#Prices and items may vary

[sbnkalny]

Prices and items may vary

[justadeadreaper]

These are mainly fluffy headcanons with slight themes of angst due to the nature of long deployments with implications/references of a death that could happen.

One thing people tend to forget about König working for a private military company is that he can still go on long deployments/missions that can take months to even years to complete where he would not be able to see his beloved.

König may be an extremely cocky man, which is something no one can deny from his voice lines. On the surface level he may think that no other person is skilled enough to kill him, but deep down that is not the case. Even if his anxiety does not actively affect him on a level you would truly notice it is still rooted deep in his brain as it spews out harrowing ideas that he can not get rid of as they nip at him while being made bigger by his trauma and past experiences. This causes a deep-seated paranoia about the idea of him dying on the field and leaving you all alone with your last memory of him being a sad one haunts him, or even worse in his time gone you completely forget about him and move on to someone new that could fill the hole he left behind.

This leads him to make the day before his long deployment the best of your life while he puts together a surprise to ensure you always have pieces of him while he is apart from you.

The day before he makes sure you have the best date of your life so far. It first starts with breakfast in your shared bed after he lets you sleep in until late in the morning, it is all your favourite breakfast foods and some of his own as he lets you splurge a bit and have your favourite dessert items as well while he eats his waffles with pistachio and strawberry ice cream. He loves to cuddle you and just stay in bed with you for a couple more hours to bathe in your love and warmth as you brush your hands through his hair before massaging his scalp before gently kissing all over his face, paying special attention to his scars. Once you finally get out of bed he takes you on a little shopping spree through your favourite stores letting you buy anything you want without worrying about the price even if you have to go to the sketchy game place that smells of death and sweat so he can get more figures or knives or guns or mangas for his collection. To end your adventure he would either take you to an aquarium or museum of your choice later in the evening so that fewer people are there just so you could have your moment together that looks like it is straight out of a movie. Before you leave you drag him towards the gift shop and he buys you whatever gifts you want  then he takes you home as he secretly calls your favourite takeout place so you can eat it together once it arrives as another surprise. Then to finish the day you spend the whole night cuddling and watching movies until you fall asleep. 

On a more spicy note, if you want children and do not have any yet I can see him trying his best to get you pregnant that night as he feels and loves you one last time just so if you lose him you will at least still have a part of him with you to help you pass through the years before you are reunited again.

In the morning he probably leaves with no word to you at all as he would hate your last memory to be one of heartbreak. Only a letter on his side of the bed. The first few pages are him apologising for leaving without a goodbye with the explanation that he is going on a long deployment before detailing how much he loves you, then he explains how he took a few of your shirts to use as a mask so he could always have your smell with him as he battles and a photo of you that he keeps above his heart so you can still be close to him, and finally on the last few pages are a detailed scavenger hunt with clues that lead you all over your shared homes with each clue leading to a spot with the clue being based on an important memory that was in that spot.

The items he would put in these spots varied and each time changed (unless it was his last time) but it was always the same types of items every time even if the spots changed.

In the first spot would always be some of his shirts, jackets, or hoodies that smelled of him so that when you were around the house you could wear them and be comforted by his scent as they would always smell heavily of his cologne. Every time after the first time he did this he would put different clothes in his place so you never got bored of the options he chose.

In the second spot would be a mixture of letters and USB sticks. There would be a letter on top explaining that the letters with white lily petals on the front and USBs with white lilies painted on them were for if he died, they have a gold writing on top that labels which life event of yours it was for and if you had children they would have the same and even if you did not have kids yet he still made some for future potential children, and the letters with forget-me-not petals on the front and USBs with forget-me-nots painted on them were for when you missed in and were struggling to deal with your life and different emotions without him there, and USBs with pink carnations painted on them that were just recorded videos him talking about different topics just for when you wanted to hear his voice talking about topics he found interesting. He explains in the top letter that the reason he wrote the letters and recorded videos that he put on the USB was due to the fact that in the letters he had to be concise and direct so he could get to everything he wanted to say while the videos are for him to be able to express all his emotions and not be confined to what would fit on the page as you see him be himself in the photos. Every time after the first time he did this he would put new letters and USBs in the place of the old ones to add to the collection with new responses to situations, topics, and emotions he thought of.

In the third spot would be a bear from Build-A-Bear (specifically the Pumpkin Sparkle bear due to it being ginger like him) that has multiple voice boxes in it that has recordings of him saying “I love you” or different compliments or nicknames he would usually call you with a custom heart too that bumped in the rhythm of his heart. The bear would be dressed up in a mini version of his normal uniform he wears on contracts as it holds a bottle of his favourite cologne just for you to use. Every time after the first time he did this he would put new clothes you could dress the bear up in based on his other outfits he wears on his contracts or at home or from when he dragged you to conventions.

In the fourth spot would be a scrapbook of your life together next to the small journals he took on deployments or used when his insomnia overwhelmed him which made it impossible to sleep. The scrapbook would have photos of all your dates together and important dates such as birthdays, promotions, holidays, etc. with petals and small drawings decorating the pages while the journals would be filled with countless pages filled with drawings of you, poems directed towards you or wrote solely about you, and ramblings about how he felt about you and everything he adored about you. Every time after the first time he did this he would create new scrapbooks that could be paired with the old that shows off more of your life events together and more journals that are filled to the brim with you.

In the fifth spot would be two books he made himself, the first is a cookbook bursting at the seams where he has handwritten all of the recipes that have been passed down his family over generations upon generations but alongside it are also recipes of all the dishes you enjoyed together or recipes he knew you loved even if you had never had the time to share them together, while the second is a book of all the jokes and puns he has told you or he wanted to tell you or he wanted to use when he was finally a dad or the kids were old enough to understand. Every time after the first time he did this he would write down new pages of jokes or recipes that he thought of that could be added to the books.

Apart from the scavenger hunt I also imagine him doing other things for when he is gone. The second most prominent thing is the little glass animals that he has hidden all around the house with a tiny scroll wrapped around their body or neck with a cute ribbon that matches the colour of the animal to keep it attached; once the scroll is unrolled it reveals it is a note about how much he loves you and how beautiful you are or compliments in general or motivation just so you can be reminded everyday of how much he loves you as if he never left, like he was still there with you. Something that could be considered as condescending that comes from his cockiness, and the undiagnosed autism I think he has, is how he writes down instructions and reminders for everyday he is on deployment for you to use as normally each morning he writes a chore list for the day with reminders for both of you to eat and drink. If you showed him how an Alexa worked he sets up the Alexa to do the reminders too but for the next 30 years just in case he dies.

When he is on deployment he will try to send back letters at any opportunity he gets as he collects trinkets to give you once he gets home. If you did have cameras set up around the house, whenever he has free time he is watching them to see how you are and what you are doing, and you can bet that if a speaker and microphone is attached to the camera he is using it to talk and have conversations with you even if they are short due to the nature of his work.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The Good Omens Card Game is coming out June 5! 🥳❤

Renegade Game Studios will release Good Omens: An Ineffable Game June 5th, charging players with stopping the apocalypse in seven different battle games, each of which you can learn as you play, all in one box! Each of the seven cooperative battle games sees players taking on a different challenge, and each can be played at varying difficulties! 

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Amazon Studios to bring fans a Good Omens game” said Scott Gaeta, President of Renegade Game Studios, “Being a huge fan myself, it was important that we capture the spirit of the show and I think that designer, Matt Hyra, came up with something fans will really enjoy.” 

In Good Omens: An Ineffable Game players will call upon characters, both much-loved and deeply-loathed, in order to defeat the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Fight Heaven, Vanquish Hell, and even prevent Armageddon. The battle games are easy to learn but pack a challenge for any group, and each is themed around the confrontations that take place at the conclusion of Good Omens Season 1. 

Fans can catch up on the first season of Good Omens now streaming on Prime Video ahead of the second season premiering July 28th. The series is co-created by Neil Gaiman and is based on the well-loved and internationally best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

“Good Omens: An Ineffable Game promises to bring the world of Good Omens to life in an exciting new way” said Jamie Kampel, Head of Licensing & Merchandising for Amazon Studios, “We are thrilled to be creating this game in collaboration with a well-known board game publisher like Renegade, who is passionate about the property and has adeptly captured the tone and details of the series in a way that will delight fans.” 

Renegade will be producing three versions of Good Omens: An Ineffable Game, each with their own unique box art and bonus items, but all feature the same great gameplay! The Amazon exclusive version will include 12 foil versions of the character cards in the game. (= First Version) The Barnes & Noble exclusive version includes a Heaven & Hell-themed black and silver embroidered Good Omens dice bag (= Second Version), while the Hobby Market exclusive includes an Agnes Nutter Book of Prophecies-themed dice bag, in a luxurious green with gold embroidery (= Third Version). 

Good Omens: An Ineffable Game will be available wherever games are sold and have a suggested retail price of $25. 

Amazon - $25.00 - the exclusive 12 foil character card versions (First Version)

renegadegamestudios.com or Hobby Market- €25.00 - seems like this is the Third Version with the Agnes Nutter bag, they have several internet stores that you can switch at the left corner of the page (for example for EU click on the last one):

The Barnes & Noble (Second Version) didn't publish the product at their pages yet :)

The Agnes Nutter Book of Prophecies-themed dice bag from the third editon:

[faeriekit]

Faeriekit's big fat library post: what is a public library for?

Things almost any public library will do:

Let you borrow books. (Specialty libraries and archives may not permit you to borrow delicate materials. You may be able to look at them nevertheless, but you dont know until you ask.)

Allow you to put items on hold! (Want us to pull a book or hold it for you? We'll set it aside under your name as soon as it's available!)

Allow you to join in for programming (may be as simple as kids storytimes, or as complicated as academic lectures. It's usually cooking classes and knitting sessions though when the budget gets short. We love outside presenters though, especially locals.)

Inter-library loans (don't have a rare book? We'll try to get it from another library!)

Things your library will PROBABLY let you do:

Let you borrow other forms of physical media, such as DVDs, Video Games, audiobooks, CDs, etc. (This may cost you extra depending on library policy.)

Let you borrow magazines! (It's not like you're paying for a subscription, unless you're me and you like mail. Let us get them for you.)

Print/fax/scan (depends on the tech available in your library; for instance, it costs your library money to maintain a fax-specific phone line, so they may not do fax. Again, price may vary.)

Access online databases! (Ah, Ebsco. We meet again.) (But sometimes there's some cool stuff. Genealogy databases, kids' encyclopedias, all kinds of cool stuff)

Borrow ebooks and eaudiobooks! And maybe even emagazines! (Despite what people say, Libby is NOT the only service that allows your library to share ebooks with your device. There's like five I can think of off the top of my head, and your library has to pay to play. Ask which service your library offers directly so you can get the good stuff)

Put up/look at flyers. (Good for sharing public information! I just used one of our advertised services to apply for low income housing. Love library wages...woo...)

Let you volunteer! Need something to add to your resume? Need wo build up some real world work skills in a low pressure environment?Spend some time with us!

Let you use public computers! Check your email or watch yt vids or apply for jobs. Up to you.

Play with board games or puzzles as long as you're there. They may even have a swap for people to trade!

Things your library MAY have to offer you:

Makerspace (cool tech that lives at the library you can use/pay to use, such as tools, 3d printers, etc.)

Borrowing cooler tech to take home (WiFi hotspots, single-use tablets, and other cool tech)

English courses! Learn with peers!

Borrowing actual tools! (I had one library card that let me borrow hiking stuff like tents and navigational tools and sewing machines and other cool stuff and they will not renew my card because policy changed and no I'm not crying—)

Museum passes (hey! Sometimes you can get into a museum for free or for cheap!)

Book requests (hey. If you tell the library to buy a book, we may just straight up buy it! Why not? It's a guaranteed circ!)

Social worker/social work help (depends on if your library can cut a deal with an organization that has social workers)

Paperwork help for seniors (I don't know how this works because our town handles this one.)

Notary public services! (This one's just straight up like. My boss.)

Tutoring services! (We have kid volunteers AND a paid online service subscription to a tutoring site. Not bad.)

Certain streaming options! (Movies and television right as your fingertips! Or. Well. You know.)

Home delivery for housebound folks! (This one again depends on staffing, resources, money, etc etc.)

Book purchase! (No, really. Sometimes there's old books for sale, or donor books for sale, to help keep libraries running.)

And, of course, sometimes your local librarians are geniuses and come up with things I haven't even thought of. The moral of the story is, libraries do a lot of things, but the majority of them, as you can probably tell, depend on size, budget, physical resources, and local support. If you are interested in any of these services, please reach out to your local library; even if they don't offer these services specifically, making your interest known tells the library what sort of things people are looking for in the community, and may even affect financial decisions down the road. The thing I would like to emphasize the most, however, is that you are likely already paying for these services in the form of tax dollars; if you do not physically go and find out what services you are entitled to, you will never be able to take advantage of them.

Call your local library today to find out the specifics!

[soft--dogs]

Ever wanted to be a marketable 90s fad that was doomed to fail? Well now your dreams can come true! For just $30 a character I will draw your fursona or character as a floppy beanie plushie :3 DM me if you're interested in grabbing a slot! I'll send you a quick form to fill out ^w^ Commission rules: - This is for art only! NO physical beanies are being made. - This is not a YCH! Poses may be similar but each one will be unique. - Character designs will be simplified!! - I’ll make it as accurate to your character as I can, but keep in mind these are supposed to be a little silly and wonky. - MUST have ref sheet or image I can work from. - No clothing, naked beanies only. - Accessories (glasses, piercings, etc) CAN be added but please specify! Otherwise they will be NUDE. - Small items/ props can be added for an additional charge! - If there is a certain style of beanie not listed here you want me to draw, feel free to ask if I can do it! I only drew a few examples, but there’s more out there. -  A lot of this is customizable, so if you want different tag color, no tag at all, whiskers/no whiskers, a different species on a certain beanie style, etc, I’m open to ideas!  - Payments through Paypal invoice only. - Turnaround time for these will vary. I’ll be working on them in between my regular commissions. Feel free to edit your commission and use as memes, icons, stickers or whatever! As long as you’re not selling it, you’re good x) Update: I had increase the price on these, they're taking me a lot longer to finish than I expected! I'm averaging about 4-5 hours to complete each beanie. Also I've had a pretty big demand for these, so my queue has gotten pretty long! Expect completion times for new slots to be about 2 months.

[olomaya]

Smoking+ (Mild Teenage Delinquency)

*cue the Spongebob 2 Years Later meme*

28-Sept Update: Added Brazilian Portuguese translations (thank you @cs2te!). Fixed an issue where there was no exit to the Sell Fake ID interaction. For those that have the Religion mod, you don't need a separate RM specific version, just download/redownload the main Overhaul package.

3-Sep Update: Thanks to ProtectusCZ over at MTS who let me know about a string issue with the vape flavors. That's been fixed so the flavors should not show up as blank when you are filling/refilling the cartridge. Also the smoking durations should now be tunable so you can adjust them in Retuner.

Czech version now available thanks to ProtectusCZ

2-Sep Update: If you have my religion mod installed, please download this version HERE (alt: here) to replace the main mod file. If you don't and don't want it, carry on.

This is the updated version of my overhaul of Cmomoney's Smoking mod which you can find here (original here). This update adds new features like vaping as well as more delinquency options for your teens by way of fake IDs.

Please read the full instructions after the cut before downloading.

Credits: Fake ID from @aroundthesims. And of course the OG smoking mod from Cmomoney on MTS.

I think that's it. Enjoy ruining your Sims' health and well-being. If you run into any issues, please let me know.

What does it do:

Everything my previous mod did

Sims can now sit and chat with others while smoking

I updated the way addiction works in the game. Previously it was just based on a random number of times smoked but now it's more nuanced and based on how often you smoke and certain trait and lifestyle factors (for example, if you have other smokers in your household, you're more likely to get a smoking habit)

Cigarettes and smoking items can now ONLY be purchased in a special section at the grocery store by YAs and above. You will see a new interaction in the store RH called "Shop for Cigarettes". Teens can get around this by using a fake ID. 

Fake IDs

Teens can purchase fake IDs from: 

Any common criminal (Sim in the criminal career Level 4 or below) 

Any teen that has a fake ID

You can offer a price and based on your offer, the dealer will either accept or reject. 

Rebellious, Computer Whiz or teens with high Rebel Influence Skill can also buy fake IDs online. The underground online market for IDs moves very quickly so prices change every time you check but will never go higher than §500 or lower than §50. Once you purchase, the ID will be mailed to your home the next day. 

HOWEVER, you need to make sure you get to the package first. If your parent gets the package and opens it, then all teens in the house will get in trouble. The one who ordered the fake will get a special moodlet that will allow them 24 hours to confess to doing it. If they confess to their sibling(s), the sibling will either forgive and agree to keep quiet or they will get mad and have the opportunity to snitch to a parent. If the wrongdoer confesses to a parent, it will exonerate the other teens but also potentially get them into bigger trouble with both their parents and their siblings.

Fake IDs aren’t foolproof. If you use it in the store, there’s a chance you will get busted and your fake ID will be confiscated. The chance is based on how young your teen is and the quality of the fake ID. Fake ID quality is determined when you purchase, based on the price you paid so you may want to think twice before jumping on that §60 fake.

Vaping

Sims can now vape, vaping pens can be found where you buy cigarettes.

Vaping pens cost §300 with a cartridge that needs to be filled before you can use and then after every 10 uses. You can buy a regular cartridge or a flavored one and the costs are varied but are all between §200-§300. (I know, it's an expensive habit.)

Vaping is not as unhealthy as smoking regular cigarettes, is less addictive and doesn't leave your Sim with a smoke smell.

For teens, vaping will still get them in trouble if they are caught by a parent doing it.

Known Issues:

There are no IK targets on the sitting animations (they kept floating above the chairs when I added them) so teens will sink a little into the chair because they're smaller than adults.

Download here | SFS alternative

[stuck-writing-sickos]

Slick (yandere coworker)

ONE

[Masterlist]

T/w: suggestive, violence, gore

So you got jokes, don't you now?

You notice my keen interest, and it makes you nervous. I'm sorry to see your darting eyes searching for an escape whenever I approach you, but that is all I will be sorry for. You see, I don't care if you find me off-putting: I like to see whichever way you react.

I have drifted through a couple of countries. I assume so have you. Cultures may vary, but under laws, social etiquettes, cuisine and fashion, we all aren't so different. We eat and sleep. We feel good when we get what we want, and we feel bad if we don't. And since not everyone is aware of how similar we are, most of us like people who agree with us a little (or sometimes, unfortunately, a lot) more than the rest. You would assume I am a cynic, but I in fact celebrate this persistent likeness among us all. I think it is humanity. Wouldn't you agree?

And what I rejoice in even more so is the effort that we put into controlling these primal instincts. Self control - a rare and remarkable virtue. You work hard on it: punctual, courteous, and moderate on all front. I like to see it, the way you resist your emotions at any given point to upkeep this image. What minotaur are you keeping away in this intricate prison you have built? Let me in.

You see, I don't want to sleep with you. Sure... it would be nice, but that isn't my end-goal at all. If I were to, it would have been out of morbid curiosity. I want more than sex. I need to know you like an autopsy. I want to cut you open, peeling through your skin, cutting through your muscles, and opening you up to take a look at the way your organs are arranged. I will be precise, I promise, in both slicing you open and sealing you back up. All I want to do is look.

With how wary you are around me, I didn't expect for you to say yes to dinner. Maybe you were sick of eating alone, or maybe you just felt rude not to. Either way, I could tell that whichever reasons compelled you, it wasn't about me at all. No matter.

Again, this isn't about you.

You courteously ordered the mid-range price item. I asked if you were sure. You said you liked that dish. Do you, now? I didn't correct you. You refused wine, even when you were not driving home. You didn't think I would notice you coming in from an Uber, did you? I pretended not to see you coming in - you're not the sole clever one between us. I didn't push it anyhow. I liked what I was seeing: you were cautious and observant, safe under you soft-spoken exterior.

You asked me questions. You wanted to know where I grew up, if I had any siblings, how college was for me,... so on and so forth. You didn't answer any of mine - not really. I got a little antsy, I admit. Not every day do I see someone not keen on talking about themselves.

So you got my history and I got that you grew up "pretty far from here", that your hometown was "quaint but charming", that you went to college for "a degree you "aren't even practicing right now". Funny. You got jokes, don't you? You gave me a little taste of my own medicine. I felt as if we were trying to meet eyes through our own microscopes.

I didn't push you to open up. I thought entertaining your questions would loosen your guard eventually, but you were committed to your fortress. Fine... all good. I could still watch the way you move, precise and gentle as you maneuver around the table with candles, empty glasses and flower vase. You were too smooth, as if holding back a force. It was as if I was looking at a pressure cooker. This level of management implied, at least - from my humble opinion - a boiling chaos from underneath. After all, equilibrium can only be attained by equal forces.

You kept yourself so effortlessly mysterious, it made me wonder why you would even go on this date with me. I bumbled my way through the food and dessert, antsy and eager to see a crack on your mask to no use. I suppose you got into my head... not the other way around. Still, you kept me going - your elusiveness thrilled me.

As I said, I like anomalies.

You got me so good, that by the end of the night past all the talking and electricity, my confidence took such a hit that I offered to drive you home with my tail between my legs. I would love to say I was taking it slow, that I was enjoying the process of solving the puzzle that you were, but truth is I was ashamed of myself. You didn't unravel the way I hoped you would, and I protected myself with the conviction that you were a robot, and that I wasn't that interested in your process after all.

So you could imagine the surprise when you tilted your head with the most deviously clueless look and said "really? I didn't think I was going home."

[honeybeeofficial]

If anyone is genuinely interested in commissioning me to make them a horseshoe crab bag, here's some info!

Price: $780 USD

A partial payment will be required up front, with the remainder due upon completion before the bag is shipped. Willing to negotiate additions or modifications to the original design for an extra cost.

If you want to commission me to make you a horseshoe crab, please email me at benevolentoverlamp@gmail.com! That will be the best way to handle a big project like this.

Timeframe:

Allow at least 3–5 weeks for production. If I have multiple commissions lined up, this will take longer; I will provide a more detailed estimate when you contact me.

Allow 1–2 weeks for shipping.

Shipping:

Listed price includes shipping within the United States.

For shipments outside of the United States, please contact me. Additional fees will apply. Shipping may not be possible to all countries.

Additional information:

Each item is hand-crafted and therefore unique. Leather is a natural material; there may be minor variations or flaws, especially in color and texture.

My availability to take commissions may vary, but please do reach out if you're interested! If I'm unable to take your commission at that time, I will let you know.

This price includes materials, time/labor, and shipping. This is a time- and labor-intensive craft which results in a high cost. I have no expectation of anyone to commission these from me, but a few people have expressed interest so I want to offer it as an option.

---

Original post | Want to make one yourself instead? Buy the pattern!

[ridiasfangirlings]

How to buy K merch in the Year 2024

I got several asks about this so rather than do each individually, I’ve decided to just make one big How to Buy K Merch in the Year 2024 post. I’m going to skip over the more obvious western sites like eBay and focus more on Japanese sites here. Because there hasn’t been much new K merch in some time keep in mind that most of what you will be looking for is secondhand, which means availability will vary.

Shopping Services

For some of these sites you will need a shopping service, so we’ll start there. This is by no means a comprehensive list of available shopping services, just ones I’ve used and liked. 

FromJapan - This one is very straightforward — copy and paste the url of the item you want into their search bar. For anything in certain sites like Rakuten this will pull up a page that will give you the item and its price in your currency and you can just click add to cart. For other sites you may need to request a price quote, there’s a small form to fill out and they’ll get back to you on if they can order it. Timing depends on when you make the request. The nice thing about FromJapan is they will hold items for you for 45 days, so you can collect multiple purchases from multiple sites over time and have them all shipped at once. The bad side is that after 45 days they will discard your items, so keep an eye on when your oldest item arrived (you can see how long it’s been at their warehouse on your account page, and they will email you as the deadline gets close too).

Treasure Japan - Treasure Japan is a much smaller service than the others on this list but also the one I’ve used the longest. Being a smaller service means they tend to be more able to purchase items that might have seller restrictions, particularly from places like Mercari. Some listings when pasted into other shopping service sites will have a ‘cannot purchase from this seller’ warning, because some sellers don’t want to deal with shopping services. I haven’t had much trouble with this merchandise-wise, but when I’ve run into it with j-fashion Treasure Japan has been able to order when the bigger services couldn’t. Their site is set up so you will input different sites in different sections, there’s one for auction, one for ‘flea market’ (this will be places like Mercari) and one for shopping sites. 

Buyee/Tenso - Buyee is a shopping service, Tenso is a forwarding service. They’re owned by the same parent company but are separate sites and you’ll need a separate account for each. Buyee is directly integrated with some sites like Mercari and Yahoo Japan, you can put in the url into their search bar and get a listing that you can buy immediately. Like FromJapan, any sites outside of the ones they’re integrated into will require you to request a quote (I found this more difficult with Buyee than FromJapan, personally) and they will sometimes be unable to purchase items. They will hold your items for 30 days at no charge, and you can request to consolidate packages for shipping.

Tenso, as I said above, is a forwarding service and somewhat more complicated. Basically when you sign up they will give you a Japanese address (presumably one of their warehouses) and you can then buy directly from Japanese websites, inputting the address you were given in the address field and paying with your own credit card. The items will be shipped to Tenso and from there you can have them sent to you. Obviously this is more complicated than a shopping service. I’ve used it mainly for things that didn’t involve an item being shipped (this is how I signed up for Fan Clan back in the day, for example, though my lottery goods were sent via Tenso too) or sites that require you to sign up to purchase from. I wouldn’t recommend it for any marketplace type site unless you’re fluent in Japanese, since sellers on those sites may try to communicate with you. 

Stores 

AmiAmi (no shopping service needed) - AmiAmi is mainly for new goods but I’ll mention it here anyway, in case K ever gets more merch. AmiAmi usually sells out on preorders, you place your order and they will let you know when the item arrives. You pay at that time. They do sometimes get used merch though so you can keep an eye out there, sometimes there will be decent deals on items that only have small flaws like the box being damaged. 

Amazon Japan (may or may not need a shopping service) - Did you know overseas people can buy from Amazon Japan? You do now! You will need to make a new account, even if you have an Amazon account in your country. Whether you need a shopping service or not depends on the item. Anything sold directly by the company will likely not need a shopping service — the majority of my K manga and the stage plays were all bought directly from here, and when I was supplying raws for Countdown and LSW I was buying the magazines from here as well (I’ve also used it for Pokémon plushies and sewing books). If the item is being sold by a third party seller though you will likely need a shopping service. The site will tell you when you try to check out.

Surugaya EN (no shopping service required)/ Surugaya JP (shopping service required) - This is a secondhand shop and a great place to find merch. The main difference between the English site and the Japanese one is that the Japanese site has a larger selection (particularly doujinshi, and even more particularly spicy doujinshi). The English site periodically has free shipping sales so keep an eye out. Surugaya also has physical stores and will sometimes share merch between the store and the site so keep that in mind too, I have had items canceled before because they sold out in store and the listing hadn’t been updated yet.

Mandarake (no shopping service needed) - Another secondhand shop similar to Surugaya. I have not actually purchased from them myself and am not fond of their interface but I know people who have bought things from here. Like Surugaya they share stock with physical stores so something you want can sell out even after you’ve purchased. 

Lashinbang (shoppng service required) - More secondhand shops. Lashinbang is rather small though so they don't always have much stuff, at least not for K.

CDJapan (no shopping service needed) - This is also better for new merch than secondhand but still worth a mention. I’ve found their prices tend to be worse than a lot of other stores though, this is more of a last resort for me.

Otaku Republic/Goods Republic (no shopping service needed) - Otaku sells doujinshi, Goods sells merch. The main draw is that these two are easy to search if you’re uncomfortable dealing with Japanese sites. I haven’t used them in quite a while but when I was buying from them they would send me free gifts with every purchase (my S4 cup came from them, as well as a bunch of clear file folders that I didn’t take pictures of because they’re being used as sewing pattern storage right now). The main downside is that while shipping is free over $50 they massively mark up the base prices to make up for it. I eventually stopped using this site because the shopping service was cheaper even with shipping and fees, you are paying for convenience. A lot of their ‘inventory’ is just listings from other sites including Surugaya, so check there first.

GoraShop (shopping service required) - This is Gora’s direct bookshop! They only have the season novelizations and Idol K books right now, as well as some Ayaka stuff. 

Kinkurido (shopping service required) - This is the King Amusement Creative shop. All Memories was sold through this shop but is currently sold out, if they ever restock Gora will likely announce it on their Twitter. They do have some other small K goods available, including some CDs and artbooks (and Sarumi body pillows). 

Marketplaces

Mercari Japan (Shopping service needed) - If you’ve ever used the English version of Mercari, here it is again but Japanese edition. You can find a lot of good used pieces here but prices are set by the individual seller so be wary of overpaying the first thing you find. Be sure to use a translator to look at the description in case you're buying a damaged item. Sometimes shopping services can try to negotiate the prices if you ask. 

Yahoo Japan Auctions (shopping service needed) - Similarly as above, if you’re familiar with eBay this is fundamentally the same thing. Some shopping services will allow you to place last minute ‘sniper’ bids, and most will let you set a maximum bid and keep bidding on your behalf until that max is reached. 

Shopping tips and things to know

The good news about buying from Japan right now: the yen is weak, so you can get deals! In the US, anyway. This may depend on your country so if you’re unsure on the exchange rate you can google “[your country’s currency] to yen exchange rate” and it should give you an approximate.

The bad news: shipping is killer. Keep that in mind, especially if you’re buying heavy items like bags or shoes (yes, K has those, there are several SuperGroupies collabs. If you want a S4 purse or Yata Misaki shoes keep in mind you will probably be paying through the nose for shipping). For the European types, you may have additional taxes too so be aware of your country’s import laws. Ditto when it comes to customs. For my fellow Americans, I have never had a customs issue even when buying fairly pricey dresses so you’re probably okay on that end but I can’t speak for other countries. 

Character tax is real. Basically, more popular characters will likely have more expensive merch because there’s more demand — for example, Fushimi and Yata merch tends to be more expensive than, say, Silvers merch. Keychains and pins are usually cheaper than larger items like figures and standees either way though. 

Most of the Japanese sites will need to be searched in Japanese. For character names, I suggest going to the K wiki and grabbing your favorite character’s name in kanji and using that to search. For pairings, while marketplace sites like Mercari may have listings under the pairing name sites like Suruga will use the two individual character names so you’ll want to search under that. If your browser doesn’t have an add on to translate that’s very helpful to grab in order to make your experience easier. For K itself, in general this is really the downside of having a favorite series with a one letter title. However, using ‘Missing Kings,’ ‘Return of Kings’ or ‘Seven Stories’ can be helpful here but will likely mostly turn up merch made for that specific season/movie. 

If you want to look up something specific like a plush but don't know the Japanese word for it, Jisho can be helpful. Look up the kanji for the word you want and then copy-paste into your search. The downside is sometimes there are multiple words for the same thing or a word may be in kanji but people use the hiragana more often and you won't know, but it should get you on the right path to start.

On buying spicier goods: most shopping services have it in their terms that they will not buy adult items. In practice, however, this depends. I've had FromJapan refuse to buy perfectly tame G-rated doujinshi. Treasure Japan has in their terms that they won't ship adult items but like 70% of my doujinshi collection was purchased through them, with an R18 Sarumi book purchased as recently as last year. I've heard Buyee also states that they won't ship adult items but it's hit or miss if they turn down your order, and if you buy directly using Tenso they likely won't even open your package. Keep your country's laws regarding importing in mind, especially if you think customs might be likely to poke around in your package. Don't get in legal trouble just for spicy drawings.

Buying secondhand is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes it takes a while for what you want to show up, so just keep looking! When I was collecting my nui set I literally bookmarked the search for “K ぬい” (nui) on Mercari and checked every day or so, which may be more obsessive than you want but it does get the job done (I was molded in the merch search mines of trying to find lolita dresses that haven’t been sold for 10 years, so I’m used to this kind of thing). If you keep looking you may even find things you didn't know you needed, like this Sarumi bedsheet I forgot to add into my collection post.

Happy hunting!

[ryanyeenart]

🎮Gaming YCH🎮

PM here or DM me on TT (RyanYeenArt) with your Refsheet to claim;

$150 dollars, Paypal Only;

Price may vary depending on the complexity + exceeding the number of items;

Forward/Share this post if you'd like to be my Player #2 or want to help an artist in need~

[alex51324]

Hamburger Festival Report!

There's a pretty standard template for American town festivals: You block off a few streets (unless there's a park or something that makes sense to use instead), and rent spaces for people/organizations/businesses to set up booths. There'll be a stage or two with free entertainment--usually musicians, but there can be dance troupes, magicians, etc. in the mix. There may be some activities or contests tied into the festival theme, but the main events are a) eating, and b) wandering around looking at booths.

Sometimes this type of festival will have a carnival or midway attached to it, with rides and games, but these are not a required element of the standard American town festival. This one had a rock-climbing wall and a mechanical bull, interspersed with the typical booths, but that's it.

These festivals do not have to have a theme--where I grew up, it was just the TownName Street Fair--but a lot of them do. Food is the most common type of theme: you get Apple Festivals, Seafood Festivals, Tomato Festivals, Maple Syrup Festivals, all sorts. Something to do with local history and heritage is also common, like Old Time TownName Days. The amount of emphasis placed on the theme varies.

Since hamburgers are already a typical food to sell at festivals, they were very heavily represented at Hamburger Festival! The festival guide listed over forty different hamburger stands. I went around and took pictures of the menus for the ones that looked good, before deciding what to buy.

@griseldagimpel I think these two are probably the most innovative ones I saw!

There were some professional food trucks:

That second one had some interesting-looking options, too.

Here's another menu with some interesting options; this was one of a handful of stands offering a vegetarian burger option. (That Elvis one looks pretty innovative, too.)

There were a few stands offering the hamburger-with-a-crabcake-on-top, which sounded interesting, too.

Or if you just want a classic hamburger at a reasonable price, you could go with the stand run by the Boy Scouts:

Their burgers started at $5, and smelled pretty good!

Alcohol availability at town festivals varies regionally; in some parts of the US, it's considered inappropriate for alcohol (even beer) to be sold or consumed at events attended by families with children. Pennsylvania (where I live, and where Hamburg, PA is) used to be one of these, but our alcohol laws have been relaxing quite a bit over the last 10-15 years or so. As a result, Hamburger Festival does have beer and wine vendors.

However, they are limited to a fenced-off portion of the festival area, and if you buy a cup of beer you have to stay inside the fence to drink it. (Some of the vendors also offered discreetly-packaged bottles and cans to take home, but you are not allowed to open them on the premises.)

Of course, all of the food vendors are outside of the fence, so if you want to have a beer and a hamburger simultaneously, you have to buy the burger first, and take it into the Designated Beer Area.

This I did; I went with the Brie and Apricot Jam one, and a cranberry-ginger hard cider. (My other top choice for the burger was the Heavenly Hog one, with the apple slaw.) Both were excellent!

Band playing in the Beer Area:

They also wisely placed the Great PortaPotty Cluster adjacent to the Beer Area:

Back outside of the Sin Zone, vendors include classic fair food:

And church bake sales:

Nonfood vendors include crafters/artisans, like this metalworker:

The Starship Enterprise was like $500, so I didn't buy it.

There are also crafters selling items with, uh, lower production values, and lower price points. There were a couple of booths selling 3-D printed fidget toys. I considered this polar bear, because it almost looks like Autism Creature:

But in the end I went with something else, which I will share a little later.

They also this, a version of the betta-in-a-cup that won't make @kaxen mad:

Pictured: The only kind of fish you should keep in such a tiny container!

Also represented were various kinds of MLM schlock:

Like this CutCo Knives stand; there was also a Pampered Chef one, several of the jewelry ones, and the one that does dip mixes and stuff; it isn't Taste of Home (that's a magazine), but it's something like that.

I did buy some seasoning mixes, but I got them from this decidedly more amateurish-looking (and cheaper) place, which also sold soap.

Another performance space; this one had a bluegrass trio that was actually pretty good.

Here a child had a stand selling 3D printed gizmos:

Where I obtained this treasure:

Her mother, it developed, had been highly skeptical that anyone would want to buy these, but I assured her that it was brilliant, and my favorite purchase of the day.

I also got take-home cider, the aforementioned spices and soap, some tea, and alpaca-fiber insoles. (My feet were sore, by that point.)

Another interesting thing, which I did not take any pictures of, is the evidence of widely-varying attitudes toward the festival, by the people who actually live on the streets where it takes place. The people behind the stand where I bought my brie-and-apricot burger had festooned their knee-high garden wall with wire and signs saying DO NOT SIT ON WALL, because, I guess, that harms them in some way, if someone does that. Other residents were having porch-parties to watch the festival, or were manning coolers of sodas and bottled water, usually for a dollar apiece (with this competition, most of the official vendors were also selling water and sodas for a dollar, but I bought from one of the porches anyway).

Anyway, to sum up, it was kind of neat; I don't necessarily have a burning desire to go again (although I would like to try that burger with the apple slaw), but I'd also be willing to go again. I spent way too much money on crap, but it's no fun going to something like that and not buying stuff.

[ranchstoryblog]

Nendoroid Claire Reminder: Where to order, release dates, when preorders close, and using the request form.

If you haven't gotten your preorders in for Nendoroid Claire just yet, time's running out! We've put together one last little info post with eeeeverything you need to know if you want to get your order in! Typically these things are pretty much made-to-order with very little shelf stock, so don't get left out and have to struggle with the aftermarket if you really want one!

When do preorders close?

2024/05/15 (JP)

29/05/2024 (EU)

No date listed on Goodsmile US, but Claire's page features the "Pre-Orders Closing" tag, so it's safe to say it'll probably be gone by the end of May.

When does it ship?

Both Goodsmile Japan's official page and Goodsmile Europe lists September, 2024.

Goodsmile US lists Q1 2025.

So if you absolutely want Claire the soonest possible, go with EU or JP. Including shipping, a member of our community ordering from the Japanese store to the US has said their total came out to $60.99. Another ordering from the US store had their price come out to $50.18. So if you're willing to wait, you can probably save a few bucks.

Listed Price

US - $42.99 - Goodsmile US Page

EU - €44,92 - Goodsmile EU Page

JP - ￥6,900 - Goodsmile JP Page

Goodsmile's store bills when the item is preparing to ship, not when the order is placed. So you don't have to have the money ready right now. Other storefronts will vary.

There is an exception if you use Paypal or Amazon Pay however, which will charge immediately.

Goodsmile Shop Exclusive: Golden Watering Can

If you preorder through one of the official Goodsmile shops, Claire will also come with this cute little golden watering can in addition to her standard green one.

Non-GoodSmile Retailers:

If you want to see if you can find a discount, lower shipping, or if you're already a figure collector and want somewhere that will do convenient things like combine orders to be shipped at a later date, there's a handy list of all of the ones that should be offering preorders for Claire here:

Note that these other stores won't come with the golden watering can.

The Goodsmile Request Form

If you're really hoping for other Story of Seasons characters to join Claire in the future, remember to make good use of the official request form. https://support.goodsmile.com/hc/en-us/articles/14948741690009-Product-requests-and-rerelease-requests

Probably the most key piece of info is to be specific about your request since there's some variations of characters in the series, and a few characters that share the same names. If you ask for the Harvest Goddess, there's at least 5 different ones, so mention the specific game. Similarly, If you ask for "Popuri," there's the original design from Harvest Moon 64, her alternate universe counterpart with a fresh new design in SoS FoMT, and the design from Island of Happiness.

If you want more info, we did a full write-up on the process in a previous post here:

and lastly, we'll close by sharing the promotional photos again! The tiny cow is so cute!

[madlori]

Do you have any advice for traveling as a fat woman? I'm going to Thailand in a few months and I'm a little nervous.

Hi, sorry it took me a day or so to answer this, I've been thinking about it.

I'm going to answer you first emotionally, and second practically.

I understand being nervous, especially if you're not a frequent traveler (I'm inferring that you're not)! But the first thing I want you to try and internalize is that you have the right to travel. Fat or thin, you deserve to experience other places and different cultures. You have the right to take up space. You are a human being occupying the body you have and that body gets to go places like everybody else.

You say you're nervous...are you nervous that people may react badly to you? Or are you nervous about the practicalities of traveling?

If it's the first...well, they might. That's none of your business. Other people's feelings aren't yours to manage, nor are they your responsibility. I'm also gonna say this, and I don't mean it in a victim-blamey way, but we inform others how to treat us by how we enter the world. That doesn't make us responsible for how others treat us, but sometimes we can give off signals or body language that we are ashamed, we are small...we are targets. (This applies to all people, incidentally, not just fat people) Going into the world with confidence and self-respect is surprisingly effective at getting people to treat you well. It's easier said than done, I know. But having confidence is the very definition of "fake it till you make it" because the only way to acquire it is to just...pretend you have it until it isn't pretend anymore.

ANYWAY.

There are practical aspects to traveling while fat, the largest of which is usually airplane seats. The easiest way to get around this is to travel first class which is not an option for a lot of people but it may be more of an option than you think. Check in for your flight as early as humanly possible. I fly United so I don't know how it is for other airlines, but when I check in on the app, they always notify me if there are upgrades available, usually at a much lower price than if you'd bought in first class outright. I've flown first class for an extra couple hundred bucks (on a long flight that can be well worth it).

The other thing fat people worry about is the seat belts. Not gonna lie - sometimes they fit me fine and sometimes not. It varies from aircraft to aircraft. I always carry a seat-belt extender with me in my personal item. You can get one on Amazon. Seat belts on planes are universal. Caveat: the ones you can buy are not FAA approved and I've been told that flight attendants sometimes take them - I have never had this problem. I use mine on about 50% of the flights I take.

Alternatively, as you board the plane, you can discreetly say to the attendant "I'm in [seat] and I'll need a belt extender." They have them for passenger use and they are super nice about it.

Anyway I hope all that helps? Please write again if you have other thoughts.

[max1461]

Some thoughts on gentrification discourse:

There is a school of thought which says that gentrification is the result of desirable conditions of economic freedom. As more people want to move into a neighborhood, the price of housing will naturally go up because demand is higher. The people willing to pay these higher prices are naturally going to be the people who most want to live there, and so the market is efficiently allocating the limited space that exists in cities to the people who most desire it. It may be unfortunate that the people who already live there are priced out of their homes by this process, but ultimately it's for the better, and an example of markets working as intended.

Of course, there is the obvious caveat that this viewpoint ignores: that willingness to buy an item at a given price is only an effective proxy for "who wants the item most" if everyone has the same amount of money. As long as people's wealth varies considerably, how much someone is willing to pay for something is not necessarily a good cross-subject measurement of how much the thing is desired. The efficiency of price rationing as a distribution scheme is inversely related to the amount of wealth inequality there is, and in our present society there is a lot.

On just these grounds we might take gentrification as at least potentially very unjust in any given case, if not necessarily so.

But I think there's another factor that's often overlooked in these discussions, which is the breaking up of communities. I think that people get a huge amount of illegible and difficult to price value out of community ties and lasting social relationships. Not everyone does, some people are more inclined to solitariness or more inclined by personality to atomic life than others. But I think that most people do. I also think (and know by experience) that suddenly loss of one's community can be an actively traumatic event.

That is to say, I think the good in "getting to continue living where you are already living" is systematically underestimated by people who talk about gentrification as an economic issue, and the harm in "suddenly having to leave where you are living and go elsewhere" is likewise systematically underestimated.

As a more controversial claim, I will say that this is why I am more sympathetic to rent control than most economically informed people (to be clear I am not deeply economically informed, my knowledge of economics is very moderate). The general critique of rent control is that it entrenches current residents against people who would like to move there, and I think this may not be as bad of a thing as it is generally presented as being. But I gather there are other problems with rent control related to the incentives around housing construction, which I don't know much about and won't comment on.

[lunastrophe]

is it ever mentioned that drow have a specific type of currency? if they do, is it the same for every drow city?

As far as I know, the details of the Underdark currency, or maybe even currencies, are a bit of a mystery.

🕷️In games and sourcebooks, drow use standard gold pieces (gp). Drow items - or items in the Underdark in general - are always priced in gp. It makes things less complicated for the players, allowing them to avoid constantly dealing with exchange rates.

Deafult currency in the Realms is a bit more varied and consists of coins (and sometimes also trade bars) made of copper, silver, electrum, gold and platinum. After 1489 DR, standard exchange rates look like this:

1000 copper pieces = 100 silver pieces = 20 electrum pieces = 10 gold pieces = 1 platinum piece

Drow in sourcebooks and novels also use coins as an everyday currency, and it is probably safe to assume that they use similar exchange rates.

🕷️Various nations and city-states in Faerûn mint their own denominations that have their own names. It is probably also a thing in Underdark city-states.

I do not remember drow coins being described anywhere. I imagine, though, that Lolth-oriented cities mint coins and tokens with spider motifs, since they are widely associated with Underdark drow culture. In some city-states, coins may be also decorated with glyphs of ruling houses.

Maybe drow also use coins with center holes that can be tied together, or coin strings? It could also be a spidery inspiration - spiders often use threads to hang their "valuables" (food) in their webs.

Surface coins from various parts of the world are likely also very popular in large drow cities - they come mainly from raids, but they are also transported by merchants. The same goes for coins minted by other denizens of the Underdark.

🕷️I suppose that in the Underdark, many drow prefer to exchange goods rather than coins - especially those who live in small communities, away from trade routes, and struggle with obtaining necessary supplies. Barter is probably very popular among such drow.

Edit: In Drow of the Underdark for 3.5e, there is a short section about drow economy 🙂

[dailycharacteroption]

Menagerie Manager (Starfinder Archetype)

(art by CazadorR on DeviantArt)

I’ve talked about them before in previous entries, but I do like the solution that starfinder came up with for creature companions, not only providing efficient rules so that anyone can make use of them, but making it so easy to create your own, which let you create any sort of alien critter (and can absolutely be used as a sneaky back-end way to formulate the price of robots for player purchase, for those annoyed that construct creation and price was something never directly addressed).

Anything from familiars to robot guardians to ferocious tamed battlebeasts are all on the table here, but perhaps one last frustration is that one cannot have more than one beloved critter buddy.

…That is, unless you take the menagerie manager archetype!

Contrary to the name, characters with this archetype need not be zookeepers or any sort of professional animal handlers (though they absolutely can be). Instead, all that is really required is a nearly empathic knack for raising, training, and caring for multiple said companions without neglect, and what’s more, they’re simply better at it than other trainers, teaching their pets more tricks and how to act more independently yet loyally much more quickly.

But fret not, GMs, they don’t bring multiple beasts into combat at once. Rather, they train many beasts and companions for a variety of scenarios, and we’ll see exactly how below!

Starting out, these trainers learn the basics of training mounts, combat companions, or simply having a pet squox. Furthermore, their talent for raising multiple pets becomes immediately apparent, though obviously they only bring one of them out into the field at any time, the rest being stored somewhere such as on a ship or their home domicile or base.

Later on, their mastery of companions or mounts increases, and they can push them to move just a little bit faster.

Many companions are chosen for their adorable appearance and demeanor, and others for their fearsomeness, and some for a bit of both depending on what is emphasized or who you ask. With a bit of coaching, these masters can have their pets emphasize adorable or menacing behaviors to aid their master in diplomacy or intimidation, respectively.

Later on, their mastery of their pets improves, and the loyal companions learn how to drag their master to safety if they lose consciousness. (or at least protect their body).

At their zenith, they become true virtuosos of commanding their pets, and not only will they drag them to safety, but they also can retrieve an item for their master so that it is in their hand when they regain consciousness for any reason.

If you love the creature companion rules like I do and want a way to have many that you can switch between, this archetype is right up your alley! Remember that creature companions, unlike companions from Pathfinder, do require financial investment to level up, so at least some of your character’s budget is going to be focused on upgrading the companions that you use a lot. Beyond that, companion choices vary a lot in what they are good at, so consider what your character needs for different situations, such as small, sneaky companions for infiltration work, big strong ones for close combat, and so on. As for class choice, any of them can work out nicely, from the envoy operative with multiple cute but functional pets, to the mystic focused on being a far-future druid, to the mechanic with far many more robotic companions than just one drone, to the combat class with a loyal beast companion as either hunting aid or combat beast, and even various other casters sporting magical familiars.

If you’re going to have multiple companion creatures, it only makes sense to give every single one their own personality, quirks, and more to make them truly characters in their own right, but for some players that may be hard, so there’s no obligation to.

While they were once a beast trainer for the corps, Bulkas is now retired, and spends his time training animals for competitive challenges rather than outright warfare. However, the old hobgoblin still keeps his most loyal pets, which though old and scarred, are just as deadly as ever, much like their master.

The party is on the trail of a hidden jinsul enclave, thwarting their clandestine plans left and right. They’ve successfully proven to be a thorn in the enclave’s commander’s side, but they haven’t managed to catch him yet, especially since every time they see him, he seems to have a new robotic pet armed with deadly weaponry.

Tracing their history to long before interstellar travel was even a dream, the Agyi clan has mastered every single technique of survival and espionage, cultivating the very best shinobi, and later operatives in the entire galaxy. While all partake in at least the basics, some choose to specialize, such the Collar Path, which house masters of using all manner of companions for support on their missions.