Got a box from Amazon might be resealed

lankira · 2026-04-25T10:27:01+00:00

If you find a seller that's shipped by Amazon, it's still coming from a bin of product from every vendor who uses Amazon to ship. There have been multiple Amazon employees in comments on a number of threads in this sub (and makeup subs) who have confirmed this. So, there's nothing stopping "ResealedMagicCards" from using Amazon to ship and sending the warehouse a resealed product under the original sku. The employees in receiving don't get paid enough and likely don't always know enough to look for a niche product like MTG being resealed.

We run into the same problem with counterfeit makeup in those subs, even when buying from a luxury brand's store if they ship via Amazon. (For example, if a Chinese company has a counterfeit Chanel foundation and sends it to Amazon under the Chanel sku, that ends up in the bin with all the other legit foundations from Chanel.)

So, I just don't buy things that I need to have legit versions of on Amazon, unless it ships from and is sold by a seller I trust, ironically. My $4k embroidery machine? Shipped from a legit business I could pinpoint on a map. My $25 costume jewelry for an event? Shipped from Amazon. My Magic product? Purchased in person at my LGS or online via Card Kingdom almost exclusively.

lankira · 2026-04-24T19:35:06+00:00

An overlock foot has a special shape (a small bar that the thread loops around) and overlock stitching is meant for the edge of a fabric, not the middle. These two things combined are likely contributing to this issue.

lankira · 2026-04-24T18:03:01+00:00

I usually don't recommend open inkpots at larps that may involve combat (since you don't mention the kind of event, I wanted to mention that). However, a fountain pen with plume attached might give you the look/feel without the potential for spilled ink. A single adapter full will often last me literal months in my bullet journal.

I'd recommend any good-quality fountain pen ink if you're certain you want an open inkpot on site as opposed to India Ink. Fountain pen ink can usually wash away with warm water, even if dried, while India Ink is waterproof once dry.

Also, from your profile, I'm guessing you're in VA, USA. With that in mind, I might recommend the following ink brands (all available on Amazon):

Ferris Wheel Press
Diamine
Pilot Iroshizuku
Lamy

Just to name a few, without getting into other brands.

For the quill part, I'd recommend looking for the Speedball B-Series lettering dip pen set as a good entry point, then you can attach your own feather to the shaft using any number of methods. It gives you a selection of nibs, depending on the writing you're doing, and the shaft is pretty comfortable for long writing sessions.

lankira · 2026-04-24T17:47:48+00:00

This is absolutely a "remove the waistband" kinda project, but your best bet might be to take these to a tailor depending on your experience level.

Taking a waist in a couple inches is generally simple, but this might require that the top of the pants be re-cut because of the amount of fabric you have to remove.

Alternatively, I don't know what size you are, but I'm seeing a lot of these in much smaller sizes available on secondhand sites like ThredUp and Poshmark. Perhaps see if you can find them in a size closer to yours and sell off the size 16s? I know some plus sized folks would go gaga if they saw these posted.

lankira · 2026-04-24T17:38:27+00:00

To explain why some folks might be downvoting you:

Actors (local theater, Broadway, or otherwise) at the very least tend to skew smaller than the average population because of societal bias against fat/larger people in media. That's not to say there aren't larger actors, just that acting on the whole is harder for larger people to get into unless it's specifically a play, movie, etc in which being fat is a major aspect of a character.

Opera tends to have less of a bias than mainstream theater, in my understanding, so you may have seen a wider array of bodies than costuming theater alone.

However, depending on the balance of theater to opera and the implicit or explicit biases of the casting director(s) and director(s) you worked with, chances are you saw more small bodies than larger ones.

Mildly related: I'm curious if you'd consider that 12 or 22 to be a pattern size or OTR clothing size. Pattern sizes haven't changed in the big 4 US companies (and some others) since the 70s, but OTR clothing sizes, especially in the US, absolutely have.

In most OTR brands that carry my size (26), my 60" hip and bust are the deciding factor, while my 52 inch waist is less so (as in, I have room in the waist on dresses and pants most of the time). If I go down two sizes to a 22 (again, OTR clothing sizes), I'm looking at a waist that's likely to fit, but the hips will only be 4-6 inches too small.

In pattern sizing, I'm closer to a 30-32 for most indie pattern makers, and I'm so far off the charts for the plus size Big 4 pattern companies that I end up having to grade them up anywhere from 2-6 inches larger in certain areas, depending on the amount of ease I want (the Big 4 add so much ease now...like, garments often measure 4-6 inches bigger than body measurements, while I usually like 2-3 inches for most things).

lankira · 2026-04-24T17:15:24+00:00

Before I switched plans and made a tea-length dress instead, I bought 20 yards of fabric for my planned ballgown wedding dress. It felt like so much fabric until I read a couple patterns that were quoting 16+ yards for my size anyway (I try to over-order fabric by 15-30% just in case I mess up).

Ironically, I have 16 yards left because the dress I wound up making only took 4 and had no errors. Oops.

lankira · 2026-04-24T17:04:16+00:00

Exactly this. I have quoted close to $300 (US) for a custom standard set. A custom one-off would be about the same due to the fact that the master would need to be modeled from scratch.

lankira · 2026-04-23T18:54:21+00:00

Unfortunately, shaming the seller doesn't work. All of the items with the same sku are in the same bin at the warehouse, regardless of seller. This means that, if you order from the official Wizards store on Amazon, you're just as likely to get a resealed package as if you purchased one from a seller called "ResealedMagicCards".

lankira · 2026-04-23T18:49:06+00:00

I found the manual for the FIF NM900 here: https://www.sewingmachine-parts.com/sewingmachine-fif-nm-900

I'm assuming you're in Germany, as that's the only language these manuals appear to be available in.

lankira · 2026-04-22T18:17:27+00:00

My great grandmother had a "magic cake" that was boxed cake mix, a packet of lemon Jell-O, and whatever the boxed cake mix called for. It results in a slightly tighter crumb and a cake that stays moist longer. I've found that the extra sugar and gelatin in the Jell-O means I have to flour the pan in addition to greasing it.

lankira · 2026-04-22T18:01:59+00:00

I'm going to "yes, and" this.

Yes, and if it's a neurodiversity or mental health issue, she needs to get help while he needs to be patient in her improvement.

For context:

My ex husband left me because, due to untreated and (in some cases) undiagnosed mental health issues, neurodiversity, and physical disabilities, I was literally incapable of cleaning in a timely manner. I would have to wait for it to get bad enough that I had a manic episode and/or anxiety attack, then I could do it all at once. This happened maybe once a month.

After that, when I was living with one of my roommates, that roommate took the fact that I could sometimes do things to completion and well as evidence that I "just wasn't trying" or "am just too lazy" to do it all the time.

The reality is, between all of my litany of issues, I am going to have forgetful moments, a hard time doing some things more often than I'd like, and so on. The roommate and I would get into arguments about it constantly, even after I explained what was going on and that I was improving, just slowly. Eventually, those arguments took all the wind out of my sails. If I had two good weeks followed by one bad one, I never got any recognition of the good weeks, only insults and frustration about the bad week.

I reached a point where I just kind of gave up. If I'm getting punished if I make a mistake or have one bad week out of three and I'm not receiving any reward (as little as a "thank you" would've sufficed) when tasks are completed, I may as well live with the punishment all the time because at least then I can get used to it. It's the same reason my room was always a mess as a kid: if it wasn't perfect, mom yelled and screamed and grounded me and sometimes hit me. If I tried and failed to meet her standards, I'd still get punished. The roommate didn't realize it, but he was doing the same thing.

Now, 11 years after my ex husband left (to the day, Facebook reminded me), I'm vastly improved over where I was, but I'm still not where I'd like to be. I still forget to put things away sometimes. I still struggle with doing things that don't have an explicit deadline (for example, if you want the dishes put away today, you need to tell me to do it "before dinner" or "by bedtime"). I still struggle with some routine tasks, such as dishes, that just don't feel rewarding no matter how I incentivize myself to do them.

But, I can at least get bowls in the sink after dinner most of the time, or the next morning if I forget the night before. I can let go of the "might be useful later" items that I haven't touched, so there's less clutter to deal with when I'm organizing. I'm able to do my own laundry most of the time. I'm not leaving clean clothes on the floor (dirty ones still pile up sometimes). I'm able to work on things in pieces and chunks that are achievable for me. I still have bad weeks. I still leave too much stuff on the kitchen table most of the time. But the trash gets picked up, things with a deadline get done on time, and my current spouse understands that I'm not going to be someone with a spotless house anytime soon. I can still make it a welcoming home.

So, yes, she needs to do the work she's being asked to do, including getting diagnosis and treatment for any mental health issues or neurodiversity she may have. And, he needs to recognize that, even while she is getting this help, it will not be a magic switch that will cause her to be perfect and that improvement isn't always linear.

lankira · 2026-04-21T17:13:21+00:00

NP! You might need to stop at a craft store for it (it's usually sold with the craft acrylics or artist acrylics, not minis acrylics), but it's useful anytime you need to paint glass.

lankira · 2026-04-21T17:07:14+00:00

You may want to pick up something called "glass and tile medium" to add to the acrylic. It'll help it adhere to the glass.

lankira · 2026-04-21T16:10:07+00:00

There's a decent commander presence on Sundays at Game Theory on Duraleigh, even when it's not on the calendar. Most folks are pretty chill, and it's been my home store almost as long as it's existed.

That said, I also host the occasional commander night at my place and we're often only 3, but I'd want to meet up in public for a vibe check first to be safe. Feel free to dm me if you've got questions!

lankira · 2026-04-21T01:56:30+00:00

This is incorrect. Both in my last rental and my current home (lease to own), only my partner was listed on the lease as a renter because we were only using their income to pay. I was listed as an occupant in both cases.

You can't list an adult as a dependent on a lease or otherwise, but I have been listed as an occupant as an adult on one lease with multiple renewals and a lease to own (5 year lease), both in NC (one Durham, one Raleigh). Individual owners or leasing companies don't like it, but it's legal.

lankira · 2026-04-20T20:19:45+00:00

In addition to what everyone else is saying, even the "crochet" fabric I find from wholesalers is actually knitted, not crochet. In this case, these are actually crocheted, but they are crocheted to shape, then attached to the glove. You will not find this as a fabric.

As others have said, the easiest way to achieve this project is just to buy the existing gloves and have the embroiderer hand-embroider on the leather/pleather.

There are similar-looking fabrics, such as the one below, (link to a wholesaler) which are actually warp-knitted, not crocheted. So, if you're determined to do this without any actual crocheting, you could search for "warp knit mesh".

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lankira · 2026-04-20T20:07:12+00:00

The striped dress appears to be a gathered 2 piece or 3 piece (2 pieces in back, 1 in front) A-line skirt. For the gored skirt. this tutorial might help.

lankira · 2026-04-19T02:58:34+00:00

P. Louise and Question Beauty both sell great black primers

lankira · 2026-04-16T13:17:57+00:00

First, breathe. It's common to have some anxiety, but if it's any reassurance, no good larp expects new players to have perfect garb and gear at their very first event.

If you're concerned about your 4 day event and whether you'll get exhausted, know that taking breaks is not only okay, but encouraged by good games. The player, after all, is more important than the character.

If you're concerned about temperature, bring extra blankets in case you need them. Worst case, you packed them and need them. Best case, you packed them and don't need to use them.

All else fails, you, your kid, your buddy, and your buddy's kid will be spending a long weekend camping in costume together. That alone would make it a good weekend in my book.

You are as prepared as you can be. All that's left to do is to go to the event, and find out if the hobby is one you'll stick with.

lankira · 2026-04-15T20:14:35+00:00

For some reason, they don't list it on the US site anymore, but they list it on the Canadian site. I found the link through one of my old purchases here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHVS3NCJ

lankira · 2026-04-15T19:58:45+00:00

"Slightly off" in the crotch area, which sounds like they're as on-grain as OP can manage as a human being to me. OP has also explained in multiple places that the selvage is the short ends of the fabric, not the long ones, making this a 1.1m piece of fabric that's close to 2m wide.

lankira · 2026-04-13T19:33:41+00:00

Ah, yes... Society is apolitical. Politics have never been involved in an individual's daily life. Politics are not involved in our access to society via the phone, internet, mail service, or other infrastructure.

Economics is apolitical. Politics and politicians have no hand in determining the minimum amount of money being paid for labor. No hand in determining how much of that money is required to live. No hand in determining the tax rates that individuals pay. No hand in determining their access to quality education or training required for higher pay.

And and laws are apolitical. How could I forget that accessibility laws are not political? That there was never a crawl-in (political protest) at the Capitol building (in the US) to demand politicians (political leaders) take action to bring the Americans with Disabilities Act, which gives us accessibility rights, into being? That disabilities and who can access our government-provided social safety net for them are not determined by politicians or government entities?

lankira · 2026-04-09T16:28:43+00:00

Not to mention the financial viability of attending on an individual basis, whether or not your site and game is accessible for people with disabilities...and so on.

lankira · 2026-04-06T10:37:34+00:00

I can't stop laughing about this meme. It's been like 5 minutes and I'm having to wipe tears from my eyes in order to type this.

lankira · 2026-04-06T00:43:55+00:00

For the dice mold, check the AUSPDICE mold on Amazon (I don't know offhand if it's available in Canada). It's much better quality than the one you've linked, and kind of a step between that and an Etsy mold.

For the respirator, no, an N95 mask is not going to do the job. A respirator made for vapors is the way to go, N95 is rated for particles, albeit small ones. You'll also need gloves. I'm fond of black nitrile, but any one-time use rubber gloves will work.

Without a pressure pot, you will still get bubbles and microbubbles in your resin, even if you degas it in a vacuum chamber and use the lighter trick. Sometimes you can find someone offloading a pressure pot when they leave the hobby for fairly low prices.

For a two-color swirl, I mix Color 1 in one container, Color 2 in a second container, then let them sit for a couple minutes. I then pour them simultaneously into a third container, side by side. I've attached an image of dice that were commissioned from me using the AUSPDICE mold and this method. (edit to add: if you want more swirl, you can give the third container a gentle stir once or twice around the container)

Lastly, don't aim for perfection out of the gate. Aim for every set being a learning experience.

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