i don't seek justice, i stalk it

hello, hero     a resource blog for writing, roleplay, and a variety of other things

[digitalkiddo]

If you're writing anything involving cons, scams, heists, or morally questionable characters who are very good at lying, here are some free resources I've been using for research. Saving you the "why is this in my search history" anxiety.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Reblog to save for later. Your WIP will thank you.

[a-totally-reasonable-username]

@namelessennes

[avidreaderffn]

@sandstonesunspear

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

Jesus Tapdancing Christ... THIS is a good welt pocket and the people who designed Simplicity 2895 ought to be blasted well ASHAMED of themselves for the crap way THEY wanted a welt pocket made. *SNARLS*

[makereadgrow]

This is how I learned to do it and a good example of what you want to see in a short form tutorial: pinning, pressing, seam finishing, good fabric handling.

I would mention that you can make the pocket facing with a small panel of your matching fabric that is visible and the rest in a lighter fabric to reduce bulk. That's a lot of denim layers for comfort.

[slunch]

tl;dr: all "algorithmically" pushed stuff on a newsfeed is mostly ads. nothing that's really surprising form this vulture article, but it is dismal and makes me grateful for one website where you only see things from people you follow WITHOUT horrible short-form video content

[bitchking-of-angmar]

The Feed Is Fake

What if every viral song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama in recent memory was the result of a stealth marketing campaign?

https://web.archive.org/web/20260515113210/https://www.vulture.com/article/social-media-feeds-chaotic-good-projects-clipping.html

Have a paywall free link to the source!

[movementnudge]

Movement nudge, hand mobility! 🙌

X

[ruffboi-mags]

1) do this even if you're under 40. seriously. I definitely should have been doing something like this for years and I only turned 40 a month and a half ago

2) if you're like me just now trying this going "oh god i've only done 15 and i think my hands are cramping" start lower than 30 and increase by 5 once whatever number you're doing no longer makes your hand cramp up. I can manage about 15 per exercise at the moment.

[creations-by-chaosfay]

If you're hypermobile, be especially gentle.

[jojo-the-dogg0]

Equiping an armor tutorial

i'll prob make more bc i love talking ab armors

[saszor]

"Tutorial" on how to "draw" a blind OC.

My kofi

Boring tired disclaimer: Keep in mind that this is an introductory "drawing" "tutorial" and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. Which happens to be true for everything in general. Links below so that you can research and do a nuance. Ones that were directly mentioned are bolded.

Writing a blind character 101 What to avoid etc Video on types of white canes Video on types of cane tips Some more explanation on white canes + tips + other stuff Guide animals Video on working with a guide dog ↑ if you're doing a non-dog non-horse animal please still perceive those two links. A guide animal is not a GPS that tells you "left" or "right" (in fact, you're the one telling it which direction you want to go). So before giving them something weird check if it actually makes sense. You can make a fantasy animal that still makes sense I promise 🦮👍 But why are Magical White Eyes a problem Same as above Going blind from an accident Video on conformers World's most basic "what do you call someone with albinism" The blindfold thing. No people don't wear these. This mostly stupid trope of covering a blind character's eyes because lord forbid someone sees a disabled body part This just stupid trope of giving a blind character some bs superpower to "see" The echolocation thing that every other blind oc does for some reason Just give them a cane good lord if you want a character that can see perfectly then maybe don't make them blind Bonus: if your character has a bunch of scars or whatever else then congrats! You made a character with a facial difference. Which is also something you should research.

[13utko]

How to render hands

That was supposed to be an art study. But I learnt a lot. Sharing it with you, guys

[ainecdote-remade-deactivated202]

tired of cannibalism as a metaphor for love or sex. can we get into cannibalism as a metaphor for colonization.

[sloppity-bilepiper]

1. Europeans using Egyptian mummies as medicine

2. The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within US Slave Culture by Vincent Woodard

3. "Abolitionists turned the tables on Europeans by accusing them of being cannibals when they ate sugar tainted with the flesh and blood of slaves."

4. Zombies (which I would class as cannibals, since they were human and need to eat humans to live) have a root in Haitian folklore and represented enslavement.

[vintagedean]

adding that, if you can find it, cannibal culture by deborah root is about exactly this. the way the white western world is a hungry, destructive force that cannibalizes non-white cultures and creates wealth and status through the cannibal colonization of those cultures.

here's the intro

i almost think there's an essay in bell hooks' black looks about this too? yes! just checked, there's an essay called "eating the other"

[ndnbutch]

genuinely I do love katara and sokka as a representation of how Indigenous people can be written in a fantasy setting and it was nice to have something like that in a childhood that was spent consuming a lot of media set in fantastical worlds. however I think if those are the only fictional Indigenous characters you can name, especially like as an adult, you should really make an effort to also engage with stories that portray real Indigenous people and cultures in the real world

[blackautmedia]

If you're looking for some historical perspectives or more analytical Indigenous perspectives around the world, here are a few I've learned a lot from.

Note that some of this isn't strictly limited to a media analysis perspective but it's still important for a non-fictional and historical perspective too.

If others, especially Indigenous than me have issue with any sources listed, please feel free to let me know. Also note that some of the videos and documentaries explicitly touch on genocide, forced separation and child scoops, etc.

Beyond Ainu studies changing academic and public perspectives

The Politics of Colonial Translation: On the Narrative of the Ainu as a ‘Vanishing Ethnicity’ - https://apjjf.org/katsuya-hirano/3013/article

 The Ainu and their culture: A critical twenty-first century assessment. Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. https://apjjf.org/chisato-kitty-dubreuil/2589/article

The Time is Now: The Power of Native representation in entertainment - https://illuminative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IllumiNative_industry-guide_June-2022.pdf.

O’Brien, J. M. (2010). Firsting and lasting: Writing Indians out of existence in New England.

Raheja, M. H. (2013). Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, visual sovereignty, and representations of Native Americans in film. University of Nebraska Press

 Konzett, Delia Caparoso. Hollywood’s Hawaii: Race, Nation, and War. Rutgers University Press, 2017.

Dismembering Lahui

Silva, Noenoe K. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism. Duke University Press, 2004

Western-Constructed Narratives of Hawai’i - https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=history-in-the-making

La Croix, Sumner J. Hawai’i: Eight Hundred Years of Political and Economic Change. University of Chicago Press, 2019.

From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i

Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, 3rd Edition edited by Gina Starblanket

Biopolitics, Geopolitics, Life Settler States and Indigenous Presence René Dietrich, Kerstin Knopf

Speaking of Indigenous Politics Conversations with Activists, Scholars, and Tribal Leaders (J. Kēhaulani Kauanui)

Reel Injun (2009)

This insightful look at the so-called Hollywood Indian explores the portrayal of North American indigenous peoples through a century of cine

Sexualization of Indigenous women through cultural appropriation and media — The Indigenous Foundation

     Sexualization of First Nations’ women has been an issue that has persisted since colonization, and continue

Indiginerd - Indigenous Representation and Creativity in Pop Culture

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

[elumish]

Queer Book Recs (No M/M- or F/F-focused Books)

(because queerness goes beyond M/M and F/F)

Dark Night Golden Dawn by Allison Carr Waetcher (bisexual, m/f) - an urban fantasy about fake dating your ex-boyfriend because the powers that be want you to be real-dating your ex-boyfriend, and also Evil is afoot

The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton (bisexual/pansexual, mostly m/f) - a fantasy novel about a magic criminal who infiltrates a palace to try to save her father and then falls in love with the emperor she is working against (while also having a bit of a thing for his sister)

The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino (bisexual/pansexual, m/f) - a romantic fantasy novel about childhood best friends turned codependent soldier mage and the source of his magic in a world where magic is dying

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (trans woman, m/f) - a historical romance about a trans woman and her childhood best friend who thinks she is dead (and a man)

Lunar New Love by Ophelia Silk (agender and genderfluid, m/nb / f/nb / nb/nb) - a contemporary romance novella about fake dating that person in your friend group who you've never quite managed to get along with

Unbury Your Bones / Boneless by Coyote J.M. Edwards (nonbinary, aromantic, asexual, m&nb) - urban fantasy novellas about a vampire who can see people's bones (sometimes) and his werewolf best friend who he solves mysteries with

In the Care of Magic by Robin Jo Margaret (bisexual, aromantic, agender, f&nb) - novella with a queerplatonic / nonromantic sexual relationship between a bisexual witch and an aromantic/agender sex demon

[uptownlowdown]

I love your art so much! There's such a charm in your style and colors. How did you learn to draw children and babies so well? I try but they never quite look right. They just look like I messed up an adult face. Any tips?

hey, thank you so much!!! tbh, children are tricky and it took years of practice before i felt like i drew them okay--hopefully these tips are helpful to you!

using georgia and her much younger self as a guide: children have big heads in relation to their bodies, with their features mostly relegated to 2/3 or even 1/2 of the face, depending on the art style. babies and toddlers in particular almost always have large foreheads and big cheeks, no matter what their individual features are.

my children tend to lean more cherubic and cartoonish because i've always adored how rose o'neill, the creator of kewpie dolls, drew children and babies. great big eyes, small noses and mouths, etc.

that being said: as you can see with georgia above, her younger self still has fuller lips and a wider nose, they're just small in proportion to the rest of her head, if that makes sense!

i would avoid any harsh lines/super definition on the face. i usually add a soft touch of shading or a few very, very light lines, usually to show the fullness of the cheeks like i've done with eloise above.

there are exceptions. sometimes my characters like wilma and all of her children have dimples or a particular way their eyebrow crinkles, or some other definable feature. all that is okay! but just know the more lines you add to a character, the older they look--so you want to use a lighter hand when drawing very young children or babies.

as children age, they "grow" into their facial features. their heads are usually still a bit bigger in proportion to their bodies, with a jawline that is beginning to define, but still relatively soft.

with ellen and leon below, you can tell they are several years older than eloise above, but not so old they begin to look like teenagers or mini adults.

overall, these are the tips that have stuck with me! because i like to give my ocs children or draw them as children, i make a point to dedicate time to figure drawing people of all ages, from babies to old folks, and it has helped a lot!! thanks for asking!! <3

[fictionadventurer]

One of my biggest literary pet peeves is when historical or history-inspired fiction pretends that "courting" is a synonym for "dating". Usually it's just a one-to-one word swap--in a modern context, these characters would be dating, but this is olden times, so they call it courting instead. Sometimes they'll pretend there's a shade of difference, and that courting is a more serious exploration of marriage or something. But I read a lot of fiction that was actually written during these historical eras, and the word "courting" is never used like that.

Two people do not decide that they are "courting". One person decides to "court" someone else. It's an action, not a stage in the relationship. A man decides to court a woman because he wants to encourage her to have romantic interest in him. He's trying to win her favor. It's not an exclusive relationship--a woman could be courted by multiple men at once. She'll spend time getting to know the guy who's interested in her, but they won't officially define their relationship as one where they only show romantic interest in each other. If they reach a point where they want it to be exclusive, that's when you propose.

There's no middle ground--either you're getting to know each other, or you're committed to marrying each other. This idea of a period where you kind of commit to each other until you decide you definitely want to get married is a modern one, and it occurs in eras where they use the word "dating" to describe it. The closest equivalent I can think of are times and places where they'd talk about a couple "stepping out together", but they're still not calling it "courting". Words have meaning, and the word "courting" has never meant that, so stop using it that way!

[starfieldcanvas]

the other mild historical disjoint i run into is when people talk about dating in the fifties like it automatically meant exclusivity. the whole reason we have the expression "going steady" is because the default was to or "go around with" or "go out with" multiple people. not in the sense of being in a stable polyamorous vee, but in the sense that archie is actively "seeing" both betty and veronica during the entire time the two girls are competing for his attention and they're both seeing other guys to make him jealous, and nobody involved considers this "cheating."

bizarrely, America has in many ways gotten more conservative about dating since World War II.

[penrosesun]

I ran into a truly wild cultural misunderstanding with my father some years ago, when I had to explain to him what “hookup culture” actually was, and that the thing he assumed it was was actually what we call “cruising culture”. His response was “how is that different from dating?” and when I explained how it was different, he said, and please note that this a direct quote: “That’s ridiculous! You can’t expect a woman to stop fooling around with other guys for anything less than a marriage proposal. I mean, she’s not a prostitute, you can’t buy her.” Now obviously there’s like… a lot to unpack there, but I think it’s pretty darn illustrative of a substantive cultural shift around the assumption of monogamy!

Also, following this, I asked my mom what her thoughts were on the matter, and she said that while she “wouldn’t put it in those terms” she broadly agreed, and thought that anyone expecting any sort of exclusivity when a marriage proposal wasn’t at least on the very immanent horizon was “nuts, honestly.” I hesitantly asked if she was including relationships with premarital sexual activity in that, and her response was “Of course. I mean, gosh, you know your Aunt Terri used to have a guy for every day of the week before she finally settled down.”

And this was when I learned, to my shock, that the oft-repeated story of how “Aunt Terri used to have a guy for every day of the week” didn’t just mean “Aunt Terri had a full dance card” but rather meant that Aunt Terri had a period of her life where she literally dated exactly seven guys at once, all of whom she was sleeping with (or, my mom was quick to disclaim, “well, fooling around with, I don’t know how far she actually went with any of them, but they were definitely all fooling around behind closed doors”), on a literal weekly rotation. Like, they had a schedule. A schedule that all seven of the guys knew.

America has gotten a lot more conservative about dating, actually.

[movementnudge]

Movement nudge

X

[pangur-and-grim]

Queer Books and Authors are at a Breaking Point

Authors, agents, publishers: every part of the industry is seeing the strain of five years of escalating anti-LGBTQ censorship.

[pangur-and-grim]

if you'd like to show support, here are some upcoming queer books:

When Life Gives You Corpses is a brilliant YA about a cursed praying mantis who falls for a young witch. Yield Under Great Persuasion is a raunchy, but surprisingly sweet story about two men repairing their relationship. Fabulous Bodies is a horror story about a queer rockstar rising from the dead.

This is Where the Future Bleeds is a fantasy set in a vividly imagined land, where two women (who happen to kiss) are the key to healing the broken sky. You're No Better is a story about a teen struggling in the shadow of his murderous parent. Oil on Canvas is about a woman who finds disturbing paintings in the home of her dead mother.

and then here's a list of 26 queer books by Black authors set to publish this year, and a 10 upcoming books by trans authors. if you want to fight back against queer censorship, use your wallet! or (if that's not an option) you can contact your local library and ask them to stock a copy.

[penelopepennington]

In addition: looking for indie publishers and queer bookshops is a great way to find and support queer authors and stories of so many infinite varieties! (The following suggestions are based on my UK-centric knowledge)

(Some) Queer Presses:

Lurid Editions are "a publishing project committed to intentional and conscientious acts of archival repair". They are "attentive to how marginalised histories are forgotten and remembered, [and] hungry to rediscover overlooked queer books". They've just received funding from Arts Council England to engage queer readers in a project to contribute to the archive!

Cipher Press "We’re really keen on the idea that queer and minority stories are for everybody, and we want to make our books – and the stories they tell - accessible to all" (what an amazing mission statement!)

Anamot Press "Anamot [Անամոթ] means shameless in Armenian. ⁣⁣Anamot Press publishes poetry and prose on intersecting experiences of gender, sexuality, race, migration, class, belonging and loss - with no shame."

(Some) Queer Bookshops

Queer Lit Oh man, I remember when this was just a tiny little shop, and now they're the biggest LGBT+ bookshop in Europe! They do amazing work in donating books about being trans to schools and parliament! They have a pay-it-forward board that will make you sob with its notes of love and support. (You can tell I wish I still lived nearby)

Lighthouse For Scottish friends - "a queer-owned and woman led independent community bookshop. We are an unapologetically activist, intersectional, feminist, antiracist, lgbtq+ community space"

Gay's The Word The OG Queer bookshop in the UK. One day I will make my pilgrimage!!

This really is just a tiny snapshot of all the amazing work of celebration and resistance that's being done for Queer literature at the moment. We live in frightening times, but I promise there is still lots of love and joy and hope out there in spaces like these. Support them in whatever way you can!!

[mysteriousbeetle]

How to look for indie comics from Black creators!

As you may know, there was recently a DC Comics boycott as a part of the DCSoWhite movement since DC has not had a mainline ongoing solo with a Black lead for over 1200 days. You can read more about this here, here, here, and here. The boycott has been cancelled (link), but that doesn't mean we can't still show support for Black comic creators!

One of the things the movement called for fans to do was to "[Support] Black creators through independent and creator-owned projects." So this post is meant to provide tips on how to do this.

Check out other works of Black creators you're already familiar with

The Black comic creators you're already a fan of who have made comics for DC or Marvel have likely also made comics for other publishers too. You can usually find out about other comics they've worked on through their Wikipedia page, social media pages, and their own website if they have one. And it's a good idea to follow their social media to learn about any of their projects in the future!

Look through indie publisher websites

A great way to find out about indie comics is to check out indie publishers' websites. There will almost always be a page on their websites with all their comics so you can easily look through them and the creators will be listed so you can look into the creators too. This is one way to find out about Black comic creators who you might not already be familiar with.

The publishers that are listed as examples in the webpages linked above are Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, Ignition Press, and Stranger Comics.

Check out existing lists

There are already lists online that specifically recommend Black creators to check out and comics by Black creators. You can also find recommendations and lists on social media. This is another great way to find out about Black comic creators you're not yet familiar with.

Speaking of lists, I would like to point you to this post by @bimboopo which includes a list of many Black webtoon creators which you can go check out!

Hopefully this guide will help people find out about more comics by Black creators. Support these creators by reading, buying, and talking about their comics. And even if the boycott is over, still make sure to sign the petition.

[tinyghosts]

“I want you to do this with me for one month. One month. Write 10 observations a week and by the end of four weeks, you will have an answer. Because when someone writes about the rustic gutter and the water pouring through it onto the muddy grass, the real pours into the room. And it’s thrilling. We’re all enlivened by it. We don’t have to find more than the rustic gutter and the muddy grass and the pouring cold water.”

— Marie Howe, Boston University’s 2016 Theopoetics Conference  (via mothersofmyheart)

[artemis-howl]

Marie Howe:

I ask my students every week to write 10 observations of the actual world. It’s very hard for them.

Ms. Tippett:

Really?

Ms. Howe:

They really find it hard.

Ms. Tippett:

What do you mean? What is the assignment? 10 observations of their actual world?

Ms. Howe:

Just tell me what you saw this morning like in two lines. I saw a water glass on a brown tablecloth, and the light came through it in three places. No metaphor. And to resist metaphor is very difficult because you have to actually endure the thing itself, which hurts us for some reason.

Ms. Tippett:

It does.

Ms. Howe:

It hurts us.

Ms. Tippett:

You naming something.

Ms. Howe:

We want to say, “It was like this; it was like that.” We want to look away. And to be with a glass of water or to be with anything — and then they say, “Well, there’s nothing important enough.” And that’s whole thing. It’s the point.

Ms. Howe:

It’s the this, right?

Ms. Howe:

Right, the this, whatever. And then they say, “Oh, I saw a lot of people who really want” — and, “No, no, no. No abstractions, no interpretations.” But then this amazing thing happens, Krista. The fourth week or so, they come in and clinkety, clank, clank, clank, onto the table pours all this stuff. And it so thrilling. I mean, it is thrilling. Everybody can feel it. Everyone is just like, “Wow.” The slice of apple, and then that gleam of the knife, and the sound of the trashcan closing, and the maple tree outside, and the blue jay. I mean, it almost comes clanking into the room. And it’s just amazing.

Ms. Tippett:

In some basic level, what they’ve done is just engage with their senses.

Ms. Howe:

Yeah, and have been present out of their minds and just noticing what’s around them, which is — we don’t do. And again, not to compare it to anything. They’re not allowed. And that’s very hard for them. And then on the fifth or sixth week, I say, “OK, use metaphors.” And they don’t want to. They don’t know how. They’re like, “Why would I? Why would I compare that to anything when it’s itself?” Exactly. Good question.

So then you think, why the necessity of a metaphor? Why do you have to use a metaphor now? Not just to do it to avoid it, but to do it to make it more there. And it’s very interesting.

Marie Howe — The Power of Words to Save Us | The On Being Project

The words and silences we live by. The rituals that sustain us. The poetry of ordinary time.

[starlightandtears]

Finding out that Frances Dana Barker Gage, a white woman, rewrote Sojourner Truth’s famous speech to be more stereotypically “Southern slave” (complete with slurs and misspellings like dat, dere, dey) when Sojourner Truth was actually from New York and spoke only Dutch until she was almost ten and wouldn’t have actually sounded that way linguistically and decidedly did not use the phrase “Ain’t I A Woman?” at all is…whew. And on top of everything, she embellished details about Sojourner Truth’s life (like the number of children she had/how many of them were sold into slavery), wrote that ST said that she could take beatings like a man, and the reception of the speech in the room (she claims ST was called a n*gg*r, earlier accounts say the room was welcoming).

Lmaooo peak white feminist antics.

[deermouth]

You can read the most accurate transcript here, alongside the racist edited one.

[unthrifty--loveliness-deactivat]

I was already disgusted just reading about this but looking at the side-by-side comparison of the real speech and the rewrite really brought it home.

See the two versions of her first line below:

[ai-yo]

Yeah I remember a few years ago when I found this out through Feminista Jones and was mad but not that surprised because white woman so….

[enchantedpencilcomics]

This sent me down a bit of a research rabbit hole and I found a cool thing where afro Dutch women read Sojourner’s speech aloud in their contemporary Dutch dialects in hope of offering a more truthful rendition of her authentic Dutch voice.