#on websites like ebay and stuff ^-^

[aliencatastrophe]

I got Reagan from a store called KaiserCraft! It's an Australian only location though, so you'll probably have better luck finding Reagan online.

[sergle]

ironically i love thrifting but ive never thought about using ebay, do you have any tips or keywords you use on it to find deals and shifty stuff/wording to look out for?

honestly I don't find ebay to be shifty for buying stuff! people are scared about using it sometimes and I think it's a little funny lol I guess the tip would be that if you search for an item with vague enough terms, you'll get some SHEIN-esque mass produced clothes muddying the results. and you know it when you see it, because those listings look like shit btw. this type of thing:

like, these are real listings and everything, and you'd get the product, but they are obviously not what you're looking for. you can ignore these, but if you want to filter them out, you can just narrow the search to SPECIFICALLY pre-owned items.

There isn't really any wording to look out for-- the only other thing would just be to make sure the stuff you get can be returned, bc sellers can specify whether or not they'll take the items back!

[spilledbeans116]

I want a Vegeta enamel pin but I don’t like the Figpins or other name-brand merch for whatever reason

Then all the fan made ones that I like I find second hand and they’re scratched and messed up for 30 bucks 😭

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Do you happen to have any advice on looking for art to hang on walls? Originals, prints, doohickeys; I find a lot of antique malls tend to have stuff for shelf display and not a lot of wall decor. I thought you might have a few tips?

Stuff on walls? That's where I'm a viking!

Facebook marketplace, estate sales, auctionninja.com, etsy, and eBay are my primary sources for finding wall decor. I usually only find original prints at antique malls if that is what the booth specializes in.

But also consider branching out. If you are into shelf decor, get some wall shelves!

I have found that antique malls are less likely to have shelving, but antique *fairs* are a different matter.

If you like a pre-1960s style, wooden shelves are in abundance, from teacup/saucer shelves, to various one-offs:

Salvage is also fun to use to display things -- see my printer tray above and church pew hymnal racks:

Back on the art side -- I highly recommend hunting down artists you enjoy and commission from them or buy their prints, pins, etc:

You can also look on etsy or do a web search for places that offer high quality scans of public domain art. A lot of museum websites also have high quality downloads of their collections. Print and frame these yourself.

And don't forget, you can slap anything on a wall, from the functional to the... uh, well, a hand scythe *is* also functional, technically...

Hope this gives you ideas. But when it boils down to it, estate sales and marketplace have been my best sources.

[dolly-birdi]

The fact that etsy now allows dropshipping while still claiming that they don't is so audacious, the site is literally worthless now. I feel so bad for the artists having to compete with floods of dropshippers and people shelling out $80 for a bjd outfit being like "it's worth it to support local artisans" when in reality they're buying an item from taobao that actually costs $15 and is sold for $25 on aliexpress and ebay. Not even joking the etsy markups are that bad. I wouldn't even hate these taobao resellers if they didn't try to scalp the prices so much and were honest about being resellers instead of making it look like they are the ones making the clothes. Not to mention all the recasts on there...

Anyway, here's some of my fav legit doll clothing shops on etsy:

RopitasKawaii: pullip, blythe, and rainbow high lolita dresses from Spain

AtelierMilabrocc: casual pullip, blythe, and barbie clothes from Poland

Yukijiro: pullip lolita dresses from Hong Kong

Cottonhoney: cute 1/3 and 1/4 bjd clothes from Thailand

HelloCoolCat: clothes and supplies for pullip and blythe from Taiwan (they also have a website that has more stuff for bjds)

Toocuteclub: printed graphic clothes for rainbow high and 1/3 bjd from USA

Ninaherisson: 1/3 bjd alt clothes from USA

Balljointedsoulmates: cute casual 1/3 bjd and minifee clothes from Austria

TiffyCuppyCake: 1/3 and 1/4 bjd sweaters/sweatshirts and hoodies from USA

MilkyWayDreamsFR: cute 1/4 bjd accessories from France

DollishSweets: cute 1/4 and 1/3 bjd clothes, accessories, and eyes from USA

PetiteBonita: cute 1/4 bjd outfits from Indonesia (includes custom measurements)

EliteDollWorld: casual smart doll clothes from USA

YumeWearShop: cute and casual 1/3, 1/4, and 50cm bjd clothes from the Netherlands

HauntCoutureAtelier: monster high, rainbow high, and barbie clothes from USA

Shout out to these artists! If anyone else has more let me know!

[xxtobywentmissingxx]

WHERE DO I GET MY CLOTHES/ACCESSORIES FROM ?? :3

ppl have asked me this so here ya go!!! tried to go in depth but if there’s anything else u wanna know i totally gotchu !! :3 (go further down for where i shop online)

-thrifting

-hand me downs

-diy

When thrifting alternative clothes ppl always complain that there’s nothing for them cuz most of the time they’re just not looking right. don’t just look for things you’ve seen online, band shirts, or things with specific design like stripes, cheetah, or zebra print. look for anything literally ANYTHING and if it’s boring and plain just diy it. you want animal print? paint it. you want band shirts? paint it. don’t have the skills? trace it onto paper, cut it out, boom u got a stencil now u can use that to paint onto a shirt.

simple things like cheap blank tshirts, old hand me downs, blank tank tops, spaghetti straps would work perfectly.

i’ve made shirts from an old shirts i find in my house. i cut out a stencil and used cheap fabric paint for the logo’s and cut the shirt if it doesn’t fit right

i’ve also made shorts by cutting a pair of old jeans and distressing them at the bottoms. if i don’t wanna distress shorts i cut them a little longer and then fold the ends up and glue or sew them down (I CAN TOTALLY MAKE TUTORIALS!!)

i ALSO make my own accessories (bracelets, necklaces) from either older accessories, old clothes or whatever i find :b

Things you SHOULD NOT DO!!!

-Don’t but from shein or any fast fashion places/websites!! don’t support that kind of thing especially for some bad quality clothes..

-Don’t buy from thrift stores and resell them online for higher prices !! ur taking from ppl who actually need them and raising the prices of thrift stores. they exist for ppl who can’t afford much and you’re pricing items for more than they ever were.. if ur gna resell then sell them for the price you got them at least ..

some places i shop online for my clothes are:

-ebay

-poshmark

-mercari

-depop (be careful with prices or scammers pls! look right and don’t buy anything from resellers overpricing thrifted or “vintage” items !!)

-vinted

some places i get my accesories or stuff to make my accesories like studs, spikes, patches, belts, ect- (the last three are more for punk diy)

-etsy

-headline records

-angry young and poor

-studs and spikes

If there’s anything else you’d like to know or any tutorials you’d like me to do PLSS LET ME KNOW AND I WILL !!

I can do goth, punk, metal, and emo/scene diy !

[lellalombardiapologist]

💙✨ So you want to learn more about Didier Pironi? Great news, I’m here to help! 💙✨

There isn’t much stuff out there, and a lot of materials are biased in favour of Gilles, but this is my overview of the materials about Didier that can be found out there:

(note: I say reading bc it’s how I best absorb info, that being said there will be a mention of the Villeneuve Pironi documentary. Also I will not include books that are mostly about Gilles)

Books in english:

Pironi, the champion that never was - David Sedgwick: so, remember when I said most materials are biased in favour of Gilles? Well, this one goes the opposite route. The only reason why I cannot call myself Didier’s number one defender and apologist is because mr Sedgwick is out there. This is the best starting point, it’s easy to find, cheap and very thorough. Among its source materials it can boast the book written by Didier’s mother and never published, which provides a lot of details about his childhood and personality. This is the book that got me obsessed with Didier, if you only have to get one book, get this one.

Didier, dreams and nightmares - Lorie Coffey & Jan Moller: I haven’t been able to find a copy of this one for a reasonable price, sadly, so I can’t vouch for this. Sedgwick told me on Twitter that it’s lacking some info, but again, I haven’t read it.

1982 The inside story of the sensational Grand Prix Season - Christopher Hilton: I’m including this because while it is not focused on Didier only, it does give an interesting overview of such a crucial life changing season. It’s not what I’d consider a mandatory read but it’s still worth checking it out.

Documentaries in english:

The Villeneuve-Pironi documentary: I have to mention this one at least. While it is better than others, I still have beef with it, because despite having some people from Didier’s side in it, it’s also still incredibly biased towards Gilles, and also Joann Villeneuve lies a few times (or at the very least what she says doesn’t match what’s out there in terms of available info).

Books in italian:

L’indimenticabile 1982 della Ferrari - Alfredo Rossi: a small book written by a journalist, it’s like a time capsule since it was written before the 1982 season even ended! Noteworthy how there is both deep admiration for Gilles and sincere respect for Didier. A bit harder to find but if you are in Italy you could get this on Abebooks or similar websites

Books in french:

Didier Pironi, la flèche brisée - Martine Camus: not as complete as the Sedgwick one but it contains a lot of interviews and pieces written by people who have known him, and can be found for decent prices, so it’s worth reading it

Lettre à Didier - Catherine Goux: this one I have yet to read, however I’m still including it because it was written by Didier’s last girlfriend, and mother of his twins. This is probably something that will make you cry a lot, but I bet it’s an interesting insight (Sedgwick said so, anyway)

Magazines in french:

Grand Prix #8, 2012: a Didier-themed issue which also contains extracts from the book written by Didier’s mom, an interview with Didier’s twins and Jacques Villeneuve and much more. It can be found on the magazine’s website, but they are out of the paper version so you can only get the digital issue.

Grand Prix #9, 2012: a Didier-Gilles themed issue, focused on Imola 82 and what happened to their friendship, another interesting read.

Other magazines and sources:

I like to collect old issues of Rombo and Autosprint, two very popular motorsport magazines of the past, even if that means enduring the bodyshaming they did to Didier, they’re still a valuable historical insight. According to where you live, you may look for old motorsport magazines too! Libraries may have those, and there’s always flea markets and ebay. I recommend starting with issues that depict positive events such as Didier’s victories, but I also own the Autosprint issue for Didier’s death.

Sometimes I translate old articles from those magazines! This is the sideblog where you can find them: la flèche brisée

If you can’t get old motorsport magazines, I have a suggestion: browse the online archives for your most popular newspapers, the biggest ones are probably old enough to have online archives, most of these are free. Select the dates for important events in Didi’s life, lead to the sport section and profit!

[dailycass-cain]

So you want to preorder the NEW Batgirl #1 coming to a comic shop near you on November 6?

Well, hopefully, this can help you attain that preorder. So you're doing your part to make sure this series lasts.

The first step is to find your local comic shop. Use a search engine for that most heavenly of place that has comics.

Or if you already know search them online (they might have an online shop), an app, call the store, or visit it in person.

Now I'm using my experience from the shops I visit in the midwestern area. So this could be different in the region you're in the US (or Canada). I have no idea on the best way to attain this book outside the country save Canada. So anyone who can answer that pls chim in here.

I mean, possibly, you could buy it on their website (or their eBay shop) and MAYBE they have international shipping. Then again, if you have a US friend maybe they can do this all for you?

Preorders will begin next month. If you go in person you could put your order in. If you know those who work at the LCS they might think of you and put that in your pull list.

I know one LCS in my area, he is thoughtful enough to sometimes keep a variant that has Cass for me knowing that Wed I pull up I'll nab it. Cause he knows my weakness. That, and Rian Gonzales variants.

Likewise, the other LCS I went too. There was a clerk there who'd put stuff in my pull that she knew I'd like.

But there's always that chance they might not do any of this. So it's best to just do this person next month to guarantee your preorder.

Now let's talk about variants. Some shops if they sense there's "blood in the water" when preordering will order more comics. More comics mean more chances to get the variants (i.e. the Artgerm or Jeff Dekal ones).

There are only two variants that might be problematic to attain that I can foresee.

The holo variant from Artgerm one. Unless there's a comic convention near you that same weekend there's a good chance these might sell pretty fast. It is Artgerm after all.

Unless, your LCS is part of a "larger" chain. So one of my LCSs is a Graham Crackers which is a HUGE midwestern comic shop. So there's a really good chance I'll be able to attain all my variants.

HOWEVER....

The other LCS I go to, while they are my primary pull list really don't dabble much too much in variant covers.

This is because they're trying to make a profit and they don't see being able to make one. At least that's what I was told back when I had Batgirls on my pull.

If they do. It would be two or three copies. Like the last AAPI Batgirls variant. Said my shop owner did secure me a copy even without me asking them because they knew of my interest in Cass.

I've noticed since they "enacted" that policy they do order more of the "hotter" comics. Like I noticed a few Birds of Prey, Batman, and X-Men variants in one visit not too long ago.

Still, I know attaining the 1:25 Skylar Patridge will be next to impossible from them. They don't order 25 copies of a comic (unless it's Batman or Spider-Man).

For that, I'd recommend a larger comic shop chain (or if you know your LCS. They might order enough and you can reserve said copy via them next month).

If not...

Again, I'd recommend a larger chain with their web shop or if they have one via eBay. I've nabbed all the variants I want because Graham Crackers is HUGE in the Midwest.

If you know your shop will have more than 25 copies of Batgirl #1 please preorder the 1:25 by Patridge next month if possible.

Or wait until their website opens orders (usually a week prior to release on a Thursday.

If not... There's always a chance if there's a comic around that period (or a bit after) they might have it to purchase. However, you so won't be paying the original cost of it. 😬

Now here's my overall impression of the release. DC itself doesn't think this comic might sell. I mean they're only doing a 1:25 only for this series. That's it.

That already is 🚨 because we aren't getting a 1:50 like we did with Batgirls #1.

That is why I HIGHLY stress PLEASE PREORDER THIS COMIC! DO NOT WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 6th! Show your love for this character by preordering the heck out of it! Add this to your pull list!

Please do your part!

That said, please go crazy and nab these covers and variants. They ain't kidding when the last Cass solo was over 14 years ago (I'm counting Batgirl Vo1. 2). You've voiced your want. DC heard it. This is you honoring that want.

Cause if not...

Well, I can't say cause in all honesty? The old DC regime is gone. They ain't side scheming or pushing something else behind the scenes. Just this might be it for Cass when it comes to an ongoing solo.

Why I say please do your part. Hopefully, this helps and if not someone better than me can advise you better (and they reply via this post). But this is me doing my best with the knowledge I know.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

ms dana cyberdragoninfinity do you have any yugioh spinoff merch hunting tips 👉👈🥺

YESSSS WHIRLS AROUND IN MY BIG SPINNING CHAIR. i Love merch hunting and giving merch hunting tips, there's a whole beautiful world of often remarkably inexpensive yugioh merch out there and once you learn how to track it down a new chapter of your life can truly begin. I bestow onto you some of my advice gleaned from about two and a half years of Searching For Merch Like a Tuffle-Sniffing Hog:

(note: while im specifically focusing on ygo spinoff merch here, you can use this advice to find all kinds of cool japan-exclusive merch!! im constantly getting japanese pokemon merch via tips like these, for example.)

Anyway, MERCH HUNTING TIP NUMBER ONE:

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT BUT JAPANESE EXCLUSIVE MERCH ON EBAY. DONT. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

HEAVY SIGH. ebay can be such a useful site but not for this. good god not for this. You might luck out with a stray deal here or there but stuff like japanese exclusive yugioh merch on ebay tends to more often than not be sold for OUTRAGEOUSLY high prices and maybe it's not technically a scam but well your wallet aint gonna be happy about it. Stuff like tiny Cospa keychains get sold for $30, $40, 80 FUCKING US AMERICAN DOLLARS. AND SHIPPING. LOOK AT THIS SHIT

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS??!??! NIGHTMARE. NIGHTMARE. do not buy spinoff merch from ebay!! INSTEAD....

TIP TWO: come with me. to proxy buying service ❤❤❤❤

I love proxy services SO much. Basically theyre sites that will buy stuff from Japanese shopping sites on your behalf, then hold the goodies in their warehouse until you're ready to ship them over to you! They RULE. THEY ARE LIFECHANGING, FOR THE HUMBLE MERCH HUNTER. And they're all pretty intuitive to learn how to use, theyve got pretty solid FAQs and they'll walk you through how to request items, and theyll often let you search for merch ON their website, making the buying process even easier!

(There's a whole bunch of 'em, though and they all have different fees and amounts of time they'll hold your stuff for free, so you have to do some poking around and figure out which one you like using the most! My favorite go-to is Neokyo, personally; they have some great discount sales, they hold your stuff for free for 45 days, and their item request fees are all really reasonable!! I LOVE THEM. BEEN USING EM FOR YEARS NOW <3)

Anyway the point here, re: proxy sites, not only do they give you easy access to japanese resale sites and all the merch being sold on 'em, it also gives you access to tWay, Way, Waaaaayyy Lower Prices for trinkets and goodies. Like. look at this listing from Mercari JPN (viewed on Neokyo's site,) of the $125 Jack Atlas Phone Charm from my first tip

yeah that is, um. the same charm. AND two other adorable charms. FOR 13 AMERICAN DOLLARS. THIRTEEN. THAT IS. LITERALLY LIKE 90% CHEAPER THAN THAT EBAY LISTING. AND YOURE GETTING MORE STUFF. there is SO much yugioh (and other anime) merch being sold on jpn shopping sites for like. $4-$10. it is ridiculous. and then when proxy sites have discount deals you can get stuff for even CHEAPER sometimes. (theres also, of course, expensive merch lots too, just like with anything, theres just. also listings for stuff sold for less than a fancy dinner for two yknow HHDFGS)

it basically opens a whole new avenue of sites to find goodies on... I like using proxy buyers especially for listings on more general ebay-type sites like JPN Mercari (there is so much good and sometimes really rare stuff on there) and Surugaya (lots of doujins on there if that's your thing,) but also for buying from the main sites New ygo merch drops happen on (Cospa, eeo store, and the official KaibaCorp store in particular are some of the best.)

Ok, so, ya got your proxy service of choice. How do you find the goodies you're looking for?

TIP THREE: GOTTA KNOW THE BEST KEYWORDS!!!

this isnt really a rocket science tip, but, still: search for stuff not just in japanese but use the kanji!! Sometimes i'll just c/p the base characters of a yugioh guy's japanese name off their yugipedia page and then pop that into the mercari search just to see what sorta treats are floating around with them on it. But if going and constantly copy/pasting kanji into the proxy service search is a pain in the neck a lot 'em will auto translate your English searches too! again, theyre all really user friendly, which is great

(the one thing i will say you SHOULD search in english, though, is spinoff names, actually--you pop GX, ZEXAL, ARC-V, etc. into the proxy search and youll get all sorts of stuff for whatever series it is)

OK ONE MORE TIP FOR YA. TIP FOUR: DO WHAT YOU CAN TO GET THE MOST OF SHIPPING COSTS

ok so that is. the one pain, with merch hunting on proxy buying sites: shipping will probably be Expensive. (unless you go for the cheapest seamail options and then get your box maybe 4-6 months from now 🥴 but hey, it's an option! it's there!) I usually end up paying around $30-$50 for my boxes from Neokyo.

BUT you can at least make that shipping cost feel more reasonable if youre shipping A BUNCH OF STUFF. Shipping one (1) little $4 GX character can badge for $30 REALLY sucks, avoid this if you can--with proxies holding your stuff in their warehouse, you can get a bunch of little cheap goodies and just hold 'em until youre ready to get 'em packed and shipped. Then, whenever youre ready/have the money for the shipping cost, get all the stuff youve bought packed into one box, pay for the shipping, and (usually within two weeks--the one tradeoff of the high shipping price is you get that shit FAST) then get your stuff! It's like FUCKIN CHRISTMAS getting a box of proxy-obtained stuff including things from like two months ago i totally forgot i bought. Makes the $40 shipping sting a little less--like, hey, at least i got like 12 damn things in here and i didnt pay $125 for any of them!!!!

ok i think that's all i got. hopefully this is somewhat useful!! folks are always welcome to ask me stuff about merch hunting, like i said i really like helping people get a hold of stuff :3 it's really a lot easier than it seems at first!

[mareastrorum]

Story time.

When I was a kid, my mom signed me and my siblings up for Tae Kwon Do classes for various reasons. One of the more fun reasons was that Dragon Ball Z was on Toonami and it was a thing we all enjoyed, so it was easy to convince us to behave for an hour a day several times a week. Easily half of the kids in class were DBZ fans. The owner was a DBZ fan. The giant hulk of a Navy vet who sparred with me was a DBZ fan. We all loved the show.

The classes were taught about half a mile down one road from where we lived, so on Saturdays, we would walk the whole way on our own to and from class. One of the fun reasons was that there was a comic book shop about halfway there that sold manga and Japanese merch, so we left early and spent maybe $1-2 of money we had each hoarded on cards, comics, etc. (I’ve worked since I was 7ish doing stuff for cash.) I had a collection of DBZ trading cards and comics in Japanese. The shopkeeper was sworn to secrecy lest he lose sales because we weren’t actually supposed to have spending money.

One day, on the Computer, I learned that a DBZ video game for PlayStation was going to come out in the U.S. and it was going to have the newest characters in it and some characters from the rumored GT sequel that wasn’t even translated to English yet. HYPE. I eagerly awaited news only to find none. I couldn’t call retailers to check if they had it because this was back when calls were charged per minute and most of the big stores were technically not local even though they were in the same county. I asked the comic book guy if he knew what happened, and since he was also looking forward to the game, he checked around. Not available anywhere nearby. I’d have to go to downtown Los Angeles in person to maybe find a copy. It may as well have been in Siberia.

>:(

I looked on the Computer to see what other people were doing on the various Geocities fan webrings whose URLs I had memorized (because I couldn’t bookmark any of them or my mom would find out I was spending money on stuff). Online shopping wasn’t really a thing yet, and the only thing they could find was that the game was supposed to be available in the U.S., but it was either bullshit or there were basically no copies made. Apparently, it was a hit in Japan, and the most I could find was a picture of the cover art.

>:(

I went to the comic book guy to complain the next Saturday, and he introduced me to a new idea: there’s a Japanese version of the game that he saw on eBay, this new website where people sold their stuff online. But the game would only work on a U.S. PlayStation if I used a kit to circumvent the DRM. It wouldn’t be in English, but at least I’d be able to play.

Off I went home to learn about eBay on the Computer. THERE WAS THE GAME. A whole $20 plus shipping. I had to look up what shipping was because I didn’t know the term. So more like $30. And I needed a bank card or credit card to buy on eBay. (I didn’t care about the 18 or older disclaimer because I had lied about that on every website I had ever visited.)

>:(

I did not make a plan. I went and got my cash box (I’d bought it at the flea market) that I hid in the box spring under my mattress and counted out $30. I then immediately confronted my mom when she got home. I WANT A GAME. HERE’S THE MONEY. BUY IT ON EBAY. I had to explain eBay. She did not ask where I got the money because I had perfect grades and that was all that mattered.

A month later, the game arrived from Asia, and I cannot recall if it was actually Japanese on the shipping labels or if it was Chinese because I couldn’t tell the difference. It had the right box art though. Tried it on the PlayStation, and indeed, it did not work.

Next Saturday, I went to the comic book guy to buy the kit to jailbreak the PlayStation. He did not believe me that I had bought the game. I showed him the error message that popped up on the screen because I wrote it down in my notebook. He eventually relented and sold me the kit. Another $7! (But I’d brought $10 because I had learned this bullshit was expensive, so I got more comics and cards too.)

After class, we ran home. We were martial arts kids, that was practically a cooldown.

THE KIT WORKED. I added a spring to the mechanism to keep the lid open, started with a disk that tricks the regional DRM, then switched the disk at prompting to start the game. We had no idea what any of it said, but it was a simple fighting game, and all the characters had portraits anyway. Button mashing paradise. I was the coolest kid at TKD classes because I was the only one anyone knew with this DBZ game.

I charged kids a quarter each to come with us after class to play my regionally jailbroken Japanese (or maybe Chinese) DBZ PlayStation fighter game. I made my money back by Christmas.

>:)

I was 9.

[bloodypawwz]

Break the rules and buy whatever u want

sigh i should but my parents can see where my money goes </3

they cant see exaclty what i buy which is good !! its how i bought some agere gear back when i used to actually regress.. but most second hand websites like ebay nd vinted need u to be over 18 nd my mum would crash out if i bought things from there ( and idk how strict these places r abt age anyway.. ) i think depop is over 13 ? but thats a hellhole im not sure if im willing to enter............

but !!! considering my mum gets mad after buying me stuff anway ( she thinks im ungrateful nd stuff.. nd lazy ahhh ) i might aswell just buy stuff myself at this point !!!!!

[worstjourney]

Pitfalls of Pictures

As polar fandom works its way into ever more serious circles, from social sharing to published works, I thought I might share what I've learned about copyright and using pictures you find online.

Copyright belongs to the person who made the image. This means the artist or photographer in most cases. The photographer is the one who opened the shutter, not the owner of the camera.

Copyright, in most places and cases, lasts for the life of the creator +70 years.

Many Heroic Age polar images are therefore out of copyright. BUT WAIT. That's the photo. If you find it online, it's been digitised by someone. The copyright of the digitised image legally belongs to whichever person, or institution, digitised the image. Therefore the same Ponting photo can be copyright SPRI, Getty, RGS, or Anne Strathie, who scanned it off an original print she bought on eBay. Print: uncopyrighted. Scanned image: copyrighted. Even though the picture is the same, they are discrete things.

A lot of polar photos have been digitised by educational institutions or regional/national archives. They have to balance their mission to drive engagement with the necessity of licencing fees to fund their work. Everyone has a different way of doing this, so it's worth your while to learn the policies of wherever you found the photo.

For the most part (BUT NOT ALWAYS!) so long as you're not making any money on the image or using it to further your career (i.e. just fangirling) you're probably OK. People generally only bother to rally the expensive lawyers when there's cash involved. However it is always worthwhile to check, because there is nuance.

Posting an image which has not previously been public onto a public website (e.g. Tumblr) legally counts as publishing it. If you've been given permission to access it and/or make your own digital copy, that does not necessarily mean you can share it online. There may be different rules around publishing it vs having it, even for free.

Example: In 2014 I photographed all the negatives of Meares' Siberian photos at the BC Archives. I wanted a proper scan of a few of them, for an article I was co-writing at the time. I was allowed to take as many pictures as I liked with my own camera for personal use, and was charged a small fee for the scans. However, if I were going to publish any of them, I would have to fill out paperwork with the BC Archives and pay another, much larger fee. In 2023, I learned that the BC Archives had changed their policy: one needed only to credit the Archives for the photo, with their specified text. I finally got to write my post about Scott's ponies and throw in the photos for free. So keep up to date on usage permissions, too!

Downloading an image and sharing it amongst your friends, via email or messaging or some other closed network, without posting it on a public platform, is not the same as publishing it. But your friends need to be clear that they can't publish it either.

Going into the code of a photo site to find the high-res version of an image? Technically no one can stop you.

Publicly posting that high-res image, which the image holder has buried in code so that people can't distribute it? Not OK.

Printing off merch with that image and selling it as a side hustle? WOW VERY NO.

There is another slightly hazy area called 'transformative works' in which you can take a copyrighted image and change it enough to count as a new image. I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules on this – and they probably vary by jurisdiction – but as a rule of thumb, you're generally OK if no one in their right mind would mistake your image for the original.

I don't think any of us want to raise the ire of the heritage bodies which feed our passion for this stuff, so please make sure to stay on their good side! Photo archives take space and refrigeration and expert curators, which are all very expensive, and this is generally paid for by licensing the photos they keep. (The photo library at SPRI, for example, is the only part of the institution which makes any profit.) So please play nice!

I am far from being an authority on this, just sharing what I've learned over my 15+ years of working with polar photos on and offline. Please research your specific cases, and add anything to this post which you think may be relevant!

[grox]

i have a burgeoning interest in fragrance & asking may be moot bcz i know how personal a thing it is... but do you have any starting spots? websites or advice for picking&choosing or brand recommendations or even just personal favorites. & also have you ever read perfume by patrick süskind? i feel u might find a kinship with grenouille. thats all thanks man

Ministry of scent. Large collection of fragrances by many different creators, sorted by maker, main notes, which season to wear, very wide range of stuff on there. Majority of perfumes have samples avalaible for 5 bucks, if you only buy samples there's a 5 dollar flat shipping charge, plus a discount on the full size of any sample you buy in the future printed on the packing slip. Full sizes are straight from the source, so you dont have to worry about accidentally buying a bootleg like you may on ebay, but it is expensive. My advice to you for now though, is go to the mall, don't go to an actual perfume store just yet, but check out like, Sears, JCPenny, Macys, and run around in the perfume section there. Bring a buddy, make it a day. See what's going on in the mainstream fragrance world, spray some samples on you, see what you like best, see what you fucking HATE, see what notes smell good or bad on you. See what they smell like on your buddy if you have one, and compare. Really try to get a feel for how your skin works with this stuff. Play with both womens and mens fragrances, try to study each one as you test them. When you're done, if you're still up for it, check out lush, or sephora, ulta, any teenybopper store that also sells perfumes, and play around there. Compare the overall sweetness, and prevalence of notes. Some of them will blow your hairline back but now you know what to avoid in the future. Check out a bath and body works and play around with their weak ass body mists. Do not go to a perfume store because those guys are really pushy and they get mad if you just sample a bunch and walk out. And frankly I don't trust them..

For what perfumers I recommend, check out ralph lauren, vince camuto, and Versace. These are like, the big brands that everybody knows, and you'll be likely to find something good for you without having to order online, cause theyre usually right there at the mall. My favorites are Polo Blue, Eterno, and this isnt verasce but Alien by mugler is crazy and you could probably still find it around. As for small brands, check back on ministry of scent. I LOVE montale, borntostandout, and imaginary authors. I recommend chocolate greedy, mud, and saint julep from those three. Alright miscellanious. It's not a meme, if you're into the smell of coconut at all, get Gary. Its 12 bucks and if you dont like it, someone in your life is bound to. But you'll like it. Rest of the spongebob line is kinda mid, I've tried mr krabs and its lemony, not what I like in particular, so I gave it to my cousins boyfriend because he LOVED it. if you like gary, check out VACATION, by VACATION, its straight up a poolside.

Really though, sniff around. Start using your nose as actively as you do your ears, ask people what theyre wearing, you can get a nice list from that. Get some friends irl into fragrances so you can dump off the stuff you hate on one another. Keep a little notebook if you're into that, hop on fragrantica and do some reading before you purchase a full size of anything, wear your samples out and about to see if it sickens you over time. Eventually you'll find your little niche and never ever leave it, so enjoy a wide range of things while you still can.

I have not read perfume but I will check it out

-Love,

GEORGE

[colorisbyshe]

oh just an fyi a lot of anime streamers are working with congress to crack down on anime piracy. i know piracy will never die but it CAN be made less accessible, so i recommend AT THE VERY LEAST downloading your own copies of anime and manga that are. perhaps, harder to find and more niche.

download the unlicensed yaoi you read two years ago that's just three chapters but really stuck with you. get that yuri that had the extremely limited run and now you can only find on ebay for $100 per volume. download shit you've been meaning to get to for the past five years but just haven't.

the series that is literally only on one website and you can't find it anywhere else. the stuff that was never released on blu ray so the quality is shit. the stuff that only exists as scanlations because it never got an official digital release. fuck, if you have a hentai or doujin that consistently works for you, download that shit too. get the type of anime that only has fansubs and it's done by a single, passionate dude named BlueBallsRus or whatever

you don't have to torrent do this for most series. there are sites that let you do mediafire downloads and the like, places that let you download entire volumes of manga at once. or you can download chapters and compile them with calibre into volumes (i have tips for making webtoons more legible on ereaders if you do this)

if you're a mutual or longtime follower willing to message me OFF ANON for help

[goldenstorm0]

okay, debriefing weaving time, very long and rambly

Trying to pace myself here, my heart wants to go and try something significantly more advanced but I want to have a better handle on the basics. This first project I feel like it came out great, but there are a couple points where I guess I missed a string?

so part of me wants to practice a basic weave some more. but I also want to try some other weaving patterns. I dont know where to look for basic patterns though, so now I'm just jumping around different websites. Everything gets a lot more complicated pretty fast though, or maybe I'm looking in the wrong places for info? idk

I've also seen some antique looms on ebay that look like fun, and I kiiiinda want to get one. Just to fuck around with and see if I can figure out how to use it. I'm going to keep an eye out, do some more research and see if I can snag one for cheap. May also look into getting a newer rigid heddle, I'm having fun with what I currently have, but I am worried about a couple things with it. aaaaah I need to take pictures to properly show off what I'm worried about but I put it away for now. Mostly just worried about durability.

anyway, back the usual fiber stuff

[yellowjacketsfashion]

hi hi !! i think the stuff that you do is so impressive i can’t find anything for the life of me and it’s just uber cool :)

anyway, i was wondering if you could try to find the winter coat that lottie, natalie and travis wear? i believe it’s plaid and yellow/brownish, picture below (the only one i could find, sorry 😔)

thank you in advance !!

Hi, thanks so much for your kind words! Your picture was very helpful!

I haven’t found the coat just yet but I’m theorizing a couple of possibilities. The coat has a retro silhouette so it might be vintage, I would normally discredit it but I can’t be sure. The costume department would ideally want multiples of it (especially as it is worn by multiple characters and gets dirty throughout the course of the season) but because it does resemble the look of a vintage coat I’m open to that possibility. The costume department has also made different articles of clothing specifically for the show (notably a couple of other jackets in season 2) so that might also be an option. If it’s actually vintage or custom made it will be hard to find something that matches it exactly. That being said, it would make the most sense for the coat to be modern (as they could’ve just bought multiples in a store) so an exact match could still be out there. I’ll keep searching but in the meantime here are some close matches.

The coat from the show is definitly in the style of 1960-70s wool “car coats” which are usually lined in a sherpa, shearling, or a similar fabric. Because of that, I’d consider vintage jackets from that timeframe to be close matches. If you’re in a colder climate you can probably find jackets similar to these in thrift stores but I’ve seen different ones online as well on sites like ebay or etsy. The coat in the show has pretty bright colors (blue, yellow, red, etc.) so I like these two coats I’ve included pictures of above because they have similar bright coloring. The one on the left is a 60s Towncraft wool men’s coat and the other Sackville Windbreaker coat from the 70s.

If you’re looking for something more modern the coat above is the Black Bear Brand “Harris Tweed HIGHLANDER Coat.” I’m not gonna lie it’s pretty pricey but I think overall it’s one of the closer modern alternatives. The main difference is the collar shape and button color as the pattern is fairly similar.

I tried to find other modern coats but because it’s summer they’re out of season and mostly out of stock. In the winter I’ll probably have better luck finding other alternatives (if I can’t find the original coat by then). But if you want to do some more research on your own you could try looking up variations of “plaid wool sherpa lined coat.”

When I was doing research I found some websites apparently selling the “Lottie Yellowjackets coat” but I don’t know how legit any of them are and they don’t have actual product pictures which seems sketchy to me (red flag vibes). That being said, if anyone has experience with them being legit (or sketchy) please reach out and share your thoughts.

Hopefully this was helpful and sorry if I rambled too much!