#Inserts Design & Print

[my5hiningstars]

"I'll be honest with you, I really didn't realise CDs were poppin still...I haven't used a CD in about, it has to be ten years!" - Ashton Irwin, June 8th 2024

[laracrafts]

[sack-thing]

So once upon a time I doodled and adjusted the game cover to fit with my caravan. File says 2016, but I wonder if it's not older.

:')

[saintlesbian]

okay here’s part of that animal au i was talkin about lol. what if the scorpio-jones’ were funnie animals

[solradguy]

Etsy is banning the selling of adult toys (i.e., insertables, penetrables, etc), erotic art/literature, and other "adult" goods come July 29th: https://www.etsy.com/legal/prohibited/

They're taking the Tumblr route with it. From the above link:

Examples of What is Allowed: - Illustrative (i.e. non-photographic or photorealistic) artwork depicting female nipples [included is a painting of a woman with her bare chest facing towards the viewer, standing casually. her lower body is dressed in layers of skirts] - Illustrative artwork depicting buttocks [included is a watercolor painting of a nude man from the back, his buttocks unobscured] - Illustrative depictions of genitalia without sexual context [included is a photograph of orangish transparent penis-shaped lollipops]

They go into more detail on the guidelines on this page: https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/adult-nudity-and-sexual-content/1269612959532?ref=list

The page defines what it considers pornography ("Printed or visual materials that explicitly describe or display sex acts, sex organs, or other erotic behavior for the purpose of sexual arousal or stimulation") and then covers any methods people have used before to get around this or comply with it, such as:

This policy applies even if the above body parts are only partially visible, including through very tight, sheer, or mesh clothing, or through insufficient use of blurring or “censor” bars.

The adult toys and accessories section:

Etsy prohibits the sale of adult toys that are: - Inserted into the body - Applied to the genitalia - Designed for genitals to be inserted into them This includes adult toys such as dildos, vibrators, anal plugs, sex dolls, and fleshlights. Etsy allows the sale of non-insertable and non-penetrable adult toys and sexual accessories, as long as they meet our requirements for sale on Etsy. This includes items such as restraints, handcuffs, nipple clamps, body harnesses, sex furniture, and BDSM accessories. Permitted adult toys and sexual accessories may not be shown in use or worn by human models in listing or review photos. Consider using a mannequin or flat lay photography instead.

The final section on this page covers the banning of "mommy" and "daddy" branded mature items.

As always with these types of policy changes, it's going to hit LGBTQ+ creators harder than anyone else. There is a thriving adult toy/mature art community on Etsy and smaller creators are going to struggle greatly with finding a new platform and audience. Many of these merchants also sell gender-affirming items such as packers, artificial nipples, breast forms/padding, and specialized undergarments. While these weren't explicitly mentioned in the above rules, they're still going to be affected by these new policies.

Some creators that I follow have independently run stores alongside their Etsy storefront. I highly recommend supporting these artists and creators while you can and subscribing to their socials or the email newsletters on their independent stores before they have to close up on Etsy. It is extremely difficult finding creators like this due to how algorithms—even on sites like Twitter that allow nsfw art—and search engines actively reduce visibility on posts by nsfw creators or by independent merchants.

[coveredinredpaint]

simple tutorial on how to make those bottlecap buttons you see everywhere

you'll need:

bottlecap•soda tab•safety pin•pliers•sandpaper/file•paint/paint markers/smth to decorate with•clear nail polish

remove the print on the buttons using a file or the sandpaper

(if you wanna keep the print skip this step, use a cloth to protect the print from scratches when folding down the sides of the cap)

fold down opposing sides of the cap, to help add in the safety pin

bend the tab at a slight angle, insert it into the cap. make sure the side of the safety pin that can not open is the one stuck under the tab

fold down one side of the cap to lock the tab in place, then try and press the tab as flat as you can, to lock the safety pin in place (prevents the buttons from moving on the safety pin, if you like rattling buttons, skip this step)

fold down all other sides of the cap

cover the button in one or more base layers of paint

add ur design (i use paint or paint markers for good coverage and vibrant colors)

cover that in one or two layers of nail polish, it will protect the button from rain and the paint from cracking

thats it, lemme know if you want tutorials on anything else, i like making em.

[jayrockin]

The two main characters of my short story Airsled, Vrazi the diver avian and Piawii the pygmy avian.You can read more about their species here. Vrazi is holding the cord of money they used to buy Piawii's indentured labor, and Piawii is holding Vrazii's tea pipe.

The tea pipe was a funny compromise that turned into worldbuilding, because Vrazi felt like the type of character to smoke a cool pipe, but avian lungs are too delicate to handle the high concentration of airborne particulates found in leaf smoke. Smoke inhalation has a lot more immediately deleterious effects to them than to humans. I split the difference by giving them a steaming hot cup of [insert addictive stimulant here] with a pipe-like handle for drinking on the go. 

This design got turned into stickers and put on the back cover of the new printed edition.

[marzipanandminutiae]

what your favorite William Morris print says about you (a non-exhaustive list)

strawberry thieves: you're a basic bitch and there's nothing wrong with that. those little fuckers are cute

tree of life: you think we all moved on from the whimsigoth trend way too soon

pimpernel: you're going to put an Alphonse Mucha print on top of this and you know it

voysey: you're a massive goth. you've probably watched Bram Stoker's Dracula a lot

blackthorn: you're a massive goth who doesn't like making things too hard on yourself

willow boughs: you say "timeless" "classic" and "modern twist" a lot when decorating your house

owl and willow: admit it- you really just want mid-19th century panoramic wallpaper

melsetter: admit it- you really just want 15th-century Gobelin tapestries

lodden: you genuinely believe, deep down, that you will decode the Voynich Manuscript someday

marigold: you enjoy versatility. you probably own the same shirt in four colors- and why shouldn't you?

balmoral: your ringtone is Rule, Brittania

I don't have a favorite Morris print because I prefer [insert another late 19th century textile/wallpaper designer here]: you are a hipster

I don't have a favorite Morris print because I don't know any: you have a social life

[ayeforscotland]

What is Dataflow?

This post is inspired by another post about the Crowd Strike IT disaster and a bunch of people being interested in what I mean by Dataflow. Dataflow is my absolute jam and I'm happy to answer as many questions as you like on it. I even put referential pictures in like I'm writing an article, what fun!

I'll probably split this into multiple parts because it'll be a huge post otherwise but here we go!

A Brief History

Our world is dependent on the flow of data. It exists in almost every aspect of our lives and has done so arguably for hundreds if not thousands of years.

At the end of the day, the flow of data is the flow of knowledge and information. Normally most of us refer to data in the context of computing technology (our phones, PCs, tablets etc) but, if we want to get historical about it, the invention of writing and the invention of the Printing Press were great leaps forward in how we increased the flow of information.

Modern Day IT exists for one reason - To support the flow of data.

Whether it's buying something at a shop, sitting staring at an excel sheet at work, or watching Netflix - All of the technology you interact with is to support the flow of data.

Understanding and managing the flow of data is as important to getting us to where we are right now as when we first learned to control and manage water to provide irrigation for early farming and settlement.

Engineering Rigor

When the majority of us turn on the tap to have a drink or take a shower, we expect water to come out. We trust that the water is clean, and we trust that our homes can receive a steady supply of water.

Most of us trust our central heating (insert boiler joke here) and the plugs/sockets in our homes to provide gas and electricity. The reason we trust all of these flows is because there's been rigorous engineering standards built up over decades and centuries.

For example, Scottish Water will understand every component part that makes up their water pipelines. Those pipes, valves, fitting etc will comply with a national, or in some cases international, standard. These companies have diagrams that clearly map all of this out, mostly because they have to legally but also because it also vital for disaster recovery and other compliance issues.

Modern IT

And this is where modern day IT has problems. I'm not saying that modern day tech is a pile of shit. We all have great phones, our PCs can play good games, but it's one thing to craft well-designed products and another thing entirely to think about they all work together.

Because that is what's happened over the past few decades of IT. Organisations have piled on the latest plug-and-play technology (Software or Hardware) and they've built up complex legacy systems that no one really knows how they all work together. They've lost track of how data flows across their organisation which makes the work of cybersecurity, disaster recovery, compliance and general business transformation teams a nightmare.

Some of these systems are entirely dependent on other systems to operate. But that dependency isn't documented. The vast majority of digital transformation projects fail because they get halfway through and realise they hadn't factored in a system that they thought was nothing but was vital to the organisation running.

And this isn't just for-profit organisations, this is the health services, this is national infrastructure, it's everyone.

There's not yet a single standard that says "This is how organisations should control, manage and govern their flows of data."

Why is that relevant to the companies that were affected by Crowd Strike? Would it have stopped it?

Maybe, maybe not. But considering the global impact, it doesn't look like many organisations were prepared for the possibility of a huge chunk of their IT infrastructure going down.

Understanding dataflows help with the preparation for events like this, so organisations can move to mitigate them, and also the recovery side when they do happen. Organisations need to understand which systems are a priority to get back operational and which can be left.

The problem I'm seeing from a lot of organisations at the moment is that they don't know which systems to recover first, and are losing money and reputation while they fight to get things back online. A lot of them are just winging it.

Conclusion of Part 1

Next time I can totally go into diagramming if any of you are interested in that.

How can any organisation actually map their dataflow and what things need to be considered to do so. It'll come across like common sense, but that's why an actual standard is so desperately needed!

[vexwerewolf]

If I could ask you for some advice, what do you think helps the flavour text of a mech or piece of equipment sell a player on the fantasy of using it?

I'm finding it frustratingly difficult to do so with my own homebrew content: I can come up with lore and backstory easily enough, but re-reading it feels dry, and I can't help but contrast it with how the descrptions in official content and other supplements is more evocative, at least for mechs.

Let's observe some corebook Lancer flavour text and examine the various varieties it comes in.

Purely Functional

While it's usually not the most fun type of flavour text, this just tells us what the weapon is, and - if it has any particular tags or on-hit effects - why it's like that. The Hand Cannon is a good example: here's what it is (modified pistol), here's why it does more damage, and here's why it has Loading.

The main advantage of Purely Functional flavour text is that it provides space for other types of flavour text to breathe. Flavour text is a great place for jokes, but it's not good for every piece of flavour text to be a joke - the pauses between notes in music are just as important as the notes.

Obfuscating Vendorspeak

The Bristlecrown Flechette Launcher this is a great example of dark humour that Lancer uses quite often: marketing fast-talk to cover up something really unpleasant. The joke here is based on us understanding precisely what the equipment does mechanically, and then seeing how the manufacturer tries to sell it. There's a bunch of dense technobabble here meant to obfuscate the fact that this weapon fires knives in every direction specifically designed to kill infantry.

Deadpan Weirdness

The joke here relies on describing something extremely weird like it's the most natural thing in the world. Wait, you're telling me that in a world where I can just print new parts if the old ones break, they put DRM on my fucking knife and I have to apologise to the fucking knife maker to get a new one? What the fuck, dude? Why are you acting like this makes any sense?!

My sword uploads fucking what to the Space Internet?!

Third-Act Twist

This type of flavour text disguises itself as something else - most often Purely Functional - and then hits you with Third Act Twist. It makes you go "wait, what?!" It's very classic setup-punchline stuff. You're telling me my mech can rot?!

As a side note, Lancer loves to use this for its NHPs.

WHY DID YOU PUT THAT IN SCARE QUOTES, LUCIFER

Worldbuilding

This is similar to the Purely Functional, but instead of just describing technical specifications of the weapons, it puts the weapon in the broader context of the setting's history. Okay, so we know what this weapon is and what it does - why was it built? What was the original use case, and why? Most importantly, what can the existence of this weapon tell us about the world that build it?

Whimsical Aside

This is the insertion of a light-hearted, humanising little insertion regarding how this piece of equipment gets used in the field. This serves to remind us that soldiers aren't cold, unfeeling killing machines: they can be as emotional, irreverent and silly as the rest of us, and they do things like name their mobile bombs...

... or call resupply drones "mech snacks."

The Ominous Out-Of-Context Quote That Explains Nothing And Only Raises More Questions

As I've said in multiple textmash memes, this is basically Tom and Miguel's shorthand for "this technology is Intensely Fucked Up in a way that it is more fun and scary not to explain." This is essentially Lancer's version of SCP's [REDACTED].

You might think this is the domain of HORUS, and you'd be right, but every single manufacturer indulges in these - although IPS-N had to wait until NRFaW to get theirs:

What the fuck do you mean by that, Lancer?

[harrysonlylover]

A Family Guy*

Summary: Harry’s self control flew out of the window as soon as he heard news concerning his Fiancée’s fertility.

Trope: CEO!Harry

Warnings: Breeding Kink, smut.

WC: 3k

A/n: This is an old writing! I edited as much as I could.

Masterlist

Harry Styles is a busy man.

He runs a manufacturing company that gained a reputation in the industry without any effort. Pleasing was nurtured from his love for pleasure and lust. He dedicated the past five years to growing his business and making sure it’s known to everyone.

Many CEOs who become well-known and have hundreds of employees under their hands, tend to sit back and ignore their duties now that they have people to do their job. Harry despised those types of people and would not consider them businessmen.

He loved going to his office every day, it was a reminder of what he achieved and will continue to do. He loves greeting his employees as he walks inside the building, making sure that everyone is pleased with their job and that dissatisfaction is nonexistent.

Working is not something that he dislikes, he managed to remain a respectful gentleman instead of loading up his work on everyone. Perhaps that is why his company is successful, every single person does only what their designated major allows them to do, Harry grants them fair bonuses and vacations and is a nice boss. The safe environment he created was a huge factor in his success.

However, without his own inventions, Pleasing is merely a name. The only thing in the company that is solely managed by him and only him is the sex toys. Pleasing’s fame came from a controversial ad where Harry appeared nude in a photoshoot with only his hand covering his hip. The more he was criticized, the more products he invented.

The ones he first began to make were the regular ones: dildos, straps ins, and vibrators. But everyone noted the shift in his inventions and how he came up with things that radiated pure lust. Little does everyone know that it was all thanks to Y/n.

She and Harry met at his sex club, they had fun along with other members and that night was the best in his life. Not because it was an orgy, he’s been involved in many ones before, but her sexual energy had him mesmerized.

He waited for her to return and asked her out, he was apprehensive of her answer and thought she’d prefer to keep things strictly sexual, but when she told him she’d only accept if he made her cum in five minutes, he knew that he found his future wife.

After that, she became his muse as Pleasing’s name rose to fame and became the number-one sex toy company in the world. He created Panty Vibrators to tease her in public, long-distance sex toys for when he’s traveling, suction toys to watch her wither before him, transparent plugs that suck in his cum so that he can watch how his seed is stored inside her, butt plugs with all initials but only so he can see ‘H’ sitting pretty at her entrance, a double penetration vibrator that he uses as a ‘warm up’, vibrating dildos that he inserts in one of her holes while fucking the other, and last but not least cotton panties with ‘Daddy’ printed on the ass.

Their sexual energies were connected on a whole other level, she was confident with her body and preferences, but still encountered rude hookups from time to time. It’s safe to say that Harry worships her in and out of the bedroom.

Despite being a very sexual person, he also does not fail to show his romantic side every day. She’s glad to say that she has found her man, which is why it wasn’t a surprise when she said yes to his proposal after only one year of dating.

Recently, they’ve been both busy with a tiring schedule that barely allows them to see each other, but that didn’t stop them from at least cuddling at night or preparing breakfast for one another.

Harry is opening his first branch in another country and he’s been preparing for over 6 months now. It’s been sitting on the top of his head along with wedding preparations which is why she took over them.

Thankfully she and him communicate well, she is also aware of how work requires him to be present in his office a lot. Harry vowed to her that after the branch’s opening, he would hire a few people to take over some things and help him run the company. He wants to dedicate his time to her and his future family.

He never tried to hide his desire to have children, in fact, he’s quite obsessed with the idea. He even asks her if the babies would look more like him or her, and what features would they inherit. She could see how he pouts when they’re shopping and he spots infant clothes with cute little bows.

On the other hand, she can’t wait for him to impregnate her. She never told him that she had a breeding kink but only because she didn’t know of it. To think that he wants to pin her down and fill her up again and again, care for her, and be the reason her belly and breasts swell makes her go crazy.

Her fiancée, a healthy man in body and mind, who treats her like his own queen, knows how to manhandle her only when she wants to and goes down on his knees for her is also the man she’d allow to breed her at any given moment.

The wedding preparations were pushed a few months into Summer so that Harry’s branch opening would be smooth, but that didn’t stop Y/n from taking a few health tests to ensure that all was well before the wedding.

Harry was to return home early tonight as promised, so she finished cooking his favorite dinner, cleaned up, and changed into comfier clothes on time right as he walked into their shared apartment.

“Sweetheart? I need a kiss.” He whined dramatically and she knew that he was going to pretend to be hurt so she could love on him.

“I’m in the kitchen.” She replied with a smile already forming on her face.

Harry followed her voice to the kitchen where she was moving the chicken onto a serving dish. She could feel his body moving towards her until his scent became too consuming and his arms wrapped around her body.

“It feels so good to come home to you.” He mumbled as he breathed in her hair.

She hummed making sure to not spill the food as she hugged him back. Harry pressed himself on her ass making her let out a gasp. They haven’t had sex in nearly a week which counts as a year for the two of them.

“Baby let’s leave our activities till after dinner.” She spun around to face him, cradling his face in her hands as she pressed a kiss to his lips.

He began helping her by preparing the dining table, cleaning up, and putting everything in its place while she placed the food on the table. Harry spotted a prescription paper near her handbag and got concerned when he saw that it was from the gynecologist.

“Baby, Did you visit Dr. Martins? Are you okay?” He stood next to her with a worried expression as he awaited her response.

“Yes love it was my regular checkup, and it happened that my tests came out so we talked and he gave me some vitamins.” She assured him as his jaw immediately relaxed.

“So all is well?”

“Yes, I promise, the vitamins are just a supplement. He even told me that I happen to be more fertile than average.” Harry was relieved to hear her reassurance, however, his ears perked up at her last sentence.

“What did you say?” He asked to make sure she was not pranking him.

“I’m more fertile than average.” Y/n mixed the salad as she repeated her words, forgetting all about Harry’s breeding kink.

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as she told him she could easily get pregnant—casually while making food as she stood in his oversized shirt and no panties on.

He slowly walked over to her, with his hands in his pockets and suit adorning his body. His body trapped hers and he removed the spatula from her hands making her catch his attention.

“Did you just inform me that you’re suitable for breeding and expect me to stay quiet about it? Hmm?” His voice immediately shifted into the deep raspy version, the one that tells her he entered ‘Daddy’ mode.

She immediately realized what was going on as a gasp left her lips, she didn’t even bat an eye when the doctor informed her having forgotten all about the breeding kink. Harry stared back at her with darkened pupils as his hand traced her thighs.

“You were planning on hiding from me the fact that this cunt is fertile? That it can take my seed and give me a child in one year?” He cupped her pussy and buried his face in her neck as his tobacco vanilla perfume overwhelmed her nostrils. She had to process what was happening rapidly as she still couldn’t get over how the doctor’s news didn’t ring a bell for her.

“Baby it slipped my mind.” She panted as he pressed hungry wet kisses to her neck, trying not to think about how his clad ring hand can cup her cunt and cover it, reaching up to her ass.

“It’s okay darling, the only thing slipping will be my cock from how much I’m gonna fill you up.”

Everything was now falling into place as Harry stimulated her breeding kink and she realized the importance of the doctor’s words. She humped against his hand as she clutched onto his toned biceps that are bulging through his Gucci suit.

“Please put a baby inside of me.” Y/n pulled him in as she began feeling submissive and in need of her fiancée to manhandle her.

“You don’t know what you’re in for. I’m gonna give you everything. Do you hear me?” The dinner was now long discarded as Harry picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist before heading to the bedroom.

She can feel her pussy pulsating and clenching around nothing at the thought of him giving you a child, he’s too indulged in kissing as he lays her down on the silk sheets before taking off her shirt and his suit.

“Baby tell me you want this. Do you want me to get you pregnant?” He whispered with his forehead against hers, seeking her consent knowing that she was off birth control and could be ovulating.

“Yes, I need it .” She almost cried as she felt Harry’s skin on hers with his hard cock leaking on her thigh.

“Oh poor baby, can’t fight your instinct to be a mother, can you? I’m gonna make you the most spoiled mother. Give you my seed whenever you want it, you’ll use my cock and take what belongs to you.” He sucked on her nipples with labored breaths as the wetness in between her thighs was now too much to ignore.

“Harry I want you inside of me, I can’t take it anymore.” She whined in pain trying to reach for Harry’s cock.

“I know I know, let me fill you up.” He guided his cock to her entrance, lubricating the tip with her wetness as his eyes darkened at the thought of her cunt flooding with his cum.

He pushed himself inside her, making her let out a scream of pleasure at the burn and feeling of fullness. Harry could never be able to get over the feeling of stretching his fiancée out, especially when he’s doing it to breed her.

“Fuck baby you have the tightest cunt. Will need to keep stretching you out so you can push our child out.” He groaned as her walls sucked him inside.

With or without prep, she was always ready to take him not minding the burn from his length. Yet this time, she could feel something so different from all the other times, something was tugging at her heart, as Harry closed any gap existent between them and felt each other skin to skin.

“My girl, make me a father.” He was pleading with every thrust he gave, while she whined beneath him. The heat she felt where they were connected along with Harry’s weight on her, his grip on her hips and tongue lapping at hers made her want to cry. Being overwhelmed with emotions never felt this good.

“I feel so full” She cried out as Harry kissed her temple going deep inside of her.

Harry couldn’t think straight when she told him how fertile she was, he saw nothing in front of him but her bump protruding from her sundress, her breasts swelling and lactating because of him.

His primal instinct came out unintentionally as he plunged inside her easily, as her wetness made him more feral. It didn’t take her long to get wet, and he was sure she was soaking the sheets from the sound of their shared arousal echoing through the room.

“I’ll put a ring on your finger and take you out to show everyone that I made you pregnant, fuck you over and over again till I don’t have any cum left inside of me.” He kissed her ring finger as his heart thumped against his chest from his love for her.

His plunges only got deeper making her gasp as his tip reached her stomach, while her legs wrapped around his hips prompting him to fill her up. They were both greedy when it came to physical contact, never getting enough of each other.

The veins on his shaft scratched the itch she never knew she had, and her walls kept contracting around him uncontrollably, she was already tight as it was but the squeezing made Harry let out a groan.

“Had to get it deep inside you so it can catch.” He pressed on the skin of her belly, moaning as he felt the bulge of his thick cock.

“Fuck me harder—fill me up with your cum.” Her words were incoherent as her brain felt fuzzy from the pleasure.

Usually, Harry would last much longer, there were times when they’d spend the night in each other’s arms as they recharge their energy for more rounds. But now, the pleasure he’s feeling is simply too much for him, just when he thought that his stamina was tough, she casually told him that she was extremely fertile.

“I’ll keep stuffing you until I’m drained.” He let out an animalistic groan as he released thick ropes of cum painting her walls white.

His cum reached deep inside of her, while she moaned at the load he gave her, it was like his cock refused to let her go and was adamant on breeding her. Y/n was sure that his cum was now soaking the sheets, as it leaked from where they were connected to her thighs.

“Fuck Harry that’s a lot.” Her orgasm washed over he body from the feeling of his cum filling her cunt. Her nails scratched his back unintentionally as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Harry arched his back slightly, as he raised his hips and hers in a vertical position before placing a pillow beneath her hips. He prepped kisses on her face in between ‘ I love you’ and ‘Thank you’.

He kept himself buried inside of her, afraid that he’d spill anything. If he wants a baby then he’s going to give her everything. He would never be upset if it took many tries, heck it would mean more breeding sessions. But he can’t help feeding his primal instinct and giving in to impregnating her.

“You can pull out if you want .” She stroked his hair and kissed the pout on his lips that indicated how his refusal to part from her.

He lifted himself slowly and looked down to where they were connected as he reluctantly pulled out after asking her to ‘squeeze her cunt and hold it in’. The sight before him had him rolling his eyes as he watched his cum covered cock slowly leave her cunt that was swimming with his seed.

She immediately clenched her thighs together but there was simply too much of his load to keep that she didn’t even feel empty when he pulled out. Harry noted how the more she clenched her pussy, the more cum came out and leaked down to her asshole.

“Look at your pathetic cunt filled with my cum, you want to me breed you so bad don’t you?” He caught some of his arousal using his fingers and plunged it back inside her pussy.

Y/n’s hands gripped the sheets feeling his creamy cum flood her cunt while he kept fingering her as her shared arousal leaked onto his engagement ring.

“You should go the bathroom baby.” He lifted her body and cradled her in his arms.

“Just a bit more—“ She promised him to get up exactly in five minutes as he held her and pressed kissed to her chest.

“I’m gonna spoil you and our baby so bad, buy you everything, and watch as you grow life inside of you. I’ll keep giving you babies for as long as you want, all you have to do is ask and I’ll have the world at your feet.” He mumbled sweet nothings, kissing her engagement ring and smiling at her necklace that was holding his initial.

Harry was over the moon at the thought of starting a family with her, he thanked her for being the woman of his dreams and already the most beautiful mother. All that he owned in life whether property or assets was irrelevant when it came to her.

After all, Harry Styles is a busy man, but never for his family.

Please reblog if you liked it!

Taglist: @babegoals @hotnhardrrry @mattieshattuck1

[printo100]

[fashionsfromhistory]

Waistcoat

c.1620-1625

England

The high waistline and narrow sleeves, open at the front seam, are characteristic of women's waistcoats of the early 1620s. The blackwork embroidery is of exquisite quality and is worked in a continuous pattern throughout the body of the garment. A group of interlocking curling stems enhanced with a garden of roses, rosebuds, peapods, oak leaves, acorns, pansy and pomegranates, with wasps, butterflies and birds, make up the embroidery design. The extremely fine speckling stitches create the shaded effect of a woodblock print. This style of blackwork is typical of the early seventeenth-century and thought to have been inspired by the designs from woodblock prints that the embroiderers were using. The waistcoat is unlined and embellished with an insertion of bobbin lace in black and white linen at the back of each sleeve, and a edging of bobbin lace in the same colours.

The Victoria & Albert (Accession number: T.4-1935)

[starcurtain]

I wish everyone collectively understood aventurine’s character like you…things would be so much easier! I genuinely don’t understand how people keep getting his motivations wrong??? Could it be because some of the most popular Aven fanfics were written prior to his release? That could have contributed to some of the takes we tend to see about him…thoughts?

I struggled all day to come up with a concise way to answer this and couldn't think of one, so here, have a long-winded ramble:

I don't think early fic writers have much impact in the situation with Aventurine's character now, since most people can look at when a story was posted and go "Oh, this was before we had ____ information."

I think that Aventurine's problem is being a male character in a gacha game. Gacha game characters are designed to sell. Hoyo can sell female characters very, very easily. Give her huge tits and a visible underwear strap and you're good to go. I love all my guy friends, but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: straight men are not the hardest audience to please. Hit a particular fetish (feet, spandex, dommy mommy), and you're gucci.

Nah, we all know why Jade's trailer is Like That.™

Male characters in gacha are harder to sell because women as consumers are a little harder to predict. Does every woman want a tall, ripped hunk? Shit, no, small cute boyish models like Aventurine are selling better now? Why?! Would a bad boy be more popular than a nice guy??? It's harder to account for women's tastes, especially because they are often (a little) less visually-oriented.

Hoyo is good at what they do though, and they've figured out that male characters sell very well when they possess at least one of two specific traits:

Endearing vulnerability/helplessness

Gay ship tease

Give a character both, like Aventurine? They might as well be printing money.

That sound you hear is Hoyo's stock prices rising.

So, from the very beginning, Hoyo is incentivized to create a character that appeals to people, a character people will want to crack their wallets open for. And they achieved this, first and foremost, by giving Aventurine traits that female players (in particular, but men too), find especially appealing: emotional and physical vulnerability.

We see Aventurine's pain. We sympathize with his grief. We identify with his struggle to make meaning of his difficult life. He's our woobie, blorbo, babygirl, whatever the hell they're calling it now.

He can't hide his suffering anymore. He's on the very edge. He's a dude in distress. He's surrounded by enemies! He misses his mama! He's been betrayed! No one understands him like you do, dear player!

The ultimate feeling evoked is: He needs to be saved.

When people talk about male power fantasies, I think they forget that women can experience them too, and "Emotionally vulnerable man that only I (or my favorite character) can fix" is actually a female power fantasy.

And from there it's really easy, right: the people who shell out cash to buy warps for their harmed-husbando feel like they've saved him; the people who are into mlm ships look for the nearest hot dude to be the savior Ratio was waiting for his time lol.

Morally and intellectually, this type of deep-down-golden-hearted, emotionally-wounded male character is very easy to digest. There is nothing to dislike about this type of character or role in the story: this character is a good guy who has just gone through so many terrible situations, whose victim status makes him endearing, and whose lack of agency means that any of the questionable or downright bad things he does are always the result of someone else forcing his hand, and never something he would have chosen himself.

His motivations are always clear and consistent: get free, heal, and live happily ever after.

Insert the Wreck-It Ralph meme: "Do people assume all your problems got solved when a big strong man showed up?" But to be fair, a big strong man did kind of solve Aventurine's problem, so--

Anyway, it's simple. It's straightforward. Morally, it's pretty cut and dry, black and white: Aventurine is our hero, which means everyone dictating the course of his miserable life is evil.

Hoyo is not remotely discouraging people from literally buying into this emotional appeal.

And trust me, I get it. I'll be the first to admit that hurt-comfort is its own entire genre in fandom because it is so appealing. People eat up Aventurine's tragic backstory like candy! The idea of watching a character go through hell at the hands of bad guys just to finally find a happy end is like the definition of everyone's favorite story.

In fact... people love Aventurine's suffering so much, they have invented whole new ways for him to suffer that aren't even in the game.

This is where we get all the headcanons that Aventurine was a sex slave, every single person he meets hates him because of his race, the Stonehearts are executioners holding knives to his throat, Jade enslaved him to the IPC with a lifelong contract, his material possessions belong to the company, the IPC is forcing him to take only the most dangerous missions where he is being required by his evil jailers to continually put his life on the line... You name it and I promise you, I can find a fanfic where Aventurine suffers from it. 😂

Bro can't even sleep in on his day off; life is so hard for this man.

Being serious: if the game is telling us that Aventurine is a victim... Why not make him the perfect victim?

Why not envision an Aventurine with no freedom, who bears no responsibility for any of the horrible situations he is in or any of the dubious things he does?

It's so natural to like that version of Aventurine, so appealing to see a totally powerless underdog use his own wits and charms to claw his way up to freedom. Or, if you're the kind who really relishes angst: It's even appealing to see Aventurine lose more. To delight in fics where he loses his wealth, where the IPC punishes him for past crimes while he's powerless to stop them... (I assure you, this is many people's cup of tea and the fanfics prove it!)

Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with liking characters who are exactly this straightforward! It's completely fine to embrace characters that are intentionally written to be morally above-board, whose primary role in the story is to generate angst by being a good person who suffers, or those characters who never show unlikable traits, bad decisions, or contradictory actions.

The problem is that that's just not who the game is telling us Aventurine is.

Hoyo may be capitalizing off people who love to envision poor Aventurine still living his life as a slave... But the game also needs to tell a complicated enough story overall to appeal to people who don't care about this specific husbando--Aventurine's role in the actual game's plot has to be interesting enough for almost everyone to appreciate it, not just Aventurine's simp squad. (Don't get mad, I'm in the simp squad with you.)

So his character doesn't stop at just being a pure-hearted victim who is still waiting to be saved.

Aventurine is not that easy to label, and I think the biggest struggle in this character's fandom right now is between people who prefer the even-more-angsty, still-a-slave Aventurine versus people who want a morally grey, self-destructive character instead.

To me personally, while I greatly understand the appeal of fanon!Aventurine and the joy of a really juicy angst fic where characters lose it all, I think that missing out on the depth that canon is suggesting would be a real loss on the fandom's part.

The character motivations that Aventurine shows in the game are complicated. They cancel each other out. They're basically self-harm! He makes almost every situation he's in worse for himself--on purpose.

He is a good person, but also a person who has done unspeakable things. He does have morals, but he's not above allowing those who don't have them to use him to their advantage.

He's both the victim and the victor. He's his own worst enemy. He's a lost little boy who's been making terrible decisions for himself since he was like eight years old, and a grown ass man who is barely managing to fake his way through an existence that destiny is not letting him quit.

This kind of character is a lot harder to embrace. He's done things that most people would find appalling--like willingly joining up with the organization that let his entire race be massacred. He's invented a whole new peacock persona to frivolously flaunt riches he doesn't even care about (Poison Dart Frog Self-Defense 101). He actively plays into racist stereotypes about his people to manipulate others through their preconceived expectations. He's made a mockery of his mother's and sister's hopes and dreams by endlessly trying to throw his own life away.

He has flaws! He bet everything he had on a ploy without doing his homework to find out if the people he was risking his life for were even still around. (Maybe he already knew, and couldn't bear to admit it, even to himself.) He's intentionally off-putting and obnoxious to everyone he meets (Poison Dart Frog Self-Defense 102). He terrifies everyone who gets close to him by (seemingly) carelessly throwing himself into the jaws of death without the slightest provocation.

He knowingly allows the IPC to exploit his power and talents for profit. Did everyone forget that his role in the Strategic Investment Department is asset liquidation?! Like, his actual day-to-day job is ruining people's lives. Canonically, Aventurine kills people when his deals go bad.

His motivations change off-screen in two lines of story text. We're told in one line that his biggest reason for joining the IPC was to make money to save the Avgin, then in the next line we find out that's impossible. And... then what? What motivations does he even have now? The whole point of his character arc from 2.0-2.1 is that he was on the edge of giving in to utter despair and nihilism because he couldn't even perceive a single reason to stay alive. He has no purpose in life before Penacony, and that didn't start with the Stonehearts at all??

People keep saying Aventurine was held in the IPC by golden handcuffs, but how do you tie down someone for whom profit is meaningless? What can you offer to a man whose only desire is to bring back something already lost forever? How do you imprison someone whose only definition of freedom is, canonically, death?

Working for the Stonehearts is obviously not healthy. But that's why Aventurine was doing it--because taking dangerous missions allowed him to put himself at risk. The job that he originally pursued hoping to save his people became a direct means to self-harm, and the IPC's only real role in that was just happily profiting off the results.

The journal entries for Aventurine's quests are there deliberately to tell the player what is on his mind, and none of it has to do with escaping from his job:

Like... Work is the least of this man's problems.

At really the risk of rambling on too long now, he's also just a massive walking contradiction:

Aventurine is among the most explicitly religious characters in the game, yet he's one of the only people in the entire game that we have ever seen actively question his people's aeon.

You might be tempted to think Aventurine's risky gambles with his life as an adult are a result of giving up after finding out about the Avgin massacre... Butttt no, Hoyo makes sure to tell us that even at knee-high in the Sigonian desert, Kakavasha was already willing to risk himself in a fight to the death against monsters because even back then he found his own life to have less value than a single memento.

He's the "chosen one" who will lead his people to prosperity... except they're all dead.

He's explicitly suicidal... andddd also a pathstrider of Preservation.

He wants to die... He doesn't want to die. He wants to make it end, yet goes to staggering lengths to continually survive. (Every plan risks his life on purpose--but every plan's win condition is also to live.) He life is the chip tossed down, but his hand is trembling beneath the table. When faced with an otherwise unsurvivable situation, Aventurine literally became a winner of the Hunger Games. He beat other innocent people to death with his own chain-bound hands just to come out alive.

He knows the IPC failed the Avgin and left them to die... and he still willingly sought out a position of power in their organization. Maybe he really is after revenge... but maybe not.

He starts his journey in the IPC with a truly noble goal in mind: to help his people using his newfound wealth and power. He's a good guy who did genuinely want to save the Avgin and repay all those who helped him. But once it became clear he was too late, once it was obvious he would have no use at all for that monetary wealth and power he risked his life to get... What did he do with it? Unlike Jade, we don't see him over here donating to orphanages. (I'm not that heartless; I'm sure he does actually do a lot of good things with his money on the side, but the point is that the game does not show us that--it shows us, over and over again, Aventurine putting on a wasteful, over-indulgent persona toward wealth. We've supposed to feel how meaningless money is to him, how meaningless everything is becoming to him.)

He outright refuses to use underhanded tactics or to cheat at gambles, which is meant to show us that's he's more morally upright than his coworkers. There's an entire exchange where he says that he'll never stoop to using manipulation the way Opal does. But... he doesn't have any issue fulfilling Opal's exact agenda. He was never remotely morally conflicted about denying the Penaconians their freedom by dragging Penacony back under IPC control.

He's willing to risk his own life, which is one thing--but he's also willing to risk other people's well-being. Topaz accuses him of constantly egging their clients on into dangerous situations; we've actively seen him shove a gun into Ratio's hands and pull the trigger with no care for how Ratio would feel about that on their very first meeting... Dragging the Astral Express crew into the entire Penacony plan in the first place was exceedingly dangerous...

To me, I just think it's vital to understand his character through the lens of these contradictions because they demonstrate the extreme polarity of Aventurine's life: from rags to riches, from powerless to empowered by multiple aeons, from willing to kill to survive to killing himself... He has quite literally lived a life of "all or nothing," and while he is the victim of many terrible situations out of his control, his arc as a character involves facing the truth of himself and the future his own actions are hurtling him toward.

Frankly, the Aventurine that canon is suggesting is a little annoying. You want to grab him by the shoulders, shake him, and say "Why are you like this?!" And he won't even have an answer for you, because he doesn't even know why he's still alive.

In the end, to me, this is so, so much more interesting. I can read an endless supply of hurt-comfort fics where Aventurine escapes the evil IPC and Ratio is there to fill the void in his life with the power of love and catcakes and be a perfectly happy clam online, but I want canon to continue to serve us this incredible mess of a man who constantly takes one step forward and two steps back.

Who is fully aware of his role as a cog in the grotesque profit-wheel of cosmic capitalism and still manages to say he never changed from the rags-wearing desert rat of the Sigonian wastes.

Who over and over again flirts with nihility but, ultimately, even if he has to wrest it from the grip of the gods themselves with bloody, chain-bound hands, chooses life.

[the-softest-love-is-ours]

Idk if this’ll help anyone or if these are even good… just thought of stuff self shipper could do, I guess.

Anywho, here’s a list of things yo,u as a self shipper, can do for fun.

(This will be added onto with time)

Proship/Comship/Anti-Antis DNI

Play Tomodachi Life, make yourself, your main F/O, and then a bunch of family and friends and see how the shenanigans play out.

Play Sims (my choice is 4, but any one will work), same as before but this time you have mods and can control you and your F/O’s however you please.

Make kandi jewelry for each of your F/O’s, whether it’s a bracelet with their name or just a necklace with a color scheme you think fits them.

Purchase something custom from etsy and/or fiverr. These can be care packages, letters, plushies, art pieces, fanfics, maybe you could find someone who does RP asmrs, and my personal favorites an RP or an annotated book.

Look on youtube for asmrs, whether they’re RP, sleeping beside or those muffled playlist scenarios.

For those of is that are age regressor, make a custom deco paci based on your F/O.

Credits to @myselfshipdiary for this one, make a Pinterest board. They can feature fanart, aesthetic images or heck maybe recipes you would cook for them and memes you would show them.

If you have the skills, or heck even if you don’t (life’s too short, try everything, learn new skills), design something based on them. A dress, a cake, a room, a candy platter, a party, an outfit, a plushie, literally anything!

Make a breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner you think they would like! Maybe if you bring your lunch to work, make a bento for yourself that you would send to work with them.

Go on to your online shopping sites and make wishlists of thing you’d think they would want/like.

Do some research on perfume/cologne, and either track down or commission one you think they’d wear. You can do the same for all necessary toiletries if you’d like to take it a step further.

Play around on spotify (or your music service of choice) and make playlists for various scenarios.

Piggybacking of the last one, find a song that you would make their ringtone and think of what their contact name would be in your phone.

Pick out a ring you think would be the engagement/wedding ring they would give you.

Make paper doll's of you/ your self insert and your f/os) along with attachable paper clothes!

If you have access to a printer and a blank notebook/sketchbook along with some glue, you can make a scrapbook with pictures of your f/o(s)! You can also add drawings you made and anything like stickers, washi tape, etc.

This one is digital, edit a transparent of your f/os) into a selfie of yours to make a couples photo! You can print it out and put it in a frame. Also, Dollar Tree sells frames that you can also paint, put stickers on, anything!

There is an app called Social Dummy, create a social media world with you and all your F/O’s on it!

Make perler bead pixel art of your f/o.

[tiredmirrorclemont]

Limited Edition Subway Bosses GBA SP... and by limited edition I mean one, it's mine.

I designed a shell insert, back label and battery sticker for my AGS 001, replaced the shell with a glow-in-the-dark one from eXtremeRate, and installed an IPS screen. Also learned how to solder. Thank you to my friend who helped to print them on sticker paper with holographic laminate.