#EXPENSIVE HOBBY!! EXPENSIVE HOBBY!! EXPENSIVE HOBBY!!

[konigsblog]

Pathetic!Konig with one of those insanely expensive real silicone dolls that he's had custom made to look very similar to his favourite little Darling. Practicing on his Doll so he can get it right with his Darling every single night.

Oh, he absolutely would.

He'd dress the customised and personalised doll in articles of your stolen clothing, usually worn and filthy pairs of panties that he's slobbered over and jerked off with, coated in strings of his milky and pearly semen. The doll is a perfect fit, with the exact dimensions and height. König will buy this doll expensive and pricey lingerie, fantasising that he has you in front of him, spread out and prepared to take his hung, sore cock for the first time. If you found out about his little perverted and twisted hobby, you'd shame and berate him for his audacity, be horrified and disgusted of the man you've grown to know and love. He knows it's disturbing, but he can't bring himself to put an end to his wicked and gross habits.

He eagerly checks his phone for notifications, searching for a message from you, eagerly waiting for a good morning message. You consume his every thought, plague his rotten mind. You haunt his every waking moment and the dreams he has, leading to him having a painfully stiff, leaking boner every single morning. He takes pictures of the sex doll in a plethora of different positions, grinding his hard length into the hole while murmuring your name drunkenly through strings of hoarse and guttural grumbles.

He plans everything out so meticulously and carefully, making sure that every detail has been throughout and prepared for. He just wants to practice on a doll before he finally has you. You know he's inexperienced, Mäuschen... He can't get you out of his head. :(

[cripplecharacters]

i'm debating giving one of my OCs strabismus exotropia. the work/story is YA SFF. part of my reasoning is he's one of two characters in the group who's the Brains, his specialty being history and languages, and his magic relates to mind reading and telekinesis, and i know too often characters with eye differences are portrayed as the opposite of smart. one of his big hobbies is reading and i know strabismus can affect it bc of focus/headaches, so i thought maybe reading/being fluent in braille could help him engage in his hobby when actual reading is getting on his nerves / refer to his amblyopic eye as his "permanent side eye" as he can be quite critical of others sometimes. his personality is being smug but normally right and very sure of himself (though not without his insecurities), he's seen as a bit of a Pretty Boy (handsome), and is the youngest of his group of friends so they do look out for and protect him a bit more. is there anything else i should look out for, or any way i may be playing into tropes i'm unaware of? he's also queer (gay) and brown (pakistani coded) if that helps any provide context, and has an antagonistic bickering but genuine friendship with another boy (the other brains) that eventually develops into a romance

Hello!

In general, this sounds like a perfectly fine character concept and there's nothing about his personality/portrayal that's immediately jumping out at me. He sounds like a well rounded character, which is something I'm very glad to see!

One thing I would like to mention is that, while braille may be a useful tool for him at times, it's not likely to be a feasible solution for his day-to-day life.

Braille books aren't like regular printed books, there are quite a few differences that make them much more difficult to use:

Size:

Braille books aren't easy to carry around. With the possible exception of some smaller children's books, most are pretty thick and VERY heavy. In fact, many braille books are split up into several separate volumes for this reason.

To put the difference into perspective, let's look at The Fellowship of the Ring (The first Lord of the Rings book).

A standard printed copy generally weighs around 1.5 lbs, give or take a bit if it's a hardcover. A braille copy of the same book weighs over 15 lbs.

This printed copy has 432 pages including pages for spacing, author's notes, etc. The braille copy has 873, not including any non-text pages.

The physical dimensions of braille vs printed books also differs greatly. While a printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring may easily fit in a small bag or even a pocket, the braille copy is around the size of a standard three ring binder (In terms of length and width at least).

This is all to say that taking a braille book with him out on the go wouldn't exactly be a simple task and, because of how braille is read, reading on the bus or on a park bench or anywhere that isn't a flat surface without disruption wouldn't be a possibility.

Cost:

Aside from the problems with physically reading and using braille books, it's also very difficult to acquire them in the first place. Braille books are EXPENSIVE.

Depending on the availability of the book, the size, and the popularity, a single braille novel can go for anywhere from 50$ to well over 300$ (In Canadian dollars).

The hardcover printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring mentioned before costs around 25$ (Again, in Canadian dollars). The braille version ranges from around 150$ to 225$ depending on the type of braille.

And if your character wants to request a less popular book, it can still be pretty expensive. There's a wide range of factors that can affect the cost and it varies so wildly that it's hard to get a reliable estimate but they could be looking at anywhere between 5$ - 50$ per page.

Although some libraries may have braille books and there are several virtual libraries for the blind with braille books, it can still get very pricey for them to build up their own collection.

Availability:

In part because of this cost, there is a very low availability of braille titles compared to printed titles.

If your character is into more popular books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or some of the classics, they'll have little issues finding a copy.

Beyond that, unfortunately, they'd be out of luck. If a book isn't incredibly well known, it's a very slim chance of there being a braille version. Likewise, there's also very low chances of finding more recent releases.

Even one of my old favourites, The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- which was written around ten years ago and is fairly popular, doesn't have any braille copies.

While it is possible to get a book printed in braille for yourself, the costs of it can get quite high (As shown above) and it's not generally an option that people go for.

Durability:

The last point I want to make is that braille books don't last as long as printed books. Although braille is read with a light touch, the braille does get worn down over time.

Library books in particular are an unfortunate victim to this. Because so many different people are borrowing the books, they often get worn down much quicker. This can be because of new braille readers using a harsher touch when reading or it could be because of improper storage, either from the readers or from the library itself. It's less likely that somebody will notice when the braille is worn down.

The braille itself isn't the only concern. A lot of braille books are bound differently than printed books are and often use plastic for the bindings, which requires more care than the usual bindings of printed books. I've included an example of what a braille book may look like below.

[Image Description: A braille copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. It is open to a tactile map of Middle Earth. The binding is made of small, circular pieces of plastic, similar to a notebook of sorts. End ID.]

Now, this all isn't to say that he can't use braille books -- these are just some things to consider. And if you do choose to go in a different direction, may I suggest audio books?

Audio books have a wider availability than braille books do and are much less costly. There's also the added benefit of being able to take them pretty much everywhere with you, as long as you have one or two downloaded to your phone.

You could also go with having a balance of the two. Maybe your character uses audio books with his headphones or earbuds during the day and reads his braille books at home so he can give his ears a break from his headphones/earbuds.

Another option is large print books or e-books that allow you to adjust the font size, which could make it easier for your character to read them. There are also other strategies that he could use when reading regular printed books, such as covering an eye or using a bookmark to sort of box in the lines as he reads.

As one quick final note: Reading braille is actual reading! Braille is just another language with a different -- not lesser! -- method of reading it.

Hopefully some of this information helps! If you're interested in knowing more about the specifics of braille books, Blind In Mind's Braille Bookstore has a lot of great resources and their copy of The Fellowship of the Ring is the one I've been referencing.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[tsuutarr]

If Jin does kidnap mc, they better have the best room and board, and fancy food to keep me happy 😊

In order to let Jiu do whatever he wants, I've decided to make him rich so you're 100% right that MC will have the best room and board! Jiu is also very giving, so he'd give MC whatever MC wants! MC will get the best food, the best bed, money to spend on hobbies, etc. and will live a very pampered life.

Plus, Jiu always dolls you up do you always look so pretty + get bubble baths!

Sure, MC can't leave the house and MC's internet activity is monitored and MC can't talk to anyone if it's not Jiu BUT have you seen how expensive food and rent is? Jiu is doing you a favor!

[thefrogman]

Hey there,

I'm interested in getting involved into a hobby level of natural photography. I was wondering what a good intermediate camera, and what top 3 lens (if any) you'd recommend. I love using my cellphone but some shots, like birds riding thermals or looking at a specific spot for a long time to get a good shot just isn't as easy with a phone. I intend to shop around and see if I can play with different things, but getting an entry level start point would be great.

Thanks!!

I'm going to assume you mean nature photography due to you mentioning birds. That does cover a lot of different things so it's hard to give you a great recommendation without more details. Your budget range and some more examples of what you'd like to photograph can help me help you a little better.

That said, I can give you an example of a general nature setup that I might suggest. I can't say if this exact system is a good fit for you without more information, but it can get you started in your research.

The big problem with nature is distance. A lot of the critters you may want to photograph are skittish and it is hard to get close enough to them and the big telephoto lenses can get quite expensive. There are superzooms that will technically work, but a lot of times their optical quality is not good enough to get artistic-quality shots. They would be more for documenting that you saw a thing rather than capturing a pretty shot of the thing. So if you see a zoom lens that goes from 100-600mm or 80-400mm... just anything with an extensive range... typically those are going to be low quality optics.

A trick to get a bit more range is to get a slightly smaller sensor. If you get an APS-C camera, it will essentially give you 1.5x additional zoom with every lens. But you sacrifice some dynamic range and low light ability. So dark scenes or scenes that are both very bright and very dark could be a challenge.

A very popular wildlife camera body is the Canon 7D mark II. It has a pretty advanced focusing system for a DSLR and can be found for a decent price on the used market.

You could get a 24-70mm f/4 lens for your general purpose photography. This can get wide angle shots for vistas and forests and also zoom in if you need to.

Perhaps a 100mm macro lens for taking pictures of bugs and flowers and mushrooms. But it is also slightly telephoto so you can capture some birds, larger mammals, and even take portraits of people too.

And then the Canon 400mm f/5.6 prime is a classic bird lens that is fairly telephoto, has good optics, and won't explode your budget.

And just because it is so dang inexpensive for what you get, the 50mm f/1.8 "Nifty Fifty" is always a good idea to get just so you have something that can work in very low light.

That would cover a pretty large swath of subject matter if you were to head into the wilderness to capture what you saw.

[pirateprincessjess]

Where do you find your pinball machines? I’ve wanted to get into it, but always heard that they’re pricey, even used.

Pinball is a great hobby but it is true that owning machines is expensive. If you just want to play the games, then I recommend checking out the pinball map it’s a great way to find public games near you.m that are available to play.

There are a few more affordable ways to go about owning a game (still very expensive, but much more approachable). People will sell games that no longer work as “project game” (as in “fixing this game will be a project”). If you are willing to learn how to fix a pinball machine, project pinball machines are the most affordable entry point.

My first game was a broken Black Rose pinball machine that I got at the start of the pandemic and learned how to repair by watching YouTube videos. Fixing a broken game is easier than you would expect, but it takes time and effort.

You can find project games (and working games) on the Pinside market, eBay, and Facebook marketplace. Price is going to vary depending on the condition of the game.

If you want a brand new game, you need to find your local pinball distributor and contact them. Just be warned that brand new games are around 6-12 thousand dollars depending on what you want.

You can usually find lightly used versions of every new game within a few months of release, so I’d actually recommend buying games second hand to save some money. I’ve never paid full price for a pinball machine, because you can get used games, or show games much cheaper.

[thevampireazrael]

I'm still new to cosplay, I've got like three characters I cosplay, Dracula from Castlevania, ghost from cod and ghost face from scream. There are other characters I wanna cosplay, but this is an expensive hobby damnit 🤣🤣 🖤🧛🏻‍♂️🖤🥀

[borom1r]

trying to talk myself down from buying more viking garb for the ren fest this fall even though there is no way in fuck I’m wearing 100% wool in September and all my original ren fest garb was uh. Dog Shit(tm)

also oscillating wildly back and forth between “keep the viking garb and ren fest garb separate” and just going “fuck it” and embracing full viking all the time

[jellyaibo]

closed species are so funny like what if i just make a design . will you fucking stop me? ooooOOoooo ill make a primagen oooOOoO THE PENCIL IS ON MY PAAAAPER OOOOoooOoOOo

[thevices]

I would be hard pressed to buy a $200 sweater but if I spend $250 on yarn and have to knit it myself it’s actually basically free

[hellenhighwater]

Have you taken any pottery classes or were you entirely self taught? I REALLY want to get into it but classes are quite expensive

I took some sculpting in undergrad, but it was in the context of casting and mold-making, not ceramics. So I'm fairly comfortable with clay as a medium but not so much with clay as an end product--not being able to do armatures and having to think about firing is weird. (If I had the opportunity to do bronze casting again, though, I would, no hesitation.) That puts me in the minority of my current pottery peers, who are largely self-taught or only learned in our studio.

I do pottery now at a co-op studio space, and technically that means that I'm taking classes there--but the classes are more like guided lab time? There's not really assignments or anything, and there's only a couple other people who sculpt, none of whom are in my class. Mostly the class just means that the person in charge demonstrates a technique or two once a week and then lets us do our thing.

Personally I think that shared studio space is the absolute best way to go. You spend less in startup costs (kilns are EXPENSIVE, running kilns is expensive, glaze is expensive) and it plugs you directly in to a group of fellow artists who can help and support you at whatever skill level you're at. Yes, classes are expensive--my class is $250 per season. But for me that includes lab space, 50 lbs of clay per season, almost all of the glaze I use, kiln time, and other people doing all the maintenance and kiln loading/unloading etc. Very much money well spent.

Artist-run shared spaces are often not turning a profit on anything with studio fees, just covering operations costs, so while it's pricey, it generally is just...what it costs to do that hobby. And it is sooooo much easier to be motivated when you're going to what is, basically, Grown-Up Art Club.

But if costs are prohibitive for you to do pottery via classes, and you want to learn to sculpt, then get some polymer clay and see what you can do. It's a different game than actual clay, but form is form, and the medium is secondary to figuring out how to translate an idea into reality.

Polymer clay is relatively affordable and doesn't require nearly the infrastructure of ceramics. If you can't spend the money on classes or a shared studio, then polymer clay is a great way to develop technique and an eye so that when you're in a position to spend the money, you already have the skills to make it worth what you're spending.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Do you like my art? Do you wish I would draw something specific? Great news!

~COMMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN!~

If you are interested in commissioning me, please fill out the google form and I'll reach out to you as slots become available!

[Ko-fi - Google Form Link]

[hollowtones]

Hi Holly, whenever you take screenshots in steam games has me wondering if you take pictures of things that you come across in real life or is the video game environment something that has greater interest due to its non-physicality? (Sorry if this has been asked before)

I do photography IRL as a hobby, too! I like real pictures & video game screenshots for different but similar reasons.

For video games specifically there's something really neat to me about having a non-real space to explore. The suggestion of a space out of space and time, tangible but not physical, smoke and mirrors to suggest something that isn't there or to give form to something abstract that could never be. IDK! I've always found it compelling. That's less about taking pictures and more just me being fascinated by digital spaces & game development in general. LOL

At the end of the day just I like trying to capture a moment. Fun to think about different angles and different perspectives & how that changes how we feel.

[wordfather]

accepting the fact that you suck ass and no one give a shit is the first step towards having fun with a new hobby

[amygdalae]

wait im sposed to be doing stats homework rn how did i end up browsing gothic lolita clothing and accessories get me out of here

[3-aem]

my toxic trait is picking up random hobbies on a whim like today i went shopping for a cardigan but found No cardigan i liked and so i naturally decided that i can just knit one even tho the only thing i have ever knit was a 8” by 3” rectangle in 5th grade that just looked so pathetic-

[klunpro]

I may not be a professional but I am neurodivergent and have watched at least one (1) YouTube tutorial video

So I will DIY it even if it kills me