…I will put this in a new entry, so as not to detract from Sarah’s triumph. After Sarah says, "You have no power over me!" I just love David Bowie’s final facial expression. He looks wrung out, worn down and deflated. He’s not angry at all, just disappointed and hopeless. He knew it was coming; he knew it a long time ago, all the way back in the ballroom in a bubble when Sarah wrenched herself from his arms and escaped. He knew it when she ran after Toby in the stair maze, instead of him. It’s the ineluctable trajectory: dude is goin’ down.
Continue reading While I’m on that subject…
Posts authored by ModernWizard
“You have no power over me!”
Though generally not a fan of Jennifer Connelly’s one-note performance as Sarah in Labyrinth [where that one note = HUH???], I do love the way she delivers that line. She starts off reciting the little climactic speech from the play that she was struggling with in the beginning.
As she begins, you can see her speaking pro forma, mouthing the words because that’s the function of the Protagonist during a Showdown with the Antagonist. Staring into middle distance, not really at Jareth, she goes through the motions necessary to achieve the Climax…
…And then she stalls on "kingdom as great." While she’s wracking her brains, Jareth takes the opportunity to butt in with a truly ridiculous show of groveling: the "Do as I say, and I will be your slave" speech that has launched a thousand kinky OTPs.
Sarah continues to try to remember the next Step in the Formulaic Process, but then you can actually see the moment where she stops. She looks up at Jareth and really perceives him for the first time in that scene. You can see her realizing that, for all his bluster, he’s terrified of her. You can see her deciding that he’s no longer worth it. You can see that weight of terror lifting from her shoulders. You can see her confidence blooming as she looks straight into his eyes, standing up a little taller, even smiling a bit.
At that moment, she’s finally full of herself and her own power. You can see her pride and her hope and her determination when she states with calm finality and some amazement, "You have no power over me." Those words happen to be the Next Words in the Spell of Confrontation, but, more importantly, they are the words with which Sarah seizes her own agency after an entire movie of being a whiny, reactive, powerless girl. HURRAY!!!!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1513353.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Carter is coming together.
I did a rough draft of his faceup tonight. Not sure about the lips, but I definitely like his eyebrows and the way the bags under his eyes are looking. I have decided that he, as a voluntarily bald man, wears a hat all the time, either a racing cap or a fedora. That big ball of lint on his head is supposed to be a racing cap, but the heavy weight of its fabric ruins the execution.
Macro filter set
goldi was using a simple, inexpensive macro filter set on her Canon digicam at doll club. The lenses just screwed on top of her existing lens to provide +1, +4, up to +10 magnification. Coooool. Clearly I need some.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1512926.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Parents sue hospital over their son’s mutilation
A South Carolina couple is suing the state for performing unnecessary mutilative surgery on their son, who was born with ambiguous genitalia, operated on at the Medical University of South Carolina and assigned female. The Crawfords adopted him after this surgery and raised their son as a girl until last year, when he said he was actually a boy.
The state lawsuit accuses the Medical University of South Carolina — where the surgery was performed — and Greenville Hospital — where the child was born — of negligence medical malpractice for not getting the patient’s informed consent before surgery and failing to warn of potential problems resulting from it. At 16 months old, the suit alleges, the child was too young to make such a decision, one that could have waited until years later.
That complaint accuses state Social Services officials of failing to protect the child from the consequences of the surgery. A federal lawsuit also accuses doctors and state officials of violating the child’s civil rights by performing the surgery without consent.
I applaud the Crawfords for resisting the medical industrial complex’s obsession with forcibly shoving everyone into M or F categories before the people being shoved into the categories can express any preference. It is indeed a violation of civil rights to alter people’s bodies like that without their consent. All parties being sued should indeed be held accountable for their assumptions that they can steamroll individual liberties for the sake of some stinkin’, rigid gender binary bullshit.
I’m also happy that the parents seem pretty cool with their son selecting a different gender presentation than the one assigned him at mutilation. They come across in the article as parents who really love their son and who want him to be happy. They want to protect him, but they know sadly that the world doesn’t see their son the way that he does and they do. i.e., the way he actually is.
Tagged "trans yay" for resistance to forcible gender reassignment, acceptance of personally chosen gender reassignment and generally cool kid and parents. Tagged "stupid cis people" for the medical establishment against which they are fighting.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1512570.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Carter in progress
I strung Carter and dressed him this evening. Here he is with Isabel, aspiring toward unobtrusive average normalcy. I love how he and Isabel are obviously identical twins, but his facial expression is so much more open and sincere than her perma-skepticism.
Carter, like Isabel, has a faceplate from Elfdoll Doona Ryung for a head and a 5StarDoll tiny girl body in NS with modded neck. Still need to add his lightning bolt sideburns, bags under his eyes and shading around his nose.
NBC brings Dracula back from the dead.
Apparently there’s a [mini?] series coming up this fall on NBC called Dracula. Based on the sluggish, exceptionally uninteresting preview, this adaptation shares a lot in common with the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula, including the concept of Dracula as a tragic, wronged individual, the characterization of Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula’s dead wife, reliance on expensive set dressing and costumes and casting of a sexy actor from across the pond as the titular vampire. Wow, looks like a snooze.
What is it with the idea of Mina as Dracula’s reincarnated wife? Where does it come from? To me, it appears to be a modern ploy to make Dracula less of a sicko rapist predator who just goes around collecting women and children and more of a Tragic Lover who has a flimsy pretext for stalking Mina. Whatever. The Reincarnated Lovers trope bores me to tears because it establishes intimacy between characters with no narrative work whatsoever; the author just claims, "Oh yeah, they knew each other in a past life!" and thinks that such an empty Insta-Relationship will actually be accepted by the audience.
It would truly be interesting to start off with a Fated/Reincarnated Lovers relationship that is eventually exposed as bullshit. The woman begins believing that her partner’s status as her Reincarnated Lover means that he is her One True Love. However, she slowly realizes that they end up getting together in life after life because the partner is a manipulative asshole who repeatedly engineers the protagonist’s dependence on him. He keeps her with him by using just enough niceness as intermittent reinforcement, but mostly by threatening and gaslighting her until she believes that their relationship represents True Romance As It Is Supposed To Be. The protagonist eventually figures out that just because things have happened this way before does not mean they must happen this way again and just because things have happened this way before does not mean that is the best way for them to go down. She goes off to live her own life, which of course the ex-partner can’t stand, so he begins stalking and harassing the protagonist. He breaks into the protagonist’s house and tries to rape her. She kills him, possibly with the help of her current partner. The story ends with the protagonist and her current partner watching out for the reincarnation of her ex so that they can insure intervention such that, this time, he doesn’t grow up to be a total waste of a human being. To be clear, this is not about the protagonist gentling the beast with her virtue, but declaring that somehow she would like to give her ex-partner the opportunity to break the cycle of violence.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1512081.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Thinking about Flower
Love his headsculpt, love his green/green eyes, love his purple and pink palette and delicate, translucent ears. I do not, however, dig his default pale grey faceup. I am currently thinking about redoing him with some nice bright pinks and purples, similar to Jareth’s colors. He just looks so blah right now.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1511736.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Fairy concept: dryad
The latest Soom Faery Legend’s pale green resin sparked the idea that such a color should belong to a vegetation sprite. I thus invented the following dryad concept, growing from greenish-brownish bark [possibly sculpted?] on calves and forearms, through general green across most of the body, crowned with a little forest for hair.
The tree hair would be either sculpted the way that my friend Erica does her 1:6 scale bonsai trees, or it would make use of moss, crinkle paper and plastic leaves, like my forest set. Knowing me, it would probably be the latter, as that is easier and more my style.
Clothing would ideally be a brown, lightweight, crinkly cotton, preferably ombre, like broomstick skirt material.
Bright green eyes [I like Flower’s green/green ones], faceup in green and brown, eyebrows and miscellaneous shading brown, lips and eyelashes green.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1511498.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Latest Faery Legend: Boehm the Smoke Sprite
He gets people high. Also happens to be green and pretty damn hot. Mmmmm, very nice.
Fuck off, fairies! Stop invading my house!
EDIT: Are those fangs I see???
Continue reading Latest Faery Legend: Boehm the Smoke Sprite
Walker in progress
About six months after I acquired a base for a 1:6 scale walker for Peter, I’m finally assembling it. Here’s its current status.
Continue reading Walker in progress
:p :d
I just caught the first owner pictures of Iplehouse Doria’s vampire head — i.e., Yamarrah’s sculpt. Her tongue curls up a bit at the tip! Adorable!
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Me and My Muses 6.4: “Someone’s Castle”
Ellery goes to the home of Jamisia, a character from her childhood who is standing in for absent muse Lucian.
Dollism entourage thoughts
Thinking again about who to bring to Dollism. Even though Sardonix has a slightly loose headcap, she may be the best 1:3er to bring. Since she’s bald and barefoot, she doesn’t have any wig or shoes to slip off and lose. She also has a nearly indestructible faceup. Her body is balanced and engineered well, so she poses easily, and she’s not particularly heavy. I could always temporarily hot glue her headcap for the trip.
Possible 1:6ers are Mellifer and Timonium at this point. Who knows if there will be others by then? Right now I’m leaning toward Timonium because I like him better.
Mellifer: 🙁
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1510285.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Chittenden County Doll Club, 05/18/13: everyone’s dolls!
Doll club time arrived again at last this afternoon, with me, vermont chick, goldi, Lyrajean and Megan attending. 5 whole people! Not to mention all the small populations…
Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 05/18/13: everyone’s dolls!
All my dolls, 05/18/2013
Since some of the photos from my previous census saved at a very low resolution, I’m doing another census with better pictures.Continue reading All my dolls, 05/18/2013
Thinking about Carter
I really need to put him together. He’s a cool guy, and Isabel needs her twin brother/best friend.
In one of my trades that has yielded an extensive wardrobe designed for fat bodies such as Isabel’s [and Carter’s], I got a button-up, collared shirt with blue dictionary text on white background. This strikes me as very Carterish: formal, but also offbeat and nerdy. I wonder if I still have a tie?
I’m seeing Carter as more conservative [not politically!] and quiet than Isabel, which cracks me up because, when he went to college, he was a radical dyke with multiple piercings and various hair colors who went bare-breasted in marches. It also cracks me up because he works as a tattooist at Champlain Valley Body Art, and employees of tattoo/piercing parlors frequently have lots of tattoos, piercings and other body mods. However, Carter eschews these.
Now that I think about it, Carter values stability, routine and peace. In pursuit of these goals, he strives to be unremarkable. He just wants to be a normal guy with his normal girlfriend. He really wants to marry Novella and have kids and be a normal dad. Normal normal normal, which neither he nor anyone around him really is.
As I mentioned, he has a past of radical activism, which he has set aside. He characterizes his time in college as a "selfish period," during which he was "wrapped up in identity politics." His break from activism coincided with his graduation, move to Vermont, realization that he was trans and anti-trans experience with some former friends, fellow Smith alums, who started crabbing about "butch flight." He no longer wished to be part of an acrimonious community; to him, they seemed jejune and puerile in their attacks, so he removed himself from those particular people, as well as the activism associated with them.
Frankly, he also started caring less about "women power rah rah rah" [his words] when he was trying to figure out how to become the man he had always wanted to be. He thought of his and Isabel’s dad as a model for masculinity, a dude who was a stay-at-home father for the first 7 years’ of the twins’ lives and who always said that the measure of a man was not in his toughness or his strength, but in his respect, loyalty and love to those around him. He wanted to be like his dad, who thought that being a father was his most important job ever. He wanted to settle down with the right woman and have a family, which seemed to him incompatible with "running around and protesting shit all the time" [his words].
Carter’s desire to be a good man is also strongly affected by pop cultural conceptions of masculinity. This mostly manifests in his long-running preoccupation with exactly how to marry Novella. He is currently hung up on what type of engagement ring to get for her and how to propose to her.
Novella and Carter have known each other for about 5 years and been living together for about 3. They have cats together. They co-own their condo and their car. They have joint bank accounts, and they have set up their wills, health care proxies and powers of attorney to default to each other. Everyone who knows them treats them as a pair, and friends and extended family have been bugging them about the possibility of having kids. In other words, they’re pretty damn committed. They also obviously love each other and demonstrate it frequently, so they don’t have the "Does he/she even love me???" question.
The thing is that both Carter and Novella are pretty shy and kinda passive. I mean, they didn’t officially call themselves a couple until after their friends kept assuming that they were one, which led to the following conversation:
"Hey, Carter, are we dating?"
"I dunno."
"Everyone thinks we’re together."
"Well, we DO hang out a lot." [Understatement: At this point, Carter was spending 5 nights a week at Novella’s.]
"And like each other a lot."
"Yeah, and have lots of sex."
"Isn’t that dating?"
"Okay."
"Okay."
This is what happens when you have two socially awkward people who find it difficult to talk about their feelings. :p
Novella currently has the exact same obsession as Carter: how to marry him, starting with what kind of engagement ring to get him and how to propose to him. Carter and Novella do not know that they share preoccupations, but Isabel does, since she is close to both. This secrecy is integral to the subplot, its climax and its fallout.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1509309.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Fox’s new fall show, Sleepy Hollow
Fox just coughed up an extended trailer for one of its new fall shows, Sleepy Hollow, in which Ichabod Crane is a brooding hunk who sleeps into the present day and teams up with a police detective, who is a Sassy Woman of Color [TM]. Together the two of them track the murderous Headless Horseman, who is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Wait a minute…they canceled Alcatraz, starring a tough-shit woman and a fat guy of color who kick ass and solve mysteries without having sexual tension, for some genre-confused mess that’s already manifesting racist and sexist stereotypes in its goddamned trailer?
Well, Sleepy Hollow certainly looks stupid. I can’t tell, though, whether it’s in the "so bad it’s bad" or "so bad it’s good" category yet.
P.S. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow actually concerns a slight, silly love triangle story, written by Washington Irving, in which local dipstick Brom freaks out schoolteacher Ichabod so badly that the latter leaves town, removing himself from the competition for the affections of rich Katrina Van Tassel, who naturally has no personality, agency or function besides that of walking plot point.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1508905.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Dollism Plus US 2014 WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!
So it looks like Dollism Plus, a gargantuan BJD convention usually held in Hong Kong, will occur in 2014 in the US, specifically Niagara Falls, New York! That’s just a 7-hour drive away! I’ve already buzzed to Janna about this, and we look forward to taking a DOLL ROAD TRIP WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO there and back.
I’m really excited to have a BJD con somewhere close by. In the past, many interesting BJD events have occurred in the South and on the West Coast, but very, very few in the Northeast. While I have been to shows for all types of dolls, as well as large BJD meetups, I’ve never been to a con dedicated to BJDs, so I look forward to meeting people, taking lots of pictures, playing with unfamiliar dolls and buying some stuff. Of course, I have to save up quite a lot of money for travel, lodging and, uh, doll stuff.
I’m already thinking about who to bring. Members of the Me and My Muses or Zombieville universes are not eligible, so that reduces the pool of available attendees to those dolls who pester me in my universe:
- Araminthe
- Flower
- Ginevra
- Janvier Jett
- Jareth
- Jujube
- Mellifer
- Sardonix
- Submit
- Timonium
- Yamarrah
Jareth is out because I’ve decided that, while he may go out in public with me, he’s never going to any meets. I’m also leaning toward eliminating people with fragile or fiddly parts, like Flower with his hot-glued ears, Ginevra with her detachable wing and Janvier Jett with her articulated fingers. I won’t bring Jujube either because she is so small, likewise Submit.
That leaves me with Araminthe, Mellifer, Sardonix, Timonium and Yamarrah. [There may be some other options by next September, depending on who I acquire before then!] I’d like to bring a 1:6er, especially if people are selling sets and accessories in that scale; then I will have a basis for comparison. I’d also like to bring a "standard" 1:3 scale BJD because she could serve as a fit model for any clothing I’m interested in. Hmmm…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1508766.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
The continuing adventures of Flower, Epona and others
After experiencing violent allergies, Flower tells Epona why he’s really hanging out in the fake forest. Jareth butts in.
Continue reading The continuing adventures of Flower, Epona and others
Stupid cis people strike again!
Reading a paper on operations that trans persons may choose to undergo as part of their bodily transitions…
Authors go on and on about "sex reassignment surgery." No, dipshits, it’s not "sex reassignment surgery." Frankly, I’m not entirely sure what the most accurate term is at this point, but it’s not that. I think the general term I’ve heard is "gender transition surgery," which encompasses a variety of procedures.
"Transexualism is a gender identification disorder…" A) Authors can’t even spell "transsexualism." B) Cissexism is a disorder in which people think that there are only two categories of people, "men" and "women," and that all people in each group must have bodies that look exactly the same.
Authors are obsessed with penetration, defining a neopenis as one that can successfully achieve penetration and a neovulva as one that can successfully be penetrated. They apparently think that the only type of sexual activity available is penis-into-vulva penetration.
ARRRGH!
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Scanner juice
Just purchased a secondhand scanner from a person who said she was getting rid of it to "liquefy" unwanted possessions. Is it just me, or can English be an exceptionally confusing language, even for people who speak it as a first language?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1508040.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Flower vs. nature
I finally got some green crinkle paper of the right shade to act as ground cover for my forest set! I was just going to take pictures of it, but Flower and Epona started chatting, and this happened…
Note to self
Do NOT get three weeks’ worth of burritos at once. They don’t keep well in the small freezer at work. 🙁
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1507555.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I hate grain moths.
These little shits have been everywhere in our pantry recently. In our attempt to evict them, we jettisoned 25 lbs. of rice and 10 lbs. of pancake mix. This incredible waste of food seems to have removed their source, though several of them are still flying around, waiting for me to hit them flat with a blank book. We need airtight storage for our cereal-based foods.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1507088.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Dolls I want
My previous list of wants included Soom Auber, Soom Cylin and Lumedoll Koit in tan. I have now acquired Soom Auber [= Timonium] and a tan Lumedoll Koit elf head, so there’s two of three old wants satisfied. New list:
- Soom Faery Legend Cylin. There are still quite a few of her available on the DOA marketplace for reasonable prices.
- Soom Faery Legend Asis. Skijump nose!!! ^_^
- Dollmore Kidult Melissa Hon. Been wanting her for years, but have never found her on the secondary market. Wah wah.
- A mer-BJD. Either one of Asleep Eidolon’s 1:3 scale ones or a custom-made 1:6 scale one with parts from Soom Wave/Soda.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1506991.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses 6.3: “Jamisia 2”
Ellery meets her new muse Jamisia, whether she wants to or not!
Genius discovers basic DSLR functions!
No thanks to the Canon EOS 30D Digital Field Guide I bought to supplement my manual, I finally figured out how to adjust my camera’s shutter speed, which should take care of my long-time bane: washed-out photos.
The Digital Field Guide [an independently produced book] went off on a tangent about the philosophy of shutter speed and what every different mode does, until I eventually wanted to yell, "Just tell me which buttons to push dammit!"
Turns out it’s as easy as hitting the DRIVE ISO button, then turning the main dial on the camera to the left to increase or right to decrease the ISO.
With my new knowledge of autofocus points and ISO control, I’ll be unstoppable!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1506522.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Arachne’s Daughter is finally coming out!
The Monster High character Arachne’s Daughter appeared as an option in a popularity contest during the 2011 San Diego Comic Con. Mattel showed prototypes of several MH dolls and asked voters to choose their favorite, which would then be commercially produced. Sadly, Arachne’s Daughter lost…but Elizabeth Jr. just sent me word that Arachne’s Daughter will be an exclusive at this year’s Comic Con! Nifty! She is the only MH doll I would consider getting, although she would definitely need a repaint…and possibly a rehair.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1505871.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Undersea population of the Tacky Quarter of Atlantis
December Diamonds makes painted, glitter-encrusted ornaments of resin, including a wide selection of mermaids and mermen. They would sell extremely well in Provincetown, especially since most of the merdudes look like they’re about to strip. I like how they’re clearly sculpted with a certain level of realism and a sense of humor. There’s a definite queer sensibility at work here. Simply faboo!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1505656.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
More 1:6 scale mature BJDs, this time from Doll in Mind!
Doll in Mind recently came out with several new BJDs in their DIM Honey line. Adeleine, Alana, Angelica, Flavia, Freda and Ruiru are all female, double-jointed and 30cm.
I like the headsculpts, though they aren’t conventionally pretty. The plush lips and large, slightly droopy eyes cry out for stylized, experimental faceups. Adeleine and Freya, two of my favorites, remind me favorably of Soom Minigem Uyoo — the same big, wide-eyed, open-mouthed features on a small head.
I’m not a fan of the body, though. While I like the sleek and well-engineered shape of the double joints, I think that the abdomen is too narrow. And the feet look ridiculously small. I understand the the proportions represent an attempt to make these dolls fit into existing fashion doll clothing, but I think that the Soom Minigem female body does this much better.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1505373.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Preying in the night
Inspired by the striking effect of Timonium’s dried-blood choker against his pale and black palette, I redid his ears in the same color.
Continue reading Preying in the night
Sometimes the ideas come right out of my head…
…into whatever medium I’m working with. Timonium exemplifies these rare and welcome occurrences.
When I last photoed Timonium, I had glued up his final wig and then enjoyed how much he reminded me of Jareth from Labyrinth.
I’ve been laboring intently over him yesterday and today. I did his ears and his face in a limited palette of Prismacolor watercolor pencils [French grey 20%, French grey 50%, black and white] and some diluted snow white acrylic paint.
Comments:
Watercolor pencils make mouths so much easier, as I can wet my brush and push color into the creases between lips!
I’ve finally figured out my faceup style: sketchy and impressionistic, but also bold and stylized, in narrow palettes. I don’t do subtle!
Now painted, Timonium looks much different. At first, he seemed like a neutral alabaster statue. Originally I thought I would give him a relaxed mouth, but I decided to stick on a smirk, just to see what would happen. Suddenly he came alive with devilish attitude! in contrast to the smirk on my Jareth doll — a playful, devious one — Timonium’s smirk is dangerous and quite possibly malicious. The word that comes to mind when I look at him is chthonic.
Yes, he’s supposed to look like the Goblin King. I was trying to capture that threatening, powerful allure he evinces when he enters Sarah’s room, sneering, smirking and sparkling.
He was originally going to be avian and more grey [and possibly blue], but he obviously wanted to be grey/black/white instead. This starker palette accentuates his pallor, making him look kind of cadaverous.
I put the red choker [a string from Jareth’s shirt] on him because he needed a choker, and I couldn’t find a black one. I like the dark red accent enough that I’m contemplating doing his fairy feets in the same dried-blood color. Maybe splatters, as if he’s been walking through blood. He strikes me as that kind of person. Probably drinks it too.
Anyway, onto the pictures….
Continue reading Sometimes the ideas come right out of my head…
Zombie dolls for dolls
As you may know because I write about it all the time, my next series, Zombieville, is currently developing. Zombieville features people who eat brains and lose body parts, but they are not the mindless, undead creatures of pop culture lore. Rather, they are average, living people with a condition known as spontaneous disintegrative disorder ["spondis"] that causes physical and mental degeneration, which may only be arrested through a diet of at least 50% fresh human brains. Most people with spondis [PWS] see themselves as people with disabilities, while most of the public sees them as pop culture zombies. Conflict ensues.
In one planned episode, Isabel, protagonist and PWS, encounters a vending machine filled with zombie dolls. The manufacturers model the dolls after pop culture zombies [drooling blood, chewing severed limbs]. However, the dolls also have mobility aids that many PWS actually use. Isabel’s response to these toys forms an entire story arc.
The foregoing explains why the creation of these zombie dolls did not just entail slapping red paint on some miniature figures. I wanted to make zombie dolls with electric wheelchairs, walkers and canes of the type that PWS would use.
Me and My Muses 6.2: “Jamisia”
Another muse barges into Ellery’s life! [Oops forgot to resize the panels.]
Concept A+, execution C-
I added some green crinkle paper to my forest for ground cover. After I placed the green paper on the ground, I realized that it was too blue for the forest palette. SHIT!
Wanna mer-doll
I really like Asleep Eidolon’s 1:3 scale mer-BJDs. They’re really expensive, though! Maybe I can get one off the secondary market.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1503979.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Flower’s bucolic reverie
Brought to you by cotton print fabric, dried moss, sticks, acrylic paint, plastic greenery, Sculpey, Aves Apoxie Sculpt and brown crinkle paper.
This is a test of brown crinkle paper as undergrowth to break up the rectilinear lines where the sky fabric means the ground board. I think I need some green crinkle paper too. The brown alone does not provide sufficient variation.
Continue reading Flower’s bucolic reverie
Me and My Muses 6.1: “Dead Hopes”
Hey peoples! Remember Ellery and Lucian? They’re back! Well…at least Ellery is.
Before Me and My Muses went on hiatus in mid-February, Ellery had banished her muse Lucian at the ultimatum of her long-distance girlfriend Kristin. Then Kristin visited Ellery at Wintermere College. Ellery felt numb and sad, but attempted to have sex with Kristin, who couldn’t stomach Ellery’s kinky desires. The two then broke up, leaving Ellery feeling truly alone.
Dolls for dolls: Smaller Home and Garden figures by Tomy
A helpful Figurvore member has identified doll "I" from my recent lineup. She is a member of the Smaller Home and Garden family made by Tomy. I happen to have all 4 family members in well-loved [and chewed-on — the dad and daughter have human teeth marks in their legs :p ] condition. Here they are.
Continue reading Dolls for dolls: Smaller Home and Garden figures by Tomy
O gauge fat people!!!
I need to get these for Isabel! Fat peoples for O gauge model railroads!
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Airing his nethers
Jareth is currently hanging out in the window [open for the first time this season!], wearing the final Corset Thingie of Awesomeness from Isabeau [+ matching miniskirt]. No underwear…hence the post title. He looks almost sweet in some of these pictures, but don’t be deceived.
Collected commission info for Round 2 for Jareth
Outfit 1
- laced blouse with leg-o’-mutton sleeves
- black vinyl corset
- wrap skirt
- cape with collar
- leggings 1 [black stretch]
- fishnets
- underwear
Blouse, corset and wrap skirt rely heavily on Souldoll’s Ruvo-Z with some differences. Jareth’s version of the blouse has bigger shoulder poufs and no dangly ruffle things, but is otherwise the same. Corset is the same. Wrap skirt takes the tulle and ruffles that are part of the Ruvo-Z shirt and makes them into a separate item of clothing. There are about 5 to 7 ruffles to make it fuller than Ruvo-Z’s. Colors of blouse and wrap skirt uncertain.
Cape is a full circle of very lightweight black fabric with slight train. Dull gold metal hook clasp at throat. See picture of NECA Jareth action figure below for design of collar only.
Continue reading Collected commission info for Round 2 for Jareth
The Clash = New Wave???
Pandora thinks they are. I always thought they were Brit punk. Maybe they’re New Wave Brit punk?
EDIT: And the Ramones? My definition of New Wave must differ from theirs.
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Mysterious blood bag
This photostory started off as a simple showcase for my latest 1:6 scale accessory, a blood bag, but then changed into something longer and more pointless.
Continue reading Mysterious blood bag
This — right here —
This is why I got Timonium: he looks Jarethian.
[Remade his wig last night with less bulk around the crown.]Continue reading This — right here —
Timonium improves.
I had some time on Monday to get around to some of those doll projects that have been in suspension since my packing and moving.
Among other things, I made improvements to Timonium. I moved the snap on his skirt so that it fits more snugly around his hips.
I also rewired him with two thick pieces of wire down his neck, through his upper torso, lower torso, then one wire down each of his thighs. After drilling channels down each of his solid fairy feets so that the wires could run past his knee joints, I found him a much more solid poser.
Timonium got a new wig too. My wig skills are definitely improving, as this one fit snugly around the edges. However, the scalp is too deep. I’m not sure if I will correct this, as I like the bulk of wild hair springing from his head and surrounding his face.
The neverending saga of the nonexistent Cleabella trifold
Here’s what’s happened so far:
March 4th: Ordered Bella! Studios Room With A View Basic Wall Unit with magnetized both sides. "Please allow 2-8 weeks for delivery."
March 4th: Credit card charged.
March 11th: Got E-mail from Christina Bougas, saying that it would be done in two weeks’ time, which puts us at the last week in March.
March 15th: Realized I had deleted March 11th E-mail and asked for confirmation of timeline.
March 21st: Got E-mail from her, saying that it would be done "this week," by which I assumed March 24th at absolute latest.
April 11th: Sent E-mail, asking about order status.
April 11th: Tried calling phone number on Web site. Off the hook.
April 11th: Got E-mail from her, saying she had been sick, but that my item was "ready to go out in tomorrow’s UPS run."
April 11th: Asked if I would get a shipping notice/tracking number.
April 17th: Asked for confirmation of shipping, as well as tracking number.
April 17th: Reported transaction to credit card company and filled out dispute paperwork, just in case.
April 17th: Scrounged online for more phone numbers and called them. Off the hook.
April 19th: Asked for confirmation of shipping, as well as tracking number.
April 22nd: Got E-mail from her saying that she had mistakenly shipped my order to another customer. Said that she had prepared a replacement unit and would be "leaving for UPS in about two hours."
April 23rd: Read E-mail [as I currently have no Internet at home >:( ]. Asked for confirmation of shipping, as well as tracking number.
This is going down in history as one of the most frustrating transactions ever.
Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
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This violin magnet…
…was purchased for the sole purpose of illustrating the joke below. Coincidentally, it also happens to be perfectly 1:6 scale, so, now that its express purpose is finished, some musically inclined 1:6er may appropriate it.
A selection of my dolls for dolls
We all know that I like to play with dolls [or otherwise I wouldn’t be here]. Well, not only am I a doll enthusiast, but so are some of my dolls! Yes, my dolls like to play with dolls too.
Here’s a selection of miniatures that I use as dolls for dolls, maker and product line identified where I can remember that information. Unless otherwise noted, the miniatures are unarticulated.
All my dolls, 04/20/2013
I moved last weekend to a new apartment, so I took the opportunity to take pictures of everyone in their new digs.
Continue reading All my dolls, 04/20/2013
Alternatives to CleaBella magnetic trifold
15" h x 23" w magnetic dry erase boards from Three by Three x 3 = $60.00
perhaps some magnetic strips to extend height of boards
some way to prop them up
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Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas. published on Read more posts by the author of Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas., ModernWizardNo Comments on Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
Shortly after I guessed that the maker of my magnetic trifold had fallen off the face of the earth, she replied to my inquiry, saying that she had been sick for the duration of her radio silence. She said that it was "ready to go out" in the next day’s UPS run and that she was "catching up on [her] shipping." I asked if I would get a shipping notice with tracking.
That was a week ago. Since then, I have heard absolutely nothing.
I asked yesterday for confirmation that the trifold had shipped. No response.
I am never dealing with this individual again. I’m also going to do what I can to warn off everyone I know from dealing with her. Her unprofessional lack of communication gives me no confidence in her business or services.
Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
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Diaries
I have 58 of them, running from 1987 to 2013. 36 [!] of those are from 2000 to 2013. My overarching goal is to scan all of them to greyscale PDFs in 600 dpi [except for the one with all those color pictures of angels in it — at least the illos for that will be full color!], but my current priority is to digitize 2000-2013 first. Tedious….
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Fuck it.
Christina Bougas has probably fallen off the face of the earth.
I’m making my own trifold backdrop. It will be just a foamcore display trifold with fabric pinned to it, so it’s not magnetic, but it will do what I need it to do, which is more than I can say for my FUCKING NONEXISTENT CLEABELLA MAGNETIC TRIFOLD.
Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
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The elusive Clea Bella magnetic trifold
On March 4th, I ordered a Clea Bella Room With A View basic wall unit with double-sided metallic walls. The order went through fine.
About a week later, I got an E-mail [which I have since erased] from Christina Bougas, saying that it would be done in two weeks’ time, which puts us at the last week in March.
On March 15th, I realized that I had deleted this message, so I wrote to her again, asking for updated status information.
On March 21st, she replied that it would be done "this week," by which I assumed March 24th at absolute latest.
Since then…nothing. No updates about postponement, no shipping alerts, nothing. I just wrote a few minutes ago [April 10th] inquiring as to my order’s status.
The Room With A View page clearly states that the units are made to order. "Please allow 2-8 weeks for delivery." That’s reasonable.
What’s unreasonable is getting a message from the maker saying that the item would be done by March 24th and then hearing nothing for 2.5 weeks. This makes me frustrated and worried. I’m frustrated because of the poor communication from the seller and because I’m waiting for this item so I can shoot photos. I’m also worried because I wonder if she took my money and ran.
At this point, I cannot recommend Clea Bella.
Do not ever buy anything from Bella! Studios/ CleaBella / Room With A View sets / Christina Bougas.
EDIT: Oh that really instills me with confidence: The phone is making that dee-doo-dee-doo off-the-hook noise when I call her number.
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Awwww, they updated it!
I have a really early version of Lesbian Couples by Merilee Clunis and Dorsey Green, which I picked up in a used bookstore because I find [relatively] old advice books fascinating, especially when they have to do with queer people.
I expected very little from this book, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that even the first edition was surprisingly down-to-earth and practical. It spends a lot of time discussing how feminine enculturation, socioeconomic differences, race/ethnicity differences, disabilities and illness, age, fatness, outness, feelings about one’s body, familial opinions, etc., etc., may play out when women are involved in relationships with women. It offers standard techniques for respectful communication and listening with an acknowledgment of how the aforementioned factors may complicate them for women. It’s very matter-of-fact, unsensationalized and sensible. The clear, calm writing style, combined with its mostly successful efforts to include people with a wide range of identities, makes it a refreshing change from trendy, narrowly targeted bullshit [‘s’up, Rules series?].
Anyway, I see they updated the book after about 20 years. ^_^
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“Science” “proves” “women” “like” “men” with bigger “penises.”
NBC is covering the story! Bullshit ahoy!
I don’t have the energy to parse this right now, but I do have to say that my favorite quote is this:
…Women may be looking for orgasms, which, in turn, Mautz suggested, may serve a pair-bonding function. In the recent book, The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction Bullshit Topped with Bullshit with Bullshit a la Mode for Dessert (which I co-authored crapped out of my ass), Emory University neuroscientist Larry Young argues that the big human penis evolved into a tool meant to stimulate both the vagina and cervix as a way [to] trigger the release of oxytocin in a woman’s brain, activating bonding circuits.
BONERZ = WUV. It’s science, dipsticks!
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There is one single sole laundromat…
in the city of Winooski. The one that I expected to be within walking distance of our new place is closed. That means I have to get in my car and drive somewhere to wash my clothes. Having lived with laundry services either in-house or within walking distance all my life, I find this prospect objectionable. We really need a washer!
A city [hah!] of over 7,000 people can only support one laundromat?
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More clothes
Last year I discovered the quintessence of pinkitude, the Platonic Form of froofy pink dresses, and loved it [except for the price tag]. Now that I have the opportunity to commission Mr. Demandypants some clothes, the froofiness returns to my mind temptingly…
My version would be less lacy and flowery, but the same style.
- top
- bolero thing [see details]
- sleeves
- short balloon skirt
- long layered skirt
- leggings 2
The bolero thing is like a short leather vest with exaggeratedly large pauldrons.
I’m thinking a neon mesh tank for the top.
Color scheme undecided, though the bolero with pauldrons is definitely black.
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Thinking about Jareth’s clothes again
I also have the following ideas for items to commission from Isabeau:
- underwear
- stockings/fishnets
- fishnet shirt
- black leggings
- cape with collar
- something like Soom Faery Legend Kremer’s skirt, but without the neck strap
He definitely needs underwear [so he can stop flashing me :p] and the black leggings, as Yamarrah is taking the pair that he has worn in the past.
Outfit 1
- laced blouse with leg-o’-mutton sleeves
- corset
- wrap skirt
- cape with collar
- underwear
- fishnets
Outfit 2
- ???
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Lace vomit
Almost as amusing a phrase as "tonsil hockey!"
…Lace vomit is what happens when makers of BJD clothes get really excited about adding ruffles and frills everywhere to their pieces, ending up with results like Souldoll’s ACH-ZM or Ruvo-Z, which are kind of stupendous in their commitment to rufflitudinousness [which is now a word because I just made it up].
I’ve been thinking about lace vomit in the back of my mind as I try to work out what outfits I’d like to commission Isabeau for Mr. Demandypants. He requires copious spills of scrunched-up trim.
So far I’m thinking about something combining elements from ACH-ZM and Ruvo-Z.
The Ruvo-Z shirt appeals to me, especially with the leg-o’-mutton sleeves and gratuitous slashing/lacing, but I’m thinking pale pink instead, although the white/pewter look is very classy. Jareth’s version needs to have bigger poofy parts on the tops of the sleeves.
I also like the Ruvo-Z corset because certain individuals can never have too many.
The best part of the outfit is that lace vomit of raggedy tulle and raw ruffled fabric coming off the lower hem of the shirt. I’d make it separate from the shirt and more like a wraparound skirt: fuller, more of a distressed slashed black tulle petticoat understory, topped with at least five or six raw squizzled ruffles.
From this outfit, I select several elements:
- blouse
- corset
- wrap skirt
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Timonium’s pissing me off.
I mostly blame his faery feets.
- Of course, he can’t stand unaided because of them, but I’m resigned to that.
- I can’t wire them all the way through, as the S hooks attach to bars inside the tops of his calves. Therefore, his legs don’t want to stay straight, which makes any balancing that I try to do with him, even with the help of a stand, nearly impossible. I need to core out some of the resin down in his calves so I can jam wire in there.
- Furthermore, he’s looking very stiff compared to Flower and Mellifer. I think I need to rewire his torso joints.
- His resin has this fascinating translucent quality that reminds me of alabaster. It also makes him hard to photograph because he instantly washes out. This is a temporary problem that will be rectified when he gets a faceup and some hair, but I still reserve the right to be annoyed.
- And his skirt is too big and needs to have its waistband adjusted.
That said, I know he’ll be very nifty-looking when I do some work on him. I have ordered a 36-color Prismacolor watercolor pencil set. I’ve also ordered some longish silver grey faux fur for his wig, and I plan to do his faceup in shades of grey [possibly 50 of them :p ]. He’ll be a muted greyscale doll, a change from my usual bright palettes.
Uh, anyway, I took a few pictures of him tonight. Not very well shown is the articulated Obitsu stand that I spent 1.5 hours putting together, only to have it fail on me because Mr. Wobbly can’t keep his legs straight so that his en pointe feets can serve as load-bearing points. >:( Continue reading Timonium’s pissing me off.
Nifty stuff from Dellamorte Co.
Since I got some 1:6 scale tombstone magnets from them last year, Dellamorte Co. has come out with more beautiful, detailed artwork.
- I like the dryad winestopper. She looks like she’s dreaming trees.
- The fruit bat ornament is adorable.
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Yamarrah’s edited faceup concept
I made her eyebrows thicker. As is my wont, I’ll most likely end up doing her up based on what I think will look best when I have her and my colored pencils actually in front of me. Well, and my paints too. There’s no way I’m scribbling on the inside of her mouth. Continue reading Yamarrah’s edited faceup concept
Hangin’ out in my closet, doing what he does best
No, not making smart remarks. Being beautiful. :p
Look…boring pictures. Continue reading Hangin’ out in my closet, doing what he does best
Not Your Mother’s Rules: plowin’ on through
Pages 202-206: "Like it or not, we live in a thin-obsessed world where guys have their pick of girls, so most prefer a thin girlfriend, not an overweight one. …
"We are not trying to make you feel bad — and please don’t get upset as you are reading this — we just want to be honest about how your appearance can affect you socially. …
"…[H]alf the battle is changing the way you eat. The other half is changing the way you think. … Instead of thinking that nothing beats doughnuts dipped in butter cream, think nothing beats being in a bikini on the beach. Think long term. Being disciplined with food will help you be disciplined with … everything else."
"We live in a thin-obsessed world," but let’s not bother to examine critically the problems with this obsession, nor even the possibility of alternatives. Let’s just parrot its scripts unthinkingly.
I like how they pretend to be so compassionate and realistic about their fat readers’ dating prospects. They’re just concerned for those poor tubs o’ lard.
Note that Fein and Schneider’s view of fatness is that it is an entirely voluntary state achieved by wretched slobs with no willpower. The idea that involuntary factors affect one’s fatness never occurs to them. We don’t give a shit if you’re a woman with PCOS, a slow-burning metabolism, generations of fat ancestors and a regimen of antidepressants with a side effect of weight gain!! None of these attributes have anything to do with your fatness! You’re fat because you’re lazy and disgusting, no exceptions.
Page: "You can make simple but effective decisions, like choosing the stairs over the elevator or walking to campus instead of taking the shuttle bus."
People with mobility impairments need not apply.
Page 247: "With all the attention paid to gay marriages today, you may forget how to behave in a same-sex relationship. There are still Rules; they just promote a little more camaraderie and mutuality; there’s some more balance. The spirit of the Rules still applies: you should never show all your cards, pursue anyone relentlessly, or erase all boundaries."
What the hell is up with that first sentence? Some of us might be really excited about marriage equality, but that doesn’t mean that our personal interest in the subject wipes our minds clean of how to do whatever type of relationship we feel like doing. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible for queer people to think about two things [or even more!!!!] at once.
As for the rest of the paragraph, it doesn’t actually say anything, except, "If you’re queer, what we just said doesn’t apply to you, except when it does, but we’re not going to tell you when it does because we have no flipping clue." Here’s a thought, Fein and Schneider: Leave us out of your heteronormative manipulative dating bullshit. Your token attempt at inclusion proves its irrelevance to us, and we’re not impressed.
The End.
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Not Your Mother’s Rules: more
Pages 35-37: "We tell clients to grow their hair long or even to get hair extensions. … Also, curly dos can look messy, while long, stick-straight hair looks more like one of those luscious shampoo ads.
"…We often tell women who feel blah with brown hair to try highlights or go blond.
"…If you have a lot of facial hair — a unibrow or even a mustache — you should get it lightened or waxed. If you have weak nails or bite them, get a gel French manicure that can last for two or three weeks. … Get your teeth whitened… Wear contact lenses [try blue and green shades!] instead of glasses."
Hate your race. Pursue Aryan perfection.
Pages 39-40: "…[A]ny Rules girl’s best accessory is big [three-inch] hoop earrings in silver or gold. … Little or big diamond studs … are too dainty and suburban-looking when you are single. …
"Another great accessory is a chunky gold watch. It’s bold, modern and reeks of self-confidence. …
"Big sunglasses and the au courant bag are also smart investments…"
When did "suburban" move from neutral adjective to sneering insult?
"Reeking" of self-confidence doesn’t seem particularly attractive to me.
Page 42: "Sometimes successful women are the biggest Rules breakers. They argue that their MBAs or graduate degrees give them license to pursue men like they pursue careers and condos."
This anti-MBA theme is becoming tedious.
Page 43: "Abby, a twenty-one-year-old journalism major, thought the Rules were so yesterday."
The best way to relate to today’s youth is to make sure that your musical references are at least ten years out of date. Lollerskates!
Page 99: "Few guys want to read paragraph after paragraph about a woman’s feelings, thoughts, wants or needs."
Shut up! You are a fuckhole, nothing more.
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Not Your Mother’s Rules: ready…set…barf!
Not Your Mother’s Rules, the latest in the Rules franchise of advice books by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, came out this January, approximately 18 years after the original Rules. [Why won’t it die????] As soon as I heard that Fein and Schneider were repackaging their shit for a new generation, I immediately purchased it.
SPOILER ALERT: This is only "not your mother’s Rules" insofar as het women reading the original didn’t have to deal with the same technology that het women reading this version face. Other than that, it’s completely the same.
Onward!
Cover: Wow, they really cheaped out on the cover design. That rhinestone-studded key pendant is available at Claire’s, your neighborhood purveyors of tacky shit, for ~$3.99. I know because I have one. Makes a great 1:6 scale key. Is this an indication that this is some sort of half-assed, shoestring project?
"Now with their daughters, too!"
Oh jeez, what fresh hell is this? Some marketing peon no doubt thought that a Rules update should include actual perspectives from the target demographic, so they hauled Fein and Schneider’s kids in to shill for their moms’ insecurity industry.
Page 3: "But the truth is, all the old Rules still apply!"
Then why does this book exist?
Page 4: "In fact, one of the guys we interviewed said, ‘I could never be a girl — you talk about relationships too much!’ LOL!"
You can tell they’re totally hip to the millennials’ jive because they’re using chatspeak.
Page 4: "…[M]en are extremely visual and cannot be attracted to a girl just because she is nice, smart or funny. … It may sound bad, but physical attraction is everything for a guy."
"May" sound bad? It does sound bad. It portrays het men as stupid subhumans with an inability to think critically or perceive anything beyond the surface. It also perpetuates the bilgey stereotype that men only think about sex, and they do so constantly; thus they are pretty simple-minded.
You know what also sounds bad? Throughout their series, Fein and Schneider refer to woman as "girls," but never to men as "boys." Men are always "men" or "guys." But women are always infantilized and trivialized through their terminology.
Page 8: "We’ve also included special commentary from our daughters, who grew up with the Rules and can help you apply them to a younger generation and the latest technology. Sometimes a twentysomething can best understand what another twentysomething is going through."
Translation: We brainwashed our kids into accepting our retrograde heteronormative dating bullshit. Also we’re woefully out of touch. OMG! LOL!
Page 10: "Our moms never pushed this way of dating on us, but we both have traditional values and believe in old-fashioned courtship, even today."
That’s "their daughters" talking [supposedly]. I bet they’re contractually obligated to say that.
Page 13: "We … have come to the conclusion that those who became promiscuous or acted out sexually did so because they did not get enough attention, affection or approval growing up. … [W]e … have been shocked to find out how many of our clients who have trouble dating had disapproving or absentee mothers."
If your daughter’s a slut, it’s your fault, you frigid bitch.
Page 18: "Don’t react or overreact when your daughter tells you something you don’t like. … If she tells you, … ‘I’m pregnant’ or ‘I think I’m gay,’ just say, ‘I’m so glad you told me. I love and support you no matter what. It’s your life, so how would you like to handle it?’"
Being queer: now just as horrific and shameful as becoming pregnant while a teenager!
Page 24: "When your mother or friends suggest the Rules, do you say, ‘I have an MBA. No one is going to tell me what to do’?"
Wow…they’re still harping on women with MBAs, even two decades later. Someone ought to tell them that holding grudges is a waste of life.
Page 30: "Alexa, a 32-year-old MBA, called us crying after her boyfriend of 3 years walked out. She was up all night reading the Rules and hysterical after finding out that she had broken every single one of them."
Holy cannoli, here we go again. Will you please stop displacing your own personal frustrations onto women who don’t even know you exist? Quit having an external locus of control and take some responsibility for your life.
Yes, I understand — you have no control over the fact that you didn’t get into Harvard Business School. However, if you’re that hung up on the concept of an MBA, you do have control over whether you waste your life raging about it or instead do something constructive with your piss.
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“The Rules”: further skimming
Page 120: "…[H]ighly educated girls have the hardest time with the Rules. They tend to think all this is beneath them. They’ll say, ‘I went to graduate school, I’m not playing these games…’ … If you think you’re too smart for the Rules, ask yourself, ‘Am I married?’ If not, why not? Could it be that what you’re doing isn’t working? Think about it."
The authors rag so persistently on women with graduate educations that I suspect there’s some sour grapes going on.
Also [say it with me!] CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION.
Page 126: "Abuse doesn’t happen in a Rules relationship because, when you play hard to get … , he thinks you’re the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world…"
It’s always the wife’s fault that her husband abuses her. She didn’t do the Rules and make him love her enough.
Page 139: "Don’t be stupid about safety! Date rape has become quite rampant in college these days."
If you get sexually assaulted, it’s all your fault. You were probably just asking for it anyway, you whore.
Page 144: "Rule #31: Don’t discuss the Rules with your therapist. … Some therapists will think that the Rules are dishonest and manipulative."
La la la I can’t heeeeeeeeear you la la la!
Page 167: "Always try to show utter contentment with him, yourself, the world."
Frank N. Furter has words for you.
Page 168: "Remember that, if you want a good marriage, the Rules never really end!"
So you’re telling me that I have this heteronormative manipulative dating bullshit to look forward to every single day of my life?
[runs for the hills screaming]
The End.
Watch this space for the actual Not Your Mother’s Rules later.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1494856.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“The Rules”: skimming
Page 66: "The Rules are about opening up slowly so that men aren’t overwhelmed by us. It’s rather selfish and inconsiderate to burden people with our whole lives on a three-hour date, don’t you think? Remember, the Rules are innately unselfish."
They are not! Technically, they’re a manual about self-abnegation practices that supposedly further one’s goals, assuming that one’s goals involve het marriage to an emotionally clueless jerk.
Page 70-71: "Rule #12: Stop dating him if he doesn’t buy you a romantic gift for your birthday or Valentine’s Day. … Flowers, jewelry, poetry and weekend trips are the kinds of gifts given by men in love. Sweat suits, books, briefcases, toasters and other practical gifts are the kinds of things men give you when they like you … but don’t really want to marry you."
The rigid expectations of the Rules do neither the women who are supposedly reading them and the men they are supposedly dating any service. The Rules assume that there is only one right way to perform marriageable het masculinity — by coughing up flowers and chocolates on designated occasions — and only a single way to perform appropriately responsive het femininity — by accepting only flowers, chocolates and jewelry as sufficient tokens of romantic love.
In the Rules world, it is truly impossible for a briefcase to signify romantic love, even if the giver and the receiver’s shared private connotations of briefcases make them giddy with lustful, infatuated, affectionate glee. Anyone who gives their dating partner a briefcase, no matter how thrilled they know this will make the recipient [beyond flowers, beyond chocolates, beyond precious metals!], is a Horrible Failure Who Should Be Dumped Pronto.
Page 82: "You have to trust that, if you relax and let him explore your body like unchartered [sic] territory, you will have fun and be satisfied."
Fact #1: Men always know what they’re doing in bed.
Fact #2: Communication kills boners.
Page 91: "Of course, a playboy type who falls in love with you because you did the Rules will automatically mend his ways."
I don’t think that’s how it works….
Page 100: "Before he comes to your apartment, tuck this book away in your top drawer… Hide in the closet any grungy bathrobes or something you don’t want him to see, such as a bottle of Prozac."
Censor! CENSOR!!
Page 115: "When you meet a man at a dance or social situation, it really isn’t necessary to mention your children at all. …[W]ait until he calls …to gently weave it into the conversation … Just casually say, "Oh, that’s my son playing the piano," or something like that…"
This one in particular blows my mind. Kids are huge parts of parents’ lives, especially when their children are dependents. Most parents identify strongly with their role as parents and do feel it necessary to talk about their kids because their kids are important to them. To ask a parent not to talk about their kids is, in effect, asking someone to be something they’re not. How does this deception promote trust and love in a dating relationship?
Furthermore, as a child-free person, let me just say that kids are a serious subject, even if one doesn’t have them. Maybe one’s dating partner doesn’t want any extant or future children. Being truthful about one’s important roles, relationships and values when one is dating [e.g., "I am a parent; I love my kids and spend lots of time with them, not to mention thinking and talking about them a lot!"] bespeaks consideration and respect for one’s dating partner.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1494749.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“Hey! Hey Mom!”
"Pet me! Pet me! Rub my ears! My ears…My — AHHHHH THAT FEELS GOOD."
Cutest begging kitty cat ever.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1494451.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“The Rules”: finally hitting an actual Rule
Page 22: "Rule #1: ‘Be a ‘Creature Unlike Any Other’"
Look — "unnecessary" "quotation marks!"
Page 22-23: "It doesn’t matter if you’re not a beauty queen, that you never finished college, or that you don’t keep up with current events. You still think you’re enough. You have more confidence than women with MBAs or money in the bank."
I do not understand the authors’ sneering fixation on women with MBAs.
Phew! Now that I’ve successfully passed Rule #1, I’m doing some serious skimming.
Page 43: "Life has enough pain without our adding man pain to it. We can’t control cancer or drunk drivers, but we can restrain ourselves from dialing his number."
In their authors’ sordid worldview, random events cause women misery, to which the only acceptable response is to not reach out for companionship when one wants and/or needs it. Hmm, I see they’re advocating the social equivalent of aiming a loaded semiautomatic at your shoes and leaning on the trigger.
Page 46: "Remember, early on in a relationship, the man is the adversary (if he’s someone you really like). He has the power to hurt you by never calling again, by treating you badly, or by being around but indifferent. … He runs the show. The best way to protect yourself from pain is to not get emotionally involved too quickly."
There’s such bitter, painful resignation in this passage. The authors recognize the damaging, unfair nature of the heteronormative dating status quo. However, they cannot imagine an alternative model for social interactions, so, with a heavy heart, they resolve to play the game with a vengeance. They’re gonna achieve "happily ever after" if it kills ’em, dammit! [Pay no attention to the corrosive misery and internalized misogyny behind the curtain.]
Wow, now I’m depressed. 🙁
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1494156.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
“The Rules” again
I’m trying to progress past the first chapter here…
Page 6: "If you follow the Rules, … your husband will treat you like a queen, even when he’s angry. Why? Because he spent so much time trying to get you. … [H]e thinks of you constantly. He’s your best friend, your Rock of Gibraltar during bad times. He’s hurt if you don’t share your problems with him. He is always there for you — when you start your new job, if you need surgery. He even likes to get involved in mundane things, like picking out a new bedspread. He always wants to do things together."
This paragraph implies that the standard het marriage consists of a woman who wants more personal attention and emotional connection and a man who doesn’t supply it. I’m very distressed by the authors’ insistence that a) the standard husband is a neglectful, self-absorbed clod who has no capacity to respect and sympathize with his partner and b) the only way to counteract this is through playing constant head games.
Page 9: "We understand why modern, career-oriented women have sometimes scoffed at our suggestions. They’ve been MBA-trained to ‘make things happen’ and to take charge of their careers. However, a relationship with a man is different from a job. … [T]he man must take charge. … We are not making this up — biologically, he’s the aggressor."
Pay attention to this mini rant against women with MBAs. Fein and Schneider have a particular animus towards Masters degrees in business administration, presumably because any education beyond a BA irreparably damages a woman’s marriageability, which, I guess, is like some sort of psychosocial hymen.
Don’t look at me. I didn’t write this shit!
Whenever I see the phrase "I am/We are not making this up," I think of humorist Dave Barry. He frequently prefaced especially absurd — but completely true — details in his columns with this earnest disclaimer. Then, of course, whatever came after the disclaimer seemed extra hilarious. I therefore cannot imagine this phrase as being said with anything else other than tongue in cheek.
"No REALLY!!" is not a convincing clincher for an argument.
Oh look — essentialist claptrap!
Page 13: "…[W]e were offended by what seemed to us to be downright trickery and manipulation. The Rules would send women back twenty-five years. What would the feminists say? On the other hand, Melanie had what we wanted: the husband of her dreams who adored her. It made sense to rethink our offended psyches!"
Those poor, deluded, man-hating feminists! They’re all just bitter because they think that het relationships should contain honest and direct communication. Hah! Where are they now? They’re joining lesbian separatist communes where they don’t pluck their chin hairs.
…Oh wait. You say that some of them are, in fact, in marriages with the husbands of their dreams who adore them? Well, that’s because they clearly recognized the truly passive essence of femininity and faithfully practiced the Rules.
Whaddaya mean — some of them base their marriages on equality, respect, mutual friendship and affection? That’s just… That’s just…
[head explodes]
Page 15: "But First the Product — You."
Just in case you weren’t certain that this book is the product of a capitalist culture that not only objectifies women, but also commodifies relationships as economic transactions, here’s your proof.
Page 16-17: "Men like women who are neat and clean. They also make better mothers of their children — the kind who don’t lose their kids at the beach."
Well, someone clearly had a traumatic experience at the age of 4 after purchasing an ice cream cone independently and turning around to see where Mom was, only to experience momentary panic because she had moved 12 feet to the left to enjoy the respite of a shade tree.
Page 17: "Personal shoppers can help you find clothes that look good on you and that hide your flaws, as opposed to clothes that are perhaps trendy but not flattering."
How much money do the authors think their readers have? Do they know how expensive personal shoppers are?
Page 18: "When you’re shopping in a department store, stop by a cosmetics counter and treat yourself to a makeover."
Shills!
Page 19: "…[G]row your hair long. Men prefer long hair, something to play with and caress. … It doesn’t matter that short hair is easier to wash and dry or that your hair is very thin. The point is, we’re girls! We don’t want to look like boys."
God help you if you’re bald, either out of choice or necessity. We can’t help you there. You’re just screwed. Resign yourself to dying an old maid.
Page 19: "Don’t act like a man… Don’t tell sarcastic jokes. Don’t be a loud, knee-slapping, hysterically funny girl. … Don’t talk so much."
Wait…I’ve got it:
The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore Yes, on land, it's much preferred For ladies not to say a word And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for? Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation True gentlemen avoid it when they can But they dote and swoon and fawn On a lady who's withdrawn It's she who holds her tongue who gets her man
Ah, you say that Ursula the sea witch was being rather sarcastic in Poor Unfortunate Souls when she was singing this in Disney’s animated Little Mermaid, trying to convince Ariel to trade her voice for a pair of legs?
Well, no wonder Ursula’s still single. Hmph!
—
Holy shit, I haven’t even gotten to the actual Rules yet.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1493845.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Where’s Me and My Muses?
It’s the question that everyone’s asking.
Okay…maybe not everyone, but at least all three of my readers.
As the loyal trio knows, Me and My Muses went on hiatus in mid-February as I prepared to learn a new comic creation program. I had a very frustrating experience and eventually reverted to Adobe Photoshop Elements, with which I laid out my very first photostories.
Then, in mid-March, just as I was entertaining thoughts of resuming Me and My Muses, I learned that I would be moving in a month. Pandemonium thus ensued and is currently ensuing.
In conclusion, Ellery and Lucian will return either later this month or sometime early in May, depending on when I get my shit together.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1493724.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Heteronormative manipulative dating bullshit GO!!!
In prep for my evisceration of Not Your Mother’s Rules, I felt it essential to revisit the toilet paper classic, the original Rules, or The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, a 1995 tree murderer publication by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider. It is ostensibly a advice book for white, bourgeois, U.S., 1990s, het, cis, non-disabled, college-educated, professionally employed, [sub]urban, monogamous, single women who want to have lifelong, loving, satisfying marriages to white, bourgeois, U.S., 1990s, het, cis, non-disabled, college-educated, professionally employed, [sub]urban, monogamous, single men.
So apparently the target population is like 3 people.
Anyway, I will not be eviscerating The Rules in detail, merely making snide remarks on bits that catch my attention. My excerpts should easily give you an idea of the content and its retrograde ideological underpinnings.
Let’s go!
Page 1: "No one seems to remember exactly how the Rules got started, but we think they began circa 1917 with Melanie’s grandmother. … Back then, they called it ‘playing hard to get.’"
‘Kay, I’m done. That’s all I need to know. This book is going to tell its audience to sit on its collective asses and…wait for it…do nothing! [Why this requires a multi-book series, I’m not sure.]
The concept of courtship/dating/relationship formation with partners as that of a man aggressively chasing a desirable, passive woman goes much further back than 1917. The active man/passive woman binary appears nearly everywhere around the world as a standard feature of kyriarchy, but acknowledging that would require research and facts, two things that this book clearly can’t be bothered with.
Page 2: "Deep inside, … we really wanted to get married — the romance, the gown, the flowers, the presents, the honeymoon — the whole package."
Notice the complete absence of a marriage partner from this fantasy. Instead, the authors focus on the material trappings of the wedding industrial complex that they are culturally expected to want. I am not disparaging anyone’s interest in these trappings. [I like presents!] I am merely pointing out that, already, this book is really, really, really hung up on achieving mainstream societal markers of successful femininity.
Wow, this is going to take forever. At this rate, I’ll never get to Not Your Mother’s Rules! :p
More later….
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1:6 scale examples of my signature style
Oooh! Oooh!
I’m very excited. As previously mentioned, I ordered Not Your Mother’s Rules for evisceration. To make sure that my disembowelment of the turd was truly comprehensive, I also ordered the original Rules, as well as The Rules II. My copy of the original Rules is out for delivery right now!!!!! I can’t wait!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1492915.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Scanner time part II
I have two major purposes in mind for a scanner:
- Scanning individual photos and small, single-sided things.
- Scanning a bunch of my diaries.
My necessary tools are a) a flatbed sheet-fed duplex color scanner, b) Adobe Photoshop Elements and c) Adobe Acrobat.
Here is a scanner that could perform my required functions: Xerox DocuMate 3220. Not that expensive….
EDIT: Epson WorkForce GT-1500 is cheaper.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1492550.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Scanner time
I have plans to digitize selected scrapbooks, photos, writing and other ephemera from my youth in an effort to get rid of the heavy paper versions. I therefore brought stuff to work, thinking to use the scanner integrated in the super duper printer/copier/fax/egg timer/dishwasher at the office.
Today I discovered that the scanner maxes out at 300 dpi. This resolution is acceptable for text documents, but it will not serve for photos or artwork. So either I’m going to buy my own flatbed scanner or borrow my parents’, which they purchased for their own memorabilia digitization project several years ago.
…Unless the egg timer over here has some secret high-quality scanner settings I’m unaware of.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1492330.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Bunny bread from Great Harvest
Great Harvest makes big and little bunny breads the week before Easter. I picked one up Friday because it was so cute. It freaked out the local doll population.
Continue reading Bunny bread from Great Harvest
[Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the fifth time
A test of the forest against the deciduous background reveals that it needs more filler.
Continue reading [Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the fifth time
[Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the fourth time
I finished the large trees tonight.Continue reading [Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the fourth time
Helsinki Complaints Choir sings It’s Not Fair
The Helsinki Complaints Choir makes melodious art from the daily annoyances of white bourgeois capitalists. Brb, crackin’ my shit up.
Sarah: "That’s not fair!"
Jareth: "You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is?"
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1491326.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Question by May Swenson
Body my house
my horse my hound
what will I do when you are fallen
Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt
Where can I go
without my mount
all eager and quick
How will I know
in thicket ahead
is danger or treasure
when Body my good
bright dog is dead
How will it be
to lie in the sky
without roof or door
and wind for an eye
With cloud for shift
how will I hide?
Swenson does the best poetry of the body. I love the enjambment in "Body my good / bright dog is dead." It’s like the speaker loves life so much that she actually breaks off in the middle of the thought before getting to "dead" because she’s so stuck on the goodness and brightness of being an embodied being. I also like the phrase "wind for an eye" because it implicitly continues the house metaphor by subtly recalling the etymology of "window," from Old Norse "vindauga," or "wind’s eye."
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1491020.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I’m ignoring the title.
…which is A Christmas Tree, which I think somehow cheapens the whole thing by making it some trite, pallid God metaphor.
A Christmas Tree
by William Burford
Star,
if you are
A love compassionate,
You will walk with us this year.
We face a glacial distance, who are here
Huddld
At your feet.
if you are
A love compassionate,
You will walk with us this year.
We face a glacial distance, who are here
Huddld
At your feet.
I like the personification of the astronomical body, the begging of warmth across the chill of space, the abject genuflection of the insignificant people [who are so insignificant that they can’t buy another vowel for "Huddld"]. It’s a desperate and rather hopeless plea.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1490895.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
The one thing I like by D.H. Lawrence
The dude generally pisses me off with his fucking stupid misogyny and gender essentialism, not to mention racism, but I do love this poem:
Death Is Not Evil, Evil Is Mechanical
Only the human being, absolved from kissing and strife
goes on and on and on, without wandering
fixed upon the hub of the ego
going, yet never wandering, fixed, yet in motion,
the kind of hell that is real, grey and awful
sinless and stainless going round and round
the kind of hell grey Dante never saw
but of which he had a bit inside him.
Know thyself, and that thou art mortal.
But know thyself, denying that thou art mortal:
a thing of kisses and strife
a lit-up shaft of rain
a calling column of blood
a rose tree bronzey with thorns
a mixture of love and hate
a wind that blows back and forth
a creature of beautiful peace, like a river
and a creature of conflict, like a cataract:
know thyself, in denial of all these things —
And thou shalt begin to spin round on the hub of the obscene ego
a grey void thing that goes without wandering
a machine that in itself is nothing
a centre of the evil world.
Frankly, I ignore the fact that someone’s been reading too much Freud and return to this poem for the middle part: the quintessence of glorious, vacillating humanity. "A calling column of blood" — what a perfect evocation of our physicality and our longing for emotional connection.
D.H. Lawrence really hates machines… He especially has it out for electric wheelchairs [ref. Clifford Chatterley]. Fuck off, D.H. Lawrence!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1490624.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Apology by Richard Wilbur
A word sticks in the wind’s throat;
A wind-launch drifts in the wells of rye;
Sometimes, in broad silence,
The hanging apples distill their darkness.
You, in a green dress, calling, and with brown hair,
Who come by the field-path now, whose name I say
Softly, forgive me love if also I call you
Wind’s word, apple-heart, haven of grasses.
I love the language here, especially the "wind-launch," with its connotations of air caught in the depths of long grasses. And the apples, "distill[ing] their darkness" — what does that mean? I think of tangy fermentation, cider, fall, secrecy, something somber, witnessing and slightly menacing.
And that enjambment in the second stanze — "whose name I say / Softly " — wow! A word sticks in the speaker’s throat as a word sticks in the wind’s throat. It’s such a regretful poem, a melancholy evocation of thwarted feeling.
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The Lady with the Pet Dog by Anton Chekhov
Translated from Russian by Avrahm Yarmolinsky.
My favorite paragraph is, incidentally, the last:
And it seemed as though, in a little while, the solution would be found, and then a new and glorious life would begin; and it was clear to both of them that the end was still far off, and that what was to be most complicated and difficult for them was only just beginning.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1490132.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
As much as I depend on NOAA’s weather.gov…
…for my local forecast, I seriously query their pride that Mark Trail, terminally dull protagonist of the long-running eponymous "comic" strip [since 1946 — shoot it already!], champions NOAA weather radio. As Mark Trail would say, "What th — ?" Pretty much any character has more charismatic cachet than Mark Trail.
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I just ordered Not Your Mother’s Rules…
Previously excoriated sight unseen here. I got it for throwing against the wall scientific purposes, I swear!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1489577.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Glittery pastel creemee appliques
The seller’s photos of the creemee appliques for Yamarrah’s sweatshirt do not encompass the sheer tackitude of these decorations, so I have scanned my own appliques.
More detailed mockups of Yamarrah
You’ve heard me and Jareth talking about her, but, unless you’re Janna, you haven’t seen detailed renderings of Yamarrah’s mockup. Here they are.
Continue reading More detailed mockups of Yamarrah
Messing with miniatures
Lemax Collection makes several different sets of little decorative tabletop resin fantasy villages with [all white] people, vehicles, buildings, animals, plants, etc. They have a "Victorian" village [in quotes because it doesn’t look Victorian to me], a "coastal Massachusetts" village [ditto], a Halloween village, Santa’s village, etc., etc. Am I the only one who thinks it would be hilarious to cross-pollinate elements from one set [mostly the Halloween one] with others?
Think of the possibilities:
- Grim Reaper stalking daredevil skiers [or the Girl Scout parade]
- Skeleton mariachi band baking up Victorian carolers
- Killer clown mobile home [no really!] lurking at the edge of Santaville
- Santa’s Wonderland sign in front of a little cemetery
Then again, these ideas are coming from someone who thinks that vampire + 1989 + ice cream = cute, so your mileage may vary. :p
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[Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the third time
Okay, so technically Isabel’s not in these pictures. Let’s pretend she’s standing just out of frame. :p
Behold the understory! Yesterday I harvested some slender twigs from the nearby woods, then turned them into the understory for my forest set. I made bases for clusters of twigs using the same principles that I used when making them for my underbrush this weekend. This time, though, I did things differently.
First, I didn’t use polymer clay. I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It is a two-part sculpting medium that requires manual blending in 50/50 composition before use. It then has a working time of approximately two hours before it dries rock hard. When pliable, it may be tinted with acrylic paint. When dry, it may be sanded or carved.
I really like Apoxie Sculpt. I find it easy to use, with the caveat that hand-mixing just about three-fourths of a handful of it at a time is best. Otherwise I hurt my hands in an attempt to blend huge wodges at once!
Once blended, Apoxie Sculpt starts off slightly tacky, soft and very pliable, slowly stiffening and drying as time wears on. It responds readily to tools, cut it’s also easy enough to form with one’s fingers. [The instructions recommend wearing nitrile gloves and make it sound like the stuff is difficult to get off, but it’s really not. The second time I used it, I didn’t wear gloves, and I removed the sticky bits from my fingertips with soap and water.] Unlike polymer clay, it cures on its own, so no putting things in the oven, then juggling hot items as they come out.
Second, I didn’t glue the twigs into guide holes the way that I did with the underbrush. Instead I just stuck them in the Apoxie Sculpt bases and let the Apoxie Sculpt cure around them. As much as me and hot glue are BFFs, sometimes it’s nice not to have to use it.
Continue reading [Isabel] Forrest in the forest for the third time
The awesomeness of Magical Angel, part II
As I mentioned last October, the Chinese BJD company Magical Angel combines low prices with extremely responsive customer service, a rarity in the BJD world, where language barriers and time differences regularly contribute to sporadic, frustrating communication with doll makers. Though I have none of their dolls, I really like them because they seem ready to do all sorts of custom things that most companies either don’t do or charge exorbitant amounts for, like sculpting custom heads or making custom resin matches.
Anyway, I’m just making some notes for myself based on PMs that have been hanging around in my DOA inbox for a while.
- For custom sculpting, MA accepts .obj files, and it is okay if the .obj files do not show eyewells, neck hole and headcap. One can specify head circumference, neck circumference and eye size. They would do a truly 1:6 scale head for Juniper [8mm eyes, 10cm head circumference and 4cm neck circumference] for $800.00.
- For resin matching, MA will either match a photo [not recommended] or a body part, such as a headcap. For example, I’m thinking of getting an MA 60cm girl body with custom resin color for Yamarrah. The custom color would add just $30.00 to the base price. As Yamarrah’s head is a semi-translucent resin, I may go for a semi-translucent body, which would also jack up the cost maybe $20.00. Still amazingly cheap, though…
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Jareth gets handsy.
I have really disliked Jareth’s default hands. As much as I find the sculpts elegant, they have wrist balls separate from the actual hands, and the hands frequently popped out of joint from the wrists.
I therefore thought that some substitutes with integrated wrist balls were in order. I really wanted a set of exaggeratedly elongated, slender hands to go along with the stalklike shape of the Doll Chateau adult male body. The fantasy hands that Soom issues with some of its female Monthly Dolls appeal to me, as they often have extra-long fingers and nails, but they are hard to find, given their limited editions.
Anyway, I found a set of Soom Breccia’s Foxie [=fantasy] hands on the DOA marketplace and snapped ’em up. At first I wasn’t sure about the brownish pink blushing on the fingertips, but it goes with Mr. Demandypants’ style.
As a bonus, they’re posed in a perfect position to facilitate nefarious plotting!
I also remembered how to create my own speech bubbles and how to make them automatically white with a thick black outline and a drop shadow.
I guess I’m really hard on my shoes.
I got a pair of Keen sandals last summer, and they’re already going smooth on the soles, but I expect that, as I wear them about 3.25 seasons out of 4. I did not, however, expect the casing on one of the laces to wear out, leaving the narrow elastic exposed.
At first I thought, Goddamn, I’ll have to get another pair of shoes. I then realized that I really only needed to replace the lace, if I could just figure out how to do so.
Fortunately, the Internet has the answers! Either I could request a replacement set of laces from Keen, or I could follow the instructions and attempt it on my own. I have some BJD elastic that should be the correct diameter. I suppose that, if all else fails, I can just restring my shoe with doll elastic and tie it off, removing the adjustability.
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Nothing like working on a scientific journal…
…to get a person accustomed to a looooooooong view of scheduling. I just slated an article for publication in January, 2014!
The award for the article I have scheduled furthest from its pub date, though, goes to one that I designated in October, 2012 for publication in October, 2013.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1487372.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
[Isabel] Forrest in the forest again
When we last looked in on my forest in progress, it was pretty much uniformly green. In the mean time, I have made some improvements.
Waiting for Yamarrah with Jareth and Araminthe
An entirely pointless photostory in direct continuation of that posted earlier!
Continue reading Waiting for Yamarrah with Jareth and Araminthe
Testing my comic panels with Jareth and Sardonix part II
The rest of the story, such as it is.
Continue reading Testing my comic panels with Jareth and Sardonix part II
Clothes from Corsetkitten/Erica
Erica’s end of a trade — a bunch of commissioned clothes for Isabel — arrived earlier this week. Forthwith, pictures of selected items.
Continue reading Clothes from Corsetkitten/Erica
Testing my comic panels with Jareth and Sardonix
Well, that was arduous. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I created custom panel layouts in Photoshop Elements and then figured out how to stick photos in the panels so that they wouldn’t overlap and/or block out other panels or photos.
I thoroughly frustrated myself in research about transparency, layer masks and clipping masks until I discovered that Elements has a Paste to Selection tool. I therefore just selected the interior of the desired panel with the Magic Wand tool, then copied my desired photo and Pasted to Selection.
After the photo is pasted, I can resize and reposition it, although this feature goes away as the panel and photo layers merge when I move to work on another panel. I’m sure there’s a way to Paste to Selection or its equivalent, while retaining the ability to resize and reposition the pasted photo, but this method suffices for now.
So here’s me experimenting with my new pages with the help of Jareth and Sardonix. I need to create custom shapes for speech bubbles with different orientations and also figure out how to make the bubbles default to white with black outlines and the text default to black, but, again, this suffices for now.Continue reading Testing my comic panels with Jareth and Sardonix
Yamarrah concept
From head to toe:
- Faux fur wig with parallelograms of pink, red and black
- Earrings made from Iwako creemee erasers
- Oversize, off-the-shoulder, pink sweatshirt with a) red cuffs, collar and bottom trim, b) glittery creemee applique and c) added shoulder strap to make it seem like there’s a tank top underneath
- Black leggings
- Black/red basketball shoes
She will also, of course, have actual non-clothing creemees to eat. 😀
I sure hope this split goes through! 😀
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TONSIL HOCKEY!!!
Iplehouse Doria’s special edition fantasy head amuses me to no end [as does the phrase "tonsil hockey"].
For the first time in a long time…
…I have no dolls on order. I’m waiting for doll-related stuff [come on, magnetic trifold!], but not any dolls.
Feels weird. :p
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Speaking of dolls with tongues… :p
Iplehouse’s EID special edition Doria The Addiction is sticking out hers, at least on the fantasy head. She and IOS Infernale should get together and play tonsil hockey.
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THAT’S NOT WHAT HE SAID.
Gaystarnews is running an article based on an interview that Richard O’Brien recently did with the BBC in which he’s talking about gender identity. GSN’s title for the article is "Rocky Horror writer Richard O’Brien believes he is ‘30% female’ after taking hormones," which is NOT WHAT HE SAID.
This is what he said:
"It’s my belief that we are on a continuum between male and female. There are people who are hardwired male and there are people who are hardwired female, but most of us are on that continuum and I believe myself probably to be about 70% male, 30% female."
He was also talking about having been on estrogen for a decade, but he never made the causal connection between his hormones and his 70/30 split. Given what he says about his history, it’s possible that he experienced this 70/30 split well before taking estrogen and therefore started estrogen because of it. That makes for a much more complex, much less lurid headline, however, and GOD FORBID that news outlets reflect the complexities of reality.
O’Brien’s experiences with gender provide instructive background against which to interpret RHPS.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1484862.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
More Groovy Girls
My recently purchased Groovy Girls did not yield any outfits for Isabel. However, two of the Groovies told me that they wanted to join Verity and Kami, who are currently hanging out at my work. So here are the newest members of my small population, Karly on the left and Bindi on the right. Awwwww! The cars on Bindi’s pajama pants are adorable.
Continue reading More Groovy Girls
[Isabel] Forrest in the forest
I did a quick mockup of my spring/summer forest set. I used a moss table runner for the ground. The backdrop is North American Wildlife 2011 Forest Green cotton print by Elizabeth’s Studio [no really!]. The trees are my aforementioned sticks.
Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Barb Pitfido’s Lego layout
As far as I was concerned, the crowning jewel of the Vermont Rails Train show was, naturally, Barb Pitfido’s Lego layout. I enjoyed her work immensely when I first saw it at the Dollars for Scholars Train Show last year, and yesterday was no exception. We recognized each other on sight :p, and she pointed out to me the humorous details of her layout this time around.
Continue reading Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Barb Pitfido’s Lego layout
Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Lewis Buchspics’ layout, Janna’s ads and various tinplate
Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Lewis Buchspics’ layout, Janna’s ads and various tinplate published on Read more posts by the author of Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Lewis Buchspics’ layout, Janna’s ads and various tinplate, ModernWizardNo Comments on Vermont Rails Train Show, 03/16/2013: Lewis Buchspics’ layout, Janna’s ads and various tinplate
Lewis Buchspics set up the layout below at about 3 feet off the ground so that kids could easily view it. Since most layouts were at least 4, if not 5, feet off the ground, kids flocked to this one, attracted as well by the copious flashing lights, sound effects, fake smoke and motorized set pieces.
Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct.., VT, 03/16/2013: Adirondack RR and VGRS layouts
Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct.., VT, 03/16/2013: Adirondack RR and VGRS layouts published on Read more posts by the author of Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct.., VT, 03/16/2013: Adirondack RR and VGRS layouts, ModernWizardNo Comments on Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct.., VT, 03/16/2013: Adirondack RR and VGRS layouts
Janna and I went to the Vermont Rails Train Show at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds in Essex Junction, VT, yesterday. Woo hoo! We enjoyed ourselves immensely. I took 273 pictures in the hopes of getting at least 25% of them to develop acceptably.
Continue reading Vermont Rails Train Show, Essex Jct.., VT, 03/16/2013: Adirondack RR and VGRS layouts
$30.86 for two yards of fabric
This fabric, to be precise.
Elizabear’s cheap, delicious vegetarian chili
Based on 2009’s invention, cold chili glop.
The following makes 4 to 5 servings.
Ingredients:
- 1 can of beans [~14oz.] — black, red, pinto, etc. [black or pinto recommended]
- 1 cup uncooked rice — brown, white, basmati, long-grain, etc. [brown or white recommended]
- 1 jar of salsa [~16oz.] — any type [Green Mountain Salsa recommended]
- 8-12oz. sour cream or plain yogurt [low- or full-fat recommended]
- salt to taste
Optional:
- shredded cheese [sharp cheddar recommended]
- browned meat [which obviously makes it not vegetarian] [lean ground beef or turkey recommended]
- hot sauce
- tomato paste
NOTE: I have never included browned meat, tomato paste or hot sauce in my own experiments, so I just stuck them in the recipe at what seemed like the appropriate point. I claim no responsibility for any disgusting results you may incur by following my instructions.
Steps:
- Start rice cooking. Put x cups of rice in at least 2x cups of water. 2.5x cups is even better, as you can always drain off the excess water later. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- While rice is cooking, open beans. Rinse and drain to get rid of slime. Put them in a clean pot large enough for at least twice, if not thrice, that amount of beans.
- Simmer rice for a while [40+ minutes], stirring regularly and sampling occasionally. Rice is done when it is soft, but not mushy, and has absorbed almost all the water. Usually these two events coincide, but not always.
- Remove rice from pot when done and put in with beans. Mix thoroughly. Put hot water and soap in rice pot to soak so leftover rice doesn’t congeal.
- Open salsa. Dump in with beans and rice. Mix thoroughly. Sample. Add salt if desired.
- If adding meat, hot sauce or tomato paste, these ingredients should go in at this point.
- If preparing for later consumption, add enough sour cream or yogurt to make the chili gooey, but not sloppy. Mix; sample; salt.
- Add shredded cheese if desired. Mix; sample.
- If preparing for immediate consumption, heat rice, beans and salsa until they are all hot. Then add sour cream or yogurt, then shredded cheese.
- Eat it.
- Store leftovers in sealed plastic or glass container. Chili nukes really well, but can also be enjoyed cold. Good for at least 5 days, it actually improves flavor with age.
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I BLAME THE DOLLS.
Hmmm, I appear to have acquired 7 Groovy Girls and their closet off of craigslist at $2.50 per item. The dolls do not come in the closet. They are definitely out of the closet.
I am purchasing them to see if their clothes fit my fat dolls. If they do, hooray, more meretricious clothes for Isabel and friends. If they don’t, they’ll hit Ebay, unless they tell me they’re too cute to go, which Groovy Girls have a way of doing. >_>
Washed-out pictures from seller below. Continue reading I BLAME THE DOLLS.
This is a pretty awesome sofa.
The Groovy Girls Swank Sofa is spectacular. I would like a human-size version.
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Megan’s third body
I swapped Megan onto Pippilotta’s body, that is, a tan CG 1.0. Her outfit fits without any trouble! She grabbed my Pride flag and immediately staked a claim…. Continue reading Megan’s third body
My new pants
I hit Lane Bryant’s clearance rack yesterday and got three pairs of pants to replace the ones that have been expiring left and right. Because I like the style, I am recording all their pertinent details in case I want to buy more in future.
One pair is pointe knit Classic Trousers, size 14/16 average, in grey. Needs hemming.
I also got Tailored Jeggings, size 16 average, in the exact same grey as the first pair. Does not need hemming.
Finally The Jeggings, size 16 average, in cranberry. Does not need hemming.
Total damage: $34.50.
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Ever notice…
…how no one chit-chats on TV shows? I was watching Grimm this morning [back from its winter hiatus and as gloriously stupid as ever!], and yet again I noticed how no one ever stammers, stutters, repeats themselves or says hello or goodbye. [Apparently meaningful stares take the place of these conversational markers.] Everyone says everything just once, in the most condensed, pithy, comprehensible way possible, and the listeners always comprehend perfectly and let their interlocutors go without saying goodbye.
I understand that TV represents a stylized view of human interactions, but we spend so much time saying hello, making small talk, repeating ourselves, going "uhhhhhhh…" and saying goodbye that TV’s persistent refusal to even acknowledge the actual form of most modern conversations just kills my suspension of disbelief. Instead of following the story, I’m too busy thinking about a) how actors are apparently paid by the world, so cheap studios limit their lines so they don’t have to pay them too much and b) how rude and socially inept all the characters would be if they acted like this in real life. Then I become irritated with the whole enterprise and start wanting to throw things at the screen.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1481877.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Miniature chair porn
Vitra, a company that designs furniture, issues 1:6 scale replicas of famous modern chairs — their Vitra Miniatures series. Meticulously crafted and true to scale, these pieces are truly beautiful. I happen to have a yellow Vitra Mini Panton chair, shown in the foreground below, only because Andrea gave it to me.
Screw you, clock change.
You always mess up my sleep schedule for at least a week. >:(
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Jujube’s new wig
An orgy of hot pink, lime green and electric blue! I’m gonna pretend Isabel made it for her. ^_^
I think it’s adorable how much Isabel loves her dolls.
Here she is with her BJD, played by Jujube. Isabel is about 11 inches tall [28cm]. Since 2 inches = 1 foot in 1:6 scale, Isabel would be 5.5 feet [1.67m] in real life. Jujube is about 5.5 inches tall [14cm], which would make her 2.5 feet high in real life. That’s 76cm in real life, on the huge end for a BJD. 1:12 scale [Jujube] is like 1:2 scale for 1:6 scale [Isabel]. Therefore, even though Jujube is minuscule to me, anyone who sees her in Isabel’s arms will certainly remark on how huge she is! ^_^
I improved Jujube this evening by wiring her limbs with 22 gauge wire, repositioning her wig and removing her way-out-of-scale shoelaces.
Continue reading I think it’s adorable how much Isabel loves her dolls.
It has come to my attention…
…that Isabel needs some wig stands for her immense collection of wigs. In practice, this means that I I need 2 or 3. I can make these very easily out of fashion doll heads mounted on dowels in blocks of polymer clay or something. Knowing Isabel, she would repaint each of her heads and give it a name and a personality. ^_^
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Package from Andrea!
Isabel got the two shirts and dolls shown from Andrea today. Isabel clearly likes coordinating her hair with her outfits.
Farking around with the "bloom" effect in Photoscape produced the halos of light around her head. Continue reading Package from Andrea!
Still going away!
N’Yenya sold and paid for [$25.00].
Elfdoll Doona body, wig and outfit sold and paid for [$75.00].
BTVS DVDs still at $30.00, Labyrinth lot still at $32.50.
EDIT: As of 4:50 PM, two sets of Faery Legend wings + outfit + wig have sold [$55.00]. BTVS DVDs up to $31.00, Labyrinth lot still at $32.50.
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Stuff I got rid of today
Whether by recycling, trashing or donating, I got rid of the following today:
- 1 plastic grocery bag miscellaneous linens
- 1 1-inch binder of outdated financial information
- 5 mix tapes in cases
- 1 sleeping bag in stuff sack
- 25 3.5-inch floppy disks in storage case
- 1 box containing various expired cleaning supplies
- 1 unopened box of tampons [HAH!] at least 3 years old
- 1 heap scraps from ex-favorite shirt
- 30 socks
- 5 pairs of underwear
- 2 anti-sweat undershorts to wear under shorts
- 1 bathing suit
- 2 clipon ties
- 1 pair black satin gloves
- 1 jock strap
- 1 blouse
- 3 T-shirts
- 1 stack of my short stories that I already have digital files of
- some old cards
- 3 reams old financial records
- 1 picture frame
- 2 binders
- 1 small hanging file with folders
Good riddance! I feel like I have so much space now, and I have never had lots of stuff to begin with!
Quick!! Buy more dolls!! :p
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A Message of Love: the mix tape
I’ve been holding onto it for all these years, when all I really want is the track listing and order, so here it is:
Side A
- These Are Days by 10,000 Maniacs
- A Case of You by Joni Mitchell
- Naked Eye by Luscious Jackson
- Walk This World by Heather Nova
- Dolphin by Poe
- More by Tara MacLean
- Five String Serenade by Mazzy Star
- Chelsea Morning by Joni Mitchell
- Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
- Airplane by the Indigo Girls
- Tennessee by Arrested Development
Side B
- I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan
- Deadman’s Hill by the Indigo Girls
- I Will Not Forget You by Sarah McLachlan
- Natural by Arrested Development
- Circle Dream by 10,000 Maniacs
- Walking Higher by Heather Nova
- Ghost by the Indigo Girls
- Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
- Truth and Bone by Heather Nova
- For You by Tara MacLean
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1479519.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Continuing to go away
Sold N’Yenya [$25.00].
BTVS DVDs up to $30.00.
Labyrinth lot holding steady at $32.50.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1479189.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Really nifty 1:6 scale things that just sit around
Back in my less discriminating days, I used to acquire stuff more easily that I thought looked great, but which I did not immediately have a use for. Now that I’m older, pickier and possessed of much less space, I have winnowed my collection of set pieces and accessories down to those that I can use in multiple situations. [Well, with the exception of my Shoezies shoe display rack — it’s so cool that I will write shoe stores into my photostories just so I can use it for its sole purpose!] Though I have drastically reduced my 1:6 scale stuff to the most practical and useful pieces, sometimes some stuff hangs around that I’m not sure what to do with.
Take this 1:6 scale cork scene, for example, with which Isabel is posing below. It’s a cluster of miniature, carved, wooden buildings in a glass case with black trim.
Continue reading Really nifty 1:6 scale things that just sit around
Desperately seeking irrelevance
I conclude that Slate keeps around certain commentators [Camille Paglia, Katie Roiphe, William Saletan] precisely because their uninformed, reactionary blatherings piss people off. That’s the only reason I can think of. I mean, surely no one takes these clueless blowhards seriously?
This week’s bloviation comes from William "Pointless and Sententious" Saletan’s column on The Trouble with Bondage. That’s bdsm, by the way, and the article discusses the reasons why bdsm will never go mainstream.
I thought the reason was that the majority of people weren’t interested in it. But no, silly me. Saletan’s article, as near as I can figure out, goes something like this:
blah blah blah lifestyle blah blah blah voluntary pursuit of pain wtf?! ewwwwwwwww blah blah breath play is dangerous blah blah anti-feminist sickos who like rape scenes blah some people take it to extremes blah blah I have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’m just going to call bdsm "consensual domestic violence" and cash my paycheck blah blah blah lifestyle choice.
As a human being with a functioning sense of decency, I find it repulsive that Saletan trivializes intimate partner abuse by using it as a metaphor for something it has nothing to do with. Way to go, you picayune, misogynist fuckhead. I’m glad to know that you’re more interested in making false equivalencies than dealing with actual deleterious symptoms of kyriarchy.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1478727.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Slowly going away
Well, the BTVS DVDs are currently at $17.01, while the Labyrinth memorabilia lot is at $20.00, so at least some of the stuff is selling.
EDIT: As of 1:30 PM, Labyrinth lot is up to $35.00!
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All my sets and medium-size things, 03/06/2013: all in one place!
All my 1:6 scale dolls, sets, medium-size things and accessories are now in one place: my house! Here are all my sets and medium-size things. Blue upholstered chair, bed, car, white framed window and two-tube lamp are new since last inventory. Trees, weapons and tombstones have been around for a while, but were never documented till now.
Thinking about getting rid of 12-pane window, antique phones, wooden scene in glass case, round starry chair and fish tank.
Continue reading All my sets and medium-size things, 03/06/2013: all in one place!
BJD with swappable tongues!!!
Let’s see…I’ve seen BJDs with swappable faceplates, ears, hands, feet, penises, legs, wings, torsos and eyelids, but I have never before seen a BJD with swappable tongues.
Behold Immortality of Soul’s Infernale, a very pointy, stylized dude with narrow eyes and an open mouth done convincingly. He has two optional magnetic tongues; one is just sticking out [:p], while the other is licking his top lip [:d]. I admire his adherence to the angular, squinty bishounen aesthetic, as well as the obvious joy with which he was sculpted.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1477906.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Comic software mini reviews and a whole lot of rage
All I want is a piece of comic creation software that has an intuitive, user-friendly UI, customizable, reuseable panel templates, decent documentation and/or tech support, word art and graphic insertions [like sound effects or hearts over someone’s head], thought bubbles with the appropriate stems [dots connecting to people’s heads, not stems like speech bubbles!] and a price that doesn’t break the bank! Is that so hard? 
Yes, apparently.
I am this close to giving up on specialized comic creation software and making my own templates and such in PhotoShop Elements or equivalent.
I used to do very basic layout in PhotoShop Elements by stacking panels in a long column, then adding speech balloons from Elements’ premade selections. I then tried a variety of comic layout programs. All of them have saved me some time by automating panel creation, balloon formatting, sound effect creation, etc., but none of them have been exactly to my liking.
Planetwide Games’ Comic Book Creator was simple, intuitive, cheap, customizable and possessed of the sound effects and thought bubbles I wanted. However, it offered limited resizing of imported photos and no customizable speech balloons. Thankfully, this program is out of print, so I don’t have to warn you to stay away from it.
I moved on to Comic Life by Plasq. More complex than Comic Book Creator, Comic Life was still cheap and somewhat customizable, with more sophisticated speech balloons and options for photo manipulation. Unfortunately, Comic Book Creator lacked adequate documentation, especially on creating reuseable templates. Plus Plasq didn’t give a shit about Windows users, so tech support was nonexistent.
Then I tried Manga Studio EX. A bloated Japanese import translated and licensed by Smith Micro, Manga Studio EX came with a huge manual, but that could not compensate for all the little details lost in translation. Manga Studio had the capability to make and save custom page/panel templates, and it could do sophisticated manipulation of imported photos. However, I couldn’t stand the cluttered, user-hostile UI and the fact that all the thought balloons had stems, not dots, connecting to the thinker’s head. While under $100.00, Manga Studio was also the most expensive of all the comic creation software I had used so far.
I’m currently testing Summitsoft’s Comic Creator. It’s cheap, simple, pretty intuitive, with word art and graphic insertions. But I cannot figure out how to create and reuse my own custom page templates or avoid the stupid startup screen. There’s also no tech support and ridiculously basic documentation.
In conclusion, I do not recommend Comic Book Creator, Manga Studio or Comic Creator. Of the four specialized programs I’ve tested, I hate Comic Life the least, but that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
And this is why I’m almost certainly going back to PhotoShop Elements…because everything else STINKS! 
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1477878.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Baby Faery Legends in the form of Soom’s latest Monthly Dolls
Soom’s latest theme for Monthly Dolls is Fairy Tales, so they just came out with some characters from Thumbelina, including Thumbelina and the Flower Fairy Prince, as well as the Toad and the Field Mouse.
Thumbelina and the Prince are Neo Angelregion Timps, which means that they are ~11cm tall. [Other measurements are here.] Like the mature 1:6 scale Faery Legends, Thumbelina and the Flower Fairy Prince come with faery wings and faery feets in translucent resin. They are pretty cute and also good for adding diversity of age to one’s Faery Legend troupe.
…Nope. All my fairies are adults.
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The world needs fat mermaids.
Now that I’m an accomplished [hah hah] maker of 1:6 scale fat dolls from 1:3 scale toddler BJDs, I perk up whenever I see mermaid parts from Soom Wave and Soda Sea Elves on the DOA marketplace. As Teenie Gems, they are the 1:3 scale toddlers of the Soom Gem line. I could very easily splice a 5StarDoll tiny torso with the Soom Wave/Soda mer-parts and have a FAT MERMAID!!!!
I’m regretting that I passed on the Soom Faery Legend merdude Azur, so I might create my own 1:6 scale mermaid BJD to hang out with the other fairies.
EDIT: There’s also the option of buying a Planetdoll Mini Aqua and plopping on a truly 1:6 scale head, but I have a hard time getting over how the tail starts below the crotch. No, merfolk do not have human genitalia and excretory systems!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1477146.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Thanks for nothing, free sites.
Well, Front Porch Forum, Craigslist and Ebay Classifieds yielded no results for my BTVS DVDs, so they went to Ebay, where they already have bids. Sometimes living in a small state really annoys me.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1477038.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
How cute is this???: siren mini BJD of printed plastic
If I ever want to execute my mecha siren concept that I was going to use for Lura, I can always do it with this little therianthropic cutie by Silverbeam, an Etsy shop owner who uses a combination of digital sculpting and 3-D printing on demand to create 1:12 scale BJDs. She also offers several other therianthropic BJDs, but I am surprised that there are no merpeople, snake people or centaurs. There is, however, a design-your-own option from which you could easily get the therianthropic mini BJD of your choice.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1476727.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Fuck it.
I am this close to giving up on specialized comic creation software and making my own templates and such in PhotoShop Elements or equivalent. It seems impossible to find a piece of comic creation software that is user-friendly, robust, easily customizable, up-to-date and backed with actual tech support.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1475974.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
To all my stuff on Ebay and various marketplaces:
Sell, you little shits! Sell!
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New green/green eyes for Flower
I couldn’t see his brown defaults that well, so I gave him some radioactively green ones. It’s hard work being this glamorous, but someone has to do it!
Continue reading New green/green eyes for Flower
Finally figured out how to put Timonium’s clothes on.
Here he is, looking imperious and vigilant. The dude definitely needs some sort of stand with a strong pole and weighted base, as this light plastic one is barely propping him up.
Continue reading Finally figured out how to put Timonium’s clothes on.
Clea Bella Room With A View magnetic set walls
Basically the Room With A View series of products, made by Clea Bella, is a tabletop trifold display board with magnetic walls, just the right size for 1:4 or 1:6 scale sets. Of course, you can blow extra money on wallpaper and floor coverings, sold separately, or you can just stick up your own backdrops with magnets, which is what I plan on doing. I am therefore planning on acquiring the Basic Wall Unit, which is $86.65 with shipping included. This is actually cheaper than trying to find similar magnetic trifold boards in the wild and repurposing them.
I am so incredibly sick of foamcore with fabric stapled to it. It’s loathsome.
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Results of Operation Rainbow Barf!
I got my AG Minis Groovy Room today. Here is Jujube hanging out in her new house, which is as tastefully decorated from the available pieces as I could manage.
NB: I was wrong in my earlier speculation that AG Minis room boxes are smaller than 1:12 scale. They are 1:12 scale, so Jujube fits perfectly! ^_^ Continue reading Results of Operation Rainbow Barf!
Casual Jareth is casual.
He and Jujube are making good friends apparently!
Jareth got restrung with 3mm elastic this afternoon, which makes him much looser. The 4mm he came with had wayyyyy too much tension. It allowed him to stand, but it compromised the poseability in his arms. I’d rather have more poseable arms than legs. My dolls tend to slouch around in aesthetically pleasing ways anyway rather than stand. Continue reading Casual Jareth is casual.
Fuck you cooling fan.
…the horse you rode in on and the little girl who fed the apple to the horse.
I should not have to replace you in a computer that I bought new on June 3 of last year.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1474155.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Heyo, Timonium!
Timonium arrived a few days ago, but I could not show how cool he looks because my memory card reader died. >:( Now that I have a functioning one, have some pictures of Timonium as he currently looks, unpainted.
While Flower reminds me of a little Sabik and Mellifer seems Pre-Raphaelite to me, Timonium looks very classical to me in the Greco-Roman sense. I love his serious little face! He has 8mm DD-Anne imperfect glass eyes in silver glitter.
Continue reading Heyo, Timonium!
Oops.
It has come to my attention that I put Jareth’s Corset Thingie of Awesomeness on backward last week. We now present some detailed shots of the skirt without the corset getting in the way, as well as some shots of the corset the right way around.
We’ve gotta piss, drink, smoke, fight, fart and flex…and think of something other than sex!
We’ve gotta piss, drink, smoke, fight, fart and flex…and think of something other than sex! published on Read more posts by the author of We’ve gotta piss, drink, smoke, fight, fart and flex…and think of something other than sex!, ModernWizardNo Comments on We’ve gotta piss, drink, smoke, fight, fart and flex…and think of something other than sex!
I forgot how hilarious the Foremen’s Hard Time to Be a Man was.
Now, this bar graph represents the thought processes of the average American male in 1957. We see, in descending order of importance, sex, sports, cars, and sex in sports cars.
But things have changed since the enlightenment, as illustrated by this 1993 bar graph showing that men now think about sex, sports, cars, and promoting the wellness of the planet and the humanness of all people by creating a caring and nurturing environment in which to have sex in sports cars.
P.S. How ’bout them Niners?
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The “bathroom argument,” part n in an ongoing series
The parents of Coy Mathis, a Coloradan first-grader [with magenta hair?! how awesome is that?], have filed a discrimination suit with the state’s Civil Rights Division because the school district will no longer let her use the girls’ bathroom.
Why? Because they are obsessed with Coy’s penis.
A letter that the Mathis family received in December states:
"….I’m certain you can appreciate that, as Coy grows older and his [sic] male [sic] genitals develop along with the rest of his [sic] body, at least some parents and students are likely to become uncomfortable with his [sic] continued use of the girls’ restroom."
So a girl can’t use the girls’ bathroom because some people might be bothered [heaven forfend!] by the fact that her body differs from that of the majority of girls’.
Oooh! Oooh! I can play this game. We need to make separate bathrooms for every category of person whose body might conceivably bother someone else.
Okay, so we’ll have to separate bathrooms based on race, fat, disability, age, sickness and shoe size, at the very least.
Is that school district serious? Are they honestly arguing that putative future squeamish prejudice trumps a person’s immediate need to perform a basic human function?
The "bathroom argument": it’s bullshit!
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Timonium has arrived!
I’m thinking that he’s some sort of avian sprite, as the detailing on his fairy feet reminds me of feathers. I foresee lots of diagonals and subtle banding in his paint job, and I’m thinking of either a wild grey faux fur wig or feathers for hair!
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A small town in Maryland: my incoming Soom Auber
Despite his resemblance to a junior Jareth, my incoming Soom Auber [who is currently OUT FOR DELIVERY woooooo hoooooooo!!!!!], does not wish to be called Jareth Jr. He is probably afraid of Mega Jareth calling him "squirt." :p
Instead, he has decided that he should be called…
Wait for it…
Timonium.
Yes, folks, the brooding storm fairy takes a name that a) sounds like a combination of "Tim" and "ammonia" and b) refers to a small town in Maryland.
I’m sorry. Sources [i.e.., a certain annoying little fairy] have informed me that Timonium is the illustrious, noble moniker of Mark Antony’s summer palace at Alexandria. Besides sounding like a nickname + cleaning product, it also apparently conjures up associations with elemental metals [Tm = the element timonium? :p], as well as pandemonium.
Sure, whatever you say, Tim. :p
I can’t tell whether Timonium takes himself too seriously or whether I’m just razzing him.
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Amazing miniature animals!
Kerri Pajutee’s 1:12 and 1:6 scale miniature animal sculptures [largely of dogs and cats] are amazing. She sculpts base forms with polymer clay and then flocks them with artificial fiber attached with Aileen’s Tacky Glue. I can tell that she has such affection for the subjects she sculpts.
I bet her custom miniatures cost thousands of dollars. :'(
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The mystery of AG Minis
I am here to report that there is apparently very little information online about the AG Minis room box sets, previously mentioned in my Operation Rainbow Barf entry. The fan site American Girl Playthings, which covers a range of AG toys, has a page about AG Minis, detailing the names, contents, prices and appearances of various sets, but there’s no information about scale, issue date, variations or any of that sort of stuff that enthusiasts like to geek out over. The American Girl Wikia wiki has even less information and no pictures at all. Sure, there are some detailed photos on Flickr and Ebay, but there’s no central collection of minutiae and photos. It’s very disappointing. 🙁
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This weekend: Operation Rainbow Barf!
While I was on Craigslist last night, posting my DVDs for sale, I made the mistake of searching for "barbie" and then "doll" in the sale section. I came across an AG Minis Groovy Room room box, used, but in great condition and well-furnished. Seller’s picture is below.
Vermont Craigslist???
When I lived in the Boston metro area, I did all sorts of business on Craigslist, from buying dolls, to alerting people that we had put furniture out on the curb, to selling gift amusement park tickets for extra cash, to advertising a sublet on our apartment. The community always buzzed with activity.
I am now venturing onto the Burlington Craigslist with some Buffy DVDs to sell. Obviously the Burlington community does not buzz the way that the Boston one does, so I wonder if I will have any interest. I guess the proof will be in the pudding the absent DVDs.
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Book as luxury object
I got my Tartarus Press hardcover edition of The Doll Maker and Other Tales of the Uncanny [original review of The Doll Maker here] by Sarban today! There’s my poor little paperback on the left and my new Tartarus version [ordered at the middle of the month] on the right. Incidentally, it is the not the original 200-copy 1999 Tartarus reissue, but a 2002 reprint, without the limited edition afterword.
Rape ad nauseam in Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch Three Times
I was going to write a long, learned essay about how much the short story Hatchling in Laini Taylor’s collection, Lips Touch Three Times, pissed me off, but fuck it. Let me get to the meat of the matter: Laini Taylor, your voluptuous prose cannot distract me from your moral vacuity.
Continue reading Rape ad nauseam in Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch Three Times
Sy Fy: exterminating all characters of color
Last year, I observed that Sy Fy hates women of color. I would like to extend this observation by saying that the network is clearly involved in an eliminationist campaign against all characters of color in its shows.
I say this because I recently watched the season 3 finale of Haven, who follows the adventures of Audrey Parker, whose reincarnations are somehow tied to the waxing and waning of the supernatural Troubles in Haven, Maine. The season follows Audrey, Nathan [love interest] and Duke [fifth wheel] as they track the serial killer du jour and learn more about Audrey’s past lives. Wheeee.
Season 3 blatantly demonstrates the show’s structural racism in its disposal of men of color. A black man, Tommy Bowen, appears early on as a detective from Boston with a personal interest in catching the Bolt Gun Killer [BGC — serial killer du jour]. He hangs around, making skeptical quips about the Troubles and generally not doing anything, until about halfway through the season. At that point, it is revealed that he is the BGC, or, more accurately, the shapeshifting BGC killed him several weeks before this discovery and has been pretending to be him for a while. So basically the showrunners went to all that trouble of developing a character of color, giving him a name, backstory, arc and significance…solely for the purpose of killing him off. Since the same thing happened to Evie Crocker in season 2 and since there are practically no other named, recurring, developed characters of color on the show [with one exception — see below], it’s very clear that the show runners hate people of color.
My worst fears about Sy Fy’s eliminationist program were confirmed in the season 3 finale of Haven. Another man of color, Agent Howard, reappears after an extended absence. Originally introduced as Audrey’s supervising agent, he is the person who originally sends her to Haven in the pilot. He is apparently orchestrating events behind the scenes with his mysterious magical powers, as we see him occasionally in the ensuing few seasons, but we know very little about him.
Anyway, in the finale, we finally learn [SPOILERS!!!!!] that he functions as the ageless guardian of the Barn, a magical recharging station into which Audrey is supposed to disappear every 27 years so that the Troubles may temporarily stop. Audrey, Nathan and Duke try to get explanations from him, but Agent Howard remains firm that Audrey has to go into the Barn to stop the Troubles; there’s no other way. Well, unless Audrey wants to kill the person she loves [Nathan], which would end the troubles forever.
Audrey doesn’t wish to do that, so she enters the Barn anyway to at least give Haven a 27-year respite from supernatural hell. Nathan, upset, reacts by shooting Howard [part of an incredibly stupid gunfight], bringing the total of significant secondaries who die during this episode to four. And the Black Guy Bites It, disappearing into shards of light along with the Barn. Audrey spends so much time trying to combat the Troubles, but she never notices the most deleterious one of all: the racist vortices of death that inevitably suck in all characters of color who come to Haven.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1470819.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Trail mix, take 2
Got more trail mix today in different combinations of ingredients than before. No carob chips this time, as they really make the mix taste funny. 🙁
- raisins x 1.96 lbs
- peanuts x 2.18 lbs
- cashews x 1.33 lbs
- cranberries x 0.87 lb
I know that the cranberries will make the mix SOUR, but hopefully the saltiness of the peanuts and the sweetness of the raisins will offset this flavor.
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I changed Peter’s shirt.
Awesomeness has been achieved! The light blue reflects light, rather than eating it, while the added color makes him look more cheerful. Such an improvement from the black T-shirt!
Oh Peter…
Why can’t I get you right? I scraped off all of Peter’s lumpy, indistinct eye paint this afternoon and redid his eyes yet again. I also styled his mohawk with diluted glue so that it stands in the appropriate position.
Peter is really hard to photograph. His dark skin and his black T-shirt just absorb light. I think I need to change his shirt.
Doctor Z is done
The aforementioned colored pencil faceup stated smudging off on my fingers, so I recreated it with a base of purplish blue paint topped with blue and black for shadows and wrinkles. I made her wig out of a white mohair one that I made years ago, just trimmed down. I then tried to make her hair behave by mixing some diluted glue into it.
Continue reading Doctor Z is done
Some dolls for Isabel
At Toys R Us, where I got Megan her slightly improved body, I also got Isabel some dolls in the form of Mattel Winx action figures. They are articulated at the neck, elbows, thighs and knees, which is also where Megan’s new body is articulated. The Winx figures’ soft, rubbery skirts and hair are supposed to permit posing, but they don’t really. Their molded hair is way too heavy, making them pitch backwards. I plan to rip it off and replace it with fiber.
Megan: now with better articulation!
There were no Fashionista Barbies with matching skintones to be had at either K-Mart or Toys R Us, so a TRU Cheerleader Barbie in the appropriate color sacrificed her body so that Megan could have increased articulation.
Unfortunately, Megan’s new body has no wrist articulation, so I’ll have to scrounge her some better hands somewhere. I’m also thinking that I’ll replace her elbow joints with wires, as she can barely bend her arms 90 degrees.
Nevertheless, Megan is clearly awesome! Continue reading Megan: now with better articulation!
Easy 1:6 scale pillows
I acquired a few gunmetal satin drawstring bags in a recent purchase of 1:6 scale doll heads. You can easily find such bags in a variety of sizes in craft supply stores or online shops in the category for weddings. I guess people often put favors [Jordan almonds BLECH!] in them.Continue reading Easy 1:6 scale pillows
Ageing an action figure: Mamie
One of my first tries creating an old character in action figure form was Mamie. She was an LHF character, grandmother of the protagonist Anneka, and she was a tough 95-year-old.
I started off with a BBI Burner F15 Pilot head, as she was an androgynous woman, then recolored the hair silver with white highlights. I also added some light pink polymer clay to extend the end of her nose and her chin, then blushed them a bit to blend in with her existing skin. Mostly I used regular #2 pencil to draw wrinkles on her face, with colored pencil accents for especially dark shadows. Her head’s in poor condition, so I’ve tossed it. However, I have retained these photos for historical purposes. Continue reading Ageing an action figure: Mamie
Draft one of Jareth’s Corset Thingie of Awesomeness!
Unfinished but still sexy!Continue reading Draft one of Jareth’s Corset Thingie of Awesomeness!
BJD Text Confessions LOLs
Confession says, "All my dolls are based on the men of my masturbatory fantasies."
Collective response says, "So? Do you think that’s unique in this hobby?"
BWAH HAH!
Jareth: >:} [devious smirk]
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Cuticles???
Apparently some people have a real problem with their cuticles and bite/chew them the way that I do with my nails. I have never really understood this because I never have enough cuticles to harass, but I guess the amount of cuticles varies from person to person.
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Where are you, GI Jane nurse?
I used to have this doll: a Hasbro Classic Collection Vietnam nurse from about 2000 or so. She was my drag king. Then I got rid of her, but now I want her back and can’t find her anywhere! I can find the AA helo pilot and the Caucasian nurses, but no AA nurse. Come back to me, drag king!
Tonner finally makes something I want.
Check out this doll inspired by Dr. Seuss illustrations. She’s theoretically an interpretation of the palette from The Lorax, hence the name Truffula.
I like everything about the outfit, but the doll itself bores me to tears. Her hair should be either a gravity-defying, multi-tiered sculpture or some wild mess of tricolored faux fur [or a gravity-defying sculpture of faux fur with an explosion on the top]. Her makeup is way too flat and subdued, and her bug eyes do her no favors whatsoever. Snore.
This is the sort of outfit that I would purchase and then use as the centerpiece for a custom doll. That will never happen, however, because I am never getting into 1:4 scale. NEVER!
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I can just see the discussion now…
…When Dillon, Isabel’s ex, talks to her about buying Eppie, her pink Bug decorated with Puritan gravestone iconography.
"Is that the pink hearse?"
"It’s not a hearse; it’s a Bug."
"Well, it’s got all those skulls and crossbones on it."
"Those are death’s heads. You know nothing about eighteenth-century New England cemetery iconography."
"And I don’t want to either. Shudder. …They’d better be removable. The pink I can handle, but not those creepy stickers."
"And this is YET ANOTHER reason we broke up. The historically accurate decals are removable, and don’t worry. I’m keeping them."
"Thank God. It’s a deal!"
^_^
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Isabel now has a pink Bug.
I’m not sure if I want to spray paint it either black or white or just leave it pink and put some weird designs on it. For some reason I’m thinking that there should be cemetery iconography on it. :p I mean, she likes this couch, so why not extend the same excruciating design principles to her car?
Vanity plate: EPITAPH. Isabel’s name for her car: Eppie. Yeah, she’s weird…
Isabel rocks! \o/
No wonder she gets haunted by a dead version of herself.
EDIT: I think I’ll leave the car pink, but stencil some death’s heads on it in black. FUCK YEAH!!!
EDIT 2: Gravestone Artwear generously allowed me to use some of their designs on Isabel’s car, so I vectorized four of my favorites. I will then create custom window clings that I can stick on the doors, hood and trunk of her car. This is going to be amazing! Hmmm, I should also create a little gravestoneartwear.com window cling too. 😀
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Well, that escalated quickly.
Last week, I saw that someone was auctioning off her Soom Faery Legend Auber on Ebay. She bought him with outfit and wig, but no faceup or eyes, during Soom’s lottery last month when they were getting rid of old unclaimed stock. [I put in for a grey Auber during that lottery, but did not get him.]
I watched this auction for a white one with interest…especially as the starting bid, $450.00, reflected exactly what the first owner had paid for him, including all options and shipping. Since Auber fullsets rarely appear on the secondary market for less than $600.00, I viewed this auction as a chance to acquire a doll I wanted, hopefully without the ridiculous markup.
In preparation for a bidding war on Auber, I dropped prices yesterday on a few dolls that I had lingering on the DOA marketplace. Hours later, someone purchased both my Soom Uyoo Quite Rabbit and my Limhwa Sara for $475.00 shipped. She paid immediately, thus financing a bid on Auber for which I did not have to do creative accounting with my checking and savings accounts. :p
I stalked the auction during its final hours, and it held steady with only a single bid. With a minute remaining before close, I placed my $750.00 high bid and went to run around the office to relieve some tension.
Won the auction at $465.00!! \o/ \o/
Hey there, Jareth Jr. What’s up? :p
I can’t stand Soom’s male Mini Gem body sculpt with its ridiculously jacked proportions, so I’m going to put Jareth Jr.’s head and hands on a slim Lumedoll Lumelight body. Haven’t decided what to do about the feet. I might try modding the faery feet into ridiculous stiletto heels or something. :p
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Cake in a pinch
I put some I Can’t Can Easily Believe It’s Not Butter on a slice of Anadama bread last night, then put Nutella on top of it. This was probably a waste of a perfectly good Great Harvest loaf, but it tasted like cake! The oil in the non-butter spread made the Nutella smoother and sweeter, like cake + frosting.
I promise to use this knowledge only for good. :p
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Reeva Steenkamp, 29, is dead.
Steenkamp hailed from Cape Town, South Africa. She began work as a model in 2001 and graduated from Nelson Mandela Metro University in 2005 with a BA in law, then went on to work as a paralegal. She applied to the bar in 2011, hoping to be a legal advocate by the age of 30. She was murdered on Valentine’s Day, 2013, two days before the fifth season of reality TV show Tropika Island of Pleasure, in which she appeared, began airing.
She was murdered by abusive, wretched excuse for a human being [and celebrity athlete] Oscar Pistorius, in yet another depressingly common case of intimate partner violence.
How much do you wanna bet he’ll get away with it due to his super privileges as a white, rich, straight, cis, celebrity dude who can also play on the public assumption that people with disabilities are useless lumps who can’t do anything, much less murder?
And how much do you wanna bet that Steenkamp will disappear in the media’s narrative about how they’re shocked — shocked, I say! — that the inspiringly heroic supercrip should have such a tragic downfall?
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Set pieces from the depths of time, part 1, 03/24/04: the jelly bean seat
There’s a thread on Figurvore about one’s first attempts at set pieces compared to one’s current efforts. It got me thinking about how I used to make sets.
When I first started in 1:6 scale, I built movable sets on my desktop or more permanent ones in bookshelves. I had very few backdrops and/or set pieces, so I mostly made do by repurposing commonly available items. One of my favorite examples of such reuse was the jelly bean seat.
To make the jelly bean seat, I started off using a short cylindrical container for binder clips. I brought it home from the office because it looked about the right size to serve as a table or ottoman or something.
When I got it home, I discovered that it was, in fact, the right height. However, the flexible plastic bowed under the weight of a doll, so I needed something to balance, solidify and add support.
It being in the vicinity of Easter, I hit upon the idea of filling the container with jelly beans. Hey, why not? I reasoned that they were attractively colored and also unspoilable [being made mostly of wax :p ]. I filled the container with a pleasing series of jelly beans, then glued the top on with my best friend ever, hot glue.Continue reading Set pieces from the depths of time, part 1, 03/24/04: the jelly bean seat
All my dolls, 02/18/2013, part 2: at home
Small populations at home.Continue reading All my dolls, 02/18/2013, part 2: at home
All my dolls, 02/18/2013, part 1: at work and in storage
Me and My Muses 5.6: “Rejection”
Ellery talks to Lucian, who is not there, about how everything with Kristin went down.
And with that, we’re on hiatus again while I figure out how to learn a new layout program.Continue reading Me and My Muses 5.6: “Rejection”
Bed
After suffering many years with a 1:6 scale bed made from a saggy, undersize cracker box covered with a piece of fabric from a pillow case, I improved my 1:6 scale bed tonight. This one is a sturdy, NON-saggy doll box, also covered with another pillow case. Isabel enjoys a book on it. I need some throw pillows that DO NOT have monkeys on them.
Continue reading Bed
Finished kitchen
Like most kitchens I have experience with, it has very little counter space. :pContinue reading Finished kitchen
All my sets and medium-size things, 02/12/2013, part II: stuff in storage
Finally getting around to posting pictures of those set pieces and medium-sized things currently in storage [=at work].
Possible riddances: jewelry box ottoman [unless I can figure out how to clean the top], striped bamboo placemat, one wooden box.
Continue reading All my sets and medium-size things, 02/12/2013, part II: stuff in storage
Hello money! G’bye money!
I got paid today! \o/! I also had someone pay off a layaway on some doll parts and another person buy other doll parts, so I was rich! RICH HAH HAH HAH!
Not for long. I proceeded to empty out my Paypal account as I purchased the following:
- Some pants specifically tailored for the 5StarDoll tiny body, meaning that they will fit my fat 1:6ers.
- A Tartarus Press hardcover edition of Sarban’s Doll Maker, a lovely, high-quality edition to replace my frail 1960s paperback.
- Two chocolate Hujoo bodies for my incoming Lumedoll Lumelight heads.
- A nude Monster High Skelita to supply the body for the dead version of Isabel.
There also appears to be some interest in the Rements I am auctioning off on Ebay, as well as MORE doll parts I’m selling on DOA, so I could have MORE money in my Paypal account next week.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1463162.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Goddamn it, Prudie!
Just in case you thought last month’s anti-fat advice column from Slate’s Dear Prudence was a fluke, here she is recycling the same rant for Valentine’s Day.
Letter writer: "I like this guy, but he’s gained 20 pounds in the past year, and he doesn’t brush his teeth before bed. I’m in the health industry, so I’m very concerned. What do I do?"
Prudie: "I see you’re worried about fatty there croaking from diabetes and you raising your kids alone. So give him an ultimatum: A) No kisses till he starts brushing regularly. B) Either he gets his fat ass to the gym on a slimming program and stops stuffing cake in his piehole, or you’re outta there. P.S. People without teeth are hilarious. Also ugly."
This response, like last month’s, reveals Prudie’s hangups and preoccupations. In both cases, she assumes that the fat people in question will, if they continue their current behavior, become shamefully disabled and eventually die, probably from complications from diabetes. Then their poor wives will be alone, so tragically alone, forced to raise the kids by themselves.
It’s so multiply offensive. In no particular order, there’s the clueless assumptions that fat people are axiomatically unhealthy. There’s the nasty, cruel jokes at the expense of people with disabilities. And there’s the heterosexist idea that a single mother and kids is not a real family, but something pathetic, unnatural and inadequate.
If Prudie really wanted to give helpful advice, she should encourage the letter writer to talk to her boyfriend and find out more about his childhood relationships to dental hygiene, sugar, diabetes and food in general. She should also ask him how he’s been doing in the last year physically, mentally and emotionally. The first subject could shed some light on why he has poor dental hygiene; maybe he never had toothbrushing habits modeled, or he’s scared of the dentist, or there was that one time his uncle called him Buckteeth, so he has really ambivalent feelings about his mouth in general. The second subject could provide context for his weight gain; maybe he’s feeling lethargic, or he’s lost his appetite, or his tastes have changed, or he’s eating in part due to boredom, anxiety or depression. Heck, maybe his thyroid’s off!
With this information, the letter writer and her boyfriend can, if they feel so motivated, better figure out the actual contributing factors to his poor dental hygiene and his recent weight gain, instead of attacking the symptoms. They can then consult the appropriate health care providers or social supports and work from there.
I know, Prudie; I know…that’s too much work. Far easier to focus on the symptoms and use emotional bribery to combat the eeeeeeeeevil fats.
Didn’t anyone tell you that ultimatums never work?
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ONOEZ, it’s the Dolly Gender Police!
BJD Text Confessions anonymous bigot sez:
I hate MD Jinas like Kyoyaxl has. Fucking learn the difference between a girl and a boy.
For those of you who do not speak BJD code, the submitter is saying that they dislike the Jina headsculpt by Migidoll when styled by doll owners like DOA member Kyoyaxl.
Migidoll bills Jina as a "girl," but that doesn’t mean much in the BJD world. Just because a company bills a head as "male" or "female" doesn’t mean that doll fiends will abide by those distinctions. The majority of BJD heads demonstrate a distinctly androgynous aesthetic that doesn’t swing in a stereotypically masculine or feminine direction. Ergo, there’s a lot of putting "female" heads on "male" bodies [and significantly less putting "male" heads on "female" bodies, the way that I did with my Frank BJD].
There’s also a lot of dressing "male" dolls in "women’s" clothes [and significantly less dressing "female" dolls in "men’s" clothes].
Incidentally, there are also a notable minority of breast removals ["girl to boy mods"] on "female dolls," as well as penis additions ["hermaphrodite mods"] on "female dolls" too.
All of this is to say that sex and gender presentation can be very fluid in the BJD world. And some BJD fiends, like our anonymous gender-policing bigot, are going to resist that fluidity kicking and screaming. Meanwhile, the rest of us are going to continue genderfucking while innocently asking, "And which differences, pray tell, are you speaking of?" :p
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All my sets and medium-size things, 02/12/2013, part I: stuff at home
There’s been so much turnover in the set pieces since my last census two months ago that I’m taking inventory again. Here are all my set pieces and medium-size 1:6 scale things that I have at home. Stuff in storage [=at work] will be posted later.
Continue reading All my sets and medium-size things, 02/12/2013, part I: stuff at home
Whenever I see scientific articles in lists of references…
…in the manuscripts I process, I think of this Piled Higher and Deeper cartoon about author order.
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Booty in the mail!!
I got three packages in the mail today! One was another 5StarDoll tiny girl body for another fat doll [not shown].Continue reading Booty in the mail!!
Notes on organizing doll stuff
Move all the dolls in progress and spare parts from purple drawers to black/clear drawer.
Put medium-size stuff in purple drawer. Subdivide?
Find eyeballs!
Make labels for purple drawers bigger.
Sort through clothes.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1461590.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses 5.5: “No Way!”
Ellery hears from girlfriend Kristin exactly what Kristin thinks of Ellery’s kinky interests.Continue reading Me and My Muses 5.5: “No Way!”
Keeping warm in Toxic Waste II: Brandeis Weaver
So the doll that was going to be Dillon, Isabel’s ex, coworker and car buyer, told me that she was not actually Dillon; she was Brandeis Weaver, Toxic Waste denizen. Just to refresh your memory, she is an Alchemic Lab Unoa Light Azurite [the dude — I can never remember which name goes with which one].
I only know a bit about Brandeis. She’s a PWS in her teens who, as a homeless person, lives in Toxic Waste. The physical effects of her spondis are relatively mild. She uses a cane [not shown] in large part because she has lost several toes on each foot. Mentally, however, she has a very ineffective short-term memory, which leads to her carrying around notebooks and writing down everything.
Her parents kicked her out of her house about two years ago when they found out that she was trans. She ran away up here with her 25-year-old girlfriend, whose father lived in Winooski. She and her girlfriend lived with her girlfriend’s father for a short time until she couldn’t sleep, hearing their fights, and she began to fear for her safety. She had good reason to worry, as the violence spilled over onto her when she found out that she had spondis; her girlfriend began yelling at her. She ran away again, ending up in Toxic Waste.
Brandeis spends time studying for her GED and hanging around Outright Vermont [more research needed]. She has characters in her head that she has long-running, complex relationships with and that she refers to as if they are outside of her head. She’s shy and kind of flinchy, but she talks volubly when she feels comfortable with someone. She calls herself an airhead because her memory is so poor, but there’s actually a lot going on in there. She hates when people raise their voices; it makes her cry. She also is deathly afraid of being cold. She has a HUGE CRUSH on Peter, which is actually causing her somewhat of a crisis, as she was pretty sure she was a lesbian until she met him. [Jeez, who doesn’t have a huge crush on Peter? :p]
Uh…okay…maybe I know more about her than I thought. ^_^
Oh right! Pictures! Here she is without a faceup. She still needs face paint, a cane, some notebooks, a backpack, weathering and rips in her jeans and weathering on her boots. Continue reading Keeping warm in Toxic Waste II: Brandeis Weaver
Chittenden County Doll Club, 02/09/13: everyone’s dolls!
We had the biggest meetup ever this afternoon; five people attended: me, Lyrajean, vermont chick, goldi and Megan, a newcomer. Here are the best of the 177 photos I took:Continue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 02/09/13: everyone’s dolls!
Recent projects: spaghetti and Peter
I made some 1:6 scale spaghetti this week. At first I coveted Rement’s Fun Meals #8, Spaghetti and Meatballs, but it’s out of print and running at ridiculous prices on Ebay. I am not paying $20.00 for a plate of plastic spaghetti! I don’t even pay that much for a plate of real spaghetti.
Anyway, I decided to make my own. I mixed up some yellowish tan polymer clay and rolled it into a long thin string. The I swirled the string into a pile and cured it. After curing, I added sauce. The lumpy consistency of the acrylic paint worked in my favor, giving the appearance of tomato chunks and possibly pieces of ground beef.
Continue reading Recent projects: spaghetti and Peter
Hey look…an old woman!
I have a crush on Judi Dench, and Wanted Action Figure’s 1:6 scale resin version of her as M from the James Bond re-re-re-re-re-re-re-reboot captures the seriousness and strength that I love.
Surely Zombieville can make room for a kick-ass old woman? Now that I think about it, maybe this sculpt should serve for Dr. Z. Judi Dench is almost 80, and Dr. Z. is in her 50s, but spondis really wears down a person’s body, besides making it fall apart. Therefore PWS look more and more haggard as they age. That sculpt would make a wonderful Dr. Z.!
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Oooh look…an old guy!
I love the sunken eyes and the effect of wizened skin around the mouth.
Oh wait…You say that’s a Nazi zombie?
Sure, if you insist. I still maintain that, if you give him some hair and different clothes, you’ve got a very old [or at least very weathered] guy.
I like his expression. It’s very intense without being dour or angry. He looks very serious and peremptory, but not mean.
No! I’m not getting him!
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This is not an Awkward Stock Photo!
This is awesome! How often do you see fat, kinky, androgynous, pierced people with disabilities in stocky photos? WOOOOOO HOOOOO! What a cute pair. ^_^
EDIT: I fixed the link!
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1:6 scale vending machines, part II
Based on my discussion with batchix in comments on this entry, a claw machine wrote its way into Zombieville, where it now features prominently in an entire subplot. Sheesh!!
Fortunately, the machine itself [which does not need to be playable] will be exceptionally easy to make. The hard part will be making the custom toys that piss Isabel off. Stay tuned for the construction of the Catch a Zombie! game.
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Jareth’s mind is in the gutter.
Or in his pants. Not sure which.
Or his pants are in the gutter.
I took off Jareth’s jacket, undid his shirt and lay him supine on my desk so I could measure [approximately] from nipple to crotch for the Corset Thing of Awesomeness. When I looked up from putting away the ruler, this happened:Continue reading Jareth’s mind is in the gutter.
The House at One Sixth’s doll room
I’m in awe of the quantity and diversity of 1:6 scale set pieces this woman has. As for me, though, I’m glad that I have really scaled back on my 1:6 scale set pieces and accessories. As cool as some of that stuff was, I do not use it regularly.
…Hmmm…I can probably get rid of even more of my set pieces, now that I think about it…
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Doritos: the kinky snack chips
Why? you ask. Just look at this ad for evidence!
Trail mix, take one
In an attempt to put more complex carbohydrates and protein in my snacks, I picked up some bulk fudz at City Market Markup this afternoon:
- peanuts, roasted, salted and blanched x 1.45 lb
- carob chips x 1.5 lb
- raisins x 0.81 lb
- raw cashews x 0.57 lb
- raw filberts [hazelnuts] x 0.35 lb
That’s about 4.7 lbs of fudz! I hope this combination works. If not, I’ll try again. I’m already thinking that I need at least 1 lb of raisins, only 1 lb of peanuts and at least 0.75 lb of cashews.
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Best vampire novel ever!
Mary Downing Hahn’s Look for Me by Moonlight tells the story of 16-year-old Cynda. She spends the winter at her remarried father’s isolated Maine inn, where she feels left out of his new family. She ignores the overtures of friendship from a fellow loner her age, Will, in favor of the only person that she feels understands her: the elegant, cultured Vincent, who is at least twice her age [well, actually more like 31.25 times her age, but he looks 30].
Vincent plays on Cynda’s crush and enthralls her so that he may drink her blood. She finds herself powerless to resist his commands and even to tell her family how he is sapping her will to live. The climax occurs when Vincent manipulates Cynda’s 5-year-old half-brother Todd into becoming his next victim. Wrenching herself from her enchantment, Cynda enlists Will’s help and, with some supernatural aid from the ghosts of previous 16-year-olds that Vincent has drained, eradicates the vampire.
I fucking love this book! As a novel for kids from 9 to 13, it’s written simply, but evocatively, with the usual mastery of creepy atmosphere demonstrated by Hahn in most of her stories. At the same time, even though it’s a YA book, Hahn directly engages with the combination of sex and death that makes seduction by vampire so peculiarly potent. I mean, everyone in the entire book [including Cynda] worries about Vincent taking advantage of Cynda and even raping her, though, thanks to Vincent’s machinations, Cynda’s parents end up believing that Will represents a sexual threat to her. After reading so much YA paranormal romance bullshit [oh hey there, Twilight saga!] that doesn’t seriously address the power differential between the mortal female protagonist and the vampire male love interest, I am so glad to read a well-written exposition of the temptation and also the supreme, cold ickiness of finding out that your fantasy is made of ice that wishes only to penetrate you and kill you to the core.
Look for Me by Moonlight reminds me strongly of Sarban’s Doll Maker, another nearly allegorical, simply written, evocative novel in which a young woman dances with, goes under and then, finally, resists and pulls free from, an older man who sexually dominates her and prefigures death. As Cynda almost becomes Vincent’s icy object, so Clare in the Doll Maker almost becomes Niall’s doll, but they both end up overcoming those men who would occupy them. Interestingly, both of them use the ambivalent, cleansing power of fire to effect their final transformation from thrall to independent agent. [Kill it! Kill it with fire!!]
Look for Me by Moonlight also reminds me of Labyrinth. I mean, heck, it’s about a 16-year-old girl [Sarah] who feels displaced from her family due to her mother’s absence and her father’s remarriage. She resents her half-brother [Toby] and spends much of her time living in fantasies [that damn play] where she is convinced that an older dude [Jareth] cares for her. Ultimately, though, she realizes that the older dude means death, so she must rescue her half-brother and herself from his clutches. Of course, Look for Me by Moonlight lacks the added layer that Labyrinth has of occurring entirely within the protagonist’s mind. Therefore Cynda needs to neutralize Vincent, while Sarah, in my interpretation, should be doing something more complex than that with Jareth. In any event, I will never tire of reading feminist tales of girls kicking oppressive patriarchal ass and coming into their own power based on warmth, love and connection.
Jareth is such a pedophilic vampire. I mean the one in the movie.
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More fur wigs for Isabel
More fur wigs with the tricolored swatches I’ve had lying around the house. Isabel looks good in pretty much anything, but I like the ones with the red bases the best. She’s bad ass!!
Another Rement Jumbo Food mascot
Isabel takes it in.Continue reading Another Rement Jumbo Food mascot
1:6 scale vending machine!
MyFroggyStuff does some of the best doll-related craft tutorials around, repurposing common household items in easy and innovative ways to make inexpensive, convincing accessories and sets. For example, her tutorial on making a 1:6 scale vending machine out of a tissue box, plastic sheeting and newspaper pictures of snacks is brilliant.
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Labyrinth stuff go away!
I love Labyrinth. It has been and always will be my favorite movie. The time has come, however, to part with my collection of memorabilia and ephemera from the film. These books and articles have just been sitting on my shelf, collecting dust, for a decade or more. They deserve love and attention.
I’m not putting this lot on Ebay [yet] because I don’t want it to go to a speculator or reseller who doesn’t care about it. I’d prefer it to go to a good home whose owner dreams of friendly Muppets and David Bowie’s [crystal!!!] balls.
Who am I? I’m a writer and doll enthusiast, creator of the now-dormant Labyrinth fan site Jareth’s Realm. I’ve got over 10 years of positive feedback as a buyer and seller on Ebay under modernwizard. I’ve also got good reputations on Men With Dolls, Den of Angels and Etsy. Deal with confidence! You can reach me at labyrinthlot at gmail dot com.
Continue reading Labyrinth stuff go away!
FS/T: Rare Re-ment Jumbo Food mascots
Hey, anyone want more Rements? 
These come from the 2009 Jumbo Food
mascot set, which means that they are individually packaged Rements
on chains that you’re supposed to attach to your cell phone. Of course,
you can take the chain off.
The cool thing about these is that they’re a bit larger than most
Rements, which are usually a bit undersized. They’re also huge servings
in defiance of such mundane concerns as gravity! I mean, look at
the fruit on that sundae. How is it hanging on???!!
I have about 6 or 7 pieces from the set still in their sealed clear
plastic bags. $5.50 apiece + s/h.
Official photos because my camera is currently occupied:
Tempura bowl:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/002.html
Steak and gravy:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/003.html
Rice bowl:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/005.html
Custard with chocolate sauce:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/007.html
4-scoop ice cream cone:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/009.html
Sundae with fruit:
http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/jumbofood/011.html
I have little to no online access this weekend, so, if you PM me,
please be patient for my reply. Thanks.
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Funniest Rements ever!
My full set of Rement Jumbo Food mascots [= cell phone decorations] came today. Isabel is making smart remarks about my favorite pieces of the dozen because the whole concept — big food, free from petty constraints of gravity! — cracks me up.
Continue reading Funniest Rements ever!
Oh Jesus, they’re back!
Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, authors of The Rules, a 1995 book of relationship advice for hetero women gender-policing blockbuster of retrograde shit, have repackaged their stale turds in Not Your Mother’s Rules: The New Secrets for Dating. Of course, the "new" "secrets" for dating are, in fact, your mother’s Rules, assuming, of course, that you had a mother and that she loathed herself enough to take the original turds seriously.
I’d like to check out this "update," if only to see what Fein and Schneider are saying about queer couples. As I recall, there were some vague statements about folks like us in the original Rules books. However, without the "war of the sexes/genders" framework in which to slot each of the players and their "opposite sexes" paradigm with which they make sense of romantic relationships, their comments amounted to, "The Rules are a good guideline for all relationships, even queer ones. Because of reasons. Yeah, and, um…stuff." There was a lot of tokenistic, slightly panicked hand-waving in that dismissive paragraph or two, as I remember. It was actually pretty hilarious.
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What do you call a little hard piece of candy on a stick?
A smallipop, of course!
I finished making a bunch of 1:6 scale lollipops last night and tonight by modifying a tutorial by Linda Chang on WonderHowTo. She uses polymer clay for both lollipop sticks and the candy parts themselves, but I used toothpicks painted white, trimmed down and sealed with matte varnish for my sticks. I also lacked any colors of polymer clay besides white, so I tinted my clay with shaved chalk pastels, which worked really well! I was able to get surprisingly vivid colors, especially in my second batch of pops [red/white/purple].
These smallipops were really fun to make because they required very little effort to create a really cool spiral/swirl effect. My favorite smallipops are the green/yellow/white swirls and the red/purple/white ball pop.
Here’s Peter and Isabel showing off my smallipops. I love taking pictures of both of them because they have so much expressiveness in their faces. Peter’s all "Oh shit!" and Isabel’s all "No shit." Continue reading What do you call a little hard piece of candy on a stick?
Articulated skeleton
…for the dead version of Isabel! I can work with a Monster High body!
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The history of curry
Mostly Slate pisses me off, but occasionally it publishes something interesting. Today’s find is an article on the history of curry.
Archaeologists from the US and India are working in the Indus River Valley. They analyze the microscopic signatures of food remains to determine what people ate thousands of years ago. The ingenious methods are fascinating to read about.
Surprise surprise — they were currying the heck out of their cuisine, just the way we do today. [Well, not in exactly the same manner, but surely with the same amount of enthusiasm!]
…Now I want curry…
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Me and My Muses 5.4: “Actual Sex”
Now that Ellery’s long-distance girlfriend Kristin is visiting, they try to get it on.Continue reading Me and My Muses 5.4: “Actual Sex”
Zombieville stats
| Name | M/F | PWS | POC | Self ID | Fat |
| Anna | F | PWS | queer | ex-fat | |
| Béatrice | F | lesbian | fat | ||
| Blaze | fat | ||||
| Carter | M | bi | fat | ||
| Isabel | F | PWS | queer | fat | |
| Arine not tan, currently Mazzy | |||||
| Arine tan | POC | ||||
| Chaz | F | PWS | POC | ||
| Dillon | M | ||||
| Dr. Z. | F | PWS | POC | ||
| Elin, currently Avery | |||||
| Koit tan | POC | ||||
| Megan | F | POC | |||
| Novella | F | ||||
| Peter | M | PWS | straight | ||
| Rose, currently Jamisia | |||||
| Sylvia | F | POC | |||
| Theophany | F | ||||
| Toxic Waste denizen | PWS | ||||
| Reaper | |||||
| Killer | |||||
| Charlie | M | straight |
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Fat doll clothes???
I wonder if Groovy Girls clothing would fit Isabel? That would be awesome, as Groovy Girls epitomize my signature style and are available for $15.00 for a dressed doll. ^_^
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1455039.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Chaz and Dandelion!
Chaz, a denizen of Zombieville [my future storyline], is a Batchix Nan Sook BJD in tan resin. Her spondis [fictional condition that causes people’s body parts to fall off, which can only be arrested by a diet of 50% fresh human brains] has cost her her right hand and forearm, as well as her left foot and calf. Ideally she should use an electric wheelchair, but I only have one, which is currently occupied, so :p.
Chaz rescued her Russian tortoise Dandelion after Dandelion lost her leg in a car crash. Chaz nursed Dandelion back to health with a steady diet of dandelions…hence her name. Chaz and Dandelion love each other very much. ^_^
Dandelion is a custom Russian tortoise figurine sculpted by theTurtlePond on Etsy. She is anatomically detailed down to the accurate patterns on her shell. She is stylized, though, with a bigger head and eyes than true scale, as well as an overall larger size. [Female Russian tortoises rarely get over 8 inches long, from beak to rear feet.] She’s also smiling. I plan to put some wheels on an elastic strap that fits around Dandelion’s shell so that she can have a tortoise wheelchair.Continue reading Chaz and Dandelion!
Isabel on her improved body
You can’t tell, but Isabel is on her final and improved body. I got my second 5StarDoll tiny girl body earlier this week and reduced the neck this morning. Fweeeeeeee!Continue reading Isabel on her improved body
Because the absolute worst thing in the world is to be femmey.
Here’s a perfect example of that bigotry in this BJD-related confession.
See Julie Serrano’s Whipping Girl for an analysis of the bullshit going on here.
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2-inch figures!
Disney makes a bunch associated with Tinkerbell and all her groupies. Cheap!
Do you know how hard it is to find 2-inch [1:36 scale, i.e., 1:6 scale for 1:6 scale] figures?
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Beyond my wildest dreams
I added a few more Rement lots to my list to get rid of, for a total of 34, and 17 of them [50%] have been claimed by Figurvore members, MWD members and my personal fan club. I’m very pleased. Yesterday I posted the remaining lots on DOA for the first time in hopes that a few more might go away. I might just shove everything into a single lot and stick it on Ebay.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1453818.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Now that legality has caught up to reality…
…and women are officially allowed [gee, thanks!] in combat in the US armed forces, are we going to be drafted?
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Speaking of Disney 12″ dolls…
The dolls of John Smith [from Disney’s Pocahontas] have fabulously smirky headsculpts. If Lucian were plastic, he’d have that head. Since he’s not, I’m free to make other associations with the sculpt. I have seen a fellow Figurvore member’s repaints of this head that look roguish, charming, quietly amused, even cheerful, but, after I thought, Lucian in plastic!, my mind immediately went to the type of character who thinks that he’s God’s gift to the universe.
You know the type: a straight, white, heterosexual, upper middle class, able-bodied, tall, muscular dude with a privileged life. He thinks he’s an objective observer who knows better than everyone about anything, even when people are talking to him about their marginalized experiences that he has no clue about. A liberal and progressive, he donates to various charities regularly, but his use of such words as "ghetto," "lame," "pussy," "bitch," etc., etc., etc., demonstrate that his public progressive performances are not accompanied by actual open-minded, respectful behavior. Yup, he’s the sort of person who wonders why "the gays," "the disabled," "the poor" and "the transgenders" are "so angry." He thinks that, if they were more "reasonable," they would "make more progress."
This particular one works at a boutique investment firm, Champlain Investments, and drives a Hummer, even though the roughest terrain he’s ever encountered are those frost heaves on Pearl Street in the spring. His interests include fishing and hunting, although he has never actually caught or shot anything; he prefers to chat with his friends and drink beer. He also avidly follows whatever UVM sports teams are active in a particular season [Go Cats!], as he graduated from UVM with a BA in economics. He gets along really well with his fishing/hunting/drinking buddies, some of which are from college and some of which are from work. He doesn’t get along well with women, which confuses and frustrates him, especially since his buddies are "settling down," and he would like to find a woman to marry and have kids with. He’s operating under the assumption that women are foreign, mysterious creatures that require user manual/decoder key combos.
Charles — called Charlie — White is really, really, really ashamed of his family. He grew up "outside of St. Johnsbury" — he won’t get more specific than that — in a trailer park in a small town. His mom raised him and his older sister with help from his grandmother. His grandmother’s Social Security, plus his mom’s minimum wages from her fast-food job, barely covered their expenses. [Charlie can’t eat fast food; it makes him sick and gives him nightmares.] When he was 12, they were evicted from their trailer, and he lived with one of his friends till he was 14. He got an under-the-table job sorting stuff in the local junkyard and reselling it to flea market dealers, and they eventually moved into an illegal basement apartment until he escaped to college and never went back.
Charlie, the first one in his family to go to college, pretends his family doesn’t exist. He’s ashamed that his grandmother is on disability for arthritis and that she spends her days smoking and watching Lifetime movies. He’s ashamed that his mother is still at the same fast-food place where she was working a decade ago, only now she’s an assistant manager, and she almost always works 40 hours a week. He’s ashamed that his sister dropped out of high school weeks before graduating because she was pregnant by her boyfriend. She and her daughter now live with Charlie’s mom, as the child’s father proved to be an abusive asshole. She’s going to cosmetology school and working on her GED. They love him, and they’re so proud of him, and his niece adores him, and he visits them and talks to them on the phone regularly, but he never talks about them at work or with his friends.
Okay, back to work.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1453310.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Disney is making 12″ dolls of everything these days.
And by "everything," I mean "humanoid characters from their animated films." Interestingly, a lot of these dolls have basic articulation [head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees]. The cartoony style of the headsculpt actually agrees with my stylized, exaggerated aesthetic, so this information could be relevant to my interests.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1452882.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Some Rements are going away…
I posted 31 lots last night, 13 [42%] of which have already been spoken for. As excited as I am to get rid of stuff, I’m also quite excited at what my trades will yield: an upholstered chair to replace my current faded, stained, pink/white floral one annnnnnd clothes for Zombieville denizens.
I’d like a few more lots to go away, but I’m pretty pleased with the results so far.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1452760.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Isabel’s clothes
I have a few people with whom I am trading stuff for clothes for Isabel, so I figure that I should consolidate all the information about her measurements and style in one place for convenient reference.
Isabel is a 1:6 scale resin BJD made of an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head on a modded 5StarDoll tiny girl body. 5StarDoll’s measurements for that body are all still the same on Isabel; I just reduced the length of her neck and tapered it a bit at the top.
The only significant difference besides the neck is that Isabel has breasts, but they are made by stuffing tissues in a cropped tank top, which means that they are compressible and do not add much to her chest circumference. If you need any other measurements from me, please let me know!
For comparison’s sake, tops and jackets for male action figures fit her well, especially if stretchy or baggy. Pants/Leggings for female action figures fit, but only if they are really stretchy. If it helps, I have a post showing her in some clothing made for "regular-size" 1:6ers.
Like most of my favorite dolls, Isabel adheres to my signature style. You can find a discussion and examples of this style here. Other sources of inspiration may be found in Motylalka’s Etsy shop [I love the stuff with pink, green, yellow and orange!] and Manhattan Toy’s line of Groovy Girls, who know how to make multiple patterns work!
Isabel wears the following:
- tank tops
- vests
- T-shirts
- arm warmers
- short skirts to mid-thigh
- leggings, lots of leggings
- legwarmers to knees
- things that stretch
She does not wear any of the following:
- white
- sheer tops
- low-cut tops
This is because she has a red cropped tank top for a bra, and I don’t want her bra to be visible through her shirts! [Bra straps can be visible, though, if she’s wearing a tank top.]
Just remember…bright…stretchy…patterned…obnoxious! You can’t go wrong! :p
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1452399.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Eating local is yummy!
I waited outside for 15 minutes today [estimated windchill factor negative a billion] because the Hindquarter, Cloud 9 Caterers’ former fire engine and current mobile food van, was parked in front of my building today, and I had to test out their burger ["House Grind, Smoked Country Bacon, Lettuce, American Cheese, Tomato Jam"] and onion rings ["Buttermilk Soaked, Malt Vinegar Aioli"].
First I ate the onion rings. They were light and crispy, with no sogginess that I usually associate with larger, cheaper versions. Their noticeably salty flavor [which I liked] was cut by the mild aioli. That’s glorified mayonnaise for you philistines. :p
Then I ate the burger, which came on a toasted, buttered bun. I appreciated this detail, as untoasted buns distract me from my burgers with their chewy texture. The meat was juicy, tender and done medium, as far as I can tell [outsides definitely cooked but not hard, insides lightly cooked but not red]. The bacon added a nice smoky note, and the cheese and lettuce were fine. Everything merged together into a hearty mess of flavors, except for the tomato jam, which did not overpower the burger, but definitely had a slight medicinal aftertaste. Could’a’ done without that, but, for $11.00, I was very pleased with my meal. Definitely worth waiting 15 minutes in the cold for!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1452279.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Unusual journal citation
I came across the following citation in a manuscript today, notable because all the authors share a surname:
Huang X, Huang Y, Huang T, Huang W, Huang Z. Individual pulmonary vein imaging by transthoracic echocardiography: an inadequate traditional interpretation. Eur J Echocardiogr. 2008;9(5):655-660.
I wonder what the odds of that are? To calculate them, we’d have to factor in the number of people in China [authors’ country of origin], the number of people named Huang in China, etc. Even if it’s a really common surname [which it is, according to Wikipedia, which knows all and is always accurate], that’s still unusual.
P.S. Huang/Wong is pretty popular, ranking seventh after Wang/Wong, Li/Lee, Zhang/Chang, Liu/Lau, Chen/Chan and Yang/Yeung. Names are fascinating!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1451841.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
FS/T: Food, appliances, plants, pets, decorations, rare Rement, etc.
Food, appliances, plants, pets, decorations, rare Rement, etc.
I’m clearing out my Rements and other 1:6 scale small accessories. Please see the lots below. If you are interested in anything, please refer to it by its letter code. I will not break lots.
If you REALLY want me to put prices on things, I’m gonna say $4.00 per lot, but I am somewhat flexible, as I would like this stuff GONE. Those lots with ** by them are higher than that; please make offers. S/h extra, to be calculated by where and how it’s shipped. Paypal, concealed cash or check. If you send cash or check, you send it first. When I get it and it successfully clears, I will send out your items.
Though I’ve specified prices, I’d prefer to trade. I will trade heavily in your favor for the following, in no particular order:
1. Hutch/large bookshelf/pantry thing [for the kitchen — to display all the stuff I AM keeping!]
2. Vehicles, particularly a Volkswagen Beetle and/or a SmartCar [hah!] — no RC needed — Mattel okay — practical, roadworthy stuff — no roofless and/or doorless stuff, no convertibles, no fantasy vehicles
3. Custom clothes for fat 1:6ers in my signature style — to be discussed if you’re serious about this — signature style explained here http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1425705.html
4. Clothes for female fashion dolls [e.g., Barbie] or female action figures [e.g., Cy Girls] in my signature style
5. Dolls for my dolls. Ideally, they should be 2" high, as my dolls like 1:6 scale too! I’ll consider anything between 1 inch and 2.5 inches, though. Bonus if there’s any articulation! Extra bonus if they are zombies!
6. 1:6 scale mature BJDs or BJD parts. PM for details.
7. Articulated fashion doll body to match Sterling Silver Rose Hispanic Barbie’s head — see her here http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1446577.html
8. Realistic, modern 1:6 scale camera
9. 1:6 scale tools suitable for 1:6ers to customize their dolls and action figures!
Continue reading FS/T: Food, appliances, plants, pets, decorations, rare Rement, etc.
1:6 scale things that bore me to tears
- Disney, Hello Kitty or Rilakkuma sets from Rement
- Bruce Lee dolls from Enterbay
- Iron Man dolls from Hot Toys
1:6 scale things that I would be very interested in
- Sets from Rement that contain the kinds of things that made the company so popular in the first place: food, appliances, toys, school/office supplies…heck, even candy!
- Anything by Enterbay other than a Bruce Lee doll
- Basic female action figures by Hot Toys…they keep coughing up basic males, but they’ve only done one line of basic females.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1451474.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses 5.3: “Um, Hello”
Ellery meets her long-distance girlfriend Kristin in person after not having seen her for almost two years. You can see the enthusiasm!
Continue reading Me and My Muses 5.3: “Um, Hello”
Lazy bathroom finished and lazy kitchen in progress
I made a bathroom today. From left to right we have a wooden box [once held gift condiments] supporting DripClips paperclip holder sink, various Rements [soap dispensers and tissues], some Barbie bottle, Japanese t.p. erasers by Itasho, unknown trash can [helpfully labeled RUBBISH BIN!] and a squirting novelty toilet with the squirt removed.
Continue reading Lazy bathroom finished and lazy kitchen in progress
All 1:6 scale kitchens should have these.
It’s a lighter in the shape of a fire extinguisher. Pretty realistic too!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1450649.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Sticky balls
I’ve been a fan of contact juggling ever since I first saw it in Labyrinth. This individual does a stellar job of it, accompanied by smooth cinematography and pleasing score. I’ve always liked how the balls appear to stick to the jugglers and/or defy gravity.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1450406.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I r either lazy or a genius.
I don’t feel like springing for a hutch for my renovating 1:6 scale kitchen, so I’m going to see if one of my small plastic Rement storage bins put up on end will suffice as a pantry substitute.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1450171.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Exaggeratedly large 1:6 scale food
By Rement, of course. I’ve been lusting after the Jumbo Food set for years, primarily because it is hilarious, but I’ve never found any place that sold it.
…Until now. etradersplace has it in stock! I’m most interested in the exploding bacon cheeseburger, the listing stack of pancakes and the huge swirls of soft-serve ice cream.
*covet covet covet*
“Spare me the bullshit.”
I improvised a sports bra for Isabel using a stretchy cropped tank top. Then I cut up a quarter of a tissue into strips, balled it up, then stuck it in each of her cups. Look — breast forms! And she’ll still fit into most of the clothes that I tried on previously.
Continue reading “Spare me the bullshit.”
5StarDoll tiny foot size
4cm long x 1.5cm wide. ARGH!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1449231.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Testing clothes on the fat body
Here’s Isabel with no added fats. I tested some of my existing 1:6 clothes on her to see what would fit. Some of this stuff may not fit Isabel when she gets on her final body, as I have yet to decide where to add fats on her. This is useful as a starting point, however.
Continue reading Testing clothes on the fat body
Sanded fat neck
Isabel on fat body with neck sanded to reduce egregious dents.
Gougity gouge gouge: or, The State of the Fats
I broke out my N95 respirator and my safety goggles today and went outside to do the final rough-in of the first fat doll’s neck with my Dremel. I started off with a cutting disc, which was not a good idea. Then I ran out, bought some deburring bits and used them. I doubt they should be used for my purposes, but they work, so :p.
Here’s Isabel on the fat body after I reduced the height of the neck and tapered it further. Now I just have to sand to reduce the most egregious gouges. Woo hoo!
Continue reading Gougity gouge gouge: or, The State of the Fats
Salutations, Sylvia!
Souldoll Soul Little Metel arrived this morning, along with some 1:6 scale accessories and set pieces. Thanks, Christina/allurose!
I named my latest arrival for ease of filing, even though she has no background or role yet. Her name is Sylvia Blomqvist. Interestingly enough, Sylvia comes from Latin silva, meaning forest, while Blomqvist is Swedish for bloom + twig, so she has a very arboreal name.
Here she is next to Isabel [an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head], who is temporarily on a Soom Mini Gem old style body. Sylvia’s proportions are much more robust than the Mini Gem’s overall. While the Mini Gem has a rather flat body back to front, Sylvia’s has more depth. I feel like Sylvia was sculpted with reference to an actual human being, while the Mini Gem was sculpted with reference to a Barbie [just look at the minuscule hands and feet!].
Sylvia also has beady little eyes compared to Isabel. Isabel has 8mm eyes. I think Sylvia has 6mms, maybe even 5mms?! Her facial proportions are closer to that of Lumedoll Lumelights, who all have 6mm eyes. I much prefer 8mm over 6mm eyes in 1:6 scale BJDs. 6mms just get lost in shadows.
The Mini Gem body is also taller than Sylvia, mostly in the legs, abdomen and neck.
Continue reading Salutations, Sylvia!
Visible articulation in doll photos
There’s an interesting discussion currently on Figurvore about the above subject. Seneschal, the initial poster, asked why people don’t erase/hide/edit out the articulation in their doll photos. He finds it a distracting problem that’s easy to fix.
My response below:
When we engage with fictional realms, we agree to suspend our disbelief. I assume that, in most cases, when people see pictures of dolls, they agree to suspend their disbelief and therefore consider the dolls as representations of actual people. People can suspend their disbelief about pretty much anything if the story and characters interest them enough, so I operate under the assumption that my stories are cool enough to make visible joints pretty easy to ignore. People don’t read my stuff to watch for obvious joints, so we [author and readers] are all in agreement that we are going to focus on other aspects. In conclusion, I think about articulation a lot because it facilitates realistic posing and body language, but I don’t worry about visible joints.
In fact, I find erased joints very distracting. We all know we’re playing with visibly articulated dolls, so we’re all expecting [on some level] to see some obvious jointing. For me, erased joints call blatant attention to themselves. I end up getting pulled out of the fictional world and back into this one as I attempt to analyze the photographer’s Photoshopping skillz.
People play with dolls for different reasons and wish to accomplish different things with their photos.
Shorter: Because some people think it’s a feature, not a bug.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1448072.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Zombieville stats
These are all the denizens so far. Those names in brackets are the sculpt names of unassigned dolls. The Toxic Waste denizen is a person who has not been assigned a doll and who will probably end up being one of the people currently bracketed. "PWS" stands for person with spondis.
I’m thinking about changing Novella’s name to Penelope, but I’m not sure if I can because she’s been Novella for too long.
NO! MORE! WEIRD! NAMES!
| Name | M/F | PWS | POC | Self ID | Fat |
| Anna | F | PWS | queer | ex-fat | |
| Isabel | F | PWS | queer | fat | |
| Carter | M | bi | fat | ||
| Béatrice | F | lesbian | fat | ||
| Dillon | M | ||||
| Megan | F | POC | |||
| Dr. Z. | F | PWS | POC | ||
| Novella | F | ||||
| [Metel] | POC | ||||
| [Blaze] | |||||
| [Koit] | POC | ||||
| [Arine] | POC | ||||
| Peter | M | PWS | straight | ||
| Chaz | F | PWS | POC | ||
| Theophany | F | ||||
| Toxic Waste denizen |
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1447791.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Cheapest BJDs ever!
Well, not the cheapest ever, just the cheapest I own personally.
So the aforementioned Lumedoll Lumelight heads are setting be back a total of $200.35, so that’s about $66.78 a head.
I’ve got a 5StarDoll tiny body [$120.00] on the way for Blaze, and I’m gonna get Hujoo bodies for Koit and Arine [$20.00 apiece]. That would make Koit and Arine complete BJDs for <$100.00!
By the way, my definition of BJD at this point is a doll made of hollow parts and basically ball-shaped joints and strung with elastic. Head comes blank, with removable headcap and eyewells, but without hair. Custom painting, wigging, clothing, additive mods and/or subtractive mods are encouraged. Material can either be resin or something else [Hujoo makes some of its BJDs out of ABS plastic].
In other news, the Fairyland LittleFee body shown here is back on the market. It irritates me by being twice the price of a 5StarDoll tiny body, which is much superior for my purposes. I really wish it would go away already, but, if it doesn’t sell, I might just keep it and use my by-then-perfected fats-making techniques to make an even shorter, fatter person.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1447639.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Akinator guesses fictional characters you’re thinking of.
Entertaining. Works best with recent pop culture figures. Did not work with Willa Rahv, protagonist of the 1970s YA novel Early Disorder by Rebecca Jacobs, my favorite novel. It did, however, guess Jareth [hah!] and Candide [probably because it was developed by French people].
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