#wait i kinda 2x4...............

[marsixm]

bitch my art is so cute wtf????????????????????

can you believe i almost forgot about this wip

[butterflydm]

Minor WoT Odds & Ends, with some s3 speculation

None of this is really big enough for a post of its own, so I'm just posting a few thoughts

Another Rand & Egwene parallel this season just came to mind:

In 2x3, Logain demands wine before he'll teach Rand anything and Rand goes out of his way to get him the wine he asks for, only to have Logain pour it out and waste it, because it was never about the wine but about seeing what he could get Rand to do for him.

In 2x6, Renna demands that Egwene pour her a glass of water, and after Egwene breaks enough that she's able to do it without picturing herself hitting Renna with the pitcher, Renna pours out the water on the floor and wastes it, because it was never about the water but about what she could force Egwene to do.

And we have the purity of water (saidar) vs a pleasant intoxicant in wine, something that damages the body but makes the person who drinks it feel good (corrupted saidin).

...

Also, a note about Nynaeve not healing Rand in 2x8:

“Moiraine says Nynaeve must have done something, or you wouldn’t have lived till we carried you to Verin, but Nynaeve says she was too frightened to light a candle. There is . . . something wrong with your wound. You will have to wait for it to heal naturally.” (from The Great Hunt)

It's clear that the show was leaning on that part of Nynaeve's issue when she was in Falme, imo. Because her block needs to be a problem so that she has a very strong reason to want to break it.

...

re: Lan Investigating Moiraine's stilling issue, the Amrylin that Verin wanted to look up a passage about was Tetsuan, an Amyrlin from the Red Ajah and one who was stripped of her stole and stilled -- might have ended up being part of Lan's investigations into stilling, since he did note Tower records, and it seems like the journey he went on was:

2x1: Tifan's Well (in Arafel) with Moiraine, Verin, Adealas, & Tomas

2x2: Traveling south with Moiraine & co, and then handed off to Alanna & co

2x3-2x4: hanging with Alanna, Ihvon, & Maksim at her family's place, which is in Arafel but sounds closer to Tar Valon

2x5: confrontation with Alanna & her Warders on the road to Tar Valon

2x6: meeting up with Siuan on the road; at first I assumed that they went back to the White Tower before going to Cairhien but Liandrin states in this episode that they were 'called' to Cairhien to meet up with Siuan, which implies to me that Siuan and Lan DIDN'T go back to the Tower first

Which makes me think about Verin, doing investigations in the Tower about the Black Ajah, sure, but she was also investigating at least one person in history who had been stilled. Did she sneak some Tower records to Lan? From 2x7, we know that he's the one who basically hooked Verin and Alanna both in on the plan (Alanna and her Warders are talking about how Lan has said that Verin can be trusted).

2x7: completes his investigation when he speaks with Logain & confirms the weave on Moiraine

...

And then there was an official Amazon press release back on the 15th, which did confirm that part of The Fires of Heaven will be covered in s3, which... I'm still leaning towards that being the doorway encounter. "[at NYCC] Judkins revealed that Season Three of The Wheel of Time will focus primarily on the storylines from Book Four, with elements of Book Five".

But Rand & Aviendha's romance also seems likely to be one of the elements from book 5 that's brought forward into s3 (if Lanfear is going to crack at the end of s3 over the idea of Rand loving someone else, then Rand/Avi would kinda need to be somewhat accelerated). If they still want to start Aviendha off as somewhat resentful/wary of Rand, they might tie it into the fact that he had Moiraine lie to everyone about him being dead (so she's offended on Perrin's behalf, essentially, instead of on Elayne's) and it takes him proving that he's going to do his duty to the Aiel people that makes her soften towards him.

I'm feeling pretty good about my early speculation of 3x3 being Rhuidean, because of the casting of Maigran being for director Thomas Knapper, who is filming/filmed 3x3 & 3x4, so it'll definitely be either 3 or 4. Rafe also talked about how Rand & Perrin are going to have 'focus' episodes in s3, like how Nynaeve had 2x3 and Egwene had 2x6.

My guess is that Mat would get that kind of focus episode in s4 (probably the formation of the Band of the Red Hand); and maybe Elayne would get one in s4 as well, which would have meant all six of our main younger cast would have gotten a big focus episode by the end of s4.

I do think/hope that it's very unlikely that we won't get s4, but I'm definitely hoping that we get all 8 seasons that Rafe wants. But I can see a path to finishing the show in s5 and still hitting all the main beats (won't go into details here for spoiler reasons! but they've set up a lot of the foreshadowing and puzzle pieces that they would need), as long as Rafe knows going into the final season that it's the last one.

The big wildcard for me right now is Rand/Elayne. Their introduction felt very much like a promise that their romance is 100% happening*, but they are also destined to have separated storylines for most of s3 (and if they follow the books, the entirety of s4 (!), though I feel like it would be very easy for them to let Elayne be part of Rand's storyline that season because her plotline in TFoH is literally just wandering the continent in a sidequest while Nynaeve tries to remember a word; it's a fun sidequest but 100% a sidequest).

So my most generous to Rand & Elayne's development outline for s3 would be:

episodes 1&2 are in Falme for Rand's group, and our team isn't going to Caemlyn at all (Caemlyn is reserved for introducing Elaida & co to the audience, in this case). Episode 1 would be Rand & Egwene's final breakup, and then episode 2 would be Elayne having sparks with Rand (and maybe also Aviendha?) but nothing solidly romantic happening. Just some ~vibes~.

episodes 3-6 feature them being separated into their own plotlines, with Elayne and Nynaeve staying behind on the west coast while everyone else goes east (through the Ways?). Rand and Aviendha grow closer together while Rand deals with his stalker ex-girlfriend (Lanfear) who keeps bringing him gifts (Asmodean).

episodes 7&8 has Elayne & Nynaeve rejoining Rand's group (which also would give Nynaeve & Lan more time together, which Daniel has implied that we'll get -- he said in that one s3 teaser interview that the show would be going further along in the relationship than the books had at this point and if that's the case, then a lot needs to happen in s3), in Tear or maybe in Cairhien. And that would be half the season of Elayne and Rand getting to be in the same place. If they get to spend half the season together, that does give considerable time for relationship growth, especially with that separation in the middle to give them time to miss each other.

If in Perrin's storyline in 3-6, we have a subplot about Bain, Chiad, & Gaul, then this could also be more subconscious priming of the audience towards not being weirded out if s3 ends with Elayne, Rand, and Aviendha all having some feelings for each other.

That being said, I do kinda lean towards the idea that s3 is gonna be Rand & Aviendha's season, and the show will make some plot adjustments so that Elayne will actually get to be in the same place as Rand in s4 and so s4 will be either Rand/Elayne or Aviendha/Rand/Elayne. And if we don't get any kind of reunion at the end of s3, then I'm guessing that would happen near the beginning of s4 instead.

(* Though Rafe talks about Rand and Elayne's first meeting in his collider interview:

"We really wanted to flag for the audience that this is a relationship to pay attention to. So having her heal him of this wound that can’t be healed is a way to cement right away for the audience, 'These two have a connection to each other, and I’m paying attention to what’s going on with the two of them.' The way he sees her, the way that she comes into the scene, it all hopefully is signaling to an audience that’s not familiar with the books that there’s something to really pay attention to there — because there is." (from https://collider[dot]com/wheel-of-time-season-2-finale-rafe-judkins-interview/)

Which kinda implies they're going to follow up on it sooner rather than later. But who knows!)

[byunbaekhyunie]

 would you like to walk with me? ♡

[clockwork-arcana]

okay all of this is cool but what is going on in that screenshot. aside from being slightly squished vertically, i mean, that's perfectly reasonable, they forgot to crop it to the right ratio or whatever.

the first thing i noticed was that those beehives aren't aligned to the grid, that stone patch is 2x4, so the grid would look like the above.

AND YOU CAN'T PLACE OBJECTS THERE AT ALL.

Okay. Okay. Calm down, Quill, calm down. Maybe they're running modded? Dunno why you'd mod out the restriction on putting stuff in that space, it doesn't get in the way of anything, but you might have something that adjusts visual positions of objects for flavor.

But why would mods make the floor tiles of this path not connect? that tile type doesn't use that sprite when next to others, they merge to not have this ugly grid! what is going on h-

The coop isn't aligned with the tiles outside either.

THIS HAS TO BE PUT TOGETHER FROM SPRITES OR SOMETHING.

Oh hey look, you can't get into the garden either, because those plants are on trellises so you can't go around the sprinkler! It's all solid! And wait. Those are iridium sprinklers, and...

The house isn't upgraded. I mean, fair, I kinda hold off on that because it's expensive, but that's a lot of iridium for having no kitchen!

Oh, and zoom in!

That second chest is inaccessible. The first one blocks it, and that's a 1-block-wide path.

Not sure but I think this wall is misaligned too, the gap should be even between the corn and the coop, right?

Okay. Also, these bushes. I checked the wiki, since there were mushrooms, and based on the grass, this is Forest Farm, yes, which does spawn mushrooms, but it doesn't have bushes there according to the wiki...

And also according to the wiki...

"The western clearings spawn [...] seasonal forage items..."

THIS IS THE NORTHEAST CORNER YOU CAN'T HAVE FORAGE ITEMS HERE????

This. Farm. Is. Wrong.

Who would go through the effort to fake this image?! What??? There are tons of Stardew Valley screenshots online, or you could boot up the game and snag one yourself if you're worried about rights or something, there's plenty of places that look nice at the start of the game!

The more I look at this the more wrong it seems, and I'm not even that into Stardew Valley.

Concerned Ape knows what's up

[rarilight]

And They Were Roommates

Ficlet for @pr3x inspired by @punkitt-is-here wonderfully hilarious Sigma Mare Rainbow Dash's comics.

___

In Rainbow Dash’s humble opinion, it was very cool for Fluttershy that they were now roommates. Sure, it sucked that the cottage was under renovation due to some freak firestorm, but until that was fixed, Rainbow was determined to make sure her dear friend lived the GOOD life. 

We probably need more furniture, Fluttershy had suggested, which Rainbow didn’t understand—what else would you need besides a fridge, a sleeping bag, a chair, and a TV—but she wasn’t about to say no to her friend. 

Taking on the task of finding furniture while Fluttershy did the sweeping she insisted on doing, Rainbow Dash took off into town and came back thirty minutes later with the mother of all sweet hauls. 

“Hey, Shy, check this out!” she exclaimed excitedly, slamming open her door and dragging in her loot. “We’re set for life!”

Fluttershy flew in from the kitchen, delighted. “Oh! Let me see.”

And see she would, as Rainbow proudly dragged in: 

Four milk crates of varying sizes

Several cinderblocks with 2x4 plank shelving

A standing lamp that was all twisted in a super cool way

A big plastic table that had the SICKEST graffiti on it

And that was it

“Oh,” said Fluttershy. 

“Right?!” Rainbow exclaimed, slamming a hoof on her new table. “Can you believe all this shit was FREE? They were, like, outside this house and stuff!” She puffed up her chest. “We’re lucky I saw them before some bozo took them first, huh?”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything and just stared at her new furniture, probably overwhelmed by how awesome it was. Which was great, because Rainbow loved making Fluttershy happy. 

“Where should we put these?” Rainbow asked, wanting to include Fluttershy in the process. Mi casa es tu casa stuff and all, you know? She gestured to the table. “Let’s figure that out first.”

Fluttershy gingerly approached the graffiti’d table, inspecting it before focusing in on something written in the center. 

“Uhm,” she said, softly. She looked to Rainbow. “That’s a bad word.”

Rainbow blinked. Looked at the word. Back to Fluttershy. “That’s a bad word?”

“Uhm, yes,” Fluttershy said. “A really bad word.”

Ah, fuck, Rainbow thought. 

“Uuuuuuuh…” she said, calm and collected because she was calm and collected. 

She could still save this. Right. She just had to THINK, which she was really good at. Okay. The other day when they were at Rarity’s house, Rarity’s table had this long stretchy tablecloth in the center going from one side to the other, length-wise. Rainbow thought it was stupid because it was, like, fifteen inches wide so it didn’t cover the entire table, but Fluttershy said it was nice. 

So she needed something like that. 

And then it hit her. She had one.

“Wait, I’ll be back!”

She rushed into her room and came back with something she bought once that happened to kinda work like that. Colored like the rainbow, it was called a ‘Runner’ and she’d bought it at the store to help her run. It didn’t, though, and she couldn’t return it, so she stashed it in a box in her closet. 

But, now, finally, it had a use. 

Quickly, she placed it on the table and was stoked to see it perfectly covered the bad word, even if it looked just as stupid as Rarity’s. 

“There!” she exclaimed, hopeful. “Better?”

Fluttershy nodded, pleased. “Oh, yes. That works for now.”

Nailed it, Rainbow thought, pumping her hoof in the air while Fluttershy went to one of Rainbow’s Boxes of Stuff. 

“Maybe there’s something here we can put as a centerpiece,” Fluttershy suggested. She opened the box, stared at it for a moment, and then pulled out a nail gun. “What’s this for?”

Rainbow snorted. Wasn’t it obvious? 

“To hang posters, duh.”

“O-Oh, dear.”

____

[derekmorganscrocs]

My Thoughts While Watching 2x4 Nancy Drew! MILD SPOLIER ALERT!!

I got a little carried away, so this is kinda long, but funny. Just a heads up lol.

I love Ace’s shirt in the beginning scene he looks adorable.

Ace already wrote his obituary?! VINTAGE AUTOMOBILE ENTHUSIAST?! I LOVE HIM.

AW ACE BROUGHT MR D COFFEE? HES CHECKING IN ON HIM IM CRYING.

“Classified.” 😐

STOP WHY IS RYAN SO SALTY ABOUT ACE NOT BUYING HIM A COFFEE

OMG THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING. Ace as a mediator I love. Nancy’s a chicken now?

RYAN IS SO SALTY “you would say that, wouldn’t you.”

THE COFFEE AGAIN. ACE GIVING HIM HIS COFFEE STOP.

CA-RY-ACE THE NEW LOVE TRIANGLE.

Bess and Lisbeth are so sweet

I relate to george yeeting her sister into the business. Not the death part but still-

“Stop yelling at me” sir she is not yelling.

PERIODT NANCY GO OFF QUEEN. And they got applause.

Me waiting for the aglacea to just pardon their betrayal because nancy is standing for her: 👁👄👁

PLS NANCY X AGLACEA FRIENDSHIP

dude these commercials are so annoying-

OHH ACE I see you’re an ~art boy~ He’s subtweeting them irl- OH THEY KNOW

Ryan only caring about nancy??? Saltily???

Carson now you’re just being an ass.

OH KAY SUGAR DADDY RYANNNN

Nancy and Bess moment that’s so sweet.

SALT AND BURN SALT AND BURN- sorry the winchesters just possessed my body for a sec. they rly just saw her necklace AND DIDNT SALT AND BURN, COME ON

ok that was really funny lmao Nancy scaring Bess sent me.

FREAKY BASEMENT

AH NOT THE SLAMMING DOOR RUN BITCHES RUN

NANCYS FACE

Michael Bublés buble commercial always sends me

So Marvin is a murderer. ANOTHER GHOST?

Nancy’s fan club lmao

Nancy and Bess being the sleuth sisters I love

Awe George and Jessie :(

GHOST GOGGLES??? SMART NICK STOP I LOVE NICK. NICK NICK NICK SMILE AW HES SO SAD SHHSKALA I CANT HANDLE THIS

RYAN IS SO SALTY I LOVE HIM

Carson stop being so aggressive

RYAN COMING THRU WITH THE ROASTS

Why is she going alone. Never go in basements alone.

This green is serving me major buzzfeed unsolved.

Torture chamber basement??? Marvin is a murderer, guaranteed. The basement is freaky and not in the good way.

IS RYAN ABOUT TO CRY RIGHT NOW? NO HES SO SWEET “wh-What would I say to her?” I CANT. (I definitely forgot he was lowkey a predator when I was writing this) Fatherly Ryan. Why does this scene look like really dream-like? MUSICIAN RYAN? “I’m right? I just solved something before nancy Drew!” HE LOOKS SO PROUD OF HIMSELF. The way he knows something is off bc she’s being decent.

THE CHURCH IS TERRIFYING I DO NOT LIKE THE SONG ITS FREAKIN ME OUT

SALT AND BURN SALT AND BURN SALT AND BURN SALT AND BURN

I really want the aglacea to forgive them, I rly just-

Periodt Agnes is a badass bitch. I love her.

Sister thinks the kfc burger looks like a yellow brain.

WHY?? ARE PERFUME COMMERCIALS??? SO DRAMATIC???

Yo why does Cheerios have a lil uzi song?

THATS SUCH A PRETTY DINNER TABLE!! BESS PLS SHOW UP BESS PLS.

GEORGE DON’T CRY. Stop George finally breaking. Her face when nick said it- NICK IS SO SWEET. “YOU NEED TO KNOW YOURE LOVED” YES SIR I DO PLS TELL ME U LOVE ME. OK I ACC SHIP GEORGE AND NICK NOW. NO POOR NICK. AND HES NOT LOOKING TO HEAR IT BACK. they’re sweet. Aw the way her voice gets all soft “that’s not helping” and you can just hear her smile-

It’s like midnight, why is ted at school-

SISTER MOMENT I LOVE. WHY IS GEORGE LITERALLY RAISING HER SISTERS, DEAN WINCHESTER TYPE BEAT- OW NOT JESSIE RUINING THE MOMENT WITH AN OCTOPUS AND SEEING THRU GEORGES LIE.

DID ACE WRITE A LETTER TO HIS DAD??

BESS CHICKENED OUT? IM HEARTBROKEN SHES SO SWEET.

NO NOT ACE LEAVING HIS DAD A LETTER BITCH I WILL CRY. I AM AN HOE FOR ACE AND ALSO I THINK HE IS BABY AND I AM SO EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED IM NOT OK.

IF ACES DAD HAS TO GO THRU THE PAIN OF LOSING ACE I WILL SUE I LOVE ACE’s DAD.

WAIT- There’s aluminum in deodorant? (Commercial)

This is gonna go so badly. Something will go badly. SOMETHING IS WRONG. STOP ITS SO UGLY- ODETTE STOP SCREAMING SHES TRYNA HELP.

WTF

DID THEY JUST KILL A GHOST?

“Good thing this wasn’t a rental.”

Oh they only hurt her.

Some advice: don’t watch during the day bc the lighting is so dark and it’s really hard to see lmao

My sister’s thoughts:

“This is why you salt and burn things.”

“WHY WOULD SHE GO INN THE BASEMENT ALONE”

“I BET MARVIN IS A MUDERER”

“OH SHIT. She’s still crunchy.”

[daedricsnakes]

I won't be able to actually get my button quail until the beginning of next month, but I couldn't wait to start setting up their enclosure. It is a 2x4 pen that will house either a 1.2 trio or 2.2 quartet (kinda thought maybe that would be the better option, and the pen came with a removable divider that will be used if I get 4 to keep the pairs split up).

It is far from finished, but I'm still waiting on a couple things to get here. I'm starting with both aspen and carefresh bedding, to see what works best between keeping it clean and the birds' preferences. I'm leaning towards the carefresh, but we will see.

I've got a few more hides to put in, and the layout is definitely not set yet. I've also got a bunch of fake plants for them, but that will be one of the last things I put in there.

They'll have a shallow bowl for crumbles and seeds, a dish for dust baths, and a dish for grit and oyster shell. Potentially a special dish for mealworms and Phoenix worms so they can have some live treats without worrying about the bugs getting out. And I'm building an automatic waterer out of a half gallon milk jug.

There is a top, as well, but I'll be attaching padding to the underside of it before I put it on. These little birds are known to fly straight upwards when they get spooked, and this can hurt them if they get too much momentum and hit a solid surface. The padding should cushion their little heads if they do this. And the last step will be wrapping the outside of the pen with tulle. This will keep them from squeezing out between the bars.

[swifit]

hi!! i absolutely adore your gifs/blog and i was curious about how you approach your 2x4/5 sets? kinda like the one you recently made of deckerstar. i've just started giffing so i was just wondering if you choose specific scenes and how you make all the gifs from different scenes go so well together as a whole set? hope this makes sense. thanks and cant wait to see more of your lucifer gifs!!

hi devin, i love your gifs too! to make this kind of gifset you can’t choose long scenes or you’ll have to edit a lot, in the gifset you mentioned for example i focused on what they say in that particular bit (the mojo part) and not the whole morning after scene. i really don’t know how to explain this but you can choose anything you want

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

Loves me loves me not pt2

After he had finally got out of the determination center he instantly ran over to your house, only to find that you didn't live there anymore. He tried to call your number but it just went to voicemail. You had disappeared from his life entirely.

"Is that really you?" He asked.

"Yes" you mumbled, at this point you were expecting him to be angered or sad but instead he hugged you.

"(Y/n) I missed you so much" he cried into your shirt.

"I thought I had lost you forever" he said as he looked at you with his teary eyes. You couldn't help but sigh in defeat, he was still as adorable as when you were kids. You just couldn't hold your tears back and hug him in return.

"I missed you too Narancia, just please stop crying. I hate it when you cry" as soon as you said those words the tears stopped.

"Ok" he slightly hiccuped.

🍊🍊🍊

After that you you had asked him to leave you to go to sleep but in the morning you had gotten a very rude awakening.

Light chuckles echoed in your half asleep brain as you were dreaming. You began to awaken and your eyes fluttered open, only to widen in shock as you saw three figures at you door snickering. You then relized that a pair of arms were wrapped around you, those belonging to Narancia. Your eyes had finally adjusted and those figures became identifiable. Mista, Abbaccio and Fugo.

"I knew Narancia had a thing for guys!" Mista stage whispered.

"Fugo you better pay up, you lost the bet" Abbaccio sighed as Mista gave the simple 'gimme' motion with his hands.

"What the hell!" You yelled causing everyone in the room to freak out.

"Morning sleeping beauty" Mista smugly said. Narancia began to wildly toss around in his sleep.

You then saw your bag start to move, three little creatures came out of it. You gave a look of shock as they started to chant.

"He's got chocolate! He's got chocolate!" The cheered as three more joined.

You leaped straight out of your bed and grabbed your chocolate bar.

"Hey you little devils get the hell out of my bag!" You yelled as you grabbed one of those small creatures. It gave you a shocked expression and the others went silent.

You wondered what was happening until you looked at your chest, two bulges were prominent in the shirt you were wearing, you had blown it.

"I believe you owe me money..." Fugo smiled while giving Mista the same motion as before he gave before.

"Ah! But if she looked like a dude then that's gay!" Mista argued.

"No, I'm not gay! I knew that she was a girl!" Narancia yelled at Mista.

"Wow... Who would have thought the dunce had figured it out before us..." Fugo said.

"What are you guys all yelling about?" Bruno demanded as he barged in. He then saw you and sighed.

"Meeting, now!" He yelled, you looked at Narancia mirroring the same expression as you.

'oh shit!'

🍊🍊🍊

"So tell us the truth, who are you?" Bruno said to you at the dinning table.

"My name is (y/n) (l/n), I'm seventeen years old and a female" you said.

"But I did not lie about my ordeals or my motives, I wanted to join Passioné because I had nowhere to go" you continued.

"But don't you have parents?" Bruno asked. You just sat in silence.

"What the hell did he do now!" Narancia yelled at you.

"Naran-" Bruno was about to yell.

"It's alright Bruno, he's a old friend of mine" you said.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah... Since" He said as he started to count with his fingers.

"We've been friends for fourteen years... Well kinda..." You said

"I mean this is the first time in five years that we've seen each other" you continued.

"So Narancia can you tell me that she's telling the truth?" Bruno asked.

"Yeah... Her parents didn't really care about her, her Mom was an alcoholic and her step dad felt that she was not his problem" Narancia said with a tinge of sadness and irritation in his voice.

"Honestly she's like a sister to me, we were always right beside each other" he continued.

🍊🍊🍊

After that Bruno had told you to leave while the gang discussed what was going to happen. You sat in your room. Nervous as to what was going to happen to you.

Time went by and with every minute your anxieties increased until the door opened revealing Bruno.

"You can stay" he said. You gave a surprised look. Narancia quickly rushed past him and hugged you.

"Really!" He squealed.

"Well it's to late to leave now that (Y/n) has a stand" Bruno sighed.

"But, (Y/n) must keep up her alias as Pasito, we can't have anyone knowing she's a female... For her own safety" he continued.

"I understand" you responded.

🍊🍊🍊

Being a member of Italy's most feared Mafia gang took awhile to adjust to, as well as being around a bunch of guys and trying to act like. Some of the boys would say perverted comments to get a reaction out of you or your 'boyfriend' Narancia, you did like him but you just felt like you need time to reconnect with.

Speaking of reconnecting with Narancia, he had mostly stayed the same. Puberty didn't hit him hard, leading some to easily mistake him as a girl upon first glance. However during your first few missions with him you had been shocked to learn of a new extension to his supposedly childish and caring personality. He was violent, very violent, which was even worse with his extremely short temper that threatened to snap any minute.

🍊🍊🍊

"(Y/n), what's 22x14?" Fugo asked you. You began to think and scribble down the answer.

'ok so 2x4 is 8 and 1x2 is 2 so I'll times 8 and 2 together... So the answer must be 16!' you thought as you showed him you answer, confident that you had gotten it right.

"What the fuck kind of an answer was that!" He yelled.

"But... I followed your instructions... I separated the tens and units and solved them separately..."

"Did you change the tens into units" he fumed. Narancia seemed to be trying to figure out your technique.

"Yes, I did change them to units" you replied making his eye twitch in anger.

"That's wrong... Your suppose to keep them as tens" he hissed.

"Ok ok, 20x10 is 200" you rashly replied.

"Yes"

"Then the answer is 400" you responded. Fugo began to tremble, his head down, eyes closed and his hands pressed together as if he was praying. He took a deep breath before slowly moving his hands down. Before you could even process what was happening he slashed your face with a knife, leaving a Joker like slit across your right cheek.

"No! it's 308 you idiot!!" He yelled, about to deal another hit before Narancia tackled him to the ground.

"How dare you hurt (y/n)! I'll fucking kill you!!" He screamed as he pinned Fugo down and dangled his switchblade dangerously above Fugo's right eye.

"Narancia! Stop!" You yelled as you grabbed his switchblade out of his hands and attempted to pull him off.

"But he hurt you!" He screamed as he thrashed around in your grasp.

"That son of a bitch deserves what I'm gonna give him!" He continued.

"Mista! I need help! Now!!" You called out. He instantly ran in and grabbed Narancia, pulling him onto his feet.

Fugo then leaped to his feet and tried to throw a punch at Narancia but you quickly tackled him back to the ground.

"Get off of me!" He yelled as he struggled underneath you, so you pulled his hands over his head and straddled his hips.

"No until you calm the fuck down" you responded as you struggled to keep him down.

Narancia hissed under his breath at the sight of you ontop of Fugo, if any thing you should be ontop of him, not that albino bastard. It enraged him even more but he took a few deep breaths as he knew beating Fugo to a bloody pulp was definitely not going to help this situation now.

You continued to hold down Fugo as he trashed around. He began to claw at your wrists dig his nails in your skin. You bit your bottom lip as he continued before you finally had it.

"Fugo calm the fuck down right now or I'll personally beat you into a pile of blood and bones!" You screamed at the top of your lungs, he instantly stopped and gave you a look of pure shock. You turned around and even Narancia and Mista were also shocked. You let out a cough due to the strain it had caused on your throat before hopping off of Fugo and walking off without another word.

🍊🍊🍊

You sat down in the edge of the bath as you inspected your wounds. using your stand, Sting to fix up any broken skin. You the stood up and looked at the large slit across your cheek.

'what a stupid stand I got... While Bruno can create portals, Abbaccio can project past events, Mista can adjust his bullets movements, Fugo can unleash a super virus into the area around him and Narancia can track down his targets with carbon dioxide emissions before riddling them with bullets... But I just have the ability to sew objects together'

you were just about to seal the wound the door opened. Narancia poked his head through.

"Um (y/n)... Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine" you replied as you guided Sting through the wound.

"No your not, I can tell your not" he said as he walked up to you and gripped your shoulders, looking at the slit across your cheek.

"That bastard's gonna pay" he hissed before storming out.

"No Narancia wait!" You yelled as you followed him but as you closed the door Sting latched onto the doorknob, thus making you slam back into it.

"(Y/n) what happened!" He practically screamed as he ran to your side.

"Yeah... My stands just acting up again" you sighed as you tried to get your hand off of the door.

"Why the hell does it keep doing this! God it's useless!" You fumed.

"Don't say that!"he responded, he absolutely hated it when you loathed yourself. To him you were the most amazing person in the world.

"I don't think your stand is useless! I mean if you hadn't used Sting on me during our last mission I would have been in some major trouble" he said before revealing the scabbed up wound on his chest.

"Sure you say that, but that's all it can do" you responded.

"But... If it can stick to a door knob then maybe..." He mumbled as he tried to think up another use for your stand. Without hesitation you threw yourself onto the wall and summoned your stand, sewing your hands to the wall and that's when an idea popped into your head.

You began to climb up the wall, you body being supported by your stand as you made your way to the celling.

"I'm mother fucking Spider man!" You yelled to your friend bellow and he simply cheered.

You then came up with another idea.

"Can you just stand still?" You asked Narancia.

"Sure" he replied as he waited for your next move. You concentrated on him before launching one strand of Sting at him.

"Ahh fuck! What was that for?" He whined.

"Just wanted to try something out" you shrugged before pulling him until he was right underneath you. You stood up and looked right into his eyes as you put your hands on his cheek

"I..." You murmured as you attempted to close the distance.

"Bruno! (Y/n) is leaving mud tracks on the celling"

[moongothic]

The Styrofoam Chair Saga

Part Two: I’m In Hell

[Part 1]

It has been six, nearly seven months since I began working on this chair in December 2021. The chair, that was supposed to be an easy fix, that turned out to be a nightmare project to get into usable condition again.

The main reason I had to leave this chair On Hold was because I came to the conclusion that my best chance at fixing this chair would require woodworking, and there was no way in hell I’d do painstaking, precise woodworking in the middle of winter, so the chair was left to wait until the weather was right and I had gathered all the courage required to start working on the chair again.

Because I am absolutely terrified of this chair now, and I’m terrified I might destroy it during my attempt at fixing it. Yeah the weather has been fine for a month now and I’ve just been too scared to even start this project until now (but also I had been trying to finish Some Other Nightmare Projects (see; that fucking lamp) before jumping into a “new” one).

But yeah, I started with trying to reinforce the crack in the chair with the styrofoam glue I bought back in December

I did my best to just go all around the chair, showing the tip of the glue tube as deep as I could into the chair and pouring as much glue in there as I could, and I do think it has helped the chair a little bit, it definitely feels sturdy enough for me that I’m comfortable manhandling it a bit now where as before I was kinda scared to handle it

But it’s definitely not sturdy enough I’d trust my weight on it. I wasn’t able to get glue super deep into the crack so it’s not glued all the way through, and in some places (like in the picture above) there’s just been losses in the styrofoam, so even after I poured an absurd amount of glue into the crack, there’s still empty voids in there.

Also, the styrofoam glue is like, a crafting supply, it’s not meant to handle the weight of a person

So, as I already knew, the chair needs “a skeleton”

I marked down roughly onto the chair where I’d be putting the skeleton, measured out how much wood I’d need and started by cutting the pieces that would make up the central “spine”

(I got just this simple thing of lumber, it’s like 2x4 cm and 3,3 meters long, I figured it’d be the best shape and size for the chair. The styrofoam isn’t super thick so I don’t want to risk damaging it by carving out too much material, but I still need the wood to be thick enough that I can attach the spine pieces with screws)

There’s two pieces of plywood that go with the chair, one is meant to go under the chair to help hold the chair in place when it’s attached to its foot. My plan is that the skeleton is going to go between the chair and that plywood piece, so I had to carve out this indentation into the first piece of the spine so I wouldn’t have to carve out a needlessly deep slot into the styrofoam instead.

Carving that out with a knife took forever and left my thumb sore for days. Definitely not something I would’ve wanted to do in the middle of winter

But, with the indentation carved out, it was time to start carving out the slot for the piece...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

There’s no going back anymooooore

If this doesn’t work out the way I want it to I will die instantly

During the carving of the styrofoam I did try to collect as much of it as I could-- the shit’s static-y as fuck and gets everywhere like glitter (I mean they are both plastic...) so I did have to just vaccuum up the small bits every 10 minutes or so just to make sure I didn’t get buried in it. But the larger carvings I tried to collect into some jars.

In woodworking you can combine glue and wooddust to create a custom wood filler (one that matches the wood your working with pretty perfectly) to, well, fill gaps in the wood. I’m hoping that I could maybe try grounding up some of this stuff and combine it with the styrofoam glue to then try to fill up some of the cracks in the chair. Not sure if it’ll work out or not, but it’s worth a shot

But, after a lot of carving, I managed to make a slot for the first piece of the spine, the center spine! The piece here was still needing some trimming and adjusting in this photo, but as you can see, it did fit pretty nicely! Nice enough I could fit the bottom plywood piece into its slot!

And then I had to repeat the carving process for the other pieces. I did think of a way to speed things up a bit (literally just using a saw to make 4~mm deep cuts into the wood that make this waffle pattern; this made it so that I could literally chip out chunks of the wood with a knife much easier and faster than if I tried to just carve out the whole thing. And, of course, used my sander to make sure I got it as clean and flat at the end)

Aaand, after a lot of work the carving was done! All three bottom pieces for the spine were done!

Realizing now I didn’t take photos of them, but I did cut the “extension pieces” for the skeleton’s sides too, but here you can only see the extension piece for the central spine.

So I proceeded to carve out the slots for the other two bottom pieces. It created an absolute mess, let me tell you (I really was vaccuuming every 5 minutes or so during this, and I did fill like three large jars with styrofoam pieces)

While carving the sides, I did find the where the crack in the styrofoam goes. In fact, I discovered there was a massive air bubble in the chair, exactly where the crack was going through (which makes sense, of course that spot would be weaker than the rest of the chair, it’s natural the crack would go through there)

I also found where the crack was going on the left side of the chair; it was thankfully much smaller though, and had no air bubbles. Still, it was a little scary, getting to see the damage like that

With the slots carved out, I could then try to fit the wood pieces in!

Looks good!

And the bottom plywood piece fit over them perfectly too!

Everything was going fantastic! I even filled out some of the voids in the styrofoam with glue and the styrofoam bits at this point!

And then I carved a slot on the right side for the extension piece and the pieces didn’t fit together

The bottom piece wasn’t long enough and couldn’t reach the extension

The extension piece couldn’t even go together with the bottom because I had cut the angle on it extremely wrong

It just wouldn’t go into its slot

Like, below is an approximation of how the pieces should’ve gone together

You can clearly see how short the bottom piece is

It’s way too fucking small

Oh, and when I did a glue test on the central spine, to see if it and the extension would go into their slot

They wouldn’t

The angle was all wrong

This is where I lost all my steam

I spent a week or two, just cutting and recutting the angles of the extension pieces, over and over again, just trying to figure out what angle they had to be in so they’d fit into the slot when glued together, and I couldn’t, I could not figure it out for the life of me. I tried steep cuts, and they wouldn’t fit. I tried flat cuts, and they would not fit

I gave up and didn’t even look at the chair for almost a month because I was so upset and tired.

I even decided I wouldn’t even do the extension part on the left side of the chair, like, if I couldn’t figure out how to do the extension on the right, how the fuck was I going to pull it off on the left.

Eventually I did figure out the correct angle for the right side, where the pieces would fit into the slots, but by this point, after so much cutting the extension piece had become far too short to be used (which was unavoidable, couldn’t figure out the right angle without cutting the piece and trying different angles, I had accepted that) and the bottom piece had been too short from the begining, so I had to recut the pieces entirely from scratch

My only comfort was knowing that, because by this point I had given up on doing an extension on the left side, I could reuse the left side extension piece (which I had cut before I decided to give up on it). But the bottom piece would require more work

(Pictured below: A) Glue test where the extension fits into its slot nice, but the bottom piece can’t reach its slot. The angle is wrong. B) The bottom piece fits into its slot, but it’s too short at both ends, and the extension doesn’t sit flat in its slot)

While I had figured out the right side, the center was still fucking with me

But, I figured I’d try to just finish the right side while I still knew what I’d need to do to make it work, since the right side should be harder than the center spine. So I continued and prepared the new pieces for the right side. I tried cutting them into the right shape+size to fit into the slot

They didn’t fit the slot

The cut wasn’t straight

I can’t put into words what I was going through mentally

Like, the thing is, I had been using a basic ass saw to cut the pieces, and even the slightest little movement can warp your cut, which, for a precise thing like this, was not great. Sawing the wood pieces was so fucking hard that it kind of made me wonder if I should buy a fucking table saw because clearly it was the only way I’d get a clean, straight cut.

My ranting aside, I struggled with the side for like another week until I miraculously re-discovered the right-ish angle again, and proceeded with getting the pieces permanently attached. During the glue test I attached the two pieces with screws; dad had warned me that the extension piece could break since the screws would be going straight into the wood fibers instead of across them, so I wanted to make the holes now so that, if the wood did shatter, maybe wouldn’t loose too much time having to redo my work (AGAIN)

Fortunately, the wood did not split though, and with the holes ready, I could take the right spine apart knowing I could reattach them again perfectly

And yeah, it’s far from perfect, but it does its job

So. Back into the wood carving. Again

With the pieces recut and completed

They were reattached with the screws and some glue for good measure

Yes, the cut is far from perfect, it’s not even, and I didn’t even make sure the screws wouldn’t bulge out from the chair. I just. I did not have it in me to try and carve out slots for the screws, I was (and I still am) so fucking tired from this whole mess.

With the right side done and the left side super done, I had to figure out the center. The central spine which had been confusing me for eons now

And, I did two things; I redid the central extension piece from scratch with a specific angle on it, and I shaved some extra foam off the chair, just to make the slot an itty bitty tiny bit bigger from one spot

I didn’t take photos of it, but the pieces finally fit together. They went into the slot perfectly* during my glue-test.

I almost screamed because I was so happy.

Fortunately all I then had to do was do the screw thing again before doing the final attachment, and boom, it was done. The central spine was done

I did still have to sand down some extra wood that was sticking out at the end of both spines, just to make sure they were nice and flush with the styrofoam, but my sander made easy work of that.

And there they were. Done. Completed. The skeleton had been built. Finally. After so much struggling and pain.

Now I had said they fit in *perfectly, and that is, indeed, with an asterisk.

I couldn’t get the pieces to go into the slots completely flat, so what I ended up doing was regluing some styrofoam into the chair in the spots that would otherwise end up empty. I don’t think they probably added much if any structural support, but I prefered filling those spots rather than leaving them empty

And, yeah

The skeleton’s done.

You know what that means

Okay so. My dad had all the way back in December bought me some new screws+bolts to replace the originals of the chair, since the originals were cut in half so they could be removed (also they weren’t standard screws so they required some specific kind of bolts, the originals had been lost, and I did want to go hunting for).

Dad had accidentally bough 3 screws that were the exact right size, and one that was just a little too short.

I did a test with just the three screws I had, and...

The chair was making a lot of noise

Like, just sitting down on it, it was making so much noise

I was so scared, I couldn’t tell if it was because of the missing screw and me not attaching the chair pieces super firmly, or because the styrofoam was on the verge of breaking despite the skeleton

I was so scared my months of suffering with this chair were a waste of time

But, we went to the same hardware store to get that final, fourth screw. It cost 0,15€. We got home. I attached the screw, and tightened all four screws.

It was sturdy. It didn’t creak, or make any kind of noise.

It’s sturdy.

It’s fixed.

The chair has been fixed

(Yes I took the photo pre-final screw, shush)

And here’s the skeleton. Looks rough, yes, I will probably/definitely shove some extra styrofoam into the empty holes after I glue the skeleton pieces onto the chair.

And yeah, the screws are pointing out pretty obviously.

I’m thinking I might get some light foam cushion and put that on the outside of the chair, not just the inside, I feel like that would help hide not just the screws but also even out some of the bumps and indentations on the styrofoam itself.

But the skeleton is done. The chair has been reinforced.

I can now, finally, try to reupholster it.

[Part 3]

[classpecting-through-time]

Okay so, hear me out. I am HOPEFULLY back to stay, PERMANENTLY. No more disappearing for me. I have so many asks that have been sitting for way too long in my ask box, and I feel really bad for making everyone wait so long.

HOWEVER.

This initial coming back post is not a Classpect post, but actually just a normal ass Homestuck themed one. Specifically, I was bored, and I decided to try to rank the members of the Felt in order of who the strongest is out of them, in my opinion.

I honestly rather enjoy the Felt, so I hope this is interesting to SOMEBODY out there. Anyways, this list was made in a rather short amount of time with probably not as much thought going into it than it should have, but whatever, I gotta come back with something!

So without further ado, here’s my list along with some basic explanations for why I have someone above or below someone else. I’m also putting it under a read more for how long it might be, just look how long this intro is even taking!

So yeah, happy to be back, hope this interests at least one of you, and you can expect Classpect to return in at least another day!

Okay, so, to start us off, some rules about this. I am not including Snowman, Doc Scratch or LE himself in this list. I am merely talking about the other 14 main, fuzzy ass members of this gang. But with that cleared up, onto the list!

Starting off at the bottom of this list I have put Doze. Poor Doze. His power is to slow down time but only for himself. Yeah, not that great on paper unlike his odd numbered counterpart. This ability can be helpful for him taking damage since it takes a while for him to even feel the pain, but that doesn’t stop it from being a thing either. Like, yeah, he probably won’t FEEL being decapitated, but then he’s already dead by that point. Doze’s double barrel shotgun could be capable of doing some good damage, but unfortunately, he’s way too easy to see coming to avoid him, and if you do give him the chance to attack you, you really have no one to blame but yourself. And I doubt his 2x4 would be of much use either.

Moving on from Doze, I have decided to put Die here on the list. Now, why is that? Well, for starters, the dude is kind of a coward. He doesn’t really take too well to conflict, more likely to submit or flee away to an alternate timeline where whatever member of the Felt has grieved him is dead. On his own he doesn’t have any powers, seemingly, but his doll is certainly an interesting item. He sticks a pin in, and he is teleported to a timeline where that person has died, with some seeming variance on how soon the death had happened. Though in the comic it does seem to steer more towards a recent death. As well, if that pin is removed, you then go to a timeline where that person is still alive. Now that’s all well and cool, but this ability doesn’t really have any combat prowess. Hell, it’s what gets him killed in the Intermission, jumping to a timeline where Itchy had just died and he gets beat to death by Spades. While his doll COULD have the potential to aid him in a fight, in someones hands like Die, or nearly any member of the Felt, it doesn’t do him any real favors unless you were smart about it. And though his melee weapon may not be the best, he still has his gun which I think is enough to put him above Doze with a well aimed bullet.

Next I decided to go with Eggs and Biscuits as both the 12th and 11th place here. They’re pretty jokey characters with on a surface level useful time travel ability, if it weren’t for the fact they’re probably as slow as Doze is upstairs. They’re very haphazard use of time travel to make a large group of the duo appear and mob on an enemy is seemingly useful. However, it’s only really been shown to be an annoyance more than anything, even with them flailing their weapons about. Despite all this, I think they can make for a good disrupter. Hearts Boxcars was basically just trapped in the middle of their thing until he was later rescued. Hell, they were technically responsible for Jake dying in Collide with him being tossed around and discombobulated enough for Crowbar to pump him full of lead. They may not be good for much outside of those examples (and I doubt they happened to put Jake in that position on purpose) they can still do well enough together.

Next I have Stitch, the sort of healer of the group. Yeah, think about it, he kind of heals the others through the use of his effigies, allowing him to repair battle damage if he is able to before the person dies. After being forced to make one for Spades he was able to sew up his eye after Snowman stuck her cigarette holder in it. While a pretty useful ability, keep in mind, he’s still just a tailor. A tailor with a tommygun! Despite the fact that the Felt weren’t technically “born” until Caliborn claimed them, I just get a sort of old man vibe looking at his face. Like, I feel like Stitch would feel too old for this shit to keep up with all these shenanigans on top of the Midnight Crew. As such, I also see him as one of the few Felt members with an actual brain in his head. However, despite all that, he was rather handedly beaten by the Midnight Crew. Also, him swinging around a blank effigy as a melee weapon doesn’t strike me a particularly strong item, but he was able to knock around some of his Felt brothers, likely thanks to their fabric bodies. So yeah, that’s why I think he can be placed here.

Next on the list is Trace. Now, Trace’s ability to see where someone has been can be useful for fucking with the Crew in the Intermission, but not for much else outside of tracking someone. He honestly seems like just a real average kind of member of this rabble, there’s not a whole lot outside of his ability to set him apart from the rest, outside of Fin which we’ll get to very shortly. His triple barrel shotgun is sure to be an effective weapon, even when he turns that bitch around and thwacks a motherfucker across the head with it. Oh, and I guess Trace can fuck with people from the past by interacting with their trail, but whatever.

...Well, that was short! Yeah, sorry, but I don’t have a ton to say about Trace, much like this next guy, his counterpart, Fin. I decided to put Fin about Trace for a few reasons. One, his ability to see where someone is going to be, and even when their timeline ends CAN be of actual use in a battle if smartly used. You could seemingly use it to predict their movements and dodge their strikes. Fin is also able to be interacted with in a similar way. Like how Diamonds Droog was able to shoot him cuz Fin is kind of an idiot and leaves hints to where his location is, so, Droog then shot him up from the future Fin was viewing from that room. Man was that a mouthful. Speaking of mouths, Fin has sharp shark teeth cuz lol his name is Fin like a shark. He’s apparently not above biting someone with them as well, and they are sharp. This may also just be me, but the dude survived for a longer while than he probably should have with how much he got shot and was bleeding out EVERYWHERE before finally collapsing. It’s possible Trace is the same, but since he died instantly from a bomb, we can’t really be sure. Armed with his revolver and fish bat, Fin is ready to take on the competition! So long as it isn’t against anyone above him, which speaking of, moving on.

Next is Matchsticks. God damn is there not much to him. You know, I think I’d go on to say he and Quarters get the least really seen or told about them and what they may be like. And his power isn’t much better or obvious. Alright, get this, the guy can travel through time using FIRE as a portal, which he then puts out with his extinguisher so more of him don’t start popping up like Eggs and Biscuits. Yeah, real useful that one is. I suppose if a fight breaks out and things catch on fire though he can be of use using a similar strategy like Eggs and Biscuits, but that’s also kind of situational. Kinda. But he seems like a tough guy who can take a hit, and that extinguisher is sure to leave a mark. Also his tiny baby gun is kind of hilarious. Oh, and it probably hurts to be shot by it, so don’t. If I were to seriously put time into thinking about it, Fin MAY be better than Matchsticks, but I made this post, and damnit, I’m gonna sleep in it! As soon as I find a way to do so...

Next up is the not-so-fun-sized Sawsbuck. You may be confused why he’s so far up, but thinking about it, he’s KIND of the teams tank. His ability even ties into him taking damage causing him and whoever inflicted it to jump around the timeline all the way until he finally dies. He and his portly figure are good for absorbing damage as we saw in both the Intermission and Collide. The guy can take stabbings, lacerations, multiple bullet wounds, and keep on trucking for a bit. He and is trusty riding crop are sure to leave a sting, as well as almost as many cheeks red as Snowman’s whip. Plus his Mossburg 590 is sure to leave a mark. A few, actually. At which point you’ll probably bleed out if didn’t kill you already with a blast to the chest.

I think it’s at this point we actually start getting to heavy hitters. Yeah, at the 5th ranking spot, it’s about time, right? So who scurried their way up the list to start us off? Why, none other than Itchy, of course! Yeah, seems kinda sad Doze is placed last, but Itchy gets to be this much higher than him. Such is fate. Life isn’t fair with the powers you’re given. Speaking of, Itchy is fast. He’s fast as fuck, boy. Specifically, he’s slowing down time relative to himself to move the way he does. The classic hit and runner. While the ability gives him great mobility and utility in combat, it’s also been shown that Itchy’s reaction speed sometimes isn’t good enough to keep up. Hence why he was rather easily dealt with by Spades just holding his leg out for Itchy to trip over. This does come in handy in places like in Collide where, despite having a single shot pistol, he seemingly rapid fires it, probably thanks to his speed in being able to reload in the blink of an eye. That on top of his baseball bat, and he’s a regular Scout, minus the shotguns. But he’s below the people coming up just because I can see them pulling something trip him up like Spades did all the same. Not to mention his whole deal is about not getting hit PERIOD. He seems to go down rather easily from most standard attacks, but with speed and the power backing it up, he’s not to be counted out of a fight.

Next is a kind of weird or maybe controversial choice with Quarters. Why do I put him up here? Well, kind of due to his size and seeming strength that, while it may not compare to Cans, he’s still a big dude. I won’t get into what his deal is, since he doesn’t have a power, but an item like Die, and because it’s rather complicated to write out here. Have you SEEN how long this post is getting? Ain’t nobody got time for me to rabble on even more than I do. So, Quarters is a tough guy. So what? Well, that’s where his mini gun comes into play. It’s a damn powerful weapon as we saw him absolutely demolish Spades with in an alternate timeline. He also interestingly wields a monkey wrench, which we see him try to use against Jane and Jake as they fought him together. Which I could believe Jake would need a little bit of help fighting him, hence Jane coming in with the support. There’s not much else to say besides he just seems like a really strong member of their gang!

Okay, no more messing around now. The top 3, and this was a very hard thing to decide on, even in my quick list here. I am once again putting 2 members on the same spot, though one of them could easily be number 1 if I thought about it enough, but this is how it stands right now. Coming in at 3rd and 2nd I have Crowbar and Cans. Yeah yeah, number 1 is kind of odd, but we’ll get there. Let’s talk these monsters. Crowbar is seemingly the leader of the Felt outside of Doc Scratch and possibly Snowman, though she may just be doing her own thing away from the Felt most times, and that's justly deserved. He’s actually smart, and his weapon is damn important for the later end of the story. His crowbar is not only powerful, but its juju breaking abilities can well make him shut off a few of the other members with a single swing. We see Caliborn and Jack English make the most use of this weapon in a combat sense, and it does them both nicely. Especially for Caliborn who manages to beat his Denizen to death with that, and maybe his gun since we see it tossed off to the side. It’s even able to stand up to LE’s golden cuestaff when wielded by Jack English. His gun of choice is also a sub machine gun, which he was shown using to shoot up Jake. Moving on to Cans, he’s obviously the main muscle of the group. His lone weapons are his gorilla sized arms and fists, with his power being able to knock someone or even a group of people through time. He has great strength and endurance, allowing him to shrug off most blows and keep on coming back swinging. He did seem to get rather tripped up from Dad’s cake business, though, allowing Dad to land some more punches of maximum mangrit! Not only can his fists send someone through time, he can even go a bit meta and punch someone between panels to get around, even fighting by using the panels as a platform. And he can do this seemingly without causing any passage of time between when he punched them and when they arrive at their location. Now, all that being said, the person I’d put on top depends on how effective Crowbar’s weapons would be on Cans, and if he can come up with a plan to stop him from knocking him around and beating him senseless. Is Crowbar intelligent enough to come up with that sort of plan? Kinda like being the Batman of the group, coming up with ideas to counter and take down any of the Justice League if they turn rogue. Heh, Rogue. Homestuck reference. I would personally say he probably could play Cans, but I think can just as easily see Cans making up the damage being dealt to him in potentially smaller amounts. I think this is gonna stay as a toss up for the time being.

And with that, here we are. The number 1 placement. You know who it is. That lucky and flirty little bastard, Clover. Now, I know this may sound odd, and I am with you on that, saying Clover is the strongest is kind of an odd statement. But hear me out. His unbelievable luck makes him nigh impervious to damage, let alone the threat of death. Now, this ability has been worked around before. Like when Jack opened the vault in the manor, which seemingly killed every member of the Felt and the Midnight Crew other than Spades and Snowman. And I would chock that up to the huge amount of energy given off by the safe in tandem with the crowbars juju breaking ability allowing Clover top actually be caught in whatever goes down. We then again later see Karkat is able to at least catch and hog tie Clover, possibly thanks to his curse given to him by the ATH~ code he ran back in Hivebent. So unless you use VERY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES, the best you can do is idly drub the guy, like Droog did with a newspaper in the Intermission. And even though he may not be able to to dish out the most damage, he can still swing his 4x2, a cute parallel to Doze’s 2x4, and fire his glock to attack people. So, with a guy you can’t even really damage unless through very particular means, on top of being able to seemingly take down every other member of the Felt with enough time and bullets, I think it’s safe to say Clover’s OP ability earns himself the thrown at the top of this ladder. Don’t ask me who put that chair up there. Seems rather dangerous if you ask me.

WHEW! That was a fucking mouthful that took forever to write up. I may revisit this at some point when I feel like going seriously into the research to maybe make better placement decisions. Hell, feel free to argue for or against this list all you want! I’d love to hear if you had a differing opinion, or had anything that would support my thoughts that I maybe just forgot about. Anyways, have a great day everyone, and once again, it feels good to be back!

[alifeatthelanding]

Closet Chronicles, Vol. 22- Final Steps: . Welcome to another Husband Edition of the #closetchronicles ! I have been quite sick since the end of December and was unable to do a lot- but Josh just got after it! . He installed our closet rods, removed the 2x4 temporary wall and installed our super cool, industrial cable support!!! And he had some very excellent help from Aggie installing the door handles 🐾❤️😂 . We still have some very basic touch up work to do- painting, installing guides for the barn door, etc., but for the most part the main construction is finished!! We do plan on building the unit up to the slanted ceiling and popping in a couple of cabinet doors for extra storage, but we are okay waiting a bit for that! . I will do one final post on the construction of this bad boy with photos from the start on October 2nd, 2019, to its completion on January 17, 2019 ❤️❤️❤️ #diy #herohusband #husbandtotherescue #lupus #itscomingalong #lakehouse #masterbedroom #builtinclosets #happy #bigproject #itworked #kinda #alifeatthelanding https://www.instagram.com/p/B7giIonp-4P/?igshid=ga4b04esc6bp

[whatsjenniupto]

The Bogotá Bucket List

I apparently saw my 36 hours in Bogotá as a challenge. Typically, my quick stop over cities involve a couple cafes, a restaurant, and a few landmarks I want to speed walk past while hunting for some sort of food that I can only semi-identify on a street corner and that will be ordered with pointing, smiles, nods/shakes, laughter, and ideally a bit of whatever the local language might be. Being that I can’t keep my brain in one foreign tongue though, these attempts are usually followed by a blank stare and we’re back to the pointing, smiles, nods/shakes, and laughter. Still waiting for the day when someone properly appreciates that I can fluently order in MandaGerSpaniCzechlish. But whatever, Bogotá got way more love than any typical quick stop over city. It received a full on list of adventures.  

1) Get shot up on the border In Fall 2007 I said the following: “They can just shoot me up at the border if we end up going. If they are going to require the yellow fever vaccine, they have to have a location for one to acquire the yellow fever vaccine.” I wasn’t going to pay for the vaccine on the off chance we ended up traveling from Malawi into Mozambique. It was ridiculously expensive and my recently graduated from college self wasn’t footing the bill. I felt justified when we didn’t end up crossing the border.

In Fall 2018 I achieved being shot up on a border with yellow fever. The vaccine wasn’t required for most of the areas I was visiting in Colombia, but towards the end of my stay, I could potentially need the vaccine card in order to board a plane and visit a national park. Researching this vaccine requirement though returned a number of results, all contradicting one another. I teetered between, let’s risk it and ugh, you should probably deal with this situation. Unfortunately with the vaccine shortage in the States, by the time I decided to deal with the situation, I hadn’t left myself enough time to acquire the vaccine through the proper channels (and I still didn’t really want to foot the ridiculously expensive bill). Enter the Bogotá El Dorado Airport’s Oficina Hospital Fontibón where one can be vaccinated for yellow fever immediately upon arrival. It was pretty much my only option to ensure I could get through my Colombia itinerary without interruption and it came with the brilliant side perks of 1) free and 2) great story. Nothing says “Welcome to your fifth continent” like “Let’s get vaccinated.” 

2) Drink coca tea Yes, the tea comes from the same plant. No, it does not have the same effects as the chemically extracted drug base. However, it is supposed to aide one’s ability to adapt to higher altitudes. Being that I am a disaster at everywhere more than a few digits above sea level, I wanted to see if it would help. I had a lot of exploring at Bogotá’s 8000ft of elevation to do and only 36 hours. I didn’t have time for altitude sickness. 

While I can’t officially state that it helped the situation, I can confirm that I experienced the worst altitude sickness of my life in Denver - a city 2/3 as high as Bogotá so....kinda wish I could keep a nice supply of coca tea on hand for when I have to enter the world of less oxygen just in case it is the miracle cure for the elevation challenged because altitude sickness is no joke. Thankfully, I was able to roam Bogotá with just the knowledge that I was at quite a bit higher of an elevation.

I might have survived touring the city without too much embarrassment, but my upper bunk on the second floor of my hostel nearly killed me. Every. Time. I would slowly climb the stairs to the dorm room and allow my breath to even out. Then I would climb the four, repeat FOUR, steps up to the bed. I would proceed to collapse into the bunk, smashing my head on the wooden 2x4 and wheezing for all the oxygen I could find while grabbing my head and attempting to groan in pain. 

...it’s likely a good thing I only stayed in the city two nights or I might have ended up concussed. 

3) Try chicha When faced with one day and one day only in the city, I located a jam-packed walking tour that would allow me the maximum amount of exposure to the city and culture in a short time. The True Colombian Experience Walking Tour took us through the heart of the Candelaria district, stopping at a tiny bar for our first taste of chicha.

Like many things in Colombia, chicha has a long, complicated history. It was the drink of choice until the mid-1800s when beer moved into the country. As beer conglomerates grew in power, chicha was destroyed through anti-chicha campaigns and finally banned after the murder of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948. While the ban has been lifted, the drink hasn’t returned to it’s former popularity. 

Chicha differs throughout South America. The chicha of Bogotá is maize cooked with sugar and then fermented. And it tastes funky. Super funky -- definitely an acquired taste. Traditionally, those making chicha would chew the maize and then spit it into a gourd or clay pot to ferment. I’m mostly positive this is not the variety that I consumed.

4) Play tejo Take the game of bags or cornhole or whatever you might call throwing bean bags at an angled board with a hole in. Take that angled board and make it clay. Take the hole and make it a metal ring that you line with packets of gunpowder. Take the beanbags and make them a flat stone. And boom, you have tejo. 

This brilliant sport originated in Colombia and while there are professional teams coming from nearby countries, it is still primarily a Colombian activity. I first played at the end of the walking tour in Bogotá, and I was a disaster. I couldn’t figure out how to get the stone all the way to the clay or I chucked it too high into the back board. As I’m terrible at basically everything requiring coordination apart from racing across rocks in rivers, I was content to never play again. This did not fly with my cousin who met me mid-trip. She made me get proper instruction in Medellín and oddly, it turns out I’m actually decent at the sport. Who knew what two minutes of telling someone how to play a game could do. #unexpectedskillset 

5) Marvel at the gold Even though I am a tough sell on museums, the reviews on the Museo del Oro intrigued me enough to step inside the walls for a crazy fast run through in between my morning and afternoon walking tours. Possibly it was the review of the ajiaco (see number six) at the attached restaurant that actually got me in the doors, but the museum itself did not disappoint. Especially when you are escorted somewhat against your will into a completely dark room, the door is shut behind you, and just when you’re growing concerned that something is about to go terribly wrong, the floor lights up followed by the walls and whoa --- I am surrounded by gold. The room clearly wouldn’t have been as impressive if you knew what was going to happen rather than letting your overactive imagination run away into complete lunacy. 

6) Enjoy ajiaco I love soup. I would eat soup every single day. Even in Phoenix, if I’m working in a cold office, I consume hot soup when it is 120F/50C outside. I. Love. Soup. Ajiaco is the soup to enjoy in the year round fall temperatures of Bogotá. Filled with corn, chicken, three kinds of potatoes and served with a side of rice, capers, sour cream, and avocado, it’s the guascas herb that gives the soup its distinct taste. I stupidly did not import any guascas during my stay -- me, the massive importer of any and every spice/herb/flavoring possible failed at getting this all important herb in her suitcase. Instead, I had to purchase a bag on Amazon because my life is no longer complete without ajiaco.

I wouldn’t suggest a quick stop over in Bogotá. The city definitely requires a couple days to properly explore. There were so many more things I wanted to see and do, but the coffee fields of Salento were calling my name.

[the-stick-seller]

Sanity breach part 5

For almost an hour we waited in near total silence. They had us line up and march out of the debate room and into the testing area. Here we would learn how to use the tools we were given for the final portion of this messed up game. And we would also learn just what tools we were given.

Just an hour earlier we had the opportunity to speak our case, a simple question which would determine whether or not the audience thought we were sane or not. Simple right? The only problem is, someone always cheats.

There was no opportunity to speak with the girl since the round ended. As soon as the camera shut off and guards swarmed the room, we became separated. Probably to keep whatever the man wanted to do to her from happening before the final round.

"Welcome back! The votes are in and our contestants are more than eager to hear just what you thought about their answers!" The overly excited announcer's voice comes out from an overhead speaker. He could only pray now that the audience would have mercy.

The camera in front of me cuts on and the man manages his best smile despite the horror of it all.

"Are you ready?" No, no! He silently shouts to himself. A small sign above the camera tells him the answer. I'm certain that just behind the unassuming man is a similar screen for the audience to see.

INSANE

"Welp, no surprise there! Our little Sunshine really is a fan favorite, isn't she? For her efforts, she has been awarded a bronze age spear personally crafted by the good folks down at Astro Tec! Astro Tec; When your needs are astronomical, look to the stars."

"And for our runner up, a 2X4 board from a local hardware store! Locally made and sturdy composition. In fact, we may have used the same type of wood for the pole of the spear earlier! Well not really, but it's a nice thought." A splintered hunk of wood is dropped at his feet unceremoniously.

"And now for your challenge, take up your weapons and move your way through this obstacle course! You'll be given incentives to help you play the right way so don't slack off!" The camera shuts off and a guard from off screen leads me to another room.

They fit the man for some kind of large collar. It feels large and unnecessarily heavy on the neck. The metal underneath prods at the skin under the bands that can't scratched. Just wearing this thing fills one with dread and panic.

None the less, he take up his rough looking wood, making sure not to get any splinters in his hands. As he does so, targets of people appear and the cameras cut on. Looks like there's no introduction needed for this challenge.

The business man spies the nearest one, a burly man with a spear and a colar around his neck just like mine. With a single swing it's head is brutally ripped from it's body and the dummy goes limp.

Another one popps up nearby, a frightened looking woman. Surely they don't mean for him to attack that one? No, in a few moments the target returns to it's previous position out of range. Guess that one was a test?

As the man moves on clutching his wood, he is certain to check and see if the person is not carrying a weapon before swinging.

Another man appears, this time extremely close to where the man is standing and holding a knife up. With a swing it's arm comes off of the dummy and a powerful electric current runs through the man. He lets out a yowl of pain and falls to the ground in a heap.

"No no no! Don't attack the civilians!" Civ-civilians? What is that crazy announcer thinking? He had a knife!

A camera moves in closer around the dummy's neck. There is no collar.

"Attacking civilians will not be tolerated! But out there in The Real World stage, you won't get just a shock for trying it!"

The stunning effect eventually wears off and he gets to his feet shakily. As he keeps moving through that maze of people and obsticals he eventually comes accross a barrier of boxes. The only way through was to jump over them. He hooks the wood over one side of them and uses it to pull himself up and over the crate. He leaps down and keeps running without looking back.

"Gyaaaaaaaaa!" The man shouts, clutching his shoulder. A dummy hiding behind the crates stands silently, spear extended and slightly bloody. The dummies, they can attack to.

[Chapter is getting kinda long so I'll end it off here. Next time may or may not be the final one depending on if I decide to elaborate on this chapter more. Also, there are just a few subtle hints I included in this chapter for the suprise ending. No spoilers!]

[sleepdeprivedbaggyeyes]

1/30/19 11:46pm

i had so much fun with him for my birthday. i hated leaving. i’ve been so used to living with my significant other and this sorta kinda long distance shit is stressful. but despite all that, i don’t think i’ve ever been happier. yeah he runs my blood pressure up but he makes me happier than anything else. we had amazing sex, i got to see my friends, i had my very first legal drink with my daddy and i got to fall asleep in his arms two nights in a row. and smoke hella fucking weed. what else could a little ask for? i mean, besides the friends not even coming and getting undevided attention from daddy 24/7. i was a little upset he didn’t get up before i had to go.. but it’s okay, he had work tonight. i get that. i’m still getting used to it honestly. colton was the only guy i had dated that was actually old enough to SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING. the one before him was balls deep into his high school career. Dating someone that actually consistently works is such a foreign thing for me. having someone that isn’t constantly around is a foreign concept for me too. it’s hard but this is the closest thing i’ve have to a NORMAL relationship ever. so i’m not surprised that everything is new to me. but i love it. and i love him. and i couldn’t be happier with where i’m at in my love life. everything else is pretty shit but i’m getting there hopefully. but yeah my birthday. it was great. it was quiet and relaxing. i didn’t wake up feeling like someone beat me with a 2x4 wooden plank. i mean yes i did, but i wasn’t hungover dx but now i’m home, im wondering where he is, he hasn’t answered in a few hours. i just hope he got home okay. i cant wait to go see him again, i miss him a lot. like i said, this long distance shit is killing me. i keep having to remind myself that this is what normal couples do, it’s so odd and out of place to me. like i’m so clingy now and i don’t like it. i feel like a nusance. i just kinda wanna be up under him all the time lol. “whatcha doing, where ya goin, can i come, whatcha playing, can i have a bite?” like i miss him day to day. it’s such a PAIN. ahhhhhhhh >.< . but yeah. he made my birthday amazing. and i’m ready to take scarlett to see him too. i’m so glad he loves her, too... I love you, Daddy. 🖤

[georgeycowell]

DIY Floating Deck, Part 2: Frame & Waterproofing

I’m building a floating deck in my back yard! Catch the whole thing, start to finish, right here.

Hey guys! It’s time for the next post in this long-awaited (at least, for me!) update. I’ve finally gotten enough coffee in my system and quieted the dogs long enough to finish this post and give you another written + video combo.

Brace yourselves, we’ve got a lot to cover!

If you recall from the first post where I talked about the deck plan, I shared the overall design, explained some of the decision making that went in, and where my challenges/research led.

Once I’d come up with my overall plan… it was time to get to work!

Recommended tools and materials

May contain affiliate links or links to related posts

miter saw

drill

drill bits

impact driver

GRK 2 1/2-inch screws

GRK 3 1/8-inch screws

GRK 4-inch structural screws

4-ft level

Ground Contact lumber – 2x6s, 2x4s, and 1x4s (more on why below)

composite shims

3 3/4″ concrete screws

hammer drill (if you don’t have one of these, you can get a kit like this that will adapt your impact driver)

deck blocks

landscape fabric

gravel

shovel or mattock

stainless steel brackets/joist hangers

Ground Contact lumber

One of the biggest new pieces of info I picked up as I made my deck plan was discovering that I would likely need to use Ground Contact lumber for the entire project. I was excited to bring Wood Its Real onboard as a sponsor, and I’m so glad I did when I did, because it was through them that I learned about these new recommendations.

As common sense would tell you, outdoor wood projects need more protection than the stuff you’d use on the interior. And most of you probably also know about using “pressure treated” or PT wood for common outdoor projects to make them last longer. But as of 2016, there are new guidelines designating what kind of pressure-treated lumber should be used, and when. As you might guess, part of it is in the name. Since termites and fungi and all sorts of nasty critters live in the ground, that type of contact is especially important to protect against. There are a few other scenarios where Ground Contact is recommended:

Wood will come in contact with soil, vegetation, leaf litter, and debris that can hold moisture for extended periods of time.

You don’t expect good air circulation, especially on the underside and between decking boards.

Wood components are installed less than six inches above the ground and are supported by treated wood or concrete without a moisture-transferring barrier/break.

Wood is in direct contact with material that already shows signs of decay.

Wood gets wet on a very frequent, recurring basis and doesn’t have time to dry adequately.

You are building in a tropical climate.

Well, whaddya know… my new deck is going to meet a LOT of that criteria!

I noticed that my local Lowe’s was kind of half-and-half about having Above Ground and Ground Contact lumber, but the nearby Home Depot seems to have switched out almost all of theirs for Ground Contact. Honestly, it makes sense with a store’s limited shelf space.

Building a floating deck frame

Build outer frame

I began by cutting and building the outer frame. I could have started with the deck blocks and supports and laid it all out, but for whatever reason, this way just seemed to make more sense to me.

For the outer frame, I pre-drilled each hole and used exterior screws. Don’t waste your time like I did! Use exterior screws that don’t need pre-drilling. Like the Ground Contact lumber, you spend a little more for better quality materials. It’s worth it.

Elevate and level out

The frame, at this point, was screwed together, but it was still a rickety mess. To keep the corners square, I reinforced them with a piece of scrap lumber. I would later discard these once the rest of the frame and other supports went in.

I also lifted up the frame using some scrap lumber and my 4-foot level (one of my favorite hand-me-downs from my grandfather). It’s normal for things like this to still have a  s l i g h t  slope for water runoff (it only looks level, but isn’t), so I noted the way the level looked when laying it on the patio and tried to match the same slope with the deck frame.

Space out supports

I marked every 16 inches and placed another 2×6 in the frame. The longest boards I brought home were 12 feet, but the deck is longer at one end. So, I added another board a couple of feet from the end to give the 12-foot boards something to screw into. Kinda easy, but it helps to have someone assist by holding up all the other ends.

At all corners and in the one spot where I used a 4×4 to help elevate the deck, I added self-tapping structural screws (at this point, I finally bought better ones that didn’t require pre-drilling). For the rest of the structure, I went back through and secured with self-tapping 3 1/8″ fasteners (you can just do this the first time and avoid the double effort!). I also added some stainless steel brackets on some of those joists that I thought were high enough off the ground to add it.

Note: hardware not pictured — I did a lot of second-guessing myself at one point and chose to add more hardware/brackets on the joists of the highest side as the deck boards went on. But since some of my research argued against using it in areas with direct ground exposure, I used them only where I thought applicable. I can really only say “use your best judgment and consult a structural engineer” if you have questions, since this is still my first time building something like this —  and, of course, I’m a homeowner messing with her own house, not a professional contractor. This thing mostly sits on the ground, so I’m not super worried about falling down and/or not lasting for as long as I want it. But as with any large build, one tutorial is never enough! It’s always best to read multiple tutorials and make the most informed decision possible. <3

Waterproofing a deck

Somehow, a deck, the Wicked Witch, and cotton candy have the same greatest foe: water.

To combat this (at least, in the deck’s case), there are a number of different options. While we may call this “waterproofing”, what we’re really talking about is adding moisture barriers to help the wood dry out as quickly as possible. Rot is still a natural inevitability with just about everything; we’re just trying to prevent that as best we can. They’re all good suggestions, but doing a combination of more than one seemed like the right option for me:

Using ground contact lumber (6 inches or less above ground, in contact with concrete, etc.) –

Laying down landscaping fabric and gravel under the deck –

Brushing a sealant on cut joist ends

Using flashing tape on the frame (prevents water from sitting in between the deck boards and the joists) –

After spacing out the deck blocks and digging them down, I surrounded everything with landscaping fabric and gravel. K did most of the hauling, so he gets full credit on that (we wound up thinning out the gravel a little from these pictures to use under the shed too, but you get the idea).

I spent some time adding more braces to reinforce the structure as well. Then, I began adding flashing tape.

In order for the flashing tape to stick, the surface needs to be clean and dry. However, this whole deck was built as the spring rain storms swept through, so that was much easier said than done. In Georgia, spring can often be a full day of threatening rain (but not actually raining), or intermittent storms, or blazing sun. It’s always a toss-up. Hard to plan for outdoor projects when the rain is exactly what needs NOT to happen in order to get to the next step!

Whenever the rain splashed dirt on the wood, we’d wait for things to dry out and then apply the tape. A cheap dish brush (that I’ve used for outdoor projects in the past) made quick work of getting things clean.

Since the weather wasn’t always the best assistant, there was a lot of skipping around. We basically spread out the gravel, applied flashing tape, and put in a bunch of braces between the joists all at once… whichever was the easiest to accomplish in the moment.

Building a deck over a concrete patio

I put off what I thought was going to be the hardest part until the end. I’d been reading and researching a lot on this part, and I found my answer on Family Handyman. In order to create a small section over the concrete patio, I would have to screw wood “sleepers” into the concrete. Then, after lining it up with the rest of the frame, I could add the decking on top.

But, once again, one of the more important things to keep in mind is wood touching (or rather, not touching) concrete. I had already built the new frame to have a gap between the outer frame and and the sides of the patio, to which I also added gravel. Then, we drilled a drainage hole in the corner and fit a plastic pipe through (this is potentially where we might try to run power in the future out into the yard, but we didn’t actually do any of that yet… it’s more of a “let’s plan to maybe do this just in case we want it later” type deal).

In my research, I found that if I put some type of composite/plastic product in between the wood and the patio, the deck would last longer. But the thinnest composite trim I was able to find at the store was still too thick to fit the 2×4 on top and still have it line up with the rest of the frame. Enter: plastic shims.

As a solution, I stacked the 2x4s on top of 1x4s (yes, Ground Contact!) and cut them to length at 45-degree angles. I then used the plastic shims to elevate them and get to the correct height.

Using a hammer drill and specialty drill bit (it comes with the concrete screws), I slowly found a way to screw through and line it up. Basically, I put the 1×4 in place and marked for screws every wo feet. Then, I pre-drilled through the wood with a normal drill bit. Next, I drilled through the hole with the concrete drill bit into the patio. This marked the hole in the right place so I could continue with just the hammer drill.

Tip: drill a little bit at a time and deeper than you’ll need. Pull the drill bit back out of the hole periodically to help remove dust and drilling the hole a little deeper will prevent the remaining dust in the hole from clogging things up when you fasten the screw down.

Once the 1×4 and shims were fastened to the patio, I stacked the 2×4 on top and screwed them into the 1×4.

In some cases, shims were needed multiple times, but the main objective was to get it all to line up with the rest of the frame.

You can see in the pic below that I had cut composite trim to attempt to use them as spacers… oh well! Guess now I have to find a use for a long piece of plastic trim that I can’t return (I already have an idea for use in the kitchen).

Once things were all in place, more flashing tape went on top (though I cut the roll in half this time instead of thirds, since the boards were wider here).

I also wrapped corners where I thought screw holes or joints would allow moisture.

And just like that, we were ready to start adding the deck boards! In the next post in this series, I’ll cover the decking process in detail, along with a nifty tool that worked extremely well and kept things evenly spaced. It was a little extra work to get an angled deck instead of laying the deck boards straight, but in the end, I think it’s totally worth it!

Thanks so much for following along, friends! I hope you found this helpful so far. If it’s beneficial to you, I’d love it if you subscribed for more updates so you don’t miss the next deck post. There will be a few DIYs in between that I’ve been meaning to cross off my to-do list for summer (plus, it’s nice to break things up, because it feels like my whole LIFE has been about this deck for the last month!

), so you’ll see those next!

The post DIY Floating Deck, Part 2: Frame & Waterproofing appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

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