#its over queue 1000

[ravoress]

Oh stop it you handsome devil you.

[pekoehoneyncream]

Ghoaptober # 6

Prompt: Meal/Food

Words: 1000~

TW: None (sfw)

This version of Ghoaptober was created by @spadesandshovels

I gave you short and sad yesterday, but today you get short and sweet!

I don't know if y'all have seen that video of the soldiers getting yelled at for ordering pizza delivered to their camp, or that post about the lady that grew up way out in the country and only got ice-cream from a truck when it got very very lost. but this entry is inspired by both of those.

Enjoy!

Soap was slumped into the couch in the officer’s recreation room, watching Gaz swear at the telly as he ran his horse into the train for the umpteenth time and had to restart the mission again. Between Gaz fervently damning all of John Marston’s ancestors and the secondhand xbox 360 doing its best impression of an overboiling pot, the sounds of an escalating commotion beyond the door was almost completely negligible, and Soap was willing to play deaf to the few shouts that eked their way in. 

What he couldn’t ignore was Price busting in through the door muttering about idiotic fools. Now Price muttering to himself was perfectly normal, par for the course, nothing to take note of, what was decidedly abnormal was the Fab ice lolly that was dripping over his fingers while he did it. 

“Cap?” Soap’s vaguely disturbed truncated question stole Gaz’s attention away from shooting the train goers and, upon turning around, he too was immediately captivated by the incongruent sight of Captain John Price glaring at them while struggling to contain a rapidly liquifying lolly. 

“While on gate duty, Private Johnson dared Private Gilligan to stop an ice-cream van that was going by and the fucker actually did it. The front’s a madhouse.” Price reluctantly gruffed out to the two goggle eyed Sergeants staring him down. 

In the next moment Price was alone in the room with a screen heralding 'DEAD' in bold red letters. 

Gaz and Soap shoved at each other as they raced through the halls to the front of the base, joining a crush of other like minded soldiers. True to Price’s word the front gates were pure mayhem, save for the strangely orderly queue leading up to the Mr Softee van proper. Every soul with any kind of rank was abusing it to their best advantage to force every other unlucky sod to stand down and move back in the queue. Soap and Gaz were in luck as talking to the older lady leaning out of the van’s window was Warrant Officer Evans. The Sergeants sidled up to the queue and followed their fellow’s leads by staring down Corporal Winslow until she obediently let them cut in front of her. Evans walked away from the van with a cherry screwball and the Sergeants stepped up to the window.

“I’ve only one cone left, lads,” The woman running the van warned them, leaning down and speaking up to be heard over the orderly chaos behind them and the tinny repeating jingle blaring from the top of the van, Gaz shot a possessive look at Soap and the Scot waved him on.

“Could I get a ninety-nine flake, please?”  Gaz got a smile for his nice manners and the woman turned to Soap,

“And for you, Lovie?” Her voice was kindly, but blunt with a no-nonsense manner,

“Ah’ll ha’e an oyster delight, an’ a strawberry swirl wi’ caramel sauce in a doubled cup wi’ an extra spoon, please.” Soap answered, feeling like he now knew why the van’s queue was so orderly. Likely the woman, Florence, her name tag read, had just refused to serve anyone that hadn’t politely queued up. 

“Lovely,” Florence bustled about in the van, handing the treats out the window as she finished them, “That’ll be nine pound fifty,”

Before Soap could think through how best to juggle his ice-creams into one hand to dig his wallet out of his pockets, Gaz had already paid and casually walked away, licking at his cone and casting smug looks back at Soap as he scrambled to catch up. 

“Ye didnae ha’e tae pay, Ky,” Soap complained, “Ah’ve mah own money,”

“Then be faster, Tav,” Gaz teased, “I’m a tenner poorer now, I’ll be out on the streets by Monday, livin’ out of a box.” 

“Get tae fuck, ye loony. Least ye’d ha’e y’ur own room” Soap laughed,

“You’ve a good point," Gaz nodded along, "Could be worse. Could be shared barracks,”

Soap felt something cold slither over his fingers and picked up his pace with a curse, the ice-cream was melting in sticky trails over the sides of its wrappings.

Why did the running track have to be so far away. 

With Gaz jogging amiably along in his wake, Soap hustled over to where Ghost was shouting constructive abuse at the rookies panting their way around the course.

“L.T! Ah got ye some’hing,” Soap smiled as Ghost’s lovely calf brown eyes swung their glare unto him, passing over the oyster delight and peaceably ignoring his Lieutenant’s unchanged expression of flat ire. 

He pulled the extra cup off the bottom of his and extracted the second spoon from his strawberry swirl, popping it into his mouth to clean the taint of caramel off it, then handing both over to Ghost. 

Ghost extracted his oyster delight from the napkins mummifying it and dumped it into the bowl, stabbing the oddly flat spoon through an edge to make sure the utensil wouldn't fall out while he one handedly rolled his balaclava up past his nose. All this being accomplished in an unwavering deadpan manner. 

Soap watched Ghost take his first spoonful of ice-cream, then started in on his own. Getting a kick out of the grabbag of baffled, jealous, or resigned expressions that warped the rookies faces as they paced by them and caught sight of their superiour’s new preoccupation. He knew that it would take Ghost a good ten minutes to finish his treat, his teeth too sensitive to the cold to eat it any faster. Unlike Gaz, who had scarfed his and was now panting his way through a self-inflicted ice-cream headache. 

“Thanks, Johnny.” Ghost’s quiet rumble whipped Soap’s attention away from Sideshow Garrick and the Scot beamed up at him.

“O’ course L.T! Was nae bother, dinnae fash yersel’,” Soap assured with a smile, bumping his shoulder against Ghost’s, 

“Of course it wasn’t a bother,” Gaz griped, “I paid for it!”

Ghost raised an eyebrow at Gaz, then faced front again repeating, “Thanks, Johnny,” in the flattest tone he could manage. Carefully hiding the smile that hooked at the corners of his mouth when Gaz’s exaggerated spluttering sent Johnny cackling.

Thank You for Reading!

This one also required an absurd amount of research as I tried to figure out what the hell British ice-cream trucks could feasibly sell, and if scots have some slang word for them, they do. They apparently call an ice-cream cone a 'pokey hat'. A delightful discovery that I had to share as it didn't make it into the story.

PekoeHoneynCream's Masterlist

[me-beef]

i am going to finally start posting what I’ve been working on!!!

my girlfriend and I have been world-building together for a homebrew pathfinder campaign that she started running for us and some friends- this is a character i’ve had for 3 years now, but only really started developing her story and whirling her around in my brain at mach speeds in the last couple months or so

i’ll put some lore and a couple other sketches under the cut. i’m also going to try and set up a queue for the other art and sketches i’ve made for the campaign so far, so watch out for that!

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

Have you heard of a whale fall?

Imagine being a creature living on the bottom of the ocean floor- life is hard. It's cold, it's dark, food is scarce. Suddenly, a giant, incomprehensible being floats down from the heavens. You and hundreds, maybe thousands of organisms clamor to the remains of the beast, a sudden beacon of prosperity in this wasteland, desperate to get even a scrap of its of life-giving nutrients. Every creature that partakes will have a piece of that being inside of them forever- fueling them, giving them life, becoming a part of them. Do you think these creatures would worship such a being? Would they consider it a god? Salvation? In the world of Omna, remnants of old gods past have fallen down from the divine realm and settled in the mortal plane. Their remains are what have created the landscapes of this world (mountain ranges, valleys, islands, etc). Mortals who live and dwell upon the remains find themselves changed slowly throughout the generations- changed by the faint fragments of the gods lingering power. --------------------------------------------------------

ok. now for my character Name: Felise Pfeiffer (Fell) Age: 19 Class: Cosmos Oracle Background: Scholar (Arcane) Felise is a cosmos oracle- which means her powers come at the cost of a curse that slowly takes over her body. Instead of something like stars, I wanted her curse to appear as this sort of.... corrupted, glitchy, chaos-y aura. It's very closely tied to her emotions, so when she gets really worked up, the static progressively expands around her. After she was "cursed", if she let her emotions get away from her, she risked hurting herself or other students at her academy. In order to avoid becoming a threat to the other students and faculty, and ultimately getting kicked out of school, she devised a number of strategies to help keep her emotions in check. (mechanically this is her settle emotions/refocus action. I'd like to think she uses the time to focus on slowing down her breathing. She uses her dancing lights cantrip to help- i imagine her spinning the lights around in her hands meditatively, kind of like baoding balls if you know what those are) (also yes, her curse magic manifesting is the equivalent of a panic attack) She's covered up a lot of her body to try and hide as much of it as possible, but her hair is always a dead giveaway. She leaves her fingers exposed since it's easier to channel magic through exposed skin (gloves, unless made of a special magic-conducting material, tend to dampen spells just a bit) - but this means others can see her fingers start to shift into static as she uses her cursed magic. I had a lot of really intense anxiety in junior high/high school/college, so she's become a really neat vessel for me to conceptualize and process those experiences and emotions. But, like, instead of having undiagnozed ADHD and RSD she gets like. cool magical girl powers BIO: Felise was the sole child of local inventor and archeologist, Atticus Pfeiffer. Her father's lifelong devotion was to study and uncover the mysteries of the ancient winged people known as the Featherfolk, who had seemingly vanished some 1000 years before. She grew up in a cottage built on the coast of a mysterious bird-shaped lake, where she and her father would excavate broken murals, walls of hieroglyphs, and other artifacts that hinted at the lives of this forgotten feathered-society. Until just under 10 years ago- when her father mysteriously vanished. From then on, reports of strange attacks began sprouting up all over Aton and other neighboring regions. Attacks fronted by giant, chimera-like bird monsters that would descend from the sky to snatch up unsuspecting victims- carrying them away to some unknown in the sky. Felise did her best to pick up the pieces of her father's research- hoping to find the cause behind the sudden appearance of these monstrous aberrations, the reason for their attacks, and maybe, just maybe, where her father disappeared to all those years ago.

-------------------------------------------------------- you did it!! i give you tasty treat for reading my lore dump! even if you didnt thats ok, you must have at least clicked the read more and scrolled down. you can still have a little treat

an unfinished reference sheet for her dad, atticus

these are my girlfriend @im-ashl sketches - Skraaw, The Carrion King - the BBEG of the campaign, an Evil Bird who is Awful

and finally some sketches of- whos this? the featherfolk princess??

[girlcrushart]

I’ve been keeping an eye out on something for a while now and playing a fun game with it. Now that tumblr has increased its queue cap to 1000 I’ve been wondering if I’d ever hit it over on my main reblogging blog. And over the last little while I kept getting close but somehow continuously managed to stay just below. Until yesterday. Last night I tried to queue a post and was denied bc it reached the 1000 limit. So the game I’ve been playing was that I was gonna make a poster of the girl who hit the 1000 mark, ideally of the actual image I was trying to reblog. Which is def a bit risky as not all images make for good posters. Well, as luck would have it, this fantastic pic of Katy Perry was the lucky winner! Katy is great and I’ve oddly only posted her once before so I’m happy to increase her girlcrush presence. I also decided to make the poster kinda extra and over the top, partially to commentate the event but also that works out great bc Katy is a little extra and over the top. Today’s girlcrushart guardián is Katy Perry.

[sollucets]

tag game for @khaopybara !! thank you for thinking of me i needed the boost 💜

1. why did you choose your url?

my url is from ‘sol lucet omnibus’, a latin phrase that means the sun shines for everyone. a lot of my urls & usernames and whatnot are sun themed, so this is just another in a long line. for a while it was ‘solclaw’ while i was in a werewolf phase. but i dont plan to change it again

2. any sideblogs? name them and why you have them

ahhh…. the secret come out. i guess? i have two sideblogs. @jinjjayo is my kpop sideblog, which i have not advertised having so far but does exist. i also have @solref, which is just where i collect tutorials & other reference stuff.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

not consecutively, i took breaks, but my first blog was made in 2011. :0 i’ve had three main blogs over the years.

4. do you have a queue tag?

i do! i don’t use it often but i tag things that are queued with ‘ghost post (queued)’

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

the original one, i made because my cousin recommended it to me. we shall not speak of its url. this current one was made when i started seriously writing again (thank u rasmr <3)

6. why did you choose your icon?

i love ayluna. my babygirls. that’s all there is to it lol. im also quite fond of the lil stars i edited in

7. why did you choose your header?

i did a lot of work to edit the scene’s colors for my lfls episode series, so i wanted to keep that and use it for one more gif haha. also i love them terribly

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

it is currently this set of the 3wbf trio doing their puzzle piece hugs, at just over 1000 notes. 🥺 im happy they deserve it

9. how many mutuals do you have?

73! i know this because (and i am aware this is embarrassing) i keep a notes document of my mutuals with names & tracktags, so i counted manually. that is,,, thats a lot of you. i love you all very much 🥹🥹🥹

10. how many followers do you have?

i have just over 900 followers. ._. wild

11. how many people do you follow?

i follow 155 blogs. i try to keep the number down but there are simply so many beloveds.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

sure lol. ive done textpost edits, and that disney only friends thing, and etc.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

i check at least once a day. usually more though

14. have you had a fight/argument with another blog?

noooo. i never have. i always just blocked people or we drifted apart. i love to block though

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

i think it’s counterintuitive. people don’t like being ordered around, so a lot of folks will instinctively scroll. then the ones you do get are often because of anxiety, so it feels cruel. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ just ask normally / say please reblog this

16. do you like tag games?

why ask this at #16 of a tag game lmao. yes of course. doesnt everyone love to overshare

17. do you like ask games?

yes very much. it always makes it feel more lively. i try to play when i have the time :>

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

ouuhh, mona @thitiponqs probably, hehe. all member of usergif and gay dot tumblr dot com and everything else. everyone should know mona u.u everyone is famous in my heart though.

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

no! >< it isn’t personal. i don’t have crushes very often. certainly you are all very lovely and cool, and i’ve had mutuals follow me who i had to go scream into a pillow about after for sure, but. it is all quite platonic im afraid 2 say. would still be happy to make out though

20. tags?

i will try! i choose u @markpakin & @lamonnaie ✨

[rpiconblogxkitten]

So I have officially updated the queue and the pinned post with all the bullshit I managed to complete recently and now the queue is back to 112 posts and goes until March 1st.

Now, I wanted to let you all know there is not a lot of character/series variety in the stuff I threw in there. I only got to a few of the projects, but I got a lot done for some of them. I finished Yosuga no Sora completely (I plan on going back and doing the male Haruka at some point, but that's something for the future when I feel like it) and I made significant progress in the Genshin Impact icons as well as the KKJ icons (eliminating over 1000 screenshots for both).

I also added a new series into the mix that I started iconing called School Days, which I'm sure a lot of you have heard of (its infamous for its gruesome ending as well as the bastard cheating main character). I made significant progress into that series as well.

I'm probably gonna take a break for a few weeks and then see what I can stockpile again. Happy icon saving folks!

[haveyoureadthisscifibook2]

about and FAQ

[plain text: about and FAQ]

who are you? do you have any association with the mod of the previous blogs?

just a guy who loves to read sci-fi and fantasy! I have no association with the previous blog's runner, other than having followed both poll blogs from when they started, but I loved the blogs and the format in which they were run so much that I volunteered to step up and carry on the torch, so to speak.

what happened to the old blogs?

see these posts [post 1; post 2] from the owner of the old blogs, which are no longer active.

i submitted to the old blog, but it got archived before my submission was ever posted! should I submit again to you?

no fear - the old blog's owner has compiled all submissions into a document for me so that I can pick up where they left off and work through the backlog!

are you going to change anything about the poll format/the way that the blog is run?

highly unlikely, other than perhaps some behind the scenes changes to how information is gathered and posts are queued. I am also starting off with submissions closed and a less frequent queue as I figure out my pace and get my bearings, but I hope to ramp it up to at least 4 posts/day (what the old blogs were running on) eventually.

FAQ carried over from the old blog:

[plain text: FAQ carried over from the old blog:]

a note re series: I am more than happy to queue up an entire series on request! if this is what you want, please indicate that explicitly in your submission, especially in cases where the first book in a series and the series as a whole have the same title. otherwise I need to ask for clarification, and it slows down the process of getting your submissions queued up.

where do I submit books?

submissions are currently open!

[plain text: submissions are currently open!]

here. before you submit books, though, please check the list of books that have already been posted or queued. (note: if you’re using the mobile app on an Android phone, you may have to copy the link into your browser in order to access it.) *yes, this link leads to a page on the old blog. I will add a page like it to this blog closer to when I'm ready to start posting polls! for now, you can see what has already been posted.

when submitting multiple books, please submit all of them in a single ask so it’s easier for me to keep track of, especially if you’re submitting them anonymously. also, please include the author’s name!

what counts as having “read” a book?

did you finish the book? then you’ve read it. if you did not finish the book, you have not read it.

do audiobooks / having a book read to you count as having “read” a book?

do you think you’ve “read” the book? then you’ve read it. I’m not here to police your experiences or your relationships with physical books / ebooks / audiobooks / whatever.

does [graphic novel / manga / manhua] count as a “book”?

for the purposes of this poll, a book is a prose narrative, so graphic novels and other visual media with text do not count as “books”.

does [“novella” / “novelette” / short story] count as a “book’?

if a short story was originally published in a single issue of a periodical, in a multi-author anthology, or as part of a single-author collection, I will most likely not accept it unless it has subsequently been published as a standalone volume of more than ~75 pages. if you submit a text where this applies and you think it should be accepted anyway, please elaborate on why with your submission.

however: if a short story was originally published in the form of a standalone volume (i.e., not as part of a collection of texts), then yes, under normal circumstances that counts! I don’t care if it was a 10-page pamphlet or a 1000-page behemoth: if it was first published on its own, including as an ebook, it’s a book.

you can see my more detailed guidelines for short fiction here.

the one exception is things like (e.g.) The Fellowship of the Ring, which is explicitly the first volume of a single, larger book — in a case like this you would submit The Lord of the Rings, rather than its component volumes.

I encourage you to submit short fiction to @have-you-read-this-short-fiction even if it’s not eligible here!

does [short story collection] count as a “book”?

for the purposes of this poll, no, unless the stories are linked into some kind of overarching whole. simply sharing a common setting does not qualify (so Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate Stories would not count as a “book”).

what about [series] as a whole?

no. this blog is asking about single books. feel free to submit multiple books in a series if you’re so inclined, though!

what counts as “sci-fi”?

if you think something should count as sci-fi, feel free to submit it. I haven’t read every book, and I have a flexible definition of the genre. there are some limits to my flexibility, but as long as it is set in the future, has some kind of futuristic technology, is set an an alternate timeline, or includes other non-realist phenomena that are explained (pseudo)scientifically, I’ll probably consider it sci-fi.

I’m a bit more ambivalent about older texts — I tend to think that something like Lucian’s True History (for example) can’t really be meaningfully said to be science fiction, for all that it involves space travel. once we start getting into early modern philosophical novels like More’s Utopia we’re on somewhat firmer ground, but really only in the nineteenth century do we start getting things I would unequivocally consider to be science fiction.

note that I am definitely willing to include works of science fantasy like Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb books or Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality, as long as there’s clearly sci-fi stuff going on along with the magic.

what about fantasy?

there’s a blog for that. :-)

does it have to be in English?

no! I read a number of languages and would be more than happy to include books in any language. the demographics of tumblr mean that you’re probably unlikely to get an overall “yes” result for something not in English unless it has a very popular English translation, but I’m happy to post the poll anyway — and maybe get some book recommendations in the languages I read. :-)

you can see links to all the language tags on this blog here.

why don’t you include blurbs for the books in these polls?

there are both practical and ideological reasons for this. tl;dr, it’s a lot of work, presents logistical problems for books not originally published in English, and there are books and authors that I categorically don’t want to promote beyond showing people the cover.

————————

check the #faq tag [including the old blog's #faq tag here] for additional questions and answers.

previous blog here, if you would like to see polls from before october 2024: @haveyoureadthisscifibook

[catholic-character-tournament]

Hey OP I know there's still almost a week left, but I think an option should be that a character who gets over a certain number of votes (IDK 2000[questionmarkthattumblrwon'tletmeaddforsomereason]) but still loses can be reintroduced to the tournament elsewhere with the justification that if they got that many votes but still lost then it can be chalked up to a seeding issue because, given most of the polls being under 1000 votes total, it was probably just an issue of seeding.

Am I suggesting this for selfish reasons[questionmark] Yes, absolutely. But also there are five or six days left and I may theoretically be doing The Enemy a favor if the tides turn because [gestures at the numbers] a lot of people clearly care about this and maybe if the matchup happens AGAIN later in the tournament, we can get an even wider sample size and really duke it out

Someone should have told me X pairing was bad because they're both fan favorites, either one of them getting disqualified in round 1 is just bad for the game.... However, I am a little noodle with no backbone and am terrified of judgment and I know another tournament host deleted a poll because people were talking about wincest?? And people got mad at the host for being a bad sport and saying they manipulated the outcome because they were unhappy??? (No judgment to the host, they told the people they were uncomfortable, I wouldn't be very happy if people were talking about SA in my tags)

Proposal: How mad will you guys be if you-know-who loses this round BUT takes the slot of whoever has less number votes TOTAL. So like X character who has 1500 votes takes the spot of X character who only got 150 votes.

Pro: It's more fun. They're a fan favorite. I worry that people will turn out if such a popular character doesn't even make it to the top 32. One of the most highly submitted characters. The poll has only been live less than two days and it already has more than twice as many votes than any other poll.

Con: Against the rules and people may get mad at me.... I don't want to open the doors to do this for everyone.

Other Proposal: Every round leading up to the semi finals, a 24 hour poll of "won with the least number of votes and lost with most number of vote" and who every wins that one stays. Soccer tournament style. I think. i don't know. I don't want spots.

& Being totally totally honest, if my blorbo does get into the top 32 I dont think I'll have the motivation to run part two "whos most likely to get into heaven" because these polls are a lot of work and i need at least one blorbo to seriously root for or its not fun for me. You could call me a bad sport idc the polls take at least 5 hours to make 32 with the graphics, organize the propaganda, queue and then continue to check the reblog in case there's more propaganda.

This isn't like a threat or anything, if anyone else would like to host the "most likely to go to heaven" tournament, I'd totally welcome and support them. It just wouldn't be fun for me and I'm not going to do something that doesn't bring me joy. That being said, I will still finish this tournament no matter what.

[chorusfm]

Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 Preview

Turkey day is happening this week, so that means that Record Store Day Black Friday is right around the corner. This year’s celebration of indie record stores occurs on Friday, November 29th, 2024, and features a fresh slate of new vinyl reissues, exciting exclusives, and in some cases, the first pressings of many key titles. The full list of RSD Black Friday releases can be found here, but be sure to check in with your local indie record store to see what they will be carrying this Friday. In this preview, I’ll be diving into some of the most sought after releases and offer some tips for newcomers to secure these titles. First, a few key things to remember: * There are three categories of Record Store Day Titles: EXCLUSIVES: These titles are physically released only at indie record stores. RSD FIRST: These titles are found first at indie record stores but may be released to other retailers or webstores at some point in the future. SMALL RUN/REGIONAL TITLES: These titles are either regionally based and sold at specific stores, or are press runs under 1000, which means they may be harder to find at record stores around the country. * Many of these RSD titles are in “limited” variety, so that usually means waking up early to secure your place in line on the busiest shopping day of the year. I’d highly recommend calling your local record store, or visiting their social media page, to see if they offer any guidance on how the queue will be operated. While most stores opt for a “first come, first served” mentality, other stores hand out physical, numbered tickets for patrons to know their exact place in line. * Record Store Day is meant to be a celebration of indie record stores! Yes, scalpers suck and are definitely ruining the fun, but even if you don’t find the title(s) you’re looking for on Black Friday, many indie record stores will sell their leftovers online as early as this Saturday. Check your favorite indie record store websites to see when they will release their stock so you can set your alarm and secure your next favorite record. Record Store Day Black Friday 2024: Key Titles This year’s slate offers several new vinyl releases from marquee artists. Here are the titles I see moving fast on Friday morning. Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft (Isolated Vocals) – RSD First – 25,000 copies Billie Eilish is a megastar and I fully expect this release, while having a high pressing number, to sell out pretty quickly. This “isolated vocals,” single LP release showcases the new album in a stripped back manner and highlights the power of Billie’s vocals. Olivia Rodrigo – Guts (Spilled) – RSD First – 30,000 copies Another major star releasing an exclusive 2x LP vinyl at a high pressing number is sure to mean that lines at indie record stores could be a bit longer than usual. This special edition red and purple marble vinyl is housed in a gatefold jacket with an exclusive purple sleeve. The main album is on the red marbled disc, while the bonus tracks are pressed on the purple marbled second disc. Norma Jean – Wrongdoers – RSD Exclusive – 2,000 copies The sixth album by metalcore pioneers, Norma Jean, called Wrongdoers has been long sought after on vinyl since its original release in 2013. This is only the second time the album has received a pressing, and this stunning “Fire Eyes” variant by Craft Recordings really shines. The label provided me with a promo copy so that I could dive further into the details for you. The pressing is dead quiet, while the highs and lows of the vinyl really shimmer over the original mix. At just 2,000 copies, Norma Jean’s metalcore classic is sure to move quickly. The set comes with a full-color, dual-sided lyric sheet, and the vinyl is housed in a full-color sleeve as well. Better Than Ezra – Deluxe – RSD First – 1,500 copies It’s hard to believe that this multi-platinum record by Better Than Ezra, that features the #1 Modern Rock single “Good,” has only… https://chorus.fm/features/record-store-day-black-friday-2024-preview/

[darkmaga-returns]

On this Moats, George Galloway broadcasts from Kazan, Russia on the eve of the BRICS summit 2024. George talks his experiences returning to Russia for the first time since before the conflict with Ukraine. Has Israel destroyed Hamas, after the death of its leader at the hands of another devastating operation.

Michael Maloof joins George to discuss what to expect from this years BRICS summit and why more countries are queueing up to join up next. They talk the current state of American politics, military politics moves across the board by Israel and the state of US politics.

Rachel Blevins is back on the show after being allowed back on YouTube after being banned from the platform over her content discussing Ukraine and Russia. After having her channel reinstated, they discuss the new age of censorship from big tech and how they are hitting independent journalists all over the world who are covering the Ukraine conflict.

Michael Maloof: Former Pentagon security analyst reporter and author

Rachel Blevins: Journalist and Political Commentator.

- Twitter: https://x.com/rachblevins

-Instagram: https://instagram.com/rachblevins

-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/racheleliseblevins

-YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RachelBlevins

-Rumble: https://rumble.com/v3q0fgy-gaza-facing-humanitarian-catastrophe-israeli-bombs-kill-1000-children.html

-Telegram: https://t.me/rachblevins

Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway.

[wrencoco-online]

it's a Sunday (aldi closes at 4). its new student day (probably over 1000 moving in). I went at 3. I couldn't move. I couldn't get to the soy sauce. why is there a man crouched in front of the soy sauce? what are you comparing? there are two options. how have 7 children run into me while I try and get the cheese. why is no one by the booze. these are new uni students. why is no one going for the cheap vodka. a moment of peace, at least. into the queue. People constantly pushing through to get the bread. the queue covers a whole ailse. only 20 minutes to closing. Will I make it in time? yes. I do. I try to leave. I can't cross the road to get to my house. it's full of cars trying to get onto the aldi car park. it should take less than 10 minutes for me to get home. but alas. no crossing shall be done at this junction. I walk around the city, adding an extra 20 minutes to my journey. at least the cars let me through at the zebra crossing over here. it's too warm. I didn't need that extra layer. I can't stop moving now, though. I'm going to kill. but before too much longer, I make it to my street. students moving into the city, away from the campus for the first time. its rather bittersweet, I remember that. I watch a man struggle to carry a new TV over the threshold. I consider stopping to help, but my bags are heavy enough. I go home. I collapse into bed, after showing my flatmate the bottle of wine I bought for her. University starts again in a week. I'm not prepared

[ravoress]

Love.

[whattheabcxyz]

2024-09-20

Singapore

Singaporean man arrested in Thailand for drug trafficking deported back here

Homegrown bookstore & SingLit bastion Epigram Books to cease operations of its SAM bookshop next year in Jan

1st prosecution of "99-to-1" property purchase: mother & son charged with giving false info to IRAS - more of such scumbags need to be punished! ✊🏻

FBI arrests 20-year-old Singaporean man in US over $297m crypto heist - they should just execute him 'cos we don't want criminal scum like him coming back to our country!

4% interest floor rate on CPF Special, MediSave & Retirement accounts extended to end-2025

Society

Japanese schoolboy living in China stabbed to death - this is scumbag megalomaniac Xi Jinping's f***ing China, where nationalism ramped up 1000% via propaganda has caused dumb, brainwashed citizens to murder in the name of patriotism!!! 😡🖕🏻

Shopping

Singapore: ~110 people seen queueing outside Apple Store on Orchard Road at 6am this morning, ahead of iPhone 16’s launch - the 1st person in the queue said he'd taken leave from work just to queue for the phone (which he isn't even particularly a fan of!); he'd got there at 3am to “experience the queueing atmosphere” ...this guy's idiocy is stupefying, seriously 🫨🫨🫨

Business

Every member of 23andMe's board except the CEO just resigned in disgust

Finance

Who knew you could earn money from Listerine royalties?! - you heard me right!

Health

1 in 3 youth in Singapore reported very poor mental health, says IMH survey

Economy

Malaysia unveils zero tax for family offices in Forest City, in bid to revive Johor project - "the 2,800ha development, backed by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings, was designated a special financial zone (SFZ) in August 2023 to boost foreign investment & economic growth in the area"

Environment

^ Bangkok turns to urban forests to beat worsening floods

Politics

Elon Musk got fooled into sharing Putin-backed propaganda meme - he needs to start using a fact-checker bot!

Travel

Singaporeans will soon need electronic travel authorisation (ETA) permit to visit Thailand - pilot phase will begin in December, with a full rollout by June next year; it is free of charge & mandatory for citizens of 93 countries who currently enjoy visa-free travel to Thailand for stays of up to 60 days for the purpose of tourism

[dawndestroyer]

thinking aloud here, I want to eventually make a sideblog for garage bad dream adventure once I am finished with the game (I am ALMOST done. took a break in the middle of collecting all the dream dialogue of the characters during juice's route. and this is after I went through every other ending already also) I have well over 1000 screenshots of dialogue and need a place to see the conversations characters have and the notes in the game in an easy way and tumblr is the perfect format for it strangely enough

images will be from the remake since, despite the ugly text its very readable and also what I have played. I'll have alt text but also a text transcription under a read more. if its a note I will have the title of the note in the caption, but if its dialogue I want to list the chapter(s) it occurs in.

that last part is a bit tricky since I don't entirely remember when every conversation happens. it won't be too hard in most cases since usually characters talk about whatever the chapter title is anyway, but other characters are a lot harder to match. and there was one particular conversation with ein I didn't catch until my THIRD playthrough because it is the one chapter he will just randomly change his location as you move through areas because why not. all this being said I will probably work on all of this when I replay the shan route, since she was my first playthrough and I didn't catch enough of her conversations

originally I wanted a bot system that would queue and post these dialogues randomly because that would be fun for anyone that stumbled on the blog but nahhhh thats too much work. I'll just post them in whatever order I feel like and queue them up

[thesnackist]

this blog has been dead for a hundred years

but my likes/saves are over 1000 posts lol so it's time to start queueing

TLDR I'M ALIVE AND THE QUEUE SHALL CARRY MEEEEEEEEEEE ON ITS BACK LIKE A MUSICIAN CROWDSURFING WHEEEEEEEEEEE

[anilbisht]

Up Close to Garhwal Himalayas - A Trekking Trip to Chopta, Tungnath, Chandrashila and Deoria Tal

Well, we had been to the mountains several times before, but never indulged in any uphill summit trekking leading up to the 13000 ft+ elevation levels. This in mind, initially, we two, the Bisht’s, planned to go to this trekking trip covering Chopta-Tungnath-Chandrashila-Deoria Tal. And, then the word spread, and five more, the Negi’s and the Rawat’s, joined us for this adventurously lifelong memorable trekking trip.  

In the second week of June 2023, we all undertook this 5-daylong, 1000 kms+ self-driven trip to higher reaches of Uttarakhand. We took the route from Delhi to Haridwar to Rishikesh to Devprayag to Srinagar to Rudraprayag to Agastyamuni to Ukhimath to Chopta to Sari Village (for Deoria Tal). Enroute, we detoured slightly to the revered shrines of Maa Dhari Devi, Srinagar and The Koteshwar Mahadev, Rudraprayag.

On Day1, we took a midway halt at Jayalgarh (10kms before Srinagar), a beautiful campsite arrayed on the banks of river Alaknanda. A piece of advice to all the travelers – avoid passing through Rishikesh on the weekends, otherwise you will end up facing multiple diversions, and sweat it out over the struggles of negotiating serpentine queues of a torturous bumper-to-bumper traffic right up to the Shivpuri. It’s a colossal waste of time and energy dealing with such heavy jams.  And, if no option, pass through Rishikesh around the wee hours.

We were late to reach Jayalgarh, reaching by 6.30pm; exhausted due to the Rishikesh traffic, we rested a bit for whatever little time we had. After some rest, we walked down to the riverbank and had some serene moments with our feet dipped in the cold flowing waters of Alaknanda. Allure of the Alaknanda is such that we revisited the riverbanks early in the morning just to witness the orangey dawn over the white sand banks and the morning mistiness of the river.

Our trip on Day2 started with a holy visit to the much-revered Maa Dhari Devi, regarded as the guardian protector deity of the state of Uttarakhand, the temple seating an avatar of Goddess Kali. Jai Maa Dhari Devi is a sacred temple in the Garhwal region, and is structured beautifully, with all its shine and glory, in the middle of Alaknanda River, which is connected to the adjacent hill through a foot bridge. The temple’s architecture is splendid, colourful and has intricate wooden designs and carvings around it. We all offered our holy prayers, soaked ourselves in the holiness of the deity, bought a few souvenirs and headed to our next stopover: Koteshwar Mahadev cave temple.

As we reached Koteshwar Mahadev - which is at a slight detour of 3-4 kms after crossing over the Rudraprayag Bridge - the amazing sight of the two parallelly imposing rocks standing next to each other welcomes you, with river Alaknanda gushing through the vertical gap, which not only beholds your attention and gaze but also mesmerizes you with its Grand Canyon like settings. Lord Shiva is seated inside a spring-water-dripped cave, which is naturally cool and dark and is dotted with several Shivlings. We offered our prayers to the almighty and headed to our ultimate destination, Chopta.

I must say that roads condition, overall, was just great; driving through the serpentine courses, forests, riverbanks, and the rocky terrain was a super pleasure. Late afternoon, we reached the picturesque hamlet, Chopta, located at an elevation of 9000 ft., is also famously known as the mini-Switzerland of Uttarakhand. The environ here was cool and wintry. We indulged in a bit of cricket match in the open spaces of the resort along with their staff members. By the night, our jackets were out as the weather had turned much colder. Heating appliances were not available as our stay was in the protected forest area, so the power supply was through solar means only, and that too in the fixed time slot of 7pm to 5am. Aside, we had a blessing in disguise; the mobile signals were hugely erratic, rather phones were down with no network during our time in Chopta. A small stream was also flowing by our cottage side. We gathered and gossiped around the stream sitting on the boulders, cooling our drinks in its icy waters and enjoyed our moments together in the lap of nature. As the sunlight dimmed, surroundings descended to pitch dark, and such was the darkness that it was quite frightening to even peep outside from our cottages in the late night.

On Day3, we woke up early, naturally, awakened by the constant chirping and coo of the birds of different species. Done with morning chores, we packed our breakfast and headed to the Tungnath trek point, about 4-5kms from our stay. On the way, by the roadside, we spotted a group of big-sized vultures feasting heartily on a decaying cow, possibly hunted down, or fallen off the cliff.

We reached the Tungnath base point at around 8am, lest we got late, it was time to start our trek to the world’s highest located Lord Shiva temple, Tungnath Mahadev. We parked our vehicles safely and sequentially by the hillside on the very tight spaces of the single lane road. Mules were also available, but we decided to trek on our own strength. We rented the sticks for the ones who needed it; stocked water bottles in our bag packs; wore our hats and started off spiritedly and spiritually by chiming aloud the bell at the gateway with chants of Har Har Mahadev. It’s a 4km trek, which gets steeper with every step-up. Phew! As we move up, lush green grassed meadows start to appear out of nowhere, surrounded by mountainous terrain and snowcapped ridges. Weather also keeps changing its mood – sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes it’s cloudy, sometimes it’s drizzling, sometimes it’s windy. One can experience all shades of the nature in this 4km long trek! As the climb gets steeper, the destination appears farther away as we start to huff and puff, taking frequent pitstops to normalise the heavy breathing, sipping water in between, and then restarting the trek. But, once we sighted the temple top as we looked up from a distance, we felt reenergized and relieved that our treacherous trek is now almost over. As the trek ended, and as we reached the temple’s premises, all our trekking tiredness vanished in a jiffy. Such is the aura of this sacred temple of Tungnath ji, perched at a high altitude of 12000 ft+.  We queued up and offered our heartfelt prayers to the almighty - Lord Shiva Mahadev - and took the holy blessings. Inside the temple, it was all a divine experience with feelings of the divinity everywhere in, triggering the goosebumps. We took a lap of the temple, offering obeisance to all the deities around, and came out bowed down in reverence and holiness.

It was 1pm by the time we finished our prayers; five amongst us decided to rest and refresh and not to trek further up to Chandrashila. I, along with my brother-in-law, decided to conquer the ultimate Chandrashila peak, which is located 1 km further above of Tungnath.  This 2nd stretch of the trek was much steeper than we had anticipated. And, in fact, it was even more treacherous and tougher than our just completed trek of Tungnath. 1km appeared easier in comparison to the 4kms we had done already - but in reality - it was as good as trekking 4kms again! With small baby steps, and with the might and awe of Lord Mahadev, we eventually, made it to the summit - The Chandrashila peak - an altitude of 13000 ft+.  There is a small temple perched at the top, painted in white with flags and worship bands tied on it, dedicated to the Goddess Ganga. We offered our prayers, clicked a few pictures, and soaked in the cool fresh breeze atop as much as we could. Unfortunately, the weather turned cloudy and dark, and we couldn’t see clearly the much sought after 360-degree panoramic view of the snow-laden mountains, sky-high ridges, and the scenic surroundings of the green meadows.  With looming rains, we quickly started to trek down. Enticed by the short-cuts, I tripped down twice over the sloping and moist meadows without any hurt though, which is nature’s way of telling us to follow the designated path. We rejoined our group at Tungnath, took some refreshments, and then headed back to the base point. Though trekking down takes lesser time, but I found it tougher than trekking up as one not only battles the gravitational pull but also the challenge of body weight balancing itself solely on the calf muscles and the knees. At around 3.30pm, we finally reached back to the Tungnath base after completing a tough uphill-and-downhill trek. As we had already checked-out from our Chopta stay, we were now headed to our next halt, the Sari Village, about 25kms downhill, at an elevation of 6,500 ft. We reached Sari, a beautiful village, and the base point of Deoria Tal, at around 5pm.

We started the Day4 excursion with an early breakfast and got ready for our 2.5km trek to Deoria Tal, a pristine emerald-green lake at an altitude of 8000 ft, part of the Kedarnath Sanctuary. The lake is perched at the hilltop and nestled in the dense forest around it. This trek was shorter in comparison to Tungnath, and not that steep but it was a tough trek as the path was a bit stony and patchy. And, it becomes more difficult, especially, if you are trekking late in the noon under the scorching sun. The trek has few eateries on its route run by the locals. We started the trek at around 9am. The entry point starts from the Sari village. It took us some sweating efforts to reach at the top. The very moment the trek ends, a stunning lakeview welcomes you with its open green spaces. A small forest checkpoint is at one corner where you can buy the entry tickets. The whole area around it has a magically soothing relaxing feel. The minty freshness and the greenery of the place reenergizes the body and the soul evenly. At the ground level, the lake is surrounded by meadows and the jungles; and when you look up at the sky around, the rising snowcapped Chaukhamba range of the Himalayas makes its imposing presence felt. The Himalayan view as seen from our own eyes is truly fantastic, and its reflection on the emerald surface of the lake makes it even more grandeur.  We took a walk around the lake, which is roughly an 800 mtr circled path, passing through the forests and the open spaces. Besotted by the picturesque lake and the gigantic Himalayas around, we spent close to two hours absorbing the magnificent nature and its mesmerising beauty. We leisurely laid ourselves down on the grass beds, lying under the cool and calming shades of the trees soaking in the freshness of the environ. After our delightful time at the lake, we returned to the Sari village, enroute visiting an elegant antique temple, of Lord Shiva, built by a local priest. It was 2pm by the time we returned to our base, had a hearty lunch, and then it was all rest in the lovely weather of Sari.

On Day5, we started our journey back; while one family went straight to Delhi, we, two families, stayed back enroute at a Rishikesh resort for a relaxing pool time and restful night after the tough trekking pursuits we had undertaken all these days. We had started our trip with a stay at Alaknanda riverbanks, and now ending it again with our stay on the riverbanks of the holy Ganges. In the evening, we sat on the banks of the calmly flowing river Ganges. It was quite breezy and sandy, but it offered us wonderfully peaceful moments sitting on the boulders, gazing at the rafts and kayaks pass by us, with our feet downed in the cold waters. As the water levels begun to rise and sunlight faded, we returned to our resort.  

On Day6, we left Rishikesh early, and reached back Delhi by late afternoon.

A fabulous trip with blissful moments, for all of us; to be cherished forever!!!

Anil Bisht

anilbisht@rediffmail.com

more pictures here: instagram.com/anil_bisht_/

  Green meadows on the Tungnath trek

Mountains around the Tungnath trek

Mountains around the Chandrashila Trek

Devprayag - holy confluence of river Alaknanda and Bhagirathi, forming the river Ganges

River Alaknanda at Jayalgarh, Srinagar

Rocky banks of river Alaknanda at Jayalgarh, Srinagar

Jai Maa Dhari Devi Temple, Srinagar

A suspended bridge along side Maa Dhari Devi Temple

Koteshwar Mahadev Temple

The view of the Koteshwar rocks with river Alaknanda passing through the gap

Chopta valley

Trek to Tungnath ji

Trek to Chandrashila

Tungnath Mahadev temple

Tungnath Mahadev Temple

Trek to Chandarshila

Chandrashila summit - the Ganga temple

Kedar himalaya peaks visible from Ukhimath

A Lord Mahadev temple at Sari Village

Deoria Tal

Deoria Tal + Chaukhamba peaks

Deoria tal and the dense forestry around it

Deoria Tal lake

Deoria Tal lake

The imposing Chaukhamba Himalaya range

Sari village from up above the trek to Deoria Tal

Deities inside the Sari village temple

Stone shaped deities placed at the Sari village temple

Sari village temple of Lord Shiva

Rishikesh - Shivpuri, the Ganges banks