Latest Posts by nerdvanacrafts - Page 3

Happy 2025! Can you believe it's a new year already? New year means new updates so here we go:

First and foremost, I will be pushing the Kofi a little harder this year as it will become my primary source of income. I am thinking of adding monthly membership tiers starting with a dollar for those who want to support but are tight on funds. I'm also considering a $5 tier blind bag option where members can get a mystery baby animal blorbo every month, but I'll need to build up some stock so it might be a little bit before that one arrives. After that, however, as a primarily fiber artist, I'm not sure what else I could offer in higher tiers other than my eternal gratitude so if there's something you think I could offer exclusively to higher tiers, feel free to make suggestions in the comments below!

Secondly, as Kofi will become my primary source of income, that also means that my commission slots will be opening soon! How soon, you ask? Hopefully by February 1st! I'll be opening FOUR small commission slots and don't worry, there WILL be a commission list coming so y'all can see what I have at my disposal. Commissions will start at $30 + shipping for the smaller items, and increase based on the approximate size and estimated time for larger items (like dragons!). The list will be divided by size categories so folks will know ahead of time about how much they'll be paying. As of right now, I will not be taking custom commissions, or commissions outside of my repertoire, while I am figuring out this new system of mine, and how much I can physically and mentally handle being a full-time online maker and crafter.

Final third item, I will be setting up the shop this month to showcase what's currently available to be shipped and what's available to be commissioned so folks have a better view of my repertoire. There will be two separate categories: items ready to ship and items available for commission. The difference being that the items ready to ship have already been made and are sitting on a shelf waiting to find a new home.

That's it for new updates! Oh! Before I forget! As part of pushing the Kofi (and helping me raise the funds for C2E2), we have a cute little tracker that for every donation of a certain amount, a specific image gets colored in. We started that in December, and here's what we have so far!

Anyway, THAT'S it for new updates! Let's start the new year off with smiles, happy thoughts, and ready to kick some ass! Happy 2025!

Last post of the year! Someone inspired me to make Mighty Nein ducks and since I'm meeting the #CriticalRole crew in April, I'll be making more. Enjoy Jester, Caleb, Nott, and Caduceus ducks. And stay tuned for an update on what's coming in the new year!

Octopus for my baby niece .

It used TWO FUCKING SKEINS of that blue-purple main color

Today's Sunday Showcase: Cozy crustaceans as a commission for a friend!

Korrasami is canon. You can celebrate it, embrace it, accept it, get over it, or whatever you feel the need to do, but there is no denying it. That is the official story. We received some wonderful press in the wake of the series finale at the end of last week, and just about every piece I read got it right: Korra and Asami fell in love. Were they friends? Yes, and they still are, but they also grew to have romantic feelings for each other. Was Korrasami “endgame,” meaning, did we plan it from the start of the series? No, but nothing other than Korra’s spiritual arc was. Asami was a duplicitous spy when Mike and I first conceived her character. Then we liked her too much so we reworked the story to keep her in the dark regarding her father’s villainous activities. Varrick and Zhu Li weren’t originally planned to end up as a couple either, but that’s where we took the story/where the story took us. That’s how writing works the vast majority of the time. You give these characters life and then they tell you what they want to do. I have bragging rights as the first Korrasami shipper (I win!). As we wrote Book 1, before the audience had ever laid eyes on Korra and Asami, it was an idea I would kick around the writers’ room. At first we didn’t give it much weight, not because we think same-sex relationships are a joke, but because we never assumed it was something we would ever get away with depicting on an animated show for a kids network in this day and age, or at least in 2010. Makorra was only “endgame” as far as the end of Book 1. Once we got into Book 2 we knew we were going to have them break up, and we never planned on getting them back together. Sorry, friends. I like Mako too, and I am sure he will be just fine in the romance department. He grew up and learned about himself through his relationships with Asami and Korra, and he’s a better person for it, and he’ll be a better partner for whomever he ends up with. Once Mako and Korra were through, we focused on developing Korra and Asami’s relationship. Originally, it was primarily intended to be a strong friendship. Frankly, we wanted to set most of the romance business aside for the last two seasons. Personally, at that point I didn’t want Korra to have to end up with someone at the end of series. We obviously did it in Avatar, but even that felt a bit forced to me. I’m usually rolling my eyes when that happens in virtually every action film, “Here we go again…” It was probably around that time that I came across this quote from Hayao Miyazaki: “I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” I agree with him wholeheartedly, especially since the majority of the examples in media portray a female character that is little more than a trophy to be won by the male lead for his derring-do. So Mako and Korra break the typical pattern and end up respecting, admiring, and inspiring each other. That is a resolution I am proud of. However, I think there needs to be a counterpart to Miyazaki’s sentiment: Just because two characters of the same sex appear in the same story, it should not preclude the possibility of a romance between them. No, not everyone is queer, but the other side of that coin is that not everyone is straight. The more Korra and Asami’s relationship progressed, the more the idea of a romance between them organically blossomed for us. However, we still operated under this notion, another “unwritten rule,” that we would not be allowed to depict that in our show. So we alluded to it throughout the second half of the series, working in the idea that their trajectory could be heading towards a romance. But as we got close to finishing the finale, the thought struck me: How do I know we can’t openly depict that? No one ever explicitly said so. It was just another assumption based on a paradigm that marginalizes non-heterosexual people. If we want to see that paradigm evolve, we need to take a stand against it. And I didn’t want to look back in 20 years and think, “Man, we could have fought harder for that.” Mike and I talked it over and decided it was important to be unambiguous about the intended relationship. We approached the network and while they were supportive there was a limit to how far we could go with it, as just about every article I read accurately deduced. It was originally written in the script over a year ago that Korra and Asami held hands as they walked into the spirit portal. We went back and forth on it in the storyboards, but later in the retake process I staged a revision where they turned towards each other, clasping both hands in a reverential manner, in a direct reference to Varrick and Zhu Li’s nuptial pose from a few minutes prior. We asked Jeremy Zuckerman to make the music tender and romantic, and he fulfilled the assignment with a sublime score. I think the entire last two-minute sequence with Korra and Asami turned out beautiful, and again, it is a resolution of which I am very proud. I love how their relationship arc took its time, through kindness and caring. If it seems out of the blue to you, I think a second viewing of the last two seasons would show that perhaps you were looking at it only through a hetero lens. Was it a slam-dunk victory for queer representation? I think it falls short of that, but hopefully it is a somewhat significant inching forward. It has been encouraging how well the media and the bulk of the fans have embraced it. Sadly and unsurprisingly, there are also plenty of people who have lashed out with homophobic vitriol and nonsense. It has been my experience that by and large this kind of mindset is a result of a lack of exposure to people whose lives and struggles are different from one’s own, and due to a deficiency in empathy––the latter being a key theme in Book 4. (Despite what you might have heard, bisexual people are real!) I have held plenty of stupid notions throughout my life that were planted there in any number of ways, or even grown out of my own ignorance and flawed personality. Yet through getting to know people from all walks of life, listening to the stories of their experiences, and employing some empathy to try to imagine what it might be like to walk in their shoes, I have been able to shed many hurtful mindsets. I still have a long way to go, and I still have a lot to learn. It is a humbling process and hard work, but nothing on the scale of what anyone who has been marginalized has experienced. It is a worthwhile, lifelong endeavor to try to understand where people are coming from. There is the inevitable reaction, “Mike and Bryan just caved in to the fans.” Well, which fans? There were plenty of Makorra shippers out there, so if we had gone back on our decision and gotten those characters back together, would that have meant we caved in to those fans instead? Either direction we went, there would inevitably be a faction that was elated and another that was devastated. Trust me, I remember Kataang vs. Zutara. But one of those directions is going to be the one that feels right to us, and Mike and I have always made both Avatar and Korra for us, first and foremost. We are lucky that so many other people around the world connect with these series as well. Tahno playing trombone––now that was us caving in to the fans! But this particular decision wasn’t only done for us. We did it for all our queer friends, family, and colleagues. It is long overdue that our media (including children’s media) stops treating non-heterosexual people as nonexistent, or as something merely to be mocked. I’m only sorry it took us so long to have this kind of representation in one of our stories. I’ll wrap this up with some incredible words that Mike and I received in a message from a former Korra crew member. He is a deeply religious person who devotes much of his time and energy not only to his faith, but also to helping young people. He and I may have starkly different belief systems, but it is heartwarming and encouraging that on this issue we are aligned in a positive, progressive direction: “I’ve read enough reviews to get a sense of how it affected people. One very well-written article in Vanity Fair called it subversive (in a good way, of course)… I would say a better word might be “healing.” I think your finale was healing for a lot of people who feel outside or on the fringes, or that their love and their journey is somehow less real or valuable than someone else’s… That it’s somehow less valid. I know quite a few people in that position, who have a lifetime of that on their shoulders, and in one episode of television you both relieved and validated them. That’s healing in my book.” Love, Bryan

*Sighs in writer*

you know you’re a writer when…

you spend 30 minutes choosing the perfect synonym for “said” only to change it back to “said.”

you google “how long does it take to bleed out” at 3 a.m. and now the FBI is probably watching you.

you write one sentence, stare at it, rewrite it 14 times, and somehow end up back at the original version.

“this scene is so important” but you have no idea what the scene actually is or why it’s important.

you come up with the best story ideas… in the shower… with no way to write them down.

your characters feel like real people but also you’re like “who are these guys and what do they want from me?”

your brain says “start writing!” but instead you reorganize your desk, reread your notes, and spend two hours naming a side character who shows up once.

you’ve cried over your WIP exactly 67 times and will do it again because the pain is the point.

you reread something you wrote and think, “wow, did i peak as a writer three months ago?”

every writing session begins with the sacred ritual of scrolling social media, opening unnecessary tabs, and procrastinating until panic sets in.

you have no idea how long a chapter should be, so you just… vibe.

you can’t watch tv or movies without mentally critiquing the plot, dialogue, and pacing.

your writing playlist is 98% vibes, 2% songs you’ll actually listen to while writing.

you keep a “murder notebook” but swear it’s not suspicious because it’s for your novel (probably).

the phrase “just one more draft” is your eternal mantra, even though you’ve rewritten this thing more times than you can count.

Thank you @eeveebattler and everyone who got me to 50 reblogs!

Spooky season is never *over* here in the workshop, so have some WIP Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington pics!

If you've seen my new Ko-Fi goal, Critical Role is coming back to C2E2 in 2025, kicking it off with a live show on April 10th. I figure this is motivation to finally work on my Beauregard Lionett cosplay. I already have the patterns printed and cut out but I still need fabric and some accessories. Working on cosplay, however, also means taking precious time out of working on the shop so while I will be setting aside money on my end to help pay for my trip, if folks would like to help out, I would greatly appreciate it! I even have a cute savings tracker for us to watch the progress!

"Oh, I want."

plus: Bonus Braius. 😂

Cute little snowman couple commission.

Spooky season is never *over* here in the workshop, so have some WIP Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington pics!

Arcanist Allura Vysoren

"im inspired can i use this character concept for my own work"

"im broke can i download your $0+ file for free"

"shipping is expensive can i try to make this thing in your shop on my own"

guys please stop directly asking creators this kind of shit i am going to eat glass

A bit of a palate cleanser for everyone.

hello for the love of god hi. if you have a chronically ill/disabled loved one who is constantly flaking on plans, unable to attend events due to illness, please please please keep inviting them to things anyway. being excluded from events due to illness or the assumption that we won't be able to attend is the worst feeling, even if the assumption is true. a cursory 'hey we are planning to do xyz, i know this thing isn't always easy for you but we'd love to see you there if at all possible' truly means the world. better yet, make plans with your chronically/ill disabled friend in mind and help them navigate the accessibility of it all or choose what you do together. failing that, if you haven't explicitly been told to stop inviting them to things, continue to include them in your plans because being deliberately excluded hurts like hell

Local PSA: invisible disability does NOT mean you can live your life like a "normal person" invisible disability meant that if a stranger looks at you in public they wouldn't know what's going on.

Like if a wheelchair user were to decide to run into a corner store to grab a candy bar because they know that their legs can last that long without, the cashier wouldn't know.

Or someone with "mild" scoliosis walking upright through their shoulder leans slightly to the left. Maybe they just have bad posture. The lady in the next isle thinks to herself.

The person with EDS or POTS or whatever sort of condition wearing compression gloves out and about. Perhaps it's a fashion statement?

Or what about the people with intestinal issues? They can look like "normal people" too.

You never know what someone is going through.

You never know what they might need to survive or if they're on the edge of a flare up or even if they are currently going through one just by one look.

I think both disabled and non disabled need to realize this. You're not "no longer disabled" because you can "live without" disability aids. They're there to help you. To make your life easier. If living without a cane is going to make it more likely you'll fall over and hurt yourself, use the cane.

If you need to sit down to do dishes or cut vegetables because you need to save your legs for taking out the trash, sit down.

If you need a shower chair because you don't know if you'll pass out, use the shower chair.

People are going to judge you regardless for multiple reasons out of your control.

I'd rather they judge you while you're being safe.

You don't need to struggle to be "normal."

You can just be you.

However that looks for you.

Use your disability aids.

Listen, it's a day early, but as it's my last craft show before I take my in-person hiatus, enjoy these sad photos of this joke of a show.

Wild concept that shouldn’t be wild and the coldest take ever: disabled adults are *adults* and not just children trapped in adult bodies

Disabled adults have sex

Disabled adults do drugs

Disabled adults curse

Disabled adults get piercings and tattoos

Disabled adults can make adult decisions and act and behave like adults because we are adults

It’s just so weird for people to constantly infantilize me all because of my mobility aids when I’m not a child!!!

Making a "don't kill yourself" post for the disabled people. You are needed and valued. You deserve to live. Your needs deserve to be met. You deserve to take up space and have your voices heard. Getting healthcare is so difficult, and we deserve better. We will not be silenced.

No new WIP pics this week because I apparently can't read a calendar!

However! We are officially 130 days from C2E2 and yours truly is attending! Not as a vendor, sadly, but I'd like to make my own cosplay for the occasion. To do so, though, means time away from my crafting, so we're going to play a fun game to track progress towards the cosplay AND the con (which is why it's so high). As funds are raised/set aside, we'll color in the corresponding item until either the goal is reached or it's con time. This will be an ongoing goal until April 9th! Let's go!

if you didn’t realize, ableism is actually bigotry and systemic ableism and inaccessibility are really oppression and it’s not something disabled people brought on ourselves by having bodies&minds that you think are inferior and therefore not worth fighting for. disabled people’s lives and wellbeing matter. we don’t have to earn our worthiness by doing “enough” to deserve a good life. nobody does.

Bananasaurus Rex keychains! 🍌🦖 Ready to ship on my Etsy: kuebikokrafts.etsy.com

i feel like disabled people are expected to tolerate and put up with things that able-bodied people aren't. (in my experience and from what i've witnessed).

disabled people shouldn't be expected to put up with ableism, rude comments, invasive questions, and just bad faith remarks in general.

we're people with boundaries and emotions, but firstly, we're people. we shouldn't be held to a different standard of what we should think is okay. we don't exist to educate or inform. we're allowed to not answer a question, even if you meant it well.

disabled people aren't mean for setting boundaries or having their caretakers/caregivers set boundaries for them if they are not able to set them themselves.

we're allowed to have privacy.

Hygiene as an Autistic and ADHDer

A.J’s Brain

Show, don’t tell

"Show, don’t tell" means letting readers experience a story through actions, senses, and dialogue instead of outright explaining things. Here are some practical tips to achieve that:

1. Use Sensory Details

Tell: "The room was cold."

Show: "Her breath puffed in faint clouds, and she shivered as frost clung to the edges of the window."

Tell: "He was scared."

Show: "His hands trembled, and his heart thudded so loudly he was sure they could hear it too."

2. Focus on Actions

Tell: "She was angry."

Show: "She slammed the mug onto the counter, coffee sloshing over the rim as her jaw clenched."

Tell: "He was exhausted."

Show: "He stumbled through the door, collapsing onto the couch without even bothering to remove his shoes."

3. Use Dialogue

What characters say and how they say it can reveal their emotions, intentions, or traits.

Tell: "She was worried about the storm."

Show: "Do you think it'll reach us?" she asked, her voice tight, her fingers twisting the hem of her shirt.

4. Show Internal Conflict Through Thoughts or Reactions

Tell: "He was jealous of his friend."

Show: "As his friend held up the trophy, he forced a smile, swallowing the bitter lump rising in his throat."

5. Describe the Environment to Reflect Mood

Use the setting to mirror or hint at emotions or themes.

Tell: "The town was eerie."

Show: "Empty streets stretched into the mist, and the only sound was the faint creak of a weathered sign swinging in the wind."

6. Let Readers Infer Through Context

Give enough clues for the reader to piece things together without spelling it out.

Tell: "The man was a thief."

Show: "He moved through the crowd, fingers brushing pockets, his hand darting away with a glint of gold."

7. Use Subtext in Interactions

What’s left unsaid can reveal as much as what’s spoken.

Tell: "They were uncomfortable around each other."

Show: "He avoided her eyes, pretending to study the painting on the wall. She smoothed her dress for the third time, her fingers fumbling with the hem."

8. Compare to Relatable Experiences

Use metaphors, similes, or comparisons to make an emotion or situation vivid.

Tell: "The mountain was huge."

Show: "The mountain loomed above them, its peak disappearing into the clouds, as if it pierced the heavens."

Practice Example:

Tell: "The village had been destroyed by the fire."

Show: "Charred beams jutted from the rubble like broken ribs, the acrid smell of ash lingering in the air. A child's shoe lay half-buried in the soot, its leather curled from the heat."

Gotta catch 'em all! Well, at least the Eevee-lutions 💜 it's Pokemon week this week here in the workshop! Working on finishing up these lil guys!

Pattern by @53stitches (I love her work, in case you couldn't tell)

Pokemon free version: 53stitches.com/category/pok...

Pokemon paid version: www.ravelry.com/patterns/sou...

People so often talk about parallel play as a thing children do, but adults do it too! I love just hanging out with others while we do our own things. The fact that we're not doing something together doesn't bother me. It's simply being together that's important.

Already have some of these but have definitely been looking more closely at noise canceling headphones and chewelry for these exact reasons...

Autism and ADHD Gift Guide

Neurodivergent_lou