#Sufficient Savings

[elderschoiceofpa]

Old age is one of the biggest milestones of a person’s life. Like every other phase in life, it has its fair share of pros and cons. Among the advantages of old age are wisdom, experience, and free time.

[hunterfromtheabyss]

gl to everyone pulling! (73/100)

[caprisun-kitty]

Thought I'd at least "finish" this part of my wip.

Reqs open.

[thefirstknife]

i unironically hope Eris stays in her Hive form at least physically bc im already loving how both her & Immaru are pointing out Ikora's (and humanity's) inherent dehumanization of the Hive.

Eris being all "If this form does not leave will you still view me as a friend?"

Immaru when asked where the Experiment Subjects come from and responding with "Don't act like you care."

Honestly, it's so good. I really love the Eris stuff and some of these questions being posed. A lot of people react negatively to Eris doing this, forgetting that Eris has already been part-Hive for a long time. She was just hiding it behind the eye cover.

Technically, nothing inherently changed about Eris; she just embraced that part of her. And that's super important for her arc I think because she's been on a journey of accepting her trauma and her losses for a very long time. We helped her face her fears and traumas in Shadowkeep and she came out of it victorious. And the story never treated it as her traumas being gone; she still has them, but she has the means to tackle them and handle them and live with them. Since we helped her, she became more open and more involved with what we do to save our home, even if it meant tackling dangerous things.

And the thing is, now that her traumas cannot be exploited by Darkness anymore, she's capable of involving herself in these things, knowing that she has friends to fall back to and a support system and better mental fortitude. We've seen it through her endurance beneath the Pyramid on Io, and her grasp of stasis, and her dealing with the Crown of Sorrow and egregore and the Lunar Pyramid nightmares. And now with her embracing her Hive self. It doesn't change anything about her, but people prefer when she hides it so they don't have to see it. And she knows it (Sororicide lore book, page 1):

It's a perfect example of how we inherently view the Hive as untrustworthy. Obviously, there are good reasons for it! The Hive have caused immense pain and trauma to pretty much everyone in the universe, Eris included. It must take an incredible strength of character to embrace the fact that you're physically half-Hive, creatures that traumatised you in the first place. No one else has dealt with anything similar so naturally they're afraid for Eris. But I believe in her strength. And so does Drifter and Drifter is never wrong:

He'd read the reports. He saw the theories on VanNet. He didn't trust them. He trusted her.

There's a cutscene that people skip and can cause people not to see it, I recommend replaying the thing on a different character or seeing it online, but it shows Eris taking off her bandage in front of us:

It's such a powerful image to me. A symbol of her taking off her mask. Not pretending to be the same as us anymore. Because she isn't! The Hive are a part of her and have been for centuries. And she's always been in control. Our mistrust has always hurt her, but before this, we could act with pity towards her. Now that she's fully in Hive form, people's perception of her changed, for really no good reason other than prejudice. She is still Eris.

I definitely think that eventually we will have to reconcile with the idea of the Hive not being inherently evil in totality as a whole group of people. Obviously this is going to be difficult, especially when their leaders act the way they do, but eventually I do believe we will have to accept some of them, even if it's only Eris for a start.

[nostalgia-tblr]

Right I'm not saying Odin's not had a terrible amount of colonialism and war going on over his however-long-it's-been reign but when Thor wants to lay waste to Jotunheim and Odin tells him off for this it's not just hypocrisy at work, because the Odin of the timeframe of that movie seems sure that this would be Wrong not just politically bothersome and yet he also doesn't really explain to Thor why things are different now and putting that together what you have is this: Odin can't explain his own apparent change of heart without revealing that "oh yeah your brother's a Jotun," even though he must be fairly sure that this information would stop Thor's xenophobic bloodlust in its tracks as effectively as it did his own.

[petula-xx]

Today is WORLD BEE DAY!

[improbable-implosions]

This one's kinda funny, I went into affixing that patch SO sure that the design of that sword of mine, Arma, would be plenty for that patch, but the longer I stared at it doing other mends for these pants, the longer I felt it needed _something_ else, you know?

First up, we've got to stitch on the patch itself! I did some nice even straight stitches, because initially, I was planning on a little area of sashiko mending.

But, in looking at the size of the chunk of dissolvable backing I had cut, there wasn't really any patterns immediately springing to mind that'd work at a scale that small, or, so I thought after seeing how that basketweave pattern came together on an earlier piece. For context, the whole patch is roughly the size of the palm of my hand, at 3.5 inches square.

So, instead, I decided to try something a bit more complex to render than I'd really tried out before, this art of Arma! (Despite the sword's design being my work, the art in question is by @razzmatazic, who I did ask if I tried to trace, and she had no problems!) And so trace I did, tracing the outlines of the major features of the piece, namely, the outer lines, and the shapes of the gemstones.

Unfortunately, in my haste (and, admittedly, my focus, since this was much higher detail than I normally tackle around here), I didn't grab any in-progress shots of this. Still, I actually really enjoy how this came out looking, even if it doesn't perfectly evoke the design or detail of the original piece, it certainly emulates the look of Arma well enough I recognize it, and very visibly reads Cool Sword, y'know?

Next up were a few colorful rims around the edges of the front pockets! They were fraying pretty significantly, so not only does this add a fun splash of color, but it keeps me from picking the edges of these seams apart while I'm not thinking about my hands. Initially, I was going to pick a different set of colors than that turquoise and purple, based on a fun fact about my hometown, but that color scheme was just calling out to me! I decided to lean into the somewhat royal vibes and went for a different, lighter purple, with two little bits of yellow thread, which, fun fact, I actually dyed with some yellow flowers I foraged back in the boston area!

As for these two little spot-mends, they were really more an exercise in frustration. Really, I'm mostly miffed the thread broke on the original patch in the one place the hole kept trying to expand through, but hopefully that little bit of randa stitching (which looks MUCH more like randa stitching should than my previous efforts, namely on my wallet and that previous pair of pants that we detailed, the ones with the segaihana sashiko) alongside some additional reinforcement along the edge of that original yellow patch, made from some thread I scavenged from a fraying bit of denim, should keep this particular pair of shorts from getting any more fixes right on the edge of the patch that has misbehaved TWICE now!

Last but not least, while I was wrangling those pocket rims and the spot mends, I really just had the feeling that Arma would look kinda... lonely, I suppose? Centered in the framing straight stitches like that, so I improvised a little open book next to her! (She's not a sword-girl, promise, it's she/her like you'd she/her a boat) There's actually some really nice dimensionality to the book, too, with some looser stitches to emulate ruffle-able pages, and those two knots along the spine make for a pleasant, crinkled texture to the cover lines! Can you tell I'm pleased with myself for getting that just so, without any guides?

All that said, hopefully that's all the mends my poor poor jean shorts need, I swear, just as I get one set fixed, the other winds up with another hole! Don't get me wrong, I'm starting to enjoy the whole almost boro-like vibe they're developing, with all these overlapping mends, but I'd like them to develop it slower, thanks! (And yes, I do plan to wear these at LEAST until they look like I've quilted them back together, they're comfy!)

[verycharismaticdragon]

white lotus Binghe living his best life :3c

[deoidesign]

hi. I just read your entire comic in one go and I’ve gotta say I am in love with it. as a trans guy with hair that looks so much like Steve’s and who loves werewolves, I had to physically restrain myself from squealing out loud upon realizing he was trans, because I am currently living in a room with five other people in a small community in rural Alaska and didn’t want to explain to them the joys of seeing yourself in a character and then realizing “oh shit they’re trans like me”. I hope you are doing well, and may the gods of creativity and carpal tunnel bless you with much fruit in your artistic endeavors.

how could I ever show how deeply messages like this touch me... I never know what to say, I want so badly to have the proper words to show you how grateful I am

This is why I write. so that people get to feel like this, and I could never reflect that properly with just my words... But I want you to know that.

I hope to make something that is worthy of your love, and I hope every day that my work is sufficient to show I love you. so I'm relieved that it's succeeding and you feel seen.

Thank you for sharing this with me, I love you

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

something about qbad mentioning how much horror he put red team thru every time purgatory gets brought up... something about how proud dapper was of him.

like this is just my late-night read but- it feels like guilt qbad is trying to twist into pride. he keeps needling away at it. “i killed them all, over and over and over again.” “they were hunted by a monster.”

it’s like- reassurance. like a nail he’s trying o beat into his head. he’s had SO much trouble with legitimately hurting his friends, despite making that vow all the way back when the eggs first went missing, despite all the tree talk and the promises to save the kids no matter what. He never faltered with elq, and that protected them. He keeps faltering now. Sometimes he doesnt remember the code, or cucurucho, or skeppy. But that doesnt matter, right? Because he’ll protect the eggs. He’ll be the monster. he is the monster. he can and he will protect them even as his seams start ripping and he keeps breaking further and further apart. even at his worst, he’ll do whatever he needs to protect the eggs.

he’ll be the monster. wont he?

[bitchesgetriches]

Frugal Disaster Preparedness for Chill People

There’s a certain breed of people who are ready for the world to become Fallout: New Vegas at a moment’s notice. They’ve got gas masks and assault rifles and enough MREs to feed everyone in their neighborhood for years. (Not that they’ll open their reinforced vault doors to the neighbors. They may be infected.)

And you know what? Good for them! We’ve actually written about our longstanding obsession with zombie survival guides and the valuable lessons it’s taught us about minimalism. No shame in having fun!

Personally, I’m ready for the world to become FallOut: New Vegas too… but only in the “incredibly buggy overworld” sense. I’m not interested in preparing for doomsdays, nuclear winters, abrupt land wars, the total collapse of society, or anything of the sort. I am a busy woman. I have a blogging empire to run and fifty-seven seasons of 90 Day Fiancé spinoffs to sift through. How am I to add “prepare for jetpack warfare with Nazis freshly emerged from their secret moon base” to that list?!

Keep reading.

If you found this helpful, consider joining our Patreon.

[thestudentfarmer]

Seed saving succes!

I posted awhile ago about carrots I let go to seed this last season. I finally got round to doing the full seed cleaning, a small germination test and wanted to share on that.

Below, the heads when I finally pulled them, I did clip the heads from the stems and placed them in an open storage bin.

To be quite honest I set it aside and forgot about it for awhile. Day to day and all that. Thankfully the corner I set them in was well undisturbed save for a few spiders when I got back to them.

Still a lil bit 'stick'y but it's as filtered as I can get currently. I'll be looking into some sort of seives to make harvesting seed easier in the future.

Interestingly enough, when separating some of the junk, the seeds got a sort of perfume-yness to them? It was very pleasant.

I took the corn out to handle later, but the cleaned out carrot flowerheads I tossed them in the chicken compost area so any missed seeds would get enjoyed by either the girls or the wild birds and the remaining stems and sticks'll get composted before long.

Did a germination test on the counter to see if the effort was worth it.

Way more germination than I expected! 🥳 very much worth it!

Here's the seed bag, I expect there is still a chunk of chuff/junk that didn't seperate well but it weighed 9 oz. (gallon size ziplock) I'd feel okay saying mayby 5-7 oz seed from seed saving this year. Even at low end of 5 oz that's still pretty good :)

I think I'll keep half and sort the other half among some friends and family as gifts, and donate to the local seed library nearest to me.

And if opportunity arises I'll do the same with the next carrot grow :) they were pretty easy (aside from toppling so much), the pollinators loved them, they were beautiful plants and we can use every part of them as well which is a win win all around 🏆

They were from hybrids of rainbow x nantes carrots. Some got long (but not many, I have shallow soil) they did get nice and fat though and we enjoyed quite a bit of salad, pesto and pretty flowers thanks to them this last grow season.

🥕🌱 Happy Homesteading 🌱🥕

9.21.2023

[krourou2]

Y’know everyone’s always "Ace Attorney crossover!" and "Professor Layton crossover!" about Ghost Trick, but you know what I think would be extremely funny?

Detective Conan crossover.

A guy who doesn't believe in ghosts, a girl who's terrified of the supernatural, and a guy who IS a ghost.

[unopenablebox]

plausibly im going to go with these, warp in the solid weft in the variegated. my main hesitation is that if the weft actually looks terrible when i start working it up, i almost definitely don't have anything else around that will go with this warp, and then i will have a puzzle to deal with. my other main hesitation is that it's insanely bright and i don't actually know anyone who seems like theyre desperate to wear this color combination and im somewhat worried its busyness will compete with being a nice exercise in herringbone

[ineffabeatlemindpalace]

This fandom is capable of being a safe space. The show represents a place where you do feel like you belong. You know that you can expect to be met with acceptance by everyone who has been working on its creation. Even if it appears like social media has become more progressive on these issues, for me, mid-twenties, any of these online spaces (Tumblr being the exception) have become distant and foreign to me. Our Flag Means Death has given me hope again. Not only on this matter, but how we treat each other in person, as well. It is a unique and privileged state to not have to overthink whether you share your pronouns, sexuality, or other details about yourself.

Here, queer and neurodivergent people come together to share the same love for something so genuine and wonderful. Even if there is more to a person than those attributes, I think this understanding is exactly what we need to keep focusing on. So often do we get judged based on labels, appearance, or behaving in any other way that differs from what society regards as normal.

The entire world will not think or act differently but what we have here is proof that in creating pieces of art and media such as this one, a difference can be – has already been – made. It can change people’s minds and attitudes towards those who are different from them. It can open their hearts to see beyond their own lives. Art very well has the power to show that we are all humans in the pursuit of peace, happiness and some kind of love, however we define that for ourselves.

[spotsupstuff]

Okay, I was going to explain a possible path for a worm of the string au with Sparrow complaining one day that the puppet can't leave the chamber to relive the fever of being in one place and that her thesis being rejected and then Caper reading the thesis and iterating that idea and then he somehow manages to get off the string.

But getting off the umbilical without reason or explanation is more funny!

Imagine if that starts happening to the others iterators?

Pls tell me his face is priceless! More so if it is a red lizard (do train lizard exist in your au?)

Also, how would Notos and Haboob react to Sparrow?

Now, you mentioned that when Sparrow killed the red centipede she was not in the respawning cycle. What is the age that the Ancients enter the cycle?

staring like a deer caught in headlights GSDLKMCLK this man should either have internal bleeding from a Red Liz bite or bad damage in the coconut and Yet he's 👌 how puzzling n yah! train/hurricane lizards Are real in the Serotonin Take!

as for Notos n Haboob, assuming it's in the off string post-ascension thing too:

they'd like each other! :D

and the respawn cycle is entered once the etheric body is finished growing which is around like.... 20-23 years old