Hey! I’ve been playing the game Spiritfarer and I think you would like it!! It’s described as “a cozy management game about death” (I found it cause i was looking for more management games like SDV.) But it’s not just a management game— it’s also a platformer, and you’re on a boat and sail around to different ports fulfilling requests and just hecking exploring. The story is also so good!! Put simply, you ferry people to the afterlife. Since it’s about death it makes me think about life and how i spend my time, and the time i spend on things as a kind of stewardship. It’s also heavily pro-union/worker’s rights. The protagonist, Stella, cares so much about everything/everyone all the time, it makes me cry. And i didn’t even mention the graphics (so cute!) or the soundtrack (very cool!). I’ve been recommending it to everyone i know but i also think that you, Elliot, specifically would like it. (I also know that you know about it since steam is stalker-y and tells me it’s on ur wishlist, so this is me saying to heckin go for it, my friend.) I’m sending this as an ask so that you can post it publicly and spread the word!!
Hello!!! This is a such lovely ask, thank you for thinking of me! Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I always feel so very happy when a friend tells me that they saw something they think I'd like or that reminded them of me. 😁😁😁
And that was an excellent choice! I heard about Spiritfarer a while back from a Waypoint review and it sounded wonderful, hence it being on my wishlist. I haven't gotten it yet because am actually taking a break from getting new games at the moment because I wanted to spend more time reading (especially because Total War Warhammer III is coming out this year and when it does that is going to be my life for a while lmaooo) but it is definitely on my list.
ALSO I have not forgotten about SDV multiplayer with you! I have actually remembered that no less than three separate times, thought to myself, "Oh yeah I'll message Echo about that as soon as I have some time" and then promptly forgotten again haha. But if you are still up for that sometime soon I would still love to!
Hello Vince! I've been researching these questions for a while to no avail and was wondering if you had advice, as a fellow trans person into historical fashion. The first, is that as a nonbinary person I'd like to make clothes with an androgynous/genderfuck silhouette but am not sure how to achieve that, if you have any tips.(1/2)
The second, larger problem, is that as a nonbinary person, I have a “nonstandard” body. I’m dfab and have had top surgery but am not on T. I am quite short (5'2") with wide hips. My attempts at drafting patterns and making mockups from men’s patterns have gone atrociously (I was attempting some 1908 breeches.) How have you found success in making/drafting historical clothing with a trans body™? (2/2)
Hello! Ok. First thing you need to know is that there’s no such thing as a “standard body”. It’s not a thing, and it never has been.
Clothing companies may try to pretend it is, but all they’re doing is making stuff that kind-of-sort-of fits a lot of people, but hardly fits well on anybody at all. (The same is true of commercial sewing patterns, although there is much more potential to change stuff with those.) Look around and you’ll see that people come in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes. Different heights, different weights, different proportions, and varying degrees of asymmetry.
Mass produced garments are going by statistical averages (which I’ve heard are both outdated and inaccurate) and people just come in too many shapes to make that work. It’s why I have a job doing alterations for a suit store. It’s probably why unstructured, loosely fitted, and/or stretch knit garments are so common nowadays. (That, and it’s easier to wash them. And easier to make them cheaply in sweatshops. I want to punch the fast fashion industry in the face, but I digress.)
People have always come in a huge variety of shapes, all throughout history, but up until whenever mass production became the norm (late 19th and early 20th century I think? It happened gradually.) they had the advantage of having their clothes made specifically to fit them. Unless they could only afford secondhand clothes, but even then they’d probably alter them to fit.
And trans people existed back then too, and people cross dressed for various reasons. “Breeches roles” for actresses were common in theatre, so I think it’s safe to say that breeches can be made to go over wide hips just fine.
I haven’t seen any of your pattern attempts and I don’t know how many you’ve done, but I can say with some degree of confidence that you’re having trouble because it’s your first attempt at a rather difficult thing that takes some time and practice to get good at. We all start out by sewing and drafting horrible stuff! Do not despair! Pattern drafting is a wonderful skill to have, and after enough bad patterns you will get to good ones! It’s a whole entire human you’re putting fabric around, and it takes some practice to develop an eye for what shapes work best on you, and how to correct various fit issues.
Here’s my pattern drafting method:
I usually use pattern diagrams from The Cut of Men’s Clothes, Costume Close Up, or the LACMA pattern project. All 3 of these sources have nice little scaled down diagrams of pieces traced from extant historical garments, and I start by tracing those onto a small sheet of printer paper. I get a reference picture or several of a similar garment. Preferably a portrait of someone wearing it, or the garment displayed well on a mannequin. I then stand in front of the biggest mirror in the house (wearing everything I’d be wearing under that garment) and imagine that garment on me, and where all the edges and seams are. I get my measuring tape and I measure various bits of the imaginary pattern pieces, and mark these measurements down on my little diagram. Here’s what the one for my yellow striped waistcoat looks like.
Once I’ve got a satisfactory amount of measurements marked down, I go to my big roll of stiff brown butcher paper and I draw out the pattern pieces full size according to these measurements. It’s ok if the measurements don’t all line up perfectly, because it’s awkward to measure yourself in front of a mirror, so they aren’t all exact.
The important thing is to get the lines nice and smooth, and approximately where they should be, and to get the overall shapes similar to the diagram pattern pieces in a way that fits your proportions. They won’t be exactly the same as the diagram in the book because nobody is shaped exactly the same as whoever wore the original garment. For the above waistcoat I had to flare the hips out waay more than on the inspiration pattern, but when it’s on me that’s not really noticeable because it fits. (Mostly. I still need to work on the shoulders..) I then mock it up in crappy thrift store fabric or old bedsheets, and the past few times I’ve done patterns this way I’ve found them to fit surprisingly well, needing only a few small alterations. I’m very visual, so this method works for me, but other people may prefer different methods.
In college we learned to draft modern patterns with math formulas, but I don’t like doing that, and the basic blocks we did then aren’t super helpful for historical cuts anyways. I know that for the 19th and 20th centuries there are lots and lots of tailoring books available that have drafting instructions, but as I have not yet dipped my toes into the 19th century I can’t really comment on them.
However you’re drafting, be sure to look at lots and lots and lots of reference pictures from the era so that you get a good picture in your head of what the fit and cut is supposed to be like. Things fit differently in different eras. For example, 18th century coat sleeves are cut much tighter than modern ones, and with a considerably smaller armhole. (Which actually gives you a far better range of motion.) They don’t have any shoulder padding either. And 18th century breeches have wrinkles at the crotch, it’s just part of how they fit.
Alright, I think that’s all I’ve got to say on patterning for now. And now to address the question of androgynous silhouettes! I really don’t want to fall into the trap of equating “androgynous” with “masculine”, but most of the things that immediately come to mind are historical menswear because they’ve got drastically different silhouettes that don’t read as very masculine to the average modern onlooker. One of the things that made me start on a 1730′s project was the early 18th century silhouette. (That, and the lure of Huge Coat Cuffs) Just look at those adorably poofy coat skirts!
Antoine Hérisset, 1729, Rijksmuseum.
The early-to-mid 19th century is another great period for men’s silhouettes. Tiny waists and softly rounded chests (you see padding in a lot of the waistcoats) were in, and the men in the fashion plates are drawn with doll faces, dainty little feet, and pretty substantial hips. Behold:
(1834) I’d like to do an 1830′s outfit someday, and to make a pair of mens stays for it.
Here’s another one so you can see The Hips. The darn source link isn’t working, but this is from Costume Parisien, 1823.
Young man’s cotton summer jacket, c. late 1840′s.
Depending on how concerned you are about foolish comments from random strangers, there’s also the second half of the 17th century to consider. What could be more androgynous than a vaguely human shaped wad of fabric and frills?
I Cannot find the source for this but it’s a French engraving c. 1660.
Now, I am less educated on historical women’s fashion, but I know that those shapeless little 1920′s dresses were going for a more androgynous look. Flat chests and short hair for girls was fashionable, and you can see the beginnings of that boxier silhouette in the 1910′s.
1910′s women’s suits are magnificent.
Walking suit, c. 1912, V&A.
And riding habits! From the 17th to the 19th century (and maybe beyond, I don’t know) women’s riding habits had the same style lines as mens suits, but were made with the silhouette of a dress, and it looks very sharp. (Especially the 18th century ones, but I’m biased.) They usually consist of a jacket and matching skirt.
Wow that is a much longer answer than I expected to write. I must make an FAQ page so people can find these more easily.
I hope this was helpful, and I wish you all possible success in future pattern drafting endeavours!
okay so this feels like selfish? to ask? but I've had a week and could use some nice words so :) please?
hmm did you know that a) that’s not selfish and b) i love you
1.) i really value the care you put into so many things you create, both large and small-- and of course, i always have! whether you’re painting, sewing, baking some gorgeous pies, or anything else, there’s so much devotion in what you do, and the aesthetics always slap. and like right now in particular i am thinking about your garden and how much care you put into it...that is perhaps the perfect example, between the conservation aspects and the design aspects...hhh i wanna see it in person so bad...
2.) you’ve taught me legitimately so much about being able to embrace fluidity in myself, and focus on what’s in front of me, and also about independence and courage and not giving a fuck if society judges you. i would be a different person without your insight, and i’m endlessly glad you’re in my life.
3.) you’re just really fun to spend time with? i love that even when we’re both kinda feeling like garbage but we’re hanging out on the phone we still tend to end up laughing. you’ve got a killer sense of humor, especially in your writing, and like, a lot of the time in my head i think of you as serious and reflective and definitely the most grounding/practical presence of all my friends, so sometimes that sheer lighthearted energy sneaks up on me. but i cherish both/all echos. you are great <3
scribblinaway replied to your post “Day 27 of COVID-19 shelter-in-place”
Yesterday my dad pointed out that even if they start slowly easing restrictions, as a person in a high risk category he's essentially going to have to continue to be in self-isolation until a vaccine is widely available. :(
Yeah, this is the concern, and is also why I’m not sure what “easing the restrictions” will look like in the pre-vaccine period. For example, how long until we can have dance classes again? How long until live performances are permitted? How long until we can travel?
echojar replied to your photoset “Day 13 of COVID-19 shelter-in-place Today also didn’t exactly go...”
it's possibe that the hovery flapping bird was a kite? it sounds like kite behavior. and I've seen white tailed kites in central CA before
Yes, it probably was a kite--that’s definitely kite behavior. I just didn’t feel like I’d had a good enough look at the bird itself to be sure.
julandran replied to your photoset “Ridiculous afternoon snack at Chez Anonsally You can make something...”
One of my go-to snacks has been melting equal parts peanut butter and chocolate chips in a small ramekin, then dipping digestive biscuits in the resulting goo. :)
@echojar, I started answering your ask about what I’m using for bird photography, saved it as a draft, and now Tumblr has seen fit to send it... somewhere. Not sure where. Anyway, it’s gone.
So this is your response, unfortunately no longer including your actual ask. After a cut to spare dashboards b/c tl;dr.
Back in September 2018 I bought a camera to use for birdwatching. It was a Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 (link is to Amazon, which is where I bought it). It looks like this:
It’s a “bridge” camera, in the sense that it’s meant to fill the market niche between camera phones (which have mostly replaced compact digital cameras) and high-end DSLRs with detachable lenses, which take better pictures but are also much more expensive.
The FZ80 cost just under $300. I also bought a faster, larger-capacity memory card ($14), and an extra battery with an external charger ($24). I’m very happy with all of them.
The FZ80 has a good reputation among birdwatchers; I’ve run into several other local obsessives who use one. Among bridge cameras it’s optimized for telephoto work, with a zoom lens that goes to the equivalent of about 60X and image stabilization that does a decent job of keeping things steady even though I’m taking pictures handheld.
These days when I go birdwatching I always bring binoculars, phone (for eBird and field guide apps), and the camera. It’s light enough that I don’t mind bringing it along all the time. I usually keep it in a fanny pack, but when I’m in-progress on picture-taking I’ll hang it from my neck and lace it through the right side of the binoculars’ shoulder harness, such that the camera ends up hanging next to the binoculars but (mostly) doesn’t bump into them, and I can raise either one as needed. It looks super goofy, but I crossed that bridge a while ago and these days I just tell myself to try not to think about it.
I carry the spotting scope and tripod less frequently now that I have the camera. The camera isn’t a complete replacement for the spotting scope; the hierarchy of how well I can see details on a distant bird probably goes like this, from low to high:
naked eye
camera, zoomed, looking through the viewfinder (I almost never take pictures looking at the camera’s larger LCD screen)
binoculars
camera, zoomed, reviewing a photo on the LCD screen after taking it
looking through the spotting scope
camera, zoomed, looking at the photo on my computer screen at home
But the spotting scope with tripod is a lot heavier and more cumbersome. I don’t mind carrying it so much, but I really dislike the extra lag time it adds when I see a bird and want to look at it through binoculars, but I can’t get on the bird quickly because I have to set the spotting scope down first. So these days I bring the spotting scope for things like wetlands, sea watches, or stationary hawk watches, but otherwise I leave it at home. If I see a distant bird that’s too small to identify in the binoculars I can take a quick photo and check it out on the back of the camera.
(Oh, and I also bring the spotting scope when I’m docenting or leading a bird walk, because I can point the scope at a bird and let people take turns looking through it.)
But back to the camera. I’m not very experienced (at all) at photography, so there's been a steep learning curve. I’ve ended up with the following approaches that I use most of the time:
If I’m shooting in poor light, or trying to get as pretty a shot as I can, or just generally futzing around I’ll usually shoot in “P” (Program) mode where the camera picks the shutter speed and ISO setting.
If I’m trying to shoot birds in flight (like at a hawk watch), or just generally when I’m being more serious, I’ll switch to S (”Shutter Speed”) mode and set the speed to to around 1/800, or sometimes faster, because I find that I have better odds of getting a sharp, identifiable image if I crank up the speed, even though that tends to give me higher ISO settings and correspondingly noisier/grainier images.
There’s been a lot of trial and error involved. For example, in the first week I had the camera I took this photo of a Blackpoll Warbler (PJH represent):
I shot that in S mode with the speed set to 1/500, because I figured that’s what I’d need to do to freeze the motion of a fast-moving warbler. Helpful birder and experienced photographer Dika, though, pointed out to me that in the early-morning light I was shooting in, that caused the camera to crank the ISO up to 3200, resulting in a grainy image. If I’d just shot in P mode I would have had a slower shutter speed, but it turns out that probably would have been fine for freezing motion and I would have benefited from the lower ISO setting.
In good light (e.g., a sunny day with the sun behind me and the bird well-illuminated) that’s pretty much all I worry about. But usually the light is poor, or the bird is backlit or in shadow, or something else is making things difficult. If I were just taking pretty pictures I’d write those situations off. But since I’m more interested in documenting what I’m seeing I’ll often try to make those situations work by setting the f-stop up or down to get the exposure on the bird as good as I can. Again, a lot of trial and error. I can’t imagine what it was like to try to do this back in the day when each shot wasn’t essentially free and you couldn’t see the result right away.
Oh: speaking of: I almost always shoot in “burst” mode, where I hold the shutter button down and just go snap-snap-snap-snap-snap as fast as the camera can write to the card. Later I throw away 99% of the shots for the few where the bird is looking the right way and the light is glinting on its eyeball just right and all that. With the 32G replacement memory card I bought I can store several thousand pictures; there’s only been a few times when I’ve been out so long that I’ve needed to take a break to purge rejects to make more room.
And focus. More than any other technical aspect of getting the shot, I worry about focus. Especially in the early days I had a lot of otherwise-decent shots that were fuzzy. Grr.
For birds in foliage or on the ground I use the autofocus mode where the AF sensor is just a tiny little box in the center of the screen, then do my best to keep that dot on the bird’s eye. Or, if the bird is big and/or close such that it fills a lot of the frame and I want to actually compose the shot as I’m shooting it rather than later while cropping, I’ll use the separate button on the camera back that lets me set and lock the focus while I’ve got the little AF spot on the bird’s eye, then hold the focus while I pan to whatever I want the actual shot to look like before shooting.
For birds in flight, like at a hawk watch, I can’t keep that little AF spot on the bird, so I switch to the mode where the AF area is a big diamond shape that takes up about half the field of view. When I see the bird in the air I’ll usually go first to binoculars to try to ID it, and then switch to the camera. I’ll point the lens in the general direction of the bird with just a moderate amount of zoom, then gradually zoom in trying to pick out the bird in the viewfinder as I magnify. Hopefully I eventually pick up the bird, then do my best to keep the bird centered, or at least in the frame somewhere, as I crank up the zoom all the way and start shooting. In the early days I’d practice on anything (clouds, airplanes, crows, red-tails); now I’ve got the technique down to where I can save it for when I see something I really want to get a shot of.
One technique that’s definitely helped is learning to adjust the camera controls without looking. When I’ve only got a second or two to try to get an identifiable shot I really don’t want to have to look at the camera.
My usual workflow when I get home is to sit down with the camera in my lap and go through the whole set, punching the button to mark the good ones as “Favorites”. Then I delete all except for those favorites and transfer them to my computer. After that I wipe the rest of the photos from the camera, swap out the battery and put the depleted one in the charger, and I’m ready to take more photos.
On the computer I’ll go through the photos and pick the best one of each bird (or multiple photos for a tricky ID or a rarity), and upload them to eBird. It’s been super-helpful for learning; there’s nothing like posting a misidentified bird to eBird with an accompanying photo to get a lesson not only on birds, but also on cognitive bias and hubris.
I take fewer shots these days than I did when I first got the camera, but I still take a lot.
Whew. Nothing like a brain dump of something I’ve been obsessing about to generate a shocking amount of verbal spew.
If you're still doing them, can I have a tdor reading?? It's a wonderful idea, thank you for doing this for the community!
Hello! You sure can :D My apologies this took me a week to get to, but thank you for your patience!
For you, I drew “Trust Your Path” from Work Your Light Oracle and “The Diviner” from The Numinous Tarot.
The Diviner just amplifies the Trust Your Path card’s message. Trust yourself, and trust the direction you are going. Even if you feel directionless, it’s still preparing you for what is next. Tap into yourself and listen to what you are saying, as that will guide you forward. You got this! Trust yourself.
I hope this makes sense! I wish you luck regardless. Thank you for allowing me to read for you!
TDoR Free Readings are now closed, but feel free to check out my Etsy shop Allecadabra!
echojar replied to your photoset “look. i did thing.”
as a person who does medical billing, this is way prettier than the programs that ppl currently use
yay!! that has been part of the goal!
it’s weird how it seems like nobody else has really made this? i mean, the whole reason i decided to build it as a plugin is because i couldn’t find anything out there that would be easy to augment without being unnecessary coding overkill. (i think bestnotes now has something they’re claiming does a lot of the stuff ours does? but it’s just still not very pretty and doesn’t prioritize custom access levels.)
i still barely understand anything about medical billing, lol. you probably know more than me. i just had meetings with the billing people every once in a while to show them pictures like “is this it? is this the thing you want?”
