#just because this website and this blog specifically have been such a huge part of my life

[themostfuniveverhad]

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[anim-ttrpgs]

Hey just wanted to say that the work you do is really inspiring. I think the TTRPG community has needed an urban fantasy noir sort of thing for a little while and I really like the direction you're taking it in. Looking forward to stuff in the future!!

Thank you! Basically all our projects come from a place of need, each one being something that we wanted to play ourselves, but either it just didn’t exist, or the people who did do it didn’t do it to our satisfaction.

Since it’s our blog we can toot our own horn a bit, and yeah, the TTRPG community did need Eureka. The whole idea originally came out of our dissatisfaction with investigation and mystery-solving gameplay in most of the other more well-known TTRPGs that attempt to tackle this genre, such as Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and Gumshoe. They either make it too easy for bad dice rolls to get the party hopelessly stuck by relying too heavily of the PC’s skills, or make things difficult on the player by not giving the PC’s skills quite enough input, which can make efficient mystery solving very difficult across sessions with a whole week or more of real time in between them. (And it’s barely even worth mentioning that the most popular TTRPGs such as D&D5e and Pathfinder just plain cannot do investigative gameplay to any respectable degree at all.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s Investigation Point and Eureka! Point system, whereby each skill check to investigate something fills a bar on the character sheet until the investigator gets a “Eureka!”, which can be spent to retroactively gain information from an investigation skill check that they previously failed, as well as many other specific rules that are too nuanced to go into here but that you can read about in the free version of the rulebook, are part of our answer to that. As you are putting the pieces together in your own mind, so is your character, and this system acts as a failsafe, but not a crutch, to prevent a single bad dice roll from leaving the party totally twisting in the wind.

And I personally have always been really autistic about folklore, which is where Eureka’s unique approach to playable monsters comes in. No RPG had ever really done certain monsters to my satisfaction, particularly vampires. Folkloric vampires have a great deal of quirks and weaknesses that usually get cut from any sort of vampire media because they’re too “silly,” but I disagree. I want them all, and so when a monster is playable in Eureka, it’s its own unique experience, unlike playing anything else in any other game or even within Eureka. (I am very, very proud to say that a number of V:TM veterans have said that Eureka does vampires much better than V:TM itself.)

Not every playable monster in Eureka is 100% strictly folkloric, which was a bit of a struggle for me, but ultimately the small exceptions that were made make the RPG better, so I can’t complain, especially because we managed to weave some pretty cool themes into all of them, which I will touch on more when I finally get finished writing that big huge post about, well, Eureka’s themes.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[bleaksqueak]

Man.

So, of course, the rampant theft and disregard for artists has never been ideal, but Pinterest has always been an invaluable tool despite that since it's a paradise for reference and discovery (so you know, always tag your art.. .in multiple places. I started tagging mine with more subtle watermarks in the dead center since uploaders were cropping my tag out, even though like, with the elias respite image, it ruins the composition by ruining the card look and frame... Why do you want to crop my sig out so bad to ruin the composition lmao) Anyway Point being, I have gotten more use out of pinterest as a reference archive than any annoyance it has ever brought me. I've found some artists I absolutely adore using it, too, especially when people use it as its (mostly. sort of) original intended purpose, being a huge communal bookmark/pinboard... those that leave the links directly to the art/artist are saints. However, I really, really hate seeing it being over run by generated Aye-Eye shit. Especially since, apparently, no one ever told the Aye-Eye bros the common sense of "DON'T make the exact same picture 500 times with only an ever so slight difference, are you stupid?" (rhetorical question, ofc.) But it's getting harder and harder to keep the search feeds tailored because these morons cannot understand the value of quality > quantity, so I love being flooded with the slightest variant on the same gd picture over and over. I really hope this bubble bursts or the world gets its act together and outlaws it/heavily regulates it soon. I've said before I wasn't even completely against it as a potential for a fun tool back when it made actually cool dream-like collages of really wacked out whimsical shit, but even then it was like "... but you shouldn't have free reign to just steal to make this stuff. At least it looks nothing like the source, I guess?" but the "Better" it gets, the more uselessly souless and obnoxious it gets, and the more "well that's just straight up obvious theft" it gets. I see so ,so so so many recognizable styles , sort of just hollowed out husks, in these awful things... but hilariously, the more over saturated they get, the more they seem to just feed off of each other, and they start looking like the most homogenized, soulless ero-game style art I've ever seen. Anyway, I just needed some reference for a specific cut of dress pants, and somehow *that* started turning into a feed of nothing but the same soulless pseudo-anime twunk generated over and over and over with bulbous buttocks stuffed into passable pantsuit pantaloons. so I guess i'll just get my ref the old fashioned way - going to specific websites/blogs with actual photos. I'm just glad that for the most part tumblr and bluesky both are strongly anti-aye-eye, they're the only two places where I rarely have to see the shit.

[nyanpasuuna]

inspired by some tags i just wrote on a poll reblog:

anyone else feel conflicted about the direction tech, software, and the internet are heading?

like, appreciating recent conveniences but not wanting the "old" ways to die in favor of them?

i use the tumblr mobile app for 99.5% of things on this site (only opening browser tumblr if i need to see more in-depth stats or attach a file from a proper computer), my blog doesn't have a custom theme, i use algorithmic dash, i prefer the mobile app for especially the quickness and snappiness of reblogging and downloading full-res images compared to browser, and i just in general prefer to do my mindless scrolling on a mobile device, leaving the proper computer setup for productivity/gaming/watching stuff/listening to stuff/etc

but at the same time i will wholeheartedly defend blog customization and the algorithm-less experience as core aspects of what makes this place what it is, even if i don't participate in them myself at least as of now, and i strongly disagree with everything nowadays being forced into a secluded app when it could've just been a website

do you feel this is hypocritical, an attempt to have a cake and eat it too? do you feel this is "i disagree with what you're saying but i'll fight for your right to say it"-core?

or, the analogy i used for this elsewhere last night: like being a (yes i know this metaphor has been disproven but) frog in slowly boiling water, noticing the warmness and enjoying aspects of it, but still having a way out if you just jump out

where in this analogy the slowly boiling water is the direction of the internet, the warmness is the conveniences like not needing to menudive and know what a folder is to download an image, and the jumping-out is just you switching habits from the "new" to the "old"

what i'm scared of here is three possible outcomes:

the water is allowed to reach the boiling point and you are, quite literally, cooked (this is the timeline where user freedom and common knowledge of tech skills take a huge hit in favor of corporate profit)

the frog jumps out of the boiling water and into a container of liquid nitrogen, i.e. the enshittification is stopped but the pendulum swings so far back that we lose what to many is core functionality for purely ideological reasons (i call this the cohost timeline)

a lid is put on the boiling pot prematurely, taking away the frog's ability to leave before outcome 1 is achieved, causing it to sense something is up, leading to the frog protesting against the situation it's been placed in, with unpredictable results (the reddit API changes timeline, a very possible near-future event for tumblr as well)

and that's before you get into the whole thing about how things look

i'm probably one of the least bothered people i know when it comes to the look of modern redesigns, i think a lot of them look quite cool actually, but that is HEAVILY contrasted by my preference for the displaying of accurate statistics and precise information, needing search functions to do EXACTLY what i tell them to, etc.

because 9 times out of 10 those redesigns always take a little slice of user agency and precision with them, and that's not what i want at all

so i'm basically left here with the only people who Get Me on this topic being those people who theme the shit out of their linux installs for aesthetics, because they get how this stuff is supposed to be: personalized. customizable. tailor-made by you for you.

people should be allowed to choose their level on this stuff freely

someone wants to build their own gaming PC from individual parts while another just wants to plug in a console that works out of the box

someone wants to get a specific type of car and mod it a specific way for a specific motorsport while another is content just getting from point A to point B with public transport

so please, defend this diversity of options and experiences on the software side as well, everything should NOT be an app

[aranarumei]

the anomalous agate, commentary

hello! I said I could talk about the anomalous agate forever, so here is me, talking about it. this is a post covering just like, overall notes I had when writing… maybe I’ll post about specific scenes or chapters sometimes, but I was really compelled to at least talk about overall things because unlike individual chapters, I think it’s something that’s less likely to be picked apart? so, all of that’s under the cut.

okay, first up! the biggest challenge in writing this fic was essentially, how do I make this fic feel like it’s a case from The Case Files of Jeweler Richard?

Based on the first two volumes alone, there’s a couple of things I think the series really exemplifies. First, it can examine things that are fairly mundane, and place value and importance on even small details. Second, Richard has a wide variety of knowledge, and I always read The Case Files of Jeweler Richard and come away with a new sense of the world. There’s something I, or Seigi, hadn’t really considered before, that I’m now considering. Finally, Seigi’s got all of his quirks—I didn’t try to match his exact style of narration, but I aimed to blend my own style and his in terms of vibe, and did my best to, at the very least, express his feelings accurately. So whether the wording of how he says things are exactly how he’d express it, the base emotions are correct.

To address the second point, this means that I have to talk about a wide variety of things! A lot of what the anomalous agate references is stuff I already knew of—champagne’s brand protection, Johannes Vermeer and ultramarine, The Little Prince, the commonality of dyed agate… but there’s some stuff I knew absolutely nothing about, the biggest of them being makeup and coffee. For coffee, I ended up watching quite a few bits of stuff from James Hoffman’s YouTube channel, and for makeup I watched a couple of video tutorials and read quite a few blog posts. Then I referenced Wikipedia to doublecheck any information I thought I knew. For the gems, I trawled quite a few websites, the main ones being the websites of GIA, International Gem Society, and American Gem Society. And I tried to avoid as many crystal healing websites as I could. Any inaccuracies present are my own fault.

As for why I picked coffee, a drink I don’t particularly like (though I’m a huge fan of coffee ice cream), and a subject that isn’t of necessary relevance to the rest of the story, unlike makeup, it was because I’d had a really good tiramisu crepe cake a few months ago, and thought it was such a neat form of tiramisu. It ended up being a nice choice, considering that Hanzawa and Seigi met up at a café twice!

And speaking of references! As a fun challenge, I made sure to add a reference to every single case mentioned in the first two volumes. It helped ground the fact that this was, indeed, part of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard for me, and I felt like it ended up strengthening some bits, too, but I mostly did it just because I wanted to see if I could. Some cases are mentioned multiple times, but I’ll list what I think is the first instance for every case below:

case 1-1: Coffee at a café was meant to be pleasant; I had no desire to remind myself of what it felt like to work night shift after night shift as a security guard. [ch 1] case 1-2: “When you put it that way… there’s definitely times I don’t want to say everything about myself,” I conceded, remembering how I’d felt when confronted by Mami-san’s deep, uncomfortable sense of shame. [ch 2] case 1-3: Come to think of it, he’d called himself thoughtless for selling that amethyst to Takatsuki-san, who’d been moved by the powers it was said to possess. [ch 3] case 1-4: “Department stores existed before you began working here, but only once you took an interest in diamonds did you notice the kinds of jewels they sold.” [ch 1] bonus (to wish upon a rose quartz): Remembering it now, it was hard to explain why I hadn’t had one in such a long time, but I hadn’t developed the habit of searching out cafés, bakeries, and sweet shops until I started working at Jewelry Étranger, either. [ch 1] bonus (cleopatra’s pearls): Since he’d just mentioned her, my mind flashed to Cleopatra—she was certainly an image that was out of sorts with Hanzawa. [ch 3] bonus (daily life at étranger ~ professor kunz and morgan): I hadn’t heard of moganite until now—unless I was mishearing morganite, but Richard had such wonderful pronunciation I thought that was impossible. [ch 1] case 2-1: “Well, Hajime-kun was much younger, but his circumstances were different…” [ch 1] case 2-2: Just like Yamamoto-san trying to buy herself a garnet. [ch 1] case 2-3: It was obvious in the way I’d found out about Tanimoto-san’s love for rocks and minerals, as well as her friend Shinkai-san’s dance company, or, in a more negative light, Hase-san visiting at the exact time I happened to be in the back of the shop, but when I told Richard this, he simply brushed it off. [ch 1] (technically the above is the first instance for case 2-4, too, but I’ll point out another instance) case 2-4: Though I doubted this surprise encounter would go as badly as the last one had, the sharp sense of déjà vu kept me wary. [ch 2] bonus (the serendipity of euclase): I’d only recently put my foot in my mouth by comparing us to a married couple, so I refrained from trying to make comparisons. [ch 5 / epilogue]

second! I wanted to talk a bit about some of the themes in the anomalous agate… this will probably be a bit more unstructured, but it contains some stuff I wanted to express, so I’ll to my best.

The title of this fic is the anomalous agate, and it is the stone that Hanzawa Masato ends up purchasing, but it’s not entirely what this fic is about, right? Lapis lazuli occupies a pretty big part of the chapter, and it’s an important part, too. So… why? Why have two stones, why have a title that doesn’t reflect the stone that Richard talks about, etc.?

The answer for this comes in the form of how I approached this story and how I feel about Hanzawa Masato—fundamentally, he’s a kind of tricky guy. He’s an inherently mysterious type of person, with a lot of layers and facets to him. And while I’m in love with these universes crossing over, I felt like it would be disrespectful to throw Hanzawa into the universe of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard and have him be laid completely bare. So, from the beginning, I wanted to work under the limitations that whatever change Hanzawa went through, and whatever we learned, it wouldn’t be something dramatic. And because Hanzawa’s so many things, I had another idea: as much as I could, when I introduced an idea into a fic, I’d try to make it two, instead of one. It’s an easy way to create a Hanzawa that feels properly multilayered, because making everything two things means he can’t be simple, and Hanzawa Masato is never simple. It's also an easy way to have Seigi misunderstand him in a way that shows that Hanzawa’s kind of a tough nut to crack.

...So, maybe you’re beginning to see why there’s two gems. The first chapter actually begins with a talk about authenticity, and it’s only in chapter two that Hanzawa brings up the concept of being anomalous. Both authenticity and being anomalous are topics that influence the kinds of things Hanzawa thinks about, and so do lapis lazuli and blue lace agate. Seigi realizes Hanzawa’s “something like a birthday gift” is a gift for himself, but he never once learns that Hanzawa’s birthday is in April, so it’s not for a special event at all that he’s buying this. Though I hadn’t intended it, considering that the guidebook says Hanzawa’s only got a younger sister, Seigi realizes that his older sister may not have been who taught him how to use makeup, but he doesn’t realize that Hanzawa might not even have an older sister. (This one was truly unintentional… I guess Hanzawa gets one over me, here!) Cafés are soothing, but coffee can stimulate one into sleeplessness. Seigi parallels Tashiro, and Hanzawa parallels Richard, but at the end, Seigi feels that it’s he and Hanzawa who are the similar ones. Seigi discusses the merits of concealment versus enhancement, and Hanzawa says that they’re the same thing, for him. Two things and one thing, again. Fox or prince, both are tamed. Two and one.

Essentially, I forced myself to make sure that any idea I introduced had a certain level or complexity and/or depth. I couldn’t just make a statement and then move on from it without exploring or developing it. Uniqueness, for example, is a term that gets used in quite a few ways in this story. I don’t think any of this really comes across as being intentionally a sort of “doubling,” but I think having this in mind while I wrote really forced me to be thoughtful about what I was writing.

third! I thought I’d talk in a few more specifics about when exactly this fic is set.

This happens mainly in the October of Seigi’s second year of college, which, now that I’ve read Volume 3, seems placed pretty perfectly? In case 3-1, he mentions Jewelry Étranger opened in April, and he’d been working there for six months, placing the first case around October as well… my fic ends when it’s November, but I’m still pleased by how close the time is. The reason it’s set here, of course, is because that’s when the cultural festival will be happening in Miyano’s third year. I’ve talked at length about what I see Hanzawa and Tashiro being up to around this time, particularly surrounding Tashiro crossdressing for the cultural festival, and the exploration of their relationship along with their own personal issues, and this was the perfect backdrop to set against this case. This is because I wanted Hanzawa’s changing to not be solely motivated by Seigi, so I needed sufficient events to be happening in the background that would prompt him to actually make that purchase of blue lace agate. And that’s why there’s a three-week gap between Seigi and Hanzawa meeting in that café and when he actually purchases that blue lace agate. The exact details of what happens there are vague, but the bonus scene I wrote shows at least some of it.

I’d planned to have Tashiro barely cameo in the background at first, but while I was outlining, I realized that Hanzawa was the kind of stubborn guy who needed a lot of prompting, and that Seigi wouldn’t understand half of what was going on if he’d never met Tashiro. Thus, Tashiro made an appearance, to which I’m very glad for! I think he acted as a really disarming presence for Hanzawa, and allowed Seigi, and thus, the audience, to see a lot of Hanzawa that we hadn’t been privy to before.

Here's the timeline of main events in the anomalous agate:

October 6th, 2018 — SATURDAY: Hanzawa Masato visits Jewelry Etranger for the first time.  October 8th, 2018 — MONDAY: Nakata Seigi and Tanimoto Shouko have mandatory English class. October 11th, 2018 — THURSDAY: Nakata Seigi and Hanzawa Masato meet for the second time.  October 12th, 2018 — FRIDAY: Kaede and Nakata Seigi wave to each other on campus.  October 12th, 2018 — LATE FRIDAY:  Kaede informs both Nakata Seigi and Hanzawa Masato that the senior harassing her has been expelled from the university.  October 14th, 2018 — SUNDAY: Hanzawa Masato visits Jewelry Etranger for the second time.  October 20th, 2018 — SATURDAY: Hanzawa Masato, Tashiro Gonzaburou, and Nakata Seigi run into each other at a cafe.  November 3rd, 2018 — SATURDAY: Tashiro Gonzaburou’s last cultural festival occurs.  November 10th, 2018 — SATURDAY: Hanzawa Masato visits Jewelry Etranger for the third time. 

finally! some random notes I didn’t know how to categorize:

If you’re wondering who Kaede is, during the volume 5 extras, Hirano mentions this girl named Kaede that Hanzawa hangs out with often, and then asks if they’re dating. They’re not—but in ch 27, we spot him at the movies with a friend of his who’s a girl, and I’d decided that this is the Kaede Hirano mentions. That’s why she’s into movies—because that’s the only thing I could think of that’s even somewhat related to her appearance. The rest is kind of invented whole cloth… it ended up being helpful to get a kind of outside perspective on Hanzawa, so I was happy with how it turned out, and I hope it didn’t feel like she was just a boring plot device.

Also, when Hanzawa reminds Seigi that they’ve got each other’s numbers at the end, to me it’s the sort of thing like where in the early MCU movies, they’d end with getting contacted about the Avengers Initiative, or whatever… I haven’t watched them properly. But it’s a sign that like oh, stuff is going to cross over! So, for me, that’s a way of telling myself that if I ever feel like it, when I’m writing Hanzawa, he can call up Seigi, and I’ll have +20k of justification for that choice. Also, even though I said I didn’t want Seigi to be like most important life-changing person in Hanzawa’s life, I still did want them to have some of an effect on each other. And this is kind of proof of that.

edit: FUCK I FORGOT TO MENTION TEMPERATURE. hanzawa's associated with the cold and tashiro's associated with warmth. thats whys seigis always shivering or feeling gusts of wind when hanzawa shows up. and why he meets tashiro on a super warm day. richard gets some description mentions aligned with cold, specifically when he's asking seigi about his bruise, and that kind of mirrors hanzawa making tashiro sit still while he pulls out the eyelash curler. only there his hands are warm because like. hanzashiro's weird.

and for anyone who read the whole thing: some images for you! first, here's a sketch page that I messed around with while writing, so I could get some visual feelings:

and here's a screenshot of what editing / writing for ch 4 looked like when I discovered the magic of track changes:

[jechristine]

As someone who's worked continuously in the not for profit sector and the institutional funding (government donors) sector for more than 16 years, can I advise you to park your sycophancy for Harry and Meghan's foundation, and read between the lines and the fine print of their announcements and publications. They are spinning very hard to make it look like their foundation has actively done specific work or achieved certain outcomes, none of which have been carried out or funded by them. They use spin words like "support" and "partner with", which we use when we mean to say "we attended some meetings that they also attended" or "we are posting another org's work on our website and calling it amplification; they should be grateful for that, and we will count their results as our own results". There is actually no evidence that their foundation has done anything specific at all. I hope you can use some of your social literacy which you apply to other fandoms, and replace your rose tinted Sussex glasses with some clear ones.

Thanks for your perspective.

I just really don’t understand why you have to couch your disagreement with me in such condescending terms? I would hardly call a few reblogs on tumblr as my own “sycophancy.” Is that what you think that insulting word means? No need to be nasty. Anyhow, I’m happy to engage you on the points you do bring up.

As for H&M, are they “spinning really hard,” or have they barely advertised their Foundation at all, joining no social media, not even emailing the folks who’ve opted in to their email list in any predictable way, but occasionally blogging about the organizations that they’re trying to “support” and “partner” with in their little corner? Almost no one who isn’t already an active fan even knows they have a Foundation. If I were going to criticize them, it’d be for not amplifying enough.

And as for discounting “applification”—people do this all the time when they criticize celebrities—I’ll note that my own husband is an (Union) activist and says that he’d take someone like Beyoncé’s Instagram posts and pro-Union nods here and there (this is a hypothetical because she does not seem particularly pro-Union at all) any day over her money. My husband spends most of his time (and budget) trying to amplify and persuade, and persuasion is absolutely a major part of most activism especially around social justice. That may not be something on your radar because of your line of work with funding and donors? That’s fine, and you’re not wrong that money is hugely important, too.

As for whether there’s evidence that H&M have contributed beyond “amplification”: they do, in fact, raise money and contribute their own to some (not all, admittedly) of the causes they feel strongly about. They’ve enabled partnerships that wouldn’t exist without their efforts. They’ve gotten friends and fans involved with various efforts. I’ll try to reblog those instances for you when I see them, and maybe I’ll put together a post of my own if I have time later.

[bestwigoutlets]

Human Hair Wigs: What are the Things to Know as a Beginner in 2024?

Human hair wigs have been a huge part of the beauty culture for centuries. The elite in Ancient Egypt wore wigs that were made from either human hair or wool. Wigs at that time signified their social status. These days, however, they are used for many purposes. If you are just starting to discover the value of wigs, here are some things you must know in 2024.

Making Human Hair Wigs a Seamless Experience This type of wig comes in various types. For instance, at the Best Wig Outlet, you can purchase Remy hair. It is made of human hair but with cuticles intact and aligned. Wearing it ensures you get a natural look. Another option is virgin hair. It is unprocessed. With that, it is free from chemicals. That’s why it offers unparalleled authenticity. Knowing these distinctions will help you make an informed decision based on your budget and preferences.

Choosing the Right Wig Cap Construction The wig cap construction is vital. It plays an integral role in comfort and natural appearance. For instance, a lace front wig creates a seamless hairline. It looks natural. But a full lace wig offers more versatility when it comes to styling. However, since you are still a beginner, you may consider capless. It is a basic cap, but it is highly recommended because of its breathability and ease of use.

Selecting the Wig Length and Style The length and style of the wig contribute to the overall aesthetic. When choosing what length and style of the wig, you should consider your lifestyle. Then, factor in your face shape and personal preferences when you pick between short and medium. Experiment with various styles so you can find what suits you best. We have tons of blog posts about this topic so explore them on our website.

Understanding Wig Density It refers to the thickness of the hair on the wig. The right density is crucial if you wish to achieve a natural look. As a beginner, we highly recommend choosing light to medium density. The reason for this is that it provides a more realistic appearance as it does not overwhelm volume.

Embracing the Maintenance Routine If you want to extend the lifespan of your wig, you need to properly take care and maintain it. That’s why it is pertinent that you invest in care products that are specific for wigs. For instance, choose a sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner instead of ordinary products. Then, to prevent tangling, make sure that you brush the wig properly. If you are not using it, do not just store it in your drawer. Instead, store it on your wig stand to maintain its shape.

Exploring Wig Accessories There are plenty of them in our online shop. Wig accessories can be your friend if you wish to enhance your overall experience. One great accessory is a wig cap. Invest in at least one to two caps. It can help secure your natural hair. It also creates a smooth base for your wig. You may also buy adhesive tapes and grip bands as they provide additional security if you have lace front wigs.

Customizing Your Wig You can customize your wig as long as it is made of human hair. That is, you can cut, color, and style it to suit your preferences. But make sure that you seek professional help if you need to alter it.

Start Shopping Now that you know the basics of human hair wigs, it is time to explore your options. Please head over to our online shop and choose the wigs that suit your budget and lifestyle.

[pet4explore]

BEST PET SHOPS IN DELHI 

Hey, pet lover, today’s blog will be especially for Delhi and nearby people. Because today I will tell you about the best pet shops in Delhi. You all know that Delhi is a metropolis. People here are busy with their work, like jobs, business, parties, etc. They don’t know when it’s morning or evening. Well, I know that people in Delhi are very fond of pets. And the people here may also have kept pets of all types in their homes. Many people keep pets for their own safety, and some people consider pets a part of their family. We tell you that keeping pets not only provides safety but also benefits family members. So you all know that you should definitely find the best pet shops in Delhi because, to take care of the pets, you will need medicine, grooming products, and food. Here is a list below of the best pet shops in Delhi.

PET STORES IN DELHI

Heads Up For Tails

For individuals who enjoy lavishing their pets with care, Heads Up For Tails is an opulent pet store! Be sure to check out their vast selection of dog food, accessories, and toys—many of which are hard to get elsewhere—as well as the incredibly cozy orthopaedic beds they offer for your elderly friends! We say, spoil those babies!.

Head Up For Tails – Subhash Nagar, Saket, & DLF Mall Of India, Noida & Another Outlet

Call Them | 098106 45165

Timings | 10 AM – 9 PM

 Red Paws Pet Spa & Shop

Just take your pet to Red Paws if you want the best for him! They provide the greatest food items, accessories, groomers, and a huge selection of goods for your at-home pets. In addition to offering spa and grooming services and breed-specific hair style, they guarantee a warm and welcoming environment to make your pets feel at ease. That is very elegant! 

 Red Paws Pet Spa & Shop – 29 A, First Floor, Hauz Khas Village

Call Them | +91 9711 457 647

Timings | 11 AM – 7 PM

Pet Lovers Hut

A boarding and pet store is called Pet Lovers Hut. With Pet Lovers Hut’s knowledgeable staff and air-conditioned rooms, you can leave your pets in capable hands and never worry about a thing! Your dog is going to adore the lush surroundings and the doggie pool. They also provide programs for socializing, walking, grooming, and training! 

Pet Lovers Hut – 21 Mini Farm, 8th Ave, Bandh Road, Near Radhe Mohan Drive, Chattarpur

Call Them | +91 9810 007 381

Timings | 6 AM – 6 PM

 Jawsnpaws

A Khan Market business called Jawsn Paws also has an online store with supplies for small animals, dogs, cats, and birds. Other than the standard grooming supplies and toys, this website and store offers a wide range of important pet supplies, such as vitamins and supplements for dogs, scratchers for cats, feeding accessories for birds, and habitat items like hay for rabbits, guinea pigs, and rodents.

Jawsnpaws – 46 A, Khan Market

Call Them | +91 9990 373 899

Windsor The Pet Shop

Since we are aware of how much you adore your dog, we strongly advise you to visit this prestigious Khan Market business. All of the hottest items for dog clothing, accessories, food, bedding, grooming, toys, and much more are available here. The proprietor of the store can also make arrangements for someone who would like to take a puppy home, Mr. Kadam!

Windsor The Pet Shop – 60 A, Arcade, Khan Market 

Call Them | +91 11 2460 1191 

Timings | 10:30 AM – 8 PM

Dogs Paradise

In addition to providing everything you might possibly need for your dog, Dog Paradise also provides a wide range of services that are sure to brighten your four-legged friend’s day. If you’ve been considering treating your dog to a pampering session that includes everything from a haircut to a tick wash and even a small spa, this pet grooming service is a fantastic fit for you. They also offer study and training services. 

 Dogs Paradise – Shop No. 14, B-6, Opposite Deer Park, DDA Market, Humayunpur, Safdarjung Enclave

Call Them | +91 9899 447 247

Timings | 11 AM – 8 PM

Purple bone

Purple Bone is a pet supply store where you may get a variety of treats and accessories to cheer up your small animal companion. You will be spoiled for choice with their range, which includes anything from toys to cozy beds. Make sure you take your dog along to this store so they can choose what they want to buy. 

| Purple Bone – 98 & 99, Mehar chand Market, Lodhi Road

Call Them | +91 9811 835 005 

Pets Garage – The Pet Shop

Give your pets a wonderful spa day complete with paw massages, nail trims, and a selection of nail colors. A comprehensive brushing, detangling, and even a specially designed haircut for your animal friends during a grooming appointment. According to my opinion pets garage is best pet shop in Delhi.

Address: Shop no.2, A-992, Old Pankha Road Opposite Seven Pearls Banquet Hall, near Gold Gym, Uttam Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110059

Phone: 095995 20472

[starlit-mansion]

increasingly annoyed with the common sentiment of 'tumblr is the X website!' because like. no it isn't. whatever X is. fandom, shipping, vampires, books, blah blah blah. it's not ao3 where it's explicitly there for a single purpose at the expense of any other that can't slot in in some way. it's nice to feel like you're part of a narrative that's gone on for over a decade but it's weird to see polls that posit exactly 8 fandom branches (and no 'other' option) that you had to have been a part of to have participated in this website in 2014 (especially when. there was kind of a manufactured divide between using tumblr as a pinterest-type aesthetic site and a fandom site at the time, iirc. and that was just in my experience. and they didn't even have podcasts as an option on there even though that's been a huge swath of engagement on here since specifically 2013). Like i follow blogs that are just nature photography or essays or non-fandom art or creators who primarily use other platforms but use this space for community engagement and announcements. it's a freaking. blogging website. you don't have to be on here for fandom, and you don't have to leave just because you aren't into fandom anymore because there's other shit besides fan content and other ways to engage with media that don't fit the 'fandom' box.

[icinch]

10 Tips for Building Your Blogging Brand

New Post has been published on https://www.cinchhomebiz.com/10-tips-for-building-your-blogging-brand/

10 Tips for Building Your Blogging Brand

You’ve either got a blog already, or you’re just about to start one. Congratulations! You are one of only 500 million. Now then, knowing that your blog is (statistically speaking) less than a needle in a haystack, how are you going to get it NOTICED and read?

In one word, the answer is BRANDING. You can either throw together a blog and hope it somehow gets found, or you can carefully craft a brand that captures readers’ attention and keeps them coming back for more.

To throw one together, just do what 99.9% of other bloggers do – wing it. Fly by the seat of your pants and hope for the best. In six months (or sooner) you’ll likely be so discouraged you’ll give up.

Building a brand is obviously the way to go. Think Google, Coke, Apple and Nike to understand the huge potential branding holds for your blog. Brands stand for something, mean something and create loyalty in their customers. They stand apart and often far, far above the competition. And best of all, really good brands get remembered and are sought out by consumers.

Here then are 10 tips for building your blogging brand:

Who are you writing to? Exactly who is your blog meant for? Create a clear picture of your ideal reader, including age, profession, family, worries, problems, hobbies, etc. You’ll be writing to this one person rather than trying to talk to everyone. Remember, when you target everyone, you interest no one. But when a certain segment of the population believes you’re writing just for them, you’ll build a loyal following.

Why are you writing to your specific readers? What is your goal? It might be to educate, to persuade, to motivate, etc. Keep your goal in mind at all times.

What are you writing about? This is your topic. It might be physical fitness, marketing, dating, etc. Decide in advance what your message is going to be.

Choose a brandable name. If you’re creating a fitness blog, for example, then you might choose a one or two word brand name that people are likely to remember, rather than a keyword laden name.

HowToGetHealthyAndLoseWeight.com isn’t really brandable – it’s too generic and too keyword rich. Think in terms of “Google” – now that’s a brand. You might try things like FitMonkey.com or SkinnyCakes.com – those are brandable and memorable.

Create a snappy tagline. A name generally isn’t enough – you also want a tagline to help brand yourself, to clarify what you do and to make your blog more memorable. If your blog is on bacon recipes, your url might be DeadPiggy.com and your tagline might be “Bacon lover’s recipes for the non-chef.” See how the tagline not only defines that the site is about bacon recipes, but also narrows the niche to those who don’t consider themselves to be good cooks? This is a prime example of using a tagline to define what you do and WHO you do it for.

Get a logo. Can you picture the Apple logo? Nike? Coke? A logo is an integral part of your brand. Make it clean, simple, eye-catching and unique. It’s worth the extra money to get your logo just right.

Adapt your logo into a favicon. Again, this is an important part of branding your blog.

Use a website design that matches your topic. A header full of balloons and clowns on a website about grieving generally isn’t going to work. Dull colors on a children’s website or a lack of photos of gardens on a gardening website won’t work. Make sure all of the visual elements of your site correspond with your topic.

Choose a writing style and stick with it. Take a lesson from McDonald’s here and give your readers what they’ve come to expect from you. Maybe you’re writing to a technical crowd – then you might write like an engineer. Or perhaps you’re taking on a persona, like the Rich Jerk. Odds are you’re going to write like yourself, which is perhaps best of all because you won’t have any trouble maintaining that style. Consistency is key because if one day you’re writing like the guy next door and the next day you’re writing like an English professor, your readers are going to get confused and likely won’t return.

Promote your blog’s name through social media. Consistently use your blog’s name everywhere. Don’t use “Law Enforcement Weight Loss” on Twitter and “Muscle Cops” on Facebook – no one will realize it’s the same blog you’re referring to. Again, this is another reason to choose a unique, short, brandable name that no one else is using anywhere.

If your blog is going to stand apart from the crowd, then you’ve got to do a little extra work, but that work will likely pay off handsomely in the end.

Not only will you stand apart from the crowd, you’ll also discover that if you ever decide to sell your blog, you’ll be able to charge a great deal more because you took the time to brand it.

[grabyourluck-blog]

10 Tips for Building Your Blogging Brand

New Post has been published on https://www.referral-master.com/10-tips-for-building-your-blogging-brand/

10 Tips for Building Your Blogging Brand

You’ve either got a blog already, or you’re just about to start one. Congratulations! You are one of only 500 million. Now then, knowing that your blog is (statistically speaking) less than a needle in a haystack, how are you going to get it NOTICED and read?

In one word, the answer is BRANDING. You can either throw together a blog and hope it somehow gets found, or you can carefully craft a brand that captures readers’ attention and keeps them coming back for more.

To throw one together, just do what 99.9% of other bloggers do – wing it. Fly by the seat of your pants and hope for the best. In six months (or sooner) you’ll likely be so discouraged you’ll give up.

Building a brand is obviously the way to go. Think Google, Coke, Apple and Nike to understand the huge potential branding holds for your blog. Brands stand for something, mean something and create loyalty in their customers. They stand apart and often far, far above the competition. And best of all, really good brands get remembered and are sought out by consumers.

Here then are 10 tips for building your blogging brand:

Who are you writing to? Exactly who is your blog meant for? Create a clear picture of your ideal reader, including age, profession, family, worries, problems, hobbies, etc. You’ll be writing to this one person rather than trying to talk to everyone. Remember, when you target everyone, you interest no one. But when a certain segment of the population believes you’re writing just for them, you’ll build a loyal following.

Why are you writing to your specific readers? What is your goal? It might be to educate, to persuade, to motivate, etc. Keep your goal in mind at all times.

What are you writing about? This is your topic. It might be physical fitness, marketing, dating, etc. Decide in advance what your message is going to be.

Choose a brandable name. If you’re creating a fitness blog, for example, then you might choose a one or two word brand name that people are likely to remember, rather than a keyword laden name.

HowToGetHealthyAndLoseWeight.com isn’t really brandable – it’s too generic and too keyword rich. Think in terms of “Google” – now that’s a brand. You might try things like FitMonkey.com or SkinnyCakes.com – those are brandable and memorable.

Create a snappy tagline. A name generally isn’t enough – you also want a tagline to help brand yourself, to clarify what you do and to make your blog more memorable. If your blog is on bacon recipes, your url might be DeadPiggy.com and your tagline might be “Bacon lover’s recipes for the non-chef.” See how the tagline not only defines that the site is about bacon recipes, but also narrows the niche to those who don’t consider themselves to be good cooks? This is a prime example of using a tagline to define what you do and WHO you do it for.

Get a logo. Can you picture the Apple logo? Nike? Coke? A logo is an integral part of your brand. Make it clean, simple, eye-catching and unique. It’s worth the extra money to get your logo just right.

Adapt your logo into a favicon. Again, this is an important part of branding your blog.

Use a website design that matches your topic. A header full of balloons and clowns on a website about grieving generally isn’t going to work. Dull colors on a children’s website or a lack of photos of gardens on a gardening website won’t work. Make sure all of the visual elements of your site correspond with your topic.

Choose a writing style and stick with it. Take a lesson from McDonald’s here and give your readers what they’ve come to expect from you. Maybe you’re writing to a technical crowd – then you might write like an engineer. Or perhaps you’re taking on a persona, like the Rich Jerk. Odds are you’re going to write like yourself, which is perhaps best of all because you won’t have any trouble maintaining that style. Consistency is key because if one day you’re writing like the guy next door and the next day you’re writing like an English professor, your readers are going to get confused and likely won’t return.

Promote your blog’s name through social media. Consistently use your blog’s name everywhere. Don’t use “Law Enforcement Weight Loss” on Twitter and “Muscle Cops” on Facebook – no one will realize it’s the same blog you’re referring to. Again, this is another reason to choose a unique, short, brandable name that no one else is using anywhere.

If your blog is going to stand apart from the crowd, then you’ve got to do a little extra work, but that work will likely pay off handsomely in the end.

Not only will you stand apart from the crowd, you’ll also discover that if you ever decide to sell your blog, you’ll be able to charge a great deal more because you took the time to brand it.

[peachiekinz]

i don’t know who i am. i don’t know what i want. if you are looking for friendship, i can tell you that i don’t have spoons most days, but what i do have are a very particular set of interests. interests i have acquired over a very long life. interests that make me a nightmare for neurotypicals to handle. if you don’t follow me or reblog my posts, that’ll be the end of it. i will not message you, i will not bother you. but if you do, i will follow you, i will message you, and i will annoy you. 🤓🤭

hi, i’m lisa, i’m 30 and i never fucking learned how to cope healthily.

i’m weird. i’m a weirdo. i don’t fit in and i don’t wanna fit in with anyone who would mock someone for their taste in tv shows, or any other reason, for that matter. don’t mock people, it’s hurtful & not funny at all.

if you haven’t noticed yet, i love to communicate in references from tv shows & movies, in one form or another. my favourite is to share the exact clip from the thing, but it can’t always be found, second best is a gif, again if it can be found & i remember where the reference is from, which doesn’t always happen either 🫣🤭 i also really like to communicate my emotions with emojis! although, they don’t always mean what you think they mean, because apparently i don’t use emojis as dictated by social media.. but i don’t remember getting a handbook… so i just use the ones i like the most, and assume you understand the meanings 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣🤭. if you don’t, just ask 😊

although i like to use pop culture to communicate, i consider myself to be a huge noob. mainly just on the internet, but technically i’m a big noob in most aspects of life… but specifically in the sense that i’ve never put myself online, never had a community of acquaintances. i’ve just never felt comfortable displaying any part of myself in a digital form. now that’s not to say i’ve never used the internet before. i’ve been on websites. i’ve been using tumblr off and on for so long, i don’t remember when i made my first blog. all i know is it doesn’t exist anymore. and even then, i just mass-reblogged my hyperfixation of the moment, each topic with its own blog.. that was so hard to manage, i just gave up & quit tumblr. then some time after that, when i decided to put a part of myself online for the first time, i met my now- ex husband. let’s just say, it didn’t end well.. it took me finding a small community of people on twitter, of all places, to become even slightly comfortable with internet strangers knowing things about me.

while i've learned a lot from that community, it made me slightly less comfortable with large groups of people. i find socializing in general to be very draining, i think because i'm usually masking & forcing myself to conform to normalcy in order to be appealing to others. the more i unmask, the less people stay around me, and i'm not complaining. i’m pretty much entirely unable to unmask in the presence of people. groups of people, even just internet people, perceiving me is one of the worst feelings ever.. i’m terrified of having a lot of people seeing me, my posts, my thoughts & my real personality… but at the same time … i really would like some people to relate to, in more ways than just one or two things in common. i guess the only way of finding that would be to put my dumb little complaints online & hope someone vibes with it in the same way i do… 🫣🤣

[pisiospindle]

animation or pay attention to some audio

They do nothing but clutter the persons screen unnecessarily. The knowledge which is presented within just a meta tag will allow search engines like google to index your webpage making sure that people utilizing the lookup engine to search for your distinct data may possibly have the option to discover it on your page more very easily. Avoid Mystery Meat Navigation. Certainly not underestimate meta tags Meta tags really are a group of exclusive essential phrases which are accustomed to describe some aspects with the content material of the site. In short, meta tags when correctly selected will help your webpage attain a lot more publicity and superior listings on search engines like google. Tables - Split them up Previously been to some web site whereby you find yourself staring at a blank screen for any specific time frame prior to finally as if by magic the whole web site just pops out of no the place? Which is due to the fact the designer of that site most likely place the whole word wide web sheet within just a solitary table.

Like a rule of thumb I recommend you hold your image dimensions to less then 30k in which doable. Tables are utilized in web style to assist align photos in a web page as well as to create a structure on the layout of the web page. An image no doubt enhances the all round feel and look of ones web page. Restrict the usage of such fanciful fonts to your graphical designs only. Navigability functionality appear before artistic excellence Its completely of no use to produce a web site that is a masterpiece from an artistic stage of view but a finish failure about the web! Why? Simply because the end users simply dont know how to obtain around the internet site! You ought to often bear in head what auto manufacturers constantly emphasize, ease of accessibility to capabilities. Ill show you the best way to use tables as part of the design and style later on but for now satisfy acquire note that the individual will be far superior off in the event you split a single desk with a webpage into scaled-down tables as necessary. 4. You might be surprise to learn that I am in fact discouraging you from by using this sort of fanciful fonts. It allows the consumer to organize with the long wait around in a way because the smaller sized tables with their contents and pictures is going to be downloading very first so consumers can anticipate instead of abandon your site in frustration.

It is best if all inbound links open within just precisely the same window. It helps make every thing neater too as enables the designer to build abstract layouts quickly. However, like the quote over an image document is fairly huge in dimension and an excessive amount of of it could make your website seem to be like a drag to obtain. Stick towards the excellent ancient combo of Arial, Verdana and Tahoma. It truly is only when they mouse click and hold the Deep Groove Ball Bearings Suppliers mouse through the image that they can see the precise backlink.. Perhaps you have at any time noticed websites like Yahoo! Search engines or Lycos? You are going to discover they dont have plug-ins whatsoever. As an example, if you would love to use animation on your web page you can use Macromedia Flash and you may develop a link out of your website to permit users to obtain its plug in via Macromedia&39;s website so they could view your web blogs Flash articles. Your webpage should be capable of load inside of five seconds. This sort of navigation requires the user to mouse above an image in order to navigate to a backlink with out truly getting any thought exactly where they may be heading.

Make certain your navigation is clear and absolutely idiot evidence (no offence to those of you out there who usually get misplaced inside a website no matter how very good it is.Furthermore, operating techniques like Microsoft Windows XP are actually equipped with Pop-Up Blocker (this tells you how welcome pop ups are to end users). Most webpage generation plans like Macromedias DreamWeaver assist you to this easily. An image, they say, is well worth a thousand text. Use Simple Vanilla Fonts Have you ever before heard of fonts such as Neuropolitical? No? Very well it exists and its a fanciful font which has a futuristic typography to it. Nobody likes to wait for an excess minute or two to let computer software to download on their personal computer only to view some senseless animation or pay attention to some audio which has no importance for the websites core function. It is 1 from the greatest faults a web page can make at the same time as a person in the most frustrating experience for end users. They think that this fanciful plug-ins would impress the user having said that much more generally then not the reverse happens. No revolutionary plug-ins For all those who&39;ve certainly not heard in the term plug - in , usually do not be alarmed it can be simply a executable for example a system or animation or audio/video stream that demands an external application being installed or plugged in (therefore the brand) into your pc to run. 6. It truly is widely utilized in HTML based sites. Satisfy don&39;t overlook about consumers who can not see the photographs on your site by offering alternate texts as description towards the images. It draws readers away from your site. Nevertheless like a basic rule stay away from working with pop up windows they make your existence likewise because the end user&39;s less difficult.

[wisdomofthegecko]

Hello I’m just starting get into Italian Folk Magic, do you have any advice or how do I go about finding my Saint Patron? I know they choose me but how do I know for certain?

Sorry this has taken so long to get done! There's a lot of good resources out there and I'll add my own advice at the end to give you my personal advice.

First, there's a lot of online resources like Mary-Grace Fahrun's YouTube channel found here, though I will note not many of her videos are specifically about practicing Italian folk magic but she had been doing a few before taking her break. I also want to say to watch/read critically. I definitely don't agree with her on everything, but she is a good resource and was a huge part of the beginning of my journey.

There's also her blog and website she's ran for years, found here.

TikTok user SundaySagittarius has an Italian folk magic discord server filled with resources! It's been incredibly helpful, though I've been too nervous to do much more than lurk. Her linktree with the link to the discord is here!

I also suggest following other people who practice folk magic on here, even if it's not Italian folk magic, we generally always have some of the same staples, like venerating saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary and much of our practice revolving around food. My personal favorite for this is @toverijenspokerij but you should look around and see who you really connect with, too! If you're more interested in Benedicaria there's a few Tumblr users I know of, though it is incredibly important to find a teacher (usually a relative but you might get lucky in church) @grotto-of-benedicaria and @aspiringbenedetto

Saint Anthony's Tongue is a podcast I've been living for lately that talks about folk magic in specific, though he himself practices Italian folk magic found here.

Chaotic Witch Aunt also practices Italian folk magic. They tend to get a lot of hate but I haven't found many issues with them, personally. They recently said they're going to make more videos about Italian folk magic specifically and their YouTube channel can be found here.

As for books, I'm not going to have many suggestions because I don't have many myself yet but I'll share my personal experiences and the books that look best especially for someone starting out.

Mary-Grace Fahrun has a book called Italian Folk Magic: Rue's Kitchen Witchery, and I can't recommend it enough. It's helped me to form a basic practice and helped me to become more comfortable with experimenting. Again read critically, she in the beginning compares practicing folk magic to learning Japanese because you like anime a lot and while this isn't exactly a closed practice, it's kinda like most cultures have their own form of folk magic, why do you want to practice one where you work with someone else's ancestors? I don't think there's any other bad takes in it besides that one bit, but it's good to read without expecting an author to be 100% good or bad.

Author Agostino Taumaturgo wrote The Things We Do: Ways of the Holy Benedetta and this is a good book. Again, read critically. There are some problematic things, like his constant referencing of Vito Quattrocchi who is an incredibly problematic person as a whole, there's other issues like saying some people incorporate other things into folk magic, like Mary-Grace Fahrun also involves neopagan elements but another person includes Hoodoo I believe it says. You can add in other elements, but it is incredibly important to know that what you're using isn't disrespectful to other people. However, this book is well sourced and you can move past the Vito Quattrocchi bits. It helped me a lot to evolve my practice, so I do still recommend it.

Judika Illes has written an encyclopedia of mystics, saints, and sages. I don't have this book but it's been highly recommended for saint work. This was going to be what I bought instead of The Things We Do, but my ancestors were trying to push me more towards benedicaria. This book could help a lot in deepening your relationship with any saints you may wish to work with, as well as give you ideas for offerings. It's not needed, but it would be a good resource, in my opinion.

Now that I've shared all the resources I can think of, here are my personal tips.

Document everything! I have two Italian folk magic journals. One is for any magic in my waking life, and the other is a dream journal whenever the saints, gods, Mary, or my ancestors have messages for me. You can do this online, record your voice instead, or anything else that helps you to best document everything you do and learn. I also have a binder for all the recipes I use in my practice.

Ask your family about past generations, see what they can tell you. If you can't do this, create a space in whatever way you can for your ancestors. The most basic way is to leave a glass of water and white candle for them.

Experiment, try new things out and see what happens.

Cook! Experiment with cooking. My first idea of kitchen magic was cooking a pizza to attract money, it didn't work, but other recipes had.

Learn the language. Start small, but I do think it's incredibly important to learn the language to some extent. This is the language your ancestors spoke and they'll appreciate you putting in the effort, plus more resources will be available the more you understand the native language.

Learn some basic prayers like Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Our Father. Be open to finding your Madonna, whether if this is Mary or a goddess.

Read anything you can about the areas of Italy your family has come from. Meditate on the areas and with your ancestors, pray for more knowledge to them. The more you open yourself up the more likely you are to find the information you want or need.

As for finding your patron saint, this was a difficult one for me. The most common way is the saint you're named after, a saint whose feast day is your birthday, or the patron saint of your career. None of these worked for me, but I realized for me it was all about the saint who was most commonly in my life, which for me was Saint Michael Archangel. Just pay attention to little things that happen throughout your daily life.

S'a benedica!