So, I finally got my hands on a few pairs of safety eyes a few days ago and went to work on giving my pandas the gift of sight. Having never used safety eyes before, I quickly learned that it would be wise in the future to attach the eyes before assembling the whole head. I ended up with this monstrosity:
I had to tug and pull at the poor thing, which stretched out and exposed some of the whip stitches. And after all of that, the eyes still ended up off center! It doesn't look terrible, but it is definitely not want I intended. At least I can file the experience away in the "To Don't" folder -_-
Now that it is a confirmed bad idea to add eyes to an already-assembled panda face, I am left with this:
(the black spots you see are thread on the inside I still have to trim)
I don't want to disfigure this bear like the last one so I am trying to think of other things I can do with it. Maybe I could just string it on a chain and hang it off of my backpack or turn it into a satchel and fill it with dried flowers.
I also suppose I could give it a body still, although being eyeless AND limbless would be pretty messed up...or freaking cool. I can't decide which.
----------------------
Ever hear of Strawberry Marshmallow? It sounds incredibly suspect, doesn't it? It is a manga I read a few pages of while visiting my local comic book shop some months ago. Last week I found one of the volumes on the clearance rack and decided to make a grand splurge of two bucks to bring it home. Aesthetically speaking, it looks cutesy. Sickeningly so. It is all lace and ruffles and little girls sharing shortcake with each other. But when you actually read it, it becomes something else entirely. The oldest girl is a compulsive smoker at the age of 16. Some of them swear and engage in physical violence against each other. There is enough of a stylistic difference that it doesn't qualify as an Azumanga Daioh knock-off and I have tken enough of an interest to start reading it from the beginning.
The author is a man, so that may be what keeps it from being syrupy sweet. However, wikipedia seems to suggest that the series may have had origins in a publication of...questionable repute. I am not entirely sure what to make of this, since I have not experienced any creepy feelings reading the series so far. I know reading manga and watching anime in general desensitizes you to a lot of things that would otherwise freak someone else out (repeated panty shots, robots bursting out of foreheads etc), but I am fairly confident an alarm would go off if I am ever presented with something morally reprehensible (or, I hope so).
Does anyone else ever reflect on their entertainment choices in such a way, or am I just a worrisome geek for concerning myself with the moral implications of what I do in my free time? ^^;
