#at least get everything done except trim

[cowboybutchboots]

back at the renovation grind ✌️😔

working on the guest room, had to replace more subfloor and i have to primer it bc we raised some kittens in here and they (and their mom who was semi-feral) were not too great at using the litter boxes. plus MORE drywall work

[andyoullhearitagain]

Every Starfleet Uniform Ranked By How Annoying The Sleeve Is To Sew, Part 2

Part 1

6. TOS Men's Uniform:

Here we have 1. Quite a severe curve 2. with a zipper in it 3. an invisible zipper at that 4. with pattern matching through the zipper at the collar

5. in velour (slippery). Woof.

7. Disco:

OK we've got two points of pattern matching, but they don't have to be too precise because they've got this round shiny striped piece between them. Of course that piecing means we're basically setting a sleeve in twice, but I will concede that the stretch will be more forgiving than a woven would be. Add in the piecing on the bicep and two different sticky rubber-y fabrics for further difficulty. 

8. TNG Version 2B and Voyager:

All the work of a tailored sleeve with an added inverse corner in an intersection of four seams.

PLUS two points of pattern matching, which is very tricky in an armsyce because you're trying to get the pitch right. You can see in TNG they often have trouble with it and have either a jog in the pattern matching

or too much ease in the wrong place to force the pattern to match.

They seem to have figured it out by Voyager though. I'm also fairly certain they have raglan shoulder pads in them instead of regular ones, which isn't really harder I guess but is a bit odd (no shade, they're incredibly flattering).

9. DS9/ TNG Movies:

All the difficulties of the TNG armscye and now we've added trim, meaning we really have four points of pattern matching instead of two. I could be persuaded that the contrast pieces are applied over the upper sleeve piece instead of pieced, which is easier than what TNG is doing.

10. Enterprise:

I think this is regular raglan sleeve and not some kind of half raglan/half set in sleeve like we see in TNG. Either way it's a bit easier than the TNG sleeve because the trim and yoke are applied on top and top stitched. But we've still got that mitered corner in our bias trim and our four points of pattern matching on the shoulder seam. And then we've also added like four zippers!!!

11. Picard:

What did the stitchers do to this designer? FOUR inverse corners (I guess at least it doesn't intersect a seam this time) PLUS the piecing at the cuff, PLUS all the pattern matching at the armscye, and all in stretch (I think). The only reason it's not the most difficult sleeve is because it looks fairly flat and I bet if you do a nice tight hand baste you can get everything lined up on the first try. Also this is not strictly speaking part of the sleeve but those little corners in the yoke? Good grief.

12. TNG Version 2A:

Never in my life have I seen an armscye like this. What is this even called? How do you construct it? I suppose I would sew the sleeve pieces together, set them in the armscye, then sew the raglan/yoke pieces together at the shoulder seam and then stitch them all the way across the front and then all the way across the back. But good grief. The ONLY other sleeve I could find remotely like this is this 1940s Simplicity pattern (it's on ebay if you want it).

With a few added seams you can imagine what these pattern pieces must look like.

13. TNG Version 1:

All the malarkey of 2A except you've got to do it in spandex. I'd pick wool any day. We also have a second yoke (?!) so now we have to do that little inverse corner TWICE and also add piping. Never in my life have I done an intersection of piping correctly the first time.

And then on top of all that it's ugly. Terrible sewing experience. Worst sleeve in Star Trek *bangs gavel*.

[bogleech]

Except for the half hour I dicked around on tumblr I haven't done anything today but read the near ultimate test print of the Mortasheen book, which arrived this morning, scouring every page for any conceivable print errors or anything that looks worse on physical paper for any reason. The errors I did find will probably just take a day or two to fix, while we also slip in a couple pages of extra content we already have done; this test run is 344 pages, but we can have 350 pages without adding any significant jump in price, so may as well fill it up with content that was originally left out or even cut.

I've posted a timeline of events and work before, but I wrote a broader summary of how this book took 5 years that I'll repost here. I probably get the exact time periods and order of some things mixed up because it all overlapped so much and this is entirely from memory:

When I put up the kickstarter in 2020, I estimated I'd just be working for about one year straight. As it turned out, it would take the original development team longer than that to even compile all their final work and send it to me; a much, much larger volume of original gameplay mechanics than I realized as well as easily several books worth of their own lore contributions, though I already had a few books worth of my original lore as well. I set about trimming the sum of all our writing down to what would fit in the first book, integrating together what I felt were the best possible "book one" elements from both their content and mine, and rewriting a ton of the result to make sure it was one cohesive world with just the right atmosphere and writing style. Compiling, writing, rewriting, editing and formatting text took me roughly two and a half years before it was in an easy state to continue editing as needed, during which I also had to come up with a great deal of new artwork to fill space or convey some of the new concepts. ....There was also the fact that, while the gameplay dev side had concocted the absolute perfect system for building playable Mortasheen monsters with a MASSIVE list of modular abilities and effects, they hadn't actually built any monsters individually, and there were going to be at least 130 (eventually over 160) included in this first book. While still working on artwork and editing, I waited around a year before both sides realized that I'd be on my own with this aspect; the devs simply would not be able to make time to build monsters with me. I'd also been so busy compiling the mechanics into the book, I did not have personal time to ever actually learn them and play a session myself. Fortunately, I'd shared the progress with my friend Bonnie, and she not only began running games of her own but had begun building tons of monsters from my archives for them. I officially hired Bonnie in fall of 2023 to be in charge of monster construction, which also turned out to be an absolutely humongous project; every monster needed to feel unique and interesting to justify its inclusion in the book, many of my monster concepts demanded that we expand even further on the ruleset I was given, and a number of unexpected gaps also presented themselves - monster roles and niches I had actually severely overlooked in my many years of churning out creatures. Bonnie's playtesting, obviously, also exposed plenty of things that had to be adjusted and re-tested, or things the players overwhelmingly wanted that there simply weren't any rules for, each of which of course required I go back and re-write sections of the book again. Building monsters, drawing new art, playtesting and adjusting everything as needed took from late 2023 when Bonnie "joined the team" (of basically just us two) to nearly the end of 2024. And then....there was proofreading to do, and errors to fix, which turned into a big enough job that we wound up needing yet another additional person dedicated to that alone. It's work typically done by several dozen people in the gaming industry, but in the end, just two managed to build and polish a 350 page book with a completely new original gaming system, over 250 illustrations, and slightly smaller text than the industry standard; significantly more information is crammed into this book than in 350 pages of Dungeons and Dragons, that's for sure. Kickstarter backers get to the book over the rest of summer/early fall, while we're hoping to release it for sale to the general public by the end of this year.

(That last huge stretch of assistance, playtesting and all the monster building is by @gutsygills here on tumblr)

[dontneedhair]

From The Neck Down

This was when I was still in the process of doing a first full scalp epilation, which explains the unregular shadow.

While epilating my scalp was, at that point, still something very new to me, I had already been a long-time user of epilators everywhere else on my body. With the exception of my scalp and brows, there is no body part I haven't epilated for at least ten years.

The first area where I tried not to shave and instead to remove the hair by ripping it out, was my pubic hair. I started with tweezers though (and I would still recommend at least thinning them out this way). My pubes were shaved most of the time already, and at some point, instead of taking the shaver, I ended up tweezing them one by one. Starting from the happy trail and then going down further and further; however, not everything in one session, that would have taken too long. When everything was gone, I kept it up with regular plucking sessions.

While that was really exciting, it took a lot of time, which is why I ended up buying an epilator and trying my luck with that (I had found some information that others had used one on their pubic hair). And it worked pretty well, especially since the hair had been pulled out repeatedly already. I didn't use the epilator on my penis and scrotum, except for very small patches and carefully stretching the skin to avoid any accidents. For beginners, there I'd recommend to take only tweezers.

From there on, it didn't take long for me to try the epilator everywhere below the neck. I'd say I had a normal body hair coverage, maybe just slightly on the sparse side, but the individual hairs were relatively thin, which helped in the process, I believe.

More or less in that order, after the pubic hair, I epilated:

My butt - surprisingly easy, if my memory serves me well, even the crack wasn't very painful (and yes, it is possible to epilate there). From my experience and as a general rule, the more muscle/tissue there is under the skin, the less it should hurt.

The rest of my stomach and my chest - the stomach hurt a little more, but all in all, that was rather uneventful.

(I love having smooth legs)

My thighs and knees - already more painful, the pain varying depending on the side; inner thighs and knees could have hurt most, but it was a long time ago, and compared to the scalp, everything I'm talking about here is pretty harmless anyhow. If my memory serves me well, I also used the tweezers on the knees to get some of the hairs the epilator couldn't.

My calves - don't remember any specific problems there.

My feet - done rather quickly, not that much hair anyway.

(I wouldn't want to miss the skin-on-skin feeling under my arms)

My underarms - I think the pain was bearable under there.

My arms - some problems with the elbows, tweezers needed, just like in the case of the knees.

My hands - mostly ok, except for the upper outer sides that I remember being painful; that's also where most the hair was, and not that much tissue underneath.

(unlike my legs, the arms will be seen by others a lot during summer)

A couple of things that go for all of these places:

Trim before epilating: I sometimes see videos of guys who try out epilating on full length body hair, almost inevitably ending with them giving up after seconds (and screaming). Not a good idea. Instead, I'd trim everything to half a centimetre, sometimes even less, depending on the epilator. That way, the affected area of the skin is a lot smaller, the hairs will all be pulled in a similar direction, and the epilator is less likely to jam.

Find an epilator that works on very short stubble, even 1mm or less: This might depend on what your hair is like, in my case this one worked like a charm:

Later, for maintenance purposes, I added another one that rotates a lot faster. However, the slower speed is much better in the beginning.

And I've always preferred models that use a cord as power supply. No reason to worry that the epilator could run out of battery in the middle of a session.

Ingrown hairs: For me, that was only a problem where my pubes used to be (but not on my genitals). They didn't cause any major infection requiring to see a doctor, and at some point they just disappeared. Lots of people say using some kind of peeling product helps, I mainly just ignored those pimples. After some years, it simply stopped happening, which is probably caused by a lot less hair growing back. I read somewhere that it's precisely the ingrown hairs that are more likely not to grow back, if that's any consolation.

These days, I use three different epilators on my body - my fast one which works very efficiently nearly everywhere for maintenance purposes, the above mentioned model exclusively for my butt crack, and a gentler, curved one for parts of my penis/scrotum. The bits where I don't take the epilator are still cleared up with a pair of tweezers.

Ripping out the entire hairs means that you don't get *stubble*. Instead, the hair that reappears is thinner at first and will only get thicker if you let it grow further. If you don't wait too long with the maintenance, over time maintenance will become a lot faster and almost painless.

I prefer to go over each area twice a week, simply because I want the smooth feel. But even if I waited for a week or more, the regrowth would be so fine that it would be invisible for everyone not specifically looking for it.

[sea-lanterns]

The horns got me curious about how one would manage them, so I looked some stuff up and I got bad news (don’t look any further unless you’re willing to accept your dreams of adorable part-goat children with pool noodles on their horns being destroyed, and also some vague descriptions of the potential side-effects of having horns. Theresa a TL;DR at the end if you want to skip the very unwholesome details, while also leaving you on a far more wholesome note):

As it turns out, unless they’re using their horns for self-defense (not very useful if you already have opposable thumbs) or heat regulation (which wouldn’t be necessary in this case, as the kid’s part-human nature means she probably already regulates temperature very efficiently via sweating, and even most actual goats don’t have dense enough fur for overheating to be an issue outside of environments that even normal humans would consider worryingly hot) there is literally no good reason for a goat to have horns. Because as it turns out, while incidents such as accidentally breaking your own neck after getting your horns stuck in a fence aren’t much of an issue for something with human intelligence, unless trimmed regularly (which can be incredibly painful unless done very carefully and skillfully) horns can still grow around and eventually circle back into the animal’s own skull!

The humane thing to do is to burn to death the tissue that would otherwise eventually grow into the horn. It’s fairly painful for the kid, since it’s usually done as soon as kid has developed enough for one to tell where the tissue is so as to be sure the tissue is killed before the horn can start to grow, meaning that the kid is usually too young to safely take very strong anesthetics (AFAIK, at least—I’m neither a veterinarian nor a farmer).

However, although ‘disbudding’ (as the process is called) can be quite painful, ‘dehorning’ (which is required if the horn has already formed), while more likely to occur at an age when the kid can safely take very strong anesthetics, is also far more risky. This is because dehorning both requires a specially trained veterinarian and is far less reliable than disbudding even when done by such a professional, as there’s always the risk that the horn will just grow back anyways—except now they’re deformed and far more immediately threatening.

TL;DR: On the human body (or even on most domesticated goats) horns lose all the advantages they give to wild goats while still retaining some major risks, so you want to do everything you can to keep the horns from developing in the first place—otherwise they’ll end up having to deal with the risky and nail-biting process of carefully shaving down those horns down to just before the horn’s very sensitive bony core every few months, like Ganyu presumably has had to do hundreds of times throughout her very long life. On the upside, at least horn shaving is a good bonding experience with Ganyu, kinda like how getting a shave means trusting somebody enough to let them put an extremely sharp blade directly against your throat without fear of harm, accidental or not.

Well, as terrifying as this all seems, horns growing close to the goat’s eyes can be fixed by the occasional trimming with a saw wire. When the horn grows too close to the eye, I believe people use a saw wire to cut off the tip, but not deep enough where it would hit a nerve/blood vessel. I don’t think it hurts when you trim it just at the tip, but the goats do feel a big vibration through their horns :0

I’m no sheep/goat expert though, just a city girl who watched a few goat trimming videos before lol. Either way, I don’t think Ganyu’s baby would have their horns grow too close to their face. Ganyu is more than capable of taking care of their horns (this includes shaving it when needed) and making sure they don’t grow too long in the first place :)

[grumpy-zane]

[takes place after this]

The route from the monastery to Dareth's was burned into memory. He had followed it a hundred times, most without difficulty or obstruction. A memory snagged of the last time they saw each other, it was at the funeral where Dareth gave him a spare key to his apartment. 'Stop by if you need to get away,' Dareth had told him, and yet he denied that offer completely.

Now here he was, sticking that very key into the door and pushing his way in. As usual, the room was a half disaster, but at least this time it was mostly books on law.

How odd, did he switch jobs again? What happened to Laffys?

"Hello?" Kai hoarsed.

"Huh?" Dareth looked up from the TV and jumped, "Kai! Quiet as always with your footsteps, heh."

The two stared at each other. Kai shifted uncomfortably as he realized that a hug wasn't coming.

clearing his throat, he gave a half smile, "I guess so. It's been awhile."

"I'd say, your hair is a disaster," he half joked, "want it cut? Where have you been- er, how have you been?"

-

Everything felt familiar, unchanged and yet distant. Of course Dareth, the ever optimistic, would offer anything at the drop of a hat, but why did it feel so fake? Perhaps it always was, and only now did he notice.

He was set back in the chair and under the faucet, gentle hands combing through the mop of wet hair. He said nothing, instead honing in on the question of minor details. "So, did you sell your bar?"

"Nah, I still own it, I just needed a change of pace. You know me, can never stay in one place too long," he chuckled.

The more personal question slipped out, "have you always had grey hairs?"

The hands clamped down as Dareth leaned over to meet his eyes. "Have you always had a dozen freckles?" His tone was light, but his eyes said otherwise. He grabbed the soap, "Well, you tend to get them in my line of work. It doesn't look bad does it?"

"N-no of course not, I was just." Kai sighed, "I was just noticing. It's been awhile."

"About a year," the slightest hint of annoyance cupped the words, "you left me worried you know? Just falling off like that, I'm sure I'm not the only one."

"Yeahh..." Lloyd had said something similar. Kai was sat up and spun around to face the mirror, "I just miss her so much... I've known her all my life, she was everything to me for so long, and now..." he paused and felt the metal shears glide around the nape of his neck. "I don't know what to do without her."

A chunk of hair fell to the floor, followed by another and another. He worked silently, his own thoughts swirling. "I don't think anyone ever knows what to do when they lose someone close to them, except to live on."

"Easier said than done," Kai mumbled. "Cole wanted me to be a ninja again, to get everyone together to do whats right, but I don't know if I can. Nya would want me to, but..."

"It's not what you want to do. But you do want to do something."

"I want to do what's right."

He gently ran the electric razor up and down, "no one is saying you have to be a ninja all the time, Kai. Look at me, I'm a ninja when it's needed, but it's not my main gig. Just help where you can- you're really good at that."

"But is it enough?"

Dareth spun him around, smiling as he cupped his shoulders, "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

Soon he was spun back around, his hair trimmed back to the way he had it before: shorter in the back, longer in the front. His eyes landed on the small horn stubs, and then down to the redder patch across his nose.

"It's not a bad look," Dareth chimed.

"Just will take some getting used to," Kai smirked. "Thanks, Dareth. I owe you."

"It's on the house."

[konan720]

-Logs from Sapphire-

(Log 1: New Crew)

"Is this thing working?" A rattling, mic-popping noise could be heard as the device was shifted "I think so… if that red blinking light means anything…" a woman sat in front of it, an old relic from a time long past. "Hello! My name is Sapphire! I work for… the 'Company'."

Her work suit color had been customized, whether it was against company policy or not was a guess in the dark. It is two shades of blue (light and dark) with yellow and white trims, the oxygen tanks she carries off on mission are also two shades of teal (light and dark). She had a few decals here and there, but she was mostly proud of the three-leaf clover on her chest.

"I wish I could tell you more, but even I don't know… maybe I did at some point?" She scratched at her cover head, teal visor glistening in the ship light.

The lady sighed.

"My crew…" you could hear clicking in the background, then scuttling, then buzzing with the side of even more annoyed clicking. "Hey- hey! No fighting in the ship!" The lady gave off a few annoyed clicks of her own as she stood up. The noise had quieted down as she walked back.

"My previous crew didn't… survive…" she leaned back and stretched her legs, "I don't know how I'm alive, or why they left me to live…" Sapphire put tired hands down after holding them up like she was explaining a theory board. "Maybe they pitied me, maybe they cared about me… it's hard to be sure with anyone at all nowadays."

"I've asked for a transfer! Or at least new crewmen to join! No one came!" She raised her voice, "Not an answer at all!" The insect-like chatter came back, though it only responded to her loud voice. After that it was quite "now-, and don't ask me how! I'm not even sure! I don't think it's even heard off!" She shifted the camera over to the left "My new 'crew' is a bunch of bugs that followed me back to my ship!"

"They wouldn't leave!?" She gestured to them "But they brought me stuff!?" Saying Sapphire was confused was an understatement. She was probably breaking company rules by doing this as well, but the little guys work hard and she's pretty sure they don't understand her. "Four hoarding bugs! There was… five? But the little pest with wing started attacking me, and I had to defend myself."

The group of bugs looked up at her, then at the thing pointed at them. They carefully walked up to her and politely reached for the old camera "After that, they all started following me." She handed one of them the camera as it was shifted around being inspected "I thought they attacked as a pack once threatened, but I guess they hated that guy too."

There was fighting again, over the camera this time. Sapphire quickly snatched it away before they got too rough.

"They do a good job finding scrap, especially since more of the hostile entities don't bother with the bugs." She placed it back on the command console "Except for bunkers spiders, they can't deal with those. So I take care of them, the bugs take care of me. I find the big stuff, they run off for the little things."

"I think they see the ship as their new nest. A magical box that changes the outside." She chuckled at that. "I hadn't run into much trouble, yet. And I'm thankful for these little suckers… I probably couldn't have made it this far without them."

She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't make the quota.

"The job is hard, the company is ignoring me, my crew are a bunch of hoarding bugs; I have to survive somehow." She sighed again, tired about everything "I can still request rations and water, I can still work and move; I guess that's all the company cares about."

"It's not about how it gets done; it's if it gets done, now." She had thoughts about leaving the company, but… she'd heard some rumors, and to be fair she didn't want to test them. If she died a horrible death, it might as well look like she died a good employee. Maybe then the company will notice her again.

But in the end, she's just tired, and this is all she can do. Pass the time before her untimely end.

"End of log one…"

[luckyshotwrites]

Ch. 85 // Idiocy // Day 59

Contents (Warnings): Lynette starts her training (slight angst, vore mentions, character and monster info as always). Read full chapter on A03

Wordcount: 2,138 (Sorry, I've been busy with some irl problems and new puppy!)

Song I correlate to this Chapter: Not found yet!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

(Nov. 25th, Friday)

Lynette

We were still off for Thanksgiving 'weekend'. Work resumed tomorrow, Saturday. So, Wicks took it upon himself to stage our training today.

That's why I was a bouncy, nervous wreck. I never used a weapon to fight someone before. 

I also wasn't thrilled to see Garter coming along. Not because I disliked him, I liked Garter, but I didn't want more people to witness my incompetence.

I don't want them laughing at me later. 

Knife? Wicks hadn't mentioned what the weapon was until now. I can't imagine a stab wound would do anything against them. They could use reversal magic and then crush me into dust.

A hand gently caressed my back, rubbing it firm and reassuringly. It jostled my sweater. "It'll be fine. We are going over the basics today. You need to learn how to handle a knife."

I didn't like the idea of being made into a tub of protein powder.

Lev. My mind whirled back to the blender incident. I knew I'd be fine, physically, yet it was an experience I never wanted again.

The umber-skinned male popped up to meet us. He always wore a cheery smile, "If you do good today, we can get ice cream too."

It's a very tempting incentive. I had to act like it wasn't—Wicks remained on standby. He waited to joke with me about being excited for some ice cream. 

I held it back. "That sounds lovely."

"You're trying too hard, Lentils." Wicks whispered to me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I raised my chin and crossed my arms. 

"And if you fail today, no ice cream," Garter said. 

"What!"

Wicks pulled his arm back, "Yep. You even have to watch us eat it."

Garter pulled back when the elevator dinged for our floor. "Good idea, Boss. We get ice cream regardless. I like it."

"That's not fair," I whimpered. How can they be so cruel? 

Wicks stepped out first. The elevator itself already looked to be of a higher class with the mirrors behind us and the sheer size, capacity, and trim. However, the inside of the building itself felt eerily imposing. Everything looked to be made from wood, polished and gleaming with an invitation I didn't ask for.

The space felt so vast I imagined it'd fit at least two Naga's comfortably, plus I could see there were several halls that looked to branch in different directions as if they were at the center of a maze.

And worst of all, it was quiet. I didn't hear much coming from any direction, except a light tapping that I couldn't see the owner of.

Another subject that made little sense, despite the ornate details done to the walls and grand arches above, there are no chairs, tables or artwork. Nothing.

I barely took a few steps outside, before Garter threw his head in front of me. "Don't worry, I can sneak you some ice cream if you do badly."

He's sweet. 

"Thanks," I whispered back. 

The mystery behind the tapping was solved.

Garter and I moved out of the way for the thin, stalky male, much like Garter, to scramble forward. He went straight for the elevator. I ducked under the long rolls of papers.

They look like building schematics. Is this place new?

"Oh, sorry!" Their voice left in a timid croak. He flipped back to face us—he huffed, and his short chestnut locks spurred out as rushed as he was. 

"You okay, Zetsu?" Wicks put a hand on my arm and pulled me closer, unconsciously. 

He nodded, then heard the elevator door closing, and blocked it with his foot and body. It made his papers fall from his arms and onto the ground. "Ah!" Garter got the door for him while Wicks and I helped clean up. 

"I'm sorry my head has been spinning lately." I piled a few scrolls into his arms.

Wicks loaded the last scroll, "I also thought you were leading us to our block today?"

His loose smile dropped, "Yes! Good thing you caught me, ha, ha..." he let his head fall to the side. He muttered more apologies under his breath. "You're in block D, and the training weapons are out. I just got called upstairs." He bowed his head, "Thank you, Wicks, and..."

He stopped his bow. His vibrant violet eyes, which reminded me of Zilla and Zane's, inspected every inch of me. I felt like they picked at every detail of me. 

"I don't think we've met?"

"She's a new recruit," Wicks said. 

I was told to pretend Wicks and I didn't know each other and I was a rank, classless.

"Well, hello, I'm Zetsûboooooooo," he attempted to put his hand out to me and almost dropped them all again. I threw my hands against him to help keep them in place. He fixed his grip. "Thank you, and call me Zetsu for short."

"I'm Lynette, nice to meet you, Zetsu." I shared a smile, "No handshakes are necessary. You worry about getting to where you got to go with all of those intact."

As I said that, the elevator door Garter was holding open beeped. 

Zetsu threw himself back into it so it could close. "Okay! Thank you, and nice to meet you too, Lynette!" The door closed after.

"Is he a friend of yours too?" I asked Wicks.

"Kinda..." Wicks shifted his gaze. Garter pulled back from the elevator in toe. 

"Did something happen?" I asked, absentmindedly tugging at his hoodie. Is he dangerous? He seemed fine? I'm not the best judge of character, am I? My head scrolled back to Claudia. I would have never known...

Wicks peered down and gently put his hand on mine. "I'll tell you later." 

Garter walked ahead of us, leading. I released his hoodie. Should I be worried? Did I meet some kind of terrible beast? Why would Wicks not want to talk about it now? Were they something to him before.

My eyes widened, and I gasped, "was that the person you were dating? IT wasn't a LIE!"

Wicks stopped in his tracks. He flicked his head to me immediately, utterly confused.

Garter quickly got to us. He used my head as an armrest and encroached upon Wicks's face. "YOU WERE DATING SOMEONE?!" 

The anxious befuddlement grew on my brother's face. "What are you..." he trailed off. Put his lips together to keep his mouth shut and backed up. 

"You were lying to me!" I exclaimed. Garter was still using my head as a rest. 

He yelled out, putting his hands over his face. "I'M SORRY! I couldn't think of anything else to say that might sound plausible! I couldn't tell you the truth yet."

The fingers he tangled with his hair pulled more strands out, and it fell over his face.

His best friend finally let me move freely. "You shouldn't lie about a bond mate if you're embarrassed. I'm without one, but I carry it with pride." 

"It wasn't for that, Garter!" Wicks pushed himself ahead. "No more talking about this, especially not in the halls. Let's get your training started." 

...

Wicks

I can't hurt her. He didn't realize how hard it would be to simply grab Lynette out of things. 

He constantly hesitated and retreated from any slash she did.

Thus, he called a break so she could keep going over the feel, weight, and motions he taught her. 

"What's the matter, Boss?" Garter questioned. His friend loved getting up close and personal with people and to make himself their "height". Every time you do that, I feel smaller...

"What did I say about-" Wicks cut himself off and exhaled. He wouldn't argue about the 'boss' nickname today. He pressed his back further into the wall. "I'm so afraid I might hurt her."

Garter looked over at Lynette, who had her back to them. She was determined, to say the least, even though her form was subpar at best. Especially when she stood before Wicks or Garter with the training weapon. Her hands shook like a chihuahua outside in a thunderstorm. 

"You put a cloak on her; she'll be fine." Garter gave two thumbs up as reassurance. 

"yeah." Wicks bit the bottom of his lip. I would never go that hard on her, but I don't know why I keep imagining it. "I don't know."

Garter stood up straight. He tilted his head to stare at the high ceiling. Then, a bright grin peeled open his lips, his very subtle incisors were shown. "Let me take over. I'll gladly train her!"

What?! "Garter-"

He didn't even let Wicks rebuttal. 

The tall lad made his way across the grounds and to Lynette. "Hey Lynette, I will be your training partner today instead of Wicks!"

Wicks glanced back and forth between her and Garter. She looks tiny. 

The Oni of the mountains waved both of his hands at him when he saw Wicks's concern. "It'll be fine, boss—I'll go super easy on her! Trust me!"

Lynette peered at her big brother. He wouldn't dare... Garter had a track record of hunting smaller prey. They got most of those urges out with training, yet he still falls victim to it occasionally.

The only reason I even brought Garter was because I promised him we'd get some training in today. "Sounds good." Wicks shouted back. He said it for Lynette's nerves and gave the go ahead to Garter. I'll trust him.

Wicks thought, though he intently watched every motion Garter made. 

So far, his best friend didn't purposefully try to break the cloak; instead, Garter never gave her a chance to strike him. He'd quickly grab her out of a strike, pin her down, disarm her, or hold her arms up so she couldn't attack him.

He's just bullying her. 

Wicks sighed, he undid his ponytail entirely. He pet at his straighter hair. He gathered a few things so far. I should start training her in basic combat too. If she knows how to properly move and hit someone, she'd be more effect with a knife. She's relying on the strikes too much.

Garters tease echoed out in the empty, magic enfused steel room, "Do you like getting caught?"

"No!" Lynette whimpered with slight frustration. "I just never fought anyone before!"

Garter returned her knife after he poked her stomach with it, "Weird. Where I came from, you learn to fight as soon as you can walk." He waited for her to get back into a stance. He did the same. "How about I call you what we do to those who haven't learned to fight yet."

"An insult?"

He snickered, "a ginkoose, which translates to a child with newborn strength." 

Lynette shook her head in protest, "It's not my fault you guys are stronger than me—you guys are monsters."  

"In human cases, most monsters aren't much stronger or faster than humans." Garter laughed and pounced at Lynette, "So you're using excuses~!"

Lynette avoided him and continued to do so. Garter gave chase. It's going better than I thought it would. 

And, of course, as soon as Wicks thought that, he noticed Garter's black hair shifting white and flaring with volume.

Wicks pushed off the wall and ran at them, specifically for Garter. "HEY, GARTER, STOP, DON'T YOU DARE!" He couldn't let his friend try and eat Lynette.

Wicks got to Lynette, yanked her out of the way and took the force of Garter's hand as his case broke. He slammed back into the wall, it wasn't that hard, so at least Wicks knew Garter didn't lose all sense of, 'being gentle'.

Once the Oni realized his mistake, now standing at thirty or so feet tall, his four arms out and one pinning Wicks to the metal wall, he let out a nervous chuckle from between his giant fangs.

"I went a little overboard huh?"

"You think?" Wicks asked with an eyebrow raise.

"Are you okay?" Lynette got closer.

Wicks shot her a glare, warning her not too.

Garter didn't let his grip go, "does this technically mean I win since I trapped you?" His best friend said, "and if it does that mean I can eat you?"

A dastardly laugh broke out of Wicks vocal cords, he stared at Garter, "you're in direct contact with a magus, I'm not unconscious nor even trying to use any magic. Then, after trying to get my sister, you have the audacity to ask me if you can eat me?"

"Yes?" Garter said, plainly.

There was a long pause before Wicks noticed the seriousness on Garter's face, accompanied by the innocent puppy dog eyes. Wicks flailed his legs, "YOU AREN'T GOING TO CONVINCE ME, NOW PUT ME DOWN BEFORE I MAKE A SNACK OUT OF YOUR ENERGY!"

...

Hey, you, thank you so much for reading. I'm glad I put out a story that people can enjoy! I hope you continue to enjoy it as WE have a LOT more to go! YOU BETTER KEEP PROSPERING! (Nonnegotiable, as always~).

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Catch up, see some maps/art, or check the latest release dates down below  ↓ ↓ ↓ 

What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)

[sheliesshattered]

It's been about two and a half weeks since I posted my update about our trip to Batuu -- and it has been a weird two and half weeks. Shortly after I finished that post, Jack and I found out that our work contract was ending abruptly, effective March 1st. We always knew that was a possibility, and we're difficult to scare at this point, especially when it comes to work stuff, so where that might have filled some people with quite a lot of dread, Jack and I were both just like 'welp, I guess this is happening.'

We knew about a couple of possibilities for new work, but we figured we'd have at least two weeks off in between, just while we got everything lined up. Besides chasing down those potentials for a new contract, we also used the free time to get a bunch of household chores out of the way, things like taxes and taking the car into the shop and then getting it smog tested, going in for eye exams, all the sort of things that are easy to put off during the work week and then not want to do on the weekend.

And in between all that I actually got some sewing done too, lol. Whenever I first wear something that I sewed, I take notes on anything that needs to be fixed or adjusted or changed, and while I was generally happy with my outfit for our Batuu Bounding day, there were a few small things I wanted to fix about it -- both in the hopes of wearing it to Batuu again at some point, and so that the pieces can be worn on their own with other clothing.

For the sweatshirt I sewed to go underneath the blue linen vest, I actually knew what I wanted to change before we went to Batuu, but specifically put off making those changes until after our big Disney day. It was fine under the vest, but without the vest it fit a bit awkwardly: the edge finishing on the collar gaped open and didn't want to lay right, and the side seams flared out too much over the hips.

I ended up trimming the collar edging down to a much narrower width, like I said I might back near the beginning of February. I played around with adding another detail there, maybe a stand up collar just in the back, but in the end decided it looks fine with just that narrow trim.

To fix the flare over the hips, I ended up needing to take out the cool detail on the side seam. Sewing that up as a regular seam allowed me to fiddle with the fit much easier, and it also removed a lot of bulk from those multi-layered exposed seams. It fits under the vest even better now than it did before, and I can wear it without the vest, just with jeans or leggings or whatever.

For the vest, I was generally happy with the fit, but wearing it around all day made it clear just how much I actually needed hooks and eyes to keep the flap over the zipper closed. I went back and forth on how to do the hooks and eyes, contemplated putting them on the outside of the flap before deciding to hide them under the flap instead. I hand sewed several of them down, but then when it was just creating weird bumps and ripples in the center front, I took all of them off except the one right at the underbust.

That one hidden hook and eye was only just barely enough to keep the flap over the zipper from swinging open, so this last week I took off that one hook and eye pair, then started hand sewing them to the outside instead. I placed the one at the underbust first, since that's the most fitted point, then spaced the hooks out along the outside of the overlap at even spacing so that the top one ended up right at the very top corner of the flap.

My first round of sewing on a bunch of these taught me not to try to match up the eyes with the hooks by measurement or by what lays flat on my table, but rather to actually put the vest on and thread an eye through each hook and use tailor's chalk to mark where each eye needed to go. Like the rest of the vest, it absolutely will not lie flat on the table, but it fits me wonderfully, with no ripples or weird bumps along that center front edge.

I ended up really liking the way the exposed clasped looked, and I think it adds a really subtle Star Wars-y type detail. The black hooks and eyes nearly disappear on the dark blue linen (far more than in these well-lit photos), so they end up being just a bit of texture and visual interest rather than yelling about their claspiness.

Most of the time I'll wear it as in the photo above, with the top two clasps undone. The weight of the large metal hooks helps the triangular edge of the undone flap hang properly, which was another problem I had with it during our Batuu visit.

But the design really felt like it demanded a fully functional closure, so I added two more hooks up past the point where they're needed to actually cover the zipper. Leaving just one clasp undone results in a cool, slightly more asymmetric neckline:

And closing it all the way to the top creates a very sleek, buttoned-up kind of look.

I have some ideas about other pieces of clothing that I might be able to pair this vest with, and hopefully an excuse to wear my whole Batuu Bound outfit again in the near-ish future. Either way, I'll get some pictures of the updated vest on me sometime soon.

And since the new contract situation has worked itself out -- Jack and I will officially be back at it with a new client starting this week -- we're contemplating going to one of the Star Wars After Dark dates at Disneyland in April or May. I'll definitely wear the vest then, and possibly the sweatshirt too, depending on the night time temperatures predicted for whenever we end up going.

With that in mind, there's a new stash-busting sewing project I've started as well, but it really deserves its own post. Watch this space.

[not-that-dillinger]

/* trimming */

Alan peeked out from between the rows of arcade cabinets, spotting Ed. "Over here." He said, stepping into view. The- secret passage? Hidden room? Behind the Tron cabinet was shocking, but Ed looked more frazzled than anything and Alan ignored the new thing he definitely hadn't seen on the floor plans in favour of being concerned over the young programmer. His arms were mostly full, and he walked over slowly - trying not to spook Ed as much as he was attempting not to spill the mountain of things he was holding. "I asked the lady at the counter to get your favourites, because I don't know them, so hoping she got it right." Alan offered, nodding at the assortment of snacks in his arms.

Ed hesitantly took a step toward Alan. He wasn't certain how to feel about the situation. Alan did have a point about it getting late, and the food was a good idea, but he certainly didn't have to go out of his way to get Ed's admittedly obnoxious order that he only dares to ask for when they're not busy (even if it's only that obnoxious because food allergies... except for the salami, which was the only preference based on a texture issue), even if Alan didn't realize what that was when he asked for it... And if the staffing schedule was the same as it's been for at least as long as Ed's worked at Encom, then the lady at the counter--Melati--absolutely got the order right.

It was still one of the kindest things anyone has done for him in a while, and Ed didn't know how to deal with that. especially considering the discussion they had over the phone earlier.

"You really shouldn't have, but thank you," he finally managed to say. "That's very kind."

He paused for a minute, scrambling for something else to say instead of standing there awkwardly.

"Everything at the office okay?" he asked. "And... let me help with some of that?"

@not-that-dillinger Continued from here because it apparently doesn't want me to reblog it...

Nitro shuddered softly. "There's... two kinds of reprogramming." He explained haltingly. "That we have experience with, at least."

"One's... medical, I guess. Repairing damage, making improvements, averting obsolescence... all done by Users or trained Medic Programs. Good thing, if a bit... disconcerting when you're not used to it."

"The other's Clu's specialty. He calls it rectifying. It's... it's hacking, I guess, given a fancy name, but it's so much worse than being infected with a Virus or a User breaking in to edit a Program's function without access rights allowing them to."

"It strips away everything that makes someone who they are. Memories, functions, personality, thoughts, hopes, dreams... all gone." Nitro looked away, clenching his fist. "He did it to so many. Friends became enemies in... well. Fractions of a second for you, our equivalent of minutes. Hundreds, if not thousands, wiped clean except for what he wanted to turn them into. Disposable armies, mostly. Bodies to throw at what few held out against him. He- even Tron was brought down eventually. Our stronghold, Eve, my kids... we're the last of the resistance, maybe forty fighters strong, the rest all refugees. It- for all I know, it could be just me now."

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

(I have so much help with all of this. SO MUCH.)

I knew last week would get busy with other commitments! I printed two more typesets, trimmed three more text blocks, and failed at making a tiny book during Six’s tiny book speedrun workshop! (I think I’ve figured out where I failed in the page-folding, it’s fine, and I’m going to give it another shot. (TINY BOOKS SO SMOL AND CUTE! I just might have trawled through my bookmarks looking for 3-5K book to go into tiny books.)

I’m doing hand-sewn headbands, because I find it relaxing, except for one book that’s skinny enough to just be too fiddly.

There has been some cloth and paper selection.

I made wheat paste! And book covers!

And assembled books, and stencilled the covers and spines!

Two books done, twelve more in progress. I'll share final pictures of everything once the month is up. I need to print at least one more to hit my goal of fifteen case-bound for the month.

The weekend brought a marbling demo to follow up on last weekend’s Q&A with @aetherseer and co-conspirator. Not as many threats to eat the marbling supplies this time, @renegadepublishing peeps, you must have had more snacks in advance.

[zaceouiswriting]

New Professor

Characters: Dick Grayson x male, Jason Todd x male, Tim Drake x male

Universe: Somewhere in DC

Warnings: None

The entire class mumbled. After talking about their new professor, they got fired for using drugs in public after their old one. Her actions were unacceptable to the university. But not one single student knew who it was. The university itself held it under lock. Why that was, nobody was really sure, which made all of this so much more enticing.

Maybe a famous person, with a degree? Or a special agent? Maybe even a spy? There weren’t many reasons to hold the information of a new professor under wraps. So, their minds wandered far from the truth.

In the end, they did not even notice someone coming into the room from down where the professor would stand. All of them way too far into their own little worlds and conversations. Which gave that person, enough time to build everything up, get ready, and even write his name on the chalkboard.

Just then, he turned around and clapped once loudly in his hands. Immediately, all eyes flew down, directly to you. A small smile is visible on your perfectly groomed face. „Good morning class, I know it is bright and early. Not all of you are already awake, but please turn it down a notch. My name is (Y/N) or Professor (Y/L/N). I will teach this class at least this year. Hopefully, no incidents will ruin our fun together, okay?“

You turned around and swung the chalkboard up, so everyone could write down your name, only for you to turn around again. „And for the guy, I just met in the toilet. An excellent place to get to know other people, might I add. Yes, I stared at your dick, not because it was that appealing, but because your pubes looked like someone tried to trim it and almost cut the entire thing off. Next time, please be careful.“

For a moment, the entire class was silent. Not knowing how to react to your brutal honesty and savagely. But soon after burst into laughter. It even made your own smile a bit wider.

You let them get everything out, before clapping once more, „Okay that’s enough. Let us begin!“

Maybe it was because you had experience with classrooms already, or cause of the work outside of campuses you have done. The people you met and learned from. But every single person loved the two-hour class you just, had spent together.

Making it boring doesn’t help anyone, so why do it? You guys laughed and even played one or two games, to get the information better in your student's heads. Of course, not all classes could be like this, but sometimes and when it's possible, it should be done that way.

Before you let your pupil go, you had to call out a couple of them. „Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake, please stay behind.“

Especially the guys were confused, one of them even mortified, but no other one really paid any mind to it. Not even after your story at the beginning of class. Most forgotten, just to get remembered later and wondering if the guy you had talked about, was within this small group.

„It is nothing serious guys, relax.“ You smiled at them, as they came to a halt directly at your little podium. Waiting for the last person to leave the room, you immediately turned back to the three guys. „As far as I know, you three are brothers, right?“

The three guys nodded in unison, still confused, except for one. Who looked even more mortified than before, you had called them to you.

„Okay, good Tim here, really needs your help with his self-care. Please show him how to shave, before he does irreparable damage to his own body. I almost feared for his life, when he goes onto me in the toilets and saw his damaged skin.“

Both Dick and Jason looked shocked at their brother, who tried to hide himself away with his hands. „If you guys need tips or… „Help“, just call me, here is my number.“

Before either of the three could say something else, you already were at packing again. Eyes not even met them once more.

Together, the brothers left, confused and with your number in their hands. As Jason looked at his, under your number was only one word written, „Hunk“, at first, he was confused, until he finally understood, that it wasn’t meant innocent.

With a bright grin, he showed it to his brothers. „Look what our hot teacher wants to call me,“ he told them cockily.

Dick, with a satisfied grin, showed him too. As Jason read it, he rolled his eyes, „Stallion? Really? He must be blind, or maybe he gave you the wrong piece of paper?“

Just then he turned the piece around, and showed his first name, „Don’t think so bro. He just knows what he likes.“ His voice arrogantly, knowing how much it would piss him off.

„You don’t even like guys!“, Jason retorted loudly. His anger began to flare up.

Dick just shrugged with his arms, „Don’t care. He is hot, giving him what he wants, could only be profitable for me.“

„What says it on your paper, Tim?“, Jason tried his hardest to get away from Dick and his obvious ego problem.

But Tim said nothing, trying to stuff the paper in his pocket. To his luck, Dick was faster and snatched it out of his hand. „Let’s see… Baby boy?“

While Dick stood there confused, Jason broke out laughing like a maniac. The tallest of the three did not understand it. Was it a joke?

Tim, who already was uncomfortable, tried to get the paperback, but he could see that Dick wanted an explanation. He groaned embarrassed. „He thinks I'm inexperienced and… and-“

„Submissive!“ Jason screamed out laughing. Almost rolling himself over the floor, clutching his sides from the amount he laughed.

Now it was on the tallest to be mortified. He quickly gave the paper back to his smaller brother, which he in return immediately stuffed in his pocket, finally. „Is it true? Are you a baby boy?“

Of course, Dick wanted to know that. He had no experience with any of that and if he hears or sees something, Jason or Tim needed to explain it to him asap. „Yes,“ he mumbled almost silently. Which finally let even Jason shut up.

„Oh fuck, sorry,“ he quickly excused himself. Thinking that you just wanted to make fun of Tim, without knowing that you could see right through the tough guy demeanor he has because of Jason and Dick.

As the three brothers, now in uncomfortable silence, walked back to their car, someone else found something very interesting about you. Another of your students, made it her mission, to expose why the school had made your appearance a secret. And what she found, explained everything and so much more. Already planning, how she could use it to her advantage.

[Masterlist]

[arcplaysgames]

lmao okay akechi i fucking dare you to go to the police with that. i dare you. here is my weird iphone panorama photo except someone moved and fucked up the image.

but no he has video too so FIIIINE I GUEEEEEESS that's decent blackmail material.

YOU LIE LIKE A BEIGE RUG

allegedly when Akechi was following the Thieves around, he ran into Black Mask, who shot at him, and the confrontation awakened Akechi to his persona.

Did I not say that we wouldn't see his awakening? Because he's deffo had his persona for longer than a month.

All of Akechi's testimony is contrived as fuck and has nothing to back it up, but because the Thieves are panicking (and are kinda dumb) they don't question any of it. Instead, Akechi just lays out his ultimatum: either they help him uncover the true identity of the "real" killer, or he turns them over to the police.

i wanna crack open his skull and read it like tasseomancy, what the fuck is even going through his head, what is his morality, what are his goals. I have no fucking idea.

I KNOW HE'S THE KILLER. Like, the thing about Persona games (or at least 4 and 5) is that you reach a point in the story where the story narrows things down until there is only one option left. As with Adachi, Akechi has been suspect for a long fucking time, but eventually the branches of the story get trimmed until there is only one option remaining. And it is Akechi.

.... Hm. And like with Adachi, I have no idea what his motivations are. Funny, that.

hang on, after the meeting, everyone leaves except Reverie and Morgana, and things go hazy and weird for a sec before the scene abruptly ends. And Morgana's little icon there is the "talking" icon, not the "surprise" or "confusion" icon.

What is happening? Is something important occurring that the story is obfuscating or is Reverie-In-The-Framing-Device getting woozy?

The School Festival is over, Akechi bails on the rest of the interview without answering who the Thieves are.

There's an extended animated cutscene where Kasumi dances at the post-festival dance? But uh. I don't.... care. Sorry, Kasumi, you are suffering from how tacked on you feel to the story.

Like, Kasumi's bit is so OBVIOUSLY shoehorned in, it's coinciding with the exact same place where Reverie is supposed to have a mandatory hangout with Haru?

Like, Kasumi and Reverie leave, the game says the dance is over....

THEN HARU TEXTS AND IS LIKE "HEY THE DANCE IS STARTING, WANNA HANG" AND REVERIE TURNS AROUND AND GOES BACK IN

l m a o Persona 5 Royal, you are KILLIN me here. this is worse than that time Mishima said "kek" out loud, goddammit.

Haru is much more likeable. She gets called up to do an impromptu interview and the emcee is an asshole and starts asking about how she feels about the Phantom Thieves killing her fucking dad

so Reverie stands up and causes a commotion

Reverie is the best protagonist yet.

AND

THEN

OH SHIT WE'RE FUCKIN RUMBLED, DAD KNOWS

Sojiro obviously noticed his daughter has gone through a significant change in the past few months but has chalked it up to her finally finding friends her age who support her. But finding the calling card seems to confirm his worst fears.

FUTABA'S VA IN THIS IS AMAZING BTW she is palpably trying to explain something very emotional while staving off a fucking meltdown and the way she struggles to control her words is like-- I HAVE BEEN HERE. I HAVE DONE THIS EXACT STACCATO SPEECH PATTERN.

It's fabulous.

I was straight up ready to fess up but Sojiro doesn't Get It and seems to think Reverie is just linked to the Thieves somehow

i wanna crush Futaba against my chest and hug her for about an hour

YOU ARE MY DAD, YOU'RE MY DAD, BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE

gurrrrrrl, same tho

The Thieves meet up the next day to go over everything they know before giving Akechi an answer. Makoto lays out that all of this, the hacking, the manipulation of the media, the way Okumura was placed in their path, the hype cycle around the Thieves, it was all a huge set-up and set-ups like that take money and resources to happen. Ergo, the person they're up against is no Republic serial villain, they're either an extremely powerful individual or a whole organization.

Also there is a 30 million yen reward for details about them now.

Yes I know I'm a huge bitch and I loudly dislike Ryuji and I have been screaming for tens of hours now what he and Mishima are broadly to blame for all of this shit happening.

It's deeply satisfying to see the rubber band finally snap back as the weight of his actions falls on him. Yeah, he's like 16, 17, but he's been toying with people's hearts and minds like it's a game to win. It's turned him into a kinda terrible dude, so the clarity hitting him this hard is actually reassuring. Somewhere in that brain, he knows the gravity of this fuck up, he knows he's gone astray. Not even led astray, he was hyped for fame all the way back before Madarame. First a desire for recognition, sure, but it grew into a ravenous monster appetite for infamy and all the perks that come with it.

I'm just relieved that the fucking hours upon hours of dealing with his horseshit was actually building to something. That doesn't make me like him, but it makes me feel satisfied that all of that was intentional.

Now if we can just get Mishima in on this shit.

Good for you, realization of the self is the first step to changing the self. Now please: grow as a fucking person, i'm begging you.

Also he apologizes for his outburst scaring Ann and Haru.

Still nothing for Morgana, so that ship has sunk.

oh btw in case you don't believe me, here is Mishima literally saying "kek".

we should have stolen his fucking heart when we had the chance, jesus fuck

[dianight]

5 months

Hair looking nicer. I cut it for the first time in like 8 years. Just a very minor trim on the front. I can't quite have bangs (which I'd like at some point) but coupled with a few bald spots that are now filled I can style it a bit better. I'm actually really bad at taking care of it and even though I wash it with water only (shampoo maybe once a couple months, no conditioner now) it is looking less "messy" than usual. I just have curly hair, like I naturally get drills without doing anything (not proper ones, but you know).

I've looked into my options regarding getting rid of facial hair and it's looking bad. Moles, dry skin, skin conditions are all bad and can cause issues, apparently. Not a problem for now but it has to be sorted eventually and it's not looking easy. We'll see.

I am the fattest I've ever been, which is not saying a lot because in 5 months I haven't been able to gain a singular entire kilo, and yet I feel way colder than ever. It's a weird thing because even as a teen some random tshirt was enough and now I'm freezing with a jacket on.

Got new pants with my sister. I am 3 sizes above what I was 5 years ago, which is insane because everything goes directly into my ass and my breasts keep getting ignored (<- sad). At some point (soon) I'll measure them, which yeah, in hindsight I should have done from the start but the reason is... it didn't occur to me until recently. Yeag I know.

I have experienced the wildest mood swings of my life very recently. I spent an entire week crying every day. Sometimes emotional scenes got to me. Sometimes just doing mundane things would trigger it. Somehow I went through an entire panic attack just crying and when I was done everything was fine. Genuinely scary. One day I woke up and had no desire/drive/interest to do anything, I felt like dying and the only thing that kept me going was literally "I'm not feeling ok I just need to get in bed and I'll be fine tomorrow". I was in bed maybe for 16 hours just feeling like shit mentally, I didn't even believe it'd get better. Somehow it did, but it was like getting hit by a fucking depression beam. My sideblog has a few more details, but no matter.

I could finally confirm that reading does it for me very strongly. It's just like those people who are unable to feel pain, except for being horny. It's like instead of a physical need, I have to manually check "am I in the mood now?" and I get hit all at once "oh yeah I am".

Genital smell is totally different now, in a good way. I actually was curious about cum but there's nothing to smell, just the occasional pitiful drop when I'm done. A weird(?) one is that something is up with whatever muscles are responsible for peeing. Every single time it feels like I'm not done, squeezing the toothpaste tube as a metaphor. Not sure how to phrase it properly but it's messier now. Like I feel it getting "worse". Not a problem so far but I have to clean it every time since there's always a bit of pee left, something that used to barely ever happen.

I have a very strong case that I am the only trans woman in this town, or at least the only one that uses this pharmacy (the other one is smaller). I could find out but it's a bit nosy and I'd rather "lay low" if you will. I can't wait to move out of this shithole.

We'll leave it at that for now.

1 month (long, TMI as they say)

So I was planning on making a list of changes, sort of, stuff I've noticed but when I try to put it into words it gets quite difficult. Anyway. In no particular order and with the caveat that it might be placebo or simply something that I've never paid attention to or some other unrelated factor:

My hair looks nicer? It used to get tangled pretty often, now I simply get the drill hair curls unless I comb it a bit. Do I notice less hair falling overall? Maybe(?), I still get some loose ones on my hair ties or in the shower. But I feel like (<- feel like) it's less now. Not quite how I'd like it yet but better (<- even if not a thing still feels nicer).

I was genuinely looking forward to having an easier time crying, no luck yet. What emotional changes I've gotten are "villainess behaviors" instead which if I were to elaborate is an incredibly difficult time containing myself when someone antagonizes me in any way. As an example I had a celebration (not mine) recently and some relative said something passive agressive to me, I wanted to just ignore instead I found myself laughing in their face and telling them to mind their business (<- less nice than that). Other minor "I should not let this matter to me" stuff feeding the urge to be cruel. I'm fine but it's funny in a way since it's harder to be nice when people are assholes.

Shaving is much much worse and a bit better now. It used to be something that if I ignored/forgot about for a while it'd not matter, now I had a moment where I couldn't sleep and had to go shave at 2am due to how bad it was making me feel. It does feel nicer now, but only for a while.

Less smell? It's summer, it's hot, I'm not particularly sweaty and yet. It's too big of a change to be something I'm imagining. Weird, in a really nice way.

[I lost track so I check the table for reference to see what else.]

Oh yeah. Big changes happening (<- exaggeration). My nipples randomly get sore, one of them is sore all the time! No noticeable size changes though. Way more sensitive to the point of almost being painful (<- in a good way). Actually concerning. I could talk more about it but perhaps not right now.

Body hair is all the same(?), no differences on skin softness/oiliness. My skin condition remains the same.

Body fat redistribution and pelvis changes seems to not be happening yet. My hips are massive anyway and the dimples in my lower back have always been there (<- bragging).

Decreased muscle and strength. Yeah, not from E I can tell you. It's more the disability and the injuries.

This one is kinda funny. "Changes in mood, emotionality, and behavior". It could be. It could also be the sheer relief of getting something I've been trying to get for 8(9?) years, while being able to focus on other stuff that was simply asking too much of me. I'm biased obviously but apart from the slightly stronger urges it's mostly the same.

Sex drive and all that stuff. Let's just say expected changes. Shooting blanks now, which is amusing. No morning wood. You know the drill. I know there can be atrophy if you don't use it and I'll gladly let that thing rot, but. Let's think about how it might be necessary later on. Bear with it for now.

Another interesting one that comes with those emotional changes is how little I care now about certain things, sexually speaking. And how some others will instantly fill a metaphorical bar until it says !!! MADNESS !!! out of nowhere. Case in point, that drawing about the two girls playing the rhythm game(?) while one holds the other's leash. Yeah funny mental image. Somehow it got stuck in my brain for a couple days. Wait what. I'm also much more picky about what types of works I read. It all just seems so boring now. Seen that setup before, that one's got very bad art, that one is too misogynistic, that one is just uninspired.

Anyway I could type more about how it feels different now but words fail me a bit and I think that's enough for now.

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 127: Fake Dating

"It's just annoying," Draco continued as he and Harry packed up for the night. "Literally every single party or brunch, I am hounded about when I'll start dating someone." He slammed his desk drawer closed, "I'm a bloody auror! I haven't got time to date anyone," he groaned. "And now I have this party tonight and I just know-"

"I'll go with you," Harry offered.

He broke off and stared at the other man. "What?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a shrug, "I'll go and be your pretend boyfriend, it would be easy to fake that we're dating since we already know everything about each other."

"But," he started, tilting his head at the other man, "Then people will think we're dating."

"I thought that was the point?"

He stared at Harry, waiting for it to click. When no click was forthcoming he said "but then people would think you're dating me."

"Am I missing something here?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't think you quite understand what dating me entails."

"Ah, need to be pampered, darling? Wined and dined? Roses on Tuesday and dinner on Friday nights? I could bring you coffee in the morning-"

"I- What?" Draco spluttered. "No! No. Merlin, that's not what I'm saying, although, yes if we're being honest I want to be absolutely doted upon," he added.

"Obviously."

"Wait," he said, shaking his head to clear it, "You're missing the fucking point."

(Read more below the cut)

"Sorry," Harry said, smirking at him and not looking sorry at all, "What's the point?"

"The point," Draco said, poking him in the chest, "Is that dating me is not a pleasant experience."

"Oh come on," Harry teased, "You're not that bad."

"I am a fucking delight," he replied, exasperated, "I am saying that the press will make your life hell."

"Ah," he said, nodding, "I have no idea what dealing with the press is like."

"The press has been kind to you for at least the past decade because of the whole saving the world nonsense," Draco replied as he opened the door and held it open for Harry.

"Except for the lurid months after I came out and all sorts of lies were spread about me," Harry replied wryly.

He shook his head and headed toward the floos, "Even those were mostly flattering," he added with a lewd glance.

Harry laughed, "Whatever. My point," he said, poking him in the shoulder, "is that I'm not afraid of the press." He bumped his shoulder against Draco's, "Come on. What have you got to lose?"

"Fine," he huffed but his stomach was silently doing back flips while his heart did a complicated tap routine in his chest. "Meet me at the Screaming Goblin at 7:00pm sharp." He stepped toward the floo and turned, "Don't dress like a homeless person," he added before stepping into the floo.

---------------

Harry did not dress like a homeless person. In fact it was quite the opposite.

Harry looked fucking hot.

He was wearing tight dark-wash jeans and a lightweight jumper that hugged his body, making his strong, broad shoulders look even broader and his trim waist even narrowed. He'd done his hair, putting enough product in his curls to make them look artfully tousled and not a mess. And he'd arrived before Draco but instead of waiting, he'd gone in and bought Draco's friends a round and was sitting and yammering away at them.

As Draco approached, Harry turned his head and gave him a wide grin, "Hey, babe," he said, standing up and pulling out Draco's chair for him.

"Hi," he said weakly.

Harry pressed a kiss to his temple and a thrill shot through Draco's body as his brain went pleasantly fuzzy.

And thank Merlin for Harry because Draco hardly answered a question all night, hardly even heard a question all night because he was too busy focusing on the way it felt to have Harry's fingers trailing through the hair at the base of his skull. Harry talked and laughed with Draco's friends like they'd all been friends for ages as he sat with his arm resting on the back of Draco's chair.

When it was time to go, Harry helped Draco into his coat and bid all of the former Slytherins goodbye as he wrapped his arm through Draco's.

The bar wasn't far from Draco's but still Harry murmured, "Can I walk you?"

And Draco found himself charmed into saying yes.

Harry hummed, quiet now that all of Draco's friends were gone, but he still kept his arm looped through Draco's as they walked. When they arrived at Draco's front door Harry asked, "Everything alright?"

Draco's eyes snapped to his and he nodded, "I just can't believe how well they took to you."

He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and grinned up at Draco from the bottom step, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Well, I can be very charming, what can I say?"

"It's a little strange-" Draco started but Harry leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of Draco's mouth and every word that Draco knew disappeared.

"Don't overthink it," he said with a wink. Then he turned and started off down the sidewalk calling, "See you tomorrow," over his shoulder.

Draco was half way to bed before he realized that there was no one watching when Harry kissed him on his door step.

------------

They spent the next two weeks fake dating and it was the best dating experience Draco had ever had. Harry was sweet and doting, just like Draco had said he wanted and Draco enjoyed that thoroughly.

But what he hadn't expected enjoying as much as he did was being good to Harry in return. While Draco loved to be praised and brought little treats, Harry loved to be touched. He melted when Draco ran his fingers through his hair; when Draco held his hand, he got a huge dopey grin on his face that took hours to disappear; and even a casual touch, fingers trailing over the small of his back when Draco walked by, made his lips twitch up as he leaned into the touch.

Draco was quickly, and disconcertingly, becoming addicted to those smiles.

Smiles were in short supply that day, though. The case they'd worked had been tough. Harry was scowling at the folder splayed out in front of him, his jaw clenched as he filled in paperwork.

"Hey," Draco murmured as he slipped behind him and slowly rubbed Harry's shoulders.

Harry dropped his quill and leaned back into the touch, "Hey," he murmured, closing his eyes.

"Alright?" Draco asked.

He nodded, "I just hate the ones with kids."

"They're going to be alright, though," he said.

"Yeah," he agreed, "But it just brings up bad memories." He shook his head and covered Draco's hand with his own. "Want to get out of here?"

"What did you have in mind?" he asked as he combed his fingers through Harry's soft curls.

Harry tipped his head back to look up at Draco, "this is nice," he said softly. "Want to go back to mine and I'll make you dinner? Then I'll lay with my head on your lap and you can stroke my hair?" he asked wistfully and Draco's heart stuttered in his chest.

"That sounds an awful lot like dating."

"Yeah," Harry affirmed.

"But there's no one there-"

Harry pulled away, breaking Draco's contact with him, "You're right," he said, nodding as he stood up and started shoving files into his bag. "Forget it."

"Harry-"

"No, it's fine," he said, giving him a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You're right. I'm just," he shrugged helplessly. "Forget it," he repeated as he grabbed his bag and headed to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"But-" Draco started before realizing it was useless because Harry was gone. He packed up his things and headed home, this was what he should have been worried about; pretending to be dating had been a terrible idea.

When he got home he flooed Pansy and told her everything. "And now I don't know what to do," he finished, imaging Harry at home all alone make dinner.

"You're such an idiot," Pansy groaned.

"Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You do know that we all knew you thought it was fake, don't you."

"What?"

"We all knew. Potter told us that first night when we met up for drinks," she said.

He frowned, "Why? Why would he say that? And why haven't you said anything?"

"Because he asked us not to. He said he was really into you, or whatever," she said flippantly, "And that he thought he could win you over by showing you how great dating him could be. He begged us to play along."

He stared at her, mouth open, "He feels the same?" he breathed.

"Yeah," she said. "Obviously."

"I've got to go," he said, abruptly ending the call so he could floo to Harry's flat.

He stumbled out of the floo and immediately called for the other man, "Harry!" he shouted, heading toward the kitchen. "Harry!"

The other man's head appeared outside of the kitchen doorway, "Draco?" he asked as though he couldn't believe his ears.

Draco took one look at him and then closed the gap between them in three steps before wrapping his arms around him and kissing him.

Harry dropped whatever he'd been holding and it shattered at their feet but Draco didn't care because he was kissing Harry Potter and that was all that mattered at the moment. He poured his heart and soul into the kiss and Harry met him with the same.

"Me too," he gasped when he pulled back.

"What?" Harry asked, looking a bit dazed and Draco could hardly blame him.

"I'm into you too," he said. "Or whatever you said to Pansy that first night."

"I told them I was in love with you," he confessed. "You still want to own that?"

He nodded and threw himself at Harry again, kissing him and wrapping his arms tight around his neck.

The next time they parted Harry asked hopefully, "So, do you want to stay for dinner?"

"How about I stay forever?" he asked, grinning wide at the other man.

He nodded, "Even better."

--------------------

Day 126: Arranged Marriage | Day 128: Snake

[elysianslove]

Haikyuu ace's dick analysis please? 🥺🥺 i beg you 🥺🥺

yes for sure babe <333 here’s the captains version, setters version, middle blockers version and here’s the jjk version :) 

aces done in the captains version: ushijima wakatoshi, bokuto kōtarō, futakuchi kenji

again, this is probably highly unrealistic, but to that i say, so what 😎

HAIKYUU ACES DICK ANALYSIS

sakusa kiyoomi 

omg,,, omg omg omg. his dick is so pretty. it’s like a flushed pink along along the shaft, with the head a darker shade, especially when he’s hard oh my god. like it flushes so dark when he is, and when precum dribbles out and his cock bobs a little!! so cute. it’s longgg, and perfectly, proportionately thick. i think it’s a good 6.8 inches? omg!!! with a curve to it so it doesn’t stand up stick straight ykykyk,,, he’s very clean shaven!! he just thinks it makes everything so much more convenient like that. (can i point out that sakusa has very cute very pink very sensitive nipples too anyways—)

iwaizumi hajime

had to take a moment to breathe bc thinking about this,,, he’s so big i :( such a thick cock, like there is so much girth to him. he’s kind of long too, but honestly iwaizumi fucks, yk? so no matter what, you’re getting your shit wrecked. i think he’s maybe 6.5/6.6 inches. leaves you impossibly satisfied. the shaft is a dark tan color, same as his skin, but the head is such a dark pink/bordering on red. so. yk? curves a little to the right. so veiny too and like. he’s. he’s THICK OKAY. like his own hand wraps around his cock well enough, but you cannot imagine your own. not clean shaven <//3 but he will trim for you dw iwa’s nothing if not a gentleman :) 

asahi azumane 

BIG DICK AND DOESNT KNOW IT. he’s like 7.1 inches pls, like he’s hangin my god. dick print in the sweats goes crazyyy. he’s hella proportionate too so he’s stretching you out good and you’re feeling him in your stomach. but pls he genuinely doesn’t have a concept of what’s big or not so imagine it just slaps up against his stomach and you’re just. what the Fuck. not much curve to it tbh, and the veins are not sooo prominent. pretty pink flushed head, just a tan shaft. and he trims !!! not completely clean shaven cause he doesn’t wanna but also he’s hella respectful !! (if u want him to shave it off just say the word :)) also!! has a fascination with watching your hole suck him in idcidc 

aran ojirō

oh my god. i am sensing a trend here: ace = big dick. do i make the rules? yes and no. his dick is so so so so big. like 7.6 or 7.7 inches i’m not even joking. this one is realistic i don’t care. the team was doing a dick comparison and he humbled them all. just had to walk around commando in sweats tbh. dark shaft and a redder tip!!!! so thick, so long, so perfect. he trims always, and it’s never bothersome. his dick is so heavy oh my god. it doesn’t really curve, at least not very obviously (except when he’s hard it curves a little), and only when it’s hard are the veins prominent. he always presses his hand against your tummy when he’s fucking you, fingers digging in, ugh ;( 

hoshiumi kōrai 

such a pretty dick too!! thicker than it is long, at maybe 6.2 or 6.3 inches? it’s pale all along and has a very flushed, pink head that looks so so so pretty when it’s oozing precum and it’s dribbling all over his cock. clean shaven, just cause. like why not? he does get lazy sometimes though :( omg does the carpet match the drapes are his pubes just. white. question of the century. anyways. it’s curves a little to left !! and it feels so nice in your hand, thick and heavy, especially when it’s all slippery. did i mention the tip is so pink? the tip is so pink. like a blushing pink/red. pretty pretty pretty 

yamamoto taketora 

he has a skinny dick i just know it. i don’t know why i just feel it in my bones. it’s like 6.4 inches or 6.5, with a fair color along the shaft, very similar to his skin color like peachy/pink undertones, and a pale pink head!!! didn’t know how to use it at first at all, but practice makes perfect babyyy, and now he’s extravagant at rocking his hips like that. surprisingly, he’s completely clean shaven! maybe he saw it in porn and figured that’s what all the girls would want. the type to fuck your throat just to try and see the outline of his dick and prod at it. also the type to gasp in awe and go, “i can see my dick in your throat!” anyways. 

numai kazuma 

this man is so sexy why am i only just noticing that. omg he has like. the perfect dick. it’s not so unbearably thick, and not cervix tickling long, but justttt right. also he KNOWS how to use it but he thinks he doesn’t. he’s like a 6.9 inches and such good girth!!! a little thicker than he is long but, it’s not noticeable. curves deliciously to the right. the prettiest light pink tip, like it’s a pale pink that doesn’t get all that darker when he’s hard, and a gold tan to his shaft. veins!!! sloppy sloppy sloppy like cums so much ugh. anyways he’s just so cute yet so hot and he fucks so well but is always like “is this okay? you feel— this is good?” pls <3 

did i miss any ace? i hope i didn’t :( i kept looking up schools and all just to make sure i didn’t!!! also i hope you guys enjoyed!! :D