#freebies schemes

[morningmantra]

Freebies: Vice President Dhankhad's key comments on 'free' schemes..

Vice President Dhankhad's key comments on 'free' schemes..by congress

Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar stated that we are seeing competitive politics in the name of ‘Freebies’ schemes.. They are changing spending priorities. Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has made important comments on the politics of competition in the name of ‘freebies’ in the current society. To do so would be to change spending priorities, he said. He emphasized that it is not…

[genericpuff]

ok i know it's a webtoon you can read online for free but Rachel/Inklore really did just spoil every twist and plot beat within the plot summary of volume 8 huh

this is literally the next volume they just announced and it's going to be releasing after LO goes behind daily pass and yet they're not even trying to keep things even somewhat interesting for the trad pub market that they're trying to expand through, jesus christ lmao this is yet another lesson in "what not to do" courtesy of LO 💀

your plot summary is supposed to be a HOOK. NOT A WHOLE ASS SYNOPSIS THAT GIVES AWAY EVERY TWIST AND PLOT BEAT. By comparison, LO's Volume 8 "summary" isn't a plot summary, it's a goddamned Cliff's Notes 😭 like ... this feels like they accidentally included the extended pitch notes in the summary, like is there seriously not a single person at Random House going "um, isn't this a little too much?"

I'm not even joking when I say you can deadass just read this summary and understand the gist of the S2 finale. The actual episodes do not contain anything else of substance beyond this summary. All the 'twists' are given away, and anything else that might be 'interesting' is literally dropped or forgotten about by the end of S2 anyways so it winds up not mattering (cough Eris cough)

Literally the first two paragraphs would have sufficed, with the additional removal of the Apollo lineage reveal because again, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TWIST. IT'S A DUMB TWIST, BUT IT'S STILL WRITTEN AS A TWIST LMAO everything in that third paragraph and beyond is WAY TOO MUCH and it's not even making any efforts in its prose to pull you in with enticing set-up, it's just clinically saying "this happens and then this happens and then this happens".

Compare it to the Volume 1 description, it's like night and day:

"Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power."

Short, sweet, to the point, gives us enough setup to understand what we're going into but not enough details to spoil the whole frigging thing, and it ends perfectly with a hook that gets you interested in both Persephone and Hades as characters.

Y'know what, Inklore, here's a freebie on me, for Volume 8:

"Court is in session, the witnesses have spoken, and now it's Persephone's turn to take the stand. Torn between her loyalty to her mother, Demeter, and her blooming love for Hades, Persephone reveals to all her true motives for the Underworld - but shocking revelations are brought to light by the scheming Apollo that may determine Zeus' verdict and Persephone's fate once and for all.

Meanwhile, deep within Tartarus, a long-forgotten threat from Hades' past has re-awakened, and has set his sights on Persephone as his new wellspring of power...

Will Persephone and Hades finally find their peace? Or will fate tear them apart for eternity? Find out in this visually stunning and climactic conclusion to Lore Olympus' second season."

[jodeliejodelie]

My utterly correct and well-researched predictions for The Sims 5

no research has actually be done by me at all

EA will make the game a monthly subscription "service" which always needs to be online. There will of course be multiple subscription tiers with the higher tiers receiving some utterly mediocre clothes, hairs, furniture, Sims, you name it, paying lipservice to causes like diversity to make them seem important and un-missable (farm that FOMO). Lower tiers will have ads, a limited number of allowed mods/cc, and reduced graphics or some shit.

And of course there will be expansion packs, a staple of The Sims franchise, but you will need to pay for those too. Unless you subscribe to the platinum+ package, which includes a season pass. Of course there will always be certain cc packs that everybody will have to pay for, such as collaborations with big brands like D*sney, big fashion houses or IK*A. Occasionally there will be a freebie, but it will be a shitty print on a basegame T-shirt nobody cares for.

But that's not all! Not only will there be subscriptions, o no, there will be an ever bigger affiliate system. Basically an inbuilt multi-level management system (pyramid scheme) where people can sell their own mods/cc and recruit other people into their downline and make money of the mods they sell. They will give it a cutesy name, like Mod Families, Creator Visionaries, or Simgineers. There will be so many *shitty* mods, but since EA sits at the very top of the pyramid, there is absolutely no desire for quality control. You will see the same hair, with some added strands/removed strands/shorted/streaked/etc. edits over and over again. Of course there will be major fights and drama when the two biggest teams asset flip/convert create the same thing (some uninspired Second Life high poly blouse or something).

Anyway, I'm having a business meeting with EA next week and I'm very excited to share this plan with them.

P.S. Other features:

Extra in game currency like diamonds that people can use to buy even more junk for the game

Limit mods/cc to the Hub, you can't just put things in folders, it won't work

Sponsored events in the game, like a Simlish concert of K*ty P*rry or a Ad*das pop-up store in the mall

More social media integrations

An additional app for mobile devices where you play with your sims in a very limited way, but most importantly earn in game currency by doing stupid tasks, like playing games or watching ads

No pools in the basegame, that was a A+ decision in The Sims 4, so we're keeping that

[dewitty1]

Fic Recs Wrap Up - September 2023 (ノﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ⌒･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Salt on the Western Wind by Saras_Girl

When the war isn’t quite as over as it first appears, a guilt-ridden Harry is sent to a mysterious safe-house. Among sandwiches, insomnia, and Mills & Boon, he discovers something quite unexpected. Rec Post

Transfigurations by Resonant

Five years after Voldemort’s defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts. Rec Post

The Arc of the Pendulum by brummell (actualite)

After his father casts a mysterious curse on Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is forced to try to make things right. Rec Post

The Lily Spell by pickledghost

Harry Potter is one of the most handsome and sought after alphas on the Hogwarts Higher Education Programme. Draco Malfoy on the other hand, is the Seventh Year omega son of deceased Death Eaters and is widely ignored and shunned by his peers. Harry doesn’t even know Draco exists until he discovers that the younger boy is pregnant with his baby thanks to a spell gone wrong. Rec Post

Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by ICMezzo  @icmezzo

The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all. Rec Post

Night Magic by Kbrick @kbrick

Eighth Year isn’t what Draco or Harry expected. Harry’s horribly lonely in the aftermath of his breakup with Ginny, Draco’s stuck in a clandestine friends-with-benefits situation with a closeted Blaise, and neither one of them can ever get any bloody sleep. But when our favorite boys bond over their insomnia-related woes, things start looking up. Rec Post

The Sun in Summer (Presto Pizzicato) by Cannibalschism @cannibalschism

Harry Potter is an orphan. Everyone knows this, him most of all. Taken in by the agoraphobic and ancient Dowager Viscountess Cassiopeia Black, Harry’s musical aptitude was evident even from a young age. He has trained all his life to perform in front of a noble audience and step upon the shoulders of giants. To be known for his accomplishment and skill. To be great. And he will do anything to achieve that goal. Draco Malfoy is an orphan. He hasn’t been as such for very long, however. Known as the Instrumenteur, Draco runs a modest shoppe in lower Diagon Alley where he creates and repairs musical instruments. The Viscountess Cassiopeia Black stole everything from him the night of his parents’ fatal accident. When Harry Potter, the orphan that wretched woman took in even as she cast out her own blood, proposes the most ludicrous of schemes that might just get Draco his stolen title and life back, who is he to decline? In a time of galas, secrets, corsets, and symphonies, can love prevail over all else? Rec Post

WHISKY-TANGO-FOXTROT by Vukovich @vukovich

“Potter,” Malfoy said with a slow smile. “You’re a trashy, new money slut.” “Yeah? Maybe you like it.” – The worst thing about being the Golden Boy is the freebies. Free drinks. Easy sex. It’s all too easy. The worst thing about being a Malfoy is the expectations. Marriage. Kids. It’s all so scripted. Harry wants his arse kicked. Draco decides to grab life by the balls. Rec Post

Here are a few more fics I've read recently that y'all might like to check out as well! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

A True Entanglement by Booktopus @thebooktopus

One moment, Harry was minding his own business, going about his workday, and the next, he found himself being dragged across the Ministry by a red string that had somehow curled up in a pretty little bow around his wrist. A story of fate, smut, falling in love, and a string named Harold.

Fire Meet Gasoline by lettersbyelise @lettersbyelise

When Draco’s anger management issues land him in St Mungo’s, he thinks his Quidditch career is over. But Harry, A&E Healer and notorious workaholic, is faced with a similar predicament. To save their jobs, the two of them decide to fake a relationship. All they have to do is convince their friends and employers… and not fall in love in the process. Simple, right?

Everything is Relative to You by honeybeet @thehoneybeet

Potter was supposed to have lived. Draco is certain of this. That Potter would no longer walk the earth was tantamount to the sun moving west to east across the sky. If only he could have stopped this from happening, if he’d have known… It comes to him as ideas often did: too late. Or, Harry dreams of his past lives, and Draco is in every one.

we'll keep the king by BlueSundayCake @bluesundaycake

On a cold December morning, Remus Lupin shows up on Severus Snape's doorstep with a child with very familiar eyes.

Evitative by Vichan

In the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry is drawn to a room in Grimmauld Place. Like the Gryffindor he is, he enters the room without fear. The room is a library, and Harry is surprised to find that he’s eager to learn. Then he gets the bad news: he��s been accidentally expelled from Hogwarts, and he needs to be sorted again. Everyone is confident that he’ll go straight back to Gryffindor, but with what he's been learning, Harry’s not so sure.

The White Pawn by Soupy_George

When eighteen-year-old Draco Malfoy finds himself back at Hogwarts on the eve of Voldemort's infamous return, he is confronted with the most difficult decision he's ever had to make: Relive the 6th year at school he's tried so hard to forget, or do the unthinkable and ally himself with Potter's lot...

( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡ I hope you enjoy these fics as much as I have! Happy reading, y’all! xoxo, Carey  (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*💜💙💚💛❤💗💕💖

[see-arcane]

Open question to everyone as I continue to wrestle with being a professional starving creative. I’ve been nudged towards making a Substack a couple times now. I’m hesitant on making a new page for anything due to how little the Official Author Website seems to have mattered in the grand scheme of my teeny scribbling career, but there are a couple pros to consider. The most basic plus is that it could make for a tidier spot to leave my Big Scribbles than just piling them in a scattered Tumblr. But the key part the online 'get passive income!1!!' gurus point out about Substack is the sub(scription) bit. And how it can be a charged subscription.

“It’s an easy way for freelancers to make money!”

With at least $5 charged per month. For weekly-to-monthly updates. From me.

That means scheduled writing that's worthy of wringing more money out of the ‘Everyone is Broke’ website at least once a month. Note, I would not be pulling a Watcher; I’d still be dropping previews for my big WIPs here per usual. But a $ubstack would come with that and other original works each month. Supposing there was more than 2.5 folks out there willing to burn their bucks on that endeavor.

Anyway. Chronic indecision and fretting are attacking so I’m hot potatoing it to you:

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

“Could be but when it comes to Meghan wanting a political career, it’s the longest relationship she’s ever had with an idea.” So the same person that may or may not have filed the paperwork and made payment on time for her foundation, and can’t find a CEO for her newest venture ARO, and can’t stick with a decision thinks she has what it takes to lead a country of 330 million people? LOL! Aside from that, she can’t keep her titles and she’d have to pay for things like food in the White House, designer clothing (accept as gift but have to donate after one wear, which wouldn’t be a problem for her), staff for private parties, gifts for foreign dignitaries (does jam count?), interior decorating outside of the stipend (is SoHo House style expensive?) plus other things. Living there isn’t the freebie she thinks it is. Also, she’d have to trust her advisors and I doubt her squad are policy experts. She’s delulu as the youth say.

Yep. It always shocks people to learn that the President and the First Lady pay for 90% of their lives in the White House out of pocket.

I don't remember which president it was (I want to say it was HW Bush, but I can't recall with any certainty) but someone used to require the White House Residence staff cut coupons and purchase store-brand foods as often as possible to save on food costs.

It's been awhile since I've read a FLOTUS memoir (they talk about this more than a POTUS memoir does) but if I'm remembering correctly, the American public only pays for state receptions/dinners hosted at the White House residence and the redecorating on January 20th as part of the presidential transition. There might be a few others, but they're nominal in the grand scheme of White House expenses.

And if she thinks the ethics rules of the British Royal Family are tough, wait till she gets lectured on the ethics rules of the United States Executive Branch.

Fun fact: the Office of Government Ethics just updated its rules and standards for ethics in the Executive Branch. It's 46 pages if anyone needs some help sleeping tonight.

[sassyfrassboss]

I can no longer find the article but--

Rumor tracking anon here - I don't have *that* article but I do have one from Vanity Fair about the 2017 BAFTAs (and Kate's first time accompanying William). I bookmarked the article because there's a line about Meghan in that is so wildly out of place that it made me verrrry suspicious about her:

We have high hopes for Kate and William’s (oh yeah, William is there, too, in a tux) night at the BAFTAs. Will they recreate the La La Land poster pose alongside Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling? Will Kate reference Meghan Markle in overheard conversation (“My future sister-in-law is an actress, as you may or may not have heard, so . . .”)? And will Meryl Streep and Kate Middleton pose together, enabling a flood of “one royal meeting another” captions to be posted on Twitter?

In the grand scheme of things, Meghan in February 2017 was *not* important enough to be worthy of this kind of throwaway comment in the same breath as all those people. So then why would Vanity Fair do this? Always rubbed me the wrong way. But now, hindsight being 20/20, it tells us a lot.

I'm fairly certain that this is around when Sunshine Sachs and Vanity Fair were negotiating Meghan's cover because it's the first time her name was dropped with all these A-List celebs. I do think it's part of "everyone loves classy" but it's such a random throwaway it slipped under the radar. (And specifically my gut is telling me that the "my future sister-in-law" part was Meghan or Sunshine fishing for an invite to Pippa's wedding among other A-list freebies.)

Here's the link. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/02/kate-middleton-prince-william-baftas-alexander-mcqueen

Hey love! How are you!?

Thanks for this! Can you imagine Catherine EVER talking about a woman she had only met once by this point? HAHA!

Plus Harry and Meghan had only been dating for 6 months at this point and 90% of that was long distance.

There were a ton of articles around this time about Meghan and Catherine. Many of which were about how Meghan would be much more suited to the role of Duchess or even Queen than Catherine ever would.

So this was also right around the time that the rumors on Tumblr started that Harry & Meghan had split up after she had been escorted out of the UK a few weeks prior. The rumors were that she took photos of the Wales kids and was caught. Charles had her escorted out of KP and to the airport sometime in December or early January. It is said that Harry dumped her because she wasn't worth the drama she was causing with his family. Later when she flew out to Skippy's wedding, which she is said to have been given a passing casual verbal invitation at a house party, and then she and Harry slightly reconciled but she was still chasing after him to get his attention back. They fought a ton on that trip apparently. Which proves true from the beach photos that were taken. It was right after this she shut down her blog and IG and claimed she quit Suits for Harry.

[valeriefauxnom]

Ah, Doomsday Getaway. Probably quite a few people's favorite events, for the combination of music, story, etc, even if the freebie ultimately ended up a wash for quality.

But amid all the things going on, I just found this exchange a little bit funny even if what's being discussed isn't.

Everyone else has largely been crossing their arms and going 'nu-uh' to Carmen's claim and refusing to play the game.

Elisanne, though, quickly decides to start playing for the worst-case scenario that Carmen's words are 100% true, and then starts eyeing to try and set up a mass-murder/suicide scheme with Ranzal to force the game to end up with Euden as 'winner' since, well, it's pretty obvious Euden wouldn't play the game if his life depended on it (literally). As an aside, Elisanne definitely chose her prospective partner-in-crime well, as among the main 5, Ranzal as the more gritty, realistic, 'willing to get dirty for the boss' is probably the most likely to agree to do such a thing.

Ironically, even if they did team up to do this and pulled it off, Euden would then likely be the only one to die or otherwise suffer a horrible fate with the whole 'psyche, would-be winner, d'ya want to bite the bullet to resurrect all your pals' twist thrown in last minute. Funnily enough, though, this is probably like the singular time Euden expresses any hesitation at the notion of sacrificing himself for everyone:

However, I'll throw in a bit of a wrinkle to that initial scene. While that first scene ends with Ranzal's comment and is only implied what Elisanne was proposing it does return for a brief part in the next scene in more explicit terms.

...However (part 2), this scene turns around into this:

...which quickly is simply revealed to be just a nightmare Euden was having.

This is a minor conspiracy theory, but if Euden was dreaming that last part, was maybe the first part ALSO a dream?

Was Euden maybe fearing somewhere deep in his mind, that his friends were secretly starting to plot the murders of everyone besides him given their protectiveness? I might also point to the fact that Dream!Amane being able to guess so accurately what had happened the night before without actually knowing what they were discussing.

It just feels a bit too convenient, especially combined with Dream!Euden immediately being able to start 'taking action' and gaining a presence in the dream right after it seems like it might be too late, the kind of 'helpless nightmares' that a lot of people have. It also seems like the kind of nightmare he would have, as between actual events like Fractured Futures where he's helpless and forced to watch a Zethia die, to his overall character of 'having to save everyone/do everything' tendencies, I'm thinking Euden really doesn't like being caught feeling helpless to fix things.

Admittedly, I don't really have evidence either way, nor is it very important to the broader story. It's entirely possible that the first initial conversation with Ranzal actually happened, Euden overheard somehow, and then had nightmares of the second. The one piece of evidence to suggest part one happened is this tidbit, which implicates there was at least one time where the two of them were talking alone about something:

Even then, they might have had a private conversation wherein the trusting curse was triggered (since what we saw of that conversation, it wasn't triggered) that Euden saw but didn't hear, later had a nightmare imagining what was going on and then had Nightmare the Sequel later with Amane and Elisanne, trying to re-contextualize the nightmare with Ranzal dead instead of everyone else around them dropping.

So yeah, minor, inconsequential food for thought. With the cliffhanger at the end, though, I do wonder if they were plotting a sequel-style event or other followup later on. Wonder what that would've been like!

[yunwooz]

i just think u should join ribo nation luna i think it would be really cool and neat we have a lot of cool freebies and a good community and it would be cool and neat and like normal and really cool and neat and it's not a pyramid scheme and it's not a cult it's like so normal and chill and stuff :)

i have enough men on my plate thank you a full meal here i'm eating well i'm really good i won't be able to fit anymore in the stew!!!!!

[marvelousmop]

Ranking the Songs of Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

Jack the Giant Killer isn't a musical... or at least it shouldn't be. If you haven't heard of it (and I'd assume you haven't), it's one of those fantasy adventure movies with lots of stop-motion puppets like "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"... unfortunately, Columbia Pictures saw this similarity and weren't too pleased, threatening to sue the filmmakers.

Their solution to avoid getting sued? Make it a Musical!

No new footage was filmed and boy can you tell. If you saw the musical version without knowing the history, you could probably guess that some of these songs were added in post.

Fortunately, nowadays you can see the non-musical version quite easily (in fact it's up on some of those movie youtube channels and freebie streaming services - it's an alright adventure flick with really good set design and some interesting visuals), but I'm not interested in that. I wanted to see the musical. So I did, and now I just want to talk about the songs, from best to worst.

[Disclaimer: there is no official soundtrack, most of these song titles are just conjecture on my end.]

1) A Spectacle!

This song has been stuck in my head for days. It is a very ill-fitting ice capade-esque song underscoring an action scene where Jack fights a bunch of monsters... it's also a duet with the main villain (Pendragon) and his henchman, which only serves to make it more bizarre. If you had to listen to any song from this soundtrack, listen to this one, there's a reason it's the only song I could find on youtube without uploading the unlisted clip myself.

2) You Can Do It!

Picture this: you're near the end of the movie. You think Jack has won, but Pendragon has a trick up his sleeve... in a flash, he raises his red cape, and his form shifts into that of a mighty dragon! Swiftly, he descends upon Jack's ship, ready to take the fight into his own hands in a climactic final battle... and then this song plays. This goofy motivational song better suited for the middle of a musical than the final song.

It has also been stuck in my head for days.

One other confusing thing is that I'm not sure who's meant to be singing this song. Like, it's the same nasally male singing voice used by both Pendragon's henchman (though it can't be him since he has no reason to cheer Jack on) and the Leprechaun (though this song doesn't use the same rhyme scheme the Leprechaun uses, and all his words are accompanied by a jingle which is absent here, so it can't be him either). Maybe it's God?

3) Title Card Song & Coronation Song

These two songs play near the beginning of the movie, with the former also getting a reprise for the end credits. I'm lumping them both together because I couldn't remember what they sound like if you held a gun to my head, though, for the Coronation song, it's quite amusing that they have to hide most of the crowd because it would be very visible that they aren't singing.

4) Just Ask Me

Quite a boring love song with generic and slightly repetitive lyrics, but what makes this song stand out to me is the editing going on in this scene. You see, the lyrics are barely close to anything the characters are saying, so the editors have to pull out all the stops to make it fit the scene - footage is slowed down, sped up, looped (and it's all very visible thanks to the various background elements) and in the end the woman is still clearly saying something very different to the lyrics. It's honestly like a proto-youtube poop.

5) We Have Failed, Master

This is where we get into the real good stuff. A keen listener may pick up on the fact that, despite their attempt to make "We have failed, master, we have failed!" into a chorus and the slight rhytmic patter of the henchman's lines, this is very clearly just a normal dialogue scene that has been recklessly converted into a song. Granted, you see this stuff in operas all the time, but it's very bizarre to see in something that's trying to sound like a Rankin Bass musical.

6) To Us

If you thought the last one was bad, this one is barely trying to sound like a song. There's no clever editing, no rhythm, no chorus, not even a cheeky attempt to add more lyrics while a character is facing away from the camera, it's just a dialogue scene!

Thank you for sticking with me through my inane opinions, and I hope you enjoyed this tour through probably the most bizarrely constructed musical. Credit to this Twitter post for inadvertently informing me of this... masterpiece.

[kailash-se-birha]

The five poll guarantees implemented by the Congress government are free travel for women across the state in non-AC state-run buses: 200 units of free power per month; Rs 2,000 per month for each female head of the family; 10 kg of food grains (rice, ragi, jowar, millet) per month to BPL (below poverty line) families; Rs 3,000 per month for two years to unemployed graduates; and Rs 1,500 per month for two years to unemployed diploma holders.

Expenditure on five guarantees

In 2023-24, the government launched four guarantee schemes under various departments. These are (i) Gruha Lakshmi, (ii) Gruha Jyothi, (iii) Shakthi, and (iv) Yuvanidhi. Along with the pre-existing scheme Annabhagya, these comprise five ‘guarantees’ provided to the public. In 2024-25, Rs 53,674 crore is proposed to be spent on these schemes. This is 47% higher than the revised estimates for 2023-24. More than half the allocation has been made towards the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. Under this scheme, women heads of families below the poverty line are given Rs 2,000 monthly. In 2024-25, this scheme has been allocated Rs 28,608 crore, which is 63% of the total estimated expenditure on social welfare and nutrition.

State finances

In February, chief minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented a revenue-deficit state budget for 2024-25, with total outlay set at Rs 3,71,383 crore. The deficit stood at Rs 27,354 crore, marking the first instance where borrowings in a fiscal year surpassed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. Siddaramaiah also allocated Rs 52,000 crore towards the implementation of five guarantee schemes for 2024-25.

Some of the BCG short sighted policy recommendations being implemented:

Turns out the freebies are not really free and the brunt of these votebank promises are going to be paid by the average karnataka resident. As for the other BCG recommendations which don't involve cost transfer we'll have to wait and watch.

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter 3, or I like to call it, robbery and assault JTTW edition. For the longest time I thought Wukong rod was red and gold, not black and gold. Or it went black to turn from all the future murders? 🤔 Also nothing like getting free stuff by putting the fear of gods into a Dragon king, by inevitantly showing how much you can lift.

Ha! That is indeed a pretty good summary of what happened. And while the Compliant Gold-Hooped Rod has been show in a variety of colors in different retellings, the red and gold rather than black and gold color scheme does seem to be pretty popular. And yes, it does indeed seem like one of the main things the Monkey King learned from this chapter is that you can get all kinds of freebies by putting the fear of himself into those around him!

[purplesurveys]

1835

Do you have any plans for tomorrow?  Just need to take the dogs to the vet, but apart from that I can do whatever I want. I'm really happy I don't have any events tomorrow – my first free Sunday in over a month :( Sucks that I cheer for the bare minimum now but such is work and such is life.

What's the longest movie you've ever seen?  Gone with the Wind is like 2 minutes shy of being 4 hours long.

What movies did you watch a lot as a kid?  I watched Toy Story constantly. To this day it's still one of my favorite kids' movies.

How many rooms are in your home?  If you mean bedrooms, we have four.

Do you ever experience imposter syndrome?  Yeah, little bit.

What was the last place you rode to in a car?  Traveled quite a bit today actually! I was driver to my sister and her friends today as they had a girls' day out – I brought them to Salcedo for their lunch, then separately I needed to drive to BGC to show up briefly for an event a client was having (the work wasn't intense; I just dropped by to make sure things were going well).

Do you have a PayPal account? If so, how often do you use it?  I have but I never use it. I've never understood how it works so I just stopped trying to learn lol. Whenever I need to deal with international monies I just course it through my dad's cc.

Are you cold right now?  No. The aircon's on but the temperature is just right – chilly enough that I'm super comfortable, but not too cold that I need a blanket or can't focus on this survey.

How old will you be at your next birthday?  I'll be 26.

Before this one, when was the last time you took a survey?  A little bit after lunch.

Can you skip rope?  Sure. I'm not nearly as good as I used to be since my body feels heavier now, but I can still definitely do sets.

Have you ever participated in a charity fundraising event?  I've taken part in fundraisers, but not events altogether.

What is your hair like at the moment?  It's in a half ponytail, but I'll give a bigger shoutout to its texture(?) – it's a lot less frizzy today since I was in air conditioned spots all day hehe :)

Do you like cucumber?  No.

What do you like and dislike about your job? (or your last job)  I like the freebies, the cool shit I get to launch, the regular opportunities to see celebrities, and the semi-regular opportunities to work with K-pop artists/campaigns. I hate the hours, the regular disrespect for boundaries, and the unpredictability of clients/brands I handle.

Have you ever had a dream job? If so, did you give up on it, and why? Or do you happen to have that dream job? My dream job in the grand scheme of things is to do WWE PR, and while I'm not quite there and the chances getting there are quite bleak, I'm still nonetheless in the same industry.

What's the last sitcom you watched?  Friends.

What car did your parents or guardian drive when you were growing up?  The first car they had was a black Mitsubishi Lancer. When they upgraded a few years after, they still went with another Lancer – but a newer model, and it was initially blue for a few years until they had it painted to white.

Do you have milk in your fridge right now? What kind?  I think we may have a carton at the moment, but idk what type.

Are you left or right handed?  Right.

If you have your ears pierced, how old were you when you got them done?  I was a few months old.

Do you have any other piercings?  No, just the one on my ears.

What was the last thing you wrote down in the notes app on your phone?  Headline options for the press release I was drafting yesterday. I silently brainstorm 24/7 and I happened to think of two catchy phrases while having lunch, so I needed to type them down before I forget about them.

Have you ever been on a winery tour?  Nope.

When was the last time you were hungover?  May was the last time I had a particularly bad hangover.

Do you still have Facebook? If so, how often do you check it? Yes, it's the most popular social media where I live. I check mine everyday just to keep updated on news and if there are new dog rescues that need to be funded so I can donate.

Are you wearing your favourite colour today?  Nope, I don't have anything in purple today.

Would you ever want to visit South Korea?  I'd love to go back but it comes with feelings guardedness(?). Koreans are notoriously racist towards Filipinos, especially the older generation who seems to see us as below humans.

Racism makes people so weird and gross and annoying.

How many times in your life have you been in love?  Once.

Do you like your name?  Yes.

[killian-whump]

Okay... I paid the $5 and watched the video, because I’ve been pretty good this year and it’s still kinda Christmas time, so it’s a gift to myself.

~ Give Yourself the Gift of Colin O’Donoghue ~

He’s free to use that, you know, as a slogan or tagline. I won’t charge him or anything. Have your people call my people, Colin. We’ll work it out.

I’m kidding. I don’t have any people. I’m not sure he does, either.

I paid the $5 and watched the video, and Colin’s adorable as always.

That’s pretty much all you get for your $5, lol. Adorable Colin on a webcam for about 10 minutes talking about exactly what you’d expect him to be talking about. I can’t really say if this one’s worth $5 or not. Like, you definitely won’t be missing out on anything important if you don’t (especially since I’m spilling the deets, anyway), but it IS a nice little taste of Colin if you do. Especially since we’ve been starved of him lately. And he’s in good form, making cute little jokes and teasing and being his usual adorable self.

Honestly, I don’t regret spending the $5. I enjoyed it.

MIND YOU: If you do decide to pay for this content, DO NOT pay for it TODAY. Wait a few hours until it’s officially Jan 1 everywhere, and THEN pay for it. Patreon doesn’t go by monthly increments - it goes by calendar months. So by subscribing on Dec. 31, I essentially paid $5 for 4 hours of access to Josh’s content - and they were prepped to re-charge me on Jan. 1! So if you wait a couple hours, you’ll get access to this video - and be able to peruse the rest of Josh’s content for a few weeks, if you want to. Just don’t forget to cancel!! Subscription services are almost always a scheme to get folks to sign up and then forget to cancel - and Patreon’s no different. A good chunk of the money made by sites like that comes from people who don’t even remember they’re paying them, and the system is designed to facilitate that!

But enough about that. Let’s talk about the video.

They joked about Colin’s status as the 2022 (and 2021, Colin was quick to point out) Game Night Champion, and how that was clearly the highlight of his year. Colin expects to maintain this status in 2023, because he’s him and

Josh asked him about his year, and they talked about Luck and The Sync Report and Colin playing live music a bit lately. He did an adorable leprechaun giggle, which is probably worth $5 alone if you’re into that sort of thing. He said he’s been talking to some people about maybe doing an EP or something, but then quickly added it might just be for himself, or maybe not, or... Usual Colin evasiveness kicked in and bushes were beaten around.

Speaking of Colin evasiveness... Josh asked if he’d be back in the states any time soon or ever again and Colin said he’d be coming back to the West Coast in a few weeks - and 100% had his “Wouldn’t you all like to know whyyyyy?” face on the whole time, so HE’S UP TO SOMETHING. Or he wants us to think he’s up to something. You never can tell with Colin O’Donoghues. They’re wily little boogerbutts 😂

~ Give Your Fans the Gift of Vagueness ~

That’s another freebie for you, Colin. I’m full of them. I could set you up with slogans for the rest of your career, buddy, and all for NO CHARGE!

Colin talked a bit about his kids. He’s watching Andor (Star Wars series) with his son and both of his kids have seen and enjoyed Luck and Trollhunters. Evan’s seen some of Once, and even saw some of it back when they were doing it, but Millie is still a little young for it, he thinks. Oh, and some kid shouted, “You Captain Hook??” out the elementary school window at him, apparently 😂

Colin shared his New Years plans. He had some family and friends over for a small gathering, and he made a bunch of pizzas, and was about to put the kids to bed because “it’s drinking time” 😂 Although I’m pretty sure it was already drinking time, because he had a half-empty beer with him when he first came on, and he immediately asked Josh if they were doing a round. You can’t fool me, Colin O’Donoghue. Them sheets was already on the clothesline, son.

Anyway, I hope he got completely hammered and had a great time ❤️

[leolingo]

2 and 15 for elquackity and 5 23 and 26 for qcellbit for the character ask game :p

JUST GRINNED SO BIG always a good day when Elquackity mention on my inbox

(elq) 2. Favorite canon thing about this character? so many things really but mostly how he’s a dickhead to everyone on the island except for roier for no reason i love it so much he just shows up acts like a cunt to everyone and then leaves for a month

and on more of a note that applies to every quackity character ever i just adore how DESPERATE he is he’s always scheming always running towards a goal perpetually trying to make things work for himself no matter what even if we as the public dont know exactly what hes aiming at theres always something Big he’s supposed to be going after and its so noticeable agh it delights me

(elq) 15. What's your favorite ship for this character? smile……. i think we ALL know this…. elquackbit lowkey consumes my every thought theyre ALWAYS on my mind its just that delicious intersection of canon and fanon thats just vague enough for me to run wild with and Oh brother do i!

i could also EASILY be talked into elq/roier . elspiderbit even. with the right circumstances

qcell under cut bc it got long :3

(qcell) 5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them? i dont usually assign songs to characters in general but i guess its just no surprises radiohead lol the damn lore screens they get to me i fear

(qcell) 23. Favorite picture of this character?

not a very Cubito Pictures Person so i had to scramble but i like these ones a lot^^

(qcell) 26. FREEBIE QUESTION!

using this space to say i miss qcellbit everyday and cant wait to see him back honestly i dont even care what happens at this point his lore could go anywhere just need my guy back

also while we’re at it Controversial take to this day i dislike how mystery twins reveal was presented to the public haha…. Hahaha……. and i LIKE how the streamers played off of it! but the Reveal………. well…… the plot point itself is far from my favorite too but cc!cellbit and cc!bagi worked around it well enough that it doesn’t bother me much anymore 😃 sometimes i try to forget its canon however

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Harry's Spare: Confirmed

Rumors and theories Harry confirmed in Spare.

Harry has an inferiority complex against William and plays “anything you an do I can do better” games via PR because of it.

Meghan’s neediness/insecurity lost Harry all his friends.

Sussex security lawsuits are because of Harry’s active-duty Afghanistan service and his belief that because he killed Taliban soldiers, they’re out for him.

Meghan and Harry’s drug/substance abuse issues are true.

Meghan wanted Diana’s tiaras for the wedding.

Archie pregnancy was announced at Eugenie’s wedding to family.

Meghan made Kate cry.

Sussexes planned a year-long PR strategy to reconcile with The Queen after the Netflix series and Harry’s memoir came out, probably saying they were pushed into being mean by producers/editors, to get more material for new content.

Since The Queen died, the reconciliation strategy reshifted its focus to Charles and William – want back in to have coronation and investiture content.

Meghan was clearly uninvited or disinvited to Balmoral as the Queen was dying.

Sussex tantrums delayed the others from the chance to be with the Queen before she died.

Sussexes were told off for their behavior while the Queen was dying.

Memoir was delayed to add content about Jubilee and Queen’s Funeral.

Meghan was furious about the way she was treated at the funeral but will pretend it doesn’t bother her to support the reconciliation strategy.

Harry’s memoir to be published in 2023.

Meghan leaked/planted stories that William forbade her from traveling to Balmoral.

Harry to go on a US book tour of Spare; no visits to the UK.

Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress was intentionally poorly-made/poorly-fitted.

Meghan wanted an emerald tiara or a bigger-than-Mary’s-tiara for the wedding.

Sussexes wanted a big London wedding with a balcony kiss and appearance afterwards.

Diana’s engagement ring had always belonged to William, was never in Harry’s possession.

Sussexes take freebies from companies despite it being against royal protocols and standards of conduct.

Meghan used freebies to justify her behavior towards KP staff.

Harry never kicked his teenage drug problem.

The BRF / Charles covered up Harry’s behavior and drug issues.

Harry’s book to go after William and Kate to delegitimize their royal status and office.

Royal family parentified William to Harry after Diana’s death.

Harry sees Kate as a “wicked stepmother”-like figure who stole William from him.

Meghan to write a tell-all about the BRF.

Meghan manipulated or threatened her staff/bullying victims (requiring NDAs, threatening to give bad references, holding their mistakes over them, etc.) to keep them from reporting mistreatment.

Meghan is jealous of Kate because of what she means to Harry and presented to Harry and Charles as Kate’s physical opposite.

Harry is in love with Kate in a not-brotherly way. (Interview)

Harry wants to move back to the UK. (Interview)

Meghan intends to sell her private journals from being a royal for large profit. (Interview)

Lawyers were involved with the book because of inconsistencies and demands to edit out inflammatory parts. (Scobie confirmed with a tweet about 50 pages being removed.)

All bridesmaid dresses were poorly made / poorly fitted except Ivy’s.

Meghan was an escort or involved in pay-for-play Soho schemes.

Sussex bullying allegations are true.

Camilla didn’t want to marry Charles, just wanted to stay his longtime companion in Gloucester. (Anonymous friends defense)

No ranking members of the BRF speak to the Sussexes due to risk of private conversations being used for public content / public argument. (Post-Spare article saying they speak through lawyers)

All necessary information the Sussexes need are shared via embassy, consulates, and secure lines to prevent direct 1:1 contact between Sussexes and senior royals.

Charles communicates with/handles Harry through writing only.

Meghan had a heavy hand in the writing of Harry’s memoir.

Harry never actually saw any combat, so claims that he killed 25 Taliban are an embellishment to justify need for security and IPP status.

Harry suffers from drug-induced paranoia and memory loss.

Harry to lash out over criticism about his book and silence from the BRF.

Meghan made up and spread the rumor about William having had an affair. (Post-Spare articles)

Harry used active-duty Afghanistan service to justify need for a more expensive wedding than William.