#and some pinback button sets

[ducksdontdraw]

obligatory shop update announcement! Isabelle print and a set of all 3 Animal Crossing prints are now available on my Etsy

in related news, all orders over $20 are 20% off through November, so not a bad time to check it out if you've been eyeing my Zelda stuff 😛

[hazyhund]

more custom pronoun pins I recently made for etsy orders + some fun doodles from packages :]

interested in getting a pin? they can be purchased here! everything in my shop is also currently 10% off!!

[forte7]

Heyo! Just to let you guys know I got some new button sets up on the Etsy shop! Added buttons for Delicious in Dungeon, Good Omens, Hazbin Hotel, and Sonic the Hedgehog!

These also have the option of being made up as magnets too, if you're not a big pinback button person!

I'm also working on adding the magnet option to the other listings on the shop, so keep an eye out for those soon, too! Check them out here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FilRomeroArt

[ineffableigh]

Thinking a lot about some memory parallels in season two...

About how everyone in Soho is dressed VERY ANACHRONISTICALLY, but not at all coordinated with each other. Clothes look pristine, brand new, unsullied, unworn. Caricatures of humans from the 40s, 70s, 90s, 2000s. Like an oversimplified idea of what Normal Humans look like.

Like uhhh excuse you white fur coat, leopard print skirt and platform shoes? Weird BRIGHT FUCKING YELLOW shirt, a flowy vest and leather pants? 70s crochet sweater with brown pants, crimped hair and chunky heels?

Rosie the Riveter This lady (Rosie is a different extra!) over here is either wearing big flowy skirts or actual mechanic's overalls like the war posters. She's EVERYWHERE throughout the season:

Rainbow tie dye, big hat, overcoat with pinback buttons? Like the guys in the cemetery?

Lady why are you fully lurking behind a pillar and staring at the Hamm Hams

What's my point? Point is... point is...

Gabriel's memories are the same.

RUSSIA - big hammer and sickle neon sign outside, two guys in back playing chess, one with a big bushy beard and the other a flat cap. Background music sounds like traditional/folk Russian music played on a balalaika, but playback on a ratty old stereo.

USA - Route 66 sign, hubcaps, money wallpaper, budweiser neon sign, bar/pool table/pool cues, American flags fluttering in the wind outside, 50s style radio on the shelf, SAME TWO GUYS IN BACK but now playing cards, and the one on the right has a baseball cap instead. And I don't wanna be like "what modern bar would be playing Buddy Holly on the radio" but... after hearing the background music in the Russian cafe, that is a CHOICE.

Hell, check out Not-Billie-Piper back here and her GIANT 50s up-do:

SAME THING AT THE RESURRECTIONIST, YEAH? ALL THE SONGS ON THE JUKEBOX ARE SCOTTISH OR PERTAINING TO SCOTLAND. "Letter from america" by the PRoclaimers starts playing but it was released in fucking 1987

And of course we know this pub is COVERED in Pressburger references, which we know carry way more meaning than simple fun cameos or whatever. Barring that, this is the Scottishest-Pub-est-looking-pub I've ever fucking seen, and it's SO CLEAN.

A fly IN the movie playing on the screen while we watch Gabriel's memories being returned to him from the fly he receives in this memory? More likely than you think (I can't find the movie name! Not in the X-Ray apparently)...

Anyway all that to say I think the show is trying to tell us SOMETHING is wrong the entire season. There's evidence shit's out of order, everything is WEIRD and high saturation, even people's makeup (Crowley's bloody orange half the time), and it all feels Extremely Set up...

OR poorly remembered.

[washingtonmarvel]

Since my first post about Charmion only scratched the surface, I thought I'd give some more info about a few different aspects of her story here. I hope everyone finds it worth reading.

First, Charmion was a marketing genius. She was one of the most photographed people in show business, her flexed arms ubiquitous in the newspapers of the era, and she gave out free pinback buttons with her image on them at each show. Charmion herself reported in 1905 that she’d given out a quarter of a million buttons over the previous year. I don't know how accurate that number is, but there was definitely a huge number produced and you can often find them for pretty affordable prices on eBay to this day. Charmion would also sometimes give away chocolates, clothes, and other souvenirs to the women in the audience.

Second, during her travels, Charmion made time to personally advise women who needed help with their fitness goals. During her time in New Orleans in 1902, for example, she let it be known that the hours of 5 to 7 would be set aside for any woman wanting a “conference” with her to discuss matters relating to “physical culture.”

Third, Charmion could be considered one of the first female bodybuilders. Through rigorous workouts (including curling fifty-to-seventy-pound dumbbells and one-hour bag-punching sessions), Charmion intentionally tried to build her muscles as large as possible, which was incredibly rare for a woman in that era. Even circus strongwomen, who showed off their strength publicly, often downplayed their muscularity, but Charmion was eager to show off her muscles and actively tried to grow them. Apparently, it worked. By her own account, when she began her career the (already very fit) Charmion weighed 98 pounds at a height of 5’1”. She afterward gained enough muscle that by 1902, she was a solid 130 pounds. Charmion would’ve also felt at home with modern bodybuilders in the sense that on-stage posing was a major part of her performances. After she had finished disrobing on the trapeze, she would conclude her show by standing onstage and flexing her biceps before turning around and displaying her back muscles. The audiences were as flabbergasted as you’d expect. “When she hunches her back,” said one newspaper, “it looks like a cage of boa-constrictors interlaced in a snake-fight”; “her shoulders and arms appear a knotted mass of muscles,” said another.

The less pleasant aspects of Charmion's story are the misogyny and prudishness that Charmion dealt with with throughout her career. There were attempts (some successful, some not) to ban her act in New York, New Orleans, London, and Berlin, and she had to contend with right-wing attacks throughout her career. Here are a few newspaper quotations to show the kind of opposition she encountered:

Times Herald (Washington, D. C.), May 10, 1898: “Her performance is a simple attempt to provoke all the lower passions of which mankind is capable, without passing the limit the law has placed on such an exhibition. It is for this reason that Charmion is revoltingly disgusting, coarse and disagreeable. It is because of this that no man, who realizes what he is doing, or respects himself, will care to take his mother or sister to the National Theater this week.”

Sioux City Journal, May 15, 1898: “Charmion’s object in her trapeze act is indecency.”

The Times (Washington, D. C.), May 15, 1898: “It seems revolting to think that men would go to a place of amusement with the sole idea of witnessing such a performance, but that women should willingly accompany them is nothing less than disgusting.”

The Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Aug. 5, 1898: “…it is scarcely possible to conceal the fact that Charmion’s performance takes us very much nearer to the frank indecencies of the Parisian variety theatres than we have hitherto strayed.”

Daily Gleaner (Fredericton, New Brunswick), Oct. 26, 1898: “we hail with gratification the drastic criticism by a section of the New York press of such debasing performances as those first given by a woman called Charmion…Charmion’s act had grace and beauty to recommend it, and except that it was performed by a woman it was no worse than the undressing act of the equestriam [sic] acrobat in the circus; but it was the natural forerunner of the others, and so should never have been permitted in a theatre making pretence to decency.”

The Times, January 1, 1899: “Charmion’s ‘turn’ was revolting.”

Toronto Saturday Night, January 18, 1902 [speaking about Charmion disrobing on the trapeze] “There is an unpleasant suggestiveness inseparable from such an act.”

The Kansas City Star, September 19, 1904: “Her turn is offensive to modesty.”

As infuriating as these comments are, the happy irony of the conservative attacks on Charmion is that they only made her more powerful. As even her critics sometimes admitted, the controversy stirred up by those critics served to make her act more intriguing and helped increase her popularity. For a woman devoted to liberating women from the constraints placed on them by the society, her message must have been even more meaningful because so many men tried to constrain her and she overcame that adversity. You can see how little success her critics had by the fact she was one of the most popular vaudeville stars in the world, sometimes earning the equivalent of almost $20,000 per week in today’s money.

Of course, not all men disapproved of Charmion’s act, and she had her fair share of male fans. But almost all her critics were men. And though there must have been lesser-known female critics, there’s only one example I can find of a woman (at least initially) disapproving of her. That woman was Elizabeth Grannis, president of the Purity League, an organization that supported the kind of repression and prudishness that Charmion fought against her whole career. Grannis, with a committee of Purity League members, attended a performance one day in 1901 to “judge for themselves” whether the act was as “impure" as alleged. After the performance (during which Charmion daringly threw a garter into Grannis’s box), a local newspaper said, surprisingly, that Grannis “was pleased by the things done and undone by the actress” and “was delighted with the actress’ control of her muscular system.” Charmion, likely not a fan of the Purity League, was not mollified by the praise. Asked about Grannis later, she bluntly said, “I scarcely approve of her.”

If you all are still interested, I’ll share more posts about Charmion. I’m mildly obsessed with her and there’s loads more fun facts and stories about her. Thanks for reading.

[grunklejam]

NEW TO NOT S&P APPROVED! The Familiar Faces Badge Pack!

A set of 4 beautifully designed 25mm pin badges, starring the Pines family pulling their funniest faces. (Ford doesn't pull funny faces.)

"Grunkle Stan here. I know that you think I'm the world's most beautiful man. We all do. Save maybe Danny DeVito. Point is, why wouldn't you want me on a badge? Because I'm always ready for a merchandising opportunity, I got the family together on Summerween and told 'em to pull their funniest faces. This is the result! Ya got one badge of me doin' my best spooky face. There's one of Dippy goin' all cross-eyed (I think he's cross-eyed normally, but keep it schtum) one of Mabel pretendin' she's just seen pancakes and one of Sixer lookin' like he's posing for his Nobel prize. Admittedly his is a bit underwhelming but eh…he's not used to havin' fun. All wrapped in a little plastic baggy with an exclusive, hand-designed card by some shlubby limey artist. He'll even do a doodle on the envelope, like some kinda weird signature dealy. These 25mm badges have been drawn especially by the artist, mimicking the style of the Disney TV series, and lovingly manufactured by an artisan team (and definitely not Soos during his lunch breaks). They feature a D-pin closure and are printed in vivid full colour, so it's just like those fancy movies they've got these days! Even better, we guarantee that none of this money is going to a sinister cartoon mouse, and that they're definitely not S&P approved! I even modelled one myself. I uh - I got shrunk by a crystal in the forest. Don't worry about it."

[wisteriasymphony]

TWEOS - Ch46 preview

(to everyone still keeping up with this, I'm so sorry!! this chapter has been difficult to finish for no good reason :,) ADHD go brr.)

(CW: homophobic/transphobic/ableist slurs)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"CLAUDIA GUADALUPE FUCKING PERREAULT, YOU OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

Adrien had never heard Marthe's voice before. It certainly wasn't ideal that the first time for it was hearing her shout at Claudia while banging her fists on the locked door to the apartment's only bathroom.

Claudia and Adrien had fallen asleep—if only for a few hours—in Claudia's bathtub. It was surreal, and Adrien felt aches in places he didn't even know had feeling, but what hurt the most was having to let go of Claudia when he got up to get the door.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY DAMN PERSON IN THIS HOUSE—"

"I'll be out in a fucking minute! ¡Callate!"

Claudia slammed the door just as quickly as she had opened it. Marthe was now shaking the doorknob as she shouted.

"DO NOT USE THAT MAN'S LANGUAGE IN THIS HOUSE! —YOU'RE HIDING SOMEONE IN THERE, YOU LITTLE RETARD! AND WHEN I FIND HIM, YOU'LL SURE AS HELL GET—"

Adrien open the door this time. As Marthe reached her hand in, he grabbed her wrist. To put it simply, Marthe Perreault was that odd blend of disgustingly ugly and conventionally attractive—long lashes on slightly bulging eyes, crow's feet and smile lines on a perfectly shaped face, sleek straight hair in an unflattering bun, so on and so forth. Not like it mattered either which way, of course.

Adrien mustered up what little he had left of that princely, elegant voice he used in commercials: 

"She's done nothing wrong. I'll be on my way shortly."

Marthe was taken aback, but only for a moment. She ripped her hand from his grip, before staring daggers into Claudia. It meant two things: One, Marthe had made the correct assumption that Claudia had bagged a 'wealthy boy' and incorrectly assumed that she had done so purely with her body; And two, that Marthe thought Claudia had intentionally set this 'boy friend' up against her for spurious reasons. 

"You better," Marthe spat. "And if I hear in the news she's gotten some boy like you—"

"Mom, it's not like that," Claudia lied. "She's just a friend of mine."

"Emilie," he added on. "I just needed to stay the night."

"...A dyke, then." Marthe had gotten to the point where she had lost all interest. “Or one of those transvestites. …Get your ass out of here before I call the police.”

So, they made their way out the door—Adrien first, then Claudia after once she’d packed a messenger bag full of supplies. Things that weren’t as valuable as the usual array: A bottle of water, the last snacks left in the house, an extra scarf, so on and so forth. Not like it would’ve been stolen either way, given that Adrien always made sure to be on the same side as it when they walked together so the bag would be sandwiched between them. It meant he could get a closer look at the bag, too—This faded charcoal leather with rustled buckles and decorated with plastic pins, a brooch of cranberries, a Tokio Hotel pinback button, worn corners on the edges of the bag, nicks and scratches on the sides…

“Why Emilie?” Claudia asked. She had to turn around to talk to him, the both of them stopped on the stairs of the second floor.

“…I don’t know,” he replied, even though he very much did. “Just a reflex. I used to get called it a lot as a little kid,” Adrien gestured to demonstrate about how tall he was at that point in time, which was about to his hips. “So I just got comfortable with it, y’know?” Another lie. It made him sick that he’d used it himself after all this time. “…it stopped happening around when my mom died.”

“Wasn’t Emilie your mom’s name anyways?”

“…Yeah. That’s what I mean.” Plus, it mostly happened when he and his mother were in the same room. Mostly by photographers at that, sometimes by relatives, occasionally his own father. That last part he could never really explain to himself.

They both started walking again, nearly out the door. 

“Sorry about my mom, by the way. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Adrien said. “At least I was called something new this time. After all, once people stopped calling me Emilie, they started calling me a—“

“...faggot?”

“…Yeah. That word.” Adrien wasn’t sure if he was grateful that he didn’t have to say it or offended that she did.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tags: @myriadmi @cutepastelstarsalior @dayochoco

(these are just people i cross-referenced with the ao3 kudos! if you want to be added to the list or taken off, please tell me!)

[chikos-workshop]

Shop Update - Even more Buttons!

A little late for an update, but a small post to show off some new stock and a little giveaway :3c

1. (Not so) Tiny Librarians

(Not So) Tiny Librarians Button set is now up! These designs will eventually become stickers and phone charms (if you are looking to collect them), but for now they're available as 1.5" buttons!

2. Flowers & Fragrance (Heart Pinback Buttons)

Flowers & Fragrance heart buttons also available in limited quantity, so get them while they last! Malk, Yesod, Hod and Netz framed in a heart, will they be yours?

Thanks for answering the poll btw! I really appreciate everyone showing their interest :3c

Also, if you missed the buttons, there will be prints to get as well! They're not heart shaped though :(

3. Honey & Chocolate Heart Button

Lastly, summer comes early for the arbiters in this Honey & Chocolate Heart Button! Keychains and a special standee also coming :3c

4. Giveaway

If you get any Netzach merch from now until Wednesday (Feb 8th) you may be entitled to 1 test print of Netz :3c They are a little flawed, but mostly functional!

As usual, you can find my shop here, along with my other proj moon stuff

That's all for this week! And probably enough buttons for a while while I pine for my other merch to come home from the war.

Ps: I've been trying to categorize my posts on this blog! If you search through the tags you should be able to find blogs about a character you like. It's a little bit of a clutter but hope it helps people navigate a little better :0

[lucy-mors]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Marvel Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Pinback Buttons (4 Sets) NEW.

[pronounsforpeople]

Hello! Would you be able to do a few separate checks? 1. Robin, he/they

2. Robin, he/him, xe/xim/xir/xirs/ximself, xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself, and it/its

3. Robbie, he/him, hy/hym/hys/hymself, xe/xim/xis/ximself, and ve/vir/vis/virself

(sorry if it’s a lot)

Interests: Good Omens (the tv show), reading (especially fantasy books), TTRPGS, D&D, and making pinback buttons. Thank you!

Hi Robin! Sorry this took me a while!

Robin- he/they

Hey, do you remember Robin? The one I told you about? He’s in my art class, remember? Yeah, that’s them! Well, he’s asking me to go to the store to grab some more supplies for the pins they like to make. Do you wanna come along? He said that they need it asap, so let’s go!

Robin- he/him, xe/xim/xir/xirs/ximself, xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself, and it/its

Hey there! You said you like dnd right? Do you want to join our campaign? Robin is DM, I’ve told you about xim before, right? Well, he’s really cool, and it’s also been DMing for a while, so xe knows what they’re doing. Yeah, xe has a really cool setup, we usually play in xyrs basement, but it set up led lights and a speaker to “set the mood” Like I said, it’s really cool! Come join!

Robbie- he/him, hy/hym/hys/hymself, xe/xim/xis/ximself, and ve/vir/vis/virself

Oh hey! What’s up? I’m just waiting out here for Robbie. Hy is checking out some more library books. Ve REALLY likes to read, even more than me! Xis preferred genre is fantasy books, you know what? I wonder if he has ever read Harry Potter? I have read it 10 times over, and I enjoyed it. I think I should recommend that to Robbie! Oh look, there hy is now! Let’s go!

I hope Robbie has a great rest of his day/night!

[beatleswings]

On Monday, I ordered these Beatles buttons, all 6 of the ones pictured here! And the following day I got a message saying they shipped. Just waiting for them to arrive!

If you'd like some, click on the link! They're still in stock!

[dairymold]

i had some thoughts about gerry the other day.

transcription of the featured text: I’ve been saving people for a while and I’ll admit... from a tactical perspective, it’s much easier to resist the entities’ marks if you can take advantage of their weaknesses. Once you’ve grasped the reality of the entities’ powers, they’re not so hard to combat. It’s when normal, everyday people start getting tossed into the mix that everything becomes more difficult. More of a mess. Normal, everyday people don’t know the things we know. The sad truth of the matter is that not everyone can understand it. Those normal, everyday people are being devoured by forces which you and I still don’t have the words to describe. But we do know how to help. We know how to survive in this world. And maybe I’m sticking my neck out, intervening like I do, but I can’t just sit by and do nothing when I could be saving lives. The thing that hurts the most is knowing that you’ll never be able to save them all. The fear entities will probably continue to exist until every sentient thing on this Earth is wiped out. Still, you can't let yourself fall prey to the temptation of nihilism in a position like ours. Apathy is the enemy of hope. Plummeting into a mentality of despair is equivalent to surrender. Resisting fear by holding onto love is our last line of defense against complete and total oblivion. So don't give up. You can’t save everyone but it doesn’t mean you stop trying (end of transcription)

start of image description: a comic in three parts which features a series of vingettes depicting moments of gerry’s life, all in greyscale. the first page shows gerry at a small punk concert in a leather jacket and a t-shirt. from behind him, a man in a dark suit is approaching (implied to be the frontman of grifter’s bone). in the subsequent three panels, gerry looks behind him with an expression of fear and concern as he tries to convince anonymous fellow concert-goers to evacuate. the final panel of this concert sequence shows gerry dragging an unwilling concert-goer away from the venue as the man in the suit is setting up a keyboard on the stage in the far background. gerry is running with a panicked look on his face while the person he is trying to rescue looks offended and angry. the next panel depicts gerry in a trenchcoat adorned with two pinback buttons on the coat’s left breast and a small patch sewn into the right. he has a lighter in one hand, standing over something (implied to be ex altiora) and looking down while the figure of dominic swain stands a distance behind him, holding an open envelope as he adjusts his glasses. dominic swain is looking quizzically at gerry. the next panel shows gerry with shorter hair and wearing a breezy collared shirt with short sleeves and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. he is enjoying a small cup of espresso and is seated at a café table. in the final panel, gerry’s hand is waving over andrea nunis, who is walking towards him with eyebrows knit in confusion as she points to herself, as if to indicate “me?” (end image description)

[yetanotherthriftblog]

Visited the Goodwill Outlet and today’s haul includes:

Greenie M&M plush, for an M’s fan’s birthday in May, and she requires a bit of cleaning on the back side before then.

Depeche Mode 81>85 CD, which was issued because 86>98 (theoretically) needed a preface in the same compilation category.

SmartMedia card reader. Because I have several 2mb-64mb cards!

3-ring binder from The Puyallup Fair, which I live a couple miles from, and inside are two yellow tabbed dividers and several blank pieces of paper which were torn out of a looseleaf notebook.

A set of aluminum measuring spoons, which is an excellent vintage thing, but I noticed this one has two 1-teaspoons rather than including a 1/2 tablespoon. Yes, I can math out 1tsp + 1/2tsp is a 1/2Tbsp and know that 3tsp = 1Tbsp so having two teaspoons is kinda sensible, I just thought it was odd there’d be a duplicated spoon since there’s no simple way of removing the spoons from the ring.

Rio Volt SP150 optical disk player. Rio, during its SonicBlue ownership, made ‘Diskman’-style players that could read MP3s (or non-DRM WMAs) from CD-R or CD-RW as well as music CDs. This one seems to have some issues with the buttons or connector to the buttons because, for instance, Volume Down should not change the Shuffle/Repeat, but I can fiddle with it. I’m listening to a CD-RW of Men Without Hats’ “Again” two-part release as MP3s now and sometimes it just... jams. The music play, not the music itself, but that’s another matter because while I love Ivan I miss the power of “Love In The Age Of War”. One positive thing about this player though is that it will store a big chunk of audio to its memory and stop spinning the disk, saving battery and providing genuine skip protection of up to 160 seconds from a CD (or stores a 16 minute MP3).

XANADU (1980) on DVD still in shrinkwrap?!? Oh hell yes!! I admit I’ve never seen it but now I can.

Clipboard because I give them to people at work I like. This one was formerly used to record the temperatures of a walk-in cooler at a restaurant, so I scratched the Brother-printed label off.

A three-line set of RCA cables in case I need to connect my DVD player to the TV to watch Xanadu.

A pinback that can Tri-Force.

A skein of red acrylic yarn to save it from the dumpster.

[teigantulsie]

After a lot of work crunching math and figuring out shipping and fees, I've FINALLY got my buttons listed on Etsy!!! The above two listings are my 'pick your own' listings, which allow you to pick buttons from the other listings.

I've got cool Holographic buttons and regular buttons up on Etsy. I've got 25 different LGBTQ flags available as Pokeballs or as Painterly pins. I've for some Pudge the frog buttons and coming soon will be a full set of LGBTQ Sir Pudge buttons!

I might be the only Canadian offering Holographic LGBTQ buttons, I can't find any others. That makes my buttons cheaper for Canadians. So please spread the word! I do also ship to the US, but I can't get around the fact the shipping is higher. I offer tracking though!

[foreficfandom]

Mystic Messenger - Their Favorite Gift From MC

-- Zen: Customized Bracelet --

Zen’s sort of an excessive person so he’s almost always the one giving you gifts. He doesn’t want for much and the stuff he does - like skincare products - you used to buy for him but he eventually convinced you to buy it also for yourself so you could do sheet masks together.

When you do buy gifts for him, it can be a bit difficult. His fans send him a bunch of stuff all the time, like baked goods, or fanart, or neckties. He, of course, is a lot happier when you decide to hand him something, but it’s almost never something he’s ever gotten before.

You have to outsource. So you order a custom-stamped leather bracelet from an indie crafter, something he can wear while rehearsing without worrying about it falling off. On the outside, you have ‘I love you’, and on the inside ‘Zen x MC’. 

You give it to him for Valentine’s, his favorite holiday. Zen dedicates the entire day to you and him, and pushes aside the many packages from his fans for later. 

You hand him a little box, and he opens it to gasp dramatically at the bracelet, immediately putting it on and exploring the texture of the leather. The lightly-colored tan matches his complexion perfectly.

First, a kiss for you, then its 904709 selfies with him proudly modeling his gift. It goes on his social media to a slight ruckus, because Zen’s never shown off any gifts he’s gotten before. 

“My love is so thoughtful!!! Such a beautiful bracelet <3333″

Your name isn’t on the outside to maintain privacy, which proves to be a good idea since that picture is circulated like crazy to mixed reactions.

Zen doesn’t care, this is by far the best gift he’s ever gotten. He hugs you tightly and promises to wear it always.

-- Yoosung: Vinyl Laptop Stickers --

You like to buy knick-knacks for each other on occasion. Yoosung’s wallet isn’t packing so he can only get you stuff once and a while, and you return the favor with other little things.

And Yoosung is also kinda already surrounded by little trinkets and other stuff he’s collected on his own. Little figurines and toys from vending machines, plastic reward favors from convenience stores, character-themed pens and mugs and phone charms. 

It can get a little cluttered. His backpack alone is heavily decorated with pinback buttons and enamel pins, and you know he’s home just by the jingling of the many charms hanging off the zippers.

He’s also of a romantic and ‘cute’ mind, so when you give him practical gifts of a headset holder for his gaming desktop, he’s pleased but ... he prefers it when your gifts aren’t quite so banal.

You eventually do some deep surfing for his upcoming birthday, and find this adorable pack of laptop stickers based off of LOLOL characters. These wouldn’t take up anymore of his space, and he could still carry them with him. So during his birthday dinner, you give it to him over cake and he opens it with a gasp. 

“It’s ... oh, it’s so cute! It’s perfect, MC!” He hugs you tightly and immediately has you help him stick them on. 

He uses this laptop for school, bringing it with him on most days, so it was the perfect gift to remember you by. Whenever he opens his laptop in the student lounge, or in class, he sees all those bright colors reminding him of his favorite pastime, but also he thinks of you and how much you love each other.

-- Jaehee: Promise Ring --

You’ve gotten her spice giftboxes for her cooking, a set of cozy loungewear for the both of you, and other cute things she absolutely adores.

But her true favorite? Her engagement ring. A dainty little band that matches yours perfectly. You had proposed to her during a beautiful evening in the park, making her tear up. 

“We’re partners, now,” you said. She gave a watery smile and put her ring on proudly.

South Korea wouldn’t allow marriage between you two, so these rings promised more than a union. It promised a brighter future in the face of adversity. It promised progress in the name of love and equality. 

Jaehee struggles with societal expectations for a woman like her. This ring was like a shield against the worse thoughts, or an anchor during the more tremulous times. She had chosen to pursue you against the world’s wishes, and it was the best decision she’s ever made.

You and her wear the rings 24/7. To an onlooker, it just seemed like the two of you were separately engaged people. But she knows differently. A proud little secret. 

Customers sometimes make comments about them. She’d be ringing them up, and they’ll notice the brilliant white sapphire. “When’s the date?” some have asked. She stammered,  “It’s in the making.” The customer nodded, and wished her a happy union. 

She twists the ring around her finger, looking at you wistfully. It will be a happy union. One day!

-- Jumin: Custom-Made Cologne --

What the heck do you gift the man who could have anything he wanted? Material possessions are never a strain for him. He grew up knowing that any toy, any trinket, any new technology or experience he desired, he would get. He’d ask for ice cream and his father’d purchase an entire chain. 

His current self rarely buys indulgences. He’s had years of being fulfilled already. But he definitely buys gifts for you, almost to ridiculous levels. You can see from the diversity of gifts that he has a reach for any product or merchandise, anywhere at any time. 

When it came time to get him a gift, you had asked the RFA for advice. And everyone was as clueless as you were. Even Jihyun wasn’t sure; the two of them have almost never exchanged gifts throughout the long years of their friendship, since they knew the other was showered in generosity already. 

“You’re gonna have to go custom. Something that can’t be bought,” Zen suggested. So when Jumin announced that he had to go to Birmingham for a business meeting, you came along with him. Which you seldom do, since it’s two days of Jumin being stuck at meetings leaving you to your own devices. But you had a plan.

You looked up a luxury custom perfumery, and with the help of an expert nez you crafted a bottle that would complement him perfectly. On the bottle was a label that said “Love Forever by MC”. 

So for his birthday, he accepted his gift with grace and asked where you bought it. “This bottle doesn’t look like its from Clive Christian, is it? Maybe it’s Dior ...” 

You explained where you got it, and giggled when his mouth dropped open in surprise. He opened it, sniffed, and his smile grew bigger ‘cause it was so much more special now. It was made under your hand, something that will never be replicated. His and his only. 

He loves wearing it to work. It’s so wonderful to be surrounded by a smell that reminds him of you. 

-- Saeyoung: Fingerprint Charm --

He’s a surprisingly complicated man to gift. Like Jumin, he neither lacks nor wants for material needs. Sometimes you’ve given him cute candies or hand-knitted mittens for winter, and meanwhile he’ll give you ridiculously advanced robot cats or he’ll bust out his packing wallet and boom, you’ve got a new Gucci clutch bag.

He kinda knows that he’s hard to gift. So whenever you shyly hand over a six-pack of gag-flavored soda for Christmas or something, he makes a big show of loving it and thanking you with kisses and nuzzles. And he does love it! He’s never had gifts before, not from V or Rika or his co-workers, and definitely not from his mother. Just the thought that someone cared enough to surprise him with trinkets is so heartwarming.

But your anniversary was coming up. It marked the day that Saeyoung’s life turned around a complete 180 for the better. A very important day, one that you couldn’t mark with an exotic beef jerky bouquet or whatever.

One day, while touring a small art fair, you found an indie jeweler who offered custom fingerprint charms. You set up a date to come in and make a mold by pressing your thumb into a block of sand, which was cast into a mold and into which steel was poured. 

You gave it to him over a late-night car ride date. He took the charm out of the little bag and stared at it, you explained what it was. “That’s my very own fingerprint right there. I hope it’s something you can carry with you, and remember me by.”

He was silent for a few long seconds. You saw that his hand was shaking. So you reached over and kissed him, he embraced you tightly and said with a wavering voice, “Thank you.” A sniffle, and he was back to his cheery self. You helped him put it on his keychain, next to his car keys. 

He loves it dearly. Especially when he fingers the print and feels the groves, imagining your hand.

-- Saeran: Sweater --

For a long while, Saeran couldn’t live a proper civilian life and spent many days holed up at home, stuck in an anxious and depressive slump. Any venture outside was an ordeal for him. Bit by bit, through therapy and medication, he regained his confidence.

You found this sweater online, and you knew how much he liked wearing sweaters at home. It had this quote on it that the both of you were familiar with. It had been one of the repeated self-forgiving phrases his therapist suggested. Saeran took to that phrase particularly well. He repeats it in his mind when he feels himself on the verge of a breakdown, and it helps de-escalate. 

You knew you had to buy it. But keeping it secret from Saeran was kinda a challenge because he likes to tour around your internet history when he’s bored. Not for malicious reasons, he’s just curious and wants to know what kind of stuff you like to re-tweet, or what shops you frequent. 

So with Saeyoung’s help, you ordered the sweater under a guise Saeran wouldn’t be able to crack without some effort, and it ended up being a legit surprise when you handed Saeran his gift. 

You watched his eyes trace the quote carefully, and at his fingers tracing the screenprinted flowers. He was quiet for a long while, just exploring the sweater thoroughly.

He can’t remember the last time he’s gotten a gift. Maybe it had been never. His eyes teared up.

You hugged him close and stroked his hair like he said he enjoys. It was almost hard for him to accept this from you; he’d spent years trying to approve others under threat of violence, and he’s rarely gotten to experience true generosity. 

He wears it at least once a week. It’s his absolute favorite article of clothing forever and ever. 

-- Jihyun: Filled Scrapbook -- 

For the holidays, Jihyun had given you a beautiful set of jewelry over dinner, along with a framed photo of yourself that he had taken some time before. He rarely decides to spoil you with his riches, but sometimes the occasion calls for it. 

How can you match up with his generosity? You knew Jihyun would be charmed with whatever you gave him, but you wanted your gift to mean something. 

Once your anniversary began to creep up, you had an idea and began working on your project two weeks in advance - it was going to be a beautiful scrapbook of not just Jihyun’s photos, but also little momentos and decorations on every page, detailing particular moments of your life together up to this point. 

You scoured his instagram, printing out copies onto photo paper and cutting and pasting. You folded within old plane, bus, and boat tickets. There were sightseeing brochures from trips abroad, old restaurant menus, stamps from envelopes he had sent you. You wrote messages and captions with multicolored ink. 

Extra special were the pages dedicated to when the two of you moved into the new apartment together, and when V was officially recovered from retina surgery, and also the first RFA party he co-hosted with you. Some pages touched on more sad subjects.

Finally, you finished the scrapbook just in time for the anniversary, and it was all worth it to see Jihyun completely blown away by the effort you put into it. He spent several minutes on every page, talking them over with you and reminiscing. 

He managed to hold in his tears until the last page, which you kept empty except for a calligraphy script that said, “... and into the beyond.”

[thewitcherzine]

Funding Goals

What is the funding goal, and why do we have one?

The purpose of the funding goal is to make sure that the costs necessary to complete this project are met, and also to create transparency between The Witcher Zine and those who would support our project.

The funding goal not only includes the minimum costs needed for printing and compensation of the contributors, but also gives us more financial stability and options to provide additional merchandise and bonus content.

Once preorders open, regular updates regarding progress towards the funding goal will be posted to the The Witcher Zine social media accounts.

What are The Witcher Zine’s possible expenses?

The following is a rough breakdown of The Witcher Zine’s projected expenses:

$1800 for printing costs

90+ pages of content

$2000 merch production

Acrylic charms $650

Standees $360

Miniprints $130

Stickersheets $300

Die cut stickers $200

Pinback buttons $100

Tote bags $260

$1800 mailers and shipping

Padded envelopes

Chipboard

Flap seal bags

Contributor shipping

$400 fees/misc

Payment processor fees

Bigcartel fees

Etc

As you can see, it starts to add up pretty fast.  For this reason, the funding goal for The Witcher Zine is set at $6000. This will mean that the cost of printing the book itself is covered, and will also cover the cost of creating and shipping out merchandise.

If the funding goal is not met, books and merchandise will still be printed (though likely in smaller quantities than projected) and contributors will still be compensated with copies of the book.

Should the funding goal be exceeded, however, there are some fun stretch goals that we have planned!

What are The Witcher Zine’s Stretch Goals?

Stretch Goal 1: $8000 At $8000, we will be able to produce Geralt-themed enamel pins, which will be included in all orders of Tier 3 and higher.

Stretch Goal 2: $12,000 At $12,000, we will be able to produce Yennefer-themed enamel pins, which will be included in all orders of Tier 3 and higher.

Stretch Goal 3: $15,000 At $15,000, we will be able to produce Ciri-themed enamel pins, which will be included in all orders of Tier 3 and higher.

Stretch Goal 4: $22,000 At $22,000, we will be able to upgrade all physical zines to hardcover books!

You can preorder The Witcher Zine here!

⚔️ Twitter ⚔️ Instagram ⚔️ FAQ ⚔️ Mailing List ⚔️ Mods / Contributors ⚔️