#i couldn’t even export it correctly

[sailtomarina]

The Artist's Daughter

She was here again.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, First and Only Prince to the kingdom, stayed hidden in the stacks next to a row of tomes dictating the genealogies of the royal families dating back hundreds of years. He had his private tutor to thank for the tiresome task of locating the volume listing the exact ancestor Draco had failed to name correctly in his latest exam. The other day, he’d been here searching for a text that would answer which crops their kingdom specialized in for exports. Ridiculous, really. As if he wouldn’t some day have advisors to do all this research for him.

Then, just like today, he’d seen a girl wandering through the shelves. She hadn’t noticed him, of course. Draco was far too sneaky to be detected by some muggle, which she had to be given her unaware musings as she walked around with her nose buried in a book.

The first time, he’d remained hidden, even going so far as to cast a disillusionment spell on himself. As surprised as he was to see a stranger, he supposed that if they were to wander any of the handful of libraries in the castle, this was the most appropriate one. It was situated on the ground floor not too far from the entrance and ballroom. This is where most of the muggle texts were organized, along with an unfortunate number of historical texts currently pertinent to Draco’s education.

She’d struck him as pretty, albeit in a muggle sort of way. She’d worn a simple lady’s gown in a pale yellow that contrasted with the rich dark curls tumbling down her back. Freckles sprinkled generously across her pale skin, markings his cousins would have glamoured over from birth. If he guessed correctly, they weren’t too far apart in age, perhaps fourteen or fifteen. That was another indicator of her humble breeding—he didn’t recognize her, not from school or from the countless balls and feasts he’d attended growing up. She couldn’t be a noble.

Today, she wore a dress in a lovely sage green with tiny white flowers embroidered along the scoop neckline. Draco imagined her eyes to match the green, or to perhaps blink at him in a hazel hue. He needed to know.

“Who are you?” His voice came out much harsher than intended. 

He’d stepped out in front of her just as she was about to pass, causing her to come to an abrupt stop before crashing into him. Startled eyes, irises dark brown and glinting with a hint of gold, gazed up at him. He’d been wrong about the colors.

“Oh! I didn’t see you there. I’m Hermione Granger. And you are?” She stepped back to an appropriate distance from him, hugging a few books to her chest like armor.

“I’m Draco,” he said simply.

“The prince?” She didn’t sound too surprised, and eyed his unmistakable platinum hair.

“The very same. Why are you here in the library?” He’d finally tempered his tone to a more congenial one. 

“I was told I could read whatever I liked in here. My father is painting your Grand Ballroom.”

Ah. She was the daughter of the painter.

His mother made it a point to elect a new project as soon as the previous one was complete. Previous years had resulted in a reworked Imperial Garden, which boasted rose gardens with every imaginable variety, both magical and non-magical. A formidable greenhouse was added shortly after, and the caretaker they’d employed soon obtained and cultivated the rarest of specimens for use in medicine and potions. 

This year, Queen Narcissa turned her attention to the Grand Ballroom. She and his father adored hosting balls at every opportunity. What better way to display their love for art and beauty than to paint the entire ceiling and all its walls with depictions of magical beasts and figures from history. Circe. Merlin. Rasputin. Titania and Oberon.

Draco had assumed they’d hire a wizard, but he should have known that when it came to art, the king and queen saw no difference between magic or not. They simply wanted the best, and if that happened to be stationary art, then so be it.

“Find anything interesting?” He feigned interest, intent on keeping her talking. She was far more entertaining than pouring over volumes of ancestors alone.

She perked up at his question, and Draco could have sworn sections of her hair floated for just a brief moment.

Certainly not.

“I did! Did you know your castle is situated on top of the most powerful spot in the kingdom? All of the most prominent ley lines converge here underneath our feet!” She stomped one foot in emphasis. He wouldn’t be surprised if she went through several slippers a season if she always beat on them in that manner.

Wait.

Did she say “ley lines”?

“Are you a witch?” he blurted out, once again wincing at the gracelessness of his question. His mother would be mortified if she could hear him.

Hermione looked at him as if he was stupid. “Yes. Why else would your family let me wander around here by myself?”

“I don’t know, maybe because this is the one library of many where muggles are allowed? They do come here occasionally, muggle nobles, to garner favor with us,” he sputtered. He still couldn’t quite believe it. She was a witch. She was an unknown witch of his age. “Why don’t I know you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”

“My parents are muggles. I might have a squib ancestor somewhere, but as far as we know, I’m the only magic user in the Granger family. They sent me abroad for schooling since Hogwarts doesn’t currently accept muggle-borns.” She raised her eyebrows as if challenging him, but Draco couldn’t find it within himself to care about her background.

Hermione didn’t fawn on him like the other girls who had paraded themselves around him at school. She didn’t bat her eyelashes or titter behind a gloved hand. She didn’t wear gloves at all, her slender fingers wrapping around ancient texts as if relishing the touch of the worn covers. She probably thumbed the pages like his instructors told him never to do.

He would have thought that would annoy him, but he instead found himself intrigued in this muggle-born witch who liked reading, wore slippers instead of heels, and forewent glamours.

“Do you want to see the other libraries?”

His words were like a spell, as effective at getting her to brighten as a cheering draught.

“Oh, can I? The king and queen won’t mind?” She nearly vibrated in her excitement.

Her hair was definitely twice the size it was before.

“Not if you’re with me,” Draco said with a smirk, though that was partially a lie. If they’d wanted her in the other libraries, they would have explicitly told her. 

“Well, in that case, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” She made to dash away, but he caught her shoulder before she could do so.

“Allow me,” he said with a gesture towards the books still clutched to her chest.

“Oh, I can carry these.”

“Please, I insist.” It wouldn’t do if either of his parents not only caught him skiving off lessons with the girl, but allowing her to carry around books like some commoner. When she finally let go of her findings, he cast a featherweight charm and looked at her knowingly. She flushed an adorable shade of pink.

“They really weren’t very heavy, but thank you anyways.”

They spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring, only making it to two additional libraries. Hermione had only added to the pile of books floating behind Draco. He had to refresh the charm multiple times due to the sheer weight.

“You do realize you can’t remove these from the castle, don’t you?” He hoped this wouldn’t be the last time he’d see her, that she’d continue to visit along with her father for as long as there was work. “How long will it take your father to finish the ballroom?”

“To answer your first question, yes, I do understand that I’ll need to reserve these books to read later. I was hoping you could help with that.” He nodded his agreement, even as he inwardly danced with joy at the thought that he now had a reason to continue seeing the girl. “And to answer your second, it could take my father years.”

“Years?” Draco was aghast at the approximation.

“Years,” she repeated. “If you go take a look, you’ll see why. He’s not even working alone—he has an entire team helping with the moldings and scenery.”

Trust his mother to pick a project of such staggering proportions that it required multiple artists. On the bright side, that meant he’d have a long time to get to know Hermione, even if it was only during the holidays.

“It’s a shame you can’t attend Hogwarts.” It wasn’t until she tutted in agreement that he realized he’d said the words aloud. If she’d been like any other girl, she would have pounced on any hint of attachment on his part. She, however, did not.

“Well, if the king’s word is true, then I may soon. In exchange for my father’s work, yours agreed to update Hogwarts’ policies. I love Beauxbatons, but I can’t disagree that staying closer to home would make everything a lot easier on my family.”

“If you do,” Draco said the words slowly, hardly believing they were coming out of his mouth but needing her to know before it was too late, “then you should ask to be sorted into Slytherin.”

His heart sank at the way her nose wrinkled and lips turned downward in a grimace. “Isn’t that house renowned for pureblood ideology? I was leaning more towards Ravenclaw, myself.”

He nodded somewhat agreeably. “Books and cleverness…you could certainly do worse. They’re not a bad lot, if you ignore their tendency to disappear into their studies. Though…” he trailed off, reluctant to give away his feelings again without assistance.

“Though it might mean we don’t see each other? I wouldn’t let that happen outside of exams,” she said offhandedly. “I’ll keep in mind what you said. Snakes can be quite clever, in a sneaky kind of way.” The pointed look she sent Draco reminded him of how he’d approached her in the first place.

“Quite.”

A gentle melody played in the air, noting the top of the hour and finishing with eight long chimes.

“And that’s my cue. Hold on to those for me, would you?” Hermione leaned up onto her toes, laid the palms of her hands atop his shoulders, and pressed a kiss onto one cheek, then the other.

Draco could do nothing but stand still in shock at her forwardness. Then he remembered where she went to school and the strange habits the people of that land practiced. He cleared his throat to cover his awkward silence, but the crooked smirk she wore proved the attempt useless.

“When will I see you next?” He realized how needy that sounded as it came out, and hastily continued,“Just so I know when to have them ready?”

She flitted to the doors and didn’t respond until she was nearly through them, “I’m sure you’ll find me!”

And just like that, she was gone, leaving behind her stack of books, the echoes of her soft lips on his face, and the sweet scent of apple blossoms in the air. Draco wondered if she had perhaps cast some sort of love spell on him. How else could he explain his complete lack of reservation around her, or why her humble origins didn’t matter to him like he thought they should?

Queen Narcissa found him still in contemplation shortly after, and was impressed at the amount of reading material gathered around him.

“My dragon, there you are! Wilfred said he’d sent you to recover texts on our family history ages ago.”

“Mother, did you know the painter has a daughter?”

Narcissa blinked as she processed the odd question. “Master Granger? Of course. Hermione is a lovely, bright little thing. I told her she could read whatever she liked in our First Library. Why do you ask?”

Her son continued to stare at the wall, and she had half a mind to cast a homenum revelio.

“Draco?”

He came to with a shake and gave her one of his rare, full smiles. “No reason. I think we’ll be wonderful friends. You should make sure Hogwarts changes their acceptance rules before school starts again.”

Bewildered and bemused, she stroked a hand over his hair, so like his father’s. “I take it the two of you met?”

“We did. These are all hers.” He gestured towards the books once more.

“And here I thought you’d finally taken an interest in your studies.”

He snorted and she nearly pinched him on the arm for his cheek. She made do instead with a tickle to his side. He ducked away from her with a laugh, holding up his hands in surrender. “Mother, please! That isn’t fair! You know all my weak spots.”

She desisted in her attack with another indulgent smile. “And don’t you forget it. Just be careful with Hermione, dear.”

“What do you mean?” He tilted his head in confusion and she nearly sighed at his naivety. The young could be so oblivious, but she envied them their freedom.

She thought back on her own upbringing. The Blacks were more ancient and arrogant than even the royal family; her marriage to Lucius had been agreed upon at birth and as expected as the fact that clouds brought rain and Blacks were as pure as pure could be. She knew she was his from the beginning, and no amount of pining after others or imagining life in another place with a different name would change her fate.

Narcissa looked at her son, a near perfect replica of her husband aside from the softer grey eyes she’d bestowed upon him and his smile. He’d been so much like her at the start, but over the years he’d become more and more like his father. Now, today, he was like his younger self again.

She didn’t care what Lucius intended for his heir. She just wanted him to find happiness.

“True friends are difficult to come by, particularly for people of our station. I have a feeling that, if you nurture your relationship with Hermione, she’ll be someone worth keeping at your side.”

“What would father say?” he asked, caution and desire battling for domination on his face.

“He prizes power above all else.” This much was true. Lucius just happened to have a bit of a blind spot outside of magical families. “Apply yourself to your studies, help one another, and I’ll take care of Hogwarts and your father.”

Listening to his mother, Draco started to relax and let a bit of his earlier hope trickle back in. He wasn’t sure how Hermione had secured her approval, but she had. Greater deeds had been turned into ballads.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit terrifying sometimes?”

Narcissa smirked, immediately reminding Draco of wild curls and a smattering of freckles. The two women looked wildly different, yet they gave off a similar air of confident capability.

“I have been told. Once or twice.”

He made a note to tread carefully around Hermione in the future. If she turned out anything like his mother, he never wanted to be on the opposite end of her ire.

Oh, the feats they would accomplish together.

WC 2606

DHRMonth Prompt: Week 4 - Alternate Universe, September 22 - Royal AU

Cross-posted to AO3

I have half a mind to write a full story in this setting, since it spiraled into something I want to know more about. I didn’t think I used to have a thing for royal AUs, but maybe I do???

[kathybluecaller]

guys the digital nightmare is real. ive been trying to do stuff for a project but almost everything has gone wrong in some way. here’s a portion of the list detailing the times technology has failed me ;-;

CRT won’t display picture Tv won’t turn on properly Kept losing THE ONE CHARGER There was a dvd stuck in the back of the crt??? Couldn’t set up the dvd reader/burner Didn’t burn the dvd at all Burned the dvd incorrectly Couldn’t get scaling to match for printing Couldn’t even correctly draw with vectors Procreate dreams keeps goofing around Couldn’t set up a dvd menu right Couldn’t even open the dvd menu maker software Was struggling to export the sticker drawings Couldn’t find the file File was found but wouldn’t upload Had to fight a P D F FILE Printed while forgetting margins are a thing Couldn’t get the sticker cutter (machine) to pair (And before that couldn’t open the app because it had to update then go with the process of making an account) Couldn’t scale correctly again Cut incorrectly +5 times (Lost the charger again) Decided to finally calibrate the machine™️ but I was yet again struggling to print the sheet Printer was straight up offline Saved the file onto a flash drive but the printer didn’t pick up the pdf file Cried internally and tried to watch a YouTube video to guide me through this only for it to never load…

the current vibe

[cleverhottubmiracle]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The Wild History of Hemp You Never Knew About The USS Constitution, AKA Old Ironsides, is one of the most famous ships in history. Aboard that ship was 120,000 pounds of non-psychoactive cannabis rope. When Betsy Ross first sewed the American flag, she held in her hands non-psychoactive cannabis canvas. The word “canvas” comes from the word “cannabis,” AKA hemp. Porsche, one of the best car makers in the world, made a car out of hemp. The CEO of Hemp Earth flies around in a plane made of hemp. Hemp has been called “The Miracle Fiber” – the plant that will save the world. But it won’t. The Porsche was only partially made out of hemp and couldn’t be in the rain, and the CEO of Hemp Earth hasn’t finished building the hemp plane in over eight years and can’t raise the funds to finish it. And now he’s talking about building a hemp spaceship. So why is Patagonia investing so heavily in hemp? Why is everyone screaming about hemp t-shirts? After doing some reading online, it turns out the topic of hemp is a very sticky, icky topic, and I just want to let you know that I’m trying to separate hemp from that other plant that is also hemp. I’m trying to look at hemp from an incredibly nerdy lens. Is it actually important to the world? Does it matter at all? And then that should be fine. The Iron Snail Fun fact: besides the shoes that I’m wearing, which are from the company that makes the very famous anti-poaching boots, Jim Green, and my Bradley Mountain backpack, I am covered in 100% hemp – all Patagonia hemp.   The Problem With How We Talk About Hemp The Iron Snail The first thing you need to know before we can actually even get into the discussion is that hemp is never put up against anything correctly. Everything is miscategorized with hemp. Hemp fiber and clothes should not be compared to cotton. Hemp-crete should not be compared to concrete – everything is messed up because that’s not essentially what hemp is. So, let’s talk about cotton, and then I’ll tell you why everything is messed up. Why Cotton Became King The Iron Snail There are many fascinating reasons why cotton is the most popular textile on Earth – everything is made out of cotton. The big thing is that cotton is the perfect blend of everything: it’s strong enough, it’s soft enough, it can be made into really tough workwear like duck canvas or jeans or twills and stuff like that, or it can be made into something very very delicate like cotton gauze. So it can basically do everything. The Iron Snail There’s also a ton of other reasons why cotton got so popular. It was the first fiber and then fabric to get industrialized. It was a huge export for the U.S. and Britain. There was nothing holding cotton back, and there wasn’t anything holding hemp back for a very long time. It was required in the U.S. that every farmer grow some hemp in certain areas, and then people were obviously like, “Maybe this plant does something else.” Understanding Hemp vs Cotton The Iron Snail But that’s not the whole story because hemp, I don’t really think, would have ever been in every single shirt that people are wearing and every single sock and every single pant. Cotton is made from seed hairs – that explains it. When hemp is a bast fiber, hemp is actually not really that closely related to cotton, but it’s related to things like jute, linen, nettle, sisal – all of those things that don’t sound that appetizing. To put it in a different way, hemp is more related to a burlap sack than cotton is related to hemp. Being a bast fiber, it has some incredible benefits, but it also has some major drawbacks. But you may be thinking, “Well, people wear linen a lot. Why don’t they wear hemp a lot?” It’s because of those incredible things that also give it a drawback. The Science Behind Hemp’s Strength The Iron Snail So, if you’re like me and you read all these things that say hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, you would probably think, “Well, what the heck is the strongest natural fiber in the world? I want that one!” You can’t have that one, neither can I, because it’s spider silk. So, no one really officially says that hemp is the second strongest, but I think that’s what it is. Hemp is also very closely related to jute, which you may be familiar with if your Birkenstocks ever came apart – there is a jute layer underneath the sole. And jute is a very, very strong material, not as strong as hemp, but it’s not something that you look at and think, “I want to wear that.” And that’s because jute is very rough and coarse. But what makes hemp and jute so strong is that since they are bast fibers, they come from the stock of the plant as opposed to the seed, and the seed only has little wispy hairs on top that don’t ever get too long. So they can’t be as strong because, as we know, the longer the fiber, the stronger it is. And with that, a lot of the time comes an added thickness, which is where you lose some comfort. The Comfort Factor: Breaking Down the Science The Iron Snail Just some guidelines to set: typically, clothing fabrics and fibers start to get irritating when they are over 20 microns thick. Some people say 24 microns, and some people say 30 microns. But 20 is kind of that area where, all of a sudden, your wool sweater is a little itchy, and it’s poking into you. Cotton typically ranges from 9 to 22 microns, linen is typically 10 to 25 microns, wool goes from 10 to 35 microns, and then you have hemp. Wool is considered the classic itchy material at 10 to 35 microns. Hemp is 10 to 50 microns, so it trends higher on average. The Iron Snail Is it just super unbearable to wear? No. Is it really even super uncomfortable? No. Do you get used to it like two seconds after you put it on? Yes. But the first time you put it on, you may be thinking, “This is not as comfortable as that other shirt I wore somewhere else, so I’ll get that other shirt.” The Real Secret: Why Patagonia Loves Hemp So then, why is Patagonia investing so heavily in making hemp t-shirts and other hemp clothing? The secret is in this Idaho potato. I am not wearing 100% hemp today. Actually, my jeans are an incredibly weird blend. I don’t even know why Patagonia used this blend, but we shall break this down into three pieces: Number one: okay, hemp is not comfortable, but it’s amazing for all of these other reasons – why isn’t it used more? Number two: why is Patagonia investing so heavily in it? Don’t forget, organic cotton wasn’t a thing until Patagonia made it a thing, invested a ton of money in it, made the infrastructure for it, and then it blew up. So, is hemp the same thing? Number three: there is a solution that can change the world in a big way, but it’s not the solution that most people propose, at least I think. The Hemp Divide: Why It’s Not Taking Over (Yet) The Iron Snail Number one: why is hemp not taking over the world? The answer is because it’s hemp. It’s an incredibly divisive plant – people either love it or they hate it. So what happens is people that love it say it’s the next miracle thing, it destroys cotton, it’s better than all this, it can power our cars, we can make planes out of it. And then the other side says, “No, you just want hemp for a different reason.” So then it kind of goes kaput, and since it’s so divisive, you basically can’t get in the middle. Hemp has to destroy everything for some people to be right, and it has to be useless for other people to be right. So, both angles push it towards the extreme when, in reality, hemp is kind of right in the middle. Cotton is cheaper and softer, and people like to wear it more. Then you have jute that handles kind of the industrial rope end of things, just not quite as strong. Hemp plastic is not as structurally sound as regular plastic, hemp-crete is not as strong as concrete – there’s a whole mess. When in reality, hemp is great and amazing and the best of the best for some things, but not everything. The Future of Hemp: It’s All About Blends The Iron Snail So why is Patagonia using hemp at all? What is it good for? Blends, baby, blends! Hemp is good for everything, but not if you take everything else away. But if you add in hemp and you mix it into the pot, everything changes. If you have hemp in a shirt, the shirt is more durable and abrasion-resistant. If you add hemp to plastic so that it’s 25% hemp plastic, you reduce plastic usage by 25%. Then, if you look at base layers, for example, merino was great because it keeps your temperature regulated really well, but you need to add nylon or polyester so it doesn’t rip and get destroyed – it stays better for a longer amount of time. You can replace those synthetic fibers with hemp. You can also add hemp to socks, so your socks will last way, way longer. By using hemp in different ways, we can reduce a lot of things, all while growing things in a more sustainable way and all of that, and then hemp becomes very, very powerful. Patagonia’s Long Game The Iron Snail Sorry, I forgot the most important part of this article: Patagonia is in the stage where they’re just trying to build infrastructure and get farmers growing hemp in the U.S., getting machines to process this hemp. Also, when we first started processing cotton way, way, way back when, it wasn’t the same cotton that we know now – we didn’t have different staple lengths and genetically engineered cotton plants that were super long and soft and thin. So over time, what we should see is a refinement in hemp where it does get softer possibly, it does get cheaper, it’s way easier to process, and it’s used in a lot more things. So boom – it’s already way better. Patagonia is the beast that is going to make all the processing and growing and XYZ way, way easier, and it could theoretically become the fabric of the future. There are a lot of factors that go into play, but that is why Patagonia is investing so heavily in it. Obviously, they think there’s going to be a big return somehow, in some way. So that’s why. Watch This Review The Potato Philosophy: A Final Thought The Iron Snail In closing, hemp t-shirts are a lot like food, specifically the potato. Many people think a potato is the healthiest food in the world, and it just may be, but this weird thing happens if you eat only potatoes and nothing else, you die. So you need to eat other things that are also very good for you. I’m aware that a potato was the worst example that I could have picked because you can survive exclusively on potatoes if you also drink milk. Anywho, it’s time to cook this bad boy up for dinner. Goodbye! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[norajworld]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The Wild History of Hemp You Never Knew About The USS Constitution, AKA Old Ironsides, is one of the most famous ships in history. Aboard that ship was 120,000 pounds of non-psychoactive cannabis rope. When Betsy Ross first sewed the American flag, she held in her hands non-psychoactive cannabis canvas. The word “canvas” comes from the word “cannabis,” AKA hemp. Porsche, one of the best car makers in the world, made a car out of hemp. The CEO of Hemp Earth flies around in a plane made of hemp. Hemp has been called “The Miracle Fiber” – the plant that will save the world. But it won’t. The Porsche was only partially made out of hemp and couldn’t be in the rain, and the CEO of Hemp Earth hasn’t finished building the hemp plane in over eight years and can’t raise the funds to finish it. And now he’s talking about building a hemp spaceship. So why is Patagonia investing so heavily in hemp? Why is everyone screaming about hemp t-shirts? After doing some reading online, it turns out the topic of hemp is a very sticky, icky topic, and I just want to let you know that I’m trying to separate hemp from that other plant that is also hemp. I’m trying to look at hemp from an incredibly nerdy lens. Is it actually important to the world? Does it matter at all? And then that should be fine. The Iron Snail Fun fact: besides the shoes that I’m wearing, which are from the company that makes the very famous anti-poaching boots, Jim Green, and my Bradley Mountain backpack, I am covered in 100% hemp – all Patagonia hemp.   The Problem With How We Talk About Hemp The Iron Snail The first thing you need to know before we can actually even get into the discussion is that hemp is never put up against anything correctly. Everything is miscategorized with hemp. Hemp fiber and clothes should not be compared to cotton. Hemp-crete should not be compared to concrete – everything is messed up because that’s not essentially what hemp is. So, let’s talk about cotton, and then I’ll tell you why everything is messed up. Why Cotton Became King The Iron Snail There are many fascinating reasons why cotton is the most popular textile on Earth – everything is made out of cotton. The big thing is that cotton is the perfect blend of everything: it’s strong enough, it’s soft enough, it can be made into really tough workwear like duck canvas or jeans or twills and stuff like that, or it can be made into something very very delicate like cotton gauze. So it can basically do everything. The Iron Snail There’s also a ton of other reasons why cotton got so popular. It was the first fiber and then fabric to get industrialized. It was a huge export for the U.S. and Britain. There was nothing holding cotton back, and there wasn’t anything holding hemp back for a very long time. It was required in the U.S. that every farmer grow some hemp in certain areas, and then people were obviously like, “Maybe this plant does something else.” Understanding Hemp vs Cotton The Iron Snail But that’s not the whole story because hemp, I don’t really think, would have ever been in every single shirt that people are wearing and every single sock and every single pant. Cotton is made from seed hairs – that explains it. When hemp is a bast fiber, hemp is actually not really that closely related to cotton, but it’s related to things like jute, linen, nettle, sisal – all of those things that don’t sound that appetizing. To put it in a different way, hemp is more related to a burlap sack than cotton is related to hemp. Being a bast fiber, it has some incredible benefits, but it also has some major drawbacks. But you may be thinking, “Well, people wear linen a lot. Why don’t they wear hemp a lot?” It’s because of those incredible things that also give it a drawback. The Science Behind Hemp’s Strength The Iron Snail So, if you’re like me and you read all these things that say hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, you would probably think, “Well, what the heck is the strongest natural fiber in the world? I want that one!” You can’t have that one, neither can I, because it’s spider silk. So, no one really officially says that hemp is the second strongest, but I think that’s what it is. Hemp is also very closely related to jute, which you may be familiar with if your Birkenstocks ever came apart – there is a jute layer underneath the sole. And jute is a very, very strong material, not as strong as hemp, but it’s not something that you look at and think, “I want to wear that.” And that’s because jute is very rough and coarse. But what makes hemp and jute so strong is that since they are bast fibers, they come from the stock of the plant as opposed to the seed, and the seed only has little wispy hairs on top that don’t ever get too long. So they can’t be as strong because, as we know, the longer the fiber, the stronger it is. And with that, a lot of the time comes an added thickness, which is where you lose some comfort. The Comfort Factor: Breaking Down the Science The Iron Snail Just some guidelines to set: typically, clothing fabrics and fibers start to get irritating when they are over 20 microns thick. Some people say 24 microns, and some people say 30 microns. But 20 is kind of that area where, all of a sudden, your wool sweater is a little itchy, and it’s poking into you. Cotton typically ranges from 9 to 22 microns, linen is typically 10 to 25 microns, wool goes from 10 to 35 microns, and then you have hemp. Wool is considered the classic itchy material at 10 to 35 microns. Hemp is 10 to 50 microns, so it trends higher on average. The Iron Snail Is it just super unbearable to wear? No. Is it really even super uncomfortable? No. Do you get used to it like two seconds after you put it on? Yes. But the first time you put it on, you may be thinking, “This is not as comfortable as that other shirt I wore somewhere else, so I’ll get that other shirt.” The Real Secret: Why Patagonia Loves Hemp So then, why is Patagonia investing so heavily in making hemp t-shirts and other hemp clothing? The secret is in this Idaho potato. I am not wearing 100% hemp today. Actually, my jeans are an incredibly weird blend. I don’t even know why Patagonia used this blend, but we shall break this down into three pieces: Number one: okay, hemp is not comfortable, but it’s amazing for all of these other reasons – why isn’t it used more? Number two: why is Patagonia investing so heavily in it? Don’t forget, organic cotton wasn’t a thing until Patagonia made it a thing, invested a ton of money in it, made the infrastructure for it, and then it blew up. So, is hemp the same thing? Number three: there is a solution that can change the world in a big way, but it’s not the solution that most people propose, at least I think. The Hemp Divide: Why It’s Not Taking Over (Yet) The Iron Snail Number one: why is hemp not taking over the world? The answer is because it’s hemp. It’s an incredibly divisive plant – people either love it or they hate it. So what happens is people that love it say it’s the next miracle thing, it destroys cotton, it’s better than all this, it can power our cars, we can make planes out of it. And then the other side says, “No, you just want hemp for a different reason.” So then it kind of goes kaput, and since it’s so divisive, you basically can’t get in the middle. Hemp has to destroy everything for some people to be right, and it has to be useless for other people to be right. So, both angles push it towards the extreme when, in reality, hemp is kind of right in the middle. Cotton is cheaper and softer, and people like to wear it more. Then you have jute that handles kind of the industrial rope end of things, just not quite as strong. Hemp plastic is not as structurally sound as regular plastic, hemp-crete is not as strong as concrete – there’s a whole mess. When in reality, hemp is great and amazing and the best of the best for some things, but not everything. The Future of Hemp: It’s All About Blends The Iron Snail So why is Patagonia using hemp at all? What is it good for? Blends, baby, blends! Hemp is good for everything, but not if you take everything else away. But if you add in hemp and you mix it into the pot, everything changes. If you have hemp in a shirt, the shirt is more durable and abrasion-resistant. If you add hemp to plastic so that it’s 25% hemp plastic, you reduce plastic usage by 25%. Then, if you look at base layers, for example, merino was great because it keeps your temperature regulated really well, but you need to add nylon or polyester so it doesn’t rip and get destroyed – it stays better for a longer amount of time. You can replace those synthetic fibers with hemp. You can also add hemp to socks, so your socks will last way, way longer. By using hemp in different ways, we can reduce a lot of things, all while growing things in a more sustainable way and all of that, and then hemp becomes very, very powerful. Patagonia’s Long Game The Iron Snail Sorry, I forgot the most important part of this article: Patagonia is in the stage where they’re just trying to build infrastructure and get farmers growing hemp in the U.S., getting machines to process this hemp. Also, when we first started processing cotton way, way, way back when, it wasn’t the same cotton that we know now – we didn’t have different staple lengths and genetically engineered cotton plants that were super long and soft and thin. So over time, what we should see is a refinement in hemp where it does get softer possibly, it does get cheaper, it’s way easier to process, and it’s used in a lot more things. So boom – it’s already way better. Patagonia is the beast that is going to make all the processing and growing and XYZ way, way easier, and it could theoretically become the fabric of the future. There are a lot of factors that go into play, but that is why Patagonia is investing so heavily in it. Obviously, they think there’s going to be a big return somehow, in some way. So that’s why. Watch This Review The Potato Philosophy: A Final Thought The Iron Snail In closing, hemp t-shirts are a lot like food, specifically the potato. Many people think a potato is the healthiest food in the world, and it just may be, but this weird thing happens if you eat only potatoes and nothing else, you die. So you need to eat other things that are also very good for you. I’m aware that a potato was the worst example that I could have picked because you can survive exclusively on potatoes if you also drink milk. Anywho, it’s time to cook this bad boy up for dinner. Goodbye! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[ellajme0]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The Wild History of Hemp You Never Knew About The USS Constitution, AKA Old Ironsides, is one of the most famous ships in history. Aboard that ship was 120,000 pounds of non-psychoactive cannabis rope. When Betsy Ross first sewed the American flag, she held in her hands non-psychoactive cannabis canvas. The word “canvas” comes from the word “cannabis,” AKA hemp. Porsche, one of the best car makers in the world, made a car out of hemp. The CEO of Hemp Earth flies around in a plane made of hemp. Hemp has been called “The Miracle Fiber” – the plant that will save the world. But it won’t. The Porsche was only partially made out of hemp and couldn’t be in the rain, and the CEO of Hemp Earth hasn’t finished building the hemp plane in over eight years and can’t raise the funds to finish it. And now he’s talking about building a hemp spaceship. So why is Patagonia investing so heavily in hemp? Why is everyone screaming about hemp t-shirts? After doing some reading online, it turns out the topic of hemp is a very sticky, icky topic, and I just want to let you know that I’m trying to separate hemp from that other plant that is also hemp. I’m trying to look at hemp from an incredibly nerdy lens. Is it actually important to the world? Does it matter at all? And then that should be fine. The Iron Snail Fun fact: besides the shoes that I’m wearing, which are from the company that makes the very famous anti-poaching boots, Jim Green, and my Bradley Mountain backpack, I am covered in 100% hemp – all Patagonia hemp.   The Problem With How We Talk About Hemp The Iron Snail The first thing you need to know before we can actually even get into the discussion is that hemp is never put up against anything correctly. Everything is miscategorized with hemp. Hemp fiber and clothes should not be compared to cotton. Hemp-crete should not be compared to concrete – everything is messed up because that’s not essentially what hemp is. So, let’s talk about cotton, and then I’ll tell you why everything is messed up. Why Cotton Became King The Iron Snail There are many fascinating reasons why cotton is the most popular textile on Earth – everything is made out of cotton. The big thing is that cotton is the perfect blend of everything: it’s strong enough, it’s soft enough, it can be made into really tough workwear like duck canvas or jeans or twills and stuff like that, or it can be made into something very very delicate like cotton gauze. So it can basically do everything. The Iron Snail There’s also a ton of other reasons why cotton got so popular. It was the first fiber and then fabric to get industrialized. It was a huge export for the U.S. and Britain. There was nothing holding cotton back, and there wasn’t anything holding hemp back for a very long time. It was required in the U.S. that every farmer grow some hemp in certain areas, and then people were obviously like, “Maybe this plant does something else.” Understanding Hemp vs Cotton The Iron Snail But that’s not the whole story because hemp, I don’t really think, would have ever been in every single shirt that people are wearing and every single sock and every single pant. Cotton is made from seed hairs – that explains it. When hemp is a bast fiber, hemp is actually not really that closely related to cotton, but it’s related to things like jute, linen, nettle, sisal – all of those things that don’t sound that appetizing. To put it in a different way, hemp is more related to a burlap sack than cotton is related to hemp. Being a bast fiber, it has some incredible benefits, but it also has some major drawbacks. But you may be thinking, “Well, people wear linen a lot. Why don’t they wear hemp a lot?” It’s because of those incredible things that also give it a drawback. The Science Behind Hemp’s Strength The Iron Snail So, if you’re like me and you read all these things that say hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, you would probably think, “Well, what the heck is the strongest natural fiber in the world? I want that one!” You can’t have that one, neither can I, because it’s spider silk. So, no one really officially says that hemp is the second strongest, but I think that’s what it is. Hemp is also very closely related to jute, which you may be familiar with if your Birkenstocks ever came apart – there is a jute layer underneath the sole. And jute is a very, very strong material, not as strong as hemp, but it’s not something that you look at and think, “I want to wear that.” And that’s because jute is very rough and coarse. But what makes hemp and jute so strong is that since they are bast fibers, they come from the stock of the plant as opposed to the seed, and the seed only has little wispy hairs on top that don’t ever get too long. So they can’t be as strong because, as we know, the longer the fiber, the stronger it is. And with that, a lot of the time comes an added thickness, which is where you lose some comfort. The Comfort Factor: Breaking Down the Science The Iron Snail Just some guidelines to set: typically, clothing fabrics and fibers start to get irritating when they are over 20 microns thick. Some people say 24 microns, and some people say 30 microns. But 20 is kind of that area where, all of a sudden, your wool sweater is a little itchy, and it’s poking into you. Cotton typically ranges from 9 to 22 microns, linen is typically 10 to 25 microns, wool goes from 10 to 35 microns, and then you have hemp. Wool is considered the classic itchy material at 10 to 35 microns. Hemp is 10 to 50 microns, so it trends higher on average. The Iron Snail Is it just super unbearable to wear? No. Is it really even super uncomfortable? No. Do you get used to it like two seconds after you put it on? Yes. But the first time you put it on, you may be thinking, “This is not as comfortable as that other shirt I wore somewhere else, so I’ll get that other shirt.” The Real Secret: Why Patagonia Loves Hemp So then, why is Patagonia investing so heavily in making hemp t-shirts and other hemp clothing? The secret is in this Idaho potato. I am not wearing 100% hemp today. Actually, my jeans are an incredibly weird blend. I don’t even know why Patagonia used this blend, but we shall break this down into three pieces: Number one: okay, hemp is not comfortable, but it’s amazing for all of these other reasons – why isn’t it used more? Number two: why is Patagonia investing so heavily in it? Don’t forget, organic cotton wasn’t a thing until Patagonia made it a thing, invested a ton of money in it, made the infrastructure for it, and then it blew up. So, is hemp the same thing? Number three: there is a solution that can change the world in a big way, but it’s not the solution that most people propose, at least I think. The Hemp Divide: Why It’s Not Taking Over (Yet) The Iron Snail Number one: why is hemp not taking over the world? The answer is because it’s hemp. It’s an incredibly divisive plant – people either love it or they hate it. So what happens is people that love it say it’s the next miracle thing, it destroys cotton, it’s better than all this, it can power our cars, we can make planes out of it. And then the other side says, “No, you just want hemp for a different reason.” So then it kind of goes kaput, and since it’s so divisive, you basically can’t get in the middle. Hemp has to destroy everything for some people to be right, and it has to be useless for other people to be right. So, both angles push it towards the extreme when, in reality, hemp is kind of right in the middle. Cotton is cheaper and softer, and people like to wear it more. Then you have jute that handles kind of the industrial rope end of things, just not quite as strong. Hemp plastic is not as structurally sound as regular plastic, hemp-crete is not as strong as concrete – there’s a whole mess. When in reality, hemp is great and amazing and the best of the best for some things, but not everything. The Future of Hemp: It’s All About Blends The Iron Snail So why is Patagonia using hemp at all? What is it good for? Blends, baby, blends! Hemp is good for everything, but not if you take everything else away. But if you add in hemp and you mix it into the pot, everything changes. If you have hemp in a shirt, the shirt is more durable and abrasion-resistant. If you add hemp to plastic so that it’s 25% hemp plastic, you reduce plastic usage by 25%. Then, if you look at base layers, for example, merino was great because it keeps your temperature regulated really well, but you need to add nylon or polyester so it doesn’t rip and get destroyed – it stays better for a longer amount of time. You can replace those synthetic fibers with hemp. You can also add hemp to socks, so your socks will last way, way longer. By using hemp in different ways, we can reduce a lot of things, all while growing things in a more sustainable way and all of that, and then hemp becomes very, very powerful. Patagonia’s Long Game The Iron Snail Sorry, I forgot the most important part of this article: Patagonia is in the stage where they’re just trying to build infrastructure and get farmers growing hemp in the U.S., getting machines to process this hemp. Also, when we first started processing cotton way, way, way back when, it wasn’t the same cotton that we know now – we didn’t have different staple lengths and genetically engineered cotton plants that were super long and soft and thin. So over time, what we should see is a refinement in hemp where it does get softer possibly, it does get cheaper, it’s way easier to process, and it’s used in a lot more things. So boom – it’s already way better. Patagonia is the beast that is going to make all the processing and growing and XYZ way, way easier, and it could theoretically become the fabric of the future. There are a lot of factors that go into play, but that is why Patagonia is investing so heavily in it. Obviously, they think there’s going to be a big return somehow, in some way. So that’s why. Watch This Review The Potato Philosophy: A Final Thought The Iron Snail In closing, hemp t-shirts are a lot like food, specifically the potato. Many people think a potato is the healthiest food in the world, and it just may be, but this weird thing happens if you eat only potatoes and nothing else, you die. So you need to eat other things that are also very good for you. I’m aware that a potato was the worst example that I could have picked because you can survive exclusively on potatoes if you also drink milk. Anywho, it’s time to cook this bad boy up for dinner. Goodbye! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[chilimili212]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The Wild History of Hemp You Never Knew About The USS Constitution, AKA Old Ironsides, is one of the most famous ships in history. Aboard that ship was 120,000 pounds of non-psychoactive cannabis rope. When Betsy Ross first sewed the American flag, she held in her hands non-psychoactive cannabis canvas. The word “canvas” comes from the word “cannabis,” AKA hemp. Porsche, one of the best car makers in the world, made a car out of hemp. The CEO of Hemp Earth flies around in a plane made of hemp. Hemp has been called “The Miracle Fiber” – the plant that will save the world. But it won’t. The Porsche was only partially made out of hemp and couldn’t be in the rain, and the CEO of Hemp Earth hasn’t finished building the hemp plane in over eight years and can’t raise the funds to finish it. And now he’s talking about building a hemp spaceship. So why is Patagonia investing so heavily in hemp? Why is everyone screaming about hemp t-shirts? After doing some reading online, it turns out the topic of hemp is a very sticky, icky topic, and I just want to let you know that I’m trying to separate hemp from that other plant that is also hemp. I’m trying to look at hemp from an incredibly nerdy lens. Is it actually important to the world? Does it matter at all? And then that should be fine. The Iron Snail Fun fact: besides the shoes that I’m wearing, which are from the company that makes the very famous anti-poaching boots, Jim Green, and my Bradley Mountain backpack, I am covered in 100% hemp – all Patagonia hemp.   The Problem With How We Talk About Hemp The Iron Snail The first thing you need to know before we can actually even get into the discussion is that hemp is never put up against anything correctly. Everything is miscategorized with hemp. Hemp fiber and clothes should not be compared to cotton. Hemp-crete should not be compared to concrete – everything is messed up because that’s not essentially what hemp is. So, let’s talk about cotton, and then I’ll tell you why everything is messed up. Why Cotton Became King The Iron Snail There are many fascinating reasons why cotton is the most popular textile on Earth – everything is made out of cotton. The big thing is that cotton is the perfect blend of everything: it’s strong enough, it’s soft enough, it can be made into really tough workwear like duck canvas or jeans or twills and stuff like that, or it can be made into something very very delicate like cotton gauze. So it can basically do everything. The Iron Snail There’s also a ton of other reasons why cotton got so popular. It was the first fiber and then fabric to get industrialized. It was a huge export for the U.S. and Britain. There was nothing holding cotton back, and there wasn’t anything holding hemp back for a very long time. It was required in the U.S. that every farmer grow some hemp in certain areas, and then people were obviously like, “Maybe this plant does something else.” Understanding Hemp vs Cotton The Iron Snail But that’s not the whole story because hemp, I don’t really think, would have ever been in every single shirt that people are wearing and every single sock and every single pant. Cotton is made from seed hairs – that explains it. When hemp is a bast fiber, hemp is actually not really that closely related to cotton, but it’s related to things like jute, linen, nettle, sisal – all of those things that don’t sound that appetizing. To put it in a different way, hemp is more related to a burlap sack than cotton is related to hemp. Being a bast fiber, it has some incredible benefits, but it also has some major drawbacks. But you may be thinking, “Well, people wear linen a lot. Why don’t they wear hemp a lot?” It’s because of those incredible things that also give it a drawback. The Science Behind Hemp’s Strength The Iron Snail So, if you’re like me and you read all these things that say hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, you would probably think, “Well, what the heck is the strongest natural fiber in the world? I want that one!” You can’t have that one, neither can I, because it’s spider silk. So, no one really officially says that hemp is the second strongest, but I think that’s what it is. Hemp is also very closely related to jute, which you may be familiar with if your Birkenstocks ever came apart – there is a jute layer underneath the sole. And jute is a very, very strong material, not as strong as hemp, but it’s not something that you look at and think, “I want to wear that.” And that’s because jute is very rough and coarse. But what makes hemp and jute so strong is that since they are bast fibers, they come from the stock of the plant as opposed to the seed, and the seed only has little wispy hairs on top that don’t ever get too long. So they can’t be as strong because, as we know, the longer the fiber, the stronger it is. And with that, a lot of the time comes an added thickness, which is where you lose some comfort. The Comfort Factor: Breaking Down the Science The Iron Snail Just some guidelines to set: typically, clothing fabrics and fibers start to get irritating when they are over 20 microns thick. Some people say 24 microns, and some people say 30 microns. But 20 is kind of that area where, all of a sudden, your wool sweater is a little itchy, and it’s poking into you. Cotton typically ranges from 9 to 22 microns, linen is typically 10 to 25 microns, wool goes from 10 to 35 microns, and then you have hemp. Wool is considered the classic itchy material at 10 to 35 microns. Hemp is 10 to 50 microns, so it trends higher on average. The Iron Snail Is it just super unbearable to wear? No. Is it really even super uncomfortable? No. Do you get used to it like two seconds after you put it on? Yes. But the first time you put it on, you may be thinking, “This is not as comfortable as that other shirt I wore somewhere else, so I’ll get that other shirt.” The Real Secret: Why Patagonia Loves Hemp So then, why is Patagonia investing so heavily in making hemp t-shirts and other hemp clothing? The secret is in this Idaho potato. I am not wearing 100% hemp today. Actually, my jeans are an incredibly weird blend. I don’t even know why Patagonia used this blend, but we shall break this down into three pieces: Number one: okay, hemp is not comfortable, but it’s amazing for all of these other reasons – why isn’t it used more? Number two: why is Patagonia investing so heavily in it? Don’t forget, organic cotton wasn’t a thing until Patagonia made it a thing, invested a ton of money in it, made the infrastructure for it, and then it blew up. So, is hemp the same thing? Number three: there is a solution that can change the world in a big way, but it’s not the solution that most people propose, at least I think. The Hemp Divide: Why It’s Not Taking Over (Yet) The Iron Snail Number one: why is hemp not taking over the world? The answer is because it’s hemp. It’s an incredibly divisive plant – people either love it or they hate it. So what happens is people that love it say it’s the next miracle thing, it destroys cotton, it’s better than all this, it can power our cars, we can make planes out of it. And then the other side says, “No, you just want hemp for a different reason.” So then it kind of goes kaput, and since it’s so divisive, you basically can’t get in the middle. Hemp has to destroy everything for some people to be right, and it has to be useless for other people to be right. So, both angles push it towards the extreme when, in reality, hemp is kind of right in the middle. Cotton is cheaper and softer, and people like to wear it more. Then you have jute that handles kind of the industrial rope end of things, just not quite as strong. Hemp plastic is not as structurally sound as regular plastic, hemp-crete is not as strong as concrete – there’s a whole mess. When in reality, hemp is great and amazing and the best of the best for some things, but not everything. The Future of Hemp: It’s All About Blends The Iron Snail So why is Patagonia using hemp at all? What is it good for? Blends, baby, blends! Hemp is good for everything, but not if you take everything else away. But if you add in hemp and you mix it into the pot, everything changes. If you have hemp in a shirt, the shirt is more durable and abrasion-resistant. If you add hemp to plastic so that it’s 25% hemp plastic, you reduce plastic usage by 25%. Then, if you look at base layers, for example, merino was great because it keeps your temperature regulated really well, but you need to add nylon or polyester so it doesn’t rip and get destroyed – it stays better for a longer amount of time. You can replace those synthetic fibers with hemp. You can also add hemp to socks, so your socks will last way, way longer. By using hemp in different ways, we can reduce a lot of things, all while growing things in a more sustainable way and all of that, and then hemp becomes very, very powerful. Patagonia’s Long Game The Iron Snail Sorry, I forgot the most important part of this article: Patagonia is in the stage where they’re just trying to build infrastructure and get farmers growing hemp in the U.S., getting machines to process this hemp. Also, when we first started processing cotton way, way, way back when, it wasn’t the same cotton that we know now – we didn’t have different staple lengths and genetically engineered cotton plants that were super long and soft and thin. So over time, what we should see is a refinement in hemp where it does get softer possibly, it does get cheaper, it’s way easier to process, and it’s used in a lot more things. So boom – it’s already way better. Patagonia is the beast that is going to make all the processing and growing and XYZ way, way easier, and it could theoretically become the fabric of the future. There are a lot of factors that go into play, but that is why Patagonia is investing so heavily in it. Obviously, they think there’s going to be a big return somehow, in some way. So that’s why. Watch This Review The Potato Philosophy: A Final Thought The Iron Snail In closing, hemp t-shirts are a lot like food, specifically the potato. Many people think a potato is the healthiest food in the world, and it just may be, but this weird thing happens if you eat only potatoes and nothing else, you die. So you need to eat other things that are also very good for you. I’m aware that a potato was the worst example that I could have picked because you can survive exclusively on potatoes if you also drink milk. Anywho, it’s time to cook this bad boy up for dinner. Goodbye! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[oliviajoyice21]

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The Wild History of Hemp You Never Knew About The USS Constitution, AKA Old Ironsides, is one of the most famous ships in history. Aboard that ship was 120,000 pounds of non-psychoactive cannabis rope. When Betsy Ross first sewed the American flag, she held in her hands non-psychoactive cannabis canvas. The word “canvas” comes from the word “cannabis,” AKA hemp. Porsche, one of the best car makers in the world, made a car out of hemp. The CEO of Hemp Earth flies around in a plane made of hemp. Hemp has been called “The Miracle Fiber” – the plant that will save the world. But it won’t. The Porsche was only partially made out of hemp and couldn’t be in the rain, and the CEO of Hemp Earth hasn’t finished building the hemp plane in over eight years and can’t raise the funds to finish it. And now he’s talking about building a hemp spaceship. So why is Patagonia investing so heavily in hemp? Why is everyone screaming about hemp t-shirts? After doing some reading online, it turns out the topic of hemp is a very sticky, icky topic, and I just want to let you know that I’m trying to separate hemp from that other plant that is also hemp. I’m trying to look at hemp from an incredibly nerdy lens. Is it actually important to the world? Does it matter at all? And then that should be fine. The Iron Snail Fun fact: besides the shoes that I’m wearing, which are from the company that makes the very famous anti-poaching boots, Jim Green, and my Bradley Mountain backpack, I am covered in 100% hemp – all Patagonia hemp.   The Problem With How We Talk About Hemp The Iron Snail The first thing you need to know before we can actually even get into the discussion is that hemp is never put up against anything correctly. Everything is miscategorized with hemp. Hemp fiber and clothes should not be compared to cotton. Hemp-crete should not be compared to concrete – everything is messed up because that’s not essentially what hemp is. So, let’s talk about cotton, and then I’ll tell you why everything is messed up. Why Cotton Became King The Iron Snail There are many fascinating reasons why cotton is the most popular textile on Earth – everything is made out of cotton. The big thing is that cotton is the perfect blend of everything: it’s strong enough, it’s soft enough, it can be made into really tough workwear like duck canvas or jeans or twills and stuff like that, or it can be made into something very very delicate like cotton gauze. So it can basically do everything. The Iron Snail There’s also a ton of other reasons why cotton got so popular. It was the first fiber and then fabric to get industrialized. It was a huge export for the U.S. and Britain. There was nothing holding cotton back, and there wasn’t anything holding hemp back for a very long time. It was required in the U.S. that every farmer grow some hemp in certain areas, and then people were obviously like, “Maybe this plant does something else.” Understanding Hemp vs Cotton The Iron Snail But that’s not the whole story because hemp, I don’t really think, would have ever been in every single shirt that people are wearing and every single sock and every single pant. Cotton is made from seed hairs – that explains it. When hemp is a bast fiber, hemp is actually not really that closely related to cotton, but it’s related to things like jute, linen, nettle, sisal – all of those things that don’t sound that appetizing. To put it in a different way, hemp is more related to a burlap sack than cotton is related to hemp. Being a bast fiber, it has some incredible benefits, but it also has some major drawbacks. But you may be thinking, “Well, people wear linen a lot. Why don’t they wear hemp a lot?” It’s because of those incredible things that also give it a drawback. The Science Behind Hemp’s Strength The Iron Snail So, if you’re like me and you read all these things that say hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, you would probably think, “Well, what the heck is the strongest natural fiber in the world? I want that one!” You can’t have that one, neither can I, because it’s spider silk. So, no one really officially says that hemp is the second strongest, but I think that’s what it is. Hemp is also very closely related to jute, which you may be familiar with if your Birkenstocks ever came apart – there is a jute layer underneath the sole. And jute is a very, very strong material, not as strong as hemp, but it’s not something that you look at and think, “I want to wear that.” And that’s because jute is very rough and coarse. But what makes hemp and jute so strong is that since they are bast fibers, they come from the stock of the plant as opposed to the seed, and the seed only has little wispy hairs on top that don’t ever get too long. So they can’t be as strong because, as we know, the longer the fiber, the stronger it is. And with that, a lot of the time comes an added thickness, which is where you lose some comfort. The Comfort Factor: Breaking Down the Science The Iron Snail Just some guidelines to set: typically, clothing fabrics and fibers start to get irritating when they are over 20 microns thick. Some people say 24 microns, and some people say 30 microns. But 20 is kind of that area where, all of a sudden, your wool sweater is a little itchy, and it’s poking into you. Cotton typically ranges from 9 to 22 microns, linen is typically 10 to 25 microns, wool goes from 10 to 35 microns, and then you have hemp. Wool is considered the classic itchy material at 10 to 35 microns. Hemp is 10 to 50 microns, so it trends higher on average. The Iron Snail Is it just super unbearable to wear? No. Is it really even super uncomfortable? No. Do you get used to it like two seconds after you put it on? Yes. But the first time you put it on, you may be thinking, “This is not as comfortable as that other shirt I wore somewhere else, so I’ll get that other shirt.” The Real Secret: Why Patagonia Loves Hemp So then, why is Patagonia investing so heavily in making hemp t-shirts and other hemp clothing? The secret is in this Idaho potato. I am not wearing 100% hemp today. Actually, my jeans are an incredibly weird blend. I don’t even know why Patagonia used this blend, but we shall break this down into three pieces: Number one: okay, hemp is not comfortable, but it’s amazing for all of these other reasons – why isn’t it used more? Number two: why is Patagonia investing so heavily in it? Don’t forget, organic cotton wasn’t a thing until Patagonia made it a thing, invested a ton of money in it, made the infrastructure for it, and then it blew up. So, is hemp the same thing? Number three: there is a solution that can change the world in a big way, but it’s not the solution that most people propose, at least I think. The Hemp Divide: Why It’s Not Taking Over (Yet) The Iron Snail Number one: why is hemp not taking over the world? The answer is because it’s hemp. It’s an incredibly divisive plant – people either love it or they hate it. So what happens is people that love it say it’s the next miracle thing, it destroys cotton, it’s better than all this, it can power our cars, we can make planes out of it. And then the other side says, “No, you just want hemp for a different reason.” So then it kind of goes kaput, and since it’s so divisive, you basically can’t get in the middle. Hemp has to destroy everything for some people to be right, and it has to be useless for other people to be right. So, both angles push it towards the extreme when, in reality, hemp is kind of right in the middle. Cotton is cheaper and softer, and people like to wear it more. Then you have jute that handles kind of the industrial rope end of things, just not quite as strong. Hemp plastic is not as structurally sound as regular plastic, hemp-crete is not as strong as concrete – there’s a whole mess. When in reality, hemp is great and amazing and the best of the best for some things, but not everything. The Future of Hemp: It’s All About Blends The Iron Snail So why is Patagonia using hemp at all? What is it good for? Blends, baby, blends! Hemp is good for everything, but not if you take everything else away. But if you add in hemp and you mix it into the pot, everything changes. If you have hemp in a shirt, the shirt is more durable and abrasion-resistant. If you add hemp to plastic so that it’s 25% hemp plastic, you reduce plastic usage by 25%. Then, if you look at base layers, for example, merino was great because it keeps your temperature regulated really well, but you need to add nylon or polyester so it doesn’t rip and get destroyed – it stays better for a longer amount of time. You can replace those synthetic fibers with hemp. You can also add hemp to socks, so your socks will last way, way longer. By using hemp in different ways, we can reduce a lot of things, all while growing things in a more sustainable way and all of that, and then hemp becomes very, very powerful. Patagonia’s Long Game The Iron Snail Sorry, I forgot the most important part of this article: Patagonia is in the stage where they’re just trying to build infrastructure and get farmers growing hemp in the U.S., getting machines to process this hemp. Also, when we first started processing cotton way, way, way back when, it wasn’t the same cotton that we know now – we didn’t have different staple lengths and genetically engineered cotton plants that were super long and soft and thin. So over time, what we should see is a refinement in hemp where it does get softer possibly, it does get cheaper, it’s way easier to process, and it’s used in a lot more things. So boom – it’s already way better. Patagonia is the beast that is going to make all the processing and growing and XYZ way, way easier, and it could theoretically become the fabric of the future. There are a lot of factors that go into play, but that is why Patagonia is investing so heavily in it. Obviously, they think there’s going to be a big return somehow, in some way. So that’s why. Watch This Review The Potato Philosophy: A Final Thought The Iron Snail In closing, hemp t-shirts are a lot like food, specifically the potato. Many people think a potato is the healthiest food in the world, and it just may be, but this weird thing happens if you eat only potatoes and nothing else, you die. So you need to eat other things that are also very good for you. I’m aware that a potato was the worst example that I could have picked because you can survive exclusively on potatoes if you also drink milk. Anywho, it’s time to cook this bad boy up for dinner. Goodbye! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[sunnyworldwidelogistics]

Shipping to Saudi Arabia: How Sunny Worldwide Logistics Helped a Client Consolidate Shipments from 44 Suppliers

Shipping to Saudi Arabia: How Sunny Worldwide Logistics Helped a Client Consolidate Shipments from 44 Suppliers

Not long ago, a long-term Saudi client who has been working with us for almost two years told me they had a shipment ready. This shipment involved about 15 suppliers, and they needed us to make payments to the suppliers on their behalf. Since we’re familiar with each other, the client gave me the necessary information and hung up the phone. Handling 15 suppliers seemed manageable at first. However, a few days later, the client informed me there were nearly 50 suppliers involved! This was a huge challenge for me! Each supplier needed careful attention, and the workload was enormous. Any mistake could lead to problems, especially since we had to handle export declarations, customs clearance documents, trucking, and other procedures.

This isn’t an unusual situation for us. At Sunny Worldwide Logistics, we often assist clients with tasks beyond just shipping, such as factory inspections and quality checks, free of charge, making things much easier for them. When dealing with consolidation, our team is present during loading to ensure everything is done correctly and we send videos to our clients. If there’s any confusion with product codes, we remark the labels, count the quantities, and handle the details meticulously. We even help clients with small tasks, like repacking items purchased from platforms like Taobao, that others might overlook.

I noticed that most of the client’s goods were concentrated in three areas in Guangzhou: 1) near Wanling Plaza, 2) near Nan’an Road, and 3) near Huangsha Avenue. To help the client save on pickup costs, I decided to first gather the goods at our Guangzhou Huangpu warehouse.

The pickup was the most challenging part due to the number of suppliers involved. So, I divided the task into two parts: 1) For suppliers with larger quantities and higher-value goods, I convinced them to deliver directly to the warehouse. 2) For suppliers with smaller quantities and lower-value goods who weren’t willing to deliver, we arranged for trucks to pick up the goods.

Our company actually owns its own fleet of trucks, unlike many small logistics companies. In our industry, only about 10% of companies have their own trucks, and we’re one of the few.

Initially, I tried sending our drivers to pick up the goods directly from the suppliers, but this led to several issues: 1) The drivers found it inconvenient to pick up goods from multiple suppliers at once. 2) Communication with suppliers was challenging. 3) Traffic restrictions and congestion in the city center were serious problems. 4) Delays in unloading at the warehouse could result in extra charges, like waiting fees and loading/unloading fees.

After discussing with my supervisor, we came up with a solution: 1) Confirm the goods and pickup times with the suppliers. 2) I, along with my colleague Hank, went to Guangzhou to oversee the pickups in person. We followed the plan and collected the goods from the designated areas. This approach worked well, and we quickly gathered all the client’s goods and delivered them to the warehouse on time.

Since these suppliers are mostly small domestic sellers, they couldn’t provide proper packing lists, invoices, or customs documents. So, I provided them with Sunny Worldwide Logistics' multi-supplier document collection form and customs declaration form, asking them to fill in the details based on their goods. However, some suppliers couldn’t even use a computer, which was a big challenge. I ended up asking them to handwrite the information, and I entered it into the computer for them.

In the end, there were over 50 types of goods. With the help of my colleagues, we categorized them into 11 main groups and prepared the customs and clearance documents for the client.

[piperjistic]

But that’s the path of making games and trying out new game engines. I want to try out a bunch of game engines and be able to branch out as to different types of games.

A part of me wants to relearn coding (python) and learn HTML and whatever else in the game engines. Which isn’t a large list.

I’ve tried out Ren;py, RPG Maker MV, ink/inkle, and bitsy. I want to learn godot and GameMaker since those are more/most code based. Sure, I’ve only made one game in each format besides GD and GM, but I can at least comment on the rest after thinking with it.

I really liked Ren;py, surprisingly as much as I did. It’s honestly the best or at least is a pretty good Visual Novel maker, uses python making it easy to pick up, and extremely customizable. Its flexibility really makes me like it. I can envision its capacity for visual novels and kinetic novels of any size or type. If you want to make one then I definitely recommend it over trying to make your own in a different game system.

The loading/history/saves/options are already built in compared to doing it by hand. It can also export in html which allow for on-site play, which attracts more ppl to play it. I didn’t even realize DDLC was made from it so the coding can be pushed to THAT level is a cool spectacle, as well the sprite coding system.

Next I used RPG Maker MV…. Maybe because I was coddled by Ren;py for the instructions being built into the game and there being an actual direct website with documentation/notes inside but I was blind-sided by the lack of it in the engine and website itself. Fine, there’s still plenty of tutorial playlists available to explain it all. But…. I surprisingly didn’t like this one as much as I thought I would, I’m surprised by myself for my dislike.

I can see how the games are made from it and what it would look to code it in other titles made from it. It really changed my perspective and made my mind think when I decided to analyze a game I like made with MV. However, I struggled on the code and visual front.

Apparently the tiles have to be 48x48 or it’s over. Yes, they can be bigger/smaller as long as you add a *. But the rigid size and formatting for the tiles drove me made as I had to resize and format a 16x16 tile pack I bought, yet was failing miserably after asking a dev and watching a video. That’s why Clean Up uses the reg game assets and have no furniture tiles. I couldn’t format it correctly and was on a deadline. I do plan to update it but still.

My main issue was that MV and RPG Maker(s) in general are NOT made for Macs. No games nor engine works fine with mac. When play-testing, the game kept freezing or read an error code. I researched it and found there’s nothing I could or actually caused the error on my end.

FN-F5 was my fucking best friend as it resets the game whenever there are any issues and the game would work smoothly after that until something broke again. Some games won’t work on all macs and are noted constantly on game pages. Even exporting on mac causes issues with the WINDOWS build. Like damn, host advantage as the mac build is perfectly fine (not without resets fc) but windows? You could be missing assets like combat animations or something in the export without even realizing it. Can’t wait to get a Levano laptop— It was frustrating. I didn’t expect it to be easy or one and done deal, but it was ridiculous. Made me lose points on my grade too lmao. That leaves the question, do I recommend it?

Yes. I accept that the issues I went through were purely due to being on a Mac. I’ve seen other developers here using that engine and they don’t seem to face those issues. The interface after a few tutorials and research makes sense. Another big plus MV has that no one holds a candle to is the plug-ins and community behind it is the biggest. If not, second to Ren;py, but I seriously doubt that due to RPG Maker’s presence, and legacy.

I do plan to eventually buy MZ if it goes on sale. It’s able to do MV, handle different sprite sizes outside of 48x48 with finagling and more but better. I’m not paying 80 or whatever. Hopefully it goes down to 30 one day or I can upgrade with money.

I was introduced to Inkle/Ink and text-based games by my Interactive Writing class so I tried that out for a game jam, then a tiny-game for ink so I could figure out how to port it to itch. For Inkle website, it’s pretty good. You can link/unlink/relink stuff, lock choices, add variables and “highlight” certain points which is really good for navigation and a reminder. It took ~3-5hrs to code Temple Visit and that was my first time playing with it.

Honestly, it’s a good engine for beginning in text-based games. I tried twine and that one is definitely harder and has a learning curve but can have sounds and images added on compared to the porting process with inkle. Speaking of which, I like how you can transfer a story from inkle to ink and then convert it to html. Images can be added from ink snd whatnot. A few games are made from ink like Bury Me My Love and Highland Song. I don’t have much experience with ink even then, I only know surface lvl stuff like choices but it’s similar to python.

Lastly is bitsy, the itsy bitsy game engine ran on a site. Theres a downloadable version on itch I believe, but you can make it in browser with no issue and even if you close the browser it’ll save. It’s html export so on-site play with no zip file. A tiny learning curve and restrictiveness in the UI but that’s the point. You only get 3 colors (background, tiles, Avatar/sprites/items) but it’s still flexible as you can mess with the code to produce more.

It’s mostly straightforward, the only issue I ran into was the ending and dialogue panels. To “code” the game, it’s done under the dialogues of items and sprites and endings/exits. I’m not an expert but don’t try to add dialogue without it being “dialogue” for an item. There are games acting as tutorials for it and a community present so you’ll be able to find resources, especially on itch. Ngl, if I knew about this engine sooner for the class, I would of used this one instead of MV for it’s simplicity and how well it could be used for Clean Up minus the combat system.

I looked at godot’s interface, it isn’t bad. Just need a tutorial like a normal person does. Haven’t glanced at GameMaker but I could see myself using it for the block coding feature. If I did ever sell a game though, guess I gotta fork up $100 for it. The only good news is that it’s a one-time price. Gotta see if I like and will make a buy-able game first.

And the best part us that all of them are literally free to use! But the only concern of all the game engines I’ve used that’s downloaded consistently without fail is that they HATE macbooks. Ren;py hates it the least while MV hates it the most, without fail, with a fucking PASSION.

When I come up with cool game or Gamejam ideas yet don’t have the skill level for it 😭

[adamwatchesmovies]

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is undoubtedly the strangest Christmas film I’ve ever seen. Blending holiday horror, a coming-of-age comedy, and the straight-up bizarre with its own Santa Claus mythology, this is the kind of story that you’d be crazy to green-lit but in practice inexplicably works.

In Finland, a research team has been drilling inside Korvatunturi, a mountain supposedly housing Santa Claus. After uncovering something deep in the earth, Pietari (Onni Tommila) observes strange footprints in the snow. Soon after, his father (Jorma Tommila) discovers an old man (Peeter Jakobi) with a long white beard that couldn’t possibly be Santa Claus… could he?

Only a mind as demented as writer/director Jalmari Helander could come up with Rare Exports, which means you have no way of predicting what’s coming next. You know there’s something buried in that mountain. Presumably, it’s related to the naked old man they've discovered but from there, it could go ANYWHERE. You’re not even sure what kind of movie this is and just when you think you’ve got the genre pinned down, it’ll switch. Inexplicably it all fits together.

Part of what makes this movie such a treat is how un-Hollywood it is. The mythology we’re introduced to is unlike anything we’ve heard before but it’s so quirky and off-beat it seems legitimate, like it was dug up out of some old Finnish version of Grim’s Christmas fairytales or simply what the kids over there believe. You can see the path another filmmaker would’ve taken like fresh tracks in the snow and all of them would’ve led somewhere you’ve seen before. This deliberately buckles your expectations in so many ways. Here’s an example that gives nothing away; there are no women in this film. We know they exist but you don’t see a single one. Is it just the way things turned out? Could be. I’m leaning towards it being a deliberate decision to put us just a little bit off-center, to keep us guessing.

And then, things take another loony turn. You were so busy figuring out what the deal with that old man was, whether Pietari’s dad was a villain or not, what the young boy needed to do to keep safe, what role the wild reindeer in the woods play in all this… when all the clues that were dropped earlier in the movie add up to this revelation that makes your jaw drop. Then, a tonal shift. Then, another. Somehow, the magic of the holiday, the childlike enthusiasm of this nutty movie blend it all together while keeping them separate. This movie has gore and murder but it’s also weirdly sweet and cheery. You’re not even sure if you’re reading it all correctly and then, you get an explanation for that end title. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is best enjoyed when you know as little about it as possible. It’s darkly comic and gruesome but never feels excessive or mean-spirited despite its revisionist origin of Santa Claus There’s fairytale wonder present that gives it a whole lot of charm when you’re not gnawing on your fingernails like they’re gingerbread men. Because its story is so fresh and original, because it covers so many bases, I could easily see it as the kind of demented gem you’re drawn back to annually. (Original Finnish with English subtitles, December 11, 2020)

[ny-sims]

UV Mapping: Useful Add-ons and Tips

Hey guys! So ya girl has learned a lot over the past month and I wanted to share some of the Blender plugins and tips that I have used to make object creation a little easier and faster!

Let’s start with Blender versions: 

I like to use two different versions of blender when I am creating an object. 

I use Blender 2.77 to create the initial object and to utilize the wonderful TS3 tools by Cmomoney. 

I use Blender 2.91 for UV mapping since the majority of good plug-ins are too new for version 2.77 and the tools in the newest version of Blender are more user friendly.

Note: I create and export my mesh as a Wavefront object from Blender 2.77 first and then import it into 2.91 to arrange the UV map. Once I finish that, I export that object again and re-import it back into 2.77 with the updated UV map. I do this because sometimes the normals get messed up if the object is created in Blender 2.91 and then imported into 2.77 for baking. 

I recommend NOT triangulating the faces yet so that the mesh is easier to manipulate. Triangulating should be done once exporting the final mesh  imo. 

UV Mapping

UV mapping was easily the hardest thing for me starting out and it can still be kinda tricky.

The point of UV unwrapping and mapping is to ensure that a 2D texture evenly and nicely wraps around a 3D object. (See image below. Source: Google)

A proper UV map is also essential for creating a good multiplier, which consists of outlining the object and “baking” on it’s shadows. 

Without a multiplier, the mesh will look invisible in TSRW and in-game. If it is mapped or baked wrong, or the islands are outside of the UV area, the mesh can have empty spots or a bad texture. Here’s an example of a multiplier in Blender:

(Three separate cubes, rendered together, projecting shadows onto each other. There is a different multiplier image for each object.) 

Unwrapping:

Most of the time, using “Smart UV Project” works well enough to proportionally unwrap the object but it does not arrange the islands (the 2D faces of the object seen in the UV editor window) in a manner that will render an even texture. You have to arrange them (UV mapping) to get the desired result. 

There are multiple ways to unwrap a 3D object in addition to “Smart UV Project” , such as “Cube Projection” and “Lightmap Pack”, which work well too depending on the mesh. Test out which unwrap method works the best for you. 

UV Mapping Tools for Blender 2.91: 

UV Toolkit: This add-on is useful for aligning, transforming, arranging, and unwrapping UVs. I like to use this add-on to unwrap the islands proportionally. This plugin does cost at the least $19 but it is super worth it. 

TexTools: This one is a free alternative to UV Toolkit. It has majority of the same features, minus the unwrap capability. The layout features are more extensive than UV Toolkit. I use this one primarily. 

Magic UV: This tool is really useful for copying an islands layout and  works best with islands that are similar. For example, if I had a square island that I rotated and scaled larger, I could copy it and paste it onto a similar island for similar if not the exact same results. I use this to ensure that faces are identical in size and orientation. It can be hit or miss, but for a free tool it’s super helpful. 

Marking Seams:

You can mark seams on an object to change how it unwraps. 

Take a cube for example, marking seams on the edges allows the 3D faces to lay out flat and even on the 2D map. 

Marking seams “soft” or “sharp” will also change how the edges look in the game. (In the pic above, the edges in red show where seams have been marked. Source: Google)

Island Placement: 

It’s important to keep in mind where the islands are placed and in what direction the texture will be projected onto it. 

The x-axis on the UV map primarily affects how big or small the texture appears on the object. Stretching the Island along the x-axis will project more of the texture onto it. Keep in mind, however, that if the island is rotated, this projection changes as the x-axis has changed. 

The larger the island, the better the quality. If the island is too small and the texture projects really large, the texture can look super low-quality and pixelated in-game. See the affect of rotation below:

Overlapping Islands:

Complex objects are sometimes too big to fit on the UV map. This is where overlapping similar islands comes in handy. 

One major thing to note about overlapping is that when the object is baked, that bake will overlap and whatever comes out on top will be what is projected onto the islands.

Try to overlap islands in areas where you want the shadows and texture to appear the same.

 Be sure to NOT overlap islands that will be two different textures/channels. For example, when baking an RGB, make sure that only the islands that you want to be in Green/Channel B are overlapping or the textures will not project correctly. See example below:  

(Red/Channel A is the default color that always fills the entire image. The UV for the red cube is not overlapping with the blue or green cubes in the first image though. In the second image, all 3 are overlapping in multiple areas.)

Conclusion:

Learning the best way to UV map an object takes some time and really depends on how complex it is. 

I hope this helps! I couldn’t really find anything sims 3 related that was up to date when I was learning and just figured it out on my own lol. 

Thanks for the support guys! Maybe I’ll do something more in depth later on but it’s 4 am and a bih is tired so... I hope this is useful! 

[coconut-cluster]

Crowns and Cutlasses: Chapter Two

Chapter 1  |  AO3 link coming tomorrow!  |  my masterlist 

warnings: implied child abuse

When Roman and Remus turned fifteen, their father took them onto his ship for the first time. 

It was smaller than the ships Roman saw in the harbor from his bedroom window, but it was made of the prettiest wood he’d ever laid eyes on, rich and dark and rough under his fingertips when he dragged them across the railing, and its spot in the sea put the sunset in full view as it colored the sky gold overhead; he’d never been on a boat before, despite all his tutors’ sycophantic rambling about Unindra’s illustrious naval power and marine exports. He couldn’t predict the giddy swaying of the floor beneath his feet, or the way the wind blowing in his hair felt somehow more liberating. He remembered just leaning over the side of the ship, staring into the water and grinning at the way the sun made the little waves sparkle. 

His father let him and Remus marvel at the sights for a few minutes, then called them to the hull. He told them they’d learn to sail very soon, his voice booming against the peaceful quiet of the water, and that being able to captain a ship was just as important as knowing how to govern in the palace; it’s two sides of the same coin, he said, two types of leadership with different skills required. 

Remus asked which one he liked more. 

Their father fixed a cold stare on him. “I don’t trifle with liking,” he said lowly, and though Roman straightened his back and resisted the urge to stare at the wood until he disappeared, Remus just frowned. “We do these things for the control. Being able to lead a kingdom of peasants isn’t impressive; they’re docile if you do it correctly. Powerless, really. A king,” their father nearly spat, eyeing Remus’ unimpressed expression, “must be able to control a crew as well, even on the brink of mutiny.”

“Why would they mutiny if you’re a good leader?”

Roman knew the king’s outings with them were without guards for more than basic privacy. The boat was docked behind the palace, far away from the general harbor and even further out of earshot for anyone besides the three of them; no one heard the sharp sound of contact, or the sound of Remus hitting the deck as the king shook his hand out, or the soft hiss of pain from Roman as he dug his nails into his palms so hard they nearly pierced the skin. No one was around to hear any of it; their father always made sure of that. 

“You’ll start sailing lessons tomorrow at sunrise,” the king said, addressing them both though he only turned his gaze to Roman, who nodded aptly. Out of the corner of his eyes, Roman saw Remus’ hands curl into fists against the deck. “Don’t be late.”

With that, he stepped over Remus and made his way back to the palace, his back straight and gait almost leisurely. He’d no doubt return to his chambers and take dinner in his room, and their mother would fret over his absence and scold her sons for upsetting him when he’s already stressed about whatever issue she could come up with to defend him that week. Roman had half a mind to trail after him, follow in his wake like a lost puppy; the urge lit something shameful in his chest. 

He waited instead for his father’s figure to disappear completely before kneeling down and reaching for Remus, trying not to get dirt on his knees (lest their mother have his head); Remus’ knuckles were white as he clenched his fists, and Roman went to pull him from the deck, pick him up and dust him off, but Remus swatted his hand away, hauling himself to his feet and stomping off the boat without turning back. 

And Roman just stayed there. He thought briefly of his mother, probably waiting alone at the dinner table - Remus wouldn’t be coming to dinner either now, he was sure of it - and willed himself to feel sorry for her, something to push him toward getting up and heading back to the palace to join her, but he just felt something boiling over inside him. He didn’t have anywhere to let it spill; his father would wave him aside (or worse) if he caught sight of such unsightly emotions, and his mother would shush him, and Remus... Remus had it worse, Roman knew. He couldn’t bother his brother with any more troubles than what he already dealt with. 

So he knelt on the wood, alone, staring at the sky and feeling the sway of the sea beneath him, kneeling until the sun was pulled under the horizon and dusk drowned him in a salted chill. There was nowhere for the anger to spill over except there, his place on the boat right then. When he stood and started toward returning to the castle at last, he grabbed a small rock from the shore, made one thin, deliberate score in the beautiful wooden railing, and decided he hated ships. 

--

“And that, dear brother, is the glorious Horven!” Remus spread his arms wide, beaming at the main deck sprawled out before them at the helm. “Feel free to praise it how you see fit.” 

Roman took in the sight carefully; the rest Remus’ crew milled about, talking amongst themselves as they went through whatever routine they had, casual in a way that went so starkly against the image Roman had always had of anarchist villains, hollering for violence from their ships. (He always did think that seemed a tad dramatic.) He saw the boy with the dark eyes and the one with the scar talking in low tones on one side of the ship, and Logan and Patton doing the same across the deck, their heads close together as they spoke. Logan and Patton’s back were to the crew; every so often, Logan threw a scrutinizing glance over his shoulder, his mouth a stern line. 

“I see you’re speechless,” Remus said smugly. “Rightly so. She’s a beauty. If ships were people, I’d already have-”

“It’s great, Rem,” Roman smiled (and tried not to fill in the rest of Remus’ sentence in his mind). It was a genuine sentiment, though Roman couldn’t tell if the smile was truly from the ship’s splendor or the lingering effects of seeing his brother in person again, not only very much alive, but safe, too, and seemingly happy. It didn’t matter, he supposed; he just let himself smile and left it at that. “How’d you get a ship in the first place?”

Remus squinted at him and then nowhere in particular, his lips pushed out in a thoughtful pout. After a moment, he just scanned the deck, craning his neck like he was looking for someone in particular. “Long story,” he said absently. “Very boring story, and you know I can’t stand boring stories.”

“...I can’t imagine how coming to lead an entire pirate ship is a boring story-”

“Take my word for it. Ah!” He leaned onto the helm’s railing, his smile brightening once more as he found who he was looking for. He sent Roman a quick glance and nodded for him to step up beside him. “So,” he started brightly, propping his chin in one hand, “I know it’s been a spicy minute since I’ve been at the castle, but I think I would have remembered being in such enticing company, so do tell me that one,” he pointed, “is a recent addition to the castle staff.” 

Roman frowned at him, following his gaze and point to fill in the blanks. He nearly gagged. 

“Logan?” he said incredulously, looking between Remus and an oblivious Logan across the ship; Remus nodded for him to continue. “I- I mean, somewhat- he was the steward’s intern for a few years, you would have seen him if you ever actually went to lessons,” Remus rolled his eyes, “but he wasn’t my steward until about two years ago, so... I suppose he’s recent?” Remus raised his eyebrows, nodding without taking his eyes off Logan, and Roman almost gagged again. “Please, for the love of God, never use the word ‘enticing’ about him again. He’s about as enticing as an abacus.”

“Some people find math very intriguing, dear Roman,” Remus said loftily. Roman raised an eyebrow that Remus ignored in favor of staring again, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “He’s tall.”

“Oh, lord, please stop forever.”

Remus just grinned, and despite the positively topic of conversation, Roman felt himself fighting a smile, because it was such a normal thing for them to squabble about; he remembered a similar exchange when they were twelve or thirteen, when Remus dragged him to the top of the Grand Hall’s stairs to point out the visiting ambassadors and their assistants, only cackling when Roman wrinkled his nose at their stuffy postures and curt greetings. For a moment, Roman felt as if they were back at the top of the staircase, poking each other in the sides, smothering their laughter before someone heard and made them get back to lessons. When he thought about it, though, he found he much preferred the present. 

“I missed you,” he blurted. 

Remus’ smile didn’t falter, but it might have been because his attention was still focused on sizing Logan up from across the deck; he spared Roman a quick glance and said, absently, “Hm?”

“I missed you,” Roman repeated, turning his attention to the deck again, too, because it was suddenly a weighted statement, one he felt almost ashamed for feeling so deeply. As if missing his brother was something to be ashamed of. He wondered, for just a second, which royal lesson had instilled that in him. “I know the circumstances of this whole reunion are a bit... unconventional, but I’m glad to see you, Remus. I’m glad you’re okay.” 

Remus stared at him, eyebrows raised. They were both silent for a moment; Roman felt, for a split second, that he had messed up somehow, brought up sentiments not requited or ready to be accepted, and his heart sank as quickly as it had soared. 

But then Remus grinned again. “Good to know you’re still a sap.”

Before Roman could even frown in response, Remus yanked him into a hug, and tears sprung to his eyes almost instantly because it had been much, much longer than three years since Remus had hugged him. He returned the embrace, holding on as tight as he could, remembering how many times he’d wished he could go back and redo the last moments he had with his brother before he disappeared and deciding now was the redo. Now was the time he’d wished he had for three years, and he wouldn’t take a second of it for granted. 

“Alright, off before the crew sees me being sentimental and I have to stab someone to get their respect back.” Remus pulled away from him, but he kept his hands on Roman’s shoulders for a moment, lingering just enough to say, beneath the rush: I missed you, too. 

Roman fought a smile and jokingly swatted his hands away. “Are you sure ‘respect’ is the right word for what they have for you now?” 

“Of course,” Remus scoffed, waving away the idle crewmate at the wheel to take his place steering. He sent Roman a lofty look over his shoulder. “I’m very well-respected. I'll have you thrown overboard for suggesting otherwise.” 

“Oh, my sincerest apologies, Captain.” 

Remus grinned again, wide and utterly familiar, and finally, Roman let himself smile back. 

The sun was high in the sky above their heads, bright and brilliant and deliciously golden; as Remus turned his attention to steering, Roman went to the railing around the helm, peering into the water below and following the sunlight’s reflection on the waves, watching the little sparkles dance across the water. He’d hated ships since he was fifteen, dreaded sailing lessons and despised journeys to kingdoms across the sea, but standing here, now, he only felt himself smiling. Oddly enough, he felt at home. 

He hated ships, he decided, but the Horven was a welcome exception.

[exploring-art]

Review on Final Project

The Final Project is now complete, so its review time yet again!

Let's start off with three key things that I learnt through this

Watch your laptop's performance

Make sure you use (high performance) proxies!

Make sure to save constantly and make several copies!!

Throughout the post production of the film the programs were too heavy on my laptop, causing frequent program crashes, black and blue screens of death. With one fatal one causing the opened files to corrupt, setting me back 2 weeks right at the deadline! So make sure you keep an eye on your processes!

As mentioned in the previous blog, I decided to create a film about "sight" or specifically, what you can't see but what the camera "hears". It honestly was a lot more challenging than I thought to materialise my ideas, then having to repeat it again due to the corruption. But it was a fun challenge indeed!

Reflection

There is definitely a lot of things that I learnt from the first project, but more so in this final one. From effects, timing and blend modes, to playing with opacity, rotoscoping techniques and audio adjustments. But likewise there were aspects that I didn't realize or needed to develop more:

First was that I didn't draw enough frames again on the 16mm film. Unlike digital where I can insert more frames, since the 16mm was recorded using a Steenbeck, it made it difficult to add more frames. I did add a few more here and there by digitally editing them in Photoshop, but it just didn’t feel the same.

Second was rotoscoping. After researching and realizing that rotoscoping on Premier or Hitfilm required using the line tool and how it wasn't as versatile as I thought, I quickly searched how to import the video into an animating software and rotoscope that way. Unfortunately this was a lot more difficult than I imagined as well. I tried programs like Blender and Pencil 2D. But Pencil 2D did not support video import, and Blender was a bit confusing to use, especially in the short time I had.

My version of Photoshop was also missing the Dynamic Link so it couldn't import videos either. So I converted all the parts that I would like into an image sequence and imported them into the timeline, manually editing each frame’s time duration as the default is 7 seconds and I wanted it to be at least 0.03 seconds. My limit was rotoscoping and animating 30 seconds each day before either the day is up, or my steam runs out. Thus losing those 2 weeks meant that I needed to redo something that took me a minimum of 5 days. It also meant that since I couldn’t directly link the video content to the animation, I needed to make time markers such as the following to know how much to rotoscope:

16 sec of walking before clunk sound, then 6 seconds more before music starts

7 sec of wind

People walking 10 seconds

Horse = 3 seconds

More walking 7seconds

Bell = water

Waves 20 seconds

Listening to music and slowly sitting down

I also had to make sure that I saved it in parts not only to avoid corruption again, but to decrease the file size. Nevertheless, I learnt a lot about rotoscoping, animation and how to do that in Photoshop! Hoping to do it more for fun and casual use.

Lastly, timing. I felt like my timing for a few parts were a bit off after export, but when editing, it seemed to be aligned with the audio. I’ve tried several times but to make the deadline, I had to be quick as it takes at least an hour for the 5 minute video to render and be exported. There were a total of 6 audio tracks and 5 video tracks to care, keep an eye out for and render. Even though I was using the frame to frame hotkeys (< and >) to make sure that I was getting it in the right place, occasionally due to the proxies and lag, what I thought was in the right place turned out not to be. It became a bit of a gamble whether I layered them in the right place and paced them correctly or not!

Explanation

Sypnosis:

A blind girl goes about her daily life when she falls asleep on the bus. Only to realize that after getting off, she left her cane on the bus. Panic and anxiety start to set in until she hears a meow from a cat and starts to follow it. Calming herself down, her imagination starts to go wild as she envisions all these strange and mystical objects that appear before her based on what she hears, developing a peculiar and fun world to explore in from this unknown newfound place.

By utilizing the two different techniques, I was able to separate the two different “worlds” and perspectives. With 16mm film and 3rd person perspective as the “real world”, and digital rotoscoping/ animation and 1st person as the girl’s imaginative world.

Noises aren’t always as they seem. Similar to how foley artists use an array of different and peculiar objects to make sounds, a lot of the noises I got were used to inspire other objects. Such as the clunking of the light rails sounding a lot like chickens clucking or a boat in rough seas with its bell. The visual of the wind to represent zoning out to all the noise just like how everyone does, to buses that sound like whales as they pass by, and women running in heels to the footsteps of horses. I was also lucky to be recording when there was a band nearby playing, “giving” me the background music I needed otherwise I would’ve been stumped as to what to use. There were a few times where the transitions were a bit rough such as the movement to look at a bench and sit down, but it was a great experience. There are a few easter eggs here and there so I hope you can find them and that they were able to be expressed nicely!

I also learnt a lot about blind people and how they get by through a Youtube channel by Lucy Edwards. Learning and taking inspiration, the girl in my film travels and is notified a lot by morse code vibrations through her phone. The three messages that occur are:

Bus is coming

Searching for location

Location unknown

I was nervous at the beginning of rotoscope animations as I thought that each frame needed to have very smooth transitions, making it a very daunting task. Until I stumbled across a Youtuber named RubberRoss where he and a group of other animators would animate on a web game called Gartic Phone. It both intrigued and inspired me as though there were only a few frames and each drawn by a different person, how they were able to create a “story” with such high dynamics and flow. I quite liked the ending result of the rough effect it left which lead me to enjoy it (as not everything is smooth sailing in life).

Alas, this brings me to the end of my experimental journey for now. There are a lot of aspects to film that I learnt and there are still more to go in which I hope to check out in the future one day! There is a lot more I could develop on in my own techniques as I’ve only made two films, and even they have more things I could refine on. The final film is a bit rougher than what I imagined, but its roughish touch has quite a nice effect at the same time. One thing in particular that I could’ve changed is to see what effect would it have if I completely got rid of the original real-life film and just had the rotoscoping, possibly leaving the audience thinking more. Since they were done in Photoshop, if I would like to change that, I would have to go into Photoshop, hide that group, exporting as an image sequence, import it back into Hitfilm and then realign it back to its position. Nevertheless, I’ve had a fun journey learning a lot of interesting and unique techniques while expanding my knowledge!

Thank you for following and supporting me on this experimental film journey and hope to see you on my next art medium!

“There is no such thing as going back to square one. Even if you feel like you’re having to start over, you are trying again with more knowledge, strength and power than you had before. Your journey was never over, it was just waiting for you to find it again.”

― Unknown

(P.s animating the chickens was probably one of my favourite parts! Look at how fluffy they are~)

Fun fact:

I had a total of 1 hour of raw footage to sift through, totalling to 19GB

A total of 10 copies of the editing file

Split the rotoscoping/ animation part into 9 section after the corruption

Altogether the whole project is a whopping 50GB!!

[simtrospective]

Let me be the first to bring you the latest simming trend, before all the cool cliques kids jump on it: turning your sims into shiny plastic dolls and then “packaging” them into a framed background!

How is this achieved, you might ask? It’s so simple!

First, you must abandon your attempt at making a render after failing to apply the sim’s diffuse image to the render you’re trying to make. Make sure you stew about this. Make sure you feel like a big dummy even though you’re not really into renders anyway and you don’t connect with the pervasive simblr “aesthetic.” Which is fine, but it’s like... (not for you). Like, you like art for art’s sake but the whole thing reminds you of claymation, which is cool, but like--okay, remember “Celebrity Death Match”? Anyway, regardless, it’s just, like... you want to try something new just to see if you can do it. What’s the fuss about? You’d be happy just to try it once, just to see, but then everything just makes you feel so stup--

Then, about 24 hours after your initial failure(s) and existential spiral, locate a video tutorial that walks you through the texture application process a different way. Make lots of mistakes while following it. After approximately 25 minutes, follow it correctly! :D Nod silently. You’ve always been a visual learner. Well, visual and auditory. But more visual. So. Wait. Visual and hands-on, now that you think of it. Yes. Definitely. Definitely hands-on.

Next, start to set up your camera/lighting in Blender, once again following the written tutorial you pored over last night. Do everything wrong every time you start over (three times). When you’re not doing it wrong, do it right, but freeze, because none of the options in the screenshots you’re following can be located on your own screen. Start over. Scroll back up to the portion of the tutorial that references the last thing you did right and have your eye caught by reference to an “.obj” file. Close Blender.

Reopen Blender. Open up the last project you did correctly. Export it as an .obj file. Close Blender, then navigate to the folder in which you’ve saved your .obj file. Double click the .obj file to open it, smirking.

Paint3D pops up, and look! A weird inflatable PVC pool toy of your sim! Play around with it. Fiddle with the light. Animate it. Muse that despite this sim being the hottest male you have in your game, with many aesthetic qualities that you appreciate in real life men (mostly accidental, even though you made him!), gee, uh... he’s... kind of... u...g...l...y...?

Save your goofy little PVC person as an image, in the biggest size available.

Open the saved image file in your favorite image editing program, Photoscape X Pro, which you’re sure, like, three people have heard of. You suspect that this program is not the Pepsi to Photoshop’s Coca Cola, but is, rather, the Great Value Cola. Shake it off. You like it and that’s what counts, hmmph!, but that you like it is what makes you question its quality.

Mess around with the saved image file, adding adjustments, effects, frames, backgrounds, whatever, while simultaneously thinking that you’re stupid, what you’re doing is stupid, this is stupid, this looks stupid, this is kind of funny, this is kind of cute, actually, actually, you know what? This is so silly I’m going to post it with a dumbass, fake-ass, long tutorial that no one’s going to read but you know what? I figured out how to stick that damn texture on that model render thing and I like my screenshots and adjustments and frames and stuff and I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me that’s good enough for me.

(Sound convincing?)

Post it all. Post it all to the internet!

I did smile pretty big when that texture appeared in the right spot, but... boy, yeah, I’m out (at least until a couple months from now when I give it another try and it either all clicks or I end up dropkicking my laptop). Congratulations to all who can render; I look forward to letting the next trend pass me by. When I was at a point in my rendering project when success seemed on the horizon, I couldn’t help but think of a book title that accurately described the experience for me; I’m no David Foster Wallace fan, but even if I were to ~render a render, it all felt like A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.

[bennybentacles]

TUActober 2020: day 12- Majestic 12

(prompt by @totallyevan )

pls tell me i did the prompt correctly bc i have no recollection of the majestic 12

|...|

they are the rich and influentials, men who had way too much money and way too much time and a sinister mind.

meet John Lee Bowie, father of a MIT graduate and husband to a beautiful wife. outside of the walls of their secret society he's a congressman of Virginia, holding chess pieces and playing with people's lives. his wife doesn't care where he goes as long as the perfume doesn't cling into his expensive suit and his son couldn't care less to the politics career that he had paved for his son. he is a lonely man

Chad Anderson, a multimillionaire with houses that could house hundreds people and enough money to buy a country. below his feet are hundred thousands of employees working without even resting. in his hands are food that could feed the poor yet he kept them all to himself, kept them close and marked them up. he's a greedy man

Elliot Smith, a man who has boats that exports goods, ship food off to the foreign country but little did anyone know that the boats doesn't only carry good but kids too, all of them snatched from loving homes, all of them shipped to the unknown. he pockets the money and turns a blind eye ever though he knows what would happen to the kids he shipped off. he's a cruel man

Chad McMiller is a business man, owns buildings both in the north and in the south. he settled in Texas, sinked himself into the chaos of the ongoing fight against the discrimination and his hands throws money to the police to fund his new entertainment and he watches, amused as he sees how the fight rages on outside of his comfortable home. he's a horrible man

Timothy Black was from England, brought into America to see the world from another view but he chose to stay when he realized just how much he could manipulate naive Americans with his act. he grins and he charms and he acts in front of the camera, his eyes feigning innocence yet his hands has the most blood out of all of them, him craving the thrill that killing has bought him. he's a sadistic man.

Carl Davids, a man who rose from the bottom because of his wit. a child prodigy, he graduated at fourteen and conquered the world with his brain as his advantage and when the world stopped satisfying his curiosity, he delved into the darker side that he only heard from the hushed whispers behind closed doors. he is a curious man.

Anthony Edwards, a man who came from the influentials. he is born with a silver spoon shoved into his cruel mouth, never working even for a day in his life and wasting away while changing girls as fast as he changed clothes. his mind was long polluted with his father's influence, clouding his thoughts ever since he was younger. he wants the excitement he feels everytime he moves a chess piece in the game they call life. he's a carefree man

Steve Washington, a man with a wife and a kid and a house with white picket fences. he's what people calls a real american boy, with his blonde hair and blue eyes and the military background backing him up. he never thought he'll be here, planning how the world would go but it seems like he would and he is nothing but a soldier ready to adapt the the changes. he's a stupid man

Peter Weltz, a man who openly defied the government ever since he was young. questioning everything, wanting everything to change and he knew he had to do it himself because the world is helpless and he knows the change would only happen if he moves so he does. he's an angry man

Michael Gibbons, a man who had way too much weapon at his disposal. ready for the upcoming war that he knows is already brewing, waiting to blow over and spill towards the soil. he waits and he plans and he plants small details that would change the course of the battle, planting bombs back on Vietnam to start a war in the making. he's a terrible man

Sebastian Williams, a man with way too many contacts with the higher up, someone who knows how to twist his words and tangle into businesses and change the course of the whole room to fit into his perspective. he spoke with presidents and told them to start a war and he knows it's going to be a matter of time before it does and he waits. he's a persuasive man

Reginald Hargreeves, a man who came from nowhere and appeared one day, sweeping the nation in shock as he built a name for himself. he's calm and collected and oh so cruel to people and he knows the moment he brought this people together that he had set the course in motion, doomed the world to end one way or another. he plans and he schemes and he waits for the upcoming apocalypse. he's a smart man

and together, they are the majestic 12