#(here you go!! 1000% no need to match length i just went off a bit

[universestreasures]

@hhorakhty (Plotted Starter)

"Tasuku, come in! This is the Buddy Card Office. We just caught word there is an unregistered game shop located in District A that was distributing duel disks. We think that is where a faction of the Rare Hunters could possibly be."

"Roger that, Mr. Takihara. I'm on my way. Let's go to work!"

Immediately, he flashes the police sirena and turns the steering wheel in a different direction. While it would be faster to travel there using Jack's Buddy Skill, it was too risky with the city this crowded to use such powers. Though, he and Jack are both prepared to use them if necessary. The Rare Hunters were a merciless group of thieves known for not playing fair and putting civilians in harm's way . So, why should he show them any mercy?

This entire tournament had caused the city to be infested with them like bugs. Anyone with knowledge of the black market's workings should know gathering so many rare cards in one place was a dangerous idea with these criminals still on the lose. Then again, he deduces that's what Seto Kaiba wanted, considering how avid a collector of Duel Monsters cards he is. Maybe he still was the kind of person he suspected him to be initially, even after what happened to him following Death-T and Mokuba's faith in his brother. For the younger Kaiba's sake, Tasuku hopes his hunch is wrong and Seto Kaiba is innocent in all this.

For now, he has to focus on the task at hand. He's prepared to do whatever he has to once arriving, whether it be fighting in a game or with his fists. He wasn't going to let those criminals get away. Sadly, it seemed he had gotten there too late. He rolls up to the shop and notices someone exiting the building, a short teen he instantly recognizes.

"You're...You're Yugi Muto! The Duelist Kingdom Champion!" He says in surprise as he slowly walks out of his car, certainly not expecting to see such a notable figure walk out of that place. That shock isn't lasting as he moves forward and his tone shifts to one of concern. "Wait...were you just... in that shop? Did someone force you to duel in there?! Are you hurt at all?!"

"N-No, I'm not hurt. How...How did you know I was dueling? And who are you?"

The Buddy Police Boy Wonder then moves into his pocket, taking out his badge and showing it to the duelist. "My name is Officer Tasuku Ryuenji of the Buddy Police. I'm here investigating the Rare Hunters who have infiltrated the city and the Battle City Tournament. Our intel says one of their groups had hidden out here, and I was sent to check it out and put a stop to their operation."

"Tasuku Ryuenji...I think I've heard that name before...Wait! Aren't you the child prodigy at the game Buddyfight?!"

"I'm flattered someone as notable in the gaming world as you knows who I am. I wish we got to meet under different circumstances. However, I need your help with my work. Any and all information you have on the Rare Hunters is critical. If situations like what I assume happened to you get out of hand, we might need to shut down the tournament for everyone's safety until those criminals are put behind bars."

"Shut down the tournament?!" The shock in the young one's words are followed by a subtle glow of the object around his neck, a mysterious pyramid-like pendent. While Tasuku didn't notice the object's glow, he instantly felt the entire feeling in the air around 'Yugi' changed. It seemed more...strong and confident, like he had been described by Mokuba when recounting his match with his brother.

Then, he feels something in his chest pocket. Tasuku moves to put his hand over it gently. In that pocket was his buddy's Buddy Rare card, a form Jack had to take to conceal his true nature from the world. He was calling out to his buddy, eager to hear what he had to say as he always did through the power of telepathy.

"Tasuku, I sense a different presence coming from that boy now. Something...ancient and powerful. Be on your guard."

"A different presence...?"

[blueplanettrash]

Lance and Kolivan are Brothers

Despite what Shiro thought; he wasn’t angry that Keith got to go to the base instead of him. It was the fact that he actually belonged there and Keith hadn’t earned that right yet. None of them knew how important it was to him.

He contemplated begging Shiro but in the end, he knew that the mission was more important. Or the mission was more important before he was unable to connect to the base again. When he crashed to Earth so long ago (on his very first Blade mission), he never thought that he’d actually make it back to space and never in a million years think he’d be so close to home and his brother again.

So yeah, he wanted to go that base. But Shiro wouldn’t listen to him and took Keith instead. After they left, he let himself sulk on the bridge of the ship, watching out front anxiously for them to return. He tried to tune out Allura’s voice as she continued to degrade his race. He wanted to turn and snap at her; tell her what this war has done to everyone. She’s was never the only victim.

It wasn’t long until they received alerts that the red lion was attacking the base. Lance nervously looked over at Allura, not knowing what she’d do.

“Allura?” He called quietly, hoping that she’d look at least a little bit hesitant; there was no mercy in her gaze.

“Everyone stay focused!” She demanded, glaring out towards the base. He looked around the bridge; everyone had matching looks on their faces to Allura but he just kept looking at her. What he was looking for, he didn’t know, but he knows that it never appeared.

“5!” Coran started counting down. What was he supposed to do? What if they did hurt Keith? Why would they do that? They needed Voltron.

“4!” Could he jump up and stop them from attacking? But that would mean that he revealed who he was. He couldn’t do that, not after all the time he’d spent on Earth, becoming friends with Hunk and Pidge; they’d never trust him again.

“3!” But Kolivan… his brother. The only one left of his family, he couldn’t turn his back on him, even though it’s felt like forever since he’s even heard his voice.

“2!” No, he needed to stop this. Something must’ve happened, they wouldn’t just attack Shiro and Keith without there being a reason. He gnashed his teeth, digging his nails into his chair’s arms.

“1!” He barely got to his feet before Shiro was hailing the Castle telling them of their safe departure from the base and to expect them and a visitor in the hangers. He let out a large sigh of relief and slumped back in his chair, rubbing an exhausted hand down his face. For a few seconds, he just let himself breathe before following the rest of the paladins, Allura and Coran off the bridge.

He knew as soon as the Blade walked out of Red; he could smell him. It was the familiar comforting scent that followed him throughout his childhood and helped train him for his own Blade missions. But when the mask came off, he was looking at a face that was well beyond the years he knew. He knew that time was different in space but there was nothing of the brother he knew.

Kolivan didn’t seem to notice him though; he was too focused on speaking with Allura.

“I suppose I should introduce you to the rest of the paladins,” Allura said turning to face them. She pointed at Hunk and Pidge. “Our Yellow and Green Paladins, Hunk and Pidge,” they raised a hand in greeting and Hunk tried to give him a faint smile, though it fell just as quickly.

“And our Blue Paladin, Lance,” Kolivan’s eyes went to him and they just barely widened in shock. Lance watched him, silently, still taking in the sudden changes. Everyone watched in confusion as Kolivan walked over to Lance. Without preamble, he stuck his nose into Lance’s hair and sniffed.

“Hey! What are you doing!” Keith yelled, rushing forward to try and knock Kolivan back but Shiro grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Kolivan pulled back, his eyes even wider now.

“Is that really you?” He asked quietly. “It’s been deca-pheobs,” Lance let out a small sob of relief and wrapped his hands around Kolivan’s neck, pulling him down in a hug. He let out a stuttered purr in response and tucked Lance close to his chest. He cuddled close and for the first time in a long time let his transformation go. Fur sprouted along his skin, his ears grew out awkwardly, and his tail pressed against the back of his clothes, just begging to be let out.

“You look exactly the same,” Kolivan stated in disbelief, cupping his cheeks and looking over him critically.

“And you don’t,” Lance replied sadly, holding onto his tunic. “I don’t understand,”

“We’ll figure it out cub, I promise,”

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

“Pardon?”

“I’m sorry!” He looked wildly up at Kolivan, eyes pleading. “I didn’t mean to mess up my mission so bad, and I crashed the ship, and I almost got caught. I’m so sorry,” he shook his head.

“You have nothing to apologize for, you return to us safely and that is all that matters to me,” he rumbled, comforting Lance. “Although, I would like an explanation,”

“As would I,” they both turned to see the Altean Princess, glaring angrily in their direction, her hands on her hips. Lance gulped, looking around at the rest of the team, who looked either angry or concerned. He nodded his head and strode forward, Kolivan protectively at his back.

“Yes, Princess,”

So this is the first part of a series of Voltron One-Shots I’m gonna be doing on AO3 (maybe exclusively IDK) because it takes a lot of effort and time to do a full-length story (I have two IP, don’t worry) but just to fill the gaps a bit. If you want to check it out > here 

But anyways, I just have some ideas that wouldn’t be great as a big long story but instead as little 1000 word blurbs; I have a whole notebook full of them. They’re mostly about Lance but I have some for the others as well. I’m not trying to come for your brand @prince-yoongi , also I love your stories.

[inudaughter]

My Once Quiet Home Part One

Alright, I'm working part three of My Daughter but it's taking longer than I thought. So until I finish part three, I'll be posting this story for now. Then I also want to thank @thetravelerwrites for editing my story again for me. :)

The picture above is the ground floor of the chapter's home. I'll post the other floors and land layout in the next chapter.

CHAPTER ONE

Quiet Place

It was a beautiful foggy morning as I sat on my front porch drinking coffee, overlooking the large field in front of my house. The fog was almost too thick to see the forests beyond the tall grass, but one could make out where the field end and the woods began. It was lovely to behold. My uncle had won this place on a whim, and I inherited after his passing.

It was beautiful out here where no one could find you. It is just like having a piece of paradise. There wasn’t anyone around for miles because it was surrounded by a protected wildlife reserve. However, this wasn't just any “wildlife”; this forest was filled with beasts and monsters.

Beasts like werewolves, Bigfoot, and ogres lived here. There are even some that have yet to be named; I would occasionally catch glimpses of creatures I didn’t recognize. None of them were aggressive; in fact, they were mostly timid or friendly. A couple had even waved at me. For the most part, they all preferred peace, so it wasn’t surprising that in the last year I’ve been living here, I haven’t met many monsters. Everyone pretty much stayed in the forest.

However, I did meet the werewolf alpha a week after moving in. His name is Jericho and he lived in the forest that surrounded me. His human body was lean and tall. He has short black hair with a short beard to match, and his eyes were an emerald green color. His werewolf form is covered with short black hair, he stood on two legs, looking every bit like a traditional werewolf. He was the first to welcome me here and the first friend I made. I also found out he was a close friend of my uncle’s. He’s the one who helped me understand what living out here would be like. He’s also been teaching me about the land and what creatures lived there. Plus, I think he'd made it a habit to check up on my safety.

 A week after I met Jericho, a dragon I call Bee landed in the field while I was cleaning out the barn beside the house. Bee was a small, young dragon about twelve years old. Standing on all fours, he stood about 20 to 25 feet tall, each wing was about 20 feet or more, and the length of his body was over 40 feet. His scales are a bright yellow color with flecks of black in them, which is why I gave him the name Bee. That, and I can’t pronounce his dragon name.

While talking to him, he told me the type of dragon he was, and that his kind will grow till they’re 25 years old, but the growth will slow down after he turns 15 years old. After that, we talked the entire day away about anything and everything. He was an excellent conversationalist. Every couple of days for months, Bee would come to visit, and we would talk. That is until he had to hibernate for winter, but he reassured me he would return once he awakened from hibernation.

The next creatures I met were the six tree spirits living around my land. While talking to them, I found out more about the forest and the monsters that lived here. However, my favorite thing they talked about was my uncle. They told me about the day they first met him and everything they had seen up to a year before his passing. Also, they had made a promise to protect the house and all who lived on the land. While talking to them, I realized my uncle cared for them, and they cared for him. It was fantastic to hear these stories. It also made the grieving process a little easier on me, after his passing.

My uncle was my hero, my best friend, and my second father figure when I needed him. He was there for me when I had problems in college and when I left my boyfriend of seven years. He even invited me to come to live with him after the breakup, saying he had someone far better for me waiting here. However, before I got here, he passed away in his sleep. I locked myself in the house after the funeral. I ignored anyone’s attempt to talk to me. My parents couldn’t even convince me to come out. It wasn’t until I met Jericho that I started coming out more. He started talking to me about my uncle and all the things they got in trouble for when they were kids. Then meeting Bee and the Grandfather Trees helped even more. I now enjoy living here in this quiet lifestyle. It is comely and …

           “ARGO!”

I jumped, nearly spilling my coffee, when I heard that loud, thunderous yell. Who’s calling my uncle's name? I asked myself as I got up to walk around to the back porch where the sound was coming. When I got to the back, I could make out a broad man standing just beyond the field of corn.

“That's Hagu, the Leader of the Darefangs, one of the orc tribes that live in this forest.”  

I turned to see Jericho standing next to me in his human form. I wasn’t surprised to see him standing there. He was always popping up anytime I’m outside. “The Darefangs tribe used to be the most feared Orc tribe in this state.”

“Really? What happened to change that?” I asked curiously.

“I’ll tell you when he leaves. Right now, let’s see what he wants,” replied Jericho, walking off the porch to the cornfield. I followed right behind him.

When we made it through the small field to the clearing, I peeked from behind Jericho to get a look at the Orc leader. This Orc was taller than Jericho’s six-foot-three stature, and absolutely dwarfed my tiny five-foot-one body. He was about half as broad as the 1000-year-old oak tree spirit behind the barn. He wore some cloth pants with a simple belt with a metal belt buckle, but no top to cover his chest and abdomen. His body was well built, you could tell by looking at him, that he had seen much fighting and he was made for battle. His body had numerous scars on his nicely tanned skin, The more I saw of him, the faster my heart beat.

“Jericho, where is Argo?” growled Hagu.

I snapped out of my trance to look at his face, which also had two scars: one scar was next to his right eye, while the other went down his left cheek. He had two sets of tusks; a larger pair that the tip came to mid cheek, while the other set was smaller and barely came past his lip. I’d never seen an Orc with two sets before. All the orcs I’ve met either have one set of large or one set of smalls, but never both.

His long, black hair had two braids on either side, while the rest was kept free to hang down just below his shoulders, which I found odd. Hagu looked to be in his mid-thirties. Orcs his age normally had longer hair with beads in it. Not to mention that if he was the leader, he should have had a multitude of beads, jewels, or even fangs on him. He should have had them on his hands, tusks, ears, and hair, but I see nothing of the sort on Hagu.

I jumped a little when he gestured at me.

“And who is she? Your mate?”

“Hagu, Argo passed away almost a year ago, This…” Jericho said, pulling me from behind him. “Is ^--^, Argo’s niece. She’s the new owner of this land. If you want to talk, you will need to talk to her now.”

I stood there staring at Hagu for a moment, not knowing what to say.

“I’m Hagu, Leader of the Darefangs Orc Tribe,” Hagu said, extending his hand.

“I’m ^--^, Argo’s oldest niece,” I said, taking his hand. His massive hand swallowed mine easily.

“I’m sorry if I woke you,” Hagu replied, looking at my attire.

           I then remembered I was wearing a pajama tank top with the short pajama shorts that matched. The tank top said ‘taking names and kicking a**’ with a fist under the wording. The shorts had the fist and other fighting emojis on it. I was going to cover myself up, but remember I left my blanket on the porch. So instead I just crossed my arms over my chest but regretted it, the moment I did it. My arms went under my breast instead of over. Which caused my already ginormous chest to stick out more. I groaned inwardly.

“If you need to go change, you can go do that,” remarked Hagu, looking away. I looked up in shock and embarrassment. Was it that obvious I was uncomfortable?

“I can smell your nervousness,” he said as if reading my mind, looking at me again.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” I replied as I turned to walk back to the house.

“^--^,“ called Jericho. I turned around to look back at him. “We’ll be waiting on the back porch when you’re done.”

I nodded then started walking through the cornfield.

As I made my way through the corn, I started hearing rustling in the corn. I paid it no mind at first, thinking it was some small animal or even Jericho and Hagu following me to the house, but the rustling sound sounded like it was coming from in front of me. I stopped to listen to the footfalls to determine its direction, but as I was focusing on the footsteps, it sounded like it was coming from every direction. My heart started to race. Was I under attack? If I was, why was Jericho not calling out my name and trying to come for me. I crouched down trying to stay hidden. I didn’t want anyone to see me.

“^--^“ I heard someone say behind me. I turned around to see two huge legs standing in front of me. I slowly followed them up until I saw Hagu’s face, looking down at me. He looked confused as he crouched down closer to my eye level. “What are you doing?”

“I thought I heard something,” I whispered still trying to stay quiet. I tried looking behind Hagu, thinking Jericho was behind him.

“Jericho isn’t there. One of his pack members came to get him. They said something crossed into their territory,” Hagu said, standing up. “It was more than likely them running through.”

“Yeah, maybe that was it,” I said, standing up. But as I started to walk, the rustling sound started again. The footsteps were getting closer; it wasn't moving fast, it just sounded like steady walking.

Generally, if something were hunting you, it would be quiet, but it wasn't. I felt something grab my waist and pulled me backward. I about jumped out of my skin, but I remembered Hagu was still with me. When I turned to make sure it was him, Hagu had a finger to his lips, telling me to keep silent. I nodded in understanding.

I became nervous when I realized how close he had pulled me to him. I was eye level with the bottom part of his chest. My heart began to speed up as my eyes looked over his chest. I could feel my cheeks starting to blush as fantasies interrupted my thoughts. I was so lost in them that I didn't hear Hagu talking to me. I snapped back to reality when I felt Hagu pushing me away from him.

“Whatever it was has left,” declared Hagu, letting go of me. “We should get back to the house.”

“Yeah, let’s,” I replied, walking back to the house.

When we got to the porch, I turned to look at Hagu.

“Thank you for helping me with whatever that was back there. I'm normally not that easy to scarem but this isn't the first time I’ve been of afraid of something outside. The last three days have been like this; I;ve been jumping at every little noise and I can't sleep. I hate driving back home from work at night. It’s weird, I've been living here a year, and I've never felt this way. I wasn't even…”

I stopped talking, I wasn't ready to tell anyone about my past. I didn't want anyone to know.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with my problems.”

“It's fine, I'm the leader of my clan. I use to listening to all my clan’s problems,” replied Hagu, opening the door for me.

“Thank you,” I said, walking through. “I don't feel so afraid of whatever it is. I mean, I’m still nervous, but it’s nice being able to talk about it.”

“Why haven't you told Jericho?” Hagu asked, turning to the side to fit through the door. It was still a snug fit, but he made it through. “He was always the first one your uncle told and trusted with everything.”

“I'm sure, but it’s just that … He seems exhausted from all the work he does with his pack. I don’t want to give him more to worry about. In addition to several creatures seeking out his help on a regular basis, he also helps me patrol the land once a month. He needs a break.” I started  up the stairs to change. “Please, make yourself at home. I'll be right back.”

When I got finished changing and made my way back into the living room. I found both Jericho and Hagu fast asleep. Jericho was laid out on the sofa, and Hagu was in the large orc size recliner my uncle had, which was my favorite seat. I smiled as I watched them sleep for a moment, then when to clean the kitchen.

When I got finished with the kitchen, I went to go check on the boys. They both were still out cold, but now they both were snoring. The snoring wasn't really loud from Hagu, but Jericho was sawing logs. I giggled, then went back to cleaning the house.

When I finished cleaning the living room, dining room, and office, I decided to head outside to get my coffee cup and blanket from this morning.

As I walked out on to the porch, I looked out to clearing. I could just make out something black moving through the grass, but paid it no mind. I knew hellhounds were living in these woods and knew they wouldn't attack unless provoked. But there was this deep feeling in my gut that said grab your things and go. I didn't listen to it; I was convinced it was a hellhound and I wasn't in any immediate danger.

I just wish I could have seen the look on my face when I turned to see the thing in the field was now standing ten feet away from my front porch steps. I froze when I saw it. This thing looked like a burnt dog. Its skin was a black charcoal color and had the texture to match. It had glowing bright red markings on its head, neck, and legs. I watch as its lips pulled slowing back to reveal sharp, pointy teeth throughout its mouth. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I knew teeth like that had one purpose, for tearing flesh.

My heart rate speed up and my mind went into panic mode. My mind was trying to think of ideas to get away, but all I could think was the moment I moved, I would be in its jaws.

What do I do? What do I do? My brain panicked. Even though the door was just a step away from me, I know I couldn't get both the screen door and the other door open in time before it would have me. Yelling wasn't an option because I didn't want to find out if there was more of them around.

Just when I was about to give up and just run for it. I heard the screen door slowing opening. I turned my head to see Jericho walking out to the steps, starting to change into his werewolf form. I looked to the creature to see a reaction, but it didn't seem phased by Jericho. However, when Hagu step on to the porch, it stepped back. I turned to Hagu as he walked out of the doorway. He had no trouble getting out of this door, unlike the back doorway. I had always wondered why everything was so tall here, and now I was starting to understand why. I turned my head back to the creature just in time to see it run towards the barn, then off into the backwoods. I signed in relief that it was gone.

“It will come back, and next time it will bring its master with it,” said Hagu, staring at where the creature disappeared into the woods. He looked down at me. “That Ash dog, and the wizard controlling him, is the reason I came to talk to Argo.”

“Come, let’s take this inside. There’s a safe place we can talk,” said Jericho, now back in his human form.

We followed him as he walked into the house, down the hall to the right past the office and two bedrooms, until we got to the bookshelf in the hallway between the second and third door. I watched as Jericho pulled the bookshelf towards himself to reveal a spiral staircase going down under the floor. I looked down in awe into the open space, but I felt a wave of uneasiness wash over me.

“Down here is the safest place to talk,” Jericho insisted, and I watch as he stepped down first. He turned to look back up at me.

“Come on, there is nothing to worry about.” Jericho reached out his hand to me. “Take my hand, the first couple of steps are steep.” I nodded and did what he said.

Jericho watched as I slowly stepped down. He then started down the stairs, but I turned to make sure Hagu was following. Hagu was too wide to walk down easily, so he turn sided ways to go down.

Not wanting him to know I stopped to watch him, I turned back and slowly descended down the stairs. The eerie feeling I felt got stronger as we ventured down into the basement. I watched Jericho, looking for any sign of hesitation in his steps, but there were none. So I swallowed my fear and trusted Jericho as I ventured into the unknown.

[fusionaudiopost-blog]

Making Acoustic Treatment

Sound likes to reflect around whatever space it's in. It's main mission is to transfer around the space. In an amphitheatre this is ideal and allows for natural amplification of the source. However, whether you're in a recording studio, edit suite or dubbing stage, it's really important to control the sound otherwise your audio mix will never translate properly to the listener, whether in their lounge, car or especially a cinema!

Yes, egg boxes on the walls have remained in our consciousness, it's often said jokingly, but I have met more than a couple of people who would classify this as a real option - while it can offer some help, this is not going to be an effective solution. This is where it gets a little more complicated... Humans hear a range of frequencies (or pitches) from really low rumble at 20Hz to the almost (and genuinely for over 12's!) Imperceptible 20,000Hz. Dealing with high frequencies is relatively easy, a lightweight cotton material will help with echoes (as will egg boxes dare I say), but the low mids and low frequencies are a lot harder to deal with. There is one thing that is key here - Mass/Density. The more dense an absorptive material is the better it will be able to trap lower frequencies. So, with that little bit of context, let's get on with the build.

You don't need any specialist tools or expensive materials to make these, just some patience!

Tools List - Tools:

Power Drill

Saw

Staple Gun

3mm Wood Drill Bit

Sandpaper

Iron

PPE - Gloves, Mask, Goggles (Fiberglass)

Materials List - Materials:

Wood planks for the frames

Rockwool Insulation (more on this below)

Hessian/Acoustically transparent covering fabric

Wood screws - Different lengths

Hanging brackets

Rookwool/Insulation

One of the first things you are going to need to decide is how thick the absorbers are going to be - this relates directly to the ability to absorb low frequencies, so the bigger the better generally. I went for 75mm thick RW60 Rockwool, RW60 is dense in Rockwool's range so it should be ideal, I'd of gone heavier if not for the extra cost.  Other insulation can be fine, but try and get the most dense you can. It can be useful to look at the absorption co-efficient diagram for the material you are going to use, this will give you an idea of how much of a frequency band is absorbed (the scale is from 0 - 1. 1 is 100% absorption & 0 is 0%). Below you can see the chart:

Absorption co-efficient for Rockwool types

So for our RW60, it absorbs approx 95% of the 250Hz frequency, not bad at all. But notice how the efficiency dramatically improves when it is mounted 300mm off the wall - this where we can really save some money! I mounted all of mine 100mm off the wall, as 300mm was far too intrusive, but if you have a bigger room it may be worth going all the way to 300mm. But as a rule, the larger the room, the less problems there will be with low frequencies anyway. In summary - we are mounting 75mm RW60 Rockwool 100mm off the wall.

Building the Frames

To keep cutting of the Rockwool down to a minimum (to reduce horrible fibreglass particles and save time) I opted to build the frames around the existing sheet size, which is 1200 x 600mm. I wanted a tight fit to avoid having to fix them in the frame, so I made the external size of the frames 1220mm x 610mm. I used softwood for lightness - my timber was 22mm wide and 75mm deep to match the Rockwool. To reduce cutting time I got the timber yard to cut the timbre to 1220mm lengths, so I just needed to cut them in half to make the end pieces. I made 12 of these in total and therefore had 36 lengths - at my local yard it was only 78p a meter!

Start by cutting the lengths ready to construct the frames. I held these in place when assembling with a nail in each corner to hold it ready for screwing together. I drilled a 3mm pilot hole for the screws, which was fine for the 4mm thick screws, I'd have used a 2.5mm drill bit if I had one, but the 3mm worked fine.

Once assembled, I removed any roughness from the outside of the frames with 120grit sandpaper so that the fabric might catch on, I left the inside rough to help keep the Rockwool in place. That's the hard bit over.

Covering with Fabric

When choosing fabric to cover the frames and insulation, use something that sound can pass through otherwise they won't work! I found it quite expensive to buy speaker cloth, as I needed nearly 17 meters! So I found dyed jute/hessian fabric instead, it's also great as it's available in a range of colours - I used orange as it's my company's house colour. It comes in 1 meter wide lengths, which is ideal for covering our 610mm wide panels. When working out how much you need, make sure your account for the depth of the wood as you'll need to staple it to the back of the frames. So for our frames, I worked out that each frame requires at least 1400mm (1220mm frame + 2x75mm end depth + 50mm for safety/stapling). I got mine from eBay.

When it came to the fitment on the frame, there were a couple of important points - keep the fabric parallel with the frame, as the hessian I used had clear lines and would look wonky otherwise. Also keep the fabric tight at all times - I found it useful to a) get help from the Mrs. when she was around or b) keep the edges between my feet and work from one end to the other. I found it best to start at the longest ends first and then do the sides.

The most difficult part here was folding the edges over so they looked neat, when I started it took a few goes, but it became second nature after a while (small caveat from experience - avoid trying this after a pub visit!). I ended up using a lot of staples - probably at least 40 in each panel, but this was necessary to keep it from creasing or sagging at the edges. I got 1000 staples for £5 so no probs there!

Finally, I just pressure fit the Rockwool (use gloves if I were you, the fibreglass is super itchy and irritating).

I also used an iron with lots of steam over the front and sides of the panel, as I found that there were creases from shipping that were still visible even after stretching. It also helped reduce any fuzzy bits from the fabric.

Hanging/Fitment

This is the part that I had to plan/fiddle/replan the most. I originally was going to screw them onto a frame 100mm from the wall, but then realised there was no way that I would be able to get the screwdriver around the back to actually fit them. So I decided to hang them and re-purpose some old brackets I had.

I'd advise to drill the pilot holes for the bracket/fixings when you make the frames, otherwise you'll have to take the Rockwool out and risk tearing the fabric.  

Then it's just a case of cutting a slot in the top of the mounting wood on the wall - this will allow the metal mounting bracket to slot into cut and hang away from the wall. I then added some staples to keep the wood from splitting (just in case). All that is left to do is put the Rockwool in the frames and then iron the fabric and then hang them!

Share your pictures of your build and let me know how you get on in the comments!

[anuncertainnewkink]

My Kitten

I never know how to start these things so, Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away but not actually in another galaxy cuz how would we know what happened we haven’t developed inter galactic space travel but I digress. My name is Christopher or that’s what my wife calls me, says she likes the way it rolls off her tongue. When a woman with an oral fixation and a tongue piercing says she likes the way your full name rolls off her tongue you damn well go by that name from then on and be glad she didn’t like calling you bo-bo the clown. My wife Tiffany and I have vary different jobs that keep us away from home and our schedules don’t match up as much as we’d like. I’m a pilot and she’s a doctor if you want to be vague. After 2 months of us being apart I was going to have 5 days off but my luck she had a medical conference to attend. Well I’m a romantic and I missed my wife so I hatched a plan.

I arranged it so that my last flight of the week ended me in Miami where the conference was. I didn’t tell her I was going to surprise her, little did I know I’d get the surprise. When I landed I changed into a tailored black 3 piece suit she had got me black pants, black coat and vest red bottom up shirt. She’s a smart woman when I got in that suit I felt powerful as hell. The whole 20 minute trip to the hotel she was staying at I felt like my heart was in my ears. I had been texting her and she confirmed she was in the hotel bar. Ok so I knew where to go once I got there.

I walked into the lobby and quickly found the bar, I found a place with a good view of everywhere. I wanted her to casually notice me and come up to me. It wasn’t crowded but there were about 30 people in the bar. So it didn’t take long to check and recheck all the faces and notice that she wasn’t in the bar. I text her asking how her bar experience was going she told me that it was quiet. It was “soooo relaxing” I got a hint of sexual innuendo. She may have been drinking but it weren’t here. 20 minutes later my spot having a clear view to the elevators I noticed a drop dead gorgeous woman walk out of the elevator. 5’1” curvy hour glass figure fierce eye liner making her eyes dark pools that just kind of suck you in, a knee length black dress, low cut not to much to be slutty but enough to make men want to stare but not wanna get caught. A full tattoo sleeve on her right arm. She was a man eater I knew right away, top it off with a wedding ring and black heals framing her valuptuous legs I could only imagine what she was here to do. As she walked out of the elevator a man smacked her ass she turned around as they went separate ways and she gave him a naughty lip bite as they walked away from eachother. forget my wife I had to have this... this creature, this sexually charged goddess. By now I figured out why if not where my wife was if she was off having fun why shouldn’t I?

Stealing my courage I downed a glass of whisky and decided to walk over to her before my brain could sober and talk me out of it. She was sitting alone at the bar like a woman does that’s waiting for a man to pick her up. Back ever so slightly arched showing off her boobs and ass at the same time. I came up to her from behind. Putting my left hand on her hip and my right hand on her hand showing my inked up forearm (women tend to like seeing ink) I whispered in here ear “what would it take for a guy like me to leave here with a lady like you?” She let out a combination of a gasp and a moan, weather by my words, my touch, or my hot breath on her neck I don’t know but something I did was right. She turned to face me eyeing me up and down, licking her bottom lip she told me in a cocky tone “im all yours, for the right price.” My eyes went wide for a brief second, a reaction I hope I was doing well to hide. “You’re a pro?” I said stunned. “By night I am, here at least.” She made is sound so innocent. Glancing at her wedding ring I asked “what about your husband?”. “Oh he travels for business so a girl needs to have her fun, plus why would I bother him with my side business. I love him not them.” I stood semi shocked but it’s like having a side job that you enjoy in a way so who was I to judge. She glanced down “so what’s a married man doing talking to a “pro” I think is what you called me?” “I was going to meet my wife here but She seems to have misplaced herself, I suspect in another guys room.” I said matter of fact. I didn’t want her thinking I was a sleeze ball. I enjoyed being next to her I didn’t want her to walk away. “Mmm” she said with a bit of reservation, “revenge is a dangerous game for 1 let alone 2 married people to play in.” She said turning to go “NO!” I said pulling her close “you’ve got it wrong I’m not talking to you for revenge, I’m talking to you because of 3 dozen people in this room you’re the only one that catches my eye.” I told her with which was I’m sure pleading in my eyes. She seemed like she wanted to go still so I pressed “being this close to you is driving me crazy, please no promises for anything after. won’t you just have a drink with me?” Her eyes kind of lit up, she smiled and I melted a little inside. “I’m Christopher by the way.” I reached out “Kat” she replied shaking my hand.

She sat back down and I got us new drinks and we talked for a couple hours, the whole time I had my arm around the small of her back us both leaned into eachother. We said it was to hear eachother which we both knew was a bad excuse in a half empty bar. I started abcent mindedly tracing shapes or just gently rubbing her thigh before she looked down and back up to me and bit her lip, I glanced down was horrified at first for not realizing what I was doing, then when I realized lip biting wasn’t a bad thing I continued and got even more bold. After the first hour I was torn between wanting to have her and wanting to keep talking after two hours I didn’t want to leave the bar. Watching her lips move as she talked to me, wanting to kiss them so horribly bad. Her cheeks as she smiled at me, the eyes that seemed every color at once. She was captivating I didn’t wanna take my eyes off of her for a second even if it was to go up to her room, being as I didn’t have one yet.

Alas all good things must come to an end... or so they say. The bar called last call and before our drinks went dry I got up the courage to ask her if I could go back to her room explaining I didn’t have a room and didn’t know it was a grand idea to go to my wife’s room uninvited. She looked at me but slowly got a cheeky grin on her face and told me “yes, but it’ll cost you” “how much?” I said kind of taken aback. “500 for the room, another 500 if you wanna get lucky daddy” the last part she said as a whisper in my ear as she slid off the stool brushed past me and walked for the elevator gently pulling my hand with her. $1000 I had a devilish grin when I though “what would my wife say.” I watched her plump ass as we walked to the elevator. Their could have been a dancing purple elephant in the lobby and I wouldn’t have known I was so fixated on her ass. When we got into the elevator we were alone, I decided to lean in for a kiss but she put her finger against my lips and “nuh uh uh, not yet” so I waited in utter frustration till we got to her room.

She opened the door and walked in ahead of me. “Forgive the mess I had another client before we met, wasn’t expecting to work a double tonight.” She said with a sly wink. Damn she was naughty. “Money first.” She said in a cold manner. Taking out my wallet I put the $1000 down, I had gotten money out for Tiffany and I to do something special tonight. “Shit wasn’t expecting this” I thought as the money hit the night stand. As soon as it did she transformed into a little sex kitten. The air around her changed and I couldn’t feel more drawn to her if I was pulled by a truck. I pinned her against a wall wrapping one arm around her waist and my right hand holding the back of her neck I kissed her and the fireworks flew! The world went black and it was just her and I in a void. Before I knew it we were against the bed my shirt was undone and her cocktail dress was coming up over her head. As it covered her head and arms I held her so she couldn’t take it all the way off. I bit her neck leaving my mark, telling the world least for tonight that “she’s mine” I heard her moan as I did, that made me want to do it again but I’m paying for the night so I might as well pace myself. Under her dress she had a black unlined bra showing off her pierced nipples, drove me fucking wild, a black garter belt with black thigh high leggings and no panties to be found. This woman was made for her night job. We threw her dress aside and I took off her bra, I had to get my mouth on her tits. The metal was warm in my mouth, I must have not notice I’d been making her so hot before we came up here. Kat pulled my head close and pulled my hair to manipulate my mouth on her skin. Once I had played with both nipples (symmetry is key) she pushed me down on the bed and removed my shirt. She moved her hands across my chest which drove me crazy when Tiffany did it but now that I’m watching Kats hands move across my chest watching her wedding ring move atop my nipple my mind went to mush.

Somewhere along the way she had undone my pants and started sucking my cock, slowly. Like she was teasing me. I love being teased but I needed her on me riding me, I took a breath cuz again I had to remember I payed for the night, take your time Chris. I did however pick her up and get her thighs to straddle my face in a 69 position. My mouth had been watering all night thinking of tasting her even after I found out she was moonlighting as an escort. Her pussy was wet and tasted like it should. I could even taste her lovers cum drip across my tongue from time to time, I almost came right then and there. She was so good at sucking my cock I had so hold on to her waist and almost put my mouth on auto pilot otherwise I’d not have been able to last long. After 5 minutes she came in my mouth, she made a halfhearted attempt to keep sucking my dick through the gasps but I flipped her on her back and got in between her legs. After I was fully in her she pulled me down and kissed me, deeply and lovingly. The next hour was more love making than Fucking and I was ok with that. I could hardly think but to this day I can still picture her figure as I fucked her from behind, her ankles in the air as I thrust into her as she was on her back. The look on her face as she came so hard riding me that she said she saw stars. What broke the flow was that every night before they went to bed I’d call my wife and kids so say goodnight so when my phone went off Kat asked “should you get that?” “Nah I’m pretty sure I know who it is, it’s ok” For the home stretch we had picked up the pace and were hard animalistic fucking when she said “give your slut your cum daddy” and hearing this slut call me daddy, and telling me to cum in her, sent me over the edge and in the moment it was the best choice I had ever made to cum in her. We lay down next to eachother gasping. I’m pretty sure we actually fell asleep next to eachother for a few mins. Then my phone went off again. So I covered her up and answered the FaceTime call. Our children were in their pajamas and we all smiled we told them good night and that we’d call them in their morning since they weren’t on the same time zone as us.

After we said goodnight I looked over at her and said “Kat?” She looked at me and said “well you call me kitten so it’s kinda my escort alter ego” innocently. God her being innocent about how naughty she was drove me crazy. “What made you decide to play along?” I asked “when I got out of the elevator with Cory I felt you in the room, I didn’t know where you were but I knew you were there and knew you’d find me but once he smacked my ass I knew I had been caught, so when I felt you behind me and feeling how warm you were to me I knew you weren’t mad and that it was gonna be an amazing night if I said fucking it and just went with it.”

It was an amazing night. I asked her how long she’d been working as an escort. “This is only the second...ish trip I’ve done it, I only do it on these trips so please don’t think this is a thing when we’re home except for what you already know about baby.” Her eyes kind of went wide explaining it to me and I realized she was starting to over think why I asked. I pulled her close in bed and kissed her deeply her tense body relaxed in my arms. Our kiss broke and I told her “baby it’s ok I’m not mad but thank you for telling me you don’t do this at home though, hadn’t thought to ask that yet.” “I know my daddy.” She said with a wink. Mmmm my cocky little slut. “So how did this start?”

“ well three months ago...” “wait 3?” She goes on a trip about every month. “I thought you said 2 trips or months?” “ I said 2-ish, this is the ish. Now hush and listen baby.” “Yes ma’am.”. She went on to tell me about how the group she normally hangs out with we’re drunk one night and one of the single girls picked up a guy that unbeknownst to most everyone else in the group was also apart of the conference. Upon finishing up the man mistook the girl for an escort and left money on the night stand “how he judged how much to give, id still really like to know” she told me as she recounted the story. While the girl was puzzled as to why he just put money down he quickly left before she could correct him. The next day while recounting the story to the others they could see how a married man being picked up at a hotel bar could think that. The bigger question was why was she surprised. But that night was a blow out party and all the drinks were on him, so to speak. That night, something clicked in Tiffany’s mind that night. Why are we funding our own fun on these trip? Half the girls were single the other half flirt enough that going the extra mile wouldn’t be out of the question. What if we do become escorts just for the group of people that come to these dreaded conferences... “and the rest is history as they say.”

I was kind of blown away my wife was the queen pin of an escort ring. She looked over at me again the pleading reassurance in her eyes “are you sure you’re not mad at me?” She asked. “Not at all baby.” I smiled and barried my face in the nape of her neck kissing and sucking and biting. Upon bitting she moans out “no marks.” I groan in frustration as I beat back my primal side that wants to leave my mark on her perfect body. I settle for causing her chills from my lips on her neck. She grinds her hips into me her pussy still warm and vary wet caresses my cock and brings him back to life. That night we make love as ourselves this time. Before falling asleep.

We woke as there was a knock on the door. Tiffany got up to answer it in a robe. It was her friend Stacy. Tiffany opened the door and stays was taken aback “well I was here to pick you up but I can see you’re not ready” She said as she looks her up and down. “I’m playing hookie today” “what? You never play hookie?” As I turned my head away Stacy noticed me. A knowing look came across her face with the smirk to boot. “How much is this one paying you?” “This one bought me a house.” She said with a wink as she closed the door. She dropped the robe as she climbed in bed with me. She kissed up my back to my cheek making me roll over to be able to kiss her properly. I wrapped my arms around her and held her like I’d never want to let go. Once our kiss broke and my head cleared because damn that spark when we kiss sometimes, wow. “So you have me to yourself all day what do you want to do today?” She asked me with a child like excited bounce in her voice. “I don’t know I spent a lot of money on booze and an escort last night” I told her smirking. “Well just so happens I made a few thousand dollars last night so let me spoil you daddy.” She said with pouty lips as she leaned in for another kiss. “Wait a second a few? How many did y-“ she cut me off with a giggle and a finger to my lips. “Hehe relax baby it was just you and Cory lastnight.” “But...” slipped out. “I gave you the family discount.” She said still obviously amused her own husband payed to have sex with her. Once the realization sunk in that a guy had payed $2000 for a couple hours with my wife, I was filled with a substantial amount of unexpected pride in her. She is damn good in bed.

[intercal]

C++17 vs. Rust

This is going to be an actual attempt at a programming-related blog post. If you’re not a programmer or don’t care about those two things, you can feel safe in skipping this.

In short, I still prefer Rust, but C++ (especially the new standard) has some features that Rust just cannot match. I’ll try to get into those without getting crazy in depth.

Of course, there's a whole amalgam of things to compare, but I'm going to try to focus on:

Frontend (syntax, building, and error messages)

Memory management and ownership models

Metaprogramming: generics and templates

Syntax, compilation, error messages, and the rest

C++'s syntax has notoriously been very messy for a while - but it's gotten much, much better with the recent standards. Having the auto keyword has cleaned things up so much, plus having type aliases with the using keyword helps a lot too (instead of using typedefs everywhere). In fact, I may go as far as to say that C++ has cleaner syntax in a lot of places where you'd expect it to get hairy. This is mostly anecdotal; I don't have any specific examples to back this up.

When it comes to building programs, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the options available to me for C++. Since Rust has a de facto build suite - cargo - I'm never faced with the question of "should I use Make? should I use CMake? should I use Meson?". With C++, I usually spend an hour investigating these crazy new build tools, give up, and end up writing a simple Makefile. Dependencies between the two languages is an interesting comparison. In C++, I just download whatever libraries I want to use and stick "use (library name and version here)" in the README - in Rust, I just put them directly into my Cargo.toml file and let it resolve and compile all dependencies.

However, as a result of having these libraries and dependencies at my fingertips, I always feel like I need to check crates.io to see if there's a library that implements my micro-functionality that I need in my Rust program, instead of just implementing the functionality myself. Instead of getting work done and writing a simple component, I'm looking at documentation for a 3rd party component for much longer than it would have taken me to write a simple version of what I want. In C++ I don't feel that pull at all. Library dependencies feel like big decisions in C++, while in Rust they feel like something you do on a whim if it's needed.

Finally, error messages. C++ error messages are garbage. They are not useful when things get very complicated. This is because C++ has its standard library depend on side effects and behavior of the core language itself. For example - a std::unique_ptr may not be copied; if you want to move the pointer to some other object, you need to wrap it in std::move. The way it implements this behavior is not something special in the compiler, but rather, it uses private destructors and r-value references to get this behavior to work. So when you try to copy a std::unique_ptr, you don't get a "you tried to copy a unique value, you idiot, you absolute buffoon" error, you instead get an "attempted to call a private destructor, you idiot, you absolute buffoon" error. It's not helpful.

On the flipside, Rust's error messages are a godsend. They tell you:

What went wrong

Where it went wrong

What you maybe meant to type

Possible implementations of what you meant

Possible things to import

It really wants to make sure you know why compilation failed and what you can do to mitigate it. I love it love it love it and C++ needs to figure out how to work around its issues - I think being able to define some kind of custom error messages for common errors on specific objects (like a NB attribute) would be a step in the right direction to mitigate that.

Finally, modules and imports. Hoooooooo boy. Header files should fucking die already and I really hope the modules TS gets accepted for C++2a because jesus christ I can't take any more of it. I've finally moved over to using #pragma once, but it's still not perfect. Rust just lets you import things cyclically and perfectly and it just works. And thank god for that.

Rust's memory ownership model, and C++'s memory behavior

In Rust, by default, there can be only one "owner" of a bit of data at a time. If you do something like,

let x = make_some_foo_object();

and then move it someplace else,

let y = x;

you can't use it for the rest of the scope. I like this a lot, as it helps me organize in my brain what's being used and where it exists in the lifetime of the function and the program.

C++, on the other hand, will usually make a copy from x in to y with its equivalent code (the equivalent is literally replacing the let keyword with the auto keyword).

This implicit copy behavior makes me feel like I'm always on my toes and being careful not to write code that will trigger that behavior. However, this has been known behavior of C++ since its inception, and both programmers and the standards committee have gone great lengths to make sure you're able to mitigate this. For example, std::string copies by default - so you usually end up using a const reference, i.e. const std::string& - or in C++17, a std::string_view*.

That being said, C++ also has a std::unique_ptr type, which allows for unique ownership of an object, checked at compile-time, just like Rust. The one thing I hate about std::unique_ptr is that error messages generated from trying to copy (instead of move) the pointer results in an unhelpful error message about calling a private destructor.

However, that's not the default behavior. And when you're dealing with references in C++, it's up to the programmer to make sure that the lifetime of whatever a reference is pointing to doesn't go away before the reference itself (because otherwise you're just pointing at garbage, which can crash your program). Rust does these checks at compile-time, without heap allocations**.

Of course, the caveat to Rust's compile-time checks is that you need to keep track of lifetimes by hooking up special units in the language. This is funky to approach and if you don't completely understand how lifetimes in Rust work, you're going to be scratching your head a lot of the error messages and asking yourself why the borrow checker won't let you compile your program. It's definitely a double-edged sword, but one that I'm happy to weild at this point.

* as an aside, I found the std::string_view to be a pain to work with because not many libraries are well-equipped to handle the string view. I hate not using new features simply because of lack of support!

** I'm pretty sure you could write an allocator that does a stack allocation for the unique_ptr, but that's another step and something to keep track of.

Templates, generics, and metaprogramming

This is starting to get lengthy so I'll try to make this section short. This is one area where C++ and Rust really battle it out in my opinion. For starters, Rust's generics are not the same as C++ templates. There are a lot of similarities and you can accomplish a lot of the same goals, but templates are fundamentally more broad and flexible than Rust generics - for better or worse.

The biggest divide between them is that C++ follows this concept of SFINAE - "Substitution Failure Is Not An Error". When you write a class template or function template and plug a type in to it, C++ will try to substitute all instances of your type T lexically. If you call T::foo(), as long as your type T has some static method foo, it will compile. If there are multiple options for the compiler to fill the template in with, and one of them would cause an error, it's skipped and considered not to be the target template to use. In Rust, you need to specify that some generic T is a type that will have a static implementation of foo through a trait (i.e. an interface). This gives C++ more flexibility over Rust, but at the same time it opens the doors for more surprising errors and implied assumptions about any given T you may plug in to a function or class template. Plus, you better believe that C++'s template errors are ugly - that's why you get 1000+ line errors because the compiler is simply listing all possible types that the template is implemented for.

Additionally, one of the big things that C++ has over Rust in the metaprogramming realm is variadic templates. You can make a function that just takes N number of arguments, and it's all deduced at compile time. Rust simply does not have this, which makes situations where a function with a variable number of arguments makes the most sense must be delegated to a macro, which isn't exactly convenient. I'm not sure if the language team for Rust wants variadic generics, but it would be nice to have if they did.

Speaking of macros, Rust's macros beat the pants off of C++'s preprocessor macros. The caveat, of course, being the high barrier for entry and noisy syntax involved with creating a Rust macro. But once you understand and get going, you can do some crazy things, like, say, implementing a flavor of LISP using Rust macros.. They are quite powerful and expressive, which you simply don't have in C++.

Final thoughts

They're comparable, for sure. It may seem like C++ has been lagging behind in the language races, but that's simply not the case. It's just as good of a language as any while being very stable and very mature. Rust is still figuring things out and developing new parts. I'm excited to see its development while I actively use it. From a personal perspective, I'm going to stick with Rust because I'm finally at a point where it's very cozy language for me to use - but C++ is a close contender.

Anyway, I hope that mess of writing above makes sense - Tumblr's editor is very bad and I don't feel like fully revising this write-up so I hope it makes sense.

[camgirlsurvivalguide]

FAKE HAIR DON’T CARE - The what’s what of hair extensions

Come one, come all! It’s the Camgirl Survival Dummies Guide to putting someone else’s severed hair on your head and pretending it’s your own! I was asked by a few people recently to give advice on hair extensions (since I have some experience) and I decided to write up a big old post here for anyone who wants to take a peek at it. 

The best person to talk to about hair extensions is, first and foremost, your stylist. Not all hair types work with extensions. Extensions can and do damage your natural hair, depending on the method you choose, and choosing to DIY any of these methods can cause damage, to your natural hair or to the extensions you buy. Extensions are expensive, and there is almost no way around that. They’re also a fucking pain in the ass, if I’m being honest, but damn do I look and feel twelve thousand times cuter when I’ve got my great big bad hair on - so here are my tips and tricks to making the most out of using someone else’s hair as your own.

GENERAL EXTENSION ADVICE

- Be gentle. Use a soft brush and work tangles from the bottom gently up toward the weft. Remember kiddies: the hair doesn’t grow back after you rip it out, like it does on your own head. Each fucking strand probably costs you like five cents, so treat your extensions like the gold they truly are, and they’ll last you longer.

- Wash sparingly. If you use a non-permanent extension method, this is great, because you can just take them out when you shower, but if you’re using a permanent method ... dry shampoo now is your best friend. Do not scrub permanent extensions near the root/scalp. Don’t blow dry or apply heat near the bonds/near the root/scalp. Use heat tools sparingly. 

- OIL. Your natural hair produces natural oil, which is why your roots look healthy shiny and the ends of your hair look like a shitty split end desert. Your extensions can’t produce oil for themselves, so you’ll need to add oil for them. Always use heat protecting spray before styling your extensions, use a leave in conditioner when you do wash them (in the case of clip ins) or once in a while with your permanent extensions, and be sure to add an oil (like Moroccan or argan) to the length of your extensions to keep them looking natural. 

- Medium length hair woes are usually what cause us to go get extensions, but are also subsequently the worst length of hair to try to hide using extensions. Search “how to blend short hair with extensions” for tutorial ideas on how you can get your hair to look a little more convincing. 

TYPES OF EXTENSIONS 

CLIP INS PROS: Cheaper, longer-lasting, DIY-able CONS: More time consuming, cheapest looking WORKS BEST ON: already long, relatively full hair AVERAGE YEARLY COST: $300ish

Ah, clip-ins. Everyone and their dog had a set at some point in high school, and they looked just as shitty as they felt: dry, thin, and very obviously not growing out of the tops of our own heads. Clip ins can look awful, and they can look pretty damn good - it just depends on how much work you’re willing to put in.

I wear clip ins for a few reasons. First, I’m cheap and I like to do things myself, and clip ins let me experiment. I dye them myself, and (since they just ... clip ... in) I put them in and take them out whenever I want, so I’m not paying a professional their professional rate to help me with them. Second, my hair is naturally quite oily, and I go to the gym 5 days a week, which means I wash my hair a lot, and that’s not wise with more permanent types of extensions. Being able to put in clip-ins only when I want to works for my lifestyle, since I find myself not wanting full, crazy luxurious hair probably 75% of the time. Lastly, for the past year my hair has been a pastel colour, and for anyone with crazy colour hair, you know as well as I do that it fades fast. Being able to dye my natural hair and my extensions myself at my house was the cheapest and most reasonable method for me to have extensions that matched my hair. 

My advice with clip ins is to do it properly: get a good set of extensions, and when you first receive them, go to a salon to have them coloured to match your hair and cut to blend with your style. It’s good to go a little heavy in terms of weight (the fuller the better) because it’s easier to blend more hair than it is to try to blend a thinner set.

TAPE INS PROS: Mid-range price wise, absolutely beautiful, semi-DIY CONS: High maintenance, limited style options WORKS BEST ON: thin/fine hair, jaw length or longer AVERAGE YEARLY COST: $2500+

Long story short, tape in extensions fucking rock. They look amazing. They add length and volume without the clunky bulk at the root that clip ins cause, they blend seamlessly with your natural hair at most hair lengths, and they’re relatively low hassle because once they’re installed, they stay installed for 6 to 8 weeks. The hair can be used for up to 6 months (as long as you take good care of them), too, which means you’ll get 3 or so installs on any given set of hair. It’s also a relatively inexpensive method in terms of install price: my girl put them in for $100, and would remove them for $100 (putting fresh tapes on and the whole nine yards). I loved my tape ins. I really did.

The reasons I got them removed were cost and effort. Sure, they looked fucking fantastic, and when my full time job and only responsibility was to get cute and get on cam once a day, it was something that blended into my lifestyle pretty well. But now that I’m a student with a gym routine, the whole diva hair thing is a lot lower down on my list of priorities, and styling all that hair every day takes time. The biggest bummer with tape ins is that you can’t wear your hair up in a ponytail or a bun because of how the tapes lie. Not even that it would look bad (which it does) but it’s kind of painful if you try, in my opinion. I had to schedule hair appointments every 7 weeks like clockwork and that got expensive pretty quickly. 

Let’s do the math: $200 every 1.5 months = $1600 in installation (not including colour, cut or tipping the stylist). The hair itself cost me between $400 and $600, which I had to do twice a year at minimum, so that’s roughly another $1000 ... that’s $2600+ per year, just in hair and install (again, not including colour and cut and tip, which is a whole other ballpark). They looked amazing, and I don’t regret having them, but for me, it was a limited-timeframe sort of option.

I managed to cut costs somewhat, though. I found that I could remove the extensions myself at home using a tape extension remover I found online for cheap (which was more or less just a blend of coconut oil and rubbing alcohol), and I would usually dye my extensions and my hair from the same box dye at home, too - so when I went to the stylist, I was only asking her to install and cut to blend them. Still, tape in hair is expensive, and you run the risk of ruining them if you DIY. I know there are tons of YouTube tutorials on how to put in your own tape hair extensions but I tried like 40 fucking times and screwed them up each and every time, and so did my girlfriend who tried to help me with it, so ... yeah. Not really DIY-able all the way. 

BEADED/SEW IN WEAVE PROS: Cheap, DIY if you have a patient friend CONS: Heavy, painful, hard on your natural hair WORKS BEST ON: Very thick, full/coarse hair AVERAGE YEARLY COST: $300+ DIY, $1000+ (???) professional 

My best friend has a lion’s mane for hair: super full, crazy thick, super gorgeous. Unfortunately, she fried the living fuck out of it with bleach one day and lost almost all the length she had. Tape ins weren’t an option because in order to have enough hair, she’d have to buy like 4x what a regular person would put in, so the cost just didn’t make sense. Clip ins were fine but she wanted to be able to go to sleep and wake up and still have long hair - so, I watched a couple tutorials on YouTube about beaded weaves, ordered a lil kit off amazon, and viola! We had our own weave salon up and running in my living room.

I don’t have much advice on these, because it really was a pretty hodge-podge DIY sort of situation. We took clip-in extensions, clamped beads to her natural hair and then sewed the wefts to the little beads, which would take me 2 or 3 hours, and we’d do this once every 6 weeks or so. It’s hard to explain and you definitely couldn’t do it alone, but if you’re one of these people with short but super thick hair, it would do you good to look up this process and see if you could convince a friend to help you out. 

KERATIN BONDED EXTENSIONS PROS: Very natural looking, super style-able, practically invisible  CONS: expensive, time consuming, not DIY at all, hard on natural hair, one-time use hair only WORKS BEST ON: very fine/thinning hair  AVERAGE YEARLY COST: ??? it’s expensive as fuck I just know that

I’m pretty sure these are the extensions that Paris Hilton used to advertise. In summary, they’re fucking expensive, but they look exactly like your own hair and they work amazingly for individuals with hair so fine/thinning that tape in extensions would show through. The installation requires really special, intensive training to pull off, so stylists who offer this service usually charge through the roof for it - and you can only use the hair once, since the hair is in tiny strands with tiny bits of keratin as adhesive, that they install using tiny tweezers or something like that. A friend of mine had these and absolutely loved them, but they were very expensive and very time consuming, not to mention very delicate: she had to be super easy on her hair, particularly as the bonds got older with age. 

MICRO BEAD EXTENSIONS / “Dream Catchers” PROS: Super fucking nice. The nicest. The nicest ones you can get.  CONS: Super fucking expensive. The most expensive. The most expensive ones you can get. WORKS BEST ON: Most average hair types - fine to regular to thick, but not thinnest/thickest AVERAGE YEARLY COSTS: probably kajillions. I’ve heard horror stories.

So these are the Rolls Royce of extensions, from what I’ve been told. They essentially combine the techniques of a beaded wave and the keratin bond to create thick individual strands that can add a ton of length in a super natural looking way. I wanted these pretty bad but just couldn’t justify the price. I *think* they can be re-used, too, but I’m not totally sure - I’ve never had them myself, nor do I know anyone well enough to have asked them if they just collect the strands of hair that fall out of their heads or if they throw them out. It’s a weird, kinda personal thing to ask, if you think about it.

EXTENSION Q&A

Q: Where do I buy good hair extensions? A: I bought mine from a store in a mall (bad idea) and from my hair stylist (sort of good idea, sort of bad idea). I’ve heard tons of great things from online sellers like Bellami Hair, but I personally like to touch and see the hair I’m spending hundreds of dollars on in person before I buy it. Call me old fashioned, I guess. My girlfriend bought her hair from Sally’s (clip ins and beaded weave) and they looked great, too. 

Q: What about Amazon? A: If it’s cheap, it’s going to look cheap. Extensions aren’t cheap because they’re an over the top luxury sort of item, so if you’re not willing to pay the price, I argue that it’s not worth it to do them at all. This is coming from someone who literally tried to DIY fix my own tattoo one time because I didn’t want to pay someone to do it. I get it. I’m cheap, too. But extensions don’t work well cheaply done.

Q: I’m not really good with styling my hair. Are hair extensions hard to make look good? A: Yeah, they are - but they’re also an amazing way to force yourself to get good at styling. I sucked at styling my hair before I got tape ins. I didn’t know how to curl or braid, no joke - and now I can do a whole bunch of stuff, because having extensions forced me to learn how to make them look good. They do require work. It’s not like you’ll wake up every day with movie star looking hair - you’ll have enough hair to make into movie star hair, but you still have to actually style it to that point. 

[leisurelypanda]

Life is Good chapter 24

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11676360/chapters/28940058

It was Valentine’s Day and Andrew was an emotional wreck. He had been working himself up into a frenzy. It hadn’t even been a full year since they had met each other again after years apart. They had been together for a grand total of 10 months. It wasn’t exactly a huge length of time. If he had been half his age, 10 months wouldn’t have been that long at all. Certainly not long enough to start thinking of their lives together. At 20, that was generally kind of creepy. Though in fairness, he and Alex had started a family right out of college. They had been planning to be together for their entire live and they had had many happy years together, raising Amanda.

It had been so long since Andrew had thought about having a life partner. Never in a million years would he have guessed that it might have been Craig. Not before they had run into each other again last year.

Craig had also been more secretive and aloof than usual. He never really said what was on his mind, beyond that he had a plan for the evening. He refused to elaborate. The last time he had tried to figure out what was planned, Craig had picked him up and tossed him on the couch to tickle him into submission. The guy had to know how agitated he was, but there was no helping it.

“I’m 1000% sure that they’re up to something,” he said to his daughter. He was skyping her for her birthday. “Even River looks like she knows something that I don’t!”

“Pops, I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for that,” she replied. “And it might be that they do know something you don’t.”

“That’s not helping, Panda,” he said, grinning. “You know that I’m a chronic over thinker.”

“Yup, and I know that some people decided co-opt my birthday and plan great romantic gestures for their significant others,” she said drily. “So if the dude does have something planned, could it be that bad?”

“Noooo, I suppose not…” he replied. “I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“Pops, it’s been, what, 10 years since you’ve had a Valentine to steal attention away from your beloved daughter?” she said. “I would be concerned if you weren’t nervous.”

“Speaking of Valentines…” he said. “Got any exciting plans for your birthday, kiddo?”

“Actually,” she said. “I forgot to mention that I have a hot date with this guy from my digital editing class.”

“Do I need to have the talk with this disgusting lech—I mean, fine young man?” he asked.

“No problem, Pops,” she replied. “If he turns out to only have one thing in mind, my roommate’s got my back.”

They chatted for a while longer about their respective plans for the evening and if Amanda enjoyed her birthday present (since her dorm room was too small for anything she didn’t really need, the gift was basically just a gift card to a restaurant relatively near campus). She was planning on using it with her friends some time, rather than for the date she was going on tonight. Eventually he had to leave to get ready for his own date. He reluctantly bid farewell and good luck to Amanda.

“Try not to worry too much, Popsicle,” she said. “Just be yourself.”

“You know who you’re talking to, right?”

Amanda just laughed and signed out of the skype session. Andrew hesitantly closed his laptop and wandered off to get ready for his hot date. *************************************************************** Craig was literally losing his shit. He was pacing back and forth in his closet as he deliberated on what to wear. Which he normally didn’t care about that much, but since tonight was supposed to be special, he wanted to put actual thought into it. Hence the actual crisis he was having while he tried to figure his shit out.

 Should I go with a white shirt? A red one? Yeah, red makes sense it’s Valentine’s day. But wait, what tie do I wear? Should I wear a black suit? Wait, duh, why wouldn’t I? I can’t wear blue on Valentine’s day. It’s sad. But wait… I wear blue all the time. Am I a sad person? God, when did I become so stereotypically gay?

He really needed to get ready before Andrew was finished skyping Amanda. He wanted to surprise him, and also be surprised by him. Which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to manage when boyfriends lived in the same house, it turned out. He finally settled on a solid black suit with a dark red button up shirt and a tie that was a brighter shade. He got dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to style his hair into that spiky style that Andrew loved, but he didn’t actually wear unless he wasn’t at work. He tended to encourage more professional appearances with the people who worked for him.

He heard the door open and close and then the closet door opened and closed. Craig took one last look in the mirror and judged that he was set and quickly sneaked out of the master suite and rushed downstairs. He wandered into the kitchen where he found the girls and Smashley were mixing together some cookie dough with a bowl of red sugar and a bag of Hershey kisses.

“Hey bros,” he said, grinning, trying to mask his nerves. “What’s cooking?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in, dude,” his ex-wife replied. “Lookin’ good!”

Craig chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Thanks, dude,” he said. “And thanks for agreeing to watch the girls tonight.”

“No problem. Now, come on Craig, don’t be nervous,” she said. “Everything is going to be fine. You ready?”

“I’m pretty sure,” he said. “Just you know…”

“Yeah, I get it,” she said sympathetically. “By the way, Briar has something for you.”

Craig looked at his daughter. She dashed over to her backpack and he bit down the instinctive reflex to tell her not to run in the house, not that she and Hazel ever listened. She took out a big, pink foam heart cut in the uneven style of a child with scissors. She held it out with a big, proud smile on her face. “Bro” was written on it in big, rounded letters.

“We made these in art class,” she said. “You pin it to your shirt, see?”

“Aww that’s sweet, tiny bro. And you wrote our thing on it!” he said, picking her up. “Thanks, Briar.”

“Yeah, we figured if you won’t stop calling each other that, we might as well just get used to it,” she said. “Andrew’s getting one, too! But Hazel made that one.”

“Aren’t you supposed to make these for people you’re interested in,” he asked. “You know, like a boy, not your parents?”

“Dad,” she said. “Boys are still gross. I don’t care what anyone else says.”

“Well, thank goodness for small favors,” he replied, kissing her on the cheek.

“Besides,” she continued. “You and Papa aren’t boys. You’re bros. At least, that’s what mom says.”

Craig laughed, finally feeling some of the nervous energy begin to dissipate. “Heck yeah, we are, tiny bro.”

He pinned the heart to his suit and settled down to wait for Andrew to come down for their date. River was having lots of fun with the flour and Craig steered clear of the cookie station, lest his suit get ruined by River’s toddler aged antics. Hazel showed him Andrew’s heart, which was red and decorated with the word “bro” but with silver, glitter paint. Hazel, for her struggle in school, had very good handwriting. There were also flowers drawn on it whereas Briar had just written, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Bro!” and that was that. She wasn’t as artistic as Hazel.

Finally they heard footsteps walking down the stairs and Andrew walked into the kitchen in a matching black suit with a white button down and a burgundy vest and a red bowtie. Craig’s mouth went dry. It was a rare occasion for Andrew to dress up, but he cleaned up nice. His hair was in its usual pony tail, which he was glad to see. It didn’t really count as a hobby, but he really enjoyed pulling his hairband out of his hair and seeing it fall down around his face. Craig was suddenly thinking of situations where he could have an excuse to drag him along to formal occasions so he could see him in suits. He suddenly wanted to go shopping for suits with this man just to see what he would look like in them. He was the most handsome man Craig had ever seen, there was no mistaking it.

Andrew was the first to recover. “You look great, bro,” he said. Then his eyes fell on the heart pinned to his suit and he grinned. “Where’d you get the heart?”

Craig chuckled and rubbed his neck again, but Hazel answered first. “Briar gave it to him!” she said and ran up to him with her heart. “Here’s yours! You’re ‘sposed to pin it to your suit!”

“Thanks Hazel,” he said sweetly. “I’ll put it on right now.”

Craig cleared his throat, having finally found his voice. “You look amazing, bro,” he said. He walked up to him and kissed him lightly. He smelled of aftershave and cologne and Craig was nuts for it.

Andrew blushed. “Thanks, bro,” he said. He pinned the heart to his suit as promised and looked back up. “You ready to go?”

Craig responded by taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. “Ready when you are, dude.”

“Oh! Before you go,” Smashley shouted from the kitchen. “I’m taking the girls back to my place tonight as soon as they’re done with their stuff.”

“What? Why?” Craig asked. “When did this happen?”

Smashley gave him a look. The look she reserved for when he asked a dumb question. “Dude, it’s Valentine’s Day.”

Realization dawned on him and he felt his blush creeping up on his face. “Oh. Right.” he said eloquently. “Thanks. Behave yourselves, girls.” He rushed out of the house leaving behind a chorus of questions about why them going to their mother’s house just because it was Valentine’s Day.

Andrew was grinning at him. “Shut up,” he said, though he couldn’t help but grin himself.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said through bits of helpless giggling. “So, what are we doing after all this? We just going to come home and sleep? Is Smashley getting the girls away from your snoring?”

“I’m never hearing the end of this,” Craig said as they got in the car. *************************************************************** Craig was uncharacteristically closed lipped about where they were going. Andrew wasn’t nervous. Well he was, but not about this. He was trying his best not to fidget and be obvious that he was nervous. Which was sabotaged by the silence that stretched on and on as they drove wherever Craig had in mind. Andrew hadn’t felt more awkward around him since they first met in college. And that was saying something, considering how awkward their first date had been when they were surrounded by thirsty softball moms. Finally Craig turned into a parking lot and Andrew’s jaw dropped.

“The Boar’s Crown?” he asked. It was by far the fanciest restaurant in the area.

“It’s our first Valentine’s Day together, bro,” he said. “I wanted to make it special for you.”

Andrew felt his face start to burn. “How did you get a reservation for this place?”

Craig smiled. “I know the owner.”

They walked into the restaurant hand-in-hand and Andrew’s jaw dropped again when he saw who the host was.

“Robert???” he exclaimed. “This is your restaurant?”

Robert looked… clean. And sober. He was wearing a nice suit and his face was clean shaven. He grinned at him as he took their coats.

“What? You thought I was jobless?” he asked as he hung their coats up.

“Well…” Andrew replied. “I kinda thought you were a tomb raider or something.”

“Only when I’m hunting cryptids,” he said. Robert marked their arrival down and grabbed two menus. “Right this way.”

The restaurant was a large and open with all the ambiance of a high end establishment. The lights were turned down and The tables all had red, pink, or white tablecloths with matching napkins neatly folded in crystal wineglasses. There was also a cleared space in the center of the room with an elevated wooden platform. Nearby, there was another stage with microphones and a piano.

A dancefloor, Andrew realized. I wonder if we’ll dance. God, when was the last time I actually danced with someone. Do remember how?

Robert broke his reverie by presenting their table to them. It was, shockingly, near the dancefloor. Andrew’s heart started racing. Well, more than it already was He wasn’t sure whether he was excited or terrified.

“Enjoy your evening, lovebirds,” Robert smirked.

“Thanks, dude,” Craig said and he sat down. Andrew hastily sat down across from him. Craig grinned, bemused. “You okay, bro?”

“I’m fine,” he whimpered. He looked up and met Craig’s eyes. Craig’s look had gone from bemused to smug.

He’s planning something, he thought, scowling at his lover. He promptly opened the menu and hid behind it.

This was definitely the fanciest restaurant Andrew had ever been to. The meal was served in several courses and Andrew had never heard of most of the foods outside of the entrée section. Even then there were foods that he had never heard of. None of them actually listed a price. Thankfully their waitress was patient and knowledgeable about it and answered all his questions. He placed his order and tried not to be concerned about what the price would end up being.

“So is this your first time here, dude?” Andrew asked.

Craig smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, actually,” he admitted. “I’ve been to other of Robert’s restaurants in the area, but this is the best by far.”

“You were never curious about it?” he asked.

“Well…” he said. “There was never anyone I cared about enough to take out here.”

Andrew blushed furiously and couldn’t help but wish that they still had some menus to hide behind. He contented himself with hiding behind his wineglass. It was a lovely, earthy white wine. It didn’t help the blush at all. He didn’t have to look up to know that Craig was grinning at him. He did, however, hear Craig pour himself a glass.

“A toast?” he asked. Andrew looked up at him.

“What do we toast to?” he asked, smiling.

“To us, of course, bro,” he said. “To our first Valentine’s Day together.”

Andrew smiled as they clinked their glasses together. “The first of many.”

It was Craig’s turn to blush as he sipped from his glass. The first course arrived and the music began to play. It wasn’t anything special. Just someone playing the piano on the stage. He wondered what kind of music they would play. It was hard to hope for a dance when he didn’t know they were going to play next. The songs played and a few couples got up to dance. Some of them did ballroom type stuff, but most of the young ones especially just sort of swayed with the music.

Craig seemed antsy. Like he was pumping himself up mentally for something. Does he have something planned, too? Andrew thought. Oh God, what if we steal each other’s thunder? What if it’s really awkward? What if I totally screw up? Maybe I should just hold off on all—

Suddenly the pianist began to play one of those old-fashioned love songs, the kind that they used to play in black and white movies back in the day. Andrew could swear he knew the cords to this song, but he couldn’t remember what the song was. Then Craig stood up and held out his hand.

“Come on, let’s dance,” he said.

Andrew’s heart was racing. The last/only time he had danced in front of so many people was when he married Alex. Well, it was a partner ceremony. Gay marriage hadn’t been legal at the time, but still. He wondered if he still knew how to follow. He took Craig’s hand and followed him to the dance floor. Craig’s hand went to his waist and, amazingly, he gracefully led him in a waltz. The pianist began to sing.

 Some day, when I'm awfully low When the world is cold I will feel a glow just thinking of you And the way you look tonight

 Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm And your cheeks so soft There is nothing for me but to love you And the way you look tonight

“You chose to dance during an old Frank Sinatra song?” Andrew asked.

“What?” Craig asked, grinning. “You like old movies and stuff like that.”

“You know me so well, bro,” he replied. He stared into Craig’s eyes as they danced. Craig smiled down at him. Somehow the moves came back to him and he managed to move through the steps without stepping on Craig’s toes. They danced through the first song, then the second. Then the third song played and it wasn’t an old love song. It was definitely a newer song. An alto vocalist had come on stage to sing this one. He didn’t recognize it. It was a beautiful song, though. When the song reached the first chorus, he started to tear up.

 I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid. I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more

He rested his head against Craig’s shoulder as they danced. He felt his lover softly kiss his cheek as the music played on. When the song finished, he stopped, took Craig’s face in his hands and looked up into his eyes. They were shining as his arms wrapped around his waist.

“I love you so much, Andrew,” he said. “I never thought I’d have a chance to be with you. But here you are.”

“I never thought I would ever have a second chance at love,” Andrew replied. “But then you ran into my life, literally, and the year since then have been the most amazing, happiest of my life. Well, aside from the months when Amanda first started sleeping through the night.”

Craig laughed. “I’d be offended, but I know what you mean, bro,” he said.

Andrew backed out of Craig’s embrace and took his hands in his. “You’re the most amazing person in the world, Craig,” he said, dropping to one knee. He pulled out the box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the ring he had bought. “Craig Cahn will you marry me?”

Craig looked down at him, stunned. “Dude!”

Andrew’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“I was gonna ask you, dude!” he said, bringing out his own little black box. There was a ripple of laughter from the other customers, who of course had taken notice of the proposal on the dance floor.

“Sooo…” Andrew said. “Is that a yes?”

“Dude! Of course I’ll marry you,” Craig said. Andrew’s face broke into a grin as he took the ring and put it on Craig’s finger to their audience’s enthusiastic applause. Andrew got up in time for Craig to pull him into a passionate kiss. Andrew blushed as people whistled and cheered.

“I love you, bro,” he whispered against Craig’s lips.

“I love you, too,” Craig replied. They returned to their table, where their waitress was waiting for them with another bottle of wine.

“Congratulations,” she said, smiling. “This bottle comes with our compliments. Enjoy!”

They thanked her and she left to get their food. Craig picked up the previous bottle and poured a glass for them both.

In the background the alto sang a lovely song to other dancing couples while they spent the evening enjoying each other's company. Andrew couldn't help but think that it applied to them perfectly.

 I only know what I know The passing years will show You've kept my love so young, so new

 And time after time You'll hear me say that I'm So lucky to be loving you

“You know what, bro?” Craig asked.

“What?” Andrew asked, amused that his boyfrie— fiancé was still using that word from their college days. He doubted that they would ever stop.

“Life is good,” Craig said, holding up a glass.

Andrew held up his glass and they toasted. “To life.”

“Our life,” Craig said. “And to our new adventure.”

End of Part 1

[lusineinthesky]

knowing your partner can potentially make writing together a lot easier. repost, don’t reblog. you don’t have to do it though!

tagged by: @stcgnant​

tagging: @astraeignis​ @thosewhowearmasks​ @thecodekeeper​ @periculo​ @intergalacticxmisfits

– basics.

•   name : Darian, but I go by my middle name on the internet so Skye •   pronouns : She/her •   sexuality : Heterosexual •   taken or single : Single pringle

– three facts.

I’ve seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy so many times that I literally have the extended version memorized. They’re my favorite movies, and I could seriously watch them every day without getting bored. 

I took years of Japanese language in college but ended up studying abroad in Korea bc it was a fully paid program.

One time I ate an entire baguette in one day. Don’t eat an entire baguette in one day.

– experience. •   how long (months / years?) : Started when I was eight on Neopets and we’re going on twenty-four this year.  •   platforms you’ve used : The progression went from Neopets Forums -> GaiaOnline/Invisionfree -> Invisionfree/Proboards -> Invisionfree/Proboards/Jcink -> Tumblr •   best experience : Had a Kingdom Hearts site once upon a time where the fellow admins and I cherry-picked the members by messaging them on Gaia. We ended up with this really talented group of people who didn’t know each other but got along so well, and it was just a really good time. Generally speaking, I’ve had several amazing writing partners. Any time I can go through and develop character relationships and let them have completed arcs is a really satisfying experience. 

– muse preferences. •   female or male : Both! I know I only have Lucy here, but I used to play an equal number of boys and girls on forums. My boys tend to either be spoiled brats or really flirty but actually good guys, though. •   fluff, angst or smut : All three depending on the time and chemistry between muses tbqh. I like all three when they occur organically. If we’re talking like HEY WE’RE PLOTTING AND I NEED TO PICK A GENRE then probably fluff honestly. Have you seen my tomato plant-

• long or short replies : I don’t like specifying reply length because it takes me back to elitist forum days where I HAD to write 1000 words at a time to be considered a decent writer. I write however much I feel like, so that sometimes means that things that were short get long at times and things that were long get short. I don’t like to force myself to write more than I think is necessary for quality’s sake. With that said, I don’t expect people to match me if I go on a tangent or internal monologue ifc. I just need a reaction and initiation for further interaction in a reply and we’re gucci. •   best time to write : On my days off, qq I only get two per week, and they tend to be Tuesdays/Fridays so everyone else is waiting for the weekend like normal people and then I’m just like /chained to waffle irons and waves at from a window •   are you like your muse(s) : Depends on the muse. They usually have little bits and pieces of me.

[andreafestefano]

How to build a DIY potting bench {with my Dad!}

Well hello there! Thanks so much for your excitement over our patio project. ;) Today they finished installing and mortaring the fireplace. Tomorrow they start applying the stone. SO. EXCITED. Because we are on an outdoor roll lately, I got some mojo up in here and tackled a project I’ve wanted to do for years. I’ve always wanted a potting bench…you know, for all the plants I can’t keep alive. ;) I wanted it for planting, but also for entertaining. A separate spot to put ice, drinks, food, whatever...sounded awesome. (This is an updated post from years ago that I'm sharing again!) So the potting bench was the perfect answer. And my Dad said he’d help me build one. He came over and I showed him my inspiration photo:

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. 

See my policies and disclosure page for more information.

That would be the Abbott Island from Pottery Barn (of course) and it is pretty awesome, yes? The price is pretty awesome too – as in I’m pretty awesomely going to pass out, $1300. Dad’s response? “We can totally do that.” OK, I added the totally…he didn’t say that part. But he knew we could do it! We talked about what type of wood I wanted to use. Initially I wanted cedar (because it would hold up best outside) but it is more expensive. Then Dad asked if I’m good about putting outdoor stuff away or covering it for the winter and my response it was a quick and definite NO. So we went with cedar. :) That's my Dad way up there! We got our supplies – two 4 x 4’s, a few 1 x 4’s and a bunch of 1 x 6’s. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll show you those in a video below.) We cut the 4 x 4’s to 36 inches, then stood them up to start our design: We cut the 1 x 4’s to the length we needed (more on that in a bit), then attached them with screws to the top of each 4 x 4 and about a foot from the bottom of each as well (for the bottom shelf I wanted): You can see here how the 1 x 4’s (the long horizontal boards) go off the edge of the legs a bit: That’s because we created a “frame” around the whole thing, on top and bottom: No mitered (angled) cuts – just simple, straight ones. The best kind. ;) For added support, we put a couple more boards on the inside of each leg as well:

See how basic this is? It’s just boards screwed into boards. If you have tools, YOU can do this! We added a couple more boards to the middle, again with screws – just for a bit more support: More support never hurts. Then we cut 1 x 6’s to the depth of the table (about 25 inches) and laid them across the bottom. Yet again, we just screwed them in. No glue, no nails. Just screws. Easy peasy. I swear. We cut more 1 x 6’s to fit the top, this way going with the length of the table. Our cuts were a bit off and we were getting a little tired and a lot hot, so we just installed them, then Dad cut down the edge with the jigsaw:

    It worked like charm! And then…we were done. Start to finish, it took us two hours. TWO HOURS. I can’t believe how fast it went! We were both in a groove, because this whole thing went like buttah. Not one issue -- we couldn’t believe it. I found some basic, low profile hooks and attached those to the sides: I have no idea what I’ll hang on them but they look FAB! I love it so much!!: I did a quick video to show you the details up close, just in case this isn’t clear. It really is a basic as it looks though – it came together easily. Here’s the video and I cannot believe I put my face on here, seriously. I had been sweating profusely for two hours straight. And I say “um,” “basic,” and “just” an awful lot. But this should help you see more of how it was built:

You can see on the video that the bench is placed over our fireplace vent right now but the fireplace is not on and the pilot light is not lit. It will be moved over. Do not put anything near your vent! So here’s the PB version: And ours: The PB version is 50 inches wide, 28 deep and 36 high. Mine is 60 inches wide, 28 deep and 37 high. I didn’t even plan on the dimensions matching up so much, it just worked out that way. :) The cedar wood cost about $130 – not a super cheap project, but considering it’s $1000 cheaper than my inspiration, I’m thrilled. And mine is even wider than theirs! By the way -- this could easily work as an island in a kitchen! I’m trying to decide if I’m going to add some wheels – I found these super cool casters: I just don’t know if they’re chunky enough. I may put them on just to see – it won’t hurt! Now…the BIG question! What to do now? I had planned all along to stain or paint it. When I mentioned paint to my Dad I think he may have had a small conniption. ;) He said the cedar will age beautifully over time and he would just leave it. And when I hosed everything off, it was even more gorgeous – the water brought out all the beauty in the wood: So now I’m leaning toward just a coat of poly or Tung oil, to bring out the tones of the wood. What would you do? Paint it? Stain it? Leave it as is? I know what my Dad would do. ;) Once I figure that out, I’m going to start using it and I cannot wait! Speaking of my Dad – HE IS AWESOME!! It thrills me to no end that we can DIY together like this. I love that we continue to make father/daughter memories, even as I get older. And he reads this blog, every day.  :) Thanks Dad, I love you! Go see how I finally finished this pretty potting bench here!:

And see how I used these same steps to build a DIY wood vanity for our son's old bathroom:  

See more of our home here. To shop items in our home, click here! Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email. 

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[lukerhill]

How to build a DIY potting bench {with my Dad!}

Well hello there! Thanks so much for your excitement over our patio project. ;) Today they finished installing and mortaring the fireplace. Tomorrow they start applying the stone. SO. EXCITED. Because we are on an outdoor roll lately, I got some mojo up in here and tackled a project I’ve wanted to do for years. I’ve always wanted a potting bench…you know, for all the plants I can’t keep alive. ;) I wanted it for planting, but also for entertaining. A separate spot to put ice, drinks, food, whatever...sounded awesome. (This is an updated post from years ago that I'm sharing again!) So the potting bench was the perfect answer. And my Dad said he’d help me build one. He came over and I showed him my inspiration photo:

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. 

See my policies and disclosure page for more information.

That would be the Abbott Island from Pottery Barn (of course) and it is pretty awesome, yes? The price is pretty awesome too – as in I’m pretty awesomely going to pass out, $1300. Dad’s response? “We can totally do that.” OK, I added the totally…he didn’t say that part. But he knew we could do it! We talked about what type of wood I wanted to use. Initially I wanted cedar (because it would hold up best outside) but it is more expensive. Then Dad asked if I’m good about putting outdoor stuff away or covering it for the winter and my response it was a quick and definite NO. So we went with cedar. :) That's my Dad way up there! We got our supplies – two 4 x 4’s, a few 1 x 4’s and a bunch of 1 x 6’s. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll show you those in a video below.) We cut the 4 x 4’s to 36 inches, then stood them up to start our design: We cut the 1 x 4’s to the length we needed (more on that in a bit), then attached them with screws to the top of each 4 x 4 and about a foot from the bottom of each as well (for the bottom shelf I wanted): You can see here how the 1 x 4’s (the long horizontal boards) go off the edge of the legs a bit: That’s because we created a “frame” around the whole thing, on top and bottom: No mitered (angled) cuts – just simple, straight ones. The best kind. ;) For added support, we put a couple more boards on the inside of each leg as well:

See how basic this is? It’s just boards screwed into boards. If you have tools, YOU can do this! We added a couple more boards to the middle, again with screws – just for a bit more support: More support never hurts. Then we cut 1 x 6’s to the depth of the table (about 25 inches) and laid them across the bottom. Yet again, we just screwed them in. No glue, no nails. Just screws. Easy peasy. I swear. We cut more 1 x 6’s to fit the top, this way going with the length of the table. Our cuts were a bit off and we were getting a little tired and a lot hot, so we just installed them, then Dad cut down the edge with the jigsaw:

    It worked like charm! And then…we were done. Start to finish, it took us two hours. TWO HOURS. I can’t believe how fast it went! We were both in a groove, because this whole thing went like buttah. Not one issue -- we couldn’t believe it. I found some basic, low profile hooks and attached those to the sides: I have no idea what I’ll hang on them but they look FAB! I love it so much!!: I did a quick video to show you the details up close, just in case this isn’t clear. It really is a basic as it looks though – it came together easily. Here’s the video and I cannot believe I put my face on here, seriously. I had been sweating profusely for two hours straight. And I say “um,” “basic,” and “just” an awful lot. But this should help you see more of how it was built:

You can see on the video that the bench is placed over our fireplace vent right now but the fireplace is not on and the pilot light is not lit. It will be moved over. Do not put anything near your vent! So here’s the PB version: And ours: The PB version is 50 inches wide, 28 deep and 36 high. Mine is 60 inches wide, 28 deep and 37 high. I didn’t even plan on the dimensions matching up so much, it just worked out that way. :) The cedar wood cost about $130 – not a super cheap project, but considering it’s $1000 cheaper than my inspiration, I’m thrilled. And mine is even wider than theirs! By the way -- this could easily work as an island in a kitchen! I’m trying to decide if I’m going to add some wheels – I found these super cool casters: I just don’t know if they’re chunky enough. I may put them on just to see – it won’t hurt! Now…the BIG question! What to do now? I had planned all along to stain or paint it. When I mentioned paint to my Dad I think he may have had a small conniption. ;) He said the cedar will age beautifully over time and he would just leave it. And when I hosed everything off, it was even more gorgeous – the water brought out all the beauty in the wood: So now I’m leaning toward just a coat of poly or Tung oil, to bring out the tones of the wood. What would you do? Paint it? Stain it? Leave it as is? I know what my Dad would do. ;) Once I figure that out, I’m going to start using it and I cannot wait! Speaking of my Dad – HE IS AWESOME!! It thrills me to no end that we can DIY together like this. I love that we continue to make father/daughter memories, even as I get older. And he reads this blog, every day.  :) Thanks Dad, I love you! Go see how I finally finished this pretty potting bench here!:

And see how I used these same steps to build a DIY wood vanity for our son's old bathroom:  

See more of our home here. To shop items in our home, click here! Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email. 

This content is property of Thrifty Decor Chick LLC. If you are reading this on any other site other than https://ift.tt/1kRxOJ2 or one of her social media platforms, please contact her immediately (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com). Any other use of this content is strictly forbidden.

[ronaldbosieyiii]

Installing Shop Fans – Big Ass Fans

With it coming up on the holidays, things are winding down for me in the shop. I’ll be taking off a little bit of time to regroup from my extremely busy year and spend time with family…..It occurred to me earlier today that I built a 4,000 sqft shop this year, which is just incredable. It seems like it was so long ago. 2018 has been outstanding and I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with me this year as I tackled a large assortment of projects. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. But one last video for the year. As I was looking through footage I realized I installed fans earlier this summer in the shop but never released the video covering the process. So lets jump into it. 

Fans I installed:

Big Ass Fans

Haiku Big Ass Fans

I installed two different kinds, inside the shop I installed a giant Big Ass Fan in the center of my woodworking space and four smaller Hakui fans on the covered porch.

If you aren’t familiar with the Big Ass Fan brand, they make crazy efficient and stunning looking equipment. If you watched the shop build you’ll remember that I installed their lights. Since I wanted to place this 7’ diameter fan in the center of my woodworking space, I first started by taking out the light that marked center of my ceiling then also removing a few ceiling panels where the fan would need to go. 

This size of fan requires a mount to be fabricated that will span across the bottom cord of two trusses which is why I’m having to take down the ceiling panels to expose the bones. If you don’t want or require such a large fan there are models that will allow you to attach the fan to one truss which would mean you wouldn’t have to expose the trusses. 

I fabricated my mount from two pieces of angle iron backed up to one another. I first cut them to the length needed to span two trusses then joined them together by drilling a hole dead center for a nut and bolt, using my Triton Super Jaws and a pair of vise grips to hold them in place for me. I repeated the steps in order to make two brackets at the same time. 

After getting those punched I moved the pieces down to the ground, separated them, and drilled two holes on the flat portion that will be sitting on the truss.

With those together now I grabbed the hardware that will attach to these mounts in order to hang the fan from. I positioned it in center and marked the location of the holes that needed to be drilled out. When punching through metal I always work up to the final size hole if it’s somewhat large. So for these I start off with punching a 1/4” hole, then step up to the final 1/2” size which is the bolt I’m using. 

Once I got those tighter I ran the wiring through the center tube for the electrical bits then dropped that down in the center of the mount. Now it was ready to set into place. To keep it from moving I temporarily clamped it in place while I crawled up top and attached it with lags to the bottom cord of the trusses. 

Something I really love about this fan is the wall mounted remote, it’s more of a speed indicator as it not only turns the fan off and on but also dictates how fast or slow it spins.

I didn’t want to run the wiring on the outside of my ceiling material so that meant I had to crawl up into the attic….let me remind you this during the heat of summer!….and get into the tiny tiny point on the far side of the roof in order to feed down the wire to Brian. My recommendation is if you are building a shop, even if you don’t install fans at the start, leave yourself a wire from where you’ll eventually want the controller to the placement of the fan. Just coil it up and leave it in the attic so you don’t have to do all this crawling around. 

Alright, next up was mounting the motor into place, which might take two people because it’s pretty heavy.

Next up was mounting the airfoils. These do come in different diameters but mine are 3’ long, which including the center hub span, makes this fan 7’ total. And let me tell you….it’s crazy how much air this fan can move, and also how still and quiet it is. Even when I crank it up all the way you don’t hear any sounds from it other than the air itself moving.

And that’s it for the installation part of the big fan, so next was throwing back up the ceiling panels that were taken down earlier. To get around the fan’s stem I used a rotary tool to make a cut around it. 

While I was mounting fans, next I moved to the porch. I love working on my covered shop porch when the weather is nice enough so having the option to get some moving air out there was a must for me. For this area I’m going with a smaller Big Ass Fan called Haniku. These fans have over 1000 options for finishing combinations but I went with Carmel and Black to match the cedar beams I have on the porch. 

These fans are ultra quick to assemble. It was honestly as simple as attaching the fan blades, attaching the center tube with the wiring in it, then adding both hubs that keeps the top and bottom ends of the tube looking nice once it’s mounted.

Haiku has won more than 75 international design and technology awards and one thing they strive for and hit, is ensuring their fans don’t wobble. I found out they have a 13 step process to hand balance each fan so you won’t have to be distracted by the repeated off balance rhythm so many fans make. 

After I mounted the bracket on the ceiling where I wanted the fan, I placed the ball into the socket, that’s what I’m describing it as at least, and turned it on. These fans also come with a remote and allow you to control the speed. Ha we were laughing because there is an actual “whoosh” button : )

Also, big high five on not only the quality of the fans, but also the instructions, and even making the remote magnetic. Just from head to toe, from aesthetics to function, everything on these products screens thought, effort, and quality. 

If you’re looking at mounting fans in the shop or even in your house I can’t recommend these enough. They are highly efficient, exceeding the Energy Star requirements for ceiling fans, extremely quiet, and have a customizable look for every space. 

If you’d like some of your own, check out the Big Ass Fan website here.

And while you’re checking things out, check out April Wilkerson merch here.

Ok, that’s it for 2018! Not only was I able to build my shop this year, I was able to put a big dent in my to-do list for outfitting and personalizing it. And that’s a great feeling. Thanks for coming along.

I’ll see you in 2019.

The post Installing Shop Fans – Big Ass Fans appeared first on Wilker Do's.

from Wilker Do's http://bit.ly/2Sq84dA from Ronald Bosley III on Blogger http://bit.ly/2AhrJFk

[nicholaslovett-blog]

How I Research and Organize Literary Magazines

How a guy that’s been published once tries to get published again.

PART TWO

In part one I wrote about the vast and confusing literary magazine ecosphere. Poets & Writers lists over 1200 literary magazines that accept unsolicited submissions. Where to start? If you followed the first post, you’ve already read and digested the Pushcart Prize, and you’re hip to the best of the best. What about the rest? Once you’re fluent with the 50-odd magazines where every writer sends work, where to take it from there? Because unless you’re Karen Russell and your first publication is the New Yorker, you have make some kind of sense of the remaining 1150 venues, and it’s not BCCing three hundred editors with rich text pasted in the body of an email. 

Keep reading, and I’ll tell you where to find them, how to interpret them, and how to organize the venues. 

I. Where to Find Literary Magazines

There’s more than one way to skin this cat. The big list, as I’ve mentioned, is on Poets & Writers website. That’s all of them. However, they all have different submission periods, different themes, etcetera, making this tool as unwieldy as hanging a piece of drywall. 

Duotrope will allow you to narrow a search. The service is five dollars a month, and you’ll get stats on each market. How long they take to tender a rejection, how many users have been accepted and that percentage, and it will put “Temp Closed” in big, red letters, saving time. This is the best of the best of internet crowdsourcing. There’s also a helpful email list that goes out on Wednesdays with new and newly reopened markets. I use Duotrope regularly, but that’s no longer where I find venues. 

Sadly, Writer’s Market, imo, is obsolete. I remember a family member of mine, a poet, giving me a copy in high school. That was my first formal introduction to writing beyond 5-point essays and the Sylvia Plath facsimiles I wrote in honors English 10. There’s not much here that you can’t get from the internet. There’s something to be said for having all of the contests in one place from A-Z, instead of scattershot announcements via Twitter or email, but I’m not sure that’s worth 15 bucks. The articles at the beginning of the book are pre-internet, when writers had a tough time accessing career information. Pre-Writer’s Digest, honestly.

Where I find markets is Entropy’s “Where to Submit” list. This is what that looks like. The compiler of this list should never have to buy a drink at an event where writers are present. The list is bi-monthly, and divided into four sections: Presses, Chapbooks, Journals and Anthology, and Residencies, Fellowships, Conferences and Opportunities. The journals section has everything from “Zzzyzva” to “Wanton Fuckery.” (Don’t lie, you just threw that into Google). Like every other list, it’s overwhelming. But it’s monthly, and if the magazine accepts submissions in the second listed month of the title, that’s specified. Start with the A’s, then the Z’s, then the Ms, and you’ll be ahead of the game. I didn’t get them all from the August/September list, but I found five prime, previously unknown-to-me markets. 

The other source not be forgotten is “Calls for Submissions.” These are markets that explicitly need more work to read, so yeah, might want to keep up with those. Poets and Writers, The Review Review, and New Pages all list markets with open calls for submissions. Some are niche, many are not. 

II. How to Interpret a Magazine’s Work

We’ve found the market, how do we know what it likes? Simply, don’t send a sci-fi story to Ellery Queen, and all that. I don’t want to go there, that should be obvious by now. But I also don’t want to get into dense literary criticism, which I probably can’t pull off as-is. Though, I don’t think you have to.

Start with the submissions page, where you’ll get all the relevant info about formatting, submission window, SASE or not, fees. Often, there’s a mission statement. Maybe they only publish teenagers from Borneo? That’s something to know. The mission statement is something of a wish-list, but with 1000s of submissions, believe they can find it. Here’s a common one I just saw from TIMBER:

“We’re...interested in hybrid work that pushes against the limits of genre.” 

Okay. That makes sense. They’re more likely, if this were a novel, to publish Phillip Meyer or Benjamin Percy than Don Winslow or James Ellroy.

My next stop is the contributor’s notes. Magazines publish writers from one stage of their career, more often than not. I divide them like this:

a. Heavyweights - Names any writer would recognize like Stephen King, James Patterson, Joyce Carol Oates, Lauren Groff, Junot, TC Boyle, Jeffrey Eugenides. The upper-crust. The careers we would all love to have. 

b. Pros - Full Professors with a track record, or well-known names in the literary mag world like Stephen Dixon, Tea Obreht, Deb Olin-Unferth, or Steve Almond. 

c. Up and Comers - MFAs, adjunct professors, emerging writers with a few credits. I would say the literary magazine bear is stuffed with 70 percent of this class of writer.

d. New Writers - MFA students, writers with two or less publications. 

That’s not too hard, eh? If you read the submission guidelines, the mission statements, and get a feel for the writers, you’ve eliminated 3/5 venues. Keep in mind, this is after you’ve narrowed a macro-list. So we’re down to 2 of 10 venues. 

The last bit I’ll keep short and sweet: the aesthetic. There’s a long answer that I won’t get to here, and a short answer. If you have a PhD in English Literature, you can read the last three years of issues and find the needle in a haystack. 

Or...you can submit to the journals whose work you like. That’s it! Read two stories. Do you like what you read? Submit. Do you have a first person story about punk teenagers (like half of mine) and you’re looking at a journal like The Gettysburg Review that takes a very educated look to its subject matter, like Melville’s treatment of manual labor? Don’t. At the end of the slush pile, editors have about 50 stories that are worth publishing. From there, a theme emerges, and they pick their favorites. Don’t overthink it, but don’t send your work just anywhere. Often times, editors will just list their aesthetic preferences, like the Master’s Review love of “interiority.”

III. How to Organize Literary Magazines

Should all this info just go into a computer document with the title “mysubzyo,” or a desk drawer on pieces of scrap paper? Nope, but you can figure this one out. I keep an alphabetized box of index cards with the following categories written down on each:

Editors: Need to list the right editor for your cover letter. 

Length: Will be explicitly listed, but some favor long, some short. Online-only venues favor stories that are less than 2500 words, because that’s what our minds tolerate from the computer. 

Submissions: When, how, and how often.

Contributors: See above.

Story: Which story I liked the most, and why.

Thoughts: Three or four lines of editorial.

Front of the card: I list the name, the SASE address, and the mission statement comments. 

Top line of the back: Tier ranking, where they’re from, and how much, if any, cost to submit.

How does this all come together for me? My wife went out breakfast with her mother yesterday, and I decided to do some research, and submit.. I spend at least 2-3 Saturday mornings a month pounding the pavement, and more before the academic calendars open for submissions. 

I narrowed the Entropy list to three venues: The Hour After Happy Hour Review, Craft, and The Atticus Review. I looked at their websites, and they were high-quality. I dove deeper and found:

-The Hour After Happy Hour Review was a great fit. Their mission statement included “a subject few have thought of” and “quirky.” I have a story I’m trying to place about rehab kids working in a South Florida call center which matches up nicely. I read two of their stories that matched this aesthetic, and I didn’t feel embarrassed to put my work next to.

-The Atticus Review was a good aesthetic fit for the same story, but has the edict that all stories need to be single-spaced. That’s ok. But I already have documents with and without contact info, and documents in PDF, .doc, and .docx. That’s not even digressing into what I have to do to compile these formats in Scrivener. I’m not willing to spend 10 minutes reformatting after spending hours before my story was ready. This isn’t a knock against their policy, but just as editors can be arbitrary and dislike certain flubs or themes, I can do the same. So there.

-Craft is a new concept from the Master’s Review. Like the title suggests, they focus on the craft of writing. The stories were good, but after looking at their contributors notes, I saw a lot of reprints and only writers out of my weight class. Which makes sense. Each story is concluded with an author’s writerly note on a craft element, and this isn’t 101. There were no emerging writers, of which the Master’s Review specializes. This market was not a fit, and while I’ll read their stuff (instead of the red-meat, high calorie political journalism that’s taken deep ro(o)t on social media), I won’t waste my time or their with a submission.

Hope this was a help. If anybody wants to compare notes, they can email me at lovett.nicholas@outlook.com or @lovettfiction