The fact that guys constantly want a “goth” girlfriend or a “tomboy mommy bullshit whatever” girlfriend just shows how aesthetic-based het male sexuality is. It’s a cultural staple that a stereotypically attractive woman can be with an ugly yet funny man because he’s funny because the man is his own person but a man would never do the same with a woman because the woman acts as a statement piece a “look what I’ve got” item and not an individual with depth. It drives me insane even among my male peers who have a vague understanding of feminist critique or at least a normie contemporary one. Lust over aesthetics. And of course if you point this out you are branded with oh you’re just saying that to “get pussy” as of course men can’t comprehend having genuine feminist opinions without trying to barter their way into sex. Whatever who cares blows my head off with shotgun

throwing up so hard right now

Hey did you know I keep a google drive folder with linguistics and language books  that I try to update regularly 

UPDATE because apparently not everyone has seen this yet the new and improved version of this is a MEGA folder

I know there’s so many more urgent things but if you like this resource you may consider buying me a ko-fi to keep this project alive

Reblogging myself to add that the difference between langblr and other language learning communities is that here I get thousands of notes and people telling me they desire me carnally (side note: please don’t say this to a stranger)

And on other platforms it gets deleted because Piracy Bad :(

For the new year here is an FAQ

Is this still being updated? Yes, although currently sporadically because I’m very busy with grad school.

Can you add X language? As long as you ask nicely and the language isn’t already there I’ll try my best, although see above. Sometimes I don’t find resources though but I try to keep a list and periodically check again.

Can I send you files to add to the folder? Yes, you can send me links to them or ask me for my email address.

The folder is empty? Is it the Google drive? In that case please try the MEGA folder instead. If it’s the MEGA folder please DM me so I can send you the link again.

It asks for an encryption key? I don’t know why it does that sometimes but if this happens please DM me for the key.

I found a mistake in the folders? Thank you for telling me, I will try to fix it with the next update.

Do the ko-fi donations pay for the server costs? For legal reasons, no. I don’t want me, you or ko-fi to get into trouble. I am paying the server costs out of pocket (49€ a year) but the donations are used to balance out that fact by allowing me to acquire resources for the folder or for my daily life (I’m a poor grad student lol), support linguistic diversity through charities. No one is required to donate and I hope that once I have a stable job I won’t need donations, but currently every little bit helps.

Isn’t this piracy? Not if no one finds out so don’t you dare narc on me.

“sexual comment” I know this is meant as a compliment here but please don’t say these things to strangers

How wikipedia browsing actually works

This is just what being ADHD is like

Jesse: "Yo, Mr. Fring, I've been thinking about this quote, man. "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." What do you make of that?"

Gus: "Ah, Jesse, I see you've stumbled upon the existential musings of Albert Camus. It's an intriguing concept, to say the least."

Gus: "Sisyphus, condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill only to watch it roll back down again, represents the futility and absurdity of life's struggles."

Gus: "However, Camus suggests that by accepting and embracing this absurdity, one can find happiness."

Jesse: "Yeah, but I mean, isn't that just some crazy philosophical bullshit? How can someone be happy in such a fucked-up situation?"

Gus: "Happiness, Jesse, is a state of mind. It's not about the circumstances we find ourselves in, but rather how we choose to perceive and respond to them."

Gus: "Sisyphus, despite his eternal struggle, can find meaning and purpose in his repetitive task. By embracing his fate and finding fulfillment in the act itself, he transcends the burden he carries."

Jesse: "That's deep shit, man. So, what, you're saying we should just accept all the crap that comes our way and be happy about it?"

Gus: "Not necessarily. Acceptance doesn't mean complacency. It means acknowledging the realities of our situation and finding a way to navigate them while maintaining our inner peace."

Gus: "It's about finding meaning in the journey, even if the destination remains elusive."

Jesse: "Yeah? I guess that makes sense in some messed-up, twisted way... Hey, speaking of finding happiness, have you tried Taco Bell's Nacho Fries? They're insane, man!"

Gus: "...Nacho Fries, Mr. Pinkman?"

Jesse: "Oh, you gotta try 'em, Mr. Fring! They're like these crispy, seasoned fries with this gooey cheese dipping sauce. It's like a flavor explosion in your mouth, man. I bet you'd love 'em."

Gus: "If they are as remarkable as you claim, perhaps we can find a moment to indulge. After all, even in the face of existential ponderings, we mustn't forget to appreciate life's simpler pleasures."

Jesse: "That's what I'm talkin' about, Mr. Fring! We'll have ourselves a little culinary adventure amidst all the fucking chaos. Life's all about finding those moments of joy, even if it means embracing the absurdity along the way, right?"

Gus: "Indeed, Jesse. Life's contradictions often lead us to unexpected discoveries. Perhaps, we may find a glimpse of Sisyphus' elusive happiness in the process."

Lazarus Planet cover art by Riccardo Federici

oh you know it's all latestage capitalism but the thing is. how are you supposed to be a person inside of this. a person trying to be a better version of yourself.

oh, you started working young, which was kind of hard, but it's just the way stuff works sometimes. and it was 2008 and your family couldn't afford heat. but it's fine, you grow a spine and get used to the professional world and besides it was the suburbs we're talking about here, like, your life could have been actually hard, so what if your father lost his job and you can't afford to move or turn the lights back on. and once you start making money, it's good. you keep doing that. because now they're relying on you. so you have to do that.

oh you were in thousands of dollars of debt at 17 years old so that you could go to school, because you have to go to school if you want to get a "real" job. you even did it "right", you worked parttime and attended community college before you transferred to a public school. you were under so many merit scholarships.

which is fine. you pick yourself up and you say like, okay. i graduated college. i'm holding down a job. i'm doing the Adult Thing, which looks and acts like this, according to all the books i've read. you start with the shitty job and then you climb that corporate ladder.

but the shitty job doesn't cover rent and you stretch yourself too-thin so you get sick. good luck with that. the shitty job no longer pays for your meals. everyone asks why you don't just move, but there's nowhere to move to. and with what money are you going to be moving? and then the loans come back, because they were never going to forgive them, because you were 17 and trying to do the right thing, which was stupid. people are now saying you shouldn't have even gone to school.

which is fine. but because you have no other option, so you do the shitty job, and you apply every day for like 5 new ones, and despite the fact everyone says "there's no one who wants to work!" it's actually just that nobody is fucking hiring so you can either work for 13 dollars an hour in the shitty place you know (where at least you have a passingly friendly relationship with the manager) or you can start from scratch again with a different 13 dollars an hour without knowing how much abuse from the new job you'll be taking.

and if you quit you lose your insurance. if you quit you lose your housing. if you quit, you'll be another burnout kid. the lazy ones. these assholes, look at them!

and you come home to a family dinner and you hear from your father the same old thing. how he worked hard at his job and yes it sucked for a while but he was able to provide for the family and then the house and the dog and the rest of barbie's dream vacation. how the insurance did cover some of it. how you just really need to start speaking up more in manager conversations so they know you're a go-getter. you want to tell him - did you know we're actually doing more now hourly than any previous generation? - but you can't remember where you heard that statistic, and you're far too tired for the fucking argument. and then he starts in on his usual bit. where's the house? where's your kids? where's your ambition.

the same job the same money the same hours doesn't do it anymore. the same nose-to-the-grindstone now just shreds your face off. there's no such thing as upwards mobility, not really. and as far as you're aware, the money certainly is not trickling. you do the soulless stupid shit you signed up for because you fucking have to or else you literally risk your life (food, the apartment, the insurance), but it's not getting you anything. you download the stupid "save more" app and you budget and you do every right thing and then the price of eggs is 7 dollars and you say - oh great! another thing i have to fucking worry about now!

and you go to your stupid job and everyone in your father's generation just tells you to be better about being an adult. they have their homes and their savings account and their bailout and they say. well have you tried not drinking starbucks. well your generation just spends too much on clothing. well you might just be too addicted to travelling. and you - because you need the job - you bite your tongue and don't say i am being held prisoner and you're suggesting i stop pacing my cell if i don't like the scenery and you don't say what the fuck do you think i've been doing with my money and you don't say i haven't spent a cent on something nice in literally forever much less coffee you arrogant asshole. you open and close your bank app and check your loans and check your credit score and check fucking zillow and ziprecruiter and apartments.com just one time more. and still they give you that demeaning little grin and say - see, what you need is -

what you need is for your meds to stop being so fucking expensive. what you need is for the housing bubble to explode into dust. what you need is for billionaires to choke on their wealth. what you need is actual help. what you will get is more economic advice from people who are older-and-wiser.

and above you, almost in a glimmer, you can see the wedged smile of your debt getting toothier, wider.

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

Want to learn something new in 2023??

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Beekeeping 101

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

Video on learning to read music that actually helped me??

How to use and sew with a sewing machine

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that’s okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece’s black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

How to garden

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Ukrainian

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Simplified)

Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)

When Disco Elysium said "mankind be vigilant, we loved you", when Night in the Woods said "I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people who do", when Twin Peaks said

(checks notes)

horse

Hyper-specific advice because I don’t see enough of this!

Art by JEFFRI HONESTA

Download Firefox

Install uBlock Origin

If you use Chrome, Firefox has a feature to import your bookmarks, passwords, and other data when you switch.

You deserve software that doesn’t hate you, switch to Firefox <3 🦊

Other good extensions:

Privacy Possum is an anti-tracking extension that not only blocks commercial trackers, it also fucks with them by generating nonsense data.

Forget Me Not is a cookie management tool that lets you choose whether/how sites can store cookies on your computer on a site-by-site basis.

Bypass Paywalls Clean does exactly what it says: allows you to bypass paywalls on news sites and the like.

SponsorBlock uses crowd-sourced data to block sponsored segments on YouTube videos. Now you never have to hear about NordVPN or Raycon ever again!

Breakthrough Twitter Login Wall is another “what it says on the tin” extension. It stops Twitter from trying to force you to log in, so you can browse anonymously in peace.

NoScript lets you selectively block or allow scripts. I haven’t gotten any malware on my devices ever since I started using this.

Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

god I just. love ruthlessness as a character trait so much. sexy sexy sexy

this one. absolutely in love with this definition. give me a character who thinks like this and I’ll love them to pieces

The rise of the mechanical keyboard fandom proves that there is an innate human desire for clickity clacks that is going unfulfilled

Just a bunch of useful websites

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

My Fridge Food – No idea what to make? Tell this site what ingredients you have on hand and it will give you recipes to cook.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Terms of Service, Didn’t Read – Get a quick summary of Terms of service plus a privacy rating.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

Photopea – A free online alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Does everything in your browser.

BitWarden – Free open source password manager.

Atlas Obscura – Travelling to a new place? Find out the hidden treasures you should go to with Atlas Obscura.

ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

Laika's still up there. not her body, sure, but her soul is. i saw it through my telescope one night when i was looking for aliens. she was sniffing for table scraps under saturn's ring. she chases comets and bites down on satellites. i saw her napping by neptune, she was kicking her feet. passing through the oort cloud is like the stroke of a hand on her fur. eyes like marbles and four little paws like flames. she bobs through jupiter's moons like cold moscow streets. up there the stars are a great big field. and look, she's running so fast. god damn, look at her go.

(source)

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without infringing copyright! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more sites for free images <3

Thanks for the information!!

I will reblog this everytime i see it

Ok so while we’re at this, I just checked out Unsplash, and it’s an AMAZING site for free images?

Painting of Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer by Joseph Oland