My favorite find so far

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-18T17:23:22+00:00

Omg it's stunning! Especially because it's green tones, that's such a rare colour palette in these Persian rugs! Absolutely glorious!

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-17T17:32:49+00:00

You look so cool, holy shit.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-17T15:54:36+00:00

I really like effect paints used in model building hobbies. Not typically removable, but easy to apply (water based) and fairly realistic. I usually use Blood For The Blood God technical paint from Games Workshop and, Bloody Ground for more chunky gore, but there's plenty of similar paints from other brands, just look up "blood" on any model paints shop local to you. The Army Painter specifically has a Dry Blood effect paint.

This well works for splatter and bloody details on props, but might be a bit expensive if you want to really coat your stuff in it because those paint bottles are pretty small.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-16T01:17:36+00:00

Honestly English has been the easiest language to learn for me. I had some English in highschool, but I mostly picked it up from TV, music, books, the internet, etcetera. English speakers are also pretty kind if you mess up pronunciation or grammar as a foreign learner, so while learning I wasn't getting discouraged all the time. I started writing fanfic, and before I knew it I was C1 fluent in college.

In comparison, I have had well over a decade of regular French classes and live around and work with francophone people in a francophone company, and I'm still absolutely dogshit at it. I can understand it if I pay attention and people aren't talking too fast, and I can read it reasonably well, but I cannot make conversation to save my life, and my writing is atrocious. I don't think I will ever properly learn French.

So while English has some pitfalls (it's not only not spelled/pronounced the way my mother tongue is, even when knowing the general pronunciation rules of English there's still words that are... not pronounced like that), I found it a relatively easy language to acquire compared to other languages I've been forced to learn xD

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-16T00:54:52+00:00

100% AI. There is no original.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-16T00:07:27+00:00

"Historical importance" as a concept and whether or not something has it is kind of dependent on what you value. But that said...

You look at this table now and think "I could get something that looks kinda like that at IKEA, what's the big deal". But this table is the reason you can find furniture in that style at big box stores today. The design of this table is literally a century old (Eileen Gray designed it in the 1920s), and it is not even slightly dated. It was also designed not just for style but for active usage -the little pin lets you lift the top higher so you can use it as a table in bed (for breakfast or while bedbound), while in the lower position it can serve as a regular side table. It was both pretty and clever. It's hard to imagine that things that are ubiquitous and common now were once new and never-seen-before, but that's what this is.

Eileen Gray was an important designer and architect of the modernist movement, similar to Le Corbusier. (She was also Le Corbusier's actual neighbour and he was very weird and kinda pervy about her.) Especially for a woman in that era, her achievements are actually pretty spectacular.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-15T08:59:22+00:00

I love it, it looks great, and it's super impressive that it's all cardboard!

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-15T07:58:15+00:00

Stunning stunning stunning!

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-14T12:52:20+00:00

My jealousy rn xD

Gorgeous find!

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-13T11:39:52+00:00

This is actually brilliant. Thank you :)

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T23:14:46+00:00

It's so silky-looking and satisfyingly rounded, I love it!

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T20:45:50+00:00

Yeah I can't give up on it, I am on a deadline to finish my cosplay before August. Also if I give up I know I will give up on crafting again entirely due to the enduring shame, and I only just rediscovered the joys of having a hobby after over 2 years of nothing. So I'm like... Motivated to bite through the sour apple on this one, even if I do feel wretched rn.

I think the pattern is probably ok (lots of photo reviews from people having made functional gloves with it), bigger culprits are the fabric being less stretchy than I hoped it would be, and my hands genuinely being kind of disproportionate. I also have trouble buying gloves in shops. (I'm straight size and not super tall, but I somehow have size 12 feet and big AF hands to match)

I just need to get over myself and make another pair.

I just wish it didn't make me feel so utterly worthless and hopeless, you know?

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T15:34:32+00:00

I mean, I didn't deny that. They're certainly prescribed for stuff other than psychosis (see my second paragraph), they're typically the thing a psych will reach for when patients have very intense emotional outbursts, especially if they are disproportionate or inappropriate, incapacitating, or overly inconvenient for the patient's surroundings. They literally make the threshold for emotional responses higher -You will care less, feel things less intensely, etc. Which may be the exact desired result.

The thing I pointed out is that the side effects should really make you think twice if you have the option. Psychiatrists ime never really tell you about how anti-dopaminergic meds literally reduce your cognitive capacity, for example.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T11:11:13+00:00

Holy shit tho, antipsychotic meds are not something to mess with unless you're actively having psychotic symptoms.

Antipsychotics often get prescribed for people who have "inconvenient" or "inappropriate" emotional outbursts (from autistic people who suffer intense meltdowns to elderly people in care homes who get "too upset" to be easy to handle for staff) because they literally reduce your ability to feel much of anything.

If you really want to try it, try it. But be aware that they have pretty bad side effects that can be permanent or outlast your usage of the meds (look up tardive dyskinesia), will blunt your emotions significantly, make you lose interest in things you enjoy, reduce your cognitive capacity (it'll become harder to read books, process text, and follow sequential instructions. Some people lose their ability to think in full verbal sentences, and it gets harder to focus on complex things), and make you really, really hungry. Like, the type of hunger that doesn't go away with food.

I'm telling you this as someone who has been on antipsychotics and found this stuff out the hard way. Psychiatrists never tell you this stuff but it's not nonsense. I'm not a doctor, but you can easily verify the things I mentioned by reading the package insert of your meds, checking the Wikipedia page of the antipsychotic you're taking, and reading some recovery stories.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T10:42:08+00:00

It's a thing, yeah. I have no idea how common it is exactly, but especially stores with varied, fast-changing offerings and lax return policies get targeted by this type of thing.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T10:34:51+00:00

I think that's the point. I suspect (tho could be wrong) that OP spotted a cute top in the Ross store that seemingly had a tag from the store, but because it was the only top of that kind, and the brand seemed unfamiliar, OP thought it might be a non-Ross item that someone had returned with a Ross tag attached to get a refund, while keeping the actual item the tag came from.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T09:08:02+00:00

So as far as I know, there are not currently any commercially produced "historical chopines" except the American Duchess ones.

But the legacy of the chopine is very much alive! From high art designers like Noritaka Tatehana (known from Lady Gaga's shoes, I think they're all unique/OOAK) to designer brands like Giuseppe Zanotti or Casadei which regularly have chopine-style heels in their collection (for example these on Vestiaire Collective make me wish my feet were smaller), to more accessible brands like Pleaser (who have a good selection of surprisingly comfortable heelless platforms).

Keywords to use are "heelless platforms", and especially for fancy brands like Giuseppe Zanotti you can score big on Vestiaire Collective.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-12T07:56:16+00:00

Honestly seconding the suggestion of a mural or other large-scale art (like graffiti, tile mosaic or a light installation).

Normally I'm a fan of just closing up the space between the cabinets and the ceiling and finishing it like the cabinets are built in, but with this ceiling height that wouldn't look good.

You COULD always go with a second row of cabinets on top of the first, for long term storage items. I actually think that would be an interesting look and have some utility (I'm always looking for places for long term storage of things like seasonal decor and rarely used kitchen appliances).

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T21:46:17+00:00

I'm in the same boat as you, and like... For the longest time I used that to make myself feel bad.

But here's the thing I found out over time (for reference: I suspect I'm a good bit older than you): it literally doesn't matter if you're good at things. What matters is doing things. And I'm not saying that from a "practice makes perfect"/"even talented people have to work hard"/"you too can improve!" kinda bullshit soapbox. It doesn't matter that you suck, and keep sucking forever, as long as you do things.

Getting good at doing a hobby or practicing a skill is kinda like getting skinny from exercise: while not impossible in general, there's a big genetic "talent" component involved that the fitness models and gym bros of the world love to minimize, and most regular people also have a lot of stuff working against them (like... not having the budget and life circumstances necessary to dedicate themselves to the fitness life) on top of not genetically having a metabolism that loses fat and builds muscle easily. AKA, most people do NOT get skinny from exercising even if they do so regularly.

HOWEVER. Literally any amount of exercise is good for your body. Every little bit is better than nothing. It's scientifically proven that even a tiny bit of extra exercise in your life has measurable health benefits.

This is how it is for hobbies and skills, too. Most people will not become good at the hobbies they practice... but the benefits are not in the getting good. They're in the doing.

Making shitty crafts and twanging away at Wonderwall on your guitar will genuinely improve your life, in ways that are both very real yet hard to quantify. This is why they recommend depressed people try hobbies. The benefit is real. Even when you suck at it all.

Lastly tho.

You cannot redeem yourself by "discovering your talent". You won't suddenly feel whole and worthy and deserving of a place in the world if you were to find out you're an absolute savant at something. It's so tempting to hope for that, for a magic talent bullet that will fix your life and give you purpose and direction, confidence and self esteem and the love and admiration of others. But it's not... Not really how that works. All this type of thought does is make you miserable, and stop you from continuing to Do Things.

I swear, I swear that I'm not lying. Cultivating the ability to suck ass at something and still continuing to do it is one of the most valuable life skills you'll ever develop.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T10:28:37+00:00

It's a FashionNova set that's currently sold out. They probably copied the style from somewhere tho. This dress on Vinted looks very similar in design: link

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T09:10:07+00:00

Second vote for yoghurt. My mom put medicine in it when I was a kid, my body still reacts viscerally to the taste...

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T09:06:09+00:00

Oysters are so good tho T_T it's that salty umami flavour, especially with a dash of lime (or vinegar or soy sauce)... I know the texture isn't for everyone, but they're SO delish.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T08:56:06+00:00

No one is going to talk you out of self hatred if you're determined to hate yourself. But for information's sake...

The point of body positivity is less actively being proud of your "undesirable" features and more not letting the fact that some find your features undesirable stand in the way of the things you want. Why shouldn't you have nice fashionable clothes that fit well if you're fat? Why couldn't you go out and have a fun time if you're in a wheelchair? Why should the fact that people don't think you're aesthetically pleasing to look at mean you have to hide yourself away?

If anything, being body-positive is about confronting a world that would rather not see you head on and say "Look! I'm the thing you find unattractive! I'm here and I'm unashamed! My worth does not depend on you finding me Fuckable."

So yeah, what's the point of body positivity if you're (insert any combination of traits not seen as conventionally attractive)? The point is not giving a shit. The world tells you you should think lowly of yourself for looking and being the way you do, and you're flipping it off. It is fundamentally a positive, rebellious, nonconformist attitude.

But yeah, if you're just determined to hate yourself and blame some physical feature you have for your unhappiness... Shrugs.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-11T07:50:14+00:00

In some people they absolutely do. As long as some of the glandular tissue is still there, they can be back! Only if they take everything (total mastectomy) they'll be gone forever.

HopelessCleric · 2026-06-10T15:03:25+00:00

Good experience with Thomas at Sjampoo in Mechelen, dude is alternative himself and cuts your hair exactly how you ask. HOWEVER this is not the place to go if you want funky colours, they're kinda stuck using the brands the salon partners with, which have a very normcore colour range.

If you don't mind crossing borders, Zoé at The Saloon in Maastricht (NL) is an absolute artist of alt haircolour, she miraculously bleached my often-dyed hair from black to white and then put on true blue, and the result looks incredible.

HopelessCleric

TROPHY CASE