

What is your favourite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?

I love creating, and I love being able to constantly look back and see how much my writing has improved. I also love the sense of community, and how writers are always each others biggest cheerleaders. I could do without the writers block and the fact I seem to get the most inspired when I have the least spoons.

What is your greatest motivation to write/create?

Spite. If I can't find the type of books and representation I want, I'll create it myself. Also the file of currently (checks) 249 screenshots of nice things other writeblrs have said about my WIP.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever read or been given as a writer?

Instead of a first draft, do a draft zero. I think it was one of the Leverage writers who wrote "worst version" as a heading on a piece of paper, and I do that constantly now. I buy cheap, rubbish notebooks, scribble untidily on the first page, and it sets me free to not care about what I'm writing being any good, as long as it's written.

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?

Not everyone is a planner! I planned my first WIP in so much detail, then got bored because it felt like I'd already written it. Now I barely plan at all and find it so much easier, I think my entire plan for TEQ is less than 20 words.

What is your favourite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!

I don't write much to completion, The Last Damsel came the closest but that's in dire need of a complete redraft. I'd probably say this fanfic, purely because of the reactions. It was for a prompt challenge, and I went really mean with it.

What is your favorite out-of-the-box quote?

"It takes an awful lot of time to not write a book." - Douglas Adams

Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you personally feel about their ideals?

I mean, Trickster's the wanted criminal, so probably Trickster? He takes a very lackadaisical approach to the law that I am far too anxiety-prone and scared of disobeying authority to agree with. He's also very selfish, very focused on taking care of himself and screw everyone else, which I wouldn't condone. In reality I'd probably stay as far away from him as possible, but he's fictional, so I love him.

If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?

Wait, we write comedy???

What does genderqueer/aromantic/asexual mean?

...What is anxiety and why is it so relatable?

[kimonotsuki]

Review - Zen Garden by Island Falls Home

Have you ever wanted to bring a little bit of Zen mindfulness into your home? Maybe as a way to focus on yourself for a few minutes during a long work day or to decompress after a marathon session of cleaning? Island Falls Home has got you covered.

As some of you already know, I live with anxiety and OCD, and I have a strong suspicion I'm also dealing with ADHD. Anything that helps me calm down and focus is a welcome addition to my life. I have a little bowl of fidget toys on my desk but I wanted something that took a bit more effort, and felt a little more mature. I'd been looking into small desktop-style zen gardens for a while but frankly all the ones I saw felt cheap or tacky. I've found ones with sand that was far too large, ones that included ridiculous little tchotchkes like garden gnomes, ones that were all plastic and flimsy-looking, and ones that had absolutely no sense of scale (giant maneki nekos next to a torii gate the size of your thumb...) But then I found Island Falls Home. They are a small family-owned business based in the UK, and all they do is sand gardens. This sort of focus allows them to source quality pieces and stay on theme with their products, and that attention to detail really shows. They currently offer two zen gardens (the Traditional kit, which I have here, and the Oasis of Calm which is beautiful and looks like a rippling pond) and one sand planetarium. I knew when I found their products that I wanted to share them with you all, so I reached out to the owners. James was lovely and through our interactions it was clear that he has a true passion for traditional Japanese arts and culture, and you can tell these kits are a labour of love. He was incredibly generous and offered to send me one to check out at my leisure. To save on overhead I arranged to have it sent here to California, and I've been testing it out for almost two weeks now, and love it. The attention to detail is obvious from the moment you receive the kits. The packaging feels elegant and sturdy, and everything is carefully and lovingly organised and protected. From the tissue wrapping to the bow on the tool box to the well-designed insert, no detail has been overlooked here. The presentation would also make these a fantastic gift. But what really matters is the garden itself, right? Thankfully that attention to detail is continued throughout. The kit comes with a wide variety of accessories. There are two sakura trees with bark bases to help them stand up properly, a cute little bridge, a torii gate, a lovely little pagoda, and a selection of stones and moss for a touch of nature. My only (very minor) issue is that the pagoda is ceramic and feels very high quality but the bridge and torii are plastic. They're still very well-made and nicely detailed, but I'd love to see all these pieces in ceramic to add to the luxe feeling of the kit. There's also a fantastic assortment of handcrafted bamboo rakes and tools, which allow you to meditatively create infinite designs in the sand. The sand itself is incredibly fine and smooth and clean, and clearly high quality. This is a place where a lot of kits cheap out, and it's obvious Island Falls Home did not. It's sourced from a company in Ontario, which as a Canadian is a nice little bonus. I do wish the kit had some sort of storage container for the sand if it needs to be put away for storage, travel, or moving, but a quart-sized food storage bag would work for the time being. I could take hundreds of photos of the permutations I've created with this kit, but I'd rather be a bit concise and focus on this set up I did trying to feature as many items as I could. The end result is cohesive and uncluttered, and allows for a lot of meditative motions. I also don't want to influence anyone who buys these kits, I'd rather you let your own moods and emotions guide you. Overall, if you've been looking for a desk zen garden, or even if you hadn't considered one before but now see the appeal, I highly recommend these! You can grab the Traditional Zen Garden kit on Amazon here, or the Oasis of Calm kit here. Prime day is coming up soon, which could be a great time to take advantage of free shipping if you're considering one of these. Read the full article

[oh-yes-i-did-not]

Okay so the move went relatively well. I did end up having to take way too much ibuprofen so my knees would keep bending and working while going up and down the stairs way too many times so I developed in inflamed esophagus, one of the greatest joys of having GERD. All the anti-inflammatory painkillers are real bad for heartburn tendency, GERD, ulcers etc but also, sometimes the only thing that works. Luckily pantoprazol still works super well for me so it only knocked me down for two days. Which was actually super okay because my knees were also super wrecked and needed that time spent mostly in bed, doing nothing but reading. I read Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and the entirety of Mars by Fuyumi Soryo.

I’ve been slowly unpacking the boxes and just did the last rented box from the moving company today, so yay~ I still have most of the cardboard boxes to unpack but those can wait, the I needed the ones on running tariff out of here asap.

I still only have a mobile internet since the new computer doesn’t have a wireless adapter and I don’t have an ethernet cable long enough to set up my router through the modem, which is solidly located on the wall, near the ceiling of the entrance. I am not about to put my computer desk next the front door, thank you very much. I’m probably just gonna get that wi-fi adapter anyways, since there really is no good setup for a long cable in this apartment. It will end up passing through some bad places, no matter what way, so I would prefer not to.

Without Internet the new computer is pretty much useless, since I still plan to downgrade it to Win10 so I haven’t installed anything except Firefox and Steam. So in the meantime, I’m on the ancient office laptop I borrowed from partner. It may choke if I have more than 2 video tabs open and more than 10 tabs in general, but it runs the new Glass Masquerade game that was just released (if nothing more than that) so I’m good for now.

It currently looks like this:

I have an air mattress since I need to buy a new bed and it’s trickier than you would expect when you move to a tiny town and you don’t have a car. It’s really comfy though, I was surprised! Also, I got the expensive armchair in the separation so it’s now my one true luxury :D It was going to be a nice console gaming chair but now it will be more properly used as a reading chair.

The kitchen/living room windows are really big and let in a lot of light so it’s a good crafting space. You can actually see a line on the entrance cabinets on the opposite wall, where the light has hit for years. The lower portion of the doors is more yellow, thanks to the sun.

I also have a third desk that I was going to set up in front of the window but... I think no. It’s an old Ikea Vika Blecket drawing table with light box window, and now has new Vika Artur legs. The original leg were also Vika Artur and my late cat destroyed them with pee while they were lying dismantled on the floor. That model still exist, tho the design has changed and they’re not exactly compatible with old Vika desks anymore so I can’t change the angle of desk anymore since the pegs that are supposed to support the desk do not match anymore, which sucks. That, along with the light box glass was one of the things that made this desk super good for it’s cheap price tag back then. Anyways, I think I’m just gonna keep the desk and the legs hanging around for when I need extra table space, like cutting large fabrics, but I’m not gonna keep it set up. It would make things just too cramped in here.

Anyways, I still have so many boxes to unpack and I still need to hang curtains to the living room, or should I say crafts room, and what even are carpets, but it’s going well.

[grahamstoney]

Anger Management by Crockery

New Post has been published on https://grahamstoney.com/emotions/anger-management-by-crockery

Anger Management by Crockery

One of the rules that had to be obeyed when I was growing up was: Don’t run in the house, because you might break something. Walk instead. Stay calm. Don’t get too excited. Getting excited might cause you to hurt yourself, something or someone else. It also seemed to irritate the grown-ups; it seemed that grown-ups just weren’t supposed to get excited.

Not when they were happy anyway. The only time grown-ups seemed to get excited was when they were angry; and then there seemed to no limits to how excited they could get. The rest of the time they seemed to be holding their excitement inside; but when they were really angry, they really let loose. I found that terrifying. I got in real trouble when I acted like that, but grown-ups were allowed different rules to me. And so I learned that I wasn’t allowed to get excited no matter how I actually felt.

The problem with not being allowed to get excited is that it suppresses joy, and makes life much less fun. And the problem with only getting excited when we’re really angry is that it’s frightening for other people. In addition to learning not to get excited, I learned not to get angry either because I could see how destructive anger could be. But in doing so, I made the same mistake my father did of suppressing it rather than expressing it; which is what led to his explosions that I found so terrifying in the first place. I very rarely feel or express my anger. I often feel frustrated, and have the subtle urge to break something though: car windows, shop fronts, my own TV set; and that’s before I’ve even seen what’s on it. I hold back though, figuring that the owners of said cars, shops and TVs aren’t going to share in my catharsis. I can’t get away with being a teenage hoodlum, but I’d still like to break out and break something sometimes.

With this in mind, my life coach recently assigned me the task of buying a set of cheap crockery from K-mart, and smashing the bejesus out of it. Even better, I thought, would be the left-over crockery from all the years of share accommodation that I had stashed down in my storeroom. I didn’t need it; wasn’t sure why I was even hanging onto it. It was just baggage from a bygone era. Smashing it would be a nice cathartic way of killing several birds with one stone: ditch some baggage, release some anger, and have some fun; all in the one hit.

So on a recent road trip, I loaded up the box of old crockery into the car along with my baseball bat. While driving back towards Sydney, I turned off the Hume Highway down a side street, which led to a dirt road into the forest. With nobody around except the occasional construction truck thundering down the road, I unleashed fury with my baseball bat onto some poor defenceless crockery, sending its fragments whizzing into the forest.

Most of the cups exploded nicely. My aim wasn’t too good at first, but it got better with practise. One cup with the old Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children logo on it took several hits just to get it to fracture. Maybe it was specially reinforced. Eventually it too relented. The bowls were good fun, and the small plates had a nice balance of being sufficiently solid to take a nice hard blow, but small enough to really fly into smitherines on impact. The large plates were particularly satisfying, as it was virtually impossible to miss them even with a poor swing. And many of the resulting chunks were big enough to afford a second or even third hit.

Gradually I worked my way through the whole box, smashing every last piece into oblivion. When my swing was really accurate, it gave a really nice satisfying thud feeling, as powdered ceramic flew every which way, and the larger chunks hurtled skywards into the trees with a really neat whizzing sound. It felt great. Very cathartic.

By the end of the session, my baseball bat was looking rather worse for wear, I had a blister on my thumb, and I was feeling kinda tired. But it turns out that breaking things is really great fun. I highly recommend it. And if nothing else, I’ve really done some great work on improving my baseball swing.