#i got so much practice.... I've learned so much stuff making this it was great

[spicymancer]

Somethin I've noticed about your designs is that you've got a fair number of big boys (large, muscular, chunky etc.) but most of your female characters tend to stay pretty thin and lithe, with the biggest they get being kinda muscular.

Do you have any intention of adding some big girls to your cast?

I have a few! Though you're right, the percentage disparity is pretty telling.

To be honest, it's absolutely a weakness of my character design sensibilities, and I'm doing my best to improve. I really should draw more varied body types.

To look inward for a moment, I suspect that I'm experiencing a bit of a brain poison feedback loop. Drawing is, on one level, a leisure activity I do to have fun, and on another level a Job that do for Money. Both having fun and making money are important for surviving in the Capitalist Hellscape we all occupy.

When it comes to leisure, I obviously tend to draw inside of my comfort zone. I learned to draw by mimicking artists that I admired growing up and comic/manga art has historically not been great about body diversity. This then reinforces the feedback loop of mostly drawing one kind of face or body type. (in this case: cute anime girls) A common artistic bad-habit exemplified here in this Nozaki Kun comic.

(Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun is incredibly good and a little too real)

Combined with the fact that being less practiced at drawing outside of my comfort zone, makes these designs end up taking more work to match the quality bar I have set for my work, this in turn means that it's more of a struggle to build up those muscles and bring those characters to the point where I'm happy with their design, which then makes that sort of drawing feel discouragingly like Work. Even if it's work that's worth doing (which it absolutely is)!

On the "monetary" side, I've built my audience on the characters I find easy to draw and so many of them expect/want me to draw more of that sort of thing. And having built an audience that desires that thing, they are often less engaged by things outside of that. Not to mention the economic strain of posts that do poorly will affect how much money I make in a given month.

This isn't limited to "bigger women" but a lot of MxM stuff I draw tends to do poorly in my algorithm, discouraging me from drawing more of it even when I want to! This phenomena is probably worst for folks on Youtube who are DEEPLY punished by the algorithm for daring to make videos outside of their established niche. ("You're a videogame content creator, how DARE you have an opinion on BOOKS")

This is all to say that I am grateful for you reaching out and expressing interest in seeing more variety and it's a good reminder to expand my artistic horizons a little more. Nothing is for everybody and there's definitely sections of my lovely audience who are underserved by these absences.

For more thoughts on this sort of discussion: there's some excellent TBskyen posts on this subject.

In addition I'd like to shout out artists like @jam-etc and @lillhappycloud who draw incredibly fantastic and appealing bodies of all kinds!

I hope you'll bear with me as I work to improve while probably still drawing a lot of my Usual Stuff. I'll now leave you with a relevant Princess Bride Quote.

Best Wishes.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hi sex witch!

i've got a question about sexual education that i'm hoping you can give insight to.

my wife and i have a 6 year old daughter, and are expecting our second in a few months. now that my wife is showing, our daughter is starting to ask questions about pregnancy, what it means, how it happens, all that good stuff. i've tried googling how to explain sex, pregnancy, birth, etc to kids but many websites are more aimed at redirecting the conversation or using very 'kiddy' language.

basically, my question is this: how can i explain the basics of what pregnancy is, how it happens, what happens during/after, etc to a child this young in a way that is age appropriate but... scientific, i suppose? is there such a thing as teaching them too young?

sincerely,

a very bemused father

hi bemused father,

good for you for not wanting to bullshit your kid about this!

in regards to your question about whether or not you can teach this to a kid too young: in my opinion, no. obviously you need to take into account, you know, what information is relevant and digestible for a kid depending on their age, and recognize that there's not a need to explain the entire spectrum of human sexual desire to a six year old who's just curious about why the fuck a baby is happening in there, but I think you already knew that!

for whatever it's worth, I was younger than your daughter when my mother had her second child, and not only did getting The Talk not traumatize me, I barely even remember it happening. as I've learned in my own experiences teaching kids all about sex ed, they have a GREAT capacity to keep the stuff that's interesting to them (for example, sperm + egg = baby) and filter out the stiff that's not relevant (in most cases, literally every other part of sex).

all of which is to say: you can just tell her how pregnancy happens. I really, really believe the best way to go is always just telling kids the truth at whatever level is chill with them. if the baby was conceived the old fashioned penis-in-vagina way, it's okay to present the no-frills version of that: when people want to make a baby, a person with a penis can put the penis inside of another person's vagina. the person with a penis can leave sperm that will find an egg, and when the egg and the sperm find each other they'll mix together parts of each parent to make a brand new baby. if your baby was conceived in a slightly more complicated way, it's great to build on the lesson about sperm and eggs with some information about how doctors sometimes need to help become parents, or the kindness of sperm donors who help people make their families bigger.

all of this can be daunting to approach on your own, especially without practice, so if you want some help I recommend the book It's So Amazing by Robie Harris and Tell Me About Sex, Grandma by Anastasia Higginbotham, the latter of which will be especially helpful if your kiddo has curiosity and follow up questions about sex beyond its role as something that makes pregnancy happen.

it can be overwhelming for parents when a young child starts asking questions about sexuality, but try to remember to be positive and encouraging about her curiosity even if you don't have an answer off the top of your head! "that's a great question! I don't know the answer either, let me do some learning and I'll tell you what I find" or "that's a good question, how about I find a book and we can read about it together?" can be great ways to buy yourself a little time if you're caught off guard by a question (and it also models for your kiddo that adults don't know everything and that that's okay to acknowledge). it's much more important to make sure she doesn't feel ashamed of wanting to learn than to know all of the right answers immediately!

and remember that if you ever hit a wall and don't know how to proceed, your friendly local sex witch has got you :)

[justallihere]

Okay, I did some laundry, I've had lunch, I've breathed fresh air and taken some deep breaths (did not touch any grass because it's covered in snow), and we're back. My wrap up thoughts of Onyx Storm are below! Be warned it's chock full of spoilers, and these are all my honest opinions. I haven't even given this a rating yet because I don't really know what I want to rate it! Nothing's really in order so sorry about that. But I look forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts!

I loved that the importance of the bond between dragon and human was emphasized so heavily in this book. That Asher called Aimsir Lilith's first love, Violet telling Tairn he's the gift of her life, that even Halden knew that the true barrier to her would be the dragon bond - and especially that when Xaden channeled again, in a way that he knew would irreversibly damn him, he did it for Sgaeyl. To keep her safe, because she chose him before and above everyone else.

I adored the Riorgail of it all. They were open and honest with each other, saying I love you practically every other breath, declaring their loyalty and devotion to each other in front of anyone who would listen. I loved that we got them as a team, facing stuff together and trusting that what they couldn't the other could handle it.

On the other hand, it may just be me but they didn't quite feel like themselves. Maybe because it was the first time we've truly seen them be public about their feelings, but they didn't feel like the same Xaden and Violet from the previous two books. Xaden felt so intense that everything he said gave me anxiety, devoted to the point of obsession. I would actually call Violet morally gray here, but it came out of nowhere; there wasn't a great transition into that change in her character, none of the hesitation or guilt I'd expect.

In short, they kind of felt like my Xaden and Violet and not canon? I loved them, but I'm not sure it matches what we know of them from FW and IF and the change in character didn't feel entirely smooth.

But Xaden IS her sword!!!!

The worldbuilding was ridiculous. Violet was dropping facts left right and center like the details of the aristocracy and politics at play were common knowledge - and maybe they are in world, but if they're that obvious then I feel like those details should've been worked into earlier books. I felt like I was floundering trying to keep up with all the new names and titles and roles.

In the same vein, the lore about magic made no sense. So only the Continent has magic but why? Was it drained from other places? Does it only occur naturally in certain areas? Dragons don't have magic that exists within them - they also draw from the source which? Hello hypocrites much? That was another thing that was said so casually, but that should've been one of those things we learned in Fourth Wing, at Threshing or right after.

There was too much happening with the plot to the point that I lost it completely. The trips to the isles were overwhelming. I know the venin and the irids were tied together, but those two things competed so much that I kept forgetting about whichever one we weren't talking about. Literally just. . . forgot about the venin there for a bit in the middle. We were looking for a cure but we were looking for Andarna's kind but we were trying to stop the venin and we were also gathering allies and making trade deals and none of those points were fleshed out completely.

The ending was vague and confusing in a way that made me frustrated instead of interested or anticipatory. I read the last two chapters three times and I still don't know what the fuck was going on there. So the Sage is. . . Fen? Is Garrick the one who also turned? Bodhi? Brennan? Ridoc? Fuck if I know. I understand the point of the marriage, to give Violet control over Tyrrendor legally, but I'm also pissed at the way it happened.

I know we don't want anyone to actually die, but I literally didn't even flinch when Mira's throat got cut open because I figured she'd be fine. There were no important deaths. Trager and Quinn didn't hit that hard. Not putting any of the main characters in significant danger makes the stakes feel lower than they should.

The fan service made me roll my eyes. I get it to a certain extent, but there were several times when I legitimately kind of felt like RY had been in fandom spaces or someone on her team was just feeding her popular theories to include.

The marked ones having second signets was. . . not my favorite choice, because logistically it doesn't make much sense. We should statistically see at least one of them go mad from the power instead of developing a second signet. And I actually think if that had been included it would have been more interesting! I'd like to see the reality of the risks that were taken to make the rebellion happen, but instead they just got really really lucky a bunch of times?

The use of the word Riorgail in print sent me to the fucking moon. No.

Violet's second signet. . . I don't want to talk about it.

Actually no I do. Since when are signets based on situational need and not who a person is at their core? Was that not what we were told previously? Am I tripping? I don't mind the power itself but I am confused.

Professor Riorson had me on the ground laughing. What the hell was that. There are enough barriers to their relationship, and that one felt too forced (but great fodder for smutty fic).

The characters and their relationships are the standout of the book and the series. I already said I loved Xaden and Violet here, but I also loved their friendships and how real especially the relationship with Brennan and Mira and Violet felt. The humor and the quips and the squad's constant support of each other was wonderful.

I'm holding onto those Sloane and Dain crumbs like a teddy bear you all have no idea. I love them.

Aaric being the one with precognition I didn't see coming, but I surprisingly liked it! I loved him stepping more into his role as prince and seeing how cunning and smart he really is.

Halden was unnecessary but I live for possessive and jealous Xaden.

Overall I think the pacing was crammed and the worldbuilding left me with more questions than answers, but did I still like it? Yes! I don't think it's my favorite in the series but it still was an enjoyable read. I'll want to read it again at some point I think, but not immediately!

[theolivetree123]

So uuhhhh I've decided to ship Kira with Epel bc @moonyasnow is a genius

So enjoy their meet-cute 💙

Yapping abt these two below

So, Kira and Epel meet during Glorious Masquerade when Epel, Deuce, and Azul are getting pastries. Epel bumps into Kira and is instantly attracted to her (he sees a beautiful lady and folds on the spot). They meet again after the glomas story concludes, since Kira used to go to Noble Bell and she was visiting family there. She got an invitation from Rollo to come see her old school, and she reluctantly agreed. Her and Rollo don't have a great relationship.

At the dance at Noble Bell, Epel kept eyeing Kira, still stunned by her beauty. Rook teased him and practically forced him to talk to Kira, pushing him towards her. Their first proper meet was a bit awkward at first, but Kira kept the conversation going, and the two became friends that day. Epel and Kira had a lot in common, and practically never stopped agreeing with each other. When the party concluded, Kira gave Epel her number in hopes that they'd talk again. Epel was obviously extremely happy but also kinda nervous. He didn't contact Kira until two weeks after the events of Glomas, and when he did, Kira didn't realize it was him at first.

Once Epel and Kira started messaging each other, they could not stop. They'd always ramble to each other about so many things, and Epel would sometimes even prioritize messaging Kira rather than doing homework. The two learned more and more about each other, and Epels' crush on Kira only grew. The two only met up twice after Glomas, and during those meet-ups, Epel and Kira mainly did stuff that couples would do, making all of Epels' friends suspicious about the status of his and Kiras' relationship.

Kira absolutely adores Epel. She thinks he's one of the coolest people and admires his determination to get stronger. Though Kira thinks Epel is absolutely adorable, she's learned that Epel doesn't like being referred by feminine terms, so she always calls him things like "cool", "dapper", "charming", "handsome", and things of the sort. Kira also loves to compliment Epel, whether she means it in a romantic way or not. Kira just really admires Epel, lol.

That's it for now hehe 💙 I hope yall love these sillies as much as I do

If u guys have any ship name suggestions, share em in the comments!

Tagging moots: @scint1llat3 @jadelover69 @babyghoul138 @jovieinramshackle @screamintoad @anonymousplant @oya-oya-okay @kiyomizuki @cheerleaderman @sunnysidesevenup @prefectrose @viperbunnies @day-dr3aming @ranacr0ak

Let me know if you want/don't want to be tagged in posts like this!

[cosmerelists]

Cosmere Characters' Favorite Fast Food Restaurants

As requested by @sharks-musket :)

I've done food-related Cosmere posts in the past, such as "Rock reviews food from across the Cosmere" or "Cosmere characters review food not native to their planet" or "What Cosmere characters would order at Subway".

But for today, let's consider what characters' favorite fast food restaurants would be, if such things existed in their universe.

1. Shallan: Five Guys

I cannot possibly improve on the joke that @epicmilly has already made: https://www.tumblr.com/epicmilly/762060066847424512/could-you-do-cosmere-characters-try-fast-food?source=share

2. Marasi: Dairy Queen

Steris: I cannot believe you still eat here. Steris: Multiple people have gotten food poisoning from the food! Marasi (looking up from the Blizzard she is going to town on): They have food here?

3. Kelsier: In-N-Out

Kelsier: I'm not gonna lie. I'm a sucker for any restaurant with a secret menu. Dockson: It's straight-up published these days, though. Kelsier: Well sure. There's no point to a secret that never gets out!

4. Hrathen: In-N-Out

Hrathen: I don't know how effective it is, but I appreciate that this restaurant prints verses from its holy text onto its packaging. Hrathen: I mean, it's the wrong holy text, but... Hrathen: [looks over to where Dilaf is standing on a table, ranting loudly] Hrathen: Some people take that more personally than others.

5. Lift: Sonic

Lift: They got tons of milkshakes, which is fun. Lift: But mostly I like all the carhops who glide around all graceful like! Lift: I haven't seen even ONE scooting around on their butt! Lift: That's how you KNOW it's a stormin' quality place.

6. Adolin: Wendy's

Adolin: I support redheaded women in business! Shallan: ... Shallan: That should sound so cheesy, but somehow it works when you say it.

7. Steris: Arby's

Steris: I think more restaurants should have slogans that simply state what food they have. Steris: "I'm loving it"? Presumptuous. "Have it your way"? Yes, that is how restaurants work. "Quality is our recipe"? That is not how recipes work. Steris: But "We have the meats"? Now THAT'S a slogan that tells you something about a place! Steris: ... Steris: What do you think? That's my Arby's routine. Wax: I think it's going to be a hit at the party!

8. Lopen: Taco Bell

Lopen: Not as good as chouta, but they have their own type of wrapped meats that are pretty good! Lopen: Best eaten drunk, if we're being honest.

9. Vin: KFC

Vin: You can get a BUCKET of chicken. Vin: It's a great food to chow down on while you're sitting perched on a roof in the darkness. Elend: I love you so much.

10. Wayne: Subway

Wayne: I order my accountants to eat there at least once a week to learn their business practices. Wayne: They made their $5 sandwich $14 for no reason! Wayne: That's the kinda business sense I wanna see in my guys. Daring: Great news! Your "This Sandwich Is Overprice Don't Buy It" campaign was a huge success! Call: People thought it was hilarious. They're selling like, well, like your overpriced sandwiches (since nothing is selling better). Wayne: Harmony DAMN IT!

11. Nightblood: McDonald's

Nightblood: I like how focused this restaurant is on slaying evil! Nightblood: There's the evil clown, the evil burglar guy, the evil purple guy, the evil guy with a burger for a head... Nightblood: They really promote lots of characters that need to be slain! Szeth: ...I sometimes doubt your ability to detect evil, Sword-nimi, but in this case, I know you are correct. Nightblood: Thanks! Nightblood: Wait, what was that first part?

12. Kaladin: Burger King

Kaladin: A lot of these restaurants have weird stuff, like a "Big Mac" or a "Prezel Baconator" or a "Doritos Locos Tacos." Kaladin: I like this place because it has "fiery chicken fries." Kaladin: Spicy. Made of a recognizable animal like a chicken. Fried. Kaladin: It all makes sense. It's all clear. Syl: [making her face look like the chicken on the box] Syl: This chicken sure is angry! Kaladin: It probably didn't want to be fried.

13. Dalinar: Burger King

Dalinar: The Way of Kings changed my life, and I feel that this restaurant, The Burger of Kings, will surely do the same. Adolin (in the tones of someone saying this for the umpteenth time): It's called Burger King. Dalinar (ignoring him): Already I ponder the deep philosophical implications of "Have It Your Way," which forces one to consider how every individual person has their own "way," their own journey, and must accept it. Adolin: Yes...I'm sure that's exactly what they were going for. Dalinar (peacefully munching fries): You doubted my visions at first, too.

[snowsonlylove]

Dangerous Woman

a/n note: inspo is also from this delicious edit from topxzae on tiktok and this performance by ashley wagner. btw, i've switched my style of writing a bit and i've made it a bit more direct for i hope you don't mind + i was feeling a lil lazy so i did the sex scene in a third person pov.

Pairing: Captain!Hockey Player!Coriolanus Snow x Figure Skater!Reader

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N and Coriolanus Snow have been in an established relationship for about 5 months. Lately, things have been very stressful for Coriolanus in his job as a captain of keeping everyone in line. Today is his day off and all he wants is to spend time with his girlfriend. What started out as a sweet catch up turned a lot spicier after Y/N noticed how her boyfriend looks at her. 

Fic Type: Smut (NSFW) 18+, Established relationship, Love struck Coryo, Reader slaying it on the ice (i’m kinda imagining her as an Alexandra Trusova kinda gal so do what you want with that info)

Warnings: unprotected sex (don’t do this guys, use a condom. reader is on birth control), rough pushing, harsh, cunnilingus (female and male receiving), lmk if i missed anything else

Word Count: 1.9k

Inspo: Heavily inspired by Icebreaker (my newest obsession) and the stereotype in the skating world with hockey players looking at figure skaters when they practise (horny bf and gf edition). 

Disclaimer: Credits and the idea of this are based off Icebreaker so all credits go to Hannah Grace and her team. This is a spinoff of her idea turned into an established relationship version for Coriolanus Snow and Y/N Y/L/N.

Additional Info (ONLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE READ ICEBREAKER): In this universe, there is no rivalry. All collegiate teams share the same rink and there is a bond with the hockey and the skating team prior to this occurrence.

I do not own Coriolanus Snow or Y/N Y/L/N (cuz it’s you, boo). All credits go to Suzanne Collins and her team. Song credits also go to Ariana Grande and her team. 

Also, ageless and empty blogs will be BLOCKED as this is a 18+ fic. Report my fics for no good reason and you’re blocked cuz if u don’t like it, LEAVEEEE.

Y/N and Coriolanus have been a strong couple for about 5 months now. With all that time passing, there must be some things they have learned about each other, as well as things they have not learned about each other. Weirdly enough, Coriolanus has never seen Y/N skate because of the divide in their schedule between the hockey team and figure skating team. 

Coriolanus is the captain of the collegiate Academy hockey team, which makes the job more difficult for him because of how hard he has to strangle and wrangle a bunch of frat guys to go on the ice and play. This leads to him trying to find his teammates a lot, which means that he doesn’t have time to see his girlfriend skate because by the time he gets there, Y/N’s already packing up her stuff and giving him a kiss goodbye before leaving. This frustrates him. However, it doesn’t look like it would be much of an issue going forward.

Lately, the team has been going on a losing streak. About 3/4 of the team are either high or drunk off their ass in college parties and it’s driving Coriolanus crazy as it’s making them lose. Their coach has demanded that they stop it, Coriolanus even putting it as a ban but it’s still not making the younger hockey members realise that. As a result, Coach Highbottom and Coriolanus have made a decision to make them sit on the bench and think about their actions, which works great for Coriolanus since it creates a window of space in which he can get more alone time and even show up earlier to watch his girlfriend practice.

Today was the day in which Coriolanus got his free time, so he chose to watch his girlfriend train for her test skates after getting them a small box of cronuts and a coffee for both him and girlfriend as a little date after her practice before she has to go back to her dorm to study.

Coriolanus strolled into the ice rink as if he owned it that day, confident in his strides as he didn’t show his excitement in seeing his girlfriend practice in fear of people seeing how weak he was for his girlfriend. As he walked to the stands by the rink, he saw his girlfriend glide across the rink as she stretched her hands in the most delicate way possible while practising her program with her coach looking at her intensely from the stands.

“More, Y/N! More!” “Straighten the back of the knee!” “Smile!” “Don’t be so sloppy!” Coach Gaul screamed from the side of the ice rink as Y/N glided past her to do her quad before doing her triple axel flawlessly. Coriolanus sat on the edge of the stand, looking at his girlfriend almost as if he was observing her before he suddenly heard a bunch of little giggles and laughs beside him as he turned to look at the bunch of junior girls who stopped their off-ice stretching to look at his girlfriend practising her program.

“She’s so pretty..” “Literally, how does she do that?” “Oh my god, her boyfriend is so hot, someone get me a hockey boyfriend please” “I wonder how big his d-” “Oh my god, Sasha! Don’t say that!” The girls whispered amongst each other as they giggled as if they were girls from middle school. Coriolanus smirked as he pretended to cough, making all the girls look at him horrified that they realised that he heard their conversation. They all walk away with their heads down as Coach Gaul’s assistant calls the girls to start their warm-ups on the ice, making Coriolanus smirk even harder.

Coriolanus walks towards the side of the rink as he puts his hands in the pocket of his sweatpants as he watches his girlfriend converse with her coach, waiting for feedback while he stands there, entranced by her beauty. As she glides back on the ice, Coriolanus feels himself getting hard as he watches her practise her routine with her hands behind her back, making his mind go crazy with the possibility of the things they could do. Mind you, by this point they’ve hooked up quite a few times.

As Y/N comes towards the end of her routine, she finally notices her boyfriend as she gives him a small wave before doing her final moves, her coach clapping on the side of the rink. “Good job, Y/N. There are some technical things we need to work on but you’ve improved. Now, go take your leave.” Y/N nods as she bids her coach goodbye before running towards her boyfriend and tackling him with a bone-crushing hug, her boyfriend hugging her back just as hard as she squeals, “I can't believe you’re here! I thought you were on an off-day with the guys today!” 

Coriolanus chuckles in a distracted way as he chides while stroking her hair, “Yeah, that’s true but the one thing I didn’t tell you was that I actually wanted to watch my darling skate today. How are you, sweetheart? Anything hurting? I brought us some donuts and coffee for breakfast?” Y/N groaned as she looked up at her boyfriend with a grateful smile, “You didn’t need to get me anything, love. I know you’ve been busy lately.. You know I’m all fine, right? I’m not a broken doll” She jokes as she raises her eyebrow, making her boyfriend smirk as he leaned down to give his girlfriend a peck on her lips before saying, “I know that, baby. But I was thinking we can do a little something as a treat for you doing so well in your practice so far.” He said in a dazed tone as he took a glance at her ass before giving it a slap, making Y/N glare at him from her current stance. Coriolanus’s dick got harder after hearing her groan as it reminded him of the several intimate interactions that he had with his girlfriend. Little did he know, Y/N saw his aching dick right as she came up to him, making the situation much more interesting as she noticed how he looked at her. Knowing how hard he’s been working, she wanted to give him a chance to relax after a long week of training. 

The tension between them got a little more heated after that slap as both Y/N’s and Coriolanus’s looked at each other in a much more sensual way, their eyes having a particular sheen over it before a cough from Y/N disrupted the moment. “Okay, then. Let me get my stuff from the locker. I’ll see you later, captain…” Y/N said as she turned around and walked away, her hips swaying just a bit more to tempt her boyfriend into joining her in the locker. Coriolanus immediately took notice of this as he followed her, Y/N stopping at one point to grab his hand and interlock his fingers with hers as they made their way to the locker. 

Thankfully, no one was in the locker by that time as all the skaters were on the rink preparing to start practising their programs. Y/N closed the door behind her as Coriolanus pinned her towards her door as he wrapped his hands in her hair and kissed her while her hands pressed up against his chest as she smiled into the kiss. Wet, squelching sounds echoed around the room as their tongues moulded against each other in perfect sequence as if they were made for each other. As they made out, they peeled off each other’s clothes slowly as they were wrapped up in this bubble where they were the only ones there and no one else existed.

By the time they pulled away from each other, they were both down to their underwear. Coriolanus crouched down as he peeled Y/N’s lacy red panties off her as licked a line up her slit, tasting the sweet nectar hidden under her skate wear as he hummed in satisfaction before sucking on her clit, making Y/N see stars as her moans echoed around the room. Y/N reached down to cradle her boyfriend’s head as he worked her up to a beautiful, soul-capturing orgasm, making her heave big sighs while coming down her high. 

Y/N and Coriolanus gave each other a deep kiss as she tasted herself on his tongue before it was her turn to kneel down and give his aching hardness the love that it deserves. She kissed her way down his abs as she pulled down his boxers, revealing his aching, hard dick leaking with pre-cum in all its glory. The veins were clearly invisible as Y/N hummed in satisfaction before she licked the tip of his dick, savouring the taste of his pre-cum as she moaned. She continued this a few times before she went deeper and deeper until her throat reached the base of his cock, making Coriolanus groan with great pleasure as she gagged occasionally and started to work him into an orgasm by pulling her head in and out of his dick in a once slow motion before building up her speed in a way she knew her boyfriend liked.

“Ugh, so good, baby… Keep doing that, you’re gonna make me cum, sweetheart.” Coriolanus groaned as he wrapped his hand around a bunch of her hair as he guided her in and out of his dick. His groans and her moans echoed around the room as the atmosphere got dirtier before Coriolanus pushed her head closer than it’s ever been before he came with one final groan, making Y/N moan even louder at seeing his satisfaction in her efforts to please him.

As Coriolanus came down from his orgasm, Y/N pulled her mouth off him as she wiped her mouth clean of her saliva before jutting out her tongue, letting him see that she swallowed it all before she laughed a little at her boyfriend’s dark glance at her. Coriolanus’s head turned around to the side as his groan this time was animalistic as he grabbed his girlfriend from her place on her knees before him and smashed his lips with her before he turned her around and pushed her towards the door before shoving his now hard length into her in one thrust. 

Both Y/N and Coriolanus let out a groan as they wrapped their arms around each other as he pushed his dick in and out of her pussy as her ass bounced back towards his dick with her force. The room now echoed with the sound of skin slapping around it, along with her louder moans and his harsher groans as he turned her face to the side before capturing her lips in another searing kiss as they both come with him holding her tits in his hands and bringing her as close to him as possible.

Y/N and Coriolanus breathed heavily as they came down from their euphoric orgasm. Coriolanus cradled Y/N’s face as he leaned in and captured her lips in little kisses as he checked over her to see if she was okay. After making sure she was okay, he grabbed a bunch of tissue paper as he cleaned them up before he helped her pack up her skating luggage before they opened the door and left the rink wrapped up in each other’s love. Little did they know, both Coach Gaul and her assistant were staring at them appalled as they overheard them while going to the bathroom a while ago. 

[starrythroat]

hello! i've been following you for a while now and let me just say, your art is absolutely amazing. i especially love the way you draw bodies! could you give us some advices of how to improve anatomy skills?

Hello, thank you so much!

I struggle with anatomy very much and I have too little discipline to do studies often, so I'm implementing anatomy studies into my drawing process in the way the challenge is both not too great and not too low

For example If I feel too challenged by perspective and don't want to get too much stress I use dolls (these are inside csp), but instead of tracing them I make anatomy sketch on top in places i don't understand using variety of references to better understand what is happening (and in places I think understand I often just change some things):

But when I feel like It I try to assemble everything from the ground by myself, starting with boxes (or other primitive volumes, there are many different methods and i like trying new ones) in perspective

I cannot do anything regarding anatomy\figure drawing without perspective, I need at least to have horizon line (camera eye level, everything below line is something you look down on, everything above is something you look up to

When dolls (handmade or csp ones) are placed, i go for the references. For me learning bones and muscles is very hard, so I do it again and again and again and use it in practice. Here I recommend:

proko free anatomy course

anatomy-related videos of Mark Brunet

book "anatomy for sculptors"

book "anatomy for artists, drawing form and pose" by tomfoxdraws

making board on pinterest with muscles and bones and stuff

Main idea i got from anatomy struggle is that this stuff is hard, human body is hard, and If I want to draw here and now I need to realize my weaknesses here and work hard enough without loosing fun, because If I to lose fun I won't be making progress at all

Anatomy is hard subject but not in the scary way but like - I believe you need learn and practice (retrieving stuff from memory is important when you've learned it!!) same stuff many times to get something in your head. I'm still very bad at it and I don't remember most of the muscles although i look at them almost every day, but Im better than I was before and my shapes are looking better too

[littleplantfreak]

Bofurin Parent Hcs 1

It's no surprise Nirei is a doting father. What is a surprise, is how into planning his daughter's birthday parties he is. From the moment she could pick out her own stuff, he's been keeping track of her likes and dislikes. He's also incredibly serious about participation. Even Sakura can't get away without wearing a tiara at the four year old's Princess themed birthday party, complete with live ponies and adorably mismatched tea sets. He's just as serious about his former bofurin member's children's preferences though, making him the perfect person to go to for gift ideas for any occasion. His intel usually comes from overhearing stuff during play dates and even his own children who've learned retaining information like that has its perks.

⏜︵⏜︵⏜ ୨ ♡ ୧ ⏜︵⏜︵⏜

Umemiya loves to sing, hum, whistle - you name it. Whether he's good is another question. Regardless, he's been singing to his kids since they were in the womb (or at least since they were adopted depending on the preference.) He has his toddlers singing in the car with him, their tiny hands waving to the music as they babble. He's the loudest at every birthday, belting out half decent notes as his kids giggle. When they get older and practice for a play, guess who's reading lines and dueting everything? You got it, this guy. Also voted most likely to do the craziest/messiest crafts and activities with his kids. He has no fear of the clean up. Sticky fingers? He's unfazed. There was a line drawn at one point that scissors had to be handled by adults only though, Umemiya's sudden bald spot on the back of his head making Kotoha nearly pass out laughing.

⏜︵⏜︵⏜ ୨ ♡ ୧ ⏜︵⏜︵⏜

As I've said before, Kaji is a bit...protective with his kids. His child has a crush? He's got eyes and ears on the ground seeing what's up about this kid. One of those dads that hates new partners his kids bring home and doesn't do a thing to hide it. By the time he's older, he's pretty much kicked the lollipop habit to only needing them 50% of the time. Once his toddlers start asking for them, he buys the sugar-free kids kind, not wanting to give them cavities. Will eat the flavors his kids don't like, especially if they hand it to him. Hiragi's Kaji's chosen godfather and for good reason. When his teenagers get in a fight with their father, they go to Uncle Hiragi for advice, knowing he won't judge them and equally gives them perspective. Little do they know Kaji called him about the same thing a few hours before.

⏜︵⏜︵⏜ ୨ ♡ ୧ ⏜︵⏜︵⏜

For some reason I think Tsugeura would be a great girl dad. He embraces however girly they want to be while also letting them practice shoulderlock tackles on their stuffed animals. His kids end up having his confidence and persistence, making quite the whirlwind when they're all together. One of those you-can-hear-them-before-you-see-them families. This guy definitely ends up coaching at least one children's sports team - not even necessarily wrestling. Suo shudders to think the day might come where his child wants to play on the soccer team Tsuge coaches if only because he'll be forced to talk to Tsuge at least twice a week for hours at a time but really the team ends up being a great social and physical activity. He has a bad habit of tearing up when a kid gets so much as a scratch or bruise during games/matches though.

[crow-quilll]

Hello :) i really like ur writing style and wanted to know your writing tips!

Like, how do you get a clean and nice pace? Or how to write intense scenes? Or what words to choose? Etc

I thank you graciously for sharing your works 🙏🙏

HELLO SLEEPY!! I meant to respond to this way earlier but stuff got in the way -- however I have arrived!!

Let's dig in:

In terms of pacing, it is always helpful to have a clear outline of every event that will happen - I write all of mine in a notes app, write down each key event and how the chapter will progress. I think that way I get a good idea of what sections should be longer, which are more important and need more detail, and which should be intentionally fast to amp up pressure. Ofc it depends on what you're writing! I've always written these sorts of angsty hurt/comfort fics, so I've just had a lot of practice with them. I can assure you that I'd struggle with a slow pace slice-of-life au in any fandom.

Writing intense scenes mostly comes with practice, I've had 10 long years of experience haha! But there are some things that I've learned to do for those scenes:

Positioning is important, set it up early. You want your readers to know exactly where your characters are so they aren't confused which will slow down how they read the scene. You want them following the speed of the scene you've set.

Shortening your sentences and descriptions will make your scene more intense because your reader feels like they are struggling to keep up with it. It also makes them predict a breaking point - a point in the sentence structure where it reaches a limit and either stops completely or slows back down. So they hang on to every word, waiting for that drop.

Metaphors and imagery are great for describing emotional or physical pain - but I try not to overdo it, especially in "Nobody's Soldier" when those scenes are pretty lengthy. I try to keep those scenes feeling intense and quick because the stakes are supposed to feel high for Gi-hun - and by extension, for the readers.

As for word choice, that really depends on your style and where you find your inspiration from! Like I said, I've primarily written hurt/comfort and whump fics, so my style developed to be very physical: I always think about the facial expressions of the characters, the way their body reacts to stimuli, where they are standing and how they stand, etc. That comes from working on how to describe reactions to pain, and they always tell you to show it instead of telling it: "he winced/he flinched" rather than "it hurt him".

A lot of my style just comes from the things I take inspiration from. Funnily enough, I don't read fics or books for fun because I read so much for university in my history/english program. So I find my inspiration in the historical sources and literature I read. I think a good example I can give is from a poem by Wilfred Owen, an English poet who fought in WWI, called Dulce et Decorum est, which uses very visceral language (ie. "His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;/ If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs..."). I'm sure you can some similarity between his descriptions and my own -- albeit, mine are far less sophisticated than his. But I still try to emulate how grotesquely he describes the human body, as well as the sharp rhythm of certain lines like "sick of sin." ANYWAYS thats enough university talk that i'm sure sounds boring haha. I also find inspiration in video games, in TV shows, in everything. The world around us is composed of sentences waiting to be written, you just have to look for them and put pen to paper :))

One last tip I can give is to just write what you enjoy! I know ao3 can be disheartening if your work doesn't get a lot of love, but honestly as long as you are having fun, it is well worth it. I have written for dead fandoms in the past - and in fact, I have more often written for dead fandoms than for popular ones. I'm somehow always late to the party, except this time ofc with Squid Game.

Anyways, I think that is all I have for now!! If you have any further questions, please ask away. I'm so flattered to have been asked about something like this, thank you to coming for me and reading what I write <3 <3

[candiid-caniine]

Hey! Long time no see, i know i said id send you a fantasy i thought you'd like but now ive forgotten almost all of it, oop!

Life happened, and uh, i saw that you mentioned your libido being a bit low, which definitely is my case too (im recovering from depression, now that im okay id love to get my FULL libido back, or at least a good percentage of it) do you have any tips on that?

Also any recs of blogs writing in the same vibe as you? (same-ish kinks would be nice but im specifically looking for queer inclusive stuff!) it makes me 10x hornier than the regular video/photo porn!

Hope you're well, you pathetic little thing!

💫

hi friend!! ugh i feel you. sorry i haven't got any advice on regaining ur libido...we just let mine wax and wane as it will, though denial has been a big help in keeping it steady!

i've heard good things abt ginseng and some other herbs. obvs use at your own risk, mind that some herbal treatments can cross-interact with certain medications, remember that pre-packaged supplement pills are often unregulated and may contain toxins, and be aware that some herbal remedies work better on pw certain anatomy than others, and finally that many herbal remedies considered to increase libido are largely untested on trans folx!

finally, sorry it's taken so long to answer this ask...i'm autistic and have been cataloguing lol. i present to you a list of other blog recs under the cut, organized by general vibe! i've tried to primarily include blogs that do their own posts rather than those who primarily reblog :)

note that my headings may provide some context as to what to expect, but you read at your own risk and each blog will typically have its own trigger warnings addressed in the header/pinned. additionally, i've not tagged some of the ppl below because they prefer that "Men DNI" blogs not interact, and idk if "no cis men" qualifies ahah!

all blogs below are queer- and/or trans-inclusive, if not exclusive! there is no detrans/misgendering, at least I don't think - i don't tend to follow those blogs.

hard kinks (blood, knives, etc; includes primarily-cnc blogs):

@puppy-mommy , who also does general t4t kink content, but does state untagged hard kinks!

@visciousest is someone whose blog i scroll when i'm in a Certain Mood ahah,, i won't elaborate

@hell-hound-bites: just. fuck. would drool on his knife blade.

@snuff-fag: its username should give you fair warning as to how wild its content tends to get, so please browse responsibly.

@condor-bait is taking a break right now, and all my love is with him as he takes care of himself. he made me feel so valid and so fuckable as a young trans person learning to love myself in a new way, and i've always been too shy to tell him how much his content meant to me one-on-one (yes, despite its often-extreme themes!), and he deserves as much time as he needs to heal!

@unwillingfvckpuppy for mostly cnc and medical kinks! if you like his style, but not so much their harder content, he also has a more-tame main blog--i just mainly follow/scroll this one!

@vampvictim: top-tier cnc/intox stuff, plus some great knife/bloodplay :)

@cryptidtid is wonderful and holy shit i follow a lot of hard kink blogs lol. incredible

@cnc-pet: i have been following her for a long ass fucking time lol. they post a lot of really good cnc and stories, but you'll also find a lot of aftercare tips and advice on her blog! i really admire blogs who try to balance horny content with best practices

@dollobotomy

general kinky content:

@excessively-queer . just plain old good shit :) there's a good amt of edging and degradation.

@clouded-king was honestly one of my earlier introductions to the queer/t4t kink community on here and how fucking euphoric it can be :) he posts some hard kinks, but generally it's a balance of a lot of different kinks so read his pinned at your leisure!

@ / cottontailx : just good kinky nsft posts :)

@ / digitalpenetration: often specifically t4t which i love!!

@femmelovefemme can step on me :)

@bigothteddies: could not build this section w/o mentioning him :) they had a big influence on my fantasies for a long time!

@hazelj-xoxo: bigtime want her to cuck me. have followed her across multiple blog deletions lol

@transpidered is forever an icon!

@subspaceemo

@writefinch for great stories and text posts

edging and denial, specifically:

@6irlpet is 1 of my go-to hands-down-pants scroll sessions :)

@droolkink is my inspiration!

@flustersluts does exactly what the name implies lol. a good helping of other kink content too :)

@puppycvnt is a 10/10!

@barkwoofbarkwoofbark: we r denial friends imo!!

@strawbrrysub

@blyssful-abyss

@urhighnessbitch is a big fav <3

non-detrans genderplay:

@butchviolence does amazing butch supremacy stuff and i,,, fucking hell. even just seeing their username puts me in a Particular state of mind ahah. they also post hard kinks so be aware as you proceed!

@mtfdomme: i literally just reblogged from her today lol. tbh i want to be their little stupid pupthing. it's not all transfem supremacy undertones/overtones, but that's what i mainly follow her for, plus just general t4t goodness! also, their general personality? and the way she shuts down people who disrespect their boundaries? huge inspiration for me!

@cuntboydestroyer: take me to the animal shelter and neuter me. good lord.

@the-kind-of-dame is the main inspiration for my recent genderplay post lol

@terfbreaking-tgirl (be warned of dykebreaking if that's an issue for you)

@barbarian-lesbian is my other inspiration for the recent genderplay post

@superiorineveryway

weird asf (/complimentary; my favorite type of shit. robots, ND-focused posts, etc):

@specksizedgoddess has introduced me to things i didn't know, like...existed, and that's saying a lot as one of my special interests is kink! never knew how down bad i was to be a tiny buggirl, nor how much i wanted to be someone's stupid little robot... BIG tw tho: there is snuff and gore content here, so proceed with caution if you don't wanna see that!

@sapphling fucked me up real good with some bird!sub bondage posts awhile back lol

@nobelisha: found them through their ghost cnc post so that's why they're in this category ahah! they don't have a pinned so proceed w awareness :)

@devout-cleric: hierophilia/religion kink, and i'm something of an acolyte of hers :) if you've read this far down you may as well know i'm her Little Lamb anon lol

piss/omo:

@latenightomo

@pissheartmybeloved - their URL makes me crack up every time, plus good content!

@hold-it-a-little-longer - good scenarios/imagines!

@ohmyrashi - (i think) my original intro to omo!

monsterfucking/terato:

@septimus-moonlight was my first real introduction to trans-positive terato and i've never settled for half-fun cis-oriented terato ever since :) mind tags!

@eggedbellies as well!

@bredpun doesn't appear to be active lately but still good for a scroll!

@steamandcream

@of-mutts-and-men

[lotus--pond]

you said ask about your oc's....so PLS TELL ME UR FAV OC'S LOREEEEE (I love hearing about people's ocs TvT)

OH MY GOD HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE

insert the: 'you're asking me about my theories? I've waited YEARS FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ME ABOUT MY THEORIES. hold on, I made a model!!!" audio from She-ra

So technically I have two blorbos, but they're twins and its impossible to tell one's story without the others so yeah (I'll mainly be talking about one of them but)

meet Cassiopeia(she/her) and Calcifer(any) :3 (yes his name is a howl's moving castle ref) (art courtesy of my friend who isn't on tumblr)

So basically as kids they were acrobats in the circus as a big family act with their parents and eight sisters, Carsyn(carsie), Cataleyah (catalie), Camelia (cammie), Carlota(carlie), Catalina (cattie, pronounced like patty), Cambria(cambrie), Candaria (candie), and Coliana (collie, pronounced like goalie). They all looked very similar, but cas n cal were the only ones of their siblings with vitiligo. (fun design fact that my friend came up with when he was drawing them and I said yeah I'll incorporate that into my belief system, their vitiligo markings on their faces are in a bit of a ying-yang shape:) ) (yes I know this is practically impossible but you gotta work with me here this is fictional) They all had very long hair, like down past the waist kinda length.

Everything was great they loved their family and they did acrobatics and trapeze stuff n shit v nice. I mean yeah some people were really weird about them and their also very young sisters but other than that we were good. the two both learned to play the piano and sing (cal's singing voice sounds like Rio Romeo in my head) as an additional act and everything was great!

and then the circus burned down and killed the rest of their family- there was no malicious intent behind the fire, just a regular run of the mill fire. but, they were all running and trying to get out when Cal got trapped underneath a falling piece of rubble or something. Cas turned back to go help them, separating the two from the rest of their family. She managed to get them out and they got out of the giant circus tent, their family however, did not. Cal retained burn scars basically from their back down to their calves, and Cas has them going from her hands to about her elbows (you can see them kinda in the drawing but she has gloves on)

another thing about these two is they belong to a much larger story that my friend is writing about a cult (basically they sent a google form out to me and a bunch of our friends and we filled out like background, appearance, and personality stuff for the characters) and this is how they got recruited. One of the recruiters for the cult(another thing they had us do was choose a role for each character, like what they do in the cult) found them and the two of them having no where else to go and being incredibly emotionally vulnerable 17 year olds, they accepted and went with.

They're at the cult and things get a bit blurry from there in terms of what they do. They take on the roles of maids and they mostly keep to themselves, even Cassie's usually bright and friendly demeanor dulled quite a bit. Cal was more sociable than he is now, but he was more introverted than his sister. Cal also developed some anger issues and Cas developed lots of anxiety unfortunately.

The two of them are very sneaky and make very little noise and sneak up on people very unintentionally. They like stretching their muscles by parkouring about whatever area the cult is currently is. one of the cults council members (the cult has a council of three that make decisions for the group), Donna (one of my other blorbos) finds out and decides that she can use this to her advantage, you see, Donna is a woman in a male dominated field, and by that I mean to say she's a manipulator. She thrives on knowing people's secrets and if they're dissenting. So she takes the two underneath her wing and basically enlists them as spies.

Cas n Cal got nothing better to do, so they do and they look around. And something something happens where they're snooping around and aren't as careful as they could be because Cas has lost some kind of jewelry that belonged to their family and she's PANICKING and Cal goes to the most notorious's thief in the cult's room and is basically tearing it apart looking for the jewelry, and sure enough, they find it. Later, said thief is yelling because someone clearly went through her room.

Cas is still panicking and Cal is like idgaf you took my sister's jewelry but they're not gonna admit that and blow the whole spy secret, but all the sudden, Donna shows up! She starts yelling back at the thief and tells them they have no right to accuse anyone of stealing (Donna and the thief already have beef its a long story). She pulls the twins aside and is basically like hey y'all. so maybe be a bit more careful, but I'm not mad at y'all.

Donna basically takes them in as her younger siblings because she has sibling related issues and the twins are desperately missing their older sisters so yeah.

But anyway onto QUEERS

so there's this guy. he's also my blorbo, long and short of it is. Emmett (he/him) wannabe detective, in reality he's a coffee addicted sleep deprived paranoid conspiracy theorist. And somehow Cal finds that attractive. Emmie finds out about Cal and Cas's snooping and asks them if they can also give him some info about people if he asked. They agreed because they were smitten, but under some conditions of who and what they would tell him about.

lots of stuff happens, one night they're drinking and Emmett gets mad at Cal for some reason (I say as if I haven't written out the scene in great detail) and basically says they think he's pathetic and how he doesn't need their pity and that they're treating him like a charity case and overall being a drunk asshole

Cal is also drunk and does a lil but of a slam him into the wall bit but not in a sexy way in a "you piece of horse-shit" kinda way.

excerpt from when I wrote the scene :P

"

“Don’t you dare speak to me that way.” Callie interrupted, standing up from their seat and walking around the desk until they were face to face with Emmett. “I cannot believe that you are so catastrophically in your own way that you decide to sabotage yourself every chance you get.”

They took a step forward, Emmett taking one back in turn. “And you NEVER, I mean never, get to speak to me about why I’m here because I know exactly the only reason you want me here” It had never been so apparent to Emmett how much Calcifer towered over him.

“I have ulterior motives? I don’t have to be a genius to remember how you only gained an interest in me when I told you I could get you information. I realized it in the moment, but apparently I am a bit of a fool because I brushed it off like… like an idiot. And a desperate one at that!” “I was so starved for any type of attention that the second you even hinted that you gave a single shit about me I jumped at it like a damn dog.” It only took a few more steps for Emmett’s back to hit the wall with a sharp intake of breath. There was a vague look of panic in his eyes as they only kept on speaking.

“So yes, maybe I am a desperate, delusional idiot, but you know what you are? You are a self-absorbed, cruel, unfeeling, son of a b*tch.” Emmett seemed to be trying to look anywhere but Calcifer as they laid into him."

" so yeah I broke my gays a little bit (but I'm very proud of how I wrote the whole thing)

but yeah anywhoosies they proceed to call him selfish and self-absorbed and tell him they can't believe they ever even considered having feelings for him and then they realized they basically just told him they have feelings for him and decide. welp. guess that's my cue to go.

he tries to get them to stay but they basically tell him to go fuck himself and slam the door. he curls up on the ground and has a breakdown, Cassie finds Cal outside vomiting into the bushes and they tell her what happened and she tells them to give him a chance. They don't answer her but then they go to bed

and I don't have it written yet but eventually they do apologize and make up and now they're a thing but for a lil while there the queers were struggling.

they are also both dating this other person (polyamory win) like a year later named River(she/him) another one of my blorbos. long and short of her is that she's a cowboy thief who had to flee to Canada (forgot to mention this is 1950s Canada but also if there are any inaccuracies no there aren't leave me alone <3 ) after a heist gone wrong

and all three of them are together and I think their dynamic is very black cat (Cal) golden retriever (River) chihuahua (Emmie)

but yeah these are my blorbos! I spent like a day writing this so yeah hope you like em

[stargazer-sims]

After School

Ben: And... done! Now my number's in your phone. I put it as 'Plant World' since you're always calling me that.

Caroline: You could've put it as your name, but that's actually so cute. Now I'm not going to change it.

Ben: Really?

Caroline: Yeah. Are you going to put me in your phone as 'Aquatic Club'?

Ben: What else do you think I'd put? I mean, other than your name.

Caroline: I like it. It's very secret agent-y.

Ben: Except it's kinda obvious, though?

Caroline: Come on! Don't ruin my fantasy.

Ben: *laughing*

Caroline: Okay. Let me just send you a text to make sure it works.

Ben: Got it! And... I can't read it.

Caroline: What?

Ben: I, uh... can't read Japanese, Caroline. I can't even speak it all that great, to be honest. You know I'm the third generation of my family to be in Canada, right? Like, I've never even been to Japan or anything.

Caroline: You don't speak Japanese at home?

Ben: Only with my grandparents. Mom and Dad prefer English. Do you speak Japanese at home?

Caroline: Yeah, I almost always do with Yuri, and sometimes with Victor. Yuri taught me to read and write. He helped Victor learn a long time ago too, and Victor still likes to practice with me.

Ben: That's actually pretty cool. Sometimes I wish somebody in my family would've taught me.

Caroline: I could help you. It could be kind of like a secret code.

Ben: Well, sort of secret. I mean, we're not the only Japanese-Canadians at school.

Caroline: You mean the Abbottsfords? They're only half Japanese, you know.

Ben: Do you... did you ever speak Japanese with Forest?

Caroline: Not since we were really little and I didn't know much English yet. Forest prefers English. I think they all do.

Ben: So, if we speak Japanese to each other, that'd be like... kinda special?

Caroline: Yeah. It could be our thing.

Ben: I'd like it if we had a thing.

Caroline: So, decision made.

Ben: Yeah, definitely.

Caroline: You know what? I really like how easy it is to decide stuff with you. It's nice to be around somebody who knows what they want and can just say it.

Ben: You like that? So... does that mean I can say something else I really want?

Caroline: Sure.

Ben: I really want you to be my date for the Harvest Dance. Sorry I was weird about it yesterday, but it was kinda awkward trying to ask you with one of your dads there.

Caroline: It's okay. I get it.

Ben: So, do you want to?

Caroline: Go to the dance with you? Yes, I totally want to, and maybe in the meantime we could go on a regular date? Like, go to a movie or go bowling or something?

Ben: Yeah, I'd love to do that.

Caroline: Awesome! Are you going to walk me to and from school tomorrow?

Ben: Absolutely.

Caroline: See you tomorrow, Plant World.

Ben: You got it, Aquatic Club.

[zzthekaiju]

Best of the Reptiles in Media - 02 - Heart

Here we are again taking a look at some of my favorite scaly heroes. And this time, we go to the realm of animation. That golden frontier where anything is possible.

A lot of people have asked me what my favorite animated film is. And ever since 2016, I've had the definitive answer. It's a film from Japan staring who might be one of my favorite animated protagonists of all time. One that I wish was recognized by way more people than just the cult following his movie got.

You could say that this character...has a special place in my Heart.

And yes, that is his name. You'll learn to appreciate it.

Omae Umasou da na (You are Umasou) (2010) is an anime adaptation of a series of children's books revolving around a belligerent Tyrannosaurus Rex who ends up adopting a baby Ankylosaurus, with all the mishaps that implies. I'll admit, when I heard about this film for the first time, I wasn't sure what to think. Surely, this free film uploaded to Youtube wouldn't possibly--

It proceeded to rewrite my brain chemistry forever. It really is a great film. It's beautiful to look at, the animation is really action-packed and cute at the same time, it's got a gripping story (which I'll get into), and above all, it's main character is a martial arts-practicing Godzilla-looking T-Rex who engages in interspecies adoption. WHAT MORE COULD I HAVE ASKED FOR?!

But enough beating around the bush, why is Heart so compelling to me?

Let's start with an introduction. Heart is a Tyrannosaurus Rex from a prehistoric world whose lost egg winds up found and adopted by a kindly Maiasaura. Unfortunately, a carefree life of fun and peace with his mom and half-brother Light is brought to an end when he discovers his true nature as a "Big Jaw" (as in, carnivore). After running away out of fear of what he might do to his family, he grows up hardening both his soul and his combat skills so that he may survive the unforgiving badlands outside of the forest he grew up in (complete with training montage).

Then, as if life wasn't done throwing him curve balls, Heart is imprinted upon by a little baby Ankylosaurus he was just about to eat (complete with calling him the Japanese word for delicious, hence the name). Soon, Heart is caught between going with his true nature or taking a few cues from his own adoptive mother...

Design-wise, Heart isn't winning any accuracy contests, but then again, no creature here is. And it hardly matters, either. This dino manages to find a great balance between looking like the kind of character I'd want a plushie of (seriously, why haven't we gotten on to that) and one that conveys great ferocity and coolness. A major part of how that's conveyed is his expressions. This guy is a GOLDMINE of reaction faces for almost every occasion. So much so that, long ago on my Instagram page, I posted a compilation of faces that either cracked me up or just showed his facial range in general.

What's your favorite? Let me know in the notes/reblogs!

Anyway, then there's when he fights. And MAN, does it go hard! Heart doesn't exactly wear kiddie gloves when he's put in a combat situation, utilizing heavy kicks and deceptive agility as his opponents barely keep pace. We see him go up against sauropods and other Big Jaws, and really, I just need to show you these GIFs to sum up what it's like.

But that's not where Heart truly shines. It's his role in the narrative. You see, in most dino media aimed towards younger audiences, the big mean carnivore is the villain. This was most prevalent in works like The Land Before Time with Sharptooth, and the Carnotaurs from Disney's Dinosaur (both of which were the stuff of nightmares for little dino nerds like me). Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Giant theropod dinosaurs are indeed scary, so of course they make for good villains. But then you consider that most of these predators aren't hunting our adorable plant-munching protags because they're evil. It's just in their nature as predators. What are they gonna do? Go vegan?

And that's the troublesome crossroads Heart finds himself at. You could say this film offers a deconstruction of the "vicious meat-eating dinosaur" archetype. The Anti-Sharptooth, if you will. We're obviously meant to root for him because he's the protagonist and an altogether pleasant guy, but at the same time, both herbivore and carnivore are fully-sapient beings here, and Heart must feed.

The film does NOT restrain from showing him hunt down his prey, but it has the intelligence to show that this is not malice or even pleasure, it's simple survival instinct. He is a huge shade of grey in what would otherwise be a very black-and-white scenario in any other film. And it gets even harder for Heart when Umasou enters the picture.

For the record, almost all of Heart and Umasou's interactions are the definition of adorable. Little Umasou is such a little ball of sunshine both inside and out, and poor Heart just doesn't have the...well, heart...to either eat or abandon him. Seeing his exasperation while keeping him safe while also training him in the ways of fighting like an anime protagonist (complete with training montage) is all kinds of endearing and a testament to Heart's strength of character. Of course, it leads to the inevitable point where he has to let him go...but unlike the source material, it doesn't take. Umasou knows that he and his adoptive dad are as different as can be, but he doesn't care. He's his family, and vice versa, something Heart comes to accept whole-heartedly (I did it again, didn't I).

And with that, the ending to this amazing nature vs. nurture story is very bittersweet, starting with Heart and Umasou reuniting with the former's mom.

Actually, before I keep going, I just want you to know that this scene in which they finally see each other again made me go from "wow, great movie, ten out of ten" to "I NEED TO TALK TO MY MOM!!!" in less than a minute. Seriously, if you're looking to strengthen your maternal bonds, watch this movie and watch the magic happen.

Aaaaanyway, after a heated battle between Heart and the one implied to be his real dad, the truth remains that he can't stay. He's resigned himself to a life as an outcast, never being compatible with his parent and brother's kind while at the same time being shunned by his fellow Big Jaw for adopting food. Nevertheless, he leaves in high spirits, having mended what had for the longest time been a broken bond. That, and he doesn't have to be a straggler alone, anyhow.

Really, Heart is everything I love about a lot of protags in one big package. He's a reptile (a dinosaur no less), he's a badass, he's a nice guy, he rages against what he is in order to be WHO he wants to be, and he's undoubtedly dad of the year. I hope more people come to recognize and appreciate him as much as I do.

Also, he's heavily implied to be in a steady relationship with an adorable Elasmosaurus, so he's got that "interspecies romance" trope possibly going for him too! C'mon, fellow You are Umasou fans old and hopefully new, you can't tell me you don't see it too!

[trashpandacraft]

hi! ok so i'm going to talk about one of my top-five favourite things, which is: dyeing stuff! this is going to be specifically about dyeing protein fibres (animal fibres—wool, alpaca, silk, etc) in a pretty low-key way in your kitchen.

to be clear up front: this is not the most scientific, most perfectly reproducible, or most Objectively Correct way to dye things. i get a lot of fibre that i like this way, though, and i think that other people can, too.

fibre i've dyed that i think is neat:

you can also dye yarn like this:

yes, i like blue a lot. i also really like variegation and heathering, which is why most of the fibre here has patches of white—it's an intentional choice that i've made. you can make different choices.

here is what you need to dye things:

fibre, vinegar, dye, a pot, heat, and some water.

that was so you don't get overwhelmed by the impending wall of text. here is what you need to dye things (it's the same stuff!), but with way more detail:

fibre or yarn. this is the big one, obviously. i tend to dye in 100-200 gram batches, because that's approximately what fits on my stovetop easily. if you're very nervous about felting or harming your fibre, you can use stuff that's been treated to be superwash, start with yarn (which is harder to felt than fibre is), or use a felt-resistant breed like dorset or suffolk. honestly, though, i learned with merino because that's what i had, and it was fine. again, though, this guide is only for protein fibres. it will not work for things like cotton. the only exception to this is nylon, which will take on some colour, but less than a protein fibre will.

a mordant. this is a fancy way of saying a thing that makes dye stick, and for what we're doing here, it's citric acid or vinegar. your grocery store definitely has at least one of them, though if you can choose, i prefer citric acid, because i love wet wool smell but i do not always love wet wool vinegar smell.

dye. i use acid dyes, and am personally deeply loyal to dharma acid dyes, but ashford and jacquard acid dyes work the same way. if you don't want to buy dye or don't have access to it, food colouring will often work, as well, though i haven't tried this with natural food colourings and have no idea how well they'll work.

a dedicated dye pot. ok, if you're doing food dyes, you don't need this. if you're not, it's definitely best practice, though i don't know how dangerous it is not to. any large metal pot will do, but my favourite option is hotel pans, which are those huge metal pan/tray things that hold food at buffets and the like. i have a full-size one that's 15cm deep, and a half-size one that's 4cm deep. they're great because they let you lay out the fibre you're working with so you can see most of it in a single layer.

dedicated dye utensils. as before, i don't know how much of a huge deal this is. i'll be honest and admit that for several years i had a single pair of tongs that got used for all tong-requiring events, including dyeing, and i'm still alive. i suggest that you have at least a big spoon, and a big spoon and tongs are even better.

something to mix the dye in. yeah, i use empty plastic sports drink or soda bottles for this. you can be fancy and get mason jars or little squirt bottles or whatever, and if you get super into dyeing you'll want to mix up dye stocks, but that's way outside the scope of what we're doing here. i like the powerade bottles that have a little squirty mouthpiece, because it's fun to squirt dye onto things.

personal protective equipment. i think this is the part of things that freaks people out. ideally, you wear plastic gloves and a mask (yeah, like your covid masks) when you're working with dye. realistically, i almost never remember to put on gloves and just accept that my hands are going to be blue sometimes. you should wear a mask, because dye is an irritant, but the world is an imperfect place and i have wicked bad adhd and sometimes i forget. this isn't advice. i'm just being honest. you should use some kind of safety stuff. you probably won't die if you don't.

you might also want some little random bits: an old toothbrush or paintbrush, a pipe cleaner, some toothpicks, etc. this is mostly if you like speckles, or if you want very small patches of colour.

so first: there are a million ways to dye things, and i'm not convinced that any of them are objectively correct. i do what i do and it works for me. some of the things i do are the opposite of what most guides suggest, but i do them because i like the effects they create.

ok, that's all the background stuff you need. let's dye some stuff!

the number one most important thing to remember when you're dyeing is this:

you can always add more colour. you cannot take it away.

that's in fancy writing and bold because every once in a while i forget this, and every single time i end up regretting it.

here is how to dye things:

put water, citric acid (or vinegar), and fibre into a pot. add dye and heat. let cool completely. rinse the fibre in cool water, then hang to dry.

like, sure, we're going to go into way more detail, but push come to shove, if you do that, you're going to end up with dyed fibre. there are a lot of tutorials telling you that you must soak your fibre first, or you must add your citric acid this way, or hold the water at exactly this temperature, and i'm here to tell you that while any of these things can give you different results, those results aren't necessarily better.

the only way that you can totally screw this up is by accidentally felting your fibre, so before i get into the way more detail part of things, i'm going to talk about that.

how not to felt your fibre

i feel like if you've read this far, you know how things felt: wool, heat, and agitation. you may also notice that at least two of these things are required for dyeing. this can be stressful! but you don't have to be afraid of it. there's only been one time that i felted something to the point that it was unusable, and that happened because i literally fell asleep for several hours while the pot was on the stove. you can avoid doing this by simply setting an alarm—this is a good idea anyhow, because you'll want to check on your dye pot!

when you're dyeing, use the lowest heat that you can while still keeping the water at a simmer. if your stove, like mine, has one burner that's wildly unpredictable and sort of out of control, you may want to look for some sort of flame diffuser, also called a flame tamer or a simmer ring. i bought one on amazon for about fourteen dollars, and it's literally just a thick metal circle. it works fine.

you can also keep the heat low by using a pot with a thick bottom, though in my experience those are expensive, and if i had one i would be using it for soup, not wool.

avoid shocking your wool—never put room temperature wool into hot water, and never put hot wool into cold water. leave your wool in the dye bath until it's cooled completely, which for me usually means overnight.

finally, obviously you have to move the fibre around some. you'll need to peek under it in the pan, and when you're done, you have to rinse it and squish out the water. try to minimise handling, though. don't run water directly onto the fibre, don't get a wooden spoon and stir your dye pot around, don't wring the fibre dry when it's done.

you're probably never going to be perfect. i often find that i lose a gram or two of wool where fibres have grabbed onto each other, or where parts of the ends clumped up. it's not really felted, just sort of compacted, but it's not great to work with, and i'd rather lose a gram of fibre than fuss with the clumpy bits.

back to how to dye things

let's take it step by step, assuming a hundred grams of fibre.

put your pan on the stove and fill it halfway with water. add either a teaspoon of citric acid or a tablespoon of vinegar. this is going to help the dye strike, or stick to the fibre. the teaspoon/tablespoon is a guideline, but one that it's fine to exceed. adding more will help the dye strike faster, which can be useful if you're trying to create blocks of colour on your fibre. i usually err on the side of a little more than the guidelines, and just eyeball this—if you feel like the dye isn't taking well, you can add more later.

add your fibre to the pan. this is the first place you have to think about what you want the finished fibre to look like! you can put it into the pan any way you want, but i suggest trying to keep it in a relatively even layer, regardless of what that layer looks like. here are some ways to get specific effects:

if you want a gradient from one end of the fibre to the other, use a rectangular pan and lay your fibre out so that the line of it is parallel to the short sides of the pan

if you want a short, repeating gradient, use a rectangular pan and lay your fibre out so that the line of it is parallel to the long sides of the pan

if you want something that starts with very close repeats that get further apart as you go down the fibre, make an approximate spiral

if you don't want A Pattern (i usually don't) just lay things out in a single layer, more or less

here comes the next exciting part! decide if you want to let your fibre soak or not. again, doing or not doing this gives you some different effects!

soaking your fibre will mean that dye takes more evenly. if you want consistent colours, you'll want to soak.

not soaking your fibre means that the dye takes less evenly. the fibre on top will have less acid available to it, spends less time in the dye bath, and also has to actually get wet before it will start to dye. i actually love doing this, and think it affords a lot of cool opportunities to play with and layer colours.

if you're soaking, leave the fibre there until it's submerged. if not, don't.

now you're going to add dye! decision time, again.

you can add dye when the water is cold, which will give you more even dye coverage, and in my experience gives the colours more time to mix together

you can add dye when when the water is hot, which will give you less even coverage, and tends to encourage the colours to stay more delineated

probably surprising no one, i tend to heat the water first unless i'm starting with a base colour or i'm doing a two-colour gradient.

time to mix up some dye

as i mentioned earlier, i'm assuming that you're using powered acid dyes for this. if you're not, this mixing up part is technically optional—but doing it gives you way more control about how and where you place your colours, so i'm going to assume that you'll do it.

i usually mix dye in some sort of empty drink bottle. regardless of what you're using, before you add dye to anything, put some water in the bottle, wipe off the lip, put the lid on tightly, and shake the bottle vigorously. if there is any leakage at all, do not use that bottle. find a better bottle. if your bottle cap doesn't seal well or if you have an empty condiment bottle that's just a little wonky or whatever, you will get dye all over the kitchen, and your landlord will be really really mad about it, and you will regret your life choices. (if you own your kitchen, you can do whatever you want, but this isn't about you and you know it.)

so you have a bottle that seals tightly! great job. dump out the water and carefully put some dye powder into the bottle. remember earlier how i said you should be wearing a mask? this is the part where you should be wearing a mask.

i know that people are reading this and going, ok, but how much dye do i put in?

my answer is put in the amount that feels right in your heart, and don't forget the number one rule of dyeing things, which is that you can always add more colour, but you cannot take it away.

this isn't a very scientific answer. most dyes have a guideline about how much to use, expressed as a percentage of the dry weight of the fibre, which is what you use to get the whole quantity of fibre dyed evenly. for dharma dyes, it's like 1.5-2%, i think ashford is 1%, and jacquard is more like 2-4%, depending on the colour.

here is the problems with doing that in your kitchen: first, using that much dye will get you an evenly dyed piece of fibre, which—for me, at least—is basically the opposite of what i want. second, and more importantly, unless you have one of those teeny tiny scales used by jewelers and drug dealers, your kitchen scale will not weigh out such tiny quantities with any accuracy. third, if you do it like this, you really have to plan what you're doing ahead of time, because there's a point after which no more dye will bind! the fibre will be like enough thank u that's it i'm good and that'll be it, so you lose some of your ability to decide that actually, you want more green.

you can probably guess, at this point, that i don't weigh the dye. once you've done a couple batches of fibre with a given brand of dye, you'll start to get the vibes for how much you should use. if you really want a guideline, for a hundred grams of fibre, start with a quarter teaspoon of a given colour. you can add more—either more of this colour or a different one—later, as desired.

put your dye in the empty bottle, and then fill the bottle partway with hot water. the amount of water doesn't really matter here, nor does the specific temperature of the water. i usually fill about 3/4 of the way, because that way there's plenty of room for this next step, which is: wipe the lip of the bottle, recap it tightly, and then shake it up real good. the dye powder is going to dissolve into the water, and you now have a bottle of dye!

if you're going for a gradient, you might want to mix up your second colour so you can add them at (basically) the same time for more even mixing. if you're not, or if you only have one mixing bottle, you can do them one at a time.

oh my god we're finally putting dye on the fibre

are you ready? it's time!!

you have basically infinite options for how to do this, and many of them will give you different effects. here are some ideas:

pour the dye all at one side of the pan. and if you don't add anything else, your fibre will fade from the colour of the dye to the natural colour of the fibre

pour two colours, one at either side of the pan. depending on how much dye you use (and remember, you can always add more), this will give you either chunks of colour surrounded by white, or a two-colour gradient

add all the dye to unheated water and mix it gently, then let the fibre soak for a few minutes longer before turning on the heat. this will give you a fairly even colour

pour randomly all over, and you'll either end up with a tonal yarn or a heathered one, depending on how much dye you're using

add the dye to the water under the dry fibre, which will sink in and take up more dye on the bottom of the fibre than the top

if your heat wasn't on before, it should be now, and you're going to let the dye hang out in the hot but not boiling water for a while. how long? well, one of the cool things about dyeing with these dyes is that they exhaust, which means that when the dye has been sucked up by the fibre, the surrounding water will be clear. how long this takes will depend on the specific dye, how much of it you used, how much mordant you used, etc. i try to check every fifteen minutes.

reminder: if you started with room temperature water, the dye's not going to start taking until the water heats up, so don't check it after fifteen minutes and freak out that nothing has happened. it is fully normal for it to take up to an hour for the dye to exhaust. don't turn up the temperature, just give it time.

yay it worked!

at this point, you have a pot of hot water with some beautifully coloured fibre in it! but maybe it's not beautiful enough. maybe you want...more colours.

that's cool as hell and you should go for it. we mentioned two-colour gradients up there, but what if you want something else?

the answer, probably obviously, is adding more dye.

first, a caveat: while you can successfully make multicoloured gradients like this, it's more difficult than you think, and if it gets messed up—all the colours bleed into each other, say—it turns into a muddy mess. my suggestion is to stick to two (or three at most!) colour gradients until you have a much better feel for what you're doing.

let's talk about ways you can add more colour. you have two options: big colour and little colour.

big colour is going to add a lot of colour—you're going to mix up the dye and pour it just like you did before, but paying more attention to places that don't have dye yet. sometimes it's the middle of a gradient, or the white splotches from random pouring, or the half of the fibre that wasn't submerged when you started. or maybe you dyed the whole thing yellow, and now you want to add a blue gradient over top. whatever!

if you don't want to freehand pour, consider buying a couple large syringes, or a bottle with a squeezy top. these are also fun because you can easily get more colour between the laid-out fibre, or even under it.

in the pictures at the start of this post, the red-and-gold top and both yarns were dyed by adding big colour.

little colour isn't going to add big patches, but is going to add speckling, tonal depth, or smaller patches of colour. all of the blue-base fibres and the yellow-and-blue yarn were dyed like this.

if you're still reading this closely, you might have caught that i just said both yarns were dyed with big colour, and that the yellow-and-blue yarn was also dyed with little colour. these are both true! the base colours of the yarn were done to make big colour, but if you look at the full-size image, there are also a bunch of speckles. you can do whatever you want! no one can stop you!

here are some ways to add little colour:

mix up some dye, but use less water. add drops of the dye, either directly onto the fibre (more dramatic!) or in the water (tonal!)

use a toothpick to grab a little bit of dye powder and drop it into the dye bath (similar to the previous one, but a little less predictable)

put on a damn facemask. take a clean toothbrush, paintbrush, or pipecleaner, and just barely touch it to the dye powder. gently flick or tap the brush to add speckles of that colour

find a salt shaker that you're never going to use for anything but this. put citric acid, salt (to make it distribute better), and dye powder into it, and shake it up (with the holes covered, please cover the holes) to make sure they're evenly distributed. gently shake this over the fibre to add speckles, but more of them, and clustered together

put a little dye in a spray bottle and gently mist the exposed fibre, kinda glazing it with colour

another thing is that if you like a natural coloured yarn with dyed speckles, you can do any of these techniques without doing big colour first. the only thing to note when doing this is that you'll want to be very sure to spread out the fibre well, and maybe to consider dyeing one side, then very very carefully flipping it over and getting the other side.

ok, now what?

let's say that you've added all the colours that you want, and you've let your bath simmer long enough that the water is clear, or nearly clear. (if it's not, check troubleshooting, below.)

put the lid on your pan and walk away. if you don't have a lid, just walk away, but it's less dramatic.

the super frustrating part here is that the safest thing to do is wait until the water and fibre is fully cooled before you do anything else.

have i ignored this? yes

has it ever gone horribly wrong? not horribly wrong, but it's definitely caused me to lose an inch or two of roving on occasion

is it way more stressful if you don't wait? absolutely yes

honestly maybe just go to bed and deal with your fibre in the morning

so now let's say that it's morning and you slept long enough that your water and fibre are both room temperature, which often actually feels quite cool on your hands.

you have to drain your fibre. there are two ways to do this:

lift the fibre out of the water. this has the upside of not risking dumping your beautiful fibre into your sink, and not needing to maneuver a full pot of water, both of which are admirable. the downside is that wet fibre is fragile, and you'll want to be careful to support it.

dump the water out of the pan. this has the upside of minimising how much handling you're doing of the fibre, as well as (in my opinion) making rinsing easier. the downside is attempting to keep the fibre into the pot while you dump the water into the sink, and also needing to carry around a full pot of water.

secret third option: dump the fibre (and the water) into a strainer. upside: very easy, and you can keep the fibre in the strainer while you rinse, minimising both how much it needs to be handled and the weight on the fibre. downside: i never remember that this is an option until i'm already elbows-deep in acidulated water, discovering every tiny cuticle tear.

you're going to fill your dyepot with water again so that you can rinse the fibre. you want to minimise thermal shock, so keep the water temperature as close to the temperature of the fibre as you can, and don't run the water directly onto the fibre. i like to pull all the fibre to one side of the pan, and fill the pan on the other side.

side note: if you, smart person, remembered that you can use a colander, simply fill a pot with water, put the colander in the pot, and gently agitate the colander.

if you, person who is deeply relatable, did not remember you can use a colander and now have a pot with clean water and fibre, gently move your fibre in the water to encourage any excess dye and also citric acid to get out of there.

drain your fibre again, and this time, you're going to squeeze it dry. you're still trying to minimise agitation, so this isn't a 'wring it out' situation, it's a 'gently squish it between your hands and/or a hand and the side of the pot' situation.

hang your fibre to dry. remember what i was saying earlier about it being fragile? let me suggest, here, that you do not simply drape the entire length over a single hanger or something and hope for the best. if you literally have a single hanger, at least drape it back and forth a bit, but better if you can use more than one hanger, or a clothes drying rack, or that weird metal wine rack thing that came with your fridge that you've never used, or whatever.

important reminder: drip-drying things will make your floor wet! if you live somewhere very clear with no major roads or pollen nearby, you can probably dry things outside, but if you don't, you'll probably want to position the drying rack in a bath, shower, laundry area, or otherwise over something that will catch and/or absorb the water.

how long it takes for the fibre to dry is another unknowable variable. if it's warm and dry where you are, it might literally be overnight. if it's damp and cool, it can take days. the batch i posted a couple days ago literally took almost a full week to dry. spread it out as best you can, gently squeeze out the water you can, and otherwise you just have to wait.

you're done!

when it's dry, that's it, you're done! you might find that you need to pick off some little lint balls or a bit of compacted or slightly felted fibre from the tips, but other than that, you should be good to go.

like most fibre stuff, this is best maintained by handwashing in cool water. you may see a little bit of dye or colour loss the first time you wash it, which is pretty normal and nothing to worry about.

congratulations! you made it to the end of this incredibly long post, and if you followed along, you've just dyed some fibre!

troubleshooting

this isn't dyed enough! i want more colours!

add more dye! i'm not the boss of you.

this is true even after the fibre is all done and dryed. there's nothing that says you can't dye it again—you can, and i have.

some fibre seems to require more dye than others. silk, for example, dyes beautifully with acid dyes, but also needs way more dye than i expect it to.

remember that if you're dyeing something that's a wool/cotton blend, for example, the cotton isn't going to dye. the only exception is nylon, which will kinda dye, but not as dramatically. this guide will not work for plant fibres.

this is too dyed! i want fewer colours!

please refer back to the number one most important thing about dyeing, which—as you know—is: you can always add more colour, but you cannot take it away.

pull out some more fibre and try again. this has a learning curve, just like any other fibre craft.

these colours don't look like i expected!

this can be about a lot of things.

colour guides, especially if you're looking at them online, aren't always very accurate.

colour guides tend to assume that you're dyeing a single colour at the suggested dye percentage of weight, and using less than that will give paler colours.

dyes, especially if you're mixing brands, can interact with each other and behave in ways you didn't expect.

dyes can also break, which is when they split into their component colour molecules. this happens commonly with blacks and browns, food colouring, and anything that dharma trading has marked as 'advanced'. some people find this very desirable and seek it out; some people are very frustrated by it.

the ph of your water can sometimes affect your dye. i've been lucky enough that i've only lived places with lead problems, not weird ph stuff, so i haven't investigated this closely, but if you're consistently not getting the results you expect, even going for a single, solid-colour dye, look at the ph.

my dye water's not clear!

if you used a quarter teaspoon of dye and a hundred grams of fibre, and it's been, say, 45 minutes of actually hot water and your water still isn't clear, you probably didn't use enough mordant, and you should add some more citric acid or vinegar to encourage the dye to get in there and do its thing.

if you used you used more like a teaspoon of dye, or if the citric acid doesn't change anything, you used too much dye for your fibre. you can either shrug and pour it down the drain, or you can add some more fibre and dye that, too.

my rinse water's not clear!

you probably used too much dye. it's ok—just keep rinsing it, gently, until it's more or less clear.

some colours just like to run—you know how every once in a while you get a yarn and it just bleeds a little bit every time you wash it? sometimes it's just like that. i wouldn't worry about it too much.

my fibre has felty/clumpy bits!

a little bit of this is normal, especially at the ends of a fibre that felts easily (this means you, merino!)

pick off the bits that you don't like—this is generally fairly easy, and involves very minimal fibre loss. i don't bother doing it until i sit down to spin, and then just pull off bits as i come to them.

if there's a lot of felty/clumpy bits, more than you can reasonably pick out, you agitated the fibre too much. there's not much for this other than trying to card it out, which may or may not work.

sometimes this happens because your stove got weirdly aggressive and boiled your fibre. especially for wool that's prone to felting, the bubbling and jostling can be enough to encourage more clinginess than you'd like.

i want my dyeing to be reproducible!

this is kinda doable. it's a handmade thing, so it's always going to have some natural variance, but you can do it.

buy a jeweler's scale that measures in fractions of a gram.

start measuring your dye and acid, and take detailed notes about what you do.

follow those notes in the future, and you'll be probably 90% of the way there.

i want to dye with natural dyes!

i fully support this and have played around with it a little bit myself, but absolutely do not know enough about it to advise you.

the internet is very large and full of many people who are much smarter than i am, and i feel confident that at least one of them is desperate to tell you all about how to do natural dyeing.

i am, at this point, not that person.

i want to dye plant fibres!

i am begging you to find another guide, because this one will not work.

you didn't answer my question!

that's what my inbox is for

i have to reiterate that i'm just a person with real specific interests who started dyeing things because i couldn't find or afford the kinds of colourways that i wanted.

i am not a professional

i will do my best to answer questions, but sometimes the answer is 'just fuck around until you find out'

plant fi—

shhhhh

the end

thank you for reading this incredibly long post! i might make another one in the near future, either so i can show pictures or because i took out an entire section about how to choose colours and pick a colour scheme and work with colours, and i kinda want to talk more about that, but this is no joke almost six thousand words long, so i thought, you know. maybe not tonight.

anyhow, i hope that this was useful to someone! thank you for letting me talk about one of my very favourite things.

[thousandyearphantombunker]

i just had a fun idea

In early rwby I think we only ever saw cinder see dust into her clothes and other characters didn't do it despite the fact that apparently that practice is somewhat ancient

And maybe I'm misremembering something but doesn't Ruby know how to sew? And weiss has access to a lot of different dust types and understands glyph symbols

What if weiss gifted ruby some dust and taught her a few things about her family's glyphs and maybe even have weiss look at glynda's glyphs and the ruby began incorporating glyph patterns onto her skirt via embroidery and now ruby uses air dust to amp her speed even more

Idk I think that combined with her glowy silver eyes having glowy silver symbols float around her and be used to push her ridiculous strength and speed to it's limits would look so badass and pretty

Maybe ruby creates little embroidered patches of different people's emblems and weissor yang or Blake sew them into their jackets or something it can be a cute little moment?

Ruby's og look was lolita inspired and so many Lolita's I've seen have some degree of sewing knowledge or enjoy embroidery so I'm just imagining yang and Blake asking for help diy-ing patches for concerts or weiss trying to rely less on her father's money and be less of a perfectionist so she asks ruby to teach her how to sew and Ruby teaches her visible mending because one of Weiss's skirts got ripped and there's no way they can make it look the same so she tells weiss to just have fun with it.

imagine yang having to learn to use her prosthetic and asking for ruby's help with more fine tuned stuff- her arm is great for punching stuff but delicate fine motor skills are hard and Ruby offers to teach her embroidery

Imagine Blake getting caught up in embroidery thread like it's yarn (cause cat joke) or her sewing her favorite quote from one of her books onto a patch (and when asked about it by yang she gets like stupidly flustered- maybe she's embarrassed because the book is for kids or kind of... Dirty or maybe she didn't realize yang was also a fan of that series maybe it's her own poetry and she's too shy to wear it because oof she's putting herself out there and she's afraid people will attack her for her poem being too topical but yang actually enjoys it)

Idk I headcanon ruby as a talented seamstress and considering the scrapes they get into and how aura can only do so much to protect clothes i can imagine ruby using her skills to show her love (acts of service, making little gifts etc) and having weiss slowly piece together that her old style wasn't really her style would be fun and since I see Blake as a bit punk and she's more invested in politics i can imagine her progressively coming out of her shell and being more loud about it after confronting adam- she's no longer running from the fang she's involved all over again

I love the idea of the girls sharing hobbies with each other

Plus I think it would be fun to see ruby interact with Coco and they can both be fashionable queens

[pukei-pukei]

Spoiler-Free Wilds Review

I've played through the bulk of Wilds content available at launch and figured I'd share my thoughts on it here. My platform is Steam/PC. TLDR at the bottom!

Gameplay

The fights are great - which is good, considering that's the main point of the game! I can't recall a time I got really frustrated or bored during a hunt; hitboxes were good, movesets were fun (and often visually incredible), and the difficulty felt pretty reasonable. I didn't cart once in Low Rank and I cart rarely in High Rank, but I've been around the block with these games and I know what I'm doing. I can imagine Rey Dau and Arkveld are wiping the floor with new hunters.

I've only used Insect Glaive so far and I quite like this iteration of it. The wound breaking focus attack gets you all three Kinsect essences, which chains very well into the new flashy Super Spin attack that costs all Kinsect essences. I gotta say it feels bizarre to use charge attacks on IG, but I do love the Super Spin. (That's not what it's actually called but it's what I'm calling it.)

The Seikret is very cute and very convenient. Almost too convenient. I've been making an effort to learn the layout of the locales, but you can absolutely just have AutoBird take you everywhere and practically not interact with the environment at all. You gotta change the control scheme to manual though, trying to go anywhere with the default control type feels like trying to tame a wild horse. Horrible.

The Palico is also very good in this entry. Almost too good. From the start of the game they basically have every gadget from World equipped simultaneously, and upgrading to have things like Vigorwasp Revive or a damn mini airship is as easy as hunting one monster or catching a bug. They can even clear status ailments now!

The multiplayer mechanics are, uh... something. Once you're in a quest together it's the same as usual, though wound management can be a hassle sometimes. I need them and my teammates also need them and there's not that many to go around.

However, actually getting in the same session with friends is way more of a hassle than it needs to be. There's like three or four different ways to join each other and none of them are intuitive. Link party? Lobby? Environment link? Huh??? I miss the sessions from World, especially the fact you could just set it so your Steam friends can easily join but no one else can. The ability to add friends in the game is really nice, though, and I love the Online Singleplayer option. Finally! A PAUSE BUTTON!

Environments

The environments are one of the main selling points of the game and they definitely don't fall short. The locales are massive and spectacular with very unique takes on the classic Monster Hunter biomes. (The final locale is even more unique, but that's big spoiler territory.)

The seasons look incredible, but they don't seem to have much of an actual impact on hunts, honestly. They do absolutely have gameplay impacts, but not quite as much as I'd hoped. Mostly tweaks to the kinds of monsters and gathering nodes. Not sure what I'd change about them, though; maybe altering the map a bit for certain seasons, like having certain paths blocked off or opened up depending on the season.

I will say it's bizarre that they kept the tracks system from World, but just show you where every monster is on the map anyway. This entry is supposed to focus on hunting immersion, there's tracks implemented, but they kept the omniscient map from Rise? Huh?? I miss having to actually track stuff instead of the bird just Knowing.

Also you can catch critters but not put them anywhere. Why??

Story

Surprisingly for a MH game, the story is actually decent this time around. Nothing to write home about, this still isn't a story-centric game, but a few moments did hit me hard and I liked a lot of the characters. Its integration into the gameplay was a bit annoying at times with a lot of scripted sequences, but overall I enjoyed it.

The implications are wild(heh) for the series lore as a whole, though; the final boss is one of my new favorite monsters purely because of how monumental it is! If you know, you know. Even if you're not familiar with The Lore the cutscene before the fight is sick as hell. (I'm suspecting we got a Rise situation here where the real HR final boss is coming in a Title Update, though...)

I would die for Nata. He is my son

Technical

Everyone's probably heard of the beta origami monsters by now, and I'm very disappointed to say they remain in the full game. Granted, it's not on every hunt and then it's only for a minute or two before the models load in, but that's just one of a lot of pretty grievous graphical and performance issues.

It's not unplayable (for me) by any means, but there's stupidly long loading times. Even once I'm in a locale, everything (monsters, terrain, NPCs, etc.) often looks like a blurry polygonal mess while everything actually loads in. It can take like thirty seconds to load the map or a conversation with an NPC.

My computer (which is, admittedly, a laptop) is pretty good, I can consistently get 60fps on World with close to max graphics, but this is all happening with Wilds on low settings! Hopefully most of this will get fixed with later patches.

EDIT: I managed to cram the game onto my laptop's SSD and that seems to have fixed a lot of the graphics issues. Haven't played a ton with it on this drive yet but I'm optimistic.

TLDR

Must-play for any series fan, but has way more than its fair share of jank for the price. The story is decent, fights are awesome, and the difficulty is reasonable and fun for LR/HR. Designs for monsters and environments are incredible - when they load properly.

Definitely recommend, but if you're not set on playing it ASAP it's reasonable if you want to wait for performance patches and/or a sale.