#ESP ANY SOAP ALTERNATIVES

[tobuo]

having a super fun (not fun) time with an eczema flare up on my hands!!! it’s not sore at all (it’s itchy and it hurts) like wow!!!

[urautismdiagnosis-wistie]

what do you think the Octonauts like to do in their spare time?

thanks for the ask!

Sorry this took forever to answer i haven't been well recently but I'm doing better

I've talked about this on some different octonauts octo headcanons posts but ill make a nice neat list! These are a mix of Canon and headcanon <3

Barnacles:

he enjoys attempting to play the accordian, traditional inuit soap stone carving (not something he does often, most of his room carvings are from his childhood), using charcoal and oil pastels to paint scenery as a way to wind himself down(sometimes he'll do people but they don't look very good), sport competitions and exercising, and writing small short screenplays about the characters hes made for his carvings <3 the screenplays are usually very soft and light hearted or deeply sad.

Kwazii:

ok our undiagnosed adhd boy let's go: anything competitive or exciting! I'm talking chess (with inkling), ping pong, any type of sports competition, board games, card games-

He also has a hyperfixation on historic miniature model ships- and some modern too. Bro also LOVES to cook with the vegimals! (Even if his cooking skills are... debatable) hell often teach them (the kid friendly) version of the shanties he grew up with. Funnily enough he doesn't really share his shanties with the rest of the crew,not really...

He does enjoy girls night, esp with jewelry and claw care 💕 dashis been showing him movies and teaching him stuff about pop culture and land culture in general

Also he loves comics <3 and book kwazii enjoys long baths so I gave him a whole long self care routine.

Peso:

making stickers 🥰 playing his xylophone <3 reading all the gossip in his family group chat and trading it with dashi <3 watching inaccurate medical drama shows and making fun of them with dashi <3 knitting !!!💕 he likes to make little stuffed animals and scarves <3 also hats sometimes

He likes reading chiikawa (kwazii recommended the comic to him) and talking to his mom about their favorite romance dramas together

This last one isn't really a hobby but he does enjoy listening to pinto yap about whatever video game he's hyperfixated on lol

Dashi:

Ok speed run, yoga, photography, making tiny dumb video games with tweak (they once made one where its just the gup b and it was basically like flappy bird lol), ROOM DECOR AND PINTEREST BOARDS OH MY GOODNESS (my friend is like that lol I love it when she sends me her stuff), SURFING, BASKETBALL SHES SO COMPETITIVE IN EVERY SPORT, listening to horror podcasts and cursed pov asmr at night <3, talking with shellington about tiny random creature species!!! Also stimming <3

Tweak

: LEGOS(miniatures of the gups) 🗣 CLASSIC VIDEO GAMES( stuff like the og metroid and space invaders) 🗣 NOT SLEEPING (gurl ur room is a depression cave PLEASE get a bed frame PLEASE (dashi probably)) 🗣 GUPS GUPS GUPS she lives and breathes em baby if she's not working on a gup she's developing an idea- 🗣 she really likes cute baby animal videos 🗣 reading alternative fashion magazines 🗣 MONSTER TRUCK LEGO 🗣 dying hair with dashi occasionally (this entire post is so dashi filled loll) 🗣 LISTENING TO MUSIC 🗣🗣🗣

Shellington:

He breathes his hyperfixation about creature species. He and tweak and literally EVERYONE is SO autistic and/or nuerodivergent in some way. Anyways so I'm talking drawing sea creatures (hes a pretty good artist ngl, barnacles could take notes), researching them, comparing them, studying their biological abilities and the chemical components and possibilities of it- literally his entire job is just him having an autistic blast like good for him

But most of his free time is very much spent with the vegimals XD whether its playing with them, trying to teach them things, or just talking with them.

He also loves drawing hyper realistic animal drawings saying very very stupid silly puns. The vegimals internally react to them like dad jokes but they pretend they're very funny cuz hes SO. PROUD.

Inkling:

He enjoys doing very deep dives into topics, deep cleaning, chatting with min on video call, conducting psychological social and behavioral experiments on the octonauts, competing with kwazii and the other octonauts to challenge them (he slays),

Journaling, and even his actual job of organizing their discoveries and getting them ready for scientific peer review as well as handling all paper work sides of thibgs

He really enjoys spending time with thr other octonauts, they are ALL his children(in a "my fascinating lil creatures!! I must teach them and challenge them so that they can grow!) to him and he adores them all immensely. He likes to make photo albums with dashi.

He also enjoys not having bones because apparently when mammals and avians get old their bones hurt all the time??? So he's pretty happy about that ngl

the vegimals all have different interests: whether its having certain genres of media they gravitate too, different aspects of gardening they enjoy,or joining different octonauts in their own tasks! But they'll always love making their own songs and working together <3 also experimenting in recipes lol. A few will often join the other octonauts doing their own hobbies or try to do the hobbies they see the others doing. They are kids after all lol

This could mean tominnow joining peso and dashi while they watch their dramas, barrot being very excitable while playing video games with tweak, tunip learning how to play chess with the professor, grouber being a little princess and enjoying self care, coddish trying to learn how to sword fight with kwazii pretending to be a silly monster, or halibeet curled sleepilu next to inkling as he reads and explains what he's learning- and so on and on and on.

:3

[bromcommie]

CATCH UP TAG (BRING IT BACK NOW) (combo edition?)

tagged by @mandyyvibes @somanywords and @thankssaragorn thank you <333

Favorite color: still firmly in camp green. Specifically whatever the fuck it is nature puts in late spring leaves with all that sunlight backlighting them that makes me lose my marbles and just. sit there losing time for hours.

Last song: not a hundred percent sure? Because it was over on YouTube and I have history off but it was probably this guy, which! Sorry, yikes. (I mean that as in: this is deeply heartfelt, but also possibly not entirely translatable nor my brightest musical moment.)

or,

their lyrics are very: was this guy onto something big or was he just onto a realization about empathy most people've already figured out by 14 or was he just very, very high (or am I?) but god, I have an incredible (and incredibly nostalgic) soft spot for The War on Drugs. And also their instrumentals being somehow very melancholy and hopeful at the same time gets me every time. (There's a whole playlist involved, I'm afraid. Some of it blorbo-ified.)

Last book: The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr. I’m only about a quarter in so I’ll abstain from any decisive commentary, but so far I’m mostly enjoying it.

Last movie: The Sound of Music. My grandma had it on the TV last week and was singing along incredibly loudly. We had a blast.

Last TV show: Ugh…season 5 of You. And I hated it profoundly even as an ugh fine play in the background while I make dinner because there's nothing better on Netflix soap opera. It was just...really not very enjoyable to me even within its own established genre. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Immediately before that, season 3 of White Lotus, which I actually have a surprising number of opinions on, but they still for the most part all boil down to: ugh. I guess, fine? Which is not necessarily the sentiment you want to get from your polished, rich people doing wildly entertaining shit HBO drama.

Sweet/savory/spicy: still a sodium freak with a strong spicy streak. But also I’ve had this question a bunch of times in a row now and it’s not all that fun nor revealing (without getting personal), so let me propose either: what's your favorite season (and why)? and/or, do you like golden hour or “blue” hour better (and why)? for anyone else doing this after me. Only if you want, of course.

Last thing I googled, or duckduckgo’d—duckduckwent?—looked up: Franco Citti Accattone. Again. For recreational/R&D purposes, meaning I've made up a blorbo all for myself and assigned him a face and now I have to refer to it for the rest of my life, apparently.

Looking forward to: hanging out with my cousin from out of town this week! Yay! (Also hopefully getting a decent examiner and fucking passing my driver's test in May lol but like. knock on wood, spit on anything within reach, make the sign of the cross three times, or whatever you guys might have to offer. Please.)

Current obsessions: well :) I suppose besides the obvious: my Duolingo streaks that I've recently resuscitated. It's frankly a kind of meh (and aggressive, holy shit) language learning software, esp if you've got multiple languages at different lvls of development, so I'm always looking for better alternatives (please help, again?). But it's a nice compulsion to have as opposed to just refreshing other apps obssessively and if you're really meticulous with it you might even get to write down some word definitions.

Favourite crisp: gonna do the same thing as with the sweet/savoury/spicy thing, and answer—anything very, very salty! And also add: What’s your go-to comfort music/song/playlist? and/or, what’s your creative outlet (even if you don’t consider yourself a “creative” person?)

Last song you sang out loud: honestly no clue. It might be either Somebody Told Me by The Killers or I've Heard That Song Before by Harry James & Helen Forrest. I've been on a weird kick lately

The last book I opened: Nature Is A Human Right ed. Ellen Miles, in trying to find a quote and make someone see a very blatant point. And it didn't work, unfortunately :|

Earbuds, headphones, or nothing? Headphones when on my computer, earbuds on the street and nothing at home. But let me once again be too nosy and offer a replacement ask: Do you get more caught up listening to music by yourself, with friends, or in a crowd?

Last place I went to other than home: driving exam :|||| It went well, until it didn't.

A colour that looks good on you: eh blue or green or black. But who am I to say.

Last trailer you saw: Um, I think Together? Or possibly Bring Her Back? I'm a big trailer person, I watch a lot of them. This month was apparently the psychological horror special. Either way, that's more or less what I want most psychological horror trailers to show me. Yes, girl. Give me a lot of mundane everday acts painted sinister! And possibly a child acting weird! Yes, give me nothing in terms of plot!

I feel like this has been around x500 times but no pressure tagging @helly-ena @emjee @village-skeptic @snowangeldotmp3 @hardtobeasaintdotmp3 @gyokujyn @one-eyed-bossman. And please, anyone else that feels like doing it: do it! <3

[happigreens]

Im on a journey to replace as much stuff in my home with organic/eco friendly products and trying to go zero waste. Very difficult and a little overwhelming already but im enjoying the inspirations im getting from the research Ive started.

So far i'm researching laundry and dish detergent alternatives since I'm currently running low on some liquid detergent for the former and want to start making my own for the latter.

Ive seen reccomendations for borax (for whitening) and baking soda for laundry so far. Theres warnings about borax being a bit toxic but only if used without caution, adequate ventallation, or directly ingested (which, to me, is the same with any non-organic, harsh, household cleaning product I currently have).

I want to try out powder detergents since they seem more economical in portions (also a bit better on the environment and water treatment systems). Eventually i want to learn how to make my own detergent from as many locally sourced products as I can, but thatll be a learning curve and experimental endeavor (I found an interesting video about a soap-nut based alternative to conventional liquid detergents for laundry that sounds interesting. But idk if soap-nuts are local or affordable since the video was India-based. Def more reseaech needed).

Wrt dish detergent, I found a company called Ecos at w-al-mart. a few months ago and its been effective. I havent researched all its marketing claims about its "only 9 ingredients", biodegradability, and vegan quality, etc, but i have 2 bottles left to use anyway lol. Its not local (based and operated in CA, IL, NJ, and WA) and is packaged in plastic (though the plastic is resin type 1 which is very recyclable), but it seems a good option so far if i dont wanna go out of my way to make homemade detergent.

I'd like to depend moreso on homemade solutions just so i know were everything's coming from and what it is (esp if i shop for local ingredients). But knowing me, I'll likely be opting for the ready-made products lol.

Pls share any tips or things you all use for organic and economical alternatives to plastic and toxic household cleaning products!

[jibunbosh]

okay i will try to follow my process here (thrown together and accumulated from a bunch of random online tutorials) with the following disclaimers

1. i am still a huge cosplay novice and i dont know SHIT

2. i still have no idea how to permanently prevent tangles. maybe impossible. this is just how I got rid of them, temporarily, for pictures

this is a wig i got 2 years ago and i kind of just fucked around with it and didn't know how to treat it the best. i fished it out of the closet and decided it might help if i gave it a wash before i started the detangle. so i just threw that in the sink with lukewarm water, dish soap, and a bit of the conditioner i use for my actual hair. (i hear some people also use fabric softener but i didn't have any and didn't feel like buying a whole Thing of fabric softener...) so then I sloshed it around a bit in the sink, let it soak, towel squeezed it dry then let it on the wig stand overnight

then for the detangle. the materials i used were 1. wig stand, 2. wide-toothed comb, 3. wig brush with metal bristles, 4. ebin 5 sec detangler

okay so i put the thing on the wig stand and i sprayed a shit load of the detangler on it. i made sure to get the inside and outside of the hair and kind of work it in and out. what i DIDN'T realize is that the spray also gets a bit on the floor and it makes hardwood super slippery so don't make my mistake and put an old towel or tarp underneath to catch it

then I alternate the two tools (brush & comb), starting with the brush to work out knots and tangles and then combing to make parts nice and straight. i also tried to pay attention to how the wefts were sewn on so that the hair would fall natural-looking instead of it being tangled up weird over the scalp. i also spritzed more detangler here as needed.

(also sometimes it was just best to cut my losses and snip out any particularly bad knots. just don't cut out a giant polygonal-looking chunk or something.)

and... yeah that's pretty much it. the wig is still definitely showing age and the ends are getting super wispy but I tried to squeeze together the ends (esp around the front and side bangs) with some lucido hair wax that I have and never use and that helped a lil bit with the styling

and at the con it still got super tangled super fast but. it was manageable!!! to an extent!!! i don't know anything about crimping wigs or any of that stuff but maybe I will study for next time.

ok thats my process have fun and dont die

bocchi the PUDDLE

[verycharismaticdragon]

Tag 10 People You Wanna Get to Know Better

tagged by @mu-qingfang-stan-account ty <3

relationship status: single (as in "too scared to try finding someone to date considering the state of queer rights here rn")

favorite colors: *james pokemon voice* its lavender (but honestly purple in all shades. my life have improved immensely when i started dyeing my hair purple and getting clothes to match)

favorite food: this is so broad uh... if its sweet stuff I gotta go with ice cream because whatever u want. it got u. and if we are talking about proper meal foods i think i gotta say chicken. shes so versatile what cant she do

song stuck in your head: oughh i cycle thru so many... i guess Leia (Rondo cover) came up a lot in the last few days

last thing you googled: spelling of some word, dont remember which. i often do this bcus im not confident in my spellings, esp with longer words, because I only learned them visually and that doesn't necessarily mean all letters or in the right order. wait i think it was resurrect, i keep forgeting if its two "s"s or two "r"s in there (yes i googled it again to spell it rn)

time: 13:40

dream trip: listen this is just gonna be sad if i answer it, so lets not

last thing you read: I'm currently super mega slowly rereading Scum Villain - like, taking notes every page slowly - so that's been going for the past month or so. If we're talking finished, then pipi's You Fei.

last book you enjoyed reading: I did enjoy Fei a whole lot! As usual, I'm a sucker for priest's ability to entwine some absolute clownery with so much subtle (and sometimes not subtle) heartbreak. Also the more I hear from my friend who branches out into BG cnovels/cdramas the more I realize how special a female protagonist like Fei is.

last book you hated reading: a danmei novel that shall remain unnamed bcus it was recced by a mutual. meanwhile i regret finishing it. the plot was such a friggin soap opera. literally almost Every soap opera trope. i'm surprised nobody's clone showed up, it wouldnt have been out of place! the ship dynamic was good so i finished to get their happy ending but. kinda felt that it wasn't worth it in the end.

favorite thing to cook/bake: gotta be meringues, as long as you know the perfect time for your particular oven theyre literally SO easy to make. and tasty. I like making blini too but they are kinda stressful because you gotta stay on them the entire time.

favorite craft to do in your free time: cross-stitch, it's somehow just the right proportion of mindlessness and engagement for me

most niche dislike: there's this special kind of annoying fans that make me dislike thing that they are fan of literally just because it becomes associated in my mind with their annoyingness. (I don't know how to explain every nuance of how they are annoying, but most often it involves being shitty about something else, that I already like.) And it kinda pisses me off not just on its own, but also on behalf of the thing they are fan of. Like - it usually doesn't deserve my ire! it's literally just the fans, and only some specific ones! But I can't stop my brain from cringing at the sight of the thing. ugh. So: hate it when this happens.

opinion on circuses: im more interested in the aesthetic concept of circuses than in any real ones.

do you have any sense of direction: yeah im pretty good with it, both in "reading maps" way and in "understanding where things are located relative to each other and alternate routes/shortcuts" way

tagging: god please I always forget every single person I ever seen or talked to when it comes to tagging. Literally any of my followers, I'm interested, I wanna hear about u, if you'd like to do this say i tagged you and go off

[castielmoriarty]

I hope ur right it just they make it seem Ben seemed more important than Robert even had him choose him over Robert and choose Ben over his own sister etc

sure, he did choose Ben over Rob, but; one of the big issues with soaps is that because they run forever, and actors come and go, sometimes people will act very out of character in the context of someone else's exit. Aaron 'had' to choose not to get back into contact with Rob, because Rob wasn't coming back to the show. Vic and Rob's relationship can play out off screen, but Robron's can't, it's too deep and significant in Aaron's life for that. it wouldn't work to have Aaron casually say "I talked to Rob on the phone" and not actually show us any of it. they chose to have the whole Robert-baiting drama around Luke even when it would force Aaron to act out of character, prioritized drama over having him act in a characteristic way, but let's face it, with how bad the writing has been for a long time now, who was surprised. but that aside; Rob is still in prison, and even if Aaron had started talking to him again, it would have likely just been phone calls. it's not as simple as him "choosing Ben over Rob"; he chose a person who is there and present and available, over phone calls with the love of his life. if Rob had been back in the village, we all know there would be no competition. Aaron was going to leave his whole family - mom, stepdad, sister, uncle, cousins, friends - forever, for Rob, without hesitation. didn't even consider it, there was no alternative. if Rob was back or had escaped and asked Aaron to come with him on the run... we all know he'd go.

also, Aaron is someone who craves affection and physical closeness, including sex, and at that point Ben can give all of that to him while Rob obviously can't. it's phone calls vs. everything a relationship entails. Ben is a substitute and a placeholder for what Aaron really wants. then there's also Chas, who is infuriating in her inability to even let Aaron breathe without having an opinion as per usual, and who meddles and tries to convince him not to choose Rob. that definitely affects his choice as well. but if I'm being honest, she's not entirely wrong. choosing Rob at that point would mean being alone and waiting for phone calls a few times a week. and yet he would have made that choice if not talked out of it. I don't know how anyone could watch Robron's and Bearon's stories play out and doubt even for a second that if Rob was there, Aaron would choose him every time over any other person. concerning Liv, well. in that case I think it makes even more sense for Aaron to choose Ben tbh. his and Liv's relationship has been fucked up from the start. remember how creepily jealous she was of Rob right away, even before she and Aaron properly knew each other. they have continued to be co-dependent af and overly wrapped up in each other ever since - esp. Liv's way of relating to Aaron is just not healthy. you shouldn't be jealous of your brother's partners, period. and she continues relapsing, despite Aaron's support. they've had so much time to fix their relationship, of changing it and making it healthier, and they haven't managed. distancing himself from her is the right choice imo. he's tried to support her and be there for her for years and it hasn't worked. he isn't going to be able to help her stay sober as long as their relationship is such that the second he thinks of maybe prioritizing someone else over her, she falls apart. her sobriety can't be dependent on her brother being by her side every day and her always feeling that she's the most important person to him. she needs support but he isn't the right person to give her that. she needs to learn to be independent from him and deal with her almost emotionally incestuous relationship with him if she is ever to grow as a person. and that is never going to happen as long as they live together or even live in the same village. so choosing to go with Ben over staying with her shows self-preservation, which isn't exactly common for Aaron. and tbh I think that’s a good thing.

[malandi]

I like to do skin care because it helps you feel productive and spoiled at the same time. So its like productivity + self care. I follow dermatologists on twitter and this is the good routine

in the morning:

mild soap / facial cleanser (they rlly dont like harsh stuff on the face..)

vitamin c (if u have scars)

moisturizer

sunscreen (theyre very insistent on this one)

ur supposed to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours with a spray thingy but i dont..

in the evening:

oil cleanse (any oil that suits u but they rec mineral oil its cheap and good. baby oil is ok but they don't like the fragrance) (very insistent on this! esp if u wear sunscreen which u should)

facial cleanser (umm very mild soap? theres a lotta fancy and expensive ones but the derma i follow just uses dove soap)

toner is optional they sound like they dont care about it. if ur gonna get one theey want u to get a "hydrating toner"

vitamin c again only if u want tho...its just for the scars

humectant i swear idk what this is but they rec aloe vera gel for this one. this is also not that important lol

moisturizer again

a barrier repair thing. also some expensive stuff for this but petroleum jelly is cheap and good alternative

if you have no motivation to wash face at night:

micellar water

baby wipes

petroleum jelly

idk what counts as expensive but personally anything around 10 dollars is expensive to me. the stuff they reocmmend for vitamin c anf barrier repair is around that price so i dont even consider them.

i follow mostly filipino dermatologists but i also follow black estheticians because they agree with each other all the time so if you want english advice @makeupforwoc is intelligent and trustworthy

alot of skin products are scams so watch out..all the dermas want us to have simple routines which is most effective. which is perfect for us mentally ill since we dont want to get stressrd when spoiling ourselves :)

[artigas]

i've been trying to build a skincare regiment but i just have no idea what sources to trust or what products to use, there are so many names! how did you figure out your skincare regiment?

another anon message: pLEASE tell me how to build a skincare regiment! ;o; my face is a mess most of the time, but i still don’t want to put fucking walnuts on it

Hello!! Forgive my late response, friends!! I hope you are still around and following my blog to see this. Skincare is intensely personal and because it’s your skin and you do not want to harm it, you have to proceed cautiously. I’m no dermatologist! But I do think there are a few things I can share. First, I figured out my skincare regiment by breaking down my major concerns: I had an oily t-zone (meaning: my forehead, my nose, and my chin) and extremely dry cheeks. After I began using makeup, I would sometimes have pimples and texture. I also knew my skin was sensitive. Knowing your needs is an intrinsic part of knowing what you want to address. I will say that I have no experience with acne or with major skin problems- if what you’re hoping to address is a bit more difficult than issues like: dryness, oiliness, breakouts, fine lines, etc than you should really speak to a professional, I think! After I boiled down my issues, I did research. There’s a great app called Think Dirty that runs through the a broad range of skincare, hair, and beauty products and tells you which ingredients raise any red flags and why. Generally speaking, you should avoid skincare that contain needless fragrances as much as possible, as this can often irritate the skin and sneak in some Not So Rad ingredient into even an otherwise wonderful skincare regimen. Speaking from my experience, I find that those who have sensitive skin may esp. feel irritation from added fragrances. I personally wouldn’t suggest abrasive face washes and exfoliates, like Kylie’s Infamous Walnut Scrub, because you don’t want to cause damage to your skin through small micro-lesions, scrapes, and cuts that are caused by rubbing these materials against your skin aggressively. This is especially damaging to dry areas of the skin, pimples, etc. While exfoliation is, imo, a great way to get rid of dead skin cells, brighten up the skin, etc, I personally prefer a chemical exfoliate and find these more effective at cleaning out my skin and showing long-term results. Still, if you opt for physical exfoliate, it should be as gentle as possible- nothing involving shells, hard salts, sharp or shard-like materials of any kind! Also, make sure to read the ingredients in products like skin-peels: if you have sensitive skin, retinols especially can feel very irritating. Another quick tip: if you have oily skin, guess what? Moisturizing your skin is not your enemy. Moisturizers don’t have to be greasy. Look for a moisturizer that’s labeled non-comedogenic, which means it won’t clog pores, and steer clear of mineral oil, cocoa butter, lanolin, and petrolatum. Alternatively, reach for moisturizers that contain ingredients such as glycerin, hyaluronic acid, aloe, and squalane, which won’t trap oils in your pores.Again, I can only speak for myself. My regimen looks like this: Every morning and night I wash my face with a Lush charcoal soap (charcoal can be tricky and also abrasive, so proceed with caution- I find that Lush’s formulation is both soft and non-drying, so that’s just what works for me). I then apply The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% to address oiliness and outbreaks, Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 to address dryness, and Argireline Solution 10% for fine lines. After that, I slap on some face cream and sunscreen! I have found that this routine has absolutely changed my skin. On top of that, as a makeup user, I make sure to really clean my face after makeup use: never sleeping in makeup, using both a makeup removing soap, washing my face, and then using micellar cleansing water. I know this can be a lot, but my reasoning is this: If I can spend X amount of time applying makeup, I need to be willing to spend more than a minute removing it. Makeup is nice, but healthy skin is important. 

I’ve recommended The Ordinary to a few people before and so far, I’ve only ever heard good things from my friend- the beautiful, wonderful @crucifythenburn included! The Ordinary is cost-effective, but instead of selling one product with multiple uses, they essentially sell the building blocks. You have to develop your skincare regimen yourself, so you’ll often end up using several different items to target your concerns- or not! My friend simply uses The Buffet and she’s been swearing by that product alone for three years now! If you’re interested in checking them out, here are some recommended articles: (A) (B) (C).

From what I understand, you can reach out to The Ordinary for guidance. As a quick heads up, be mindful of what products should not be mixed- article B has a section on it, but I always remind people that products containing Retinol (Vitamin A) shouldn’t be mixed products with Vitamin C. Also, all skincare products should be tested first! Do a little patch test. See if you feel irritation. The idea that “if it stings, that means it’s working!” is not my mantra. There is a difference between a product giving you a tingling sensation and burning. A skincare product should never cause pain. Frankly, I don’t even play with that whole tingling shit. At the end of the day, your skincare is super individual. If you want my recommendations for skincare products from The Ordinary specifically, hit me up and I’ll try my best- but don’t forget to look up reviews on reddit, look up youtubers who might provide honest reviews (I personally adore Gothamista and I’d stay away from folks who receive a lot of PR), and just exhaust your avenues. You do wanna be careful about what you introduce to your skin, but the resources are out there- I know it might seem daunting, but you can do this! Hit me up if you need anymore help!!

[mxnark]

plot call!

hi everyone! it’s me, your favorite mun who shares a name with a soap brand, dawn!!! this post is SUPER overdue, especially with the fact that i joined literally four months ago!!! but it’s better late than never! i was able to finally think of some plot ideas for mina (and yeonjun, which you can look at over here if you wish to interact with him)!!! i’m gonna list the few plots i thought up of under below. if any of them catch your eye, please lmk in the ims! if you prefer messaging me on twitter or discord but don’t have me on there, just ask! otherwise, feel free to mssg me on there bc i’ll prob reply to you faster there!!

ALSO little character update, but i have made a sideblog for mina’s spam/finsta (fake insta)! if your muse is a sorta close friend of mina’s, you’ll most likely have access to that account! so if you want to see her shenanigans, check out @notokmina​! (if you look at her blog on desktop, i’ll love u 5ever!). besides that, most of her sns posts like her main ig/rinsta, youtube, main/local twt, AND stan twt will be posted here!!

MISCELLANEOUS! 

‘01 FRIENDS!!! PLEASE mina loves the relationships she has rn but most of them are older than her!! she wants friends who are around her age!!! so if you’re ‘01, pls be her friend!!! esp if ur a girl !!! (if you’re ‘00 or ‘02, we can work out with that too!! BUT PLEASE ‘01z.... BE HER FRIEND...) 

local gg + convex stans!!! hello!!! pls gush about ur idol groups to her once u spot her clear phonecase w her mona and/or (random convex member) photocards!! 

mina works at an h&m in a mall and is looking for more mall friends!! give her the chance to recreate her 6teen dreams and have her own mall gang!!! or at least... someone who can give her discounts even though she doesn’t work with you. 

any plot regarding the movie theatre that’s NOT while watching a film! maybe one of you has difficulty with the ticket machine or you spilled pop corn all over the floor!!! OOF 

youtuber friends!! she’s not looking for a youtuber gang of friends (bc she doesn’t want drama affecting her channel HAHA), but she could get some new connections and faces on her channel. she wants to expand her horizons!!

if u don’t have a specific public school down for ur muse, let’s assume mina went to ur school and ur scared of her bc she’s got this not-so-good reputation of being a mean girl!!! oop

since she’s 18 and freshly out of high school, she’s learning how to drive and u unfortunately ... get a taste of it and you’re not too happy about it!

intervention about her caffeine addiction 

anything anime related. esp if it’s bnha or demon slayer related!!! sailor moon, too, but she’s trying to get into current animes!!!

mina is trying to get into more movies because she wants to understand / fit in with her film twt oomfs!!! so recommend her movies! esp horror or coming-of-age!!! 

OPEN EVENTS

#RKCHARITY - let’s get mina to do some good!!! if it’s a past thread, it’ll look good on her transcript for her to do community service!!! otherwise, let’s help the world a bit!

#RKDANCEOFF - mina’s big on idol dances, so whether it’s a random dance play or challenge video, u def have mina’s attention in doing it!! girlie’s competitive!!!

#RKMAKEOVER - she thinks she’s pretty good w fashion and makeup, so come to mina if you want to look good!! alternatively, let’s say you’ve gotten on her bad side because of you testing her short temper... will mina hold back on making u look like a clown? 

#RKCOLLAB - in which you and mina are beyonce and lady gaga... except mina’s lady gaga bc as much as i love gaga... come on... beyonce’s obviously taking the show!!! and mina’s mediocre w singing so! 

[surrealismdrama]

Surrealism and Experimental Drama

CL 140 Winter 2019

MM116 2-3:20pm; Office hr. 3:30-4:30 at HIB 275.

 Beginning around the late nineteenth century, avant-garde art set out to decenter the human mind--from conscious to unconscious thought, from waking to dreaming, from belief to performance.   What happened is not an exchange of one set for the other, but a destabilization of the relation between real and imagined life which the “surreal” object and surreal experience exemplified.  Yoda’s advice, “there is no try,” is the practical result of this destabilization: any act is potentially art and any art can transform us and the world.  Surrealist painting and film, experimental poetry and drama, avant-garde photography, and early newspaper comics were part of this movement.  Artists and writers responded around the world to the political and imaginative potential of the movement.  We will study fiction, memoir, poetry, drama, photography, painting, video art, sculpture, newspaper comics, and film, together with theories of relation to the object, to explore surrealist ideas. 

Assignments: 3 short response papers (readings or interpretations of a work from the course), 1 in-class presentation, and a final project (about a secret object), or five total, each counted as 20% of the grade). Attendance is required; 4 absences are allowed, after which the course grade is negatively affected.  

 CL140 is a safe space for LGBTQ students.  Comp Lit and the UC support and protect students without documents.

Syllabus

[W] indicates the reading is in the EEE dropbox for the class.

T  JAN 8  Introduction: body, thing, shadow.  Lee Miller, photography (web), Constantin Brancusi sculpture, Pablo Picasso mask paintings; Edward James gardens (web); Aleia object art and here; Kay Sage paintings; Georges Bataille, “The Lugubrious Game” (from Visions of Excess).

Th  10  André Breton, "Surrealist Manifesto" (1924); "Declaration" of 1925; Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, Un Chien Andalou (short film, 1929).

Optional: Breton, "What is Surrealism?" (1934).

  T  15  Charles Baudelaire, “To the Reader,” “Spleen,” and “Heautontimoroumenos,” from Flowers of Evil; see the French text with alternative translations; Sigmund Freud, “The Manifest Content of Dreams,” Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis, lecture VII (esp. 149-153) [W]; Walt Disney/Savador Dali, Destino.

Optional: Freud, Interpretation of Dreams ch. 5 (esp. “Dream of the Botanical Monograph”) [W].

Th  17  Jean-Joseph Rabearivelos, poems (“The Black Glassmaker Whose Countless Eyeballs None Has Ever Seen,” “Pomegranate,” and “All Seasons” quoted in the essay linked); Hong-An Truong, “Explosions in the Sky (Điện Biên Phủ 1954)” interview; Remedios Varo, painting (in class).

  T  22  Leonora Carrington, Down Below [W].  FIRST RESPONSE DUE.

Th  24  Leonora Carrington, Down Below [W].

 T  29  Edward­ Lear, limericks (any 10); Meret Oppenheim, sculpture (web); Antonin Artaud, radio plays (audio in class).

Optional: Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense (selections) [W].  

Th  31  Samuel Beckett, “Not I”: performed by Billie Whitelaw and by Julianne Moore (compare).

  T  FEB 5   Aimé Césaire, “A Return to the Native Land” (English translation given with the French original) [W], esp. sections 1-31, 96-109; Lautréamont, The Song of Maldoror 1.1-1.8 [W].

Th  7  George Herriman, Krazy Kat (newspaper cartoons) [W].  SECOND RESPONSE DUE.

  T  12   Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons (”Objects”).

Th  14  Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons (”Food”). Gertrude Stein, “Interview” (1934).  

Optional: Stein, Tender Buttons, “Rooms.”

  T  19   Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mysterious Object at Noon (film).

Th  21   Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mysterious Object at Noon (film); Freud, “Mourning and Melancholia” (1917).

  T  26   Yayoi Kusama/Jud Yarkut, “Kusama’s Self-Obliteration” (video); William Pope.L, “Personal History of Curation” (drama).

Th  28  Gertrude Stein, “Four Saints in Three Acts” (opera, 1934), especially Act I minutes 12:30-20 and Act III min. 4-6 and 20-24.  About the original performance, with footage.  Video of “Four Saints” Overture.

  T  MARCH 5  Francis Ponge, “Soap” (poems).  THIRD RESPONSE DUE.

Th  7  Satoshi Kon, Paprika (film).

  T  12  Satoshi Kon, Paprika (film).

Th  14  final projects

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suggested further reading:

 Christopher Bollas, The Shadow of the Object ch.1.  

 André Breton, Nadja (about the play Les Detraquées, pp.40-49, 51-54; about Nadja pp.63-144, 157-160) [W].

 Leonora Carrington, The Hearing Trumpet.

Maya Deren, “Meshes of the Afternoon” (short film).  Online.

Bob Dylan, “Visions of Johanna”; “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”

 Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny.”  Standard Edition, Trans. Strachey. London: Hogarth Press.

 Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse), The Song of Maldoror 1.9, 2.13, 4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8 [W].

Also: Maldoror 5.2, 5.5, 5.7, 6. 2, 6.6, 6.7 [W]; Maldoror read in English: audio; French original text.

 Clarice Lispector, The Chandelier (novel).

 Franklin Rosemont and Robin D.G. Kelly, eds., Black, Brown, & Beige: Surrealist Writings from Africa and the Diaspora. Austin: University of Texas, 2009.

 Hortense Spillers, “All Things You Could Be” (essay).

 “SpungeBob SquarePants” episode S12E01 (or other episodes).

 D.W. Winnicott, “Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena,” “The Use of an Object” [W].

 Jim Woodring, "Frank" (comic).

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 15 Review: Diegesis in a Strange Paradise

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

Introducing Vangie’s father, the Conjure Man.

We open to the sound of some funky drums as a mysterious old man in a toga-like garment conducts a religious ritual, swaying his stiff limbs as strange lamps burn on an altar in the background. He lays down exhausted on a straw mat as Vangie enters.

“Good,“ says the old man, “you’re just in time.” In the background, the drums continue beating, which makes me wonder: can he hear the drums and, if so, where is the music coming from? If you’ve read my reviews of previous episodes, you’ll know that I like to analyze which elements on this show are diegetic and which are not--which, most of the time, is surprisingly hard to determine.

For those who don’t already know or who want a more in-depth explanation than I’ve previously given, diegesis is a mode of storytelling that shows the actions of a story from the characters’ point of view (the diegetic or intradiegetic level), as opposed to that of an outside narrator (the extradiegetic level). The narrator writes about what the character sees, hears, thinks, and feels, without stylizing it or filtering it through an outside perspective. In literature, this kind of narrative is easy to spot and usually takes either a first-person or third-person limited perspective--or, more rarely, a second-person perspective. A third-person omniscient narrative can be purely diegetic, but only if the narrator doesn’t add their personal opinions or interpretations of the characters to the story.

In theater, film, and TV, determining what elements of a narrative are diegetic is more difficult, because the dramatic arts all rely on extradiegetic storytelling to some degree. The writer(s) and director(s) take on the role of narrator and have to communicate the characters’ experience to the audience in a way that they will understand, often relying on theatrical conventions that aren’t realistic but help them communicate the characters’ thoughts and feelings better.* One example relevant to soap operas like this one is backacting**, which “is to stage a scene so both actors are facing the camera...The idea is that it has the benefit of getting both character’s [sic] faces full on in the shot, so you get the full impact of their acting and/or emoting.” Obviously, most people don’t turn away from the people they’re talking to in real life, and most soap characters probably wouldn’t, either, if they were real people. This makes backacting non-diegetic.

My favorite example of backacting on this show, from Episode 5.

So far under my diegesis tag, I’ve examined Jacques Eloi des Mondes’ vanishing portrait and his ring to determine whether or not those were diegetic. The portrait vanishing is diegetic in the Paperback Library novels based on the show, and we know this because multiple characters reference it. Take, for example, this scene from the first book:

They started to leave the room, but Diana stopped short to stare at the frame where the portrait of Jacques Eloi des Mondes was plainly revealed when she entered the hall. "That's strange," she said, frowning. "I'd have sworn there was a portrait in that frame." A hand took her elbow gently and words were spoken so close to her ear that warm breath touched her earlobe. "But no. It was taken out to be cleaned and will be restored shortly. How attractive you are when you look perplexed, my dear." ***

On the show, however, it’s non-diegetic. No one ever mentions the portrait disappearing and as early as Episode 6, the crew stop removing it when Jacques possesses Jean Paul. Less than two weeks later, his handsome face stays smirking inside the frame whether or not his spirit is inside Jean Paul’s body. When he possesses him, the camera still cuts to the shot of the blank portrait, but the portrait itself is still visible on the set and to the characters. In Episode 12 where Jacques controls Jean Paul for the entire episode, Holly has a short scene where she discusses how much he resembles his descendant, and the portrait is visible--and that’s just one example of many.

The ring, in contrast, is diegetic, which we know because Elizabeth mentions it in Episode 13. It later appears in Episode 68 where Raxl tries to sacrifice it to the Great Serpent. But it also appears for a short time on another character’s hand in Episode 59 before disappearing again, and I’m not sure if that part was intended to be diegetic or merely symbolic of Jacques’ alliance with said character. (I think that, in that instance, it’s supposed to be the latter.)

And now we return to the Conjure Man and the unseen drums in the background of his introduction scene. We know from Episode 12 that Raxl and Quito have tried contacting him through voodoo rituals, which involved (among other things) Quito beating a drum. While I doubt that a hypothetical ordinary human would hear the drums if they were to spy on him, it is possible that he can hear them (either literally or telepathically) thanks to his supernatural powers. If this is true, then the music is diegetic whether or not any other characters could hear it, because at least one character does.

Alternatively, the Conjure Man could have the power to make drums beat on his own, or create music out of thin air like the ghosts in this fun Dark Shadows episode. Kind of a stretch, but it is a fantasy show, and I’m willing to suspend my disbelief in any fantasy elements as long as I think they’re cool. I don’t understand why some other fantasy fans need a pseudo-scientific explanation for fantastic elements in stories; just tell me “this man, who is over 300 years old, has the power to summon drum noises at will” and I’ll gladly accept it, no questions asked. It’s a fantasy story; we don’t need to know the pseudo-physics involved.

Or maybe the music is just regular, incidental, non-diegetic music and I’m just overanalyzing again (which is probably the truth). Whatever. I’d rather spend my free time writing about Strange Paradise than have a social life. ;)

Vangie and the Conjure Man.

Anyway, the Conjure Man tells Vangie that he foresees that he will die soon and therefore she, his sole heir, must become the Conjure Woman. Vangie doesn’t want to, saying “I don’t believe.” However, her father insists that she is best because she “know[s] this modern world” and is “trained for the future when man will wake up to the network of his own mysticism.” (A possible reference to the idea of the Age of Aquarius or the New Age movement in general?) Vangie replies that, although she believes in telepathy and ESP, she does not believe in witchcraft because “its roots are in the past.”

“Where could you find roots, but in the past?” asks the Conjure Man, chewing the scenery. “How can a tree grow without roots? How can you deny your own destiny? Yours is a gift of giving, Vangie. Don’t deny that.”

“I don’t want it!”

“You can’t escape it!” He tries to stand up, but can’t, and tells Vangie the messages or “truths” that he has received. “On Maljardin, the Devil is loose again.” The drums intensify. “Your minister will be sent for. The forces of evil have drawn a battle line between God and the Devil!”

I like this screencap. Taken out of context, it looks like Alison is doing a Raxl impression.

On the cursed isle of Maljardin, Jean Paul and Alison meet in the Great Hall for some recap. Alison repeats her intention to stay, but insists that Jean Paul promise her some things. This pisses off THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES, who decides to take over and listen to the conditions instead, making Jean Paul look like a fool in the process:

Condition #1: Jean Paul informs Erica’s and her father of Erica’s death.

Jacques’ response:

Trolling Alison by suggesting her father might help with his insane cryonics scheme.

Alison objects, saying that her father knows that cryonics is a pseudoscience. “There’s always a beginning,” Jacques replies, mocking her. “Aren’t you proud that your sister is one of its pioneers?”

This pisses her off, understandably. “I was a fool to stay here,” she remarks. But he just keeps talking, first about how no word of the cryonics experiment must leak out (again) and then about transplants (also again). They discuss a brain transplant experiment involving bird embryos by a Yugoslavian scientist named Pavlovic, which actually happened, but with a low survival rate. Clearly Ian Martin did some research on organ transplants, and one has to wonder if he knew of the failures and deliberately used them to foreshadow problems with Erica’s resurrection.

Condition #2: That he bring a minister to Maljardin to conduct a funeral service for Erica.

Jacques’ response: More denial that Erica is dead, plus this argument:

Insane troll logic: “If a man landed on the moon, that means we have achieved the impossible, which in turn means that nothing is impossible. If nothing is impossible, then Erica can come back to life.”

Alison accuses him of denying God, to which he responds that “He and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms.” (Gotta love Jacques dropping hints about his identity.) Cut back to the Conjure Man:

Any idea what any of this means?

The Conjure Man is busy serving Vangie a nice nutritious plate of word salad as he slowly passes over to the spirit world and YouTube’s automatic captions gleefully obscure the meaning of his words even more. The actual line doesn’t make much more sense than this, speaking of a “conqueror of mist” and other mystical-sounding stuff that is most likely nonsense. And he doesn’t deliver it well, because...well...he’s just not a very good actor.

Jacques: “We are not amused. No...wait...” *snickers* “...Actually, we are.” (Note: He doesn’t actually say this, but he should have.)

Jean Paul recovers and promises to bring Matt to the island, while the Conjure Man continues giving Vangie instructions. He tells her to bring the Knight of Pentacles--which Vangie identifies with Dan Forrest--to Maljardin. I need to remember to write a post analyzing all the Tarot symbolism used sometime in the near future, which I keep putting off doing, but I will say that the description of the card at the randomly-selected Tarot website I linked to does indeed sound like a description of Dan.

At the French Leave Café--otherwise completely deserted save for Quito and the bartender--Jean Paul meets up with Matt. He orders a gin and tonic, which suggests that he was already a heavy drinker before Jacques started quaffing brandy all the time while in his body. (Speaking of which, why do the characters on this show and Dark Shadows just leave decanters of brandy sitting out where anyone can slip poison, drugs, or magical potions in them? I can understand why Roger Collins on DS does it because he doesn’t have a brain, but Jean Paul allegedly has an IQ of 187, so he has no excuse.) During their otherwise rather dull conversation, Jean Paul explains that he retreated to Maljardin six months earlier because he had been stalked by the news media his entire life and wanted some privacy.

He asks Matt to come to Maljardin, which he assumes has to do with Holly and probably gets a little too excited (if you know what I mean) before Jean Paul disappoints him by refusing to tell until he promises to keep the real reason a secret. But Matt insists on knowing beforehand and is shocked when Jean Paul reveals that he wants him to hold a funeral for Erica “until the day she rises again and returns to me.” The Reverend decides to humor him, most likely because sailing to the island means seeing Holly again, and he leaves to pack.

Jean Paul is reminded once again that Jacques is slowly ruining his life. He may sit on the big, fancy wicker throne now, but soon enough, the handsome devil is bound to kick the throne out from under him.

After he’s gone, Vangie shows up and so does Dan, which pisses off Jean Paul. Dan confronts his boss about the signature that he left on those business documents back in Episode 4, and Jean Paul lies and claims that he signed Jacques’ name because he “didn’t like the deal.” Dan expresses his worries about both Alison (his fiancée, in case you have forgotten) and the warnings that Vangie gave him about Jacques’ return, which I think is when Jean Paul must realize that Jacques did something with the letter that Alison wrote to Dan that made Vangie concerned (although I doubt he knows what).

We cut to the Conjure Man chanting a spell about a “mild zephyr [that] shall conquer the mist” and a “cooling breeze.” But the spell is not effective, because look who just arrived at the party:

Jacques: “You’ve overstepped yourself, Dan. Go home; you’re not needed here.” *sips gin and tonic with affectedly bored expression*

Dan demands information about what is happening to Alison. Jacques refuses, saying, “That’s none of your business.”

"I am your business!” Dan shouts. “I thought you were mine."

"You presumed wrong!"

"Then let us end this business relationship.” (I see what you did there, Mr. Martin.) “What about Alison?"

“Alison is also no longer any of your business, either.”

“What do you mean?”

Jacques stands up, as though trying to intimidate him. “Get out of my life. And hers.” And he turns and begins to walk out.

“Take your job,” Dan shouts, “and I’ll take Alison!” Good luck taking her back while she’s Jacques’ prisoner detained guest.

“Don’t be a fool, Dan! You’ve worn out your welcome on Maljardin.” I didn’t know you could wear out your welcome before you even arrived.

“You won’t get rid of me that easily. I’m coming, too!” Quito stops him by holding stiff zombie fingers in his face.

Jacques grinning smugly while Quito keeps Dan from following them.

“It could be your last trip, Dan,” Jacques sneers and leaves Alison’s estranged and far less attractive fiancé behind to rant to Vangie about how he intends to find out WTF Jean Paul is hiding “even if [he has] to blow up his lousy island.” Meanwhile, Vangie reads her Tarot cards and reveals that the King of Coins is endangering Alison’s life.

“But who is he?”

What does this have to do with diegesis, you ask? Well, not much at this point, save that, if Dan could only hear Jacques’ minor-key leitmotif playing in the background right at this moment--that is to say, if the non-diegetic music were only diegetic--he would know exactly whom Vangie means.

Jacques cheerfully tearing up a letter after slicing it open with the world’s biggest letter opener.

Join us again on Friday for the funniest of this week’s bad subtitles, and then again next week for my review of Episode 16.

Coming up: Reverend Matt Dawson’s arrival on Maljardin makes shock-waves and Raxl receives an important message.

Notes

* For more information about diegesis (and where I first learned of the concept), see also Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera: A Video Essay by Lindsay Ellis. The video deals in part with diegetic vs. non-diegetic songs in musicals and why this doesn’t always translate well to live-action film. The segment on diegesis starts at 5:55.

** The author of the blog post I linked to cites Danny Horn of Dark Shadows Every Day (the direct inspiration for this blog) as their source for the origin of the term “backacting.” I can’t verify that Danny invented the term, but most of the few relevant results I was able to find on Google were from his blog, so it’s likely he did. On a random note, when you search “backacting ‘soap operas,’” one of the suggested searches is “dark shadows cat,” which I absolutely adore.

*** Dorothy Daniels, Strange Paradise (New York: Paperback Library, 1969), 66.

{ <-- Previous: Episode 14   ||    Next: Episode 16 --> }

[akwardpogayto]

A post???? It’s long tho,,, so here. How to get money from your parents.

If you offer to get them something too,,, 90% of my money was 20$ “mom can I borrow some cash I want chocolate I’ll get you some” and then getting like, 3 king size individual wrapped chocolate from the checkout aisle(they’re always on sale)

U can go out w ur friends and have an “emergency funds” w/ u, keep it in your phone case and “spend it on a phone charger cuz mine died” once or twice; u could also spend it on “food/clothes/jewelry” if ur parents would be ok with that

SNATCH ANY SPARE CHANGE LYING AROUND, then trade it for cash. If it’s a rlly big bag, ur parents will probably keep it for a little while before taking it to the bank/coinstar/ whatever. Snatch as much of it as you can without seeming suspicious. Just make sure ur parents count the coins when U trade it for cash, that way they don’t think ur trying to gain money.

You can “spend” money on branded stuff( I do branded art supplies) and then actually pay for cheaper, off brand ones that look similar enough.

Uhhh learn sleight of hand/ that stage magic stuff and do some of that ✨misdirection✨ so they don’t notice the change that Was on the table

If you’ve got books, you can “donate” them to a “library” or something (used bookstore),, pretend to be slightly heartbroken to win brownie points.

If you can, ask for money to give a friend for their birthday, say the friend is saving up for college so they can afford to go somewhere good, get a good education. Have a fake friendsona or two or three to get some “birthday money” for “them”

Just make sure to not talk about them tooo much, otherwise ur parents might want to meet them... this can also be tapped yearly if need be

If you can’t just ask for cash on Christmas, then ask for stuff you could sell. I’ve asked for books and cash whenever I was given a gift receiving opportunity, just make sure they see you enjoying it before you get rid of it.

shampoo/conditioner/lotion/soap/deodorant is also something you can claim to need and buy a cheap alternative for, if it messes with you just say they didn’t have your usual brand and go back to buying what you usually get.

Other Stuff you can burn through pretty quickly and do the off-brand trick:

Stationary, esp gel pens, shaving stuff if you use it, if you use any kind of Face creams, hair ties, cotton balls& nail polish, toothpaste, makeup/concealer, clothes(I can guarantee ur moms not checking when you last bought underwear/socks)

Also if you “lose” stuff that the house/you only have one of, take it with you to go buy a new one. Say you bought the same type and already unwrapped it. Just make sure someone Else notices that it’s missing, not you every time.

Hairbrushes, nail cutters, loofahs, if you buy an extra toothpaste container and do that, small but important containers, like soap dishes, if you have a hammer/screwdriver in ur house, etc work well for that trick.

If ur parents will trust you to buy groceries that your household buys on a weekly basis, and that’s something you can do by yourself, give them the receipt but not the change. If they ask for it, give it to them. If they’re in a good mood, take a cut out of it “as a tip”. If they’re not, don’t. Check if they count the change or not- to what extent? How much can you get away with swiping next time?

I have more to say about this than I probably should...... but I’m glad it helps!