#you can also see my beloved mini screws <3
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If you have sent me an Ask in the last thirty-six hours or so, This post is for you.
I was almost entirely done with answering all your beloved messages, when Tumblr decided to crash. Lost all the paragraphs of my rambling (which is why I’m no longer taking chances and am typing this on Google Docs) and even worse, the Asks seem to have been eaten by Tumblr’s great void. They’re gone, and nothing I’ve tried seems to work to get them back. Thankfully, I’m fresh off of responding, so I’ll try to summarize with one big epic post. Apologies for the inconvenience and unusual style, blame the Tumblr Overlords.
WARNING: If you don’t read the data-mines and don’t want spoilers, do not go beyond this point. This mainly concerns The Quidditch Cup.
There were a couple of Asks about Ismelda, someone talked about the head-canon that she’s secretly blonde and dyes her hair. Which I agree with, and really like. It would tie in to how Ismelda saw Penny as being no different from her sister. It would be a sign of her trying to spite her parents and distance herself from her family, to the point of even looking like them. I also think it would echo with Beatrice and how she changed her look to reinvent herself and be less of a “Mini Penny.” Another message was talking about her parents, wondering why they would ever visit her at Hogwarts given how they were portrayed. After all, they’re not about to be the next Ethan Parkin, are they? Not going to turn around and be well-meaning, but oblivious. I think it’s far more likely that they would visit her sister at Hogwarts, and it would be pure chance that Ismelda was there at the same time - if there was indeed any overlap where both sisters were at school. But that’s the real question of the hour - just what is the sister like? After all, it’s not her fault that she’s the favorite, right? Newt Scamander was estranged from his brother, who was engaged to his ex-girlfriend. From that description alone, we might think he was awful, but he wasn’t. Theseus was genuinely caring, he just didn’t know how to connect with Newt. We might have a similar situation on our hands here. Or, who knows, the sister might be the “Dudley” to Ismelda’s “Harry.” She was compared to both Emily and Penny, if memory serves. But until such a time that we meet her, we have no way of knowing who she’s really more like. Psst, Jam City, you getting this down? This would be a great TLSQ, to have Ismelda come face to face with her sister. Could perhaps end with, oh I dunno, befriending her? Just a thought…
I saw another Ask talking about how Beatrice would go back and forth between MC and Jae during their detention and how adorable it was to see her all flustered and excited, how it looked like she was gushing to MC “He’s so dreamy” and things of the like. It’s making me wish they would come back to this sub-plot because it’s funny as hell and a good way, again, to tie in Ismelda. She also fancied someone she had no chance with, she was also jealous of another person. (Chiara might not actually have a thing with Jae, but if memory serves, Beatrice is shown to be jealous of them talking anyway.)
There was an Ask that talked about punching Barnaby’s father in the face. Or at least, the idea of doing so. But regrettably, he is in Azkaban and it cannot be done. Well, maybe not by MC, but someone who was already there could do it. New head-canon, Sirius decked him on his way out. It happened, I don’t make the rules.
@guppygirl I read the first chapter of your fic! Do you know what you’ve done to me, do you know how many feelz it gave me to see Rowan alive and well and acting so sweet? You nailed their character and I love the inclusion of their parents! Maya’s reactions make just want to give her a hug. Everyone should check out the fanfic on her page, seriously!
I believe there was an Ask lamenting that the Festival TLSQ didn’t come out this week, and believe me friend, I’m right there clowning with you. It seems like every week now, we think, “Okay, this time it will come out, they can’t delay it anymore.” And we’re always wrong. Here I am just starting to worry that my far-fetched theory about them shelving it until next year because it’s no longer “seasonal” isn’t so far-fetched after all…
But the vast majority of messages that were lost were, as I’m sure you can guess, about the data-mined House Cup for Season 2. I wrote a lot about it and I do indeed have some thoughts and feelings.
Before I get into anything else, can I just say...that first scene with Ethan where he meets MC. I don’t think it’s possible for me to ever dislike Skye. All it ever takes is one vulnerable moment to erase any doubts and have me back in her corner. And you cannot tell me that Ethan knowing everything about MC because “Isn’t this the best mate you always talk about?” Didn’t melt your heart or at least give you feelz. Think back to how hurt Skye was when MC befriended Rath - to the point of snapping a broomstick in half. This is just proof of what I’ve been saying. She has no social skills and hardly any friends. Of course she sees MC as her bestie. The poor thing, oh my god, it’s adorable...
Ethan Parkin….I’m not a fan, even now. As I heard, he’s not as bad as we all feared he would be. He definitely has his moments. Still...he’s still pretty annoying. Ethan is basically a less obnoxious version of Lockhart, who actually has the talent to back it up. But I didn’t like how he involved himself in the practice and took over deciding who should be leader. Seriously, if he knows the game this well then he should know we already have a leader assigned. That’s what a Captain is. He was quite rude to Orion and while his pressuring Skye might have been inadvertent, it was still his fault. He’s also an extremely violent Quidditch player, which I’m not a fan of (Although apparently Penny is? The fuck?) I get that he would never cross the line into cheating, but I’m not impressed by how he lied. Didn’t give his team credit. And seriously...is cheating morally inferior to harming another player in a “legal” way? I guess it’s just a Quidditch culture thing, but I’m not here for it.
Orion’s reaction to Ethan, though? God I loved it. He took everything completely in stride, had the maturity to say that no, he was happy to learn from a Quidditch master. His concern wasn’t about his ego, it was about Skye’s feelings. Because once again, he’s the only one with the empathy to realize what she might be going through. Orion’s response was measured and thoughtful and god, I love him so much. Side note: Were they seriously debating whether or not keeping Ethan around to learn his mystery move was worth it, even if it was stressing Skye out? My dudes, this is the exact same mistake you made during the Rath TLSQ. Involving someone who doesn’t need to be involved, just for the sake of a potential advantage in a meaningless sports game, regardless of how much it will hurt someone who is supposed to be our friend. Screw that.
Folks were talking about Erika Rath. Someone brought up how hilarious it was in a previous chapter to see Andre actually tell her to be quiet, and for her to do so. And yeah, I agree. It’s a testament to how close their friendship must really be (Sorry, Depressed Erika Anon) I mean, most people wouldn’t dare say that to her. And I don’t think she’d have such a calm and passive reaction to just anyone. It’s unconventional, but their relationship is a sweet one. Overall, they’re involving Rath more and I’m quite glad of it. Seeing her proud of MC is heartwarming. Seeing her become more of a main character is great - I mean, she is one of the main four, after all. Face Paint Kid is a background character, as much as I love him. Penny is only here to develop Skye, and Andre is only here to develop Rath. There was also an interesting comparison made between her and Ethan, about how they both play pretty violently. Still not a fan of this. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that I’m mostly indifferent to Rath. But I’m coming around on her.
This was a lovely place to cap off Skye’s character arc. Seeing MC stand up to Ethan (although I wish you could be firm without having to say that stupid “You’re off the team, Parkin!” line) was especially cathartic, and it’s clear that Skye appreciates it. She’s happier by the end, and has actually communicated with her father. I would sincerely like it if Season 3 focused on, say, Murphy a little more. He hasn’t gotten any development since the first half of Season 1. Even Orion got some development in this TLSQ. But...make no mistake, we’re not done hearing about Skye. I know that no one wants to hear this, but...they slipped in that line about her wishing she could play Rath. She still hates her. That hasn’t been resolved. Oh well, at least it’s an opportunity to further flesh out Rath. There’s also the possibility that, if they do give focus to Orion, it might be that Season 3 is his last hurrah. I hope he stays for the entire story, but even if they don’t want to confirm character ages...he could very well graduate. If he does, there’s going to be a story-line about choosing his successor. And again, I know that nobody wants to see this happen, but...the only candidates who matter in the story are MC and Skye. So they could be pitted against each other again. But I hope that won’t happen.
Curse you, Tumblr. Oh well, it should be safe to send in Asks again because I’m quite literally going to copy them onto a Google Doc from now on just to be safe. If I missed out on one that you sent in, please feel free to let me know or re-send it. I’ve also seen people taking screenshots of their Asks and then responding to the picture instead of just responding outright. Might do that too...thank you for your patience, this has been a doozy.
#Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery#Fandom Asks#HPHM Quidditch#HPHM Datamines#Skye Parkin#Ethan Parkin#Orion Amari#Erika Rath#Murphy McNully#Ismelda Murk#Barnaby Lee#Beatrice Haywood
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January 2020 Picks
And we’re back!!! Been watching a lot of great stuff recently that I’m excited to chat about. These are just a few of highlights. I’m not 100% caught up on the Arrowverse shows yet, but did enjoy the Crisis a lot-especially after the second watch through. Check out my full review on that here: https://talesofafangirlwithadvr.tumblr.com/post/190372384413/crisis-on-infinite-earths-reactions
SPOILERS AHEAD!!
ANNE WITH AN E
This 3rd season was my FAVORITE so far, which makes it even more depressing that this is the end. I watched it the fastest and even stayed up till 1 AM to finish the series after watching four straight episodes. (Normally I try to space out bingeing stuff because I don’t want it to end so fast.) This series has always taken liberties with the source material to make it even more relevant to today, but I especially felt that during this season. It did not feel forced one bit. From Bash losing Mary and overcoming being a minority in Avonlea to Ka’kwet’s story line that brings me to tears every time I think about it-especially because she made it ALL the way home just to be taken back. Would love to believe she’s back with her parents, but the ending this season doesn’t show it. Perhaps they were thinking about pursuing it more if there was a 4th season. Josie Pye’s assault was a nice commentary on the Me too movement as well as the Human Rights and Women’s Rights march. I’m so happy Matthew survived this series! I was so worried for him. (As readers know he dies at the end of Anne of Green Gables the novel. Most adaptations often keep it in and I am happy we diverted from the original this time.) Jerry and Diana were adorable at the start, but Jerry deserves so much more! (He got SO TALL! As I often remarked while watching this season.) I absolutely loved the boy craziness this season because they were “Now 16!” Tillie balancing two guys! Ruby’s crush on Moody was super cute. I loved when Anne was forced to ask Gilbert about having babies by the girls. THE STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS!! (applause) 1) Mrs. Stacy: as a widower she will not settle for just anyone to marry. 2) Prissy Andrews: I really like that they brought her character back up and that she attended college. So sad that Billy will still be the head of her family. 3) Diana gets to go to Queens (a change from the novel as well, but one that was a great choice). I really liked her chat with Aunt Josephine. 4) Of course Anne Shirley. There’s so much to say about Anne, but one of the things I really liked this season was getting insight into her own personal family history. Seeing her mom’s book at the end was very touching. I love that she also had red hair. Last thoughts: Delphine is the CUTEST BABY EVER! Seriously a fantastic actress. Her relationship with every person in the show was amazing. And of course my beloved Shirbert. I knew they were endgame (because of the source material), but BOY did they take their time getting there). Screw Winnie! Anne and Gilbert’s relationship hurt my heart throughout it all, but so many adorable moments between them proving they are meant to be. Forever my OTP!
SANDITON
I am seriously feeling the period pieces this month (but then again when am I not). As a HUGE Jane Austen fan I was extremely excited when I heard that her unfinished novel, Sanditon, would be adapted for the TV screen. Because I was unfamiliar with the story (which is always a fun time when one of your favorite authors has been dead for the past few hundred years) I made sure to add the novel to the top of my 2020 list. Due to its length I was able to finish it before the series started a few weeks ago. While I was not a huge fan of the unfinished novel, because I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters or see where the story was headed, I already feel differently about the mini-series. By the end of episode 1 I was already hooked and very happy that PBS aired the second episode immediately afterwards. I can see parallels to Austen’s work as well as echoes to other Austen novels (naturally Pride and Prejudice). When listening to the Masterpiece podcast in which they interview Rose Williams (who plays Charlotte Heywood) she described Charlotte as a cross between Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Morland (from Northanger Abbey), which I think is really accurate. I like how Charlotte goes to Sanditon because of her interest in seeing this place that Tom Parker gets so excited about. She honestly isn’t looking for a husband, but rather an occupation. Something different away from her farm. Is romance involved? You betcha. This is an Austen adaptation afterall. But that is not her main focus. There’s so many other things going on with the story, but I’d have to dedicate a complete other post to explain it all. I really feel it is fitting in well with other classic book to screen adaptations coming out right now like Little Women and Anne with an E. If you’re a fan of either one then Sanditon is worth a try. And of course if you love Jane Austen and the 1995 Andrew Davies adaptation (he’s producing this one as well) then it’s worth a shot!
THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE-SEASON 4
Just like with Anne with an E, I think this was my favorite season of The Man in the High Castle (and ironically also the last season. Although this series knew that going in to production). It held my interest very well and I watched it faster than the previous season. I really don’t think I’ve been this invested since season 1. Lots of new characters were introduced and while I missed some of the old it just shows you how much this show has developed. I also felt myself liking the new characters really fast. At first all of the multi-verse stuff was pretty intense and a little hard to follow, but it got easier as the show went on-EXPECT FOR THE END! Were all those people coming through because their worlds were much worse? What happens next? How are the Smith children? Amy and the other students who were brainwashed-will they change? Kido will stay. Did Childan find Kikuko? (Loved their relationship btw. I’m going to believe they got to be together in the end. It will make me sleep easier.) I was constantly saying to myself: How are they going to wrap this up in only 4 episodes...3...2...etc.. But I feel like it could have been a bit stronger. Despite this I still am a big fan of this season. I just get picky when it comes to series finales.
DOCTOR WHO
Last I had posted about Doctor Who I was very behind. Like I only watched last year’s holiday special this year behind. It was just tough for me to get into last season. I’ve really enjoyed Jodie Whitaker’s take on the Doctor. I feel she brings a new energy, but at the same time reminds me of the way Tennant and Smith portrayed the role. It’s just that I missed some of the familiarity of the show. It’s always hard getting a new Doctor because the show takes on a different feeling, but with all new villains, companions, TARDIS, etc it was tough. I wanted a couple more old references. I also didn’t love all of the episodes (although a bunch of them were really good: Rosa Parks, Demons of the Punjab, Kerblam! to name a few). So when I watched last year’s special at the beginning of the month I felt I zoned out a bit. However, Spyfall (parts 1 & 2) that kicked off this season were entertaining and I’ve been hearing good stuff about this season so far. Now that the show is on its second season with these characters, I’ve heard there’s more of a rhythm. I can’t wait to continue. I also can’t wait to see these guys again:
PLUS I discovered a HUGE spoiler about last week’s episode that honestly that has honestly gotten me so pumped; it is the main reason why I am catching up faster. (I won’t spoil it here if you still don’t know it. I foresee I’ll probably write an article just about that episode.)
VIOLETTA
My guilty pleasure that I have been bingeing on Disney+. This musical telenovela from Buenos Aires has three seasons of 80 episodes a piece! (That’s right I have my work cut out for me.) Currently only the first season is up on Disney+ and the show is pretty hard to find, so I am really hoping that by the time I finish it they release at least the second season. I only started it in the new year and am already on episode 42, so you can say I’m enjoying it... :) Basically once I hit 30 I was hooked. (Although I was enjoying it a lot before that, now I’m just more obsessed.) There are several characters in the show from the students, to the teachers and family members, but the main character is Violetta who has lived in many different countries all her life with her dad who is a very successful businessman. She has been home-schooled forever due to their lifestyle and because of her dad’s worry that she will be hurt in the real world. Her mother was a popular singer who died when Violetta was very little that she barely remembers her. When they move back home she secretly gets enrolled in a music school that her mom just so happened to attend. Her tutor is secretly her aunt (who no one recognizes because Violetta’s dad told her that her mom had no relatives) and she has to hide attending the music school and singing which is her ultimate dream. That’s just the basics because there is so much more drama in the series. Lots of lying, deceit, love triangles that just won’t quit, ridiculousness and music. While they repeat a lot of the same songs, many of them are quite good and really catchy that you can’t help but get them stuck in your head. My sister (who loves this show) kept talking about it and that made me want to watch once we got Disney+ (she was lucky to watch two seasons when it was still on Netflix). As she said to me, you should watch it in the original language, which is Spanish with English subtitles. I feel like I’m learning more Spanish while watching it. Probably be fluent by the end (ha ha ha ha-not really).
So, what are your favorites of this month? Are we watching any of the same things? Anything look interesting to check out? Let me know!
#january picks#monthly wrap up#tv reviews#anne with an e#renew anne with an e#awae#shirbert#sanditon#charlotte heywood#jane austen#period pieces#the man in the high castle#amazon prime#doctor who#doctor who season 12#jodie whitaker#catching up#violetta#disney plus#martina stoessel
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Gateway Drug | Twenty-Two
Table of Content or Chapter Twenty-One
Pairing: Douglas Booth!Nikki Sixx x OC
Words: 3K
Warning(s): LANGUAGE, MENTIONS OF DRUG ABUSE
Tag List: @unknownoblivion @haileynicoleseavey17 @cierrasixx19 @oskea93 @mgkobsessed @vamprlestat @sharon6713 @itsametaphorbriansblog @miriampraez @allie-mcginn @rebeccaphillips14 @nicholeh7 @fandomshit6000 @lilmou5ie @tamedhearts @divaanya @kingbouji3 @evrsncnewyork @6ixx6ixx @ratedrkohardychick91 @floregrohlssard @oldschoolimagineblog @thanks2pete @abaldboi @swoopygorl @justjodeye @liith-ium @caos18blog @ytwahsog @shamlessobsessions @scarecrowmax @toadspleen @random-internet-user-4471 @solohqrry @loveofmyloif
**Let me know if you want to be tagged**
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"...It's, um..." I shimmy on a plum purple long sleeved mini-dress, and head to put my heels on as Tansy rambles, glancing around the apartment that only contains one bed and no refrigerator.
"Shitty." I blatantly finish for her and she glares at me.
"I was going to say, 'humble'." She states. "It's not as bad as what you guys lived in when you first started dating."
"He'd rather have a brand new corvette instead of a decent apartment so this is what we got because his buddy Robbin is nice enough to let us move in."
"There's not a couch. Or another bed. Where are you guys gonna sleep?" She asks, like np a concerned mother.
"He told us he'll crash on the floor and let us have the bed and he wouldn't let me or Nikki argue with him about it." I explain to her, deciding to keep unpacking while I wait for Nikki, cutting open another box of our things. "Where's Sparkles?" I ask her, getting joy from the unamused look on her face at the mispronunciation of his name.
"New Jersey. He had to go to a shoot." She tells me.
"Ah." I nod, setting my picture frames on the table.
"Speaking of shoots, I got a call last night and got some really great news." She starts, piquing my interest, and I look at her. "You are currently looking at 'Playmate of the Month: Miss December 1984'."
"Tansy, are you serious?!" I nearly drop my picture frame.
"I have my photos taken for it in the end of August." She adds, excitedly.
"Oh, my goodness, Tans." I pull her to me, hugging her tightly. "That's amazing."
"I'm kinda nervous about it." She tells me when I pull away and I furrow my brows. "Do you know how big a centerfold is? People are gonna be able to see every little detail, Viv."
"That's the point of a centerfold poster, Tansy. It's big enough to see clearly from anywhere in the room."
"I know but I'm not like a lot of the other women, ya know? I don't have perfect..." She motions her hands in the general direction of her breasts and between her legs.
"I've seen you naked up close and personal plenty of times. You are absolutely stunning. And if you're uncomfortable being naked you can tell them, 'no'."
"And be complicated and hard to work with, are you kidding me?!" She squeaks and I breathe out.
"You gotta speak up for yourself." I politely break it to her.
"Well, ya know, it's not that big of a deal, Viv." She brushes it off in a soft tone and I give her a pointed look.
"Tansy, you're more modest than I am." I state, crossing my arms.
"Well, modeling is different." She tries to convince me and I just shake my head a little.
"Okay. But just know your hands aren't tied, here. You've got to put your foot down if you're too uncomfortable with something."
"I am." She assures me. "But as of now, I'm not uncomfortable. Just nervous. And I'll be fine."
"Whatever you say." I reply, rolling my eyes as the lock in the door flips and the door opens to reveal Nikki and Robbin.
My dearly beloved is waving a pair of unfamiliar car-keys with a look on his face that mimics the satisfied look he gets when he cums.
"Hey, Tans, what're you doing here?" Nikki enthusiastically brightens up even more at the sight of her and she steps to him and is engulfed in a hug.
"I'm helping you guys move in." She replies as if it's obvious.
Robbin stays quiet until he's clearing his throat like an eager puppy, his eyes fixated on the blonde he towers an entire foot and three inches over.
"Oh, yeah. Tansy." He explains, motioning to her. "And Robbin." He tells her and hold back a chuckle at the way Robbin clumsily behaves towards her.
He goes to say, "hey", but the words are caught in his throat and he's just got this dopey smile on. His eyes might as well turn in to cartoon hearts because his expression is a dead give away that he's either about to cream his pants, about to fall in love with her, or about to fall to his knees and worship the ground she walks on.
Tansy had that affect on people.
I've always thought of her as a hybrid of Sharon Tate and Marilyn Monroe.
Beautiful, smart, funny, charmingly clumsy at times, while still managing to get exactly what she wanted, but also, an incredibly troubled individual.
She was riddled with daddy issues, beginning to develop drastic mommy issues, and was truthfully tired. But she wouldn't let anyone know she was tired.
No, out and about she was always glamorous, even if it took a few hours to get her to look it. By 1986, there was a system that had been perfected for her by her mother and management team, written down and given to Doc for when Tansy came on tour with us or visited L.A.:
1. Shower with expensive body washes to get rid of the smell of death lingering on her, and thick conditioner to get tangles out of rat-nested blonde hair
2. Apply heavy duty makeup over track marks and under eye circles, adding lots of warm toned foundation and rouge to make her skin appear healthy and glowing.
3. Comb leave in conditioner and de-tangler through her hair to ensure all naps are out of it, then style it however way is needed.
4. Pick out an outfit that covers most of her tracks, or pair a revealing outfit with big, sparkly earrings to draw attention away from them.
5. If she's wearing a skirt or shorts, she needs to wear thigh-high boots to really cover the marks on her feet and legs.
6. Finish off with expensive perfume for good measure.
Nikki thought it was weird how she could go from being in the closet with him, freebasing and shooting up, to looking completely healthy and sober in a matter of hours.
Tansy couldn't fool Nikki, not even a little bit, because they were living the same exact lie.
She once told me Nikki was the only one who'd really seen her, and she'd really seen him.
I didn't want to know what exactly it was that they saw in each other. I knew it would have broken my heart more than it already was at that time.
"It's nice to meet you." She tells Robbin, trying not to smile at the fact that he's got her hand in a strong grip and hasn't let up for twenty seconds.
"You too." He finally pulls himself out of hypnosis and lets go of her hand.
"Right, well, me and Viv got a double date with Vince and Beth, so..." Nikki cuts through the silence that falls over everyone.
"You're leaving us?" Robbin whispers to Nikki as Tansy tells me about something I can't quite hear her say because I'm not paying attention.
Nikki gives a shit-eating grin and nudges him.
"Yeah, man, use your time wisely." He replies in the same hushed tone.
"I'll kill you both." I threaten quietly, giving them a death look as Tansy finishes what she was saying.
"Viv, c'mon." Nikki insists, grasping my hand.
I grab my purse, reassuring Tansy I'll see her later if she's not here when we get home.
"We'll be back in a couple hours." He says as we step out.
"What the hell was that?" I ask him, hitting him a little and he rolls his eyes.
"It was a joke, Viv. Just chill out." He puts his arm around me. I cut my eyes but make myself relax nonetheless.
Just as we get downstairs, he's stopping me and putting his hands over my eyes.
"Nikki, I know what your corvette looks like. Black is a pretty common color scheme for you." I giggle, my fingers holding over his as he chuckles behind me and leads me out to the parking lot.
"I know, but..." He elongates the "But" for emphasis and stops us. "...do you know what your corvette looks like?"
He uncovers my eyes and I'm met with the sight of a brand new Black corvette, and a light-blue metallic corvette.
"The dude at the dealership digs our music so I got a 'buy one get one $5,000 off'." He explains and I don't know whether to hit him for spending money we really couldn't afford to spend, or say "screw dinner", take him upstairs, kick Tansy and Robbin out, and give him the best sex of his life for buying me a car.
Either way, I'm rendered speechless.
"Well?" He asks me, his hands rubbing up and down the sleeves of my arms, anxiously awaiting my answer.
I turn to face him, my hand pushing his bangs, that nearly cover his eyes, up so I can see them clearly.
I love you, I think in my mind, but my mouth speaks:
"You didn't have to do this for me." I tell him as guilt settles in my gut, knowing he blew a majority of the money he got from tour, and he takes my face between his hands, smushing it a little, before replying:
“Happy anniversary.”
I smile, and he leans down and presses his lips to mine for a second.
“Alright, I’m starving.” He says when he pulls away, putting his hand on my back to guide me to the passenger side of the car.
He opens my door for me and I’m tempted to ask who he is and what he’s done with Nikki Sixx, but decide to enjoy the out of character swoon-fishing.
It’s more Vince’s style.
We get to the out of budget restaurant that Vince has a table reserved at, and by the time we get inside, we see the blonde singer on his second glass of wine and Beth wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Don’t you look nice?” He asks me with a smirk as we get closer.
“You do, too.” I offer back.
“Got you a water and you a wine.” He tells us.
“Where’s MacBitch?” Nikki asks as we sit across the table from him and he rolls his eyes.
“She’s getting something out of the car.” He replies. “Happy Anniversary.” He adds.
“Thanks, dude.” Nikki smiles and the waiter sits the glass of white wine in front of him and a glass of water in front of me.
“Thank you.” I tell the waiter and he steps away for a moment.
“Yeah, I’m glad you guys are still goin’ strong.” Vince continues. “I hope you can last longer than me and Beth.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, taking my glass to take a sip of water.
“Oh, I’m telling her I want a divorce, tonight.” He casually explains and I nearly spit my water out.
“Woah.” Nikki laughs, obviously amused by this while I am horrified.
“Y-you want a divorce—how?! You haven’t even been married more than two years?” I whisper yell.
“The two year itch, Viv.” He defends himself.
“It’s seven. It’s the seven year itch, Vince, and after everything of your’s she’s put up with, you repay her with a divorce she doesn’t even see coming?”
“Hey, I thought long and hard about this and it’s what’s best for the both of us. I’m just bored and unhappy and she’s unhappy so it just makes sense.”
“Vince, this is our anniversary dinner.” I motion to Nikki. “If you announce your divorce to your wife at our anniversary dinner, so help me, God, I will kick your as—”
“Hey, baby.” Vince greets Beth as she steps to the table and she smiles.
“Sorry it took me so long, I couldn’t get my ring from between the seat and the console.” Beth explains in reference to her shining wedding ring. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost it.”
Nikki looks at me and I look at him and we both look at Vince, who’s got a smug expression on.
By the time we order our food—Salmon for me, steak for Nikki—Nikki’s telling Vince about possible concept art for the cover of the new album.
“I’m thinkin’ ‘Entertainment Death’.” Nikki explains. “Ya know, kinda have a play on light and dark elements.”
“Right, right, because entertainment is fun and lively and death isn’t.” Vince pretends to have any idea what’s going on in Nikki’s mind.
The gears are always turning.
“Exactly, man. Good shit and bad shit.” Nikki replies. “I’m already on some new songs, though, so if you have any suggestions let me know and we’ll work something up.”
“Cool, man.” Vince nods.
We get our food and eat, hearing Beth go on and on about the new apartment they just got and how she can’t wait to have kids.
My heart breaks for her. I wish I could tell her what Vince does when she’s not around, but my loyalties are with Vince, Mick, Tommy, Nikki and Tansy, and even when they’re wrong, I won’t tell anybody.
I’ll just tell them they’re wrong in private.
Just as Vince wipes his mouth with his napkin, Beth emphasizes the need for a nursery as soon as possible—which causes my own anxiety because I have yet to tell Nikki I’m nine weeks pregnant—and Vince just nods and waits for her to hush so he can talk.
I nearly fall out of my seat when Vince and Beth simultaneously reveal:
“I’m pregnant.”
“I want a divorce.”
The look of absolute horror on the both of their faces is astonishing.
“I want another glass of wine.” Nikki blatantly spews out, feeling as burdened as I do at the fact that we have to witness this.
“A divorce?!” Beth exclaims. “I tell you I’m carrying your child and you tell me you want a fucking divorce?!”
“We’re gonna head out.” Nikki tells me and I couldn’t agree more.
Just as we’re standing, though, Beth darts her venom fueled eyes my way.
“This is your fault!” She accuses and I raise my brows in confusion.
“What?” I ask.
“Will you stop being so loud?” Vince asks her, seeing people staring at us.
“You and Tansy have never liked me and have always tried to turn him against me.” She throws at me.
“I’ve never once have mentioned a divorce to him, Beth.” I argue and she rolls her jaw.
“I’ve heard everything you’ve said about me, Vivian, don’t act innocent in this.” She hisses.
“Hey! Back the fuck off.” Nikki snaps at her as I put my purse back down.
“I sure as hell hope you’ve heard everything I’ve said about you because I said it to your face, and only to your face.” I shoot back. “However, If you need a refresher on why I don’t like you: you’re uppity, bitchy, accusatory, conclusion-jumping, money-wallowing, selfish, and the only thing you’re full of, more than diet supplements, is shit. I don’t have to talk to Vince into getting tired of you and leaving because you’re perfectly capable of running him off all by yourself!”
I don’t waste another minute of my time and grab my purse just as the manager is stepping towards us to ask us to leave, before stomping out.
Nikki pays our part of the bill and meets me at the car.
“You made her cry.” He tells me, grabbing the keys and I keep my arms crossed.
“I’ll care in a couple of hours when God convicts me and forces me to call and apologize. But as of now I could give a fuck.”
“I like you like this.” He admits, grinning as we get in to the car. “You’re more...” he tries to find the words to say.
“Rabid bitch?” I ask and he thinks about it and nods.
“Yeah, kinda. It’s hot when I’m not on the receiving end.” He shrugs and I roll my eyes. “Which I like Dirty Stripper Viv, too. Hey, since it’s our anniversary, can she make an appearance?”
“She made an appearance earlier today.” I remind him, remembering how I reacted waking up to him eating me for breakfast.
“And? I like her, she’s double-jointed and lets me put it anywhere.” He winks and I rub my lips together.
“I’m really not in the mood tonight, Nikki.” I say in an over exaggerated tone and he looks at me like I’m serious.
“But, it’s our anniversary!” He’s practically pleading and I smile a little and unbuckle, leaning closer to him.
The tip of my nose brushes against his jaw as my lips ghost across his skin, my hand resting high on his thigh, causing his hands to grip the wheel until his knuckles are white.
But it’s a tease, and I’m going back to my seat within a moment, buckling back up and he glares at me.
“Just wait ‘till we get home.” He tells me and I giggle, taking a deep breath.
Once we get back to the apartment complex, he parks the car and the both of us get out.
Just as I shut the door, he’s throwing me over his shoulder, and I laugh the entire walk up the stairs to our door.
He unlocks the door and sets me down, shutting the door behind him before pushing me against it, locking his lips with mine.
His tongue collides with mine and I let out a low moan at the feeling of his hands grabbing aggressively at my hips, about to pull the fabric of my dress over my head.
“Ahh!” A sex fueled squeal flutters through the air, but it’s not coming from me.
We pull away from each other in confusion, getting quiet.
“Was that...?”
“Oh, fuck me!” Tansy cries out and I furrow my brows, now hearing skin slapping together.
“I thought she said Sparkie wasn’t here?” I ask him in a whisper and he looks at me like he hates to break something to me.
“Babe, I don’t think that’s Sparkie.” He tells me and I remember Robbin.
“Oh, hell, Tansy. No, no, no.” I say to myself, rubbing my forehead.
“At least someone’s gettin’ laid.” Nikki mumbles, quickly realizing he probably won’t be tonight after this.
#nikki sixx#tommy lee#vince neil#mötley crüe#colson baker#daniel webber#douglas booth#the dirt#the dirt movie#gateway drug
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Best Ongoing Team Books of 2018 - In text because I cannot make it in video
Okay, so my mic is broken, I have barely time to make it work with how many ever hours I’m working recently, so screw it. Last part of my promised list is long overdue anyway, so I’ll just drop it as a text. Apologies for this but yeah, sometimes stuff just piles up. I hope you’ll still enjoy my picks and check the 3 parts that made it to the video
Welcome to Best Books of 2018, the long-awaited final part. I’m terribly sorry it took me so, so terribly long but I had been forced to take many over hours at my day job and it just ate in my time. The rules are as before. The book must still be ongoing in 2018, even if only for a single issue. It also must have more than two issues published in two thousand eighteen. However, if a book got relaunched as effectively the same title, they count as one. This time we’re doing team books. So if you can, go check those titles out at your local store.
Number Ten: Super Sons and its continuation, Adventures of the Super Sons. Work of writers Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason with artwork by Carlo Barberi with issue twelve of the first series draw by Tyler Kirkham. Super Sons continue to be an absolute joy. The greatest asset of this story is that Jon and Damian are written as a pair of actual kids, with behavior we would find too childish with other people but appropriate with them. Which only adds charm to an already book that captures joys of being a kid and going on adventures and that embraces silver age weirdness with all kinds of strange stuff, from a bunch of alien kids idealizing Earth supervillains and modeling themselves after them to an alien versions of Cain and Abel and their House of Secret Mysteries. It is a book that you can just pick up, relax and enjoy, lose yourself in fluffy fun. Its time is limited as Adventures is just a mini but I think if there is one title on this list that is just pure escapism, bar themes touched in an issue where our heroes meet their future selves, it is this one.
Number Nine: House of Whispers by writer Nalo Hopkins and artist Domonike Stanton. One of my favorite out of the new Sandman Universe books, it tells a story of a spell gone wrong that results in the tied fate of goddess Erzulie from Vodou religion and girl named Latoya. The former ends up trapped in the Dreaming, cut from her worshippers and desperately needing to come back before she starves without worship. The latter loses her soul in the same accident and now is affected by Cotard’s delusion, a mental disorder that makes a living person believe they’re dead and worse, she can spread it like an infection. While absolutely fantastic with the weaved narrative I will say that at the time it might be even too heavy as the parts that deal with people affected by the delusion, especially Latoya and her girlfriend Maggie, often feel so outright depressing I had to put the book down and take a break. It is not a bad thing, not every comic book has to just make you feel entertained, especially not one aiming at evoking different emotions. But I need to recommend this one with a warning it is not for everyone as people who already feel down might only feel worse. Still, if you are looking for a book either heavily using themes from religion by far underexplored by literature and pop culture in a respectful way or for a book that might leave you shaken and made think, appreciate your life even, this is a book for you.
Number Eight is a tie: Justice League Dark by writer James Tynion the Fourth and artists Alvaro Martinez and Daniel Sampere as well as Justice League Odyssey by writer Joshua Williamson and artists Stjepan Sejic and Philipe Briones. Two of the new Justice League titles have their problems, I’ll admit it. The main villain in Justice League Dark comes off as invincible for the sake of it and the establishment of the Sisterhood of the Sleight hand only to destroy it rubs me the wrong way and Odyssey feels to have missed its impact moment due to delays and artist change. However, both books are still excellent in what they set to do, opening this new age in Justice League books and bringing them back to the flagship role. Be it dark atmosphere of JLD that isn’t mitigated by inclusion of either Detective Chimp or Wonder Woman, in fact it is a stroke of genius to have her confront the darker side of magic, or the outlandish space opera of Odyssey, with super likable cast playing game of cat and mouse with Darkseid himself, the books do bring new to the table and truly make the Justice League currently one of the strongest if not the strongest lines in the big two.
Number Seven: Rogue & Gambit and its continuation Mr & Mrs. X by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Pere Perez on the former and Oscar Balduza and David Lopez. I’m counting it as one book even if an important part, the wedding, took place in a different title and was fairly controversial. But Kelly Thompson has really shown that she feels the two and their relationship and uses as much of their history as possible to build on and inform said relationship. It is in how natural it comes off as, how strong their bond is but also how unafraid of testing it through their adventures Kelly Thompson is that really makes this book so unique. With the cancellation of X-Men: Red and Exiles and with how Uncanny X-Men and Age of X-Man seem in a contest who can drop more balls, this book is now the best ongoing in the X-Line and you will be doing yourself a disservice if you won’t check it out.
Number Six: Justice League by writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion the Fourth and artists Jim Cheung, Jorge Jimenez, Doug Mankhe, Mike Janin, Francis Manapul, Fazer Irving and Guillem March. This book decided to bring the Justice League back to its greatness and to my great surprise, it succeeded. Scott Snyder’s over the top imagination is a perfect fit for this title and in just a few issues he proved he is not afraid of breaking established boundaries and showing us that cosmology of DC Universe is much greater and more amazing than we might have thought, that everything we thought we know hides more secrets and there is always a new adventure right behind the corner. It asks important questions that, while not intended to be political, by Snyder’s own admission, I feel are still questions about life, a current state of the world and our expectations and ourselves. Upon seeing how flawed the world is, how flawed other people are, how flawed, in the end, we ourselves are, what is a correct course of action? Deny it and try to grind yourself into the idea of perfection you want to be even if it is impossible? Embrace your worst and care only about yourself? Or accept you have flaws, that you feel pain and trauma and realize you can still be a good person regardless? That is the theme of Justice League that makes me enjoy this book so much.
Also, they have hired Ferdinand the Minotaur to work at their cafeteria, that’s awesome.
Number Five: The Dreaming by writer Simon Spurrier and artist Bilquis Evely. The Dreaming is in peril. Dream of Endless has left his dominion, there is a hole in it through which strange things come, citizens find themselves in state of unrest and all beloved characters, from Lucien and Matthew to Merv Pumpkinhead and Eve to Cain and Abel are set on a course that will challenge them and will change them in unexpected ways, all while old faces like Glob and Brute come back and new ones like mysterious Dora and merciless Judge Gallows leave their mark on the place. The Dreaming plays with obvious political undertones but on a meta sense, it is another case of what Simon Spurrier is driven to do, to deconstruct the darker corners of comics and try to explore questions of responsibility and morality through it like he did with Legion and X-Force. This new, heavier, darker take on the Dreaming sucked me in instantly and I really hope the ride Spurrier has prepared for us is a long one.
Number Four: Exiles by writer Saladin Ahmed and artists Javier Rodrigues, Rod Reis and Joe Quinones. Exiles had another short-living comeback and it saddens me to see that it has already been cancelled, though not before qualifying on this list. I love Exiles as a series and a concept and the return with all-new cast and Blink was a welcome one. With adventures that are in equal parts fun and serious and characters with such amazing charm as a cartoon kid Wolverine or Valkyrie. What’s more is that the book had such amazing creative artwork, with Rodriguez especially giving it his all and creating some amazing visuals that truly matched increasingly crazier visions that Ahmed has weaved in front of him through the script. This was a top-notch creative team that I sure hope we’ll see them team-up once again on another project in the future. Meanwhile, while brief it it was still a pleasure to come back to this team of weirdos and outcasts hopping between dimensions, one crazier than the other.
Number Three: Wild Storm by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Davis Hunt. Now here is a book that benefits from its stated twenty four issues run. Wild Storm is a slow burn. But it is by far one of the most glorious slow burns in the history of comics. Ellis continues to create a gritty narrative that combines aliens, conspiracies, secret agencies, technological inventions and movie-like decompressed storytelling into a chilling, dark story that absolutely dominates with the atmosphere. The vision of Wildstorm Universe Ellis and Hunt created for us is absolutely captivating and the feel of the world at the verge of total war between two agencies that long time ago stopped caring for common folk, while Jacob Marlowe, Jenny Sparks, and John Lynch, each in their own way, race to stop them or deal with problems they unleash, is unlike any other. There is plain and simply no other book like this on the shelves right now and it is very unlikely there will be such a book soon after it ends.
Number Two: The Terrifics by writer Jeff Lemire and artists Ivan Reis, Evan Doc Sharner, Joe Bennett, Dale Eaglesham. Out of all New Age of Heroes Books this is undeniably the best one. A loving tribute to the original Fantastic Four stories that finds a new quality through use of characters that may fill similar archetypes but are different enough that each brings their own thing to the table, creating new dynamics that liven up known narratives while at the same time the artists manage to get creative, especially the issue that divides each page into a sort of camera following each of the four protagonists one panel per person and uniting them and dividing as they join together or split up, pushing the very boundaries of graphic storytelling as we know it. It is also a book full of warmth and joy and optimism we often do not see in books like that. It is truly a title that has a heart and imagination on its side and it is using them to their full potential.
Honorable Mentions: West Coast Avengers, Champions, Teen Titans
And our Number One is Runaways by writer Rainbow Rowell and artists Kris Anka and David Lafuente. It couldn’t be anything else. Runaways this year was plain and simply the best book on the shelves. Kris Anka’s beautiful art brings to life Rainbow Rowell amazing heart for these characters as she lets them face new challenges in their lives, creating story if teenagers at the verge of adulthood as they try to wrestle less with supervillains and more with their own fears and insecurities and this feeling of childhood and innocence lost for superhero life they never wanted, all as they try to rebuild and maintain their family. It is a story where greatest victories are not supervillain battles, which they seem to win by a fluke most of the time anyway, but to take a step forward, overcome your fear and doubt and admit to yourself that yes, you are worthy of happiness and you will be happy. In that Runaways is without a doubt the book that speaks to me the most and one I wait for every month. I cannot recommend this book enough.
So here are my final picks. I’m exhausted. I will say that recently all stuff in my life made working on the videos harder, especially now that i’m trying, against any better reason to record myself and I might not be able to do it as regularly. I might think of reinventing the format and maybe relegate the channel to a different role in relation to my blog, which I think is by now much more popular. I still have learned a lot in that time of doing these videos and I wish to continue, maybe with a more focused vision. Thank you all for being so long with me and putting up with my nosense and rest assured, I shall return.
- Admin
#Runaways#The Terrifics#Wild Storm#Exiles#the Dreamind#Justice League#Rogue & Gambit#mr. and mrs. x#Justice League Dark#Justice League Odyssey#House of Whispers#Super Sons#Adventures of the Super Sons#Marvel#DC#Vertigo#Sandman Universe#Dark Matter#New Age of DC Heroes
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QUICK PEN BRAND PRIMER!
Buying your first (or second, or third) fountain pen is a pretty heavy decision when there are dozens of manufacturers to choose from and hundreds upon hundreds of models! For better or worse, there’s no single perfect pen for anyone - you’ll totally find plenty that scratch different itches. As of this post I rotate between around 5-7 for everyday carry and drawing!
This quick guide is meant to serve as a springboard for anyone who’s still not sure where to begin on homework - I’ll highlight the ups and downs to each company’s pens! While there are tons and tons of top 10 “beginner’s pens” lists out there, I found the lion’s share of them didn’t really offer much in terms of education, just a short list of handsome, inexpensive potential suitors. What I hope this does is give you a broader scope of each brand and what to expect in terms of overall performance and build, as well as some different options to look and grow into depending on your needs.
Just bear in mind that there are way, way more brands out there than what I’m covering in this post - my picks are ones I’m confident you’ll be able to find readily from online retailers!
My very first fountain pen (brush pens aside) was a charcoal black Lamy Safari ($30), and I’d still posit it as one of the best pens to buy if you’re new to the fold. All of Lamy’s entry-level pens follow the Safari in design, with the Safari itself and the Joy ($36) being made of ABS (the same stuff as Lego bricks), and the AL-Star ($38) and LX ($56) made of anodized aluminum. They’re about as stereotypically German as it gets - proudly engineered, few frills, robust and reliable, ready to get lots of work done.
What’s much more unique about them would be the section they all share - the part of the pen you grip. It has an ergonomic, triangular shape to it, such that folks who write with tripod grips will feel right at home holding the pen in the right position. If it works for you, you’ll probably find it to be the most comfortable writing instrument ever, something with which you could easily destroy a crossword puzzle book with no breaks. If you’re of the alternative gripping type or just prefer thinner pens, Lamy’s still got you covered! The Logo ($40) is another handsome option, a metal pen that’s comparable in width to a #2 pencil, and for a few dollars more you could upgrade to the matte-lacquered, gorgeous CP1 ($55).
While it’s a pretty common design choice for fountain pens to have replaceable nibs, Lamy’s solution is ingenious and unlike anything else on the market. All of their pens have the same style of shoulderless nib that’s tension fit to the feed, and can easily be slipped on or off. It’s convenient enough just for maintenance, but given how inexpensive they are, it’s also a breeze to swap between nibs if you have more than one. Spare nibs are easy to get a hold of for only 10-12 bucks, so you could buy yourself an EF Safari and maybe throw in a 1.1mm stub too, so you can have two options without having to buy two whole pens!
PROS: Swappable nibs, great section for FP newbies, durable as hell
CONS: So-so nib performance, annoying for alternative grips, samey models
GO LAMY IF: You want to try lots of different nib sizes on the cheap and can’t be fucked to keep track of how the nib is oriented on the paper
Hailing from Japan, Pilot’s been around for a while and has itself quite a spread in the fountain pen market. Covering everything from the disposable Varsity ($4) to the high-falutin’ adjustable Justus ($315+), there’s a lot to grow into with these guys.
Pilot sees off many a new fountain pen enthusiast’s maiden voyage with the Metropolitan ($15), which is the industry’s greatest example of daylight robbery. A pen with a metal body, included converter and a halfway decent nib? For fifteen bucks? They’re either taking a loss selling these bad boys or have a shady deal with some keebler elves because there ain’t anything else this polished and complete for the price. The Varsity ($3) is just about the cheapest worthwhile fountain pen money can buy, and is a great choice for anyone who wants to check out what they’re about without making a huge commitment. They’re built to be disposable, but you can jimmy out the nib and feed to eyedropper-fill it up again if you’re so attached! If you’re looking for an alternative to the Metro at this price range there’s also the Kakuno ($13), which is a nice, no-frills beginner pen. If you’ve got a bit more cash to spare, the Prera ($32-38) is definitely worth a look as well - it’s a really compact, pocketable pen with one of the most satisfying cap clicks known to man.
Special mention goes out to the Falcon ($150), which carries a hefty price tag but remains one of the most beloved pens for drawing due to its softer, springy gold nib. Though not advertised as such, with a bit of flexing you can get some very respectable line variation out of it - just make sure to be gentle enough, you wouldn’t want to spring a nib at that price! If you’re on the lookout for a next-level pen, there’s not a soul out there who’d regret a Falcon.
PROS: Fine grinds, a pen for every budget, great for low-grade paper
CONS: Westerners miss out on a lot of models, some are on the fragile side
GO PILOT IF: You prefer thinner, drier lines and have a sturdy pencil case
Another German manufacturer, Faber-Castell’s been around for a long time, to the tune of 250 years, and has a bit of a reputation now for being the go-to fine arts supply company. On top of things like paints and colored pencils they also crank out some fountain pens, albeit mostly out of a normal artist’s budget. There are two qualities that make Faber-Castell stand out: an eye for design, and some really nice nibs. The Loom ($40) is one of their more affordable offers and the best example of their ethic on the market - it’s got a really handsome, showy design, and the steel nib on it is jaw-dropping. It has a metal body with a bit of texture to it, so the section isn’t slippery, and feels nice and substantial with or without the cap posted. Just south of that in price is the WRITink ($28), which has a plastic body but still carries some flair of its own. The big schtick on this is that it’s supposed to be for students, with an eye-catching textured thumbprint motif, in case you’ve got a homeroom teacher to impress. While I’ve yet to grab one of these myself due to how new it is, the reviews so far have been warm so I thought it was worth a shoutout!
If you’re looking to dig a little deeper into your pockets and hold your pens farther back from the nib, I’d also recommend the Ambition ($70+) in a heartbeat. You can get it in different materials, from resin to pear and coconut wood, and feels as great in the hand as it looks. It has an extremely small section for cosmetic reasons, so it’ll probably be uncomfortable if you’re prone to gripping it as close to the tip as possible, but that’s really the only minus going on for this model. Great build, great nib, handsome as all fuck.
PROS: Superb steel nibs, unique and eye-catching designs
CONS: On the dry side, still need to buy converters on pricier pens, some models just kinda suck
GO FABER-CASTELL IF: You’re an Apple Tax kinda person
I don’t like to play favorites, but TWSBI is kinda my favorite. A bit of a younger company from Taiwan, they’re focused on cranking out really solid pens in the $30-60 dollar range. What sets them apart is their choice of making all their pens either piston or vacuum fillers, methods typically only seen in more expensive/premium fountain pens from other companies. This carries the advantage of a fill capacity waaaay larger than the typical cartridge/converter pens out there!
Also important to note, TWSBI’s pens are easy to disassemble and put back together, which is great for cleaning and really neat in general if you like to tinker and are curious about the inner workings of pens.
If I had to recommend two models, I’d go with the Eco and the Mini. The Eco ($30) is their least expensive model (short for ECOnomical) at 30 bucks and THE fountain pen I’d recommend to any newcomer because it’s so damn perfect. Huge ink capacity, sturdy, glassy-smooth nibs, and it’s pretty good-looking, to boot. The Mini ($50) is a more lilliputian iteration of their flagship Diamond 580, and it costs the same. So, it’s smaller and has a smaller capacity, why would anyone give a single dingle? Well, for one, it’s a perfect pocket pen, and two, the 580 isn’t exactly built to be posted while this one is. You can cram the cap of a 580 on its ass but it’s friction fit right on the plunger knob, meaning you might unscrew it and make a mess while capping and uncapping. The Mini has threads back there to screw the cap onto, so it’ll sit tight without fucking with the plumbing.
TWSBI doesn’t currently have a whole lot of models on the market right now, but they’re all about as worthwhile as the next. If you’re interested in something more unorthodox, you can always give their VAC700R or VAC Mini ($60-65) a spin. They’re vacuum fill pens, which fills the body by means of forming a vacuum for ink to rush into from the bottle. Not only is it neat, but it carries even more ink than its sister piston-fillers! The one rub to these models is that the company’s still hung up on a pain in the ass they consider a feature, which is that the pen, when the plunger is secured after a fill, prevents more ink from reaching the feed. While leaving the knob unsecured/open will remedy this, most owners would rather opt to remove the small stopper that causes the blockage. If using or losing that stopper ain’t a dealbreaker to you, go for it!
PROS: Generous flow, nibs are heavenly, great build quality
CONS: Can be hard to catch in stock due to demand, not great on shitty paper
GO TWSBI IF: You want a smooth and juicy pen and hate refilling
Another company from - you guessed it - Germany, Kaweco’s been around the block and they know exactly what they’re about: pocket pens. Nearly every Kaweco model wants to be a Tic-Tac when it grows up, most famous of which being the Sport ($20+). There are a LOT of permutations of the Sport, from the Classic (gold-colored steel nib and plastic body), to the Skyline (just like Classic but with a silver colored steel nib), and the Ice (translucent plastic body, silver nib). More expensive metal variants exist in the aluminum AL-Sport and Brass Sport, but they all share the same form factor, design, and optional metal clips. There’s also the Liliput ($52+), which has a similar size but more subdued, capsule design.
Kaweco’s little pens all take standard international short cartridges, but if you want any freedom whatsoever in your choice of ink, I’d highly recommend going for one of the plastic models. For one reason or another, they’re the only ones compatible with converters, of which neither are particularly great, but what’s great about the Sport is that it can totally go eyedropper. That means instead of using a cartridge or a converter, you fill the entire pen body up with your favorite ink, slap some silicone grease and an O-ring on the threads and close that bad boy up for some serious ink capacity. If you really wanna spring for one of the metal models, more power to you, you can still syringe-fill an empty short cart or stick with whatever options you get... The Sport’s mighty cute but I’d really recommend barking up a different brand’s tree for a metal body pen.
There’s a brand-new model from Kaweco coming out sometime in August called the Perkeo ($16), looks to be a sturdy, beginner-friendly deal. It’s also big enough to accept SI long cartridges and converters which should really open folks up to Kaweco’s game - as imperfect as the pens are, I can’t possibly overstate how slick and comfy Kaweco’s nibs are. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of TWSBI and Faber Castell!
PROS: Itty bitty footprint, smooth nibs, the most pocketable pens overall
CONS: Smaller ink capacity, some models are cartridge-only, big hands beware
GO KAWECO IF: You want a nice, smooth pen as well as an inhalation hazard
When most newcomers think brush pens, they probably just have the Pentel Pocket Brush in mind. While the Pocket Brush ain’t the worst you can do, it’s cartridge only, feeds slowly and isn’t really made with longevity or pockets in mind. Other brands certainly produce brush pens of one kind or another, but when it comes to refillable, reusable ones, I don’t think there’s a brand more accessible and primo as Kuretake. Starting with the no.8 ($8-10) you get a lightweight but sturdy model with a synthetic tip, and for a few bucks more you can go for the 13 ($17+) which has a metal body. As far as I can tell the only differences between the 40 and 50 ($26-33) are cosmetic, but they both have sable hair tips as opposed to petroleum-based fibers. Which one of these is better really comes down to preference; synthetic tips are springier and stiffer, eager to snap back to their original shape, while sable brushes are softer and more relaxed.
One thing to note about Kuretake’s pens is that, while it ain’t recommended by the manufacturer, you can totally pop the protective cap off the pen’s tip, exposing the full length of the brush. I can’t vouch for the longevity of the pen once that’s done, but it’s fun to mess with on the 8 since there’s so little to lose. These pens are also unusual in that they don’t have their own proprietary converter and it doesn’t accept standard international - you actually need to grab a Platinum PLAT500 ($6-7) to fill up on your favorite ink.
PROS: Extremely affordable, light and comfy, better flow than its competitors
CONS: Just paying for body/design until the no. 40, which has a sable tip
GO KURETAKE IF: You want a brush pen that actually works
Okay, I’ll admit, compared to everyone else on the list Duke’s pretty hard to navigate. They’re a joint venture between a Chinese company (Shanghai G Crown Fountain Pens) and some unknown German R&D (some folks say Staedtler but I can’t confirm) that’s registered as a German LLC, and their availability seems to be pretty spotty in the west. Despite all this, they’re a bit of a hidden gem for fountain pen enthusiasts, offering some unique and robust models for a modest price. I personally got invested in Duke because they happen to carry some mighty fine fude-nibbed pens!
I’d better mention this out the gate, if you’re looking for Duke pens on the likes of Amazon and eBay, they most certainly are there, but the naming and availability of shit is all over the place. They don’t often go by their model names, instead being advertised by their descriptive features and nibs - whoever shills them seems to take the Etsy approach to advertising. Nonetheless, I’d highly recommend a quick image search of any of the below models to get a feel for what they look like, that way you can easily identify them when it’s time to go shopping. While their standard nibs are pretty nice, middle of the road affairs, I’d highly recommend gunning for their fude nibs, particularly the much larger one that’s almost a half-centimeter in length - you’ll know it when you see it. And it’s way more fun to use than you can imagine.
One other thing you should know before going sleuthing is that you might get burned on quality control with these things. They’re almost always sold through a third party and I’m not sure how your luck would turn out on returns/exchanges should your pen be off-kilter. I’ve gotten a 551 fude with absolute garbage feeding issues, something forumgoers have also complained about with some regularity. You might be able to fiddle with it for better results if you’re feeling frosty! On top of that, the standard international converters they include tend to be buttwater, but that’s an easy replacement for an inexpensive and potentially very worthwhile pen. Caveat emptor!
One of the better known models is the Duke 116 ($20-32), which given its prevalence might just be their flagship. It’s a good length, a little on the thinner side and comes in a shitload of finishes, most common of which being a black and burgundy rhombus pattern. I love this thing because it’s extremely sturdy and well-balanced for a lower-end fountain pen, and if you’re lucky you might just be able to find one with the larger fude nib advertised as an “emerald black barrel” with a calligraphy nib.
The Duke 209 ($10-16), nib style be damned, might just be one of the best deals out there when it comes to fountain pens - it’s a full-metal body, compact little bastard and the best gamble I’ve ever taken on something yet to be extensively reviewed. It’s thin, lightweight and sturdy which is great for extended drawing sessions, though the metal section might get a bit slick if you’ve got ultra-oily hands. I can’t even knock it for the quality of the included converter, because it’s actually included with a pen in this price level. Step up your fucking game, Lamy and Faber-Castell! You can often find the 209 bundled with both a standard nib and the fude/calligraphy nib in one set, which is really nice. One thing to note is that the fude nib on the 209 is quite small, more in line with the likes of Sailor’s fare than the monster ski-jump you can find on the 116 and next model on deck. Still gives you a lot of variation, and might be the better choice if you’re looking for more control over your lines!
Last one I’d like to mention is the Duke 551 ($40-60), commonly found as the Compound Art or Confucius Fountain Pen. This is the model that really sold me on Duke because it’s fat, it’s gorgeous and the fude tip is enormous. If you’ve got bigger hands this’ll probably be a better fit for you than the 116 if you’ve got your sights on that nib. Only drawback I have is that it’s not really a pen you’ll wanna use posted, because the cap’s heavy and sits shallow and friction-fit on the back, which really throws off the balance. Other than that, it’s a sheer pleasure, and one of the easiest Duke models to get a hold of for westerners due to its developing reputation.
PROS: Best fude nibs on the market, sturdy build, great price for what you get
CONS: Quality control is apparently conducted by blind cave salamanders
GO DUKE IF: You’re willing to take a QA gamble for nibs you can’t get anywhere else
Last on the list has a bit of a steep cost hike, even on the lowest-end pens they produce, but I feel like their outstanding traits make a compelling case for a newbie with deeper pockets, or perhaps someone looking for their next step up from a beginner’s model. Karas Kustoms is an American machining company based in Arizona that manufactures things like phone cases, keychains and toys, but they’ve recently gained traction as a pen manufacturer.
As of this post they have two different models of interest, the Ink ($100-200) and the Fountain K ($80-130), the former being full-sized and the latter being a bit smaller, but both are made of the same machined materials. You can get ‘em in solid brass, copper or aluminum (raw or in a slick anodized finish), which explains their higher ticket price, but you’re getting a goddamn solid metal pen. You can whip one of these bastards against concrete for hours and all you’d have to show for it are a few scuffs. They’re built to survive, and in the case of the brass and copper models they’ll develop a nice patina over time as a bonus. Depending on where you do your shopping you can even mix and match the materials for the body, cap and section!
Really the only knock I can give Karas Kustoms is that they use Bock nibs in all their fountain pens, which I’ve personally had some trouble with in terms of overall QA. Still, they’re #6 nibs, which you can easily buy a replacement for if you don’t dig what comes standard. After popping a Jowo EF in my brass Ink it’s never left my pocket!
PROS: Will outlive you and your next of kin, highly customizable, industrial design
CONS: Heavy as balls, pricey, limited availability
GO KARAS KUSTOMS IF: Your art supplies are in danger of being run over by a semi
Like I said before, this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface on good companies out there, and someone’s probably gonna slap me for leaving out the likes of Jinhao, Noodler’s and so on. If anyone else out there has a particular favorite they’d like to shill, feel free to add it to the post!
As always, Inkpiss is happy to help, so get a hold of me if you’ve got any questions or grief to sling my way!
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A Mini-Disseration on Fanfiction
So I’ve been reflecting a lot recently about why people write fanfiction and make fanworks, and I think I’ve kinda sorted it in to a couple of categories. I’m positive I am not the first, but I still wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere.
My subcategories:
Canon was cut off abruptly
Canon is lacking something
Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another
I know this doesn’t seem like many categories, but the more I tried to add, the more I realized they all fit somewhere under these three. I’ll start with the first one
#1. Canon was cut off abruptly.
This is a fanfiction classic. Your show was cancelled, the author of the book gave up on the series or died, there was a cliffhanger for something that was never finished, networks screwed up, so on and so forth. Often times, these works try to stay as true to canon as possible, because the core material cuts off and therefore the works are trying to fill in the missing, vitally important finale/info. (There is also an interesting subcategory of fics written following other unfinished fics. Very cool phenomenon.)
Notable fandom examples:
Unfinished book/book series (Game of Thrones, Dune, anything with a suuuper long hiatus)
Cancelled tv shows (The Society, Sanditon, I Am Not Okay With This, The Get Down, Sense8, Agent Carter, Firefly, Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Angel)
#2. Canon is lacking something.
This category covers a variety of sins. It’s important to note that this isn’t the same as #1 because the source material has been concluded, and the body of work is finished. There can be some blurred lines, especially with shows like Sense8, where they were cancelled and then had a special to round off what was supposed to be another few seasons, or original source material where the story technically didn’t end on a cliffhanger, it just ended when there was supposed to be more originally, but primarily this is for shows/material that had the amount of run time they wanted and were purposefully ended, or at least not against the will of the creators. So, this category includes a number of the most popular branches of fanworks including the following headcanons or au’s: more LGBTQ+ characters, more characters of color, more neurodivergent or mentally ill characters, scenes that could’ve been really cool if they had been included and/or not skipped over, scenes that never happened but fans think they should have, characters meeting that never did, crossovers, alternate universes where one thing changes (ie. canon divergences), different endings/retcons (happy ending or not), explicit content, and so the list goes on. A lot of my favorite types of fanworks are included in here.
Notable fandom examples:
Any and all non-canon LGBTQ+ relationships (John/Sherlock, Dean/Cas, Rizzoli/Isles, Remus/Sirius, Harry/Draco, Stiles/Derek, Xena/Gabrielle, Poe/Finn, Steve/Bucky or Steve/Tony or literally any combination of those characters)
Most Homestuck fanfiction
Any popular canon relationship that ended (HIMYM, most of Grey’s Anatomy, all of Glee)
Any show with a horrible ending/unpopular recent episodes (Sherlock, Game of Thrones, DW, Star Wars)
Any work with a popular character that died (Torchwood, Grey’s Anatomy again, Game of Thrones again, Buffy, OITNB, The 100, The Hunger Games, the entirety of Harry Potter, TFIOS)
And, finally
#3. Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another.
Now, once again, I feel the need to specify why this category is separate from the last. So, I think the biggest difference between categories 2 and 3, is that while #2 expresses a lack of satisfaction with the original work, #3 is all about a deep adoration and love for the content that inspires a re-make or an au with canon events most intact, if not twisted to fit the new genre. Again, I can see the lines blurring somewhat. After all, there is content that I deeply adore, yet also feel like changing certain aspects of it. And to be clear, I think you can have fics that fall into multiple categories, if not all. But this sub-characterization relates specifically to honoring and reshaping the core content and ideas of the original work without major changes to the characters or messaging. And by this I absolutely do not mean headcanons about character ethnicity, race, culture, sexuality, or gender. I am specifically referring to someone taking a character like, say Frodo in LOTR, and rewriting the story with him as a wizard. A surface level change at first, however it changes the entire foundation of his character, which is that he goes on a journey from a humble, small, overlooked character to become a hero, proving the value of the everyman, and the quiet strength of peaceful people. Now, if someone wrote a fic where Frodo was thrown into a superhero au, where one day he gets superpowers by chance, that would fall under category #3. The first example would fuel an idea of what the story would be like if Frodo was immensely powerful, while the second maintains the character’s foundation, simply placing them into a new genre or setting in which those characteristics and themes can play out. This includes au’s that maintain canon events/character backstories even in slightly modified au’s.
Notable fandom examples:
Hogwarts au’s (not HP crossovers)
Coffeshop au’s
Historical au’s
Tattoo/Bookstore/Florist au’s
*provided all these examples purposefully maintain key elements of canon*
So, what’s the point?
There isn’t really a single point, I’m an academic weirdo who likes categorizing media and understanding the impulse that drives me and so many other people to consume and create fancontent, specifically fanfic. But, what I will say is that all three categories of work fulfill some need of a fan/consumer, and they can all be incredibly cathartic and/or a continuation of a deeply beloved original work. #1 appeals to those mourning the incomplete and premature ending of a show/book that they thought had a lot of potential. #2 appeals to people mourning the incompleteness of a finished work that could’ve had a lot more potential with some minor (or major) tweaks. #3 appeals to people who are mourning the ending of something they feel has the potential to be explored more, even if it was already explored well in the first place. This is how you get people writing novel length and longer fics, because they’re driven by dissatisfaction, even if they loved whatever the work is based on. I completely understand angrily rewriting an ending or a character, incorporating personal details or making a character more similar to oneself through the inclusion of various non-canonical identities. And, by no means am I implying one category contains better works than any other, but the creators who exist within the third category truly blow my mind at times, because this is often where you get people re-writing an entire series or movie from a different characters perspective, or people who write 300,000+ word coffee shop au’s or hogwarts au’s or spy au’s. This level of dedication honestly inspires me, because to go through the effort of re-intepreting and altering slightly an original work purely out of love and with little intent to directly contradict canon requires a level of devotion I can only aspire to.
TL;DR
And, finally, I want to say that I see all fancontent in any of these three categories as truly beautiful, because they are expressions of the human inclination to see the best in everything, and moreover, to try and leave things better than we found them. So yeah. That’s my word vomit for the moment. Happy writing.
#writing#fanfiction#my thoughts#archive of our own#fanfic#fanfiction.net#sherlock#harry potter#buffy#tfc#got#supernatural#i'm asking for it with all these tags smh#tfc writing#please dont check my works they're shit tho#��#fandom#fandom culture#homestuck
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How to Pack for Burning Man | Tent Camp Edition
Packing Organization
What to Bring. The list below is our tent-camping packing list, including links to the products we use when relevant (we earn no affiliate fees or any other income from any part of this website). (If you are taking an RV, read our RV Packing Guide as well as our RV Prep and Cleanup Guide). We feel very prepared for BM, but not burdened with things we won’t be using.
How to Pack it. We pack our items in durable bins, which we clearly label on all sides. We also print this list to have a hand inventory. We have found spending extra for tough bins is worth the money because you can stack them high when they are being stored between bins. Cheaper bins will break under the weight of the bins above them. This style of Homz bins work well. Home Depot sells their HDX tough bin — the same bin as Homz, in 27 gal or 38 gal sizes for around $10 each. Figure out which one will fit in your car (and your off-season storage). We then use small (4 gals) clear bins with blue flip up lids for daily stuff (“Mini Bins”). They aren’t sturdy, but we are fine for what we put in them (see below).
Getting Ready. We stage all of our gear well before loading the RV (weeks before). As a result we have a few cardboard boxes of items that will be loaded into the RV and put in drawers, etc. These boxes don’t come with us to the burn, but we want to have them all in one place well in advance of leaving for BRC.
Your Vehicle (and Trailer)
How much you can bring with you, and where you’ll store it at the gathering depends on your specific circumstances. Most people find whatever size car they have, they wish it was just a little bit bigger for packing gear. Fortunately, you can often get a small trailer cheaply, or carefully secure items to the roof of your car. After having attended Burning Man for decades, the lure of roughing it has fully disappated. Instead we want to come to the event fully prepared, and therefore use all available space in our car and have a small trailer we purchased many years ago for $500 and consider it a godsend.
Large Bins
Most cars will accomodate one or two large 30-gallon bins, plus some smaller bins. You may find that three mid-sized bins fit best in your car. If that’s the case, just use your best judgment to order items thematically. If you have a trailer, you can leave the bins in the trailer and keep your tent space much more clear. Without a trailer, you may want to seriously consider adding a tent or other storage for your bins rather than keeping them in your car. Once we part our cars, we never open them again until exodus. We tape reflective bubble wrap over the windows to keep things clean and to save the car from getting baked at the event.
Housing and Housing Supplies
Setup Supplies
White gaffer tape. We use this to tape up our car when we park, to minimize dust in the vehicle during the event.
Cheap door mat for outside of RV (make sure it won’t leave MOOP - our first year we used a high quality front door mat that left us picking up fine bristles for a few hours on our way out).
Ikea mat for inside of tent. We bought a stack on sale for $1 each at Ikea. We stack 5 on top of each other and just peel off the top one every other day (to be cleaned at home and reused the next year). Once scraping off your feet, you’ll stand on these as you remove shoes and clothing.
Old bed sheets to cover surfaces
Clips to keep sheets in place
Star Laser - best $100 you can spend). These are sold by a lot of people under different names.
Electrical (If you are brining a generator)
Generator tarp A tarp to keep generators off the Playa. It protects the ground from oil/gas, and reduces dust in the generator significantly. This tarp is great for Burning Man, but has a strong smell when it arrives, so keep it wrapped up until outside. The smell will disappear when dust covers it.
Lag bolts to secure tarp (including chain links). Read the link to understand why you want these.
Way to screw lag bolts in (socket wrench, ratchet wrench…. or impact driver if you own one). Hammer the bolts in an inch or so, then start turning. A hand socket wrench will do the trick if you don’t already own an impact driver.
Socket head for lag bolts (probably 1/4” is needed)
Cable to lock generators. Generators get stolen. Lock yours.
Lock for generators. Use a re-settable combo lock so you can have the same code for all the locks.
(2) Extension cords Long enough to get power anywhere you think you’ll need it. Bright color help if it’s going to be running somewhere people can trip on it.
(2) Plug bars. Cheap 6 way or 8 way bars. If being used outside, put tape over all unused outlets, and place entire bar in a zip lock bag.
Fuel containment system. You are required to store fuel in a containment system. These probably won’t pass an inspection. we’ve never been inspected, and they are absolutely functional for the purpose. Underinflate. Keep your five gallon fuel jugs in a contractor bag for protection from the dust. (Your generator tarp will also help to ensure you don’t end up with fuel on the playa.)
Tools
Latex gloves (used during fuel/oil handling especially).
Tool box containing:
Screwdrivers, and other basics
Super glue (small, one-use tubes work best)
Small roll of duct tape (you can buy small rolls or just roll duct tape around a pencil).
Scissors
Razor blade knife
Tie down gear
Strap baggy. It’s useful to have old climbing straps/runners and daisy chains. These sell cheaply used (never ever use used for climbing!) and are very useful in life in general. Any good collection of zip ties, tie downs, bungies, etc. will do, however.
Carabiners
Webbing.
Bungee cords
Elastic bands
Zip ties, assorted sizes including some 250 lbs zip ties.
Duct tape roll
Safety tape. Caution tape used to mark anything that won’t be visible in the dark, or might be dangerous.
Bike Supplies
chain oil
chain wax
tire irons
spare tubes (consider Slime tubes)
spare chain
bike cleaning equipment
Fix-a-flat cans. If you RV gets a flat, fix-a-flat isn’t your first choice. But it may be a life saver if you learn a tire change is three days away.
Pan for used oil (aluminum foil type from a grocery store is fine)
Oil funnel (paper or improvised is fine). We use a heavy magazine cover rolled up into a funnel shape.
Generator service baggie
Spark plug socket tool
Spark plug gap tool
(2) spark plugs
Contractor bags. Heavy-duty contractor bags are a must. We put or gas cans in them. All trash eventually ends in them. Many uses. Get as thick as you can find.
Clothing Bins
We each bring two bins of clothing - usually 20 gallons. For these we use lighter-duty bins, such as these. They weigh less than the heavy duty bins we reference above, but we only stack two together, and they are filled with clothing and are much lighter our equipment bins.
We don’t follow as rigorous of a packing list for clothing, because it changes significantly each year. Our general approach is quite classic burner look, but we find ourselves gravitating to a few clothing items each year because of their extreme functionality. For example, it would not be a challenge to wear for the entire week during the day (from top to bottom) a cowboy hat, sunglasses or goggles, jewelry items, funky cargo shorts like these and some workboots, leaving just clean underwear changes required. Evening, throw on a funky t-shirt or just a black t-shirt, a cool fake fur jacket, and some long pants and be set for most of the burn. Accessories can add artistic touches and a few beloved items go a long way.
Here is a sample packing list for us:
Men’s Clothing
15 changes of socks
15 changes of underwear
1 pair black tactical pants.
1 pair tan desert pants like these. For working around camp during hot daylight times.
2 pair cargo shorts like these. These are my go-to pants. This plus a hat and accessories gets me through most days.
10 t-shirts. 3 simple black t’s. Rest more costume oriented. I am shirtless almost always until its too cold in day to do so. Then I put on a t-shirt.
3 to 5 long sleve shirts
2 cowboy style hats. A leather style stetson like this. And a lighter straw style stetson like this. Add draw string if one is not included.
Lots of accessories. Many are gifts, but also etsy stuff and home made stuff. I’ll give away much of what I bring each year.
Sunglassess. Several pair. Cheap ones with UV protection. Will be lost or broken by end of burn.
Long faux fur coat.
Two pair of work style boots, one black one beige
One pair tennis shoes
One pair gloves for warmth
Rain jacket
Compact puffy hiking jacket in case of extreme cold can be worn with fur jacket
Skull cap type hat for cold weather (not costumey but can be worn under other hats)
1 pair long underwear for extreme cold.
Mini Bins
In Handy Mini Bin or Glove Box
Burning Man Tickets
Car Pass
Maps / Driving Directions (Here are ours from the Pacific Northwest)
Auto Insurance info
Roadside assistance numbers
Documentation for RV
Drivers License
Wallet/cash
Identification with age (to carry on Playa)
Medical insurance card
Extra RV keys
DVDs/CDs
Cables to connect phones to stereo, etc.
Female Daily Mini Bin
Foam ear plugs. Make sure they fit comfortably. Earplugs are rated for how much noise they block out, so shop carefully. Men and women often need different sizes.
Headlamp. Any small reliable headlamp will work. Bring extra batteries just in case, but we seldom use headlamps at BRC.
Tinted sun screen
Emery board
Small cuticle pack
Work gloves
Glasses
Gum
Toiletry bag containing:
Comb/brush
Toothbrush
Shaving cream
Razor
Electric shaver
Tampons
Hair ties
facial/makeup remover wipes
Lip moisturizer
Cocoa butter
Contacts
Deodorant
Facial cleanser
Rx meds
Makeup
AZO cranberry pills. UTI’s are common on the playa. AZO may help prevent UTIs. (Cranberry does not treat existing UTIs)
Male Daily Mini Bin
Foam Ear plugs
Sound protecting headset. Used in combination with ear plugs, and you can block out a lot of noise. We often wear ear plugs at events, but when sleeping we will throw on the headset as well. Ear plugs are your first line of defense, but the headset can add another 25 to 40% reduction, and work well to block out low frequency sounds. If you can sleep with the combination, noise will not be a big issue for sleeping unless you very close to a sound camp or a very deep bass source, which will shake your body regardless of what you do with your ears.
Headlamp. Any small reliable headlamp will work. Bring extra batteries.
Toiletry bag containing:
Brush
Toothbrush
Razor
Deodorant
RX meds
Saline nasal spray
Neti Bottle. We use a sinus rinse daily to keep sinuses clear of dust and better moisturized. A squeeze bottle is our favorite method. Always used distilled water.
Neti refills packages
Lip moisturizer with SPF
Skin repair moisturizer
Hand moisturizer. Any good moisturizer works while on the playa so long as it doesn’t attract sand. We like Working Hands for overnight repair, but try it at home at first as it can irritate sensitive skin.
Gloves
Sippy cup. There are two good ways to go. I prefer the sippy cup style (may I recommend these), they are small and never spill. Or a camping cup style like these, which are larger. These cups will be used at bars and the like for offering.
Sharpie
Joint Daily Mini Bin
Skin moisturizing (watch this for some skin care tips)
Coconut oil packs (or sunflower if you have very sensitive skin). Good for skin moisturizer after cleaning up.
Hand moisturizer
Face moisturizer
Body moisturizer
Essential Oils (which can be also used in a diffuser…but may damage typical humidifiers)
Vaseline
Lubricated eye drops
Sunscreen
Sunblock spray We bring ten of these for two people. We use creme before going out but on the Playa refresh with the spray. Very light skin. Very little clothing. Never a burn. Our two favorites are Trader Joes spray or Banana Boat. Re-apply every two hours.
Sunblock creme. Neutrogena Ultra works great on the playa. Apply 15 minutes before sun exposure. Use an ounce/shotglass worth to cover the body. which means one tube is about enough for a single application for two people…if using a separate face sunscreen. That’s the right amount… You’ve been using too little.
Sunblock for face. Eltamd sunscreen is great for sensitive skin. Others may find standard sunscreen to be just fine for the face.
Body wipes. Alcala bamboo body wipes are magical. It’s one of the few times we would strongly recommend a brand. These are fairly large wipes (10”x10”) that are almost as good as a shower. And small and light enough to keep one in your pack at all times.
Personal wipes, for the most sensitive areas.
Aloe vera for sun burn.
Q-tips
Hand warmers
Neosporin can be used in the nose to keep your nose from becoming too dry. Some use Vaseline, although at least in theory there could be issues doing so.
Condoms
Personal lube
Gum
Power
USB Batteries (power banks for USB charged devices)
Extra batteries AAA
Extra batteries AA
Extra batteries (2032)
Lighter
Sharpies
Pens
Safety pins
Sewing kit. For normal sewing needs.
Specialized sewing kit for leather and costume repair.
Disposable dust masks. Having a couple hospital type masks work well in a pinch.
Mini E6000 for fixing
Joint Medical/Restock Mini Bin
Note: Anything we start using regularly in this bin gets moved to our Joint Daily bin for easy access. This bin is usually stored somewhere out of the way.
Medications:
Advil/Ibuprofen
Imodium
Excedrin
Tums
Benadryl
Dayquil
Nyquil
Zofran a/k/a Ondansetron to prevent nausea
Sulfameth/ for UTI
Gold bond foot powder
Bug spray
Bug cream
Backup supplies to stock daily bin
Extra batteries AAA
Extra batteries AA
Extra batteries 2032
Extra headlight
Extra Sunblock spray
Extra Sunblock creme
Extra Wipey wipes
Extra body wipes
Extra Coconut oil packs
Extra sippy cup
Extra Hand warmers
Extra Sharpies
Extra Pens
Backpacks & Backpack Bin (Items that will often end up in your playa pack)
Note: Many of these items just stay full time in our packs, such as a dust mask, clear goggles, a Shemagh, sunscreen, chapstick, notebook, ID, etc. We also keep a bin handy for when we pull things out of our packs so we can easily find them when needed.
(2) Backpacks. Etsy is full of backpacks for reasonable prices.
Food/Hydration
(2) Camelbak bladders. We like larger bladders, with neoprene drinking tubes, which have a wire to allow the tube to remain in any position. The Mil Spec style are thicker and less likely to be punctured. We prefer the 90 degree bite ending to the standard straight one. Get one on the larger size for long days. If you only fill it half-way, “bleed” out all the air before you put it in your pack to avoid all day sloshing.
Water bottle. You can use a standard bike water bottle, but Hydro Flasks are unusually effective at keeping drinks cool albeit expensive.
Road cup/sippy cup
Snacks
Gum
Dust Management
Goggles. You will want a clear set and a tinted set. We use motorcycle style glasses like these (you need to plug the small holes many goggles include). These welding goggles work well in bright light too, and look cool - but we seem to end up with the motorcycle type most days.
Dust mask. We swear by these masks. You can get them on fast, they are comfortable and fairly effective with N99 filtering.
Shemagh. Shemaghs can be used as your primary dust mask, but we tend to use them in connection with a N99 dust mask. Putting a Shemagh over a dust mask adds another level of breathing protection, while keeping dust off your face and hair. You’ll want to perfect tying at home with one of the many online videos. Practice in the dark to get it right. Plus count on strong wind to make matters worse.
Buff. Can be used as a basic dust mask. Nice to keep you warm on cool nights. Tiny to store.
Spray on sunscreen for on the playa
Chapstick type stuff.
Small notebook and a pen
Doorbell remote. To ring the doorbell attached to our bike basket.
Offering of the day
ID/ID copy, Note most, but not all camps will accept a clear photo copy of your ID.
Medical Insurance card (copy)
Porto-bag (replenish as used)
1-ply toilet paper
disposable gloves
ziplock of clean wet wipes
empty black ziplock bag (for used wipes)
Hand sanitizer
Night Lighting
Extra batteries (AA, AAA, 32s)
Fairy light screwdriver (eyeglass size screwdriver, to change fairly light batteries)
mini flashlight
Headlamp
On Bike (Some in basket, some in saddlebag)
bike lock
bike multi-tool
bike pump
bike tube
tire irons
spare tubes (consider Slime tubes)
Kitchen
Latex gloves for food handling and prep
Sponges
Pot and Pan
Real Plates, cups, bowls
Metal eating utensils
A few sets of disposable plates, cups, bowls and eating utensils for guests
Basic cooking utensils - depends on what you will be cooking. Spatulas, stirring/serving spoon, tongs, peeler, measuring cup, ladle are all items to consider.
Kitchen knife
Can opener/bottle opener
Corkscrew
Mixing/Serving Bowl, if needed
Tupperware
Zip lock bags
Debbie Meyer Green bags for food storage (see here)
Paper Towels
Kitchen Towels (blue husk style)
Nuun convenient drop-in fizzing electrolytes. Very mild flavor. (Add some crystal light to your water for more flavor)
Coffee Machine and coffee.
Trash bucket with tight-fitting lid. Hardware stores like Home Depot sell 5 gallon buckets and matching lids for about $5. Just make sure the lid is fairly easy to put on and remove. We have found these to be the best playa garbage cans, although you’ll need to get some 5 gal trash bags like these. On the drive up to BRC, we use the trash cans to transport stuff we don’t want to spill around the RV, such as:
White vinegar (1 gal)
Spray bottle for vinegar solution
409A Cleaner
Biodegradable dish soap
Distilled Water (1 gallon)
Bath
Spare toilet paper (porta-potty safe)
Shampoo
Conditioner
Body wash
Toothpaste
Hand sanitizer (large)
First aid kit
Foot care kit. We don’t have big foot issues on the playa, but some do. If you think you’re prone to problems, meet John Vonhof, the guys who wrote the book on foot care. But we bring a decent foot care kit, which includes a lancing needle to drain blisters, moleskin, leukotape and Activflex Bandaids. I also have a small printout of foot care tips, such as how to lance a blister and how to use moleskin in various scenarios.
Sleeping
Good pillows.
Blanket or comforter for cold nights
Extra sheets for bed. Three sets gives clean sheets every few days. An extra sheet can be used to cover the bed when you aren’t sleeping in it to keep in cleaner.
Bath Towels. Bring extra if you can because they can get dirty/muddy quickly. Expect white towels to stain.
Not in boxes
Generator and companion generator.
We use a Honda EU2200i inverter generator
Because it is an inverter generators, when power draw is low it runs at a low speed, for low fuel consumption and quiet operation. If you can afford $1k this is the best BM generator solution you’ll find.
We cut key parts of the owner manual out and tape them to the inside panel of the generators. How to change oil, filters and spark plugs plus the meaning of the cryptic error lights are explained. Most is pretty common sense, but when exhausted it’s nice to have clear instructions.
Gas funnel (stored in contractor garbage bag). Ideal for filling car or RV with gas, and helpful for generator too.
1 - 5 gal fuel containers. This style, however I remove the spout, and replace with a simple gas cap for transport. I ditch tricky spouts and use a very simple vented spout, similar to this. The auto shut off style are terrible and you will end up with more gas on you than in your generator/vehicle. I fill up the RV and the gas can at the last gas station. The gas can should only be filled 80%. Some participants are known to fill them to 100% if doing an evening arrival, and then using a gallon from the can to re-fill the gas in the car used between refueling and arriving at BRC and to load up the generator. We have never been short on fuel, but have a siphon to move gas from the RV tank to external generators, if need be.
Fire extinguisher for fuel (Class B). Stored outside near fuel and generators.
Fire extinguisher for RV. RV should always have one, but check dates and charge. Should be at least a B:C
(2) Camp chairs (possibly mesh)
Bike rack. Be sure not to cover your license plate with it…. see our Burning Man law enforcement notes for details on this important issue.
(2) bikes. We use Huffy cruisers we purchased for around $70 each.
Bike doorbell. We have a wireless doorbell attached to our bike basket. Find your bike pronto if, uh, “disoriented”.
Straw/Cornhusk broom. Best way to keep RV clean
Dust Pan.
2 rolls of foil-faced bubble wrap to cover windows. Essential for keeping the RV cool. Also keeps the RV fairly dark, allowing for off hours sleeping.
Coverings for floor like this that will stick to wood or the equivalent carpet covering
Heavy mat for outside RV
Rug for outside RV. Acquire a free area rug that will fit in your external RV storage area if you have one. 6’x8’ would work well. When you arrive, roll it out at the door of your RV and then either secure it with lag bolts or put weights on the corners. Then put your heavy door mat on top of it. The rug will bcome exceptionally dusty during the burn, but will keep dust down in front of the RV door, and give an extended area to keep feet clean. Roll it and then wrap it up with cling wrap or the like before loading it in the RV to take home. When back home, a leaf blower will get a lot of the dust off the rug.
Water and Food
Water (in 2.5 gallon “suitcases”)
We bring 10 to 12 of these (25 to 30 gallons) to use for drinking and cooking, which leaves extra to share. This is on top of a full water tank on our RV for all other purposes.
Food Box (non-perishable)
See what we eat to see what goes in the box.
Cooler 1 (1st Half Cooler) - Coleman Xtreme
Read about our cooler strategy here. Our coolers are 70Q Coleman Xtremes, which we bought for $35 each during the winter on Craigslist. Used Yetis in great shape are around $200.
All food is frozen before going in cooler.
No dry ice in Cooler 1
Freeze water in zip lock bags to keep cooler dry as possible
Tape seam for trip down to BRC
Cover with insulating blanket at all times when cooler is not in use.
Temp prob in cooler with alarm set to notify of unsafe temp
Cooler 2 (2nd Half Cooler) - Coleman Xtreme
All food must be fully frozen before putting in cooler. The colder the better. So have your freezer at home at lowest setting the week before BM.
Dry Ice wrapped in newspaper. Do not let dry ice touch cooler sides. We go back and forth on whether dry ice is really that helpful. These days we have moved away from dry ice, but some swear by it. Even in the height of our dry ice years, we only used around 10 lbs.
Freeze water in zip lock bags to keep cooler dry as possible and to be able to re-freeze
Tape seam BUT if using dry ice you must leave the drain plug open a tiny bit to avoid explosion. Only when dry ice is gone can plug be closed. Place a towel or bowl below to catch drips.
Temp prob in cooler with alarm set to notify of unsafe temp
Wrap in blanket
If using dry ice, this cooler will initially be well below freezing due to dry ice. We typically see temps of around 0 to 15 degrees F for the first day. Temp will likely remain below 32F until cooler is opened.
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Myth - part 2
This the second and last part of my Myth board game review. As promised last week I will give you more information regarding the game that may or may not help you decide if this game is right for you. Let’s go!
Modules
I briefly reported something about modules in the previous part but, what are they? How do you get and play them? Well, modules are short thematic stories that unravel according to a pre arranged sets of scenarios that are designed either to teach game basics, help in character development or challenge the more skilled heroes.
They basically represent the board gaming soul of Myth and they were conceived due to the sheer amount of claims Megacon Games received after releasing the 1.0 game. Board gamers were not too happy about the sandbox nature of the game and they demanded for more structured rules to help smoothing the learning curve. The result of this bottom-up pressure were the modules. They are small books of roughly 20 pages where tile setup, pictures goals and roles are fixed and, most important, arranged to be easily understood. For what I can see they usually consist of three acts where battles get harder and harder as the heroes slowly approach the big boss for the final showdown. Rules-wise a module behaves the same as the open end game with the sole exception of icons on the tiles being ignored. Bosses and minion races are pre-defined in the story so you are not allowed to mix things up but this helps anyway to build up more climax for the story you are into and it’s basically a good thing. To wrap up the concept about modules, just remember they are the tool that will bring you experience close to other similar board games like Descent so, before starting to despair due to lack of rules or whatever, just dive into the free modules available on the site and start loving the game; start playing from the Stone of Life introductory walkthrough and you will be hooked in a couple hours.
If you want to try them, I list here the download links for all the modules freely available that I know of:
Stone of Life - (a part of Q4 Patch. It contains a learn to play companion book)
Rise of the revenant
Fury of the fireborne - (This is still in 1.1 format but still)
Character growth
When you play quests, modules or just explore for fun, your hero will end up gaining more and more power, getting stronger. This is a well established RPG concept. It usually boils down to exp points that you get and your hero picking up some new skill or magic. Together with the physical growth of your hero you usually end up with a bunch of treasures/weapons that monsters dropped. You find something like this built in the system that Myth uses to make characters grow, albeit there is not much of that. At least, with the lack of “skills” and “exp points” it doesn’t feel super-RPG. Just RPG-ish. Let me show why.
Let’s say you are playing a quest: one of the prizes for your success may be the possibility of deck “manipulation” where you go searching in the advanced cards and you add a new one from them to your deck. While this may feel as a good thing, the result is barely noticeable: it’s 1 possibility on 25? 26? to get your new card so, if you are not a lucky gamer (I am definitely not) your new shiny ability will always be on the bottom of the deck. And it’s only one anyway...
Another way to advance is earning titles by slaying a boss: these titles give you cool buffs that can really help in your quests but they come with a big downside: you can only equip one at a time! Per story! I don’t really get any plausible reason not to let you choose more of them. I mean, if killing a monster granted you enough wisdom or bravery or whatever, why isn’t that permanent? I don’t get it. And for what I have seen this far by playing the game, growth is probably the only aspect of Myth that I don’t completely like and would probably benefit of some more love from the creators. Progression indeed feels a little bit slow but I guess that’s done to stimulate you playing more open end stories that you create. Maybe. I don’t know.
Objects and treasures are however a totally different story. You get items when collecting treasure from killed monsters (3 deaths with a single attack equals one treasure) in the form of an item token you get to draw from a satchel. It may be either white, green or blue as the treasures get more rare and powerful. You start with a lot of white tokens (potions or gold) and few green items so the very first games should be used to harvest as many items as possible before moving to more challenging quests. The nice thing in this mechanism is that you get to modify your satchel as long as you keep completing quests or finishing modules meaning that you get to draw from a pool of progressively less white and more blue/green. This feels really good because you get to actually use some nice gear that adds buffs a new abilities to your attacks. I love how this mechanic affects the play even though I always end up sticking to my beloved stuff and sell all the rest for gold!
Myth journeyman
Just a couple of lines to describe the two expansions to Myth that are (somewhat) available to buy. I bought them but they are still not showing up in the mail thanks to eBay’s super-slow/super-expensive international shipping program… I thought I may put some pictures here but I guess it’s going to be matter for a future update post.
According to the information I was able to gather prior to buying, both expansion contain new mechanics like getting lost or getting on a boat to sail but most important, the ability to evolve your character. With the new expansions the Myth basic hero classes can choose between two paths, the light and the dark path each granting some special new ability and a bunch of new cards for the deck. Two expansions for two paths so… I guess if you want both possibilities you need to buy both (I did). Together with these new mechanics you also get new enemies, tiles etc. so they look nice value even if someone might think they’re slightly overpriced…
A look at the miniatures
The last aspect of the game I want to cover are the miniatures used in Myth. I can tell you that when I think to buy new stuff (either board games or wargames) 80% of the weight is put on how the miniatures look. Rule sets may not stand the test of time but good looking miniatures? They surely will and you can still use them with some of the free rules sets I already discussed about. Myth definitely has some cool miniatures up to a point that pulling the trigger was really easy.
They are not however what you expect as your standard fantasy miniatures. In fact, as you probably noticed, the artwork in the game is slightly off from what you usually see in fantasy: yes, the "factions" may be familiar with different names (grubbers are goblins, shamblers are undead, etc) but the look of the minis is totally original and totally awesome. They have that cartoonish look that I totally love. I mean, take a look the Shamblers I painted in a previous tutorial (here). Here is a crop of the last photo:
I happen to also have painted some of the insect critters (the Crawlers) that I was planning to use as another tutorial. Meanwhile, just have a sneak preview of a finished ranged Crawler.
They look so awesome and yet really easy to paint even for beginners. Surely, they may not be super detailed but they are dynamic sculpts with a cute fantasy look, what else do you want?
I am sorry I don’t have more painted ones to show but you can find plenty of examples if you do a Google images search so just go check them out.
Final thoughts
So, if you read past the whole review this is probably what you were waiting for. My wrap-up with some final thoughts. Myth
Myth seems to be a highly polarizing game: a huge successful Kickstarter and a company that screws everything with a bad rules set all obviously followed by flame wars between haters and fanboys. Years have passed and Myth 2.0 new rule book was released together with two new expansions and still it seems hard to find an unbiased review of the game. This is why I tried to give you an objective description of what goes on in this game. It is definitely not a game for the casual gamer and don’t bring it to your friend’s house for the usual board game night (unless your friend is into this kind of games). The target is a more hard-core gamer as you have RPG elements, board game elements together mixed up with a strong tabletop wargaming flavor and this is clearly not going to work for everybody. But Myth is still a pretty fun game if you know how to enjoy it. Remember that it’s a sandbox style of game so you can just do whatever you want with it as long as the rules are respected. Fore example, take a bunch of grubbers and a bunch of Crawlers and unleash them against each other: there you have a small skirmish tabletop wargame. Add some terrain and you can have some pretty solid fun. Or you could just write a custom campaign and create your own monsters.... like you do in RPGs? I have a dungeon master book that would fit perfectly the atmosphere and I’m planning to couple to this game. You know... some day... So, randomize things, add your own stuff and fluff, put your brain at work and unleash your fantasy. Have fun! This is what games should be about and Myth can surely give you lots of fun. With tons of cool minis!
We are done with this but stay tuned or the tutorial that is about to come next Friday!
...game on!
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Burning Man Packing List and Bin Organization
Packing Organization
This is how we pack for Burning Man. We are two people in an RV. We consider this packing heavily and not roughing it by any means.
What to Bring. There are some great guides to what to bring based on how you plan to travel. We find Travel Grom’s to be another good list. Read this extrmely comprehensive list to make sure you’ve considered all the options of what to bring. The list below is our packing list, including links to the products we use when relevant (we earn no affiliate fees or any other income from any part of this website). We feel very prepared for BM, but not burdened with things we won’t be using.
How to Pack it. We pack our items in durable bins, which we clearly label on all sides. We also print this list, and annotate where each bin is stored in our RV. We have found spending extra for tough bins is worth the money because you can stack them high when they are being stored between bins. Cheaper bins will break under the weight of the bins above them. This style of Homz bins work well. Home Depot sells their HDX tough bin — the same bin as Homz, in 27 gal or 38 gal sizes for around $10 each. Figure out which one will fit in the RV (and your off-season storage). We then use small (4 gals) clear bins with blue flip up lids for daily stuff (“Mini Bins”). They aren’t sturdy, but we are fine for what we put in them (see below).
Getting Ready. We stage all of our gear well before loading the RV (weeks before). As a result we have a few cardboard boxes of items that will be loaded into the RV and put in drawers, etc. These boxes don’t come with us to the burn, but we want to have them all in one place well in advance of leaving for BRC.
Large Bins (in RV outside storage)
These three bins are large, heavy-duty bins (30 gals) and remain stored in our undercarriage (only outside-accessible) storage areas in the RV. If we didn’t have good undercarriage storage, these bins could be locked and stored under the RV itself. Bins 1 and 2 are almost empty once we are camped. Bin 3 remains close to full. Between burns these bins are restocked and stacked in our storage locker - we find the restocking/cleaning process to be a soothing part of our decompression ritual.
RV Setup and RV Protection (Bin 1)
White gaffer tape. It’s more expensive than painters tape but leaves no residue on RV.
Blue painters tape (if gaffer tape runs out). Blue tape will leave a residue if left in the sun. So we only use inside our RV.
Ikea mat for entrance way inside RV. We bought a stack on sale for $1 each at Ikea. We stack 5 on top of each other and just peel off the top one every other day (to be cleaned at home and reused the next year)
Cheap door mat for outside of RV (make sure it won’t leave MOOP - our first year we used a high quality front door mat that left us picking up fine bristles for a few hours on our way out).
Old bed sheets to cover surfaces
Clips to keep sheets in place
Press n’ Seal Glad Wrap
Corn husk broom for RV (we found small handheld “Dustbusters” not be to be effective)
Star Laser - best $100 you can spend). These are sold by a lot of people under different names.
Tapestry for RV protection and decoration.
RV Septic Drop-ins. If you rent, your RV will likely come with these, but you need to confirm.
Small humidifier for RV
White noise generator - Surprisingly effective for a better nights sleep
USB wall chargers. One with multiple charging outlets is best
USB backup batteries. For charging or powering any USB device.
Electrical (Bin 2)
Generator tarp A tarp to keep generators off the Playa. It protects the ground from oil/gas, and reduces dust in the generator significantly. This tarp is great for Burning Man, but has a strong smell when it arrives, so keep it wrapped up until outside. The smell will disappear when dust covers it.
Lag bolts to secure tarp (including chain links). Read the link to understand why you want these.
Way to screw lag bolts in (socket wrench, ratchet wrench…. or impact driver if you own one). Hammer the bolts in an inch or so, then start turning. A hand socket wrench will do the trick if you don’t already own an impact driver.
Socket head for lag bolts (probably 1/4” is needed)
Cable to lock generators. Generators get stolen. Lock yours.
Lock for generators. Use a re-settable combo lock so you can have the same code for all the locks.
(2) Extension cords Long enough to get power anywhere you think you’ll need it. Bright color help if it’s going to be running somewhere people can trip on it.
(2) Plug bars. Cheap 6 way or 8 way bars. If being used outside, put tape over all unused outlets, and place entire bar in a zip lock bag.
Parallel cord for generator. If using two Honda generators, you’ll need this cord.
Adapter for RV if needed [50 amp to 30 amp] (attached to extension cord)
30 Amp extension cord. Cord to plug generators into RV
Hammer (Old heavy-duty hammer). Buy one at a Goodwill donation type store for $2 and leave in your bin year round.
Fuel containment system. You are required to store fuel in a containment system. These work fine. Underinflate. Keep your five gallon fuel jugs in a contractor bag for protection from the dust. (Your generator tarp will also help to ensure you don’t end up with fuel on the playa.)
Tools (Bin 3)
Latex gloves (used during fuel/oil handling especially).
1 QT Mobil 1 Advanced Economy 0W-30 oil for oil change on the Playa. Our Honda generators’ oil can be changed in two minutes. Here’s how.
On the playa do an oil change on a windless, mostly dustless day. Simply pour out the oil from both generators into the aluminum pan (positioned on your tarp to minimize damage from oil spills). Then pour the fresh oil into both generators. Then pour the used oil into the oil can you just used.
Note: Honda 2200i takes 14 ounces of oil, so a single quart (32 ounces) is too much for two generators, so be careful not to overfill generators.
Tool box containing:
Screwdrivers, and other basics
Super glue (small, one-use tubes work best)
Small roll of duct tape (you can buy small rolls or just roll duct tape around a pencil).
Scissors
Razor blade knife
Tie down gear
Strap baggy. It’s useful to have old climbing straps/runners and daisy chains. These sell cheaply used (never ever use used for climbing!) and are very useful in life in general. Any good collection of zip ties, tie downs, bungies, etc. will do, however.
Carabiners
Webbing.
Bungee cords
Elastic bands
Zip ties, assorted sizes including some 250 lbs zip ties.
Duct tape roll
Safety tape. Caution tape used to mark anything that won’t be visible in the dark, or might be dangerous.
Bike Supplies
chain oil
chain wax
tire irons
spare tubes (consider Slime tubes)
spare chain
bike cleaning equipment
Fix-a-flat cans. If you RV gets a flat, fix-a-flat isn’t your first choice. But it may be a life saver if you learn a tire change is three days away. If you have a rental RV, using fix-a-flat may result in you having to buy another tire for the RV.
Pan for used oil (aluminum foil type from a grocery store is fine)
Oil funnel (paper or improvised is fine). We use a heavy magazine cover rolled up into a funnel shape.
Generator service baggie
Spark plug socket tool
Spark plug gap tool
(2) spark plugs
(2) Feet soaking bins It’s nice to have two if you really enjoy soaking, but if water is short, a single shared bath is more efficient.
RV white hose. We use two of these. One for standard RV refills. And one to go from the drill pump to water barrels. See Drill Pump below.
Electric drill for drill pump. Any decent electric drill will do. Corded is fine if you have power readily available. $20 on Craigslist type drill is fine.
Drill pump. We bring a pump because our RV requires pressure to refill the water. Being able to refill water from 5 gallon jugs is very useful.
Hand fuel pump. Not a key item, but if you need to get gas out of an RV or car into a generator, better than improvised siphons.
Contractor bags. Heavy-duty contractor bags are a must. We put or gas cans in them. All trash eventually ends in them. Many uses. Get as thick as you can find.
Clothing Bins
We each bring two bins of clothing - usually 20 gallons. For these we use lighter-duty bins, such as these. They weigh less than the heavy duty bins we reference above, but we only stack two together, and they are filled with clothing and are much lighter our equipment bins.
We don’t follow as rigorous of a packing list for clothing, because it changes significantly each year. Our general approach is quite classic burner look, but we find ourselves gravitating to a few clothing items each year because of their extreme functionality. For example, it would not be a challenge to wear for the entire week during the day (from top to bottom) a cowboy hat, sunglasses or goggles, jewelry items, funky cargo shorts like these and some workboots, leaving just clean underwear changes required. Evening, throw on a funky t-shirt or just a black t-shirt, a cool fake fur jacket, and some long pants and be set for most of the burn. Accessories can add artistic touches and a few beloved items go a long way.
Here is a sample packing list for us:
Men’s Clothing
15 changes of socks
15 changes of underwear
1 pair black tactical pants.
1 pair tan desert pants like these. For working around camp during hot daylight times.
2 pair cargo shorts like these. These are my go-to pants. This plus a hat and accessories gets me through most days.
10 t-shirts. 3 simple black t’s. Rest more costume oriented. I am shirtless almost always until too cold in day to do so. Then put on a t-shirt.
3 to 5 long sleve shirts
2 cowboy style hats. A leather style stetson like this. And a lighter straw style stetson like this. Add draw string if one is not included.
Lots of accessories. Many are gifts, but also etsy stuff and home made stuff. I’ll give away much of what I bring each year.
Sunglassess. Cheap ones with UV protection. Will be lost or broken by end of burn.
Long faux fur coat.
Two pair of work style boots, one black one beige
One pair tennis shoes
One pair gloves for warmth
Rain jacket
Compact puffy hiking jacket in case of extreme cold can be worn with fur jacket
Skull cap type hat for cold weather (not costumey but can be worn under other hats)
1 pair long underwear for extreme cold.
Mini Bins (Inside RV)
Up Front in RV Mini Bin/Glove Box
Burning Man Tickets
Car Pass
Maps / Driving Directions (Here are ours from the Pacific Northwest)
Auto Insurance info
Roadside assistance numbers
Documentation for RV
Drivers License
Wallet/cash
Identification with age (to carry on Playa)
Medical insurance card
Extra RV keys
DVDs/CDs
Cables to connect phones to stereo, etc.
Female Daily Mini Bin
Foam ear plugs. Make sure they fit comfortably. Earplugs are rated for how much noise they block out, so shop carefully. Men and women often need different sizes.
Headlamp. Any small reliable headlamp will work. Bring extra batteries just in case, but we seldom use headlamps at BRC.
Tinted sun screen
Emery board
Small cuticle pack
Loofah
Work gloves
Glasses
Gum
Toiletry bag containing:
Comb/brush
Toothbrush
Shaving cream
Razor
Electric shaver
Tampons
Hair ties
facial/makeup remover wipes
Lip moisturizer
Cocoa butter
Contacts
Deodorant
Facial cleanser
Rx meds
Makeup
AZO cranberry pills. UTI’s are common on the playa. AZO may help prevent UTIs. (Cranberry does not treat existing UTIs)
Male Daily Mini Bin
Foam Ear plugs
Sound protecting headset. Used in combination with ear plugs, and you can block out a lot of noise. We often wear ear plugs at events, but when sleeping we will throw on the headset as well. Ear plugs are your first line of defense, but the headset can add another 25 to 40% reduction, and work well to block out low frequency sounds. If you can sleep with the combination, noise will not be a big issue for sleeping unless you very close to a sound camp or a very deep bass source, which will shake your body regardless of what you do with your ears.
Headlamp. Any small reliable headlamp will work. Bring extra batteries.
Toiletry bag containing:
Brush
Toothbrush
Razor
Deodorant
RX meds
Saline nasal spray
Neti Bottle. We use a sinus rinse daily to keep sinuses clear of dust and better moisturized. A squeeze bottle is our favorite method. Always used distilled water.
Neti refills packages
Lip moisturizer with SPF
Skin repair moisturizer
Hand moisturizer. Any good moisturizer works while on the playa so long as it doesn’t attract sand. We like Working Hands for overnight repair, but try it at home at first as it can irritate sensitive skin.
Gloves
Sippy cup. There are two good ways to go. I prefer the sippy cup style (may I recommend these), they are small and never spill. Or a camping cup style like these, which are larger. These cups will be used at bars and the like for offering.
Sharpie
Joint Daily Mini Bin
Skin moisturizing (watch this for some skin care tips)
Coconut oil packs (or sunflower if you have very sensitive skin). Good for skin moisturizer after cleaning up.
Hand moisturizer
Face moisturizer
Body moisturizer
Essential Oils (which can be also used in a diffuser…but may damage typical humidifiers)
Vaseline
Lubricated eye drops
Sunscreen
Sunblock spray We bring ten of these for two people. We use creme before going out but on the Playa refresh with the spray. Very light skin. Very little clothing. Never a burn. Our two favorites are Trader Joes spray or Banana Boat. Re-apply every two hours.
Sunblock creme. Neutrogena Ultra works great on the playa. Apply 15 minutes before sun exposure. Use an ounce/shotglass worth to cover the body. which means one tube is about enough for a single application for two people…if using a separate face sunscreen. That’s the right amount… You’ve been using too little.
Sunblock for face. Eltamd sunscreen is great for sensitive skin. Others may find standard sunscreen to be just fine for the face.
Body wipes. Alcala bamboo body wipes are magical. It’s one of the few times we would strongly recommend a brand. These are fairly large wipes (10”x10”) that are almost as good as a shower. And small and light enough to keep one in your pack at all times.
Personal wipes, for the most sensitive areas.
Aloe vera for sun burn.
Q-tips
Hand warmers
Neosporin can be used in the nose to keep your nose from becoming too dry. Some use Vaseline, although at least in theory there could be issues doing so.
Condoms
Personal lube
Gum
Power
USB Batteries (power banks for USB charged devices)
Extra batteries AAA
Extra batteries AA
Extra batteries (2032)
Lighter
Sharpies
Pens
Safety pins
Sewing kit. For normal sewing needs.
Specialized sewing kit for leather and costume repair.
Disposable dust masks. Having a couple hospital type masks work well in a pinch.
Mini E6000 for fixing
Joint Medical/Restock Mini Bin
Note: Anything we start using regularly in this bin gets moved to our Joint Daily bin for easy access. This bin is usually stored somewhere out of the way.
Medications:
Advil/Ibuprofen
Imodium
Excedrin
Tums
Benadryl
Dayquil
Nyquil
Zofran a/k/a Ondansetron to prevent nausea
Sulfameth/ for UTI
Gold bond foot powder
Bug spray
Bug cream
Backup supplies to stock daily bin
Extra batteries AAA
Extra batteries AA
Extra batteries 2032
Extra headlight
Extra Sunblock spray
Extra Sunblock creme
Extra Wipey wipes
Extra body wipes
Extra Coconut oil packs
Extra sippy cup
Extra Hand warmers
Extra Sharpies
Extra Pens
Backpacks & Backpack Bin (Items that will often end up in your playa pack)
Note: Many of these items just stay full time in our packs, such as a dust mask, clear goggles, a Shemagh, sunscreen, chapstick, notebook, ID, etc. We also keep a bin handy for when we pull things out of our packs so we can easily find them when needed.
(2) Backpacks. Etsy is full of backpacks for reasonable prices.
Food/Hydration
(2) Camelbak bladders. We like larger bladders, with neoprene drinking tubes, which have a wire to allow the tube to remain in any position. The Mil Spec style are thicker and less likely to be punctured. We prefer the 90 degree bite ending to the standard straight one. Get one on the larger size for long days. If you only fill it half-way, “bleed” out all the air before you put it in your pack to avoid all day sloshing.
Water bottle. You can use a standard bike water bottle, but Hydro Flasks are unusually effective at keeping drinks cool albeit expensive.
Road cup/sippy cup
Snacks
Gum
Dust Management
Goggles. You will want a clear set and a tinted set. We use motorcycle style glasses like these (you need to plug the small holes many goggles include). These welding goggles work well in bright light too, and look cool - but we seem to end up with the motorcycle type most days.
Dust mask. We swear by these masks. You can get them on fast, they are comfortable and fairly effective with N99 filtering.
Shemagh. Shemaghs can be used as your primary dust mask, but we tend to use them in connection with a N99 dust mask. Putting a Shemagh over a dust mask adds another level of breathing protection, while keeping dust off your face and hair. You’ll want to perfect tying at home with one of the many online videos. Practice in the dark to get it right. Plus count on strong wind to make matters worse.
Buff. Can be used as a basic dust mask. Nice to keep you warm on cool nights. Tiny to store.
Spray on sunscreen for on the playa
Chapstick type stuff.
Small notebook and a pen
Doorbell remote. To ring the doorbell attached to our bike basket.
Offering of the day
ID/ID copy, Note most, but not all camps will accept a clear photo copy of your ID.
Medical Insurance card (copy)
Porto-bag (replenish as used)
1-ply toilet paper
disposable gloves
ziplock of clean wet wipes
empty black ziplock bag (for used wipes)
Hand sanitizer
Night Lighting
Extra batteries (AA, AAA, 32s)
Fairy light screwdriver (eyeglass size screwdriver, to change fairly light batteries)
mini flashlight
Headlamp
On Bike (Some in basket, some in saddlebag)
bike lock
bike multi-tool
bike pump
bike tube
tire irons
spare tubes (consider Slime tubes)
Items Loaded in RV (Not in Bins)
All of the following items will be packed up in moving boxes before we load our RV. But the items are all loaded directly in the RV storage, and the moving boxes are left at home.
Kitchen/Load in RV box
Latex gloves for food handling and prep
Sponges
Pots and pans
Real Plates, cups, bowls
Metal eating utensils
Disposable plates, cups, bowls and eating utensils
Cooking utensils
Can opener/bottle opener
Spatulas
Whisk
Stirring Spoon
Liquid Measuring cup
Jigger for liquor
Corkscrew
Spatula
Tongs
Peeler
Ladle
Scissors
Cutting board
Mixing/Serving Bowl
Tupperware
Zip lock bags
Debbie Meyer Green bags for food storage (see here)
Paper Towels
Kitchen Towels
Nuun convenient drop-in fizzing electrolytes. Very mild flavor. (Add some crystal light to your water for more flavor)
Coffee Machine and coffee.
Clip on fan. A small electric clip on fan can be a wonderful luxury in an RV or tent. Place a humidifier in front of it for a cool moist breeze.
Humidifier. If you can spare the water, a humidifier, especially while you sleep at night, is a nice addition. Ours goes through about 1/2 gallon per night at a fairly low setting, which is plenty of added humidity.
Trash bucket with tight-fitting lid
Hardware stores like Home Depot sell 5 gallon buckets and matching lids for about $5. Just make sure the lid is fairly easy to put on and remove. We have found these to be the best playa garbage cans, although you’ll need to get some 5 gal trash bags like these. On the drive up to BRC, we use the trash cans to transport stuff we don’t want to spill around the RV, such as:
White vinegar (1 gal)
Spray bottle for vinegar solution
409A Cleaner
Biodegradable dish soap
Distilled Water (1 gallon)
Bath
Spare toilet paper (porta-potty safe)
Washcloths
Small bath mat (towel style). Any decent old towel works well too.
Toilet brush. We buy a very cheap one that comes with a holder each burn and throw it out after the burn.
Shampoo
Conditioner
Body wash
Toothpaste
Hand sanitizer (large)
First aid kit
Foot care kit. We don’t have big foot issues on the playa, but some do. If you think you’re prone to problems, meet John Vonhof, the guys who wrote the book on foot care. But we bring a decent foot care kit, which includes a lancing needle to drain blisters, moleskin, leukotape and Activflex Bandaids. I also have a small printout of foot care tips, such as how to lance a blister and how to use moleskin in various scenarios.
Bedroom
Good pillows.
Warmie. A microwavable buckwheat pillow is a nice way to warm up a cold bed.
Blanket or comforter for cold nights
Hangers for closet
Extra sheets for bed. Three sets gives clean sheets every few days. An extra sheet can be used to cover the bed when you aren’t sleeping in it to keep in cleaner.
Bath Towels. Bring extra because they can get dirty/muddy quickly. Expect white towels to stain.
Floor length mirror if RV doesn’t have a decent mirror.
Not in boxes
Generator and companion generator.
We use a Honda EU2200i inverter generator and a Honda EU2200i “Companion” generator.
These two generators are very quiet and can be linked together to deliver 30A, 4400 watts surge power and 3600 watt continuous operation power. Together this provides a good amount of power to run an RV with a decent sized AC.
Because they are inverter generators, when power draw is low they run at a low speed, for low fuel consumption and quiet operation. If you can afford $1k for one or $2k for both, this is the best BM generator solution you’ll find.
We cut key parts of the owner manual out and tape them to the inside panel of the generators. How to change oil, filters and spark plugs plus the meaning of the cryptic error lights are explained. Most is pretty common sense, but when exhausted it’s nice to have clear instructions.
Gas funnel (stored in contractor garbage bag). Ideal for filling car or RV with gas, and helpful for generator too.
5x - 5 gal fuel containers. This style, however I remove all spouts except for one, and use simple gas caps. I ditch tricky spouts and use a very simple vented spout, similar to this. The auto shut off style are terrible and you will end up with more gas on you than in your generator/vehicle. I fill up the RV and the gas cans at the last gas station. The gas cans should only be filled 80%. Some are known to fill them to 100% if doing an evening arrival, and then using a gallon from each can to re-fill the gas in the RV used between refueling and arriving at BRC and to load up the generators. We have never been short on fuel, but have a siphon to move gas from the RV tank to external generators, if need be.
Fire extinguisher for fuel (Class B). Stored outside near fuel and generators.
Fire extinguisher for RV. RV should always have one, but check dates and charge. Should be at least a B:C
(2) Camp chairs (possibly mesh)
Bike rack. Be sure not to cover your license plate with it…. see our Burning Man law enforcement notes for details on this important issue.
(2) bikes. We use Huffy cruisers we purchased for around $70 each.
Bike doorbell. We have a wireless doorbell attached to our bike basket. Find your bike pronto if, uh, “disoriented”.
Straw/Cornhusk broom. Best way to keep RV clean
Dust Pan.
2 rolls of foil-faced bubble wrap to cover windows. Essential for keeping the RV cool. Also keeps the RV fairly dark, allowing for off hours sleeping.
Coverings for floor like this that will stick to wood or the equivalent carpet covering
Heavy mat for outside RV
Rug for outside RV. Acquire a free area rug that will fit in your external RV storage area if you have one. 6’x8’ would work well. When you arrive, roll it out at the door of your RV and then either secure it with lag bolts or put weights on the corners. Then put your heavy door mat on top of it. The rug will bcome exceptionally dusty during the burn, but will keep dust down in front of the RV door, and give an extended area to keep feet clean. Roll it and then wrap it up with cling wrap or the like before loading it in the RV to take home. When back home, a leaf blower will get a lot of the dust off the rug.
Water and Food
Water (in 2.5 gallon “suitcases”)
We bring 10 to 12 of these (25 to 30 gallons) to use for drinking and cooking, which leaves extra to share. This is on top of a full water tank on our RV for all other purposes.
Food Box (non-perishable)
See what we eat to see what goes in the box.
Cooler 1 (1st Half Cooler) - Coleman Xtreme
Read about our cooler strategy here. Our coolers are 70Q Coleman Xtremes, which we bought for $35 each during the winter on Craigslist. Used Yetis in great shape are around $200. We’ve never found the need for an upgraded cooler with an RV. In a tent, Yeti’s are handy if you have the cash.
All food is frozen before going in cooler.
No dry ice in Cooler 1
Freeze water in zip lock bags to keep cooler dry as possible and to be able to re-freeze
Tape seam for trip down to BRC
Cover with insulating blanket at all times when cooler is not in use.
Temp prob in cooler with alarm set to notify of unsafe temp
Cooler 2 (2nd Half Cooler) - Coleman Xtreme
All food must be fully frozen before putting in cooler. The colder the better. So have your freezer at home at lowest setting the week before BM.
Dry Ice wrapped in newspaper. Do not let dry ice touch cooler sides.
Freeze water in zip lock bags to keep cooler dry as possible and to be able to re-freeze
Tape seam BUT leave drain plug open a tiny bit to avoid explosion. Only when dry ice is gone can plug be closed. Place a towel or bowl below to catch drips.
Temp prob in cooler with alarm set to notify of unsafe temp
Wrap in blanket
Remember, this cooler will initially be well below freezing due to dry ice. We typically see temps of around 10 to 15 degrees F for the first day. Temp will likely remain below 32F until cooler is opened.
RV Fridge
We load our fridge with food we will be eating the first few days at BRC. The night before driving we load ice into the fridge and freezer to keep the temp very low, and then remove the ice when we load the morning or evening of our drive.
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