#i haven't done sewing in a week or two and i don't like that

[ivycjl]

Epiphany - Part 3

The wind whips Benny’s face. He'd been riding for the better part of an hour now, away from the city and into the country. Johnny was ahead of him. They were riding out to a nice spot with a big, shady tree where they would spend most of the day.

He followed Johnny as he took a right turn into their spot, parking his motorcycle under the tree. Benny allowed himself to think about what happened this morning. Sure, recently you had been brushing him off a little, but he figured you were just in one of your moods. But today made him see different; something was definitely up. The last full sentence you spoke haunted him. I am just about done with you, Benny Cross.

“What'ya thinkin’ about?”

Benny shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Nothin’.”

“You sure? What's on your mind?”

Benny sighed. “Just…wife stuff."

Johnny tilted his head. “What'd ya do?”

Benny rolled his eyes and shrugged. Johnny gave him a look. “Well, okay. D’you see the Cubs lost again?”

Of course. Of course he would do that. He's got the whole day off of work, you just had a fight about not seeing him, and he wants to spend it with his fucking motorcycle club. God damnit.

You’re sitting at your kitchen table, hemming a dress for one of your clients. Altering clothes was one of your many side hustles to bring in some more money. Between that, teaching a few dance classes, and occasionally working at the established seamstress shop, you earned decent money for yourself.

The sharp stab of a pin refocused you. Honestly, what are you doing wrong? Why doesn't he love you like he should? Whatever.

For the next couple of weeks, Benny tries reaching out to you a little, but every time it comes with more pain.

He puts an arm around your waist, then informs you he's leaving town with the club for a couple days. Awkwardly tries to touch your shoulder once before going out all night and not coming home until 2 p.m.

Your worries and insecurities started to culminate. They all usually came to the same conclusion. I'm not good enough for him anymore. I’m asking too much and he fell out of love. If he was ever in love in the first place. Maybe he found someone new. God knows I can't supervise him, so it's entirely possible.

When the two of you show up to meetings now, you pretty much completely ignore him to meet Betty and Kathy and Shiela. You pretend not to see the hurt on his face as you greet them with big smiles. You haven't smiled at him in a while.

The next night, he actually came home at a decent time. You don’t hear the door open, too consumed by your emotions and distracted by the TV. He drunkenly stumbles throughout the house, trying not to make too much noise when he finds you laying on the couch, tears streaming down your face.

Boldened by the alcohol in his system, Benny walks over to you and squats down. “Why are you crying?”

He tilts his head. You try and fail to discreetly wipe the tears off your face. “Oh, just um…the movie’s sad.”

Benny turns to the TV. “This is Bewitched.” He looks back at you, even more confused to see you looking down.

“You should go to bed.”

The words are like magic on his inebriated mind. Exhaustion overtakes him as he walks up to bed. You're still in the back of his mind, puzzling Benny until he falls asleep.

Benny wakes up with a pounding headache. He looks over, expecting to see you, then remembers what happened the night before. What the fuck is going on? Whatever it is, it's been happening for too long. Benny decides to ask you about it.

He ambles downstairs and finds you sewing at the breakfast table. “Hey.”

You hum. “Y/N, I need to ask you about something.”

You freeze at the question as he pops some Advil and sits across from you. “And don't bullshit me, 'cause I know something's wrong.”

You take slow, measured breaths. “Okay.”

“What's been goin’ on with you? You're-I don't know what it is but something’s wrong.”

Oh, you noticed, huh? Well, since your observation skills are so great why don't you tell me? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that I've been upset with you for months about all your shit, and even when we have huge, nearly marriage-ending fights about it, you can't bring yourself to care?

You want to snap all this at him, but try to remember your ultimate goal. No talking means no fighting. Sure, it's not entirely fair to make him guess, but at this point, is it even guessing? You had come to him multiple times about the same problems, over and over.

“I-I don't know.”

“You don't know? Seriously?”

“No.”

“Honey, are you feeling okay?”

“Fine.”

Benny clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes. “No, no you're not. I’ve seen you, you're bein' weird, you're avoiding me-”

“Stop! Just stop it, Benny. I don't want to talk to you.”

You bite your tongue before you can say anything worse. You look your husband in the eyes for the first time in a while. Instead of his usual anger, you see nothing but hurt on his face. It breaks your heart.

He slowly nods, looking down. “Okay.” He shakily exhales and exists the kitchen, walking outside to work on his bike.

Fuck.

[anogete]

Hi. Update of random shit in case anyone cares.

The scary test I was stressed over in the fall when I was posting my last fic? It was the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) exam. Yes, I passed it. The designation requires a bachelor's degree, so I had to go back to school to finish my last 10 classes. Then I had to take 7 more classes that are pre-reqs for the exam. Then I spent probably 700 hours attempting to cram everything you could think of related to personal finance (my god, there is a metric shit ton) into my head. The designation also requires 5,000 hours of experience in the planning field (which I thankfully already had). By the time I passed the test, I was no longer proud of the accomplishment, just relieved to have it behind me.

Work was intensely busy in November and December. I got little reading and no writing done.

I have a WIP featuring the Darcy/Rumlow pairing that has been languishing on my computer since 2020. To be honest, I've mosty forgotten what the conflict driving the plot was going to be. I think I was trying to tie it into the events of Wandavision. Took place after the show and had Monica Rambeau and Darcy kinda sorta working together and trying to figure out what, if anything, crossing the barrier that Wanda had thrown up did to them. Of course, Rumlow is alive and scarred and back with the good guys. And also really annoyed that his recent gunshot wound stuck him on desk duty watching the nerds complete their physicals as part of employee onboarding. Darcy doesn't want to have gym class with Rumlow, and Rumlow doesn't want to be there either but he's also kinda into the sassy brunette who tried to sweet talk him into passing her without making her run a mile. In the chapter or two I did write, the banter between Darcy and Rumlow was so fun, so I'd love to go back to it and try to move it along.

I got sucked into reading Draco/Hermione fanfic recently. Blame those damn Snow edits from the latest Hunger Games movie. Guys, I have never read those books or seen the movies, but blonde Tom Blyth is looking like the fanfic Draco of my dreams. How dare. This rabbit hole led to me deciding I needed to write a Dramione piece. It's maybe 6 pages and has gone nowhere even though I have a vague idea of the plot. My muse is struggling.

I found my old folder of all the fic I wrote in the past 20 years. There are still a couple hockey fics I haven't posted to AO3. There are also Anita Blake fics (I was a hardcore Anita/Edward girlie) and Harry Potter fics (don't cancel me but I used to write Snape/Hermione; NO student/teacher stuff though). I think I have an old Doctor Who fic featuring Nine/Rose (yes, I'm a Nine girlie). And a very old Forgotten Realms fic that paired Catti-Brie up with Jarlaxle. Look, I don't know. It was ages ago. With the exception of the hockey fics, I do not think any of these are of the same quality I've posted on AO3, but I've been toying with the idea of trying to clean them up and posting them so more of my work is archived together instead of spread over various fan sites. Does anyone have any interest at all in reading this shit? Like, at all?

I decided 2024 is going to be my book binding era. I bound isthisselfcare's Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love a couple weeks ago. I did all the typesetting with the help of some macros. Printed it, folded the signatures (the booklets that comprise the book), sewed them together with waxed linen thread, glued the text block together with some mull, and used chip board and book cloth to make the case. It feels and looks like a book, y'all! I could do a better job with lining the signatures up when punching the holes for sewing and with the measurements on the case, but overall I am pretty proud of it. If anyone is interested, I can link a nice tutorial series on TT and/or post progress pictures I took during my book binding experiment. I have to say, it's exciting to have the ability to put my fav fanfics on my physical bookshelf.

[bomberqueen17]

sewing other things

OK so. I have talked about the Loftus Bralette so much on here that one could be forgiven for chuckling gently when i said I should sew other things. But I do actually have several other projects I've been wanting to work on. And i have actually cut some of them out.

Also when I was last at the farm my niece brought me some of her t-shirts and said "I really like this one can we cut it apart and re-sew it bigger so I can still wear it", and I remembered that her BFF's mom, who works at the farm twice a week doing the books and managing store inventory, owns a serger she didn't know how to thread, so I texted her to ask if I could borrow it and indeed she had accidentally unthreaded it and there was a stuck lever and needed me to fix it anyway, and maybe I mentioned that on here but I did actually make my niece a couple of tunics while I was last at the farm. Including hand-sewing a whole bunch of details on the last one while the family was driving on a road trip one weekend.

So I brought all that stuff home with me and was hoping to get to work on it this week. All I've sewn has been the bralettes but I still have today. We'll see what I can get done.

I measured Farmkid and she's ten years old so her shape isn't the same as that of an adult woman, but she's five feet two and like 130 lbs, and some of her measurements put her in a women's size 12. So. She expressed interest in a garment I wear frequently, a Studio Tunic from Sew Liberated. I printed off the pattern in a size 12 and have assembled it, but I'm stuck deciding what fabric to use for her. I should decide that today. She's ten, her favorite color is ostensibly yellow but she mostly wears pinks and purples, she's a grubby kid who wipes her hands on her shirt and always winds up with stains on the belly of her shirt still, and she wants this tunic I think largely so she can cram her tablet into the pocket and go climb trees while listening to audiobooks on speaker. So I want a bright color but not too pale, and I want a tough fabric but not unbreathable, and I'm just. Deciding, still.

Probably what I should do is use some undyed fabric I own, and then bring my supplies and let her tie-dye it. I have a couple other things I could tie-dye, or will by then. That would be a fun bonding activity. I don't know if I'll have time to do it this trip though. So maybe I'll postpone the project and ask her for help once she's on summer break. (Good luck catching her, kids these days have so many summer camps.) As a bonus I bet I could loop her BFF and BFF's Mom in on the tie-dyeing, they're both into that shit.

Hell we could do ice-dyeing, the farm has a 1000-lb ice machine that is very frequently turned on (weekly for the market, biweekly for chicken processing-- there could be ice available at pretty much any time lol).

So anyway. I know she wants me to make a tunic out of a trio of large-print cat shirts she's outgrown, and she wants to wear it for her 5th grade moving up day ceremony, and I looked at it while I was home but I haven't done it yet. I need to get my shit together.

What I might do is print off a size 12 version of the t-shirt pattern I own, it's just that it's designed for busty women because I'm a busty woman, and she's Not, yet (oh, she will be. soon. but not yet.) so I have to kind of. Well, I own a pattern for a swing tunic that's close to what she wants actually. Oh, I should just print that one off. (The joy of the Cashmerette Club subscription patterns is that you get all the sizes, 0-30, and I've now made a couple of them for smaller friends, because like. I mean I own the pattern! PDF patterns are so great because you can reprint them in the smaller size instead of trying to trace it off. I never ever got the hang of tissue paper patterns.)

Yeah here this one, the Wexford Top/Dress, would be easy enough to kind of carve out the bust curve a little and make it fit a kid, because it's not meant to be that fitted. I'll just sort of use that as a general guideline and then make the cut-out-and-patchworked t-shirts fit into that approximate silhouette. The way I made the other tunics for her, I just used a shirt whose neck and shoulders still mostly fit her. But these cat shirts she's thoroughly outgrown, so making a new neck/shoulder area would be best.

Orrrrrr.... I could use one of the zillion old t-shirts of mine that I've saved to cut up. The neck/shoulders of a fully adult-sized garment are no longer too big for her. That's easier.

I also have a bunch of garments I want to make for myself, as I don't seem to buy clothes much anymore (I can't bring myself to pay $40 for a dress off the clearance rack that won't fit me and will mostly be polyester and won't be that interesting and will pill the first time I wash it). The Club's latest pattern is a skort/shorts/skirt dealie, and I need more shorts all the time-- I've largely given up on underpants and just wear boxer-briefs or anti-chafe shorts and I just don't see the point now of wearing a pair of panties and then shorts over the top under my skirt. Like. Just wear the shorts! So being able to choose the materials and print and look of that would be pretty great. And the Cashmerette one is inseam-less, like my favorite anti-chafe shorts are.

So I have cut out a pair of just the shorts in a clearance cotton mesh from Dharmatrading, and I even have the correct elastic for the waistband, so that kind of rules. I will sew those up as soon as I get a chance. I would like to make several skorts as well, probably from synthetic ponte or something, but my ideal would be to get some decent merino/nylon jersey and do a few from that. You never see merino skorts but I would wear the shit out of those.

I also have a lovely underpants pattern from the Club from ages ago, and while I rarely wear underpants of that style anymore, I would like having some cute matchy ones to go with the bralettes. Also, I have a shitton of foldover elastic, and I suspect I could use foldover elastic in some of the bralettes I want to make, so I want to get proficient in its use, and there are directions for applying it in the underpants directions, and it seems like a good way to practice. So I cut a muslin of those from the same cotton mesh as the shorts, and just have to sew the pieces together.

I also want to make myself more pretty dresses, and I have parts of a new Studio Tunic for myself already cut out, but not the rest.

And I recently made myself the button-up shirt from the Club, I know I posted about it on here. And I wanted to immediately make myself several more, and I got out some fabric and prepared it and cut out one pattern piece and then ran out of time. So yesterday I finally cut out the rest of the shirt from this fabric, a print from Mood covered in tiny dinosaurs. So I have that all ready to go in a plastic baggie too, just waiting for me to have time to sit and sew it. (Once I do that, I would really like to make myself a dress version of it from the cool green not-quite-seersucker I got from that remnant bolt at Promenade Fabrics in New Orleans.)

AND. i also have resolved to make my BFF, the one in Rochester who I lived with for a bit in the pandemic, with the little kids-- MM-- I am going to make her a sloper, before I see her next weekend, or maybe while I see her next weekend if i don't get to it in time argh, and I am going to at least try that on her and figure out approximately what shape she is so that I can put together a master pattern for her to make herself dresses from. I took her measurements ages ago, and she's a 14CD bust, a 16 waist, and an 8 hip in Cashmerette's sizing, and so I think just making a sloper with those sizes all graded together will be a huge start. And then we can mildly tweak the fit for her frame, and-- the thing is, she's always buying custom dresses on Etsy because what she wants is very specific and not usually available in stores, and then the dresses come and don't fit her so she has to get them tailored, and then they were just made of cheap quilting cotton from Joann's so they wear out after she washes them a few times, and she's had to add on pockets anyway because they didn't have them.

So I just feel like if I could get her a paper master pattern that fit her... heck i could even just make her dresses if *I* had the pattern. It would be easier and more efficient. I could do the basic construction and then turn over the pockets and embellishments to her, which is what she does anyway. So that's my goal there, and we'll see if I can reach it.

Anyway. If only I didn't have to work at all and could just sew all the time. I am not the first person to say this, LOL.

I have a lot of irons in the fire but at the moment am trapped under a cat so those irons are not going anywhere.

[attemptingwriter]

Alec Volturi x human!Reader: Anniversary Quilt

Warnings: little bit of angst, mostly fluff, non-canon aged Alec, sfw, use of y/n

I walked down the hall of the castle, heading for the library. I had finished the small stack of books in my room and wanted to return them to get some more. As I walked, I noticed Felix and Demetri headed my way. I waved at them and rushed over.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing?"

"We just got done giving our report to the Masters. Now, we have some free time until the next mission," Felix answered.

"What about you?" Demetri asked.

"I need some more books. I finished these ones already," I gestured to the stack in my hand.

"Wow, you go through books fast. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't read everything in the library in the year you've been here." Demetri commented.

"Hey, to be fair, some of those books are in other languages," I defended myself. I paused as I processed his last words. "Wait, it's been a year already?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah, in two weeks if you want to be technical."

I shoved my books into Felix's hands. "Will you return these for me? I've got something I need to do!" I asked, turning on my heel and running to Heidi's room.

:

I dodged through the guards as I turned down the hall where Heidi's room was. Skidding to a stop in front of her door, I repeatedly banged on it. "Hurry up, hurry up!"

Finally Heidi opened her door, a confused look on her face. "Are you alright, (Y/N)?"

I shook my head. "I need your help and I need it now," I begged.

Heidi nodded and ushered me into her room. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. "In two weeks, I'll have been with you guys for a year. In two weeks, it'll have been a year since Alec and I found out we are mates. I want to do something special for him."

Heidi grinned. "So what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to help me sneak out of the castle so I can go shopping. I already have an idea in mind of what I want to do but first I need fabric. And quilt batting. And a sewing machine." I looked at Heidi. "Do we even have a sewing machine here?"

"Talk to Caius. He's the more artistic of the three. As for getting you out of the castle, that's going to be hard. You're still human so the Kings won't want to let you leave. Why don't you write me a list of the fabric and anything else you need and I'll grab it."

"Thank you, Heidi! I want this to be a surprise for Alec so please don't tell him."

"I promise I won't tell. Go write me your list and I'll try and get it while you talk to Caius."

I nodded and went to leave Heidi's room. "Thanks again. I'll bring it by shortly."

As I left her room, I bumped into Alec.

"Hi, love!" I smiled at him.

"Hi, darling. What were you doing with Heidi?" He asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Nothing, just a bit of girl talk," I said as we started walking.

"Just girl talk? Because it seems to have your heart beating faster than normal."

I blushed, trying to think of something to throw him off. "Heidi was just telling me about her latest boy-toy. That's all. What are you up to?"

Alec sighed. "The Masters are wanting me to stay back from missions for the time being."

"Oh? Why?"

"They're talking about changing you soon. It's been almost a year, love."

"Right. Speaking of the Masters, I actually need to talk to Master Caius. I'll be back later, love." I pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned to run off. Before I could, Alec grabbed my arm.

"I'll be in the gardens, come find me when you're done."

I nodded and left.

I ran to the throne room and knocked on the doors.

"Come in," Aro's voice rang out.

I opened the doors and entered the room. I stopped just shy of the stairs where the Masters were.

"Ah, young (Y/N). What brings you here?" Aro asked.

"I wanted to talk about my changing. And I also had a question for Master Caius." I took a breath to calm my nerves. Being in the Masters presence was always intense.

"I would like to wait another 2 and a half weeks. I have something special I want to do for Alec since it's been a year since we found each other and I don't my changing to get in the way."

"That sounds reasonable. Alec is lucky to have met you, my dear," Marcus said, smiling.

"If Aro agrees, then I see no problem waiting a little bit longer. But you also had a question for me?" Caius asked.

"Yes." I turned to face him. "Do we have a sewing machine?"

"We do. It's been a minute since it's been used but it should work fine. Why do you need it?" Caius asked.

I grinned sheepishly. "I want to make Alec a quilt. I know you guys don't technically get cold and don't really have a reason for one, but I thought it'd be nice to hand-make Alec something rather than buying something premade."

Marcus let out a chuckle. "I'm sure he'll love it. Caius will show you where the machine is."

Caius stood from his throne and headed towards the doors. "Follow me."

I bowed to the other two kings and made my way towards the third.

"So I need her to get black fabric, dark green fabric, a queen sized black sheet, and extra large batting," I muttered to myself.

"What are you going on about?" Caius asked, not looking back at me.

I jumped, not expecting him to start talking to me. "Oh, Heidi said she'd help me get the stuff I need to make the quilt so I'm making a list."

We turned down a hallway and entered a room on the left. "The machine is in here. There should be some extra things laying around that you can use."

Caius walked in and lit the lanterns. "If that is all, I'll take my leave."

"Yes, thank you Master Caius." I turned and bowed.

Caius nodded and left.

I spotted some paper and a pen. I grabbed some and jotted down the list for Heidi. I took a quick look around, noting where the machine was and some extra fabric laying around. I quickly added a tape measure to my list and left.

I searched the castle for Heidi, wanting to find her before returning to Alec. I finally found her, walking with Demetri.

"Heidi!" I called out, running to her.

"Hey, that took a lot longer than I thought it would," she commented as I handed her the list.

"Sorry. I bumped into Alec once I left your room and I had to come up with something so he wouldn't find out what I'm planning so I said I had to talk to the masters. Then Caius said we did have a sewing machine and he showed me where it is and then I wrote the list and then I came and found you."

"(Y/N). Breathe." Demetri laughed. "So what are you planning? You left in a rush earlier."

"I want to make Alec a quilt for our anniversary," I whispered. I wasn't sure if Alec was still in the gardens and I didn't want to risk him hearing if he wasn't.

Demetri nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Help keep Alec away while I work on it? It'll probably take the entire the two weeks with all the cutting and sewing and ironing I need to do."

"Got it. I'll help keep Alec distracted till it's done."

"Thank you!"

"I'll run to the store and get your things. I'll send Demetri to come find you when I have everything." Heidi said, walking off.

"Great. I will go find Alec then and try not spill anything." I smiled and waved goodbye to Demetri.

I found Alec sitting in the gazebo, reading a book. I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"Did things go well with the Masters?" He asked, closing his book.

I nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah, I wanted to wait another couple weeks before changing. They agreed."

"Really? Why wait?"

I slid onto the bench beside Alec. "No reason in particular," I lied.

Alec arched his brow. "Are you scared?"

I sighed. "Yeah, kinda. All I've heard since being told I'd have to be change is how much it's going to hurt."

Alec wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. "It will be painful but I promise I will be by your side through it all."

I smiled and kissed him. "Thank you."

TIMESKIP

It's been two days since Heidi got my fabric and other items and I've managed to get all the cutting done. Now it was onto creating the rows.

I sat on the floor of the sewing room trying to decide on a pattern. Heidi had grabbed some watercolor and marble pattern fabric instead of solid colors which I thought worked really well. "Well, since the queen sheet is black, I could use the green fabric for the outside and use the black to create a heart in the middle," I muttered to myself.

Deciding that was the best way to go, I carefully laid out the pieces on the floor, mapping out how the quilt was going to look. Some of the squares would need to be cut differently but that was going to be too hard.

I grabbed my scissors and started cutting the black and green fabrics that would outline the heart.

"Hey, (Y/N)? Alec is looking for you." Felix said, poking his head in the door.

"Can you distract him? I'm getting ready to sew the squares into rows and I want to finish that tonight," I asked, looking up from my cutting.

"Of course. Good luck." Felix closed the door and I turned back to the fabric.

The last square was cut and the quilt was mapped out once more. I grabbed the first row, sat at the sewing machine and started sewing.

DAY FIVE

The final row had been sewed and I could finally take a break longer than just grabbing something to eat and sleeping. I pushed myself away from the sewing table and stood up. My back and shoulders popped as I stretched, making me sigh in relief.

I left the room and headed to the kitchen. I was craving spaghetti and in the mood to actual cook. I grabbed a pot and a pan and put them on the stove.

I hummed quietly to myself as I grabbed everything I need to start cooking.

"I see someone's out of hiding."

I gasped and spun to face whoever spoke. "Alec! Hi!"

He was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, looking annoyed.

"So when are you disappearing again?"

I frowned. "In a couple hours. I'm sorry."

Alec scoffed. "What are you even doing? Felix and Demetri won't tell me."

I put the pot of water I was holding on the stove and walked over to my boyfriend. "I promise you'll find out soon but not right now."

I leaned up to kiss his cheek but he pushed me away.

"Sure. I'll see you later. Or not."

I watched as Alec walked away, feeling my heart break. I looked back at the food I was starting to cook and decided to just put everything away.

I had to hurry and finish the quilt before I seriously ruined my relationship.

DAY TEN

It had been a couple days since I last left the sewing room. Felix, Demetri and Heidi had taken turns bringing me food and coaxing me to my room to sleep.

I had finished sewing the rows together yesterday and now it was onto cutting the batting to size.

I laid out the top of the quilt on the floor and rolled the batting on top of that. Grabbing my scissors, I carefully cut the batting to match the quilt top. Once that was done, I grabbed the sheet and laid it next to the rest of the quilt.

Then I placed the batting on top, making sure it was centered and then added the quilt top. I walked over to the sewing table and grabbed the tomato plush that held the pins and needles.

I put a pin in each corner of the blanket and across the outer edge. I was almost done and I couldn't wait to show Alec. He had started avoiding me whenever I left and I couldn't blame him. I could only hope he'd be able to forgive me.

DAY THIRTEEN

It was finally time to sew the border of the quilt. I rubbed my eyes and grabbed the quilt, taking it to the sewing table. The machines gentle purr as it sewed had become a comforting sound during the project. My hands and back ached from all the pinning and sewing and overall bad posture.

Finally. Finally the quilt was done. I carefully folded it and placed it on the table. I sat down on the couch Felix had brought in when I started spending a majority of my time in the room.

My eyes began to droop as I gave in to my exhaustion and I fell asleep.

Alec's POV:

I walked through the castle, wondering what was so important that (Y/N) no longer talked to me. I tried to just forget about it but they would lock themselves in the room for hours on end without saying anything.

Felix and Demetri, even Heidi, kept trying to tell me everything was ok but they wouldn't tell me what they were doing.

I scoffed as I saw Felix and Heidi rushing towards me.

"You need to come see (Y/N)," Heidi said, grabbing my arm.

"Why? If you haven't noticed, they've been avoiding me."

"You numbskull, they've been working on something for you. And now it's been like 36 hours since I've seen them leave that room." Heidi scolded.

My expression soften. "36 hours?"

Felix nodded. "They wanted to do something special for your anniversary tomorrow. I won't tell you what they did but you need to come with us and get her to eat a proper meal and get some sleep."

I nodded. "Lets go then."

I followed Heidi and Felix to the room (Y/N) had been holing themselves in.

When we got there, (Y/N) was asleep on the couch. I walked over and knelt beside them.

"Darling? It's time to wake up now."

(Y/N)'s POV:

I slowly opened my eyes, scared the voice I heard was just a dream. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw Alec kneeling beside me with Felix and Heidi standing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"I've come to get you. Heidi and Felix told me you've been in here the last three days."

Quickly, I sat up, realizing just what was going on. "No, no, no, you can't be in here! I haven't wrapped it yet."

Tears filled my eyes at the thought of ruining the surprise.

"Love, it's okay. I haven't looked around. I just came to get you. I've been worried," Alec said, trying to calm me down.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. I just wanted to do something special for you," I explained, wiping my eyes.

Alec moved to sit next to me on the couch. "I'm sorry too. I should have been more considerate towards you. I was hurt when you started avoiding me. I should have tried to talk to you instead of avoiding you as well."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. "We both could've communicated better. We'll do better from now on."

I felt Alec lean down and kiss the top of my head. "We will."

"You're surprise is on the sewing table. If you still want it," I told him, pulling back.

"Of course I do, love. You made it for me after all."

I smiled at him and walked over to the table, grabbing the quilt. Walking back to him, I set it in his lap. "I made it in our favourite colors."

Alec stood up and let the blanket unfurl. There was messed up stitches and some rows were slightly off but it was finished. Alec dropped the blanket on the couch and grabbed me, twirling me in the air.

"I love it. Thank you."

I hugged him again, resting my head on his shoulder. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

Alec set me down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "It's perfect. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Bonus:

"Great! Now go get some proper food, (Y/N), and go to sleep in your own bed," Heidi exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, fine! You win! Let's get out of here," I said, laughing.

Alec grabbed his quilt in one hand and grabbed mine in the other. We followed Heidi and Felix out of the room, happy things were normal again.

[lost-walmartbag]

Marjorine x reader p. 2

Playlist- Like the sun

Warnings: N/A

Background: Marjorine helps you ease into being more comfortable around people.

Status: Ongoing

Previous part

Next part

'Leo?'

After you talked to Marjorine you felt happy that you finally had someone to talk to and hang out with. You didn't know what to really do. Do you text them whenever you wanted or only when it was important? It was new to you but you were open to trying to figure it all out.

You walked into school and look around seeing Marjorine at their locker. You slowly walked up to them and they instantly noticed you. They smiled and their eyes lit up when they saw you.

"Hey Y/N. How's your morning?" They asked with a bright smile.

"Um, h-hi. it's ok." You stuttered out making their smile slowly disappear.

"You're really nervous is that how you are with everyone?" They asked softly trying to make you more comfortable.

"Y-yeah b-because I don't talk to many people i-it's hard to not be nervous." You explain looking away. "Eye contact is hard too."

"We can definitely work on that. Don't work we'll go slow." They said with a smile. "How are you with physical contact?"

"I-I d-don't really like being touched." You say holding onto the strap of your backpack.

"Well, that's ok. Sometimes socializing and stuff is hard but don't worry I'll be a good teacher." They said taking your hand causing you to look up and see their eyes were huge and their wide smile.

You couldn't help but blush a bit. You liked them touching your hand and smiling at you like that. You had to look away after a few seconds you couldn't keep staring it just made you so nervous. It was like staring into the sun you just couldn't look for too long but they made you feel warm.

"That was 5 seconds!" They cheered smiling even wider. "That's not bad, and you haven't pulled your hand away. You're doing way better than you said."

Their praise made you blush harder. "T-thank you." You stutter out sheepishly. The bell rang signaling you to go to class, but Marjorie didn't let go of your hand.

"How about I keep holding your hand until you feel like you have to pull away ok?" They asked slowly walking to class hand and hand with you. "How about we talk about something to make you less nervous. When we talked about sewing yesterday you didn't stutter so maybe if we talk about it you'll loosen up."

You nod and walk hand in hand with them to class. "I started a new project last week and I'm almost done but I ran out of fabric for the skirt and I haven't been able to find it anywhere."

"Oh, what did it look like? Maybe we can go to the store after school today to see if they have it." They said walking into class with you and taking their seat but still holding your hand.

"That's what I was looking for yesterday and I didn't see any so I'm scared that maybe they won't get another shipment and I won't be able to finish." You say sitting in the seat next to him. You honestly completely forgot you were even holding their hand as you blabbed on about sewing.

"I'm sure we can find some don't worry." They said placing their head on their free hand.

"Hmm, I guess so. Thanks, Leo." You say smiling brightly at them making their face turn a light shade of pink.

You stayed quiet for a few seconds and it made you realize that you two were still holding hands. You became flustered once more and pulled your hand away.

"You did really good Y/N. That was like at least a few minutes." They praised making you blush and look away. You simply nodded in response.

The class went on normally but Kyle who had watched the entire interaction kept a close eye on Marjorine and you. When class ended Marjorine turned to talk to you but you quickly got out of your seat and left the room without saying bye. Marjorine let out a small sigh and smiled softly to themselves.

"I guess we'll work on that." They muttered to themselves.

"Hey, Butters." Kyle said walking up to him.

"Well hey, Kyle what's up?" They asked with a smile and gathered their things.

"Are you and the new girl dating?" He asked bluntly.

"Y-Y/N? N-no we aren't dating." They said blushing and looking away,

"You guys were holding hands and she called you Leo," Kyle said questioningly.

"O-oh I'm just helping her work on socializing." They said clearly becoming uncomfortable by the question.

"But why does she call you Leo? I thought you didn't like your name." He said

"I-I'm just trying it out." They said looking up at Kyle who had a confused look on his face. "I got to get to class talk to you later ok? Bye."

Marjorine quickly ran out of the class. Maybe it was the sudden questions but now they couldn't stop thinking about you. Would they want to date you? Would you date them? The idea of being with you didn't sound bad but they honestly didn't want to think about that right now.

After school you walk out of the front doors seeing Marjorine standing there and waving you over.

"Hey Y/N! You wanna head out to the store?" They asked smiling softly.

"Yeah I've been thinking and if they don't have the fabric out maybe they'll have some in the back." You say as you started walking with them.

"Oh and this will be great practice for you! You can ask the cashier to check for you." They said excitedly making you stop dead in your tracks and tremble.

"I-I have to talk to her?" You ask your voice shaking

"Hey don't worry we can practice before we get there." They said taking your hand.

The sudden contact made you even more nervous but when you looked up at them their smile put me at ease. You nod and walk with them to the store biting the inside of your cheek.

"Ok so pretend I'm the cashier ok? Just tell me what you would ask." They said.

"Ok." You say taking a deep breath. "H-Hi c-can you check to see if you have any of the silk blue fabric?"

"Perfect just take a deep breath and don't worry ok?" They said opening the door of the store for you.

You nod, letting go of their hand and walking inside. You slowly make your way to the fabric isle and look around not seeing the fabric you wanted.

"Hmm doesn't seem like it's here." Marjorine said with a frown.

"Does that mean I have to ask?" You ask nervously.

"Mhm but don't worry you'll do just fine and I'll be right next to you." They said with a smile.

You slowly walk to the cashier and clear your throat. "E-excuse me?"

The cashier turned around giving you a small smile. "What can I help you with?"

Marjorine stood back watching you talk to the cashier. They smiled as they watched the cashier leave to the back, and you stood there with a bright smile. Your smile made them blush a bit as they see how proud you are in yourself. You turn your head to face them, giving them a toothy smile.

Marjorine felt like their heart skipped a beat and her blush grew deeper. They held up a thumbs up and looked away. They touched their face and felt the heat.

"What's wrong with me?"

A/N: Hey guys hoped you liked this sorry I didn't post yesterday I wanted to change the way my fics first looked and so hopefully they look way better. And like I mentioned before I'm pretty new to tumblr so I didn't know people who reblogged my post before the change would look like the old version even after I changed it. But yeah idk im learning 🤧 so I encourage you guys to read my past fics once more because I did do some editing and especially to my stan fic so yeah. Also, I made a lil playlist for this series ofc you don't to listen to it but these are just some small songs that fit the vibe a bit imo. Got the idea from @n0tangeliccc who again is a million times better at stuff like this and has way better music taste than me. Anyway I love you all thank you sm for reading 🩷🩷🩷

[junewild]

as a living history interpreter who also makes their own historical 'fits and obsesses over the accuracy... please elaborate on your tags on that post

oh hello fellow living history interpreter!! You've activated my trap card (asked about the overlap of many special interests) and I am going to find out if tumblr has a word limit the old-fashioned way!

I did interp very actively for about a decade as a youth & then more sporadically in the, uh, decade since then. Mostly 1820s–1930s. I have a to-die-for late '20s outfit sitting in my closet right now. (I did not make it. but I do have a project to make one like it, and it will only cost $450 and a couple hundred hours of work!) I worked in the costume department at my history site for some eighteen years, on and off, and so I've made a loooot of costume pieces, but only about two full period costume outfits. I don't have pictures of either of them, but here's a picture of me and my sister in an outfit that the department head made for me custom! (I would die for her. it's her fault that I got a master's in public history!)

I haven't made historically correct garb since last year, but some dear friends of mine had a wedding in February where the theme was "Medieval" (read: Ren-faire) and I... kinda... lost my mind about it, tbh?

Now: I did not create a historically accurate 16th century women's peasant outfit, although that was my first idea. (I'm sorry. I'm working on one right now tho) I decided to lean more Faire than SCA, since that's the background the Lich is from (he's actually getting into the circuit again this year!). I had about two months and a fairly small budget, so I started with a few yards of muslin and linen in blue and white (winter wedding! :)) I was originally going to refurbish a pretty yellow-cream-colored costume overbust corset into a more period corset, so the colors would all look good together.

I decided to go patternless for a couple of reasons. 1. no easy access to printer. 2. I hate myself. 3. my dear head costumer is the kind of person who can look at you and then make you a piece of clothing and it fits you like butter, and I want to be her someday. 4. I hate myself. So I looked at a lot of pictures of historical garb and faire garb and drew a lot of sketches and screamed into a pillow a lot and then started cutting things out and pinning them.

Pictured: (very short) pin test for a chemise, done in muslin so I don't fuck up any of the expensive linen / the pin test but it's sewed now (and bad) (also I ditched the corset refurbishment and bought a French Meadows corset for my Christmas present because I've always wanted one. the only thing I didn't make. but it's only a matter of time. I have a lot of boning bookmarked.)

Having learned a bunch of lessons about what doesn't work, I then made the actual linen chemise. And then a petticoat (not pictured). And then a skirt. All hand-sewn, all based on nothing except for looking at pictures and taking my measurements over and over again. (AUGH.)

Then I got about halfway through sewing a cloak and went... okay, I don't want to wear a white chemise to a wedding (feels rude) and white and blue are not even my usual color palette, even though they look really pretty with this corset. And then I looked at the calendar, which said that the wedding was happening in two (2) weeks. And then I bought linen in black and red. And while I waited for it to arrive, I finished the cloak and made a muff and embroidered a tie-on pocket. And when the linen arrived, I repeated the process really fast.

Pictured: first finished skirt fitting, 2 days before leaving for the wedding. Not pictured: the internal screaming and despair. If you look carefully, you can see that I figured out a MUCH smarter way to do the neckline/sleeves/waist on the black chemise than I had thought to do on the white one. I can actually raise my arms!!

Worth it.

And I wore the blue-and-white outfit to Faire this month, where it worked very well as a lighter and cooler version!

Neither of these are particularly good, tbh! I made a lot of dumb mistakes and figured out some much better things I could have done in hindsight! But for baby's very first patternless historical-ish outfits, made with nobody holding my hand or even giving me advice, I'm okay with them. I learned a hell of a lot and had a hell of a time and looked hella good at the end of it all. Sew it goes.

[queen-hospitality]

I've written something for @fem-queen-week !

It's not very polished (let's call it a draft) but I had another look at the Day 2 prompts yesterday and was suddenly inspired so I wrote a short fem!joger thing overnight. This might end up on ao3 eventually, we'll see!

Details: Roger = Rose/Rosie, John = Jane/Jen/Jenny. (Freddie and Brian are still boyz.) Adult themes between the lines. Approx 940 words.

Prompts: "New Skill" & "Second-Hand Embarrassment" (Day 2)

Summary: Brian has come to Rose for help mending his clothes, but an appearance from Jane means he might find out more than he bargained for. A ficlet in two styles, starting with Brian's description-heavy point of view (help him).

NB. This is actually a follow-up to something else I've written, which is rated mature and can be found on ao3 here, but is not essential reading for the ficlet below.

--

"Right, okay, yeah I see your problem. You've done a nice running stitch here – really very nice, these stitches are tiny..." Rose squinted, nose twitching as she held the fabric almost comically close to her face.

Brian sighed. "But...? What's the problem then?"

"What you want is a backstitch – much stronger." She plonked the jacket back in its owner's lap.

"Grand. Marvellous. I'll just stitch backwards next time then, shall I?" Brian grumbled.

"Er, no actually, you'll backstitch it forwards – and you'll do it this time," said Rose, reaching for her sewing basket.

Brian pulled a face at his bandmate's back. 'Do it this time,' he mimed silently, indulging in a bit of childishness to offset his annoyance.

There was quiet but wicked cackle from across the room and Brian jumped, whipping his head towards the sound.

"When did-? Where the hell did you come from?! Bloody hell, Jane don't do that to me. Lord. I didn't know you were here!"

Jane – who it seems had been leaning against the doorframe for goodness-knows how long – had the courtesy to at least look a little sheepish, ducking her head and pressing a hand to her lips. It did nothing to hide her grin, but she did try to apologise all the same. "Sorry, Brian. Sorry," she said. "I was... around, you know, just..." she waved in the direction of another doorway, "in the bathroom."

Brian nodded, still a little bewildered.

He was not, however, too shaken to notice that the doorway Jane had been gesticulating towards was certainly not the bathroom.

There were three doors at the top of the staircase on the tiny landing which comprised Rose's bedsit. One led to the shared not-quite-kitchen, where he was currently seated, increasingly uncomfortable and about to receive a sewing lesson, apparently. Another door did lead to the toilet – he had staggered in there many a time after a night out, taking the opportunity for a comfort break before continuing his journey home. This left the third door, the one to which Jane had waved, the one he hadn't ventured through himself since helping Rose to move in last year. 

So, unless there had been a swift, radical and completely inexplicable change of layout in the flat, Brian could be fairly certain that the third and final door led to Rose's bedroom. He could assume, then, that from some point prior to his arrival with a poorly-patched jacket bundled into his satchel, all the way up until a few moments before he'd had his life expectancy shortened for him by such a sudden appearance, Jane had been in the small bedroom – Rose's room. Combining this information with the fact that these two bandmates had each said they didn't feel like a trip to the pub that evening, Brian felt his cheeks begin to heat up as he considered the very real possibility that Freddie had been right after all and that it might actually be the case that Rose and Jane really had in fact been f–

"Ow!"

Rose had prodded him in the leg with the blunt end of a sewing needle. "Brian, mate, I haven't got all day. You recovered yet? We okay to continue?" 

"Hm?"

Jane giggled again. "Oh dear, I have given him a fright haven't I? Here, I think you'd better have some water."

She moved to the sink. Rose watched her. Brian watched Rose watch her.

"Have you finished distracting my pupil?" Asked Rose as Jane placed two glasses atop a stack of magazines.

Jane nodded, still smiling widely. Very widely. "I'll go to the shop – you're out of milk."

"Thank you Jenny," Rose sang after her.

Very domestic.

Brian pouted in thought. He'd always been pleased with the bashful, contented smiles he received when a woman left his bedroom, but the way Jane had been beaming? He felt somewhat put to shame.

Soon, Rose shoved his leg.

Brian tried desperately to close the door on the line of thinking he'd started going down, and forced himself to make eye contact with his friend. "Hm?"

"Do you want to know how it works or not?"

"How it... works?"

Rose gave him a hard stare. He was really testing her. She picked up the scrap of fabric and sighed. "Look, backstitch is quite simple, really..."

--

"So," Jane began, "Brian was weird today."

"Yeah," Rose pulled her close. "I think it was mostly– well, I reckon he knows."

"What, really?"

"Well, I think so. He kept using backstitch as an analogy for–"

"Stop! I don't want to know."

"No, no, I mean, 'doing things differently from what he'd assumed'? Or something... and about there being a garment you think you know, then finding there's other layers to it..."

"...But I thought he already knew you're into women?"

"Yeah he knew about me – you're the garment, silly."

Jane laughed. "Oh I'm the garment, okay I'm with you."

...

...

"His face when he saw you though..."

"I know, I thought I'd short-circuited him!"

"Well you do have that effect on me, so it's not hard to imagine the same happening to him."

"Please, we do not need to imagine that happening–"

"No," Rose snorted, "no you're right... because we know you'd blow his mind."

"You've got a funny way of flirting with me, Ms Taylor. You know that?"

"Oh, like I ever need to flirt with you anymore. I bet you didn't even bother putting your knickers back on earlier."

"...Yeah okay you're right," Jane grinned, radiant. She flopped back onto Rose's bed once again. "Come on!" She said, "get your kit off and let's finish what you started."

-- 💫 --

Thanks for reading! Comments welcome, but no pressure. I know my pacing is a bit off, but I hope it still hangs together!

The main story/'part one' is here:

[sheliesshattered]

All the lettering for my lightsaber bag is finished! I'm still slowly cleaning up all the chalk guidelines, but the inking itself is done. I photographed it here with the padded interior and the saber inside, to give an idea of how it'll look all together. I need to trim down the upper edge of the padded bag, which right now is making the 'f' in 'fragile' (far left in the first pic) lay a bit oddly, but I think it'll be fine once it's trimmed and sewn together.

I also ended up adding some text to the utility pocket at the lower end of the bag, in a much smaller font. It reads 'license number AZ311I5-291001' which is the same (made up) number on the freighter pilot's license I had made for my OC, Samæni.

Mostly I just wanted some visual texture there, something different from the larger block letters (and rotated 90 degrees off of those letters), but for character/worldbuilding I'm thinking of it as sort of a certification of being a licensed import/export pilot. I did that bit in fine-tip sharpie, so especially with the smaller letters it went together much faster than the main lettering.

The next step for this project will be putting on the little fake pocket flap between 'antique' and 'handle', and I'll probably sew the hardware onto the crossbody strap while I'm at it. I think I might want to add some weathering via fabric paints to give a bit more texture and Star Wars look to this, but I can probably do that after the whole bag is sewn together. Depending on what paints I have on hand, I may do some of that this weekend even before I sew the exterior into a tube, but unlike the lettering and the pockets, it's not completely necessary to finish before sewing the tube closed.

Work this week was pretty demanding, and I think will continue to be over the next two weeks especially, but I feel like I'm in a good spot to get this finished by the time the Star Wars Nite events at Disneyland start up on April 16th. We still haven't bought tickets yet -- we've been waiting to see how work settled in -- so I don't have a specific date I'm aiming for, but the 16th would be the earliest. And I still want to spend some time weathering my saber hilt before then, too, but I think that's probably only a couple of hours of work total.

[daybreakrising]

𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐈'𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑!

alias / name:   lauri

birthday:   may 11

zodiac sign:   taurus

height:   5'5''

hobbies: gaming, writing, reading, sewing, drawing (sometimes-)

favorite color: red

favorite book: the hobbit / lotr

last song: port ormos theme (but epic orchestral ver.)

last film / show: honestly can't remember the last film i watched ??? / i rewatched hotd while dogsitting

recent reads: whatever my latest crime / thriller book is bc. i read at least one a week, if not two. don't ask me to tell you the title(s)

inspiration: i honestly don't know how to answer this one bc like......... i don't have specific sources of inspiration on a general basis & i'm not going to delve into my individual muses bc i have a LOT-

story behind url: if you're expecting some poetic reasoning, don't. back when this was just a n//aruto multi i started off with more a///katsuki muses than any others and... a///katsuki literally means dawn / daybreak. it's not that deep ASLKBDGG-

fun fact about me: i have written three fantasy novels and haven't published a single one bc i am a perfectionist and therefore incapable of even Thinking about publishing bc they will never be perfect and so they are doomed to sit unread forever-

tagged by: @icerberus tagging: feel free to steal it and say i tagged you bc idk who hasn't done it yet-

[andmaybegayer]

Last First Monday of the Week Year 2023-01-02

it's that time again

Listening: Bought an Apple USB-C DAC so relistening to songs I know well for reference. One being Bad Religion's Let Them Eat War.

Bad Religion's bit gets me every time. Yeah he's. A PhD evolutionary biologist who does the militant atheist meme irl. Perfect band no notes.

Reading: In search of an entirety different blog post I did not find, The Alexandrian's GM Don't List. It's a good list, not really groundbreaking advice but good things to rein in some bad habits you may have developed at other people's tables and sensible reasons why you should avoid them.

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37571/roleplaying-games/gm-dont-list-1-morphing-reality

A lot of these are just urgings to be consistent and predictable but that's so important at a table, nothing is worse for players than having a plan go awry even though the rules say it should work.

Watching: Knives Out: Glass Onion, which was great. It's really cool that it is actually basically the same overall setup in the abstract as Knives Out: Donut Hole but still a totally novel and interesting story.

Playing: Started and finished the Titanfall 2 Campaign over the new year. I like first person shooters in theory but many, many of them do not do it for me, I still haven't finished Spec Ops: The Line. Titanfall is fast paced and has the right level of "You're in a bad situation, what do you do, now quickly think!" that I like from first person shooters in particular and more generally from video games.

Frantic snap decisions are usually a terrible idea in real life but they're a lot of fun, and you feel good when they work out. Ping-ponging off walls and firing shots off only to land in the middle of a cluster of enemies, dropping a grenade and activating your invisibility power to escape is great. Movement is super good, albeit a little unpredictable as to when you're going to stick to a wall rather than swing past it to your death.

Making: I have done nothing but sew quilt patches for three days. Cut what will hopefully be the last batch of patches from the roll, it looks like I'm probably going to contribute about ⅓ of this quilt with my mother making up the other ⅔.

Tools and Equipment: The templates for cutting and marking seams on the quilt patches were originally printed, and they're worn down to the point of uselessness. Rather than running around to a printshop, I made the new ones by just drawing it by hand, so here's to a robust set of geometric tools. With a couple set squares, a protractor, a compass, and a good ruler you can do an awful lot of constructions very accurately. In particular constructing parallel lines with two set squares came in handy here for drawing the rhombuses.

[petalpierrot]

Festival Updates

So the party arrives back at the Vistani camp and rests there for a day. The next day the camp is busy and Eidys asks the children if there is some sort of celebration.

They inform her it's the "Feast of the Moon" (basically a Hallow's Eve/Harvest festival/Day of the Dead amalgamation)

the kids show off their costumes to Eidys and she compliments them.

The Vistani are setting stalls outside the city gates. They are not allowed within city gates even during the celebration because the current Baron is mistrustful of them (something the party aims to fix) older Vistani mention that this was not always the case and that there was a time when they were allowed to set up stalls within the city, and the citizens were more trusting. But with the current Baron's influence, the citizens are wary.

This celebration is a longstanding tradition (so in a sense it's meant to also celebrate commerce and be actually fun)

As promised Baron Vargas has sent an invitation to Eidys to be his guest of honor at the festival (because she previously aided him with a personal matter)

Eidys suggests to the party that they could participate in the festivities, as a change of pace and a way to cheer up

The party agrees to this and after breakfast, they depart for Vallaki.

The party passes a darts game stall and Dris (who is SURPRISINGLY amazing at darts, like I expected him to be good but damn he blew it out of the park with the 20s and 30s to hit with 12 and 14/DCS) wins Ireena three prizes (The prizes are plush dolls of the party, Ireena picks a doll of herself, the party cleric (Veshen) and ranger (Dris) )

Veshen was low-key being a wingman for that confidence boost to him with guidance

Ireena even gives him a thankful kiss on the cheek (Strahd don't look)

Next Eidys is looking into making purchases for the upcoming Dinner with Strahd, so she goes to look at the cloth and clothing vendor.

The Seamstress inquires about if she is going to dine with the baron, but Eidys is being a bit more discreet and only tells the seamstress that the dinner is with Lord Strahd once she takes the party into her shop the "Sew and Tell". The Seamstress is very concerned by this and does her best to accommodate Eidys and the other ladies of the party.

The Seamstress introduces herself as Kala and comments that the city does not see many elves, aside from Rahadin

Eidys comments that he is rather tall (Rahadin is 6'5 in our game, so 6'0 Eidys seems smaller in comparison.)

Kala asks if Eidys is a woman of faith, and Eidys replies that she isn't overly religious but Sehanine Moonbow is one of the god's moon elves worship as well as a few others. (she is intelligent enough to realize that Angharradh isn't an amalgamation goddess even if some moon elves believe that she is)

I will eventually need to find the energy to make basic references for what everyone's suits and dresses look like but I have a basic idea of what everyone's attire looks like.

Eidys chose this: Dress

Briel (Druid) chose this Dress

Veshen chose this suit

For Dris (ranger) I just need to design one.

Ireena we haven't decided yet but perhaps next session.

The druid disapproves of the ranger not saying anything when Ireena was showing off a dress she was considering (to be fair, he is a male drow and doesn't think it's his place to comment)

Eventually, Rahadin also shows up, seemingly also commissioning some clothes for the dinner. he becomes a bit flustered when he spots Eidys, complimenting her in the dress.

Eidys thanks him with a slight blush. (these two are so cute I died)

Rahadin asks if he should wait outside until they are finished but Eidys tells him that none of them mind so he is free to stay.

Rahadin takes his place in one of the waiting chairs (DM described it as one of those chairs spouses sit in as they wait for their significant others to be done in the dressing rooms)

We had to end the session there but next week there's gonna be a dunk tank and more festival shenanigans.

[a-bee-wizard]

here are my ongoing knitting WIPs

Hippa Tulippa mittens:

i've been using them to test/practice various ways to tension my floats, and as a result the sizing is VERY funny. My plan is to knit the top part of the remaining mitten very tight so that they will at least kind of match lengthwise, and then hope I can block out the worst of my gauge sins.

Probably about 4 hours of work remaining? ~2 more to finifh the main part of the mittten (including some sewing and weaving in ends), and 1 hour each for the thumbs.

Poet sweater

I love this yarn!!!!!!! it's an alpacka/silk blend, and im already planning to use it again, soon!! The sweater looks kind of weird since I haven't blocked it yet.

Maybe about 5-6 hours left? The stockinette part is fast, but the half twisted rib on 3 mm needles took FOREVER on the first sleeve, lmao.

Woolly waffle sweater

So first of all: this thing should be moved to a longer cable because it looks so sad. Second of all: some of the construction choices for this sweater are super weird. Like i've never done an "m1" increase - as in NOT M1L or M1R, just M1. AND it has short row shaping, but not really any proper short rows? i think it's optimized to be as easy as humanly possible to physically do for someone who has never knit a sweater before, but as someone who has i'm constantly thrown off guard. But I mean, it WORKS so i'm not complaining.

Also this yarn (peer gynt) is the first proper scratchy wool yarn i've used (i have a lot of texture hangups) and im not sure how i feel about it. The texture is BIZARRE, it's like almost rubbery? I think it's going to feel and look great with some actual use (so it can absorb like. skin oil) but knitting with it is very strange.

I guess about 20-30 hours more work? That folded hem (half twisted rib AGAIN) took forever to do.

In the pipeline (no pictures because i can not be bothered)

Merino socks. I impulse bought some sock yarn this summer, and need to get started on those once i finish the mittens. I want to knit them top down with 2x2 ribbing along the leg/foot. It's been a while since I did a heel flap and gusset, so maybe i'll do that. I know some people have a real bee in their bonnet about heel shaping but i just don't care - i just do whatever i feel like.

Mmaybe about 10 hours of work from start to finish? I'm not really a sock person, idk.

Mohair hat. I haven't knit with mohair before since it's kind of expensive and looks Very Texture (derogatory), but i think it can create a lot of cool colour effects and i'm ALL about that, so I want to at least try it out. Haven't decided on a colour yet though, maybe like a baby blue? OR: purposefully pick two different colours and see how they marl.

About 5-7 hours of work, depending on how much grief using two strands of yarn will give me lmao

Ankers sweater. I bought this pattern some time ago, but didn't get around to it for various reasons. BUT the other week i saw someone knitting it with two strands of my new FAVE alpacka/silk blend yarn, so now i'm all *george costanza voice* i gotta focus i'm shifting into alpacka/silk mode

[bomberqueen17]

changes

i don't know if i've discussed this on here or what but i'm leaving the camera store job to do just farm things. I'm not getting paid a lot at the farm but I am getting paid so that's something. Kind of a stipend. The farm work is... ostensibly not full-time so I will still have time to come back to Buffalo and like, get Chita snuggles and you know, be in my house, see my guy, that kind of thing. We'll see how the schedule works out; the main thing for me is to free me from the tyranny of ten hours a week of being on the Thruway, which tends to take up all of my weekend time and a lot of my mental energy.

So tomorrow's my last day. My supervisor has called out for two days so far this week, which has completely shattered my already-nebulous ability to wrap shit up, so this place is entirely a disaster and I have no idea what kind of condition I'm going to wind up leaving it in, but also, it's not my problem and I've done my best. I do think they thought my leaving date wasn't final and that like a sensible person I had left myself time off between jobs, but I did not not do that, I will be leaving Monday morning before dawn.

I'm trying to write checklists for whoever's taking over my job. They've made no moves to replace me. My supervisor has been polite to me but has said to the store manager dramatically that he'll never be able to take a day off again. (Before I knew I was leaving, he'd told me a date he was taking a vacation and I'd said that was a date I couldn't cover and he'd said too bad he did enough to be flexible for me, and like...... no there are other options, sir, but as it happens I managed to force the issue out of my court entirely.) He's out this week, so I have trained people he has previously refused to train. The only reason I'm trained is that I taught myself, but it's also not that hard. So. Now I've trained several people and they will be filling in when Supervisor takes days off, because he will take days off, such as over Thanksgiving when he had a fucking heart attack and it was a crisis because I could not be urgently recalled and he could not leave the hospital. Christ so now three other people know how to do some of the basic shit around here. This does not require an advanced degree. I wrote a checklist. Calm down.

Anyway am I chill? No. Am I excited about my future? No. Let me get there and get a minute to do some decompressing maybe and I will be but at the moment everything is hectic and I just want to go lie down.

Anyway I haven't gotten much writing done either. Or sewing. But. Maybe there'll be time in the future, when I'm not spending most of the time when I'm at my own house sitting in this windowless room doing busywork.

I did the math, I'll be two months short of having worked here fourteen years.

[miximagic256]

Points of Interest (January - February 2023)

So here's something I may or may not do continually, Points of Interest is where I talk about anything I've been doing lately whether it's a project I'm working on or something I find interesting to talk about that is relevant.

The things I'm going to talk about date back to early January and a lot has happened during that time, so without further ado...

Short classes I've done

Back in January I joined two free short courses, one being art and illustration, and the other being about sewing, with the former lasting just 3 days (which honestly is way too short for a course) and the latter lasting 5 weeks. I realised this year that I love being creative and as such I should try and tap into various creative mediums to see how much I enjoy them.

With the Art & Illustration course it was a matter of looking at illustrations the tutor had picked out and trying to copy them while also trying different drawing techniques (such as drawing without the reference of what you're copying), despite this course only lasting 3 days it was very enjoyable and I got introduced to some really interesting illustrators. To be honest I don't think people give illustration enough credit, not only is it everywhere you go but there's an incredible amount of variants and styles from just the last 100 years alone and anyone that has any related interest in art should definitely look into illustration and illustrators.

The sewing course lasted 5 weeks (one day for each week) it was a beginner course so we were taught how to use a sewing machine and various stitching techniques, by the end of the course we had a choice of making a bag or a pincushion (I choose the latter), Despite having a sewing machine I haven't used it much but I hope I can find time to do an intermediate class at some point since I want to keep this momentum going and not lose what I have learnt. The last time I did sewing was in high school so the course was a refresher on a lot of things and the reason I wanted to take a sewing course was because I want to try and make my own clothes for cosplaying reasons, if you know me than you'd know that I have a huge list of favourite characters that I love to pieces and seeing some of the incredible cosplays people online make made me realise just how close you can get to looking like a certain character! Now granted it would probably take me a long time to reach a level like that but in the meantime I want to try and take it slow while having fun in the process!

Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy

My Crash Bandicoot history is a little weird, growing up I had Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and then later I got Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, but despite being a big fan of the series and having fond memories of Crash 2 I haven't actually played many of the games. Nevertheless the announcement of N. Sane Trilogy made me and many others excited as this would be Crash's return after years of being dormant, however only recently have I been actually playing the remake and it's been a really interesting experience especially considering I haven't actually played the original Crash 1 and 3, I have to admit I wonder how I will feel about playing the Crash 2 segment of the game since that's the one I'm most familiar with.

On the subject of Crash 2, I have to say that the original game has aged incredibly well:

For one the game has a save feature in a time a lot of games were still using passwords, sure games having save features predate the PlayStation but those were often expensive and not common so as a result games would resort to using passwords instead, I imagine that in 1997 most people managed to get a memory card so there wasn't a need to try and beat the game in one sitting which also got rid the need of writing down whatever password you were given to continue from where you last left off.

Second, Crash 2 had fluid and expressive character animations for Crash and especially Dr. Neo Cortex which was way ahead of many other games at the time considering that PS1 games were infamous for having stiff character animations, Dr. Cortex in this game is pretty interesting compared to how he is later on the franchise because unlike future Crash games which toned down how threatening he was in Crash 2 he's not only the main villain but he has complete control of the situation, he forced Crash to a warp room and gave him vague instructions which Crash follows because despite having a previous negative encounter Cortex knows that Crash has no other choice but to follow his instructions, and this is expressed even further in the game over screen where if you press "Yes" he says "play again Crash" while if you press "No" he says "I guess you didn't have what it takes Crash".

Notice anything? In both choices Dr. Cortex isn't sad or angry and that's because if you think about it he wins in either outcome, if you continue the fact that you are Dr. Cortex's biggest threat doesn't matter because you're collecting the crystals for him, if you don't continue Dr. Cortex may not get the crystals anymore but his biggest threat to stop his plan is now out of the way which again shows just how much control he has over the situation, this isn't even mentioning his incredible performance by well known voice actor Clancy Brown who absolutely kills it as Dr. Cortex (ironically he only voiced Dr. Cortex three times, with Lex Lang voicing the character in most of the series' duration, however Lex Lang does a good performance as Dr. Cortex as well I want to make that clear!)

Oh and remember the game over screen I mentioned earlier? They actually re lip synced Dr. Cortex's lines where he was speaking in different languages which means Dr. Cortex has different lip syncing to match the new dialogue which is incredible for 1997 and even by today's standards!

On top of all of this? Crash 2 was made just 11 months after Crash 1, yet there are so many improvements, minor and major, that it's hard to list them all and I don't know how Naughty Dog put so much effort in so little time. However they managed that, it shows!

Social media

Yeah, I'm going to talk about social media in this section, because as of this post Elon Musk has some(?) control of Twitter, now I haven't been using Twitter regularly for nearly a year (I do plan on coming back fully though) but from what I've heard a lot has happened in the time since he stepped in. Now the reason I'm bringing this is up is because some people have said that the issues brought to Twitter recently makes them think the website might be shut down or abandoned, something a lot of people see as something to celebrate but let me tell you why Twitter shutting down is a bad thing:

A lot of websites have come and gone on the internet (chances are 10 years from now the internet will look different yet again) however historically whenever a website shut down all it resulted was the users of that website moving to another more popular website. Remember when Vine shut down and all the Vine users moved to YouTube? Or when a lot of Tumblr users moved to Twitter nearly 5 years ago? When both of those migrations happened a lot of the issues the original website suffered from got carried over, that's because when a website disappears it doesn't mean the people who use it disappear as well since the only way to fix a website's userbase is for the users themselves to sort themselves out.

(If you think I'm being broad keep in mind I'm only talking about social media websites, of course a lot of websites have gone over the years but my point is if a website is large enough to gain a large userbase then they will remain online regardless if that website stays or not, also I have to say people from Twitter coming to Tumblr is honestly a full circle moment that's incredibly ironic).

A website's userbase is often formed from two things: the people themselves that use it, and the way the website is structured. How a person uses said website is up to them and this can range from person to person, however my point is while websites can be riddled with issues the fix is far more complicated than to just delete the website itself, a website redeeming itself can only be done through its management (if it's structured in a way that has them at least) or for a site like Twitter it's for the userbase to try and be smart with how they use it (sending tweets, dealing with accounts they don't like, etc.) I know this is easier said than done and chances are this won't happen on a large scale, but even being aware of the algorithm and how you add to it can help by a long run even if it's just you advising your friends on how to make their social media experience better for them and everyone else that follows them.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

I originally wasn't going to include this as I only planned talking about the things above, but as me and two other friends saw this movie on February 25th and considering that I don't plan to make a full post about this film, I've decided to include a segment dedicated to this as well:

WOW what an incredible film! Dreamworks is a studio with a weird track record (after all what do you do when you've achieved revenge - the very reason your studio was made in the first place?) But sometimes when they have the right direction they make something fantastic. There's so much I could say about this movie but to keep it short – what I love about Puss in Boots: The Last Wish so much is its execution.

A lot of the themes the movie tackles (vulnerability, accepting your morality, living to the best you can) are themes a lot of films (and especially children's media in general) have tackled with, but unfortunately sometimes when they are used they are either hamfisted or they aren't properly delved into making the impact far smaller than it has the potential to reach. But this film not only tackles those themes I mentioned above but it tackles them full-on, including the darker parts of those themes to such an extent that the film overall feels very mature since it knows what tone to have at that given moment.

The main plot about following a magic map so you can make a wish shows the desires of every character who wants to use it, for our three main characters Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws and Perrito, they all showcase themes the film is trying to show. Puss' wish is to gain back his missing eight lives because he always tries to aim himself towards this legendary status of himself that he can defeat anything and now that he's down to his last life feels that he can't live up to that. Kitty's wish its wanting to trust someone but feeling like she can't because of a history of being backstabbed, since being able to trust someone requires you to be vulnerable which results in making her closed-off. Perrito unlike Puss and Kitty doesn't have a wish to make because he's already happy with both himself and his life, which while it's clear a lot of that is a result of ignorance of how dark people can act he ends up helping our main protagonists because they realise it's possible to find people that don't want to use you and legitimately want to befriend you (Kitty) and to realise that even with one life that you can live and be happy with just one (Puss).

The film also stands out because of what it does differently, I've mentioned the themes above that it executes but it also has a traditional villain in a period where Disney hasn't done one in ages, not to mention there's a lot of fairytale characters that haven't really been seen on the big screen before which thanks to this being Dreamworks allows them to be utilised in interesting ways, since Dreamworks doesn't try to have a "clean" image of themselves unlike Disney.

There's so much more I can say about this film but I'm afraid that if I do I'll spoiler it (plus this post is quite long as it is!) If you haven't seen this movie yet then please find an opportunity to do so! You will not regret it.

Topic End: Epilogue

Well that's everything I wanted to cover from January - February, I hope you've enjoyed reading and I'll see you next time!

[j-a-smiths-blog]

1809 6June24: Chapter 158

Fit.

I cut the portion of the waist out, sewed it up, and it fits nicely. I do have to admit, it fits nicely just standing there, I haven't moved around in them.

I still have some work to do, but the progress is coming out nicely. Also, I did go back and count the buttons last night. The company gave me 11 black anchor buttons. I knew something just seemed off when I was counting them last night and pre-positioning where I want buttons. The fact that I had 5 already sewn in for the waist line, then two setting aside for the flap should have left me with 3, but in fact, there were 4 still in the baggy. This makes me want to count the silver buttons. But I shouldn't worry about this. What I need to do is go ahead and continue work on the breeches to finish the front flap and get it with its buttons so I can officially start wearing the breeches if I want.

The weather is slowly changing as the rainy season is slowly approaching. Still hot but at the same time I've just been sitting inside the bedroom with the fan and AC. I really want to get the breeches done so I can go ahead and put the clothing on and get a few shots of me in my clothing building my treadle lathe.

All this talk and yet I am slowing myself down. I need to keep the press. Our house hold stuff got pushed to 17 and 18th being delivered which means I'll officially be forty years old when I finally get my stuff back!

Yes, less than a week until my birthday. I really feel like not saying anything and just letting the day approach and pass. Most of the Filipinos don't know it's my birthday, and as of right now, nobody has budged in mentioning anything special we are doing. I mean... they could sell the idea that the trip was a birthday trip for me... even though it was somewhere other than where I wanted to go, they could say oh the dog was your surprise, but my wife has already spilled the beans that she wanted the dog.

Alright, I need to get back to this front fall flap on the breeches.

[ashwithapen]

(CW for referenced/implied self-harm, implied dissociation)

"one day. maybe not now, and maybe not for a while, but one day."

i wrote those words once, some years ago now. i put them in my ipad's notes app, probably late one night when i shouldn't have been up, shouldn't have been on my ipad, shouldn't have been crying in prelude. i wrote those words to hear what i needed to, the voice inside me wrapping my naked body gently in my own arms and smothering the growing pains, not in my legs, but my lungs, it seemed, breathing aching and stuttered at best.  

i don't remember most of it, instead preferring to forget my forgottens and be done with the whole thing. why should i need to remember that i don't? why should i need to know that something in my memory is amiss? but i remember you, light. i remember the warmth you shed upon me in the growing dark of the evening. i remember the numb transition from cold tile and warm blood to warm water and then cold air, softly kissing our cheeks where they poked out from beneath the blanket that was more a home than the walls around us. i remember it without question: "oh dear, sweetheart. we can't have this happening. let's get you cleaned up." and for why i should be a sweetheart, and for why i should deserve your care, and for why i should not have just keep lying there in the shower, waiting for something gentler than the painful reminders that were going to sleep, and waking up, and going for 18 hours, and winding up in the shower again just to be bathed in deep red—my very own. and for why? not what; what is too easy, is too specific, too general, too cliche, to falsely layered with what my mind tells me is manipulation. don't tell me a thing that starts with your "because". tell me for why.

to write, i hope so damn dearly. for why: to write, to become the author, to become the creator, to finally say everything that sewed lips failed to. to scream and be heard, to talk and be heard, to sigh gently and be heard. to raise awareness, not in the way that makes me the fighter, but in a way that makes me the poet, the bard, the reminder as they were for me that you can do this and make it to "one day". 

"one day. maybe not now, and maybe not for a while, but one day."

i still finger over the words in my mind, still have them tossed to my corner of this unending consciousness by somebody who'd been lurking in the bright, blurry shadows. when they came back from their trip and turned my mother's perfume sour just by twisting their key in the lock, i swallowed far too hard (so hard i must have buried my tongue down there) and felt the words on the cold metal and glass run in front of my eyes all over again, the prior six weeks be damned. 

i still feel them fluttering like a mindless little thing in a glass cage, wings like the most precious paper, body the most vulnerable thing alive. my ribcage, i suppose, and the flutter the stutter of my pain-wrung lungs, and the body my heart, anticipating the other shoe dropping. and the whole mirage dares to name itself "hope": the fissures in the glass, the walls of this cage, of this house, this family, the smothered gasps as my bedroom door shuts behind me, hands on my mouth and nose, and the feel of the back of my head knocking against tile again in the same old hideaway shower. despite it all, the mirage dares to name itself hope, and with bitten-back cries, it will have to be enough. 

"one day. maybe not now, and maybe not for a while, but one day."

when i looked in the mirror the other day—the two of us, actually—and saw our lips pinch up in the corner, knowing it was you outrightly, i heard the words again. this was no 'she', though. while she does come by, that day it was you. i've known you for as long as my memory goes back, haven't i? you came with my return (assuming i'd been here before) and flipped the switch that was a hand on my shoulder amidst the meetings, the arguments, the dinners (which often were all the same). 

and the other, other day, when i brought up with dad the topic of how to save us. and he said in return: "you cannot make life-changing decisions at 17. you need to focus on getting into university." as if university will not also change me. as if i'd not always wanted this more than education. as if i haven't wanted this for as long as my memory dares to go back. and i pray that our mother will hear us out, and that when i turn 18 my voice will finally matter, and that by next summer it will be as i imagine. i plead it, i plead it, i plead it. and i try to ignore whoever it is telling me that realistically nothing will change, and nobody will hear us, and our voice still will not matter, and that a year from now this body will still be unrecognizable until another, further "one day", maybe even after i get that rolled paper that means i'm not a sham. your hand rests on me again as you read over my shoulder and we both know what i refuse to write. please. 

but it's always been about hope, hasn't it? since i first wrote that sentence and let it plague me, going on some four years now. four years. it doesn't sound so long, i suppose, until you realise how many weeks that is, and how many days are in a week, and how different 13 and 17 are as ages. if i could show that kid one thing, i look to my right and think it might be instant mocha, not for anything but the mundanity, for the proof that i'm still here. these next few months are going to get pretty tough, but i'm still here. just so that the kid knows there's one more person out there on their side. hope is nothing new, but damn, i'm surprised it's still kickin'.

but you know me now, the words come from nowhere, as if, ironically, i should know what they mean. i can see it clear in my mind: in the dark, a character spins, wide-eyed, holding a flaming torch out in front of them, and calls into the nothingness "who's there" or "show yourself". "who do i know now?" i wonder, and only everyone comes to mind. the light, soul, hope, pride, myself, this house. if the answer is even one of those, i'd like to say yeah, i guess i am getting to know you. i want to sit cross-legged at your feet and look up and keep getting to know you. tell me your stories, just know that i'm still wearing children's skin—in other words, please be kind. 

dizzy is a good word. my head spins with your presence, and suddenly i'm forgetting who i am. the other day i smiled, sitting on my sofa, when i remembered how much i love to write, how proud of how far my writing is coming, and that i'd just toured universities and spoken with the professionals. it's weird to forget yourself; it leaves you feeling dizzy.

and what if i did not stop? if i stayed here until the ritalin wears off, shoved more leftovers in my mouth, took another dose, made more instant mocha, and kept on going, filling this document until it overflowed? i smile when i realise that that is what it is to be an author. i smile when i realise i am becoming myself. 

it's always when nobody's home that it's cold, and always when i'm confined to my bedroom that the air likes to bubble over, spilling sweat on my forehead and pillows. if that is the case, i hope the sun never comes out. i hope to keep this childhood home as mine and mine alone, hope to be the only one walking down the hallways, the only one wiping water from the kitchen counters, the only one sprawled on the sofa. and as the cold wind blows, yet again the words rewind and replay.

"one day. maybe not now, and maybe not for a while, but one day."