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2024.05.18 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.05.18 08:29 smokdlavender Karma is a......Mother (1)
 | We have the finale to our countdown, and it's TS12 baby! submitted by smokdlavender to GaylorSwift [link] [comments] Grab your hat, paint your face and settle in, because the Eras show (Taylor's Version) is just beginning. This post has been broken into parts as there was too much content for a single post. She’s having a baaaaby…………. No, she is not.As TTPD release has been unfolding on Era’s TV and we have been watching that album narrative unfold along with the performance of her past work, a comment was made in this sub about how that entire part of the show is performance art in itself.They kill her on stage, strip her naked, dress her back up again and force her to go and perform as this ‘Dead Taylor’. A long agreed upon dynamic for Taylor as a brand is there is Taylor Swift TM the brand, and Taylor the person. Well, that is exactly what is being communicated in the performance, and album, the confirmation of there being “2 Taylors”. Gaylors already know that this is not Taylor’s version, as referenced in the Red 22 shirts for Eras2.0 in Paris. We were in.... Paris We now know Taylor is using Midnights, TTPD, and Eras as the foundation she is laying for TS12. These projects are her yellow brick road if you will. These projects and their MVs have had unique connections to queer history, queer icons, as well as performance art, but for the sake of MOTHER I will only be referencing the easter egg connections to Mother from Bejewelled, Karma, Anti-Hero (Midnights MVs) and The Man (Lover). Let’s take it back to National Frankenstein DayBejewelled MV came out on 25th October 2022 and at the time it was quite a perilous time for the sub because we didn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle (TTPD & Eras), but now we do.The MV features Haim as the ugly step-sisters, Laura Dern as Mother, and Taylor as Cinderella. Gay Icon Laura Dern as Mother It opens with Taylor cleaning orange vomit off the floor saying, “Oh, this is some of her best work. That’s disgusting”as the sisters and Mother discuss a ball to be engaged and get the castle. Throughout this chit chat Mother is being primed as TS12. Lore is the stolen album was Karma, and some fans think we have been receiving fragments of Karma since reputation because it was scrapped. Laura Dern lore that many don't realise, is that she helped Ellen Degeneres come out in the 90s. It's one of the things that make her a gay icon. Well, Karma is coming back around and this time she’s a mother. Mother is TS12 but she is also Taylor, the person, instead of Taylor Swift TM. The sisters state what they want out of this competition, all Taylor wants is the castle, and Mother says with a smirk, “Well, I’ll be poisoning all the other maidens in the village”.This is the first reference we have to the Eras tour, TTPD, and how the narratives of Taylor Swift TM are about to “die” again. Gaylors know that Taylor died in 1989 because she had to stay in the closet. nb: important 1989 context - at the end of Out of the Woods, Taylor thinks she is going to finally meet her true self at the beach, and instead finds zombie Taylor. Zombie Taylor opens LWYMMD MV for reputation. Swifties don’t realise they’re about to watch her murder Taylor Swift TM on the biggest selling world tour of all time. And so the release date for this MV now has a bit more significance, because Taylor has been performing like a Frankenstein this whole time, while patiently waiting for the right time to resurrect herself. Taylor Swift TM is alive, but by force, it’s a dead body of work being pieced together to perform for the fans, not because Taylor wants to relive that time or era. She’s stuck, like a record on repeat. However in TTPD she likens herself to a record scratch as she screams, “Who’s afraid of little Old Me?” and this is the focal song of the TTPD set... The sisters continue to talk, saying, “But they’re changing it this year, instead of just showing up looking hot, you have to enter a talent competition, and if you win you get to keep the castle”She's got her eyes on the prize & they keys to her castle (Mother) nb: the talent competition is the lead up to present day, Midnights, TTPD, and Eras. As she says in ICDIWABH, she can pass this test Mother says, “I simply adore a proposal, the single most defining thing a lady could hope to achieve in her lifetime”(side note: it’s painfully funny that the kicker from the Chiefs Harrison Butker made that speech this week while TNT are still technically together) and then shows off her rings saying, “Look how many Mommy has” Mother flashing her jewels Mother shows off 8 big sparkly rings, but there are 2 big jewels strung around her neck too. From L-R there is a ring that looks like the Red TV ring, on the opposite side there is a huge pinky orange jewel with a diamond halo. I like to think this ring is Mother / Karma too assumed by it’s WLW colours and the black stone preceding it (black represents TTPD, although being considered a white album, parallels reputation bc it is paralleling that time in her life when she was forcibly closeted). However that is actually a red herring, because the real focus should be the pendant around Mother’s neck - it’s a portrait of a woman. Who is the fair maiden you love in secret, Mother? Isn’t that odd, keeping a woman close to your heart, while bragging about the jewels men gave you? She then sips tea as the conversation goes on, saying, “Speak Not, tired, tacky, wench. Clean!”nb: SN and 1989 reference here, 1989 was meant to be the og queer soft launch and quitting bearding, but instead created all the bearding lore we have now that got us to this day. Mother then becomes panicky, saying “Even if she were allowed to go, which she is not!!!! The prince would never want anything to do with that little harlot again, he tired of her quite quickly, didn’t he? Or should I say, Swiftly”nb: the prince here is the fans, specifically Swifties, who have been desperately attaching their prince charming narrative on to Taylor since Love Story. Taylor doesn’t care about keeping her man / fan because she just wants the castle (her own home, where she can be herself. She is willing to sacrifice the fans, and won’t sacrifice herself for them anymore. She doesn’t care anymore and this is reflected in TTPD for BDILH where she is having a baby or 'pregnant' with her 12th album if you will lol (karma/mother)) Mother then proceeds, “Lest we forget, you’ve been exiled here. You’re not going anywhere, anytime soon. Now girls, lets get many many jewels!”.They leave Taylor alone and so begins her quest to be bejewelled again. The MV continues parallels to Anti-Hero showing albums as cats at the wake, with Prince Jack Antonoff having a portrait of 11 The prince (fans) with his kittens (albums).. the light glitches when this is shown too Mother (Taylor) with her cats (albums)... Taylor isn't having kids because she already is a mother! The Bejewelled MV has a double meaning (ofc it does because ✌️ doubles, duh) is being used as a metaphor for what we are watching happen with the Eras tour, and how Taylor is going to put on a show so good, there’s no way she can’t reclaim ownership of her work, because remember the work Swifties know is not Taylor’s version. Bejewelled MV is also giving Gaylor’s (and only gaylors) context to how she ended up here in the first place. Being a Gaylor is not without it’s difficulties and I think Taylor is intentionally egging for us, knowing that Swifties won’t notice these clues or bother to look deeper. Honestly I dont think she likes them, and Taylor doesn’t think they deserve to know her real truth because they aren’t really trying to (Anti-Hero funeral scene when the “Swiftie” children say SHE DIDN’T LEAVE ANY CLUE”) and never did, so Gaylor’s are simultaneously getting clues to i) when bearding began throughout her career and ii) why she had to do it (coming out) this way. You pushed her too far Chad!!! Taylor is foreshadowing that Swifties are going to blame Gaylors. Back to Bejewelled! She begins her hero-arc (or anti-hero) leaving the old castle, beginning her adventure by entering an elevator and she's going straight to the top. The final destination - the penthouse. Note the elevator keys - 11 / TTPD is Red and black, because it the theme of this album is representing the death of the author. 12 / Mother-Karma is black and white because it parallels 6 / reputation as a queer album. 10 / Midnights is yellow, for closeting. “Meet me at Midnight” as we know, has been priming fans up to meet Taylor during TS12. Down bad, waking up in blood. Did Taylor want out during Red era, too? However the penthouse at the top doesn’t look like a penthouse, it’s a weird almost mummified looking white box on top of the building, with red lights on each corner....... ..........It’s almost as if the penthouse is actually The Tortured Poet’s Department. That’s where the tortured poet is being kept, and she is going up to the penthouse to save herself. I see you, Tortured Poet's Department. Taylor arrives at Level 3 (Speak Now) to get her sparkle back! She walks a catwalk, adorning herself in her jewels again.. This costume may be referencing a muse who walks in a straight line for a job ..... then meets Dita Von Teese at level 5 (1989) to learn how to attract men by way of burlesque performance. Again, another ✌️ layered parallel, Taylor is performing heterosexual romance to attract the prince (fans). Are we seeing doubles?? Taylor then gets to Level 13 and is performing on stage with all the clocks, dazzling as the ugly sisters are screaming and crying at her, while all the staff in the background applaud Taylor. Boo, you bore! She is also performing the folie bergere dance formation used in the TTPD segment on Eras TV. We're seeing double again ✌️ The MV ends with Taylor ghosting the man, and walking out onto the castle balcony (with that look) and looking like Love Story / Debut Taylor in a yellow dress, with VFX embers glowing that seem like fireflies. Please take note of her pearl necklace, it is the TTPD Eras Tour Costume necklace (V1) Girl what are you up to... also hello Vivienne Westwood / TTPD Costume Choker The same VFX embers were featured in Out of the Woods for 1989, and in willow for folklore. It's hard to screenshot but they are there, along with the sound of burning. Tiny snippet but there are the embers This ending is an easter egg in itself for Debut. I am unsure if yellow here is being used as a red herring or if it means Debut will remain closeted, or if it's to hint what has been suspected in the sub, that she will release her original lyrics, or better yet revealing that she has been interchanging herself within the pronouns the whole time. Part 2 |
2024.05.17 09:41 dismayed-tumbleweed Light According to Shelley, Fitzgerald, Dickinson, Swift (the multiple meanings of the "Downtown Lights")
 | So, this got out of hand. This post was originally supposed to be an analysis of light & lightning as symbols in TTPD, and it still is, but it also turned into something else. It also now basically only covers three lines of one song somehow but it's WORTH it, I promise it's worth it. But what happened is over the course of writing this post I also found like my "symbol cipher" holy grail. submitted by dismayed-tumbleweed to GaylorSwift [link] [comments] I'll link my original post on the symbol cipher in case you want to see, but I will quickly try to explain the theory here! Essentially, I think that the literary allusions on TTPD act as a guide to unpacking the symbolism on the album. The most obvious example of this might be the albatross. Taylor is sort of borrowing symbolism from Rime of the Ancient Mariner and applying it to her own work. With this example, the referencing and the symbol appear on the same track, but I don't think this is necessarily the case for most of them. In my last post I analyzed the symbol of a kiss. To do this, I found out which of the literary works Taylor references uses “kiss” in a symbolic way. Peter Pan was an easy answer here. In Peter Pan, "a kiss" symbolizes childhood innocence. So, I used the idea of "innocence" to interpret Taylor's use of "kiss" on TTPD. This analysis, along with the similar one I did about the albatross as a symbol, wound up working even better than I had originally anticipated. Symbol Cipher Theory & Kiss Symbolism Albatross Symbolism on TTPD Very sorry in advance for the length. Things just kept happening and I simply don't know how to be concise with all of this. (She says, launching into unnecessary personal narrative--) It was Monday night. I was more than halfway through my analysis of light-based symbolism on TTPD. I was sorting through lyrics, trying not to feel insane as I oscillated back and forth between symbolic meanings pulled from various works of literature, sometimes layering them on top of each other within the same verse or even line. https://preview.redd.it/vz1r5b5ixx0d1.png?width=1330&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b2ad17c2ff12be2d6d49df2e8540e90b8da02bb I’d noted light-based symbolism in 3 of the works Taylor alludes to in her own:
There could easily be more examples, but I have honestly been too overwhelmed to even consider it. Please! discuss below, I have brain worms now. (Note: I did not count fire, stars, or the sun, because I think they might be treated as separate symbols.) So to put it in Multiple-Choice Format, Frankenstein’s light is knowledge, Gatsby’s light is illusion, and Dickinson’s light is truth. While I had been trying to keep my focus solely on TTPD, a bunch of this symbolism already reminded me of songs like mirrorball and Bejeweled, which seem to frame truth as reflection or refraction of light. I went backwards through the tracklist as I did this analysis, which made "Guilty As Sin?" one of the later tracks I took a look at. And I've been looking at it ever since. (sorry, tracks 1-8) So, when you really look at these starting lines, multiple questions arise. Who is drowning in the Blue Nile? “He” or “I?” It would depend on punctuation, except we have none. Besides those quotation marks, anyway, but hey! Why are those there if that isn’t even the full song title? It’s also by The Blue Nile, so why isn’t the ‘t’ in “the” capitalized? And what does Any of this have to do with Frankenstein? But let’s start where I started, and maybe we can answer these questions as we go. So who is drowning? It depends, I think. When I first listened to the song, my impression was that the speaker of the song, the “I,” was the one drowning. In my head, the second line felt almost like an aside or a clarification. "[I was] drowning in the Blue Nile; he sent me "Downtown Lights." So, my first interpretations of this line, through the lens of symbolic light, looked like this: I was overwhelmed by deep emotion listening to the song he sent me about light because it reminded me of the past. The symbolism here reminded me most of the Frankenstein interpretation: light as a symbol for knowledge. To me, this little scene does evoke an exchange of both light (a phone lighting up w/ a message) and knowledge (the reminder of the song.) With that in mind, I went a layer deeper. I was overwhelmed listening to the deep truth she shared with me I had forgotten about them. Lightning is also a symbol in Frankenstein, of the destructive nature of ambition, and the dangers of pursuing powerful knowledge without considering the consequences. I wondered if the digital (or electric) nature of the exchange could add another layer to our interpretation. I was in danger out there thanks to the destructive reminder he sent me. I had heard that one before. After that, I shifted my focus to the other interpretation of the line: "Drowning in the Blue Nile, he sent me Downtown Lights. I hadn't heard it in a while." In this interpretation, he is the one drowning in the Nile (Blue.) He is the one who's lost in the lights. (hiii MA&THP) So okay, maybe the answer is either or both or, maybe, “those are the same picture.” I was starting to get the feeling that, much like TTPD itself, these lines were meant to be looked at from every angle, that their meaning shimmers, changes depending on how the light hits them. Lost in the light, he dragged me under it too It was something I knew once, a long time ago (I've been there too, a few times?) The lights in this interpretation feel like they could be stage lights, which is a reference often made on TTPD, though not in this song (directly, anyway.) Gatsby is the only work on the list which made reference to electric light, instead of light as a sort of natural, cosmic force. In this way, the green light in Gatsby is artificial, which makes sense for a symbol of false promises and illusion. Covered in well-lit illusion she made me false promises I hear them all the time (or, maybe) I’ve used that one myself? At this point, I started interpreting the final line here in a sort of ironic or sarcastic way. I know we haven't gotten there yet because we are stuck in the Guilty As Sin? intro timeloop, but the next line is "my boredom's bone deep." This was where my "dazzle" senses started tingling. Things were going slant. We were talking illusions and how things may not be as they appear in the light! We were deep in double meanings, purposeful cracks, and hidden possibilities. The very idea of these three lines having so many multi-facets almost seemed to perform the act of dazzling gradually, itself! I also realized around here that I had all but ignored that first Blue Nile reference, the band name. hadn't really known what to do with it. Why would she mention both the artist and the song title? Surely one reference would have been enough, especially given the apparent public knowledge about the associations of that song. I had first just thought of it as a way to play on the drowning motif and the light motif at the same time, and had used the band name for it's words, thinking of depth and emotion. I had thought of the song itself as in "interpretation of light," but I had not thought of the band as the "interpreters" of light. Lost in a sea of interpretations, he sent me his own version of the truth. I had heard that that one before. I'm so bored of this. When I originally googled the Blue Nile, I hadn't known the reference. I had just typed it into google from hearing it audibly. I first read about the River Nile and how there are two parts (ha ha.) Then I ended up finding out it was the name of a diamond company before realizing it was a reference to the band and song. Specifically, its an online-only company that sells diamonds cheaper since they don’t have brick-and-mortar stores. Lots of people use it for engagement and wedding rings. This might seem unconnected, if that 't' were only capitalized! I think this would allow us to fold in the Emily Dickinson, sequin-stars, mirrorballesque meaning here very well. This was when I decided it probably didn't really matter who was drowning, that it could be both at the same time, within one interpretation. "[As we were] Drowning in the Blue Nile, he sent me "Downtown Lights." Drowning in diamonds (the dazzle of light) he told me something I already knew. How Boring. The meaning of just the three lines seemed endless. But it was all feeling very difficult to prove. Was I going a little too crazy with this? Could all of this be true at once? I'm not Dylan Thomas. She's not Patti Smith! I've never even been to the Chelsea Hotel. But then, what about the kisses? At some point along the way here, I had another, somewhat troubling, thought: there was no way I could attribute the symbolism here only to Frankenstein and Gatsby and Dickinson while that Blue Nile reference was staring me right in the face. I had looked up "Downtown Lights" before, way back when the album first came out, but that initial lyric scan honestly hadn't left an impression while my brain was spinning around like a propeller, focused on nothing but consuming TTPD. Now I knew that (according to the symbol cipher code of ethics) I had to take a look at the specific allusion here and find out how light is treated symbolically within "The Downtown Lights" by The Blue Nile. Essentially, I was ready to do a lyric analysis within a lyric analysis I put the song on, then went over to genius and began clicking around, as you do. It did not take long to find literally exactly what I was looking for. I will give you a visual of what happened next: https://preview.redd.it/sf4p8linqx0d1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=0dc47ca9d5efdb366e699f8b6474b0c2cd6e18aa ego trip 5/13/2024 So as it turns out!! the downtown lights hold different meanings at different points throughout the Blue Nile song! This was very exciting for me. It meant that, yes, light could have alternating meanings at different points throughout TTPD and still maintain the idea of a "symbol cipher.” In fact, Taylor was practically singing to me that it does. Drowning in the Blue Nile, indeed. So we know the downtown lights have multiple meanings in the song, but what did they mean? According to Genius, the The Blue Nile song switches between using the downtown lights as a positive, welcoming presence, and as an alienating, lonely sight. I think it's possible that we are touching on both of these interpretations at once here. The first use of "downtown lights" comes in the opening verse "It's alright, can't you see / the downtown lights?" This use reminds me of the idea of "the light at the end of the tunnel." Drowning in the Blue Nile Overwhelmed by these interpretations of light (relatable) He sent me 'Downtown Lights' I hadn't heard it in a while He reminded me of 'the light at the end of the tunnel' as if I could have forgotten My boredom’s bone deep No part of me is interested in this anymore. This cage was once just fine I used to be able to tolerate these limits Am I allowed to cry? Am I allowed to be sad about something I chose? (conjecture) For this last one, I will interpret the lines with the other meaning of “the downtown lights," the distance and alienation, ("Empty streets, empty nights / the downtown lights") I am also going to try to do my best to layer in as much of some of the other interpretations as possible. Drowning in the Blue Nile Lost and bathed in the illusory, dazzling glow of thousands of reflections He sent me Downtown Lights He brought up the light at the end of the tunnel, but it only reminded me of the separation that remains between where I am and where I want to be. I hadn’t heard it in a while As if I needed reminding. I used to use that line myself, but I don’t believe it anymore. My boredom’s bone deep There is nothing left for me to learn here and I can no longer convince myself otherwise. This cage was once just fine I used to feel like these limits protected me, but now I feel caged and gawked at. Am I allowed to cry? Is it hypocritical of me to come clean now? How would they react? The last use of "the downtown lights" is here: "The neons and the cigarettes, rented rooms and rented cars The crowded streets, the empty bars Chimney tops and trumpets, the golden lights, the loving prayers The coloured shoes, the empty trains, I'm tired of crying on the stairs The downtown lights" To me, this evokes that sort of overwhelm feeling, when everything gets to be too much; the good things and the bad things, and the ways they overlap and contradict each other, and pull you apart, and drive you crazy, kind of thing. This meaning feels almost like it doesn't even need an interpretation. It's the part of the Blue Nile you drown in. Um so this ended sort of dark and sad. I didn't think about that when I came up with my clever little bookend format. Luckily, I have just the thing, and it's weird!! So, somewhere along the way here, I clicked on the username of the contributor who annotated “The Downtown Lights." They're username is Abraxas01. It turns out "Abraxas" is (ok. yeah. why not? at this point why not?) a word that has multiple meanings, including "the honorable and Hallowed word," (the sacred or holy word) and "the uncreated Father," (not existing by creation : eternal, self-existent) and "the beautiful, the glorious Savior.” I’m not even going to think about trying to unpack all of that. But Merriam Webster's defines the word as something “used as a charm on an amulet or talisman in Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa from the second century b.c. until the 13th century," so there's also that. The word comes from Biblical Greek. Wikipedia says “The spelling of Abraxas seen today probably originates in the confusion made between the Greek letters sigma (Σ) and xi (Ξ) in the Latin transliteration.” On the profile, I saw a few interesting things, but nothing that seemed as connected to TTPD as the "The Downtown Lights" annotations. At one point I was scrolling through Abraxas01's following list and I noticed that they and another user called perfectrhyme were following each other. This other user has a ton of points on the website, but no real info. Instead, their bio reads "perfectrhyme is keeping quiet for now," which is not, like, an auto generated message from the site, I'm pretty sure, because a bunch of the new users just have blank bios. This user’s annotations here were much more interesting in terms of Taylor connections. I’m going to include some of the most compelling ones and I need people to tell me what they think because I don’t know what’s going on anymore!!! The PFP is Chaucer My town was a wasteland? Jumping off of very tall somethings? https://preview.redd.it/kgu3iljzlx0d1.png?width=478&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c452696b58e47fbc430019960e871016be9fdff So much of it is from the balcony scene... swifter?? https://preview.redd.it/j01x0u5fmx0d1.png?width=470&format=png&auto=webp&s=09cbcf1b82bb2003d18aa91b2984e4fda8162d7b https://preview.redd.it/4rx6vy5fmx0d1.png?width=470&format=png&auto=webp&s=b1b2a06bcaaaea8ce6c0c3372395c9b9d9f05942 I mean A description of the painting One last sidenote which I know I am not the most qualified person on this sub to talk about is that the Abraxas01 profile uses a photo of Brian Jones and Mick Jagger that was shot by Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney’s wife. Beatles posters, what does this mean??? Here are some more of my interpretations of light and lightning off of TTPD, including Peter, The Bolter, Clara Bow, and ICDIWABH (they are not all like this one lol) In general, I need to know other people’s thoughts on all of this pls help me make some sense over here I begggg |
2024.05.17 02:14 Affectionate_Care669 [Request] how many beads do i need for 300 friendship bracelets taylor swift
how many beads do i need for 300 friendship bracelets taylor swift
This is the list of what bracelets I’m going to make. How many colored beads would I need approximately? I’m going to color code each album to its color.
EDIT: I’ve calculated how many beads of each letter hehe I just need bead colors. There’s this website someone made and posted it onto taylorswift and I used it for all these and I’ve calculated how many of each letter I need lol.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You 13. Invisible 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless 16. Fifteen 17. Love Story 18. Hey Stephen 19. White Horse 20. You Belong With Me 21. Breathe 22. Tell Me Why 23. You’re Not Sorry 24. The Way I Loved You 25. Forever & Always 26. Come In With The Rain 27. Superstar 28. The Other Side Of The Door 29. Today Was A Fairytale 30. You All Over Me 31. Mr Perfectly Fine 32. We Were Happy 33. That’s When 34. Don’t You 35. Bye Bye Baby 36. If This Was A Movie 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine 39. Sparks Fly 40. Back To December 41. Speak Now 42. Dear John 43. Mean 44. The Story Of Us 45. Never Grow Up 46. Enchanted 47. Better Than Revenge 48. Innocent 49. Haunted 50. Last Kiss 51. Long Live 52. Ours 53. Superman 54. Electric Touch 55. When Emma Falls In Love 56. I Can See You 57. Castles Crumbling 58. Foolish One 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace 61. Red 62. Treacherous 63. I Knew You Were Trouble 64. All Too Well 65. 22 66. I Almost Do 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 68. Stay Stay Stay 69. The Last Time 70. Holy Beautiful 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic 72. The Lucky One 73. Everything Has Changed 74. Starlight 75. Begin Again 76. The Moment I Knew 77. Come Back…Be Here 78. Girl At Home 79. Ronan 80. Better Man 81. Nothing New 82. Babe 83. Message In A Bottle 84. I Bet You Think About Me 85. Forever Winter 86. Run 87. The Very First Night 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 89. Eyes Open 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York 92. Blank Space 93. Style 94. Out Of The Woods 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay 96. Shake It Off 97. I Wish You Would 98. Bad Blood 99. Wildest Dreams 100. How You Get The Girl 101. This Love 102. I Know Places 103. Clean 104. Wonderland 105. You Are In Love 106. New Romantics 107. Slut 108. Say Don’t Go 109. Now That We Don’t Talk 110. Suburban Legends 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It 113. Endgame 114. I Did Something Bad 115. Don’t Blame Me 116. Delicate 117. Look What You Made Me Do 118. So It Goes 119. Gorgeous 120. Getaway Car 121. King Of My Heart 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 123. Dress 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 125. Call It What You Want 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed 128. Cruel Summer 129. Lover 130. The Man 131. The Archer 132. I Think He Knows 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 134. Paper Rings 135. Cornelia Street 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts 137. London Boy 138. Soon You’ll Get Better 139. False God 140. You Need To Calm Down 141. Afterglow 142. Me 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend 144. Daylight 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 147. Cardigan 148. The Last Great American Dynasty 149. Exile 150. My Tears Ricochet 151. Mirrorball 152. Seven 153. August 154. This Is Me Trying 155. Illicit Affairs 156. Invisible String 157. Mad Woman 158. Epiphany 159. Betty 160. Peace 161. Hoax 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow 164. Champagne Problems 165. Gold Rush 166. Tis The Damn Season 167. Tolerate It 168. No Body No Crime 169. Happiness 170. Dorothea 171. Coney Island 172. Ivy 173. Cowboy Like Me 174. Long Story Short 175. Marjorie 176. Closure 177. Evermore 178. Right Where You Left Me 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze 181. Maroon 182. Anti Hero 183. Snow On The Beach 184. You’re On Your Own Kid 185. Midnight Rain 186. Question 187. Vigilante Shit 188. Bejeweled 189. Labyrinth 190. Karma 191. Sweet Nothing 192. Mastermind 193. The Great War 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky 195. Paris 196. High Infidelity 197. Glitch 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve 199. Dear Reader 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight 202. The Tortured Poets Department 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 204. Down Bad 205. So Long London 206. But Daddy I Love Him 207. Fresh Out The Slammer 208. Florida 209. Guilty As Sin 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can 212. LOML 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 215. The Alchemy 216. Clara Bow 217. The Black Dog 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack 219. The Albatross 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 221. How Did It End 222. So High School 223. I Hate It Here 224. Thank You Aimee 225. I Look In People’s Windows 226. The Prophecy 227. Cassandra 228. Peter 229. The Bolter 230. Robin 231. The Manuscript
Other 232. Taylor Swift 233. Debut 234. Fearless TV 235. Speak Now TV 236. Red TV 237. 1989 TV 238. Reputation 239. Folklore 240. Evermore 241. Midnights 242. TTPD 243. Eras Tour 244. 123 LGB 245. Fuck The Patriarchy 246. Ur Gay 247. Taylor’s Version 248. 13 249. Junior Jewels 250. You’ll Be The Prince 251. I’ll Be The Princess 252. Wonderstruck 253. Loving Him Was Red 254. Losing Him Was Blue 255. Missing Him Was Dark Grey 256. Sad Girl Autumn 257. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 258. ATWTMVFTVSGAVRALPS (All Too Well Ten Minute Version From The Vault Sad Girl Autumn Version Recorded At Long Pond Studios) 259. Ratatata 260. I ❤️ TS 261. Me Hee Hee 262. Karma Is The Guy On The Chiefs 263. Screaming Crying Throwing Up 264. Jan Ravnik 265. I’m Having A Menty B Hee Hee 266. Benjamin Button 267. Meredith Grey 268. Olivia Benson 269. Errors Tour 270. Died Dead 271. TSwizzle 272. YFYFBYNLIT (you forgive you grifter but you never let it go) 273. Take us to church 274. Swiftie 275. I’ll Be 87 You’ll Be 89 276. LVIII Super Bowl Champions 277. Tayvis 278. Folkmore 279. Everlore 280. It’s Been a Long Time Coming 281. What If I Told You I’m Back 282. It’s Fearless 283. Big Reputation 284. And They Said Speak Now 285. Into Folklore 286. My Name Is Taylor And I Was Born In 1989 287. Meet Me At Midnight 288. This Isn’t The One I Wanted 289. Ever Needy Ever Lovely Jewel 290. Alls Well It Ends Well 291. I Hate All Kanyes 292. El Travador 293. My Brain Is Alive 294. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 295. Not A Lot Going On At The Moment 296. A Lot Going On At The Moment 297. Blue Jays 298. Toronto N6 299. I’m The Problem 300. Welcome To The Eras Tour
EDIT2: I have no idea why I uploaded the bracelet titles and stuff 😂 I’m sorry.
EDIT3: I’m going to be using 11 different colors
submitted by Affectionate_Care669 to theydidthemath [link] [comments]
This is the list of what bracelets I’m going to make. How many colored beads would I need approximately? I’m going to color code each album to its color.
EDIT: I’ve calculated how many beads of each letter hehe I just need bead colors. There’s this website someone made and posted it onto taylorswift and I used it for all these and I’ve calculated how many of each letter I need lol.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You 13. Invisible 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless 16. Fifteen 17. Love Story 18. Hey Stephen 19. White Horse 20. You Belong With Me 21. Breathe 22. Tell Me Why 23. You’re Not Sorry 24. The Way I Loved You 25. Forever & Always 26. Come In With The Rain 27. Superstar 28. The Other Side Of The Door 29. Today Was A Fairytale 30. You All Over Me 31. Mr Perfectly Fine 32. We Were Happy 33. That’s When 34. Don’t You 35. Bye Bye Baby 36. If This Was A Movie 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine 39. Sparks Fly 40. Back To December 41. Speak Now 42. Dear John 43. Mean 44. The Story Of Us 45. Never Grow Up 46. Enchanted 47. Better Than Revenge 48. Innocent 49. Haunted 50. Last Kiss 51. Long Live 52. Ours 53. Superman 54. Electric Touch 55. When Emma Falls In Love 56. I Can See You 57. Castles Crumbling 58. Foolish One 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace 61. Red 62. Treacherous 63. I Knew You Were Trouble 64. All Too Well 65. 22 66. I Almost Do 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 68. Stay Stay Stay 69. The Last Time 70. Holy Beautiful 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic 72. The Lucky One 73. Everything Has Changed 74. Starlight 75. Begin Again 76. The Moment I Knew 77. Come Back…Be Here 78. Girl At Home 79. Ronan 80. Better Man 81. Nothing New 82. Babe 83. Message In A Bottle 84. I Bet You Think About Me 85. Forever Winter 86. Run 87. The Very First Night 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 89. Eyes Open 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York 92. Blank Space 93. Style 94. Out Of The Woods 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay 96. Shake It Off 97. I Wish You Would 98. Bad Blood 99. Wildest Dreams 100. How You Get The Girl 101. This Love 102. I Know Places 103. Clean 104. Wonderland 105. You Are In Love 106. New Romantics 107. Slut 108. Say Don’t Go 109. Now That We Don’t Talk 110. Suburban Legends 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It 113. Endgame 114. I Did Something Bad 115. Don’t Blame Me 116. Delicate 117. Look What You Made Me Do 118. So It Goes 119. Gorgeous 120. Getaway Car 121. King Of My Heart 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 123. Dress 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 125. Call It What You Want 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed 128. Cruel Summer 129. Lover 130. The Man 131. The Archer 132. I Think He Knows 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 134. Paper Rings 135. Cornelia Street 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts 137. London Boy 138. Soon You’ll Get Better 139. False God 140. You Need To Calm Down 141. Afterglow 142. Me 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend 144. Daylight 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 147. Cardigan 148. The Last Great American Dynasty 149. Exile 150. My Tears Ricochet 151. Mirrorball 152. Seven 153. August 154. This Is Me Trying 155. Illicit Affairs 156. Invisible String 157. Mad Woman 158. Epiphany 159. Betty 160. Peace 161. Hoax 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow 164. Champagne Problems 165. Gold Rush 166. Tis The Damn Season 167. Tolerate It 168. No Body No Crime 169. Happiness 170. Dorothea 171. Coney Island 172. Ivy 173. Cowboy Like Me 174. Long Story Short 175. Marjorie 176. Closure 177. Evermore 178. Right Where You Left Me 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze 181. Maroon 182. Anti Hero 183. Snow On The Beach 184. You’re On Your Own Kid 185. Midnight Rain 186. Question 187. Vigilante Shit 188. Bejeweled 189. Labyrinth 190. Karma 191. Sweet Nothing 192. Mastermind 193. The Great War 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky 195. Paris 196. High Infidelity 197. Glitch 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve 199. Dear Reader 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight 202. The Tortured Poets Department 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 204. Down Bad 205. So Long London 206. But Daddy I Love Him 207. Fresh Out The Slammer 208. Florida 209. Guilty As Sin 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can 212. LOML 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 215. The Alchemy 216. Clara Bow 217. The Black Dog 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack 219. The Albatross 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 221. How Did It End 222. So High School 223. I Hate It Here 224. Thank You Aimee 225. I Look In People’s Windows 226. The Prophecy 227. Cassandra 228. Peter 229. The Bolter 230. Robin 231. The Manuscript
Other 232. Taylor Swift 233. Debut 234. Fearless TV 235. Speak Now TV 236. Red TV 237. 1989 TV 238. Reputation 239. Folklore 240. Evermore 241. Midnights 242. TTPD 243. Eras Tour 244. 123 LGB 245. Fuck The Patriarchy 246. Ur Gay 247. Taylor’s Version 248. 13 249. Junior Jewels 250. You’ll Be The Prince 251. I’ll Be The Princess 252. Wonderstruck 253. Loving Him Was Red 254. Losing Him Was Blue 255. Missing Him Was Dark Grey 256. Sad Girl Autumn 257. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 258. ATWTMVFTVSGAVRALPS (All Too Well Ten Minute Version From The Vault Sad Girl Autumn Version Recorded At Long Pond Studios) 259. Ratatata 260. I ❤️ TS 261. Me Hee Hee 262. Karma Is The Guy On The Chiefs 263. Screaming Crying Throwing Up 264. Jan Ravnik 265. I’m Having A Menty B Hee Hee 266. Benjamin Button 267. Meredith Grey 268. Olivia Benson 269. Errors Tour 270. Died Dead 271. TSwizzle 272. YFYFBYNLIT (you forgive you grifter but you never let it go) 273. Take us to church 274. Swiftie 275. I’ll Be 87 You’ll Be 89 276. LVIII Super Bowl Champions 277. Tayvis 278. Folkmore 279. Everlore 280. It’s Been a Long Time Coming 281. What If I Told You I’m Back 282. It’s Fearless 283. Big Reputation 284. And They Said Speak Now 285. Into Folklore 286. My Name Is Taylor And I Was Born In 1989 287. Meet Me At Midnight 288. This Isn’t The One I Wanted 289. Ever Needy Ever Lovely Jewel 290. Alls Well It Ends Well 291. I Hate All Kanyes 292. El Travador 293. My Brain Is Alive 294. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 295. Not A Lot Going On At The Moment 296. A Lot Going On At The Moment 297. Blue Jays 298. Toronto N6 299. I’m The Problem 300. Welcome To The Eras Tour
EDIT2: I have no idea why I uploaded the bracelet titles and stuff 😂 I’m sorry.
EDIT3: I’m going to be using 11 different colors
2024.05.17 01:17 Affectionate_Care669 how many beads do i need for 300 friendship bracelets taylor swift
This is the list of what bracelets I’m going to make. How many colored beads would I need approximately? I’m going to color code each album to its color.
EDIT: I’ve calculated how many beads of each letter hehe I just need bead colors. There’s this website someone made and posted it onto taylorswift and I used it for all these and I’ve calculated how many of each letter I need lol.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You 13. Invisible 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless 16. Fifteen 17. Love Story 18. Hey Stephen 19. White Horse 20. You Belong With Me 21. Breathe 22. Tell Me Why 23. You’re Not Sorry 24. The Way I Loved You 25. Forever & Always 26. Come In With The Rain 27. Superstar 28. The Other Side Of The Door 29. Today Was A Fairytale 30. You All Over Me 31. Mr Perfectly Fine 32. We Were Happy 33. That’s When 34. Don’t You 35. Bye Bye Baby 36. If This Was A Movie 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine 39. Sparks Fly 40. Back To December 41. Speak Now 42. Dear John 43. Mean 44. The Story Of Us 45. Never Grow Up 46. Enchanted 47. Better Than Revenge 48. Innocent 49. Haunted 50. Last Kiss 51. Long Live 52. Ours 53. Superman 54. Electric Touch 55. When Emma Falls In Love 56. I Can See You 57. Castles Crumbling 58. Foolish One 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace 61. Red 62. Treacherous 63. I Knew You Were Trouble 64. All Too Well 65. 22 66. I Almost Do 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 68. Stay Stay Stay 69. The Last Time 70. Holy Beautiful 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic 72. The Lucky One 73. Everything Has Changed 74. Starlight 75. Begin Again 76. The Moment I Knew 77. Come Back…Be Here 78. Girl At Home 79. Ronan 80. Better Man 81. Nothing New 82. Babe 83. Message In A Bottle 84. I Bet You Think About Me 85. Forever Winter 86. Run 87. The Very First Night 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 89. Eyes Open 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York 92. Blank Space 93. Style 94. Out Of The Woods 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay 96. Shake It Off 97. I Wish You Would 98. Bad Blood 99. Wildest Dreams 100. How You Get The Girl 101. This Love 102. I Know Places 103. Clean 104. Wonderland 105. You Are In Love 106. New Romantics 107. Slut 108. Say Don’t Go 109. Now That We Don’t Talk 110. Suburban Legends 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It 113. Endgame 114. I Did Something Bad 115. Don’t Blame Me 116. Delicate 117. Look What You Made Me Do 118. So It Goes 119. Gorgeous 120. Getaway Car 121. King Of My Heart 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 123. Dress 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 125. Call It What You Want 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed 128. Cruel Summer 129. Lover 130. The Man 131. The Archer 132. I Think He Knows 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 134. Paper Rings 135. Cornelia Street 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts 137. London Boy 138. Soon You’ll Get Better 139. False God 140. You Need To Calm Down 141. Afterglow 142. Me 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend 144. Daylight 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 147. Cardigan 148. The Last Great American Dynasty 149. Exile 150. My Tears Ricochet 151. Mirrorball 152. Seven 153. August 154. This Is Me Trying 155. Illicit Affairs 156. Invisible String 157. Mad Woman 158. Epiphany 159. Betty 160. Peace 161. Hoax 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow 164. Champagne Problems 165. Gold Rush 166. Tis The Damn Season 167. Tolerate It 168. No Body No Crime 169. Happiness 170. Dorothea 171. Coney Island 172. Ivy 173. Cowboy Like Me 174. Long Story Short 175. Marjorie 176. Closure 177. Evermore 178. Right Where You Left Me 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze 181. Maroon 182. Anti Hero 183. Snow On The Beach 184. You’re On Your Own Kid 185. Midnight Rain 186. Question 187. Vigilante Shit 188. Bejeweled 189. Labyrinth 190. Karma 191. Sweet Nothing 192. Mastermind 193. The Great War 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky 195. Paris 196. High Infidelity 197. Glitch 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve 199. Dear Reader 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight 202. The Tortured Poets Department 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 204. Down Bad 205. So Long London 206. But Daddy I Love Him 207. Fresh Out The Slammer 208. Florida 209. Guilty As Sin 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can 212. LOML 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 215. The Alchemy 216. Clara Bow 217. The Black Dog 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack 219. The Albatross 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 221. How Did It End 222. So High School 223. I Hate It Here 224. Thank You Aimee 225. I Look In People’s Windows 226. The Prophecy 227. Cassandra 228. Peter 229. The Bolter 230. Robin 231. The Manuscript
Other 232. Taylor Swift 233. Debut 234. Fearless TV 235. Speak Now TV 236. Red TV 237. 1989 TV 238. Reputation 239. Folklore 240. Evermore 241. Midnights 242. TTPD 243. Eras Tour 244. 123 LGB 245. Fuck The Patriarchy 246. Ur Gay 247. Taylor’s Version 248. 13 249. Junior Jewels 250. You’ll Be The Prince 251. I’ll Be The Princess 252. Wonderstruck 253. Loving Him Was Red 254. Losing Him Was Blue 255. Missing Him Was Dark Grey 256. Sad Girl Autumn 257. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 258. ATWTMVFTVSGAVRALPS (All Too Well Ten Minute Version From The Vault Sad Girl Autumn Version Recorded At Long Pond Studios) 259. Ratatata 260. I ❤️ TS 261. Me Hee Hee 262. Karma Is The Guy On The Chiefs 263. Screaming Crying Throwing Up 264. Jan Ravnik 265. I’m Having A Menty B Hee Hee 266. Benjamin Button 267. Meredith Grey 268. Olivia Benson 269. Errors Tour 270. Died Dead 271. TSwizzle 272. YFYFBYNLIT (you forgive you grifter but you never let it go) 273. Take us to church 274. Swiftie 275. I’ll Be 87 You’ll Be 89 276. LVIII Super Bowl Champions 277. Tayvis 278. Folkmore 279. Everlore 280. It’s Been a Long Time Coming 281. What If I Told You I’m Back 282. It’s Fearless 283. Big Reputation 284. And They Said Speak Now 285. Into Folklore 286. My Name Is Taylor And I Was Born In 1989 287. Meet Me At Midnight 288. This Isn’t The One I Wanted 289. Ever Needy Ever Lovely Jewel 290. Alls Well It Ends Well 291. I Hate All Kanyes 292. El Travador 293. My Brain Is Alive 294. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 295. Not A Lot Going On At The Moment 296. A Lot Going On At The Moment 297. Blue Jays 298. Toronto N6 299. I’m The Problem 300. Welcome To The Eras Tour
EDIT2: I have no idea why I uploaded the bracelet titles and stuff 😂 I’m sorry.
submitted by Affectionate_Care669 to TrueSwifties [link] [comments]
EDIT: I’ve calculated how many beads of each letter hehe I just need bead colors. There’s this website someone made and posted it onto taylorswift and I used it for all these and I’ve calculated how many of each letter I need lol.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You 13. Invisible 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless 16. Fifteen 17. Love Story 18. Hey Stephen 19. White Horse 20. You Belong With Me 21. Breathe 22. Tell Me Why 23. You’re Not Sorry 24. The Way I Loved You 25. Forever & Always 26. Come In With The Rain 27. Superstar 28. The Other Side Of The Door 29. Today Was A Fairytale 30. You All Over Me 31. Mr Perfectly Fine 32. We Were Happy 33. That’s When 34. Don’t You 35. Bye Bye Baby 36. If This Was A Movie 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine 39. Sparks Fly 40. Back To December 41. Speak Now 42. Dear John 43. Mean 44. The Story Of Us 45. Never Grow Up 46. Enchanted 47. Better Than Revenge 48. Innocent 49. Haunted 50. Last Kiss 51. Long Live 52. Ours 53. Superman 54. Electric Touch 55. When Emma Falls In Love 56. I Can See You 57. Castles Crumbling 58. Foolish One 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace 61. Red 62. Treacherous 63. I Knew You Were Trouble 64. All Too Well 65. 22 66. I Almost Do 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 68. Stay Stay Stay 69. The Last Time 70. Holy Beautiful 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic 72. The Lucky One 73. Everything Has Changed 74. Starlight 75. Begin Again 76. The Moment I Knew 77. Come Back…Be Here 78. Girl At Home 79. Ronan 80. Better Man 81. Nothing New 82. Babe 83. Message In A Bottle 84. I Bet You Think About Me 85. Forever Winter 86. Run 87. The Very First Night 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 89. Eyes Open 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York 92. Blank Space 93. Style 94. Out Of The Woods 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay 96. Shake It Off 97. I Wish You Would 98. Bad Blood 99. Wildest Dreams 100. How You Get The Girl 101. This Love 102. I Know Places 103. Clean 104. Wonderland 105. You Are In Love 106. New Romantics 107. Slut 108. Say Don’t Go 109. Now That We Don’t Talk 110. Suburban Legends 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It 113. Endgame 114. I Did Something Bad 115. Don’t Blame Me 116. Delicate 117. Look What You Made Me Do 118. So It Goes 119. Gorgeous 120. Getaway Car 121. King Of My Heart 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 123. Dress 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 125. Call It What You Want 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed 128. Cruel Summer 129. Lover 130. The Man 131. The Archer 132. I Think He Knows 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 134. Paper Rings 135. Cornelia Street 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts 137. London Boy 138. Soon You’ll Get Better 139. False God 140. You Need To Calm Down 141. Afterglow 142. Me 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend 144. Daylight 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 147. Cardigan 148. The Last Great American Dynasty 149. Exile 150. My Tears Ricochet 151. Mirrorball 152. Seven 153. August 154. This Is Me Trying 155. Illicit Affairs 156. Invisible String 157. Mad Woman 158. Epiphany 159. Betty 160. Peace 161. Hoax 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow 164. Champagne Problems 165. Gold Rush 166. Tis The Damn Season 167. Tolerate It 168. No Body No Crime 169. Happiness 170. Dorothea 171. Coney Island 172. Ivy 173. Cowboy Like Me 174. Long Story Short 175. Marjorie 176. Closure 177. Evermore 178. Right Where You Left Me 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze 181. Maroon 182. Anti Hero 183. Snow On The Beach 184. You’re On Your Own Kid 185. Midnight Rain 186. Question 187. Vigilante Shit 188. Bejeweled 189. Labyrinth 190. Karma 191. Sweet Nothing 192. Mastermind 193. The Great War 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky 195. Paris 196. High Infidelity 197. Glitch 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve 199. Dear Reader 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight 202. The Tortured Poets Department 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 204. Down Bad 205. So Long London 206. But Daddy I Love Him 207. Fresh Out The Slammer 208. Florida 209. Guilty As Sin 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can 212. LOML 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 215. The Alchemy 216. Clara Bow 217. The Black Dog 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack 219. The Albatross 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 221. How Did It End 222. So High School 223. I Hate It Here 224. Thank You Aimee 225. I Look In People’s Windows 226. The Prophecy 227. Cassandra 228. Peter 229. The Bolter 230. Robin 231. The Manuscript
Other 232. Taylor Swift 233. Debut 234. Fearless TV 235. Speak Now TV 236. Red TV 237. 1989 TV 238. Reputation 239. Folklore 240. Evermore 241. Midnights 242. TTPD 243. Eras Tour 244. 123 LGB 245. Fuck The Patriarchy 246. Ur Gay 247. Taylor’s Version 248. 13 249. Junior Jewels 250. You’ll Be The Prince 251. I’ll Be The Princess 252. Wonderstruck 253. Loving Him Was Red 254. Losing Him Was Blue 255. Missing Him Was Dark Grey 256. Sad Girl Autumn 257. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 258. ATWTMVFTVSGAVRALPS (All Too Well Ten Minute Version From The Vault Sad Girl Autumn Version Recorded At Long Pond Studios) 259. Ratatata 260. I ❤️ TS 261. Me Hee Hee 262. Karma Is The Guy On The Chiefs 263. Screaming Crying Throwing Up 264. Jan Ravnik 265. I’m Having A Menty B Hee Hee 266. Benjamin Button 267. Meredith Grey 268. Olivia Benson 269. Errors Tour 270. Died Dead 271. TSwizzle 272. YFYFBYNLIT (you forgive you grifter but you never let it go) 273. Take us to church 274. Swiftie 275. I’ll Be 87 You’ll Be 89 276. LVIII Super Bowl Champions 277. Tayvis 278. Folkmore 279. Everlore 280. It’s Been a Long Time Coming 281. What If I Told You I’m Back 282. It’s Fearless 283. Big Reputation 284. And They Said Speak Now 285. Into Folklore 286. My Name Is Taylor And I Was Born In 1989 287. Meet Me At Midnight 288. This Isn’t The One I Wanted 289. Ever Needy Ever Lovely Jewel 290. Alls Well It Ends Well 291. I Hate All Kanyes 292. El Travador 293. My Brain Is Alive 294. Who’s Taylor Swift Anyway 295. Not A Lot Going On At The Moment 296. A Lot Going On At The Moment 297. Blue Jays 298. Toronto N6 299. I’m The Problem 300. Welcome To The Eras Tour
EDIT2: I have no idea why I uploaded the bracelet titles and stuff 😂 I’m sorry.
2024.05.15 17:14 Affectionate_Care669 Bracelet Help
Hello Swifties!! So I’m just organizing my stuff together for the bracelets. I’m planning to start making them in November. I’m going to be spending September and October crocheting my outfit hehe. I just want to make sure all the songs are there that she has done for each album are on the list and that I hadn’t missed any.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw // 2. Picture To Burn // 3. Teardrops On My Guitar // 4. A Place In This World // 5. Cold As You // 6. The Outside // 7. Tied Together With A Smile // 8. Stay Beautiful // 9. Should’ve Said No // 10. Mary’s Song // 11. Our Song // 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You // 13. Invisible // 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless // 16. Fifteen // 17. Love Story // 18. Hey Stephen // 19. White Horse // 20. You Belong With Me // 21. Breathe // 22. Tell Me Why // 23. You’re Not Sorry // 24. The Way I Loved You // 25. Forever & Always // 26. Come In With The Rain // 27. Superstar // 28. The Other Side Of The Door // 29. Today Was A Fairytale // 30. You All Over Me // 31. Mr Perfectly Fine // 32. We Were Happy // 33. That’s When // 34. Don’t You // 35. Bye Bye Baby // 36. If This Was A Movie // 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine // 39. Sparks Fly // 40. Back To December // 41. Speak Now // 42. Dear John // 43. Mean // 44. The Story Of Us // 45. Never Grow Up // 46. Enchanted // 47. Better Than Revenge // 48. Innocent // 49. Haunted // 50. Last Kiss // 51. Long Live // 52. Ours // 53. Superman // 54. Electric Touch // 55. When Emma Falls In Love // 56. I Can See You // 57. Castles Crumbling // 58. Foolish One // 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace // 61. Red // 62. Treacherous // 63. I Knew You Were Trouble // 64. All Too Well // 65. 22 // 66. I Almost Do // 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together // 68. Stay Stay Stay // 69. The Last Time // 70. Holy Beautiful // 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic // 72. The Lucky One // 73. Everything Has Changed // 74. Starlight // 75. Begin Again // 76. The Moment I Knew // 77. Come Back…Be Here // 78. Girl At Home // 79. Ronan // 80. Better Man // 81. Nothing New // 82. Babe // 83. Message In A Bottle // 84. I Bet You Think About Me // 85. Forever Winter // 86. Run // 87. The Very First Night // 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) // 89. Eyes Open // 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York // 92. Blank Space // 93. Style // 94. Out Of The Woods // 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay // 96. Shake It Off // 97. I Wish You Would // 98. Bad Blood // 99. Wildest Dreams // 100. How You Get The Girl // 101. This Love // 102. I Know Places // 103. Clean // 104. Wonderland // 105. You Are In Love // 106. New Romantics // 107. Slut // 108. Say Don’t Go // 109. Now That We Don’t Talk // 110. Suburban Legends // 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It // 113. Endgame // 114. I Did Something Bad // 115. Don’t Blame Me // 116. Delicate // 117. Look What You Made Me Do // 118. So It Goes // 119. Gorgeous // 120. Getaway Car // 121. King Of My Heart // 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied // 123. Dress // 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things // 125. Call It What You Want // 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed // 128. Cruel Summer // 129. Lover // 130. The Man // 131. The Archer // 132. I Think He Knows // 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince // 134. Paper Rings // 135. Cornelia Street // 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts // 137. London Boy // 138. Soon You’ll Get Better // 139. False God // 140. You Need To Calm Down // 141. Afterglow // 142. Me // 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend // 144. Daylight // 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 // 147. Cardigan // 148. The Last Great American Dynasty // 149. Exile // 150. My Tears Ricochet // 151. Mirrorball // 152. Seven // 153. August // 154. This Is Me Trying // 155. Illicit Affairs // 156. Invisible String // 157. Mad Woman // 158. Epiphany // 159. Betty // 160. Peace // 161. Hoax // 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow // 164. Champagne Problems // 165. Gold Rush // 166. Tis The Damn Season // 167. Tolerate It // 168. No Body No Crime // 169. Happiness // 170. Dorothea // 171. Coney Island // 172. Ivy // 173. Cowboy Like Me // 174. Long Story Short // 175. Marjorie // 176. Closure // 177. Evermore // 178. Right Where You Left Me // 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze // 181. Maroon // 182. Anti Hero // 183. Snow On The Beach // 184. You’re On Your Own Kid // 185. Midnight Rain // 186. Question // 187. Vigilante Shit // 188. Bejeweled // 189. Labyrinth // 190. Karma // 191. Sweet Nothing // 192. Mastermind // 193. The Great War // 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky // 195. Paris // 196. High Infidelity // 197. Glitch // 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve // 199. Dear Reader // 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight // 202. The Tortured Poets Department // 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys // 204. Down Bad // 205. So Long London // 206. But Daddy I Love Him // 207. Fresh Out The Slammer // 208. Florida // 209. Guilty As Sin // 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me // 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can // 212. LOML // 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart // 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived // 215. The Alchemy // 216. Clara Bow // 217. The Black Dog // 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack // 219. The Albatross // 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus // 221. How Did It End // 222. So High School // 223. I Hate It Here // 224. Thank You Aimee // 225. I Look In People’s Windows // 226. The Prophecy // 227. Cassandra // 228. Peter // 229. The Bolter // 230. Robin // 231. The Manuscript
submitted by Affectionate_Care669 to TrueSwifties [link] [comments]
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw // 2. Picture To Burn // 3. Teardrops On My Guitar // 4. A Place In This World // 5. Cold As You // 6. The Outside // 7. Tied Together With A Smile // 8. Stay Beautiful // 9. Should’ve Said No // 10. Mary’s Song // 11. Our Song // 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You // 13. Invisible // 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless // 16. Fifteen // 17. Love Story // 18. Hey Stephen // 19. White Horse // 20. You Belong With Me // 21. Breathe // 22. Tell Me Why // 23. You’re Not Sorry // 24. The Way I Loved You // 25. Forever & Always // 26. Come In With The Rain // 27. Superstar // 28. The Other Side Of The Door // 29. Today Was A Fairytale // 30. You All Over Me // 31. Mr Perfectly Fine // 32. We Were Happy // 33. That’s When // 34. Don’t You // 35. Bye Bye Baby // 36. If This Was A Movie // 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine // 39. Sparks Fly // 40. Back To December // 41. Speak Now // 42. Dear John // 43. Mean // 44. The Story Of Us // 45. Never Grow Up // 46. Enchanted // 47. Better Than Revenge // 48. Innocent // 49. Haunted // 50. Last Kiss // 51. Long Live // 52. Ours // 53. Superman // 54. Electric Touch // 55. When Emma Falls In Love // 56. I Can See You // 57. Castles Crumbling // 58. Foolish One // 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace // 61. Red // 62. Treacherous // 63. I Knew You Were Trouble // 64. All Too Well // 65. 22 // 66. I Almost Do // 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together // 68. Stay Stay Stay // 69. The Last Time // 70. Holy Beautiful // 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic // 72. The Lucky One // 73. Everything Has Changed // 74. Starlight // 75. Begin Again // 76. The Moment I Knew // 77. Come Back…Be Here // 78. Girl At Home // 79. Ronan // 80. Better Man // 81. Nothing New // 82. Babe // 83. Message In A Bottle // 84. I Bet You Think About Me // 85. Forever Winter // 86. Run // 87. The Very First Night // 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) // 89. Eyes Open // 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York // 92. Blank Space // 93. Style // 94. Out Of The Woods // 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay // 96. Shake It Off // 97. I Wish You Would // 98. Bad Blood // 99. Wildest Dreams // 100. How You Get The Girl // 101. This Love // 102. I Know Places // 103. Clean // 104. Wonderland // 105. You Are In Love // 106. New Romantics // 107. Slut // 108. Say Don’t Go // 109. Now That We Don’t Talk // 110. Suburban Legends // 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It // 113. Endgame // 114. I Did Something Bad // 115. Don’t Blame Me // 116. Delicate // 117. Look What You Made Me Do // 118. So It Goes // 119. Gorgeous // 120. Getaway Car // 121. King Of My Heart // 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied // 123. Dress // 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things // 125. Call It What You Want // 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed // 128. Cruel Summer // 129. Lover // 130. The Man // 131. The Archer // 132. I Think He Knows // 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince // 134. Paper Rings // 135. Cornelia Street // 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts // 137. London Boy // 138. Soon You’ll Get Better // 139. False God // 140. You Need To Calm Down // 141. Afterglow // 142. Me // 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend // 144. Daylight // 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 // 147. Cardigan // 148. The Last Great American Dynasty // 149. Exile // 150. My Tears Ricochet // 151. Mirrorball // 152. Seven // 153. August // 154. This Is Me Trying // 155. Illicit Affairs // 156. Invisible String // 157. Mad Woman // 158. Epiphany // 159. Betty // 160. Peace // 161. Hoax // 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow // 164. Champagne Problems // 165. Gold Rush // 166. Tis The Damn Season // 167. Tolerate It // 168. No Body No Crime // 169. Happiness // 170. Dorothea // 171. Coney Island // 172. Ivy // 173. Cowboy Like Me // 174. Long Story Short // 175. Marjorie // 176. Closure // 177. Evermore // 178. Right Where You Left Me // 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze // 181. Maroon // 182. Anti Hero // 183. Snow On The Beach // 184. You’re On Your Own Kid // 185. Midnight Rain // 186. Question // 187. Vigilante Shit // 188. Bejeweled // 189. Labyrinth // 190. Karma // 191. Sweet Nothing // 192. Mastermind // 193. The Great War // 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky // 195. Paris // 196. High Infidelity // 197. Glitch // 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve // 199. Dear Reader // 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight // 202. The Tortured Poets Department // 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys // 204. Down Bad // 205. So Long London // 206. But Daddy I Love Him // 207. Fresh Out The Slammer // 208. Florida // 209. Guilty As Sin // 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me // 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can // 212. LOML // 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart // 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived // 215. The Alchemy // 216. Clara Bow // 217. The Black Dog // 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack // 219. The Albatross // 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus // 221. How Did It End // 222. So High School // 223. I Hate It Here // 224. Thank You Aimee // 225. I Look In People’s Windows // 226. The Prophecy // 227. Cassandra // 228. Peter // 229. The Bolter // 230. Robin // 231. The Manuscript
2024.05.14 05:44 courtingdisaster Presenting the evidence: 17 May 2024
 | Come one, come all, we're clooowning again! 🤡 submitted by courtingdisaster to GaylorSwift [link] [comments] Thanks to u/1DMod for posting the Jimmy Fallon video that led to me to start to connect the dots that other creators have noticed. Long story short, we're clowning for Stockholm N1 (maybe even night ✌️ as well), buckle up clowns! ✌️First things first, May 17 is ✌️ fortnights after the release of TTPD on April 19. We know that Taylor is still throwing up peace signs which seems unnecessary if it only ever meant that there was a second part of TTPD. I think it's an indication that we haven't completely cracked that egg yet.This photo was necessary for the post, ok National/International Day OfWhile these days aren't necessarily solid proof of anything, Taylor did release TTPD on Poetry & The Creative Mind Day and also released the ME! music video (ME! Out now!) on Lesbian Visibility Day so I think it's definitely worth investigating.After publishing this post I was reading through the comments in this thread about easter eggs and was reminded by u/-periwinkle that some people predicted the Toe breakup date based on something Taylor mentioned in her NYU speech ("Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release"). 11 months later, the Toe breakup news came out on, you guessed it, National Catch and Release Day. More on the NYU speech later. First, let's have a look at the holidays for May 17 that could be relevant:
https://preview.redd.it/4ikx6teucd0d1.jpg?width=443&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6aec634e52a1083cccbcaefcb78227f2fe8db793
https://preview.redd.it/97pt3mzrdi0d1.jpg?width=529&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c30a7fb9079ba73680babe83b44f756a48c0c9f
Direct 17/5 easter eggs
Important days in historyThese could be nothing, could be something, still worth noting:
Important events in the TSCU on this day
Stockholm
https://preview.redd.it/a28zn1akid0d1.jpg?width=1237&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2b4751ac3530892d8a17d3c5ca1bbea8a1f5ee9
New RomanticsKristen, who I have referenced in nearly every part in this post (again, she's amazing, go follow her), has a mass coming-out theory that she has dubbed the New Romantics. I highly recommend checking out her content on Twitter and TikTok and she's also recently launched a podcast that you can read more about here for more information on this theory. Essentially the theory is that a large number of artists in the entertainment industry are queer and are working together as a "safety in numbers" type approach to coming out of the closet and potentially changing the industry in a monumental way.Let's have a look at some players that are relevant to either May 17 or Stockholm (or both in one person's case!):
Theories as to what exactly is coming
In SummationSomething is happening in Stockholm. I don't know why exactly but it is THE ONE to watch.I think it would be interesting to revisit the NYU speech, Karma music video, Stephen King, photos from the Uno parties and the Lover era in general for further hints as to what's coming. I think the key is going to be working together due to a comment that Questlove (yes, the one who throws the Uno parties) left on one of Kristen's videos. Here's a link to the video, the top comment is his. Regardless, I'll be there talking smack in the megathread on Friday and keeping an eye out for any new "Chiefs" colours. See you there, clowns! Who's clowning with me?! 🤡🤡🤡 Edit: I'll be making some additions to this post as people have been making incredible connections already, thank you! These will be noted as a new bulletpoint to try and keep it transparent as to what has been added. As I'm researching I'm also making new connections of my own that I will also add as separate bulletpoints. |
2024.05.13 23:15 oftenfrequently Comparing the HTT strategies for each of the main families
 | Fair warning, this is gonna be a long one :) submitted by oftenfrequently to Kibbe [link] [comments] I started working on this for my own purposes because I’m fascinated by the similarities and differences between the HTT styling approaches Kibbe recommends for the different ID families, but then thought it might be helpful to share with the sub. I always see lots of mention of “lines,” but the overall HTT approach for each ID is sometimes (often) oversimplified. Plus all the other very fun elements that make up a HTT are, imo, getting short shrift! There are a few users who have posted amazing full HTTs for their IDs and I'm hoping even more people will be inspired to explore. So what even is this post? Basically, I went through the styling directives in Metamorphosis (Chapter 4) for the main families and directly compared the recommendations for the IDs on a number of smaller, more discrete variables because my brain finds it more digestible that way. I only did the main families because “you’re a [insert family here] first and foremost!!” is a thing regardless of your ID ;) And I thought it was more interesting to compare the elements of the pure families without the influence of any other undercurrents. Also it just would have been a lot of work to do all of them 🙃. A few notes before getting to the good stuff
And of course you can always read Metamorphosis for yourself in full here, which I highly recommend! 1. SilhouetteThis section is related to the base silhouette of an outfit - the overall shape of garments that make up a HTT and how they relate to one another. For the purposes of this category, I'm defining "ensemble" as the pieces look related or like they were purchased together, which I believe is the sense Kibbe uses it in.https://preview.redd.it/8earo8fbm70d1.jpg?width=1965&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40f17625fbfc45cc723b9cc83d447111428d8b02 Shapes
2. FabricThis category is pretty self-explanatory I hope!https://preview.redd.it/94e76p19190d1.jpg?width=1976&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=816214030ae525dd16ec2e071426eab1e571c544 Definition
3. PrintsAlso self-explanatory!https://preview.redd.it/nn24my93490d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a8d47c3a4d4d5984b6cac8d9deeccdf7da834c4 Pattern
4. Garment DetailThis category is related to the details within the confines of the outline of a garment. So things like necklines, collars, effects like beading and sequins, trim, buttons, etc etc.https://preview.redd.it/342pwi6y390d1.jpg?width=1971&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64115f1045c7a3cb6d9ac1d6d843754ca943a603 Shape - sharp vs soft
5. ColorY'all know what colors are :)https://preview.redd.it/5he7hmfk790d1.jpg?width=1949&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc59971dc9518bfbd276300feccba5838f4d7971 Number
6. AccessoriesThe category for everything else - bags, hats, shoes, jewelry, belts, etc etc.https://preview.redd.it/ek7fu7oz790d1.jpg?width=1923&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c24f3db63656cef4a8da916665ba0f19893cc86 Scale
7. In closing, some keywordsPicked out from the sections for each main family. I find these helpful to kind of paint a word picture of the overall vibe each family is recommended to go for.
|
2024.05.11 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.05.10 19:55 Necrolancer96 Summoning Kobolds At Midnight: A Tale of Suburbia & Sorcery. 199
Chapter CXCIX
Trout's Landing.
"Alright, should pro'bly be productive today." Jeb said with a groan as he stretched.
A moss bed wasn't half bad, he thought as he turned to the still snoozing Ruby. He leaned over and kissed her scaled head and tucked their eggs a bit further into the fur blanket to keep warm. He got up and looked around at his new home. The space was illuminated by only his glowing eyes but it didn't make the place feel any less cozy.
"Maybe dragons had a point living in underground lairs." Jeb muttered as he began walking down the tunnel before having to stoop a little to avoid several roots and rocks that jutted from the dirt.
He entered the main gathering area of the burrows. It didn't seem like he slept for long at least if the faint light from the ventilation shafts were any indication. The area was still abuzz with activity just like it was before as well. Kobolds darted this way and that as they bartered, traded, sorted, or decorated and expanded the burrows at an increased rate than just a day or so prior.
Jeb took note of the tools they used. While they didn't have them for long, they were starting to show the wear and tear of constant use. Not only that but they were a little unwieldy in the claws of the kobolds. Everything was a tad too big and the kobolds found themselves exerting more energy than necessary.
The kobolds made up for it by forging their own tools from stone and wood, but that wasn't any better. While more easy to hold and wield, the quality wasn't the best and already a pile for broken tools was forming as they tried their best to repair them.
They needed metal tools. Some good solid sturdy ones that they could hold easily, Jeb thought with a sigh and left the cool earthen dwelling for the cold air above. He shook his head to shake away the weird feeling of the temp and air changes before making his way back towards his now former room at the admin building.
With word of him vacating the building, the kobolds were quick to seize upon the opportunity to lay claim to it as he watched several of the zippy red-scaled lizards already scavenging what wasn't nailed down, and even those that were weren't safe either. But he didn't care anymore, Jeb thought as a kobold ran around collecting discarded pieces of pamphlets. He had a new, and cozier, home.
He entered his temporary room and found what he was looking for. A bundle of burgundy silk and gilded armor. While he took everything of worth with him down into his new home, he left the bundle of silk and gaudy gold behind along with the ruined remains of his sleeping bag and bed. While the kobolds had already started taking apart the room, none had touched the silk just yet though he did note that there were a couple of pieces of gilded armor missing since last he saw it.
"Oh well." Jeb muttered with a shrug and grabbed the bundle of silk and debated taking the remaining gilded armor or not.
While he was sure the kobolds would love nothing more than to add the gaudy things to their piles of scrap, the gold alone should be enough to buy some tools from the dwarves, Jeb thought and grabbed the remaining boot and gauntlet. Bundle of silk in, mostly, good condition? Check. A third of the gilded armor? Check. This should be enough, he thought as he left the kobolds to pilfer and deconstruct the cabin to their hearts content.
"Pro'bly shouldn't just appear in their office." Jeb muttered as he thought how to best appear without alarming anyone at the trainyard.
After some thought though, he decided that simply appearing within the trainyard itself wouldn't be TOO alarming. He hoped anyway. He COULD appear outside the trainyard. But given how last time went he wasn't sure if they'll just shoot him on sight. At least appearing inside would give him a chance to talk to whoever was in charge before potentially getting shot at.
With a sigh and no small amount of trepidation, Jeb thought of being just outside of the old workers' mess where he and the others would play their games.
"Just hope I don't get shot at."
-----
Ulrin Mercantile Hub.
What a mess, Forgrim thought as he watched the last of the funerary rites be performed from a distance. He and the others in his situation remained outside of the official service. They had no right to participate in a dwarven funeral. To be there when the honored dead were laid below the stone in the cool, firm, embrace of The Stone Father while their spirits traveled down into his Halls where they rest and prepare. Their deeds and accomplishments read aloud for all to hear while they feast and make merry until the Stone Father calls on them when the Day of Sundering comes and they are given forms of stone, hand crafted by the Stone Father himself that will march upon the land and remake it anew.
Or that was how a dwarven funeral was supposed to go. The hallowed runery was still unfinished and so such sacred services couldn't be held. From here he and the others couldn't tell what was ultimately done to the bodies, but even from a distance he could tell that none were happy about the state of affairs. Even a funeral had some merriment to it as they celebrated the dead's life and feats. But with such sacred ceremonies seemingly absent it wasn't looking like there would be such celebrations.
Forgrim sighed. They were in a sorry state. Work was progressing steadily true. But the moral of the Hub was abysmal. The lack of decent iron for tools, the recent attack, and the stormy look on Ulrin's face when he and the others returned did nothing to improve it. Especially when he declared that warriors were going to be sent into the mines in increased numbers than before.
Forgrim wasn't looking forward to going underground anymore. After seeing what lurked there in this land it was looking like he wasn't the only one. Unlike him and the few others from that day on the hill though, the others merely stiffened their backs and took to their new duties with the grim determination typical of any dwarf.
Yet another thing that seemed to separate them from their kin, Forgrim thought grimly. Any dwarf would do the same. No matter what lurked in the dark a dwarf would march down to meet it as the Edicts of The Stone Father claimed. Everything made of stone was theirs by right. Anything lurking there were merely squatters that needed reminding.
But he and the others could barely look at the dark awning tunnels forming in the mountain without terror and dread gripping their hearts. They were likely to die from fear alone before any horror could claim them, Forgrim thought broodingly.
He and the others had thought to go to the rune priests after the attack in order to resolve their issues. But they were so busy with the aftermath and were even more so when the head rune priest returned barking out orders while also organizing funerary services.
It seemed their plight would linger on for a while longer, he thought as their foreman barked at them to return to work. He sighed as he picked up his pickax and trudged along with the others towards an area designated as a new opening into the mountain. He heard others receiving similar orders and turned to look around. From what he could tell it seemed a greater effort in excavation and mining was being issued. Most of the guards stationed were being moved towards the areas as well with a small force left behind to deal with any goblins or troublemakers.
Wonder why so many were being moved. Why wouldn't they keep more above after the last attack, Forgrim thought before running into someone with a huff. The person he ran into grunted and lent a hand in assisting him up as he spoke.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"No problem manlin'. I weren't watch-" Forgrim started before he stopped speaking as he gazed up and saw the face of the one he had ran into.
The face before him belonged to a seemingly normal human. But all he could picture was stark white bone, baleful eyes, and grasping vines tearing at his clothes and flesh! The others from that day could speak no more than he could. One of them could only manage a single gasping word no more than a whisper.
"Haunter."
The Haunter frowned as he gazed down at Forgrim and the other dwarves.
"I'm sorry, have we met?"
The lack of aggression was enough for them all to find their feet enough to turn tail and flee as fast as they could. None of them were proud of it. But Forgrim dared any dwarf to not feel the same after what they went through from that creature! He didn't even look back as he ran. He was sure their foreman was yelling at them but his heart hammered in his ears like battle drums and his vision had tunneled and the only thing he could think of was escape!
-----
"That was weird." Jeb muttered as he watched the dwarves run like the hounds of hell were after them.
"Oh well." He declared with a shrug and made sure he still had his stuff before turning around and heading towards the manager's office building.
He knocked before entering and looked around at the even more chaotic mess that the office was since last he saw it. Gnomes ran around every where as they scribbled and scratched away as they copied papers into some form of runic script before stuffing them into spots of their bulging packs of office supplies they hauled around everywhere they went. Some were making adjustments to the maps of the area with words in the same sort of runes that the dwarves use.
Some he saw were also flicking away on those old calculators where you slid a bead or something from one side to the other. Others were chatting away a hundred miles an hour while poking and prodding the ancient computers around the place as they seemed to be trying to figure out how they worked.
A few looked like they figured out how they worked, but were having trouble with the keys like they weren't sure what did what. He could see a couple gnomes scratching away at the keys as they tried to re-type them in the runic script as they tried to translate Latin to Dwarven Runic with seemingly frustrating progress.
"Can I help you manlin'?" A gruff voice called from the manager's office.
Jeb turned and saw the same gilded dwarf he had done business with before glaring at him from the open doorway. The dwarf rumbled and glared at him more intently.
"What do you want?"
"Well, I thought maybe ya'll might be interested in a trade?" Jeb said uncertainly as he held up the gilded armor and silk.
The dwarf glared at him for a moment before turning a discerning eye towards his offerings. He rumbled and stroked his gilded beard with his bejeweled hand for a long moment, leaving Jeb to stand there awkwardly as the dwarf seemed to debate whether or not to entertain him.
"Very well godlin'. I will hear you." He rumbled at last before gesturing for Jeb to follow him into his office.
So Jeb did. He entered the office and saw that it was as much changed as the rest of the place. Piles of coins littered the desk along with no small amount of scales and other tools he wasn't familiar with along side many gems and jewels that glittered in the light of the room. Even the rest of the small office wasn't safe from the wealth as neat piles were scattered everywhere there was room for it while a single gnome hammered away at the computer on the desk while also jumping to doing a dozen other tasks within the room.
"What's yer offer?" Ulrin rumbled as the gnome took a brief break from his multitasking and produced several pieces of paper, a quill, and an inkwell from the large pack he had and stared intently at Jeb with rapt attention as he held onto the dripping quill like it would write the words of God Himself.
"Uhm, well. I was wonderin' if you were lookin' to trade some tools. Or if you would be willin' to sell 'em with this?" Jeb asked and placed the gaudy golden armor and the burgundy silk onto a clear(ish) spot on the desk.
As the gnome scribbled away every word Jeb said, Ulrin picked up the armor with ease and sneered at the macabre designs. He snorted but produced an eye piece to inspect the details. After several long minutes of rumbling in thought, Ulrin produced several small hammers and placed his ear against the metal before lightly tapping them. He'd rumble and do the same again in a different spot before repeating the long process again with the other piece.
Whatever he was doing Jed didn't have a fucking Scooby what it was. But apparently the gnome did because he scribbled down in that same Runic after every grumble and sound. At long last, Ulrin sat aside the gilded pieces and cocked a brow questioningly at the silk. He grunted and picked up the bundle of torn burgundy silk.
Jeb almost cursed out loud when the dwarf gave a mighty yank on the silk! The dwarf's eyebrows going up a little bit in surprise made him feel better though. Though watching him do the same thing several more times was a bit irritating. With each tug and yank he was sure it would tear, especially since he tore through it with a claw pretty easily. But it held just as fast and firm as before.
Ulrin seemed more satisfied with the silk than he was with the gold armor. At least to Jeb he seemed to be.
"So? Do we have a deal?"
The dwarf hummed and rumbled as he glanced between the golden armor and the silk. He drummed his fingers in a way that reminded Jeb of pawnbrokers on TV just before they give some horseshit low ball offer. He wasn't exactly wrong.
"No."
"No?" Jeb asked a little surprised.
"Tha armor is solid gold and more than acceptable quality. And tha silk is surprisingly strong."
"But?"
"But it's not enough for dwarven craft. I can offer a fair price for 'em though." Ulrin declared.
"I don't need money, I need tools." Jeb stated.
"Then I can't help you. What tools we have are needed at tha moment."
"Can't you make more? Aren't dwarves supposed to be master craftsman?" Jeb asked.
"Aye! It's not a matter o' craft but quality!" Ulrin declared a little heatedly.
"What's the matter?"
"We're lackin' in good iron." The dwarf stated simply.
"Iron? It's everywhere! It's just as common as coal!"
"Bah! Worthless! Not fit ta be made inta a piss pot!" Ulrin declared.
"I'm not askin' for a fuckin' tank made of the stuff! Just some small tools!" Jeb countered.
Ulrin narrowed his gaze at Jeb.
"Tha lizards?"
Jeb returned his glare.
"Yeah. The kobolds."
Ulrin snorted derisively.
"I'll not hand superior dwarven craft for a pittance like this, and especially not ta yer lizards!"
Jeb growled and left gouges in the desk. But the dwarf wasn't intimidated and met his glare easily.
"I'll not be swindled twice godlin'! Come back with somethin' o' equal value or not at all!"
Jeb snarled and started to stand when a thought came to him.
"What about food?"
Ulrin cocked a questioning brow at the sudden shift.
"What about it godlin'?"
"Alot of people 'round here. Got enough to feed 'em?" Jeb asked.
"What concern is it o' yers?" Ulrin asked guardedly.
"What if I offered a supply of food along with this in exchange for tools made for the kobolds?"
"Bah! Even if we were starvin' I wouldn't trade dwarven craft ta those lizards!"
"So don't! I don't need your best work! Just somethin' small and decent enough for the kobolds!" Jeb countered as his anger roiled just under the surface.
The dwarf grunted and turned to the gnome and spoke in some sort of shared language that Jeb was more than surprised that he could actually understand!
"How are we on rations?"
"Not good Master Ulrin. Even with shipments from the humans we won't have enough for winter without hunting." The gnome replied in the same language.
"Even without this farce o' an agreement keepin' us off tha surface o' tha mountain, with tha cold comin' it wouldn't matter." Ulrin rumbled in his language and stroked his beard in thought.
Jeb looked over to the piles of gold and jewels and other finery in order to make it seem like he couldn't understand them. One trick he learned from Morty, just because you know another language doesn't mean you have to let a native speaker know you do. He said you'd be surprised what they let slip when they think you don't know what they're saying.
Something he realized was actually surprisingly good advice from Morty, Jeb thought as he spied a garnet embedded golden band. It almost looked like a ring but was a little big to be one. Maybe a bracelet, Jeb thought as Ulrin and the gnome finished speaking and turned back to Jeb.
"What do you offer?"
"Fish, game, and some produce." Jeb replied.
Ulrin stroked his beard in thought. If Jeb hadn't just heard what he and the gnome were talking about he'd be a bit more worried. But now he could tell he was obviously haggling.
"We will need ta see tha food. If it's acceptable then we'll talk."
"Great. Wait right there." Jeb said as he got up and moved his chair back a little as he did so.
"When will you ret-" Ulrin started before blinking as Jeb had vanished from the spot he was in just a moment ago!
The dwarf sighed. He hated dealing with otherworldly beings. He took the time to appraise the offerings again. The armor was of elf make. While macabre, there was enough overly fine pretty designs in it that made it obvious. The way certain things flowed or were carved could only be made by elven hands. But at the same time it was also crude. Like it wasn't entirely made by elves, he noted.
Worth a pretty sum if only to melt it down into something of actual value, he thought as he picked up the silk. The color was a unique shade. While it looked to have been roughed up a little, it still held firmly. If he could get more from the godling then he could make a nice profit from selling it. He knew that some nobles, of this world or their own, would pay a fortune for a dress or doublet made of it.
He tugged on it once again and gave an approving grunt.
"Strong stuff."
He reached for his sword as the godling reappeared from thin air with barely a sound.
"I'm back."
Jeb got the vertigo feeling he did last time he did a rapid port and he fell back into his chair with a groan.
"Oh that's not a fun feelin'."
He leaned forward and handed a small box full of what he had to offer. Ulrin took it easily enough and peered into it. He saw all sorts of strange things. Blue apples, nightmarish fish, some small rodents already dressed, blackened potatoes, as well as some sort of crystal. He picked it up and held it out to Jeb.
"What's this?"
"Candy."
"Candy?"
"Yeah. Candied sugar?" Jeb explained.
He knew of candied sweets. But he didn't ever see any in such a shade before, Ulrin thought as he stared at the dark crystal that seemed to suck in the light around it. He wasn't yet familiar with the wildlife of this world to know if what Jeb offered was altered or not. But he knew that eating this "candy" was a bad idea.
He made no secret in tossing away the candy and gestured to the rest of the food.
"How much can you offer?"
"How does a box of food for a box of tools sound?"
Ulrin grunted and drummed his dwarven fingers against the desk in thought for a moment before making a counter offer.
"A long term trade then. Eight crates o' food for five crate o' tools."
"Why not five for five or eight for eight?"
"It will take this much food just ta mine tha piss poor iron. Makin' it will require more work. If you don't care for quality then that's what you'll deal with." Ulrin declared.
"Five crates of food, bi-weekly, for five crates of tools delivered at the end of the week." Jeb countered.
Finally a good deal, Ulrin thought as he tapped away on the desk in thought. This deal was in their favor. They got a promise of food even before delivering their end of the deal. But why? He's worked with otherworldly beings enough to know that they rarely play something in your favor unless it benefited them in some way.
"What else do you want?" Ulrin asked with a questioning brow and an accusatory tone.
Jeb shifted and looked around before reaching over to the large band he spied earlier.
"How 'bout this?"
Ulrin cocked his brow in suspicion. That was it?
"That's it?"
"That's it. You get a steady shipment of food, a bundle of silk, and some gold pieces in exchange for some tools and a weddin' band." Jeb stated.
Ulrin drummed his fingers once again.
"Can you acquire more silk?"
Jeb scratched his beard.
"Not currently."
Or maybe ever, he thought as he had no intention of making a deal with Anna after everything. At least not so soon after their last dust up. Ulrin rumbled and grunted before looking between what was offered one last time. After a few minutes, he looked up at Jeb and stuck out his large hand.
"We have an accord."
Jeb shook the offered hand, and felt the same stinging feeling he felt before when he made a deal with the dwarf. Wonder what that's about, he thought. But he got what he wanted and got rid of stuff he didn't really lack either. Fish was plentiful in the river after so long of going unfished, and he could conjure the other stuff with no problems.
With a deal set and the promise of commerce, Jeb departed with his treasure. Intent on making today a very special one for a certain kobold.
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Trout's Landing.
"Alright, should pro'bly be productive today." Jeb said with a groan as he stretched.
A moss bed wasn't half bad, he thought as he turned to the still snoozing Ruby. He leaned over and kissed her scaled head and tucked their eggs a bit further into the fur blanket to keep warm. He got up and looked around at his new home. The space was illuminated by only his glowing eyes but it didn't make the place feel any less cozy.
"Maybe dragons had a point living in underground lairs." Jeb muttered as he began walking down the tunnel before having to stoop a little to avoid several roots and rocks that jutted from the dirt.
He entered the main gathering area of the burrows. It didn't seem like he slept for long at least if the faint light from the ventilation shafts were any indication. The area was still abuzz with activity just like it was before as well. Kobolds darted this way and that as they bartered, traded, sorted, or decorated and expanded the burrows at an increased rate than just a day or so prior.
Jeb took note of the tools they used. While they didn't have them for long, they were starting to show the wear and tear of constant use. Not only that but they were a little unwieldy in the claws of the kobolds. Everything was a tad too big and the kobolds found themselves exerting more energy than necessary.
The kobolds made up for it by forging their own tools from stone and wood, but that wasn't any better. While more easy to hold and wield, the quality wasn't the best and already a pile for broken tools was forming as they tried their best to repair them.
They needed metal tools. Some good solid sturdy ones that they could hold easily, Jeb thought with a sigh and left the cool earthen dwelling for the cold air above. He shook his head to shake away the weird feeling of the temp and air changes before making his way back towards his now former room at the admin building.
With word of him vacating the building, the kobolds were quick to seize upon the opportunity to lay claim to it as he watched several of the zippy red-scaled lizards already scavenging what wasn't nailed down, and even those that were weren't safe either. But he didn't care anymore, Jeb thought as a kobold ran around collecting discarded pieces of pamphlets. He had a new, and cozier, home.
He entered his temporary room and found what he was looking for. A bundle of burgundy silk and gilded armor. While he took everything of worth with him down into his new home, he left the bundle of silk and gaudy gold behind along with the ruined remains of his sleeping bag and bed. While the kobolds had already started taking apart the room, none had touched the silk just yet though he did note that there were a couple of pieces of gilded armor missing since last he saw it.
"Oh well." Jeb muttered with a shrug and grabbed the bundle of silk and debated taking the remaining gilded armor or not.
While he was sure the kobolds would love nothing more than to add the gaudy things to their piles of scrap, the gold alone should be enough to buy some tools from the dwarves, Jeb thought and grabbed the remaining boot and gauntlet. Bundle of silk in, mostly, good condition? Check. A third of the gilded armor? Check. This should be enough, he thought as he left the kobolds to pilfer and deconstruct the cabin to their hearts content.
"Pro'bly shouldn't just appear in their office." Jeb muttered as he thought how to best appear without alarming anyone at the trainyard.
After some thought though, he decided that simply appearing within the trainyard itself wouldn't be TOO alarming. He hoped anyway. He COULD appear outside the trainyard. But given how last time went he wasn't sure if they'll just shoot him on sight. At least appearing inside would give him a chance to talk to whoever was in charge before potentially getting shot at.
With a sigh and no small amount of trepidation, Jeb thought of being just outside of the old workers' mess where he and the others would play their games.
"Just hope I don't get shot at."
-----
Ulrin Mercantile Hub.
What a mess, Forgrim thought as he watched the last of the funerary rites be performed from a distance. He and the others in his situation remained outside of the official service. They had no right to participate in a dwarven funeral. To be there when the honored dead were laid below the stone in the cool, firm, embrace of The Stone Father while their spirits traveled down into his Halls where they rest and prepare. Their deeds and accomplishments read aloud for all to hear while they feast and make merry until the Stone Father calls on them when the Day of Sundering comes and they are given forms of stone, hand crafted by the Stone Father himself that will march upon the land and remake it anew.
Or that was how a dwarven funeral was supposed to go. The hallowed runery was still unfinished and so such sacred services couldn't be held. From here he and the others couldn't tell what was ultimately done to the bodies, but even from a distance he could tell that none were happy about the state of affairs. Even a funeral had some merriment to it as they celebrated the dead's life and feats. But with such sacred ceremonies seemingly absent it wasn't looking like there would be such celebrations.
Forgrim sighed. They were in a sorry state. Work was progressing steadily true. But the moral of the Hub was abysmal. The lack of decent iron for tools, the recent attack, and the stormy look on Ulrin's face when he and the others returned did nothing to improve it. Especially when he declared that warriors were going to be sent into the mines in increased numbers than before.
Forgrim wasn't looking forward to going underground anymore. After seeing what lurked there in this land it was looking like he wasn't the only one. Unlike him and the few others from that day on the hill though, the others merely stiffened their backs and took to their new duties with the grim determination typical of any dwarf.
Yet another thing that seemed to separate them from their kin, Forgrim thought grimly. Any dwarf would do the same. No matter what lurked in the dark a dwarf would march down to meet it as the Edicts of The Stone Father claimed. Everything made of stone was theirs by right. Anything lurking there were merely squatters that needed reminding.
But he and the others could barely look at the dark awning tunnels forming in the mountain without terror and dread gripping their hearts. They were likely to die from fear alone before any horror could claim them, Forgrim thought broodingly.
He and the others had thought to go to the rune priests after the attack in order to resolve their issues. But they were so busy with the aftermath and were even more so when the head rune priest returned barking out orders while also organizing funerary services.
It seemed their plight would linger on for a while longer, he thought as their foreman barked at them to return to work. He sighed as he picked up his pickax and trudged along with the others towards an area designated as a new opening into the mountain. He heard others receiving similar orders and turned to look around. From what he could tell it seemed a greater effort in excavation and mining was being issued. Most of the guards stationed were being moved towards the areas as well with a small force left behind to deal with any goblins or troublemakers.
Wonder why so many were being moved. Why wouldn't they keep more above after the last attack, Forgrim thought before running into someone with a huff. The person he ran into grunted and lent a hand in assisting him up as he spoke.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"No problem manlin'. I weren't watch-" Forgrim started before he stopped speaking as he gazed up and saw the face of the one he had ran into.
The face before him belonged to a seemingly normal human. But all he could picture was stark white bone, baleful eyes, and grasping vines tearing at his clothes and flesh! The others from that day could speak no more than he could. One of them could only manage a single gasping word no more than a whisper.
"Haunter."
The Haunter frowned as he gazed down at Forgrim and the other dwarves.
"I'm sorry, have we met?"
The lack of aggression was enough for them all to find their feet enough to turn tail and flee as fast as they could. None of them were proud of it. But Forgrim dared any dwarf to not feel the same after what they went through from that creature! He didn't even look back as he ran. He was sure their foreman was yelling at them but his heart hammered in his ears like battle drums and his vision had tunneled and the only thing he could think of was escape!
-----
"That was weird." Jeb muttered as he watched the dwarves run like the hounds of hell were after them.
"Oh well." He declared with a shrug and made sure he still had his stuff before turning around and heading towards the manager's office building.
He knocked before entering and looked around at the even more chaotic mess that the office was since last he saw it. Gnomes ran around every where as they scribbled and scratched away as they copied papers into some form of runic script before stuffing them into spots of their bulging packs of office supplies they hauled around everywhere they went. Some were making adjustments to the maps of the area with words in the same sort of runes that the dwarves use.
Some he saw were also flicking away on those old calculators where you slid a bead or something from one side to the other. Others were chatting away a hundred miles an hour while poking and prodding the ancient computers around the place as they seemed to be trying to figure out how they worked.
A few looked like they figured out how they worked, but were having trouble with the keys like they weren't sure what did what. He could see a couple gnomes scratching away at the keys as they tried to re-type them in the runic script as they tried to translate Latin to Dwarven Runic with seemingly frustrating progress.
"Can I help you manlin'?" A gruff voice called from the manager's office.
Jeb turned and saw the same gilded dwarf he had done business with before glaring at him from the open doorway. The dwarf rumbled and glared at him more intently.
"What do you want?"
"Well, I thought maybe ya'll might be interested in a trade?" Jeb said uncertainly as he held up the gilded armor and silk.
The dwarf glared at him for a moment before turning a discerning eye towards his offerings. He rumbled and stroked his gilded beard with his bejeweled hand for a long moment, leaving Jeb to stand there awkwardly as the dwarf seemed to debate whether or not to entertain him.
"Very well godlin'. I will hear you." He rumbled at last before gesturing for Jeb to follow him into his office.
So Jeb did. He entered the office and saw that it was as much changed as the rest of the place. Piles of coins littered the desk along with no small amount of scales and other tools he wasn't familiar with along side many gems and jewels that glittered in the light of the room. Even the rest of the small office wasn't safe from the wealth as neat piles were scattered everywhere there was room for it while a single gnome hammered away at the computer on the desk while also jumping to doing a dozen other tasks within the room.
"What's yer offer?" Ulrin rumbled as the gnome took a brief break from his multitasking and produced several pieces of paper, a quill, and an inkwell from the large pack he had and stared intently at Jeb with rapt attention as he held onto the dripping quill like it would write the words of God Himself.
"Uhm, well. I was wonderin' if you were lookin' to trade some tools. Or if you would be willin' to sell 'em with this?" Jeb asked and placed the gaudy golden armor and the burgundy silk onto a clear(ish) spot on the desk.
As the gnome scribbled away every word Jeb said, Ulrin picked up the armor with ease and sneered at the macabre designs. He snorted but produced an eye piece to inspect the details. After several long minutes of rumbling in thought, Ulrin produced several small hammers and placed his ear against the metal before lightly tapping them. He'd rumble and do the same again in a different spot before repeating the long process again with the other piece.
Whatever he was doing Jed didn't have a fucking Scooby what it was. But apparently the gnome did because he scribbled down in that same Runic after every grumble and sound. At long last, Ulrin sat aside the gilded pieces and cocked a brow questioningly at the silk. He grunted and picked up the bundle of torn burgundy silk.
Jeb almost cursed out loud when the dwarf gave a mighty yank on the silk! The dwarf's eyebrows going up a little bit in surprise made him feel better though. Though watching him do the same thing several more times was a bit irritating. With each tug and yank he was sure it would tear, especially since he tore through it with a claw pretty easily. But it held just as fast and firm as before.
Ulrin seemed more satisfied with the silk than he was with the gold armor. At least to Jeb he seemed to be.
"So? Do we have a deal?"
The dwarf hummed and rumbled as he glanced between the golden armor and the silk. He drummed his fingers in a way that reminded Jeb of pawnbrokers on TV just before they give some horseshit low ball offer. He wasn't exactly wrong.
"No."
"No?" Jeb asked a little surprised.
"Tha armor is solid gold and more than acceptable quality. And tha silk is surprisingly strong."
"But?"
"But it's not enough for dwarven craft. I can offer a fair price for 'em though." Ulrin declared.
"I don't need money, I need tools." Jeb stated.
"Then I can't help you. What tools we have are needed at tha moment."
"Can't you make more? Aren't dwarves supposed to be master craftsman?" Jeb asked.
"Aye! It's not a matter o' craft but quality!" Ulrin declared a little heatedly.
"What's the matter?"
"We're lackin' in good iron." The dwarf stated simply.
"Iron? It's everywhere! It's just as common as coal!"
"Bah! Worthless! Not fit ta be made inta a piss pot!" Ulrin declared.
"I'm not askin' for a fuckin' tank made of the stuff! Just some small tools!" Jeb countered.
Ulrin narrowed his gaze at Jeb.
"Tha lizards?"
Jeb returned his glare.
"Yeah. The kobolds."
Ulrin snorted derisively.
"I'll not hand superior dwarven craft for a pittance like this, and especially not ta yer lizards!"
Jeb growled and left gouges in the desk. But the dwarf wasn't intimidated and met his glare easily.
"I'll not be swindled twice godlin'! Come back with somethin' o' equal value or not at all!"
Jeb snarled and started to stand when a thought came to him.
"What about food?"
Ulrin cocked a questioning brow at the sudden shift.
"What about it godlin'?"
"Alot of people 'round here. Got enough to feed 'em?" Jeb asked.
"What concern is it o' yers?" Ulrin asked guardedly.
"What if I offered a supply of food along with this in exchange for tools made for the kobolds?"
"Bah! Even if we were starvin' I wouldn't trade dwarven craft ta those lizards!"
"So don't! I don't need your best work! Just somethin' small and decent enough for the kobolds!" Jeb countered as his anger roiled just under the surface.
The dwarf grunted and turned to the gnome and spoke in some sort of shared language that Jeb was more than surprised that he could actually understand!
"How are we on rations?"
"Not good Master Ulrin. Even with shipments from the humans we won't have enough for winter without hunting." The gnome replied in the same language.
"Even without this farce o' an agreement keepin' us off tha surface o' tha mountain, with tha cold comin' it wouldn't matter." Ulrin rumbled in his language and stroked his beard in thought.
Jeb looked over to the piles of gold and jewels and other finery in order to make it seem like he couldn't understand them. One trick he learned from Morty, just because you know another language doesn't mean you have to let a native speaker know you do. He said you'd be surprised what they let slip when they think you don't know what they're saying.
Something he realized was actually surprisingly good advice from Morty, Jeb thought as he spied a garnet embedded golden band. It almost looked like a ring but was a little big to be one. Maybe a bracelet, Jeb thought as Ulrin and the gnome finished speaking and turned back to Jeb.
"What do you offer?"
"Fish, game, and some produce." Jeb replied.
Ulrin stroked his beard in thought. If Jeb hadn't just heard what he and the gnome were talking about he'd be a bit more worried. But now he could tell he was obviously haggling.
"We will need ta see tha food. If it's acceptable then we'll talk."
"Great. Wait right there." Jeb said as he got up and moved his chair back a little as he did so.
"When will you ret-" Ulrin started before blinking as Jeb had vanished from the spot he was in just a moment ago!
The dwarf sighed. He hated dealing with otherworldly beings. He took the time to appraise the offerings again. The armor was of elf make. While macabre, there was enough overly fine pretty designs in it that made it obvious. The way certain things flowed or were carved could only be made by elven hands. But at the same time it was also crude. Like it wasn't entirely made by elves, he noted.
Worth a pretty sum if only to melt it down into something of actual value, he thought as he picked up the silk. The color was a unique shade. While it looked to have been roughed up a little, it still held firmly. If he could get more from the godling then he could make a nice profit from selling it. He knew that some nobles, of this world or their own, would pay a fortune for a dress or doublet made of it.
He tugged on it once again and gave an approving grunt.
"Strong stuff."
He reached for his sword as the godling reappeared from thin air with barely a sound.
"I'm back."
Jeb got the vertigo feeling he did last time he did a rapid port and he fell back into his chair with a groan.
"Oh that's not a fun feelin'."
He leaned forward and handed a small box full of what he had to offer. Ulrin took it easily enough and peered into it. He saw all sorts of strange things. Blue apples, nightmarish fish, some small rodents already dressed, blackened potatoes, as well as some sort of crystal. He picked it up and held it out to Jeb.
"What's this?"
"Candy."
"Candy?"
"Yeah. Candied sugar?" Jeb explained.
He knew of candied sweets. But he didn't ever see any in such a shade before, Ulrin thought as he stared at the dark crystal that seemed to suck in the light around it. He wasn't yet familiar with the wildlife of this world to know if what Jeb offered was altered or not. But he knew that eating this "candy" was a bad idea.
He made no secret in tossing away the candy and gestured to the rest of the food.
"How much can you offer?"
"How does a box of food for a box of tools sound?"
Ulrin grunted and drummed his dwarven fingers against the desk in thought for a moment before making a counter offer.
"A long term trade then. Eight crates o' food for five crate o' tools."
"Why not five for five or eight for eight?"
"It will take this much food just ta mine tha piss poor iron. Makin' it will require more work. If you don't care for quality then that's what you'll deal with." Ulrin declared.
"Five crates of food, bi-weekly, for five crates of tools delivered at the end of the week." Jeb countered.
Finally a good deal, Ulrin thought as he tapped away on the desk in thought. This deal was in their favor. They got a promise of food even before delivering their end of the deal. But why? He's worked with otherworldly beings enough to know that they rarely play something in your favor unless it benefited them in some way.
"What else do you want?" Ulrin asked with a questioning brow and an accusatory tone.
Jeb shifted and looked around before reaching over to the large band he spied earlier.
"How 'bout this?"
Ulrin cocked his brow in suspicion. That was it?
"That's it?"
"That's it. You get a steady shipment of food, a bundle of silk, and some gold pieces in exchange for some tools and a weddin' band." Jeb stated.
Ulrin drummed his fingers once again.
"Can you acquire more silk?"
Jeb scratched his beard.
"Not currently."
Or maybe ever, he thought as he had no intention of making a deal with Anna after everything. At least not so soon after their last dust up. Ulrin rumbled and grunted before looking between what was offered one last time. After a few minutes, he looked up at Jeb and stuck out his large hand.
"We have an accord."
Jeb shook the offered hand, and felt the same stinging feeling he felt before when he made a deal with the dwarf. Wonder what that's about, he thought. But he got what he wanted and got rid of stuff he didn't really lack either. Fish was plentiful in the river after so long of going unfished, and he could conjure the other stuff with no problems.
With a deal set and the promise of commerce, Jeb departed with his treasure. Intent on making today a very special one for a certain kobold.
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2024.05.04 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.05.03 00:51 Niveker14 Lost in the Void (Part 17)
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The next two days passed much the same as the first day on the farm. Mark spent his mornings helping the Guckracks, his afternoons helping the locals, and his evenings tinkering. I spent my time meticulously studying him. His mannerisms, his speech patterns, and his body language. When I wasn’t feasting on the various stews and other dishes the family kept bringing out to me, that is. They were marvelous cooks, credit where it was due.
Finally, the morning arrived for our voyage to Gorling. Both Bun and Fizz, the two male elders of the family were going to the city with us for their transaction. They had a simple cart, pulled by two pormor. Two Faelor bred sten’s would be able to get us their in half the time as pormor, but it was still better than walking. A good ten minutes were wasted as everyone said goodbye to each other before we were finally able to set forth. I was informed by Fizz that it was not actually a full day’s travel to Gorling. We set out early enough that we should get there around mid afternoon
Mark wasted no time starting a conversation with the two drivers about their many children. Hours passed as the three discussed the current relationship statuses or lack thereof of older children that had moved out, what professions they’d taken up, where they’d moved to, how many grandchildren they knew about, desires for their extended family to visit more, and so on. The Crenulans certainly loved to talk, and Mark was all too happy to entertain them. I mostly tuned it out except for one detail that seemed relevant to our immediate situation.
Apparently, their second oldest, Stroz, was a merchant in Gorling which they were planning on seeing while in the city. Less relevant was the fact that he did not yet have a family unit, which seemed to be the primary focus of their long discussion about him. This seemed to distress the two greatly. Mark seemed to be on the son’s side, however, assuring the elders that he simply hadn’t met “the right ones” yet and he was sure to find a family eventually. The whole ordeal was dreadfully boring and I honestly think I’d have preferred we made the entire ride in silence.
Eventually, once all the children had been exhausted, the conversation turned to the various neighbors across the countryside. Mark joked about how the Stunkars must be trying to harvest rocks because they break their plow every week. They talked about all the little inventions Mark has been passing around and how everyone has been telling the Guckracks they are just so amazing and things are so much smoother and more productive when they start using them. This led into a peculiar exchange.
“Have you heard anything new about the Marlock Homestead?” Mark asked with a worried look on his face.
“The same.” Was all Bun replied.
Mark didn’t reply. The cart was silent for several minutes before Fizz picked up the conversation again with some gossip about another family. The conversation returned to the lively affair it’d been at before.
The sun had crested fully over us and was now making its way down the horizon. I could sense a change in the wind. The smell of brine. We were very near to the coast now. I could hear the sound of more and more carts ahead of us. There it was. Gorling. Its great walls stretched around the city for miles, a remnant of its time as an independent city-state at war with the crown. Towering buildings stretched up into the sky behind the walls. A marvel of Faelor architecture. A small taste of home. Unlike home, many of the buildings had a green hue to them as copper was used extensively throughout this city.
We joined the traffick and entered the city without any fanfare. We rode our cart to an inn near the outer quarters of the city, where Bun informed us this is where they would be staying for the night and to meet them back here by tomorrow to ride home. It seemed to be a rather meager inn, considering we were in Gorling, and I noticed there were only Crenulans patronizing the establishment.
“I know you were wanting the maps to be the first priority, but I think it would be best if we made our way to a clothier first. It will take them time to make an outfit to your… specifications, whereas maps can be purchased as is. So we should put our order in for our dress clothes as early as possible.” I suggested.
Mark’s eyes seemed to make a loop around the top of his face, but he agreed to my proposal. I was unfamiliar with the specifics of this city and Mark was at a loss for where to purchase Faelor clothing, but he knew there was a massive market near the center of the city following the main thoroughfare, so that’s where we went first. With so many people walking down the roads, I did find it odd that no one noticed a foreign species walking in their midst, but Mark was right. No one seemed to pay him much mind. It helped that the Crenulan garbs he wore were quite bulky and hid his figure. He also had them pulled up to mostly cover his face. He could almost pass for a Faelor with an atrocious sense of fashion, if you didn’t notice the lack of a second set of arms.
After asking around, I kept being directed to Madame Glowing Sun’s Finery Emporium as the most fashionable and most expensive location to purchase clothing from, so that’s precisely where I went. The shop itself was located at the bottom floor of a tall building. The rest of the building was most likely residential. Walking in, there were an assortment of sashes and gowns on display, as well as coats and pants for all sexes. I didn’t bother with the floor displays however, I walked directly to the attendant sitting in the back.
As I got closer, behind the counter I could see a young Faelor female, perhaps even too young to be working at an establishment like this. She had her feet propped up and she was chewing on something while reading from a paper.
As I approached she lazily said, “Welcome to Madame Glowing Sun’s Finery Emporium. Feel free to browse our finery.” She didn’t even look up from what she was reading.
“Excuse me young lady, but I need a custom order. Two custom order’s in fact.” I said.
“We have many sashes and gowns to choose from on display.” She said, looking up from her paper with just her top two eyes, still chewing like some Crenulan sow.
“I intend to have a meeting with the Crown and I’m afraid your standard garb will simply not do. Plus, I doubt anything you have on display would accommodate my guest.” I insisted.
“You have a meeting with the crown, huh? Yeah… whoa… what is that thing?!” The young girl said, finally noticing Mark. For the first time, her full focus was off of whatever she was reading and was now on us.
“Young lady, I am Lady Morning Breeze. A Traveler. And this is an as yet unidentified species I have discovered in my travels. His name is Mark.”
“A… A traveler… just a moment.” The young girl said, darting behind the curtain into the back room.
“She seemed a little spooked.” Mark said as we waited for whatever was going to happen.
“She was impudent is what she was.” I corrected him.
“So, what do we have here? A traveler is it?” An older Faelor female walked out from behind the curtain. She was dressed in a sparkling gown and had an overly large green sash. She spoke with an air of authority and dismissal.
“I am Morning Breeze. A Faelor Travelor and a Lady of the Dawning Sun Over The Great Sea community.” I gave my full introduction.
“Hmph, right. Well, we’ll see.” The elder Faelor said, as she pulled a small booklet from under the counter. She flipped through a few pages before finding the one she was looking for. She stared at the page a moment then took a hard look at me. She looked at the page once more, then back to me. The page. Then back to me. “By the Great Fae! It is you! My sincerest apologies your lady! You would be surprised how often we get younglings in here trying to scam us out of a dress claiming to be travelers. I am Glowing Sun. A Lady of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community. A pleasure to meet you.”
“A pleasure as well. I’m not familiar with the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community.” I said.
“Ah, well. We are local to Gorling. We go all the way back to the city’s founding. But we are loyal to the Crown! Very loyal! And I would be happy to service anything you need from my illustrious establishment.” Glowing Sun replied.
I proceeded to explain our situation, that we are planning on having an audience with the Crown and we needed attire to match such a royal occasion. As well as the unique challenge of clothing my companion. She seemed more than happy to accommodate us, especially - she added - if we mentioned where the clothes came from if anyone asked.
“Just a moment. I need to collect my measuring equipment for your… friend here.” She said as she left us alone again, retreating behind the curtain.
“This is a little awkward. I can only understand half of what you all are saying.” Mark said. “You’re definitely going to have to help me out on my Faelo if I’m going to be acting as a diplomat.” He added.
“Noted.”
“And if we do get everything approved, I’m going to have to try to teach you my language too, so you can use the A.P.S. on your own. A little cultural exchange, how does that sound?” He asked.
“I’d like that very much.”
We were standing there alone for much longer than I’d expect for someone to just grab some measuring equipment when Glowing Sun finally came back. She had Mark take off the bulky Crenulan clothes so she could get more accurate measurements. Luckily, he was wearing his underclothes again.
“Such a fascinating specimen! I’ve never seen anything like him before. Where did you say you found him?” Glowing Sun asked as she was measuring his leg circumference.
“I think that information would best be saved until I could write a full scholarly report and address it to the Crown.” I answered.
“Oh very well. It will certainly be an interesting challenge to make a proper dress coat and pants with his dimensions. At least I’ll save material on sleeves!” She said, pointing to his ribs. “Of course, all that savings will be lost by just how thick I’ll need to make the remaining holes. Well, I have everything I need from him, let me get your dimensions now and I’ll be all set.” She said as she transitioned to measuring me. “This is going straight to the top of my priority list. I should have both done by tomorrow afternoon. So where are you staying anyway?” She asked.
“Oh, well. I’m not sure. Our ride was staying at some Crenulan inn on the outskirts of the city.” I said.
“That simply won’t do! My lady, I tell you this, my sister of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community, Midnight Sky, owns the Rolling Deep Hotel! Its a luxury hotel for dignitaries and visiting nobles. It’s the only place for you, I tell you this. I will send word that you are coming. She will have a place for you tonight, that I can promise you. And I’ll let her know you have a… guest with you as well.” She said, gesturing toward Mark.
“Very well. I appreciate your hospitality. May the Great Fae bless you on this day.” I say.
“Oh, I think she already has.” Glowing Sun said, finishing up her measurements. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon my lady.”
We exited the shop as I explained to Mark that the clothes wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon and that we’d been offered a place to stay for the night at the Rolling Deep Hotel.
“Oh. I actually know that place. Never been there myself, but you can’t miss it. It’s a big landmark nearer to the water. Seemed like a place for fancy Faelor to me. Must have a good view of the ocean from the upper floors though.” Mark said. “Now, while there is still daylight and the shops are still open, can we please go look for some maps? We’ll head in that direction anyway, because I imagine all the best cartographers will be near the ports anyhow.” Mark added.
We visited no less than three different shops before Mark found something he was satisfied with. The first place only had maps of sealanes. The second place Mark claimed the maps weren’t detailed enough, much to the chagrin of the shopkeep. The third place, Mark finally found what he was looking for. We entered just as the place was about to close. The Crenulan running the store assured us that, actually - it was fine. He was happy to stay and let us browse. He also explained that he wasn’t the creator of the maps, he just ran the storefront for the Faelor who made them, but that he was an incredibly talented man who couldn’t busy himself with such mundane things as running a store when he had important maps to be making.
“Look at the detail on this thing. It’s got the whole continent here. And look, here’s Gorling, and there - you can even see where the Guckrack ranch is.” Mark had pulled out a magnification lens and was focusing on the details of the Northwest portion of the map. “Let me just check the scale real quick… yeah, look at that,” he said as he was pressing on his wrist device, “it’s nearly perfect. Whoever made this map must be some kind of obsessive personality. If the rest of the map is as accurate as this tiny portion… I think we hit the jackpot here. How much?” He asked the Crenulan shopkeep.
“Oh… that one? Um… Well… you see… Um…” The shopkeep began stuttering.
“Yeah, this one, how much do you want for it?” Mark reiterated.
“Well… I was explicitly told by master Long Journey not to sell that one… because… well… it’s not completed yet.” He said, pointing to the small Southeastern peninsula in the corner of the map. “In fact, that’s where master Long Journey is right now… he’s out on an expedition to finish mapping all of Fael, and he just has that bit left to complete upon his return.”
Mark looked at me and shook his head. “It’s always something. Can we come back tomorrow and… admire the map some more?” He asked.
“Well, I don’t see the harm in that.” The Crenulan offered.
Mark led me out of the shop and explained, “I don’t actually need to buy the map. I can scan it in the shop, but it’s going to take me most of the day. Would be easier if I could do it from the privacy of my own workshop back home, but we’ll make it work. Now lets go to this fancy hotel of yours. I could go for a little luxury right about now.”
We weren’t far from the Rolling Deep Hotel, and Mark was right - the building was an obvious landmark. It was by no means the tallest building in the city, but it was the tallest building in this section of the city. It had a grand entrance with room for dozens of carts, chariots, or any number of transports. It was clearly located in such a way that you could get here by taking the main thoroughfare through the entrance of the city or from the docks if you came by sea. The building was covered in fresh copper - not weathered green like much of the city.
As we entered the lobby we were greeted by a fresh faced Faelor male who seemed to be expecting us. “Lady Morning Breeze! And… guest? Um… right this way.” He said, momentarily stuttering as he noticed Mark, but quickly regaining his composure. The young man led us to a large stairwell with an older Faelor woman standing at the bottom of the flight. “Lady Morning Breeze of the Dawning Sun Over The Great Sea community, may I introduce you to Lady Midnight Sky of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community.” he said before quickly retreating.
Lady Midnight Sky was wearing a deep blue gown that went all the way to the floor. It sparkled in a similar manner as Glowing Sun’s did. She was also wearing some kind of bejeweled headpiece between her antenna. In a fashion choice that seemed to clash with the rest of her ensemble, she was wearing a large, ruffled, green sash.
“Lady Morning Breeze! I am honored to have such a distinguished guest staying at our renowned establishment. And let me assure you, you are welcome here, not just tonight, but for as long as your travels will you.” She said with an ever so slight bow.
“I am honored to accept your hospitality and offer blessings and tales of my travels in exchange.” I answered.
“That won’t be necessary. At least not tonight. It’s getting late, I’ve reserved a special room for you,” she said, holding out a key, which I accepted. “Room 703. Top floor. Fantastic view of the ocean. You’ll love it. Please, let me see you to your room.” She said, as she began escorting us through the hotel. To say the place was lavish would be an understatement. Even by Crownland standards, this hotel was clearly making a statement.
Something seemed wrong about my interaction with Midnight Sky. My politician nerve was twitching. I was used things being provided to me for free, but this seemed above and beyond the call of duty to a traveler and she wasn’t even interested in my blessings. I couldn’t quite place it however. Mark and I followed the hotelier in silence until we reached room 703. Midnight Sky opened the door with her own set of keys and motioned for us to enter. There were no lights inside, the room dimly illuminated by the glow of the moon through the large coastal facing window. The center of the room was nearly pitch black, however. As the two of us entered, the door was closed behind us.
Suddenly, a spark was lit from the dark spot in the center of the massive room and a lamp was ignited revealing a diminutive Fealor male wearing an excessively large green sash flanked by two armored Faelor guards. “Morning Breeze. I’ve been expecting you.”
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submitted by Niveker14 to HFY [link] [comments]
The next two days passed much the same as the first day on the farm. Mark spent his mornings helping the Guckracks, his afternoons helping the locals, and his evenings tinkering. I spent my time meticulously studying him. His mannerisms, his speech patterns, and his body language. When I wasn’t feasting on the various stews and other dishes the family kept bringing out to me, that is. They were marvelous cooks, credit where it was due.
Finally, the morning arrived for our voyage to Gorling. Both Bun and Fizz, the two male elders of the family were going to the city with us for their transaction. They had a simple cart, pulled by two pormor. Two Faelor bred sten’s would be able to get us their in half the time as pormor, but it was still better than walking. A good ten minutes were wasted as everyone said goodbye to each other before we were finally able to set forth. I was informed by Fizz that it was not actually a full day’s travel to Gorling. We set out early enough that we should get there around mid afternoon
Mark wasted no time starting a conversation with the two drivers about their many children. Hours passed as the three discussed the current relationship statuses or lack thereof of older children that had moved out, what professions they’d taken up, where they’d moved to, how many grandchildren they knew about, desires for their extended family to visit more, and so on. The Crenulans certainly loved to talk, and Mark was all too happy to entertain them. I mostly tuned it out except for one detail that seemed relevant to our immediate situation.
Apparently, their second oldest, Stroz, was a merchant in Gorling which they were planning on seeing while in the city. Less relevant was the fact that he did not yet have a family unit, which seemed to be the primary focus of their long discussion about him. This seemed to distress the two greatly. Mark seemed to be on the son’s side, however, assuring the elders that he simply hadn’t met “the right ones” yet and he was sure to find a family eventually. The whole ordeal was dreadfully boring and I honestly think I’d have preferred we made the entire ride in silence.
Eventually, once all the children had been exhausted, the conversation turned to the various neighbors across the countryside. Mark joked about how the Stunkars must be trying to harvest rocks because they break their plow every week. They talked about all the little inventions Mark has been passing around and how everyone has been telling the Guckracks they are just so amazing and things are so much smoother and more productive when they start using them. This led into a peculiar exchange.
“Have you heard anything new about the Marlock Homestead?” Mark asked with a worried look on his face.
“The same.” Was all Bun replied.
Mark didn’t reply. The cart was silent for several minutes before Fizz picked up the conversation again with some gossip about another family. The conversation returned to the lively affair it’d been at before.
The sun had crested fully over us and was now making its way down the horizon. I could sense a change in the wind. The smell of brine. We were very near to the coast now. I could hear the sound of more and more carts ahead of us. There it was. Gorling. Its great walls stretched around the city for miles, a remnant of its time as an independent city-state at war with the crown. Towering buildings stretched up into the sky behind the walls. A marvel of Faelor architecture. A small taste of home. Unlike home, many of the buildings had a green hue to them as copper was used extensively throughout this city.
We joined the traffick and entered the city without any fanfare. We rode our cart to an inn near the outer quarters of the city, where Bun informed us this is where they would be staying for the night and to meet them back here by tomorrow to ride home. It seemed to be a rather meager inn, considering we were in Gorling, and I noticed there were only Crenulans patronizing the establishment.
“I know you were wanting the maps to be the first priority, but I think it would be best if we made our way to a clothier first. It will take them time to make an outfit to your… specifications, whereas maps can be purchased as is. So we should put our order in for our dress clothes as early as possible.” I suggested.
Mark’s eyes seemed to make a loop around the top of his face, but he agreed to my proposal. I was unfamiliar with the specifics of this city and Mark was at a loss for where to purchase Faelor clothing, but he knew there was a massive market near the center of the city following the main thoroughfare, so that’s where we went first. With so many people walking down the roads, I did find it odd that no one noticed a foreign species walking in their midst, but Mark was right. No one seemed to pay him much mind. It helped that the Crenulan garbs he wore were quite bulky and hid his figure. He also had them pulled up to mostly cover his face. He could almost pass for a Faelor with an atrocious sense of fashion, if you didn’t notice the lack of a second set of arms.
After asking around, I kept being directed to Madame Glowing Sun’s Finery Emporium as the most fashionable and most expensive location to purchase clothing from, so that’s precisely where I went. The shop itself was located at the bottom floor of a tall building. The rest of the building was most likely residential. Walking in, there were an assortment of sashes and gowns on display, as well as coats and pants for all sexes. I didn’t bother with the floor displays however, I walked directly to the attendant sitting in the back.
As I got closer, behind the counter I could see a young Faelor female, perhaps even too young to be working at an establishment like this. She had her feet propped up and she was chewing on something while reading from a paper.
As I approached she lazily said, “Welcome to Madame Glowing Sun’s Finery Emporium. Feel free to browse our finery.” She didn’t even look up from what she was reading.
“Excuse me young lady, but I need a custom order. Two custom order’s in fact.” I said.
“We have many sashes and gowns to choose from on display.” She said, looking up from her paper with just her top two eyes, still chewing like some Crenulan sow.
“I intend to have a meeting with the Crown and I’m afraid your standard garb will simply not do. Plus, I doubt anything you have on display would accommodate my guest.” I insisted.
“You have a meeting with the crown, huh? Yeah… whoa… what is that thing?!” The young girl said, finally noticing Mark. For the first time, her full focus was off of whatever she was reading and was now on us.
“Young lady, I am Lady Morning Breeze. A Traveler. And this is an as yet unidentified species I have discovered in my travels. His name is Mark.”
“A… A traveler… just a moment.” The young girl said, darting behind the curtain into the back room.
“She seemed a little spooked.” Mark said as we waited for whatever was going to happen.
“She was impudent is what she was.” I corrected him.
“So, what do we have here? A traveler is it?” An older Faelor female walked out from behind the curtain. She was dressed in a sparkling gown and had an overly large green sash. She spoke with an air of authority and dismissal.
“I am Morning Breeze. A Faelor Travelor and a Lady of the Dawning Sun Over The Great Sea community.” I gave my full introduction.
“Hmph, right. Well, we’ll see.” The elder Faelor said, as she pulled a small booklet from under the counter. She flipped through a few pages before finding the one she was looking for. She stared at the page a moment then took a hard look at me. She looked at the page once more, then back to me. The page. Then back to me. “By the Great Fae! It is you! My sincerest apologies your lady! You would be surprised how often we get younglings in here trying to scam us out of a dress claiming to be travelers. I am Glowing Sun. A Lady of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community. A pleasure to meet you.”
“A pleasure as well. I’m not familiar with the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community.” I said.
“Ah, well. We are local to Gorling. We go all the way back to the city’s founding. But we are loyal to the Crown! Very loyal! And I would be happy to service anything you need from my illustrious establishment.” Glowing Sun replied.
I proceeded to explain our situation, that we are planning on having an audience with the Crown and we needed attire to match such a royal occasion. As well as the unique challenge of clothing my companion. She seemed more than happy to accommodate us, especially - she added - if we mentioned where the clothes came from if anyone asked.
“Just a moment. I need to collect my measuring equipment for your… friend here.” She said as she left us alone again, retreating behind the curtain.
“This is a little awkward. I can only understand half of what you all are saying.” Mark said. “You’re definitely going to have to help me out on my Faelo if I’m going to be acting as a diplomat.” He added.
“Noted.”
“And if we do get everything approved, I’m going to have to try to teach you my language too, so you can use the A.P.S. on your own. A little cultural exchange, how does that sound?” He asked.
“I’d like that very much.”
We were standing there alone for much longer than I’d expect for someone to just grab some measuring equipment when Glowing Sun finally came back. She had Mark take off the bulky Crenulan clothes so she could get more accurate measurements. Luckily, he was wearing his underclothes again.
“Such a fascinating specimen! I’ve never seen anything like him before. Where did you say you found him?” Glowing Sun asked as she was measuring his leg circumference.
“I think that information would best be saved until I could write a full scholarly report and address it to the Crown.” I answered.
“Oh very well. It will certainly be an interesting challenge to make a proper dress coat and pants with his dimensions. At least I’ll save material on sleeves!” She said, pointing to his ribs. “Of course, all that savings will be lost by just how thick I’ll need to make the remaining holes. Well, I have everything I need from him, let me get your dimensions now and I’ll be all set.” She said as she transitioned to measuring me. “This is going straight to the top of my priority list. I should have both done by tomorrow afternoon. So where are you staying anyway?” She asked.
“Oh, well. I’m not sure. Our ride was staying at some Crenulan inn on the outskirts of the city.” I said.
“That simply won’t do! My lady, I tell you this, my sister of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community, Midnight Sky, owns the Rolling Deep Hotel! Its a luxury hotel for dignitaries and visiting nobles. It’s the only place for you, I tell you this. I will send word that you are coming. She will have a place for you tonight, that I can promise you. And I’ll let her know you have a… guest with you as well.” She said, gesturing toward Mark.
“Very well. I appreciate your hospitality. May the Great Fae bless you on this day.” I say.
“Oh, I think she already has.” Glowing Sun said, finishing up her measurements. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon my lady.”
We exited the shop as I explained to Mark that the clothes wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon and that we’d been offered a place to stay for the night at the Rolling Deep Hotel.
“Oh. I actually know that place. Never been there myself, but you can’t miss it. It’s a big landmark nearer to the water. Seemed like a place for fancy Faelor to me. Must have a good view of the ocean from the upper floors though.” Mark said. “Now, while there is still daylight and the shops are still open, can we please go look for some maps? We’ll head in that direction anyway, because I imagine all the best cartographers will be near the ports anyhow.” Mark added.
We visited no less than three different shops before Mark found something he was satisfied with. The first place only had maps of sealanes. The second place Mark claimed the maps weren’t detailed enough, much to the chagrin of the shopkeep. The third place, Mark finally found what he was looking for. We entered just as the place was about to close. The Crenulan running the store assured us that, actually - it was fine. He was happy to stay and let us browse. He also explained that he wasn’t the creator of the maps, he just ran the storefront for the Faelor who made them, but that he was an incredibly talented man who couldn’t busy himself with such mundane things as running a store when he had important maps to be making.
“Look at the detail on this thing. It’s got the whole continent here. And look, here’s Gorling, and there - you can even see where the Guckrack ranch is.” Mark had pulled out a magnification lens and was focusing on the details of the Northwest portion of the map. “Let me just check the scale real quick… yeah, look at that,” he said as he was pressing on his wrist device, “it’s nearly perfect. Whoever made this map must be some kind of obsessive personality. If the rest of the map is as accurate as this tiny portion… I think we hit the jackpot here. How much?” He asked the Crenulan shopkeep.
“Oh… that one? Um… Well… you see… Um…” The shopkeep began stuttering.
“Yeah, this one, how much do you want for it?” Mark reiterated.
“Well… I was explicitly told by master Long Journey not to sell that one… because… well… it’s not completed yet.” He said, pointing to the small Southeastern peninsula in the corner of the map. “In fact, that’s where master Long Journey is right now… he’s out on an expedition to finish mapping all of Fael, and he just has that bit left to complete upon his return.”
Mark looked at me and shook his head. “It’s always something. Can we come back tomorrow and… admire the map some more?” He asked.
“Well, I don’t see the harm in that.” The Crenulan offered.
Mark led me out of the shop and explained, “I don’t actually need to buy the map. I can scan it in the shop, but it’s going to take me most of the day. Would be easier if I could do it from the privacy of my own workshop back home, but we’ll make it work. Now lets go to this fancy hotel of yours. I could go for a little luxury right about now.”
We weren’t far from the Rolling Deep Hotel, and Mark was right - the building was an obvious landmark. It was by no means the tallest building in the city, but it was the tallest building in this section of the city. It had a grand entrance with room for dozens of carts, chariots, or any number of transports. It was clearly located in such a way that you could get here by taking the main thoroughfare through the entrance of the city or from the docks if you came by sea. The building was covered in fresh copper - not weathered green like much of the city.
As we entered the lobby we were greeted by a fresh faced Faelor male who seemed to be expecting us. “Lady Morning Breeze! And… guest? Um… right this way.” He said, momentarily stuttering as he noticed Mark, but quickly regaining his composure. The young man led us to a large stairwell with an older Faelor woman standing at the bottom of the flight. “Lady Morning Breeze of the Dawning Sun Over The Great Sea community, may I introduce you to Lady Midnight Sky of the Rolling Hills and Deep Valleys community.” he said before quickly retreating.
Lady Midnight Sky was wearing a deep blue gown that went all the way to the floor. It sparkled in a similar manner as Glowing Sun’s did. She was also wearing some kind of bejeweled headpiece between her antenna. In a fashion choice that seemed to clash with the rest of her ensemble, she was wearing a large, ruffled, green sash.
“Lady Morning Breeze! I am honored to have such a distinguished guest staying at our renowned establishment. And let me assure you, you are welcome here, not just tonight, but for as long as your travels will you.” She said with an ever so slight bow.
“I am honored to accept your hospitality and offer blessings and tales of my travels in exchange.” I answered.
“That won’t be necessary. At least not tonight. It’s getting late, I’ve reserved a special room for you,” she said, holding out a key, which I accepted. “Room 703. Top floor. Fantastic view of the ocean. You’ll love it. Please, let me see you to your room.” She said, as she began escorting us through the hotel. To say the place was lavish would be an understatement. Even by Crownland standards, this hotel was clearly making a statement.
Something seemed wrong about my interaction with Midnight Sky. My politician nerve was twitching. I was used things being provided to me for free, but this seemed above and beyond the call of duty to a traveler and she wasn’t even interested in my blessings. I couldn’t quite place it however. Mark and I followed the hotelier in silence until we reached room 703. Midnight Sky opened the door with her own set of keys and motioned for us to enter. There were no lights inside, the room dimly illuminated by the glow of the moon through the large coastal facing window. The center of the room was nearly pitch black, however. As the two of us entered, the door was closed behind us.
Suddenly, a spark was lit from the dark spot in the center of the massive room and a lamp was ignited revealing a diminutive Fealor male wearing an excessively large green sash flanked by two armored Faelor guards. “Morning Breeze. I’ve been expecting you.”
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2024.05.02 08:55 throwaway00009000000 The Definitive Album Ranking List
** Edit **: I forgot to include the 3am edition in Midnights! I updated the list and my percentage (which went from 50% to 64% and pushed it above 1989)
So I decided to make a list of every song on every album. Then I went through and marked off all of the songs that are generally skips for me or that I don’t really like. Then I took the ratio of how many songs I liked to how many were on the album to get a percentage. The results were surprising. Here’s my definitive album ranking:
THE DEFINITIVE ALBUM RANKING
Taylor Swift Tracklist: (_/15) = _% 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You (2008, Deluxe) 13. Invisible (2008, Deluxe) 14. A Perfectly Good Heart (2008, Deluxe) 15. I Heart ? (Best Buy Digital Download)
Fearless Tracklist: (_/26) = _%1. Fearless2. Fifteen3. Love Story4. Hey Stephen5. White Horse6. You Belong With Me7. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat)8. Tell Me Why9. You’re Not Sorry10. The Way I Loved You11. Forever & Always12. The Best Day13. Change14. Jump Then Fall (Platinum)15. Untouchable (Platinum)16. Forever & Always – Piano Version (Platinum)17. Come In With The Rain (Platinum)18. Superstar (Platinum)19. The Other Side Of The Door (Platinum)20. Today Was a Fairytale (Taylor’s Version)21. You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris) (Taylor’s Version)22. Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version)23. We Were Happy (Taylor’s Version)24. That’s When (feat. Keith Urban) (Taylor’s Version)25. Don’t You (Taylor’s Version)26. Bye Bye Baby (Taylor’s Version)
Speak Now Tracklist: (_/22) = _%1. Mine2. Sparks Fly3. Back To December4. Speak Now5. Dear John6. Mean7. The Story Of Us8. Never Grow Up9. Enchanted10. Better Than Revenge11. Innocent12. Haunted13. Last Kiss14. Long Live15. Ours (Deluxe)16. If This Was A Movie (Deluxe)17. Superman (Deluxe) 18. Electric Touch 19. When Emma Falls in Love 20. I Can See You 21. Castles Crumbling 22. Foolish One 23. Timeless
Red Tracklist: (_/29) = _% 1. State of Grace (/acoustic) 2. Red 3. Treacherous 4. I Knew You Were Trouble 5. All Too Well 6. 22 7. I Almost Do 8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 9. Stay Stay Stay 10. The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody) 11. Holy Ground 12. Sad Beautiful Tragic 13. The Lucky One 14. Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) 15. Starlight 16. Begin Again 17. The Moment I Knew (Deluxe) 18. Come Back…Be Here (Deluxe) 19. Girl At Home (Deluxe) 20. Ronan 21. Better Man 22. Nothing New 23. Babe 24. Message in a Bottle 25. I Bet You Think About Me 26. Forever Winter 27. Run 28. The Very First Night 29. All Too Well (10 min)
1989 Tracklist: (_/22) = _% 1. Welcome to New York 2. Blank Space 3. Style 4. Out of the Woods 5. All You Had to Do Was Stay 6. Shake It Off 7. I Wish You Would 8. Bad Blood 9. Wildest Dreams 10. How You Get the Girl 11. This Love 12. I Know Places 13. Clean 14. Wonderland (Deluxe) 15. You Are In Love (Deluxe) 16. New Romantics (Deluxe) 17. Slut! 18. Say Don’t Go 19. Now That We Don’t Talk 20. Suburban Legends 21. Is It Over Now? 22. Sweeter Than Fiction
Reputation Tracklist: (_/15) = _% 1. …Ready For it? 2. End Game (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future) 3. I Did Something Bad 4. Don’t Blame Me 5. Delicate 6. Look What You Made Me Do 7. So It Goes… 8. Gorgeous 9. Getaway Car 10. King Of My Heart 11. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 12. Dress 13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 14. Call It What You Want 15. New Year’s Day
Lover Tracklist: (_/19) = _%1. I Forgot That You Existed2. Cruel Summer3. Lover4. The Man5. The Archer6. I Think He Knows7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince8. Paper Rings9. Cornelia Street10. Death By A Thousand Cuts11. London Boy12. Soon You’ll Get Better (feat. The Dixie Chicks)13. False God14. You Need To Calm Down15. Afterglow16. ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend18. Daylight 19. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
folklore Tracklist: (_/17) = _% 1. the 1 2. cardigan 3. the last great american dynasty 4. exile (feat. Bon Iver) 5. my tears ricochet 6. mirrorball 7. seven 8. august 9. this is me trying 10. illicit affairs 11. invisible string 12. mad woman 13. epiphany 14. betty 15. peace 16. hoax 17. the lakes (Deluxe)
evermore Tracklist (_/17) = _% 1. willow 2. champagne problems 3. gold rush 4. ’tis the damn season 5. tolerate it 6. no body, no crime (feat. HAIM) 7. happiness 8. dorothea 9. coney island (feat. The National) 10. ivy 11. cowboy like me 12. long story short 13. marjorie 14. closure 15. evermore (feat. Bon Iver) 16. right where you left me (Deluxe) 17. it’s time to go (Deluxe)
Midnights (_/22) = _% 1. Lavender Haze" 2. "Maroon" 3. "Anti-Hero" 4. "Snow on the Beach" 5. "You're on Your Own, Kid" 6. "Midnight Rain" 7. "Question...?" 8. "Vigilante S---" 9. "Bejeweled" 10. "Labyrinth" 11. "Karma" 12. "Sweet Nothing" 13. "Mastermind" 14. You’re Losing Me 15. “The Great War” 16. “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” 17. “Paris” 18. “High Infidelity” 19. “Glitch” 20. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” 21. “Dear Reader” 22. Hits Different
TTPD (_/31) = _%
1. loml 2. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart 3. I Look in People's Windows 4. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) 5. Fortnight 6. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? 7. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 8. The Albatross 9. But Daddy I Love Him 10. Guilty as Sin? 11. The Black Dog 12. The Alchemy 13. The Prophecy 14. Florida!!! 15. Robin 16. Clara Bow 17. Fresh Out The Slammer 18. thanK you aIMee 19. The Manuscript 20. Down Bad 21. The Tortured Poets Department 22. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 23. So High School 24. imgonnagetyouback 25. Cassandra 26. How Did It End? 27. So Long, London 28. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 29. The Bolter 30. I Hate It Here 31. Peter
submitted by throwaway00009000000 to TaylorSwift [link] [comments]
So I decided to make a list of every song on every album. Then I went through and marked off all of the songs that are generally skips for me or that I don’t really like. Then I took the ratio of how many songs I liked to how many were on the album to get a percentage. The results were surprising. Here’s my definitive album ranking:
- folklore - 84%
- Reputation - 80%
- evermore - 71%
- Lover - 68%
- The Tortured Poets Department - 65%
- Midnights - 64%
- 1989 - 55%
- Speak Now - 45%
- Red - 44%
- Taylor Swift - 20%
- Fearless - 15%
THE DEFINITIVE ALBUM RANKING
Taylor Swift Tracklist: (_/15) = _% 1. Tim McGraw 2. Picture To Burn 3. Teardrops On My Guitar 4. A Place In This World 5. Cold As You 6. The Outside 7. Tied Together With A Smile 8. Stay Beautiful 9. Should’ve Said No 10. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) 11. Our Song 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You (2008, Deluxe) 13. Invisible (2008, Deluxe) 14. A Perfectly Good Heart (2008, Deluxe) 15. I Heart ? (Best Buy Digital Download)
Fearless Tracklist: (_/26) = _%1. Fearless2. Fifteen3. Love Story4. Hey Stephen5. White Horse6. You Belong With Me7. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat)8. Tell Me Why9. You’re Not Sorry10. The Way I Loved You11. Forever & Always12. The Best Day13. Change14. Jump Then Fall (Platinum)15. Untouchable (Platinum)16. Forever & Always – Piano Version (Platinum)17. Come In With The Rain (Platinum)18. Superstar (Platinum)19. The Other Side Of The Door (Platinum)20. Today Was a Fairytale (Taylor’s Version)21. You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris) (Taylor’s Version)22. Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version)23. We Were Happy (Taylor’s Version)24. That’s When (feat. Keith Urban) (Taylor’s Version)25. Don’t You (Taylor’s Version)26. Bye Bye Baby (Taylor’s Version)
Speak Now Tracklist: (_/22) = _%1. Mine2. Sparks Fly3. Back To December4. Speak Now5. Dear John6. Mean7. The Story Of Us8. Never Grow Up9. Enchanted10. Better Than Revenge11. Innocent12. Haunted13. Last Kiss14. Long Live15. Ours (Deluxe)16. If This Was A Movie (Deluxe)17. Superman (Deluxe) 18. Electric Touch 19. When Emma Falls in Love 20. I Can See You 21. Castles Crumbling 22. Foolish One 23. Timeless
Red Tracklist: (_/29) = _% 1. State of Grace (/acoustic) 2. Red 3. Treacherous 4. I Knew You Were Trouble 5. All Too Well 6. 22 7. I Almost Do 8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 9. Stay Stay Stay 10. The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody) 11. Holy Ground 12. Sad Beautiful Tragic 13. The Lucky One 14. Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) 15. Starlight 16. Begin Again 17. The Moment I Knew (Deluxe) 18. Come Back…Be Here (Deluxe) 19. Girl At Home (Deluxe) 20. Ronan 21. Better Man 22. Nothing New 23. Babe 24. Message in a Bottle 25. I Bet You Think About Me 26. Forever Winter 27. Run 28. The Very First Night 29. All Too Well (10 min)
1989 Tracklist: (_/22) = _% 1. Welcome to New York 2. Blank Space 3. Style 4. Out of the Woods 5. All You Had to Do Was Stay 6. Shake It Off 7. I Wish You Would 8. Bad Blood 9. Wildest Dreams 10. How You Get the Girl 11. This Love 12. I Know Places 13. Clean 14. Wonderland (Deluxe) 15. You Are In Love (Deluxe) 16. New Romantics (Deluxe) 17. Slut! 18. Say Don’t Go 19. Now That We Don’t Talk 20. Suburban Legends 21. Is It Over Now? 22. Sweeter Than Fiction
Reputation Tracklist: (_/15) = _% 1. …Ready For it? 2. End Game (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future) 3. I Did Something Bad 4. Don’t Blame Me 5. Delicate 6. Look What You Made Me Do 7. So It Goes… 8. Gorgeous 9. Getaway Car 10. King Of My Heart 11. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 12. Dress 13. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 14. Call It What You Want 15. New Year’s Day
Lover Tracklist: (_/19) = _%1. I Forgot That You Existed2. Cruel Summer3. Lover4. The Man5. The Archer6. I Think He Knows7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince8. Paper Rings9. Cornelia Street10. Death By A Thousand Cuts11. London Boy12. Soon You’ll Get Better (feat. The Dixie Chicks)13. False God14. You Need To Calm Down15. Afterglow16. ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend18. Daylight 19. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
folklore Tracklist: (_/17) = _% 1. the 1 2. cardigan 3. the last great american dynasty 4. exile (feat. Bon Iver) 5. my tears ricochet 6. mirrorball 7. seven 8. august 9. this is me trying 10. illicit affairs 11. invisible string 12. mad woman 13. epiphany 14. betty 15. peace 16. hoax 17. the lakes (Deluxe)
evermore Tracklist (_/17) = _% 1. willow 2. champagne problems 3. gold rush 4. ’tis the damn season 5. tolerate it 6. no body, no crime (feat. HAIM) 7. happiness 8. dorothea 9. coney island (feat. The National) 10. ivy 11. cowboy like me 12. long story short 13. marjorie 14. closure 15. evermore (feat. Bon Iver) 16. right where you left me (Deluxe) 17. it’s time to go (Deluxe)
Midnights (_/22) = _% 1. Lavender Haze" 2. "Maroon" 3. "Anti-Hero" 4. "Snow on the Beach" 5. "You're on Your Own, Kid" 6. "Midnight Rain" 7. "Question...?" 8. "Vigilante S---" 9. "Bejeweled" 10. "Labyrinth" 11. "Karma" 12. "Sweet Nothing" 13. "Mastermind" 14. You’re Losing Me 15. “The Great War” 16. “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” 17. “Paris” 18. “High Infidelity” 19. “Glitch” 20. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” 21. “Dear Reader” 22. Hits Different
TTPD (_/31) = _%
1. loml 2. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart 3. I Look in People's Windows 4. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) 5. Fortnight 6. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? 7. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 8. The Albatross 9. But Daddy I Love Him 10. Guilty as Sin? 11. The Black Dog 12. The Alchemy 13. The Prophecy 14. Florida!!! 15. Robin 16. Clara Bow 17. Fresh Out The Slammer 18. thanK you aIMee 19. The Manuscript 20. Down Bad 21. The Tortured Poets Department 22. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 23. So High School 24. imgonnagetyouback 25. Cassandra 26. How Did It End? 27. So Long, London 28. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 29. The Bolter 30. I Hate It Here 31. Peter
2024.04.27 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.04.23 01:30 TeaAndCozy Nui Cobalt Critters are coming! 24 reviews from past years
I've always been a girl who loves animals, and now that I have two pet rabbits, both adoped within the last year, I am extra excited about the return of Nui Cobalt's Critters collection! This collection isn't entirely sweet cuddly woodland creatures, but it does have a lot of those, including three of my all-time favorite Nui Cobalts: Little Brown Rabbit, Little White Rabbit, and Lilac Rabbit. When Forest posted in the Facebook group asking which Critters we'd like to see return, or which animals we'd love to see emerge as new Critters, I waxed rhapsodic about the Rabbits and suggested a bunch of other colorings of rabbits that could become amazing perfumes... so I'm hopeful that we might even get a new Rabbit this year. I would just about die of happiness if she really did make a Blue Otter Rabbit after my sweet bun Hazel. She also teased a Ladybug scent for this year, which would be SO CUTE!
Anyway, the Critters are due back this Friday, with the newsletter announcing them on Thursday, and I am excited. As usual, I thought I'd post my thoughts on all the past Critters I've tried in case that might help you formulate your wishlist. And if you've tried any of these, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Was your experience similar to mine?
My preferences: I especially love snuggly scents, incense, golden amber, cardamom, black tea, beeswax, non-gourmand vanillas, and white florals (particularly tiare, honeysuckle and tuberose; sadly I am allergic to lilies and jasmine doesn’t work on me). I don't like hay, overly sweet gourmands, excessive musk, dragon’s blood, leather, patchouli, labdanum, or any really dark scents in general. To my great devastation, Nui Cobalt’s apricot and pear notes don’t tend to work on me, though I haven’t given up hope and I continue to try new blends with those notes occasionally.
Most of these perfumes were provided as press samples by Nui Cobalt in exchange for an honest review.
Little White Rabbit [Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against cottonflower, white peppercorn, clove, vanilla marshmallow creme, pale blue cashmere, carrot seed, and honeyed almond] - When the news broke that NCD was releasing a new little rabbit variant two years ago, I was SO excited (little did I know that it would seemingly become an annual thing!), and I blind-bought a full-size (something I never do). Especially because Little White Rabbit adds that wonderful cashmere note to Little Brown Rabbit, this one was a no-brainer for me, and my trust was easily rewarded. Nui Cobalt has outdone themselves with this, their most snuggly of perfumes. I expected this to be a lot like LBR only less mapley and perhaps more cashmere-y (and yes, it is both of these things), but truly, LWR feels even more like it's built on a base of Spidersilk vanilla (Starlight and Spidersilk: [Slender strands of cotton flower hung with trembling dewdrops, cold crystalline musk, and tiny black vanilla beans]), with some of the LBR spices (the peppercorn and carrot seed, but I don't sense any cloves) plus the comforting warmth of the cashmere and almond of Silver Fox (see below), another favorite of mine. And then finally, the marshmallow ties it all together into a pillowy cloud of coziness. It's frankly astonishing. Love at first sniff even just from the vial, and on my skin it blossoms into the most comforting scent. Do I love it even more than LBR? I still can't tell, even years later. I love them both. One final note that may be helpful to some of you: the cottonflower is pretty strong with this one, which is part of why it reminds me so much of the Spidersilk vanilla, but if you're not so much a fan of "clean" laundry-like scents, this one might not be quite your cup of tea - go for LBR instead.
Lilac Rabbit [Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against toasted marshmallow, carrot seed, summerweight cotton, allspice, and pale lilac in a smooth fur accord] - Oh friends, I hoped and pleaded for another new Rabbit last year, and the universe (and Nui Cobalt) answered! I'm not actually all that fond of lilac and I think I have ended up destashing all of my perfumes with lilac notes, but I was willing to risk it for the chance of a floral Rabbit. Lilac Rabbit is gorgeous - but really, did you expect it to be anything else? I get primarily marshmallow, allspice, and cotton. It sits exactly halfway between the other two Rabbits, with the allspice and peppery carrot seed spices of Little Brown Rabbit (but without the maple quality), and also with the silky, slightly soapy fabric aspect of Little White Rabbit. There is perhaps just a touch of musky lilac, but it doesn't really read to me like a floral perfume. Lilac Rabbit is comfortable. The closest metaphor I can think of is a day when you're wearing a new outfit, one that fits perfectly and really suits you, but it's also completely comfy, with no itchy spots or seams that dig in, and it moves with you. It's like a day where you feel perfectly yourself, fully at ease, and completely put-together. This new Rabbit is everything I could have possibly dreamed of, and it immediately became one of my favorite spring & summer scents.
Black Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, deepened by black oak, black currant, vanilla bean, and myrrh] - When I first put it on, it's very strongly and exclusively almond - a warm almond that reminds me of baking almond cookies, and it must be the vanilla that helps to make that association. The almond veers slightly towards cherry. As the oil warms on my skin, the apricot emerges and then overtakes the almond. It's apricot skin, soft and velvety, rather than the fleshy fruit of the apricot. These two notes, paired with the woodiness of the balsam and (presumably) black oak, makes this a very bookish scent, perfect for the dark academia aesthetic of my wardrobe in autumn. It's not really an incense-heavy perfume; the myrrh just grounds it and gives it a beautiful dark richness. On me it's not terribly fruity (though I know some folks get mostly dark stone fruits; isn't skin chemistry fascinating!) It's the longest-lasting of the Squirrels, too - the second time I wore it, its throw was a bit too high at bedtime so I washed my wrists, and even so, I could still smell Black Squirrel the next morning!
Flying Squirrel [Raw almond, spiced apricot, and rich benzoin borne aloft by lavender, cotton flower, and tart kumquat] - This one reminds me a lot of Napping in a Flower [Tender ripe apricot, Bulgarian lavender, spiced summer honey, plum blossom, daylily, honeysuckle, and ylang], which makes perfect sense since they share a lot of the same notes, but without the honey and honeysuckle that made Napping too candle-y on me. Husband said this reminds him strongly of Little White Rabbit - he said it's the spices that make that association for him, and I suspect he was also picking up on the shared cotton flower and almond notes. I'm finding it easier to compare Flying Squirrel to other NCD scents than to describe it on its own; its combination of notes feels quite erratic and the concept doesn't feel terribly unified. I couldn't classify this as a "cozy" perfume even though it does have a strong cotton flower note, nor is it citrusy enough for me to think of it as a fruity perfume (even though it has the strongest apricot of all the Squirrels), or herbal enough for it to go in my lavender section (in fact, I'm hoping that some aging brings out the lavender more). If you like Napping in a Flower or Little White Rabbit - two perfumes that are really nothing alike! - you'd probably enjoy this one too.
Grey Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, softened with cotton flower, cashmere, and teakwood] - This one gives the effect of eating an almond cookie while snuggled in a wool blanket. This one is super cozy - the autumn cousin of my beloved wintertime snuggly scents (Silver Fox, Snow Cat, Chionophilia, all of which also feature almond and fabric notes - see their full notes lists and my comparative reviews HERE). Grey Squirrel stays pretty static, not morphing like Black Squirrel, and the apricot is only barely present.
Red Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, warmed with red musk, red sandalwood, and smoldering amber] - This one is pretty heavy on the red musk, and was in fact partly responsible for me finally figuring out that I don't personally enjoy red musk. The almond, apricot, and sandalwood combination does give this a rather gourmand-adjacent feel to it, more so than the other Squirrels. It's a very rich and warm perfume. It's funny how actually "red" this scent feels - it feels like the experience of watching a bonfire die down, even though there's no smoke note at all. "Smoldering" indeed.
White Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, cooled with aloe, white musk, and smooth white amber] - Even without looking at the notes, it was easy to identify the white amber in this one, even though Nui Cobalt only infrequently uses white amber as a note. White Squirrel is very like Grey Squirrel, equally cozy but lighter and airier, with that white amber instead of cashmere. White Squirrel is cooler, more standoffish than Grey Squirrel - that "cool" effect must be the aloe - more a wintertime snuggly scent rather than an autumnal cozy scent. Even the now-familiar almond + apricot base feels daintier and even less foody here in White Squirrel.
Overall--
Black-Capped Chickadee [Dogwood saplings, cedar resin, the tang of young stone fruits: still tiny and green, sugar maple, pine nuts, and barely-thawed soil] - I'm not one for dirt notes, so I completely passed this one up for several years, but enough really glowing reviews finally convinced me to try it. In the vial, it smells of wood, honeyed fruits, and hay. On my skin, it's soil, slightly nutty and incensey, with plush fruit and some very cedar-forward wood notes - and yet it's surprisingly dainty, and a perfect encapsulation of a black-capped chickadee. There's something about this scent that reminds me of snow-covered pebbles, and also of Shakespeare's poem "The cloud-capp'd towers" from The Tempest. After much sniffing and pondering, I finally figured out why I made that snowy association - the fruits read to me like cranberry, making this feel like a wintery scent. As for "The cloud-capp'd towers," I think I'm getting that Shakespearean reference from the combination of daintiness and dirt.
Blossom Bat [Humid rainforest blossoms laden with nectar, dense moss, passionfruit, black fig, and bamboo] - This was an order freebie that I wouldn't have picked out for myself, but it's so fun, and it went straight into my "Aloe and dewy" section of my summer perfumes, next to Waimea Mist and Aloha from the Big Island summer collection. Blossom Bat is velvety flower petals against a lush background of aquatic notes. I don't often enjoy moss notes (they often turn into honeydew melon on my skin), but here the moss contributes to the especially verdant feeling.
Blue Jay [Sturdy blue spruce and young oak support the bold elegance of white peony, angelica, blackberry bramble, and rhubarb] - In the vial, it's extremely fruity with a hint of trees. On my skin, it matches the description much more closely: evergreens and forest floor, brightened by fruity sweetness and a hint of floral. If you loved None of Your Beeswax [Thorny brambles of blackberry, elderflower, violet, fennel seed, sacred benzoin, and unfiltered honey] from the Bees collection, do give this one a try - Blue Jay is like None of Your Beeswax's summer cousin. I once wore this to a community theater production of Into the Woods and it was perfect.
Copper Fox [Warm chai with steamed almond milk nestled in sumptuous cashmere, crimson musk, sarsaparilla, and budding birch] - I once went on a quest to find the perfect chai perfume, and of course I had to try Copper Fox! Immediately on application, Copper Fox is root beer, spicy root beer - there's that sarsaparilla in a big way. As it quickly dries, the overwhelmingly root beer-ness of it backs off somewhat, and it becomes much more chai spices + the woody birch (and still with an undercurrent of root beer). Chai latte this is not - it's all the spices of chai (cinnamon and black pepper especially, and probably a bit of ginger as well) without any sweetness or milky creaminess. I should note that at this point my skin has a slight reaction to this perfume; this perfume ended up being part of my discovery that like many others, I too have a slight skin reaction to cinnamon. It didn't hurt a bit and the redness went away fairly quickly, but be forewarned, if you're a person that has a reaction to cinnamon, this might be a blend worth steering away from, or at least planning to wear in a scent locket or in your hair instead of on your skin. Finally, several hours later, Copper Fox has a third stage, and to me the most lovely: chai spices backed by gentle almond and cozy cashmere (and at this stage it's clearly a "Fox" like Silver Fox).
Elf Owl [A bright concoction of liatrix, yellow sandalwood, beach-tumbled teak, solar musk, crushed coriander, and a scant pinch of pale cinnamon] - With the teak and cinnamon, and of course the obvious cue of the "solar musk", I was expecting this to be in the same family as Nui Cobalt's Sun, Heliophilia (Love of Sun), and Sunrise on Spidersilk (comparative review HERE!). Those sun-themed perfumes can be a bit too sharp and masculine on me (I tend to prefer snuggly scents or white florals), but as a great lover of owls (and a huge fan of Nui Cobalt's Snowy Owl [Dried coconut flakes, pale woods, frozen tuberose, vanilla orchid, and fluffy feather musk], with which it admittedly shares not a single note), I absolutely could not pass up Elf Owl. I'm so glad I didn't. This actually isn't in the sun-themed family, nor, of course, does it match the highly white-floral Snowy Owl. Instead, Elf Owl turns out to be much closer to Squash Blossom [Cocobolo wood, orris root, carrot seed, sunflower petals, mandarin zest, and acorn squash baked with brown sugar] from the Autumn 1 collection, though much less vegetal. It's a very well-blended perfume and nothing in particular stands out. The overall effect is gentle: gently floral and slightly vegetal, with vanilla and baking spices but without any sugary sweetness. (Liatrix, for anyone who doesn't know what that note is--I had to look it up myself!--is a "sweet, coumarinic, herbal, tobacco-like floral and offers a pleasant vanilla-like scent".)
Fennec Fox [Blush sandalwood, amber resin, antique Egyptian cotton touched with saffron, spiced peach preserves, and sweet cedar resin] - It's gentle, warm, and spiced, with that snuggly feeling that you get with anything that has NCD's cotton note. If you really look, you can distinguish the wood, saffron, and peach, but they meld together extremely well. Surprisingly, I actually get quite a lot of the same sand note as in Flying South [Pink lemonade, warm sand, tiare blossoms, and a flowy cotton sundress] even though sand is not listed. I wear Fennec Fox in autumn on days when I don't feel like a pumpkin.
Glasswing Butterfly [A diaphanous veil of coconut water, elderflower, moonlit gardenia, silver musk, green lavender, and a slender twist of lime] - Nelophilia (Love of Glass) [Elderflower, silver musk, coconut water, cardamom, silk tree, lime blossom, and smooth hinoki wood] is one of my favorites from the Valentine's collection, but it's been discontinued for some time. So I was delighted to see this one because its notes read like a combination of Nelophilia and Queen Bee [Creamy white gardenia and fluffy whipped honey], both among my favorite NCD perfumes. It's not quite - it's not the same almost-spicy gardenia as in Queen Bee - but it is absolutely divine. Glasswing Butterfly is basically Nelophilia with all its smooth, cool, rainy, white floral nature, but here the cardamom is more present (YES! I love cardamom), and with a bit more floral. After a year of aging, it became quite a LOT more white floral; the heady gardenia came out with a KICK, and it's nearly but not quite indolic.
Honey Badger [Black amber, raw honey, smoked maple wood, and cardamom-infused cream] - I mean, duh, I had to try this one just for the cardamom cream. This is somehow so recognizably a NCD scent. Honey straight from the comb, dripping and golden, rich and sweet, backed by maple wood (but not really maple syrup) and a whiff of cardamom spice. Not nearly enough cardamom for my taste - but then, we all know what I'm like! I'm so glad I tried this one. Since its notes list starts with "black amber," I expected this to be quite a dark scent, but while it's quite rich, it's not ominously dark. Husband really likes this one, which is always a special success.
Hummingbird [Darting from oleander to orange blossom with ripe nectarine, hibiscus tea, and traces of tuberose] - White florals with orange and nectarine fruit notes, chirpy and cheerful. It's a juicy but not sugary scent. I love it for warm spring days - it's an absolute staple of my springtime perfumes - though I find it a little cloying in very hot weather.
Opossum [A bold nocturnal potion of Hatian amyris, soft black suede, red patchouli, freshly-turned earth, copal resin, and Peru balsam] - I get suede, red musk, and brown patchouli; meanwhile Husband, sniffing my wrist, gets pine and petrichor. Yet the combination of all these things is surprisingly gentle, not a shouty, in-your-face kind of scent. Absolutely none of the notes we're picking up on are my thing, but just about all of them very much are Husband's thing, so guess what - he immediately snaffled this one.
Orchid Mantis [Ripe Philippine mango, dragon fruit, tamarind, Indonesian teak, clove bud, sandalwood, tuberose, and a touch of ylang] - This one is bit too sweet for me on application - at first it's all sugary mango - but as it warms on my skin, the other notes creep in: more fruit (but less sugar), a bit of sharp clove for balance, and hints of woodiness and florals. As it dries, those hints of clove and woodiness amp further (and at this point, all my husband smells is cinnamony clove). For some reason, this is one of the very strongest of my NCD scents, with high longevity and even higher throw.
Raccoon [Sepia cashmere, guaiac wood, Egyptian amber, Copaiba balsam, golden musk, a twinkle of coriander, blonde oudh, resinous Himalayan cedar, and myrrh] - It's so well-blended that I can't pick out a single note individually, but something about this feels so quintessentially NCD. Right on application, it makes me think of Cheat Code [Windswept teakwood, cedar, coriander and tea are grounded in black tonka with a hint of fine leather], another one I had trouble describing, and it has a similar level of elegance and polish. Meanwhile, Husband smelled a bit of cola or sarsparilla, and noted an almost chocolatey undertone. As it dries, the cashmere and musk come forward, quite woolly and plush and just a touch animalistic. It seems a similar cashmere musk as in Arctic Fox [Soft amber nestled in sumptuous cashmere, steamed rice milk, winter white musk, and snow-covered fir trees]. If Arctic Fox worked for you, you absolutely must try Raccoon. Since Arctic Fox doesn't work on me (my skin amps that cashmere to unpleasant levels), Raccoon ultimately won't win a place in my collection either - which is a bummer because that opening is so pretty. I'll have to stick with Cheat Code for my polished, sophisticated vibes.
Robin's Egg [Dainty forget-me-nots and lily of the valley, a dollop of whipped blueberry creme, and a cozy birch nest tucked into a flowering dogwood tree] - This one has the same amazing blueberry as Grey Cat [Dry smoked vanilla, fluffy marshmallow creme, fresh blueberries, the gentlest touch of lavender and a warm cup of Earl Grey], House of Transcendence [Top notes of wild blueberry and morning fog, a heart of pale lilac and cashmere, with a base of orris and white amber], and Choreophilia [Wild violets, warm Earl Grey, Dominican blue amber, orris root, a handful of blueberries, and a touch of lime marmalade]. This iteration of the blueberry note is juicy and floral. After a few years of aging, Robin's Egg has become even more gorgeous and creamy, with that stunning blueberry and a vision of dainty blue flowers. This one is discontinued and I'm really sad about that (but you could maybe find some in the swaps if you ask around).
Silver Fox [White tea with honey and rice milk, almond macaron, soft grey cashmere and cool woodland musk] (this perfume is so popular that it is also in the Continuous Collection and available all year 'round) - Stunning. Sophisticated yet snuggly. The cashmere is the most prominent, followed by fir, the sweetness of white amber, and NCD's gentle whipped honey note. I also wouldn't have been surprised to read that copal was a note - there's just that little bit of resinous almost-smoke. When it dries, the sweetness goes away and the fir comes forward. This was a freebie with one of my orders - I hadn't actually bought a sample of this for myself, worried that I wouldn't like the rice milk (which, as it turns out, I don't actually smell), but it has since become one of my favorite wintertime scents.
Sugar Glider [Raw cotton, sugar cane, flannel flower, macadamia nut, pearblossom, palest musk, and dandelion puff] - So here's the thing, I'm wary of gourmands (in fact I always sit out most of the April Fool's gourmand collection). Sugar is listed in the notes description in the very second place, but I am a sucker for cute woodland animals, so that's how I ended up with this sample. After a first sniff in the vial, I got a little nervous about it, because it smelled very sugary, but I figured I'd wear it once, review it for you all, and then in a worst-case scenario, destash it to someone who does love sugary dessert scents. But wait! There's something strangely intoxicating about this one, and it's not really a gourmand. Immediately when I put it on, it reminded me a bit of the Sweettart-ness of my beloved Somniphilia (Love of Sleep) [Lamb's wool accord, orange blossom, barely-budding lavender, melissa, green fig, clary, cloud musk, and weightless vanilla marshmallow meringue]. I was pleasantly surprised that Sugar Glider is not at all dessert, instead more sugar + wood, and really rather cuddly. And then when it dries down, it reminds me so strongly of the blue raspberry note in Dewdrops on Spidersilk [Cerulean strands of cotton flower bejeweled with dewdrops, cold crystalline musk, tiny black vanilla beans, frozen blue raspberry, and gentle incense], except it's not "blue" (nor is it raspberry, but neither is "blue raspberry"). How did they achieve this effect? I have no idea, but it's so addictive: such a delicate, cheerful, springtime scent. It really does remind me of the experience of picking a perfect white fluffy dandelion and making a wish as you blow it. Definitely a springtime favorite.
White-Tailed Deer [Soft brown suede, golden musk, wild forest berries, and roasted chestnuts dusted with maple sugar] - I am always hesitant about suede, but was very happy when this was included as a free sample because I'd heard lovely things about it but wouldn't have purchased it for myself. It's an interesting one because my experience is of it is very different depending on distance. When I'm just smelling it as it wafts around me, it's such a warm, cozy scent, the suede mingling with chestnut and brown sugar. When I bring my wrist directly up to my nose to sniff, the suede does get a bit overwhelmingly leathery, and overtakes the other notes. Once it dries, though, that unpleasantly smoky leatheriness dissipates (even right up under my nose), leaving only the highly autumnal coziness behind. It is indeed very "golden" - or maybe a really rich, warm brown. I don't get any berries at all. It reminds me of the very stylized acorns and hedgehogs that fellow autumn-lovers love to idolize. (And for some reason, Husband gets saffron!)
What are you hoping for this year? Any particular animals you're keeping fingers crossed for? Do we think it'll be mostly woodland creatures this year, or perhaps we'll get some oceanic or other Critters too?
submitted by TeaAndCozy to Indiemakeupandmore [link] [comments]
Anyway, the Critters are due back this Friday, with the newsletter announcing them on Thursday, and I am excited. As usual, I thought I'd post my thoughts on all the past Critters I've tried in case that might help you formulate your wishlist. And if you've tried any of these, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Was your experience similar to mine?
My preferences: I especially love snuggly scents, incense, golden amber, cardamom, black tea, beeswax, non-gourmand vanillas, and white florals (particularly tiare, honeysuckle and tuberose; sadly I am allergic to lilies and jasmine doesn’t work on me). I don't like hay, overly sweet gourmands, excessive musk, dragon’s blood, leather, patchouli, labdanum, or any really dark scents in general. To my great devastation, Nui Cobalt’s apricot and pear notes don’t tend to work on me, though I haven’t given up hope and I continue to try new blends with those notes occasionally.
Most of these perfumes were provided as press samples by Nui Cobalt in exchange for an honest review.
Rabbits
Little Brown Rabbit [Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against fluffy marshmallow, cottonflower, pink pepper, and a trace of carrot seed] (this perfume is so popular that it is also in the Continuous Collection and available all year 'round!) - This is one of my absolute top perfume oils. It comforts me on hard days, it cozies me on laid-back evenings, it cheers me on rainy days. My husband recognizes it immediately and honestly I think he finds it cuddly too when I'm wearing it, and it's also his primary frame of reference when he sniffs a new sample I'm trying - "that smells a bit like Little Brown Rabbit" is high praise from him. Wet, it's very strongly nutmeg and caramel, almost mapley, but also with just a bit of pepperish bite from the carrot seed - this is as gourmand as I'm willing to get. Once it dries, the caramel dissipates and it becomes the most marvelously snuggly scent. Having a bad day? Little Brown Rabbit can cheer you up. Having a cozy day? Little Brown Rabbit will make it that much better. Wanting to unwind in the evening? Little Brown Rabbit is my go-to snuggly evening scent. And I think it's the absolute must-try from Nui Cobalt.Little White Rabbit [Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against cottonflower, white peppercorn, clove, vanilla marshmallow creme, pale blue cashmere, carrot seed, and honeyed almond] - When the news broke that NCD was releasing a new little rabbit variant two years ago, I was SO excited (little did I know that it would seemingly become an annual thing!), and I blind-bought a full-size (something I never do). Especially because Little White Rabbit adds that wonderful cashmere note to Little Brown Rabbit, this one was a no-brainer for me, and my trust was easily rewarded. Nui Cobalt has outdone themselves with this, their most snuggly of perfumes. I expected this to be a lot like LBR only less mapley and perhaps more cashmere-y (and yes, it is both of these things), but truly, LWR feels even more like it's built on a base of Spidersilk vanilla (Starlight and Spidersilk: [Slender strands of cotton flower hung with trembling dewdrops, cold crystalline musk, and tiny black vanilla beans]), with some of the LBR spices (the peppercorn and carrot seed, but I don't sense any cloves) plus the comforting warmth of the cashmere and almond of Silver Fox (see below), another favorite of mine. And then finally, the marshmallow ties it all together into a pillowy cloud of coziness. It's frankly astonishing. Love at first sniff even just from the vial, and on my skin it blossoms into the most comforting scent. Do I love it even more than LBR? I still can't tell, even years later. I love them both. One final note that may be helpful to some of you: the cottonflower is pretty strong with this one, which is part of why it reminds me so much of the Spidersilk vanilla, but if you're not so much a fan of "clean" laundry-like scents, this one might not be quite your cup of tea - go for LBR instead.
Lilac Rabbit [Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against toasted marshmallow, carrot seed, summerweight cotton, allspice, and pale lilac in a smooth fur accord] - Oh friends, I hoped and pleaded for another new Rabbit last year, and the universe (and Nui Cobalt) answered! I'm not actually all that fond of lilac and I think I have ended up destashing all of my perfumes with lilac notes, but I was willing to risk it for the chance of a floral Rabbit. Lilac Rabbit is gorgeous - but really, did you expect it to be anything else? I get primarily marshmallow, allspice, and cotton. It sits exactly halfway between the other two Rabbits, with the allspice and peppery carrot seed spices of Little Brown Rabbit (but without the maple quality), and also with the silky, slightly soapy fabric aspect of Little White Rabbit. There is perhaps just a touch of musky lilac, but it doesn't really read to me like a floral perfume. Lilac Rabbit is comfortable. The closest metaphor I can think of is a day when you're wearing a new outfit, one that fits perfectly and really suits you, but it's also completely comfy, with no itchy spots or seams that dig in, and it moves with you. It's like a day where you feel perfectly yourself, fully at ease, and completely put-together. This new Rabbit is everything I could have possibly dreamed of, and it immediately became one of my favorite spring & summer scents.
Squirrels
In past years, they've offered a complete set of all the Squirrels, which was how I tried them all a few years ago. (They've since been discontinued, but sometimes discontinued things return again, or perhaps you might run into one in the swaps, so I'll include all my Squirrel reviews here.) All of the Squirrels are built on the same base of almond + apricot + benzoin, and then each one has different additional notes. Like the Spidersilk variants (all built on the same Spidersilk vanilla base but with different additional notes - my reviews HERE), the Squirrels each have an entirely different vibe. Interestingly, the actual proportion of almond to apricot also seems to vary by Squirrel, perhaps because of the interactions with the different added notes, or perhaps because they actually use different proportions in the Squirrel base for each one. It means that they don't feel anything like near-exact copies of each other, but each have a really distinct identity.Black Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, deepened by black oak, black currant, vanilla bean, and myrrh] - When I first put it on, it's very strongly and exclusively almond - a warm almond that reminds me of baking almond cookies, and it must be the vanilla that helps to make that association. The almond veers slightly towards cherry. As the oil warms on my skin, the apricot emerges and then overtakes the almond. It's apricot skin, soft and velvety, rather than the fleshy fruit of the apricot. These two notes, paired with the woodiness of the balsam and (presumably) black oak, makes this a very bookish scent, perfect for the dark academia aesthetic of my wardrobe in autumn. It's not really an incense-heavy perfume; the myrrh just grounds it and gives it a beautiful dark richness. On me it's not terribly fruity (though I know some folks get mostly dark stone fruits; isn't skin chemistry fascinating!) It's the longest-lasting of the Squirrels, too - the second time I wore it, its throw was a bit too high at bedtime so I washed my wrists, and even so, I could still smell Black Squirrel the next morning!
Flying Squirrel [Raw almond, spiced apricot, and rich benzoin borne aloft by lavender, cotton flower, and tart kumquat] - This one reminds me a lot of Napping in a Flower [Tender ripe apricot, Bulgarian lavender, spiced summer honey, plum blossom, daylily, honeysuckle, and ylang], which makes perfect sense since they share a lot of the same notes, but without the honey and honeysuckle that made Napping too candle-y on me. Husband said this reminds him strongly of Little White Rabbit - he said it's the spices that make that association for him, and I suspect he was also picking up on the shared cotton flower and almond notes. I'm finding it easier to compare Flying Squirrel to other NCD scents than to describe it on its own; its combination of notes feels quite erratic and the concept doesn't feel terribly unified. I couldn't classify this as a "cozy" perfume even though it does have a strong cotton flower note, nor is it citrusy enough for me to think of it as a fruity perfume (even though it has the strongest apricot of all the Squirrels), or herbal enough for it to go in my lavender section (in fact, I'm hoping that some aging brings out the lavender more). If you like Napping in a Flower or Little White Rabbit - two perfumes that are really nothing alike! - you'd probably enjoy this one too.
Grey Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, softened with cotton flower, cashmere, and teakwood] - This one gives the effect of eating an almond cookie while snuggled in a wool blanket. This one is super cozy - the autumn cousin of my beloved wintertime snuggly scents (Silver Fox, Snow Cat, Chionophilia, all of which also feature almond and fabric notes - see their full notes lists and my comparative reviews HERE). Grey Squirrel stays pretty static, not morphing like Black Squirrel, and the apricot is only barely present.
Red Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, warmed with red musk, red sandalwood, and smoldering amber] - This one is pretty heavy on the red musk, and was in fact partly responsible for me finally figuring out that I don't personally enjoy red musk. The almond, apricot, and sandalwood combination does give this a rather gourmand-adjacent feel to it, more so than the other Squirrels. It's a very rich and warm perfume. It's funny how actually "red" this scent feels - it feels like the experience of watching a bonfire die down, even though there's no smoke note at all. "Smoldering" indeed.
White Squirrel [A playful blend of almond and spiced apricot, grounded in rich benzoin and copaiba balsam, cooled with aloe, white musk, and smooth white amber] - Even without looking at the notes, it was easy to identify the white amber in this one, even though Nui Cobalt only infrequently uses white amber as a note. White Squirrel is very like Grey Squirrel, equally cozy but lighter and airier, with that white amber instead of cashmere. White Squirrel is cooler, more standoffish than Grey Squirrel - that "cool" effect must be the aloe - more a wintertime snuggly scent rather than an autumnal cozy scent. Even the now-familiar almond + apricot base feels daintier and even less foody here in White Squirrel.
Overall--
- Grey Squirrel and White Squirrel are the snuggly ones. Wear Grey Squirrel for cozy blanket vibes, and White Squirrel to be even daintier.
- Wear Red Squirrel for sexy outdoorsy gourmandy vibes (is that a thing? I think Red Squirrel makes it a thing)
- Black Squirrel is the dark academia sibling, and Flying Squirrel is the playful cousin
All the other Critters
Akhal-Teke [Fine ecru suede, raw silk, pearl musk, white amber, precious Hawaiian sandalwood, and creamy pistachio] - As someone put it, "super shiny horse". Silky yet fuzzy and soft, sophisticated yet snuggly. I recognize that pearl musk + sandalwood combination from Cancer [Cotton flower, steamed rice, soft sandalwood, vanilla orchid, coconut milk, and pearl musk] and I love it here too. All of these notes, suede + silk + pearl musk + white amber + sandalwood together, are gentle and just the epitome of softness, yet with just enough body and presence to be soft-on-purpose, assertively soft if that makes sense. This is not a wallflower scent. On to more specifics about the literal smell. At first, the nutty pistachio is pretty present, but it melds beautifully with the gentle suede. The silk and white amber give an elegance. I also definitely get the pearl musk and sandalwood, which take more prominence in the drydown when the pistachio dissipates a bit. This is my favorite stage - just soft, gentle, creamy, and absolutely lovely. Akhal-Teke has low throw but high longevity. I should note that after a year of aging, the pistachio amped quite a lot, overpowering that gorgeous pearl musk/sandalwood base that I loved so much. I'm hoping someday Forest might make one that's basically just pearl musk and sandalwood, without any gourmand elements!Black-Capped Chickadee [Dogwood saplings, cedar resin, the tang of young stone fruits: still tiny and green, sugar maple, pine nuts, and barely-thawed soil] - I'm not one for dirt notes, so I completely passed this one up for several years, but enough really glowing reviews finally convinced me to try it. In the vial, it smells of wood, honeyed fruits, and hay. On my skin, it's soil, slightly nutty and incensey, with plush fruit and some very cedar-forward wood notes - and yet it's surprisingly dainty, and a perfect encapsulation of a black-capped chickadee. There's something about this scent that reminds me of snow-covered pebbles, and also of Shakespeare's poem "The cloud-capp'd towers" from The Tempest. After much sniffing and pondering, I finally figured out why I made that snowy association - the fruits read to me like cranberry, making this feel like a wintery scent. As for "The cloud-capp'd towers," I think I'm getting that Shakespearean reference from the combination of daintiness and dirt.
Blossom Bat [Humid rainforest blossoms laden with nectar, dense moss, passionfruit, black fig, and bamboo] - This was an order freebie that I wouldn't have picked out for myself, but it's so fun, and it went straight into my "Aloe and dewy" section of my summer perfumes, next to Waimea Mist and Aloha from the Big Island summer collection. Blossom Bat is velvety flower petals against a lush background of aquatic notes. I don't often enjoy moss notes (they often turn into honeydew melon on my skin), but here the moss contributes to the especially verdant feeling.
Blue Jay [Sturdy blue spruce and young oak support the bold elegance of white peony, angelica, blackberry bramble, and rhubarb] - In the vial, it's extremely fruity with a hint of trees. On my skin, it matches the description much more closely: evergreens and forest floor, brightened by fruity sweetness and a hint of floral. If you loved None of Your Beeswax [Thorny brambles of blackberry, elderflower, violet, fennel seed, sacred benzoin, and unfiltered honey] from the Bees collection, do give this one a try - Blue Jay is like None of Your Beeswax's summer cousin. I once wore this to a community theater production of Into the Woods and it was perfect.
Copper Fox [Warm chai with steamed almond milk nestled in sumptuous cashmere, crimson musk, sarsaparilla, and budding birch] - I once went on a quest to find the perfect chai perfume, and of course I had to try Copper Fox! Immediately on application, Copper Fox is root beer, spicy root beer - there's that sarsaparilla in a big way. As it quickly dries, the overwhelmingly root beer-ness of it backs off somewhat, and it becomes much more chai spices + the woody birch (and still with an undercurrent of root beer). Chai latte this is not - it's all the spices of chai (cinnamon and black pepper especially, and probably a bit of ginger as well) without any sweetness or milky creaminess. I should note that at this point my skin has a slight reaction to this perfume; this perfume ended up being part of my discovery that like many others, I too have a slight skin reaction to cinnamon. It didn't hurt a bit and the redness went away fairly quickly, but be forewarned, if you're a person that has a reaction to cinnamon, this might be a blend worth steering away from, or at least planning to wear in a scent locket or in your hair instead of on your skin. Finally, several hours later, Copper Fox has a third stage, and to me the most lovely: chai spices backed by gentle almond and cozy cashmere (and at this stage it's clearly a "Fox" like Silver Fox).
Elf Owl [A bright concoction of liatrix, yellow sandalwood, beach-tumbled teak, solar musk, crushed coriander, and a scant pinch of pale cinnamon] - With the teak and cinnamon, and of course the obvious cue of the "solar musk", I was expecting this to be in the same family as Nui Cobalt's Sun, Heliophilia (Love of Sun), and Sunrise on Spidersilk (comparative review HERE!). Those sun-themed perfumes can be a bit too sharp and masculine on me (I tend to prefer snuggly scents or white florals), but as a great lover of owls (and a huge fan of Nui Cobalt's Snowy Owl [Dried coconut flakes, pale woods, frozen tuberose, vanilla orchid, and fluffy feather musk], with which it admittedly shares not a single note), I absolutely could not pass up Elf Owl. I'm so glad I didn't. This actually isn't in the sun-themed family, nor, of course, does it match the highly white-floral Snowy Owl. Instead, Elf Owl turns out to be much closer to Squash Blossom [Cocobolo wood, orris root, carrot seed, sunflower petals, mandarin zest, and acorn squash baked with brown sugar] from the Autumn 1 collection, though much less vegetal. It's a very well-blended perfume and nothing in particular stands out. The overall effect is gentle: gently floral and slightly vegetal, with vanilla and baking spices but without any sugary sweetness. (Liatrix, for anyone who doesn't know what that note is--I had to look it up myself!--is a "sweet, coumarinic, herbal, tobacco-like floral and offers a pleasant vanilla-like scent".)
Fennec Fox [Blush sandalwood, amber resin, antique Egyptian cotton touched with saffron, spiced peach preserves, and sweet cedar resin] - It's gentle, warm, and spiced, with that snuggly feeling that you get with anything that has NCD's cotton note. If you really look, you can distinguish the wood, saffron, and peach, but they meld together extremely well. Surprisingly, I actually get quite a lot of the same sand note as in Flying South [Pink lemonade, warm sand, tiare blossoms, and a flowy cotton sundress] even though sand is not listed. I wear Fennec Fox in autumn on days when I don't feel like a pumpkin.
Glasswing Butterfly [A diaphanous veil of coconut water, elderflower, moonlit gardenia, silver musk, green lavender, and a slender twist of lime] - Nelophilia (Love of Glass) [Elderflower, silver musk, coconut water, cardamom, silk tree, lime blossom, and smooth hinoki wood] is one of my favorites from the Valentine's collection, but it's been discontinued for some time. So I was delighted to see this one because its notes read like a combination of Nelophilia and Queen Bee [Creamy white gardenia and fluffy whipped honey], both among my favorite NCD perfumes. It's not quite - it's not the same almost-spicy gardenia as in Queen Bee - but it is absolutely divine. Glasswing Butterfly is basically Nelophilia with all its smooth, cool, rainy, white floral nature, but here the cardamom is more present (YES! I love cardamom), and with a bit more floral. After a year of aging, it became quite a LOT more white floral; the heady gardenia came out with a KICK, and it's nearly but not quite indolic.
Honey Badger [Black amber, raw honey, smoked maple wood, and cardamom-infused cream] - I mean, duh, I had to try this one just for the cardamom cream. This is somehow so recognizably a NCD scent. Honey straight from the comb, dripping and golden, rich and sweet, backed by maple wood (but not really maple syrup) and a whiff of cardamom spice. Not nearly enough cardamom for my taste - but then, we all know what I'm like! I'm so glad I tried this one. Since its notes list starts with "black amber," I expected this to be quite a dark scent, but while it's quite rich, it's not ominously dark. Husband really likes this one, which is always a special success.
Hummingbird [Darting from oleander to orange blossom with ripe nectarine, hibiscus tea, and traces of tuberose] - White florals with orange and nectarine fruit notes, chirpy and cheerful. It's a juicy but not sugary scent. I love it for warm spring days - it's an absolute staple of my springtime perfumes - though I find it a little cloying in very hot weather.
Opossum [A bold nocturnal potion of Hatian amyris, soft black suede, red patchouli, freshly-turned earth, copal resin, and Peru balsam] - I get suede, red musk, and brown patchouli; meanwhile Husband, sniffing my wrist, gets pine and petrichor. Yet the combination of all these things is surprisingly gentle, not a shouty, in-your-face kind of scent. Absolutely none of the notes we're picking up on are my thing, but just about all of them very much are Husband's thing, so guess what - he immediately snaffled this one.
Orchid Mantis [Ripe Philippine mango, dragon fruit, tamarind, Indonesian teak, clove bud, sandalwood, tuberose, and a touch of ylang] - This one is bit too sweet for me on application - at first it's all sugary mango - but as it warms on my skin, the other notes creep in: more fruit (but less sugar), a bit of sharp clove for balance, and hints of woodiness and florals. As it dries, those hints of clove and woodiness amp further (and at this point, all my husband smells is cinnamony clove). For some reason, this is one of the very strongest of my NCD scents, with high longevity and even higher throw.
Raccoon [Sepia cashmere, guaiac wood, Egyptian amber, Copaiba balsam, golden musk, a twinkle of coriander, blonde oudh, resinous Himalayan cedar, and myrrh] - It's so well-blended that I can't pick out a single note individually, but something about this feels so quintessentially NCD. Right on application, it makes me think of Cheat Code [Windswept teakwood, cedar, coriander and tea are grounded in black tonka with a hint of fine leather], another one I had trouble describing, and it has a similar level of elegance and polish. Meanwhile, Husband smelled a bit of cola or sarsparilla, and noted an almost chocolatey undertone. As it dries, the cashmere and musk come forward, quite woolly and plush and just a touch animalistic. It seems a similar cashmere musk as in Arctic Fox [Soft amber nestled in sumptuous cashmere, steamed rice milk, winter white musk, and snow-covered fir trees]. If Arctic Fox worked for you, you absolutely must try Raccoon. Since Arctic Fox doesn't work on me (my skin amps that cashmere to unpleasant levels), Raccoon ultimately won't win a place in my collection either - which is a bummer because that opening is so pretty. I'll have to stick with Cheat Code for my polished, sophisticated vibes.
Robin's Egg [Dainty forget-me-nots and lily of the valley, a dollop of whipped blueberry creme, and a cozy birch nest tucked into a flowering dogwood tree] - This one has the same amazing blueberry as Grey Cat [Dry smoked vanilla, fluffy marshmallow creme, fresh blueberries, the gentlest touch of lavender and a warm cup of Earl Grey], House of Transcendence [Top notes of wild blueberry and morning fog, a heart of pale lilac and cashmere, with a base of orris and white amber], and Choreophilia [Wild violets, warm Earl Grey, Dominican blue amber, orris root, a handful of blueberries, and a touch of lime marmalade]. This iteration of the blueberry note is juicy and floral. After a few years of aging, Robin's Egg has become even more gorgeous and creamy, with that stunning blueberry and a vision of dainty blue flowers. This one is discontinued and I'm really sad about that (but you could maybe find some in the swaps if you ask around).
Silver Fox [White tea with honey and rice milk, almond macaron, soft grey cashmere and cool woodland musk] (this perfume is so popular that it is also in the Continuous Collection and available all year 'round) - Stunning. Sophisticated yet snuggly. The cashmere is the most prominent, followed by fir, the sweetness of white amber, and NCD's gentle whipped honey note. I also wouldn't have been surprised to read that copal was a note - there's just that little bit of resinous almost-smoke. When it dries, the sweetness goes away and the fir comes forward. This was a freebie with one of my orders - I hadn't actually bought a sample of this for myself, worried that I wouldn't like the rice milk (which, as it turns out, I don't actually smell), but it has since become one of my favorite wintertime scents.
Sugar Glider [Raw cotton, sugar cane, flannel flower, macadamia nut, pearblossom, palest musk, and dandelion puff] - So here's the thing, I'm wary of gourmands (in fact I always sit out most of the April Fool's gourmand collection). Sugar is listed in the notes description in the very second place, but I am a sucker for cute woodland animals, so that's how I ended up with this sample. After a first sniff in the vial, I got a little nervous about it, because it smelled very sugary, but I figured I'd wear it once, review it for you all, and then in a worst-case scenario, destash it to someone who does love sugary dessert scents. But wait! There's something strangely intoxicating about this one, and it's not really a gourmand. Immediately when I put it on, it reminded me a bit of the Sweettart-ness of my beloved Somniphilia (Love of Sleep) [Lamb's wool accord, orange blossom, barely-budding lavender, melissa, green fig, clary, cloud musk, and weightless vanilla marshmallow meringue]. I was pleasantly surprised that Sugar Glider is not at all dessert, instead more sugar + wood, and really rather cuddly. And then when it dries down, it reminds me so strongly of the blue raspberry note in Dewdrops on Spidersilk [Cerulean strands of cotton flower bejeweled with dewdrops, cold crystalline musk, tiny black vanilla beans, frozen blue raspberry, and gentle incense], except it's not "blue" (nor is it raspberry, but neither is "blue raspberry"). How did they achieve this effect? I have no idea, but it's so addictive: such a delicate, cheerful, springtime scent. It really does remind me of the experience of picking a perfect white fluffy dandelion and making a wish as you blow it. Definitely a springtime favorite.
White-Tailed Deer [Soft brown suede, golden musk, wild forest berries, and roasted chestnuts dusted with maple sugar] - I am always hesitant about suede, but was very happy when this was included as a free sample because I'd heard lovely things about it but wouldn't have purchased it for myself. It's an interesting one because my experience is of it is very different depending on distance. When I'm just smelling it as it wafts around me, it's such a warm, cozy scent, the suede mingling with chestnut and brown sugar. When I bring my wrist directly up to my nose to sniff, the suede does get a bit overwhelmingly leathery, and overtakes the other notes. Once it dries, though, that unpleasantly smoky leatheriness dissipates (even right up under my nose), leaving only the highly autumnal coziness behind. It is indeed very "golden" - or maybe a really rich, warm brown. I don't get any berries at all. It reminds me of the very stylized acorns and hedgehogs that fellow autumn-lovers love to idolize. (And for some reason, Husband gets saffron!)
Personally...
Robin's Egg, Sugar Glider, and Elf Owl are some of my TOP favorite perfumes for spring; Fennec Fox for fall; and Silver Fox for winter. Black Squirrel is my favorite of the Squirrels (in fact I ended up destashing all the others since I continue to have some issues with NCD's apricot note) - it's so beautifully dark-academia. And in my opinion, the three Rabbits are absolute must-tries (and I hold so much hope for a new Rabbit this year!). If you try nothing else from this collection, try whichever of the three Rabbits most calls your name - they're all different but all absolutely stunning.What are you hoping for this year? Any particular animals you're keeping fingers crossed for? Do we think it'll be mostly woodland creatures this year, or perhaps we'll get some oceanic or other Critters too?
2024.04.20 23:00 AutoModerator What is #VALZUBIRIAGENDA and some ideas and insights
The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:
- We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
- We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
- We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.
I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.
JOIN THIS GROUP
If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist
2024.04.20 18:38 winterene Limited Output Can Be a Boone
To be clear, I ADORE Taylor Swift, and attending the Eras Tour in Nashville, despite the rain (or perhaps because of it) was one of the best experiences of my life. Nonetheless, when 'evermore' was released so soon after 'folklore', so soon after 'Lover', I wondered if she was putting out too much music, and now comes TTPD with its whopping 31 tracks...
And not a single standout, which contrasts sharply with 'Midnights', when I instantly started putting "Anti-Hero" on repeat, then "Maroon", "Lavender Haze", "Bejeweled". The underwhelming nature of her new record walidates my feeling that Taylor is oversaturating the market with subpar music, and given that TTPD comes on the heels of OGWAU with its brief ten tracks (plus one more on the Japanese wersion), I feel even more strongly that VW's limiting how much music they put out has been a STRONG asset.
Unlike TTPD, which had zero for me, OGWAU has had MANY tracks that I played over and over, tracks that have stuck in my head, like "Hope" and "Prep-School Gangsters", and even the songs that I like less, like "Connect" and "Pravda" have melodies and instrumentation the I return to over and over.
As many VW-heads have written in this forum, OGWAU is about as "no skips" as a record can be (with the possible exception of "The Surfer"), and meanwhile I am already forgetting about TTPD.
Broadening the comparison to the artists' entire catalog, VW has, what, around 60 released songs? 70? I would say that hardly any of them are weak, and most range from excellent to spectacular to outstanding, I'd say better than 80%. I've listened to Taylor's entire catalog (I think) multiple times, and I am confident that not even 50% of her songs are standout tracks.
Like I said, I adore Taylor, but I hope she waits at least three years until her next record, and I hope that it has fewer tracks.
submitted by winterene to Vampireweekend [link] [comments]
And not a single standout, which contrasts sharply with 'Midnights', when I instantly started putting "Anti-Hero" on repeat, then "Maroon", "Lavender Haze", "Bejeweled". The underwhelming nature of her new record walidates my feeling that Taylor is oversaturating the market with subpar music, and given that TTPD comes on the heels of OGWAU with its brief ten tracks (plus one more on the Japanese wersion), I feel even more strongly that VW's limiting how much music they put out has been a STRONG asset.
Unlike TTPD, which had zero for me, OGWAU has had MANY tracks that I played over and over, tracks that have stuck in my head, like "Hope" and "Prep-School Gangsters", and even the songs that I like less, like "Connect" and "Pravda" have melodies and instrumentation the I return to over and over.
As many VW-heads have written in this forum, OGWAU is about as "no skips" as a record can be (with the possible exception of "The Surfer"), and meanwhile I am already forgetting about TTPD.
Broadening the comparison to the artists' entire catalog, VW has, what, around 60 released songs? 70? I would say that hardly any of them are weak, and most range from excellent to spectacular to outstanding, I'd say better than 80%. I've listened to Taylor's entire catalog (I think) multiple times, and I am confident that not even 50% of her songs are standout tracks.
Like I said, I adore Taylor, but I hope she waits at least three years until her next record, and I hope that it has fewer tracks.
2024.04.20 17:51 Wallflower_se Are people disliking the album because it's not shocking enough? A brief review
Okay yall listen up. I think I'm starting to understand why some people don't seem to like this album as much (I'm NOT one of these people). Aside from the whole "it all sounds the same and it's too depressing" part, I think it's also because none of the songs are necessarily shocking. Now hear me out;
I think the only unexpected part is that a lot of the songs are about Matty, whom a lot of the fandom dislikes. But that being said, even his songs don't have any shocking lyrics.
At least not compared to the songs we've listened to for the past 3 years.
Let me present the evidence:
In Fearless TV we got the masterpiece that is Mr Perfectly Fine:
And of course Midnights:
So in conclusion; we've been surprised with banger after banger of songs with heart wrenching lyrics or just straight up savagery. And none of them were expected. Or at least not in the beginning. But gradually, I feel like people started expecting her to always have this bombshell of a song in each album. I feel like people expected more from the songs she would write about Joe. I cannot fathom how some people are saying that some of it sounds like 13-year olds shit posting on tumblr or AI written lyrics. She's 34, she can still write about being in love like in So High School. And I feel people are seriously overlooking a lot of the lyrics because they cannot get over the slow paced songs. Look I get it, going from Midnights and 1989 TV, which are two very pop heavy albums, to a slow paced mellow album might be hard for some people. But you cannot ignore shit like this just because none of the songs are super shocking:
Feel free to add to the long list of amazing lyrics and connected stories within the album.
This intern rests her case and is awaiting the departments notes on the matter. Thank you.
Edit: I want to add that I don't sit down and over analyse what song is about what ex-boyfriend. I see it more as a story like I mentioned at the end. I think that's also how the album was largely intended. This album portrays a lot of raw emotion. That's what I like to analyse. How does the album fit into the 5 stages of grief. Now you are entitled to your own opinion if the album is just not for you. I do think it's totally valid to not like it because of the production or you just don't relate to the music in general. But being disappointed because the album is not spilling any TEA™️ is a bit shortsighted imo. She literally sings about being a functioning alcoholic at some point. Like bffr besties. I once again rest my case💅🏾
submitted by Wallflower_se to TaylorSwift [link] [comments]
I think the only unexpected part is that a lot of the songs are about Matty, whom a lot of the fandom dislikes. But that being said, even his songs don't have any shocking lyrics.
At least not compared to the songs we've listened to for the past 3 years.
Let me present the evidence:
In Fearless TV we got the masterpiece that is Mr Perfectly Fine:
Because I hear he's got his arm 'round a brand-new girlWe of course have Red TV with ATW (TV) (10 min version):
I've been pickin' up my heart, he's been pickin' up her
And I never got past what you put me through
But it's wonderful to see that it never phased you
And I was never good at telling jokesThen we have Speak Now TV and 1989 TV, which I think already were quite enticing due to Taylor Lautner being involved in a song where she literally sings the following about him:
But the punch line goes
I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age
They say all's well that ends well, but I'm in a new Hell Every time you double-cross my mind You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine And that made me want to die
Cause I can see you waitin' down the hall from me And I could see you up against the wall with me And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew, oh, oh, oh That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor I could see you, make me want you even more What would you do? Baby, if you only knew That I can see youAnd 1989 being about Harry for the most part where she very much called him out on his shit:
Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees laterNot to mention the fact that she made a song called Slut!, which turned out to sound even better than anybody expected it to sound.
I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters
You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor
You search in every maiden's bed for somethin' greater, baby
And of course Midnights:
If clarity's in death, then why won't this die?I don't think I need to elaborate on this song. Also an honorable mention: Vigilante Shit.
Years of tearing down our banners, you and I
Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts
Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first
So in conclusion; we've been surprised with banger after banger of songs with heart wrenching lyrics or just straight up savagery. And none of them were expected. Or at least not in the beginning. But gradually, I feel like people started expecting her to always have this bombshell of a song in each album. I feel like people expected more from the songs she would write about Joe. I cannot fathom how some people are saying that some of it sounds like 13-year olds shit posting on tumblr or AI written lyrics. She's 34, she can still write about being in love like in So High School. And I feel people are seriously overlooking a lot of the lyrics because they cannot get over the slow paced songs. Look I get it, going from Midnights and 1989 TV, which are two very pop heavy albums, to a slow paced mellow album might be hard for some people. But you cannot ignore shit like this just because none of the songs are super shocking:
All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February - FortnightThe entirety of The Tortured Poets Department (the song) is quite emotionally charged. Especially this part:
At dinner, you take my ring off my middle fingerCan you imagine what she was feeling at this moment after writing this about Joe in So Long, London:
And put it on the one people put wedding rings on
And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding
You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waitin' for the proofSo I recommend the following as a parting gift. This album is a story of the last (at least) 2-3 years of her life, when we thought everything was cool and sparkling (I.e. Bejeweled). I think listening to these songs out of order to understand the story gives it more meaning. Much like Folklore when Taylor released different playlists to kind of change the storyline with each of them. I also think a lot of these songs are very relatable in general. Like Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?, Peter and Robin. They scream inner child rage to me. But they could also fit the story. They're not shocking, they're her emotions. I do have to say though, thanK you aIMee is unhinged.
Feel free to add to the long list of amazing lyrics and connected stories within the album.
This intern rests her case and is awaiting the departments notes on the matter. Thank you.
Edit: I want to add that I don't sit down and over analyse what song is about what ex-boyfriend. I see it more as a story like I mentioned at the end. I think that's also how the album was largely intended. This album portrays a lot of raw emotion. That's what I like to analyse. How does the album fit into the 5 stages of grief. Now you are entitled to your own opinion if the album is just not for you. I do think it's totally valid to not like it because of the production or you just don't relate to the music in general. But being disappointed because the album is not spilling any TEA™️ is a bit shortsighted imo. She literally sings about being a functioning alcoholic at some point. Like bffr besties. I once again rest my case💅🏾
2024.04.19 14:51 clarauser7890 Sorting songs into months FINAL RESULTS (for now…) 💜
I started this game almost 5 months and I want to thank everyone for participating. Once we’ve familiarized ourselves with The Tortured Poets Department, I’ll create a Google form to include all 31 (!) of Taylor’s new songs in this game. But for now, we’ll leave it here.
PREVIOUS ROUND RESULTS:
• Soundtrack songs •
Crazier: June
Safe & Sound: November
Eyes Open: October
Beautiful Ghosts: January
Only The Young: September
Carolina: August
• Tayfeatures •
Highway Don’t Care (Tim McGraw): July
Renegade (Big Red Machine): November
The Joker and the Queen (Ed Sheeran): March
Gasoline (HAIM): July
The Alcott (The National): November
• Covers •
Drops of Jupiter (Train): July
Bette Davis Eyes (Jackie DeShannon): May
I Want You Back (Michael Jackson): August
September (Earth, Wind & Fire): September
• Other •
Beautiful Eyes: May
MONTHS & THEIR SONGS:
January: - Cold As You - White Horse - Forever & Always (Piano Version) - Dear John - State Of Grace - The Last Time - Begin Again - State Of Grace (Acoustic Version) - Clean - …Ready For It? - New Year’s Day - I Forgot That You Existed - Lover - the 1 - exile - my tears ricochet - closure - it’s time to go - Bigger Than The Whole Sky - Dear Reader - Beautiful Ghosts
February: - Invisible - A Perfectly Good Heart - Today Was A Fairytale - Don’t You - Castles Crumbling - So It Goes… - Delicate - All Of The Girls You Loved Before - Lavender Haze - Labyrinth
March: - Teardrops On My Guitar - The Outside - The Way I Loved You - Bye Bye Baby - Stay Stay Stay - The Man - epiphany - gold rush - ivy - The Joker and the Queen
April: - Tied Together With A Smile - Fearless - Hey Stephen - Forever & Always - Come In With The Rain - You All Over Me - That’s When - Ours - Superman - When Emma Falls In Love - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - All You Had To Do Was Stay - Sweeter Than Fiction - Death By A Thousand Cuts - illicit affairs - Midnight Rain - Question…? - High Infidelity
May: - A Place In This World - Stay Beautiful - Love Story - Jump Then Fall - The Other Side Of The Door - Speak Now - Mean - Timeless - The Lucky One - How You Get The Girl - Paper Rings - London Boy - ME! - the last great american dynasty - mirrorball - the lakes - invisible string - long story short - You’re On Your Own, Kid - Sweet Nothing - Beautiful Eyes - Bette Davis Eyes
June: - Picture To Burn - Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) - Our Song - Change - Mine - Long Live - Foolish One - 22 - Girl At Home - The Very First Night - Welcome To New York - New Romantics - Now That We Don’t Talk - Gorgeous - I Think He Knows - You Need To Calm Down - dorothea - Bejeweled - Paris - Crazier - Gasoline
July: - Should’ve Said No - I’m Only Me When I’m With You - Tell Me Why - Superstar - Sparks Fly - Better Than Revenge - Last Kiss - I Can See You - Starlight - Message In A Bottle - Style - Shake It Off - Wonderland - End Game - Getaway Car - This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things - Cruel Summer - seven - Karma - Hits Different - Highway Don’t Care - Drops of Jupiter
August: - Mr. Perfectly Fine - Electric Touch - I Knew You Were Trouble - Babe - Blank Space - Wildest Dreams - This Love - You Are In Love - “Slut!” - Suburban Legends - King Of My Heart - Afterglow - Daylight - august - Carolina - I Want You Back
September: - Tim McGraw - Fifteen - You Belong With Me - Untouchable - Innocent - Treacherous - Holy Ground - Everything Has Changed - I Bet You Think About Me - Anti-Hero - Mastermind - Out Of The Woods - I Wish You Would - Dancing With Our Hands Tied - Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince - False God - It’s Nice To Have A Friend - this is me trying - betty - cowboy like me - Only The Young - September
October: - Breathe - The Best Day - The Story Of Us - Haunted - Red - All Too Well - Come Back…Be Here - Ronan - Better Man - Nothing New - All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - Bad Blood - I Know Places - I Did Something Bad - Look What You Made Me Do - Dress - mad woman - willow - no body, no crime - marjorie - Maroon - Vigilante Shit - Glitch - Eyes Open
November: - We Were Happy - I Almost Do - Run - Say Don’t Go - Don’t Blame Me - Call It What You Want - Cornelia Street - Soon You’ll Get Better - cardigan - peace - hoax - champagne problems - tolerate it - happiness - coney island - evermore - right where you left me - The Great War - Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve - Safe & Sound - Renegade - The Alcott
December: - You’re Not Sorry - If This Was A Movie - Back To December - Never Grow Up - Enchanted - Sad Beautiful Tragic - The Moment I Knew - Forever Winter - Is It Over Now? - I Don’t Wanna Live Forever - The Archer - ‘tis the damn season - Snow On The Beach - You’re Losing Me
submitted by clarauser7890 to TaylorGamesWannaPlay [link] [comments]
PREVIOUS ROUND RESULTS:
• Soundtrack songs •
Crazier: June
Safe & Sound: November
Eyes Open: October
Beautiful Ghosts: January
Only The Young: September
Carolina: August
• Tayfeatures •
Highway Don’t Care (Tim McGraw): July
Renegade (Big Red Machine): November
The Joker and the Queen (Ed Sheeran): March
Gasoline (HAIM): July
The Alcott (The National): November
• Covers •
Drops of Jupiter (Train): July
Bette Davis Eyes (Jackie DeShannon): May
I Want You Back (Michael Jackson): August
September (Earth, Wind & Fire): September
• Other •
Beautiful Eyes: May
MONTHS & THEIR SONGS:
January: - Cold As You - White Horse - Forever & Always (Piano Version) - Dear John - State Of Grace - The Last Time - Begin Again - State Of Grace (Acoustic Version) - Clean - …Ready For It? - New Year’s Day - I Forgot That You Existed - Lover - the 1 - exile - my tears ricochet - closure - it’s time to go - Bigger Than The Whole Sky - Dear Reader - Beautiful Ghosts
February: - Invisible - A Perfectly Good Heart - Today Was A Fairytale - Don’t You - Castles Crumbling - So It Goes… - Delicate - All Of The Girls You Loved Before - Lavender Haze - Labyrinth
March: - Teardrops On My Guitar - The Outside - The Way I Loved You - Bye Bye Baby - Stay Stay Stay - The Man - epiphany - gold rush - ivy - The Joker and the Queen
April: - Tied Together With A Smile - Fearless - Hey Stephen - Forever & Always - Come In With The Rain - You All Over Me - That’s When - Ours - Superman - When Emma Falls In Love - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - All You Had To Do Was Stay - Sweeter Than Fiction - Death By A Thousand Cuts - illicit affairs - Midnight Rain - Question…? - High Infidelity
May: - A Place In This World - Stay Beautiful - Love Story - Jump Then Fall - The Other Side Of The Door - Speak Now - Mean - Timeless - The Lucky One - How You Get The Girl - Paper Rings - London Boy - ME! - the last great american dynasty - mirrorball - the lakes - invisible string - long story short - You’re On Your Own, Kid - Sweet Nothing - Beautiful Eyes - Bette Davis Eyes
June: - Picture To Burn - Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) - Our Song - Change - Mine - Long Live - Foolish One - 22 - Girl At Home - The Very First Night - Welcome To New York - New Romantics - Now That We Don’t Talk - Gorgeous - I Think He Knows - You Need To Calm Down - dorothea - Bejeweled - Paris - Crazier - Gasoline
July: - Should’ve Said No - I’m Only Me When I’m With You - Tell Me Why - Superstar - Sparks Fly - Better Than Revenge - Last Kiss - I Can See You - Starlight - Message In A Bottle - Style - Shake It Off - Wonderland - End Game - Getaway Car - This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things - Cruel Summer - seven - Karma - Hits Different - Highway Don’t Care - Drops of Jupiter
August: - Mr. Perfectly Fine - Electric Touch - I Knew You Were Trouble - Babe - Blank Space - Wildest Dreams - This Love - You Are In Love - “Slut!” - Suburban Legends - King Of My Heart - Afterglow - Daylight - august - Carolina - I Want You Back
September: - Tim McGraw - Fifteen - You Belong With Me - Untouchable - Innocent - Treacherous - Holy Ground - Everything Has Changed - I Bet You Think About Me - Anti-Hero - Mastermind - Out Of The Woods - I Wish You Would - Dancing With Our Hands Tied - Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince - False God - It’s Nice To Have A Friend - this is me trying - betty - cowboy like me - Only The Young - September
October: - Breathe - The Best Day - The Story Of Us - Haunted - Red - All Too Well - Come Back…Be Here - Ronan - Better Man - Nothing New - All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - Bad Blood - I Know Places - I Did Something Bad - Look What You Made Me Do - Dress - mad woman - willow - no body, no crime - marjorie - Maroon - Vigilante Shit - Glitch - Eyes Open
November: - We Were Happy - I Almost Do - Run - Say Don’t Go - Don’t Blame Me - Call It What You Want - Cornelia Street - Soon You’ll Get Better - cardigan - peace - hoax - champagne problems - tolerate it - happiness - coney island - evermore - right where you left me - The Great War - Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve - Safe & Sound - Renegade - The Alcott
December: - You’re Not Sorry - If This Was A Movie - Back To December - Never Grow Up - Enchanted - Sad Beautiful Tragic - The Moment I Knew - Forever Winter - Is It Over Now? - I Don’t Wanna Live Forever - The Archer - ‘tis the damn season - Snow On The Beach - You’re Losing Me
2024.04.19 06:19 Dr_FragHead With a delicate spritz, a veritable symphony unfolds. Zesty citrus & sultry saffron that conjuring the essence of a bustling souk. Nishane safran colognise, A comprehensive review 👇🏼
 | (Pc: Lazy to be creative) submitted by Dr_FragHead to Perfumes [link] [comments] If the expression “Bathed in Sunlight”, was ever a fragrance, this would be itNishane👉🏻 Nishane is a luxury fragrance brand founded in 2012 by Mert Güzel and Murat Katran in Istanbul, Turkey. The brand takes its name from the old city of Nish, which was located in the region that is now known as Turkey 🇹🇷. Nishane draws inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of Istanbul, blending traditional Turkish influences with contemporary flair to create unique and captivating fragrances.👉🏻 They have a creative-olfactory library of 12 separate collections. Some of the notable collections includes The X collection, Imaginative collection, Prestige collection, Shadow play collection, Signature collection, Colognise collection & few more Each collection features minimum of 1 to a maximum of 6 fragrances. Colognisé/Extrait de CologneThe fragrances in this collection is designed to be light and refreshing for summers / cologne style of fragrances. Out of all the collections from Nishane, this is one of the least talked about line. IMHO this entire line is slept upon. This collection comprises of 3 fragrances
Nishane Safran CologniseConcentration : Extrait de ParfumYes, the label features an non-existent perfume concentration “Extrait de cologne”.But Nishane used this term to describe a type of fragrance that combines the freshness of a cologne with the longevity and richness of an extrait de parfum.Perfumer☀️Jorge LeeJorge Lee may not be the first name that will come to your mind when we talk about citrus fragrance. But he is one of the most creative perfumer in the modern perfumery world. On my scale he is second only to my all time favourite perfumer Julien Rasquinet. Some of the best & known Jorge Lee fragrances includes
Packaging & Presentation🎁This comes in a dark mildly ribbed paperboard box, features the name of the brand in the middle, name of the fragrance at the top & on the base, it features the concentration. On the right side of the box, it features a contemporary design of a wooden wheel with leaves & flowers. I don’t know if this signifies anything in specific, if you guys know anything about this. Please let me know.🎁The Saffron-water coloured fragrance comes in a cylindrical stout glass bottle with a wooden cap. The atomizer is a joy to use. Fragrance ProfileIt is a Citrusy—Woody—leathery unisex fragrance. But for my nose, leans masculine.Notes Here
How it smells?🍋) The fragrance opens with a bright blast of mixed citrus 🍊fruits. Grapefruit & Citron are zesty & tart. These are piercingly sharp, which is mellowed down by a sweet & fruity passion fruit. But its mostly a nuance than a note.🍋) Dry & Bitter /Tart radiant citruses makes 50% of this fragrance. This has one if the most natural smelling citruses. People who love sweet & synthetic citruses / blue fragrances may not prefer this, as this may not be the most appealing fragrance. 🍋) The passion-fruit nuance that I previously talked about, combined with warm saffron. Gives this fragrance a “tropical + Basking in the sun” vibes. 🍋) For the name sake saffron is the star ⭐️ of the show, but the tart citruses,leather & musk the win the heart of the wearer. I get a 🤔 “vetiver” note too, but I may be wrong. 🍋) The dry-down is all about soft leather & musk. It is not a pungent leather, not the upholstery of a million dollar 💵 Ferrari, Nope ❌. Its a soft & cheerful leather with a clean musk base. The musk just makes this fragrance even more sophisticated. Undecorated breakdownIt smells like freshly plucked citrus fruits in a handmade leather basket. The “solar notes” you might have heard from a famous designer fragrance 1million Parfum. That would better suit this fragrance, than that. Cuz this envelopes the wearer with a warmth, that makes you imagine about basking under the Mediterranean sun. (Or) The warmth from the saffron & refreshing exotic citruses may take you to busy Arab exotic market - souk, where you eat luxury & experience being bejewelled in Gold.PerformanceOne of the citrus fragrances, that actually lasts. Performance is a strong point for this fragrance, considering the fragrance profile it was a surprise for me.Longevity🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑Projection🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑Compliment-factor🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑This lasts 6–7hrs with a strong projection for initial 1 ½ hr & remains a skin scent, but once in a while you will get a waft, its to die for. I don’t think you will get enough compliments with this one, cuz its more polarising for a citrus scent & its more on mature side. People may find it less appealing than the blue fragrances & aquatic freshies. When & Where, For whom?⭕️ This fragrance can be an all seasoner, it has enough freshness to lift you up in summers 🌤️, it has enough warmth to cozy up in colder seasons 🌥️. (Avoid it in snowfall ❄️☃️, if your region can find snow that is!!!!). Other than that, it is pretty much an all seasoner for me.⭕️ It is a lazy wear / dumb reach on daytime kind of a scent, but a more sophisticated version of that. Its more appropriate for daytime ☀️ . It can be worn in night time 🌙, when you are dressed up & gotta stay fresh for a long long time (like our Indian weddings) ⭕️ This is a mature fragrance, its marketed as unisex, but it leans more masculine 🥸. I’m a strong believer of “your personality carries the fragrance better than your body”. That’s the situation here, this fragrance is for a strong Man, in his 30–50s with a reserved tenor & a the patience of a good listener. “If TDH is your most manly scent, this would ask it to grow some hair on its chest”Similarities with other fragrances❌ This is not a clone of any fragrances that I know of, I smelled something similar to this from Memo Paris years ago, Sadly I forgot the name of it. I looked up all the fragrances from Memo, but it didn’t ring a bell 🔔. At the same time I won’t say this is unique too, cuz the genre of this fragrance is insanely popular.[For eg: Aventus / CDNIM — citrusy/Leathery/musky]. ❌ No, This doesn’t smell like Aventus, its just for your reference. The philistine nature of this fragrance may not give you a sense of uniqueness. But at the same time it won’t make you smell like everyone around you. Verdict🎖️This is a beautiful Citrusy—Leathery—Musky fragrance. The moment you smell it, you can sense the quality oozing out of it.🎖️Its very mature & demands a strong personality to wear this. More on the masculine side of things, women can wear it too. But there are 1000 other playful options than this for the ladies. This is not the one, at least in my opinion. 🎖️It lasts exceptionally long for a freshie, which is a cherry 🍒 on top. 🎖️When you go on your Goa trip for this summer take this with you, it gives you a license to revel in the radiant glory of the sun’s embrace. (Or) you may be transported to a Souk, to be dressed in gold by the merchants & eat some exquisite cuisine. “The beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”🎖️I get the Mediterranean vibe more than the Gold souk. You be the judge of what your experience with this. But this is a borderline polarising fragrance, so don’t dive head first on a closed pool. Test it out before you buy it.[My dad used for a month when I was studying in college, He used up 30% of the bottle. He only loves very natural smelling fragrances. That says a lot about this fragrance] |
2024.04.19 06:13 Dr_FragHead With a delicate spritz, a veritable symphony unfolds. Zesty citrus & sultry saffron that conjuring the essence of a bustling souk. Nishane safran colognise, A comprehensive review 👇🏼
 | (Pc: Lazy to be creative) submitted by Dr_FragHead to DesiFragranceAddicts [link] [comments] If the expression “Bathed in Sunlight”, was ever a fragrance, this would be itNishane👉🏻 Nishane is a luxury fragrance brand founded in 2012 by Mert Güzel and Murat Katran in Istanbul, Turkey. The brand takes its name from the old city of Nish, which was located in the region that is now known as Turkey 🇹🇷. Nishane draws inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of Istanbul, blending traditional Turkish influences with contemporary flair to create unique and captivating fragrances.👉🏻 They have a creative-olfactory library of 12 separate collections. Some of the notable collections includes The X collection, Imaginative collection, Prestige collection, Shadow play collection, Signature collection, Colognise collection & few more Each collection features minimum of 1 to a maximum of 6 fragrances. Colognisé/Extrait de CologneThe fragrances in this collection is designed to be light and refreshing for summers / cologne style of fragrances. Out of all the collections from Nishane, this is one of the least talked about line. IMHO this entire line is slept upon. This collection comprises of 3 fragrances
Nishane Safran CologniseConcentration : Extrait de ParfumYes, the label features an non-existent perfume concentration “Extrait de cologne”.But Nishane used this term to describe a type of fragrance that combines the freshness of a cologne with the longevity and richness of an extrait de parfum.Perfumer☀️Jorge LeeJorge Lee may not be the first name that will come to your mind when we talk about citrus fragrance. But he is one of the most creative perfumer in the modern perfumery world. On my scale he is second only to my all time favourite perfumer Julien Rasquinet. Some of the best & known Jorge Lee fragrances includes
Packaging & Presentation🎁This comes in a dark mildly ribbed paperboard box, features the name of the brand in the middle, name of the fragrance at the top & on the base, it features the concentration. On the right side of the box, it features a contemporary design of a wooden wheel with leaves & flowers. I don’t know if this signifies anything in specific, if you guys know anything about this. Please let me know.🎁The Saffron-water coloured fragrance comes in a cylindrical stout glass bottle with a wooden cap. The atomizer is a joy to use. Fragrance ProfileIt is a Citrusy—Woody—leathery unisex fragrance. But for my nose, leans masculine.Notes Here
How it smells?🍋) The fragrance opens with a bright blast of mixed citrus 🍊fruits. Grapefruit & Citron are zesty & tart. These are piercingly sharp, which is mellowed down by a sweet & fruity passion fruit. But its mostly a nuance than a note.🍋) Dry & Bitter /Tart radiant citruses makes 50% of this fragrance. This has one if the most natural smelling citruses. People who love sweet & synthetic citruses / blue fragrances may not prefer this, as this may not be the most appealing fragrance. 🍋) The passion-fruit nuance that I previously talked about, combined with warm saffron. Gives this fragrance a “tropical + Basking in the sun” vibes. 🍋) For the name sake saffron is the star ⭐️ of the show, but the tart citruses,leather & musk the win the heart of the wearer. I get a 🤔 “vetiver” note too, but I may be wrong. 🍋) The dry-down is all about soft leather & musk. It is not a pungent leather, not the upholstery of a million dollar 💵 Ferrari, Nope ❌. Its a soft & cheerful leather with a clean musk base. The musk just makes this fragrance even more sophisticated. Undecorated breakdownIt smells like freshly plucked citrus fruits in a handmade leather basket. The “solar notes” you might have heard from a famous designer fragrance 1million Parfum. That would better suit this fragrance, than that. Cuz this envelopes the wearer with a warmth, that makes you imagine about basking under the Mediterranean sun. (Or) The warmth from the saffron & refreshing exotic citruses may take you to busy Arab exotic market - souk, where you eat luxury & experience being bejewelled in Gold.PerformanceOne of the citrus fragrances, that actually lasts. Performance is a strong point for this fragrance, considering the fragrance profile it was a surprise for me.Longevity🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑Projection🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑Compliment-factor🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑This lasts 6–7hrs with a strong projection for initial 1 ½ hr & remains a skin scent, but once in a while you will get a waft, its to die for. I don’t think you will get enough compliments with this one, cuz its more polarising for a citrus scent & its more on mature side. People may find it less appealing than the blue fragrances & aquatic freshies. When & Where, For whom?⭕️ This fragrance can be an all seasoner, it has enough freshness to lift you up in summers 🌤️, it has enough warmth to cozy up in colder seasons 🌥️. (Avoid it in snowfall ❄️☃️, if your region can find snow that is!!!!). Other than that, it is pretty much an all seasoner for me.⭕️ It is a lazy wear / dumb reach on daytime kind of a scent, but a more sophisticated version of that. Its more appropriate for daytime ☀️ . It can be worn in night time 🌙, when you are dressed up & gotta stay fresh for a long long time (like our Indian weddings) ⭕️ This is a mature fragrance, its marketed as unisex, but it leans more masculine 🥸. I’m a strong believer of “your personality carries the fragrance better than your body”. That’s the situation here, this fragrance is for a strong Man, in his 30–50s with a reserved tenor & a the patience of a good listener. “If TDH is your most manly scent, this would ask it to grow some hair on its chest”Similarities with other fragrances❌ This is not a clone of any fragrances that I know of, I smelled something similar to this from Memo Paris years ago, Sadly I forgot the name of it. I looked up all the fragrances from Memo, but it didn’t ring a bell 🔔. At the same time I won’t say this is unique too, cuz the genre of this fragrance is insanely popular.[For eg: Aventus / CDNIM — citrusy/Leathery/musky]. ❌ No, This doesn’t smell like Aventus, its just for your reference. The philistine nature of this fragrance may not give you a sense of uniqueness. But at the same time it won’t make you smell like everyone around you. Verdict🎖️This is a beautiful Citrusy—Leathery—Musky fragrance. The moment you smell it, you can sense the quality oozing out of it.🎖️Its very mature & demands a strong personality to wear this. More on the masculine side of things, women can wear it too. But there are 1000 other playful options than this for the ladies. This is not the one, at least in my opinion. 🎖️It lasts exceptionally long for a freshie, which is a cherry 🍒 on top. 🎖️When you go on your Goa trip for this summer take this with you, it gives you a license to revel in the radiant glory of the sun’s embrace. (Or) you may be transported to a Souk, to be dressed in gold by the merchants & eat some exquisite cuisine. “The beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”🎖️I get the Mediterranean vibe more than the Gold souk. You be the judge of what your experience with this. But this is a borderline polarising fragrance, so don’t dive head first on a closed pool. Test it out before you buy it.[My dad used for a month when I was studying in college, He used up 30% of the bottle. He only loves very natural smelling fragrances. That says a lot about this fragrance] |
2024.04.16 15:02 LordIlthari The Dragon Princess Chapter 20: Dawn of a New Age
“Cassandra. Please help me.” Seramis begged in utter exasperation as Medea fused over the young dragoness. A few licks of flame and careful adjustments brought the final necessary adjustments to a uniquely diluvian form of formal wear. The princess’s scars had been covered over with molten silver, set in place and allowed to cool, hardening to the scales. From this, similar techniques were used to create a careful outline of interconnecting silver leaves and vines, studded occasionally with rubies. It gave the dragoness the impression that she was wearing a sculpted holly bush. This stretched out towards her wings, which had been dyed for the occasion, a brilliant pair of blue flowers, the petals shimmering like flame in the light. The dragoness had always been magnificent, but now she had become a walking work of art, a display of wealth, skill with flame, the strength required to carry such a heavy “outfit”, and the restraint to move without damaging it.
“No, I don’t think I will.” Cassandra replied with a smug smile. The sorceress had dressed in her finest, a fine purple tunic that trailed behind her, enveloping the woman in flowing silks decorated with golden honeysuckle designs running in anthemion patterns. She wore across her back a brilliant blue cloak that hung down to her ankles, decorated with enough symbology to practically be a tapestry. Her hair was drawn up and back in a complex bun set with jewels. Her pale face was reddened with clay, and her blue eyes were highlighted with kohl in an almost Egyptian style. To cap it off, she was bedecked in perhaps twenty pounds of golden jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, bejeweled belts and rings. Medea had of course managed and tweaking each individual piece, doing everything in her power to ensure the young queen looked as magnificent as possible.
“I think it’s rather lovely she puts so much work into helping you look your best. Heaven knows you wouldn’t have managed much yourself. You’d hardly care to.” Cassandra remarked, utterly radiant and confident in her full regalia. She wore the atmosphere of formality with true confidence, or at least very good acting chops.
“Yes, do listen to the young queen, it is her coronation after all.”
“Betrayed by my own mother. I shall have to write a tragedy about this.” Seramis moaned theatrically. “Of course you turn against me the moment you find someone who actually likes having you fuss over them.”
“It’s a nice change of pace to have someone who does.” Cass admitted, and her smile became far less smug and more genuine.
“Well you’ve certainly needed it.” Medea replied, before finally considering Seramis acceptable. “Alright. Well, we had best take our places.” She offered a bow to Cassandra, and then, a re-assuring hug before stepping out.
Seramis chuckled and shook her head, before affectionately nudging the young queen. “Well, knock em dead oh sister mine.”
“Sister?”
“Oh mom has absolutely adopted you. You don’t get a choice it’s just happened.”
“Well, my little sister-“
“I’m ten times your size, you don’t get to do that one.” Sera growled. “Even so, go break a leg. Not literally it’s just an expression. Let’s get this party done so I can get out of this overly expensive ivy. Never got this. Silver is food, not something to wear.” She grumbled at nobody in particular before going to take her place.
The coronation was held in the grand temple at the heart of Philopolis. Once, this had been the highest point in the kingdom, a place of refuge. Over the years, the military mountain of the fortress had overtaken it, and now the towering grey fortress framed the white marble of the temple. It seemed almost petit, even if it was an edifice that even Athens would have had to acknowledge. There were relatively few of the great and mighty of Philopolis present. Most of those had died recently. Instead the grounds were filled with knights of renown, loyal soldiers, and of course many a foreign dignitary. They had come from all Hellas, even also from Ionia, Pontus, and Bithynia. There were Egyptians and Persians, with retinues of Numidians, Arabians, Ethiopians, and Hebrews. This day had been long awaited, for it was not any day that a new challenger to Iskandar’s throne took her throne. The whole of the Hellenistic world, and a few from beyond it, had come to bear witness to the dawning of the new age.
Of course, two guests quite literally overshadowed all others. Alfred and Medea, king and queen of Achaea, wore their true forms before all assembled, unable to even fit inside the temple. Instead they stood beside it, he on the east and she on the west, in all their glory to honor the new queen. They had become as if the sun. Medea draped gold woven like sheep’s wool over herself, and outwards from there radiated bronze and orichalcum as the rays of the setting sun, fading seamlessly into her natural blue-green scales, before reaching the silver of night about her feet. Alfred by contrast had woven gold onto his breast and spread it outwards in spiraling rays. At the same time, he crowned himself with umber, ebony, and amber, a black and tarnished gold crescent about his brow that ran down in four rivers along his neck. There it spread across his wings in twisting Mesopotamian spirals set against a red sky, fearsome, ancient, and wonderous. They set themselves, Lord and Lady of Night and Day, mightiest of all beasts, wonders of a forgotten age now returned. Rumors had spread throughout the world that dragons reigned in Achaea, for knowledge spread slowly in those days. Now it was boldly proclaimed on the highest stage, the daughters of Tiamat and the sons of Mardok had returned to once more take thrones among men.
Of course, the high and mighty were far from the only ones assembled here. About the hill and ranging down it were men and women of every social strata. From warriors in honorable military dress, to gaudily dressed merchants, to common farmers in what passed for their best, to the slaves in whatever they could manage. It seemed the whole kingdom had turned out for this, and beyond the hill, a great field was being set up with a truly mind-boggling amount of food.
If dragons were capable of breaking out in a cold sweat, Seramis likely would have. Given her role in arranging this, she had obtained a place of honor. Which meant she would be standing in front of all of this and desperately trying not to make a fool of herself. She briefly considered turning herself into a mouse and hiding somewhere very, very far away from all of this. She had admittedly wanted recognition and respect at the beginning of this, but this was more than she had bargained for.
“Don’t worry, I’m nervous too.” A familiar voice re-assured her. She turned and relaxed when she saw Leonidas standing beside her. The young prince was dressed in far less finery, with a blue tunic and purple cloak. He wore a belt set with gold, and on it a sword set with gems. He also, ever pragmatic, kept an actually functional sword and his trusted hunting knife hidden beneath his clothing. He wore a golden necklace about his neck, which was made of the rings taken from defeated noblemen woven together. Upon his brow he wore a crown of laurels as befitted a champion and hero of the realm. He offered her his hand reassuringly. “We’ve managed worse than this. We can manage this as well.”
Sera regarded his hand with some bemusement. “I think that if I were to try and take that hand of yours, I’d risk crushing it, or possibly stumble. I do use all four limbs to keep myself upright like a reasonable creature.” She remarked with a hint of haughtiness, but a genuine smile. “I appreciate it though. But enough nerves. It’s showtime.”
Then they walked down the center of the temple, side by side, with the acclamation of the mighty about them. They took their places, he on the right hand of the altar, and she on the left. The applause faded, and then resumed with even greater intensity as Cassandra took the stage. She strode alone, unaccompanied by servants, bodyguard, or king. Seramis sensed a glamor about the woman, projecting an aura of authority to overawe those around her. She took her place, and allowed the applause before raising a hand to silence them. Then, from behind the altar came a priestess of Hecate, holding an ancient crown. Once this crown had been that of the kings of Persia, but Iskandar had taken it, and sent it back to his home that it might crown his successors. Cassandra took the crown, and placed it upon her own brow. No priest or any other would crown her, for she was in and of herself the authority.
Then Seramis and Leonidas both shouted an acclamation, and the whole hall joined them. Then the hill beyond echoed, until as on the battlefield, the roar of thousands proclaimed their acceptance of their rightful queen, crowned at last.
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
And then there was a great wordless cheer that went on for about another two minutes before it finally stilled, and Cassandra spoke in turn.
“Hear me, oh people mine, oh my soldiers, and oh you great men from across the earth, who gather here to honor me. Fourteen years ago, this day was set in motion when infection took my father from the earth. So then the line of Iskandar passed unto me, last of the blood of Zeus, and was set waiting until the time would be right. For fourteen years the kingdom has awaited the return of its rightful head, and I have strived with all my being to become indeed, worthy of crown and legacy alike. I am the last and mightiest of the demigods, and last of the true line of Iskandar. In treachery, many sought to extinguish them forever, to plunge our great nation, and indeed all the world, into darkness and night everlasting. But now, the wait is ended, the great usurper is dead, and I have come. A new day dawns for Philopolis, indeed for all Hellas!”
At this, her loyal men roared in applause. Thanks to a certain small coin carefully hidden amongst all the queen’s jewelry, so too did all those beyond the pillars of the temple. The other members of the audience felt the need to do so as well, caught up in the momentum of the crowd even if they did find the idea of a new dawn mildly concerning.
“As such, this shall be my first action, to clear away all that remained of the long night. Only a memory of the evil Tyndareus had done here will remain. Bring them forth!” She ordered.
Then at once a group of soldiers brought forth men in chains, beaten and with once fine clothes torn to rags. These were what remained of Tyndareus’s allies, the old, rich, ambitious, and cruel men who had supported him. The soldiers threw them down before Cassandra, and they wailed and begged for clemency like common criminals. The mighty men of the audience saw them so degraded, and watched them all be silent like beaten dogs when Cassandra raised her hand.
“You, oh men of much means, you who were mighty among the noble men of Macedon. How far you have fallen. Once, your forefathers were captains and brethren to Iskandar the Conqueror, but what legacy of that have you retained? You have become corrupt schemes, wicked webweavers, feasting on an empire you did not build, but would most certainly destroy. Your wealth and influence did not serve this nation, only yourselves. When you saw the wickedness and ambition of Tyndareus, you did not rebuke it, but instead ran to join him. If not for the mighty hand I struck him with, you might very well have raised your banners and plunged all the land into civil war. You saw that Olympus was silent and made your god your bellies. You saw that treachery was afoot, and ran to join it. For this, you are brought to ruin. Your sons are dead. Your daughters, exiled. Your lands and treasuries, your flocks and herds, your grain and wine, your oil and your slaves, male and female, all are forfeit. The crown shall devour your whole inheritance, and never again will there be any like you in the land. As for you yourselves, death awaits, and not merely death, but an example. You shall remain forever, a warning to all on the price of treachery.”
Then Cassandra turned to the altar, and took from there a pitcher of seawater. She spoke and began to cast, as the mighty men begged and wailed. Some tried to flee, but chained to their fellows could not escape as the words of the incantation continued.
“Roopaantarit maans par ek paath likhen.”
“Ise parvaton ke patthar ke samaan banane do.”
“To sabhee dekhenge aur hamesha yaad rakhenge.”
Then Cassandra turned and threw the water over them. There was a last collective scream, and then silence. Their flesh became like stone, and their robes and chains also. The traitorous remnant had all been transformed into a great marble statue. Their fear, their despair, their desperation, was now preserved for all time. “Go, take this statue and set it in the gardens on the path to the throne. Let it stand there until the mountains are worn down to dust, so all will see and remember what the price of treachery is.” Cassandra ordered. At this, forty mighty men came together, and carefully began moving the object lesson to its place.
“With that unpleasant business attended to, the past is cast away, only to be remembered. The shadow of Tyndareus shall not haunt this land again. Indeed, I have considered much, how this came about. How was it that so few, in corruption and decadence, turned to treachery and brought about such ruin? It is because they were few and mighty, like little kings unto themselves. They did not need to act with virtue or concern for others, for they said unto one “go here” and another “do this” without care. For they counted in their wealth innumerable slaves, so the slaves outnumbered the citizens. They crushed the honest farmer, and the self-made artisan, by compelling others to do the same work for no pay, and thus undercutting the bedrock of our society. This shall not continue, and shall never be allowed to begin again.”
“Hear me, oh Philopolis. This I enact as the first and greatest of my laws. The institution of slavery is hereby abolished. Every man, woman, and child who had been a slave owned by any citizen of Philopolis or its crown is now free. Neither shall any human or diluvian ever be bought or sold in these realms, but that one would be bought out of slavery to freedom. They shall all be free citizens. To them I will give the lands of their masters for tenancy, to cultivate the land in farms of their own, raising animals and land. To those with skill, the treasuries of their masters shall be given as loans to establish businesses. To those with wit, go forth and buy and sell, fill the land with honest trade and grow wealthy from your cunning. To those with courage, the armies of Philopolis welcome you to fight and preserve your freedom. We shall take the arms of the tyrant, and they shall be for the nation. The armies of Philopolis shall never again be an army that oppresses her people, but shall be my sword and shield with which I and all my posterity will protect our people and their sacred liberties.”
“This all I write by the authority of my crown, the might of my armies, and with the full favor of heaven. Let any who contravene this be accursed, and indeed accursed for six generations. Thus I have spoken, and it shall be done.”
The response to this was not applause, but at first stunned silence. In a single act, Cassandra had turned the entire world upside down. She had torn out the foundations of her kingdom’s economy and prepared to rebuild it from scratch. The sheer monumental weight of this decision hung in the air for a long moment. Then, outside the walls, the people heard, and realized what she said was true. They were all free. As the realization spread, men and women wept with joy, shouted in triumph, and began to sing and dance. The roar of excitement, relief, and unbridled joy could not be contained. For nearly ten minutes nothing could be heard beyond the wall of sound which surrounded the temple. Cassandra had already had the support of the remaining army. She had liquidated the nobles. She was popular with the people, and now with this action, her reputation was utterly invulnerable. Woe to the fool who challenged the liberator.
When the tumult had quelled to a point where Cassandra could be heard, she spoke again. “Hear also, the works I will do beyond the borders. You are all aware of the policies of Tyndareus, his ceaseless ambition and pointless warmongering. This shall no longer proceed. We shall never be lacking when the time comes for war, all who challenge us with the last argument of kings shall be undone. But neither shall it be our sole sword, or our only glory. Our nation’s greatness will no longer only be shown on the battlefield. But if indeed one does foolishly think this weakness, let it be known this day, I have signed a new treaty.” She gestured to Seramis and Leonidas. “At my right hand is the prince of Marathon, and the left, the princess of Achaea. This day, our three kingdoms have formed a pact of mutual defense and free trade. An attack on one shall be an attack on three. Indeed, our generals and armies shall coordinate, that should any need for pre-emptive defense arise, then the full fury of three kingdoms will fall upon those who dare to challenge us. It is my pleasure to announce before you all the formal beginning of the Northern Hellas Alliance!” Thus it would be formally declared, but in time all would come to call it by another name: The Pact of Flames.
After another round of applause, mostly from the army, Cassandra continued. “This is the business of my first day upon the throne, and now it is concluded before all of you. I considered it foolhardy to celebrate only myself. What foolish king dedicates the resources of his nation to proclaiming his own glories? Rather, it will be what I do that shall be my glory, and now we shall indeed celebrate, not my ascension, but that that ascension has already meant and will mean anew. As I told you, a new age is dawning, and I shall bring it forth for the sake of my people and indeed, all Hellas. Let the world hear this day, that the heir of Iskandar has taken her throne, and as my ancestor I will shake this world to its foundations. Go now, let the wine flow and the tables be covered with every delicacy. I give it to you as a gift. Let the songs be sung and the harps be played, an anthem of joy to welcome the new age.”
With that, Cassandra walked out, and the other two members of the trio walked with her. They stepped out into a wall of noise as the people of the three kingdoms acclaimed their champions. They strode down into glory, and sat together to a feast for the ages. Cassandra had initially planned for the celebrations to go on to the evening. Her people had other ideas, and the celebrations continued, wild and joyous, for seven days and seven nights. The people came forth from across the whole nation to offer their fealty and their thanks to the queen and her compatriots, and brought with them gifts of every kind. The whole of Philopolis was filled with singing, music, dancing, and feasting, and it only stopped when it seemed the entire country had run out of wine, and the imports from Achaea and Marathon could no longer keep up.
Seramis might have found the party intimidating at first, but in time she came alive. She feasted on the gossip and the secrets that flowed behind the wine. Every rumor, every plot, every scheme that filled the celebration, from the highest to the smallest, she devoured them and delighted in it all. For everyone from princes to former slaves now saw that the future had been opened, and everyone set new plans in motion to take their own part in that future. She took anything of particular concern, and whispered it in Cassandra’s ear that the young queen would be prepared.
It was during one such whispering that Cassandra called Sera and Leon away. They found their way to a quiet room in the castle, and essentially collapsed into the chairs, or in Sera’s case, onto the floor. The party was delightful, but they were all quickly becoming utterly exhausted. Cassandra groaned. “You know, I understand they want to make this a holiday. I’m all for it, truly, but a holi-day, not holi-week. If I have to do this for a week every year I’m going to cut my reign twenty years short, and I don’t have time for that.”
“I mean you managed to basically turn the world upside down in your first few minutes, so I think you might have some time.” Leonidas joked.
Cassandra smiled wearily at him. “It was the right thing to do. And the first thing I had to do now, because I need it to set everything else up. I have to rebuild a kingdom, perhaps rebuild the world. My great-grandmother lived to be ninety-six, so I’ve got a bit less than eighty years to work with at best. I hope that’s enough time.”
“Well, yes, it is the right thing to do, though I’m surprised that’s the reason you did it. No offense, but you always struck me as a bit more pragmatic than idealistic.” Sera added.
“It secures a permanent base of popular support that will never be challenged. It allows be to divide lands that are far too big for me to manage among such a vast array of small tenants that none of them will ever individually be able to challenge my rule even if they did have support. It floods my economy with new traders and artisans to drive down the price of goods, increasing the overall standard of living. Rents from tenant farmers, loan repayments from the artisans, and of course the increase in tax revenue caused by the increase in economic activity ensure that I have a larger and more stable supply of income for my administration than any other ruler in my nation’s history. I have gained a massive new pool of recruits to reform the army, who will be fanatically loyal, and in the event of war it will be simplicity itself to incite support by claiming an enemy would impose slavery once again. Not to mention it ensures that I will have the support of Marathon and Achaea, while also softening the image of Philopolis before the rest of Hellas, making it possible to begin negotiations and gradually bring Hellas and Ionia into our orbit without conflict. It is the single best way for me to ensure I have everything I need in terms of support, money, control, foreign influence, and military power to enact any remaining changes. I am become absolute, and they will praise my name forever for it.” Cassandra concluded with a sly look.
“So yes, exactly the right thing to do. I am become immortal, which is exactly the point. To overawe those in attendance with massive amounts of popular support and the exceptional power of my foreign support to ensure nobody gets any ideas. It’s essentially a bluff to keep anyone from tampering with us until the kingdom gets back on its feet, one which is working quite well. Unfortunately, my primary target for this decided to not make an appearance.”
“Pretty much the entire civilized world showed up.” Leonidas considered with some concern. “Don’t tell me you were expecting a delegation from Albion or the Scythians.”
“No, though it might have been nice. Ultimately, the threat arises not from the uncivilized world, much of a headache as the scythians will be, but that part of the world, which was once uncivilized, and now is becoming civilized. The latins and the Carthaginians have been growing in power, and inevitably, clashed against one another. The ideal state for us would have been that they rendered one another utterly incapable of further expansion. Instead, the Latins in that collection of mud huts they call Roma have become a serious military power, one my predecessor has antagonized by supporting their rivals in Carthage. Sooner or later, their ambitions will drive them east, and we must be ready for them. My hope would have been that an overwhelming display of power, a united front, and popular support would convince them that moving east would be foolish. However if they do not see it, they will not believe it. And of course there are also those who would not be impressed by the whole empire of Iskandar. With the name of Malphus being spoken again, and the Dilluvians returning to the political stage, the forces of that ancient evil will stir once more.” Cassandra mused with some frustration.
“You do have my apologies for that.” Seramis apologized with some embarrassment. “I wouldn’t have used that name if I knew.”
“Keep your apologies, I want your help.” Cassandra replied with a hint of snark that put Sera on edge, before the young queen laughed. “Taking down Tyndareus was just the beginning. Philopolis will face challenges that have not been seen in hundreds of years. A new age is certainly dawning, but making it a golden age and not a dark age is going to be the effort of a lifetime. It is one I cannot accomplish alone.”
“To that end, I have considered much. Leonidas, your actions in the recent campaigns have proven not only your impeccable courage, but your skill and cunning as a leader of men. The army of Philopolis will need to be rebuilt, adapted into something no longer totally dependent on conscription, but a professional corps supplemented by conscripts. In other words, Marathon’s model. Who better than a prince of Marathon to help lead that effort, and then, win glory as a leader of that army.”
Leonidas’s eyes widened as he considered the offer, and then they fell, his face somewhat downcast. “Are you certain this is wise Cass?” he asked carefully. “I am not experienced in this, and I am a second son, even of a foreign kingdom. This is risky.”
“If it were anyone but you, it wouldn’t be risky, it would be downright idiotic.” Cass replied, joking, but then genuine. “I have seen the kind of man you are Leon. I know I have nothing to fear from you. Moreover, if I wanted to simply replicate an existing army, I could acquire men with more experience. But I do not want to simply repeat history, I want to surpass it. To this end, a man unburdened by age, yet with enough wisdom to see the forest and how each and every tree contributes to it, is exactly the man I need.”
“Then, as long as you’ll have me, so be it.” Leonidas said with a grin. “Let the ties between Marathon and Philopolis grow yet deeper, and establish the next great leap in the art of war.”
“Of course, war shall not be the first answer our enemies bring against us in most cases. Nor shall it be our first response to every problem. Among other things, war is expensive. Rather, subtly, intrigue, and diplomacy shall be new tools in our arsenal. Of course with the degradation in the diplomatic corps, our artistic and cultural pursuits, and spycraft, I should need quite possibly the greatest schemer in all Hellas. The fact that she comes with enough firepower to personally rival me is a nice bonus.” Cassandra replied, turning again towards Seramis.
“No need to lay it on so thick. You’re my friend, of course I’ll help you. The fact you let me just do what I like and what I’m good at is just the cherry on top.” Seramis replied, her face entirely smug. “Though do keep in mind, my diet includes solid gold and magic items, and I’ve still got another, oh, five tons or so to put on.”
Cassandra regarded the horse-sized dragoness in front of her, and then the door. She considered how complicated it had already been for Sera to fit through it, and sighed. “I’ll put a line item in the budget for expanding the doors.” She replied, much to Sera’s amusement. “Well, since we’re all going to be hung over later-“ She mentioned, and retrieved another amphora of wine with three glasses, she poured, then paused. “Perhaps I had better find a bowl for you Sera.”
Seramis regarded the trio of glasses, and then called Elijah out of her shadow. “Do you suppose I could do it now?” she asked the familiar cryptically.
“All magic needs three components.” Elijah replied, looking towards the other two. “You only had one before, which is why it never worked. Give it a try.”
Seramis took a deep breath, and then cast with her three components. Herself, the prince she had taken, and the queen who had come to her. A spell cast in solitude no longer, and in arrogance no more.
“Daj mi forma da odam pokraj niv.”
“Niz denovite na svetlina i senka.”
“Spodeluvanje vo smea i vo tagi.”
Then, there was a light and a blue flame, and Seramis took a hesitant step forwards on two legs. Where once the dragoness stood, now stood a young Greek woman, olive-skinned from the warm Mediterranean sun, with eyes blue like dragonfire. Her hair was short and curly, hung close about her ears, around a face at once noble as a lion’s and mischievous as a cat’s. Black scale melted into a flowing black dress that trailed behind her, decorated with spiraling patterns of twisting silver holly vines. About her curling hair there was a crown of silver, with seven red stones set about it.
She stumbled, unused to walking on two legs. Leonidas stepped forwards and caught her before she could fall. She blushed at that, and Leon looked down to make sure he hadn’t grabbed anything inappropriate in his haste. He hadn’t, but the look earned him a slap anyways, much to Cassandra’s amusement. “Oh to hell with this.” Sera sighed, and snapped in some quick changes. The dress split at the back to allow room for a pair of large black wings, still dyed with flowers of flame. It likewise opened below the knee to allow a greater range of motion, particularly for a newly sprouted tail. Thus better balanced, Seramis stood and strode upright. “I swear, how in the world do you manage to balance with such a ridiculous body plan?”
“I have no idea; it apparently has something to do with the inner ear.” Cassandra replied with a shrug. “Still, it does have advantages.” She stepped forwards and offered Seramis a glass, which the princess took gratefully.
“So, how do I look?” Seramis asked, stepping back and giving a slight twirl to show off her newest shape. “It’s another imagined one, a bit of a combination of those I’ve seen.”
“You’ve seen some excellent women.” Cassandra replied with a laugh. “You are every bit as fair and terrible as Persephone herself.” This earned a slightly jealous look from Leon. She grinned at him slyly. “This is an advantage of speaking too much, you learn exactly what to say to a beautiful woman.”
“Hm, she might have had too much to drink. I am still a dragoness.” Seramis demurred, looking somewhat awkwardly at her new hands. “And rather obviously given the wings and tail. Only so far beauty can go among humans.”
“It is further than you think. I think now that I know what Artemis looks like, when she walks under the moon and stars.” Leon replied, and Sera turned vaguely pink. Cassandra cackled, and nodded approvingly.
“Ye gods, there is some Athenian in our mute Laconian after all! Well, clearly she needs to get used to having skin people can see. If she’s going to be blushing like that every five minutes nobody will take her seriously.” Cass snarked, earning a glare from Sera. That earned a smile. “Ah yes, still a dragoness, and undeniably so. You look good Sera. Don’t worry about it. If nothing else, we have another thing to toast to.” She said with a grin, then raised her glass. “To a new form, and a new age.”
Leon raised his own glass. “To friendship, and the good work ahead of us.”
Sera grinned at that, and raised her own to match. “To us, and all the trouble we’re going to get into!”
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“No, I don’t think I will.” Cassandra replied with a smug smile. The sorceress had dressed in her finest, a fine purple tunic that trailed behind her, enveloping the woman in flowing silks decorated with golden honeysuckle designs running in anthemion patterns. She wore across her back a brilliant blue cloak that hung down to her ankles, decorated with enough symbology to practically be a tapestry. Her hair was drawn up and back in a complex bun set with jewels. Her pale face was reddened with clay, and her blue eyes were highlighted with kohl in an almost Egyptian style. To cap it off, she was bedecked in perhaps twenty pounds of golden jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, bejeweled belts and rings. Medea had of course managed and tweaking each individual piece, doing everything in her power to ensure the young queen looked as magnificent as possible.
“I think it’s rather lovely she puts so much work into helping you look your best. Heaven knows you wouldn’t have managed much yourself. You’d hardly care to.” Cassandra remarked, utterly radiant and confident in her full regalia. She wore the atmosphere of formality with true confidence, or at least very good acting chops.
“Yes, do listen to the young queen, it is her coronation after all.”
“Betrayed by my own mother. I shall have to write a tragedy about this.” Seramis moaned theatrically. “Of course you turn against me the moment you find someone who actually likes having you fuss over them.”
“It’s a nice change of pace to have someone who does.” Cass admitted, and her smile became far less smug and more genuine.
“Well you’ve certainly needed it.” Medea replied, before finally considering Seramis acceptable. “Alright. Well, we had best take our places.” She offered a bow to Cassandra, and then, a re-assuring hug before stepping out.
Seramis chuckled and shook her head, before affectionately nudging the young queen. “Well, knock em dead oh sister mine.”
“Sister?”
“Oh mom has absolutely adopted you. You don’t get a choice it’s just happened.”
“Well, my little sister-“
“I’m ten times your size, you don’t get to do that one.” Sera growled. “Even so, go break a leg. Not literally it’s just an expression. Let’s get this party done so I can get out of this overly expensive ivy. Never got this. Silver is food, not something to wear.” She grumbled at nobody in particular before going to take her place.
The coronation was held in the grand temple at the heart of Philopolis. Once, this had been the highest point in the kingdom, a place of refuge. Over the years, the military mountain of the fortress had overtaken it, and now the towering grey fortress framed the white marble of the temple. It seemed almost petit, even if it was an edifice that even Athens would have had to acknowledge. There were relatively few of the great and mighty of Philopolis present. Most of those had died recently. Instead the grounds were filled with knights of renown, loyal soldiers, and of course many a foreign dignitary. They had come from all Hellas, even also from Ionia, Pontus, and Bithynia. There were Egyptians and Persians, with retinues of Numidians, Arabians, Ethiopians, and Hebrews. This day had been long awaited, for it was not any day that a new challenger to Iskandar’s throne took her throne. The whole of the Hellenistic world, and a few from beyond it, had come to bear witness to the dawning of the new age.
Of course, two guests quite literally overshadowed all others. Alfred and Medea, king and queen of Achaea, wore their true forms before all assembled, unable to even fit inside the temple. Instead they stood beside it, he on the east and she on the west, in all their glory to honor the new queen. They had become as if the sun. Medea draped gold woven like sheep’s wool over herself, and outwards from there radiated bronze and orichalcum as the rays of the setting sun, fading seamlessly into her natural blue-green scales, before reaching the silver of night about her feet. Alfred by contrast had woven gold onto his breast and spread it outwards in spiraling rays. At the same time, he crowned himself with umber, ebony, and amber, a black and tarnished gold crescent about his brow that ran down in four rivers along his neck. There it spread across his wings in twisting Mesopotamian spirals set against a red sky, fearsome, ancient, and wonderous. They set themselves, Lord and Lady of Night and Day, mightiest of all beasts, wonders of a forgotten age now returned. Rumors had spread throughout the world that dragons reigned in Achaea, for knowledge spread slowly in those days. Now it was boldly proclaimed on the highest stage, the daughters of Tiamat and the sons of Mardok had returned to once more take thrones among men.
Of course, the high and mighty were far from the only ones assembled here. About the hill and ranging down it were men and women of every social strata. From warriors in honorable military dress, to gaudily dressed merchants, to common farmers in what passed for their best, to the slaves in whatever they could manage. It seemed the whole kingdom had turned out for this, and beyond the hill, a great field was being set up with a truly mind-boggling amount of food.
If dragons were capable of breaking out in a cold sweat, Seramis likely would have. Given her role in arranging this, she had obtained a place of honor. Which meant she would be standing in front of all of this and desperately trying not to make a fool of herself. She briefly considered turning herself into a mouse and hiding somewhere very, very far away from all of this. She had admittedly wanted recognition and respect at the beginning of this, but this was more than she had bargained for.
“Don’t worry, I’m nervous too.” A familiar voice re-assured her. She turned and relaxed when she saw Leonidas standing beside her. The young prince was dressed in far less finery, with a blue tunic and purple cloak. He wore a belt set with gold, and on it a sword set with gems. He also, ever pragmatic, kept an actually functional sword and his trusted hunting knife hidden beneath his clothing. He wore a golden necklace about his neck, which was made of the rings taken from defeated noblemen woven together. Upon his brow he wore a crown of laurels as befitted a champion and hero of the realm. He offered her his hand reassuringly. “We’ve managed worse than this. We can manage this as well.”
Sera regarded his hand with some bemusement. “I think that if I were to try and take that hand of yours, I’d risk crushing it, or possibly stumble. I do use all four limbs to keep myself upright like a reasonable creature.” She remarked with a hint of haughtiness, but a genuine smile. “I appreciate it though. But enough nerves. It’s showtime.”
Then they walked down the center of the temple, side by side, with the acclamation of the mighty about them. They took their places, he on the right hand of the altar, and she on the left. The applause faded, and then resumed with even greater intensity as Cassandra took the stage. She strode alone, unaccompanied by servants, bodyguard, or king. Seramis sensed a glamor about the woman, projecting an aura of authority to overawe those around her. She took her place, and allowed the applause before raising a hand to silence them. Then, from behind the altar came a priestess of Hecate, holding an ancient crown. Once this crown had been that of the kings of Persia, but Iskandar had taken it, and sent it back to his home that it might crown his successors. Cassandra took the crown, and placed it upon her own brow. No priest or any other would crown her, for she was in and of herself the authority.
Then Seramis and Leonidas both shouted an acclamation, and the whole hall joined them. Then the hill beyond echoed, until as on the battlefield, the roar of thousands proclaimed their acceptance of their rightful queen, crowned at last.
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
“LONG LIVE QUEEN CASSANDRA!”
And then there was a great wordless cheer that went on for about another two minutes before it finally stilled, and Cassandra spoke in turn.
“Hear me, oh people mine, oh my soldiers, and oh you great men from across the earth, who gather here to honor me. Fourteen years ago, this day was set in motion when infection took my father from the earth. So then the line of Iskandar passed unto me, last of the blood of Zeus, and was set waiting until the time would be right. For fourteen years the kingdom has awaited the return of its rightful head, and I have strived with all my being to become indeed, worthy of crown and legacy alike. I am the last and mightiest of the demigods, and last of the true line of Iskandar. In treachery, many sought to extinguish them forever, to plunge our great nation, and indeed all the world, into darkness and night everlasting. But now, the wait is ended, the great usurper is dead, and I have come. A new day dawns for Philopolis, indeed for all Hellas!”
At this, her loyal men roared in applause. Thanks to a certain small coin carefully hidden amongst all the queen’s jewelry, so too did all those beyond the pillars of the temple. The other members of the audience felt the need to do so as well, caught up in the momentum of the crowd even if they did find the idea of a new dawn mildly concerning.
“As such, this shall be my first action, to clear away all that remained of the long night. Only a memory of the evil Tyndareus had done here will remain. Bring them forth!” She ordered.
Then at once a group of soldiers brought forth men in chains, beaten and with once fine clothes torn to rags. These were what remained of Tyndareus’s allies, the old, rich, ambitious, and cruel men who had supported him. The soldiers threw them down before Cassandra, and they wailed and begged for clemency like common criminals. The mighty men of the audience saw them so degraded, and watched them all be silent like beaten dogs when Cassandra raised her hand.
“You, oh men of much means, you who were mighty among the noble men of Macedon. How far you have fallen. Once, your forefathers were captains and brethren to Iskandar the Conqueror, but what legacy of that have you retained? You have become corrupt schemes, wicked webweavers, feasting on an empire you did not build, but would most certainly destroy. Your wealth and influence did not serve this nation, only yourselves. When you saw the wickedness and ambition of Tyndareus, you did not rebuke it, but instead ran to join him. If not for the mighty hand I struck him with, you might very well have raised your banners and plunged all the land into civil war. You saw that Olympus was silent and made your god your bellies. You saw that treachery was afoot, and ran to join it. For this, you are brought to ruin. Your sons are dead. Your daughters, exiled. Your lands and treasuries, your flocks and herds, your grain and wine, your oil and your slaves, male and female, all are forfeit. The crown shall devour your whole inheritance, and never again will there be any like you in the land. As for you yourselves, death awaits, and not merely death, but an example. You shall remain forever, a warning to all on the price of treachery.”
Then Cassandra turned to the altar, and took from there a pitcher of seawater. She spoke and began to cast, as the mighty men begged and wailed. Some tried to flee, but chained to their fellows could not escape as the words of the incantation continued.
“Roopaantarit maans par ek paath likhen.”
“Ise parvaton ke patthar ke samaan banane do.”
“To sabhee dekhenge aur hamesha yaad rakhenge.”
Then Cassandra turned and threw the water over them. There was a last collective scream, and then silence. Their flesh became like stone, and their robes and chains also. The traitorous remnant had all been transformed into a great marble statue. Their fear, their despair, their desperation, was now preserved for all time. “Go, take this statue and set it in the gardens on the path to the throne. Let it stand there until the mountains are worn down to dust, so all will see and remember what the price of treachery is.” Cassandra ordered. At this, forty mighty men came together, and carefully began moving the object lesson to its place.
“With that unpleasant business attended to, the past is cast away, only to be remembered. The shadow of Tyndareus shall not haunt this land again. Indeed, I have considered much, how this came about. How was it that so few, in corruption and decadence, turned to treachery and brought about such ruin? It is because they were few and mighty, like little kings unto themselves. They did not need to act with virtue or concern for others, for they said unto one “go here” and another “do this” without care. For they counted in their wealth innumerable slaves, so the slaves outnumbered the citizens. They crushed the honest farmer, and the self-made artisan, by compelling others to do the same work for no pay, and thus undercutting the bedrock of our society. This shall not continue, and shall never be allowed to begin again.”
“Hear me, oh Philopolis. This I enact as the first and greatest of my laws. The institution of slavery is hereby abolished. Every man, woman, and child who had been a slave owned by any citizen of Philopolis or its crown is now free. Neither shall any human or diluvian ever be bought or sold in these realms, but that one would be bought out of slavery to freedom. They shall all be free citizens. To them I will give the lands of their masters for tenancy, to cultivate the land in farms of their own, raising animals and land. To those with skill, the treasuries of their masters shall be given as loans to establish businesses. To those with wit, go forth and buy and sell, fill the land with honest trade and grow wealthy from your cunning. To those with courage, the armies of Philopolis welcome you to fight and preserve your freedom. We shall take the arms of the tyrant, and they shall be for the nation. The armies of Philopolis shall never again be an army that oppresses her people, but shall be my sword and shield with which I and all my posterity will protect our people and their sacred liberties.”
“This all I write by the authority of my crown, the might of my armies, and with the full favor of heaven. Let any who contravene this be accursed, and indeed accursed for six generations. Thus I have spoken, and it shall be done.”
The response to this was not applause, but at first stunned silence. In a single act, Cassandra had turned the entire world upside down. She had torn out the foundations of her kingdom’s economy and prepared to rebuild it from scratch. The sheer monumental weight of this decision hung in the air for a long moment. Then, outside the walls, the people heard, and realized what she said was true. They were all free. As the realization spread, men and women wept with joy, shouted in triumph, and began to sing and dance. The roar of excitement, relief, and unbridled joy could not be contained. For nearly ten minutes nothing could be heard beyond the wall of sound which surrounded the temple. Cassandra had already had the support of the remaining army. She had liquidated the nobles. She was popular with the people, and now with this action, her reputation was utterly invulnerable. Woe to the fool who challenged the liberator.
When the tumult had quelled to a point where Cassandra could be heard, she spoke again. “Hear also, the works I will do beyond the borders. You are all aware of the policies of Tyndareus, his ceaseless ambition and pointless warmongering. This shall no longer proceed. We shall never be lacking when the time comes for war, all who challenge us with the last argument of kings shall be undone. But neither shall it be our sole sword, or our only glory. Our nation’s greatness will no longer only be shown on the battlefield. But if indeed one does foolishly think this weakness, let it be known this day, I have signed a new treaty.” She gestured to Seramis and Leonidas. “At my right hand is the prince of Marathon, and the left, the princess of Achaea. This day, our three kingdoms have formed a pact of mutual defense and free trade. An attack on one shall be an attack on three. Indeed, our generals and armies shall coordinate, that should any need for pre-emptive defense arise, then the full fury of three kingdoms will fall upon those who dare to challenge us. It is my pleasure to announce before you all the formal beginning of the Northern Hellas Alliance!” Thus it would be formally declared, but in time all would come to call it by another name: The Pact of Flames.
After another round of applause, mostly from the army, Cassandra continued. “This is the business of my first day upon the throne, and now it is concluded before all of you. I considered it foolhardy to celebrate only myself. What foolish king dedicates the resources of his nation to proclaiming his own glories? Rather, it will be what I do that shall be my glory, and now we shall indeed celebrate, not my ascension, but that that ascension has already meant and will mean anew. As I told you, a new age is dawning, and I shall bring it forth for the sake of my people and indeed, all Hellas. Let the world hear this day, that the heir of Iskandar has taken her throne, and as my ancestor I will shake this world to its foundations. Go now, let the wine flow and the tables be covered with every delicacy. I give it to you as a gift. Let the songs be sung and the harps be played, an anthem of joy to welcome the new age.”
With that, Cassandra walked out, and the other two members of the trio walked with her. They stepped out into a wall of noise as the people of the three kingdoms acclaimed their champions. They strode down into glory, and sat together to a feast for the ages. Cassandra had initially planned for the celebrations to go on to the evening. Her people had other ideas, and the celebrations continued, wild and joyous, for seven days and seven nights. The people came forth from across the whole nation to offer their fealty and their thanks to the queen and her compatriots, and brought with them gifts of every kind. The whole of Philopolis was filled with singing, music, dancing, and feasting, and it only stopped when it seemed the entire country had run out of wine, and the imports from Achaea and Marathon could no longer keep up.
Seramis might have found the party intimidating at first, but in time she came alive. She feasted on the gossip and the secrets that flowed behind the wine. Every rumor, every plot, every scheme that filled the celebration, from the highest to the smallest, she devoured them and delighted in it all. For everyone from princes to former slaves now saw that the future had been opened, and everyone set new plans in motion to take their own part in that future. She took anything of particular concern, and whispered it in Cassandra’s ear that the young queen would be prepared.
It was during one such whispering that Cassandra called Sera and Leon away. They found their way to a quiet room in the castle, and essentially collapsed into the chairs, or in Sera’s case, onto the floor. The party was delightful, but they were all quickly becoming utterly exhausted. Cassandra groaned. “You know, I understand they want to make this a holiday. I’m all for it, truly, but a holi-day, not holi-week. If I have to do this for a week every year I’m going to cut my reign twenty years short, and I don’t have time for that.”
“I mean you managed to basically turn the world upside down in your first few minutes, so I think you might have some time.” Leonidas joked.
Cassandra smiled wearily at him. “It was the right thing to do. And the first thing I had to do now, because I need it to set everything else up. I have to rebuild a kingdom, perhaps rebuild the world. My great-grandmother lived to be ninety-six, so I’ve got a bit less than eighty years to work with at best. I hope that’s enough time.”
“Well, yes, it is the right thing to do, though I’m surprised that’s the reason you did it. No offense, but you always struck me as a bit more pragmatic than idealistic.” Sera added.
“It secures a permanent base of popular support that will never be challenged. It allows be to divide lands that are far too big for me to manage among such a vast array of small tenants that none of them will ever individually be able to challenge my rule even if they did have support. It floods my economy with new traders and artisans to drive down the price of goods, increasing the overall standard of living. Rents from tenant farmers, loan repayments from the artisans, and of course the increase in tax revenue caused by the increase in economic activity ensure that I have a larger and more stable supply of income for my administration than any other ruler in my nation’s history. I have gained a massive new pool of recruits to reform the army, who will be fanatically loyal, and in the event of war it will be simplicity itself to incite support by claiming an enemy would impose slavery once again. Not to mention it ensures that I will have the support of Marathon and Achaea, while also softening the image of Philopolis before the rest of Hellas, making it possible to begin negotiations and gradually bring Hellas and Ionia into our orbit without conflict. It is the single best way for me to ensure I have everything I need in terms of support, money, control, foreign influence, and military power to enact any remaining changes. I am become absolute, and they will praise my name forever for it.” Cassandra concluded with a sly look.
“So yes, exactly the right thing to do. I am become immortal, which is exactly the point. To overawe those in attendance with massive amounts of popular support and the exceptional power of my foreign support to ensure nobody gets any ideas. It’s essentially a bluff to keep anyone from tampering with us until the kingdom gets back on its feet, one which is working quite well. Unfortunately, my primary target for this decided to not make an appearance.”
“Pretty much the entire civilized world showed up.” Leonidas considered with some concern. “Don’t tell me you were expecting a delegation from Albion or the Scythians.”
“No, though it might have been nice. Ultimately, the threat arises not from the uncivilized world, much of a headache as the scythians will be, but that part of the world, which was once uncivilized, and now is becoming civilized. The latins and the Carthaginians have been growing in power, and inevitably, clashed against one another. The ideal state for us would have been that they rendered one another utterly incapable of further expansion. Instead, the Latins in that collection of mud huts they call Roma have become a serious military power, one my predecessor has antagonized by supporting their rivals in Carthage. Sooner or later, their ambitions will drive them east, and we must be ready for them. My hope would have been that an overwhelming display of power, a united front, and popular support would convince them that moving east would be foolish. However if they do not see it, they will not believe it. And of course there are also those who would not be impressed by the whole empire of Iskandar. With the name of Malphus being spoken again, and the Dilluvians returning to the political stage, the forces of that ancient evil will stir once more.” Cassandra mused with some frustration.
“You do have my apologies for that.” Seramis apologized with some embarrassment. “I wouldn’t have used that name if I knew.”
“Keep your apologies, I want your help.” Cassandra replied with a hint of snark that put Sera on edge, before the young queen laughed. “Taking down Tyndareus was just the beginning. Philopolis will face challenges that have not been seen in hundreds of years. A new age is certainly dawning, but making it a golden age and not a dark age is going to be the effort of a lifetime. It is one I cannot accomplish alone.”
“To that end, I have considered much. Leonidas, your actions in the recent campaigns have proven not only your impeccable courage, but your skill and cunning as a leader of men. The army of Philopolis will need to be rebuilt, adapted into something no longer totally dependent on conscription, but a professional corps supplemented by conscripts. In other words, Marathon’s model. Who better than a prince of Marathon to help lead that effort, and then, win glory as a leader of that army.”
Leonidas’s eyes widened as he considered the offer, and then they fell, his face somewhat downcast. “Are you certain this is wise Cass?” he asked carefully. “I am not experienced in this, and I am a second son, even of a foreign kingdom. This is risky.”
“If it were anyone but you, it wouldn’t be risky, it would be downright idiotic.” Cass replied, joking, but then genuine. “I have seen the kind of man you are Leon. I know I have nothing to fear from you. Moreover, if I wanted to simply replicate an existing army, I could acquire men with more experience. But I do not want to simply repeat history, I want to surpass it. To this end, a man unburdened by age, yet with enough wisdom to see the forest and how each and every tree contributes to it, is exactly the man I need.”
“Then, as long as you’ll have me, so be it.” Leonidas said with a grin. “Let the ties between Marathon and Philopolis grow yet deeper, and establish the next great leap in the art of war.”
“Of course, war shall not be the first answer our enemies bring against us in most cases. Nor shall it be our first response to every problem. Among other things, war is expensive. Rather, subtly, intrigue, and diplomacy shall be new tools in our arsenal. Of course with the degradation in the diplomatic corps, our artistic and cultural pursuits, and spycraft, I should need quite possibly the greatest schemer in all Hellas. The fact that she comes with enough firepower to personally rival me is a nice bonus.” Cassandra replied, turning again towards Seramis.
“No need to lay it on so thick. You’re my friend, of course I’ll help you. The fact you let me just do what I like and what I’m good at is just the cherry on top.” Seramis replied, her face entirely smug. “Though do keep in mind, my diet includes solid gold and magic items, and I’ve still got another, oh, five tons or so to put on.”
Cassandra regarded the horse-sized dragoness in front of her, and then the door. She considered how complicated it had already been for Sera to fit through it, and sighed. “I’ll put a line item in the budget for expanding the doors.” She replied, much to Sera’s amusement. “Well, since we’re all going to be hung over later-“ She mentioned, and retrieved another amphora of wine with three glasses, she poured, then paused. “Perhaps I had better find a bowl for you Sera.”
Seramis regarded the trio of glasses, and then called Elijah out of her shadow. “Do you suppose I could do it now?” she asked the familiar cryptically.
“All magic needs three components.” Elijah replied, looking towards the other two. “You only had one before, which is why it never worked. Give it a try.”
Seramis took a deep breath, and then cast with her three components. Herself, the prince she had taken, and the queen who had come to her. A spell cast in solitude no longer, and in arrogance no more.
“Daj mi forma da odam pokraj niv.”
“Niz denovite na svetlina i senka.”
“Spodeluvanje vo smea i vo tagi.”
Then, there was a light and a blue flame, and Seramis took a hesitant step forwards on two legs. Where once the dragoness stood, now stood a young Greek woman, olive-skinned from the warm Mediterranean sun, with eyes blue like dragonfire. Her hair was short and curly, hung close about her ears, around a face at once noble as a lion’s and mischievous as a cat’s. Black scale melted into a flowing black dress that trailed behind her, decorated with spiraling patterns of twisting silver holly vines. About her curling hair there was a crown of silver, with seven red stones set about it.
She stumbled, unused to walking on two legs. Leonidas stepped forwards and caught her before she could fall. She blushed at that, and Leon looked down to make sure he hadn’t grabbed anything inappropriate in his haste. He hadn’t, but the look earned him a slap anyways, much to Cassandra’s amusement. “Oh to hell with this.” Sera sighed, and snapped in some quick changes. The dress split at the back to allow room for a pair of large black wings, still dyed with flowers of flame. It likewise opened below the knee to allow a greater range of motion, particularly for a newly sprouted tail. Thus better balanced, Seramis stood and strode upright. “I swear, how in the world do you manage to balance with such a ridiculous body plan?”
“I have no idea; it apparently has something to do with the inner ear.” Cassandra replied with a shrug. “Still, it does have advantages.” She stepped forwards and offered Seramis a glass, which the princess took gratefully.
“So, how do I look?” Seramis asked, stepping back and giving a slight twirl to show off her newest shape. “It’s another imagined one, a bit of a combination of those I’ve seen.”
“You’ve seen some excellent women.” Cassandra replied with a laugh. “You are every bit as fair and terrible as Persephone herself.” This earned a slightly jealous look from Leon. She grinned at him slyly. “This is an advantage of speaking too much, you learn exactly what to say to a beautiful woman.”
“Hm, she might have had too much to drink. I am still a dragoness.” Seramis demurred, looking somewhat awkwardly at her new hands. “And rather obviously given the wings and tail. Only so far beauty can go among humans.”
“It is further than you think. I think now that I know what Artemis looks like, when she walks under the moon and stars.” Leon replied, and Sera turned vaguely pink. Cassandra cackled, and nodded approvingly.
“Ye gods, there is some Athenian in our mute Laconian after all! Well, clearly she needs to get used to having skin people can see. If she’s going to be blushing like that every five minutes nobody will take her seriously.” Cass snarked, earning a glare from Sera. That earned a smile. “Ah yes, still a dragoness, and undeniably so. You look good Sera. Don’t worry about it. If nothing else, we have another thing to toast to.” She said with a grin, then raised her glass. “To a new form, and a new age.”
Leon raised his own glass. “To friendship, and the good work ahead of us.”
Sera grinned at that, and raised her own to match. “To us, and all the trouble we’re going to get into!”