#SCA projects

[aangussca]

Rhythms of Nature (2024)

Artist Statement:

I am very passionate about art and biology.

This is why a majority of my artistic practices have included an overarching theme in some capacity: the overlap between art and science, and their interconnectedness within our world.

Rhythms of Nature (2024) expands on the artmaking and conceptual practice of my previous installation Organic Space (2024), which investigated the idea of soundscape ecology.

In the expanded practice for Rhythms of Nature, I wanted to create connections between art, music, and soundscapes of the natural world. Through these connections, I attempted to answer the following questions:

“Where and how do music, art, and the natural world overlap? And can music, fused with art, 'mimic' natural sounds?”

I applied ideas from the soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause, the polymath Wolfgang von Goethe, and the artist Emeka Ogboh to the development process of Rhythms of Nature.

Krause proposed that natural and man-made sounds are not created in the same way. Instead, they each have their unique patterns and frequencies.

Drawing from his experiences in music, he also used musical terminology in his research on natural soundscapes – his practice focusing on the overlap between music and acoustic ecology.

Ogboh’s artistic practice experimented with the ability of sound and art to “transport” people to different places.

For example, his installation Lagos State of Mind III (2017/2020) combined cityscape motifs with hybrid soundscapes made up of field recordings from Berlin and Lagos.

The result was a multisensory experience where you could see and hear “Lagos through Berlin’s eye and vice versa”.

I translated two fundamental aspects of Organic Space into the development of Rhythms of Nature: the soundscapes and the animations.

Both the ‘aquatic’ and ‘terrestrial’ soundscapes are made up of two components:

Multiple biophonic (sounds made by non-human organisms) and geophonic (sounds made by non-biological phenomena such as weather, water and geological processes) sounds, which were field recordings

Two musical tracks per soundscape, with four musical tracks total (created in the program Ableton)

While I retained some tracks from the creation of Organic Space, I created multiple new field recordings and musical tracks, arranging all the audio files into a more multilayered soundscape.

I also created several newer animations alongside one or two of the animations from Organic Space, both being created on the program Procreate.

All the animations were inspired by natural textures, colours, motions, and forms within aquatic and terrestrial environments.

This time, I wanted to experiment with a broader spectrum of textures, colours and frame rate in the animations.

Both components form the projected short film for Rhythms of Nature, a looped narrative sequence shortened from ~4mins to ~2 mins for greater narrative cohesion and impact.

In his book Theory of Colours (1810), Goethe suggested that darkness is just as crucial to the visual experience as light and colour.

He believed that colour resulted from the interplay between darkness and light, therefore, “colour itself is a degree of darkness”.

The third and most challenging aspect was approaching the installation of Rhythms of Nature.

Drawn from Goethe’s theories, darkness and negative space play a significant role in how my projected film interacts with its surroundings.

In one of my initial plans, I explored projection-mapping onto white ceramic sculptures, translating animated forms into a 3D space.

Due to my limited skills in ceramics and wanting to focus on creating a more cohesive installation, I took fabric strips, cut at multiple different lengths, and layered them in rows to resemble ocean waves and a tree canopy.

This arrangement also allows the short film to exist in three spaces:

The first space is formed by the surfaces of the fabric and the wall, where the film exists as ‘light’.

The second space is formed by shadows cast by the fabric, where the film exists as ‘darkness’.

The third space is formed by the translucency of the short film within the shadows, where it exists as ‘colour’.

I would expect members of the audience to experience the installation in ways that are unique to them: some will experience the immersive soundscapes more than the visual aspects, some will be drawn to the visual aspects, and some will experience both equally.

Link to all of the research and process documentation for this project (search under the following tag: #year 3 art studio project 2): www.tumblr.com/aangussca

Installation documentation (full video):

(Please ignore the small periodic clicks as they were not part of the soundscape.)

Soundscape and short film (on its own):

Installation documentation (photos):

Research references

Crary, Johnathan. “Subjective Vision and the Separation of the Senses.” In Techniques of the observer: on vision and modernity in the 19th century, 67–96. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1990.

Dinneen, James. “Sounds of the forest.” New Scientist, May 18, 2024.

Krause, Bernie., and Roger Payne. “The Language of Soundscapes: New Words for Old Sounds.” In Wild Soundscapes : Discovering the Voice of the Natural World, 55-68. Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2016.

Ogboh. "Ten Minutes with Emeka Ogboh: On Active Listening." In MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), July 14, 2023. Podcast, website, 9:37. https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/923.

[foldingfittedsheets]

My betrotheds mom is big in the SCA and does tons of hand sewing and period accurate clothes, she’s got several custom made outfits and enters competitions with her special projects.

One of them she meticulously researched and created a custom glove. I have no idea how much work goes into such a thing other than A Lot but whenever she tells us stories about these competitions she’s always slighted in favor of flashier offerings.

Her most recent endeavor was some kind of stiff collar. I’m not going to embarrass myself pretending to know the specifics but the original ones back in the day used layers of fabric and whale baleen to get a nice strong silhouette. She researched the crap out of it and wrote up a report to go along with the item.

At the judging one of the judges commented, “Well, it’s alright, but it’s so disappointing that it’s not fully authentic, why didn’t you use whale baleen?”

She sputtered out, “Well, if you’d read my report you’d know it’s because it’s illegal!”

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

happy pride from these gay bitches!!

(vox machina version)

(bells hells version)

[maedhbhcrafts]

The hood is done!!

I am genuinely so happy with how it turned out, and it feels so nice to wear. And, bonus, I have an event this weekend that will be perfect to wear it to!

[jaraxles]

Skull pukko

Blade: 3 1/2" 1095 high carbon steel with decorative jimping

Handle: 4 1/2" with aluminum bolster on claro walnut with carved skull pommel

Overall: 8"

[thejoyofseax]

The Irish Porridge Project

We know that cereal grains were in use in pre-Norman Ireland. We also know that yeast baking doesn't work very well in Ireland's climate, such that soda bread is the traditional Irish loaf, rather than the yeast breads and sourdoughs that most other European cuisines have. But bread soda wasn't available in period, so the bread of the medieval era seems mostly to have been flatbreads and some kind of biscuits or crackers, with yeast bread only really available to the rich and in (some) monasteries. Everyone else seems to have gotten along with porridges as the main use for grain. There's even mention of wheat porridges being the appropriate food for royal fosterlings.

"Porridge" in modern English mostly means that it's made from oatmeal, and indeed, it's called just "oatmeal" in some places. But it's possible to make porridge from any grain. The Southern US dish called grits is a maize porridge, for one example. So what I want to do over the next while is try out every kind of porridge that pre-Norman Irish people could have gotten hold of.

There is the issue that we don't actually know what all the grains were. We have a list from the 8th century Bretha Déin Chécht: bread-wheat, rye, spelt-wheat, two-row barley, emmer wheat, six-row barley, and oats, but we don't really know what some of those are, and the translations are dubious in some cases. In this case, I'm going to go for emmer, einkorn, durum, barley, rye and oats. That list may be adjusted if I find more or that some (durum, perhaps) were not available in period. I'll also look at grain-like stuffs like pendulous sedge and fat hen, and see what can be done with those.

Next, there are multiple forms of grain that can make porridge. The full grain "berry", the slightly trimmed groat, various crushed and rolled forms, and coarse and fine flours. In addition, there are malted, roasted, and fermented options for each, and different grains might be mixed. This is adding up to a lot of different porridges!

As I try them, I'll add links here and describe what results I get, including other people's opinions of them, when I get those. I have a couple of co-conspirators on this project, and as they send me the results of their trials, I'll add them here too.

I'd also like to credit Magister Galefridus Peregrinus, whose class in non-baking use of Fertile Crescent grains at Pennsic 50 jumped my initial research and thinking on this particular project by years.

Standard (Rolled) Oatmeal Porridge Steel-cut Oat Porridge Fermented Oatmeal Porridge

[whennnow]

Two T-Tunics

September 19, 2023

[Image ID: the bodice and sleeves of two basic medieval tunics - one pink and one blue.]

While my ultimate goal with SCA garb is to create a 14th century capsule wardrobe, I know it will be a while before I have the money to buy all the wool and linen I'd need and the time to make anything out of it.

So I'm starting with something more basic. The uniform of SCA-dians everywhere - the T-tunic!

The basic pattern can be adapted to fit many eras, whether as a base layer or fashion layer, as a shirt or a dress.

The Fabric

You can make t-tunics out of basically any fabric. Linen and wool are the most historically-accurate, and silk probably is too.

Unfortunately, that's not really in my budget right now, so I used two thrifted cotton bed sheets, which I think are queen sized. I got two tunics for $5 of fabric!

The Pattern

These tunics are made out of simple geometric shapes - rectangles for the body and sleeve gussets, triangular skirt gores, and either rectangles or trapezoids for sleeves.

To make things easier on myself, I used this "Custom Smock Pattern Generator" from elizabethancostume.net to make the pattern, then cut out the shapes it gave me with added seam allowance.

Assembly

Instructions for assembling a t-tunic have been written probably hundreds of times, so I'll direct you back to elizabethancostume.net to spare you another explanation.

I usually flat-fell seams on things like this, but I wanted to minimize the amount of hand sewing I had to do while also not having any visible machine stitching, so I french seamed everything.

I used a facing for the neckline instead of a binding and hand-sewed the edges of that down.

The sleeve and skirt hems were also hand-sewn.

A Note on Fitting

The smock generator pattern I used takes into account your shoulder width, and seems to direct to instructions on how to measure that, but it wouldn't show up for me. As a result, I suspect my measurement was too narrow.

While the resulting shapes fit well over my bust and waist, I almost couldn't get it on over my shoulders!

Thankfully, I had suspected this issue, so my first smock was a few inches wider than the generated pattern called for. I added a bit more width to my second tunic.

Looking Forward

I'm glad to have a base for my medieval/SCA wardrobe, but I can't wait to expand! I want to do some basic accessories next, like linen veils.

I already have a few other accessories - a thrifted straw hat, one of those long fantasy/ren faire/sorta medieval belts, and a mug.

I also have decent-sized leftovers from these bed sheets - I'll save most of it to line wool hoods, but I'll use some small pieces to make drawstring bags to hang from my belt.

Stay tuned for a post on plotting out my plans for garb! In the meantime,

Stay warm, stay safe, and stay healthy.

[Image ID: a photo of Alex in a blue tunic with a dark belt, holding a mug as if raising a toast.]

[connorchen-saddog8]

What Happened To Chair Porn?

Above notes are some initial brainstorms about this idea and some feedback from Harry.

Inspiration

The phenomena of the internet "lolcow" and act of extensive pervasive documentation of one persona only made possible by the rapidness of contemporary / technology. Resulting in internet archival histories and documentations, almost to an obsessive point, of a specific persona, engraining their legacy into internet culture which reverberate through the public internet consciousness.

Eroticism and its evolution caused by the advancements in technology and communication. (looking to Gene Youngblood's Synaesthetic Cinema and Polymorphus Eroticism). It talks about how with the invention of video and tape? porn? more easily accessible porn i guess - Erotica and sex is being depicted in a less sinful light in cinema, as well as its manifestations within art. Thinking about this in the lens of contemporary technology in social media. Both the insane accessibility of porn at the click of a button (which obviously has worrying implications in terms of exploitation etc) but also the "chronically online" side of things? Fetish art, rule 34, the ms paint home made obscure kind of "porn" made by a forum user about their never-before-heard of fetish about their favourite character buying wonderbread.

The exponential growth of the internet and the digital landscape. It's all so new, but the internet 10 years ago is a completely different animal than it is now. Something from 2016 is historical because of just how fast and everything it is.

Performance and the visceral real being an impossibility on the current digital landscape. The thin veil of performance and suspension of disbelief anyone must have to encounter anything on the internet. It's so unreal! its so real!

Objects

The archival resources and rabbit holes of internet "theorists". Old blog posts and forums of early internet, the exponentially growing mound of media in the form of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. Specifically the video essay farm on YouTube - media analysis or "tea" reporters. Horrible YouTube thumbnails. MS paint fetish art.

Idea summary

The work will consist of 3 layers of media focused on performance and the screen in a hyper-online shape. This passage will be written like I am describing fictional personas, and they are at once fictional, real, strangers, and all me. 0.5. Chair porn. i intend to recreate a corny porno with chairs. No voice over but just silence, wood creaking, subtitles of furniture delight. 1. This chair porn will have a chair porn creator, dedicated to the point of obsession to creating and documenting the process of creating chair porn. This person becomes an internet staple, akin to Chris Chan and her creation of sonichu. Art born of chronically online shaky mspaint lines and divine magnum opus of a not so sane creator in a constantly exposed online environment. This is genuine. 2. This internet persona and his craft will become a sort of lolcow. A spectacle to watch, analyse and document. Video essays and archives spawn from internet "theorists". Forums discussing this person, informal documentaries (youtube videos), essays. They are now a piece of internet history by no means of their own actions. They may not have been monumental, but they have become a part of the public internet consciousness. One specific video essay is made, going through the entire history of chair porn maker, analysing their practice and work, proposing theories and conspiracies. 3. I, Connor Chen, have strong opinions on this video essay discussing chair porn maker and the legacy of chair porn. I will present my opinion in a lecture theatre, playing the video essay on the screen and pause intermittently to voice my thoughts and objections. 3.5 I will record this and submit it as the final version.

After talking with Harry and figuring most of the stuff above out, he asked me what I was critiquing and I realised not much. I'm not so much critiquing these themes, (the pervasiveness of contemporary social media due to technological advances, or the over exposure of the common man as a result of this, or the fast paced nature of information and media, or the so called internet "theorists" and the archives of information created in the exponentially expanding yet short history of the internet.) as much as I am simply fascinated by them. I cannot really separate myself from this enough to condemn it.

some thoughts below that I can't quite place right now.

Materiality

Performance / Immersion / Suspension of Disbelief / fiction

Irony and humor of the chronically online

absurdist theatre

chair porn - commodity fetishism - what can be fetishized?

exponential lore of the internet

authorship and authority in performance

inspirations / references:

Expanded Cinema essay - Synaesthetic Cinema and Polymorphous Eroticism

Chris Chan and Sonichu

Erik bunger

video essayists (more so tea channels than art analysists)

[anomaly-hivemind]

Dive In ☆ Merman! Gojo x Scrientist! Reader | Kinktober Day 14

Summary: You were brought in to study a merman whom you heard was quite aggressive; however, he’s always been kind to you. You were able to get close. Maybe a bit too close.

Word Count: 3978

Tags: Merman!Gojo, afab!reader, vaginal penetration, scratch marks, porn with plot, cunnilingus, handjobs, experimental sex, mating, government facilities, the reader becomes a fugitive, mating rituals, creampie, breeding, transformations, wet dreams.

When you got a call from the federal government you didn’t know what to expect. You were honestly a bit worried that you had done something you weren’t supposed to and were going to be silenced. The last thing you expected to see however was a mermaid, or merman in this case.

You were a  NOAA scientist and had seen so many strange sea creatures, so the possibility of mermaids being out there wasn't out of the realm of possibility. However, you didn’t think that they would exist like this. The closest thing humanity has had to mermaids is manatees and dugongs. When thinking critically this is what most people assumed mermaids would look similarly to. That they would have rough skin and blubber and coarse hair or fur. However, this merman swimming before you looked like something right out of a fairy tale.

Based on the way it floated around his head, his hair looked to be the same texture as human hair. His whole upper half looked to be very human aside from the gills you could see on the sides of his neck, the fins on his arms, and the fin-like ears he had. 

“Ah Dr.L/N, Pleased to meet you,” An older man came up to you and extended his hand. He was in a fine pair of slacks and a pristine button-down with a black tie and white lab coat overtop. 

You took his hand and gave it a firm shake. He introduced himself as the lead researcher for this top-secret project and gave you the rundown. A fisherman from a small town in Kauai, Hawaii called in about a wild animal of some sort stealing fish. Eventually, another fisherman got a strange “Fishman” caught in his nets and called the Coast Guard, and from there, it became a bit more about coverup from the general public. The fisherman was compensated handsomely to keep hush and this merman was carted off to this government facility.

They began running tests and researching the merman however he attacked one of the researchers and they ended up losing an eye. So they had to pivot and decided to bring in someone with expertise in predatory marine life, that being you.

You looked back at the white-haired merman in the tank, he didn’t look aggressive, but you’d have to be an idiot to think that he wasn’t actually dangerous.

“I’ll let you take over as lead researcher, come on and I’ll introduce you to the team.” You followed after him and met the other researchers. It was a small group, most likely for the sake of confidentiality. They were kind but you didn’t want to waste any time chatting when you were eager to learn more about the merman.

The tank of the merman was that of a large shark, it was important to keep a new species as comfortable as possible to avoid any personal injuries. At the bottom it was made of the usually thick tempered glass of any high-grade aquarium, Is almost twenty feet deep of water, wide enough for the merman to swim freely without bumping into the walls, and filled to the brim with clean salt water filtering into the tank. 

A cage was newly added on top of the tank after the first incident to ensure the workers' safety. So the only way to get up close and personal was up the flight of stairs and through the locked door to stand on the built-in ledge over the water/tank opening. 

You walked back over to the tank where the merman swam around lethargically. You ripped off a paper from a nearby notepad and took the pen as you began writing basic facts about his appearance.

Long white hair, pale skin, silvery-blue scales covering the tail, and a few stray clusters of scales in the torso here and there, slightly forked caudal fin, fins are a translucent dark blue. About 12 ft long. You looked back up and were met with the merman in question staring back at you. His eyes were such a mesmerizing shade of blue, like the sky, or shining jewels. 

You wondered if it was an evolutionary trait to aid hunting. His webbed hands were pressed up against the glass with his sharp nails on display. 

Yeah, definitely dangerous. You thought, thinking back to the researcher who lost an eye.

One of the researchers called for you and when you turned back round the merman had swam to the back of the tank. You were looking forward to officially starting work.

----------------------- 

The first few days you spent observing the merman’s behaviors. It seemed like he could tell what fish had been the most recently caught because that’s what he prefers. 

You put in an order request for aquatic plants as you wanted to see if he was omnivorous however they hadn’t come in yet. Based on his behavior you would say that he’s just as curious about you as you are to him. He had never displayed aggressive behavior when you were around and he wasn’t exactly eating from your hand but you could hand the fish to him at feeding times instead of tossing it into the tank like the other researchers.

You were sitting by the tank, reviewing your notes and drawing diagrams of his outward physiology when you heard someone call your name.

“Hello?” You called out, looking up from your work, however no one was there.

“Y/N…” They called out again. You looked towards the tank and saw the merman peering over the edge, his hands were gripping the metal bars and he was looking at you curiously.

“Y/N,” He repeated…

“You can talk?!” The merman cocked his head before diving back into the tank. You raced to the top and peered over the edge. He swam back to the top and looked at you. 

“Y/N.” He can really talk.

“Yes, that’s my name, Y/N.” You said, gesturing to yourself.”Do you have a name?”

“Y/N,” he repeated once again. You sighed. Maybe he can only make parrot noises. It was impressive nonetheless.

“I am Y/N, you are…?”

“Sa..to..ru,” He said. “Satoru,” He said. His bright eyes stare back at you.

“Okay then, nice to meet you Satoru,” You smiled.

----------------------- 

Satoru picked up speaking fairly quickly, he wasn't fluent and often flubbed his sentences but he had a good grasp of language. With that addition, it became much easier to observe his personality and mannerisms. 

He had no concept of money but boy did he have expensive taste. Almost immediately after learning how to speak, he began voicing complaints and making requests. Apparently, the cod and red snapper he’s being fed aren’t good enough, and after much back and forth on what exactly he was talking about he requested bluefin tuna, Alaskan salmon, and swordfish. 

He was very playful, at least with you. He Loved to call your name… and to tell the other researchers to go away. Those were his favorite things to say.

You walked up the stairs with your lunch and lunch for Satoru, which was halibut today. 

“Hello, Y/N,” Satoru said, quickly swimming up to the surface and flashing you a sharp-tooth smile.

“Hello Satoru,” You tossed him the fish and he began eating eagerly. You applied sanitizer then wiped your hands with a wet wipe before opening your lunch to begin eating. 

“What’s that?” Satoru asked, looking back at you, he was somehow already done eating.

“This is nigiri sushi, it’s thinly sliced raw fish over rice. Wanna try some?” 

“Really?” He said, with wide eyes. You nodded, taking a piece of salmon nigiri and offering it to him. Instead of taking it, he ate it straight out of your hand in one bite. His cold lips tickled and he licked the stray grains of rice from your hand.

“So… what do you think?”

He was silent for a moment before smiling back at you. It made your heart flutter a bit but you pushed the feeling back.

“I Like it,”

“Here have some more,” you said, offering straight from the box this time.

When you went home and went to sleep that night you had a dream about Satoru, He was human. His white hair was short and fluffy, and he still had piercing blue eyes. You were lying on the beach together on the sand, and for some reason, he was kissing all over your legs, his plump lips softly made their way up your legs, and right as his face was inches away from your groin you woke up.

You woke up covered in sweat, your pajamas sticking to your skin as you stared up in the dark abyss. Your breath heaved… and it took a while before you could go back to sleep.

After that day, Satoru became even more attached to you and complained when you weren’t by his side. 

A while later the head researcher stopped by to see how things were going.

“So I hear you’ve gotten pretty close with the merman, even got him to talk,”

“Satoru, yes. He’s very interesting, he has two pairs of lungs one for the air and the other for the dissolved oxygen in the water and..” You proceeded to ramble on about what you’ve learned and his personality. “While he is a predator I haven’t been able to observe any real aggressive behavior, he’s always so sweet and curious when I’m around- oh I’m sorry I’m rambling,”

The head researcher laughed and waved his hand,” You’re all good, almost sounds like love to me.”

Your face grew hot and you laughed off what he said.”What can I say, I really love my work,”

“That’s amazing, you’ve been doing wonderful work here.” He said looking at all the data you’ve collected.

“I’m sensing a but…” You said, wringing your hands together nervously.

“I’ll get right to the point then, you don’t have any data on how or if they reproduce,”

Oh… right. You were certainly curious about it since you learned he could talk, you had been putting it off, it felt less like research and more like an invasion of his privacy.

“I’ll get on it, sir,” You nodded.

----------------------- 

You headed over to the tank with papers to talk with Satoru. As usual, when you walked up, Satoru swam right over with his usual smile.

“Hello Y/N,”

“Hello Satoru,” You said with a sigh.”So I had a few questions, but they’re a bit more personal.” You blushed thinking about it, you’d start off with the normal stuff first.

“Okay,”

“So are there others out there like you? Before you came here were you in a group?”

“A few. But I was not with a pod before being here.” He answered.

“Why weren’t you with your pod?”

“I was looking. Looking for a mate.” He said, his eyes meeting yours.

“Oh, is that what you all do? Split off to find a mate?” You asked.

“No, just me. A mate is an equal, in the pod I am the best. No equal, no mate. So I went off, to find another strong as me.”

“How long have you been looking for a mate?” Pausing from what you were writing.

He paused for a moment before answering.”Twenty-Eight moon cycles,”

That was about two years! Must get lonely, all by himself, separated from his pod, you thought. Maybe you could help him escape, you could convince them that it’s better to observe the group rather than one mercreature on its own (I mean you weren’t lying.)

“So if you could, I guess you would go home huh?” you asked, already knowing the answer.

“Only if you went.” You were surprised by that answer.

“Why me?”

“It’s bad to leave mates behind,” he answered. At first, you thought he was joking but you remembered you hadn’t explained the concept yet, he was completely serious.

“Satoru, what makes you think we’re mates?” You asked, your face growing a bit hot.

“You share your nigiri with me; only mates share food, or parents and pups.”

Oh…

Oh…

OH…

No wonder he was so surprised when you offered him the Nigiri, and why he’s been so clingy.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry,”

“You don’t want to be my mate then?” He asked with a sad expression which made you feel like you were shot through the heart.

“It’s not exactly that, I’m not a mermaid, I can’t breathe underwater,”

“Mates can be human, you’ll change after the mate bond,”

“I’ll grow a tail?” you asked bewildered.

“No, gills, scales, fins, then tail”

“I’m not nearly as physically strong as you either,” You replied.

“No, but you know many things, knowing many things like fish, many things that will be good for the pod.”

While you were intrigued by the process it just seemed like too much. At least that’s what you tried to tell yourself.

“It’s me then, you don’t like me.”

“No, no, no I do like you, I love you, Satoru, but ah-” You stopped when you caught what you said.

“...Love? What’s what?”

“It’s when others feel strongly about each other, when they really really like eachother or something. Like families or friends or a pet… or a mate…” You said swallowing nervously.

“So you love me?” He asked, his body basically pressed up against the edge of the platform.

“...yes,”

“Do you love me like family?”

“... No,” you said, shaking your head.

“Like a pet?”

“No,”

“Then do you love me like a mate?” You looked back at him and as you looked into his eyes you knew the answer.

“Yes, Satoru, I love you, I’ll be your mate.” As you said those words he had the biggest grin on his face and dived back into the water, swiftly swimming in circles and flipping out of the water. You laughed, you had never seen him this happy before.

He swam back over to where you sat and leaned over your lap, water dripping onto your legs.

“How does mating work anyways?”

“It’s easier to show than to tell, but not here, in shallow water,” He explained.

“Okay, then I guess I definitely have to break you out of here then, It wouldn’t be right to leave my mate locked up in some secret government facility.”

You waited until dark when everyone had gone aside from security here and there before you began your heist. You got one of the big carts they wheeled around all the fish they fed Satoru in and filled it with water. Then there was the painstaking process of getting him out of the tank and down the stairs. You knew you couldn't carry him when he weighed well over eight hundred pounds so you had to guide him and make sure he didn’t hurt himself as he flopped down the metal stairs.

Then you wheeled him out and into your car, however the best you could do for him was plenty of tarps and an inflatable pool to turn the back seat of your minivan into a makeshift tank of some sort, You grabbed some things from home and then drove to where you hoped no one could find you, which just so happened to be a place that looked like a mermaid grotto.

It wasn’t easy to get him from your car to the water but it was worth it to see the smile on his face.

“Y/n, dive into the water,” Satoru called; you stripped from your clothes and cannonballed into the spring. Satoru swam in circles around you; his blue fins sparkled under the moonlight. 

You laughed as he made small splashes around you. He swam closer to you and wrapped his wet arms around your waist. 

“Uhh Satoru…?”

“Didn’t you want to know how we mate?” Satoru said in a low voice, the seductive look in his eyes sent a chill down your spine. His cool fingers caressed your face, pushing your loose hair behind your ear. 

“Yeah,” you turn to fully look at him, wrapping your arms around him. 

“Great,” His lips pressed against yours, happily obliging to kiss him back. As you continued, the kiss became heated. His cold fingers slipped down your bare skin, and your back pressed against the edge of the grotto pool. 

“I can't say I'll be fully gentle but I'll make sure you're fully taken care of,” he said as his nails scratched against your skin. You hissed, and he pressed soft kisses to your neck. The mating process was kinda rough, but you liked it as well. 

“If you don’t mind me asking why is the scratching necessary?” you  do your best to look at the marks on your skin.

“Scratching is arousing, You are turned on, are you not?” he runs his sharp nail down your arm slightly.

“Yes, but I can show you a better way,” You said, guiding his hand down to your cunt. His eyes widened a bit as he felt your folds with the pads of his fingers. As he pressed against your mound of flesh, you could feel the webbing between his fingers, between that and those nails of his, you were certain there wouldn’t be any fingering for you today. 

He pressed against your clit, and you took a sharp breath. He quirked his head to the side. 

“Does that feel good?” he whispered while staring up into your eyes.

You nodded and added more. His fingers began massaging your nub in small circles. You rested your head on his shoulder and let out a little moan. 

“Bite me” Gojo whimpered and it took a second to process what he said. But you were already on his shoulder the least you could do was obliged him. You sink your teeth into his shoulder and with his thick skin was tough to mark into him. He lets out a pleased hiss as you effectively caused a small dent just off near his gills. 

“Now it's your turn. Sorry, this may hurt a bit,” he said teasingly, her lips ghosting over your skin before he sunk his teeth into your shoulder. You winced with how deep his teeth were; you were sure that they had drawn blood.

Satoru wrapped his hands around your waist and lifted you out of the water onto the rocks. He gently parted your legs before leaning forward. He pressed soft, tender kisses to your inner thighs. His cold lips tickled and made your stomach do somersaults. His tongue took a precautionary lick to your pussy before lapping at your wet folds. 

A small moan escaped your lips as his lips closed around your clit. His tongue circled, flicked, and sucked out your sensitive bud. You couldn’t control the noises that were coming out of your mouth, and your legs were enclosing around Satoru’s head. He used his strong hands to hold them open, his wet palms gripping your thighs. 

Just as you were about to release all over his face, Satoru pulled away. You whined and looked up at him.

“Don’t you wanna get to the good part?” He gave you a smirk.

He slid up onto the rocks beside you and positioned himself in an off-able way. Your hand hovered in the air for a moment, and you weren’t quite sure what you were supposed to be doing. You guessed that Satoru sensed your confusion because he grabbed your hand and guided it to where a slit was ah, yes, his mermanussy. Your fingers slipped around and stroked the area for a moment before his long, smooth length slipped out of it, springing out from its sheath and bobbing in the air. 

Your hand warped around his member and stroked it up and down a few times. He was slightly slimy and slim-tipped, with it being more skin color. Your finger teased his tip, and his sticky precum followed in strong lines attached to your fingers. You twisted and turned your hands as you jerked him until he was amply hard.

Now that he was rock hard, you positioned yourself to be on top of him and slowly sunk down on his cock. You moaned, and Satoru hissed. 

“There's no going back now,” you said and slowly began to move your hips to meet him. He grabs your hips and moves up to suck in your skin. 

“You feel so good~” Satoru tightened his grip and started to fuck up into you. You pressed yourself on his chest to be upright in order to not be a mushed mess laying on top of him. You flattened your hands on his chest as you rode him gently, your hole clenched around him as you bounced on his long cock. Wet sounds and the lewd noise of skin slapping against skin bouncing around the grotto walls, along with the wanton moans coming from your mouth. 

The rocking of his hips meets yours as you hold back the urge to wiggle and squirm. Your walls flutter around his length, and you take him in a kiss. It was messy, passionate, and pretty uncoordinated, but neither did you care because you were caught up in the moment.

Satoru tilts your body back a bit as he ruts into you with a new determined force. You felt like you had little control at this unbalanced angle. He licks your breast and kisses your neck, and you let out whines and moans. Satoru let out a few whimpers as he got closer to climax, and you were definitely right along with him.

“Ahh, I’m gonna cum, come inside me!” you panted out, feeling like the air was getting harder to breathe.

You couldn't come back anymore, and you let yourself experience a sweet release. The walls of your cunt clench around him as he comes, and your juices leak around the base of his cock. Around the same time, Satoru groaned, his grip on you growing tighter and his nails digging into your hips, and hot ropes of cum spilled inside your pussy. Your warm walls milked him of every last drop, the translucent milky liquid leaking from your hole. 

You slowly remove him from inside you, feeling his fluid leaking out of you with a sticky slowness. 

You smile fondly as you rest against his chest. You fell asleep on his strong chest. Not much later, you woke up to a strange sensation. You had a strong urge to jump in the water like it would be more enriching than the air. You slowly and carefully slipped out of Satoru’s arms and into the water. As your head ducks under you find yourself not needing to hold your breath. You reached up and felt delicate gills on the sides of your neck.

Then scales pushed their way through your skin, and fins sprouted out along with webbing between your fingers finally, and most uncomfortably, your legs stuck themself together and overtop grew flesh and scales. Your legs and back hurt so bad like your bones were breaking and reforming. However, the pain didn’t last longer than a few moments, and when you flexed your new tail, it felt much more flexible than you imagined. It was almost like your body was a worm in a string with the way you could toggle around. 

When satoru woke up he looked over at your new form with admiration. He slipped into the water to get a better view. You looked out at the surface world one last time before taking Satoru’s hand and diving into the world below. 

“So, are you excited to see your pod after such a long time?”

“I’m excited for you to pop out some guppies,” Satoru smirked as you both swam off to your new life.

[the-viking-scribe]

If my partner isn't willing to make me archery bracer, then I'm gonna steal his leather and make my own.

[spontaneousmusicalnumber]

I'm ahead of where I want to be in cosplay... I made last minute plans to go to sca coronation this weekend... that means I can sneak in one little embroidery project!

[aangussca]

Art Week Workshop: Nature prints with Keg de Souza (12.9.24)

Description of session

"Plants have always moved over and between land masses, transported both intentionally and inadvertently from their native lands to new ones. This spread of plants has accelerated over the past few hundred years through colonial expansion, massively altering ecosystems.

We will begin by wandering the university gardens to gather weeds. These specimens will serve as a starting point to return to the printmedia room to print, research and discuss how the movement of plants has left lasting impacts, many of which have propelled us towards climate crisis."

Short summary of Keg de Souza's practice (with link to portfolio)

Goan heritage (from the Goa state in India)

Politics of space (architecture, colonialism, displacement, culture, etc.) - e.g. Abundance: Fruit of the Sea, Bounty of the Mountain (2016) and Impossible Utopia (2011)

Botany/landscapes in relation to global/colonial histories (documented in herbariums and other botanical archives), as well as the impacts these histories have (e.g. "trauma of the landscape") - e.g. If a coconut falls (2024) and Monumental as Anything (2023)

EDIT (OCTOBER 2024) - Here's a link to more detail on her practice and her works:

Process and research (with images)

We collected a number of plants (mostly weeds) in a hidden garden on campus.

After choosing the ones we liked to use for our print, we rolled ink onto the plants and printed them onto paper to create a monoprint (NOTE: I WILL DEFINITELY CONSIDER THIS PROCESS FOR A FUTURE WORK).

Some of the plants I found that I could identify: Euphorbia peplus (Petty Spurge), Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo), Cyclospermum Leptophyllum (Marsh Parlsey), Youngia japonica (Oriental False Hawksbeard), Epilobium ciliatum (Fringed Willow-herb)

Interestingly, after some research, I learnt that all of these plants either have been used or are being researched for their medicinal properties.

Petty Spurge: Has been historically used to treat warts and other skin conditions, and has recently been researched for its cytotoxic (toxic to cells) properties in treating non-melanoma skin cancers.

Marsh Parsley: Has been researched for antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.

Heavenly Bamboo: Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties for treating colds, asthma and other respiratory conditions in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine.

Oriental False Hawksbeard: Used for treating fever, snakebites, coughs and colds, shingles, sore throat and diarrhoea in traditional Chinese medicine (and for treating wounds, and preventing the formation of kidney stones in traditional Bangladeshi medicine) - recent research has also found antiviral properties in treating respiratory conditions like RSV.

Fringed Willow-herb (not used in monoprints out of fear that the flowers would get damaged in their already delicate state - perhaps I could try a technique not too dissimilar to the Japanese printing technique gyotaku): Used to treat infected skin sores, hip and back pain, and diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal problems by some Indigenous American groups.

Final prints

Row 1-2: Ghosts of a Herbarium: Euphorbia peplus (Petty Spurge) and Cyclospermum Leptophyllum (Marsh Parsley)

Row 3-5: Ghosts of a Herbarium: Sprig of Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo) embraced by Cyclospermum Leptophyllum (Marsh Parlsey) and Youngia japonica (Oriental False Hawksbeard)

Row 6: Both monoprints alongside each other

[yudol-skorbi]

Sometimes it makes me sad and a little bit worried that i dont have any personal projects anymore. I used to daydream, to have some extencive plots and i loved them. They were not much to talk about but they were mine and they made me happy. I used to dream about drawing a comics when i get older and better at it. Now i am older and better and i completely lost interest in doing anything personal. I dont daydream anymore. This silly plots stopped bringing me happines. I dont have OC's i dont want to draw any comics and any original idea of mine seems stupid and dumb

All and all i just feel pretty hopeless about my future in general

Sorry it's 4am and i feel melancholic and scaed of life and i dont see much of a future for myself and i will probably delete this shit in the morning

[gallusrostromegalus]

do you have any advice for a novice crochet-er? was planning to make a blanket for a friend and you know A Lot of old ladies/quilt guilds so i was hoping you had some Secret Trade Tips

My advice for a novice crocheter is to find someone who actually knows how to crochet, because I do not.

Facetious Jacknapery aside, that's actually my advice. If you've got a local yarn shop, join their maker's circle, or your local fiber arts guild or your local SCA (there's HORDES of fiber people in the SCA. At this point it's basically a fibercrafts guild with an MMA hobby and funny hats), but in general FIND SOME PEOPLE IRL to teach you because so much of this learning is tactile and you really do need to do it in person.

How To Find a Fibercraft Group:

Open facebook. I know, it's like opening the gates to hell, but all the people over 55 are on there.

Type in "(Your Region) Crochet Group" or "Yarn group" or "Knitting Group" because pretty much all yarn people are bilingual these days.

Several groups will appear, within varying commute distances.

Send emails or facebook messages or (the horror) actually call them if they list a phone number.

Someone will respond, probably with tremendous enthusiasm, that a "Young Person" (Read: anyone who can't order off the senior menu yet) wants to join.

Show up.

You will be BESET with affection and free yarn and instruction and free fabric and new project ideas and free craft supplies of all descriptions because nobody here is just into the one craft and they all wish to keep the Craft Materials Shoggoth under control.

Congratulations on your new friends and own personal Craft Materials Shoggoth.

Actually, this is the time of year that people make resolutions, right? Here's an easy one: go to one (1) in-person craft group meeting and see if you like it. Odds are you will, honestly.

[maedhbhcrafts]

The green tunic is done! Trim added and everything!

And just in time to, as I leave for the event I want to wear this to tonight. It's going to be part of my court outfit and I'm planning on wearing it over a fawn colored dress that I already owned. I'll see if I can get a picture of the full outfit to post for later.

But yeah, first finished project since I started this blog! (of course is the was the spontaneous spur of the moment one)

[jaraxles]

Finally sat down to finish this knife

Blade: 2 3/8" 1084 & 15n20 Damascus

Handle: 4" with hammered brass bolster, antler spacer, and birdseye maple

Overall: 6 3/8"