Online Friendships Are A Delicate Mix Of “i Know All Your Deepest Secrets” And “wait You’re

Tips for the Dark Half of the Year

Winter is coming quickly. A lot of people see this time of year as bleak, depressing, or just boring. Here are some tips to stay attuned to nature during these months.

❄️ Go outside. Even if it’s cold, the trees are bare, and the only colors are muted and dull. We often think that summer is the only time to enjoy the outdoors—the only time to hike, meditate outside, etc. In winter, there are no lush green trees or balmy days filled with sunshine and the smell of flowers. While summer is intoxicating, winter is a time to contemplate and reflect. Go outside. Feel the cold. Feel the mud and the dead grass and the chilly wind. Listen to how quiet it is. Understand that the dark half of the year is a time of silence, stillness, and death. It’s natural to have an aversion to these things, but take some time to sit down and just listen. Breathe. Feel the reality of silence and death around you. It’s a sobering experience, but also a very insightful one. If you have any fear of death or quiet, now is the time to go sit with those things as they appear in nature and just meditate with them.

❄️ Eat cozy foods. It’s cold outside—warm up with hearty soups, stews, homemade bread, and root veggies. Warm spices and hot drinks will keep you feeling grounded. This is a wonderful time of year to practice kitchen witchcraft—focus on coziness, family, protection, and rest.

❄️ Study magic! The Dark Half of the year is devoted to self-reflection, rest, and contemplation. Snuggle up indoors with a fluffy blanket and devote some time to studying magic and witchcraft with a hot cup of magically-brewed tea.

❄️ Think spirits are sleeping along with all the greenery? Think again! The Dark Half of the year, in many cultures and spiritual traditions, is considered extremely spiritually active. Deities like Odin, Berchta, Hekate, and spirits such as elves and ghosts are very active this time of year. You can choose to honor them if you want, or practice various spirit-working techniques. If you’re into necromancy or divination, this is a wonderful time of year for those things.

❄️ Be kind to local wildlife by installing things like bird feeders outside your home. We modern humans may have an easy time of it in winter, but animals struggle to survive during these months. Any bit of kindness will be much appreciated.

❄️ Nurture your fire energy. During winter, it’s easy to internalize the cold and take on its characteristics—sluggishness, sleepiness, a foggy-headed feeling. Some crystals that are great for winter include golden rutilated quartz (aka Venus hair), citrine, carnelian, obsidian, and garnet. All of these crystals contain a strong fire element as well as offer grounding qualities, mental clarity, and protection.

❄️ Go out and forage for magical ingredients! Melted snow is extremely purifying and can be incorporated into spells for purification and cleansing. Icicles can serve as temporary wands, especially in spells that require a strong water element. The ash from bonfires (or hearth fires) can be used to make black salt. Fallen branches can be crafted into wands. There may be nothing growing this time of year, but you can get creative and still find magical ingredients in unexpected places. Just be respectful and don’t collect from places where it’s illegal!

This is by no means a comprehensive list—these are just some ways I’ve celebrated the colder months. I hope they’re helpful in any way!

yeah people shouldnt be meanspirited and make fun of your harmless interests to your face for no reason but

1. you need to learn how to be secure in your interests, autism/adhd or not. its a life skill.

2. criticism shouldnt make you cry or get overwhelmingly defensive. worse things have happened then someone pointing out your interests have issues.

3. part of life is accepting not everyone likes what you like and move on. not for just everyone else's sake but your own.

4. its important to try and split your attention between more than one thing, and to have interests that are lower stimulus than your special interest.

As of now, Florida and Kansas have passed bills that align with KOSA.

So many people have held back on speaking out against KOSA or signing petitions because "it probably won't pass." But we have proof that it very well can and will.

So what can we do right now?

The same thing we've been doing: bring awareness and protest.

Here are a few websites you can visit to sign petitions:

https://www.badinternetbills.com/

https://www.stopkosa.com/

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act

You can also call your state reps. This post explains how you can do that.

Good luck, everyone! Don't give up yet.

i’d rather be called a kinkshamer than support pedophillia

Hey. Spreading the word to tumblr, aka "I don't like this change so I WILL complain about it" personified.

Discord is bringing mobile ads in June 2025. They've officially announced this.

SPREAD THE WORD!!! WITH ENOUGH BACKLASH, MAYBE THEY'LL RETHINK IT- OR AT LEAST DELAY IT!

This is so cool and makes me feel so happy!

A list of older bisexual terminology in Bisexuality: A Reader and Sourcebook, providing insight into the terminology the older bisexual community and broader LGBT community used.

Note: I feel it’s necessary to point out that “bisexual lesbian”* in this sense referred to bi women who associated and connected with the lesbian community, were in relationships with women (potentially specifically with lesbian women), active politically wrt to second wave feminism, and is seemingly synonymous with the “gay/lesbian-identified bisexual” we can find in use in earlier releases of the Bi Women Quarterly. Please regard that the bisexual community faced (and still continue to face) biphobia, and exclusion at worst, and terminology such as the above was used to show a connection to such communities, or a political alignment towards LGBT liberation movements.

Secondly, note the inclusion of “gender minorities” within the definition of bisexual. This can also be found in the definition of bisexual in Bis and Androgyny Today by Gary North within Bisexuality: A Reader and Sourcebook. 

Everyone who reblogs this will get a cryptic prophecy in their inbox

girl titans :)

Loving how as soon as electricity was like, a Thing, people just went "you can make toast with this" and started working on electric toasters but they didn't quite have the whole heating element thing down so there was a not insignificant chance of it just exploding

If you visit the Cheerios website and submit your address, they’ll send you 500 wildflower seeds for free so you can plant them and help save the bees. Source

UPDATE: THEY’RE ALREADY OUT OF SEEDS! 

Thank you all for helping save the bees! I’d like to think we made a dent in their supply (whether we did or not, hehehe).