#there are so many other thoughtful and touching and well-crafted posts on this website but unfortunately i am autistic

[pseudo-apollo]

Get Fucked, Mercenary Art Studio

I'm not one for drama, I swear, but as someone who enjoys going to comic conventions, buying art that looks cool, and spreading awareness, I can't help myself in this particular instance.

I was recently at a con, and while perusing the wonderful art booths, came across one with a cool trio of art of Venom, Carnage, and Spider-Man. Classic stuff. I took a closer look and naturally started flipping through the book of this artist's other work and noticed something off. Like...I immediately knew that at least 95% was AI-generated. It wasn't even like they'd touched up some AI-generated stuff. No, it still had all the hallmarks. Creepily asymmetrical eyes, incomplete patters/shapes (great example was looking at a Captain America piece where a star was missing two whole points...), and just that general very surreal look that a lot of AI-generated art has.

But hey, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when it is painfully obvious what's going on.

So I take note of the name on the booth, Mercenary Art Studio, and do a little digging when I'm finished for the day at the con and have some down time. It's easy to find the online presence, and despite what the name might suggest (or made me think, personally) it appears to just be one artist, not multiple working under a single name. It looks like the artist has a Twitter (@mercenary_art), Facebook, Discord, Twitch, website, everything.

Looking at the website, this artist is peddling NFTs (still? I thought we collectively decided we were done with that), but more importantly, on Twitter, many art pieces are clearly tagged with #aiart. Well, at least they're not trying to be subtle. Even some of the ones being sold as NFTs are tagged as #aiart. So not only are they selling this stolen art at the convention as prints, but online as NFTs. I would expect no less.

Now, I say all this knowing that this artist only has 7,195 followers on Twitter (at the time of this post), but this is utterly despicable. For someone profiting off stolen artwork to claim to be an "artist" is disgusting. Doing this does not make you an artist. To claim that you are an artist, and then to profit from it makes you a lowlife. Lazy, talentless, and scummy.

I know we saw this coming with the rise of and accessibility to AI art-generators. I know this probably doesn't come as a surprise to any reading this, but having seen it invade convention space, I wanted to put a warning out there. This isn't necessarily about this singular person in particular, but about a larger trend we will undoubtedly be seeing over the next few years.

So please, don't buy anything from Mercenary Art Studio, make sure no one around you does either, but more importantly:

Please be careful and critical when buying art from conventions. I can't image Mercenary Art is the only one doing it, but at least they're not even trying to hide it (...yet).

There are so many talented, devoted artists out there who make the art that they sell, have spent years on their craft and hours on their pieces. As more and more people try to capitalize on stolen art, I feel it is more important than ever to support those hardworking artists. So please, support artists, show that we won't accept AI-generated bullshit. Show that we value humanity and hard work. Thank you.

Tl;dr I was at a convention and a booth there was selling AI-generated "art". Please don't support people peddling stolen art, instead support the human artists who devote time and energy and love to their craft.

[cricutmaker157]

Creative Cricut Wood Projects You Should Try in 2024

Hey, are you wondering about the possibilities for Cricut Maker wood projects? Look no further than this guide. In this post, I will show you some of the best wood projects with Cricut Maker. Well, I have created several wooden crafts and enjoyed making them. Be it home decor or useful projects, I created all of them. But why did I choose wood for Cricut projects? Well, I was fed up with making crafts with other materials, so I chose wood this time.

There will be lots of exciting projects, such as alphabet puzzles, coasters, front door signs, and much more. Sounds amazing! No? So, get your Cricut and set it up if required! Then head to the following Cricut wood project ideas to try this year! Let’s delve into it!

1.  Alphabet Puzzle

Explore the endless possibilities with your Cricut Maker machine that can cut wood in less than a minute. This is one of the best Cricut Maker wood projects every crafter must try. However, I made this for my 3-year-old daughter. I found wood safer for children, so I chose one to make for her. Make sure your wood is not more than the recommended thickness. Otherwise, it can be difficult for you to cut it on Maker.

2.  Coasters

Finally, we need something very useful that everyone might like. Here you go – a wooden coaster with a personalized touch. Yes, you can give it a personalized touch just by adding the first letter of your loved one’s name. I made this using Cricut Maker and balsa wood. You can get balsa wood from many e-commerce websites. Afterward, show your artistic skills on these coasters.

3.  Bookmark

How about this wooden bookmark? I know you might wonder whether you have seen these wooden bookmarks before or not! Well, there was a time when I was unaware that I could make something like this using wood. Yes, but it was really great when I made this on my Cricut Maker. This engraving is just amazing and will grab everyone’s attention! Just give it a thought; I hope you will love it!

4.  Pencil and Phone Holder

Want a desk organizer on your office desk? Create this pencil holder that can also keep your phone. The process is easier than you think. All you need to do is create a design on Cricut Design Space and let your Cricut Maker cut its shape. I really love creating such wooden organizers that I can keep on my home office desk. You can make it for yourself and your loved ones. You just need to be a little creative. I made an elephant, you can try another animal, too! Good luck!

5.  DIY Earrings

Finally, here’s one of my favorite Cricut Maker wood projects I have ever created! This looks simple, and making it is also superbly easier than I thought. Doesn’t it look wonderful? If yes, give it a try, and you can gift it to someone you love. However, I made two pairs of wooden earrings. One for my mom and another one for myself. The process of making them was really fun.

6.  Picture Puzzle

Do you wonder how to make this picture puzzle? Well, I made this using a chipboard. However, you can make this picture puzzle using the basswood or make its top player from the veneer. With veneer, you can give it a framed-like structure. So, what’s in your mind? Are you going to give it a try? If yes, solving this play with children would be very exciting.

7.  Closet Dividers

Tired of your messed-up closet? I think you just need a divider that keeps everything in their order. I made this myself using a chipboard, which is durable and lighter in weight. Also, I kept the design very simple so anyone can make it in less time. Try this today and keep your closet well organized. I made a total of 6 dividers like this. Some of them are in my mom’s closet, and others are in my closet.

8.  Supplies Organizer

Finally, here is something for Cricut itself. Being a crater, I understand how tedious it is to keep all the tools and materials in place. Hence, I came up with a solution: try this wooden organizer that keeps your Cricut tools in order and is easily accessible to you. Be it scissors, weeding tools, or other items, you can put all of them with this simple Cricut supplies holder.

9.  Front Door Sign

Create this inspiring ‘Home Sweet Home’ sign board for the front door. You can use it for your front door. By the way, it is also made using wood, but I used heat transfer vinyl to make it look beautiful. The unique font gives a unique look. I don’t think creating it in your Design Space is a big deal, as there is only text. Must give thought to such Cricut Maker wood projects.

FAQs

Question 1: What can you make with wood using Cricut?

Answer: If you have Cricut, then there are many projects you can do with wood. Wood is one of the best materials as it is eco-friendly. So, if you are also concerned about the environment, then you should try the following project ideas:

Signs

Jewelry

Earrings

Cake Toppers

Letters

Puzzles And Words

Question 2: Which Cricut machine can cut wood?

Answer: All models of Cricut machines can cut wood. But I always prefer Cricut Maker models, which are robust when cutting wood. This advanced machine is capable of cutting wood (2.4 mm thick). With the Maker machine, you can cut more than 300 materials at a glance. Tough materials such as matboard, leather, and balsa wood are on the list that can be easily cut on Maker.

Question 3: What wood is best for cutting on Cricut?

Answer: Cricut basswood can be the best wood if you want to cut it on a Cricut cutting machine. So, I have used this wood, which is the best for all Cricut machines, including the Maker and Explore series. You can cut the balsa wood by using a Knife Blade on your Maker machine.

Conclusion

In this blog, I have added 9 exciting Cricut Maker wood projects that are easy to make for every crafter. All of them are different from each other, so you don’t need to put much effort. From basswood to chipboard, you will want to try all types of wood with a maximum thickness of 2.4 mm. Yes, that thickness is necessary if you want to cut it on your Cricut cutting machine.

Source Url :- CREATIVE CRICUT WOOD  

Visit here for more Information :- 

Cricut machines

Cricut supplies holder

picture puzzle

Cricut Design Space

[recurring-polynya]

In honor of Bleach coming back, here is, off the top of my head, a list of Bleach shitposts that live in my head rent-free and I think about all the time:

Lieutenants as memes

Karakura Kids "get in the car ishida"

Byakuya drunk texts

Renji drunk texts

Byakuya Blingee "a bitch is really going thru it rn"

Kira feather boa depression dot gif

Byakuya salt bae

Byakuya's Minecraft server

The "BEACH" comic where Rukia is a lifeguard and she gives Ichigo her lifeguard powers because she ate too many chili fries and later on Urahara teaches Ichigo to surf??

The Urahara Instagram post that's like "me and the lads" and Shinji is standing on the ceiling wearing underpants that say "nasty" on the ass

The meme that's like "when Byakuya's not at home" and Renji is playing trombone in his kitchen

[inevitably-johnlocked]

i’ve been kinda in a rut deciding what johnlock fanfics to read, so i came up with a challenge for myself to read as many “A Study In ____” fanfics as possible. do you have any good suggestions?

Hi Lovely!

Ahh, what a fun request and a super easy list for me to curate!! Hee hee! Here’s what I have in my bookmarks AND in my MFL list! As usual, if any of my lovelies have any of their own “A Study in” fics to suggest, please add them below!!

A STUDY IN FANFICS

Peacock by ClassyGirlsWearPearls (T, 1,189 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Cranky Sherlock, Soft John, Hand Holding, Soft Sherlock) – A study in Sherlock and John.

Study in John by chappysmom (K+, 2,158 w., 1 Ch. || Post-ASiP, POV John, Introspection, Friendship, Nightmares, Caring Sherlock, John’s Limp) – After the events of "A Study in Pink," John lies on the couch in Baker Street and thinks about the whirlwind events of the day. What is he getting himself into?

A Study in Lace by KarlyAnne (E, 2,320 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Crafty Sherlock, Tiny Lace Panties / Lingerie, Domestics, Experiments, Oral, Masturbation) – “Why do you suppose he was doing that?” “Why do I suppose who was doing what?” “The room. The lace. The secrecy. He was playing with fire in everything he did, and didn’t care one bit. But he had a secret chamber, carefully concealed, solely for the purpose of making lace lingerie. Obviously for personal use. Why?" Part 1 of The Unintentional Crafts of Sherlock Holmes

Study in Sherlock by chappysmom (K+, 3,790 w., 1 Ch. || ASiP, Friendship, Introspection, Anxious Sherlock, POV Sherlock, Caring Sherlock, Stroppy Sherlock) – Sherlock's thoughts and feelings during A Study in Pink. What DID he think of John, and why was he being so NICE?

Study in Mycroft by chappysmom (K+, 4,929 w., 1 Ch. || Character Study, Big Brother Mycroft, Mycroft POV, Nosy Mycroft, Holmes Brothers) – A look at Mycroft's thoughts and actions during a Study in Pink.

A Study in Intimacy by doodle (T, 5,183 w., 1 Ch. || WEBARCHIVE LINK || PODFIC AVAILABLE || First Kiss, Virginity, Romance, Touching) – People don't touch Sherlock Holmes, not like they touch other people. Then he meets John Watson.

A Study in Linguistics by rizandace (T, 12,425 w., 1 Ch. || S1 Canon Compliant/S2 Divergence, Friendship, Slices of Life, Communication, Cranky Sherlock, Hospitals, Sherlock Whump, Pet Cat, Jealous John, Sherlock’s Violin, Anxious Sherlock, John Whump) – Sherlock Holmes and John Watson had their own language. It was a language of few words and minute facial expressions, and John had learned that it was nearly the only way to have an honest conversation with his eccentric flat mate.

A Study In Auto-Signatures, Sniper Dolphins, and Sex Holidays by cwb (E, 32,689 w., 8 Ch. || Case Fic, Post S3, Evil Mary, Dev. Rel., Beach Holidays, Confused Sherlock, Friends to Lovers, Honeymoon, Epistolary, Bottomlock, First Kiss / Time, Fluff, Secret Agents, BAMF!John) – John and Mary go on their sex holiday, and Sherlock is grumpy and pining about it. Part 1 of HOT DOLPHIN SEX

A Study Of Living With Sherlock Holmes by AllesandraQuartermaine (T, 50,234 w., 22 Ch. || Post-ASiP/Pre-TAB, Domestics, Friendship, POV John) – Learn about what happened between John and Sherlock January 31st and March 22. From John's pov on how to survive and learn to live with one eccentric mad genius known as Sherlock Holmes.

A Study in Winning by Jupiter_Ash (E, 106,658 w., 11 Ch. || Tennis AU || John POV, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sherlock Speaks French, Switchlock, Wimbledon) – John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything? Part 1 of Tennis

MARKED FOR LATER

A Study in Pink Pyjamas by alexxphoenix42 (M, 1,628 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Est. Rel., Pink Pyjamas, Fluff, Cross-Dressing) – Sherlock hasn't been a fan of either Christmas or fancy pyjamas for a number of years, but John has a way of changing his mind about things.

A Study in Night Terrors by Dovahlock221 (T, 2,811 w., 1 Ch. || 5 and Ones, Night Terrors, (Emotional) Hurt/Comfort, PTSD Sherlock, Worried John, Hurt John, Angst with Happy Ending) – Five times Sherlock suffered from night terrors and the one time he had the best dream of his life.

A Study in Beard by Loveismyrevolution (T, 3,810 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff and Humour, Experiments, Beards, Idiots in Love, Quarantine) – Sherlock has to face the consequences of using up all of their shaving foam. Which turns out to be more fun than expected. Boys being boys, nothing can go without a challenge. Although, being isolated presents a problem. How will they determine the winner? Part 2 of the Hairy Situations at 221B series

A Study in Sensuality (or, That Johnlock Gif Story) by MojoFlower (E, 4,693 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock || Porn Gifs, PWP, Pole Dancer Sherlock, Student Sherlock, Student John, Photography, Sensuality, Voyeurism, Masturbation, Rimming, Fingering, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Felching, Unsafe Sex) – When John signs up to partner with Sherlock Holmes in photography class, he never guesses it will end up with him balls-deep in his study partner's arse. Easy A?

A Study in Dichotomy by UrbanHymnal (E, 7,439 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Masturbation, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, Misunderstandings, Fluff and Humour) – John wants his brilliance and his stupidity; his knowledge of 243 types of ash and his inability to name all the planets in the solar system; his perfectly pressed suits and his wrinkled t-shirts carelessly tossed on inside out. John wants to kiss Sherlock when he is still waking to the world, to press against him when he is still warm from sleep. He wants to grab Sherlock by the scarf and haul him close so he can bury his nose in the sweat that has collected at the base of Sherlock's neck, under his arms, in between his legs.

A Study in Asexuality by ladyxdarcy (M, 8,082 w., 1 Ch. || Asexual Sherlock, Bisexual John, Acephobia, Mentions of Rape/Corrective Rape Therapy, Past Suicidal Ideation, Implied / Referenced Drug Use, Overdose, Past Mary/John, Emotional Sherlock, Insecure Sherlock, Vulnerable Sherlock, Est. Rel., Angst with Happy Ending, Fluff) – When Sherlock, asexual to his core, fears that John may grow bored of a sexless life, he decides to do whatever it takes to make John happy so he stays. Good thing John is already happy.

A Study in Anorexia by madeleinefs (NR, 11,415 +w., 16 Ch. || WIP || Eating Disorders, Anorexia, Bulimia, Starvation, Mental Health Issues, Hospitalization, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Doctor John, Self Harm, Depression, Angst, Hurt Sherlock) – A realistic approach as to what Sherlock would look like suffering from an eating disorder. This will not be a Johnlock, or some sort of sick-and-then-love-heals-all story, because that isn't realistic. I want this to be realistic, and true to the characters, as well as true to the nature of the disease.

A Study in Sex Series by Castiel_For_King (E, 19,939 w. across 4 works || Virgin Sherlock, Bottomlock, Sensitive Sherlock, Hand Jobs, Porn with Plot / Feelings, Praise Kink, Gentle John, Naïve Sherlock, Sexual Exploration, Anal, Frottage, Tender Sex) – Sherlock is new to sex and John is the first person he's ever wanted to touch and be touched by. But wanting it doesn't seem to magically wash away his apprehension like he'd hoped. Luckily, it's John and John is wonderful and kind and patient and maybe has a bit of a thing for teaching Sherlock all about physical intimacy.

The Art Of Seduction: A Study In Pulling by flawedamythyst (M, 25,279 w., 1 Ch. || AU) – Sherlock ran a website called The Science Of Seduction, on which he gave advice on the best ways to get laid, wrote blog entries detailing the results of his various sexual 'experiments' and generally contributed to the stereotype of 'every gay man is a sex-mad playboy'. John avoided the thing like the plague. AU in which Sherlock treats sex like he does crime in canon. Inspired by Queer As Folk UK, but it very quickly went its own way. Part 1 of The Art Of Seduction

A Study in Slavery by sweetinsane (M, 88,538+ w., 12/? Ch. || WIP || Dark / Slavery AU || ASiP, Angst, Domestic Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Slow Build, Dehumanization, Sexual Slavery, Child Abuse, Master/Slave Dynamics, Dark Content) – John has never owned a slave of his own, but after returning from Afghanistan is awarded one with his pension. A disobedient male slave with way too much troubling history, however, is not what he would have chosen himself.

[fangirlxwritesx67]

Three Hearts

Jared x Jensen x OFC Elle 2700 words of Valentine’s Day fluff in the Everything-verse that belongs to @there-must-be-a-lock​. Thanks for letting me play in your world again, friend!  Enough  Road Trip 

Valentine’s Day. 

Elle was torn. On one hand, it was a totally commercialized excuse for companies to sell chocolate, overpriced cards, and giant bears. At the same time, she liked flowers and sweet treats as much as the next person.

The nice thing about her boyfriends was that neither of them needed a day on the calendar to be romantic. The three of them celebrated together on special occasions -- birthdays, anniversaries -- but had just as much fun in the everydays, when there was nothing to celebrate but each other. 

Since moving in with them a little over a year ago, she had enjoyed their thoughtfulness and generosity for every special occasion. The two of them gave good gifts, and frankly, she felt almost spoiled. But her favorite presents were the ones they all enjoyed together -- vacations, spa days, gourmet meals. She hardly wanted anything for Valentine’s Day because they had left her nothing to want.

Buying gifts for them -- now, that was the hard part. She didn’t have their deep pockets. While she didn’t mind letting them pay for their lifestyle, she felt like they shouldn’t buy their own gifts. On top of that, this year, so many of the things they all enjoyed -- trips, concerts, fine dining -- were out of the question. 

Elle brought it up one weekend in late January, when they were enjoying a lazy Sunday brunch after a very enjoyable morning all together in Jensen’s bed. Each of them had their own private space, but more often than not, they ended up in one bedroom, especially on weekends. Jared had made each of them omelets to their liking while Jensen made espressos and Elle chopped fruit. 

Between bites of the delicious food, she asked casually, “So have you two given any thought to Valentine’s Day this year?” Both of her boyfriends looked at her wide-eyed, so she hurried on. “Not that I’m expecting you to get me anything! I mean, you’re always very generous. I just -- wondered.” 

Jared looked at Jensen as if he was asking for permission, and when Jensen nodded, he pulled out his phone. 

“So you know how we love watches?” 

“I’ve heard about it once or twice.” Elle nodded, her tone teasing. The two of them collected watches like some people collected cars. 

“There’s this new Rolex - Jay and I have been on the waitlist for a year. We should be getting them just in time to be our gift to each other. Look, isn’t this a beauty?” He turned the phone to show her while he continued to list for her the features of this particular timepiece. 

It looked to Elle very much like any other watch. What caught her eye was the price at the bottom: $30,000 and up. And they were buying a pair of them. The boys continued to chatter excitedly, voices overlapping, as she sat in stunned silence. 

$60,000. That was more than she made in a year. What could she possibly give that would compare to a gift like that?

“You okay, sweetheart?” Jensen’s voice cut through the buzz in her brain. 

“Oh, yeah.” She forced a laugh. “You know, you lose me with all this watch nerd talk.” 

“Don’t worry, that’s why I keep him around.” Jensen pointed a thumb at Jared, who leaned over and playfully nuzzled into his neck. Jensen turned, and the two of them kissed, and Elle wondered for the millionth time how she ever got so lucky. 

Jared stood up first, and kissed her, carrying her plate with his to the sink. Jensen followed, and brought her a kiss along with a top off for her coffee. When they left the room, she stayed at the table, savoring her coffee with a smile on her face. 

Hot, romantic, and thoughtful. How did she get so lucky to end up with both of these wonderful men?

Then the thought crowded back into her brain: what could she get them for Valentine’s Day?

*** Elle loved shopping online, normally. She enjoyed hunting around for the best deals on things. Usually, Jared was her Amazon shopping partner. But not for this. She browsed what felt like every list on the internet looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Most things were either too cheap or too expensive -- or they already had them. 

There was the additional problem that a lot of cute, romantic gifts were clearly aimed at a two-person couple -- not a lot out there for two boyfriends. She did find some cute cards on Etsy, but she was still at a loss for gifts. 

Finally she gave up and flicked over to Instagram. She was scrolling through her usual content -- friends, artists, food blogs -- when an ad caught her eye: Dead Sled Leather Co. The photo showed a watch with a beautiful leather band, paired with an embossed wallet. She clicked. 

Custom belts, wallets, key chains - all of the goods were beautifully crafted. She got more and more excited as she scrolled until finally she found it: the Gentleman’s Valet Tray. “Need a place to put your watch? This handsome leather valet tray…” That was all she needed to read. She could even get a custom design on the bottom! And it was in her price range. 

Her heart sank when she clicked to the order form. “Orders shipping about four weeks out.” That was too late. Well, what did she have to lose? She called the number on the site. 

The man who picked up the phone spoke in a slow Kentucky drawl, and she could just about picture chewing tobacco in his mouth. All of her words came out in a rush: how this was the perfect gift for her boyfriends, how she just needed a pair of them in time for Valentine’s Day, and could he help her?

Boyfriends. She definitely hadn’t meant to let that slip. She waited, breathlessly. 

The line was silent for a moment and then he spoke. There would be a rush work fee, and she would have to pay for express shipping, but he could do it. Now what design did she want for her lucky fellas? 

Elle decided to keep it simple -- three hearts entwined, stamped in the leather. She picked a deep red brown for Jared, and a honey tan for Jensen. The man didn’t question any of it, just promised to have them ready and shipped to her in time. 

Her heart was light when she hung up. It wasn’t an expensive gift, but it was special. Thoughtful, perfect for them. And her Texas boys would appreciate the leather craftsmanship. Excited, she clicked onto one of her favorite clothing websites to pick out some lingerie. 

*** It was the day before Valentine’s Day, and the gifts still hadn’t arrived. They had been completed -- the maker had sent photos -- and mailed as ordered, but there was some kind of delay with the post office.

All the other things she had ordered were already there -- some quality bourbon, cards, and of course, her lingerie. She had put so much hope into having the perfect gift, and as the afternoon wore on, she grew increasingly anxious. 

The boys had gone out together to pick up orders at the grocery as well as the wine store. When they returned, they found Elle pacing the kitchen, nervously picking at a dish towel. 

“Whoa,” Jared spoke first. “What’s wrong?” 

She shook her head. 

“C’mere.” Jensen pulled out a chair at the breakfast table for her. The boys sat down on either side of her. “Something’s going on. Why don’t you let us know what it is?”

“It’s stupid,” she protested, but they knew her too well to believe that. She looked from one to the other -- from Jensen’s candy apple green eyes to Jared’s kaleidoscope hazel gaze. Both of them were radiating so much trust, so much love. Finally she took a deep breath and let it all out. 

“I’ve been so worried about what to get you two for Valentine’s Day. You have everything you could ever need, and you’re getting each other these beautiful watches, and I couldn’t afford one if I wanted to, and I just feel kinda useless and --” 

Jensen held up one broad hand. “Sweetheart, we get the watches because we like them. And, okay, they’re kind of an investment piece. But we don’t expect you to get us anything like that?”

Jared chimed in. “The best things you’ve given us haven’t cost much at all. Like when you got me the sweets of the world subscription box? Or the coffee of the month for Jay? You give gifts that have a lot of thought, a lot of heart. The price tag isn’t what matters.”

“More than that,” Jensen picked up the thought seamlessly. “It isn’t even the gifts that matter. We’re both so fuckin’ lucky, every day, to just have you.” He looked at Jared, and they both nodded. “We love the things you give us, because we love you.”

“Even if you never gave us a damn thing, you’re the best gift we could ever have.” Jared’s face was so earnest, his brow furrowed and his eyes wide, Elle couldn’t help but smile.

“I feel so lucky to have you, both of you.” She looked back and forth between the two of them. 

Jensen reached across the table to brush her cheek with outstretched fingers, and she leaned into his touch. Jared, always the more physically demonstrative one, sprang up and swooped her into a hug. He squeezed her tight, rocking her back and forth until they were both laughing. Jensen stood up and walked over with a fond smile on his face. Jared drew him in with one long arm so they were all together in one loving embrace. 

Elle lifted her face to first one, then the other, for a kiss. This was where she belonged, with these two men who made her feel wanted and cherished and loved. Gifts and holidays faded from her mind in their arms. With them she felt safe, secure, forgetting about everything but being with them.  

*** “Shh, don’t wake her up.” 

Jared’s decidedly un-quiet whisper woke Elle the next morning.

“What are we supposed to do with breakfast in bed if we don’t wake her up?” She heard Jensen respond. 

She sat up and opened her eyes just in time to see both men squeeze through her bedroom door. She should have been used to it by now, the way they insisted on sharing the same space, the way they moved in sync. It still made her smile. 

Jensen was carrying coffee and a maple bacon donut. Jared was balancing a tray with eggs and bacon, mmm, so much bacon. She ran a hand through her hair delightedly, ruffling the short pink strands. 

“Breakfast in bed? How does a girl get so lucky. Thank you!” She looked from one to the other eagerly. “I only see food for one. Aren’t you joining me?” 

It took no convincing for them to go grab their own food and coffee. 

The three of them were still on the bed, laughing and talking and trading breakfast-flavored kisses when the doorbell rang. At the same time, Elle’s phone chimed with a notification. She shoved her cup at Jensen and leaped out of bed, pausing only to grab a robe, before she hurried to the front door. 

It was the mailman, delivering her gifts for the boys. She was so happy that she did a little dance in her pajamas, right there in the entryway. That’s where the boys found her, hugging a priority mail box. 

She was so excited, it was all they could do to convince her to wait until after dinner, but they promised her it would be worth it. 

“But it’s so long until dinner! What will I do between now and then?” she teased.

“Oh, I have some ideas to fill the time.” Jared looked at her, the wolfish look in his eyes at odds with his dimples, and she giggled. 

Jensen snapped his fingers before starting up the stairs. “Bring her, man.” 

Next thing Elle knew, she was scooped up in strong arms and being carried upstairs towards the bedrooms.

***

Jared and Jensen did know how to make time pass in a very enjoyable way, Elle thought, hours later, as she dressed on shaky legs. They had all showered together, but the boys were ready more quickly.

Jensen had picked out a slinky knit dress for her -- comfortable and sexy -- as well as a pair of heels. She took her cue from the outfit, adding jewelry and taking time for some sparkly eye makeup. 

She made her way downstairs, carrying her wrapped gifts, and saw light in the formal dining room. She walked in slowly to find the room awash in candlelight. 

The table was set with their finest dishes and laden with food. A vase of deep red roses sat in the center. Behind it, boxes and bags of her favorite chocolates -- hazelnut and caramel -- were stacked in a glittery pile. 

The boys both stood up, one on either side of the table. She took both their hands and let them lead her to her seat between them. 

The food was amazing, course after course delivered from their favorite restaurant: french onion soup and salads, crab cakes and shrimp cocktail, followed by perfectly cooked steaks with loaded potatoes and veggies sides. Neither of them let her lift a finger to so much as pour a drink. 

They lingered over dinner, talking and laughing, sharing food and kisses. When they were finally done, the boys cleared away the plates. When they returned, Jared was carrying champagne and three flutes, while Jensen had a cheesecake topped with strawberries and chocolate. 

Elle’s eyes widened. “That looks amazing, but I’m too full to eat another bite. Can we exchange gifts first?” 

Jared and Jensen went first, handing one another identical boxes. They all knew what was inside, but that didn’t stop them from opening the watches with delight. Jensen got his on first, and then rounded the table to kiss Jared just as soon as he finished with the clasp. 

Elle looked on, beaming. It was something they shared, and they deserved it. Now that they had talked it out, she didn’t feel inferior for not buying luxury gifts. Plus, she knew her presents would be a perfect compliment. She grinned as she handed them the parcels she had carefully wrapped. They tore into the paper eagerly. 

Jensen looked up first, a question in his eyes. 

“It’s a valet tray. It sits on your dresser so you have a place to put your watch.” 

He threw back his head and laughed, that full laugh she loved so much. “Of course! It’s perfect, love, thank you.”

Jared was still tracing the three hearts on the bottom when he looked up and grinned. “Yes, thank you.” Then he turned his gaze towards Jensen. “Three hearts, Jay, did you see?” 

Jensen nodded before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silky drawstring bag. He shook it into his palm and then held it out. 

Elle drew in a sharp breath as she reached for it. She saw that it was a puzzle ring.

“Three bands in one, just like us,” Jensen said softly. 

“And you can fidget with it. We know how you love your fidget rings,” Jared added. “But look.” He took the ring back and turned it so she could see inside the band. Stamped inside -- three interlinked hearts. 

Elle looked from one to the other. Jensen’s hand closed over Jared’s as they slipped the ring onto her index finger. It fit like it belonged there. She looked from one handsome face to the other, and her eyes welled up as she whispered, “How did I get so lucky?”

They kissed her one at a time, and then together, until she was breathless and laughing. 

“How did we ever get so lucky?” Jensen echoed.

“You’re the best gift we’ve ever had, and all we could ever want,” Jared said. 

“All? Even with that cheesecake sitting there?” she teased. 

“Well, now that you mention it--” 

Long after they had eaten their fill of cheesecake, they were still trading sticky sweet kisses, laughing and lingering around the table, three hearts in love. 

***

AN: Dead Sled Leather is a real company founded by a local artist who does amazing work. I don’t know if he chews tobacco and I don’t know how he feels about polyamory, but he makes beautiful leather goods.  Thanks to @mskathywriteswords​ for working with my feverish brain to get this into some kind of readable shape, as well as pointing out some of the really cute poly gifts there are on Etsy! You’re the best.  Thanks again @there-must-be-a-lock​ for letting me have fun with these three, and taking a last-minute submission to your Three(k)some Challenge! 

SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @divadinag @emoryhemsworth @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @kickingitwithkirk @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn   @the-chocolate-moose  @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting

[psychcomposer]

Alright, I have too many feelings about a video game that’s going to come out in a month that I really just need to get out. It’s been over a decade and one of my favorite games, The World Ends With You, is finally getting a sequel. I’ve been brooding on the trailers for months, and I just finished the demo, so it is time to put down my capital T Thoughts on Neo: The World Ends With You.

As a warning, this will be entirely too long. But I’m not about to keep this bound up any longer.

TWEWY is my favorite title for the Nintendo DS. It is a JRPG starring Neku Sakuraba, an aggressively antisocial teen living in the Tokyo district of Shibuya. He is suddenly pulled into a test of survival called The Reaper’s Game, where he is forced to join forces with a partner in order to survive a week of lethal objectives in a sub-planar version of Shibuya. I love the story, its such an honest and interesting take on learning to get outside of your comfort zone. But more than that, it is a game that does so much to put a modern twist on every piece of your typical JRPG. You control two characters at once, Neku with the touch screen and his partner with the control pad, forcing you to split your attention and giving mechanic weight to the idea that Neku can’t survive alone. Armor and weapons are replaced with clothes and outfits, with a character’s ability to wear them restricted not by class but by a character’s bravery. The music list is filled with punk, alt-rock and hip-hop that are a stark contrast to the symphonic tracks of other titles. Battles aren’t random impediments, but fun diversions that sport a robust reward system that encourages players to push their limits.

But even more than that, the most modern thing I appreciate about TWEWY has to be the characters. Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme all feel like believable teens that grew up in the 2000′s. They bicker, clash, and banter like teens struggling to survive and make sense of their situation. One of my favorite little gimicks of the story is just how many nicknames there are for every character. Almost everyone has earned a few nicknames. One of my favorite examples is Sho Minamimoto. He’s a reaper with an obsession with math, often infusing his speech with mathematical jargon or expressions, and seems to enjoy erecting “art installations”, which most people can only decipher as towers of trash. Over the course of the story, he gets called Pi-face, the Grim Heaper, and another nickname I can’t even mention because of spoilers. It’s just... such a nice little human touch, these kids throwing crafted insults at a human enforcer of their doom that could almost certainly tear them apart.

I’m getting into this to try to give a sense of why I enjoy TWEWY so much, why it has such a unique place in my heart. Its a game I’ve 100% completed several times over, a task that’s no easy feat with the sheer amount of collectibles and post-game objectives. Unfortunately, for the last year or two, I’ve been kind of dreading this sequel.

Neo:TWEWY has been... a long time coming. Way back in 2007 they had a whole website counting down to some sort of announcement, with the music slowly building in intensity. I remember following it with bated breath, until it finally hit zero! And we got... An ios port of the game. Talk about a let-down. To be fair, apparently it is a solid port, even managing to re-work the old battle system, one that required a second screen to work properly, into one that only needed one. But what that really offered to someone like me was the hint of a sequel, a single image of a new character being shown. They kept flirting with the idea of bringing the series back. The main cast even featured in a Kingdom Hearts game, of all things, even if they didn’t really do a whole lot. But these acknowledgments grew sparser and sparser.

A few years ago, they released a switch port of the game. Not only that, it included an epilogue! They were finally getting a sequel rolling! Of course I bought that game, beat it yet again, and fought my way to the new content and the hint of the new story ahead.

It was... Well. I found it disappointing.

The gameplay was competent, even if it was clear that the epilogue itself really hadn’t had too much put into it. One new character,  new enemies just being reskins of old ones. It wasn’t meant to be dlc itself or anything, it was just there to herald a return to the series. That wasn’t what bugged me. What bugged me was the writing. It was heart-wrenching. It just didn’t feel right. It just felt flat compared to the story I’d enjoyed so many times. But what really killed my excitement was the new character, Coco.

Now, odd personality quirks are not too unusual among the ensemble of TWEWY. Pi-face is just one of the characters that is so infused with a particular theme that it shows in how they express themselves. It’s part of the charm of them, discovering the personalities that live in this dark underworld of Shibuya. But Coco... she talks like the most stereotypical young teenager possible. unironic lols, totez (yes, spelt exactly like that, in a speech format), OMG’s, and just, like, likes everywhere! It felt like someone who knew they needed to make a quirky character but had no idea how to write one well, and just made the most stereotypical caricature possible. I hated seeing that. It embodied every fear I had about the sequel being just a cynical project, pushed forward after so many years  by people who just didn’t understand what made the original great. That mild dread was so persistent that even the release of the first few trailers couldn’t really get me excited for the game. Neo:TWEWY was shifting into 3d from the original 2.5d, with all the problems that could cause. What I could see of the story felt so much more like a generic fantasy tale with some modern buildings than the story I had grown through my teenage years with. And, well... Just look the original Neku and the new one they showed off.

Look at this. Look at one of the most vibrant, eye-catching character designs on the market for any JRPG in history, one that manages to mix purple and orange with striking lights and darks. And then look at the teenager edgelord bullshit they did with him. It’s atrocious. I hate it. He’s just another guy in a black outfit and just too much fucking cool guy protagonist power to not have the story be about him at this point. And look, I know that there’s Story LoreTM, I know that there could be some twist that explains this, I know that him being such a denial of his old self could be the entire fucking point. But let me tell you, when I saw this, I felt years of shifting, misplaced unease coalesce into a hard lump of dread.

And... Even... So... I did the stupidest thing I could have possibly done and preordered the game anyway. Don’t look at me like that, nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

But you know what? The damnedest thing happened. They released a demo for the new game a month before its release. And I played it, and... I enjoyed it.

Did you see that coming? I certainly didn’t. Welcome to the roller coaster.

Right off the bat, the writing soothed a lot of the fears I had. It felt right at home, like being plopped between to teens exchanging banter. One of the first exchanges is Rindo and Fret, his best friend, trying to meet up. Fret wants Rindo to meet him at  someplace called Wunafo, an area Rindo is clueless about. After some annoyed texting, it turns out Fret is actually referring to 104, a local landmark of a building. Fret insists that its a stylish improvement on the name. Rindo only gives him some grief about it..

I’m not doing the scene justice, or I could just be really desperate for half-decent writing, but I can’t deny that it quickly put a smile on my face. I am almost sure I’ve had this conversation before in years past myself. And beyond that, this game boasts voice acting that brings out a ton of personality in the large cast they are introducing (besides Rindo, which is a shame because he’s the protagonist... hopefully he gets over his apathetic teenager shtick eventually). Not everything is voiced, but it conveys so much appeal and personality, and even when the character’s aren’t voiced there is a conversation screen that occasionally breaks out some stylish layouts to convey mood and temperment and clearly draw from the style that made the original game pop so much.

The battles, of course, have been completely revamped. TWEWY had you control two characters, one of which you could customize by equipping up to 6 different pins that all used different motions and unleashed different attacks. Now you control up to four characters, but each one can only use one pin. But even so, it feels very genuine to its roots. An effective build in TWEWY was usually one that let you stagger an opponent so you can unload a bunch of attacks on them, and in Neo:TWEWY the game actively pushes you to folllow up attacks with characters in succession. It would be easy for this to devolve into a mash-fest, but even with the little time I had with the game it introduced a wrinkle in that- an attack that unleashed a single powerful blow, but couldn’t just be unleashed at the end of the previous combo. It needed to be charged for a while, long enough for the combo timer to deplete. So now an effective combo requires thinking ahead, and even after that you’re paying attention to enemies to dodge out of the way when they strike back. It’s entirely possible this system will flop in the late game, but so far it is robust enough for me to think that it will be one that could make me look forward to battles.

The music hasn’t impressed me so far, besides the tracks that have made the transition from the original. But I remember those strange tracks needing some time before I appreciated them too.

Finally, the story has hooked me. I don’t think that needs much more explanation. I want to see more of these characters and see the changes that have been made to the world in what I assume is years after Neku’s game. And to address the elephant in the room, Neku has not made his appearance in what is available in the demo. Odds are I will probably hate whatever they do with him. But there is enough happening in the space around it that I’m interested in exploring, and a bruised apple can still taste sweet.

Almost all of this, of course, is mostly just saying that Neo:TWEWY is not doomed to fail. There is still plenty of room for things to go wrong later on. There are entire systems I haven’t really seen in game, like shops, pin evolution, clothing and food (Though it looks like they have changed the food system significantly, which I approve of). The things that unnerved me so much in the trickle of information after this game’s announcement could still be enough to turn this sour. But I’m smiling as I’m strapping myself in for this ride now, one I’ve waited quite a long time for. Whatever’s coming, I’m excited.

[moonshine-and-midnight]

Hey honey, hope you're fine. I would like to ask you a question, do you have any tips or advice for a beginner in tarot? Cause I bought my first tarot deck :) (finally ahah) You did me 2 readings and you were very accurate! Have a nice day ❤️

Hey there, dear, I’m doing well, thank you 🌸, hope you’re well, too.

I feel extremely humbled that you ask me so I went ahead and wrote down what worked for me and what I would want to have been told when I began learning. Below, I covered some things that came to my mind instantly but it might not be a very sound beginner post.

Take what works, dear, and leave what feels off or “wrong”  ❤︎

The Deck

Get a deck that has art that touches you, that has art you feel connected to, and which you do not feel “forced” to look at. 

Try to pick a deck that shows illustrated scenes. There are many great decks out there which have a pip style (4 sticks or wands for 4 of wands), but for a beginner, seeing a scene on the card (for the 4 of wands it’s two people waving, looking happy, as if celebrating something) makes learning much easier.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck is very popular and while it’s not the prettiest to look at, I recommend it for study purposes.

If you do get a pip-style deck, try to get your hands on a cheap copy of a Rider-Waite-Smith deck. When you draw your card or lay out a spread with your pip-style deck, lay the same spread with your cheap copy of the RWS so you can look at the images there for help with interpretation.

Taking care of your deck

You do not need an expensive silk cloth or an artistically crafted wooden box to store it. You can, but a shawl, an old T-Shirt, leftover material of a blanket or pillow cover, or scarf is enough to protect your deck from rough surfaces, dust, and too much light.

If you want to take your deck with you, make sure you don’t put it into your bag unprotected. Especially not if there are things in your bag that can scratch the card or get them wet or sticky. I recommend buying a small bag to put it in. My own bag was 7 Euro, it’s a durable material that won’t immediately let water pass through, and it is big enough for the cards not to get bend or angled in any way.

If you chose not to take it with you, make sure to place it somewhere where not too much sunlight can reach it. Not because it will negatively affect its energy, but because depending on the style (most of mine are rather dark), the color can fade quicker than it would usually.

I like to put a clear quartz crystal or amethyst crystal with my decks in their bags or at least on their bags but that is just personal preference.

Make sure to not use your deck on dirty surfaces, too rough surfaces, or dusty surfaces. I would recommend making sure that if cards fall to the floor, the patch of floor is clean enough for them not to get soiled.

Bonding

Put it near you or under your pillow when you sleep.

Keep it with you throughout your day if possible.

Shuffle it throughout the day, talk to it, take time out of your day to just look at the imagery. Don’t bother about keywords yet or about “doing it right or wrong” - there is no right or wrong.

Take it to a favorite place of yours and sit with it there.

Sit with it on your balcony, at the window, hold it and just spend some time together.

Use it, either draw a card daily with the intention to learn about the drawn card that day or ask it questions and try to interpret them with your intuition through what you get from the imagery on the cards you drew.

There are spreads all over Tumblr to “get to know your deck”, but honestly, you can ask it any question. I love talking to my decks when I get to know them. I ask them what they want me to respect about them, what they don’t like, I tell them I will take good care of them, that I will include them in my day either with using them or just carrying them around, I promise mine to spend time with them after each reading as I feel uncomfortable just putting them away after receiving advice and guidance from them. I wouldn’t turn around and leave a friend in such a situation, so I wouldn’t do so with my deck either. However, that is my personal practice and by no means something you need to do, dear.

Keywords

openlibrary.org has many books available on Tarot. There are biddytarot and other websites offering keywords for interpretations, there is a whole lot of books written just with keywords - pick one thing, perhaps the guidebook your deck came with and go with that for getting down the basics. If the keywords of your guidebook don’t resonate at all, find a different source and study with that.

Do yourself a favor and don’t overwhelm yourself, dear. Pick one resource, then go through it top to bottom. Pick one to three keywords for each card max. Decide beforehand if you want to read with reversals or without. Take it slow, honey. 

Once you picked a source of information you feel comfortable studying from, get yourself a notebook and a pen - doesn’t need to be fancy either. Write down the card, your own thoughts, what you see, and then take a look at your resource. Pick one to three keywords from the resource of your choice.

I recommend doing one or two cards max a day, with reversals or not. You may want to pull a card each evening in terms of “What energy was most dominating in my day today” and see if you can somehow relate this card to your day. Use your own thoughts first, dear. Your intuition always weighs more than a generic keyword from a book.

Reading the cards

Again, trust your intuition. Keep in mind how a card makes you feel, do you tense when you see it? Do you smile? Is there a pressure in your chest or stomach when you look at it? Do you feel light? Even if you don’t really have any thoughts for a card, there almost always is a feeling you have when you draw it.

Start with small spreads - two cards to three cards max. Go slow, write down the positions of your spread, the question asked, and then just dive in. Write down a description of what you see if you have to, sometimes it takes a while to get your intuition flowing.

Watch where people or objects point at, for example where do the court cards look? Where does the Hermits lantern point at? Where is the hand of the Queen Of Swords reaching out to?

Look for dominating suits, do cards “jump out” while you shuffle? On this aspect, note these cards. If a lot fall out, you just need a bit more practice when it comes to shuffling but if only one jumps out, or perhaps two or three at max. in one shuffle, then they usually carry a message they want you to know.

Your Tarot Journal

An entry in your tarot journal might look like this:

Question and dateThe card(s)your own thoughtsthings that caught your attentionkeywords according to your chosen sourceyour thoughts on how the keywords relate (or why they don’t)a reflection a few days or weeks later, depending on the question

Scattered bits and bites

You do not need a ritual to “awaken” your cards, the moment you touch them, open the package, handle them, talk to them, they are yours, dear.

Be respectful to them as you would be with a dear friend

Before your first use, hold them into the sunlight, knock on the back three times and imagine white light flowing into them - this is you cleansing them off any lingering energies. 

You DO NOT need to cleanse them regularly. If they feel off or whacky in their answers, they most likely are just “tired” and need a rest. I like laying mine into the sun or moonlight once in a while. Personally, cleansing them regularly would feel like resetting their “memories” of our readings, my energy, the things I’ve told them and what we did together by that point.

You do not need a teacher to be a tarotist. You do not need a family that practices tarot for generations to be a tarotist. It does not matter what religion you have - you can practice tarot regardless, do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Tarot is not evil and it can not invite evil spirits in your home. 

keep a tarot journal oh dear please do, it will help you so so so much in the long run

if you feel like wanting to have a more ritualistic approach to reading, go ahead, dear. Make your own ritual, perhaps follow someone else’s ritual - whatever makes you comfortable.

meditate regularly with your cards on your lap as if inviting them to join you, it helps with bonding and helps you with keeping your mind “open” for the card’s answers. Try to feel their energy, try to picture them in your mind.

Lastly, Tarot differs greatly from one reader to another, find what makes you happy and enthusiastic about it and keep to that, no matter what the opinion of any other reader is. This is yours through and through, darling, no one has a say in your practice.

Reach out to others who already read Tarot when you have a specific question. Most will gladly answer your questions, dear.

Did I already mention to always trust your gut? Because always trust your gut.

[handmadecp]

Dopp Kit Bag: Finished...finally.

Hi guys, as promised here’s the other little project I was doing recently, unfortunately I had to wait quite some time for delivery of some items to finish it, all covid related problems with the couriers, but we got there at last..with a funny ( if slightly annoying ) lesson learned. So..lets get on.

I wanted some high quality leather so purchased a half shoulder from ‘BuyLeatheronline’ (Tuscany, Italy.).I got a small piece for now because of Cost, and Brexit negotiations...or lack of at the moment. I mention it only incase anyone in the UK is thinking of buying their first piece from abroad and you are not aware that the value of something you buy from abroad needs to be no more than a certain amount or else you will incurr customs charges. check it out first. I bought a lovely factory dyed ‘Black’ veg tanned shoulder 1.5 - 2mm thick which I find is a nice thickness for bags and book covers etc. Then I purchased the pattern from ‘Dieselpunkro (Spain) who make great patterns at reasonable prices and you can buy them on PDF download.

Pic 1 : Taping.

Pic 1 and Pic 1A : After printing off the Pattern you’ll need to tape some of the pieces together to make the ‘whole’ of certain pieces as I’m seen doing here. I use Decoraters Tape as it doesn’t mark the leather when peeled off, the only down side it that sometimes it doesn’t stick very well and can ‘slip’ when attached to the leather that you want to cut out and it’s a C*w to line up again so a little easy tip..once it’s all stuck..take a small piece of tape and wrap it over the edges here and there to help it stay in position.

Pic 2 : Here you seehow the patterns should be looking when done correctly.

Pic 3 : Then it’s time to cut the pattern pieces out

Pic 4 : Be careful to cut along the black lines rather than outside of or inside of.

Pic 5 :make sure you have good lighting..I turned my bench light on just after this pic was taken, I have a light behind me and one in front , that helps to cancel ‘some’ of the shadows created helping you to see the lines better...especially if you wear glasses when ‘staring’ can make your eyes ‘wobble’ just when you are cutting an important bit. ( Yeah...I said ‘eye wobble’...it’s a real thing.....it is hahahaha )

Pic 6 : So just keep cutting until all the patterns are cut out and have all of the required holes punched. I used a round punch 1-1.5mm I find it makes a hole big enough to pass two needles across each other but small enough to close with a hammer tap when done to make a neat finish.

Pic 7 :

Pic 8 :

Pic 9 : You see here how I’ve taped it down to the leather to transfer the patter to it, at this point the tape was holding so I just ‘cracked on’ with it but if you think it’s going to come loose...put small pieces over the edges to hold it in position. Here I’m punching holes with my stitch awl as I was waiting on the delivery that had my smaller round punch in it, this did the job but was a lot slower.

Pic 10 : Lay the patterns on the leather as seen here.

Pic 11 : stick it down. another good thing about decorators tape it that you can see the hole marks through it.

Pic 12 : If you don’t have any patience..pick another hobby, there are hundreds of holes to punch and it takes time and you should line the punch up with each hole mark carefully, the better you do here the straighter yours titching will be later, ( however..you are going to ‘wobble’ from time to time..it is Handmade after all, but try not to at least. You can use a stitch punch as long as the teeth gaps are the same measurements as the holes on the patterns or else it won’t line up.

Pic 13 :  Then carefull cut out the middle  hole for the Zipper, I do find that the zips only barely sit on the edge when glued so unless you can find really wide zippers try to cut the hole a bit narrower than the pattern, I found it helped.

Pic 14 : Cutting out the zipper hole.

Pic 15 : Using the stitch awl to make the holes a bit wider. ( This issue was resolved once my new punch arrived as it made the hole in one shot. )

Pic 16 :same process to transfer the smaller sections, be careful if there are two of something that you don’t cut two ‘right or left pieces’ ( yup, done that too )

Pic 17 : We now have all the pieces cut from leather and all the holes punched, time to build it.

Pic 18 : The zippers finally arrived, I decided on a double zip for this one but it’s your project so your choice, they fit as easily as any other zips.

Pic 19 : I layed a line of 528 contact cement to fix the zipper in place ready for stitching. The 528 is really good..so good that if you use it as instructed..once it touches it is a sure bet it’s not coming apart, so until you are confident I’d choose a glue with a longer setting time incase you need to adjust position.

Pic 20 : Next I used a saddle stitch to attach it more permanently.

Pic 21 : I usually use a Stitch horse but this thing flopped around too much so had to do this ‘Old School’. So many projects on the go all at the same time.

Pic 22: Nearly there, takes a while so you need a lot of patience.

Pic 23 : Done.

Pic 24 : I bent the zipper section back on itself as shown and used a clip to hold in place whilst I stitched it

Pic 25 : other view.

Pic 26 : attaching the outer ‘skirt’ that the actual side piece will later be attached to, here I’m just aligning the holes to mark them where I need them. The actual mis-alignement came later.

Pic 26A : a closer look at a ‘skirt’ being attached.

Pic 27 : close up. You can also see here the strap section which has been riveted to the side piece ..at one end using silver double cap rivets. I always use double cap unless the back will be hidden from view, It’s a personal thing I just think it looks better ir when you look inside the rivets look as good as on the outside. Again..if you are making one yourself, it’s your choice.

Pic 28 Here’s a view of the side section that I’m about to attach.

Pic 29 : You can see I am using the stitch awl as well as the clip to keep the holes lined up...or so I thought.

Pic 30 : Saddle stitched all the way round.

Pic 31 :  First side on now side two, a repeat of the same.

Pic 32 : almost there, if you are thinking of trying some leather craft for the first time, be warned, the thread can cut right into your hand after a few hours, at the very least your fingers will be sore, you never see it on my pics but I ususally have plasters everywhere just to prevent it, after almost six years I have grown more used to it but it can still get sore after a few hundred stitches.

Pic 33 :  Oops. it looks like I took my eye off the ball and mis-aligned a couple of holes at the beginning causing a twist in the body as seen here, nothing else for it but to carefully pick the stitches and re do it being a bit more precise. As I said earlier..an annoying Lesson but a good reminder to check twice before stitching. But..these things happen and even after a few hours of stitching it can go wrong. If you can take it as a lesson and just move ahead...go for it, because it’s going to happen at some point.

Pic 34 : It’s all feeling a bit ‘De ja vous’ at this point as I begin to correct the mistake.

Pic 34A : After unpicking the whole side and skirt, I first did the skirt again and then I realigned the side using half tooth picks to go around the edge and kept doing this until it aligned perfectly and ‘sat’ nice and flat. Then I started the stitching all over again. Lesson learned.

Pic 35 : from another angle.

Pic 36: continuing the stitch but being careful that each hole I marked after aligning meets up exactly as before.

Pic 37 : using the clip until it’s got enough stitch to hold it in place the rest of the way.

Pic 38  Anotherangle as I proceeded to adjust.:

Pic 39 : Almost there. ( Thank god hahahaha )

Pic 40 : And Voila..all straightened out, no more twist and looking the complete business. A beautiful Handmade Dopp kit bag. But I guess it can be used for many things. I’ll sell this on to someone that will appreciate the hard work that went into it and who also appreciates real 100% Leather goods. This can be found on my Etsy shop as from tomorrow. ( Please understand if any of my projects are not on Etsy when you look, it may be that they have been sold already and that this post has aged a bit.) Well guys I hope this has inspired some of you to give it a go yourself, this particular project is a little more advanced, I wouldn’t recommend a beginner to try this as this Leather is expensive and shouldn’t really be used to ‘learn’ on. But if you bought a cheaper quality leather to practice on then I guess you could make this..if you take it slow and follow Dieselpunkro’s instructional video which can be found on their website by the same name. Thanks for following my little projects I appreciate it, please tell your friends. There will be more projects to come this year, so as always, Watch this space ‘Stay Crafty’ and Stay safe everyone.

[aonrivers]

Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Baby Time! (TMI warning) - Part 01

Recently I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. For nine months I read articles and expectations of things to happen and to come, but honestly nothing prepared me for the truth of it all. Sure my friends told me some stuff, but nothing like what I experienced.

I’ve decided to write the nitty gritty of it all along with tips for new moms that I wish I had too. This is going to be major TMI, but when you've given birth, nothing seems like TMI anymore - especially because in the labor room you've got about ten people you've never met before (yes, even your doctor) staring at your asshole and your crotch. With introductions out of the way, are you ready? Here we go!

Part 1 of IDK how many...

Truths about being pregnant:

1) First and foremost... Officially remove negative people in your life the moment that stick says positive. This is Tip #1. I planned on doing this for months before I got pregnant but being pregnant pushed me to do it sooner. I was tired of being stressed out and having negative things told me by certain people in my life and I wasn't going to have it continue during one of the most stressful and most beautiful times of my life. I closed the door on many friendships during my first few weeks and even though it still bugs me that I had to do it, I'm glad I did and recommend others to do the same (even when you aren't pregnant). 2) Tip #2 I can offer is either before or during your pregnancy, plan a vacation. I was on vacation when I got pregnant and planned a trip with my best friend when I hit mid third trimester (would've been sooner but 2020 was a hellish year for the world). 3) I bought a belly book after a few weeks of finding out I was pregnant. My friend recommended it and it was really cool to document every week and my thoughts and post my belly bump pictures, but then second trimester hit and the book was wrong... I ignored it until the third trimester hit and it was wrong again. What was wrong with it? They claimed my trimesters started in certain weeks that were 2-3 weeks off. I Googled my trimesters and checked multiple sites - the book was wrong. So I finally said screw it and created my own. I bought a scrapbook (use a Michael's coupon, that shit is expensive) and I began to craft my own book. 4) A huge suggestion: take those belly bump pictures!! It sounds silly but it's super cool to have. Not only do you get to see your belly growing, but you can put those pictures in your scrapbook like I did. I took the same pose in the same place every Friday. Then I found a really cool app that you could put words on your images and ended up doing that for my Instagram posts. 5) My 3rd tip is make sure you have a really good relationship with your doctor and they believe in the same things you do. I think this is important because I wasn't happy with the thought of being pregnant with my normal doctor then I ended up not being happy half the time with the doctors I went to while pregnant. I wish I had that doctor patient relationship you think every pregnant lady has. I kind of had that with my crazy, beady-eyed doctor I had seen for thirteen years, but when it came time to have a child, she just didn't align with me. She was pro everything I'm not and became a little too radical for me. Be who you wanna be, believe and think what you wanna believe and think, but don't push that shit on me - and that's the direction she started going. So in the end, I left her and went with my friend's doctor... Who happened to have 5+ doctors and a midwife.... Midwife was cool and maybe two of the doctors, but the rest I wasn't a fan of. I didn't even know the doctor who I gave birth with and it was very impersonal with the doctors I saw during the checkups. For example: one doctor would come in, glance at me, talk to me while staring at the computer screen, then leave. I also didn't get ultrasounds done with them, only heartbeat checks. It just wasn't a journey with them like I thought it would be and should've had. Now speaking of those sweet black and white first photos... 6) Sonograms are beautiful things to have. I got a nice picture frame for my second trimester image and have it on my dresser with a cute doll and my childhood music box. Treasure these little pictures. Take pictures of them to keep and reprint because the ink will fade on the ones the tech gives you, but for the love of God, hide your personal information when you post them. Sonograms say your name and birthdate, along with where you got the picture taken then more information on your child. It irks me to no end when people post this online. Especially on Twitter, which is a public forum. Shit. I didn't even post that on my private Instagram. 7) Next Tip: Call insurance to confirm multiple things, such as: what's covered during pregnancy/hospital stay/postpartum, if the hospital is covered, and if your Pediatrician is in network. Just because the office says "yes we take Aetna/UHC" doesn't mean they're in network. 8) Something that I will be telling everyone I know who is pregnant (which honestly isn't many) is scourge the internet for those pregnancy sites. Most sites and stores offer sample boxes. If you start a registry, they send you one too. Try: Amazon, Babylist, BuyBuyBaby, Walmart, Target... The list goes on. Check What To Expect's website for a list of all the sample box sites. I got about ten boxes that all had great stuff inside: bottles, pacifiers, breast milk pouches, diapers, lotion/shampoo samples, wipes, pads, and a few other smaller things. I honestly haven't used any of it, but plan to soon. 9) A great tip my friend told me was to go on those breast pump sites and check to see if your insurance is covered. My insurance ended up covering up to $300 for a breast pump. Of course I went with a $300 breast pump and paid an extra $30 out of pocket to have a few more parts included in my purchase. It was a great idea and is highly recommended for new moms to take advantage of! (I went with Spectra for a few reasons... It's definitely quieter than the Medela pump (the hospital had this one), and there's a nifty nightlight on the pump handle with two settings. It's super useful and I actually use the nightlight feature every night...) 10) Another great tip is to make that baby registry and share it!! People you don't expect will buy stuff. I used Amazon and got a bunch of perks. After my shower, I bought the rest of my stuff with the discounts Amazon offers. It was 2 bulk orders where both had 15% off entire order. I also get discounts on diapers for a year or, I think, the equivalent of $600 spent. Both perks were extremely helpful. 11) FYI, pregnancy is ten months, not nine. They tell you this in articles on The Bump and What To Expect, but I figured I'd say it anyways. 12) You won't miss your period during this time. I sure don't. 21 years so far is long enough for me. 13) The nausea is real and it sucks. It gets to the point where you don't wanna try for baby number two because you're just so over it after being sick for three months straight. 14) Nausea doesn't mean you're hanging over the toilet bowl throwing up the only food that doesn't make you sick. You can just have that knot in your throat all day that's teasing you about having to throw up. Not fun. 15) Being tired is also real and I have no idea how working moms-to-be do it. I work from home, so taking power naps was easy to do. Most of the time, I couldn't keep my eyes open. And it took about three months to find out why... (see next number) 16) YOU'RE NOT ONLY GROWING A HUMAN INSIDE YOU BUT A FREAKING ORGAN TOO!! That's right folks. The placenta isn't just chilling inside you waiting for the day you get pregnant. It's growing right alongside your little baby, taking your nutrients and energy so it can form and power up your little embryo/fetus. 17) If you're a vivid dreamer like me, the dreams are definitely weird. They tell you this, but for me, my dream self becomes pregnant too. I literally went through my dreamworlds pregnant. 18) Boobs hurting is an understatement. My boobs hurt so badly from the hormones and getting ready for milk that I didn't even wanna touch them when I was showering. 19) Your boobs become hideous. I have small breast - a nearly A has been my measurement in the past, but becoming pregnant, I became a large B - probably going into a small C cup. And not only did the boob itself get bigger and veinier, but the nipples got bigger and darker (confirmed by my friends, doctor, and websites that women experience this change). I honestly don't recognize my boobs anymore. I also don't even know why I wanted bigger boobs growing up. They suck. It's not the backaches (I didn't have any while pregnant, surprisingly), it's the fact that when you sleep on your side, that boob gets crushed and goes numb. 20) Boobs leak as they start forming that first collection of milk aka colostrum. So be aware. Being braless is great but those milk stains aren't cute. And it's not like a normal wet spot either where your nipples are. It's a wet stain with a milky ring around it making it totally unattractive. 21) Your nipples will become numb aka no stimulation. At least for me. My nipples are still numb but I guess it goes without saying why (think about it). 22) On websites, they will tell you that your cervix swells and some women enjoy sex more with their new closed off vagina, but not for me. It hurt to do anything down there. My husband and I had one position available and when the bump got bigger, we became celibate. And boy does the guilt take over... So expect this to happen - you're not alone if it does. 23) Your sex drive may be gone. As I said above, I swelled up down there and it was very painful having sex. With that, the sex drive was killed. My poor hubby suffered through these nine months and continued to suffer after birth because- well I'll get to why suffering continues after birth later. 24) Craving food may not happen for you. I didn't crave anything unusual. The only thing I ate on a daily basis were two English muffins with butter. On weekly basis I had three scrambled eggs on those two English muffins. This occurred maybe 2-3 times a week. Other than that, my "cravings" were the same. I wanted Taco Bell and all the other normal stuff I ate when not pregnant. 25) Paranoia for what you're eating will definitely hit you. Guilt will too. Paranoia because you're checking Google to see if you were allowed to eat that pasta with garlic sauce; and guilt because you're eating crappy junk food and feel like you're depriving your baby of nutrients. But like my friend told me, your body provides the baby what it needs and to stop being paranoid. Also those prenatals pack a punch in vitamins. 26) This isn't really nitty gritty or a tip... it's just something I personally did while pregnant and that was - I stayed away from the foods they tell you to like the high mercury fish and cold cuts, but I ate hot dogs and medium cooked beef. But those meats were cooked 170°+ which they recommend if you wanna eat your normal foods. You can also eat cold cuts but it's highly recommended they're warmed up. These meats contain listeria which is something we can defeat by ourselves but our little babies in the womb have difficulty in doing. Another thing I did in regards to food was I stayed away from foods I was allowed to eat but made me sick when I wasn't pregnant. I just didn't want to deal with the sickness. 27) Sleep however tf you want to sleep and that's exactly what I did. Sleeping on my side is not something I do when not pregnant and certainly didn't happen while pregnant. That is, not until the last month or two. I'll elaborate... I'm a back sleeper. I slept on my back and felt my baby every night tucking into one side of my belly because it was comfortable for her. It wasn't until those last months where the weight of my baby was actually pushing on my spine and yes you can feel it. It's a heavy pain that forces you to side sleep. 28) Those pregnancy pillows are shit. Seriously. They're bulky and annoying. My friend bought me a super nice one that went under the head, down the back, and cupped between the legs and I used it for five minutes. I'll find use for it one of these days - maybe gift it to my friend who is due in April - but right now it's just taking up space downstairs. I tried the slanted pillow for my belly. That lasted a month. What did it for me was that silly "As Seen On TV" pillow. It's that white, guitar pick looking pillow you shove between your knees to keep your legs leveled and your spine straight. That's literally the only pillow that helped me when my belly got huge. My bed worked out in my favor cupping my bump. 29) Being pregnant in the summer isn't that bad. Granted I had AC/Central Air the entire time. But seriously... You know why it also wasn't so bad? I could wear tank tops and dresses. Those were my maternity clothes. I bought maternity leggings for $4 when Kohl's had them on sale. They sucked. The belly piece went over the belly nicely, but the back road my back fat in a very uncomfortable way (and I don't really have back fat). Also, flip flops were my Godsend. When my feet swelled, flip flops were all I wore. Can't do that in the colder months! 30) I basically became a heater. Probably because I gained 4lbs of blood and water and a baby and whatever else was going on in my body. I normally sleep with a fleece blanket and a comforter; even in the summer. I could only use my fleece blanket while pregnant. I was surprisingly warm enough. Which leads me to the next sleeping factor... 31) Sleeping naked was a must. Here's why... Besides being hot all the time, waistbands hurt me and shirts bugged the crap outta my body. 32) Being commando all the time was a must. It was super nice being commando. I didn't have to worry about a period making a grand entrance and the waistband and around my thighs weren't hurting. 33) A nice buying tip: the baby grows super fast. And if your baby is born in the fall or winter, chances are the stores only have summer clothes. So make sure you get those larger outfits for the months to come! 34) Ask for larger clothes for that baby shower. It'll help down the road. 35) Shaving stops when you can no longer see down there and when you can no longer bend comfortably to shave your legs. Of course that didn't stop me before I went to the hospital. I cleaned up the best I could from the belly button down, but still managed to miss that one spot on my damn kneecap! 36) Back to baby... Flutters start being felt really early. Feels like gas but it's the baby. They say 16 weeks but I was feeling the flutters at 12 weeks. After the flutters came the kicks and jabs, and the constant wondering if I had a mini Mike Tyson in my belly. Especially when my belly would convulse like she was using my organs as a punching bag. I came across only one random article that explained what that was... Hiccups. Yes, the baby gets hiccups in utero and if your baby is like mine, the damn things continue outside the womb annoying your little bundle of joy like your own hiccups annoy you. 37) Sometimes you'll panic when you don't feel the baby moving much. Babies in the womb still need sleep I was told. If you get no movement at all within 24 hours no matter what you do then definitely call your doctor. (Your doctor should tell you this during a visit.) 38) I was told this: babies hear you and mostly everything around you outside the womb. This is true. My baby would move from her comfy right side to the left just to get closer to where my husband was talking to her. 39) Third trimester is when everything starts getting real, possibly painful, and definitely the feeling of "I'm over this". They mention this on those websites and they're not joking. 40) Every night I popped two tums just to keep the acid reflux down and the heartburn away. They say major heartburn means you've got a hairy baby and they weren't kidding (more on this later). 41) Waddling actually does occur. At first I felt like I was just doing it because I'm pregnant and subconsciously I'm making fun of pregnant ladies you see in movies. But you really do waddle and wonder if your walk will ever be the same again. (Spoiler: it does.) 42) My feet and legs swelled by my 8th month. They were slowly swelling into the third trimester but it was super noticeable towards the end. But I also ran into a health issue which I'll get to later... The swelling actually hurts. It feels like you're walking on water bags and on top of that, the bottom of your feet feel like you walked all of Disney World nonstop for a week straight. Do yourself a favor and put your feet up and rest. I hardly did this. I just had so much stuff I wanted to get done and I don't like asking for help, so I did everything myself until it got to the point where my husband or mother-in-law were yelling at me. 43) Getting a cold while pregnant sucks. Coughing and blowing your nose is kind of hard because you start to worry that your upsetting your baby. Plus, now you gotta think about medicine. What's safe and should you even bother... Luckily your doctor gives a list of safe medications. 44) Swelling in the feet could be something completely different than just the normal "things to expect in your third trimester" so be aware and prepared for problems that can arise that you weren't expecting. Like what happened to me. Even though those monthly appointments turned weekly get annoying, especially when you gotta drive thirty minutes to your appointments, they're not pointless. In week 38 I had protein in my urine and my blood pressure was high. The protein was not a UTI like what I got when I conceived back in December. That protein was a glimpse into something pretty scary if not caught early during pregnancy. It's called pre-eclampsia. Luckily I was two weeks out from my due date so inducing me wasn't too big of an issue. My baby was fully grown. Only way to get rid of pre-eclampsia is to remove the placenta - hence the early birth of my baby. But some mom's aren't this lucky and lemme tell you something. This was something that was never brought up to me during my doctor visits or on the websites I visited. They don't tell you that pre-eclampsia can happen at any point or that it could come back, and possibly worse, in your next pregnancies until you've been tested positive for it. I was in the hospital for five days after giving birth. My kidneys, heart, and platelets were all affected. Thank God I'm cleared now, but knowing about this ahead of time would've been nice. I could've looked for signs which were massive swelling in legs and feet (luckily I had no headaches or blurry vision). But like I said, I was tested positive late in the game. Some mother's aren't. Part 02 will go into labor and the TMI things that go on when you're admitted into the hospital.

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.17, “Arts and Inhumanities”

The episode starts with some glamour shots of Andi’s art piece. It shows off a lot of the cool little details of it.

Then it shows this...

...which isn’t as impressive.

Or this one...

I feel like the crushed can of La Croix wasn’t Andi’s addition. I think someone was leaving lunch and saw a pile of trash and thought, “Oh, I guess we’re just doing this now,” and they threw it on the pile.

Bex takes pictures of the piece like a proud mother.

Is this in a different part of the school? Did they move this cumbersome thing across the school? How many people did that take? There must be paper shreddings everywhere.

Bex continues to take pictures and ask questions and make attempts to impress passersby.

Bex asks Andi where she learned to do art and Andi tries to play it down, saying it’s not art like Picasso or... you know... other artists whose names don’t come to mind.

Andi says she knows crafts, not art, and, after all, it’s arts and crafts, not arts are crafts. Bex still wants to know where she learned to make this and Andi isn’t sure.

“The rage just took over my body. I blacked out and when I woke up, I was standing in the middle of school and there it was.”

Another kid comes over and asks if Andi is the artist and Bex gets excited as Andi tries to put an end to the whole discussion.

But, listen Andi, you know how you become an artist? You call yourself an artist. That’s it. And you just keep doing that until people are too scared to look stupid by saying they don’t get your art. That’s what the guy who painted the drips did and now his paintings sell for the GDP of a small island nation.

That’s right, Jackson Pollock, I’m calling you out. Meet me in the parking lot of the Waffle House and we’ll throw hands, unless you’re a coward.

Buffy and Cyrus hang out at the bowling alley.

Cyrus does some light calisthenics to prepare.

Buffy tries to figure out what he’s doing. He says according to his research a bowling ball should be about 10% of the bowler’s weight, which, fine, but how is this measuring 10% of his body weight? The balls say how much they weigh on them. Why does he need to do this strange dance like he’s trying to sacrifice his bowling ball to the sun god?

Also, I don’t think they make bowling balls that are seven pounds soaking wet.

Buffy heads off to put their names in the name machine.

Cyrus, you’ve had your Bar Mitzvah. You’re a Bumper Man now.

Buffy gimps badly through the alley.

She spots Marty. He immediately asks her what’s up with her limp. She deflects. He asks her seriously if she’s okay and, panicking because she might have to admit to weakness, she’s turns and goes, oh!

New person!

Marty introduces Rachel as his girlfriend and Buffy cracks a few jokes about not thinking she was real, that maybe she was one of those imaginary girlfriends who “lives in Canada.”

Rachel’s like, EXCUSE ME?! CANADA?? How dare you even suggest I’d ever go to such a place?!

Buffy and Marty try desperately to explain it was just a joke.

Buffy, realizing she’s just created an air of awkwardness so thick you could shape it into a ball and use it to bowl, excuses herself.

Marty mentions her foot again. Buffy tries to play it off once more as just sore. In fact, she says, it’s getting better. You know, how injuries work. They start out a little painful, then get worse and worse and worse until you can barely walk, and then one day, they’re fully healed and you’re good to go. The human body is so mysterious. No one truly understands it.

Marty texts Buffy info on a foot doctor, even as she insists she doesn’t need one. “I’m fine! Honestly, I hope it just falls off. I don’t even want it anymore. Two working feet? Who can even be bothered?”

Rachel’s like, are we just going to stand around here all day talking about feet or are we gonna bowl?

Buffy limps back to Cyrus. She tells him how unpleasant it was meeting Marty’s girlfriend, even though she’s happy he’s got one. Cyrus is like, give that a minute, because Rachel is over there doing some weird thing where she whisper-screams at Marty.

You can really see why Marty fell for Rachel. Sure, on one hand, she has no sense of humor, but she’s also quickly prone to jealousy and anger. That’s what they call the total package.

Also, what does she mean “How did she know?” How did Buffy know what? Wait. Is Rachel actually Canadian? Is this like some horrible secret she didn’t want anybody to know? “If anyone finds out, it’s nothing but poutine jokes and people saying ‘Eh?’ to me from here on out! I can’t live like that!”

I mean, it’s either that or that she’s actually imaginary.

Cyrus is like, you think she’s talking about you? Buffy’s like, no, she’s probably gesticulating angrily at someone else in this direction.

Rachel storms off and Marty chases after her.

Buffy and Cyrus go back to their bowling. Cyrus finally picks a ball and gives it the gentlest of pushes down the lane.

It rolls as slow as it can get before being considered technically immobile and knocks over a single pin.

At least there’s room for improvement.

At Red Rooster, Jonah plays guitar and hides from Amber in the place she’d most expect to find him.

This is just a rookie mistake on Jonah’s part. He kept his back to the door! Any crime lord will tell you, you always keep your eyes on the door so they can’t sneak up on you and ask you if you’re writing them a song.

Amber’s like, I’m just kidding about you writing me a song, though if you wanted to, here are some words.

I like gerrymander. If this comes together right, could be the next great political protest/love song.

Jonah wants to know what Amber wants. Amber wants to hang out. She says she tried texting him and wants to know if something’s wrong with his phone. He’s like, yeah, it keeps giving you ways to try and get in touch with me.

He says it was on silent. Amber wants to ask him a question.

Well, see, the thing is Amber, okay means different things to different people. For some people it means that the relationship is going well. For others... well, you’re both still alive and breathing so...

Jonah insists things are fine, but then Amber asks to hang out and watch him practice guitar and Jonah’s like, CAN’T! CHESS!

He says he’s going to meet Cyrus for lessons. Amber’s like, you don’t seem like a chess guy, you know, because of the whole inability to think about stuff thing.

Jonah’s like, yeah, well, that’s why I’m practicing. He heads for the door. Amber asks about tomorrow. Jonah says to text him. She jokes to make sure his phone isn’t on silent and Jonah’s like, *finger guns*

And Amber’s like, okay, *finger guns* we’re doomed...

And I’m like, Amber, look at the sign, girl!

I mean, literally, look at that sign behind you.

The prop guys know what’s up.

Over at Andi’s, Andi works in her room when Bex comes in asking if Andi got her email. Andi reasserts that no one uses email. Bex tells her to just check her email, so Andi opens her computer, where she has a folder for pictures and another, separate folder for “Pictures o’ Stuff”

Aren’t all pictures pictures of stuff? How does this filing system help at all?

She opens up her email.

Oh, nobody opens email anymore? Then explain to me why you checked two emails from Social Post yesterday! What’s the truth?!

Oh, and by the way, Olivia sent you help with the files and you didn’t even have the common courtesy to at least reply with a “Thanks”? Rude.

Anyway, Bex sent Andi a link to the website for the Shadyside Academy of Visual Arts, or SAVA.

SAVA is a high school for the arts that Bex thinks Andi should apply to. She says the application is due by the end of the month, so think about it, but think quickly.

Andi checks out the application. First it asks her to upload her portfolio, which is preposterous because how can you upload a trash sculpture into a computer? I mean, come on.

Andi skips that and looks at the next screen, which tells her to list any rewards she’s received.

That’s not nothing. She skips that question, too.

The last thing asks for three recommendations from her art instructors. She has no art instructors.

Andi shuts down her computer and goes back to her school work.

Hear me out, though. What better way to showcase your creativity than craft an entire résumé out of whole cloth? Say that you won the blue ribbon at the “Cloud Ten Art Show”. Bex will lie for you. Invent three art instructors and their recommendations and if someone asks you for their contact info, say that they all decided to retire and live off the grid. Tell Metcalf you're doing a social experiment on high school admissions officers and he’ll back you up.

Back at the bowling alley, Buffy tries to order food while a couple has an uncomfortably loud fight in public behind her.

Marty swears to Rachel that Buffy is just a friend, but Rachel thinks Buffy’s interested in him. Rachel is positive that there’s something going on and that Marty wishes he was with Buffy instead of her. Marty tries to insist otherwise.

Buffy, trying to sneak away from the scene in a hurry, steps too hard on her foot and screams out in pain.

In a totally healthy way, though. It was a scream of pain in acknowledgment that her foot was almost all better.

Marty runs towards her and Rachel’s like, I knew it.

You ran to help someone in pain? Final straw, mister!

That night, at Bex’s, the family gathers for dinner. Bex asks Andi if she filled out the application to SAVA, but Andi says she didn’t. She doesn’t have a portfolio, or awards, or any letters of recommendation. Bowie asks if Andi really needs art school when she has Andi Shack. Bex says he hasn’t seen the place, but Andi points out that neither has she.

Oh really? If that’s true, then explain this!

You can’t! There’s no explanation for it existing in the year of our Lord 2019.

Bowie points out that neither of them has actually been to the school, and maybe before they decide anything, that would be a useful thing to do.

For having this insight, he is viciously attacked.

At the movies the next day, Jonah points out to Cyrus how films about people who have magic powers but don’t use them effectively are dumb as hell.

Cyrus spots Amber and calls her over. This upsets Jonah because that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

Amber’s like, no lesson today? Jonah’s like, we’re about to lesson! She asks Cyrus how Jonah’s doing.

Jonah says it’s going slow. Honestly, he could see himself wrapped up in trying to learn chess for the next three to four years. Amber wishes them luck and walks away.

Cyrus asks Jonah what that was all about. Jonah explains that Amber was getting too clingy so he lied to her about learning chess from Cyrus to get away. That presents a slight problem.

Jonah’s like, that’s fine, I’m not really taking lessons.

This, obviously, opens him up to easily getting caught in a lie. He should’ve gone with something he knew for sure that Cyrus could’ve taught him, like Hebrew or how to run in an awkward fashion.

Later, at Cyrus’s house, Amber sits down with Cyrus for a therapy session. He says let’s dive in, and Amber says, yes, let’s. And then she reaches down under the table...

and she pulls out an entire chess set from out of nowhere!

And not just a chess set. A fully-prepared chess set. Where the hell did this come from?!

Hold on, I gotta to try and figure this out.

She pulled it out from under the table like it was already there, like it was Cyrus’s parents’ set, but then you’d think Cyrus wouldn’t be so caught off-guard. He’d probably think, oh, Amber is coming over and there’s that whole thing about me pretending to teach Jonah chess, I should probably hide the fully-prepared chess set my parents keep under the table at all times, just to be safe. Just so I don’t get caught in a situation where my lack of chess knowledge is exposed.

Plus, Amber’s plan here requires a chess set, so she couldn’t leave this to chance. Even if she saw it there before, it could’ve been moved or it might not be fully-prepared.

No, she brought this chess set from home. But how could she bring a fully-prepared chess set from home and sneak it in when Cyrus would be the one letting her in the house? He’d surely notice her holding something like that.

No. No, no no no. No. She came ahead of time. She came ahead of time and either got one of Cyrus’s parents to let her in while he wasn’t home, or, and this is my guess, she broke into the house with a chess set, snuck upstairs with it, and prepared it under the table. Then she snuck out and scheduled an appointment with Cyrus to talk so she could spring this on him! The dedication to this scheme is unbelievable!

Cyrus tries to get Amber to stay on topic, but Amber says this is the topic. She starts pressing Cyrus on his chess knowledge and his story immediately starts to fall apart.

Then Amber mentions she knows a thing or two about chess.

You know, she says that, but I don’t know if I believe it. Seeing how the rest of this plan went, I’m guessing she pulled an all-nighter last night and learned the ins-and-outs of chess out of spite.

Cyrus makes two moves and Amber checkmates him. This is the very rare -- though appropriately named -- scenario known as the “Fool’s mate.”

See, it’s called that because you’d have to commit a very serious blunder for it to happen, like agreeing to play chess when you know hardly anything about chess instead of insisting that you stick to the topic or ending the volunteer therapy session.

Amber’s upset that Jonah lied to her and that Cyrus stood there and let him lie. That’s fair, but also, the two of them are only standing in this room at this moment because of a series of her lies and deceptions, so, are any of us truly free from sin?

Amber’s like, why would you do that? Cyrus says Jonah’s his friend. Amber wants to know what about her? Cyrus says she’s his friend, too.

I mean, yeah? Let’s be honest, we’ve all ranked our friends. If you don’t know which of your friends you’d lie to to help your other friends, you’re not properly prepared.

Amber walks out. And without her chess set? She bought it just for this ambush, didn’t she?

Cyrus feels bad about the whole thing.

Maybe psychology isn’t for him anyway. Maybe he might do better in something like... law?

At school, Buffy takes off her shoe to check on her totally-fine, better than ever foot.

Marty shows up and tells her to get it checked on. She’s like, don’t tell me how to live my life, I don’t tell you how to live yours.

Like getting sad and disappearing for a year and a half.

Marty says he broke up with Rachel, or rather, Rachel broke up with him. Either way, it’s over and he’s fine with it. I find that hard to believe. He says that now, but in a couple of weeks, he’s really going to miss how she always never laughed at his jokes.

Buffy says she hopes the breakup wasn’t over her, but Marty says no matter how many times he told Rachel he and Buffy were just friends, she insisted it was more.

He’s like, don’t worry, I’m not into you. And Buffy’s like, oh good. Wait.

Marty says they really work as friends. The bell rings and Buffy sends Marty off with a promise she’ll talk to a doctor.

Bex and Andi tour SAVA, where they’re doing all kinds of cool art stuff.

Like these pipes. Or those lines on the wall. Really demystifies art, huh?

Back at school, Jonah heads out and Cyrus runs to catch up. Jonah gives him props for doing something physical without wheezing.

Cyrus warns Jonah that Amber figured out the chess was a ruse. Jonah panics. He realizes he needs to find a new reason to hide from her. He’s like this close to faking his own death and coming back with a fake mustache as Jonah’s long lost twin, Jonas.

Amber shows up. She’s like, I know how you can avoid spending time with me: break up with me.

Cyrus apologizes but Amber’s like, eh, forget it, I’ve already lost interest.

Cyrus excuses himself.

Amber and Jonah talk. He apologizes, says he didn’t want to hurt her, and says he hopes they can still be friends.

Amber says, for future reference, don’t drag out a break up and make the person you’re breaking up with feel like an idiot. Amber walks off, leaving Jonah saddened.

I feel like maybe they’ve both learned a valuable lesson.

Jonah should just be forward with a break up if that’s what he really wants, and maybe Amber shouldn’t date 8th graders when she’s a sophomore in high school and expect a loving, mature relationship.

At SAVA, Andi returns to Bex to see what she thinks of the place.

Bex thinks it’s impressive. Andi asks her how hard she thinks it is to get in. Bex is like, I don’t know, we should probably look that up. Probably. Could be really good knowledge to have in this situation.

Especially because Andi’s really buying in to this school.

I mean, yeah. If you were designing a school from scratch to match Andi’s personality, it would look just like this. This would be like if Buffy went to check out a high school and when the bell rung after class, all the kids raced through an American Gladiators-style obstacle course in the halls to their next class.

Andi asks Bex if she still thinks she can get in and Bex says of course, but then Andi walks off and Bex is like...

Ehhh, I hope so.

[itsdaggerandsheath]

An Introduction to Sex (Part 2)

               To be quite honest with you, I don’t know when Fanfiction first really became popular or mainstream, nor do I know if it’s still those things. What I do know though was that it was a huge influence on my knowledge of sexuality as I was growing up. A good chunk of my education on sex as an… ”activity”, rather than solely a means of reproduction, came from Fanfiction.

               It’s occurring to me that perhaps some people reading this may not know what Fanfiction is, so I suppose I should attempt to explain it before I really get on with the story.

               Have you ever watched a TV show and really wished that your two favorite characters would just fall in love already?! With Fanfiction, you can write your own perfect story on how you picture that special moment happening, then publish it online for other people to read. Have you ever had a massive celebrity crush that you just wish would notice you? You can write a Fanfiction all about said celebrity falling for a character based on you! Anything goes with Fanfiction, really. Do you think the singer of your favorite band is into BDSM? Write a fic about them tying you up and ass-fucking you (or a character that you come up with) until the ropes make your wrists bleed. What about a disturbingly specific and detailed fic about your favorite band members squirting milk up the bottom’s asshole to clean out for anal sex (with more emphasis on the milk than the sex itself)? Yup, that exists. What about a fic involving your favorite YouTubers in which a live hamster is shoved up the sub’s asshole and the dom fills an entire hat with semen? Yes, it’s out there. (Bonus points to anyone who knows which fics I’m referring to).

               While some Fanfictions are wonderfully crafted love stories full of heart and passion, others…aren’t. And hey, smut is fine, I’ve read *cough* and written *cough* plenty of it myself. But surely, you would think, that the more explicit Fanfictions wouldn’t be accessible to those under the age in which it would be appropriate to read them, right?

               Wrong.

               I was eleven years old.

               I’d first come to discover Fanfiction through my favorite Disney television show at the time, Austin and Ally. Yes, that show that Ross Lynch was on. It was my favorite show in my tweens, and I wanted the two main characters – Austin and Ally, obviously – to end up becoming a couple so badly. My original goal was to see if maybe the writers of the show had hinted at the possibility of the two characters becoming a couple in an interview or something. So, I pulled out my phone – because my parents thought it was smart to let an eleven year old have a cellphone with full Internet access – and simply typed in, “When will Austin and Ally get together?”

               I did not find an interview with the show’s writers – instead, I found chatrooms, wiki forums, and YouTube videos from young people like myself who all had the same opinions on the subject as myself. I then clicked on a link that I thought was just going to be a post on some website from someone talking about how they wanted these characters to end up together like I did, but it was actually a link to a story on Fanfiction.net that I read and finished in the same day. From then on, I was hooked.

               Now, right away, I noticed that these stories had a rating system. I’m not sure if the rating system for Fanfiction.net has changed at all since it’s been years since I’ve been on there, but at the time, it was something like rated G, PG, T, and M (there might have been a T+ in between T and M, but I don’t remember). As I was eleven at the time, I stuck to the G and PG stories. Who would write rated M stories about a Disney show anyway? Oh, how naïve I was.

               One day, I read the summary for a new story that sounded exciting, so I opened it up without looking at the rating or the word count. All I saw was how many people at commented, so I figured it was a popular story that a lot of people liked! Turns out, it was a 300-word one-shot (meaning, it was a single chapter) consisting of Ally naked on her knees saying “please” over and over again while Austin rubs one out and eventually comes all over her face.

               I would like to issue a formal apology to Ross Lynch and Laura Marano.

               Seeing as I was eleven, I was traumatized, and was extra careful from then on (for a while, at least) to always check if the story was rated M.

               I was just so confused. I’d grown up being told that touching yourself was wrong, so why was there a one-shot about it on Fanfiction. And why did he do it on her face?! Such a concept had been unheard of to me at the time (because I was eleven). I was disgusted. I felt sick. I felt dirty. I felt wrong.

               I felt curious.

               But I was so afraid that I’d read something else strange or that I’d never known people to do sexually, I was afraid of what I’d learn, that despite my curiosity, I didn’t intentionally click on a rated M fic again until I was twelve. By this time, I’d had my first period and a few more, so I’d officially began puberty and became even more curious about sexuality. So, I began to search specifically for rated M Fanfictions because I wanted to know more about what sex was like and I was too scared to watch porn (we’ll get to that in Part 3).

               What I experienced while I read these sex scenes was something new, exciting. Why did I feel a throbbing sensation in my vulva? Why was I getting a tingling sensation like I had to pee? Why was my underwear getting wet? As I continued to read more and more of this erotic Fanfiction, I read about the female characters feeling similar sensations when they were feeling “aroused” or “horny”, which were new words for me. Why did I have to learn this through Fanfiction rather than in school?

               I then showed my new discovery to all my friends (of course). I remember when my entire cheerleading team had a sleepover, I’d told two of my closest friends on the team that I’d found Fanfiction with sex in it. Later that night, as the three of us lay in our sleeping bags with me in the middle, we huddled together to read the erotica on my phone. I remember them asking me things like, “How do girls come?”, “What does *insert word here* mean?” and “How does *insert sexual act here* work?”. I remember I loved telling them what I knew, like I had some fantastic, secret knowledge, and that it was my duty to share it with everyone I knew my age. So, I did. Soon all my friends were reading smutty Fanfictions.

               While still in my Disney phase, I ventured into the world of gay and lesbian fics as well. I didn’t know how sexual encounters worked between those of the same sex worked, so I read them more so out of curiosity rather than in search for arousal. However, I found that they aroused me anyway. I remember the first time I read a lesbian Fanfiction wishing I was in the characters’ shoes (I hadn’t realized I was bisexual yet, but that was a decent indicator), and then I read a fic with a threesome between two men and a woman and wondered why I hadn’t read it sooner.

               Why hadn’t I learned how same-sex couples have sex at all in school? Why didn’t I learn that males having sex with other males should still use condoms? Or that females having sex with other females should use dental dams? Why did I have to learn about these through Fanfiction of all things?

               By age fourteen, I had graduated from Austin and Ally and Fanfiction.net, and I eventually moved into my emo phase where I ventured into the world of band fics on Wattpad (I would also like to issue a formal apology to Chris Motionless and all of Motionless in White). It was here that I learned about BDSM – and Tumblr, but we’ll talk about that in Part 3. I was reading Wattpad stories about my favorite band, Motionless in White, and I’m pretty sure in every sex scene I ever read involving a girl and one of the band members (I mostly stuck to the ones about Chris because I adore him to this day) had mentions of spanking or some other form of impact play, and bondage was also seen very often, and occasionally a ball gag here and there. A common fantasy, it would seem, among young girls from all over the world who were probably far too young to be writing out such fantasies about men in their thirties. Oh yeah, sexual Fanfiction is plenty toxic too. I was fourteen reading brutal sex scenes about men who were way older than me, and a lot of the rougher/BDSM-esque fics were written in a way that made it seem like the sub was actually being raped as opposed to consenting to what was going on.

               Luckily, I saw this pretty quickly and knew that it was wrong, and I made sure to stop reading a Fanfiction if it seemed to be portraying rape in a romantic light. It’s likely that the person who wrote the Fanfiction didn’t intentionally mean to make the “sex” scene look like rape (although, having a girl scream “No, I don’t want to!” but then all of the sudden enjoying it once the guy forces himself inside of her should very obviously be seen was wrong), and they were just uneducated.

               And then, by age 16, I began reading exclusively gay Fanfiction about my favorite YouTubers, Dan Howell and Phil Lester – who I will not be issuing a formal apology to because they have stated that they whole-heartedly support Fanfiction, and have even gone as far as to read Fanfiction about themselves in videos, write Fanfiction about themselves for their book, and perform a parody of a Fanfiction about them live on stage in front of thousands of people. So. Anyway. I learned a lot about butt sex. Do you think they teach you about lube in school? Nah. But I learned about it from gay YouTuber Fanfiction.

               In Part 3 (which will be the last part of this series) I’ll discuss how websites like Tumblr and YouTube shaped my views on sexuality before I actually started having sex, and both the positive and negative impacts they had on me. In the meantime, have you ever read an extremely sexual Fanfiction that lowkey traumatized you? Did you get the most of your sex education from a probably-not-reliable-source like I did? Tell me your stories in the comments, or feel free to message me on Instagram @daggerandsheath

               I love you all and thank you so much for reading!

-          Dagger and Sheath

[richfieldbranch]

Mike’s Picks - Week of April 6th

Hello again to all our Richfield Library Patrons. We’re back this week with more suggestions to keep you busy while you're stuck at home. All library programs, outreach, and meeting rooms have been canceled until at least May, so hang in there! The books are all available through Hoopla or Overdrive, you can click the title to access it’s listing, or find all our materials at https://akronlibrary.org/browse/digital.  As always, I miss you, and please send me an email to let me know how you're doing, or if there's anything I can do for you.

Mike Daly, Adult Services Librarian 

mdaly@akronlibrary.org

Crafts:

For all you Richfield Crafters out there missing your monthly crafting fix, I have attached a couple of timely links to help you pass the time during the great quarantine.

Do-it-yourself Covid Masks

The first link was posted by the U. S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. It's very simple and doesn't require sewing. You can find the video at: 

https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus-local-impact/surgeon-general-heres-how-you-can-make-a-cloth-mask-today-in-just-a-few-easy-steps/

NPR also explains how they should be worn, and offers some different options for making them (including one where you just cut up an old t-shirt, no sewing or stapling or anything):

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/03/826996154/coronavirus-faqs-is-a-homemade-mask-effective-and-whats-the-best-way-to-wear-one

This one is what my wife used to make our family's masks. It does require a sewing machine, but the results were quite professional and easy to wear. There are hundreds of online tutorials if you do an internet search for “making Covid masks”. This one is from USA Today:

 https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/04/04/coronavirus-face-mask-tips-how-make-fabric-instructions/2945209001/ 

And finally, Joann Fabric has provided this pattern that does not require elastic or string, but instead has fabric straps:

https://www.joann.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-LibraryJoAnnShared/default/dw4148ae36/static/landingpage/assets/MaskInstructions_V2.pdf

Easter Pom-Pom Craft

Here's a couple of simple craft for all ages. They're really easy and the end products are very cute. All you need are scissors, rubber bands, old fabric, and some yarn. For bunnies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8DYHOSpL50 

and for chicks:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz0o-dBhAKA  

There are many more available on You Tube.

Books:

Non-Fiction

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough

McCullough tells the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory, at the time a wilderness northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. His main focus is on the founding and growth of Marietta, Ohio. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the

prohibition of slavery. McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Manasseh Cutler, Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam, Cutler’s son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science. A must read for anyone interested in Ohio history.

Code Name: Lise, the True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis

This book was an exciting read. I had never heard of Odette Sansom or the women of the SOE. In 1942 Odette Sansom, a French woman married to and English man, decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and one plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer Captain Peter Churchill. Loftis paints a portrait of true courage, patriotism, and love—of two incredibly heroic people who endured unimaginable horrors. He weaves together the touching romance between Odette and Peter and the thrilling cat and mouse game between them and a wily Gestapo agent.

Fiction:

This week I've been rereading some of my favorite books. The titles listed below are an eclectic mix, so everyone should find something to like. They are also long which will help you kill some time while stuck at home.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This was my favorite book in high school. Lose yourself in the adventures of Frodo and Gandolf in their epic battle of good versus evil. All three titles, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King are available for down as Ebook or audio on the library website.

The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens 

Although not as well known as Great Expectations or Oliver Twist, this Dickens classic is my favorite. A serial romp through Victorian England, this book is in turns funny, sad, and touching. Don't give up because the 19th Century language is unfamiliar. You will be rewarded if you persevere. 

The Ebook is available through Project Gutenberg: 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/967/967-h/967-h.htm 

and the audio book is available at LibriVox:

 https://librivox.org/the-life-and-adventures-of-nicholas-nickleby-by/ 

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

The first and best of Follett's historical novels about the fictional English city of Kingsbridge, it's an Oprah Book Club choice as well. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known, of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect, and of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena. The book tells of the struggle that will turn church against state and brother against brother. The book, as well as the two sequels, A World Without End and A Column of Fire, are available for download as Ebook or Eaudio on the library website.

And finally.................

Monday April 9th is

Fresh Tomato Day

“A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savory fruit. A fruit that has ambitions far beyond the ambitions of other fruits.” E. Lockhart

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” Miles Kington

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” Lewis Grizzard

Tuesday April 7h is

National Beer Day

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Benjamin Franklin

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.” Abraham Lincoln

“Beer's intellectual. What a shame so many idiots drink it.” Ray Bradbury

Wednesday April 8th is

International Feng Shui Day

“You don't have to believe in Feng Shui for it to work. I just know it brings me money.” Donald Trump

“I once drew a picture of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. But I put it away after a Feng Shui expert told me about the bad vibes” David James

“My view on Feng Shui: don’t put your bed in front of the door because you won’t get in.” Jonas Eriksson

Thursday April 9th is

National Gin and Tonic Day

“The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.” Winston Churchill

“Of all the gin joints, in all the world she walks into mine.” Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca

“I don't know what reception I'm at, but for God's sake give me a gin and tonic.” Dennis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher

Friday April 10th is

Global Work from Home Day (Very Appropriate!)

“All happiness depends on courage and work.” Honore de Balzac

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” Leo Tolstoy

Saturday April 11th is

National Pet Day

“Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love it.” Amy Sedaris

“Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life.” James Cromwell

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.” John Grogan

More to come next week!

[maiz-of-light]

All in the Cards: A Brief Introduction to the Tarot

Good evening, loves!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post on paganism, and with Beltane fast-approaching and my spiritual senses heightened, I would like to break that hiatus. I’ve already written briefly about setting up an altar space and using crystals for everyday purposes; now, I’d like to address the spirits’ most effective method of communication with humanity: the Tarot.

I started using Tarot cards about a year ago, when my finances and living situation finally allowed me to create a safe space for readings. Ever since, I have learned much about myself, my environment, and my own unique spiritual journey. The first thing I recall from beginning the process was quite the opposite of what I’ve since achieved: utter confusion. I had no clue where or how to start!

The start of my path was rocky, and although I eventually pulled through, I wish I would have had some sort of beginner’s guide to show me what to expect before beginning my journey. This post is dedicated to anyone who may now be in that same boat.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Please note that this is only an introduction; your journey is your own, and as such, the energy you transfer into your own deck will bear unique results and interpretations. This guide, I hope, will simply give you an idea of what to expect during your first few months as a reader.

Now, without further adieu...

The Minor Arcana

Tarot decks are not your everyday playing cards, but there are similarities. Because they are already commonly known, these are a good place to begin your study of the deck. 

Every Tarot deck comprises 78 cards: the traditional 52 cards (also known as the Minor Arcana), ace through ten, Knight or Jack, Queen, and King; their Pages; and the 22 of the Major Arcana. We’ll begin by reviewing the traditional(ish) four sets of 13 and their Pages.

Wands

The Wands family, or the Deck of Wands, is represented by the element of air. As such, these cards tend to be indicative of figures and events that may require additional energy, creativity, or entrepreneurial effort. Wands cards present the most lighthearted of omens.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Uranus, Mercury, Venus; Constellations to consider: Aquarius, Gemini, Libra.

Cups

The Cups family is represented by the element of water, and deals with deep emotions and emotional connections. A reading from the Deck of Cups may symbolize a new relationship or friendship, a deepened connection, or, on the less appealing side, heartbreak or loss. 

Astrology: Planets to consider: the Moon, Pluto, Neptune; Constellations to consider: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.

Pentacles

The Pentacles Family is represented by the element of earth, and deals with material gains and carnal affairs. A card of Pentacles might advise you to pick up a new craft, or prepare for an increase of wealth, or foreshadow grave carnal worries.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Saturn, Venus, Mercury; Constellations to consider: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo

Swords

Represented by the element of fire, the Deck of Swords is perhaps the most intense family of the Tarot. Readings may range anywhere from symbolizing or foreshadowing a sudden epiphany, to a stalemate, to a betrayal, and so on.

Astrology: Planets to consider: Mars, the Sun, Jupiter; Constellations to consider: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana is interesting in that it originated as its own set of playing cards. Also known as the “trumps,” this deck is represented by the fifth element, most commonly referred to as Spirit. Each of the 22 cards symbolizes a figure or event with heavy spiritual significance. This deck is composed of:

the Fool

the Magician

the High Priestess

the Empress

the Emperor

the Hierophant

the Lovers

the Chariot

Strength

the Hermit

Wheel of Fortune

Justice

the Hanged Man

Death

Temperance

the Devil

the Tower

the Star

the Moon

the Sun

Judgement

the World

Types of Readings

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the cards, you can better begin to consider the different ways to read them.

A Card a Day

Drawing one card every day is comparable to reading a horoscope, but more personal to the reader because of the direct touch. This reading is ideal for giving you a quick glance at what may be in store for you today. Try to draw your card before leaving your house for the day, if applicable.

Past, Present, Future

Three-card readings are one of the most common. The first card you draw symbolizes an element of your past, the second represents a significant element of your present as effected by the first, and the third shows you where you are headed.

A Year in Review

Twelve-card readings are a lot of fun for New Years, birthdays, or any other major holiday or annual date of significance. Begin by drawing for the current month, then move from right to left, top to bottom for the following months, until you’ve drawn one card for each month of the year.

Tips for Shuffling

The first step of any reading is, of course, properly shuffling the deck. 

Begin by spreading the cards out before you, then gather them back together however they choose to fall.

Cut the deck three ways. If you’re drawing for yourself, you cut. If you’re reading for someone else, you shuffle, but have them cut. Then, you draw.

Helpful Hints for Beginners

Now that you’ve covered the bases, here are a few things I’ve picked up over the course of my journey.

Cleansing your deck

It’s always a good idea to cleanse your deck every so often to rid it of foreign energy: before the first time you use it, after doing a reading for another person, after the deck has been handled by someone else (or stepped on by a cat, as happens to me quite often), or just whenever you feel the time is right. Sage smoke is the most commonly used for cleansing, but there are many other alternatives as well.

Reading reversals

Because of their vague nature, reversals are often considered an unnecessary option, sometimes even feared as all-negative omens. That’s not the case. A reversal simply means the opposite of a card’s typical reading. For example, if you were to draw the four of Pentacles in reverse, it could mean you need to prepare for upcoming financial hardships.

Don’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy

This is a difficult thing to do sometimes, especially with the more intense card readings. Should you find yourself caught in a bad omen, it’s best not to try to avoid it. Instead, do what you can to prepare yourself emotionally, financially, or otherwise.

Note astrological / celestial figures

Tarot cards are a form of communication between us and the spirits of the earth, but that doesn’t mean the celestial influences don’t combine their energy with the cards as well. Pay attention what planetary bodies are in what signs. If you’re not in a good place to read the stars, download an app that tracks them instead. I use Time Passages.

Keep a journal

You may find your experiences more beneficial if you track each reading. Be sure to number your entries, and to include the date, time, and number of cards drawn. Begin by jotting down your initial thoughts. You may want to go back later the same day and add any other comments on your reading and how it may have translated into the day’s events.

Tarot cards in rituals

Personally, I don’t use Tarot cards in many spells, but I do occasionally use them to enhance crystal magic. For performing such rituals, your altar should include some sort of cloth or talisman; it could be a pentacle, or some other symbol. Place your Tarot card on one of the five points or sections of the talisman: North if it’s a Pentacle, South if it’s a Sword, West if it’s a Cup, East if it’s a Wand. If you draw one of the trumps, place it in the center of the talisman. Set your crystal(s) nearby and light a candle so that it shines on both the crystal(s) and the card, then speak your blessing or intention over the flame.

Myths about purchasing your first Tarot deck

There’s an old legend that warns of bad luck clinging to the deck purchased by a first-time reader, and that all first-decks ought to then be either gifted or stolen. This legend is only a myth passed down by ancient Gypsy tribes who were thought to be smuggling with money gained by dishonest means. So long as you cleanse your deck immediately after purchasing it and keep the cards stored somewhere safe, no misfortune will follow you.

~ And we conclude! ~

We’ll wrap up with a reminder that this is only a beginner’s guide! And speaking of guides, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I didn’t include the translations of each individual card. Simply put, that would take way too long. There are guidebooks available for cheap that provide good summaries of what each card could mean; or, tarot.com is a free website also providing short descriptions of each card.

I hope you found this guide helpful, loves. And if you’re having difficulty acquiring a Tarot deck of your own, don’t be afraid to look online! There are tons of unique, beautifully-illustrated card decks equipped to boost your spiritual journey.

As always, stay safe and take care,

~ Gail

[thirstzone]

On The Interpretation Of V

V is an interesting character to be sure, and certainly one that’s taken the hearts of many of us, I’m sure. I’m still trying to nail down how I want to portray him, so hopefully this helps organize my thoughts a bit more. As always, everyone is entitled to their own character interpretation and their own way of writing characters! This is just how I personally analyze things.

On to the topic of the mysterious one, V.

Where to begin with V... As I write him on this blog, he’s... sort of his own character? I leave it ambiguous whether or not he’s his own entity or if he retains his origins. I do this because most of the time, it’s not relevant to the writing at hand. This leaves it up to the reader, and everyone has different opinions on this. Everyone can see V as they wish, so long as they aren’t attacking others for having a different opinion. Personally, I’ve already crafted a completely alternate storyline for the purposes of my own fantasies. However, for this particular analysis, I’m writing strictly from canon. So let’s dive in.

Before I reflect on V’s personality, let’s trace back his beginnings and his emotions when he came into existence.

With the release of the Visions Of V manga, we’re getting some more information about V directly after being formed. It’s still being released on an every other week basis, so this is absolutely subject to change as we get more information from that. 

I think to understand V’s situation, it’s important to understand where Vergil’s been in his life. Of course, that post will be coming soon, so for the short of it, Vergil’s been broken. He didn’t always start out so corrupted, but having been tortured to the point that he completely lost his identity must’ve seriously messed the guy up. Even before that, Vergil was trying to suppress his human side, but he still acknowledged it, sort of. But after all that broke him, well... we saw the state he was in. In the manga, he states that he needs to sever his human emotions because it was doing nothing but holding him back, plaguing him with nightmares.

And thus, V came to be.

V was just dregs. I’m honestly stunned there was enough of him left to even manifest alongside Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare with how absolutely broken down Vergil had been. But there’s something the manga revealed: he was scared. He realized he was separate and he was scared of what “he” had become. We can even see it on his face in the game. He’s absolutely mortified when he sees Urizen. He realizes he’s helpless, and it terrifies him. And let’s not forget this panel.

Pardon the non-translated text, but the website I use to read the English translation isn’t connecting at the moment. What he’s saying is shinitakunai which translates to “I don’t want to die.” He knows almost immediately that being split off means that it’s a death sentence. Given what he’s saying, and the imagery of the darkness creeping in around him, it’s obvious that he’s at least mildly afraid of dying.

So let’s tie that in with the prequel novel Before The Nightmare. I won’t linger too long on this because I’m mainly analyzing his actions in relation to his emotions. He’s already mentally separated himself from Vergil, as evidenced in the manga when he says, “I guess ‘I’ had forgotten how scary it is to be helpless.” Or something to that effect. I attempted to use Google translate before the chapter was actually translated and I noticed that when he uses the pronoun “I” in that sentence, it’s in the equivalent of quotation marks. Just that shows he sees Vergil as someone different. And in the novel, he even says that his “past self” was “full of delusions.” Though it’s interesting to me that Griffon seems to treat V’s actions as surprising when he chooses to leave on Dante’s suggestion. It’s possible that Griffon sees V as Vergil, even though V himself doesn’t feel the same way.

Another action of V’s that Griffon is shocked by is his decision to stay in Redgrave City to try and help the humans there. Vergil would’ve never done something like that. He may not have actively tried to kill them, as Urizen was doing, but he wouldn’t have bothered saving them. So for V to actively want to do so is something out of character for his old self. And V volunteers to do this knowing that doing that would only accelerate his death.

So we know that at the beginning, V is, to some extent, selfless. He would wear down his already decaying body to save people, or at least attempt to.

Regardless of this, let’s not forget that V has a touch of ruthlessness to him. In Before the Nightmare, he obtains the money to hire Dante by basically mugging a man. He’s not above doing things like that if he really needs to. He’s not maliciously manipulative, but he knows how to pull strings to reach the outcome he desires. He even refers to how he gets Nero involved as “using” Nero, with that exact word. In the prologue of the manga, he states that he will use anything at his disposal. In the game, he tells Dante “I never would’ve dreamed of using that child.” He’s pulling strings by getting Nero involved. He didn’t outright lie to Dante, but he did leave out some pretty important facts. He told Dante his adversary was Vergil, which was partially correct. He knew the name would mean nothing to Nero, and so he named him Urizen when speaking to Nero. Why he would make this distinction, I’m not sure. It wouldn’t have impacted anything to tell Nero Urizen’s name was Vergil from the start.

In regards to Urizen and Vergil, I think another thing that I should discuss is his motive. Was V planning to re-merge with Urizen? Was he planning to defeat Urizen? In my personal interpretation, I think merging with Urizen again was not his initial intention. So what changed?

When he tells Trish the story of his birth, you can tell he’s sincere. He’s being genuine and open and vulnerable. He is truly regretful for the things that Vergil had done and wanted to set things right by taking down Urizen. He’s guilt-ridden, and it’s clear in his voice. I do think he told Trish his origins in particular because she looked like Eva. Vergil’s mother. The memories V was in possession of. When he tells her, she basically brushes him off and tells him that it’s his own problem. To hear that from someone who reminds you of your late mother must have hurt. To add insult to injury, my friend pointed something else out: that must’ve drove home the fact that no one cared about V. When he says he’s glad Lady’s okay, she responds “You too, I guess.” Now, I get it. This stranger you know nothing about is kind of shady. But to add the “I guess” on is sort of... well, it’s rude, in my opinion. Then again, I’m southern, and manners are a huge thing here. And when Trish also shows that she’s not personally involved with V, it must’ve made him realize that oh right. They don’t care about him. They’re only working with him because he’s paying them. What happens to him or what he feels doesn’t matter to them.

So when Trish tells him “You need to see this through,” I think that’s when his goal changed from “I need to take down Urizen” to “I need to take down Dante.” He wasn’t seeing his goal as V through anymore. He was seeing his goal as Vergil through. That moment is when he decided to merge with Urizen, even though he didn’t originally plan to do that. I think he really was ready to bring down Urizen and save Redgrave City, even if it meant he died.

Now that I’ve talked about that, let’s talk about his personality in regards to how I write him.

When I write for V, I always write during the point of the story that he wants to save Redgrave. So basically I write V as he is before mission 12. Whether or not he’s a part of Vergil or his own person doesn’t come into play with his personality, as it only effects his motivations. V is polite, that much is certain. He tells Lady that he’s glad she’s okay, he specifically picks up a piece of Geryon for Nico without her asking him to, he doesn’t fuss when Dante tells him to turn back, among some other examples if I thought a little more about it.

He’s kind, but not too kind. He would willingly sacrifice his health to help the people of Redgrave. At the same time, he doesn’t have qualms about acquiring money (or clothes, according to the new Visions of V chapter) by unsavory means. He’s most definitely an “ends justify the means” sort of person, as he strung along Dante and Nero with just a bit of manipulation, although his intentions were good at the time.

Above all, being someone’s concentrated humanity, I think V feels his emotions very strongly. He may not know how to process them, but he’s the most open about what he’s feeling.

[rolewatch]

Pinterest followers hack 2020

Guide to growing your Pinterest account from 0-10000+ real followers   On this article, we will look at a working guide on Pinterest followers hack for 2019. If you have been ignoring Pinterest as an avenue to grow your business, you have been missing out on potential clients to expand your brand reach. Here are interesting and useful stats about Pinterest:

  81% of Pinterest users are  female , stats were at 70% in the previous year  Men account for only 7% of  total pins on Pinterest  30% of all US social media users are Pinterest users  50% of Pinterest users are in the US  There are over 75 billion ideas on Pinterest  40% of pinners earn more than  $100k+   87% of pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest  1 in every 2 millennials use Pinterest each month  2/3r’ds of pins represent brands or products    

 If these stats are anything to go by, then, by all means, every business should leverage Pinterest for rapid business growth.

 Women are the decision-makers in the majority of household spending decisions. This makes Pinterest the go-to platform for all household consumables.

 Pinterest is based on visual images representing products and brands. Visual information can be processed 60,000 times faster than text and is easier to remember.

 Pinterest is a network where people look for inspiration, including specifically seeking out ideas about new products to buy.

 That means they are excited to see posts from brands in their feeds and are easily form buying decisions based on this.

        Golden tips for Pinterest for business           Content   On Pinterest (  and other social media platforms  ) high-quality content is key to achieving the market penetration objective in your niche. Content must be created with your audience’ interests at heart. If you’re uploading images directly to Pinterest, make sure to name your image file based on keywords.

 Ensure you fill in the pin description to give details about the content they will find on your blog or website.

   You need to ensure your image text is readable, sure you’re tempted to use fancy calligraphy but if your audience can’t read it or find it hard to read. then you lose on their pin. the golden rule is you have to stand out to be seen. use your audience language but keep it overly professional.

 Use your content to brand yourself, find ideal colors, fonts, graphic style & typefaces to use in your content and use it on all posts. This ensures your target users recognize your pins.

  Consistency   Add new Pins over time rather than uploading a bunch at once. This helps you reach a wider audience. You can schedule Pins up to a month in advance with our scheduling tools, or plan even further out with our approved    Social Media Automation tool (JARVEE)   . Furthermore, your posts will be posted at a specific time of day when your targeted users are online to maximize on the extent of the post reach.

  Plan ahead of seasonal trends    People use Pinterest to plan for holidays or other seasonal events. It is paramount for your business to plan way ahead of these events. We recommend you to create your content at least a month earlier and schedule the posting with    the automation tool(JARVEE)   . The tool will post daily (or on other intervals as you may deem fit) at a specific time, maximizing on content reach.  Activity will pick up speed on your engagement as you get closer to the holiday.

  Optimize on your destination or landing page   The objective of clicking on your Pin is to learn more of your product or brand. It’s therefore paramount to link your pins to your blog or website. This gives the user more details on your specific product. The landing page needs to feel like a natural progression from the pin to your site. We suggest you create pins using the feature images on the targeted article.

  Pin-it button   Adding a Pin-it button to your sites (videos and pictures outside of Pinterest) or blog makes it easy for your audience to re-pin your content. You can also add the Pinterest follow button to grow your Pinterest following and engagement exponentially.

                Use hashtags    Relevant hashtags are a great way to enhance your content visibility. Hashtags on Pinterest should be kept professional. When not sure of the hashtag to use, it won’t hurt to search for the topic on Pinterest and use the auto-complete suggestions as guidance.

  Avoid spamming   Posting the same content on Pinterest multiple times on multiple boards becomes annoying to your targeted users. Ensure you post original well-crafted content.

  Pinterest followers hack-Automation    Pinterest automation  essentially is the process of automating  part  or  ALL  of your Pinterest marketing activity. Most importantly, by automating Pinterest, your account/s   will grow exponentially and fast . It will also ensure your accounts stay active without constantly monitoring, and manually posting.

 We recommend using   JARVEE   tool for this. JARVEE is an intelligent tool that uses complex and advanced algorithms to ensure your accounts grow on autopilot.

   JARVEE’s ingenious growth tools will help you reach a whole new audience and speed up the growth of all your Pinterest accounts. Pinterest marketing automation will be easy and fun. Don’t take our word for it try it for 5 days free trial period and see for yourself.

     JARVEE consistently delivers better visibility for your pins across all boards due to perfectly timed posting.

  Setting up JARVEE    PS also automates   Instagram ,  Twitter  ,   Facebook  , Tumblr, LinkedIn, and    Youtube    as well 

    Go here and download a free trial    of this advanced social media automation tool for free. The trial period is 5 days which is time to test and review its benefits   (No credit card details required)  

  Once you’ve registered and installed the tool, use the details sent to your email to log in to the app.  Here you are going to add your Instagram account/s. Depending on the downloaded package you can automate as many Instagram accounts as possible.  To add your account on  JARVEE , click on  SOCIAL PROFILE  on the left Menu bar.  Now click on  ADD PROFILE  and select  PINTEREST     Why use JARVEE?                  Schedule your Pins   Don’t just post hundreds of pins at a time. Instead spread them throughout the day to improve the chances of more people seeing them. With JARVEE it’s easy to schedule your posts throughout the day.

      Auto RePin   Find and automatically re-pin viral pins to your boards. There are plenty of search options, like based on keywords or specific boards or users.

      Add Video Pins   Spice up your Pinterest accounts with video content. You can post Youtube or Vimeo videos and apply the same marketing techniques as you do for images.

        Default URL   Set up a default URL to be added to all your pins so you can drive more traffic to your website.

      Create Boards   Create as many boards you need for all your   Pinterest   accounts in one place, with JARVEE.

      Auto Comment   Leave a thoughtful comment on niched pins to get yourself discovered by more people that might like what you have to offer. Get creative with the spin syntax for more authenticity.

        Auto-Follow   Find other users in your niche or people that might be interested in your work and start following their activity. Pinterest marketing automation is done right!

      Follow Back   Stay in touch with your followers by following them back with JARVEE’s automation tools. This will build trust among’st your followers and help grow your business.

      UnFollow   Follow only the people that are genuinely interested in your business and unfollow those that did not follow you back.

        URL shortening   Create simple and clean messages by automatically shortening all your URLs in your posts with JARVEE.

      Watermark your Pins   Protect your original work by adding a watermark before you publish it on Pinterest. This way every time someone re-pins your work, you will be recognized as the original author.

      Add Pins from RSS   If you have a few amazing RSS feeds with great images you can add them to JARVEE and all the new images will be automatically pinned to your boards.

        Monitor your Progress   JARVEE offers you a complete history and statistical data about your pins to analyze and use to improve your growth strategies.

      Spin Syntax   Get creative with your messages and make them more unique with complex spin syntax techniques that are available throughout JARVEE platform.

      Proxy Support   Make use of the JARVEE’s full proxy support and assign a HTTP proxy to each Pinterest account you manage.

https://socialtipster.co/pinterest-growth-hack/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pinterest-growth-hack

#marketingagency #startup #SEO #design #smallbusiness #advertising #Quora #entrepreneur

[arcanalogue]

Death and the Maiden, Cooking Edition: Pomegranate Tiramisu

Fahwad Khan, IMPERMANENT (THE POMEGRANATE SKULL) 2014

Pardon the long post, but I just don’t know where else to go with this. And even in terms of recipe posts it will be annoying because there’s the dreaded backstory — but I’m sharing in honor a friend who passed away, so I guess if you feel terrific about skimming past all that to get to a cake recipe one minute faster, no one can ever question your commitment to gastronomy. 

So here’s the deal. Back in 2011 I was hosting a monthly variety show that featured numerous components: film, live music, burlesque, PowerPoint presentations, arts & crafts, really ANYTHING. 

My friend Cas Marino wanted in on the action; he was a performer, but he was so much more than that. He was performing life, quite vividly; he was a cancer survivor who’d never stopped transforming. He played serious dramatic roles in productions all over New York City, he was happy to dive into a drag revue, he would host salons and get-togethers in his Midtown apartment, and on top of everything else, he was working on a blog called “The Food Daddy,” which was entertaining to read even if you couldn’t cook. As you’ll see below, everything he touched became infused with his humor and personality.

He’d appeared in a number of my shows, usually in drag inspired by that night’s theme. Here he is on the night we read excerpts from Elsa Lanchester’s then-out-of-print memoir. 

Here he is, drinking milk right out of the carton on the night we did a whole show about the trope in fiction about women who transform into cats. (I’m telling you, dear reader, I was truly living my best life as a producer!)

This was all in a lovely professional downtown establishment, so naturally I was interested in bending every possible rule past the breaking point. So when Cas asked if he could make food for my entire audience, I said YES... and then went to inform the venue so they could explain why it was completely against the rules. (In this instance, they had their own cafe on-site that was strictly kosher, and they could not risk confusion or contamination with outside food.) 

I don’t recall exactly how we pulled it off, but Cas began showing up at my events armed with enough food to serve 75 people (the theater’s capacity). Do you realize how incredible that is, reader? Sometimes we’d sell out, but sometimes we’d only have 15 folks in the audience, half of them comps. Cas believed in me so hard, he planned for a sold-out show every time. He would have been offended if we ran out of kibble with even one person left to feed.

The food was always on theme, so when I did a show about America’s First Ladies, he combined vintage recipes from Barbara Bush and Rosalynn Carter to make Bipartisan Buffalo Chicken Sliders, which he served dressed as Eve, the original “first lady,” mostly naked and covered in vines.

As you’ll read below, he agonized over the perfect thing to serve at our “Death and the Maiden” show.  At one point, it was going to be mini-eclairs filled with pomegranate cream and tipped with an almond fingernail. He finally settled on this original tiramisu recipe that knocked us all COMPLETELY OUT. And I ate the leftovers out of my fridge for days, because letting even one serving go to waste felt like a desecration.

Look, I’m telling you he could COOK. He once described his culinary style to me as “tragically indulgent.” His fantasy (like so many others at the time) was to parlay his food blog into an actual cookbook someday. 

Sadly, Cas did not live to fulfill this particular dream. In 2014 his cancer returned, and he faded away right before our eyes. From his hospital bed, he wrote me: “I have to survive this just to write about it and do a one-man show where I cook and feed and we all laugh and sob and go ‘Mmmmm that's fucking good’ and it just becomes a big audience/artist participation evening of sharing where I am the only one who gets to talk.”

That same year, I managed to recreate his Pomegranate Tiramisu and serve it to friends as my birthday cake; for a couple years afterward, I would look the recipe up on his website and fantasize about making it again. The ingredients weren’t cheap, and it required more kitchen space than I had in NYC. 

And then the worst thing happened: at some point after Cas’s death, the domain expired and his blog went 404, and ONLY THEN did I realize I hadn’t scribbled it down anywhere. People say “the internet is forever,” but hell... even Tumblr users know differently. 

I spent a few more years being very depressed about this, imagining the recipe was lost forever, but it turns out someone had managed to preserve the blog’s contents, and at long last it fell back into my hands. BACK FROM THE DEAD! Not unlike the Bride of Frankenstein herself.

So I’m going to let Cas take it from here, dear reader. Thank you for letting me bring him back to life for a just few minutes, performing for you, feeding you. Knowing that would’ve meant everything to him. From one of his last messages to me: “I have no designs on sainthood. But I know I still have shit to accomplish in this world, even if not a physical member of it.”

Knock ‘em dead, Cas!

“The Food Daddy” - Pomegranate Tiramisu

This recipe was created by me to fit the bill for the recent “Meet the Lady” performance (which, if you’ve not heard or read, is a monthly variety show that really rather defies description), titled “Death and the Maiden”.

I toiled with possible ideas that had to do with death and maidens, figuring most easily that a “death by chocolate” offering would at least use one of the title words. Then lady fingers came into the thought process because, well, if you dismembered a maiden you’d have two byproducts: death, most notably, and lady parts — including, but not limited to, her fingers.

Lady fingers naturally led to Tiramisu fantasies, but I didn’t want to go the traditional route. And after discussing it and brainstorming, I got smacked in the back of the head with the realization that the mythical Persephone — a maiden — kidnapped as she was by Hades — who, by way of his being the god of the underworld, was death its very self in semi-human form — ate nothing but pomegranate seeds during her detainment in hell.

If this doesn’t spell fucking dessert, I don’t know what does.

Herewith, my scaled-down recipe (in scope, not in structure or composition; I doubt you’ll need to serve 75 people with yours, though even at half-size this will serve a small army). You can pare it down even further if you feel such need, or instead of making it into one big sheet cake, assemble several smaller ones (I found this worked BEAUTIFULLY in loaf pans) and send them straight to the freezer for future enjoyment.

A few other flexible considerations: I made mine in a full-size deep steam table pan for presentation and food service purposes. These things measure roughly 20 x 10 x 3.5”, but you can use the smaller (12 x 9 x 2.5”) disposable aluminum half-pans for this recipe, or as stated above, any other configuration of sizes that suit your needs. If you want to unmold it and slice it after freezing, line your pans first with cellophane wrap. After just a minute or two out of the ice box, you’ll be able to lift it out of the pan (perhaps with the help of a hungry friend) by the ends of the cellophane, place it on a cutting board, and have at it. Tres artistique, even weighing in as mine did at about eight pounds. This last conclusion required me getting on the scale both with and without the final dessert in my arms and subtracting the first weight from the laden number, which could have been quite a site, as I generally refuse to step on a scale until I’ve removed every last stitch of clothing including my socks, and spit out any spare saliva and shaved every last facial hair so NOTHING will add even a bazillionth of an ounce to my readout, lest I suffer a deep fit of depression. And being depressed when you’re holding what turns out to be 8 pounds of really good cake is a recipe for emotion-eating disaster. But I staved off the need to feel slimmer than normal in light of the facts that (a) I was mid-movie shoot that week, and thus had to maintain a larger-than-usual mane of face-hair for my role; (b) spitting near food meant for others would be gross; (c) being naked around the same food would be even grosser; and (d) the tile floor in my bathroom could be a bit chilly, so why risk taking off my socks?

Socks, spitting, scanty clothing — nothing could have made this less enjoyable. The audience that night devoured what was served to them, and all but attacked the leftovers on the way out of the theater. I had sent samples of this creation to my usual team of taste-testers for input as part of the development process, and perhaps the most poignant and fitting critique came from my dear Mom who, just having started a new diet regimen, had the following to say during our brief check-in on the phone:

“Hello. This is your mother. Fuck Weight Watchers, and Fuck You.”

I love you, Mom. And not just because you loved this surprising new take on an old favorite.

60 Lady Finger cookies

4 Cups Pomegranate juice

1-½ Cups plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Packet unflavored gelatin

4 Egg whites

1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 Cup Mascarpone cheese 

3 Cups Crème Fraiche 

1 Tbsp. Corn starch

¼ Cup water (or as needed) 

½ Cup sliced almonds

¼ Cup Pomegranate seeds (or dried sweetened cranberries) 

(Reserve 6 Lady Fingers for garnish.)

In a saucepan, mix pomegranate juice with 1-½ cups sugar, and sprinkle gelatin on top. Stir or whisk until gelatin is dissolved with no lumps remaining. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar and gelatin are fully dissolved. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to boil, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set saucepan into a larger bowl filled with cold water. Stir frequently and change cold water bath often, allowing juice reduction to cool as close to room temperature as possible.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with electric beaters, whip egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff. Remove to a separate, clean mixing bowl (preferably chilled in the freezer) and set aside.

In stand mixer or large mixing bowl with electric beaters, mix mascarpone with 1-½ cups of cooled juice reduction until well blended. Beat on medium-high for one minute. Add 1 cup of the crème fraiche and blend until smooth. Finally, fold in beaten egg whites, half at a time, just until fully incorporated.

Assembling the tiramisu: Here’s where Food Daddy starts getting anal (but this works easiest, so just shut up and do as I say. Love you!). On your prep surface, set your plate or bowl of unpackaged lady fingers (you don’t want to be messing with cellophane and plastic bags and such mid-project here); next to that, set your remaining juice reduction; and next to that, set your cake pan.

Working from left to right (or for my Hebrew or dyslexic foodies, right to left), dip a lady finger lightly in the juice by placing it on the liquid’s surface, flipping it over with your fingers, then removing it by hand and placing it in the cake pan. Working quickly, repeat this process, building a tightly packed layer of side-by-side, row-by-row, lightly soaked lady fingers on the bottom of the pan. Nobody will see the inside of the tiramisu in its entirety, so if to make a uniform layer with few gaps you need to rip a finger here or stuff a finger there, I won’t tell a soul if you have to be a bit forceful or creative.

Spoon half of the pomegranate mousse mixture over the bottom layer of lady fingers. Using the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula, spread the mixture evenly. Lift the pan and drop it gently a few times on your work surface, just to make sure all the gaps are filled and big air bubbles are removed.

Repeat with a second layer of dipped lady fingers, and then a second layer of pomegranate mousse, again tamping pan to release air bubbles and distribute the filling evenly. Top with one final layer of dipped lady fingers.

Spread the top with the remaining 2 cups of crème fraiche, tamp pan to settle the layers, and set aside.

Pour remaining juice mixture into a measuring cup, and add enough of the water, if needed, to make 1 cup of liquid. Return to saucepan, and stir in the corn starch and the remaining 2 Tbsp. of sugar until starch is dissolved. Place pan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil to thicken. Remove from heat.

In a food processor or with a cutting board and knife, coarsely chop the almonds and the fruit, then add the reserved lady fingers and pulse (or chop and crumble) until the whole thing looks like somebody pawed at a poor helpless berry-nut muffin until there were no big chunks left.

Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top of the tiramisu. Drizzle with the pomegranate syrup mixture.

Chill tiramisu at least 2 hours in refrigerator before serving. For overnight storage or longer, cover with cellophane wrap gently pressed against the top surface.

This will “cure” and the flavors will blend and the whole combination really pull together if left refrigerated for two days. For storage beyond that or to deal with leftovers, this freezes BEAUTIFULLY. Just allow to come to room temperature before serving, or enjoy it “semi freddo” by removing from freezer and slicing wide, inch-thick slices, laying each on its side on individual serving plates and eating it cold and firm. A dollop of additional crème fraiche and a sprinkling of chopped almonds (did I hear someone say “mint sprig”?) sure would make this anything but a “leftover” dessert.