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genericpuff · 8 months

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Turns out it's been a while since I've talked about Rachel's medical fetish art so it came as a shock to people when I mentioned it in the last post (I've got quite a few asks about it lmao) So I'm gonna enlighten y'all real quick on what I'm referring to, and yes, it's probably exactly what you're thinking of when you hear the word 'medical fetish'.

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF MEDICAL FETISH ART AND DEPICTIONS OF NEEDLES!!!!

So the name "used_bandaid" is one Rachel started using back in the early to mid 2000's. She went by a LOT of different pennames back then, including but probably not limited to:

Pepper_maid

madame_issue

Usedbandaid/used_bandaid

Rach Alex

Rachel Royale

Raquel

Medical Tophat/Medical_Tophat

Frill_house

Gingerbreadcoffin (? this one's kinda weird because the link itself with this username just goes back to her used bandaid MySpace account , so idk if she ever actually used it or if it was even affiliated with her lol)

Now you're probably about to ask, "Puff, how do you know these are all her?" and that's because Rachel still had all of these accounts interlinked through her projects, primarily The Doctor Pepper Show. She seemed to change up usernames often just for the hell of it.

Anyways. I'm not gonna show much of it here because I do think it's better to leave certain things in the past, but there's a LOT of her old work that implies the stuff that's questionable/problematic in LO has always been a part of her identity as an artist (DDLG, hot pink self-insert MC, etc.)

One such example is "madame issue":

This is such a 3-in-1 smoking gun for everything we see in LO. The reference to bandaids (see: used bandaid, which was part of her URL slug for her old flickr where this drawing comes from), the hot pink color palette, and of course, the fact that this character is almost DEFINITELY a self-insert of Rachel, thanks to that shared name.

She's also stated in old commission/print posts that Madame Issue was the one print she wouldn't sell.

She doesn't explicitly say why but I think it's pretty safe to assume it's because Madame Issue is her.

We also have Eva, "the queen of medical fetish". And the tags are... pretty self-explanatory.

That said, that's as much as I'm gonna go into with her old art, because a lot of it does get quite personal with her and I don't really think it accomplishes much more to continue digging up old skeletons, at least not unless they can be seen as parallel to LO (which some of them are and I'll likely be sharing more of those ones in a later post).

That said, there ARE still pages that are accessible without the use of the Wayback Machine that advertise her as a medical fetish artist without the need for extensive digging. If you search up The Doctor Pepper Show on Google, you'll actually find a reddit thread asking what happened to Rachel's old work, and there are comments with loads of resources to access her pre-LO content. You'll also find the listing for The Doctor Pepper Show on The Webcomic List, which literally describes it as a medical fetish comic: "This is a comic set in a world where evil doctors rule, girls wear frilly underpants and people use their manners. *May I please blow your f**king head off?* This comic features Gothic dandys, EGL (Gothic lolitas) and medical fetish fashion. (Neo victorian setting)"

I'll let y'all do your own digging from here, there's a LOT to unpack honestly and while I can't keep you from doing your own research, practice due diligence with what you choose to share. Again, I don't think it's a crime in and of itself for Rachel to want to distance herself from her past as a medical fetish artist, so I think it's only really relevant to show the things that are clearly still influencing LO (like her love for the movie Lolita or the very clear sexualization of youthfulness). While we can try to leave the past where it is, she does still write LO with a lot of the most problematic features of her former identity, and it makes it all the more bizarre that if she is trying to distance herself from it all, then why would she stick with one of the pennames that's the most easily tied back to medical fetishism?

TL ; DR: Rachel started off online with medical fetish and gothic lolita art (at least as far back as we can trace it) and elements of that past are still present in LO today. Use that info responsibly lol

#lore olympus critical #lo critical #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

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mbta-unofficial · 4 months

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So you want to fix ya City, do ya?

Local activism works better and faster than any other kind, because you don’t need to go as far to get results.

If you want to understand how to make change, here are some steps.

1. Pick a Lane

Your energy is finite. One issue that gets the lions share of it will make way more difference than a lot of blogging and not a lot else about everything. Whatever your lane is, try to pick it thoughtfully and stick with it. A local issue will be way more moveable than a remote one, but the internet can be used to raise money for anything so it doesn’t need to be next door.

You’re gonna worry about other stuff. That’s ok. Let someone else handle it.

2. Lay of the Land

You are not the first person to look at this problem. Organizations exist to take this on, and the knowledge they have is indispensable to your goals. Your first step should be to be to find them: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. If you have a local newspaper, read it. If you don’t, go to your city’s reddit page and see where they get their info.

All Cities have an MPO or Metropolitan Planning organization. These are non-profits (usually) who advise the government on a variety of issues. Sign up for their newsletter. Find out when their next meeting is. Go.

Your issue will probably have an activist council, such as the MBTA ROC for transit advocates. Sign up for their newsletter. Find out when their next meeting is. Go.

Your city will likely have public meetings on the subject you are interested in. Find out when they are. Go.

If these aren’t relevant to your issue, you can go find other sources of information but you should try to find

a) a place where you can be in a real room with real people, or at least a zoom room. Watching videos and posting doesn’t count. Twitch streams are borderline, more than 200 or so viewers is just noise.

b) A place with a variety of ages. Old folks know things. they’ve been around the block. Young people have fresh perspectives and lots of energy. A room with just one is unlikely to produce a good plan of action

c) A place with racial and gender diversity. Boys’ clubs are common in politics, as are white only conversations about politics. The city is for everyone, and if you don’t have a diverse movement you will inevitably cater to the interests of your most powerful ally instead of helping everyone.

If you can’t find a meeting that meets these criteria, see if you can change the meeting that exists before starting your own. Institutional weight is invaluable and starting from scratch is possible but a challenge.

When you are at these meetings, do not worry about not understanding technical language. Take notes (or don’t) and google later. You are there to see, and also to be seen, because if you consistently attend public meetings you will recognize the same people there, and they will recognize you. Ask questions if you are given the opportunity but remember that you don’t need to understand everything right away and you will learn more by listening than by guessing.

You are there to make friends and learn, because you can’t do it alone.

3. Planning an action

If you have an idea for something that would help your cause, write it down. Then find out if someone else has already done it. (They almost certainly have.)

Make a list of steps. Ask your new friends about the steps. Revise your list of steps based on that feedback. You should do this at least once, no first draft is perfect. Assess how feasible the steps are. Replace any step that is impossible with an possible alternative. Give yourself twice as much time, money, and help as you think you’ll need. Review your steps.

Start stepping.

Be prepared to throw the steps out, but know that if you do because you had to, you will still have the time, money, and support that you budgeted. If you have to throw the steps out, make new ones. Keep going.

4. Post-op

You did it! You made it to the end of your steps. Get your friends to assess your work for you, and weigh their answers seriously. The problem is probably not gone, but it should be better. More importantly, you have built a system of people capable of carrying out an action. You know more, you are better connected. Go back to step 2. There is always more to learn, and that’s beautiful.

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sleepymccoy · 4 months

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Fuck it, Ive found myself googling topics to start a fight again cos I'm trying to write spones, so I'm creating a list for myself here. If you have suggestions please feel free to add them. You are also welcome to use this as a prompt, although I don't know if it'll really help

These are mostly nicked from other lists, so hey may need tweaking to be more star trek sci fi in vibe. But I think they suit the sort of fights they have. Entertainingly, many of the questions on these lists have already been addressed my star trek. Like, I'm not going to go into eugenics here. They have a whole arc in tos where everyone expresses their opinions on eugenics (against) (the Khan stuff). So like, those aren't included! Or questions about ubi, trek world is a successful communist, they're all pro ubi.

Anyway. I've tried to hash it down to topics where I can easily see either how they disagree, or I can see how they agree but for different reasons. And, as this is for me, I might even include some of those details too!

Is technology making us more or less connected?

Could argue either way. McCoy's only contact with his kid is via tech, so he could be in favour. Same with Spock, but I think vulcans have a lot of physical cultural stuff that form part of gathering that (American) humans don't as much. Like, incense and how the planet is a different temp to the ship. So, maybe Spock is really feeling how tech is a shadow of the real thing more.

McCoy hates and is unimpresssed by tech, and just wants to be home. Spock is perfectly happy with the perfunctory contact w his parents.

Is censorship ever acceptable in art and media?

This one is fun cos you can world build a bit with the premise. What's the art and media? I think McCoy has one of those inspected opinions, he's against censorship until you start listing terrible things then he gets annoyed cos he kind of agrees with a little bit of censorship. He doesn't think dead bodies should be shown on billboards across from schools. But he says, when asked, that he's against any censorship.

I think Vulcan has censored pre reform stuff from society quite a lot. And Spock's opinion on this is a real character choice you can make, does he agree people should only find out about history in university when you're spoon fed it kindly enough? Or does he think everyone should know?

Should we prioritize space exploration or focus on fixing problems on Earth?

This one is hilarious to me, cos they both work exploring space. But I think McCoy could get worked up over the focus and energy being on new space stuff if they're leaving hungry children behind, you know. I think Spock leans bigger picture

Is traditional marriage still relevant in modern society?

Ha! Have a great time! They'll be so off topic within a minute and just discussing their personal life that their opinion doesn't bloody matter

Is privacy more important than national security?

I think Spock is more into privacy then McCoy. Can't put my finger on why, I might come back to this

How can a good diet be used to control certain diseases?

I think the groundwork of this argument is that McCoy is having a go at Spock being vegetarian. So they're discussing broadly, but McCoy keeps slipping in how great meat is lol

Is it better to live in a big city or a small town?

Spock likes cities! McCoy likes small towns! This can devolve into a squabble about feudalism if you want to go crazy

Animal zoos: are they morally acceptable?

This is good worldbuilding too, zoos would be more rehab centres now. But Spock likes to have a go at old earth practices too just to see McCoy go red

Is online learning as effective as traditional in-person learning?

I reckon Spock likes online learning. The little freak

Is online dating more effective than traditional dating?

Heheheheheheh make them fight about dating. Make them list their favourite types of dates in an aggressive way. Heheheh

#spones #spock #mccoy #tos

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alex51324 · 8 months

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Some fairly serious news

Okay, so, I've been hesitating over whether/how/when to mention this "in public" but there are a bunch of people on here that I've known for ages, and most of y'all I don't have another contact method for, so...anyway.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned having a trans-abdominal pelvic ultrasound, which found some masses on my ovaries. These masses are fairly large--one's 18 cm and the other is 7.5--and based on that and some other findings from the ultrasound, my GP has referred me to a gynecologic oncologist. The oncologist (who I haven't seen yet) ordered some bloodwork, which is showing elevated levels of the tumor marker for ovarian cancer. None of these things necessarily always indicate cancer--in fact, what I'm learning is that they often don't know for sure whether a person's got ovarian cancer until after surgery when they get the tumor in the lab--but they aren't great signs.

I'm basically at the point where it's starting to look vanishingly unlikely that this story arc is going to end up as "those couple of weeks where I thought I might be dying but then when I finally had the appointment the Dr. was like LOL you're fine." Like, it could still turn out fine, but not that quickly.

I'm getting a CT scan on this coming Thursday, and then seeing the oncologist next Thursday. I'm pretty much expecting to be referred for surgery--probably the absolute best-case scenario here is something like, "Holy cow, these things could turn malignant any second, let's get them out of there ASAP."

So that's what's going on with me.

I don't particularly need anything now--I've got a family member to go to the appointment with me, and decent insurance, and another family member who can help out with my expenses if I have to take some time off work. If the money situation becomes more complicated and I need to fundraise, I'll let you guys know.

I'm planning to mostly use Tumblr as a place to distract myself from this stuff, so let's try to keep questions and suggestions to a minimum--if you have relevant, direct experience that is somewhat positive/optimistic in nature, that would be good to hear about, but I am a librarian, I don't need help Googling my symptoms.

Once I know what the treatment plan is, I'll probably post again to ask for practical suggestions (I've never had surgery or been overnight in a hospital before, so if that's part of the plan, I'll want some tips about what to pack and so on, and ideas for suitable entertainment while on post-op pain meds, stuff like that). But I'll ask when I'm ready for those tips.

What you can do:

If you have a relevant spiritual practice--prayer, holding in the light, sending positive energy, etc.--please go ahead and do some of that. The oncology appt. is the 21st; as far as I'm concerned, until then I have Schrodinger's cancer, so if there's a time when it's at all possible to shift the probabilities using intangible means, this is probably it. You can tell me about it or not, either way is fine.

Like I said, I'll be on Tumblr for distraction purposes, so feel free to @ me on anything you come across that might amuse me.

Also, on the distraction front, comments on my fics give me a notification on my phone that isn't a family member asking for details about my medical situation, so that's helpful. I like ones that mention a specific detail that you liked--that way, if I feel like talking, there's something there that I can reply to.

#my cutesy cancer tag #I may actually think of one later #but for now I'll go with that

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destinyc1020 · 6 months

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I think a lot of the Austin hate now stems from Jacob fans, bt i find many of Jacobs "fans" to b very fleeting. i think the voice comments will always b there bt a lot of ppl got over the unjustified rumors of him cheating on Vanessa and ppl do think he/Kaia gerbers age gap is weird (ik i do 🥴) bt Austin just got famous from Elvis last yr n I dnt really think Kaia is that relevant in pop culture so some ppl will point it out bt I think their kinda overlooked as a couple. I think over time he will b fine though his fanbase seems to b strong

Yea, the Elvis/Jacob/Austin comparisons were bound to happen, so that was a given. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I still don't really get the voice thing tbh. Yea, his voice might be slightly different, but if you compare it to 7 years ago, his voice/accent basically sounds the same. He just has an older voice now, and maaaybe a less hard enunciation of certain words probably due to the Elvis vocal training all those years. But other than that?? People drove that voice thing into the ground imo.

Look, even Tom has an older voice now. That's what normally happens when you age. Your voice (yes, even women's voices) change a little, and usually get deeper with age.

But yea, I'm sure eventually people will get over it with him just like they got over the Anne Hathaway hate...

I'll address the Kaustin and Vanessa stuff below 👇:

RE: Kaustin....

I've already talked about what I think about them as a couple on my blog several times before... 🤐 Honestly? They as a couple have always seemed a bit OFF to me (and I'm not just talking about the age gap thing ; which is cringe in itself) and idk why. Look, I've tried to like them as a couple, and her, but I just can't get over the nepobaby-ism, and the weirdness of that family. I actually used to think they were real (and maybe they are?🤷🏾‍♀️) but this year, certain things about their relationship have seemed a bit contrived and pap-heavy??

Not only that, but they barely even look like they're close friends w/each other half the time ROTFL. 😅🤣 Their vibe is so off to me lol. I'm sorry. But the gut doesn't lie. They look so bored and dead w/each other sometimes. I keep saying that Vanessa is the one who got away... 👀 Want proof? Just do a simple Google search photo comparison of his "couple" pics with V and his "couple" pics with K. That's all I'll say lol... 🤭

But hey, if they're happy, then I'm happy for them!? 🤷🏾‍♀️ Idc who he dates honestly, just as long as she's a kind person, is genuine, down to earth, and is dating him for the right reasons.

Here's some tea☕for you.... There's been some in the fandom who spilled that supposedly, Kaia went after HIM. 👀 That wouldn't surprise me lol.

RE: Vanessa...

Yea, I never fully believed the cheating rumors tbh, cuz things just didn't make sense. And no woman I know would be hanging out with the girl who her bf of 9 years cheated on her with. Add to the fact that their families (esp her sister?) still follow each other?🤔

Also add to the fact that Ash Tisdale is still SUPER close to Austin, and I know she is/was a close friend of V's as well, so I doubt she'd be hanging tight with him if he cheated on her friend like that. 🥴 So things just never made sense?

More tea ☕ for you....Take this with a HUGE FAT GRAIN of salt (because who knows if any of this stuff is true?), but word on the street is that supposedly, Vanessa was the one who broke up with Austin. 👀

IF that is true, then that would explain a LOT. Supposedly, it had to do with Elvis filming. 🤐 Supposedly, they had already broken up before the film even started filming. It's a long story.

Anyway, they seemed really happy together all those years, so it's kinda sad they weren't able to try to work things out again. But oh well! It's too late now! V is about to be a married woman (if she isn't already!). 😅

Honestly?? I don't blame her if she really wanted marriage and a family, and she didn't want to continue to spend more time waiting for him (and his career, etc) to catch up.

#sorry for the dissertation

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darkfinch · 2 years

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ik you're not here as much now (understandable) but while i wasn't as active in the leverage fandom as you (mostly reblogging stuff, wrote a couple fics a while back) but. i am also struggling with where to put my deep love for the show (it is? was? one of my favorite shows) with what i've read. is it okay to love something that caused active harm to so many people? and the answer i keep coming back to is, i don't know. i wish i didn't know about any of this, but that wouldn't undo any of the behavior or anything, and besides which, i do know, and i don't know what to do with any of this or how to feel about it and i miss what i thought the show was. we're in this together; you are not the only one struggling in light of learning this. sending love and good thoughts for you <333333

<3<3<3<3 hey, thank you, it’s. a rough and complicated time, what DO we do with all of that love. like the love’s still there it’s still THERE but where do i PUT it. where does it Go. sigh

honestly i think the big Wall i keep hitting re: this is…Redemption? like there’s an alternate universe here where this is a show that ended 10 years ago and was allegedly created in a really toxic, harmful environment, but which was created by a Lot of people who all contributed to creating something that ended up being really wonderful. and in this alternate universe, i can see being able to be like…okay, i’ve never watched this show Legally, i can be Aware of this and Talk about this and just continue to not give money to the creators, and not interact with the cast and crew, and maybe that would be enough

Except that now it’s not like…ah yes we collectively wish hutton a very [redacted], now it’s “these people who were fostering this entire Environment and harming people are all still employed and still work together on new projects, one of which is leverage redemption, which arguably came into being in part as a result of people contributing to fandom and sustaining Interest in this show”, which now duct tapes Fandom Interaction to the ongoing relevance of this media property and the continued employment of the specific people named in that article, and like, hhhhhhhhh that’s my brain making blender sounds thinking about all of it

i also wish i didn’t know, i am also glad that i do know, i also miss what i thought this show was (and not immediately seeing This when seeing these characters) (and not having to, like, stare blankly at a series of google docs like “which will drive me insane faster: trying to finish these for the sake of finishing them or Leaving Them Incomplete”) it’s. yeah. i don’t know. there was a rug it has been pulled etc

very glad (comforted? encouraged? sad?) to know other folks are also struggling with this (i.e. that it is Not just me), i know some people have jumped ship completely, some have gone on haitus, some are like “yeah this isn’t an issue for me” and are continuing as normal, i personally am sitting in the half-collapsed pillow fort i built in a cozy corner of this fandom and being very sad about it. what do we do with the love!!!!! i do not know.

very grim times, sending love & kind thoughts to u also thank you VERY much for your message and i hope things get easier for us <3

#not glad that folks are struggling but glad that im not alone in struggling #just gesturing at my pillow fort like ''but we built this!!! but it was good!!! but we built it!!!!'' and sighing a lot #still on here lurking for Chatting With Pals purposes but i just dont have anything to fucking Say except for occasional tag ramble misery #just really sad. just really really sad #finchtalks #i think part of the reason i'm having trouble Cutting Ties is bc i was so Deeply burrowed into a specific peripheral Niche of the fandom #where it was 93% fanon and 7% canon at Most this was exclusively aus and baseless character background speculation #writing about quinn's grandma and moreau drinking wine poolside and the fictional pets of leverage #and its like. so many people had so many good thoughts and did so much work and put so much Love here #and now it's just. gone? we just have to leave?#i joked a lot about how we were gonna build this house of quinn brick by brick but like. we did and it was good and now it's gone #IT'S A BAD TIME

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likeadevils · 1 year

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I was trying to find out timelines for one of my favourite artist's songs(not taylor). So can you give some tips? What is the first things you do while trying to find a date? Anything I should remember?

oooh good question

so, first tip, there's various different ways to be useful--one of the reasons this project has kept my attention for so long is i can do it in so many different moods. some days i just want to organize everything, some days i want to compile a bunch of links, sometimes i want to read old interviews, and sometimes if i'm lucky i want to actually use my brain to connect all the clues. don't get in your own way, just follow your gut

step one: organization

i find my spreadsheet set up very useful and i wouldn't be able to keep track of everything without it-- i would say my must haves are track, title, written, recorded, writer(s), producer(s), misc credits, and location recorded (for example here's 1989).

you'll want to set up some sort of key for how certain you are of the date (i do white text if i only know the general timeframe, red highlight if i have no idea where the date comes from, yellow highlight if its a shaky source, and green highlight if it's certain). i also like to color code everything else so i can quickly see basic information but that's just me being extra

in my experience genius has a list of most credits, and if not this website is super thorough (kinda a beast to sort through tho)

i add also add comments to each song and copy paste any quotes from taylor or her collaborators that i think might be useful to figuring out when it was written

step two: interviews interviews interviews

youtube is a gift from god-- i have a folder for interviews from each year and it's so nice (a good place to start is literally typing like, taylor swift 2006 interview, and following that rabbit hole wherever it will lead you), and when i'm in the mood i'll watch them.

old print interviews are a bit easier to find in taylor's case-- taylorpictures.net has a whole section dedicated to it, and i've noticed a lot of other big pop girls have something similar. if not, i've literally google searched "taylor swift interview" gone over to tools, click "any time", change it to custom time frame, and just crawled month by month through target years.

i'd say start with articles around the release date of the album and then work backwards

if you get tired of crawling through a bunch of interviewers asking about literally anything other than the art at hand, search interviews with the producers about the artist, and they tend to be more on track

step three: social media

use twitter advanced search to search specifically your artist and words like "studio" "writing" "guitar" "piano" "song" "album"

i like to add relevant posts to my spreadsheet like this

but i also have a full sheet for just taylor's old posts

if your artist is also insane and deleted all of their old posts, then wayback machine is so helpful

step four: when and where

a fair amount of the work comes down to figuring out where the artist was and when they were there-- especially if your artist works out of multiple studios

location stuff can get a bit icky, so personally i don't track stuff until two years have gone by, and even if you want to steer clear of candids you can still gain a good amount of information from public events only-- most artists are constantly touring, doing interviews, maybe attending award shows, stuff like that, and its useful to keep track of all that

again, the wayback machine is super useful-- most artists have an events page on their website, and smaller artists especially will add almost every television show appearance they have to it

Misc tips

CITE AS YOU GO

get around paywalls by copy pasting the link into the wayback machine

in general, i've gotten so good at googling because of this project it's insane-- check out this article to get more specific search results

i've also gotten crazy good at creating and using spreadsheets-- check out conditional formatting if you don't want to manually color code stuff

go one album at a time, at least until you've gotten a feel for it

have one or more work sheet on your spreadsheet- you'll need to format/sort stuff without worrying about screwing up everything else

i do this all in one massive spreadsheet with little individual sheets inside of it for each thing i need to keep track of, but like. i've literally opened up the sheet and then used my computer as a heating pad for period cramps. so do what that what you will

A rough date is easier to organize than no date-- get something down, and then you can refine it

#asks*#sorry for taking so long to answer #timeline*

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mr-ambiguity · 1 year

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Digital Witchcraft 101

When you’re researching witchcraft and Paganism, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that there’s One Right Way to do it. When I was a baby witch, I thought adhering to Wiccan traditions and principles was the “correct” way. My first few months of research were filled with fantasies of elaborate altars carefully arranged with God and Goddess symbols and elemental objects, high-energy rituals for the sabbats, and an emphasis on incorporating various herbs, oils, and incenses into my practice. I looked online trying to find a wand that was both beautiful and inexpensive. I wondered where in my tiny cluttered room I could set up an altar. I tried my hand at keeping a Book of Shadows and planned to fill it with all the spells and correspondences I could find.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with these practices, and if they work for you, that’s fantastic! But it’s also important to acknowledge that magick isn’t one-size-fits-all and some methods aren’t accessible or feasible for everyone, for a variety of reasons.

Magickal tools like wands, athames, crystals, and tarot decks can be expensive, making them out of reach for witches who are unemployed or living in poverty. Ritual work tends to require a lot of focused physical and mental energy that witches with chronic illnesses and fatigue simply don’t have, as well as being time-consuming to perform. And, like myself, many witches are living in homes where it might be unsafe to reveal their craft to family members, which means that magickal tools and fancy altars aren’t an option.

Fortunately, non-traditional witchcraft is just as powerful and effective as the “traditional” stuff. (Sometimes even more so, because it allows you so much freedom to customize and figure out what works for you!) One of the most accessible and versatile tools available is digital technology. If you’ve got a computer and/or phone, there are tons of ways you can use them for your practice. Here are just a few ideas that could be useful to witches at any level of experience.

1. Digital Book of Shadows

I think most of us enjoy the images we see online of super-detailed grimoires and journals. The fancy leather covers, scrawling handwriting, stunning artwork, and beautiful border designs. The tables of correspondences and hand-drawn moon phase calendars. Beauty and detail like that makes people excited about witchcraft! It’s basically the bullet journal inspiration of the witchy world.

But if you’re like me, looking at those gorgeous flip-throughs on Tumblr and Instagram can also feel overwhelming. Not all of us feel great about our art skills. Not all of us have the time it takes to handwrite pages and pages of spells and lists. (My arm starts hurting after a few paragraphs of handwriting anything, to be honest.) If you have nosy or controlling housemates, a physical book might not be safe to keep. And physical grimoires can also be tougher to organize. I always worry that I’ll have something to add after a designated section is entirely full. I may be a witch, but I can’t just magickally make another blank page appear where I need it.

A digital grimoire or Book of Shadows, though? Easy to maintain.

Using a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs can make organization a breeze. As an example, I use Google Docs for storing a lot of my witchy information, split into their own sections: Correspondences, Deities, Holidays, Ideas/reminders, Journal prompts, Spells/rituals, and Tarot/divination. If you do a lot of research online, you can copy and paste relevant information into a document within seconds instead of copying it down by hand. You don’t have to worry about running out of space, either.

You can still personalize a digital version by using colorful fonts, copying and pasting pictures, and taking advantage of the templates offered by your word processor.

2. Digital Spellwork

One advantage of using your device in your magick is that the electricity powering it adds an extra boost of energy to your spells. I like to visualize the cord keeping my laptop charged also charging up my magick. This can be helpful for us witches who have issues with energy regulation and fatigue.

There are also countless ways you can cast spells with a computer as your tool. Some witches use social media likes and sharing to charge and cast their spells. Others use emojis to symbolize their intent. I’ve personally used my desktop background as a symbol with the intention that the spell will charge whenever I look at it. If you’re into writing magick, you can type up a quick incantation and activate it either by saving or deleting the document. If you’ve got witchy friends, you can cast and charge by messaging each other.

There are even more ideas out there that I haven’t listed. Get creative. Take a look at the built-in abilities of your device and figure out how you can harness them to focus your magick.

3. Digital Divination

I am, above all else, a tarot witch. I was unintentionally doing digital witchcraft long before calling myself a witch when my teenage self started using a website that gave free computer-generated tarot and rune readings. It was how I first started learning the meanings of the cards and where I first connected to tarot as a divination system.

Years later, I still take advantage of free online readings from time to time. This is especially true for moon phase readings — I can never guarantee that I’ll have the focus and motivation needed to clear off my desk, get out a deck and tarot journal, and do a full spread. Using computer-generated readings and typing my interpretations is a lot easier sometimes, particularly on days where my depression is strong.

There are plenty of other ways to use technology as a divination tool. You can use random word or writing generators for insight. Your digital music library is all you need for shufflemancy (the practice of using shuffled songs for divination). Word processors are ideal for quick-paced automatic writing sessions. Get creative and see what you can come up with.

4. Digital Worship

For those witchcraft practitioners who work with deities, there are plenty of ways to honor and interact with them using technology. The number one method I’ve found is the use of e-shrines. If you don’t have the space or you’re unable to be open with your practice, e-shrines are a great alternative to physical altars. All you need is a digital space where you can leave prayers and offerings.

Any social media site can house an e-shrine, but my personal favorite is Pinterest. I have an entire board dedicated to the deities I work with where each deity is given their own section. You can put anything you want on your shrine — I personally save any quotes, photos, and artwork that remind me of them. Your deities will appreciate the time you put into collecting such posts. An e-shrine also serves as a space where you can go to connect with your deities by reading or viewing things that remind you of their energy.

I know that looking at others’ elaborate methods of practice can lead to frustration and self-comparison. Even though I’ve gotten better at embracing my own unique way of making magick, I still often feel a pang of envy or inadequacy when I see those gorgeous Instagram altars packed with massive crystals, expensive tarot decks, and bundles of herbs and flowers. I sometimes worry that my magick won’t be as effective without all the traditional tools.

But the most important lesson I’ve seen and learned since beginning my practice is this: there is only one absolute essential you will ever need in witchcraft and that is you. Your magick comes from within. Any tools that you use in the process are simply there to help you focus your intention. That means that there’s no shame in using whatever options are available to you. If you want that added focus and your computer or your phone is all that you can or want to use, go for it. I promise your magick will be just as powerful and beautiful.

#magic #magick #technology #technomancer #paganism

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icharchivist · 10 months

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I knew Sakurai voices Cloud, which is never not funny to me, man is everywhere (rip though, his own actions have greatly tainted my enjoyment of his work), but I wasnt aware Suzuken was in FF as well! Amazing. According to Google he was Zack (your cruuuuush ha ha, I am bullying you <3), so again two characters voiced by these two men who have a weird thing going on. That is objectively hilarious

THE FACT YOU RECOGNIZE ZACK AS MY CRUSH. HELLO. HELP.

BUT YEAH. YEAH.

*grabs your shoulders gently* you have no idea. how much this fact is haunting me.

Like i started playing gbf because a picture of Percival got my attention, but, i cannot stress enough, those two were almost the reason i got into granblue because a friend got into my DMs like "holy shit Icha you're never going to believe it."

See, the ending of Crisis Core has been something that like. actively changed the direction of my life? like i'm not even kidding it's that drastic. A friend dared me to play the ending of Crisis Core and that, if i cried, i would have to play the whole game, and at the time, i was very much thinking video games were a waste of time and everything bc of my mom's teachings (i was like 12 okay), so i scoffed and thought yeah alright. And i was such a mess because of the ending of CC my life changed drastically after that. (and considering how ff7 in particular changed my life and helped me through horrible times, this is pretty telling.)

The reason i'm bringing it up is that the ending of CC is "Zack dies trying to protect Cloud, who at this point is in a coma, and Cloud manages to crawl to Zack's body to hear his last words, while still lethargic, and Zack just manages to tell Cloud by the end that Cloud has to keep living and be his living legacy (especially to counter the fact Cloud tends to have suicidal idealization esp in the result of his grief later on)". (all of that with the knowledge Cloud is going to forget all about it bc trauma).

And it ruined my life. it genuinely ruined my life. I ended up becoming obsessed with this concept of "becoming the legacy of the person you loved, who died to protect you". "living legacy" was part of my url in the way back.

And i mention it, but, i have a Zack/Cloud playlist and one of the song in it that kills me the most is called Saturn by Sleeping At Last. It's relevant.

AND SO.

MY FRIEND. MY BESTIE. SWEETHEART OF MY LIFE. (who also followed me because she loved the way i talked about Cloud at the time. despite the fact she didn't know anything about ff7 back then she just loved my enthusiasm. She's still my bestie to this day).

Just one day hit me up like "Icha..... do you know that in Granblue there's a ship that fits Saturn by Sleeping at Last too? Literally a Living Legacy ship???"

I legit had my friend SUMMARIZE ALL OF WMTSB TO ME. in early 2019 before i even considered getting into gbf (i made an account in August and started playing in November of that year.)

and a few weeks later suddenly she hits me with "WAIT I DIDNT TELL YOU THEY'RE VOICED BY SAKURAI AND SUZUKEN"

And i was there. my life ruined. never fucking recovering

For the record if you didn't check the link those are the lyrics of Saturn:

*grabs your shoulders still gently* do you realize. Do you realize the amount of psych dmg i have been taking ever since i got into granblue fantasy. The stuff that has been following me.

AND SO. "Character A is [indisposed] and Character B dies trying to protect them. When Character A wakes up they're not in the best shape, but they manage to crawl to Character B's dying corpse to hear their last words, in which they're told to keep on living and carry on the legacy of what they used to do before that". APPLIES TO BOTH THOSE DYNAMICS. DO YOU THINK I EVER RECOVERED FROM THIS.

So yeah this is like, actually a source of a whole lot of my pain reading wmtsb, and i can't bring it up all the time, but it literally follows me. I'm fucked.

Honestly very touched you managed to connect the dots on how haunting it is for me. My life is a joke.

#ichareply #ichafantalks gbf #ichafantalks ffvii #anonymous

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year

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I didn’t do one of these last week because honestly, I had a shit week and didn’t want to do anything except passively consume this media so it could serve as a fleeting distraction. But good news! This week’s been less terrible and I am excited for the new episode.

Thoughts on Taskmaster s15e06, written as I watch it:

- I wish Ice Pie were a game you could buy and actually play.

- Mae and Kiell’s prizes this week are a perfect example of whether things should be judged on effort or achievement. Mae put a lot of thought into theirs – I assume a producer actually put it together, but still, they had to think of how it would work, what to put on it, and the creative idea itself. Kiell clearly just Googled entertaining bathroom accessories and found one. However, playing a piano mat with your feet on the toilet is definitely more fun than possibly brushing your teeth with hand cream. So which do you reward? (Kiell, you should reward the person who followed the remit, but it is unfortunate.)

- Love how consistent Frankie has been in making no effort to have his prize relate to any of the categories. He clearly just grabbed a bunch of stuff, mainly items that could function as wall art, and then found incredibly tenuous connections between that and the list of categories. In this case, the connection being that some people light candles in a bathroom and also light candles when using a Ouija board, and presumably a laminated board would be good in a room where things get wet sometimes. But it’s barely a connection, he just wanted to show people that he has a Ouija board with the Bee Gees on it.

- I expected to be able to follow up the previous point by saying “And here we have a contrast to that, seeing someone who thought long and hard about the category and found something that fits it perfectly.” I expected that because Ivo was next, and he always has something he’s carefully chosen to meet the task’s specifications. Except this time. He just wanted to show people a scale model of the Titanic. Fair enough, that’s pretty cool.

- Contestants have been accused before of using the prize tasks to get rid of stuff they don’t want. Jenny Eclair may be the first Taskmaster contestant to admit to using the prize task to get stuff she does want, not by winning it off other people, but because she can just ask the production staff to procure a prize for her and they’ll do it. The equivalent of putting it on a rider. I’m pretty sure Jenny Eclair can afford a cleaner for a mouth brace, but that’s still quite a funny idea.

- It’s a good thing Frankie Boyle is very unlikely to win this whole season, because it would be a tainted victory, by the fact that he keeps getting over-scored on these prize tasks that are cool but have no relevance at all. I’d love for him to win an episode, though, and would be just fine with it if that over-scoring leads to a win in this one.

- “Imaginary companion”. So, the best friend task from Taskmaster NZ, but in a way that will seem even creepier since they’ve left out the dummies entirely?

Frankie Boyle may make no effort to match prizes to categories, but he’s been pretty good so far in the pre-recorded tasks, at reading the task carefully and matching his efforts to the rules about what you’re supposed to do to win. And then getting indignant when others are rewarded despite failing to do so. I respect that, given that that would be 100% my strategy if I were on there, to the point of sacrificing entertainment for it.

- I know in Taskmaster it’s usually ideal if you see five different approaches to each task, but in this case, I find it quite funny that they were given something relatively open-ended, and Kiell, Mae, and Frankie all chose to do almost exactly the same thing.

- Good God, they are really going for it. Worth remembering that these three do know how to do that. Mae Martin’s sitcom Feel Good was a comedy-drama with a lot of legitimately dramatic – one could certainly say poignant – moments. Kiell’s primary job is as an actor rather than a stand-up. Frankie Boyle did a Beckett play last year. This was a good task to give to that group.

- Watching Mae try that hard to cry is quite amusing.

- Saving Ivo for last again, as he mentioned on last week’s podcast that they do a lot. For a variety of reasons, but few of them involve him doing well.

- I don’t know why, but I’m also finding it very funny to watch Jenny Eclair pretend to trim hedges.

It’s the way you can see several centimetres of space between the saw and the leaves. Like they told her she’s not allowed to actually touch them or it’ll ruin the bushes. And that she has to wear goggles. Health and safety.

- “I’m going to have to get an other imaginary friend now!” sobbed by a middle-aged woman wearing goggles: also very funny.

- Ivo going to the trouble of getting a tiny sponge and tiny car to add to this scene of his tiny friend cleaning cars with him is 1) respectable commitment to the task, and 2) I’m sure he does exaggerate the whole “boarding school boy who could always wanted but failed to have his father love him” persona in his stand-up, but that persona does put another layer on him helping a smaller version of himself work on a smaller version of his car and tell it “I’m so proud of you.”

- Well, Ivo was the only one to not actually kill off his imaginary friend, but may have actually been the most poignant one. Well done.

- Wrote the above point just before seeing this:

Yes, exactly, Greg, that’s what I thought.

- Frankie was over-scored in the prize task, but I think he deserved the five points this time. He really pulled out those Beckett play skills. This episode might finally be his to win.

- Right, okay. This is one of those tasks that makes me immediately want to break down what I’d be thinking about if I had to do it. Tongs, right? You’d have to go to the kitchen and get tongs so you could shake the egg next to your ear and tell which ones are real. If you find a raw egg, boil it. I would definitely involve knives and tongs. Wasn’t this a thing Bob Mortimer claimed he could do, along with the apple thing? Shell an egg in one go? Probably even he couldn’t do it without hands, though. I wonder if he could do it with gloves on.

- And Ivo has put gloves on, solid strategy.

- I’d love to say I’d have a smarter way of doing it than Jenny just cutting it in half, but I can’t really think of one.

- Ivo, not at all for the first time, bringing some Mark Watson energy to Taskmaster. Like when Mark Watson stared at the briefcase saying “I don’t know how to open it, and I don’t quite know what to do if I can’t.” Ed Gamble once commenting on the podcast that in some of Mark’s tasks, he’d just stand around with an aimless look on his face while anxiously considering and rejecting options, and you could see the look on Alex’s face that says… at this point it doesn’t really matter what you do, Mark, but we you to do something. We need you to do something because this is my TV show and it depends on you doing anything at all within this timeframe. That’s what I’m thinking of, when I see Alex tell Ivo:

- Jenny chewing on eggshells is some impressive commitment to Taskmaster. Also, I think her strategy’s not bad. A spoon might help matters, as would gloves like Ivo wore. But it’s not bad.

- Worth noting that no one said the egg had to disappear, Jenny just chose to eat it anyway. But her getting those “crunchy bits” probably helped her score, left fewer bits of shell on the table.

- Even though it turns out that egg was already hard boiled, I wonder if boiling it again would help. Would an egg come apart more easily if it’s wet and has recently been heated and then cooled a bit?

- What the fuck did Kiell find? Was that just put there for this task, or are those tools always there? If it’s the latter, why don’t they incorporate those into every task? That’s the same way I felt in the season 13 task when Sophie Duker used handcuffs – if those are in the shed or whatever all the time, they could definitely be used more often.

- Well, I thought Frankie had a good strategy, dropping them in water to see which is the most hard boiled. And then he immediately just cracked into it with his fingers.

- Kiell got stuck with the raw egg when he cracked it accidentally, but he could still have boiled it before cracking it further, right? You can boil an egg even if it has a slight crack in it. Actually, would have worked even if someone hadn’t ended up there accidentally? What if they put the egg in boiling water, and then just chipped at with a knife while it was still in the water? And then the boiling egg would break apart naturally inside? I don’t know what I’m talking about anymore, I think I’ve stopped making sense but there was an idea there at first. For some reason I’m really interested in finding a proper way to do this task, and the first four contestants have not helped.

- Frankie has made far more egg pieces than I normally would even if I were not trying to keep it together for the sake of a task. To be fair he can’t touch it with his hands, but I think I’d do better than that even with a towel on my hands, and even while not being on Taskmaster, just trying to peel an egg normally. This may not, in fact, be his episode to win.

- Okay, to be fair to Kiell, that seems to have worked a bit. Good job finding the weird tool.

- “You’re looking for a raw egg, because then you can get the egg out in one. You can make a little hole, and then you can blow the egg out in one.” Well, Alex just told me the solution to the task, but I don’t like it. I don’t even really know what he means, how do you blow the egg? This is reminding me of Mawaan thinking he could fill an egg with helium, which I believe we all agreed was bullshit.

- Oh God, Mae, what the fuck? I have suddenly remembered Rob Beckett’s thing where he can peel a banana with his feet and likes to show that off on panel shows. That’s not great. Please stop this. Mae, every other person worked out a way to manipulate the egg with their hands and just not touch it. You are smarter than this.

- And now they are using their mouth. Mae Martin has forgotten about the existence of tools, or even of cloth.

- Mae has remembered that pins exist and mentioned making a pin-sized hole in a raw egg, like Alex said. What are they talking about? Is this actually a thing?

- Okay, now that I see what happened after Mae broke the egg, I realize the raw egg probably is, in fact, better than a hard-boiled one. I was so stuck on getting the egg properly boiled because a hard-boiled egg is better than a soft-boiled egg, because the shell will come off faster. So stuck on that that I forgot how with a raw one, you can just split it once down the middle, and then pour the egg out instead of worrying about splitting it all around the egg. Which is basically what Kiell and Mae both did accidentally. Obviously.

- Ah, I see. I’d thought they’d all be different levels of hard or soft boiled, but in fact, it’s just one raw one and four boiled ones and you want the raw one. Because I forgot about the obvious thing that you can just pour a raw egg out of a shell. I think I now have less grounds for judging Taskmaster contestants for forgetting the obvious, because for some reason I got really into working out the answer on this one, and I still forgot the obvious, which is that you can just pour a raw egg. Sorry I spent so much of this post writing about my theories on egg peeling, everyone.

- Second “Do not touch the astroturf” task of the season. A classic for a reason.

- Mae has found one gold shoe and is looking for another. Pretty sure I’d just put that one on, pick up the ball, and hop on one foot to the bell. Or is that not allowed? It did say “Unless you’re wearing gold shoes”, so maybe only having one on doesn’t count as wearing “gold shoes” plural, even if the other foot never touches.

- I enjoy Jenny having “Why would you do that to someone?” as her catchphrase. Amazing that it took fifteen seasons for that to become someone’s catchphrase, really.

- Okay, now that I actually look at it, hopping on one foot all the way to that bell would be tough. Doable, but tough. Noel Fielding would be good at this. Actually, given that Noel was famously wearing golden boots when he hopped on one foot across the grass, I wonder if this is an intentional homage to him.

- Well done, Mae. Decently impressive athletic achievement.

- Jenny’s having a good time. Turns out watching someone kick a bowling ball is always amusing.

- I might try for being the slowest if I did this task, though that’s a risk. A risk either way though. Find the gold shoes and then wait until the last second of the allotted twenty minutes. At least you can control how close you are to the end; you can’t get right up to the beginning.

- Well, Frankie has the black and rainbow straps touching the green, and those are not gold shoes. And Kiell has not touched it with his hand and knee. That can’t be allowed.

- Hang on, are they just allowed Kiell? Is the argument that he only touched the underside of it and that’s not the green? But I’m pretty sure that still counts as part of it. And they debated in the studio about whether Frankie’s contraption was golden, but not about 1) the fact that the straps were not and they touched the green, or 2) the fact that they were not shoes. Yeah, I want Frankie to get his episode win, but they should both be disqualified.

- Ivo last again.

- Ivo cooking Alex breakfast is amusing, but I think it would be more consistent with his stand-up persona if he instantly took the option of throwing money at the problem.

- He put it down! He put it down on the thing! They’d better not allow that, that was definitely something besides gold shoes and the bowling ball touching the green.

- Ivo’s non-gold shoes have now also touched:

They’d better not even consider counting this one. This should be five points to Mae for doing it fastest, four to Jenny for doing it slowest, everyone else disqualified.

- Ah. I got so caught up in my litigation of this task according to the letter of the law that I forgot the word used was technically “grass” and not “green”. Putting Jenny out of contention as well. And Kiell unequivocally out. And Ivo out for like four different reasons. And in light of those gross violations, Frankie’s are looking less bad. I mean, technically you could argue that the straps are part of the golden shoes that he made.

- The contestants switching sides about Frankie’s shoes in the studio, based on when it benefitted them, was amusing. I’ve been won around, the straps could be part of the shoes. Also, Frankie’s in with a shot at an episode win.

- I’ve managed to avoid mention how hot Mae Martin is for this entire post (for some reason, I instead spent most of it trying to work out strategies for pulling shells off a boiled egg, while forgetting that you can just pour raw egg out of it), but can I throw in one mention of the extent of their focus and competitiveness as they begin the live task? Because that’s pretty good.

- Oh I am enjoying this live task so much. I think they should scrap all the other live tasks and just play this one every week.

- Stage we’re at in the battle of Charlotte Ritchie’s husbands: the look Mae instantly gives Kiell over their shoulder when he fucks up by touching a chair.

- The saga of Mae Martin turning that intense focus on a beeline for one chair, even their high levels of competitiveness not being enough to shove a middle-aged feminist pioneer off a chair, and instantly changing tactics to grab the other chair right out from under Kiell:

Kiell should have had that one based on who was closest, Mae was just quicker and better. I know who’s winning the battle of Charlotte Ritchie’s husbands.

On the other side, we have a somewhat similar story with Frankie having his closest chair taken by Ivo, but reacting quickly enough to get to the next one before Kiell. Well done.

- And Frankie Boyle shares none of Mae Martin’s hesitation about shoving middle-aged women:

I love everything about this screenshot. Taskmaster should sell a poster of it as merch.

- What an image. Every face is perfect. This screenshot, subtitle included, should be printed on billboards to advertise the show.

1) I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Frankie Boyle give off “befuddled old man” energy before, but he might have a bit here, as he sat on his chair and realized he sat down too early.

2) You can see Ivo’s chair move a bit, which means he definitely it on his way past, which means he should be disqualified too and Mae should win.

3) Whether this disqualify Ivo or not, Mae (who has a great facial expression here - Ivo might have been fooled in the split second of adreniline into following Frankie, but Mae was focusing very hard and is clearly aware that they’re wrong) went into this task one point ahead of Frankie, and he can’t beat them anymore, so there goes his shot at the episode.

4) What word did Frankie think got said, in the line “Right in”, that started and ended with the same letter? Or was it just Greg’s delivery, saying it so dramatic made him think he had to move, as can happen when you’re really concentrating and ready to make a split-second decision? Honestly, I love this task. Play it every week.

- To be fair, I guess the round ended the moment Frankie sat down, so hitting the chair afterward doesn’t have to count against Ivo. And a Mae vs. Ivo final sounds like fun, so let’s do this.

- How fucking quick is Mae? They and Ivo were about equally close to the front of the chair when the word “little” got said, so that wasn’t even luck, as it could have been if it had been said while one was in front of the chair and one was behind it. The two of them started with a close to equal chance, Mae was just that much quicker. Fucking hell. Before today, I don’t think I’d have counted “really good at musical chairs” on my list of things that are attractive in a person. But here we are.

- Well, I managed to get to the final task before going overboard with my “screenshotting the entire episode” and “constantly talking about how hot Mae Martin is”. Kept it fairly well in hand before that point. I still can’t believe I forgot that it’s easier to just pour liquid out of a raw egg than to crack a shell off of a hard-boiled one. Fun episode. That egg thing is going to stick in my mind, though.

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copepods · 1 year

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hey, I’ve heard over the grapevine that you’re a fan of Star Wars. I’ve only ever watched the first released movie and the first season of Mandalorian, but I would like to get more into it. However, I don’t know what order to watch the movies and all of the tv shows and extras etc etc. do you have any recommendations?

sure!

if you're interested in watching the movies, i'd recommend watching them in the order of release- A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, then The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, then The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and the Rise of Skywalker. some of the movies are definitely worse than others, but i'll leave it up to you to decide which ones you like more lol. if you want to watch shows, i'd recommend watching the movies first, since everything uses them as a basis. there's also Solo and Rogue One, which both take place in between the prequels and the original trilogy. you can watch those after if you want, or not at all if you aren't interested.

the Big TV Show in my opinion is The Clone Wars, which has 7 seasons and takes place in between AOTC and ROTS. the creator, dave filoni, is the big guy behind shows like The Mandalorian right now, so i'd recommend watching that first if you want a reference for some of the characters that appear in the later shows. of course, TCW is pretty freaking long, so if you don't want to watch all that there's plenty of watch guides on google that give you the most relevant episodes and what order to watch them in. if you give the show a go and don't like it, that's fine! it's not required viewing, it just gives some added context to everything that happens in later shows. it's also really really good, esp after the first 2 seasons.

there are a lot of other tv shows as well, and you can kind of pick and choose which ones you want to watch (or all of them!) but it's definitely up to you.

Star Wars Rebels takes place shortly before the original trilogy (ANH-ROTJ), so if those end up being your favorite movies, check Rebels out! the new Ahsoka series is going to be a sequel to Rebels of sorts i believe, so it'll give some context if you want to watch that too.

Star Wars Resistance is one that takes place during the sequel trilogy (TFA-TROS), so if you're a sequels fan, that adds some new characters and fleshes out the resistance a little more! i haven't seen it so i can't speak for its quality but there's not all that much supplemental content for the sequels, this is pretty much the big one.

The Mandalorian takes place after the original trilogy but before the sequels. if you're interested in watching more, go for it! it's not required, though. a lot of characters in the 2nd-3rd season are from Clone Wars and Rebels, though, so keep that in mind!

The Bad Batch takes place after the prequels, centering around some clones that made a brief appearance in The Clone Wars. if you want more clone-centric content, you might like this one! i haven't watched it for personal reasons (a lot of the clone designs were horribly whitewashed) but feel free to check it out.

Tales of the Jedi is a relatively new one, that adds some supplemental content to characters from mainly the Clone Wars and the prequels. episodes kind of span all over the timeline. it's relatively short, so if you like the Clone Wars, feel free to give it a shot!

Kenobi focuses on Obi-Wan, and takes place before the original trilogy. to my knowledge there's really not all that much stuff in here that comes from other shows, it's a pretty self-sufficient one. if you like obi wan (i certainly do), give it a try :D

Andor centers around a character from Rogue One and takes place before it. i haven't watched it yet myself, but i've heard it goes into a lot of deep and interesting territory about fascism and how the Empire works, and Rogue One was one of my favorite movies, so i'd definitely recommend it!

edit: I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING there's also The Book of Boba Fett! has characters from both the original trilogy and The Mandalorian, id watch if you're a fan of those :D

that's all the main stuff out right now to my knowledge! there's also a ton of books, video games, etc that i'm not even going to begin to list off, and then the whole Legends canon that disney retconned (which i know next to nothing about), etc. i hope this suffices!

#this got super long oops #star wars #asks #anon

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kithtaehyung · 2 years

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Hey Ryen, J here with another question, but this one is relevant to your writing process. Do you track your writing sessions? I started doing it in 2019 after I saw Marissa Meyer do it and I thought it was such a great idea. I just use google sheets, but i have catagories and I fill them out during and after each writing session if I can remember. I love it because I can see my creative process on paper. I can see when I'm most productive, what gets me writing the most, and I can note things about each session or leave reminders for next time, and at the end of my project I can calculate how much time I actually spent on each project, etc.

Like for me, the catagories on my tracker are "date, time started, time finished, total time, page #start, page #finish, WC (word count) start, WC finish, WC added, what I accomplished, goal(s) for next time and notes"

It's something I've enjoyed doing on my bigger projects, and thought if you didn't maybe you would too :) - J

Whoa, that’s amazing!! My writing process is totally not that organized LOL i’m glad this works for you because dang, that’s some good shit. Love how it’ll give you so much insight??

For me, I’ve tried tracking stuff like this before (for studying) and it doesn’t work😂 for some reason, psychologically, it would stifle my creativity or progression because i’d need to keep track of other things instead of just writing (this is also why my docs are the most basic shit ever bc otherwise i’d get lost on best font, banners, etc.💀)

but it’s literally just a personal preference! a mix of chaos and plainness is where i thrive lmfao just imagine a desk of scraps and a desk of journals where i just continue where i leave off🤣

#it’s so bad but it’s how I go #as soon as i stopped putting focus on anything else besides writing #i’ve gotten way more productive #but this sounds like a great method if you wanna see insights or progress!#j!#on writing #*ryenfictalk #mailbox💌

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maracujatangerine · 2 years

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Hello!! I love your comfort-style writing and Coriander story, your whump recovery is honestly some of the best I've read (especially your collaboration with @whumpzone). I wanted to start a whump/recovery story page, but I wasn't sure how to start and go about creating a story and I'm not entirely sure of how to navigate my page to begin with. Any advice or tips for me? Anything is greatly appreciated! (no pressure ofc)

Hi! Thank you very much! I’m very happy to hear that you like my writing. 🥰 (I’m also tagging @whumpzone so that she’ll see the praise!)

This is just my five cents and I think there’s lots of ways to go about this, so feel free to use what you like and discard the rest. ☺️

How to create a story:

People have different strategies for writing, some are discovery writers who have the loosest of plans and then just write and see where that takes them, others make elaborate spreadsheets and mind-maps where they plan out everything they want to happen in their story before they start to write, and most people fall somewhere in between. This is a matter of personal taste and you could experiment with both to see what you like.

When I started writing about Lydia and Coriander I had the idea that I wanted to write a gregarious caretaker with lots of friends who also got involved in the whole recovery process, I knew that I wanted to try my hand at putting my own spin on some of the tropes that I had seen floating around the Box Boy Universe (First bath/First meal/wound reveal and treatment/etc) and I had written my very first post. After that I just improvised. 😁

Nowadays, I keep a few notes on new chapters I want to write and where I want the story to progress to, but I still mostly improvise. My advice to you would be to think a bit about the main characters, what you want them to be like, to think a little bit about what you want to happen in your story and and how you want to put your own spin on the recovery story, and then just start writing and posting. Just jump in! 😉

How to navigate your page:

You can only pin one page to the top of your blog and Tumblr only allows a set amount of links to each page. I made this master list first and when I had more links to posts than I could fit, I made this master list. (I see some people use Google Docs to keep longer master lists together, but I read Tumblr on my phone and that doesn’t work very well for me as a reader, so I don’t recommend that.) It is really important to have and update a master list so that people can find your work. I like to have chapter numbers, too.

How to get good engagement?

(I have got this question before by @poetryofdory and I’m reusing my advice to them here.)

The following are things that I think can help:

- Keep a good and updated master list of your work so that people easily can navigate your blog and find more of your writing.

- try to use relevant tags and to find tags which are popular in the genres you write in so that new people can find your stuff.

- In the beginning, I posted quite often, like every few days, and I think that made people find my writing more easily.

- interact with other people’s writing and be generous with commenting, reblogging, writing asks and so on.

- do participate in common events (such as Whumptober in the Whump community), it will help people discover your writing.

- people often do a post where they introduce themselves and tag their favourite blogs. I think that is a good idea because lots of people will see it. (And people get really happy to be acknowledged.)

- I think it is possible to try different times for posting, to make sure you post on a time when people are active and will see it. I also see some people reblog themselves for different time zones. (That requires a good master list not to get confusing.) I have never done any of those things because to me it seems too much like work and this is a hobby that I want to keep fun and stress-free, but that is one idea to try.

Best of luck! I’m looking forward to reading your writing!

Perhaps other people would like to share their thoughts and advice?

#writing advice #whump community #writeblr #whump writing #writing #thank you for the ask!#bbu #box boy universe

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kashacreates · 2 years

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hi there! i really want to be a part of writeblr, people asking questions is the top thing that helps me develop my wips, but everyone knowing what i'm working on terrifies me at the same time... especially since i'm a teen writer; i'm worried i'll deem my projects "cringey" in the future and then not be able to do anything about it because it's immortalized on the internet. do you have any advice on how to get over this, or any good "baby steps" to take when interacting with the writing community? thank you!

To start: Mechanical basics of getting started on Tumblr:

Make your blog. Keep it simple. Blogs are kind of disposable, but pick a URL you like. I went with KashaCreates because people call me Kasha and my Creations go here.

Set a header and icon, but use something that you made or is free to use for those things. There are like picrews that work for icons or stock photos if you don't like to draw. (Or you could do what I did and take some stuff out of your scribbles that looked nice) No icon makes some people think you're a bot. Worry about theme later unless you really want to work on it now.

Make an intro post and pin it. Start with simple info: a name for folks to call you, what you like to read/write, etc. I'm not a fan of putting exact age (who wants to update their stuff every year?), but as a minor, it's helpful to put some indication that you are not okay with nsfw/adult/erotic blogs interacting with you.

For the rest, there are a lot of good helpful tips here!

Put anything you may want to delete later under a "read more". It's the orange icon that pops up when you start to make a post.

If you ever want to figure out how to do something on Tumblr, Google is your friend. Just make sure to put the current year and whether you're desktop or mobile in the search. So "How do I make a readmore on mobile 2022." Google will still give you a ton of old ways to do so, but you'll eventually find some relevant post that'll tell you how to do it.

Pretty themes, aesthetics, images, etc. help, but are not necessary. They are a lot of work and do make your blog less accessible.

Tangents

This is like the third time I've wrote this, so I apologize if it's a little rough. But there are a few truths and ideas that I feel are important. Keep these as a general rule for the internet, not just Tumblr.

The internet isn't as permanent as people say it is. Websites get purged, hard drives die, servers get abandoned, etc. Always keep a local back up or two of your content, keep your passwords and 2FA up-to-date, and so on. Most of us don't go viral enough for people to keep an archive for us.

A tight-knit group of 2-5 peers who all share their work and comment on it is 1000s times better for growth than the faceless sea of social media.

You will eventually see your project as cringey, bad, problematic, etc. And that is okay! Future you has more life experience than current you and hopefully has been writing longer than you too. I wouldn't get too worked up about it (if possible).

Everything is problematic in some way and life has a ton of nuance. Very few things are black and white and you are the only person that can draw that line for yourself. Not your parents, not your teachers, not the president, not the news, not me. Keep an open mind, but still critically think.

Make the content you enjoy making and understand that you may not get a lot of interaction. Chasing validation is a quick way to burn out and losing the drive to create.

You get a lot more interaction in giving rather than posting content and sitting by receiving. You kind of have to make opportunities for people to find you.

Last Tangent, but it needs it's own section: Adult Blogs and NSFW Content

I am sure you know this and I'm preaching to the choir, but it's important for me to state.

Try to avoid blogs that handle nsfw content until you're over 18. Also, don't post nsfw content until you're over 18. Don't privately talk to someone you don't know and/or is over 18 about nsfw things. If someone tries to bring that stuff up to you in DMs or privately, block them.

It is perfectly okay for you as a minor to have interest in such things. But it is dangerous for everyone involved for adults and minors to share nsfw spaces. Any responsible adult that makes such content will try to keep their content a respectable distance from teens. Anyone that doesn't should be avoided.

It's not a matter of "uwu teens can't handle such content since they're smol beans and babies." I know teens do things on their own.

It's a matter of "some adults are fucking monsters and there is 0 way for anyone to know who is or isn't. Also, any adult can get in massive trouble for interacting with a teen in that way(for good reason)."

On that note, this ask made me realize that I need to put in my intro that my blog does handle "spicy" content (tagged, but still spicy). I tag everything.

Of course, I'm in no way offended, put off, or perturbed by your ask.

It's just that my work has adult content and I put no effort into filtering my posts on my blog to call it "minor friendly." I'm also human and make mistakes.

#advice #Just imagine me saying everything in a gentle matter-of-fact tone.#I feel like I don't give the advice people are looking for in these advice posts.#But I also feel that the information's important?#It's better to go in with an idea of what's going on than not.#Like I'd want to know to bring bear mace if I were to go hiking some place with a hungry polar bear roaming around.#I most likely will never see the polar bear-- but I'm prepared in case it sees me.

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purplesurveys · 1 year

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1658

Are you Guilty or Innocent of these things?

[A/N: Bold means guilty, no bold means innocent, italicized means ehhhhh sometimes I’ll be guilty of this but sometimes not.]

Liking pineapples on pizza I hate pineapple in general so they never go on my pizza. I’m also personally not a fan of the whole pineapples-on-pizza thing but if I see other people preferring them then it’s whatever.

Not drinking enough water I do skip water the whole day then drink a whole bunch of it in the evening, which isn’t the healthiest habit. At night I can probably reach 5-6 glasses.

Calling sick a lot at work Like, using up my sick leave credits? I rarely do so if it wasn’t a legit situation. Generally I also just rarely take leaves as it’s hard to get behind in such a fast-paced industry.

Leaving the dishes to "soak" in the sink a little too long It used to be a habit but not anymore. I hate leaving stuff out for too long and it makes me feel more at ease the sooner I clean up after myself.

Putting things off until last minute Yeah pretty much in all aspects where this is relevant. The only time I’d say I’m not guilty of this is at work because I’m super rigid with deadlines.

Not being able to keep a secret Depends. I’m mostly innocent and can keep a secret but there are exceptions where I can’t help but tell Angela. Making plans and canceling This was sometimes me in college, which I know is SUCH a shitty behavior; but I don’t do this anymore. I’ve experienced people canceling on me hours before said plan and I hate it so I avoid doing it at all costs.

Making impulse buys Yeah...hate this habit. Like I’m always 97% likely to buy something on impulse if I feel like I have extra money on me. A couple of months ago I got a bracelet I knew I was gonna lose in like two weeks anyway (I really did lose it eventually).

Having trouble saying no to others Yup, ESFJ struggles hah. I have a desperate need to please others all the time even if it comes at the expense of my own convenience.

Over spending Very guilty but I’m actively trying to address it now. I haven’t spent on anything in nearly a month, especially after I had to shell out 12 grand for my dog bite vaccinations.

Gambling I have never gambled and will never consider doing so.

Stealing something I’ve stolen an abandoned pen here and there in school, but it’s never gotten anything bigger or more serious than that.

Singing in the shower I’ll occasionally hum extremely softly but I’ve never broken out into song.

Sleeping naked I’ve done it a few times with a partner but I wouldn’t do it on my own.

Making New Years resolutions you can never keep I never make resolutions in the first place.

Being arrested I’ve never been arrested. Pulled over and gotten a ticket, sure; but not arrested.

Not studying before taking tests Might be the Asian in me but that just feels so wrong, lol. I always skimmed over my notes one way or another for every single exam or quiz.

Making up fake reasons to get out of plans with someone Not anymore but I did this a handful of times in college back when I had a partner and wanted to hang out with them instead (ew), or when I’d suddenly get hit with a wave of social anxiety.

Googling your symptoms Well, yeah. I kinda do that for every single inconvenience I experience with my body hahaha.

Peeing in the woods Have never done that.

Regifting a Christmas gift you didn't like Not guilty and would never consider doing this. I always get plagued with thoughts of how the gifter would feel if they found out.

Locking your car keys in the car You know what? Considering how clumsy and forgetful I can be all the time, it’s a miracle this hasn’t happened hahaha.

Road rage Ugh very guilty, especially in college. I know it’s not an excuse but Metro Manila traffic can be extremely frustrating, guys. Couple that with the fact that Filipinos are generally super inconsiderate and unpredictable on the road, and it all makes out to give you just a very stressful experience altogether.

Buying more books even though you have books you havent even started yet I don’t do this with books but have occasionally done this with notebooks in high school.

Wearing pajamas out in public Innocent. I did bring my BTS pajamas for the theatrical premiere of Yet to Come Busan but ultimately didn’t change into them because I got too shy and was afraid that people were going to judge me for wearing pajamas in public haha.

Breaking something and then lying about it For sure, especially when I was younger.

Ignoring phone calls and watching the call until it stops ringing Guilty but I don’t feel guilty about it. Message me first, you rude weirdo.

Petting every dog or cat you see As tempting as it can be, it’s potentially dangerous, so mostly innocent. For pets I’d typically just wave at the dog, then for stray aspins I would pet and interact if they seemed accustomed enough to people.

Cheating at a board game Eh, innocent. I don’t like playing board games anyway.

Dropping an ice cube and kicking it under the fridge I know it melts and evaporates and all but am innocent, that just seems so gross to me hahaha who knows the gunk that hangs out underneath the fridge...if I drop an ice cube I just drop in the sink and let it melt there.

Lying about your age Guilty, once. I wanted to try my first margarita, so I ordered one at 17. The waitress could immediately tell I was a minor though and I was shot down when I couldn’t provide an ID.

Watching cartoons as an adult Guilty, but again I don’t feel guilty about it haha. I literally watched a few Spongebob episodes with my sister yesterday.

Sneaking your own snacks into the movie theater Bringing in your own food in the cinemas here in the Philippines is allowed; you don’t need to sneak anything in.

Littering Innocent. I don’t get what’s so hard about putting your trash in your pocket or bag first.

Cutting your own hair Innocent, that’d be a recipe for disaster if I were ever to do it myself.

Looking for your phone when it's in your hand It’s definitely happened more than once; with my glasses, too.

Folding laundry but never putting it away LOL yeah. Why can I never manage to put it back in my closet? :((

Blocking people you dislike on social media Guilty but unbothered. I get annoyed fairly easily and a block is the quickest and most satisfying way to deal with people.

Giving someone a fake phone number Was never stuck in a situation where I had to do so.

Buying clothing that you never wear Yeah, guilty. It’s always the clothes that looked good on the mannequin but didn’t end up suiting me.

Putting a christmas tree up before thanksgiving Not relevant to me; I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. My family does put up our Christmas tree in October, but that’s because that’s the practice here in the Philippines. You’d be the weird household if you only put Christmas stuff up literally in December hahaha.

Spending hours on TikTok watching videos TikTok edits are cringey for the most part, but I can spend hours going through IG Reels since the videos there are more straightforward.

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