luzhiantil:

dduane:

gethporno:

historic-old-guard-lover:

lloerwyn:

elfwreck:

rosslynpaladin:

systlin:

quousque:

when fantasy books describe the cloth of Quant Farmpeople’s clothing as “homespun” or “rough homespun”

“homespun” as opposed to what??? EVERYTHING WAS SPUN AT HOME

they didn’t have fucking spinning factories, your pseudo-medieval farmwife is lucky if she has a fucking spinning wheel, otherwise she’s spinning every single thread her family wears on a drop spindle NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING THE SPINNING unless you go out of your way to establish a certain baseline of industrialization in your fake medieval fantasy land.

and “rough”??? lol just because it’s farm clothes? bitch cloth was valuable as fuck because of the labor involved ain’t no self-respecting woman gonna waste fiber and ALL THAT FUCKING TIME spinning shitty yarn to weave into shitty cloth she’s gonna make GOOD QUALITY SHIT for her family, and considering that women were doing fiber prep/spinning/weaving for like 80% of their waking time up until very recently in world history, literally every woman has the skills necessary to produce some TERRIFYINGLY GOOD QUALITY THREADS

come to think of it i’ve never read a fantasy novel that talks about textile production at all??? like it’s even worse than the “where are all the farms” problem like where are people getting the cloth if no one’s doing the spinning and weaving??? kmart???

THANK U

pro tip: what do you say instead? I gotcha.

 In Ye Olde Medieval Fantasy Dayes, everybody’s layer against skin (shirt tunic or shift) is gonna be linen. it’s almost never wool except stockings or hose (like pant legs). Say “undyed cloth” if you wanna make them sound simple and peasanty. Comment on how you can tell it wasn’t made for them (the fit is off) and has had probably eight owners before. 

Outer clothing is gonna be either wool, or a blend called Linsey-woolsey, and again you could say Undyed, but dyes are not only common they are CHEAP and relatively easy. (innerwear is often left undyed or bleached to white because it gets washed to heck- like beatenby a wooden stick on a stone by the river- and dye would just fade out a lot so why bother. Ths is also why innerwear has ties, rarely buttons, unless you are so rich you have people doing your washing delicately because they’re hired to do only that. Buttons would get broken in the washing)

A poorer person is often seen in “russet”, a kind of rusty orange-brown color. Purple was famously reserved for royalty in many times and places, but its  also just hard to do. We see a lot more magentas and fuschias for nobles or common middle class folks than we ever see of Purple- and not many of those. Deep blue was more likely on very rich people, but a light blue was common for even poorer folks. Yellow was popular with everyone, and so was green, and many shades of reds, including the color we now call orange (they did not- this is why redheads are called redheads and not orangeheads). Your vision of everyone in very drab brown and mud colors is from Hollywood- most medieval-ren folks have clothing with colors. Sometimes garish colors, to the modern eye. Traffic cone Orange and acid green was a popular combo in the 13th century.

Examplemedieval dye colors. Lots of yellows and orangey-browns. Woad gave a range of blues that are basically what we think of as “denim colors.” There were purples - royal purple was a specific color from a specific source - but if you mix wine-dye and woad-dye, you get purpleish dye. (Getting the color to stay that way may be more difficult. Everything worn by peasants fades; they couldn’t afford the really good fixatives.)

Moreexamples and explanations here: 

Plum, dusty purple, lavender, burgundy, chestnut, blood red

Walnut, chocolate, tan, linen, pale apricot, spice, dark spice

Peasant clothes were often more colorful than the nobility. Nobles could afford bright, clear colors that peasants couldn’t - but one mark of wealth was being able to buy all 4-8 yards of fabric for an outfit at the same time. So nobles would have a full outfit, including hat, stockings, even shoes, of one type of fabric (with ornamentation of a contrasting type, and as many buttons or bits of silver as they could get away with wearing), while peasants would often have a shirt, bodice or jerkin, skirt or pants, stockings, and hat of all different colors.

Dying or re-dying any one piece of clothing was within most of their cost limits - dye itself is cheap; fixatives cost. But boiling your shirt for an hour with onion skins in a copper pot would re-color the fading fabric.

And yet more medieval dye colour samples:

While centered on medieval Europe for the finer points, this is broadly true for any clothing needs

if anyone is interested in way too much information about the spinning, weaving, dyeing, and trading of cloth in ye olden days, pls see these lecture notes by my old economic history prof, who knew more about the textile industry in pre-modern europe than any reasonable person should. they’re old at this point but still pretty reliable.

This is a bit of a hot-button issue for me… so reblogging with pleasure.

The tl:dr; version of my usual complaint: I love Terry Jones’s work, but he (and MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL) have a lot to answer for in the “Medieval Life Was Irredeemably Mucky / Everything Was Drab” department. In the wake of that film, practically all the everyday color of Non-Royal medieval life got washed out of public perception. And it makes me cranky.

Period records make it plain that even among the Poor Folk, color was rife. Many people far more specialized and knowledgeable in this field than I am have gone on about this at length. I’m just signal boosting here.

I’m putting this here because… Yes!

Said is NOT a bad word. ~75% of the time, it’s all you need. But here’s some alternative when you really need to spice up that dialogue! 

Use sparingly for more impact - especiallythe more dramatic verbs. 

Emotion and intent are complex! I tried to reduce redundancy as much as I could, but some words are simply going to be in multiple categories. i.e. “anger” and “loud” share a lot of words

This is a living document and will be updated whenever I think of new words.

Neutral

• Acknowledged
  
• Added
  
• Announced
  
• Answered
  
• Articulated
  
• Asserted
  
• Assured / Reassured
  
• Began
  
• Breathed
  
• Claimed
  
• Commented
  
• Continued
  
• Decided
  
• Declared
  
• Delivered
  
• Disclosed
  
• Emphasized
  
• Enunciated
  
• Exaggerated
  
• Exclaimed
  
• Expressed
  
• Guess
  
• Implied
  
• Mentioned
  
• Offered
  
• Proclaimed
  
• Promised
  
• Proposed
  
• Read
  
• Recalled
  
• Remarked
  
• Repeated
  
• Responded
  
• Retorted
  
• Shared
  
• Suggested
  
• Told
  
• Vowed

Happiness

• Beamed
  
• Cajoled
  
• Cheered
  
• Chimed
  
• Chirped
  
• Chuckled
  
• Cooed
  
• Enthused
  
• Flirted
  
• Giggled
  
• Gushed
  
• Hummed
  
• Joked
  
• Laughed
  
• Marveled
  
• Purred
  
• Sang

Anger

• Barked
  
• Bellowed
  
• Bit
• Cackled
  
• Chastised
  
• Cursed
  
• Fumed
  
• Grated
  
• Growled
  
• Hissed
  
• Howled
  
• Huffed
  
• Roared
  
• Scolded
  
• Snapped
  
• Sneered
  
• Spat
  
• Taunted
  
• Threatened
  

Fear / Sadness / Desperation

• Begged
  
• Choked (out)
  
• Cried (out)
  
• Croaked
  
• Fretted
  
• Gasped
  
• Howled
• Pleaded
  
• Prayed
  
• Sniffled
• Sobbed
  
• Wailed
  
• Wept
  
• Whimpered
  
• Worried

Surprise / Embarrassment  

• Attempted
  
• Babbled
  
• Choked
  
• Coughed
  
• Croaked
  
• Faltered
  
• Shrieked
  
• Sputtered
  
• Squawked
  
• Squeaked
  
• Squealed
  
• Stammered
  
• Struggled
  
• Stumbled
  
• Stuttered
  

Disgust

• Bit
  
• Bitched
• Complained
  
• Condemned
  
• Decried
  
• Jeered
  
• Mocked
  
• Scoffed
  
• Scoffed
  
• Sneered
  
• Snorted
  
• Spat

Admiration / Awe

• Praised
  
• Admired
  
• Marveled
  
• Adored
  
• Worshiped
  
• Wondered
  

Agreement

• Admitted
  
• Agreed
  
• Allowed
  
• Approved
  
• Conceded
  
• Concurred
  
• Concurred
  
• Confirmed
  
• Verified
  

Disagreement

• Argued
  
• Challenged
  
• Contended
  
• Denied
  
• Differed
  
• Dissented
  
• Grumbled
  
• Objected
  
• Opposed
  
• Protested
  
• Protested
  
• Revolted

Directive

• Commanded
  
• Demanded
  
• Directed
  
• Ordered
  
• Pointed
  

Lying

• Beguiled
  
• Conned
  
• Deceived
  
• Duped
  
• Evaded
  
• Fibbed
  
• Lied
  
• Misinformed
  
• Misled

Explanation

• Clarified
  
• Described
  
• Elucidated
  
• Explained
  
• Expounded
  
• Informed
  
• Interpreted
  
• Recounted
  
• Simplified
  
• Spelled (out)
  
• Translated

Questioning

• Asked
  
• Demanded
  
• Interrogated
  
• Questioned
  
• Queried
  
• Requested
  
• Quizzed
  
• Investigated
  
• Pressed (furtherorforas in for answers or for more)
  
• Pried
  

Thought

• Contemplated
  
• Mused
  
• Reflected
  
• Considered
  
• Deliberated
  
• Meditated
  
• Brooded
  
• Chew (on)
  
• Pondered
  
• Reasoned
  
• Studied
  
• Stewed
  
• Wondered
  

Breathy / Throaty Sounds

• Breathed
  
• Exhaled
  
• Gnarled
  
• Groaned
• Grumbled
• Gulped
• Heaved
  
• Hissed
  
• Howled
• Huffed
  
• Inhaled
  
• Keened
  
• Moaned
  
• Panted
  
• Rasped
  
• Roared
  
• Rumbled
  
• Sighed
• Snarled
  
• Struggled for breath
  
• Swallowed
  
• Thundered
  
• Wheezed
  
• Whined
  

Singing

• Belted (out)
  
• Caroled
  
• Crooned
  
• Harmonized
  
• Hummed
  
• Purred
  
• Serenaded
  
• Shouted
  
• Sung
  
• Trilled
  
• Warbled

Loud

• Bawled
  
• Bellowed
  
• Belted
  
• Called
  
• Cried
  
• Hollered
  
• Hooted
  
• Howled
  
• Roared
  
• Screamed
  
• Screeched
  
• Shouted
  
• Shrieked
  
• Squawked
  
• Squeaked
  
• Squealed
  
• Thundered
  
• Wailed
  
• Whooped
  
• Yapped
  
• Yapped
  
• Yelled
  
• Yelped
  
• Yipped
  

Quiet

• Grumbled
  
• Maundered
  
• Mumbled
  
• Murmured
  
• Muttered
  
• Sighed
• Uttered
  
• Uttered
  
• Whimpered
  
• Whined
  
• Whispered

—– source: http://ingridsundberg.com/

—– additional synonyms added by me : @damselwrites​

This is a living document and will be updated whenever I think of new words.

White

also: pale; blanched; sallow; pallid; waxen; spectral; translucent; albino; 

Grey

also: dust; stone; pepper;  

Black

also:  coal; slate; dusky; ebon; shadow; murky; 

Tan

also: flesh; khaki; cream; tawny; 

Brown

also:  henna; russet; sepia; chestnut; cocoa; drab; bronze; 

Red

also: terracotta ; rouge; carmine;  fire-engine; ruddy

Orange

also:  pumpkin ; rust ; 

Yellow

also: sunny; amber; saffron; hay; straw; platinum; 

Green

also: viridescent; grass; jade; forest; 

Blue

also: turquoise; cyan; ultramarine; royal; aqua; aquamarine;

Purple

also: berry;  amaranthine;

Pink

also: flushed; candy; cherry blossom; petal pink ; 

thisiswhymomworries:

need more queer books in your life? mad at all the book bans? wish you could read books about people actually like you?

theQueer Books Database is a free, online searchable database that lists queer rep in over 2,500 fiction and 500 non-fiction books! you can filter by age, genre, year, and specific identity–including race, disability, mental illness, and neurodivergence

here’s some ideas of what you can search for:

• a legal thriller featuring a bisexual transgender woman or a sci-fi with a disabled black gay man
  
• Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Children’s books in both fiction and non-fiction titles
  
• classic queer lit from 1872 to 1956 (Carmilla to Giovanni’s Room)
• biographies of famous historical and modern activists, musicians, athletes, immigrants, and writers
• supportive spiritual texts and guidance from community leaders (filter by fifteen different religions!)
  
• representation for LGBT identities under the “plus,” characters of color, fat rep, neurodivergence, older characters, questioning and closeted characters, religious identity, disabled characters–and more!

check with your local library to find these titles or ask about Inter-Library Loans to grab one from a library nearby! this really helps support libraries, authors, and me, an autistic transgender librarian :)

Ebook: The Human Half Of Dog Training - Collaborating With Clients To Get Results

I wanted to share this after the post yesterday about picking your timing and approach when talking to people about hard animal things. This book is framed for people who work as dog trainers about how to understand and better work with their clients, but I highly recommend it as a resource to anyone who wants to do outreach about topics like animal behavior and animal welfare. It talks a lot about things like empathy and working to avoid creating cognitive dissonance, and dealing with education in situations where the human relationships that are influencing action are complex.

viciousvales:

this site definitely doesn’t allow you to paste the link to any article blocked by a paywall (say, a NYT article) so that you can read it free of charge! that would be illegal and would benefit broke college students too much. it definitely does not do that. promise.

An emotional and crucial part to many people’s games, it is also an element that has huge potential to go wrong. Let’s see about avoiding that.

Right, before we get started, I’d like to clear two things up. First of all, what exactly is ballgowning? Ballgowning is the roleplaying of a relationship with another character. It can be any sort of relationship! However, in this guide I will almost exclusively be referring to romantic relationships, though much of the advice is transferable.

The second point is a little bit more nebulous. A bit of this post will be referring to IC/OC divide. It will go on the assumption there is not OC romantic feelings present, or desired OC feelings. There’s a time and a place for writing a guide for roleplaying in a relationship, but right now is not it.

Let’s crack on. 

So, there can be two types of start to an IC relationship. One that is pre-arranged, or one that blossoms in play. We’ll chat a bit about both. 

When prearranging to play a romantic relationship, once you’ve established exactly what that relationship is, now is the time to work out boundaries. A rough list of questions to consider follows. There are definitely more to consider, but this is a good starting point:

- What physical boundaries do you both have? Are you happy to kiss, or is holding hands enough for you? Is cuddling a no-no? Etc.
- What limits to storylines would you like to have within the relationship? For instance, are you uninterested in exploring cheating, pregnancy or abuse? 
- How often would you like to check in with each other?
- Under what circumstances, if any, would you be unhappy roleplaying said relationship? Personally I would be unhappy roleplaying romance if my IC partner was drunk. 
- Decompression, what do you need from each other? Is hanging out OC something you would like, are debriefs and froth wanted or needed?
- If sex is an element of the relationship, is that something you’re okay discussing? What’s the protocol if it comes up in a field (pun unintended)?

Now, sometimes romance creeps up on your character unplanned. I suggest having the above conversation when you both go OC, which should be sooner rather than later. I must stress however, that you should always ask before initiating physical contact of any sort, but especially when acting familiar/romantic. You can ask in ways IC, but honestly, break your immersion if you have to. IC fun is not as important as OC health! 

Sometimes, as the relationship goes on, you might find it gets intense. It can be important to reinstate the character divide. I find hanging out with or chatting to the person in question OC is intensely helpful. Remind yourself that they are not their character, and IC relationships aren’t necessarily transferable.

This is especially important in relationships with a power imbalance. It can be useful to have an action that snaps you out of that headspace. For example, my OC boyfriend plays my IC deity and boyfriend in a game. When we go OC, I get a hug from him, then jokingly insult him, as that’s something my character would never do. I have a friend who after playing a sub-servant attendant, had tea made for her by the woman who had been playing her mistress in order to draw a clear distinction. 

I think, as ever, the real key is consistent communication. It doesn’t have to be verbal. It can come in messaging, Gdocs, emails. Chat about expectations, limits and boundaries. Chat about changing plotlines, new character influences and development. Chat about cool things you did and how great it was, or bits that aren’t working for you. Chat about things other than roleplay to realise you’re different people to your characters. Just like. Talk bros.

So following on from the basic LARP glossary posted earlier, here’s one with a few more uncommon terms.

Abstraction Layer - Parts of the system or setting that are technically present but aren’t provided in game. Can be things like spending money, how you travel or even how parts of magic and science work.  

Battleboard - A particularly archaic type of system that requires you to inform refs of things like hits and mana used after every combat encounter. Rarely used nowadays.

Beard - Also called a lampshadeorhat. Something that is a flimsy IC excuse to cover something that is needed OC. 

Bimble - A casual way of getting from A to B. Also used to mean walking aimlessly, or just as a general scout. 

Cinnamon Roll - A character that is too sweet and innocent, and must be protected. A variant is Sinnamon Roll, which is a character who is less sweet and innocent, but still must be protected. 

Drum Rolling - Also known as pagga, this is a method of attack by using two weapons, one in each hand, very quickly. 

Encounter - The incidents that occur when roleplaying. Can be combat, or puzzles or other plot occurrences.

Faff- When you know on either an OC or IC level something big is about to happen, but it isn’t happening yet, so you have to wait around with a ton of empty time. Can also be due to players not getting ready quickly enough, or not making up their minds.

Fluff - Fun roleplay with no mechanical influence. 

Gamist - An approach to playing that aims primarily to win or advance your character mechanically. 

Gank - Also shiv,orshank. To stab, often in a sneaky or underhanded way.

Going Rogue - When a crew member goes wild, usually if they’re a murder monster and are having too much fun to come back to the crew room. Also used if an NPC goes off brief or ends up in an unexpected situation. 

Gone Native - An NPC is now acting as a player character. Not usually a good thing. 

Grenade - A powerful item with limited usage.

Grenade Syndrome - Being afraid to use said item due to it’s limited usage. 

Narrativist- An approach to playing that aims to make the best story. 

Player agency - Giving players significant choices and the ability to choose their path of their own accord. 

Plot Stick - If big things that effect wider plot are happening to you, congrats, you are being hit with the plot stick.

Powerblock- A group of players that are seen as dominating a game due to force of personality or skill. 

Railroading - When players are forced to follow a plot line, or forced to make certain choices. 

Sandbox - A fairly open world where players have a lot of freedom to explore both the setting and their characters,

Scamp - A character that causes trouble in a mischievous manner. 

Simulationist - An approach to playing or running where you set up the environment, and mainly see what happens. 

Tank - A character made for combat, usually with high combat or armour abilities. 

Toilet Mugging - Waiting outside the bathroom area with an aim to mug or stab those coming out as they won’t be expecting it. 

TPK- Total Party Kill. When the entire group of players dies at the same time.

What You See Is What You Get - A method of running a game where you represent things physically as much as possible rather than via description. 

ogrish161:

nobuddy feels like they have a sharp attention span these days, right? and we all just click “agree on terms of service” because its hard to love yourself sometimes, well

enterTerms of Service, Didn’t Read:a website and a browser addon that streamlines the terms of service of many popular web services to be read by the tech sunday drivers.

It’s graded from A (great) to E (awful) and if you have the addon you have access to the info about the website on your bar

MASTERPOST

Hello! Welcome to my blog! Here I compile notes and reblog posts I think would be useful to come back to in the future.

Main blog: @yanns

If you’re looking for something specific, here are all the posts/reblogs you can find (that I could remember).

Warning: LONG POST

Tags included at the very end.

Body Language

• Ways To Describe Facial Expressionsby@introvert-unicorn
• Eye Movementsby@writingquestionsanswered
• Physical Reactionsby@creativepromptsforwriting

Relationships

• Basic Writing Tips for Writing Siblingsby@lazyprompts
• Strong Friendship Not At All Romanticby@writingadvice365
• Writing Believable Friendshipsby@bluebxlle-writer
• How To Write A Slow Burn Relationshipby@dearwriters
• Chemistryby@sweet-as-writing

Describing People

• A List of Nice Words to Describe Peopleby@introvert-unicorn

Describing Body Parts ;)

• Describing Eye Color

Outlining

• Story Outlining Methods, pt 1: TAKE OFF YOUR PANTSby@foxiswriting
• Story Structures for Your Next WIPby@perpetual-stories

Characterization

• WritingJealousCharactersby@bluebxlle-writer
• Intrusive Questions About Your OCby@sapphicrot
• How I Create My Charactersby@bluebxlle-writer
• Character Arcby@avelera&@ahb-writes

Vocabulary

• The Right Wordby@darkisrising
• Feeling Words
• Instead of Using “Very”
• Instead of Using “Very”pt 2
• Ways to Say “You’re Welcome”
• Other Ways of Saying “On The Other Hand…”
• Ways to Say “I Think…”
• Some of My Favorite Wordsby@littlewhispersofsolitude
• Words to Use in Storiesby@littlewhispersofsolitude

Scenes

• Your Opening Sceneby@underhillwriter
• Tips for Writing a Difficult Sceneby@thatwritergirlsblog
• Writing Fight Scenesby@bluebxlle-writer

Prompts

• 101 Ways To Say “I love you”by@emswritingprompts
• Prompts that Make Me Feel Things by @screnwriter-old
• From The Villain Sentence Startersby@nightprompts
• Sacred Romantic Moments by @old-screnwriter

Resources

• Fantasy Clothes (ask/answer) by @sanctimonies
• @creativepromptsforwriting’sadvice
• IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR WRITERS by @old-screnwriter
• Resources for Writersby@stinastar
• Language of Flowersby@introvert-unicorn
• NaNoWriMo Hackby@samayla
• Feeling Stuckby@the-writers-bookshelf
• Dialogue Resourcesby@writingadvice365
• Five Real-Ass Tips For Writing A Novelby@maxkirin
• List of Writing Websitesby@bibwu-movedlol
• How Long Should A Chapter Be by me hehe
• Reminder for Chapter Lengthby@mellorocket
• RESOURCES FOR YOUR NEEDSby@sassycolortheorist101-blog
• Websites for Writers {masterpost}by@2soulscollide
• Your English Teachers Lied To Youby@emilyoracle

Note: Take advice with a grain of salt. These are supposed to be educational, inspirational, and/or motivational. If you have any corrections, requests, suggestions, or anything really, shoot an ask! or a submission! or a DM!

To the people who were tagged, let me know if you’re uncomfortable having your post and/or blog mentioned here and I’ll make edits ASAP.

TAGS

#yannsie: asks

#yannsie: ask game

#yannsie: reblog

koreanstudytips:

Korean Langblr Masterlist

19tc

annyeong-korean

autodidacting

bieups

chloeskoreanblog

dailydoseofkorea

eojetbam-studies

fluentlee

fxckingureum

ggkorean

hangeul-jjang

h-eonno

hyeyeonstudies

jaejeustudies

koreanclass101com

koreanling

koreanreferences

koreanstudyjourney

koreanstudytips

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krstudy

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seoulfullstudy

studiousbees

studykorean101

su-eop

ymkorean

If you have a Korean langblr and would like to be featured on this post, let me know and I will add you!

disorderlyadjustment:

rimurutempest:

hey vegans/vegetarians now is the time, i am actively asking for input.

i’d really love some tips for meat alternatives that are not soy based & are, critically, affordable on a tight budget.

(other protein & vitamin tips are welcome, especially dairy alternatives. again, looking for non soy & as low budget as possible.)

I really love this resource: https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/

“ SMALL BUDGET? NO PROBLEM!

Cooking on a budget shouldn’t mean canned beans and ramen noodles night after night. Welcome to the world of delicious recipes designed for small budgets.”

!!

ty, i shall peruse!

becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys:

invisible-goats:

jezebelgoldstone:

becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys:

invisible-goats:

Youtube recommended video: can my hair handle a month without shampoo?

Me, who hasn’t used shampoo for 6 years: well golly gee, I dunno

IKR

What irritates me about these things - and those journalists who write articles on it going ‘Can I not wash my hair for a month?’ - is that almost all of them miss the point and none of them transition it properly, so they end up with a dirty and horrendously matted fleece and conclude that it’s just not possible, and like

I am now three years without shampoo. My hair, which I always wanted to grow super long my whole life but could never get past bra strap length without it snapping off, is now to my tail bone and thick and glossy. I no longer get scalp issues like dandruff. It curls almost without frizz. It’s great.

But I did have to transition it??! I didn’t just stop washing it Jesus Christ

Would either of you mind explaining how? I’ve tried before and I’ve tried looking it up, but the most useful things I’ve ever been able to find are along the lines of “replace your shampoo with this super awesome super expensive non-shampoo-thing” or something

Couple of reblogs/replies have asked, so I hope Elanor doesn’t mind me replying on this version!

Firstly, the following applies only to hair types 1-3. If you have coily/kinky hair, get advice from someone who knows type 4 hair, which I do not know that the same methods would work for (I have 2b, though it looks a little straighter as it’s weighed down by the thickness/length)

Secondly, I’m afraid you will need to buy something. Specifically a boar bristle/synthetic equivalent hairbrush (these can range from Very Expensive for all natural recognised brand to a tenner nylon version from Boots. I just bought a new one for £20 which is boar bristle and bamboo with some longer, stiffer nylon bristles. I recommend getting one with both kinds of bristles if your hair is thick). If you have type 2-3 hair, you will also need a means of detangling. A wide-toothed comb is ideal, preferably wood to reduce static

Brush your hair morning and evening with the bristle brush. This cleans out grime and redistributes oils along the length of your hair, and gradually reduce how often you wash your hair, going from (idr how often people shampoo? biweekly?) to weekly to every other week, a couple of months at a time. Your hair needs to learn it doesn’t have to produce as much sebum as it has been doing. You may find you still need to condition. You can do this with normal conditioner, hair masks, or coconut oil. There will be a bit of a process finding out what works best for your hair. Use the detangler before brushing

Honestly at this point the only time I deliberately get my hair wet is when I dye it, and I think it’s looking pretty good, don’t you? (And I’ve stopped getting split ends)

(ignore the frizz, we’re at 80% humidity here. If you still want it to smell nice rather than just of hair you can add in some non-alcohol-based perfume. Hair perfume is great and lasts ages because it evaporates slower that when on your skin. I like to just put a touch on my ends every few days)

I shall add to this to provide an Alternative Method!

I use a method known as CGM (Curly Girl Method - it’s a deeply stupid name). The bare bones of it is that you cut out shampoo entirely, and stop using any conditioners that contain either silicones or drying substances (those can include certain alcohols, for example). Hilariously, this often means you actually use much cheaper conditioners, because the lack of fancy substances brings the price down. In the UK, Sainsbury’s own brand apple conditioner works, for example, and costs less than £1 a bottle. You can find lists of CGM friendly products wherever you live online, though.

Anyway, yeah, let’s say your normal routine would be to wash with shampoo, condition, and brush every day.

With CGM, you wash with a combination of Increased Elbow Grease and conditioner. It’s called cowashing. You put the conditioner exclusively on your roots, and then scrub with your fingertips for a bit. Basically, it’s mechanical cleaning instead of chemical - like scrubbing food off a plate, using a bit of washing up liquid to lubricate, rather than dunking the plate into a vat of acid to burn off the food. Your scrubbing removes the oil and dirt from your hair, and the conditioner both reduces damage by making it slippery and also collects all that dirt. Then you completely rinse it clear.

After that, depending on your hair type, you do a conditioning round. My husband has straight hair so doesn’t bother. I have curly hair, so at this point I switch to something more nourishing like Faith In Nature and whack that in.

Crucially, this is literally the only point I brush it. Soaking wet, full of conditioner. And I very gently detangle with a wide toothed comb, or even my fingers.

(Then I scrunch it to start the curls forming, rinse it all out while still scrunching, and then scrunch in a gel; but that’s not relevant to the question, it’s just how my routine goes.)

Anyway, the lack of sulphides and other harsh cleansers means your scalp stops panicking that it’s being dried out, and it ‘transitions’ to a state where it no longer over-produces sebum (this is also why it helps with dandruff for most people - no more cycle of harsh drying followed by clogged pores). For me, this transition phase lasted a week. It felt a bit greasy during this time, but after that week, it was fine. That’s fairly normal. Some people can rarely take up to six weeks, but most are like me. My husband had a delayed transition during his third week, but again, it lasted… I think maybe 10 days?

There was also a second, longer transition phase where the silicones that had coated my hair for years slowly fucked off, which meant the strands could slowly start taking in water again. Once that happened I got really good hair, here’s a pic from a year ago for reference:

It’s longer again now, as I say. ‘Tis a mane.

In any case, a friend of mine followed this method for a year, and then transitioned to using water only, no products. She now uses a bristle brush as described above. Nothing more.

That’s the bare basics! There is more to it, especially if you’re specifically doing it for curls, which are an art and a science. But that’s how you transition your hair to no shampoo.