It's a writing blog now!

Original Fiction WIP - The Deeper Well Romantasy mixed with Gothic Horror Extremely Adult. She/her. 18+ only.

[theprofessional-amateur]

I love a good Very Specific Resource. Here are the links to my posts about resources carefully crafted to share a specific bit of history (updated as needed)

Streaming Music from Around the World - No algorithms, lots of options, amazing music nerds helping you discover more music.

Professor Shoelace - everything you ever needed to know about shoelaces

Commercial Pattern Archive - over 50,000 scanned sewing patterns dating back to the 1850s

Public Domain Image Archive - thousands of images from various repositories no longer under copyright

Medieval Murder Maps - interactive maps of murder and accidents in medieval London, York, and Oxford

Travel in Times - plan travel routes in England and Wales in various centuries

The Quilt Index - a digital repository of quilts, makers, and their stories

Louis Armstrong Archives - Some highlights from the archives and how to access the full collection from home!

RSN Stitch Bank - hundreds of sewing and embroidery stitches, their uses, their structure, how to make them, and history!

Archive of 80s mixtapes - a whole lot of tapes from the 80s and also tapes of background music from Kmart in the 80s and 90s

Feast Afrique - What started as an exploration and celebration of West African culinary heritage has since expanded to include history, language, culture, and customs of West Africa and the African diaspora.

Letterform Archive - Thousands of high quality images celebrating graphic design, calligraphy, and typography. The beauty of letters!

Historic Menu Collection - Over 17,000 historic menus, 1.3 million historic dishes transcribed. Historic popularity and price range, map it, and more.

Palestinian Embroidery - Digital archives dedicated to the preservation of Palestinian embroidery. Over 1,000+ free patterns

Black Craftseople Digital Archive - enhancing knowledge of Black crafts people (both free and enslaved) and the objects they produced.

Georgian Lady's Magazine Embroidery Patterns - Free embroidery patterns from 1770-1819

The Dutch Textile Trade Project - History and trade of textiles in the 17th and 18th centuries. Fabric types, images, data on trade.

Estonian Knitting - Bog knits! History! Techniques!

[serial-chillr]

Thanks for protecting the children Tumvlr.

Don’t want to expose anyone to….

Translucent moths

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Carriola Tussock Moths: these moths have translucent patches (i.e. hyaline windows) on their wings, and their green-tinted veins are clearly visible within

Above: Carriola witti

Moths of the genus Carriola have a very unusual appearance, as their wings are covered in translucent patches that reveal a delicate network of greenish-yellow veins. The green coloration is caused by the haemolymph (i.e. "blood") that passes through these veins.

Above: the male form of Carriola thyridophora, with a close-up of the hyaline windows and bright green veins on its wings

The males of this genus typically have brown or beige borders around their wings, while the females have pink or white borders instead. The hyaline windows also tend to be much clearer and more extensive in the females.

Above: the female form of Carriola seminsula

This article describes the adaptive benefits of wing transparency in moths:

The coevolutionary arms race between prey and predator has generated some of the most striking adaptations in the living world, including lures, mimicry and camouflage in prey. Transparency, by definition, constitutes the perfect background matching against virtually all types of backgrounds. Transparency is common in pelagic environments where there is no place to hide.

Above: genus Carriola

Carriola tussock moths can be found in many different countries throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. They also inhabit certain parts of China, India and Sri Lanka.

Above: Carriola seminsula

This is one of my favorite moths, tbh. I love it when moths have hyaline windows on their wings, and this genus is especially beautiful and bizarre.

Sources & More Info:

Nota Lepidopterologica: Review of the Genus Carriola with Descriptions of Four New Species

Singapore Biodiversity: Carriola ecnomoda

iNaturalist: Genus Carriola

BioRxiv: How Transparent Wing Windows Reduce Detectability in Moths

Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Transparency Improves Concealment in Cryptically Colored Moths (PDF)

Moths of Borneo: Carriola Tussock Moths

Moths of Borneo: Carriola ecnomoda

[serial-chillr]

I’ve read a handful of books lately with plucky girlboss female main characters. Some I’ve enjoyed more than others, but I’m in the mood for something completely different. Anyone have recs for books with female failure MCs? (Already read and loved the locked tomb series)

[serial-chillr]

Actions > Canvas > Drawing Guide > Edit Drawing Guide > Symmetry > Vertical

Bonus, flip canvas:

[scramratz]

[so-i-did-this-thing]

I will bluster, but I don't deeply care that my 80-90 year old style is opaque to a lot of people. It's a bit sad, because ignorance here strips away a layer of meaning whenever you engage with art/history in or about this era.

What's more disconcerting is the thought that folks are just consuming clothing without thought or purpose, including what goes into their own closet. That leads to a lot of waste, and a lot of insecurity when you can't figure out why your clothes don't make you as happy as that Influencer.

I don't know how we get fashion literacy back -- fast fashion and trends cycling seasonally vs every so many years is to blame, imo.

When I talk about what appeals to me w/my own style, I get loads of "wait, clothing communicates things?" comments, which is an interesting commentary on how we now consume fashion with little thought, other than "current trend".

Not enough people these days seem to be involved in subcultures (or are aware that they are in one). And that contributes more to the loss of fashion vocabulary than, say, not following someone like menswear guy.

I guarantee you are dressing to communicate something to other people, even if you're not fully aware of the fact. Your clothing will continue to communicate *something* even as old trends compress. Fashion can be art, it can reflect the zeitgeist of a time period, and it can be propaganda.

If your clothing is making you unhappy, but you can't figure out why:

This isn't a vintage vs modern thing. It's a "clothes have meaning" thing, and I encourage folks to step back and think about what clothing is saying. Look at everyday people, celebs, movie characters. From the old-timey weirdos like me, to the $300 tailored t-shirts of the tech bros, there's a lot going on under the hood. And the more you know, the more confident you become about your own wardrobe and less prone you are to chasing trends that end up disappointing you.

I really encourage folks to embrace "slow fashion". Not just as an anti-capitalism thing, but as a way to examine how you want to present yourself to the world. See what the fashion you share (or want to share) with others communicates. And see what your own personal style that sits atop that says specifically about you.

[animentality]

[beautifulterriblequeen]

A sign to tap

[batsdotjpg]

tbh potato is easily in the top 10 reasons to live

[counttwinkula]

hey did you know that uhh

i. the monster's body is a cultural body

ii. the monster always escapes

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming

[counttwinkula]

oh shit i didn't expect this to actually get notes lmao

these are all direct quotes from jeffrey jerome cohen's "monster culture (seven theses)" (full pdf linked) i highly encourage you to read it yourself!

that said, while i think cohen's writing is evocative, it can be a little dense, so while i'm here, here's my capsule summary (you can also hear me talk about this in the first episode of my podcast) (listen to @ghostswerepeopletoo)

i. the monster's body is a cultural body - The monster is a work of fiction to be analyzed through tools of literary and sociological theory.

ii. the monster always escapes - As long as the cultural fear from which the monster stems persists, the monster will reappear in retellings, reimaginings, and sequels.

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis - Monsters defy binaries and challenge easy comprehension or categorization.

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference - The monster represents the Other.

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible - Tales of the monster exist to discourage unacceptable or taboo behaviors.

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire - Subjects can vicariously participate in the disruption of the social order through the monster.

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming - Within the monster we find information about the self.

[tiktoks-i-enjoyed]

Top 10 moments of growing a dress in 2025

[winterswake]

[lost-in-eriador]

in 2026, remember how GOOD writing feels. remember how satsfying it is to get your characters to the point you have been dying to get to, where they will experience the love, fear, relief or whatever the feeling you want to bring to life may be. let this year be the year of writing, prgress and of satisfactory endings.

[handweavers]

there is something erotic about watching someone be extraordinarily competent at something especially if they're also really passionate about it

[catadromously]

assisted migration

[stuckinapril]

Morgan Freeman had his first breakout roles in his 50s. Leonard Cohen debuted at 33. Toni Morrison published her first novel at 39. Vera Wang entered fashion design at 40. Penelope Fitzgerald published her first novel at 58. Louise Gluck won her Nobel prize at age 77. Edward Said wrote Orientalism at age 42. Charles Bradley debuted with his first album at 62. Those people are literal legends, and no one would think they arrived late. They just arrived when they were ready. You have time to do the thing. You have time to hone your craft on the thing and create something you are truly proud of. You have time

[carbomcoco]

I am utterly captivated by this video series that Taryn Delanie and friends have been making on TikTok

[foldingfittedsheets]

I absolutely lose it every time she says “Don’t leave me baby.”