#ravingcactus

[marzipanandminutiae]

hey nerd, you're a historical clothing person: whats the best fit for like genderqueer time traveler back on their bullshit?

I am, but you have to tell me more about what this genderqueer person likes to wear. I can't make any assumptions just from their gender identity.

Signed,

Someone who knows nonbinary folks who enjoy dressing like Marie Antoinette and nonbinary folks who enjoy dressing like stereotypical long-haul truckers, and everything in between.

PS- probably get a puffy white blouse though.

[rox-and-prose]

if the english language was actually a slutty woman like that textpost you were in implied, would you date her?

Yes and I would ask her her secret to being a slut so I can apply it to my own life.

[bonyfish]

how did you get the kinsey job? whats working at the kinsey institute like?

lowkey this is one of few websites where working for kinsey would be like working for a big ticket tech company or a fancy semi-status filled job

I didn't actually work for the Kinsey Institute directly; my archiving job was working on a large contract for Indiana University, which included material from Kinsey. (We also digitized a lot of basketball games, for instance.) A couple people I worked with did do some work for Kinsey though, and as far as I can tell it was about the same: interesting and strange at times but eventually fairly routine. You can really get used to anything!

As for how I got the archiving job, my best friend's dad's employee's girlfriend worked there and happened to mention they were hiring, and since I'm interested in archiving and have experience working with film (specifically, shooting still film and developing it at home), I applied and got the job. I only kind of still work for the company; since the mask mandates went down I started working remotely and now my supervisor mostly just texts me when there's QC to do, which isn't super often because presumably a lot of it is being done in person.

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

riley my dear, im looking at the within the wires podcast tags and your takes on the show are spot on. you should say them louder.

i subject my friends to my bullshit near 24/7 in the within the wires discord server, believe me they find me plenty loud. i have never shut the fuck up about season 2 once.

i'm curious which of my takes you want amplified. i've said a lot of stuff about this podcast over the years dfgkjhdlfsagfds

[meams4u]

I've been tagged by @thecolorofthegame !

15 Questions, 15 Mutuals

1. Are you named after anyone?

A biblical saint, anglicized name

2. When was the last time you cried?

In the weeks after my last breakup. My job requires a lot of travel and we mutually decided that long distance wouldn't work.

3. Do you have kids?

No but I have major kid envy.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I used to, but much less since I moved to another country and culture isn't the same.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Friendliness

6. What's your eye color?

Blue/gray

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I do not like scary movies.

8. Any special talents?

Overthinking, but productively.

9. Where were you born?

Ohio, of course.

10. What are your hobbies?

Long distance hiking, american football, and being drunk.

11. Have you any pets?

No :(

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Hiking, climbing, alpinism

13. How tall are you?

183cm, 6'0"

14. Favorite subject in school?

Science

15. Dream job?

Philanthropist.

Tagging all the mutuals I occasionally interact with. It is less than 15. @thothoshinki @ravingcactus @mmedemerteuil @makowka @onepilots @chipdaripper

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

What's the most passionate opinion you have about a nonsense topic? (Eg those people who REALLY care about the correct way to make a cup of tea)

“it makes sense when a super genius or robot character can predict the chances of something to a really specific percentage bc they’re good at math” that’s!!! not!!! how!!! probability works!!!!! it makes sense if they’re just crunching numbers but if the joke is “out of 6,420,350,304 possible outcomes, there is one in which we succeed” hell no!!! Real world!!! Probabilities!!! Come! With! ERROR BARS! They CANNOT BE REALISTICALLY CALCULATED TO THAT NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT DIGITS!!! There are too many UNQUANTIFIABLES requiring RANGES and ESTIMATES. yes haha the robo genius can divide for an irrational number in their head so can my dollar store calculator but that’s NOT! HOW! bASIC STATISTICS! wORKS!!!!!!! out of millions of possible realities, what’s the probability you’ve ever had one (1) conversation with a stats professor? zero!!! or you’d have heard of the basic principle of VARIANCE!! that is LAZY writing, that is SIMPLISTIC and INSIPID character building, stop!!!! doing that!!!!!!!!! either use STANDARD DEVIATION like someone who passed PRE-CALCULUS or leave!!! 

[hungwy]

So, apparently you have a passion for open source software. Any you'd recommend?

i highly recommend people do their own research (”[software you want to replace] open source version” might work for a starting point) especially since ones need for software is relative to what they want to do but some popular open source software i have downloaded are anki, calibre e-book management, darktable, firefox, greenshot, shotcut, and windirstat

[shiftythrifting]

Tips to maximise thrifting?

[ameliapodcast]

Hey, I stopped listening around season 2/3 because my app broke. Last I heard nessie was there and there were people listening in(?)

Where do I need to catch up from?

Hey! If you stopped at the episode Niseag, that would be episode 18. So you can go on from episode 19, Cole, to the finale of season 2 and the lockdown tapes, to the liveshows, then take a sharp turn to season 3, go through, and you can enter the current season - Season 4! We are currently at episode 46, with 47 being a christmas special coming next week!

Happy to hear you are back! We hope you enjoy the rest of Season 2 and season 3+4 - I have to say that I am a little jealous, I would love to listen again for the first time. You are in for quite a few twists and turns! Better make that cocoa!

- Maty

[catbxy]

CACTUS2CACTUSCOMMUNICATION

its telepathy but better

[lousydrawingsforgoodpeople]

Your blog radiates comfort

Gosh, thanks. That’s the goal. Y’all keep me alive and striving to be better. Let’s keep fighting for ourselves and one another.

[yeoldenews]

Thank you for your blog, and proving that humans never change Got any letters regarding drunkenness? Sex? Scandal? Or drugs?

Honestly Rachel’s family were pretty religious and well-behaved (during the period the letters were written at least). So much so that Will’s Aunt Gussie once wrote him asking his moral opinion on playing cards. (Remind me to post that letter at some point because it’s hilariously Victorian.)

None of the adults in the family drank or smoked, and I believe most of their social circle was the same. Will smoked for a while in college, but his mother made it pretty clear she didn’t approve and I think he quit not long after that.

Most of the mentions of drugs and alcohol come in letters from Will & Jack’s friends and classmates. A lot of it comes across as just typical college drinking culture, but I get the idea Will’s friend’s Hal had a drinking problem. Hal also says in a letter that he was invited to an opium den, but didn’t have enough money to go. He does mentions going to “Turkish smoking parlors”, which could mean tobacco, but I’m thinking hashish is more likely.

(Hal had kind of a bummer life from what I’ve found. His mother died when he was 9 and he didn’t get along with his step-mother, he left home after a fight with his dad and ended up writing Will for money, his only child died as a baby, his marriage ended in divorce and he was eventually hit by a truck at the age of 41.)

While there is a decent amount of romance later in the letters (including a love triangle which ends in a broken engagement) the most graphic anything gets is describing an unwanted kiss.

There are several mentions of prostitution (from a friend of Jack’s who lives in an oil boom town, and a friend of Will’s who found a job for a former sex worker) but nothing explicit.

As far as scandal, most of them are pretty tame by today’s standards (like the aforementioned love triangle/broken engagement and whatever was going on with O.T.), but they’re certainly entertaining.

There are however plenty of "character”-adjacent scandals that aren’t directly mentioned in the letters, but I’ve discovered through other sources.

Peggy’s dad turned down a Supreme Court seat and seems to have had some ongoing beef with William Howard Taft that I have yet to figure out.

Griffin Gribbel, Peggy’s friend who overdosed on arsenic, overdosed again a few years later, was gassed in WWI, killed a police officer in a shootout, and later stabbed a waiter at the Ritz-Carlton who he thought took his handkerchief.

There is one other very large letter-related scandal, but I’m going to hold off on mentioning it for just a bit longer as I’m still in the process of researching exactly what happened. I will say someone ended up in federal prison.

Though if you’re ever in need of some additional turn-of-the-century deviance - feel free to ask me about any of these lovely ladies (from my other multi-year ongoing project).

[slushyseals]

I need more quality seal content

My followers are not subtle when the queue ends, I’ll give them that.

[jupitermelichios]

Your post about old bookshops in way on wye made me realise how much I miss quirky personality filled shops that weren't sterile chains God I hope there are crazy shops after the pandemic Who knows? maybe I'll run one now I'm out of uni

I’ve always loved weird shops, but I feel like I’m going to appreciate them so much more when the pandemic is over. My mum lives in a town that’s 90% antique shops and I’m for sure going to end up buying a lot of weird stuff I don’t need once I can actually visit them again

[the-togepi-man]

What should i do over summer so i dont die of boredom? What is your current obsession atm? How can i not die of boredom over exam season?

Well, what do you like to do? I have a bunch of TV shows i need to finish, i have like 4 games i need to beat, i want to write a story, ive been working on my bucket list, ive been trying to travel more to see people, all of those ideas could make for a dun summer 

[hogwarthoggle]

Your penny dreadful tag yourself meme is glorious

thank you so much! i’m glad you like it :3