#and shipping to my specific location was 12 dollars.

[vitalconviction]

crazy news, just found a tseng plushie interest check!! i just got a plush from this store, one of jason todd, & the quality is fucking phenomenal! they're very solid and the clothing is so high quality its crazy! Ntm it's shockingly affordable, the interest checks 5$ & the plush will be 34$ (37$ if it has a posable skeleton iirc)

AND THERE IS AN INTEREST CHECK FOR VINCENT TOO!!

felt it was my civic duty to post these here so they get more attention!

[taybatwo2]

The Creature From the Black Lagoon Skullector Review Part 1 of 2

I was very excited when I saw her leaked head sculpt. I love new monster-y head sculpts!!

Here’s her box! Despite not being an in box collector, I like the new design of being able to pull both sides apart. Review under the cut!

Here’s the side of her box (notice the little skullets in the bubbles??).

And a very cool graphic for the back of her box. It even looks like water damage from rain dripping down from the top of the box.

The inside back of the box. The “Date 2/12 Time: 19:54” is when The Creature From the Black Lagoon’s film was originally released. The location is located in the Amazon Rainforest.

The background of her box is very pretty. It has brain coral, a couple of divers, more skullet bubbles, depth measures (I think that’s what those are) with “30” on it (2024 is its 30th anniversary), with Kay’s legs dangling in the water.

And the fossilized hand that brought humans to her lagoon.

The certification slip. It’s on thicker card stock again (I don’t know why Lenore’s was so thin).

The Creature in her box (I really do like how she’s posed in here, reaching for swimmer above her).

And here she is with her hair combed and out of the box (her hair is pretty soft and I’m going to assume it’s Saran). I was a little low-key disappointed when I first saw that she didn’t have a new body sculpt to match the creature’s, but I do appreciate how the adapted the Creature’s naked body into a fairly cohesive outfit that works for her environment (it’s giving me some DC’s Aquaman design vibes -photo credit from HipComics)

…but could you imagine if they gave her those webbed feet and gave her some heeled sandals…and they gave her scales closer to what her arm bracers/shoes have (that the Creature showcased)…..it’s not like this is a seventy dollar (including shipping) Skullector doll….oh wait!

Now, her BEAUTIFUL head mold!! Look at all those new details! I love it so much!! And her face up is just gorgeous!!!

Side view of her head mold. Again, those gils are so lovely.

The back of her head and upper neck (I wasn’t expecting it to be so open, but it looks nice). Her head is stamped with 2024, I’m surprised it’s dated with this year and not 2023.

Now to the part I was secondarily most excited for! Her hands!!!! Look.

at..

these details!!!! They also pop off REALLY easy on my doll….

Well, right out of the box and she already has white stress lines in her arms and they will not snap into her socket any deeper than this (gives me G2 flashbacks).

Even the back of her leg joints have a bit of white stress lines where they rub against her calves. Those are all really disappointing….

Here she is in the nude. Again, I kinda wish she would have had the same new details on her body that her new hands and head have. I know it would be more expensive BUT Mattel is a big company and did brand new bodies for one-off characters in the hay-day of G1.

And her back.

I wanted to compare her to other scaled G1 female dolls.

CAM Dragon had the original scaled body…err legs and arms that are used as the template for the rest of her scaly brethren. She has the best mobility in her shoulders too. Lorna was the only little sister body to have scales and is a one of a kind body with detail that would have never been seen if she was never re-dressed.

Proof that Mattel can do detailed, specific body sculpting (on PLAYLINE DOLLS). CAM Gorgon was the original (I’m pretty sure). And looks to be a modified version of CAM Dragon. Then Jinafire was released (notice the scalloped belly scales and the border around them). Lastly, Viperine was released and she just has such a beautiful body mold. Her belly scales are not only raised, with a different design, but she has a completely different scaling pattern on the rest of her body (they are sharper in shape, go down farther in her feet and have the same “belly scale” pattern continues on her inner thighs and arms)!!!

Jinafire and Lagoonafire share the same body mold (minus the hands/head), but modified it so she has fins on her forearms and legs.

Then they modified it again (got rid of the tail hole) and reused the exact same body for Greta and Creature. EXCEPT it’s worse!!!! This is the closest they can put down their arms and they both have loose fore-arm joints (like MH’s G2 dolls). Should I be surprised at Mattel’s cheapness…no, but then again, these two bodies are the more expensive Skullector editions. :/

Her clothing/accessory review along with a few other doll comparisons will be in Part 2.

[at-the-end-of-days]

It seems the United States’ FBI is concerned about attacks around Christmas.

FBI, DHS, and NCTC assess that ongoing tensions related to the conflict between Israel and HAMAS likely heighten the threat of lone actor violence targeting large public gatherings throughout the winter, including holiday-related, faith-based, New Year's Eve, and First Amendment protected events related to the conflict. Although this announcement is not in response to any specific plotting activity, these targets likely remain attractive to lone actors inspired by a range of ideologies due to their accessibility and symbolic nature.

And so? It seems to me as though the United States is nearly penciling in their entry to world war 3.

The United States’ military bases in the Middle East have been attacked. 87 since October 17th, with no true retaliation taking place.

Battleships have been shot at. As well as commercial vessels.

And? In the Red Sea, there was a tanker ship attacked by missiles and skiffs full of armed people. The Houthi rebels attacked a ship carrying jet fuel that the Houthi’s shot two missiles at and tried to direct to Yemen. The USS Mason responded and had a drone shot at it, which it shot down.

Yet the United States has only acted in self defense, while the Houthi’s have attempted a blockade of Israel, attacking seemingly indiscriminately at nearby ships, not all of their attacks thus far having been at Israel owned or Israel controlled ships. While the US is setting up Task Force 153 to address this..

The United States has yet to take more definitive action.

Why? Well, I have a theory. I think the United States is waiting for Christmas to be over. The UK has issued a radiation event warning (no doubt preparing for nuclear war, what else could it be).

And has advised their citizens to begin stocking up on things such as flashlights.

The United States has issued no such preparatory measures for their citizens. Why? Likely because the United States is prone to panic buying, and if they’re panic buying, they’re likely not getting Christmas gifts this holiday season, when inflation is already so high, and credit cards maxed out.

https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/credit-cards/what-is-the-average-credit-card-debt/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20average%20credit%20card%20debt%20in%20the%20U.S.,card%20debt%20in%20a%20year.

This article is dated December 12, 2023, and this post is being typed on December 13, 2023. In this writer’s opinion, 7,000 dollars is very little to own when a rent payment in the United States could be 1,200, 2,000, 3,000 dollars. But it’s a very good deal to owe when their workers make 7.25 minimum wage, or 11, or 15 an hour.

So why tell the people? Why have them panic? Buy up groceries when there are supply chain issues? For elaboration on this, due to Tumblr mobile having issues with my multiple article citations, please look up the Panama Canal, and how they have gone from 40 odd to 18 odd ships a day, and how many of those ships are going to or from the United States.

Meaning that if grocery stores there are made barren, how quickly could they be replenished? And what about the poor corporations losing out on holiday sales?

No, I doubt that the people of the United States will be told to prepare for war until war is declared. Not that the UK’s warning is glaring either, and they have their own politics to contend with, their own enemies to fight, like the Rwanda deportation vote passing.

No, I think the most they’ll get is that FBI warning. And the world knows that the United States has fabricated attacks before to get them into war. A certain ship comes to mind. I think that if no attack comes, one will be created. One so great that the United States will simply “have to” go to war.

But it won’t be until after Christmas.

Disagree? Think I’m wrong? Please comment or DM me directly. I enjoy alternative ways of thinking. Especially from those not as pessimistic as myself.

[johnmurphysreddit]

Collected spoilers and predictions

And my steaming hot takes on them

Lexa comes back to tell Clarke it’s OK to move on.  

8/10 on the likely scale.  Could be the actress. Could be a tech handwavium.  

Lexa downloaded into Russell along with Sheiheda and they’ll fight for control of the body

And then Jason will say something incredibly awkward about his Ultimate Bisexual lead.  

Sheiheda is Cadogan

Scarred emo boy in a hood looked too young for that to me, but if Indra is about 50 and Sheiheda was an evil overlord when she was a girl and we’re 100 years post apocalypse when Cadogan looked about 40 in his anti-tech videos....  Eh, the timeline was broken this season anyway.  Continuity has never been a hard limit, and maybe that “each season is a movie” thing was to tell us this season’s even more off than others. 

Sheiheda is the Shepherd

TBH I don’t understand this theory.  How’s an emo teen murder boy from Sangeda who was on earth 50 years after the bombs simultaneously supposed to have lead a bunch of culty space mercs?  

Cadogan is the Shepherd.  The level 12s of his cult found the wormhole on earth and that’s why the bunker was empty.  

Intriguing.  

Cadogan is the Shepherd and they put him in cryo when his “tech is bad” philosophy conflicted with their use of mind readers, invisi-helmets, and wormholes that they got from the aliens. 

We’re 25% of the way into the season.  If we were going to see aliens I hope we’d see them by now or be focused on building tension around the “ooohhh aliens!” issue.  But yeah, I think they iced down the Shepherd when his philosophy was no longer useful but having him as a focal point was. 

Orlando was Cadogan. 

Unlikely.  Jason loves his own mythology and Orlando was a one episode character who’s dead now. 

Clarke and Bellamy will wormhole back to the destroyed earth and restore the soil with Monty’s algae

In what continuity are they the people most inclined or able to tend and restore the soil? 

Bellamy will be an amnesiac cultist when they find him and he’ll try to kill Clarke

My eyes just rolled so hard I saw my own brain, so yeah, 9/10 chance it will happen. 

The way wormholes work and the planets are shown positioned on the diagram Penance is running at normal time it just seems faster compared to Sanctum.  Sanctum is incredibly slow and Bardo is unknown.  Bellamy could be anywhere from a few years older than when he left to dead of old age. 

I don’t think Jason knows or cares how wormholes work and we’ve seen pictures of Bob looking well scrubbed but more or less the same as when he left but in a new outfit. 

Under the Sanctum is the slow one theory earth has had thousands or millions of years to recover and they can go back to a lush green planet. 

Gotcha.  And bumping this up to plausible.

No no no that’s wrong.  Earth and Sanctum are on similar time scales because we know Josephine and Russell’s age and.....

You guys are in too deep. “Time is misbehaving but there’s no time travel” means to me that counting the timeline is useless but no one is going backwards.

Bardo is Earth but after recovery time has passed.  Cadogan’s people won (sort of) and they did inherit the earth.  They were chilling in some other bunker still while the Grounder-Arker apocalypses were rolling. 

I think that violates Jason’s no time travel statement, but I’m here for the idea that there are still bunker people on earth who skipped the entire Grounder and power plant melt down phase. 

Bardo is on Earth inside a bunker.  Boom. No time travel. 

This theory is from reddit thus the hostility in the phrasing.  

Clarke and Bellamy use the portals to go back and stop the apocalypse. 

That would make a spin off about the apocalypse really awkward. Also when have Clarke and Bellamy jointly ever deescalated a situation? 

The timelines split.

I love infinite possibility stories but they don’t seem to be doing that. 

“The last war. A war to end all wars” is their attempt to kill Clarke.  Clarke is Athena. 

That would be a loud scream in the direction of BSG and I wouldn’t put it past them. 

Our heroes have been the bad guys all along.

I mean yeah.  Does anyone not know by now that “bad” is a matter of perspective?  If not the Sanctumites who would really like to go back to organic farming and only losing people occasionally instead of in bulk and by fire would like to have a chat with you. All that “my people” stuff was to establish that there are multiple sides to a conflict. 

It’s going to come down to a battle of Heda!Russell and the Sanctum collective against the Shepherd and his cult. 

I don’t care about any of that at all, so 9/10 likely. 

Gabriel and the Primes knew more about Bardo and the Shepherd than they’ve let on

We kind of got hints of that from some of Russell’s final dialogue about “ok you deal with it” and TBH I still don’t trust Gabriel.  200 years of intellectual curiosity just isn’t a strong enough reason for me to buy that he’s super zen as they’re hopping through time and space. 

They guy who kidnapped Gaia is Bellamy.

If Bellamy had an invisibility suit I can’t see him using it to grab Gaia.  Doesn’t matter if he’s brainwashed or not.  Gaia just wasn’t a major player last time Bellamy saw her.  It was an opportunistic grab and it doesn’t matter who does one of those. 

There are six planets. Sanctum, Skyring, Bardo, Nakara, Ethera, and one offline.  The offline one is Earth.

Maybe?  Where did these planet names come from. 

There are six planets.  Sanctum, Skyring, Bardo, Nakaro, Ethera, and one offline.  The offline one is ALIE’s world.  Or Ethera is ALIEs world.  Either way, ALIEs world is back in play. 

Sounds plausible.  

The cult is similar to the church in book 4 of the book series.

I don’t think Jason has read the book series and if he did he’s not going to admit it.  He may have had an intern give him notes on it so he can throw some kibble to people who have but I wouldn’t expect the similarities to run deep. 

Elligus 3 sold crew space to Cadogan’s cult, so we’ve got a coming conflict between the Elligus 3 descendants and the Cadogan people

Plausible.  The people on sanctum are, in part, Elligus 3 descendants so this is already set up.

(BTS gossip and spec)

NOPE.  Not getting into it.  But I will say that the excessive use of day rate actors and greenscreen may be keeping the budget per episode down but it isn’t enhancing my enjoyment of the season. 

They’re all going to disperse at the end.  No more “we’re the last of the human race.”  The human race can’t be stopped because it’s not in one location.

That’s very BSG. Steal from the best. 

Clarke will pull a lever and die at the end. 

That would be very on brand of her.

(character) x (character) endgame.

Every decision from the writing room at this point needs to be framed as “what gets them on a list to generate long term viewer dollars and relevance in five years.”  I don’t believe shipping is part of Jason’s calculation. Some people very strongly disagree.  We shall see. 

It’s all a dream / Clarke’s been dead since (point) / none of them ever left ALIEs world / they’ve all been in cryo in underground bunkers the whole time.

This could be done really well or really poorly depending on the specifics of how they handled it

That’s the end of my list but I know I missed a lot.  Comment or send me asks with others.  It looks like we’re in for a ride. 

[adiblasio]

Local Competition

The obvious place to go to find my competition was google & after weeding through the various recipes to make granola I was finally able to locate some local competitors that are doing what my business venture plan is.  

The first company I found is Georgian Bay Granola Co. The website is very nice with beautiful pictures of products, scenes, company employees (assuming), and a beautiful drone video of Parry Sound, where the company is located.  The website is simple and easy to navigate and easy to access the products with a zoom feature while hovering over the product to get a closer look at the granola.  There are 5 products available with an easy to order online option or with a store locator map based on your location and a further filter option of a specific product feature. Products are available to order once or to order on a “subscription” option for a better price & delivery every 30 days.  Products can also be found in over 100 stores, including in a store in my town. The company is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and they post every few days, so quite active on social media.  I was only to find 3 glowing reviews on the homepage, no other reviews available.  The website has a phone number and e-mail address to contact the company.  The site has up to date information regarding Covid and what the company and the shipping company are doing to keep customers safe. There is also up to date information regarding shipping delays due to Covid.  Pricing ranges from low to high depending on the amount you purchase, the price is the same for all products.  Their strengths are that they have been in business since 2012, they are available online and in multiple stores, they are a local Ontario business, are family-run, are active on social media, and support the environment.  Their weakness is that there is a lack of reviews for the individual product, service, or the company in general.

The second company I found is Not Yer Granny’s Granola.  The website is very nice with beautiful pictures of products. The website is simple to navigate and easy to access the products with a zoom feature to view the granola.  The company features 3 mixes and 2 different sizes that can be ordered online or purchased at their store in Barrie.  The company website also states that the products can be found in bulk at independent stores, juice bars, health stores, and specialty stores throughout Ontario however no indication of which stores.  The company is on Facebook and Instagram but they are inconsistent with the frequency of posts, some months they post every few days and other months only once if at all. The website has a section for reviews however I was only able to find 2 reviews posted. There is a phone number, e-mail address, and a contact form that can be used to send a message to the company.  I should also mention that the company has a section for custom made cookies (doesn’t appear that it’s granola related) but not much information on this, the customer must call the company regarding the cookies. Pricing for the granola was a dollar less than the first company I looked at, still an average price for homemade granola. Their strengths are that they are available online and in stores, they are a local Ontario business and are family-run.  Their weaknesses are that the website was confusing, only showed 3 mixes however their social media showed other products that appear to be company products but no mention of them on the website so customer would have to go to the store or call in to find out if they sell that product.  I also had trouble with the website periodically freezing as I was navigating through, other web pages I had open weren’t affected so it wasn’t an internet issue. I also found the lack of reviews not very reassuring; I know that this shouldn’t be the something to make me want to purchase from a company however I’m the type of person that I need to see reviews to see if I should give them a try, I wouldn’t want to waste my time or money.

The third company I found is Living Alive Granola.  The website is a very simple set up and very easy to navigate, 3 main pages to navigate through…products, their story, and giving back page.  The company features 3 mixes in 3 different sizes and sold in packs of 3, 6, or 12 packs that can be purchased online or they products can also be found in stores throughout Toronto, and southwestern Ontario. The company is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and has a YouTube channel, appears that they post a few times a month.  The company has a section for reviews which has reviews regarding the company and the products themselves.  There is a phone number, address, and a contact form that can be used to send a message to the company.  Pricing for the granola is cheaper than the first 2 companies I looked at, even buying it in the different packs they offer.  Their strengths are that they are available online and in stores, they are a local Ontario business, and are community-based giving back to their community with the incentive of $0.10 from every bag donated to local mental health programs. Their weaknesses are that there are only 3 mixes but the way it’s laid out on the website it appears that they offer more mixes until you look at the names of the mixes and realize that it’s the same 3 mixes but in different sizes.

[s0ffia]

If you just started experimenting with watercolors I would recommend sticking to a beginner pre made pan set (W&N Cotman 12, Grumbacher Academy or Van Gogh are good starting points in my opinion)

But if you have been using watercolors for a while, and you want to upgrade your paint quality without splurging your money, I would recommend investing in tubes of higher end paint but keeping in mind you don’t need dozens of colors to paint.

To me the best bet is to make yourself a split primary color pallete* + 2 or 3 earth tones.

*[* a palette of colors with both warm and cool variations of the primary colors: red, blue and yellow ]

I say 2 or 3 because I find Yellow Ochre to be more golden than Raw Sienna but you could leave it out and get the hue by mixing it with the other paints. Nonetheless  the yellow ochre option I included is way cheaper than the rest, I even find Winsor & Newton's Cotman Yellow Ochre to be quite nice and you can get 8ml tubes for ~$3.50usd .

For the reds I think it is great to have a true primary red (a "redder" red) and a cooler red that leans towards magenta

This paints are not cheap but It is way more affordable to get a good set like this than by trying to get a million quality colors at once; and having a limited pallete is actually better to improve your color mixing skills and your understanding of color theory. 

You can basically make any color you want with this 8 (or 9) colors. Plus all this paints are made with just 1 pigment so you can mix them without worrying about the mix becoming muddy .

All of them have great to excellent lightfastness , so you could even start selling your work without worrying about it fading. 

This is just a suggestion of brands. I picked specific ones that I have tried and I really like and use, but  you could just get this colors by any brand you like. I would suggest checking the pigment composition (for mixing it is better if it is just made with 1 pigment) , the lightfast rating.

You can definitely switch some brands for some still high quality but cheaper options (Schmincke is amazing but it tends to be about 5-8 dollars more per tube than M. Graham or Holbein, and it is even a couple of dollars more than Daniel Smith per tube)

Of course It all depends on where you live and what stores you have near by/how much shipping to your location costs. But on a retail store like Blick this set would cost you around $60-85 (depending if you pick up 8ml or 15ml tubes)

[machiiatto]

get to know the blogger !

can be used for RP  and  non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen.

1. first name: monroe 2. strange fact about yourself: a friend of mine is a published crime fiction writer, & named a murder victim after me. 3. top 3 physical things you find attractive on a person: hands, eyes, & that way you see people just melt when they finally realize they can relax around you.  4. a food you could eat forever and not get bored of: usually, pizza, but lately sweet potatoes. 5. a food you hate: veal 6. guilty pleasure: musical scores from movies or video games. 7. what do you sleep in: a t-shirt, if anything. 8. serious relationships or flings: serious 💞 9. if you could go back in the past and change one thing about your life, what would it be: there’s a few very minor tweaks I might make that I can’t see any major impact to my over all life, but honestly, I’m happy where I am so I wouldn’t want to risk that. 10. are you an affectionate person: I didn’t used to be, but now I am very much an affectionate person with friends. I’m also very physically affectionate, which is probably the biggest thing I warn friends about when meeting them offline because if you’re touch adverse, I respect tf out of that, but I will definitely need to know ahead of time. 11. a movie you could watch over and over again: the shallows, demonic, the silence. 12. favourite book: a little princess - frances hodgeson burnett. 13. you have the opportunity to keep any animal as a pet, what would you choose: a savannah cat. 14. top 5 fictional ships (if you’re a rp blog, you can use your own ships as well): jace/alec, magnus/andrew, frostiron, kylo/clary, hux/clary, & asajj/clary. yes that six, don’t @ me lmao 15. pie or cake: pie 16. favourite scent: chamomile & bergamot, black tea in general, & balsam. 17. celebrity crush: none really 18. if you could travel anywhere, where would you go: kidnapping @sithroyal​ & dropping in one @cxpt​. but unrelated to specific people, I so badly want to go to the Maldives. 19. introvert or extrovert: INTJ, the most introverted of the introverts. 20. do you scare easily: yes & I’ve been told it’s adorable. 21. iphone or android: my entire life is owned by apple so I’ve given up even considering otherwise. 22. do you play any video games: sometimes, but it’s not a huge thing anymore 23. dream job: diplomat. 24. what would you do with a million dollars: pay off all debt, buy a condo somewhere centrally located to all the things I want in my life, & also pay off my mom’s mortgage so I can claim that house & the surrounding land as my own eventually. 25. fictional characters you hate: nah 26. fandom that you were once apart of but aren’t any longer: I’m still in all my fandoms tbh.

tagged by: @sithroyal​ tagging: @cxpt​ @aestheticdriven​ @induro​ @fedumora​ @ofhomeland​ @cvldthief​ @urorvili​ @sprrcw​ @vanhlsng​ @oxtaiiiled​