#this is so exciting i love primers i love information

[moonshynecybin]

hey! slightly batshit question but i’m making a motogp primer for 2024 and want to include some of quotes of urs from ur rosquez crash course and was wondering if that’s be ok? i’d link back to the og post obvs! no prob if not lol x

yeah of course !!

[figbian]

disability studies & classics: some introductory texts!

as a disclaimer, this is not a complete list and not intended to be. i don't necessarily agree with everything in these texts, either – i'd be happy to discuss what i like/don't any time :-) that said, i included them because i find them useful or important or because i liked them enough i wanted to talk about them. further, not all of these texts are accessible (as in, free and online); send me an ask or message me if you want access to something & if i can i will send it to you.

in case you're looking for more sources but don't know where to find a good list, this – though as of posting (may 2023) is two years out of date – is a list of works on disability in the ancient world. it's very cool!!

disability theory/crip theory

Keywords For Disability Studies (book, edited by Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin) - this series of essays can be really helpful in situating yourself. i find them occasionally a bit oversimplified, but overall they're pretty good, especially if you're new to the field.

Beginning With Disability: A Primer (book, edited by Lennard Davis) - this is another helpful way to situate yourself! i haven't read all of it, but i found the introduction pretty informative for dipping your toes into disability studies :-)

Disability Goes Cultural: The Cultural Model of Disability as an Analytical Tool (book chapter, by Anne Waldschmidt ) [open access on jstor here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1xxs3r.5] - this article to me has its flaws but ultimately contains what i think is the most useful model for articulating & analyzing disability in the ancient world.

if you're interested in more specific disability theory stuff, feel free to send me an ask!

books/articles on greece and rome

truthfully, this is the danger zone for me as a latinist, who finds a lot of stuff supposedly on greece and rome to ultimately be about greece. further, i have bones to pick with these books, but they remain either the best we've got or otherwise foundational:

Mental Disorders in the Classical World (book, ed. William V. Harris) very medical, but still kind of interesting to look at and i haven't found anything better?

The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World (book, Robert Garland) the foundational work but i kind of dislike it, tbh.

Prosthetics and Assistive Technology in Ancient Greece and Rome (book, Jane Drycott) i haven't read much of this yet, but i like drycott and this is going to be my post graduation treat!

Life as a Cyclops: Mythology and the Mockery of the Visually Impaired (article, Jane Drycott) really enjoyed!

Why does classical reception need disability studies? (article, Hannah Silverblank and Marchella Ward) i found parts of this preachy and wasn't super pleased with the thoroughness of the scholarship, but here we are!

A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity (book, ed. Christian Laes) i don't like laes much but i found some chapters of this really enjoyable

Disability Studies and the Classical Body (book, ed. Ellen Adams) NOT OUT YET!!!!! but very excited for it.......

books & articles on greece

ancient greece has way more scholarship when it comes to disability, or at least this is my experience. i'm less interested in greece, but i still have a lot of articles and books i like + some i know are integral to the field. this is kind of an eclectic list of things i know are Important vs just neat lmao:

The Staff Of Oedipus (book): truthfully, i've only ever read the chapter on blindness (which i enjoyed!). it's not a perfect book, but it's so foundational and can be pretty interesting

The Discourse of Disability in Ancient Greece (article) - one of my favorite articles! i love rereading this :-) i think it's got some super interesting analysis on lysias 24 and the word ἀδύνατος. really cool if you're interested in the construction of "disability" as an identity.

Hephaestus the Hobbling Humorist: The Club-Footed God in the History of Early Greek Comedy (article) - i really enjoyed this article because of how it presents hephaestus, tbqh. im not sure how good it is – dying to hear from hellenists about it, actually – but hephaestus as funny because he's disabled (but not in an ableist way) was very interesting.

"Breathe Upon Us an Even Flame": Hephaestus, History, and the Body of Rhetoric (article) – in all honesty, i don't like this article very much, but what dolmage is doing is super interesting (trying to reconsider hephaestus as a figure), and so i included it. worth taking a look at.

Temporary versus Long-term Madness (article) - this article was a lot of fun for me.

books & articles on rome

full disclosure, i'm a latinist. i love rome. there's less out there but i have so, so much more to say about it. some good places to start:

Approaching Disabilities a Capite ad Calcem: Hidden Themes in Roman Antiquity (book, edited by C.F. Goodey, Christian Laes, and M. Lynn Rose) - this has some problems; i hate christian laes a lot but he's very good at citing lots of ancient examples! overall, the individual essays in this make it better than laes' own book, but they are disjointed.

Disabilities and the Disabled in the Roman World: A Social and Cultural History (book, by Christian Laes) - did i mention i hate christian laes? i don't like how he writes about disability, and at the same time he's incredibly prolific and good at citing ancient sources, so he's incredibly useful. read him if you want ancient examples, but be wary of how he talks about disability, because i think he fails as an abled person to think of disability as anything but bad.

Heroes and Outcasts: Ambiguous Attitudes Towards Impaired and Disfigured Roman Veterans (article, by Van Lommel) - i don't remember how situated van lommel is in disability studies, but i found this article & his work in general on roman veterans interesting enough to include.

there's so, so much more out there! this is just a taste! i tried to be conservative so as not to overwhelm, and even then this reading list is huge. i'm sure in a couple months i'll want to revamp this post lmao but i wanted it to be out there so people can at least see it esp since i promised to write this months ago. disability studies and classics is SO much fun and so novel and so exciting. so much to learn! so much to talk about! if you're interested in a specific topic, i can see if i can help you find more on it, but please keep in mind im currently only a student :-)

[larkral]

Hello! Thanks for the tags @forabeatofadrum , @you-remind-me-of-the-babe , @hushed-chorus , @youarenevertooold , @wellbelesbian , and @blackberrysummerblog , and everyone else who has been tagging me over the past couple of weeks!

Fun fact! I started drafting this for WIPsday and then got buried under work. This describes my whole week.

Anyway, I'm really focused on my Holsom Timeloop at this moment so I will take this chance to again encourage all of you to read Check Please so that I can coerce you into reading this fic when it's ready. I am TRULY unreasonably excited about it. And of course @petedavidsonscock is only encouraging me. :-P Some of that below the cut per usual because I know most of y'all are here for my Simon Snow.

I have also been writing in fits and starts on Simon's Two Mums AU. Finally I understand the meme where someone is letting their old WIP drown in the pool while they toss the new WIP in the air. Sorry Simon's Two Mums, I'll be back with you full-ish time soon.

I also signed up for @carryon-reverse-bang as a writer. So. I'm excited about that. A little anxious. But excited! (Does this count as a collaboration re: my goal of collaborating on something this year? Maybe...)

Some words from Simon's two mums:

"Unfortunately the kind of information you're looking for is taken for granted in every magical text we have in our library. In our world, I would venture. Not much use in a primer on something you can just ask your parents about."

I wonder how different an upbringing he had to mine. In my youth there was no topic I'd have asked my parents about if there were a book available on it.

I make affirmative noises regardless.

Holsom Timeloop, which at this point I should just reveal the title of, since it's set in stone, and is Friday Prime. And here are six sentences!

Justin surfaces from sleep to a hand on his back and Holster's voice.

"Hey, bro, mind if I snuggle up?"

"No, man, come on up."

Holster climbs up the ladder and nudges himself into Justin's belly. He's a few inches taller, so he usually takes on big spoon duties, but Justin doesn't mind. With Holster's shoulder under his chin and one of his calves twisting into Justin's, he feels almost more embraced than when he's wrapped up in Holster.

Tagging and Sunday hellos to everyone!! Would love to know what you're up to!! @stitchyqueer @thewholelemon @confused-bi-queer @raenestee @facewithoutheart @cutestkilla @sillyunicorn @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @basiltonbutliketheherb @ileadacharmedlife @asocialpessimist @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias @artsyunderstudy @yeonjunenby @carryonvisinata @takenabackbytuesdays @martsonmars @nightimedreamersghost  @chen-chen-chen-again-chen  @ionlydrinkhotwater @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @shrekgogurt   @palimpsessed @fatalfangirl @valeffelees @imagineacoolusername @orange-peony @j-nipper-95 @whogaveyoupermission @rimeswithpurple

[1863-project]

I posted 1,757 times in 2022

That's 1,161 more posts than 2021!

856 posts created (49%)

901 posts reblogged (51%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@neon-moon-beam

@gummycore

@chingaderita

@autisticwolfesbrainisautistic

@shotsofnovacaine

I tagged 1,757 of my posts in 2022

#reblogs - 902 posts

#pokemon - 699 posts

#replies - 628 posts

#submas - 492 posts

#i like trains - 276 posts

#drawing - 88 posts

#art - 88 posts

#actuallyautistic - 71 posts

#autism - 71 posts

#paleontology - 64 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#seriously this is what i wake up to every morning except unlike emmet i have an abnormally large cat instead of an abnormally large spider

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Update to this post: I’m trying to actively figure out whose windup they gave him.

See, they’ve been doing this for a while now. Most famously, Volo has Hisashi Iwakuma’s extremely recognizable windup, but Hop throws like Hideo Nomo and Kabu throws like Choji Murata.

Larry has more of a sidearm throw, which is an uncommon delivery in baseball. You can see it in action here:

See the full post

1,112 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#4

Ingo and Emmet Are Both Autistic and I Will Die On This Hill, Thank You Very Much

Hey, remember over a year ago when I wrote that post screaming into the void about how Emmet is autistic? Consider this an updated version of that post, because I really should have talked about how they both are.

Disclaimer: I am an autistic adult who went undiagnosed until age 20 despite a blatant love of steam locomotives so I don’t know how I was missed considering I had the single most stereotypical interest on the planet. (I’ll touch on that later.)

Anyhow, I’ll try to keep this brief (and will likely fail), but let’s get into how both Ingo and Emmet are autistic, actually.

this goofball Emmet

Emmet’s the more obvious one, which is why I wrote the initial post linked above. He clearly scripts, has trouble containing his sheer excitement about things (read: Doubles) to the point of bothering other people, has no filter, will happily infodump about strategy or the MTA rules if asked, and in the manga has an arm-swinging walk that’s visibly a stim if you know it. 

The scripting is evident when you fight him by himself, as his dialogue often feels stiff (in Japanese it’s more informal to contrast with his hyper-formal brother), but the line that always seals the deal for me is actually this, when Ingo asks him to put in a few words before a Multi Battle:

See the full post

2,056 notes - Posted February 15, 2022

#3

A Brief Submas Primer

Did you just find out about the Pokemon franchise’s most popular battle facility since the Battle Frontier because of a plot point in Legends: Arceus? Were you curious because your friends were talking about some weird train man and you have no idea what they’re on about? Worry no longer, because this mole person has you covered.

What the hell is Submas?

The term ‘Submas’ is a portmanteau of their Japanese trainer class title, Subway Masters (in English releases, they got the trainer class title Subway Boss). Note that I’m saying “they” - there are, in fact, two of them, and they’re twins.

Ingo (Nobori) is the older of the two of them, specializing in Singles. He speaks overly politely/formally (more obvious in Japanese), has no indoor voice, will yell “BRAVO!” the second anything remotely good or exciting happens, has an overbearing sense of responsibility (it’s an older sibling thing, trust me), and became an accidental sex symbol on Pixiv (don’t ask, he probably doesn’t know either). He’s best known for being the “serious” one and notably has not been allowed to smile in-game to this day, although he was allowed in the anime and manga to be more expressive. He makes up for this by being very, very loud.

See the full post

4,080 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#2

Nintendo NYC had an egg incubator bag so I am now hatching Joltiks in the NYC Subway, just as Emmet would want us all to.

7,019 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

In case anyone is wondering what real-world train drama is going on, there’s this.

The tl;dr is that Amtrak wants to run two passenger trains per day round-trip (4 runs total) between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, restoring a service that hasn’t been there since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. CSX and Norfolk Southern, two major freight train companies, have resisted this idea, saying it would mess up their traffic, especially since Amtrak’s passenger trains would get priority (by government decree, believe it or not).

So now Amtrak is on Twitch streaming the line to prove the line isn’t too busy for them to run passenger trains.

I’m wheezing.

41,186 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[armyhome]

Lost In Your Love Story | Yeonjun

⇢ summary: Hwa Suji is a very skilled makeup artist who works at her best friend's salon, serving major Korean entertainment companies and that includes the artists she is a fan of: Tomorrow x Together! One day when protecting one of the members, she ends up having a car accident that takes her to another universe! The universe of your favorite fanfic called "Winter Song" but the thing is, life is not a strawberry, her new universe got a target on her back, she's the villain and has no idea how survive this cannon.

⇢ pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Hwa Suji.

⇢ autor notes: Dear reader, if you're Yeonjun utt please be careful, because I did crazy things here. See you on next saturday! 

[01/16] Life is not a strawberry.

"Once upon a time, a beautiful story about a literature student who worked hard to get an internship at university and a handsome music student who was a popular idol was posted on this platform, and we are truly happy to announce that it will be published as an original manhwa!  Winter Song will be in bookstores on 13th September! Stay tuned to new information!"

HOLY MOTHER I'M GONNA DIE HAPPILY EVER AFTER ON 13th SEPTEMBER! I wash my brushes dancing around 'cause my favorite fanfiction is getting published! Dreams can come true, I remember when the first chapter was posted! The writer used to get so excited when I commented how much I love that story! And now she is famous and her story is getting the attention it deserves! And, imagine if it becomes a k-drama in the future, OH MY GOD! Yeonjun needs to be the male leader! It was made for him! 

Thinking of him, there's no one here yet, so let me put my headphones on and listen to his voice. Yeonjun's voice was the best thing, he is just so good, I'm almost done with my brushes and soon I'm gonna do his make-up perfectly. Soobin sends me a picture of his pimple, I have to do his makeup with a different primer and foundation! So the last brushes were washed, I need to prepare all my stuff before they get here. 

"This shit fanfiction is getting too big! Being published? That's a joke!" That was Yeonjun's voice? Please, don't mean Winter Song, I know you're not a big fan of it but don't call my favorite fanfic 'shit' please! "I'm nothing like this character! This writer is using my face to make money, look at this! And your face too, Yuri!" Oh no, she is here today, nothing against her, but that one acts like she's an idol, not a staff, I prefer her on the Winter Song for sure! "If the fans start to doubt, the company is gonna send you the way! I don't wanna lose you!" He says, and my heart drops. I know I'm kinda stupid for that, but he was the closest that I got to be in love with since high school? I'm so stupid, how can I dare be jealous? My curiosity makes me open the door, so my heart crashes at the end of its fall. 

Seeing Yeonjun kissing her felt like a punch on my stomach. I came back to the bathroom, picked up my stuff in silence. If he is happy, I'm happy, that's what being a fan means. How can I be so selfish? I wanna punch myself right in the face for becoming something I've always criticized! I take the opposite way from them when I get out, I'm better than this, she is not that bad if Yeonjun is in love with her! She probably has a bright side, for sure! Walking fast to the dressing room, I curse myself for letting me get too close to the boys, I knew it would be a problem, I'm the most delusional person on this planet! Unnie gave me a warning in the beginning when I was first appointed to them! Why didn't I listen to her? If I did right now I wouldn't be like this! 

"Hey, noona, where were you?" Asks Beomgyu I show him my clean brushes without saying a word, I was a bit worried to start to cry like the stupid person that I was, I put on my masc and start to prepare the table, I feel someone tap my arm, so I look up and Soobin was holding a finger heart I smile, he was so precious, they all are. 

"Something happens noona?" I start to put a prime on my fingers, his skin was already done, so I start to work on his makeup.

"Remember my one-sided love? Found a person he likes, I'm happy for him, and a little bit sad for myself… that make sense?" One more time, I'm being too open, when I'm gonna learn to shut my mouth? "Don't worry, I'm gonna be fine, let me take care of this pimple so she can go in peace" I pick the special pomade that I made, cause me and Soobin get a similar type of skin, with cotton I put right in the pimple "This will work like magic, why you are stressed? What happens?"

"I think I have one side love too..." Oh my god, he was so cute.

"Oh my god, you are growing!" I blew the pomade so she dries faster, and his face gets scarlet "Tell me everything about her, him or they… Just tell me everything!" He stays quiet when I start to put a foundation on his face.

"She's older!" Start Hueningkai, making Soobin looks like pepper, the information makes me widen my eyes.

"Will you see her today?" Maybe was another idol, a sunbae, he agreed "So I'm gonna give my best to you look even more handsome!" Soobin smiles like a child, how can a human being so cute?

So Yeonjun get into the room followed Yuri, I give my best to didn't show any expression and focused on Soobin's makeup. The other boys start playing together was nice to see, I could forget the scene that I see early, we laughed together and I should know that was enough. The fact they shared a feel secret with and trust me is more than enough! 

"Guys a little change in the schedule! Suji, we gonna need you and the team with us the whole day! After this stage we gonna have a shooting in an open space, cause tomorrow will rain!" Yuri says looking at her on phone I just agree I pick up my phone and send a message to my boss.

"Okay, I just gonna need Soya e Hee Sung with me, Jisoo I trust to you my schedule, and the boss gonna send a team for you" Jisoo looks scared at me "Don't worry, you gonna be great I'm sure! I'm just gonna finished Yeonjun makeup, so Soya and Heesung go eat something, 'cause when they make the stage recording, we'll be packing." I say looking at Yuri, she writes fast on her phone, probably speaking to her boss too.

"Okay, Yeonjun after finished you go change your clouts, I'm going with the boys now, please don't be late!" Yeonjun smiles at her and feels another slap on my face, they leave the room, and was just me and him.  

Being so close to Yeonjun was difficult since the first day, I get too nervous even when he jokes around, I concentrated on the image of him kissing Yuri to not put me in a delusional place again. So his hand goes to my face, I step back.

"Are you okay noona? Why are you crying?" If there is a god, please take me right now, WHY I'M CRYING FOR HIM IN FRONT OF HIS EYES??? "There is something that you need? I'll try my best to help, promise!" I dried the tears on my face, thankfully is just two of us right now.

"Is nothing Junyah, I just forgot about blinking when I'm focused!" He smiles, so he believes, that was close.

"Noona, you truly love your job right? I never see someone like you that even washed your brushes instead send someone else, and always look for every single detail in all our makeup" I smile blurring a little beat the highlighter to blend better in his skin.

"It's how I learn to express myself, some people maybe think is superficial but when I do my makeup or other person's makeup I feel like an artist! Make people feel good about themself the gratitude in their eyes, makes me happy" I finished the makeup and turn his chair to the mirror, he looks stunning, and the way he looked at me made my broken heart beat again "Let's go, you can't be late!"

Yeonjun gets up and leaves the room, I start to pick all makeups and brushes, creams, oh my, I hate unforeseen, I need to be prepared, breathe Suji, breathe! So a strange loud noise out of the room stops my anxiety complex, I run to see what's is happen and I strange guy punches the wall right next to Yeonjun's head, he stays frozen, so a pick the first thing next to me, THE trash. 

"It should be me Yeonjun, and you know it" He repeats, and again like a crazy person.

"HEY! WHERE IS THE SECURITY? STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" They both look surprised with me there, and the strange step back so I throw the garbage can on him "RUN YEONJUN!"

Instead of running in the direction of the stage, Yeonjun runs to me hold my hand pulling me to run with him, we run together until we found one of their bodyguards, my favorite of them, I call him Parallel 38, cause nothing can cross him. 

"That person again?" He asks Yeonjun, that confirms with his look "Okay, go join the other kids, I'm gonna look for him"

"Please, put someone to look at her, she protects me, so he sees her face" Parallel 38 agrees.

"Sorry for leaving you alone, I'm gonna have a serious conversation with the team!" Yeonjun looks at me. 

"Are you okay noona?" 

"I'm okay, are you okay?" I say, so worried, that person was following him? For how long?

"I'm okay, I'm sorry for putting you in this mess, I'll explain later, please don't tell anyone okay?" I just agree, so he goes, I'll murder that crazy dude with my hands, Yeonjun looks so afraid! 

"I'll with you back to the dressing room miss Suji" 

We go in silence, I try to remember every detail of his face, why that guy was attacking Yeonjun? Parallel 38 observes me when I clean my stuff and put everything in the bag, when Sooya e Hee Sung comeback they help with the last things. Parallel 38 let me know that I go in his car with Yeonjun and the rest will go in another car. He stays with me every second, we decide to wait in the car, I send the pictures of the concept to Sooya so she can be prepared for the shooting, but I couldn't think about this right now. I try to relax before he shows up, I don't wanna make him more nervous than I sew early, so I fell asleep. 

Far away I hear the click of a camera I open my eyes and see Yeonjun smile like a child, the car has already left the tv station, we are on a road.

"Sorry noona, but the guys need to see this!" He shows me a picture of me sleeping with an open mouth.

"Don't you dare!" But before a get angry with this I remember why we're alone in the same car "Please explain to me, who is that guy?" Yeonjun opens his mouth to say something but we get interrupted, another car crash with ours, Parallel 38 tries to keep control, but was too fast, and the car goes out the road, overturn one, two, three times, I look at Yeonjun, his eyes were closed, my heart runs fast than ever when I see blood in his face. 

"Jun..." I try to say, I hold his hand, but the car turns one more time, I hit my head and everything became dark. 

Winter Song

I'm standing in a dark place, where is this, where are Yeonjun and Parallel 38? I walk into the place without knowing where exactly to go, until I see Yeonjun, in a hospital bed, I run in his direction, he was so hurt, all this equipment connected with his body, my throat is dry, I wanna cry, so Yeonjun holds my hand "Save me, please" he whispers, I feel my head hit again and one more time darkness swallows me.

The alarm clock was louder than ever, I look at my cellphone screen, and was 7 am, I'm dead! My unnie will kill me, I didn't end my thought she opens the door.

"Get out of this bed Suji! You don't gonna waste one more day of your life in there! Yeojun is a dead man" Her word hurt me, he was dead? The accident memories come back, no, that's not possible he is dead, so I would be too.

"He is not dead, that is impossible unnie!" She looks at my face and the anger in her face disappears.

"Is a metaphor, he is dead to us! If he chooses to believe in that girl he knew just a feel months ago, he can go! I don't wanna hear about him anymore! And you have to get over him, first love is something beautiful, but you are growing up enough to go for your second love" I look at her, what Ji Eun was talking about "Get out of this bed and let's go to university, we're late already!"

"Unnie, we give up at the university last year in the first semester, we open a beauty salon, and start to work for big k-pop companies..." Ji Eun blinks slowly, she doesn't know what I'm talking about, so unnie puts her hand on my forehead.

"Is not fever, Suji, my best friend, my family by choosing, you can not go insane because of one boy! Let's go drink a coffee and walk, being in this bed make no good to you and scape the first class will not kill us"

I just let her guide me, our house still the same, my clothes, okay there are more of them and maybe a little bit more expensive, did I collapse and forgot to feel years after the car accident? I change my clouts, put on my makeup, oh lord now I got so many more options, oh my, I got the whole Fenty beauty collection! My fairy Joo Kyung I know you protect me in the dark times always, and all the glory to Rihanna, I'm gonna do the best makeup ever, I look so sick right now.  

Ji Eun tells me everything about our lives now, and I'm having the longest dream of my life, or I'm going insane, but who cares, I have expansive makeup on my face, I'll be the prettiest crazy in this country! And if this was a dream, I'll enjoy it! It was so sad to give up university because I have no money at the time, and when I get the money I have no time, well right now I have both! I do Ji Eun's makeup too, we look so pretty! The prettiest girls in the chemical engineering department by the way! For some reason, that sounds so familiar. 

We go in Ji Eun's car to university, she probably sells her kidneys for that car! We park and everybody looks at us, unnie dress her angry face. "Don't care about this gossip people, I know you didn't do it! I believe in you!" 

"Unnie, what do these people think I did?" That moment I knew it, I was a canceled person on the campus.

"Last week, you were not okay because of exams week, and your stomach wasn't holding anything, you walk with a bucket around the whole campus, but one time you run to the bathroom to vomited there, and miss sunshine Yuri shows up!" Oh, Yuri was here too? "She swore that you throw water on her when she was using the toilet, but I know you, I know how that week was harsh on you, even if you were that jealous about their relationship was fiscally impossible..."I sew this in someplace in my memories, this will drive me insane!!

"I would never do such a thing! If Yeonjun is happy, I'm too, that's it!" I know I was sad about them being together but at this point? Never! Someone knocks on the window, I look up, it was Taehyun? I open the door and get out of the car. "You're not mad with me?"

"Unpf! Like this was possible noona, I already told you, I don't trust in people who played 100% being good! Even if you did, I'm on your side, you have the right and make mistakes! Don't let their judgments put you down, let's go, I'll accompany my ladies to the classroom!" He offers his arms to us, I like that reality so much, too much. 

Ji Eun and Taehyun laugh the whole way until the classroom, I tried to remember the memories they were talking about, but my head was stuck two years behind when Taehyun found time to go to university? 

"Hwa Suji!" I remember that voice! I turned back and was Soobin, he was like sunshine in this messy reality, even he doesn't seem that happy to see me. Taehyun put himself in front of me "Get out Taehyun"

"No hyung, you get off, Ji Eun has too much work to convince Suji noona to come to the university you'll not ruin this, if you are worried about you princess, go to her!" My heart broke knowing that Soobin truly believes that I was able to do such a thing, I look at him, maybe this way he sees the truth in my eyes, and that she was the anxiety pimple on his chin. I pick my pomade, yes seems I never forgot how to do this, I walk to him, and he froze when I applied in his face.

"I'll not fall for this Suji..." He says.

"I believe in you, but I believe that you know me better than this! Okay, it's done! Let's go unnie! And Taehyun, since when did you stop using a formal language with Ji Eun?" They got scarlet with my question, they are so adorable oh my, I need to be their cupid!  

When you enter the classroom Yeonjun was there, I remember Ji Eun mentioning that he was doing music engineer, when he saw me Yeonjun stands up. 

"We need to talk!" He says and holds my arm and pull me with him, and this remember me when we run off the crazy guy, we stop in the staircase "I need understand why you are being like this Suji, you are my best friend since my childhood, you're not this kind of person, why you are mean with Yuri?" I take a deep breath, he was so okay, that makes me believe that everything, every memory in my head is an illusion, he considers two years ago his childhood? Maybe his rookies years he meant. 

"If you know me, you know I didn't do this" I wanna ask about the stalker, but it was capable he thinks it was my fault too at this moment "I'm happy for you, that's what a fa...friend means! The happiness of another person is your happiness! So it was just this, I'm going Yeonjun I lose classes enough because of this!" I turn around ready to go but, Yeonjun puts his hand on the wall stopping me, his face gets so closed that my hands start to sweat.

"Promise me, that you will not do something stupid Suji, promise that I'll not have to lose you too!" I sigh.

"I promise, you are free to live happily ever after, with her, there is no villain here oh my, so much drama!" I pass under his arm, and back to the hall I see some students putting a poster on the walls, "WINTER SONG FESTIVAL", my stomach seems to turn around, I look for the trash and when I found everything that I eat with Ji Eun this morning goes out.

There is no way of this being true, It's impossible, the bathroom, the bucket, Yuri, oh my, I'm not locked in a fanfiction, that's insane, did I die in that accident?? The pain in my stomach is almost unbearable, I think I'm gonna pass out! 

[ While this, in our universe...]

DAVID: Now the last news about the car accident of the k-pop superstar Choi Yeojun, he was in the car going to a photoshoot when another car crash and make the driver lose direction control, he was with a makeup artist Hwa Suji, a bright new name on this field, according to the information received they were found holding hands and are making a lot of HOT TEA!

DANNY: I think is weird how work some people's mindset, like we saw how the car was found, almost completely destroyed, and people are worried about holding hands? That seems crazy to me!

[02/16] Love is a Disease.

[annaflorsdefum]

EN|| I’m so excited to share another one of the pieces that will be in @gallerynucleus Power In Numbers 7 collective exhibition alongside a ton of amazing artists! This time is a little snail loving her life surrounded by bees and pomegranades! In this close up you can see next to the illustration the color tests I did while I was painting. 🐌♥️ All the postcards are 5”x7” and made using gouache, watercolor, neocolors, polychromos and watercolor pencils. The show will debut in person only and is cash and carry, meaning once a piece is purchased the buyer takes it home with them rather than be on display the duration of the entire show. The earlier people come, the more they can see! Opening reception is September 3rd 5:00PM - 8:00PM in Alhambra, CA. You can find more information about the event in the gallery’s web. ES|| ¡Estoy súper emocionada de compartir otra de las piezas que estarán en la exposición colectiva “Power In Numbers 7” en @gallerynucleus junto a un montón de artistas más! ¡Esta vez se trata de un pequeño caracol que ama su vida rodeado de abejas y granadas! En este primer plano podéis ver junto a la ilustración las pruebas de color que hice mientras pintaba. 🐌♥️ Todas las postales hacen 5”x7” (12.7 x 17.78 cm) y están realizadas con gouache, acuarela, neocolores, polychromos y lápices acuarelables. El espectáculo debutará solo en persona y es “cash and carry”, lo que significa que una vez que alguien compra una pieza, el comprador se la lleva a casa en lugar de estar en la exhibición toda su duración. ¡Cuanto antes vayáis, más piezas podréis ver! La recepción de apertura es el 3 de septiembre de 5:00 pm a 8:00 pm en Alhambra, CA. Puedes encontrar más información sobre el evento en la web de la galería.

[tipsycad147]

7 Steps To The Perfect Candle Spell For Beginners

BY AVERY HART

Today, we’re getting back to basics. A lot of beginners come to me with absolutely NO idea where to start. I can’t blame them! There’s a huge amount of information available on the internet now and for someone who’s brand new to this world, the sheer volume must be insane. Of course they have no idea where to begin!

Typically, I point people to my free Witchcraft 101 class (you can sign up at the end of this post) to get them started and while that is a great starting point, it’s definitely not a complete primer on how to be a witch. There’s just too much information!

To help fill in those gaps a little more, we’re going to take an in-depth look at one of the most common and underappreciated forms of magic. Candle spells.

Why Candle Spells?

Candle spells are an excellent base form of magic to learn. You can do just about any spell with a candle and candle spells present many opportunities for tinkering and adjusting spells which I think is paramount to the learning process. Because of this, learning basic candle spells gives beginner witches a kind of “blueprint” to work with. Once they master the blueprint, they have a solid knowledge of all the pieces involved, and this allows them to begin substituting, experimenting, and personalizing spells right from the start.

Candle spells also start instilling the theory behind witchcraft early, which speeds future learning and helps bring greater confidence and excitement into their craft.

How To Do A Basic Candle Spell

Step 1: Choose your supplies

Every candle spell begins with a few supplies. You will, obviously, need a candle. The kind of candle you choose is going to depend on the way you plan to use the candle. Glass pillar candles are lovely, but they don’t work if you want to carve symbols or words into your candle. Do you want to dress your candle with oil and herbs?

In addition to making sure that your candle will actually work for the methods you want to use, choosing an appropriate color and scent, what size candle you want (bigger may be fun but they sure do take a long time to burn!), and whether you want the candle to have a particular shape or not.

You’ll also need some way to light the candle, perhaps oil and herbs for dressing the candle, a candle holder, a tool for carving, and any added items you wish to have on your altar or temporary workspace. You might also consider playing some music and dimming the lighting in the room, but if you’re brand new, it’s best to keep things simple.

(Despite the fact that this is step one and seems like an overwhelming number of decisions right up front, you don’t need to worry. Finish reading the article and THEN decide how to proceed with your spell. I explain everything in detail.)

Are you ready to cast your first spell? Or maybe you’ve cast a few spells but you’re not sure if you’re doing it quite right. Perhaps you stumble over your incantations, you’re not sure if you’re missing steps, or you feel may even feel like something is missing. If any of this sounds like you, then A Primer In Spell Casting was created with you in mind. In this class, we’re going to be learning how to start casting spells even if you’re a complete and total beginner. Whether you’re looking for a refresher course or you’re wanting to cast your very first spell, this class will take you step-by-step through how to choose your spells, setting yourself up for spell success, casting your spell, and what to do after the casting is over. If you’re ready to start actually practicing witchcraft instead of just reading about it and wishing you had the confidence to get started, then A Primer In Spell Casting is for you.

Step 2: Prepare your workspace

The next consideration is your workspace. Remember, we’re working with fire here, so you’ll want to make sure your workspace is fireproof! Set up your workspace somewhere that doesn’t have curtains hanging too near it, don’t put a highly flammable altar cloth on your table, and keep pets and children out of the room. Singed whiskers do not make for happy spells. You might also consider the kind of clothing you want to wear. As pretty as they might be, long flowing gowns and shawls can easily find themselves falling into candle flames. The same is true of long hair. If you have long hair, throw it up into a bun or a ponytail to keep your hair safe.

How you set up your workspace isn’t set in stone. I like to have my candle sit front and center, perhaps with something pretty for decoration on either side. I keep all the tools I plan to use on the right-hand side of the altar and my book to take notes in on the left. I’m typically not a terribly reverent person, so unless the spell is particularly likely to have backlash, I often also have a cup of tea on the altar while I work.

Keep in mind, unless you intend to include a deity in your candle spell, this is not an altar for worship! This is a workspace altar. It is meant to be useful and to be used. There’s no need to treat it as though you are afraid to be disrespectful. It’s all yours!

Step 3: Prepare your candle

Next, it’s time to prepare your candle. This typically happens in three major steps.

1. The first step is carving. As long as the candle is large enough, it should be simple enough to carve. You don’t need a fancy knife for this. A simple butter knife, ice pick, or other vaguely pointy object will do. You can carve words into your candle, identifying your intention or your target, or you can carve symbols into your candles. These symbols can be as simple as a heart or a dollar sign or as complex as a sigil made specifically for the spell you’re casting. The choice is yours. Carving is NOT a mandatory part of the spell. If it’s too much for you during your first spell, you can skip it!

It’s also a good idea to keep backup candles on hand if you’re new to carving candles. I’ve snapped a few candles while carving and if it’s your last candle, it’s a bit of a showstopper.

2. Next is dressing the candle in oil. The kind of oil you use isn’t important. Plain old olive oil will work well if you don’t have anything else to use. Often, this oil has been blessed or enchanted in some way. A simple “may this oil carry my will into reality” can suffice. Many people prescribe a specific direction of applying the oil depending on the type of spell (from the center to the ends for banishing, from the ends to the center for attracting magic) but I find that simply going from top to bottom works just as well for me. Do what feels right for you.

After your candle has been oiled, you can add ground herbs to it. The herbs you will use depend on the spell you’re casting. You don’t need anything complex, though. One or two herbs from your kitchen cupboard can often be made to work for just about any spell. The herbs should be finely ground (no whole peppercorns here) and you can either sprinkle them over the sides of the candle or roll the candle directly in the herb mixture. The herbs will stick to the oil and lightly coat the candle.

At this point, you’ll probably want to set your candle in its candle holder and go clean your hands. I always end up covered in oil and herbs.

Step 4: Light the candle

This is the easy step. Light your candle! It doesn’t matter what you use, matches are cool, lighters are fine, pretty much just use what you have on hand. Some people prefer one method over another, which you’ll figure out over time.

Step 5: Focus on your intention while the candle burns

There are several ways to do this. You can simply meditate or daydream about your intention. You can chant if you feel like creating a small chant about your intention. You can journal, or speak aloud and perhaps record yourself. The choice is yours. Just find some way to focus your energy on the purpose of your spell while it burns. This is where you’re really pouring your energy into your spell and charging all the layers of meaning that you’ve built into your spell, so be sure to spend a fair amount of time on this!

Step 6: Blow out the candle or allow it to burn out

This is a big dispute in some witchcraft circles. Some people feel that blowing out your candle is “extinguishing” your intention and that you should only ever let the candle burn out. I think this is silly. As an air witch, my breath is one of the most powerful tools I have. If anything, blowing out a candle after a spell is a way of releasing my power out into the world through my breath. Do not be afraid to blow out your candles.

Of course, you can also let your candles burn down. Depending on the spell, I will allow candles to burn down occasionally, generally for banishing, cursing, or other such magic. Keep in mind, you should NEVER leave a burning candle unattended! If you’re going to let a candle burn out, you MUST stay with it the entire time. Burning your house down is not a good way to cast a spell.

Step 7: Dispose of the remnants properly

Disposing of spell remains is a rather personal subject. Some witches like to just throw spell remnants in the trash, others into a fire. The only thing I really do not recommend is burying spell remnants or throwing them into natural bodies of water. Unless absolutely everything being buried is biodegradable it’s pretty much just littering.

You can also keep the remnants of your spell for later use if you think you might want to reverse it. Spell remnants should be properly labeled if you intend to keep them for such purposes. You wouldn’t want to be undoing the wrong spell!

And there you have it! All the basic pieces of a candle spell laid out in a simple fashion. These spells are truly about as basic as you can get. If you haven’t tried any spells yet and have perhaps been a bit too intimidated to give it a go, this is a great place to start. Pick an intention, fill in the blanks (and remember, many of them can be omitted) and give it a go!

Are you ready to cast your first spell? Or maybe you’ve cast a few spells but you’re not sure if you’re doing it quite right. Perhaps you stumble over your incantations, you’re not sure if you’re missing steps, or you feel may even feel like something isn’t quite right. If any of this sounds like you, then A Primer In Spell Casting was created with you in mind. In this class, we’re going to be learning how to start casting spells even if you’re a complete and total beginner. Whether you’re looking for a refresher course or you’re wanting to cast your very first spell, this class will take you step-by-step through how to choose your spells, setting yourself up for spell success, casting your spell, and what to do after the casting is over. If you’re ready to actually start practicing witchcraft instead of just reading about it and daydreaming, then A Primer In Spell Casting is for you.

https://averyhart.co/blog/2018/2/25/7-steps-to-the-perfect-candle-spell-for-beginners

[deadnettlegames]

An intro to Deadnettle Games!

Hello all, I'm Alex (@deadnettled)! I make story-driven games, which you can find on my itch.io page. I primarily work with Twine, but have been doing some visual novel development in Ren'Py that I'm really excited about.

Here's a quick primer on some of the things I've made so far:

Just Cosplay*

This game is the first one I ever released, and was in the 2022 Queer Games Bundle! It's about being a transmasc teenager in 2012 and discovering your gender through Homestuck Apartment Trapped! cosplay. As a "choices matter" game, there are two different endings you can get depending on the actions you take in gameplay. This game was heavily based on my personal experiences, including 2012 Tumblr, so if you were there at the time or would like to know what it was like... here you go!

Generate-a-Date*

This game was made in 72 hours for Mini Jam #105 ("Dreamy"). It's a speed dating sim, and takes the player through a process of dating a randomly generated person. As you can imagine for the premise, there are many, many different ways that this game can go, and there are five possible endings. It's incredibly silly, incredibly short, and something I love to return to from time to time when I want to make myself laugh because it was so fun to make.

*These games can be played in a mobile web browser!

--

This list will be updated as time goes on, and you might even see some Tumblr exclusives pop up for test plays! Feel free to keep your eyes peeled for that and for information on upcoming games!

[bitcofun]

This is a viewpoint editorial by Renata Rodrigues, worldwide neighborhood and education lead at Paxful. El Salvador made history in 2015 when the nation embraced Bitcoin as legal tender. The choice offered authenticity to what a lot of us have actually understood for a very long time-- that Bitcoin is a permissionless innovation that was developed for the masses. While this turning point was a substantial advance for the nation, numerous understood it could not be successful without education. And with a population of over 6 million individuals, tackling this issue would be a big endeavor. That's why the efforts of companies like Bitcoin Beach and Mi Primer Bitcoin have actually been essential to adoption in the area, and why Paxful has actually devoted a lot of our time on the ground-- being the very first global business to get here with a Bitcoin education program for the entire nation beginning a year back. Launching La Casa del Bitcoin previously this year, we had a front row seat to the action. It's clear that Salvadorans are open to alter and excited to learn more about how Bitcoin can alter their life. Within the nation, we've informed over 4,000 individuals and 32 business and federal government organizations, and hosted over 350 workshops for both newbie and experienced Bitcoiners. Here's what we discovered: ● Bitcoin is for everybody. Bitcoin has no bounds and it does not discriminate. Take Alejandro Gathering his pension, Alejandro discovered himself fretting about his future. Thus lots of others, he was doubtful about Bitcoin, however had an interest in discovering the methods he might utilize it to his benefit. After going to a variety of classes at La Casa del Bitcoin, he now utilizes Bitcoin as a financial investment tool to conserve for his future. ● Bitcoin can open doors. With the brand-new law, individuals of El Salvador might utilize Bitcoin to spend for products and services, quickly remit cash with pals and loved ones abroad, and lastly accomplish monetary flexibility. Take La Casa del Bitcoin-- which offers totally free and available knowing chances around Bitcoin to develop monetary addition. The center is assisting to drive the next wave of Bitcoin mass adoption while supplying little merchants and regional services with the tools they require to get in touch with consumers and broaden their earnings. ● Bitcoin can assist neighborhoods. In establishing countries, Bitcoin has the power to bridge the monetary space and link the unbanked to the worldwide economy. Efforts like Bitcoin Beach have actually revealed the world that we can develop sustainable neighborhoods utilizing Bitcoin-- and most notably that it can work. Which's why what the Built With Bitcoin Foundation(BWB) is doing all around the world is so essential. Structure schools and neighborhoods with Bitcoin contributions, BWB has actually demonstrated how Bitcoin can be utilized for social excellent. Previously this year, Bitcoin Magazine assisted to fund the repair work of a school and fund a boat on a remote island in El Salvador called Isla Tasajera. Thanks to Bitcoin, the neighborhood can offer their kids with a much better education and discover innovative methods to develop a more powerful monetary future. When I showed up in El Salvador in 2015 to run the Lightning Diaries, I found that a great deal of small companies in backwoods were currently taking Bitcoin. I keep in mind going to Santa Ana, a little and lively town, and being impressed by the hand composed "accepting bitcoin" indications. Salvadorans are called " bisneros," which is an adjustment of "business owner"-- it's not a surprise they are finding how to dominate worldwide entrepreneurship through Bitcoin. This is a visitor post by Renata Rodrigues. Viewpoints revealed are completely their own and do not always show those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine Read More

[absolutebl]

You have a lot of great meta posts, are they catalogued anywhere? Or any specific tags I should look at? I've been looking through your "history of BL" and "BL tropes" so far. Fantastic work BTW

Meta Post of My BL Master Posts! 

Thank you so much! I keep a spreadsheet offline (because I have a spreadsheet for everything, I LOVE THEM with a pure untainted devotion), but that's not super helpful for you, now is it? A lot of my master posts have links to other posts in them or at the bottom so I hope you’ll forgive me for just directing you mostly at those? That way, if you’re intersted, the rabbit hole awaits. Ready? Here we go! 

Top Tear Master Posts

BL MASTER POST - WHAT IS BL? + more links to all the important stuff 

BL Foundations Syllabus Master Post - BL 101 Film Course - An Introduction to the Genre (if I were to teach a course on BL) 

Intro Level BL Starter Pack Master Post - specific BL shows I would recommend to someone just getting into the genre

BL Breakdowns By Country - master post country by country analysis, a broad overview designed to manage watcher expectations, not as a socio-critical pop-culture analysis 

History of Asian BL - Form of… PHD THESIS! Why is there a big industry in many Asian countries for gay romance shows but little in the US, Canada, or UK? 

THAI BL MASTER POST - So this is a master post about Thai BL. It’s long. I’ve divided it into parts. Skip to the bits you’re intersted in. 

BL Directors - Overview - training to spot the different directors and their BL styles 

BL Language & Culture Master Post (mostly Thai) - round up guides to linguistic & language posts I’ve done over the years

Welcome to Tumblr BL Fandom - Here’s Your Primer

Meta Post - All My Stuff on the BL Industry

Other Useful BL Generalist Posts

Heat & Angst in BL + Terms Explained (dubcon, HEA, etc...)

Defining Seme/Uke (MORE seme/uke discussion including some coaching from P’AbsoluteBL on your sex life....)

Defining Chemistry - Giving Good Kiss in BL

WHY SO MUCH DUB CON IN BL? Fantasies Seme/Uke (AGAIN) Cultural Biases 

BL - The Second Coming - Your favorite BL is getting a second season! Should you be scared or excited? Let's look at data.

How long does it usually take from an announcement to getting more info on a BL being made?

BL Review & Information Content Providers/Blogs OFF Tumblr

The History of the Genre Series 

Top 10 BLs Out of China + history of the genre

Top 10 BLs Out of Japan + history of the genre 

Top 10 BLs Out of Korea + history of the genre 

Top 10 BLs Out of Taiwan + history of the genre 

Top 10 BLs Out of Thailand + history of the genre

My Top 60 BLs - The Elite 10% of 600 Watched (as of mid 2023)

Chef de Smooching - Recipes for BL 

Let’s Play Frankenstein’s BL! (best worst production by country) 

If You Dated BL - country by country amusement 

BL Master List of 415 BLs as of mid 2022

Queer Stuff

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity - I Am Gay versus I Like Men 

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer? 

Actually gay, not BL gay - the idea of "by queers, for queers, about queers," the BL bubble, sanitized gay, and a queer lens

Queer lens (from the director) and chemistry (from the actors) in BL (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Touch & Daisy in Secret Crush On You - Queer Coded Language and 3rd Gender Identity

BL in Taiwan & Gay Marriage

Debating Queerbaiting in BL ( + Devil Judge... is it queerbaiting?) 

BL Actors and the Assumption of Queerness - outing actors, coming out, being out, more:  Is that BL actor actually queer?

So is it really fetishization? straight women loving bl 

Some BL fans are sasaengs, and it’s a problem in this fandom 

BLs That Highlight How Society Treats Queers

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience 

10 GREAT Chemistry BLs to Binge 

BL Actor Pairs - Meta Guide (this is a marketing tactic - no, really, there are no exceptions, not even your favorites, sorry honey, welcome to the fandom), my term for this tends to be Cobranding

About Me Personally

BL FAQ - personal favorites, beginnings, how I got started, what I like best, where I find shows

My Journey to BL via SFF, Yaoi & M/M Romance 

fan psyche and capacity for nostalgia

My Absolute Top 15 Best (and Worst) BLs 

Favorite BL Nuggets of Narrative 

400 BLs, My 40 Favorite Moments 

All My BL Series Watch Alongs and Epic Trash Watchings 

Top 10 Most Underrated BLs 

because I, weirdly, get these ones a lot: 

this is basically what I do 

I hold multiple citizenships & passports 

currently I lurk on the left coast of the USA 

I travel a lot for work & pleasure, so when I vanish it’s just I lost internet access (I’m not dead yet) 

my (too many) degrees are in (among other things) anthropology + maths (focus on stats, history of pop culture, etc... look, it made sense at the time and it seems to have worked out for me) 

my gender is: working in theory terrible in practice, I genuinely do not care what you wanna call me 

sexually I identify as omnivorous 

I swear a lot and I will eat absolutely anything, including very spicy food NO LIMITS! 

i am a fan of Kpop but i consider myself a dilettante and not active in that fandom (TOO CRAZY) if you push me though: GOT7 (b. Jinyoung bw. Jay B) and BTOB (b. Minhyuk) more here, that said if your blog is too Kpop heavy I won’t follow back (sorry, I’m here for the BL)  

I tend to be under pretty heavy NDAs so due to that + my queerness and involvement in kink I’m highly protective of my own safety, location, and IRL identity, so that’s all ya get. 

My MDL profile (all my reviews of shows are also put on MDL, and I only review BL) 

Memes & Silly Shizz 

5 Love Languages of Thai BL 

ABCs of Thai BL 

BL Couples as my High School Friendship Group

BLs as K-pop groups

Honest Elevator Pitches for Thai BL 

University Gayness Ranking via Thai BL

Your Favorite Thai BL Couples = What to Watch Next? 

Not Just BL

Explaining Thai to the Casual BL Watcher - It Has Registers 

Thai Honorifics Between Ages in BL and real life 

Linguistically fascinating BL couples 

I’ve a lot more on the Thai language and BL, mostly cross linked int he above posts

ASIAN GL History of GL - Popularity Struggles 

Favorite Noona Romance Recs!

Also, you are so right I should come up with a better tagging system but... I never thought this would all get so big and take off so much. So, yeah, my bad. Too late now. 

Please ask if I forgot anything or there’s something specific you are looking for. My ask box is open (not a euphemism) and I check my notifications regularly. 

(source) 

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🪐Tues 1 Dec ‘20🍌

Harry Styles Reacts to Banana Innuendo by Creating More Banana Innuendo

A little bit of Harry today but packing a big, uh, impact; there were pictures of the DWD set where one of the blurry blobs is distinctively Harold, and a much clearer fan pic of him driving a top down convertible in Palm Springs recently, personifying old Hollywood glamour looks even off the set, and! We see him in the Variety Hitmakers promo vid briefly, like very briefly, I literally blinked and missed it the first time, but the amount of information he gets across in those 4 or 5 frames! WOW. Okay so first of all he's wearing a necklace that is literally A DICK BANANA! It's a penis in a banana peel!! I mean we have always been knew that Harry was a big lover of... bananas... but he really just said no more subtext this time damn. It being Gucci is just the hilarious sprinkle on the sundae, they are really making the content Harry deserves huh? But let's not let that distract us from unpeeling the rest of this iconic look- his shirt says 'waiting for sunset', I see your sun reference there sir, and his sweater, an iconic cardigan first seen 3 years ago (it's the space boy sweater!!!), features daffodils, a heart pierced by an arrow (wait do those two things... go together or something...?), two birds, bugs and butterflies, and fish! Also it's beautiful. Someone make recreating these a tiktok trend please and tell me how to make one!

Comedian Nick Kroll, who is part of Don't Worry Darling, says Harry (er sorry I mean “ethereal demigod of love Harry Styles,” as per Vuture) was the first to know about his engagement, beating out even family by texting for up to the minute updates (“have you done it yet? What's going on?”). “He doesn’t know it yet,” Kroll says, “but he’s gonna be the guardian of all of our children.” Uh huh like that wasn't his play all along, he's even got this guy convinced it was his own idea! I assume Harry's plotting the tattoo space for their names even now, but hopefully he won't also be texting for constant updates on the babymaking process...

Who woke up with Liam today?? Well, if you missed that pleasure, he greeted us to say good morning and that it was “strange being the voice waking you up” but he hoped it wasn't too annoying and that we had a blessed day while Naughty List (#1 tik tok song third week in a row) played gently in the background. Thanks Liam! (Then Roman Kemp does what is I guess a Harry impression? Not his best tbh. Also no bananas or dicks, not convincing at all.) Liam also tells Roman that no, he's never done positive affirmations, what are those-- I was already looking forward to the advent for ME but now I'm excited for it for Liam too! No Liam, may YOU have a blessed day and learn all about saying nice things to yourself. The sleep story content isn't available yet, but lots of people went to sleep last night with Liam on their mind already even so; CelebTM, desperate to cling to their moment of notoriety and retain their directioner readers, published a ziam primer, and apparently their ploy is working cause suddenly everyone was talking about ziam. I mean okay but my dudes are you really letting CELEBTM guide your fandom? That just won't end well. But however suspect the source, ziam trended on twitter throughout the day yesterday, and then Gigi posted a pic of Zayn resting his face on her preggers belly from back in the summer, and then the fandom sort of split into the people trending Ziam harder and the people cooing at the pic for being cute so I guess if Gigi was trying to shush people as was the widespread theory, maybe it half worked? Or maybe it just made people about it talk more, hard to say. But! Either way it gave us an unseen of Zayn, so thats a win.

BBC1 will play Louis' christmas special from last year again this christmas day-- a whole hour of Louis playing great songs and chatting! (Remember how he played the same christmas song that Harry had called a family favorite when he covered it at Jingle Ball a couple weeks before? good times!) I guess you could be sad that it's a rerun, and yes who wouldn't want a new one, but also you could be happy cause it was super good and it's on again! Anyway judging by the influence celebtm is wielding, half of the fandom is new people right now anyway so I'm sure it will be new to many, so enjoy it friends. A registered but unreleased Louis song, One Track Mind, showed minor changes to a listing. Movement behind the scenes? Always, but if it moving closer to us, happy days!

Meanwhile on instagram Harris Reed said "I think the thing that's so beautiful about Harry is the fact that he does what he wants to do because he believes in it,” and “he immediately kind of understood I didn’t want to just make pretty clothes, I had a strong message for providing fluidity,” Louis liked posts from Liam Gallagher (about supporting crew) and Helene, Liam did what the grammys failed to- congratulated The Weeknd on his success (a whole year in the top 100), and Harry and Louis are up against each other-- no not like that, in a fan voted competition for 'Best Male'.  A pretty big hat to fill but better one of them than most anyone else! If you have a strong preference (and boy do some of you) go cast your vote! Let the infighting begin, uh, continue.

[ashesandhackles]

End of the Year Reading Tag

Thank you so much for tagging me @senadimell ❤️❤️ this was fun!

1) Did you reach your reading goal for this year (if you had one)?

My reading goal was to get back to reading for pleasure as opposed to for research. I used to be able to devour novels within weeks as a teenager and well into my early 20s. My priorities shifted and i clearly got burnt out (i really felt what you meant when you talked about your own reading habits xD @senadimell ), and I only had attention span and investment for fanfiction anymore. Most of my recent reading had to do with researching an event, cultures, politics and almost always had to do with work of some sort.

I rediscovered reading for pleasure last year and I am thankful for it.

2) What are your Top 3 books this year?

Well, given that I have only finished a few books last year, it's not all that much. So Six of Crows duology? It's been a while since I got invested in characters and cared about them.

3) What's a book that you didn't expect to enjoy quite as much going in?

Persuasion. Both Austen's tendencies for run off sentences (especially daunting when reading online as a "recently rediscovering reading for pleasure" person) and a quiet, resilient protagonist was something I didn't think I would enjoy as much I did. I really adore Anne, and I didn't expect to. With Austen, I tend to be drawn towards protagonists like Lizzy or Emma and Anne was very different, but also very refreshing.

4) Were there any books that didn't live up to your expectations?

Errr. I heard a lot about Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. Unfortunately for myself, I had gotten her book Vagina: A New Biography. I was expecting to learn some cultural histories, how much patriarchy informs it but it eventually devolved into embracing your inner goddess (with a dash of "here is how it is in the mystical land of eastern cultures" 🙄 and my favourite aggressive question she posed to heterosexual man via her book: "do you want to be married to a Goddess or a bitch?"), which I side-eye very heavily.

5) Did you reread any old faves? If so, which one was your favorite?

As followers from my blog know, Harry Potter became a coping mechanism in the pandemic. My favourite reading experience would be Prisoner of Azkaban. The development of Harry's journey there is so tight and contained - and also very satisfying.

6) Did you DNF (=did not finish) any books?

Plenty. 😅 It's all because of attention span because I do intend to go back and read it:

- Sweating Saris: Indian Dance as Transnational Labor by Priya Srinivasan

- Upside Down: A Primer for Looking Glass World by Eduardo Galeano

- Blank on Map by Eric Shipton / Nanda Devi also by him (i especially love his writing style, so I really want to get back to these!)

7) Did you read any books outside of your usual preferred genre(s)?

No :( possibly this year!

8) What was your predominant format this year?

PDFs! Six of Crows was bought after I finished reading it online!

9) What's the longest book you read this year?

Possibly the Six of Crows duology still? The Vagina would have been the longest, but i couldn't finish it.

10) What are your top 3 anticipated 2022 releases?

I actually haven't been following any releases. I remember checking out Christina Lauren after a recommendation to read a romance (it's been a while and I am actually really bored of this genre - to the point I want to rant about what I dislike) - they have a book with a summary that looks interesting coming out this year. It's about a girl who is an outdoor guide? I might check that one out.

11) What books from your TBR did you not get to this year, but are excited to read in 2022?

I look forward to returning to books I didn't finish - especially Eric Shipton! And also looking forward to Half of Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie.

Tagging @thedreamermusing @thecat-isblogging-blog @dragonlordette @hinnyfied @mrs-stubby-boardman @floreatcastellumposts @somesunlitdays @yletylyf and anyone who wants to do this!

[olderthannetfic]

It's really surprising that you're so well versed in older fandoms and yet participate in new popular ones (that cdrama, kpop) is this by design? Im in my twenties and my interest turnover is already way slower than it used to be

You know, that’s a really interesting question. I wouldn’t say it’s by design exactly in that I do tend to just follow what strikes my fancy, and I can’t force myself to want to write fic for just anything. (I find it easier to like reading fic without serious involuntary emotional investment, but writing takes more. Vidding I can do on command most of the time, but I don’t usually bother unless I have a lot of feels or I’m fulfilling someone’s prompt.)

However, me getting into BTS was 100% due to me wanting to understand BTS enough to explain to people who weren’t very interested but wanted to know what was going on in fandom lately. Under normal circumstances, I run the dance party at Escapade, the oldest extant slash con. We borrowed vividcon’s thing of playing fanvids on the wall--all of them set to dance music--as the soundtrack for the dance party. This means I’m creating a 3-hour mixtape of fannishness, which has amazing potential to make people feel in the know about Fandom Today... and equal potential to make them feel alienated if nothing they care about shows up. Only about 100-150 people attend the con, so it really is possible to make a playlist that feels inclusive yet informative--it just takes a huge amount of work.

Every year, I do a lot of research on which fandoms are getting big and look for vids from vidders people won’t have heard of, so there is an element of consciously trying to keep up with things. Generally, I only get into these fandoms myself if I had no idea what they were and then suddenly, oops, they’re my kryptonite, like the buddy cop android plot in Detroit: Become Human, which sucked me in hard for like 6 months on the basis of a vid.

(So if you’re into cross-fandom meta and associated stuff as one of your fannish interests, you tend to have broader knowledge of different fandoms, old and new, than if you’re just looking for the next place you’ll read fic. It’s also easier to love vids for unfamiliar things than fic.)

But though I was only looking for a basic primer on BTS, BTS has 7 members with multiple names and no clear juggernaut pairing, not to mention that AU that runs through the music videos and lots of other context to explain. The barrier to understanding WTF was going on at all was high enough that to know enough to explain, I had to be thoroughly exposed... And once I was over that hurdle, oops, I had a fandom.

--

In terms of old vs. new, here’s the thing: kpop fandoms in English and c-drama fandoms in English right now feel a lot like anime fandom in English did in the early 00s. I had a Buddy Cops of the 70s phase in the middle, but my current fannishness is actually a return to my older fannishness in many ways.

What do I mean about them being similar?

Yes, I know some wanker will show up to say I think China, Korea, and Japan are indistinguishable, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the way that I used to routinely meet Italian and French and German fans, Argentinian and Mexican, Malaysian and Indonesian and Filipino too. English-language fandom of SPN or MCU may have all those fans from all those countries, but it feels very American most of the time. English-language fandom of a non-English-language canon is more overtly about using English as a lingua franca.

It also tends to attract people who as a sideline to their fannishness are getting into language learning and translation, which are my other passion in life after fanworks fandom. (I speak only English and Spanish and a bit of Japanese, but I’ve studied German, French, Russian, Mandarin, Old English, and now Korean.)

Nerds arguing about methods of language learning and which textbooks are good and why is my jam. This is all over the place in English-language fandoms of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean media. Those fandoms also tend to be full of speakers coming from a Germanic or Romance languages background who face similar hurdles in learning these languages. (In other words, if you’re a native Japanese speaker trying to learn Korean, the parts that will be hard for you are different than if you’re an English speaker, but you’re also usually not doing fandom in English.)

There’s also an element of scarcity and difficulty of access and a communal attempt to construct a canon (in the other sense) of stuff from that country that pertains to one’s fannishness. So, for example, a primer explaining the genre of xianxia is highly relevant to being a n00b Untamed fan, but just any old thing about China is not. A c-drama adapted from a danmei webnovel is perhaps part of the new pantheon of Chinese shit we’re all getting into, but just any old drama from decades ago is probably not... unless it’s a genre precursor to something else we care about. Another aspect here is that while Stuff I Can Access As A N00b Who Doesn’t Speak The Language may be relatively scarce, there’s a vast, vast wealth of stuff that exists.

This is what it felt like to be an anime fan in the US in 2000. As translation got more commercial and more crappy series were licensed and dumped onto an already glutted market, the vibe changed. No longer were fans desperately trying to learn enough of the language to translate or spending their time cataloguing what existed or making fanworks about a show they stuck with for a bit: the overall community focus turned to an endless race of consumption to keep up with all of the latest releases. That’s a perfectly valid way of being fannish, but if I wanted that, I’d binge US television 24/7.

Anime fandom got bigger, but what I liked about anime fandom in English died, and I moved on. (Okay, I first moved on to Onmyouji, which is a live action Japanese thing, but still.)

Hardcore weeaboos and now fans of Chinese and Korean stuff don’t stop at language: people get excited about cooking, my other other great passion. Times a thousand if the canon is something like The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, which is full of loving shots of food preparation. People get excited about history! Mandarin and Japanese may share almost nothing in terms of grammar or phonology, but all of East Asia has influence from specific Chinese power centers historically, and there are commonalities to historical architecture and clothing that I love.

I fell out of love with the popular anime art styles as they changed, and I’m not that into animation in general these days. (I still own a shitton of manga in art styles I like, like Okano Reiko’s Onmyouji series.) I’ve become a filmmaker over the last decade, and I’m very excited about beautiful cinematography and editing. With one thing and another, I’m probably not going to get back into anime fandom, but it’s lovely to revisit the cultural aspects I enjoyed about it via live-action media.

BTS surprised me too, to be honest. I really dislike that early 90s R&B ballad style that infests idol music (not just Korean--believe me, I resisted many rounds of “But Johnny’s Entertainment though!” back in the day). While I like some of the dance pop, I just don’t care. But OH NO, BTS turn out to be massive conscious hip hop fanboys, and their music sounds different. I have some tl;dr about my reactions in the meta I wrote about one of my fanvids, which you can find on Dreamwidth here.

--

But back to your comment about turnover: I know fans from the 70s who’ve had one great fannish love and that’s it and more who were like that but eventually moved on to a second or third. They’re... really fannishly monogamous in a way I find hard to comprehend. It was the norm long ago, but even by the 90s when far more people were getting into fandom, it was seen as a little weird. By now, with exponentially more people in fandom, it’s almost unheard of. I think those fans still exist, even as new people joining, but we don’t notice them. They were always rare, but in the past, only people like that had the stamina to get over the barriers to entry and actually become the people who made zines or were willing to be visibly into fanfic in eras when that was seen as really weird. On top of that, there’s an element of me, us, judging the past by what’s left: only people with an intense and often single passion are visible because other people either drifted away or have seamlessly disappeared into some modern fandom. They don’t say they’re 80 or 60 or 40 instead of 20, so nobody knows.

In general, I’m a small fandoms and rare ships person. My brain will do its best to thwart me by liking whatever has no fic even in a big fic fandom... (Except BTS because there is literally fic for any combination of them, like even more than for the likes of MCU. Wow. Best fandom evar!) So I have an incentive to not get complacent and just stick with one fandom because I would very soon have no ability to be in fandom at all.

My appetite for Consuming All The Things has slowed way down, but it also goes in waves, and a lot of what I’m consuming is what I did back in 2000: journal articles and the limited range of English-language books on the history of m/m sex and romance in East Asia. It’s not so much that I have a million fandoms as that I’m watching a few shows as an expression of my interest in East Asian costume dramas and East Asian history generally.

I do like to sit with one thing and experience it deeply rather than moving on quickly, but the surface expression of this has changed depending on whether I’m more into writing fic or more into doing research or something else.

But yes, I do do a certain amount of trying to stay current, often as a part of research for fandom meta or to help other people know what’s going on. Having a sense of what’s big doesn’t automatically mean getting into all those things, but I think some fans who are older-in-fandom and/or older-in-years stop being open to even hearing what’s new. And if you’ve never heard of it, you’ll never know if you might have liked it.

[1863-project]

Submas Masterpost

PLEASE READ THIS POST BEFORE SENDING ME ANY ASKS, AS IT MIGHT ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. Thanks!

Here’s all the relevant Submas posts I’ve done or shared that aren’t shitposts, all in one place. If you have questions about train things, don’t hesitate to ask me - I love talking about them! I am by no means an authority on Ingo and Emmet themselves, as I don’t work for Game Freak, so I cannot speak for them - any canon information is out there already, and until we get more I cannot infer. (I can't write your headcanons for you - that's up to you!) But when it comes to trains, I definitely do know my shit, so bring me your train questions!

Edited to add: No, I don’t ship them. I am very much turned off by incest ships. Don’t bring that shit here, thanks.

Links To All Canonical In-Game Appearances

The Submas Primer: a post I thought would be a lot shorter that explains who Ingo and Emmet are, what they do, and how the NYC Subway works

A Follow-Up To That Primer: in which an anon asked me about other subway systems in the United States - I discuss a bit more Submas information, as well as Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

How Do We Know Ingo Has No Indoor Voice?: Because he doesn’t. It’s great. They’re actually both easily excitable nerds.

How Tall Are Ingo and Emmet, Really?: Well, I tried my best.

The Ingo In PL:A Reassurance Post: written by my friend and roommate, who has been helping me greatly by getting me height reference screenshots by having various Pokemon stand next to Ingo in that game

Iron Horse Girl: aka “why are these characters so important to you anyway?”

Submas Vs.: I use Ingo and Emmet’s Pokemon in other battle facilities.

Emmet Is Autistic As Fuck, Fight Me: I wrote this over a year ago now, and I ought to do a new one because really, both of them have a lot of autistic traits that I could point out. Emmet was just more obvious and so I wrote that.

Actually, They’re Both Autistic As Fuck, And I’ll Die On This Hill: an updated version of the first post to include both of the little nerds.

Armbands For Identification: someone asked me about the armbands, so I slapped this one together explaining quickly

A Verrrry Short Look At A Verbal Tic: Screenshots of Emmet saying “verrrry” in canon.

Transit Agencies/Trains in the Greater NYC Area: A very short guide by me for people trying to write or draw Submas content

NYC Subway Cars Compared To Unovan Subway Cars: you people are letting me have too much fun

NYC Subway Divisions - Singles vs. Doubles/Multi, Sort Of: We have an A Division and a B Division and the car sizes are different

Please Remember Your Safety Checks: look, I’m not with Operation Lifesaver or anything, but here’s a bit about railway safety from the train crew’s side.

Why Do You Complain So Much About Penn Station?: A tragedy in one act, aka the story of New York Penn Station and its untimely demise in the 1960s

More will be added to this post as they’re written.

[the-black-dragons-studio]

Hey gorgeous!! I was just wondering what primer and foundation products you would suggest for oily skin types? I use to have a whole routine, but sadly had to stop wearing makeup when my acne flared up due to wearing my mask & just stress in general. No rush to answer, just not too sure how to bounce back into the makeup world I suppose 😅 hope you have a great evening or day, thanks for taking time to read and answer!! 😙🦋🤍💖🧿✨

 Hello beautiful! Oh my gosh, I can’t even tell you how excited I am to get my first question (and a new follower!) on this blog, so please forgive me if I go overboard!!

I totally feel you about mask acne and stress, I have been breaking out like a high school freshman all year! Before I get into the products I use, a little disclaimer I want to offer is that I’m a pretty frugal person in general and don’t like spending tons of money on beauty products, so some of the stuff I use may come across as “cheap”. However! I also have very sensitive skin, so I’m at least a little picky about getting stuff that’s not super harsh! Also, my recommendations are based all on my personal experience and I have no formal education with any of this so, there is that lol.

The products I want to mention today are:

1. L’oreal Paris True Match Super Blendable Concealer

2. Covergirl Clean Matte BB Cream For Oily Skin (a foundation alternative)

3. Elf Putty Eye Primer

4. Equate Deep Clarifying Exfoliating Scrub

5. Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask

I’ll put the rest of the details under a cut here to keep things tidy, I hope you’ll find some useful information here! 

Anyway though! My skin is also on the oily side, and these are the current products I’ve been using and quite liking. I start with a mild face lotion (I use Arbonne Rejuvenating Cream b/c my mom worked for them and gifts it to me, but I think any would do if your mom was not sucked into a MLM like mine) because even though my skin tends toward oily, I can get bad dry spots around my eyebrows, nose, and hairline. I also find that it helps my next products apply smoother and blend a little easier.

1. L’oreal Paris True Match Super Blendable Concealer -  I use this first (after the lotion) to help conceal my suuuper dark circles under my eyes, highlight the bridge of my nose and chin, and to cover up any stubborn pimples. I use the fair/light variety and blend it in a bit with a makeup sponge. I buy it at Walmart.

2. Covergirl Clean Matte BB Cream For Oily Skin - This is the second product I use. A few years ago I switched from regular foundation to BB Cream because I found most foundations felt a little too thick on my skin (hated feeling like it was plastered on there). I love this BB cream, it goes on like lotion and blends seamlessly with the True Match Concealer, and I forget I’m even wearing makeup because it just feels natural and not thick. It also helps even out my skin tone a lot, as I carry a lot of redness in my cheeks. I kind of paint and blend it on with a makeup sponge, and I like to do one area (each side of the face and then the forehead) at a time because I do find it’s a little tougher to correct after it fully dries. I’ve also used it over full cream contouring and full powder contouring, and it always blends pretty darn well no matter what’s underneath it. I use the 530 Light/Medium, and I personally prefer the matte look for my base, but I’m sure they have varieties of BB cream that have a glowy or dewy look. I buy this at Walmart too.

3. Elf Putty Eye Primer - This is, admittedly, not my favorite eye primer, but it still does a darn good job. My preferred primer is NYX HD Eyeshadow Base because I find liquid primer easier to apply, but I’ve been having a hard time finding it locally so I tried this Elf Putty Eye Primer. It’s a little fiddly to apply (need v. short fingernails for that little puck), sometimes you have to warm it up a bit under your finger to get it the right smoothness for application, but once it’s on, it is on. The primer itself really smooths out the skin tone on your lids and brightens them up a lot, and it hold eyeshadow like a BOSS. My eyeshadow looks almost the same at the end of the day as the beginning, and that’s an AWESOME feeling :D I found it at Target, but Ulta sells it as well.  And then after I do my eye makeup, brows, blush etc, I finish everything with just a matte face powder to help reduce shine.  Finally, I wanted to mention two cleansing products as well. Especially since the dawn of the pandemic, acne has definitely been a problem for me, and I’ve found a couple products that have helped me a lot! My least favorite part of wearing makeup is having to remove it and wash my face, but I also told myself that if I'm going to wear makeup almost every day, I really need to be better about taking care of my skin too. 

1. Equate Deep Clarifying Exfoliating Scrub - this is the off-brand version of a Clean & Clear product, I actually like it better than the name brand and I like to save a few bucks. I use it after my makeup remover at the end of the night. I try to be really good about using it every night and it has really helped me with blackheads, I don't get them nearly as much anymore. It's very refreshing on your skin! But always make sure to clear your face of any exfoliating beads after using, those can be very damaging if they get in your eye (and of course don't use this product too close to your eyes anyway). I buy it at Walmart. 2. Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask - now this one is actually labelled as an acne medication, so I use it very sparingly as it has slightly more intense ingredients than a plain facewash. I use it once a week if I'm using it as an overall facewash (instead of the Equate Scrub on any day) if I'm having a really bad breakout week, but I also really like this for deep stubborn pimples. For those, I use it just on the specific spot, let it sit for no more than five minutes and then wash it off. Usually this brings the pimple to the surface by the next day! I get this at Walmart too.   SO. This might be a lot more information than you bargained for, and I do apologize that I'm long-winded and an over-sharer, haha. But I really love sharing info, and I hope that one or more of these products will be of interest and use to you! Thank you so much for your question and for following my blog! I really can't tell you how much joy those things brought me today! I'm also hoping to do guest spots here once in a while, so please let me know if you're ever interested in sharing some of your own makeup, photos, products, etc! Have a wonderful evening, morning, etc! Thank you!!!

[charincharge]

My makeup basics:

Makeup can really be broken down into four subheadings --

FACE, EYES, LIPS, BROWS

I've found face makeup to be the most important to grownups, because everyone wants flawless-looking, even skin (especially as we age). But personally, I am having the most fun with eye makeup. So, really it's all about what you want to emphasize and what kind of makeup products excite you the most (I have a friend who could care less about eyeshadow but has probably 50 lipsticks -- to each their own!). That said, I think YouTube is still a plethora of amazing information. I've gone on SO many tutorial spirals. I love learning different techniques and seeing how people apply products. It's crazy fun.

MY HOLY GRAIL PRODUCTS: (which, honestly, take or leave all this advice, makeup is totally subjective and whatever works for you might not work for me and vice versa but there are tons of popular products and I use a fair amount of them):

FACE:

— Start with a moisturizer. I use just daily cerave. It’s cheap and helps your skin stay hydrated which is the most important thing before applying makeup!!!

-- Dr. Jart BB cream. I love that it's a buildable coverage, and it comes in two shades (fair/medium and medium/dark), and it really melts into the skin, especially on top of a moisturizer. Shockingly blendable.

-- Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. If you're looking for a splurge foundation -- this is it. I had it once and will never be able to afford it again, but if I could... I'd definitely add it to my regular rotation for full face of makeup.

-- Beauty Blender. I have tried SO many other knock offs. Just regular damn sponges. Nothing blends quite as well as a damp beauty blender. I don't know why or what's so magical about it, but it is.

-- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer. This is another beloved product. I have tried many other concealers and always come back to this one. Apparently the ELF camo concealer is a cheaper dupe but I have yet to try it.

-- Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder. Can be loose or compact. But this was a thing I didn't even realize I needed until I started watching tutorials and was like... why does my foundation look gross and theirs look so smooth? It's because they set it with powder. Apparently you HAVE to do that. Nyx has an excellent less expensive one, but this particular one is magic.

-- NARS Blush in ORGASM. This is a universally flattering blush in a sort of peachy gold. My mom said she hated it because it is "too glittery" but when I put it on her she was obsessed with how youthful it made her skin, and how she glowed. I’ve been wearing it for the last decade.

-- Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Palette. If you're not into highlighter, no worries, but if you're into trying it out... this palette cannot be beat. Four shades of glowy perfection.

-- BRUSHES: A large powder brush, a medium blush brush, a small highlighter brush.

EYES:

-- MAC paint pot in PAINTERLY. This is what I use as my eye primer. I know a lot of people who just use concealer. It basically functions the same. But this stuff makes sure my eyeshadow stays put and doesn't crease, even if I'm out dancing and sweating. I’m a loyalist.

-- Stila Liquid Eyeliner or NYX Liquid Eyeliner. Both are felt tip markers and SUPER easy to learn how to use. I am now a winged liner PRO. If you're more into pencil, nothing beats the Yves Saint Laurent or NARS pencils. Makeup Forever is okay in a bind.

-- My two favorite neutral palettes (which is what everyone should start with) are the Charlotte Tillbury Pillow Talk and Urban Decay Naked Palettes. They have a wide range of colors for all skin tones and blend really well. Both shimmers and mattes.

-- Mascara is buyers preference. I love a thick voluminous lash, while I know others prefer a long lash. For voluminous recs -- Dior Blackout or Benefit Bad Gal Lash are my two faves.

-- BRUSHES: Crease brush, medium application brush, fluffy blending brush, flat liner brush

LIPS:

-- My favorite lipsticks are from NARS, MAC, KVD, and FENTY. I love the way matte lipsticks look, but they're sort of out of fashion now. Satin and gloss have come back into trend.

-- A neutral lip pencil will go well with any lipstick. Except red. Always get a red pencil for a red lip.

-- Don't forget a pencil sharpener!

-- BRUSHES: A lip brush. This is a thing, and it actually makes application so much easier, especially when using matte lipsticks.

BROWS:

-- This is the one thing that evades me. They are a mystery to me.

-- Everyone else's holy grail product is Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow

Believe it or not, that is my bare bare minimum of what I need when I’m doing my makeup. Everything else is just gravy. I use all these products every day when doing my makeup looks. Now that you have your makeup and your tools... how the hell do you apply all this stuff?

This website is a really good place to start for beginners — it’s a solid compilation of some big name YouTube MUAs (Jaclyn Hill, Michelle Pham, Raye Raye, etc) and some beginners basics tutorials. I highly recommend searching for a beauty guru with the same skin tone/hair color as yourself because it’s easier to imagine how colors will look on your own face.

Other resources —

The Makeup Chair https://m.youtube.com/user/TheMakeupChair (they have an especially informative video about finding out what eye shape you have, and it totally changed my eyeshadow application game!)

Sephora https://m.youtube.com/user/sephora/videos (which focuses most on reviewing products but also has helpful tutorials, and I enjoy learning about new makeup trends from the store that carries the biggest brands)

Tati https://m.youtube.com/user/GlamLifeGuru/videos (does a lot of product reviews as well but focuses on drug store brands and lower price point makeup, she’s kind of bitchy but fun to watch)

And then last but def not least. Vogue’s YouTube has an amazing makeup series of celebrities just putting on their own makeup called Beauty Secrets. It is so much fun to watch and I’ve learned so much from just watching people go through their own routines and what they enjoy.

Okay. I think that’s probably MORE than enough to start you off with hahah. Let me know if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts. I’m more than happy to chat makeup products or techniques any time.

Tagging: @bloody-shadow666