What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?
A couple weeks ago I made the difficult decision to cease providing wiki pages and game art galleries for several mobile titles.
I was under a certain amount of duress after receiving multiple complaints and strong suggestions to make a change.
You may know, earlier this year my YouTube channel GameGirlsGallery was shutdown, most unfortunately. Complaints about the amount of sexually suggestive content present in mobile games, ranging from game art to dialog and plot lines, had built up over the years and ultimately killed the channel.
The reasons for the recent site content removal are the same as those that caused GameGirlsGallery to be removed.
The Top Girl / Apex Girl wiki hosted on fatwalletrefugee accounted for nearly 84% of all site traffic. The remainder of site traffic went to the mobile game art and character galleries.
Top Girl had been initially rated mature, but after being removed from the Apple Store and worries over possible removal from the Google Play Store they released several updates that brought the rating down to Teen.
Despite the artistic changes there was still a good amount of sexual suggestion and lewd imagery present. In fact, I think most regular people, if looking at most titles in the Google Play Store rated Teen, might think the games were for Mature audiences, and not be suitable for the age ranges the ratings board has decided on.
Even playing merge and puzzle games rated E for everyone, I still see ads for games rated Mature, AI dating chat bots, hookup apps, romantic story apps, and Harem anime games.
All this plus the mounting complaints and suggestions of actions taken led me to the hard decision to purge the site of all offending content. I deleted all of the posts, pages, wikis, and site media including images and videos that were likely to receive further complaint.
I was contacted by multiple subscribers afterwards asking where everything went and had to explain the difficulties I went through deciding to stop providing that type of content.
I had in fact been expecting to hit the 1 million page views mark by December this year, a new milestone stone for this site. Prior to the content removal, my average daily site traffic in early November was around 6k views. Sadly, now my average is closer to 450 views per day.
Total Weekly Site Traffic
As you might imagine, my ad revenue has fallen off a cliff. While I had recently received my first payout from WordAds since signing up in March of 2024, I am likely not going to receive another payment for some considerable amount of time hereafter.
The question as to how to recover from this loss also comes up. I still provide guides for family-friendly mobile games. I am in the process of detailing a guide for Fable Town at the moment. I am also expanding the written content for buildings and units in the Puzzles and Chaos wiki.
I used to get good traffic from Google and Reddit for my game guides, but once I began focusing on Apex Girl and Road to Rich, that traffic dropped and the algorithm sent those folks to other resources.
Fable Town: Merge
There is also the Travel and Food section of the site which hasn’t seen much writings since my last trip in 2019. That was originally what started my blog. A trip to New York City to see family prompted me to make kasanje.home.blog and years later I bought the fatwalletrefugee.com domain.
There are also side projects I started but never finished like the FatWallet Forums archives and the Lost Media directory.
Recently, I began redesigning the Travel page and restructuring the page hierarchy for that section. This also involves adding pagess for each US state I have visited and a separate section for my international trips.
My vacation to Washington last month inspired me to travel more locally here in North Carolina. I also was gifted a new camera. It’s an Olympus E-M10 II. There are two swappable lenses, one telephoto and a precision close up, and three batteries.
In the past month I have visited and photographed 6 towns and a state park. I am planning a trip to visit the Outer Banks next year.
Hopefully this move back to this site’s roots will boost site traffic and begin to shift the algorithm back home.
Things have suddenly improved since my last report in July.
This morning, I received an email saying that my PayPal account had received a payment from Automattic for $106.31. I checked my Ads panel and found that it is the exact amount in my balance.
I had assumed the payouts were manual and needed to be requested. But this assumption was based on posts I have seen in the WordPress Forums. It seems the payments are automatic after reaching the necessary threshold of $100.
My previous post would have covered the periods of April, May, and June. In those months, I received, $10.88, $11.01, and $6.07, respectively. My ads served in April and May averaged 150k, but in June, the numbers dropped, and I only had 70k ads served.
At the time of the drop, my site traffic had not decreased, which left me confused. What noticeably changed was that the CPM had dropped 75%. This may have resulted from increased site traffic from non-US sources, which don’t accrue the same degree of ad revenues.
In July and August, ads served dropped to 23k and 38k. However, my CPM increased from $0.09 in June to $0.27 in July and $0.36 in August.
This increase resulted in revenue of $6.54 in July and an improved $14.18 in August. This last amount was what pushed me over the $100 mark and triggered the payout I received.
My annual goal for the site is $74, which would cover the cost of the upgraded plan and custom domain name for 3 years. The domain was free for the first year.
That’s it for the third quarter report. I wrote more below, but I started reminiscing about sort of unrelated stuff.
In the past, when I would try to research hosting with other providers, I would ask for advice from people who had experience with other services.
I recall previously trying out Hostinger for a different website. I was on the free trial and had selected a basic plan.
Despite all the ads saying how low hosting was, they tried to pre-charge me $660 for a year of hosting before the trial had ended. I had to fight them on the charge before finally getting it removed and closing my account.
I tried a couple of others that were spoken highly of on Reddit, but I had similar experiences. All of this led me to decide that self-hosted sites with .org WordPress are actually more expensive than what WordPress.com offers.
I think the main difference between the platforms is the availability of Plugins on self-hosted sites. With a .com-hosted site, we don’t get plugin access without an upgraded plan, but .org sites get plugin access right out of the gate.
This revelation probably has soured some folks on the platform. I wonder, though, if self-hosted sites are too dependent on plugins? Would they be able to succeed without a crutch?
I see a similar trend with the introduction of AI to web design and other facets of online life.
People may start using it as a helpful aid, but soon enough, they become dependent on it for all of their activities. If the AI is offline or there is a bug, it cripples their ability to function.
It’s the same with plugins; when a bug appears or an exploit, the entire ecosystem is affected because everyone is dependent on these plugins.
The information in this post is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. While I have tried to ensure that the content is accurate and current, I make no guarantees. You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the information.
Offer Complete: I used the full 45 days to reach Chapter 9-2 (Island 34). I had only 3 hours left on the offer and made a final purchase on the last day, which secured a payout of $ 54.77 – $ 14.91 = $39.86 for my time spent. I think I would have needed either another week of game time or more spending to reach the $50 reward at Chapter 10-3.
Step into the Panthia merging world, where magical dreams find endless possibilities! Guided by magical fairies and cute pets, embark on a journey to discover a hidden and enchanting island of magic. Unleash magical powers.
Reward: 294.77 USD
Time Limit: 30 Days (1st Week Goal worth 15 USD)
Purchase: Optional
Ads: No Interstitial ads. Ads on for long timers, and free items.
The award will pend for 10 days
Must be installing Panthia for the first time to receive SB.
There is a 1st-week goal to reach Island 17 and earn $15.
This offer may be completed with a guest account; however, game data will not be saved. If you encounter a bug and reinstall, all progress will be lost.
30 Free Community Coins are available on Facebook weekly. You don’t need a Facebook account to get the coins.
Free items will float over the island intermittently. Keep an eye out for yellow sparkles!
Warning: Be careful on Facebook, over 20 bot accounts are masquerading as the official Panthia page. They also follow the official page and impersonate the developer in comments. The scam appears to be getting players to complete affiliate offers (like Swagbucks, ironically) in exchange for rewards.
You can exchange Community Coins from the link on Facebook to purchase Energy up to 3 times each week.
Completing tasks in active Events will reward Energy. Leveling up and moving to new islands will also reward Energy.
Energy regenerates at a rate of 1 point every 2.5 minutes (24 points per hour). So, you can be offline for 4 hours and 9.6 minutes. Beyond 4ish hours, you’ll be wasting Energy. Time your breaks (sleep) accordingly.
Purchasing Energy costs 15 gems for 100; this cost increases to 30 and 60. I never went past 2 refills per day on any map.
Gems
Gem Fragment = Merge 3 or more
Gem = 1
Several Gems = 3
A Few Gems = 9
= 27
Coins
Coins
Coin Pieces = Merge 3 or more
Copper Fairy Coin = 3
Silver Fairy Coin = 9
Gold Fairy Coin = 27
Super Fairy Coin = 81
Shiny Fairy Coin = 243
Magic Fairy Coin = 729
Fairy Coin = 2187
When you clear a map, all remaining unused items will be converted into coins. Coins left on the map will be converted at the above valuations. Gems will be added to your total at the above valuations as well.
So you don’t lose anything by not collecting before finishing a map stage. However, I would consider combining all possible items if there is an ongoing event that rewards repeated combinations.
Coin Shop
Coins can be spent on items from the shop or used to purchase upgrades to the Garden. On the panel where you use Stars, tap on COIN. Each upgrade will provide 50 EXP. This is a convenient way to earn level-up rewards as you approach a milestone.
You may watch an ad to receive a free item from the Specials and Object tabs each day.
Premium Purchases
I made a purchase to fulfil one of the offer goals. I spent 4.99 USD on a discounted pack. It included 200 Energy, 110 Gems, and a Magnet.
The next month, I bought a 2.99 (150 Energy + 100 Energy Bonus, 30 Gems, and a Timer) pack to clear a map before heading to bed.
Lastly, with 3 hours left on the clock, I bought a $6.99 pack that included several freebies in a chain. I not only used the 350 Energy the pack offered, but I also spent 150 Gems on 200 Energy in refills just to clear the last section of a map.
In hindsight, if I had only bought the 4.99 pack, I would have run out of Energy and been forced to buy another pack. The 6.99 chained pack (170 Energy and 150 Gems) with freebies is worth more than the 4.99 pack (200 Energy, 110 Gems, 1 Magnet).
Gift Codes
On July 31st, 2025, the publisher released the code MERGE4FUN.
No expiration time was mentioned in the post.
Game Progression
We play the merging game to collect Stars, which can be used to upgrade the house and adjoining property. Using Stars will generate EXP points, which will increase your player level.
Each level up includes some extra Coins, Energy, and Gems.
It took me 2 days to reach Island 3. I don’t think it will be possible to get to island 17 within a week without spending money, and even then, it would be expensive. (I reached Island 13 on my 7th day of play).
On day 12, I managed to finish Chapter 4 (Island 16). This is the stage you have to beat in 7 days to get the bonus SB.
Starting on the 15th day of play, I stopped receiving the option to watch an ad to get energy. I don’t know what caused it, but the option just isn’t appearing when I tap on energy now.
Chapter 5, Island 4, was really long. One of the items you need to merge is a red panda. Starting at stage 3, the red panda requires Sun Magic Staves to rank up, and there are 7 stages in total. I needed 37 staves altogether. It was grueling and took 3 days to finish.
Merging Blocks
If you merge 3, you will only get 1 resulting item, and merging six gives 2. But if you merge in multiples of 5, you get a bonus item. So, when combining items, it is best to do it in multiples of 5 (10, 15, 20, etc.).
Combining enough Wands will generate a fairy, which can be used to quickly build any structure on the map. The fairy and other premium items have capacity limits. Excess items will be placed directly on the field.
Fairy = 10
Magnet = 15
Axe = Never had more than 3
Magic Stone = Only available through purchases
Game Ads
You can watch an ad to reduce the timer by 15 minutes. There is a limit to how often it presents you with the skip option.
Server reset was at Noon PST. All ad watch opportunities reset, and the publisher posted a new Community Coin link on their FB page.
NSFW Ads
There were also some adult dating and hook-up apps, as well as localized ads for feminine hygiene products and dental services. These ads referenced businesses in a neighboring county.
There were also ads featuring children’s cartoon characters that had been “aged up” using AI to make them alluring. Each included a disclaimer saying the characters were all in their “adult form.”
There were also some adult dating and hook-up apps, and some localized ads, including feminine hygiene products and dental services. These ads referenced businesses in a neighboring county.
One ad in particular was especially cringe (DopaAI). It encouraged users to upload photos of two people, with the AI generating a video of the two individuals kissing. The ad showed a clip of a couple kissing.
The app is rated Teen, and there is no disclaimer about the content of the app, which is mostly user-generated.
However, the splash screen upon installation is entirely explicit. A fully naked woman engaged in sexual intercourse, including penetration. Both male and female gentilia are distinctly visible.
Several more images and videos are displayed down the page. There are functions for uploading pictures of girls and women for the AI to “undress,” with examples being provided. Another function will generate a bukkake of any image uploaded.
Timers
You can also use a fairy to skip timers. The fairy is the final stage for those pink wands.
In the shop, you can watch an ad for two freebies. An object and some currency, typically.
Sometimes, a free item will fly overhead that looks like a movie director’s slate. This is also an ad.
TIP: Timers may continue to count down while you are watching an ad. If there are countdown timers on multiple items, it is possible that after viewing an ad, you will lose the other items.
Events
In addition to weekly events, there are separate islands that last 24 hours. These can be a source of additional Coins and Gems, and they use their own set of Energy, so you don’t waste the home map (blue) Energy by playing on them.
Some events will feature a leaderboard and prizes, depending on the finishing rank.
TIP: When merging, the game will prioritize normal blocks over event-flagged blocks. If you have 4 items (3 normal and 1 with an event marker) and you merge them together, the game will only merge the normal items and omit the event item.
Card Collecting
Neon Lights, the card-collecting game, ran for 60 days and included an exchange shop with premium Special items (fairy, magnets, wands, etc.). I saved 500 points to get a card pack, but I didn’t get anything good.
I would suggest using your points on fairies or water drops. Big prizes are paid out for reaching 30, 72, and 108 unique cards collected.
After the season ends, a new 60-day event begins. Summer Sports is the next seasonal event.
July 4th
When I started playing, the 4th of July (American Independence Day) event was active. The events each have different themes, but the rewards are mostly the same. Garden decor included red, white, and blue-themed ornaments. These were purely cosmetic additions.
Bunny Rally
This is a short 8-hour event. Look for little carrot icons on the objects in your field. If you merge these blocks, you will earn points for the event.
The carrot sizes differ, and bigger carrots will provide more points. You can see your position and possible prize on the leaderboard. The higher the level of the item, the more carrots it can potentially have.
Fairy’s Cup
The Fairy’s Cup is a 36-hour event where you earn points for spending Energy and Gems. The point breakdown is 1 for each Energy and 5 for every Gem.
Master Digger
Pretty straightforward game, you get pickaxes and clear tiles of the board to find fossils. Clearing the map rewards static prizes. I tried screenshotting the piece locations, but they change between games. There are 6 stages to the event, and I only ever made it to the 5th stage prize, which was a piñata of Energy.
Pikoko’s Leisure Time
There is a puzzle piece hunting game with 3 puzzles to complete. The final reward, though, came days after the offer was completed, so I didn’t get much out of it. There was some Energy for clearing each individual puzzle.
Fruit Fusion
This is a mini version of the main map. The controls are simplified, we only merge blocks of 3 items. When you merge, the blocks morph into a single higher tier block.
This was a good map to gain Gems, Energy, and Coins. The stages are easy to clear and don’t take much thinking.
Wonderful Flower
The first flower requires 20 Wonderful Pieces (water drops) to complete the first stage. There are 3 stages before the flower blooms completely. Between stages, there is a 20-minute break for building. The second and third stages cost 30 and 40 drops, respectively.
After the first intro, flowers come, mushrooms, and other flowers, which need many more water drops to complete. The rewards do increase, but not by much.
Tip: Starting construction of the flower just before placing the final structures for a map will cause the flower to be instantly completed when you start the next map. You can skip the 20-minute construction.
You will receive rewards for completing each stage. They are not great; however, there is no way to throw away the water drops, so they will clog up your board if you don’t use the flower.
You can temporarily move the flower bubble to the side of the screen (over the water) when starting a new map.
There are multiple flower spots in the garden. After you complete a bloom, a new flower bud will be provided. Water drops can be bought in the Coin Shop (Specials) near the end of the list.
Flower
Reward
Mini (20 Water)
Small (30 Water)
Growing (40 Water)
Mushroom
Reward
Mini Mushroom
15 Energy
Small Mushroom
100 Coins
Growing Mushroom
1 Fairy
Great Mushroom
200 Coins
Enchanted Mushroom
300 Coins
Wonderful Mushroom (70 Water)
2k Coins, 5 Gems, 1 Magnet
Tulip
Reward
Tulip Sprout (30 Water)
20 Energy
Tulip Bud
150 Coins
Mini Tulip
1 Fairy
Great Tulip (50 Water)
300 Coins
Enchanted Tulip (70 Water)
400 Coins
Wonderful Tulip
3k Coins, 5 Gems, 1 Magnet
After completing the Tulip, we get a garden set starting with the Cala Lily. A new item is needed to complete the flower. Now we are collecting Sunshine and Waterdrops.
You will get lots of unused Water before you get all of the Sunshine needed to make the upgrade. You can swap for Suneshines in the card trading exchange.
Garden
Reward
Calla Lily Sprout (15 Water, 10 Sunshine)
25 Energy
Calla Lily Bud (25 Water, 15 Sunshine)
200 Coins
Mini Calla Lily (35 Water, 25 Sunshine)
1 Fairy
Great Calla Lily (45 Water, 30 Sunshine)
400 Coins
Enchanted Calla Lily (55 Water, 35 Sunshine)
Unknown
Achievements
55 possible Achievements can be completed, and each will provide a reward to players. Rewards generally include Gems and Coins, but may also include special avatars and frames.
Tapping on the 3 bars in the top-right of the screen will open a sub-menu which includes the list of achievements. There are too many to list here if you include the stages.
So once again, I am a bit late in reporting the figures. Maybe it’s the ADD speaking, but I find it really easy to forget something I only do 4 times a year.
In my last WordAds Experience post, I reported on the Q3-4 period of 2024. That year, I had upgraded my account to one that supports WordAds and revenue sharing in March of 2024. By December, I had earned $51.77. That’s how much I got for 280,588 Ads Served at a $0.18 CPM.
Now, here we are in 2025, and I have seen a marked increase in site traffic. I did recently have a setback, possibly, but I am working to make up for the loss.
YouTube
Just last week, my YouTube account was shut down, quite unfortunately. I was disappointed, to say the least, but I was kind of expecting it after all the restrictions my content was generating. Some of these mobile games are more than a little risque. It’s just the nature of the beast.
I took it as a sign and decided to focus on this website alone. It wasn’t exactly a hard decision once I started thinking about my journey overall. After 3 years, the YouTube account wasn’t anywhere near the necessary watch hours for monetization. Even if I did get those hours, the content wasn’t really suitable for advertising revenue.
I have since closed my other social media accounts. It was nice having other sources of incoming traffic, but the effort to keep the other accounts updated meant that I was spending less time here on the site writing up content.
First Quarter
Got a little sidetracked there. For the first quarter (Jan-Mar), I earned $20.05 from WordAds.
Date
Earnings
Ads Served
January
5.58
98,167
February
5.67
81,765
March
8.08
137,929
Visitors and Views for the above period are as follows,
Date
Visitors
Views
January
10,870
22,998
February
9,009
23,768
March
13,104
56,844
You can see there was a considerable bump once we hit March. I believe that was from making several supporting pages and posts for one of the game wikis I host on the site. I’m thinking the internal links to the new dedicated pages kept visitors on the site longer.
Second Quarter
Since my social accounts only recently went away, I don’t think I’ll have any data points I can provide on traffic losses. Actually, my Reddit traffic increased by 120 visitors, and YouTube visitors dropped by 10 visitors under the previous period.
I don’t understand why there was a 50% drop in ads served for June. Site traffic was only off by 1.5k visitors. Maybe those 1.5k I missed were the prolific types who click on every picture and page?
Date
Earning
Ads Served
April
$10.88
166,178
May
$11.01
148,706
June
$6.07
70,747
I only published 5 posts during June, and although I published 5 Pages, those don’t get the same visibility as a post.
Posts will at least show up in the WordPress Reader under Discover. Pages need to be found by search engines, by accident, or by placing a button on the navigation bar.
Date
Visitors
Views
April
14,970
90,314
May
14,783
83,595
June
13,297
73,843
My total earnings for Q2 are $27.96, adding last quarter to the total brings us to $48.01. Now, looking at the chart, I can see the math is off. It may be that the calculation for June that I am seeing is not the full value. It would be nice if that were the case.
I am almost to the $100 threshold required to request a cashout on my ad revenue. The cost of operating the site was calculated based on the sale pricing I received when I upgraded my plan.
That cost was $66 per year for 3 years. If I can manage $198 by the end of December 2026, then I can say it all worked out.
We’ll call it a close here, I think.
Sales on eBay continue apace, social media is all gone, and the game wikis continue to flourish.
Thanks for reading. See you next quarter (hopefully).
I find it slightly annoying when I search for a style code and Google insists there are no results related to my search. This happens often enough that a post like this has become necessary.
This post is mostly for my own records, but the data may prove useful for others, so it’s not being written on a post-it note.
Page Updates
I’m adding more information that is adjacent to the list.
March 11th: Added section for the Target brand Auden. Expanded the garment types to include Pants, Jeans, Shorts, Skirts, and Skorts.
Added Bandeau Overview and examples.
Helpful tidbits for when I am out sourcing and don’t know what something is or how to describe an item for a listing.
The distinction between men’s and women’s for the Under Armour Velocity series appears to be the necklines. Men’s features a crew neck while Women’s have a V-neck.
The firm selling the Arcade belts has an official eBay account, and all of the pictures I found online were from the manufacturer.
It is generally advised not to use the brand’s photos in your listing; take your own photos to avoid getting flagged for copyright or trademark issues.
I have received a VeRO take-down in the past from Samsung for misuse of images and trademarks.
If you need an image and can’t take your own, you can use any of the ones included in this post.
Amazon LPN Codes
An LPN Label is a pre-printed label with a unique number that only fits one pallet or one box. At Amazon warehouses, any item marked “non-deliverable” is affixed with an LPN sticker regardless of whether the item is new or a return.
When reselling, it is important that we check the product’s condition, because often the LPN-affixed packages may have been used by the customer. You’ll encounter this more often with clothing items than with things like hardware or office supplies.
There are distinct patterns in the leading letters of the codes, and some codes have been determined.
Code
Status
LPN N
New
LPN RR
Returned
LPN PM
?
Women’s Garment Types and Styles
Outerwear
Women’s Tops
Blouses, tanks, t-shirts, halter, crop tops, and more.
I’ve noticed an odd trend of listing tank tops and camisoles as vests, which is inaccurate. A vest is a piece of clothing, like a jacket without sleeves, that is worn over other clothes for warmth or protection.
Camisole
Camisoles can be both innerwear and outerwear; their function depends on the material, design, and how they are styled. Traditionally, camisoles are worn as an undergarment (innerwear) for coverage or layering under sheer tops and blazers.
However, with their variety of colors, designs, and fabrics, camisoles can also be worn as a standalone top (outerwear) for casual wear, sleepwear, or even dressy occasions.
Bottoms
Pants and Jeans
Wide-leg trousers and 90s-inspired denim are a dominant trend. These have evolved into a wardrobe staple, often featuring ultra-high rises, pleat details, and partially elasticated waistbands for a “fluid and flawless” look.
Shorts, Skirts, and Skorts
Denim skorts and high-waisted shorts are particularly prominent, often featuring vintage-inspired fits like the “mom” short.
Undergarments
Bras
The purpose of a bra is to provide comfort, support, and shape to the breasts, though the specific reason for wearing one varies widely among individuals.
For those with larger breasts, a well-fitted bra supports the weight of the breasts, which can prevent pain in the shoulders, back, and neck.
Bras provide a layer of coverage, preventing nipples from showing through clothing, which is important for modesty or to conform to social expectations in certain settings.
Bralette
A bralette is a lightweight, wire-free, and often unpadded undergarment designed for comfort and a natural look, providing soft support without the structure of a traditional bra.
Bralettes are versatile, serving as everyday bras, undershirts, or even outerwear, and are available in various materials like lace, mesh, and cotton, with options for removable padding and different styles such as seamless, strapless, and racerback.
Young Adult Bras
Prioritizes comfort, proper fit, and age-appropriate style with adjustable features like straps and bands.
Featuring soft, breathable fabrics and wire-free designs to accommodate growth and prevent irritation. Comfortable bralettes for everyday wear or supportive sports bras for an active lifestyle.
Bandeau
The Bandeau’s functionality makes it an excellent choice for everyday use.
It is similar to a tube top, but narrower, and does not cover the abdomen. Generally, they are strapless, but some Bandeaus come with removable straps.
A Bandeau is usually sleeveless and off-the-shoulder. They are commonly made from a stretchy elastic material such as spandex to keep the garment from slipping out of place.
Other methods include tying or pinning in the front or back, and a halter.
What is the difference between a bandeau and a tube top?
The main difference between the two garments is that a bandeau exposes the midriff, while a tube top covers it.
Here are some other differences between these garments:
Length: A bandeau is shorter and focuses just on the bust, while a tube top is typically longer and covers more of the torso.
Material: A tube top is often made from a synthetic stretch material, while natural fabrics, such as soft cotton, crochet, or smocked fabrics, characterize a boho bandeau.
A bandeau and a tube top are not to be confused with the crop top, a similar garment with a neckline.
What is the midriff?
The midriff is the part of the human body between the chest and the waist.
In fashion, it is exposed when wearing a bandeau, crop top, swimwear, or underwear.
What are some of the different styles of Bandeau?
Varying fabric types, accessories, and methods of securement in bandeau production have resulted in a wide variety of styles.
Despite being strapless, these tops often feature side boning, internal shelf bras, and silicone grip tape to ensure they stay in place.
Band
The standard form of a bandeau.
A single piece of fabric made from a stretchy elastic material, such as spandex, to keep the garment from slipping out of place.
More Band Samples…
Ruched and Twisted
A style where fabric is gathered into tight, decorative folds, pleats, or ripples using running stitches or elastic. Often used to add texture, volume, and a form-fitting look. Sometimes called scrunched.
The twist is a variation of ruched fabric whereby the front is twisted once over in the center to give a figure eight appearance to the bandeau.
More Ruched and Twisted…
Frilled and Scalloped Trims
Textured, Puckered, or Ribbed
Trellis and Ruffles
Often found together, the Trellis features a hanging section above the band of the garment. This hangs over the front of the bandeau and is typically ruffled or flowy.
Ruffles can be long or short and may be patterned to look like flowers, horizontal or vertical lines, or even a lattice design.
More Trellis and Ruffles…
Lace
A common choice for bandeau underwear, often with floral or feather prints. Fabrics tend to include silk or nylon/spandex blends. Lace comes in varying degrees of transparency from sheer, to semi-sheer, and opaque.
More Lace…
Tied Bandeau
This version of the bandeau is split in the front or the back, with the sides secured together by a string. A portion of the string may include beads or other features to draw the eyes.
Front Tie: The ties can be tucked into the bandeau or left in a bow.
Back Tie: Tied in the back with optional removable straps for the cups.
Halter Tie: The top is tied behind the neck while the bottom may be secured with a band or clasp. The front strap may crossover.
Fixed Loop: This variation on the halter uses a loop that fits over the head and rests on the neck. Often these are stylishly beaded.
Over-The-Shoulder Bandeau
Includes short adjustable sleeves that can be repositioned to cover the shoulders. Typically found as a single piece of fabric. The fabric is light and airy with an elastic trim to secure the garment.
More Over-The-Shoulder…
Feature Front Bandeau
This version features a distinct metal or plastic ring at the center of the bust. Some varieties may use a Split-Ring, a V-shaped bar, or some other hardware acting as a focal point.
These are typically not functional for securing the garment and are only decorative.
O-Ring: a complete circle of plastic or metal connects the sides or front of the bandeau.
Split-Ring: may be a circle split at the top or a u-shape. Metal or plastic.
V-Bar: a metal bar shaped in a V connects the front of the bandeau.
Buckle: like a belt buckle or sometimes a clasp.
Clasp or Zipper: often metal and gold in color.
Flower: may be made from fabric (ruffle), plastic, or metal hardware.
Knotted or Crochet
Another feature front may include a permanently tied knot.
Braided fabric may be found along the trim, the sides, or, more uncommonly, securing the back of the bandeau.
Crochet is the art of creating textiles by interlocking loops of yarn with a hooked needle, using foundational techniques like the slip knot, chain stitch, single crochet, and double crochet.
Target Clothing Style Codes
The following are items I have had to look up when listing items on eBay.
I think Target is generally good at keeping sold-out listings active on its site for some time after the season ends. This makes it easier to find all the specifics of an item we want to resell.
I’ve included links to my eBay listings so you can see photos. I don’t have an unlimited amount of space on-site for photos, so I am prioritizing the mobile game wikis.
The PID# will often still be active after the season has passed.
I got so busy with my eBay reselling that I forgot I had this series of posts I had said I would run. It is now partway through Q1 of 2025, so I have a little catching up.
Q3 – July, August, and September
Site traffic for these months was roughly the same as the previous period. But I did see an uptick in the number of ads displayed. I would attribute the increased ad views to the continued fine-tuning of ads on the more popular post topics.
As mentioned in the previous article, my goal is to reach $66 in annual earnings. This should cover the price I paid for the premium hosting plan featuring ad revenue.
Month
Ads Served
Avg CPM
Revenue
July
22,531
$0.23
$5.11
August
37,472
$0.24
$9.09
September
30,110
$0.20
$6.05
I’m not entirely certain why the revenues shot up for August. The increased traffic was nice, but it seemed to peak and then fall off the next month.
I had removed some 20 redundant posts which may have caused the drop.
That “removal” had been in error due to a bad bot, and customer service was able to remove the error. They also clarified that the site was receiving traffic accurately.
After I got the green light, I relisted all the taken-down posts. This caused a surge in traffic to the “new” posts. Both the Google and Bing web crawlers showed an uptick in analytical data during this period. Many of those old posts had been removed from the indexes because they were old and didn’t get much traffic.
Q4 – October, November, and December
The holiday season was quite busy for me, which was a bit odd. As an atheist, I don’t celebrate anything and rarely go in for the irreligious events either.
Of course, if you shove a turkey my way, I’m not gonna pass off the food.
Anyway, I was busy with my eBay sales in the 4th quarter. I did some good sales volume and was able to finish the year at a break-even on my Excel balance sheet.
Month
Ads Served
Avg CPM
Revenue
October
33,274
$0.15
$5.00
November
33,556
$0.20
$6.87
December
64,570
$0.11
$7.05
The site traffic seemed to hit a plateau in October and November, and I figured I had found my sweet spot between the wind and waves. I was a bit miffed at the lower CPM in Oct, as you can see it dropped to $0.15 and I lost $1.05 in revenue earnings compared with Sept.
November saw a return to better numbers despite no change in site traffic. I was starting to see a confluence of visitors on three posts in particular, though.
The Game of Vampires Wiki page I had created was getting some really good numbers and had been edging close to the top of my traffic list for several months.
I was still seeing steady traffic on the Game Guides for Puzzles and Chaos and some other high-value offers. I think it was around this time when some of the offers started going into the four-digit range and the Reddit folks were going nuts.
In December, I received around 7k more views than the previous months and 2,440 more visitors. The CPM went down drastically, but I did see an increase in my site revenue. I think many of the extra views were from repeat customers.
Top Traffic Sources
Sept’s top post was Puzzles and Chaos, for Oct it was the Game of Vampires Wiki, but come Nov, both were supplanted by the Top Girl Wiki. The game had gone through a couple of rebrands as the Alpha and Beta releases were cleared away.
I think writing a “Wiki” instead of a game guide made the difference.
Honestly, the Fandom-branded (Wikia) sites are all covered in terrible, unsafe advertisements. I can understand why someone would prefer to come to FWR instead.
There are many sites with guides, but few that claim to be a wiki, and that is what people are searching for when they look for guides. They type in “game wiki” or “game Reddit” to find info on whatever game they need help with.
The traffic to Top Girl Wiki tripled between November and December.
I also realized that the page I had thrown together was loading slowly on mobile devices and that the majority of my traffic was from cell phones. So, I added separate posts for a lot of the content, and I started using Pages instead of Posts.
This allowed me to set the wiki page as a Parent Page and the associated articles as Child Pages. The hierarchy makes for a more structured design format. Basically, it’s easier to navigate.
That will be all for this quarterly report on Wordads. I will try and remember to write another one in April 2025.
Update December 2024: I occasionally run play tests to see whether offer terms are achievable. In a recent playtest, I managed to get 15 Orange heroes in 40 days.
MyPoints was referenced for this offer; however, it is currently (as of July 2025) only available through InboxDollars.
Of the advertised 251 USD, it should be possible to earn 100 USD through goal completions.
Additionally, there are two reimbursed purchases totaling 30 USD. Taxes or VAT may increase the purchase cost.
The purchases are optional; however, they are reimbursed and will set you on your way, so I would suggest spending the money.
Both purchases can be made on the first day. This is especially useful for the “Month Card.”
The VIP 4 goal requires you to spend $79.95 (if you also buy the Premium Pass) or $ 109.94 if you buy only Diamonds.
I advise against either option. The reward for reaching VIP 4 is not worth the cost. I also do not believe it is possible to get a Red Hero in the allotted time of this offer.
You would need to be extremely lucky and obtain multiple copies of a single premium hero through all your gacha pulls and events.
The heroes you will be dealing with for this offer come in 4 colors: Green, Blue, Purple, and Orange.
The “12 and 15” Orange Hero requirements for this offer may be difficult to achieve without an obvious focus on specific heroes.
Make sure you finish all steps of your Daily Quests and also collect each of the Online rewards in the control panel. The Hire coins you receive from these activities will be useful for the Hiring Events.
Game Codes
The following codes were available on social media and worked for me as of August 15th, 2024. You can check Instagram, Discord, or Facebook for new codes.
Code (Case-Sensitive)
Reward
Happy4th (valid until Nov 30th)
10 Senior Hire Coins and 1k Diamonds
BNCyber
1k Diamonds
Th777
1k Diamonds
Th7777
1k Diamonds
BN2024HNY
10 Senior Hire Coins and 500 Diamonds
To redeem the codes you need to tap on the Heart icon on your Player Info screen.
Friends
A game function includes a friends list with other players on your server. You can request people to add you to their list in the World chat.
Each day, you may send and receive flowers. The free flowers are Blue and provide a small number of points for exchange in the Mart. Purple flowers require Diamonds and give a larger amount of points for exchange.
Some players will only add friends who promise to send Purple flowers.
Lineup
My team changed quite a bit during the first week of play. I mostly placed higher-quality heroes in the front and blue/green in the back. However, this was not a proper lineup for battle.
After gaining access to PvP battles, I was able to observe better synergies with heroes and which ones had the best survivability. I also checked some YouTube videos on the game and found that some of the early game heroes were very good for PvE and PvP combat.
Kratos, Harpe, Charlotte, Fino, A-Zhao, and Arae.
My Tank is Kratos, and the Off-Tank is Harpe. The middle is occupied by Charlotte and Fino. The back row has A-Zhao and Arae.
Both Kratos and Charlotte have self-healing abilities. Kratos has a very high defense, which pairs with the healing to make for an excellent tank.
Kratos and Arae are acquired through Senior hires most often. Harpe is a reward from logging in on Day 5, Day 7, and the Trials. Charlotte is the 4th reward from the Perfect Hire event after spending 20 Coins. A-Zhao comes with a beginner’s event and some early purchases.
Early to Mid Game: Around level 70, the above lineup started to fail at PvE, and so I rearranged the group and replaced some members. I kept Fino for his group buff effect in battle. New members of my lineup include Charlotte and Phoebe.
Back
Middle
Front
A-Zhao
Harpe
Charlotte
Phoebe
Fino
Kratos
Charlotte has a more frequent self-healing ability compared to Kratos, and she also has a chance to stun enemies. Phoebe is a Crowd-Control type Warrior; she has a primary attack that can stun enemies. I found it pairs well with Charlotte’s Stun ability.
Both Charlotte and Phoebe can be evolved to Orange, and so this works well for the offer.
Camps (Evolve)
The game includes characters from 6 factions (called Camps), each Camp will have a Blue hero you will want to keep as a required ingredient to form an Orange hero.
It is important to note that of the Blue heroes that you get from Rookie/Senior hires, only those listed below in the “Fodder For” column can be evolved to Orange.
You may get “lucky” and pull a Purple hero that also has an Orange or Red version; however, you will still need 2 more copies of that hero and then 5 extra Purples from the same camp to complete the Evolution.
To make an Orange, you will need two Purple copies of the hero, plus 2 Purples from the same camp, and two random Purples. A total of six Purple heroes are needed to make an Orange from the first set of heroes listed below.
To make an Orange from the advanced heroes listed below, you will need three copies of the original, three copies of the fodder, and two Purples from the same camp.
Check your Mart and Exchange Shops every day for the copies you need. Save up Perfect Hire coins, General and Royal tokens, and Bullets for the weekly events.
Check to see how much you need to use to reach a milestone, and then stop there and save the rest until the next event. We have 6 weeks to complete the offer.
Name
Camp
Rarity
Fodder For
Heloise
Machine
Blue
Poll
Leah
Tamer
Blue
Phoebe
Mayne
Martial
Blue
A-Zhao*
Camilla
Nature
Blue
Kratos
Evelynn
Fallen
Blue
Dreyfus
Daria
Hacker
Blue
Samuel
Harpe
Nature
Blue/Purple/Orange
Harpe*
Tiger
Martial
Blue/Purple
Wassily
Arae
Tamer
Blue/Purple
Nymeria
Naomi
Machine
Blue/Purple
Gilbert
Lyse
Nature
Blue/Purple
Raphael
Grinborth
Fallen
Blue/Purple
Arngreene
Attis
Fallen
Blue/Purple
Misteltein
Gassol
Hacker
Blue/Purple
Beamon
Fino
Hacker
Blue/Purple
Sayung
Blues to Keep
*Harpe and Zhao may be the easiest to get to Orange because the tutorial and tasks provide copies of these heroes. Some of the early game purchases will also provide more copies.
by beb700
A recycling function is available on the Backstreet Map that will allow you to dismantle your unwanted Green and Blue heroes in exchange for resources to upgrade the keepers.
B.C.P.D (Police)
You can unlock 4 tasks daily, with additional uses available with VIP status. Tasks can be refreshed using Bullets or Diamonds. Police Badges will open a new task after completing the currently available tasks. Each task will require heroes from different Camps, varying Star and Quality ranks, and each hero can only be assigned to a single mission at a time. Your score during the Bounty Event will be based on the number of completed tasks.
Mart (Shop)
You can purchase items from the Mart using Gems and occasionally Gold. Many additional shops will become available as you increase in level and unlock the Arena and similar features.
If you see Senior or Rookie Hire Coin, I would advise you to purchase these. The Hero fragments only need to be bought if they correspond with one of the heroes on the Camp chart provided.
Sometimes you will encounter discounted prices on items either in the Mart or on the Chapter Stages. Always buy items that are available for Gold.
Please consult the chart below for item values.
Item
Original Cost
Basic Hire
Senior Hire
250 D (60 FP)
Perfect Hire
1,200 D
General Poker
50 D (30 FP for 2) [250 AP for 2]
Royal Poker
Orange Blueprint
3,000 D
Blue Fragment
800 D
D= Diamond, FP= Friend, AP= Arena
Events
The in-game events last a week and run monthly on a set cycle.
Bounty > Perfect Hire > Arcade + Dawn Event
You can save unused items from the events for the next time around. We have 6 weeks to complete the offer terms, so you will get a chance to use them again.
Specifically, we are looking for Perfect Hire Coins and Blue/Purple Fragments for select heroes. Consult the chart for the names of your upgrade materials.
The Arcade
Rookie Hire
Perfect Hire
You will want to save up your Perfect Hire coins. In the events panel, you will receive rewards for completing sets of hires. See pictures for details. I had 20 coins available when the event started.
Dawn Commission
You need to reach level 50 before completing tasks for this event. As you play, you will receive Dawn Cinema Tickets, which can be used to refresh commissions at the Dawn Cinema.
You can complete 5 missions each day, and using a filmstrip will unlock an extra play. You get more points from Purple missions, so keep refreshing to get purples and complete them. You can also give yourself a handicap in exchange for a % increase in rewards.
The Dawn Commission Shop includes Fragments for Purple heroes for 70k points.
Bounty Event
Complete bounty tasks at the B.C.P.D. to earn points to redeem.
You’ll want to keep refreshing the available tasks until a Purple one shows up. We need to complete 30 Purple tasks to receive 2 Blue copies of Charlotte. We will also get 16 Senior Hires, 1 Perfect Hire, and 1,200 Diamonds.
We need to earn 264 points in the Bounty Event to spend in the Bounty Store. This is enough to purchase all of the Hire Coins, Purple Fragments, Poker Chips, and Energy Orbs.
Gear
Using the Workshop on the Backstreet Map, you can craft gear for your heroes. Part of the tutorial will include instructions on how to manage this function.
Halidoms
These become available to heroes level 45 and above. They are an additional form of equipment that adds extra enhancements to your hero’s stats. The Halidoms come in different Quality levels of Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Red. Upgrade materials can be acquired from the Chapter Missions.
This title is offered on Swagbucks for $365.50 and $414.23 on MyPoints. The terms now state a 30-day time limit. When I completed the offer at a lower reward level ($231.67), I had a 45-day limit.
Swagbucks TermsMyPoints Terms
A standard merging game, County Story is food-themed. Your character has just had her wedding fall through and has decided to restore her family’s cafe/restaurant.
The gameplay is restricted to a single game board. Events have screens and do not affect objects on the main board. Events will supply additional resources such as Energy, Food, Gold, or Gems.
Tip: put Benny’s dog house away in the fridge and don’t bother merging this item. The dog house task and subsequent tasks are intended to slow down the player’s progress through the game. The rewards provided for completing these tasks are very small and they do not improve over time.
You will advance through the game by accruing experience points from completed customer orders. No other task in the game will provide experience points. Gold coins are awarded for completing orders. The coins are then used to complete upgrades to the cafe.
Completing a full bar of tasks will move the story to the next day. Your player level will eventually decouple from the game day to some degree. Some tasks will allow you to choose decorations for your cafe. The building continues to grow in size throughout gameplay.
I purchased the monthly membership to get daily bonuses. I also purchased the VIP access, but I did encounter issues with that which I mentioned later.
Most items can be merged with the final tier displaying a yellow star. For chests, the higher the tier the better the reward upon opening. I would suggest saving your chests in the storage until you have enough to merge to the max tier before opening.
Each day you may claim an Energy chest and a Daily Gift (S). If you save the Daily Gift, it can be merged into either a Medium (2 days) or Large (4 days). The rewards from the Large chest are quite ample and in my opinion worth the wait.
I found the storage area to be a bit too small to be useful given all the objects that you have on the board. I would suggest spending the Gems to unlock 2 extra slots.
Warning: the VIP Fridge can only be unlocked for a limited period. The slots are only valid for the currently active seasonal event. They will go away regardless of how recently you purchased the VIP Pass. If you buy it on the last day, then you will have less than 24 hours of VIP Fridge access.
Tips:
Completed Paint sets can be freed from bubbles by watching an ad
Once a day you may collect up to 12 Energy in the Event Center menu
20 Energy points may be claimed by watching an ad every 10 minutes on alternating days. On alternate days, you can only watch ads to open bubbles. This resets at midnight.
If you watch an ad for Energy, you cannot open a bubble for another 10 minutes and vice versa.
FatWallet Refugee 