#Native Advertising Examples

[scp095]

uhhhh hi there :)

i know this isn’t exactly a POC band but there’s a russian band named kolibri made of four sapphic women (one of them has sadly passed away recently) and they’ve been making music together since the 90s? they don’t sing in english (unless you count half the song world of magic) but have really good music about various topics that go FAR beyond just “i am gay”… they have retellings of folk stories from various cultures, songs about loss and properly overcoming grief, songs about how rivalry gets you nowhere, and how you don’t need to be a “hero” to deserve good things

i’m just putting that out here in case anyone thinks that living in a country that doesn’t support queer folk means that everyone in it is homophobic. because why would they enforce homophobic laws if there were no gay people to enforce it upon?

proclaiming we're in a lesbian music renaissance NOW thanks to artists like Billie Eilish, Chapell Roan, Fletcher, Phoebe Bridgers, Dove Cameron and Renee Rapp is qWHITE interesting to me (dgmw I like those artists but)........... people are acting like Janelle Monae, Victoria Monet, Hayley Kiyoko, Arlo Parks, Halsey, Kehlani, Syd, Dua Saleh, Raveena, Kelela, and even Megan Thee Stallion haven't been CONSISTENTLY making music about loving women and eating pussy for well over a decade. is it only a "sapphic music renaissance" when white lesbians and queer women do it?

[jovialdeermentality]

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[crabussy]

handy checklist of why you shouldn't watch the new lilo and stitch movie (even hatewatching it. don't do that. do something fun instead)

completely destroys the entire moral of the movie by making nani leave lilo alone at the end. holy shit.

most if not all allusions to colonisation being harmful to hawai'i is gone or changed to be more "palatable"

beloved character got turned into a shallow villain who doesn't even get redeemed all because they COULDN'T AFFORD TO ANIMATE THE ORIGINAL VILLAIN???????

the gay-coded couple get completely destroyed (one of them turns out to be evil and irredeemable. and we don't get the drag scene anymore. they killed their queerness entirely)

lilo's autistic traits are extremely toned down to make her more "likeable"

the pacing is abysmal and they've removed a lot of important plot points (stitch's ugly duckling scenes for example)

a lot of characters have been completely rewritten. agent bubbles is no longer a deep and interesting multifaceted character. he's now just kind of mean and unfunny for no reason???

stitch's model isn't even faithful to the original movie. THEY PUGGED HIM!!!!!!!!

all the beautiful lighting and compositions from the original movie got put in a WOODCHIPPER. boy I sure do love bright white lighting instead of gorgeous pink dusky hues for the surfing scene

the actor for nani isn't native hawaiian. she's white and filipino and also WAY paler than nani in the original movie. she seems lovely but I think maybe for the movie about native hawaiian oppression they could have cast a hawaiian actor

stitch's character is flanderised and toned down too. he STARTS OFF loveable and less violent and antagonistic. instead of how he was in the original movie- an aggressive creature that BECOMES loving and caring as the movie progresses. his entire arc gets squashed flat so that he can be cute and cuddly for marketing

lilo's whole thing about photographing tourists as a coping mechanism for feeling like a novelty attraction to tourists is just Gone. they make the guy she takes a photo of hawaiian for no reason when he was originally a white tourist

disney made it

disney has a resort on hawai'i that spans 21 acres of hawaiian land with close to 400 rooms that costs over 600USD a night for the cheapest room. this movie is a one hour and forty eight minute advertisement for a resort that contributes to hawai'i's struggles with over-tourism.

[hexiva]

Roleplay Is Not Dead Nor Doth It Sleep

There's a post going around about how text-based, freeform roleplay is dead, and I was typing up a huge response to this, with an accompanying guide on how to find roleplayer in 2024, when I realized it might have a bigger reach if I made it its own post. So here's that guide.

I hesitate to say that there isn't a problem with the new format of social media making roleplay more difficult to find, but in the desire to make that point, the OP of the original post has left people with the idea that there's no way for them to get into freeform text roleplay in 2024. Which just isn't true! Here, look at all the ways.

Forums

The link to RPG-Directory to find roleplaying forums is a good start. Once you've found a forum RPG, even if you don't join, there's usually an 'advertising' section on that forum where other forum RPGs post their ads - this may help you to find forums that don't advertise on RPG-D.

Another really good forum to find roleplay on is Barbermonger. Barbermonger is focused on connecting people for one-on-one roleplays.

This last one's going to be weird, but it turns out that there are still people seeking roleplay on the Gaia Online forums after all these years. I think this is delightfully retro and then crowd there seems a little older than average. No pre-existing knowledge of Gaia required.

Tumblr

You can also find forum roleplay groups (as well as tumblr and Discord groups) right here on Tumblr. Usually, the thing to do is to use the search function - search for "[genre] rp" or "[fandom] rp" and sort by "latest." (If you sort by Top, you are likely to find dead RPs.) For example, here's fantasy rp, historical rp, and marvel rp. You can also try jcink rp, as most roleplay forums are hosted on Jcink these days, or discord rp, depending on your favored platform.

There are also tumblr blogs specifically dedicated to advertising roleplays. I'm not super familiar with these nowadays, but just in the process of searching those tags above, I found these:

Jcink Tinder

RPG Adverts

RPings

There are more, I just don't know them off the top of my head.

Reddit

Listen, don't run away, I swear it's good now - I swear Reddit is good now -

Reddit is a good place to find Discord roleplays. It's a little heavier on smut-only roleplays than other platforms mentioned here, but it's not impossible to find sexless, plot-based roleplay here either. Most ads are for one on one RP, but you can find groups mixed in here too. The big subreddits for text-based freeform RP seem to be:

r/DiscordRP

r/RoleplayPartnerSearch

r/roleplaying

r/Roleplay

Some of these have weird rules about what you can put in your ad, and I don't remember which ones, so read carefully and don't get discouraged if your ad is initially removed.

Discord

In 2024, Discord is by far the biggest and most popular platform for roleplay, and it has its own native roleplay advertising hubs. Here are a bunch:

roleplay partner hub

Rockin Roleplay

The Roleplay Garden

roleplay help

the roleplay connection

RP Central

Roleplay Central

Roleplay Hub

Barbermonger also has a Discord server

Roleplay Meets: Reborn

RP Hub

The Scribes Guild

DM Rp Village

cherry blossom! roleplay hub

DM-RP

Roleplay Round Table (21+)

The Historical Syndicate (specifically for historical roleplay)

The Roleplayer's Directory

If you can't find the Discord roleplay you want on here, you can also try Discord hub websites, like Disboard. These work similar to tumblr tags - search for [genre] rp or [fandom] rp.

Other

The original post specifically mentions that 'all the old "omegle but for role play" type websites died out ages ago'. This is mostly true, but not quite! There's still Rolechat. It's a little janky, but what it needs more than anything is a bigger user base. Their Discord server is also a good place to find one on one discord roleplay. It is, of course, free, but if you want to support its development, they have a patreon.

Please reblog this post, and add your own tips on how to find roleplay!

[aroaceleovaldez]

i made a very generalized post awhile back with random resources but i wanna make a more specific one so:

Osiyo.tv is a GREAT resource for Cherokee history, language, and people. They have specific sections for interviews with Cherokee athletes, artists, foragers, leaders, national treasures, and women. Their full episodes also include some general news stories as well. The full episodes are really nice or even just the individual interviews and it makes for good background videos while you're working on stuff.

The Cherokee Phoenix newspaper is available online. It's literally a newspaper. It has newspaper and news website things.

This is a playlist for learning Cherokee. It's exactly that. Similarly, here is the Visit Cherokee Nation youtube channel which has just a ton of misc videos including also a lot of language stuff. Visit Cherokee Nation website also has a lot of stuff and links to other things, like events or historical landmarks.

Also, Cherokee Nation website. it's literally the official government website. It similarly has a ton of links and misc general information and news and such.

My friend also recommends taking a look at the National Museum of the American Indian's gallery, which shows a bunch of historic depictions of Native Americans particularly including in advertising and some brief history overviews. It's one good way to familiarize yourself with some examples of caricatures and offensive stereotypes commonly used surrounding Native Americans, which is very important if you're drawing an indigenous character so you know what to avoid.

I am assigning these as required reading for Piper stuff. Gonna write Piper? At least skim these. Just take a quick looksie. Okay? okay. Good. Also remember that you can always just look stuff up.

[rederiswrites]

You can train your tastes. You can choose what you see beauty in.

Lemme go further, actually. You are constantly doing so--or letting others do it for you.

Nearly two decades ago, when we were planning our wedding, I made a very firm decision not to look at any wedding planning magazines or anything with marketing material for wedding products. I wanted our wedding to be uniquely us, and I also wanted not to be bombarded by product advertisement and beautiful photo shoots of very expensive weddings. Consequently, maybe we wasted a little bit of time reinventing the wheel, but we had a wedding we were very happy with that only cost perhaps four thousand dollars at most, probably not that much, spread out over our finances and those of both our families. Our guests went home with live potted plants that we'd paid pennies for at end of season, our florist had a great time getting to design a bouquet that tested her skills because I didn't have any preconceived ideas, my dress was utterly unique--and I really do feel that those magazines would have had a corrosive effect on all that.

When we moved to this property three years ago, I spent a LOT of time looking at images online, trying to form a coherent vision for a property that was at the time a fairly blank slate. I found myself scrolling through a lot of Russian dacha Instagrams, of all things, and they unlocked something for me. Seeing the same homey make-do decorations and techniques I grew up around a continent away, the same plywood cutout old ladies and tractor tire flower planters, somehow chewed through that last binding cord of classism, and suddenly I saw the art in it. The expression of a desire to embellish and beautify, even when you have very little, even when all you can afford is things the more well-to-do consider trash. I saw the exuberance of human love for beauty in a brilliant flower bed planted next to a collapsing shed--it didn't need to be perfect to be worthwhile. They didn't wait til everything was pristine to start enjoying things. And now I earnestly and unironically covet my own version of the tractor-tire Christmas tree at the farm down the road.

We've spent centuries now idolizing the manicured estates and quaint country retreats of the European wealthy elites. We've turned thousands of miles of living ecosystem into grass deserts in service of this vision. We need to start deliberately retraining our tastes. Seek out images of a different idea of beauty and peace. I'm not telling you what it'll be. I'm telling you this is not involuntary. You can participate. You can look at the many beautiful examples of native xeriscaping for arid climates, or photos of chaotic tangles of wildflowers, tamed by narrow paths, a bench under an arbor overwhelmed with wisteria. Maybe instead of trying to get lawn to grown under your mature trees, you'd actually get far more joy out of a patch of dirt. A hammock. A firepit ringed with log sections for seats.

You can free yourself from harmful conventions of taste and beauty, and you do it through imagining something better.

[ghostlyferrettarot]

✨️💎Jupiter and the signs💎✨️

❗️All the observations in this post are based on personal experience and research, it's completely fine if it doesn't resonate with everyone❗️

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♣︎Jupiter in Aries: They tend to be more enthusiastic, assertive, energetic, and full of ideas about how to initiate, promote, or expand ideas. You can also be more stubborn and very persuasive in getting people to embark on your plans and ideas. As Jupiter represents the principle of growth and the notion of something higher, the actions of those born under the influence of Jupiter in Aries can lead to personal development more easily.

♣︎Jupiter in Taurus: indicates a predisposition to use money and material resources correctly and beneficially. Jupiter in the sign of Taurus has a strong tendency to attract wealth and have a good sense of the value of things. Those who obtain it like to enjoy material comfort, good food, various forms of art and the good things in life in general. They appreciate what is good and what has personal value, even if it is expensive.

♣︎Jupiter in Gemini: they tend to be intellectually curious, they can read a lot or be that type of person who is always on the Internet looking for new information, news, curiosities and teachings. Their curiosity can be aroused in different areas, so they tend to be mentally restless and enjoy movement. Valuing communication is an essential part of those who have this position, for example Working in the communication industry, whether with journalism , advertising, public relations or tourism.

♣︎Jupiter in Cancer: these individuals focus on family experiences, knowledge base, past and personal roots. The place where they belong and call their own, is also a place where friends and acquaintances can find greater comfort in case they have problems guiding the course of life. There is a desire to create a safe, comfortable, friendly, welcoming and prosperous family environment that can also be used for educational and fun activities.

♣︎Jupiter in Leo: Optimism, generosity and a kind way of being are highlighted. You tend to like to be admired and valued. Jupiter in the sign of Leo brings the tendency of leadership. Its natives generally arouse enthusiasm in other people, and therefore have the potential to be good leaders. The generosity, firmness and reliability of these natives stands out.

♣︎Jupiter in Virgo: The person will care about the details and the precision of his behavior. It influences the person to appreciate the details, the kind that he can do a lot with a little. They have a superior, prudent, intellectual, analytical and practical nature; They differentiate what is essential from what is not essential, truth from fiction, what is valid and what is not. Their judgment is generally excellent.

♣︎Jupiter in Libra: They are people who tend to worry about the moral principles that guide society, their unions and their interpersonal relationships. Natives with Jupiter in Libra believe that love and justice can create a much more harmonious social order, being more generous people and, for this reason, more popular and loved. These personal characteristics can make them develop activities related to the public. It is not uncommon for people with this position to be attracted to becoming diplomats, salespeople, presenters, etc.

♣︎Jupiter in Scorpio: tends to have a greater appreciation for everything that is hidden, secret. They like to investigate and delve into other people's minds, as well as more ethereal topics, such as death, the occult and religion, for example. Jupiter in Scorpio can discover secret information about the private affairs of others in an extremely natural way. People have the potential to become more resourceful and have very strong and resolute opinions regarding their beliefs.

♣︎Jupiter in Sagittarius: One of the main interests of those who have Jupiter in Sagittarius is higher knowledge. Topics such as philosophy or religion, education and foreign cultures have a lot of meaning and are appreciated. They tend to choose their own system of thought that will govern their behavior and the way they view life. This is the type of attitude that can earn a person the respect and admiration of others in many situations.

♣︎Jupiter in Capricorn: You can demonstrate greater economic or political responsibility, being prudent, cautious and trying to be fair in your judgments. For people with Jupiter in Capricorn, management, status and recognition tend to gain more importance. Due to Characteristics such as ambition, patience, administrative ability and the wisdom to deal with the resources acquired throughout life, those born with this position generally manage to save money and own property.

♣︎Jupiter in Aquarius: they tend to enjoy interacting with people of all classes, races or creeds, without much distinction or prejudice. They tend to be more tolerant and understanding, recognizing more easily that everyone has their place in the world and that in all positions there are lessons to learn. Jupiter in Aquarius are more likely to engage in philanthropic activities aimed at helping others.

♣︎Jupiter in Pisces: they tend to be more emotional, understanding and endowed with a greater sense of compassion. Having spiritual or philosophical convictions, with this positioning, becomes more possible; People can develop a more comprehensive, universal and fulfilling spiritual understanding. Because of this greater search for elevation, they tend to eventually enjoy moments of isolation, becoming more introspective. By meditating, you can better develop this intuition and renew yourself spiritually.

[yellosnacc]

What kind of art do the Sloman/Uniima make?

Very hard to answer in a single post so I focused on visual art here. Here are some few sketchy examples from both species.

There's a wide spectrum between the single species' cultures and even bigger between the two species. But there are many convergent art forms where the biggest differences lie in style as slomen and uniima see the world differently (color, space, person recognition...).

Slomen

In slomen cultures, art is commonly created for a community. Either to decorate a space or gift to a group etc. The least rare exception would be gifts for family heads but those usually see it as an obligation to share it with the rest.

So portraits of only one person are very rare. Art pieces also tend to be large, as the average painter group (in Ciwa) consists of 5 members and a mural-making group can be around 20. When they agree on the base motives, each artist executes their part with the resulting piece having all sections equally over-detailed.

Ciwan and general sloman visual art is often about fitting as much as possible experience and telling many stories without focusing on one single aspect (unless it's to highlight a higher-ranking member such as a matriarch). Art that can be touched is preferred.

Ciwan style of people drawing focuses on little facial detail, drawing people more idealistic with expression being shown more in body language. Individual indicators are primarily stripes and markings, sometimes holding a token of their occupation.

Uniima (sky)

In sky cultures, visual art is very popular and used in practical senses too. Ueema cultures commonly exchange art as information in case of language barriers and use it for documentation when they can afford it.

The structure of sky settlements, being that of thousands of microstates, leads many to compete in presentation. Having the most inspired architecture and decoration is why many become artisans which then bleeds into other parts of society.

Art is a job for one and it's full of competition. A good artist acts as their whole company, creating advertisements inside and outside their home, traveling, and inserting oneself into events.

Sometimes, uniima stylization can be realistic and practical but very often it's not and becomes hard to read for outsiders (even other uniima cultures).

Many artsy movements wash over regions in a year, inspired by people, cultures, and faded cultures like those of dead microstates that had little to no outsider contact.

The people drawing style spectrum over ueema cultures alone is overwhelming as they don't work as a single culture and many have a style native to their small area.

Most honor the individual great, including self-portraits and private pieces. The best indicator of who is the painted/crafted individual is the crest and beak shape, after that marking spacing and color + often accessories showing off a uniimas status, skill, and faith stance.

Some styles will include noise visualization to show the person's voice or other non-visual information to make the piece truly pact with context about them.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Semantic Change

Linguists have distinguished several kinds of semantic change. Four particularly important categories are given below (other types and examples include: euphemism, cliché, figurative language, and the various dimensions of "political correctness").

Lexeme - the smallest contrastive unit in a semantic system (run, cat, switch on); also called lexical item.

Extension or generalization. A lexeme widens its meaning. Numerous examples of this process have occurred in the religious field, where office, doctrine, novice, and many other terms have taken on a more general, secular range of meanings.

Narrowing or specialization. A lexeme becomes more specialized in meaning. Engine was formerly used in a general sense of ‘mechanical contrivance’ (especially of war and torture), but since the Industrial Revolution, it has come to mean ‘mechanical source of power’. Several of the terms of economics also show specialization.

Amelioration. A lexeme develops a positive sense of approval. Revolutionary, once associated in the capitalist mind with an undesirable overthrowing of the status quo, is now widely used by advertisers as a signal of desirable novelty. Lean no longer brings to mind emaciation but athleticism and good looks.

Pejoration or deterioration. A lexeme develops a negative sense of disapproval. Middle English villein neutrally described a serf, whereas Modern English villain is by no means neutral. Similarly, junta has acquired a sinister, dictatorial sense, and lewd (originally, ‘of the laity’) has developed a sense of sexual impropriety.

NOTES

Everyone knows that words can change their meaning.

Example: We do not need to have taken a course in semantics to hold a view about what has happened to "gay" since the 1960s.

Some strongly disapprove of the new meaning which this lexeme has developed; some welcome it; but all native speakers of English recognize that there has been a change, and are able to talk about it.

Semantic change is a fact of life.

And those who have had to study older works of literature, such as a Shakespeare play, will need no reminding of how much of the vocabulary has been affected by such changes.

Source ⚜ More References: Word Lists

[helenas-journey]

Lilo and Stitch Remake: Addressing Some Controversy

I need to get this off my chest. 

I was born and raised Hawaii, so this is my two cents on the live remake of Lilo and Stitch. I am a kamaʻāina.

First of all, the screenplay was written by a kanaka (Native Hawaiian) vs the animated version, which was written by a white man. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the animated version being written by a white man, that’s not the point. The point is that I’ve seen people complaining about the live action about how unrealistic it is. It’s actually far more realistic than most people realize, and you would know if you were from Hawaii.

The ending is the most unpopular part of the movie from what I’ve seen from people ranting about it. You know why Nani goes to California for college? Because it’s a full ride scholarship to one of the best Marine Biology programs in the United States. Why doesn’t she go to a Hawaii college? Because she didn’t get a full ride scholarship to go to Manoa. Nani is barely an adult. You want her to go into debt, which would make it harder for her to come home and take care of Lilo? You want her to be saddled in thousands upon thousands of debt like a lot of people who graduated from college are having a hard time paying their college debt off? UH: Manoa nor UH: Hilo gave her a full ride scholarship.

It’s all a moot point anyway because of the portal gun. People complain about that too. But this is a movie that has aliens and advanced technology, and you don’t want her to use that technology to allow Nani to seek her dream and the ability to see Lilo when she’s able to? I was forced to move to the mainland much like Nani because of the cost of living in Hawaii. Barely anyone whose family has been there for generations can afford to live there. Nani is blessed to have that portal gun. If I had one of those, I’d be visiting the family I was forced to leave due to the cost of living so much more. 

People are saying Nani abandoned Lilo. She did not. She left her in the care of ohana, which Tutu and David are. Those two are also part of their ohana; they are hanai family to Nani and Lilo. The fact that people can think aliens can be ohana, but not other Native Hawaiians is absolutely wild. One of the major complaints I remember hearing from some kanakas was: “where was the community to help take care of Nani and Lilo?” Well, a kanaka understood that and wrote it into the screenplay that there is a community (Tutu and David) who are there for Nani and Lilo. Lilo didn’t even want to leave Hawaii. Nani would’ve been forced to bring Lilo with her and go into debt again if she had brought Lilo to California. Lilo was given to be helped raise by hanai family. Hanai is more complicated than a typical adoption. 

“In Hawaiian, there is no word for aunt or uncle. They are all mothers and fathers. We have no word for cousins. They are brothers and sisters,” acclaimed Native Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui once said in a 1971 article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Similarly, in “Lilo & Stitch,” the character’s name Tutu is the Hawaiian word for grandparent but can also be used to refer to anyone of that generation. And in Hawaii, auntie and uncle are commonly used out of respect for elders, no matter if they are related by blood or not. (Hitt)

Also, the complaining about Nani not having a Hawaiian actress is pretty appalling. I don’t see people complaining about how Iam Tongi sang Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride when he is not even Hawaiian himself. He’s Tongan, not Hawaiian. If I want to be charitable and fair, Filipinos are part of the Austronesian family, so there is background for them being Pacific Islander. So, Filipinos share a distant heritage in the same lineage as Polynesians, which Hawaiians and Tongans are. Although Filipinos identify as Asians as they’re culturally Asian now, there is history there that, say, for example, white Europeans wouldn’t share with them as they’re not Austronesians. 

Many of the people complaining about the changes in particular to cultural differences need to listen to those from Hawaii who understood the film. Most of the people that I’ve talked to that complained about it were not from Hawaii nor did they know anyone from Hawaii who didn’t explain to them the struggles we face. I’m not saying that everyone not from Hawaii doesn’t get it nor does everyone in Hawaii like the live action. But there are reasons why there were specific cultural changes. 

It's okay if you want to disagree with me but realize that you're not listening to people who were born and raised in Hawaii, who may even be kanaka themselves. Many kanakas themselves were forced to move to the US mainland because they couldn't afford living in Hawaii anymore, even if they desired to continue living there. I just wanted people to think more critically on Lilo and Stitch, and how the backlash does reveal how little people understand the struggles by kānaka maoli, and kamaʻāina.

If you want to read another article, please read the one I referenced above:

'Lilo and Stitch' backlash reveals how little U.S. understands Hawaii

[olderthannetfic]

OTNF, I need your tagging wisdom. I see a lot of people discuss whether or not certain things meet the criteria for this tag or the other, but my question is, when is something significant enough to tag for? If we all know that Character A is 25 and Character B is 55, is it redundant to tag it as age gap, since we all know that's at play already for A/B as a pairing, or is it necessary for accuracy's sake? Is it only necessary if it's a big chunk of the plot or focused on? The above is just one example, but I can think of many instances where my problem tagging isn't that I don't know what tag the subject matter qualifies for, it's that I don't know if it's necessary or not. I don't want to overtag, and I also don't want to undertag. If you could grant me some of the wisdom that comes from years of knowing wtf you're doing and being in fandom, I'd appreciate it. I'm in many ways still trying to figure this out, especially since fic in English use a lot more tags than fic in my native language.

--

I will once again use my cookies metaphor:

Label "Walnut-flavored cookies", not "contains nuts".

AO3 tags aren't about accurately labeling everything in a work but about advertising that work or giving it a library listing. Some of the more major and salient themes are what you'd find in library metadata. An advertisement is "Hey, you like this thing! Come here for more of it!"

Tags can certainly also function as warnings, but that shouldn't be the primary function of most of them most of the time. Overtagging is when you tag purely so people can filter X out but people who like X will be bitterly disappointed if they click on your work.

You may get the occasional person whining at you that they do need more warnings and more "just in case" tagging.

These people should be ignored.

--

That said, there's considerable gray area and a lot of it comes down to your own tastes.

In addition to trying to tag the major elements of a work for filtering purposes, I try to have my headers be like the back cover blurb on a book. I want at least a couple of additional tags, especially if my summary isn't too descriptive. This helps people get a sense of the work. But I also want a short-ish header that's easy to visually scan and that doesn't make people zone out.

The desire to turn up in every relevant filter and the desire to have a short, punchy header are at odds. One has to make a judgment call.

[botanylobotomy]

Spirit Shops Red Flags

Welcome to the list of Spirit shops Red/Yellow/Green flags post. These posts were Co-written with Katsper, and was also added to with the help of those in the Summoner’s Review server. General list was written with Katsper and expanded points are ones that people shared in TSR. Yellow & Green flags post to come

Please not that due to length some has been put under read more

closed religion species (up to personal values on what is closed or not)

There is a lot of religions and cultures that are closed. Spirits that come from them isn’t meant for people that aren’t of that culture or religious practice. Granted anybody can say “Oh I’m in xyz culture or religion” but it’s just uncomfortable to deal with. And a lot are really unsafe for those not in the religion or culture. Golems for example are of Jewish Culture, there is a whole process of making them and they are very specific to that process. Personally I wouldn't trust somebody selling them because from my personal understanding they are very complex and the one who makes them goes through a very heavy learning process. It’s uncomfortable. Adding, native American spirits are also big for people to sell, lets not do that for MANY reasons.

Straight up dangerous spirits (such as Native american w**s or skinwalkers)

“Spirit xyz can and will kill any human they can so they need a powerful keeper to keep them under control”, why are they thinking this is a good idea? Why are they selling Native american spirits or spirits that just want to destroy whatever they can and kill others. Serious lapse in judgment and a way to get other keepers harmed. Or even non practicing relatives.

over sexualizing spirits

Over sexualized spirits brings the feeling that sex is the only thing that matters and that’s all they are good for. Listings that say that spirit just wants to have sex devalues them as a being that has it’s own feelings, history, or really anything. They basically are advertised as breathing blow up dolls you put no care into.

selling ubis as sex fiends 

Not all Ubis (plural for for succubi and incubi, as well as a gender neutral term for those that don't identify as strictly male or strictly female) are actually interested in sex. It can be seen as a necessity for some, but there's also ones that want the emotional bond before getting down and dirty. It's a really heavy handed misconception.

selling "orphans" or children spirits

Now this was a big no no back when I started getting into online spirit work. Children spirits should be with their parents or adults of their species. If they’re selling orphans means they made no leg work to connect them with an adult spirit of their species so generally left with questions. Think of it like somebody selling you an orphan human child on the black market. Sketchy as fuck and feels super illegal {which it is}, there’s sometimes ulterior motives there that just leave the whole situation feeling wrong. And some species have strict as hell rules about their children and you don’t want to get into the cross hairs of that.

short CC or RC turnaround time (within a month or so) 

So this is more about having just conjured a spirit for your custom conjure (cc) or reverse conjure (rc). It's not giving you much detail or assurance that spirit is actually safe or says who they say they are. It also feels like “meh, did the work of conjuring good fing-ing luck. Give me my money I've waited long enough.” 

short vetting times

Short vetting times can be seen as super dangerous because it means they are just catching or conjuring spirits to sell for profit and not for care. Always ask about their vetting times and if vetting times are in physical or astral. Some astral spaces time moves differently so astral time of vetting could be shorter or longer compared to those who vet just in physical, it’s important to know their vetting times. Longer doesn’t always mean better, but it should give you an idea of how much they should know about the spirit

very little information about the spirit

This makes it feel like the conjurer didn't actually do vetting or did the shortest amount of vetting possible. They got some random details or bare minimum and said it was good enough. To a lot it feels like there is no care about the spirit and again, more interested in the money than actually connecting a spirit with a human keeper

misinformation about the spirit

Imagine you just got a spirit and the conjurer tells you it's a dragon but you learn from the spirit Is actually a hellhound. If you go to the conjurer and ask wtf is up and they ignore you? Chances are they don't actually care. Or they gave you the wrong info for that spirit. It's really frustrating to learn and so that's why you should always double check with your spirits and address things with the conjurer. but it leaves seeds of distrust and people talk.

"This spirit or item will solve all of your problems!" mentality

This can be dangerous to people as they then have the mentality that they don’t have to do anything for themselves if they can just buy a spirit or item because they were told that it can fix things for them. It can also be super harmful for those that struggle with mental health because they don't take the steps to help themselves and rely on spirits or items to help instead. It leaves spirits themselves in a difficult position especially if they can't do what they're being advertised to help/cure/fix what the conjurer is saying they can do

Doing "forever" bindings, or something similar

If a spirit wants to follow you after death into the next life, they will... don't make them. Forcing them to stay bound no matter what life takes away their right to choose and be free. It’s slavery in a way.

Has very little information about the spirit to offer, a paragraph or less

This ties into the vetting red flag. It shows they took little to no effort to getting to know the spirit and let you know that they actually took the time and care to get to know the spirit before matching them with a keeper. It shows they care more about the money not the spirit or the people they are matching them with

selling a "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" spirit

This feels icky just for the fact it feels like a spirit is forced into that kind of situation. Like a hostage and kidnapper feeling

Really Really high pricing, especially for very little information

According to others in TSR, if the pricing is really high and you get a page or less of information, they’re more interested in their pocketbooks than they are actually connecting spirits with keepers.

They don't allow any visits with spirits before adoption, seeing how certain energies and personalities fit in your family is important. 

This is becoming a lot more popular, especially if shops have discords. The general consensus from this is that a lot of shops do not allow refunds or returns after buying a spirit’s binding. So you’ve bought a spirit, turns out they just do not vibe with your energy, or they don’t get along with other companions. Now you’re just stuck. Visiting a spirit allows you to see if you actually vibe well together or if they can get along with your current family. General idea is that you should visit a few times to be sure that the vibes and energies all mix well.

making up species that diverges from canon, especially with closed religions

“Canon” being the core myth of the species. Take leviathans for example {new example because Native american spirits been pointed out a lot}, they are world enders. They want to destroy the world and consume it. Somebody selling a leviathan that’s friendly, wants to be buddies, isn’t a thing. Or taking a closed culture/religion species and just completely erasing their ties for sellability.

Human spirits in general 

It gives buying and selling humans for a lot of people. Which is weird considering the humanoid spirits, but the outright from earth humans feels… wrong???

Haunted dolls in general 

This is generally seen as buying human spirits and selling them. A lot tend to be children as well for a ridiculous amount of money. And they are traded and sold a lot which makes things uncomfortable. Mixing it with the severe lack of any vetting, feeling that the spirit is trapped in the haunted doll, and it feeling like selling/trading children it feels wrong.

uses language like "caught" or "captured" a spirit

This makes it seem like the spirit was completely unwilling for companionship and basically taken against their will and sold. Like slavery.

Offers "black magic" spells or "essence" spells 

Black magic is a racist term. Please google on how it's considered racist. In this day and age we should be more alerted to the fact that a lot of core practices were built in a way to suppress BIPOC individuals and their cultures and practices. Be better. Essence spells also feels weird.

A spell that affects you physically, such as giving you fighting knowledge when you had none before or making your teeth sharper

For a lot of people this feels more fake and more giving the hollywood glow to the witchy or spirit work community. It gives false expectations of what doing spell work is like. In return you get people that are pissed that they paid

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Page 80 Author's Notes

Page 80

This was one of my favorite pages in the script. :)

It was inspired by two actual events — the first is the origin story of the real-life Calamari (whose real name is Baby), whom I found like 15 years ago at a tiny, cluttered, wonderful shop in Charlottesville, VA that sold exclusively cat-themed items. I dearly hope it’s still there. On one of the shelves were 3 or 4 of these cute little cat plushies, one of them wearing a sticker with “$4 as-is” written on it. When I picked her up I realized that they had meowing voice boxes in them but this one was broken and then I had to give her a home. (I had an OC at the time with selective mutism so it felt particularly fitting. She is the perfect size for a pocket.)

(That's her on the left with some friends.)

So I’ve had this character detail in my head for years — the idea of someone finding a broken, silent toy cat in a shop and loving it even more for its brokenness and afraid that if they don’t buy it, no one else will and it will sit unloved on the shelf forever — waiting for the right situation and character to write it for. And it’s Laudna! Of course it’s Laudna!!

The other is a family story and one of my favorite examples of the tendency of the English language to confound even its native speakers.

Some of our relatives from Ireland were traveling in Alabama and driving behind a guy carrying a load of gravel in the back of his pickup truck. A chunk of it flew off and hit the windshield of their car, cracking it. They flagged the guy down and got him to pull over to discuss the problem.

“Excuse me, but a bit of rubble fell off your lorry and cracked our windscreen.”

In response they received a blank stare and a puzzled drawl of, “Whuut?”

“A bit of rubble fell off your lorry and cracked our windscreen!”

Eventually they managed to get that mess sorted out and went to an auto repair place to get the windshield fixed. As they were leaving, the clerk amiably called out a typical Southern goodbye, “Y’all come back now, y’hear?”

So they of course turned around and went back.

Other details on this page include vintage-style advertisements (genuinely one of my favorite genres of art) for Zenotha’s Throat Elixir,* tuskpaste for orcs, Eisfuura air mail, whatever the Exandrian equivalent of Coca-Cola is with a polar owlbear mascot, handy haversacks, and immovable rods.

* This was mentioned in the previous chapter, where it was out of stock. It was meant to evoke dubious Victorian-era patent medicines which often carried the name of a real or fictitious creator to lend them an air of authority. Because I was pressed for time owing to the ELABORATENESS of this page, the poster child is unused art of one of my Elder Scrolls Online characters. Her real name is Peaches Sweet-Whiskers but I’d always imagined the unseen Zenotha to be a Katari and used the UESP page on Khajiit naming conventions as inspiration for naming her.

[gravesung]

WELCOME TO SHELTER ISLAND.

There is a city in upstate New York, glamoured and hidden from the rest of the US, where magic flourishes in secret. No, it isn’t the small coastal strip of land in the same state with the same name. Shelter Island, this Shelter Island, is accessible to strangers only by accident. Fell asleep on the R train in NYC? Wound up there inexplicably one morning when you opened a door that wasn't there before? Teleported in from another universe on accident and got stuck there because the City won't let you go? Possibilities are endless! 

Shelter Island is a reclusive place, welcoming its own but near-impossible to seek out. Some theorize that the city chooses its residents. Some chalk it up to magical anomalies. No matter their stance, those who live there agree that in some strange, unexplainable way, the City is alive.

Genre(s)

This is an ongoing labor of love by myself and Reuben over at @harerazor. By design, it's something of a crossroads between worlds, and its multiversal influence led to it becoming a patchwork of different cultures, communities, aesthetics and functions.

Shelter Island as a setting contains many possibilities for stories of different genres. While no theme is off-limits, some are stronger and easier to pull on than others. For example, here are a few of the inspirations for building the setting:

early 2000’s techno-kitsch (l33tsp34k, over the top hacker counterculture, etc.)

gothic americana

absurdist comedy & satire about the modern age (capitalism/advertisement culture, memes, life on the web)

uncanny-valley atmospheric horror (think Night Vale, The Magnus Archives, SCP, etc.)

street crime, gangs & the mafia (white collar crime AND blue collar crime)

class warfare and political intrigue

multicultural fairy folklore (the woods)

Residence

Those who end up in Shelter Island by accident are henceforth welcome into the city, so long as they don’t enter with the intention of exposing it. The City knows. Trust that it knows. Most of the citydwellers were born there, but every year there is a steady trickle of new residents as well.

Because of this, there are New Resident Info Desks peppered around common entry points throughout the city. Here, you can get temporary housing, an ID card, and other resources to help get you started as a citizen.

Geography and Demography

Despite the name, Shelter Island is actually not an island. Legends say the city once sat in the middle of a lake. After some geographic event over a century ago, the water around it receded, leaving a sunken halo around the city. The name stuck, however, and now it’s considered a bit of an in-joke among residents.

Shelter Island is laid out like a three-ring target. The central “bullseye” (called citycenter) contains the 1% — both literally and figuratively. The middle ring (called cityproper), home to roughly 40% of the population, is made up of suburbs, apartments, shopping districts, and other highly metropolitan middle-class neighborhoods. The outer circle (the Ring), containing nearly 60% of the population, is shoddily constructed and tightly packed with buildings, alleys, and people.

OTHER INFO: FULL SETTING GUIDE PINTEREST BOARD PLAYLIST

A Note from Raine

All of the characters in my muse roster (including on my other blogs) either exist in this setting natively or have a verse within it. Shelter Island is the ever-evolving product of many, many years of work by Reu and me, and I'd absolutely love to craft SI verses for your muses if you're interested!! For those of you who have dipped your toes in, thank you so much and welcome to hell. For others: Come on in, the water's fine(?)!

Addendum:

Since SI is an insulated and secret city that exists independently of the world around it, it can fit into pretty much any canon that could include an urban area! For example: I've chattered with some folks about what it would look like in MHA-Earth with quirks involved, and for my JJKs it would be super fun to work cursed spirits & sorcery into the mix. It's always a place containing unusual magic that doesn't exist in the rest of the setting, but that doesn't mean the rest of the setting can't also be supernatural in some way. The only constant is that it's hidden from the rest of the world and frequently draws new people into its fold.

Happy hunting. It's getting close to the New Year at the time of reposting this guide; make sure your homes are well-insulated before the Turning. You don't want to be stuck outside.

[beardedmrbean]

A police station in the historic sailors' quarter of the Belgian port of Antwerp is surrounded by sex workers' neon-lit red-light windows.

The station in the Villa Tinto complex is a symbol of the push to make sex work safer in Belgium, which boasts some of Europe's most liberal laws – although there are still widespread abuses and exploitation.

Since December, Belgium's sex workers can access legal protections and labour rights, such as paid leave, like any other profession. They welcome the changes.

"I'm not a victim, I chose to work here and I like what I'm doing," said Kiana, 32, as she allowed AFP behind her window to see her workspace: a double bed bathed in a dim red light, with various types of chains and other sado-masochistic accessories.

Kiana, who did not wish to give her last name, left her native Romania at the age of 18 and first worked in Germany before arriving in Belgium. She rents one of the 51 display windows in Villa Tinto where she works five days a week.

"My mother knows what I'm doing. For the other members of my family I work in nails and tattoos," she said.

For "Mel", a sex worker and star on TikTok where she answers questions about her work, the law has allowed her to come out of the shadows.

"I was just tired of lying about what I do for a living, and pretending to be a hairdresser or a masseuse," she said.

Belgium decided in 2022 to reform its laws on sex work, including relaxing rules on advertising prostitution for individuals over 18.

"We, as sex workers, were seen by the state as a real job, and the views of people also changed" thanks to the law, the Antwerp resident known as Meliciousss said.

Moving 'away from shame'

Today, the law says an adult can advertise their own "sexual services" if they do so in a designated location, for example behind a window.

Third parties, such as bankers, website designers or property owners, are also no longer at risk of prosecution for involvement in the sex work industry.

But pimping is still illegal, as is child prostitution.

Described as "historic" by Belgium's Human Rights League, the law puts Belgium in a camp of countries who want to regularise sex work, like Germany and The Netherlands, against those don't including France and Sweden.

"Even if the stigma still exists, in a way we have moved away from shame," said Marianne Chargois, a sex worker and activist at Utsopi, an association defending sex workers' rights.

There are believed to be between 9,000 and 26,000 sex workers in Belgium, according to Utsopi, with women making up 90 percent. There are no official figures.

Despite the reforms, several organisations including those combating human trafficking warn of the largely "invisible" aspect of prostitution and the fact that most women carry out the activity under financial duress.

Many are forced to engage in prostitution because of addiction or traffickers, the groups warn.

The dangers persist.

Police in March dismantled a criminal network suspected of sexually exploiting some 30 Chinese women. Seven Chinese suspects were arrested.

'Free and independent'

Many women are sent to Belgium without a residence permit to work in secret and are victims of blackmail, according to Charles-Eric Clesse, a Belgian legal expert.

"For prostitutes of African origin, in more than 90 percent of cases it is human trafficking," he told AFP.

The public debate has been reignited since the law entered into force in December allowing sex workers to sign employment contracts with an "approved" employer.

It offers more labour rights, like health insurance, than the more popular self-employed status.

But the reforms have not yet yielded much change.

The labour ministry has only received three applications for employment contracts, a spokesperson said. These are being reviewed by courts, which must verify the employers' resumes and any criminal records.

In the pro-abolition camp, the Isala association called for the law to be repealed, accusing it of encouraging pimping.

It said the law would give brothel owners greater powers to force women into dangerous situations.

The law has been challenged and will be debated by the Constitutional Court.

The owner of Villa Tinto rules out any employment contracts.

"The sex workers who work here, they're very free and independent. They work when they want. They choose their own clients. They take holiday when they want," Karin Vander Elst said.

"If we're going to give them a contract, it's very difficult to maintain that or to keep everybody happy."

[vroomizing]

THERIOCTANE #1: Creatures Are Steering (Thoughts on Zoomorphic Vehicles)

"Wheeled animals are a constant in the platonic realm of forms we have constantly borne witness to" (Gillesby, 2025), as we didn't pick apart the idea of the motorcar until relatively recently. Or did we?

Notes on an Animal Form

Wheels — and circles in general — have carried symbolic meaning for a long, long time. In Buddhism, the cyclical movement of a wheel is used to symbolize the cyclical nature of life in the world. The Aztecs probably reasoned similarly with these wheeled figures:

Made of clay, porcelain and occasionally obsidian, they came from the late Classic Period (250–900 CE) up to the end of the Postclassic Period (from 900–1521 CE), and most are of dogs and jaguars, although monkeys, deer, alligators, iguanas, peccaries and/or armadillos have been mentioned by experts. Since the first two were associated to the underworld and many of these wheeled figures, when reconstructed, did not pull smoothly enough that children would have enjoyed their motion, most researchers now agree that the figures were of significance to adults, not to kids. Of course, certain ones could have been toys, “either by intent or following adult use and discard of the figures”. (Sorenson, Wheeled Figurines in the Ancient World, 3)

The evidence suggests that wheeled animal effigies were ritual objects invented in central Veracruz some time after 600 CE and that the concept reached northern Veracruz, central Mexico, and the southern Mesoamerican frontier by 1000–1100 CE. It is quite possible that this diffusion occurred a century or two earlier and that we simply lack evidence of it at the present time. (Diehl and Mandeville, Tula, and wheeled animal effigies in Mesoamerica, 243)

These concepts apply to the following, presumably votive carts from the temple of Inshushinak cache, found on the Susa acropolis, from around 1150 BCE:

According to historian Eduard Hahn, chariots descended from “a model by which the votaries of the Babylonian astral faith imitated on earth the movements of their celestial deities”. (Ekholm, Wheeled Toys in Mexico, 227) The model grew into a lifesize vessel, and as it was taken out of the temple precincts, lost its divine traits to become another vehicle of common life.

It's a touching story, but I find myself babbling much more than I expected about Aztec wheeled animals, and I’m pretty sure there has been way more examples of non-ritualistic wheeled animals — toys, essentially — in history that were toys than non-toys. One swallow does not summer make.

But I see magpies and seagulls. Owls and vultures. Falcons and pheaseants alike.

I think of the eyes painted on the bows of Greek and Phoenician galleys or the figureheads of Viking longships. How we call ships "she" regardless of their name.

I think of car hood ornaments. The leaping jaguar of Jaguars. The lion rampant of Peugeots. The ram of Dodges. The elephant of Bugatti Royales.

This whole reflection is born from the reading of "The Animation of the Inorganic" (2012) by Spyros Papapetros. Papapetros mentions unsurprisingly "the animal biomorphism of machines" only once, since his work is mainly centered around architecture; he was talking about the comparison to horses Native people made with the train locomotive. This animal biomorphism, or zoomorphism, in the context of automobiles, is more or less explicit, as it took different forms:

The Esso tiger advertisement campain from the late 1950s and early 1960s, for example, compares its product, gasoline, to the physical attributes of a tiger: power, speed, performance; make your car a bit tiger-like! They even sold (fake) tiger tails to hang to your fuel tank as promotional items.

I like the Liqui Moly ad next to it mainly because the engine is this futurist mechanical horse. But the message is that your car is already part-animal and you just have to unleash, free that part. In other words, the product sold will not inherently give your car animal traits, as it has animal characteristics from its conception. It just hasn't "awoken".

The BMW ad shows a horse bowing to the car: it is superior to the horse, may it be performance, or even status. The ad treats the car as a rival to animals, but still as a car.

I'm pairing this second Esso ad with the Jaguar one. These treat the car as an animal in itself: animals that need to consume fuel (1), cars that are viewed as animals (2).

I'm sure a lot of vehicle characters in media gain traits and personality based on their form (shape language, bouba/kiki and all that) and vice versa. Cars are akin to animals not only because they look like animals, but because they move, feel, behave, and even think like animals; how numerous are depictions of cars as beasts, steeds, people (which are nothing but political animals)? Our living spaces are shaped by our needs; can't we say the same about our automotive structures? Aren't they shaped as if we were accommodating the land in function of the automobile's needs?

But I think I see now why the presence of animalistic vehicles or vehicular animals nowadays has mostly been confined to children’s media: in our common era, like the Mesopotamian cart, they have lost their divine aspects. And more than that, we see vehicles and animals alike as (lesser) companions. Humankind dominates these spheres. We endanger the environment of and have tried to domesticate tigers, jaguars, lions and the like. As we've successfully domesticated wolves into dogs, wild cats into regular cats, we've domesticated the once dangerous car into a tool. As they no longer constitute a significant danger to our species (most of the time), we choose to decide when they do. We associate these predators' traits to positive values as shown earlier even when we try to emphasize its intimidating factor i.e. the size, the engine power, etc.

And let's not leave out that if advertisements that use animalistic traits appeal to adults that want to feel in control of such power or luxury, zoomorphic cars of the 20th and 21st century mostly appeal to children (exceptions include weird Canadians like me). This form of animism (I hope I'm not using the term disingenuously. I just feel like making such characters or advertising cars in such ways is somewhat animism, at least in spirit.) is a phenomenon of the North American society of manufacturing and consumption.

There has been undoubtly an uptick in animism in recent years and it's thought, according to experts like Joseph Altshuler and Julia Sedlock, that the common people are subconsciously looking for an alternative to this capitalistic worldview. They argue that a more animistic worldview will make people kinder, but I must disagree with their conclusion, because I don't see how it could get us to move away from our capitalistic ways when advertisers are already, in a sense, somewhat animists! A spiritual theory cannot supplant an entire economic system, only mitigate part of its effects, since it does not offer a robust rival economic system.

I don't have any good closing thoughts, apart from the fact that in the end, vehicular zoomorphism has been around for as long as humans have built vehicles of transportation, but only has really taken off since the introduction and popularization of the car. The animism we've attributed to it has since taken a capitalistic value. Could American automotive zoomorphism simply be a form of consumer sentiment?

Probably.