Latest Posts by cacstag - Page 3

Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

zonked out of his mind

Meta knight as some kinds of centaur with wings

Axl Low is conceptually so funny in-universe. You've got this poor guy who by all accounts is the sweetest coolest guy, but he's literally a gang leader. BUT. He leads a gang to end violent crime in his town and he does it by fighting but without netting a SINGLE CASUALTY while doing it - he just beats up all these criminals and almost every single time they're like "This guy kinda rules I'm signing up with him actually" and he SUCCEEDS in ending crime in his neighborhood doing that. Then he meets his girlfriend and she thinks he's such a weird goofy guy and she falls in love instantly. Things are Great and then he is Yeeted Through Time multiple times. He ends up a few hundred years into the future and he just kinda deals with it, maintaining a glass-half-full attitude for the majority of that time despite this being probably one of the most horrifying things that can happen to a person. No one really cares about all that though, because the guy with time powers is Very Dangerous because of the time powers. Imagine being told "That guy over there is an extremely dangerous threat to reality on a metaphysical level" and you look over and they're pointing at some guy with the Union Jack plastered all over him just DESTROYING a hamburger and he looks over and waves at you.

By Xrd and Strive he's got control of his powers, and this makes him A Very Seriously Dangerous Threat. The Original contacts him personally to deliver a message to The Fucking Gear Maker. The Gear Maker sees him cause like "Holy shit. The Axes of Time. This guy is very dangerous and we should be careful" and Axl Low shows up, asks him if he's The Famous War Criminal Who Caused All This Bullshit, and freaks out and leaves when said war criminal offers him cookies for his trouble.

Jack-O asks Sol in Strive what the biggest threat to the world is right now and he goes "Axl" with a straight face. They talk about how dangerous he could be and within 4 seconds of that conversation Axl Low drops out of Fucking Nowhere onto their Speeding Motorcycle cause he needs Sol's help to save some innocent people on a hunch. How do you not shit yourself? I'll tell you how - because Axl Low is the equivalent of accidentally tripping into hell and meeting the devil and it turns out that the devil is actually just a fluffy golden retriever who has NO idea what he's doing and just wants pats like any other normal dog. Except he is just really powerful so people make assumptions. "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" not my boy Axl Low. Decided against doing what he wanted to get what he wanted most because he wasn't going to erase an entire timeline to get home, even though he easily could've justified it as "Not my problem, not my fault, this is awful." The second he has full control over his time powers he uses it to either help people or get fast food really quickly so he has time for a stupid quip after a round. What a fucking hilarious character dude imagine if you met father time and he was just like "can I borrow some cash for McDonald's?" because that's pretty much how he acts. And you're just bewildered so you're like sure, hand him a 20, and you blink and father time came back cause he got you some fries. I fucking adore this man.

I’m da biggest “magolor completely wrecks any vehicular object he comes in contact with” truther

Super Taranza Burst

Advice from the Star Allies

THIS TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH

A bunch of prompts from @paintpanic's awful Kirby theories generator!

This bottom text is in loving memory of the 'Grill isn't real' and 'Queen Sectonia has been dead for years' prompts that I loved but had to scrap from this

glad that im not popular enough to have an evil shadow version of my blog that exists just to make contradictions on my posts

Thank you for listening to my presentation.

Ancient Zelda & Hero stuffs :] I wuv them a lot

Do Not Let HR do this to you. It is not illegal to talk about wages in the work place. I did and got a 12% raise!

When ur state is so low your ears start popping the moment you try to go literally anywhere else

The name of this creature is YOTAcat or POTOOcat.

This creature is a combination of Yotaka (potoo) and cat.

His true identity is one of an alien reconnaissance unit that plans to invade the earth.

His body can change its shape at will by copying other creatures and objects.

When he came to Earth, he first tried to copy the appearance of the planet's main life form.

However, the first thing he saw there was a cat. He decided that the creature was the main life form and tried to copy the cat's form.

However, by some accident, he also copied the information of Potoo, and his body became a chimera of cat and Potoo.

What was even more unexpected for these aliens was that once they copied the earth creatures, the original spirit invaded their psyche.

His spirit was about to be taken over by cats and POTOO!

The human who found the strange creature brought it home out of curiosity. Not knowing it was a vicious alien.......

cd-i and 80′s cartoon meetup! the four of them are highly radioactive

For everyone panicking, it has NOT become a law. It has passed its first round and has been put into a markup stage

For more information on who to contact and what exactly the process is for something to pass into law, go HERE^

Shhh theyre reading manga in the teen section

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/irs-complaint-process-tax-exempt-organizations

3. Nature of violation

Directors/Officers/Persons are using income/assets for personal gain

Organization is engaged in commercial, for-profit business activities

Income/Assets are being used to support illegal or terrorist activities

Organization is involved in a political campaign

Organization is engaged in excessive lobbying activities

Organization refused to disclose or provide a copy of Form 990

Organization failed to report employment, income or excise tax liability properly

Organization failed to file required federal tax returns and forms

Organization engaged in deceptive or improper fundraising practices

Other (describe)

Not to sound like a tradwife or anything but I genuinely believe that everyone should learn how to make bone broth (or, as I affectionatly call it, scrap stew). I'm not gonna call it an easy or simple recipe because you do have to let it simmer for 11 hours and strain it, but if you have a day off to make it its relatively low-effort and cost-efficient and also is a great base for upping the nutritional value of simple foods like cup ramen or plain rice when you're in a pinch for time, as well as cutting down on veggie waste (anything starting to wilt or scraps like carrot peelings can be tossed in there and still make a good broth)

Who is this “artstyle consistency” person u keep talking about is she prettier than me

Assorted ghirahim doodles that I briefly considered coloring before deciding I had better things to do (I do not I am just lazy)

Does LU have any duo names besides downfallduo? If not I headcannon Legend and Twilight as MaidenlessDuo.

Character Movements (Eyes) Part 3

1. Gazing: The character's eyes move slowly across a scene or object, taking in the details. This movement can indicate curiosity, interest, or observation.

2. Darting: The character's eyes quickly shift from one point to another, often indicating nervousness, suspicion, or alertness.

3. Winking: One eye briefly closes while the other remains open, often used to convey playfulness, flirtation, or a shared secret.

4. Rolling eyes: The character's eyes move upward or to the side, indicating annoyance, disbelief, or sarcasm.

5. Narrowing eyes: The character's eyes become slits or squinted, suggesting suspicion, scrutiny, or concentration.

6. Widening eyes: The character's eyes open wider than usual, indicating surprise, shock, or fear.

7. Glancing: The character's eyes quickly move in a specific direction, often used to check for danger or to communicate a message without words.

8. Staring: The character's eyes fixate on a specific point or person for an extended period, often indicating intensity, fascination, or intimidation.

9. Flickering eyes: The character's eyes flicker rapidly between different objects or individuals, suggesting indecisiveness, confusion, or distraction.

10. Blinking: The character's eyes momentarily close and open, mimicking a natural blinking pattern. This movement helps to convey realism and prevent the eyes from appearing static.

This is attention to details man

Ganon holds a bow straight while Link holds it at an angle.

Ganon also draws the bow like a samurai, (since this Ganon is more samurai like) he positions/aim the bow then draws.

(Not shown here) Even if Link uses a long bow like Ganon he will still aim at an angle since he is a soldier. He positions/aim the bow and draws at the same time.

The bow Ganon uses will recoil meaning this is a heavy bow. (They didnt need to add that detail in, but they did man)

Hey, an online censorship bill that was introduced into the US senate is going to be under consideration on 07/27/2023

Same shit different day. These corrupt bastards in the senate want to pass KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) which, as we have seen with similar bills in the past, is nothing more than a ruse using the “safety of children” as a guise to induce sweeping online censorship and surveillance.

If you want a more detailed understanding as to why KOSA in particular would be terrible for us, check out what the Electronic Frontier Foundation has to say about it here, here, and here (this last one is more of an aid for talking about why KOSA is bad). There are plenty of people and organizations talking about why this bill would be detrimental to us, and I encourage you to seek them out (if you’re playing around on Tiktok, maybe look up what people are saying about this shit). 

Essentially, KOSA would grant state governments the power to sue social media platforms for allowing unfettered access to what they deem as inappropriate content. The range of what constitutes as inappropriate content would depend on the state’s definition of said content (e.g., if you’re in a conservative state, LGBTQ+ information is often thought to be inappropriate for children). In order to prevent being sued, social media sites would have to institute massive surveillance over the content the user base posts/interacts with, ensure that users are legally of age to view “explicit” content (e.g., requiring you to upload a government issued ID), and preemptively censor content that could be considered “inappropriate for children.”

We know that this is a direct attack on our first amendment rights.

We know that this is just a way for them to control us.

We know this is going to actually hurt everyone looking for information online, especially LGBTQ+ kids who would (in many states) no longer have access to LGBTQ+ resources online.

Please call your senators (find out who they are here), especially if they are on the committee for commerce, science, and transportation. Tell them to vote NO on KOSA, tell them that it is a direct violation of our rights to privacy, and our first amendment rights. Tell them that, SHOULD KOSA BE PASSED, you will do everything in your power to support a candidate in opposition to them that is against KOSA during their next election cycle. If you are currently not of voting age, call them and let them know that you will not support them should they pass a bill that doesn’t actually act in your best interest.

I know phone calls are scary, but what’s scarier is an internet under the total control and discretion of the bigots that are ruining our lives.

CGI animators should unionize next. normally, their jobs would be too precarious to strike, since studios would replace them without a second thought, but if it's part of this larger general film strike, they might finally have meaningful power to better their working conditions

I want to go to this exact point and run around it saying “I’m in Sweden!” I’m in Finland!” “I’m in Norway!” until I get tired

i aspire to great things in life