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dredgesnails · 15 days

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stardew valley au where joel and skizz are new residents to pelican town (hermit town?). joel just inherited a large farm from his late grandfather and skizz is moving in with his old friend after reconnecting with him and wanting a fresh start. and the townspeople are like, kinda weird.

bdubs is fine enough - he’s a sweet man with a fun personality and he’s the local builder, but it’s almost frightening how fast he constructs new buildings when joel needs them. pearl, their resident postmaster, is also pretty normal other than the fact that skizz never seems to be awake early enough to catch her delivering mail. scar is lovely but he’s never available when joel wants another chicken. the mayor, xisuma, is pleasant too, if a little eccentric at times, but he doesn’t really seem to do much in town.

for the most part, skizz is settling in well. he’s moved in with impulse, who runs the local blacksmith in town, and he gets along well with most of the local townspeople. he’s started spending his evenings at the local saloon listening to ren regale the patrons with fantastical tales while he and stress serve up food and drinks, and he finds himself growing close with cleo, the local sculptor. he even gets a new wardrobe from hypno free of charge, and sometimes helps cub out with his totally scientific studies and creations.

skizz also joins forces with beef (who helps to supply the local general store that xb and keralis run) in terrorising the local manager of the corporate chain grocery store that no one likes. doc is a terrible manager but would make a fun supervillain (according to joe hills, the bookseller who appears once in a blue moon but seems to know doc more than anyone in town).

joel, on the other hand, seems to only be interacting with the strangest residents in town. he discovers the adventurer’s guild after only a couple weeks, and is only somewhat irritated by iskall’s refusal to pronounce his name correctly. false promises to give him prizes if he can kill enough monsters, which is not something joel had expected to be doing when he pictured farm life, but here he is. he stumbles upon a travelling cart one day, and the man inside insists he’s a knight from a faraway land, that he risked his life to make it all the way here to sell his wares. it’s all stuff joel can get cheaper elsewhere.

he’s pretty sure the local doctor has no real medical training, but then he passes out while fighting monsters and he wakes up completely fine, so zedaph probably knows what he’s doing. maybe. when joel isn’t passing out he sometimes makes trips to the library-slash-museum, which is probably almost completely empty because mumbo, who begs joel for anything to display, looks like he’s never fought a duggie in his life. eventually mumbo gives joel a key to the sewers, which are way cooler than they have any right to be, and that’s where he finds jevin’s secret sewer shop. jevin lives in town. he just also has a shop hidden underground. joel has stopped asking questions by now.

and then there are the three who live by the beach. etho spends most of his time tinkering around the fishing hut or hovering around bdubs, but sometimes he drives the bus to the desert. only sometimes. there might be something under his mask. no one knows for sure. gem runs the fish shop most days and she claims she’s a sailor, but joel has never seen a single working boat around despite all the ocean. she can also hold her breath underwater for an uncannily long amount of time, like, scarily so, and will sometimes disappear for a few days and return with an abundance of treasures. joel has never seen her leave by boat. grian fishes a lot and runs the shop when gem can’t, and he sometimes talks as though the sea can speak to him. skizz has caught him staring into space for extended periods of time. one time he waded into the water and just stood there, head down, muttering to himself.

apparently there used to be a lighthouse but “it’s gone now”. gem says if they ask bdubs nicely enough maybe they can build another one, but she and grian are banned from build requests after the last incident with their pet snails (joel has never seen the snails, but scar complains about them enough to convince him they’re real).

there also might be some kind of wizard who lives in the creepy tower in the woods. skizz has heard he’s the one who helps maintain the power in the valley, and joel’s convinced he hallucinated seeing him once until he recieves a letter from the wizard himself, and visits him only to find that the strange fire-creature he saw that one time was, in fact, tango, who is human for the most part, he just sets himself on fire sometimes.

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horsefigureoftheday · 17 days

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Do you have any recommendations for good horse figures to collect? Something good looking, not too expensive, and relatively small? I need to decorate part of my game room and why not?

Thrift horses!!! Please please please take a look through craigslist/ebay/your local equivalent, or visit your local thrift stores and see if they have any horses. Thrift horse propaganda:

They're often unique, rare, or retired figures that you can't just find at the supermarket or toy store

They're often a lot cheaper than new horses

You support a local business and sometimes, if it's a charity store, your purchase directly aids a good cause

There's enough plastic in the world and we really should cut down on buying new plastics

Sometimes there's a name written on the horse's belly or it's gotten a bit too close to a marker or its coat is scratched. It's well-loved, it has a history, it is truly unique in all the world. There's no other horse just like it.

Someone left these little horsies behind and now they're all alone in the world and they really want to be loved again🥺

But if you really want new figures I'm not judging. Maybe you're a germaphobe, maybe hunting down thrift horses is more of a task than a game to you, maybe you're just overwhelmed at the prospect, I 100% understand! Here are some brands you might enjoy:

Breyer Stablemates - Very sleek-looking. Small, but not too small. Affordable if you get a value pack. Not much to say, they're Breyers, they look nice.

CollectA - Slightly larger than Stablemates and slightly more expensive. Kinda gritty-looking (affectionate). Again, not much to say, they look nice.

Schleich Bayala - If you want pink horses. Same price range as CollectA. Definitely more in the "toy" category than collectible/art. Stay away from Schleich's regular horses unless you really really like their look - the quality of the paint jobs and molds is not worth the price. But they excel at making prissy pink fairy horses.

Safari Ltd. - Toys, more than art, but cheaper than Schleich and CollectA. They can be a bit hit-or-miss, but there are some true gems in their lineup. Just be aware that their paint jobs are usually a lot simpler irl than in promotional photos. They also have some very good pink horses.

Bullyland - They're made of hard rubber (similar texture to a car tire) and are extremely scratch resistant, but they still look nice. Might be hard to find outside of Europe. In the same price range as Safari Ltd. I love them and they're so underrated 😭

#ask

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lutaviacosplay · 1 year

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Cosplay Fabric Shopping Masterpost

Alright, here we go--a master list of as many (verified) fabric stores as I can think of, and what they specialize in! I will be focusing on fabric stores, as a notions shopping list will come at a later date. They'll be sorted by Name | Types of Fabrics | Brief description, and primarily US-based, though some overseas, so here we go:

--- "JACK OF ALL TRADES" FABRICS ---

Fabric Wholesale Direct | [Various, Budget] | Lots of all kinds of things, specialization in more inexpensive fabrics. Their rayon challis is a great lining fabric, and their poly dupioni is one of the most popular, but they have a little of everything. Processing takes a HOT SECOND, shipping is okay at best.

Fashion Fabrics Club | [Various, Mixed] | Have bought several weird things from here, including various velvets and wools. Great for non-stretch things. Pricing is average, but their sales are amazing if you catch it; shipping is a little slower.

Zelouf Fabrics | [Various, Budget] | A newer fabric store, has literally EVERY SHADE IMAGINABLE of some fabrics, such as their poly taffeta. Also, their swatches are MASSIVE, like half yards or something. If you need a specific color and know your material, try this place out.

Denver Fabrics | [Various, Mixed] | Similar to Fashion Fabrics Club, HUGE variety of stuff. The search feature is not the best but I've found some good gems here, and well categorized.

Sy Fabrics | [Various, Budget] | Similar to Fabric Wholesale Direct! The site is hideous, but very comparable in quality--great basics.

Cali Fabrics | [Various, Budget] | Ships FAST, great for lots of yardage or cheaper mockups. Smaller selection but still plenty to look at.

--- STRETCH FABRICS ---

Blue Moon Fabrics | [Stretch, Formal] | LOTS of stretch fabric, but specifically stretch sequins and very "funky" fabrics. Sales are few and far in between but if you need something glittery or with sequins that can stretch, this is the place.

Spandex House | [Stretch] | Comparable (but not to be confused with) Spandex World, located in the Bronx in NYC if you wanna go and visit! As the name says, lots of stretch fabric, some very unique; this is where I got my stretch glitter tie dye velvet for Exarch's arm. Pricing is "meh".

Spandex World | [Stretch, Basics] | Comparable with Spandex House, but located in the NYC Garment District if you wanna visit! I actually prefer Spandex World as far as /quality/--great for basic stuff like stretch scuba and power mesh or milliskin. Pricing is "meh".

MJTrends | [Stretch, Vinyl/Pleather, Latex] | THE place to go to for things like latex, vinyl, pleather, and stretchy stuff in that avenue. Great for "liquid look" or stuff like Eva plugsuits.

--- FUR FABRICS ---

Big Z Fabrics | [Fur, Various, Fun Colors] | They actually have things BESIDES fur, but I'm going to recommend their fur specifically due to the large selection, at various price points. This is where furries shop, if that gives any nudge to how legit it is.

Shannon Fabrics | [Fur, Pricey, Naturals] | Primarily used for stuff like blankets BUT does have some weirder patterns, in more neutral colors. Their long pile fur in particular is quite nice to work with.

--- SILK + FANCY FABRICS ---

Silk Baron | [Various, Pricey, Real] | You've heard of it, but here it is--the go-to spot (minus literally ordering from an Indian seller) for real silks of various types. Expect at minimum $18/yard for their dupionis and around $22/yard for their taffetas and to go upward from there. Color is unprecedented; if you need a duochromatic silk or a specific type, from organza to matka, go here.

Dharma Trading | [Raw, Budget, Real] | Primarily a dye seller, Dharma also specifically sells raw and finished silks in white, natural, and some in black. These are made to be dyed and come in various finishes, but their raw silk in particular is a great budget option for projects and takes to dye well.

Fancy Styles Fabric | [Pricey, Various] | Though this place also carries poly, specializes in real silk too. Lots of taffeta, dupioni, jacquard, the type of stuff you'd see on a baroque wallpaper. Great sales/deals on their IG, so check there before buying. Pricing is sometimes a bit overpriced, so wait for sales.

Promenade Fabrics | [Pricey, Various] | A "better customer service" version of Fancy Styles, with a storefront in New Orleans. Also has good trim selection. Fair mix of real and false silks, good luxury stuff.

Mood Fabrics | [Various, Pricey] | Mood is my go-to for when I want a luxury fabric OR if I want a strong brocade or jacquard that a "simple" pattern won't do for me. There are however some great sales every now and then, including clearance. Every swatch order also comes with a 10% off coupon! As a bonus, their button and trim selection isn't bad, so save yourself some shopping.

VincyStore | [Various, Unique] | This is their Etsy, although they do have an Ali storefront, the prices are very close. Very "weird" unique fabrics, mainly poly silks folded in weird ways or the kinda stuff you'd see on fantasy gowns. Good unique finds.

--- OTHER SPECIFIC STORES ---

Tandy Leather | [Leather, Pricey, Accessories] | It's real leather, and mostly heavier weight, but you can occasionally find good deals here. They do have physical stores and often the stores have BETTER deals. Less apparel weight in my experience.

District Leathers | [Leather, Pricey, Apparel] | Also real leather, and a good various selection, including a physical storefront. I really like their very light suede and similar stuff--good for cloaks, etc.

Fabrics Store | [Linen, Mixed] | This site has other stuff, but, JUST BUY YOUR LINEN FROM HERE. It's great quality, has EVERY color and weight, has both hourly and daily deals, often has coupons. If you need linen, go here.

Sewstine | [Historical, Mixed] | This site has a nice masterlist of historical fabric resources, so I'll share it here to explore rather than link everything individually.

Seattle Fabrics | [Outdoor, Mixed] | Primarily outdoor and "technical" fabrics, which makes this a great candidate for sci-fi, star wars, and any other more "modern" garment you're making in that realm.

~~~ More will probably be added over time, but here's our starting line! Feel free to comment and share your own! ~~~

#cosplay #cosplay help #textile #sewing #cosplay tutorial #lutavia_resource

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ravensvirginity · 14 days

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I think Titans #10 actually exemplifies a lot of what has weakened about Raven's character over the years. Take this panel:

This would be shocking if NTT Raven said it! Her pacifism is so well established that this would be an immediate glaring red flag that something is wrong with her! It is meant to be out of character for her here, as this is her demon side speaking, but it loses a lot of impact because there has been no attention paid to Raven's pacifism. We don't even know if she's even meant to be from Azarath in this current run.

Because they've distanced themselves so much from Raven's original backstory and vital parts of her characterization, this moment falls flat. While what she did (cutting her brother's arm off) is more brutal than her usual attack style, there's been nothing in this run to suggest she shies away from offensive attacks. It's not even particularly egregious by superhero standards: he's a demon, and we can assume his arm will grow back or otherwise be magically healed, and he was threatening a lot of people when she attacked him. It's even less dramatic than NTT's ongoing conflict of Kory thinking the Titans should kill their enemies and everyone else having a more merciful approach.

Then there's the distancing of actual Raven (I refuse to call her Rachel) from anything her demon side does. She's literally imprisoned in a gem. It isn't even her body committing these evil acts. A lot of the impact in the original Terror of Trigon arc is that it really is Raven doing all this; Raven, who's been worn down for years both in universe and out of it, finally snapping and becoming a villain.

This, in contrast, has about as much impact as if Trilogy was the main villain of this story. I do like the angle this comic is going of having demon Raven pretending to still be her normal self among the Titans, but having normal Raven be a physical separate person who's in magic prison really weakens it. It's not as far as I can tell that it's meant to be a trapped aspect of her soul, it seems like she's just an entirely separate person from her evil self. Demon Raven even calls normal Raven her sister.

It's meant to be more figurative (at least I sure hope it is) but it just drives in how severe the degree of separation between normal Raven and demon Raven has gotten. Nothing about this story would change if demon Raven was Raven's shapeshifting half-sister. Contrasted to something like Terror of Trigon, where Raven being the same person, just corrupted into something unrecognizable, is so central to the entire plot and theme, it feels a lot cheaper and less impactful.

I just think this arc could be so much better without the weird complete division of Raven and demon Raven as separate people. Instead of having both Raven and demon Raven be physically separate people, they could've still gone with the gem thing as a sort of projection in Raven's mind, with her good side locked up in it. They still share the same body, it's just different aspects of her soul fighting each other.

I don't hate this story, but it's frustrating because it feels like it could be so much better if just more care was put into it. I wish there was more time to show the Titans' friendship, so the betrayal of Raven siding with her father could be more devastating. I wish they'd paid more attention to Raven's pacifism earlier, so this issue would actually be jarring. I'm interested in Trilogy, but they haven't shown us enough of him to really get any feel for his personality and motivations other than a vague jealousy over Raven being Trigon's favorite. Hopefully more will be revealed in the future, but with the way this comic has been going so far I'm not too hopeful.

#raven #raven dc #titans 2023 #tuesday spoilers #teen titans #trilogy dc #dc comics

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daerienn · 2 months

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Modern!Tissaia Headcanons (Appearance)

brought to you by me, a.k.a. mydearmydearmydear (on AO3)

Tissaia religiously applies her skincare. She has put in a lot of effort, time and money into finding an elaborate skincare routine that leaves her skin soft, plump, moisturised and healthy. Since money is not an issue, she opts for high-end and luxury products, though she doesn’t shy away from cheaper ones if they are equally as effective. Twice a day, morning and evening, she stands in her bathroom and uses the time to relax, watching as the products sink into her skin. It’s a humble point of pride for her, her little act of vanity. Problems arise when a product she uses gets discontinued; she’ll either go out of her way to get her hands on some remaining stocks or she feels minor anxiety – which can spiral into a full on breakdown if she isn’t careful – until she finds a suitable replacement.

Tissaia owns a capsule wardrobe, meaning she owns a choice few items she can mix and match to create seemingly endless outfits. Her clothes are of very high quality, thus are quite costly. She doesn’t shy away from investing in such items however, since they will last her a long time. Usually she opts for black and neutral colours, though the odd gem colour – ocean blues, emerald greens and romantic reds – compliment her wardrobe very nicely. When she is out and about, Tissaia is all business, no casual. Chic blazers, coats, pencil skirts, heels, pant suits – those are staple pieces in her wardrobe. For formal events she usually chooses smart dresses. At home, when Tissaia, though rarely, grants herself some leisure time, she can be seen in straight-legged jeans and white tank tops, shirts or jumpers – depending on the temperatures and potential visitors. Her wardrobe is sorted by category, season and colour.

Tissaia does her own manicure, partly because she doesn’t like people touching her and her hands, partly because she can barely stand the smell. Once a week she will sit outside with a mask as she does her nails. She keeps them short and clean; either she applies a simple layer of topcoat to add some shine or she wears a subtle rosy nude that matches all her outfits.

#tissaia #tissaia de vries #the witcher #mine #the witcher netflix #myanna buring #yennaia #tissaia x calanthe #fanfiction #headcanons #tissaia my beloved #the witcher tissaia

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joifee · 3 months

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okay okay i am so hyped about this.

i am writing a oneshot/2 part oneshot? of the season 1 roseblings and its like a sickfic kinda but also like just them caring for each other.

Now here's my idea behind it (i am so hyped i have a idea i like):

first part

Due to working in the forge a lot and basically starting as a kid, fWhip has inhaled a good amount of smoke in his lifetime already, causing trauma to his lung. He usually got by okay till now by covering his mouth and nose with his scarf, taking breaks to get some fresh air and some minor inhalation therapy when he gets ill. The last explosion/mishap inside the forge, caused him to inhale too much smoke damaging his lungs irreversible. The new, worse trauma of his lungs causing the doctor to advise him, prevent inhaling smoke. Which means, with the current state his forge is in, that he can't do what he loves anymore until he has fixed the problem of the constant smoke. my oneshot would explore him finding ways to 1. get used to the new and worse lung trauma and his stubborn way to accepting that he is changed and it cannot be reversed 2. finding a way to prevent the smoke inside the forge/prevent him having to inhale it.

for the second part

Gem was very proud to be able to stupid magic at the crystal cliffs and life couldnt be better. Sure its different than the grimlands and she does miss her brother and her childhood home a lot, but she also loves her study. Back then it was a culture shock however, especially when it came to food. The crystal cliffs, due to temperatur and the rocky and hard ground, can only grow crops like chorusfruits and sweetberries, meaning the rest of the food is processed, because it's cheaper to purchase than fresh vegetables. Fresh food like she was used to in the grimlands is a rarity due to costs or limited to the ender-crops. Gem told herself, that she will get used to the unique taste and texture of those crops and the taste of the processed food. However its been years since Gem moved from the grimlands to the crystal cliffs - and she can't get over it. She became extremly picky about the food she consumes, only finding some of the processed food palateable. Fresh chorusfruit has become one of the worst options to her; the smell alone giving her the ick. this one shot would explore: 1. gem being a picky eater and missing the food from the grimlands 2. general themes of homesickness 3. creative experiments to grow potatoes and carrots in the rocky ground

#joifeeramble #joifeewriting #roseblings #basically thats my idea i am already 600 words in

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saltminerising · 4 months

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So like. I've seen a lot of people become jaded towards ancients, with how fast they're being released and how you can't dress them etc so the novelty is wearing off, but, I find myself feeling the opposite. Recently I've been scrying my gen1s as ancients before trying any moderns, and really found love for gaolers, aberrations and banescales... they're so wonderful I struggle to figure out why I largely ignored them before. And not being able to dress them is kinda liberating actually, I tend to get annoyed trying to make good-looking outfits for moderns, so at least I'm free of that with ancients and their gene+color combos can truly shine, I don't even wanna put skins on them. Ancient scrolls are cheaper too and I can use gem genes more liberally. What's not to love. My collection grows every day! Keep em coming staff!!

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elodieunderglass · 1 year

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Hi!

I have enjoyed your posts about salsify and would very much like to inflict salsify seeds on my nearest and dearest for them to grow. Do you have any recommended suppliers of seeds? I am in the UK.

Thank you!

In reference to this post about there being food plants you rarely find in shops, because they don’t meet the needs of supermarket supply chains, like white salsify, a plant that bleeds red sticky latex when bruised.

Seed buying season usually starts around December, unless you’re planning a bulk order as part of a collective, so many of these places won’t have their final 2023 collections up. Here are the companies I like best and why.

MoreVeg: https://moreveg.co.uk/epages/bd0b9b93-06b9-4b49-9efb-f179fdacfbdd.mobile/?ObjectPath=/Shops/bd0b9b93-06b9-4b49-9efb-f179fdacfbdd SALSIFY: SOMETIMES, CHECK BACK IF IT ISN’T THERE.

What I like about MoreVeg is that she

1. Only sells a small amount for a cheaper price, I.e. 3 pumpkin seeds, because let’s be real, you aren’t really growing more than 3 pumpkins of the same type at the same time: you want lots of different ones. So, like, while other people sell you an absurd amount of runner bean seeds, like 324 or something wild, she puts 20 in a packet, because that’s what a normal person would want.

2. She writes a little handwritten note in the packet and it makes me feel like she really remembers me every year 🥹

3. She carries some lines I like, like she GETS having weird decorative pumpkins in a way that most British people don’t.

4. She does cheaper collections of useful things, like green manure collections, pollinator-friendly bloom collections, meadow flowers for cutting collections, “carrots of all colors,” all nicely portioned and cheaper.

5. I personally don’t care hugely about everything being heirloom, so it’s nice that she has a mixture.

RealSeeds: https://www.realseeds.co.uk SALSIFY: check back if not there!

The real MVPs. You guys know how I love and value graunchy 1990s websites, right? I love and value the RealSeeds website. From their Art Nouveau paper packets (plastic free!) to the way that they throttled orders during the COVID seed rush to keep staff safe, everything they do is extremely thoughtful and ethical. (Lots of people see the title and think they’re associated with RareSeeds, the USA-based Mennonite heirloom seed people, but they’re not: this is a UK-based band of unproblematic heirloom seed fanatics.) They’re in the business of supplying, preserving, testing and promoting rare heirloom seeds, and do not carry ANY hybrids.

1. Probably the best and funniest part of their business model is how they constantly try to convince you to stop buying seeds from them, because you should really save and grow your own seeds, instead of buying them. I love businesses that try to talk you out of participating in capitalism.

2. This is where I got my Glass Gem popping corn from (and I did indeed save my own seeds to plant the following year!) As nowhere else in the UK carries them.

3. As you may have gathered, I’m a big fan of using The Best Plant For The Job (Rather Than Killing Myself Having All My Plants Be Unproblematic.) so I am not HUGELY concerned about using hybrids for some of my favourite reliable plants - like for example the Summer Ball F1 hybrid courgette, which meets all of my needs so perfectly that I’m just NOT going to wrestle with trying to get all those properties I like in an heirloom that will make my life harder. I’m just not. I already have a day job in saving the world, not everything has to be perfect. However, I really support RealSeeds, so I do my best to buy as much as possible from them - while also putting them out of business, by saving my own seed where it makes sense.

4. All of their listings are so brilliantly and awesomely written and formatted in EXACTLY the style I like, like, please read these: https://www.realseeds.co.uk/otherbeans.html

5. They do a lot of interesting work trying to source heirlooms from around the world and select strains that can produce in the UK’s environment. Glass Gem, for example, is one of the only “Indian corns” you can grow in the UK, and RealSeeds selected the other! They also carry things like edamame, rainbow quinoa, and a particularly productive strain of amaranth - food plants from around the world that don’t mind settling in the UK. I also love how whenever the staff eat something like “a particularly tasty squash they’ve never seen before” in their travels abroad, they find the grower and ask respectfully to trade seeds.

Victoriana Nursery wouldn’t normally stand out in this crowd on seeds, they just don’t have the selection, I see their big strength as being in fruit trees and fruit bushes: but have a great collection of offbeat herbs for natural remedies: https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk SALSIFY: YES

Raid their catalogue for things like dyer’s chamomile (which makes a yellow dye) bergamot (for making your own Earl Grey?) and the original Marsh Mallowroot (a distinctive herb whose flavor is obvious if you think about it!)

King’s Seeds UK in association with Suffolk Herbs: https://www.kingsseeds.com SALSIFY: YES

Our allotment community goes in on a yearly seed order: bulk seed orders that meet a minimum order threshold can get up to 50% discount on seeds. The committee are very keen on pressing the paper catalogues into your hands, with bulk order forms already tucked inside. I got the 50% bulk discount this year, which worked out okay.

1. Their selection is very no-nonsense and the varieties are all the kind of very productive, market-garden old reliables - not very bold or sexy. Honestly? If you mean to be serious about growing food, that’s what the bulk of your land should prioritise. It’s fun to mess around the edges with black tomatoes and purple carrots and experiments in growing heirloom quinoa, and you should DEFINITELY do all of that!!! but if you mean to be serious and have enough vegetables to make chutneys or preserves, open up a catalogue like this one and look for high reliability and disease resistance.

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unsoundedcomic · 4 months

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What makes replacement eyes so expensive compared to other simulacrae and can they be reused? Also do versions exists that come with special features like nightvision or khert line overlays similar to Quigley's glasses or would that conflict with its eye-copying pymary?

Ocular simulacra use some of the most sophisticated spellwork currently in existence, with specific First gems and glass that must be configured in very technically detailed ways - like handmade circuit boards, essentially. And then of course they have to be installed by a professional that understands metaphysical construction so they line up correctly with the soul. And the soul is how they work - these aren't plugging into a physical optic nerve.

Lots of labour, time, material cost. More than nearly any other domestic pymaric you can name.

And sure, they can have even more features. I just doubt it's common. It's cheaper and easier to have extra stuff put into a pair of spectacles. If an edgelord wants cool feature-packed eyes though, bless him.

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realpokemon · 1 year

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I need help fast. I was house sitting for my Socialite neighbor, she pays crazy well. But my stupid Sableye kept whining when I left the house so I took her with me, and when I wasn’t looking the little jerk raids the jewelry box. Is there any way to hide bite marks in precious gems or am I going to prison?

TOUGHHHH ok. i think your best bet is to fess up and offer to pay for replacements (which might be a sizable chunk out of your wallet). if you wanna be shady about it, which i don't necessarily endorse... carbink-based replacement gems have recently gotten a lot cheaper after the diancie fashion craze died down

#pokemon #unreality #pkmn irl

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neon-green-reagent · 1 month

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50 Underrated Horror Films: Part 4

What in absolute hell. We made it to part 4? Well, here we go then! Oh, also, links to the other parts: One : Two : Three

Undead : Starting off with an absolute banger. This is an Australian zombie apocalypse film. If you're familiar with Ozploitation cinema, then you know how nutso it can get, and this is a perfect example of just that. The action sequences are wild crowd pleasers, and the plot twists until it nearly breaks off.

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory : I realize that sounds like porn. Just stay with me. It's a giallo! With a werewolf! For me, this was like finding the holy grail. Best of both worlds, truly. With... not the best looking werewolf, but this is an older movie, so cut it a little slack. It turns into a fun mystery with that special Italian flavor to it.

The Outwaters : Everyone was talking about Skinamarink. No one was talking about this. It has a similar conceit. To make a horror film that defies the idea of plot. It starts like your average found footage, then becomes a drug trip straight to the depths. It really does feel like witnessing a cosmic horror story where the horrors are, indeed, impossible to describe.

Tomie : This is the first of me cheating and actually recommending way more than one film. The Tomie film franchise is a series of loose adaptations of Junji Ito's manga of the same name, and there are nine at the moment. They get wild and weird, and they explore parts of Tomie that even the manga doesn't cover. Female monster! You need these in your life.

Murdercise : Low budget silliness trying to be throwback 80s and mostly just being hilarious and noticeably cheap. I love that. It's stupid and seems like the kind of movie that was a blast to make. I definitely felt like I was laughing with them and not at them, which made it feel really charming. A great one for a dumb movie night.

Zombie Death House : Zombies in jail! Directed by John Saxon who strangely didn't case himself in the lead like some vanity project. Rather he plays a character I have dubbed "Colonel Herbert West" if that sounds at all appealing. I mean, it clearly was to me.

Dead Birds : There aren't a ton of horror films that crossover with westerns, so this is a rare gem. A bunch of outlaws take refuge in a deeply disturbed location, and things get super dark.

Satan's Princess : A neo-noir detective story with supernatural evil at its core. Imagine if Angel Heart was dumber and way cheaper looking. With Robert Forster giving a really fun performance and an ending that had me laughing out loud.

Werewolf Bitches from Outer Space : Do you love Troma movies? Do you wish they were worse? Do I have the film for you! With scenes that were clearly filmed without permits. Random bystanders interfering with the production. Terrible werewolf masks. And pizza sex? It's a laugh riot.

Butterfly Kisses : A genuinely upsetting found footage movie that understands exactly how to use the urban legend format. There's a beastie out there that, if you stare at it, it will imprint on you like a baby duck. Then if you blink, it gets a little closer. Try to imagine how long you can go without blinking.

To Die For : Wanna watch a really shitty, late 80s Dracula? Here you go! It's dumber than a box of rocks. No one's motivations make any sense. Dracula seems like kind of a jerk despite being a romantic figure. But most of the actors are hotties and know the silly movie they're in, so it comes out fun in the end. Oh, and no one can agree when it came out. But rest assured I don't mean the one with Nicole Kidman.

Home for the Holidays : Made for TV Christmas slasher! Starring Sally Field. With a whole lot of family drama, which makes it feel authentically connected to the holiday. Merry Christmas! It's March. Ahem.

Welcome to Hell : Heavy metal horror strikes again. This time, a black metal band impregnates and kidnaps a groupie for their dark ritual. She escapes, but they're hot on her trail. The ending is nothing short of a religious experience. WINK.

Isolation : If Alien took place on a farm. With mutant cow fetuses. I swear, there is science that makes some sense of that. And it's not a comedy, I swear! It's actually very nasty with some wonderful body horror.

Dr. Crippen : Based on a real crime of passion and clearly cashing in on the Psycho craze. It's a strange one to recommend, because it's based on a true event, and the movie leans pretty hard in the bad doctor's favor. But it's worth it if you're a fan of Donald Pleasence. He gets to be his strange, little self and also be the star for once.

Tamara : What a mid-2000s romp this is. A good girl gets treated like garbage and goes bad in a witchy-demon-spell kinda way. Jenna Dewan as Tamara is perfect in every way. Gives me the gay.

Dark Harvest : Don't be like "oh, I've heard of that, didn't that just come out last year?" Yep, and everyone ignored it. When it was pretty fucking great. Set in a cursed town that openly sacrifices their kids to a fantastic monster by the name of Sawtooth Jack. His head is full of candy. Like. Go watch it.

Night Screams : Regional 80s slasher where a guy dies getting his face grilled. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't have killed him. And there are like three killers by the end? Did it before Scream, just saying. Enjoy the vibes on this one.

The Third Saturday in October Part Five and Part One : Speaking of slashers. These low budget gems came out last year, and there was a cute, little gimmick to it. You're supposed to watch five, then one. It simulates growing up pre-internet. You walk into the video store, and all they have is part five. You decide to rent it, even though you've never seen the first one. Then a week later, you find one. This really worked for me. Gave me nostalgic feelings. Please, if you watch them, try it this way.

The Vampire Doll : What if Japan made a Hammer film? Well, here it is. With one of my favorite tropes: a super cute couple investigates the horrors!

Night Feeder : Genuinely the best shot-on-video horror film I've ever seen. It actually fooled me. I thought I was watching a bad VHS rip, but no, this was not shot on film. It's stylish, clearly better than you'd expect, weird, dark, and has a really bad rock band in it.

Older Gods : Low budget and full of heart and also Lovecraftian horrors. If you're reading this and care, to me it felt as if someone wrote an original story around Azathoth. Which is cool, because no one ever uses him in anything. Also, if you're like, "so what does that mean?" It means that reality is up for debate in this one.

Cheerleader Camp : One of those that people clamor for when you talk about movies that still need a proper physical media release. I see why. It's extremely fun with its tongue lodged in its cheek. It uses every slasher trope and laughs hysterically while doing so.

Below : I love my underwater horror, and this delivers wonderfully. Haunted submarine, dude. But honestly, that wasn't the scariest part. The plot was cool, and I enjoyed the mystery, yeah yeah. But more to the point, everything that can go wrong... does. Imagine being trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a giant, metal coffin. BRR!

The Werewolf and the Yeti : How many werewolf movies are on this list? Uh, shut up. As I was saying, this is great. Paul Naschy brings a massively enjoyable werewolf flick our way again. With all his swashbuckling charm. By the time the yeti shows up, so much awesome shit had happened that I forgot he was supposed to fight a yeti. I mean...

Subspecies : And how many vampire movies are on this list? SHUT UP I SAID. Anyway. Another where I mean the whole series. All of them. Radu, the main villain, is a joy. Michelle's story arc is super dramatic and full of that Interview with the Vampire angst. Special mention to the second film, which goes all out with the gore effects.

The Hills Run Red : A horror movie about horror movies. A lost film has gained a cult following, and a bunch of dumb college kids decide to track it down. You can guess how that goes. William Sadler steals the entire movie when he shows up. Babyface also has iconic slasher energy.

Abby : This one's underrated because the filmmakers got sued by the guys that made The Exorcist and lost. This is essentially the black version of The Exorcist, and it's so good that I'm depressed we'll never get a great release of it. Carol Speed is amazing as Abby. William Marshall, Blacula himself, is in it. Track this down and get mad about it with me.

The Appointment : What the hell is this. Even I'm not sure. Edward Woodward crashes his car. I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. The film ramps up the tension and dread until a ridiculously Rube Goldberg thing happens, and you have to experience it.

Frostbiter : Another of those movies made with ten cents and a lot of gumption. A bunch of people wanted to make Evil Dead II, and so they did that. They even put an Evil Dead II poster in the cabin they filmed in, so that you wouldn't even wonder about what inspired it. Also, special mention to the chili song.

Hell's Highway : Have you ever seen a movie that was really cheap and goofy, but you could see EXACTLY how it would've looked if they'd just had the money? This is that movie. Every special effect fails. Everything's so awkward and odd. But you can tell what they MEANT for it to be. So bad it's good and then some.

Dance of the Damned : Vampire. Sorry. So this one is about a vampire who wishes he could stop living eternally, because it sucks to live that long and be so alone. He finds a sex worker who is also feeling like she wishes things would just end, and they share their pain with each other. Way better than it has any right to be, mullet and all.

The Werewolf of Washington : Werewolf. I really am sorry. Dean Stockwell plays a truly adorable werewolf. And nothing about it is meant to be taken seriously at all. Gives An American Werewolf in London a run for its money in the goober department.

The Curse of Kazuo Umezu : From the man who brought you The Drifting Classroom comes... this! It's a pair of strange tales. One about a vampire, fuck, I'm sorry. And one about a haunted house that even the narrator can't figure out what's going on. Horror anime!

Lo : A young man has recently lost his love. She was dragged to hell. That old chestnut. So he summons a demon named Lo to try to get her back. With a twist that'll make you go, wait, I thought this was a comedy?

The Spider Labyrinth : This one recently got a really nice release, and I'm so glad, because it's bonkers. A young fella is sent to Budapest to find a lost professor. Instead he finds a cult. Uh oh.

End of the Line : Apocalypse horror that turns your brain inside out just a bit. A religious cult has decided it's the end of the world, and they start executing innocents so they'll "go to heaven." Are they brainwashed or is the world actually ending? You decide!

Off Balance AKA Phantom of Death : Just barely a Phantom of the Opera riff. A pianist discovers he has a rare genetic disorder that threatens to cut his career short. Also, he's kinda losing it. Starring Michael York, Donald Pleasence, Edwige Fenech, directed by Ruggero Deodato, oh my GOD!

The Lure : Killer mermaids. Well, sirens. Kind of a mix. It's also a musical. And about how awful the entertainment industry is for young women. It's also super gory, and they eat people. Truly little else out there is like this.

Redneck Zombies : What do you want me to say? It's a Troma film. It's called... that. I'm pointing. I'm pointing at the title. That's the movie. Just... Right? Yeah?

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats : Another of those gialli that is really just And Then There Were None. But the nice part is that Italy likes to get more sexual, violent, and fucking awful than Agatha Christie ever dreamed. This one also takes place in an old theater, so the vibes are choice.

Mary Reilly : I always include at least one entry in these lists that begs the question, "how did this become underrated?" And obscure, that too. When it's a Jekyll and Hyde retelling with an emphasis on the gothic and lush, starring Julia Roberts and John Malkovich? By the way, I heard people hated it because of Roberts' terrible Irish accent. Damn, dude, I've heard way worse, fake accents than that. Anyway, this is fantastic. Watch it.

The Forest : One of those slashers where I thought I understood what I was getting into, but I did not. There's a man living in the woods who went postal on his cheating wife one day. The ghosts of his family are also haunting the woods. And he's a cannibal who feeds a guy his own girlfriend. I need other people to watch this so that I can be assured it was real.

Autopsy (2008) : I put a year, because there are around 800 horror films with that title. To further narrow it down, it's the one where Robert Patrick plays basically Herbert West fused with Mr. Freeze, and Jenette Goldstein is his nurse, and they chase a bunch of college kids around for science. Kind of a pitch black comedy with torture porn aspects, and I loved it.

Glorious : A guy gets trapped in a public restroom, which is horrifying enough. Then a cosmic horror god starts talking to him from a bathroom stall. He gives him the assignment of helping to stop the end of the world. The god is J.K. Simmons, and the whole thing is a delightful bottle movie.

Nightmare Detective : From the director that brought you Tetsuo: The Iron Man... Do I have your attention? Comes the Japanese Nightmare on Elm Street! That's oversimplifying, but that is my elevator pitch. It involves all sorts of dream powers and psychic battles that will blow your socks off.

House of Lost Souls : Directed by Umberto Lenzi, which means it feels as doobery as Ghosthouse. It's about a hotel desperate to decapitate you, and it has the silliest dialogue and acting known to man. Special mention to psychic powers being cited as a "rational explanation."

The Cleansing Hour : A priest who livestreams fake exorcisms has to rumble with a real demon. Super fun character piece where a conman has to look his sins dead in the eye. Truly obsessed with this one. Also, super fun demon effects. With Kyle Gallner, everyone's favorite scream king.

Deathrow Gameshow : What if Airplane was super violent? Or The Running Man was a dumb comedy? This hits the sweetest spot, where the humor is idiotic and the violence is cartoonishly nasty. This will speak to the sort of person, like myself, who wants their comedy to be indigestible for most audience goers.

Double Blind : This is a very recent release. A diverse group take part in a double blind drug test. Things go so extremely bad. I won't give anything away, because part of the fun is the unfolding chaos.

I can't believe I managed to do that again. Enjoy! I hope you find some new favorites from this list.

#horror #horror films #80s horror #horror movies #horror recs #horror recommendations

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oatbugs · 1 year

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as someone who is also trying to overhaul their entire wardrobe after throwing out fast fashion pieces,, do you have any specific brands you like, advice on places to get clothes for long-term wear, etc? ty!!

thank you for asking! this is a long post but it's been my life for a bit now so i would suggest reading through it to skip the learning stages that i went through the hard way! there is some important and useful info here :) brand recs at the end

i would suggest looking for vintage or secondhand clothes first and foremost bc that's how you can find quality pieces for a reasonable price :)

if you want pure longevity, synthetics like polyester, nylon, elastane, etc will last not only your lifetime but your grandchildrens' too. they can be quite comfortable sometimes BUT:

they will likely break down in hundreds of years

they are NOT biodegradable and so will break down into microplastics and toxic microfibers

for me and a lot of others, you will notice the difference in quality in synthetics vs fabrics like cotton and virgin wool. i refuse to buy synthetics for the above reasons but also bc they just Feel Worse idk how to explain iykyk (tip especially valuable for autistic ppl)

brands: all depend on style so look for the styles you like/want to dress in on pinterest, then track down the original designer of the dress! from there you can search irl places or plug the designers into apps like:

vinted: cheaper vintage or second hand clothes from all sorts of brands

vestiare collective: more high-end, pieces are authenticated and usually in great condition

GEM: a gem of a site truly, accumulates all the finds from your search from different websites like ebay, etc

depop: honestly not the biggest fan but can be good sometimes! make sure to buy vintage/secondhand and ask sellers for the brand to not get sold an aliexpress dupe for 100 bucks

vintage shops: especially good for accessories like belts and ties. vintage shops usually have much better stuff than charity shops

kilo sales: THE BEST PLACES IRL in my opinion i got a 2k+ virgin wool coat for £20 . honestly in my experience kilo sales are great. check out Worth the Weight if you're in the UK!

remember that brand history matters! for example vivienne westwood has a great reputation as luxury punk but the pieces produced in recent years are actually very low in quality, defintely not worth the money for a lot of people! pay for quality, not just the name :) same goes for jean paul gaultier's recent pieces imo.

additional VERY USEFUL tips:

the standard zipper used by most of the companies making your garments is YKK. if you look at any zipper you're wearing rn and inspect it closely chances are you'll see YKK engraved on it. before buying a piece check that it has opti or riri zippers - this is some indication of a higher quality

one of the first things to do before buying a piece is to immediately check the materials it's made of!! the tag detailing materials is usually towards the bottom of the garment . i immediately dismiss things that have higher than 5% synthetics but i'm just rly picky w materials

EACH MATERIAL HAS DIFFERENT USES !!! BUT GENERALLY: virign wool is the best kind of wool, full-grain leather is better than most other kinds of leather, mulberry silk is better than other kinds of silk

brand recs:

yohji yamamoto, yehufan (i own a skirt by him!!), marina eerrie, ann demeulemeester, jw anderson, solovair for shoes (much better than docs), maison (martin) margiela (esp artisanal line 0), miu miu (i wear their beret i thrifted for £15 almost every day), valentino esp pre 2021 , lemaine , undercover older pieces , early raf simons , ...honestly there's a lot, if you need more send another ask or DM :)

p.s. if u can go runway shows etc go to the sample sales afterwards sometimes the pieces there are gorgeous !! but sometimes v pricey :')

all recommendations and advice, don't take my word as gospel and defintely do your own research + formulate ur own opinions ! hope this helps ♡

#alternatively take a flight to sweden and a train to malmö and go to the cute vintage stores there #asks #anon #fashion

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hollowsart · 3 days

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Pokemon Masters is a very unfair game. The gacha mechanic is not worth your money, and they bring back specific sync pairs with unique costumes, but they make them paywalled. You have to spend money to get paid gems and to earn any non paid gems takes years cuz they hate non buying customers. They want your money only. They don't care if you have fun playing the game or not.

Pokemon Masters needs to change and open itself up and stop being a literal greed machine. Make the game play and stories more fun and more engaging. Make it so that you can earn gems a lot easier without having to spend an absurd amount of money for just a few measly gems. Make it so that you can scout for more a lot easier for a lot less.

I don't care. I don't care. Make this game actually fun and worth playing. I don't know how this game has lasted so long, but it's so infuriating that it is like this and that I've literally seen someone complain about the events and gacha pairs, but they said not to change the pricing??? Excuse me??? No? Make it cheaper and more affordable and accessible to those who LITERALLY can not spend money on a stupid game that shouldn't even be this inaccessible and expensive for what little it actually provides you as a player??

You get a whole lot more out of the main games and the spin-off games on mainline consoles rather than on your mobile phone.

I would complain similarly about Pokemin Cafe, but Cafe actually has gameplay. AND THE GAMEPLAY IT HAS IS FUN AND ENGAGING AND ISN'T REPETITIVE IN A BAD WAY LIKE PM IS. CAFE SWITCHES THINGS UP IN A FUN AND INTERESTING WAY THAT ISN'T LITERALLY UNFAIR UNLIKE PM.

Anyways.

Pokemon Masters is a mid game. Below mid even. I would mourn the loss of Wikstrom if they shut down the game, but it's whatever in the end. I haven't spent a single penny in the game (I did try once, but it was so complicated, and I forgot some password stuff, so we just quit. The discount thing wasn't even worth it tbh). So I'm really not losing much of anything.

Anyways. That's it. That's my rant post for the day.

#ghostie mumbles #//long post #pm always showing me events with cool character designs n junk and it's like 'you can't have any of this cuz you aren't paying. and--#--even if you do pay you still aren't 100% guaranteed to get what we're promoting uwu'#hate this game. i want a dating game with Wikstrom that has immersive storytelling and develops his character and his lore a whole lot.

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nevros-fr · 9 months

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Introduction Welcome to my UMA musings. If you have no idea what a UMA is, it stands for user made accents that are directly sold by users to other users instead of being distributed by the site, I did a look at UMA acronym history here (Nevros, 2023). I wanted to look at how the uma sales decisions changed over time since I saw words like premades to refer to the current way artists would sell skins, that is having a design and collecting names of people who are interested in buying it, as opposed to customs, which would be making species designs for each person. I was also curious about when preorders started. I really like this honour system that helps artists fund their uma without having to pay a large portion by themselves to bring the skin to market. The current market consists of artists who want to sell their skin, set up a shop with prices around 500g for an accent and 750g for a skin that includes the cost of buying a blueprint and then they run preorders. They also usually ping GASP, the general accent and skin pinglist to see if there are any interested buyers. Methods I went through each thread individually from the skins and accents thread for the June to August 2013 of FR to get a gist of it, then started cherry picking months to look through for the general trends because 500 pages of threads is a lot to look through one at a time! I also think a massive caveat is that the older threads are the ones that may not have been as successful because threads get bumped up as more people post so the threads get found based on their last post rather than their first post.

Results I went all the way back to the start of June 2013 and tracked how things may have changed. For one, this was the unknown frontier, so there was no established or efficient way to sell skins yet. As I mentioned before, premades are the most common way to market a skin that an artist would like to sell, with customs being an available option, but not necessarily popular. People were bringing this terminology from previous sites they’ve played, such as Aywas or Wajas. Prices for these premades ranged wildly from 50k to 200k in treasure or 700g to 5000g for a single copy of a skin without a blueprint (Morau, 2013). Otherwise, they would state a price for the skin plus the blueprint or the cost equivalent in gems. I saw a few artists who would have liked to sell the psd of skins to users so they may print skins at their own discretion (Balu, 2013). With these prices in mind, I think it’s clear that skins were pretty inaccessible to the wider public unless people bought gems with real money. Despite the fact of people marketing skins by selling the psd file, I haven’t noticed any skins showing up multiple times in the game database due to this practice. Either none of them were made, or possibly they were reorganized to reduce confusion since the credits on every skin usually go to the person that printed it. Rules such as “one payment equals to only one use of the skin” was popular, presumably since the user would be given a psd file for them to print. There was also a common rule to not sell premade skins for more than you bought it for. It did not take long for people to consider selling multiple copies for premades at once. Remember, a single blueprint is 1000g for accents and 2000g for skins, but multicopy packs are considerably cheaper at 2500g for 10 accents and double that for skins (Custom Skins, 2013). The earliest person that I saw to consider selling multiples of one accent was Xaishi but never actually set up a show (Xaishi, 2013). All these developments happened in June!

What does July bring? People who accidentally submitted the wrong skin and have no idea what to do :> Before the establishment of the Skin and Accent Problems, users would need to message mods or admin to see if they can get those errors fixed. I found the intent to sell premades using multipacks with a thread dating back to July 1 (Pathojay, 2013). I also saw people selling multiprints for the very first time as a 5 print run where the artist paid for the blueprint pack first (AkaPanuka, 2013). With these early threads, more people were selling skins in the range we see now at 800g which includes the blueprint price now. There were still many people selling skins with single print prices and multiprint options. It also seems like preorders to fund blueprints were also rising in popularity (Dactyl, 2013).

I can also see the topics change as time goes on. In June/July 2013, people were offering designs only as interest checks. In August/September 2013, people were requesting constructive criticism and help with designs. September showed that the markets settled people into two big models, supply your own blueprints to the artist or join preorder runs (Magyr, 2013). It was clear to me that the people who used preorders and standardized their prices ended up doing better than the people who sold umas without blueprints (Violet, 2013; Incarnation, 2013; Grimgram, 2013)

By the early 2014 in April/May, preorder runs became the standard and prices reflected what we see nowadays (Kanamine, 2014). Though, there were people selling skins at dynamic costs, where prices would decrease if more people joined the run (Kenjinthala, 2014). Skin retirements also happened more often in 2014 where the artist wanted to stop printing a certain uma because they wanted to move on to newer designs. This is similar to what happened around 2018 up until 2020 ish. It’s taxing to keep an active catalogue instead of retiring some to make pinglists more manageable. I think the time between standardized, and thus cheaper prices, and my rising interest in skins during this time was probably no accident. I would bet a lot of people also joined because of the reasonable prices and clearer organization.

Many interesting things happened in 2014. An event I came across was from the Mistral Jamboree event where people designed skins and had the chance to win a 10 print blueprint pack (Amphitere, 2014)! Selling UMAs to a secondary market started around this time where people were only selling a handful of UMAs (Dabble, 2014). I also want to state that the [accent=skin id] tooltip didn’t exist yet so everyone was using the png image of the tooltip. Moreover, if people had skin/accent problems, there was a thread to post to now (Aequorin, 2014)! No more pming mods, admins or sending in help tickets!

“Looking for x accent” or “accent wanted” threads became popular in 2014, which meant it clogged up the board for artists looking to sell their umas. This heralded the rise of GASP version 1 in early 2015 where google sheets made its big debut into the skin and accents board (GASP, 2015). Artists also started using google sheets to contain their pinglists to make life easier instead of checking pings to see who needed to be added (SarcasticSketch, 2015). This allowed better coordination to allow artists to monitor many different skins and the status of multiple runs.

By 2015 to 2016, skin shops had stronger branding with different banners and personal archives of what skins they have made (YusukeKitagawa, 2016). Since shops were also gaining stability and popularity, there was also a stronger desire to limit runs or else be stuck in administrative purgatory. It takes a lot of work to keep all skins active between taking preorder payments, then trying to send them out to everyone with crossroads or private messages. This did introduce the subtle distinction where accents artists were interested in running again are called “reprint” runs, when the umas can return for sales weeks after the initial print.

Third party skin previewers also popped up around this time so that people can conveniently overlay their dragons with skins and imagine what it would look like. There was a crack down on those tools for data scraping but other go-arounds such as requesting the user to save all necessary photos locally to upload them on the previewing website instead of pulling them from FR.

Hold on to your hats, early 2017 ushered in a new way to distribute skins with the fancy pantsy new private auction system (FR News, 2017a)! This meant a way to streamline the selling process since the interface is friendlier for massive order processing. Traditional preorders can still work with the PA system if patrons send gems to the artist and that meant the artists could list the umas for 1 treasure. For artists that could afford it, names were taken down for preorders but they could list umas privately to the buyer for the full price and eliminate the hassle of organizing payments upfront. The Dressing Room also came out in 2017 where people can now preview printed skins on their dragons and scries (FR News, 2017b)!

I feel like from 2018 onwards, the uma market reached an equilibrium with what we more or less see today. There have been a few noteworthy updates. With the rise of limited skins and popular artists, resales and the secondary accent market became quite popular. GASP conducted a survey around how they could deal with the overflowing reselling ping issue (GASP, 2018).

The one part that I feel is different, is that there are more artists who are keeping shelved catalogues. It was normal in the past, but it seems like artists are actively combating the steep price increases that come from reselling limited umas. It is more hassle for the artists but the users who buy are surely happy with the shift from limited to shelved.

Conclusions The start of uma shop culture and multi-prints preorder runs started as early as July 2013. I thought this finding was funny because it's the reverse of what I found with UMA acronym history, where that started much later than I thought. Thanks for reading!! Stay tuned, the next installment might be me going through all the player skins in the database and looks at trends

#flight rising #flightrising #flight rising meta #umas #flight rising uma #this is sure one long brain wave #nevros writing #edit - I FORGOT TO PUT A READ MORE OPTION

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