An interesting internet culture thing I’ve never seen discussed is the “shared unstated”, where someone will say an incomplete sentence leaving out the most crucial information and yet it conveys an idea or emotion that everyone just. Gets.

An example of this is when people are reacting emotionally to something and they just say “I’M” and then leave off any verbs or anything else in general. We started out with “IM SCREAMING” or “IM DYING” and then evolved just into “I’M” which holds almost no information and yet, we get it.

Another example is the recent “one of the most of all time” phrase. The first time I saw it was about a very strange looking little creature, like maybe one of those rodents with the elongated snout, and one of the comments was “one of the most animals of all time.” The crucial adjective is missing but the Vibe is present. Is it one of the most beautiful animals, the best animals, the coolest animals, the weirdest animals? Certainly not. And we all know it’s not. But it definitely is one of the most animals, which is a separate thing. Idk. It just is. We just get it. It’s the shared unstated.

i do love listmaking…

here be two decidedly incomprehensive lists based on highly arbitrary criteria — off the top of my head and in no particular order:

rattling like a bag of bones:

resonating like a bright bell:

Like, I'd be lying if I said I was into fucked up yuri RPGs purely for the game mechanics, but it's unavoidably true that Tumblr lesbians as a demographic are doing some of the most innovative rules design the tabletop roleplaying hobby has seen in years. That this often means we're getting fucked up yuri and novel ways to abuse big stupid dice tables in one convenient package is more of a fun bonus.

show me the fucked up yuri rpgs please

What, all of them? That's a very tall order!

(Seriously, though, it's a pretty broad genre. I have to confess a certain bias toward dungeon crawlers, so my reading list is mostly going to consist of stuff like Songbirds, Doll.Bod, @cavegirlpoems' Dungeon Bitches, etc. – just to cite a few I've perused recently – though I'm also a sucker for a good genre emulation piece, like @open-sketchbook's Double or Nothing or @sarahcarapace's forthcoming Violet Core.)

For good measure (and also on the non-dungeon crawling side of things) I'd like to add @kkdreamboat's Crooked Mile, the highly underrated mind bending liminal horror Dungeon Bitches supplement about being a queer 1990's punk band on the road in the rustbelt and Velvet Glove by Sarah Doom, the 70s girl-gang game that is a wonderful, kinda distressingly good game. There are so many cool sapphic leaning rpg writers and games out there!

after eight years, I finally updated my huge Historical Fashion Reference & Resources Doc! Now in the form of a MUCH more easily updated Google Doc with better organization, refreshed links, and five more pages of books and online resources.

I know tumblr hates links, but it’s worth it for a doc that I can now update with far more regularity going forward! RIP to the original, you did your duty for far longer than you should have. 😔🙏🏼

I'm so excited to announce Loish's Digital Art School! I've been working on this for a long time and I'm so glad I can finally share it with you all. This is for those of you who are looking for brushes, tutorials, and other super helpful learning content!

Loish's Digital Art School is a collection of resources for digital artists that includes video tutorials, brushes, palettes, challenges, and more. Most importantly, it’s free! I know how important it is to have access to helpful information, especially if you’re self-taught. To get access, just head on over to Loish.School ❤️

There was a Senshi’s Journal booklet with one of the Japanese manga volumes that showed Senshi’s POV on events up to chapter 51. An anonymous person posted raw scans and translation on a forum. So I figured I’d make a scanlation.

(I tried to translate/romanize some parts that weren’t in the translation, but I’m not exactly great at it).

Keep reading

When you guys have visited potential apartments, what kind of questions did you ask besides the basics like what rent and utilities include?

Here are questions I didn’t ask but should have: what does the basement look like?

What measures are taken to secure the building ?

Are the walls thin? Brief info of who lives in the building. Are they college kids? People that work through the day? Elderly? Is it a mix? Where does the garbage go?

Can I pay rent bi-weekly? What kind of fuses does the apartment use? (My fuse box is in the basement. If I blow a fuse I have to replace it myself. They screw until the box. All of which I didn’t know until it happened and I was sitting in the dark suddenly.)

Who do I call for repairs? (If it’s a private rental) Am I allowed to paint the walls? Is there any additional storage? Do you do regular pest control?

count the outlets, ask about recycling policies, ask if there’s a noise restriction (nothing loud after midnight, everything goes on the weekend, etc)

LAUNDRY FACILITIES Definitely ask about security Whether subletting is allowed (esp if you’re in college and might want to sublet for the summer) If you have a car, whether there’s parking/how much it costs What kind of heating/AC there is Procedure/response time for any maintenance How mail/packages are received/protected from theft (seriously people stealing your packages can be a huge problem) What kind of verification of your salary will they want, and in what circumstances will they accept a guarantor instead? Whether the apartment is furnished

Assuming you are in the middle of looking at/choosing between places: When does the lease start? Are you going to give preference to people based on when they can move in? Whether groups of a certain number of people get preference Really anything about who they prioritize for applications, it can save you a lot of trouble in trying to apply to places you’ll never get into

not something for asking the realtors, necessarily, but important rights you should be aware of as a tenant:

when and for what reasons are your landlords allowed to enter your home? how much of a notice should they give you before entering?

can the landlord make modifications to your home or apartment without your approval? to what extent?

what are the options and conditions for breaking your lease early if there’s an emergency? (this is ESPECIALLY important for anyone moving to a new state/considerable distance where you are not able to visit the apartment/home before you rent – students get taken advantage of ALL THE TIME with this shit)

if your first or last month at the property is a partial stay (i.e. you move in on july 15th, and rent is typically due on the first) make sure you don’t pay the full first month’s rent before you know the area laws! in many states, you are only legally required to pay for the time you are occupying the property

is renter’s insurance necessary? many apartments want at least 30k coverage, which can run a couple hundred dollars extra per year

are the landlords/property management liable for crimes on the property? for example, if your car was broken into. if not GET RENTER’S INSURANCE

Is there a pet policy? Deposit/monthly rent?

Can I get a checklist of things that need to be done/fixed to get my deposit back at the end? (They should provide this for you - do a walkthrough when you’re looking and have them point out what they want done. You’ll want that money back!!)

Check the outlets, bring your phone charger and plug it in to test!

If there isn’t laundry in the apartment, can they install a washer and dryer for a fee? (Happened to a friend for 50 bucks more, she could’ve have a washer dryer put in. What the hell it’s worth it, trust me.)

Is it a smoking complex? Some in AZ are non-smoking.

Has anyone died in the apartment? (Maybe this is dumb but I just read about someone who found out the previous tenant committed suicide in her place. Not good.)

Many of these questions can be answered by acquiring a “model lease”! This is just a copy of the landlord’s standard lease.

Most landlords will provide one on request. Some may even have one on their website.

Read any lease very carefully before signing.

Get someone else to read it over too if possible so they can catch any fuckery you might’ve missed. A lease is a legal contract you’re entering into, make sure you know what you’re agreeing to!

(Also, I personally check under each sink for mildew and I also sniff curtains, carpet, and/or paper blinds for a cigarette smell that may be stronger when the landlord hasn’t just had the windows open etc to hide it)

God this is so helpful.

{ MASTERPOST } Everything You Need To Know About Living Independently for the First Time 

Mars world map if its surface area was covered by 70% water. Place names are based on existing names. 

Credit to A.R. Battarai for the original map.

actually not emotional over graduating university, just over losing my jstor access

A registered personal account will get you free access to 100 articles per month!

Never clicked a link faster in my life.

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

yknow i never noticed the sheer rareness of images having ids or alt text on this website until i started adding alt text to my art (and trying to remember to add it to any images i post in general, especially text screenshots) and that makes me kinda sad

I feel like a lot of people just don't know how to do it or are intimidated by the prospect. I was too, actually, and I couldn't find any good guides on how to do it (beyond basic formatting) and most guides boiled down to "just describe what you see and important details!" I really wanted to add alt text bc accessibility is important to me, but I would always get kinda stumped on how to do it.

But then I saw this image, I think in a discord server, and I immediately started doing it. It kinda broke the ice for me

I feel like there’s needs to be, like, handbook for authors who post on Ao3 for effective metatext.

By metatext I mean like tagging, summary, and authors notes (especially initial authors notes at the beginning of a fic). The means by which we communicate to our readers what they’re getting into.

Because we kind of all have to learn it by osmosis and there are conventions but nobody’s really taught them at the start, so there’s inconsistencies and misunderstandings or people just not knowing things through no fault of their own.

This ends up breeding frustration and confusion and in the worst cases resentment, hurt, and aggression.

I’m severely tempted to make such a handbook and get it circulating.

I think it would do fandom a lot of good.

Good news, I’m writing it

Update:

I’m at 9680 words, roughly 16 pages single spaced, with two or three sections to go.

Update:

First draft done. 11,100 words, 29 pages with formatting

The final draft is getting cleaned up right now. I’ll probably be figuring out how to post it tomorrow.

On which note, anybody know the best way to make a PDF available online?

Okay it is done!

Go here for the PDF, or here to view the whole document as a tumblr post.

I recommend the PDF.

Related note: the post length limit on tumblr is apparently more than 13,000 words.

Worth a read; even as a long-time fandom veteran I encountered things I didn’t know were in use, like the “& Related Fandoms” tags.

Writing a novel when you imagine all you stories in film format is hard because there’s really no written equivalent of “lens flare” or “slow motion montage backed by Gregorian choir”

You can get the same effect of a lens flare with close-detail descriptions, combined with breaks to new paragraphs.

Your slow-motion montage backed by a Gregorian choir can be done with a few technques that all involve repetition.

First is epizeuxis, the repeating of a word for emphasis.

Example:

Then there’s anaphora, where you write a number of phrases with the same words at the beginning.

This kind of repetition effectively slows the pace of your writing and puts the focus on that small scene. That’s where you get your slow pan. The same repetition also has a subtle musicality to it depending on the words you use. That’s where you get the same vibe as you might get from a Gregorian choir.

Damn I made relatable reblog- bait post and writer Tumblr went hard with it. This is legitimately very good advice. 

For more neat tricks (aka figures of rhetoric) like epizeuxis and anaphora, read THE ELEMENTS OF ELOQUENCE by Mark Forsyth. It’s both educational and delightful, not to mention overflowing with wry wit. Great book. 

I’ve written like this for decades without knowing the names of the techniques. I will have to pick up Mr. Forsyth’s tome.

Things that will make your computer meaningfully faster:

Things that are likely to make internet browsing specifically meaningfully faster:

Things that will make your computer faster if you are actually having a problem:

Things that will make your computer superficially faster and may slightly improve your user experience temporarily:

Things that do not actually make your computer faster:

This post is brought to you by the lady with the 7-year-old laptop that she refuses to leave overnight for us to run scans on or take apart so that we can put RAM in it and who insists on coming by for 30-minute visits hoping we can make her computer faster.

There are people saying "what does this mean" so:

Meaningfully Faster

Faster Browsing

Faster if you are having an actual problem

Superficially Faster

Will not make your computer faster

If you are using an older computer and it is tortuously slow and you can't upgrade the RAM or swap in an SSD but you *can* install software, I would strongly recommend installing Linux.

The vast majority of people these days use computers primarily for web browsing and occasionally use an office suite. Most people don't even store their music or photos on their computers these days. If your computer is basically an internet machine that you don't use for anything other than browsing and basic word processing/spreadsheets, then there is no reason not to switch to Linux.

I would recommend installing Linux Lite, which is a well-supported, widely-used distro that most computers built within the last twenty years should be able to run. It's called "Lite" because it is an operating system that requires minimal processing, storage, and memory to run.

To do this you will need:

Here is where you can download Linux Lite.

Here is the Linux Lite help manual, I've linked you directly to the step-by-step installation guide. If you get to a step that you don't understand, search the terms that you're unfamiliar with phrased as questions like "why do I need an ISO to install linux?" or "how do I enter UEFI BIOS on my version of Windows?"

Follow the instructions for installing Linux Lite, and then you can install software on your new OS. Linux Lite comes bundled with Libre Office, which is a free office suite like Microsoft Office that has programs similar to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. It installs with Chrome, so I would recommend installing Firefox and uninstalling Chrome as soon as you're able to get on the internet.

After that you can pick and choose from a wide variety of linux-compatible software and you can use your computer as a regular computer. I'd say that it's probably a good idea to be picky about what software you install, and to try to keep your computer as lean as possible if you're trying to get a longer life out of an old device.

There are a lot of people in the notes who are saying "my computer can't even load four tabs" or "my computer can't even open the software I need to do this" and if that is your computer I think you've pretty much got nothing to lose from installing Linux. If your computer is essentially unusable in Windows then it's probably not going to be *less* functional in Linux, unless you're keeping the computer the way that it is for some very specific software you're using.

A lot of people think that they can't uses Linux because it's entirely in the command line or doesn't have a graphic interface or something, but most linux distros only look about as different to users as windows does to mac or vice versa.

This is what the Linux Lite default desktop looks like:

It's got a start menu and a task bar and folders on the desktop, same as any other computer. It's very easy to use and has the help manual installed right there as soon as you're up and running so that you can troubleshoot your way through any issues.

Really, seriously: if your computer is slow as fuck and all you use it for is web browsing, this will make your computing experience significantly better without having to buy anything but a thumb drive.

People are reblogging just the first section of this post and asking what these things mean, so I'm reblogging this in hopes that they'll see the comprehensive update in the notes.

I want everyone reading this to know that importing bookmarks from any other browser to firefox is a very simple process that will take just a few minutes. Here are some step-by-step instructions from Mozilla on how to import your bookmarks: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-data-another-browser

Hey there, if you like this post you might like it even more as an organized page on my website that can be easily printed into a PDF and shared with people without having to send them to a tumblr link and a weird thread to get the information.

The page is a little more in-depth and technical and has a bit more info on troubleshooting and diagnostics.

tweet

Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.

>:)c

May I present to you, nationalclothing.org?

It doesn't have everything, but it's still my first source when researching traditional clothing from other cultures.

There's also this resource on historical fashion: Claire’s Historical Fashion Reference & Resources

another addition as far as physical media goes there is the encyclopedia of national dress (that i still need to buy myself bc this kind of thing is super important to my sort of fantasy designing) but yes i do agree i wish there was EVEN MORE documentation on this

I found an extremely dope disability survival guide for those who are homebound, bedbound, in need of disability accommodations, or would otherwise like resources for how to manage your life as a disabled person. (Link is safe)

It has some great articles and resources and while written by people with ME/CFS, it keeps all disabilities in mind. A lot of it is specific to the USA but even if you're from somewhere else, there are many guides that can still help you. Some really good ones are:

How to live a great disabled life- A guide full of resources to make your life easier and probably the best place to start (including links to some of the below resources). Everything from applying for good quality affordable housing to getting free transportation, affordable medication, how to get enough food stamps, how to get a free phone that doesn't suck, how to find housemates and caregivers, how to be homebound, support groups and Facebook pages (including for specific illnesses), how to help with social change from home, and so many more.

Turning a "no" into a "yes"- A guide on what to say when denied for disability aid/accommodations of many types, particularly over the phone. "Never take no for an answer over the phone. If you have not been turned down in writing, you have not been turned down. Period."

How to be poor in America- A very expansive and helpful guide including things from a directory to find your nearest food bank to resources for getting free home modifications, how to get cheap or free eye and dental care, extremely cheap internet, and financial assistance with vet bills

How to be homebound- This is pretty helpful even if you're not homebound. It includes guides on how to save spoons, getting free and low cost transportation, disability resources in your area, home meals, how to have fun/keep busy while in bed, and a severe bedbound activity master list which includes a link to an audio version of the list on Soundcloud

Master List of Disability Accommodation Letters For Housing- Guides on how to request accommodations and housing as well as your rights, laws, and prewritten sample letters to help you get whatever you need. Includes information on how to request additional bedrooms, stop evictions, request meetings via phone, mail, and email if you can't in person, what you can do if a request is denied, and many other helpful guides

Special Laws to Help Domestic Violence Survivors (Vouchers & Low Income Housing)- Protections, laws, and housing rights for survivors of DV (any gender), and how to get support and protection under the VAWA laws to help you and/or loved ones receive housing and assistance

Dealing With Debt & Disability- Information to assist with debt including student loans, medical debt, how to deal with debt collectors as well as an article with a step by step guide that helped the author cut her overwhelming medical bills by 80%!

There are so many more articles, guides, and tools here that have helped a lot of people. And there are a lot of rights, resources, and protections that people don't know they have and guides that can help you manage your life as a disabled person regardless of income, energy levels, and other factors.

Please boost!