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My petrichor scent came in the mail o/

I was prepared for it to only resemble the smell after rain in an abstract, stylized sort of way, and for my boyfriend with an astonishing sense of smell to report that it only smells like chemicals, but to my surprise it did smell very natural and organic, in a clean way. It's not the exact same smell - or perhaps there are regional differences, since it's an US-based company and maybe nature smells different there - and my boyfriend described it more like the scent of being inside an abandoned really old wooden house when it's raining.

I put it on out of curiosity and I now smell like wet dirt, like I just crawled my way out of a damp hole in the ground. Which is awesome.

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wake up, stelle!!! (its 4pm)

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i was searching up shadow milks sprites on the wiki (for reference) and i found something interesting

when the eye is closed, its the eye of truth. when opened, its deceit meaning that you are opening your eyes to deceit, which is opposite to the more usually referenced "open your eyes to the truth" idiom but it can also imply that the truth is only your truth until you open your eyes to all the lies that surrounds you. the truth is a lie, a sweet and white lie, but still a lie. and also, who usually keeps their eyes closed?

yeah. now, who recently was awoken to the lies that surrounded him? ill let you figure that out.

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A Life Of Faith Dolls

So recently I fell down this little rabbit hole and I want to share it. I don't have any of these dolls (and I don't really have any interest do) and there's little information about the company, so I got even more interested.

Background:

Created by homeschooling parents Lee and Bill Bereza in 1998, when they established Breezy Point Treasures. Together they based a custom doll on the Elsie Dinsmore book series by Martha Finley. Later they worked with Sandra Bilotto to design the dolls, and Lloyd Middleton to produce the dolls.The second character in the series was Mildred (shortened to Millie) Keith, Elsie's oldest cousin.

In 2003 Mission City Press purchased the company, and Elsie and Millie's appearances were changed. The dresses were more striking and stood out with lace and frills. Additionally their appearances were changed as Elsie was given pincurls and ribbons. Millie went from being a brunette to having blond hair and blue eyes (similar to Kirsten Larson) and the dolls got darker eye makeup and longer eyelashes.

Since the 2 original dolls were based off a book series, the original Elsie Dinsmore and Millie Keith series were re-released. One thing that seperated them from American Girl was that the story would follow their life- starting from childhood into their 20s and so on.

Additionally 3 new characters were introduced- Violet Travilla (Elsie's daughter in the series), Laylie Colbert and Kathleen Mckenzie. During this time the Elsie Dinsmore Collection was renamed to "A Life of Faith."

Once again the dolls were changed, this time with much more simpler outfits in contrast to their past look. After struggling to stay afloat, Mission City Press ceased production of the dolls in 2006.

Dolls:

Elsie Dinsmore- hazel eyes, brown hair with pincurls

Elsie is an 8 year old growing up in the mid 1800s in the South, on a plantation. They kinda gloss over the fact that she literally has slaves on her property and refers to them as just "servants." Anyways, Elsie is very wealthy but grows up without a mother, and for much of the story she waits for her father to return, as she's never met him. Her collection contained many dresses, coats, undergarments, a grand piano, some more furniture and accessories.

Millie Keith- blond hair, blue eyes

Aside from being a Kirsten Larson clone (I'm only half kidding) Millie Keith is a 12 year old girl living on the Indiana frontier in 1833. Her story follows as she is forced to move from an established town in Ohio to the unknown frontier. Her collection also features many outfits, coats, a horse, a table and chair set and many accessories. As far as looks are concerned, Millie does look very similar to Kirsten Larson, with one of her outfits even displaying her wearing loop braids.

Laylie Colbert- black hair, brown eyes, different face mold from the other dolls

Laylie Colbert is a 7 year old who's story follows her escape from slavery. In the story her family escapes and meets Millie Keith (who is 15) and the two become friends. Her meet oufit is supposed to be one that Millie gave her. Her collection literally has nothing- it has one nightgown, a robin hood costume (????) and a few accessories. She has the smallest collection out of them all.

Violet Travilla- black hair, brown eyes (well really red but I'll get to that later)

Violet Travilla is a 14 year old in the 1870s, and is the daughter of Elsie Dinsmore. She loves art, school, her family and God. Violet is the oldest doll out of the whole collection, so her story is supposed to feel personal to teenagers, so she's also very anxious about her future, and feels misunderstood. Her collection has many outfits, accessories, a sofa and a cat.

Kathleen Mckenzie- hazel eyes, curly brown hair, freckles, different face mold

Kathleen Mckenzie, the last doll to be released, is an 11 year old (although her face mold makes her look a lot younger) growing up in 1929. She has a lot of similarities with Kit, as her story talks about economic struggles, and she enjoys writing. Her collection has a lot of outfits, accessories, but no furniture.

Current State:

the Violet Travilla dolls have a defect in which over time her brown eyes have changed to a BRIGHT red. (seriously, look it up)

as I talked about earlier, A Life Of Faith bore some similarites to AG. With Kathleen's story being similar to Kit, Millie, the frontier doll's redesign looking very similar to Kirsten.

They promoted themselves as a Christian alternative to AG, with each doll coming with a dol-sized Bible, and each story talks about how the dolls overcome their struggles through God.

I want to say I have no problem with Christianity, or religious dolls. What I am going to judge is how they painted AG to be bad in their eyes, with the Baptist Press stating that AG donates to "homosexual and abortion-rights causes."

I also have a problem with how Laylie Colbert literally had no collection. A Robin Hood cloak to put over her original dress and a little nightgown just feels wrong. Every other doll got such large collections with such beautiful outfits and she got basically nothing in comparison.

catalogue from 2007 -> https://prokukol.ru/wallpapers/images/katalogs/alof2007/alof2007.pdf

From right to left: Elsie Dinsmore, Millie Keith, Violet Travilla and Laylie Colbert

Not Pictured: Kathleen Mckenzie

I know this was a long post, if you read it- thank you so much! I found this fun to research and fun to share :)

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So, sometimes dolls will have eyes that discolor. (Either due to being poorly stored - in hot environments, for example - or just because they kind of sucked to begin with and time passed.)

Life of Faith was a "Christian alternative" to American Girl in the early 00s. (These spring up from time to time. Most of them only last a few years with a very niche market. I think, at the time, they had because people were flipping out about American Girl partnering with Girls Inc to fund after-school science programs and stuff, because Girls Inc was - according to the conservatives - "A pro-abortion, pro-lesbian organization".) The dolls were based around the Elsie Dinsmore books and it's all . . . big fluffy dresses on a plantation in the antebellum South. With all that that entails.

It was pretty fucking bad.

With that in mind, this is perhaps the funniest toy defect I have ever seen.

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my friends and I have created a game we call Quipposting, where you play quiplash but you roll a wheel full of character archetypes, and whatever it lands on, you all answer as if you are like, a wizard or cowboy. This legitimately makes quiplash go from a fun enough game to an S+ tier absolute unabashed banger

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when dogs are scary smart

over the last several months, we have been implementing a protocol to eliminate karybelle the sheltie’s barking surrounding her mealtimes. we have accomplished this by initially introducing an alternate activity during prep time (stuffed kong) and religiously giving her a time out gated in the yard if she stops that activity to bark, thus delaying her dinner until she’s quiet. this has been extremely successful; she’s gone from barking literally 100+ times during meal prep to barking 0 times, and only occasionally slips up. the behavior she has chosen to replace her meal-prep-screaming (after all, that energy has to go somewhere) is frantically - but silently - running circles around the coffee table to finally slam into a perfect down-stay as her bowl is set down.

this evening as the food was coming out, karybelle seamlessly slipped into her silent circling routine. except after a couple of reps, she abruptly changed course, yeeted herself out the dog door, barked once, and immediately jumped back in to resume her circling.

if that isn’t a demonstration of crystal clear understanding of criteria, i…don’t know what is lmao

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Candy Apple Cookie fanart🗣️💥🍎

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Shadow Milk and his room full of yaoi

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Fuck it, OC brain rot won. Get ready for the Secret Ask List

1) Does your OC have a voice claim, if so who?

2) Who's your OCs best friend? How did they become best friends?

3) What song describes your OC?

4) What song describes your OC and their partner/love interest?

5) Do you ship your OC with a Canon character? If so who?

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

7) Vice-Versa! If your OC is in the modern day, what fantasy class would they be? Would they be a different race?

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

9) How does your OC handle their physical health? Do they take care of themselves?

10) How does your OC handle their mental health? Do they take care of themselves?

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

12) Does your OC interact with other people's OC? If so, who's their best OC friend?

13) Does your OC have a rival? How did it start?

14) Who's a character your OC cannot stand! It's on sight when they see them!

15) Will your OC ever retire? Do you see them making it?

16) How's their relationship with their parents? Are they alive?

17) If your OC has kids, are they a good parent? Do they ever feel guilty if they have to leave them?

18) What are their pronouns? What would they like to be called?

19) What's their sexuality? What's their love language both giving and receiving?

20) If they fight, what's their weapon of choice?

21) What song best describes their relationship with their enemy?

22) Fight or Flight? Are they a lover or a fighter?

23) Is your OC reliable? Can I call them up at two in the morning if I have a flat tire?

24) Can they play any instruments? If so, what do they play?

25) Are they the kind of person who can't resist a good song? Can I catch your OC singing to themselves while they do the dishes?

26) What flower do you associate your OC with?

27) What's their spirit tamagotchi? Or an animal you associate them with?

28) What clique would they be in? (Draw them in the clothes of said group!)

29) Imagine a mood board for your OC! What's on it? (Make it if you want!)

30) My OC and your OC are friends. This isn't a question. I'm not asking. (How do they respond?)

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Just messing around 😁

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Me, calling in to my shift supervisor: Gooooooood morning! Are we ready for another super splendiferous day with the public?! 😀

Her: That is too much energy

Me: It iiiiiis fake!! 😀

Her: Still too much energy

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XAVIER: Didn't you say I shouldn't take it out on the plants? Where should I put it then?

LOVE AND DEEPSPACE — Nightly Rendezvous

↳ XAVIER | SYLUS | ZAYNE | RAFAYEL

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Anyone else ever just decide that plushies has a consciousness and you must be extra nice or else they'll murder you??

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Atsu: Omi, just admit yer down fer me bad.

Omi: Shut up before I change my mind about kissing you.

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What’s a food from your culture that u HATE #hatersonly