#if there's one thing I've learned from my years of being an edgy teen on the internet and looking at stuff I most definitely shouldn't see

[latenightsundayblues]

TW: Eye injury, facial scars

Here it is, a messy little demonstration of what I think Stu's face would look like after the events of the first movie if they had survived (well, more like a bunch of ideas hastily stapled together and digitalized). I took some creative liberties, like Stu only having injuries on the left side of his face due to trying to shield it from the TV and the pattern of the scars bc it looks cooler. I really can't decide if he should only have the scar cutting over his lips or just a whole chunk of his cheek missing and exposing his teeth lol (please open the image Tumblr's about to make this one extra crunchy with fries on the side)

And.... Here's Billy. He gets a participation trophy.

#if there's one thing I've learned from my years of being an edgy teen on the internet and looking at stuff I most definitely shouldn't see #it's that electricity wounds are fucking GNARLY. #like it just straight up explodes your flesh #i think the electricity coupled with the force of that big ass TV falling on his head must've just made his face go.... kaboom y'know #stu's mostly a good sport about it tho #he's a little bit self conscious but at that point I don't think Billy would let him talk shit about his own face #scream 1996 #stuilly #billy loomis #stu macher #scream fanart #billy loomis x stu matcher #latenightsundayblues art tag #tw eye trauma #tw face injury #tw scars

[homunculus-argument]

I've learned to be neutral about other people being religious, but my own experience with it was definitely coloured by my issues with my dad. He was a proper Edgelord Atheist, loathing religions as a whole and christianity in particular, never hesitating to remark about how stupid and backwards or primitive it is. My mother didn't care either way, she only talks about god when she talks about gardening. So he was the only one in the house with any strong opinion about it. And yet, me and my sister were babtised, put into a christian daycare for a while and then put into christian religions classes at school.

I always loathed religion classes as a kid and didn't know why, I hated hearing about it and having to put up with it and always felt like the teacher is just insulting us by lying right at our faces, about something that surely nobody actually believes for real. My childhood best friend was put into the non-christian option despite of coming from the same kind of a vaguely culturally christian background as I did, and I envied her intensely for it. I asked repeatedly to get to go to the non-christian classes as well, and was told "no", because my mother didn't think that letting your kids do that was an option even though my friend's parents clearly had already done it.

I had a serious Edgelord Edgy Atheist phase in my teens, and was wrangled into going through confirmation anyway because Everyone Else's Kids Are Doing It Too. The aforementioned friend got to go through a non-religious version of the same thing, which I had not even known was an option, so I didn't think to ask for it. Being wrangled through jesus classes as a 15-year-old bag of spite who was only marginally self-aware enough to avoid physically wearing a fedora, I was not a pleasure to have in class.

My father was physically present in the house until I was 14, until my mother finally accepted that this man's presence might actually cause physical harm - his drunken attempts to cook almost caused a fire, and he drove drunk with me and my sister on board once - and he reluctantly agreed to be removed from the picture. His absence at home made no impact nor difference in our daily life, the man who sleeps in the spare room just wasn't sleeping in the spare room anymore.

We saw him frequently enough after that, he visited us for family events and joined us for outings. At some points I tried to bond with him, over mutual interests and passions, even tried to prompt him to join me on snide remarks about religions that he used to make all the time, but he would not. He refused to bond with his children even over mutually hating the same things. It slowly occurred to me over time that the reason why christianity had played any role in my life was because he had never, at any point at all, moved a finger to stop it. Harmless or not, he had no instinctive desire to move his children away from things he considered bad. He had hated it enough to make it known that he hates it, but genuinely just did not care enough to consider not letting him children grow up in an environment he loathed.

My father died when I was 17, and I never really mourned him - not out of hatred, but because his death had hardly even altered the empty absence that was his presence in my life. I had grown up with religious classes trying to tell me about a loving god, and I had not understood why I had hated it, why I felt betrayed and lied to. My relationship with the christian god I was taught to understand has been exactly the same as my relationship with my father.

Desperately shrieking into a void that is so vast that not even my own echo would answer, and knowing for certain that the dead silence I'm hearing in return is the complete, absolute absence of a loving Father.

[carrottyshark]

ooh oc post! i never saw you talk about your oc(s), not that i'm following you for a long time but anyway!! will you tell me about them 👀

RU! HELLO!!!

I didn't expect to get an ask about my OCs in this time, but I did talk? about them before from an ask, which is on the left.

Thing is, it's been a long while and I've sort of drifted off from them. Recently, I've been thinking about a pair of OCs more inclined and focused on the Milgram theme which is on the right! (So that I can match what my blog is mostly focused on as well. Although, I'm more focused on their backgrounds rather than their current Milgram state.) You inspired me to draw the mini reference sheet of them, so thank you! I'll add a short description of each of their lives below too, but it's not fully fleshed out yet since this is pretty recent XD

Fair warning, some of what I'll mention can be upsetting and will contain suicide, abuse, drugs, murder, and violence.

Small background, but this would mostly take place in the slums, and one would know what to assume in places like this. This got a bit long, sorry!

So before Milgram, Krow was a troubled teen. The core reason he landed in Milgram was due to his mentality of "ending things from the root" which shaped him this way thanks to his past. Having a shitty life at home led by parents who only want to meet their end, at one point he's figured the only way out was by force, and kills his parents, whom he deems to be the root, or the cause. Around this time, Milgram doesn't register this yet, and his life continues. (Man, I just realized how edgy this sounds, he would possibly be a year or so younger when this happened, anyway continuing.)

A year or so figuring out a way through life, although going more and more downhill, he finds his way to the slums. His life by himself wasn't as bad as he thought, but it wasn't too great either. He moves from place to place, some taking him for a few days, but at the end of the day the entire environment he was in could only do so much. He could only get as much pay as well, along with the side jobs he could get and handle. His knowledge and experience did increase, and he's thankful, as a person who's killed his parents, he'd always had lingering doubts. That his mentality might as well be who he really is, but he thought that might not be the case after all.

There in the slums, he meets Yui. They get along, and even with a rough life, she still tries to find places she thought he could at least stay in, give him as much food as she can, and managed to help him. It doesn't take long for Krow to learn about her rough life; in a place filled with drug abusers, Yui receives the terrible end from both of her parents, things unimaginable. He figures the way out was none other than back then, and he strikes for the kill. Running wouldn't get them anywhere with their deteriorating state, and they wouldn't be able to recover in time if they're continued to be pushed down.

Yui is a kind person to a fault, frustratingly so, and doesn't let this happen. She didn't want him to be a killer, and at the very start, she had always wanted to take her own life, but she just couldn't.

The catch? Krow had already killed someone. This was something he admitted, but regardless she never wanted him to harm anyone ever again. Out of all options, one day, Yui tries to stab herself to end it all. Krow intervenes of course, and what he thought that he'd long forgotten comes back again, his idea of simply "ending things from the root". He kills Yui himself, to which she didn't want. He tries to kill himself after, but he end up not doing it. Here she unravels the truth he's always avoided, that yet being so similar, they're also both vastly different. She would never hurt anyone, no matter what she's faced, the very thing he's done now. Worse, it was something she didn't actually want. Was it out of desperation that she didn't actually want to die? Was it because she didn't want him to be a killer? Was it something else? It was too late and he'll never figure it out.

She also made him realize things aren't entirely black and white, like his household, like how the people in the slums ended up, simply killing her, or anyone else, can't be the only option. Right? He tries to end things for himself too, but he ends up not being able to, and his only way was to move forward. This time vowing he wouldn't hurt again.

Cue Milgram, which would be a few years after, and he'd be around 21-23. I don't really know how to insert him in the canon story, and even figure out the timeline plus time gap, but for the sake of the idea I had, Mahiru, especially T2, would be who he's going to be connected to most, for the better or worse.

So the question, Would the cycle continue?

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

And that's it! Thank you if you read this far! Since the focus was more on Krow, Yui got a bit overshadowed, but I do treasure her as much (if not more.) One thing I want to point out as well is the symbolism I have for them, because I fricking love symbolism:

The Cosmos symbolize Yui as a flower, before he "pulls it from its roots" and hangs it by rope.

Essentially, most plants grow fuller only when cut, and this is the case for Krow (similarly Yui). Having endured too many hardships, he's grown the most, but anything too much is a bad thing. The flower that would symbolize him would be Black Dahlias.

Orange Cosmos in flower language means resilience when healing oneself, and also forgiveness.

They both have plant clippers, symbolizing how they can harm either their own self or someone else. Krow's is rusted for obvious reasons, meanwhile Yui's isn't.

The rope itself is a metaphor about how Krow kills the person "for them", as so far the people he had killed were those he thought and deemed to "not want to live" anymore. He also happens to like dried flowers.

He brought the two hair bands Yui uses to Milgram.

The flowers that would symbolize Krow's deceased parents would be Yellow Carnations and White Roses.

Some other stuff! This is the audio I was continuously listening to and thought would work if he had a song.

(I don't really know the lyrics, I just liked the vibe LMAO)

Finally, this is the closest thing to Krow wearing a Milgram prisoner outfit (I didn't really think I'd be too into it before and just drew for something for the heck of it but here we are now.)

Thank you again if you read this far!

#Ah yes 'I will make a happy OC' turned into 'Poor thing suffering so much... would be a shame if I add M O R E' #Although technically Krow and Yui have been an OC of mine for a while... just not in the way that they are Milgram style #So technically they're happy and are just acting for it? :D Like an AU? #Sorry if this got angsty Ru... ;; I PROMISE THEY'RE ORIGINALLY HAPPY #Also looking back this entire thing feels like a mix of Shidou and Mahiru's story... looks like they got the most impact on me.. maybe #Also the whole OCs resemble the Creator thing? Yeae I suck at character design. #I actually had no idea what to do with Krow's straps so I just went to hell with it #thank you for the ask! #carrotty art old and new #ocarrotty

[bluemusickid]

Hello! It's been some time!! Missed y'all, hope you missed me too!! I haven't been active but I have checked the tags sometime and am more active on Twitter (w my boo @carpediemm-18 💕🤌)

I am pretty sad to see most of my friends leave, and ik how much of a tough decision it must've been. The fandom has changed considerably and tbh, like most, I don't really care about the whole "relationship" and while i've been enjoying it like a really long Reality TV show/season, there are a few things I feel like talking about, which as a Desi and a Hindu, I was pretty sad to see v few people acknowledge.

First off, let me preface by saying that I feel sorry that her nudes leaked. Intentionally or accidentally, no one should have to go through that, at ANY point of their life, for ANY reason. My heart goes out to her for that, and I hope she has been able to recover from that.

But, I have seen so much discourse about her and her friends. Especially in the context of racism. When I first saw those pics, I was disappointed and hurt. Not because I expected any better from either party, but because in this day and age with a lot of exposure to global policies and discourse, being ignorant is a wilful choice.

I saw her picture with a bindi, and honestly, it seems like they were pretty openly mocking Hindu culture and customs. The bindi, the mudra, the sticking out of the tongue? Yeah, all VERY prevalent signs of mocking, or at the very least, emulating what they've seen in media; which again, is not a proper representation of what our culture is. I have seen people say that "oh, well, when people come to India, don't they dress up in traditional attire and click photos? If that isn't a problem, why is this?" That isn't a problem because you are in our country, learning our customs in person. We are welcoming you to our world of traditions in a proper way, which isn't cultural appropriation.

In addition to that, her friends were very openly saying vile, antisemitic and fatphobic things, not too long ago. You might argue, oh that was a long time ago, they were young, they might've changed and so on. And I agree, I would defo give them the benefit of the doubt in such a case. But most of these tweets are from like 2014/15/preeeetty recent if you think about it. I am close to her age, and even as someone who is not from The West, at that age and in that time, I knew that stuff like this is INHERENTLY wrong. Bear in mind, even if they were in their teens at the time, it's not like it was the early 2000s or something. In 2014, you should know better than to quote Ad*lf H*tler. Heck, even my 12 year old cousin doesn't do that, and he's a complete edgy teen extraordinaire.

I come from a place where colorism is still very much prevalent, and to see people from the West pick and choose what they "like" about Eastern philosophies is disappointing and quite frankly, disgusting. You can't claim to "follow Buddhist principles" and continue associating with such vile people. You don't even have to call them out, but you can distance yourself from them.

I haven't said anything about Chris because he's a grown-ass man and if at this point he continues associating w such people, he's a manchild dicko. But Alba has the chance to change, and she should think about getting better friends when she can. Breaking off a friendship in your 20s is MUCH easier than realising and regretting your mistakes in your 40s.

With that, I sign off.

#chris evans #alba baptista #cevans

[a-lonely-dunedain]

heeeeeeey so I have mentioned in the past that I have like at least one other LOTRO OC with a shamelessly edgy backstory that I've never posted? well today's the day I post her!

anyway, this is my half-Black Númenórean half-Nurnhoth champion, Margim!

backstory under the cut as not to clog your dash lol

fair warning her backstory is shamelessly edgy in a way that only something written by a young teen can be lol. I've had this character for literal ages and just. forgot to post about her.

Margim was born in the slave-pits in Udun, despite her Númenórean heritage her birth parent wanted nothing to do with her, bc y'know, servants of Sauron are just Like That™. anyway she eventually ended up in the fighting rings of what would eventually be known as Talath-Urui, where slaves and prisoners of Mordor were frequently forced to fight for entertainment. Margim was sent there due to her impressive physical strength, and spent most of her years in comparative isolation where the only interaction she had was either with her captors or those they wanted her to kill. She never thought to try to escape though, as this captivity was all she had ever known, and the wasteland outside of it was all she thought the world outside consisted of. She had never heard anything of the lands outside of Mordor, save that they were filled with evil men somehow curler than those in the service of the Dark Lord. That was, until she actually met one of these so-called "hatful men of Gondor". There was an herbalist from Ithilen who had been captured and brought to Gorgoroth's fighting pits, and he was being kept in the cell next to Margim's. He was not a strong man by any means, seemingly he had only been brought to the pits as fodder for one of the stronger combatants, his presence in the ring would be more of a cruel joke than anything else; one Margim had seen many times before and never found particularly funny. He was also a rather strange man, where most prisoners would avoid speaking to Margim on account of her reputation as one of the most feared Champions of the Pits and her reluctance to speak, like, at all, the herbalist not only spoke to her but offered to help treat her wounds from her previous fight (what he could reach through the cell bars at least) Margim recoiled from him at first, confused at his offer and thinking it might be some kind of trick, after all this didn't line up with anything she had been told about the men of Gondor before. But as their admittedly rather one-sided conversation continued, she learned quite a few things about this man and his homeland she did not expect. most of it sounded fake to her, the ramblings of a man driven mad by despair and starvation most likely. I mean, blue skies? the "sun"? who would ever believe that there was a missive bright floating… orb… thingy… in the sky. the sky is dark, it always has been. she had never seen a flower before and struggled to visualize these strange colorful growing things he attempted to describe. still, she found herself fascinated by this madman, who she learned was named Celeair, and listened intently to all he had to say of the lands outside Mordor, though she did not have much to say in return besides looks of bewilderment. Even if she did think it to be nothing more than a story, it was a… nice story. and she wanted to hear more of it. Well as it turns out, she might not get the chance. Later on when Margim is brought out of her cell to face her next combatant, she finds standing before her on the fighting-bridge none other than Celeair. He somehow seems worse for wear than when she last saw him, if such a thing is even possible, and was not even given a weapon with which to defend himself from her. This was not meant to be a fight, this was an execution. She finds herself unable to approach him. this is not the first one-sided fight she had been expected to partake in, but this was the first time she doubted her ability to follow through with it. the audience of orcs and evil men loudly demanded blood as she considered her next move. If she refused to fight they would both be killed, yet she could not bring herself to raise her mace against the kind madman. Escape is impossible, there is nothing but barren rock and fire and foes beyond the walls of Thorzaf... and beyond that? there is no "beyond that", Celeair says there is but- there's no way any of that was true right? still, he spoke of it with such sincerity. He surely knew he was about to die, he did not have any reason to lie to her did he? but does a madman need a reason-

"BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!" Interrupts the shouted demands of her impatient audience. A stern calmness came over her face as she made a rather rash decision. It is blood they want? oh, she would give them blood. Before she even considered the repercussions of the act, she turned around and her mace fell on her handler, who was dead before his body crumpled to the ground. in one sweeping movement she snatched his blade as it fell and tossed it to her new friend(?) Celeair.

Their daring escape from the fighting pits and long hard journey from Mordor are a blur to Margim. She remembers she did not think Ithilen was a real place, but at Celeair's insistence that he could lead them there, she trekked on despite her injuries. For all she knew she was chasing nothing more than a faerie tale dreamed up by man more broken than she was. But somehow despite it all, they do eventually make it out of Mordor in one piece. And to her surprise, the sky is not dark.

Margim is not allowed to stay in Ithilen however, and is lucky she was not killed on sight upon entering Ithilen. After all this woman who is visually indistinguishable from the feared Numenorian servants of Sauron (even wearing the armor of one of their commanders that she donned as part of their ruse to get through the black gate) showing up in Ithilen with a captured herbalist in tow would be seen as an immediate threat. luckily Celeair managed to convince his kinsmen to spare her, and while they don't trust her enough to allow her to stay, they allow her to venture north unharmed.

Anyway things are more shaky after that as we're getting out of backstory-territory and into regular story-territory. Margim eventually makes it north to Dunland and is accepted by the Stag-Clan as their champion, and has personal beef with Saurman for trying to start a war in the once peaceful land she now calls her home and trying to drag her very peaceful clan into it. Celeair eventually follows her trail north when he's well enough to travel after his ordeal in Mordor, and now they're traveling buddies :)

#lotro #lotro oc #Margim #thanks Meril for asking me about her and reminding me I needed to post about her lol

[cinderedphoenix]

You know, spending time in the shower really gives you the moment to suddenly reflect on random thoughts that have been sitting in your brain for who knows how long. I was just sorta thinking about how I like Harley Quinn's character as she is now.

When the changes to position as "villain teamed with the Joker" were becoming really prominent and talked about, I mean, I was pretty sad about it. I didn't take too well to the changes in part due to absorbing the fact that I saw other people were complaining about it. Thinking back on it, it was like... that was probably all from those kinds of comic fans getting upset that Harley was moving on to become a strong independant woman no longer attached to the Joker. Though, the first Suicide Squad movie having Jared Leto as the Joker probably didn't help much either because the new Harley was sorta... attached to that movie.

Anyways, when we still had the classic Harley, I was a young kid to teen. As a kid assigned female at birth, the comics fandom (and other geek things in western culture) had been very... centered towards cis, straight men and had misogyny abound. Said misogyny hasn't disappeared of course. People I would come across treated Harley as being the "Quirky hot gf" for the unhinged fan favorite edgy villain that does whatever her boyfriend wants her to do, dotes on him 24/7 and lets him have complete control over the relationship. People glorified what was written to be an abusive dynamic. So, being the impressionable person that I was, I thought having a power imbalance like that was normal and maybe not a power imbalance. Not just for Harley, but for anyone expected to act as a woman in general.

I loved Harley, I thought she was a fun character. She became one of my favorites, even. So seeing all these guys that were upset about change, made me think I had to be upset about it too.

And then... I had been going through my own journey of discovering myself. I was already a part of the lgbt+ community identifying on the ace spectrum, and then realized that I'm bi and demisexual. Harley and Poison Ivy have been a thing so like... oh. I'm queer. So is Harley. And now? I had found out that I'm trans about... I think one or two years ago now. And I've been trying to be more out of the closet about it as of recently. One of the big things going through this is learning to be brave about being who I am and more independent, and not what other people want to control me to be or expect me to be in terms of my own identity. And you know what? Harley's broken free of the Joker's metaphorical shackles. He's not the one in control of her life.

Harley Quinn isn't a role model, but I don't know what we'd do without her in the DC universe.

#dc #dc comics #Harley Quinn #Harleen Quinzel #my post #rambling things #lgbt

[ohcrapmyfishwhy]

so i have only seen that one transformers movie with shia labeouf. where do i start for the Good stuff. i am fascinated by starscream.

cracking *every* single bone in my body anon this is gonna be long I'm so sorry

Ok so there's a FANTASTIC post here about where to start if you're not sure where to. In my humble opinion, this post on Reddit is also super helpful- because, unfortunately, transformers comes with 800 continuities like Marvel- and ofc that's gonna happen to a 30-year-old franchise, so it's confusing. but in THAT CASE, if you're confused, youtuber Chris McFeely has an entire series called Transformers: The Basics which has short, easily digestible videos on certain continuities, characters, and plot devices while remaining fairly spoiler free- obviously, there are gonna be spoilers, but for the most part they're pretty spoiler free and help establish certain lore things if you're confused! Though hopefully you won't need it too much based on what I'm giving you here, cause I know getting into a series and instantly having to do homework just sucks

Whats fun about the TF cartoons is that for the most part, each one is in their own continuity, so any prior knowledge isn't really required because they do end up telling you how the rules of the world works. For fun awesome Starscream content in particular for COMICS, he plays a HUGE role in the IDW comics- IDW 1 in particular has some choice screamer moments, those comics start with More Than Meets The Eye #1 and Lost Light #1.

If you don't want to give all your time and energy to a comic, there's also cartoons! Transformers Animated is a 2007 cartoon made by the ben 10 and teen titans crew, it moves like ass but its writing is undeniably solid. Starscream is voiced by tom kenny and he's an absolute DELIGHT i love him. Transformers Prime is the grim, edgy reboot made in 2010- and I haven't seen this one yet so I can't fully recommend it, but this is the one that the fandom has latched onto the most from what I've seen. Transformers (1984) is fantastic if you're looking to giggle and are into the weird memes, like 80% of the starscream being a weirdo compilation videos are from this.

Luckily most- if not all- the cartoons have their own comic tie ins if you're still starved for content for that particular run!

If you Can stomach early 90's television CGI, cause I know that's a giant turn off for some, I recommend Beast Wars with my whole damn chest- it's my favorite, the writing is just hands down fantastic, its smaller cast means you get some serious development, and its a great place to start and understand the context behind the new Rise of the Beasts movie!

A really GREAT CGI series that just came out that also lacks the starscream content is Transformers Earthspark!! Its definitely got a kids show vibe to it (mostly in how lessons are handled and conveyed to the audience) but its got a lot of fun, more family-oriented moments for older audiences to enjoy, and really interesting lore implications for older tf fans as well (Like genuinely how they're handling Megatron and Optimus is so fascinating to me I could go on a tangent about how good they are as foils here) the fight scenes are incredible, the representation is so good, and I think Robby and Mo are the least annoying TF kid characters, I would die for them. Downside, it's only streaming on paramount plus rn.

also literally all these series are available to stream for free on tubi (except earthspark)

HOPEFULLY this was helpful, I'm very new to the fandom myself so I'm still learning a lot, but I hope you like the silly robot show- I haven't had this much fun with a piece of media for awhile :)

#ty anon for letting me ramble ajbgdhsbgjdfs #transformers posting #transformers #maccadam #shoe.txt

[sian4chatsworth]

Size

Paloma Elsesser

Model Paloma Elsesser joins Precious Lee and Jill Kortleve on the cover of the April issue of British Vogue, under the tagline the "new supers". The trio are a powerful force within the industry, who all share a vision for purposeful fashion and imagery and ask for a more thoughtful and inclusive approach. Paloma is one of the most influential models on the circuit, and was named Model of the Year by Models.com in 2020. In the April issue, she describes confronting an industry that is largely white and thin-centric, and getting to a place where she feels supported "alongside my sisters and the game".

The Brilliant Women Who Brought London Fashion Week To Life

The mood was high on female empowerment at London Fashion Week, as designers cast women of all ages, ethnicities and sizes to model their condensed collections, born during the reflective period instigated by the global pandemic.

Devyn Garcia

Devyn Garcia is very much of and defining the moment, inspired by and moving into the space opened up by models and fellow i-D cover stars like Precious Lee and Paloma Elsesser.

They’re a generation of models broadening what we see in fashion, and Devyn has found herself emerging into the spotlight, effortlessly encapsulating the new mood of freedom in fashion.

Paloma: I wonder also whether the fact that you’re dealing with social media as you start out, has that affected you at all? How do you see yourself? How do you see your body? Your identity?

Devyn: I personally don’t like social media. I find myself comparing myself to other girls - whether it’s the work we’re doing or how we look. We all have our days where we feel super confident. In general, I love the way I look, I love this little mark on my body. And then some days I want to crawl into a hole and just lay there. So I do still find myself comparing myself to other girls where it’s like, oh, why isn’t my stomach as flat as hers? There’s another side of it too - that a picture never captures how you look in real life at all; whether it’s a picture from a professional photographer, or just something taken on an iPhone. Sometimes you look smaller. Sometimes you look bigger. You don’t look like that.

Zoe Elyse

Signed with Wilhelmina Models, Zoe Elyse's career as a petite model has garnered her a following of over 75k followers on Instagram. Known for her quirky style and edgy personality, Zoe interlaces her work with her personal life in an act of transparency.

The petite model explained in an interview with Dazey Lady that becoming a model at her height was a difficult road to head down. "It doesn't happen overnight and the let downs I've experienced only push me forward and help me grow." Zoe's passion for the industry and support from her family kept her eyes on the prize.

Now, Zoe posed for a Teen Vogue campaign and has modelled for Refinery29 to Dolls Kill. She continues to push onwards and truly believes modelling should be based on skill, not body requirements.

"Have fun and don't take yourself too seriously."

Crystal Renn

Having overcome her eating disorder, Renn is now on a mission to foster self-esteem in young women of all sizes.

A lot of people know about your before and after modelling careers, what do you like about modelling at your current size?

“I don’t have to worry about my weight. I’m not someone who says everyone should be plus or everyone should be thin. I fluctuate. I am what I am. And I don’t think I should gain weight for people. I would never take back my experiences because I learned that at a very young age and that’s helped me in all areas of my life. I think this job has the potential to change young girls and to make them into well-rounded human beings if it’s done right.”

What do you see for yourself in the next 10 years?

“Many, many things! I’d really like to design a line for fuller figured women. I think it would be extremely positive for them because I probably have a different taste in clothes than most of the plus-sized clothes that have been put out there and I’d like to offer that to them in some way.

Harvard Referencing:

Fig 1. MONDADORI PORTFOLIO/GETTY IMAGES. (2022) Paloma Elsesser walking in the Andreadamo spring/summer 2023 show. [Photograph] Available from: https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/paloma-elsesser-facts [Accessed: 6th September 2023]

Fig 2. ELIZA SYS. (N/A) "It's The Perfect White Tee" [Online] Available from: https://issuemagazine.com/zoe-elyse/#/ [Accessed: 25th September 2023]

Fig 3. LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES. (2010) SAINT TROPEZ, FRANCE - MAY 11: A model walks the runway during the Chanel Cruise Collection Presentation on May 11, 2010 in Saint-Tropez, France. [Photograph] Available from: https://www.glamour.com/story/crystal-renn-hits-the-runway-f [Accessed: 26th September 2023]

SPEDDING, E. (2023) 5 Things You Didn't Know About Paloma Elsesser. [Online] Available from: https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/paloma-elsesser-facts [Accessed: 6th September 2023].

NEWBOLD, A. (2020) Meet The Brilliant Women Who Brought London Fashion Week To Life. [Online] Available from: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/real-women-london-fashion-week-casting [Accessed: 6th September 2023].

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Fashion Model Devyn Garcia Discusses Body Inclusivity And Beauty Standards. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/crFrs297Piw?si=BysJHh12dILOGsEq [Accessed 22 Sep. 2023].

ELSESSER, P. (2021) Devyn Garcia: “I didn’t want to be a typical curvy girl selling a T-shirt.” [Online] Available from: https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/qjbbww/devyn-garcia-interview [Accessed: 22nd September 2023]

DAWSON, N. (N/A) Top 10 Petite Models Changing The Game. [Online] Available from: https://thephotostudio.com.au/all/inspiration/10-petite-models-changing-the-game/ [Accessed: 25th September 2023]

HUFFPOST. (2010) Crystal Renn is Big on Beauty and Brains: Why This Positive Plus-Size Model is Poised to Change Fashion. [Online] Available from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/crystal-renn-is-big-on-be_b_527831/amp [Accessed: 26th September 2023]

[always-andromeda]

HELLYEAH HEADCANNONS i don't wanna flex on these hoes /j, but i know you real well, so trying to make up random little hc's might be subconsciously based on real info i already know ab you BUT IM GIVING IT A GO ANYWAYS (˶´•ᴗ•`˶)♡

one - for some reason i feel like you had a purple/lilac phase?? like very early teen years? idk where this idea came from, so it might be something you've actually told me ajgbagjkabd

two - tween, edgy meda (yk the bar-going londoner), i picture you trying hard to convince yourself you were a slytherin or gryffindor, although you are a hufflepuff like me (ik hp is eh to even mention these days but idc this my hc's i do what i want /hj)

three - i genuinelly don't think you've told me this, but i just got a hunch you've gone through a phase of being super fascinated with death; as in having had a period where you've either wanted to become, or been intrigued by the profession as a mortician? maybe it's just bc i know you love edgar allan poe LMAO but idk i can just picture you researching the history surrounding burials and embalming in different cultures etc??

i'll be spending the rest of my life learning constant new little things about you, these are just silly, sweet little things i can picture younger meda doing (づ￣ ³￣)づ loveyouloveyouloveyou

Okay. I never had a massive purple phase directly. However, it has always been my mother's favorite color so before I developed my own favorites, she very often dressed me in purples and pinks when I was little. So you're like half right lol.

I WENT SO HARD FOR GRYFFINDOR WHEN I WAS LIKE TWELVE. I was like, "The good guys are Gryffindor and I wanna be like the good guys. 😌" Then when I was like thirteen, I was super firm on being like, "I'm the smartest person alive so actually I think I'm Ravenclaw. 😌" It wasn't until I was like fourteen or fifteen that I was like. Yeah...I'm a pussy ass Hufflepuff. 😔 /j ALSO "the bar going londoner" FSAGHJF

I don't think I've ever told you that actually but you're absolutely right. When I was like sixteen/seventeen I got super into Ask A Mortician on YouTube and I read all of Caitlin Doughty's books. For a hot second I was that weird person that was like, "So what do you want done with your body when you die? O-O" And like, yeah, it occasionally got weird but it also allowed me to kind of unpack my anxieties around death. Also just like. THE DEATH AND BURIAL TRADITIONS IN OTHER CULTURES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL (bc fuck the American death system lol it's fucked). LIKE I LOVE HOW HUMANS CARE FOR EACH OTHER'S BODIES EVEN WHEN THE SOUL IS NO LONGER THERE. THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY HUMAN THINGS EVER AND I LOVE IT.

you are so wonderfully sweet ugh little storm and little meda absolutely would've been so awkward around each other oh my gosh little meda was a silly little loser (lovingly) ;~; loveyouloveyouloveyoumore!! >:)

・send me your headcanons for me!・

#askmeda✨ #storm🌿

[bacchicly]

A friend texted me this morning.

How are you?

My thought bubble:

My cat vomited - but bright side she didn't poo in the front hall as is her new habbit.

My car needs to be serviced and is thumping and I can't figure out how to do that. And I am thinking we should just buy a new one...but do we have the money? And which type ?

I still have to submit my taxes.

At last count I still have 200+ emails in my inbox to sort through.

There is an election today that I have not researched nearly as much as I usually do.

I need to get my husband his gift for graduating. (My kid and I designed t-shirts I need to get printed)

I can't find any clean underwear.

I have giant zits and one exploded last night (blood everywhere) even though I am in my 40s and was promised this whole shannanigan would just last my teen years (myth).

I am so anxious about my silly fanfiction hobby that it is ridiculous. I get likes but very few folks say much about it (totally understandable and I write things that are both completely inane and kinda edgy ...sometimes at the same time... And I do not know if I am doing good or harm with each random instalment and.....ahhhh)

My dad is having demoralising legal trouble.

The theatre community I used to be a part of and now am just on the fringes of is having a giant debate and revolt around accessibility.

I owe my boss a response to the accomodation letter process thing we are doing.

My house is still a mess.

I feel like a lousy friend to all 3 of my friends (I've said dumb things to two of the 3 in that last 2 weeks).

I haven't answered texts from my in-laws.

My email notifications on my phone have just stopped working.

I haven't set up the cell phone work sent me months ago.

My kid needs a learning plan because she is showing signs of having inherited my ADHD.

And I dreamed about a 3 headed tarantula last night running up my leg. And two nights ago about being yelled at by my husband's old boss.

I am half lousy / half amazing at my job and I have no idea when one or the other is going to happen.

I need to book a hotel for June.

And I am not really sure what is going on with my brother.

I almost cried last night at the checkout counter buying groceries because the self serve was closed and the only cashier that was open had a giant line and for some insane reason...I even if you go through a line with a nice person...you have to bag your own stuff and I am so slow and anxious it is not even funny.

Oh and I spilled my coffee this morning.

But I am so lucky and so many awesome things are in my life and I live in the most beautiful city... So I don't want to complain...plus what good will that do and I am trying to be nice to myself but does that make me more self involved...And... Ahhhh.

What I say:

I'm great! Busy! How are you? Voting today?

#personal #life with adhd

[peachymess]

What's your take on the Armin and Annie thing? because honestly I've really loved Armin since the beginning (adored his character and was incredibly numb and grieving when he almost died) Now I just feel incredibly hurt by it...but that's just me and I know I shouldn't feel like this it's stupid. An I'm happy he's alive for now....but learning this hurts as well.

My take is that the story didn’t really earn that romance. Its growth didn’t really happen organically. From a story/writing point of view, I don’t really buy it. Again, the story didn’t earn it. That’s why my tl;dr is this: I accept it, but I don’t respect it. I accept that it’s happening but I don’t respect the way it was written. It feels a little sudden. I don’t know why Isayama neglected to really give it a solid buildup. Perhaps he thought he’d get to it later and by the time it was time to really build and boost, he was just too bored with snk to really be bothered with the finesse and details. I think we can all agree he seems pretty eager to have the story over with now, so there’s a theory for you. Not that I blame him, though. I don’t think I could keep my passion burning for the same project for however many years it’s been now either.

Anyways, romance is pretty far down on my list at this stage of the story. I’m parentally panicking! Armin got swallowed and is currently being tentacle pr0n chocked to death while his friends left him to deal!

... ok. Deep breath. Suppose he survives this story. Suppose Annie does too. I’d be really happy if they end up making each other happy together. I’ve said before that I feel like Armin can do much better than Annie. That’s just my opinion. I never really cared for that “fuck the world, I’m an edgy lone wolf” type of negative emo act (despite being an annoying edgy teen myself back in the day). But if Annie is the one who ultimately makes him happy, that’s what matters to me in the end. Much more than whatever ship *I* want for him. It’s his life. And I just want him to be happy.

That being said, though, I definitely feel like the amount of ere/min we got served feels a bit like a bait and switch by the suddenness of the aru/ani. Again, Isa should have eased it in there. And even so, Armin’s fondness for Eren is still so much more relevant to the story so it’s like. Ok? Why is the sudden side-plot here? This last arc is so sad because of Armin and Mikasa’s deep rooted connection to Eren, so why are you suddenly dividing Armin’s emotional focus at the last moment? Now, of all times, is when it’s appropriate to focus on how important his bond to Eren is, to make it sting so bad to take him down. Think about it. If he hadn’t put the spontaneous aru/ani in there, what would have changed? It adds nothing to the plot. (Side note: that’s why I’m smelling a bittersweet epilogue of Armin and Annie couple + friends finding joy in rebuilding a more peaceful world from the rubble, don’t get me started).

Anyway, enough rambling. It is what it is. I’m sorry you feel cheated. Foolishly, I still want to believe we’ll have a more satisfactory resolution to the ere/min bond. If so, perhaps it’ll be easier to accept the ending when it comes.

#anon #ship talk

[quidfree]

hi! hope you're well and that you're having a good day:) I absolutely adore LMV - I genuinely think it's the best fic I've ever read. anyway, the point of this ask was that I was wondering whether you had any thoughts about sirius as a godfather? like, was he suited for the job, did he actually do a good job... idk, maybe you've answered that question before, in that case, sorry! and ofc don't stress abt answering:))

this is so nice of you ty!!!

ive never talked about dogfather sirius, actually!! what an interesting pair of questions.... i would have to say a qualified yes to both?

was sirius suited for the job: personality-wise, maybe not entirely (raising a child alone in the event of jily deaths would have been Rough, and he’s not exactly a stable parental unit, not to mention he would have spoiled harry rotten), BUT he has the most important prerequisite, which is undying love and loyalty for the potters and for harry, and that means he would have done everything in his power to be a good parent figure to him, which is what really matters, so. not to mention that jily realistically weren’t contemplating he would have to be godfather alone for the majority of harry’s life- with jily around he could have been just The Coolest Godfather Ever instead of harry’s first living parental figure who didn’t treat him like shit.

did he actually do a good job? i would say a resounding yes. bearing in mind he was stuck in azkaban for twelve years (let’s not get into that), we only actively see him godparent harry for three years (plus when he was a baby). obviously baby harry was spoilt v much by his dogfather; what we see of sirius + teen harry also speaks favourably of him, i think. ok, little bit of a rough start what with the unhinged prisoner vibe, but the FIRST thing sirius does when free is go check up on harry- and he keeps tabs via crookshanks etc once at school, knows his interests well enough to send him the firebolt, and he values harry’s opinions enough to not murder peter on the spot despite his thirteen year revenge vendetta. obviously, the fact harry is the spitting image of someone sirius hasnt seen except for in his nightmares for over a decade doesn’t hurt, but he’s just so awkwardly sweet to harry afterwards- when he offers harry to come live with him, expecting him to refuse and completely understanding of it, it’s so endearing (and it always broke my heart how excited they both were about it- i bet sirius was thinking about another time a potter asked to live together). and from the start sirius ALWAYS speaks to harry like a whole person, not a child to be kept in the dark (which, if everyone else had done, looking at you dumbledore...)- the speech he gives him before he escapes is so important for harry to hear, especially from someone who knew his parents. sirius is always so careful to tell harry things about james and lily. now, it’s not that sirius treating harry like an adult would be ideal on its own, and i do think in part the issue is that he skipped his entire childhood and harry looks so much like james, but i also don’t think sirius actually treats harry too much like a grown man, apart from slipups- just like a grown teen. he advises him against threats, tells him the edgy backstories harry SHOULD know (and no other adult ever wants to tell him), looks after him as best he can (HE LIVES IN A CAVE EATING BONES TO LOOK OUT FOR HIM), listens to his teen melodrama. even when he’s fucking up by encouraging harry’s risk-taking i don’t think he’s treating him like an adult- he’s treating him like a *marauder*, because at that age, that’s what he or james would have done; being able to make informed choices is what sirius would have wanted at his age. i don’t think molly or sirius necessarily have the better argument- both make good points; sirius gets what harry wants and molly gets what harry might need even if he doesn’t want it, but that makes perfect sense- molly is an older woman who’s raised seven children, and sirius is in his early thirties and lived with kids for (1) year. james and sirius were order members by age /eighteen/ and sirius was in azkaban at /twenty-one/- he was basically a kid HIMSELF before he got put in the torture prison. i always found it so unfair that literally none of the other adults ever mention the debilitating mental issues he must be suffering from- remember the lifelong PTSD hagrid got from a MONTH there???- and that’s without even mentioning dumbledore’s purposeful exacerbating of them. not to say that mental health excuses poor parenting, but sirius both /isn’t a parent/ and really does very well at filling that role anyways, on the whole, so i think he can be cut some slack for once in his life. harry loves sirius SO MUCH and sirius loves him right back- and sirius teaches him some of the most important lessons in the whole series, even if he himself never managed to learn them- lessons that i really think shape the adult harry becomes, and the kind of lessons his parents might have taught him. so overall i’d give him kudos- and considering the absolute bullshit he’s living through, with james and lily dead, azkaban sucking the light out of him for over a decade, peter running free, and dumbledore QUARANTINING HIM IN THE HOUSE WHERE HIS ABUSIVE DEAD MOTHER IS (?!?!), i would say he does a stellar fucking job.

anyways harry & sirius’ relationship is so important to the series- even the GP was upset when sirius dies in OOTP, largely because everyone could see how bad it hit harry. that scene in dumbledore’s office? oof. they just care about each other so v much and we were robbed of a lifetime of sirius as harry’s absolute fav adult. if sirius had held onto harry that day- if dumbledore hadn’t decided to place him with abusive bigots for a plan which would only pay off by OOTP- i honestly think sirius would have outlived the series. because with harry he’d have been less unhinged by grief, able to testify properly, gotten support from other order members, not gone to azkaban- and with harry he would have had a reason to live. thirteen years of raising harry would have made harry the snarky little fucker he is at his core by age eleven, confident and happy and very good at quidditch indeed; thirteen years would have made sirius as whole as he can get. they would have patched things up with remus. there’d be no OOTP tragedy of errors. sirius would have punched dumbledore at some point. harry would have sent a pic of him and his new friends over week 1 of hogwarts and sirius would have punched through a wall and then calmly strolled over to hogwarts and taken ron’s pet rat over to minerva mcgonnagal, where unspeakable things happened to it. he would have gently butted heads with hermione (but won her over via crookshanks if nothing else) and gotten on very well with ron; snape would barely have been able to be such a dick to him because sirius would have gleefully sent him howlers for every minute of his day until he cracked. lucius on the school board terrorizing the other parents? not on sirius “billionaire heir to the toujours pur line” black’s watch- he’d happily invest even more obnoxious wealth into the school fund to get first call, not to mention lucius’ imperius excuse would not get very far with sirius around. “who’s nicholas flamel? we can’t ask adults- we’d get in trouble with the teachers and our parents are either muggles or wouldn’t know- oh wait nevermind, sirius, who’s nicholas flamel?” no more expelliarmus-ing for four years; harry Trained Duellist By Age 11 more like. dobby the house-elf? oi dobby sirius is family too- now spit it all out, won’t you? chamber of secrets? yeah, sirius knows what that is. parseltongue? yeah, sirius is familiar, and fuck those other kids for being weird to harry about it, does he want to come home for the holidays? weird creepy diary? oh, sirius’ family will have Magicke Moste Evile around somewhere. book 3 is just Harry’s Holiday: The Book because there’s no sirius subplot. you think snape would have dared treat remus the way he does with sirius hovering around paying half his checks? i think the fuck not. you bet your ass they had box seats for the whole of gryffindor house at the Quidditch World Cup. barty crouch? yeah, sirius knows THAT asshole- and remembers his son. catch harry whizzing through all the challenges minus the nerves ahead of time while sirius and remus do half the investigating for him. yule ball? no sweat, just go with ron; that’s what james and sirius would have done. if the maze went the way it goes in the books, “moody” wouldn’t even have been able to drag harry off without sirius intervening. and sirius “ptsd” black would have been The One Person who Got harry’s feelings in OOTP- not to mention sirius Skilled Legilimens black could have coopted that shit from snape and gotten harry up to scratch. sirius-raised-harry would have given umbridge twice as much shit. no kreacher lying here- and harry has sirius’ mirror anyways. so no massive drama in the ministry, and no suicidal recklessness / desperate first taste of freedom on sirius’ part means no veil incident even if they got there. hence book six through seven going Quite Differently. sirius shows up book six to be DADA teacher, why not. him and remus think it’d be funny, and besides he’s petty enough to steal the job from snape. move over firenze, new hot teacher in town. half the books are avoidable.

#answer #qui repond #sirius black #harry potter #dogfather #lmv #marauders

[topicprinter]

I'm starting to really hate my business. It wasn't always this way.I entered the teen-young adult streetwear hat niche 2 years ago, specializing in designing a certain type of hat. Neff, Surpreme, and other skate/hiphop culture streetwear brands are my main competitors. After making loads of money illegally, I wanted diversify to something legal, sorta like the mob. I was 16 at the time. I got the idea after spotting a kid wearing a really awesome hat in my driver's ed class. It was sorta obnoxious, sorta feminine, sorta loud, but sorta chill all at the same time. I just liked it. I ended up buying it from him for $20. I fell in love with it myself, it used to be that kid's signature hat that he wore everyday, but then it became my signature hat. I started looking online where I could buy another and even went as far as to ask the brand if they still sold it if I could get another. "Nope, sorry we discontinued that item." I looked around for other similar types of hats online and they honestly all looked terrible to me (at the time, now I sorta like them). Eager to enter any legal business with my stockpiles of cash, I decided to make and sell my own awesome hats just like the discontinued one I loved so much. They'd be aesthetically far superior to the "terrible" ones my competitors were making. Worst that could happen is that I fail and walk away with tons of entrepreneurial skills.Fast forward two years, I've learned about sourcing from China, hiring and working with freelancers, web design trends, DSLR photography, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, basic accounting, social media marketing, interpersonal skills, cold calling, cold emailing, cold knocking, and sales. I've sold 4 hats online on a haphazard ecommerce strategy and am in 2 stores as I've been cold calling as of late, trying to get into enough stores to approach chains. I'm at what seems to be a crisis point. It feels like the "make a business around you passion" bubble burst a year ago. I'm not really in love with my hats anymore, I hardly wear them, and could hardly imagine designing any more of them even if they became an overnight firebrand success. I feel like a caterpillar that has gone through a metamorphosis; who I was in 2015, in love with the idea of making my own line of awesome hats that would outcompete the bigger brands and with ton of blood money from illegal activities to spare, is not who I am in 2017. My stockpiles of blood money have run dry from spending $1050 on my first two designs (200 hats) my first year and then after realizing just two designs was too little to be taken seriously, $2500 on four more designs (1500 hats) to total six hat designs. Also, the website and design freelancers cost a lot along with rent, food, and other basic necessities. I'd say in terms of just business expenses, I'm $5k deep in the hole.I've convinced myself to move forward for two years by saying, "Just wait until you have the hats made", "just wait until you learn DSLR photography", "just wait until you learn photoshop to manipulate product photos to post on social media for sales", "just wait until you have 6 hats instead of 2", "just wait until you learn accounting", "just wait until you learn cold calling", "just wait until you move halfway across the country to sell to stores in person", "just wait until you get your first store sale". Now it's "just wait until you're in 7 stores, then you can start approaching 10-20 store chains." But the closer I get to the end of the tunnel, I just don't see much of a route to take or a ending that I feel comfortable with. The ending that was fuzzy and imprecise in 2015 of "yeah, I'll just become a famous and great selling hat brand that sells purely off aesthetics!" is now much clearer. You see, from the start, I decided that cool designs trumped brand image. I thought the idea of wearing clothing to "represent something" was the biggest load of BS ever and that awesome aesthetics should trump a dumb logo on a nondescript piece of clothing. I still strongly believe this and would still never buy a piece of clothing because with a logo that symbolizes "forever fun", "Supreme", some home/regional affinity, and the litany of inspirational or edgy messages you will find as logos plastered on clothing (just look at /r/streetwearstartup). Aesthetics trump all in my mind.But here's the catch-- I don't even like my hat aesthetics now. Hell, I don't even like my hat type all all, forget the design printed on it. So I've essentially checkmated myself because I can't even evolve my brand because I got into this to not have a fucking brand at all! Aesthetics, aesthetics, aesthetics, right? Well that really helped out when my tastes naturally evolved away from a seemingly unsaturated and uncapitalized hat niche towards liking hats of a totally different breed and saturated in the market. And I have no desire to make my clothing brand into a lifestyle brand that "means something" like Neff, Supreme, Volcom, and the other lifestyle streetwear brands out there. At this point, I'm also super detached from my main demographic I'm trying to sell to-- skaters, teenage punks, and potheads. Closest thing I ever was to those when I started the hat company at 16 was a teenage punk. Today, I'm so much more interested in making money (legally and safely), achieving financial freedom to travel the world and do whatever I want. I feel like an adult now and not a teenage punk who'd want to wear the hats I design. It feels like I hedged $5k and 2 years on a short-lived phase of my life.Here's the weird part: I only started having serious doubts about my hat business after I got my first store sales. I had one period of serious doubt after my first store sale about a few weeks ago which caused me to start a second backup venture with shopify dropshipping. After my second store sale I'm having this second period of doubt right now. It doesn't help that for each yes I inevitably get many no's which erodes my already low confidence in my products. The closer I get to the end of the tunnel, the more clearly I see the end game and the less I like. At heart, I'm an opportunist and an entrepreneur first, not a fashion designer. I'm not Shaun Neff of Neff or James Jebbia of Supreme, engrossed in the cultural intricacies surrounding their brand (skateboarding, streetwear, punk/hiphop culture). I'm a businessman, focused on money first and anything else second. I feel like I'm in an industry of cultural snobs, none of which resonates with me so I can't resonate with them. If I go forward, I feel like my attempts will be like Hillary Clinton desperately trying to appeal to young voters-- forced, ingenuine, and ultimately failing. Making money and growing a business gives me so much more of a thrill and feeling of being alive than designing hats and connecting to some "lifestyle." I can trudge forward with cold calls and getting IG influencers but all the sales material I've ever read said to be 100% convinced/in love with what you're selling. I'm at 3/10 convinced. Maybe if I become rich again and I have a lot of money, I'll be back in the same abundant mentality I was in 2015 and somehow like my hats again. A long shot.The other option is that I just throw it all away, accept defeat that this is not the business I'm meant to succeed at, store/sell my hats for $2 a piece, and throw away $5k and 2 years of work, ALBEIT keeping the skills I've obtained. I can go into doing internet marketing or social media management for clients (I already have one that pays me $300/mo, long story). But what if I just focus 100% on cold calling more, get into 7 stores, and then get into regional chains? I've read the book The Dip and it talks about when to give up. What if I'm just throwing this all away at the last moment before victory? What if I just pump myself up to 10/10 enthusiasm while selling, get into more stores, get into chains, and make an assload of money? My first priority right now is making money, and my hat business could potentially make me a lot of money if I somehow fake it til I make it. Somehow I'd have to build a brand over clothing I'm not fully in love with but can make me a lot of money because other people like it. God it's such a messed up situation. I wish I had never gotten involved in this and somehow did internet marketing instead two years ago, but here I am now and I must make a move with the position I have.I'm not necessarily giving up on my hat company yet. But what do you guys think? Rarely do I feel lost but right now I am. What would you do in my situation?EDIT (from the comments): As to demand, there's demand for the product, similar products (like the original I bought) have been designed for years. I just feel like I can't design them or do the niche anymore because I'm personally no longer interested in the product as my tastes have evolved. For example, I used to eat a ton of chili all the time last year, but now I don't eat any chili and just eat a ton of pasta with alfredo sauce because that's what I like. Doing my niche feels like becoming a world class chili chef because I can be the best, losing interest in chili and not really eating it except for taste-testing/quality purposes, and then eating alfredo sauce pasta on the downlow. People still want to eat chili whether I'm the world class chef making it or some other lesser chef is making it. The ultimate question is do I be the world class chili chef if I can't even enjoy my own chili and is it even possible for my chili quality not to suffer as a result?

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit