Dancing Crow Designs

textile art, mutant quilts, boats and kites

[maspers]

(Huntr/x's penthouse apartment, sometime hopefully in the near future)

Rumi, checking her emails: Bills, fanmail, bills, stupid ad deals, something that probably should have gone to Bobby, fanmail... oh huh. Someone is asking if they can make a parody of one or more of our songs.

Mira: People already do that, don't they? We encourage it.

Rumi: Yeah, but this guy's asking anyway.

Mira: Huh. That's considerate of them. Who is it?

Rumi: Some parody artist named Alfred Yankovic.

Mira: Oh, I think I've heard of him, isn't he kind of a big deal in the states-

Zoey, kicking open the door: YES YES YES TELL HIM YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES A MILLION TIMES YES LET HIM DO WHATEVER HE WANTS WITH OUR MUSIC

Mira: Definitely a big deal.

Zoey: ASK HIM IF HE'S DOING A POLKA MEDLEY PLEASE I NEED TO HEAR GOLDEN ON THE ACCORDION THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE OH MY GOSH DO YOU THINK HE'LL LET ME CAMEO IN THE MUSIC VIDEO-

Rumi: So... we tell him yes?

Mira: We tell him yes.

Zoey: EEEEEEEEEEE WEIRD AL KNOWS WHO I AM THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

[thelibrarian1895]

weird al would absolutely let zoey cameo in the music video and the honmoon would be strengthened for probably another generation

[hugintheraven]

Al: So the plan was just to have Zoey in the ballroom dance scene of Olden.

Interviewer: Well, we definitely saw her there.

Al: And of course, when one of the male dancers showed up and was six foot five, we had to pair them. I'll never say no to an easy visual gag.

Interviewer: So is that when you had the idea for the throw?

Al: Absolutely not. We just told the dancers to do some basic spins and end it with a dip during the climax, but apparently she got inspired. We did not tell Zoey to lead him during the dance, and I certainly didn't plan for her to throw him in the air and catch him in a dip. Fans say they can see the wires, I guarantee you we did not provide wires during that day of shooting.

Interviewer: But surely she didn't actually throw him?

Al: She also rapped the bit from Hardware Store during the lunch break, so anything is possible.

[oldshrewsburyian]

Loyal and whimsical Robin of Sherwood fandom! I have a question. Do any of you know or know of the following authors?

D Linn

J Ruth Dempsey

Patrice Heyes

I ask because I have a bunch of fanworks in zines from the late '80s, and I'd love to make them more widely available via AO3 if the authors agree. According to the fanzines, there is absolutely no reproduction allowed without express written permission of the author. So I'm looking for authors. I've found one who is now a published author of fantasy and medieval historical fiction, so I'll be interested to see if she'd be happy to have her work shared or... not. Also, if anyone knows if the late Linda Pfonner had a fannish next of kin, let me know?

Relatedly: fandom these days has clearly become weak. "Oh, I was too shy to leave a pseudonymous comment..." meanwhile these ladies* were sending around tenderly illustrated novellas with their full legal names when many of us were but babes in arms. Let us respect their legacy by being more unhinged.

*as far as I know

[draconym]

The kids on Tiktok were right actually

Making masks rules

[draconym]

I think the beads really complete the look

[draconym]

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

@blackbearmagic made a bunch of cool templates for the workshop I'm going to do in December, too. I'll get a few photos of those later.

[blackbearmagic]

I think my favorite part of this was how different your mask looks from all the ones I've made so far, and not just because you made a bird and I've been making mammals

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

I think everyone should make a mask of their favorite animal to wear, even if they're not a therian. I think the world would be a healthier, happier place if everyone made a cardboard replica of their favorite animal's face.

[draconym]

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

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

It's easy! It's fun! Go do it now!!!

[blackbearmagic]

Wren, can you actually undo the tape on the mask base and show the flattened template please?

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

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

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

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

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

If you have any questions as you go about your making, please feel free to message me!

[draconym]

I'm not home at the moment, but! I made a second cat mask template so I could try out a leopard.

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

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

[anthropomorphisms]

Lev Tokmakov (1928-2010)

[spicymochi]

pick a cartoon puppy to adopt!

[dancing-crow]

how many do you recognize?

[lovely-v]

I’m gonna propose “I guess you haven’t read the silmarillion then :/” as a default response to anyone not understanding a reference to something obscure. even if it’s not remotely Tolkien related. I want to build up a perception that perhaps the sum total of human knowledge is contained in the silmarillion

[lovely-v]

[10-4ward]

This is the polar opposite of this:

[froginakettle]

[myonlypen]

[masterrainbowcat]

XKCD and Tumblr once again providing weapons I cannot use

[cashewthesmol]

The Simarillion is a beast of a book. Who knows what all it contains D;

[worldworldworldworld]

ocean-teabag

[everythingfoxes]

[foxpost-generator]

it fucken WIMDY

[foxpost-generator]

girk at my work discovered my terrible secret

[bribun96]

“girk at my work”

[psilocervidae]

“girk at my work”

[nobrashfestivity]

Via amandapourlesintimes

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

[creatingblackcharacters]

Aldis Hodge is just 😩😩😩😩😩🤌🏾🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[mossworth]

Guys, queers. Specifically my fellow queers.

I work at a library. We do this thing where, every so often, we weed the collection. It hurts to see books go, but it's necessary to make sure there's room in the library for new materials.

I have seen so much support for the library in text, and I've seen folks pass around those beautiful "queer your library" flyers. Keep doing that. That's great. Nothing wrong with that. But you HAVE to turn your words into action. We MUST remember to actually go to our local organizations and libraries and actually, with our own fucking hands, interact with these materials we want to see more of.

My branch is medium-sized for a library, maybe a little small. We don't have as many materials as I'd like, but we have fundamentals. Tell me why, even with all the verbal support I've gotten from my local community for the library as a resource for our LGBT+ community, every single trans biography and a good chunk of our vaguely queer theory books were on the list. This isn't a scheme to take the books off the shelves, it isn't another bigoted American governmental push. The only thing we look at when we weed is how long it's been since the last time the item was checked out.

Three years.

No one in my community interacted in any meaningful way with the few books on trans life and history we physically had on the shelves for three fucking years.

I promise you the materials you want and need are there, but this isn't a horde. This isn't a static safety net. You have to use them. You MUST use them or, in the future, maybe in three years, they *won't* be there anymore.

This isn't a vague post, there's no one person I'm hinting at or calling out. I'm not even talking directly to anyone who's directly in my line of sight. I just want everyone to hear this. Big library, small library, whatever. Doesn't matter. Please, we cannot be losing our shelf visibility like this.

[alanfromrochester]

I work in a different library and can confirm, it's a decision based on popularity not censorship

we're big enough to have lots of shelf space but still have the problem on a different scale. We do have a back storage room rather than completely getting rid of some things, but having to ask for that might be a barrier for sensitive subject matter and prevent people from casually stumbling across something of interest

[paintedpigeon1]

Yep. Different library worker here, we weeded adult non-fiction recently bc it's most rarely used and we needed to clear a bookshelf of space, and there were a decent number of queer books on the list. Thankfully not all of them, but some (we had a lot lol). Our criteria is also no borrows in 3yrs. I can't borrow the whole list by myself. I do try to get these books in, and the local authority are happy to buy them, but we need space for new books every so often and we can't keep everything forever! If you want them, you have to use them!

(incidentally, the whole list was 35 pages long, which... please borrow the books you want people)

[qbdatabase]

I didn't have time to comment the first time I reblogged, but I can add now:

I'm also a librarian and queer books are almost always cut first when we have to weed for space or prioritize new releases over old items because no one reads them

I will say, when I worked at a large downtown location, we had a "browsing card" that we would check out items we found taken off the shelf and left on a table, as an example of a book that had clearly been read, just not checked out by anyone

it's possible queer books do actually get a bit of unfair treatment in this regard because people may be nervous or outright scared to check them out onto an account with their name on it. so they get browsed at a much higher rate, but if a library doesn't have a specific system in place (or need for it) to count browsed items, then it looks like they aren't being used and they get weeded

for other librarians, a browsing card is a great idea if you have enough staff for the extra work / enough items left out to justify it

for patrons, check out queer books even if you don't read them! you're not lying or committing any type of fraud. you're keeping books on the shelf long enough for pride season when people are interested in checking them out again and for people scared to use their own accounts or who don't have library cards

for anyone nervous about using their library card, libraries do not keep search histories of what you check out!! this means even if the government does come back with a warrant, *wet farting noise* too bad! it doesn't exist!

so please check out queer books!

[vtothefun]

I have to wonder how often they aren't checked out because those in an exploratory period may not feel safe enough for them to go home with them, too. Kids, for example, or folks who have ended up in a het marriage that... Doesn't feel like it's quite right (or may be physically abusive).

[mossworth]

This is most definitely one of the causes of this. That's why it's so important for folks who *can* to *do*.

It feels like such a small thing, but all movements are made up of small things! We have this mindset that in order to get everything done, everyone must be doing their (or *the*) absolute best at all times. But not everyone can do the same things, to the same degree, with the same amount of productivity or success. Not everyone can; sometimes, they're the ones that need help. Sometimes people just need help.

This post is very much so intended for the people who can. I've seen a lot of replies from folks who say they don't have to (or don't think about) checking out or requesting queer books from the library specifically because they *can* buy them, can pirate them, or already have them in their house or on their computers or phones. But in instances like that, keeping these books in circulation is less for you and more for the people who can't. The folks who come to the library, who don't have access to internet--or even electricity--at home and would never--have never--been able to interact with this "ubiquitous queer community" we have here online who has made so many of these. materials so avaliable to the rest of us.

And... if I can be a little frank. Sometimes the hyperaccessibility of these materials online (through pirating, cheap e-book copies, etc) gives people a false sense of security. It implies that these things are an infinate resource, good for "When I get around to it".

And often, you won't. There's so much to read and so much to do. So much to download and so much to sit down and stare at for hours. That kind of mental scope puts books in people's hands (or phones), but never in their heads.

But the moment your favorite document archival site gets knocked offline for breaching copyright or your go-to mega corporate audiobook distributor decides it doesn't want "those" materials anymore, what's left? What did you download? What information did you internalize? Did you ever get around to it? If you did, great, but what good does that do for the person who didn't? Are you going to be the one to redistribute that information? Are you going to communicate it in the place of the author whose words are no longer publically accesible or, mostly avaliable, but only behind hefty paywalls and financial gatekeeping? How would someone else get a hold of it? How could they, if they wanted?

[vtothefun]

This is excellent info.

What are some good books to check out for those who can?

[mossworth]

Gosh... there's so many options. I wouldn't know where to start without knowing who I'm talking to and what they're looking for. What I can recommend is for folks to check out creators like @makingqueerhistory who have spent just a ridiculously beautiful amount of time collecting queer history and book lists! You'll find something in seconds reading their page.

Personal pitch: I liked the books Tar Hollow Trans and Gay Poems for Red States. Both great.

[makingqueerhistory]

I'm glad I was tagged in this because it means I can cosign (and also add a little nugget of info).

I live in a province that is currently trying to ban queer books from libraries, and as a library patron, this is terrifying. 95% of the books I read are from the library and a lot of them are way out of my budget to buy personally.

Making Queer History would not exist without the school library I skipped class in to write articles. It would not exist without my friends with library cards for their universities sharing them and getting me access to rare texts. I would not be able to read as much as I do without Libby and Hoopla. If I have ever given you a book recommendation, know that I likely got it from the library first.

I cannot overstate the importance of protecting libraries and checking out queer books. And I want to say thank you to everyone above for being as passionate as I am about queer books in libraries.

Love y'all <3

[unknought]

Higgledy piggledy, turning and turning as gyres are widening, centers unheld,

things fall apart and there’s anarchy everywhere; falcons fly freely and can’t be compelled.

Dimming the tide there is blood in the water and everywhere customs of innocence drowned.

Held by the worst is a fervent intensity; lacking conviction the best run aground.

Surely there must be some kind of apocalypse; surely epiphany must be at hand!

Visions unbidden from Spiritus Mundi of something awakening out on the sand:

Head of a man with a leonine frame and a pitiless gaze that’s as blank as the sun;

sleep became nightmare by passage of centuries long before eons of slumber were done.

Higgledy piggledy, beast of antiquity, imminent, just as the prophecies warn,

shambling slowly but revelatorily, slouching towards Bethlehem, there to be born.

[beefbologna]

[lary-the-lizard]

Exactly why we need these posts! Nonbinary people don’t have any way specific look; we range in expression and appearances. We change our appearances from one gendered look to another. It’s in the fucking word we identify with: nonbinary. If a person shows up looking masc as hell or femme as hell and says they’re no binary and their pronouns are it’s/its, xe/xem, she/they etc, fucking respect it! It’s not about what you understand, that doesn’t fucking matter! Let people be what is most comfortable for them.

[spindlewit]

put a bunch of my gif pieces up as prints!

bath bloom/tether/shelter/wetland

hidden place/downpour/pond water/spillway

[leebrontide]

Ok, it's taken me SIX YEARS to make this. But I did it! It's done! Please watch it!

(No AI used fuck AI)

It's my first animation project, which is why it took so long. I had to learn to animate to make it. It's only a bit over 2 minutes, but I made it the best I possibly could. Please please please watch it. I am so proud of it.

It's a trailer for my first novel- a late YA scifi/superhero book.

Is it absurd to make a fully animated book "trailer" for a book that's been out for 6 years, with voice acting and commissioned music (by the fantastic @plottwiststudios) ? I mean yes. Of course. I'm not even doing this for real marketing purposes because this is a ridiculous thing to do. I don't even really think it'll sell books but the process of making it made me really really happy.

I love my fictional disaster queers, and I love my book, and when I was a kid I thought I'd grow up to be an animator. I've always loved animation, and I really, really enjoyed making something animated myself. I'm really proud of how it turned out.

Please watch it. Please share it.

If it does make you actually want to read the story, you can get it as an ebook, paperback, or audiobook. (the ebook is currently free)

I start my next animation project- a fake anime opening credits for book 3 in this series, starting next month.

Please Reblog!

[osteophagy]

Did a little scene between stuff at work.

[elodieunderglass]

Charlie daemon please? 🐝

Golden Lion Tamarin, an exquisite little monkey weighing less than two pounds.

And her name was -

And her name was Rabiosa, and Honora, and her name was Desolata. She has been Melpomene quite a lot, unless she was Thalia. And sometimes Melthalia!

and Sōseji. And Stellapetra and Labellula.

And mostly in later years, Mum - pronounced "MUUUUUUM!"

And then one day she said to her spouses that she wouldn't mind being -

Thintrí.

No, not exactly, not out of nowhere. With the accent in the right place. No, it isn't Latin - oh, go and look it up for yourself.

Not going backwards. No, not that. Never that.

maybe it's just - something just striking, mysteriously, in the same place, twice.

[elennare]

I hope you don't mind, I have fallen hard into the Killie tag, and read this, and a thought struck me... in HDM daemons settle around puberty, but what if it doesn't happen until later in this universe? Until late enough that it would post-date The Betrayal? You're each other's other halves and now you don't know the shape of his soul. Could you walk past them on the street and not know them? Surely you would know them, right? Right?

And I feel like Thunder didn't change shape much even before settling, while Thintrí did - Charlie and Thintrí telling themselves that of course Thunder's still that horse, he (she? does Killie, like Bill, have a same-gender daemon?) wouldn't change even for something that made more sense for jockeying, of course he wouldn't have changed just because they left, right? Right? (And does this add to Charlie's anger at the betrayal, being told to change by someone that unchanging?). And Killie and Thunder firmly telling themselves not to speculate, there's no point - but Pippa settles to her tit, and the thought pops in unbidden, Thintrí did often enjoy having wings; but Colm settles to his setter, and maybe the Charlie who left racing, left it all, has also settled to something that won't work for a jockey - but there's no bloody point to this speculating, is there now? (And maybe deep down they always picture Thintrí as the last form they saw her in when she and Charlie left - and maybe that's right?)

[elodieunderglass]

Oh look what what you've DONE!!!!!

[elennare]

A comic?!?!?!?! A comic that is killing me?!?!?!?! Oh my goodness THEM! THEM!

[elodieunderglass]

That’s exactly how I felt when I saw your words!!