c a f a l l a

welcome to my little corner of the internet ♡

[cafalla]

Starlog Magazine (December 1999, Issue #269) Scans

Let's take a look at some scans from a magazine I archived last year - Starlog Magazine from December 1999 (Issue #269).

Don't let the Toy Story 2 cover fool you - this issue in particular has a lot of Star Wars inside!

Side note - I'm laughing at the Sigourney Weaver quote in the top left. Why did they have to do her dirty with that being the cover quote lmao

Let's start with some Star Wars advertisements.

I'm assuming there's a lot of Star Wars because Episode 1 released this year. I was in kindergarten and most likely too enthralled with watching / playing Pokemon to notice. I wasn't really a Star Wars kid growing up, but I can appreciate its impact!

Did anyone ever play this Young Jedi card game? Speaking of Pokemon, I'm guessing this was an attempt to jump on the big card game collecting craze of the time. I've never seen one of these cards, or even knew a Star Wars card game existed. Super cool though!

Of course, what is the late 90s without Austin Powers?

Loooooove the layout of this merch ad. So cute!

I actually ended up using the necklaces in a collage. Sadly, this magazine kind of fell apart during the scanning process, so I scanned everything and then cut out some items to use in my collage art.

This was actually one of my very first collages, so I was still trying to figure out how to collage lol. I was trying a lot of random things out to try and figure out how I liked to assemble pieces.

I haven't posted any of my collages yet, but I've been thinking about scanning and posting them someday! The bodies are from this photo from a later article about the tv show Relic Hunter.

I am unfamiliar with this show. But it seems fun! Very Tomb Raider.

As you can tell, I'm someone more enthralled with the advertisements, photography, and layout design of older magazines, as these are mainly the scans I post here. But there are tons of cool behind-the-scenes articles and interviews to be read.

Like the interview of Sigourney Weaver when she did the movie Galaxy Quest. Love the title of the article.

There's a section before the Star Wars article that includes a ton of Darth Maul fan comics that are pretty fun. This one on the top left is my favorite.

Speaking of Avon, I still have a few more catalogs I need to get around to scanning and uploading. If you like catalogs, you should go view my post and my scan of an old Avon catalog.

Also shout out to these Buffy comics. I was never a comic book person, but I love comic book covers lol.

I hate to admit it, but I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's one I've been wanting to watch (along with Veronica Mars), but have just never gotten around to sitting down and committing to it. Someday though!

Here's a couple of (rather horrifying) Austin Powers collectible statues.

And hey, while we're at it, how about some X-Files ones as well?

As always, you can view the full magazine for yourself over on my Internet Archive account.

Thanks for stopping by!

[cafalla]

The Great Subscription Purge & Building My Music Library

Note: This is a post I've had in my drafts since like...February? Oops...I forgot to publish it. I figured I'd go ahead and add a bit more and post it since it is still somewhat relevant to my life!

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I did it - I am finally standing on business and as of a couple weeks ago, have cancelled most all of my subscriptions.

I've been wanting and meaning to do this for a while, but I've been afraid to actually pull the trigger and cancel them (idk why). I finally sat down and just did it.

Granted, I only have a few at this point - Spotify, Hulu & Disney+, Nintendo Online (for my Switch), and Planet Fitness. I cancelled Spotify and Hulu/Disney, as those were the two that really felt like money sinks for me. Or at least, made me feel bad every time I'd get the email notification for payment lol.

I don't think I can actually cancel PF without physically going in and doing it, but I do intend to do it here soon as we simply just don't go enough for it to be worth it. We just are not gym people and that's okay lol.

And as much as I hate paying for online services that USED TO BE FREE!!!! for my Switch...I do want to be able to play online. So I'm keeping that one for now. I actually had cancelled it a while back, but re-subbed to it when we got the Switch 2. I'm not overly attached to Nintendo Online though, so I don't mind cancelling it again once we stop playing / using online services.

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I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm in the process of ripping CDs and downloading songs to build my own music library.

I think a lot of people my age have been feeling nostalgic for physical media and having a curated digital library that is theirs forever.

It's more prevalent with tv / movie streaming, but I've experienced the sadness of looking for a song that I once had on Spotify and seeing that it is missing. I've found it more common with smaller artists, but I know there are plenty of big artists who also pull or hide their music that was once available.

I also have never enjoyed seeing the artwork change on my songs. I understand why an artist might change album art for promotion, but some artists drastically change the art on their whole discography and it can last months before it switches back.

With my digital collection, I can set my preferred album art. I can also create or set album art edits as the album art which is really nice, as sometimes I really love alternative or fan-made covers over the original.

I like this especially when it comes to downloading remixes, fan edits, covers, or mashups. Sometimes these are on Spotify, but many are not.

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It's been going super well so far, honestly! It's taken some trial and error to figure out how to load the songs on my phone, but once I got it down, it's worked perfectly!

I have Android and have been using Musicolet, which thankfully works perfectly with Android Auto. That was the one thing I was hesitant about, as I love having my map, music, and phone plugged in and displayed while driving.

After using Musicolet for a few weeks, I went ahead and purchased the full version. It was a one-time fee, so I didn't mind, and I liked that with the full version it auto-syncs the volume of each song to be consistent (which I didn't realize was a little problem with some of my tracks, like being slightly louder or softer than others).

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I've been using Musicolet and curating my music now for a few months, and I don't miss streaming at all. Well...I do miss how easy it was to discover new music and artists on Spotify, but I can still do that by just being proactive with going out of my way to find new stuff. I've followed some channels on Youtube that post snippets of music releases every Friday, and I click through more on related music videos that pop up even if I don't know anything about them.

I'd much rather do this than pay for more ever-rising subscription costs each month. So far my phone seems to handle the songs I've put on it just fine. I also periodically go through and delete songs that I don't find myself listening to as often, or if I tend to skip it more times than not when it pops up.

So far I'd say the change has been a success! I will miss Spotify wrapped at the end of the year lol, but I can always do my own reflection of the songs I enjoyed over the year.

Now...if only I could get myself up to go cancel that Planet Fitness membership...

(I've only done like twice in the past few months....eheh).

[cafalla]

2025 READING RESOLUTION - END OF THE YEAR WRAP UP

At last, we've reached the end of 2025! It's time for my wrap-up on the rest of my reading for the year, as well as my total numbers!

But first, let's get into the details of the the books I've read since my last reading update (April 2025).

Yep, only 4 additional books. In 8 months.

Actually, I've technically read 4 and a half books, if we are counting my first DNF'd book.

For some reason, when I'm browsing books at thrift stores, I randomly grab books that end up being...overtly Christian?? This happened to me last year with The Princess (though I did finish that one). This book I DNF'd was presented as a legal drama with a deeply wounded / depressed main character giving it his all for his final defense case.

After 150-odd pages, it became very clear to me that the legal drama aspect was not the main focus, and that the story would ultimately be about the main character's journey back to his faith. Which like, fine, if reconnecting with religion was a piece of his journey, I wouldn't mind.

But every character in the book was religious (all Christian, of course). They would randomly quote scripture at the main character when it wasn't relevant to what was happening in the scene? I'm talking like literally when they are in the middle of discussing legal matters lmao.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any other books on stand-by to read after this one (it was kind of a big book, I expected it to last me until the end of the year). I recently just did an order for some more books, so those will be on my 2026 list!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Let's start with this duology by Renée Ahdieh.

The Wrath & The Dawn (388 Pages)

The Rose & The Dagger (416 Pages)

Page Total (adding on from my last post): 3,124

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Last year I read another duology by this author, which I think I enjoyed more than this one. If I had to pick which set of books I'd want to re-read, it would be the Flame & Smoke books over the Wrath & Rose ones.

While I liked the main characters and the overall setting, I felt the romance and the mystery around the main MC were a bit rushed. I was left with an 'oh, that's it?' type of feeling once the truth came to light, the characters were in an actual relationship, and we still had a book and a half to go lol.

That said, I did enjoy my time with these books. I think I was just intrigued and invested in the character dynamics and external forces more in the Flame & Smoke books.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Peony in Love by Lisa See (273 Pages)

Page Total: 3,397

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This book was so beautiful and devastating. So much sadness all around due to the circumstances of birth, gender, and society, the strong emotions, good intentions, and misunderstandings of the characters, and the choices that lead to both tragedy and growth for so many of them. Admittedly, this book was a bit difficult for me to get through (can't put my finger on why, I think I was just having a hard time getting fully into it), but I'm glad I stuck with it because whew, what a story.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

And lastly, Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor (321 Pages)

Page Total: 3,718

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I went into this book not expecting much more than a regular small town mystery, but I found myself so impressed by the writing and storytelling. I was on the edge of my seat as the mystery unraveled. The reality of the situation was so realistic and depressing (but in a good way). I loved reading from all the characters' points of view, sometimes seeing multiple views of the same incident / confrontation and how they came to be there. Easily one of my favorite reads this year!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Back to the big picture - here are my numbers for 2026!

- Total Books Read: 12 - Total Pages Read: 3,718 - Total Time Listened: 12hr 50min

Sadly, I did not reach my goal of 15 books this year! But that's okay, sometimes life happens and you don't read as much as you'd like to.

This was my first time listening to audio books this year as well. I don't think I'll listen to more audiobooks. I find I prefer a physical book, and easily get distracted and miss details while listening. It was a fun experiment though, as I've never given audiobooks a chance before.

I've also learned that it's okay for me to DNF books and move on, or even not finish a series out if you've ended at a point you like. I've always been the kind of person who forced myself to finish books / series I wasn't enjoying. But it's ok to just put it down or stop when you feel you're done. It's just a book, it's not going to get its feelings hurt lol.

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Overall, it's been a decent year of reading. I wish I read more, but considering a couple years ago I wasn't reading anything, I'm ok with having only hit 12 books.

I exceeded my goal in 2024 - you win some, you lose some.

Hopefully I'll reach my goal in 2026!

Just like last year's wrap-up, I want to end with my top three favorite reads of the year!

1 - Dirt Creek 2 - The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon 3 - Peony in Love

A bit sad that my favorite books this year were the stand-alone novels, considering most of my reading consisted of one series and a duology. Sometimes it just be like that, I guess lol.

Here's to resetting and going hard on a new reading challenge in 2026! ♡

[cafalla]

12/04/2025 - Fall Recap

I've been kind of caught up in the daily routine and haven't thought to post much. I just checked and my last post was from July! Lol oops...

Not a lot really happened over the summer, but the last couple of months have been busy.

My bf's family came to visit and we went to the state fair. I got to try tanghulu for the first time and I LOVED it. So simple, yet so delicious. I'm looking forward to trying it again with other fruits! The strawberries were amazing and looked so pretty🍓

Then my sister came to visit and we went and saw Tate McRae in Seattle! I sang way too loudly and ruined most all of my videos haha! Here are a couple of my favorite pics I got.

We also just got back from a week-long trip to visit my family for Thanksgiving. We were in California for a few days visiting my Grandma, and then went to my mom's for the rest of the week for Thanksgiving. I got to meet one of my cousins and his family, they were all super nice. Their kids are late teens/early twenties, and it's kind of scary how similar I was to them (as in, I've been terminally online for too much of my life that I understood all their references and knew of all their kpop/anime/niche etc interests).

Not sure what that says about me though…maybe that I'm the "cool" adult?🤔jkjk

It was nice to have my bf there though, and have him really interact / properly introduce him to my family. He's met them all before, but only briefly for like a dinner or short stop-in visits. I think he got to bond with my family (and them with him) and we told my parents we are planning on getting married and buying a home here soon. So that was really exciting for me. He's been working on getting me a ring - not sure if he plans on ordering, doing custom, or picking one out in person (he insists it be a surprise). But he knows my taste well and I'm really looking forward to the day he proposes and seeing what kind of ring he picked.

As we get closer to the upcoming New Year, I've been getting more and more excited to use my new planner! I normally just buy whatever kind of planner, but a few months ago I learned about hobonichi planners.

I bought my hobo 2026 planner (A5 cousin) from a Japanese bookstore in Seattle, though I ended up buying my covers and new pens/accessories from Mercari Japan. The planner itself was pretty pricey, but I felt I got a rather good deal as the cover, cover on cover, and pencil board (all brand new, unused) came bundled together for ~$40. If you've ever looked at the hobonichi site…well, you know why I scooped them up.

And yes, it was all a pretty penny with the shipping and tariffs…but tbh, I feel like it would've been way more expensive to buy everything from marked up US sellers (if any of these items could even be found here). This way I got to pay good prices for the exact items I wanted and just imported them myself. Not cheap, but I'm happy with everything I received!

Anyway, here's my planner!

I truly didn't even intend for the clip and pen to match this cover so well, but they're perfect! I got a LOT of pens and stationary, but it felt right to use my pink Chiikawa multipen with the pink Chiikawa clip to accessorize my planner. Like I said, I didn't intend for the clip to match my planner as well as it does, but it works with the pink and yellow flowers for Chiikawa and Usagi! And that makes me happy every time I go to reach for it!

I need to draft up my end of year reading log. Unfortunately, my desire to read is in a bit of a slump. I think I've only read like 3 additional books since my mid-year log. I'm slowly chugging through a book now, but eh, idk. I'm enjoying it fine enough, but I find myself wanting to do things other than read. So I don't think I reached my reading goal this year.

Bummer, but I do intend to keep reading. It's ok to not be on top of it every year. I also didn't reach my other goal of reaching gold in League of Legends...I've attempted, but I'm currently sitting in Silver and that's good enough for me lol!

Anyways, I think that's all I have for now! x

[cafalla]

07/20/2025 - KATSEYE - BEAUTIFUL CHAOS💎

I've become a fan of Katseye over the past couple months, and I decided to treat myself with a copy of Beautiful Chaos!

I decided to go with the Chaotic Version, as I like the aesthetic and styling of this cover more than the Beautiful Version. Like c'mon! Look at this cover!! I looooooooveeee!

I got the Target exclusive version, primarily because Target was the only place near me I could grab a Chaotic copy. I originally was planning to order from their online shop, but the shipping came out to like $11! No way, I'm sorry lol.

Here's the back!

Sooo gorg. All of them look amazing! You can't tell from the pic but the Katseye logo is also embossed on the back.

This is my first "Kpop" CD purchase, and I'm sooo excited to have this in my collection! I say "Kpop" for ease of descriptive communication - I am aware they are a global group managed by a Kpop label. But because of that, I'd say their marketing and release style is Kpop adjacent. I've never bought an album/EP in this style before, which I know is more common in Kpop releases.

Anyways, I truly have no clue who my 'bias' is. I think it is Megan...maybe Lara. I like all the girls, really. It's so hard to pick! They're all so talented, cool, and hilarious.

That being said, here are the goodies I received in my copy!

I believe everyone gets the same stickers, polaroid print, and photocard holder (style is based on the album version you get), but the photocard, mirror charm, and postcard are randomized.

I was clearly blessed by Daniela! I got the Manon postcard, and to my surprise, I got a second photocard of Lara!

From my understanding, there was only supposed to be one photocard - but I'm not complaining at all! If anyone else bought this CD, please let me know - did you get one photocard or two?

Here are closer looks of the items!

Front and back of the photocards, as well as the photocard holder:

Front & back of the Manon postcard (her note is so cute):

Front and back of the polaroid (the warning line on the back lol):

Here are the stickers (Gameboy is my favorite):

And here's the mirror charm (blank on the back):

Of all the mirror charms, I was hoping I got Sophia's since I just LOVE her outfit and pose. I'd say Dani's is my 2nd favorite look/pose, so I'm totally happy getting hers! Here's Sophia's btw, taken from the artbook:

While on the topic of the artbook - as someone who loves flipping through CD booklets to look at the photos, I LOVE the addition of a huge art book. There are plenty of full group, split group, and individual shots, and the paper is glossy and thick. Everyone gets their chance to shine. Like I said before, I love the junkyard aesthetic and their styling. Definitely a joy to flip through.

My only complaint is my book is starting to come apart at the front spine area, which is a bummer.

I think it's more the cover jacket peeling off than the art book itself coming apart, but still, I wish the adhesive/binding was higher quality. I've flipped through the book maybe 3-4 times now, and it feels too soon for the book to already be peeling apart like this :(

Anyways, the book also includes a poster and an EP interview booklet.

The booklet was a fun addition. I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts about the EP, as well as their answers to song-specific themed questions. It felt like a magazine - overall a fun bonus.

Though I wonder why they weren't included as full pages in the photobook itself. I think I would've preferred to have them included in the photobook, and excluded some of the photoshoot pictures from the main book. There were also some pages in the photobook that felt like filler/transition pages between the photoshoot themes. I think I would've liked the magazine sections sprinkled throughout the book or used as transition pages between the photoshoot 'sections'. If that makes sense.

There are lyric pages at the back of the book, as well as the CD itself.

I do wish the CD came in a sleeve to offer extra protection. Otherwise, I think this is a cool way to have the CD presented within the book.

But yeah! That's my overview (mini review? lol) of the EP. I enjoy all these songs, and I don't regret buying a physical copy. I'm excited for what Katseye has to come in the future!

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A bit off topic, but I am working on transferring away from music streaming and going back to having my own digital library, and this is the first CD I've imported to start that journey lol. I'm slowly working my way through the old songs I've had saved (mainly random Jpop and indie songs lol), but I do want to try to have a cohesive and organized album library with music from my own physical sources.

I also need a taller shelf in order to properly display my media and this album book! Guess I'll have to keep an eye out next time I go thrifting. 🤗 xx

[cafalla]

07/07/2025 - Organizing Tumblr 💻

Today I decided to finally delete / migrate over my other tumblr accounts. It has been weighing on me for a while, as I have multiple (rarely active or straight up unused) accounts across a few different email addresses.

The main one being my original spam / personal blog url that I've had since I was 15 years old (31 now!!). I've been thinking of migrating and holding onto that one for years now, but I've never gotten to it.

I don't know if I'm silly for this, but I'm attached to that url out of pure nostalgia. I wanted to keep it with me and not just release it back into the wild. Without giving away what it is (still trying to remain somewhat anonymous here), it is a url that could be considered highly sought after (original fandom / character name url).

Let's just say that over the years, I've been offered many trades and even money to give up that url. I do wonder if people care about such things anymore these days? It used to be a huge deal back then.

Well, it's finally here with me again, and I've locked it lol. I do want to eventually use it again, but I'm not sure what for?

I've also decided to delete and migrate over is nostalgiahime, which I was using as my photoblog. It's not that I didn't like that blog, I just kind of lost steam with updating it. If I re-open it as a photoblog again, I don't need it on its own email account. It can exist as a sideblog perfectly fine.

Anyways, it feels nice to have my accounts in a row, so to speak. It was bittersweet going through my old follow list and seeing all my old online friends' blogs that haven't been updated in months or even years.

I guess my blog looked the same to them too, though.

Sometimes things change and you stop posting on tumblr all together...or you change but still enjoy posting, just in a different kind of way on a different blog ♡

[cafalla]

07/07/2025 - Thirty-One! 🎂

A day late, but happy birthday to me (07/06)! 🥳

I finally updated my 'about me' page from '29'. I have completely forgotten to update it for the past couple years! It feels like I just was 29 though, but here I am - 31 now!

I wanted to share my beautiful birthday cake and presents from my bf! My name redacted with a sticker, of course.

Getting a Costco birthday cake has kind of become our tradition for my birthday. Last year I got all white flowers, and the year before (first year) were purple flowers. This year, I wanted blue - like the blue roses in Animal Crossing!

I think it turned out so pretty (and always tastes great)! Perhaps next year I'll request pink flowers.

My bf knew I was planning on getting a Switch 2 later this year, so he attempted to buy me a Switch 2 for my birthday.

The surprise aspect was accidentally 'ruined', as he opened the package right in front of me as we were chatting, fully thinking it was a package for his new car dashboard cover. We both saw the Switch and were like O M G.

Despite the surprise being 'ruined', it actually worked out because I looked closer and realized he got sent a regular Switch 1, not a Switch 2 (which is what he ordered). He was thankful I caught that, so we have to return it and get that sorted out soon.

It all worked out in the end though. We made a trip out of going and finding a Switch 2 together. Sadly, we couldn't find a bundle, so we had to get the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World separately, but it was still a nice memory of getting it together!

Playing Mario Kart World together has also been a blast. It's refreshing to play something new and low stakes while chilling on the couch together. We usually PC game together from separate rooms lol.

I had a great birthday weekend, and I feel so much better about myself in general. I'm looking forward to what 31 will bring me ♡

[cafalla]

2025 Reading - 04/19/2025 Update

First reading post of the year!

I spoke previously about how I wasn't going to make a post for each book I read as I had done last year - instead, I wanted to try to do lump posts throughout the year, every few months or so.

Because of this, this post ended up being quite long...but I've read more books than I realized at this point, and figured now was a good time to log and write about them!

From January 2025 to today, April 19, 2025, I've read 6 books and listened to 2 audio books!

Stat break-downs and my thoughts on what I've read below the cut ♡

The first four books I read are all from the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck:

Tiger's Curse (402 Pages)

Tiger's Quest (479 Pages)

Tiger's Voyage (543 Pages)

Tiger's Destiny (445 Pages)

Page Total: 1,869

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I elected not to read the 5th book in this series, Tiger's Dream, due to feeling like the 4th book had a satisfying conclusion. From my understanding, even though the 5th book is considered part of the main series, it appears as more of a spin-off book about one of the other main character's life following the events of the end of the 4th book.

Quite frankly, I was just kind of ready to the done with this series, and the 4th book had such a "final" ending, that I was perfectly satisfied ending my journey with these characters there.

All and all, it was fun to escape into a YA series for a couple months!

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Some of my sporadic spoiler thoughts on the series are as follows:

The MC, Kelsey, was pretty hard to read sometimes. She was very judgmental, very not like other girls. Which I can handle sometimes, especially when reading YA, but it did get old after a while. I found her dialogue to be stiff, unnatural, and hard to read at times, especially when she was trying to be passive aggressive. Like when she'd chide and rant at Ren for offering to be a "superhero" and do dangerous stuff when like...it made sense for him to offer at the point in the series. I had to skip over her dialogue sometimes. I kept telling myself this was teenage antics, but that didn't make it any less annoying in the moment lol.

I don't typically enjoy love triangles, though I can be swayed if well written. The amnesia plotline was the only thing that kind of kept me interested in the romance aspect, as it flipped the brothers' dynamics around in a way I wasn't expecting. I thought the drama of it all was initially interesting.

I didn't like how it was always framed as she just HAD to be with one of them no matter what. I know it doesn't make sense for the drama, but I wish she just stayed on her own during the amnesia thing rather than flipping immediately to wanting to date Kishan.

That is to say, I couldn't get over how Kelsey went nuclear bc she thought Ren "forgot" her because he...suddenly didn't love her anymore? Huh?? How did she go from 0 to 100 like that? When he "forgot" her RIGHT after she told him to do anything in order to survive...to do whatever Durga wants to keep him safe. After they told each other how much they loved each other? How was her first thought not thinking the two were connected?

She knew Lokesh wanted her in the first place, and Ren purposely got captured to save her? Why wouldn't she think he'd do something as drastic as "erasing her from his memory" (lol if you are a Degrassi fan - iykyk), all in an effort to save her if he didn't love her? She was so in on Ren and then...just gives up all hope to get with Kishan rather than trying to use her brain and figure out the possible reasoning for him deciding to forget her? I just thought 'girl...have you no faith in your mans??' lol.

If her whole heart was in love with Kishan, I felt that would've been something to explore. Like defying fate (of being with Ren, who she initially thought she loved and was destined for) to carve your own path to be with the one your heart chose. I was excited at the prospect of a "plot twist" of her ending up with someone who wasn't the initial love interest.

But nah, it was always Ren, even though she was technically with Kishan (and p much cheating on him) for like...all of the series? It was endlessly frustrating that Kelsey nor Ren could ever make a decision and stick to it - they flopped back and forth constantly. Grasping at or denying one another, then doubling back on their resolve. Said one thing, did another, then wallowed in their own self-made angst.

One little gripe I noticed (mainly with the first two books) was that the author would weirdly pass huge amounts of time. Like mention they walked in the jungle for 5 hours. Like what do you mean 5 hours?? Did nothing happen at all except walking for 5 hours?! Lol. What do you mean it took Kelsey a whole hour and a half to wash her face and put clothes on. It happened at least multiple times a chapter. Thankfully that mostly stopped after the second book.

I kept with reading the series because I genuinely enjoyed the adventure/questing aspects. I liked the parts with exploring the other realms and going through all the trials and tribulations (the monkey temple, great tree, dragons, phoenix, demon warriors, death cave, the past with Durga etc). I did want to see how the quests tied together at the end, and how the curse would be broken. I didn't care at all for the parts where they were in Oregon (1st half of 2nd book, ughhh), or the parts that were obvious billionaire romance vibes lmao. But the temple and adventuring stuff was fun.

Without touching the early 2010s-ness of the racial, cultural, and white chosen-one stuff of it all, I enjoyed the last couple books once the action really picked up. I thought the moment when Ren and Kelsey finally "opened" their hearts to each other was touching, as was her parting with Kishan. Am I keeping these books to re-read again? Nah, but that's ok. I haven't indulged in a YA series in a while, so it was a fun escape to read something different.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous / Beatrice Sparks (189 Pages)

Page Total: 2,058

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I picked this book up from the Goodwill Bins (can you tell by its condition? lol) intending to rip it up and use it for collaging. I got home and was like "oh wait, I've heard of this book before", though I've never read it. My boyfriend said he had to read it for school, but it never came up as required reading for me.

I knew it was a diary book about drug addiction, and diary-like books are always quick reads so I figured I'd give it a go.

I know it is not a true anonymous diary, and my boyfriend let me know it was an anti-drug book written by like, a Mormon housewife. I definitely felt like some parts were unrealistic, but I could easily suspend my disbelief since it was meant to be from the pov of a young teenager (who could very easily over-dramatize things).

Despite not being "real", I quite enjoyed the writing. I thought the first part of the book about the girl's life, thoughts, and general day-to-dayisms were very true to how it felt to be a girl that age. I kept thinking - I'd like to read a coming-of-age story along the lines of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, but in this writing style. Shame the author did not write more lighthearted, down-to-Earth style diary books about growing up, and instead went on to do more books in the same Go Ask Alice vein.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (262 Pages)

Page Total: 2,320

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I LOVE a human vs. nature story. Specifically a modern day human getting lost or stranded somewhere in the wilderness - either by their own fault or a tragic accident.

The life and death stakes of an individual fighting for their own survival and rescue with limited knowledge/supplies against the elements, terrain, and wildlife of Mother Nature around them greatly scares and excites me. Not that I would ever want to be in that situation myself, but I'm fascinated by the stories of those who both survived and perished under those circumstances.

While I'm not an avid player, this is why I love the Long Dark game, and always revisit it at least once a year. It's such a special experience.

I haven't read any Stephen King in a long while, but this was a nice short book that really scratched that genre itch for me. I'm glad it had a happy ending for Trish, because I certainly was thinking she was a goner for most of the story and couldn't see how she'd ever be saved.

A really good, quick read.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I must confess - I've never "read" / listened to an audio book before. I'm much more of a physical reader. I like to listen to podcasts and video essays though, so I thought, why not give an audio book a try?

So far, I've "read" two audiobooks:

The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke (7h 10min)

Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens (5hr 40min)

Total Time: (12hr 50min)

--

To preface: I'm not really someone who enjoys reading non-fiction books. So these books were going a bit out of my comfort zone, and I don't have too much to say regarding them. So this section will be a little shorter.

Fundies and family vloggers are a niche corner of the Internet that I like to learn about. It always astounds me how people can exploit their faith and children like this. I've known of the 8 Passengers incident, and have wanted to read this book at some point. Shari herself narrates the audiobook, so I gave it a go.

My heart hurt for Shari, and hearing about the people in her life who failed her or took advantage of her was so gut-wrenching. Hearing her experience from the source was harrowing, and I just feel for all those kids and hope they can find healing and freedom in their lives.

Medical Bondage was a bit more dense to sit through, but I learned a lot. I feel shame for not ever realizing how greatly enslaved and immigrant women contributed to medicine and gynecology. Hearing about their experiences was tough, but necessary.

The book just gave me a lot to think about. Very dense, but very eye-opening info for me, who is admittedly someone who doesn't tend to think a lot about history and where scientific disciplines originated from.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

So yeah! Those are my reads for 2025 so far. I have a few books sitting on my nightstand to start on, then I'll have to go out hunting for more books again! What a fun problem to have lol

[cafalla]

Starlog Magazine (January 1999, Issue #258) Scans

Today we are taking a look at some scans from a magazine I archived last year - Starlog Magazine from January 1999 (Issue #258).

As I stated in my previous Starlog Magazine post, the magazine started out as a Star Trek fan magazine, but branched out into more general fantasy, sci-fi, and fandom media topics.

One of those topics included animation, which we can see reflected in the Pixar cover art for A Bug's Life.

I like how this magazine has different spreads devoted to showcasing different mediums, such as video, books, and games. All aptly titled (name)+log. Booklog, gamelog - you get the idea. Here are the book and game pages pages below.

It's always cool to see what was "new" and "up-and-coming" at the time.

This issue had a pull-out, double-sided page that was kind of awkward to scan. Because the Internet Archive books upload format is that of a standard book, multi-page spreads look a bit off when flipping through the magazine online.

Because of this, sadly, some spreads do not reflect as intended when converted into the online book/magazine.

With scanning, some things like that just get lost in "translation". Like perfume advertisements with the scented sticky tab so you can experience what the scent actually smells like.

It may be difficult to see details here based on tumblr's post size, but here is what the pull out pages look like stitched together.

I particularly like the A Bug's Life screenshots and blurbs on this spread meant to introduce the A Bug's Life article.

I do want to highlight the first page for the Star Trek favorite character poll which I think is quite fun! Ah, the days of filling out a polling form and mailing it in.

Admittedly I know absolutely nothing about Star Trek beyond having seen the (checks Google) 2009 movie (rip Anton Yelchin), but these category names are kind of slay, especially Klingon Kings.

I think now's a good time to share some merchandise advertisements and order forms. Truthfully, seeing the products, merchandise, and advertisements is my favorite part of flipping through older magazines.

Magazines are fun time capsules as to what people during that time period were buying, had available to buy, or were being pushed to buy. Especially in more niche, hobby oriented, collector magazines like this one.

Like these Star Trek and Babylon 5 collectible trading cards.

Or these life-size cardboard stand-ups of your favorite characters! (I can only imagine how many people couhcouhmencoughcough bought the Princess Leia slave outfit stand-up...)

Or these...Hercules and Xena character busts?

Do the collectors who bought these busts still have them to this day? I feel like I'm going to be keeping an eye out for one of these when I go thrifting from now on...

And then of course, you have your interview / spotlight articles. Here are the cover pages for some of those.

As always, you can view the full magazine for yourself over on my Internet Archive account.

Thanks for stopping by!

[cafalla]

Chiikawa Icons - Manga Chapters 1 - 10 (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of my Chiikawa icons for Chapters 1-10!

(Part 1 Icons)

Part 2 Icons below the cut ♡

Happy / Excited Chiikawa (not crying lol)

Happy Chiikawa (crying)

Nervous / Anxious / Upset Chiikawa

And finally, Determined Chiikawa

And those are the Chiikawa icons I made from the manga Chapters 1-10. Please feel free to save and use for whatever! This was just something I did for fun and for the love of Chiikawa ♡

Hope you like the icons! ♡

[cafalla]

Chiikawa Icons - Manga Chapters 1 - 10 (Part 1)

It's an understatement to say that I have been absolutely obsessed with Chiikawa since learning about them a month or so ago.

I just started reading the manga and it's super cute so far! Something about Chiikawa specifically makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside - I can never feel upset looking at their little face.

I haven't made icons since my tumblr roleplaying days, which were well...10+ years ago now. But I kept seeing cute expressions on Chiikawa, and wanted to make some icons for my own personal use.

I love Chiikawa so much - I thought I'd share in case anyone else wants some Chiikawa icons for pfps or reactions.

I made quite a few...way more than I anticipated. Unfortunately, tumblr only lets you upload 30 images per post, so I'll have to do a part 2.

I separated them out as best I could based on Chiikawa's expressions / vibe. I hope these categories make sense!

Part 1 of Chapter 1-10 Icons below the cut ♡

(Part 2 Icons)

Full Body / Active Chiikawa:

Neutral Chiikawa

[cafalla]

Diary Entry - 01/01/2025 - Entering 2025

Last year I made a rather long resolutions post for 2024. I'd say I succeeded in some aspects, and lacked in others. But overall, I had a great year regardless of meeting my goals or not!

This year for 2025, I think I should keep it simple.

I really enjoyed my reading challenge I did for 2024. For 2025, I'd like to up my goal to reading at least 15 books by the end of the year. My goal was 12 for last year, and I managed to read 16. I think 15 is a reachable goal.

I also would like to get back into being more consistent with my hobbies - scanning and uploading to the IA, blogging here more, and working on actually making videos. These are all just general desires I have with no real "goal" to reach or deadlines, but I'd like to be more active in these hobbies than I had been this past year.

As a random silly goal, I've been playing a lot more League of Legends lately, and I'd love to rank up to Gold rank (currently Bronze😭). If I'm playing more consistently, it's possible I could improve my skills and get to Gold, right? Haha, I know it's silly, but I think I can do it!

Otherwise, for 2025, I'd love to just continue enjoying life. It feels difficult with how the election went (ugh) and the general social climate we're in, but I'd like to try and keep positive and do things that inspire me and bring me happiness.

Here's to 2025!🥳

[cafalla]

2024 READING RESOLUTION - END OF THE YEAR WRAP UP

At the beginning of the year, my main resolution was to pick up reading again. I set a goal for myself to read twelve books this year - a rate of at least one book per month. This was just the minimum goal, and I could read more if I wanted to. No limitations.

I'm happy to report that I've exceeded this goal!🤗 - Total Books Read: 16 - Total Pages Read: 4,500

(What a great, round number of pages to end this year off on!)

It's not a lot compared to most people, but I haven't been much a reader for many years, so I'm proud of having read this much in 2024! Young me, who used to read probably sixteen books a month, is excited for me (I hope).

I do intend to keep reading, and I think my reading goal for 2025 will be to hit at least fifteen books for the year.

However, I think I would do my postings differently. As I've touched upon in my most recent book post - I've realized I just don't like "reviewing" books? I know I don't HAVE to, but making a post for each book made me feel like I had to say at least something about the book.

I'm just not really someone that feels the need to talk a lot about books I've read, at least when it comes to writing about it online. I have much more fun writing about the stuff I post on the Internet Archive (which I haven't forgotten about!! I still intend to write about that stuff)!

It's just something I've learned about myself and noticed while doing my book posts this year.

So for the upcoming year, I'm thinking I'll do more "batch" updates with the stats. Maybe a star ranking system? Or just a sentence or two if I really had something I wanted to say about the book?

Well, to end this post off, I wanted to list my top three favorite reads of the year! 1 - Flame in the Mist / Smoke in the Sun 2 - The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest 3 - Tuck Everlasting

Honorable Mention: The Road

I've tied Flame in the Mist and Smoke in the Sun together, since it is the same story told across both books. Love love loved these books.

Those books, along with The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, are the only books I've kept and not donated after reading. They're going to stay on my shelf and I'll revisit them later down the line after they're not as fresh in my mind.

Haha, from that list it is obvious my favorite genres to read are romance, fantasy, historical/period, drama stories. Bonus points if the story has all of it combined, like these top three books did. Well, Tuck Everlasting wasn't romance, but it was quirky and lovely and I greatly enjoyed reading it.

Completely opposite of that vibe is The Road. When not indulging in romance, I do quite enjoy a survival "man vs the elements / world / fellow man" type story. Really good read.

So yeah! That's all I have to say - here's to another year of reading in 2025!👏

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 16/12

Hehe, well hi again. Just like my most recent last post from *checks blog*...August..., I've fallen a bit off the wagon for both reading and posting.

Despite starting this book soon after finishing my last, it took me months to get through it. Not because I didn't enjoy the book - I absolutely did. The other day I simply realized I wasn't setting aside time anymore to read. And therefore, I haven't been reading at all.

Lo and behold - once I set aside some time before bed to read again, I found myself wanting to read more and more! Funny how that works. It's kind of like the gym - difficult to set aside the time and energy to start, but so satisfying and addicting once you get rolling.

With the end of the year drawing to a close, I knew I wanted to finish this book before Christmas. Let me get to what is probably my final finished book for this year: Five (324 pages).

This is a murder mystery thriller type of story and I had a lot of fun with it. A main component is geocaching, which was interesting to read about. I've never been geocaching, but admittedly it does seem like a fun hobby. Maybe that is something to try in the new year!

The ending was very entertaining to watch unfold, and I really didn't see the twist coming. Definitely a fun read.

I wish I had more to say about it, but through writing these posts for every book I've read, I've come to realize I just don't like to "review" things lol. I like to read and move on. This is something I've been thinking about and will probably speak on more at length in my final wrap up post.

But all in all, I liked this one and recommend it if the premise sounds interesting. It didn't disappoint, even if it did take me months to sit myself down and get through it haha

—

Total books read: 16 Total pages read: 4,500

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 15/12

Oh man, I've really fallen off the wagon as far as reading and updating on my reading, haven't I?

I finished my 15th book of the year back in like...July? Very beginning of August? I think? And tomorrow is September. Oops.

Let's just say getting Covid in July immediately following my birthday didn't keep my spirits or motivation high. Truthfully, I'm only just now starting to feel fully recovered and like my drive to pursue my hobbies is coming back to me.

Speaking of hobbies - the latest book I finished: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (306 pages).

I really enjoyed this story! The feelings and motivations of each character felt grounded and easy to follow. The main characters were both very likable to me, and watching them meet, fall in love, and reach their happily ever after was sweet.

Maybe I'm just simple and sappy, but I love a good ending where everything is resolved at the end lol! I mostly figured out the "mystery" right away, but I was still hooked on seeing how it played out.

The only part I was kind of iffy on was the masquerade fiasco, which I had to suspend my disbelief on in regards to the situation. I don't want to spoil it, but it was basically a mistaken identity situation (masquerade, masks - you know). Given what we know about Jorgen (the main guy) and how smitten he is with Odette (main girl), I just couldn't believe he would not realize it wasn't her?

The conflict there felt a bit forced, but everything else I really enjoyed! All in all, a good read.

I'm about 1/4th of the way through my next book, but at the rate I'm reading (and updating) on here, it probably won't be seen for a while lol. Hopefully I can burn through a few more books before we reach the end of the year. I can't believe it's already September!!

—

Total books read: 15 Total pages read: 4,176

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Restored!

I was able to get my account back!

According to the reply email from staff, there was a system glitch that removed some accounts.

The solution was to "create" a new account with my same account email. The downside is that I can't use my original username anymore 😕 (which was the same as my blog handle).

Thankfully all my items are still saved under my email, so I don't have to reupload anything! That's a win. But I'm going to have to go and re-do my IA links on this blog and possibly some on my photoblog.

Ah well, at least my account wasn't fully terminated for what I've uploaded. That's a relief.

Here's the link to my "new" Internet Archive account. I named it "cafallachu", like Cafalla + Pikachu, since I love my Pikachu avi haha.

I'm excited to get back to work on scanning and uploading some new stuff!

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Deleted -?

I attempted to go on my IA account today, and it's just...gone.

I'm not sure if I've uploaded something in violation of TOS or if there was a piracy issue with an upload, but it seems odd I didn't at least get a notification/warning on a specific item, or only had that one item deleted. Instead my whole account is just GONE with no word, when it was fine and untouched just last night!!

I attempted to log in with what I know is my correct login, and it says there is no registered account with my email. I've been able to click through direct links from this blog and can see my items still there, but with an "Unknown" uploader where my username used to be.

I'm confused, as I haven't even uploaded anything very recently...my last upload must've been weeks ago. I've emailed the help center email to see if I can at least get my account back. This is so weird.

I'm saddened as I enjoy scanning and uploading there. Just feeling a bit defeated is all. :(