#i am not cut out for reselling i think.

[mydollsaregay]

@americangirlruinedmylife asked me if i had seen AG’s website today and for a minute i was so wrapped up in the revival of Julie’s floral jumpsuit that i straight up didn’t even see the other historical drops 😅

anyway i love this fit SO much. i was devastated when i got back into collecting and saw how expensive it was, so i am very pleased to be able to have a version of it (though they changed the sandal color for some reason?? it’s odd but im fine with it - I have some tan ones I’ll switch them out for).

the other thing I’m definitely going to be getting is Addy’s birthday dress- my Addy only has her pjs so i’m pumped to be able to get another fit for her!!! also I just love her birthday outfit. her snood is super fun, and I LOVE the checkered apron.

(I kinda wish the book was sold separately though, as I believe I already have a copy and. Y’know. Money.)

i actually LOVE the idea of the limited drop IF they end up doing what I think they’re going to do. they dropped just the birthday/spring outfits and books during the season when they take place….

I think they might be doing a seasonal release of each book and accompanying outfit??? 🤔

based on how much got left hanging around on sale for molly and kit, i think they might be trying to broaden the audience while limiting the amount they have to stock by doing these three girls at once - they could be planning to rotate out items as they add each new book and accompanying outfit, which I actually think is an extremely cool idea. there’s no way to know for certain until we hit summer and the next wave would release (if im not totally off base), but we’ll see 👀

[subarashiihibi]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL ANGEL WIFE IZAYA ORIHARA!!!!!!! 🥰😘👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨😭😎🔥🫶🩷

i can't quite put into words what exactly izaya has meant to me over the past 8 years. one, it sounds really corny and i go off into at least 30 different tangents about all the little things that make him so endearing to me, but also i just dont really know how to sound eloquent and stuff. that being said, a lot of the person i am today is (for better or for worse) thanks to izaya, so i think if i leave it at that you can at least get it a little bit. ^_^

i was really excited to set this year's display up. i changed the room i used this time, since i got a new desk, and it was...kind of a challenge at first, but after moving around a bunch of furniture and whatnot, i made it work...!

i had to forego putting up a few other things... namely the rest of my bromides and postcards, but also all my shikishi. i need to invest in some way to display them... i also had two(!!) dakimakura... i had to leave out this year. </3 and the cardboard cutout i made when i was 16. 😭

as usual, i have a lot of stuff to say about this entire thing and the stuff around it, so i... will leave my rambling under the cut. (^□^)

my god putting this thing together was hell. i said 'challenge' earlier no this shit was like a fucking war omfg. the clear files kept falling i was miserable and praying to god (im not even religious). and then i had to tape behind the big izaya balloon poster cause it's covering my doorway and it kept getting pulled back to the door...? and it looked stupid. 🤦‍♂️ i wasn't originally gonna put the tables in here either. i really wanted to be able to fit the bed sheets on the walls. but i couldn't... and i needed more room to put the pillows and stuff, so it ended up working out perfectly.

(the only reason i didn't want to use tables was cause i didn't want something covering up izaya's sexy exposed feet in the china poster... 😟)

i was (finally) gonna get a cake this year, but after having the stress of two exams back to back this week and exams next week, i...was too exhausted lol. hopefully next year i won't have an awful overnight job or school making me miserable. (as if i'm not still gonna be a student next year☠)

the amount of durarara merch that's come out the past few years has left me feeling so spoiled... i hope they do a mail order for the 20th anni merch... i want all the izaya stuff without the crazy markups from resellers online🤬

also plz don't judge my toploader deco skills too much... i am not very experienced... and i also don't have a lot of stickers to work with... 🥺

at any rate... at this exact time last year, i was suffering inside the confines of my local walmart... i was working overnight, and my break was at 12am, so as soon as it hit, i ran out to my car to excitedly celebrate the date changing to may 4th...!

and then during my lunch break, i drove to the whataburger next door and did another 10-pull on the izaya birthday kuji while in the drivethru.

i didn't realize this until i started taking stuff down in my room (this is my bedroom... i can't realistically keep two large tables in here and a poster covering my doorway. i had to crawl under the table just to get in and out. my knees still hurt.), but... i actually forgot something i wanted to include... my izaya lightstick... 💔💔💔 it's okay. i will live. i'm happy with my setup as a whole so i have no qualms with this. i just need to make sure i don't make the same mistake next year.

on a (slightly) unrelated note, yesterday (may 3) was the 19th birthday of my favorite album ever from my favorite band ever, fall out boy's from under the cork tree! i was so happy when i found out it's right before izaya's birthday cause fall out boy as a whole has so many izaya coded lyrics it's crazy. (btw, their debut album tttyg came out on the 6th as well...!)

and then tomorrow is cinco de mayo... it's not a coincidence... latina izaya truthers rise up...

anyways...! i'm finally learning how to draw properly. the reason i was always so miserable when i tried before was cause i never knew what i was doing. i didn't know where to start from. because...i didn't use references...so hopefully i can draw something cute for izaya's birthday next year. ^_^

that's all i have to say...! i woke up early this (yesterday) morning at 9am so i could be there at 10am when midnight hit in japan, and it's already 3am on the 4th, so i'm exhausted lol...

i was so excited seeing all the izaya bday fanart on twitter though. all the beautiful artists making beautiful art...

but i've spoken too much now. sorry. i'm going to spend the rest of my night listening to fall out boy before i eventually pass out. bye bye !!!! ^_^

[littlemarianah]

Prompt: “How am I supposed to focus when you look at me like that?”

@tetheredfeathers and I started a challenge to write a text between 500 - 1000 words with this prompt.

Click >here< to see her version of this.

Just something fun to pass the time... I ended up writing my new non-reaped AU project, where Katniss and Peeta never go to the games.

I'm tagging these three incredible and talented writers to continue our challenge.

@mollywog @nightlocked-in @rainymyx

title:

The streak of luck.

A tide of luck had swept over me the last few weeks. Spring is always the best time of year to find things in the woods, but this year I outdid myself. I found two bee hives full of honey. It was very painful and I spent days recovering from the bee stings, but I managed to bring two bags full of honeycombs to sell on the rob. Honey is a rare item in district twelve, so it made me a lot of money.

I think that since spring began, there hasn't been a day that goes by that I don't come home with something to sell with. From juicy wild berries to Turkeys, swallows and wild dogs. I've been finding things more valuable lately.

This month, we had the luxury of spending more stuff than just on food. I was able to buy new boots for Prim, cold coat for me and a supply of oils for my mother to make ointments and resell.

And in the end there was still money left. So I bought a sewing thread and a needle. I grabbed my mother's old white dress from the back of the closet. She and Prim did all the repairs for me. Then I took my dress to Hazelle and paid her a good amount to wash it. She asked me for bleach, to remove the yellow stains from age and mold. Then she asked me for violet fabric paint. It was difficult to find something like that on the black market, it ended costing me a whole rabbit.

I was afraid it would turn my dress purple, but she said that the dye mixed in hot water removes all the yellow stains and makes the dress white like never before.

She was right. It was so beautiful it looked like I had bought it brand new.

As I get older and become more and more like my mother, her dress looks more and more like it was made out for me. The straight cut at the collar makes my long neck - which Peeta praises so much - stand out. The long sleeves hide my thin arms. The tight waist makes it my hips look more accentuated than they actually are. It's a simple dress, it looks like a nightgown. However, its fabric is so elegant that I look like a bride from the big city.

My mom puts my hair in a low bun and Prim makes a lavender flower crown to match spring.

The shoes I will wear are a problem. I only have my beat-up hunting boots and old school shoes. None suit the occasion. My mother's shoes are beautiful, but they are so tight on me. I refuse to spend the whole afternoon limping.

There is a third option, which I don't like very much. There are the shoes I used to wear at the reaping. The last time I wore them I was 19 years old, two years ago. This blue heels are so old they look gray.

I wish I had thrown them away, but you can never waste resources like that. Shoes are expensive. Even if they don't bring back good memories, they are still valuable. My mother cleans them and rubs them with lard to make them shiny. I feel weird, but it's my best option at the moment.

So here I am, dressed like a spring bride. And there he is, dressed like a merchant groom. Waiting for me at the door of the Justice Building.

He has combed his hair back and applied gel to keep the curls in place. A perfectly ironed white shirt, black pants with a silver buckle belt and a brown suit over everything, which make his shoulders pointy. He's perfect. On his feet are also his reaping shoes.

“You look so beautiful." he says.

“You too." I reply.

Then we link our arms and wait until they call us. I feel the heat radiating from Peeta. He doesn't usually get nervous, but today his forehead shines with sweat and he fixes his collar compulsively. So far I've counted five times in the last two minutes.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Oh, my brother lent me this shirt. It's itchy" He groans, awkwarly. I smile at him and he seems to relax.

There are several couples around us, waiting too. Everyone wants to get married in the spring.

Many young women in white. Some with lacy and chic dresses, others with old and yellowed, but all the same holding the hands of their lovers. The young men, one exhausted by work, one covered in coal dust, and another with elegant blue suits and shiny shoes.

We are all there, waiting to get to our turn.

When the door finally opens the old man calls out "Thompson" in a deep voice.

Then a couple enters, the girl with a veil and a garland and the boy with a leather hat. The two are shaking with so much excitement, they are completely in love. Still too young to free themselves from the burden of the Hunger Games. It's not good luck marry before you're 19. So I sigh, and wish them good luck on next summer.

After a few minutes, the couple leaves smiling and receives a round of applause from their family members who are waiting for them outside.

Then the man screams again "Greenwood".

An older, handsome boy, next to him is a blonde girl in a flashy dress. They are accompanied by their parents, elegant merchants. I start stomping my feet anxiously. I want to end the waiting once and for all. After a couple long minutes, they finally leave the building and when I least expect it the man is shouting for "Mellark". I head towards him as if he were calling my own name.

My witness is my mother, I wanted it to be Prim, but she is still a minor. Peeta's witness is his middle brother. He seems a little uncomfortable being there, but he pats Peeta on the back to encourage him.

“Mrs. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark, is it of their own free will that you both meet here today to be united in matrimony?” says the old man.

“Yes.” Peeta said vigorous.

“Yes.” I said in sequence, quieter revealing my nervousness.

Peeta takes my hand gently and squeezes it with his sweaty palm.

I thought I was calm until this moment, now I'm sure I'm terrified. While that old man talks boring things about marriage and laws and the importance of family I get lost in Peeta's flush face. His lips are tight and raised in a restrained smile. I feel my heart skip a beat.

When the man stops talking we each receive a pen. Peeta leans over the thick book first, writing “Peeta Mellark” in cursive. Then it's my turn, my hands shake and I sigh, before finally putting the ink on the paper.

I start with the "K" of my name, with a less sophisticated calligraphy than Peeta's. Now my tremor is visible to everyone around me. Peeta's eyes are the heaviest on me, they make me blush.

“How am I supposed to focus when you look at me like that?” I sigh. He giggles and looks away as I write "Mellark." My new last name.

[moonsidesong]

just caught up with Your Turn To Die and absolutely adored it the whole way through. it goes unbelievably hard. calling it Danganronpa But Good feels like an insult. but like... yeah what if danganronpa was good? or rather. game that makes me wish danganronpa was good.

it really keeps you on your toes the Entire time, which is why i ended up saving like......... every five to ten minutes, most times. i would say the only slower part is the minigames during chapter 2? but, i thought those were fun, and they were still broken up by plot important stuff, so i really didnt mind.

ive heard the game had a soundtrack release on CD a few years ago, but i cant seem to find much information about it? much less any resell listings. how sad... i love cd...

i wanna talk more in depth from here on out so spoilers under the cut! warning thoughts very disjointed. and i havent seen absolutely Everything the game has to offer yet (havent done any of the side stories, we'll do them soon probably) so if my takes are disproven by anything ive yet to see please do not tell me htank you

first off OHHH MY GODDDD THIS GAME IS SO MUCH LESS CREEPY ABOUT THE MINORS AND ITS SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR COMPARED TO DANGANRONPA. its not perfect, of course, i do not entirely love the jokes(???) about keiji (known grown adult man) going on dates with sara (known teenage girl), but like, this game does not make me feel gross all the time? thank u nankidai for not making your teacher character with a close relationship with one of his former students a groomer! the bare minimum! im gonna hit kodaka with a stick this should not be a point in the game's favor.

anyway! ended chapter 2 with Reko and Sou (shin) alive, ended chapter 3 having lost Reko .. . :( shes my favorite... i was so sad... ranmaru we're not friends anymore/.... you suck... you killed my best girl... we um, did make a grand total of 175 save files though, so at some point me and the friend i played with are gonna go back and scrub through anything and everything that we missed. maybe after we do the side stories though, not sure yet. reko yabusame i swear to god i will crawl into the screen and kill ranmaru myself for you. i will save you. i love you so much mwah

for years ive only known midori as The Guy That Kids On Danganronpa Discourse Instagram Put Overdramatic Yet Also Somehow Extremely Haphazard Trigger Warnings on every post that included him, so i was really excited to meet him. and boy he did not disappoint this guys NUTS!!! HES CRAZAY!!!!!!!! he has such a perfectly striking look about him. i love how he almost never stops looking straight at you, and how his suit is stark black so it obscures a lot of his shape when he's in the dark, its so cool. they absolutely nailed the atmosphere whenever you're around this guy.

but the first jumpscare when he like reaches out at you from the coffin just kinda made me laugh. me when i get you

also, if you're this far in to care about my opinions on games you probably know that i am Known Danganronpa V3 Hater. i think in particular Kokichi Ouma is way too good of a character for how dogwater the game's actual plot is, and Shin Tsukimi, while not being the same, obviously, scratches that itch of a guy trapped in a death game that spends all his time lying and living under a persona because he's afraid of dying perfectly While Being In A Game That Doesnt Make Me Feel Like Eating Sheet Metal . i love this dude and his ugly several clashing colors outfit. he wants my ass like mega dead right now but thats not important surely

also, i think its sweet that joe and sara are just best friends and they rarely ever even entertain the idea that they had romantic feelings for each other. i think its extra sweet and tragic that joe was able to tell sara he loved her in the end, meaning it as his best friend. and the way the game completely ceases showing you flashbacks of him after that point and just lets the image of the hallucinations replace his actual memory overtime is so good and haunting. this doubled down by the way her memory of him is completely locked up as soon as she starts trying to actually remember the way he really was, its so good.

i think thats all i have to say for now, but umm!!! really really good im excited to go back and fill in the gaps i missed. especially regarding kanna becasue i have a lot of theories about her that i hope im on the right track about #lol. but even if i dont i want to see her i miss her. yaay!!! i love when video games are good. i love you video games.

ill probably make more posts down the line with more thoughts after i let them marinade in my brain for a while... mostly when i have thoughts ive been sending them to the friend im playing with so we can discuss theories together LOL

[loversj0y]

ITS ME ITS ME IM GLONK

I HAVE ANOTHER SIREN IDEA

So: i was learning about art forgery earlier this year, and my professor was mentioning how because of the elitism in the art world, some artists are forced to turn to forgery because no one will pay large amounts of money for art that doesn't have a famous name/history attached to it. SO they'll copy other people's artstyles and say they found this "Leonardo Da Vinci" work in some abandoned attic somewhere and sell it (now obviously because DaVinvi is so famous, it would be pretty hard to sell that lie, but you know what I mean. maybe a buttersworth painting. idk).

...And you can launder money with art forgeries: somebody could buy a forgery with money achieved through nefarious means (dirty money), then resell it for the same (or a higher) price. Now they have the same amount/more money, but it was achieved through legitimate means so its harder to track down/make a case against it in court.

Anyway: The Syndicate catches some broke ass college student on their territory, but they are a damn quick thinker and say that they have connections in crime to spare themselves. The student tells them that they have contact with this guy Anonymous, who provides art forgeries that the Syndicate can then sell and keep their money trail clean (especially useful, when in their civilian disguise. all that money is suspicious...). What the student ISN'T telling them is that they aren't just the middleman for Anonymous' works, they ARE Anonymous (because, if the Syndicate got sick of them and knew that there was only just one person involved in the business, they could just kill that one person. But if they think there's multiple, they'd have to keep the student alive to get to Anonymous).

Maybe Siren finds out that its the student who is doing the paintings, and they bond over their artistic interests; him being a musician, them being a painter.

Or, ALTERNATE SCENARIO: There IS a mafia that the Syndicate is dealing with, and the mafia agrees to set them up with one of their greatest contributors. Obviously Siren is sent to talk with this mysterious associate-- since he's very persuasive-- and instead of finding some shady, powerful crimelord, he finds a worn out, paint-splattered college student wearing J O R T S in a shitty apartment. they don't even react when they see him they're just used to it at this point.

i might un-anonymize myself soon idk

GLONK YOUR BRAIN IS HUGE OH MY GOD

firstly, always feel free to spam my inbox with ideas, they make me happy to see and i love coming home or having a minute to read through them and reading it like the daily paper, it’s my favorite part of the day

secondly!!!!! AHHHH okay the whole thing abt hiding the fact that this broke college student is actually like an amazing art dealer and like potentially dangerous is so juicy. like

student: “yeah, Anonymous is crazy. they once stabbed someone and used their blood to sign a painting because it was the only color they could get to match a specific red tone that Van Gogh used” knowing damn well it was actually their own blood because they cut their finger opening up a box of new paints, causing the red to splatter on the floor

siren: “wow… this Anonymous person must be dangerous. how are you so calm around them? not to sound rude… but you dont strike me as the fighting type”

student: *think fast think fast, i cant let them know i make most of the forgeries or that i am Anonymous* “we’re lovers”

siren: “what.”

i feel like techno would be the first one to figure it out, and wilbur would be dead last. techno knew the minute he met you but just kept quiet about it, phil realized when he monitored your activity for a day and noticed how you’d be mimicking famous artists, tommy realized because student told him, and wilbur didn’t believe it for a second until he literally showed up to a meeting Anonymous had set up, watched as they tried to kidnap them, resulting in their mask being knocked off and siren was like OH FUCKIN SHIT OH NO

but i also love the second alternate part bc siren’s heard all these stories about anonymous’s ability to replicate artists exactly and how skilled they are, and then student opens the door and is just like “okay. siren is here. totally normal.”

siren’s like “i need you to do something for me”

student just scoffs “yeah? you’re going to have to wait, i have to finish a painting for my niece. she asked me to paint her favorite barbie doll” fully serious and siren is just like ??????? and considers using his voice but is just curious and wants to watch you work so just sits back and watches.

also LOVE the concept of the anteater paintings. wilbur is just staring around in anger and annoyance and student is just there, grinning evilly and watching bc they know he wont say anything about it so it’s funny.

[gemmahale]

Ooh, craft room update!

I found a bunch of my hooks and needles and scissors! I'm so happy about that! (Still haven't found the ones I want though, womp womp.)

Current frog tally: Frogged: 9 To Be Determined: 4 (tbf it's a matter of how much do I want to fight with this yarn to frog it?) Finish: 3

Alt ID: Gif of a green frog balancing on a moving green leaf.

More thinking below the cut.

The mice did chew (a tiny bit) on a sweater I made that is mostly finished. So I'm making a decision whether I repair it or tear it all out and make something else. (It ended up being much heavier than I expected it to be and I'm not sure I'll wear it when it is done.)

All that's left in the back room now is the bedding (I'm avoiding it for historic 🐁 reasons), and the shelving unit that is full of mini skeins and little fiddly bits. And the vanity that I know is full of things in the drawers (shh don't tell Kallen yet). ...oh and cleaning up the 3 little relatively large sorting piles I have throughout the house, lol.

Hopefully, I can shift some of the stuff that's in those piles and in my craft-room-to-be into this cleaned out room in an organized fashion (after we mop and sweep and shit). It's giving me stress from being right next to my chair and I'm feeling claustrophobic about it.

I have accumulated at least 3 loads of laundry to do out of this, which is ...good bad? One is all the clothing that I should have just returned when it didn't fit but since that was a *year plus* ago, into the wash and then the donation pile it goes! Plus washing the project bags sounds like a good thing to do.

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with all this yarn. Blankets are fine and dandy (note to self: contact the Veteran's Home in town about donating yarn and/or blankets), and wearables are nice, but I don't do the common triangle shawls. I really only do the big square over the shoulder poncho/ruana thingy style. I'm not keen on the kerchief style and I can't get them to stay put (I miiiiight try a wrappy bracelet thing or a shawl pin and find that works decently but haven't yet). But for the most part? I'm a square/rectangle gal. Or a cowl.

And realistically, how many blankets/scarves/hats/sweaters/other item does one person truly need? Sure, I could make a bunch of them for gifts (and likely will). But really, I'm drowning in yarn that'll never get used.

Alt ID: Meme text - "I am not a yarn hoarder, I am the curator of an extensive fiber collection". Image is of a hand holding a multicolored twisted skein of yarn.

Usually these memes make me groan, but this one's kind of on par with my situation. 😅

So...destashing plans will be made. Maybe I can convince Kallen to give me a page on his online store. Hm. I know there's a few Reddits, probably a few Facebook groups, eBay, etc. I could use. I think I saw something about someone starting a yarn reselling program - I need to find that info again.

Or maybe...I just make a side blog and have them all posted/tagged/searchable? That might be an idea too. (Ugh the idea of managing payments and shipping is making me want to chew my arm off though.)

Things to think and chew on.

I don't necessarily want to make back the money from purchasing - I know that's not realistically feasible. I do, however, want to become much more intentional about what I'm going to feasibly wear and use. And one part of that is going to be letting go of things I won't use in a reasonable timeframe.

Alt ID: "I have SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy" superimposed over yarn hanks.

[twilightarcade]

i wonder who this could be. anyway. one time in fifth grade my teacher gave us fske currency if you were being good and you got to trade it in for stickers, erasers and, if you had enough, halloween sized chocolates. i, the genius businesswoman that i am and have always been, saw an opportunity with one of the smart kids in my class. he was a sweet kid, very shy, but he didn't have a lot of friends in the class. he had a nasty habit of losing his "money", so i offered to store it for him with my things, as long as he gave me a small cut. he agreed, and that was where it all started. after a few months, i had amassed a large enough amount of "money" where i bought about half the box of chocolate bars that my teacher had set out. now, me in fifth grade, i was a good kid. my teacher didn't expect me to be taking a portion of this kid's "money", and she awarded me with enough of my own that she didn't suspect a thing. naturally, i sold the majority of the chocolate that i'd accrued for a slightly lower price than my teacher was selling them, just high enough to still make "money" back, but low enough to make little 10-11 year old brains think it was a good deal, and i made back a good chunk of the "money" I'd spent. the next week, with that combined with the "money" I'd made off of the smart kid that week and the money I'd earned for myself, i did it again. this repeated a couple of times until i was caught, and my teacher banned me from taking that kids "money" and also increased the price of chocolate because she (understandably) did not want to be spending insane amounts of money on chocolate that some ten year old girl would resell to the entire class.

a treat for reading my whole essay 🍫

honestly respect the grind

[2bu]

I think you're one of the few tarot deck collectors I've followed for years, now, and I've always wondered: What do you look for in a deck? Do you just happen to collect any decks, or is there a certain criteria they have to meet in order for you to obtain it?

Howdy this is a real fun question!

I kinda did both in the past - but that was myself and my partner had far more money to spare and even then, I didn't go too crazy because we had very limited space in our old apartments. Nowadays, I do follow some sort of a rough criteria for any tarot or oracle deck purchases, which involves the following points I find most important in a deck:

Artwork - Does it look good? Is the art style unique? Does it appeal to my personal tastes/aesthetics? This is the most important to me with ANY deck, as it will make or break the vibes for me. Best example of decks I've connected really well with and am super fond of are the following right off the top of my head:

Tarot of the Divine

All of Maia Toll's Wild Wisdom decks (with companion books)

The Essential Tarot

Moonchild Tarot

The Sugar Skull Tarot

Theme / Aesthetic - Does this deck have a solid, recognizable theme that honours, yet freely interprets the meanings of the cards? Is it coherent, well-thought out, and does the aesthetic/theming of this deck match up all the way through? This is second most important to me because often times, there may be quite a lovely deck, but I may not like the 'theme' of it. Best example is the Zombie Tarot I own, which I'm not the biggest fan of as I have a fear of Zombies and Apocalyptic themes.

It has stellar artwork, the cards feel nice and it's visually very appealing, but due to the themes and apocalyptic references made I do not use this deck and will probably see about reselling it or gifting it to someone who would want it in the near future.

Representation - While I am not picky when it comes to decks, and will be a bit more forgiving of older decks that are well loved, beautiful, and recommended within the community, as an LGBT+ disabled person of colour, I tend to favour decks that will openly and unabashedly feature artwork of people of colour, disabled people, queer people, so on. Especially if they are made by said groups of people. Examples I've already given are Tarot of the Divine, The Essential Tarot, Moonchild Tarot, and another few recommendations I can give would be The Star Spinner Tarot, Queer Black Tarot, and Zeke's Arcana.

Lastly:

Quality - Does it come with a bag or box it can be stored in? How do the cards feel when I hold them or shuffle them? Can I even shuffle them? Does it have a guidebook of sorts? Is the artwork clear and overall visible with little to no flaws? Is it all collectively worth the price point?

As someone who is neurodivergent and can struggle with the feel of things against my hands/skin as a whole, this is definitely important to me, but I can deal with a deck that say, I really love, but may not feel the best in my hands, or can't be shuffled.

Personally, I dislike cards that are too glossy, and don't stack well/cannot stay stacked, or feel too slick in my hands. I also do not favour cards I cannot shuffle (then again I didn't learn how to properly cut the deck and shuffle until about a year or two ago).

So far, the decks that contain my favourite cardfeels and are of very high quality for the price points are Tarot of the Divine and Maia Toll's Wild Wisdom cards. They are very much worth the price paid for all of those decks respectively. Pretty much anything that feels like the playing card decks my grandmother owns is something I generally like and will seek out if possible, but only Tarot of the Divine has given me this!

As for pricing, well, tarot decks and oracle decks often range in price depending on where you buy, who you buy it from, their overall quality, what comes with it, etc. My most expensive and rarest deck that I got out of pure sheer luck was the Major Arcana Set for Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that ran me about maybe $120, as it is rare and hard to find at all, let alone in mint unopened condition. Mine was still in the packaging when I received it, and because I don't plan on selling it, this is fine, and I opened it to see the cards (which are simple but VERY beautiful).

OUGH this became longer than I was anticipating but I appreciate being asked stuff like this since I don't talk about my hobbies very often ^^;

[benoitblanc]

for the sleepover, tell me what you're writing about and your favorite line so far if you have one! ✨

okay this kind of has three answers so i'll answer all of them! i always love talking about my writing projects (derogatory and affectionate) :)

original project: i am still dragging my feet with my crime show, which i have made little to no progress on in the past like two years, rip. you might have seen me talking about it before but tldr the very basic premise is that it's about a group of petty grifters who accidentally pull a con on the mob and get roped into this massive imbroglio of crime lords and long-seated feuds in the parisian criminal underworld. i unfortunately am STILL outlining, and the two scenes i do have written are in script format anyway, so i'm not going to post a favorite line

x-files university au: this has sort of replaced my peggysous time loop fic as my big fic project right now, which is really a shame because i am literally a loop and a half away from being done with the time loop fic so i should really get back to it so i can PUBLISH THE GODDAMN THING. sigh. i hate plot bunnies. this one is especially annoying because it's pretty much a rehashing of the mytharc episodes from season 1 (with a little futzing around with the timeline + m&s are uni students + doggett and reyes are also there), which means i kind of need to rewatch them... but i am only 2.5 seasons into watching this show for the first time. (sort of. as you'll see with the next project i've sort of been skipping around a little. don't worry about it.) however, i am kind of obsessed with my weird little college agents and their weird little project for investigative journalism 401, so we keep chugging away at it. i'm putting my favorite scene from it thus far under the cut below, plus a bonus line specifically for you :)

x-files uhhhhhhhh: i literally do not know what to say about this one without giving things away, but i will try: it's a season 5 au that deals with grief, devotion, and codependency with a hint of psychological thriller mixed in just for shits and giggles. i also read the recipe wrong and added a full cup of angst instead of a teaspoon, whoops. i know this means nothing to you because you don't even watch this show but for those of my followers who do i don't even think i can say what characters are in this without spoiling things. as such i am not going to post a line from this one either

sleepover asks!!!

(and read on for some snippets from my txf wip!)

my favorite section from the txf university fic (bonus points if you catch the non-txf reference):

“Or how ’bout this: happy family of seven moves into this huge big house in Massachusetts last year hoping to flip and resell it, and within a month, there’s a kid dead of cyanide poisoning and the mom took a one-way trip off the top of the staircase.”

“That’s a horrible tragedy,” Scully starts, “but-”

He slaps the newspaper on the table. (“Do you just carry that around?” John asks.) “The dad went to every publication that would listen claiming the house was haunted.”

John is rubbing his temples, and Scully mutters something that sounds suspiciously like ay yi yi. Monica, however, is nodding thoughtfully along. Mulder might kiss her, if a. he weren’t dead certain she’s a lesbian and b. he hadn’t recently come to the realization, completely unprompted by any real-life events, that he’s more partial to redheads.

and a bonus completely out of context line for mitali!

“Because Han Solo is a slut, that’s why. Open the button.”

[lapeaudelamemoire]

Log:

So I did not end up playing FF. I have, however -

- Very thoroughly cleaned the IKEA drawer compartment organiser I found in the hard rubbish pile down the end of the lane

- Also tried to clean some of the minor dirt scuffs on the otherwise-perfectly-fine Calvin Klein blazer I found on same rubbish heap (it still needs to be cleaned properly given that it was lying on The Heap out on the street but I'm probably going to sell it anyway)

- Vacuumed

- Filed my nails

- Cut my toenails finally, and actually feel a lot better for it now (I wanted to know what it'd be like to have them long but uh, turns out it's scary because what if you catch them on something or stub your toe? Dangerous)

- Also folded and put away most of the laundry this morning

Also went out to eat lunch at the cheap lunch place down the road from me.

Discovering that I am definitely spending way too much time on Facebook Marketplace and it is literally making me sick. My stomach feels awful. What started as wanting to get some new furniture has turned into the FB hook and gambling addiction of random reward cycle from the algorithm showing you stuff on Marketplace of all sorts even if you input a specific search term, and then making it very hard to navigate back if you accidentally backspace, and also not giving you enough time to think if you really want or need something or not because shit will just Go. I am spending way too many hours on this.

But this is the nature of trying to buy secondhand I suppose, not to mention on apps that have both been enshittified and are trying to capitalise on your attention.

It's frustrating because reusing is important to me, and buying secondhand is a big part of that. Not to mention that it's cheaper. But it's also stuff like - there's a pair of what look to be perfectly fine Italian leather boots in the pile of stuff out on the street, as well as some office pants that are from Polo Ralph Lauren and some other Australian-made brand that maybe are just missing a waist hook or something, and I'm like. I don't need them, but should I take them and try to resell them? Because it kind of looks like they're going to be headed for the tip anyway. (I did not take them.)

Anyway, I did also find a spectacle/sunglasses case in the pile, which was nice. So I took all of that home and disinfected them.

I think writing how I am feeling and going is important. Especially today, what with the news coming out, I think taking the time to do some admin for myself and not what's Needed is, well, needed.

I'm still feeling a bit sick, and I think I need to go and wash my hair, so I shall. I've been wanting to take an afternoon nap all the past week or two but just haven't, so maybe I'll try to do that later.

Man, typing on this laptop is tiring, though.

[blazehedgehog]

Juat curious if you have any thoughts on the Taylor Swift ticketmaster thing from months back and how it went down and also people calling out tickermaster's monopoly?

Would you believe I've never gone to a concert before? Never had the money, never had the access. I am very in the dark as to what Ticketmaster did, outside of the fact I've heard friends and others on the internet complain about Ticketmaster for years and how they only seem to be feeding the scalping market more than anything else. I can see their Consumer Affairs profile has a lot of unhappy people.

Given that the Ticketmaster app advertises "buy and sell your tickets" I'm assuming they went in the same direction as every other major online retailer and opened themselves up to letting users resell their items online? Leading to the proliferation of people buying up huge stocks of items and then flipping them for a higher price.

I hate that stuff. If you were to ask me, that's a top ten reason for the inflation we're currently experiencing. Covid got people to realize they could buy up stuff like hand sanitizer and toilet paper and resell it online, and now suddenly they do that with all kinds of stuff. I run into it all the time when grocery shopping, because I do a lot of my grocery shopping online.

Jiffy brownie mix was normally $0.98, but I go looking for it now and some reseller wants me to pay him over $6 for it.

You think Walmart or whoever cares? Of course not. They take the scalper's money (for the initial sale) and then get a cut of what the scalper sells it for (the resell). A successful scalper is a double dip for the retailer. They have a financial incentive to not only allow scalping, but maybe to even encourage it.

And what do you think happens when the manufacturer sees people paying $7 for ketchup? Well, golly, that's now lost revenue, isn't it? Supply and demand, mother effer. "If people are going to pay Johnny Assclown $7 for ketchup, they should be paying us $7 for ketchup."

Out of everyone in this equation, the resellers care the least. Everybody suffers except for those filling their pockets.

I dunno what happened with Taylor Swift but I'm willing to bet it's the same garbage that's making everyone's lives miserable in the rest of the world.

Taylor Swift is cute tho

[aemoglobin]

realizing i haven't escaped The Curse (father) because i have inherited his enjoyment of & desire to own music. unfortunately for him it's kpop and not classic rock but my point still stands.

i am very excited for both ab6ix and cix comebacks this month but my wallet is Not...my hours got cut at work (everyone's hours got cut, actually, i HATE january) so i'm not making As Much as i was during the holidays. BUT. but. i have enough for ktown's shipping fees and that's what's really important.

the one thing i'm not really happy about is the first/A concept for cix because of the whole AI debate and i'm like. are these guys getting any sort of protection for the usage of their voice and likeness in AI (big doubt, considering how shit their company is)...the promo vids are really cool but questionable and i think more fans should be concerned about whether or not c9 is using ai to save money and produce 'cix' content for this comeback. like YES it looks really cool and i do enjoy the actual concept of artificial intelligence for cix. but also. the.

teasers for B concept came out this morning and i don't have anything to say about those because they're perfect and if you've seen them You Will Know. i'm a sucker for soft visuals in concepts and the. sleepy eepies...they're all so cute. saw someone on twit describe it as 'seduce in x' and i'm laughing about it bc so true.

ab6ix's concepts have both been really good. they have finally gotten daehwi out of those godforsaken boots!!!!! the teasers dropped today are like...soft fairytale prince...not going as hard as oneus did for la dolce vita but still really good. i love the necklaces/chokers <33333 yes to fabric roses and yes to pearls!!!!!!

don't really have much to say about the album content previews other than the fact that there's like 36?? photocards?? for the REGULAR albums and you only get 2 per album which is insane to me when there are only 4 members to begin with? like? that's what...8 or 9 albums? with no guarantee that you'll get a full set? insane! at least the ktown pobs will be so good, they're cute- it looks like they're posing with strawberries? or some sort of sweet...either way, i'm getting the album set so i have a 50/50 chance of getting my bias lol. the pob for the jewel case isn't as cute but also like..what if i got one as well...

i really need to see the content previews for cix so bad i need them to open preorders nyow. if they have the album set im' getting it obviously but i really want to see if they have cute pobs...i hope they do! there's also speculation that seunghun's pcs are gonna be :eyes emoji: since his B teaser was...like that...in which case if i pull them i'm reselling lol i don't think i could handle it.

[mumblingsage]

15, 25, 35 !

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

Part of the issue here is that I don't think I have any books I consider "mine." Not only are many of my books checked out from the library, even books I do, in the legal sense, "own," are ones I expect will one day pass on to new readers, either if I resell or donate them (many Little Free Libraries close to me) or someone goes through my extensive personal library after my death at a dignified old age or something.

This keeps me out of the habit of marking up books, though sometimes I will jot something down in the margins if it makes me feel clever. I enjoy reading other people's marginalia, provided it doesn't block out the book itself and isn't the rather thin gruel of "symbolism" pointing to thuddingly obvious symbolism...

My "favorite" piece of marginalia was whoever wrote "DON'T READ THIS" in Nancy Friday's Women on Top, above the introduction to the section on women's fantasies of Kirk/Spock slashfic. That person should objectively not have done that for many reasons, but I did get a good, ugly, belly-shacking cackle out of it.

In practice, when I want to take note of a passage (often for typing up as a quote or for story inspiration), I use a post-it sticky note. Post-it sells thin tabs specifically for books and notebooks, but I go through them so quickly it's more economical for me to buy full-fized Post-it pads and cut them into ribbons with scissors.

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

If I have a good detail, I try to fit it into the story because it's simply too much fun not to. I am, like most writers of 16th century England, trying to fit an encounter with Christopher Marlowe in somewhere.

That said I recently developed a couple of side characters for one of the Novels in Progress who are so adorable, I'd like to dig more into them, but they also have a very un-dramatic relationship and lifestyle, to the point that I can't think of a storyline that would hold together. We'll see if they break out of Supporting Characters into something more dominant as I draft the book.

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

As the previous answer hints at, the idea that you should only include what is "relevant to the story." Story is a convention (I've long suspected this but owe its full realization to Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses, which is the most exciting book I've read on writing in recent years). It has room for whatever you can fit into it, if you can hold the interest of yourself and your target reader. (This is not to say you can't or shouldn't remove great chunks of story during editing; sometimes a few paragraphs of description just belong in a different story. But the actual guiding line for "does this belong here?" is much fainter and more wriggly.)

The other writing 'Rule' I dislike, as both a writer and an editor, is the body of rules that is simply suspicious of editing, and as a result paints it as a brutal punishment. A specific example is the body of writing advice that says you should NEVER rewrite or edit until your first draft is finished. As always, there's nuance: we hear of famous writers spending days writing and rewriting a 7-word sentence, and that has diminishing returns. But rereading what you wrote yesterday and cleaning up typos, plus refreshing your memory and picking up on ideas to further develop, can be extremely useful to some people's processes. I just learned Stuart Woods - hardly a non-prolific author - works by rereading the previous day's writing, making notes and simple corrections, and letting it "catapult" him into the next few pages. In my editing work, I often come across small repetitions and inconsistencies (as one of my authors put it, "coffee cups materializing from nowhere" - the scene hadn't seemed to take place in proximity to coffee) that might be caught by a bit more memory-refreshing midscene. And that makes the larger edits down the line a bit less intense.

[j-a-smiths-blog]

1101 11Sept24: Chapter 255

America is asleep.

Presidential debate just concluded, and less than twelve hours from now, the memorial of the attack on America will be remembered.

My plans for today got flubbed as I am currently sitting in the car at the Orion market because the wife and maid are buying food. Here in two hours I have to drive up to Balanga to drop off an order to a reseller, which puts even more time constraints on my wanting to work on my one sixth scale story.

There's nothing saying I can't do it after we drop stuff off but I will be limited to how long I can work if I plan to go see Daan Pare play basketball tonight. Or I just cancel out the basketball and continue working on the one sixth scale so I can clean up, take a shower and get what I hope to be a good night's rest. I mean tomorrow is Thursday and I'll be driving back up to Angeles City!

So. I mean... with the saw I don't need alot of time to sit and cut this wood. I suppose to be smart.. I should bring my notebook with me to Balanga and really tally up all the pieces I need to cut and their sizes so I can draw them out, cut them and then just need to sand if needed. The main thing today would be getting the longest pieces cut first.

I had updated this earlier, but then it magically had a problem and deleted the additional stuff.

Here is a look at the blue prints. Earlier I had counted fifteen post I need to make in order to get the strongest beans established for this carpenter shop. I might rethink this number but I am going to be heading up to Balanga here in a few minutes and when I get back I hope to go ahead and start cutting the wood.

I have made up my mind to use the mahogany as it is a stronger wood. I am also thinking of raising the door wall to add the additional loft space and then have and angled roof that would essentially allow rain water to flow to the back of the shop. That doesn't mean I wouldn't look at establishing some sort of smaller front roof over the doorway.

[transgirl-gaming-thoughts]

My Thoughts On: Nintendo for $70

Being a Nintendo fan is getting harder and harder for me. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Nintendo IPs, but when I think about Nintendo games and consoles I love, I don't generally jump to the Switch... Not to mention, Nintendo consoles have always been underpowered compared to the competition, but now that they're aiming at this hybrid console thing, while it's still a neat idea, it's very very hard to justify paying industry standard prices for games that are comparable to the Xbox 360 and PS3... from more than 15 years ago.

(thoughts continue under the cut)

This only gets worse when I see them charging $70 for Tears of the Kingdom. Sony and Microsoft are charging $70 for their biggest current-gen games because they're bigger than any games of the past have been, but Nintendo charged $60 for WiiU ports of games that weren't that impressive to begin with, and retailed for $40 at release on the WiiU. A lot of the best PS3 and Xbox 360 games resell online now for $10-$30, and I'm buying games of the same power and scope from Nintendo for $60... soon, that could be $70. Am I the only one that feels weird about that? Does this feel wrong to anyone else?

The sequel to the Switch is rumored to be on par with a PS4/Xbox One, which is a big step up and could lead to not only great Nintendo originals, but also better third party support. However, PS4 games sold $60 MSRP. It feels right for Nintendo to start making games on that level, and charging on that level... but instead, their prices are trying to compete with the scope of PS5/Xbox Series games at $70.

In my mind, and take this with a grain of salt as my opinion only, I want Nintendo to properly justify their game prices. Return to the home console/handheld console split, and make a home console on par with the competitors, plus a handheld that is probably weaker, costs less, etc. but still offers unique gaming experiences! Make home console games that run on comparable hardware and offer comparable experiences to what people from Sony and Microsoft are giving us, and then I'll be more willing to pay $70 for it.

OR, if Nintendo wants us to accept that some games are just worth more, they need to accept that some games are just worth less. So many Nintendo games come out with little content or unfinished/unpolished aspects, and they charge us full price regardless. Not to mention, these games rarely go on sale, so this is essentially the "new" price forever. Lots of games, including ports and smaller remasters, deserve a $40-$50 price point, and just don't earn the full $60.

I haven't bought a new Switch game in a long time, mostly because I just can't tell if it's going to be worth my $60. I didn't buy Tears of the Kingdom (at $70!!); I didn't buy Kirby and the Forgotten Land; I didn't buy Pikmin 4. I love all of these series! And in hindsight, I really want to play Pikmin 4, but I'm still torn on TotK and Forgotten Land. I wasn't willing to risk that much money at launch, and I'm still not sure if I'm willing to pay that much, and will most likely buy these games at a discount, used. I love Nintendo games and consoles, they're the reason that I'm as in love with games as I am, but if they can't rectify their content versus their prices... well, they won't be seeing much money from me outside of console purchases.

[starsbegantofall]

I made a new ironing board cover for my ironing table from a strawberry cotton print from Joann's. The fabric is not great for clothes, so I was struck by genius to make a new ironing board cover since it was about the same texture. My old one is actually a stack of 3 storebought ones that got thinner and thinner over time and are also like 5 inches too long, not sure why my ironing board is shorter than usual. I cut out the backing from the newest one and then added another layer of quilt batting to make a cushier replacement. This was not perfect by any means, had to make some adjustments afterward, but it works slightly better now and is also cute to look at while I iron, which I don't love to do lol.

Anyway, I'm in the middle of reorganizing my closet, trying to do yet another purge. I don't believe in capsule or seasonal wardrobes, I keep all my clothes in mostly one place like an insane hoarder (my winter jackets/coats and costumes are in other closets thankfully). Because I think life is short and you should go out with guns a blazing and wearing whatever you want your ghost to be wearing for eternity. A basic white blouse for both work and evening is not it, wear the crazy stuff first while you're still young and able to walk around. Don't listen to wardrobe experts who have sensible advice for your body type and budget and space concerns, listen to me and the ghost inside of you who has to wear the clothes you wore when you died forever and ever.

Still, I don't want to burden my family (if I have any...) after I die and making them go through all my stuff, so I am at least trying to clean out stuff I can't fit into anymore because that's simple to get rid of or resell. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight, I have been actively trying for 3 years and have only gotten fatter. Now I take that money and buy new stuff... Perfect plan, can't possibly go wrong.