Tales of lust & learning

Wild-hearted writer. Published orgasm author. Spilling virtual ink. Sharing words in public. Seriously slutty. You call me 'whore' like it's a bad thing.

[ms-demeanor]

Hey you know how I said I was going to make a workbook on the kind of bullshit you need to do when someone you love dies? I actually did that.

HERE IS THE VERSION WITH LOTS OF SWEARING AT THE USELESS, SHITTY SITUATION YOU’RE IN.

HERE IS THE VERSION WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF BLACK HUMOR BUT NO CURSEWORDS.

Featuring Helpful Sections such as:

Death Certificates – What you need, why you need them, and how to get them

Prepare to spend a long and miserable time on the phone

What the Everloving Fuck is Probate

Some Simple Dos and Don’ts

Shitty Mad Libs – Templates for writing Obituaries and Memorials

How to plan a non-religious death party

So you suddenly have to become some sort of hacker or some shit

This is an eighteen page book that you can print out, download, share, and give away; it is meant to be used to collect information about funeral planning and account management after a death OR you can use it BEFORE you die and give people information so they’re not stuck playing Nancy Fucking Drew while trying to keep seventeen cousins who crawled out of the woodwork from gutting each other in front of the fucking casket as they argue about who’s inheriting grandma’s favorite dentures.

It’s not exactly cheerful and it’s full of things that are probably going to feel really fucking raw if you’re processing a fresh death.

I’m sorry! I love you! Death is shitty! I’m trying to laugh about it a little and I hope you can laugh a little too because otherwise we’re all just going to cry together.

Good luck!

(in memory of my weirdo mother and her weirdo siblings who all died too fucking young and left me holding this flaming bag of dogshit)

[firstfullmoon]

christopher citro, “our beautiful life when it’s filled with shrieks” / @inkskinned‘s poem about love between women

[6thlovelanguage-deactivated2020]

nina lacour, everything leads to you

[loversinarush]

frank ocean ft. tyler the creator, golden girl

[inkskinned]

Love is a shared plate & you will know it by the taste of mouth that goes wanting in order to fill your own

[thewritershandbook]

[darkravn]

My middle school English teacher took points off of a stror I wrote for several of these alternatives to over using periods. I had to bring in a writing reference guide to show her they were legitimate options.

[bespangeled]

In the 1960′s Legally a woman couldn’t

Open a bank account or get a credit card without signed permission from her father or hr husband.

Serve on a jury - because it might inconvenience the family not to have the woman at home being her husband’s helpmate.

Obtain any form of birth control without her husband’s permission. You had to be married, and your hub and had to agree to postpone having children.

Get an Ivy League education. Ivy League schools were men’s colleges ntil the 70′s and 80′s. When they opened their doors to women it was agree that women went there for their MRS. Degee.

Experience equality in the workplace: Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women produced a report in 1963 that revealed, among other things, that women earned 59 cents for every dollar that men earned and were kept out of the more lucrative professional positions.

Keep her job if she was pregnant.Until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, women were regularly fired from their workplace for being pregnant.

Refuse to have sex with her husband.The mid 70s saw most states recognize marital rape and in 1993 it became criminalized in all 50 states. Nevertheless, marital rape is still often treated differently to other forms of rape in some states even today.

Get a divorce with some degree of ease.Before the No Fault Divorce law in 1969, spouses had to show the faults of the other party, such as adultery, and could easily be overturned by recrimination.

Have a legal abortion in most states.The Roe v. Wade case in 1973 protected a woman’s right to abortion until viability.

Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment. According to The Week, the first time a court recognized office sexual harassment as grounds for legal action was in 1977.

Play college sports Title IX of the  Education Amendments of protects people from discrimination  based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial  assistance It was nt until this statute that colleges had teams for women’s sports

Apply for men’s Jobs   The EEOC rules that sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers are illegal.  This ruling is upheld in 1973 by the Supreme Court, opening the way for women to apply for higher-paying jobs hitherto open only to men.

This is why we needed feminism - this is why we know that feminism works

[galacticdrift]

I just want to reiterate this stuff, because I legit get the feeling there are a lot of younger women for whom it hasn’t really sunk in what it is today’s GOP is actively trying to return to.

Did you go to a good college? Shame on you, you took a college placement that could have gone to a man who deserves and needs it to support or prepare for his wife & children. But if you really must attend college, well, some men like that, you can still get married if you focus on finding the right man.

Got a job? Why? A man could be doing that job. You should be at home caring for a family. You shouldn’t be taking that job away from a man who needs it (see college, above). You definitely don’t have a career – you’ll be pregnant and raising children soon, so no need to worry about promoting you.

This shit was within living memory.  I’M A MILLENIAL and my mother was in the second class that allowed women at an Ivy League school. Men who are alive today either personally remember shit like this or have parents/family who have raised them into thinking this was the way America functioned back in the blissful Good Old Days. There are literally dudes in the GOP old enough to remember when it was like this and yearn for those days to return.

When people talk about resisting conservativism and the GOP, we’re not just talking about whether the wage gap is a myth or not. We’re talking about whether women even have the fundamental right to exist as individuals, to run their own households and compete for jobs and be considered on an equal footing with men in any arena at all in the first place.

[gehayi]

I was a child in the 1960s, a teenager in the 1970s, a young adult in the 1980s. This is what it was like: When I was growing up, it was considered unfortunate if a girl was good at sports. Girls were not allowed in Little League. Girls’ teams didn’t exist in high school, except at all-girls’ high schools. Boys played sports, and girls were the cheerleaders. People used to ask me as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said I wanted to be a brain surgeon or the first woman justice on the Supreme Court. Everyone told me it was impossible–those just weren’t realistic goals for a girl–the latter, especially, because you couldn’t trust women to judge fairly and rationally, after all. In the 1960s and 1970s, all women were identified by their marital status, even in arrest reports and obituaries. In elementary school, my science teacher referred to Pierre Curie as DOCTOR Curie and Marie Curie as MRS. Curie…because, as he put it, “she was just his wife.” (Both had doctorates and both were Nobel prize winners, so you would think that both would be accorded respect.) Companies could and did require women to wear dresses and skirts. Failure to do could and did get women fired. And it was legal. It was also legal to fire women for getting married or getting pregnant. The rationale was that a woman who was married or who had a child had no business working; that was what her husband was for. Aetna Insurance, the biggest insurance company in America, fired women for all of the above. A man could rape his wife. Legally. I can remember being twelve years old and reading about legal experts actually debating whether or not a man could actually be said to coerce his wife into having sex. This was a serious debate in 1974. The debate about marital rape came up in my law school, too, in 1984. Could a woman be raped by her husband? The guys all said no–a woman got married, so she was consenting to sex at all times. So I turned it around. I asked them if, since a man had gotten married, that meant that his wife could shove a dildo or a stick or something up his ass any time she wanted to for HER sexual pleasure. (Hey, I thought it was reasonable. If one gender was legally entitled to force sex on the other, then obviously the reverse should also be true.) The male law students didn’t like the idea. Interestingly, they commented that being treated like that would make them feel like a woman. My reaction was, “Thank you for proving my point…” The concept of date rape, when first proposed, was considered laughable. If a woman went out on a date, the argument of legal experts ran, sexual consent was implied. Even more sickening was the fact that in some states–even in the early 1980s–a man could rape his daughter…and it was no worse than a misdemeanor. Women taking self-defense classes in the 1970s and 1980s were frequently described in books and on TV as “cute.” The implication was that it was absurd for a woman to attempt to defend herself, but wasn’t it just adorable for her to try? I was expressly forbidden to take computer classes in junior and senior years of high school–1978-79 and 1979-80–because, as the principal told me, “Only boys have to know that kind of thing. You girls are going to get married, and you won’t use it.” When I was in college–from 1980 to 1984–there were no womens’ studies. The idea hadn’t occurred in many places because the presumption was that there was nothing TO study. My history professor–a man who had a doctorate in history–informed me quite seriously that women had never produced a noted painter, sculptor, composer, architect or scientist because…wait for it…womens’ brains were too small. (He was very surprised when I came up with a list of fifty women gifted in the arts and science, most of whom he had never heard of before.) When Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro as a running mate in 1984, the press hailed it as a disaster. What would happen, they asked fearfully, if Mondale died and Ferraro became president? What if an international crisis arose and she was menstruating? She could push the nuclear button in a fit of PMS! It would be the end of the WORLD!! …No, they WEREN’T kidding. On the surface, things are very different now than they were when I was a child, a teen and a young adult. But I’m afraid that people now do not realize what it was like then. I’ve read a lot of posts from young women who say that they are not feminists. If the only exposure to feminism they have is the work of extremists, I cannot blame them overmuch. I wish that I could tell them what feminism was like when it was new–when the dream of legal equality was just a dream, and hadn’t even begun to come true. When “woman’s work” was a sneer–and an overt putdown. When people tut-tutted over bright and athletic girls with the words, “Really, it’s a shame she’s not a boy.” That lack of feminism wasn’t all men opening doors and picking up checks. A lot of it was an attitude of patronizing contempt that hasn’t entirely died out, but which has become less publicly acceptable. I wish I could make them feel what it was like…when grown men were called “men” and grown women were “girls.”

[drst]

Know your history.

[hedwig-dordt]

So this, too, is what they mean saying “make America great again” and/or the good old days.

[shatterpath]

REBLOG FOREVER.

[toooldforthissh--stuff]

I am 70. I remember all those things. I was a student nurse from 64 to 67 and we were not permitted to “finish” a bed bath on a male or insert a catheter in a male. Seeing male genitals might cause us “harm” or upset our delicate sensibilities. Imagine when we graduated and were “thrown” to the wolves. Imagine if you were a male patient who had to be the first to be “practiced” on by a graduate nurse. (Ha!) At the school I attended no student nurse could be married. Only one school in my city (Atlanta) would even admit married women and Male Nurses weren’t even thought of. What man would want to be a nurse when he could be a Doctor. In all my training I only remember 3 or 4 Women who were Doctor’s and a very few, (less than 5 or 6) female interns or residents (and this was a teaching hospital) and most of those were OB/Gyns and one was a pediatrician.

When I graduated and was going to get married I wanted to go on birth control pills. You needed to be on them for a least one cycle before they were effective. I won’t go into what hoops I had to jump through to get a prescription from my Dr. (a man, natch) but when i went to the drug store to get the prescription filled I ended up having to get my future husband to “accompany” me so the pharmacist “interview” him and see if it was okay with him for me to be on the pill.

Even when we went to get a marriage license I had to get my Father’s signature and we had to go before a Judge because I was not yet 21 (I was 20 and 9 months).

I could go on and on, getting a credit card in MY name, etc., but I will tell you that WE MUST RESIST.

[casper-the-friendly-being-blog]

The number of people I know who romanticize gender inequality is frankly terrifying. A world never existed in which the lives of women were simplified by benevolent men who saw to her every want and need. That was not a thing. A world never existed in which women were all ladies, men were all gentlemen, & everything was some great big cishet fairytale. Feminists aren’t a bunch of upstarts who want to destroy a perfectly wholesome and non-harmful system. Just…look at history. Look at the posts above. We. Must. Resist..

[rivergst-deactivated20191102]

About 8: The State of New York only added No-Fault Divorce as an option in 2010 (!!!)

[systlin]

I want to repeat here. 

This is what they mean, when they say “Old-fashioned values”

When conservatives start waxing lyrical about the ‘good old days’, this is what they mean. They are fully aware how much things blew for women, and they would like to return to that. 

[crystal-w1tch]

MY GRIMOIRE MASTERPOST

CRYSTALS

- Crystal care

- Ways to use crystals

- Crystals grouped by use

- Crystal Correspondences

OTHER CORRESPONDENCES

- Colour correspondences

- Colour correspondences II

- Week days / deities correspondences

- Days of the Week for Spells and Rituals

HERBS

- REALLY BIG POST: Herbalism correspondences

- Herbs masterpost

- Common Kitchen Herbs

- General Tree Associations

- How to Keep Plants Alive

- Green Witch Tips

SPELLS

- Cleansing Masterpost

- Simple Luck Spell

- Masterpost of Luck Spells

- Seven Deadly Sins Spells

- Creating Spell Jars

- Inspir-ACE-ion Spell

- How to Enchant an Object

- A Simple Spell for Enchanting Objects

- Anti-Anxiety Jar

- Your Negativity Does Not Affect Me Spell

- Simple Honey Spells

POTIONS, WATERS AND ELIXIRS

- Masterpost of simple potions

- Floral tea magick

- Fruit tea magick

- Rose Water

- Waters

CANDLE MAGICK

- Candle Colour Meanings

ASTROLOGY

- Moon Phases

- Moon Phases II

- Moon Signs Descriptions

- Houses of the Birthchart

- Signs, planets and houses

- Birth Chart Guide

TAROT

- Tarot Spreads Masterpost

- Cleansing the Cards

- Tarot in Spells

- Tarot Tricks

- Tarot Cheat Sheet

- Tarot Cheat Sheet II

DIVINATION

- Pendulum: How To

- Name Numerology

SABBATS

- Beltane Resource Masterpost

DIY PROJECTS

- DIY Sustainable Spell Box

MISC

- Other witchy masterpost

- Beginner Witchcraft Resources Masterpost

- Familiars

- How to Return to the Craft

- Witch Safety Tips

- Recommended books

- Classic Substitutions

[grlfeeling]

I am mine

[fixedhawa]

when somebody’s mars falls in your 5th house

[sisterofiris]

A comforting thought

Five thousand years ago, the Sumerians called the night ngi, the stars mul, and the moon Nanna.

Four thousand years ago, the Akkadians called the night mūšu, the stars kakkabū, and the moon Sîn.

Three thousand years ago, the Hittites called the night išpanza, the stars haštereš, and the moon Arma.

Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greeks called the night nux, the stars astra, and the moon Selênê.

Two thousand years ago, the Romans called the night nox, the stars stellae, and the moon Luna.

Kings and queens and heroes looked up at them. So did travelers coming home, and little children who sneaked out of bed. So did slaves, and mothers and soldiers and old shepherds, and Sappho and Muršili and Enheduanna and Socrates and Hatshepsut and Cyrus and Cicero. In this darkness it didn’t matter who they were, or where they stood. Only that they were human.

Think of that tonight, when you close your window. You are not alone. You share this night sky with centuries of dreamers and stargazers, and people who longed for quiet. Are you anxious? The Hittites were too: they called it pittuliyaš. Does your heart ache? The Greeks felt it too: they called it akhos. Those who look up to the stars for comfort are a family, and you belong to them. Your ancestors have stood under Nanna, Sîn, Arma, Selênê and Luna for five thousand years. Now its light is yours.

May it soothe you well.

[amorphoussystem-deactivated2024]

How much longer until the utopic Solarpunk future where Capitalism is dead and we all live in ecologically sustainable high-tech forest cities? Asking for a friend.

[plantyhamchuk]

Until we make those ecologically sustainable high-tech forest cities ourselves. It’s going to take a lot of us to do it though, so best to spread the word (and gather native tree seeds).

[samiholloway]

And, like, get started now. Then our “weirdo houses” will be the only thing functioning when everything falls apart!

[plantyhamchuk]

The only reason why we don’t live in a solarpunk world right now is because no one has bothered to make it yet. 

We’ll have to make it ourselves, and we’ll have to help each other make it. That’s why it is solarpunk. 

Some resources to consider creating or joining or doing:

Repair cafes - create or join your local repair cafe! Repair stuff, learn how to repair stuff, teach others how to repair stuff.

Map of Makerspaces - make some things! learn how to make some things! teach others how to make some things!

Community Garden Map (note that this is US-only, and not a complete list) - join a local community garden

Support your local farmers / local economy (US only link)

Support or create a local Food Not Bombs chapter

Support or create a local Food Not Lawns chapter

Grow food in 5 gallon buckets

Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity (as a bonus you can learn extremely practical skills)

Volunteer via 350.org to help the environment / the planet / the place we live and depend on

Excellent-and-still-growing wiki from reddit’s awesome r/zerowaste community - great resource to learn how to live more lightly on the earth

Spread the word about solarpunk, especially to engineering students. Show them projects like Open Source Ecology - Global Village Construction Set and Bridges for Prosperity 

Learn how to Patch a Hole, Mend a Seam, and Fix a Hem

Learn how to repair a hole in the sole of a shoe

Learn some basics on passive solar design - clever use of the sun can create extremely energy efficient homes and buildings. You can use these principles to save on energy bills, even if you’re renting.

Free USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2015 revision - cut down on personal food waste! Learn how to safely preserve food. Very useful if you suddenly harvest / purchase for crazy cheap in season / dumpster dive a ton of perishable food.

Donate to One Acre Fund, which provides training and capital to farmers (making them more productive and pulling them out of poverty) in various east African countries

Donate to Bridges to Prosperity, which provides technical expertise, money, and volunteers, to help local people build and maintain their own footbridges in extremely isolated rural areas 

joining r/solarpunk, and sharing links/ideas/art/music with the community. Also, upvoting stuff for greater visibility. There’s over 900 members!

[9thvirgo]

part of fortune in the houses

“A lot” or Part of Fortune is one of the Arabic Parts or Lots and is calculated using the positions of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant in your horoscope. The Part of Fortune represents where you find your greatest joy and happiness in life, also indicator of prosperity. The point opposite the Part of Fortune may block the free flow of energy and make it harder to find joy, but only if you take it personally

in 1st house:

you will achieve happiness and success through trusting your own unique approach to life and acting independently 

needs to worry less about what others think of you 

success will come when you express the wholeness of your true self 

YOU ARE THE ONE WHO directs your own life 

opposite point here is the 7thhouse so you need to take an impersonal approach towards your relationships

courageously pursue your dreams

in 2nd house:

will achieve happiness and success through building self-worth and being true to your deeper values 

your greatest joy will come when you discover what you truly value

building a solid foundation is the key of your life journey 

anything you do that reflects your true values should bring luck with money 

opposite point here is the 8th house so you’re aware of the values of others and you’ll need to learn to discriminate between their values and yours

in 3rd house:

will achieve happiness and success through communicating and connecting with others 

greatest joy comes from processing information and communicating what you learn 

the study of different languages, or subjects such as religion, philosophy and spirituality are a big part of your life journey

wants to refine your perceptions and like to teach others to do the same 

opposite point here is the 9th house so you have access to the impersonal higher mind of ideals and wisdom, but it’s important that you put this wisdom into practice in your life, don’t force your ideas on people who aren’t ready to hear them

in 4th house:

will achieve happiness and success through family and putting down strong roots 

your greatest joy will come through nurturing the growth of life, whether that’s growing a family by having children, or by growing plants, animals, ideas, or projects 

happiness comes from giving birth and nurturing new beginnings of whatever kind 

have patience and feed what you want, and realize that your heart is your home is the key of your life jorney

opposite point here is the 10th house so you know that things take time to grow and mature

in 5th house:

will achieve happiness and success through creative self-expression 

you can bring your dreams into reality 

needs to put yourself wholeheartedly into everything 

happiness comes from putting your creative energies into your passions and then sharing them with other 

opposite point here is the 11th house so you can draw upon universal ideals in order to create, but avoid the lowest common denominator and be careful which dreams you choose to create

in 6th house:

will you achieve happiness and success through meaningful work and good health 

joy comes from the careful use of your time and energy 

opposite point here is the 12th house so you’re in touch with the collective unconscious and sensitive to others’ needs which gives you great compassion 

cultivate discrimination 

dedicate yourself to being of service

in 7th house:

will achieve happiness and success through conscious partnership with others 

you only truly become yourself when you’re in a partnership because you find yourself most easily through the mirror of another 

you will find joy in watching others blossom 

by cultivating balance within yourself, you’ll be able to share that with others 

opposite point here is the 1st house which makes it one of the most spiritual placements for the Part of Fortune because you have to take an impersonal approach towards your own self-identity

in 8th house:

will achieve happiness and success through transformation guided by the values of others 

your relationships and what other people value will have a profound impact on your life 

needs others to show you what works, so you must allow your ego to be transformed through surrender to higher values that are shared with others

happiness will come when you let go of anything you no longer need 

cultivate intimacy and sharing 

opposite point here is the 2nd house so you need to recognise that your own values are not really personal but are an impersonal expression of universal desires

in 9th house:

will achieve happiness and success through discovering and sharing the truth 

your greatest joy will come through having adventures, broadening your horizons and expanding your education 

experience as much of life as you can and you may have a lot of luck by discovering things for yourself 

joy comes from understanding how you relate to the universe as a whole

opposite point here is the 3rd house so you see how people often communicate without really understanding one another, detaching from them will allow you to see how real communication may be possible

in 10th house:

will achieve happiness and success through accomplishing goals and social acceptance 

success won’t necessarily come easily, but you’re not afraid of hard work and are capable of sustained effort to make your dreams real 

your fortune will come from the respect you earn by walking your talk without compromise and staying true to your own integrity 

opposite point here is the 4th house so you feel great compassion for the needs and emotions that drive others and understand how conditioning affects their behaviour and choices 

key points: embrace leadership and cultivate acceptance of reality

in 11th house:

will achieve happiness and success through innovation and friendship 

ahead of your time 

your greatest joy will come from realising your dreams and cultivating strong friendships that last 

cultivate your uniqueness and unconventional approach

remember that freedom is real

opposite point here is the 5th house so you have access to a great pool of creative energy which gives you the feeling that you must do something or create. If you take this personally and think of it as “my” creativity it will get blocked  

in 12th house:

success and fulfillment will only come from inside (from your own soul) and once you become detached from the material world

fortune lies in understanding the truth of life

the 6th house is the opposite house, through it, you must learn to function in the world efficiently and take up the calling to serve humanity

inner illumination

bigger truths about yourself will come when you are alone, in solitude, praying or meditating

spiritual growth is necessary in your life journey

needs to cultivate compassion and forgiveness to find joy

pour your insights into creativity and imagination

opportunity to transform or dissolve your own karma

credits: This was not written by me, it was written by Jessica Davidson and she wroted several articles and pages to explain the Part of Fortune in the houses and signs, you can access here on her blog, https://jessicadavidson.co.uk/astrology-posts/part-of-fortune/

[khangi]

One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed about non-natives appropriating our stuff is they never want anything but sage, smudging, and feathers.

Native people will share: our food, our music, our dancing, our art.

But no one is interested in those. They don’t CARE about our food and music. We never see those things in popular culture. Non-natives just want to take our religious items, because they feel entitled to the things people don’t want to share.

[accidental-wedgie-deactivated20]

A Tribe Called Red (techno Native beats):

Taboo #noDAPL protest music (Native Hip Hop):

Supaman (Prayer loop song, Rap)

Check em out. Add on. Support Native Artists. Spread the love y'all

[khangi]

Good musical options. 🙌🏼

[graffiti-bi]

Snotty nose rez kids (hip hop) + Drezus (rap)

Blackfoot (rock)

Blackfire (punk/rock)

[sartorialadventure]

THAT SUPAMAN TRACK THO

[artmagine]

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

Hello there!

Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.

it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D

Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.

ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac

Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.

Paid

ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.

Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.

Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features

Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for multiple licenses

Free and paid

Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.

Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance

Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface

Paid

This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint. 

This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.

Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices

Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)

Paid

GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows. 

Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.

It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.

Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community

Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup

Free

Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.

Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community

Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop

Free

MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.

Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android

Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Free

Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.

Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version

Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools

Free and paid

Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.

Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly

Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey

Paid

Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.

Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price

Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Paid

Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS. 

With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.

Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price

Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad

Paid

SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing. 

It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials

Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support

Paid

We hope you’ll find this list useful. 

If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Buy us a coffee ❤

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists

[kaitiekat]

Gimp is really well known but from my very limited artist experience I can also recommend Krita, it’s got a lot of neat stuff if it’s compatable with your workflow.

[luneair]

Cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn  Cardinal key concepts: Driven temperaments.  At their best they are brave, initiating, goal-orientated due to deep sense of purpose, and take [or are forced into] leadership roles. At their worst, they are impulsive, controlling, over-stimulated, restless and raw energy once used as a motivator causes a plummeting burnout. 

Archetype Scale: Undeveloped - Antagonist (enemy to everyone and themselves) | Advanced - Hero (Pathfinders and Wayshowers of the Collective, adamant on reaching epitomes)

Fixed signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius  Fixed key concepts: Stabilizing temperaments.  At their best they are determined, patient, effective, resourceful, and magnetic. At their worst, they are dogmatic, scale from overly prideful to extremely insecure, selfish, willful, uncompromising, and static due to a rooted lack of inspiration - one feels they need not change/grow due to pride or until external circumstances forcefully push them. 

Archetype Scale: Undeveloped - Destroyer or Self-Destructive (follows one’s own rules, gives into feelings of inadequacy) | Advanced - Alchemist, Magician (Creators and Innovators of Society, manifests ideals into reality)

Mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces Mutable key concept: Receptive temperaments.  At their best they are adaptable, open-minded, profound-thinkers, and perceptive. At their worst, they are contradictory, pretentious, internally chaotic, wishy-washy and weak willed - too much versatility of identity creates one who lacks a strong sense of self. 

Archetype Scale: Undeveloped - The Fool (Naive, directionless, trusts too much in invisible paths that stray from purposes) | Advanced - Elder of Wisdom (Transcendent knowledge, Educators, Philosophers, mental or emotional Healers of the masses) 

[astrolocherry]

[glassy-star]

Fourth house;

In the 3rd house, our identity learns how to express itself through logical thinking and absorption of information from its immediate surroundings.

In the 4th house, we combine all of our basic traits — such as our instincts from the 1st house, our values from the 2nd and our thought processes from the 3rd — to create a subjective, internal and complex self-image.

Understanding this house can be tricky… This is where our most basic qualities meet from previous houses, giving form to our basic, emotional self. The result is a subjective identity that can hardly be expressed by words. It is a symbol of our deepest selves and of our most vital needs.

The 4th house provides an emotional base from which we can start to build everything else that follows on subsequent houses, because it describes how we subjectively experience our own selves. We can think of it as the roots of a tree, and this is classic example: without the roots, there can be no tree at all, and once we’ve determined what kind of roots we have, we already have an interesting idea of what kind of stem, leaves, flowers and fruits will grow from such roots. The 4th house works just like that. Once we understand who we are and what we want deep down, we already have an idea of what we want to achieve in life.

Who we are and what we want is highly influenced by our upbringing, and thus this house may also describe what kind of education we’ve received in childhood, also describing the home as an environment. Our relationship to our parents and guardians can be also found in here, as the actions of these figures tend to have a great impact on the emotional configuration of the child. The initial emotional configuration repeats itself through this house’s association with Cancer and its relationship to the past: our guardians helped us determine how we, as babies and children, perceived ourselves internally, shaping our emotional needs and innermost emotional settings; in adulthood, our emotional needs tend to remain the same, and so we often encounter people with whom we can stablish the same kind of relationship we had with our guardians.

Thus, the 4th house is also a symbol of the parent or guardian that had a more emotional impact on the child; it could be the mother or the father, as genders don’t really matter as much when compared to what kind of role each parent played during the child’s first steps in this world.

This is also where we’ll find information regarding our ability to endure discomfort and hardships, and this becomes quite clear when we understand that the 4th house represents our emotional foundations and needs. When we experience adversity, we generally sacrifice our feelings and basic needs in favour of something else, until we’re remembered that our emotional 4th house foundations need nurturing. And we generally remember that when we suffer emotional breakdowns: when we find that we can no longer cope with a certain situation in detriment of ourselves. The roots suffer slowly until the visible, external body of the tree withers and putrefies too.

As this house correlates with our first experiences within, when we were born, it also correlates to the last internal experience’s we’ll probably have. In the end, we revaluate our deepest self-image and the role we played throughout our lives, so conditions of the 4th house also reveal the conditions of these retrospective moments before death.

Sun in the 4th house: completely surrounded by water, they swim carefully towards the bottom. Light pours gracefully from their body, illuminating their surroundings. As they travel slowly to the depths of their own seas, they discover more and more ancient towers, buildings and properties of their selves. This Sun blesses people with a rich and fulfilling inner experience, and it also makes them a lighthouse to which close relatives swim in search of a safe ground. This is someone who tends to irradiate a nurturing and caring nature in subtle ways. Born close to midnight, the lighthearted and loving expression of these people usually receives some interference from a mysterious lunar veil; when dealing with people with this placement, we can usually infer that there’s more that the eye can see.

Moon in the 4th house: a glittering, silvery palace emerges from the sea; surrounded by a pale fog, the palace’s outlines are unclear, as if dissolving among twinkling vapours. Tender and caring, people with this placement have also been blessed with a rich inner palace to which they can retreat whenever they feel threatened by the external world. These people are imaginative and very sensitive to other people’s emotional needs, embodying maternal functions as they relate to other people. This is also a silvery symbol for extremely strong emotional ties with the maternal figure.

Mercury in the 4th house: a child sleeps quietly over a book; they dream of fantastic creatures and stories where they’re kept safe from harm in a faraway land. The mind is partially submerged, receiving emotional influence from places unknown. This is a symbol of an intuitive and imaginative mind with non-linear thoughts, as well as of an upbringing that emphasized learning, absorbing knowledge and being able to intellectually and emotionally interact with surrounding things.

Venus in the 4th house: licked in moonlight, they consider their beautiful and mysterious reflection upon a lake’s silvery mirror; the night is warm and clear; fireflies illuminate a dreamy landscape. Inside, the individual’s inner world is decorated in subtle lights, cushions and art pieces, creating a comfortable inner feeling that extends itself to others. The upbringing probably involved a heavenly comfort and a great care for keeping the home within a harmonious environment.

Mars in the 4th house: a running wave crashes against a black rock in the sea, exploding in a thousand twinkling pieces of watery glass. A symbol of a reactive and aggressive emotional configuration. People with this placement have intense and violent emotional responses to external events, especially if these involve the family setting in some way. Feelings tend to be chaotic and hard to control completely. As children, people with this placement experienced the need to be self-sufficient, as if they or the family had been threatened in some way, creating strong urges to protect loved ones.

Jupiter in the 4th house: they lay on the surface of the sea, quietly contemplating stars as the waves carry them slowly up and down the turning world. Benevolent and optimistic, these people have generally immense sources of energy and resilience. The upbringing involved extensive and profound learning, stimulating one’s ability to perceive the universe as a whole through scintillating lenses. This is a symbol of a strong and honourable moral code, usually translating into important religious beliefs and faith. Quiet and kept to themselves, the individuals with this placement have an abundant inner experience that favours a deep and wise understanding of their own emotional configuration and family conditions.

Saturn in the 4th house: a lost whale wanders slowly across the seas; its song reverberates through the oceans, touching all living sea creatures with a cutting sadness. With Saturn in the 4th, there’s generally some fear regarding the expression of the true emotional self and the recognition of emotional needs. The individual may feel reluctant to be in touch with their past, and this usually involves childhood experiences, relationship with the parents and sentimental demands, producing feelings of damnation and exile. This placement also describes great responsibility for the home and family members, as if the individual was bound to provide stability and emotional security in this aspect.

Uranus in the 4th house: a raging thunderstorm takes over the seas, illuminating the night with clear, sudden bursts of light; the lighthouse is constantly being lashed by incoming sea waves. This is a symbol of recurrent disruptions in the family life. The individual probably has a unique and clear understanding of how family life should work, but they’ve been conditioned as to act independently from their family, as if to break away from their initial social circle. The upbringing probably involved the absence of one or more parents or guardians or constant change in the home, producing an individual that perceives themselves as unique, different and separate from their relatives.

Neptune in the 4th house: the words of a poem float beautifully in the air, entrancing the individual in a long and obscure travel along the seven seas. This is a symbol of an individual that is able to connect themselves with the universe through their internal structures, generally providing wise and spiritual information for the family or the home. The upbringing was probably confused and chaotic, producing an individual that is partially unable to perceive themselves through more tangible, practical and clearer perspectives. This individual probably feels that they must save their loved ones from themselves, a pattern that is repeated from an initial interaction with the parents or guardians.

Pluto in the 4th house: Neptune travels quickly through the seas with rage and anger, mounting his vaporous horses; the waters around become restless as he passes, growing in beautiful and desperate patterns of waves and storms. This placement is generally a symbol of power struggles inside the home, especially between parents or guardians. The child was, since the very beginning of their experience, exposed to demonstrations of power, assertiveness, dominance, abandonment, betrayal and emotional manipulation, and thus the innermost emotional structure is built within this mold, fearful of being used and being abandoned. Here, the Soul blows emotional bubbles that explode on the conscious surface every now and then, producing intermittent and apparently inexplicable feelings. This is a representation of the potential of immense emotional and deep, radical self-transformation.

Detail from Carl Blechen’s ‘Stormy sea with lighthouse’; 1826.

[gulmarg-deactivated20230318]

“I didn’t have a plan. I had grief. I had rage. I had my sexuality. I liked books more than people.”

— Lidia Yuknavitch, from “The Chronology of Water: A Memoir,” wr. c. 2011 (via violentwavesofemotion)

[haleyincarnate]

3/21/2019 (84/?)