arathergrimreaper

[arathergrimreaper]

Stained Glass Fingerless Gloves!

For that nice pop of color of a sunset on the cold grey winter days.

They're so soft and warm, and the palm side is ribbed all the way across so they have a great stretch to them too.

Use code JUSTBECAUSE for 20% off!

Check out the shop: https://teashopcrafts.bigcartel.com/

Or the Ko-fi page: https://ko-fi.com/teashopcrafts

[arathergrimreaper]

Also, it sometimes depends on experience level.

Like, me and crochet for instance.

When I was first learning how to crochet things, I NEEDED to see and repeat whatever the hell the pattern was because I'm a visual and kinesthetic learner. Didn't really know the lingo or any of that yet to know what I was doing otherwise. Now? I get so annoyed having to fast forward in videos to the bits I don't know how to do and can usually edit patterns to my specifications as long as I'm told how it works because I can read and understand the jargon.

In Prince's funky name, amen.

[arathergrimreaper]

current mantra

[arathergrimreaper]

Do cats and dogs have gerenally the same bathroom hygiene?

Say, you put both down in a safe water level tub with the intention to scrub em down with a pet safe sponge and soap. It'll be ok?

specific directions vary by breed and the type of coat, but you can bathe both dogs and cats, yes. just use pet-safe soap and be really careful not to get soapy water in their eyes or ears.

ps- cats are self-grooming and don't really require a bath unless they get into something horrendous, BUT. it doesn't hurt them and you should do it anyway occasionally.

the reason is this- when cats get older, they often develop issues that prevent them from self-grooming, so they start getting really grungy and DO in fact need to be bathed. this process will go much much smoother if you've already introduced the cat to the bathing process over its earlier life, as it won't freak the hell out and hurt itself/you/the groomer trying to escape. bathe your cats sometimes!

[arathergrimreaper]

saw the mountain goats a few weeks ago and of course mash was on the brain

lyric is from international small arms traffic blues

[arathergrimreaper]

So what characters are invited to the cookout?

[arathergrimreaper]

you said you were stuck in a time loop, which was fine. i feel like late-stage capitalism has us all in a time loop, ammiright? you came barging in at 5:33. in the morning. i hadn't even processed the idea of coffee.

but you had this look of utter panic in your eyes. terror like the ocean. you grabbed my cheeks. im in a time loop.

i don't know why in movies the first reaction is to deny it. when someone is panicking like that, it's not appropriate to ask them to calm down. it didn't matter if i believed it, what mattered was that you believed it so much that it was consuming you.

so here we are. i pour you some of the dark roast. "you look like utter and entire hell," i say.

you push your fingers into your eyes. "you always say that."

i try to think of something funny to say that i wouldn't have said on previous time loops, but jokes don't land without the proper timing (lol). "remind me to think -"

"-yeah, of a joke that only works in the future. and before you say anything, i know you're pissed i just stole your punchline." you bolt the coffee, which is wild. it's very hot. you don't seem to notice.

i blow on mine to cool it down. i both am very pissed at you and also i can't see you in this amount of panic without wanting to help. but i'm also not really sure what we are, not since i saw you kiss her like that, no offense. it just was like, kind of rude when you knew i liked you.

and besides. i'm just like, barely a person. i write omegaverse fanfiction. i love the concept of a time loop, but what the fuck am i gonna do? send an alpha in there? i open my mouth.

you point at me. "you're about to ask why me. and then say some disparaging shit about yourself. i'm just a nerd who plays dnd or something. that self-own is slightly different each time." you sigh. "i know you think you can't really help me. i don't know who can help me. i only came to you because you fucking believe me." you check your watch, sigh, and throw your head back. you cover your eyes with one hand. "i've come here on 26 separate revolutions," you say. "you have believed me every time. and yeah, i have no idea how you fit into this but i just -" you sigh again. "i just like fucking talking to someone about it."

"do you need more cof-" i start, but you're already holding the empty cup out. i frown at it. "you're not getting any more until you promise not to bolt this one like an animal."

you laugh a little and sit up, pushing your hair out of your face. "okay, that's new dialogue. but to be fair to you, i'm not usually this rude. i'm still pretty new at all of this." you check your watch again. another sigh. i guess you're cruising for a personal best in the Sigh Olympics.

i almost tell you im not an NPC but i've played enough video games. to know i'm very much an NPC. i pour you another cup. "so what happens in the loop?"

"really bad explosion." you mutter into the mug. you put your elbows on the table (rude) and bury your face in your arms like an angsty teenager. one hand floats up while you talk, because evidently you literally can't talk without your hands. "i have to save the day and there's this bomb and i have no bomb training and it keeps moving, you know."

"do i die?"

you peek up from your arms. "yeah. bigtime. you keep trying to run or stay or do anything and you always super die."

"oh."

"to be fair, like, everyone dies in it though.... so you're in good company."

i hate that you make me laugh. i hate that being around you always feels tingly and strange, this electric tension between us. something that is evidently (given how you stuck your tongue down a stranger's throat literally 3 days ago) (well. 3 for me) super one-sided. i take a sip of my coffee and close my eyes.

i die today, i guess. a little spark of panic starts at the top of my hands and starts whipping up my wrists.

"shit," you say. you look at your watch and jump to your feet. "i have to go. if i can come back, i will. i am still trying to figure out when is best to do everything, you know? the order of stuff. maybe morning isn't good for us."

i look up at you and think about how you keep kissing me in the back of my car and in alleyways and in the dark. and i can never fucking get a read on you. and i also think about how incredibly panicked you look. how broken. how long have you been doing this? "i don't want to die," i say.

you glance downwards. "well, you're not really dead, you'll come back in the loop."

"but i will have died." my hands are shaking. i am trying really hard to stay calm.

you push your hands through your hair again. "i really have to go. i will have this discussion with the next version of you, though. it is like, something i am thinking about."

"but i don't get a next version," i say. i don't really have the language for this, because i haven't had 26 tries with you. i only have my memories: you, a week ago. drunk and telling me you loved me in my ear. you, kissing her anyway. you, months ago, throwing up on my birthday, whispering to me i ruin everything i touch, always, over and over. please don't ask. i can't ever fucking have that be you.

i run my finger along the rim of the mug. "i don't want to die in this one."

you seem baffled by this. "i get that but - time will reset, you'll be fine, you won't even remember we talked about this."

"but i know now." i stand up too. "i have to live the rest of this day knowing i could die. knowing i probably am going to."

"you could always die, to be fair."

i feel my hands get out of control. "earlier, you said i always say a different insult about myself. what if you're just going through different parallel universes and those are all just different - but real - versions of myself? what if you're not in a time loop, you're in a fucking universe loop?"

"if it helps, i've wondered this too. also, you're hot in all of them. if that helps."

i point at you. "no flirting. i'm trying to figure out if i die today."

"who's flirting?" you catch my wild hands and give me that long, perfect smile. like we're in this together. "i won't let ya die." you check your watch and sigh again. "well. maybe not this time."

i grit my teeth. you are so not making quips at me while i try to explain the existential dread i'm having. "does the time loop reset if i fucking kill you?"

"honestly i don't know how long it continues after i die, because i just wake up. it could be that the loop goes until the explosion for everyone, and we're all in the loop, or it could be that when i die, the loop restarts. when i die i wake up, is all."

i pull away from you and stalk into the kitchen and start doing all 3 of my dishes. "okay, first, you know i was joking. and secondly, this is exactly my point. you don't know if this is just a parallel universe. maybe in the ones where you died, the explosion happened and nobody reset and it's just you travelling." i have to stop and push my heel into my eyeball. "... how often have you died?"

i look at you. you look at me. you give me this very sad, halfway smile and a little what can ya do shrug. something in that action seems so old and weary that i want to burst into tears.

"i have to go," you say. "really. for real. there's this family of five i save from getting into a car crash. and i know it's like oh but we're all gonna die in the explosion anyway, what's the point. and..." you shrug again. "it matters to me, is all. at least i saved them for now. at least i saved anything."

you pad over to me and wrap me in a tight hug. you always seem so tall against me. i feel your cheek rest against the top of my head for a moment. for a second, it's just us, and the space is warm, and my heart is a little broken hare.

you leave me there, and i stand in my stupid badly lit kitchen with my stupid mugs. i think about you. i start texting my mom that she needs to get out of the city, but it feels pointless.

i don't know what to do. tomorrow is the same day for you. but i have to prepare to die in my today.

[arathergrimreaper]

Saw 1488 on a bus seat. Written in black, perhaps permanent, marker. These bus seats are made of a thick plastic with a rugged texture. What would be the easiest way to wipe it off? I was thinking alcohol and wipes, but I am not sure.

We're not ones to normally endorse cleaning products, Anon. And we're not going to start now! Mostly because we're not sure what would work best but maybe you could search for "how to remove permanent marker?" Or, better idea: counter with some antifascist graffiti/stickers in the same area, to let the bus-riding nazi know that they're shit wasn't just erased, it's actively opposed by other bus riders! "161 > 1488" immediately comes to mind. BONUS LEVEL: note the bus route you saw this on and try to keep note of dates/times that you first notice shit like that. After a while, you might detect a pattern that would lead to good guesses about when this nazi is on the bus, where they live or work or go to school, etc. THEN you can target the areas they frequent with antifa posters or flyers or stickers or graffiti, to make them feel ESPECIALLY unwelcome and super-hesitant to pull shit!

[arathergrimreaper]

We need like “unclench your jaw” posts but for eye strain. Like

Go look at something 20ft away for 20 seconds.

[arathergrimreaper]

white people go like “is anyone going to redesign this nonhuman evil character as a poc?” and not wait for an answer

[arathergrimreaper]

the main problem with this time of year is the irresistible urge to get fully into bed at like 5:34 pm and outside is like yesss, yesss do it, it's what you deserve yesss. like is it depression or is it just november

[arathergrimreaper]

A boy writes the names of Palestinian children killed by Israel since the start of their latest assault on Gaza, during a demonstration in Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. (Photo: Musa Al-Shaer via SMPalestine)

[arathergrimreaper]

Seen in San Francisco

[arathergrimreaper]

People in the US need to understand that politicians do not register your vote or support for them as a compromise or some tolerance towards their stances. They do not see your trepidation or read your moral treatises about why you are voting for them. They do not register your politics or ideological stances. They see whether they are doing enough for you to get in the booth and check that box next to their names.

That’s all. If they can actively campaign against your existence and still get your support, they aren’t going to reconsider your life.

[arathergrimreaper]

[arathergrimreaper]

Got a question:

Do you think that...the long tradition of humans having one skill or craft they spend their whole life perfecting being married with this idea of being a jack-of-all-trades to sort of be slotted in wherever is creating an unreasonable expectation for us to actually be masters of many trades at once in this day and age?

[arathergrimreaper]

God sometimes I watch something and have a vibes-based insight (that may or may not be correct but I feel strongly that it is) that only comes from a blend of life experiences that not everyone shares and it's painful