#shopping comparison site

[crazyfashionsblog]

Brand Wars: Which Indian Online Store Has the Best Clothing Selection?

With just a few clicks, you find yourself amidst several trend styles offered by top brands. Since millions of fashion lovers opt for online shopping in India, we're talking here about three popular brands such as H&M, Zara, and Beyoung. So, what's to be compared? Let's get into it and find out what shops for clothes online have to offer.

H&M

H&M is a fast fashion brand that designs an extensive range of clothing for men, women, and children. From basics like T-shirts and jeans to the sleeker variations that include dresses and jackets, H&M is one complete-stop shop. Its online shopping site is not complicated and is replete with endless options.

Affordability is the biggest plus of H&M; at affordable prices, you would find the latest in fashion. In addition, H&M from time to time goes on sale, so it is very appealing to budget-conscious buyers. H&M online shopping in India also offers its customers regular new arrivals ensuring the consumers never miss staying ahead of the latest fashion trends.

Zara

Another of the best online shopping sites for clothes in India is Zara. It is mostly known for its fancy and classy designs and provides high-quality clothing with a modern touch. Whether it is office wear, casual clothes, or even evening wear, the collection of Zara has a lot of varied options that are always in style.

The first attribute associated with Zara is the quality of materials and designs. This makes it cost more than H&M, but appropriate for long-lasting and luxury items. Its online store is very sleek and easy to use. The time cycle from browsing through purchasing to payment is not so time-consuming. If you are looking for eternal fashion with a tinge of elegance, then Zara is the right brand for you.

Beyoung

If you are looking for some young, fun, and trendy clothes, then the buzzword is Beyoung. It is an Indian brand that addresses the target group of younger generations with fresh quirks of design - from funky t-shirts to comfy joggers, all quickly having a place within their online fashion firmament.

The specialty of Beyoung is comfort and affordability. Here, their clothes would best suit those looking for styling without burning a hole in the pocket. The online shopping site is user-friendly, so shopping for clothes online is easy even when you are not an e-commerce person. The collection is curated with an eye on the basic Indian, keeping style and practicality in mind.

Comparing the Brands: What’s Best for You?

So, how do H&M, Zara, and Beyoung differ in terms of offering the best choice of clothing? Well, it all depends on what suits your personal style, budget, and fashion needs.

If you like affordable fashion combined with constant updates of new trends, then you're on the right track by shopping at H&M. You will find a lot of choices in their shop, so you should be able to find something that suits your taste. H&M also maintains an online shopping site that makes it easier for its users to make purchases, and you can enjoy shopping there even more through frequent sales.

On the other hand, Zara appeals to sophisticated consumers. It offers garments for the fashion-conscious who do not mind spending a little extra penny for good quality materials and very sophisticated designs. The clothing of Zara is ideal for anyone who will need premium fashion that lasts for years.

And so, young and trendy are the ones who prefer Beyoung. Young, comfort-oriented, and affordable, this clothing brand is liked by most Indian shoppers. Who is gradually growing as a brand in online shopping in India, its focus on catering to the needs of Indian youth has attracted this brand toward it. They throw fun styles not in a hole in their pockets.

Ease of Online Shopping Experience

All three brand’s online shopping sites are hassle-free to shop through: H&M, Zara, and Beyoung. The global recognition of the websites coupled with clear navigation and a rapid checkout process has been achieved in the case of H&M and Zara. The website of Beyoung, a local favorite, carries that personal touch to it which Indian shoppers love. Making online shopping in India across all sites hassle-free, all of them provide multiple payment options and easy returns.

Final Word

Ultimately, the best online shopping site for you will depend on your personal sense of fashion. In case you need cheap fast fashion, then H&M is the obvious choice. Since they hold frequent updates and sales, they are perfect for budget shoppers. In case high street fashionable clothes are what you want, classy, of good standing durable, then it's Zara for you. Beyoung is the ultimate way to get trendy, young fashion at pocket-friendly prices.

The next time you shop for clothes online, look out for these brands, and you will surely find something to suit your style. Try them out from the comfort of your very own house.

[toppicksreviews]

Egypt visa-free countries

Egypt offers visa-free entry to citizens of several countries for stays up to 90 days. These include Bahrain, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macao, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, some nationalities are eligible for visa-on-arrival, while others must obtain a visa in advance. The list of visa-free countries can change, so it's advisable to check with the Egyptian embassy or official government sources for the most up-to-date information before planning travel. More info: https://toppicksreviews.com

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The CFPB is genuinely making America better, and they're going HARD

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

Let's take a sec here and notice something genuinely great happening in the US government: the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's stunning, unbroken streak of major, muscular victories over the forces of corporate corruption, with the backing of the Supreme Court (yes, that Supreme Court), and which is only speeding up!

A little background. The CFPB was created in 2010. It was Elizabeth Warren's brainchild, an institution that was supposed to regulate finance from the perspective of the American public, not the American finance sector. Rather than fighting to "stabilize" the financial sector (the mission that led to Obama taking his advisor Timothy Geithner's advice to permit the foreclosure crisis to continue in order to "foam the runways" for the banks), the Bureau would fight to defend us from bankers.

The CFPB got off to a rocky start, with challenges to the unique system of long-term leadership appointments meant to depoliticize the office, as well as the sudden resignation of its inaugural boss, who broke his promise to see his term through in order to launch an unsuccessful bid for political office.

But after the 2020 election, the Bureau came into its own, when Biden poached Rohit Chopra from the FTC and put him in charge. Chopra went on a tear, taking on landlords who violated the covid eviction moratorium:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cfpb

Then banning payday lenders' scummiest tactics:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/29/planned-obsolescence/#academic-fraud

Then striking at one of fintech's most predatory grifts, the "earned wage access" hustle:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

Then closing the loophole that let credit reporting bureaus (like Equifax, who doxed every single American in a spectacular 2019 breach) avoid regulation by creating data brokerage divisions and claiming they weren't part of the regulated activity of credit reporting:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

Chopra went on to promise to ban data-brokers altogether:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/13/goulash/#material-misstatement

Then he banned comparison shopping sites where you go to find the best bank accounts and credit cards from accepting bribes and putting more expensive options at the top of the list. Instead, he's requiring banks to send the CFPB regular, accurate lists of all their charges, and standing up a federal operated comparison shopping site that gives only accurate and honest rankings. Finally, he's made an interoperability rule requiring banks to let you transfer to another institution with one click, just like you change phone carriers. That means you can search an honest site to find the best deal on your banking, and then, with a single click, transfer your accounts, your account history, your payees, and all your other banking data to that new bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Somewhere in there, big business got scared. They cooked up a legal theory declaring the CFPB's funding mechanism to be unconstitutional and got the case fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, in a bid to put Chopra and the CFPB permanently out of business. Instead, the Supremes – these Supremes! – upheld the CFPB's funding mechanism in a 7-2 ruling:

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/05/supreme-court-lets-cfpb-funding-stand/

That ruling was a starter pistol for Chopra and the Bureau. Maybe it seemed like they were taking big swings before, but it turns out all that was just a warmup. Last week on The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner rounded up all the stuff the Bureau is kicking off:

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-06-07-window-on-corporate-deceptions/

First: regulating Buy Now, Pay Later companies (think: Klarna) as credit-card companies, with all the requirements for disclosure and interest rate caps dictated by the Truth In Lending Act:

https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2024/06/cfpb-applies-credit-card-rules

Next: creating a registry of habitual corporate criminals. This rogues gallery will make it harder for other agencies – like the DOJ – and state Attorneys General to offer bullshit "delayed prosecution agreements" to companies that compulsively rip us off:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-creates-registry-to-detect-corporate-repeat-offenders/

Then there's the rule against "fine print deception" – which is when the fine print in a contract lies to you about your rights, like when a mortgage lender forces you waive a right you can't actually waive, or car lenders that make you waive your bankruptcy rights, which, again, you can't waive:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-warns-against-deception-in-contract-fine-print/

As Kuttner writes, the common thread running through all these orders is that they ban deceptive practices – they make it illegal for companies to steal from us by lying to us. Especially in these dying days of class action suits – rapidly becoming obsolete thanks to "mandatory arbitration waivers" that make you sign away your right to join a class action – agencies like the CFPB are our only hope of punishing companies that lie to us to steal from us.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and much of it – including an active genocide – is coming from the Biden White House.

But there are people in the Biden Administration who care about the American people and who are effective and committed fighters who have our back. What's more, they're winning. That doesn't make all the bad news go away, but sometimes it feels good to take a moment and take the W.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

[acid-ixx]

Ohhhhhhhmisggashoosghhh

I love everything about "before the bell rings"

Such masterpiece such peakness oh my goodkdasssdffrddf. Couldnt stop thinking abt it couldnt stop rereading it its ltrly currently 3:11 am rn i wasnt aware of the time all i know was that i was obsessively drawing this man with your story in my mind my god i couldnt stop giggling and blushing n i had to take few breaks n paces in my room to cool off

HOPE U ARENT TOO WEIRDED OUT

— related post ! (tw: a bit nsfw, non-con kissing)

OHMYGOD. OHMYGOD!!! user luffyadolover you are the gift that keeps on giving because WHAT THE HELL??? more than five sketches of this feral, horny man and HE'S SO HANDSOME ILYSM FOR THIS!!! i'm actually so down bad i had to stare at the last image for a few minutes because YOU DREW THE ENTIRE SCENE SO WELL.

i love the first image, you drew him so well, the slick-back hair and everything!?!? with him looking all so proud of himself when he chooses something for his spouse that they actually really like, as if he didn't just planned to ignore you or to simply hastily choose whichever looks the fanciest; that was the plan until his brain haywires just witnessing the absolute joy on your face every time he picks something right; imprinting the memory of your smile in his brain to the point he sees it every time he blinks— so now it's become his daily mission after falling for you to traverse each and every shopping site and malls in his batcave to ensure you only get the highest quality of gifts. mind you, he is a very dedicated man, bruce wayne doesn't give up so easily.

AND THE SECOND AND THIRD IMAGES TOO !!! with his mask on, you couldn't really tell just how obsessed he is, due to the blunt face he always has to wear, but the comparison of him without; with the stare that speaks of a million promises all dedicated to honoring and cherishing his beloved spouse. he doesn't need wedding vows when his eyes (always almost unexpressive, unable to fully show the full range of his emotions; vulnerable in the midst of worshipping his sleeping, little deity) already presents what your future life would like with him.

it doesn't matter if you're drooling, or butt-fuck naked. if i say he's remembering every small, incoherent detail about how you sleep, what position you sleep in, even the position you bury your head in the pillow, let that devotion cement in the very crevices of his mind and in every corner of his heart. it wouldn't matter anyways that you're sleeping alone, hugging a pillow (that should've been him) now, because soon, you'd be quickly migrated in his bed, in his arms, and you won't be getting out. he'd be too invested in the smell of your hair, the feel of the pudge in your stomach, and the seams of your clothing rubbing against his thighs to even allow you to let go.

AND GOD, THE SKETCH WHERE HE'S JUST LICKING THE SPIT AND ALL?!? my brain is malfunctioning, i'm going insane. this is my favorite fanart of yours so far, i'm so grateful for your existence because you've graced me 😭 i'm absolutely not going to deny the future accusations of me writing for debauched and absolutely feral and/or horny bruce wayne!!! trust me when i'm telling you that he's not only memorizing exterior parts of you, but bruce promises (it's actually just him justifying his actions) himself that he has to remember what the inside of your mouth feels like to fully and properly kiss you before your wedding date arrives, just to establish how much of an absolutely perfect husband he will be for you.

to make up for all his past mistakes of absolutely ignoring you, to ensure you that it's not you who's the problem— it's him and he has to fix it all. he has to guarantee that you won't even dare look at another man; even if it means watching you every night disguised as the bat, then coming home to the manor (your shared home, soon) by the time the sun breaks out of its sleepy stupor, just to dream about what it'd feel like pinning you willingly and taking you all for himself after your honeymoon— how could a man like him stop dreaming about his beloved spouse? how could he control his hands to stop lingering beneath his utility belt just to touch and pleasure his body the same way he wishes to worship yours?

the answer is: you don't. or rather, you couldn't.

so if you ever feel your lips becoming more and more sore every other night, and notice the trinkets from your desk and even undergarments from your closet now missing... well, you'll soon know who the culprit is...

a/n: no, i do not tolerate this behavior irl. once again, pls be aware guys that this is a yandere blog (and i've been writing content like this for years) and i'm bound to write more extreme concepts compared to this. the only element that never disappears from this is that i'm writing under the sub-"category" of soft yandere. that doesn't mean it doesn't stray away from the eventual dub-con/non-con.

once again, thank u so much for the dedication to send me so many good fanarts @luffyadolover 😭🥹, although i may not always reply quickly, i appreciate you and all the other fanartists who spend their time drawing inspired by my content. it's truly an honor, and in all my years of writing, you guys are one of the reason why i still continue to write <333

[sleepyparalysisdmon]

Traveling with SVT

Requested? Yes!

Request: ‘While on a trip abroad, svt member and the reader struggle with a language barrier and end up relying on each other to navigate an unexpected adventure…?✨’

So lost - Jun, Woozi, Vernon

You better know how to read a map, because they will not even try. You guys will have a bright idea to go to a certain tourist site and he’ll pull it up on the map and shrug and say ‘okay, I know where it is’ and close the app. He’s assuming everything will be signed well and he can just find it, you know? That might not always be the case, but he might not even recognize how far off the beaten path you guys get sometimes. I don’t think it’s a case of them being too stubborn and manly to use a map or ask for directions, because he will if things get too off the rails, but what better time to get lost in a new city? That’s how you guys will come across some really cool stuff that you just can’t find when you google the city you’re in. The actual tourist sites kind of pale in comparison to your unexpected discoveries when you finally find them. 

Google translate is your best friend - Jeonghan, Minghao, Chan

I whole-heartedly believe they did their best to learn a little bit of the language before the trip. They downloaded all the apps, they bought the books, they looked up videos of native speakers to try to nail the pronunciation. I fear all of that will go out the window as soon as you land in this new place. You guys will unmistakably be tourists because of how you struggle to decipher signs in the airport. But!!! He’ll get the bright idea to just pull out google translate when it comes time to get into a taxi or uber to go to your lodgings. That app really gets a workout your whole trip. If you guys need to ask someone something, he’s pulling out his phone. He’s taking pictures of signs to let the app translate it. You guys will think ‘how do I say this in [insert langauge], and the app gets opened right away to find out. Tourists indeed, but it makes your trip all the more rewarding when you manage to navigate for the whole week with a huge language barrier and still have a good time. 

Might as well be professional taste-testers - Hoshi, DK, Mingyu

Shrugs at all of the tourist sites or scenery because it’s cool and you wanted to do all of that. But he’s really itching to get to the list of foods he wants to try while he’s here. He’s been compiling it for ages. He knows the basics of how it’s made or what ingredients are used, but he wants to try it. So for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you let him lead you to his pick. You might even let him order for you, particularly if there are two dishes he really wants to try. If that’s the case, you both will be swapping plates back and forth throughout the meal. He’ll never shut up about the hits and swear you guys will make it when you get home. He knows some of these are going to be misses too because that's just how it goes, but even though he came away from a meal not loving something, he can still go home and say ‘you’ll never guess what I tried on our most recent trip! It was so cool!’

Souvenir shopping everywhere - Seungcheol, Seungkwan

Did you bring an extra suitcase with you? I hope you did. He sees something cool? He’s buying it. You might even be like, ‘honey, we just bought something like this at a shop yesterday, we don’t need this one’, and he’ll say, ‘of course, we need it!’ And then he’ll meticulously point out all of the differences between what you bought yesterday and what he’s about to buy today. Some of these will be gifts for others, for sure, but mostly he wants to bring home reminders of your fun little trip to keep at home. He’ll say, ‘oh, this would look good in the kitchen’, or ‘we should hang this in the living room’. You wouldn’t mind the little reminder either, so of course you agree and let him buy it - along with an extra suitcase if there’s not an empty one for all of these things back at the hotel. 

An absolute pro - Joshua, Wonwoo

You narrow your eyes at him the whole time through the airport, in the taxi, and getting settled into the hotel. He spots your expression and gives you a look that says ‘what did I do’, and you’ll cry out, ‘I thought you said you’d never been here before!’ He’ll blink, because he hasn’t. But you’d never know it. He’s borderline fluent and seems to navigate a new country with ease, like he’s downloaded the maps into his brain. He’s so fucking casual about it that within just a few days you resign yourself to him just being like that. There’s not a single moment that he shows any hesitation or confusion - not when the taxi driver asks him a question, not when you ask what’s in the local delicacy you guys ordered for lunch, and not when he can lead you through winding streets to the tourist site you wanted to see like he’s lived here his whole life. An absolute pro that I’d love to travel with!!

[shiftythrifting]

I've never submitted to a blog before so I hope I'm doing this right

I give you this Sergei (one of the meerkat mascots of compare the market - an insurance comparison site in the UK)

He doesn't look special but he has a backstory...

There's a character in our D&D campaign named Sergei who is currently missing, I saw this guy in a charity shop in May and sent a picture to the group chat saying "guys I found him, he's here he's fine"

I have since been back to that charity shop at least 3 times and HE IS STILL THERE!!! This image was taken at the start of September, they've pushed him to the back of the other teddies now. It makes me so so sad every time I see him, I almost brought him the last time I was there but I know I don't have space for him.

If next time I go back to that charity shop he is still there, I think I have to bring him home

it is destiny if you meet again

[nylarac]

hii i have written up comparisons on the 3 main neoclones <3 grundo's cafe is definitely my favorite overall but they all have their pros and cons

grundo's cafe

- start with 6 pets, more expensive to expand than the other neoclones (done through buying tokens) and that type of token increases in cost every time you buy them

- by far the best for games in terms of number of games, optimization for mobile, and np payout + gives random item prizes including paint brushes (high earnings per game and high np cap, able to get even more if you do neoschool)

- most frequent negative random events (maybe i am just unlucky?)

- pant devil attractors are a necessity with how often the wheels destroy your items (i don't think this is just me)

- can buy a shield to protect your pet/self from random events/color changes but it is a) expensive b) gets damaged over time if not equipped to a pet and c) has to be equipped to each pet if you ever want to have them active without risking them

- has by far the most extensive and engaging holiday events of the 3 (at least judging by the halloween events lol)

- no fanmade pets but has the most exclusive color options of the 3, lots of alts including older style art (downside is that it's much more expensive to get the alt art than it is on moderneo)

- only neoclone that has alts of even older art like the old jubjub and zafara

- pets can't have the same name

- most dailies and games have a chance to give you a relic which can be sold at a high price or exchanged for warehouse credits to buy items like alternative color and shield tokens (relics decently common, can usually get 1 or 2 per day through quests, less common through games)

- has a lot of fun unlockable site themes (plus a dark mode) and a useful extra sidebar but not as well optimized for mobile as virtupet (have to zoom in and scroll around some)

- doesn't have as many pages of employment center jobs as moderneo and the payout is lower - np reward for basic jobs seems to be mostly proportional to how many items are being asked for

- seems to have the most active users of the 3

- only neoclone with a functional auction house atm

- has neoschool where you pick a subject and then answer a question + bring random school supplies every day and then are rewarded with a relic (worth more than ones you get from dailies) and double items/np from games for a week

screenshots:

moderneopets

- can have up to 24 pets from the start and can get more with an item called animalis (only about 300k currently)

- not the best for games in terms of number of games, mobile optimization, and np payout (very low cap on max np and low earnings per game)

- best way to make np through games is tyranu evanu which has a higher max np cap but isn't the most fun to play imo

- most frequent positive random events (constantly finding np on the floor etc)

- has lots of fanmade pets (including my beloved motere) and some colors exclusive to moderneo

- also has alts exclusive to moderneo (including v nice color palette swaps)

- pets technically can't have the same name but there's an option to add zero width characters so you can still use whatever name you want

- much easier to please the 2 kings and significantly higher np payout

- not as well optimized for mobile as virtupet (have to zoom in and scroll around)

- best for employment agency jobs - each basic job gives at least 10k no matter how many items are being asked for, has the most pages of options

- can give one item to a pet to have visible on their lookup

- more active than virtupet but less active than grundo's cafe - good for being able to get morphing potions from the magic shop, bad for trying to sell stuff

screenshots:

virtu.pet

- start with 8 pets, you can get extra pet slots through the virtupet mall where you can buy stuff with using virtugems and np

- you can get virtugems by crushing items (more valuable items are worth more)

- the cost of the extra pet slot item does increase every time you buy it

- has some exclusive colors (including a plushie lutari that i really really like)

- equal to grundo's cafe in terms of mobile optimization for games, has less games but still a good amount, highest np cap but lower earnings per game

- can fully disable random events that change your pet color

- best mobile layout (don't need to zoom in and scroll around like you do for the other neoclones) though worth noting that the neopets central bar is off at the moment (you have to tap an icon over to get to the right page)

- pets can have the same name

- can give multiple items to pets as treasure that is visible on their lookup

- only one page of options for jobs at the employment agency, lower payout than moderneo but doesn't seem to be proportional to how many items are being asked for basic jobs like how it is for grundo's cafe

- by far the smallest player base, i am often literally the only person online lol

- nearly impossible to get some items like a plushie paint brush (no one selling them)

screenshots:

[kanmom51]

I have always wondered why JM Stans hates JK. I have seen posts about how JK is being the Company's favorite and that Scooter is trying to use JK to out sell JM. I don't believe it but I do want your opinions on this. I know you will probably say that's a very stupid thing to ask for but I see it a lot and I wonder why they keep saying that JK and V are the companies favorites. And also do you think the company didn't actively promote JM? This Fandom has finally twisted things around. I just need to know your thoughts on this matter. Thanks

Hey love.

Ok, where do we start?

Maybe from the end.

It being that it does feel at times that JM gets the raw deal from the company. If it's intentional or just because he's too nice and doesn't speak up enough I don't know. But this has been going on for years. The way the promotions for Face were handled, the way his name or photo somehow seem to disappear at times from official sites. For example the official BTS US store had all the members apart from JM in the index.

The issue has been since fixed, but it took angry JM stans posting and sending messages and emails to the company to notice it and make it happen.

Or, another example is JM's Like crazy Korean and English version streams being counted separately by Spotify.

Little things that make you ask "why him?" or more so "why is it always happening with him?"

Now, it's not that Jin has been forgotten at times as well (being cropped out of group photos at times). Somehow it's always those two, but with JM it's way more frequent and feels off.

Saying that, I do feel that some JM solos tend to make JM out as a constant victim (perhaps part of allowing them to be his saviors). While doing that they are constantly making comparisons with the others and while doing so also try to tear the others down.

I think this is part of the issue with solos. Forgetting that these 7 men are part of one band. A band they ALL want to be part of. Something they have said multiple times in the past and recently as well. 7 men that love each other (not to mention the elephant - cough couple cough - in the room).

It's more than ok to have a preference. A member you feel you like more or feel more connected to. It's a different matter to call yourself a fan of a single member elevating him by tearing down the others and constantly calling for said member to ditch the others and go solo. Spewing hate at the other members in that person's name, supposedly for him. Obviously you are not a fan of BTS when you do that, but more so you are not a true fan of said member who loves the others you constantly attack and wants to stay with them as a group, as he constantly and repeatedly tells us all.

Like the whole comparison made between JM's promotions and JK's (two totally different stories, different artists' objectives, different markets). And let me be clear here. I am not saying it felt like JM's success, which was, I feel, unexpected, was downplayed or not properly formally and publicly recognized. At the time it certainly felt that way. What we don't know is what JM's feelings were on the matter. Did he want it that way or was it a company decision? I know how it looks, but at times we need to understand that there are so many undercurrents and we don't get to see most of what's under the water. We only see what's shared or not shared with us, by the powers at be's decision. For example: Later on, in his documentary we saw that JM did get a cake for the #1 billboard achievement. So was it his choice not to post a pic? At the same time we saw his success, again, kind of being downplayed in articles, in BPD's interview, so this is one of those things I am leaving with a big question mark. Was he given the well deserved acknowledgement (even if not publicly)? Was it downplayed from the start, even towards him? And if so, why?

That being said, attacking JK, writing hateful posts about him, his looks, his artistry, his character not only would not make a damn difference as to how JM is being treated by the company but goes against everything that JM is and everything that JM feels towards JK.

Same issue, btw, with all solos. JK solos and the hate towards JM, the person JK loves the most in this world.

Do you see what I mean?

That was a little long winded, lol.

So, I do take issue with the need to cut down at another members success only to lift JM's up (he don't need no lifting, he's bloody amazing). I can assure you that is something he personally would not want, being the beautiful soul that he is, he wants the others to succeed and is not in competition with them.

I also hated this need to cut down JK even before his music came out, during JK's promotions, when he was choosing to mirror JM, a clear friggin calculated choice with a clear friggin purpose, by calling him lazy and a copy cat.

First of all you could see, if only you had eyes and kept them open, how throughout ALL of his promotions JK was mirroring JM. It was with similar outfits (even using the same exact black leather pants). It was with wearing the top part of an outfit to which JM wore the bottom part in his promotions. It was with his hair style and colour choices and references to JM's album. Anyway, point being once again that attacking another member does nothing to help lift JM up.

I always find it funny that JM solos hate JK so much.

The person that JM loves more than anyone else, and who loves JM more than they could ever.

The person who knows JM more than they could ever.

The person that JM chose to spend the 18 months of his army service with together, 24/7!! This was not forced on either of them. This was their choice.

Could it be jealousy perhaps? You know, JK gets to get JM and they don't.

Or perhaps this need to be the savior - poor JM needs them to save him from the big bad JK and the big bad company.

p.s. - maybe, just maybe, if indeed JM is being targeted by someone in the company, that's the issue that someone has with him. The fact that he will always come first for JK. The fact that because of him they can't control JK. Well, JK is not someone easy to control, but a. with JM in the picture some of his priorities are different (like wanting to spend time with him, like wanting to go public with their relationship) or perhaps the effect JM has had on JK, being his catalyst (JK's words) and all; and b. Outright homophobia. JK is the golden goose and he is in a long term relationship with a man, a bandmate. It makes life much harder for those that would rather milk the badboy hetero fuckboy image to the limit when said person wants to be accepted for his true self...

Well, that was definitely me digressing from your questions. Oopsy.

Bottom line:

Something kind of feels off with how things seem to go with JM and official content at times over the years (that includes photos, sites, spotify etc.) including his solo promotions.

That said, the comparison with other members, in my opinion, is unjustifiable. Because first and utmost they wouldn't want their fans to be comparing them. They all put themselves out there for their fans and all heartedly supported each other on that journey. Every single one of them had a different kind of solo debut. This is about different music genres, collabs or not, writing their own music or not, promoting out side of Korea or not, even down to the language of the songs. And with this also comes the different kind of promotions. Music shows or live/recorded performances for army, in bigger or smaller venues or even a tour, like Yoongi did.

The comparison with JK is just unfair to both of them. Especially given the very special relationship those two have. Both being the other's biggest fan and supporter.

That aside, the two went on two very different journeys. JM went on a personal journey releasing his first album taking part fully in it's creation, it being a very personal story he was telling us. JK, on the other hand, for whatever reasons (some of which he told us some of which he most likely didn't) decided to go with songs written by others, choosing to challenge himself with singing in English, and new genres and vocals. The choice for an album in English could very much have been pushed by the powers of be, and I do not want to go into the discussion of just how much influence SB has or not, other than say that Bang PD, a very smart and savvy man, knows his way around the music industry and business worlds and has much more influence on JK than anyone else, and that JK is a grown ass man and has told us on more than one occasion that he tends to make decisions for himself, even if at times they might not be the right ones, he goes with his gut. JK also told us he wants to be a huge superstar and singing in English, what can you do, opens up the US and other markets for him in a way that singing in Korean wouldn't.

But even putting that aside people seem to forget that from the get go JK was always the Golden maknae, the one that not only the company saw as their golden goose, but also all other members put on a pedestal. Not saying that's right. Not saying that's fair. But it is what it is. The company is a money making business. And now that BH are under Hybe, although they have autonomy (mostly) on the music, the costs and promotions, they don't have free reign over. And if it's about money making and profits, at times these will be the guidelines as to into what and where the money goes as far as promoting an artist. Let me be clear here. I'm talking here about costs and profits as in how much hard cash was put into a member's promotion over another's. This here isn't about other shit that's happened, such as no public acknowledgement or counting streams of different versions of the same song together or separately. That is another issue. What I'm trying to say here is that the starting point was and never will be the same also due to financial decision making.

Ok, so I think that maybe I've made more of a mess here than anything else, lol.

My bottom line is that even if I feel that JM is being wronged by the company in one way or another (and this goes for any member that might be wronged as well), I would never turn on another member and blame them for it nor would I compare between them. You can like or dislike the music each and every one of them released. That's fair enough and makes sense too. But belittling a member just to try and lift up the other one, that is just wrong in my books.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

hi derin! i’ve been following you for a little while, and also bemoaning the nature of publishing fiction (indie or trad) for a little bit longer than that, and i only just realized today that…of course web serials are a thing i can also do!

i really love the idea of publishing serially (though i’m not totally sure i CAN, i’d like to try), so while i add this to my list of potential paths, do you have any advice for getting started? building an audience? marketing? figuring out if writing/publishing this way will work for you to begin with?

i know that’s a lot of questions, and you don’t have to answer all of them! i’m throwing spaghetti at a wall out here. i hope you have a good day though, and thanks in advance!

Getting started in web serial writing

Web serial writing has the lowest barrier of entry of any major method of publishing your story. You can literally just start. There are two steps:

start writing your story

decide how/where you want to publish it

The writing part, I assume you have handled. The important thing to note here is that you gotta see the project through. Start and don't stop until you're done. For publishing, you have a few options:

1. Publish on a website designed for web serial novels

There are a few of these around, they're usually free to publish on (although most offer a paid account to give you ad space or boost you int he algorithm or whatever), and your best choice generally depends on which one happens to gravitate to a niche that best suits your kind of work. The big names in this industry are Royal Road and Scribblehub, which, last I checked up on them (about a year ago) tended towards isekai and light erotica respectively. (You absolutely can publish outside these niches on these sites, it's just much harder to get traction.) Publishing somewhere like this comes with multiple advantages. Firstly, there's a writing community right there to talk to; there's usually a forum or something where people gather to talk about reading or writing on the site. Second, the site itself is designed specifically to publish web serials, and will come with a good layout and hit trackers and 'where you left off' buttons for the reader and all that; generally all you have to do is copy-paste the text of a chapter into the page and the site will do everything else for you. Third, there's an audience sitting right there, browsing the 'latest arrivals' or 'most popular' page of the site; if you can get high in the algorithm, you have to do little if any marketing.

The downsides of such places usually come down to the same things as the advantages. Such sites are a flooded market. Your story absolutely will drown in a sea of other stories, a great many of them terrible, and most of them with the advantage of catering to the site's niche. Gaining an audience there is often a matter of trying to game an algorithm, and the community can be... variable. Some of these places are nice but most of them are a bunch of authors trying to tear down everyone around them to make their own work look better by comparison int he hopes of poaching audiences for their story instead. If you go this route, I'd recommend shopping around for a site that fits you personality and writing style (or just posting on many sites at once; you can also do that).

These places also tend to get targeted by scrapers who will steal your story and sell it as an ebook, which is very annoying.

2. publish on another site

Plenty of people publish web serials here on Tumblr. I do not know why. This site is TERRIBLY set up for that. It makes tracking stories and updates a pain in the arse (people end up having to *manually tag every reader whenever they post an update*), building and maintaining archives are annoying, community building is surprisingly difficult for a social media site, and it's just generally far more work for both writer and reader than it needs to be. You often do have a ready-made audience, though.

This does tend to work better on other sites. Reddit has multiple communities for reading and writing various types of fiction; publishing on these is a bit more work than somewhere like Royal Road, but not very much, and many of these communities are very active. There aren't as many forums around as there used to be, but you might be able to find fiction hosting forums, if that's what you prefer. And of course, many writers who simply want to write and don't mind not being paid choose to write on AO3.

These sites are a good middle ground compromise for people who want a ready-made community and don't mind putting in a bit of extra work.

3. make your own site

This is what I did. You can make a website for free, giving people a hub to find you and all your work, designed however you like. You can also pay for a website if you want it to be a little bit nicer. This option is the most work, but gives you the most control and leaves you free of having to worry about any algorithm.

The obvious downside of this is that there's no community there. If you host your work on your own website, you need to bring people to it. You need to build an audience on your own. This is not an easy thing to do.

Building an audience (general advice)

Here is some general advice about building an audience:

1. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

If you want people to read your writing, the best piece of advice I can possibly give you is have an update schedule and update on time, always. If you need to take a break, give people as much warning as possible and tell them exactly when you will be back, and come back then. Do not take unnecessary breaks because you don't feel like writing. (Do take breaks if you get carpal tunnel or need time off for a major life event or something -- your health is more important than the story.) If you're taking a lot of breaks to avoid burnout, you're doing it wrong -- you need to rework your whole schedule from the start and slow down updates to make these breaks unnecessary. Two chapters a month with no breaks is a billion times better than four chapters a month with frequent burnout breaks.

Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

A reliable schedule is the #1 factor in audience retention. If readers need to randomly check in or wait for notifications from you to check if there's an update, guess what? Most of them won't! They'll read something else. You want your audience to be able to anticipate each release and fit it in their own schedule. I cannot overstate the importance of this.

2. If you can, try to make your story good.

We writers would love to live in a world where this is the most important thing, but it actually isn't. Plenty of people out there are perfectly happy to read hot garbage. How do I define 'hot garbage'? It doesn't matter. Think of what you would consider to be just a terrible, no-effort, pointless garbage story that the world would be better off without. Someone is out there writing that right now, making US$2,500/month on Patreon.

It is, however, a real advantage if you can make your story good. At the very least, it should be worth your audience's time. Preferably, it should also be worth their money, and make them enthusiastic enough to try to get their friends into it. Managing this is massively advantageous.

3. Accept that you're not going to get a big audience for a really long time. Write consistently and update on schedule every time anyway.

It took me over a year to get my second patron. For the first year, I updated Curse Words every single week, on schedule, for over a year, and had maybe... four readers. One of them was a regular commenter. One of them was my first patron. There was no one else.

My audience has grown pretty rapidly, for this industry.

You're not gonna start publishing chapters for a big, vibrant community. You're just not. And you have to keep going anyway. These days, I have a pretty good readership, and those couple of loyal readers (who I appreciate beyond words) have grown into a much larger community, who hang out and debate theories with each other and liveblog and drag in new readers and make fanart. My discord has over 550 members, with volunteer moderators and regular fan artists and its own little in-jokes and games and readers who make a point of welcoming newcomers and helping them navigate the discord, all with very little input from me. I start crying when I think about these people, who do the bulk of my social and marketing work for me just because they want to help, and my patrons who, after writing for over 4.5 years, have recently helped me pass an important threshold -- my web serial (via patreon) now pays my mortgage repayments. I can't live off my writing alone, but boy is that a massive fucking step.

You're not gonna have that when you start. You're gonna have a couple of friends. And that's it. Maybe for a year. Maybe less, if you're good at marketing and lucky. Maybe longer.

You have to update on schedule, every time, anyway.

Building an audience (more specific advice)

"Yeah, that's great, Derin, but where can I find my fucking audience?" Well, if you publish on a web serial site, then the audience is there and you jsut need to grab their affention using the tools and social norms offered to you by the site. I utterly failed at this and cannot help you there. You can still use these other tips to bring in readers from off-site.

1. Paid ads

I've never paid for ads so I can't offer advice on how to do it. I've Blazed a couple of posts on Tumblr; they weren't helpful. This is, however, an option for you.

2. Actually tell people that your story exists and where they can find it.

I used to have a lot of trouble with this. I didn't want to bother people on Tumblr and soforth by telling them about my personal project. Unfortunately you kind of have to just get over that. Now I figure that if people don't want TTOU spam, they can just unfollow me. If you're like me and want to just politely keep your story to yourself... don't. You're shooting yourself in the foot doing that.

You need to mention your story. Link your story in your bio on whatever social media sites you use. Put it in your banner on forums. Make posts and memes about it. Eventually, if you're lucky, extremely valuable readers will start to talk about your story and meme and fanart it for you, but first, you need to let them know it exists.

It will always feel weird to do this. Just accept that people can unfollow you if they want, and do it anyway.

3. Leverage existing audiences and communities

Before I started doing this web serial thing, I used to write a lot of fanfic. The original audience that trickled in for Curse Words comes from AO3, where I was doing a full series rationalist rewrite of Animorphs. They knew how I wrote and wanted more of it. Nowadays, I still occasionally pull in readers through this route. Most of my new readers these days come from a different community -- people who follow me on Tumblr. Occasionally I bring in people who don't follow me because we'll be talking about how one of my stories relates to something different, and fans of that thing might decide they want to check my stories out.

Your first readers will come from communities that you're already in and that are already interested in something similar to what you're doing (people reading my fanfic on AO3 were already there for my writing, for instance). Keep these people in mind when you start out.

One additional critical source of existing communities is your readers themselves. A huge number of my readers are people I've never been in any group with -- they were pulled in by their friends, relatives, or community members who were reading my stories and wanted them to read them too. This is an absolutely invaluable source of 'advertising' and it is critically important to look after these people. enthusiastic readers, word-of-mouth advertisers, and fan artists are the people who will bring in those outside your immediate bubble.

4. Your "where to find me" hub

If you're publishing on your own website, you can simply link everything else to your homepage, and put all relevant links there. For example, I can link people to derinstories.com , which links out to all my stories, social media I want people to find me on (you don't have to link all your social media), patreon, discord, et cetera. If you don't have your own website, you're going to have to create a hub like this in the bios of every site where you garner audiences from. This is the main advantage of publishing on your own website.

Monetisation

There are a few different kinds of monetisation for web serials, but most of them boil down to 'use a web serial format to market your ebook', which to be honest I find pretty shady. These authors will start a web serial, put in enough to hook an audience for free, and then stop posting and release an ebook, with the intention of making readers pay for the ending. Now, to be clear, I am absolutely not against publishing and selling your web serial -- I'm doing exactly that, with Curse Words. I am against intentionally and knowingly setting up the start of a web serial as a 'demo' without telling your audience that that is what you are doing, soliciting Patreon money for it, and then later yanking it away unfinished and demanding money for the ending.

Monetisation of these sorts of stories is really just monetisation for normal indie publishing with the web serial acting as an ad, and I have no advice for how to do that successfully.

Your options of monetisation for a web serial as a web serial are a bit more limited. They essentially come down to merchandise (including ebooks or print books) or ongoing support (patreon, ko-fi, etc.) Of these, the only one I have experience with is the patreon model.

This model of monetisation involves setting up an account with a regular-donation site such as patreon, providing the base story for free, and providing bonuses to patrons. You can offer all kinds of bonuses for patrons. Many patrons don't actually care what the bonus is, they're donating to support you so that you can keep writing the story, but they still like to receive something. But some patrons do donate specifically for the bonuses, so it's worth choosing them with care.

The most common and most effective bonus for web serials is advance chapters -- if people are giving you money, give them the chapters early. You can also offer various bonus materials, merchandise, or voting rights on decisions you need to make in the future. 'Get your character put in the story' is a popular high-tier reward. If you're looking for reward ideas, you can see the ones I use on my patreon.

Patreon used to offer the ability to set donation goals, where you could offer something when you were making a certain amount total or had a certain number of subscribers. They recently removed this feature because Patreon hates me personally and doesn't want me to be happy, so you kind of have to advertise it yourself now if you want to use these goals. I release chapters of unrelated stories at donation goals, and I found this to be far more effective than I thought it would be.

The important factor for this kind of monetisation is that it's ongoing. The main advantage of this is that it makes your income far more regular and predictable than normal indie publishing -- your pledges will go up or down over a month, but not by nearly as much as book sales can. The main thing to keep in mind is that it's not a one-time sale, which means that however you organise things, you want to make sure that donating keeps on being worth it, month after month. Offering bonuses that aren't just one-time bonuses, but things that the patron can experience every month, helps here. So does making sure that you have a good community where patrons can hang out with other patrons. (Offering advance chapters does both of these things -- the patron can stay ahead in the story and discuss stuff with other patrons that non-patrons haven't seen. I've found that a lot of my patrons enjoy reading an emotionally devastating chapter ahead of time, discussing it, and then all gathering a week or two later to watch the unsuspecting non-patrons experience it for the first time.)

Whatever method you use for monetisation, rule #1 is (in the words of Moist Von Lipwig): always make it easy for people to give you money. The process of finding out how to give you money should be easy, as should the process of actually doing it. And, most importantly, the spender should feel like it's worth it to give you money. This is a big part of making it easy to give you money. Make your story worth it, make your bonuses worth it, make sure that they're happy to be part of your community and that they enjoy reading and supporting you. And remember that support comes in many forms -- the fan artist, the word-of-mouth enthuser, the person who makes your social hub a great place to be, the patron, all of these people are vital components in the life support system that keeps your story going. And you're going to have to find them, give them a story, and build them a community, word by word and brick by brick.

It's a long process.

Good luck.

.

[ladala99]

Also, I have thoughts about the prize shop/prize point format for this plot. It's different from before, which has its ups and downs.

And also as this went along I started into a tangent about endgame.

How it Used to Be

Prize shops when I first played were released usually months after the plot was over. While I don't have knowledge of how exactly the figured out the prizes, it seemed that they (probably not in this order):

Had statistics of what all players did, how many times, etc.

Determined how many points each action was worth.

Created unique prizes based on the plot events and player culture surrounding them (at the very least there were meme items in The Faerie's Ruin).

Determined the average amount of the prize shop different levels of participation was worth and priced the items accordingly.

Assigned Trophies based on how many points different players had in comparison to one another.

I could be completely wrong, but that's how it felt and would make the long delays make sense. Prize shops released soon after the plot was over seemed to be balanced worse, anyway.

In summary, though, players played and then TNT balanced points and prize shop items based on participation.

How The Void Within Works

Basically, it's the complete opposite approach. We earn points as we participate in the plot, and the prize shop is available right from the beginning. It includes both new prizes and big-ticket items that already exist.

In addition, unique, directly plot-related items are awarded by keeping up with the story, whereas the prize shop only contains items with theming based on the plot's themes (those being Grey, space, darkness, and the leaders of Neopian lands. Plus a few others that might make sense later?).

The big-ticket items included are going along with the trend nowadays of purposely making rarer, more expensive items obtainable to the average Neopian. Some are R101 items previously released in other plots/events or for purchasing real-world merchandise, others are R90+ items (with several R99s) that are pretty difficult to restock due to their rarity+price. And then there's the Wand of the Dark Faerie.

Wand of the Dark Faerie

The two biggest of the big-ticket items are Wand of the Dark Faerie and Grapes of Wrath. Grapes of Wrath is a Smuggler's Cove item, which puts it basically in the same category as the R99s (before researching this I thought it was practically retired, but actually apparently Smuggler's Cove has been restocking everything for just over a year now).

But Wand of the Dark Faerie is a different beast. It is the top prize of Jhudora's Bluff and one of, if not the, best weapon(s) on the site. And to get it before this, you needed to give her 20 R99 items in a row, only having a little over 15 minutes to obtain each one.

It was a huge investment and, with bots mostly snapping up the R99s that restock, very difficult to achieve. It was the most endgame of endgame items.

And now it's available for a little over a month of daily plot participation.

It's really cool to get one, and I enjoy being able to upgrade my BD set, but really:

Neopets Needs More Endgame, Not Less

I seem to be at odds with a lot of people in this regard. There are many people ecstatic about being able to achieve their childhood dreams much more easily now. I see people saying that having things be so difficult to get was driving people away.

I'm okay with limited-time items being rereleased. Because they weren't really intended to be difficult to get. They were just themed tie-ins and were pretty cheap when they first came out, with the exceptions of useful consumables (stamps, books), and the useful consumables absolutely should be rereleased to give newer players the same chance as older players to complete those collections.

But you know what got me stuck with this site for so long? The fact that there are some things that I can't get yet.

I sucked at plots as a kid. I wasn't good enough to play them yet.

Then I could play the puzzle parts, but some of the later waves of the battle parts were too difficult. I couldn't do them yet.

Next stop is being able to take on a superboss. I didn't have the stats or weaponry yet.

Every plot in-between was filled with me coming back to the site to work towards the next step. (At least during times that I had hope that plots would come back. Some points I just stopped playing because it seemed like we'd never get another one.)

But Jhudora's Bluff is Too Difficult?

As I've mentioned, getting R99s is the big hurdle for the ultimate endgame quest. It is more difficult than it should be, since less people are playing and more of the R99s are going to bots instead of real people.

But there could have been other ways to make it obtainable.

Make a daily that gives R99s out at the same rate as they restock. Hold more Charity Corner events where R99s are distributed. Revamp the shop system so you aren't competing against other players to grab the few items there. And do what they've been doing in making specific R99s much easier to get via Weekly Quest Log prizes and other event prizes.

Anyway.

Back to Prize Shop Discussion

Tangent aside, I don't mind how they're doing it. Most plots in the past have been only a few months long if that. My absolute favorite, Tale of Woe, only lasted through October of that year.

This plot is very different. We have 10 months to play it, if not more (iirc they said it would last at least 10 months).

Imagine playing that long, waiting that long, with no idea what you're working towards. The last time a plot lasted so long, it was a war, so you were working against other players at all times. But other long-lasting plots dragged. Anyone remember Lyra and the Lost Heirloom? I got so bored with her taking several weeks to move 5 feet up the wall that I just took hiatus in the middle of it (and ended up missing the window the prize shop was open completely. Why did they close it? No other plot shop closes aside from the Altador Cup, which actually has a reason to close since the page is reused every year!).

Seeing the plot points coming in and being able to use them gives that boost of motivation to keep coming back. And there's so much time that latecomers will be able to get the top prizes as well, so long as they don't join at the very end.

Completionism

However, there is a downside. When you couldn't tell what anything you were doing counted for, it was easier to just do what you could and had time and attention span for.

But since there is a maximum point total you can get per day, everyone wants to get that maximum. If plot point scores were hidden, I would bet there wouldn't be nearly as many people setting timers and getting up in the middle of the night for hospital shifts.

Getting All You Want

There's also: what will you do when you get everything you want from the prize shop? There'll be no mystery - you'll just be playing for the trophy upgrades at that point. And once you get all those, then what? Just keep going because you have the momentum? Or drop off Neopets from the burnout?

Better or Worse?

I don't really think this is necessarily a better or worse situation. It's just different.

I think the current way is enjoyable, but there are downsides. I don't have a full picture - we're only on Chapter 2 of 21 (the fact that we know this already is kinda immersion-breaking, too). Until the end, I'll reserve complete judgment.

[waitingonher]

44+7 with percy please ?

EMMY'S 100 EVENT CELEBRATION

percy jackson + give me a kiss first. + i'll pay.

content warning: nothing

authors note: pls im on fire rn. 3 fics released in 3 days?!?! i LOVE not being in a writing slump! oh and why the employees would let little teenagers hold a $130 necklace?? idk 🤒🤒

the expanse of the jewelry shop almost seems dizzying as you roam through the rows and rows of display cases. you and percy eye a variety of accessories, from diamond encrusted rings to dangly ruby earrings. but as your boyfriend follows only a few steps behind you, he thinks that in comparison, you’re the real jewel here. and yes, he does acknowledge how cheesy that realization is, but with the way your eyes are twinkling at the sight of everything and the way you have that gorgeous smile on display, it doesn’t seem very cheesy anymore. 

moments later, you find yourself holding an absolutely gorgeous necklace that’s caught your eye. the way it gleamed and glistened underneath the bright white lighting of the store had you hooked the moment you saw it through the display case. looking up, curious green eyes meet your gaze, brows raised in question, “do you like that one?” percy asks, studying your features. 

“yeah, it’s super pretty,” you nod your head with enthusiasm, “i think the color of the jewel goes well with my skin tone,” holding the necklace against your neck, you wiggle your brows. 

your boyfriend hums. but not as a sign of agreement, more so just acknowledging your comment, because in all honesty, percy’s never really understood the whole “it goes well with my skin tone” thing. the truth is, your boyfriend wholeheartedly believes that you could pull off any color, and he means any color. throw on the ugliest shade of orange known to mankind and he’d still end up complimenting you. 

“how much is it?” percy inquires, mentally going through his wallet. unsurprisingly, if he doesn’t have enough cash for the necklace, your boyfriend would find some way to pay for it. even if it means singing or dancing (very poorly) on the side of the street for some stranger’s pity change. 

you didn’t even think of the price. oops. grabbing the tiny tag, you turn it around to read the price, and in big bold numbers, it reads $130. so much for adding it to your jewelry collection. you groan and flip the tag towards percy, “love, look at the price! if only it wasn’t so expensive, then i could-” 

“i’ll pay,” percy declares, his voice confident and sure, as if dropping $130 for you was no big deal. for you, having your boyfriend spend that much money on you is absolutely ludicrous. but for percy, he’d spend any amount of cash if it means seeing you happy, and if this necklace that matches your skin tone so well makes you happy, then so be it, “no if’s or but’s. let me pay for it, y/n.” 

did you hear him correctly? percy wants to pay for your $130 necklace? of course it’s not unusual for him to offer to pay for your things, because he always does. but the thing is, he always ends up paying for it in the end. and you fear that today is going to be the same. 

you wave your hand in dismissal, “no, i can’t let you do that. besides, i bet they have some cheaper knockoffs online,” your mind already fills with all of the sites you could check, and you hope this argument makes your boyfriend back down.

percy quirks a brow, “and does a cheaper knockoff guarantee good quality?” he knows you, so he knows your vehement hate for crappy jewelry that’ll end up rusting or oxidizing after a couple of showers. 

“okay, well i guess not, but-” 

“come on babe, you already know how this is gonna end,” percy gives you a knowing grin, as if he’s replaying all your past dates in his head, “so let’s skip the bickering and get to the part where you let me pay for this necklace.” 

boy, is he determined. you sigh, knowing that no matter what you do or say, percy will somehow figure out a way of getting you and the necklace to the register, “fine. but i’m covering lunch today, okay?” 

your boyfriend nods his head, “sure,” but his less than eager tone coupled with his overly exaggerated smile makes you not very sure if you’ll be able to actually spend any money today, “now let’s go pay.” 

with that, you and percy head in the direction of the register, his hand on the small of your back as you lead the way. yet again, another win for your boyfriend. 

“y/n, wait,” percy reaches for your shoulder and turns your body around to face him. he can’t let you walk away with a free necklace, can he? you hum in reply, awaiting his response. good, his brain is finally working and he’s going to say nevermind, you think. a win for you! or so you think, “give me a kiss first,” percy adds, his straight face morphing into a cocky smirk. not a win for you.

but hey, who are you to deny a free necklace and a kiss from your boyfriend? you shake your head and roll your eyes at him, but percy can’t help but look at your smile. now that’s what he wants to see, your beautiful, beautiful smile. your boyfriend leans down as he gently cups the sides of your face and places a kiss on your lips. it’s short and it’s soft, but it’s perfect. and it may be even more perfect than the very necklace in your hand. 

[vindicated-truth]

@teacups-and-saucers pointed out that there are songs not included in the official Beyond Evil OST Album that are actually exclusive to the Beyond Evil official Blu-Ray.

For comparison, these are the songs from the official Beyond Evil OST Album, which most of us are already familiar with:

And here are apparently the Beyond Evil Blu-Ray exclusive songs:

For most of us who may not have the Beyond Evil Blu-Ray and may not be familiar with these songs, @mizldrizl has been gracious enough to provide us a list of the descriptions where you can hear these songs in the show:

01. 20 Years Later - When Lee Dong Sik leaves his house with his police uniform (Ep. 1) 02. Beginning of Doubt - When Kang Do Soo, the observer, enters the interrogation room (Ep. 2) 03. For the Duration - At the beginning of Ep. 3 04. Jager - When Lee Dong Sik strangles Lee Chang Jin (Ep. 16) 05. Never Ending Pain - The arrest scene (Ep. 16) 06. The Day She Disappeared - When Lee Dong Sik feels pain in his leg and swallows some painkillers (Ep. 6) 07. Wrong Person - The “Are you a stalker?” scene (Ep. 8) 08. 사슴 모습을 한 사람 (“Someone with the Face of a Deer”) - When Park Jung Je is drawing a deer at the butcher shop (Ep. 5) 09. 쓸쓸한 현실 (“The Bleak Reality”) - When Lee Dong Sik is watching Oh Ji Hoon and Kang Jin Mook hanging the banner (Ep. 1) 10. 좋은 경찰 (“A Good Cop”) - When Lee Dong Sik is talking to his mom (Ep. 15)

I don't know why these songs were exclusive to the Blu-Ray, and I'm a little sad and frustrated that these aren't as readily available to listen to (because these Blu-Ray songs aren't in streaming sites, unlike those in the official OST album), because the whole musical scoring of Beyond Evil was such exceptionally, breathtakingly beautiful, it seems a shame that these songs aren't easily accessible by the public.

Nevertheless, I'm still glad that these songs still were given importance and their due flowers even in this way, at least.

Please feel free to rewatch Beyond Evil just to listen to these songs again! 🥹

You can also listen to the Beyond Evil OST Album here:

[bulbagarden]

guess what??? bulbapedia had its 50,000th wiki article created a bit ago, and to celebrate we made a news article celebrating bulbapedia! i'm actually in it, soo... take a look if you'd like!! (this was written by our twitter admin and my overlord wyndoncalling)

Celebrating 50k Bulbapedia articles with our favourite wiki pages!

As one of the world's largest media franchises, Pokémon is monolithic to say the least. Documenting every facet of this gargantuan IP is a task perhaps only the most dedicated and/or foolhardy would embark on, yet that's exactly what our Bulbapedia team and thousands of selfless contributors have done over eighteen long years! With Pokémon now encompassing nine generations of main series games along with dozens of spin-offs, mobile games, movies, anime and manga series, merchandise and much more, the wiki itself has grown in tandem - we recently hit a whopping 50,000 articles!

To celebrate, we've compiled a list from across the Bulbagarden team of our favourite wiki articles. For our non-wiki team members, these might simply be pages that they enjoy reading and help inform their work in other aspects of the site. For wiki Staff, these could instead be pages that they've sunk many productive hours into. Read on for an eclectic collection of articles detailing some of the most obscure corners of the Pokémon franchise!

Credits to Staff artist Sirius for the awesome header image!

WyndonCalling (Social Media) - Tall grass

On the one hand, I think it's faintly hilarious that anyone would go into such detail for a mundane and omnipresent mechanic of the main series games; the tall grass that awaits the player on every starting route just feels so self-explanatory in function. On the other hand, I think it speaks volumes about the commitment and mentality of the Bulbapedia team and contributors that no scrap of information is left undocumented - on the tall grass page you'll find the basic details about how it works, but also variations such as tall grass and seaweed, animations of the Cut mechanic, in-battle effects, and more. Who knew that simple grass could be so fascinating in a world with flame-throwing dragons and electric mice?

Runner-up - List of Pokémon by base stats

As the Admin of the Bulbagarden Twitter account, I'm always on the hunt for interesting trivia to share; having the base stats of all Pokémon in one, sortable place makes it so much easier to make fun comparisons between species (did you know that Krabby has more Attack than Eternatus?).

Maverick Nate - Bulbapedia - Coin (TCG) (and its three subpages: Gens 1-4, Gens 5-6, and Gens 7-8)

This page is what I consider my best accomplishment during my 10 years as Bulbapedia's TCG Leader. There is an incredible amount of research, time, (and personal financial investment) baked into the article, and it always gives me a swell of pride when I update it with fresh images of newly acquired coins. There are over 700 different coins documented here, and I still fondly remember the long-night research sessions I would have with my best friend when we would do things like watch countless YouTube openings to figure out release information, check out endless eBay and Yahoo Auctions listings for never-before-seen coins, hold up physical coins to a spotlight trying to determine the Holofoil pattern. Our other friends would poke fun at us for researching in the field, (which was just our excuse to go shopping for newly released TCG products with new coins or hitting up garage sales and card shops on the off chance they had old ones). All of those years of effort produced what is now considered the definitive list of all coins in existence for coin enthusiasts. Whenever I see people online referencing it and using it for their own collections, I just have to smile, knowing that my favorite article is helping people all around the globe.

Wowy (Bulbapedia) - Red (Masters)

This page is just an example for all the character pages for Pokémon Masters. As one of the main editors covering Pokémon Masters when the game was first released, I feel very content to see many other editors who have taken the mantle to make Bulbapedia's coverage of the game quite comprehensive! I also enjoy the gallery section at the bottom because there are some sweet artwork pieces that come out of the game / the PMEX Twitter.

Runner Up - Face board

An article that was initially written for fun ended up being moved from the userpage to the main Bulbapedia page. Like the tall grass page, it's a niche page that showcases how much we like to document every minor and obscure detail in the franchise (albeit there is still so much to cover)!

Lisia (Social Media) (omg HIIII that's me!!!!) (姉ちゃん見て見て、あたしテレビだ。。) - Pokémon world in relation to the real world

This is a very extensive page, and it's very useful for a lot of different things! I use it for worldbuilding for fanfiction and roleplay stuff usually, but it's fun to look at just in general as well! I remember looking at the page first like... years ago, and it blew my mind to see that the Pokémon world was actually based off of real locations! It's something that I'd call a huge resource for anyone who creates Pokémon fanworks, especially written ones!

Runner Up - Lisia (i had to LOL)

Maybe it's a little... self-serving? But I really like this article of my personal namesake; she's my favorite character after all! She's a relatively minor character within the whole of Pokémon so there's not a whole lot of information about her, so I like reading all the stuff there is about her! It makes me happy that people have put work into articles about everyone, because well... in a way I wouldn't be me without it. I should probably contribute to it sometime!

Orchid (Forums) - Pokémon food

I picked this article because it is astoundingly comprehensive on its topic, and offers a lot of really interesting insight into the Pokémon universe as a whole. From Poffins, to prey, to parasites, to Slowpoke Tails... it's all here! It's amazing how having all this information in one place puts into perspective just how much there is to cover on what, at a glance, might seem like such a simple subject. I find myself coming back here every now and then just out of curiosity (or perhaps to settle a debate about what an Aerodactyl really eats).

Runner-up - Twerp

This page is silly and I love it. I've even shown this one to friends and family who are fellow Pokémon fans, and they've gotten just as much of a kick out of it as I have! But as amusing of a read as it may be, what I love most about this page is the fact that even a short and lighthearted bit of terminology like this is documented thoroughly here, just like anything else would be. All across Bulbapedia, you can find so much care and detail put into the littlest of things, and that does bring a smile to my face

DapperCody (Multimedia) - Ash Ketchum

Like many people, I grew up watching the Pokémon anime as a youngster. I enjoy Ash's article because it is comprehensive account of the quarter century that he has graced our screens - looking it over is very nostalgic. The history section with photos is fantastic, and I love being able to see all the Pokémon he has ever owned or used and their current status. It also has an extensive trivia section like all my favorite articles do. I've fallen down the anime rabbit hole on Bulbapedia numerous times, and Ash's page is a great place to start.

Runner Up - Ash's Noctowl

See all of the above, but from a different perspective. Pages for individual Pokémon from the anime are fantastic to get a glimpse into all the highlights from their time in the spotlight, and what better example of this than my personal favorite, Noctowl? The move history is really neat, especially the fact that it designates the moves recently used (and the illegal ones when applicable). Did you know Noctowl was the first Shiny Pokémon in the anime?

bthrussellUK (Bulbapedia) - Pokémon Battle Chess

I really love this article because I think it’s an example of what Bulbapedia is great at; taking obscure Pokémon topics (especially outside of Japan) and saving them from being lost to the sands of time. The original Pokémon Battle Chess website has been taken offline, so without articles like this one, the game would be forgotten. Instead, because it’s here, I decided to find and buy a copy of both Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version and Pokémon Battle Chess and use them to help expand the gameplay section of the article. They're actually pretty fun games! Now I just need a copy of Pokémon Battle Chess W…

Runner Up - Pokémon games

It looks like it's just a really long list... and it is! But for me it's a really great reminder of how massive Pokémon is, how many games have been released in the last 26 years, and how many different platforms Pokémon games have released on. Ever heard of the Advanced Pico Beena or the iQue Player?

Whether they're popular or niche, wide-ranging or obscure, we hope you've enjoyed our short tour of our favourite Bulbapedia articles! Do you have your own? Are you tickled by the trivia on a given page? You can let us know on our forums or Discord server - or even start editing yourself!

The wiki can never have too many contributors, and if your love of Pokémon is as deep as ours we'd be delighted to have you with us for the next 50,000 articles!

(lisia note: thank you for reading!!!!!!!!!! hopefully you enjoyed it!)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Shifting $677m from the banks to the people, every year, forever

I'll be in TUCSON, AZ from November 8-10: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

"Switching costs" are one of the great underappreciated evils in our world: the more it costs you to change from one product or service to another, the worse the vendor, provider, or service you're using today can treat you without risking your business.

Businesses set out to keep switching costs as high as possible. Literally. Mark Zuckerberg's capos send him memos chortling about how Facebook's new photos feature will punish anyone who leaves for a rival service with the loss of all their family photos – meaning Zuck can torment those users for profit and they'll still stick around so long as the abuse is less bad than the loss of all their cherished memories:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

It's often hard to quantify switching costs. We can tell when they're high, say, if your landlord ties your internet service to your lease (splitting the profits with a shitty ISP that overcharges and underdelivers), the switching cost of getting a new internet provider is the cost of moving house. We can tell when they're low, too: you can switch from one podcatcher program to another just by exporting your list of subscriptions from the old one and importing it into the new one:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise

But sometimes, economists can get a rough idea of the dollar value of high switching costs. For example, a group of economists working for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau calculated that the hassle of changing banks is costing Americans at least $677m per year (see page 526):

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_personal-financial-data-rights-final-rule_2024-10.pdf

The CFPB economists used a very conservative methodology, so the number is likely higher, but let's stick with that figure for now. The switching costs of changing banks – determining which bank has the best deal for you, then transfering over your account histories, cards, payees, and automated bill payments – are costing everyday Americans more than half a billion dollars, every year.

Now, the CFPB wasn't gathering this data just to make you mad. They wanted to do something about all this money – to find a way to lower switching costs, and, in so doing, transfer all that money from bank shareholders and executives to the American public.

And that's just what they did. A newly finalized Personal Financial Data Rights rule will allow you to authorize third parties – other banks, comparison shopping sites, brokers, anyone who offers you a better deal, or help you find one – to request your account data from your bank. Your bank will be required to provide that data.

I loved this rule when they first proposed it:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

And I like the final rule even better. They've really nailed this one, even down to the fine-grained details where interop wonks like me get very deep into the weeds. For example, a thorny problem with interop rules like this one is "who gets to decide how the interoperability works?" Where will the data-formats come from? How will we know they're fit for purpose?

This is a super-hard problem. If we put the monopolies whose power we're trying to undermine in charge of this, they can easily cheat by delivering data in uselessly obfuscated formats. For example, when I used California's privacy law to force Mailchimp to provide list of all the mailing lists I've been signed up for without my permission, they sent me thousands of folders containing more than 5,900 spreadsheets listing their internal serial numbers for the lists I'm on, with no way to find out what these lists are called or how to get off of them:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/22/degoogled/#kafka-as-a-service

So if we're not going to let the companies decide on data formats, who should be in charge of this? One possibility is to require the use of a standard, but again, which standard? We can ask a standards body to make a new standard, which they're often very good at, but not when the stakes are high like this. Standards bodies are very weak institutions that large companies are very good at capturing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/30/weak-institutions/

Here's how the CFPB solved this: they listed out the characteristics of a good standards body, listed out the data types that the standard would have to encompass, and then told banks that so long as they used a standard from a good standards body that covered all the data-types, they'd be in the clear.

Once the rule is in effect, you'll be able to go to a comparison shopping site and authorize it to go to your bank for your transaction history, and then tell you which bank – out of all the banks in America – will pay you the most for your deposits and charge you the least for your debts. Then, after you open a new account, you can authorize the new bank to go back to your old bank and get all your data: payees, scheduled payments, payment history, all of it. Switching banks will be as easy as switching mobile phone carriers – just a few clicks and a few minutes' work to get your old number working on a phone with a new provider.

This will save Americans at least $677 million, every year. Which is to say, it will cost the banks at least $670 million every year.

Naturally, America's largest banks are suing to block the rule:

https://www.americanbanker.com/news/cfpbs-open-banking-rule-faces-suit-from-bank-policy-institute

Of course, the banks claim that they're only suing to protect you, and the $677m annual transfer from their investors to the public has nothing to do with it. The banks claim to be worried about bank-fraud, which is a real thing that we should be worried about. They say that an interoperability rule could make it easier for scammers to get at your data and even transfer your account to a sleazy fly-by-night operation without your consent. This is also true!

It is obviously true that a bad interop rule would be bad. But it doesn't follow that every interop rule is bad, or that it's impossible to make a good one. The CFPB has made a very good one.

For starters, you can't just authorize anyone to get your data. Eligible third parties have to meet stringent criteria and vetting. These third parties are only allowed to ask for the narrowest slice of your data needed to perform the task you've set for them. They aren't allowed to use that data for anything else, and as soon as they've finished, they must delete your data. You can also revoke their access to your data at any time, for any reason, with one click – none of this "call a customer service rep and wait on hold" nonsense.

What's more, if your bank has any doubts about a request for your data, they are empowered to (temporarily) refuse to provide it, until they confirm with you that everything is on the up-and-up.

I wrote about the lawsuit this week for @eff@mastodon.social's Deeplinks blog:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/no-matter-what-bank-says-its-your-money-your-data-and-your-choice

In that article, I point out the tedious, obvious ruses of securitywashing and privacywashing, where a company insists that its most abusive, exploitative, invasive conduct can't be challenged because that would expose their customers to security and privacy risks. This is such bullshit.

It's bullshit when printer companies say they can't let you use third party ink – for your own good:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/hp-ceo-blocking-third-party-ink-from-printers-fights-viruses/

It's bullshit when car companies say they can't let you use third party mechanics – for your own good:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms

It's bullshit when Apple says they can't let you use third party app stores – for your own good:

https://www.eff.org/document/letter-bruce-schneier-senate-judiciary-regarding-app-store-security

It's bullshit when Facebook says you can't independently monitor the paid disinformation in your feed – for your own good:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/05/comprehensive-sex-ed/#quis-custodiet-ipsos-zuck

And it's bullshit when the banks say you can't change to a bank that charges you less, and pays you more – for your own good.

CFPB boss Rohit Chopra is part of a cohort of Biden enforcers who've hit upon a devastatingly effective tactic for fighting corporate power: they read the law and found out what they're allowed to do, and then did it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis

The CFPB was created in 2010 with the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which specifically empowers the CFPB to make this kind of data-sharing rule. Back when the CFPA was in Congress, the banks howled about this rule, whining that they were being forced to share their data with their competitors.

But your account data isn't your bank's data. It's your data. And the CFPB is gonna let you have it, and they're gonna save you and your fellow Americans at least $677m/year – forever.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/01/bankshot/#personal-financial-data-rights

[salt-volk]

I want to preface this by saying that I've been on DV since August of 2020, so I've been here throughout so many of the changes that this site has gone through.

Though I very much appreciate the fact that the dailies aren't nearly as mind-numbingly awful as they used to be and are way quicker, I still can't overlook my lack of excitement towards the game.

I used to be active on an actual pet site (I really wouldn't call DV a pet sim site because the pet aspect is far less involved than the avatar dressup) which barely ever updated and yet DV in comparison feels... hollow? Perhaps it's because I'm an adult now with less free time to be involved with the community or consistently do dailies, but the fact that so much of the assets being downright unattainable is what bothers me the most.

I'm not saying that as a player, I'm entitled to everything that I want in the game— I'm not saying that at all. I don't have a problem with earning whatever I have my eyes on, whether that be through daily quests, art commissions, or even purchasing premium currency with my own money.

What I *am* saying is that players are given way too much control over site assets and what I'm referring to is the shoddy customs system.

I know there are plenty of kind and generous custom owners that have come up with creative events and are kind when it comes to the price point of the customs that they distribute and I appreciate them immensely for sharing the fun and helping to make the game a more enjoyable experience for everyone. Without them, I would've decisively quit a long, long time ago. I've actually even purchased copies of several customs over the years as well.

However, I ultimately don't understand why the customs weren't limited to being an item/pet that anyone can purchase from an NPC shop rather than from the custom 'owner'— in my eyes, these would better incentivize players to continue playing the game because these things would not seem as impossible to earn.

Keep in mind that the people who use these custom creator items do not personally own these site assets as they still belong to DV.

The first word that came to my mind when I heard that a custom owner who quit is still willing to trade copies of the custom for the site currency of a completely different game is... 'stupid'. If you're not playing this game, it feels scummy to try to still benefit from access to this unlimited site asset. 

There's nothing wrong with trading assets that you have between games, but the fact that this player is trading their unlimited access to an 'infinite money printing machine' (which seemingly doesn't cost them anything assuming that the player that's willing to initiate a trade is required to provide the custom mirrors while the other party only offers a grant) for something that actually is limited in quantity leaves such a sour taste in my mouth.

I've scrolled this blog and found it interesting how people have joined FR to grind for things to trade on DV— because most off-site trades are for FR assets after all— and have unintentionally found it to be a better and more rewarding game than DV. In all honesty, this game is a wonderful advertisement for FR.

In my opinion, customs should have either been relegated to NPC shop items/pets or they should have existed as just one copy for the custom maker-rolled player to use. 

And when I continue thinking about the customs system in general, my mind can't help but wander over to the site's other flaws.

When the custom maker drop rates were announced, the makers stopped dropping only a few minutes after each rollover: this was deliberate and not a coincidence. They changed the rates after they were announced.

Agnes is said to occasionally give out items from previous limited monthly sets, but it's been a few years... is that still being implemented? Otherwise, new players will find it hair-pullingly frustrating to try to acquire any past monthlies and to earn entire  sets is something completely unfeasible.

Why is adventuring still so bad?

What about housing?

As I mentioned before, the site has its good qualities such as the frequent updates, charming characters, and the stunning artwork. I didn't even mind the missed deadlines when it came to updates and events— like how DV skipped over the second summer event entirely.

Truth be told though, the artwork was the only thing that was tethering me to this game. Not the gameplay, not the story, and certainly not the exclusivity that the customs system brought— without mincing words, that ruined the game for me.

Despite having bought some of my own custom copies, it felt like a chore to keep chasing after these custom copies, knowing that I had such a minuscule chance of ever attaining rights to a custom of my own and believe me, I've played for a few years and tried. 

Every time I see a customs topic on the forums where the owner is only willing to trade other custom owners for a copy, it feels like I'm completely being shut out from a part of the game with no ability to access it. I understand why they do it since they want to enhance their own gameplay experience by receiving these special site assets, but it's just another thing that someone without their own custom rights can't set a goal towards and achieve.

At the end of the day, I'm more far more upset at the poor admin decisions than the players themselves.

And hey, I'm actually glad that the site implemented a 'potato sink', because I was able to quickly and efficiently throw away all my potatoes, knowing that I can't afford anything worthwhile with what I have now.

I knew that I was done with the game when I stopped opening the monthly chests that I've collected since October 2023 (and I've collected each chest since January 2021), but I felt like I had to continue doing it since FOMO wouldn't leave me alone.

I really didn't have much more of a reason to keep logging on so I leave you all with this vent and airing out my grievances towards DV.

Now that I've got basically no potatoes, here's to hoping that I hop off this site for good!

[day6source]

hello my loves <33333333 happy spring! i hope you've all been enjoying it so far, and especially enjoying it with the new album hehe!!🫶 so! first things first:

the welcome to the show concert is next week! as always i'll be recording, and i've since figured out recording with firefox, so there should be 0 to little stuttering this time in the VOD! i apologize heavily for that, and i actually have a gift to make up for it, but stay with me until the end! second: since kcon was...virtually unwatchable to most of us, i went on a little hunt for it! you may or may not be able to find the meet & greet here and the performance cut of the boys here. not sure. you might just have to check out the links to double check ;)

third: masterpost for 'fourever' is basically all updated! you can find it here! i was...unaware of the link limit, so if you want the shopping and streaming and performance links, those'll be in the first read more, watching things and articles are in the second one (which is the one linked for ease)! promo is basically over (i say cautiously) minus the concert, so feel free dive in if you missed anything! speaking of masterposts!

fourth: i got to thinking about it, and i found it a little unfair to only include jae in the pinned, so you can now find links/some updated info about what junhyeok is doing! i figured if i'm gonna have one former member, i should also have the other, even if he was there for only a short amount of time. so if you've been wondering what he's been up to, check him out on youtube and streaming! i'll be keeping it...semi-updated in the way i do jae's part, checking in every like, three months to see if anything's changed. on the flip side, if none of you care to know what those two are up to, i might just take their sections out entirely, but for now i thought it'd be courteous to have them there at the very least!

and last but not least: so, you guys know that watching old concert content is...entirely impossible really, and i thought...that was pretty wack, actually. so! the other day i went on a little deep dive on some sites, and i found some old concerts including the youth tour, the streams from pilmography, an old fanmeet, and the final every day6 concert. this site is uhhh basically impossible to see without a vpn and...well i also thought that was super wack, especially granted this content is...impossible to find elsewhere, and you can't even buy it. so i...took the liberty of gathering it and maybe...just maybe...you can find it here along with all of the other shows of recent, including a better stream of the christmas show for you guys. this is just me personally, but i think especially in comparison to other fandoms, ours is...a bit smaller and older, so gatekeeping content is just...not cool, and i wanna make sure that if you guys wanna see things, i can bring them to you to watch! it's not everything probably by a long shot, but if it's somewhere, i want you guys to be able to see it, even if those people don't think so, and especially if we can't just go out and buy it somewhere! so please enjoy! it should all be uploading as of me typing this post up, but should be up within a couple of hours, but there's some things in there like the kcon stuff and some other shows already, so that should keep you busy in the meantime.

okay, that's it! i love you guys, and i hope you're all staying so so so healthy and so so so so happy and enjoying fourever! we're actually almost at 300 followers which is INSANE, especially because the blog is almost a year old!!!!! what!!!!!!!! time truly flies, and i have loved every second with you all, i've got some potential things planned, so...stay tuned ;) stay happy and healthy, study well, take long breaks when you need, enjoy the weather! i love you guys so much <33333 tay💕💕💕🫶🫶🫶