tiel with it

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A zebra becomes a unicorn via execution-style gunshot 🦄

As of this morning I was reluctantly looking for jobs because I love my job and don't want to leave it, but see: $10k raise problem solver.

As of noon today this was no longer an issue, because my boss called me with the news that I was getting a $10K merit raise.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. This is roughly $200 extra per paycheck. Enough to pay off debt faster, rebuild my savings, and spend a weekend a month in Milwaukee getting obscenely laid. The sex I'm going to have on $200 extra per paycheck. You can't even.

In this world where women are already subjected to the sexual whims of their male partners and their own desires are often ignored or belittled, I very decidedly don’t wish to read about that exact same thing happening to the FMC. Now, if the FMC is living her best life whilst being subjected to these tropes and shadow-daddy MMCs, then good for her!

I just really wish that the FMC’s pleasure and desires would be centered, rather than just assumed to be submissive and then executed as such without first asking.

But for things happening between the characters, if the FMC is scared-AND-horny or whatever, that's what the fantasy is supposed to be and you as the reader are expected to do some basic suspension of disbelief in order to engage with the idea that (just like in a kink scene!) this is not real, this is just for pretend, everyone is safe and no one is actually getting hurt. On account if it is fiction.

Now, if you're not into that, that's perfectly fine, I am not saying you have to be into reading things that you don't like. If you want to see some kink negotiation, that's cool. Sometimes, there are books that are about diagetic kink, and they do include those negotiation scenes. But for non-diagetic kink (aka the thing you're "taking issue" with), I don't think that it's fair to say that it's wrong for those books to be written that way. A woman's desires ARE being centered -- either the author's own desires or what the author is envisioning the reader will desire. If you're not into it--again, that's perfectly fine, it's just not the right book for you or the right genre for you. Read something else.

You missed the point of the first post, @atinymekanie, so let's read it together again:

women, especially straight women, have so few outlets for their sexual desires, especially if they have a partner who doesn't share them, and i will never understand why "someone ELSE'S private sexual fantasy makes me uncomfortable and therefore they should not be allowed to engage with it, even if i am in no way being affected by it or even aware of it at all" is such a popular party line among allegedly progressive young people.

For the folks curious about templates, these are the shapes I cut from cardboard. I added a couple little pieces of cereal box cardboard as structural support in various points, like the bridge of the nose and behind the beak. Also, I ended up cutting the forehead piece a little smaller, which I marked on the paper, but I kept the template size in case you want to see how it originally looked.

It's a completely different piece of wearable art. It has a different soul. It has a different feel.

Bear's mask templates! I just want to stress that our masks are extremely low tech and budget friendly. They're made out of cardboard, hot glue, and fleece, with an elastic band in the back. I used a little sheer black fabric I had leftover from my terror bird costume for the eyes.

Fleece and felt are very forgiving fabrics and you can basically just cut a single large piece and stretch it to fit, gluing it to the cardboard one small section at a time. The fabric was the only purchase we made for these, and it was in the form of thrift store blankets.

For everyone else, the mask gets its rounded shape from a dart cut in at the top. Just cut a straight line about an inch or so, fold one side over the other, and glue it in place. If you want an even rounder shape that will sit a bit higher off of your face (not quite glasses-friendly height, but maybe more sensory-friendly for some), you can make additional darts on the sides, roughly in line with the back corner of the eyes.

The cat muzzle uses a dart at the front to create a rounded shape. (Figuring out that one was a paaaaiiiiinnnn yesterday, but I did it!) All the others, you'll want to fold the center tab down first, then fold the left and right flaps over it. Play around with how tightly you fold them over to produce slightly different shapes, and glue it once you like what you see.

When looking to attach the different pieces, you'll want to cut lots of perpendicular flaps into the attachment points (highlighted in the picture below; you'll want to fold those parts up and glue them against the mask base). Having lots of separate attachment points will allow the cardboard to flex a little more and help with stability overall.

When fleecing or felting the base, you'll want to cut a piece that is.... way bigger than you think it needs to be. My technique is to lay the fabric on top of the mask, let it drape without pulling, and give myself about one inch above the tip of the furthest projecting part -- usually the ears. Cut a rectangle and start gluing at the bridge of the snout. Glue in sections, stretching the fabric to prevent wrinkles, until the entire piece is covered.

Then, and only then, do I cut around the shape of the mask, leaving about an inch margin around the whole piece. Cut flaps all around (like you can see in the second photo Wren posted) and glue them down, stretching as you go.

The dart is just a small slit at the top of the face that can be folded over itself and glued in place to create dimension.

I thought the muzzle looked a bit too boxy and canine, so I trimmed it down and added a few pieces of thin cardboard.

(Here’s a link to the last post because the threading got weird; scroll up.)

This is UNTRUE!!!! If you’re new to Catholicism you HAVE to listen to MEEEEEEEEE. Here’s my advice: