#i have a 3d printer and this sort of thing is what that's for

[reasonsforhope]

"The average pediatric wheelchair can cost thousands of dollars. And when children grow and their needs evolve — or a wheelchair gets damaged — those costs multiply.

So, the team at MakeGood NOLA, a New Orleans-based adaptive design lab, has made something that can transform the world for disabled children.

“Introducing the world’s first fully 3D-printed wheelchair,” MakeGood founder and president Noam Platt started a recent social media video.

He wheels a small, almost toy-like lime-green wheelchair into the frame, complete with a matching harness, suitable for children ages 2 to 8.

“Everything from the body, to the wheels, to the tires, the seat, and even the straps, all were 3D printed on a regular Bambu Labs A1 machine,” Platt continued.

This means the design is fully compatible with a regular 3D printer anyone can have in their home.

“We designed this to be modular and easy to make,” Platt continued. “Really, anyone with a 3D printer and some filament can download the files and print it.” [Note: You can also use 3D printers for free or a small cost at some public libraries and maker spaces, opening up accessibility even further.]

Once the prototype is completely finished, it will be available as a fair-use download that anyone can use for free.

Pictured: The new 3D-printed chair by MakeGood. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

Platt said that because it has a modular design, the wheelchair can be put together without any tools or glue. And if any part of it breaks or is damaged, users can simply re-print the single piece they need.

“As a wheelchair user I love everything about this,” TikTok user @thisisharlie commented on Platt’s video debuting the wheelchair.

“Mine costs more than my car, I can’t imagine having to buy a new one every year or two as they outgrow it,” @thisisharlie continued. “You’re going to change the world.”

For Platt, that’s always been the plan.

When he created MakeGood in 2021, the nonprofit design lab was thinking of the more than 1 billion people around the globe who live with disabilities.

“Since traditional design often overlooks diverse bodies and minds, it is crucial to reshape the built environment,” MakeGood shares on its website. “The challenges our communities face — both physical and social — are solvable.”

MakeGood works with individuals to co-create their adaptive design solutions, centering the “Need Knower,” the disabled person or their primary caregivers, throughout the entire process.

Since the founding of MakeGood, 1,600 individualized adaptive devices have been delivered to families for free. Platt’s team found a niche with this wheelchair, which they call the Toddler Mobility Trainer, or TMT. 

On its website, the organization says the wheelchairs were “designed with therapists from all over the world” and offer “unmatched mobility and independence to young kids.”

Children and parents agree.

“It’s an A+,” one parent said of an earlier prototype of the TMT in a report by CBS News. “It’s helped [my son] become more mobile and be able to adapt into the other things that he’s going to be offered. It’s helped his development.”

At the start of the design process, Platt reached out to area hospitals to see if he could fill a need.

“Part of it is empowering clinicians that we can go beyond what is commercially available,” Platt told CBS News. “We can really create almost anything.”

Now in the final stages of tweaking the TMT design to be ready for release, Platt is eager to get the wheelchair rolled out and into the homes of the children who need them most.

Pictured: A rendering of the 3D printed design, which will soon be available for download. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

“We think this sort of 3D printing and design is going to be huge for accessibility, and for wheelchairs specifically,” Platt said in his social media video. 

In the meantime, people can request a free chair from MakeGood.

“We have a growing list of people who’ve requested these, and once we finish the design, we’ll start filling those requests with custom-printed chairs, including things that you might need for your particular chair,” Platt said in a follow-up video.

Because the chairs are easily 3D printed, they can come in any color and can be modified to include other accommodations, like a section to hold a breathing device or other aid. With years of customization and design experience under his belt, this new innovation is simply an extension of Platt’s dedication to inclusive design.

In 2023, Platt told New Mobility: “I feel like every time I deliver one of these [assistive] devices, I get a hopeful feeling that the world has been changed a little bit for the better for the next generation.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, May 8, 2025

[kitkatorin]

While waiting for some of the paint to dry, I figured I'd go ahead and reveal my latest unnecessarily ambitious project:

Building my IDW!First Aid Cosplay!

My goal is to have it ready to go for TFCon Chicago in October, so I'm giving myself much more time to properly work on this.

I had so much fun building my Ad Mech cosplay and was really eager to start a new project, and it just so happened to feed into my Transformers resurgence in time for TFCon. And being notorious for wanting to cosplay characters I strongly relate to, First Aid was the lucky bot for the project 🚑🎉

I am by no means a pro at this sort of thing, as this is my second cosplay I'm building from the ground up. And for some reason I curse myself to never use a 3D printer (even though it'd probably be a whole lot easier). But since I have more time to work on this, I'll try to document the sporadic progress as I go.

So in a designing frenzy, I got the general plans sketched out. I learned some valuable lessons from my last project so I am trying to prioritize portability and functionality. I swear it all makes sense when I put it on paper but it still looks pretty crazy 😅

I didn't really have a set plan on what order I intended to build things, but I started with the arms for some reason. Hands and arms are being finalized this week, and I'm going to the shoulder bits next. Test fitted the right arm without the undershirt and I am quite pleased!

All this here is EVA foam for the plating and a costume glove with a cloth sleeve that I sectioned out and layered on top of it. The foam is secured by some snap fasteners and elastics around the wrist to better hold it in place. The fingers are a little clunky, as to be expected, but overall relatively comfortable!

Hopefully I'll be able to see the vision through, but it's slowly coming together! Me and my minimal sewing skills and stubbornness to use foam and cardboard instead of 3D printed assets 🙃

So that's it for now! I'll post more photos as I go, and any helpful tips or recommendations would be appreciated too! Stay tuned~!!

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Deuce Spade - Rabbit Wear Vignette

"To be perfectly honest"

[Clock Town – Deuce's Home]

Ortho: I can't believe you have a fully equipped workshop next door to your home, Deuce Spade-san!

Ortho: Ehehe, I'm excited to think that I might be able to dress up like a white rabbit like everyone else.

Deuce: I didn't expect you to want to dress up like a white rabbit, Ortho.

Deuce: I really hope they'll let us borrow their 3D printer and materials…

Deuce: …Well, guess there's nothing else to do but ring the bell, then.

[buzzes intercom]

Workshop Owner: Yes, hello, who is it?

Deuce: Uh, it's Spade from next door…

Workshop Owner: Spade…? Wait, you're not… DEUCE!?

Deuce: Yes, sir. …It's been a long time.

Deuce: I apologize for this unexpected visit. I was wondering if perhaps we would be able to use some of the equipment you have in your workshop?

Deuce: Of course, we will fully reimburse you for its usage…

Workshop Owner: What did you say…?

Workshop Owner: YOU HAVE SOME NERVE ASKING THAT!

Ortho: EH!? This guy seems really angry…

Workshop Owner: You'd run around with all those punks, causing ruckuses in the middle of the night and destroying all sorts of things…

Workshop Owner: Do you even understand just how much pain and suffering you caused the people of this town?

Workshop Owner: Dylla-san came to apologize for you so many times, but that doesn't mean squat here. Get out of here, already!!!

Deuce: I AM SO SORRY FOR ALL OF THE TROUBLE I CAUSED BACK THEN!!

Deuce: I know that I have no right to make this kind of request. But I really want to help my classmate make a rabbit costume!

Workshop Owner: Your classmate? What does my workshop have to do with their costume, in the first place…?

Ortho: Nice to meet you, I am Ortho Shroud. I'm a humanoid!

Ortho: I'm a classmate of Deuce-san at Night Raven College.

Workshop Owner: A h-humanoid?

Ortho: Yep! I really wanted a white rabbit outfit so that I could take part in the White Rabbit Festival…

Ortho: But I can't wear clothes like a living person can, so I want to make my own special gear to wear.

Workshop Owner: I've seen a few human-like robots in my time, but not one that can as eloquent as you!

Workshop Owner: And on top of that, you want to participate in Clock Town's famed White Rabbit Festival. Hmmm, what should I do…

Workshop Owner: Wait, nope, no way! If I let Deuce use my workshop, he'll totally destroy it!

Ortho: DEUCE SPADE-SAN WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!!

Deuce: Ortho…

Ortho: Do you truly believe that Deuce-san would actually come face-to-face to talk to you like this, hoping you'd let down your guard?

Ortho: THERE'S NO WAY DEUCE-SAN IS SMART ENOUGH TO COME UP WITH THAT KIND OF CUNNING STRATEGY!

Workshop Owner: …When you put it that way, I guess it's true that he used to just show up out of nowhere and just tear about.

Workshop Owner: Does that mean you guys truly came here to just ask for the favor of using my workshop?

Ortho: That's right! Please, mister! Please let us use your workshop!!

Workshop Owner: Sigh… Fine. Out of respect for the little humanoid boy, I'll let you use my workshop just this once.

Ortho/Deuce: THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Workshop Owner: That doesn't mean I trust you, Deuce. Don't get me wrong.

Workshop Owner: If you get even one scratch on any of my machines, I won't let you get off so easy!!!

Deuce: I understand.

Workshop Owner: Tch… If word got out that I was letting someone like you in, that'd be bad for my own reputation.

Workshop Owner: You don't need to pay anything. Instead, just do what you came to do and leave as fast as you can.

Workshop Owner: Go and enter the shop from the rear entrance. You know where that is, right? Be quick about it.

[slams door]

Ortho: …Deuce Spade-san, are you alright? Even I can tell just from looking at you that you seem down.

Deuce: Maybe it's more… self-loathing than just being down.

Deuce: I enrolled in Night Raven College and have been aiming to be a model student, and I've been trying really hard with my club activities…

Deuce: I thought I had changed a ton, but that doesn't change my past, y'know?

Ortho: By the past, do you mean what he said about "running around with all those punks, causing ruckuses in the middle of the night and destroying all sorts of things"?

Deuce: Uhhhh… Please forget you heard about that! Also, I'd really like it if you didn't tell anyone else what happened just now.

Deuce: And my mom, too… I don't want to cause her any extra worry.

Ortho: Uh-huh, so it's that sort of thing. I got it. I can keep this a secret from the others.

Ortho: But in exchange, I'll have you help me with crating my new gear.

Deuce: Yeah, of course I will. Leave it to me.

Deuce: …But man, you're amazing, Ortho. I can't believe you persuaded him.

Deuce: You saw how angry he was, right? I totally thought he wouldn't let us use his workshop at all.

Ortho: I calculated that since he was running a blastcycle parts shop, then he'd probably have an interest in machines or robots.

Ortho: That's why I tried to appeal to him as a humanoid, to pique his curiosity.

Deuce: …Now that you mention it, I feel like his whole attitude changed when you mentioned you were a humanoid.

Deuce: …You calculated that, huh. I'm not really good at thinking and planning ahead.

Deuce: Even everything that happened just now is the result of me causing trouble for those around me without thinking things through back in middle school…

Ortho: Deuce Spade-san…

Ortho: You can do your thinking later! Right now, we need to get my gear done as quick as possible and go join the others!

Deuce: You're right, especially since he said to be quick about it… Let's hurry before he changes his mind!

[Clock Town – Clock Park]

Deuce: I sent [Yuu] a message saying where and when we're meeting up, but… They haven't read it at all.

Ortho: Maybe they haven't had the time to look at their phone, since Grim-san just keeps dragging them everywhichway.

Deuce: Can't be helped, guess we should go look for them. I wouldn't think they'd have gone that far, though...

???: NOM NOM NOM NOM!! Funyaaa～ I can't get enough of that strong flavor.

Ortho: Ah, that's Grim-san's voice. That saves us from having to search the whole park.

Deuce: Yeah, it helps that Grim's really loud.

Deuce: Heeey! [Yuu], Grim!

Grim: Hm? Oh, it's Deuce. Nice of you to come looking for me!

Deuce: Wrong! You're the one who ran off on your own, so we were all doing our own things right now.

Deuce: So, in about an hour, we're all going to meet up at the stall we were at earlier, okay? You better not be late.

1. I want you to show me around.

Deuce: Eh, me? Can I even do that…? But, sure, I guess. We can check out the area together.

2. We should wander around together!

Deuce: With me? …Yeah, okay!

Grim: Whew, that was delish～

Deuce: Looks like Grim just finished eating, too, so let's head off.

Deuce: [Yuu], is there something you want to see or do?

1. I want to look at souvenirs!

Deuce: I think I saw some stalls selling various stuff. Want to go check them out?

2. I want to move around some to help digest my food.

Deuce: I saw a stall a bit ago that had some kind of mini-game set up. Want to try it out?

Ortho: Sounds fun! I want to go with you guys too.

Deuce: Yeah, come along. That'll make it more lively and fun!

Deuce: They've got a ton of shops set up here, so the four of us can see all sorts of stuff!

[cheering on a street performer]

Grim: Nyahaha, that's so cool! That's way more amazing than Ace's magic tricks!

Deuce: You really like those street performances, huh. It looks like it'll go on for a little bit longer, but… Maybe we should move on now?

Grim: Ehhh, I want to keep watching.

Ortho: I haven't seen many street performances, so I think I'll stay and watch some more too.

Deuce: Okay. Then [Yuu] and I'll head off and check some other places out.

Deuce: We can meet up at where we were earlier when the time comes.

Grim/Ortho: Yeah! / Understood!

Deuce: Okay, then lets head over there.

Passerby A: Oh my, what cute outfits. Are you two from around here?

Deuce: Ah, yes, I'm from here.

Deuce: I just came home to visit with my classmates for the White Rabbit Festival…

Passerby A: Oh, so you're a Clock Town local. Then, I guess there's no need to warn you.

Deuce: Warn me? Eh, did something happen?

Passerby A: Well, not necessarily something, but… you know?

Passerby B: If you're from this city, then you should know, right? That there's been some bad characters running around.

Passerby A: It must have been what, 3… maybe 4 years ago? Anyway, a while ago, this terrible hooligan showed up.

Deuce: A terrible hooligan?

Passerby B: You never heard of them? Well, you two look like you were raised properly, so I suppose I'm not surprised you don't know.

Passerby B: There's this ill-tempered hooligan with bleach-blonde hair and a scary glare who'd ride up and down the city on their blastcycle at breakneck speeds.

Passerby A: I heard that whenever they got into a fight, they'd summon a cauldron and squash their opponents flat. Aah, so scary!

Deuce: URK!

Passerby B: I haven't heard anything about them recently, but… I can't imagine such a horrible hoodlum would've been able to fix their behavior.

Passerby A: Same. It was so bad that there even was a police officer who would always go on patrol even when off-duty.

Passerby A: Anyway, they are a troublesome delinquent. You two, take care so you don't get caught in their crosshairs.

Deuce: R-Right… Thank you.

Deuce: Whew, they finally left. Those ladies were really something.

1. That story just now… 2. Was that…

Deuce: Urgh, and I was trying to change the topic…

Deuce: Well, whatever. It's just you here, anyway.

Deuce: I think the person those ladies were talking about earlier was me.

Deuce: It's been a while since I enrolled in Night Raven College, but… I'm still being talked about.

Deuce: "I can't imagine they'd be able to fix their behavior" …Hm.

1. Even though we can see that's not true.

Deuce: Are you trying to cheer me up? Thanks, [Yuu].

2. It's hard to gain people's trust.

Deuce: You're right, it's just as you say.

Deuce: …Actually, I was told the same thing just a bit ago when Ortho and I went to the workshop next door to my house.

Deuce: I guess both the people who have met me before and those who haven't don't think that I could ever have fixed myself up.

Deuce: …But I have people outside of my family that believe in me.

Deuce: Remember what those ladies said? There was a police officer who would go on patrol even when they were off-duty.

Deuce: They worked over there… In the police station across the street from the park. And for some reason, they actually looked out for me.

1. Does that person still work at that police station?

Deuce: Nah, they transferred to a different city some time ago. I hear they've climbed the ranks and is some big wig now.

2. Let's go show them how much you've changed!

Deuce: As much as I'd like to… Deuce: They transferred to a different city some time ago. I hear they've climbed the ranks and is some big wig now.

Deuce: Isn't that awesome, though!? I wish I could have said bye to them back when they transferred, but… Back then I was just too hard-headed.

Deuce: I had decided that if I ever got to meet that person again someday, I would show them just how much I had cleaned myself up…

Deuce: But it hasn't really gone as planned.

Deuce: Even today, I wanted you guys to enjoy yourselves in my hometown…

Deuce: But I don't know anything about my city, and can't even show you around properly.

Deuce: And it wasn't until Epel said that I didn't have enough pride in my hometown, that I thought I should study up on the place…

Deuce: I thought I had changed, but maybe I haven't grown up after all.

1. That's not true… 2. (I don't know what to say...)

Deuce: Sorry! I didn't mean to talk about this sort of thing when we're at a festival.

Deuce: It's almost time to meet up with everyone else. Let's head back there.

[Clock Town – Clock Park]

―After the conflict with the Black Bunnies

Deuce: Okay, then I'll go register us, so everyone wait here.

Ortho/Epel: Got it.

Silver: Right.

Grim: I'll go with you. I worry leaving it to you alone, Deuce.

1. Yeah, I agree. 2. I'll go too.

Deuce: I don't know how I feel about Grim worrying about me, but… Thanks for coming with.

Dylla: The registration for the Rabbit Run Race is near the entrance to the park.

Dylla: All three of you, take care over there.

Deuce: There's the entrance to the park. Uhh, let's see, where's registration…?

Grim: Isn't that it?

Deuce: You're right… EH!?

Deuce: There's a line. There's a lot more people doing this than I thought there'd be…

Deuce: Well, whatever. Let's just line up at the very back.

???: WHAT SHOULD WE DO? AT THIS RATE, WE CAN'T REGISTER FOR THE RACE!

Grim: What's goin' on?

Workshop Employee: I thought I put it in my bag, but… My rabbit ears, where could I have left them?

Workshop Owner: Rabbit ears? Oh… Do you mean the headband that was left on the 3D printer back at the workshop?

Workshop Owner: Even if we were to run back to the shop now, we won't make it back in time to register...

Workshop Owner: It's a shame, but I guess we have to give up on participating in the race this year.

Deuce: On a 3D printer in the workshop… Ah, maybe it's the one I saw when Ortho and I were working on the printer just a while ago?

Deuce: Maybe… Maybe I can help her out with magic.

Deuce: I never got to thank him for using the workshop, either… I guess I can go talk to them.

Deuce: Ah, excuse me.

Workshop Employee: Yes? …Eek, Deuce-kun!?

Workshop Owner: Now what do you want? What, are you trying to harm my employee or something?

Deuce: No, not at all! I overheard that she left her headband, and…

Deuce: I'll summon it for you with magic! That way, you can register for the race, right?

Workshop Owner: You'll summon it with magic? Can someone like you who only has the brains to cause havoc really do something like that?

Deuce: I'm not that confident, but I think I can at least summon… But I still mess that up sometimes, too… But I'm going to try!

Grim: …I don't know how good this’ll go.

Deuce: Sh-Shut it! I have to focus, so be quiet.

Deuce: [inhale, exhale] …

Deuce: COME FORTH, RABBIT EAR HEADBAND!!

[rabbit ear headband magically appears]

Deuce: It's the same design as the one I saw in the workshop earlier. That means…

1. Congrats! 2. You did it!

Deuce: Yeah! I'm so glad it worked out.

Deuce: This is your headband, right? Please accept it.

Workshop Employee: …

Grim: This lady's completely frozen in her tracks… Maybe she's terrified of you!!

Deuce: Eh!? Oh no, is it because I just suddenly called out to you? Sorry, I shouldn't have done that…

Workshop Owner: I can't believe that that Deuce just successfully summoned something, and even took care to think of my employee's feelings…

[FLASHBACK]

Dylla: Hey, listen to this! Deuce has been really motivated ever since enrolling in Night Raven College.

Dylla: Just the other day, he sent me a picture of a certificate that he won as an award at a track meet.

Dylla: It… does look like he's having a bit of a hard time with his studies and magic, though. But he's doing is best in the only way he knows how.

Dylla: And recently, he's been really considerate, saying stuff like, "Aren't you tired?" and "Don't push yourself too hard"…

Dylla: Sounds like he's made some good friends, too. I'm truly happy that he's enjoying himself every single day over there.

Workshop Owner: …Looks like Dylla-san was telling the truth.

Deuce: Eh? Did my mom say something?

Workshop Owner: Yeah. She said that you had a change of heart and are doing your best now.

Deuce: My mom said that…?

Workshop Owner: Honestly, I couldn't believe that you actually cleaned yourself up, no matter what Dylla-san said…

Workshop Owner: You've convinced me, Deuce. Thanks to you, my coworkers and I can enter the race.

Deuce: Since I couldn't thank you earlier for letting us use your workshop… I'm glad that I was able to be of help here.

Workshop Owner: Oh, don't worry, there's still a lot that you need to pay me back for.

Workshop Owner: But for today, you did good. Hey now, you thank him, too!

Workshop Employee: …Thank you for helping me. And, sorry for being scared of you!

Deuce: And I'm sorry for suddenly calling out to you and scaring you, too.

Workshop Owner: You're going to join the race too, right? Let's all do our best!

Deuce: YES, SIR!

Deuce: I "convinced" him… Huh.

1. You did it! 2. That's great.

Deuce: Yeah. I was worried that I hadn't matured at all, but… Thanks to that, I'm feeling a bit better.

Deuce: To be perfectly honest, I planned on just coming back here by myself.

Deuce: After swinging by to see my mom and the festival real quick, I was just going to jump on my blastcycle and go for a ride.

Deuce: If you, Grim or the others hadn't come with, I don't think I would have had a chance to talk with people in town.

Deuce: So… Uh, yeah, thanks for coming here with me!

Grim: Heheh, least I could do.

Deuce: For everyone who came here with me... And also for my mom, there's no way that I can lose this race.

Deuce: We'll definitely win! [Yuu], watch me go!

Requested by Anonymous.

[juanjoltaire]

Hi!! First, I'd love to say that I'm absolutely in love with your art. I've been a Les Mis fan since I was 9 or 10, and Enjolras was always my favorite character, and Grantaire my close second. i never I shipped ExR until I saw your art. I've read your fanfics and literally clicked through all your art since when you started posting (somehow I found the time), and it is so fun to see your art progress! I gratefully came across your art recently when I was in a huge art block for 2D hand-drawn art, having transferred to 3D CGI art several years go. You really inspired me to draw again (and to listen to and watch Les Mis again...)

Anyways, I've started trying to sketch in my sketchbook almost every day. I've always had one problem, and that would be the size of the drawings. I usually draw like these teeny tiny full body characters that are like at most 3 inches tall, and their heads are like less than an inch. (and it's so frustrating when i try to erase a tiny detail and end up erasing half of the head). And I have trouble drawing a consistent size for multiple characters in a scene. Do you have any advice on drawing size or any sort of guidelines or like base shapes (idk what they're called when you do that type of blocking, I never took legit drawing classes)?

Thank you soooooo muuchchhhh!! Your art is a blessing to the Les Mis community. :DDDD (sorry I wrote so much)

Hi there! First of all thank you so much!!!! I'm so glad you enjoy my work and enjoyed seeing my growth over the years. I am happy it helped inspire you too!!! I have some advice that is not useful and maybe some that is more useful.

My non-useful advice is I'm an ipad girlie, meaning I currently am mostly only digital sketches, and the advantage of that is you can change the size of anything at any time, which is extremely helpful because I, like you, also end up drawing things in the wrong size all the time and need to adjust that. Unfortunately though having the ease of that does not apply to your situation. Something you could do, but is still roundabout, is back when I was drawing traditional all the time, I would save my major edits for proportions and sizes for photoshop when I got home, so I would scan and make a bunch of digital edits rather than undoing what I did on the paper if I liked most of what was there already, since detail was easier to fix when you can blow it up on the comp. This would also be what I would do when I have characters that are two different sizes, I would fix them gently in photoshop when I got a chance to scan in the sketch. I should add if you are able to do that I think it's a great solution and not 'cheating' in anyway if the paper version isn't the finished product.

However maybe my more useful advice is to get a bigger sketchbook. Bigger paper can help you getting used to working bigger. If you have a tiny sketchbook you'll get used to drawing tiny and I really don't rec that, because I think the reason why my hands are so messed up is because I got used to drawing small and tight. In art school they really stress drawing loosely and bigger. When I say bigger I mean like printer paper sized (8.5x11) or more? I got used to these travel sketchbooks and I don't think they did me any favors.

I would rec drawing the head at least maybe an inch tall if not more? I think maybe when you first are drawing and you put down the little skeletal bits of drawing (the first thing I always draw is like the circle and jaw shape for the head), make sure that it doesn't get smaller than that. A full body at 3 inches sounds incredibly painful for your hands to draw! I don't feel like I'm sounding very helpful right now but I do think that it will be much healthier for your hands to learn to draw bigger or you'll end up with tendinosis like me (sadness.) But yes, I think challenge yourself when you're first putting down your skeletal structure to go bigger. Get bigger paper, and try to do a full body that fills the page. You'll also be able to fit in more detail. Now that's not to say that I don't draw small still, but I don't go under an inch with my heads, so at least try that! As for characters sizes, make sure that you do have a base structure in place for them before you start any details, compare their sizes, measure with your eyes, and make sure you're happy with the way they look next to each other before you finalize, if you're not going to digitally edit anything later. I hope that helps a little? I feel like I might be just saying things you've already tried but hopefully I might have said something useful.

Anyway thank you again for your nice compliments!!

[laniemae]

So it’s the chapter 3 trial, 2 people are dead, the first murder was incredibly violent and the second incredibly tragic and I’m more lost than any of the cases so far. I’ve mainly summed up my thoughts in going over the likelihoods for each character being the killer as it was the easier way to go over the case for me. But boy things are gonna get interesting and this theory will probably be a mess because that’s exactly my thoughts on this.

Unlike the previous two murders, these ones were definitely planned so we have to think back a while. The first moment that definitely connects to this murder is Kamimura’s key going missing. Kamimura normally keeps his key in his pocket so idk how the killer stole it lmao. Ok but seriously something like that could’ve been really easy, trigger a loud noise or something, have him faint then just yoink it. After this, the culprit would’ve went to the computer lab to replicate the key with the 3D printer. Something interesting I wanna note is that they would’ve noticed the blood on the floor from good child, assuming they weren’t wada or Okazaki. But I figure that whoever replicated the key must be one of them, as they’re the two who know about the 3D printer. There’s a possibility that the person who replicated the key isn’t the killer as well, but I’m not sure how they would’ve been able to do so, and I think it’s pretty safe to assume it was either Okazaki or wada who replicated the key, regardless of whether they’re the culprit. Whatever happened, the key managed to make it back to kamimura somehow. There’s quite a few oddities I’m noticing here, why replicate kamimura’s key only to use it to frame wada, and not just put his actual key in his room? The killer must’ve had a reason for the duplicate key here.

This moves me to the day of the crime, and specifically the state that kamimura’s room was in. Just off the bat, I don’t think he was kidnapped in his room. Well more specifically I think the signs of a struggle were definitely faked. Like, it’s kamimura, if someone went running at him with a knife or something he’d faint, not be able to put up that much of a fight. And if there was a significant struggle Ojima and Hiroaki who were in the dorms at the time would’ve definitely noticed. Going back to the room key I feel like the state his room in has to do with the key. I’m not too sure when this struggle scene was set up but I could imagine it was a while before the murder when the killer had his key.

So that’s the main events with kamimura of what happened before the murder but the murder actually is… something. So Kamimura was decapitated, stabbed in the face, had his tongue cut out, was stabbed a countless amount of times in the chest, and had his stomach slit open. Of course this is extremely excessive and over the board, if they wanted to kill him there’s no reason to go to this extreme and there’s how the killer even had the guts to pull this off. I’ve seen a lot of theories on why this could be. I’ll start off with my theory- that the killer wasn’t killing to escape. But rather to send a message. My thoughts is that torturing kamimura like this so much would’ve been an incredibly risky feat to pull off, especially during daytime and all the blood that was shed. It’s all completely unnecessary with no apparent gain to get from it, so that’s why I was thinking it could be some sort of message? What message? I’m not sure at all, but I’m thinking because of this and all the risk that comes with this plan the killer wasn’t trying to escape, and was willing to give up their own life for what this message was. Frankly I don’t have too much of a basis for this theory, it was just my first thoughts that I wanted to put here.

The main theory I’ve seen floating around is that this was to hide kamimura being poisoned (tamba moment). I can see why people believe this but it feels odd to me. It goes that the killer poisoned kamimura’s gyoza and waited for him to die in his room, and kidnapped him and bought him to the art supply room from there. Which they cut out his tongue to hide signs of poisoning, and since a cut out tongue would be too strange of evidence, proceeded to mutilate his body to make it look like a torture scene. I’m not too sure on this because even in this situation it just feels too excessive for just hiding up poisoning, but who knows the killers thought process for doing this. I’m not too familiar on this topic so I don’t know much about poisons and if the tongue can be a sign that someone was poisoned. And why the killer would go to this much extremes to hide that, when this excessive torture would’ve more likely got them incriminated than just leaving him there dead of poison. So I’m not too sure on this consensus.

Then there’s the theory that this is just for shock value (from the killers standpoint, not a writing one). That the culprit only mutilated kamimura’s body so badly that it’ll put people off from the investigation emotionally. I’m also not too sure on this, as it feels too simple. But I don’t really have much more to say on it.

With how the killer managed to escape from the scene, the idea that I agree with the most is that the killer utilised the drama room to some extent. Putting on a seperate pair of clothes to kill kamimura with, then go back to the drama room and change back, and due to the abundance of clothes in there it would be a mainly inconspicuous place to hide them. And since it was premeditated, they were able to clean up any blood that would’ve gotten on them and evidence of them leaving the supply closet.

So then actual murder aside, I wanna look more into the evidence that was found in the dorm rooms. I’ve already covered the room key and such, so there’s that. There’s also the saw and blood in Wada’s room, the blood I believe is from Wada’s previous injuries and I think the saw was planted there. As all the rooms being open during investigations the killer could’ve easily planted false evidence they had on their person to frame him. I’d assume a similar case for the knife in kamimura’s room, but they already had his key so who knows. There’s also the really strange blackmail letter that hasegawa received, threatening to kill kamimura if he doesn’t kill Okazaki within two days, signed by wada. Everything is off with this letter, how it’s signed in the first place, how wada would supposedly write like this, how it was given to hasegawa, and the date. The date is interesting because just because the letter said that kamimura would be killed in two days doesn’t necessarily mean it was delivered two days ago, it could’ve just been put in his room as false evidence again. Hasegawa claims he never saw it which could point to that, but he has a track record for lying in trials so I can’t be sure.

Now with tsuno’s murder. I’m writing this with not a lot of time on my hands so I can’t go over everything in this case and I mostly provided more detailed thoughts in my killer probability rankings so I’ll go over some stuff. Tsuno’s murder is so confusing to me as there’s so little evidence for it aside from her initial death. Nobody really goes to the woodshop and a trap like that almost anyone can pull off. Especially that we have no clue when the killer set this trap up, making alibis and stuff like that useless. And if they’re even the same killer as kamimura’s. I’m really not sure on that but it’s interesting to note how it was the woodshop specifically that was trapped, if they wanted to kill someone on their own why there? And they must’ve done it after the killer got their preparations for kamimura’s murder if they’re not the same person.

So uhhh i didn’t have too much time for this type of analysis specifically but here it is right before the trial. Who do I think is the killer? I’m not too sure but probably Okazaki, I think she did at least one of them idk.

[houndsofbalthazar]

I am 99% sure I have finally solved my 3d printer's problems and it's back up and running properly. I have been trying to sort this issue for over a year I think, on and off because troubleshooting is tiring.

3d printing is done in layers, imagine building a model of a cube by cutting out lots of squares and gluing them on top of each other. My issue was that sometimes, at some indeterminate point these layers would shift over a few mm and continue from there. Usually that meant it was trying to print onto thin air and meant the print would fail. If it somehow didn't turn into a pile of spaghetti, it would be oddly shaped.

I tried so many things, there are so so many settings, I tried different nozzles, I tried different filament, and then I found a potential solution: my particular model had a firmware update that was bugged and could cause exactly this issue. I was elated and followed instructions on how to revert to an older firmware.

The problem persisted. I was no longer elated. Everywhere I googled just talked about the firmware thing. Emailing support got me a message that suggested disassembling the machine to get at some deeply buried cables to reseat them. I even stooped low enough to ask on reddit! And then the other night I had a brainwave.

You see, a lot of 3d printers have removable plates that the model is printed on, it makes it easier to get at the model once it's printed. There are lots of different surfaces with different benefits, and my one has a removable plate that sticks to the machine with strong magnets. I have a replacement plate on my machine and it's slightly smaller than the original (it's made by the manufacturer and I have no idea why it's this shape!), all of a sudden I wondered what if it's sliding during printing? I'd been thinking about it all wrong, it wasn't the print head moving, it was the model moving underneath it. A couple of tests later and I was vindicated, and then after a bit of experimentation today I hit the keyword lottery and found a post by someone who had the same problem and how they fixed it with simple tools I already had.

So why did I not think of the plate as a culprit sooner? I mentioned it was a replacement plate, well that's because I damaged the surface of my original plate and although you can get stickers to resurface them I figured I'd turn it into an upgrade because it was only slightly more expensive and a generally better surface to print on. The thing is... I damaged the original plate while troubleshooting the layer shifting issue. The new plate was above suspicion because it arrived after the problem started! The only explanation is that I was suffering from the firmware problem and fixed it only after introducing this new problem. How wild that two problems in completely different parts of the process ended up having exactly the same effect and drove me mad for months. No wonder it was so hard to diagnose!

[bigblueoctoling]

Thoughts about Suffer No Fools/Deep Cut in general

I really dislike this whole 'shiver and frye mistreat Big Man' plotline they seem to be making with deep cut. Like, from the start they've set up that Shiver and Frye don't really appreciate Big Man, but outright having their own duo group without him just kind of feels needlessly petty. Like maybe I'm looking into this too hard, but it's also, literally the only thing one is capable of looking into with Deep Cut's canonical information. Like... Big Man is already working at a disadvantage of being a male idol who isn't humanoid, it feels kind of pointlessly cruel to pit him alone against Shiver and Frye. And it's not like Shiver or Frye are any better for it.

They keep focusing on this one trait, the fact that Shiver and Frye are very very hostile to non-splatlandians. I would love to actually enjoy Shiver and Frye being openly aggressive, that's unique for an idol's personality, but rather than feeling tough, they just feel pathetic, trying way way way too hard to look intimidating.

Again, this isn't necessarily the fault of any particular writing of Deep Cut, but rather the complete and utter lack of any meaningful lore about them.

The squid sisters are hard-carried in the personality department; they get the entirety of Splatoon 1, 2, and 3's story mode to show off their personalities.

Off the Hook started out less interesting than the Squid Sisters, since they had to rely on newscasts, but even before Octo Expansion, the fact that Marina was an Octarian was an obvious huge deal from the moment she was revealed, with the splatfests revealing the gravity of Marina's abilities. Of course, then Octo Expansion happened- Octo Expansion feels very directly like it was created for the express purpose of fleshing out Pearl and Marina to make up for them not being in the main story mode. And of course we have Side Order that just doubles down on developing them.

Deep Cut's inclusion in Splatoon 3's story is just like. The most obligatory presence possible. Somehow, despite having direct boss fights, they leave absolutely zero impact whatsoever- it doesn't help that they don't sing their boss music, but they're also just there for no reason to steal "Treasures"- completely nondescript objects of no apparent value whatsoever that have no particular meaning to Deep Cut. No elaboration is given as to why Deep Cut wants this treasure in particular- Alterna is fucking littered with human technology that's infinitely more valuable than a bunch of random metal scraps. There are giant 3D printers just sitting around. And their dialogue is just... complete nothing. As stock as possible, there's nothing to gleam about any of their relationships from anything. Like...

A small aside: The reason why Squid Sisters and Off the Hook are such interesting groups is because of their group dynamic. Callie and Marie have a very deep bond that gets tested and validated after their separation, and Pearl and Marina are just a perfect duo. I'm not even a big shipper type of person but their relationship is so wonderful to see. But what even is Deep Cut's relationship? They're friends? With the way Shiver and Frye treat Big Man it feels like their entire relationship is pure business, and it's honestly more depressing than anything else.

Anyways, getting back to Deep Cut in the story mode, they say one unique piece of information about them- that they do this to help people who are suffering.

This is a fantastic direction to take Deep Cut, and would make their hostility towards inkopolis feel much more cathartic and justified.

They literally never mention it again or elaborate on it any further. Why? What are they even referring to? Poverty? Octarian oppression? General social imbalance?

The lack of elaboration about why Shiver and Frye are so prideful and so hostile, and what sort of suffering they care about, really stands out to me in Suffer No Fools.

Suffer No Fools feels like Shiver and Frye just aimlessly attacking strangers they're completely out of their depth with. The only thing we know Shiver and Frye care about is helping the misfortunate.

With that being the case, Off The Hook are literally the last people on the entire planet you should want to start beef with, even if it's just play-fighting- and in realizing this, I've realized something else about Off The Hook and Deep Cut:

Off The Hook already fills Deep Cut's niche.

Like... Pearl and Marina are the perfect duo in terms of representing social progress. Marina obviously has a very personal reason to care about impoverished octarians- she was one of them, she fought to get to the surface. Pearl, on the other hand, is the perfect emblem of an inkling, extremely privileged due to being born into great generational wealth. However, after meeting Marina, Pearl decided to put her all into using her privilege to elevate Marina's voice as much as possible. And, in doing this, creating Off the Hook, they have had a very real, tangible impact on the acceptance of Octarians on the surface. And this isn't even touching on Octo Expansion- they go out of their way to save Eight, of course, but since then, Marina put her everything into figuring out a way to save the sanitized octarians stranded in Kamabo Co.

Meanwhile, Deep Cut's actual contributions are left entirely unelaborated and unspecified. No known efforts to figure out anything about the Mammalian octarians, literally not a word spared about them.

What the fuck do they have to be proud for? What have they ever done for anyone? All I see are some stuck up egomaniacs who have no respect for anyone who isn't an asset in getting them more money. It honestly feels less like Shiver and Frye are these charitable robin hood figures and more like that was a lie to cover their asses.

...And, of course, I expect this to change in the next Splatoon game. It would be unthinkable for Deep Cut to just have no relevance again after getting nothing in this game. This is a very pessimistic outlook on Deep Cut. But they've given me absolutely nothing to work with, it's difficult to think that characters are good people if you only ever show them being unjustifiably hostile and greedy.

It just sucks. Shiver and Frye are my favorite idol designs, but they're constantly made out to be so fucking lame, and not even in an "underdog group of failures that cares about eachother" sort of way because EVERY DEEP CUT THING HAS TO BE THEMED ABOUT HOW DEEP CUT HATES BIG MAN AND EVERYONE ELSE.

[ponyguru]

The only sour note in today's excitement at the doll show was finding out that my 'starter BJD' I bought was in fact bought from Amazon from a company known for recasting, aka art theft. Like, IDK if the seller realized it was such a bad thing... but the way she phrased it was that SHE made the dolls (???), so I sort of assumed that she was an artist who worked with a casting company, or owned a 3D printer, or something? (I mean for all I know she could be an artist who contracts with a recasting company!) Literally my first question was, 'how can you offer these so cheap?' and she came back with 'well, I make them so I set the price!' And I guess from that I should have assumed she's actually a drop-shipper? :/ So idk if she's a scammer or just unclear, but either way I was not told the company name when I bought the doll. It wasn't until I saw the box (after I paid when the seller was packing up the doll) that I realized how cheap it looked, and red flags started going up. When I got her home and saw the Amazon sticker on the bottom of the box, I was like, ohhhh no.

So that was a big shame!! I can clock a knockoff MLP from a mile off, but I've only ever purchased one artist resin head, and admired BJDs from afar due to price and space. So finding a vinyl doll, which I know should be cheaper than resin even if it's legit, didn't immediately send up any red flags. I should be excited to have my very first full doll (wow!), but I know instead it comes with this huge headache. Urgh!

Anyway, I know there were a lot of young people at the show, and at least one of the other three dolls sold; I wonder if they were BJD noobs too, and didn't realize that they weren't getting a legit doll, or how recasts are viewed within that community? How would one even tactfully warn off someone from buying a recast? And I also wonder if because it's not a BJD specific event, if there's just no oversight to ensure that recasts aren't sold? I only saw one other booth with BJDs, but I think they were in a different room - and what could they do, even?

I'm still going to try and enjoy her, but it might take a couple days to shake off this funk. It just sucks that I can't just post photos of her without some kind of disclaimer, you know? Like, hey I know recasting is bad, I just didn't immediately assume this lady was lying, my bad!! She's cute but please don't buy one! :P

[dragon-in-a-fez]

I saw the post you did a while back about the electronic dice (firstly, super awesome and I love the way you got the random seeds).

I'm a computer science student but for the most part I only really do software. I have a raspberry pi pico and a breadboard but I've never been able to make it do more than light an LED, and I didn't understand how *that* worked. How do you get into that sort of thing? Or what was your path at least?

I started with software too, then I learned a bunch about mechanical and electrical stuff working on my car, and putting them together was kind of the obvious next step after that.

my early arduino projects were WS2812 LED things and simple single-motor contraptions. then in covid lockdown I built a 3D printer and my tinkering obsession amped up by several orders of magnitude.

[gemmahale]

Gemma's NaClYoHo 2024

I had too much free time on my hands this morning and I wanted a repository for all the posts I make beyond just scrolling the hashtag #Gemma's NaClYoHo.

What is NaClYoHo? National Clean Your House month. Spearheaded by @copperbadge, the intent is to do something for your household - chores, tasks, even life-related things like calling for appointments - every day of the month of November.

In Sam's words:

The goal of "NaClYoHo" is not actually to end up with a clean home; it's to spend the month of November addressing what you’d like to change about your living space.

For Kallen and I, a lot of this is going to be the maintenance tasks we've put off around the house. Being full time employed (me) and self-employed and disabled (him), a lot of things have been pushed off to "later." And later has become now.

There will be routine tasks sprinkled in here too (laundry, dishes, gathering trash, etc). We're making a wish list of things to purchase to improve spaces (shelves, bins, etc.) and will add those in as budget allows.

We're listening to the podcast Victoria's Lift while we do things. (Unless it's too loud, in which case...tbd.) I'm excited, because it's just enough spoop to keep me intrigued but not enough to wig me out. The podcast's description:

Part Twilight Zone but wholly unique, Victoria's Lift is an ongoing audio drama featuring a mysterious girl who guides visitors to their transformations. A dark place whose original luster is now lost to time, the unlikely, old Victorian building sits overlooked by most on the edge of Pittsburgh. Originally built as a luxury residence for some of the city’s most well to do residents, it now serves a different purpose. Within its dilapidated walls sits Victoria's Lift. Step inside and ride it to the floor chosen for your transformation.

But I'd really like to see:

Appliance maintenance performed

The garage I park my car in sorted

The kitchen functional and organized

The depot (Kallen's shop) functional - front half minimum

The storage space/laundry room downstairs better organized

My future office cleared and ready for furniture

Kallen's office reorganized

Kallen's printer room (idk what we're calling this room; it's half storage half 3D printer stuff) sorted

General house pick-up (this is mostly on me, the yarnie lol)

My yarn all catalogued and sorted (this one's an ambitious one)

The Daily Posts!

Day 1 - No post, rest (we didn't get home until after 8pm and were exhausted) Day 2 - laundry, dishwasher, trash, picking up Day 3 - Rest (I got my vaxxes and I went down like a rock) Day 4 - Laundry Day 5 - Bust. Day 6 - Emotional resting Day 7 - Waiting Day 8 - Grief Day 9 - Shopping Day 10 - Shelf building in laundry room Day 11 - Veteran's Day Day 12 - All day seminar Day 13 - Incoming

[screambirdscreaming]

I remember when 3D printers first became a thing and there was a huuuge hype about how you could 3D print anything and it would revolutionize everything

And then there was a phase of fussing around realizing that there are actually some unintuitive constraints on what shapes are printable based on slicing and support of overhangs, and how you have to do fiddly business like putting tape on the platform and watching the first couple layers like a hawk or it can detach and slump sideways and become a big horrible useless mess

And then, after all that, people kinda came around to realize that even if you get all that sorted, the object you've made is fundamentally an object made of moderately-well-adhered layers of brittle plastic, which is actually a pretty shitty material for almost every purpose.

And aside from a few particular use cases the whole hype just sort of dropped off to nothing.

Anyway I feel like we're seeing pretty much the same arc play out with generative AI.

[adastrabbit]

some cam questions: what does cam think of puns? does cam have a strong preference for a specific display technology? (e.g. does he hate lcd and prefer crt or oled?) did cam ever return to streaming after (presumably) escaping? if so, did he use the old account or start fresh? also, if he was vtubing, what was his model? robot catgirl? would he find it degrading if someone, upon narrowly escaping involuntarily donating their own skin to his escape attempt, came back with one of those human sized teddy bears for him to use instead? or would he find it more practical (doesn't decay as fast) or perhaps demand they come back with a cat version? or is the revenge aspect too important to accept substitutes? how bad of an idea would it be to allow Customer Assistance Machine (CAM) access to Computer Aided Machining (CAM) tools like a CNC mill and 3d printer (near the end of the 30 year solitary arc)? what would he make first? what if you only gave him a dinky uncalibrated PLA printer and only 2 meters of filament? would he be able to print something to help him escape or would he try to but fail and get mad?

first of all: thank you so much for sending these. so many questions. i will answer in order :D (readmore here so my lovely followers dont have to scroll past my yapfest)

what does cam think of puns? hmm... i think it likes them but only if it's making them. CAM is quite self absorbed (if this was not obvious enough by now i need to work harder) and gets easily annoyed if someone else makes a joke he doesn't think is funny. does cam have a strong preference for a specific display technology? (e.g. does he hate lcd and prefer crt or oled?) not really! CAM really only tends to have issues with tech they're put into if it has a lack of motor control. it really hates not being able to move. i imagine they would have issues if there was a lack of display as well but i don't think they prefer any type of display over the other. did cam ever return to streaming after (presumably) escaping? i think so! CAM likes streaming and they're very good at it. if so, did he use the old account or start fresh? starting fresh is the more reasonable option but i am in love with the idea that this fictional streaming website stays active 30 years into the future, so the old account i think also, if he was vtubing, what was his model? robot catgirl? of course. her name is Cami by the way would he find it degrading if someone, upon narrowly escaping involuntarily donating their own skin to his escape attempt, came back with one of those human sized teddy bears for him to use instead? or would he find it more practical (doesn't decay as fast) or perhaps demand they come back with a cat version? or is the revenge aspect too important to accept substitutes? oh definitely. ideally, CAM prefers any sort of robot body over a human one and a plush toy just feels patronizing. i think the revenge aspect isn't super important apart from any human who had a part in them getting put away, but CAM doesn't trust any human to build them a robot body that they're satisfied with. it's why they want the skin-suit thing, as more of a temporary vessel to build a better robot body! how bad of an idea would it be to allow Customer Assistance Machine (it's actually Customer Assistance Module! :P) (CAM) access to Computer Aided Machining (CAM) tools like a CNC mill and 3d printer (near the end of the 30 year solitary arc)? oh i don't think it would be that bad actually. he's more worried about doing his own thing so i dont think it would be used for that malicious of purposes! mostly. what would he make first? im not sure actually! maybe a more mobile shell to fit some wires into (re: the skin-suit thing) to move around in and do the aforementioned building a better body. probably a way to get out of their room if they havent done that yet in this hypothetical. frankly a lot of their plans require more delicate tech what if you only gave him a dinky uncalibrated PLA printer and only 2 meters of filament? would he be able to print something to help him escape or would he try to but fail and get mad? oh that would absolutely not work lol. i think they would try SO hard to get it to work and get mad when it doesnt. 2 meters of filament is absolutely not enough to get through a strongly sealed door even when youre an AI thats been self-developing for 30 years

[mr-geargrinder]

Today is apparently Goop Dice Defect Day!

I've got my new 3d printer up and running properly now, and while cleaning up to test some new prints, I discovered a leaky purple die. This one was already set to the side because of some clear coat issues, but I discovered it had been printed with some delamination pin-hole gaps along the numbering. This was probably from one of the last batches I printed when the Mars 2 Pro was already having a pretty rough time. I tried to toss all the ones with obvious lamination issues, and this is exactly why!

It only took the slightest bit of pressure with a hobby knife to split the whole thing into two pieces. When a print gets any sort of defect like that, its just trash. Not even worth salvaging because there's no way to fix it or restore any sort of strength to the print once that that happens.

The second set was a hot car test. I've got a friend who lives in one of those terrible hellstates where it's normally over 100°F or worse. He feared that if he ordered a pair of goop dice from me that they would explode while sitting in the carrier's truck. So I took it upon myself to test that problem.

I do not live in a terrible hellstate, but today's temp readings say it's 93°F, but feels like 100. I threw a pair on my dashboard, in the direct sun, doors closed, windows up. An hour later, they had exploded. Not just cracked, but burst open. They were also extremely hot to the touch because they probably reached or got pretty close to boiling, I'd imagine.

This is obviously a more extreme circumstance, but one I would do need to consider, either way. I don't foresee too many people leaving their dice on the hot dash in the middle of an extremely hot summer day, but if they do get left in a bag in a car or in the back of an infamously hot delivery truck, this is still a possible problem that needs addressing. Plus I've gotta worry about what might happen in the opposite situation when it gets too cold!

Fortunately, the Mars 5 Ultra is up and running with a new build plate and that means I can run off test prints much more quickly and hopefully have a workable solution to the problem much sooner.

[donnerpartyofone]

In 10+ years of active job hunting, all of the interviews I have had are:

I applied for an assistant role at this hip-sounding consultancy and I got through several rounds of scrutiny with an HR person who seemed convinced I would get the job. Finally I booked an interview with the actual boss, and the second it started everything fell apart. I had an initial technical problem with the video call and that didn't look good, but there was already a bigger issue: She immediately started shouting at me for wasting her time because I had made a mildly self-deprecating joke to the HR person (it had to do with my work with horror media which is not to everyone's taste). She was yelling and yelling about how you NEVER, EVER SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT YOURSELF EVER, WHY WOULD YOU EVER, EVER SAY ANYTHING CRITICAL ABOUT YOURSELF EVER. Then she sort of parlayed that into interrogating me about my goals in life, with the implication that I must not have any. It was apparent to me that she knew before we even started that she was never going to hire me because she felt that I had shown weakness to the enemy basically, and I can only assume she booked the interview because she enjoys torturing vulnerable strangers, but it was very shocking in any case.

I applied to be a production coordinator at this startup founded by one of these guys with more money than things to do. They were supposed to make, like...inventions? This is a somewhat aspirational description: They had an early 3D printer and the idea was that citizens would send in their invention ideas and the company would print and sell them. They'd had moderate success with kind of a modular power strip, and I guess they just assumed ideas like that would keep coming. The interview lasted 4 or 5 hours. I was sent into a little windowless room where I was interviewed by one person at a time for a very long time. The first guy was this zany douchebag who bombarded me with problems to solve: WHAT IF A GUY CALLS AND SAYS HE CAN'T SEND HIS INVENTION BECAUSE DOESN'T HAVE A SCANNER? WELL WHAT IF HE DOESN'T HAVE A CAMERA? WELL WHAT IF HE HAS NO COMPUTER? WELL WHAT IF THERE'S NO LIBRARY NEAR HIM? WELL WHAT IF THERE'S NO POST OFFICE? WELL WHAT IF HE CAN'T WRITE OR DRAW? WELL WHAT IF HE CAN'T DESCRIBE IT? COME ON! YOU GOTTA THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX YOU GOTTA THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX YOU GOTTA THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!!! The second guy was a sad sack manager who was subtly venting about how his staff didn't like him. The third guy was this chick who was openly throwing mad shade on the second guy, while also insulting me to my face. I forget who even else there was. It was like a police interrogation, by the fourth hour I didn't even know what I was saying anymore. I'm sure I would have confessed to murder. A month or two later I noticed I had all these voicemails my shitty phone never surfaced from the company trying desperately to hire me, but it was sort of a dodged bullet because they folded shortly after that.

I got a call back for an archivist position at a radio station. I only realized after the fact that due to being a humongous dumbass, my cover letter addressed the wrong company--a more popular station with a similar acronym--but I actually don't think that was the problem. The conversation was pleasant but I didn't have the exact technical abilities they wanted; they would have been willing to train me if they couldn't find anyone else, but that's not what happened.

At this point I'm really freaking out. I don't have the resources to go back to school or whatever and I'm not convinced that getting a degree or certification in a useful trade would really allow me to beat other candidates who are younger, more experienced, and with a more normal work/education history. Actually I DID get a certification in what I thought would be a useful trade before I even quit my old job to avoid drinking myself to death, but I've never gotten a call back for any relevant jobs--surely because I don't have any practical experience, it's all classroom shit and I'm not exactly internship material. Right when I quit my job I saw a career counselor, and I also worked with this corporate climber ex-colleague who gave me a lot of resume and cover letter advice, but none of that has made a difference. Recently a friend got my resume to his recruiter, he blew all this smoke up my ass about how great my resume is and how if I don't hear from the recruiter it's because she's a flake, and I really had to hold my temper because there is such abundant evidence that the problem is ME. I mean only psychos even call me back and most of them weren't interested anyway. I think unemployment is not available to me since I wasn't laid off or fired. I don't really know how temp agencies work, and I seem to have a lot of inconvenient handicaps, like I cannot do basic math, it seems pretty pathological. I don't really know how anything works, obviously.

I'm in this position because I thought preserving my mental health was more important than my job, and I foolishly assumed "something would work out" even though I had been looking for a new job almost that whole time. Also I followed a lot of well-meaning and extremely bad advice about "following my dreams" or whatever, which I actually had some unique and amazing opportunities to do--I mean if I didn't take them then I would still be wondering what-if--but I should have known never to take a chance on myself like that. I could, if I really wanted to, blame my family for not teaching me anything about real life, but the truth is that following dreams has paid off big time for every single person in our orbit except for me, so it's hard to fault people for just repeating what is personally true for them. I mean it's frustrating when someone asks you why you're looking for a job when you should just go get a book deal instead (!), but just because we're from the same family doesn't mean we're from the same planet. It's nobody's fault for assuming good things about me (although it does make me mad that they still won't face reality and everyone just thinks I'm "not trying"). But now I'm in danger and it's been coming for years, for most of my life in a way, and I don't know what to do. I apply for everything, but I look overqualified for the small things I might actually be able to do, and the jobs I do look qualified for won't give me a second look because I'm not THAT qualified really (and/or the market is flooded with people like me). I feel like I've hit up all the professional help I can find. Is there like...some sort of, I don't know what, psychologist that specializes in telling you how to get a job? I just don't know. HMU if you are able to explain to me what a job is and how to get one.

(That's mostly a rhetorical question unless you literally have specialized insider knowledge or your NYC-based boss is hiring or something. Please bear in mind that I am a middle-aged adult and I know how e.g. LinkedIn works. I have been using job boards extensively and elaborately for more than 15 years. As per my thesis, I have consulted many professional experts already. Please don't do the equivalent of reading someone's post wondering about something, and sending them a Wikipedia link to the topic like they've never heard of that before. Just please don't. I shouldn't have to say this but I know that I do.)

[hackedmotionsensors]

i didn't reblog the post but I do agree that the terminology for zines has gotten completely twisted.

ON THE OTHER HAND I don't think that selling them for say 20$ (which is what i sell my sketchbooks for) is unreasonable or unfair to still call a zine. I need to cover my costs of printing and the time I put into putting them together. yeah I can TECHNICALLY get a printer and print them myself but with the cost of printer ink and the lack of space its easier for me to just pay for someone to do it professionally but I'm also NOT making them at like....the HIGHEST QUALITY, LIBRARY BOUND, HARD COVER, IT COMES WITH A THOUSAND DOO DADS AND GIFTS. its just sketchbooks ofpreviously existing doodles and a few new sketches or sketches that I had before and colored in. Its essentially like selling a full print but in carryable size with some notes from me.

Its a zine but I call it a sketchbook because the idea of zines has changed for a lot of consumers. Thats not their fault bc those zines or anthologies DID start out in the "lets make a big ol book together because we are all horny for Reigen" kind of thing. A lot of times they're projects made from passion. I HAVE noticed that there's been a turn in the whole process of making them that both stresses out artists, requires kickstarters, and all sorts of shit that should be considered Artbooks. ARTBOOKS have always been on the higher end of things. There's nothing wrong with considering an anthology thats proper bound, and for a certain amount on a kickstarter you get extra things like stickers, charms, whatever.

But zines SHOULD go back to being simple little things. The cost to buy them shouldn't be lost UNLESS the artist wants it to be. If you print at home or using a schools printer and just print a bunch of cute little zines yourself then that should also exist and you can set your price point for whatever you want.

Its all semantics and personal preference at the end of the day but I do think that...yknow it wouldn't hurt if we could start calling the big project 50$ range books that often get run into the ground from bad leadership (or fun stuff like the organizer of the thing runs off with the money to play genshin) ...something other than zine. Like Artbook or Anthology. Or even Collection lol

Zine should be a small thing that you collect for fun and doesn't require a committee, a new discord channel, and a contract to make sure your organizer doesn't run off to play gacha (I'm sorry it still makes me laugh)

ALSO another thing about zines is that often times they were originally made to be alternatives to really closed minded book sellers. Like...its where a lot of the OG star trek fanfic/porn came from. Its a place to have your ideas put down. To explore narratives. Essentially Doujinshi can also be considered A TYPE of zine in that it literally means self published (not NECCESSARILY that its...yknow...bl or waifu porn lol Sometimes its just manga that artists put out before they can get published)

But lately there are a lot of zine projects (again...more actually like anthologies or art collections) that are REALLY REALLY closed minded even when the subject is SHIPPING.

So even the nature of CREATING the zines has changed a lot.

So yeah I agree with that post that I forgot to reblog. My only REAL gripe is that it doesn't mean that you should undercharge your work because you didn't print your zine at home or hand craft it like a youtube diy video. I did enough of that at art school I am not gonna bind a book or try to cut pages ever again if i don't have to lmao. CSP even has a zine preview so I can see the pages in 3d as if they were bound before printing lol

[nukenai]

So here's a TW for discussing a (year old) pet death but this story will just never get old for me.

On November 29th of last year, I had my dog Striker put down. He was old and I'd had him since he was a puppy, so it was hard, but he was also special needs on a level that far exceeds any human tolerance for Dog Problems (he had severe and random aggression issues, among 50 other things), so it was an interesting sort of feeling. It feels insensitive to say it was a relief but it was for both of us. He had been getting ill, so. Of course I miss the big guy, but man.

So I was pretty bummed out all day. I was texting my sister about stuff and she asked if I wanted to come over to hang out, and avoid some bummers. I said sure, since it's always fun to hang at her place.

So she's working on assembling her new 3D printer, and I start scrolling twitter. I see people hooting and hollering about something. I check the trending stuff, I see "THE BITCH FINALLY DIED". And I'm like, what bitch? Someone died? My sister goes "uhoh".

I look it up.

I cannot believe it.

I raise my wide eyes to my sister. I have a huge smile on my face.

"Henry Kissinger died."

WE STARTED FUCKING SCREAMING. WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. HOLY FUCK.

So then the joke started that Striker took Kissinger with him. He dragged him to hell and his punishment is to take care of Striker for all of eternity.

So it's sad that I lost my dog of 14 years. But we had 14 whole years together. That's a lot more than a lot of people get with their dogs.

But holy shit, how fucking funny. A day that will live in infamy for so many reasons.