#(i bought it on sale btw. if that matters)

[gxlden-angels]

Christians: Nothing should be over the Lord! You should give your money to the church because it belongs to Him!

Me, deciding I love my cat more than Jesus:

[viulus]

So... I finally started playing Disco Elysium

[mcalhenwrites]

I was lamenting to a friend about how little I had read this year (compared to how much I wanted to). They mentioned that I was doing my best while juggling two jobs - which led to me adding that I work more than that. On top of self-publishing and my receptionist job, I do take art commissions and I sell amigurumi at events (hate that for me). I'm also going to be working at the dog treat bakery when it shows more profit. (Not a matter of "if" but "when" here, and that's likely within the next couple of months.) Then I pointed out that... I have read 90 books this year so far. It is actually 91, and almost half of them are manga/comics while the other half are novels.

A ton of the books I have read come from libraries, which still is good for authors! And it is very good for the libraries to show traffic. :) I have purchased some or been gifted books this year. I decided to take a photo of the ones I know I've gotten this year, though I can't tell you if they're all here. I remember buying two of these as a reward for publishing Geckos. Hahaha. I'm saving for a car, but sometimes it's nice to reward myself with a book every paycheck, if I feel like I can get away with it.

Oh, and I bought Reverie on kindle for $2 bc it was on sale and I had just started my new job, so I thought it would be an acceptable treat at that price. (Ryan La Sala posted about the sale and I was like, "Oh, I liked The Honeys! I should read that!") I'm really sad that I can't do more. When I was whining, I was partially upset bc I had hoped to catch up with reading online as well. I haven't been that great at keeping up with AO3. I have browser bookmarks of things I want to read just stacked up. There are some authors on tumblr I want to catch up with. I can tell you right now that I love Lily Mayne's stuff and wish I could buy the entire Monstrous series in one go instead of every few months or so with no idea when I'll get the next. I'd love to have more manga, esp if it stops getting published! (Too burned by the past on that one, now I fret about how many I probably will never own and aren't at libraries to read.) So yeah, anyway. I do want to be better! But I did move twice (states and then apartments) and acquire a job and do a ton of other things, I'm trying really hard to stay afloat financially. BTW... NOT buying a book every paycheck might save money in the long run, but is still isn't enough to buy a fucking car or a house, and I'd like to better tolerate my life in the 3000 years it would take for me to save for either one of those. And right now, I'm shifting more toward reading library books and avoiding any purchases of books to save a little. I haven't bought a book in... the last month or so? I'll be so happy when I'm finally secure enough to not just buy books from all the authors I love but afford to always preorder (this is very good for authors!) and gift friends books!!! And commission artists for all sorts of things! And buy prints! I'm gonna give all the love I can! (And in the meantime... if anyone wants to buy my books... hahaha... It would go for a car right now, not books, but hey, maybe if I sold 1000 copies of Geckos, I could also splurge on a nice box of books and hold a giveaway.)

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I don't think Layover did great tbh. Terrible on YouTube (including all his MVs, Tiny Desk, and music show performances), underperformed in the biggest music markets, did poorly on k-charts (that debut was abysmal compared to the other members), predicted for less first week albums in the US than D-Day despite an extra version (but waiting on chart). Here’s a chart I’ve seen floating around Twitter that gives a good idea. Probably need to verify some of it, but I think it’s mostly accurate...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6LDbz4bYAADB7M?format=jpg&name=medium

His fanbases started working really hard on his first week Spotify streams when they realized he wasn’t doing great anywhere else, so he ended up with higher first week streams than FACE and LC, but barely, and most of his streams came from SEA (which isn’t a big deal or anything, but a lot of it was definitely from mass streaming farms). He also had a massive day 8 drop and allegedly way lower than day 8 for FACE. And let’s note that Layover has one extra song instead of an interlude too. He’s also higher on some official album charts, but that’s only because FACE wasn’t eligible because it’s an EP. He had much bigger overall album sales, but we were expecting that with vbar. I think they bought like 840k? So over 1/3 of his sales.

Unless I’m missing some achievements or got something wrong (I haven’t kept up with everything), I think it was a pretty meh debut considering all the promo he did and the fact that he’s “the most popular member”. They only have those first week streams, pretty sure. LMA has had good longevity though, so I guess we'll see. And BTW, they’re saying his hot100 performance was hurt because of DC2 sales being gone, which, sure, but he had 50k Slow Dancing CDs to compensate, way more than LC, and they couldn't even completely sell them out. I think his stans were using VPN to buy on iTunes in the US too because a few days in he went from 1 to 44 on iTunes chart with no explanation and never recovered. Curious what his final sales end up being. I'm not saying he did bad, but I don't think it's really anything to brag about either... I haven't seen a ton of objective people talking about it though so idk for sure.

The spreadsheet is killing me hahahs #dedication. I would like to know the missing numbers and positions, tho! Still, thank you.

I knew about kcharts, youtube, albums, and first week on spotify for the album. I saw some number that I assume included his prereleases, and it really is nothing major considering the first tracks released, and the fact that it had one more song than face. Just five minutes ago I saw that on their 8th day, like crazy (combined) had the same number of streams as Taehyung's entire album??

Sidenote: if there's one thing I was forced to learn this year, is how much difference combined versions of a song can make.

I don't think he had that much of international promo, or at least I didn't see it. I know he's been to A LOTTT of korean shows, and also his promo for pre-releases was already longer than Jimin's, but I think he just comes across as a really uninteresting person so I don't know if people would actually tune in to his music, no matter how many times they see him on TV. He definitely got more than Jimin, that's 1000% for sure, even if we consider the MVs alone; he got the same thing Jimin was denied.

I knew he'd get more albums sales, because past experience. And I knew they'd try hard to stream to break some "records", even if it won't hold up for too long. I also knew he doesn't really have many fans in the US, (I still think Jimin's the most popular member there). I've also been saying since the day I opened this blog that his "popularity" is overrated and he's never really been in the same league as Jimin when it comes to music. I blew off so many people here who would come up to me and try to convince me he was competition to Jimin or better than him in some way.

I guess the only thing I'm surprised with is youtube. I got his tiny desk video on my homepage today (saved it to watch later) and it has less than 300k views.......... It's kinda crazy. I wonder if part of the reason he got his visual album was because his youtube numbers were usually better than everyone else's combined and they believed he'd do good.

Oh, and the songs credits. It's unbelievable to me that he did NOTHING on it. People who work on songs get credits even for writing two words, so I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that he didn't do anything at all.

I'm also curious if they would've restocked the digital CD had it been sold out, but my gut tells me they wouldn't have, or it would've been just one more, and a smaller batch.

[bodyfeels]

feeling emo and sentimental... i'm gonna share my new years resolutions... i already talked about them on peach but i might as well share here too... kinda long though but i think i'll make a tldr at the end

become face and body neutral - like throughout these last few months i took selfies and nudes of myself and i feel like by doing that i got more neutral towards how i look. like idk nothing gets done feeling so negatively about yourself. the selfies thing was honestly to also find my angles HAJSDFHSAF but also i'd like to take selfies better too. as for the nudes part like idk i think i will be keeping all that to myself but it's the same idea for my face i suppose, i look good and i feel neutral. i dont have to edit a selfie or a nude for my skin to be smoother or whatever like i look fine and i can just exist like Relax... also my cheeks are becoming rounder YES GOD!!!!

work out more - well i've already been working out anyways and this year i'm happy because i got to improve my core strength a bit so that's good. i do it so that way my back is not in pain and same goes for my legs so YAAAY for not being in pain

cook more - i've been very on and off about this....like heinously HJASHDFJASF uhm something that got me back into cooking though is fried rice like that will never fail me and this time i really got it down so YAAAS... i'd like to cook more in the future and get better at it... btw i dont think i talked about it but i got a new rice cooker and it is very good like yes god!!

play and clear my video games - i've been playing ff7r mainly lately and recently for christmas i bought project diva x on the ps4 on sale... i'd like to own a physical version of that game someday but everywhere is selling it for full price or whatever like i'm not paying that much for a flop game... well anyways i'd just like to play more beyond my silly mobile games and perhaps i'll even play MMOs... but i'd like to play the games i have on the consoles i have (psp, psvita, ps3/4, etc.) and just finish them or revisit others

animate more - okay i only really started doing that this year because of oomf's birthday and hatsune miku's birthday but i'd like to make more... i do have a lot of ideas but that all requires me to finish my 3d models speaking of which...

model more - i already kinda talked abuot this on my art blog but i did Technically model more compared to last year, only 3 models in 2022, this year i made 6... whoa... well i guess the amount doesn't really matter but i would like to really just practice more, finish projects, and let my 3d models come to life through my renders and animations

listen to more music - i already mentioned on my 12 tracks for 2023 post but i listen to music as a small way to engage with history. i started in 2022 and it's been a really fun journey listening to all this music and there's so much out there too.

gif more and possibly get into archiving? - ok i picked up gif making this year, i used to do them back in like... high school or whatever but then i just stopped. but then i realized this was a really good way of archiving. i'd like to actually scan things like scanning this yoshitaka amano artbook i have or even the f7d artbooks since that game is more than likely going to close this year...but i dont have a machine that scans and technically i could just take a silly picture off of my phone but idk i dont think it's the same. maybe one day but other wise i'll probably just stick with gif making

so basically it's just me keeping up with the stuff i've done recently or have been doing. unfortunately as of writing this i feel sad and maybe it's because i don't want this day to pass and for a new year to start but it will anyways whether i like it or not... le sigh...

anyways happy new years eve hope this new year will be better for everybody

[quaddmgd]

so... gaming update

lately i've been playing some mk11 ultimate, since it was on sale for less than $15. i beat the story, along with the aftermath, and i had a lot of fun. didn't enjoy aftermath as much - it seemed unnecessary, uneventful, and made me play as the worst baddies for a half of its runtime, but whatever (i would be upset if i paid $40 for it though). i love both cinematics and gameplay of the new trilogy so i'm always having fun with these games, even though i suck at them. i'm hyped to get mk1 whenever it gets all the kombat packs and a huge discount (because oh boy fighting games are always ripoffs at release).

yesterday i got (and already finished) alien hominid hd, which is my childhood game that i could never beat. after doing so yesterday, i'm clueless as to why it wasn't possible before. i can't remember what was the issue.

oh and i finished gta iv along with its episodes - these are always much more fun than the base game. i did enjoy the base game much more this time around... idk maybe i was prepared for how boring some of the missions are, but i had fun and that's what matters.

i'm thinking about doing another survival run in signalis. the first one was done on xbox, where i got it through game pass. i bought the game on pc a few months back and i shot some screenshots here and there, but i never started a proper playthrough. i want to get all the achievements in one run and after that i'll be able to finally take it easy and focus on the ritual ending (maybe shoot some screenshots along the way).

now, i'm down for some ps2 gaming and i wonder whether i should start god of war 2 or play gran turismo 3. i might do both, we'll see.

i've yet to play control dlcs btw. i might leave the one with references to alan wake for after we beat it with my s/o

[cherrydolyshirt]

This Girl Loves Her Dallas Cowboys and Her Beer shirt

They will know something of the social habits which the This Girl Loves Her Dallas Cowboys and Her Beer shirt and market, the smithy hearth, the shoemaker’s shop are dominating factors in forming. They will understand what it is to be concerned with cattle, and the elements, as others are with more mighty affairs. Out of the exigencies of ploughing, sowing, reaping, and gathering; of boon days and sale days; of shiftings and settlings; of hiring and term times they know what to expect and will not be annoyed by grossness, or deterred by affectations or their absence.

Buy It Now:                        This Girl Loves Her Dallas Cowboys and Her Beer shirt

Alabama Football Jalen Milroe 4 Shirsey T shirt

Trump vance rocker usa T shirt

Ravens Baltimore football players play like a Raven NFL Shirt

TOKiMONSTA Eternal Reverie Shirt

Green Bay Packers The NFL ASL Collection by Love Sign American Sign Language T Shirt

You know what almost all Christmas ornaments are made in China. However, I will say there are different qualities within that. Not saying the Me And Who Into The Sunset Anna Hofmann T shirt ones won’t be decent however you will get what you paid for- they won’t last forever that’s for sure. I bought a bunch of decorations last year from a store in Australia along the same line as Walmart. I bought them for a DIY pool noodle wreath I decided to give a go (not crafty at all btw lol) anyway they were pretty ordinary some of them I had to throw away, very cheaply made but I got what I paid for. Every year we go to Pottery Barn to buy a couple of new special ornaments, it’s become a tradition. They are gorgeous and the quality is very good, still made in China. Bottom line is if you want something that’s going to last forever and look the same each year, pay a higher price point at either higher end department stores, one off boutique stores etc. My ornaments from places like Costco and Cracker Barrel etc still look good too. If how long they last doesn’t matter so much then go for the cheaper stuff. Thanks for the A2A.

Home Page : Limotees

[strawberryclothing]

What Happens in the Shanty T Shirt

Official Frank Ocean Album Blonde Shirt I don’t leave everything up, but I do leave our tree up. All the Official Frank Ocean Album Blonde Shirt have a special meaning, and we like to look at them, talk about them, and remember the times associated with each one. Having that glittery, softly lit beauty in the front room just gives our house some cheer in the bleak days of winter. Also, we always get a live tree, and I can’t bear to trash it until it completely dries out. It takes a long time to decorate, so all that work seems more worth it if the tree stays up a long time. One year, I left it up until St. Patrick’s Day. Usually, though, it stays up until mid- to late February. As long as it looks fresh and healthy, I leave it up. I started this tradition about 6 years ago when we had an especially beautiful tree. The day after New Year’s Day as I was about to start the take-down, I remarked that I hated to do it because the tree was so pretty. My husband said, “Just leave it up, then, if it makes you happy.” So I did. We have three sons, and I like to think they will have memories of this tradition.

Best The breeders sep 26 2024 mission ballroom in denver co shirt Christmas decorations are a Best The breeders sep 26 2024 mission ballroom in denver co shirt affectation. Whether one puts them up or doesn’t put them up, whether one leaves them up or takes them down, whether they are put up in January or any other time before December, has no impact on the superstition defined as luck. Good luck and bad luck are merely characterizations of serendipitous occurrences that are random in nature but which leave us either going hooray (good luck) or lamenting the vagaries of uncaring nature (bad luck). But worrying about or praying about or hoping for either as the case may be, like astrology for example, is simply superstitious dreck. As a native yo the city I must say there are three a places that I would suggest to visitors to really get the best holiday scene amd spirit. My first pick is going to be Westfield Mall’s extended outdoor shopping area Union Square. Located at the corner of Powell and Geary in the heart of downtown San Francisco the Christmas spirit is reminiscent of the movie “A Miracle on 24th Street”. That is minus the snow.

Official Soja jul 31 2024 old national centre indianapolis in shirt You know what almost all Christmas ornaments are made in China. However, I will say there are different qualities within that. Not saying the Official Soja jul 31 2024 old national centre indianapolis in shirt ones won’t be decent however you will get what you paid for- they won’t last forever that’s for sure. I bought a bunch of decorations last year from a store in Australia along the same line as Walmart. I bought them for a DIY pool noodle wreath I decided to give a go (not crafty at all btw lol) anyway they were pretty ordinary some of them I had to throw away, very cheaply made but I got what I paid for. Every year we go to Pottery Barn to buy a couple of new special ornaments, it’s become a tradition. They are gorgeous and the quality is very good, still made in China. Bottom line is if you want something that’s going to last forever and look the same each year, pay a higher price point at either higher end department stores, one off boutique stores etc. My ornaments from places like Costco and Cracker Barrel etc still look good too. If how long they last doesn’t matter so much then go for the cheaper stuff. Thanks for the A2A.

Official Allezlesrouges Liverpool Not England Tee Shirt I would suggest that spending more often than not leads to the Official Allezlesrouges Liverpool Not England Tee Shirt of wealth, either by paying for goods expected to be sold right away, or in anticipation of sales in the future Either way, for the most part those things sold will not be produced or cared for if someone wasn’t going to buy them. Whether perishable items, most of which help preserve some more durable form of wealth, like human capital, for instance. Or durable forms of wealth are produced that will last beyond the current time period. It is the “spending” that encourages the increased production and preservation of wealth. So whether you spend it or not, in terms of money you will have the same amount of money at the end of the given time period. which we can refer to as savings.

Nice Smoke meat not drugs natural shirt No! It’s much too early for Nice Smoke meat not drugs natural shirt . I want to enjoy this fall (although it seems that fall has decided not to visit us this year) and each holiday as it comes. One year, ages ago, I put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend and by the time Christmas came around, all the decorations were dusty and I was sick of looking at it..lol. That was a good lesson. Christmas, for me, is sparkling snow, pine trees (not maples turning gold and red) and a very special time, especially if you have family (cherish them because some day they will be gone). It’s a time of selflessness and love and that “Christmas spirit” which is incredible which takes hold of you.

Penkmatters Oi Shirt So not only did they actually have their homes both have Hanukkah and Christmas decorations, but these very different families they happily and joyously hosted celebrations for Penkmatters Oi Shirt. What’s key here though is that what is meant by “Christmas.” Many people associate this holiday as a traditional Christian-themed, religious holiday with various Christian themes, decor, etc.. But many other people associate the holiday with snowmen, winter weather, reindeer, hot chocolate, egg nog (often with rum), various evergreen trees (artificial or real) festooned with glittering ornaments, pretty gift boxes under the tree, etc., or a secular (with Pagan roots in Saturnalia) winter holiday just a few days after the annual winter solstice. In fact, it seems to be a holiday that many non-Christians and even non-theists celebrate.

[elfynevans]

Heyyy, I've seen your pic with Mitch (love that so much for you btw!!!) and was wondering if you need an extra ticket to get pics and autographs at fe? Thanks in advance <3

hey!! Thank you!! It was a great experience hoenstly!

So they’ve changed for this year and basically when you buy your tickets you have to also tick a box saying you want an autograph session/pit lane walk. It’s free though!!

This also means they sell out like immediately like if you don’t buy the tickets in the first day or two they go on sale

(The only difference to this i’ve experienced this year was Misano where if you had tickets they sent an email the week before saying you could now sign up for the autograph pit lane sessions so didnt matter when you bought the tickets)

now though the IMPORTANT bit is, because you have to book so far in advance, people’s plans end up changing and they might not make the event/make the extra sessions. For example, I didn’t end up getting the autograph pit lane sessions for London but I am going to try and go right at the end of collection time to see if they have some spare. I noticed in Misano and Monaco that they had spare wristbands after the cut off time for collection.

Sooo if you haven’t managed to get the sessions in advance, I would head to the collection point at about the time it stops and ask if there’s some still available. Honestly the worst they can say is no.

I wish you luck 💖

[diah-the-demon]

yeah this really feels like we're somewhere on stage talking into a microphone as people pass by and can listen, but yeah agreed, it feels weird when it's not tumblr skljdlsk

ooh I hope you can go there then!! I've had one in my area for a few years that was star wars, star trek and doctor who focused and it was so much fun,, unfortunately with covid coming around it has ended </3 missing it greatly

and oh no D: yeah unfortunately the kids toys break so easily which surprises me ngl,,, you'd expect kids toys to be a bit more sturdy given that kids will play around with it wildly and ksljdslk omg that sounds adorable ngl!! I think I know which masks you mean, I still see kids wearing them every now and then around halloween or carnival

yeah,,, I've gottten a tiny bit better by now (and by that I mean: I will get it but feel bad about it instead of not getting it and feeling sad about that klsjdlsk) I hope you'll eventually get better with it as well! it's so sad how much stuff like this can linger on your brain TT-TT

yeah I think it said 7 more days, so I hope I'll have enough time bcs her shedule changed and now she's at work so I can't ask her TT-TT hopefully it'll last til the weekend when we could order it (if she says yes skldjslk I doubt she wouldn't but still skjdlsk)

okay, yeah, your bookshelf is definitely already cool! But yeah the helmets are going to make it even better, no matter where exactly they will be placed klsdjl

yeah you coudl probably figure it out on your own once you get the basics, even if it is for another set of armor at first! With the basic understanding that should definitely be doable!!

and hmm, I've not build armor yet myself (will have to do so eventually tho,,, I wanna cosplay one of HI3 Himekos battlesuits after all ksjdsl) but it does already sound like a solid idea!! but yeah until you know if it works or not you have an idea at least so that's a good start!

yeah im still not used to it but i think its quite nice to have smth like a constant conversation like this thats lasted almost a full day now jdsljkds, i think its a nice change of pace jdsklkjds

hopefully i can get there when its being held! im not sure when it happens each year but il look that up later and see if i can find dates (hopefully im not gonna be busy when it happens dsjlkkdsj) and awww that sucks, i hope they come back eventually it would suck if it died off forever </3

yeah idk why they were so fragile, they weren't big so i think they were probably childrens sized ones that we had, it doesnt make much sense to expect kids to not hit 2 lightsabers together in a duel like come on

IT WAS! i dont think i have any pictures of it sadly </3 i wouldnt have even had a phone yet probably i think so pictures would probably be on my mums phone

the mask was so cool, it even had a voice changer in it! it was fucking awesome, when you breathed it would replace it with the darth vader breathing sound AND it would even make you sound like vader when you spoke!! idk how something from when i was a kid was able to do something like that but it was awesome. sadly the voice changer in it died a while ago, it still slightly worked but not consistently last time i put it on D:

yeah hopefully we both fully get over it eventually, i probably start to until either her or i move out, but yeah its so weird how it stick in your head so long, i need to refresh my brain so i can get it out lkdsjdjsl

dont want to make you feel like you need to do it sooner but it said 7 days yesterday and also today.. i didnt check how long it was when i bought my stuff (i bought the stuff on the 5th) but it might've been 7 days still.. altho i guess by the weekend it would still be 7 days after that.. hopefully it is still on by the time you talk to her!! (just checked and it might be going on until they completely sell out?? its a clearance sale so maybe? idk id probably do it sooner rather than later just incase tho)

Oh btw when you do place your order they will email you to verify the card (send a picture of the last 4 digits to confirm. It is a little bit sus but ive seen no one say this one is a scam so i dont think it is, plus they cant rlly do much with only the last 4 digits)

thank you!! it will def look so much cooler when i get the helmets in! still need to figure out where i can put the 2 extras apart from ontop of the bookshelf cause too many on there doesnt seem too good idk

yeah that sounds like the plan il do for this, try the basics, might try doing clone trooper armour to begin with if its not harder than mandalorian cause il have captain rex's helmet! imagine a female clone trooper tho that'd be so cool (totally not so i can check out her tits shush jdskls, i mean there was a female clone of jango but she isnt a trooper, and is a child since i dont think she had the accelerated growth the others did? idk not that caught up in that bit of lore)

i think its probably what they are going to say to do, i doubt they would stitch/pin it right to the bodysuit cause that would be a pain to take off (imagine having to go to the toilet after putting it on that would be so annoying to take off skdjdslkj) if it all goes well il share the progress so you can take some tips on building the armour for himeko jlsdkdjs!!

[saal-school-project]

Part 2

6th grade

In 6th grade, I changed schools, so I didn't have many friends for the first few months, but my notebooks kept me company. I might sound like a loser here, but bear with me. I was really into horror games, movies, and stories back then, and it was around the creepypasta craze, so it didn't take long for me to join in on that too. (Creepypastas are short horror stories on the internet, btw), but keep in mind that I still didn't know any English, so my options were limited to whatever was available in Turkish, which wasn't much at all. So soon I ran out of actual creepypastas to read, and I was left with whatever self-insert romance fanfiction was written about the creepypasta characters. Great, now I'm admitting my dark past for a school project. To be honest, I don't regret it because the lack of good content available in Turkish eventually led to me learning English. There were a lot of creepypastas based on video game characters. I liked watching horror game let's play on YouTube, and I was really proud when I managed to pirate Minecraft to my mom's phone (admitting crimes now). So by extension, I got interested in video games in general, so in the summer of 6th grade, I decided to become a REAL GAMER by making a Steam account and buying some games. I also bought an ininal card because I didn't feel like convincing my mom to use her credit card. I exactly transferred 50 TL to my card and, after some not-so-thorough research, decided to buy the following games: Undertale because people recommended it to me; Hollow Knight because I'm a big fan of 2D animation; Don't Starve Together because I don't remember why; and Deus Ex: Human Revolution because I got leftover money and it was on a really big sale, so my cousin urged me to buy it.

I would try to play these games throughout the 6th grade's summer, but there were some problems. First of all, none of these games are in Turkish (I'm not sure, but that's what I remember; I'm too lazy to check). That fact didn't really matter for games like Hollow Knight and Don't Starve Together (as there wasn't much of a story), but it mattered for Undertale. Oh, I know, I could just use a Turkish patch (unofficial translation); it's not that I couldn't figure out how to do it. It's just that the game recently got a new update, and the patch didn't work with that update. As for the other games, Hollow Knight was pretty hard for a kid who never really played any proper video game other than Minecraft. On top of that, I didn't have a controller at the time, so I had to play it with the puny keyboard my laptop had, and that made it unplayable for me. As for the other two, I didn't like them very much. There was a learning curve to Don't Starve Together, and it just felt like Minecraft without the creative mode (which happens to be the part I like the most). I didn't even bother checking out Deus Ex because I randomly bought it and I don't like first-person shooters. So much so for becoming a gamer, I guess. But one day, while still in the summer holiday, there was a problem with the wifi for a few days, and it really got boring. So I played the games I downloaded before to kill time. I started playing Undertale. I looked up the words I didn't know (which were the majority of them) in a dictionary or something, and I wrote them down along with their meanings in one of my journals. I was pretty used to writing thanks to school being so boring, so my hand never really got tired of writing pages and pages of words. and I really took a liking to the game too! It took me a long time to beat it since I literally had to pause to write some words for every single dialog line, but I enjoyed it, so it didn't feel like a chore. Eventually, our wifi came back, but I continued playing. I also started watching more English content. I watched Lele Pons again, something I'm not proud to admit, but the lightness of the language used in her videos made it perfect material for a beginner like me. I also texted with the cleverbot. Lately, the chatbots are much more advanced, so Cleverbot isn't so clever anymore compared to them. I can't remember why exactly, but cleverbot had something to do with creepypastas I think. like there was a correlation between Cleverbot and Ben Drowned (a creepypasta character) for some reason? It's been years; I don't remember.

 I talked with the bot so much that I could literally predict what they would say with 99% accuracy, so it became boring, and I stopped talking to them. By the end of that summer, I had replayed Undertale for a different route and, for the first time, noticed that I could actually understand what it said without having to look anything up. It was a weird feeling in the best way possible. and I decided that I wanted to make a game too. The summer ended, and I started 7th grade.

[nanjokei]

on the point of materialism: i usually roll my eyes at people who complain about materialism but there is something kind of crazy to me about how people who are barely into something will run to spend money before theyre sure they even like it. like, i have been a honhima fan for half a decade now and only very recently did i start buying merch of her. this is mostly because i'm not a merch guy. ofc this is a more extreme case because i'm just stingy— but it's troubling when people enter a subculture space and immediately start buying things up without thinking things through.

oh, this is a good example: lolita dresses from brands being resold by their owners on ebay or hell even actual lolita spaces like in trade groups on facebook and the like. someone who has not learned how to make a cord or even how to wash or care for a dress and ends up seriously damaging it, either putting it back up for sale in a bad state or straight up throwing it away. this person bought it JUST BECAUSE, maybe they saw it on tiktok or something but they did no research on the culture or etiquette or how to even treat such an expensive article of clothing. i do believe some lolitas are too extreme— labeling anything left of the lolita bible "ita"— but for the ones that aren't just being mean old bessies who are only trying to protect the integrity of their favorite subculture (which has been under siege from sexual deviants wanting to appropriate the cutesy aesthetic, in a hobby where sexual subject matter is heavily de-empasized and is even seen as an escape from) (btw this isn't shaming what constenting adults choose to do but lolitas as far as i have gathered never consent to such kinks being imposed on or being exposed to them) and stop it from being watered down, i can't help but agree with them and even support how selective they are.

it's just a mess. idk. also i mentioned fashion dolls earlier. have you SEEN the price gouging outsiders are either doing or are accidentally buying into? jacking up the price for incredibly common dolls like bratz and monster high. really good vid on the subject

those dolls are not worth that much and you are ruining it for people who actually care!!!

[josefavomjaaga]

The fate of Sainte Apolline

A friend sent me a link to this video about Napoleon’s marshals Suchet, Ney and Soult that, as far as Soult is concerned, of course inevitably had to refer to Soult’s avarice and his looting of Spanish art.

In order to visualize the looting, there is this picture (screenshot at 32:16):

And we even get an example of stolen artwork: »Sainte Apolline« by Zurbaran (a couple of seconds later):

Which I consider a nice opportunity to look into the matter a little more closely.

Before the French occupation of Spain, the painting in question belonged to the catholic order »San José de la Merced Descalza« and presumably was part of its church. That order, like all male monastic orders in the whole of Spain, was dissolved by decret of newly installed king Joseph Bonaparte in 1810, all its properties falling to the government. So »Sainte Apolline« was, together with an abundance of other paintings from other convents, brought to the Royal Alcazàr, the official residence of king Joseph in Sevilla.

Just to make sure: No, Soult (or rather his men) did not loot those paintings out of his own volition and for his own good. He seized them in the name and for the person whom his emperor had told him was the new king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte.

To my knowledge, there also never was any actual fighting or looting taking place in Sevilla, at least not in the way that is pictured in the caricature above. I understand king Joseph entered the city quite peacefully, stayed a couple of weeks and then immediately hurried back to his mistresses in Madrid, leaving the work that was to be done to Soult (and complaining behind Soult’s back to Napoleon about him). By the way, as far as actual »looting« is concerned, not even Soult’s enemies in France (which seem to have been much more ferocious than outside of France) denied that all the paperwork was in order. He had certificates and receipts for each and every of his paintings.

But of course, these papers had to cover up a forced trade that Soult had imposed on the former owner through threats of reprisals, torture, and death. Right?

At least in the case of Sainte Apolline we can rule that out. Or at least, if Soult indeed stole the painting, he stole it from King Joseph. But that was probably not even necessary, as Soult’s penchant for art was obviously well-known and offered Joseph a rather cheap way of rewarding Soult for his services: just hand him over half a dozend of those hundreds of paintings catching dust in the Alcazàr whenever the guy gets testy.

But back to »Sainte Apolline«: The text next to the painting in the screenshot makes it look as if this painting alone had been worth 1.5 million Franc in 1811. That is not what the speaker in the video says, however, who claims that Soult »amassed an art collection worth an estimated 1.5 million Francs«.

Which, unfortunately, still is incorrect. First of all, this is not an estimation – it is the actual worth of Soult’s collection of art that was on sale after his death, consisting of 163 works of art (see the catalogue here), and with one third of the sum going to a single painting, the »Inmaculada Concepcion de los venerables« by Murillo. But most of all, this happened in 1852, four decades later! Those four decades mean a lot here. Because at the time when Soult acquired the paintings (by whatever means) they were considered so unimportant that Vivant Denon refused most paintings Joseph offered to him for the Louvre and kept haggling for the very few he considered worthy of a Paris museum, but that Joseph wanted to keep in Spain. At the time when Soult bought his paintings, with all convents dissolved and an abundance of religious art on the market all of a sudden, the price for paintings must have dropped close to zero. The paintings also often were in very bad shape and desperate need of restauration. Soult writes to his wife that he actually bought a painting somewhere on the docks, where they were stored in the open.

»Sainte Apolline«, btw, stayed in Soult’s family even after his death. According to the description of provenience on the website of the Louvre, it was his daughter Hortense de Mornay who bought it, and only after her death was it acquired by the Louvre. Who probably could have had it a lot cheaper in 1810 or 1811.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

So I’m still seeing a lot of people not understanding why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first 6 albums she doesn’t own the Masters to. How does it actually devalue them? being the main question I see. Especially when the copies are going to be exactly/almost exactly the same?

Taylor writes all of her music. She owns the Publishing Rights to the lyrics and melodies basically. But the very first original Recording of the music, which all other copies are then made from, she does not own. So think of Shake It Off as an example. Her former label owned the original Recordings of all the songs from her first 6 albums(before selling to Scooter Braun who then sold to Shamrock Holdings when he got next to no money from them). 

btw, no one will sell her the Master Recordings. She can afford them but these men do not want a woman to own her work which is why her Masters have been passing hands with borrowed money instead of their own money because unlike her, they can’t afford to pay with their own money. So they borrow from genocidal terrorist organizations instead, which means those organizations get a cut from every sale of her old Masters which they then use to bomb Yemen. It’s a mess.

So Taylor recently re-recorded her Fearless album. The original is the most awarded Country album in history. It’s Diamond. What the new version is for, is basically making the other one useless to the one who owns the Master Recordings on it.

Say, for some odd reason, the director of the next MCU film wants Shake It Off in the movie. They’d have to approach the owners of the song for permission to license the exact length of music they want to put in the film. It’s a taxing process to go through. Now, because Taylor owns the Publishing Rights, she has the final say. Shamrock Holdings owns the Master Recording of Shake It Off, and they can say yes, but the MCU director still has to ask Taylor’s permission now since she owns the lyrics and melodies. Taylor can say no. This means, that the original version of Shake It Off will not be allowed to be in the MCU film.

BUT, she can give them permission to use the lyrics and melody if they have someone else do a cover of Shake It Off. In this case, only Taylor gets paid. The old men who own her music and won’t sell it to her, get nothing. THIS is how her old albums will be devalued. 

Lupita Nyong’o asked Taylor personally to use Shake It Off in her film Little Monsters. The owners of the song, BMGL(at the time) were giving them problems about getting the rights to use the song in the film, so Lupita contacted Taylor personally and Taylor said yes to using the lyrics and melody, overriding BMLG’s authority on the matter. That’s why Lupita plays it on ukulele and sings it herself.

Shake It Off and Blank Space are two of her biggest hits and yearly get thousands of offers to be licensed for film and television. With the re-recordings, Taylor can say no using the Masters she doesn’t own, and suggest using the ones she does own.

This makes the $300 Million sale, damn near worthless. See, streaming brings in little money and only really gets you exposure. For someone seen as the biggest pop star in the world, she no longer needs exposure to bigger audiences. This leaves physical sales and licensing to films and tv shows. But if Taylor’s fans are refusing to buy her old music so the money doesn’t go to anyone who backstabbed her, then they aren’t getting money from the sales of the albums. And if Taylor keeps saying no to everyone wanting to use those versions in their films, then the owners of her Masters get no money that way either.

It’s big Fuck You basically. It’s a long process to do all of this but if these men would rather borrow money from terrorists rather than just sell her the Masters, then she’s going to render their investments invalid.

It’s like Tumblr being bought for $1 Billion and then being sold for $3 Million after only a few years, because the investment brought forth no fruit.

[bittybattybunny]

HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT I FINISHED

well mostly

that’s a temp crown and I have a single seam left BUT IT’S DONE REALLY OTHER THAN THAT

So now I’m prince ;3c (i also realized i could have grabbed my fake bouquet from my room for more fun---) also I’m wearing a face mask cuz I really didn’t want to put makeup on to fuck around in my basement when I do a proper photo shoot with Snuppet or something I will but deal with the mask (which btw is from @/timetravelinghk !!! It’s one of my favs to wear besides my levisnatch i wear at work)

I’m like super pleased with how this came out; It’s like patterned fully from scratch *stares at the failed attempts* yeah. it’s been a journey.

I’m gonna ramble a bit about the things I dealt with with this costume so read more I’m long winded

For context I started drafting patterns and such for Prince back when I made Snuppet. The idea has always been to cosplay as Prince and HK when I puppet him. However I wound up getting called back to my day job like right after I finished Snups so I never had a chance to continue because hooooo boi this summer was nuts. People wtf we broke records in sales for my work despite pandemic but i’ve ranted before--

There was also the matter of my boots and my wig. See the wig I’m wearing is the SECOND wig i bought for prince. the first one arrived all like... weird. i can’t get it to be fixed so I’ll use it for a monster costume and cover it with blood (its got like weird glue residue. like how some monster high dolls’ hair gets?)

This one is really nice uvu it’s my first arda wig i ordered; I do have the same in a dark purple because I will be making a ‘shadow prince’ version of this outfit in black and purple

and then the boots.

hoo boi

those boots

*inhale*

So let me say, I have decent sized feet. I wear between a womens 10 and 11 and that makes finding shoes a lil hard.

More so when I need very fucking specific shoes.

Yes i could do boot covers but it wasn’t going to be the same.

so I spent over a month looking and finally found those ones. they cost me a little bit (like they by far are the most expensive shoes I’ve ever bought. I hate spending money on shoes even for cosplay)

So they said they’d arrive soonish. I even paid express shipping.

Guys i ordered them in April. I got them late AUGUST. the site was a nightmare i could never get info it was permanently stuck in ‘packaging order for shipment’ and the help desk sucked and I was so busy with work I couldn’t call my bank and then just one day

they were just in a bag shoved in my mail box. i opened them right before a shift so they sat in my car all day

then i ordered gold cord on amazon

LACING THESE THINGS IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE

the first time I wore them took me no lie about half hour to get them laced proper and on. My sister was waiting and had to come up like “...you okay?”

once laced tho i can easily put them on and off in like 5 minutes

now the costume itself has been. interesting. so you can’t see but the actual way i put this on is there’s a zipper and velcro! I’ve mentioned before I have CFS and chronic pain issues so I try to make my cosplays easy in easy out if i can. so this actually just. zips up and then the flap with buttons velcros down. it keeps the whole thing a lot smoother across my chest. (also i wear a binder for this cosplay. I bought my first one for this. if you cant tell i kinda went all out for this cosplay because I resonate with this fucker on a personal level and he’s brought me peace of mind this last year. I haven’t done a male cosplay in years and it’s kinda nice to do it again.)

Those sleeves

hhhhhh

those sleeves

trying to figure out the proper way to make those puff sleeves was. yeah. and even then they aren’t perfect but they work for me. When I redo this for shadow prince I may make them a little.. poofier? i have the idea how to do it now.

I also like had to alter my pattern after i made it to fit better. I have narrow sloping shoulders so things slip off them easily, my original pattern had very BROAD shoulders whoops.

the collar was also fun. i have to keep like stabbing myself with pins to get it to stand right.

I think the cravat was the easiest thing. it’s actually not tied or anything. its sewn together and then there’s velcro so i just wrap it around my neck and secure. As i said. i prefer easy on easy off.

the pants were. fun. I’ve always had issues making pants. the first set well... I made farrrr too thin. the legs were fine but i couldn't get the waist bit over my thighs or rear TTvTT

I’ve been playing with that pattern for the past week. I actually made them too WIDE today which is a much easier fix. tbh could take them in more but I do want the poof a bit. I do need to not wear LEGGINGS under them next time. like.

this costume is warm. I’m going to be a roast prince when con’s are a thing again. between how warm the tunic and binder are, and carrying/puppeting snuppet if you see me please know if I glare it’s most likely I’m dying. Gods it’s warm. I overheat so easily. (another reason I make it easy on and off)

So yeah! that’s my tirade on my prince cosplay! if you actual read down to this point mwah!

get a laugh out of the fact as I was coming back up stairs i scared my cat. he always freaks out when I’m in cosplay.

Also admire i took these photos blind. I didn’t want to put contacts in so i was playing with my new remote (i got a phone based tripod and it has a bluetooth remote to take photos it’s fucking great ngl)

alright I’m gonna go---

idk watch youtube tbh Im just happy i finished this!!!!

also please ignore the fucking litterbox i swore i moved it out of frame akjkldsffg

[whump-softie]

First Friend - Part 9 (Mutt)

Part 8 / Masterlist

Taglist: @looptheloup @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @as-a-matter-of-whump @albino-whumpee @cupcakes-and-pain @unicornscotty @whumpfigure @boxboysandotherwhump @briars7 @girlwithacoolcat @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @kiretto-laorentze *it’s a flashback btw sorry*

The day Bird was bought, she was 13. New to her reality, fresh for sale, vultures swept in and got hold of her. Whisked away to a city with tall buildings and hot sidewalks, lead through mirrored rooms and hallways.

Shoved through doors, and dropped at the feet of a person laying on the floor, a boy that couldn’t be that much older then her, who almost looked dead.

A blonde man pushes her closer. “Fix him,” he says.

Bird doesn’t know how. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, she doesn’t know this boy or what’s happening or what she’s supposed to do or—

“Look at me when I talk to you, Two.”

Bird looks up at the number she was told to respond to and meets scary eyes, resting on a face that definitely didn’t look happy. She doesn’t like it when people don’t look happy, it makes her want to do anything she can to help.

“Better,” the man smiles. “Now, fix him.”

She still doesn’t know how, but the man leaves her alone in the room with the unconscious boy, and she still doesn’t know what to do.

Fix him? Okay, fix him. Heal him, or maybe... revive him? Bird kneels down and puts her ear on his chest, listening for a heartbeat that she fortunately finds. She tries a few firm presses with her hands on his chest, but he doesn’t move.

She checks his body for wounds, but finds none. She does find a lot of scars, though. From blades by the looks of them. She shudders. Yeah, she definitely wants to help this boy now. She wants to fix him.

A while passes, and after checking to see if he was breathing—he wasn’t!—she gently opens his mouth and peers inside. Shocked to see something there, she takes a few deep breaths after wiping her hand on her pants, and reaches in.

Her fingers grab a large stone that seemed to be just too big for him to swallow. She gently pulls it out, and startles back against the wall when he coughs violently, spasming to life and sitting up.

A few minutes pass and he catches his breath. Bird doesn’t move, and definitely doesn’t say anything. She holds the stone clenched in her fist for some reason, maybe for protection? She watches him cautiously.

He calms down, and then he glances at her. “...thanks,” he mumbles. Bird only nods. She wants to ask his name, but ends up sitting in silence.

“Were you given a number?” He asks.

Bird hesitates. Yes, she was, but she doesn’t really like it. She nods, and holds up two fingers.

“Two?” The boy asked as if it was a ridiculous name. “Okay, well, I’m One.”

Bird blinks. She guesses that it makes sense, but she didn’t like how he asked for her number and not her name. “My name is—”

“—Don’t,” One interrupts, “don’t tell me. I’m not gonna tell you mine, either. We’re not allowed to know and frankly, I don’t care. It’s number now, got it, Two?”

Two nods along, happy to follow orders instead of fighting for her life or living in fear. She opens her palm and extends her arms, holding out the stone. One sees it and smirks.

“There he is,” he laughs, joking around and reaching for it. “I’ve been looking for him everywhere.”

Two giggles, and One grabs the stone and fiddles with it. He smiles again, but this time there’s sadness behind it. “It’s today’s performance souvenir.”