#its very funny 2 me on etsy when i get notes from people like oh ive been seeing ur stuff on facebook for ages !!

[obsob]

ITS YOU!!! ITS THE CAT ARTIST!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

its me !

[preraphaelitepunk]

Fictober19 Day 23: Stitch and Bitch

Prompt #23: You can’t give more than yourself.

Fandom: Good Omens

Characters: Crowley, Hastur, Ligur, Eric the Disposable Demon

Rating: Teen (swearing, including the c-word)

Warnings: Use of c-word, which some people may find offensive

On AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/20843936/chapters/50326004

“Bless it, I dropped a stitch,” Hastur muttered. “This yarn is getting on my last nerve.”

Crowley didn’t look up from the sock he was knitting. “It’s black yarn, Hastur, and the lighting in here sucks. Try putting something white on your lap for contrast.”

Hastur gave him a Look. “And where am I supposed to find something white, eh?” Hell was hell on white clothes. And delicates. And most other things, of course; that was kind of the point.

“Er, right. Maybe just something lighter — your mac might work.”

The monthly stitch and bitch had come up almost by accident. On one of his rare trips Topside, Hastur had heard that knitting was relaxing and decided that he could use some of that; the idea of doing something with his hands when he was anxious besides biting his fingers was appealing, and the metal needles were pointy and shiny and made a nice bladelike sound when they rubbed together. There’d been a learning curve, but even that had been therapeutic when he incinerated the uncooperative scarf and stomped it into its component atoms.

Once he’d got the hang of it, he’d taught a few of the others, and things just evolved from there.

“We need better lighting,” Eric 1 said. Two of him were cooperating to wind a skein, one holding the great loop of unwound yarn, the other wrapping it into a ball. “Why don’t we go Topside next time, maybe in a coffeeshop? The light would be better, and we could get cappuccinos.”

“Can’t smoke in coffeeshops,” Hastur said.

Ligur snorted. “Humans and their laws. Disgraceful, if you ask me. Plus dairy doesn’t agree with me.”

“They can make it with almond milk these days,” Eric 2 said brightly.

“Huh. How do you milk an almond?”

“Oh, I know this,” Crowley said. “You grind it up and soak it in hot water, and then strain. The humans have been doing that since the Middle Ages.”

Ligur considered this. “Hardly seems worth it. Don’t see how you could get much milk out of just one almond.”

Crowley decided to let it drop. “So what are you working on, Ligur?”

The duke stabbed his cross stitch with his needle. “New one. It says ’There is no I in team, but there is a U in cunt.’”

Eric 2 snickered. “Nice one, Lord Ligur.”

For a bit, the silence was only broken by the clicks of knitting needles and the occasional swear. Eventually, Eric 1 said, “So, Crowley, how’s the mystery love affair going?”

“Snrg.” Crowley shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “It’s not.”

Ligur grinned. “Still haven’t made any progress, huh?”

“I told you: it’s complicated.”

Hastur said, “Don’t see why. Just tell them you fancy them. If they feel the same way, all done. If they don’t, set them on fire. You’ll feel much better, either way.”

“Um, yeah. Don’t really want to set them on fire, actually. I want to make them happy.”

“Happy?” Ligur sneered. “Good luck with that. What do you do, show up with presents, like, what, chocolates and things?”

“Er, sometimes.” Crowley stared miserably at his sock in progress. “Things they like. Doesn’t seem to help much, though. I mean, I think they like me as a friend, but — like I said, it’s complicated. I don’t think they could ever feel the same way about me.”

“‘M telling you: set them on fire. Works a trick, promise.”

“I am not setting them on fire, Hastur.”

Hastur shrugged and rolled his eyes. Eric 2 said, “So you just keep giving them presents?”

“Or I do favors for them. Things they’d appreciate.”

“Do they ever reciprocate?”

Crowley hesitated. “Yes, in their own way. But it’s not the same, I know. They’re just doing it because they’re a ni — er, a friendly person. They couldn’t ever love me back.”

“Sounds like you need a new approach,” Eric 1 advised. “You keep giving and giving, and making no progress. You can’t keep on that way indefinitely; you can’t give more than yourself.”

“Wanna bet?” Crowley managed a defiant grin that was almost convincing. “That sounds like loser talk to me, thinking inside the cage. There are no limits to how much I can give!”

“You’ve gone soft,” Hastur said, grinning.

“Yeah,” Ligur said, “soft in the head.”

Sighing, Crowley put his knitting down. “Look, I know it’s stupid and self-defeating and pointless, okay? I just can’t stop. I know it’ll never work and we’ll never really be together. I just want to make them happy, though, even if it hurts me. Okay?”

“Masochist.” Eric 2 grinned.

“That’s all right, then,” Ligur said. “Proper demonic behavior, that. Sadism’s better, of course, but a bit of masochism can come in handy around here.”

“Right.”

“Look, enough about my nonexistent love life already. Let’s have some real gossip. Anyone know what’s got Beelzebub and Dagon in such a tizzy lately?”

Eric 1 shrugged. “Something big’s going down, but they’re keeping mum about it.”

“Something really big,” Hastur agreed. “They haven’t let me or Ligur in on it, either.”

“I think they’re going to collapse the humans’ economy,” Ligur said. “Easy pickings when the humans are desperate and one meal away from starvation.”

“I think it’s a strike against the Opposition,” Eric 2 piped up. “Something really cool, cloak-and-dagger kind of thing.”

“Whatever it is, it needs a lot of towels and hot water,” Hastur said. They considered this for a moment.

“Funny kind of thing to need,” Ligur said finally. “Can’t see them making a major offensive strike with that.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Hastur said. “And from what I hear, you’ll be involved, Crowley.”

“Heh. Great, can’t wait. Probably should go and, uh, get ready, then, I guess.” Crowley packed up his knitting with rather more haste than was appropriate. “If it’s as big as all that, got to be at my best, er, worst, right? See you guys later. Hang loose.”

The other demons looked at each other in surprise as the door closed behind Crowley. “What was that all about?” Hastur asked.

Shrugs all around, and Eric 2 suggested, “Nerves? You just told him he’d have a very important job soon.”

“Probably excited,” Ligur said. “Can’t wait to strike.”

“He didn’t look very excited,” Eric 1 pointed out.

“Nah, it takes some people that way. Very highly strung, our Crowley is,” Ligur said. “Still, I wonder what the job is. I’d give somebody’s left arm to find out.”

[Author’s note: Ligur’s cross stitch pattern exists, and can be obtained from vendors such as katiekutthroat on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/59049901/pdfjpeg-theres-no-i-in-team-pattern?ref=unav_listing-same-1.]

[upsettlspaghettl]

Empire City Con 2019

I can say with confidence that this has been the best weekend of my life. People will be so quick to say that the Steven Universe fandom is one of the most toxic fandoms out there, but in all my years of going to conventions, this has been the most welcoming and friendly by far. Now, this could be because it’s a convention based on one singular fandom, as opposed to the mishmash of fandoms that gather at other conventions, but even Bronycon was nowhere near this level of welcoming. Then again, I only got the chance to go to 2 Bronycons so I don’t know if I can say much.

The flight to North Carolina was surprisingly not that bad. I’m very prone to getting lost, but I left 4 hours in advance and I didn’t even need those 4 hours. But this was my first time ever flying somewhere completely alone.

I got the chance to meet Deedee Magno Hall, who signed my Guide to the Crystal Gems. Now it’s my goal to get all the character pages signed. But it’s got all the fusions of season 1, so chances are I won’t ever get the chance to get Sugilite’s page signed. Oh well, a fan can dream, right? Just kind of a bummer because she happens to be my favorite fusion.

She also validated my OC ship with Yellow Pearl which was super cool of her. Deedee is a really sweet person. While waiting in line to meet her I made friends with a kid, and he was fanboying like crazy. Later on we met somebody else, and we all did karaoke together. Then they got to do a group Karaoke with Deedee, which I was unfortunately too nervous to join. She said she would try do one with me but we never got the chance, but either way I’m so grateful. She’s a really kind person and I hope I can meet her again!

My part in the karaoke was still really fun though. Me and my 2 friends were having a hard time figuring out what song to do, and since the instrumentals were live, the people playing only had a limited number of songs they could play. Eventually we agreed on Stronger than you. But the instrumental team couldn’t play that one, so one of my new friends asked everybody to sing along and be inclusive. I got to to do the Peridot rap onstage too! Only me and 1 other person in the audience did that though so it was really scary and I fumbled a lot... but I’m still so happy that I got to because it was just such a good time for everybody.

There was actually a garnet cosplayer who’s act was right before ours and they were still by the karaoke lineup, so one of my friends asked them to come join us. Toward the middle of our act, this same friend spotted a Jasper in the front row, dragged them up on stage, and we had an adorable fake fight scene. I had to hop off stage right before the song ended to hug somebody in the front row who was crying. I was relieved to hear that they were tears of joy. In the end, they invited my group to sit in the front row with them.

Right, and Garnet’s act! They actually sang the original SU opening in German which was super amazing. Toward the end, there was a Pearl cosplayer in her Mr. Greg tuxedo who sang It’s Over isn’t it with Deedee, and a Yellow Pearl cosplayer who did an amazing Yellow Pearl-y take on Do it for her. So yeah the variety of acts was fantastic and the whole thing was just so feel-good all around.

At the very end of the karaoke, after everyone had gotten a chance and we were all just hanging out in the karaoke room, I was given a Spinel promo pin by a Mystery Girl. Not literally a Mystery Girl cosplayer, but somebody who I thought was just... well, somebody. They mentioned having extras from the movie screening in CA, and were handing them out to Spinel cosplayers. Of course I was hopping up and down being super thankful to an awkward degree, like I normally do.

That night, I told my roommates what happened, and they told me just who that Mystery Girl was. None other than Mackenzie Atwood, creator of the Pearl’s Secret Rap Career series. My facial recognition is terrible, so I didn’t realize at the time. I was lucky enough to run into her again the next morning during breakfast in the hotel lobby, so I got to thank her personally in the end.

Speaking of Mystery Girls, there actually was a Mystery Girl cosplayer who was especially awesome. Not even ten minutes after arriving at the convention, I see 2 Spinels who welcome me into their Spinel group. A Mystery Girl cosplayer is with them, and they hand me a pair of shoe squeakers. They look like tiny clear whoopie cushions, and Mystery Girl was handing them out to all the Spinels. I don’t know about everybody else, but mine drew a lot of attention from other con-goers because I was super happy and energetic at this con so I ran everywhere I went. People were always laughing and it made me so happy that I was able to make people smile. I’ll definitely be using them again in my future Spinel cosplays.

One of the people I shared a hotel room with was a Spinel cosplayer on the first day, and they were carrying an amazing Spinel plushie that I remember seeing a photo of on Deviantart, and later showed up for sale on Etsy. It was super expensive and I remember wanting it, but I couldn’t be jealous because I know I was super lucky to even see the thing in real life!

On the second day, I met a sweet little girl who seemed to think I was the real Spinel. She drew me a picture of Baby Spinel, and I gave her my drawing of Baby Spinel which I’d made earlier that day in the quiet room. Later on, one of the convention organizers was holding a game session, and this kid crushed me in a round of Gem Gem Clod... which is Duck Duck Goose, but better. Note to self: playing games that involve running when wearing pink high heeled boots probably isn’t gonna go well!

After some games, we made some meep morps. Somebody started a trend of drawing Lion on the little canvases we were given, but my Lion wasn’t coming out quite right, so after I finished drawing his head I just. put it on one single leg. You’ve heard of Leg Pearl, now get ready for Leg Lion. I was super happy about that too because I made everybody laugh.

Once we ran out of canvases, the organizer offered to take polaroids of some of us, so now me and this adorable little kid had matching photos, which we put in tiny pink frames and put a Spinel gem on each.

oh also! the game organizer had a tattoo on their leg of a bunch of anime characters, mainly the cute “squad mascot” archetype. There was Hawk, Happy, a few other characters, and Keroro! I totally freaked out over Keroro because it’s a relatively obscure series, and it was the first show that really got me into anime! I’ve always loved things like Pokemon and Naruto, but Keroro Gunso was my gateway to the anime community as a whole.

At around noon, I spent a little more time in the room where the games were held, which had some board games of its own, books, and art supplies and overall functioned as just a room to hang out in. There I met a Pink Diamond cosplayer in a pink schoolgirl uniform and an Uravity hat (really cute outfit!), and a goth Spinel cosplayer. The Pink Diamond cosplayer was a great artist and drew a really cute magical girl Steven. These 2 people also taught me what a vsco girl was when they were joking about the fact that Pink Diamond would totally be one. I was super confused but it was really funny after they explained it.

There was a cosplay fashion show much later in the day and I made friends with a Ruby and Sapphire while sitting in line. They were a couple irl and went on stage together and they were adorable! They were also both Hazbin Hotel and Harry Potter fans, so we had a lot to talk about. We kept talking while we waited in line for the Sadie Killer and the Suspects concert too, and a few other people joined us. I’d only just met these people but I really felt surrounded by friends.

Earlier in the day, while I was waiting in line to meet Kinetic Cosplay, I ran into an amazing Sour Cream and Buck Dewey. I got their photo, only to later see them on stage as a part of the real life Sadie Killer and the Suspects. Jenny Pizza was also on stage, but I didn’t see her before that.

While the convention was great, something also happened that scared the hell out of me. At NYCC just last month, I bought some very tiny stickers, one of which was Froppy from BHNA. When I got home and unpacked, it was gone. I thought maybe it fell into the fabric of my backpack, and if it did, there was really no way to retrieve it unless it decided to fall out again. However at the convention... I was at the registration table, decorating my con badge. I pick up my phone, and suddenly the Froppy sticker falls out of nowhere. It looked like it came from the phone, but I can’t imagine where it would have fit and gotten stuck. It kinda just fell out of the void. Either way I’m glad to have it back.

Lets see... I also got some pictures of the real life Mr. Universe van... and later on I ran into the owner of the van in full Mr. Universe gear.

The Garnet cosplayer was Cotton Candy garnet on the second day and I still can’t get over how sweet and nice they were.

There were some family cosplays. On the first day I saw a Yellowtail carrying a baby doll dressed as Onion, and then on the second day the same person was with a Vidalia cosplayer, and an actual child dressed as Onion.

There were also a pair of parents dressed as Connie’s mom and dad, and their kid dressed as Connie.

On the first day there was a Mr. Smiley which was super cool and unexpected, and then on the second day they were Bismuth. There were actually 3 Bismuths in total at the con which was surprising because that wig looks super difficult to make. Anyone who can pull that off is amazing!

The last day only went on until about noon, but my flight didn’t leave until the next day. I didn’t book my hotel room for that night because I wanted extra time in case I got lost on the way to the airport. Turned out there were free shuttles. I ended up in the same shuttle as that Pink Diamond cosplayer and her dad, and she showed me this adorable RPG game app called Wholesome Cats. We took some snapchats together and now I know what I’d look like as a boy...

Since there was a shuttle to the airport, that meant I was super early for my flight. Super early as in, almost 12 hours early. After going through security, I was planning to just sleep at the gate, but my gate number wasn’t on the screen. So I asked an airport employee, and he told me that I wasn’t even supposed to be let through security until the next day, which was when my gate number was supposed to show up... whoops. It wasn’t so bad though, either way I’d just be hanging out at the airport for the night. I decided not to sleep though, just in case. It felt weird late at night, when the airport was more or less completely empty. It was so nice and quiet, and the Starbucks was still open so I had a super yummy dinner of pumpkin bread and cheese danishes.

I think that’s about it? If you wanna see pictures, I’ll be posting them all to a public album on Gnomie Leviton on Facebook, and I’ll also select a special few to post on QueenGnomie on Instagram.

If you add me on FB please tell me your url! I only add people who I've talked to before.

In conclusion!

This was by far my favorite convention I’ve ever been to, because you could literally just go up to someone, start talking, and you’d immediately have an awesome new friend. I’ve never been to a con before where every single person was so approachable. It really felt like everybody there was one big family. I already have a potential roommate for next year, so I really hope to get back on my feet soon so I can go!

[annaconkling]

Event interviews

Notes:

Dumbo flea market

3pm oct 7 2018

Muggy day

Flea market is very busy

Went up to a few people who said they were too busy

Walked further in to the flea market

Lisa Ferrari-Sullivan owns a vintage clothing store called “Pimbeche Vintage”

Me: What's your name?

Lisa: My name is Lisa Ferrari-Sulivan

Me: And what is the business called?

Lisa: It’s called “Pimbeche Vintage”

Me: I can take breaks or pause the recording if you need to talk to people

Me: When did it start?

Lisa: Well, I started probably like seven years ago

Me: So did you just start coming to the flea market here?

Lisa: I’ve been collecting vintage for probably over ten years

Me: Oh wow

Lisa: Maybe fifteen years. Then I just decided kind of to sell it.

Me: Where do you find your clothes?

Lisa: Everywhere! I go to thrift shops I go to estate sales, I go to auctions

Me: So do you just travel and do it or have you been to the Washington Square Park market? Or anything like that?

Lisa: No, I travel. I travel around to different areas

Me: In New York City?

Lisa: And just all over.

Me: Do you live here?

Lisa: I live in Queens

Me: You’re trying to open a shop right?

Lisa: Maybe eventually, yes.

Me: Do you have a specific thing you look for whenever you’re trying to find clothes?

Lisa: Quality.

Me: What type of thrift shops do  you go to? Do you find them at Goodwill….

Lisa: All different ones. It doesn’t matter, I  usually find one or two things wherever I go.

Me: Does it sell well here?

Lisa: Yes, usually I do pretty well there's slow days and good days but today hasnt been a very good day.

Me: What made you start wanting to do this though?

Lisa: I started to accumulate a lot of stuff because I was collecting vintage and it kind of took over. I was working full time, then I got married and had kids and thought “okay I need something I can do part time” and it just kind of worked out.

Me: You want to open up a store, have you thought about where?

Lisa: Maybe somewhere in Queens, I feel like there's not a lot of it there

Me: Bushwick would be good too, there's a lot of young people in Bushwick

Me: What drew you towards clothing?

Lisa: Well I worked in the fashion industry, I have a business degree I didn't study fashion per say but I worked in the commercial offices for a lot of french companies so then i was doing that full time then when I got married and had kids I thought I needed to do something but I was a stay at home mom

Me: So you wanted a side job

Lisa: Right and then this took off

Me: So now it's working pretty well

Me: And expanding?

Lisa: I hope too

Me: Have you looked at depop do you know that shop

Lisa: No i don't

Me: It's like etsy, you sell to a younger crowd

Lisa: Oh that could actually work because i sell to younger customers

Me: Do you have a certain type of vintage that you lean towards? Like grunge, 80s?

Lisa: I personally love older things from the 30s or 40s but those things are very delicate, I dont bring them here and they don't sell as well as the grunge and the 90s

Me: So that's what sells very well

Lisa: Definitely and a bunch of 90s dresses more of a grunge look. So I guess because thats what in the mainstream right now

Me: Do you add yourself to it? Does it have aspects of you?

Lisa: I do because I like glamours things so i throw that in there to mix it up and let people decide for themselves

Me: So is fashion your passion?

Lisa: Ya i'm really good at buying but i'm not very good at selling I love buying it and I know what to get.

Me: How long has this been around though

Lisa: Here, I’ve been doing the brooklyn flea almost 6 years now I think So it's doing very well I like it.

Me: Have you ever had to deal with anybody trying to steal anything?

Lisa: Yeah i had a bunch of bags stolen a couple weeks ago

Me: How do you stop that?

Lisa: I try to look but i'm not very observant

Me: Where do you find the handbags?

Lisa: The same places

Me: Were you fashionable when you were younger

Lisa: When i was working in the fashion industry I had to step up my game because you have to look put together I was fashionable when i was younger too but a lot of the stuff i’m selling now I wouldn’t have worn in the 90s which is funny but its cool some of the dresses that i actually see on girls look super cool but they didn't look cool back then.

Interview 2

Danielle and Jamie of Positive Times

A:What's your company called?

D: It’s called positive times we started about four years ago

A: How did you get started

D: We started off as a jewelry company we played around in our parents basements then it escalated to the point where we now have a studio in greenpoint

It started off as jewelry and now we offer home goods so we have either beauty products which we have our new line of nail polishes which contain crystal dust in them if you want to talk about that a little bit because that's your-

J: oh so the moonstone nail polish has real moonstone in it nail polish and it's also free from the ten most harmful chemicals that are normally found in nail polish

A: How did you pick the crystals to go in it

D: so each crystals have its own properties that go in it

Example amethyst has insight if you want to bring more insight into your life rose quartz is love and hope we talk about the properties, we offer cards that tell you about the properties and we say that if you find a stone you’re drawn towards than that's the one you should choose

A: How did you guys get started with that part of the jewelry

D:It started with the jewelry our jewelry has  crystals in it in our personal lives we keep crystals around throw it in some water to charge them We both when we were younger collected a lot of stones i would go on family trips to national parks and to the south west so i always liked crystals and it played a part in my life later because and influenced my career path because i went to school for education and earth science and took a lot of geology classes that had a lot to do with minerals and the way they form in the earth and then that kind of escalated

A: How do you guys know each other

D: We are actually friends from middle school, we’ve been friends for over fifteen years now

A: So you chose the business then you chose her as a partner

D: The jewelry started because we both have allergies to certain things i can only wear sterling silver or 14 carat gold so we made sure all our jewelry had that then we also have very odd sized fingers i have very small fingers and she has bigger ring sizes so we just decided to make our own jewelry and then it kind of escalated from there we were making simple things and now we’re actually using torches and shaping things and using different tools to make it more sturdy

A: How long does it take to make things like the necklace

J : we have an assembly line so it's not a certain time

D: But it is a process because we have to shape the brass, punch a hole in the brass sand the brass and then we make the thing to hold the crystals in and then we obviously have to add the chain

How did you guys learn to do this?

J: youtube university

A: Has it been pretty successful?

D: Yeah it's also been quite a ride it's definitely taking off

A:How did it start?

D: Just kind of friends and family were purchasing and then it escalated, we have a website and do flea markets and pop up shops and we are in storefronts too we don't have a store but that would be the goal it'd be really nice but right now we just have a studio and sell to shops out of brooklyn and out of new jersey

How long have you been doing it?

J: We started making the jewelry around six years ago the business about five years ago

A: Did you start the business by going to flea markets?

D: Yeah

A: Do you have to have a license to do that?

D: Yes 100% you have to register with the sales tax you have to pay taxes you get insurance too to sell as well

A: You guys are really young how did you decide you wanted to do this instead of other things?

D: I dont know, we still have our day jobs but we do this on the weekends

A: What's your day jobs?

D: I work with kids she's a graphic designer that also molded how we do our packaging

J:  If were being honest this started because i designed a logo which we had nothing to do with

D: It was a plus and an X and we got positive times from there

A: Do you guys have a big group of buyers?

D: Yeah we do most of our advertisement is on social media its the best way to get publicity I couldn't imagine not knowing how to use social media especially in a business.  

A: Are there a lot of online orders

D: Yeah we get a lot of online orders it's nice to see when its not people we know. We’re coming out with a new fall line our nail polishes will be darker and deeper tones which are more appropriate for fall and winter

A: Do you have a place in the county where you have a lot of sales?

D: Mostly california and nyc people like to shop locally we have a lot o orders in California

A: How old are yall

D: We’re turning 30 in a month