#so would love to find some more resources for online stuff. even posts or blog articles or whatever

[trans-axolotl]

hey any sw besties know of any good resource guides or toolkits like quick and dirty sex worker toolkit but for camming/ online work? trying to build up resource library and most of the stuff I can find for online stuff hasn’t been updated since SESTA/FOSTA.

[seasononesam]

I'd love some resources, thank you! Especially if you have anything on making gifs from videos. I'm in a smaller fandom that doesn't have nearly as many clips to sift through as Supernatural that I'd really love to make gifs for. Thanks again! ❤️

yeah of course! although I'm not sure what you mean by gifs from videos, do you mean like using youtube videos rather than full episodes or video tutorials or something else? but I will list some general stuff below and if you have any more questions feel free to send another ask or DM me on tumblr or I'm also on discord @ wewriteletters if you prefer that :)

read more because I'm going to divide these up by subject

photoshop- this is the program most tumblr gif makers including myself use. for a bit of background there's basically two different ways to make a gif in photoshop: using screencaps you get from a video or importing the video directly into photoshop. I have always used the latter because it's the way I first learned (I literally just learned the screencapping method a couple days ago because I heard it produces better quality gifs but I'm probably not changing my method any time soon just because it's what I'm used to). that being said, I'm going to link a few tutorials, some that use screencapping and some that use importing videos so you can see the difference (I would check out the first tutorial listed regardless, even if you end up using importing videos, it is SUPER comprehensive and includes information about getting photoshop and videos, ect). I will also list if it's a tutorial written out in text on tumblr, or a video tutorial on youtube.

gifmaking for beginners (screencapping method, tumblr tutorial)

how i make a simple gif (screencapping method, tumblr tutorial)

callie’s gif tutorial (importing videos method, tumblr tutorial)

basic gif tutorial (importing videos method, tumblr tutorial)

bru's how-to: giffing and coloring (screencapping method, youtube tutorial)

how to make HD GIFs for Tumblr (importing videos method, youtube tutorial)

also just note that some of these tutorials are older and include the old tumblr gif dimensions/size limit. first part of this post includes a great visual reference for what the current gif dimensions are. all you need to know about the size limit is it used to be 3 mb maximum, then it went up to 5mb, and it is currently at 10 mb. so no matter what, make sure your gif is no bigger than that, otherwise tumblr won't even let you upload it as a draft let alone post it smh. I'll end this section with some tumblr blogs that focusing specifically on gif making and have a ton of tutorials covering all different kinds of stuff: completeresources, allresources, gifmakerresource, clubgif. and never be afraid to just google "[thing you want to know about gif making] + tumblr tutorial" that's how I learned 99% of this stuff lol.

photoshop alternatives- photoshop is definitely the gold standard in terms of quality and the kind of effects you can use, but there's also a lot of alternatives if you don't want to deal with photoshop for whatever reason.

photopea- probably second best to photoshop. it is really similar, but free and on a website, which means you don't have to deal with either buying a photoshop subscription or finding a d*wnload and it's not going to take up a bunch of space on your computer because it's all online AND it can be run on computers that otherwise don't support photoshop. I've only used this once and it was to see how similar I could make a gif made there look to one I made in photoshop (I only uploaded it as a private post to my prodigal son sideblog bc I was helping a friend gif that show but it's here if you want to see how it looks! photoshop version is on top and photopea version is on the bottom and follow that blog while you're there). here are two photopea tutorials: one for windows and one for mac. also check out photopeablr for more tutorials, resources, and examples of gifs made using the site.

goodgifswithfreetoolschallenge- not a method but a blog dedicated to a bunch of different ways to make gifs using free programs. I haven't looked through most of it but there is a TON of resources and information in the pinned post.

and finally I will do some self promo of my own tutorials from my main blog. first one is for photoshop, second two are for alternatives (instagiffer and ezgif). just keep in mind they're all over three years old and I only use photoshop now so idk how up to date they all are, but the photoshop one at the very least shows how I still MAKE the gif, although my coloring process has changed since then (maybe I'll update it with a focus on giffing supernatural next time lmao). anyway, hope this can help you or anyone else who is curious :) feel free to reach out with questions or anything else!

[s-hecateis]

on tumblr blogs as personal archives, the struggle of being authentic online, and why i started this blog

howdy, everyone! now that i've had this blog for a few weeks and have been flexing my writing muscles a bit more, i wanted to put a little blurb out there about why i returned to this hellsite, and slap some thoughts and feelings about it somewhere (because i'm the queen of intellectualizing literally everything that i do). i also want to get in the habit of writing things that are more longform so it doesn't hit me like a semi when i start up my PhD program in the fall.

if you read this, and have read any of my writing on here: THANK YOU. it's really cool to have a little community of writers and creatives on the internet that read your stuff and interact with it at all. 11-15 year old me that was absolutely intoxicated by tumblr when i first found it would be very happy to see me actually putting our thoughts out there, and see that anyone at all supported them. xoxo

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as i hinted at in the intro, tumblr was a weird little corner of the internet that i found in middle school before any of my friends at the time knew what it was. when i saw people reblogging posts about the fandoms they were into, and saw a sliver of community in folks yapping about their shared interests, i was enraptured. people sharing cool art and infodumping with each other? sign me up, literally. i was too chickenshit to put any of my writing or art out the at the time, but i adored the concept, and reblogged cool things like my life depended on it.

for context, i grew up on the top of a ridge in a rural part of southwestern PA, in a little unincorporated community that fended for themselves most of the time (i'm talking gravel dirt road, a decent drive away from most resources and actual neighborhoods -- stuff people would say and go "i can hear the sound of banjoes!" if they somehow ended up lost on our road). for most of my life up on the ridge, i was the only kid around, and my default setting was either putting all of my creative energy and random thoughts into spiralbound notebooks that no one would read, or talking about it to, not with my mom nonstop (love ya mom, sorry if i was annoying as shit ♡ ). additionally, we had dial-up much longer than most people up on the ridge, and couldn't even get your standard commercial internet providers up there, so finding fun corners of the web up there carried more weight, more significance. things took a painfully slow moment to load, but when it did, it felt like treasure.

i'm setting the scene here only to emphasize just how revolutionary finding a place like tumblr felt. i cared about other social media only because having accounts when you're younger than thirteen wasn't allowed (unless you, cough cough, lied or put your mom's birth year in instead of your own. once again: sorry, mom), but none of them held a candle to tumblr. on tumblr, whether i divulged who i was or not, i digitally practiced being as authentic to myself as would allow. no instagram filters, no masking how interested in topics that i loved: just a direct line to my tween/teen stream of consciousness where i could dump all of that weird hormonal energy somewhere and then carry on with my outside life as normal.

all of that being said, when i came to the realization that i should get back in the habit of writing more to better acclimate to full-time doctoral studies, and try to write more for my own enjoyment as opposed to writing to complete an assignment or meet a deadline, i was considering more "professional" platforms like substack, or some kind of livejournal blog: something with a seemingly-genuine-but-actually-deliberately-curated tone to put things out there, check the to-do box in my head, and give myself a pat on the back. as soon as i signed up for my substack account, though, i already felt exhausted at the idea of filtering myself or masking that much. this ritual of self-filtration is something that i, we, do enough at work, in daily social situations, and i wasn't about to torture myself to do so in another format under the guise of doing something that i love. it sounds masochistic to do that, almost, now that i type it out. i stand by my decision to end up here instead of a more buttoned-up platform.

this idea of deliberate authenticity in your interactions, fragments of the self (hi jung, you crazy mfer), and assessing how unadulterated you are online was also top of mind because of reading how to do nothing: resisting the attention economy by jenny odell -- which is a FABULOUS book, if you haven't read it. odell references great writers and thinkers throughout the book on a variety of topics related to how you divide (and algorithms everywhere fight for, tooth and nail) your selves and your attention up online, and mentioned audre lorde's own struggles at unifying parts of herself (quote below from sister outsider: essays and speeches):

"I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self."

as a neurodivergent person that has been obsessed with the concept of self fragmentation ever since i saw jung's own writing on it in high school and connected it to my own experience of diluting my enthusiasm and passion to cater to the comfort of others, this quote and odell's care-filled analysis of it stuck out on the page like a giant billboard with flashing lights and an arrow that said, "hey, look, it's that thing that you're exhausted by all of the time."

of course, i want to be careful and point out that lorde's writing and oration also connects to her lived experience with blackness in america, which i do not have the tools to fully relate to as a white person. with that care in place, i still felt very spoken to, with, at when i read this quote, and was also reading it at a time where i was not only debating what type of silly blog to run on the internet to dump my writing, but i took in the words at a time in my mid twenties where being true to myself felt like the antidote to and mending of so much time spent waging a war on the true me, on my real passions and thoughts and feelings. with this in mind, i had my sights set on building a little spot in the cavernous space of the internet where i could relish in being me, unapologetically, and found myself returning to this goddamn hellsite to do it.

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it's early here, but i want to wrap this up to spend more time with my mom before i fly home. i would normally do drafts and reworkings of something like this before putting it out there for all to see, but that doesn't really resonate with the theme of little-to-no filtering of my authentic self, does it?

if you read all of this, thank you! i appreciate you. this blog is not only my dumping ground of things i love and creative endeavors i enjoy, but it's very much a personal digital archive, and i am thankful for anyone that takes the time to sort through it as a patron of the archival collection, so to speak (more on that later -- i have another post drafted about tumblr being archival).

[specialgradefckr]

I really love your work. I've read all of them, more than once, and you've inspired me to make my own! I really like your profile, and if I'm not mistaken, you're the only one I know with a "search keywords" feature. I also think it's very clean to look at, easy to navigate for new users. I really hate the idea of bothering you, but I'd really appreciate it if you could give tips and advice for new users like me. I'm still new to tumblr, sorry and thank you in advance.

asdflkhjldfgh that's so sweet of you to say!!! i'm really glad you love my stuff, bc looking back, i'm super proud of almost all of it. like, i think i had a lot of bangers, and it's so validating to hear that you think so, too <3

and don't worry about bothering me. i won't lie, i've been getting a BUNCH of asks, but it's so, so encouraging to have all this engagement. it really motivates me to write bc i'm like,,, look,, all these friends in my inbox who want to read my work 🥺

i hope your inspiration goes well! i haven't been great about reblogging other people's work lately, but i do actually read a lot of stuff, particularly in the gojo/yandere gojo tags.

that's my number one piece of advice btw - tag the shit out of all your stuff. tumblr tags can be forgiving or a bit stiff depending on how a person is searching for fics.

literally search for an example of the kind of fic you're writing. take a top example with a whole bunch of notes. look at the tags on it. often it'll be something like:

fandom, fandom x reader, fandom x yn, fandom x you, char, character full name, char x reader, char x you, char smut, char x reader smut

and just go. slap on all the tags. make sure you don't include anything inaccurate though! i do also know some writers, particularly yandere ones, who write fics and then tag all the applicable characters, which is a great way to show up in a log of searches.

basically the fic won't contain a character's name - if it's for a male character, the character will just be "he/him" in the story. and then in the tags (or in the body of the fic) the writer will list character who they think fits the archetype.

@yanderenightmare does these really well (they also write fics with specific characters in them), and as fate would have it, they've also given out writing on tumblr advice:

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderenightmare/762144865228357632/heya-do-you-have-any-more-writing-tips-for?source=share

on search keywords - i've always found searching on tumblr to be spotty, so those tags are kind of my attempt to have some organization.

there are other blogs that do it (tumblr's huge, there's always someone doing something) but it's not necessarily common. #lemon as a smut tag and #answered asks and #BYHTD as filtering tags are kind of things that just came up when i was thinking "how will i find this if i want to look back on it later?".

i will also mention, i am by no means some particularly great tumblr power user or anything. i just started writing my silly little fics way back in june sjkfglhsg honestly i'm surprised by some of the attention i've been getting! i figured a lot of my stuff was kinda niche!

more advice. make a masterlist pretty early on and update it like... every few weeks or so. try to make a schedule to post and keep to it - for this blog i try to post a fic/content every wednesday, although i'm thinking about doing twice a week or an odd middle update every now and then.

do not be scared of other tumblrs. make friends. reblog their stuff! people really like it when you do that! if you see a fic you like, reblog it, and leave a comment in the tags or the reblog, even if it's just "my favorite part was X". they may never interact with you (such is the nature of online socialization), but you gotta be the change you wish to see in the world.

writer friends are a super valuable resource. they can help you come up with ideas, cheer you on, workshop stuff with you, and just generally make you feel good about writing when your juice is failing you.

i know MANY writers who go through periods of just thinking they're bad writers and all their work is bad, etc. it's a struggle and having other writers to tell you "i don't think it's bad" does a LOT.

in any case, from one writer to another writer (hopeful), good luck!

[traumasurvivors]

hi april! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that what you’re doing is something special: running all these resources and just communicating and offering help to other trauma survivors is just incredible really and I just hope you’re having a lovely day wherever you are. I reached out to your blog last year and have made sure to stay up to date on any posts or advice you share and it led me to realize I actually would like to pursue a career in psychology. I just started classes and while I’m excited to be here, I realize I’m having difficulty focusing and paying attention despite wanting to do the work. would you have any tips or other sources that might be helpful for me right now? I plan to remove most social media since it seems to be a big contributing factor in my lack of focus, but what else could work? thank you!

Hi anon!

I really struggled with staying focused in school as a result of my ADHD.

Some things that helped me were:

Finding study buddies. Finding people to do work with and study with was super motivating and helpful! Even if it was an online friend and we did our work at the same time so we felt together.

Making my study space welcoming and nice. I put pretty decor on it and made it feel mine. I put little treats in the top drawer so that I could have them as I studied. I put scented candles in I could light and just overall made it a nice aesthetic. Some people find gentle music helps them focus. (Not me personally, but I’ve heard from some people it really does!)

I’d also buy myself some stickers I loved and as I finished things, I’d get to “place” my sticker either on my notebook, binder or even laptop.

Found a routine. I don’t just mean a daily routine but a study routine. I’d make myself a nice warm cup of tea as I was about to settle in and it was the sort of thing that made homework seem relaxing and nice.

Keep track of my progress. I created an excel spreadsheet where I input all my assignments, readings, etc. and I’d mark the percentage I’d completed. I set it to be colour coded so that I felt motivated to make it get to 100% and go green.

Here’s an example.

This isn’t my own, but one I made for a friend when she saw my idea and really liked it. She also found it motivating. This was the end of semester so things were mostly 0% or 100% at this point. During the semester, she’d do things like mark 1% for completing a title page even because it felt super motivating and made it feel like progress. And then also increasing the progress percentage with each step/page/etc in an assignment. (Like if she wrote 4 pages of a 5 page essay, she might label it as 75% to keep in mind that she had one more page but also a final edit to do.) Seeing it climb really helped as she updated it along the way. She also really loved the “stars” I added every time it hit 100% in progress on something. A basic one might just have the assignment, due date and progress.

I found visually seeing my progress made me want to keep making it.

Set a timer. I recommend this for cleaning stuff but telling myself I’m only going to do work for ten minutes makes it easier to start and sometimes once I’m going, I end up on a roll and don’t want to stop.

Colour code notes. I loved getting to use different coloured pens or highlighters when I took notes. It made me more excited about it.

I’m super drained today, so I don’t have much else to add but I kind of want to write a post on this soon and compile more ideas. If anyone has sources they can add to this ask, please do!

[castlebyersafterdark]

when are you gonna post your big write up on the gnc topic? not rushing you! just wondering if you still are or if you decided to ditch it. I'm really eager to read whenever it gets posted

Haha I don't know if I would call it my big write up, I don't want to seem like I'm some guru professor on the topic - I'm not! Still learning. I don't want to say the wrong thing? Because its a topic that I've taken an interest in and a character trait I really found I've enjoyed for Will, and many anons have sent me insightful things - but I'm setting it aside until I have more mental space to do it as chill and thoughtfully as possible since I don't consider myself a resource for the topic and don't want me making these long, dramatic posts about it to look like I'm trying to be an authority figure on the topic? Coming at it as fan analysis of a fictional character, rather than real world insights if that makes sense? It's on the plate. I do promise I'll post something eventually. I know it's just a fan blog I have here and personally I'm not under any deadlines or obligations, but I feel bad if I promise something and don't follow through (which is also why I've said most of my other fic ideas I've shared will EVENTUALLY post but I can't promise anything substantial with the Boarding School AU even though I adore it. Don't want any hopes up in case I can't deliver on the idea).

I've also had a hard time focusing on any one thing when I go online lately, full disclosure there. I'm still bopping around but between really getting into writing fic and answering all the wonderful asks people send, I keep jumping back and forth and drafting more asks than posting. Since my brain is leaning heavy into trying to write fic when I use the free time I dedicate to fandom stuff. Which is I think needed! I want to post more stories! I find thats my favorite part of fandom now is presenting a polished fic. So, keep sending stuff but if it's an ask that isn't something I can answer off the cuff when I'm slacking at work during the week 🤭 I'm probably giving it a longer answer or drabble in the further future. Thanks all for sticking around, love yall ❤️

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Hi Rebecca! I'm a recent(ish) graduated student interested in pursuing a career (or any other form of involvement) in environmental education. I was curious how you built your writing portfolio, especially writing for other sites/organizations? What first steps would recommend someone take (particularly if they're already graduated) to get into environmental education and scicomm? Thanks so much, love all your writing!!

Hi there, @misopossum! So I am a pretty atypical case. I have a BA in English, but I mainly used it for technical writing/editing (and personal journaling) for a number of years.

Most of the scicomm folks I know are either A) scientists who also have good writing and interpretation chops, or B) are science journalists who went through a formal journalism program in college/grad school. You haven't mentioned what your area of study was, but your department may have some resources to draw on if you haven't already spoken with them. Check with related departments as well, as they may have ideas too. You're a recent grad, but that doesn't mean that you can't still make use of those connections if they exist.

If you want to go a more traditional scicomm route, good places to start are The Open Notebook and the National Association of Science Writers. ScienceBites may be a good spot for you to start pitching a short article here and there to build up your portfolio, too. And this article from CrossTalk is a pretty good summary on how to get started with science writing.

Other people get involved with environmental education programs like forest schools, summer camps, and the like; some conservation nonprofits also may run these, and you can even check with state and federal parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and other governmental entities who may be in need of volunteers (or occasionally seasonal staff) for environmental ed programs.

You didn't mention where you are, but here in the PNW US there are a lot of these, especially in the Portland and Seattle areas. Depending on what your education level is you may not find the pay to be what you expected, and a lot of these programs are primarily in summertime. But if you can at least get in as a side gig, that will get some experience started.

A lot of what I do is meant for a general audience and not just specific to one locality. I do a lot of blogging online, to include articles on my website, plus some shorter form commentary on various news articles I find online that I think are worth exploring, and I have my quarterly chapbooks that let me dive deeper into various topics. These get me a pretty broad audience, beyond just my local area.

But I really got my start as a nature writer several years ago by writing pieces for the nonprofit Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, from Facebook posts to 2-3 minute radio segments for their Willapa Nature Notes segment on our local public radio station. I've also helped with other scicomm efforts they've run, from our 4th grade environmental education program in local schools, to giving talks and tours at our annual Wings Over Willapa birding and nature festival. And later this track record helped me get in as a regular columnist with the Coast Weekend paper (and occasionally a longer piece for related publications.) These are all incredibly local to where I am in the Columbia-Pacific region, but they've been good experience and they've helped me get my footing in my local community, which has helped me to facilitate other regional efforts like my independent guided tours.

I think the best choice I made overall was teaching non-credit community education classes through various community colleges, as well as municipal parks and recreation departments and libraries. It's a great way to connect with people who aren't pursuing a degree, but just learning for the fun of it. You do need some credentials of some sort, but expertise counts if you can show that you know your stuff--for example, the people teaching art classes don't all have art degrees, but they may have X number of decades' experience in their art medium. I don't have a degree in the natural sciences because my math skills are terrible, but I am a certified Oregon Master Naturalist and I also have a lifetime of experience of exploring nature and learning how to identify the living beings around me. It doesn't pay a lot, but it's a lot of fun and I get to meet a lot of new students every semester.

Be aware that people like me who take a more unorthodox route usually end up doing like eight different things for a living, rather than having one (1) career path. If you are going to do more of a "professional potpourri" like I am, you're going to need to seek out multiple niches, and perhaps create a few yourself. You're likely going to be very busy, and there's not going to be a lot of payoff immediately (as opposed to a regular job, where you start at a particular rate immediately and hopefully gets raises as things go along.)

On the bright side, having multiple professional directions means that if one of them isn't really active, I can often put more time toward another to make up for it. For example, I'd like to expand to writing for more varied venues that aren't just based in the PNW; it's just a matter of making the time to prep some cold pitches to publications and websites. This time of year I'm really busy with the tours business, so writing tends to be emphasized more in the off season. And either way you slice it, I'm still very much in the "building" process.

Aaaaanyway. That is my very long, rambling answer to your question. Please feel free to let me know if I can clarify anything for you, or if you have further questions.

[sharks-language-sideblog]

All the Haida Resources I Can Find

Foreward

I am not an expert by any means, just a language enthusiast. Please correct me if i get anything wrong here, if any of these resources are not reliable, etc. If you come across any others, please inform me. I don't bite & i appreciate any help :> I am not Indigenous, and definitely not fluent, so i am not an authority on anything. If any Haida folks have an issue with anything on this post or blog, lmk. /gen

That out of the way, hello! I'm Shark, i love languages and i'm studying Haida. As with many other endangered languages, i find resources difficult to find for this language, so i'm compiling here the ones i like and can find, and explaining them a bit, so that the language is easier to pick up for those interested. It took me awhile to even start with learning because of this, and I wanted to make it easier for potential learners. Gíijgwaa x̱aad kíl dáng sḵ'at'áang!

Table of Contents:

Foreward

Table of Contents

Important Notes

Skidegate

Masset

Alaskan

(kinda) Important Notes:

Haida has 3 dialects, Skidegate, Masset, and Alaskan. Official Canadian sites are most likely to focus on Skidegate and Masset, as those dialects are from Haida Gwaii ((part of Canada)), and official Alaskan/American sites are most likely to focus on Alaskan, as that dialect is from Prince of Wales Island ((part of Alaska)). From my experience, resources are most plentiful on Alaskan Haida ((mostly as a result of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, the SHI)).

Especially if you're not as familiar with linguistic terms, I would highly recommend starting with Lachler's grammar handbook, and practicing with the Alaskan Haida dictionary/phrasebook. That should give you enough of a basic understanding of the language to be able to decode Haida resources elsewhere. If you get only one thing from this post, that is to use Lachler's grammar handbook.

I'm Sharkthe_cat on Discord and Sharkthe-cat on Tumblr, message me!! I've been really looking for someone to study with, whether you're just starting out or already have a strong basis of the language. I can give you tips that will make your process a little more streamlined than mine was.

The best way to learn the language would be to take a course at a university, take the immersion program, find real world speakers, or otherwise, but that's not always an option (and isn't for me). The resources online are limited, but to work with what you've got can get you pretty far.

Skidegate:

https://www.firstvoices.com/hlgaagilda-xaayda-kil

The first voices page for Skidegate Haida. Fantastic for practice, some words & phrases, pronunciation, i love this site.

[Enrico's Haida dictionary]

I forgot where I found this as a PDF, but I would recommend this nonetheless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_language

Can be a great resource, especially for phonology, but can again be difficult to decipher if you're unfamiliar with linguistics terms.

https://www.haidanation.ca/category/language/

Probably has some extra resources, i haven’t looked. This i believe is a site for Haida Gwaii specifically, and therefore likely only has stuff for Skidegate + Masset Haida.

https://www.haidanation.ca/language/xaad-kil/

Scroll down to find a pdf outlining both Masset and Skidegate Haida!! I just found this and haven't gone through everything yet, but this seems fantastic.

https://www.facebook.com/skidegatehaidaimmersionprogram/#

The facebook page for SHIP, the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program. They have a great newsletter with some awesome resources.

https://archive.org/details/skidegatehaidamy0000unse

What it says on the tin: Skidegate Haida myths and histories. Great for learning because the translations are intentionally direct.

https://archive.org/details/daa_galangsding_0000brow

What seems to be in Skidegate Haida, a book i found whilst looking through the Haida language tag in Archive.org. I haven't read it yet, but it seems good.

https://haidalanguage.blogspot.com/

A great many resources and

Masset:

https://www.firstvoices.com/xaad-kil-massett

The first voices page for Masset Haida. Fantastic for practice, some words & phrases, pronunciation, i love this site.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_language

Can be a great resource, especially for phonology, but can again be difficult to decipher if you're unfamiliar with linguistics terms.

https://www.haidanation.ca/category/language/

Probably has some extra resources, i haven’t looked. This i believe is a site for Haida Gwaii specifically, and therefore likely only has stuff for Skidegate + Massett Haida.

[Enrico's Haida dictionary]

I forgot where I found this as a PDF, but I would recommend this nonetheless.

https://www.haidanation.ca/language/xaad-kil/

Scroll down to find a pdf outlining both Masset and Skidegate Haida!! I just found this and haven't gone through everything yet, but this seems fantastic.

https://haidalanguage.blogspot.com/

A great many resources and the like.

Alaskan:

http://www.haidalanguage.org/

Has some info on Alaskan Haida & very basic grammar.

https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/North%20American/Other/Haida%20Handbook%20Level%201%20%28Lachler%29.pdf

Alaskan Haida grammar handbook. My lord and saviour, the best thing to ever exist. This is an overview of basic Haida grammar and is amazing, and is singlehandedly the one thing that helped me actually start learning.

https://sealaskaheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Haida_dictionary_web.pdf

Alaskan Haida dictionary. Sooo great it shows what types of words they are, conjugations, precisely how they are used (("S talked to O" vs "S talked")), phenomenal resource. I use this alongside my notes from the grammar handbook below to practice forming sentences.

https://sealaskaheritage.org/alaskan-native-language-learners/shi-southeast-alaskan-native-language-learning-teaching-resources/

For Alaskan Haida, SHI has many of the resources i've mentioned before, alongside many more. Their YouTube also has some videos that explain some phrases and such.

[Enrico's Haida dictionary]

I forgot where I found this as a PDF, but I would recommend this nonetheless.

/ John Enrico’s Haida Syntax, volumes 1 + 2

This is a physical book. Great if you’re able to decipher linguistics terms, as i believe it goes through everything. Enrico has some other Haida books that i can't find online.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_language

Can be a great resource, especially for phonology, but can again be difficult to decipher if you're unfamiliar with linguistics terms.

https://sealaskaheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AlaskanHaidaPhrasebook_web.pdf

Alaskan Haida phrasebook. I don't use this as much, but I should. This is fun for "deciphering" the phrases using your knowledge & the Alaskan Haida dictionary.

[Alaskan Haida apps mostly from the SHI]

These are fantastic on the go, and are great for learning the sounds of the language.

http://haidalanguage.org/AKL107/

Seemingly the online component of a Haida course in 2009. Seems very descriptive, but i haven't gone through everything yet. This doesn't cover everything regarding Haida, but it goes through a lot & has practices.

https://www.youtube.com/@learninghaida

A vlogging account about both the Haida language & culture.

[duckprintspress]

For This Week's Blog Post: We Need YOU!

One of our long-term projects at Duck Prints Press - something we've been working on on-and-off for a while but haven't made public yet - is a Fandom Lexicon. There are a lot of websites and blog posts that include parts of a list of fandom-specific language, but we've not been able to find just a simple glossary, so we decided to put one together. (We're not saying such websites don't exist...they surely do...but we also wanted to do our own!)

There are many challenges in making such a list (one of the most obvious being what to include - how general a term is "too" general for inclusion?) but we've been doing our best, casting a wide net, and picking the collective brains of people involved in the Press.

And...we've basically exhausted our own knowledge/memories/ideas, which is where you, yes YOU, come in!

We want your terminology! What are fandom words you've encountered and said "wait, what does that mean?" What's old fandom slang you used to use that you don't see anymore and know that some newbie would be confused by? What are words you wish you could have found on a list when you first joined fandom?

We've already put together a list of 222 general fandom terms and abbreviations (some definitely "fandom specific," others more "internet general slang") and 29 fandom-specific abbreviations (this list is, obviously, much more nascent). You can see the entire list here. (note: there is citrusy terminology on this list, both literally the citrus scale is on there, but also things like A/B/O, BDSM, etc. - it's a lexicon, after all.)

Currently, we are looking for:

general fandom terms/online terms that would be confusing to people out of context; and

over-arching fandom abbreviations (e.g., MCYT = Minecraft Youtuber, but we don't want every single abbreviation for every sub-part of the fandom - just the level that if someone saw the abbreviation "in the wild" they'd have at least some frame of reference).

Long term, we'd love to do fandom-specific lexicons as well (NOT wikis, mind you, literally just "this abbreviation often means this" with links to resources that can give more information) but that's a much larger project that would require recruiting people with enough fandom-specific knowledge for each fandom, and is not our current aim, so please don't send us stuff like that.

Have you been in fandom a long time? Do you just HATE when people use the word "drabble" wrong? Have you got a list of words you wish fandom still used, or a list of newer terms you regularly look at and go "wait wtf does THAT one mean?"? Send us your words, so we can incorporate them into our list!

You can add a comment! Put your words in a reply! Add your words to the tags! Drop us an ask! However you feel like sending the words our way, go for it.

You can see everything currently on our list HERE. (reminder: lemon text at this link)

Or, here's our current ones (as of July 24th, 2022) under a read more. No definitions yet - we're not even at that stage, we're still gathering words! (And a third reminder: yes there are lemony fresh words below the read-more. No pictures or definitions but just. The words themselves.)

(read more)

General Fandom Terms (some of which are more just general internet lingo, it's a difficult line to draw - many of these have more notes in the linked gdoc so we definitely recommend you go there instead of relying solely on this list):

[Person’s] A+ Parenting

A/B/O

A/N

AITA

Alpha

Alpha Reader

Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics

AN

Angst

Anon

Anti

Anti-anti

AO3

AU

Avatar

AYRT

Baihe

Bashing

BB

BDSM

Beta

Beta Reader

BF

Big Bang

Bingo

Bird App

BL

Blorbo

BNF

Bottom

Britpick

BroTP

C&C

Camp NaNo

Canon

Canon Compliant

Canon Divergent

Canon Insert

Carrd

Casefic

Cisswap

Citrus

Citrus Scale

CNTW

Coda

Concrit

Consentacles

Cosplay

CP

Crack

Crackship

Crossover

CW

DA

Danmei

Dead Dove

DL:DR

DNI

DNW

DP

Drabble

Dubcon

DW

Eeby Deeby

Fanart

Fanfic

Fanfiction

Fanon

Fanzine

Fave

Femslash

Fest

FF.net

Fic

Ficlet

Filk

Fix-it

Flame

Fluff

Fujo

Fujoshi

Fusion

Gary Stu

Gen

Genderbend

Genderswap

GF

GIF

Glomp

Glub Shitto

Gong

Grapefruit

H/C

H/NC

HC

HEA

Headcanon

Hentai

HFN

Himbo

Horse Plinko

Incorrect [thing] Quotes

IRC

Isekai

Jossed

JPG

Jump the Shark

Kink Meme

Kink Tomato

Kripked

Lemon

Lik the bred

Lime

LJ

LRT

Lurker

Mary Sue

MC

MCD

Meme

Meta

MFL

Miette

Mini-Bang

ML

Monoshipper

Multishipper

NaNo or NaNoWriMo

Noncon

NoRomos

NoTP

NTA

OC

OFC

OG

OMC

Omega

OMG They Were Roommates

OP

Orange

OT3

Otaku

OTP

OTW

p4p

pfp

Plinko Horse

Plot bunny

Podfic

Polyshipper

Poor Little Meow Meow

Pro-shipper

PSA

PWP

QRT

Queerbaiting

Ravatar

RB

Reader Insert

Reblog

Remix

Repost

Reverse Bang

RPF

RPS

RT

Rule 63

S (followed by a number)

Schmoop

Scrunkly

Secret Masters

Self-insert

Selfcest

Seme

Sex Pollen

Ship

Shitpost

Shou

Slash

Smushname

Smut

Sockpuppet

Songfic

SPAG

Squee

Squick

Stan

Superhell

t4t

TBR

TERF

There Was Only One Bed

Tinhat

TL:DR

Top

TPTB

Troll

Trope

TVTropes

TW

Twincest

Uke

UST

WAFF

Wank

Whump

Wiki

WIP

Woobie/woobify

Wuxia

Xianxia

Y/N

Yaoi

Yeet

YKINMKATO

YMMV

YT

Zine

Our (VERY Preliminary) List of General/Overarching Fandom Abbreviations:

AD&D or D&D

ATLA

B5

BNHA

CQL

DMBJ

GDC

HNK

HOB

HP

JJK

JK or JKR

LoTR

MCU

MCYT

MDZS

MXTX

OFMD

OP

SNK

SPN

ST

ST: DS9

ST: TNG

SVSSS

SW

SW: TFA

TGCF

TLTR

[audreydoeskaren]

Thank you for posting a review on the book Evolution & Revolution Chinese Dress 1700s - 1990s. It’s so disappointing how the book potentially could’ve been good. What are your favorite books on Chinese fashion history?

Hi, great that you found the review useful! To be completely honest, I haven't really read any books on Chinese fashion before I started this blog, because I mostly used online resources like museums' websites, archaeology reports and other blogs. I actually started this blog in the hopes that people might recommend me some books😅 And I only ever read about the Ming, Qing and republican era so my knowledge is very limited.

Anyway, here are some books people recommended to me that I found great, some that I'm currently reading and some I know to be objectively good:

Ming Dynasty

Q版大明衣冠图志 (2011) 董进著

A classic made by the popular fashion history blogger 撷芳主人 (real name Dong Jin), this book is the ultimate compilation of Ming Dynasty looks illustrated by the most adorable drawings. It has basically everything you need to know about Ming Dynasty garments from informal civilian fashion and theater costumes to the most formal court dress and military uniforms. My only quibble with this book is that it doesn’t specify the decade/year each look is from, giving the false impression that everything could be worn throughout the Ming Dynasty (I heard that he did specify some eras in the new version? I don’t have it so I’m not sure). You can follow the author on Weibo where he regularly posts stuff about the Ming Dynasty, or check out other books and articles written by him. Even if you don’t have the book, you could probably find images of individual entries on the internet. Unfortunately all of it is in Chinese and no English version is available :(

华夏衣冠 中国古代服饰文化 (2016) 孙机著

More of a collection of essays Sun Ji wrote on historical Chinese clothing from a variety of eras, I got it for the chapters on Ming Dynasty xiapei 霞帔 and headwear. Professional, academic language that is still easy to read, plenty of references and neatly traced line drawings of artifacts. Useful diagrams on the structure of 狄髻 diji. However if I remember correctly, Sun had some beef with Dong Jin on the terminology of parts of diji, not sure if that was ever resolved; here’s an article about that. Also only in Chinese (that I know of).

Qing Dynasty

Chinese Reverse Glass Painting 1720-1820 (2020) by Thierry Audric

This is the book form transcript of a dissertation given by the author in 2016. It's more Chinese painting than Chinese fashion but has a lot of wonderful images of 18th century export paintings (with dates even), which depicted fashion realistically. I love 18th century export art in general, they're really beautiful and unusual so I would recommend everybody to check them out. I love this because Chinese oil painting outside of a court context (and all other forms of art that were not literati painting e.g. woodblock print, lithograph, pen and ink illustration) gets very little attention from Chinese art historians. This book could be downloaded for free in pdf form the publisher Peter Lang.

A Fashionable Century: Textile Artistry and Commerce in the Late Qing (2020) by Rachel Silberstein

This book focuses on the 19th century and has some interesting insights on the impact of commercial workshops on Qing fashion, which is a welcome break from the “dragon robes” and women’s domestic work stereotyped in most literature on the Qing. It has rich descriptions of the decoration patterns and fabrics used in the 19th century, accompanied by paintings and photographs. It did kind of fall into the trap of “the late Ming continued into the early Qing” and just dismissed the 18th century altogether, which is a shame. Silberstein’s dating of several prints also appears somewhat incorrect, but it’s still a very useful analysis of the 19th century nonetheless. I read this for free on JSTOR through my university login.

Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding (2005) by Dorothy Ko

This book is absolutely epic and an undeniable classic on the subject. Ko masterfully avoids all the surface level problematic takes on footbinding and offers an extremely nuanced, extremely well researched overview on the history of footbinding in the Ming, Qing and republican eras, the reasons for its popularity and demise, with a most interesting analysis of the problems with the way people in the republican era went about the abolition of it. The book is more heavy on the social analysis side but also contains a lot of factual description of the process of footbinding, styles popular in different eras etc. I just love how she approaches the topic in the most factual and non-emotionally charged way possible, which is refreshing considering the sheer volume of literature on footbinding that is just brainless condemnation without any nuance, a lot of which also unconsciously perpetuate misogynistic ideas rather than combat them. I don’t know of a way to read this for free, I bought it from Amazon.

Every Step a Lotus (2001) by Dorothy Ko

I haven’t read this yet but apparently it works well as a supplement to Cinderella’s Sisters. Also on footbinding.

China Trade Painting 1750s to 1880s (2014) by Jack S C Lee / 中国外销画 1750s - 1880s 李世庄著

Another book on export art, focusing more on the established painters. Lee digs a bit more into the painters’ experiences and biographies, with big portions on George Chinnery and Lam Qua, but also includes plenty of portraits and scenery paintings depicting men’s clothing and the architecture of the studios at the Guangzhou factories (十三行). It’s great because the paintings included were super realistic and well made with accurate proportions and anatomy----the quality on a par with those produced by the European academies----so they contemplate conventional Chinese portraits made in the same era in showing how the clothing fits on the body. Again I bought this book second hand from Amazon.

----

I don’t know of any reliable books for republican era fashion because for some reasons most discourse on it is centered around the glorification and mystification of the cheongsam... Fortunately, due to the abundance of extant originals and photographs, books are largely not necessary for the research of republican era fashion :3

There are some other books and articles that were recommended to me but I haven’t yet read: x, x

@fouryearsofshades also made a post recently recommending books and it covers other time periods as well.

If anyone knows any other books on the Ming, Qing or republican era please tell me regardless of good or bad. I need to read more😅

[littlefireofhestia]

hi! i'm sage and i was going through the "hestia devotee" tag and found a post of yours that said you were open for questions about her. i don't know how old that post is or if you're still taking questions, you can ignore this if you're not, but since i'm here i wanted to talk/ask about something.

i'm a baby witch (like the babiest of babies, almost a new born) and most of my experience is through reading and watching since i don't currently have time or resources to do any practice other than lighting incenses or candles or working with crystals. and i definitely don't know any form of divination, like tarot or pendulum, that would allow me to do actual deity work and properly communicate with them.

the thing is, i've researched deities from multiple pantheons multiple times, mostly out of curiosity, but the moment i came across a prayer to hestia my heart skipped a beat and i immediately felt a kind of comfort. it could have been nothing, but i still researched all i could about her and just. i've never felt this drawn to a deity before, much less felt a pull to actually worship one. but i feel very much that way about her.

i looked up ways to honour her and i'm genuinely shocked at how happy it's been making me. i'm finding joy in domestic activities i used to loathe, like washing the dishes or helping with house cleaning. i tried baking a cake all by myself for the first time and lit an orange candle for her while doing it. it turned out absolutely delicious, i discovered i actually really enjoy baking and even started my own cook notebook with some of my grandma's old recipes. i make a point to always tie my hair back when i'm doing something that makes me think of her or in her honour, like making tea or baking or making dinner for my family or cleaning, because i saw people talking about how she appreciates veiling but i don't know how to do it so i just tie my hair in a bun instead of putting on a scarf. and i used to hate tying my hair, but now i feel very good about it!

i've always struggled with feeling connected to religion and never really understood how that could bring peace to someone, but i haven't felt this grounded or loving towards my family and pets or in peace with myself as much as i have since i started doing things as acts of devotion to hestia.

now, on to the actual problem: i'm scared it's all in my head. i'm worried i'm not enough of a witch to worship a deity yet, since i'm still trying to learn ways of communication and can't directly ask her if she's with me. i'm scared that the little things i'm doing aren't enough and the comfort and faith i feel while doing them are my imagination and not actually her watching over me and appreciating my effort.

anyways, i'm really sorry for dumping these worries on you but i didn't see many hestia related blogs and i really needed to ask someone about this. is what i'm doing enough of a worship right now? do you have any tips on how to worship her better? thank you!

Hi Sage! I don’t know when you sent this ask so I’m sorry if it’s been a while since you sent it and my response is late. When I read this ask for the first time I nearly cried tears of joy. Before anything I do want to say that you’re doing amazing sweetie!

I’m always open to questions about Hestia.

First off, there is no prerequisite to worshipping deities. I am admittedly not a witch and worship the gods exclusively for religious reasons and not for witchcraft. I have not learned many divination methods yet (although I have used the very handy Greek Alphabet Oracle a few times) and my rituals are still relatively basic, mostly not even occurring on an altar. But I have felt Hestia. I have been in her presence. I have received dreams from other deities and signs. None of this is required to happen to believe in or worship the theoi, but I just want to assure you that beyond doing some research to figure out who you want to pray to and how to do prayer and ritual, there are no prerequisites to worship. My first prayer to Hestia was literally me throwing a scarf over my head and talking to her in the dark with a flashlight to represent a flame. No formal structure. Didn’t even know how to correctly hold my hands yet. And still she accepted me.

The vibe you get from Hestia is very much similar to my experience. I’ve been drawn to her for YEARS but didn’t know I could worship her. But she’s always felt like home and comfort and just right for me. I never ever had a reason why she was my favorite deity before becoming pagan. She just was. My connection to Hestia has been a fact for over a decade that I just didn’t know was religious until a year and a half ago. Me wondering if I could worship her is the reason why I started researching Hellenic Polytheism in the first place. She brought me to this faith and I am so thankful to her for that.

You finding joy in domestic activities you used to hate is something I’ve discovered through Hestia too, although it’s still a journey I’m early on due to depression and physical disability and having a lot of work to do on figuring out how to make things accessible for me. I’m excited to go further for and with Hestia.

I understand the thought about it being all in your head. I had those thoughts early in my practice too. Basically, belief is a process. It takes time to switch from whatever religious thought (or lack thereof) that you grew up with to polytheism and worshipping a variety of deities or even just one deity, and from there to truly believing in them. I’ve been practicing for a year and a half and it probably took me at least nine months to truly feel secure in my faith in the theoi. Research, pray, do ritual, devote acts to the gods, think about the gods, notice the influence of the theoi in your daily life, and gradually that belief will solidify. You may or may not receive signs, which may or may not speed this process up. I promise, if you want to believe in the gods, in Hestia, it just takes time.

Also on feeling that you aren’t doing enough, the video at the bottom of this post (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odhRRYqQo8Y) might help. And I promise: you are doing enough, you are enough, just as you are.

Now as for worship tips. You are honestly doing great so far. Thinking of her while doing household chores and tasks or dedicating those tasks for her is a great way to worship her. I’d also recommend checking out her Homeric and Orphic hymns, one translation of which can be found here, and a copy of the Homeric hymns can likely be found at a local bookstore or definitely through online ordering. The Homeric hymns can also start to teach you some stuff about prayer structure, but prayer doesn’t have to be formal. Sometimes I just sit and talk to Hestia, or to any of my other deities. Tell them about my day, thank them for things in my life or the world, and sometimes asking them for things (although I find that I ask for aid much more rarely than when I prayed as the Catholic I was raised to be). I also have perpetually in progress playlists I have made for my deities, and if I want to spend some non-ritual time just focusing on a deity I’ll put on their playlist and read something religious or talk in religious discords. I actually had my most profound spiritual experience with Hestia while doing this.

Last but not least, worshipping Hestia, or any other deity, is something you have your whole life ahead of you to do. Take it at your own pace. Faith is all about the journey. The destination is irrelevant. There is no deadline or leveling up system, no authority checking your progress. As I have experienced time and time again, the gods will very much meet you where you are. A few months ago I was in a deep depression and did not do any ritual for several months. When I finally did a ritual again, I felt Hestia’s warm hand on my shoulder, as if to say “I miss you, welcome home”. I promise, Hestia will always welcome you home.

P.S. I know this ask is anonymous but Sage, feel free to message me with any additional questions about Hestia or worshipping deities in general. I’m here if you need any more help.

[a-pop-of-korean]

How did you teach yourself Korean?

I taught myself using whatever free resources I could find online! This included a lot of Talk to Me in Korean, howtostudykorean.com (although I've heard from some of y'all that htsk isn't the best resource lol), Drops, and K-pop. I would literally just read blog posts and watch YouTube videos and stuff -- I never took notes or anything like that. Honestly I prob should have taken notes just because that would have prob let me learn a little more quickly. My speaking skills are also quite lacking so I feel like doing more than just reading and listening to some stuff would have been helpful. But I never felt the need to take notes at the time because in some ways, I felt like Korean came rather easily to me in the sense that I could read a post about a grammar structure and recognize that structure outside of that post, like in a K-pop song or something. So I guess that told me I was getting it lol. But of course, Korean has always been challenging to me and it's taken me a LONG time to get where I am today :)

Once I got a little comfortable with Korean, I started watching more K-dramas and YouTube videos in Korean like makeup tutorials (rather than those meant to teach you Korean), journaling, and using the language exchange app Tandem, which certainly helps. It's the closest thing you can get to immersion without being in Korea or being surrounded by a lot of Korean speakers. I'm also currently taking an intermediate Korean class now which is super helpful and I love it!! I feel so much more comfortable with speaking and I feel really lucky that I'm able to take it :)

So that's basically where I'm at now! I started studying in like 2015/2016 (more like 2015 but I feel like I started to actually get stuff in 2016 or maybe even later), so my progress has been very gradual. I've gotten some very kind comments from some followers that say how fluent I seem which is super sweet!! But keep in mind I am still learning and am far from fluent lol. I simply use this blog to share what I know, as an English speaker who studies Korean on her own, to hopefully be some sort of help to other English self-studiers :) That was a long-winded explanation lol but thank you for asking!! 화이팅!

[everythingthemoontouches]

Hii🧡 i love your blog so much, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us😌 i was wondering if you could make some observations about my chart (only if you’re willing to tho!) (i’m also struggling to find my career path so if you can give me some inspo for that, that would be great)

Have a great day<3

Hi amelavoie

I'm guessing these are your tropical placements?

I'd suggest the divine venus and astro finesse cancer midheaven videos as they also talk about the Ic in more detail. This analysis looks at your 6th house and 10th house.

Cancer 10th house :Human resources. Nurturing. Nurse. Teaching. Mentoring. Feminine professions. Work needs to feel like family. Food. Catering. Gynecology, obstetrics. With your Pisces 6th house you enjoy some degree of flexibility and ability to be creative. Cute bakery. The HR professional who comes up with good ideas to make the employees feel at home. Increase retention rates. Make your team members feel cared for. Intuitive. You're so emotionally tuned in to the people you work with, I think you'd make for a good manager and have a unique style of work. Also, as someone with a Capricorn ic, you're lowkey looking to create that beautiful family dynamic out in the work sphere. Now honestly some people could try to fuck you over cuz you're really caring so I'd say to keep that sweet energy reserved for people who actually poor that love and effort back into you.

Celebs : Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer

Jupiter on the midheaven : respected as a mentor at your place of work. Lucky when it comes to promotions. Expansive. Ability to go very far in your chosen field. - I didn't realize I was working I was just doing stuff I liked to and the opportunity found me because of my skill.Jupiter rules your 3rd and 6th house - perhaps you write about your daily experiences and reading your articles makes people find some comfort. Wisdom. Sharing. Preaching. Conducting seminars. Self love workshops. Confidence coach or image consultant kind of webinars.

Again, with the moon in your 6th house you have to feel some level of emotional attachment to their work you do on a daily basis and the people you work with. Working with milk products. Exporting them. Could work as a vet. Maybe help them deliver babies. Online coaching programs. Super nice and care giving - be careful of how lenient you are. Pisces placements can be very accepting and have high tolerance level : must know when to put your foot down.

Law - custody battles. Nonprofits. Pro Bono work. Helping out the community. Volunteer work occassionally

Do you write short stories for children?

🌅🌙🦀6th house sun in Pisces : healing arts. Reiki. Intuitive witch doctor. Pisces is highly malleable. You have an ability to pick things up quickly.gym instructor. Nutritionist. Meditation / yoga coach. It really helps your mental state to incorporate spirituality into your work.

your 10th house ( professional authority) in the 6th house in Pisces. Gut health. Working with animals. Forming optional connections with people. You coudk even be a good counselor.

Neptune, Uranus and Mercury in the 5th house : mad creative energy. If you wrote stories I'm sure they'd be quite fresh and could actually have a disruptive influence. I see you writing children's books, stories about space, adventures and heroes who save humanity. Very imaginative creative works.

In traditional astrology venus shows how you earn wealth and since yours is right on the descendant I think you're meant to work on one with clients and build good relations with them.

Could work with addicts in rehab or correctional facilities.

Careers : caregiving, writing, recruiting, human resources, working with children / elderly, interior decorating, baked goods, food, catering, feminine care,working with animals, vet, Reiki, spa/ masseuse, some kind of feminine energy healer, psychology,working in prenatal post natal care, or selling products for babies / moms to be / new moms, acting, Booksellers, posts & telegraphs and communications department, transport, advertising, publicity, writer, author, research, hand writing experts, finger print experts and finance broker,

11th house income streams : Salesman, agent, representative, international trader, manufacturer of ink and paints, accountant, auditor, teacher, interpreter, ambassador, water supplier, textile engineer, dealer in yarn, paper, traveling agent, guide, mathematician, clerk, author, writer and related to health, medicine or nursing.

6th house themes: Teachers, statistics, astronomy, astrology, medicine, municipality, public limited concerns, stock exchange, share broker, planning commission, foreign exchange, revenue & finance department, international trade, finance, revenue department, mint, currency, mining, intelligence department.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

hi! i hope you're doing well!! i was just wondering if you could offer some help/advice on something? i figured out i was ace-spec last year and i've been really happy vibing with the label and it's brought me a lot of joy which is great! but recently i've been wondering if i'm possibly aro-spec/grey-aro/demi-romantic and i'm not as excited about that possibility as i was when i first started thinking i could be ace. i'm not sure if this stems from internalized aro-phobia or if i'm just not aro *or* if i am aro and just don't find the same joy in it? i know several people who are unhappy in some way or another with being ace and maybe that's me with being aro? but i also don't really know where to begin when it comes to researching aro stuff so i can try to piece it out more, there seems to be a lot more info about being ace than being aro. sorry i know this is a lot to dump on you! i'm okay vibing without a label romance-wise but i would like to figure it out at some point or another, so i thought i might as well ask you. thanks for your time! 💙

Yeah, it can definitely be hard to tell at first, and there's a lot of reasons you may not be vibing with an aro-spec label. One big one I see a lot is that we live in a culture that really emphasizes that romance and a romantic relationship is the only path to feeling fulfilled and happy. And for some people discovering their aro puts that future in jeopardy (though some aros still want/enjoy romantic relationships, but many don't). And it can just take a while to process that and figure out a different path that will actually appeal to you specifically.

One way you can look at it is like a roller coaster, a lot of people love them, but some people just don't find them fun at all. They get motion sickness, or they really hate the feeling of going fast/being upside down or whatever else. And no matter how much you force yourself you're not going to make you get the same joy as people who love them. But maybe you like other rides like Ferris wheels or merry-go-rounds. Maybe you like eating cotton candy and reading a book while your friends go on the rides. Maybe you like staying home and watching movies. There's always another path and something that will appeal to you as a person. Sometimes it just takes time to find it.

So I don't know if this is you or not, but it is something I see a lot and I think it something important to keep in mind if you're questioning being aro. Instead of looking at it like a closed road, it can help to try and see it more as you forging your own way and finding the path that's best for you. And maybe that does include romance, or maybe it doesn't but the path you find will be one will appeal to you.

Other things you can do that may help you vibe might be aro media. There are more and more aro-spec characters all the time, especially in books and podcasts and you can find lists fairly easily. Personally I'm very fond of the Jughead 2015 run from Archie Comics where Jughead's written as canonically ace and heavily aro coded and I found him very relatable from an aro pov.

Following aro people or aro themed blogs on social media can help (my favourite way to find good blogs on tumblr is the search function/tag function, and the recommended blogs are usually really good), meeting other aro people. Maybe there's an aro meetup near you, or you can follow an online community or join a discord server.

For resources Arocalypse is great, and that's another online community you can lurk or participate in depending on your comfort levels. Another good one is Carnival of Aros and that's just a monthly blogging event where aros are invited to make a blog post according to a theme. And that's particularly great if you're looking for aro view points and experiences.

For info, the LGBTA Wiki and the Aromantic Wiki will be able to define anything you need defined. And Arocalypse also has a really great FAQ.

And yeah even if you're still questioning and not sure if aro-spec/gray-aro/demiromantic is right for you or not, helping move past that fear of being aro will help a lot. And make the questioning process much easier.

So hopefully this helps, if you have more questions or at any point you want help with anything, feel free to send in another ask.

All the best, Anon!

[legobiwan]

I love your blog. Also I really appreciate your thoughts on tbbf, especially when it came to Ashoka.

Out of curiosity, my boyfriend loves the black series figures, (all the figures really but specifically those) what is your experience like when shopping? Like yeah you can get nearly anything online. But sometimes that’s just not an option because scalpers and pre orders sell out in 2 seconds. How often do you find the newer figures in stores, if you do go out and look that is. Idk I thought I’d ask you because you seem like someone that would have some experience and insight on this. Because he follows stuff on Facebook and he sees people finding stuff at Walmart in more populated city areas that nowhere else ever has in stock or has even heard of. I think it’s because the staff keeps stuff put aside in the back for their friends and stuff because they know these can be worth real money. Which is so bogus because he is more of a “twinkle in your eye, I collect this figure because I like them” kinda guy. You know? Lol sorry I just hate scalpers and can very much relate because I’m very into the Pokémon cards right now and people in that fandom are RUTHLESS.

First of all, thank you for dropping by! Always happy to have a conversation on the lego-blog :D

Secondly...I am honestly not an expert on figures. (I've chanced through acquiring The Gang(tm) through Target and Barnes and Noble). Long story short, I *really* (really) try to avoid online shopping (FUCK YOU AMAZON AND SINCERELY FUCK YOU BEZOS) for any of this stuff. Best bets in my experience would be comic stores and those weird stores at malls that sell fandom stuff and a disturbing (and by disturbing, I mean, I would like to buy all of them) variety of knives.

Used toy stores are also fun to go to and can be a great resource for interesting figures, and every now and then Goodwill and its brethren come through in a pinch (I realize this is highly location-dependent).

I honestly can't speak to resources if you live outside of a major metropolitan area, but I'd check craigslist, reddit, and whatever big box stores you may have around. Maybe someone else reading this post will have better resources to share!

[shadowmaat]

While I do think/hope, that I've taken some strides in the recent past in regards to educating myself in regards to internalized/subconcious bias, I recall you mentioning ages ago, that you've learnt a lot about this through fiction and online interactions.

Technically I fall into a couple of "categories" as well, yet even as a neurodivergent and ace person - very white though - myself I have only recently (like 3-4 years ago maybe?) begun noticing media and cultural bias in regards to these things. Until then I kind of just ran with these, I suppose? E.g. I just accepted my old therapist telling me my asexuality and me being nonbinary was a product of my relationship with my mum and would be "cureable" through succesfull therapy. Or ofc how so many characters (nd/POC/LGBTQ/disabled...) are so often portrayed as conservative and very hurtful stereotypes.

I hope it's not irresponsible/falling right in line with the problem, that I'd be asking you, instead of seeking out several other blogs. The latter is likely for the better admittedly, but I don't know where to start and find well-written posts, from which I can honestly learn, because while there's plenty of these on tumblr, there's also plenty that are just - very understandbly - angry posts but lacking the information I might need to educate myself.

I'm planning on writing a fic including POC, disabled characters and diverse sexualities but I want to make sure, that I'll check my biases and don't produce anything hurt- or disrespectful.

So if you could recommend blogs or old posts, unless if it is too much of a bother, I'd highly appreciate it. Thank you!

I'm very flattered that you feel comfortable coming to me, and gosh, do I know that feeling of wanting to get things right and also being intimidated by trying to dig through overwhelming amounts of stuff to find what you need! I'm not sure how much help I can be since I just sort of wing it and constantly adjust as I go, but I'll do my best.

I'll start off by saying that if you want some good reading lists for books featuring various flavors of queer, @ace-artemis-fanartist has some great lists (as well as some incredible fanart of course).

This post has a simplified rundown of the different flavors on the ace spectrum.

This post gives some basic do's and don't's of writing a deaf character (which, now that I review it, means I should update some of my own stuff).

This post has a generalized list of things to watch out for while writing characters with marginalized identities.

For a more in-depth resource on writing characters of color, there's @writingwithcolor

@fixyourwritinghabits is more generalized advice, but their lovely tags page includes all the things you've asked about and a whole lot more.

I wish you the best of luck! And don't let yourself get so hung up on the fear of making mistakes that you let it stop you. Writing is a learning experience, and if you DO mess up then you can take steps to correct your misunderstandings and the next time you'll know better. Hopefully this will at least give you a few avenues to explore and use as jumping off points for more. :)