Wandering the Universe, one crack at a time.

37, Trans, Autistic, Feminist, Queer, grAce, Witch, Survivor. He/They/What. Find my novels at https://auroraoneill.substack.com

[ruairidhohboy]

GUYS. GUYS THIS IS ME. THIS IS IT. GO BUY MY BOOK.

Link below is the direct-sales link IE the best way to buy my book if you want the Author (me) to receive the maximum amount of compensation (your money).

Project Sapling: Occult Defense Division Book 1

O'Neill, Aurora

Buy Now

Or if you don't want to put your money directly into my pocket, here's a link to the Bookshop.org page!

Now available for purchase in-person at Orca Books Co-Op, Olympia, WA!

And if you don't feel like forking over $30 of your hard-earned cash at an exchange rate of a little under $.04/page (a reasonable exchange if I do say so myself) please Signal Boost the hell out of this!

ETA: My local bookstores say I need to charge more, it's going up to $40 on 6/19/26, five days left of initial discounted pricing as of this note, act now if you were planning on it :3

[ltwilliammowett]

Hello, I have a question please.

Why did chinese junks have those accordion-like sails?

Hi,

well, for one thing, it is the structure of the sails themselves that led to this design, as the masts and spars were made of bamboo and the sails were commonly crafted from woven mats of grass or lightweight bamboo. The battens were essential to give this lightweight matting the necessary structural integrity. Hence the name ‘junk rig’.

The crews on junks tended to be small, so with this type of sail, it didn’t take much to hoist, lower or reef them instantly, like a kind of blind, without the sailors having to climb into the rigging or alter their course. The battens prevented the sail from deforming in strong winds and allowed for quick, precise adjustments. Even in the event of an unintentional gybe, the battens ensured that the sail’s movement was much slower and smoother than the violent swinging of the boom poles typical of traditional European ships.

I hope this helps, and I hope you have a lovely evening.

P.S. A more detailed description of this type of sail will follow shortly.

[keplercryptids]

I spent the afternoon arranging our books by size and color (and it’s so satisfying and looks amazing) and my partner came home and stared in shock at the bookcase and then said “i’m a librarian, you can’t do this.”

[keplercryptids]

him: you split up all the song of ice and fire books

me: yeah i know, they’re all primary colors, it’s perfect

him: [self-destructs]

[operativesurprise]

You’re a monster

[thetumblrofrassilon]

As a former bookstore employee, this hurts my soul. I mean, sure it looks nice, but how do you find anything?

[keplercryptids]

it has occurred me during this process that apparently not everyone thinks about books by what color they are? like, literally when i’m looking for a book, i picture it in my mind. i have a very…tactile experience with the books i read and idk! i thought everyone did that lol.

my partner was like “how will i find [this book] for instance” and i replied “easy, it’s purple” and he looked at me like i was a witch.

[holdmecloseandfast]

OP your brain is neat and I love you for it you funky little color-coded cupcake. But you’re still a monster.

[krsonmar]

This actually is interesting in terms of information-seeking behavior, which is a thing librarians think about a lot and often actually study (some library jobs require you to publish, and academic librarians, for instance, will often use the students at the college they work at to study how they search for information in order to figure out how to best provide them services).

When you go for an MLS (Master’s of Library Science, which is a thing, and which is usually required for “professional-level” library work [which is also a weird and contentious concept that I won’t go into here]), one of the things you study is the organization of information. This deals with how to determine what a book or other material is “about"—a concept we tongue-in-cheek call “aboutness"—and how to convey that to a potential user of the item and make it easy for them to find. Things like keywords and subject headings, do I put this book about how often wild birds attack aerial drones in with books about birds or with books about technology, if its a fictional novel do I put fantasy in it’s own section or mix it in with all of the other fiction, so on and so on.

OP is organizing books by how they would look for them. OP’s partner is thinking in terms of aboutness. This is a system that works for OP because it’s their personal library: they know basically what books they own and they only own books that are relevant to them, and if they know what the book looks like, that can be a quick way to find it.

In a library that assumes the public (or people who do not own that particular collection of books) are using the collection, that doesn’t work. Books are often re-issued in multiple covers, or re-bound in new covers when they get worn out, and if the user doesn’t know what the book looks like or is expecting a different cover, they’re lost. That’s why non-personal libraries used standardized cataloging systems like the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress System to organize a book by what it’s “about”, and then put books about the same or similar topics together, marked with labels and signage so a person unfamiliar with the book or collection can find their way to it.

Basically, OP’s system works for their own personal library, because it’s best suited to how the primary user—OP themselves—looks for books. OP’s librarian partner is coming from a background of thinking in terms of a public-facing collection, where aboutness is the key criteria and communicating it to a user unfamiliar with the collection is the priority.

And also, OP is a monster.

[therootbeersprite]

@official-library-posts

[official-library-posts]

official library post

[whosname]

[id. A twitter post by @/Bennieeexyz Jury duty letter came addressed to my cat. Not a mistake. "Felix Martinez" - that's his full name according to his vet records. My last name. His first name. Somehow he's a registered voter now. Called the county clerk. Me: My cat got summoned for jury duty. Clerk: Is the name correct on the summons? Me: Yes, but he's a cat. Clerk: Is Felix Martinez a legal resident of this county? Me: He's a legal cat. Clerk: Sir, if the name matches our records, he needs to appear or file an exemption. Me: He can't file anything. He has paws. Clerk: You can file on his behalf. Me: Under what exemption? There's no box for "is a cat." Clerk: (pause) Check "unable to serve due to medical reasons." Me: What's the medical reason? Clerk: He's a cat. Me: That's not a medical condition. Clerk: It is if it prevents him from serving. Sent in the form. Got rejected two weeks later. "Insufficient documentation. Please provide medical professional's statement." Took the letter to my vet. Me: I need you to write that my cat can't do jury duty. Vet: Why is your cat summoned for jury duty? Me: Excellent question. No good answer. Vet: This is the weirdest request I've gotten. Me: Can you just write that he's medically unfit to serve? Vet: On what grounds? Me: He's a cat. Vet: (started typing) "Patient is unable to serve due to species-related limitations including inability to speak, read, or comprehend legal proceedings." Me: Perfect. Sent it in. Got another rejection. "Summons is mandatory. Failure to appear will result in contempt of court." My roommate thought this was hilarious. Roommate: Felix is going to jail. Me: This is serious. Roommate: Bring him to court. See what happens. Decided that was actually the only option left. Day of jury duty, put Felix in his carrier. Brought the entire paper trail of rejection letters. Checked in at the courthouse. Clerk: Name? Me: Felix Martinez. Clerk: (looked at the cat carrier) Is that Felix? Me: Yes. Clerk: (long stare) He's a cat. Me: I've been saying that for six weeks. Clerk: Why didn't you file an exemption? Me: I filed three. All rejected. Showed her the letters. She read through them, expression shifting from confusion to disbelief. Clerk: Someone rejected the veterinary documentation? Me: Twice. Clerk: (called her supervisor over) You need to see this. Supervisor read everything. Looked at Felix. Looked at me. Supervisor: How did a cat get registered to vote? Me: You tell me. Supervisor: This is a data error. Me: Took you six weeks to figure that out. They dismissed Felix immediately. Apologized for the inconvenience. Supervisor: We'll remove him from the voter registry. Me: Appreciate it. Supervisor: (pause) Out of curiosity, how would he have voted? Me: Probably whatever party supports universal treats. Got a formal apology letter a week later and a voter registration card. For me this time. Apparently I wasn't registered, but my cat was. Roommate: Felix committed voter fraud. Me: Felix committed nothing. He's innocent. Roommate: That's what they all say. Felix is sleeping on the jury summons now. Fitting end to his legal career. end id]

[carlosmarcosapproved]

[air-so-sweet]

People not liking the "cat distribution system" trend because "what if they are just outdoor cats" to me is like. Okay maybe you shouldn't have left your cat outdoors 🤷‍♂️

[ruairidhohboy]

We've got a housepotato we found starving on the street needing $3000 worth of dental work. She came to me when I called to her and jumped into my arms skinny and screaming on a winter morning, made me 10 minutes late to work, and then we realized we had to get her to the vet RIGHT AS THE WORLD SHUT DOWN FOR THE PANINI. When we took her in, explaining over the phone the whole story and then asked how much it would add to our bill to chip her.

The sound of the vets looking at each other in silence for several seconds filled the phoneline before: "She... *Is* chipped... but here's how to get her information changed so it's registered to you."

*MY VET* says your outdoor cat belongs to whoever picks her up and gets her medical attention because you're neglecting her.

Right now we've got an incredibly skinny incredibly beautiful and incredibly horny little queen coming around our yard for the second year in a row and when I mentioned wanting to TNR her my neighbor's response was that there are roomers she's 'associated with a family who is taking care of her'

My response was that she was outside skinny and unspayed in the heatwave for the second summer in a row so no, no one is taking care of her.

[sicut-anima]

*PANDEMIC

[ruairidhohboy]

Buddy I'm nearly 38 work in a healthcare field never had a tiktik and find the way we had to warp our speech on social media to talk about the global health disaster we all experienced collectively and is still yet ongoing half a dozen years later to the point where thus became slang you understood really fucking sadfunny. This is the Funnyman Website, and I'm also a professional AND hobbyist wordmangler. see: tiktik :) This blog dates back over a dozen years I'm not new to the hellsite I'm tired and old by Tumblr standards :)

[storyweavingspider]

If you are a white person in a racialized person’s life, especially as a partner or close friend, you should go out of your way to ask regularly “hey is there anything you have been holding on to that I did?” and critically both fix it and NOT DO ANYTHING TO PUNISH THEM FOR TELLING YOU.

As a white person raised in a white supremacist society, you’re gonna fuck up sometimes. That’s just a fact. But racialized people often aren’t able/comfortable speaking up when y’all do some shit because of the power imbalance/not feeling up to educating when you may be resistant/don’t think the “fight” will be Worth It.

Show initiative without making it A Struggle or playing the white guilt card. Show you actually care about them, their struggles, and the way you interact with them BEFORE they have to have a bigger Conversation with you, beyond when they need to yell about someone else being racist.

And for fucks sake if they’re making/showing you something from their culture fucking act like you realize the importance of that, that they’re showing you shows they grew up with or making you food they made with their families, that they’re letting you in and trusting you more than other whites in their life.

[mintendo96]

This would honestly be life changing for me. The idea came up because I feel so incapable of telling the people in my life when they do racist shit. And like furthermore, actually respond beyond just an I'm sorry. Like for the love of god actually internalize the shit the Black and Brown folks say to you.

[mintendo96]

I'm seeing a lot of tags from white people saying something along the lines of please tell me if I fuck up and like that really goes against the point of the post. Racialized people have to swallow so much racism on a daily basis and it's impossible to tell who is safe to confront.

Even close friends or partners are not necessarily safe. I have had partners dismiss accusations of racism just off hand, I have had partners treat me like a repository for knowledge on Muslim cultural practices despite the fact that *my family has been Christian since Jesus,* hell I have had a partner say I was overplaying my pain at the genocide to get sympathy.

Racialized people are constantly waiting for the other shoe to job. Constantly waiting for their "antiracist" white friend to decide they have learned all they need to. We need you to ask. We need you to care enough to be proactive literally at all. Stop asking us to trust you without doing any fucking work to prove you are trustworthy.

[storyweavingspider]

To emphasize

IF YOU ARE WHITE YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP OR YOU ARE JUST PUTTING MORE LABOR AND DANGER ON YOUR RACIALIZED FRIENDS FOR YOUR FUCKING COMFORT

Fucking reblog this each time you see it so that it gets drilled into other whites heads

[air-so-sweet]

People not liking the "cat distribution system" trend because "what if they are just outdoor cats" to me is like. Okay maybe you shouldn't have left your cat outdoors 🤷‍♂️

[ruairidhohboy]

We've got a housepotato we found starving on the street needing $3000 worth of dental work. She came to me when I called to her and jumped into my arms skinny and screaming on a winter morning, made me 10 minutes late to work, and then we realized we had to get her to the vet RIGHT AS THE WORLD SHUT DOWN FOR THE PANINI. When we took her in, explaining over the phone the whole story and then asked how much it would add to our bill to chip her.

The sound of the vets looking at each other in silence for several seconds filled the phoneline before: "She... *Is* chipped... but here's how to get her information changed so it's registered to you."

*MY VET* says your outdoor cat belongs to whoever picks her up and gets her medical attention because you're neglecting her.

Right now we've got an incredibly skinny incredibly beautiful and incredibly horny little queen coming around our yard for the second year in a row and when I mentioned wanting to TNR her my neighbor's response was that there are roomers she's 'associated with a family who is taking care of her'

My response was that she was outside skinny and unspayed in the heatwave for the second summer in a row so no, no one is taking care of her.

[mundaneasylum]

okay so sure you see trans men as men, but do you see trans men as trans men??

do you even see trans men as trans??

[lanotteviene]

so imagine you're seventeen and enlist to fight a war to make sure your entire life is not completely fucked over by religious nuts. you can't even get a day in that you're queer-adopted by the gayest straight man who ever lived, the most foppish fucker private school ever willed into existence, and this gloriously red, gloriously fat war hero who's also a war criminal (maybe? you certainly won't ask, he has huge fucking knives). they're your fathers now. they hate each other. they're also your direct superiors in the fucking army, cause you're still seventeen in a war. this happened to my friend polly perks

[ethanmaldridge]

"The America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."

-Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

[gloomsday]

sent this message to my coworker today and he sent me this screenshot with microsoft teams's suggested replies... incredible 10/10 no notes.

[antiadvil]

Happy migraine and headache awareness month. This may seem like a minor terminology nitpick, but it’s a serious misconception about migraine: nausea is an actual migraine symptom, not a thing that happens because of the headache. When people with migraine experience nausea during attacks, it’s not because the pain is so bad (the idea that migraine is always excruciatingly painful is also a myth), it’s because migraine causes a lot of symptoms that aren’t pain, including nausea.

This goes for other symptoms as well: although pain can definitely contribute to people’s experiences of these symptoms, fatigue and brain fog are actual migraine symptoms, not just pain symptoms.

This is also your friendly PSA that nausea is not a normal tension headache symptom, if you frequently get nauseous with your headaches, you almost certainly have migraine.

[potato-lord-but-not]

Reread Monstrous Regiment a few months ago and forgot to show y’all my doodles of the booyyyysssssss

[butch-king-frankenstein]

I think those fancomics where Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes is transgender are cute and fun but I also think it's a deep misunderstanding of Calvin's character to think he would transition into a heterosexual normie who goes to her high school reunion. That girl would have neopronouns and fang implants

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Adult Calvin is a tattoo artist named Panthera who is the bassist in a terrible metal band called Captain Napalm and Hobbes helps do faer E injections

[butch-king-frankenstein]

I know it's like 2 weeks too late to change it but I'm so mad I didn't realize that the band would obviously be called "Get Rid Of Slimy GirlS". I walk the road of shame

[parawyrm]

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[beleester]

>#I love how this gag would be funny at any point since the third century BCE

[dramaticpokemonpictures]

Rest in peace Akihiro Miwa (1935-2026)

I haven't seen anyone talking about this and just wanted to make a quick post on here.

Akihiro Miwa recently passed away peacefully june 20th, and was not only a drag queen and a queer icon, but also the japanese voice of Arceus in the movie Arceus and the jewel of life, as well as the witch from Howl's moving castle and Moro from Princess Mononoke.

Rest in peace and thank you for the wonderfull impact you made in this world.