#which is the most important tool for any sort of creativity

[birlwrites]

like when i was in 6th grade i started an original novel that i then abandoned mostly-complete, came back to a few years later, and finished it, out of SPITE because i didn't like seeing it in my drafts and knowing it wasn't done.

and was it cool that i'd written a whole novel? sure! do i wish i'd, like... enjoyed it more? ABSOLUTELY YES. but at the time when i began the story, i had no idea how to write something that would feel like me. when i returned to it, proofreading was a massive pain because i was constantly cringing at what seemed like sixth-grade-me's embarrassingly clumsy attempts at writing something Cool™. i didn't see any way to salvage the story. and that was because all it had originated in was that desire to write something Cool™. that goal drove every creative decision. not a shred of it was genuine. there was nothing to salvage. so i just slapped together an ending, out of a sense of obligation, and that was that.

in 8th grade, i wrote a psychological horror short story about someone trapped in a room full of unsynchronized clocks. i think i'd just read the tell-tale heart. it creeped out everyone who read it. it wasn't at all Cool™. it was leagues, LEAGUES better - more sincere, more committed, more impactful - than that novel i'd started a couple of years earlier.

fanfiction isn't Cool™. fandom is still often cringed at in the Mainstream™. but Coolness and the Mainstream are the death of creativity. if all you're doing is imitating whatever's recently achieved commercial success, it will feel empty. a pastiche of booktok buzzwords is just that.

but if you allow yourself to create something ~cringe~, fully and wholeheartedly, then you can connect with your readers. you can figure out how you want to write. and you'll enjoy the writing process, instead of staring at a draft you started years ago, wondering how to finish it with the minimum possible effort so you can cross it off your list.

[prokopetz]

this ask came to me in a dream and i must speak on its behalf: what do you think about homestuck beyond canon

I think it's too early for me to have a well-formed opinion at this point, for a very specific reason.

I basically agree with the majority opinion that the post-epilogue story which would eventually become Beyond Canon is characterised by a whole lot of spite toward its target audience. Where I differ is that I don't think this is anything new; a certain sneering contempt for their audience has always been a hallmark of Andrew Hussie's work, and it's present in Homestuck right from day one. At most, Hussie getting burnt out from the Hiveswap fiasco resulted in a text that's somewhat less willing to entertain the polite fiction that its readers are in on the joke, but that's not a change – it's just saying the quiet part out loud.

The interesting part is that this contempt isn't merely undirected bile: it's motivated by a particular stance regarding the purpose of fiction. Writing a story which invites emotional investment, then turning around and calling you a stupid baby for actually becoming invested in it is one of Hussie's favoured narrative sleights of hand, but it's not the Charlie Brown-esque football pull it appears to be – or, rather, it's not only that. Lurking under it is the insistence that fictional characters are, ultimately, objects: tools for exploring a narrative space. Ironic detachment is the only "correct" way to approach works of fiction, because when you emotionally relate to a fictional character (or, heaven forfend, actually identify with one), you are fundamentally committing a category error – like you've mistaken a hat for your wife.*

To what extent Hussie actually believes any of that, and to what extent it's just a very committed bit they're doing is a fair question, but that's not important here; sincere or not, the opening stages of (what was not yet) Beyond Canon are dyed in the cloth with it. Care of the comic has subsequently been handed off to a separate creative team who, to all textual evidence, don't buy into this notion of what-fiction-is-for at all, but they're building on a foundation that's steeped in it. What we're looking at now is a serialised narrative which disagrees with its own premise. I genuinely cannot imagine what sort of flower they're expecting to grow in the soil they've been given, and I don't think we're far enough in to draw any well-supported conclusions just yet.

All of which is a very complicated way of saying that I'm just here for the show!

* With apologies to Oliver Sacks.

[level2janitor]

how to run an OSR game

a while back i made this post to help people who were interested in OSR games but didn't know where to start, explaining the general design philosophy and going over a bunch of different OSR rulesets you can run a game with. so this is a follow-up post about how to actually run these (especially bc not all of them have much actual GM guidance)

note this is a highly opinionated post and some people from the more meatgrinder-y end of the OSR might take issue with this. but this is advice that works extremely well for my games.

how to prep situations and not plots

this is good advice for most games but OSR especially because OSR gameplay is so driven by player scheming: don't ever include "and then the players will..." in your prep, because you do not know what the players will do.

if your prepped scenario hinges on the players taking a specific action or the whole thing falls apart, you're digging your own grave as the GM. trying to account for every action the players can take is a trap, because players are creative and clever and their options are only limited by their ideas. that's the game.

so "prep situations, not plots" has become popular advice in TTRPG communities, especially OSR circles. but how do you actually do that

the most important elements of prep you want to figure out are:

what do all the NPCs involved in this scenario want? what social levers (wants, fears, habits, allegiances, guilty pleasures, relationships) do they have that the players can pull?

what will happen if the PCs never interfere? what conflicts and schemes are brewing in the background?

what locations are there to explore? who and what is inside them, what dangers and treasures are inside?

the best prep is stuff you can't improvise, or stuff that's unsatisfying when improvised. you should probably know monster stats ahead of time, know the layout of dungeons, that sort of thing. elements relevant to challenging the players are important to prep.

stop rolling for everything

coming from nearly any other TTRPG to an OSR game, your instinct when a player says "i want to do X" is "okay, make an X roll" through a skill system or a pbta move or something.

if you do this in an OSR game, you run into problems.

player characters aren't very strong. they have single-digit hit points, few if any class abilities, and whether they're carrying a crowbar, a grappling hook, a lantern, etc. is as impactful as their choice of class.

this is because the game is about using your head more than using your character sheet - the sheet just lists tools to apply your creative thinking to. scheming and managing your resources is the game.

and this means if a player has a clever idea, you should almost never reward them with a die roll to see if they succeed. a skill check is just a random chance of failure. instead most actions should succeed or fail automatically.

here's a good checklist to determine whether something succeeds:

is it something a normal, untrained person could do? if yes, you succeed.

could a normal person do it with the right tools, training and/or time to work? if yes, you succeed if you have any of those things.

if you don't have any of those, you can't. find another approach or get ahold of those conditions for success.

die rolls are for resolving uncertainty and risk. picture a version of 5e where there are no ability checks, only saving throws - dice you roll when something's gone wrong and you're in danger.

which leads into the next point...

communicating information

one of the worst sins of roll-based task resolution is when it's used to determine perception. players making informed decisions is the heart of the game, and they can't do that without information.

give information freely. if your character could know it, they probably do. try to do this too much. never gate information behind a die roll, especially the PC's surroundings.

part of this is always informing the player what is at stake. if a player's in a dangerous enough situation that success comes down to a die roll, you must let them know that before they opt into making that roll, and what the consequences for failure are.

OSR games are about risk management, so tell your players what is at risk when they make those decisions.

entering combat

combat is one of the most dangerous things in an OSR game - it's unpredictable, lethal, and entering it is always a big decision.

if you're coming from a game like 5e, often your first instinct when an encounter occurs is, "roll initiative!" but this is a mistake. you always, even when combat is about to start, ask players for their approach. do they fight? flee? negotiate? surrender?

because combat is so risky, forcing players into it unprompted fundamentally changes the dynamic of your campaign. keep in mind, once combat starts, you don't get any input between rolling initiative and taking your turn. your fate is up to the dice - your tactics matter, sure, but they can't save you from losing initiative, being crit, and dying from bad luck.

if players willingly choose combat as their approach, they should know the risks and what they're getting into. sometimes combat is the best way to achieve your goals, so it'll still happen.

[pkmnirlevents]

How do you go about getting ideas for arcs? I’m struggling to figure out what I want to do with my character :(

Great question! This happens to be one of my absolute favorite parts of writing and pkmn irl itself. I've always been more of an ideas guy myself. I hope you don't mind but I decided to turn this into a bit of an overall tutorial for planning and writing arcs. Feel free to ask for any specifics because I could delve into my personal process for arc brainstorming, but I was admittedly writing this before getting ready for work and this post was getting kinda long haha

Knowing where to draw inspiration from can be a good place to start. It's wonderful to be inspired by music, a movie or tv show, a book, or even other people in the community and their writing. Ask yourself what elements of that thing draw you in. What do you like? What would you maybe do differently? I must mention though to be respectful of the work other blogs have put into their writing. Being inspired is a wonderful thing, lifting exact details or passages is not. If you're unsure, there's no harm is asking!

The most helpful thing I can tell you right off the bat is that you want to find out how to brainstorm. In schools they'll often try to teach you ways of brainstorming and outlining to structure your essay writing, if you're lucky they might even mention that there are multiple ways you can do this. The ones in school never worked for me personally, so for a long time I assumed brainstorming and outlining was a complete waste of my time and would launch straight into my writing drafts. But as I wanted to write more complex things and I wanted to indulge in more creative writing, I found myself getting stuck all the time. The truth is brainstorming is a helpful tool, but you have to know what type of brainstorming works best for you. Flowcharts, bullet points, stream of consciousness, word clouds, moodboards, drawings, whatever it is that gets your creative juices flowing. In my experience it works best to remember that not every one of these elements will make it into the final arc. You want to get your ideas down first and trim the excess later. I personally pay for a program (Milanote) that allows me to brainstorm in the methods that work best for me, but by no means do you have to pay for a program to do this. Pen and paper works just fine.

The next thing you wanna do is establish what you want your arc to do. Not every arc has to be a grand character development, but all arcs do something. No matter how small that something may be, something has to change as a result. Maybe your character meets a new person, obtains a new Pokemon, gets a new scar and a story to tell their friends, or maybe all they got was a t-shirt. If you already had a loose concept for your arc this can help you hone it. You can start asking yourself, "how does my character reach this point?" and work up to that. Map out what you think your character would do when dropped into a particular situation. This can also help you to establish the tone you want your arc to take. Is it silly and lighthearted or is it more serious and high stakes? Refer to the stakes tag post about proper tagging.

It can help to conceptualize your arc as a series of events rather than a single event. This allows you to understand how many posts you may need to split the arc up into, how much time the arc may take, or other hard to sort details.

These things ramp up when you start to incorporate more people into your arcs. Planning with your fellow writers is extremely important and that requires a lot of communication. Some writers prefer to do what we call pre-writing, which is typically you and the other writers get together and write out the posts in advance. This gives people the chance to look over each other's writing and make edits before the posts go live. Planning discords are useful for keeping things organized, but google docs or other collaborative writing programs can work just as well if those better suit your needs. Organize who is posting what and generally at what time, especially if the post involves other people's characters.

Remember all of this is for fun! These are not hard rules you need to follow. You should not force yourself to write things you do not like for the sake of others or for an imagined audience. Write what you want to write.

[starflungwaddledee]

alright. look, we're going to go into this because i genuinely want to think you didn't mean harm by this, but it's unacceptable to use this sort of manipulative phrasing. especially with strangers, some of whom are kids.

this is not a call-out. i've hidden all names except my own. i just need to address this post i was tagged in, and don't want to add it onto the end of the original post. i could also have done this privately, but i want this to be here for the other folks who were @'d. i won't @ anyone else who was mentioned in this post, but many of us are mutuals, so if you see this post and you're feeling at all stressed out or bad, i recommend just clicking through because i'm going to go into this.

firstly, and i'm going to make this transparent, person who @'d me: i don't think you're being malicious or did anything purposefully bad. i don't think you intended harm or that you are "a bad person". i don't have a single negative thought about you as a person. i don't make this post to be mean. i truly think you made an earnest mistake that could easily have hurt others, and i am stepping in with the hope this can be avoided in the future! per my usual boundaries on reassurance seeking, i will not reassure about this further.

secondly, the post that you tacked this onto IS important and a helpful resource, and it is great to bring attention to it. we should be doing everything we can to not only defend against, but actively fight back against generative AI. many people cannot access the most commonly recommended tools (myself included), so a resource like this is fantastic and i'm glad to learn about it and share it! i don't speak for anyone else, but i've said before that i personally don't mind being tagged in resources that could help me or others and i'm usually happy to share them, especially if i think the latter

but, assuming that you are genuinely well meaning and don't know better, you need to know that this is not the way to go about it. i don't mean mass-tagging, which is fine in times like this imo, i mean your written add-ons that actively guilt trip every single person you tagged.

"if you weren't convinced by the idea of being a good person" and "I do hope anyone I @'d isn't a bad person" in particular.

you may not have realised, but these are profoundly manipulative and cruel things to say. regardless of how you intended them, they are inciting guilt in the reader, and especially in the people who you actively called to come and look at it. here's what it sounds like:

"hey! you! yeah you! come look at this!! come closer! now, do what i ask you to do, or you're a bad person."

there are a million and one reasons someone might not reblog something. being tired, offline, anxious, even needing to run a specifically professional blog with exclusively your art on it for your own financial survival which makes it hard to reblog important posts like this; none of those are bad.

in this case, only one thing makes them a "bad person", and it's "they're pro-generative AI and did not reblog because they want to hide this information to ensure they can continue stealing from creatives".

i'm fairly confident you don't actually think anyone you tagged here has that point of view, or that you really have any doubts about their stances on generative AI. in fact, of the folks i recognise here, they're all independent creatives, sharing artwork with fandom for free on the internet. they are the victims of generative AI, and like most of us, are facing a terrifying future and are already desperate to find a way to defend/fight back.

you do not need to use manipulative language like this to get us to care about this sort of content! this affects us all, content creators and content consumers alike!

in future if you want to direct folks to something like this, which is super helpful and it was good of you to do!, you can just @ them so they see it. you can even say something like "this is important and some reblogs would sure help to boost it!". this is still a call to action, but without the manipulative phrasing, just in case they cannot act for any reason.

in the end, guilt tripping people like this, intentional or otherwise, is dangerous.

at best it will make them feel like shit and they'll feel forced to reblog + share from you out of guilt rather than just believing in the cause. and sometimes it feels like it's most effective, especially when things are urgent; but in my opinion the risk of harm is just too high. because at worst, you could accidentally send someone into a negative thinking spiral. you can never know what people are going through offline, or outside of your spaces, and how something like this will hit them.

[wonderful-magician]

A cute little guide to my Squeak Gijinkas culture around bells!! I felt this would be easier to show visually instead of writing it all down!! Ignore the inconsistent quality I got really sick while making this 💔

Bells! The types of bells that squeaks ( and rarely- squeakers. ) will wear either always or for formal events. Nobody knows when the tradition to celebrate or mark people with bells started- after all squeaks are a old species that covers the many galaxies with how durable they are.

Some other bells can be found but these are simply the most popular and notable. Nobody wears a bell for no reason as it's culturally not proper or recommended. Back in the day you would be fined for it! But nowadays it's much more lax.

Popular opinion on certain bells can be decided. Everybody can agree those who wear a catbell are heroic and have done something for the community. But occasionally they will be a prick for the higher ups, with how squeak society is horribly corrupt. And the wealthy view the catbell as a sort of warning or sign to mistrust.

The same but opposite will count for the cowbell. The cowbell is highly regarded as a sign of wealth and power and it is an honor to wear one. But because all the higher ups in society wear one, they have gained a reputation for corruption and cruelty.

Traditionally wearing a bell on the neck is the most used and well known. After all the most important of squeaks wear their bells like this! Many famous squeaks wore their bell in this style and it's become a marker of a squeak at all. Since squeak culture is a mixing pot something shared like this is well known.

On the hip. When an older squeak with a bell dies they will occasionally pass down their bell ( not always! When they request it is not, it instead a family event to melt it into some sort of tool. ) often a mourning practice. Whether it's worn by a child or a grieving spouse. Occasionally if the wearer of the passed down bell becomes a leader they will eventually wear it on their neck, which is a big honor to wear your parents bell in a highly respected style!

Jingle bells- since they are worn by younger children are styled creatively! Either worn like a " grape " or on a string and worn like a bracelet. But are never worn as a necklace as that's on the neck.

Ok that's all I made for this! I contemplated making more but I don't think this needs much more- anyhow. If you have any questions about this ASK!! PLEASE!!

[nohoperadio]

@perdvivly (responding to this post):

I keep trying to consistently write a diary but I can never seem to make it past a week. Do you have any tips?

I was reading the first volume of Virginia Woolf's diaries last winter and probably the most useful guiding principle I had came from her, which is that diary-writing is best done quickly, it shouldn't be too considered or effortful. This is the quote I've been able to find (although I remember her mentioning it several times): "if it were not written faster than the fastest typewriting, if I stopped and took thought, it would never be written at all". This is important because if you allow the diary to become the sort of thing that requires non-trivial effort and non-trivial time as a matter of course then you're just doomed right, cos on days when you don't have much time or effort available you won't be able to do it, and I have days like that a lot idk about you! So whatever comes out of you when you make yourself fill a page in five minutes or less, that's your diary persona, don't try to make it cooler or more interesting than it is.

(Or anyway that's, as I say, the guiding principle, sometimes I've broken this by being distractible, occasionally I've broken it by becoming enough interested in what I'm writing that I want to make it a bit more effortposty, but I think I by and large stuck to the spirit of it when I was regularly diarying. Which came naturally partly because it so happened that one of my goals with starting it was to exercise my ability to produce words more spontaneously)

I avoided ever making the writing of the diary itself a theme in the diary; I think starting your first entry with "Today I decided to start keeping a diary because blah blah blah" is setting yourself up to fail, make the first entry follow the same template that all the future ones will follow, just talk about your day for a little bit and then stop. And by the same token, if you do miss a day or two (or more), don't start the next entry lamenting the fact that you dropped those days or offering excuses or whatever, again just write a normal entry about your day, you can include a little summary of the days you missed if you want, or not.

It's probably better approached as a useful tool for imperfectly recording your daily life than as a creative project, it will automatically be interesting to read in the future but aiming to maximize interestingness is not the way to go, it's an audienceless activity and should be treated as such.

I have a very boring life and a somewhat common aversion-to-writing for me was "this day has been empty of anything to write about", and upon putting pen to paper that feeling always turned out to be illusory. Even the days that were just "went to work and nothing notable happened, got home and didn't do anything", there was usually some little thing in there to distinguish that day from other days, or something on my mind worth putting a few words down about.

It probably helps, at least for me, that mine is a hardback leuchtturm that's a nice shade of yellow and not just whatever random cheap notebook.

It probably helps that my handwriting is big and clumsy so I can get the sense of achievement of filling a page without actually having to produce that many words.

Double-check you definitely know what today's date is before you write it in.

[badescapeartist-blog]

2

“Chess demands total concentration.” - Bobby Fischer 

That quote is simple, but important for two reasons. The first is that it is advice coming from–apparently–one of the best chess players ever. So I should probably turn off Netflix while I’m running through games. The second reason is that it falls in line closely with one of the main goals of my project.

In the last post, I gave a brief overview of the logistics of the project, which up to know have remained unchanged. I am still trying to play as much as I can. I am still reviewing my matches. I am still not looking up chess tutorials or theory. This post is not about the how of the project. It’s the why. 

For a long time now I have had problems focusing and staying on task. Especially if the task at hand isn’t something that I find particularly fun. Even when playing video games I find myself distracted by a video on my second monitor or a notification from my phone. I don’t think I have any sort of attention deficit disorder. Or if I do, it is very mild. 

I say that because there are many moments where I do stay on track and blast through my to-do list. Out of nowhere my brain seems to shift and I can dive deep into a task. But this is usually after blundering the better part of an hour, pruning distractions one by one until there is nothing left but what’s in front of me. It’s an amazing feeling nonetheless. After a few hours of working at that level of focus, there is a sort of afterglow of a job well done.

All that to say, I enjoy being able to focus but struggle to get into the right frame of mind for it. Ultimately the struggle stems from a hiatus I took from my post-secondary education a few years ago. In that time I obliterated any good-student habits I had before. This is where the game of chess comes into play.

Before I continue, I want to shed some light on the fact that my source is a biased one. This article works as an overview of the benefits of chess, but they are also selling subscriptions so it’s in their best interest to make the game look like a cure-all. It is a good place to start at least. 

The article linked above mentions multiple benefits from playing chess--but doesn't include sources--including brain exercise, cultivating creativity, confidence boost, even using it as an educational tool. But the one I’m most interested in is number four on that list: “Chess helps you focus.”

Even without scientific data to back up the claims, it does make sense. Just as the example in the article shows, you could be playing perfectly all game, losing zero important pieces and pressing the king into a corner. All it takes is one mistake for the game to fall apart. It was noticeable even in the few games I have played since starting on this project. Bobby Fischer tells no lies when he says that you have to stay focused. Not just on the important pieces, but on the board as a whole. It’s not enough to know where the queen is. I also have to pay attention to how the queen interacts with other pieces, and where they are in relation to the king, and so on and so forth. But the focus should really be on the big picture, the ultimate goal: a checkmate. 

Use all tools available, and use them to their fullest potential, to complete the goal. That is chess. It’s not possible if the mind is wandering and asking other questions. Getting a checkmate is paramount. That is why I want to learn chess. So that I can translate that to other areas of my life. Completing tasks without distractions means there is more time to do the fun things in life. 

Do I think being good at chess would be cool? Yes, I do. There’s no denying it. Does it also happen to be fun? Yes. But I do see potential for a real benefit and I think that’s reason enough to give it a shot. At least for 14 weeks.

[buriedyou]

𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄.

previously found at: batgeance.

Inspired by The Batman (2022), Joker (2019), & specifically the creative works and lores of both Jessie (@jokethur) & Abigail (@banschivs). Based largely on personal interpretation as well as original headcanons. Following a post-flood timeline. Assume divergency & artistic liberties. This interpretation operates under the combined universes of Reeves' and Phillips' films, which is to say that every interaction is explored with the assumption that it's based in the real world. Furthermore, this Bruce's world lacks powers and abilities the way that most Batman iterations and DC worlds revolve around. I'm open to writing with characters with supernatural abilities or superpowers, but those interactions will not exist within Bruce's primary arc.

FULL NAME: Bruce Thomas Wayne ALT PERSONA(S): The Batman, The Detective, Paul, The Drifter GENDER: Cis-male SPECIES: Human HEIGHT: 6'1”. 6'4" in the suit. AGE: 32 years old BIRTHDAY: February 19

HOBBIES: Cars. An absolutely prolific gearhead. Racing, too. Travel, once upon a time. Tech and engineering, to varying degrees. Kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and Krav Maga. Calisthenic training. Being the Batman obviously LOL MENTAL ILLNESSES: Depression, bouts of paranoia and insomnia. Severe PTSD. PHYSICAL ILLNESSES: Tinnitis. Migraines. Photophobia. Undiagnosed fibromyalgia. ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral VULNERABILITIES: Hubris and the human condition. Mortality. His family, most particularly his half-brother, Arthur Fleck. TECH & TOOLS: The Suit, ever evolving and enduring constant upgrades. The Flight Suit. The Batarang. The Batclaw. Wayne Databases. Police scanners and various filched equipment from GCPD. A modified 1969 Plymouth Barracuda. A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette C2. A modified BMW bike. A 1964 Aston Martin DB5.

CURRENTLY.

the aftermath of the flood and falcone's fall. PRESENT DAY. TBD...

IMPORTANT:

i recognize arthur fleck as bruce's canon older brother and true heir to the wayne fortune. joker and the batman are intrinsically connected; one often cannot be found without the other far behind. both are unhealthily obsessive and possessive over each other and any threats to joker OR arthur are subject to the batman AND bruce's ire. do not make the mistake of using joker against the batman; or, if you do, be prepared for the consequences. i'm very attached to abigail and jessie's portrayals and when arthur or his wife nix are referenced in threads or headcanon posts, theirs are the ones i'm talking about.

my bruce is very mentally ill. in the aftermath of the floods and bruce's revelation regarding the very deep well of criminal connections and corruption in relation to the wayne family, he's going through a very huge identity crisis. who is bruce wayne? how does he fit into gotham? can he and the batman fit together? what does this mean for wayne enterprises? these are ongoing struggles for bruce right now.

this interpretation is a younger bruce wayne, a still relatively new batman and detective, and as such the wayne estate is in a sort of limbo right now. this bruce is not the playboy billionaire businessman that most are familiar with. right now he wants nothing to do with his family name and is very much rejecting the idea that he can do much as bruce; he is far more attached to the batman and what that can do for gotham (and himself).

ALT VERSES TBD...

[queering-ecology]

Eluding Capture: The Science, Culture, and Pleasure of “Queer” Animals by Stacy Alaimo cont.

Pursuing Pleasures, Creating Cultures

“Human-animal dualisms, which reduce animal sex to a mechanistic act of instinct or genetic determinism, should be supplanted with models of naturecultures (Haraway 2003) (60), in which sexual activity is always indivisibly material and social.

“Sex in nonhumans as well as humans, is partly a learned, social behavior, embedded within and contributing to particular material-social environments” such as in an study done on male guppies with the following premise: “On a longer timescale, social environment and ‘learned sexuality’ can have dramatic effects on the expression of species-typical sexual behavior” (Field and Waite 2004) (60).

It is crucial to acknowledge animals as cultural beings, enmeshed in social organizations, acting, interacting and communicating. “An understanding of animal cultures critiques the ideology of nature as resource, blank slate for cultural inscription, or brute, mechanistic force”, this is especially important as demonization and mechanization of animals persists.

“It is no longer feasible to maintain that only humans have culture: there are as many cultures as there are species with cultural behavior because each species is neurophysiologically unique” (Hird, 2004b, 93) (61).

Bagemihl argues that among primates (including humans), “as sexual intercourse becomes more variable, sexual communication systems become more sophisticated” and thus, “it is possible, therefore that sexuality—particularly the fluidity associated with nonreproductive sexual practices—played a significant role in the origin and development of human language’ (69) and that the creation and use of tool in aid of masturbation or “the pursuit of sexual pleasure may have contributed, in some measure, to our own heritage as creatures whose tool-using practices are among the most polymorphous of any primate” (71).

“Indeed, it is difficult not to be impressed with the creativity, skill, tenacity and resourcefulness of a female bonnet macaque who ‘invented some relatively sophisticated techniques of tool manufacture, regularly employing five specific methods to creature or modify natural object for insertion into her vagina” (61).

Certain accounts however have rendered animal sex to be too cultural—the ‘reason’ bonobos have so much sex (same-sex sex included) is to reduce social conflict’. Such ideas fall under the theory of sociosexual behavior meaning “sexual in terms of their external form but…enacted to mediate some sort of adaptive social goal or breeding strategy” (Vasey 2004b, 399). (62).

Such as the idea that same-sex sex among nonhuman primates is merely ‘motor patterns’: ‘motor patterns’ “normally associated with sex are sometimes incorporated into the nonsexual sphere of social communications” (147). “Sexual motivation and social function are not mutually exclusive” (Vasey 2004a, 351) (63).

All other possibilities for the existence of sex between same-sex animals must be ruled out-- other than pleasure-- before it can be understood as sex (63). “Despite over 40 years of intensive research in populations in which females engage in same-sex mounting and courtship…there is not a single study in existence demonstrating any sort of sociosexual function for these behaviors. Rather all the available evidence indicates that female-female mounting, and courtship are not sociosexual behavior. Female Japanese macaques do not use same-sex mounting and courtship to attract male sexual partners, impede reproduction by same-sex competitors, form alliances, foster social relationships outside consortships, communicate about dominance relationships, contain alloparental care, reduce social tension associated with incipient aggression, practice for heterosexual activity, or reconcile conflicts” (Vasey 20004b, 399) (63).

The predominant scientific framework parallels the mainstream environmentalist conception of nature that is ‘both actively de-eroticized and monolithically heterosexual’ (Sandilands 2001, 176).

Erotophobia is clearly linked to the regulation of sexual diversity; normative heterosexuality, especially in its links to science and nature, has the effect of regulating and instrumentalizing sexuality, linking it to truth and evolutionary health rather than to pleasure and fulfillment (64). Queer animals allow us to challenge this concept.

Pleasure here may be understood as “materialist, naturalist, and posthumanist” performativity, that “allows matter its due as an active participant in the world’s becoming, its ongoing ‘intra-activity’” (Barad 2003, 803) (64).

[codeandcanvas]

After privating all of my posts here (I am never deleting anything, not completely, that is), I have chanced upon the capital C graphic design Community here on Tumblr, which I have instantly joined to built rapport and connection with other graphic designers and graphic design students here on Tumblr (at least with the ones who are also interested in building together and in public, lol).

You can find the community here: https://www.tumblr.com/communities/graphic-design

And since I have said before that I want to do weekly round‑ups to look at what I was doing the last seven days, this post doubles (or triples?) as that, as a fauxrst post (false first post, I like those), as well as creating something (a)new.

The last week I was building an’ changing a few things on my website, drawing inspiration from all sorts of people, all sorts of places, all sorts of nets.

I have added a couple of new pages to my WordPress‑based website, and moved around navigational links.

There is of course the page with the design links to websites and podcasts you can use in your RSS feed readers of choice, provided you do a little bit of digging (if you need some help with that, you can write me any way you like, and we’ll look into it together)

The new stuff I put in the footer, following inspiration from Scott Boms website.

I have a page for friends now (currently made up of my teachers, tutors, and professors, mostly), a page for what I am doing now, called Now (which is a really cool idea, and it fits neatly between the very thin substance of a status post, and a long form post like this one, both in size, as well as now‑ness; you can find out more about that here: https://nownownow.com/about)

But what I think is the most important addition to my website, is the page about tools, “Werkzeuge” in German.

Here I could finally dump all of my graphic design hacker tools, at least that is how I think of them.

My system consists of two pillars: new information, and how it is being stored. I believe that everyone rolls their own tools after a while. I would just love it if somebody would find some use for mine, if only to build something better from that.

The two RSS feeds linked to from the footer are neat: you have the usual feed for the whole site, but I also provided an RSS feed of my custom status updates, which you can see on Home.

These status updates are my own, most recent solution to my issues with posting, well, status updates on my socials:

you know, issues like

am I posting the same status update to every net I have an account for,

will I automate and schedule the same content everywhere and be a boring, cold machine, and

do I want to burn myself out coming up thesaurus’d variants of the same post for every net?

So now there are two ways to check (three, really) in what mess I’ve gotten myself into recently: you can check my Now page, you can look at my Statuses, or you can check it out using your own, third way.

As for my study schedule, I am glad that summer is over, because I clearly cannot function during summer. I hope with cooler days ahead, I can keep a cooler head while practicing the art of not judging what I do or don’t do. I might have gotten my degree, but I want to learn so much more.

Started reading Creative Code by John Maeda and sort of forensically/archeologically recreating the years during which it was written and printed, because these past twenty years have basically muddied the tracks quite a bit, so to speak. It is a good read.

And I think I have covered the whole week now, broadly enough.

I need to figure out which hashtags should go with this post. I need to look at the top posts for each tag I think could fit, and then consider what being in the top means for each tag I am looking at.

Eh, let’s go through this together:

huge tags first (>1 million followers)

#drawing

6.1M followers

1.3K recent posts

#artwork

3M followers

1.3K recent posts

#illustration

16M followers

962 recent posts

#digital painting

1.6M followers

157 recent posts

#digital art

5.5M followers

3.5K recent posts

#sketch

4.8M followers

662 recent posts

#traditional art

1.2M followers

448 recent posts

#graphic design

5.8M followers

this one doesn’t even show a recent posts count at all? But it feels extremely dead if you look at recent posts under that tag.

We’ll figure this out together. If it is graphic design, then I will tag it as such. If it is something else, then I will not tag it as graphic design. I think that this is a solid foundation towards connecting.

So, what is this post?

It is about my website, it is about studying, about me being a graphic designer, and about software I use. Also, it is about creative coding, generative art, a book, and that I use WordPress.

So I wonder which tags I will use? I prefer low counts when it comes to hashtags. Five sounds reasonable, nice for chunking, too,

So there. I might not be a student anymore, but that means that I have just proven to have the discipline to get my degree, so studyblr fits.

Hi everyone! Hello world.

[we-are-the-memers-mr]

neurodivergent-friendly advice on forming habits for creatives (& anyone, really) - with photos

Habits marked with ⭐ are the most important ones, imo.

A good way to build habits that you don't read in books is to make the habit desirable. You can look up the other methods (Atomic Habits and other similar books are great).

But for this one, if you're anything like my neurodivergent mentally ill butt you need things to be desirable in some way to get you to do them.

So what does desirability mean?

It means that it makes you want to do it, with energy and enthusiasm! Or at least not hate the task and yourself and everyone and everything! Something desirable for a habit may include:

Organized

Goblin tools link - https://goblin.tools

The best way to ensure you can perform a habit is to make it EASY. The best way to make it easy is to be organized. Yes this is difficult but you'll get better over time and it'll pay off with dividends of you being very likely to Do The Thing (tm) if you combine this with a few other things on this list (plus the normal habit formation stuff, but honestly loving what you do will make you way more likely to do it than tying it to another habit!).

⭐Put it somewhere easy to access that you can get to EASILY every day, preferably something you already have a habit of going to, e.g. your desk or your lounge room.

⭐Organize your digital files! Here's an example:

^ art (main folder)

^^ (subfolder, 1 folder deep) anatomy

^^^ (subfolder, 2 folders deep) female anatomy

^^^^ (subfolder, 3 folders deep) female torso...

^^^ (subfolder, 2 folders deep) male anatomy

^^^^ (subfolder, 3 folders deep) male torso...

Etc, etc.

Tl;dr (non technical speak): make a folder within a folder for each aspect of your project/task.

📂Every once in a while (can be weekly, monthly, 6 monthly, etc.) sort out your digital files. If you're no longer using that folder, put it in either a "not currently in use" folder to use again later, or if you're done with it, put it in an archive, on either your computer or (preferably) on a hard drive for safe keeping.

📂I have a "quick access" folder with all the folders I'm currently using in it. This is so all I need to do is find the quick access folder and this way I don't have to sort through a sea of dozens of random folders to find the useful ones. This is also good because there are some windows folders you can't relocate and they sit there taking up space and making it visually more cluttered. Note: Be sure to back up your important folders once every week to 3 months.

📂If you want to go super advanced, there are desktop folder kits on Etsy (and perhaps some free ones? though be careful with downloading random things, you may get a virus). They make the folders look aesthetic.

📂Personally, I use either Obsidian or Notion, depending on what I'm doing (usually Obsidian). I recently installed Askify, which can connect to both. Cool thing about it is that you can add notes from any site on the net including YouTube, it takes screenshots for you, and grabs a timestamp as well as being able to summarise the past 15 seconds of the video for you (though it usually just types what the person said, but this can be helpful). It's $3.50 AUD a month, but Obsidian and Notion are free so you can just use those if you can't afford it.

📂⭐Keep the space you're working in as tidy as you can manage. Try to make a habit of every night taking all dishes and empty drinks into the kitchen before you go to sleep.

📂⭐If you have your own space, don't be afraid to rearrange it! I recently rearranged my entire apartment and using my own cleaning advice - if you haven't used it in the past 6 months, consider chucking it out (if it's not expensive), if it doesn't make you happy, earn you money, and isn't useful regularly in some way, chuck it out - and now I'm 100x more physically comfortable, especially because I have an air conditioner next to me now near where I both work and sleep. If you have trouble visualising, try using a website to do so or draw it on paper until it feels right. Pro tip: you don't have to throw away everything, you can also donate it to an op shop/charity/homeless shelter that accepts donations if it's still usable, or you can sell it if it's high-ish quality and worth something.

📂⭐*If you can't do it today, then put it on your to-do list for tomorrow. Keep transferring unfinished tasks to tomorrow until your list is free from tasks.

📂⭐Generally good advice, especially for neurodivergents (but everyone needs to know!): take a dang break every once in a while! If you find yourself getting frustrated with something, take a break, possibly until tomorrow.

... If you have to do it today, do something to break it up, e.g. a nap or a shower. After this, give it a little while to keep cooling off if you still feel bad, then go back to the task.

... If it's something you have more time to do, stop doing it when it stops being fun/enjoyable. If you don't get fun/enjoyment out of it to begin with, stop when it's no longer interesting. Stop BEFORE you get to the point where you're pushing yourself. That is how you make yourself hate whatever you're doing and get a massive block from doing the task. Trust me, I didn't write a story for over 3 years after writing every single day because I pushed myself to the point it was frustrating to do and forced myself to keep going. Not worth it, wish I hadn't.

Sight

⭐Especially good for creative and visual types, like people who like art, design, front-end web devs, game devs, animators, writers etc.⭐

🎨Aesthetically pleasing - e.g. plugins that can change the aesthetic of programs. A good example is the extremely extensive library of plugins and themes available for Obsidian, all free to install. You can also get aesthetic Notion templates, too, but they often cost money (though you can find free ones on the official Notion template website!).

🎨Some aesthetic program add-ons include: the extensive free plugin/theme library for Obsidian (you can even connect it to back up to GitHub for free, though it's very technical) and aesthetic Notion templates - here's a link to where you can find free ones (there are other categories, too, not just for productivity) - https://www.notion.so/templates/category/personal-productivity?paid=free -------- If you want a link to my Etsy store to buy a nice looking aesthetic Notion template for university students (or a different special one just for design students!) for cheap that has better features than the free ones, go here: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/PointyBirdDesigns?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=47390214

🎨Nice colours that you like.

🎨Nice shapes - e.g. your office has a circular painting that you love the shape of (and it makes you happy to look at it).

🎨Nice visual texture - e.g. you're writing a book - consider doing it in a program that has unlimited pages and has a paper texture in the background with no ads or distractions (and can go full screen).

Smell

👃If you're not sensitive to perfumes, spraying a nice scent whenever you do the habit could make you feel happier. You may even start to associate the task with that nice smell.

👃Make sure the area you're working in smells nice. Bad smells can be major subconscious distractions.

Sound

🙉The object associated with your habit makes a satisfying sound, e.g. for writing you might want a certain type of keyboard, like a mechanical keyboard that makes a satisfying "thunk" with each key press and makes you feel like a professional writer. Some browsers like Opera GX (not sponsored) also allow you to add typing sounds directly to the browser, so if you can't afford a nice keyboard but still want a satisfying sound you might want to try that if you're doing a lot in your browser. Otherwise, iirc, there are also writing programs that might do something similar (you'll have to look for them yourself, I can't remember sorry).

🙉⭐You can use things for background noise while you're doing the task if you either have it down really low or you don't need to hear your recordings for it. E.g. for editing a video you can play very soft instrumental music (I don't recommend anything with words, it'll confuse you when they mix with your audio), or if you're doing something like sorting through paperwork you can put on whatever type of music you like or even a twitch or youtube vod/stream on while you're doing it. It sacrifices a tiny bit of optimal brainpower, but you'll likely be less bored and be able to do the task for longer so it'll likely even out, and if you're concerned, you can often do polishing touches at the end to make sure your work is good.

🙉Headphones can go a long way for focus in busy places. Noise cancelling ones can help a lot if you have the cash.

Tactile

🤗*Generally you want to be physically comfortable when performing your habit. If you can afford it/can save up and it's causing you discomfort, try to replace it. A good place to find quality furniture for cheap is your local tender centre. Sometimes op shops are good options, but they're usually more expensive. I found an amazing ergonomic chair for $100 that was worth about $500 - $600. Good things come along sometimes, just keep looking.

🤗If it's something that requires you to go outside and you can afford it, try investing in a few nice outfits to make yourself feel more confident for days when you're feeling less motivated.

🤗⭐If you're neurodivergent or sensitive to textures, make sure before you buy something that you can run your hand along it many times and not feel awful. Honestly, everyone should do this. We all have preferences.

🤗⭐Don't ignore things that make you feel uncomfortable! Why? Because in my experience it's a bit like in video games - these things stack up like debuffs. What I'm saying is, it may not be a big thing to have bright lights hurting your eyes, but if you have bright lights, an uncomfortable chair, and your environment isn't clean, this can be sensory hell, especially for neurodivergents. Write down the things that make you uncomfortable and fix as many as possible, one by one. Don't end up like your neglected sims who are very talented but are completely and utterly miserable because you don't fix the things that are bothering them and don't fulfil their basic needs!

🤗⭐If it bothers you, fix it as soon as you can. It's easy to let little annoyances pass, but just like when a sim does something they dislike, your tolerance for it will be grated until you feel absolutely awful and/or snap. This goes for things as little as your room being too cold (get a blanket or if you can afford it and have one, put the heater on!) or too hot. Do NOT screw around with things you can fix in under 2-30 minutes. If you can fix it in under 2 minutes, do it right now. If you can fix it in under 10 minutes, write it down and do it today. For the rest, add it to either a weekly, monthly, or some day to-do list. Scheduling it for a certain period of time makes it more likely to get done, though. If you're like me and can't do something when you force yourself to or are told you have to, just schedule it to be done within a certain week or month. No pressure.

Feeling

💜⭐A good rule of thumb is that you've achieved desirability when you feel excited to do the habit. If this excitement ever wears off, try mixing and matching other ways of building desirability or changing something about the habit, e.g. the prompt (see habit building books or summaries for more info). Keep it fresh! Whenever you get bored, change things around.

💜⭐Listen to your emotions. Emotions are the body's way of communicating things with you, whether it be about your environment or about your body or mental state. Sure, some are irrational, but every emotion has a story to tell. Try listening. Don't push your emotions down, learn to process them. If you don't know how, a therapist can help.

Bonus note:

Don't spend beyond your means! If you can't afford it, don't buy it! I am not telling you to go out and spend as much as you can on these things. Mid-range is usually the best bang for your buck, and can often be found for cheap in op shops and tender centres, as I said.

Good luck! If you have any bonus tips feel free to reblog this post or comment and add them!

[snowflake-obsidian-cat]

how do you make the background on the characters transparent? i'm trying to make a banner for my blog but i've never worked with WoW screenshots before.

I am not sure how familiar you are with editing software, so this tutorial is going to be detailed.

Step 1:

You need a simple screenshot of your character. Here are some ways you can get it:

a) in-game screenshot

b) Wowhead Dressing Room screenshot

c) Wow Model Viewer

d) WoW Tools

e) far stretch, but if you want to mess around with mogs, Epsilon Private Server is fantastic for that (they also support the Narcissus addon)

I prefer Wowhead's Dressing Room, so that's what I'll use. Recommendation: If you use Wowhead, use the PTR version of the page (right now it's 10.2.5) to remove Wowhead's watermarks in the background.

Step 2:

Take the screenshot of your character (Print Screen on Windows keyboard) + paste it to Paint.

Now you have your very own Screenshot with a background.

Step 3:

To remove the background, you will need an app that can do that for you. The two options I can personally recommend are:

a) Photoshop

b) Photopea (basically free in-browser photoshop) (link)

I will use Photopea for this tutorial.

Step 4:

Once you upload your screenshot to Photopea, you will need to select the character with the Magic Wand tool.

Everything you select will be outlined with a scissor line.

Step 5:

There will be some areas where the tool might 'overselect' and get bits of the background. There might also be areas which the tool will not select. To fix that, use the Lasso tool (red circle).

If there are any areas that are on the character, that the Magic Wand did not get, draw over them with the Unite option (green square). If there are bits of the background, exclude them with the Subtract option (blue triangle).

If you need to zoom in or out, hold Alt and use your scrolling wheel. It will make some smaller areas easier to see and select/deselect.

This is the most important step, so be meticulous.

Step 6:

After you mess around with the Magic Wand and Lasso tools, you will have something like this.

Now you need to remove the background completely. On the right side of the screen, there is the Add Raster Mask option. Click on it.

Voila!

Your character is separated from its background!

Step 7:

To save it, you will need to export it. Here's a quick how-to:

Press on File in the top left corner. Then Export as. Then save it as a PNG (make sure it's a .PNG as .JPG / .JPEG do not support transparency).

After that, you will be prompted again. Just click Save.

Step 8:

And here's your character, completely divorced from the background! Now you can use an editing app to put her in any background your heart desires. If you don't have any software of that sort, there are also plenty of websites that you can use.

Some that I know of:

a) Pixlr (link)

b) Canva (link)

c) BeFunky (link)

d) Picsart (link)

I often use BeFunky because it's easy to get the hang of, minimalistic and convenient to use!

At this point, only your creativity is the limit.

This is by far not the only way to do it (and not the fastest), but it's the simplest one that I could come up with.

It might seem a bit tedious, but I find it quite relaxing :3

Good luck, anon!

[theeclecticwitchblog240]

Cleansing and Protecting Your Home from Negative Energy

Written by: Sapphire Moon

Uncategorized

January 30, 2021

10 Minute read

Sometimes we have a build up of negative energy within our homes, sometimes from ourselves and sometimes from others. It may follow an illness or a disagreement, but equally could have been brought in by visitors to your home or maybe it’s left over from previous owners of the house or even possessions. There are many traditions that we can adopt to help prevent or remove this unwanted energy. We can raise our vibrations, encourage negative ions and also employ the use of various ancient practices, tools or charms. It’s important to cleanse your own energy too so that you are not constantly bringing the negativity back into your home.

Raising your vibrations

I’m not a scientist but I can tell you that we are made of vibrating particles and energy. The same is true for the world around us. We can’t see the vibrations because they’re too small, however they are there. A lowering of your vibrations can be caused when you have negative emotions, you are tired or ill. Raising your vibrations usually means that you have become self aware of your emotions and thoughts and are actively doing something to become more positive. This can be done in any way that suits you, like listening to uplifting music, reading positive quotes aloud, getting creative, going for a walk in nature, dancing, being with upbeat friends, watching a funny film or through meditation. On a basic level, raising your vibrations, means to encourage positivity into your life and thoughts.

Fill your home with Negative Ions – Salt Lamps

Positive ions are small molecules that have gained a positive charge. Most forms of pollution, pollen, mold, and other harmful chemicals in the air carry a positive electrical charge, making them positive ions. Positive ions are also created from electromagnetic fields generated by computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devices which have been linked to all sorts of health problems, including breathing problems, tiredness, headaches, anxiety, nausea, lack of energy etc..

Himalayan Salt Lamp

Negative Ions have the opposite effect on our well being. They occur naturally near water falls or moving water such as the sea, and people often notice that they always feel better when they are near the ocean. Negative Ions also exist in the ultra violet rays of the sun, in thunder storms and are even produced as a natural part of the growth process of some plants. If you can not get any rays or get to the beach, you could try a Himalayan salt lamp. These are believed to change the ions from positive to negative. Once the negative ions reach the bloodstream, they are believed to produce a biochemical reaction that increases the level of serotonin, helping to alleviate depression and stress, with the added bonus of boosting our daytime energy. Research supports the positive effects it has on cognitive performance, antimicrobial activity (killing or inhibiting the disease causing microbes), and the reduction of depression symptoms for some. There is not enough evidence to prove the other claimed benefits but many believe it really helps and belief is a powerful tool. I have three Himalayan salt lamps, one by my computer, one in the main living area and one in the bedroom. I also have several Himalayan salt, tealight holders that I can move around when and where I want. Running water features are also an excellent idea.

Smudging

People all over the world have long since used Smudging to remove negative energy from a room or space. This is an ancient practice of burning herbs, flowers or wood as a way to cleanse a space and to invite in positive energy. Once lit, the flames are allowed to die so that the embers produce smoke, this is allowed to drift through the room so that the smoke can cleanse the room and purify the area. Many believe that this is helped by chanting your intent as you waft the smoke to encourage it to reach all areas. The most common herb to be burned is sage. Scientists have observed that sage can clear up to 94 percent of airborne bacteria in a space and disinfect the air. When sage is burned, it releases negative ions, which is linked to putting people into a positive mood. So it’s good for you and your home. Don’t forget to open a window to release any negative energy. (See Smudging Page for more details). I grow and harvest sage from my own garden and will usually smudge my house once a month. If you are unable to purchase or make your own smudge stick (bound herbs for burning) you can also use an incense stick, I often use White sage or Nag Champa in the winter time.

Salt

Salt is pure and anything that is impure is repelled by it no matter what colour you use. Salt has been used for a very long time, by many different cultures and religions, it is believed to purify, absorb negativity and ward off evil spirits. In addition salt has always been used for sterilizing and preserving, it is even used today to clean wounds rather than plain water and salt baths are still recommended following some surgeries.

Salt can be sprinkled in a thin line around your property or across the threshold of all doors, in font of all windows and chimneys to deter any spirits or demons from entering your home. A ring of salt keeps your own energies in, and other energies out. A dish of salt by your bed, or a circle of salt around your bed is said to stop a spirit or ghost from appearing. It can be placed in all 4 corners of your home to dispel negativity. It can be dissolved in a spray bottle full of warm water and used as a cleaner on surfaces around your home (avoid surfaces that react to salt). Personally, I have an additional bath once a month with added salt, lavender and bicarbonate of soda as it is not only good for the skin but it decreases stress, helps with insomnia and soothes pain.

Crystals

Crystals are semi-precious stones that are believed to all have their own vibrational energy and as such they have many different uses. The most commonly used for house protection are Black Tourmaline and Selenite. Black Tourmaline is said to protect from all forms of negative energy. Selenite is thought of as a guarding stone, it is both protective and thought to bring about a peaceful and calming quality to your home. They are best placed either centrally or, if you have enough, in all four corners of your home. Rose quartz is also a favourite of many to attract a peaceful and loving energy into a home, most often used in the living area or bedrooms.

Protection Bells

Protection Bells or Witch’s Bells

Handmade Protection Bells or Witch’s Bells are said to bring positivity, break up bad energy and dispel negativity! Cleansing by sound is an ancient practice to break up negative vibrations. Hanging bells on your door helps raise vibrations through their sound, when the door is opened and closed. This simple magic is said to help keep negativity and spirits that mean you harm away from you and your family. They are also believed to invoke good energy when placed in cupboards or hung on doors.

Protection Bells are a good way for sound to be automatically created at the entrance to your home, or individual rooms, each and every time someone enters or opens a door or window. You can also use other sounds on an individual basis like ringing a hand bell, clapping your hands or playing music, this is especially good to clear the negativity from a room after a disagreement or for spaces where you can’t place anything permanently.

Hag stones

Hag Stone Key Charm

Hag stones are stones that have a naturally occurring hole in them, that has been caused by water erosion. They are said to retain the power of the sea and are known to have been used for hundreds of years. They are considered to be a strong protection tool and are still used today by many farmers and fishermen to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. In the home they are placed near to doors and if you have several, on window sills too. Hang a hag stone by your door to ward off any bad energy form entering. Tied to a key they are also thought to keep your house safe while it is locked.

Spirit House

If you think there may be a bad or mischievous spirit in your home, some cultures believe that rather than trying to banish them, give them somewhere to live. Place a Spirit House outside the front of your house on a raised platform or pillar. Spirit Houses are usually about the size of a bird house, made of wood or clay and are created as a representation of your home as an alternative place for the spirits to reside. It is believed that the nicer the house, the more likely the spirits are to move in, some people even put tiny pieces of furniture inside. Tell the spirit you live in the house now but they are welcome to move into the Spirit House.

Another similar belief is the Spirit House made from a bottle or any glass container where the contents can be seen from the outside. The bottle is filled with various items such as coloured string, wire, herbs, shiny buttons, bright pieces of fabric scraps, anything that may look interesting, closed with a cork, stopper or cap and then sealed with candle wax. When ready it can be placed up in the rafters, in the attic or on a high shelf where it will not be disturbed and then the spirit is “invited in”. It is said that you should never open the bottle again for fear of letting any spirits go free.

The Witch’s Ball

This is similar to the Spirit House bottle, in that you fill a glass ball (such as a christmas tree ornament) with strands of wool or cotton, protective herbs, crystals and charms and then seal it. It could also be made with coloured glass made in a swirled pattern or filled with coloured wax, which is heated and allowed to flow round the inside to form random markings. Many variations are readily available to buy. The Witch’s Ball is hung in entrances such as windows or inside doors. This old practice works on the belief that any malevolent spirits will be attracted by the colours and once they enter, will be forever mesmerised by the contents of the Witch’s ball. The strands inside the ball will also prevent the spirits from escaping. Personally, I think they are also beautiful and have several in my house.

Witch Bottle

The Witch Bottle has been around for centuries, it is believed they were originally made by witches to ward off any evil spirits, to deflect negative energy, curses, hexes or wrong doing away from their home and themselves. Others believe they were made my ordinary folk to keep the witches away. I think the former is more likely or many more of them would have been discovered by now. The earliest examples have been found in England but some have been unearthed in other countries too.

How the Witch Bottle is created.

A lidded or corked bottle, made of glass or pottery, is filled half way with sharp objects like old nails, bent pins or broken glass, salt and a piece of string or ribbon that has been dyed red. The sharp objects to deflect ill luck and bad spirits, salt for purification and the ribbon or string for added protection. Then urine from the householder is used to top up the bottle, so that it is linked to that person and their home. In our modern era the idea of urinating in the bottle is a bit much for some and so the practice of adding wine and spitting into it has been adopted by those who prefer not to use urine. Next the bottle is sealed, whether it is by a modern screw top lid or a cork depends on what type of bottle or jar has been used. If a cork has been used it can be further protected and sealed by the use of hot wax, dripped over, to coat and seal the top fully. The bottle is then put in a place where it will remain undisturbed. Traditionally it would be buried under a doorstep, bricked up within a wall or placed high up in an attic.

Brigids Cross

A Brigid’s cross is usually made from reeds, rushes or straw. It has a woven square in the middle and four arms that are tied at each end. It is made on the pagan festival of Imbolc which is the first of February, marking the beginning of spring, also more latterly celebrated as St Brigit’s day. It is traditionally placed over doorways and windows to ward off evil, harm, fire and hunger.

Burden Basket

Place a small wire or loose mesh basket outside your front door. Then metaphorically leave any burdens you are returning home with, in the basket, for the wind to carry away.

Red Brick Dust

Red brick dust is a cleansing and protecting powder used to clean front steps, window sills or other entrances. It derives from the ancient use of red ochre clay for sacred purposes. Used regularly in protection spellwork. A line of this red dust across your doorway protects your house from any unwanted presence and it’s use in an amulet or mojo bag is often practiced for personal protection.

Grotesque statue

You can use any statue you like but it is thought the more scary the face the more likely it is to scare away any evil spirits, negativity or ill wishers. Once you have placed your statue in a place where you feel it can watch over you and your home (it can be inside or out and best facing your main entrance), tell it what it’s duty is. Ask it to protect you, your loved ones and your house. When you get up or leave the house ask the statue to “do it’s duty” and remember to say “thank you” on your return or when you go to bed at night. I have a few watching over my home and loved ones.

There are many more practices from around the world, to bring peace and positive energy into your space, you should choose whichever practices resonate with you. You can make your own tools and charms or you can readily buy any of them online.

Stay safe and keep positive!

Sapphire Moon

Hope y’all find this article helpful. Just sharing the knowledge. I am not the author.

Blessed be!

[danglovely]

Breaking Down a Task

Before I get into breaking down Series Five, I just want to take the opportunity to explain a few statutory interpretation tools and how they apply to analyzing tasks.

The Call to Action

Both tasks and statutes usually open with the purpose. This is what you would call "recitals" in a contract and it's the reason everyone is there. Example: "Place these exercise balls on the mat at the top of the hill." This is what you're doing and if you don't do it, you haven't completed the task. However, this is the loosest bit of any task and it leaves a lot of leeway in interpretation because it's the purpose, not the win condition. Ambiguity in language should usually be held in the contestant's favor if it happens here.

2. The Win Condition

The win condition usually comes at the end and signals to Greg how the task is supposed to be graded. "Fastest wins," "most creative wins," and "fewest guesses wins" are all examples of win conditions and they should be heavily scrutinized (though ambiguity is up to Greg, so it doesn't really matter).

3. Disqualification Conditions

The first example that comes to mind is Series Fifteen where a task prohibited looking at or speaking to Alex. These should be enforced to the letter because the writer anticipated a certain type of behavior and took the time to explicitly forbid it.

-- So for the purpose of an example, let's take a task from Series Twelve:

Completely paint this space hopper green without making any mess. The entire space hopper must be green. The entire space hopper must stay in the dome. When you are satisfied that you are finished, put your hands on your hips and bow deeply at your green space hopper. Fastest and least messy wins.

Your call to action is a the first part. The point we're here for is the first line: (1) Paint the thing green. (2) Don't make a mess. While there is some strong language used, this is the part that is open to interpretation because the point is to explain to the contestant what they'll be doing. This is where they're able to argue what the task was actually trying to say.

Your win condition is the last part. "Fastest and least messy wins." This is a hard rule, but the task doesn't explain which is more important, so it's up to Greg. Some would argue he should try to determine what the task was intending to do when it was written. Some would argue that if the task meant the two factors to be weighed equally. It is Taskmaster, though so Greg is king and this is the part he has the most control over.

Finally, the DQ conditions: (1) The entire space hopper must be green. (2) The entire space hopper must stay in the dome. The DQ conditions are where the language govern the most. The second one is easy; anyone can see when a part of the hopper leaves the dome. The first one is trickier for the sole reason that it seems actually impossible to actually make the thing uniformly green. One would assume that the task writers didn't intend to set an impossible task, so this would be the sort of question that would get hashed out in the legal world over hundreds of cases until the community settled on a consensus definition of "completely green." It's rarer to see this level of ambiguity in the DQ conditions.

So, that's my too long explanation of how I sort of breakdown this interpretation. Now to rejoin the regrade, already in progress.

[majorbaby]

re: the tv tropes page it is SO bad. full on fanon being included in the character page (not even the ymmv page), like y'all. have your headcanons but please stop forcing them on everyone else

yeah in most cases i’m skeptical that ‘forcing headcanons’ on people is actually a thing that happens because 99% of the time that grievance could be sufficiently addressed if people would only curate their feeds so they see the content they wanna see, but this might be a legitimate example of such a thing. 

it is annoying because tvtropes is a great tool for understanding the technical aspects of storytelling and getting a general overview of a show and how content-making techniques can help deliver messaging (e.g. lighting, sound, sfx, camera angles). i’ve been using it for that purpose for years and i’ve found only recently that i’ve been encountering this problem more and more. 

it’s been a while since i looked at the MASH page because i’ve basically written it off, but if memory serves the character pages were pretty unreliable. it could be that people have are projecting their personal interpretations/feelings on the show (any reading will have some amount of this) but some of the reaches on there are dishonest about the text.

MASH is a show that lacks continuity and is full of gags. it is also a show from another completely different era of television and the world. without some knowledge of that time, your interpretation might be lacking. many episode titles are puns or a play on an existing piece of media from the first half of the 20th century - but you rarely see that addressed nowadays in the fandom because we’re (mostly) a different generation. there’s a difference between saying ‘radar is psychic’ and ‘a running gag on the show is that radar is psychic’ - does that mean MASH has a canonical magical realism aspect to it? no, of course not. but i sure as hell could find a way to make it seem that way to a person who has never seen it just by being a bit creative, telling half-truths and remixing things i know to be true about the show - aka, writing an AU. it’s like that “mash is haunted” post floating around on tumblr - it’s great in the format that it’s in, but on tvtropes, production flubs need to be called what they are - flubs - and not “trapper is haunting the OR” - those are the rules of engagement on TV tropes. 

the rest under a this cut because i talk specifically about one of my most be-loathed myths that the MASH tv tropes page seems to want me to believe: hawkeye the “canonical” CSA/rape survivor 

i say ‘let me leave shipping out of this’ a lot because i do get the sense that if i don’t give non-shippy examples of this happening that it’s valid for people to think i’m projecting a shipping bias onto my argument because a lot of fandom discourse is frankly, about shipping. so here: something I remember really rubbing me the wrong way about the MASH tv tropes page was how much it seemed to insist that Hawkeye was a CSA survivor. 

i am not saying that this is not viable or that it is a bad reading or even that i disagree with it as an interpretation of the source material, but framing it like it’s an undeniable part of his character that other characters acknowledge is just - it’s not there! and if canonical portrayals of survivors are important to you, I don’t see how pretending that Hawkeye is a CSA survivor and trying to convince other people of that before they’ve even watched the show is “good representation”. 

it gives way for all sorts of other misunderstandings of the show, for example, his “loose morals” around sexuality which are first and foremost about his being anti-establishment, that is something which is key to his character and tbh if you subscribe to the HC that hawkeye is a survivor of abuse then his being a scrappy, unconventional male lead who turns his nose up to traditional masculinity only enriches that HC in my opinion.