Most Things Start Small

all the trans boys and nb people who are going to get ‘girly’ presents

all the trans girls and nb people who are going to get ‘masculine’ presents

all the lesbians who are going to be asked why they don’t have a boyfriend/husband

all the gay boys who are going to be asked why they don’t have a girlfriend/wife

all the closeted kids who are going to have to listen to their families being homophobic, transphobic, and bigoted 

all the lgbt kids who have to spend time with their abusive family members

all the lgbt kids who are spending christmas alone bc they are unwelcome around family

all the trans boys and nb people who are going to have to dress wrong and will be misgendered

all the trans girls and nb people who are going to have to dress wrong and will be misgendered

Cats weren't domesticated by force, they met us halfway out of their own free will, on their own terms and on an equal level. Yes, they're dumb as shit. But they make accommodations to living with humans all the time, they know you don't speak cat so they try their best to communicate in ways that you'd understand. They do their best and you do yours, and that's what it's like living with a cat.

cats set boundaries and they will absolutely defend them with violence. don't trust anyone who doesn't think that's extremely cool of them. people who hate cats specifically hate that they can't dominate cats.

Fucking iconic. It would also allow suing rapists and domestic abusers with awards starting from 10,000, where if the case is won, half the money goes into a fund for women seeking abortions in other states. It’s modelled exactly from Texas’s unconstitutional bullshit bill. Anyone who opposes the constitutionality of this bill would also be calling into question the anti-abortion bill.

You know what the really obvious answer is to the problem of police procedurals? In the sense that people clearly enjoy the tropes, the varyingly high stakes, the feel of a competent highly-trained organized team doing good together, the variety of storylines you can get, the operational style, etc, but are sick of copaganda?

SAR procedurals.

Why do we have seventeen thousand police procedurals when we could have this instead???

Search and rescue procedurals would solve all the problems actually.

Like, you get that well-oiled machine thing. You get the radio protocols. You get the sense of organization, of rank, of a command structure, but without them being cops. Hell–in an SAR group you can even have the much-maligned plotline of “someone goes off the book on a hunch and ends up being right” and still have consequences attached to that but not, like, an intrinsic argument for routine violation of human rights.

You get the case-of-the-week and the variety; I feel like this is why firefighter shows don’t get nearly as popular, because there’s only so much variety you can get out of “there is a fire” compared to all the things that can go wrong in a police procedural (or an SAR show, especially if you were clever about where you set the story.)

You get the recurring diverse cast and their interpersonal relationship developments, and pretty much every cop show archetype slots gorgeously into an SAR group as well.

You get the wide variety of possible stakes; SAR teams sometimes have intense heart-pounding time-sensitive missions, sometimes they have lost hikers who are almost certainly fine, sometimes there’s suspicion of foul play…Christmas episode about returning a lost kid to his family against all odds, anyone? Sometimes there’s a search that’s been going for weeks and someone has to call it and be the bad guy…you could get GREAT drama over two team organizers butting heads about how no, dammit, we’re not calling in the cadaver dogs yet, we’re not giving up like that–

(Oh yeah also you can have some great canine recurring characters.)

Instead of “internal affairs is the bad guy because cops being held accountable for their actions is evil” you can get, like….tension between the rookies and the human remains detection teams, because if you’re new to the SAR culture you may not understand or appreciate the work that HRD dogs and their handlers do, see above re: the sense of giving up. You get the opportunity to engage with real-world issues and social justice but like, without them being cops. The world is your fucking oyster.

Hello Witches!

Today I writing first post from cycle about Magic of Incenses. Today all about symbolic of scents and a few general things. Let’s go!

Generally, incenses are use in almost types of magic or in some religions. It’s usually used in rituals, but you can burn some incenses without important reason, for example for well-being.

Incenses are made from plant material, it’s mixed with essential oils and so-called “base” - it may be some sawdust or powdered wood.

Incenses are in three forms: granules (called raw incense), cones and sticks (most popular form). Granules are traditional form and is usually used in magic ceremonies. If you want use it, you need small pieces of charcoal.

In Wicca incenses are use as symbol of Air. They are burn in honor of the Gods and you can evocation ghosts of Air. They are burn for increase the power of spells. In Witches groups incenses are burn for create magical atmosphere, good for divination, meditation etc. too.

For burning your incenses you can use special holder or censer (it usually looks like three-legged cauldron with handle). You can do it yourself too, but be careful - if you are beginner in modeling things with clay or something else, better for you will be buy your censer.

Symbolic of incenses scents (many things have similar functions):

Acacia - stimulates psychic powers, usually used with sandalwood.

African Vial - protects you, but in magical circle stimulates spirituality and sometimes makes miracles :)

Aloe - gives you love and luck, stimulates spiritual vibrations and forces

Alpinia Officinalis - reverses bad spells

Althea - stimulates psychic powers, but also protects you

Aniseed - used during meditation

Basil - protects from demons and bad spirits, gives you love, happiness and good luck

Bistort - usually used with Boswellia, supports divination

Boswellia - banishes negative spells, emotions and feels. Cleanses magical places, helps in meditation

Cedar - purification, stimulation of your psychic powers, gives you love, prevents nightmares

Chinese Rose - gives you love

Cinnamon - protets you, used in healing rituals

Citron - used in healing rituals, strenght psychic powers

Clove - destroys negative energy or spells, cleanses magical and sacred places.

Coconut - protection

Fern - if you throw it into fire, it will be rain. Gives you luck and protects you.

Fumitory - cast out demons, malicious ghosts and evil powers

Ginseng Root - protection against evil in every form

Heather - gives you protection of good ghosts

Inula Helenium - makes you power of clairvoyance and ability of divination with glass sphere intensive

Jasmine - gives you love, happiness and money. Gives you prophetic dreams too

Juniper - stimulates or increases your psychic powers, reverses bad spells

Laurel - gives you money, you can use it if you want to have prophetic dreams

Lavender - good sleep and rest, destroys nightmares and gives you love

Mastic - calls good spirits, stimulates psychic powers, increases magical powers of spells

Mint - increases creativity, banishes evil powers, gives you money protection of good spirits

Myrrh - usually used with Boswellia, purification, sanctification, healing, destruction of evil. Mirra also helps you in meditation.

Nutmeg - intensification of psychic powers, used in intensive meditation

Patchouli - gives you money and love

Pine - destroys negative energy, reverses bad spells, gives you money.

Polygonatum - Wiccans used it as sacrificial incense

Prosopis - is usually added to healing incenses

Rose - brave, prophetic dreams, gives you love. Used in love rituals and spells.

Rosemary - spirit cleaning, healing, destroying nightmares and depression, making your sleep good and calm

Ruta - healing

Sandalwood - banishing demons and evil spirits, gives you protect of good spirits

Strawberry - gives you love

Thyme - you can use it before rituals for clean place of ritual, gives you health

Pteridium - if you throw it into fire, it will be rain.

Star aniseed - also used to stimulate or intensify psychic powers

Vanilla - gives you love, makes you concentrate

Verbena - banish evil ghosts

Wisteria - protection against all kinds of evil

Wormwood - healing, banishing negative energy

Autumn 🍁 Magick

• Draw sigils on your homework! If you can`t draw them with a pencil, then do it using a white pencil or an eraser, so they won`t be visible

• Add magic herbs to your lunch. For example: basil for luck and happiness, rosemary for wisdom, etc.

• Not just a study tip, but a general one: you don`t need expensive crystals for your intention. Normal rocks work very good too! I like to use black ones for protection

• Cast a simple protection or luck spell. It can be as easy as just lighting a candle of your choise

• Productivity spells! Here`s some

• Herbal teas, there`re a lot of recipes. Remeber to be careful with herbs if you take medications, natural doesn`t mean safe

• Cleanse yourself after school

Not just the NYT, this is just how the press operates in times of crisis for state power.

Citations Needed also has a good episode on the manufacturing of crime narratives when it comes to BLM and defund the police: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/citations-needed/id1258545975?i=1000531000934

THE FAIRY CHILD

By

Lord Dunsany

From the low white walls and the church's steeple,

From our little fields under grass or grain,

I'm gone away to the fairy people

I shall not come to the town again.

You may see a girl with my face and tresses,

  You may see one come to my mother's door

Who may speak my words and may wear my dresses.

She will not be I, for I come no more.

I am gone, gone far, with the fairies roaming,

You may ask of me where the herons are

In the open marsh when the snipe are homing,

Or when no moon lights nor a single star.

On stormy nights when the streams are foaming

And a hint may come of my haunts afar,

With the reeds my floor and my roof the gloaming,

But I come no more to Ballynar.

Ask Father Ryan to read no verses

To call me back, for I am this day

From blessings far, and beyond curses.

No heaven shines where we ride away.     

At speed unthought of in all your stables,

With the gods of old and the sons of Finn,

With the queens that reigned in the olden fables

And kings that won what a sword can win.

You may hear us streaming above your gables

On nights as still as a planet's spin;

But never stir from your chairs and tables

To call my name.  I shall not come in.     

For I am gone to the fairy people.

Make the most of that other child

Who prays with you by the village steeple

I am gone away to the woods and wild.    

I am gone away to the open spaces,

And whither riding no man may tell;

But I shall look upon all your faces

Pointing or touching with one of the fingers has long been associated with blessing and cursing. In Scottish witchcraft, a simple curse is performed by pointing with the index finger, while a simple blessing performed with the thumb, during which the witch speaks a version of the charm, such as the following:

Ill may thee thrive, and ill may thee stead.

The sticks of hell light on thee,

and hell's cauldron mayest thou seeth therein,

thy bones to rake about the stygian banks.

In the Devil's name, I pray it.

Or, alternatively:

Well may thee thrive,

and well may thee stead.

Blessed waters refresh thee,

and the cup of life mayest thou drink thereof,

thy blood protected from shore to shore.

In our lady's name, I pray it.

+Well Water: healing and self care elixirs and potions

*note: to collect this water you must first make a shrine to honor the Guardian of that well facing North or West. This should be done on a full moon and you should leave an offering there or outside somewhere every full moon if you intend to use it for healing. The night you make your shrine you should take your vessel for creating these healing potions (usually your tea pot) and soak the entire vessel in water from the well in a bowl out in the moon light. Then let it air dry and you can use it from then on. Every full moon you should at least pour some drinkable water near or on the shrine as a thank you and rinse your vessel in water from your well (aka the sink in most places that have one).

+Snow Water: working with death and the changing seasons, to bring drastic and destructive change, to imbue someone or a place with a deep cold

*note: collect in any bowl during snow fall (do not pick up snow to use) and let the water sit and freeze overnight and thaw in the morning.

+Dew Water: collected from baneful plants it can be used in curses and hexes, collected from trees like oak trees used for protection and strength related spellwork

*note: use gloves when collecting from baneful plants and don't ingest it. Use the water quickly before it evaporates.

+Tap Water: water from the tap comes from a specific source in your city so this water can be used to connect with the Water Guardian deity of that water source and used for healing people and nature of the area

*note: the shrine mentioned in the well water portion is advisable here as well, although not required.

+Storm Water: torrential downpour storm water holds the energy of the storm itself and can be used in destructive magick and connecting with storm or weather deities, to bring chaos and disruption to someone's life, if a lightning storm the water can hold the energy to destroy life or property

*collect in anything but I don't suggest drinking it. I have collected it many times and it always looks pretty iffy to ingest.

+Moon Water: connect with moon related deities, healing feminine physical and emotional issues (please note I mean feminine sides of oneself not an exclusionary female gender only concept; although this water specifically heals physical female issues as well), adding the spirit of the water to spells for adding potency, as a base for alchemical works or making sacred waters, as a base for creating Hallowed Water, for space and altar cleansings in lieu of smoke, add to ritual baths for potency

*note: moon water is collected in a sacred vessel attached to the end of a long wooden pole or staff. Then this vessel is dipped and raked across the reflection of the moon in another body of water (ponds, pools, rivers, etc). This is done 9 times from each of the Four Quarters after calling them and their Guardians to the rite. Then the staff with the water is left outside where it will consistently have the moon's light on it for at least 3 hours. Do this on the Full Moon for the full 3 days of the moon's cycle. Moon water in a jar in the window sill is a wiccan or modern witch concept.

+War Water: Hallowed Moon water that has rusted nails, metal shards, screws, etc added to it. It must sit for at least one full year to potency. After that year the water is ready to use and can be added to and the metal pieces are left inside. This can be used to break small hexes and curses or to remove curses and imprints from previously owned items.

+Saining Water: use to intensely cleanse a space and remove unwanted spirits or imprints from a home. The recipes vary but utilize well water, moon water, jalapeno water (cut up fresh jalapeno and let sit in a jar of half water half white vinegar or vodka for a full moon cycle), frankincense oil, clove oil, 9 bay leaf ashes, charcoal from a funerary fire, various bones of your choosing, and a splash of War Water. These recipes are usually very personal and aren't shared past these basic ingredients.

+Rain Water: collected during rain that is gentle with little wind and may still have the sun peeking out and creating a soft golden glow. This water is used for bringing peace of mind or peace to a location. Can also be used in rituals involving water-oriented deities.

Hey, thanks for asking, anon!  It’s a pretty nuanced topic, and different people will have different takes on it.  I’ll share my thoughts on it, but do keep in mind that other people of colour may have different thoughts on the matter, and this is by no means definitive!  These are things I’ve observed through research, trial and error, my own experiences, or just learning from other writers.

The first thing I guess I want to clarify is that I personally am not opposed to a society without racism in fiction.  It’s exhausting and frankly boring when the only stories that characters of colour get are about racism!  So it’s a relief sometimes to just get to see characters of colour exist in a story without dealing with racism.  That being said, I feel like a lot of the time when creators establish their settings as “post-racial,” they avoid racism but they also avoid race altogether.  Not aesthetically -they may have a few or even many characters with dark skin- but the way the characters act and talk and relate to the world are “race-less” (which tends to end up as default white American/British or whatever place the creator comes from).  Which I have complicated thoughts on, but the most obvious thing that springs to mind is how such an approach implies (deliberately or not) that racism is all there is to the way POC navigate the world.  It’s definitely a significant factor, particularly for POC in Western countries, but it’s not the only thing!  There’s so much more to our experiences than just racial discrimination, and it’s a shame that a lot of “post-racial” or “racism-free” settings seem to overlook that in their eagerness to not have racism (or race) in their stories.

A quick go-to question I ask when I look at characters of colour written/played by white creators is: if this was a story or transcript I was reading, with no art or actors or what have you, would I be able to tell that this character is a character of colour?  How does the creator signal to the audience that this is a character of colour?  A lot of the time, this signal stops after the physical description - “X has dark skin” and then that’s all!  (We will not discuss the issue of racial stereotypes in depth, but it should be clear that those are absolutely the wrong way to indicate a character of colour).

This expands to a wider issue of using dark skin as a be-all-end-all indication of diversity, which is what I mean by “aesthetic” characters of colour (I used the term “internally white” originally but upon further reflection, it has some very loaded implications, many of which I’m personally familiar with, so I apologize for the usage).  Yes, the character may not “look” white, but how do they interact with the world?  Where do they come from?  What is their background, their family?  A note: this can be challenging with diaspora stories in the real world and people being disconnected (forcibly or otherwise) from their heritage (in which case, those are definitely stories that outsiders should not tell).  So let’s look at fantasy.  Even the most original writer in the world bases their world building off existing things in the real world.  So what cultures are you basing your races off of?  If you have a dark skinned character in your fantasy story, what are the real world inspirations and equivalents that you drew from, and how do you acknowledge that in a respectful, non-stereotyped way?

(Gonna quickly digress here and say that there are already so many stories about characters of colour disconnected from their heritage because ‘They didn’t grow up around other people from that culture’ or ‘They moved somewhere else and grew up in that dominant culture’ or ‘It just wasn’t important to them growing up’ and so on.  These are valid stories, and important to many people!  But when told by (usually) white creators, they’re also used, intentionally or not, as a sort of cop-out to avoid having to research or think about the character’s ethnicity and how that influences who they are.  So another point of advice: avoid always situating characters outside of their heritage.  Once or twice explored with enough nuance and it can be an interesting narrative, all the time and it starts being a problem)

Another thing I want to clarify at this point is that it’s a contentious issue about whether creators should tell stories that aren’t theirs, and different people will have different opinions.  For me personally, I definitely don’t think it’s inherently bad for creators to have diverse characters in their work, and no creator can live every experience there is.  That being said, there are caveats for how such characters are handled.  For me personally, I follow a few rules of thumb which are:

Is this story one that is appropriate for this creator to tell?  Some experiences are unique and lived with a meaningful or complex history and context behind them and the people to whom those experiences belong do not want outsiders to tell those stories.

To what extent is the creator telling this story?  Is it something mentioned as part of the narrative but not significantly explored or developed upon?  Does it form a core part of the story or character?  There are some stories that translate across cultures and it’s (tentatively) ok to explore more in depth, like immigration or intergenerational differences.  There are some stories that don’t, and shouldn’t be explored in detail (or even at all) by people outside those cultures.

How is the creator approaching this story and the people who live it?  To what extent have they done their research?  What discussions have they had with sensitivity consultants/readers?  What kind of respect are they bringing to their work?  Do they default to stereotypes and folk knowledge when they reach the limits of their research?  How do they respond to feedback or criticism when audiences point things that they will inevitably get wrong?

Going back to the “race-less” point, I think that creators need to be careful that they’re (respectfully) portraying characters of colour as obvious persons of colour.  With a very definite ‘no’ on stereotyping, of course, so that’s where the research comes in (which should comprise of more than a ten minute Google search).  If your setting is in the real world, what is the background your character comes from and how might that influence the way they act or talk or see the world?  If your setting is in a fantasy world, same question!  Obviously, avoid depicting things which are closed/exclusive to that culture (such as religious beliefs, practices, etc) and again, avoid stereotyping (which I cannot stress enough), but think about how characters might live their lives and experience the world differently based on the culture or the background they come from.

As an example of a POC character written/played well by a white person, I personally like Jackson Wei and Cindy Wong from Dimension 20’s The Unsleeping City, an urban fantasy D&D campaign.  Jackson and Cindy are NPCs played by the DM, Brennan Lee Mulligan, who did a good job acknowledging their ethnicity without resorting to stereotypes and while giving them their own unique characters and personalities.  The first time he acted as Cindy, I leapt up from my chair because she was exactly like so many old Chinese aunties and grandmothers I’ve met.  The way Jackson and Cindy speak and act and think is very Chinese (without being stereotyped), but at the same time, there’s more to their characters than being Chinese, they have unique and important roles in the story that have nothing to do with their ethnicity.  So it’s obvious that they’re people of colour, that they’re Chinese, but at the same time, the DM isn’t overstepping and trying to tell stories that aren’t his to tell.  All while not having the characters face any racism, as so many “post-racialized” settings aim for, because there are quite enough stories about that!

There a couple factors that contribute to the positive example I gave above.  The DM is particularly conscientious about representation and doing his research (not to say that he never messes up, but he puts in a lot more effort than the average creator), and the show also works with a lot of sensitivity consultants.  Which takes me to the next point - the best way to portray characters of colour in your story is to interact with people from that community.  Make some new friends, reach out to people!  Consume media by creators of colour!  In my experience so far, the most authentic Chinese characters have almost universally been created/written/played by Chinese creators.  Read books, listen to podcasts, watch shows created by people of colour.  Apart from supporting marginalized creators, you also start to pick up how people from that culture or heritage see themselves and the world, what kind of stories they have to tell, and just as importantly, what kind of stories they want being told or shared.  In other words, the best way to portray an authentic character of colour that is more than just the colour of their skin is to learn from actual people of colour (without, of course, treating them just as a resource and, of course, with proper credit and acknowledgement).

Most importantly, this isn’t easy, and you will absolutely make mistakes.  I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that you will mess up.  No matter how well researched you are, how much respect you have for other cultures, how earnestly you want to do this right, you will at some point do something that makes your POC audience uncomfortable or even offends them.  Then, your responsibility comes with your response.  Yes, you’ve done something wrong.  How do you respond to the people who are hurt or disappointed?  Do you ignore them, or double down on your words, or try to defend yourself?  Just as importantly, what are you planning to do about it in the future?  If you have a second chance, what are you going to do differently?  You will make mistakes at some point.  So what are you going to do about them?  That, I think, is an even more important question than “How can I do this right?”  You may or may not portray something accurately, but when you get something wrong, how are you going to respond?

Essentially, it all comes down to your responsibility as a creator.  As a creator, you have a responsibility to do your due diligence in research, to remain respectful to your work and to your audience, and to be careful and conscientious about how you choose to create things.  It’s not about getting things absolutely perfect or being the most socially conscious creator out there, it’s about recognizing your responsibilities as a creator with a platform, no matter how big or small, and taking responsibility for your work. 

In summary:

Research, research, research

Avoid the obvious no-no’s (stereotypes, tokenization, fetishization, straight up stealing from other cultures, etc) and think critically about what creative choices you’re making and why

Do what you’re doing now, and reach out to people (who have put themselves out there as a resource).  There are tons of resources out there by people of colour, reach out when you’re not sure about something or would like some advice!

Responsibility, responsibility, responsibility