Remote

Cassana

@Cassana@pagan.plus

hometown 4.6.8+hometown-1.3.0

A curious and creative human being (she/her) who loves #science, #history, #anthropology, #linguistics; and studied #ethnomusicology (BA, MMus) with a primary interest in musical migration and cultural interaction.
I will happily engage with conversations on virtually any topic, and listen to criticism, arguments, and opinions, but I will **not** tolerate disrespectful conduct, especially if this includes derogatory and xenophobic language.
All views are my own.

6 Followers

24 Following

22 Posts

Joined November 07, 2022

Languages::

English, Nederlands, Deutsch, Français (niveau intermédiaire seulement), bits and bobs of dozens others supplemented by fluent Gibberish

Religious views::

Polytheist inspired by the mixed cultures of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior. I'm strongly against prosilitising.

Moral stance::

Most people are trying to get from A to B with as little discomfort as possible; minding their own business. Judging their being and motivations, and then acting to increase their discomfort, is not a right; it's a sign of choosing to be an arsehole.

Political views::

Left/green; although I don't intend to talk politics here, it sometimes creeps in nonetheless.

Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@sylvia_killy@kolektiva.social I love using MarkDown myself, but more for editing purposes as it makes it easy to see what bit of the text does what. So, I personally have no problems with using asterisks for emphasis. Depending on screen reader verbosity settings, slashes may not be read out, asterisks usually are.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@RomanticSkeptic@c.im also adding in @arose62@aus.social Hashtags in text in a web browser are separate linked element; so the toot won't read as a full paragraph. But this is common across the web, look at Wikipedia, and in most mobile apps I've seen, the grouping is different but absolutely fine. So it's all good. Place them wherever.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

#music share from a random country:
#Indonesia 🇮🇩
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic state with over 17k islands, has the motto of "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" (unity in diversity) because of consisting of 1,300+ ethnic groups and 600+ languages. Although a secular democratic country, around 87% is Muslim; making It the most populous Muslim-majority country.
Dangdut is a syncretic #genre fusing #Hindustani and #Arabic elements with #Malay and more local musical styles, but the modern form can also incorporate rock, disco, reggae, and contemporary R&B; in short, unity in diversity, right? Admittedly, it has also been criticised as being a degenerate genre full of, well, twirking; way before that became a thing.
This is Berdarah lagi (bleeding again) by the Dangdut queen Elvy Sukaesih, likely about unrequited love. The Hindustani element is clearly present through the #tabla, whose heart-like "dangdut" rhythm gave the genre its name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12E0v9Kccck
The next random country is a challenge, delving into (for me) unknown territory: #MarshallIslands 🇲🇭

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

What if the #StarTrekVoyager #theme had been scored differently?
I'm happy to introduce you to "Celtic Voyager", a partial #Celtic #Folk #music rendition by the impromptu #musical #Borg collective known as 2 out of 1 of Unimatrix me; consisting of me on #LowWhistle and #IrishBouzouki.
I hope these 38 seconds of music will put a smile on your face. 😊
PS. this is what happens when my brain decides it's a day for #creativity.
#StarTrek #Voyager #soundtrack #cover #Trekkie #RandomCreativity #MultiInstrumentalist #musician #bouzouki #whistle

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@LeaLeaLea@mastodon.lol Generally, I'd say broad strokes first, just to make it clear what the image is of. Then go into detail. Of course, Taylor it to thee audience, so if you know there's someone who relies on descriptions to join in the conversation, then you're good. If you aren't sure people are using the description, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with just doing the broad outline, then stating your willing to describe it in more depth; leaving the choice to them to ask. As for words, use whatever.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

Apparently it's one of those days where my brain wakes up full of vim and vigour while the rest of me sleepily swears at it in a dozen languages in case it doesn't get the hint I really don't want to wake up yet, let alone an hour before my alarm, or the slow deliberate application of #coffee. Well, let's just say the brain won and I've already been productive, with creative thoughts bubbling to the surface.
🤣
Happy #Wednesday!

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

Seems the Earth is pretty active lately; Crete, Turkey, Java, and now an erupting Mauna Loa on Hawaii. The last time it erupted, and due to the steep slopes of the tallest active volcano on Earth, lava reached the sea—a distance of 24 km—in 3 hours. Stuff that's 800-1200 degrees Celsius and rushing downhill at 8 km/h sounds like a nightmare. Of course, for me half a world away it's all fascinating and academic. Stay safe, people.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@AnitaH2@snabelen.no LOL! If you've got a content warning warning about swearing, then there's no need to go "sh*t f*ck" really, right? As I've mentioned in an earlier reply. There's nothing wrong with going, this is a "whatever type of plant" and then do a broad strokes description; flower colour, relative size, whatever is important to the toot, then invite people to ask for more description if they want it.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@alexhammy209@mstdn.party I know, but not everyone knows those terms, so it's often better to just show it.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@Blanche@photog.social Some screen readers can detect languages/alphabets and switch voices automatically. Others need to switch manually. So, let's say you've got a picture of a Japanese shop front, it's fine to include the Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji; screen readers that can switch mid-sentence will go from English to Japanese without much issue. Others need to switch to Japanese manually and then read the included Japanese text. Then again, in your post you may mention the Romaji name of the shop anyway, so even if there's no Japanese voice installed, the context is still clear. There usually is a workaround. :)

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@DanitheCarutor@mastodon.art Anything helps. It doesn't have to be perfect prose. Trust me, we can cope with funky descriptions. And if we want to know more, we can always ask. So all good.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@Reina@antabaka.me I became blind later. The important thing to remember is that everyone has their own stories of blindness/low-vision, so some think visually (and I still do after this long), and others don't. So, hence the "go nuts with detail", because that'll catch as many situations as possible.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@herhandsmyhands@romancelandia.club Context is often enough. Even so if you put the title between quotation marks, that may help clarify the context further for those who have their screen reader set to read those. Basically write the way you would talk to someone about a book.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@kev@dragonscave.space Yup, I love it.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@Scarygodslove@mas.to That's more an app-specific issue. I had that in the iOS mastodon app, but it's not a problem in more user friendly apps like Metatext (iOS) or Pinafore (desktop).

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

You definitely won't see many #recommendations from me, especially about #clothes, but well, I did promise. So, this is primarily aimed at people at the female-expressing end of the gender spectrum.
This is a small business (pretty much just 1 person, I think) from Cornwall that makes some lovely #clothing along #Gothic, #witchy, #faerie / #fairy, #medieval, #renaissance angles. Plus, I should include #cossplay too as they have some #LOTR and #Merlin (the BBC series with Colin Morgan) inspired things, among others. Plus, it's all hand-made, made-to-measure, and customisable or commissionable. Have a look:
https://www.moonmaiden-gothic-clothing.co.uk

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 47mo ago

Replying to

@Scarygodslove@mas.to it's another Mastodon app that I discovered recently through a boosted toot. The layout and functionality is much better IMHO, e.g., clicking on the post showing the content warning will reveal the post's text. Also, it lets you use the action menu to more easily reply, boost, favourite etc.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

@JeffRome@universeodon.com I read a lot, so it was easiest to pick series I go back to, but I love Good Omens, plus a lot of other books by Neil Gaiman. Some of those, plus the Wyndham and Banerjee series by Abir Mukherjee, Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson, and book by Andy Weir like the Martian or Project Hail Mary nearly made the list.

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

Ah, haven't gotten around to my music share from Indonesia yet, so hopefully later this evening or tomorrow. On a related topic, I'm currently making ayam pangang. Yum!

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Cassana @Cassana@pagan.plus

· 46mo ago

@JeffRome@universeodon.com No, in the description box for the image's alt text you can just type normally. The hashtags prefixed with # go in your main post to help people find them; and yes, multi-word hashtags work best with each word capitalised, also known as CamelCase.
In case hashtags and alt text are still unclear, maybe have a look at a general Mastodon guide.

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