#so the texture is very unfamiliar to me lol but it’s fun to figure it out and i hope she turns out well

[brittlebutch]

truly i have not done any kind of sculpting in years but the new season sent me into a State and now here we are

[timeisacephalopod]

Mini Sex Toy Material Lesson

@boompowkablam​ I wanted to answer your question in full context rather than just handing out an answer with no rhyme or reason behind it so! Prepare for a lesson in sex toy materials! Warning: there will be dildo pics under the cuts for visual demonstration.

This is gunna go from worst to best and I’ll have a TL:DR at the end. 

So, worst: jellies like one of these fucks.

On a texture level they’re tacky and sticky so they just feel gross, but on a material level they’re porous. What that means is that they’re like sponges, they’ll absorb all your bacteria and leak all their gross stuff into you because the material has wide pores. They straight up aren’t body safe. You could, in theory, try to make them more body safe by throwing condoms over them, but that only kind of helps from my understanding, it doesn’t make them safe. Also condoms are expensive, so. It also ‘sweats’ in packaging- kind of like the material is wet and its sticking to the packaging. And dust sticks to this shit like no tomorrow.

Don’t stick this in any office, but especially don’t put it in your booty. Booty bacteria is extra strength so its just going to stick into the material more, and because its so porous its impossible to truly clean. I’ve hear horror stories that range from chemical burns to the junk to the toy going moldy on people. Don’t use these.

TPE: this is that plastic-y feeling or rubbery feeling stuff like this little bastard

This shit isn’t gunna feel good anyway, its rigid, often has little ridges that show that it was stuck in a mold and not filed down after and the little ridges can be sharp- those fuckers can cut and you don’t want to cut yourself on your sex toys. Also its not body safe to my knowledge though its not like jellies as far as being that porous, that said I feel like it should be somewhat obvious that you wouldn’t want plastic in sensitive areas on principle.

Silicone: like this lil fucker

Silicone is good! Make sure it doesn’t feel like its mixed with something else- generally its smooth to the touch, not sticky, not rubbery feeling. A good quality silicone won’t have a tacky texture and you are generally able to move your hand across it without sticking. Not all silicone is good quality silicone, but the stuff that feels more like the kind you’d find in your kitchen (if softer to the touch) is better quality silicone than something that has a slightly tacky texture. Some silicone has a very grippy texture but not because its sticky, but rough. That’s okay too, its just the type of silicone that is and you’d feel the difference between low quality silicone and grippy silicone.

Actually, while I’m at it this is why visiting a sex shop is kind of important. Some people don’t like certain textures, some people have allergies and are looking for especially good quality silicone may want to feel the material or ask the people working there what’s best for someone with allergies/ sensitivities, and if you’re like me you just don’t like certain textures so you’ll want to gently feel up the dildo anyway. 

Don’t feel weird doing this, you have no idea how much of my day is spent handling dongs. Its not weird and you should feel how a toy works anyway, I’ve unsold so many toys because people didn’t like the texture or the way the toy worked- you don’t want something you hate! Go feel up some toys to figure out what features you want and what ones you don’t.

Glass and metal are also really good choices but they come with the downside of being totally rigid. Some people like that, but the last thing anyone wants is something jammed in at the wrong angle and it doesn’t bend to your body given that that can hurt. But both materials are fine for the body and if your muscles are strong enough to shatter the glass seek medical help because that shit is not natural. Also a lot of glass toys are shatterproof so they’ll be extra fine. Don’t throw them off buildings to test durability, but they’ll be fine for what you’re using them for. Also, great for temperature play! Glass and metal toys have the added benefit of being useful for other types of play in your sex life if you like toying with your senses during sex or by yourself :)

Now, on to the answer to the actual question at hand: the best dildo goes to this guy:

Like, its not definitively ‘the best’ on account of that can depend on the person. This one is quite girthy, which can be off-putting to some people. Its also that really grippy silicone, which can also be off-putting to people texture wise. Also use lube for the love of god use lube on fun factory toys. You don’t want to ram their exceptionally high quality grippy silicone anywhere without lube and yes, that includes the self lubricating vagina. You should use lube as a general rule, it helps things go easier and also silicone can cause some friction internally and you don’t want too much friction. Just a little friction.

The reason I’ve listed it as ‘best’ though is because its a very high quality silicone- all of Fun Factory’s toys are body safe (no material guess work like a lot of other companies) and they’re a high enough grade of silicone that if you’ve got allergies or sensitivities you’re more than likely fine (leaving some room for exceptions for people with extreme sensitivities even among extremes). Generally if someone’s very concerned about material this is what I send them towards. It does come with a cost, which doesn’t necessarily translate to quality with sex toys- you can get a 35$ silicone dildo that doesn’t vibrate that’s still a better quality than the 65$ vibrating jelly rabbit- but in this particular case the money is worth it.

Other than that any solid silicone, glass, or metal dildo is a good choice. From material its more a decision on size, if you want it to look realistic or not (I find lesbians don’t like more realistic dildos more often than not, and also some people just find the more realistic looking ones more aggressive and want something less in their face), and actual function. If you’re camming you might want something with a suction cup so you can use it hands free, or if you’re using it with a partner you might have joint desires about what its for, you get the point.

Vibrating dildos are more work because then you get into tech specs and other considerations on function and what you’re looking for (ie. thrusting features vs strong vibes vs rabbit style (a clitoral attachment to stimulate the clitoris from the outside for anyone who is unfamiliar with the term), ect). But this is an ok run down of non vibrating boys. There are more materials to consider, and all their care options too, but these are the materials I see around the most regardless of where the toys are being sold.

Also one may ask why anyone can sell jellies anyway if they aren’t body safe and that is because FDA type structures don’t monitor sex toy industries. So any asshole who argues its good for companies to monitor themselves like they don’t have all the incentive in the world to sell people garbage that can result in dramatic medical consequences like jelly dildos can go sit on a jelly and rotate. This is why we need regulations and thank you for reading in on a mini sex toy material lesson with a dash of fuck companies propaganda lol.

[purkinje-effect]

The Anatomy of Melancholy, 59

Table of Contents. Second Instar, Chapter 26. Go to previous. Go to next. TW: Body horror, nightmare sequence, unreality, incongruous chronology. Self-absorbed.

Lol, we haven’t had a flashback episode yet in Second Instar, have we? Have fun, ‘cause ‘Choly’s not. In the future this becomes another installment in ‘Choly’s Rexford Press Originals. (:

_________________________________

As he muddled through prescription fulfillment, Carey looked over his shoulder yet again. He saw the customer he anticipated finally entered the drugstore, and hastily finished up his current order. The thirty-some man he’d called earlier that morning had dusty blond side-parted hair, and stood as short as Carey, but seemed more sawed off than grown that way. Owing to the nature of the medication, as the head chemist, only he could take the customer. He pulled the pencil box size prescription carton from the cage, and confirmed it did in fact indicate it was for ‘Sal Mendez.’ He watched Angel busying itself in the front end straightening aisles, and waited until Sal was next in line before hopping onto the other register to wave him over. Mentally unable to set down the box on the counter, he kept it in both hands.

“Apologies, again, Mister Mendez, how it took weeks to get this filled. Calmex is one of the most rationed chems in the country at the moment.”

“I know. I know. But it. I talked to my doc.” Sal frowned to himself, and repeatedly smoothed at his short sleeve silk button down shirt as he eyed the various hard candies at the front counter at length. He eventually looked up at his chemist with a crumpled resignation. “The Milque wasn’t cutting it. You... you sure you don’t need it more? You look peaked, Doc.”

Carey glanced down, at the lab coat tossed over his favorite ochre jumpsuit, the cobalt scarf tucked like a cravat into his collar, and his navy oxfords. He lingered on the unfamiliar braces on both wrists and both ankles, but readily dismissed their explanation as unimportant. What mattered was that he didn’t look the part of his vocation, and a head chemist had to command reassurance and reliability. It was one thing to be haggard, but another altogether if he looked it. Well, that just wouldn’t do! He thought to what Hawthorne could usually put his hands on pretty quick, and weighed his choices against what he thought Sal might find most useful. With a big, wide grin, he straightened and patted at the Milquetoast display on the counter.

“Milquetoast is completely and totally safe. Fantastic for insomnia, shakes and nerves, headaches, nausea, you name it. But... I wouldn’t recommend using it alongside this prescription. Or with alcohol, were you to have access to any.” He leaned in and turned off his customer service voice, to discuss the consultation more privately. “I’ll see what I can do about getting you some Day Tripper, if you can water me down. I’ll even take moonshine at this point, Sal. Between you and me, I thought I was done having this war effort kill me inside-out.”

Sal’s jaw dropped a moment before he, too, leaned in with a nervous smile.

“For you, Mister Carey, I will find you something very nice. Really, though. Should I be worried? To take this? My doctor said it’s tranquilizer. She explained it all to me, but that was weeks ago...”

“Alan!”

Gretchen Nordstern didn’t seem all that gangling from where she sat on the far counter in a Peter Pan collar tea dress with the confidence to match a pair of trousers, chewing a lit cigarillo and taking notes against her lap with the phone receiver wedged between her shoulder and cheek. Her low, dark bun wore a colorful crocheted snood.

“You’ve spent half an hour with that client.” She didn’t have to look up to impose, waving him off with her free hand. “Let Mary and Trudy handle front end already.”

Carey hemmed a spell, unsure how that could be true. But he didn’t want to question his boss. He stared off in her direction as he addressed Sal.

“I, I’m sorry, Mister Mendez. I’ve got others to see to. If you’ve any questions...”

When he turned to his customer, he trailed off. Sal had vanished.

Gretchen shoved into his hands a letterhead with a handful of scripts. He stuttered, glancing it over. Med-X. Clarimentin. Immunoluxe. His eyes glazed over the usual orders until he encountered the words Psycho (Cyclomorphine Chloride). His heart hiccuped, and his eyes briefly lost focus.

“Wh-- Gretchen, please. Please. Please tell me this is some kind of-- How did this-- How did-- It’s on the--” He cleared his throat and whet his lips, but it didn’t help. He shakily pointed to the line on her invoice. “How is this on the market, ma’am.”

“Don’t be such a worrywort. It’s government approved. It underwent rigorous testing before it hit the market. What could possibly be wrong with the stuff!”

He couldn’t argue without breaching military confidentiality. Walden Drugs had to make ends meet somehow, right? And if whoever was getting the Psycho had a prescription for it, at the very least they’d be taking it under a physician’s supervision. He knew the dwindling prescription numbers didn’t mean people weren’t getting sick or injured less often: it meant more people were dying. Between the malcontent of the Canadian annexation, the endless crisis against the Chinese causing the deepest economic depression the country had ever suffered, and the mounting volume of riots taking place on home soil, the United States teetered on a second Civil War. And yet, these factors didn’t explicate in his mind why people had begun to drop like flies as of late.

Usually hear from Jacob by now.

He frowned as he dialed the Lexington branch to call in the Psycho prescription order, and got to completing the invoice Gretchen had given him. He and Jacob had planned that morning to have lunch together at the malt shop. He decided to go check on him and Sal. He hung up his lab coat in the mudroom, and waved to his coworkers to let the two ladies know he’d be stepping out.

“Angel, I’m going on break.”

“Right along, then, Sir!”

The Mister Handy followed at his side.

He popped his head into the small bed and breakfast across the way, wedged between the Wright’s Inn at the corner opposite the drugstore, and the bookstore further down. When he didn’t see Sal, he approached the check-in and asked after him of the young attendant in a chignon and sheath dress. She indicated no one had seen him since the morning. He declined her offer to take a message for him, shook his head, thanked her, and left.

It sat uneasy with him, but he chalked it up to still feeling awful about the local call for cyclomorphine. Nothing that he wanted as far away from him as possible ever stayed very far away for long.

Once a Pick-R-Up passed, he jaywalked with Angel to the hardware store at the corner. Only a few customers loitered, some genuinely lost without advice from an employee, others genuinely considering unattended theft. He got to the foot of the employees-only stairwell, but stopped short of scaling it. His gut quivered.

“Angel, be a dear. Pop up and see if you can find Jacob.”

“Certainly!” It came back quickly. “Not a soul on the roof, Sir.”

He frowned and gestured that they leave. His leg felt tight and stiff, but he shrugged it off.

Hm. Was I limping earlier? No, I’ve had this limp a long time already.

On his way back down the street, Carey glanced in the windows of the malt shop. Jacob wasn’t there either, nor Sal. Jacob’s car was still parked outside the hardware store. The repairman was disinclined to go anywhere on foot all that much if he could avoid it, so Carey doubted his roommate had gone home for lunch without saying anything about it. He gave up on the idea of malt shop food, as he preferred to share it. Instead, he sat down across the street from the drugstore, on the Wright’s Inn’s spacious porch, with a Nuka Cherry from their vending machine and an order of three arancini from Piretti’s Bakery. Sometimes the texture of the rice balls reminded him of ezhiki, and he got a bit homesick.

I should just stick to Melancholia. There’s only one flavor of toska to it.

He noticed the construction sounds in front of the municipal plutonium well had ceased. He glanced up with his mouth full to see there were no workers in the street. He supposed it was their lunchtime, too. When he finished eating, he required Angel’s help to stand again.

Am I starting to feel my age, or am I just that full?

He returned to work. Once he had on his coat again and come back out to the front end, he saw some kids poorly picking the lock on the adult care case. He side-eyed Angel, who handed him the keys. Spinning the wrist coil on a finger, he strolled up with confidence that belied his limp.

“Hey there, gentlemen! Looking to buy some No-Gesta today, I see. A fine choice in preventative care!”

The boys sputtered in embarrassment at being caught trying to shoplift. Angel simply hovered behind them to cut off their back escape route out of the drugstore, while Carey withdrew an entire case of product. They followed the veteran in service uniform speechlessly to the counter. The older one scrambled through his pockets along the way, desperate to figure out if he even had enough to buy what they’d intended to steal.

“I’ll tell you what!” the chemist announced--in his stress of recognizing he’d put on the wrong white coat, a little too loudly--though they seemed largely alone all the same. “They’re usually fifteen dollars each, but if you buy six, I’ll give ‘em to you for seventy-five.”

“Gee, that’s awful generous of you,” the older one started, urging the younger one to play along, so as to curb the possibility Carey might call the police on them. “Bruce, you wanna go in on this with me fifty-fifty?”

“Only if that’s the only thing-- never mind. Lemme count how much I got.” He produced a fistful of wadded papers Carey could tell weren’t money. “I’ve got twenty-eight bucks. What about you, Jeb?”

“Thirteen. Awful.”

Carey smiled with a twisted, cool benevolence as he set two out of the case and nudged what was left toward the boys.

“How about just four, then. Hm?” He wagged an eyebrow and held out his upturned palm expectantly. They uncertainly exchanged all their cash for the prophylactic kits with entendred packaging which resembled an exclamation point but reminded of something else entirely. He tucked them into a paper bag and folded it off lackadaisically, then handed it to them. “Off you are, then!”

Mary walked up soon after he shooed off the boys. The older squared, thick woman, in a pencil dress and cardigan, held a hand to her mouth to hush herself, aghast.

“You sold No-Gesta to some high schoolers?”

“You’d rather they have stolen it?” He shrugged at her. “Age means nothing whether someone needs that sort of care. They’ll copulate, whether or not they can get things like No-Gesta--and wouldn’t you rather they did so safely?” He tucked the vaguely paper-like wad into the register, and his glasses dipped off his nose, caught from falling by his eyeglass chain. “Besides, a sale’s a sale, and customers get scarce.”

Why haven’t I been more worried where everybody’s gotten off to?

He looked out to find Jacob’s car had been left, abandoned and askew, run up onto the sidewalk. Like it was, morning of the bombs. The cognitive disconnect insisted he had no idea what he could have meant. He slipped his glasses back in place.

“Hey, Angel...” He cleared his throat. “Have you-- Have you seen Jacob?”

“What a silly question, Sir! Just look down!”

He did, and succumbed to fever, short breath, and sweats. His legs writhed, granular, tumescent, and grotesque, more like a filariasis than the countless bodies he knew comprised them. The tightness and swelling paralyzed him from the waist down, and kept him upright in substitute of bones or any meaningful ligature. He identified Duchesne among the clumped, corpuscular rivulets, and choked up.

He looked up. Gretchen, Mary, and Trudy were nowhere to be seen.

He didn’t have to look down again to understand he’d soaked them up as well. He dry heaved, to no effect. Desperate to reach help from someone, anyone, he tried to walk to the phone at the other end of the counter, only to fall after a single step. And he continued falling, into himself, having become an infinite labyrinth of flesh, a Klein bottle of grief.

Concord’s empty because I subsumed everyone. He cried, slipping through narrow, trembling corridors of sopping tissue. I’m the sole survivor of Vault 111 because I stole survival opportunity from them all. I stole this from my customers and coworkers. From my neighbors. From Jacob. Everyone gave their lives, so I could keep living.

And for what!

Go to Next »»»

[shunbunnohi]

Oct. 19: Kawagoe Matsuri

Today was a really fun day! We went to Kawagoe Matsuri! My friends and I rented kimonos to wear, and we got our hair done to match! I recently bleached my hair because I’m going to redye it green for Halloween, so it’s bright yellow right now. My kimono was a nice orange-gold color with a floral design, and hints of purple, red, and green. My obi was purple with a purple-red rope (I don’t quite recall the name of it) and my hair was in a bun with two braids on the sides! The decorations were several pearl bobby pins and red, purple, and yellow flowers. I had a red and yellow basket bag that surprisingly held a lot of my stuff, although it was a bit inconvenient. My shoes were gold with a pink gradient on the straps. 

The shoes were really hard to walk in, and honestly I think platforms might be easier. They were uncomfortable and my feet quickly started to hurt, but I got through the day! The kimono wasn’t as tight/uncomfortable as people said that it would be, although I can understand why some people wouldn’t like it. As with yukata, I like that you can hold things in the sleeves. The hardest part was probably the shoes. My head also started to hurt cause my hair was still wet from my shower and it made it even heavier. Although I guess having bangs now might have eased the pain a little bit. 

We stayed in the kimono from 12 to around 3PM! We went around the festival in them and it was really fun, although I felt very overwhelmed at times. My friends also looked really pretty, and I enjoyed taking pictures! Speaking of which, a lot of people came and took pictures of us. Some didn’t even ask. I don’t know what they’ll do with those pictures of us but... oh well I guess? Foreigners’ consent doesn’t matter I guess lol

When we were walking around, I started off by buying some shave ice! It was really good, although it was a bit unfamiliar to me. They didn’t press it down like they do in Hawaii, so the ice very easily fell off the sides. It was also a pour your own syrup kind of deal, and some of the faucets were very hard to work. I was also still getting used to the kimono and the way it moved/the way I could move in it, and I was trying to be careful not to mess it up. It was really good and tasted a lot like home!

Next we saw a little fishing game. Like, literal goldfish. There was a big tank with actual fish swimming around inside. The lady gave you a little metal bowl and a small net (it was made out of what looked like rice paper or something, so it was very thin and broke very easily once it was wet) but you could keep any fish you managed to catch. Some people were very good and had multiple fish in their bowl, and some people couldn’t get the hang of it and it broke on their first try. Nonetheless, it looked like they were given a fish anyway. I didn’t try it because of the whole ordeal of owning a pet... 

Next, my friend bought what looked like a cheesestick corndog. I didn’t try it, but she seemed to like it. We met up at Starbucks and took some pictures in their little garden (even though apparently we weren’t supposed to. Oops?). We met up with the rest of the group and began to walk around again. 

We saw a stand selling “baby castella” which were tiny little castella that were shaped like tiny eggs! Like, they were about the size of quail eggs! Very cute! I wanted to buy some, but I decided not to because I wanted to save my money. My friend also saw a kabuto mushi balloon that was being sold, but they made the eyes big anime eyes instead of the cute round eyes that real kabuto mushi have. It was also $15, so I didn’t buy it. Although... I might go back to tomorrow and cave... but I don’t know. The face and the eyes are the cutest part of the kabuto mushi and the balloon didn’t look right! They don't have an iris or a pupil; they just have orbs! And that’s what’s cutest!

Finally, we met up again at the station to join the rest of the group and hung out there for a bit. We walked around and I finally caved and bought a chocolate banana. It was super cute! However, I somehow forgot there was a banana in there and I was basically eating a weird mushy banana that was sitting out for a while, just covered in chocolate. I couldn’t even taste the chocolate. If anything, it just added to the texture, but nothing to the taste. I guess it was worth the experience. I also bought some yakisoba! It was really good, and I wanted to try more from another stand, but I didn’t get the chance to. I also wanted to try the chocolate covered waffle, but I also didn’t get to buy that either. 

I came across a water yoyo stand, which are kinda like water balloons, but they’re not meant to break. I was able to get two of them, one red and one purple, my two favorite colors! Honestly, the water yoyos are some of my favorite things about matsuri events. I think they’re very cute. We also saw multiple animals! There was a cute dog that was sitting politely on a stool for people to take pictures, and we saw a little black rabbit on a leash! They were both very cute. 

Finally, it was time to change out of the kimono. We were all pretty tired of it, and since my feet hurt to badly I was really not opposed. I was excited to be back in comfortable clothes again. My feet were hurting and my head was starting to pound. However! It was still a wonderful experience! 

We then moved to the huge garage where the dashi was being held. The dashi is like a big float with a shrine (?) on top of it, and it has dancers and instrumentalists inside. There were two shime, one tiny taiko drum, a flute which I think is called a nohkan, a gold percussion instrument which I hate that I’ve forgotten the name for, and a dancer. Things were a little unclear for a while, but eventually we went inside a tent and were served candy, tea, and our bentos! We were given sashes and pins to wear to show we were helpers. 

We waited for another three hours or so before we were actually able to pull the floats. I fell asleep for a bit and played a lot of Animal Crossing. When we finally got to the floats, however, it was so magical. The lanterns and the light looked so pretty as it got dark. It was around 7:30, so the sun had already set. The chanting, the rhythm of the drums, and the atmosphere was all energizing and somehow calming at the same time. 

We pulled the float for about three hours. Every time that our float came across another float, we would stop, and the dancers would dance at each other for a bit. None of us really knew what they were doing, but we seemed to come to a conclusion that they were fighting. Like a rap battle of sorts. All the floats had different color schemes, costumes, and most of all, sort of deity figures that popped out of the top. The upper level of the float as well as the figure could sink in and rise out of the base. Ours was a fluffy haired kami (?) with red around the eyes. Our float had green, red, and white woven in the ropes that we were pulling, and we were all holding lanterns. 

It was so beautiful to be part of the float experience. I loved watching all the other floats as they passed by and listening to the music. We were chanting for almost the entire three hours that we were pulling the float, and we’ll see tomorrow if my voice holds up. It should, because it’d be embarrassing if I didn’t know how to chant after being a caller in paddling and a taiko drummer for several years. 

There were also a ton of kids helping out. It was cute to hear them chanting along with everyone else. There was also a very cute drummer on another float, but I only got to see them a couple times. :( As the night dragged on, things got more and more active. We turned the float around a couple of times, which involved everyone running around to the other side and the helpers pushing it so that it would turn. Also, at intersections, instead of just two floats facing off, three or four would just park there and dance for several minutes before we could get moving again. 

We ended the night thirty minutes later than we originally planned to. We were all very tired. I started to get a headache again, but luckily it didn’t stick around. I’m thinking of going back tomorrow with my friend, but we haven’t made any official decisions yet.