#m:guide

[fyeahwheein]

wheein_from.paeyong: fingertip - jung whee in (18. trainee)

[capitae]

do you have any tips on how to play a psychologist?

you’re asking this to someone who’s had psychology courses since ‘13, so yes !! ( if you have any more questions, feel free to message again !! ) 

i. psychology knows different perspectives / approaches, so i think that one of the first questions you need to ask yourself is which one your muse supports ?? i mean .. modern psychologists usually knoW that each perspective has their strengths & weaknesses ( and usually also work w/ all of them to a certain extent ) but .. perhaps it’d be cool if your muse supports one perspective more than the other ? ( in the most recent years a ton of people are big supporters of the ‘ biological approach ’ since it’s currently at its peak ! ) aka ask yourself a question: nature, nurture, or both ? ( more abt these perspectives: LINK ONE // LINK TWO ) 

ii. where do they work ? i know the most stereotypical answer would be that they have their own private practice but .. you can find psychologists literally everywhere ?? just some examples: clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, forensic psychologists, social psychologists, etc !! honestly, let yourself go wild !! ( this is a vv good site in general: LINK )

iii. why did they decide to become a psychologist in the first place ? in my high school & college years i just generally noticed that people who follow any type of social majors usually had something happen to them / witnessed something in their past that made them want to help others. whether it’s their personality, they have a family business, your oc witnessed something horrible things in their past, or they don’t want others to feel helpless like they did, the possibilities are endless buT answering this question can give you a ton more insight regarding your oc & what thrives them to help others !! 

iv. some helpful links !! what do psychologists do ? // more about the DSM-5 // there’s a difference between psychologists & psychiatrists !!! // ‘ the intersection of psychologists' personal and professional lives ’  // ‘ what are some typical misconceptions people have about psychologists and their work? ’

[astraeawrites]

Hey! After following you for a while, I've become very interested in getting into the rp community. However, I have absolutely no idea how. Could you possibly give me any tips on where to begin?

astraea’s tips, tricks, & advice for new rpers !!

I’m so glad that my blog has inspired you! I can definitely offer you a few tips and give you a general idea of how and where to begin. I hope all of this helps you out, and as always, feel free to reach out to me through IMs as well. I’ve done a lot of “RP mentoring” type of things where I’ve helped new roleplayers out and it’s always been a pleasure and a great experience. 

Since this list of tips is a little lengthy, I’ve placed it under a read more. But anyways, let’s begin!

❝ ※ *. : ｡ →  TYPES OF ROLEPLAYS.

I believe that in order to get a good grasp of the concept of roleplaying, you need to learn about and understand the various ways you can do it. Generally speaking, there are three main ways to RP. Of course, within that, there are subcategories, but we’ll get there when we get there. Just know that you have a choice to pick where you feel most comfortable.

group roleplay. 

For a long time, roleplay groups (RPGs) were relatively simple. They were broken up into two simple categories: original character (OC) and biography roleplays. How, however, it has become a little bit more complex. Skeleton roleplays and appless roleplays have quickly taken over, and for a moment, multi-muse (mumu) roleplays were popular. Of course, this most likely sounds like a load of gibberish, so let me enlighten you a little. 

Roleplay groups (RPGs) ⸺ this is the umbrella term for roleplays that consist of a group of people. It acts like a network and generally speaking, the group will follow the same plot and there is a main account that represents them as a whole. if you are not in the group, then you cannot roleplay with any of the characters that are in it and vice versa; if you are in it, you cannot roleplay with people that aren’t. this is generally referred to as a closed group. 

Original character roleplays (OC RP) ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which the people who wish to be a part of it are responsible for creating their own characters. each person has written their own character, and therefore, the character belongs to them. some roleplays that are mixed with biography roleplays, however, may ask you if they can keep your character as a pre-written bio if you ever chose to leave. this isn’t really common anymore, though. 

Biography roleplays (bio RP) ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which the admins/creators of the roleplay are responsible for writing the characters’ biographies. not all roleplays, however, can claim ownership over the characters since some of them are fandom-based, and therefore, belong to the original content creator. 

Skeleton roleplays ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which the admins/creators of the roleplay have provided a basic outline of a character. usually, these types of roleplays do not assign faceclaims to the role; instead, they make suggestions, but inevitably, do leave the faceclaim decision up to the applicant. 

Appless roleplays ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which the application process is relatively simple. the application has a layout in which the information you input is the basic stuff. characters name, age, a secret or positives/negatives, and your out of character information. 

Multi-muse roleplays (mumu RP) ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which the number of characters you can have is very high. in a normal roleplay, your character limit is usually anywhere from one to three. in a mumu, however, you are able to have a larger amount of characters. this is also a little tricky because i have seen mumus done in different ways. one way that is common is mumus that are set up like rpgs. another way, which is the only way i have ever done a mumu, is by connecting with a group of friends you feel comfortable with. this is an easy way to test out new ships or characters without having all the pressure of a more “professional” rpg setting. 

Twitter roleplays ⸺ this is a type of RPG in which there is a main account on tumblr where you can apply, but the actual roleplay occurs on twitter. really, i’ve never been in one of these so i’m not sure how they go. i will leave a link at the end to a tutorial, though. 

Now, within all of this, there are different genres you can look into. Horror, action, mystery, urban, bandom, fandom, etc. Again, the choice is yours. One thing to consider, though, is how much time you have and how much you are willing to write. Generally speaking, appless roleplays, twitter roleplays, and some OC roleplays have less writing than the others. However, this is just a generalization and does not apply to every roleplay that falls into these categories. Also, remember that no person is better than the other just because they write more or less. 

independent/1x1 roleplay.

This style of roleplay is not for everyone. For some, it can be a little more intimidating than a group roleplay. To others, it can be even better than a group. It’s up to your personal preference, and within this category, you have the option of independent roleplaying, or 1x1 roleplaying. Let’s get to know both of the options. 

Independent roleplay (indie RP) ⸺ this is a style of roleplay in which you are essentially creating your own rules. this, as the name suggests, grants you more freedom. in this, you are not confined to a group; therefore, you can roleplay with whoever you want. the drawback? a lot of indie roleplayers are picky with who you write you. you may see a lot of words like “selective” and “mutuals only” being used and this is simply because they create their own rules and they determine who they want to roleplay with. generally speaking, many people do pick only one character to play and choose one fandom to stick with. however, as always, this is not always the case and many people also do have “primary” characters and verses that they write in/with and “secondaries.”

1x1 roleplay (1x1 RP) ⸺ this is a style of roleplay in which you are essentially creating your own rules. this, as the name suggests, usually means that one character is roleplaying with another and you have an established writing partner a plotline. 1x1s are meticulously plotted out with a fellow writer. since there are a lot of 1x1 roleplayers, it is relatively hard to get yourself established. because of this, i do recommend being very outgoing and friendly. 

Now, these styles of roleplays, in my opinion, are more difficult than RPGs. I have a hard time reaching out to RPers that I want to write with, especially if we aren’t in a group. Also, not to bash anything or give you an opinion before you can really form your own, but many fandom indie/1x1 people can be very cliquey. You’ll come to notice that there are a lot of call out posts involved with people bullying/being rude. Obviously, however, this can happen everywhere. 

❝ ※ *. : ｡ →  GENERAL RULES.

The majority of roleplays and people have a general understanding and a general idea of roleplay etiquette. This includes, but is not limited to:  

No bullying is allowed. This is a quick way to get a call out post about you. Just be nice and don’t try to “troll” people. It really isn’t nice to get hate messages. 

Don’t steal. Seriously, don’t steal characters, roleplay ideas, or themes that do not belong to you. It’s a huge no-no. 

Don’t godmod. Over the years, this has developed a bit. Godmodding used to be described as writing a character who is oppressing another or controlling another person’s character. Now, assuming a person’s thoughts/actions/words is also considered godmodding. The best thing is to ask if the other person is comfortable with something or if it is within their character’s limits. 

Don’t lie. This is serious. Lying, especially about your age, is wrong. If you are lying and saying you are older than you really are, you can actually get into legal trouble. This is specific toward people who are underaged and write smut. As a general rule, do not write smut unless you are 18 or older, and do not write smut with another person unless they are 18 or older. 

Tag any triggers. Of course, you may forget or you may not be aware of what other people may consider a trigger, but do your best. And FYI, tag your triggers with the trigger first. For example: blood tw. See? Blood is put before the tw and this is primarily because blacklist will only pick up the first word of a tag. At least, that’s what people have been saying? Not sure, but still, do it just to be safe. 

Organization. I’m not saying this is necessary, but it is appreciated. Having a tag system is great because it can allow others to navigate your blog easily. Also, have a neat and clean theme that has legible text. 

Cut your posts. Cutting your posts means that only the 2 most recent replies are included in the post. This means the other person’s last reply and your reply. I’ll provide a link to a tutorial at the end. 

❝ ※ *. : ｡ →  FRIENDLY REMINDERS.

A lot of people forget these things, so I think it’s important to get them ingrained into your system before you start! 

First and foremost, this is for fun. If you find yourself getting stressed or anxious, stop, take a break, and focus on what really matters. Roleplaying is an outlet, and therefore, should be something that relaxes you. If you need to quit an RPG because life is too busy, do it. If you need to drop plots, do it. The group and your writing partners will understand, and if they don’t, well, they probably aren’t people you should be associating with, to begin with. 

Only take on what you can handle. Don’t be afraid to say no to plotting, especially with indies or 1x1s. If you have too much going on, politely decline and offer to plot when you have free time.

Aesthetic isn’t everything. I know people that don’t like those contained themes but use it because people will only RP with them if they have a contained theme with nice graphics. That logic is flawed because people shouldn’t want to roleplay with you because you have a nice aesthetic. They should roleplay with you because of a connection. 

Getting your application rejected isn’t the end of the world. If you get rejected, you can always ask why or what you can improve upon. Take the opportunity to improve your writing and general understanding of concepts. I’ve personally been rejected about four times from roleplays, two of which happened last year when I had about 5 years of experience on my hand. It really isn’t the end of the world and a lot of times, it’s just because the admins felt that another person had a better understanding of the character, not because your writing “sucks.”

If you feel insecure about your writing, that doesn’t mean you have to stop. Be observant and look at the way other people write and see if there’s something lacking in your own. Maybe your writing is clouded with purple prose or maybe your narratives aren’t descriptive enough. Always be observant and try to improve, don’t give up right away. 

❝ ※ *. : ｡ →  HELPFUL LINKS.

This is just a short compliation of helpful links to get you started!

RP Terms (fuckyeahroleplayadvice)

Roleplaying 101 (rpstagram)

How to Twitter RP (kcliuchis)

Extremely Basic Roleplay Basics (rpedia)

Writing Problems I Noticed In My Own Writing (blackgirlmagicwrites)

How to Set Up Your Blog / Reply Using xKit (thcojamcs)

Writing Good Thread Replies (duorpt)

How to Roleplay on the Mobile Tumblr App (valofrph)

Cutting Posts (ronweasleywrites)

Tips for Writing RP Starters (forfriendshipbutter-blog)

Indie and 1x1 Roleplaying (sgomezofrpharchive)

Become More Confident in Your Writing (astraeawrites)

❝ ※ *. : ｡ →  HELPFUL BLOGS.

This is a short compilation of highly imformative and helpful blogs. 

@dear-indies

@helpersofindie

@margotofrph

@roleplaytipsandadvice

@nphofrph

@sonamhelps

@lisbugrph

@eternalroleplay 

@psychictwinsrph

@lashton-ofrph

@annielovestohelp

Again, feel free to IM me. I deeply enjoy helping out new roleplayers and I’ll even plot with you if you want to get into 1x1s and practice roleplaying against me before you dive head first into the RP community! I hope this helped you out in some way or another. <3

[astraeawrites]

A Guide to Residential/Rehab For Minors

This guide will go over some vocabulary/slang terms often used, the process in which you get brought into the residential, and what it’s really like there. This was requested by an anon.

Disclaimer: This guide was not made to support the use of mental illness as a cheap storyline. This guide was made to provide accuracy for those who wish to utilize this subject maturely and truthfully. This is mainly based on my own experience as well as a collection of some of my friends’ experiences, used with the permission of those individuals. This is also based on the residentials based in California and laws will vary place to place. If there is anything I’m missing or anything you found to be incorrect, feel free to message me. This guide is also subject to change and revision; updates will be labeled as such.

Triggers: General mental health issues (ex: self-harm, eating disorders, depression, suicide attempts, drug use, drinking).

The following information is broken up into varying chapters/sections. If you would like to know what to expect or skip ahead, use the following titles as a reference point. ( CTRL + F and copy and paste the desired chapter/section to be brought there; you can also use this method to search for any key words you may be looking for ).

Basic Information

What Determines Treatment

Entering the Residential Life

Important Rules

Contraband and Other Banned Items  

Key Points to Everyday Life

Staff Responsibilities

The Level System

The Points System

Another Thing to Note

Common Vocabulary

Basic Information

Before we get too deep, I think it’s important to go over the basic outline of the mental health system. Usually, the steps you take would include the following: hospitalization, residential/rehabilitation, partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient program, and typical therapy. Let’s take some time to analyze each step so you can understand where your character/story would fit in.

Hospitalization is the highest level of care. It is the stage in which you are a danger to yourself or others. Since I’ve already done a guide to this, I won’t get too into it, but the primary difference between these two things is that residentials do not lock the doors while hospitals are full-lockdown. If you want to read more about mental hospitals for minors, please redirect yourself HERE.

Residential treatment center (RTC) is the second level of care. This can vary place to place, but it my experience, the doors are not locked and the staff is not allowed to touch you. Residential tends to allow a person more freedom while still maintaining a safe place to stay. I’ll talk more about this later since the guide is about RTCs.

Partial hospitalization programs (PHP) are the third level of care. Usually, teens and adults that are released from a residential program go to a partial hospitalization program. In most cases, this is a five-day program (Monday-Friday). You live at home, or at a sober living if you are an addict, and it will normally take place from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM; however, mine took place from 12:30 PM to 6:45 PM, which is unusual.

Intensive outpatient programs (IOP) are the level of care that can sometimes come directly after residential or simply after PHP. If a person skips PHP and goes straight to IOP after residential, it is usually because they are going back to school or already have a job. But really, this is rare since residential to IOP is still a huge step-down. Anyways, in this stage, you go to the program about three days during the week. Some places let you pick any three days out of the week, but most will have you come in on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. IOP hours vary but are almost always about 4 hours long. Mine was from 3:00 PM to 6:45 PM.

Typical therapy is simply the usual one day a week. I don’t know what to call it since most people just call it therapy, but I wanted to differentiate it a tad. Anyways, this is pretty straight forward so I won’t get into it.

What Determines Treatment

As seen in my timeline above, you will usually come into a residential after coming out of the hospital. However, this isn’t always the case. Some people come in from PHP, IOP, or therapy. As long as it has been determined that you are safe enough to go straight to residential, you’re in.

Since we have an understanding of the timeline, let’s discuss what would qualify a person to end up in residential. To give you an idea, click HERE to see a screenshot of some questions from the website of my old residential. Now, this was for a dual-diagnosis program and was geared toward clients with drug use and mental illness so take it with a grain of salt. The general idea remains, though. It is for teens who need help and need to get that help away from home with 24-hour supervision, but not in a lockdown facility.

The type of people in these facilities vary. Without getting too into it, the first time I went into a residential, I was there for depression and anxiety. The second time, I was there for depression, anxiety, drug abuse, and excoriation disorder. This is just to give you a vague idea of the type of disorders you will see. Some facilities cater to specific issues like drug abuse, depression, or eating disorders. Others are there for a more broad approach and are typically referred to as dual-diagnosis programs. Trichotillomania, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder, Asperger's syndrome, and court ordered rehabilitation are just a short list of diagnoses I have come across in my time as a patient. It is not limited to these disorders, however, and can sometimes be something as simple as overprotective parents that over exaggerate their child’s issues.

As mentioned before, there are different places that can sometimes specialize in one specific disorder so it is important to determine whether a dual-diagnosis program would be better than, let’s say, an eating disorder residential.

Entering the Residential Life

Arrival to a residential is nothing like arriving at a hospital or being transferred. You are almost always driven by your parents. The only case I’ve seen where the parent didn’t drive their kid, was because they lived far and needed a police escort. The times that I’ve been on my way from a hospital to a residential, I’ve gotten food to eat and used my phone. It’s up to the parents to make stops and whatnot, but usually, they will not. Stopping makes it easier for a teen to not comply and try to escape, which is not what we want.

When you arrive, you are faced with a basic interview. Usually, the first day is the worst. You’re tired and are suddenly thrust into this new world with about five other teens. You’re being dragged in and out of milieu to do interviews with your therapist and say goodbye to your parents. Any belongings you have are given to a staff member and they check in your things. However, bras with underwire, thongs, shoe laces, jacket/sweatshirt/sweatpants strings, sharp items, phones/computers/anything you can use to communicate, and inappropriate clothing are not allowed. Typically, for the first 24 hours of arriving, you are not allowed to make any phone calls because people usually try to persuade their parents to take them out of the residential. You also start out on level one, but I’ll get into that later. Lastly, a folder is given to you that contains the rules, levels, and treatment goals. Again, this will all be explained soon.

Also, you’ll learn who your roommate is. It’s broken up by gender and normally, there’s two boys and four girls. However, in some occasions, the roles are reversed. Of course, this is only for a co-ed house. Some are specifically for females and some are specifically for men. Please note that transgender clients tend to have to room with the gender they were assigned at birth. I’ve only known one person who was allowed to room with a male (he is a female to male), but just know that cases like these are difficult. This isn’t across the board, but typically this WILL cause tension for the other roommate. Just because you are in a treatment facility, don’t expect everyone to be tolerant and politically correct. Remember that these treatment facilities are not just for people that have depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder. These places are also for teens that have behavioral problems so physical altercations can be expected.

Important Rules

The rules are also very basic. Unfortunately, I no longer have that paper so all of this will be based on memory, common sense, and research. They normally don’t have a list of rules they pass out, but they do give you a welcome packet that briefly goes over expectations. In short, the main idea is to avoid triggering topics. This is something that is huge, especially because you never know what’s going to set someone off. There’s also a big no-touch rule. Hugs are not allowed since some people are uncomfortable with that. Blankets are usually not allowed since it’s easy to do inappropriate things with them. No relationships because they can cloud your judgment and stunt your growth. Profanity is also not allowed. Nails should be cut short to avoid self-harm and no contraband at all.

The next big thing is the kitchen. Knives and sharp objects, in general, are locked up. The staff also has to keep count of them to assure that no clients have stolen them. In my last one, literally, EVERYTHING was locked. Only the fridge was unlocked, and this brings us to the next rule! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the snack time in between meals are the only time you can eat. However, if you are hungry even with all of that, you are allowed to eat fruit or cheese and crackers. Those were the only things we could eat in between meals. Everything you eat or don’t eat is recorded in a binder as well.

This rule isn’t really for drug-related residentials since it’s more for the depression/eating disorder ones. After eating/meal times, the bathrooms are locked for 20-30 minutes. If you really need to use the bathroom, the staff may use their judgment to allow you to go; however, if they let you, it’s uncomfortable. You need to constantly sing or talk whilst doing your “business” so that they know that you are not purging or anything like that.

I know earlier I stated that the doors aren’t locked, but one door that is, would be the bathroom doors. This is just to ensure that clients don’t go in there and smoke or do anything eating disorder-related. This also goes into the line-of-sight rule. At all times, you must be in the line-of-sight of at least one staff members. This means you cannot go wondering off on your own. Doing so will result in consequences and can be considered an AWOL. If you AWOL and while you are in a residential under a court order, you can be arrested. One of my friends did this and he was arrested and taken away for breaking his probation.

Now, this is a part that I don’t particularly love talking about since it has some bad memories attached, but it is important. A 5-foot-rule can be implemented when a person is being inappropriate around you. It can either be requested by you or issued as a punishment for two clients. With me, I had a 5-foot-rule against all the males in the house. One of them was because we were getting too close too fast and the other was because the guy was not respecting personal boundaries. I shit you not when I tell you he whispered sexual things in my ear while rubbing his foot on my leg. Yikes. Anyways, those can be issued and if things improve, they can be revoked. It’s all up to how you and the other person act.

Your room also needs to be clean. You can’t have clothes lying around and your bed needs to be made. If it isn’t you do get taken back to your room so that you can clean it. You are also responsible for doing your laundry on your assigned laundry day. Everything gets a day. Monday through Saturday are usually reserved for each client and Sundays are house cleaning days. That’s basically when towels, sheets, and other things are washed.

Body checks are by far the MOST annoying thing, in my opinion. Every time you leave the house and come back, you are not allowed to do ANYTHING until you get a body check. This consists of going to the bathroom with a staff member, stripping down to your underwear, doing one or two squats, and holding out your arms while you spin in a circle. Then, they check your clothes. This is to ensure that you are not bringing any contraband into the house. This also needs to be done anytime you go back to your room since they want to make sure you’re not hiding things. It’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and I hate it. Also, girls can only get checked by female staff members and boys can get checked by females or males, though, they prefer to match gender.

Transportation is usually in a van. It’s your stereotypical mom van and the rules are cut and dry. You usually alternate who gets to sit shotgun. This is a highly envied spot since you get ALL radio control. Now, we all know how a van is set up, right? Two front seats, usually three middle seats, and three back seats. Click HERE for a better visualization. I labeled it with numbers to help you understand this. So, basically, a boy and a girl can’t sit next to each other. That’s pretty easy to understand. Now, here’s the kicker: a male staff member cannot sit next to a female client. Yep. For example, if a female client is sitting in seat 6 and a male client is sitting in seat 8, a male staff member CANNOT sit it seat 7. Only a female staff member can. However, a male staff member could sit in the driver’s seat (1) and a female client could sit in the passenger seat (2).

Any physical altercations will result in isolation. This is basically when a client is removed from the group and a staff member sits with them in an isolated setting. In this time, the client may not speak to anyone at all. Failure to comply results in your time resetting. The standard isolation times are anywhere from 7 to 9 hours, but I have seen them go on longer than that.

Contraband and Banned Items

To expand on the contraband subject, let’s go over some things that you can expect to be banned, seized, or used at certain times. In your initial intake, your belts, shoelaces, drawstrings, and any other long strings will be taken away or cut from your clothing. This normally only lasts for a short period and you will eventually get your laces/drawstrings back within a week or so depending on your behavior. Until then, slip-on shoes or sandals are normally what you would wear.

Any sharps are banned. This includes but is not limited to knives, razors, pins, needles, and broken pencils/pens. Even normal pencils or pens are usually contained to a certain room. In my first residential, which was more focused on depression and/or self-harm, the pencils were to be checked out by a staff member. They had a log that they recorded the pencils with and they used this to keep track of them as well. Pencils were not allowed in rooms at all, though, they did give me an exception since, at the time, I was struggling with something that they believed warranted the use of pencils/pens to occupy my time. In my other residential, which was more focused on dual-diagnosis issues, they did not keep track of pens and pencils. They primarily didn’t do it because only two clients were there for suicidal and self-harm reasons.

Outside food/drink/opened containers are prohibited. It doesn’t matter if you have a face wash that was expensive. You need to buy a new bottle and make sure that it is still sealed. Otherwise, they can’t allow it in for the simple reason that they do not know if the contents match the label. Some people could be sneaking in alcohol. Since we’re on the topic of alcohol, no perfumes or hairsprays are allowed either. They are usually locked up in the staff office, along with the rest of your contraband. While they aren’t allowed out on the milieu, you are allowed to ask the staff to use both items. They just need to be supervised and locked up after. Cigarettes are also not permitted, though, I’m not certain how it is with other states. I just know that California's legal age to buy cigarettes is 21.

Room searches are conducted on a daily basis. A staff member will search your room from top to bottom for any contraband. Let me tell you that these are thorough. People do not just get away with hiding razors under pillows. That is ridiculous and simply not a hiding place that would go undetected. Please, for the love of God, do NOT have your character get away with hiding shit like that. More importantly, admins, do NOT let the players get away with that shit. You can’t hide anything in your bedroom, especially if it’s an even mildly decent facility. It’s incredibly hard to do.

If the staff suspect that a client is in possession of contraband, they have the right to do a room toss. This is different from a room search because room tosses are 10x more thorough and rude. You stand by the door while the staff literally destroy your room looking for contraband. Even if you don’t have anything and it's your roommate being accused, your stuff gets tossed. One time, the staff thought my roommate was stashing cigarettes and we watched as they tore apart our room. By the end of it, the room will look like a tornado. The shitty part? Even if they don’t find anything, you have to clean up the room. Luckily, I already knew that my roommate was innocent of the aforementioned accusation and we got along great so cleaning up wasn’t too bad. We mainly joked around and shaded the staff members.

Lastly, razors used for shaving. The rules for this vary place to place. In the last one I was in, they allowed razors under the supervision of a staff member. In the previous one, they only allowed electric razors. Of course, all of the razors, electric or not, do have to be locked up in between use.

Key Points to Everyday Life

A key part of residential programs is that they are located in ordinary suburban houses. Yes, a residential could be right down the street from you. That’s the beauty of it. While a hospital focuses simply on leveling out, Residential focus on trying to get you adjusted to a somewhat regular lifestyle. A lot of chores are a part of this. They differ day to day and there’s always a chore schedule placed somewhere in the kitchen or on the wall in the living room. Doing your chores tend to be very important since failure to comply will result in a level drop or a staff member not giving you points for the day.

Life in a residential is relatively strict. You are not allowed to take naps unless you have been ordered to by a doctor or you are basically about to die. I kid you not, the staff there are tough and take no bullshit from people. They do not let you sit down on your bed to rest AT ALL. A big part of it is learning to be responsible and not sit around all day. They try to keep you busy throughout the day. The daily schedule for most of these places is relatively similar. Exercise, breakfast, school, etc. It all goes the same. I have an example of a schedule that you can find HERE.

Note that weekdays are MUCH busier than weekends. This is because weekends are when you are allowed to have visitors. Only family members are allowed to visit you. Night and morning routines are similar. You can choose to shower in the morning or the night, your choice. Usually, they do base who gets to go first on who is the highest level so just remember that. Your toiletries are kept in a small plastic box that is roughly the size of a shoebox. All of that stuff is locked up so you do need to ask/wait for a staff member to unlock it.

Staff Responsibilities

Since I was a client, I’m not an expert on what the job entitles. However, I do have a therapist who was a staff member at a residential, and because of this, I do know a few more things than the average client.

One main thing is that they need to be observant. This is fairly obvious since the clients rely on staff to maintain safety. Throughout the day, they need to take notes on the clients. There’s usually a computer system in which this happens. In most cases, they are going to write down how you appear to be feeling. This is when “check-in’s” are important because these allow clients to actually speak up for themselves and talk about how they are actually feeling. In some facilities, clients initiating the check in can result in them being leveled up. Check in’s are simply the clients telling the staff how they are doing. These are also usually done in private, so the staff has to have time to talk to the client.

The shifts for the staff are usually broken up into 3 different times. From 5AM-1PM, 1PM-9PM, and 9PM-5AM. This is a very broad idea, but it’s usually morning, afternoon, and night shift aka graveyard shift. The graveyard shift is the one that is least convenient for people because of the time it’s at. During this time, you still need to keep notes and keep track of the clients, even if they are sleeping. You can’t fall asleep, and trust me, if you do, things can go wrong really fast. Clients are sneaky so do not put it past them to wait until a staff member falls asleep. Still, the graveyard shift does have a whole new list of responsibilities. Theirs usually consists of laundry and chores instead of taking the clients to and from their daily activities. They also end up getting a lot of free time, which can sometimes be ideal for college students who work there since they can stay up and study/do homework.

Another big thing is that since this is not a lockdown facility, they are not required to chase after or follow runaway clients. Yes, they should definitely follow them, but they do not have to. They can choose to follow, or choose to call the cops immediately. Again, this may not be the same policy for all facilities, just the ones I’ve been.

Perhaps the biggest thing, though, is that you need to avoid giving full names. Some kids in there are stalkers, so staff members emphasis the importance of avoiding sharing their personal details. You also have to avoid sharing to much about yourself in general. I know a while back, a bunch of people at this one residential got fired because they were oversharing with the teens. Even if you believe that your harrowing story may be relatable, you need to be careful. Don’t stack one problem on top of the other. Just avoid getting too attached to the kids. 

The Level System

The level system directly correlates with the point system, but I’ll get into this more in the next section. For now, let’s cover the basics. There are typically 5-6 levels. Each level comes with its own perks, so leveling up is something that is a great achievement.

Level One: This is the level that all clients start out at. It is the most basic one and therefore, has the most basic rewards. The main, and most disappointing, is that you will usually be last when it comes to body checks and showers. This means you will have to wait in the hall until it is your turn, and trust me, by the end of the time, you do not want that. You also get 5 minutes of phone time each day to talk to your parents. If your parents are divorced, you get two 5 minute phone calls each. You also do not get outings with your family, just visits.

Level Two: Alright, this level barely has anything different than the first level. You get the same amount of phone time and you are still relatively low on the list of who goes first. However, this is when you do get to have outings with your family. This means you can leave the residential when your family visits, but you must be brought back immediately.

Level Three: Not gonna lie, this is also pretty similar. You get the same amount of phone time and the same rule applies to the showers and body checks. You also get to have off-site visits with your family.

Level Four: Level four is actually not that bad! You get to have a 5-minute phone call with your parents as well as a 5-minute phone call with an approved friend. Your friends must be approved by a therapist.

Level Five: At this level, you are allowed 10 minutes per day to parents/guardians and a 10-minute call to a friend. In the facility I was at, this was pretty much the highest level you could get since most people didn’t stay long enough to reach the next one.

Level Six: At this level, you are allowed 20 minutes of phone times which can be split up as you want it. This is the highest level and if you reach this, it means that you are trusted by the staff. You are the leader, and therefore, need to act like one. It is super hard to reach this level, and often times you need to petition in order to reach it. A petition is when you speak to the milieu and the staff, usually during treatment team meetings. You describe to them how you have changed and why you deserve to get to level six and they decide.

In short term facilities (4-6 week programs), there is no waiting period. You can level up each week. In longer ones (anything beyond 6 weeks programs) there may be waiting periods between levels. In my facility, you could move from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 each week. However, moving from 3 to 4 and so on, you usually need to wait a week or two before you can move up. I hope that made sense. You can also be level dropped for bad or innappropriate behavior. 

The Points System

The points system is the main part of residential that slips my mind, and this is simply because it is so different in each facility. The main the that stays the same, though, is that each level represents a number of points you get each day. If you are on level one, you get one point each day. If you are level three, you get three. If you are level six, you get six. You can also earn extra points for doing extra work. For example, I had a pretty unique connection with the chef at my last facility and because of this, I enjoyed being in the kitchen. We made an arrangement that I could earn points by helping him clean the oven and organize things when I had free time. You can also earn points by displaying good behavior or, sometimes, making bets with staff. It isn’t too professional, but some cool staff would make bets with me during basketball season. It was always something small, like earning one point if I could correctly guess who would win the upcoming game. 

In the place I was at, they didn’t take away points, but they would withhold them from you. If you displayed bad or inappropriate behavior, they could simply tell you that you didn’t earn any points for the day. 

Now, let’s get into what the points are actually used for. Each level brings in a new list of things that you can buy with points. Here is a short list of simple things you could buy with points for each level:

Level One: Nothing. 

Level Two: For 10 points - cup of soda (you normally only get juice or water), for 15 points - an extra snack (candy).

Level Three: For 50 points - haircut, for 25 points - time to shave your legs (monitored), for 25 points - time to apply makeup. 

Level Four: For 100 points - bubble bath (monitored and done in a bathing suit), for 150 points $10 to spend on Amazon (not a gift card, has to be approved by a therapist). 

Level Five: For 250 points - Dinner with a staff member of your choice to a restaurant of your choice, For 275 points - $25 to spend on Amazon (not a gift card, has to be approved by a therapist). 

Level Six: For 1,000 points - Mini-golfing, for 500 points - $50 to spend on Amazon (not a gift card, has to be approved by a therapist).

Now, I know the prices seem high, but that’s the whole point. You pay a lot of points for something, but the high number of points means you worked your ass off for it. When I was in my last residential, I was there for a little over 90 days and by the end of it, I had about 1,500 points. That’s a lot, okay, and you don’t just magically get there. Plus, by the time you do get that many points, they don’t even matter. Between you and me, they never mattered to me. In the end, I only spent about 250 points just so I can go out to eat with my favorite staff and look at pictures of her daughter. It was fun and I did it at the end of my treatment, so I knew I deserved it. 

Another Thing to Note

While this isn’t something that is a law, most people do not return to the same facility more than once. Yes, it does happen, but clearly, the first time didn’t work and often times insurance companies or the therapists will try to avoid placing someone in the same facility twice. Just keep this in mind and don’t have your character returning to the same residential over and over again. 

Common Vocabulary

AWOL: Also known as “absent without leave.” This is basically when you leave the premises of the hospital/treatment facility.

Contraband: Items that are not approved, but are in the possession of a client. Examples of this include cigarettes, knives, drugs, inappropriate clothing, perfume, etc.

Milieu: A person’s social environment or the peers around them when they are out in shared spaces such as community rooms.

PET Team:  Psychiatric Emergency Teams (PET) are mobile response teams based in and operated by psychiatric hospitals approved by the Department of Mental Health to initiate applications for 5150 and 5585 evaluations.

Treatment Team Meetings: There are two different treatment team meetings. The first one is when the staff and the therapists get together and discuss how are you doing. The second is when you are with the milieu, the clients, and one or two staff members. There, you discuss treatment goals and what you can approve upon.

If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to ask!

Q&A About this guide

[astraeawrites]

Hi, I really want to start this novel but idk how ??? I have some scenes but these are part of the middle. Do you have some tips?

Hey! So a while ago, I really wanted to be an author. Because of this, I did do a bunch of research and spent my fair share of time on writing blogs reading articles on this exact thing so here are some points/tips I’ve learned:

For starters, the first part of beginning a novel is establishing your idea. From what you’re telling me, it seems as though you’ve already established it and you’re trying to build off of it. But still, just in case you haven’t drawn out a basic outline of major events and scenes that you want, it helps if you write it out on paper in a timeline type of structure. As you do this, think about whether or not this material could make a lasting story. There are some stories that are better left as short stories rather than novels, and we want to be sure that your idea is sustainable. Through this, you will hopefully develop a bigger and better picture of what you want. 

Now, you have a few events and ideas about events in your book but they’re all over the place and not really connected. My advice for piecing things together would be to work backward. Take one of your events and focus on how they got there and why they got there in the first place. 

Know the elements of what the first chapter of a novel should consist of. From my experience, you want to establish a setting, the main character, as well as generate an interest for your potential readers. There are different ways in which you can do this. 

First, you can establish a problem/failure for your character. For example, the third sentence from the book My Left Foot by Christy Brown begins states this: Mine was a difficult birth, I am told. Here, we are introduced to a problem, enabling the reader’s interest to ask themselves the question of “Why was it so difficult?” While this may not be the best example because it is a memoir, you can still feel the anticipation for wanting to know more. This is a very common technique and in my opinion, the best way to begin a novel. 

Second, you can begin your story by establishing what an ordinary day would look like for your main character. This isn’t my favorite technique, but it does have its perks. Through doing this, we learn about your character’s patterns and their daily activities. This arranges the perfect set up for later introducing a problem or disturbance, effectively giving them a reference to what their day/life should be like. This will put emphasis on the differences. 

While there are many things that you want to do with the first chapters, there are also many things that you want to avoid. Here are just a few things that tend to be very off-putting:

Creating a faux scene is a very common mistake. A faux scene would be something that sets up a false environment. An example of this that is often used would be the book beginning with a dream. No one wanted to read about a dream believing that it is reality up until the next chapter where the first sentence is something like “he awoke in a puddle of his own sweat, grateful that it was all just a dream.” A lot of times, these scenes are considered to be irritating due to the fact that they are completely unnecessary. 

Not having a clear goal for the main character can be a total killer. Most of the time, a book will consist of a problem that needs to be solved. If there is no problem or predicament, then what makes this story important? What separates that from a random diary from a teenage girl? Having a clear goal is very important. 

One thing that I’ve noticed that seems to be very common is the use of purple prose. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically prose that is overly elaborate and ornate. These days, brilliant metaphors and over exaggerated details and descriptions are praised for their beauty and splendor. However, too much isn’t good. Purple prose can often come off as boring to the reader as they attempt to interpret every metaphor you write and even try to find something out of nothing. If you’ve ever been in a high school literature class, you’ll get what I mean. But overall, this type of writing is often considered to be insincere and even pretentious. 

Avoid the clichés. Stuff like a staggering drunkard in a crime novel or a character jolting up in their sleep as they wake up from a nightmare can be a painful thing to read. Also, no random life or death situations. Don’t randomly start with the character having a gun against his head without any context. It’ll leave the reader confused.

No prologues. Just don’t. These are so commonly hated and disliked. 

It’s also important to note that many authors, if not, all, go through several rough drafts prior to coming up with the final one. That being said, you don’t have to have your novel start off as some brilliant, award-winning piece of literature from the get-go. You can begin with something basic and build your way up from there. That’s always been my approach to things, as I’m a very careful and meticulous planner.

Other Helpful Links:

How To Start A Novel

Three Ways To Start A Novel

How To Start A Novel Right

The Worst Ways To Begin Your Novel

[astraeawrites]

how do i become more confident in my writing? i tend to feel very insecure about it and i hate it

Hey, ‘nonnie! So this is a great question because I know a lot of people struggle with this, myself included. Even with about six years of roleplay under my belt, I am still self-conscious about what I write and the words I use. However, I do have a few tips that can hopefully ease your discomfort!

For starters, I know that there are many reasons as to why someone would feel insecure about their writing, however, there are also several different confident boosters or small things that I do to even improve my writing!

If having proper grammar is something you tend to struggle with, there are a lot of helpful sites you can utilize for free. For starters, one of the methods that I prefer to use is Grammarly. This is a very cool Google Chrome add-on and it will process what you write. It’s a spell-check type of tool that is very helpful when it comes to punctuation, spelling, or word usage. Other useful sites for that type of stuff can be found in the following: jspell, online-spellcheck, and spellchecker. 

Vocabulary can be a tricky thing to get a handle on, especially if English is not your first language. All of that is understandable and I’m sure you’re roleplay partners understand that if they know it’s not your native language. In my case, English is my first language but I missed about three years of school so academically, this is where I fall short. It shows in my writing because my word usage can often be considered mediocre. When this happens, I tend to gravitate towards a thesaurus to find words more suitable. There is also a plethora of resources that are on tumblr that you can use in order to achieve better phrasing and a more eloquent sentence in general. Here, here, and here is a great post that gives you alternate word choices.

If you’re anything like me, you tend to write things that you know about to avoid this insecurity. But at the same time, you want to write about things you have yet to experience in order to learn — and that’s the key word. If you’re writing about a topic of a subject you may be unclear about, it’s best to do your research. Not only does it aid you from preventing potentially embarrassing mistakes, but it allows you to get the most out of what you’re writing. 

This happens to me a lot —you’re sitting at your computer, trying to think of something to write but you’re rendered useless to that process. A lot of times, people sit there, wracking their brain for a solution, staring at a blank page, and forcing a reply that you aren’t content with. When you do this, not only does it feed into your insecurity, but you stop yourself before you even get the chance to possibly come up with anything. In these situations, it’s okay to take a break from the computer and rest your brain. Sometimes all you need are those five minutes of watching a TV show for you to come up with some sort of inspiration. If taking a break does not seem like something you can do, then try to play some music or soothing rain noises to add ambiance. In times of trouble, this website has saved my butt from giving up too quickly. Along with these things, looking at muse blogs can serve a great purpose for you. Bonus: listening to slam poetry can sometimes get your brain working really well!

Stop comparing yourself. You do it, I do it, everyone does it and some point. However, comparing yourself to someone else can be very harmful in many ways. Not only does it feed you negative feelings such as “why can’t I write like that?” or “why is my writing so bad?”, but it also stumps you. Doing this can prevent your growth as a writer and hold you back. It’s okay to compliment another writer or admire the words they use, but comparing yourself to them is a dangerous game. My old Literature teacher always told me that everyone’s perspective is different, therefore, no one’s writing will be a carbon copy of another person’s. You naturally will have your own way of writing that is different than everyone else’s.

Don’t apologize. A lot of times, people tend to say things like “sorry this reply sucks” in a very casual way it can be damaging. When you say this, you are the only person getting in the way of success. Don’t even tag your reply with something like that because it most likely isn’t true because it’s a subjective statement. Don’t allow yourself to feed into your own insecurities because this is how they can potentially control you. 

If you’ve been denied an acceptance from a group, just remember, I have to. I’ve had my application denied multiple times before and it sucks. However, this is something that can come in handy. Asking the admin why you weren’t accepted can be a huge step towards becoming a better and more confident writer. getting constructive feedback is important and it is your job as the writer to accept this and take it all into account. It doesn’t mean you have to hold onto every word for dear life, you just have to listen. 

Other Notable Links & Websites

Helpful articles to read:

10 Ways to Avoid Writing Insecurity

Get a Handle on Writer Insecurity 

3 Easy Steps to Turn Your Writing Insecurities into Strengths

Helpful inspiration:

Hogwarts Ambiance Rooms

8tracks Playlists

Museinspo

Musingisms

Musepirations

Helpful websites for writing:

Reverse Dictionary

Tip of My Tongue

Rhyme Zone

[kbunburyhelps]

How To Mobile Rp.

So many people are on the move today that rping mobile is becoming more popular. The problem is not many people know how to do it. This tutorial was inspired by that fact and I may have also seen an anon ask someone else how to do it or if their was a guide and the person couldn’t help them. I also haven’t done anything rp related in awhile (I’m not counting graphics) so I’m helping you and myself. Look how professional I sounded at the beginning, what happened? Anyway omg look at my graphics, jk jk don’t look at them but I like them. Made them myself gotta toot my own horn. toot toot. So anyway, whether you need this or not... you should still read it! Or Like or Reblog. Do whatever, I hope you like it or something. Yup... Moving on up to the east side to a deluxe apartment in the sky. Btw yes this will help you reblog even with Tumblr’s new reblog thing. Its a long tutorial ahead so please be patient and if you neeed any questions answered or clarification, feel free to message me.

So the way I see it, there are two ways to mobile rp. One involves using the Tumblr app, which you can download in your local app store, and the other is by using an internet app, which you can also get at your app store. It really doesn’t matter which one you use. I prefer google chrome, and the reason why you will see later, but they aren’t that different. Mentioning on the Tumblr app is easier but using gifs is easier for the other option. For my second example I used Google Chrome, free and easy to use. Plus they updated it!

Tumblr App:

So I recommend the Tumblr app especially if you don’t need to use gifs and you just want to do a quick reply. So first things first, open the app. The thing about rping mobile is you need to know the basic html/codes for everything. The important things are bold which you can do by <b></b> italics <i></i> small <small></small> break <br> and paragraph <p></p>

So if you want to use a gif, I suggest finding that first. So opening google chrome, I searched for Danielle Campbell gif hunt (she was the fc for one of my old rp accounts).

Then open one of the links. Before the google chrome update, you had to use google images and copy the code but since the new update lets you just get the code as long as the website allows copy and paste, then it doesn’t matter. Gif credit to hellagifhunts . 

So then I found a gif, held onto it until the two options popped up and the selected copy. Copy will give you the gif’s url. 

Then I opened the tumblr app and clicked new text. I always like having it as a draft so I can go back and work on it and use html because you’ll be entering everything in html anyway.

The url for a gif or picture is <img src=“url” />. So I just enter that and copy url and click paste which will hopefully paste the link.

I clicked save draft and this is what should appear. Since you are on the app the gif will take up the whole space, even if it’s not a 500 or 540 gif. Don’t worry, if you look online its the right size.

So I went back and edited, and as you see below, if you type in the html this is what everything would look like,

Then once you save it, it’ll look like this. Again, if using the app small text will not look small but I guarantee, as long as you write the code right, it will be small.

Then to mention someone, just put the at/@ sign.

Once you start typing the persons blog name, they should show up. For some blogs you have to type more than others.

Then once you click on it, it should turn blue and have a line underneath it to show it’s a link. If mentioning, I’d say keep it in html but it doesn’t really matter. It’ll mention either way.

So if you go back and edit, you see that Tumblr gives each blog a special url for mentioning. You don’t need to know it, but I just thought I would point that out to you.

The Internet App:

I really don’t know what else to call it. So html and everything is the same, the only difference is the actual Tumblr format on the mobile internet, other than that there’s nothing really for me to add. Also there’s a difference in the mentioning url. Jut like when putting a gif (by the way the gif/image url is the same as above) there’s a url for mentioning someone and if you decide to use the mobile internet while replying, instead of the Tumblr app then you need to know the url. The url for mentioning someone is <a class=“tumblelog” spellcheck=“false”>url</a>. By the way, I have a different blog logged in on my internet. Also, ignore my lack of battery power.

Then replace url with the blog name.

I went ahead and posted it so that you could see they get the notification. And it appears as their blog url with an underline.

If you go and edit it, then you’ll see again that special mentioning url that Tumblr gives.

Replying with Reblog:

I can honestly tell you, replying was easier before Tumblr changed their reblog and since I don’t know how to change that for the app or the internet, we have to improvise/do it the way people without extensions do on the internet... but more coding.

So I’m using the app, and when I reblog it comes up like this. You see how the original posts are in a little box.

Well if you click that x then you get rid of the reblogs but for the moment we will keep it.

In order to help me out with formatting, I go back and look at the original post fro the other person to see if I need to add italics or bold or anything. I always open it on the mobile internet, on their blog  (my internet dash doesn’t show the real coding) so I can easily jump between the app and the mobile internet. Since their reply had no extra coding but small text, it makes my coding thier reply easier

I always start with the mentioning url though it doesn’t mater since you reblogging with get them a notification anyway. Again the mentioning url is <a class=“tumblelog” spellcheck=“false”>url</a>.Since I was on the app I could  have easily done the at method but I figured I’d show you the url again.

Then I add a blockquote code <blockquote></blockquote> so that it looks like an actual reblog and I do the whole <p> then small thing so it looks liker her reply. Then to do her reply, I just copy and pasted her words and again, since she had no bolds or italics I didn’t have to edit the coding anymore.

So I also copied and pasted the gif url and put it in my reply.

I went ahead and saved it as a draft and this is what I got, the same exact reply as the person before me.

I went back and edited it, and now I can delete the reblogs because I’ve fully copied the other person’s reply. So you can click the little x and it will delete the reblogs.

If you see, tumblr was nice enough to close all my coding for me. So then I went ahead and went to get another gif, did the whole copy and paste the url thing and whatnot.

Did the whole my reply coding thing, I didn’t do an actual reply for my chara because the rp is done and whatnot so it wouldn’t make sense anyway

So then I saved the draft and this is what I got.

And there my lovely people, is the end of the utorial. It was long and the gifs are big but I hope you made it through and didn’t fall asleep.

[soulmaets]

guide on: correctly using these terms for latin american people

Okay guys, so I’ve decided I’m going to make a guide on using the terms Hispanic, Spanish, Latina/Latino/Latin-American, and Latin ( in the correct way ). There is a huge difference between all of them, and I get extremely offended and annoyed ( being a part of each group except for Latin, obvi ) when people use one in the wrong context. The terms are used interchangeably when they should not be.

A Little Introduction

I decided to make this guide after witnessing several people using the terms Hispanic, Latin, and Latina/Latino/Latin-American, as well as Spanish, in the wrong context. They were using the words to describe people who weren’t of that label, such as using ‘Hispanic’ in reference to Brazilians, ‘Latin-American’ in reference to Spaniards, and ‘Spanish’ in reference to nationalities other than Spain. There were even people using Latin as a race!! ( Which it is not!! )

Hispanic

Out of all the other terms, Hispanic is the broadest and most inclusive. This site gives a great comparison of Hispanics and Latinos, saying that “’[T]hough every Latino is a Hispanic, not every Hispanic is a Latino.’ Hispanic is the more inclusive term.”

Hispanic is a word used to describe language, while Latina/Latino/Latin-American is used to describe geography. This site proves this by stating that “[You’re] Hispanic if you and/or your ancestry come from a country where they speak Spanish.” 

Based off of my research, I can safely say that Hispanic should be used in reference to people from a country where Spanish is spoken. ( Ex. Venezuela, Cuba, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico ) I am Hispanic because I’m 2/8 Venezuelan, 2/8 Cuban, 3/8 Spaniard, and 1/8 Colombian, which are all countries where Spanish is spoken. ( I’m also Spanish and Latina )

Latina/Latino/Latin-American

This one is a little trickier. Every piece of info I found had a slightly different definition for this, so I had to combine them to create one that was a little more understandable. The article that provided the best explanation of this term’s meaning was this one, which said: “Latin America is defined as all of the Americas south of the United States, including the Caribbean, which speak a Romance language (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, etc.), because these are derived from Latin. Thus, a Latin American is a person of these Western Hemisphere countries, usually ones that speak Spanish or Portuguese primarily. However, it is common nowadays for the term to be incorrectly defined as specifically a person who comes from any Spanish-speaking country in the Americas or the Caribbean. Because of this common misinterpretation, you may find many Brazilians, for example, who hate to be referred to as Latin American.” Now that’s a little long, so we’ll have to paraphrase: You are Latino if you are from any country in Latin America ( Including the Caribbean ) that speaks a Romance Language. Romance Languages include Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, but are not limited to those.

One thing to note is that Haitians are commonly mistaken for not being Latin-Americans, even though they are. Since French is one of their National Languages, and French is also a Romance Language, they indeed are Latinos. Brazil is a great example of a Latin-American country that isn’t Hispanic.

This Venn Diagram is helpful in understanding the difference between our first two subjects.

Spanish

This one is simple, but is also the most commonly misused. This site explains it the best, in my opinion: “Spanish basically refers to anything from the nation of Spain; Spanish people are people whose nationality is of Spain. Just because Mexicans, Peruvians, Chileans, Colombians, and others speak Spanish, they are not Spanish. The Spanish people are also referred to as Spaniards. ”

Latin

"Latin... refers to a dead language that is the predecessor of the Romance languages of today, and which has even contributed significantly to the English language.” It may also be used as another word for Latin-American or Latino.

And a Bit More to Consider

The terms Hispanic, Latina/Latino/Latin-american, Spanish, and Latin are used to describe ethnicity, NOT race. 

Another thing to take into consideration is that “...because these terms are so broad, they don’t properly distinguish the many individual differences in culture, traditions, food, music, etc.; for this reason, the best thing to do is to call someone by their nationality when possible.”

Ethnicities and races should NEVER be used as a character’s RPG label. NEVER. JUST. NEVER.

The words Hispanic, Spanish, Latin, Latino, Latina, and Latin-American are all PROPER ADJECTIVES. They should always be written with their first letters capitalized, just as you would with your own name.

Sources

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