#i kinda did a good job with the shape tool and also doing the backgrounds aaaa

[crueltupperware]

jinchuuriki nyarutos! they’ll never exist, but that’s probably best for my wallet

[katy-l-wood]

Hey I can't come up with something more coherent right now but: I think you're really cool! Thank you for sharing so much art and writing, I'm consistently impressed and often inspired by what you make.

Also! Do you have a post anywhere talking in detail about your day job? I don't know if I have the chops to get a spot making museum-quality replicas, but I'd really like to build on my sculpting skills and make more accurate replicas (starting with non-fossilized remains I have, since I can't very well mold/cast something I don't have access to of course). Do you have advice on materials or tools or techniques for making skeletal replicas? And/or any resources you know for learning such things? I don't mean to burden you with large requests, mostly I don't know where to start.

Hm. If that makes sense? I also ask because I'd love to hear about sort of what your trajectory looked like to get to your current job, or any recommendations you may have for people looking to get into similar fields (quite vague, sorry :/ ) and of course, how you like it! Hope you're enjoying life right now!

Sorry for such a long ask! And of course don't feel like you have to address everything (or anything hah), mostly wanted to send in some positivity! Thank you!

Second ask: Oh and of course the weird real estate posts are always funny, so thanks for those as well

Awww, thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my work.

So, everything about my day job is under the tag "Makin' Bones." I've done a few minor things about what it entails, but I'm happy to go into more detail! How I got into it, though, was that I saw a facebook post that they were hiring about a year and a half ago and thought "that sure sounds neat even if this is a kinda sketchy facebook post, I shall apply!" And I did. And I got the job. And now I make replica bones. Do I have a background in Paleontology? No! Do I have a background in molding and casting? No! I literally just followed a weird facebook post into the woods and HERE WE ARE.

Anyways.

Firstly, my business trains from scratch! I can't speak to other fossil replication places, but we're the top fossil replicators in the US so if we can train from scratch I don't see why anyone else couldn't. With that said, there's really not that many places in the US that JUST do fossil replicas. A lot of museums have a department for it, or a few people that happen to know how to do it on top of their main job, but very very few JUST do replicas like we do.

When it comes to physical sculpting we really don't do much except when we get the RARE life model commission (usually of fish, for whatever reason). What we DO do a lot of, however, is digital sculpting. Digital reconstruction is a rapidly growing part of our business. For example, here is a diagram of a mosasaur skull we recently did a digital reconstruction of to remove it from the surrounding stone and reconstruct it into its original shape since it got squished over time:

The original skull was scanned using photogrametry and then the skull was extracted from the matrix and restored using Zbrush. So, if you want to get into the nitty gritty side of reconstructing fossils my advice is: learn Zbrush, learn photogrametry, and learn 3D printing.

Now, onto molding and casting. This is the biggest part of what we do. This process involves taking the original fossil (or a high quality 3D print of it made using the aforementioned techniques) and using high resolution silicone to create a cast of it. This cast is then filled using a two part liquid plastic (some large bones are rotated during this process, creating a plastic shell that is then filled with foam to cut down on weight). One the plastic sets the silicone mold is removed and a dremmel is used to trim off any excess plastic around the seams of the mold. From there the replica is assembled into its final pose on a custom welded metal support structure. Once this structure is complete the fossil is broken back down and painted. Once painting is complete the job is done and it is packed off and shipped to its new home!

So! If you want to get into this part of things I recommend looking into how silicone molding works. It takes a very good eye for forms and how liquids move to be able to make a good mold that fills properly, comes apart easily, and can be easily reuseable. Silicone molding isn't really the best "at home" project, though, as it is SUPER messy, hard to clean up, and you have to wear a respirator to be safe with it. I recommend looking for a local maker space in your area, or a local art group of some sort, just something that has an official space set up for that sort of thing. Barring that, you can also just use play-dough while you're first starting out. Find a bone, get some playdough and some quick set plaster, and just start pressing the playdough into bones, then pouring plaster into the cavity to see how your copies come out.

Other stuff that would be useful to learn: how to use a dremmel, general anatomy/how to recognize different bones, basic paleontology, and basic painting techniques like dry brushing and washes.

Hope this helps! Feel free to send me more asks if you have more questions.

[writefightandflightclub]

Arrivals

What is this? 6 of 14 prompt requests for my follower celebration! See OP + prompt list credits here.

What is the prompt? “Painting the house which ends in a paint fight and giggles.” with Modern!Poe and Pregnant!Reader. Thanks anon for the request!

Author’s note: I’ve never written Modern!Poe before and I’m not sure I would’ve without the request. So here goes. Thanks for the chance to try something new, anon! I think it turned out pretty cute? Let me know what YOU think!

Word count: A mere 2634, OOPS.

Warnings: pregnancy. Other than that it’s pure fluff and typos. Enjoy!

GIF credit: here

You hear your husband enter the room with a contented sigh, bare feet padding softly across the exposed floorboards. The patter of Beebs’ paws shortly follows. Your heart melts as he greets the dog with a sleepy “Morning, buddy.”, evidently stooping down to pet him as you hear Beebs’ soft pants and the happy beat of his tail against something or other in the room. “Happy beats, huh?” Poe says softly.

Then, he grants you his full attention.

“Oh oh, it’s happened again. I love you. Even more than I did yesterday.” he announces, sliding gently up behind you, pressing his warm chest into your back and wrapping his arms delicately around the pronounced curve of your belly, splaying his fingers to caress more of your bump. His head settles into the crook of your neck, his wild, bedhead curls tickling against the apple of your cheek as his arrival draws a wide, easy smile from you. He unconsciously begins swaying his hips in time with the easy-listening playlist you have muted in the background, his gorgeous voice a soft rumble against your ear as he starts to sing along.

The warmth -the sturdiness of him- is effortlessly reassuring, the shape and contours of him familiar even as he slots himself around your changing body. You don’t return his affections immediately though. Instead, you furrow your brow and stick your tongue out as you concentrate on some particularly intricate brush strokes on the wall ahead of you.

“I love you too, Poe, but if you knock me while I’m painting, I’m gonna have to kill you.”

You can tell that the goofball freezes then, as if he’s taking you completely literally. If you could see his expression as he perched his head on your shoulder you just know he would be emphatically statuesque.

“When you commit, you commit.” you smile.

“I’m sure you’re thankful that your husband has that quality, no?” he teases.

You’ll give him that one.

You chuckle at the thought of him, frozen there, trying to keep your brush steady as you do so. But then he’s still frozen and the wobble of your shoulders becomes more pronounced as you shake with gentle laughter. You hear him scoff by your ear, in return.

“Stop it, Poe!” You scold good-naturedly as your giggles intensify, the sound chiming musically around the empty-ish, in-progress room.

“I’m not doing a thing, sweetheart, it’s you who’s moving!” His voice has that wonderful playful edge, and you can hear the smile in it, can imagine that slight crinkle in his nose.

You get a handle on yourself for just about long enough to finish off the detail of the mural section you’d been working on. You have added incentive to get it done now, as you are desperate to turn around and get yourself a good look at that handsome face for the first time today. You down your tools and twirl towards Poe, his broad, gentle hands never breaking contact with your belly. His body navigates your bump to lean in for a sweet and loving kiss to your lips.

“Hmm. Morning, handsome.” You purr, blissed out from that kiss as your hand winds into his thick, dishevelled curls, his Sunday stubble grazing your skin.

His eyes glow as he looks back at you. “Morning, sweetheart.” As is tradition, he dips to plant a sweet kiss to your midsection. “Morning, Kiddo.” 

He gives you the once-over with his eyes, checking for any sign of new symptoms or discomfort. “You couldn’t lie-in, huh? You should have woken me.”

“I’m fine, Poe.” You dismiss -he does tend to fuss, for which you are thankful- and you nod back towards your progress with the mural, excitement flashing in your eyes. “What do you think of my progress?”

You both turn to regard it, and he resumes his original position, warm and sturdy at your back once again.

“Don’t tell me. It’s an... elephant?”

You’d been bouncing around ideas for the mural for weeks now. Since you’d officially stopped working, it had become a rather consuming passion project of yours. You’d suggested cute little airplanes and clouds to reflect Poe and his career as a pilot. But he’d said he hadn’t wanted to push his dreams on to the kid, and had proceeded to go down rabbit hole about how he just wanted them to be happy. You’d fallen even more in love with him, and then asked him to pick something that made him happy. Predictably, he’d said you. Of course. And Beebs. Then, out of nowhere, he’d gone straight to: “Monkeys. Monkeys make me happy. The one I saw on my last humanitarian mission - did I tell you about that one yet?”. So, here you were, with a beautiful jungle scene beginning to snake its way across the wall.

With a soft smile at the corners of your lips, you glance back at what is quite evidently a tiger. It’s a good job you’re secure in your abilities, and therefore confident that he’s teasing. “An elephant, you say? Poe, you’ll have to get much better at deciphering paintings before Kiddo learns how to hold crayons.” You lean your head back against him, resting your hands over his atop the globe of your belly. “Also, please don’t offend Sir Growlington; he’s a very sensitive tiger.”, you pout.

Poe peppers a few loving kisses on to your cheek and hairline and really, wherever his mouth can reach. “It’s amazing, sweetie, you’re so fucking talented.” He says genuinely. “But… don’t think I’m just going to brush past this... You named the tiger?”

“I did name the tiger.” you intone, hinting that maybe that’s not all.

He twirls you back to him so he can look you in the face again.

“Wait. Did you name all the animals?”

“No. Of course not. Would I be so silly?” you singsong sarcastically as you lean yourself up against the edge of the painting table. 

“Oh ok.” he says plainly with a nod of his head, a brush of his hand over his stubbled jaw. You love when he pretends to be serious and when he’s just so damn bad at pretending. “So you won’t mind if I call this bird... Sandra then?”

You suck in air through your teeth. “Sorry, that’s Porg. But that’s the only other one I named, honest.”

He folds his arms and raises his eyebrows to you, an easy smirk on his lips as he mirrors your position and leans against the pair of wooden ladders behind him. “Come on, let me have them all; monkey, giraffe, sloth - hit me.”

He makes a “bring it on” gesture with his fingers, and you blurt them out. “Peanut, Jungle Gump, and Mademoiselle Sleepyhead.”

He smiles in amusement and pads towards you, settling himself into your side, his eyes soft as they wander over the familiar details of your face. His voice is low in his throat. “Goddamn, you’re adorable.” You shrug and flutter your eyelashes in casual agreement. “Unless... Honey, should I be concerned?” He juts his hip and you can’t wait to hear what he’s going to come out with next. “Is this a subtle way of telling me you want to name our baby Jungle Gump?”

 “No!” You burst into laughter and bat him playfully on the chest. “But… now that you mention it? Jungle Dameron does sound kinda cool.” You’re actually only half-joking.

He sighs in mock defeat, waving his hand around in the air. “Fine, Jungle if they’re a girl, Sir Growlington if they’re a boy, and Peanut as a gender-neutral option.”

“Shake on it. Deal done.”

You place your hands on his chest, nodding back towards the wall again. “Did you see I left a space? I think you should paint something, Poe.”

“Honey, you know I can’t paint.” he argues, massaging little circles into your shoulder, your hip, your elbows. Anywhere you’ve complained of being sore. You love this man.

“You can paint. Everyone can paint.”

“Why would you want me to ruin your great work?”

You throw your arms around his shoulders, twining your fingers together at the back of his neck. “Because it’s our mural for our baby, and it’s about making something happy, yes? Well, I’m having fun creating this but you’re not in the room with me. And that’s the fun memory I want us to think about when we put our baby-”

“Jungle” he interjects.

“-Jungle,“ you nod, “to sleep. So, stay with me. Paint a crappy, fantastical animal of your choosing.” You gesture towards the paint selection on the table behind you with a sweep of your arm.

“You sure?” he asks, even though he’s already started to rifle through the supplies.

“I’m sure. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!”

A perfect, broad smile works its way across his face. His pretty, dark eyes flick over to yours, his voice deepening and becoming even richer and more robust as it infuses with meaning. “You’re incredible. I can’t wait to do this with you.”

You know he’s talking about far more than the mural. And you couldn’t agree more.

“First though...” he begins, that playfulness immediately back again. “Paint fight!” He picks up the nearest brush and dips it in your paint pot, before swiping a black streak across your cheek. 

You squeal in shock and he adopts a fighting stance, primed for your reaction. Before you can do a thing he manages to paint another stripe to your forearm with a quick, targeted swipe of his brush. You think he’s probably trying to make you look like Lady Growlington.

He torments you like this until you grab for your own brush, which you load, preparing to coat him. You assess the status of his sleep shirt. It’s old, you decide, and you land a splash of sky blue down his neck with a dramatic “A-ha”, a sound not unlike a swashbuckling pirate.

“Oh, you’re in for it now.” he warns with a grin, planting his whole palm in a pot of green and -gently, ever so gently, and avoiding your belly- chasing you around the room until he has covered your face and arms in his handprints. Then, when he’s had his fun he pulls you in for a giggly, breathless kiss.

“Are you trying to ruin my clothes, Poe Dameron?”

“Honestly? I’m trying to get you in the shower, gorgeous.” He pumps his eyebrows suggestively. “What do you say, wanna make love to me?”

He smiles, grabbing you hand with his own, paint-smeared one and giving you a light tug.

“If you think we can both still fit in the cubicle!”

“We’ll just have to get super close; that doesn’t sound like the worst thing, honey” 

All morning should start this way, you think. How could anything be better?

***

Months later, you are settling your precious baby for sleep. Poe is already passed out and lightly snoring on the couch, an array of blankets and bottles strewn around him. You allow yourself a moment to take him in. He looks so Goddamn beautiful when he’s sleeping. You feel so much love for him, for your new baby. More than you could have ever thought possible. It’s hard and it’s scary, but you are so happy you are doing this with him. Already, he is the most wonderful husband and father you could have dreamed of. 

Careful not to wake either him or the tiny sleeping bundle in your arms, you tread softly upstairs, Beebs -who rarely ever leaves your side since the new arrival- padding quietly along with you. When you get to the nursery you rock your baby in your arms a few moments more, humming lullabies softly into the cool night air.

Your eyes sweeping the room, the wonderful, perfect mural on the wall catches your attention. The mural with one animal that doesn’t look quite like the rest. Honestly, it doesn’t really look like any existing animal, so Poe has named it a “blurrg” instead. It makes you chuckle every single time, without fail. You wouldn’t change it for a thing. You wouldn’t change any of this.

You set your baby down in their basket before your laughter wakes them. Then, of course, you linger a moment longer to just stare at that adorable little face before clasping the door shut behind you.

Returning downstairs you smile at Poe. “You’re awake!”

“Yeah, I am.” You move to meet him on the couch and he drags you down into his lap. “And I heard you on the baby monitor, laughing at my blurrg! Again!”

You caress his curls, even though you know he’s not genuinely offended.

You smile so broadly your cheeks hurt. “I love it Poe. It makes me so happy every time. I’m so glad we created it together.”

His eyes meet yours, soft and warm, like the rest of him. “I sure as hell know that feeling.”

Oh boy. How does he make happiness swell in your chest like this? How is it possible to be this happy?

“Let’s... keep creating together, ok?”

He looks up at you in shock as he catches the full meaning of your words. “Are you... are you asking me to have another baby with you? Already?”

“Jungle’s gonna need a sibling.” you bite your lip, slightly nervous of how he might react. “Also, we really need to stop calling her that and settle on an actual name.”, you deflect.

“Baby,” he says gently, taking your hand in his. “I’d like Jungle to have siblings. I’m not sure she needs one just yet...” his tone switches, and it’s subtle but you know him too well to miss it. “...but as soon as you feel ready I’m very willing to start practising again.”

“You know, I think… I think I’m ready to start… practising.”

He swallows thickly, and you can see he’s holding himself back a little, for your benefit. He even backtracks a little. “You know I would never want to rush you, baby.”

“I know, Poe. So, what do you say, wanna make love?”

With unfortunate timing, the baby monitor crackles, transmitting a light cry from your daughter’s room.

“I’ll go check her.” Poe offers, patting your thighs for you to stand up and let him out from under you.

“You just want to smell her head again.”

“It’s the best smell, can you blame me?”

You smile to yourself. You love how soft and goofy and wonderful this man is. Every night should be like this, you think. How could anything be better?

***

When Poe does come back down to the living room you are already fast asleep, an open sketching pad nestled on to your chest. He thinks his heart might burst as he lifts it up for safe-keeping and notices you’ve drawn an adorable blurrg in there.

He casts his eyes over your sleeping form with nothing but love. He thinks you look so beautiful when you’re sleeping. He knows he couldn’t paint a prettier picture if he tried. No really, not with his skills. You’d agree; you’ve seen that blurrg, after all.  

He stoops, planting a gentle kiss to your forehead. He could swear that, impossibly, that he loves you even more than he did yesterday.

He stoops to pet Beebs as the corgi presses up against his ankles, giving him some well-deserved belly scritches. “Come on then big bro,” he whispers. “Let’s clear this mess up for Mama.”

Before he scoots around to collect up all the bottles and paraphernalia, he sets your sketchpad safely down on the coffee table. He can’t help but smile again. He knows what makes him happy. Happier than he ever thought he could be.

God knows why he said “monkeys”.

THE END

Like this? Please consider reblogging, and/or sending feedback in an ask or comment. I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU AND STORIES ARE NOTHING WITHOUT A READER. YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND ILY.

Want more? PART TWO IS HERE. You can also check out my Masterlist to read more of my works! FYI: It’s always kept updated in my bio.

Want even more? Just ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent tag-list or any series tag-lists <3

[thewolfmanslayer]

Honestly the amount of people who say artists and writers should do stuff for free, or try to rip them off on comissions still royally piss me off.

I think the worst part of it is the entitlement, I dont want to make this too much about generations but a lot of commissioners are millenial/Gen z's who grew up on the "steal and pirate everything" mentality, take everything that you can because no one else is going to hand it to you. which I can get behind, when you are screwing over MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES. NOT THE STRUGGLING ARTISTS AND WRITERS who are trying to keep food on the table as desperately as you probably are!

It's simple, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, order food and tell the server "sorry I don't have any money, but I've got like a few thousand followers on social media, I can get your name out there, get the restaurant some exposure" NO! They don't need "exposure" they need you to pay the damn bill!

On top of that, most of these artists and writers ALREADY HAVE FOLLOWINGS. They already have thousands of people following them, waiting for the chance to get a commission, who are willing to pay for said commission, they don't need "exposure" when they're already out there! He'll even the artists and writers with a few hundred don't need it, they'll get more followers as time goes by, their skill alone will see to it.

And what is with people trying to get free art and writing? It's not going to work! You can't harass someone until they cave, trust me, you'll be long since blocked before you even have the opportunity. I don't do comissions, online anyways, but my own friends and family, people who actually know me STILL PAY ME whenever they ask for me to do art for them because they KNOW it takes TIME AND EFFORT.

How many times do we need to have this discussion???? Like when is it going to finally click that people who need to pay their bills just as much as you do AREN'T going to do this shit for free!?

Here's the thing about art and writing, that you've heard a billion times but still aren't getting; IT. TAKES. TIME. AND. EFFORT. TO. GET. DONE. the art isn't going to magically appear and the writing isn't going to suddenly write itself, if either were so convenient YOU WOULDNT BE ASKING AN ARTIST OR WRITER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Look at that, you see that? The first picture I did back in 2012-13, the picture beside it? I did that TWO YEARS AGO. I didn't suddenly know exactly what to do, or had anything close to a god given talent for drawing (I'm not that talented). The first picture WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST I COULD DO AT THE TIME THAT I MADE IT. In the time between these two drawings I admittedly took a break from art, but then I got back into it four years ago. EVEN STILL that was four YEARS of starting over from the basics, relearning everything, learning new things, wanting to actually improve my art.

Which, guess what, DID NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. It was HOURS UPON HOURS of my limited free time as an adult drawing over and over and over and over again, every single goddamn day to get to the point that I was able to make that redraw look as good as it does in comparison. He'll, my art now puts them both to shame! Because I spent the time improving my quality!!

Now look at these artists doing comissions, they've probably put EVEN MORE of their time to get that good! They've put in LITERAL YEARS of sweat, blood, tears, frustrations and dedicated hardwork. Some did the same as me, self teaching and lots of practice, others probably had to go to school, which definitely wasn't cheap. But all of us put in that time and effort TO REACH THESE POINTS. Of being better artists, developing our styles, getting faster at drawing.

And maybe you think that this is super easy, right? That I or every other artist can just fire some art off and boom its good and done in like an hour?

FUCK. NO.

Even now it takes me several hours a day OVER MANY DAYS to make something exceptionally good! It doesn't matter how good an artist is, it still. Takes. Time.

Maybe the issue is that you don't understand how much actually goes into art, let me break it down for you, the steps that most people follow to finish ONE drawing.

-Rough draft: general character outline, get a feel for what I want to draw.

-Rough sketch: I start doing a bit of pencil to start filling in details like mouth, nose, eyes, hair, clothes. Ect.

-Penciling: I go over the rough sketch and clean everything up, maybe do some editing, this is when you can start making out all the details.

-Ink: I trace over the finished pencil with a pen tool and actually have the line art, everything looks clean, presentable, it actually looks like a character now. I'll spend time editing this and possibly redoing the inking many times over to get to a point where I like it.

-Flat color: I decide on which colors to use for skin tone, clothes accessories. Ect.

-Shading/highlights: I figure out where my light source is and how strong it is, I then apply the correct amount of lighting and shadows to the color to give it depth, I also have determine the texture of skin, clothes and accessories to make everything look real and natural.

-Blending: I smooth out the shading and highlights so that it looks more natural and isn't too hard (noticeable difference between color) so that it looks as natural as possible.

-Finish: I go over last minute details, finish any editing or corrections that need to be done. Once it's good I call it a day.

Each process is longer in length then the previous, with the exception of the final editing (as long as everything looks good) and even the rough draft can take some time. Over all this is SEVERAL HOURS of work for a SINGLE DRAWING.

So is it sinking in yet? How much is put into doing even a single character drawing? God forbid if its done with background. This isn't a "scratch a pen around and be done with it in ten minutes" kinda deal, no, this is SEVERAL HOURS OF SOMEONES LIFE BEING PUT INTO THIS

And if you still have the AUDACITY to try and wrangle free art from an artist then there's no helping you, you're just a selfish piece of shit, no question and I want nothing to do with you.

Someone might say "But I got free art/writing from.-" look I don't give a shit if someone did something for you THAT ONE TIME, these other artists and writers? Totally seperate and different people. You're one freebie experience does not, and should not apply to other artists and writers.

"But what if I really want this commission but don't have the money right now?" Well, that's tough shit. Save up and properly commission them when you can, it's not their problem.

"But what if I'm in a really bad financial situation and really want it?" That sucks, and I'm sorry, but again, not their problem. Chances are this is their only source of income and they need to make money so that they don't end up in a similar situation.

"They have a gift! They should share it!" What kind of cheap ass- LOOK, just because someone is talented or really good at something does not automatically obligate them to do anything for total strangers in anyway shape or form. These are living, breathing people, the same as you. They need to eat, they need to pay rent/mortgages, they need to pay vet bills, send their kids to college, do their taxes and everything else that YOU YOURSELF need to do. Asking anyone to spend their time doing something for free, when that something is how THEY ARE SURVIVING is beyond asinine. Not only that, this obviously isn't a hobby to them, it is very clearly THEIR JOB. Would you want to do a job where you didn't get paid at all? Doing a shit ton of work for absolutely nothing? No? Didn't think so.

"It shouldn't be about the money!" Well unfortunately, as with almost every other job, it is. We live in a world where we desperately need to make money in order to survive. That's the painful fact of the matter. If money never had to be an issue ever again then this would be a very different story. But it's not, plain and simple as can be.

Look, these people are just like you, artists and writers who are just trying to get by in a shitty ass world, using the one thing they have that let's them have an income. Leave them be, don't try and trick them, guilt them, or cuss them out when you don't get your way. Either properly comission or leave them the hell alone, plain and simple.

[classlesstulip]

So, You Called for a Handyman?

(A little medly of a day in the life of a ‘handyman’ in the mob. One who doesn’t really take his job too seriously.)

     “*che,* a tall and shadowed figure snorted as he flicked the long blade he held. The wet, viscous sound of blood flying through the air and splattering onto concrete was heard, the whistle of metal short but sharp.  

     Tiberius looked around the room he was in, sharp ears pricked, listening for any of the tell-tale sounds of life: breathing, twitches, the shuddering gasps one gives when in great pain. He was only satisfied when he heard nothing from the collection of bodies spilled around him.

     'There’s a group of Mick’s boys over on 8th and North. Go and fix them.’

Heh, they’re fixed now, alright, Ty thought. Now he just needs to call in Lenore for disposal; he needs to pass over that new fertilizer recipe he’s got, using these mooks may be just what her flowers need.

*****

     Storing his machete in one of the many caches secreted in Sepulveda territory, Ty swapped out his fingerless leather gloves for a new set. A quick check showed that even after all these years he’s still got it; not even one drop of blood on his 3-piece.

     If even ONE of those mooks had spilled on his Armani, he would have rioted. This suite was a gift!

     His internal rant was cut off when his phone chirped. Pulling it out of an inner pocket, he saw a new text from Little Cruzi: seem’s their Apa is done putting up with Jericho. Needs to have the jackass fixed. And-, oh!

     'Apa says make it messy. The wetter the better.’

     Ty can do that. He’s pretty good at getting things wet.

     Oh, that was a good one! He’ll have to try that one on Val; the poor dear’s been wound up tighter than a spring the last few weeks. A good laugh followed by a good fuck should fix that.

*****

     "Hey, Ty? Boss has a new stop for ya!”

     What the fuck? Seriously!? "Uh, Amber? Ya can see I’m currently up to my elbows right now, yeah!?“ The wet squelch and Ty’s grunt as he pulled on Jericho’s lungs rung through the warehouse. It was dark and dusty; the perfect backdrop for a Splash-n-Dash.

     Currently, Ty was bent over a stack of pallets, the beaten corpse of Jericho splayed across them. Scattered on the walls and floors around them were gouges and bullet marks, with streaks of blood interspersed, belying that a scuffle had taken place, the loser of which had his chest cracked open and Ty cleaning the innards like he was preparing a chicken to get roasted over open coals.

     The driver held up their arms, shrugging. "Hey man, I’m just the messenger. Turns out, Jericho was fucking with not just the Sepulveda’s, but the Alnazar’s AND Satrinava’s.” Amber looked a little green at the sound of flesh and ligaments ripping as Ty finished his impromptu vivisection. He went even more green when Ty overhand-hurled his double-handful of offal at one of the far walls with a loud 'YEET!’, the wet splat and fanning of blood from the impact causing Amber to jump back with a heave. “Dude, what the fuck!?” The thick gurgle he swallowed back after his outburst showed just how DONE he was with Ty’s nastiness.

     “Hey, Val says wet and messy, I deliver wet an’ messy! Now keep your pants on and drag over my duffle. My shirt is ruined.”

     Keeping an eye on a blood-soaked Tiberius, Amber did as bid. It took him a few minutes to locate said bag, during which Ty lit-up a cig.

     “Move it, cupcake.”

     “Alright, alright, jeez. Go fuck yourself, asshole.”

     “I HEARD THAT!”

*****

     “Alrighty then,” Ty propped his feet up on the desk in front of him, ignoring the glare Asra shot him. “So, we gots a case of ol’ Jerry boy putting his fingers into too many pies, both literal, figurative, and colloquially. Drugs, rent girls, and laundering, right?” He pulled in a big drag from his cigar, having lighted up the moment he entered Fluff'n'Stuff’s digs.

     With a grunt, Asra pushed the big booted feet off of his NICE mahogany desk. Getting a few smoke-rings blown at him in retribution, he glared at the 'handyman’ sitting across from him, but knew any more fussing on his end would be futile; the only reason Asra isn’t currently a smear on the wall is that Ty thinks he’s adorable AND they go way back.

     That and Val and Asra once had a Thing, but that’s none of his business.

     “Yes,” leaning back, Asra pulled out a thick manila file folder and dropped it onto his desk. The poor thing was only kept together by a single rubber band, and Ty’s surprised it hasn’t snapped already. “These are the places that Jericho’s Number Two and Three have holed up. Taking these two out will cause the whole operation to fall apart.”

     As Asra was speaking, Ty secured his cigar between his molars, propping his jaw open as his fingers started pulling apart the file. Flipping through the first few cover papers, he soon got to the meat and potatoes of the lot. “As you can see, Vinny is in the heart of the Garment District…” Ty stopped paying attention as he looked through everything, Asra’s voice becoming a low, soothing drone. He leaned back in his chair, holding up a few A4-sized photos.

     “Now, Illian was able to-” Asra was cut off at a loud, 'interested’ hum from Tiberius. Seconds later, the handyman turned the papers in his hand’s landscape, and a few sheets accordioned down. A slightly lewd chuckle floated up from behind the papers before Asra snatched at them, Ty letting out a disappointed 'awww’ at the loss of his smut.

     “A-HEM!” Crinkling the purloined pornography in his fist, Asra pinned Ty with A Look. “This is no time to be looking at, at, uh,” he peeped at the rag, “PLAYBOY!”

     “Azzy? That was IN the file. I had nothing to do wi-”

     “REGARDLESS,” tossing the magazine at his wastebin (and making a mental note to speak to his son about leaving his 'reading material’ out and about), Asra huffed. “Just, get out of here and fix 'em. Oh, and…”, rifling through his desk, he pulled out a box. He pushed it across his table, a curious Ty picking it up gingerly, “wear this. We need proof of the job, to be a warning.”

     “A body cam? Shit son, y'all mean business.” Snorting, Ty threw himself out of his chair, tossing the little box in the air before catching it and slipping it into his suitcoat pocket. “Got it. The usual fee to the usual account. Give hugs and kisses to yer fam for me, yeah?”

*****

     Walking down a softly carpeted hall, a slight shadow was seen. Soft curls were piled atop their head, and one hand held a glass of wine while the other pulled their robe tighter. Light filtered through shuttered blinds, car head beams and static lamps fighting the darkness of night. Occasionally, the honk of a horn or the revving of an engine sounded out, despite being muffled by layers of brick and insulation.

     Sipping their wine, they stopped just outside a cracked door. Peeping in, a soft smile curled their lips as they spied one of their little ones (though, being nearly twenty, they are fairly certain that Sol would object to such an endearment). Seeing them softly snoring away, the door was pulled shut. Checking on their other child, Cruz, showed the same result.

     Once satisfied that their children (grown though they may be) were tucked away safely snoozing, Val continued down the hall. A few twists and turns later and they were in their office. Opulently decorated with heavy dark wood pieces and bold colors, it was quite a large and stately room. Near the far wall was their desk, and on the blotter was a thumb drive.

     Knowing that it must have been left by Tiberius, Val plucked it up. Wandering towards the entertainment center, they plugged in the drive, turned on the screen, and got comfortable on the couch, sipping more wine as they navigated menus with the remote.

     “Hey, is this thing on?” The sound of someone tapping a mic was heard before the picture abruptly turned on. A large brown eye was center stage, the corners crinkling briefly before the cam was pulled back, revealing the familiar face of Tiberius. “Alrighty, then! So, the usual drivel: Tiberius working on behalf of Don Valentino of the Sepulveda Family, yadda yadda yadda,” Ty’s eyes rolled, and his body moved like he was waving his hand. “Here to fuck some shit up and make a statement. So here’s,” he tapped the screen, “the mutherfuckin’,” more taps, “TEA,” a final tap. “Vinny’s been baaaaaaaad. Not only,” Ty brandished a finger, waving it around his head like a conductor, “has this bonafide dickfuck fuckface been doin’ Jerry’s dirty work, but this FUCKER has also been bringing in kids. KIDS I TELL YA! Now c'mon, Vinny, baby, ya don’t bring kids into your prostitution ring! Fucker! So, time to clean house! And Val?” Ty winked at the camera, “I’ll have a nice little pressie for ya when you finish this!”

     Some fumbling and cursing later, and Val had a chest-high view of whatever was in front of Ty. Currently, it was the door to what may be a warehouse. The video jumped up and down a few times, and the cocking of a gun was heard. Something very familiar was playing in the background, and it came to a hard beat as Ty kicked in the door-

     “Some-BODY ONCE TOLD ME,” duel-wielding, Ty buried a bullet into the head and gut of the bouncer standing guard as the kicked-in door bounced off of the wall. “THE WORLD WAS GONNA ROLL ME,” two steps down the hallway. “I AIN’T THE SMARTEST TOOL IN THE SHED,” one guy burst out of a room and got pistol-whipped for his stupidity, getting a few slugs to the back as he fell.

Hopping over the new body, Ty continued his song. “SHE WAS LOOKIN’ KINDA DUMB WITH HER FINGER AND HER THUMB,” this time, he peeped around a doorway into a room, squeaking out a startled 'Errol!?’ as a knife buried itself into the wall behind him. A feminine voice started spewing curses as he backpedaled, hands still clutching Glocks up in the air. “Aight, aight, I got it! Sheesh!” Huffing, he continued his journey down the hall, bellowing an 'IN THE SHAPE OF AN L ON 'ER FOREHEAD!’ behind him as he went.

Now Val wants to know what she was doing there. Did Jericho piss off Lucio, as well? They jumped as Ty continued his bit of Musical Mayhem.

     “WELLLLLLLLL THE YEARS START COMIN’ AND THEY DON’T STOP COMING!” At some point, the handyman had swapped out his handguns for a combat shotgun, opening up rounds into the chests of three forgettable thugs in beat to the last three words of his stanza. “FED TO THE RULES AND I HIT THE GROUND RUNNIN’!” Coming to the end of the hall, Ty blasted through the door, revealing the large, empty space typical to warehouses was replaced with a sort of hotel-like setup. An open-air lobby, with staircases spiraling up, leading to floors with open walkways. It looked like someone tried to recreate the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, but it just went up and up, with each floor being closer to a balcony than a full floor. All of the open space allowed for the panicked cries and screams of the brothel inhabitants to echo in upon themselves.

     There were also a LOT of fine rugs, marble, and gilt furniture. How long has this operation been going on, and how did fucking JERICHO of all people get this set-up on the DL?

     “DIDN’T MAKE SENSE NOT TO LIVE FOR FUN,” *boom!**boom!**boom!*; a rapid release of shots into a group of mobsters as they tried to rush Tiberius, giving Val a front-row seat to the amount of kick a combat-class shotgun has as one man went flying, streamers of blood shooting from the stump that used to hold his head. “YOUR BRAIN GETS SMART BUT YER HEAD GETS DUMB! HAHA, FUCKER!” Ty’s voice was starting to get difficult to hear over the amount of sheer NOISE in the background.

     “SO MUCH TO DO!” *blam!* “SO MUCH TO SEE!” *blamblam!* “SO WHAT’S WRONG WITH TAKIN’ THE BACKSTREETS!?” The bodycam started shaking at Ty charged over to a staircase, plowing shoulder-first into a group of people storming down it while waving their guns. The picture blacked out and the muffled scratch of fabric rubbing over the built-in mic took up a few seconds of footage before a bright light cut through. Val had to squint their own eyes, and everything came back into focus just in time to see Ty hurl a middle-aged, half-dressed wanna-be mafioso over one of the balcony floors, singing out 'YOU’LL NEVER KNOW! IF YOU DON’T GO!’ as the man plummeted. He landed with a rubbery thump.

     “YOU’LL NEVER SHINE IF YOU DON’T GLOW,” more singing/screeching from Ty as he tossed a grenade down another balcony/hall. As it erupted, it covered the huddled gangsters in liquid fire. “HEY NOW! YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR! GET YOUR GAME ON! GO PLAYEEEEE! C'MON ASSHOLES! YOU WANTED TO BE A ROCKSTAR! HOW NOW! YOU’RE A ROCK STAR! GET THE SHOW ON! GET PAIIIIIIIIIIID! HA HAHAHAAA!”

     Val made a quiet note to themselves that Ty, while very funny, can also be downright sinister.

     “AND ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GO~OOOLLLLLLD!” And that Ty should also never attempt a falsetto that high ever. AGAIN.

     “ONLY SHOOTING STAAAAAAAAAARS BREAK THE MO-OLLLLLLD!” Another flame-spewing grenade was thrown, this time hitting what looked to be a fire extinguisher. Seconds later, foam started jetting out of the damaged, high-pressure steel canister, turning what was once a life-saving device into a literal missile, which shot off and plowed into the chest of a woman in Jericho’s colors, launching her airborne before the canister exploded, spreading shrapnel and viscera into a mist.

     Smothering their face with their hand, Val let out a disbelieving laugh as Ty continued to wreak unholy havoc on the hideout to the tune of an upbeat, mid-aughties pop-rock song. Knives were thrown, bullets buried in brains, and it all came to a crescendo as Ty unloaded a stereotypical tommy-gun down into a group of wannabe gangsters that had jimmied themselves into the lobby. The last note to the song was capped off with a tossed Molotov, the ring of shattering glass pairing well to the last guitar chord.

     Chuckling in satisfaction, Val finished their wine before shutting off the television. Wandering out of their office, they refilled their wineglass before heading toward their bedroom. Humming in pleasure after taking a fresh sip of chilled wine, they gently opened their door, stopping in the doorway before raising a sculpted brow. “So,” they queried. “Is this my 'pressie’?”

     It’s quite a nice present, Val thought. Tiberius was lounging on Val’s obscenely large bed, on his side and completely nude. If not for a strategically-placed pile of rose petals, the fit man would be putting on quite the show. As it was, Tiberius decided to take a page out of every cheesy romance novel/movie and had bedecked the bedroom in dozens of low-burning candles and scattered roses, capping-off the trope with a single rose clenched between pearly whites. It’s something the Valentino of twenty-some years ago would have swooned over.

     Although, the Valentino of now is feeling quite swoon-y, now. "Heh,“ they chuckled as Ty wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I’ve got to say, this is a nice surprise, viejo amigo.” Quietly shutting the door behind them, they leaned against the slab of wood-encased steel and gave their 'present’ a heated stare. “What gives?”

     “Eh, nothing much.” Pulling the rose out of his mouth, Ty tossed it aside with a flick of the wrist. “Just, ah, you wanted a job wet and messy, and I decided that you could use a little 'wet 'n messy’ yourself.”

     Val barked out a laugh. “Oh, but that was horrible!” Wandering closer to the bed, they held out a hand, gently cupping a warm cheek. “What am I going to do with you- MERDA!”

     Yanking Val towards him, Ty rolled them, stopping on his back with Val perched on top. “Well, first things first! Let’s fuck!”

*****

     The room stunk of sex, and all of the candles had burned themselves out. Entwined under a thin sheet, a sticky but satiated couple cuddled. Bite marks and hickeys decorated soft skin, and Val laid with their head tucked under Ty’s chin, one set of fingers lazily tracing circles over the larger man’s lower back.

“So,” Val lazily purred. “Aside from the cam footage, did you learn anything else?”

Ty hummed. “You may want to speak to Head in the Clouds.”

“…about?”

     A hoarse chuckle. “Seem’s someone’s son has a little crush on our Cruzi. A Playboy got mixed into my briefing file, and a VERY well-worn page had a model that looked startlingly like our bambino was on it.”

     “…really?” Ty hissed as sharp nails dug into his back, relaxing when Val apologetically rubbed them. “I’ll need to set-up a meeting. But, that can wait until tomorrow.”

     The last thing Ty thought as they both dropped off to sleep was that he was glad he didn’t let on that he’s pretty sure Lucky and Cruz have a thing.

     But he’s not sorry for telling Cruz’s Apa. Serves the little brat right for shitting all over him as a baby and giving him heart attacks every week since they learned how to walk.

     HA!

@agent-darkbootie @thraxbaby @lazyvoyager @magicianapprenticelyra @plaguedcount

[eorzeasntm]

Hi everyone!  Last week our models battled to the death with the primals.  Our intrepid Warriors of Light risked life and limb for some of the best battle shots we’ve seen in the history of the competition.  

The ever present threat against Eorzea, primals are our primary foe.  How are you keeping Eorzea (or Doma or Yanxia) safe from these menaces?

However, even though everyone did a great job this week (and gave the judges and the community absolute fits - the rankings were all over the place), only one model emerged from the pile of corpses with the best overall score by a mere third of a point: 

Rymmrael Bhaldraelwyn

Congratulations!  Not even Ramuh’s beard can stand up to your fierce display of paladin strength.  Time for a shave and a haircut, primal!

The next round of ENTM Tumblr Cycle 10 will hopefully be posted sometime before midnight EST on Friday, October 12th - assuming Michael stays far, far away. 

Please check below for feedback from our judges.

A note from Kat:  Models, please know that if you have any questions or want clarification from a judge on a critique, you are welcome to DM them from the Discord channel.  Often when the round is this excellent the decisions come down to tiny nit picks, so a suggestion for how a shot could have been improved is not always the same thing as a low vote in the ranks.  You could be a judge’s favorite that week and they’ll still have something to say that could have made it even more amazing.

Judge Kusuh

Hey all! Just as a note: these critiques are being written on the road due to a major life move! These may be a bit shorter, but as always, feel free to reach out me with any clarifications!

Ni’ko: Colored marker is an *amazing* color choice for this picture! Everything about this picture adds to it in an amazing way: the dark sun in the back center drawing the shot together, the line connecting you and Ifrit, the ice shards adding sharp edges to the frame of the shot; everything adds something! Here’s my caution though: this picture walks that very thin line between enough and *too much*. While everything in a shot can have a purpose, there is such a thing as overloading a frame, even if you believe it’s all necessary! I want you to keep an eye on that in the coming weeks, making sure to really keep an editorial eye on what you do. 

Cowbot: The deadly slice of Odin gives me some maaajor flashbacks to the DPS checks of that fight when it came out, so I’m glad you were able to catch it in a much more showy and epic light! I believe the cinema frame here was a good choice, it’s like the climax of a movie! Now, here’s something I’ve noticed in a few of your shots, including this one: you are a lalafell, and therefore you are shorter then most of your fellow models. This is going to produce unique challenges, mostly in terms of visibility. In this shot, while the look and effect is great, I’m having a hard time seeing you! For the future, I want you to try zooming in a lot more! See what you can get from a different perspective. 

Ysildor: I very much appreciate the choice of color and use of the tools available to you in gpose, you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into what you need to do to make the shots as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Here’s what I’m noticing this week: the shot feels a little crowded to me. This mostly comes from the fact that while you are clearly engaged in combat with Odin, the fact that you two overlap on different planes makes me wonder exactly where you are looking and aiming your attacks. Whereas I commonly ask others to zoom in, I’d like to see what you can do with a wider shot in the weeks to come! Let’s see how you do with much more room to work with.

Judge Vederah

Azalea:   Stylistically there's some pretty neat things happening here. I love how you put some thought into the glamour you wore for this particular shoot- helps your character fit in with the shot and helps with the narrative. I also like how both you and the primal are super imposed over one another. His might may be looming over you, but the ferocity in the characters expression shows where the true power lies. However, the picture is so over saturated with blue and green hues that you lose a large portion of the primal's shape and a lot of the details on the floor for that mechanic. Perhaps a different filter, or less direct lighting would've helped. Lily:    I love how crisp and clear this image is- like almost to the point where it looks like a screenshot from a cut scene. How your character is positioned in relation to the primal makes it feel like they're actively engaged in battle. I also really like the contrast between your character's blue hued armor against the warmer toned backdrop and Ifrit.  It's a really well composed shot- and the only thing I could point out as maybe something to change would be to scoot the shot a touch more to the left so it's more centered.

Rymm: I love the pink and deep blue tones of this shot- and how you matched your glamour to it. It's always important that your character fits into the settings. I also really like the angle of the shot and how it directs the eye over to Ramuh who is just being completely surrounded by that amazing lightning graphic. I think the only con to this image is that it's a little dark around the edges.  So much so that it almost makes the image as a whole too muted. If the lighting was a touch brighter, those amazing colors would've popped even more- making this image mindblowingly good.

Judge M’Telihgo

Wren: I want to start by saying how much I absolutely adored your picture from last week.  You were front and center and in the irrefutable focus of your picture.  That picture was you and everyone knew it.  Why?  Partly you are in the center part of your picture, we always start there when looking at an image.  You are the only thing that is blue.  We can see your beautiful face, you should show it to us much more often, you are very pretty!  I’m sorry Wren, I cannot say the same things for this week.  It helps that you are the only thing in white, it really does so +1 for you.  I’m kinda sad that I cannot see your face this week.  I also have pink hair and thanks to a request by my bf, I am using the same hairstyle right now.  I would love to see how your face looks with it too.  A slightly different camera angle to focus on you a little more and show your face could be just what you need!  Shiva commands much more of the area of this picture than you do.  Neither one of you are facing the camera and that would help your image too.  I can tell you are trying, and you do get credit from me.  This next round is for a close up, please, let me see how awesome you look in that!!

Ona: Your picture also suffers from your face being obscured.  Taken from the opposite side, much more of your face would be visible since the hairstyle is asymmetrical.  I like the effect, it does look like you are fighting Garuda, you lined it up well.  Unfortunately, it leaves you in a weird pose that I feel detracts from your image.  I do think a different outfit may have helped you some too.  You skin tone doesn’t pop against the blue background, it makes you blend a little bit and since your armor is light and has a low coverage it takes some focus away from you.  I like the lighting on Garuda, it makes her look like she has some depth to her and that is also something that you lack because of the pose the action left you in.  Again, it’s a nice pose and it works well for the action part, just not so much for the you part.  Keep at it, I know you will get there.

Judge Rongi

Adam: This week you really used contrasting colors to your advantage. I love the colors in this shot! This pencil filter was a genius choice because not only does it make the background look fantastic, it also made you look like youre straight out of a comic book. You look amazing in this shot, but one of the hard things about taking screenshots with mobs is getting them to also look good. Garuda has a lot of appendages, and as such, if she isnt in the right position, she can become a confusing mess. If Garuda had looked like she does in Ona's shot in your shot, I think this picture would have been much stronger. 

James: Normally I do not like these portrait style shots, but both you and Haila really pulled out some great shots with it. While you both pulled it off very well here, I think where you faltered in comparison is by not doing a back shot. In the shot you submitted it looks like you are summoning the Pheonix yourself, a lot like Azalea did as well, but I think it would have been stronger if you had been facing the Phoenix. Many models this week are facing away from the primals, but the way they are positioned makes them still seem engaged with them in battle. The Pheonix's wings are also cut off at the tips, which I dont think a horizontal shot would have fixed because then we couldn't have seen you either. I didnt rank you low, but I wanted to explain why I didn't rank you super high. 

Nadede: Wow! This shot is amazing. I love the color contrast, the pose of both of you, the way you fit like a puzzle piece into the silhouette of Leviathan, everything. I feel like you went for something less flashy, and it totally paid off. I wish we could see more of a weapon, where your hand is being cut off at a strange place, but not focusing on that, only looking between you and Leviathan, i think this shot is great. Wonderful job.

Judge Kai

Chee: Good job with the setup of this image. I love that you’re dominant, and I can see you clearly! Also, you were very smart to wear lighter clothes, seeing that the ground and sky are much darker. It makes you pop without needing to force it. The lighting is also lovely, and I love how dramatic it looks on your face. Concept wise, I see what you were going for but it seems more like you’re getting ready to flee than actually face this menace. Also, the outfit you chose to wear, while great color-wise, is a bit off where it pops out with the knee. Unfortunately, SE didn’t map these outfits to fall naturally when turning and having such a pose, so it ends up just popping straight out and leaves my eye wondering what exactly your body is doing. Overall, love the lighting and I see what you were going for but I don’t think it quite got there. As for the outfit, kudos on picking a color that makes you stand out, but from the waist down it’s just not working for me.

Haila: First off I will say this… that is a beautiful shot, and I love that you made it a long shot and not a wide. It really gives you the height to show how massive this creature really is! That said, concept-wise I’m not sure if it comes off as facing a foe. It seems more like you’re summoning it, and you’re the for about to lay waste to a bunch of innocent people (which hey, I’m not against this because it’s awesome looking). Nice job on the lighting, and on picking an outfit that makes you pop. As for the back to the camera, I’ve always said I'm not fond of it unless it really adds something to the image, and I’m not sure if this really adds to it. Overall it’s an awesome picture, you pop and have nice lighting. Seeing Levi fly out of the water like that is amazing… but I’m just not sure it really follows the concept, as well as some of the others, did.

Lantis: This looks like a battle shot, and I love how you have yourself leaping into the air to meet your foe head-on. Concept wise, I’ll say you hit it pretty much dead on. I’ll also say that it was smart for you to use the glowing weapons and that arc of light under you to attract the eye. If you didn’t have those bright color to pull the eye to you, I don’t think this would have worked as well as it does. The image does come off very dark, and your clothes almost blend into the background without the help of the light around you. If you’d somehow made this image a bit lighter, or have worn something that popped a bit more I think it would have helped your character become more dominant in the image. Overall I think this is a great setup, and the concept is spot on, but the darkness of the image leaves you dependent on bright pops of color to attract the eye instead of your character. 

[blueskittlesart]

My hot take on vld season 6

Because I’ve seen a lot of discourse about this season so I figured I’d do my opinions in an episode-by-episode breakdown. It’s pretty log sooo:

Episode 1: Omega Shield

Okay. So upon first seeing this episode I was MAD. (Mostly because of how close Lotor and Allura seemed to be) But I get now why that had to be done and I actually like the direction they chose to go with Lotor, but I’ll get to that later.

I’m a bit annoyed that this seems to be the “Hunk development” we were told we were getting. (Heads up, vld, one episode does NOT count as full development.) However, it was really refreshing to see him be the focus of an episode, and we really got to see the growth that’s been going on for him in the background these past few seasons. Like, at the beginning of the show he was this timid little teenager who couldn’t fly without getting motion sick, constantly tried to take the easy way out, and generally avoided confrontation at all costs, not because he was cowardly, but because he was, understandably, really fucking scared of space. (And I don’t blame him. Space is huge and terrifying.) But now, we get to see him being a commanding force. We see him take charge of a situation and whip others into shape, using his capacity to learn new material (arguably his most important trait) as a weapon to get his job done. It was amazing to see that side of Hunk, even if it was just for one episode.

And then of course we have Lance just fucking dying. As much as my allurance heart wants to appreciate that scene, I can’t entirely ignore the fact that Voltron continued its pattern of having a life-changing, traumatic event happen to a character (other examples include Lance almost getting sucked out into space through the airlock in season 2(?) and Keith being ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good in season 4(?)) and then never address it or the trauma it may have caused again. Lance died. He fucking DIED, and two scenes later we see him smiling in the background as if nothing happened. Maybe they’ll use it for some angst in the future, but it honestly just feels like bad, neglectful writing to me at this point. They want dramatic scenes without having to address the way those scenes will impact the characters and the story. 

Episode 2: Razor’s Edge

Finally, the Keith and Krolia development we’ve been waiting for!! There’s very little for me to complain about in this episode. I loved the subtle details, like the way Keith’s dad wore the jacket that was later given to Shiro. I think Keith’s parents’ backstory was done really well, and I’m really happy that he gets to reunite with his mom again.

Honestly the second they saw that giant space fish thing I thought “lion turtle.” A huge animal with a forest on its back where the characters get trapped for a while?? Come on. I’m glad Keith and Krolia got that time to bond, even though it hasn’t really been addressed yet. Also I’m in love with Keith's dog (I had him pegged as a cat person but hey, at least I know Shiro is still on my side.)

Plus we finally!! got!! the “boy from Cuba” line!!! and yeah, it was in reference to Allura, but it suggests a lot more Lance in the seasons to come, especially since they’re going back to Earth soon. That line, at least to me, seems to really put a lot of emphasis on how connected Lance is to his Earthen heritage, and I really, really hope that will be explored more in the coming seasons. 

Also side note, but that Lance scene where he knocks over the metal thing (tool of some sort?) and just kind of stares at it as it clatters to the ground was so fucking funny?? That was one of the top comedic moments of this season, not gonna lie.

Overall I was really happy with this episode. It was plot-driven and interesting, and everything seemed to fit really well.

Episode 3: Monsters & Mana

I have never once played D&D in my life, and I’m just gonna state that now so no one comes after me for this section

I’ve seen some complaints that this was a filler episode, and yeah, maybe you’re right. But it was a GOOD filler episode. It was engaging, realistic given the timeline and story, and provided a lot of subtle foreshadowing in an interesting way. 

It makes sense that everyone on the team would need a fucking break after all this excitement. At that time in the story, they were relatively inactive, since they were working with Lotor and all that. They couldn’t have been working on the castle at every waking moment, and playing a game like M&M is a great way to pass their time. 

I’m gonna get into some elements of the characters that I found interesting here too. Namely, Shiro and Hunk’s backstories. Shiro’s “master” in his little cutscene had one messed up eye, dare i say Iverson? yeah, we don’t know much about Shiro’s life on Earth before Voltron. But the parallels from what we DO know suggest to me that there’s correlation between the M&M character backstories and the main-story character backstories. Which bring me to Hunk. His character Block’s backstory was that his “village was turned to stone by an evil sorcerer.” I don’t know what this means, but I have a few speculations:

1. Hunk’s hometown was ravaged by some sort of natural disaster while he was in space (we know he’s a Pacific Islander, right? So I don’t think this is too far off base)

2. If the Earth has already been invaded by hostile aliens (Sendak’s “I know your weakness: you value the lives of others”) Hunk’s family or home were directly impacted (this one seems to be the most logical to me, since Block’s quest is to “save” his village, which Hunk could easily do by defeating the Galra/other hostile aliens on Earth)

3. Some other form of disaster has and/or will affect Hunk’s family/home and he’ll have to either save them or deal with the after-effects of it 

Either way it’ll be interesting to see how next season plays out back on earth!

As for some of the other foreshadowing, I take you all now to the way Shiro keeps fucking dying. Shiro’s “twin brother” was played off like a joke in this episode, but thinking about it, I see it as a subtle reference to the whole clone Shiro ordeal. the original Shiro, now dead, was the clone Keith killed, and “Gyro” (his “twin brother”) is the Shiro who was revived at the end of this season. And judging by the big role he played in defeating the boss at the end of the episode, the newly-revived Shiro will be extremely important in upcoming seasons.

Episode 4: The Colony

“But even if they do reach the quintessence field, then what? The last time anyone got in there, it turned Zarkon evil.” THIS IS WHY YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO LANCE.

I honestly really, really love the direction they decided to go with Lotor. they totally brought him back around into the interesting, dynamic villain I knew he could be and I’m so happy about that.

On to what specifically I noticed about the plot of this episode. One big thing for me is the revelation that quintessence can, in fact, be extracted from other beings. This only brings up more questions, though: What did Lotor want the quintessence for? The Galra Empire already seems to have plenty of fuel. How was he harvesting the Alteans’ quintessence? Did he have druids helping him, or did he discover another way to do it? Did anyone else in the Galra Empire know about this? The whole operation raises more questions than it answers.

And when Allura found out and just fucking YEETED Lotor across the room? I may have watched it at 3 am but I was still screaming at the top of my goddamn lungs, at least on the inside. She gave him exactly what he deserved with no goddamn hesitation and I love it.

Shiro going full clone was crazy, but we all expected it. I’ll admit that his being used to steal Lotor was not what I would have guessed, though. It kinda turned out to be a pointless use of him in the end though since Lotor escaped immediately

Another thing about Lotor’s plot that stuck out to me: He knew that there were living Alteans. He knew how much Allura wished she could have her planet and her people back, and how much it hurt her that she’d never be able to see them again. And he still kept this place secret from her. He still took her people and exploited them for his plan, and then was stupid enough to think she’d see that he was doing it “for the greater good?” Even if it WASN’T such a despicable fucking thing to do, those are Allura’s people. She’s wanted nothing but to see more Alteans for the past year at least. She’s not ever going to see things his way. 

another side note: i want romelle to snap my neck

Episode 5: The Black Paladins

Holy mcfuck is there a lot in this episode. First off, as an artist and animator I really need to take a moment to appreciate how fucking beautiful everything was in this episode. The shadows, the movement, the colors, the cinematography, everything about this episode was artistically stunning. The animators really outdid themselves with this one. 

Okay, since there’s so much to talk about with this episode, I’m gonna break it up. We’ll start with what happened on the castle.

Pidge... is fucking amazing. That’s all I can even say about this kid. This is a fifteen year old girl, she’s literally a couple months younger than I am, and she’s dealing with all this shit and pulling through. That’s amazing. She has literal adults looking to her for help in a life-or-death situation, she had to be under insane stress during this episode, knowing that what she does could mean the difference between life or death for all of them. And she pulls through. Pidge Holt is so fucking strong and I love her with all of my heart. Someone get this kid a peanut butter cookie.

It’s interesting to me that not only did she instantly recognize the code from Shiro’s arm, but also had a program ready to destroy it. It reminds me of that Voltron comic where she’s able to take down her fellow paladins because she observes them and knows their weaknesses. She watches, She listens, and she prepares for every possible contingency, no matter how badly she wants to believe they’ll never happen. And that’s why she’s dangerous. 

Okay. now for all the mess that happened with Shiro.

Mother of god, I am SHOOK. Even the SETTING of the damn thing was so goddamn thought out and interesting I don’t know where to start.

There were so many other clone Shiros. Why were there so many other clone Shiros??? Were they planning to release more at the same time, or were they backups in case the original clone was compromised? Were they tests? What???? Were???? They??? For???????

And that Galra form Keith. Is that something he discovered in the two years he spent with Krolia? Something he can consciously activate? Or did it just happen to come out because he was in a moment of high emotion and adrenaline? It also seemed to give him a boost of strength, because Shiro was only able to push him off after the form deactivated. I hope we’ll get to see him use it again!

“I should have abandoned you just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it, too.”

Holy fuck clone Shiro is MEAN. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must’ve felt like for Keith to hear that from Shiro, who’s basically the one person he’s been able to rely on dependably for his whole life. In his vlog he even said that his trust issues are BECAUSE Krolia left him, and having his older-brother figure, who he looks up to and trusts like no one else, reaffirm those doubts he already has must have been devastating, even if he learned later it wasn’t really Shiro. I doubt that’s an image he’ll be able to get out of his head quickly.

All those flashbacks of little Keith... he had that mullet his whole life I guess (I mean he probably learned how to cut his hair from Shiro so like. is anyone surprised). But in all seriousness, does the Garrison take middle school aged students too? because he looked way too young to be a high schooler. (Side note: Are they letting the middle schoolers fly the goddamn spaceships?? Who the fuck decided this program was a good idea??)

Keith also told Shiro he should “send [Keith] back to the home already.” By “the home” did he mean the shack his parents lived in? That’s doubtful, since without Shiro he’d be living there alone. I would assume Keith was put in foster care of some kind, most likely an orphanage, which is probably what he meant by “the home.” It’s a minor detail, and just something I noticed, but I figured I’d point it out anyway. 

I really, really loved this episode. It’s probably one of my favorites in the whole series. 

Episode 6: All Good Things

(My klance obsessed ass feels the need to point out that the blue and red stars are still in the astral plane, and were shown in the very first scene of the episode. Just saying.)

So did this episode just confirm that when a paladin dies in their lion, their consciousness stays within the lion? Because damn, that sets the stage for a LOT of angst fic. (Fic writers, get on this.) 

Lance supporting Allura is my goddamn aesthetic honestly. Friends, lovers, siblings, I don’t care, but I’m happy their relationship is getting development!

KEITH GOT A STRONGER CONNECTION WITH THE BLACK LION!! HE CAN USE ITS WINGS!! This gives me so much hope for black paladin Keith again in season 7 because he’s clearly got such a strong connection with Black... he deserves this. also black deserves a paladin thats a real fucking person and not a fake bitch

Coran development?? In my Voltron?? It’s more likely than you think

Then of course, we have Lotor going full Azula. I said this before, but I am so, so, so fucking happy they chose to make him a villain in the end after all. I was so worried after last season that they’d throw away all his potential as a villain in order to go for a shitty redemption plot, and I was completely fooled up until the last second, just like the paladins. And that’s a big part of what I love about it. We were in the paladin’s shoes. We didn’t know what to believe, we either liked Lotor or were suspicious, but most people truly believed the plan was for him to be redeemed. The writers really did a great job of making us feel the way the paladins did, seeing Lotor’s betrayal and eventual descent into madness, and that’s truly the kind of thing that makes me love Voltron. 

anyway lotortron (aka whoretron) is fucking ugly and im glad its stuck in the quintessence feild for all eternity

Episode 7: Defender of all Universes

Beautiful fight scenes, insane dialog, wonderful storyline. All in all, it was a perfect conclusion to the season. 

The fight in the quintessence field? Absolutely beautifully done. Suspense, beautiful cinematography, and it all tied back to the show’s underlying theme of teamwork in the best way. I have no complaints in the slightest about how this was done. Honest to god, I loved this whole fight. (I am curious about what will happen to Lotor, though. will he be literally destroyed in the quintessence field when the power gets to be too much for him, or will he just kind of stay there festering until someone manages to travel in there again? Maybe the paladins will go back and get him later in the series.)

The castle is gone now I guess?? rip (More Coran development?? in my Voltron???? It’s more likely than you think) BUT ALSO if they do plan to make another ship like they said, they’re gonna need another Balmeran crystal to power it, which means more Shay!!

So now... that scene at the end. Shiro’s revival.

When Lance started crying, so did I. Literally, I saw his tears and I just fucking broke... my Lance stan heart couldn't take it...

and finally shiro’s white hair is ugly as fuck lmao

so TL;DR: This season was a big win in my opinion. I can’t remeber feeling this good about Voltron since maybe season two. I’m 100% ready to see some Lance and Hunk-centered storylines in season 7 if my predictions are right, and to hopefully see some main villain Haggar (FINALLY)

Thanks for reading!

[eilisfrasernapier]

Representing the Real: Critique Feedback Form

PLEASE FILL IN THIS FORM AFTER THE CRITIQUE And add the completed form to your Research Journal.

NAME: Eilis Fraser

PROJECT: ‘Just a Job’ short documentary

DATE OF CRITIQUE: 28/4/21

TUTOR(S): Sana Bilgrami

VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT OF FEEDBACK:

Sana:

“In a short 5 minutes you’ve managed to achieve, to tell us a really complex and complicated story. There’s a huge backstory to this guy’s life and then there’s what he does today which is also really interesting, and it felt like, as you said Orla, it felt like the film was in two parts. The before and the after. I’m just going to comment on a few things separately and then try and make sense of it all together.

So yes, of course, your sound levels were terrible and so I couldn’t, I was struggling to listen to half of the interview and that’s something that you really need to fix because there’s no point if no one can hear what’s being said.

What extraordinary cinematography. I thought that some of those shots are really amazing, really well composed, very interesting variety of shots. However, it’s kind of interesting because in the first part, we hear this backstory but what we’re looking at is a very contemporary, just-now space and then we move on to - although you do try and match some of the images with the - like when he’s working in the cemetery and then you have the night shift, which I think is where the strength of your film lies. And I almost wonder whether you could have made the heart-breaking choice of getting rid of some of that backstory and focusing more on the present. Because he says some - I mean he is an amazing, clearly although I couldn’t hear him, he’s an amazing interviewee. He says some amazing stuff like he’s telling us all this stuff about his - I couldn’t quite work out what was happening in the civil service but clearly they didn’t treat him well and he left. And then he worked as a grave-digger and you know looking after the cemetery and he said that it was just awful and then he ends up by saying “I hate Edinburgh”. But all the while, we’re seeing these really romantic shots of Edinburgh. So, structurally there’s a disjoint in your film, where you as filmmakers are saying one thing and the guy’s saying something else and the two kind of strands are… I was trying to make sense of what you were doing and I’m not sure that there was a reason for doing that but correct me if I’m wrong. But it felt like the first part of the film, the visuals just did not have any relationship, although you do film the cemetery so there’s a kinda direct relationship there but they’re so beautifully framed whereas the story is really heart-wrenching and kind of really difficult. So, it felt there was a mismatch.

And then, in the second half of the film, I mean I loved all that stuff, all those many different shots, you get a sense of being inside this space. I’m not sure, because I couldn’t hear it well, I’m not sure how well it’s established that he is a night watchman or, sorry, a security guard at halls of residence. That’s something that I’m not sure is clear. I mean, I know it, because we’ve talked about it but that’s something to watch out for but perhaps I just didn’t hear it. But really strong stuff there about how he helped students out and at that time it felt like your visuals were kind of responding to what he’s talking about as well. So, I guess this is - yeah, it’s complicated my feedback in that sense, but you’ve made a really complicated film so you deserve complicated feedback. And I think, I’ll applaud your ambition for doing so. If you were going back to the edit suite, I would say you need to be really ruthless if you want to make a really brilliant film because you’ve got brilliant material both from the security guard and your own stuff that you’ve filmed.”

Leo:

“Yeah, I enjoy this. I agree with most of what’s being said and you know you’re already fearing my comment about the sound mix but you’ve identified the problem. I think it’s stuff that comes with experience. You had the bad luck of having a character that’s very soft spoken and the sounds you wanted to add are quite piercing so it doesn’t mis very well. But what I think is really important is that the way you use the sound and the images shows that you have an understanding of why you did that. So, whether it did or did not work, I think is secondary to the fact that you are conscious of why you’re doing that. I can see that there’s an intention behind it, which I think is really the thing we should applaud here rather than how it turned out to be because you know, you might’ve found a thousand different problems and you’re still not entirely familiar with pro tools and sound design so I don’t think that’s an issue. I think what I appreciate is that there was a thinking behind it.

I do very much agree with the second half being much stronger than the first and it's not even the images that you’re using. I think what works against your film mostly is the editing. There’s this really bizarre section in like the beginning and the middle where like the editing is really fast-paced and it doesn’t really match his slow, sombre tone. As you said, he’s really soft spoken and it’s really interesting to hear him speak - I have good headphones so I could follow the interview - but as I try to get lulled by his words, it’s really interesting to hear him speak but the editing is kind of fighting against that, kind of cutting very fast and that gets solved when you get to the night shift section which is why I think it’s a really good section.

Cinematography is really good, well done, some of the shots are just gorgeous. I think KJ in the chat is mentioning the one of him in front of the blue background. Really good, it fits really well with what is being said. The night cinematography is really nice. The sound design, it’s interesting because I was expecting a lot of quiet, but you were “lucky”, so to speak, enough to catch a night where you know the fire brigades were called and all the alarm and the sound, I think it’s really interesting. I think it subverts expectations, what I was expecting and that’s never a bad thing as long as you’re being true to what his experience is like. I think it was really good. So, yeah. I think obviously you know what I think I can say about your film is that it’s a really good film that’s very unpolished on a technical side of things. But I don’t think that’s an issue. I think it’s more important to prove that you know what you’re doing rather than you actually can do that. Because that can come at a second moment. Especially in a situation where you don’t have all the kit and equipment and facilities that you would like to have with restrictions. So, yeah, I really enjoyed this. Well done on the cinematography; well done on like finding the best moments of his interview. As you said, it’s great you discovered some more of his character through the interview stuff that you didn’t expect and yeah, I think it works really nicely.

Sana:

Yeah, I just wanted to re-emphasise that I was really pleased with the way you are experimenting with sound design and playing with that. So that was really good. Really well done. It was there and it made your film richer for being there. So, well done with that. And yeah, what a great interview, really fantastic. I know how difficult it must be because whatever he says in that first half of the film is really interesting as well and I wonder, if you were to go back to the edit suite, I wonder if maybe if you were a bit more ruthless and not necessarily take it out entirely but edit it down a little bit and paid attention to what was happening with the visuals at the same time. In terms of pace and what we’re seeing - yeah I loved the second part of the film. I think it really works really well. So, well done.

I just feel that if you could revisit your visuals and look at the pace and look at what's being used where your film would be much stronger for that.

Okay, well done, really well done. I can see you have put in a lot of effort into this project, it shows in the work that you’ve created.

MAIN POINTS GLEANED FROM FEEDBACK:

-Sound needs worked on.

-The images/visuals didn’t always match up with what he was saying. Similarly, with the tone and pace, Phil the interviewee spoke slowly and somberly but some of the cuts especially in the first half of the documentary were paced very quickly.

-Should go back and look at the edit and cut things, be strict.

-Great cinematography.

REFLECTION:

-Feedback very informative and I agree with it all.

-With all the footage we had got we could have gone in multiple directions with the all the different topics he discussed. We could have made multiple variations of this film that would showcase him in a variety of ways using the same footage which gives an idea of how much we captured. I think this is one of the areas where we have to improve, not trying to include absolutely everything.

-The sound problem is frustrating. For a number of reasons, one being the fact people can’t enjoy and be fully engrossed on the film without it being fixed, can easily zoom out with bad sound.

but I am glad it was reconsidered that we gave using sound design a go and it can be worked on.

-From watching again, I can see a drastic change in the first half of the film from the second, the second is way more cohesive and works better.

-Happy that everyone was heavily pleased with the cinematography.

-In hindsight to hone in on just a couple or a few things from the interview specifically would have been more impactful and have a better-rounded film. But the good thing here is that we have everything that is necessary to do this, it is just a case of cutting and shaping it.

-I would have wanted to have painted him in a happier light because he had those funny and uplifting moments which would have also matched a lot of the visuals better.

-I really agree with the pacing and it being inconsistent.

-structural dysfunction with the “I hate Edinburgh” and showing really nice bits of Edinburgh, this wasn’t deliberate so looking back more planning could have been done to make sure what part of the interview we use matches the visuals / makes sense with the visuals.

-loved the second half, successfully conveyed the space, and very proud of this section of the documentary.

-Also looking back at the pre-production stage, the moodboards and stills we had got for the nightshift shoot really resembles that of which was in the final film. So, in terms of planning, I think we got that aspect right.

ACTION PLAN:

GO BACK TO EDIT

-Fix sound, that’s number 1 as the film loses a very key element that would make it a great film. Ben has a one-on-one tutorial to get the sound levels sorted.

-Cut down on some of the sections and make the whole film on the same sort of wavelength as second half.

-Share, once we have finalised our best version share with Sana and others.  

[platonicfox]

timbledum fEarful 156 adventure (New Zealand)

Useful link: a metric dimensions conversion spreadsheet with dynamic thickness.

Full gallery here.

If you are interested in the budget, this thing cost me NZD$1,100. You can find a breakdown here.

I got the plywood supplier to cut the sheet into two 1200x1200mm squares for transport home. My cut plan based on this is here (or here for the svg version.)

My aspirational post on fEarfuls written around ~6 years ago is here – good to see that I finally followed through!

Background

This is a low tool build with some substitutions due to living in middle earth.

So I have been wanting to build a fEarful cab for quite some time now. However, the timing has never been right… until now!

Initially I was simply too poor to afford to build one as a student/graduate accountant, and I had a secondhand Sunn 410 that I was using in my punk and alt-rock bands (consecutive not simultaneous) so the demand wasn't urgent. I then temporarily stopped playing the bass to focus on my professional accounting exams for about two years.

I have been back playing bass sans-rig for maybe the last two years but have been getting sick of playing on borrowed gear and through PAs. I am also now getting a decent salary, and am pre-kids (just!).

I had not really planned the whole build at the beginning, as there were a lot of problems to solve and a lot of things to learn! Pretty overwhelming! So I just took the build one step at a time. I am pretty green with this kinda stuff, so this was all very exciting!

Step 1 – Buy the plywood

This is a very confusing part of the process, as the world of plywood is so varied and wide! Unfortunately we cannot get Baltic Birch here (the standard it seems), so it seems that the next best thing is some sort of marine grade plywood, such as hoop pine.

After ringing some places and having no real luck, I decided to go to Plyman in Henderson and just have a look around. Prior to leaving, I carefully calcuated that I would be able to fit a sheet of 2400x1200mm in the Nissan Wingroad if I got them to cut it in half (two squares), and tested this with a cheap scrap piece I had lying around – the end of the scrap was still at factory dimensions.

I got to the place and they had a super friendly guy at the counter – much recommended. I mentioned marine grade and Baltic Birch to him. He didn't know anything about Baltic Birch so he steared me to the Euro Birch which looked great! I also looked at the marine Gaboon stuff, but it had a pinky colour that I didn't really like.

So I went with the Euro Birch for about $115 all up, and the guy cut it in half for me for free, and we went to get it into the back of the wagon. It was a friggen mission! We ended up getting it diagonal and just pushing (hard) into the boot! They finally slid in one after the other.

It was even harder getting them out on the other side. My flatmate and I spend a good ten minutes figuring out how to get them out. We ended up having to push hard against the framing of the boot to get the plywood over the lip, and then squeezing the plywood through the plastic framing – we left permanent lines as reminder of the plywood for all time.

It turns out the plywood was actually 2440X1220 – the 2 extra cm squeezing through the boot was all the difference! Gahhhh!

Also turns out that I realised when we got it home that the outer birch vaneer is super thin – not like Baltic Birch at all! The main advantage of BB is apparently that all the plys are equal fitness, which gives it a lot of structural integrity and makes it easy to work with (you don't have to worry about sanding through the veneer).Pretty disappointed about that, but we'll see how we go!

I also hit up Bunnings on the way home and grabbed some misc supplies, including the Sika Supa Grip glue substitute recommended [here](Sika Supa Grip 30min Adhesive per http://greenboy.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1106&p=42527#p42527).

Step 2 – Cut the plywood

On the way out from Plyman, I grabbed a long thin offcut which I thought I could use for making a straight-cut jig for the circular saw. I mounted this onto a shorter sheet of crappy plywood that I had left over (trying out the Supa Grip glue – worked great!), and made a cut with the circular saw leaving a straight edge that I could rely on for making all of my cuts accurately.

More or less – it turns out there was a 1-2 mm bow in the "straight-edge" over the metre or two of length. This did mean that I later had to do some sanding to fit. To do this, I glued some ~40 grit sandpaper to a ~300mm long piece of plywood as a makeshift plane, which took some elbow grease but worked fairly well

Cutting the plywood was nerve-racking for me, as I had no experience with this kind of thing, and I was paranoid in ruining the investment in the plywood I had purchased. I used painter's tape for most cuts to ensure a clean cut. I also bought a higher tooth blade which seemed to work quite well. I probably veered on too long for most cuts, which resulted in more sanding down the line. There also ended up being a bit of bow in the old painting (thanks wife) worktable that I was using – this made it tricky to get a clean cut and required a bit of downward force throughout the cuts.

I did most of the big cuts during a solid Saturday afternoon of cutting, and finished off the rest on another day. The bracing (although fiddly), wasn't as bad as expected, as I essentially cut a bunch of planks with uniform width, then cut to length with a hand-saw – I found it more accurate this way. There was, again, sanding down the line to get these all to fit correctly.

Laying out (ruler and pencil) was a lot more time consuming than I expected, partly as I was paranoid! I measured everything multiple times, but even then it took me a while to get used to which side of the line to cut, how to get the lines square, etc. Not easy! I have definitely learnt the value in good quality layout tools, and this was the first project that I have used a square (shocking I know). I was pretty happy with my make-shift compass for laying out the speaker holes.

I had an old very cheap jigsaw which was ~$20 from Bunnings (maybe my memory is exaggerating). However, after a test cut, I determined that it cut the circles great! The bottom of the mid-box which is a bit of a weird shape was also cut partially with the jigsaw. I judged that precision was not a necessity here.

I did later make a layout error with the handle holes – I carefully calculated where my handles should go (based on guesstimate), and jigsawed/rasped/sanded the hole to accept my first handle. I laid out and triple checked the second hole, and drilled the hole for the jigsaw to start, before (on a whim) checking it visually against the other side. It didn't match! It turns out I was measuring from the bottom rather than the top, so the two sides were mis-matched.

Fortunately, I had only done the drill-hole, so I was able to fashion a plug from plywood with a coping saw. After cutting the rough shape, I hammered a nail into the plug, mounted onto my drill, and rounded the plug on a piece of wood that I had glued some rough 40 grit sandpaper onto. I was then able to plug this into the hole with more Sika! Thankfully, this plug blended fairly well, and ended up being half-covered by the handle anyway. Phew! Every cut is so high stakes!

As I do not plan to combine this box with a second cab, and most commercial cabs have two inputs/outputs for daisy chaining, I decided to leave this cab with just the one speakon connector. I did not bother with a connector plate, opting to mount the connector directly onto the plywood. Yes, it protrudes a little bit, but it does the job, and is a very simple, clean solution. I drilled a hole for the connector, then used a rasp to enlarge it to accept the round connector more or less perfectly. I also made sure to use the gasket tape when installing to make a nice clean seal. You can see a shot of the nubbin in the finishing section.

Step 3 – Assemble the cabinet

So I wanted a wood finish Scandinavian inspired cab, with a natural clear finish. This meant I didn't want any fasteners (screws/nails) marring the aesthetics of my beautiful creation. However, this set me up for a fairly tedious build, as each join needed to be glued up separately.

I also have no joining apparatus (such as dowel jig, biscuit joiner, pocket hole jig), and limited clamps (two smallish clamps). Getting things aligned correctly was fairly stressful with the limited set time of the Sika. Fortunately, a work colleague lent me two sash (long bar) clamps – despite their griminess, I wouldn't have been able to build the cab without them.

The glue was fantastic, but definitely had a learning curve. I was unprepared for how slippery the glue was while still setting. I also took the wrong approach for the squeeze out – I tried to rub sawdust into the wet glue, which apparently works for white PVA glue, but not for poly-based glues like the Sika. Fortunately the ugly matt smear from this only affected the port. The better approach was letting the squeeze out mostly harden, then cut off with a chisel. You can see the ugly squeeze out here:

I was also unprepared for the glue-up pressure! You really have to get things done – fairly high stress environment. One time in particular I had my wife put her head in the garage asking a question, and I had to politely tell her to please leave, I am gluing!

I did try to use a screw to attach the shelf to the port divider, which was a total disaster. Despite all my measurements and layout, the port divider hadn't been aligned perfectly in the centre, and I don't think the layout on the shelf was that flash either. This meant having to re-drill the pilot hole in the intense glue-up pressure. This epically failed, and I actually broke a tip of a drill bit, which is still somewhere in the port divider to this day.

And so I continued – glue up by glue up, each one not too onerous, but with heaps of separate glues to do. The 'clamps only' approach seemed to work out well, and I created many ingenious jigs to ensure that everything was positioned mirror less accurately and my limited supply of clamps (augmented with weights) did the business.

The wood did slightly warp, and the cuts were often a mm or two out, so there was a good bit of rasping/sanding near the end to get the last final pieces to fit. One of my best ideas was to glue some low-grit sandpaper to a scrap piece – the poor man's plane.

Step 4 – Buy and assemble the crossover/electricals

At first when I saw the price of the components, I thought it would be easier to source local component equivalents here. However, after chatting to my acoustic engineer bud, it turns out components of this size are just expensive. So I bit the bullet and paid the $100 to get everything shipped from Erse all the way down under.

This was by far the most daunting part of the project, as I have no electrical experience and had to learn everything from scratch, especially how to decipher the circuit diagram! I also had no idea how to attach everything, and finally decided after looking at other builds to base it on a terminal block.

For some reason, I decided to make a "breadboard" from a scrape piece of ply from the project by drilling a whole bunch of holes in it (I glued on some graph paper to get these more or less aligned). Although tedious, this made it much easier to cable-tie the components to the board, and hopefully provides some cooling. I put some foam pads under the four corners of the board, so there is some room for air to get underneath and rise through the components.

On one Wednesday night, with the wife out teaching an art class, it was time to do the assembling!

I couldn't find any glue sticks, and my wife had the car, so I had to cycle down to The Warehouse. They didn't have any real glue sticks, so I ended up buying a mini-glue gun and mini-glue sticks! Around $10 all up.

I used the hot glue + cable tie combo to secure the components. I was super paranoid with the two inductors, putting them at opposite ends of the board.

Here you can see my pencil schematic of how the wires actually needed to be laid out – I think it would be next to impossible to do this based on the plans, especially with the terminal to terminal connections (very confusing, but it works!) I do not foresee myself ever going through the hassle of building one of these again, so I didn't bother with the switch (although it took me a while to figure out which configuration the padded one was – turns out it is the configuration that the wiring is set in the plan.)

For wiring, I used the same cable used internally, so I had to do a lot of stripping. My solders are probably overdone, but I tested the mechanical integrity of each one so I think they were OK! Please do not judge my soldering lol. I also glued down most of the wires for extra measure.

I ended up mounting this on the shelf. It took up two thirds of the shelf and hung over the port divider by ~10mm – hopefully not a big deal!

Step 5 – Buy and install the speakers (the expensive part)

I actually did this much earlier due to excitement! I ended up buying both of them from eBay – even with shipping and customs they were much cheaper than in NZ. I think the Eminence one was actually semi second hand – they had bought two for a project but never made it, so I got a fairly good price. Pretty exciting!

Step 6 – Hardware and finishing

I bought most of the hardware from a sketchy place called Surplus Tronics – at this point one of the spring handles has already failed. However, everything was fairly cheap, and it was handy getting the corners, wiring, terminal block, feet, handles, and speaker covers from one place. One of the springs in the spring handles has already failed though, but it isn't very expensive to replace.

I took a bit of time figuring what batting to use, as we don't have denim insulation here. I almost bought some fibreglass pink batts, then changed my mind and decided to go the polyfill way. I was hoping to get away with quite cheap for this, and put out a cry for help on Facebook with no success, so I forked out the ~$20 at Spotlight to buy some 'Polyester Wadding' – a 30mm thick sheet 122cm x 150cm. This did me very nicely, with only some left over.

I used a combination of PVA glue and hot glue to attach the sheets to the plywood. I think the hot glue was more effective, at least immediately. I put down two layers on the back, with one layer most other places.

After running the internal wiring (mainly with hot glue), and gluing the batting, I could finally glue on the back of the beast!

Sanding took a lot of time. Despite my best efforts, I had a bit of overhang in some of the joins, and used a bit of pine wood filler to fill some gaps and to fillet some uneven joints. Overall, I am happy with how it turned out. A lot of the imperfections seem to be only visible to my eyes! Wood filler also helped a lot with voids in the plywood.

Once this was all done, it was time for the finish. I managed to get some satin water based polyurethane from a friend who had it left over from some flooring. It was old and had bits of crustiness in it, but it did the job. Water based is supposed to be a lot clearer (less yellow), and was very pleasant to work with – I didn't have to worry too much about it getting on my hands. It was a very strange creamy white, but dried to a silky smooth clear finish.

I made the mistake of laying down the finish way too thick on the first coat and was left with visible drips and runs all over the cab. After a good deal of sanding, I learnt my lesson and the subsequent two coats were much thinner and more successful.

I sanded up to about 160 before finishing, and sanded up to 300 between coats with an electric sander. I put down three coats, then had to do three coats on the bottom too. I spent a bit of time before finishing rounding over the corners with a rasp and sandpaper to accept the plastic corner protectors. I also slightly rounded off the edges.

I did have some issues trying to find "gasket tape" – I ended up just buying weather proofing closed cell tape in black. Was much more expensive than I hoped, but seemed to do a good job of sealing the handles, speakon plug, and 18sound speaker (the Eminence 15 already had some foam around the speaker.)

Step 7 – Trying it out!

I was super scared to try this out. The main thing was the wiring/crossover – if I stuffed something up here, I could blow drivers (I think!). I had no certainty that I hadn't made a mistake, or accidentally shorted something… let alone making errors with the box itself (air leaks, etc.)

One of my friends came around with his Markbass Little Mark II and nervously, we turned it on.

It worked! Boy this thing is sensitive! A lot louder than I expected, especially in our lounge, although it definitely keeps up with a drummer as well. I am yet to really push it though.

I am very pleased with the cleanness and transparency of the sound. It gives me great joy to hear a new level of distinction between my bass pickups (Stingray HH), let alone playing with the tonal variety of the VT bass.

Overall, this has been a very rewarding project, and my confidence in problem solving and DIY has grown exponentially. I have just learnt so flippin much over this project. I especially learnt a lot from the Greenboy official forum. Although i have not posted on the forum, I have lurked pretty hard, and the amount of helpfulness and knowledge there is outstanding, so thanks to everyone there! And a special thanks to Greenboy for making these amazing plans and resources free for us all to use!

[weedcookiethoughts-blog]

Updates!!

Donald Trump is now the President of the United States. Woah.  I cried for a large part of Friday until I got out of the house in the evening to go to a protest with my friend Ruby (note to self: hang out with Ruby more) and Ava.  I am really glad that I have been able to share this unrest with Ava and discuss American Politics with her in very basic terms....but there is so much more, and it’s pretty much all bad.

I want to continue to be diligent about documenting  these changes, because it is just too shocking to believe at times. OK! This is not that important, but Trump was having a hard time getting any talent to perform for his inauguration since most A-listers hate his guts.  However, he did get Toby Keith and Three Doors Down to play a cover of Smashmouth’s “Allstar.” No I am not kidding.  There is video of Trump singing along “I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.”  No shit. His inauguration was sparsely attended which has now seemingly become his most important issue to address the POTUS.  Many media stations put out side-by-side pictures of Obama’s 2009 inauguration and Trump’s current one.  It is VERY OBVIOUS to anyone with eyeballs that Obama had AT LEAST 2-3x as many people in attendance.  Big deal? Not really!  But it is if you’re a narcissist!  He’s allllllll in a tizzy claiming virtually everything is fake news and sending his staff out to make statements about how it truly was the most attended inauguration in history (which is a blatant lie).  And the ever-so-charming KellyAnn Conway has the nerve to call their hugely different estimate of attendees “alternative facts” to the truth.  Alternative facts.....soooooo, a lie.  It’s like they aren’t even trying to come up with good, remotely believable lies! This man will say anything his ego commands him to!  I am very concerned for the stupid people in this country that will take everything at face value.

Almost instantly after he was sworn in, he made sure to take over the POTUS twitter account, complete with a picture of Obama’s inauguration as his background image. He also got a baker to make him the exact same cake Obama had in 2009.  Why he is so intent on copying him, a man he has said terrible things about, I am not sure, but you can’t make this shit up!

Fucking Milo came here on inauguration day and started a ruckus at UW ending with a white supremacist being shot.  Just a typical Friday in Trumptown!  However the women’s march was an astronomical success.  Supposedly the protest ever, or at least in regard to a president. At least 5x the anticipated number of people were here in Seattle, and results were similiar AROUND THE WORLD. Seriously, millions of people marched for women’s rights.  Trump basically responded by calling over half the country a bunch of babies and telling them he plans to ignore them completely. I feel like all we can really do is be a royal pain in his ass, which I have no problem doing.

He was inaugurated on a Friday, and he decided he didn’t want to really start working until today, which is a Monday. Presidents get weekends too I guess!  During his campaign, Trump rattled off countless promises that were for sure going to happen on day 1.  It is day 3 (his definition of day 1), and most of those promises have gone unfulfilled. He is in the middle of repealing Obamacare without at plan to replace it which could put 30 million people without healthcare, potentially killing thousands statistically unless he provides a reasonable alternative.  He has given almost no details for his plans to execute virtually anything. He also withdrew from the TPP today, a trade deal that my man Bernie says is a bad one, and he seems like a pretty straight up guy.  Honestly I don’t know too much about this one, I should probably read up. He put a freeze on all hiring within the government except the military (I hate him), public safety, and public health, That’s about it.  His minion, Sean Spicer (the one that has been insisting to the press that Trump’s inauguration was the best day in history), said that more hasn’t happen because they want each thing to be a dramatic event and that can’t happen if they do it all in one day.  Oh the suspence!!!  If there is one somewhat good thing happening in Washington, it is that they have moved back the hearing to appoint Betsy DeVos pending some vetting.  In the meantime I will be calling my Senators daily.  Ugh.  I can’t believe the time is here.

In other news! I started working at a new club and I think this is going to be really good for me.  A lot more of the girls at this club do drugs.  Now this may sound like a bad thing, and it is, just not for my pocket book.  I have gotten the impression the past week or so I’ve been there that these girls just don’t know how to hustle.  I have some pretty good game, and I’m going to use it to my advantage.  I also started dressing like a school girl, which is weird because I feel like i have to act like Britney Spears when I’m really like Daria.  I’m kind of enjoying it though, and guys eat that stupid crap right up.  I also stopped drinking at work and only doing the weed thing.  Alcohol makes me stupid and clumsy, and weed makes me horny and funny....I think that’s a better plan.

My love life is crap. i am just not into anybody! BUT I will say, I am proud of myself for not going and finding some random dick, and waiting around for a good one.  I’m going on a date tomorrow with a boy named Zack, which the name of my sister’s boyfriend I despise, but i will try to ignore that.  This is really sad, but the first thing that attracted me to him was his teeth....because they look like Grier’s.  A pretty significant gap between the top middle ones, and even the shape of their teeth is similar.  Am I crazy or what?  Truth is I still think of thim all the time.  For a short relationship, he sure did rock me.  He’s in Africa right now and my pain tells me to hate him, my heart tells me to love him, and my brain tells me to forget about him.  I think my brain is right, but I’ve never been good at ignoring my heart.  I will never reach out to him though, he burned me so bad. Motherfucker.  Anyways, this guy tomorrow seems promising aside from his teeth.  He’s a web developer (he basically has the job I want to have eventually, although maybe a little too corporate), he’s tall, blonde but not in a creepy way, in really good shape, travels a lot and plays piano.  i could get down with that!

Speaking of piano, I am working on getting Ava into some lessons! I thought about teaching her, and I don’t think that I would be the best teacher and I don’t think she would take me super seriously. But there is a music store like 3 blocks from my place that offers lessons and I’m expecting a call tomorrow to set up something this week! I bought little stickers that I put on my keys so she could read the notes, I hope she enjoys it.  But she asked me to teach her how to read music, I’m not shoving it down her throat.  She made me an early valentine today with a picture she drew of us playing music together.  She absolutely kills me.  I love her so much I could just scream, and sometimes I do.

I got a massage today.  First one with a male masseuse and I am never going back to the ladies! In fact, I think I’m going to stick with this guy because it was the best massage of my life.  He was kinda cute too! But strong, which is important because I like it to hurt. He encouraged me to talk to my doctor about my shoulder problems, so I called for a referral for a physical therapist.  I feel like I have had the attitude that because I know that my shoulder will never be 100%, I shouldn’t bother trying to strengthen it. But the truth is it might not be perfect, but it could be a hell of a lot better than it is now.  I’m getting out of my funk, calling doctors, getting piano lessons, trying to date, working hard at work....I was really in a rut there for a hot minutes. I just needed away from my family I think.  They still think there is nothing off about Trump, and it BOGGLES my mind.  They might just be a lot crazier than I thought.  Or I thought I was the crazy one before and I don’t think that anymore.

I finished the Sopranos tonight. What the fuck was up with that ending??

goodnight moon.