karolatea

[karolatea]

Musings on Minimalism and Cluttercore

Disclaimer: I’m neither a practitioner of minimalism nor cluttercore. Please feel free to let me know if I’m getting it all wrong. 

For the past five years or so I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of stuff I own. Moved house which is easier with less boxes, and if you have less stuff you need less space to put it all, which means a smaller -cheaper- apartment. So I also spend some time watching videos on minimalism, decluttering, KonMari, etc. 

Second disclaimer: When I say “minimalism” I’m referring to “practical minimailsm”. Less stuff owned. Not aesthetic minimalism, plain colours, simple designs etc.

I never really liked aesthetic minimalism much personally, instead I adore the aesthetic of Ghibli movies. So a few days ago I stumbled across “cluttercore”, which also seems to be inspired by that. So, I thought, what would a minimalism cluttercore room look like? But ask google that and it’ll inform you they’re entirely opposing concepts. I only found a single article that sees some common point. https://minimumman.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/cluttercore-vs-minimalism/ If there’s any others, please share!

However I think that practical minimalism and aesthetic cluttercore have a lot in common, and are, indeed, compatible.

Firstly, a lot of the pictures I found for “cluttercore” are of small rooms. Often what looks like a teen bedroom: Which functions not just as a bedroom, but also as an office and a living room. So of course they’ll be a bit more full of stuff. Even if you don’t own a lot of stuff, you’ll need some for daily life. And if your whole life essentially happens in one room (as is the case for a lot of children/teens/young adults in their first student apartment) all that stuff will be there. Making it inherently look a bit more cluttered.

A lot of pictures you find searching for “minimalist” are of big empty rooms. If you count “space” as “stuff” too you could even argue that a tiny cluttered room is more minimalist than those huge empty rooms.

But you could probably also make a tiny room with lots of stuff look uncluttered by hiding it all in drawers and behind closed doors. However, one other point I often encountered in the minimalist videos is to actually use the stuff that you do have. Wear the clothes you own instead of having them hang at the back of the wardrobe, etc. So how does that apply to things like sentimental items, things that don’t have a direct “use”, but you still own? (Which some minimalists may tell you to throw out, but at least the videos I watched absolutely endorse keeping some of them.) I’d argue the way to get the most use out of the things you own would be to display them. See them every day. If it brings you joy, why hide it in a box?

Since cluttercore main focus isn’t a coherent design, like colour scheme, you also don’t have to buy specific things or redecorate to match that style. Just use the things you already have, or whatever you can thrift for cheap. This ties in with the ideas of sustainability, buying less, that a lot of minimalists also follow.

From what I gathered cluttercore mainly aims to show your personality, to create a room that tells a story about you. With sentimental items as decoration, or also things strewn about that you use daily. Which sounds like you could easily do that with few items as well. Both ideas make you think about the stuff you own and your relationship to it. Minimalism with the aim of getting rid of what you don’t need, cluttercore with the aim of highlighting the things that are important to you. So not only can you do both, they actually complement each other.

Maybe you don’t just want a room that shows your individuality, but actually like the “cluttered” aesthetic, while also not wanting to own a lot of stuff. Of course, with very little stuff you might not have a room looking the same as one filled with collections of toys, flowers, and other pretty things. But start with a wallpaper with a busy pattern, same for curtains, carpet/flooring, bedding, and any other large surfaces, and the room immediately looks more lively. Keep the book you’re reading on top of the nightstand and pens on top of the desk instead of in the drawers underneath, other things on open shelves instead of in boxes or behind closed doors, maybe even a wardrobe with a glass door. Adding pictures/posters to the walls or doors is technically adding stuff, but c’mon, a bit of paper isn’t exactly a lot of physical mass. Boom, cluttercore aesthetic with minimal stuff.

Which a lot of the pictures I found actually seem to mostly be. Sure, there’s quite some purely decorative items or collections, but a lot of the visual clutter actually just comes from pictures and every day stuff being out in the open.

Last disclaimer: This is just random thoughts. I’m not here to judge anyone’s personal interior design tastes or anything. My walls are white and empty and my shelves full of books I haven’t read.

Another article I read: https://lifehacker.com/you-can-embrace-cluttercore-without-your-house-looking-1849079164

A video I watched: https://youtu.be/VL58h47_QIU

Some pictures of cluttercore bedrooms:

https://media1.faz.net/ppmedia/aktuell/629409008/1.8757823/default-retina/mehr-ist-mehr-statt.jpg

https://media.homeanddecor.com.sg/public/2023/02/cluttercore-meaning-singapore-decor-3.png?compress=true&quality=80&w=480&dpr=2.6

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/a91/b3b/a32eb3461261800c2998c1e03f0492ef3d-Cut-Cluttercore-LEDE.rhorizontal.w1100.jpg

https://www.myhomebook.de/data/uploads/2023/02/gettyimages-83175491-1040x690.jpg

[karolatea]

How to fashion, update 1

So far I watched some fashion/capsule wardrobe YouTubers, mainly on how to plan a capsule wardrobe, how to combine & balance outfits, and some general fashion advice. Neither of them are really my style, but I found Emily Wheatley and Justine Leconte quite helpful. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU2SWKXVKafCu3OXok2IHuw https://www.youtube.com/c/Justineleconte/featured

Some notes I’ve taken from those: Have a few base colours + a few highlight colours, not a full rainbow Different textures/fabrics, not just different colours Balance colours. Two items of the same colour to pull the look together (like shoes & belt) Make a list/chart of what pieces you need/how many & specify colour etc Maybe a chart of combination options? Anchor pieces: Fave items to revolve the wardrobe around Buy whole outfits, not single pieces (or with a full outfit/combinations in mind)Think of 5 outfits that item can fit in!

I also signed up to pinterest and been generously pinning things. Not necessarily whole outfits, sometimes it’s just one interesting piece I like (either on its own, or in an outfit) or just the general ‘vibe’ of a look. https://www.pinterest.de/kaytea666/pins/

I made a chart of what I like about each style, and what about that could maybe work for both.

(Also btw, I’m fully aware “victorian” or “grunge” might not be fully accurate terms, but for sake of simplicity that’s the words I’m using lol)

I also started a list of potential items:

basics: nice shirt (black, white, dark green, burgundy, pinstripe?) possibly a bit larger/poofy sleeves flannel shirt (can be used as a shirt or as a jacket, black, maybe dark green) long sleeves (maybe also turtleneck, black, white (to wear under stuff), green/burgundy/grey? knit?) tshirts. duh. (find if there’s some nice looking ones? idk? patterns? or for work?) a nice coat (winter? maybe dark green? jacket style?) blazer/jacket? maybe? black/dark colour? or cardigan? tartan? waistcoat? (grey/black tweed? works well with fancy, kinda as a ‘statement piece’ in the more chill style? colour?) short-ish (around knees?) skirt (black) high waisted trousers with buttons, black, old fashioned, maybe? flannel/cord/something thicker?

accessories: neckties (flashy/printed, maybe) suspenders (red/bold green/purple?) nice scarves/kerchiefs (also to be worn as a belt?) tartan scarf? chokers/ruffles with coloured ribbons wide belt of sort (to be worn as a belt, but also as accessory? instead of waistcoat?)

Also (as might be already apparent): I’ve decided on colours: Black (mainly), white, burgundy/dark purple, dark green.

[karolatea]

How to fashion?

tldr: Maybe someone here can help with a conundrum I'm having: I do have an idea of what my style is/what items I like... or well, styles. My issue is that depending on the day I'll want to wear vastly different things. Say, on one end there's punk/grunge and on the other a very proper Victorian inspired style. I'd still like to be able to wear both, without needing two completely separate wardrobes. So ideally having some pieces that fit into both styles, depending on how they're combined/accessorised, probably? I don't really know *anything* about fashion, and never really bothered much about building a wardrobe one way or the other, so absolutely any pointers would be welcome, if someone here has managed to deal with a similar situation :) Here’s a lil (long) rambly video elaborating a bit: https://youtu.be/5BCGEeCff-k

Where I come from: I’ve always struggled finding clothes that fit 100%, which kinda taught me to settle for compromises or not bother looking for what I want from an early age. I was never one of the cool kids, and didn’t try to be, so that ‘social’ aspect didn’t really push me into fashion, and I wasn’t really interested in current trends either. As a rebellious teen I started wearing lots of black, band shirts, that sort of stuff. A bit later I discovered Lolita, the first time I really got interested in a ‘fashion style’, and started wearing skirts and shirts, eventually abandoning jeans entirely for over a year. I did sew one Lolita outfit, but decided that while I love the style, it’s not one for my personal everyday life. My family brought me up with a mindset of avoiding wastefulness, so while I was never a full minimalist, I do usually keep my clothes quite long, until they break/don’t fit/I REALLY don’t like them anymore. Which leads to me still having items from when I was like 12 years old (almost 15 years ago), as well as all the styles I tried along the way. As I started buying my own clothes and becoming more conscious of the world I got into sustainability, so I try to only buy eco-fair or second hand clothing. While second-hand clothing exists in all sorts of styles (if you can find it), eco-fair clothing is usually quite limited in style (usually basic/hipster/minimalist). 

Where I’m at: I know very little about fashion. My wardrobe consists of mix-matched pieces, a few of which I really like, but most are just functional. Pretty much none fit 100%. There’s a bunch of plain t-shirts (mostly for work), jeans are a staple, then other random bits. Colours are mostly black and grey, with just a few colourful items. Aside from t-shirts I don’t need any clothes for work, as we have a uniform I change into. So my daily needs are entirely dictated by my leisure activities… which I currently don’t have any of (*the situation*) and had very little before as my last job didn’t leave much free time. However generally I tend to not ‘do’ much. Just walk to the shop, maybe walk to a sport club (and change into gym clothes), if I ‘go out’ it’s usually just sitting at a pub. I do still love both the rebellious teen as well as the fancy shirts and skirt style. But I don’t really have many items to form full outfits for either of them. On any given day I tend to feel either like dressing up full fancy, or full raggedy. A mix of that is also cool, but not usually what I’m in the mood for. Given that my interests have changed so little over the past 10 years (as in, I still like both grunge-ish and victorian-ish fashion) I’m fairly confident it’ll also stay that way for a while, or at least similar. 

What I want: I want to build a wardrobe that I love or at least like all of the pieces and outfits in. (Probably excluding functional wear for gym/work.) I want to be able to create several outfits in each of the ‘major’ styles I like, the victorian-inspired and the grunge-ish, so that I could wear each of them for at least a week straight without needing to wash. At the same time I want to keep the space used up by clothes small, so ideally most (or many at least) pieces would work in both styles depending on the combination or accessories. I’m ok with getting rid of old things that I don’t like (anymore), but I don’t want to contribute to the fast fashion industry, so I’ll be striving to get everything second hand. Since I’ll put all this effort in, I want the pieces to actually fit and also last. So I want to get things from physical shops where I can try them on to make sure they properly fit and look good on me. I’ll probably also be honing my sewing skills for alterations, or maybe even make things from scratch. 

What I don’t want (necessarily): While I do not want to need two complete wardrobes, I’m not necessarily striving for a full minimalist/capsule wardrobe. I just want to be fairly efficient. I don’t need to be ‘unique’. I just want to wear the styles I like, for myself. If a thousand other people happen to wear the same things, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t need to be ‘trendy’/’normal’ either. There’s definitely times I’d like to not stick out, and for those I will keep my jeans & t-shirts. But I’m used to being a little odd, and I’m ok with that. 

What the plan is (so far): Actually research some basic fashion. - How to combine things? - How to be efficient with wardrobe building? Look into the styles I like. - What do I like about each style? - Any commonalities? Collect pictures. Collect ideas for pieces that could work for both styles. Think of combination methods. - Also for a ‘hybrid’ style or various occasions (funeral/family gathering/casual work?) Go through current wardrobe and sort everything by: - Love. Definitely incorporate into new wardrobe. - Like. Keep, try and incorporate into new wardrobe if it works for now. Maybe replace with a better item later on. - Like for functionality. Keep, don’t bother incorporating. (Gym clothes etc) - It’s ok. Keep wearing for now, try and replace with actually nice things. (random t-shirts) - Get rid of. Things that have not been worn in a year and probably won’t ever again. Make a list of how many items needed (eg. 14 tops, 4 bottoms etc), see what’s already in the Love and Like pile, see what’s missing. Make a list of specific items to get. (eg. black, slightly oversized shirt with poofy sleeves). Think of at least 5 outfits for each item, preferably for each style. Possibly visualise. Go out and get stuff. - Buy second hand. - Go to physical stores and try things on for perfect style and fit. (aka wait till after covid) - DON’T COMPROMISE! Take your time. - If need be (and it will be) alter things. - Possibly even sew from scratch. Actually wear things. - Start wearing new things asap to figure out whether they were a good pick and to get more of them or maybe if the next piece should be a bit different.

[karolatea]

GOG.com Interview: Dave Gilbert (Wadjet Eye Games)

This week marks the culmination of one of the longest-running indie adventure game series. With the release of The Blackwell Epiphany, the fifth and final point-and-click title in Wadjet Eye Games maethaphysical murder-mystery series, the story of the medium detective, Rosa Blackwell, and her spirit associate, Joey Mallone, is now complete. All four previous adventures can be found in the package we call The Blackwell Bundle. Dave Gilbert, the founder of Wadjet Eye games, creator of Rosa and Joey, and the writer for the whole series joined us to answer some questions from GDoc, GOG.com blogger-in-chief.

GDoc: It seems that adventure games are in bloom, nowadays. But it also looks like that most developers took to reinventing and mutating the genre. You’ve got Telltale Games with their tremendously successful narrative-driven episodic series that offer only the most basic of puzzles and limited interaction compared to the adventures of old. You’ve got the recent Double Fine title, which keeps much of the classic point-and-click appeal, but also simplifies interaction. There’s the new Jane Jensen game that takes some punches from users and critics alike for poor art direction that falls far from the pixelated delight of Gabriel Knight. Even the fifth Broken Sword, deemed as true to its heritage, didn’t make a full return to 2D graphics and took on episodic form. How do you feel about all those directions that “your” genre of games has taken recently?

Dave: Honestly, I think it’s silly to pigeonhole adventure games as being one specific thing. An adventure game is - at its heart - just another way of telling a story. Saying that the genre has mutated and been reinvented is like saying films have mutated. Or books. Or plays. Or television. None of those things have to made in a specific way to be “right”, and neither do adventure games. There are many different ways to tell a story, and there are many different ways to make an adventure game. The problem comes when you begin innovating for innovation’s sake. If you want a 3D game, you need to USE that 3D in favor of the story. Not the other way around.

GDoc: Against this modern adventure gaming landscape, Wadjet Eye Games look like a conservative bastion of point-and-click tradition. Is this a conscious choice on your part, or is it just something that comes with the limitations of your medium of choice (AGS)? Do you sometimes feel like the guardian of the classic adventure game spirit?

Dave: It’s funny that people think my games are so true to the “classic” style. True, you’ve got the pixel art, but that is more of a budget thing then anything else! But aside from the pixel art, I try to be as modern as possible. And by which I mean that I can’t pretend that the internet doesn’t exist, and there’s no such thing as getting “stuck” in an adventure game if you don’t want to be. Back in the day, I happily spent months trying to defeat that evil wizard in King’s Quest three. Today? I might last five minutes before booting up Google. I can’t pretend that the majority of players don’t do this as well. My philosophy has always been that if you have to LEAVE my game to enjoy it, then I have failed. So I put less effort into the puzzles and more emphasis on exploration and immersion. I want the experience of playing it to be enjoyable.

GDoc: Here, at GOG.com we make a point of giving our users as much bonus content as possible with every release, while keeping the price of the game at standard tier, not the amount you’d normally paid for an “extended”, “collector’s”, or “gold” edition. So far, Wadjet Eye Games had a perfect track record in that department, with every single title released on GOG.com with at least a full bonus soundtrack. While The Blackwell Epiphany has been received extremely well by our community and it’s getting all the due acclaim for its great story and presentation, the release itself has been deemed a little lacking. You’ve seem to have taken the path many other indie devs are taking and kept all of the goodies as exclusive content for those, who chose to pre-order the game. It’s cool - we don’t judge. But could you elaborate on your motivation? 

Dave: I was honestly surprised at some of the reactions to the pre-order offer. The folks who buy my games early are the hardest of the hardcore fans, so why not give them something extra that they can enjoy? It seemed the very least I could do. Plus the extras were fun to make! I don’t see a problem with it, but perhaps I am misunderstanding the situation. 

GDoc: The story of Rosa Blackwell is the only game series in Wadjet Eye’s stable. All of the other titles were one-shots—including The Shivah, which you wrote yourself—and it doesn’t look like any of them is up in line for a sequel (or am I mistaken?). Rosa and Joey must have been a recurring part of your daily train of thought for at least eight years. Did you always know how their story is going to end? Did you develop an emotional bond with them, that would affect the way you wrote the conclusion?

Dave: I always knew how it was going to end! There were many plot points and situations that veered off from my original design, but I am very proud of the fact that I was always working towards the same ending. And yes, I definitely developed an emotional bond with them. Rosa and Joey have been a part of my brain and thoughts for almost a decade now. It’s very weird (and difficult) to let that go. I probably could have dragged it on forever if I wanted to (a “spook of the week” serial, type of thing) but it was definitely time.

GDoc: All of the Blackwell games are fully voiced, and are often praised for the quality of the voice work. You’ve spent a long time working with Rebecca Whittaker and Abe Goldfarb, the two fantastic talents that gave their voices to Rosa Blackwell and her opacity-challenged partner (I had to use that pun one last time!), Joey Mallone. Did pieces of their personality, their quirks, habits, likes, or dislikes had some influence on the development of the in-game characters?

Dave: Abe is Joey. Always has been! Abe and I have been friends since we were kids, and having his voice in my head definitely colored how I wrote him, since I know him so well. Rebecca, however, could NOT be more different from Rosa. Rebecca is 100x more confident for one, and has the filthiest sense of humor you will ever encounter. Pretty much everything Rosa is not. Plus I didn’t know her terribly well when she started voicing the character. It took a bit of time for both of us to grow into it. As Rebecca grew more comfortable with voicing Rosa, it became much easier for me to WRITE for her since I had a better understanding of the character’s voice. It was very synergistic.

GDoc: With The Blackwell Epiphany out the door, and the two upcoming games in Wadjet Eye’s pipeline being written by someone else, do you plan to get back in action right away, or do you plan on some well deserved vacation? With the name your label made for itself you could surely do well for some time just publishing games. So, some time off for Dave, or another story already floating around your head? A series even, maybe? 

Dave: Some time off, definitely! I never turn off completely - there are always a dozen ideas or so in my head - but I am quite drained from Blackwell Epiphany and I am happy to spend some time producing some other developers’ games for awhile! But eventually I will start to feel “the bug” and be chomping at the bit to work on my own stuff again. You could say it’s a cycle.

GDoc: There’s also this one thing I like to ask all of our guests, here at GOG.com Blog. Apart from Wadjet Eye’s homepage (and, of course, GOG.com ;-) ), what is the most exciting place in the internet for you right now? Something that’s new, something that’s happening, something that makes you tick—please share with our readers!

Dave: Does it make me sound really out-of-touch if I say I just discovered Tumblr? Well… I just discovered Tumblr. Make of that what you will.

[karolatea]

Intro Theme - Blackwell Unbound (composed by Thomas Regin)

An Historic Accordion Cover

[karolatea]

Rosa and Durkin share a moment of companionable silence.

This isn’t finished but I’m being parted from my PC for a week or so again, and since I had no idea what the hey I was doing for most of this picture, I may leave this and use what I learned on something new. We’ll see.

[karolatea]

To truly understand how utterly selfless Rosangela Blackwell is, you only need to know this:

In the quest to save souls from damnation she sacrificed not just one cup of coffee, but whole two cups of coffee.

On a freezing sleepless winter night.

[karolatea]

When I launched Blackwell Epiphany, I just stared at the start screen for a while and thought about the Blackwell Series. I started to feel a bit sad that this was confirmed as the final game of the series. It wasn’t your generic gaming experience, it features many good male and female characters, interesting subplots, and paranormal subject matter.

The series revolved around Rosangela Blackwell and Joey Malone. Rosangela can interact with ghosts, and Joey is a ghost who is spiritually bound to Rosangela. Together they help ghosts who are stuck roaming the world move on into the other realm. Helping these ghosts involves solving the mystery of who they were and how they died. It feels good to help these people in need. You get to help someone who committed suicide, many people who were murder victims, and people who just don’t want to let go of some unrelinquished sorrow they are holding onto. I really enjoyed how you went about helping people in the game and who I got to play as.

I liked Rosangela because she is not this generic female character you see in most other games. She has a mostly stern personality that contrasts well with Joey’s smart aleck persona. Rosangela grows from this meek, fearful individual into this mentally strong, confident badass. She is compassionate and always wants to do the right thing. It goes to show that characters can be more serious without making them seem less human or emotionally detached.

So many games are about control or power. Solving problems with violence. The Blackwell series was about helping people not through violence, but through compassion. So as I sat there staring at this start screen I realized that I was going to miss it, I was going to miss helping people this way in a video game.

[karolatea]

A week or so back, I stumbled across the Blackwell game series (or rather, finally got around to trying out one of the games I’d bought a while back in a Humble Bundle). It didn’t take long for me to get hooked - good games, with good artwork, good story (socially awkward book reviewer/aspiring writer Rosa Blackwell reluctantly teams up with 40s ghost Joey Malone; together, they fight crime help restless spirits into the afterlife) and an old-school point-and-click adventure game feel that brought me back to my days of playing Monkey Island.

If point-and-click detective ghost stories sound like something you’d be interested in, I wholeheartedly recommend checking these out even though the last one toyed with my poor heart in ways no game should ever be allowed to do. Alternatively, if you’re already a fan, do stop by and say hi - I could really do with more people to talk and vent all of my feelings to.

Regarding the art itself - I wanted to draw something Blackwell-related, and I wanted to practice my scenery. This felt like a natural choice.

[karolatea]

My mother is a die-hard conservative Republican. When I told her I had registered to vote, she rolled her eyes at me. When I asked why, she told me that “the worst thing for America is young, stupid liberals voting.” Liberals in the U.S. outnumber conservatives. The only reason Republicans win is because more of them vote. If you want us to win this upcoming election, get to the polls and vote, especially if you’re voting for Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Hillary has a lot more money and name recognition than Bernie does, so the primaries will be very important. Even if Bernie doesn’t win the primaries, Hillary being president will be a lot better than Donald Trump or Jeb Bush running this country further into the ground. Abstaining from voting in the general election because you don’t like Hillary will give the Republicans a victory on a silver platter and that is the worst thing that could happen right now.

[karolatea]

Reblog if you think a boy can wear a dress

[karolatea]

Thanks to Alina and Myriam for their awesome work translating so far. 

Now you can help!

Do you know some German? Hop on to the google doc and join the editing team. Just leave comments with your suggestions by selecting the text in question and then (in the top toolbar menu) going to Insert> Comment.

No German skills? Share and reblog, maybe some of your friends do! 

You can also just go comment and leave thank you love notes to the translators for their hard work. That would be cool.

[karolatea]

WHY!!!!! DO STRAIGHT MEN!! GET MARRIED!!!!!! IF THEY FIND HAVING A WIFE A BURDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[karolatea]

when you think about how differently you act and talk depending on who you’re talking to and you sit there wondering which you is the real you

[karolatea]

Man how can you not like beer

[karolatea]

[karolatea]

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE