#the only downside was that i had to buy it on amazon

[sadiewayne]

i definitely didn’t just impulse spend almost £40 on one book bc it was almost 30% off

it definitely isn’t the new nightwing compendium

it definitely isn’t arriving tomorrow

[bitchesgetriches]

I’m sure you get a lot of asks, and it’s understandable considering how great you ladies are! I recently read your sustainability swap post (I loved it!) and I wanted to recommend something I didn’t see on there that’s incredibly important to me.

Swap out tampons and disposable pads for menstrual cups and cloth pads!! It’s an adjustment for sure (esp the menstrual cups) but it’s so good for the environment, your health, and frankly your wallet. I made the swap to a menstrual cup abt 5 years ago and haven’t had to buy tampons (minus a few early cycles until I started carrying cloth pads w me) since — and I’ve had the same cup and it’s still working great!

When it comes to the cups ItsJustKelli on YouTube has a great playlist where she reviews multiple diff products to make choosing easier (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVehiHoQpDmAQwa9UrHXF9IBzHp3cUenE). It might take some trial and error, but it is well worth the switch, considering your average cup costs abt $35 and (if taken care of) can last at least 5 years. And as far as cleaning it you really only need Castile soap, a repurposed toothbrush, hot water and a decent stainless steel pot to sterilize it in (any company you buy from has a How-To page on the cleaning aspect. They will try to sell their Special Soaps DONT LISTEN ITS A SCAM! Just buy Castile soap and toothbrush same end result!)

As for the cloth pads, there are so many websites for them, and most offer starting kits. They cost more than your average box of disposables, but rather than lasting you a few cycles they’ll last you YEARS. This website https://menstrualcupreviews.net/reusable-menstrual-cloth-pads/ has a list of them. The only brand I can recommend I got off Amazon (guilty as charged) and are great for getting started. (wegreeco Bamboo Charcoal - Reusable Sanitary Pads | Panty Liners | Soft Cloth Menstrual Pads - 6 Pack with 1 Cloth Mini Wet Bag (Medium, Luxury ) https://a.co/d/cTf4mfF)

Ultimately, when I was considering switching I weighed the pros: 1. Save money long term, 2. No longer contribute to the growing pile of blood-soaked, chemical-ridden used tampons and pads clogging landfills, 3. No longer run the risk of introducing toxic chemicals to my body via products made by companies that don’t care abt consumer health; and the cons: 1. More money upfront (which can be circumvented by shopping around and setting aside some money as is feasible), 2. Having to get more comfortable w my body (which ultimately was a positive), 3. The gross factor (downside: yeah you’ll likely see the blood, neutral: it’s your blood tho and you know where it’s coming from; neutral: w the disposable vs. cloth pads the end result isn’t that diff beyond instead of chucking it in the trash you chuck it in the washing machine), and 4. The adjustment of carrying a few cloth pads around (instead of the disposables — not that big of a change).

End note: I did not mean to turn this ask into a novel, but I am just so passionate abt this topic. So many ppl will go into the minutiae of cloth rags and cloth napkins instead of paper towels and paper napkins, the evils of plastic straws, and reusable bags instead of plastic — but not a peep abt the amount of disposable products used for 3-5 days (longer if you’re unlucky like me), every month (or every few depending on birth control, irregular cycles, etc.), every year for decades (think between 3-4 decades depending on start time and menopause) for millions of women worldwide. That’s SO MUCH. And here are two, slightly difficult but worthwhile, choices that can decrease the amount of disposable products clogging up landfills by the thousands long term. As one of the websites I linked says: “The average American woman uses nearly 17,000 tampons in her lifetime — or as many as 24,000 if she undergoes estrogen replacement therapy. And that’s just tampons.”

HELL. FUCKING. YES! Thanks so much for chiming in, baby. We love it when bitchlings share advice with the whole class, so never be afraid to write a long ask with good information.

Here's that sustainable swaps article, as well as what we've written about menstruating while poor:

21 Ideas for Sustainable Swaps That Aren’t Shitty, Expensive, Greenwashed Garbage 

Blood Money: Menstrual Products for Surviving Your Period While Poor

If you found this helpful, consider joining our Patreon.

[prince-rosalium]

I gave Hawthorne fake nails today. With no tutorial to help me, I expected to crash and burn.

I did not. They are lovely.

Here are some notes on what I did, in case you want to attempt this yourself:

Before attempting this, I highly reccommend watching a few youtube tutorials on how to sculpt polygel over a nail form. It helps if you have knowledge of how to form gel nails.

I purchased a polygel nail kit for $20 off Amazon. It came with a curing light, a nail file, a brush, a spatula, slip solution, and tubes of polygel. I highly recommend this. I used everything in the kit, and it is much more expensive to buy everything separately. The only complaints in the reviews were that you get too small of an amount of polygel and slip solution, but if you are using this for dolls, this shouldn't be a problem.

You may want to replace the slip solution with 72% alcohol. It works the same way, is probably better for your doll than slip solution that is made for humans, but I did use the slip solution in the kit.

The first thing I tried was making nail forms out of Scotch tape, but instead of cutting a hole for the nail like a traditional nail form (the hole would be too small) I chose to cover the nail and sculpt with the polygel on top of them, then try glueing them onto the nail afterward. This would probably work with more practice, but it was much more effective just to sculpt right on top of the nail without a form. With this method, you will not be able to make them very long, but they will be sturdy, stick well, and look pretty clean and smooth.

The only issue one might have is the way it looks from some angles, but I personally don't mind. I'll try and explain what I'm saying:

I sculpted these without a form, and as a result, from some angles, the nails can look heavy and round. I chalk this up to it being simply unrealistic to expect paper-thin sculpting on a pair of tiny hands.

Personally, I don't think this shape is a downside at all. I've seen a lot of long-nailed BJD hands that have the nails sort of... "molded" into the finger, probably for ease of casting?? But probably also because they won't snag on clothes and break. If I hadn't made the nails this shape, it'd be a lot easier to break them.

However, the reason I am embarking on this journey of doll manicuring is because I have a gyaru boy on the way, who I want to give long, ridiculous, sparkly pink nails, covered in gems. This formless method will not work for him. For this, I am going to make long tips out of plastic from straws, glue them on, and build the polygel on top. In order to reinforce it, however, I will be adding more polygel underneath, because I do *not* want these to break. This is definitely going to be "hands-off when taking off his shirt" situation.

Polygel... is sticky. I had to cure these nails multiple times. It's hard to get a small enough bead on the tip of the nail because polygel is meant to be applied in one large bead on a human nail. It takes a lot of slip solution to sculpt it, and using too much slip solution can make the curing go too sticky. It takes a little practice, but the nails look great regardless. Didn't even have to redo any.

My work process was as follows:

1. Sculpt the nails

2. Cure 30 seconds

3. Add another layer of gel to get them a bit longer and stronger

4. Cure 1 minute

5. Clean off the stickiness on top of the nails with alcohol or acetone

6. File the tops of the nails AND the bottoms (with respiratory protection PLEASE) and shape them how you like

7. Gel topcoat. Very important.

8. Cure 30 seconds.

After that, I just cleaned off whatever stickiness the polygel left behind with acetone.

This was my first attempt at this, but I always have trouble finding tutorials about this that I understand. I don't think I can fully be an authority on how to make these after one set, but I hope these notes help anyone looking to attempt this! All it took was a kit and about an hour, not even.

[lastoneout]

long angry ad rant below feel free to ignore I haven't eaten today

My favorite thing about the advertising industry is that you can't even fucking protest it if you're a creator. Like I'm a twitch streamer, right? It's literally my job. I don't make anywhere near enough to live off of it but I'm disabled so I can't work and every couple of months Twitch throws $100 at me so yeah, it's my job.

And Twitch kinda sells itself on the concept that you can decide how you run your channel. You can choose when to run ads and what types, be they pre-roll or mid-roll or banner ads, and you can use the allure of ad-free viewing as a way to get people to subscribe. You can stream basically whatever for however long and control when your vods are saved and clips and your channel layout and all that. Freedom of choice, right?

Well here's the thing, you actually don't have a choice. At least when it comes to ads.

I hate ads with a burning passion. I get offers for sponsorships through streamelements pretty often and tbh I don't care for any of the products so I don't take them(bcs I have always had a personal policy that I will only take ads for products I actually like and I sure don't fucking like any of these). I have watched my viewers complain about mid-roll ads interrupting my stream right when I'm answering a question or when something interesting happens(and this has also happened to me on other channels and yeah it sucks). I have had my long time viewers complain about pre-roll ads, and several other streamers I look up to have confirmed that pre-roll ads tend to scare new viewers off and make them bail on raids. I've had people I know irl say they bail on raids bcs of pre-roll ads. Banner ads are the least intrusive but they still are annoying at get in the way, and ofc with all ads I have literally no say in what gets shown, which means I could unknowingly subject my viewers to triggering content and I REALLY hate that idea.

And, to top it all off, in the like almost two years I've been an affiliate I've made like...probably less than $15 on ads. They are such a miniscule portion of my revenue that it's laughable.

So, as running my twitch channel is basically like running a buisness for me, I decided the downsides to running ads FAR outweigh any upsides, and that I was far more likely to gain new viewers(and new subscribers) if I got rid of them.

You can't turn ads off. I can turn off mid-roll and banner ads, and if I run a mid-roll ad I get like...a ten minute grace period where no pre-rolls will be shown, but there is NO way to completely turn them off. (Plus Twitch has gone out of it's way to make ad blocker basically completely fucking useless on it's site like I have two and I'm on Firefox and I still get ads.)

And I've seen the argument that Twitch HAS to run ads on everyone's channels bcs that's how they make money, but if so it's kinda FUCKED that streamers get barely anything for them(and also that they run a solid 30 seconds to a minute of ads by default and you can't control that either). Apparently there's a 50/50 split but you have to run a bazillion ads to actually get anything for them. Plus Twitch also takes like 50% of our sub money ANYWAY so from where I'm standing it makes more sense to give channels the option to focus on subs over ads especially when we have PROOF that too many ads are scaring off potential subscribers.

(Plus Twitch is run by Amazon so it's not like they're broke and they were perfectly profitable back when they had WAY less ads so I don't buy the "we have to make money" argument on this one like I do on tumblr. And I'm not the only one complaining, lots of big name Twitch streamers have been talking about how it's bullshit that Twitch is pushing us all to run more and more ads instead of just letting us focus on subs. It hasn't always been this way.)

But nah, fuck us I guess.

And you might say "okay move to YouTube then" but YouTube requirements for monetization(not just ads, they lock superchats behind it too) are way harder to reach than Twitch's, and besides one thing that has ALWAYS pissed me off about YouTube is that when you go to channels that for sure don't qualify for monetization without ad blocker on, guess what! YouTube is running ads on the videos anyway!! I don't like that at all!!

The only way to completely get away from ads would be to ditch my affiliate status, which would mean I can't have custom emotes or subscribers or channel points, all of which are basically crucial for making your stream profitable, or to build my own fucking website from the ground up and pay for it myself which like, obviously I can't do that. (Or idk use tumblr live or tiktok but like...no.)

I mean tbh I hate ads so much at this point I'd fucking pay Twitch if it meant I could completely turn them off. Like here take the lost revenue it's clearly only like $2 a month anyway.

And I mean, I don't want to shame channels who do run ads, I get it, we all need to make money, but it's just SO fucking infuriating that there's basically no way to completely opt out of them. I don't want to make my viewers watch ads, I don't want anything on my channel that I wouldn't want to watch myself!! It's gotten to the point where I straight up encourage people to use ad blockers on my channel bcs I just don't want them to see ads, and tell them of they feel bad about it a single $2 donation is more than I'd make in ads all year so that's a better way to support me.

Anyway sorry for the long vent I've just been so pissed about this. And again not trying to shame any streamers who do run ads, I mean clearly we don't have a choice but also I get that people need the money more than I do, I just really fucking wish I could have a choice on this one.

[papirouge]

I’m going through some contact allergy on my skin and my dr believe it could be some fabrics in wearing/sleeping in. I’m getting tested soon but since you know about fashion and sewing , I want to get into that too so I could learn how to make my own clothes without any triggering fabrics. Do you have any tips on this? Like only look for cotton? Silk? For a beginner, what sewing tools do you rec? Merci 😭

(this is one of the cutest ask I got since a while 😭💗 and the "merci" at the end was the nail on the coffin. Trop mignon !! 😭💗💗)

I know for a fact Egyptian linen bedsheets are the crème de la crème in term of comfort but they are extremely pricey🥴

Look at this range....💀

I'm a sucker for natural fiber. Cotton, silk, linen, wool..... they are better for the environment (ironically enough, biological cotton needs more water than non bio one🥴) and more comfortable for the body Cotton and linen do absorb very well body sweating so they are advised for summer clothes. That's why cotton panties are better than those in artificial or synthetic fibers (ex. polyester). Linen fiber are known to keep the body fresh on summer and warm on winter so they have a great versatility, they are also very robust. Downside is that they are quite expensive and thus linen clothes has become quite rare (they've been ditched in favor of artificial and synthetic fabrics that are cheaper and can mimick their 'touch' but not their property (such as sweat absorption or warmth retention)

I'm a sucker for knit and animal fibers are my go-to route because they are warmer and more long lasting. There are different type of wool though : sheep of course, but also alpaca, yak, angora (though it's more... hair?).... Some are warmer than other. The wool from animals from cold climate (yak) will be warmer, thicker and heavier obviously. But sheep wool care is easier (it can go to the washing machine ≤40°C) but alpaca for example is much fragile (handwash...). If you're sensible to coldness (like me) highly recommend you to buy animal fibers knits bc those made in polyester/PE don't have the same warming power. For your rash issue you should favor merino wool knits (a race of sheep who provide a lighter and warmer wool)

Aaaand lastly artificial & synthetics (for those who wouldn't know, synthetics= a fabric entirely made from chemicals with ex. Fake leather / artificial fabrics= made from chemicals extracted from natural fibers to create a new type of fabric ex. viscose, that is made out of wood). Both of them have perks and flaws. Perks: cheap and accessible. Flaws: doesn't absorb sweat well (= bad body odor) and pollute a lot. Synthetics bc they are mostly made of plastics and they may cause bad skin reaction, so for your rash I advise you to avoid artificial fabrics (polyester, fake/vegan leather, etc.).

And let's not begin with fabric DYE 💀 anything denim is literal hell. They are like.... the most polluting fashion items, next to leather. Since dye are highly loaded in chemicals I recommend you to avoid denim as much as you can. If you want to wear a type of fabric close to denim (in terms of thickness) you should try gabardine textile.

OKAY THIS REPLY IS GETTING TOO LONG SO LET'S GO TO THE PATTERN MAKING BOOKS💀

I dig japanese fashion minimalism so I mostly use japanese pattermaking books. Since they are simple & minimalist, they are good base to start off clothes. But the problem is that they can be quite hard to get here on the West so I bought a bunch of them lately on a japanese import website and FedEx had the audacity to make me pay the customs a few weeks AFTER I got my package 💀

I have dozens of them in total but I have several from the same author, Yoshiko Tsukiori and I really hope the feminitity and simplicity of the models. NGL I got inspired A LOT by them for my upcoming spring/summer 2023 fashion collection :)

You'll easily find her books on Amazon.💙

[diecastcarlove]

Master List of Diecast Collector's Resources

NOTE: This is a living document and will be updated from time-to-time. If you have suggestions for additions or corrections to this document please contact diecastcarlove@gmail.com.

This is a list of resources that I have found helpful. There are links to specific vendors and products I enjoy. I make no warranty or guarantee of service on thier behalf, but I can say that in my opinion, they offer good value for the money. There are also links to organizations and to influencers in the diecast space that I think you may enjoy. If you have suggestions for this list be sure to let me know by emailing: diecastcarlove@proton.me.

STORAGE DISPLAY OPTIONS

One thing that will quickly become apparent to any new diecast car collector is the fact that you will eventually run out of space. You will need to decide how many and which of your cars you will display and how many and which you will store. I try to keep as many cars out as possible because I just like looking at them. My suggestions here are simply based on my own personal taste and preference; your mileage may vary…

I use these ORGANIZERS for transporting and sorting parts of my collection when I am traveling to a meet or a swap. They fold down when you don't need them and they are very sturdy.

The Plano Molding - 5324-30 5324 Portable Organizer is something many collectors use. It has dual purpose. It can be used as a storage box since it will comfortably hold most 1:64 diecast cars.

It can also be used as a wall display - which is how I use it. I pry off the cover to the case, exposing the individual compartments. I then mount the box to the wall (it has cutouts specifically designed for this purpose) using some simple wood screws, twisted into anchors. I then load up the case on the wall and it makes a perfect display that holds 24 cars in single formation.

Another popular way to display your carded cars (i.e., diecast cars still in their blister packs and ready for hanging) is to use a pegboard. I like the TRITON PEGBOARD because it's relatively affordable, sturdy and easy to mount.

If you do decide to use the Triton product I mention here, you'll need some MOUNTING HARDWARE and spacer kit and Triton sell that too.

You will also need PEGBOARD SHELVING HOOKS if you plan to display your carded cars on pegboards.

If you need to hang your cars on the wall but don't want to mess with pegboards and especially if you like to travel with your collection, you might want to try the JOYMOMO Hanging Storage Organizer for Hot Wheels. The only downside to this approach is you cannot see the whole car and there is going to be wear and tear on the cars if you are constantly putting them in and out of the organizer. It does work and it is affordable.

Some people like to display their cars in acrylic cases. I reserve that honor for special collector cars. I use the boxes from DIECASTSTORAGE - https://diecaststorage.com/.They are not cheap but they are cheaper than many alternatives and they are well-designed and well-built. I have purchased nearly 100 of these and never had any issues.

Since it's hard to clean diecast cars, you want to protect them from the oil and dirt that builds up on your skin. I wear simple BLACK LATEX GLOVES when I handle diecast cars and I save myself lots of trouble later.

I use this PLAYTAPE to line my display shelves and to make roads in my dioramas. It gives the feel of a highway or paved road which of course makes a perfect match for cars.

Another way to display your diecast cars is using a 1:64 scale diorama. You can find these at many of the diecast resellers or even on Amazon. This is one place where you can trust Amazon to facilitate a good deal. You can also find dioramas on Ebay and Etsy. Many of the nicer dioramas come from Asia and you may have to do business with companies located in the Asia Pacific to get what you want. I have been able to buy dioramas from several Asian countries and other than long wait times for shipping, I've had no problems. (Also see below for pop-up dioramas.)

One of my favorite dioramas is a parking structure. I use the Colcolo 1/64 Scenery Diorama Parking Lot Vehicle Garage as my main parking structure. It's easy to assemble, photographs well and just looks like a place to naturally display toy cars.

If you want to make your dioramas look more realistic, or want them to tell a story, or just want them to show the scale of the cars inside, consider adding miniature people to the scene. Wherever you buy dioramas, you can find miniature people and other 1:64 accessories to make your diorama look more lifelike.

I use the miniatures from AMERICAN DIORAMA in many of my setups and have always enjoyed their quality.

2. HOT WHEELS IS JUST A STARTING POINT (List of companies producing diecast 1:64 cars.)

Hot Wheels is the largest player in the diecast car market. They are owned by Mattel which also owns Matchbox. But there are many other companies making diecast cars. Below you will find a list of most of the companies active today.

Each of these companies makes cars that are typically more expensive than Hot Wheels. They also tend to make cars targeted at older audiences. While Hot Wheels are safe for children - aged three and up, cars from companies like MiniGT and Autoart are aimed at collectors 14 years old and up.

Autoart: A high-end diecast car manufacturer known for its realistic details and high quality.

Bburago: An Italian diecast car manufacturer that produces a wide variety of cars, from luxury models to race cars.

Minichamps: A German diecast car manufacturer known for its high-quality models of racing cars.

Maisto: An Italian diecast car manufacturer that produces a wide variety of cars, from classic models to modern sports cars.

Tomica: A Japanese diecast car brand known for its affordable and well-made models.

Johnny Lightning: An American diecast car brand known for its unique designs and limited-edition releases.

Greenlight Collectibles: An American diecast car brand known for its high-quality models of police cars, fire trucks, and other emergency vehicles.

Auto World: An American diecast car brand known for its high-quality models of vintage cars.

Kaido House: A lifestyle brand created and headed by Jun Imai. The brand's tagline is "Car Culture For All Scales." Imai creates one-off custom diecast cars and sells them on the Kaido House website, as well as apparel and a line of detailed 1/64 diecast cars designed by Imai and produced by MiniGT.

3. WHERE TO BUY DIECAST CARS & ACCESSORIES

SPOILER - you may need to put on a good pair of shoes…

Buying diecast cars may be a little different experience than you are used to. While you can get them at places like Amazon (where we end up getting everything these days) it's not usually the best approach. You will get the best deals by "hunting" through retailers and resellers in your area.

You can buy Hot Wheels or similar cars at most Target stores, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, larger Kroger-owned supermarkets, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and even most Dollar Stores. Occasionally you can find them at Big Lots, Tractor Supply or at various thrift stores like Goodwill. You can often find used collections at local swap meets, garage sales and estate sales.

If you're collecting mainline Hot Wheels, it doesn't pay to buy them online. They will almost always be more expensive that way and you will rarely have control over the set you are buying. You will see ads on Walmart or Amazon that say "Similar car to one shown." What that means is you may buy the car twice that way.

The best bets I've found for online purchasing are listed below. I am not an affiliate of any of these stores nor do any of them advertise on my site. I have no business relationship with any of these companies. I am merely providing the names of these companies as a service to my audience. I have purchased (regularly) from all these companies and as of the date of this writing, I am happy with the goods and services I received.

Good source for all sorts of diecast cars including Hot Wheels and some other brands that offer cars of all types. https://www.jcardiecast.com

Good source for hard-to-find cars of all types. You may pay a premium since sellers have to recoup listing fees and cover shipping and handling costs, but you will have a great chance at finding just about anything you are looking for whether it's new or pre-owned. You can even find some bargains if you are patient and stick with it. https://www.ebay.com

Good source for up-market cars. No Hot Wheels. Mostly $12 to $40 range when it comes to 1:64 scale. Primarily JDM (Stands for Japanese Domestic Market, i.e., Honda, Datsun, Mazda, etc. Also sells some exotics like Lamborghini, etc.) https://www.modelcarshouston.com

Good source for up-market cars that you cannot find at either of the first two companies on this list. https://shopdiecasttalk.com

Sometimes your best bet is to buy direct from the manufacturer. This may give you a chance at cars not sold via retail and it usually means exclusive access to cars on a near monthly basis that will be impossible to get otherwise. Hot Wheels/Matchbox are manufactured by Mattel and you should consider joining the Mattel Redline Club ($9.99 per year) in order to gain exclusive access. Note that Mattel is notoriously slow to ship. You may wait a month or two for your order but you will get it. https://creations.mattel.com

TarmacWorks also has a club. It's called the Tarmac Works Owners Club and like the offering from Mattel, it gives you special deals, exclusive access and other perks that make it a worthwhile investment if you like the Tarmac Works cars. I do like them. They are up-market and much higher quality than Hot Wheels but also more expensive. https://www.tarmacworks.com

Since I collect many brands of 1:64 scale cars (beyond Hot Wheels) I sometimes also visit very niche builders like Kaido House. If you like Japanese cars (JDM) then Kaido House is worth a long look. They typically partner with MiniGT to offer exclusive cars that are very highly collectible. Their in-house releases (VERY expensive) are so popular that they sell out in minutes and then end up on the secondary market at 2x-4x markups. Take a look at what they have to offer here - https://www.kaidohouse.com

If you need wheels for customizing or dioramas, my first choice is https://www.shop164.com. The company sells the best quality dioramas if you like the pop-up style.

There may be other brands and other retailers that are equally good at what they do. I am merely sharing a list of those I personally do business with.

4. DIECAST GLOSSARY

Hot Wheels: A brand of die-cast toy cars introduced by Mattel in 1968. Hot Wheels cars are known for their small size, detailed designs, and a wide variety of models.

Redline: Refers to the original Hot Wheels cars produced between 1968 and 1977. These cars featured a red line on their tires and are highly sought after by collectors.

Treasure Hunt (TH): A series of Hot Wheels cars introduced in 1995, which includes special, limited-edition models with unique paint schemes and features. They are often harder to find and highly prized by collectors.

Super Treasure Hunt (STH): A rarer version of Treasure Hunt cars, usually featuring premium details, rubber tires, and a Spectraflame paint finish. They are highly sought after by collectors.

Mainline: The standard, non-limited edition Hot Wheels cars released in each year's lineup. These are the most common and widely available Hot Wheels cars.

Casting: The specific model or design of a Hot Wheels or other brand collectible model car. Each casting can have multiple variations and color schemes.

Diorama: A miniature scene that features diecast cars.

Variant: A variation of a particular casting, often with different colors, wheels, or tampos. Variants can be regular or rare.

Error: A manufacturing mistake or defect on a diecast car, such as misaligned wheels, paint smudges, or missing parts. Some collectors seek out error cars.

Custom: A diecast car that has been modified or customized by a collector or artist. Customizations can include paintwork, wheel swaps, and additional details.

Hauler: A larger diecast vehicle designed to transport smaller diecast cars. These often have opening features and are popular among collectors.

Real Riders: Hot Wheels cars with rubber tires, which provide a more realistic appearance. They are often found on premium models. Spectraflame: A type of metallic paint finish used on some Hot Wheels cars, giving them a shiny and vibrant appearance.

Protector Pack: A plastic case designed to protect and display individual diecast cars. These are commonly used by collectors to prevent damage.

Blister Pack: The packaging used for diecast cars, consisting of a plastic bubble (blister) over a cardboard backing. Collectors often refer to the condition of the blister pack when assessing a car's value.

Mint on Card (MOC): A term used when a diecast car is still in its original blister pack and is considered in perfect, unopened condition.

Loose: Refers to a diecast car that has been removed from its packaging and is not in mint condition. Loose cars are often played with or used in customizations.

Limited Edition: Diecast cars produced in limited quantities, often for special events, conventions, or promotional purposes. They are typically more valuable and sought after by collectors.

Promotional model: A diecast car that is given away as a promotional item.

Chase Car: A rare variation of a diecast car that is randomly inserted into cases. Collectors often chase after these elusive models.

Red Line Club (RLC): An official Hot Wheels collectors' club that offers exclusive cars and merchandise to its members.

Scalper: A collector who buys diecast cars in bulk with the intent to resell them at a higher price, often to the detriment of other collectors.

THUNT (Treasure Hunt): A code or marking on the packaging of Hot Wheels cars indicating that it is part of the Treasure Hunt series.

TH$ (Treasure Hunt Dollar Sign): Another marking on the packaging indicating a Treasure Hunt car, often accompanied by the Treasure Hunt logo.

TH Regular (T-Hunt Regular): A standard Treasure Hunt car, distinguished by its unique paint job and packaging.

TH Super (T-Hunt Super): A rarer version of a Treasure Hunt car, with premium features like rubber tires and Spectraflame paint.

Convention Car: Hot Wheels cars produced exclusively for collector conventions, such as the Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals or Hot Wheels Convention.

Mail-In Car: A Hot Wheels car that can be obtained by mailing in proofs of purchase from other Hot Wheels products or by participating in promotions.

Card Variation: Differences in the design or details of the blister card packaging, which can make certain versions more collectible.

Hard to Find (HTF): A term used to describe diecast cars that are rare and difficult to locate, often used in online trading and selling listings.

JDM (Japanese Domestic Market): Diecast cars that feature designs inspired by Japanese car culture, including iconic Japanese cars and tuning culture.

Tampo: Short for "tampos," which are the detailed graphics and decals applied to Hot Wheels and other diecast cars, including logos, numbers, and designs.

5. MISC. RESOURCES

Best Hot Wheels Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/242922141626200 Annual Hot Wheels Convention - http://www.hwcollectorsconvention.com

MiniGT Wiki https://minigt.fandom.com/wiki/MINI_GT

HotWheels Wiki https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Hot_Wheels

Matchbox Wiki https://matchbox.fandom.com/wiki/Matchbox_Cars_Wiki

Hot Wheels Price Guide https://hwpriceguide.com/article/ultimate-guide-to-collecting-hot-wheels/

Beginner's Guide To Diecast Collecting https://diecastcarlove.blog/post/726372253136191488/quick-beginners-guide-to-collecting-diecast-cars Insurance (This isn't an endorsement because I have never used their services, but Collectibles Insurance Services is well-known in the Hot Wheels collector's community) https://collectinsure.com

6. CONCLUSION

The goal of this document is to provide help for anyone who is trying to get the most out of the diecast car hobby. I have received incredible enjoyment from my participation in the hobby and hope you do too. If you have a question, comment or concern, please reach out to me via email at: diecastcarlove@gmail.com.

[kaoarika]

I dunno what it is, but I feel weird buying manga again this past month.

On one side, it’s mostly my fault because many series I was buying in 2016-ish, 2017 I simply couldn’t continue in doing so because my options of where to buy them that were close to my home started to disappear one by one (two places I frequented closed down before the pandemic, the newspaper & magazine store down the plaza stopped ordering manga) and while you could say that “well, you could go to this other place -a record store that has been embracing “everything-goes” as time has been passing by- or even go downtown, heck, online is an option, too?” it has been like, no, you don’t get my point.

(to be fair, I also started buying imported magazines and some merch due to certain franchises, hence why I had to sacrifice one to the other... I kinda want to say that I simply stopped doing so during the whole pandemic-high period, but then, the last year happened... lol)

The downsides of this is... precisely a huge wreck that the pandemic did with the whole paper business getting expensive, too. I wish Panini did more reprints of these series, because my god, they are getting hard to get by. I would understand 8~ year old series (Ouran, Fullmetal Alchemist).. in a way. But newer series’ volumes (say, Wotakoi, Erased, or MP100, all of them starting in 2019) are also becoming hard to obtain if you don’t look enough?  or “you must have gotten these when you had the time to do so when they were released, so it sucks to be you *shrugs*” And that’s freaking annoying. Their online shop is not helping much, lol.

Digital here is still not exactly an option either with them (not saying it’s the better one, considering what happened with all the mess of Comixology and Amazon, and I’m not quite sure if Bookwalker is easilly accessible in some way or form here. Kinda wishing it was, even if I still prefer the physical books... but space becomes a problem and I still don’t have better bookshelves to hold them (I did unexpectedly receive a shelf for CDs, so I moved everything similar sized media -my music and CD collection, my games, and the few NA ENG manga volumes I own- there, so, I do have more space from my old desk bookshelf, but... you know.

On one hand, I’m glad I just finished two series that I had on stand by for years, even if one of them has one of their volumes incredibly OOP EVERYWHERE (meaning, it’s the only one I still don’t have, lmao)... on the other, not so glad that I have to reccur to options on how to complete the others (there’s a box that contains every single volume of a series I was just buying before everything fell apart, even if I just... bought two volumes of it... should I resell these if I go for the box?... although it’s not a cheap expense, tbh *insert melting emoji here).

...but I still can’t believe I spent around 1000 pesos in the whole month alone just for these. Sure, too many volumes (around 7?) and this is all making me wish I was more cautious and did everything that was up on my hands back in the day and, maybe, I shouldn’t be feel kinda shitty right now (it’s not exactly related, but it is kinda co-related).

[the-koma-gazette]

The 7th Deadly Skyrim

December 25th, 2011 - Christmas Day

A boy of only 14 years, is gifted the joy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Xbox 360. This is the beginning of the end, the first contact.

When I received Skyrim for Christmas in 2011, I lived in the middle of nowhere with no TV or Internet, and the only console My Sister and I only had a PS2 and Nintendo DS's. That Christmas was a very special one, as I got an Xbox 360 with Skyrim and my sister got a PS3 with Call of Duty Black Ops. I was not a very big gamer at this point in my life as I mostly just played Pokemon Games on my DS. I was also reading the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon Books) around this time and was really getting into the Fantasy Genre.

When I first started the game, I had no clue what I was getting into and was amazed by the World I was thrown into. I had no clue what I was doing and once I finished the opening sequence, and had all of Skyrim in front of me, I immediately walked into a Giant and a Mammoth and got launched into the Sky. I spent weeks figuring out how the game works and just wandering around the open world. Once, I beat the main story I just wandered the world doing random quests and having fun. The last time I checked my Xbox 360 Skyrim Save I was level 47 and a Stealth Archer like everyone else.

Eventually, I purchased Skyrim for my first shitty laptop that could barely play it on Low Settings. I spent many hours just playing with random mods that added anime weapons and simple stuff like that. I did not put too much time into the original PC release as my laptop could barely handle it.

I then purchased Skyrim Special Edition for Xbox One so I could stop using my Xbox 360 for it. I did not play this version as much as I planned to because shortly after I built a new PC.

On my new PC, I had received Skyrim Special addition free for owning the Original on PC. I then just wandered the world and ignored the main story. I would open the game, find a beautiful spot and just sit there for an hour or two before getting off.

One day, our lord and savior, Todd, released Skyrim Very Special Edition for Amazon Echo Devices. I own a couple of Echo devices and actually enjoyed playing it like a simplified DnD Session. I sometimes start it up while driving or doing dishes and the only downside is that bitch Alexa not hearing me and repeating shit 20 times.

About a year ago, I purchased Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch, the first time I was able to play Skyrim anywhere. Being able to play Skyrim anywhere brought back the feeling of playing Skyrim for the first time, I just wander the world and do any quest that I stumble across and really just play for about an hour then put it down. This had quickly became my preferred way to play Skyrim.

A few months ago, I got a Steam Deck and began another adventure in Skyrim. I installed the Special Edition and created a new character once again. Being able to play portably with a higher resolution than the Nintendo Switch was great, but I still prefer the switch version as it is more portable and the battery lasts longer.

Now, I am once again playing Skyrim but this time in Virtual Reality. This instantly became my favorite VR game even though it isn't perfect. I instantly fell in love with Skyrim VR because I am a simple man, and being able to experience the world I've put hundreds of hours into, in an immersive way and seeing the locations I know so well as if I were actually there has been an amazing experience.

After all these Skyrim ports, I am still wanting more. Release Skyrim Mobile Todd. I am still willing to buy yet another version if it means it will always be in my pocket.

In all seriousness, Skyrim has been a great world to be a part of and a great way to pass time. Skyrim will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the game that turned me into a true gamer and ruined my life. I will never forget the time my Skyrim Wife was murdered in our home by my partner Serana, right in front of our Daughter.

R.I.P Uthgerd the Unbroken, my beloved.

Thank You, Skyrim, for really introducing an amazing Fantasy world to me and making me fall in love with the genre. More importantly, Thank you to my parents, for giving me such an amazing gift as a child when we did not have much, that still gives me so much joy 11 years later.

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Hermes

Hey guys, still doing what I can to stay healthy (and entertained) in quarantine. Staying still, keeping calm, and trying not to exert myself too much because of the shortness of breath thing going on. My lungs just can't get enough air it seems… 😅 Anyway, I've gotten a lot of suggestions on this series and I'm excited to keep it going. Just going to be a tad slow until I'm feeling better. Thank you for the support, y'all!

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes

Lucifer

Oh no… it’s everyone’s worst nightmare… Another Mammon, but competent. Devil help us all…

Had he known who their father was, he'd have never assigned Mammon to watch over them. Hell, he would have made sure those two never even met. They became a new handful for him to manage from the day they first arrived…

When even more things started going missing around the House than normal, he knew he had made a grave mistake… They were clever, quick, and skilled. About the best WORST combination for a burglar to be…

Worse still, they were fast on their feet. He would pretty much have no way to nab them on foot and always had to resort to his wings or magic to have any hope of catching up to them… At least Mammon usually gets himself cornered!

But, paradoxically, he also came to notice that the mortal had an odd honesty streak to them... Like, they’d steal but they’d always admit to it, unlike Mammon who would try to deflect till he was blue in the face.

Were they proud of their work, maybe? Or just didn’t see the point in trying to get away with it...?

There would be several occasions where they’d take something, sell it with Mammon, and then steal the thing back later just to put it back where it belonged, seemingly never with Mammon’s permission to do so either… 

Is it better that they returned the stolen item or worse because their actions went from just robbery to a full-on scam? Either way, it gives him headaches trying to deal with it…

He pretty much gives up getting the mortal to stop after 6 months, they are legitimately that good, but makes them swear to always put back whatever they take at some point. It seems to work out and he lets more things slide, but please someone get them out of here soon… 

Mammon

Soulmatesoulmatesoulmatesoulmate, or maybe more accurately “Partner-in-Crime” but that means pretty much the same thing to him anyway. 🤷‍♀️

He’s never met a person better at thievery than they were. The day they met, they managed to pick his pockets without breaking a sweat (or a finger) and that was it. He was in love.

They could teleport! Actually teleport!! Suddenly, NOTHING was off limits to him any more! Lucifer’s rare records? Easy. Levi’s secret safe? Cakewalk. The Castle vault?? Child’s play!! It was like they could steal anything they put their mind to!!

He didn't even have to worry about them when they made getaways because they were fast too, the two actually have parkour races through the streets for the hell of it!

On top of all that, they were wicked creative. He’d come up with a money-making scheme then they’d offer him all sorts of little tricks to help get away with it...

HE’D have never realized that they could turn themselves into rats in order to frighten and sneak past Barbatos, but they thought of it the instant they heard of his fear of things. They're a mad genius!!

The only real downside was they seemed to like stealing for the sport of it instead of for the money… so they always steal back whatever they took.

That kind of defeats the purpose of all that work in the first place, right? Ah well, at least that's more money for him.

These two pretty much became a walking menace to Devildom society- Sorry, not sorry.

Leviathan

Not another Mammon!!! WHY?! What did he do to deserve this?!?

When he started noticing that EVEN MORE of his stuff was going missing than usual, he straight-up flipped! Like, had the mortal not been pretty tough in their own right they would have been Lotan-chow. End of discussion.

… And then they started using their powers for good? Kind of?

Like, first off they would always give back what they stole, which was a nice change from Mammon. Annoying, but at least he didn't have to go buy replacement games or anything…

And then they started stealing him limited edition merch or tickets and stuff because they… liked him?? He guessed???

Why else would they go to all the trouble of swiping one of the five ultra-rare Kitsune Ruri-chan figurines from its original collector? He would have had to pay Mammon half his tail for something like that but the MC just brought it to him one morning because they could!

Is… is this love? Has he grown to love that which he hates?! What is even happening anymore!?! Who is he?!? 😫

Eventually he has to reconcile his conflicted feelings by dubbing them the real life Peony Phantom Thief, Jane and even making them a cosplay. Yes, they have to wear it when they bring him things. No, it's not weird, shut up.

Satan

He wants to be irritated, no - furious, that they keep taking his stuff… But he’ll be damned if they aren’t making Lucifer’s life a living hell right now. 😏

He's honestly not even sure how they managed to swipe half of the priceless portraits in the Castle (a considerable feat since there's one for Every. Room.) but they pulled it off in under a week. Barbs didn't even notice the replicas…

If that's not mildly terrifying, he doesn't know what is. Who knows what things he could be missing at any given moment...?

At least the mortal had the good sense to return his things, unlike Mammon, which gets them off his shit list for the most part. 🤷‍♀️

It helps that they’re also impressively well-traveled. They claim to have been across every human continent and sailed every ocean. Though he was skeptical at first, just hearing their stories eventually convinced him.

What sort of person has sailed the Amazon River, hiked through Arctic tundra, seen every major capital city, and still had time to explore the sights of the French Riviera?

One that has magical teleportation powers apparently.

Frankly, he could listen to their stories of the human world all day and still ask for another. He's told them that they may as well just write a book of their own for him at some point, it'd be beneficial to their poor vocal chords.

Asmodeus

Ugh! Really? Another thief in the House?? Wasn’t one hard enough to deal with?!

Honestly, stolen beauty products aren't exactly something you can just sell or give back, so unfortunately a lot of Asmo's clothes/accessories get targeted and he is NOT happy about it...

Around the time his favorite scarf was stolen for the third time, he was about to gut the mortal himself, but they struck a deal with him. They could nab his clothes SO LONG as they returned them with an extra little "gift."

Jewelry, perfume, creams, nail polish, etc. Asmo kept a running list and pretty much treated his thieving friend like a less moral version of Akuzon. Whatever he asked for, no matter how rare or expensive, they always got their hands on so who was he to complain?

He once decided to test them by asking for the Hope Diamond - which they got for him - but he made them return it after a week after the curse on it made him ruin a particularly intricate manicure so…

Like Satan, he's also pretty impressed with all the places they've seen. He's pretty traveled in the human world himself so they exchange travel stories all the time!

He may bother them to him out traveling from time to time. There are so many gorgeous and romantic places to visit in the human world after all, it's not like anybody could stop them from just… popping in to have a look. Right? 😏

Beelzebub

They learned very quickly that his food is absolutely off limits and after that, they were good.

Seriously. Beel caught them once trying to swipe a piece of pizza from his dinner and he nearly ripped their arm off for it…

But on the flipside, he also knows that he can go to them if he REALLY needs a snack and is short on cash. 

It's pretty comical watching the fleet-foot mortal running from angry demon vendors with a basket of stolen apples for their buddy… But he appreciates their enthusiasm! 🙂

Beel actually likes to hear about their travels too, but mostly what they've eaten. They can keep him enraptured for hours by describing all the food they've come across in the human world…

Watch out for the drool, though.

Since they can teleport, they'll sometimes pop up with a human world treat for him and the man internally swears his undying love for them every time...

Outwardly, though, he just smiles. 'Cause he's a sweetie.

Belphegor

They… they opened the attic door on, like, the first day they met… They didn’t even make it look that hard, they had some kind of knack for breaking and entering…

Seriously, imagine the look on his face when they just walk into the attic to say hello… He had this whole, “Lure and Trick the Human” plan all thought out then they pulled out a magic lockpick or something and BOOM! Freedom!

He laughed, perhaps a little closer to the edge of sanity than he was intending, and he tried to attack them but they were so damn fast he couldn't land a single hit!

Damn was it embarrassing when the others came in…

MC: "LUCIFER! LUCIFER!! There's a monster in your attic!!!"

Lucifer: "That's not a monster that's my brother!!"

MC: *stops midway through kneeing Belphie in the stomach* …. Ooooooooh!

MC: Whoops. 

It was a… rocky start.

After they settled their differences quelled Belphie's bloodlust he found that they kind of grew on him rather quickly… Something about that mischievous energy and how much they gave his brothers (minus Beel) grief with it.

He absolutely helps them with their plans if it will annoy Lucifer in any way. Occasionally, they'll even take Belphie out on raids instead of Mammon.

Turns out he's surprisingly good at distractions because all he has to do is pretend to fall then take a nap. People around him will legitimately believe that he needs medical attention so the MC can sneak through crowds undetected...

Of course, Mammon gets PISSED when they do this, though. How dare his baby brother try to steal away his perfect partner!! Get your own damn mortal, Belphie!!! 🤬

[nikkinick]

Hiii I was curious if there was a reason you use Throne vs an amazon wishlist? Is Throne better?

Hope youre having a lovely day!

Hi!! tldr: mostly bc I don’t want to support amazon

the only reason I have amazon products on my throne wishlist rn is because you start out on throne with only having access to products on their partner sites and amazon, and then after a 2 week waiting period you will get full access. (and they make it so easy to add your amazon wishlist in, it’s literally one button) I was just granted full access to add products from any store literally today so I haven’t had time to switch things over yet

the only downside to throne that I have experienced so far is that there is a LONG waiting period to get in. I made an account and got on the waitlist back in late November and didn’t get off the waitlist until this month, even while doing everything advertised to bump myself up the list (filling out my profile, sharing my link and inviting creators, etc). Which is why I had the amazon wishlist in the first place — more accessible, more people know it

honestly I just don’t trust amazon to always keep my information safe and I also don’t always trust the products to be high quality, and Throne is specifically made to protect your privacy both ways and works with every online store, including Etsy shops, so I know I can research my products (especially when it comes to ones I’m putting inside my body) and get accurate information and feel safe about what I’m buying and still be able to have it listed

obviously I haven’t had much experience with it as this will be my first gift with them so I will update you all on my experience and keep you informed on how everything is going! but so far so good

[1-800-hellraiser]

Alright Lad how about a yandere David Alphabet you know from Camp Camp

Alrighty! One Yan!David alphabet coming right up! :)

=================================

Yandere Alphabet

Requested by: Sam Clumsy (on Tumblr)

Words: 1,314

Genre: Kinda misc.

Character: David (Camp Camp)

Credit: @mo0nfairy for the Yandere Alphabet prompt!

!Tws!: Y'all already know the drill for Yandere shit

=================================

A - Adventure (What are some things they do with their darling everyday?):

One of the things David loves to do with you most is hiking! The only downside to this is that he has to handcuff you to him so you won't leave him. Ever :)

B - Binoculars (How much do they stalk their darling? How do they go about it?):

Once David first laid his eyes on you, he knew he had to be with you. Whatever. It. Takes. He see's you in public a lot, so he managed to get your schedule for tour usual errands. Such as shopping, going to the laundromat, or even going out to treat yourself. This happens monthly.

C - Color (What color does their love for their darling represent?):

Hot pink. I say this because David's desire for you is sweet, yet passionate. 

D - Dream (What is their dream life with their darling?):

Living in a cozy house, married with a dog. David wants something very domestic to hide his demented relationship with you. So he can eventually trick you into thinking this is normal.

E - Eclipse (Do they build a relationship with their darling or hide in the shadows?):

David definitely builds up a relationship. Usually he doesn't rush anything, but you just so happen to be a bit...different. He craves you. So he tries to go as slow as possible. 

F - Fracture (How can you severely hurt them?):

If you get scared of him. He doesn't want you to be afraid of him. It hurts his soul when he accidentally makes you cry.  He'll most likely give you about an hour to calm down then try to comfort you. He'll most likely cry into you and apologize profusely. 

G - Gensis (What will life for their darling be like with them?):

David will try to keep his relationship with you as wholesome and domestic as possible. Of course he'll manipulate you into this sort of normality, he wants you to bend at his whim. He also has rules for you, like no going out without him, always having to introduce a new friend to him as well, etc. If you don't follow these rules, then you'll be punished :)

H - Headcanon (What is a random headcanon about the yandere?):

My headcanon for Yan!David is that he is actually a super unsuspecting yandere. Like, he's nice and chill with everyone around him and you. He never shows his twisted love for you in public or even around  you until you two are together. If you asked his co-workers, family, or friends about him being a yandere, they'd say it's impossible with his temperament.

I - Infatuation (When did they first realize they were in love with their darling?): 

He realizes it when you meet about the third or fourth time you meet. David's love isn't instant like other yandere's. He has to have time to think it over, you have to be the one he can spend an eternity with.

J - Jack-In-The-Box (How will they capture their darling?):

He'll wait until you move in with him. This is why he insists on you moving in with him, so you can be in his control at all times. That is, unless something else goes down. Like in the Yan!David oneshot, he has a side room in his basement he uses just in case something...not according to plan happens. 

K - Knockout (How do they treat people in their darling's life?):

He treats them with the upmost respect. He also subtlety manipulates them, just to make sure not even your closest friends or family members will believe you when you try to leave him :)

L - Lemon (How do they behave with their darling? How do they behave with others? Are they mean or nice?):

Like I mentioned above, David is so nice and charming that people fall for his guise. They will never see him as being a yandere. He's also very nice to you, unless you misbehave.

M - Moonlight (What is their innermost self like?): 

Very twisted. He wants you for him and only him. He will do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to get you to be his. 

N - Nurture (How do they care for their darling?): 

David is a very physically loving person. He'll usually cuddle you to comfort you, he's also a phenomenal cook. He'll cook you your comfort/safe foods. 

O - Oasis (Where would they keep their darling?):

If you met him the natural way, in the house. He'll force you into his room if you've been particularly bad that day. If you meet a different way, in the side room in his basement. You'll probably have to stay in there for a month ir two until he can trust you enough to roam the house. He'll force you to go down there if you're extremely bad however.

P - Police (How will they protect their darling after kidnapping them?):

He'll make you stay in the basement for a month or two before he fully trusts you to be let upstairs into the rest if the house. He will kill anyone that finds out about you in the basement, no one should know about the basement but you and him. It's your little secret :)

Q - Quarter (Would they buy things for their darling? What kind of stuff would they give them?): 

He most certainly would buy gifts for you! He probably buys you lots of food and cute stuffed animals. If he knows your interests (which he probably does) he'll buy you everything he can find that relates to that interest. If you mad an Amazon wishlist for things you like, he'd probably find out and buy everything off of it.

R - Ring (How would they propose to their darling?):

He'd probably take you on a vacation to your favorite vacation spot. At sunset on a hike he would propose to you on the top of the hill/mountain you were hiking on. The ring would be a beautiful gold/silver with your birthstone in the middle.

S - Shelter (What measures would they go to protect their darling?):

We already know this man would kill for you.

T - Teddy Bear (How affectionate are they with their darling?): 

The most affectionate they can be with you. If you refuse his affection, he will of course be upset, but if he wants you to stay, he has to somewhat respect your boundaries.

U - Utopia (How much effort do they put into making their darling happy?):

David put's in all of his effort. As I mentioned, he will do anything for you.

V - Valentine (How do they act when they were first crushing on their darling?): 

He'll act very shy and cute. He will blush if he's around you, he'll stutter when talking to you, etc.

W - Willow (How much freedom do they grant their darling?):

He will grant you very little freedom. You'll be allowed out, but you have to hold his hand at all times. Unless you have to use the bathroom. There is a rare chance that he will let you go out ion your own, but that's when he knows absolutely with out a shadow of a doubt you won't leave him. 

X - Xylophone (What song reminds them of their darling?):

Fairytale by Alexander Rybak 

Y -Youth (What was life like without their darling?):

He was dead set in finding the one. Lots if lonely nights, one night stands, and blood on his hands.

Z - Zero (What will they fo if they have nothing left?):

David will probably not see a use in life anymore. Without you, he has nothing. He'd probably end it all.

[scifinerd10]

Finally got into town today to but the rest of the supplies I needed for the shield. Granted it’s all for the aesthetic side of things. Got an old belt and leather straps that will be used in conjunction for the back straps for the shield. Also bought spray paint and some silver rivets to complete the aesthetic. Don’t need primer or finish as it’s built into the paint I selected. May only end up using one of the options for the straps and then I’ll go buy more possibly. Depends on what fits and what the aesthetic of it looks like.

As for other progress just glued together the first round of glue on the C1 and C2 piece. It’ll probably need more but I’m waiting until it’s completely dry before that happens. Then I’ll have to go back with wood filler and maybe apoxie to fill in any gaps. Then once everything is glued together then I’ll get to sanding the entire front section properly. And get it fully prepped to be attached to the back half. The final third row piece for the front is printing and is about 12 hours from being finished. Though I’ll probably run out of blue filament before that.

Though it’ll be enough to print quite a bit of the piece.

Green filament is what I’ll be switching to afterwards, but I’ll have to do some test settings first to figure out what works for the proper smoothness and strength. Which hopefully I won’t waste as much with that color as I did initially with the blue. And that will probably be mainly for the back pieces of he shield. Or as much of them as I can without running out of filament anyway.

Minor Update:

So the C3 piece turned into an unusable mess, im out of blue filament now. Also probably the most annoying part realized I’ve probably had the build plate and nozzle way too close to each other in height for 90% of the pieces printed. Which it doesn’t really affect the pieces all that much. Just a little warping but it’s not major enough it can’t be fixed by gap filling and sanding.

But the downside to that is the build plate is so scuffed, scratched with bits of the supports stuck all over it and it’s ingrained into the build plate so much it’s unusable. So ordered a pack of new ones on Amazon along with two more rolls of filament which I needed anyway. So until then printing progress is back to completely stalled again.

At least until the new build plate gets here which should hopefully be the middle of next week. Which is a few days after I get back from my family thanksgiving staycation, so it’s not like I would have been doing much in the meantime project anyway. So note to self don’t put nozzle so close next time. Also hopefully by that point the cut on my hand will be fully healed and I’ll have plenty of work to do in terms of being able to smooth and sand out pieces again finally.

[aiweirdness]

The AI's Carol

In 2017 I decided to find out what would happen if I trained a neural net on 240 Christmas carols (collected by The Times of London and reader/neural net hobbyist Erik Svensson). The result? A neural net that was very confused about how Christmas works:

King of toys and hippopotamuses [sic] full of the light of that stood at the dear Son of Santa Claus He was born in a wonderful christmas tree

Run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolph, run, run Rudolf the new born King.

You can kind of understand where the confusion came from.

But that was 2017, when I was training char-rnn from scratch on my laptop. Now in 2019 I have access to the much more powerful GPT-2, trained by OpenAI on 40GB of text from the internet. GPT-2 runs on the big processors on Google Cloud (through Max Woolf’s gpt-2-simple colab notebook), and has much better memory than char-rnn (which struggled to complete a single sentence). Did GPT-2 learn enough about the way words like Santa + reindeer are mentioned online versus Jesus + manger to figure out how to separate multiple kinds of carols? I gave the same 240 carols to the smallest version of GPT-2 (the 124M size), and then asked it what comes after “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. Here’s what it added.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with its red belly The All-gracious King of all the earth, Had a baby at Christmas time, On Christmas Day, A true and holy Deity, Went down to earth, With human flesh for sacrifice.

For sinful men such a Deity doth appear, And wink and nod in reply, As he winked and nod in reply, As he winked and nod in reply

The wretched world is run by ox and ass The wretched world is run by ox and ass, And in vain build I.

Using a more powerful neural net has apparently made the problem EVEN WORSE. The neural net is still confused about who exactly had that baby at Christmas time. And, most unfortunately, the neural net apparently saw that the word “flesh” appeared in the carols several times (Thank you, good king Wenceslas), as did the words “sacrifice” and “human”, and so it helpfully suggests “human flesh for sacrifice” as a likely phrase based on how it saw those words used online.

Some of the neural net’s renditions of Rudolph are disturbing in much more surrealistic ways.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I was riding by a hansom lettering me On Christmas morning, The snow was everywhere; And the wind was cruel and cruel Against me like ants, Like ants, like ants.

Or this rendition, which I swear to god is verbatim

Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer Was the best sleigh in all of Nantucket The horse was lean and tanned The woman was full of perfume The only thing keeping the goose from falling off the ground Was the reins Like strings of spaghetti And if you could just cut it down You could even make a bow Like a bow and arrow But if you wanted to make a bow you had to use a lot of power

Right down to the little lamb Its red head was covered in feathers Its heart was full of sugar And the most prized food item was its head

Everywhere in the barn there were beavers' eyes Some would go, "Where is the sugar?" But to them it was simple, it came from a good source And they found sugar in olden times Families that lived in the stable all had it

I can also get the neural net to generate custom carols. Here’s what it produced when I asked it to write “The Carol of the AIs” and I can’t tell whether it has misunderstood what Christmas carols are all about, or understood some of them only too well.

Carol of the AI's

Come and own the yacht It's a very special day, It's a very special day

We're all so proud of you We're buying this We're buying this now

Now it's Christmas eve And everyone's shouting "Santa Claus!" "HO HO HO!"

It's a very special day It's a very special day It's a very special day

Subscribers get bonus content: One downside to using a neural net that was pretrained on a bunch of general internet text is that some of its carols involve an improbable level of swearing and gun violence.

My book on AI is out, and, you can now get it any of these several ways! Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s

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[cyprinodont]

i can't see your replies to these people (they probably deleted them?), but i can already tell that they're the type that want both to insist upon their right to do and think whatever they want, which is fine and well, but also to be *right* and never responsive to any actual evidence or argumentation. a lot more comfortable to write off things as "western" than offer up a solid critique of them. they're objectively stupid and gullible buy think theyre not because theyre anti status quo

I dont think Selfown is stupid or malicious I just think they have confused things. Its totally understandable to be skeptical of new medicines. Just like you dont buy a new model car, you wait until the kinks have been worked out in the design. Its understandable that people are afraid, especially because a lot of people dont have the knowledge and skills to separate real information and crackpots. They by default dont trust doctors, they listen to people who they trust who say things about living natural or not needing modern medicine.

But where they go dangerously wrong is in thinking that this is a private decision that only affects themselves. Actually especially when they started talking about how they dont trust WELL proven vaccines like chicken pox and spewing bullshit like "chicken pox is actually integral to brain development" and herd immunity bullshit. That stuff is obviously wrong and literally kills children. We have decades of data on vaccines like polio or the mumps and we KNOW, we KNOW that they are so so so much better than allowing children to get life threatening diseases. The statistics work out so well in our favor for most vaccines. You have to actually be some kind of radical primitivist to say that you want more children to die of preventable diseases, which is what would happen if we stopped vaccinating.

Their arguments about the downsides are entirely based in fear, basically. Fear of the "unnatural" it's a pretty common pathology these days, were so bombarded with things that we domt understand that some people think that the best response they can have is to just jettison everything they dont understand. I dont understand vaccines so therefore I'm afraid of them.

And the fact is that theres nothing wrong with those people. You cant convince them with facts because they dont have faith. They dont have faith in scientists. Which is what it is, science is a religion as much as any other. Personally I know enough science and scientists that I do have faith in them, I do truly believe that most people working in scientific fields are genuinely smart and good people who want to help the world. The problem is that anti vaxxers and people like selfown dont have that faith, they are inherently suspicious of scientists for many understandable reasons. Science needs to market itself just like any other religion, and it has not done a great job. It has been pretentious and patriarchal and even actively hostile to human life at times. It got us Zyklon B and nuclear weapons and assault rifles and the highway system and Google and Amazon and lots of other things that are anti-human. Doctors have tortured people and used human testing and ignored entire demographics of peoples subjective experiences (women, people of color) Ever since the first saw bones took someones tooth out with an arrowhead, doctors have caused immeasurable pain and saved peoples lives.

I had a lot of coffee but my main point is that all of that bullshit is just a smokescreen for the fact that vaccines are a simple statistical calculation: is the cure worse than the disease? If polio kills and maims people, and the polio vaccine reduces the number of people killed and maimed, it's just stupid NOT to use it even if there are some side effects. Like tylenol has side effects but when I have a headache, the fact that it stops my pain is worth more to me than a slight stomach ache. To Selfown and people like them, I dont understand WHY, but they have decided that the possible side effects are worse than children and people dying. That I cant explain, they have to explain that calculation for themselves. It almost seems to me to be an ego thing, they would prefer a dead child to a disabled one. Like the people who think vaccines "cause autism", even if it DID, isnt a living autistic child better than your child possibly dying and also infecting your neighbors child and them dying? Even if you hate vaccines and think they're terrible for evolution or whatever, is that worth literally watching children die in front of you? Or do you just think that you wont be the one whose child dies?