#honestly I’m never going back to the trenches of product chasing

[hypaalicious]

So, about curly hair care…

So @evilpenguinrika and I were talking briefly about this and I realize that so many of us curlies are in the trenches when it comes to hair care, mostly due to popularized misinformation.

I spent the majority of my life not going natural because I was overwhelmed with the thought of managing my hair myself. If I knew years ago what I know now, it would have changed my life. 🥲 But, since it’s never too late to see the light, I wanna share things I’ve learned from actual curl professionals (NOT Hairfluencers/Youtubers) about simplified healthy curly hair maintenance!

Basically, you only need three things for a bomb style with your curls:

shampoo and conditioner at least every 7 days

a good water-based gel or holding mousse applied to detangled wet hair to set your curls

hooded dryer or hand blow dryer with diffuser attached to dry your hair after setting it

And dassit.

How do you shampoo curly hair?

You get your hair sopping wet in the shower, like, make sure you spend a few minutes just letting the water run over and through your hair. Then, you take the shampoo and work it in by smoothing it through your hair from root to tip. You know those commercials where they have a woman piling all her hair up on top of her head and rubbing? Yeah, us curlies shouldn’t be doing that. It makes the detangling step even worse! 😵‍💫

How do you detangle?

After adding conditioner to completely saturated hair, take a detangling brush and work your way from root to tip. Then you rinse. This is called “active conditioning” because you’re working the conditioner in instead of just slapping it on your hair to sit. Any shed strands will be collected in the brush to prevent drain clogs, and your curls will be defined without any “fairy knots” (single strand knots).

How do I keep my curls moisturized?

Making sure you wash it regularly; don’t go longer than a week without a shampoo. Moisture is water. If your hair is dry, just hop in the shower and cleanse it, then restyle. Also, it’s best not to towel-dry your hair; more water in your strands before you set your look is key to a lasting style!

How do I style curly hair?

However you want to! But if you’re looking for a basic “wash & go”, all you need is a mousse or water-based hair gel to put in your wet hair after the shower to define your curls and give them hold until you wash again. If you don’t want your hair to be frizzy, sit under a dryer after application until fully dry.

Please note that any other products (oils, creams, leave-in conditioner/treatments) aren’t needed, and may even be working directly against your hair goals.

Working… against? My hair goals?

Yeah. 🥲 I’d say the vast majority of specialty products hawked to those with curly/kinky hair are not needed. For example, if you want luscious, defined clumps of curls, you won’t get that with leave in conditioners or butters or creams. Raw oils actually just coat your hair strand, which makes it shiny but also makes it waterproof and negatively affects scalp conditions. You have to clarify all of that out of your hair regularly in order to get moisture into your strands, so it’s better to just leave them on the shelves.

Hair care should be simple, and it is! Most people just need a consistent wash cycle with quality hair products in order to see drastic results they thought they would only get after numerous expensive hair treatments.

What are some quality hair products?

Basically look for stuff that doesn’t have butters & oils in the first five ingredients. Having SOME formulated into hair products is good, but not to the point where it’s the main draw of the product. It’s not the oils and butters that will help your curls, it’s the cleansing and hydration from water that does! Quality products may have a higher price tag, but you don’t need to use a whole lot per wash so a little goes a long way! I wash my hair every 3-5 days and the bottles of shampoo/conditioner I bought a year and a half ago are still going strong. ☺️

Also keep in mind that technique is key; if you don’t give yourself time to acquire the skill of managing curly hair to be its best, you could have the best products in the world and still be in shambles. This is where curl specialists come in, who offer workshops and consultations to teach you how to manage your hair at home so you end up saving a ton of time and money without all the guesswork.

So, who are these curl specialists?

I gotchu! All of the ones listed below are Black, but the core of curly hair care is not race-specific. As long as you’re not a non-Black tryna get locs or box braids, everything is cross-cultural! Some have online communities you can join for personalized help and instruction, but all have a wealth of information for free to get you started on your healthy curly hair journey.

Please note: These are licensed professionals that went to school to learn things about hair care the general public wouldn’t have access to otherwise. All they want is to bring clarity and simplicity to curly hair care!

Anita, @/monarchcurl on Twitter - monarchcurl.com

Camille Janae, @/camillejanae on Twitter - mahoganyandrose.com

Jennifer Rose, @/JenniferRoseNYC on Twitter - thefrohaus

Kera, @/CuseCurlfriend on Twitter - thecusecurlfriend.com

Nyquita, @/BrownSugarCurl on Twitter - brownsugarcurlsalon.com

A general directory of certified curl specialists to see if any are local to you - Cut It Kinky

#not me taking days to type this up 😩 #but I said I would so I did it! #honestly I’m never going back to the trenches of product chasing #I just need a professional cut at this point but I’m poor for now lol #but yeah I hope this helps folks out~ #curly hair care

[quietdaysco]

Primrose Path - Devlog #011

It's a brand new year and a brand new milestone! We've really missed you. Have you missed us? It's so great to be back!

Last devlog we said we were taking a break for the holidays. And we did, but between new jobs, family, college, and festivities, you couldn’t fully keep us away from the dream! All of December and January, we wrote. And now? 

The common route first draft is finished!

For such a wide and important aspect of our project, this is no small feat. We've been at the script for six months counting, and it felt so good to get another step closer every single day. 

Check the facts for yourself:

Main Game Progress

Writing

Common Route: 

Rough Outline: 100% ✓

Revised Outline: 100% ✓

Draft Script: 100% ✓ 

Words: 128,164 

Scenes: 99* / 99 

*Scenes are counted when they are ready for internal review, qualifying them as complete for the first draft.

Did you see that number? Yes, it's not a mistake. The common route is over 128,000 words! We love every part of it and we're very proud, but the journey isn't over yet. 

You might be thinking: “All that and you've only done the common route?!”

Yeah—it's a long journey, but one that we're happy to share with you! 

Since this is a major milestone, we wanted to share a few words of our experience until now:

Elm says...

I feel simultaneously relieved, proud and dead inside and, like all creatives and developers, I hope I get to keep feeling like this as we continue to hit milestones. Primrose is definitely something I consider to be too big a project, but I also refuse to let it go. It is a learning experience and a proud moment. As someone who has written things, but never really considered themselves a writer, this is a surprising feat and one that fills me with a great sense of calm. If I knew one day, I'd be working a full-time industry job with the typical hours and somehow managing to write over 65,000 words in just under half a year in my scarce free time, I would have said that's nice, but unrealistic. (If you told me I was going to work with someone else and double that, I might have told you to politely close the door on your way out.)

Nonetheless, I think I finally found my calling as the child who wrote manuals and to do lists before approaching middle school. Developing baselines are important for any project, and without it, I don't know where we would be. I remember saying, rather casually, we should be tracking our progress to establish a baseline as this is a first for us. I didn't realise it would be such an integral part of our process and leading to an understanding of what we can achieve. It started off as a nice thing to have, but without it I strongly believe I wouldn't be able to finish a project. That's not so uncommon, I think. We all have that pile of unfinished things that we don't expect. Except this time, I'll see it coming a mile away and work around it.

How much did data help us? I don't know. Our current average is 21,000 words a month between us. That's including a very low December, and a very high (39,000-word) January. I don't know if that's because our goals averaged at 20,000 more words a month, or if that's genuinely our limit, but it seems to be a healthy rate to allow us to do other things with our time.

I've always had an interest in production and management, a change in self has come over over the past year. One that is more confident, positive, understanding and encouraging towards myself and others. Creating a project is less like tending a well-oiled machine and more like cultivating a garden. Cogs wear down and get replaced, but people don't work like that. We need space and understanding, time to reflect, encouragement and the ability to know when we've had enough. I'm sure that shift of thought is just me developing a stronger sense of self, but it's one that I welcome and I hope will be reflected in the work I produce with Coda.

In the past, I've adamantly liked to work alone. I've wanted to push myself to the high standards I hold myself to, and I do feel it's unfair to treat anyone but myself like that. I still think this is true, but there is also pleasure in sharing work with others. When you're tired, someone else can carry the project forward. When you split the work, the other brings in an interesting and exciting twist you hadn't yourself considered. I truly believe, some of the best work isn't created alone.  With everything we do, we bring a little of ourselves into it and we make it personal. This story is significant in size for two people to attempt, but there are bigger, emergent narratives out there and maybe one day we can be a part of that too.

Until then, I'm happy to just make the kind of games that you load up on a quiet day.

Coda says...

This is the first time I’ve ever written this much content for a story in my life. 57,000 words in half a year. As much as I’ve entertained trying out hypernarrative models in personal projects, this is the first time I’ve actually done so. This is also the first time I’ve ever worked with Elm, and if I didn’t have such a competent, versed, and approachable partner, this passion project would have quickly become an untamed chore, much farther behind in progress than where we are today.

I’ve learned a lot over the past six months. I’ve been learning how I reframe my motivation to work so that I’m not chasing whims but developing a self-disciplined ethic. For me, that heavily involves pre-planning and tracking explicit goals. Elm operates similarly having such a strong interest in project management, so building up our workflow this way was to both of our benefits.

I’ve learned that I have a growing interest in narrative design. I’m spending more and more of my free time listening to lectures on theories and models to leverage player interactivity and agency, reading materials on mapping consequence, utilizing channels other than dialogue to exposit information, and learning new ways to breathe life into a scene.

And in deconstructing these concepts and figuring how to incorporate them, I find myself growing more and more with the characters. These characters are all stitched together from personal experiences—some as recent as these past couple months. They’re also those of friends and family, of passersby, of vocal strangers. They’re things I love, things I tolerate, and things I could do without yet exist. They’re research of facts, opinions I might share or reject, and trivia. These characters are points to make, and those points evolve and refine as we do.

My final thoughts are, whatever this project ends up becoming, I’ve enjoyed it so much. There are times when Elm and I have glanced at each other’s scenes and for me at least, I’ve had genuine reactions that’ve run the gamut. I have honestly gasped at these words before. I’ve laughed a great deal. I’ve nodded along and I’ve shaken my head. I’ve felt something. Whoever you are, reader, I hope you will too.

We hope these words mean something to you. If they don’t resonate, then at least they give you an idea of who we are as individuals and as a team!

So, what are our next steps?

We’re reconvening to address any pressing concerns.

The next few weeks will focus on a review pass for consistency and game flow.

Afterwards, we’ll move onto the final revision of the common route, assess, and then mark it “Done” once and for all! We'll have something else to offer once we do!

Oh, before we forget...

Here’s the last of our favorite unrevised snippets from these final two months:

RAFAEL: You've done me a wonderful favour. RAFAEL: And maybe saved my life. MC: Does it have something to do with the two over there? He glances over woefully. RAFAEL: No, they'll definitely try to kill me.

PRIYA: Someone is spreading a rumour that you had to meet with two extremely questionable kids in a trench coat. MC: God, is that what people are saying? PRIYA: No, that's what I'm saying, and if you don't fess up the rumour will only grow.

HARPER: It's a restraining order. HARPER: Been a while since I've seen one of those. This branding is nice, don't you think?

One of the pheasants stops and stares at us. It spreads its wings, revealing the second pair beneath them in a captivating display.

He buttons up his blazer. JUN LAU: (squint) Stop staring. MC: Literally, are you one to talk? JUN LAU: I’m not staring at your tits though, so don’t stare at mine. MC: Oh my God, I wasn’t even looking! It’s a lie because I totally was and I look so dumb for lying because he can read it all over my face, oh crap. Walk right past him, just walk, go go go go.

A light flurry falls from the night sky. The moon gazes through a break in the clouds, just enough to line them and every drifting snowflake in silver. A few flakes land on my nose and eyelashes.

I hum for brown paper packages tied up with strings. He recognizes the tune and smiles at me.

If this is the kind of content you like to see, we’d love for you to jump into our Discord server! We occasionally share much longer unrevised excerpts and discuss the game in much more depth with our community.

Behind The Scenes

Greyson Update

We’ve finally nursed Greyson back to health from a nasty bug, and upgraded him to the newest OS (as it goes with tech these days). He seems ready to get back out there on Twitter and help in March! 

One thing we noticed about the old Greyson is despite being cheerful, he spent nearly all of his time talking to himself, not utilizing the tools available to him to increase his presence. With his recent bug fixes, the new Greyson is now going to be out there actively searching for folks in need of some encouragement, widening his reach! If you get a message from Greyson, feel free to reply back! After all, he’s always there for you!

Side Projects

Clearly, Primrose Path is a large project and one that means a lot to us. We're under no illusion that this project will take a few more years. It's a little like our magnum opus in that regard and we're giving it everything we've got.

However, we're not the type who can sit in the dark for years on end. At Quiet Days, we recognize the benefits and importance of personal projects, and that is something the two of us will be doing more often. Whether it's game jams or comics, we hope to share them with you!

We’re focusing on monthly devlogs for our Tumblr, but we have to ask: Are there other kinds of content and updates you folks would like to see here? We want to know! Shoot us a message in our Ask the Devs inbox here on Tumblr, or hit us up on Twitter, Discord, and Lemma Soft!

Socials

• Micro-updates on Twitter!  ♦ Factoids with Greyson! • Writing Progress on GitScrum! • Live art development on Twitch! • Art logging on Instagram! • Ask us anything here! • Continue the discussion on Discord! • Master thread on Lemma Soft!

[tamikkogivesbrain]

Obsessed or nah?

Mental illness or nah?

Weird Twilight Zone Episode or nah?

Restraining order or nah?

This whole story makes me sad. I honestly wish people lived to love themselves more. Being inspired by someone is why we are all put on this planet. Envy, competition, weak mindsets and low vibrational intentions are things We as a Collective need to move out of. If someone is offended by you copying them, stop copying them. Do not move into someone else’s life out of spite. Create your own. Grow to love Yourself.

Introspective by: TAMIKKO BEASTY

What is Divine Masculine and Feminine?

In the same way, the feminine is waking up to her divine qualities and offering these gifts to the world, so the masculine is awakening to a new (actually old) way of being with the feminine. ... The awakening masculine supports the feminine aspect in visionary women and men, so they can bring their gifts into the world.

What is Divine Feminine?

Since the Divine Feminine is a concept grounded in spirituality, definitions can vary depending on who you ask. ... In other words, the Divine Feminine represents the connection to the part of your consciousness responsible for nurture, intuition, and empathy, regardless of your gender.

What is divine energy?

The most important part of the human body is the latent divine energy which lies between our skins to inner conscience, the potential energy or Shakti. ... In yogic parlance the soul is called 'purusha shakti' and energy of nature is called 'prakriti shakti'or kundalini energy.

I wrote a story months back about a person impersonating my essence for many years. I wrote it from a generic 3D perspective. Mostly because I did not want to dig deep. (This whole blog is filled with sci-fi episodes of The Twilight Zone.) I have been in review of True Self lately. The end cap to a very lonnnng journey inward, and away from secular conditioning. As I gear my mind to mentally go back to the superficial world of product and presentation... a path led me here. More homework.

I had this great initial strive for a career in pop culture dance for my whole entire existence. It led to many amazing things and wonderful, out of this world experiences. But the one thing that was always missing... True Love. I have had encounters I called love, mislabeled partners twin flames when they weren’t... only to find my heart forever lacking. There is a person I have always known to be my Twin. My real twin. I met him long ago and labeled him my best friend, a “brother”, my family, and ran. I saw him and he was familiar. A blaze in my eye that was too hard to hold on to. Broken from my own past and hurts I couldn’t handle experiencing love or real committed connection. We eventually collided years later. Volcanic. But life changing. I ran again. In between these things there was always a person looming in the background. Feeding on his weakness and vulnerability.

I’m trying to find places to resolve what I feel and step into 8D reasoning.

We had Union. The Union was beyond and close. Implosive again. All while this 3rd Party person still stalked and emulated, competed from afar. She felt slighted. That something was taken away from her... him.

I believe in love.

I believe in blinding, heart yielding, gut wrenching love. I believe if you love someone and you know in your heart they belong to another... release them. I did this twice. She captured him twice. From the outside it looked believable. Like he did belong to her. Even tho I could see... his heart was inside of me. I wanted him to live his highest self possible. She convinced him to marry, it was based in false pretenses, manipulation, abuse, coherion. They imploded. Divorce. Bad feelings.

He called me.

After a century of distance and walking through the trenches of hell without each other.

I came.

I put my soul into healing my friend. Twin Flame Unions are not perfect. It’s volatile. It’s scary. It’s co-dependence, sometimes dysfunctional. Come together to fall apart... all while your heart cracks on the inside. I set my twin free again. Against the internal part of my being. So he can find a freedom to choose his own destiny. Be really happy and manifest His Truth.

So I went on another journey of Self just recently. Information came flooding my way like The Universe wanted me to know... in heart break you are not alone.

Twin Flame Energy, The Divine Feminine (DF), The Masculie Energy (DM), and The Karmic.

Sometimes You can be a Karmic and mess up someone else’s relationship by cheating with their spouse. When you work through your 3D carnal exertions and choices... you ascend. You move your energy out of lower base thinking and doing. You walk into your Power and become Divine. The Divine Feminine Awakens and this sends a Universal Signal to her Divine Masculine to unite. Unite and form a Union so Their Universal duty/ soul contract begins to manifest. This is to guide The Spiritual Collective forward. People in low base thinking can see or sense this. People who live in “black” energy use negativity and negative actions to hold other people back so Twin Flames have harder times meeting or coupling. Sometimes this is out of conscious jealousy, envy, and lack. It can also be out of greed and arrogance. Even revenge on one or both parties. When you come across 2 partners who are Destined as Twin Flames... the energy is so obvious people are constantly compelled to point out your similarities. In looks, Energy, and Vibe. An irresistible love for One Another that the whole world recognizes and can see.

It’s meant to be.

In New York I was super busy all of the time. Had no time to look over my shoulder and see who was chasing me. He saw me. She saw him seeing me... and has been chasing me ever since. She was not kind to my twin. Trying to force my likeness over him. Almost as if to trick... maybe compete. To fool or convince him him she is The Divine Feminine. I never stopped to think how deep it all got until this last year. How much damage was done to my friend.

Hurt people hurt people. I am not perfect. I hurt people too. Unraveling different parts of myself everyday. The difference is the True Divine Feminine can’t fake her existence. She does not force or manipulate. When she fights, she is fighting for what The Divine Masculine actually wants for himself... deep in his own soul... even if it’s breaking her own bond with him. A Karmic Energy fakes and manipulates. Usually for a selfish purpose and plays the Soulmate game to entrap a person.

The dilemma.... tell the truth or let my heart sit back and pretend it’s ok for people to do things like this. In my research there are people who go in depth about Spiritual things and The War Fare that takes place. But never actually faces to the movies. I’m posting because is the obsession she has with me or is it over him? Or maybe the need for fake fame and competition coming from some broken place serves like a flame for her.

This knowledge of Twin Flame Journies inspired me to write. Our Union inspired friends to marry and some to pursue higher love. So I wondered what was always coming in between us. Karmic ties can also be friends or family members who have selfish motives to keep True Loves apart. Sometimes people are just sad and do dark things. And sometimes people just need to heal from their own paths. We collide into poachers looking for planets to rob and fill. We are planets. If we fail to fill ourselves with love, it makes it easier for parasitic energy to take over. Vampire based people are attracted to Epathic Energy. People ascending to higher levels are usually Empaths with beautiful, giving energy. Bottom feeders recognize this... and feed.

The goal is to not become a bottom feeder yourself from encountering so many dark connections and fight your way through Yourself back to Your Higher Existence.

When on This Journey The Twin Flame appears. Bumping back into one another until Union finally takes hold or peaceful resolvement to let go is established between The Divine Masculine and The Divine Feminine.

I desire for my True Twin to be his happiest Self. With me or away from Me... love is undefineable and no moments are regretted.

There is a massive Spiritual Shift in The Collective Human Consciousness and on The Planet. Recognize Heart Power and True Intentions. The time for hiding or wearing false masks is over. All truth will prevail.

It’s time for true love and life purpose. The rest is bullshit.

Muse your heart. Listen to your gut. If it feels wrong... it’s probably fake. Or in my case, an imposter.

If you recognize yourself as a Karmic, look inward. Do the work to heal yourself and break unnatural bonds you may be keeping over people who do not belong to you. If you steal from The Universe, you will be required to pay in karmic lessons that keep you bound to 3D black hole existing.

If you are a Twin Flame on path to Enlightenment. Be honest. Love Yourself. Heal Yourself. Pray. Do good works. Spread pure love. Repeat.

Fight For Love.

~T

Click Link Below for more disturbing info👇🏼:

UPDATE: She currently is stealing Spiritual Information I have written about here and is starting a newsletter of her own... As she reports my IG Page 7-8 times a day to have this tumblr link dismantled... only to use bits of my information in daily newsletter posts to portray herself as “Enlightened”, “Woke AF”, & Gives “Self- Awareness” tips. 👀

How, Sway?!

She now calls herself a “Light Worker”.

These things are not to be played with... or taken lightly. Pray for Real People to see around this Fake Lost One.

This Is The Spiritual Battle. Being played out in various ways, on very many stages and platforms. True Divine Energy: Continue to be what is Born and Genuine INSIDE of You. That cannot be forged... only mocked by Jealous Entities like the person who is obsessed with trying to be Me. Keep fighting for Truth. If You are a true born healer, or carry light to help change The World, Uphold True Meaning in Your Existence and Purpose. No fake creation, test, or obstacles can change that or take that which is Divine in True Divine Beings...away from You.

To The Fake 1s: Beware. The Wicked Shall Perish... On DOPE.

The Future Come’ith.

#TwinFlameEnergy TheDivineMasculine TheDivineFeminine TheDivineUnion GOD LOVE TRUTH #Mentalillness HealYourself LetGoOfTryingToBeMe BeYou