#i just needed a small square for a project and i'm just gonna have to switch to crochet

[tea-earl-grey]

i know the answer is just that i have a disability but i don't understand how people knit without hurting themselves.

[reallyromealone]

Rome you know I'm gonna need a part 2 to that zoro x reader x sanji right cause I can't let that slide😊

Title: goodbye love

Fandom: one piece

Characters: Zoro, Sanji

Fic type: angst

Pairings: Zoro x sanji

Warnings: male reader, reader insert, angst, aggressive conversation, sad reader

Notes:

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

(name) hummed as he stocked bread in a small bakery, it had been five months since he left and he felt lighter and happier since the breakup. He was far from the island they docked from, getting a job easily at a bakery in a small coastal town.

Occasionally he wondered how his now ex boyfriends were, how they reacted to the letter... Were they sad? Angry? Did they even care? (Name) Didn't know and slowly stopped caring. He was starting fresh, leaving the pirate life to have something more domestic and stable though getting used to land was a bit tough.

"(Name), you work too much, go home early" the elderly bakery owner said softly, her cane tapping against the old wood with each step "are you sure? I don't mind being here" (name) asked her, (bakery owner) chuckled as she led him out "the rush is over, not many people will come today"

"Alright, but just get one of the kids to get me if it gets busy"

"Yes yes, now go!"

(Name) Chuckled as he was kicked out of the store, she was old but strong.

'with this extra time, might as well grab some stuff from the market' he thought as he went back to his place to grab some bags and coin, the walk calm and the gulls squawked as they flew overhead, the town was on the side of a huge hill, winding and full of turns, small but popular. It was perfect.

His apartment was small, he was surprised to have a one bedroom, a fireplace for cooking and even a bit of space for seating. His bed was the most expensive thing he owned, he saw it at the market and immediately got it. It was a futon, comfiest thing he ever slept on and he even got pillows. It was pricy but thankfully he had a fair amount of coin from his previous employment.

He only slept on wood or a hammock.

It was a nice adjustment.

The market was the biggest thing beside the town square, many vendors and travellers in and out selling everything and anything one could need.

(Name) Loved getting fruits from other places, one a trip as a treat for himself, today he got something called an apple, typically he's used to mango and jackfruit on this island so it was a nice change.

(Name) Made a few purchases, important house things and a few little trinkets for himself.

A book from a far away land.

An apple.

Some sewing needles and thread as he wished to learn to sew better.

And finally, a little music box.

It was nothing fancy but the sound it played reminded him of childhood, his mother would hum a tune quite similar to it.

What he didn't expect to see was a familiar boat.

"Shit" (name) immediately rushed home, he wasn't ready to face anything at the moment and definitely not with how he left.

(Name) Was shaking as he got inside, glancing out the window of his apartment to see if they are close to his home, irrational be knew but he had to check. Thankfully the street just had a few passersby and no strawhats. He would have to avoid anywhere that sold alcohol for a while, most restaurants and thankfully he was off for the next few days so he didn't have to go to the bakery. (Name) Looked at his collection of books and the sewing supplies and sighed happily.

Guess he has to stay inside and do the things he enjoy.

What a shame.

(Name) Spent the day doing his hobbies as a tiny radio played music in the corner, thankfully this small town had a radio station so he could enjoy some sound.

Knock knock knock.

(Name) Was engrossed in his quilt as he looked up curiously, setting his project down to go down to answer the door, a staircase down to the front door "hello (name), I thought you would enjoy some bread" his boss said kindly and handed him a basket of breads and a few muffins "ah thanks boss, that's real kind of you" the two made small talk casually, the elderly woman happy he's starting a new project "I have some sewing supplies at my home, I'm to old to use them but you can have them" the woman ushered him to follow and (name) realized he would have to leave his house.

Shit.

Silently begrudgingly he followed her, the woman excited to have someone take the supplies.

Then he smelt it half way to the bakery, cigarettes and fresh made food.

"(Name)?" He didn't turn around as his boss looked back curious, Sanji staring at his ex in awe.

(Name) Looked different.

Glowing, lighter and most of all; happier.

(Name) Turned to see his ex and sighed "hello Sanji" this is why he didn't want to go outside, his ex boyfriend looking hurt at the lack of sweet names for him, stopping closer he saw the uncomfortable expression wash over him "Luffy is gone to go get some food, have you.... (Name)" Zoro halted, staring at (name) like salvation.

(Name) Was startled at how awful the two looked, like they barely slept and sanji looked almost dead inside "can we talk?" His voice gravelly with exhaustion and (name) looked to his boss who smiled "we can talk later, you do what you need to do"

And that's how (name) ended up with the two in his apartment "So what do you guys want" (name) said less of a question and more of a demand, clearly uncomfortable "seems you settled down nice" Zoro commented as he looked at the homey space "I have" (name) stared at them unimpressed "why did you leave?" Sanji finally spoke up and the room grew more tense.

"I couldn't stay any longer, not with you two"

"Why?!" Zoro snapped and (name) had enough "because you two didn't care!" (Name) Fired back angrily "you two acted like I didn't exist! Flirting with women and ignoring me to do anything else! Who in their right mind WOULD WANT THAT! DID YOU EVEN LOVE ME?!"

It was silent as (name) heaved out a dog "I gave you two everything! And I get cheating and neglect!"

The two pirates barely had time to react as (name) lost his shit on them "why didn't you love me?" (Name) Finally asked, shaking and angry "why was it never me? You two showed more love to women and fucking swords than me!"

"I-im sorry..." Sanji whispered and (name) looked him in the eye "then why did you look at Nami in a way that you could never look at me?"

Zoro fidgeted, knowing he was next and in a rare moment... He was nervous.

"And why was I not worth spending time with?" There it was "you come here demanding to speak with me yet the time we dated you couldn't even be bothered to do the most basic of things with me"

"(Name)--"" I think you two should leave" (name) finally said "I have no interest in this conversation anymore... Goodbye "

"(Name) Come on-"" leave now, I'm begging you"

The two sorrowfully walk down the stairs, unable to get a word in as the door slammed behind them.

And at that moment they truly realized.

They lost (name).

[aromanticphillester]

i'm crocheting a dnp inspired bandana to wear when i go to tit in november!! here's where i'm going to be posting my plans and ideas

i typically make plushies so this will actually be my first ever non-amigurumi project! i haven't made clothes/accessories but i really wanted to create something special for the tour! i would absolutely have made a sweater or something larger if i was more experienced so it's just a ton of ideas shoved into one small project lol

p.s: if this inspires you, feel free to use any of these ideas in your own creations! if you do, please send me pics or tag me in a post, i would love to see your work!! :)

here's the blueprint (please ignore my complete lack of artistic ability)

(i'm using this pattern for the triangles and basic set up: https://www.anniedesigncrochet.com/granny-square-bandana-free-crochet-pattern/. i may use a different pattern for the granny squares since i'm adding appliques and i'm not sure how best to attach them. i'm gonna have to research that)

the theme is basically a time capsule through dnp's old tours and eras. it's going to be chaotic and not match at all but that's the point. the left side will have symbols to represent dan and the right for phil. then the middle combines the two to represent their joint content

i still need 2-3 colors for tatinof, a dan symbol, a joint symbol (maybe from ii era?), and a symbol from the current era. if anyone has any ideas for anything please lmk! if i can't come up with anything i may just move the sun/moon/yin yang up to the row with 3 granny squares and have the bottom 2 rows plain. that may be best anyway because it's going to be very busy already lol

shoutout to @notsosaucystuff for the yin yang, moon, and piano ideas! they are making the coolest sweater and i'm super excited to see how it turns out!!

[turtlebra1nrot]

Third Time's A Charm

Johnathon Ohnn (I/ATSV) x You

The first three times you met up with Johnathon for your project, they were more than pleasant. The fourth time was complete and sudden hell. And the fifth was, unexpectedly, nothing short of libidinous.

CHAPTER 1/6: PARTNERS...

A choir of groans and sighs filled the lecture hall after the professor's thoroughly voiced announcement of their new project having to be done in pairs.

"Yeah, moan and whine all you want. You're adults. You're gonna have human interaction anyway, suck it up." The professor responded sluggishly to the class's verbal distaste. You didn't particularly mind, however. In fact you'd hoped for this. Work had been piled up for you lately and you thought maybe having someone to help with a major assignment might do you some good.

Partners were selected by surname. The professor went down the roster while roving leisurely around the lecture hall at the same time. They came to a stop at the left side of the table where you were seated, looking at them expectantly. "You're withhhh— oh." The professor's tone was still laced with boredom but a hint of bewilderment seemed to weasel its way in. A few mutters left their parted lips. "...only one left? I'm sure I called of you..." their last string of words found your ear.

After more awkward silence from the class and professor, their eyes lit up. "Ah, I missed one. You." They call, swiveling at 180 degrees to lock eyes with someone else. A messy tuft of brown hair pulled into a low-ponytail shifted a bit in your field of vision. Then a pair of squared glasses and brown, doe eyes followed. "Ohnn. You're with them, alright? Alright." The professor then simply walks back to their desk at the front of the hall just as the intercom goes off, signifying the end of the class. Students exchange numbers, emails, socials — while you watch your own partner from afar.

You knew it'd be courteous to get up on your own two feet and go introduce yourself. But you waited to see if the guy'd come to you.

He didn't.

Ohnn sat there, head practically buried in his notes. You wouldn't be surprised if he was actually making out with that damn paper. But it was clear he wouldn't come to greet you any time soon. So with a twinge of exasperation, you huff — pushing yourself up from your seat — and walk over to the table in the third row while leaning your palms against its smooth oak wood.

"Hey." You spoke up. He nearly flew with the way he jumped back in surprise. Jesus, he's tense.

His brown eyes seem to almost bulge out of his head as he eyes you with shock, glasses slipping down the bridge of his straight nose unnoticeably. Despite the initial shock of his flinch, he attempted to gather a few words. Though he stumbled over his own tongue, "Wh- I — d-did you....need something?" Ohnn murmurs. It's like he wasn't used to being acknowledged or something. You let a smile fall upon your lips and stifle a chuckle, "Looks like we're partners, Ohnn."

The look on the guy's face voiced pure confusion but he did not protest. He was quiet again before shutting his college-rule notebook, "Looks like it..." he uttered feebly while seeming to give you a once-over. Johnathon could feel your eyes studying him as well in the silence and he hated it. He hadn't really been paying all that much attention during the lecture, so he unfortunately gained a partner who he hardly knew. As if he knew anyone other than his own family in the first place. The young man stood from his seat and that was when you could read him more clearly.

Johnathon seemed to fold in on himself as he stood. Arms tightly pressed to his sides, legs together, posture extremely informal, etc. Even with his stature he was like a frail dog, unable to hold eye contact for too long and keeping himself at a low profile. He seemed to make himself appear small. It made you feel kind of bad. No wonder he was so tense...

"You want my number? I'll text you my dorm and we can get started whenever, no pressure." It was like a bid with him. Convincing him to visit your place so you could both work. You could easily tell he might feel unease at the idea, so you kept it plain and simple for him. Johnathon steadily breathed in spite of his racing heart. He wasn't good with making plans with others because he'd get sidetracked and forget about them. He'd feel terrible to do that for a first impression. "Yeah, we could do that...if you'd like, that is. I don't wanna like, force you to do it o-or whatever—" "Dude. I offered. No need to worry." You try to reassure him with words and a smile. A croaky laugh left his lips as he realized he had been on the verge of an apologetic ramble, "Right. Sorry."

"You're good, Ohnn." You reaffirm your previous words. Johnathon nods whilst bending down to grasp the handle of his tote-bag, stuffing his notes carelessly inside. Once up straight (or as straight as he normally stood), he speaks again, "Hey, I don't mind being called Johnathon or John. I think Ohnn's a little formal since we're, y'know— partners?"

Johnathon looks down at the person before him with careful eyes, trying to gauge their reaction. He hoped that statement wasn't too forward. He never really knew when to keep things casual or professional so he always just assumed. God, what if that was too much for them? Did he really have to say that? Maybe they could just call him Ohnn, it's not a big deal—

"Sure thing."

Your response was simple. He hadn't gotten the stink eye like he'd thought he would. Johnathon's smile is sheepish when he clears his throat and hesitantly nods. He didn't always have conversations longer than 20 seconds. Talking with you had been a breath of fresh air for him and he couldn't tell if the churning in his belly was excitement, anxiety, or joy.

He exchanged numbers with you before departing from the lecture hall and moving onto his next class. He had a math exam that period and with the boost of morale from last period, he felt somewhat prepared.

[aceghosts]

WIP Wednesday

Hi everyone! I finally have WIP for this WIP Wednesday, and I was tagged by: @marivenah, @nightbloodbix, @cloudofbutterflies92, @cassietrn, @theelderhazelnut, @socially-awkward-skeleton, and others. (Sorry y'all! I've been tagged quite a few times.)

Tagging (Opt In/Out): @voidika, @bbrocklesnar, @captastra, @captmactavish, @alexxmason, @amalkavian, @direwombat, @strangefable, @carlosoliveiraa, @fourlittleseedlings, @clicheantagonist, and anyone else who wants to do this!

I've mainly been working on my gift for the Resident Evil Valentine Exchange, and it's been a little rough. It's my first time writing a Reader Insert, and it is definitely more difficult than thought, but I'm going to do some major edits. The second draft is always where it starts to come together for me.

However, while I've been working on that, I've also been picking at the fic about the first time Rooney and Yorinobu really get to talk with one another. Here's a little snippet from that, a flashback within the fic:

“Almost done, Shepard,” Elias says, tweaking some of the internal components of their mechanical arm, “Then, you can go to your physical therapy appointment.” Rooney doesn’t respond, not that they ever do. The Arasaka staff learned very quickly that Rooney will not speak unless they need to. And for some, it’s more frustrating. At their last therapy session, their therapist left in tears, begging them to speak, to just say anything. But they couldn’t or more accurately, Rooney wouldn’t. They hear footsteps, someone coming to the doorway. Elias looks up, eyes widening. “Yorinobu-sama!” He exclaims, getting up to bow. “I didn’t know that you were coming to visit.” “Last minute decision,” Yorinobu says, a laissez-faire tone to his voice, “I was curious about the old man’s new project.” Rooney’s eyes meet his, dark brown eyes hidden behind black square glasses. For a few seconds, they hold his stare, unafraid of him. Yet, they’re still the first to look away, returning their gaze to the blank spot on the wall where they’ve been staring throughout this whole appointment. “Don’t mind them!” Elias excuses, shooting Rooney a small glare. “They’re just like that.” “Like what?” Out of the corner of their eye, they catch Elias glancing nervously between them and Yorinobu. “Silent,” He says, honestly, “Sometimes, I think that the security robots are more human than Shepard. Guess that’s probably what makes them a good soldier.”

I've also been taking some screenshots in Cyberpunk too, and I thought I would share some of my favorites. I think I'm gonna post a few; haven't decided on the shippy ones though:

[rjalker]

I think we're gonna need a bigger bingo sheet. I literally just got done making a new one for July 2024 but then that. reblog. just came along and blew all of it out of the water. not even combining it with the original one from November can encompass the sheer what-in-the-absolute-fuck of it.

Well. Here's the new one anyways.

[ID: A bingo sheet titled, "Vote Blue No Matter Who 2024: Genocide Joe Biden, July edition!". It has a dark blue border with small stars, and the squares are in alternating pale red white and blue.

The squares read, from top to bottom and left to right: "Project 2025!" with many exclamation marks. "Genocide Joe is the most progressive president we've ever had!" "I just can't figure out why people are mad at poor sweet Joe" with an exaggerated sad emoticon. "Trump won in 2016 because people split the vote!" "It's only fascism if it threatens Americans!" with many exclamation marks "I don't give a single shit about anyone who's not an American and you shouldn't either. This is a progressive stance." "I'm going to reduce refusing to support genocide to vaguely being a 'single-issue' voter which I'm gonna pretend is childish and immature". "Israel-Hamas conflict". "Not voting for Biden is stupid!" "Not supporting genocide makes you a Cultural Christianity Puritan!" "Foreign election interference is when people make fun of the President of the United States" "Just because Biden isn't perfect is no reason to throw a tantrum!!" the free space in the center "Trump is actively pro genocide! Unlike Biden, who's literally comitting genocide." "The Most Powerful Man in the Most Powerful Country in the World™ is actually a weak helpless baby if he's wearing a blue hat" with a crying emoticon. "This is a democracy! That's why you have to vote for genocide or else!" "If you fucking Queers don't vote for my favorite genocidaire I'll laugh when you get put in concentration camps!" "You're being selfish by refusing to support genocide!" "You're the Real Racist™ if you refuse to support genocide", with an angry emoticon "Voting for genocide is the logical choice!" "If you don't vote for my favorite genocidaire, you're a Foreign Invader Threatening Real Americans!" "Voting for a third party is the exact same thing as voting for Trump!" "This is a democracy! That's why it'll instantly turn into a dictatorship if Trump wins. Don't question it!" "If you don't vote the way I want, you deserve to be publically executed!"' [in all caps, with extra exclamation marks] "Stop telling people not to vote!" End ID.]

[vertebrae-entertainment]

4/5/2024 - Fangst animation rework!

Hi again y'all, Hauk here! If you've been peeking at our discord channel lately, you might have noticed I've been posting a lot of animation WIP's. Thats because I'm in the process of reworking some of the oldest sprites in the project- walking and jumping!

It can take me up to a year to nail how I draw and animate a character. For our protagonist the thing that has taken the most time is definitely line stylization, proportions and leg silhouette. He's gotten bigger and bigger during development, not to mention spikier! Honestly its not that smart to design a tall character for a platformer, and there's a reason most platforming type characters have a very square hitbox. Its just easier to design challenges that way!

But i'm not changing gears now!! I wanted Fangst to have a tall handsome man as a player character, and i'm gonna stick to it!!

Here's a peek at the new walk animation. The arm holding his fishing rod is a static, separate sprite that is basically glued to the player with code for gameplay reasons.

We needed a smart way to change and add bounce to the rod without having a million variants of every sprite. Here are two iterations on how a static arm could be anchored to the player. I want him to carry himself with a confident sway, as though the whole world is his catwalk- so perhaps the full bounce of the second one is too much!

Speaking of bounce, the double jump animation! Right now he has the very placeholder double jump solution of turning into a small rotating orb sonic style, and its been a frustrating disconnect seeing as the hitbox ordinarily is quite big.

My goal for this animation is that i want him to do a sexy, elegant backflip. I started with a version with an upside down split, but after some iterations we agreed that the simpler one would be more readable and use-friendly. But an upside down split is kinda iconic... maybe we can use it elsewhere?

A platformer player will spend most of their time jumping around, so nailing a satisfying, easily readable jump is important in both animation and feel. Characterization is also important here- i want it to be obvious that our player character is athletic and elegant, and that these acrobatics cost him little effort.

However, i'm expecting a bit of a pickle implementation-wise. See, him turning into a sonic-style orb made the walljumps feel practically seamless. Will a fully animated backflip be equally friendly? The sprite will be a lot bigger. Truth is, a character turning into a ball is just really easy to design around.

Here's the current in-game sprites, featuring his old jumps, idle pose and miiildly disconnected placeholder arm with a smaller fishing rod. As you might have noticed, he's also a bit softer looking, and his boots are way smaller!

I think the newer sprites will make him have a more stylish, cool and recognizeable silhouette. It will be worth it to update these old things- after all, inbetween all this technical game design stuff, its just also really important to me that the player feels like a cool and professional monster hunting fisherman!

Thanks for keeping up with our project, we're doing our best to make Fangst a proper quality "You: A Hot Man, Kill Monster!" experience!!

-Hauk

[moongothic]

Remember my first crochet sweater from forever ago? The one that turned out like shit?

Frogged it and now it's a knit 😎

So to recap; I tried making a crochet sweater based on a YouTube tutorial like years ago, and although while making it I could tell it didn't seem... right... I just kept on telling myself to "trust the process" and that "it'd turn out okay in the end"

It did not

The sweater ended up being so square-ish and massive I could've fit three of myself inside of, going well beyond "comfy oversized sweater" straight into "clown clothes" territory. It was bad. On top of that, although I tried to get the same yarn to do the top of the sweater in a pastel purple, I ended up leaning about this thing called "dye lots" the hard way, as the yarn I had needed to finish the sweater ended up being a completely different shade from what I had used for most of the sweater.

So yeah. The sweater turned out like shit, and I wore it maybe once before putting it into my closet and refusing to even look at it for like IDK two years.

Now I have some nicer yarn that I'd like to make something with, something preferably knit because I like knit fabric more than crochet, but I don't want to practise knitting clothes with that nicer yarn. And so I figured, if I frogged this crochet sweater I could then practise knitting sweaters, reuse the old yarn (=don't have to buy jack shit), and maybe remake this failed sweater into something I'll actually wear

And so the sweater was frogged, this being all the usable yarn from the project. Pastel purple dyelot on the left while the more pinkish yarn (the stuff I had originally used while trying to convince myself it wasn't pink)

You can see the difference in the hue better here

So yeah. Now admitedly after frogging the sweater I did lowkey think about just trying to re-crochet the sweater and did kinda start on that, but I very soon realized that I probably wouldn't have enough yarn to remake the sweater the way I wanted to, and just trying to crochet with it made me double down on how much I just I don't like crochet fabric as clothes. It's just so bulky, man

So I got to knitting instead. And because I'm deranged I chose to... mostly wing it. I did look at a few YouTube tutorials for top-down raglan sweaters to get an idea of what I was supposed to be doing, but in the end, I do kinda learn the best by just winging it. But what I did make a big note of while remaking the sweater was just trying it on as often as possible, just to make sure I didn't make it as oversized this time.

I did want to make this process relatively simple though and because I didn't want to risk losing out of yarn at an inconvenient point I chose to skip the stripes of the original sweater and just make it a simple two-color sweater. This also had the added benefit where I was able to use up all of the purple yarn on the yolk and just go as far as I could go with it before switching to black.

But yeah, the end result?

It's decent!

Like let's be real, my raglan increases are an absolute fucking mess and the shaping on the yolk is a little funny, AND I did make the collar too big (I was so worried my giant head wouldn't fit through so I made it way bigger than it needed to be, but honestly it's better that way than it being way too small. It looks a little silly but it's not the end of the world), and the sleeves ended up being like maybe 4-5 centimeters too long they could've been a smidge shorter.

But aside from that?

I'm honestly really happy with it

Because the fabric is super soft and nice, it's not too bulky, and most importantly, it fits me. It's not obscenely massive on me, it's just the right size.

And really, that's all I wanted. A sweater I'd actually USE, and yeah, I'm gonna wear the hell out of this next fall/winter when the weather gets cold again. It's not perfect, but it's more than good enough for me. And most importantly, I now feel infinitely more confident in maybe using that nicer yarn sometime soon to knit something

Now what the fuck am I gonna do with the leftover yarn 'cause boy howdy do I have a ton left

[creations-by-chaosfay]

I'm very excited about making my mom's birthday gift next week. She requests a small table runner to serve as decoration for a side table in her living room. I have a charm pack I've been waiting to use, and she is going to love this. There will be many scraps and leftover squares, so those are gonna be put to use.

If I get no commissions, I have several quick projects to I can make next week. No handquilting for two weeks though. My hands need a break. Preventing a problem is much easier than treating it.

Your votes on the poll I updated today are definitely helping! The shop inventory will have things that y'all seem to favor, and I will do my best to make items in the lower price range. Mug rugs, coasters, single or double setting place mats, mini quilts. All things I can make in less than four hours because they're all machine quilted, small, and fairly easy for me to make.

I recently purchased three patterns books packed with table runners and mini quilts. About 45 patterns total, and the author/designer sent a bunch of free patterns as well. One patterns may end up being used several times, with a few changes here and there, because it has teacups and mugs!

Small projects mean instant gratification.

I just wish I had my own printer so I could print foundation paper piecing patterns and templates without spending a small fortune at the print shop. There are sooooo many FPP patterns I wanna use but need to go to a shop to print. Bleh.

Anyway, I would really appreciate filling up my commissions. A bunch of small things or a couple of big things. Two queen size quilt commissions would result in hitting my goal, which means a giveaway winner will happen sooner, and I will be a very happy girl. After the goal is met, I can focus on fun goals, like a printer, Grace Company's Cutie Breeze frame, an XBox Series X for my husband (he turns 50 this summer), and possibly bicycles for both of us (he has neuropathy and it makes walking extremely painful). But first, commissions, shop sales, and hitting my current goal.

[lazar-codes]

20/07/2023 || Day 54

Weather App - Log # 5, Frontend Mentor Social Media Dashboard - Log # 1 and Wordle - Log # something

Weather App:

Decided to take a small break from working on this because I need to find proper weather icons to use, and can't find any for free so I'll just make them myself. However, I don't feel like doing that just yet, so I'm taking a little break from this project.

Social Media Dashboard:

To fill my time and continue working with React, I decided to start a new Frontend Mentor project (the Social Media Dashboard one) and I've already got things formatted so that I can pass down the necessary info from the parent component to the child. I'm gonna change it tmr, but so far I have a person object in my App.js component that has info on all the different social media stats, and those stats get passed onto a child component called SocialMediaCard.js, and this component organizes and displays that info. Now that I think about it, it would be better to simply have the person object in the SocialMediaCard.js component, and only pass down the type of social media from App.js to that child (i.e. facebook or twitter, etc). This way, only 1 property is passed compared to 5, and I can still have all the social media stats separate.

I started working on this project yesterday and took the mobile-first approach, as I've been doing for the past couple of projects, so the reference photo that I will show is different than what it's supposed to look like on mobile, but this is what I have so far (left) vs. reference (right). Still got a long way to go, but I'm excited to fully see how React makes reusable code easier to work with.

Wordle:

I thought I'd finished this project, and I pretty much have, but I wasn't feeling like doing that much new stuff today but still wanted to code, so I decided now was the perfect time to redo the CSS I had for this project. I pretty much deleted everything and started adding the CSS with a mobile-first approach, then extended to desktop. The reason why I did this was because for some reason the CSS I had originally caused problems when I used the app on my phone; colours were faded, I had to scroll down the use the keyboard... all in all, not optimal for using it on a phone. It's still not perfect and I have to find a way to debug it live from my phone to figure out why the colours still look awful, but in the meantime it's now an improvement over what it was before. Just for the sake of it, here's what it looks like on my phone (left) vs. what it looks like while looking at it through a browser's development tools mode (right): as you can see, the one from my phone (left) has the input squares look like they're faded/have a lower opacity, while the photo on the left (safari's responsive mode) looks as it's supposed to. This is a struggle. I don't have any problems with this for my other projects, so I have no idea what's wrong. Oh well... at least it looks better than before.

[headlessandhellbent]

So I'm back in the Betta life 🐟

I can't take a clear photo of him to save my life, but here he is zooming around right after I acclimated him into his tank.

Long story short -

My mom has end stage cervical cancer. Through out her fight it's just been me and my sister taking care of her. I live with her, though. As thinfs progressed rapidly within months from 2b to 4b I started really thinking about getting another Betta. Just something to keep ME company in the huge house while my mom was upstairs in her room bed bound and I was doing ? all day trying to survive myself while taking care of her.

Cut two years later, mom unexpectedly goes into the hospital for a month and goes to hospice. Recovers in hospice and goes back to the hospital. Then goes way downhill. I'm alone in the empty house we shared basically just working and staying with her rotating. We get told again she's not going to recover to go back to comfort care.

I set up the old tank a week ago and got it running. Decided I needed an external filter for more room. We get notice mom's in bad shape and we put her on comfort care in the hospital now.

Today my sister tells me she has 2-3 days left according to her oncologist.

I've been scoping out the local bettas. PetSmart, the closest store to me... Atrocious. The worst, lethargic, dirty water Bettas I've ever seen. I drove to Petco on the way back from a doctor's trip and.. wow, totally the opposite. Happy, swimming, conscious Bettas. Beautiful. They had a big fat king halfmoon that was FAT. I fell in love but my tank wasn't perfect yet.

Today I drove to pet supplies plus also by my house. Seems like they got a new shipment of Bettas, but holy fuck, their square cups were disgusting... But the fish were swimming. Even in the dirtiest cup the fish was swimming actively. They had two dead Bettas in cups, though. Their display was also weird AF, on a side wall above a shelf of items for sale and up really high. You couldn't even see half the Bettas on the wall because they were too high up.

I bought one. The one pictured. He was in a cup next to a dead one. His cup had moldy poop. He was sporadic AF swimming/zooming around... But he came right to me and stared at me. Stared at me, zoomed around, stared at me, zoomed around. Call me a bleeding heart but I got him. Now that he's in the tank I see he has a damaged fin (kinda small, odd shaped, moving less than the other) and his body itself has a sharp curve in it. But he's active AF. Zooming everywhere in the tank.

Me and him are gonna try.

We're gonna try and live.

And even if we don't make it, it'll be okay because me and him.. we're gonna give our best effort.

They told us my mom has 1-3 days to live maybe. And I may be projecting life into this fish on her behalf.

Whatever.

Long story short I now have a fish again.

And I'll probably post lots of pictures of him.

Lots.

[the-firebird69]

One of our projects that's important. A question which kit car to do the testing with when I run a test so he wants us to pick the kick car for the test based on many criteria but are weeded towards our goals and we did towards our goals and waited as in our goals are the most important. We will have judges and it is for this coming Friday and you only need to have one car fully functioning fully built and fully tuned and fully detailed. The criteria are going to be prolonged our lines and we pretty much know what that is. If it comes out like the Bradley GT which sold approximately seven million the first week and it's a one of the all time selling kit cars that would be great there are other things to consider but price point is very important to make it sell and these days it has to be inexpensive it's a safe vehicle that will seat for he says ohh he's telling us about his another criteria is can you use it four cylinders are too small he decided today so we're going to limit it to 6CYLINDERS and we're going to have to use that across the board they already work with four people in them so please give us a break. It has to be a code it has to be a workable car you don't have to have the exact system to introduce it but it needs to be something people can do we we're not going to accept a tube frames the whole frame it's gotta be an existing donor car chassis front wheel drive is preferred real wheel is acceptable but not really light but we will look at it it might be a lot less expensive do you think it will make a difference and so do we he wants his to be versatile he moved the front engine to the rear and it's still a cradle they can buy her afterwards and trans axle and full suspension in for the front to replace where the engine was and you can't use the rear at all but that's another thing too the upgrade it's an upgradable. Price point is a huge thing and the panels are important we're gonna come up with a whole bunch of criteria and argue about it. But the panels should be something that's easily made and takes very little amount of time and we don't want them copying it but it we don't wanna make it exclusive and not high tech prior terms for for our terms we don't want high tech stuff of ours out there this is all gonna be standard equipment but organized in a super car fashion. It has to be safe and meet our safety criteria and it has to be fast and make a difference. the car that BG is building is perfect it's a concept it's a niche and a groove and it's perfect and that's how you make them don't go across the board and make something for everyone and so on and so forth it's too expensive and too hard to do at this time. He was thinking just now he might change his car to have the shell and you put the shell in the frame together yourself inside the car shell then you attach it to the vehicle and we were thinking that might be something to do to save us the time at first and we can make the connections quick connections bolt up and if you can stitch it it's only bolting is required and they like it it's a good idea they say it's not a hard thing to do you just level it and work on it so we are going to go ahead and do that and make it so the frame keeps it square and while they have to do that and you put it up on blocks and you level the blocks and it does a good idea so it's ease of construction simplicity of sand times we wanna have that competition on Friday as well and we are talking about a two door vehicle mostly yeah super cars we're gonna have certain class it would be C one and we're gonna go from there so everybody get your stuff together i'm gonna send it out and we'll brush up the requirements and we want people to apply to be judges we do know you very badly this is important it's so hard to pick a vehicle everybody's kind of fighting over it so we have to do it this way and it's just for testing and I'm gonna put the period of testing down.

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues

good

Hera

we have a car we work on it and make it feasible. panelzed i think. he likes it the roof well is a t and good. and can have a seam too. and we all do and it will prob not be a drop on. too large a box

good he says

Hera right too yes

[silasopossum]

just got the notification that my base is officially in transit to the USA, so im gonna discuss my plans for him rq :]

so basically, all my fursonas have historically been feline (once i got over my horse art phase. i was never really connected to my horse sona anyways). i WOULD have gotten a feline headbase, but the problem with that is very few makers specifically sell a BOBCAT base, it's usually a canadian lynx or domestic cat or lion or something. cool, but i love focusing on small details in species differences so it would bug me forever if i put my bobcat fursona on a canadian lynx base. the other issue is that if i DID make a fursuit for my bobcat sona, i would 100% want a realistic base, since her cartoony design changes so often. plenty of makers sell realistic 3d printed or resin bases, however i am NOT confident in my ability to transfer a realistic design onto a base myself (especially since most realism fursuits involve airbrushing. i dont think i could do that well in an ideal environment, much less my 115 square foot bedroom which is my only workspace). i just dont feel i would be able to do her justice... and i wouldnt really want a toony styled head for my actual fursona.

and making a base myself isn't an option because 1. i cant even sculpt clay symmetrically, it'd drive me crazy if i tried it and 2. aforementioned tiny apartment problems. im not dealing with foam going everywhere... OR learning how to 3d model and print or resin pour or whatever else people use to make fursuits.

so i was looking through makers just for funsies and then i found the opossum base by ligris cybernetics / ligrisprints. and idk why but every ounce of my impulsive body decided "YES. OPOSSUM FURSUIT. NOW." ive never even had an opossum fursona before so i have no idea why i was suddenly so sure about it. but i was! so i decided to just make a new character specifically for this project.

i decided on the name silas (at the URL implies) and i designed a quick character on the fly, based entirely off of photos of real opossums instead of already having an idea. this was interesting for me, since i didnt realize how common the white spots on opossum ears are? i always thought they were only black, but most photos i found showed a little bit of pink/white so i added it to the design

(quick sketch, drawn over the sale image on ligris cybernetics' website. i also loosely based this off of the stylization of my one other opossum character's design. the black bits under the eyes are going to be eyelashes, cut out of felt. the grey will PROBABLY be fur markings, but i might change that to black felt too)

opossums are also fairly easy to design, since they are typically recognizable with only two fur colors (white and grey), and their faces are usually mostly white. it'll be easier for me if i only have to buy two fur colors.

another thing i'm planning on is having handpaws- this will be easy since opossums always have naked fingers... so i'm planning on just buying a pair of fingerless gloves and adding fur to the glove part and leaving my fingers out. will be much easier to wear too

one thing im unsure of is how to fur a moving jaw... ill need to look up some tutorials for this. because i think if i dont add at least a little fur around the hinge, the mouth will look way too wide...

another small issue is that this maker tells tpu ears for basically any species EXCEPT opossums. so my plan is to buy some fosshape plastic and make ears out of that? ill also add minky fur OR felt to them to add the color patterns. i havent decided between the two yet, but i think painting the ears would look strange? even if it's technically more accurate for the real animal.

i also got some fur color swatches a few weeks ago. getting swatches from fursuitsupplies, i tried out baby pink monster, silver lux fox, super short white, silver beaver, and silver lux shag. i like the color of the silver lux fox best, but the texture of the lux shag seems better for an opossum character, so i'm unsure. the beaver feels nice but is too short for what i want the longer bits of fur to be. the super short is nice, but i will still probably get the fur all in one length and just shave it. the monster fur feels gross to touch so i'm definitely not using that. i already know what minky fabric is like so i didn't bother getting samples for that (but i probably will order samples when i decide concretely on what fur to get once the base comes in, just to be sure of the color before i spend money on it).

i'm thinking of covering the nose of the base with pink minky OR pink felt, but i'm not sure if that would work with the base, so i'll decide that once i actually get my hands on it. otherwise, i will be painting it. i also think i'm gonna make a tongue with minky fabric

tail will also be a thing. since opossum tails are prehensile, i want to make it posable... i thought about using plastic ball joints / doll spines, but i know from my longfurby adventures that those are kind of heavy, so i think i will use wire instead.

not gonna bother with a bodysuit, those sound hellish to walk around in. i'm just gonna wear long sleeves and long pants

another thing i an excited / nervous about is adding hair... i want silas to have hair. SPECIFICALLY revenge era gerard way hair

and i know a lot of fursuit makers create hair by putting together pulled-out yarn OR brushing out fur both ways... but i don't like how that looks. since if were meant to believe that a plush in the case of a fursuit tail is flesh, and fur is their actual skin/fur... then it's just like... amorphous globosus... or a gigantic skin tag / tumor... TO ME... many fursuits make this look amazing don't get me wrong but i just couldnt get it out of my head if it was on my own suit. so i decided that i'm going to try and weft the hair, like in this tutorial? https://www.tiktok.com/@chaoticreations/video/7334668616350092577 (sorry for tiktok link, i know this creator uploads to youtube but i couldn't find the short) and this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo4FCmT1DP8 i'm thinking that depending on how i'm able to fur the head, i might be able to make a kind of wig thing that magnets on? i don't want to add the hair directly onto the head in case it looks like shit and i get tired of it, so i want it easily removable. might use velcro instead... also want it really long in the back.

i also got the eye mesh pre-installed on the head by the maker. which will be easy for me if i like it... however i DID request slit pupils and i'm second guessing that decision right now. i'm also unsure if i shouldve made them green instead of grey... but i guess i'll see it once it arrives :]

i also was JUST barely in the sizing for a "small" size head according to this maker, but just to be safe i ordered a "medium" size head instead. if it's to big (which it probably will be), i'm going to add foam inside, which will probably make it more comfortable anyways. iirc you can also use foam to hide the hinges in moving jaws? so i can just use the foam for that too. not sure yet.

and i already have sandpaper and stuff for sanding down the 3d print. just gotta wait for it to arrive... probably a month since it's gonna go from poland to the usa... if it gets lost in shipping i WILL cry (since mail people love to just not deliver to my apartment complex. because apartments are haaaaaaaard to deliver to (even though all the doors are easily accessible from the street with no key necessary)...)

[negative-ease]

sunrise... sunset... sangria... dance sweat

project diary cast on entry follows ~

oooooo it's driving me crazy how uneven that square is!!! but that's just test square #1 so it's ok. I sort of figure I'll redo it at the very end -- I never crochet and I've just picked it up again after many years, so my tension is bound to improve over the course of the few dozen of these I'm about to make.

Here are the stats.

-it's a throw. it's for my sister's bday in 4 months.

-it uses the bones of the citrus slice pattern from "the modern guide to granny squares"

-all squares will have the same background (same color as the pith) and a gradient border

-after assembly, the blanket will reverse the gradient border, so another sc row of yellow going back out to the darker pink

-squares are 8x8. to make throw-sized i believe it'll be 6x7, or 42 squares. this feels very doable; i can easily do one square in a day without any clue what i'm doing. once i have the hang of it, 2-3 squares in a day would be fine.

-the yarn is "scheepjes soft fun". i looked at sooo many options before going with this one, but i'm really happy with it. i just couldn't find any natural yarn that had all the specific colors i wanted... i didn't want to mix and match, and i was also wary of price because crochet is so yarn thirsty compared to knitting. the scheepjes skeins are less than $4 for 140m which is fantastic. it's 60% cotton and 40% acrylic. i never work with cotton and i never work with acrylic. but i am enjoying it and really happy with my choice.

-to start with i ordered 5x of the pith/bg and 3x of all other colors. i know i will need more. according to my kitchen scale, after the first test square i'd used about 10g of the pith/bg and about 5g of the slice color. i'll need to do a little more before i'm confident enough to make a second (hopefully final) order. i'm not too worried about dye lots because the squares are discrete, so if i wash before assembly (for example) i should be able to offset any color variance during assembly.

-here was my planning before the yarn search... after confirming i could actually crochet this, i mocked up a really basic diagram and then pulled out the colored pencils. was testing on 2008 babette blanket cascade 220 yarns.... yuuuuup!

-the book has been great to practice reading charts & written instructions, which were always sort of bewildering for me. because i've made a few changes in the outer rounds, i figured i'd try to rewrite the chart (also there are a few minor errors in the printed charts I think? not positive. but to my untrained eye it seems so.) so i've been messing with stitch fiddle with... interesting results lol. placing symbols individually..... i'm sure there's a better way to do it but what am i gonna do, read a manual? grow up. i might just bust out the colored pencils again.

just showing a small part because i'm only rewriting, but... lol. god it's a mess. but i'm learning!

-the lime green i have is on the yellowish side so i think it will work. that's the second test square i'm working on now.

-fun fact: the real reason i picked crochet up again was that i am desperate to make this mosaic throw. but my first attempts were awful, so i decided i needed a lot more practice to get the muscle memory back (and TENSION!!!! ugh). so that's how i ended up here. there's a couple other stashbusting projects i have in mind, too. i'll try the mosaic again eventually!

-last thing for now, it feels criminal that this book, which is super colorful - and does not use varigated yarns in its examples - does not even discuss methods to avoid or mitigate weaving in ends. come on! in my first square, i didn't weave in any. in my second test, i'm working over the ends to see how that looks, works, and how secure it is. so far so good! thank you to the many reddit posts about the pros and cons of all these methods... for me... i know i will die if i'm weaving in 20+ ends per square. ...x42... and it's going to a childless, catless adult so like. i think it will be safe.

everything else about the book is lovely and i'd recommend it to beginning & intermediate crocheters in a heartbeat! i'm a sucker for rainbow colors... the charts and instructions are great and the reference in the back is also very clear.

ok... bye until there is fun or interesting progress to report!

[lazywiteralex]

Day 6: Write 500 words for your main project

I don't have a main project so have this 1000 word scene instead.

START

"You know what, we're all tired. There's bound to be an inn in the next town. Why don't I save us all the trouble and take care of this myself, huh?"

"You plan on taking out a small herd of manticores all by yourself? Just how are you going to be doing that?" Kane crossed his arms across his chest, raising a skeptical brow.

"You sure about this Mika? We've been traveling all day," Miggs flicked the fletchings of his drawn arrow.

"It'll be fine. Just feed me after, and it shouldn't be a problem," she shrugged off her cloak and pulled off her belt.

"Why are you removing your clothing? Good Gods woman! Did you drop your decency on the road somewhere?" Alois exclaimed.

"What? I don't wanna have to spend all night cleaning manticore blood out of them," she stripped off her shirt and added it to the pile.

"Miss Mikaela please!" Alois slapped his hands over his eyes and spun around.

Kane averted his eyes, with a displeased huff. "Mikaela, is this really necessary? I can help you clean your clothes if need be,"

"Calm down, I'm not getting naked. I have some class," she barked.

"Says the woman standing in an open field wearing nothing but her trousers and undergarments,"

"Shuddup Miggs no one asked you," she sneered and turned back to the advancing herd.

"You know I can't say I really like the idea of you fighting alone. You're strong yes but-"

"Master Kane, I guess this is as good a time as any to inform you that I was a tad misleading when you asked me who I was. I didn't lie, but I did conveniently leave out a few key details," she dropped her head back so she could look at him, an unnerving smile on her face. "But only about what I am," she snickered as her eyes began glowing red. Demonic markings emerged from her skin like ink bleeding through paper. 

"She's a demon?" Alois gasped, clutching his cross.

"Of sorts," Miggs dropped his arrow back into his quiver. "She's technically only a demi-demon, but she takes after her dad a lot more than her mom. Which is a damn shame cause her mom's hot,"

"Miguel," Kane warned.

"You've never seen her, the woman would make even a square like you fall to your knees,"

"Miguel, I'm less interested in your perverted thoughts on Mikaela's mother and more interested in how she's able to tear the head off a manticore with her bare hands,"

Alois pulled his hood over his face, "Tell me when it's over," he mumbled, "I'm gonna be sick,"

Miggs nodded, "Yeah it's pretty impressive, but the power doesn't come for free. If she uses to much or changes to fast she kinda loses grip on her humanity and goes crazy,"

"'Goes crazy'? The hell does that mean?"

"Language Master Kane,"

"I'll apologize to the Gods later, there are bigger issues to deal with. What do you mean by she goes crazy,"

"The last time she really lost control was probably like 12 years ago but it was pretty gnarly. The first guy dumb enough to try and grab her after she went on a rampage against this giant chimera got his back broken. And not in the sexy way,"

"How are you talking so much and giving me so little information? It's almost impressive,"

"Perhaps it would be best to ask the lady herself?" Alois quipped, face still covered by his hood.

"Yeah probably, I don't really understand the details myself," Miggs shrugged, "Oh look, I think she's done. We should probably get her dressed and to a tavern for some food. She's pretty hangry after doing stuff like this,"

Kane rubbed his fingers against his temples, once again questioning his choice in traveling companions. "Sure, alright. Let's bring Mikaela her clothes and something to clean up with and get some dinner. I think I need a drink,"

"Master Kane, I thought you didn't like alcohol," Alois tilted his head in confusion.

"After the day we've had, I might just reconsider my position on the matter,"

Miggs started towards the mess of carcasses, leaving the pile of clothing for the others to collect. "Hey if I come near you are you gonna eat me?" he called out.

Mika rolled her eyes and swiped the back of her hand across her mouth. A failed attempt to wipe away the blood that was splattered across her face. "No, but annoy me a little more and I might make you collateral damage,"

Miggs chuckled nervously, "You're kinda scary when you're like this, ya know,"

"Good," she snapped. She sat down on a manticore corpse, this one missing the majority of its insides, and surveyed her crimson masterpiece.

"Miss Mikaela? Um, would you like to use this to clean up a bit? I don't think the towns folk will like it very much if you tracked blood through their town," Alois held out a cloth in her general direction, his head turned as far from her as he could without snapping it clean off.

"I just saved their fields from being trampled by monsters, they should be thanking me,"

Miggs leaned closer to Kane, "See, hangry,"

"Good Gods we're never going to make any progress like this," Kane pulled a pouch of jerky from his satchel and tossed it at her. "Eat this and go back to normal. I can't believe I actually want the other version of you back,"

She snatched the bag out of the air and tore into it, devouring the contents. She leaned back and let out a satisfied sigh. "Thank you Master Kane," she smiled, licking her lips. She looked back over at her party. "You got my clothes?"

"Yes, but clean up a bit first, otherwise taking them off would have been pointless," Kane was shocked by how quickly she'd returned to her former self.

"Yeah, yeah. Give the rag here Oh Righteous One," she laughed, plucking it from Alois's still outstretched hand.

"How are you never disgusted by this stuff? I mean come on this is just gross," Miggs poked at a loose pile of entrails with his bow.

"I've dealt with worse. I've been in worse," she dragged the cloth over her chest and shoulders, half smearing half cleaning the blood that had collected there.

"What does that mean?!" Alois squeaked.

"Ever been inside a dragon?" Mika chuckled.

"Not really my type," Miggs replied, wiping his bow off in the dirt.

"Inside its stomach, you disgusting pig," she retorted, "I got swallowed whole and had to tear my way out without a blade. Fun fact: dragon skin, not so indestructible from the inside,"

"Dear Moon God, it's me, your loyal servant. Could you please send me companions who are not so crass and vulgar? Just as a treat for me? Just once?" Aolis had his hands pressed together as he looked up to the sky.

"Pipe down Preacher Boy, if it wasn't for Crass and Vulgar here you'd all be dead yesterday," Miggs snickered.

"I wouldn't be out here at all if she hadn't used my wagon as a hiding place," he grumbled.

Kane started walking down the road towards town. "I'll be at the tavern,"

"Drinking?" Miggs called back hopefully. 

Kane didn't reply.

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

Making paper ornaments with the Turtles:

2k12/Bayverse

"Fold the tab over like this," you instructed the boys, demonstrating on your paper star. You were happy to be there making ornaments with them, giving them a holiday they'd never really done in full before. This was their first experience with a real Christmas, and you wanted it to be memorable. So, you started with the tree.

"Fold it over this way?" asked Mikey as he went ahead and creased it, regardless.

Leo was concentrating in complete silence while he worked on his own paper star. Raph was getting frustrated that he couldn't seem to line the creases up right and that his star was the jankiest, and likewise, Mikey was feeling a bit competitive about it as his were not the best either.

You checked Mikey's work so far and gave him a thumbs up, "Just like that."

"This is impossible," Raph huffed, low-key comparing his star to everyone else's. His fingers perhaps weren't the most dextrous, but he tried anyway, which was all you could ask for. He leaned over and grumbled in annoyance when he saw Leo's star, which was neat and pretty as it was supposed to be. "Of course he's getting it."

Chuckling to yourself, you slid over to Raph and took a seat next to him on the floor. He was still going at the project, fueled by his need to compare to Leo's work, though threatened to drop it all together every time he messed it up. So impatient was he.

"Maybe paper crafts aren't your forte," you said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He was turned partially away, his arms folded, and his eye darted to you upon feeling the touch. You thought for a second. If this was really something he didn't enjoy, you didn't want to force him. So you said, "You're free to go if you don't like it. You tried, that's enough."

He was seriously considering getting up and going back to his room, but then he looked around at his brothers, all having fun and for once, it seemed like Leo wasn't thinking about anything but the moment. And he was right—Leo wasn't thinking about anything but the moment. His mind wasn't on battling or when the next move was going to be made by Shredder and his clan. He was trying to fold his star, he was seeing his brothers having a good time, and was having a good time himself. He softened watching them.

Raph hadn't noticed when your hand left his hard shoulder; he was lost in his own little world for a minute there, just taking all of this in. He settled down and picked the paper back up. "I'm gonna do it," he told you, trying once more at it. You smiled as he continued, but after folding something the wrong way, he looked back at you, sheepish. "I...think I forgot how."

"It's all in the technique, bro," Mikey chimed in from across the circle, already starting his third star. His work wasn't much to look at, but he was having fun—that's what mattered. They would still complete the tree. "Want me to show you how?" Mikey gave him a cheeky grin.

"No," replied Raph. He flashed his younger brother a narrow-eyed look, and Mikey waved it off, muttering for Raph to suit himself.

You showed Raph how to do it again, and finally, he had it. He went from acting too stoic go be doing such things to actually kind of having fun, participating in conversation and laughing along with everyone. Though cold outside and down below, the lair tonight was alight with smiles and playful banter and positive prospects. You couldn't have hoped for a better day.

"How're yours going, Leo?" you asked curiously.

Gaguing by his eyes remaining on his work rather than you, he was quite focused, and he answered, "I think I've got it." He finished the little blue star and handed it to you, admittedly a bit proud that his were better than even Donnie's. "Good, right?"

You stared at his neat, cleanly creased paper and then back at yours, noticing the crinkled points and occasional mistake. Leo really did pick up skills in good time.

"Yeah, actually," you answered, having expected to be the best at the activity.

"And what about yours, Raph?" questioned Leo. He cocked his brow.

Raph bristled, "Mind your own business!"

Splinter walked in and you jabbed at Leo's shoulder with your elbow. He quickly cut it out and rubbed the sore spot, taking up another piece of paper.

"I see you are all having fun," Splinter commented, hands behind back as be stood over the lot of you. After their rough week with almost every night occupied by some kind of trouble, this was a well-deserved break. He thanked you for being there to get their mind off things.

Mikey bounced up from his spot and shoved one of his paper stars in Splinter's face. "See, sensei?!

Splinter's ear twitched and he nudged his son's hand aside, a soft smile present on his face. "And Leonardo is making a...paper shuriken."

In a second, he threw the paper star at his Master, to which he caught between his hands, and Leo laughed. "Nice catch, sensei."

"Wait! A paper throwing star? That's way cooler than this stuff!" Mikey beamed as he tossed away one of his finished pieces. Splinter chuckled and ambled back to the dojo, not before sneaking a couple of pieces of paper under everybody's noses.

Donnie shot Mikey a dirty look and turned back to you with an apologetic smile, "You know him."

The calculative turtle went back to his own project, where he was carefully trying to line up each crease to the tee. His tongue poked out at the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.

"A perfect thirty-five degree angle," he said as he did his last fold, accomplished. He cocked a brow at Leo, "Think you can get this close to perfection?"

"You're on," Leo answered with a smirk.

You checked on Mikey next, who was struggling on his yet again. You hated to see him behind everyone else, so you sat down at his side and said, "Need any help?"

"Nope," he responded. He was going at his paper with vivacity, and curious, you took a closer look. He'd strayed from the original star blueprint abd to some kind of wacky creation of abstract lines and weird angles. He'd even scribbled on it at some point with blue marker that you couldn't find even find now. He smiled in triumph and held it out for everyone to see. "I call this one a mutant star. See the mutagen oozing all over it?"

Donnie saw Mikey's odd creation and thought about how his brother was quite imaginative. Donnie could admire his more abstract approach to things; a quality Donnie oftentimes lacked. He was smart, but he had his pitfalls. "Let me try that," he said finally. He motioned for Mikey to hand him his piece.

"I know how to do it," Raph snickered as he crumbled up his half-finished star, throwing it at Donnie's head. It hit him square in the face. Donnie squeezed the paper in his hand hard, irked, and was about to fireball it back at his brother when something flew from the dojo and hit Raph right in the temple.

There Splinter was at the entrance of the dojo, holding a paper shuriken in his hand. He chuckled under his breath and slunk back into the room.

"As I was saying," Donnie cleared his throat, "I'm gonna try to make this...mutant star."

Mikey leaned in real close to Donnie's side, "You can try, but it'll never be the same..."

Brandishing both a bored look and his staff, he pushed Mikey away with it and went back to trying his hand at the new technique.

The entire project derailed from where it had started. But delightfully so—the night went on and eventually, it was time to wrap it up.

The boys were still expected to do their nightly patrol, so it was time for you to go, yourself. You didn't live too far, but you were family, now, and they weren't going to let you wander home in the dark alone. As you gathered up your stuff, Leo approached you with that gentle smile.

"Thanks for the night, y/n," he said, glancing back at the rest of his brothers as they dispersed within the lair to go do their own things until it was time for patrol. "We...haven't really done anything like this before."

You pulled your bag over your shoulder. "I had a lot of fun," you replied warmly, noting the appreciation in Leo's voice. "See you later?" You slipped your shoes on.

"I'm going to escort you home this time. Just to make sure you get there alright." There was a pause, and he added with an awkward laugh, "Can't be too sure with all of these mutants roaming around these days, right?"

"Right. Thank you, Leo."

Before you left, the boys helped you assemble the small fake tree they'd found discarded outside, and when all of you were done putting in your contribution, you took a step back. It was wonderfully unique, paper stars and shuriken and amalgamate creations decorated the tree rather than tradition. The boys were going to make their first true Christmas their Christmas, and as all of you stood back and admired the work, everyone was content. Life with them was beautifully strange.