#thinking about adding a new sticker every month

[piierrote]

oh btw order processing is on hold for this week just cause i’ve got a cold and i don’t wanna be processing orders and potentially spreading my cold through the post <3 if you ordered over the weekend i’m hoping to be fine by friday and sending stuff out then!!

[flwrstqr]

𖠵 ⌇MY LOVE GUIDE FOR A NERD — TEASER

SYNOPSIS: as the stubborn older sister of the one and only kang sooha, the school's perfect golden girl, your life was a constant shadow compared to her shining light. one day, you find a heartfelt letter in your locker, only to realize it's from heeseung, the school's notorious nerd or loser, and it's meant for sooha. a brilliant idea strikes—you'll offer heeseung a deal: test answers and homework help in exchange for your guidance to win over soohab But as you dive deeper into the plan, you start to see heeseung in a new light, and your heart begins to betray you. who knew if heeseung felt the same?

featuring loser!heeseung x fem!reader (feat cho miyeon from gidle, choi yeonjun from txt)

genre high school au, romance, one sided enemies to lovers, she falls first he falls harder, long fic, fluff, angst, oblivious x oblivious, tutor au ish

word count teaser is 500, (fic est about 9k-10k wc)

warnings sooha dating your ex, yn being compared to sooha, yn kind of using heesseung in the beginning, profanity, kissing (no suggestive stuff or nsfw), small grammar errors (sorry), sooha using heeseung later on, yn being a bit stubborn in the beginning

disclaimer i am not saying this is an accurate representation of these idols or trying to sexualize them at all. this just something i do for fun.

release date by the last week of jul hopefully

taglist open! send an ask or comment to be added @seuliecore @isa942572 @txtlyn @immelissaaa @isabellah29 @korok127-not-nct127 @heeheeyeoiizz01 @heelee-01

danielle note so i kind of like had this idea for a few months for now. lowkey i fell in love with the plot while thinking of this so i thought it was a must to write this. so here i am >o<

YOU GO TO YOUR LOCKER AND NOTICE A LETTER, its envelope adorned with colorful stickers and cute doodles. The sight alone makes you curious. With a quick glance around to make sure no one is watching, you rip open the envelope and unfold the letter inside.

The paper is thick and slightly scented, and the handwriting is neat and careful, clearly written with a lot of thought and effort. As you begin to read, your eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Dear Sooha,

I hope this letter finds you well. I’ve admired you from afar for so long, and I can’t keep my feelings to myself any longer. Your kindness, intelligence, and beauty have captivated me, and I find myself thinking about you constantly. I know this might come as a surprise since we don’t interact much, but I see you every day, and each moment I do, I’m struck by how incredible you are.

Your smile lights up the room, and your laughter is like music to my ears. I find myself daydreaming about what it would be like to be the reason behind that smile, to share in your joy and be a part of your life. You are not only beautiful but also kind-hearted and intelligent. The way you treat everyone with such warmth and respect makes you stand out even more.

I’ve wanted to tell you this for so long, but I never had the courage. I’m not the most outgoing person, and I often find myself lost in the background. But every time I see you, I feel a little braver, a little more hopeful. I’ve decided it’s time to take a chance, to step out of the shadows and let you know how I feel.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. No matter what your response is, I’m glad I finally mustered up the courage to express my feelings. You deserve to know how truly special you are.

Sincerely, Lee Heeseung"

Your jaw drops. Lee Heeseung, the school’s infamous nerd, likes you? The very thought is almost laughable. But then you notice the name again: Sooha. You roll your eyes as realization hits. This love letter wasn’t meant for you at all; it was intended for your younger sister, Sooha, the popular golden child of the school.

You glance across the room and spot Heeseung just as he walks into the classroom. He’s the epitome of a nerd, with his oversized glasses slipping down his nose, a mountain of books clutched in his arms, and an awkward shuffle in his step. He pauses to push his glasses up, and you can’t help but notice the way his eyes dart nervously around the room

And then, an idea strikes you. A mischievous grin spreads across your face as you tuck the letter back into its envelope.

Your eyes follow Heeseung as he makes his way to his seat, and you feel a strange mix of excitement and anticipation. This could be interesting.

📌 :: PERM TL @stariekis @nishimuraazr1zzkiii @suhiiiiiii @ashtxrie @copyhanni @jwsdoll @yejisuu @caeqey @onlyjjong @sunrenity @river-demon-slayer @dimplewonie  @hrts4hees @teddywonss @floweryang @sumzysworld @sngleehee @ohmydollie @chaewonshoney @luvj4key @dioll @jlheon  @junislqve @rikiscarf @sainns @luvlyhee @a-dream-bookmark

flwrstqr © please do not copy, steal or translate.

[loudlittleecho]

Too Late to Save Them: Frozen in Time.

Previous

Part 3

Paul had moved the Ice Growler into a shed. He had needed that field, after all. The ice had repaired itself from the previous chips, but never grew larger or smaller. It was just one of those things one keeps in a shed. Out of sight, out of mind, unless you need something.

It had been a year. Two, maybe? From Paul’s estimates, when his son found it. His kids visited every so often. Becks, his oldest, worked as a librarian. His son, Nathaniel, was a. . . stock broker? Banker? Paul was never sure what his son did, but Nathan was always talking about his ‘next big break’. Paul loved his kids, and he and Sara had made sure the two had a decent enough education, and that their wills were fair between the two. Especially when Sara’s cancer diagnosis revealed itself.

Well, Nathan was fit to be tied about the ice in the shed.

“Dad! Do you know what this means?”

Paul added another helping of green beans to his plate. This was a ‘dedicated meal’. Sara had made the kids promise- you will visit your father once a season- this was one of those meals.

Rebecca– Becks- visited more often, though Nathan typically visited only the four times a year.

Nathan continued. “This could be my big break! Ice that never melts?? Dad, I could compete against the Stanley and Yeti brand- I could sell it to medical companies- I could sell it to anyone! I– we could make millions! Why did you not tell me earlier?”

Paul took a swig of sweet tea. Nathan always got very animated when he got a new idea. That’s what he was, an idea man. Becks had a concerned look on her face.

“Dad, have you checked if it's safe, though? What if it’s dangerous?”

Paul loved his children. Becks, the overthinker, and Nathan, the optimistic.

“Bits of it have been in the fridge for a few months now. Nothin’s gone bad. Fridge hasn’t been plugged in for awhile.”

Becks placed the spoonful of corn down. The little family shared who brought what to their dedicated meals. Paul had supplied the iced tea, corn and green beans. (this year he hadn’t managed to shuck and peel like he used to. These were from cans, but he had made sure to rinse and season them thoroughly) Becks had brought the ham and mashed potatoes, and Nathan brought Bluebell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and store bought brownies. (the brownies had a discounted sticker from the grocery bakery. Paul was just glad Nathan was there).

“Dad. . .” Becks said worriedly, while Nathan jumped up. “The fridge! Really!”

The rest of the evening had a different pace from previous dinners. Nathan was on the phone with different “investors”, while Becks was on theirs researching about unmelting ice and effects of low levels of radiation in humans. Paul thought Becks had finally mastered Sara’s tater recipe. It was the butter. For a few years Becks had tried a ‘fat free’ healthier butter. It seemed to Paul that this year Becks had finally admitted that regular butter (and a heaping spoonful of it) made the best mashed potatoes.

. . .

It had been two weeks. Becks had bought him a new fridge and had brought replacements for everything he had in his other fridge. She told him she loved him and was just worried about the untested ice. (He mentioned twice about paying her; Becks just shook their head both times with a “Dad, I don’t need your money. I just want you".)

Nathan had asked him to borrow the ice. Have it tested. Have his investors look at it. Of course, Paul agreed. He wasn’t getting any younger, and if this really was something Nathan saw as helping people, “of course dad! Think of the diabetics!” Well, who was he to stop progress?

. . .

Nathan had asked his dad to give him the ice. Paul wasn’t sure. If what Nathan said was right, this could make Nathan a lot. . . and he needed to be fair between his two children. Nathan snapped at him. “Give me the ice. Becca can have the farm.” Paul still gave Becks a call. Becks had murmured something he couldn’t hear, but did say: “If you want to change your will that’s your choice dad. If Nathan’s plan doesn’t work. . . I’ll make sure Nathan’s ok. Don’t you worry.”

Paul trusted his children. The overthinker and the optimist.

He updated his will.

Part 4

[no-name-publishing]

Manacled by SenLinYu

My 8-month marathon on this project has finally come to a close, and I have a ton of pictures to share!

We’ve got a split-board binding with made-endpapers and a built-in tab for extra support. Hand-sewn endbands with silk-finish cotton sewing thread. Done in a millimeter binding style with black leather, and a hand-drawn and -painted floral motif across the middle. Final page count is just under 1.4k. I figure altogether this was around ~50 hours worth of work for the whole binding, from beginning to the typeset to pulling the final book out of the press.

More pictures of the binding and typeset under the cut! If you have any questions or want more info about the process don’t hesitate to ask!

In truth I over measured/estimated the needed length of my leather; this and my poor pare job is definitely visible through the cloth lol, but I’m still jazzed with the result since I’d never touched leather before this. I designed the spread digitally in Procreate, printed it, transferred it to my cloth using carbon transfer paper, then painted using Jacquard Lumiere Metallic gold paint and a refillable .75mm paint pen.

Printed:

Transferred:

Mid-painting:

From starting the drawing to finishing the painting I’d say this part took ~15 hours. Close up of the spine:

Each endband measures around 3 3/4″ (9.5cm) in length and took around 5 hours to complete. The core is 4-ply hemp cord that I coated with PVA glue. Wrapped with a single strand of red silk-finish cotton thread, and one strand of polyester yellow thread, since it’s kinda shiny. Last I counted it was something like 300+ wraps of thread for each band. The uh, cat hair here is just an added bonus I suppose. Like when you buy a new pair of jeans and get that free sticker.

Some progress shots:

The tie downs. I usually will try to tie down every other signature. With 68 signatures you can understand this ate up a metric shitton of thread.

Different angle. Also a good few of the top of the textblock, which was trimmed painstakingly by hand with a wood chisel.

Smooth as a shark etc.

And some shots of the innards!

Each chapter page when through four rounds of printing: 1st through an inkjet, for the floral; 2nd through a laser printer for the number; 3rd through a laminator for the gold toner-reactive foil; and 4thly for the rest of the text.

Half-title page:

One of the attempts to foil a crane. The toner may have been too thin a line for it to work, or perhaps not dense enough tonerly. I don’t have control over that setting on our Xerox unfortunately.

A second shot of a golden crane. This was slightly more successful but lord knows why. Luck.

Fun fact is that this Daily Prophet page ALONE was about 8 hours worth of typesetting. I do all my typesetting in Word, and this page was recreated line-by-line individually. A few of these elements I also had to redraw by hand since there were just no good alternatives online. Anywho though, good payoff.

Nextly, some in-progess shots I don’t have a good segway into lol. A detail you can’t see on the book but I know is there, is hand-dyed scarlet linen thread, drip drying on my shower curtain rod:

Freshly sewn. 68 signatures, no waiting:

Rounded and backed:

And a close up of the special tab/made-endpaper construction. Stupidly I didn’t take any shots of gluing the split boards on, but I think the idea is pretty easy to imagine. Just picture this tab getting glued in between the cover boards.

You can kind of see it here:

And finally, the behemoth on the shelf. This bad boy tips the scales at just over 4 pounds (about 1.8 grams). Glad to have it; more glad to move on with my life.

Thank you for reading!!

[cheap-jumpscare]

here's my thinks on the Natlan update

[PT: Here's my thinks on the Natlan update /end pt]

disclaimer i do not support hyv i simply like genshin let me BE also spoilers (mild- I haven't rlly done the archon quest yet) obviously. and typos too I just don't care much. the Grammarly browser extension hates me :3

p.s. i added image descriptions just to make this as accessible as possible! it was difficult but I hope it works aa

NEW FEATURES

[PT: new features /end pt]

FIRST THING I DID was check the free character. you can choose between jean, diluc, qiqi, mona, keqing, tighnari, and dehya. if you don't know who to pick; TIGHNARI IS EXTREMELY STRONG FOR A STANDARD. just a nudge in his direction

I also wanted to mention; CHARACTER TRIALS ARE DIFFERENT FOR KACHINA AND MUALANI. you collect pyro particles while beating up dudes along the trail. not too difficult but MASSIVE WHIPLASH. For other characters you get the old trials, which are really nice. I didn't want to get TOO many changes so it's something they ease you into.

Next is our awesome artifact thingy; the Artifact Transmuter. To get it, you open the 'book menu' (someone tell me what the actual name for it is) and it'll be there after you complete a prerequisite or two that I.. Did not pay attention to. I cannot find WHERE I got it exactly, I just received it for free. Afterward it'll appear in your gadgets.

As for how to use it; you use up your existing 5-star artifacts to get Sanctifying Elixir, which then can get turned into the artifacts you want. You need a LOT to get just one. Two highish-level artifacts brought me up to 29 points, and you need 100 to get ONE sanctifying essence.

After you do that, though, it's pretty straightforward! Lucky me, because I am admittedly not bright. The flowers get fixed main stats; otherwise, you can make custom artifacts! As far as I can see, every artifact set is craftable. Good news for us! Checking the wiki we run into an issue, though... You can only make one artifact of each set every cycle. Okay, not too bad hearing just that, right? This cycle is gonna last for over a month. 41 days as of this post being written.

Now that's absolutely fucking insane and kind of the dumbest thing ever. Seriously genshin you were doing SO WELL. But admittedly, I understand why they thought such a long wait would be necessary. To be entirely fair, it makes building characters HUNDREDS of times easier. You can just pick their best stats immediately and not have to perform more gambling than just leveling up the artifacts. Still.. That's not reasonable at all to me. I don't think the Chinese fanbase will be normal about it.

THE OTHER STUFF (NATLAN ITSELF KINDA)

[PT: the other stuff (natlan itself kinda) /end pt]

So.. We're here. The meat of the update. Oh boy. Where do we start.

Another disclaimer; I HAVE NOT REALLY PROGRESSED ALL THAT FAR IN THE STORY! I HAVENT MET ANY CHARACTERS OTHER THAN KACHINA AND THE VILLAGE SHE LIVES IN THATS ITTTTT. Regardless.

I'm starting with a funny visual bug that I really want to know if anyone else's experienced. My daughter with every disease. She looks so stupid oh my fucking god.

Like.. Kachina what did they do to you. POV my little sister watching me explain things (she has no idea what any of the words I'm using mean). This is a sticker in me and my sister's discord server now because she looks SO SILLY. Kachina I love you forever and ever you're now the funniest child alive to me. Diona prepare to gain a sister.

After that conversation YOU GET HER FOR FREE!!! Giant surprise to me as I had not intook ANY Natlan content prior- completely blind going into it all.

For me personally, the map itself was easy enough to unlock. There's one creature you can take control of that can sort of grappling-hook around like those specific spots in Sumeru, so it was easy to get around. That being said, I have only gotten the Statues of the Seven and not the TP waypoints.. I think I'll do my sister's in exchange for her doing mine.. (And also bc she got me Kirara's costume and pulled Yelan for me)

Moving on to pyro traveler; You do not get them immediately. Or at all. Until you beat the archon quest maybe? (Or at least get to a certain point? I wouldn't know.) Regardless, Kachina shows you the Statue of the Seven, which does not grant you pyro powers like we originally expect it to.

That's really all I have for Natlan itself. It's good, what can I say.

IN CONCLUSION..

[PT: in conclusion /end pt]

I love the Natlan update. It's fun, the new features are fun, the ability to just SKIP TO NATLAN is AMAZING (because I will admit I still haven't gone through Sumeru's storyline.. Sorry) and also the characters are all really fun so far! Kachina my daughter. I love her so, SO MUCH. She's adorable and I'd kill and die for her. Amen.

I am very loudly and proudly dissappointed in the lack of melanin, but I've noticed that is a fandom-wide complaint with the natlan trailer. Where are the darker skinned characters, genshin.. Where did you hide the fucking melanin. WHERE ARE THE BLACK CHARACTERS.

One thing I am very very "HOYOVERSE WHAT THE FUCK" about is that one of the NPCs you first see when meeting Kachina has locs. Both NPCs talking to her are black (albeit horrendously ashy). The chief of her tribe has an afro. I just. How is it so easy to do with NPCs but so hard for the playable characters. Yes, Kachina and Mualani have tans which I HAVE NOTICED and admittedly do like, but oh my god how hard is it to make a character that's darker than Xinyan or Kaeya. How hard is that. I'm screaming at you, Hoyo.

That's the end. Hope you all enjoyed my screaming into the void.

[fitzs-space]

In your world how do elytras work/how do they look. I'm currently working on my headcanon ways for how things in minecraft work and I would like know your opinions as I think they are very interesting/cool

-Sincerely, Me

It depends on the player!

[keep in mind my ideas with Elytra’s are very loose, haven’t really put proper thoughts behind them]

But much like armour, players can modify their elytra’s as something that fit they’re aesthetics more. Be it modification to the one’s found, or crafting their own (think how e2 Scott made his elytra. Or the ornithopter's in the create series.) ultimately at the end of the day, most elytra’s are very much just air gliders, and its the rockets/a good kick that actually propel the player. Most times players just like to paint the found elytra's for the easiest modifications. But ultimately no one should fully trust the elytra's that are just found in some old ship, those things are old and sometimes falling apart. Players also need to properly balance their chosen elytra's in order to properly support their weight and, you know, keep them in the air.

There are winged players who will use elytra’s as a layer of protection, like armour, if they do desire. Or even some will use them as aids to actually fly! Just because a player will have wings, it doesn’t ultimately mean they can fly, be it their wings are too small/weak, or their wings are built for gliding rather then actual flight. Can also think of elytra’s as a mobility aid of sorts (Ideas based off this headcanon). Like an extra crutch or aid when it’s too tiresome to constantly fly. Or when the wings themselves are damaged.

Bonus headcanons/ ideas for the hermits themselves

Doc has a completely custom mechanical glider that he’s two seconds from adding rocket boosters to. Scar jokes about it looling like something Buzz lightyear would wear if he was evil Tango also has a more mechanical one, but it’s been fraying and near falling apart for the past year almost, he just refuses to fix it. Etho just uses the default ones that are found in the end, they are really well taken care of though, they'll add stickers or a little paint though. Zedaph likes to try out a new design every other month or so, they'll constantly crash in the until the design works enough to keep them in the air. Trial and many errors he calls it. Scars got a solid stash of elytra's and gliders for the sake of matching whatever outfit he's got on. some of them were built to also work as a wheelchair, many of them are Zeds designs that succeeded. Xisuma has an elytra made out of some clear material, maybe its acrylic or glass, who knows. but there are lights that make them look like a hologram Grian had relearned how to fly but with elytras back in s6 before he was more open about having wings. He did like to use the default elytra's as the everyday option, but would use a feathered one for PoultryMan shenanigans.

[netherworldpost]

I hired a business consultant with a report delivery of Friday end of day.

Because they are an Actual Professional it came on time and was very thorough and complete.

Because I am a Cartoon Professional I changed my email password immediately after signing the contract so I wouldn't obsess.

Then watched Scooby-Doo for several days, obsessing anyway, until I could no longer take not knowing the results (Sunday morning at 4:17AM)

This covers a 10 year period

RED = MYTHOLOGY (Evil Supply Co. public shop before closing + private practice for mythology clients, which did not close)

BLUE = OTHER STUFF with red removed so I can see what percentage of income is mythology vs. not.

Got a bit of red on me.

In this chart you can see where I had my 2020 traffic accident and the subsequent rebuilding of my life and business practices.

Now let's talk about why I'm making this post. You can tell where I added artwork to this "hide private information" chart because it's bright pink.

I feel like following me on social media is a combination of mythology and benefiting from my investments in business + therapy. Consider this part of the value proposition in following oh stones I can't with the business talk.

atty (me, hi) = cartoon business person doing fun spooky things + occasional thing that is accidentally actually useful = public posting (desire for attention + lightly marketing)

Which is a quick commercial break for our sponsor (hi, it's me, I'm the sponsor on my own post)

netherworldpost.com has the mailing list when the public side of Netherworld Post opens later this year.

Greeting cards, postcards, stickers, zines, stories, rambles. All original art and writing about queer monsters, witches, ghosts, mermaids living in paradise.

Mental and physical therapy... are... continuing... and as they improve I can make stuff faster and get closer to launching

Thanks, back to rambling.

One of the things that has sat heavily in my brain since said traffic accident is a variety of soul haunting "what if?"s

This chart is to showcase the utter irrelevance of this line of thinking -- you cannot change the past -- in hopes of helping me and subsequently you to move on.

One of the biggest things I am trying to unbuckle from my brain is this idea that life is a linear experience with a finite number of resources and opportunities.

My brain has been ground into the position of "I must constantly hustle because every opportunity not maximized is lost forever and is thus one more step closer to irreversible failure. Going slow or stopping to rest = bad."

This is a coldly logical statement that sounds great when you're being punitive to yourself for choices made by you or others.

There is some small truth to it (your daily existence is comprised of 24 hours) but the fundamental and utterly overwhelmingly larger truth underlying is life is not comprised of a straight forward math formula.

Here is a zoom in + direct message summary

Bad thing happens.

Work harder for awhile.

Things resume on the previous path.

Worry over choosing the wrong path is extremely probably corrected over the long term.

Your "what if?" -- my "what if?" -- is irrelevant.

Not just because you cannot change the past. But because continued hard work averages out losses and "non-selected opportunities"

(don't you love that? "non-selected opportunities". This is a new phrase to me. Such a nice way of passing up "I didn't take the objectively better path for reasons.")

I hope you find it helpful!

I hope you sign up on netherworldpost.com which has an auto-merging feature if you've already signed, meaning if you're unsure, sign up again, you won't get duplicate emails in a few months when we launch!

Thank you, it's time for coffee, I have spent 5+ hours reading this damn thing and making this post

[loreweaver-universe]

And that’s the episode.

Sympathetic Amity?  Amity/Luz friendship?  A fanbase that definitely went nuts with shipping because of this episode?  This one has it all!  I really liked that.  I already thought Amity was a good character, and having this additional nuance added to her was very welcome.  And the things it reveals about her character are such good details!  My favorite is the implication that she dyes her hair to fit in with the rest of her family.

I wonder how the twins will come into play in the future.  They’re definitely coming back--Amity fighting back against them is the obvious next step, and I’d be shocked if they hired Erica Lindbeck to say fifteen lines and then vanish--but how I don’t know.

That’ll be it for today--and this is the start of a VERY successful new step for me livebloggingwise!  Four days in a row is more consecutive liveblogging than I’ve managed in YEARS, and being able to approach this is bite-sized chunks is WONDERFUL for my anxiety.  I think I’m going to be quite successful going forward, and you can expect me to liveblog at noon EST every day for the foreseeable future.  (Except tomorrow, tomorrow’s a day off for deep-cleaning my room.)

Up next is going to be me working on my backlog of Patron Picks--I’m WAY behind, and I have some stuff from all the way back in October that I need to do.  The next liveblog we’re doing is the first half of Fooly Cooly’s final episode, so tune in for that tomorrow!  I’m also going to be starting today’s Final Fantasy XIV stream today in about twenty minutes, so tune in there if you want to watch me make my way through Heavensward!

As always, thank you for tuning in, and thank you to the 48 patrons on my Patreon who make it so I can pay my rent and bills!  I’ll see you next time!

IN OTHER NEWS:

I have an ongoing first playthrough of Final Fantasy XIV that I’ve been streaming on Twitch! If you’d like to tune in when I’m live, I stream it every Saturday at 1 PM EST, and I upload my stream VODs to my Youtube channel!  If you’d like to see that playlist, click here!

I recently completed my first playthrough of Hi-Fi Rush!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I recently completed my first playthrough of the Dead Space remake!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

If you’d like to help me pay my rent, buy me some food, or help with my bills and medicine, please use my direct donation link!  If you’d like to support me per liveblog completed every month, please pledge to my Patreon!  If you’d like to support my streams or pick a game for me to stream, you can pledge to my stream Patreon too!

You should also go pledge to Gio’s Patreon, or his Sponsus–our Discord server maintenance tech and creator of Rubybot deserves far more than I can afford to pledge to him by myself.

If you’d like more of me and my content:

My Episode Lists master page, where you can find every show and liveblog I’ve done!

My Discord server, where you can come hang out with me and other fans, check out member liveblogs, and join community gaming guilds!

My Twitch channel, where I stream variety games every so often!

My Youtube channel, where you can check out past streams!

My ask blog, where you can send me questions and comments!

My Twitter, where I make announcements about liveblogs and streams!

My merch store, where you can get shirts, mugs, stickers, and more!

It’s your kindness and support that lets me do this stuff, and I wouldn’t be where I am without all of you to do it for.  Thank you all so much for your support, and for tuning in every episode!

OTHER PEOPLE YOU MAY ENJOY:

I may have been one of the earlier Steven Universe liveblogs, but a whole community of livebloggers has sprung up over the last six years!   I linked to a bunch individually for a few wrap-ups, but honestly, this end-slate is already eight billion miles long, so I’m just gonna link to my links page.  Click here if you want recommendations of other livebloggers, or other neat people, or webcomics and podcasts that I recommend.

[sloggervlogger]

Gorilla's Gentle Curiosity Towards the Baby - Shinda Keeping the Silverback at Bay by SloggerVlogger *Ajabu, a 7-year-old gorilla, is intrigued by a new born in the troop. Gorilla Shinda holds a charging Silverback.* Gorilla Youngster Ajabu (7) is showing an interest in the new born baby girl named Mobi in the troop. He tries to get closer to the little baby wanting to touch her, he manages to just briefly touch the babies cheek, but then pulls his hand away quickly. I think Mother's Duni's arm had something to do with it as well, as she's very protective of her first born and she slightly lifted it up when Ajabu came close. Duni is lying on her back, pulling her new born baby girl up by her hands to check the little one. Ajabu watches closely. As the baby wiggles on mum's chest, Ajabu investigates the babies gender and then moves around so he gets a better view of the baby. Ajabu's mother Shinda moved in front of the scene. The youngster has been trying to get closer to little baby all day. He's being quite patient about it, not like Lope was with Shufai. I'm sure in a few month time Duni will be more accommodating. For now, if you watch Duni's face/reaction throughout she gives him that little nudge here and there or pulls away a little to try to stop him from getting too close. At the end of the video Ajabu tries to gently bite the foot of the baby while mum walks away. Not sure if this is the reason the Silverback Kisumu steps in and charges through his troop all of a sudden or it's just that time of the day where the silverback gets hungry. It's Shinda, Ajabu's mother who slows the big fellow down by grabbing his hand and pulling him back. Don't miss a thing—hit Subscribe and Turn on all Notifications to be part of our Great Ape escapades every week. The Prague Gorilla series continues next Thursday. Playlist of all the Prague gorillas including an introduction to the troop: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXC1aShJSBiV0naHlsnOJKSgeyuEVnP_6 #PragueZoo #Gorillas #babygorilla 🛍️Gear up with exclusive merch from our worldwide delivery shop: 🦍Check out rawshutterbug Redbubble for a variety of T-shirts, stickers, apparel, homeware, and much more: 🛍️ https://rb-ambassador.pxf.io/Gorillas #AD #redbubbleambassador 🦍Express yourself with customizable T-shirts, stickers, apparel, homeware, and more from rawshutterbug Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.com/collections/gorilla_gallery-119832843969795462?rf=238978496872225031 🦍Amazon USA 🇺🇲 Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/sloggervlogger #Ad #AmazonAssociate 🦍 Amazon UK 🇬🇧 Store: https://amzn.to/47mDmbA 📷Join the adventure on my travel channel, exploring zoo hyperlapses, walkthroughs, and animal habitats and more. https://youtube.com/@MSVRVisualTravel?sub_confirmation=1 🌐My website: https://msvrvisual.weebly.com/sloggervlogger.html And guess what? Some of the links above and in the video are affiliate links! When you make a purchase, I earn a commission without any extra cost to you. Your support means the world to me – thanks for dropping by and watching and commenting. via YouTube https://youtu.be/ClvUJClnJlY

[stationerybear]

One Month in the Hobonichi HON

Another review that nobody asked for but I am going to write anyway because it makes me happy.

Tl;dr: I've really enjoyed using the HON so far!

I had some anxiety before ever even using the book that the A6 would be too small and that I should have gone for the A5 HON or even the Cousin. But I think because my writing is smaller to fit on the small grids and I am using a thin tipped pen (Jetstream 0.5), it makes entries that would have taken more space on a 5mm dot grid A5 paper fit just fine on the 0.37mm grid. I have had a few entries spill onto the next page of the book, but I've not had any entries take up more than a bit of room on the next page nor have I had to tape in a new page to compensate for the amount of excess writing one entry takes up. Honestly, if I had gotten an A5 Hobonichi, I probably would have been lamenting about all of the wasted space I had on each page (though, perhaps I would have room for bigger pictures or more decorative elements than what I use now).

Since I don't use the HON for planning anything, I use the checklist at the top of the page just as a gratitude log for the day, just to write a few moments from the day that made me happy so I can remember that there is indeed good in every day. I don't really use the monthly calendar other than to back-fill appointments or holidays, but I rarely remember to flip to it since I keep that information in an actual planner spread usually. Perhaps I will find a better use for those pages someday, but I don't think I'll be that upset if they go mostly unused. The reason I got the HON was for daily entries, and I have been maintaining that function for it well.

There is a bit of warping along the edges of the used pages that is noticeable when looking at the closed book, plus a little bit of extra bulk from a few pictures being stuck onto some of the pages. But I think that just comes from the journal being used as is its intended purpose. To be loved it so be changed, as they say, and I can't expect the book to stay in perfect, pristine condition forever if I am using it. The bulk of January is not particularly noticeable when the book is held closed, though.

I do want to add more pictures and maybe decorative elements like stickers or washi tape to my entries, but I am a little afraid of adding more bulk to the HON than it is capable of holding. I think I've seen a few folks say that it doesn't hold bulk as well as a Techo Original or Cousin. I might play around with it and put sticky notes or scrap pieces of paper intermittently throughout the book to test it's durability in handling bulk before I make any commitments to sticking more stuff in it. But for now, I am having fun adding a couple of images here and there from my day, whether it be a picture of something I drew, something nice that I got in the mail, a meal I had that day, or the sunrise from that morning. It's nice to have a little visual snapshot of something from that day that made me feel good without even having to read through the entry.

I have also been considering using color-coded "tags" to label the contents of my daily entries since they can vary at times. Sometimes my entries document the severity of symptoms I experienced through the day, summarize the events of my day, or serve as a place for me to empty my head of excess unneeded thoughts that make it hard for me to rest at the end of the day. I think it would be nice to know what entries have what kind of content at a glance, or if there are any entries that overlap in content. I've been trying to find stickers in stores lately, but I may just have to order some online since I have yet to find any that suit my fancy.

I can truly say that I look forward to continuing to use the book through the rest of 2024!

[chuuuvi]

Cyn's Top 10 Kpop Songs of 2023

Yes I know this is late but it's still January so who cares. I'm limiting this to korean title tracks and prerelease singles. Perhaps I'II make one for my favorite b-sides later. Alright lets go!

10. Lit by Stayc - I'll admit this one is kind of a sneak. I didn't even really get this song until this month. When I got it though I got it HARD. I think I listened to it on repeat for an hour straight. Do I actually think it's better than Teddy Bear and Bubble? Maybe not but I do think I like it the most. It's so brain scratchy!

9. Rising by TripleS - What a great song to be the group's official debut! I can really tell that they're Loona's little sister group in this song. Not that it sounds exactly like a Loona song but it has all these little moments where I can hear it. Probably because its a jaden jeong + monotree joint. Anyway it's a really good song and the chorus hits hard.

8. Perfume by NCT Dojaejung - My sister described this as a strut song which is so accurate. This song makes you feel like THAT BITCH. It's super smooth and sexy and really really good. Interesting vibe from NCT (That being said l'm a sticker defender so believe me I have nothing against the NCT sound)

7. Air Force One by Odd Eye Circle - The return of oec fully rocked my world. I was ranting and raving about the loonaverse implications of this song / mv / mini album for days. It's also just a really cool song! Daradaradadada~

6. Giddy by Kep1er - my babies!! Their best title track since Wadada. Also the dance is adorable. I immediately taught myself the chorus choreo. I'm incredibly biased towards these girls so I was tempted to put this higher but I held myself back.

5. Zero by New Jeans - Now I know what you're thinking, "Why tf is that your new jeans entry?" and "That's literally a coca cola ad. What's wrong with you?" This is my list though and Zero was legitimately my top kpop song on my spotify wrapped. I listened to it an ungodly number of times. It has like a weird hypnotic effect on me so I listen to it while I study.

4. Kick It 4 Now by The New Six - My top boy group jam of the year. Again shout out to my bg stan sister to putting me onto this. She truly keeps me in the loop in that regard. Pure happiness in a song it's SOOO FUN!

3. Queencard by (G)I-dle - Must every song be deep? Can't we all just have a silly girly time? My boob and booty hot!! In all seriousness though I think Jeon Soyeon is a genius. Ya'll might think her lyrics are weird but you just don't understand her like me. This is the song on this list that I think will have the most lasting impact. We'll all be looking back fondly on Queencard.

2. Underwater by Chuu - Underwater feels like a breath of fresh air to listen to. This song is so comforting; Chuu's voice is like a hug. It for real makes me emotional. It's so Taeyeon coded which is an incredibly good thing in my book.

1. Unforgiven by Lesserafim - This was my anthem of the year no question. I don't know if Lesserafim will ever be able to top this. It's just flawless. Potentially my favorite kpop album of the year all together too. Idec that half of it is songs we've already heard. I love having greatest hits in one place and Lesserafim's greatest hits are really good!

A Bunch of Honorable Mentions: In Bloom by ZB1 (just barely missed the list. They're the boys to watch right now), Madeline by Limelight, Memories by Riize, We Are Young by Tri.be, I Am by IVE (another close one), Bubble by Stayc, Invincible and Girls Capitalism by Triple S (they had a great year), OMG by New Jeans, Bite Me by Enhypen (I actually went to a kpop dance class where we learned this choreo), Fighting by BSS, One and Only by Boynextdoor (naturally snatch-ed!!), Bad News by Kiss of Life

[dogtoling]

Overall, I'm rather disappointed with the DLC. We get to endure 3 months of fan theories and speculation over basically nothing. We know nothing about what will happen.

I will note that this is confirmed to be present-day Inkopolis. So I know Inklings are kinda stupid, but are they really so stupid that they completely miss Inkopolis Square turning completely white?

Wave 1 is kinda boring. Considering I just got a Wii U, seeing the hub world again is so boring. They could have done so much more with the first Wave and they're just leaning on nostalgia to do the talking. What's the difference? I get Inkopolis in 1080p?

Anyway, back to side order. First off, I do not want another playable species, or for Nintendo to rush one in haphazardly. Octolings were an exception since they were already planned to be added in S1 but it just didn't make sense story-wise. I don't want them to rush one in without good reason just because the fans want it.

Next, we know nothing about Side Order. Yay, Inkopolis Square is white. Oh and here's some artwork that tells us nothing about the game. Theorize for the next few months while we figure out what and when to release stuff. Oh, and it might take us until next year to release the DLC so there's that (as much as I want Wave 2 this year, they didn't put 2024 on the eShop for nothing). I'm gonna hate scrolling through Reddit knowing we're gonna be throwing around theories for a long while.

I also really don't want this to be about Agent 8. She got an entire DLC to herself and she actually has a backstory, while 4 and Neo have next to nothing for a backstory. (3 technically doesn't either, but that was made up for with OE and S3's story mode). I'd love for Agent 4 to make a return, but knowing she probably won't is sad. I overall don't like how they shuffle between the same 5 characters in every story mode. Always Callie and Marie, Cap'n Cuttlefish somewhere, and a clueless you. They mixed it up with Pearl and Marina, but still kept Cuttlefish and 3. Just give us someone new! Reusing old characters is fine, but not 4 times in a row.

Anyway, thanks for all your thoughts. They were fun to read :)

relatable thoughts. To be fair, none of the inklings seemed to care that there was a massive death cannon in Inkopolis Bay during Octo Expansion either, so inkopolis square getting bleached and everyone just being like "oh okay" wouldn't even be that far-off, lol. I don't think it's literally the square in the real world.

HUGE agree with the reusing of the characters. I know it's a Nintendo trademark to throw around the same marketable characters in every game until the end of time, and honestly I wouldn't mind character-focused stories IF THE STORIES WERE ACTUALLY CHARACTER-FOCUSED AND THE CHARACTERS WERE GOOD. Especially OE and RotM so far felt like they were trying to tell some completely different and interesting story but the idols just HAD to be shoved in there for no reason, and the story isn't even about the characters in the end, they're just kind of there - but they're there enough to retract from other cool stuff that the story COULD'VE been about....

On the topic of a new playable species, I agree it would be weird if they added one out of the blue and it might set an annoying expectation for a new species to be added in every game. On the other hand, I want cuttlefish... there's been concepts of cuttlefish in the game before and it feels like it SHOULD happen at some point, given the common consensus of cephalopods as a group is "squids, octopuses and cuttlefish". Yet we have no cuttlefish... but we DO have an angry cuttlefish graffiti sticker alongside the angry squid and octopus ones. As to how they'd add cuttlefish and make it fit and not feel sudden and out of place, I have no idea.

[violets-to-daisies]

so, i do scrapbooking. i bought a big book and a polaroid camera and i’ve been doing it for about three years now. i glue the pictures in and cover them with stickers, i write silly little messages, i put memes and dumb little drawings in there.

i have a friend who makes a playlist for every month of the year, adding all the songs they listen to on repeat, so that every time they listen to those playlists again they feel nostalgia.

another friend catalogs every show they watch, every month of every day, and when watching a new show they write down their thoughts as they go through. they add who they watched the show with. they date the notes and sign them too, and when i asked why they laughed and couldn’t give an answer.

i feel like every day we find a way to love being here. even when shit sucks and even when we feel ill at the idea of being on this earth another second, we’re still keeping track of things we’ve done, art we’ve experienced and remembering people we love. hundreds, even thousands of years ago people would journal their thoughts and experiences, and in certain forms we still do it now. why? to keep track of thoughts and experiences, of people and places, of ourselves?

there’s probably a lot of debate about it why we do it, but to be honest i just think it’s really wonderful. like a lot of people, i don’t like being here most of the time. but when i get to add my friends faces to my scrapbook and surround them in silly stickers, i fall just a bit more in love with them and the world.

[redvioletarts]

Story time: Etsy vs. Redbubble

This one's for the other artists out there who might be thinking about making a shop like mine.

I've been making print on demand stuff for about ten years, well before it was a Side Hustle TM that tech bros claimed would make you thousands of dollars a month if you just use AI to make your images and your mockups and your product descriptions. (Pass.)

But I didn't start on Etsy. I used to sell on Redbubble, which does a lot of work for you, but at the cost of not having the kind of control over product quality that you get from using Etsy with Printify integration and doing a lot of the work by hand. With my setup now, I can choose the brand of blank product I'm using, choose the printing companies I'm sending orders to, and even really simple things like only offering certain T-shirt colors for a given design.

(Redbubble offers EVERY color they have and you can't change it, so I was always putting white outlines on things to make sure that the design would at least show up on every color. You'd think that people just wouldn't order a black design on a black T-shirt, but I've made the mistake of ordering a purple shirt with black text from Redbubble and being surprised at how dark the color was. You can still see the white outlines on a few of my older designs, like the Wreaking Havoc for Fun and Profit cat. AI will not think about this for you, by the way.)

Redbubble's also been doing some weird desperate shit where new artists or anyone who doesn't sell frequently enough can get their commission yoinked by some kind of membership fee thing. I wasn't personally affected by this, because a) I'd already started moving to Etsy, and b) my Redbubble shop had already sold enough to not have to deal with those fees. I don't upload there any more, though. Not a fan of the thing they're doing. I don't recommend that anyone start there any more. Society6 has been doing basically the same thing but worse (some artists can't even set their own profit margin, and S6 sets it for them at a measly ten percent), so don't go there either.

Moving to Etsy was a lot of work and required some cash investment, but I think it's been worth it. I'm happier with the stuff I've been selling, I'm getting neat stuff in the hands of more people, and my shop looks a lot nicer when I'm in more control of it.

If you're starting out with a shop like this, some business advice:

Being in Redbubble's marketplace counts for a lot less than you think. Same with Etsy, honestly. You will be doing your own marketing.

Etsy's on-site ad program is unlikely to make you a profit, but it can get you a little bit of traction. Don't spend too much on Etsy ads. It's easy to make some pretty chunky losses hoping they'll pay off over time. If you use them, narrow it down to your products that are already selling pretty well (or have sold at all) and the ones that make the best profit margin. Don't use it to advertise stickers.

Consider going straight to Shopify instead of Etsy if you're really good at using social media to market. (I am not. Though I may end up there anyway.) Host it yourself so you're not paying too much; I use GreenGeeks for web hosting and they've always been good. Shopify and WordPress will take some Googling to install and use, but don't be intimidated; I have set up a Shopify store before and it's not that bad. This is because--

Etsy absolutely will nickel and dime you all over the place and they can end up taking (as of this writing, give or take) about a 15% cut depending on a whole bunch of complicated rules. This can kill products like stickers and pins, which are generally low-priced enough that the twenty cent listing renewal fee actually matters to your profit margin. However, people are willing to pay more for those than you'd expect if they like your designs, so don't set your prices too low.

Happy selling!

[kristenbrady]

Want To Experience Hypergrowth of Your Substack Newsletter? Try These Tactics.

Wanna be the next Lenny Rachitsky who earns millions with his Substack newsletter, simply called “Lenny’s Newsletter”? There are some proven ways to grow your Substack newsletter. Let’s focus on some used by the best creators below:

Reply to Tweets

One of the most effective ways to grow is by replying to tweets on Twitter. If you see a tweet about the subject you write, or anything even close, be in the comments section. From the day you start your newsletter, do it constantly.

Why Does This Work?

There are numerous reasons why this works, but the following are some that stand out:

Brand awareness — in plugging the newsletter under other whatever your subject is-type news, you are getting in front of audiences who’ll likely be interested in your content.

More touchpoints — readers have to see your newsletter many times before subscribing. This technique gets you in front of similar audiences several times a day.

It’ll get folks talking — a lot of people do not do this. You need to unapologetically plug your newsletter, until people think “There goes (Kristen) again!” 🙂

However, it should be relevant and tastefully done.

Do not simply say “I wrote about this subject, here is the article,” because it’d be more self-promotional. Instead, get involved, be natural, then subtly drop links to your newsletter after engaging for a while with the community.

Start a Referral Program

It’s recommended to start a referral program at least a week into launch. It’s not enough to say “Here’s a link to share.”

You should really put some time and effort into saying something thoughtful and the reason why it would benefit others. Add pictures, they always help.

To say that you will get a 3-month comp on a paid subscription is not enough of a reason to share. You gotta spice it up a bit. People love merch. Offer a free tote bag, stickers, clothing, something they can physically touch and see. It’ll feel like Christmas to them when they open it and they’ll be more inspired to share more and receive more merch (stuff).

Paid Ads

Don’t be shy about running a few paid ads to grow your newsletter.

There’s a stigma within the community that states “organic growth is king;” I am not sure I agree with that.

Don’t try to start a newsletter with only paid advertisements. However, if it’s possible to grow the newsletter and get in front of the right audience from the beginning, why not amplify this expansion with a little spend behind it?

Twitter ads are good.

Use Tools and Build a Community

Create tools and doo-dads like digital downloads your audience can get lots of value from.

Get on Discord and create a Discord community for your audience. That’s just one example. Try to build a Twitter community, etc. There are many ways to create a community. Get creative.

Lead Magnet Ideas for Non-Profits

Seven lead magnet ideas for non-profits

medium.com

Move Things Around

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Add new sections to the newsletter, add a podcast, add videos, experiment with the format.

Don’t be afraid to move things around, test new sections, and see what happens. Once you have all of the information to back up if they were good ideas (replies, clicks, etc.) it’s possible to always return to the prior version.

Get Sponsors

Openly discuss this on Twitter.

If you attempt something, or are successful with an experiment, share that on Twitter.

Customize your pitches.

Sponsors are lurking everywhere, you never know who’ll reach out.

Try Reletter.com. Agencies, sponsors, advertisers, and others use Reletter on a daily basis to contact, qualify, and discover newsletters of all types.

🍉Kristen is a contributor on Medium. Sign up here to catch every story when she publishes.

Originally posted on Medium

[nadiawrimos]

NaNoWriMo 2023 wrap-up

this november really wasn't like other nanos. but the HQ/nanowrimo board/forums thing aside, it was a good month and I won my 12th event and wrote my 14th nanowrimo novel (because yes for both 2010 and 2015 events I was an overachiever and wrote 2 novels)

what worked for me, similar to last year, was getting into the habit of waking up earlier so I could get some words in before work. I also enjoyed having the house to myself on thursdays and fridays while my fiance was working from the office so I could pace around and dictate my novel into my phone, which I would later fix and add to the google doc.

I also think I was very balanced this year by waking up earlier and using the time I would have otherwise been sleeping to create, because it meant I could still be fully present while not actively writing. sprints were very needed, and my little discord group was so supportive and that made the writing so enjoyable. I did not participate in any word crawls this year but I did BG3 "fighting and writing" sprints where if my fiance entered combat in baulder's gate I'd sprint for as long as the fight lasted and then go back to playing with him (925 words during construct grym and 473 words during autie ethel fights)

what I'd like to improve for next year: do more outlining BEFORE the month starts to have those character and worldbuilding details and story beats all plotted before beginning, get a new laptop that isn't so old it doesn't open scrivener properly :'), make sure I still prioritize yoga even if it's gentle and relaxing yoga (I did a lot of yoga in October and... not so much in November) BUT my wrists also complained a lot this last month so taking a break from chaturangas and now that it's december I'm trying to be mindful and type less (kind of hard to do when your day job is live chat but oh well, I deserve to slack a little bit!)

I still hate numbers but here's some stats

my outline going into the month was 3,000 ish words

draft 1 totalled 45,908 words

'save the cat saves draft 2' (my re-outlining/development doc) added another 4099 words

since I only counted words written during the month of November, my nanowrimo total was 50,007 and I finished writing the last words about 15 minutes before midnight on November 30th

wordiest day: November 15 3881 words (mostly written during my discord group's mipoint meltdown boozy writing night)

least wordiest day: November 20 with 65 words (still counts! I was able to get the write every day badge so that's a win for me)

What's next?

In terms of goals for the project moving forward - I bought the most beautiful new notebook and some stickers and I feel inspired so my plan is to revise and then self-publish/print on demand this book for friends and family (and myself hehehe)

am I using a nanowrimo novel for the second time as yet another project to avoid revising my NaNoWriMo 2020 novel Good People, the story that I actually want to publish as a debut, because I'm too afraid of the vulnerability needed to pursue my dream?

no comment.